Naruto Uzumaki, the red haired ball of joy. He ran down the streets of konoha as shop owners turned to find out what the commotion was, only to see him.
"The demon brat" one said in anger as Naruto ran by. "With that red hair… how come Hokage-sama can't tell it's the demon" another commented in silence as someone added, "it's practically the same color as the demon itself."
Naruto ignored those comments, they had been coming all his life, and instead continued on, intent on getting to the ramen shop he so desperately loved. Today was his 9th birthday afterall, and Hokage-jiji had agreed to meet him at Ramen Ichiraku to have ramen.
Walking through the flaps that were held as an entrance to the Ramen stand, Naruto made his way to his usual seat and sat down.
"Happy birthday Naruto" Teuchi, the owner of the shop, said with a smile as he walked over to the red head while wiping off his hands with a towel. "Ayame come on out, Naruto is here" Teuchi said with a smile as a girl looking to be in her late teens made her way out with a smile.
"Naruto-kun, happy birthday" Ayame said, repeating her father in more ways than one, as she walked over and grabbed a towel to wipe off her hands. "How has today been so far" Ayame said with a small smile as she began to help her father cook Naruto's regular.
"It's been fine, I think I'm getting better at Tai-jutsu, so soon enough I'll beat Sasuke-teme and then I'll take the hat from the old man and become Hokage!" Naruto said with glee.
"Is that so?" Hiruzen asked as he appeared walking through the Ramen stands flaps. "If I recall Naruto-kun, first, you must pass the Genin exams." Hiruzen said with a smile and a mental laugh.
Naruto blushed at that comment, slightly embarrassed that he had forgotten such a crucial step, while looking at the steaming bowl that had just been placed in front of him. Shaking his head from such thoughts, Naruto began to devour the delicious noodles while Hiruzen ordered his own meal.
Later, after Naruto, Hiruzen, Teuchi, and Ayame had eaten, Hiruzen looked at the red head who sat beside him. "Naruto-kun" Hiruzen said to get the boy's attention as he pulled out a storage scroll. "I figured since it was your second year in the academy you'd soon start using actual weapons rather than the wooden ones that you've been training with. So, I thought it'd be nice to have your own set to practice with on your own rather than only being able to practice at the academy. Also, I think it's finally time we upgrade some of your other gear." Hiruzen finished as he unrolled the scroll and a puff of smoke appeared before it dispersed and Naruto saw his jiji holding two gift wrapped boxes.
Naruto quickly grabbed one of the boxes before tearing apart the wrapping and finding a shoe box filled with multiple shuriken, kunai, senbon, and even some ninja wire. Next to the weapons were a pair of identical weapons pouches. His eyes sparkled with joy as he looked through the gifts, more than ready to go and train.
However, he quickly forgot the thought when his gaze switched to the other gift. It was slightly smaller, and seemed thinner, like a wide book. He grabbed the gift and just like before, tore apart the wrapping only to find a card.
"Uh...Jiji, I think you switched my gift with someone else's." Naruto said in confusion as he held the card up in the Hokage's face for him to see.
"Sorry to disappoint Naruto-kun, but that is indeed the right gift. As I'm sure you remember, you've been repeatedly coming to me since the start of your second year at the academy, asking for jutsu. However, you've yet to show improvement in your studies at the academy. Furthermore, you have yet to learn the 3 academy jutsu, and until you do, you won't be getting any jutsu from me." The Hokage finished as Naruto sported another blush of embarrassment at the claims that, unfortunately for him, couldn't be truer.
"Yea, but how's…(Naruto took a quick look at the card)... an academy library card supposed to help. I get that it has information for the test's and stuff, but what about jutsu?" Naruto asked, unaware of the trap he fell into.
"Oh, if you're aware of the information at the library and of your current grades, I wonder, why haven't you visited yet?" the Hokage asked, completely aware that the boy hadn't visited simply because he hated reading.
Naruto blushed in return.
"Nevertheless, listen close, Naruto-kun."Hiruzen said as Naruto stopped blushing and listened in.
"One of the most powerful weapons a shinobi can have is knowledge. You claim that you not only want to be Hokage, but also that you will be. However, to be Hokage, you must be a pillar of strength for the village, a ninja knowledgeable in a variety of subjects, if not all, someone who isn't just strong, but also smart. Every Hokage up to this point has been hailed a genius, prodigy, or something similar. Hashirama Senju, the first Hokage, was hailed as the Kami no shinobi, or God of Shinobi. Tobirama Senju, the second Hokage, was hailed as the creator for his uncanny ability to come up with, and create, new jutsu; he also was a prodigy in water release. I, the third Hokage, am hailed as the professor for my ability to use all five nature transformations and my vast knowledge and ability to use almost all of Konoha's jutsu. Finally, Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage, was hailed as the yellow flash of Konoha for his ability to use a special made fuinjutsu to almost instantly teleport to any location he marked with his fuinjutsu; of course, his ability wouldn't be possible if not for his prodigious mastery over the art of Fuinjutsu." Hiruzen finished with a breath before continuing.
"This is to say, Naruto-Kun, that if you truly wish to be Hokage, you have a long and hard road ahead. However, I believe that if you truly work hard enough, you may just become Hokage." Hiruzen finished, finally dropping his serious expression as he looked at the boy in front of him.
Naruto, though, looked at his jiji in a new light. He had never thought that his jiji was someone of such power, nor had he thought seriously about the other Hokage.
"I-" Naruto steeled his resolve. "I swear, I'll become a Hokage everyone can rely on and look up to, without fear, Hokage-jiji" Naruto said with newfound respect and resolve for the man in front of him.
"Good, Naruto-kun. Now about the card your holding, while it's true that with that level of clearance you can only access reading material about your classes and the other academic related subjects above and below you, once you bring your grades up to a respectable point, and you've shown maturity, I'll think about letting you have access to the sections on jutsu and other more "ninja related" topics." Hiruzen said with a smile as Naruto grinned.
"You got it, Hokage-jiji" Naruto said with a smile and a new resolve in his eyes. You might even say he matured more solely from the lecture he just received.
A small thump brought the red heads attention elsewhere as he gazed at another, admittingly of different size, gift wrapped box. He looked up at the smiling faces of Teuchi and Ayame.
"Don't think we didn't get you anything as well, Naruto-kun" Teuchi said with a smile as he slightly pushed the box towards Naruto.
"Thanks pops, Ayame-neechan." Naruto said with a smile as he once again grabbed a gift and tore through the wrapping. However, what lurked inside was not what he expected to find.
"Eh...are these clothes?" Naruto said, confused.
"We know how fond you are of your current ninja attire, and while that's nice and all, of the few ninja who have visited us to have a meal, all are dressed in some sort of attire that is suitable to a ninja. After asking around and finding information from both ninja and shop owners who sell ninja attire, we've found that while your outfit does sport a lot of pockets, it does not help at all in the camouflage department, nor do many shinobi or civilian alike think it is a respectable outfit." Teuchi finished his explanation, hoping he didn't hurt Naruto's feelings too much. However, he was surprised to see Naruto look surprised for a moment before going into thought about what the older man had said.
'He isn't wrong' he thought to himself as his gaze went from his own clothes to the ones he was gifted and back again. The process repeated itself a couple more times before Naruto decided on his response.
"Ok." Naruto said with a nod and closed eyes.
There was silence, and Naruto opened his eyes to see the three surrounding him to look at him in slight surprise and doubt. 'Is this a prank' they all thought as they looked at Naruto.
"Care to elaborate, Naruto-kun." Hiruzen finally said.
"W-Well, I really like my clothes now, like you said pops, but I know they're not what shinobi are supposed to really wear. In class, Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei have shown us a few pictures of previous Hokage and shinobi, and they've even gone over proper attire for Shinobi and Kunochi as well. And, everytime I see or hear about shinobi attire, it's almost always darker colors or shades. I've even seen pictures of you jiji, and you're always in shinobi clothes with armor on. So, I guess it'd probably be best to start wearing more shinobi styled clothes to prepare for my career as a ninja." Naruto finished with a nod to himself, believing it was a decent response, only to look up and find all three smiling.
"Uh...what is it?" Naruto asked with uncertainty.
"Nothing, Naruto-kun. Nothing at all." Hiruzen answered for the three.
"Anyway Naruto-kun, we got you two sets of (shinobi) pants, two sets of (shinobi) long sleeve shirts, two sets of fishnet under shirts, and a pair (shinobi) sandals/shoes. Also, as you can see, other than the black sandals and fishnet under shirts, the clothes are divided equally between a pair of dark navy clothes, and a pair of Black clothes." Ayame said with a smile as Naruto neatly pulled out the clothes to look at them. They were quite nice, however, Naruto quickly found a problem.
"Uh, Pops, Ayame-neechan, why's the neck area extended like Sasuke-teme clothing is?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, well apparently, that type of style is popular right now, and we were told that the extended neck area "looks cooler"." Teuchi said, moving his fingers showing the quotation marks.
Hiruzen smirked, it seemed that things were beginning to change in the Uzumaki's life.