I called this one The Greatest of the Five.
Summary: Konoha has always been the strongest. But after the third war ended, it began to grow weaker, complacent, arrogant. Thinking that it can handlae any challenge thrown it his way. Naruto noticed this after learning of his status through a few drunk jonin and vows to bring back Konoha's former glory. Even if he has to slice a few throats to do so. 500,000 normal. 100,000 special. 20,000 ROOT. I know the numbers are extremely bloated but please go with it. It'll make sense later. ~620,000 total hidden leaf ninjas.
Chapter 1: Early Days
"We need to hold it back until the Yondaime gets here!" Yelled a no-name chunin.
"How long?!" Asked another.
"Ten minutes!"
Aprocamantly 700,000 ninjas attacked the Kyuubi with various ninjutsu in an attempt to buy time for the Yondaime. Ten minutes. Not very long in your living room but a lifetime on the battlefield.
Meanwhile with the Yondaime
Minato Namikaze was having a very bad night. First, his son was kidnapped by a masked man who he just barely managed to defeat with the use of his Hiraishin. Second, he managed to extract the 9-tails from Kushina while he was trying to free his son, Naruto. Third, his wife died from the stress of childbirth. Last but certainly not least, he has to use the Shiki fuin to seal it into his son. Giving him a very large burden. On his wedding anniversary too.
'Worst Anniversary Ever.'
After gently lifting Naruto into his arms, he flashed to where the sealing atar was prepared by a shadow clone of his. Minato created a sealing barrier so no one could interrupt him.
'Snake, Boar, Ram, Hare, Dog, Rat, Bird, Horse, CLAP'
Minato summoned the shinigami. The god of death.
"You have summoned me through the Uzumaki formula. What is your command, mortal."
"I need you to seal one half of the Kyuubi's chakra into me and the other half into my son, right there."
"It shall be done."
"Everyone! Get out of the way!"
All ninjas fled the scene to give Minato some space.
Minato felt a different kind of cold when the shinigami reached out and grabbed the first half of the Kyuubi's chakra. Causing it to shrink dramatically. Minato forced himself to stay standing when the Kyuubi's chakra came into contact with his. He nodded to the shinigami who sealed the remaining chakra into baby Naruto.
"You know the deal. But for your noble actions, you have 15 minutes to say goodbye."
"Yes, I do. Thank you."
The god of death vanished and Minato let a barrier fall right as Hizuren and a few ANBU came with.
"Are we too late?" Asked the 3rd Hokage.
"I'm afraid you are. The shinigami gave me 15 minutes to say goodbye. I already wrote a letter to Naruto that I want you to give to him when he makes chunin or when he needs it. And I want you to take back the hat. Let my son be seen as a hero. And tell Kakashi I'm sorry."
Hizuren nodded and Minato looked behind him.
"Shinigami-sama. I'm ready." Minato lay down on the grass as the shinigami harvested his soul.
"What should we do, Hokage-sama?" Asked ANBU Turtle.
"Call the council. We'll go from there."
He nodded.
A few hours later
"No that everyone is here, we can begin. Fugaku. How many men did we lose?" Asked the 3rd Hokage.
"We lost about 6,000 shinobi. I'll give you the full report later."
"And civilian casualties?" Asked Hizuren even though he didn't want to.
"Over 10,000, sir. For better or worse, our population was a little over three million so as sad as it is, this isn't a huge blow."
The old man nodded sadly as the child in his arms made himself known.
"This is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. He is the son of our late Yondaime Hokage. He is also the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."
The civilian council screamed at him to kill the demon while the shinobi remained silent. Contemplating his words.
"SILENCE! No, we will not kill him and I will kill you if you suggest that again. His burden and heritage are no S-class secrets. Break them under pain of death."
Hizuren noticed something. His old Teammates were way too silent. That would be fine if it wasn't for the looks Danzo was giving Naruto. Nevertheless, he let them go. He had other things to take care of. He walked into his office and got to work.
"The next time I get this much paperwork, heads are gonna roll."
Several years later, Naruto: Age 7
Naruto always wondered why everyone hated him. Like whenever the matrons took the kids to the park, he wasn't allowed to go with them. Or when adoption day came, Naruto was locked in a closet.
"It's adoption day and we can't have you tainting the others." The older ones were particularly harsher. This one grabbed seven-year-old Naruto by the arm and tossed him in the closet in his room.
Naruto clenched his fists so hard, his knuckles turned white. It was then that he decided to leave. He knew he was too young to join the academy officially but...no one said a shinobi has to be an official academy student to learn from the academy.
A few months later
There were several close calls on Naruto's part where he almost got caught but overall, he was fine. After watching the seniors use the transformation and substitution jutsu, he knew he had to learn those if he wanted to be successful in life. It took him weeks to learn both because of his shoddy chakra control. Or at least, that's what he learned after posing as one of the troubled students. Naruto snorted.
'Elite teachers, my ass.'
He also knew he would be unable to hide from jonins and most chunins bar the teachers and that he had no idea how to improve his chakra control. But this time, Naruto transformed into a shinobi who came through yesterday. Yes, Naruto developed many habits. 90% of which, a seven-year-old shouldn't have. He learned how to keep quiet, how to take mental notes, and how to stay hidden and/or undetected.
"Will that be everything?"
"Yes, thank you."
Naruto got books on chakra control, basic history, strategy, and war tactics. He knew the material would come in handy sooner or later. He just didn't want it to be the worst case scenario. Naruto knew he couldn't have those books forever. After ditching the orphanage, he didn't have a home. So he did the next best thing. He built one.
'It's truly amazing what people leave lying around and in trash bins.'
He built himself a 3 room "house" that was 10 x 5 feet out of wood, rope, and nails. Some of it he stole, some of it he found. He was going to be a shinobi. Ethics and morals mean little to nothing in the shinobi world. On the inside, he had a mattress that he found on the side of the road at 2 AM. He used a normal blanket but stole them from his old orphanage out of spite. Overall, it was a glorified hut.
'Sucks to be you guys right now.'
All this was located in the Kyuubi Forest. The place was abandoned after people got sick from working there and plants refused to grow. But for some reason, it didn't affect him at all. Even though all other life was dead, Naruto seemed to be immune. He decided to learn why but he had other things on his mind.
'Now I just need to find out why I'm hated and convince the old man to let me into the academy.'
October 10th, 1916 Naruto, Age 8
After leaving his "house" Naruto quickly made his way to the back of a shinobi-only bar and then transformed into a random genin.
"Aren't you a little young, kid?" Asked the bartender.
"Old enough to kill…" Naruto in his transformation went with honesty first. Naruto ordered a few drinks but drank slower than the rest. He watched closely as the jonin drank themselves stupid and became vulnerable. He watched as their minds became clouded. Too clouded for them to realize what he was doing.
"Question for you. Why does everyone hate that blonde kid so much? Is there something I'm missing? I'm just a genin so…"
The jonin next to Naruto slammed his glass on the table after taking a long drink.
"Listen, kid. The 'blonde kid' you're referring to is Naruto Uzumaki. He was made the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi by the Yondaime."
The jonin took another long drink.
"Most of the ninja are at least indifferent but the civilians are arrogant fools. Don't be like them or you'll find you and/or your teammates in an early grave."
Transformed Naruto nodded.
"Thanks for the advice. I think I've had my fair share. I am only 12 after all."
Naruto walked out feeling like a burden was lifted off his shoulders.
'So that's why they hate me. But it's good to know where most people stand. Damn. I need to get into the academy.'
The next day Hokage's Office
*Knock Knock*
"Come in."
Hizuren tensed for a moment but Naruto didn't catch it.
"You can cut the henge, Naruto."
Naruto cut the transformation.
"Sorry about that. Your secretary was being a bitch so I had to 'persuade' her that maybe it's not a good idea to deny a respected jonin entry into the Hokage's office unless explicitly stated."
His visage darkened for a second.
'When I get my hands on that woman…!' Hizuren thought as he decided to ignore Naruto's impersonation of a Leaf ninja.
"I'm sorry Naruto-Kun. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Yes. I would like to attend the academy."
The Hokage was still signing papers while he was talking but stopped at Naruto's question.
'I don't want to do this but this is the perfect opportunity to keep an eye on him. He's been gone for too long and there's been an uptick in theft and I think I know who did it now.'
"Sure. Let me get the paperwork done and you'll be all set to go in about two weeks."
'Perfect. That's all the time I'll need.'
Naruto thanked the old man and walked out with a smile on his face.
A few weeks later
The Professor walked Naruto to the academy while the civilians tried to hide their dirty looks. But only another Kage can truly hide his emotions from the Second God of Shinobi. Or Naruto in a few years. Hizuren briefly glanced in their direction.
Translation: Go on. Make my day.
They averted their gaze and went back to their routine. A few minutes later and Naruto was at the large wooden doors of the Leaf Shinobi Academy.
"Now Naruto. I want you to make some friends your age. It's not healthy for you to be so isolated."
Naruto called bullshit in his head. No matter how the Third Hokage spun it, Naruto needed to be tied to the village one way or another.
Iruka Umio's Classroom
"Hello, Iruka."
"H-hello Hokage-sama. Sorry I didn't see you."
"Relax Iruka. I brought a new student with me. His name is Naruto Uzumaki. Please introduce yourself."
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. That's all you need to know."
Hizuren sighed heavily.
"As you can see, he's emotionally stunted for classified reasons so please try to get him to open up more. I wish you all luck."
The old Sarutobi walked out and left Naruto in Iruka's care.
"Please take a seat next to Itachi."
Iruka was able to keep the malice out of his voice. Or at least, according to the students. Just not Naruto.
"Today's lesson; Leaf History 101."
Naruto ignored his lectures for the most part. Only paying attention when one of the Shinobi Wars came up. Something even Iruka picked up on but decided to ignore. Naruto sighed heavily. This is gonna be a long year.
A few weeks later
As it turned out, it wasn't all bad. They did things like PE and shuriken practice. And Naruto's personal favorite, sparing.
"Okay, class. Today, we will be working on Taijutsu. You will be graded on this and there will be two parts. First, you will go up against your peers and then you will go up against me. First up, Naruto Uzumaki and Tomoe. Make the unison sign. 3, 2, 1, begin!"
Tomoe, expecting an easy win, tried to clothesline Naruto only for him to trip the girl and pin her to the ground with his knee.
"Winner! Naruto Uzumaki. You get a 10/10. Please go sit on the bench and wait for the others."
Naruto nodded and walked towards the bench while his classmates looked at him with awe and fear. Naruto sighed again.
'Will they ever learn?'
"Next, Itachi Uchiha Daisuke Yamanaka. Make the unison sign. 3, 2, 1, begin!"
Daisuke, wanting to finish quickly, tried to knock the wind out of Itachi with a sloppy sucker punch and go from there. Smart move compared to Tomoe even if it was sloppy. The match ended the same way Narut's did.
"Winner! Itachi Uchiha. You get a 10/10. Please go sit on the bench next to Naruto and wait for everyone else."
Itachi nodded and walked over to Naruto.
"You are Itachi Uchiha." Said Naruto.
"And you are Naruto Uzumaki. My clan has some choice words for you."
"Oh? Do you believe them?"
Both boys had a killer poker face the entire time.
"No. Shinobi should never take things at face value."
Naruto nodded.
"We should spar sometime." Said Itachi.
"Yes, we should."
That was the last of their conversation as they waited for everyone to finish and more and more people joined the "winner's bench" as it was soon dubbed.
"And that's everyone. First up, Naruto Uzumaki against himself. Judged by Mizuki Toji."
Naruto grumbled. Even when he beat Iruku, he would be "disqualified" for "cheating".
"GO!"
The fight started pretty even. Iruka throwing a punch, Naruto blocking and countering, maybe a kick here and there, but nothing special. Even if it was rare to see an eight-year-old stand on even ground with a chunin. Iruka upped his game and went all out. Mid chunin speeds that even Naruto struggled to match. He had to resort to just dodging and blocking and fighting dirty.
Naruto kicked sand into Iruka's eyes and then kicked him where the sun don't shine. After that, Naruto pinned him to the ground with his knee and Mizuki called the match in Iruka's favor. Naruto unpinned the scarred chunin.
"Naruto is disqualified for cheating! Go to the principal's office!"
Naruto was about to walk away when Iruka recovered enough to speak.
"No. He won fair and square. The sand in the eyes was a dirty trick but not against the rules. Congratulations Naruto. Full marks, once again. I think I'll switch to proctoring for a while. Mizuki, Itachi, you're up."
Itachi's match was almost identical to Naruto's except he left Mizuki unconscious.
"Well, that's a new one. The winner is Itachi and he gets full marks as well. Please sit next to Naruto."
Itachi nodded and sat next to Naruto while ignoring the others.
"Impressive. You know, it's possible to graduate early if your scores are high enough and you pass the genin test. I'm sure you and I could pass just fine."
Naruto thought for a moment.
'Even if I graduate early, I'll never be Hokage in time to do anything meaningful. However, the ANBU captain does have a lot of influence in how things go.'
"Yeah. I may not be the most well-liked person in the village but the Hokage will probably force me to graduate early."
"Why is that?" Asked Itachi.
"Let me put it this way. What do sealing, October, 10th, and the 9-tailed fox have in common?"
Naruto walked away and left Itachi to figure out the hidden meaning behind his words.
One week later
"Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha. You are here because the higher-ups deem you ready to graduate early. First, make at least 3 clones."
They made five shadow clones each. Completely baffling the instructor.
Flashback
Itachi found Naruto working on the clone Jutsu and noticed him failing miserably. He also noticed that Naruo completely overloaded the Jutsu.
"Naruto."
"Itachi."
"You're overloading the Jutsu."
Naruto looked at him like he had a solution. Itachi did the shadow clone Jutsu, making Naruto raise his eyebrow.
"The shadow clone Jutsu. A forbidden Jutsu my father taught me. It takes a lot more chakra and is a jonin level technique. You saw the hand sign. Good luck."
Itachi left Naruto to his own devices.
End flashback
"W-wow. Substitution please."
Both kids switched places with the instructor. Once again, stunning him beyond belief.
"Transform into me please."
They shapeshifted into their instructor. The man didn't notice but gave the kids full marks anyways.
"Congratulations. You both pass. Unfortunately, though, your 3rd teammate will be a chunin because we don't have anyone else. Your sensei will be Megumi Uchiha. Meet her at training ground three in two hours."
They nodded and left.
Training ground three
"Hello everyone. My name is Megumi Uchiha. My likes are reading and genjutsu. My dislikes are needless slaughter and rapists. My hobbies are origami and reading whatever I feel like reading at the time. And my dream is to see you all make jonin. You first, blonde."
Naruto's left eyebrow twitched.
'Well, at least it isn't demon brat or something.'
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. My likes include training and this village. My dislikes are the judgemental and mean villagers. My hobby is training, and my dream is to become Hokage and lead Konoha to greatness."
The female Uchiha smiled.
"That's wonderful. You next, Mr. Sunshine."
Itachi grunted at being called sunshine.
"My name is Itachi Uchiha. My likes and hobbies are the same as Naruto's. My dislikes are traitors and my dream is to make sure Konoha stays at the top."
Megumi nodded.
"Bedhead." Said Megumi teasingly.
"My name is Izumi Uchiha. I've been a chunin for two months and I lost my team on my last mission. I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about anything else."
Everyone nodded. They could respect that.
"Now then. As I'm sure you're aware, the requirements to become genin have dropped considerably low and don't teach you what you need to know. But I'm hearing your child prodigies so we'll see how that goes. You also know you have to pass a test given to you by your jonin sensei. In my case, you must get these two bells. The person that doesn't get a bell, gets sent to the reserves to further training. Any questions?"
The two genins and one chunin shook their heads.
"In that case, BEGIN!"
And that is chapter one. I am well aware of certain inconsistencies but please go with the flow. I promise it will make sense later. And yes, I know I made Naruto and Itachi the same age. If it makes you feel any better. Just have Itachi be born a few months later.