I do not own Naruto that is the property of Masashi Kishimoto.
"I am big" God, biju, summon talking
"I am normal" Human talking
"You can't hear me inside my mind" Inner thoughts of a person
So I said that I would take a small break in my writing, but have found that my muse is powerful, so powerful it has delayed the flight that I am waiting for. I had no choice but to give in.
Also please remember Naruto is five, while he will be intelligent, he is still a child at this moment.
Chapter 4: Naruto
A crow flew through the air over the village of Konoha, its cry echoing through the morning, as people went about their day. It has been five years since the Kyubi attack and Konoha no longer bore its scar. It had been rebuilt and life had seemingly returned to normal.
It is inside of one of these homes that a lesson is taking place, a lesson between a red headed woman and a red haired child, Kushina and Naruto Uzumaki. The both of them are wearing white robes with red lining; similar to what one would expect a monk to wear.
The room is a largely empty room with a wooden floor and one entrance. At the rear of the room is a hidden seal concealed by the swirling waves that decorate the nearly bare walls save for one lone clock. In this seal is an altar to the Shinigami. In the center of the room, the two Uzumakis sit upon mats, their legs crossed. In the two corners by the entrance, there were practice weapons, and sealing supplies, with a small table perched against the wall. This is the Uzumakis' secret place of worship, disguised as a meditation/training room.
"Alright, Naruto-chan, name one of the tenants of our religion." Kushina says with an encouraging smile.
"All are equal in life as we are in death, for…we are all judged in death." Naruto states with a smile, stumbling for a second before finding the answer.
"Very good, now do you know what this means?" Kushina asks.
"Be a good person?"
Laughing, Kushina shakes her head. "Yes that's one way to put it. However, you missed the end, 'and all shall be judged by their deeds and goals, for in death all is laid bare.' It is perhaps the most important tenant of our religion. Good choice."
"Kaa-san, why are you a ninja then? Isn't killing wrong? Isn't it murder? The Uchiha arrest murderers." Naruto says his face scrunching up as his young mind makes connections.
"Oh, you are so adorable." Kushina lunges and grabs her son into a hug, settling him onto her lap.
"Kaaaa-ssaan! I am serious; when I was visiting Mikoto-basan we visited Fugaku-dono at his work. People were talking about how murderers were bad."
"Yes, killing without reason is wrong, however we are judged by our deeds and our goals. I am a kunoichi because I love you and I want you protected, and I kill to protect my family and our lives." Kushina explains.
"But what if they're innoc..inn…"
"Innocent?" Kushina prompts.
"Yeah, innocent. What if they have a family?" Naruto asks.
Placing her head on top of his she speaks, "Then you must value your own life. What if I hesitated and didn't come back?"
"No. You can't die, you're invincible." Naruto shouts, his young mind unable to imagine a life without his mother.
"Oh, if only that were true." Kushina thought before a teasing smile came to her face. "I see you know the word invincible but not innocent. Perhaps because you aren't so innocent yourself, I've seen you manipulating others."
"Kaa-san, I am innocent…Kaa-san what does manipulation mean?" Naruto asks.
"Tricking people into doing what you want. Like when you pout at Mikoto-chan to get a piece of candy, or like when you tried to make me breakfast to get out of trouble. You even tricked foreigners into shopping at our stores by putting a cute look on your store and telling stories of the other stores. I am so proud of you." Kushina says squeezing him into her chest.
"Kaaaa-ssaan." Naruto whines.
Releasing him from her hold she takes him out of her lap. "Naruto-chan, I want you to pay attention. Those that worship the Shinigami recognize the protection of one's family to be one of the most noble of deeds. It also views protecting one's life and the violent pursuit of justice to be acceptable as well."
"Yes, kaa-san."
"Good. Just remember, when you take a life, do it for the right reasons. Never put yourself in danger because you hesitated. Remember if for some reason an innocent person, a good person, should die by your hands that they will be judged by the Shinigami, and if they are truly a good person then they shall see paradise. Life is a test and death is your reward." Kushina says keeping her eyes locked on her son's, making sure she has his attention.
"I get it, kaa-san. If a good person dies then they go to paradise, if a bad person dies they go to the Void." Naruto states.
Kushina nods before looking at the clock on the wall. "Now, let us review what I have taught you about chakra and our techniques. What is chakra?"
"The Konoha Academy defines Chakra as a mix of physical and spiritual energies, while the Uzumaki define chakra as a mix of physical and mental energies."
"Good. What are the basic uses of chakra?"
"Chakra can be used for shinobi techniques, ninjutsu, genjutsu, and fuinjutsu." Naruto answers confidently.
"You forgot one. Taijutsu can and is commonly enhanced by chakra, with the basics of doing so being quite simple, while the advanced aspects can take many years of training and medical knowledge. Also, outside of the Uzumaki, fuinjutsu is deemed as a complicated shinobi art and is not treated as one of the shinobi basics." Kushina corrects.
"What? Why?" Naruto questions.
"It's because unlike other clans the Uzumaki were not a shinobi clan, we were priests that eventually received the Shinigami's blessing. In our temples we would often create charms to ward off evil, but when the Shinigami gave us his blessing we learned to use spiritual energy, and created the first seals. The fuinjutsu commonly used by shinobi today was created based off our own, due to the similarity between spiritual and mental energies. It is also inferior to our own techniques. Can you tell me why?" Kushina explains before testing Naruto's knowledge.
"The fuinjutsu used by shinobi is inferior because of its complexity and for its lack of diversity. Shinobi fuinjutsu relies on each seal crafter to work the seal to their specific chakras, making the seal geared towards their chakra's affinities, and the balance of spiritual and physical energies in their chakra…Oh, their chakra must also be released through the seal in the correct pattern or it will not work. Also almost all shinobi seals require at least one hand sign. I got them all, right." Naruto states a little worried. Fuinjutsu was a major part of his clan's history and he didn't want to get it wrong.
"You got most of them. The others are that generic seals, seals that any ninja can use are in general weaker than original seals and require a lot of research before they can be created. Generic seals are also hindered by the fact that seal crafters guard their secrets from others and the fact those that can be called seal masters would rather commit suicide than be forced to share their secrets. The final reason is that the kages and samurai commanders would rather the more powerful seals not become public knowledge and instead encourage apprenticeships so that they can monitor the number of seal crafters." Kushina says looking at her son's face.
"So basically seal crafters are secretive and people are scared of what seals can do?" Naruto asks, simplifying it to a level his young mind can understand.
"Yes. Now tell me about Uzumaki seals." Kushina continues with her review.
"Our clan's seals are highly potent and come in various forms. This is because our clan was the first to create seals and one of the last to study the other chakra arts. It is helped by the fact that Uzumaki seals just require the use of spiritual energy to activate. Uzumaki seals are also hard to detect by those not sensitive to spiritual energy, only being detectable to sensors and those with bloodlines similar to the Hyuga, due to the similarity between mental energy and spiritual energy. You said it was like a hazy area or being hung over, something that will confuse them and could be overlooked…Kaa-san what's hung over mean?" Naruto explains drawing himself up with pride, before his face scrunched up into confusion.
Laughing nervously Kushina answered. "It means that kaa-san was very foolish one night and is not something you should experience. It's an adult thing. Now please continue."
"Hai. The greatest strength of Uzumaki seals are that they are simple to activate, not requiring the energy used to activate them to travel through a pattern in the seal itself. Also some Uzumaki seals do not require hand signs to activate, just that you touch them long enough to pour in the right amount of energy. Sadly there are zero combat seals that do not require hand signs." Naruto explains with a slight whine at the end, disappointed in the lack of combat seal that didn't need hand signs.
Kushina laughs as she remembers saying something similar in her youth, picturing what must be going on in his head. "Yes, it is rather disappointing. Now for your last question, what makes a great ninja?"
"A great ninja is a skilled ninja." Naruto answers.
"Explain."
"A skilled ninja is one who is smart enough to use their power wisely. A skilled ninja is a prepared ninja, confident in their abilities." Naruto responds.
"Why doesn't power make you a great ninja?"
"Power does not win battles. If your strength is found lacking you will lose, if your enemy can dodge you will lose, you will also tire faster from using wasteful energy. You do not need a ball of fire when a kunai would do the task just as well."
"Good. What about a smart ninja, why is this not the key to being great?" Kushina says with a smile on her face.
"A smart ninja reads and studies, they seek to trap their opponents and outwit them. If they are caught in the open they are vulnerable and easily killed."
"A fast ninja?"
"A fast ninja is better with his path clear and nowhere to stumble, put obstacles in his way and he will fall."
"And what of stubbornness or as some would call it, will power; does this make a strong ninja?"
"That is a ninja that does not understand defeat; they will never give up and can be intimidating. They are also a dead ninja; a great ninja knows when to retreat and when to fight."
"Good. Now sochi-kun go get changed and packed, kaa-san needs to go on a mission and you are going to Mikoto-chan's house. She has agreed to watch over you for me while I am gone."
"Hai!" Naruto exclaims before rushing out of the room.
Kushina while an overprotective mother at the worst of times was okay with Mikoto Uchiha watching her son, as she had been her best friend since the academy. This was also helped by how safe the location was. The Uchiha were a large clan with over two hundred active shinobi in their compound, she could agree that the area was quite safe for her son.
This is also because Kushina added security seals to the compound, Uzumaki security seals, back when their alliance had been strained before the Kumo conflict. Now their compound had three types of Uzumaki seals protecting their compound. The first was an Uzumaki intent seal. The intent seal felt the soul of any who tried to enter the compound and would bar those feeling large amounts of negative emotions or killer intent. In its current state it maintains a transparent field of chakra around the compound, including under, that will instantly repel those with negative intentions. It was flawed as clan members could still come and go but the likelihood of someone killing their own family was small. It also needed a blood sample from all living Uchiha so that the seal would recognize them. The intent seal that she had used included a chakra conversion seal in it so that the Uchiha clan's chakra could power it, if she was not around. It should be left unsaid that Kushina left a back door in the seal so that she could get into the compound should anything happen to her son.
The next seal is simply a life force seal. It is an Uzumaki seal powered by the Uchiha clan itself. It is a seal that was placed in the center of the compound with corresponding seals interwoven into the intent seals that surrounded the Uchiha's home. As with the intent seals, all currently living Uchiha had to donate a drop of blood so that they could be recognized by the seal. What this seal does is alert the clan, should one of their members die inside of the compound. While it is faulty in that it will alert even if one died of old age, the drawbacks are outweighed by its advantages. There are even three locations that have receiver versions of this seal and can sound the alarm if their clan should come under attack. These three locations are the clan head's house, and two building on the opposite sides of the compound.
The last seal is an Uzumaki tamper redundancy seal. This seal does exactly as its name says, it checks for tampering. The seal is a classic of the Uzumaki, detecting when others attempt to bypass, destroy, have destroyed, or read their seals, it will shoot a flare into the sky upon noticing the intrusion. If it is being read, then it will destroy the seal if it does not receive the proper hand sign and a dose of spiritual energy so as to avoid the seal's secrets from falling into another's hands. The redundancy lies in the second tamper seal connected to the first; making it so someone would have to disable both seals to avoid detection. It is one of the greatest masterpieces of the Uzumaki clan and one they agreed never to make a chakra version of. All Uzumaki tamper redundancy seals are run solely off of spiritual energy.
The final layer in this seemingly unstoppable security is a shelter built under the compound. While Kushina only knew of the underground structure's existence and not its purpose, she had made sure to put the barrier for the Uzumaki intent seal under the structure as was requested of her. This security along with their number of active ninjas would make the Uchiha compound one of the most secure places in all of Konoha.
Feeling content in the knowledge, Kushina went to her room and changed her clothes into the standard jonin outfit, pausing just a moment to stare at her stomach, remembering what used to be sealed there. With a shake of her head she filled her kunai pouch, carefully counting what she put inside. Then she grabs a pre-packed backpack and puts it on, preferring not to seal it at this time. Finally, she grabs a scroll from one of her drawers and attaches it to a string along her waist. Tying her hair into a ponytail she takes a moment to go over her mission.
"Alright I managed to get a mission to Tea Country. My mission is to bring a scroll to a minor noble in Tea Country, quick and easy, just why I requested it. Not only will I get some easy money but I have business in the country and it's on the way. Now I have ten kunai, twenty shuriken, and two explosive notes. If I am successful then soon Naruto and I will be safe; just one more year."
Finished with inspecting herself she walks out of her bedroom to meet up with Naruto in the hall, a small bag by his side.
"Did you pack a toothbrush?" She asks.
"Yes kaa-san."
"Clothes?"
"Yes kaa-san."
"Good, now remember no sweets passed eight o'clock and in bed by nine. I will be telling this to Mikoto-chan, so no funny business." She says attaching a mock glare at the end.
"Yes...kaa-sama." Naruto responds, switching to the sama suffix upon seeing Kushina's glare.
With a nod and a wide smile for messing with her son Kushina opened the door and they stepped out, quickly moving to the Uchiha compound, where Mikoto was waiting for them.
"Thank you for doing this for me Mikoto-chan." Kushina says upon seeing her.
"No problem. Naruto-kun is practically a member of the family." Mikoto replies.
"Okay I have already told Naruto-chan this but could you make sure that he doesn't eat any sweets passed eight and is in bed by nine. If he has sweets too late he might not sleep well and…" Kushina says beginning to babble as she goes through her greatest battle before a mission, leaving Naruto with a sitter.
"Kushina, this is not the first time I've watched him for you. Naruto-kun will be fine, so relax." Mikoto interrupts, knowing full well how Kushina could get if she wasn't interrupted when it came to her son. She was the same with Itachi when he was little, but she had mellowed after the birth of her second child.
"Naruto-chan wish me good luck on my mission." Kushina prompts.
"Good luck, Kaa-san."
However rather than leave Kushina remains standing there and looks at him expectantly. "Now you know that is not how you say good bye to me."
"But kaa-san it's embarrassing and everyone's watching." Naruto whines while Mikoto begins to giggle good naturedly at the scene.
"Oh, I see, my sochi does not love me, oh woes is me. Where could I have gone wrong as a mother?" Kushina says dramatically with a hand over her face as if she were about to faint.
"Kaa-san. You're a great mother don't cry."
He rushes over, tackling her into a hug, missing his mother's smile of victory. Before crying out when she gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Kaaaa-ssaan!" His cry was accompanied by the laughter of Mikoto and his mother.
"Alright I am off to the Hokage's office and then I will be leaving to Tea country, I should be back in a few days, be good." With that Naruto's mother walked off.
"Come on Naruto-kun let's get you settled in." Mikoto offers as she guides him into the Uchiha compound.
Wiping the sad look off his face at seeing his mother go he turned to Mikoto and began to follow. "Hai…Mikoto-basan how's Itachi-san, is he okay? I heard about Shisui-san."
"He said he will be out today but I am sure that he will appreciate your concern. Now come on, if you get settled in quickly I'll give you a couple cookies." Mikoto responds.
"Let's go." Naruto exclaimed once he heard cookies, attempting to drag Mikoto to her home. All the while Mikoto laughed, enjoying the exuberance of his youth.
Well my plane is finally getting in and I managed another chapter, so yeah timing and all fear the almighty muse.
Alright the main character has finally been introduced, it only took three chapters. Right now Naruto is a kid so he likes sweets, he will still like ramen, it wouldn't be Naruto without him liking ramen, but as a kid he has a slight sweet tooth. He might also be slightly gullible when it comes to his mom, but what five year old isn't. I hope you enjoyed your first introduction to his character. There were also some hints in this chapter about what is future personality will be like.
Also next chapter will have some bloodshed in it as Naruto fans should connect what was said at the end with a certain canon event.
Also I will be posting a poll on what Naruto's summon should be so look at it and vote. The next chapter area will have information on the available summons and what they can do so check it out.
Finally, I am debating on what to do with Sasuke. Originally I wasn't planning such a close relationship between the Uzumaki clan and the Uchiha clan. Now I have a very different Uchiha Massacre about to take place (whether it is a massacre or not, I will keep to myself) and am unsure what to do with him. Feel free to share your thoughts, even the idea of making him a girl.
As always please review, and also a shout out to all my readers out there, it's only the third day and there have already been over 1,200 of you. This will be the last time I write for a few days unless my muse proves powerful enough to mess with air traffic control again.