I DO NOT OWN THE RIGHTS TO NARUTO, NARUTO SHIPPUDEN, OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS.

Our story starts on a bright, snowy day. Konohagakure no Sato was graced by the appearance of an unusually cold winter, colder than it had been in years. It had been six years since the tragic and horrific events of the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko, and the Village Hidden in the Leaves has made great strides in its rebuilding process. Right now, it was still pretty early in the evening, most of the civilians could be seen getting off of work, walking through the streets with their family members enjoying the snow, or huddled up inside little teashops and restaurants. For the most part, it looked as if the village was never damaged, its buildings standing strong and pristine as the day they were built. All seemed well in the Leaf, things were too peaceful…

Unless one were to look at the Hokage Building, where large orange, blue, white, and black spirals could be seen along with the words 'Naruto's Future Home' in bold slime green lettering splattered across the surface of the building just below the roof. Hanging from what appears to be an endless amount of rope from the roof, we find our young protagonist- a young boy who couldn't be any older than six years old. His spiky golden blonde hair (which had red streaks in it sparsely) seemed as unruly as the million-watt mischievous grin on his whiskered face. His ocean blue eyes shone with devious intent as he watched the mixed expressions of the villagers as they realized what exactly had taken place. The expressions ranged from baffled, to anger, to annoyance, to downright disgust. It wasn't a secret that Naruto wasn't a fan favorite among the villagers, and his recent love for pranks didn't help to improve his standing. Regardless of what his audience before him thought of the sight on front of their eyes, one question was raging through there mind, 'When did that damn brat have the time to do this?'

"You'll never take me alive suckers!" Naruto yelled as he pulled the green goggles he had on his forehead down over his eyes and cut the rope he was hanging from with what seemed to be a rusted kunai. He plummeted towards the ground, red scarf flapping in the wind as he made his decent. As he was falling, he angled his self-down the side of the building, sliding down as he made his grand escape. 'I've only got about four seconds until jiji sends Inu-san after me, gotta make this quick,' our blonde hero giggled to himself. Throwing down some smoke bombs he "borrowed" from the Third Hokage's elite guards on his last visit, the blonde ball of energy hit the ground running, hoping to put some distance between him and his soon to be pursuers. Surprisingly nimble and swift for his age, the young boy weaved through dozens of villagers too preoccupied by the smoke now in their eyes. Laughing at the carnage and pandemonium he was causing, and the attention he was receiving, Naruto continued to run as fast as his little feet could carry him, his red scarf dangling behind him like a crimson trail following a yellow comet. All seemed to be according to his plans as he dashed through the streets like a mad man. After sometime, news of the Hokage's buildings defilement had ripped through the village, and self-assigned search teams for the kid were deployed, with little to no success. Between the kid's knowledge of backstreets and alleyways, the slippery snow, and his nimbleness, it was next to impossible to catch him.


Hokage Office

Sitting behind his desk with a small stack of documents set to the side smoking out of a pipe was the Third Hokage, the strongest shinobi in the Leaf, and leader of the village. He was an elderly man, clearly beyond his prime if appearances were to be trusted. But this is the shinobi world and looks can be fatally deceiving. Herald as 'The Professor' and 'God of Shinobi' Hiruzen Sarutobi stands peerless in the current Kage era. Having fought and survived in all three Great Ninja Wars, his feats and mastery of all five chakra natures made him a deadly foe or an extremely powerful ally. Coupled with his mastery of over a thousand jutsu and his adamantine staff, the third hokage was a man who commanded respect. 'Things have been awfully quiet today, quite relaxing if I say so myself. With the way things are going today, I might finish paperwork early. Hm, I think I'll take young Naruto out to eat, we haven't eaten together since a little after his birthday. Speaking of that brat-' Hiruzen was interrupted from his musings when he heard the boisterous yell from the very same kid he was thinking of come from outside his window. Sighing as he already could see the stack of paperwork on his desk getting taller from the sure to come damage reports from the blonde's actions, he massaged the bridge of his nose as he took a long drag of the contents of the pipe, blowing smoke in the air. Standing up, his white robes falling into place on his frame, he took another breath before calling for the main operative he chose for this specific issue.

"Inu," Hiruzen barked out. Without needing to turn around or even acknowledge that he was heard, he continued. "It seems our dear friend Naruto is up to no good again, be a dear and retrieve him for me- as soon as possible if you would please. I can't afford to lose anymore grey hairs letting this go on any longer."

"Maah, maah, as you wish, Hokage-sama," and with the slight swoosh and swirl of leaves, the ANBU operative was gone, leaving the third to his thoughts yet again. 'Minato…Kushina… you have left quite the legacy behind, these old bones of mine are too tired to deal with such a busy body of a brat. His pranks seem to get more and more outlandish every week, and this is the third stunt he's pulled this month, and the new year just started a week ago. Sigh, maybe I should look back into retirement, those few years Minato held office were lovely for me.' Hiruzen Sarutobi was a man that lived through many battles, and as such his weathered body held experience, and pain, more than most lived to endure. One of his students had a philosophy of what exactly it meant to be a shinobi- he who endures, and Hiruzen exemplified that to the letter. From witnessing the death and sacrifices of his dear teachers the Shodai and Nidaime, or First and Second Hokage, to the betrayal of his most prodigious student, to the loss of his wife in the Kyuubi Attack and his son who was confirmed KIA on a top secret ANBU mission recently, and every loss in between. Indeed Hiruzen was a man of many sufferings. Rather than succumb to such depressive thoughts though, the wizened hokage made it a point to be on the more optimistic side of life, having found abundant joy in both his actual grandson, and his surrogate grandson, the blonde-haired menace of the Leaf. Chuckling at the thought of young Naruto, Sarutobi began to get his pipe started, infusing fire nature chakra down a thin line to ignite whatever substance was in the pipe*. Taking a long drag, he patiently awaited the arrival of Inu and Naruto.

"Ha! Those stupid geezers won't ever be able to catch up to, -" Naruto exclaimed before realizing his surroundings. He was in Gramps office! Seeing the mirthful look on his grandfather-figure's face and feeling the weightlessness of being held up by his clothes caused Naruto's victory squinted eyes to bulge to comic proportions. It didn't take long for the six-year-old to put two and two together to realize that he was indeed caught, and judging by the way it happened before he could realize it only meant that his favorite Anbu could be the culprit. 'That dog faced jerk!' The boy thought with a pout. Sighing in resignation, he jerked his head back to his captor, "You can let me go now Mr. Doggy Face, I'm not going to run away or anything," he said with as much exasperation as his young voice could carry. His request was rewarded to him, and he was dropped to the ground with little care, much like a weary shopper drops his groceries to the floor.

Crossing his legs, the young boy straightened his body and faced the old hokage directly. At even his young age, he knew how much respect was practically warranted from the powerful shinobi. He was the freaking Third Hokage for crying out loud! While it was good to see his grandfatherly figure, his blood was starting to run a bit cold since he was just reprimanded earlier in the week for pulling a similar stunt. He was almost certain that he gave everyone the slip, it's no way that silver-haired dog mask guy could have gotten his rotten hands on him. Deciding to voice his frustrations, the strawberry blonde was just about to ask the anbu when his curiosity was interrupted by the greying Sarutobi.

"Ahh, I see you've brought quite the gift haven't you, eh Inu?" The old man teased his most diligent and successful anbu operative. Having been the anbu commander for years and holding the record for the most successfully completed S ranked or above missions while in the force, Hiruzen knew that sending the twenty-year-old Kakashi Hatake to go retrieve a trouble making child was far beneath his level and time. The old man had a method to his madness however, and he knew in the long run, Kakashi would appreciate the small interactions he had with his late master's son, as few they were due to the nature if his line of work.

"Just doing what you asked me to do Lord Hokage," came the sarcastic short, clipped response of the young Hatake. "Now if that's all, I would really like to get back to my reading, as you know, Lord Jiraiya's most recent novel came out yesterday. It's all I've been worried about since the first whisperings of its conception. Please…" The last part came out as a pleading whisper, as if Kakashi's fate depended on the completion of the erotic novel.

"Oho, trust me young Kakashi, I am more than understanding, you're dismissed for now. Oh, and be on the lookout for chapter fifteen, it's quite vivid indeed," the old Sarutobi said with a fond, yet lecherous smile.

"Geez, you pervy old guys couldn't wait until after I was punished to start acting all weird about a book?" Naruto decided to remind the older two occupants of the room. Seriously, there were a million more pranks he could be planning rather than being stuck listening to these two pervy old guys.

In a completely uncharacteristic (well for as much as young Naruto could gather from previous encounters until now) the dog faced anbu, now identified as 'Kakashi' directed a heated gaze upon Naruto. The next words he spat out would kill if they had the opportunity to. "I am NOT old, you shitty brat! You will rue the day you disrespected such a glorious piece of literary art! Pray to the Log that the next 'prank' you pull is on a day I'm on a mission outside of the village. Because if it isn't, I will stop at absolutely nothing to make sure I find and capture you, dragging you through the village by your blonde, red, strawberry, whatever you wanna call it hair, and thoroughly enjoy your desperate cries for help as you realize no one, no one can save you," he said as he loomed closer to the boy with each word. His already intimidating dog mask became even more so when upon closer inspection, Naruto realized the eyes underneath weren't the same. And even scarier, one was red with three black tomoe spinning in a ring.

Seeing the desired affect his dramatic speech had on the now terrified shitless six-year-old, the anbu commander turned his attention towards his only true superior and gave a slight bow before leaving in a silent displacement of air. While the mischievous youth tried to regain his bearings from his recent shock, Hiruzen patiently waited for the boy's melodramatic antics to come to a halt. As he waited, he allowed his mind to wander off to the inevitable conversation they were about to have. The boy, for all his misgivings and mischief, was not an idiot. He had always known that he was different from other kids, and even different from other orphans. His treatment from the villagers was a living nightmare for a child his age, the entire village chose to completely ignore his existence as opposed to openly scorning him for his burden. That is of course after a few drunken civilians decided to physically attack the young boy while he was in the orphanage. Needless to say, that orphanage has been permanently closed and Naruto has been on his own ever since. The unlucky adults involved with the nefarious acts haven't been seen or heard from since the incident happened nearly two years ago. Because of this early traumatic experience however, young Naruto began to question about his own heritage increasingly more, believing that his parents would one day come and save him from his loneliness, and to possibly find out why he was disliked as much as he was. Soon, he would have to tell the boy something to ease his mind.

After a few moments of watching the blonde struggle, the old, wizened man decided it would be best to take control of the conversation before the blonde could distract himself any further. "Naruto," he calmly started, "The shinobi academy starts in a month. We agreed that last time we saw each other, you would begin to calm down on the pranks. We may have not been able to punish you the last two times, mainly because of how harmless they were, but this time I could let it go on no longer. Graffitiing businesses you don't like is one thing, but my office, my home away from home? I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but there must be action taken," the old hokage spoke with an even temper, although one could clearly hear the mirth that started to seep into the words. Was he enjoying himself?

"But Gramps! Those store owners got their just desserts! They wouldn't let me get anything for less than 500 ryo! Stupid adults and their ekspentive,-" Naruto whined before being interrupted by Hiruzen

"Expensive, Naruto," the old man corrected.

"Yeah that! I haven't really been studying my vocab-ulary like that," Naruto replied sheepishly, pulling his goggles over his forehead to show his dazzling blue eyes, filled to the brim with energy. Turning those electric blue orbs to meet the warm, steely grey eyes of the third hokage, Hiruzen absentmindedly thought of his first mentor, the first hokage, and how his eyes seemed to hold a certain determination in them. "The Hokage Building though, that was my declaration of war to you Gramps! I will make this village respect me by being the hokage so I had to get my future office ready. Believe it!" It was no surprise that Naruto wanted the title of Hokage, besides the fact that it ran in his blood, the young Uzumaki had expressed his interest ever since finding out his grandfather figure was the strongest person in the Leaf. Respect, adoration, power, Naruto wanted all of these things.

"I wasn't aware that there were still merchants who used terrible business practices, they will be handled shortly after this. Now we have veered off topic far too much, on to your punishment." Hearing the blonde in front of him gulp in trepidation, he continued. "Now, I could scare you like young Kakashi did, but I fear these weary bones of mine just don't have it in me to reprimand you the way I would Jiraiya or even Asuma." Pausing to look at the perplexed look on the whiskered boy's face, he reached into his robes and pulled a set of books from seemingly nowhere and continued. "With that being said however, there's more than one way to skin a boar. These books you see before you are heirlooms from a special clan that was extremely close to the Hidden Leaf, though never actually joining the village. They were renown for a myriad of things, from their flawless kenjutsu, to their unrivaled fuinjutsu prowess, to their red hair and ludicrous longevity. Before you get too frustrated at the sudden history lesson Naruto, what I'm holding in my hands aren't just any clan's heirlooms. They're your clan's heirlooms." Hiruzen knew the risks that came with even slightly revealing the boy's heritage. But he also knew that the boy was spiraling out of control fast, and the best way to keep his mind occupied was to keep him busy with these books.

Naruto was a storm of emotions inside. What he had been looking for for the last two years was finally within his grasp. His parents, his heritage, his origins were all right there. And if it wasn't that exactly, it was something that he could start with. Gingerly reaching out his hands to take the collection from his gramps, he noticed that the stack of books, four if he was counting correctly, were bound together by a red string that encircled the books. Surprisingly they were all the same size, with the only difference being the color of the books covers, and the names of the titles. The first, a teal book with red letterings read "Uzumaki Style Taijutsu- Whirl Pool Fist Complete edition." The remainder of the books were similar in fashion, the second book, yellow with orange lettering read "Uzumaki Style Fuinjutsu- Complete Edition," the third a red book with white lettering "Uzumaki Style- Sacred Arts," and finally the last book, a simple black book with no particular uniqueness to it except for a red swirl on the front cover, the same red swirl that was on the back of the shinobi's uniforms, Naruto noticed. Searching all over the book for a title, the boy's confusion only grew upon opening the book and realizing that there were no words on the pages on the inside. Finally looking up at his grandfather figure and hokage, Naruto realized the old man already knew there was nothing on the pages. "Hey! What's up with this black book is this the punishment?"

Chuckling at the strawberry-blonde's antics, he calmly raised a hand and silenced the boy. "To answer your question Naruto, yes this is your punishment. Instead of pranking and causing mayhem to the village, you will now be studying and practicing everything in the first three novels. At the end of every week, you will come here and report the progress of your training to me, and if you just so choose to miss a week to your scheming's, not only will you personally become the Inuzuka clan compound custodian, you will also be banned from that dear ramen stand you seem to like so much."

"No! Not Ichiraku's! Anything but that!" The kid cried loudly. Gramps was starting to take it too far.

"Yes, Ichiraku's. Now listen very closely, because I am not going to repeat myself." He paused to see if he had the kid's attention. Once he got it fully, he took a deep sigh and thought to himself, 'Here goes nothing.' "Naruto, first I would like to thank you for being so patient with me over the years. For one so young you certainly are perceptive, though that is to be expected knowing your lineage. Speaking of, I believe I owe you some information. These books I have imparted onto you are not gifts from me, but your mother rather. She was a fierce kunoichi, one of the best that the Leaf and Whirlpool have ever produced. She was so gorgeous even beauty was jealous of her, and so pure hearted that many aspired to be like her. Before her and your father passed away, they left some things for you to inherit once you became a certain age. I may be prematurely giving you these novels, but I feel you are more than deserving of one piece of information. For reasons I cannot discuss, some of your questions about your parents I cannot answer until you are at least sixteen or a chunin. I am sorry Naruto-kun, but it is for the safety of you. What I can tell you about your mother and father though, is that they loved you from the moment they found out about you, to your arrival, and even now their love lingers over your spirit like an aura." Hiruzen laid out as much as he could, while still taking into consideration the tenderness of the child. He watched as the words he said seemed to replay in the young jinchuriki's head over and over. At first, he was worried when he saw the shadow cast over the child's eyes, the trembling of his shoulders. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the young boy picked his head up, eyes freshly wet from tears but blazing with a newfound pride and determination.

"My parents loved me. My mom loved me so much she even left me some super cool techniques so I can be the best there is! This is the best day of my life! Just wait gramps I'll have all this stuff down before I even graduate the academy!" Naruto exclaimed at the top of his lungs. He was ready to get started on all four books when he realized that he still didn't know why the black book was mysteriously empty. "Wait, what about this one?" he asked the old hokage again, bringing it closer to the Sarutobi's eyes.

"Now now, excitement is a great attitude to have but try to tone it down a little Naruto. Now about these books. Each one is labeled with a specifc area of practice in the shinobi arts for you to train yourself in. I recommend starting with the yellow book on fuinjutsu first. It will have everything you need for the first few years of your training." He patiently replied.

Naruto looked at the little yellow book in disbelief. Sure, he wasn't the brightest when it came to books, but it definitely wouldn't take him years to finish a book that didn't look longer than 300 pages. Squinting his eyes into narrowed slants at the assumed dig at his intelligence, he ground out his next words with childish anger dripping in his voice. "Hey! You tryna call me slow or what old man? I can finish that book in no time! Believe it!" he yelled indignantly.

Rather than explaining to the boy the mechanics of the books, he decided to show him. It was obvious Naruto learned from seeing and experiencing rather than being told. Taking the yellow book out his hand, the old man flipped all the way to the back page, where a storage seal was revealed. Pushing his chakra into the seal and feeling it connect with the ink, Hiruzen forced the seal open revealing another yellow book with orange lettering, albeit this time almost three times in thickness. Sprawled on the cover was "So You Want to Know Fuinjutsu, But You Suck," in big orange lettering. Slightly sweat dropping at the title, Hiruzen resealed the book before returning his attention to Naruto who had his mouth comically ajar.

"Woaaaaaah that's so cool Gramps how'd you do that? Come on come on come on tell me tell me how'd you do it?!" the young boy asked impatiently.

Hiruzen gave a hearty chuckle at the boy's curiosity. Ever since he first taught the boy how to tap into his chakra, he always found even the smallest applications of its use fascinating. Humoring the boy, he answered with a challenge of his own. "That was fuinjutsu Naruto-kun, It is the technique you and your mother's clan was most feared for. What you just saw was a 'storage seal' basically allowing you to store items in a pocket dimension of sorts in another item. If it's a generic storage scroll, then simply guide your chakra towards the seal, and envision a key successfully turning in the lock. Some storage seals require special conditions to be met, like blood or chakra signature, though I'm sure the books will cover this more extensively. At the end of each of these books, is a storage seal for the next continuation, and for the fuinjutsu series, there are ten books ranging from beginner to artisan. Please study hard so that you can bring your family's name and techniques honor. Now about the black book. That book was specifically carried by your mother, her father, and his father. It is a book that contains no writing yet was very important to them all. I am giving it to you in hopes that it's mysteries will reveal themselves to you. Now, I hate to cut this lovely impromptu meeting short, but you have a mansion to clean, and books to study, and I have paperwork to get to. If you finish cleaning the Hokage Mansion within three hours, I'll see about taking you to Ichiraku's for dinner."

That was the trick that did it. Almost as if a spell had been put on Naruto, he hopped up with a quickness not found in kids his age when told to clean. "Roger dodger!" He yelled out before bolting out of the door. He was halfway down the hall before a red and yellow streak came back rushing through the door and crashed into the old Sarutobi with a bone crushing hug. "Thank you, gramps, for everything." He whispered before returning to his now most important task.

Giving one last look at the retreating figure of Naruto, Hiruzen couldn't help but smile fondly at his back. The boy was certainly full of surprises, more so than either of his parents, and he wasn't even a genin yet. That wasn't to mention the aptitude the kid had for being an excellent shinobi. Unknowingly, the kid was pouring his massive reserves into his everyday movements, bolstering his speed, agility, and strength accidentally. His stealth skills and attention to detail were expeditiously becoming alarmingly well due to his consistent pranking and scheming, he would be a powerhouse of a ninja int the future. Smiling still, though this time a bit more mischievously, the Third Hokage was content with his decision to tell Naruto a sliver of his heritage. Not only did it help distract Naruto from the pain and loneliness that had been looming over him, it also helped keep Naruto tied to the village as a jinchuriki. Now he had ties here. Though that wasn't Hiruzen's main line of thinking as he genuinely cared for the boy, he was still the Hokage and he still had to put the needs of the village first. Though, now he had a reason to move his old bones.

Yes, when Naruto would come to him week after week now, he decided there would be no harm in taking up a fourth student. Week after week, month after month Naruto started to improve by leaps and bounds. He really was proficient in fuinjutsu Hiruzen had learned, his flexible mind keeping him busy tinkering with seals late into the nights. Hiruzen would also come to learn that the consequence of teaching the young Uzumaki was his inevitable influence on him. Things like gardening, taking strolls through the village, and even his love for the village was imparted to Naruto. That isn't to say young Naruto hadn't rubbed off on the old hokage. As the years went on and Naruto grew into his self, his prankster nature never quite left him, and as a promising fuinjutsu practitioner Naruto kept his gramps on his toes. Not only that, but Naruto's optimistic disposition and magnetic personality made it a pleasure to train him. In fact, while he wasn't close to his glory days, Hiruzen Sarutobi was officially out of retirement because of his constant involvement with Naruto. Their relationship grew to that beyond blood ties, and it wasn't surprising to find one with the other or the occasional Konohamaru who grew to love Naruto as an older brother. As the years passed Hiruzen kept one thought in mind, Naruto would live up to the legacy his parents left him, and he would be the first person to guide him there.


Author's note- Yoo! Sheesh I didn't think I'd ever make it through to the end of the first chapter but here we are. Lmao. Actually this is the prologue, the first chapter will be the start of canon. No but really welcome to my story, I've actually been reading fanfiction on this site on my phone since I was about nine or ten lol and I'm twenty-one now. I've taken a couple of years away from the site to develop social skills and whatnot, but I've always wanted to try my hand at writing my own. There are literal literary masterpieces on this site, and I want to add to it yunno. Anyways I hoped you all enjoyed the first chapter of The Shinobi Who Endured. I pretty much have the beginning mapped out all the way to the beginning of the time skip, but after that it's just a shit list of ideas I gotta connect somehow. I am looking for a beta as well. As far as pairings there aren't any that I can think of that I won't do besides yaoi of course and NaruSaku. I identify as a straight black male, so respectfully, I'm not writing that shit. Not for my main character at least. As far as Naruto and Sakura, I just don't want to. I'm not a fan of the pairing lol. ANYWAYS! Leave a review and hopefully I'll have the next five chapters out by the end of the month hopefully, I am a college student after all.

Love you guys, thanks for reading.

Oh p.s. I reread this chapter and decided to make it a prologue which is why the ending may seem a bit rushed. I realize that a problem that I have with a lot of stories on this site is that authors will spend a lot of time and chapters on Naruto's childhood and either disappear before the beginning of the Chunin Exams, or the rest of their story just doesn't have the same promise it did in the beginning. I want to avoid that for two reasons, one I really want to get to canon and show the rest of the characters and their interactions with Naruto, and two I'd rather just have flashbacks. Speaking of canon…this will loosely follow k-canon (kishimoto canon) but mainly to follow the storyline. Events and characters will be different so get ready for some twists in the story. Can't wait to share it with you guys, peace.