Chapter 5 - the team
It had been a week now since their beloved Yondaime Hokage had died. Almost everyone in the village had gathered today for Minato's funeral.
Hiruzen stood and watched the people below him. He had recently taken up the mantle of hokage once again after his predecessor's early death. He took a quick look towards the Uzumaki family and saw Kushina sitting with the twins in her lap and Naruto beside her. Naruto had a downcast look about him, understandably. He thought back on the day Jiraiya and Kakashi came back with Naruto.
Flashback
Hiruzen sat in the Hokage office talking with his advisors about various things. Suddenly there was a knock on the door and a head peeked in. It was Aimi, his assistant.. "Lord Hokage!. Jiraiya-sama and Kakashi-sama are on their way here as we speak. They have Naruto-sama with them" She paused as she felt a bit uncomfortable from all the stares she got from the others in the room. "They will be here within a few minutes" she continued.
"Thank you Aimi-san. When they get here, tell them to come into my office at once" Hiruzen said as he became relieved they found Naruto-kun.
She nodded "Of course Hokage-sama" then hurriedly closed the door behind her.
"So Hiruzen, what will we do about Naruto?" Danzo asked the Hokage.
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes towards Danzo. "What do you mean Danzo?". The hokage inquired.
Danzo made an amused grunt "You know exactly what I mean. He is now the jinchuriki of the kyuubi. And not even a few hours after the fact, he left the village on his own accord in a blind rage" he said and stated the obvious.
Hiruzen just signed. He knew there would be problems with Naruto's new status and mental state. "I'm not going to make him into some mindless weapon for you to use if that is what you are asking" he said sternly.
"I'm also curious about the course of action in this matter, Hokage-sama," Homura said. "Danzo has a point. Naruto is a loose cannon. We can't let our shinobi act that way without repercussions. What if the enemy would get hold of kyuubi because of his reckless actions! It would spell disaster for us" he added.
"He is a young child and had just lost his father! What would you have done?" He asked, having a lot of sympathy for Naruto even though he clearly understood how dangerous it was the way he acted.
"Be reasonable Hokage-sama" Koharu said and then continued "Naruto is unstable and must be brought under control by any means possible!" she stared at Hiruzen to make her point.
"I can take him under my wing and make him the greatest asset the village has seen since its creation" Danzo said as he was practically drooling at the thought of having Naruto under his full control.
"That would never work, I can assure you that" added a new voice to the conversation.
Everyone turned towards the window. There stood Jiraiya holding an unconscious Naruto bridal style and Kakashi was just behind them.
"Jiraiya-boy, Kakashi-san! Glad to see you back so quick" Hiruzen said as he was relieved to see Naruto with them.
"What's this bullshit about making my godson into some kind of weapon?" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at the advisors.
"The boy needs to be brought under control, Jiraiya. Can't you see how dangerous he is becoming?" Homura said in a stern voice.
"This little guy here?" Jiraiya said. "He is just a small child in need of some spanking from his mother" he added then laughed.
"This is not a joking matter Jiraiya!" Kohura practically shouted at him.
"A small child that has the power to seal the kyuubi by himself and that's not even considering his other strengths." Danzo said as he was feeling him losing this battle over Naruto. "He needs someone that can teach him self control and authority!"
"And you would be that person? Give me a break you old mummy" Jiraiya rolled his eyes at the warhawk.
Danzo never showed emotions, but he was starting to get pissed off by the Toad sannin. "I'm exactly the person that Naruto needs" he said.
"I would rather eat a pile of glass than let you of all people get their hands on Naruto!" Jiraiya spat out towards Danzo.
That started a shouting match inside the office. Meanwhile Hiruzen just sat there with a growing headache 'Damn you Minato for making me take this job again!' he signed.
"SILENCE!" Hiruzen growled out, tired of the bickering. "You all bring up valid points. But I agree with Jiraiya. We are not making Naruto into some kind of mindless drone." He said and waited for their reactions.
When no one said anything he continued "He is young, so we will give it time and see where his development leads. He got Jiraiya and Tsunade training him on occasions, they will impart onto him the values of a Konoha shinobi." he told them.
"So you are just going to leave it up to chance! This is beyond reckless Hiruzen!" Kohura said.
Before he could answer, Kakashi raised his hand "If i may hokage-sama?". Hiruzen looked at Kakashi and said "Speak your mind Kakashi-san".
"I could take Naruto under my wing as a sort of apprenticeship. I know he is very close friends with Itachi and Shisui Uchiha. If they want to join the ANBU I could lead them as their captain. You know this sort of team would bring great benefit to the village and our reputation" He ended his small proposal.
Chattering started between the advisors at the intriguing proposal. Jiraiya just turned to Kakashi and gave him a wink and a thumbs up.
Meanwhile Hiruzen was in deep thought 'this would possibly bring forth the greatest team in existence with all that potential. Hmmm. But then there is Naruto's mental state to consider as well.
"That's a great proposal Kakashi-san. I will look into this possibility. I will have Inoichi look into Naruto's mental state, and whatever he concludes will make my decision".
Danzo just muttered as he was pissed. Now he had to find another way towards controlling Naruto. 'Damn you kakashi!' he thought
"If there is nothing else, this meeting is over. You may leave. Except for you Jiraiya and Kakashi" The hokage said. And his advisors reluctantly shuffled out of the office.
As soon as the door closed Hiruzen asked "So how is he?" referring to Naruto still being held by Jiraiya.
"He just passed out from chakra exhaustion. He should be fine with a few days of rest, or he may even recover faster now with the Kyuubi sealed inside of him." Jiraiya answers as he goes to the sofa and finally puts Naruto down to lay more comfortably. "I checked his seal as well to make sure nothing happened during his episode. It's strong, very strong. Naruto did a masterful job modifying the Eight Trigrams Seal with his mokuton". Jiraiya added as he had a proud smile on his face.
Hiruzen nodded and said "That's good news" and then added."His mother is worried sick, so you should probably get him there soon" Hiruzen said as Jiraiya came and sat in front of his desk.
"I already sent a toad her way and told her we would be there soon" Jiraiya answered.
"You both saw his chakra right? It was green" Kakashi said as he was very curious about it.
Jiraiya was just about to say something when Hiruzen interrupted him "I might have a theory about that" he said.
When he saw both of them just waiting patiently he started to explain his thoughts. "As you know, his chakra has always been a dark blue color. And now it turned dark green, and it looked like it had extremely potent healing qualities. He even managed to enter Sage mode without any formal training" He told them
"Yes, we all saw that. What's your point?" Jiraiya interrupted.
"As I was going to say before you interrupted me. This whole change in Naruto's chakra reminds me of my old sensei Hashirama Senju. Hashirama used to have blue chakra as well. But when he was around fifteen years old he unlocked this dormant chakra inside of him and it was dark green. Just like Naruto's new chakra." He paused to take some puffs on his pipe and then continued. "And just as for Naruto it gave his chakra tremendous healing capabilities, and he also learned sage mode without any training. Normally you need a special summoning clan to teach you about natural energy and sage mode. Both Naruto and Hashirama learned it by themself" he finished.
There was silence in the room while they all mused on what Hiruzen just said.
"Do you think this will in some way impact his other abilities? Such as his ridiculously high controle of the elements and his elemental transformations? Jiraiya asked with a frown.
"I don't think so," Kakashi said and both looked at him. "You saw what he did to the kyuubi. If anything it looked like his mastery of Mokuton just got better. That should transfer over to Hyoton as well as his elemental manipulation." he said.
"I think you are right Kakashi. This is a good thing. We should just wait and see what he is capable of when he gets back on his feet" Jiraiya said as he was giddy with excitement at testing Naruto's new abilities.
"This is all well and good. But I want one of you at Naruto's side at all times until he wakes up. You need to be there ready to suppress his chakra if something goes wrong." Hiruzen said as he was still concerned about Naruto's state of mind. Especially right after he wakes up.
"I will take him to his mother then." Jiraiya said as he started to get up. "And i have talked to Tsunade-hime, she is on her way back to Konoha as we speak." Jiraiya smiled as he thought about Tsunade, and he started to giggle as he could not stop his perverted thoughts about his old teammate.
Hiruzen just rolled his eyes at his students' antics. "That's great news. Please tell her to stop by when you meet her. Long time since I saw my only female student" He told Jiraiya.
"Sure thing old man!" Jiraiya said as he jumped out the window taking Naruto with him.
Hiruzen just muttered to himself about disrespectful youth and stuff.
"I will take my leave as well. Need to visit Kushina-sama and see how she is doing" Kakashi told the Hokage.
"Yes of course Kakashi, you may leave. And tell Kushina-san i will come by whenever i get the time" Hiruzen said as he leaned back and puffed on his pipe.
Kakashi saluted the Hokage and left his office with shunshin.
Flashback end
The old Hokage stepped towards the podium so everyone could see and hear him clearly.
"Citizen's of Konoha. We are here today to pay our respect to our beloved Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato and his family. Minato died a true hero of Konohagakure. He sacrificed his life as he was protecting all of us from an unknown enemy. The will of fire burned brightly in Minato and he gave us all hope for a better future. Now it's our job to keep that fire burning!." The crowd roared.
"I have taken up the mantle of Hokage once again and will hold its position until I find the next person to lead us towards prosperity" and he glanced down towards Naruto.
"Remember this day! This day is a celebration of self sacrifice and what it means so protect those who you love. Minato offered his life for his family and this village!. Let's take heed of his selfless action and let us carry the will of fire in his image!" He ended his speech and the whole crowd erupted in applause and cheering. Then someone in the crowd shouted "MINATO!" and everyone followed and started to chant his name.
Hiruzen stepped back from the podium and looked at the crowd chanting Minato's name. 'The will of fire is still strong' he thought as he felt a warm pleasant feeling filling him up.
Kushina felt tears filling her eyes as she heard the crowd chanting her late husband's name. She turned to Naruto and asked him "Are you okay Naruto-kun? Do you want to go home?"
"That's okay mom. Im fine" He said with a small tear in his eye. "It's just weird how they are chanting dad's name. They themself have never had to sacrifice anything! And now they are cheering for something they don't even understand" He said bitterly.
She looked at her son with a sad smile. He took his fathers death really hard, and Naruto was still so young. He did not really know how to handle these kinds of emotions. It would take time, she thought. But he had to come to terms with his fathers death.
"Let's go home Naruto-kun" Kushina said as she took his hand. And they silently left the cheering crowd behind and made their way home.
Jiraiya who stood by Hiruzen saw the Uzumaki family leave after the speech. He could not help but think back to when Naruto woke up.
Flashback
"Urgh my head" Naruto said as he groggily opened his eyes.'Where am i?' he thought. Then he heard his mother shout "Naruto-kun! You are awake!" and he sat up in his bed and noticed several people. There was his mom and his new siblings. He also saw Jiraya and Tsunade standing there looking at him.
His mother rushed to his bed and gave him a bone crushing hug. "Mom I can't breathe" he managed to get out between breaths. "Oh, I'm sorry Naruto-kun" and she released her death grip on him. "But i have been so worried" she looked at him and she had tears of joy in her eyes.
Then Naruto noticed a shift in his mothers expression 'oh no, she looks furious' and he unconsciously tried to sink through the bed to get away from his mothers wrath.
"What were you thinking Naruto. Running after that man!". She was practically screaming at him. "I just lost my husband! And you decides to do something so incredibly reckless and stupid! What if I lost you as well! Did you ever stop to think about the rest of your family!?" Kushina screamed.
Then everything came rushing back to Naruto. Anger and rage started to boil up in Naruto once again. "He murdered my father!" he yelled back.
Then he felt a hard slap on his face. "Stop being such a selfish brat!" Kushina yelled back at him. "You have a family, Naruto. Or do your siblings and me mean nothing to you?" She said. Kushina knew she was being hard on her son, especially after just losing his father. But she would be damned if she let him do that reckless shit again. She had to break him out of his rage, he needed to control his emotion so he could act rational.
Naruto felt the sting on his face and just looked at his mother in shock. She never slapped him before.'What was I thinking? She is right, i was stupid and reckless' he said, still feeling anger towards his fathers murderer.
"I'm sorry mom. I don't know what came over me, I was just so angry" he said.
"I know Naruto-kun. I'm also angry and hurt. I want to rip that man to shreds!" Kushina told him as she tried to comfort her son. "But we can't just leave everything and go chasing after some unknown person to get revenge. We are family Naruto, we protect each other". She told him as she cupped her hand under his chin to look him straight in the eyes. "I can't lose you too"
"I'm sorry mom. I didn't mean to worry you" he told her. "I know that Naruto-kun. But you have to promise me not to give in to anger and hate again." She looked at her son.
"I promise mom," told his mother as he looked down in shame.
"Don't be ashamed Naruto-kun. Learn from this instead. There is nothing wrong with feeling what you felt when you saw your father. You just have to learn to reel in your emotions so you can think clearly in all possible situations, otherwise it will only hurt yourself and others". Kushina said as she looked at her son. "Do you understand what I'm saying?" She asked her son.
"I think I understand mom, i will try to better control my emotions in the future". He answers his mother.
Kushina smiled at her son. 'It's strange he gets these extreme emotions. He usually never expresses emotions.' she frowned at the thought. 'I will have to talk to Inoichi about Naruto and how to help him'. Kushina was clearly worried about her son.
"Hi there squirt, you took us on quite the chase there" Jiraiya said as he smiled at Naruto. He was not that worried about Naruto. He had seen this kind of behavior many times from younger people before. They usually turn out alright though, some people get a bit crazy in this line of work. Most older shinobi were a bit whacked in their heads. Naruto is young and has plenty of time to work on his faults. 'I really hope he is not one of those few that will go bat shit crazy though, he got way too much potential for that to be healthy for anyone' the thought with a shudder.
"Hi Jiraiya, thanks for going after me" Naruto told his godfather.
"No probs kid. If i didn't your mother would kill me anyway" he answered Naruto, and heard a snort from both Kushina and Tsunade.
"We would both kill you one time each you old pervert" Tsunade said with a smirk.
"I'm not a pervert! I'm a super pervert!" He exclaimed and did a weird pose. Everyone just rolled their eyes at him, he surely was one of the more whacked ones.
"Glad to have you back gaki" Tsunade said told Naruto "And Naruto, next time you do something so reckless and stupid again i will personally make sure you remember your promise to your mother." She gave him a pointed glare to make her point clear.
Naruto gulped at the indication and just said "Yes mam". Jiraiya just snickered at him.
Suddenly one of the twins started to cry. And that woke the other baby and soon the room was filled with the sound of crying babies.
"Why are they not more like Naruto, he never made a sound. Oh the pain!" Jiraiya said as he covered his ears in a dramatic way.
"Oh shut it you crybaby" Kushana told him as she picked up one of her babies and let Tsunade take the other. And as soon as they were picked up they stopped crying.
"Say hello to little Mito" And she gave her to Naruto to hold. He looked down at Mito and she gave him a big smile and started to giggle. Naruto felt the connection instantaneously. He knew then and there he would do anything for his sisters. "She has red hair just like me and you mom" he said and smiled down at his sister.
"As we had not noticed that already" Jiraiya said jokingly
Tsunade glared at Jiraiya for his poor taste in jokes "Anyway, here is your other sister Naori" she said as she put her down in the bed beside Naruto.
Naori had bright blond hair just as Minato had. "She looks just like dad," he said and smiled. He felt the same strong connection towards Naori as he did Mito. "Mito and Naori eh? I like those names". He thought out loud. 'I have to get stronger. I was too weak to save dad. I'm not letting anyone hurt my family again!' he thought with conviction.
Everyone in the room just talked and enjoyed each other's company for a while.
Flashback end
It had now been one week after the funeral and Naruto had just left Inoichi's office.
"How does it look?" Hiruzen asked
"Well, its hard to say really. It seems that his emotions are almost like a double edge sword. Somehow his emotions get amplified" Inoichi said and saw the confused look on the Hokage's face. He continued "Look at it like this. Whatever feelings he gets, it's like he almost gets lost in them. It's like his mind gets infected by whatever he is feeling. May it be anger, hate or love for his family and friends."
Hiruzen frowned at that. "So what does that mean?"
"I'm not really sure. But it seems his feelings are only connected to what he deems important. Such as family and his close friends…whenever I try finding connections to his feelings about anything else, there is nothing. It's almost as if he has no feelings outside of his strong need to protect his family and friends." He told Hiruzen as he himself was a bit puzzled about Naruto's mental state. 'It's almost like he has two different personalities. I can't explain it any other way".
"That's troubling," Hiruzen said as he thought about what the head of the Yamanaka clan told him.
"Troubling indeed" He said as he looked towards him in concern. "If I'm being honest, I would not clear him for active duty. At Least not yet"
"Is there any way to treat this"? Hiruzen asked.
"I don't think there is, only time will tell" Inoichi answered the old hokage.
'This is not good. There is no way i can talk Naruto into becoming a civilian. I just have to roll the dice on this one and hope it turns out for the best. He got way too much potential to sit on the sidelines anyway' Hiruzen thought
"Do you think he could be a danger to his comrades or the village?"
"I don't think so, not indirectly at least." Inoichi said. "You are thinking about making him an active shinobi again then?" he asked as he looked at the hokage sitting there in deep thought.
"I don't think I have a choice. I was hoping you would have good knews" He said as he signed. "He is already one of the strongest people in the village, and he is just going to keep growing. There is no saying how powerful he will become in the next few years. And now with the kyuubi sealed inside of him as well. I can't and won't be able to let someone with that potential sit on the sidelines." he finished.
"Just be cautious, Hokage-sama. As I said, I don't think he would ever hurt a comrade or this village indirectly. But there is no telling how he will react in certain situations."
Hiruzen looked at Inoichi for a while then said "He got a spotless record, except for the incident with the taki-shinobis." then he remembered to ask "about that, did you ever recover his lost memories of that incident?"
"I'm sorry Hokage-sama, but I could not find anything. It's just blank. It may have been some kind of emotional trauma he had. There is no telling what really happened." he told Hiruzen
The Hokage just signed. "Well, we will just have to see what the future holds then. And keep an eye on Naruto-san's progress".
"I thank you for this Inoichi-san. But do keep this information to yourself. The information about his mental state can never get out, it would bring about a lot of trouble." Hiruzen told Inoichi with the authority of a hokage.
Inoichi nodded "Of course Hokage-sama"
Hiruzen stood up and walked towards the door. And just as he was about to leave he turned back towards Inoichi again and told him "Congratulations on your new born daughter Inoichi-san" and smiled.
"Thank you Hokage-sama" he answered and had a proud smile on his face. He always wanted a daughter.
In one of the Uchiha clan's training grounds stood three people.
"Do you feel any different now, with the kyuubi in your gut and all?" Shisui asked his friend.
"Nothing different really. I modified the seal so kyuubi's chakra would integrate with my own slowly during time. So i think it will take years before i can fully utilize kyuubi's powers. Mom never did as her seal locked everything down, her chakra never interacted with kyuubi's" He told his uchiha friends.
"Is that a good idea you think? Would that not mess with your own chakra?" Itachi asked.
"I don't think so. As I made it so it very slowly integrates with my own chakra. And my chakra is and always will be the dominant one. As you know I unlocked my dormant chakra two weeks ago, and let me tell you. It's strong. Ridiculously strong in fact. It can even help me regrow my limbs if I ever lost one." He said with a cocky grin.
"Wow really?" Shisui said as he was shocked, only one person had ever had that strong of a chakra that he knew about at least, and that was their first hokage Hashirama Senju.
"Yes really" Naruto said. "Let me show you". He was just about to show off to his friends as another presence made itself known to them.
"Yo" the voice said. And they all turned towards the sound.
"Hi there Kakashi-san" Itachi was the first to greet the newcomer.
"Hello there Itachi-san, and you two as well," Kakashi said in a lazy way.
"I have a preposition for you three that I think you will find very intriguing," Kakashi told them.
Naruto just smiled as he knew what Kakashi was going to say as he already talked to Naruto about it. And both uchiha's got excited about what he was going to say.
"I'm going to keep this simple. I have stepped down as the commander of ANBU. And I'm going to become a captain, and i want you three as my team"
Both uchiha's were shocked. 'We as a team? How awesome wouldn't that be!" Shisui thought.
"That's an interesting offer Kakashi-san," Itachi said in his usual stoic way. "I would have to ask my father."
"That's no problem Itachi-san, I already spoke to all your parents and they gave me their blessings," Kakashi told them.
"REALLY! That's awesome!" Shisui shouted as he pumped a fist in the air.
"So what do you guys say?" he looked at them
It took no more than two seconds and all three said at the same time "I accept"
Kakashi smiled under his mask, "wonderful," he said. "And just so you know, this will not be your ordinary ANBU team. As you are still quite young. We will focus more on training than super dangerous missions the first four years" He told them and saw that they got a little disappointed.
"There will of course be missions. Dangerous once as well. But me and the hokage talked about forming this team for quite a bit now and we have something special in mind." He looked at them, now he got their attention. "You three are no ordinary shinobi. You have vast potential not seen in a long time. We want to nurture that untapped potential and make you into a well rounded strike force" He paused a bit then continued "As for how we will structure your training, we got something special for you guys. Both Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama agreed to oversee some aspects of your training. And Naruto here even convinced his mother to train you guys in her own kenjutsu style 'red whirlpool". He finished.
"Wow" was Shisui's only answer. He loved kenjutsu and he liked Kushina alot, so he really looked forward to learning from her 'Kushina and two sannin's training us, this is a dream come true.' he thought as everyone could see drool coming out from his mouth.
"Excited, I see, that's good" Kakashi said and smiled. 'They already have great teamwork, this is going to be fun'
"Kakashi-san, if i may?" Itachi asked. Kakashi just nodded towards him. "Why would both sannin's agree to train us of all people?". Itachi was excited, but he was curious as well. He never heard of the Sannin's training anyone except for Jiraiya training Minato.
"As i said, you guys are special" And he smiled "And Naruto being the godson of Jiraiya and Tsunade being close family to the Uzumaki's, that helped as well".
"Anyway, you guys will meet up with me tomorrow in ANBU headquarters at 06.00, and we will get everything sorted and planned out." He told them and they all nodded.
"So what do we call you now? Kakashi-taichou?" Naruto asked.
'Kakashi-taichou eh? Got a nice ring to it' he smiled. "Yes Naruto, either just Kakashi or taichou, you will however get codenames in ANBU. Which we always use to address each other while at duty".
"Now I must leave, ja ne!" he said and used shunshin and he was gone, leaving the three youths sitting there in silence.
"So..what do you guys think?" Naruto asked his two friends.
"This is awesome! We are going to kick so much ass" Shisui exclaimed, he was beyond excited.
"You already knew about this right?" Itachi said
"Yes I did, but I could not ruin the surprise. Now could i?" He said with a smirk
"I think we will be a formidable team in the future. I need to go home and talk to my father about this" Itachi said in his stoic voice.
"Lets cut training short today. I think i need some time to digest this new development" Shisui said as he was still shaking in excitement.
Naruto just looked at his friend and snickered. "I think that's a good idea".
They said goodbye to each other and they went home to their respective families. They had a lot to think about. Tomorrow would be the start of a new chapter in their lives.
End of chapter*Author's note*
Thanks everyone for reading! Makes writing much easier :)
And to answer a few reviews
Shapeshifter340 : You got your wish :)
bankai777 : I reckon Naruto will meet Yugito some day, not sure when or in what circumstance though.
Until next time!