Hey guys welcome to the third chapter of Naruto: A legend. Thanks everyone for following this story.

Well I saw that I never really said any thing about the harem members. Well they are:- Temari, Sakura, Hinata, Ino, Tsunade and two more of your choices.

SO well with that being said Lets begin

CHAPTER 3

"I am not fighting because I want to win, I am fighting because I have to win and that my friend is the biggest difference between you and me"

- Shirou Yuki

Shirou

As Shirou completed his painting, his thoughts went to events which occurred in past months.

It was quite funny to realize that a young kid of an almost extinct family could be a warrior of a high stature in his previous life. Yeah that is correct the small painter brat that everyone addressed to him as was a very strong person in his past life.

"But does that change anything?" Shirou thought as he compared himself from his past self.

"No it doesn't. Akoiji and Shirou are two different guys. I am not the retired Navy admiral anymore hell I am not in my own world anymore so the only thing I can do is just grin and bear it. Being reborn in a new world where things are dangerous on a whole new different level is just a minor setback, atleast I still have my power to control ice with me" Shirou thought as he kept his newly completed painting in the buyers section.

It has been four years since Naruto(age 10) destroyed a part of the forbidden forest and three years since Shirou get back his old memories.

At first Shirou was quite baffled with the differences between him and his counterpart Kuzan.

Physically Shirou was nothing like Kuzan.(Shirou looks like Shirou Fubuki from Inazuma Eleven). Hell even mentally they both were different. Yes they both were calm and cool but Shirou wasn't as lazy as Kuzan.

Alas these differences were just few things he couldn't get his head around.

After closing the shop Shirou made his way to the academy. In the four years a lot has changed. He made friends with Naruto and Sakura. At first being around Naruto made him little bit uneasy, the continuous burst of haki from him was small and hardly noticeable to anyone but him. But soon their friendship blossomed and Shirou found himself talking to Naruto about things he never spoke to anyone. They just seem to click and inevitably one day they just decided to train together and ever since that day they both started to train like never before. Naruto seeing that Shirou basically had no idea of what to do took it upon himself to teach him the basics because in his word his so called side-kick must be as awesome as he is.

Thus began the hellish training Shirou had to endure under Naruto's care and after a few days he was beginning to see the fruits of his labor. His control over his chakra became enormous. Naruto had told him that the larger the chakra reserves the more time it would take it to reign it in. Thankfully it seemed that Shirou was somewhat of a prodigy in chakra control which left Naruto grumbling something about unfairness.

Naruto had taught him just the basics of tree walking and told him the theory about the remaining exercises and while Shirou was busy learning tree and water walking, Naruto had to sweat by learning how to align the sand grains in a straight line on his hand and change their colors using chakra itself.

Shirou then started training in improving his haki and he was quite happy when Naruto asked his help in learning the use of haki. Shirou agreed and told him everything he could remember. Surprisingly Naruto was able to awaken all the three forms quite easily and then asked for tips in improving them. In this case Shirou couldn't help him much because he himself knew very limited methods apart form training continuously.

The duo became a trio when Naruto added Sakura to their little group. Shirou knew little about her, he knew that Naruto knew something about her but he didn't ask. Everyone is entitled have some secrets after all.

Speaking of Naruto, Shirou was really confused by him. Sometimes that guy seem to act wise beyond his years and sometimes he could act like a total idiot playing stupid pranks on everyone bar his mother. Shirou could easily see why Naruto was deathly afraid of his mother, she was a devil in disguise after all. They way her hair swings like tails when she is pissed is not normal at all. Having felt her ire once when he helped Naruto in pranking Iruka, Shirou was really terrified of her.

The trio soon started to be the center of attention in the academy. Surpassing their peers like it was nothing. Hell in mock battle all three of them were able to defeat those students who were on the verge of becoming genin and that said something. The academy seeing their brilliance asked them whether they wanted to get promoted or not. Shirou still remembered head instructor's shocked face when Naruto refused the said promotion for all of them. The reason he gave to him and a miffed Sakura was quite simple, by being academy they can form bonds with the peers and can train more in private so as to when they finally become genin they could easily surpass everyone.

Well neither of them can argue with his reasoning even if they weren't happy with it.

"OI SHIROU YOU ARE LATE YOU STUPID IDIOT"

Oh it seems that he had caused his friends to get late for the academy and by looking at their face he could tell that he would be punished.

"Oh well nothing can be done now" he thought and with a smile on his face he ran alongside them to the academy

Sakura

As she ate with them, she was quiet. Normally, Sakura would assume people like Naruto and Shirou would never notice her. Naruto and Shirou…they were…they were geniuses. Shirou was the son to an awesome S-Rank kunoichi and the last member of the Yuki clan. He'd likely spent all his life training to be a ninja. In fact, Shirou could already use chakra like many ninjas she had seen in the village, and that at the age of ten.

Naruto…Naruto was like Shirou, and at the same time he wasn't. Sometimes he was like the rest of them, fun loving, and carefree. But sometimes she saw a look in his eye, when he thought no one was looking. She saw a look that spoke of hidden intelligence far greater than what he showed. She saw taking stock, and observing, and thinking long and hard about what he was seeing.

If the two of them were birds, Shirou was a hawk soaring high in the clouds swooping down to strike his prey and stealing them into the skies, and Naruto would be an Eagle or a falcon, flying even higher, touching the brim of space before diving down towards death in a defiant call, waiting until the last instant to grab its prey, killing it from the force of the blow…and she…well she'd be that prey.

She didn't know why the boys had decided to come to her rescue, but she was happy they did. Ever since she could remember children used to bully her. That day wasn't any different. She could still remembered the encounter, all too clearly. There she had been, crying as her bullies stood over her, trying to stand as they pushed her down. Meek and already used to this torment that had started long before she entered the academy and despite that still continued.

She'd been ready for more torment that day, and as she had expected it had come…but this time…this time when they pushed her down and started to mock her for her frailty, a blond boy had come rushing in…him.

Naruto who was brilliant, smart, strong, Naruto the guy who just seem to stare into space for most of the class, barely paying attention yet still managing to pass tests and class with seemingly laughable ease.

Following him, seemingly reluctantly, had been Shirou.

Shirou, hardworking serious though sometimes a bit lazy Shirou, seemingly just a brilliant as Naruto. The two knew each other from before and had struck it off from the get go. The first day they talked a lot. From the second day they started to sit together. On the third day of the academy, they were running up and down the academy laughing and smiling. They were like Knights in shining armor, appearing to save a maiden in need like the stories her Mom read her on occasion.

The bullies dispersed after a rather one sided brawl, and there they stood… Summer and Winter. Naruto as bright as the sun on a summer day, a wide toothed grin on his face, his sky blue eyes brimming with delight as he stared down at her reminding her of summer. Shirou, a look she couldn't quite place on his face, looked down at her in interest, his white air reminding her of the winter.

From that day onwards she was added into their rag tag group and Ino her only friend before Naruto and Shirou was specially really happy for her.

As the part of 'Naruto Awesome Team' Naruto took upon himself to ask her parents to allow Sakura to train with them. She doesn't know what they talked about but that night her mom and dad seemed to be quite shaken and allowed her to train with the two of the hooligansas her father called them but with fondness in his voice.

The first lesson which Naruto taught her was the meaning of being shinobi. It was her belief that well the life of a shinobi was an easy one, where someone would always be there to help her out.

Naruto and Shirou broke down her belief. They made her realize that a life of a shinobi wasn't an easy one. They were in a sense training to be guys who lie, cheat, steal and kill and life of such a guy wasn't that easy.

It was another problem that before training with them she hadn't killed any animal. Since Naruto and Shirou usually trained at forest of death, it was important for them to at least teach her some killing skills or she may not survive the encounters with some wild animals. Naruto decided to make Sakura kill a bunny. At first Sakura thought it was quite heartless thing to do. Eventually she was able to do it, with Naruto even telling her that as a shinobi they would have to kill or else how could she'll be able to watch his and Shirou's back in future.

Sakura soon started to train with them in the forest. The first task with Naruto did with her was to ask her to not to loose her calm in any situation. She could still remember what he said to her before starting to train her

"Sakura it is possible that during a mission you may have to face certain enemies which are stronger than you. Promise me that you won't loose your calm in those situations or else things would be very difficult for you."

She was also taught that not be ashamed if she feared something but according to both her friends fear is a motivating factor to allow people to improve.

By the end of the in the academy Sakura was surpassing every kunoichi in the academy. She was being called as the second coming of Tsunade by people in the village and her parents were proud of her and were understanding when he replied her reason of not taking promotion at the moment.

Now as she sat with the two of them in the class room which they had reached in the nick of time she was a changed person all together.

"I can let them wander too far. These two have always been there for me. It is true that they are far ahead of me but my friends give me some time an I'll definitely prove to be able to stand by your side….and especially yours Naruto" she thought while looking at Naruto who was joking alongside Kiba as the class waited for Iruka.

Naruto

As Naruto sat in class enduring Iruka's lecture on the four hokages his thoughts drifted towards the things which happened over the years. The third shinobi war finally came to an end with the signing of an alliance between Kumo and Konoha but this time around it seemed that things were certainly different as Raikage's father's student Enel betrayed Kumo killing half of the STORM unit and seriously wounding Bee during his escape which ultimately lead to Kumo agreeing on the alliance.

It took him a long time but he was able to learn as much as he could from the memories. Naruto in the end decided only to absorb Ashura's and Hashirama's lifetime memories while discarding Indra's and Madara's bar their knowledge and the result was that he was a change man. He was no longer the love deprived boy he once was, he was something different now.

He had even awaken Moukton which caused a lot of questions of how and why. Yondaime just stated it off as a fact that the Uzumaki were related to Senju's and Naruto was just the lucky case. Minato during that meeting made the fact that Naruto's bloodlines were now S-class secret so as to prevent other nations to come after him. It was later decided that since Naruto was the second man to ever awaken Moukton he would grow it naturally at first using the Senju library and after some time if the results were inadequate then Tenzo would teach him. Meanwhile during the clan meeting Naruto's attention was solely focused on Danzo and from what he could sense he could easily conclude that the old warhawk was just playing to be the good guy. It would be a matter of time before he'll show his true colors and when he does then he'll be waiting.

Naruto has also started to make a lot of deep relations with the other rookie 12 after entering the academy and had a pretty good success with how the things were going.

Shino, although indifferent, was aware of Naruto's intelligence and since of logic. However, he was intrigued at how Naruto's status as the son of a Hokage didn't go to his head like it would have done to so many others their age. Hell even Mito and Menma sometimes acted full off themselves which earned them a look from their eldest brother but Naruto never acted arrogant. He was polite to everyone even his fangirls and…. maybe that's why they were more in number as compared to Menma and Sasuke. Naruto however was still a prankster and a clever one at that, Shino acknowledged. Although Shino never came out and admitted it, he appreciated that Naruto didn't find him or his family creepy for their use and connections to insects and kikai bugs like all the other children were and that he was in fact amazed by it, and for that Shino respected Naruto.

Chouji liked how Naruto would hangout with him, Shikamaru and Kiba and not act so fully of himself. Chouji also liked that fact that Naruto never called him fat or teased him like others have in the past. To Chouji, Naruto was really one of the guys.

With Kiba things were different. Kiba dislike Naruto at first, in time took a liking to him seeing how he has a thing for canines like his family. They were like rival of sorts with Naruto always defeating Kiba and encouraging him to train harder. Also, Kiba's white dog Akamaru also took a liking to Naruto.

Shikamaru, although lazy and non-enthusiastic, respected Naruto, especially since Naruto never blew his spot for sleeping in class repetitiously. However he found Naruto getting himself in trouble for his pranks and other antics to be rather, troublesome. Since Naruto was few of people except his father who could beat him in shogi, they used to play a lot together and had became quit good friends.

Ino found Naruto to be a mystery. She sensed that there's was more to Naruto than meets the eyes and more than he let on. He was too intelligent and sophisticated for his age, especially as a strategic prankster and escape artist among the Chuunins and Jounins. Ever since the academy had started, her father, Inoichi, have been pushing her to get to know Naruto for reasons she couldn't quite understand. At first, she figured that it was because he was the son of a Hokage, but after spending time around him, she saw that he was a puzzle she wanted to solve and solve it she set herself on doing, one way or another. The only obstacle in her path was Sakura who was in Naruto's inner circle and had improved leaps and bounds. She did have a crush on Sasuke for a time, but was eventually turned off by his unchanged harsh and cold demeanor, especially since her father didn't like the idea of her fawning over Sasuke like his other fangirls. Ino saw how Naruto and Sasuke were total opposites of each other. A couple of times, Inoichi invited Naruto over to their house. Often times though, Inoichi would try to fix it in a way that Naruto would be around his daughter for the majority of the time. His wife caught on to this, however the thought of her daughter being matched with the son of a Hokage was most appealing, so she did nothing to hinder what her husband was trying to do. Instead she encouraged it.

Hinata appreciated how Naruto treated her since the time they became friends. Over the years, he'd spar and practice with her and help point out and correct her mistakes. He didn't look and treat her like she was weak or a disgrace like her family had. In time, she slowly started stuttering less and improved in her skills and speech. Naruto even allowed himself to be used as practice for her Byakugan. Her father Hiashi was impressed and pleased with Hinata's progress and surprising improvements. He was no fool though; he knew that Naruto had something to do with it and as a result, he encouraged Hinata to associate more with Naruto and try to get to know him on deeper levels. Hinata was shocked that her father, as harsh as he could be towards her because of her past failures, was praising and encouraging her and it was all because of Naruto's influence. Eagerly seeking to heed her father's encouragement, Hinata sought to get to know her major crush even more. Hiashi had even invited Naruto over on several occasions and allowed him to socialize and train with his daughter.

Sasuke on the other hand was the same as Sasuke of original time line. Sure he didn't wanted to kill his brother seeing his family was till alive but he hated Naruto with guts. Maybe it was due to his inferiority complex that made him dislike the red haired son of Yondaime.

During the past four years Naruto had also improved by leaps and bounds. He had developed a new fighting style which was a mix of Senju's Nature Fist and Uchiha's Interceptor fist. He had also mastered his Kenbunshoku Haki to the extreme level while gradually improving in the other two. He had also mastered the basics of all elemental manipulations as well as had a solid grasp on sealing arts reaching what his mother labeling him as a novice master in the art. It basically meant that Naruto could now experiment on various seals without supervision.

Naruto had also got closer with Tsunade since his parents had to train his siblings a lot he would usually be in her care or Kakashi who was now somewhat of a big brother for Naruto. Through Kakashi Naruto was able to meet Gai, Asuma, Kunerai and many others.

Gai was as youthful as ever and he even gave him tips on his taijutsu. He and Naruto went along smoothly and hell even he gave him his signature spandex as well which unfortunately his mother destroyed as soon as she saw it with Kakashi cheering her all the way.

Naruto was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't noticed how much trouble he was in with Iruka who was calling him for past few minutes.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto immediately jumped from his seat and stood in attention. Everyone except his siblings laughed at the scene while his siblings were giving him looks which said not to cause any trouble.

"Yes Iruka-sensei," Naruto said. Iruka, annoyed at Naruto's sleeping habits, stated, "Do you find our discussion on the five Hokages so boring that you were lost in your own thoughts?"

"When one of your families closest friend is the granddaughter and grandniece of Shodaime and Nidaime who taught Sandaime, who taught my godmother and godfather who later taught my father Yondaime, what more can you teach me about them that my family especially my godmother hasn't already taught me?"

Iruka's right eye twitched from Naruto's sense of reasoning yet well worded explanation. The fact that annoyed Iruka further was that Naruto was right. Sakura and other girls chuckled from his explanation.

He's so smart, a couple of the girls thought as they looked at him dreamily but stopped giving him looks when they saw the looks Sakura and Mito were giving them. It was a well known fact in the academy that Mito and Sakura hates fangirls especially Naruto's fangirls.

"Well Naruto," Iruka said, "Since it's your family we're talking about, it SHOULD hold your attention to say the least since they were the ones who built Konohagakure No Sato and contributed greatly to the medical and sealing fields and this village's history."

"I'm sorry," Naruto replied, "No disrespect to you or to my family and the past Kages, but I spent all last night and days prior studying sealing and practicing with little sleep. But if situation does arise I'll give my views on it."

"That's good to hear," Iruka said, although concerned about Naruto with regards to what he said earlier, "We were just going to talk about Shodaime Hokage."

'Now that's something I can do easily,'Naruto thought

"I'd like to say some things about Shodaime," Naruto said as he moved and went to the front of the class. Iruka stepped aside and gave Naruto the spotlight.

"OK Naruto," Iruka stated, "What would you like to say about Shodaime Hokage?"

Looking at the class, Naruto started, "Shodaime Hokage, whose real name is Senju Hashirama was born during the Warring States Period and was the eldest of Butsuma Senju's four sons. Hashirama and his brothers grew up on the battlefield waging constant war with the Senju's rivals: the Uchiha. It is said that during his younger age he met Uchiha Madara without them knowing their full names and became friends. Hashirama did not approve of this practice of sending children to fight and die, believing it would only increase the bitterness between the Senju and Uchiha, thus causing more deaths. After few close deaths in the family, Hashirama decided a new shinobi system would need to be implemented to end the cycle of child deaths. Like Hashirama, Madara was also a shinobi who had lost brothers on the battlefield. Together they imagined a world where children like themselves wouldn't need to fight and where their family would be safe from harm. But soon they came to know each others identity: Hashirama was a Senju, Madara was an Uchiha; it was their duty to kill each other. Hashirama set this duty aside, unwilling to take his friend's life. Madara, however, decided their dreams of a peaceful world were impossible, and therefore ended their friendship so that they could kill each other without reservation.

Naruto continued his discussion while holding everyone's attention, including Iruka's. The class were amazed at how much he knew about Shodaime in such details. The girls just looked at him dreamily, like how they would do with Sasuke and Menma.

"You'd think Naruto lives with the man," Kiba whispered to Menma, who was shocked to see his brother's knowledge about the first hokage but seeing as Naruto used to spend a lot of time at Senju compound thought that he got that information from there."

"Hn," snorted Sasuke in boredom with his arms crossed. Naruto continued, "….Over the following years Hashirama and Madara continued to meet in combat. Hashirama could never bring himself to kill someone he still considered a friend, and Madara could never defeat Hashirama's superior abilities. In time, both Madara and Hashirama became leaders of their respective clans. Under Hashirama's leadership and extraordinary prowess, the Senju began to best the Uchiha Clan until at one point Hashirama had both Madara and Izuna at his mercy. However, unable to find the resolve to kill his childhood friend, Hashirama tried to send Madara a cease-fire request to broker peace between them and finally make their childhood dreams a reality. Although some Uchiha found the offer increasingly tempting, Madara was unwilling to accept after Tobirama killed his last remaining brother, Izuna."

"Wracked with grief, Madara made one final stand against Hashirama and the Senju and was summarily defeated. Tobirama attempted to kill Madara to finally end the fighting, but Hashirama stopped him, knowing that would only renew hostilities between the Senju and Uchiha. At Madara's suggestion, Hashirama offered to kill himself in order to achieve a peaceful resolution. As he was about to end his own life, Madara stopped him, moved by the gesture, and assented to peace. The Senju, the Uchiha, and all their affiliated clans came together to found a village of peace, where children would never need to die in battle. Hashirama and Madara, rekindling their childhood friendship, called that village Konohagakure. Although Hashirama created much of the village's infrastructure with his Wood Release abilities, it was his wish that Madara become Hokage, the village's leader and protector. At Tobirama's insistence, the Hokage position was opened up to a vote by Konoha's villagers, and it was Hashirama that they elected into office. Hashirama wanted Madara to become his adviser so that he could improve his standing among the villagers and someday succeed him as Second Hokage. Madara felt that position would inevitably go to Tobirama, which would in turn end badly for the Uchiha. With his position in Konoha rapidly diminishing, Madara decided the village was a failed experiment and abandoned it, intent on someday returning to face Hashirama in battle yet again. Hashirama later married a most skilled, talented and beautiful kunoichi named Mito, who was from the former Uzumaki No Kuni (Whilrlpool Country). Konoha were its allies till its destruction and even today our shinobi's wear jackets that has their sign at back as a token of respect"

"True to his promise, Madara eventually returned to Konoha with the Nine-Tails fox under his control, challenging Hashirama to one final contest. The Nine-Tails' power, as well as Hashirama's efforts to capture and contain it, devastated the landscape, carving out what would later be called the Valley of the End. " Naruto said as he saw every one in the class listening to him with pin drop silence. Patting his back with a job well done he continued "Senju Hashirama was an excitable man with a boisterous personality. He loved meeting new people, having friendly competitions, and gambling. Headstrong and often impulsive, it fell to others – such as his brother, Tobirama – to be more responsible or realistic about things that Hashirama had gotten carried away with. Despite the first impression he may give, Hashirama was capable of being serious when it came to matters that were important to him. He spent years opposing the practice of sending children to war and dreamed of a shinobi system where a child could be around others his or her age, never needing to 'grow up' prematurely on the battlefield. To that end he became very devoted to Konoha upon its foundation, as it was the realization of his dream for peaceful childhoods. He wanted the rest of the village to cherish what Konoha represented just as much as he did, encouraging them to regard every villager as part of one large family that should always look out for each other. As Hokage, his job was to protect that family at all costs, even if that cost was his life. This philosophy, known as the "Will of Fire", would become a cornerstone of Konoha teachings for decades after his death. A large part of Hashirama's legacy was his philosophy of the Will of Fire, which became increasingly common amongst Konoha's ninja in the years after his death. Future Hokages, in particular, were expected to fully adopt the philosophy."

"Hashirama was famed as the strongest shinobi of his era, reputed as a God of Shinobi. Hashirama's prowess had yet to be matched, with people regarding his abilities in a fantasy light. He was extremely skilled in everything. The greatest medic ever. The iryo ninjutsu done now-a-days by medics are just an attempt to delay death compared to a guy who could heal many life threatening injuries without hand signs. Even Senju Tsunade whom many regard as the greatest medic do not hold a candle against her grand father. He was also revered for his moukton bloodline which was as beautiful as deadly." and with that Naruto concluded.

Everyone stared at awe at Naruto, especially Iruka, who couldn't think of anything to add to what Naruto explained about Shodaime.

Naruto said a lot more than what I would have said, Iruka acknowledged while looking at Naruto in astonishment. A few of the guys looked at Naruto jealously, thinking that they could have done better while some of the girls were thinking how smart and handsome he was.

"Thank you Naruto," Iruka complimented reclaiming control of the class again, "That was a most impressive and detailed explanation you gave about Shodaime Hokage. You really do your studies I must admit."

"I have to," Naruto remarked as he started walking back to his desk, "Because he is the one I plan to surpass."

That statement caught everyone's immediate attention, as everyone turned and looked at Naruto as if he was joking. Even his siblings were shocked they knew about his dreams but always thought that their big brother was joking but looking in his eyes it was pretty clear that he was damn serious about this.

"You," Sasuke mocked, causing Naruto to stop where he was and look straight at him, "Of all people intend to surpass Shodaime Hokage, the man who's said to have been the greatest shinobi that ever lived?"

"That's right," Naruto replied with unshaken conviction. Sasuke snorted, "Hn…And what do you intend to surpass him in, Naruto?"

"In just about…everything," Naruto answered with a large smile "Because you see Sasuke, I'm going to push myself to work harder to become the future Hokage of this village some day!"

After saying that, he continued on his way back to his seat with everyone was still staring at him in disbelief. Everyone at that moment saw Naruto in a whole new light.

"Naruto has quite an ambition," one of the girls whispered to another who nodded in agreement, "True, but do you think he can pull such a feat off?"

"How troublesome," Shikamaru retorted.

So this is it I hope you guys like it and as always don't forget to review. If this is your first time then don't forget to click Favourite as well as follow.

The next chapter will see who will be the sensei of Naruto and let me tell you he is a iconic figure in Naruto verse.

Moreover the missions will be totally out of cannon. Menma and Mito will do cannon missions while Naruto and his teams will do something epic of their standards.

So until next time

Vigilante 14