Spiraling Tides

Chapter 1: The Apprentice


DISCLAIMER: I do not own the copyrights to the Naruto Manga or Anime. I use the series' characters to create my own FanFiction stories not associated with the main series created by Masashi Kishimoto and his publishers/associates in any way. Additionally my story has some mature themes not intended for children. Reader discretion is advised. Enjoy reading and don't forget to review!


They say that the eyes are windows into a person's soul. That the eyes will tell you a person's innermost thoughts and feelings even when they try to hide them. Such is the case for an 8 year old orphan boy named Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto is a smallish boy for his age and has sun kissed golden blonde hair with bright cerulean blue eyes. He wears a bright 'kill me now' orange jumpsuit and is quite loud and obnoxious, but that's really just a mask he wears to hide how he really feels; sad and lonely.

Naruto has had a rather rough childhood and even though Naruto is young he is no child. Naruto has been made to suffer at the hands of the villagers since the day he was born. The worst part about Naruto's suffering is that he has no clue why the people of Konoha treat him the way that they do. Sometimes they mob him. Sometimes they ignore him and pretend he doesn't exist. The worst part is when they refuse to sell him basic necessities to live or simply over charge him for them.

Eventually Naruto figured out that no one in the village was going to look out for him. He knew if he wanted to survive in a cruel shinobi world that he could only count on one person… himself. Sure, from time to time Naruto had help from the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. However, the leader of the village is a very busy man and can't always be there to help. One of the many things Naruto discovered in his 8 short years is that he was well and truly alone in this world.

Shortly after Naruto turned 8 the Hokage enrolled him in the ninja academy. Naruto discovered that the instructors also hated him and that they would go out of their way to sabotage his education. After the first couple of weeks Naruto had to do something to remedy his situation. Instead of going to class one morning Naruto set out for Hokage Tower to visit the Hokage and inform him about the instructor's attempts to sabotage him. The Hokage of course didn't believe him having blind faith in his shinobi.

Naruto continued to go to class but during the practical lessons in their third week the instructors purposefully taught Naruto the wrong taijutsu and shurikenjutsu techniques so he would fail or die if he somehow managed to graduate. Naruto visited the Hokage again and told him how they taught him the techniques differently from the other kids but the Hokage brushed Naruto's complaints off once again.

Naruto went back to class the next day and tried to reason with the teacher but they went off on a spiel about demon brats and how they didn't deserve to live or be shinobi. The instructor then threw Naruto out of the classroom and slammed the door in his face. What the instructor and Naruto didn't know was that the Hokage was watching Naruto using his crystal ball jutsu and saw the entire interaction.

Naruto made another appointment with the Hokage and went to see him. Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that even though he was Hokage, he too was human and could make mistakes. He had intended to apologize to Naruto and promise him to have a word with the teachers but was shocked to see a dull glaze in Naruto's usually warm and vivid eyes.

"Hey gramps… I just came to tell you that I don't want to be a shinobi anymore. The teachers aren't going to help me learn and the students are always making fun of me for them failing me. Is it possible for me to switch to a civilian school instead?" Naruto asked quietly in defeat.

The Hokage heard those words come from his grandson in all but blood and it broke his heart, literally causing a sharp pain in his chest. Hiruzen couldn't help but berate himself for not taking Naruto's word earlier and looking into the matter before the hate and contempt broke Naruto's spirit.

"I'm so sorry Naruto for not looking into your situation earlier. If you still want to be a shinobi I promise to have a word with the teachers." Hiruzen said, trying to reignite Naruto's will of fire.

"I don't know gramps… I'm not so sure I want to be a shinobi if I have to go back to the academy…" said Naruto begrudgingly.

Hiruzen thought for a moment about what Naruto said and if there was anything he could do. Just then a brilliant plan formed in his mind. The only problem with his crazy but genius plan would be dealing with the Konoha Council once they find out. After weighing the pros and cons of the somewhat crazy plan Hiruzen decided to roll with the punches and go for it council be damned.

"There is one way you could become a shinobi and not go back to the academy Naruto. However it will require a lot of hard work and dedication for the next four years. Do you think you'd be up for that?" Hiruzen explained.

"The last time you dropped off my monthly stipend you said my parents were powerful shinobi of the village. Right gramps?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes they were Naruto. Is that why you want to become a shinobi? To follow in your parents footsteps?" Hiruzen answered.

"Yes, that's why. I really want to be a shinobi just like my parents so I too can protect the village and the things we hold dear." Naruto replied with fierce determination.

Hiruzen couldn't help but smile as his surrogate grandson once again surprised him with a heart so pure and blazing will of fire. He stifled a small chuckle and shook his head while smirking.

"Alright then Naruto I will set you up with an apprenticeship. This means one of my shinobi will train you personally and prepare you for the life of a shinobi" Hiruzen proclaimed.

"Awesome! Thank you so much old man! Who's going to be the one training me?" Naruto inquired.

Hiruzen steepled his hands and looked over his desk at Naruto saying, "Her name is Anko Mitarashi. She is a tokubetsu jonin who was recently promoted. I must warn you however that she is a bit eccentric."

"Gramps, what does eccentric mean?" Naruto pondered.

"It means odd or unusual. Although that doesn't mean she doesn't know her stuff. I think she would be the perfect person to train you for the next four years." Hiruzen imparted.

"Alright then… I'll train with this Anko person to become stronger and make you and my parents proud." Naruto said with resolve.

"You already make me proud, my boy. I shall inform Anko of your apprenticeship and you two can meet here with me tomorrow at 11:00 to discuss the details. Okay?" Hiruzen said with finality.

"Okay! See you tomorrow, gramps." Naruto said with a wave over his shoulder as he ran out the door with a foxy grin on his face.

Hiruzen watched as his surrogate grandson ran off with a smile so bright it could light up a whole room and thought about how this might come back to bite him in the ass. 'Let's hope I made the right decision then' Hiruzen thought to himself.

"Cat, summon Anko Mitarashi for me. Tell her it's urgent." Hiruzen said seriously before looking down at his never ending paperwork.

"Yes Lord Hokage!" an ANBU said as she dropped down from the rafters before bowing and disappearing with a shunshin.

About half an hour later of paperwork and brainstorming the ANBU and Anko appeared in the office using shunshin. Hiruzen looked up from his never ending paperwork and waved away his ANBU who went back to her post in the rafters. He put down his pen and meshed his fingers together while looking up at Anko seemingly studying her.

Anko has shoulder length dark purple hair styled in a spiky updo and pupiless chocolate brown eyes. She wears a mesh body suit that leaves hardly anything up to imagination and a brown mini skirt. Anko also wears a tan overcoat with purple lining and standard shinobi sandals and shin guards.

"Hi Lord Hokage," Anko said bowing her head, "Am I in some kind of trouble?"

Hiruzen snapped back to reality and smiled at one of his most promising kunoichi and said, "Nothing of the sort Anko. Please have a seat."

The Hokage then stood from his chair and stretched his aging bones before turning to his window and looking down at the village while clasping his hands behind his back. Anko took a seat and waited for the Hokage to continue.

"You see Anko, I'm having a bit of a moral dilemma... I made a promise to Lord Fourth 8 years ago, a promise he asked of me with his dying breath…" Hiruzen explained transfixed on the village below.

Hiruzen turned back to Anko and slumped back down in his chair with a sigh. Sitting back up he steepled his hands with his elbows on his desk. He looked at Anko once more studying her and continued, "I broke that promise to the Fourth Hokage and still haven't righted that wrong. It continues to eat away at my very soul to this day. I've finally decided to do something about it."

"What I'm about to ask of you is to take on a four year long S-rank mission here in the village. You wouldn't be able to take any other missions and should you choose to accept I would have to divulge to you a highly classified S-rank secret." Hiruzen explained very seriously.

"I happen to think you are the perfect person for the job and despite what others think I know you're loyal to the village despite your connection to my wayward student. I know I can trust you with this; The question is do you want the mission?" The Hokage asked seriously.

Anko looked pensive for a moment but stared back at the Hokage before asking, "Are there any other details that aren't classified that you can give me regarding the mission?"

"Yes of course… How silly of me. I want you to train a young boy as your apprentice for the next four years. After the four years are up, I need this boy to be strong enough to compete in the chunin exams here in Konoha as a solo participant and win." Hiruzen explained.

Hiruzen tried to gauge her thoughts from the look on her face before he continued his pitch, "You'd be given access to the Hokage's personal training ground as well as S-rank pay once at the start of every month."

"I would like for you to seek out Yugao in her off time to help him with kenjutsu and I'll be recalling Jiraiya from time to time to help with fuinjutsu and to have him sign the toad contract. Your apprentice will be given access to a lot of classified techniques to help him in his training endeavors." Hiruzen explained.

"Sounds to me like you're making this person into the ultimate weapon, Lord Hokage… How does me helping you do this fulfill your promise to Lord Fourth?" Anko asked hesitantly.

Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair before answering, "There are two answers to that question Anko… The truth, which I can't tell you unless you accept, and an excuse, which I could give you as to why it's necessary. I'm sorry I can't say more."

Anko thought about the mission as it was explained and weighed the pros and cons of accepting such a mission before directing her gaze back to the Hokage and saying, "I accept, Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen smiled a genuine smile and leaned back in his chair with his hands clasped over his sternum and said, "Excellent. Now as for the S-rank secret I must tell you. The person I'd like you to train is Naruto Uzumaki. He is the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage and Yellow Flash, as well as Kushina Uzumaki, the Heiress of the legendary Uzumaki Clan and Red Hot-Blooded Habanero."

Anko's jaw dropped at that revelation as she wondered if she heard the Hokage correctly as she thought to herself, 'Did the Hokage really just ask me to train the son of the Fourth Hokage and one of the strongest kunoichi that ever lived?'

Hiruzen hid his smirk behind his hands that were still steepled in front of his face as they sat there for 3 whole minutes. Anko's shocked open mouth gaping eventually turned into open and close gaping. Eventually she too sat back in her chair and gave a huge sigh while shaking her head from side to side.

"The Fourth's kid is the Kyubi container?" Anko asked to confirm.

"Yes… Will that be an issue for you?" Hiruzen asked sharply

"No it won't… but why me?" Anko asked.

"Why not you?" Hiruzen countered, "Anko you are an amazing kunoichi and have great skills I'd like for you to pass on. I think it will be good for the both of you to get to know one another."

"The only things I could possibly pass on to the kid are snake style taijutsu and my skills in assassination and interogation." Anko protested.

"You can pass on a lot more than that… You can pass on your techniques for stealth, assassination, seduction, poison and poison resistence. Besides, the snake style taijutsu would work well in combination with Minato's hummingbird style which we have the scrolls for." Hiruzen clarified.

"Do you really have that much faith in me, Lord Hokage? Would the council even allow it?" Anko asked quietly.

Hiruzen leaned forward to whisper conspiratorially, "I have more faith in you than you could possibly know, my child. Also don't worry about the council, you let me deal with those imbeciles."

"I'm going to regret this, aren't I Lord Hokage?" Anko asked, thinking about S-rank pay for four years of babysitting.

"Not a chance!" Hiruzen smiled.

Anko had her doubts but knew she couldn't pass up such a great opportunity or let down the Hokage who was putting all his faith in her, "Awe what the hell I'm in."

"Excellent!" came the jovial reply from the elderly Hokage, "Be back here at 11:00 tomorrow so we can brief Naruto on the mission. Dismissed!"

With that Anko got out of her chair with a groan and shunshined to the nearest bar to get shitfaced and Hiruzen looked down at his pile of paperwork that had seemingly increased in size during their short discussion. Meanwhile Naruto had run back to his apartment to grab his toad wallet so he could treat himself to some Ichiraku ramen in honor of becoming an apprentice.

The next morning when Naruto woke up it was 10:30 and he decided to have some ramen for breakfast and took a shower. After Naruto finished getting ready he started making his way to the Hokage tower so he could meet his new sensei. As Naruto arrived he made his way up to the Hokage's office and waltzed right past the secretary who knew not to stop him as he was welcomed in the office anytime and knocked on the doors.

After getting permission to enter he walked in to see his surrogate grandfather and a gorgeous kunoichi who looked to be about 10 years older than him. Remembering what his surrogate grandfather said about first impressions and formalities Naruto gave a short bow and introduced himself before inquiring the name of his new sensei.

"Nice to meet you kid! I'm Anko Mitarashi but you can call me Anko Sensei from now on." Anko said kindly in greeting.

"Nice to meet you too Anko Sensei" Naruto responded with a foxy grin.

"Good now that we've got the introductions out of the way, it's time you and I had a serious talk, Naruto…" The Hokage stated reluctantly.

"You've always wanted to know who your parents were and I'm finally going to tell you but I want you to promise me to keep it a secret until I tell you it's okay to let people know… Do you understand Naruto?" Hiruzen explained.

"You're going to tell me gramps?" Naruto asked teary eyed.

"Yes… Your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki and she was one of the last members of the Uzumaki Clan…"

Naruto shed a single tear and thought about pinching himself to see if he was dreaming before he realized what the elder Hokage had said and asked, "I had a clan?"

"Yes, you come from the Uzumaki clan. They were founded over a century ago and established Uzushio, southeast just off the coast of the Land of Fire. They were Konoha's first allies and our First Hokage was married to an Uzumaki." Hiruzen explained.

"They specialized in fuinjutsu and kenjutsu as well as water and wind ninjutsu. I'm going to be giving you a special katana that belonged to your mother as well as some tomes and scrolls that belonged to your clan so you can learn their techniques." Hiruzen explained some more.

"And my father? Was he from the Uzumaki clan too?" Naruto asked, hoping that he wasn't dreaming.

"No… Your father's name was Minato Namikaze, better known as the Fourth Hokage or Konoha's Yellow Flash." Hiruzen responded.

Naruto's tears were flowing like a river as he stuttered out, "M-My f-father was t-the Fourth H-Hokage?"

"Yes…" was Hiruzen's solemn one word answer.

"So my parents didn't abandon me?" Naruto sniffled before asking, "They really did love me?"

"More than anything in this entire world Naruto… More than anything in this world." Hiruzen whispered comfortingly as he embraced Naruto in a hug while he broke down crying.

After Naruto had cried himself dry the surrogate grandfather grandson duo broke apart and took their seats. Anko had just leaned against the wall the entire time not interrupting the mushy stuff as she would call it even though a tear or two had escaped her eyes.

"Now Naruto… Instead of you studying in the academy you'll be training with Anko daily and some specialists every now and then to get stronger. I want you to put your heart into it and not slack off because I need someone to take this hat from me one day and right now you're the only one who can do it." Hiruzen said, trying to lighten the mood.

Anko took that moment to butt in and say her piece, "This isn't me babysitting you kid, I'm going to be working you to the bone and making you super strong. I don't want to hear any whining or complaining because it annoys me and then I will work you twice as hard. You got that?"

"Yes Anko Sensei!" Naruto replied with a salute.

"Good!" Anko said with a mischievous borderline malicious shit eating grin, "I will come and get you at 6:00 in the morning for your first day of tortu- I mean training. We get to use the Hokage's personal training ground!"

"Wow!" Naruto replied starry eyed.

"Naruto, why don't you take this money and go buy yourself some ramen and then relax for the day while me and Anko have a chat about your training schedule." Hiruzen said tempting the little blonde with his favorite food.

"Thanks gramps you're the best!" the excitable blonde said, grabbing the money and bolting out the door headed for Ichiraku Ramen.

The elderly Hokage then opened his desk drawer and pulled out two scrolls and an envelope of cash and handed them to Anko, "There should be enough money in there to get him some custom equipment and high quality shinobi clothes as well as your first payment. The yellow scroll contains Minato's ninjutsu, taijutsu, and notes on fuinjutsu. The red scroll contains copies of the Uzumaki clan techniques as well as another storage scroll with his mother's katana in it."

Hiruzen then shut his desk drawer stating, "The first thing I want you to teach him is the shadow clone jutsu. With the memory transfer function he'll be able to learn more and faster."

"Yeah. I can have one of my shadow clones take a few of his to the library so we can read up on some things so he won't just be a dumb powerhouse." Anko replied.

The aged Hokage laughed at that statement and bristled at the way Anko glared at him for laughing at her before quickly explaining, "Anko my dear it will be more than a few shadow clones. Our young Naruto has more than double the amount of chakra I have now and his reserves will only continue to increase over time"

Anko's jaw hung open once again before she asked surprised, "How can he have double the amount of chakra you have? He hasn't even hit puberty yet!"

"He is the son of a Hokage and pure blooded Uzumaki. He also just so happens to house the most powerful tailed beast inside of him." Hiruzen said with a chuckle at her shocked face.

"Also you'll need to get him a set of chakra weights and have Kakashi tattoo some resistance seals on him. The Kyubi's chakra is constantly healing his body so he'll never feel sore in the mornings. Be sure when you're condition his body to work him to the bone each and every day"

This time it was Anko who chuckled but it was more maliciously, "That I can do Lord Hokage… That I can do…"

Anko's chuckles made a chill run down Hiruzen's spine and he silently prayed for Naruto, "The first things you should teach him after conditioning his body are taijutsu katas and chakra control. Lots and lots of chakra control. Because of the absurd amount of dense yang chakra he has he'll likely never be able to use genjutsu or iryo ninjutsu no matter how much control he has but it will certainly help with his ninjutsu."

"You said you wanted me to combine the snake style and hummingbird style right? One relies on flexibility, evasion, and counter striking and the other relies on speed and debilitating strikes. I think that would make for a deadly combination." Anko thought out loud.

"That is why I thought of it, Anko. I want you to really work on his speed as well as strength. He could very well surpass his father in terms of speed with his incredible stamina and fast recuperation. Don't forget the speed of his hand signs as well" Hiruzen continued.

"Yeah with the amount of chakra he has he could be a really powerful ninjutsu specialist. I've actually got a really good way to strengthen his hand signs. Leave that one to me.

Hiruzen nodded at her enthusiasm and continued listing things he'd like Naruto to work on, "I liked your idea of taking him to the library. Try to spend some time there working on his reading and calligraphy skills as well as the basic academy subjects. If you can try to get him to work on politics and the village laws. I meant what I said when I told him he'd be the Fifth Hokage."

"You weren't kidding about that?" Anko shouted.

"Heavens no! Jiraiya and Tsunade don't want the hat and Kakashi has no drive and too much trauma. There isn't another shinobi strong enough that's willing to even consider. If I can hang on politically for a few more years I would gladly hand the hat off to Naruto when he turns 18." Hiruzen barked out laughing in all seriousness.

"Is that why you're having me train him like this? So he can be the next Hokage?" Anko asked seriously.

"Well…" Hiruzen calmed down, "If I can't convince Jiraiya or Tsunade to take the hat from me it will have to be Naruto. Otherwise the council might just elect Danzo Hokage and we definitely don't want that."

Anko let out an involuntary shiver at the thought of the emotionless warhawk leading the village and resolved to ensure Naruto understood politics. She thought about what else they might need to teach Naruto.

"Is there anything else you'd like me to focus on when teaching Naruto?" asked Anko.

"Hmm… Well I'll have Jiraiya work on fuinjutsu and summoning and we'll have Yugao work on kenjutsu in her off time… after all Kushina was her sensei so there is no one else who deserves such an honor… I know. You can really work on his stealth, assassination, and trapping. I think trapping should be something you should work on with him." Hiruzen stated.

"Why trapping, Lord Hokage?" Anko asked curiously.

"Well… The boy is a natural at stealth and he utilizes it in pranking. I regret to admit he has successfully pranked and escaped from several of my ANBU. If he replaced the paint with explosive notes I'd dare say we'd have some very dead ANBU." Hiruzen said sheepishly.

Anko's eyes widened at that factoid and she resolved to tease Yugao about it later considering she was crouched right above them in the rafters wearing her Cat mask. Anko then got up and dusted herself off dramatically and said, "Well we'll get to work on all that first thing tomorrow, Lord Hokage."

Hiruzen stood himself as their conversation came to a close and said in a formal tone, "Thank you Anko and good luck on your mission. I'd like quarterly reports on the first of every March, June, September, and December. Dismissed!"


Author's Note: Hey there! My name is Meteormancy but you can call me Connor. This is my first attempt at writing a Naruto FanFiction, I hope you like it! I know there is a lot of dialogue and some people don't like that but I promise there won't be so much dialogue in the next few chapters. Just so you know something about me I enjoy pleasant reviews and good criticism but flames and hate make me less motivated to keep writing so please think twice before making a snide or hurtful review.