A/N: Pairings are undecided for now. It might be a harem. By the way, this fanfiction will have a hell lot of time skips. I'm not going to describe 5 years of training with Kurama! Enjoy
Slowly, the boy's eyes opened, but he was met with only darkness. "Ah! Where the hell am I?" he screamed, groping blindly at the air.
There was a weary sigh and a familiar voice said gravely, "Naruto-kun, I'm very sorry, but you've been blinded and the doctors said you probably can't see… Forever."
A dark scowl marred Naruto's face at the words. Noooo, he moaned internally, what will I do? How will I become Hokage?
Naruto, shut up for a moment, will you?! You might as well learn being blind, but I'm working on altering your genes so you can activate a dormant bloodline that will enable you to see.
Oh, cool! Naruto thought immediately, and then paused. Wait, are you… KURAMA-JIJI?
Cut it out with that Jiji crap! Kurama roared back angrily. Yes, I am. We can communicate by thoughts.
Oh… Thanks, Kurama-ji – erm… Kurama. So… What do I do while you alter my genes? Naruto thought nervously. And what are genes?
There was a loud smacking sound and Kurama replied in an annoyed tone, Nevermind, you don't need to know. Just… just go along with the flow and learn how to read and write and move around even when you're blind. You know, what blind people do… Besides, you have naturally enhanced senses from me – might even be hypersensitive – so you SHOULD be able to copy words just by hearing or feeling them.
Oh… Okay… When will the bloodline be ready? Naruto asked curiously. I don't really want to be blind…
Well, it'll be a valuable skill if you make ANOTHER mistake and get your eyes gouged out! Kurama bit back sharply. Actually, it might take up to a month. And on the matter of getting your eyes gouged out again, I think you should pretend to be blind.
WHAT? Naruto screamed internally, gripping the bed sheets in the real world unconsciously. NO WAY!
You won't ACTUALLY be blind, you fool! Kurama boomed. Now will you PLEASE SHUT UP! Let me explain. You will wear a cloth of sorts over your eyes, but the cloth will allow you to see through it. However, other people won't be able to see your eyes, so you'll be safe.
Ohh… Okay.
"Naruto-kun?"
Naruto was jolted back to reality. "Ah! Is that you, Hokage-jiji?" he yelped, flailing around.
There was a chuckle, but with a hint of worry. "Yes, it is, Naruto-kun. I'm with Uchiha Itachi. He rescued you."
"U… Uchiha?" Naruto repeated. Hey, wasn't that the clan name of the dude Kurama-jiji wanted me to kill?
I HEARD THAT!
Ahem… Sorry… Kurama-jiji.
IMPUDENT BRAT!
Naruto ignored Kurama's furious ranting in his head and turned his attention to Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was speaking. "… trusted ANBU captain. You should be very grateful to Itachi-kun, Naruto-kun."
"It was nothing, Sandaime-sama. Any ANBU could've done it," the Uchiha replied quietly, but Naruto's sharp ears picked it up.
"Thanks, Itachi-san!" Naruto said with a foxy grin, turning to where Itachi's voice was coming from. "You saved my life! Well… You couldn't save my eyes, but at least I didn't die, right?"
There was a hesitant pause before Itachi replied, "Yes…"
"He is a very enthusiastic child, Itachi," Hiruzen chuckled. "Naruto, I have enrolled you into the Leaf Middle School-"
"Nope! No way!" Naruto interrupted firmly, making a diagonal cross with his arms. "I'm going to the Leaf Academy! I'm going to be a ninja!"
His determined declaration was met with a few moments of stunned silence. "I know, Naruto-kun, but…" Hiruzen began, then paused. "Well, you've lost your eyesight now, and that could put you in critical danger if you are on missions…"
He spoke as gently as possible, but Naruto flared up angrily. "Hey!" he shouted. "I'm blind, but I'm not useless!" He couldn't see the Hokage wincing. "I'm enrolling!"
"You will not, Naruto!" Hiruzen ground out. "It's dangerous! I don't want to lose you!"
"Hokage-sama, I suggest that you let someone trustworthy train Naruto to be a capable ninja before the Academy," Itachi stated softly.
"YES! PLEASE, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto pleaded, making his unseeing cerulean blue eyes round and begging.
Hiruzen sighed heavily. "Care to elaborate, Itachi-kun?"
"The child's senses are acute, being able to locate us by our voices and also hearing me although I'm talking to you in a very soft voice," Itachi began, "His stamina is outstanding and his chakra levels are sizeable. It would be a waste to reduce him to a normal civilian."
"Ehh… What?" Naruto muttered in confusion. The Uchiha had used so many difficult words!
His question was unanswered as the conversation continued. "But his blindness could be life-threatening, Itachi!" Hiruzen argued, raising his voice a tiny bit.
"That is precisely the reason I suggested an established shinobi of Jounin rank or higher to hone the boy's skills to at least genin-level before granting him permission to enter the Academy," Itachi replied calmly, unperturbed.
"No," Hiruzen said, shaking his head in denial.
"That boy is destined for greatness, Hokage-sama. He would be above average at Taijutsu and other physical activities. Let me coach him, Hokage-sama!" Itachi insisted.
There was a silence as the Hokage was stunned momentarily. "You… what?" he spluttered.
"I am certain you're intelligent enough to comprehend my words, Hokage-sama," Itachi said, getting a glare from Hiruzen at his somewhat cheeky statement. "If you refuse to make a shinobi pause active duty for a while to train the boy, I will do it myself."
"No, b – but you're a very capable ANBU captain and I need you!" Hiruzen protested.
"So does Naruto," Itachi stated coolly. "He needs training if he is to become a ninja." His piercing tone made it clear that he did intend to make Naruto a ninja. Hiruzen sighed. Itachi has balls to against his village leader… But Itachi is very trusted and clever… Hm… Perhaps… He looked up sharply as Itachi spoke again. "Dog-san is as good as me," he said. "Cat can take over my place. She's quite capable."
Hiruzen's eyebrow twitched. "You're not going to back down until I allow you to train him, huh?"
"Affirmative."
"Fine…" Hiruzen sighed. "If he's not up to it in five years, Itachi, he's going to become a civilian and that's final."
"Agreed, Hokage-sama. I will get him up to high genin in these five years," Itachi responded calmly.
"HELLO! WILL YOU TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Naruto bellowed, finally losing his calm.
Itachi carried a rare – tiny and hardly able to see, but still there – smile on his lips as he looked at the confused, blind boy. "Naruto-kun, you can become a ninja. I'll be training you for five years."
"YOSH!" Naruto yelped excitedly, then quietened. Wait, Kurama, I don't need him, do I?
Not really, the fox admitted, You'll be MUCH higher than 'high genin', you can be sure of that. But… In a way, it's good. I'll be giving you the Sharinnegan, which is actually a mix of the Sharingan and Rinnegan, and your new sensei has the Sharingan, so it's good in a way. Maybe you'll figure out how to use your Sharinnegan.
Uh, okay… What's the Sharingan and Rinnegan? And what's a genin?
The fox could only facepaw.
5 years later (Naruto: 8 years old)
"Are you ready, Naruto-kun?" Itachi said emotionlessly.
"Hai, Itachi-sensei!" Naruto said with a nod.
He was dressed in slightly worn black ANBU pants, a loose-fitting navy blue shirt with a small orange streak – with fishnet underneath – and black fingerless gloves along with the normal exposed-toe ninja sandals. He also wore a black cloth over his eyes, although he had his Sharinnegan activated and could see everything.
"Good job… Then go," Itachi stated, then disappeared in a Shunshin.
Naruto rolled his eyes behind the cloth. Eh, there he goes again, ditching me. Squaring his shoulders, he walked into the Academy classroom he was supposed to be in.
"Ah… You must be Uzumaki Naruto?" the scar-nosed man asked.
He elicited a nod from the said boy. "Nice to meet you. I'm your sensei Iruka. You may call me Iruka-sensei. Now, would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Hey. My name's Uzumaki Naruto. I'm blind, so don't make stupid comments about my eyesight. Yes, I'm blind and going to become a ninja. Deal with it. So… Iruka-sensei, where do I sit?"
Iruka was blinking in surprise. "Uh, you may sit next to Shikamaru…"
"Thanks." The Chunin was about to show Naruto to the seat, but the blonde was already halfway there, his fingertips brushing table-tops very lightly in order to find Shikamaru's seat. He paused, his fingers clamped on the empty chair next to Shikamaru, then promptly sat down.
"But Iruka-sensei! How is he going to learn?" a certain girl screeched loudly.
Naruto sighed loudly. "Look, Ms. Banshee, that's my problem and not yours, so can you please shut up and let sensei speak?"
Iruka cleared his throat and the girl swallowed her protest and promptly shut up.
Naruto slumped in his seat, looking very similar to the lazy Nara beside him. Oh, great Kami, he moaned inwardly, This is going to be hell!