A/N: I do not own the anime series Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto!

1 Year Later. 6 Years Old Naruto.

The birds sang as they sat on the branch of a tall tree. The tree had a lot of history. It was first created by the first Hokage. It watched the world as the third Hokage trained under its cover. It watched as the three legendary Sannin was born under its vast branches. It watched as the toad Sannin Jiraiya trained a genius who would later become the fourth Hokage. Finally, it watched as the great Nine-Tailed Fox destroyed most of the village. This tree was nearly destroyed as well, but it survived the calamity and lived to watch the world once more.

And watched it did, as it was now watching a boy train under its thick branches. The boy had lavender eyes and red hair. He was Naruto Uzumaki, and he was currently walking around its trunk.

"Focusing chakra on one's feet like this really isn't doing much in the chakra control department…"

Naruto huffed. He didn't like this particular exercise. The reason? Because it was too easy! When Minato hear Naruto say that the tree-walking exercise was easy, he had to process Naruto's words one by one to understand them. Usually, he would agree with the statement, but the problem was that it was Naruto Uzumaki who said it.

Naruto fucking Uzumaki! A full Uzumaki, who happens to have Senju blood as well as the strongest tailed-beast inside of him, that Naruto Uzumaki!

Kurama laughed at Minato and told Naruto about the water-walking exercise.

The next day, Naruto was running around a pond. He was running on top of the pond!

"So this is how it feels to walk on water? Boring. There's no challenge at all! Making wooden crowns was way more challenging than this boring exercise!"

This time, it was Minato's time to laugh at Kurama. Naruto took 1 hour to master the tree-walking exercise, and this time he took 40 minutes to master the water-walking exercise. Minato guessed that Naruto was able to master the water walking exercise faster because Naruto already had an idea about how to do it, and the water-walking exercise was literally just a harder version of the tree-walking exercise.

Naruto, feeling a tug inside his mind, walked out of the pond and sat under the shade of a giant tree. He then sat using the lotus position and closed his eyes to enter his mindscape.

"Naruto," Minato started by calling Naruto, gaining his full attention. "Since you've mastered decent chakra control, I want to introduce you to fuinjutsu, or the art of sealing."

"I've heard about them. Apparently, they're our clan's specialty?"

Naruto asked. He had actually been interested in sealing techniques when he happened to come across an introduction book about them inside a dumpster. It seemed that the world wasn't interested in the art of sealing. Naruto tried learning more about seals after finishing that book, but he was disappointed when he found no books about fuinjutsu anywhere in the village. To say that he was delighted was an understatement. The grin on his face reached his ear, and his eyes turned into two crescent moons.

Minato almost sweat-dropped at the face Naruto was making, but he let it go since he knew that the Uzumaki clan was famous for their powerful sealing technique. In fact, people went as far as to say that they were crazy for sealing techniques.

"Okay, calm down Naruto. I will teach you everything I know about the art of sealing, and everything will be up to you to improve after that. My sensei Jiraiya is also a master of seals, but his sealing art is less than mine, so don't let yourself be trapped by the third Hokage if he ever tries to trap you by letting Jiraiya teach you the art of sealing."

Minato said the latter part solemnly, as he knew full well the personality and wisdom of the third Hokage.

Naruto nodded hearing his father. He also didn't want to learn anything under Jiraiya, so he was happy to have an excuse to avoid Jiraiya. The moment Minato told Naruto that Jiraiya was his godfather, Naruto disliked the man. If he was his godfather, then why hadn't he visited him once? Naruto was childish, yes, but what did you expect from a child?

"Now, let's talk about seals. Making seals is like solving a puzzle. The more complex a seal is, the more puzzle pieces you need to solve. Also, like any good puzzle, there will always be a solution to a puzzle, just as there will always be a way to create a seal about something. You following me?"

Minato asked and when he saw Naruto nod, he continued his lesson.

"Even if currently, it is deemed impossible to do something using a seal, it will only take that one man who can solve the puzzle and make the impossible, possible. Do you understand Naruto? In the world of seals, nothing is impossible, the only thing stopping you from creating a seal you want to create is your own creativity and knowledge."

Naruto listened and focused so hard, that he would start sweating. He was really into learning the art of sealing, and after his father finished teaching him about how seals worked and the possibilities of seals, he stood up and was about to buy chakra ink and paper.

"Naruto!"

That was until he heard Minato's voice and sat back down.

"I'll teach you about a B-rank jutsu called the Shadow Clone Technique. Under your hands, it will become the A-rank jutsu, Multi-Shadow Clone Technique, but we'll get there. First, I want you to learn this jutsu, and tell me what you find out by the end of the day."

Minato smiled cryptically and sent Naruto out on his way to learn the shadow clone technique.

Outside the mindscape, Naruto crossed his fingers and mumbled something. After a while, a massive poof of smoke appeared and after it went away, it revealed an exact clone of Naruto.

Naruto was surprised to see an exact copy of himself, but he was delighted and had the clone do various weird stuff. It was his dream when he was three years old to play with a clone if he could, and now his dream came true, so he would waste no time doing everything he had wanted to do with his clone before.

The sun had set when Naruto finished playing with his clone, and he had to let the clone dispel so he could enter the mindscape without worries. However, the moment he dispelled the clone, he had a slight headache that went away as quickly as it appeared.

His eyes widened as he recalled the memories of another him. It was the point of view of his clone, and how he played with himself for an entire day. It was the same memories he had, but the difference was that he was seeing through the eyes of the clone, and he could remember every single thought the clone had.

—Inside Naruto's mind.

"So he figured it out? That was quick."

"I knew he would figure it out, but I didn't expect that he would figure it out when he was playing."

"Well, life can be anything at times. It isn't anything bad, so we should be happy about it."

Minato agreed with what Kurama said, so he simply nodded and quieted down.

—Outside Naruto's mind.

"I got the clone's memories!"

Naruto jumped around the area, his grin never leaving his face.

"Just thinking about how I could use this—oh it's so exciting! I'm gonna learn everything the world has to offer! Believe it!"

Proclaiming to the world his ambitions, Naruto celebrated for a bit more before sitting down in a meditative pose. He needed to talk with his father and tell him what he found!

"Dad! Dad! Can you believe it?! Each time you dispel a shadow clone, you'll learn all of their memories too!"

"Wow! Really? Then, that would be very useful if Naruto here can use it wisely!"

Minato smiled, playing along with his son. He knew that his son was smart, smarter than him, but at the end of the day, Naruto was still a six years old child. Minato wanted Naruto to have some happy childhood memories at the very least.

"Yeah! Imagine if I can create ten clones reading ten books, then when I dispel them, it'll be like I've read ten books at the same time!"

Naruto exclaimed. It would take a long time before he would calm down.

—With Hiruzen.

"Kakashi, you do know that your sensei has a son, don't you?"

Hiruzen gazed at the ninja in front of him. The ninja, who sported spiky gravity-defying silver hair, looked back at Hiruzen with a questioning look. It seemed that Kakashi knew his sensei had a son but didn't know why Hiruzen was bringing it up now of all times.

"Yes, lord Hokage. And I've been ordered to stay away from the boy."

Hearing this, Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. Who ordered Kakashi to stay away from his sensei's son? It certainly wasn't him.

"And by whose orders?"

"By the council's orders."

Kakashi looked down. He wanted to take care of his sensei's son after he heard that his sensei died protecting the village. The problem was that he was stopped by the Konoha council. After six whole years of contemplation, Kakashi finally came to a realization that even if he adopted his sensei's son, he would only do more harm than good, so he gave up. However now, he was being questioned by the third Hokage regarding his sensei's son.

"Danzo… tsk, that old cockroach. Kakashi, do you want to adopt Naruto?"

"No, lord Hokage."

"…hmm? Are you sure?"

Hiruzen was taken aback by Kakashi's answer. He was sure that Kakashi would want to adopt Naruto, but the result was the opposite of what he was expecting. Now, his plans were also disrupted. What a waste!

"Yes, I am sure lord Hokage."

"…alright. *sigh* that boy was left alone ever since he turned four years old because of the machinations of the darkness. I was hoping that you would want to save him from the clutches of the darkness, seeing that you were his father's pupil, but I guess I was wrong. You are now dismissed, Kakashi."

Hiruzen was hoping to guilt trap Kakashi, but sadly for him, it didn't work. Kakashi was no fool, he knew what Hiruzen was trying to do. Still, it didn't mean that he didn't feel bad. It was just he decided that he wasn't worthy of adopting Naruto.

"Yes! Lord Hokage!"

With that, Kakashi left the Hokage's office. He headed straight for Konoha's memorial stone.

"Damn you Danzo! If only you hadn't stopped Kakashi, my plans would've been smooth sailing. Now, my six long years plan was disrupted… *sigh* ah… I guess not everything goes according to plan… what to do, what to do…"

Hiruzen smoked using his smoking pipe for a moment before his eyes shone as he had an idea. A cunning idea that would make Naruto loyal to the village. It would've worked too if it weren't for some troublesome blonde!

—With Kakashi.

"Sensei. Your son is alone inside this demonic world we live in, and he will continue to stay alone for the time being. I really wanted to adopt your son, but I realize that I wasn't worthy of being his father or brother figure… However, when your son is ready to become a Shinobi, I will help him to achieve his goals. Until then, I wish your son the best of luck, sensei… Obito, Rin…"

—With Minato.

"Oi Minato! Didn't you have a student by the name of Kakashi?"

"Yeah? What about him?"

"Why isn't he taking care of Naruto? We haven't even seen him once!"

"Oh! Well, it's fine. He was my student, not my son. I don't expect him to take care of my son, but it is indeed disappointing that he didn't even see Naruto once. Don't blame him though, he already lost too much. I don't want to burden him anymore, so I decided not to blame him."

A/N: Do I not like Kakashi Hatake? No. I actually like his character, but it's true it didn't make sense why he didn't even show himself in Naruto's childhood. So, I gave it a reason. Albeit it wasn't the best of reasons, it still explained why he didn't show up. Was it disappointing? I guess, but I think it suits Kakashi's character, so I went with it.

Oh, what about Hiruzen? I don't like the man, but I don't hate him either, so I settled with him doing his best to make the village as strong and as wealthy as possible. Hiruzen has the mindset of "everything for the village" in this fan-fiction story.

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