A/N
In this story Naruto won't know his last name for the first little while. The Hokage had never told him in hopes to keep him safe with him being the last known Uzumaki after Kushina and he didn't want people making connections between the two.
Naruto will have shaggy red hair, coloured like his mother, with white tips at the end, signifying his bloodline's physical effect on his body. It'll look similar to Ichigo's hair when it got a bit longer in Bleach. It'll fall to his neck and have the band fall between his eyes too. Oh, and no whiskers. Kurama's chakra affects his chakra strength without the physical effects.
Also, Kurama will be a little sarcastic but won't be all crazy angry. I never found it fair that that Minato got the easy to handle side of Kurama's chakra while Naruto had to have a death fight alongside his mother's spirit to be able to use his. So sorry Minato, you get grumpy pants while your son gets Yin Kurama. That's also the reason Naruto isn't a hyperactive idiot.
Arctic Snake
From his earliest memory, all Naruto could remember was being cold. No matter the temperature he always felt like there was ice in veins. He remembered one day when he was six where everyone in the village was sweating and complaining about how it was the hottest day of the year, yet he was still bundled up in a sweater and could see his breath in front of him.
Growing up in the orphanage he would shiver day and night due to no one giving him any extra blankets; the matrons there saying he was'looking for attention', and should stop trying to cause trouble. They refused to touch him for some reason so there was no way they'd know how cold he was anyway. Even when his breath would fog they'd just turn a blind eye. Then he had been kicked out of the orphanage on his fourth birthday because the orphanage was 'overcrowded' and was forced to live out on the streets for two months. An unpleasant experience he wished to never relive.
After he was one day found by a dog-masked Anbu and brought before the Hokage, he was given his own apartment, which was nice for a while. The apartment was only three small rooms; a small kitchen, a living room/bedroom, and a bathroom that had a toilet, a sink, and a shower. But it was his. At the orphanage he had never had anything he could call his own, so having a whole apartment was amazing to him. He had a heater that he could sit near while huddled in blankets and warm himself up, as well as hot water which always felt really nice on his freezing cold skin. He also started drinking tea whenever he could for the soothing heat it would spread within him. And for a while things were pleasant in his new home.
Then soon after he moved in the water stopped heating up. Then the heater didn't work either. And soon he found himself cold again. No matter the amount of blankets he curled himself up in he couldn't find that same heat he had been able to enjoy. He had asked the Hokage about it when he came by for a visit one day, but after a couple weeks nothing had changed so he didn't bring it up again. The Hokage was a busy guy after all, there was no reason to bother him with his problems.
So for the next year and a half he remained cold. He had long since gotten used to the constant shivers and seeing his breath in front of him. No one else seemed to pay attention, or they just ignored it, but he did. Sometimes he would just sit by the window, watching people while he drew shapes when his breath would fog up the glass. He would draw random things while he watched the villagers go about their days; mainly he would draw the sun while thinking about the heat other people felt from it, and some days he would draw little figures he called his parents.
He had never known anything about his parents. He assumed he was orphaned during the Kyuubi attack which happened when he was born, but no one had ever told him who they were. He still liked to imagine having parents like other children though. The hugs they would get always looked warm to him. The orphanage workers had said someone like him didn't have parents though. He never understood what they meant; everyone had parents right? Even the other orphans had parents at one point in time. The Hokage was even more tight-lipped than the matrons were. He would just redirect or ignore the question altogether. So like his heating problem, he stopped asking when it became obvious no one wanted to tell him.
Living on his own got lonely pretty quickly for him though. At the orphanage there were people all around, be they workers or other orphans, but in his apartment he was all alone. This rang especially true three months after he moved in when everyone else had moved out and he was the only person living in the building. No one told him why they moved out, but he figured it was his fault. He was always told at the orphanage that he caused problems for everyone, so he assumed the people didn't want to get caught up in these problems that he seemed to cause.
When the loneliness would get bad he would venture out into the village to be around people. This usually backfired and caused him to feel even more isolated because everyone seemed to avoid him. Whether he would walk around the merchant district, the parks, or anywhere else in the village everyone seemed to cut him a wide berth. The whispers he would hear were the worst part though; usually they would be along the lines of him being the 'fox-boy' or demon-brat.
He never understood what they meant when they whispered things like that. Whenever he would get back home from one of his walks he would look in the mirror to see what was so different about him that the villagers could see that he didn't. He had shaggy red hair that was white at the end. He had clear blue eyes that looked like ice, which he thought always looked rather nice. He had a normal nose and normal mouth. His face was slender with just a bit of baby fat. There were no scars on any part of him, and there were certainly no fox ears or a tail that would garner him being a 'fox boy'. There certainly wasn't anything that made him look demonic either. He usually wore a red hooded sweater and black sweatpants in an effort to keep warm, even if they only worked a little. All in all, he was pretty average.
So in the end he had no idea why people avoided him or called him strange names. It seemed that to everyone else he was a demon, and that to him he was just a boy who had trouble remember being warm.
Hearing his alarm clock go off, the now seven year old Naruto opened his eyes and blearily looked around his room while he felt around for his alarm. Finally finding the switch on the side and turning it off, Naruto sat up and wiped the sleep from his eyes and yawned quietly. He didn't have any neighbours so he didn't have to be quiet, but Naruto liked being quiet. The quiet was comforting to him, because if it was quiet there wasn't anything being said about him.
Pulling the covers off his body, Naruto slowly got out of bed and silently walked to his bathroom to get ready for the day. He didn't actually have anywhere to be, so getting showered or dressed wasn't really needed, but the monotony of his routine kept him from just sitting in his apartment all day. His standard cold shower later, Naruto was dressed in his regular clothes and wandered into the kitchen. Pulling out his tea pot, Naruto put in some water and set it above the stove to heat up.
Tea in the morning was his favourite time of the day. He would be granted a few minutes every morning where the heat from his cup would seep into his fingers and spread through his chest after every sip. He would always have to drink it quickly to keep his natural coldness from chilling his drink, but it was worth it for the small moments of heat he could feel. But then the heat was gone and his normal coldness would spread inside him again.
Putting his cup in his sink to clean later, Naruto ate a small breakfast of cereal and grabbed his latest book off the table and started to read. The book was about the history of Konoha, from its' founding up until the Kyuubi attack, and Naruto found it quite fascinating. It detailed all about how Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha founded the village and brought all the warring clans together and lived in relative peace until Madara let and attacked the village. There were chapters on how Konoha fought so well in the three Shinobi World Wars and how the village had never lost in any of the wars. The last chapter was all about the destruction the Kyuubi had brought upon the village and how the Yondaime had fought the nine-tailed fox before he sacrificed himself to kill it. The main theme he noticed about the book was how Konoha was so strong and able to persevere through so many terrible events throughout history.
He had read this particular book a few times, and had even borrowed quite a few other books about Konoha from the village library in an attempt to learn about the village he lived in. The Hokage had talked to him before about the 'Will of Fire' and how great a village Konoha was. How it had the greatest shinobi, the richest history, and how it was able to handle any threat and become stronger afterwards. Naruto didn't understand any of it.
He had never met any of the shinobi in the village, and they had never really done anything for him so he didn't think they were as amazing as he was told. They certainly didn't do much to stop his apartment building from being vandalised so to him the Hokage must have been wrong. The 'Will of Fire' was all about how everyone in Konoha was one big family, but he definitely didn't feel like he was part of a family so that just confused him as well. The history of the village was cool, but Naruto thought the wars were kind of stupid and that Hashirama was even more stupid for giving something like the tailed beasts to the other villages.
What kind of a peace offering is a huge living chakra weapon anyways?
Naruto just found it all confusing. He didn't understand why the shinobi fought for the village. He didn't understand why the Hokage loved the village so much. And he certainly didn't understand why everyone treated him like an outsider.
…
Hearing a knock on his door, Naruto put a bookmark in his latest book and headed for the door. His newest book was about another of the Great Hidden villages; Sunagakure. Naruto was fascinated by the idea of a village being out in the middle of a desert and how hot the village was supposed to be. He was intrigued by the idea of living in a place that was always hot and could maybe warm his chilled body up. The idea of being surrounded by a sea of heat sounded so nice…
Snapping out of his musing, Naruto opened the door and sighed softly to himself. The Hokage was here. Again. Naruto wasn't sure why he was so special to warrant the Hokage coming to see him, but it was starting to grate on his nerves. No one ever wanted him around; not the matrons at the orphanage, not the people that came in to adopt kids, and certainly no one in the village. Everyone made it perfectly clear he wasn't wanted, but the Hokage always came to talk to him every couple weeks. Yet the man would never tell him why he was so special.
"Ah, Hokage-sama. Hello again. Feel free to come in I guess…" he muttered under his breath.
The Hokage just gave him one of those kind smiles he always had. "Hello again Naruto-kun, how are you doing today?" Naruto watched as the Hokage walked in and sat on one of his two small couches. Sighing again, he closed the door and sat on the other couch across from the old man.
"I'm doing fine today. Just doing more reading." Naruto pointed over to the book about Suna. "How are you today Hokage-sama?"
The man just chuckled, which annoyed Naruto all over again, as if he knew Naruto really didn't care but it amused him that Naruto asked. Why come to his home just to play around? He only had this book for two more days and he would like to properly read it before he had to return it.
"I'm doing okay myself Naruto-kun." The man said with another smile. "So you're reading about Sunagakure today? Anything you've read that's particularly interesting?"
He sighed again, which was a constant in these visits. Naruto really didn't want to talk. He had gotten used to not talking over the years, couldn't the man just leave him alone?
"The heat I guess. The idea of a place being so warm sounds pleasant… Puppeteering is kind of interesting too. An odd way to fight, but it seems beneficial for the safety of the user if skilled enough." Naruto answered. Hopefully if he answered the questions he was asked the Hokage would leave and he could go back to reading.
"Yes it is an interesting way to fight." The Hokage responded with a hum. "I've fought a few puppet users over the years, and they're usually one of the trickiest shinobi to fight. They are quite crafty with their puppets and traps. Not to mention their love of all things poisonous."
Naruto didn't have a response for the Hokage though. Although interesting, Naruto didn't really care. If he wanted to learn something he would look to the library. Konoha didn't practice puppeteering, but he supposed there might be some information on famous users in a book somewhere he could learn from. So the room descended into a rather awkward silence for a few seconds, neither occupant knowing what to say.
"So Naruto-kun," the Hokage said to break the tension, "have you any interest in being a shinobi yourself? I'm sure you would do quite well at the academy, it would also give you the chance to grow strong like the ninja you've read about. Plus you could meet other children your age and maybe make some friends there?"
Naruto felt like this was his millionth sigh of the day. He knew the man meant well, but Naruto was a little more than annoyed at him. He was always talking about making friends and talking to people. He had tried before and it never worked out, didn't he know that?
"I appreciate the belief in whatever talents you believe I have Hokage-sama," Naruto drawled out, "but I don't think the academy is really a good fit for me. I've never had that much interest in being a shinobi myself. I'm not from a clan like all the famous shinobi in the history books, and there isn't really anyone to train me so I'd probably just fall behind everyone else." Naruto admitted to the Hokage. "Plus, I don't like my chances of finding friends anywhere, let alone at the academy…"He muttered under his breath.
"Are you sure Naruto-kun? I'm sure if you gave it a chance you would surely come to enjoy it." Naruto could hear the odd level of pleading in the man's voice, which confused him greatly. Why was the man pushing for him to join the academy, he was just an orphan with no last name and no clan, why did he care so much?
"Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a pointed look to the man. "Why do you care if I join the academy or not? I mean I appreciate the vote of confidence, I really do, but why me? I'm just Naruto, a clanless orphan, why does it matter if I'm a shinobi or not?" He finished with a visible heavy breath escaping his lips.
He could see the Hokage freeze up for a second when he finished his questions. It had been obvious to Naruto for a long time the Hokage knew something about him that he didn't want to say. It might have been about his parents, it might have been about why people didn't seem to like him all that much, but it was something that the man didn't want to say.
The Hokage averted his eyes from Naruto's own and looked uncharacteristically weary, something that caused Naruto to raise an eyebrow at. He had never seen the man do that before. Usually he would shrug off his questions and change topics; this was the first time he had shown such a look of weakness. But as soon as it was there it was gone just as swiftly.
"I just believe you would do well as a shinobi. Just because you aren't from a clan doesn't mean you can't be strong. The Yondaime didn't come from a clan and was an orphan much like yourself, but he still became one of the most powerful shinobi the world had ever seen."
He snorted at that. The Yondaime may have been an orphan, but Naruto was sure nobody kept secrets about his heritage or called him a 'demon'.
"Whether you believe it or not doesn't matter much to me Hokage-sama." Naruto said with a roll of the eyes. "I know I wouldn't do well at the academy. If not because I don't have a clan, then most definitely due to me being 'demon' or whatever else people seem to think I am. I doubt any of the teachers at the academy would be very keen to teach my anything."
He could see more hurt flash through the man's eyes, probably at the comment of him being a demon. Naruto didn't care if it caused the main a heart attack, if he didn't want to give him any answers, then he didn't feel all that bad about the old man's emotional turmoil.
"The villagers are just confused about something they don't understand Naruto-kun. I'm sure if you became a great shinobi they would come to respect you. I'm sure if you worked hard enough you could even become Hokage one day." Although Naruto was sure the man meant well, he was getting tired of his persistence.
"I have no desire to earn anyone's recognition or respect. In this entire village no one wants to extend a hand to me, why should I bother to do the same for any of them? Why is it my responsibility to prove my worth to anyone?!" He asked through gritted teeth, his fingers gripped onto the edge of the couch. Going unnoticed by either of the room's occupants was the thin layer of frost forming around his fingers.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," the Hokage said quietly," but I can't tell you why…"
"Well then we're done here aren't we?" Naruto snorted. "Please feel free to leave, and when you no longer feel like lying to me you're free to return any time you wish. Maybe you can bring some answers as a nice party favour next time?" He finished sarcastically.
"If that's what you think is best Naruto-kun. Please think on being a shinobi a bit more, I really do believe you could be great."
"Like I said, your belief in my abilities is appreciated, but ultimately unneeded. I don't care much for being a shinobi, let alone one for Konoha of all villages. Goodbye Hokage-sama."
Pointing to the door, Naruto watched the elderly Kage exit the apartment and close the door behind him. Releasing yet another sigh, Naruto took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly in an effort to calm himself. Who the hell did the man think he was? Just because he was Hokage didn't mean he could just lie to him repeatedly then try to convince him to become Hokage of all things. He laughed at the idea of him as Hokage, the notion was absolutely ridiculous.
Picking up his book to continue reading about Suna's Kages, Naruto lost himself in the pages and let the earlier conversation fade away. It didn't matter what the Hokage believed, Naruto had no interest in being a ninja. As long as he was free to read his books and learn what he wanted to he was just fine.
Hiruzen Sarutobi took off his Hokage hat and sighed from behind his desk. He had always feared his decisions about the young redhead would cause this to happen. It was his own fault really. Why would a boy who had been neglected his whole life have any interest in becoming a shinobi of the village that shunned him. The real problem was that neither Hiruzen nor Naruto had much of a choice in the matter. Naruto was a jinchuuriki; the container to the nine-tailed demon fox, the Kyubi no Yoko.
Naruto had to be a shinobi. If it wasn't just the fact that he had a demon with a limitless supply of chakra sealed within him, the boy's heritage practically demanded him to be a shinobi as well. The boy's parents were some of the strongest shinobi Hiruzen had known; one of them being much stronger than himself and the other could probably give him a good run for his money. With Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki being the boy's parents it was in his blood to be a ninja.
His father was one of the strongest shinobi to emerge since Hashirama Senju, being touted as the fastest man alive, able to slaughter hundreds of enemies within seconds and later going on to become the Yondaime Hokage, Minato had truly been a fearsome man. Kushina was nothing to scoff at either. With her prowess in fuuinjutsu, kenjutsu and her ability to materialize her chakra into physical chains she was quite a powerful kunoichi in her own right.
Yet Naruto knew none of that.
His father had asked for Naruto to be treated as a hero, but with everyone feeling the loss of the Kyuubi's attack they all felt the need to put the blame somewhere. And with fuuinjutsu being such a complicated art that few understood, they just knew a small redheaded boy had the beast within him and that was good enough for their hate. It had gotten so bad in the days after the attack that he had had to pass a law forbidding anyone to speak of Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki in order to give the boy a chance at a life of normalcy and safety. Fat good that did. People just switched from openly hating him to actively ignoring and degrading the boy, even going so far as to keep their children from him.
Sometimes he cursed himself and other times it would be his wayward spymaster and the boy's godfather, Jiraiya. After the Kyuubi attack, Jiraiya had dived back into his job as spymaster saying 'the village needed it now that they were so weak after the attack'. But Hiruzen knew the real reason; the man was wallowing in his depression over losing his prized apprentice and wanted nothing to do with his godson. Sure he sent money for the boy, but it was obviously out of obligation rather than love. Hiruzen was sure Minato and Kushina were rolling in their graves because of Jiraiya and the village they sacrificed their lives for.
There were days he wondered what was actually stopping him from telling the boy everything. In the beginning he had said it was for the boys' safety. The world would be terrified of the child of two S-rank shinobi like Minato and Kushina, and that wasn't even factoring all the assassins Iwa would send in hopes of killing Naruto just for being Minato's son. But the boy was barely safe from threats inside the village, if he knew his heritage he could at least have the option of learning from the large library of techniques his parents had known and have the chance to grow strong enough to protect himself. Yet Hiruzen didn't want him to be a spoiled child who bragged about being the son of the Yondaime.
Even if he didn't tell Naruto of his heritage, there really was nothing stopping him from telling the boy about the Kyuubi. Although Hiruzen had hoped the young redhead would have a chance at a normal life, he really should have known better. No matter how much he had wished it, Naruto really had no chance at normalcy one he became a jinchuuriki. With the village's hatred of Naruto and their steadfast work in isolating him, he really didn't have the option of anything but a normal life.
Yet still he persisted in not telling the boy anything, if only for his own foolish beliefs in his village and that one day things would get better. God that even sounded cowardly to him. He really cursed Jiraiya for leaving his godson in his care. This was the whole reason his student was named Naruto's godfather, so in the event Minato and Kushina passed away there was something to look after their child. It wasn't fair to him that he should have to look over a village and Naruto. He had already been Hokage and a father before and he didn't really have the energy to be either at his current age, let alone both.
Releasing a sigh and thinking it best to drop the whole 'Naruto becoming a shinobi' issue for now, he grabbed a pen and some ink and decided some paperwork would clear his mind for a little bit. He could only hope that Naruto came around and decided to become a shinobi on his own, otherwise Hiruzen figured he'll end up being forced to send Naruto to the academy against his will, and he did not want to deal with an angry Naruto any time soon.
It had been a few weeks since the Hokage's last visit, and Naruto had been relieved the elderly man hadn't come back around. Without any interruptions he had been able to focus on reading new books from the library. Though this time he had been reading with a clear purpose in mind. There was a reason the Hokage was so set on Naruto becoming a shinobi, and if no one would tell him why he'd just have to find out himself.
So Naruto checked out books on whatever he could find and took notes on anything and everything. Whatever he figured pertained to him he would pin on his wall and connect it to the question he had in the middle of his growing web; "Why Am I Different?" So far he had been able to add quite a bit to his little conspiracy board, though he didn't actively call it that.
There were a few notes surrounding his internal temperature, or rather how low it always seemed to be and how cold he was all the time. There were a few questions about his lack of parents, but there wasn't much he could do about that. He had no last name to work off of and he couldn't find anything about a clan with red hair. He had no access to the village registry or his medical records so he couldn't even find any information about his heritage that way. In the end it was just dead end after dead end so he let the question of his parents be, or at least until he had some info to go work with.
He had also made notes surrounding his birth and the bijuu that had attacked that day, as well as anything he could find on the other bijuu themselves. He had found it strange when he read about Hashirama sending the bijuu to the other nations that there was never anything written about the bijuu causing damage or attacking the villages once he had left them there. He doubted that all the villages had some secret Mokuton user to calm their bijuu like Hashirama did so he wondered how they were restrained or hidden. There also wasn't anything saying they were used as weapons in any of the three wars, yet the Kyuubi had shown just how effective the tailed beasts were in causing random destruction. Surely if the other nations had these chakra beasts that could cause such devastation they would use them in something like a war, wouldn't they? And for that matter, if the bijuu were capable of being killed, why hadn't any of the others been killed like the Kyuubi had? Surely getting rid of the chakra beasts would be more of an effective peace offering than giving all the nations living super weapons would…
So Naruto worked off those questions and added whatever he thought was the answer to his wall. He figured that Konoha did whatever the other villages did to hide their bijuu, but he just didn't know what that could be. He had look up a bit about sealing, but there was only mention of seals used for storing items or containing bodies for transportation. He didn't think anything that could hold a kunai or a dead body could hold beings like the bijuu, but then he read that fuuinjutsu and sealing was a limitless art, it being completely dependent on the skill of the creator of the seal. That got him thinking, so he looked up everything he could find on the Yondaime and sealing. The results surprised him.
Apparently Minato Namikaze had been a master fuuinjutsu user. He created tons of seals due to his prowess in them, the most well know being his space/time one, the Hiraishin. It literally allowed him instantaneous teleportation. So if that was possible, why wasn't sealing a bijuu also a possibility? The only problem was that he didn't know how this all involved him. Sure he was born the day the Kyuubi had attacked, but none of this was actually helping him. So he spent another ten days researching and reading more books, all coming to more dead ends, until yesterday when he had found the answer. Or rather, it found him.
…
Sitting on his couch and tossing another book beside his couch in frustration, Naruto forced out a slow breath in an effort to calm himself. Every book he finished had felt like was he taking one step forward but two steps back. Nothing was giving him the answers he needed yet he felt like the answer was looking him right in the face and all he had to do was reach out and grab it. He just didn't know what he was supposed to be reaching for.
Deciding he needed to clear his head and take a step back from all this, Naruto got up and made himself a small cup of tea. Tea always relaxed him and calmed down his freezing cold body. Allowing the tea to warm his insides for a brief moment, Naruto closed his and let the tea work its' magic. Tea really was amazing to him, not only did it have a soothing fragrance, it also warmed him and let him fully relax and wind down whenever he drank it. Truly a magical drink…
Opening his eyes, Naruto blinked and realized he was no longer in his apartment. Instead he was in some odd sewer-like tunnel with a sheet of frozen water in the bottom, which was really odd because it was the middle of summer in Konoha and there was no way the village's sewer system could be frozen over. Looking up to inspect above him, he noticed two pipes were running along the ceiling; one being nearly frozen over with a small amount of blue liquid running through it, and the other one seemed to be glowing with a red bubbly energy that felt extremely warm and oddly dangerous to him.
Looking over his surroundings one more time and seeing there was nothing besides the pipes above him and the random torch spaced out along the wall for lighting, Naruto figured his best option was to start walking and find a way out from wherever he was. This was easier said than done though, as what felt like an hour of walking later turned up neither an exit nor any other paths. It seemed this tunnel only had one direction and he was being forced to follow it.
Coming out into a large room, Naruto noticed this place just seemed like a larger version of the tunnel he was just in. There were the same torches on the wall and the ground was still frozen over. There were a few differences however; the two minor ones being that the frozen pipe seemed to disappear into the middle of the ceiling, while the bubbly red one turned in the middle of the ceiling before it disappeared into the darkness behind the biggest difference this room had.
It had a large cage in it.
Actually, Naruto thought large didn't accurately describe this cage. It was absolutely massive. It had large steel-like bars that ran from the frozen ground, all the way to the ceiling. The lock was also weird too, in that it wasn't a lock so much as it was a piece of paper. Taking a few steps to get a closer look, he noticed the word 'Seal' was written on it. This was all so strange to Naruto. What type of being could possibly need a cage this big to hold it?
Musing over the possibility that whatever was in the cage must have been quite powerful to require this level of safety, Naruto was unprepared for felt like a wave of pure power and death to wash over him. He had always thought he ran cold, but his usual temperature had nothing on the pure dread this power caused him. It was terrifying and it felt like it was making his blood literally freeze over. He also noticed he hadn't taken a breath in twenty seconds and let out a large exhale and gulped down a few shaky breaths.
It was when the room started to shake with the sound of footsteps that he snapped out of his shock for a second and looked into the cage, causing his eyes to widen. As the footsteps got closer he was able to see more and more of the creature that caused his earlier terror. The first thing he saw was big, red, slitted eyes. Then came a red fuzzy snout and big rabbit like ears attached to a large fox head. Then the rest of its body came out of the shadows and into view, allowing Naruto to see the nine flowing tails and immediately recognize the being in front of him.
"Kyuubi…" He whispered out.
"That's right brat." The bijuu snorted out. "Good job on not fainting when you saw me. Knowing how weak you humans are I figured you would have passed out right away. Kami knows enough of you did that when I… attacked your village and people felt my power wash over them."
Naruto could admit he had no idea what was happening right now. The Kyuubi was right in front of him! He had been pondering what had happened to the great beast during his investigating but he didn't think the answer would just drop right in front of him while drinking tea. So he asked the only question that his frazzled mind could conjure.
"Huh?"
He could hear the fox chuckle at him, no doubt because he probably sounded so stupid right there. But it wasn't fair really, what was a seven year old supposed to say when presented with the strongest being in the world?
"Very intelligent question there kit? Want to try again?" The Kyuubi said sarcastically.
"Sorry, uh I mean… What are you doing here? I mean, everyone says you're dead, I wondered if that was true myself, but you know…" He finished off lamely, mentally smacking himself for sounding so unintelligent right now.
"I guess if you must know, I was sealed away the day I attacked." The fox begrudgingly replied. "Though I will say this, I'd like to see anyone else take on the Shinigami of all things and come out unscathed. How your Yondaime managed to pull off summoning the Death God of all things I'll never know." Naruto wasn't sure but it sounded like a mix of anger, respect and amusement when it talked of the Yondaime.
"The Shinigami sealed you? How is that even possible?"
"I just said I didn't know brat, Kami you humans are stupid sometimes." Naruto had the decency to flush in embarrassment at that. "But yes, the Shinigami sealed me away in a host in return for the soul of the Yondaime. Hopefully that bastard human is enjoying himself in the gut of the Shinigami for doing this to me. I'm sure the side of my chakra he took is keeping him good company too."
"Did you say host? He sealed you away in a living being, how's that even possible?" Naruto really did want to know. This could open up new leads in his investigation!
"Yes kit, host, as in a body. Are you actually listening or are your ears just for show?" Naruto was beginning to suspect that sarcasm was a favourite of the large kitsune. "Due to my immense chakra, only a living being could house me properly. I'm too strong for an object and an animal, as I would just overload them both with chakra until I was free. So instead your Yondaime sealed me away into a newborn, thus allowing its' undeveloped chakra coils to adjust to my presence and safely house my chakra without exploding. All rather clever I suppose…" It finished, muttering the clever part lowly.
Naruto supposed that all made sense. The Kyuubi was the strongest of the bijuu and judging by the small taste of its immense power he felt earlier, the full thing must be totally overwhelming. Although the newborn part was curious…
"So this newborn he apparently sealed you in, is it the obvious answer or am I allowed some level of mercy from Kami and the answer isn't what I think it is?"
The fox just chuckled, giving him the answer anyway. "Maybe you aren't as dumb as you look brat." Yeah, sarcasm was definitely a favourite. "Yes, I am sealed inside of you. We are currently inside what could be called a sealscape, basically meaning we are inside the seal. A meeting room of sorts." Naruto was thankful the Kyuubi was kind enough to explain things. This was all rather overwhelming.
"Well I guess that answers why people don't like me all that much…" Naruto muttered under his breath. "Would you be able to tell me exactly why I was chosen for the sealing? Was I just convenient, or should I brace myself for more shocking truths?" When the kitsune smirked, Naruto decided to brace himself for whatever was about to be said.
"Well I've never been a parent myself, but I imagine most parents would rather use their own child before asking someone else to give up their own, now wouldn't they?"
'Well fuck.' THAT was why no one would tell him who his parents were? Because his father was the fucking Yondaime? Naruto had never sworn before, but this seemed like the proper occasion for swearing.
"So the Yondaime was my father?" Receiving a nod and another smirk, he continued on. "Is there any chance you know of my mother? Was she famous as well?"
"While not as famous as your father, your mother was definitely strong in her own right. She had to be to house me didn't she?" His eyes widened at that, the Kyuubi had been sealed in someone before?! "Yes kit, I've been sealed before. Twice actually…" The Kyuubi grumbled out. "First in the wife of your Shodai Hokage, Mito Uzumaki. Then when she died I was moved to your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. After I was removed from your mother I was sealed once again into you, my third container, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze." Naruto was having trouble breathing now, though he did hear something about 'damned Uzumakis'.
"Um, wait, you said removed right?" Receiving another nod, he asked the other question on his mind. "Is that why you attacked, because you were removed from my mother?"
Naruto was surprised when the Kyuubi snarled and released another wave of pressure from behind the cage. The fox had been rather civil, if a little sarcastic, during their conversation. This was the first time he had seen it angry.
"I never wanted to attack your foolish village when I was released. Why should I waste my time on what you stupid humans do? If you want to blame someone, blame those cursed Uchiha and their stupid eyes!" The kitsune roared out. "The second I was free from your mother I was put under a powerful genjutsu and sent to attack your idiotic village by some masked Uchiha. Next thing I know I'm free from that damned eye and staring right down at the Shinigami. Your father sells his soul to seal me away into you, and your mother dies soon after due to her being weakened because of giving birth to you and having me ripped out of her."
Naruto just nodded along. He finally had answers! This was amazing and depressing all at the same time. He finally knew what that lying Hokage had been keeping from him all this time as well as why he was so adamant about getting him but in the Shinobi Program at the academy, because Naruto was basically a living weapon.
"Um, thanks for telling all this Kyuubi." Naruto said with a small smile. "I never really figured I'd find out about my parents and everything else, so this means a lot to me. So uh, thanks, again…"
"Yeah whatever kit, don't get all teary eyed on me now." The fox said with another rumbling chuckle. "Now beat it so I can go back to my nap. We'll talk some other time."
Before Naruto could say anything else, another hot blast of power pushed him backwards and launched him from the seal. Blinking from the shock of suddenly finding himself back in his apartment, Naruto looked down and noticed his tea was still partially warm. Figuring that time in the seal must have moved a lot faster, Naruto took a soothing sip of his tea and leaned back into his couch. With all the information given to him, he had a lot to figure out now.
…
After doing a bit more work on his wall with the new info he had, Naruto went to bed that night content with everything that he had been told. Though it opened up more questions like who the masked Uchiha was and why he wanted to use the Kyuubi to attack Konoha, it answered his immediate questions. He know knew the name of his parents, that he was the container for the Kyuubi, and that the Sandaime was a damned liar. Looking to his wall, he thought it best to get rid of everything he had put up on it so as not to arouse suspicion. He figured that if people didn't want him to know any of this, he wouldn't give them any reason to think he did.
'Good thinking, quite the clever kit aren't you?'
"AH! What the hell was that?"
Naruto could hear a sigh come from within him. 'Never mind kit, I take back what I said. You're still just as stupid as everyone else.'
"Wait a sec, Kyuubi? Is that you?" This was really weird, he didn't think the Kyuubi would be able to talk to him when he wasn't inside the seal.
"Do you have any other large foxes inside of you kit? It's obviously me. And no need to say anything out loud. I believe you were just talking about concealing the information you know, so there's no need to make people suspicious by looking crazy and talking aloud to no one."
Although he could hear the condescension and sarcasm in the fox's voice, it didn't change that fact that the fox was right. No need to make people start looking at him more than they already did by looking like he was talking to himself.
'Sorry Kyuubi, was there something you wanted?'
'There we go, much better. And as a matter of fact there is something you can do for me.' Naruto wasn't sure how, but it almost seemed like he could picture the fox adjusting itself while they were having their mental conversation. 'We need to talk about your training.'
'Training? What training?'
'C'mon kit, use your head a little. You may only be seven, but I know you're smarter than this.' Trying to ignore the snort that came from within his head, Naruto waited for the kitsune to continue. 'Obviously your shinobi training. You were complaining to the wrinkled human before about how you didn't have a clan or the proper teacher if you were to become a shinobi. Well know you have both. Plus hopefully once you get some chakra control training going you can stop shivering all the damn time. Seriously, if it wasn't for the fact I can heat my side of the seal I would have frozen over by now.'
'Wait, you're going to train me? And what do you mean chakra control, what does that have to do with me being cold?' Naruto was eager to know this. He had been cold as long as he could remember, if there was a way to train so he could stay warm then he would do whatever the large fox wanted.
'I keep forgetting you're only seven so you don't know anything about chakra.' He could hear the bijuu sigh from within his mind again. This seal he had was seriously amazing. 'Chakra is what fuels a human and also allows shinobi to breathe fire and that other junk you humans do with it. Every human also has an affinity to a certain element; them being earth, water, fire, wind and lightning. Now you're special because due to inheriting your father's and your mother's strong wind and water affinities, you also have my chakra leaking into you which actually caused your two affinities to combine within you.'
'My affinities combined? How is that possible, and what does this mean?' Naruto enjoyed learning, so if the fox was offering to teach him more in the future, he already found himself leaning towards accepting. This shinobi business was really fascinating stuff.
'What it means is that due to my dense chakra being mixed into your system through the seal, you have a kekkai genkai, or a bloodline. Your body is naturally mixing your two affinities to create ice chakra, thus chilling your body.' So that was why he was always cold, his body was literally creating ice? 'And because you have so much chakra for a human your age and no control over it, it runs rampant inside your body, causing your chakra to chill you so much.'
'Oh wow. I had no idea that was possible. So if I want to control this and start, you know, not being cold all the time, what would I have to do?'
'That's the easy part kit, I'll be training you. That way you can control your damned ice chakra and hopefully I won't have to be constantly putting out chakra to keep myself from freezing over.' Rubbing the back of his neck and chuckling a weak 'sorry', Naruto let Kyuubi continue talking. Unfortunately you'll have to attend your dumb shinobi academy to keep up appearances, so once you talk to your wrinkled leader we'll start your training. For now we can work on the fundamentals, so the first thing you need to know about chakra is that it's made up of…'
Sitting in the back of his classroom that he had been stuck in over the last four years or so, Naruto let loose a sigh and ignored Iruka-sensei's rambling about the Genin Exam that was tomorrow while he stared out the window. Training over the years had actually been fun, something he had never experienced. Although a sarcastic ass sometimes, Kurama had been a really awesome teacher. Much better than anyone at this Kami forsaken academy, that's for sure. At least his sensei, despite being a mountain-sized fox actually taught practical skills as well as history. Knowing how to fight was more likely to save your life than knowing that Hashirama Senju was called the 'God of Shinobi' and had the Mokuton kekkai genkai.
His relationship with his tenant/sensei was a rather odd one. Over the years he had finally learned the bijuu had a name, which was Kurama. He had to train relentlessly for two years before he had earned enough of the fox's respect and had been graced with his amazing name. Damned fox and his high and mighty attitude. Though despite everything Naruto still liked to call Kurama a friend, sarcasm and all. His tenant was an awesome instructor, hid method to explain the fundamentals most so he could find the answer on his own by working with what he was given was what made learning so great. This boosted his already quick mind into becoming a better problem solver and quick thinker, as well as giving him the odd quirk of needing to know how every jutsu he used worked.
Chakra control took months to get to an acceptable level, even with the Shadow Clones he was eventually taught how to use. Due to the bijuu being sealed inside his mother and Mito, Kurama knew a lot about shinobi training, as well as some stuff the fox developed on its own. All this resulted in Naruto now having near perfect control of his chakra despite having Kage-level reserves at the age of twelve. He had the chakra control to learn medical ninjutsu if he wanted, but neither he nor Kurama knew of any and Naruto didn't have access to actual jutsu yet, so they were at an impasse there.
Taijutsu and physical conditioning was sped up immensely due to the healing factor Kurama's chakra gave him on top of his Uzumaki vitality. Due to this awesome healing combination, Naruto was able to train intensely every day and be back in fighting condition the next day. It also resulted in him being able to train every muscle every day, because his muscles would always heal no matter how torn they got. Kurama had taught him how to fight by teaching him a taijutsu style designed around foxes. It used a lot of clawed swipes and swift movements to slowly wear your opponent down by causing minor wounds all over their body until you were able to go in for the kill.
His taijutsu style mixed well with his taijutsu training, as it was because of his bloodline training he was able to effectively use the Kitsune no Tsume, or Fox Claw taijutsu style. Due to intense training in water and wind manipulation, as well as ice, Naruto had near perfect mastery over all his elements. This allowed him to form a set of ice claws over his fingertips, giving him the ability to actually claw at his opponents. Another benefit due to his elemental training was that he was able to use high class ninjutsu with fewer hand seals due to the knowledge Kurama had from Mito. Apparently his tenant's first host had seen the Nidaime, Tobirama Senju, training quite often and had learned a lot of his work on water manipulation. Due to the intense work in water manipulation he put in, Naruto was able to effectively pull water out of the air and even use the Suiton: Water Dragon Jutsu with only five handseals, instead of than the standard forty. He was working his way down to only one, but it required tons of practice with the technique. The same also went for his mother seeing his father's wind manipulation training, so Naruto was able to train the two components of his bloodline rather well.
Fuuinjutsu was, as odd it was to him, usually used as a relaxer for him. It all came to him so easily that it was frightening to both him and his kitsune-sensei. Due to Kurama having been sealed in two fuuinjutsu mistresses, he had a lot of knowledge to pass on, and Naruto soaked all of it up nearly instantly. Once he had the basics down he was able to absorb anything Kurama taught him and was able to recreate it within a week. Their study into barrier seals was a blessing, as it allowed them to do intense ninjutsu training without alerting anyone of the large amounts of chakra being expelled all the time. His fuuinjutsu work also gave him the opportunity to renovate some of the empty rooms in his apartment building. By selling some of his basic seals, storage and explosive, under a false identity and Henge to shops he was able to make enough money to buy all the rooms on his floor and turn them into a large sealing workshop. This allowing him to test any seals he wanted from inside his own home, thankfully the barriers would block any explosions caused by his experiments.
Unfortunately his Hyoton kekkai genkai training was pretty much imagination mixed with trial and error because other than a clan in Kirigakure no had the Hyoton bloodline so there was no ninjutsu to learn. He had been able to create a number of ninjutsu and was now able to control it well enough that he didn't need to be huddled in warm clothes anymore though. Now he wore clothes that were inspired from all his unknowing senseis. He wore standard black shinobi sandals and black shinobi pants, as well red bandages on his right thigh that had seals woven into the fabric to hold his kunai and shuriken; the bandages representing Mito and her knowledge that taught him seals. He wore a tight, long-sleeved dark blue shirt that had white fur lining the neck, an homage to Tobirama and his teaching of water manipulation to him. Over that he wore a standard Jonin looking flak jacket, except his was a dark red with black trim around the sides and didn't have the high neck other's had. It also had the Uzumaki clan symbol on the left shoulder with a three-pronged kunai stitched in the middle of it, both representing his parents. Luckily no one thought anything of the symbol.
And although he wanted to put a big nine-tailed fox on his back, he and his sensei both agreed it was a rather bad idea at the moment. No need to send everyone into a panic over 'the fox taking over' or whatever nonsense the people believed.
The academy and its curriculum was basically a waste of time and Naruto either sent clones in his place, or treated it as a way to rest from his own intense training. And although the naps he had and other bad behaviours cost him the Rookie of the Year title, Naruto didn't really care. He was second in the boys and third ranked overall which was fine, being only behind Sasuke Uchiha for the boys and Sakura Haruno for second overall. Naruto actually hated the both of them, though for totally different reasons. Neither of them for jealously he would assure you vehemently.
Sasuke Uchiha was an arrogant douchebag. It was as simple as that. Ever since the Uchiha Massacre when they were eight, Sasuke had become a 'Grade-A Asshat'. He had a permanent scowl on his face, and Kurama liked to joke that his hair 'looked like a ducks' ass'. He would always go on about how he 'was an Uchiha' and during spars he would say that 'only an Uchiha can beat an Uchiha' so it was unnecessary for his opponents to fight him. That usually caused Kurama to roar with laughter, because it was literally Sasuke's older brother Itachi Uchiha who massacred the Uchiha Clan. It was also funny because Naruto would always beat Sasuke in spars.
It was because Naruto always won in his spars that he hated fan girls, especially the screeching fan girl voice of Sakura Haruno. Although a somewhat pretty girl, her personality was absolutely terrible. She believed Sasuke was Kami's gift to the world and would violently attack anyone who said or did anything that proved otherwise. And because Naruto always beat Sasuke in the academy spars, Sakura would always end up screeching at Naruto about how 'he cheated' or that 'Sasuke was just having a bad day'. Any excuse that would let the delusional girl continue believing that Sasuke was still infallible in her eyes. The other fan girls were bad, but Sakura was very much the worst. It was only due to her being book smart and having her weak taijutsu forms memorized that she was the top kunoichi in the class.
The rest of the class was okay for the most part. Shikamaru Nara, a boy who probably had a diagnosable case of laziness, was usually good for a match of shogi once in a while. Shikamaru's friend, Choji Akamichi, was pretty laid back as well and usually provided conversation during their shogi matches, though was very gentle and would usually avoid sparring people as he was afraid to hurt them. Kiba Inuzuka was a braggart, also extremely loud, so Naruto tended to avoid him at all costs. Though his ninken partner Akamaru was pretty cool. Ino Yamanaka was a Sasuke fan girl… so he hated her as well, though she was a somewhat serious kunoichi so he didn't hate her as much. Hinata Hyuuga was different though. She was the only kunoichi-in-training that wasn't obsessed with Sasuke and trained hard. Unfortunately she was also terribly shy and had severe confident issues, usually resulting in her doing a turtle impression whenever called upon and ducking her head into her oversized jacket. Everyone else in the class were civilian children, so all of them were pretty mediocre. Naruto didn't really pay much attention to them, if he paid attention to them at all.
Looking back from his view of the sparring grounds outside, Naruto listened as Iruka-sensei finished explaining what their Genin Exam would be on and proceeded to wish everyone luck for tomorrow. Naruto snorted at that. After four years at the academy, he didn't need luck to pass the academy's pathetic exam. All he was focused on was the fact that in twenty-four hours he would finally have a hitai-ate and would be able to learn from a Jonin-sensei. He only hoped he either got a genjutsu or ninjutsu specialist. Ninjutsu would be cool, because he had the reserves and control to toss around ninjutsu all day for fun if he wanted, but he and Kurama both had an interest in genjutsu. Neither of them knew much genjutsu besides one that was used by Tobirama called the Bringer of Darkness Jutsu, and although it was an extremely strong illusion it didn't have the same finesse and subtlety of other genjutsu. Though learning to fight without sight was a great training method.
Walking out of the academy and to his apartment, Naruto let his usual impassive look remain on his face while he traversed through the streets with his eyes closed. He had long since learned to ignore the looks and whispers from those around him, and his walks let him work on his sensory skills and make notes on new ninjutsu or seals. Trying to decide on what he wanted for dinner tonight, Naruto headed up the steps to make dinner while preparing for the next day.
Soon he would finally be Genin Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze.
A/N
Yay new story being released beside my first story. So I was sitting around bored and pumped this baby out and decided I liked it enough to work on it in tandem with my other story. I like the idea of a strong, smart, Hyoton Naruto. Also, the reason his hair is tipped white is because of the Ice chakra being rampant in his chakra network for so long. It basically just represents his Hyoton bloodline.
Earlier on Naruto mentions about he certainly wouldn't want to be a ninja of Konoha, this is true. Despite him becoming a Genin, he isn't becoming a shinobi so as to support the village. It's basically just a means for him to learn new things. He has an interest in learning medical ninjutsu and genjutsu, so he'll be working on that sometime down the road. Not sure who his team sensei will be though. I like the idea of him being frustrated with Kakashi to the point he goes to learn from Kurenai hearing she's a genjutsu specialist. I would imagine since none of Team Eight is interested in genjutsu she would be somewhat eager to teach and pass on her skills to someone.
He is similar to Orochimaru in the desire to learn new things, but different in that he's not a total scumbag. I also like the idea of him stealing something of Orochi's later on…
*cough* Snake Contract *cough cough* Kusanagi *cough*
Ugh, bad cough. Anyways, hope you like this story. Hopefully I'll be able to put out a chapter of this and Goddess on a rotation every week or every other. New to fanfiction writing so who knows. I certainly don't. Oh, and if you have a pairing that you like for this that would work I'm all ears. Just explain in a review or something why it works. I like the idea of Anko/Naruto, but if you can provide me with another that'd be good. If you suggest multiple girls the max will be two for sure. I'll probably stay away from femHaku though, I have something planned for Haku and that boy certainly won't be living after the Land of Waves.
Hope you enjoyed and see you in chapter two,
InsanityFic.