Good Morning! Or evening, depending on where you are, I guess. Whatever, I suppose it doesn't really matter. I'm kind of surprised, I didn't really expect this story to start taking off after just a couple of days, but it's pretty sweet, so thanks, guys. Anyways, back at it again with a new chapter of "Immortalized"!

Chapter 4

The Foundations We Lay

"Uzumaki Naruto, reporting as ordered, Hokage-Sama."

The Sandaime Hokage raised an eyebrow at the newest arrival to his office, through the damn window, no less. Absentmindedly wondering if he would be able to break that habit of the young Naruto before it became so ingrained that it wouldn't be possible, the Hokage appraised his new appearance. It had appeared by the boy's submissive and respectful greeting that he at least had gained some respect for people in a position of authority over the last 6 years. It could also be garnered that Jiraiya hadn't been idle in his training of the boy, if his (albeit flashy) entrance was to go by. Hiruzen Sarutobi was not often surprised, especially not it his old age. The old man had been through a lot in his life, after all, and there wasn't much he hadn't seen or done. However, it was with pleasant surprise that the old Hokage allowed a small smile to grace his wrinkled face as he gazed down at the young man that kneeled before him.

"Naruto! Please, please, stand up and come here, let me get a full look at you. It's been nearly 6 years since I've gotten a look at you." Gleamed Sarutobi, as Naruto stood to his full height, bringing his sword to rest in his standard position of across his shoulders. "And so respectful, too! Jiraiya must really have done a number on you these past few years!" At this, the Sandaime chuckled before lowering himself back into his desk, as the young Uzumaki began addressing the twice serving Hokage.

"He definitely worked me pretty hard, some days, Hokage-Sama. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. I may not have had my real parents, but Ero-Sensei was the next best thing…" At this Naruto paused, grinning, before rubbing the back of his head in his trademark look. "…you know, being my Godfather and all."

The silence that filled the room could have been shattered by a pin dropping, which it very nearly almost was, although not in the form of a pin, but rather with the Hokage's signature pipe. The old man had pulled it out and began packing it with some special tobacco, from Rice Country, if he remembered correctly, when he heard Naruto's revelation. It wasn't the fact that Jiraiya was his Godfather that surprised him, no he already knew that, in fact, it had been Jiraiya himself who had told him the very same day that Minato and Kushina had revealed that they had chosen him for the title. No, the part that made the usually very composed and reserved shinobi nearly drop his pipe was the fact that Naruto himself knew of Jiraiya's stance in his life. The once revered God of Shinobi looked at the young Uzumaki, before snapping his head to the left, making eye contact with his former student. "Jiraiya, explanation. Now." By the tone in his voice and his clipped sentence, it was very clear to all in the room that there was no longer an atmosphere for tomfoolery, and serious answers would only be accepted.

Jiraiya, for his part, at least had the decency to look sheepish, as he took a page out of Naruto's book and scratched the back of his head in near-mock embarrassment. "Well, you see, Sarutobi… I actually had to tell him. It happened while we were back in the Land of Iron, you remember how I had to leave Naruto there for a little while I took care of a lead on a certain snake. Well, anyways I come back, and the kid has become quite the little Kenjutsu master, so I give him the scroll from Kushina, and as it turns out, she had sealed a letter in with her old sword, as well. Before I could stop him, Naruto had read the whole thing, and suffice to say, he can be very persuasive when he needs to…" At this, Jiraiya had a momentary flashback of the Uzumaki in question, holding the last seal of some fire jutsu, with all of his compiled 'research' notebooks lying in a pile a short distance away.

"It's-It's alright, Hokage-Sama, I know why you hid it from me, but I'm stronger now! I've fought and trained and I'm good! I'm not worried about Tou-San's or Kaa-San's enemies! If they were going to send someone after me they'd have done it by now. I mean, everyone's got to know who I am. It's not exactly hard to figure out!" The young Uzumaki practically yelled, dropping the calm and collected façade that he had been carrying for the earlier part of his debrief. He walked over to the window, and stood facing inward, his face adjacent to that of the fallen Fourth Hokage's. "I mean, come one Jiji," Naruto sighed, not even noticing his slip of the tongue that reverted him to his younger self, "I don't know how I didn't see it, let alone everyone else. Aside from my whiskers, I'm a spitting image!"

Sarutobi looked onward, switching between Naruto and Jiraiya, before sighing to himself and looking down. For once, he was glad he had the foresight to send his office's ANBU guards out before the special debrief had started. He had been against keeping the truth from Naruto from the very beginning, but had been unfortunately overruled by the council, as had been happening more often than not lately. Ever since they had managed to grab more political power within the village in the short absence between the death of the Fourth and the ascension to power of the Third. Deciding to just make his decision now, in a rather short moment of impulsiveness, the Sandaime opened one of the many hidden drawers on his desk, and retrieved a scroll from inside. Steeling himself, he looked at the scroll in his hand one final time, before motioning Naruto over to him, and handing it to the dull blonde.

"Naruto, this was left to you by both of your parents. It contains everything that you will need to gain entrance to the Namikaze estate in the fourth quadrant of the residential area. The place was well protected with seals the last time I went there, so I'd follow whatever instructions were in there to the letter. You are free to leave, as I'm sure you'd rather explore your new home than stay here for a debrief that Jiraiya can easily handle." At that, and with a clipped "Hokage-Sama", Naruto placed the scroll in question into the pouch on the back of his left him, before standing and vanishing in a swirl of leaves via Shunshin.

After watching the young Uzumaki leave and verifying that the room's integrity was still secure, he brought his hands to his temple, rubbing his forehead slowly and in circles. He had a feeling that this meeting he was having with his old student was going to be over later, rather than sooner. This idea was only further cemented in his head as Jiraiya took a seat in front of him, producing a bottle of Sake and a pair of saucers from seemingly nowhere, setting them on the table and beginning to pour them both a gracious amount. Sarutobi merely looked up at his former student, before allowing a sly smile to slip onto his face once again. "So, he knows the Shunshin too, eh?"

Jiraiya, now finished pouring their drinks, handed one to his Sensei. "Hiruzen, you don't even know the half of it." And with that, he began to tell his Sensei what had happened since he had taken Naruto from the village so many years ago.

Naruto sat in the one place in the village he had always felt truly safe, sound, or secure, the top of the Hokage Monument. Or rather, more specifically, the top of the Yondaime Hokage's head. It made sense, now that he thought about it. For the first four years of his life, Naruto would take the long pilgrimage up the far side of the mountain, climbing the several thousand steps to the top of the monument. Once at the top the usually hyperactive four year old would just sit for hours on end on one of the various heads of the leaders of his village, sometimes in silence, but more often than not he would have a conversation with one or more of the stone statues. While he would have talks and make up dialogue between himself and the other leaders, his favorite to sit on was always that of the Yondaime. He had never understood why he always felt connected to that one, but now he had all the reason and more to understand the strange connection that he used to feel.

It was up here that Naruto would come to think, to vent, or just to have someone to talk to. He honestly couldn't even begin to count the times he had come up here. So as it was, it made sense that one of the first places he would come to after his return to Konoha would be the top of the Hokage Monument. As he took his usual seat placed in the forward-center of the Yondaime's head, overlooking the village, he couldn't help but sigh in content. While it was true that the village had left him with many awful memories full to the brim with abuse, suffering, and pain, those memories were also now six years past. Plus, Naruto was far from defenseless, now. Jiraiya had even told him on their return to Konoha that he would peg him at about mid-Chunin level, which for his young age he had been re assured was extremely well. When he had asked Jiraiya about his substantial growth, the Sannin had told him to just chalk it up to a combination of his own hard work ethic, Jiraiya's awesome teaching skills (his words, not Naruto's), and a very liberal amount of Kage Bunshin'.

It was now, while Naruto was sitting up here, which he was mulling over his recently acquired scroll. Sighing to himself and steeling his emotions, Naruto brought his right hand to his mouth, biting down on his thumb, and then smearing the now flowing blood across the sealing matrix of the scroll, unsealing it in a small pull of smoke. When the smoke had cleared, a small envelope lay in Naruto's lap. Wasting no time in picking it up and quickly tearing it open, Naruto began to read the last memento of his father, not even noticing, nor caring, about the tears that were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes.

Later on, he wouldn't remember it raining.

The Namikaze estate, it itself, wasn't really anything special to look at. This was a far statement from saying that it was a dump, but it certainly was nowhere near as grand as the Hyuuga Clan Compound, or anywhere close to as ominous as the now desolate Uchiha Clan District. No, the Namikaze estate was quite unassuming, and in all honesty, if you didn't know who it belonged to, the house itself could be mistaken for that of a well off merchant or that of an unassuming shinobi. It was a simple, two story building that was adjacent to the Nara Clan Compound on the left, and due to this was boarded on two sides that led into the large border wall separating the two clans, beyond which was the large forested area that the Nara used to tend their deer. All in all, the Namikaze estate itself wasn't anything to write home about.

Those were the first thoughts that Naruto had when he jumped off of one of the adjoining roofs of a nearby house, landing in the street directly in front of the home-his new home. Taking a breath, Naruto walked up to the front door of the house, and then following the instructions left by his father, swiped his (once again) bloody palm across the door, watching with subdued interest as a sealing matrix briefly appeared on the door, before he heard a small, but still quite audible, click. Steeling himself, and glancing around him real quick, Naruto gripped the door handle, opening it, and walking inside.

To say that Naruto was surprised, would be a slight understatement. There was not a hint of dust in the place, despite having been the equivalent of abandoned for the better part of 10 years. Everything in the room was still exactly as his parents had left it, and had he been old enough to remember it, he was sure nothing had changed. As he walked through the house, Naruto found himself constantly choking in near sorrow and reminiscent love. He walked through the kitchen of the house, idly placing Kaze no Karitoriki (Wind Reaper) on the large wooden table, as we opened cupboards and moved around, absentmindedly creating a couple of Kage Bunshin to clear out all of the expired goods. Even the passage of time cannot be stopped with seals, he noted, seeing one of his clones nearly lose its composure over a container of very expired milk. Having enough of that, Naruto found himself in a hallway, with a door on either side. Mentally flipping a coin, he headed into the room on the left, and what he found there would occupy him for quite the extended time, to say the least.

Placing either hand on the desk in what was apparently his father's study, Naruto couldn't help but feel inadequate to his fathers recognized genius. On the table in front of him were several Hiraishin kunai, and unable to stop himself, Naruto immediately grabbed one, and threw it against one of the adjourning walls, waiting for the signature 'flash' that came to define the Yondaime. Frowning when it never occurred, he looked down at the desk, finding it littered with his late father's notes on his signature justu, but after quickly looking through them, it was discovered that Naruto would only be able to use them as a guideline to fashioning the jutsu for his own use, as unfortunately it wasn't as simple as being of Namikaze blood. Naruto replaced the notes, and made a mental one to get better at seals so he could one day come to use the Hiraishin. He did want to surpass his father, and all the previous Hokage, after all.

Exiting the room, he passed through the doorway opposite on the other side of the hall, and for as much mental preparing he had begun since he stepped through the front door, and for as much as he tried to compose himself, it was still quite hard to stem the flow of tears that came to his eyes as he found himself standing in a room that was very clearly meant for a newborn child. With a crib against the wall, a mobile hanging from the ceiling, and various chests and such around the room, it was obvious who this room belonged to, or was supposed to. Naruto kneeled down, and clutching the picture frame he had grabbed when he visited his parents old room, he broke down. Unable to hold back the proverbial damn that had finally burst, Naruto cried. He cried long, and hard, until finally it seemed that there were no more tears that would come, and then, glancing down at the picture held in his hands, he stood. He needed some air, and he still had a lot to do today.

"They were good people, Naruto. I loved Minato like my own son." Naruto jumped, but calmed himself when he recognized the voice belonged to Jiraiya. Naruto looked over his right shoulder at the man who had raised him for the last 6 years, and it was still quite evident that he had been sobbing. He looked back down at the photo in his hands, and his head drooped. Jiraiya walked a little closer to the young blonde, and placed one of his large hands on his shoulder, gripping softly, but still tightly. He was here to try and comfort his Godson, and, in the back of his mind he knew that this would take a while, so he was happy that he had already taken care of all of Naruto's registration for the academy.

"Hey, come on, we're back in the village! It's been years, so let's go explore! What was the name of that ramen stand you always used to talk about?" Jiraiya tried to prod the young man into some action, anything really, to get him moving. He knew Naruto, and the best way to get him out of a slump was to either train or to get him to the nearest ramen stand and allow him to gorge himself to his heart's content. And, considering that Jiraiya, although revered as one of the strongest ninja in the Elemental Countries, was also quite lazy when he chose to be, training was out of the option.

Naruto looked up at his Sensei, a small semblance of light returning to his blue eyes. "You mean Ichiraku's? I think they are still open, I didn't get the chance to check earlier because of the meeting with the old man…" Naruto trailed off as Jiraiya had at this point practically grabbed him and, after Naruto made sure to pick up Kaze no Karitoriki, shoved him out the door. Jiraiya, while not the best person to attempt to comfort others, was very adept at helping distract people from their problems. Unfortunately for Naruto, his current problem was one that only time and consistency could heal, and it was something that while other people may be able to help comfort him, it was ultimately something that he would have to face alone.

Saying that Ayame was bored was akin to saying that the ocean was wet. The stand itself was in something of a decline for the last few days, but it was sure to pick up again due to its close proximity to the ninja academy which was starting up tomorrow. Unfortunately, that was tomorrow, not today, and there had been no customers in the cozy little ramen stand today. No, today maybe she'd try and talk to her Dad, maybe convince him to close up the shop a little earlier than normal and she'd go out. As she was going through what she wanted to do for the next few hours to try and pass the time, she almost missed the short, lithe frame of an old family friend walk into the small, unassuming shop, and take a seat on one of the several bar stools. Seeing as how he was still unnoticed, the lone man raised an eyebrow at the young, petite woman behind the bar, who was seemingly staring off into space, before clearing his throat to get her attention.

Ayame was pulled out of her subconscious contemplating quick enough, and snapped her head around fast enough to nearly make her head spin. Blushing sheepishly, she raised a hand both in greeting and in an apologetic manner as she addressed the first customer of the day. "Oh! S-sorry! I wasn't paying attention… anyways! Welcome to Ichiraku! What can I get you?" Ayame manage to stammer out after a quick second of thought, pulling a notebook and pen out from her apron, preparing to take the strange, but albeit familiar, newcomer.

The short man looked up at Ayame, and she couldn't help but feel that she knew him from somewhere. There was just too much about him that reminded her of someone, but she just couldn't place it for someone. Naruto chuckled, and without even looking at the menu, ordered off of memory, nearly shocking Ayame with the sheer magnitude of his order. "Good afternoon, Ayame-Neechan! I'll take four bowls of miso ramen, two of pork, and three of chicken, to start! And, tell old man Teuchi I say hi!" Naruto called out, which was all it took for the wheels in the young bar maids head to finish turning, and she whispered at first, almost to herself, "…Naruto?"

All Naruto could do was grin, he was a little skeptical that the two ramen stand owners would know him, and the last thing he wanted to do now was have to reintroduce himself to all of his old friends. It was a pleasant change of pace, at least, especially since Jiraiya had bailed on him almost as soon as they left the Namikaze estate. He had said something about having to make a report or something, but in truth Naruto had only been half listening and he knew that if he needed the man he could always find him at the hot springs or the women's bath, partaking in his 'research'. It wasn't long before Ayame had bent as far over the counter as she could, grabbing Naruto and pulling him into a new bone crushing hug that he guessed was both happy to see him and was meaning to try and make up for all the years he missed. Naruto, whilst being suffocated by his pseudo older sister, barely was barely able to hear her calling out to her Dad and telling him to come up and see their long lost best customer.

It was here, being crushed to death by an absurdly strong ramen stand waitress, that Naruto realized just how much he had missed his traditional home. That's not to say that he didn't enjoy the many years he had spent traveling all across the elemental nations with Jiraiya, but it was nice to know that he now had a place to stay, with new and old friends both budding and waiting for him. As he spent the next couple hours at the homely little ramen stand telling tales of his travels with the great Toad Sage, Naruto came to a realization.

Maybe he was wrong about his misgivings about coming back to Konoha.

A few hours later, when the sun was setting over the back of the Hokage Monument, Naruto finally called it a day, and upon saying goodbye to Ayame and Teuchi, Naruto began his walk home, opting this time to take a longer, more scenic route, if you will, towards his new home, which in all practicality wasn't that far from the stand. Idly thinking that this may be a problem, considering he had quite the fixation on the sustenance of the God's themselves, Naruto rounded another corner, headed for home. He had a long day ahead of him, after all. And if he was being honest with himself, a long year until he could attempt to take the academy's final exam early, and become a Genin in one year instead of the typical 3. As smart and as strong as he was, the Hokage had refused to give him special treatment on the matter, and he would still have to attend just like every other Konoha Shinobi.

Oh well, he would make it work. It was doubtful, but maybe he'd even learn something, and there was always the possibility of making friends. The Hokage had made it seem quite adamant that he at least attempt to bond with his classmates, as it was very likely that he would eventually be working with them on missions later in life. Even Naruto had to admit that it made sense, considering having a rapport with someone made it easier to understand each other. As he turned onto his street and was greeted with the sight of his parents-his house-, he was reminded that currently the only bed in the house was his parents. He shrugged to himself, he'd send some clones out in the morning to renovate the house and change things to better suite his own image. Not that he wanted to completely erase his parents touch on the house, quite the opposite in fact, he simply needed to move some things around in the house to better suit him, since he was the only person who lived there, after all. He sighed to himself and opened the door to his home, glancing over his shoulder once at the moonlit night, before shutting the door and going to bed. Things were beginning to look up.

He never noticed the lone ANBU operative watching him from and rooftop down the road, and he would have no idea that they wrote something on a scroll before bending down, summoning a small raven, and sending it off, scroll in tow, before leaving the area themselves.

Uzumaki Naruto looked up at the large frame of the Leaf's Ninja Academy building. Like most of the other buildings in Konohagakure no Sato, it was of a large wooden frame with a slanted roof. The building itself was set in a slightly sectioned off area of the village, with the back area of the academy opening up into several large training grounds that were used for various activities by the academy and its classes. All in all, if one were a small child attending the academy for the first time, it could be considered even ominous. However, for the newest resident of the village, it was just another building. What could he say? He had traveled the Elemental Nations for years, lived with one of the Three Sannin, and hell, he'd already jumped one of the major milestones for a ninja, that being obtaining his first kill. So all said, to Naruto it was just a building. Gripping his ever present katana, Naruto rested it across his shoulders, and headed towards inside.

Making his way down the hall, the young Uzumaki stopped at the last classroom on the left, and entered, unaware that the class was already underway. "Ahh, and you must be Naruto. Welcome to the class, you can take a seat in the open one over there. I'm Iruka." A Chunin with a large scar across his nose, hair done up in a spiked ponytail and a standard flak jacket greeted him, motioning him to a seat on the far side, next to what he assumed to be an Inuzuka and an Aburame, if the dog on top of the boys' head and the trademark coat and glasses, respectively, were anything to go by.

Nodding his head, and shuffling over to the aforementioned seat, Naruto swung his sword off of his shoulders and around his head before lowering it to the ground to lean against his chair, before taking a seat himself. The Inuzuka he soon learned was named Kiba, and Naruto had a feeling the two would get along just fine, considering how the young dog lover acted. And while the smaller Aburame, who he'd come to learn was called Shino, was just as stoic and 'logical' as he would have expected of a member of that clan, he too was just as welcome company to Naruto.

There were a few friendly faces in the crowd as well, though, in the faces of Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, so it wasn't as if Naruto was completely in the dark (although the two girls seemed much more interested in fawning over the brooding Uchiha heir than learning to become ninja.) Sighing, Naruto closed his eyes for a few moments, leaning his head back and crossing his arms.

Hopefully the year would be over soon, and then he could start on the long road to surpass his father, and become a true Ninja of the Leaf.

Authors Note:

And there you have it. Naruto has returned to Konoha, met up with some old friends, made a couple new ones, and has begun his (hopefully) short stay at the Academy. Soon, the story will start picking up, and I'm already planning everything out in my head where I want it to go and where I want it to end up. Who knows, the mind is fickle and is a constant friend to change.

That's all I got. Out.