Chapter One.
"Get that demon brat!"
"You can't run forever monster!"
The cries followed the little boy as he ran, desperately trying to avoid capture. He had almost succeeded when the bad luck that befalls all of the people running away in movies, book, comics and life befell him and he tripped over his own feet. He looked up fearfully as a group of grinning people circled him.
"Thought you'd get away didn't you demon?" One man asked, brandishing a knife.
"Please leave me alone! I haven't done anything to you!" The boy cried.
"You've done everything! You took our families you demon!" the man roared, stabbing his knife down. It entered the boy, who looked at the man in shock before there was a 'pop' and in a 'poof' of smoke, the little boy disappeared.
"A clone?" One civilian asked. Cursing, the civilians gave up for the day and went about their business. Sitting atop of Konoha village's Hokage Monument, on top of the Yondaime Hokage's stone head, the same boy cracked an eye open lazily as his clone dispersed and it's memories came to him. Shaking his head at the civilians' foolishness, the boy closed his eye again and returned to his mindscape.
"Neh Otousan why do the villagers keep trying?" He asked the tall man who was practically a carbon copy of the boy, only older and without whisker marks on his cheeks. The older man looked down at his eight year old son.
"Because they're scared Naru-chan." His father responded, pointing to the tall man behind him who lay up high in a tree branch, lazily slumped against the tree, snoring. His red hair spilled down over his shoulders, coming to his waist. His ears were slightly pointed and his finger nails were claws. A sharp canine protruded from below his upper lip, resting on the lower lip and he snarled slightly in his sleep. His skin was a pale cream and he was slim with a cat like grace that made the fact that he was sitting on a branch with his back against the trunk of the tree, snoring look oddly easy. He was the Kyuubi no Kitsune. The boy's father had been around from the beginning, and when his son had turned five he had taken him into the boy's mindscape and explained everything about himself, his son, the demon and the village. Much too both inhabitants of the seal's delight, upon seeing his mindscape, the boy had instinctively changed it from a dank bunker like sewer into a comfortable forest scene. There was a log cabin with a fireplace, much like a hunter's cabin that his father could call home and for the Kyuubi there was a cave den in the rock face just behind the cabin. Both of these things were in a medium sized clearing in the woods. There was a stream at the edge of the clearing, and somehow, the boy had created little animals, breezes, sunshine, rain and snow for the two men. At the moment, the Kyuubi was asleep in a tree on the edge of the clearing while father and son sat on logs around a fire-pit in front of the cabin and it was summer in the clearing.
"Well I think their fear is silly."
"Of course it is, but try to imagine what you'd be feeling if you were in their shoes." The boy shrugged.
"Maybe they should try being in mine." He replied, stretching slightly. Sadness crossed the older man's face. He hated that his son had to be the one to bear this burden. But at least Kami-sama and Shinigami-sama had allowed him to be with his son. Even if it was by being in the seal that he himself had created and put on the boy.
"So what are we learning today Otousan?" The eight year old boy asked, his blue eyes sparkling with the hope of learning something new. The man smiled. He loved his son's willingness to learn. Naruto was like a vacuum when it came to learning. He sucked up all of the information one could give him and then asked for more.
"Well you already know how to do the leaf exercise for controlling your chakra, so today we're going to get started on the tree walking exercise."
"What's that?"
"It's where you walk up a tree."
"I can already do that."
"Without using your hands?"
"…."
"Let me explain. You have to focus a certain amount of chakra to your feet and maintain that constant amount of chakra. Not enough chakra and you'll fall. Too much chakra, and again you'll fall. To start off with, take a running start until you get used to it. After that we're going to work on your taijutsu. You have two styles to learn so you have to put in more effort. Add to that that you'll be doing push ups, sit ups, chin ups, running laps and the usual exercises. Oh, I will also be adding more weight on your seals." The boy groaned but other than that didn't complain. He understood why he had to go through this training. His father had enemies. He needed to be able to protect himself as well as possible by the time he was thirteen.
"We're also going to work on your nature affinities." The boy had a primary nature affinity in wind like his father and a second affinity in fire, which wasn't surprising seeing as the Lord of fire was sealed inside his stomach. His son's affinity with the two elements was so strong that the wind protected him naturally without him asking it to, and the boy could create fire simply by clicking his fingers. The fact that he could change the colour of the fire amused all of them. Including Kyuubi, who had yet to mention to the boy that the fire he created was not normal fire, but 'Foxfire' a special fire that other than the boy, only Kyuubi himself possessed. The fox demon didn't think it was time to provide the boy with that knowledge just yet. It might give him a bit of an ego-complex, something Kyuubi hated in a person.
"Also the usual stuff we work on everyday like ninjutsu, genjutsu, medjutsu, fuuinjutsu, nawanuke no jutsu and others." The boy nodded and prepared to leave his mind.
"But we'll do this later, during your training with Sarutobi. You're late for school."
"NANI?!" Naruto shot out of his mind, leaping off of the monument and jumping across the roof tops of the village. Spying an open window in his class room, he jumped through it, landing on some of his classmates.
"NARUTO!" was all that one of those classmates, a pink haired girl named Sakura, yelled, hitting him on the head. He grinned and rolled off of her, the two others sitting beside her and the desks, landing on the floor.
"Baka!" The other girl yelled rubbing her head as her long blonde hair swished over her shoulder.
"Hn. Dobe." Was all that the dark-haired boy sitting between the two girls said, without moving. Someone such as him was far too superior and snobbish to rub where the boy had hit him when he jumped through the window. That would mean showing weakness to someone beneath him.
"Gomen Sakura, Ino, Sasuke-teme." Naruto grinned at them, rubbing his elbow. "The window was the closest entrance."
"Naruto! You're late!" His teacher scolded. Naruto grinned up at the man with the scar across his nose who wore his hair in a high pony tail.
"Gomen Iruka-sensei. I slept in." On the inside, his Chunin instructor was laughing. It never failed to make his day when Naruto was up to mischief, even if it was accidental mischief.
"Yes well, next time could you please use the door?" Naruto shrugged, picking himself up off the floor with a grin before rubbing his elbow again and making his way to the back of the classroom. He dropped into a vacant seat and dropped his chin onto his folded hands, watching Iruka as the man went back to the explanation he'd been giving before Naruto's interruption. In his mindscape, the boy's father was laughing, as was Kyuubi, who'd been thrown from his branch when Naruto leapt through the window.
"NARUTO!" A blackboard eraser hit the back of the boy's head. He sat up blinking as he looked around to find that the teacher and all of his classmates, save a few were looking at him. Those few included the dark haired boy he'd fallen on earlier, who sat, hands in front of his face, staring impassively at the black board, the boy with his brown hair in a high ponytail a few seats to his right, who's head was on his hands as he took a nap and the impassive boy whose face was hidden by his glasses and the high collar on the jacket he wore.
"Wha?" Naruto asked sleepily, making eye contact with Iruka.
"If you slept in WHAT ARE YOU DOING ASLEEP IN MY CLASS?" Iruka yelled at him.
"I wasn't sleeping sensei." The boy lied smoothly.
"Oh and what were you doing?" Iruka asked sweetly, his eye twitching.
"Meditating." The boy responded with a shrug. A vein popped in Iruka's temple before he noticed the other sleeping boy.
"SHIKAMARU!" He yelled, throwing an eraser at that boy. Said boy lifted his head, blinked at the teacher and then went back to sleep. Another boy snickered.
"Kiba!" Iruka turned his attention to that boy who was holding a paper plane above his head ready to throw it at someone, before munching caught his attention.
"CHOUJI HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU NOT TO EAT IN CLASS?!" The eating boy shrugged before putting another handful of potato chips in his mouth. Iruka's face turned red.
"THAT'S IT! THE FOUR OF YOU ARE STAYING BEHIND AFTER SCHOOL AND DOING DETENTION!" Naruto yawned.
"I have to be at the Hokage's office at 3:30 sensei." He told the man.
"I have to help out at the clinic." The boy Kiba explained, the little white dog sitting on his head barking its agreement.
"Doctor's appointment." The boy Chouji said before putting more chips in his mouth. Another vein popped as Iruka looked up at Shikamaru, waiting for his excuse.
"Troublesome." The boy yawned. "My Otousan's making me take another IQ test." Iruka's face went red again.
"Then how about tomorrow boys? You can do your detention then!" He told them. The four boys all shrugged before going back to doing the things that had gotten them in trouble. Iruka sighed. They were four of his brightest students, but the four of them just didn't care about being in a classroom. Somehow they always managed to get their work down though. While Naruto slept, Minato listened to the lesson that Iruka was giving, storing the information away in his son's mind for him later. He knew it was technically cheating, but Naruto only ever really got time to sleep during class. What with his training and so forth, he was up most of the night every night. Only Shikamaru and Naruto slept of the four boys. Shikamaru was so damn smart it didn't matter if he slept through the lesson or not. Chouji didn't do anything besides constantly eat, or skip class with the other three boys, while Kiba just got bored easily and fidgeted, making paper planes and throwing them around the room, lazing about and refusing to pay attention. As soon as the bell went, the four boys were the first ones out of the room, with Iruka yelling behind them to make sure they did their homework and not be late tomorrow Naruto!
-"Concentrate son. You can do this. It's just a simple matter of being very concise about how much chakra you use."- Naruto was now 13 years old.
The old man's condition about telling everyone the truth when Naruto was 13 had been that Naruto pass the Academy test. The boy had failed the first two times on purpose so that he could be with his peers. The Hokage had informed him that he would tell the village who Naruto was the night of the test, and then introduce him to his peers in the Academy properly the next morning and explain to them something of what had happened. This meant that after 13 years of it being a secret, his peers would find out about Kyuubi. They weren't however, going to find out that his father, the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato, was sealed inside his belly as well. Only three people besides Naruto, his father and Kyuubi knew about it. The Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, Minato's sensei Jiraiya the toad hermit of the Sannin and Minato's former student Hatake Kakashi, the copy-nin of Konoha, or as Naruto thought of Kakashi, the 'weird guy who always brings me baskets of fruit and vegetables'. To pass, Naruto had to do a written test, a taijutsu test and a ninjutsu test. He would pass all of those things, except the ninjutsu test, which was an instant fail. He'd pass it if they were testing him on a different jutsu but they were testing him on his worst jutsu. Because he had his father and Kyuubi's chakra sealed inside of him, not to mention his own large chakra reserves, he couldn't perform low level jutsus which required a very precise amount of chakra. A very small amount, which is where his problem lay. He just had too much chakra. But he was Uzumaki Naruto, whose motto was that he would never give up. This was why he was currently sitting cross-legged on the bank of a small river somewhere just outside of the village walls where no one could disturb him. Sweat was pouring off of him, his eyes were scrunched tightly shut, his jaw clenched and veins in neck showing as he tried in vain to minimise how much chakra he was using to create damn Bunshin clone. It amused him, when he wasn't so annoyed, that he couldn't create a single Bunshin clone, which was a d-rank, basic level jutsu, but he could create hundreds of Kage Bunshin clones, which was an A-rank, Jounin level jutsu.
"Bunshin no jutsu." He whispered. There was a poof of smoke and he opened one eye, only to groan at the sight of the failed Bunshin that was lying on the ground next to him, looking dead.
"Oi Naruto what are you doing?" A voice called out. Naruto looked over his shoulder to find Iruka watching him curiously from a few feet away.
"Oh hi Iruka-sensei, sorry I didn't see you there. I'm trying to get the hang of Bunshin no jutsu so that I can pass the exam." Naruto explained. Iruka glanced at the dead looking Bunshin.
"I don't understand why you'd be having trouble with it. You're good at the leaf control exercise." Iruka queried, dropping down next to the boy. Naruto scratched the back of his head as he thought of how best to explain his problem. He was aware that Iruka knew about Kyuubi, and had always been grateful that the man treated him like a normal person, and didn't hate him. He thought of Iruka as an older brother most of time, and thought that Iruka might see him as a younger brother, as he was always treating him to Ramen and helping him out, just like Naruto thought an older brother would do for his younger sibling.
"I have too much chakra." He admitted at last after thinking about it. "Because of you-know-who, I have way too much chakra. For some reason I have large chakra reserves naturally, possibly to compensate with all of his chakra, but it means I can't do low level jutsus properly no matter how good my chakra control is." Iruka thought about what that implied.
"Can you do something similar to the Bunshin no jutsu?" He asked. Naruto nodded.
"I can do Kage Bunshin no jutsu. It requires more chakra and less control, so it's something I can do easily." Iruka's jaw hit the floor.
"Naruto that's a forbidden jutsu that only Jounin know." Naruto shrugged.
"Jiji-san taught me it." Understanding shone in Iruka's eyes. He was well aware that Naruto was being trained by the Hokage so that the boy could learn to defend himself better.
"Show me it." Naruto stood and formed a hand seal.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." Twenty Naruto's appeared in front of Iruka, whose eyes bugged out of his head at the number of them. Naruto was 13 for Kami's sake! Naruto dispersed the clones and sat down again.
"How many?" Iruka squeaked eventually. Naruto glanced at him in confusion.
"Do you mean how many can I make?" Iruka nodded mutely. Naruto shrugged.
"A few. I'm learning Tajuu Kage Bunshin no jutsu from Jiji-san at the moment. But at the moment I could probably make about 600 before I ran out of chakra?" Iruka fainted. When he came to, Naruto was looking sheepish. Realising what Naruto's problem was, Iruka thought quickly.
"Okay Naruto, tell you what. Because of your uh, chakra issue, for the exam I want you to create Kage Bunshin instead of normal Bunshin. Don't go too overboard to show off or anything, we don't want people realising how strong you are just yet. I'll have a word with Hokage-sama and get his agreement on this." Naruto grinned, feeling much better.
"Arigato Iruka-sensei!" He hugged his teacher before dragging him off to the best ramen stand in Konoha, Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.
A week later, Naruto was woken by his alarm clock. He rushed out of bed and into the shower before rushing back to his room and getting dressed. He brushed his teeth and was almost out his front door when two voices inside his head sharply reprimanded him.
-"Where do you think you're going without eating breakfast?"-
"You're not leaving this house without breakfast boy!" Naruto sighed and made his way back into the kitchen, grumbling about his father and his father's lover. His father frowned.
-"What was that son?"-
Nothing Otousan. He retorted innocently heading for the fridge. After breakfast he brushed his teeth again, and checking the time, his eyes widened.
"Oh crap I'm going to be late!" He raced from the house and through the streets towards the academy. Moments before the bell went he skidded to a halt in the classroom door. The bell went seconds later. Naruto breathed heavily.
"Just in time Naruto." Iruka said with a smile, Naruto nodded while trying to get his breath back.
"Naruto I wasn't aware you were this unfit." The other teacher, Mizuki commented. Naruto waved a hand.
"I'm not. I just ran from my place to here in two minutes flat." The thirteen year old gasped.
"You're joking?" Mizuki asked flatly. Moments later, a few people appeared in the doorway, yelling at Naruto to watch where he was going and to not run through town so fast the stupid demon brat that he was.
"Gomen!" he told the people. "I didn't want to be late." They kept abusing him, throwing insults about being a demon brat and dying at him until Iruka shut the door in their faces, his KI at an all-time high.
"Alright Naruto, take your seat please." Naruto flashed a grin at his teacher before heading up to his usual spot at the back of the class. From where he was sitting, head slumped on his desk, Shikamaru peeked one eye open at Naruto. Now everyone may have thought that Shikamaru was just some lazy kid who slept all of the time, but he was in fact, a genius, who was an expert at reading people. He had always known that there was something different about Naruto. He'd seen the way people treated him, and he'd known that Naruto's happiness had always been faked. Being the expert at reading body language that he was, Shikamaru was able to tell that although Naruto appeared happy, the insults had hurt the boy. He watched as Naruto's gaze went distant and he looked as if he wasn't even in the room, but somewhere else. Shikamaru's eyes popped open and widened as a real smile flitted across Naruto's face. Shikamaru closed his eyes again, curiosity nibbling at him. He decided right there and then that he was going to work out Naruto's secret. Not to use against him, Shikamaru was far too lazy for that, and besides, more importantly he didn't mind Naruto. He was probably one of the only people that the lazy boy considered a true friend. No he only wanted to know Naruto's secret for the challenge that the puzzle of finding out would be. Like all geniuses, even lazy Shikamaru enjoyed a challenge, opening one eye to peek at Naruto again. A smile tugged his face as his eyes closed again. He got the feeling that working out Naruto's secret would be the biggest challenge he'd ever had to work out.
"Nara Shikamaru." He sighed and slouched down to the front of the class. Naruto grinned and winked at him. A small smile slid across Shikamaru's face before he could stop it.
From inside Naruto's mindscape both his father and Kyuubi were talking in whispers and throwing glances at the lazy friend of Naruto's. Naruto noticed what they were up to but ignored them. He'd ask them what they were talking about later. Right now he wanted to watch the last of his four closest friends pass the test. Akamichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, and a shy girl with pale lavender eyes and blue-black hair; Hyuuga Hinata had all passed the test and now it was Shikamaru's turn. When he was passed he cheered with the other two boys as loud as possible. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and mumbled something about 'troublesome' as he returned to his seat. He paused behind Naruto.
"You better pass too Uzumaki. Me and the boys both know you could've passed the last two times and didn't. So if you don't pass this time the three of us are going to make sure you never eat Ramen again." Patting Naruto's shoulder, Shikamaru went back to his seat and sat down. Naruto sat, staring at him, mouth opening and closing but no words coming out. His head snapped to Kiba who sat grinning at him and then to Chouji who shrugged with a small, cheeky grin. In his mindscape, both men were speechless. All three of them had a love for Ramen. It was only through Naruto that the two men were able to taste the stuff ever again. They didn't think they could live without it. Neither did Naruto.
He didn't even notice it when the dark-haired boy, Uchiha Sasuke, had his shot.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka called out. Naruto didn't move. Iruka looked up at him to find Naruto staring at nothing with a look of stupefied horror on his face.
"Uzumaki Naruto." Iruka watched with amusement as Naruto ignored him but when three significant coughs came from Naruto's three male friends the boy jumped, looking nervous. Iruka wondered what the three boys could have told him to make him act like that. He rushed down the stairs, tripping over his own feet in his rush to get down. All three boys ducked their heads with amusement at the fact that something as simple as threatening him with never letting him eat Ramen again could have such an effect on him. Iruka was just as amused. Mizuki, thinking that it meant an easy win for him, got himself ready. The written test had already been done and now it was time for the taijutsu and ninjutsu. In his mind, Naruto had two adult men yelling that if he failed they'd make his life a misery. Mizuki was getting ready to attack when Naruto glanced at the three boys and flinched at their grins.
"Start." Iruka said moving back. Mizuki leapt but Naruto was gone. He turned around to find the blonde boy standing with his arms crossed and the most determined look in his eye that anyone had ever seen. He dodged each blow Mizuki tried to land on him.
"Stay still kid! Why are you so determined to pass?" Mizuki growled.
Naruto froze.
"I can't fail."
"Why not?" Naruto ducked and back flipped hitting the wall and then somersaulting over Mizuki.
"Coz if I fail those monsters sitting there grinning will never let me eat Ramen again!" Naruto wailed. Mizuki turned to glance at the class and received three winks and grins from Shikamaru, Chouji and Kiba. That was the mistake for Mizuki, because Naruto took advantage of the distraction. The side of his hand slammed into the back of Mizuki's neck. Everyone gasped as the Chunin's eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Then they gasped again at the look on Naruto's face. It was cold, precise and determined. Instantly his face softened, taking on the childishness they were all used to. Dropping to his knees he helped Mizuki up. Iruka brought him around and Mizuki started and then glared at Naruto.
"You little demon!" Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Gomen Mizuki-sensei."
"If we were in private I'd tell you some things that would make you want to die for shame you monster!" Mizuki hissed.
"Old news Mizuki-sensei. I know why I'm a demon brat and a monster." Naruto said with a shrug. Iruka gasped.
"Naruto!" Naruto waved his hand dismissively.
"It's okay Iruka-sensei. They're all going to find out tomorrow anyway. Can we get on to ninjutsu now? I'd really like to keep being able to eat Ramen." Three of the boys in the room started laughing. Iruka chuckled.
"Are you sure you're okay with them all finding out?" He asked Naruto who shrugged.
"Jiji-san said it was time." Naruto cleared his throat slightly before his eyes went cold and distant. "And if they hate me, well it's not like I'm not used to being hated." He explained. Iruka's eyes softened.
"Perform Kage Bunshin no jutsu please."
"Kage? The test is for normal Bunshin, why is he getting an exception?" Sakura demanded. Iruka glanced up at her.
"Because Naruto has a problem with his chakra, a problem you will all find out about tomorrow. Because of the problem, he is unable to do low level jutsus like Bunshin. To compensate for this, he has been taught a higher level jutsu, which is the more advanced form of Bunshin. The Kage Bunshin. Naruto if you will." Naruto formed a seal with his hands in front of the class.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu." He said calmly. Five clones 'poofed' into existence around him. Iruka nodded.
"Well done Naruto. You pass." He smiled as Naruto grinned a foxy grin and the clones dispensed.
"YATTA! I CAN KEEP EATING RAMEN!" The young boy cheered before racing up to his seat, grinning smugly at his three friends.
-"Congratulations son. You did very well. Nice job with that hit on that Baka too."- Naruto smiled at his father's praise.