Naruto Uzumaki : The Greatest Prodigy

Chapter 10

Note : Welcome back guys, hope you're all enjoying the story. Thank you for supporting the story so far and also thank you for all your wonderful messages that you send. As I said before, if anyone of you have any suggestions or any new ideas for the story, please share with me. Also if you have anything to ask, you can PM me. I love to interact with you guys.

Before starting, thanks for all the reviews so far.

Talking : Normal Human

Thinking : Normal Human

Talking : Bijuu and summons

Thinking : Bijuu and summons

(Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto or any of its Characters other than this fanfiction story)

After two days of travel from the last village. Jiraiya and Naruto stood on a mountain overlooking a small town. According to their information, this was where they'd find Tsunade.

Yesterday, Naruto had completed the second step toward mastering the rasengan. But in doing so he had injured his right hand, which was now completely bandaged below the elbow.

After that, Jiraiya had strictly forbidden him to do any more training and told him to take it easy until he recovered from the injury. He was disappointed, but Jiraiya had assured him that he would get it in time.

After all, the technique was not easy to master. It had taken Naruto's father, who was considered a genius among geniuses, a total of three years to complete the jutsu, and Jiraiya had only mastered the same technique after eight months. But Naruto was determined to master it soon. He didn't have that much time to waste on a single technique.

And he was hoping they would find Tsunade soon. After learning that she was the best medic-nin in the world, he was hoping she would heal his arm so he could start his training again.

He looked up at Jiraiya. "Are you sure we'll find her here?"

"Of course, my intel is never wrong. And most importantly, we're in the country that makes the finest sake in the world. So knowing her, I am very positive that we will find her here."

"Well, if you say so." Naruto said.

"Come on, let's go," Jiraiya said cheerfully. "We have to start somewhere."

(The following Day)

After hours of searching, they still hadn't been able to locate Tsunade and it was already dark. Naruto had known it would be hard to find her. But he never had thought it would be this hard.

It was nearly two weeks since they had left the Leaf village and soon they'd have to return. He couldn't waste his time like this; his team was waiting for him.

Now, standing in front of a local bar, Naruto looked at Jiraiya. "Are we really going in there, sensei?" In their time together, Naruto had finally started addressing Jiraiya as his sensei, since the older ninja had insisted on not being called Sama.

Jiraiya nodded. "You can gather valuable information from these kinds of places. And we also have a very high chance of finding Tsunade in a place like this."

Naruto shook his head and muttered, "I can't even count how many bars I've gone to in a single day."

Jiraiya started walking towards the bar. "Well come on gaki, don't just stand there." With that, Naruto followed him in.

After walking inside, he almost crashed into the back of Jiraiya, who had stopped and was standing there with a blank look on his face as he stared at a woman in the bar. A moment later his sensei yelled and pointed his index finger at the woman. "TSUNADE..."

Naruto looked at her in surprise. Her wide eyes mirrored the shocked expression in his.

Was this woman Tsunade? Wasn't she was supposed to be in her late forties? This woman was definitely not that old—she couldn't be older than her mid or late twenties.

The woman had brown eyes and straight blond hair that was tied up in two loose ponytails. A violet diamond marking was clearly visible on her forehead. She wore a grey kimono style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish grey obi that matched her pants. As Naruto observed her, he suddenly blushed as he noticed her large breasts.

He also noticed a nervous looking woman sitting beside her and a small pig sitting between them. The woman at Tsunade's side had onyx eyes and straight shoulder length jet black hair with bangs covering her ears and framing her face.

Jiraiya regained his composure and walked over to sit down at their table, and Naruto followed suit and sat beside him, still confused. "Long time, no see Tsunade," Jiraiya said with a grin. "It's good to see you after so long; and you too Shizune. You have grown quite beautiful."

By the look on both women's faces, Naruto could see that their pleasure in this unexpected meeting wasn't mutual. "What are you doing here Jiraiya?" Tsunade asked in a voice that clearly showed her annoyance.

"Can't I simply come to meet my old teammate?" Jiraiya said, sounding hurt.

Tsunade didn't look impressed. "Get to the point already."

Jiraiya sighed. "I got a message from sensei for you." She only stared back at him with a blank face. He continued. "Sensei has decided to step down from his position and he wants you to be the next Hokage of the village."

Naruto coughed and the water he was drinking choked him as he snapped his head towards Jiraiya in shock. The same could be said for the two women, who both appeared completely stunned at Jiraiya's declaration.

Tsunade narrowed her eyes and spoke in a dangerously low tone. "Jiraiya, how dare-

Before she could continue, Jiraiya started waving his hand in front of him and interrupted her. "Ok...Ok, calm down hime. I was just joking, there is nothing like that. We were just passing by when I saw you."

Tsunade calmed a little but still looked at him with suspicion and anger. Then her eyes finally moved toward Naruto, who was sitting quietly and nervously. He tried not to look at her.

"You...what is your name kid and why do you wear a Leaf headband? Are you trying to play ninja?" Naruto finally looked up at her and saw an expression of sadness pass across her face.

He tried not to show his nervousness. She didn't know that he was her nephew and he wondered how she would react after learning the truth. "My name is...Naruto Uz-."

Jiraiya quickly interrupted. "His name is Naruto and he is a genin. Also my apprentice...we're just on a small training trip."

Naruto looked at his sensei in confusion, wondering why he had stopped him from giving his full name. He decided to stay quiet for now and let Jiraiya handle this on his own.

Tsunade also appeared confused for a moment but let it pass. She looked at Naruto. "Genin, seriously...he looks like a 10 or 11 year-old kid."

Jiraiya smirked. "Well he is. He graduated from the academy at the age of 10. Even our sensei spoke very highly of him."

Tsunade snorted at that. Then Jiraiya spoke again. "But it's good that we came across you two. Shizune, can you please heal Naruto's hand? It got injured while training."

Shizune nodded. "Of course, Jiraiya-sama." She stood and came to sit next to Naruto, who extended his hand foreword. Shizune unwrapped his bandages and started healing his arm.

Her hand was glowing green and the pain in Naruto's arm was quickly subsiding. While healing him, Shizune murmured, "What did you get yourself into? This isn't a normal injury; these are chakra burns. These can be dangerous." But when her hand stopped glowing, she said with a smile on her face, "All done. But don't put too much strain on it, alright?"

Naruto looked at his hand in awe. He waved it carefully before he looked at her and said, "It feels much better now. Thank you miss."

"My name's Shizune, nice to meet you Naruto." Shizune smiled and Naruto nodded in return, grateful for her help.

"It's getting late Naruto, you must be tired by now." Jiraiya suddenly said. "Shizune, can you please take him with you to the hotel? Tsunade and I will stay a little longer to catch up on the old times, you know."

Shizune looked at Tsunade for a moment, who sighed but nodded. Shizune then looked at Jiraiya. "Alright Jiraiya-sama...come on Naruto-kun."

Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, not sure what he was trying to do. They were supposed to find Tsunade, then tell her about him, then head back to the village. What was Jiraiya playing at?

Jiraiya noticed his look and said calmly, "Just go Naruto, we'll talk later. Just rest for now. We had a long day today."

Naruto said nothing, and only nodded before he got up to follow Shizune out of the bar. Jiraiya could handle things on his own.

Jiraiya and Tsunade sat together and enjoyed some sake as they talked, just like old friends again.

"You haven't changed a bit," he said, looking her up and down, his face red. "Still the most beautiful woman I have seen in my life."

Tsunade peered at him from the corner of her eyes, while sipping her drink. "And I see you still haven't changed either, still the same old pervert."

"Haha..." Jiraiya laughed. "You know me so well Tsunade."

Tsunade shook her head and her expression became serious. "Now tell me the real reason you're here Jiraiya. I know what you said earlier was a lie."

"I guess I can't fool you..." He muttered under his breath with a long sigh. He was wondering what he should tell her or, more importantly, how he should tell her. "I wanted to introduce Naruto. That's why we came all the way here in search of you."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Why go through all this trouble just for that kid to meet me? What are you getting at?"

Jiraiya knew he had to tell her; he couldn't back down now. After all, this was the reason they had come here. He took a long breath. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki..."

"Uzumaki?" Tsunade looked at him in confusion. "Don't talk nonsense Jiraiya, you know that's not possible." As far as she remembered, her cousin Kushina was the last to use that name.

Jiraiya shook his head before answering. "I know how it sounds. But that kid is the child of Minato and Kushina, and your nephew."

Tsunade's eyes went wide. She suddenly grabbed his collar and spoke in a firm tone. "Don't fuck with me Jiraiya. I was told their child died on the same night with them."

Jiraiya freed himself from her grip, not affected by her outburst. He was used to her moods. He spoke softly. "I'm telling the truth, Tsunade. He is really their son."

"B-b-but..." Her voice was trembling. She clearly hadn't expected this. She had been living her life alone, fearing the people she held dear would keep dying one after another.

After losing her little brother and fiancé Dan in the war, Kushina had been the only family she had left. Tsunade had given her blessings to Kushina when she had married Minato. And when Kushina had become pregnant and asked Tsunade to be by her side at the birth, she had been overjoyed.

But halfway into her journey towards the village, Tsunade had received terrible news. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. An Anbu had come and informed her that the Fourth Hokage and his wife had died in the kyuubi attack with their unborn child.

She had cursed the heavens that day for taking every one she loved away from her. She had cursed the village and the position of Hokage for her loss. She had sworn that she would never again return to the village.

But now here was Jiraiya saying that she had a nephew. She remembered Naruto's face, and she knew he was speaking the truth. How could she have missed it? The boy was the exact replica of Minato and Kushina.

"Why haven't I've been told about this before? Why would that Anbu lie to me?"

"Sensei tried multiple times to locate you. But you're a hard one to find. Also, I was told the same thing but I decided to confirm it with sensei. He told me that their child was still alive."

Tsunade cursed herself. She should have done the same thing, instead of running away. "I'm such a fool," she muttered under her breath.

"His heritage is fully kept secret in the village. Only people close to Minato and Kushina know about him," Jiraiya said.

Tsunade looked at him in confusion. "Why...?"

Jiraiya hesitated for a moment. "He is also the Jinchuriki of the kyuubi. Minato sealed the beast into his own son to save the village. Because of that, people in the village don't trust Naruto."

"WHAATT?" Tsunade was shocked. She knew how difficult life could be to Jinchuriki. She cursed Minato for doing that to his own son.

"He's a nice kid. I just met him recently. Not arrogant and always ready to help others. He reminds me of Minato. He even graduated as the rookie of the year at the age of ten. They've already started calling him a once in a generation prodigy." Jiraiya smiled.

"Looks like the world is going to see another powerhouse blond running around the elemental nations," Tsunade muttered. Naruto had lived his life alone without any family love. She should have been there with him. After all, she was the only family member he had left.

(Next Day)

"Rasengan!" Naruto shouted, and thrust his arm forward into the rock in front of him. Since his arm was fully healed thanks to Shizune, he was practicing again, but he was having difficulty maintaining its shape. It was lot harder than he thought it would be and he was already starting to feel burn marks on his palm again.

After waking up that morning, he had waited for Jiraiya for a long time in the hotel room. Finally realizing that his sensei wasn't going to come anytime soon, he'd decided to go and train on his own. But he hoped they could talk soon. He wanted to go back to the village.

Getting out of his thoughts, he tried again and once more he couldn't get the proper result. Despite the pain in his hand, he was determined to fully master the rasengan because it was his father's original jutsu.

Unknown to Naruto, someone else was in the field and had been watching him for a long time. Sitting on the branch of tree, hidden from his eyes, Tsunade was watching him train.

She had been shocked when she saw him practicing the rasengan and had thought of going there to stop him. In her thoughts, the rasengan was a very high level jutsu and someone as young as Naruto should not be doing the technique.

But she decided against it and just observed him. And one thing she could tell was that Jiraiya was right. This kid was different from others and was very talented in the shinobi arts.

She wanted to talk to him. Since she had learned about Naruto being her nephew, he hadn't left her thoughts. But she didn't know what she could say to him.

Her eyes widened when she saw Naruto thrown back from the force of the jutsu. She was by his side in a moment. "You fool, what are you thinking doing something so reckless?"

Looking at his palm, she saw that it was once again covered in burn marks. His chakra is unbelievable, she thought. I have never seen chakra as dense as this, other than in my grandfather. "Didn't Shizune tell you to take it easy for the time being?"

She started healing his injury as she scolded him, her palms glowing with green chakra. Naruto looked at her in confusion, then watched her work on his hand. "I'm alright now," he said.

Tsunade stopped her jutsu and considered him, not saying anything for a while. Finally, she stood and held out her hand, helping him to get up. "Can we talk?"

Naruto nodded and they both went to sit in the shade of the tree. But once there, Tsunade's mind went blank and she was at a loss for what to say.

Naruto finally broke the silence. "So...what do you want to talk about?"

After a moment of silence, Tsunade spoke. "That jutsu you were practicing earlier was the Fourth Hokage's jutsu, the rasengan."

Naruto nodded.

"That's quite a high ranking technique you're trying to master. Are you sure you can perfect it?"

"Of course I will master it." Naruto said without any hesitation in his voice. "I just need some time."

Tsunade smiled at his confidence. "Yesterday...Jiraiya told me everything."

Naruto looked at her. "So...you know about me."

Tsunade nodded. "Look Naruto...I can't take back what I've done. But I'm really sorry. I should have been with you. I ...please forgive me. I was too much of a coward."

Naruto was silent for a time before he responded. "I know what it feels like to lose someone close to you. I also lost a person, who was like my big brother. So I guess I understand what you felt that time. And it's not like I was completely alone in my life. There was Hokage-jiji always looking after me, even now. And I have wonderful teammates and sensei, though they can be idiots sometimes."

Tsunade smiled softly. "I see you're very mature for your age. I don't know what you've been through in your life. But I do regret my actions back then."

Naruto shook his head. "You can't regret your past. People should move on with their lives. If they don't, they're not developing."

"It's not that easy Naruto." Tsunade said, amused that such a young boy was giving her life advice.

Naruto nodded. "I know it's not easy. But at least we can try."

Tsunade grinned. "I'm being lectured by a squirt."

Naruto's eyes twitched. "Why does everyone keep mentioning my height? I'm only 10, damn it."

At this, Tsunade laughed and Naruto frowned. But soon after, he spoke seriously. "Can I ask you something?"

Tsunade nodded.

"I always wondered after I got to know about my mother. Why she was called Uzumaki instead of Senju."

"Our grandmother was Mito Uzumaki was from the Uzumaki clan from the Land of Eddies, which specialized in sealing arts," Tsunade answered. "My uncle wanted to learn that art. So he moved to that village, and later he got married to an Uzumaki woman and settled there with her, and they had Kushina. Kushina was brought up in that village among the Uzumakis before the village was destroyed at the start of the 2nd shinobi war. So Kushina always preferred being called Uzumaki out of respect to her mother's clan."

"I never knew Uzumaki was a clan." Naruto said in wonder. "I always thought it was just a name."

"Of course it was a clan. The Uzumaki clan was the cousin clan of the Senju clan and one of the strongest clans in the world. The world knows that the Senju and Uchiha clans formed the Hidden Leaf village. But there was also the Uzumaki clan, which helped stabilize the village. Even today, the shinobi of Konoha wear the symbol of the Uzumaki clan on their backs in honor of friendship and respect."

"Seriously..." Naruto said in surprise. He hadn't known any of this. He had been wearing his clan's symbol on his back throughout his life and didn't even know it.

Just like that they both talked more, and slowly got to know each other better. Naruto told her about his childhood and also about his teammates and about some of the missions he had done in his short ninja career. Tsunade told him about Kushina and Minato, and about herself.

Finally, after such a long time, Tsunade felt happy. She had found her family.

(Time skip)

Over the next four days, Naruto and Tsunade became quite close. They talked about their lives as he trained, and she had even given him advice on how to improve his chakra control after learning that he was not able to control it properly. In their short time together, he had even become good friends with Shizune.

But today, Naruto and Jiraiya had to go back to the village. They'd been gone too long.

"You sure you don't want to come back to Konoha, Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked.

"I need some time," she responded, then smiled at Naruto. "But I'm sure I'll come to meet you with Shizune from time to time."

Naruto nodded and smiled as Jiraiya said, "Well then...we must leave. It's almost a month since we left the village. I'm sure sensei is worried."

Tsunade bent to Naruto's level. She hugged him and whispered, "I will come real soon to meet you, alright."

Naruto hugged her back. Tsunade then stood and kissed him on his forehead, which made him blush. "Goodbye you two...have a safe journey."

"Goodbye Naruto-kun...see you soon." Shizune waved with a smile while holding her pig, TonTon, in her other arm.

Naruto and Jiraiya said their goodbyes and started making their way back towards Konoha. After a while, Jiraiya noticed Naruto was smiling. "You seem happy brat."

"Well of course I'm happy, I got meet oba-san." He looked down at the green necklace in his hand, which Tsunade had given him. Wrapping his fingers around it, he held it in his pocket and continued his journey towards the village.

When they'd arrived home and Naruto had reunited with his teammates, he'd had to listen to Yugao's nagging for not telling her and Hana before he'd left the village. But he'd explained to them that he'd went with Jiraiya to find his oba-san Tsunade and they had quickly forgotten their scolding in their interest to know everything.

Jiraiya had soon after left the village to continue his mission and things had quickly settled back into a routine for Naruto and his team.

Because of the training and tips he'd received from Jiraiya and Tsuande, his chakra control improved daily, and he had finally completely mastered the rasengan.

Now, a month after his return to the village, Naruto was standing with his teammates at their usual training ground waiting for their lazy sensei. Shikaku had told them he had something important to discuss with them, and they were impatient to find out what it was.

Finally, in a cloud of smoke, Shikaku arrived holding three papers in his hand.

"What are these, sensei?" Naruto asked as their sensei handed the forms to them.

Shikaku cleared his throat. "I have some news for you chunin exams are going to start and I nominated you all to participate."

"Really...?" Hana said with wide eyes. "But are you sure we're ready for it? I mean, it's not that long since we became genin."

Shikaku shrugged. "In my opinion, you're all ready for it. But I'm not forcing any of you. It's completely up to you if you want to participate or not. Even if you don't participate, you can try again in six months."

"I'm not going to wait that long," Naruto responded quickly. "This is a good opportunity for me to test my abilities and rise up the ranks so I can take more challenging missions."

"Naru is right, this is a good opportunity for us. Count me in," Yugao said.

Hana sighed. "Well I guess I could at least give it a try. I don't want to be left behind by these two."

"Alright...if you've decided, just fill out the form. You have to be at the academy tomorrow morning at 8:00 o'clock for the first round."

"Tomorrow?!" Hana asked.

"You can take today off for rest," Shikaku said, and ignored their stunned glances as he left.

Naruto turned towards them. "Well, see you tomorrow. And don't be late." With that he disappeared with his crow shunshin.

(Next Day)

The following morning, Naruto arrived at the academy where he saw his teammates waiting for him.

Upon noticing him, Yugao folded her arms. "You're finally here. Weren't you the one saying yesterday that we shouldn't be late?"

"I'm not late. It's just that you're early," Naruto responded innocently. Yugao's eyes twitched at his response.

"Come on, let's move inside," Hana said. "We have to find room 307."

"Alright. Let's go," Naruto said.

When they got inside the academy, they saw teams from different villages talking amongst each other.

"Hey..Yugao, Hana," Hayate called as he came towards them with Izomo and Kotetsu beside him.

"So you guys are also participating in the exams," Kotetsu said. "You sure you can handle them? I heard it's quite difficult and not just anyone can pass."

"You don't have to worry about us; we can take care of ourselves," Hana said with narrowed eyes.

"Hey...we don't have to fight...we're all friends here," Hayate said.

Naruto looked at the girls. "We should get going."

Hayate ignored Naruto. "So how've you been Yugao?"

"I'm fine," Yugao said, lifting an eyebrow. "What about you?"

"Fine..." Hayate said. "I was just wondering if you would like to hang out after the exams are finished."

"I don't see anything wrong with that," she said, glancing at her teammates. "But for now I want to focus on the exams."

Naruto, who was walking ahead of them, heard their conversation and felt inexplicably annoyed when he heard Yugao accepting Hayate's offer. But banishing those feelings, he told himself that it shouldn't matter what Yugao did on her own time. He too had to concentrate on the exams. But still, he wondered if there was something more between her and Hayate. And then he wondered where that thought had come from.

(Exam Hall)

When they arrived inside the exam hall, they noticed it was full with genin from all over the world. Some were much older than them.

In fact, Naruto was the youngest of them all and soon began to get a lot of attention from all the present genins. Some were looking at him curiously and some were glaring at him.

Paying them no mind, Naruto stood at the corner with his teammates. Finally, a cloud of smoke appeared in the class and some chunin and jounin stepped out of it.

"All right... settle down brats," the jounin in the middle shouted. A long scar ran down his face and his head was covered by a bandana, which he was wearing as a Leaf protector. He was wearing a darker version of the standard uniform of the intelligence division along with a black trench coat and gloves. "My name is Ibiki Morino and I will be the proctor of the first round of the chunin exams."

Naruto listened to him closely. "The first round will be a written test to gauge your intelligence. You will have 1 hour to finish your paper. If any of you are caught cheating 5 times, you will be disqualified along with your entire team." He then provided the question paper and with that, the first round of the chunin exams had started.

For Naruto, the written exam was easy. He had seen when it started that the point of it was to make use of ninja techniques and cheat without getting caught by the examiner.

But Naruto had all kind of knowledge tucked in his brain. The history of ninja wars. alliances, treaties, laws of uniformity among the different lands. Fundamentals, advanced techniques, practical strategies in fighting. Theory on physical ninja arts, kekkei genkai. Introduction to chakra. And many other topics. There was no need for him to cheat.

A balance of brain and brawn was the most important element of Naruto's ideal ninja. When there was first a clear mind, superior physical abilities could be amply shown off. But no matter how skilled in the ninja arts the body was, if a ninja was unable to make appropriate decisions, failure was almost inevitable. And in the world of ninja, failure was directly linked to death.

He put his pencil down. After finishing his own test, he observed the other examinees as one after another they were ordered to leave, suspected of cheating.

Some were slipping into the minds of their targets, others were watching the movement of hands. Still others traced out the answers from the sound of pencils rubbing against paper. They were all cheating with the techniques they were best at.

Everyone there was his rival. Even his teammates would compete against him at some point. If he could study their skills, he would be able to choose the most advantageous circumstances when they fought.

"Time," The examiner for the first test called out. "Put your pencils down. Everyone still here, go to the second exam. The result of the first exam will be announced once the second exam is complete."

"Question." One of the genin raised a hand. The supervisor nodded in permission to speak. "Does that mean that even if we pass the second exam, we won't be able to proceed to the third exam, depending on our score on the first exam?"

"That is what it means, yes." At the examiner's response, the examinees all started to talk at one.

"Quiet!" the examiner shouted. "You are on the road to becoming chunin. And once you are chunin, you will be in the position of leading a team. Not all missions yield immediate results. There will sometimes be cases where you will turn all your mental energies towards the job at hand, while you are waiting on another result. During this exam, you should have expanded every effort. Trust in your abilities, and fight in the second exam with all your might."

Naruto stood and went towards his teammates, the words of the jounin in his ears. "How did you do?"

"The questions were difficult for genin level. But I was still able to answer most of them," Hana responded calmly.

"Come on, let's go," Yugao said. "We still have the second round to complete."

TO BE CONTINUED...

It's finally finished. It had taken some time to complete and this chapter was quite long compared to the other chapters.

Hope you guys liked the chapter and I am sorry for taking this long to upload this chapter. I usually intend to post 1 chapter a week. But as you know everything doesn't go according to plan.

But anyway, I just hope you're all enjoying the story so far. So please tell me your thoughts on it so far. Also if you have any ideas for the story you can contact me. I am always open for new ideas.

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Until then, goodbye. I will see you in the next update.