A/N: Huh. Thanks for all the follows and favorites and reviews and stuff for my first chapter. Have a cookie *cough* I mean chapter. Jutsu names are in English because I plan on inventing my own, and I haven't the inclination to try translating my names for them.

Disclaimer: I-ay on't-day own-ay aruto-Nay, ut-bay I-ay am-ay uent-flay in-ay iglatin-pay. Y-whay on't-day ey-thay ist-lay iglatin-pay as-ay one-ay of-ay e-thay anguage-lay options-ay?

Two years later

Dawn broke over a small clearing in the middle of the wilderness. A small tent was nestled in the shadow of a nearby tree, and the remains of a fire smoldered a few feet away. A quiet rustling from the tent disturbed a nearby rabbit, which proceeded to dart towards the opposite side of the clearing. The sound of a kunai hitting a tree cut through the air as a small but fit six-year-old Naruto exited his temporary shelter. Yawning, he strode across the clearing to retrieve the victim of the trap he set the night before.

Soon, the rabbit's carcass was roasting over a newly restarted fire, and Naruto was mentally conversing with his mentor and only friend. So, Kurama, what kind of training am I gonna do today?

Hmmm… you've been progressing incredibly fast for one so young. I think you might be ready to try out some of what you've learned in actual combat. How does that sound?

The boy truly had made astonishing progress. While the most advanced of his peers were probably just beginning to train in clan techniques as long as they weren't too troublesome, Naruto had already learned enough to be able to pass the final exam at the academy, if only the ninjutsu and taijutsu portions. Coupled with his nearly inexhaustible stamina and inhuman healing and resilience, the fox believed Naruto would probably be able to match blows with most genin and come out on top.

Naruto blinked. He certainly hadn't been expecting that. His surprise was short lived, however, and a grin split his face at the prospect of an exciting fight and a chance to test out his abilities.

Alright, cool! This is gonna be awesome! So who am I gonna fight?

I can sense a pretty big town not far from here. Bandit camps are common near big towns, so we shouldn't have much trouble finding some wimps for you to beat the hell out of. But, remember: these people can be dangerous, and while many will have reservations about fighting a child, you'll meet plenty who won't hesitate to kill you. Don't fool around.

Alright, I'll be careful. Hey, if they have stolen jutsu scrolls on them, will you help me learn them?

I will if I can, but there are plenty of techniques out there that you don't have the chakra control or the affinity to use. Don't be upset if I say you can't learn something.

Naruto gave a mental nod and pulled the rabbit off the fire, biting into the mildly charred meat. He ate quickly, eager to test his skills and see how strong he was. After a few minutes, he finished and tossed the remains into the fire, returning to his tent to take it down and pack it back into his backpack. Returning to the fire, he kicked some dirt over the pit, smothering the low flames.

Ok, the town is northeast of here, so head east and I'll see if I can sense any bandit encampments.

The fox's sensing ability was severely limited from the seal, but it was good enough to sense large populations from a distance and smaller groups from a few hundred feet away. Kurama's first attempt at sensing after Naruto left Konoha was severely disappointing. Before, the mighty Kyūbi could sense the chakra of a termite from a mile away, but now the unfortunate prisoner couldn't even match human sensors in ability. It was embarrassing. At least the ability was useful enough to give a bit of advance warning if someone was sneaking up on the boy, or perhaps if there was a hidden ambush with a lot of people, but beyond that the ability had very limited utility.

However, it was certainly better than simply running around, hoping to stumble into a camp full of bloodthirsty cutthroats.

Naruto took to the trees, hopping along the branches to practice his tree climbing. Kurama had informed him that, because he was a Jinchūriki, he had an absurd amount of chakra for a six year old. However, that was a double edged sword. His control was atrocious, and without significant practice he would be unable to use anything but the most chakra intensive ninjutsu, which were not abundant because of the obvious rarity of people who would have enough chakra to use them. Naruto took every opportunity he could to improve his chakra control, determined not to have his potential jutsu arsenal limited by something within his control.

Approximately half an hour later, Kurama sensed a group of people nearby and alerted Naruto. He quickly removed his backpack, securing it to the tree via a kunai, before traversing a dozen more trees and stopping. He crouched, peering out at the tents visible in the clearing below.

The bandit camp was pretty small, made up of four midsize tents and a fire pit. Six young or middle aged men were milling around, many with large weapons on their backs or belts. Considering how near they were when Kurama sensed them compared to how many were present in the camp, none had reserves any bigger than an academy student at best, indicating that they were probably relatively weak. While they might be strong, their choice of weapon was clearly meant for intimidation and not combat, as they probably wouldn't be able to swing fast enough to catch anyone who was aware enough to dodge. Naruto looked down at them, itching for a good fight.

However, something seemed off to Kurama. Having encountered bandit camps from time to time before being sealed, the fox knew that a bandit camp like this should have a leader of some sort. A bandit posse of any size was too riddled with greed to work together very well unless there was someone to put the subordinates in their places. None of the six down below seemed to be particularly strong compared to the others, so which one was the leader, and why? Naruto and his prisoner were so focused on the criminals in the camp that they didn't notice the man launching a kick from behind them.

Before he could react, Naruto was sent careening through the air, landing on one of the tents and collapsing it. He shook off the force of the impact in time to see a seventh person hop down from the forest canopy above, chuckling.

"So, child, what were you doing spying on our little enterprise here? You weren't thinking of stealing from us, were you?"

Naruto's eyes were wide, flicking from the man who had snuck up on him to the various grunts that were surrounding him. He still had the element of surprise to some degree, as nobody had any clue that he was strong enough to fight back, but he was outnumbered. However, that certainly didn't have to be the case.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Smoke filled the circle of outlaws, and several were sent flying a few feet by unexpected blows. Many had jumped back when the boy had called out, however, and drew their weapons. The boss simply jumped back and folded his arms, content to watch.

The smoke cleared, revealing a dozen identical six year olds holding kunai between their fingers like claws, facing various opponents. The bandits that had been knocked to the ground began to regain their feet, and the ones that were still standing tensed.

On an unspoken signal, the twelve Narutos leapt at their opponents, swiping with their makeshift claws. The original leapt at the unconcerned boss, only to be intercepted by a burly man with a common sledgehammer. Spinning out of the way of a slow swing, Naruto retaliated by delivering a brutal spinning kick to the man's kidney, bringing him to a knee in pain. A swipe of his kunai and the assailant dropped his hammer, withdrawing his red tinged hand. Grinning, the boy finished his target off with a flying backwards roundhouse kick to the head, knocking his target out cold.

What did I tell you about fooling around?

Naruto chuckled sheepishly and mentally apologized, looking around to see that the other five subordinates had been knocked out, at the cost of nine clones. It seemed that, despite not having the tail necessary to properly use the original, Naruto was rather proficient with his bastardized version of the Kitsune style. Not that that gave him any kind of license to 'modify' it further with flashy but wasteful moves like the one he just pulled.

His attention returned to his last remaining opponent, who was standing lackadaisically with his arms crossed. The man watched as Naruto's clones came forwards and charged at him, before quickly dispelling them by rolling under their attack and stabbing them in the back with kunai that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. His arms relaxed at his sides and he returned his attention to the surprisingly skilled child in front of him.

"Hmmm… you caught my entourage off guard with your 'scared little boy' act, didn't you? I must say I don't know many your age that could take down six full grown men. But, do you really think you have a chance against me?"

He whipped his arms up from his sides and sent the two kunai zipping towards Naruto, who had no chance to react before they plunged into his chest. The boss's smirk soon vanished, however, as did the young Jinchūriki's body in a puff of smoke. The criminal leader spun, burying his foot in the child's stomach as he attempted to attack from behind. The blow knocked him into a tree, but he dropped to his feet and got ready to retaliate.

He dashed forward, ducking under a thrown kunai aimed for his neck. He brought his pseudo-clawed hand around in a slash, but his blow was parried with a ninjato. The two exchanged blows for a few moments, dodging and parrying; each trying to gain the upper hand. A close swipe by Naruto drew blood as his opponent jumped back, and the sword-wielding bandit retaliated with a quick slash. Naruto cried out as the kunai fell from his nearly bisected left hand. He brought his right hand up to parry the follow up strike and kicked at his adversary's knee. He could hear a snap as the man grunted and flinched from the pain, and used the distraction to plunge the three kunai in his right hand directly into the enemy's chest.

His foe's eyes widened. The man coughed up blood onto Naruto's startled features. His arms went limp, and the ninjato landed softly on the ground between them.

"You…*cough* really are something… eh, kid?"

The man's eyes closed, and he slumped forward, taking Naruto down as well with his weight. Blinking away tears from the pain in hand and the fact that he had just ended a life, the boy struggled to shift the man's weight off to one side. Pushing aside the corpse, he rolled to the side and emptied his stomach of the rabbit from earlier.

It's alright, kit. He'd have done the same to you, and even if not he's probably done it to others. The world is better without him in it.

Naruto calmed down as the comforting words reached him, and he returned to his back to catch his breath. As the adrenaline of the fight continued to wear off, he became aware of intense pain in his left hand, and made the mistake of looking down at it. The cut was parallel to his fingers, running from the base of his wrist to the juncture between his index and middle finger, clean through. He gagged in revulsion at seeing a part of his body mangled in such a way, and was soon back on his side, dry heaving and cradling his injured hand.

As he caught his breath, a red glow coming from his hand caught his attention. He didn't want to see his injury again, but could feel the warmth of the Kyūbi's chakra coursing from his stomach up his arm and to the laceration, assuaging the pain and mending his appendage. He continued to catch his breath as his friend worked to repair the damage, gazing up at the sky and contemplating what he had just done.

Killing a man was not easy. Had the other bandits been conscious while he was heaving, he would almost certainly be dead. As difficult as it was though, he trusted the Kyūbi, and Kurama had said that it was ok. Naruto knew, conceptually, that as a shinobi he would have to take lives. Actually performing the deed was a bitter pill, though, and did not sit well with him in the slightest. However, he couldn't deny that his opponent would have taken any and every opportunity possible to leave Naruto in a red puddle on the ground, as evidenced by the red glow emanating from his palm. This was a situation in which one of the two of them was going to end up dead. It helped, but it was still unfortunate and unpleasant. Naruto resolved to spare his opponents if he could, but to protect himself if they refused to make peace.

The red glow from his hand dissipated. Naruto raised his newly repaired hand and flexed it experimentally. Phantom aches centered on the faint line of scar tissue connecting his previously disconnected hand segments, but other than that it was fully healed. He hadn't received such a serious injury before, and it had been disconcerting, but the Kyūbi no Yōko was a powerful friend to have indeed.

Naruto stood, looking out at the unconscious bandits before him. He still wanted to pillage the camp, his unease at taking a life having abated. None of the weapons wielded by the common thugs were of interest to the boy, being too heavy to wield properly and of too poor a quality to bother collecting to sell. His eyes fell to the ninjato in front of him, still stained with his own blood. It appeared to be a relatively high quality blade to Naruto's untrained eye, and it was short enough for him to wield without trouble.

He picked up the sword, wiping the blood off on the grass, before looking to the corpse next to him for the sheath. It was tied to the man's leg. Relieved that he would not have to disturb the body very much to retrieve it, Naruto took the sheath from the bandit and secured it on his back, sliding the ninjato into it.

The boy quickly rifled through the tents, looking for anything of value to take. The first three tents, including the crushed one, were empty save for some clothing and a couple of sleeping bags. The Jinchūriki entered the final tent, disappointed that there was nothing of interest for him to take, when he stopped short.

The final tent held only a single sleeping bag, but the remaining space was filled with a pile of loot. Unfortunately, it seemed that the majority of the items in the pile were similar in style to the weapons used by the thugs outside: big, heavy, and cheap. Some pieces of armor were thrown into the mix as well, but none of it interested Naruto as he dug through, looking for something of value.

Near the bottom of the pile, however, he managed to retrieve a small ornate box and a handful of scrolls. Opening the box, Naruto removed a thick stack of ryō notes. Apparently, these bandits had been rather prolific. No need to worry about sorting through more weapons to sell any, the stolen money would be enough to cover any needs Naruto had for a long while. The scrolls seemed to be on a variety of subjects, and to his delight he spotted a couple that looked like instructions for ninjutsu. However, he wanted to be out of the camp by the time the brutes outside woke up, so he shoved the money in his pocket and tucked the scrolls under an arm, exiting the tent.

Naruto returned to his backpack and stored the scrolls inside before leaving the bandit camp behind, looking for a clearing to set up his tent. His fight, the following ordeal and the looting of the camp had only taken a few hours, but the situation had taken its toll on the boy, and he intended to relax and read his scrolls. He was still shaken, and he didn't feel up for anything physically or emotionally taxing.

A few minutes of travel brought him to a cave, which he promptly entered. Letting his backpack drop to the ground, he slumped against the cave wall, sliding down into a sitting position. He sighed and closed his eyes.

I'm sorry for putting you through that, kit. You understand that you needed to get your first kill in a relatively safe situation, so you don't freeze up like that and get yourself killed later. Getting combat experience against actual killers didn't hurt either. It might seem bad, but I did it for your own good.

Naruto remained silent for several minutes. It's ok. I knew I would need to do that eventually, but I wasn't ready for just what it would be like. Better now than later to get it out of the way, I guess.

He remained against the wall for several more minutes before opening his eyes, unzipping the backpack next to him and removing the scrolls he had pilfered from the bandit camp. There were four in total, one of them larger than the other three. Naruto believed that the larger scroll would have a cooler and more powerful jutsu, so he decided to save the best for last. He grabbed one of the small ones and opened it up, examining the jutsu instructions inside.

The instructions were for Wind Release: Wind Bullet, a mid-ranking offensive wind jutsu. The element was a stroke of luck; Kurama had informed Naruto that he had a very strong wind affinity, and almost no affinity for every other element. He did have a bit of a fire affinity as well, probably because of the Kyūbi's fire affinity, but it was so weak that it would be of little use without a lot of refining, especially considering that his main affinity was opposed to it.

The Wind Bullet technique seemed like a versatile and effective combat jutsu, but it required a lot of chakra control. To mold such an unruly element into a cohesive projectile for any length of time required chakra to shape it in a specific way, and shape manipulation was quite an advanced form of chakra control. Not to mention the fact that this was elemental manipulation as well, which Naruto had only rudimentary practice with so far. The technique would take a lot of work, but Naruto refused to consider not learning it, so he simply set it aside for later and grabbed the next small scroll.

This one provided the instructions for the Earth Release: Stone Spikes, a low ranking multipurpose earth jutsu. Naruto was a bit disappointed. While theoretically he would be able to develop an earth affinity with some work, considering it isn't antagonistic to his other two affinities, he would probably have to work even harder on that than on the Wind Bullet before he got it to work. It was a cool ability too, but for now it was going to be out of his reach. Placing the scroll back in his backpack, Naruto grabbed the last of the small scrolls.

Unfortunately, the final small scroll provided the instructions for a lightning jutsu, which was weak to Naruto's wind affinity. He could practice for hours and be no closer to getting even a low rank lightning jutsu to work for him. He placed it back in his bag with the earth jutsu and turned his attention to the larger scroll.

He opened it up eagerly, only for his excited smile to falter in confusion when he was met with something other than a ninjutsu. The scroll appeared to hold instructions on calligraphy and writing, much to his bemusement. He was about to put it away when Kurama spoke up.

Kit, I think you might like this stuff. These are instructions for beginners' fuinjutsu.

Naruto furrowed his brow, looking closer at the symbols described in the scroll. Some of the symbols helped power or stabilize the seals, others had interesting functions that he could definitely make use of. Being able to write out a seal array to prepare a trap did seem pretty cool, and that was only one of the applications of fuinjutsu that he could deduce from his cursory glance at the scroll. Not being interested in practicing his elemental manipulation, Naruto decided to put away the Wind Bullet scroll and read the fuinjutsu scroll.

He still wanted to improve his chakra control, however, so he decided to read while sitting on the cave's ceiling.

...

Many hours later, Naruto was next to another fire pit, eating another rabbit that had been caught in a fuinjutsu trap. Despite the difficulty he had focusing his chakra and his mind at the same time, he had learned a lot from the fuinjutsu scroll and, according to the fox, understood it with much more ease than any six year old should have. Kurama knew why he was so skilled in the complex art, but didn't know if Naruto was ready to know. While the boy enjoyed his meal, the Kyūbi was deep in thought.

As the blonde finished his meal, his tenant came to a decision. Hey kit, how'd you like to know about your parents?

The boy hesitated as he was about to throw the refuse from his meal into the fire, blinking in surprise. You knew my parents?

Yes, I did. Your mother was actually the one who contained me before you did, though she and I didn't get along nearly as well as we do.

Who were they?

Naruto hadn't even wondered if he had any parents. He was alone for as long as he could remember, so he had always assumed he simply didn't have any, and judging from the number of children that had been in the orphanage with him before he was kicked out, he believed it wasn't uncommon to lack parents. He was surprised that he actually did have parents, and wanted to learn more about them.

Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, a member of a clan that specialized in fuinjutsu. She was brilliant, a fuinjutsu prodigy even by Uzumaki standards, but she had a temper that I daresay rivaled mine. Her peers nicknamed her the 'Red Hot-Blooded Habanero'.

The fox chuckled, remembering her reaction when she first caught Jiraiya peeping.

A clan? I have a clan?

Unfortunately, not anymore kit. During the Second Shinobi World War, a massive coalition between the armies of Sunagakure, Amegakure, and Iwagakure attacked Uzushiogakure, which was home to the Uzumaki clan. Uzu was a close ally to Konoha, and were remarkably dangerous opponents, so Suna, Ame and Iwa decided to strike preemptively to remove their most dangerous opposition. Their forces numbered near 40,000, outnumbering the forces of Uzu by at least 20 to one, but the defenses put in place by the best of the Uzumaki seal masters kept the enemy force at bay for nearly a week before finally collapsing.

The vast majority of the citizens of Uzu were killed, and the village itself was razed to the ground, but the Suna-Ame-Iwa coalition was weakened so much that they were driven back into neighboring Ame by the relief forces from Konoha, which was where most of the fighting took place. If their forces hadn't been thinned so significantly by Uzu, Konoha would probably have been obliterated in the following conflict.

Most of the Uzumaki stayed and fought to the end, which is why they are nearly gone. No more than a couple survived. Your mother was brought back to Konoha after being found hidden in the ruins of Uzu, where she grew up.

Woah, my clan held off 40,000 shinobi for a full week with their seals? That's awesome! ...It's too bad they're gone, though; I would have loved to meet them.

Indeed, the fall of Uzushio saw the death of nearly half of the world's seal masters, and since then the art has faded into obscurity. Even without fuinjutsu though, they were skilled shinobi with impressive skills. That advanced healing of yours isn't entirely my doing; Uzumaki were well known for their longevity and accelerated healing. They also had a lesser known bloodline that gave them… 'dense' chakra, for lack of a better term. Uzumaki chakra is the only chakra I know of strong enough not to erode when containing me, which is why only Uzumaki have successfully become my Jinchūriki. Particularly strong shinobi among them could also use this dense chakra to manifest physical chains, something you may be able to do if you practice at it.

Wow, my mom's clan was awesome… but who was my dad?

Your father… was the one who sealed me inside you; Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure.

There was a pause that stretched uncomfortably, Naruto speechless and Kurama awaiting his reaction.

...but… but everyone in Konoha loves him, and hates me.

They probably weren't told of your heritage, and I can understand why. During the Third Shinobi World War, your father single-handedly defeated an invasion force from Iwagakure of over one thousand shinobi. Unfortunately, that meant that your father orphaned a significant portion of the current population of Iwa, and if they knew of your relation to him they would almost certainly assassinate you out of spite. Those who knew of your heritage kept quiet to protect you.

Another minute of silence.

My parents were really strong, huh?

The surprising statement drew a chuckle from Kurama.

I suppose they were. I guess that means you're going to be pretty strong when you get older too, eh kit?

What do you mean when I'm older? I totally kicked those bandits' asses today.

The Kyūbi laughed heartily at the boy's confidence, glad that he had taken knowledge of his heritage so well and that he wasn't noticeably traumatized by the day's events. The fox was proud of his Jinchūriki's performance that day, and was glad that he didn't seem to have lost his childish lightheartedness that had endeared the boy to the demon over the past two years.

We've been conversing for quite a while, and it's late. Get some sleep, because I'm going to make sure you make up for the training you missed today.

Naruto gave a mental nod and retrieved a sleeping bag from his backpack, not needing a tent because of the natural cover of the cave. He laid it out by the fire and crawled into it, shifting around to get comfortable. Good night, Kurama.

Good night, kit.

A/N: I'm a bit disappointed that none of my reviews are flames. C'mon, there's gotta be something y'all can complain about! Oh yeah, follows, favorites and non-flame reviews are cool too.