Crimson and Golden Leaves

by Paridise

Years of suffering has led a young blond down the path of pain. Uzumaki Naruto, a citizen of Konoha, sadness and hate follows his every footstep. This changes however. A lost family member, Uzumaki Kotaro, cousin to Naruto comes and unites with him. Becoming brothers and enduring each other's hardships together, they will furfill their destinies and become Legends. AU/CD Story.

2. Chapter 2 - Ancestry

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto the anime or manga. This story is based off the world of Naruto. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 2 - Ancestry

"Kotaro-niichan, where are we going?" Naruto gleefully cheered while being carried on Kotaro's shoulders.

"Training grounds seven, I want to get to know my little brother, and we're going to need a nice quiet space, so we can talk. Now hold on tight!" Kotaro said while dashing. Naruto tightened his grip and Kotaro swiftly rocketed ahead.

The new two brothers quickly blurred to their destination with Kotaro moving at break neck speeds. He stopped dead in his tracks when they arrived at the entrance to the training grounds. Naruto's world was spinning upside down.

"Did ya enjoy that Naruto?" Kotaro asked with a huge grin.

"Hahaha yeah Kotaro-nii, God that was fast!" Naruto giggled as he jumped off his brother's back.

The duo went over to the crystal-clear lake, the sunlight was brightly reflecting off the surface of the water. There were barely any clouds in the sky. The temperature was picking up as the day travelled further in time. Kotaro and Naruto took their seats just beside the bank of the lake. A tall tree's branches were providing shade for them.

"So, Naruto tell me about yourself," Kotaro asked his new little brother. 'This should get the ball rolling!' he thought.

"Eh, I don't really know what to say dattebayo?"

"Come on just tell me anything!" Kotaro asked with an encouraging voice.

"Hm, well my name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like Kotaro-nii and ramen, especially from Ichirku. I hate the three minutes for the ramen to cook and the looks of the villagers give me. And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage! So that everyone in the village has to respect me!" Naruto yelled with a fist pump in the air.

Kotaro was smiling like a madman, trying his hardest not to laugh on his ass. 'My little brother is a ramen addict!' Kotaro thought.

Stifling a small giggle, he looked in Naruto's eyes. "Hokage huh? That's a pretty big dream kid. You think you got what it takes to be one?" Kotaro asked.

Naruto's eyes were filled with determination. "Of course I do! I'm going to get super strong and fast, learn powerful jutsu and kick ass. Then I'll become Hokage!" He declared.

"I love the confidence Naruto. And I for one will help you get there," Kotaro told him.

"What about you Kotaro-nii?" Naruto asked.

"Well I like training, learning, you Naruto, our clan and sushi. My dislikes are mornings and people who belittle others even if they have no control over it. My hobbies are training, researching, taking naps and making people happy. I don't have a dream now but I always wanted a big family," Kotaro said.

Naruto smiled hugely after Kotaro said those words. However, there was something on his mind since they first met. "Kotaro-nii, how are we related?" he asked.

"That's quite simple Naruto. Our mothers were sisters. So that means we are first cousins," Kotaro explained.

"Are you sure? I never knew my mom and Hokage-Jiji told me he never knew my mom," Naruto pointed out.

"Naruto, he only told you that for your own safety," Kotaro sadly told him.

"My safety? What would my safety have to do with my mom?" Naruto asked, pure confusion written all over his face.

Kotaro started to scratch the back of his head. 'I can't tell him that his mother became the Jinchūriki before him cause second Great-Aunt Mito was dying. Huh it runs in the family doesn't it. I guess I have to give him some half-truths,' Kotaro thought with a shaky smile.

"Naruto, let me tell you a story alright. Years ago, my Aunt, your Kaa-chan was sent to Konoha. It was agreed between our clan and the village. She came here and became a fine kunoichi according to Jiji.

In fact, during the third great shinobi war, she was a force to be reckoned with. Especially to Kumo as they lost many men and women to your Kaa-chan's skill. Your Kaa-chan also had special chakra, she had the ability to form Uzumaki Adamantine Sealing Chains which were a rare ability only found in our family. They are fantastic when restraining enemies and highly destructive in attack. Nobody knows how to truly awaken them, some speculate that it is through an episode of pure and intense emotion like anger, but Aunt Kushina had them naturally," Kotaro said.

Taking a breather, he looked at Naruto, he saw that he had his full attention. "So, you see Naruto, your Kaa-chan was a badass kunoichi who had a lot of enemies. If they found out that you were her son, they could possibly take up their pent-up frustrations on you, hurting or even killing you. That's why Jiji didn't tell you. He didn't want to get you killed," Kotaro explained to Naruto in full detail.

"So, you're saying that my Kaa-chan was super powerful," Naruto said with an excited voice and star-filled eyes. His body was shaking hearing that his mother was a badass kunoichi. Receiving a nod from his new big brother. "Sweet! I gotta get strong so I can do her proud ttebayo," he shouted at the top of his lungs. He was running around while punching the air.

Letting his new little brother have his moment of happiness, Kotaro rummaged through his to get a sealing scroll. "Oi Naruto come here," he said.

"Yeah what is it Nii-chan?" running over with his tiny legs to sit beside Kotaro.

"This is a picture of your Kaa-chan when she was around your age," Kotaro said as he handed Naruto a photo of a young girl with violet eyes, blood red hair, a round face wearing a beautiful smile.

"Wow she's beautiful. And she has the same pretty hair as you do," Naruto said with a smile.

"Wait. You think my hair is pretty?" Kotaro asked with his eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I mean I've never seen hair like yours or my Kaa-chan's. It's really pretty," Naruto said without taking his eyes off the photo of his mother.

Kotaro just stared at Naruto, in a bit of bewilderment. Very few has ever complimented his hair. Sure, he's been called handsome, but his hair was never really talked about. "Thanks, I guess," he replied with a scratch behind his head.

"The Hokage wanted you to be a Chūnin first before you got this information, but since I'm here. He had his hands tied behind his back, so he had to spill it," Kotaro sheepishly said.

"Kotaro-nii, does that mean you know my Father as well?" Naruto's face filling up with more excitement, anticipating the next answer, he couldn't keep still as he was literally shaking in place.

Kotaro donned a saddened expression. "Sorry Naruto, I have no idea who he is. I'm sure it's the same story as your Kaa-chan. I'd say when you grow up and show you're mature enough, you'll find out," he said.

'It does beg the question of who he is though...' Kotaro thought.

Naruto pouted at this and kicked a rock into the lake. "Hm, I would be an idiot if I thought I could get the all answers today. Looks like I have to wait," he then picked up a flat stone and skipped it across the lake. "Who do I think I am?" he said.

"Who are you? Isn't it obvious, you're Uzumaki Naruto, a future Hokage. Naruto, are you okay?" Kotaro asked, concerned with his little brother's one-eighty in emotions.

"Yeah, it's just that I find out about my Kaa-chan, I want know about my Tou-chan as well," Naruto said sadly. He paused and looked at his new big brother and smiled "It just means my Tou-chan was a badass too ttebayo!" Naruto yelled out.

Kotaro clapped his hands with a smile on his face. "That's the spirit. Now Naruto let me tell you about our clan as this will we be one of the most important lessons of your life!" Kotaro said, he loved talking about his clan.

"Yosh!" he exclaimed with a mock salute. He sat down in front of Kotaro looking up to him, ready to soak up every detail. This was much more interesting than Iruka's lectures about the history of the academy and other things about Konoha.

"I'll start from the beginning then. This is history that goes on hundreds of years Naruto. I know this because my Kaa-chan had some of the Uzumaki scrolls from our clan archive and she told me lots of stories about us. We are a very old clan who believe in the philosophy of peace and love. We were scholars at heart, that's why are so famed for being the best at sealing arts known as fūinjutsu. As well as the visual arts, never forget that. We liked to express ourselves in various ways.

That doesn't mean we didn't like a good fight, no far from it, we loved to fight. Not for domination or destruction though, we loved to fight because of the thrill of battle is something unique. If you didn't know, our clan were also famed for its skill in kenjutsu. Samurai in the Land of Iron were jealous of us, since they only focused on the art of the sword while we were great at other shinobi arts as well.

Since our ancestral home was by the sea, most of the members in our clan were suiton ninjutsu users. I myself have the natural affinity to water, but I can use wind chakra as well. We were a clan that were respected and feared.

We are related to the Senju clan, we were always close, allies for each other in times of need since we came from a common ancestor. During the warring clans period, before the Hidden village system was adopted around the Elemental nations, we would help the Senju clan with food, weapon supplies and men. In return, we received a bulk of raw materials and the same if we were in any conflict. Our clan were a strong bunch, we were on par with both the Senju and Uchiha clan.

When the end of the warring clans period came, the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan formed Konoha, we sent them resources and materials to help them start up. We already had a larger village than what Konoha was back then, but we then declared it as a hidden village. It was called Uzushiogakure no Sato. It also had a nickname 'Village of Longevity'. For the Senju clan and Konoha to show their respect and strong friendship to the Uzumaki clan and our village, they put our clan symbol on the Chūnin and Jōnin flak jackets. That red swirl on some of the ninja's backs in the village is the one I'm talking about.

Our clan members often married each other to increase our clan ties, the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama married our second Great-Aunt Uzumaki Mito. We helped our friends out by setting up seals around the walls of the village for security and protection when their village grew exponentially, and other clans came and joined them. We even gave them the schematics for a barrier," Kotaro was going to continue but his little blond brother interrupted him.

"Kotaro-nii, what happened to our village?" Naruto asked, not understanding why his cousin is here if they already have a village.

"It was destroyed," Kotaro said rather grimly. "I've never seen it for myself but my Kaa-chan said it was the most beautiful village. It was towards the end of the second great shinobi war when it happened. Because we were such a respected clan, we were feared by the other villages. Mainly due to our sealing prowess.

Kumo, Kiri and a large contingent of Iwa ninja banded together to do a surprise attack on us. We weren't participating directly in the war as it would have been utterly insane to do so, but we provided tools, weapons and seals to Konoha since we were allies. We crafted high quality weapons and with our superior seals, it gave Konoha an edge in the fight. The other villages deemed us too dangerous, so they decided to destroy us. And unfortunately, they succeeded."

Kotaro walked over to the lake to see his reflection in the clear water. "But we didn't go down without a fight, even though we were outnumbered to something like thirty to one ninja, we fought and battled hard while we sent some of our people away, in case we didn't survive. My Kaa-chan and her betrothed, my Tou-chan, escaped.

We can assume that the remnants of the village, was damaged beyond repair. Most of the buildings in the village should be in tatters. And a lot of people, both in the clan and the others who resided with us were killed. Men, women, mothers and their children were killed in cold blood.

Thankfully, because of our defensive measures and our seals, there was time to store all our clan secrets into the Uzumaki vault in the main compound. Our ancestors did it so the enemies couldn't use our work against our brethren.

There isn't a main family or branch family system in our clan, but since our grandfather, Uzumaki Yushiro was clan head at the time, we have his blood flowing through our veins. So, therefore we are the main family Naruto, we are the only ones allowed to enter it freely," Kotaro said and moved back to Naruto.

Kotaro unsheathed his two katana and showed them to Naruto. "An example of one of our treasures would be the swords on my back. They are an Uzumaki heirloom that were once owned by our great grandmother Uzumaki Teshi when she was clan head. She was a fierce woman with fiery red hair like me, Aunt Kushina and my Kaa-chan, and she used two swords like me as well. These swords are twins, they always to stay together," he said.

Kotaro breathed deeply, then sighed. He walked over to Naruto's side to sit beside him. "An Uzumaki is a unique person Naruto. Usually we are hyper-active when we are young because we have so much chakra and energy that it's hard not to do something strenuous on a day-to-day basis. We are also a very friendly clan, family is the most important thing for us, I don't think we had any deserters or traitors in our history in the clan.

What makes us different from every clan is that we have immense chakra reserves, even when we are toddlers. When I unlocked my chakra, there was a small explosion and I recoiled into a tree. I had so much even my Kaa-chan was surprised how much I had. It was insane for my age according to her, even with Uzumaki blood flowing in my veins. I say you're in the exact same boat as me.

We also have such a strong lifeforce that we live longer than most people. It wouldn't be surprising if people died in their early one-hundreds in our clan.

And because of our lifeforce strength, our regenerative abilities are also better than most. We can't grow an arm or anything like that, but small cuts and bruises disappear completely after a few hours. This scar on my face was too deep to completely recover, but it was a lot worse when I got it, so I can't complain!

And usually an Uzumaki has red hair, but this isn't always the case. If one of the parents isn't an Uzumaki, then they might get the other parents hair colour. Also, our third Great-Grandfather Uzumaki Ashina had white hair all through his life even though his parents were both redheads," Kotaro told Naruto.

As Kotaro continued talking about their ancestors and their triumphs in the past, Naruto was amazed of how great his clan was, it was seeped with such rich history. For once, he was proud of his name, since now he knew what it meant.

Thinking over what his big brother said, he couldn't stop his heart beating like crazy, his clan were filled with such powerful shinobi. His desire to improve himself and his skills grew in tenfold. His dream has now changed onto a new path.

Naruto wants to do his clan proud by proving he is a strong capable ninja and becoming Hokage. With his fists shaking, he stared into his big brother's eyes. "I need to get stronger, if I want to become Hokage and make our clan proud of me, I need to train so I can be the best!" He declared with white fire pouring out of his cerulean blue eyes. Determination was oozing out of him.

Kotaro smirked, stood up and started messing his little brother's hair. "That's what I wanted to hear! Naruto, you may have no real skills now," Naruto frowned at the words, Kotaro sighs before speaking again, "but I can sense it, your untapped potential. You could possibly become the greatest Hokage if you work till your bones drop! Now I'm getting hungry, so why don't you and I get some ramen!" Kotaro joyfully said.

"RAMEN! SWEET! Come on Kotaro-nii," Naruto shouted as he grabbed Kotaro's hand and pulled him hard. "Ichirku ramen is the best ramen ever!" he said to Kotaro, with that, Kotaro was being pulled hard towards the village by a tiny flying blond.

---

In The Village

"What the hell!?" Kotaro whispered to himself when Naruto finished his eighth bowl of Ramen. "I know Uzumakis eat a ton of food, but Naruto! The stack of bowls is nearly as tall as you!" Kotaro exclaimed.

"Well I need to keep my energy up, I'm a growing boy!" he replied quickly.

"Then why are you so short for a boy growing up?" Kotaro quipped. A tick mark appeared on Naruto's forehead and he was going to berate his older brother for speaking such a touchy subject but never got the chance. "Teuchi-san, please make two orders of vegetable ramen, and I want tons of veggies in them and one more miso pork for me," He asked.

"Right on it Kotaro-san," Teuchi shouted in the back.

"So, Naruto, tell me about the stuff you're doing in the academy and the people in your class." If Kotaro had to assume, the teachers would detest Naruto like the rest of the village does.

'Better get his perspective on this matter!' he thought while watching Naruto's facial expressions.

Naruto stopped eating, some noodles dangling off the corner of his mouth. His face scrunched up a bit before swallowing up the remaining noodles. "To be honest, the academy sucks!" Naruto said bluntly.

"Well that was blunt!" Kotaro with a chuckle.

A young brown-haired woman, appeared from the flaps with three bowls of ramen. "Here are you orders boys!" she said with a huge smile.

"Thanks Ayame-san," Kotaro said.

"Ayame-neechan is the best!" Naruto cheered out as he took his bowl.

"Anything for you Naruto-kun. And you're welcome Kotaro-san," she happily said as she left them to their own business.

Naruto looked at the packed vegetable ramen with a pout. Kotaro had his own tic mark as he saw this. "You better eat those and tell me the rest or I'll leave you the bill," Kotaro gruffly said.

Naruto paled, he rushed to the first bowl and started to eat his ramen. "All we do is go over the history of Konoha, which is fine if you want to be a book-worm, but I want to be a ninja. We only do training during Mondays and Fridays but the instructors ignore me, so my aim is crap with shuriken and kunai. And for some reason my equipment never sticks to the target. And my taijutsu is… crap as well. There's only so much I can do with just reading the scrolls on the basic academy style. I can see why Hokage-Jiji put me in the newer class," He said with a few stray noodles over his lips.

"Newer class? Ya mean that you were put in early?" Kotaro asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I begged Jiji to make me a ninja, so he enrolled me early, so I would stop asking him hehe," Naruto said with a shaky smile and his eyes closed, scratching the back of his head.

"Well. It's not completely your fault. If your instructors did their job properly then you wouldn't need to be held back. Jiji told me his team of Genin reached the rank of Chūnin when they were six years old. You need to get better, stronger and most of all smarter. Knowledge is probably a ninja's most important tool. And I'm not saying you must know the Nidaime Hokage's favourite food or anything like that. I need to teach you about strategy and how to apply it. No way I'm letting you out of the village if you can only think of crazy, half-assed plans," Kotaro said fiercely.

When Naruto listened to Kotaro's words, he knew they were true, but they still hurt. But if there's one thing Naruto appreciated, it was honesty, brutal or not. "So, you're going to help me?" hoping for the answer would be yes.

"Of course I am! But I won't be here all the time Naruto. After this month, I'm going to be on lots of back-to-back missions to get experience with the other ninja. And it seems I need more money to pay for your ramen. I promise you when we have free time, I'll help train you.

I'm going to say this here though, I'm not going to walk you through this holding your hand. I'll criticise you whenever you make the slightest mistake. I'll punish you when you only put in half of your efforts. I'll be ruthless until the session is over. You okay with that, it'll make you strong, but you might hate me!" Kotaro said with a grin.

Naruto went over the words and nodded with fierce speed. "How can I hate you? You'll be helping me," he said with a real smile.

Kotaro just smirked and finished his bowl. "Good, now I want to hear about your class mates," Kotaro said.

"Oh yeah. Well there are like twenty-six other students like me. But most of them blend in so I don't really remember them dattebayo. There are a few that are really distinctive.

There's Shino, he keeps quiet and rarely talks. You wouldn't notice him there if his bugs weren't buzzing about.

Then there's Kiba, He's smells like a dog and he's way over his head. Kiba has a puppy called Akamaru. The dog is much better company than him.

Chōji is always munching on a pack of potato crisps or sweets. He sounds like a grinder during class, it's kind of funny to watch.

Then there's Shikamaru. He's the smartest guy I know but he's as lazy as he is smart. He is tied to being dead-last with me because he is so damn lazy. He has his own catchphrase 'troublesome', he mutters every five minutes ttebayo.

There's this girl called Hinata. She stares at me from time to time for some reason I have no idea for. That and she has the Byu.. byaka.. bakagaaan, damn! I can't say it!" Naruto said with frustration.

"You mean the Byakugan!" Kotaro said smiling at the stutter.

"Yes, thank you. And stop laughing. She has the Byakugan, so she has different eyes from everyone else.

Speaking of girls, there's one called Ino. She's real annoying but she never bats an eye on me so I don't care.

Then there's Sakura-chan," Naruto told Kotaro.

"Sakura-chan? Do you like her in that way Naruto?" Kotaro asked while poking Naruto's shoulder, interrupting him.

Naruto mumbled something under his breath that nobody could comprehend. "What was that Naruto. You voice is all quiet and it sounds like you're speaking through a muffler," Kotaro teased.

"I said yes and no," Naruto said in a flustered state, his face turning red from the embarrassment.

"It can't be yes and no. It's either one or the other. Now spit it out," Kotaro demanded.

"Fine! I sort of like her. When we were younger, I saved her from bullies making fun of her big-ass forehead," Naruto said, making Kotaro bark out a mighty laugh.

"She then thanked me, and she had the most beautiful smile I've seen. We played for the rest of the day and it was the most fun I had in a long time ttebayo. The next time I saw her though, she was much colder to me. She then became a fangirl to the teme. Now she thinks every time I try to talk to her, I want to ask her out on a date and she bonks me on the head. And like Hinata, she's real distinct looking, she's real skinny because she's on a 'diet' and she has pink hair," Naruto described.

"Pink hair!?" Kotaro gasped out. Sure, red hair was unique, but pink takes it to a whole new level.

'What's strange with pink hair?' Naruto thought. He then shrugged. "Yeah, pink hair. You can always spot her in a crowd," he told Kotaro.

"From the sound of your description on her, in my honest opinion is that… she's a total bitch!" Kotaro said nonchalantly with a sweet smile on his face.

"Kotaro-nii that's not nice to say!" Naruto yelped after he heard the words.

"I call it as it looks little man. Now come on, how do you not see it. You're clearly too good for her. Even for a friend. And if she keeps "bonking" you on the head, you're going to get brain damage, and I don't want a yellow potato as a little brother. And if she's a true fangirl, you should stay away from her. They're making a bad case for all kunoichi. They rather focus on "love" and appearances than skills and training," Kotaro explained to Naruto.

"It's still not nice to call her a bitch! It's unnecessary," Naruto defended his point.

"Didn't you call someone a teme, like five minutes ago," Kotaro countered with a smirk.

"Oh, yeah I did hehe," Naruto said while scratching the back of his head. He gave his bowl to Ayame who went by the duo and then rubbed his bulged belly.

"That was good! So, yeah the teme is some emo kid called Sasuke. He thinks he's better than everyone else just because he's an Uchiha. I swear Kotaro-nii, he has a stick stuck up so far up his ass and he refuses to let it out. He's that stuck up. I pinned him as my rival because… well to be honest he is a much better ninja then I am, but the way he acts pisses me off so much," Naruto admitted, speaking in a more negative tone as he kept talking. "He never acknowledges me for anything I do. Even if they were good."

'It seems the Naruto doesn't really know about the Uchiha clan massacre. It explains why this 'Sasuke' is acting like an introvert. But the superiority complex is found in nearly every Uchiha according to what Kaa-chan told me. Because of their Sharingan, they think they are God's gift to mankind. They obviously got too big for their boots if the whole clan was murdered by one of their own in one night! That piece of news did spread like wildfire,' Kotaro thought. 'Sasuke though, maybe Naruto and he can become really good friends. That would be nice. I'll have to find out more about him from the Hokage.'

"So, you want to take Sasuke down a peg or two huh?" Kotaro asked.

"I do yeah! But only to wipe those cocky smirks of his away," Naruto joyfully said.

"Good answer! I don't know, but people who have those 'smirks' really piss me off as well," Kotaro said. Kotaro hopped off his seat, went to his wallet and put down a stack of ryó on the counter. "Thanks for the lovely food Teuchi-san, Ayame-san. I'm promise us two will be here again," Kotaro said with a wink and a wave.

"Come soon back soon you two!" Teuchi shouted from the back.

"Can't wait to see you two again!" she said with a hint of red and a big smile.

"Naruto, come on! We better get to your apartment!" Kotaro hastily said.

"Why are we going there? There's nothing nice in my house?" Naruto asked with a confused gaze.

"Well I told Hokage-Jiji that we're going to live together, so I need you to pack your stuff and then we can move in. We're going to be roomies," Kotaro replied with a smile.

Naruto facial expression went from confusion to shock to ecstatic. "Eh, I am?" he shouted out in the middle of the street not believing what he heard was correct.

"Yeah, I thought it would be for the best!" Kotaro said, looking at him with a serious face.

"But where are we living? What am I supposed to do with my apartment?" Naruto questioned.

Kotaro than lightly clapped his hands around Naruto's cheeks. "Naruto! You worry too much, it's bad for the soul!" Kotaro said while wagging his index finger. "Jiji said to me he'll sort it so don't even think about. Now we better hurry up," he said.

---

Old Housing Sector

Naruto and Kotaro then went off to Naruto's apartment. They were walking side by side. Kotaro couldn't help noticing the glares coming from the villagers. He had to resist with all his might not to beat them up for making his little brother feel even more insecure about himself.

As they walked further into the part of town to where Naruto's apartment was, he saw it was getting emptier and quieter. When they arrived at a large apartment complex, it was completely hollow. The windows were mouldy with lack of maintenance. There was obscure black graffiti written on the walls.

"Nice place," Kotaro said out loud. Never taking his eyes off the damage and vandalism.

"That's not even a bit funny Kotaro-nii. Come on, the sooner we pack, the sooner we can go to our new home," Naruto quickly said.

They climbed the stairs until they reached Naruto's floor. They entered inside his small apartment. Kotaro had to hold his nose from the smell of the place. It was nauseating. It didn't help that there was there were old ramen cups everywhere, but that wasn't the smell that was getting Kotaro's nose in a dire state.

He waltzed into the bathroom and looked at the ceiling. There was black mold damage as old as Naruto and it was thick and disgusting.

'The landlord does no maintenance I see,' Kotaro thought as he scanned his surroundings.

There was more mold in the corners. The walls were stained from years of neglect. He peeked at the shower mechanism. The switches were loose from the lack of mantenence. 'And neither does Naruto. Oh dear lord, what did I get myself into?'

Kotaro looked around more and more. Lifting some old clothes and ramen cups. His face was growing sourer by the minute. 'This place is disgusting. And not only because of the smell and dirt,' he thought with a soured face.

Naruto was taking all his orange wardrobe and laying it on his bed like his big brother asked him to. He also gathered all his instant ramen cups as they are very precious to him. He put his hands on his hips as he was pleased he has everything he needed from the apartment. He looked to his left to see Kotaro inspecting parts of the kitchen.

'What is Nii-chan looking at?' he thought.

"Kotaro-Niichan, you ok?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Yeah, was just checking out your shitty crib," Kotaro answered blankly.

"Oh…" he said glumly while putting his head down.

Kotaro walked into Naruto's and he immediately noticed the ramen. Sighing, he started folding his clothes. He then picked up a sleeping cap in shape of a dog. "Naruto what's this thing?" he asked.

"Oh that? That's my sleeping cap. I got it for my birthday two years ago. I got from Inu-niisan," Naruto told him.

'Inu? Must be an ANBU that was guarding him. I have to thank him for this!' Kotaro thought. "When is your birthday Naruto?" Kotaro asked.

"Tenth of October, it was a couple of days ago," Naruto said as his face turned sombre, eyes getting watery.

'That was like five days ago! Shit must have bad memories! Oh! I know how to save this!' Kotaro thought quickly, "Oh? Mine was a month ago on the ninth. This means after I get a bit of money, I have to get you a late birthday present yeah?" Kotaro told him.

"Sweet!" Naruto cheered with a jumps and fist pumps.

Kotaro whipped out a clean scroll and started to make a large storage seal. "Naruto put all of your stuff on the black markings on the scroll," Kotaro said.

Naruto not understanding what was going on but complying. He stacked all his clothes and ramen cups on the seal. Kotaro sent some chakra through the seal and the items vanished.

Naruto then freaked out! "What happened?" he screamed out. 'Oh no! My Ramen!' he cried internally.

"What do you mean 'What happened?'. I put your stuff in a storage seal," Kotaro said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"WOW! That's so cool!" Naruto said. Naruto then looked and inspected the scroll with great interest.

Kotaro started laughing like a madman, earning a strange look from Naruto. "If you think that's cool then you'll be amazed of what fūinjutsu can offer you!" Kotaro said with a grin.

"Fūinjutsu? How come we don't learn that in the academy?" Naruto asked.

"To be honest, it's an obscure art. It takes lots of patience and skill to perform it. You need perfect handwriting because if you mess one seal in a sequence of seals, or even in the foundation of the seal, it can cause a catastrophic accident. Also, it's for the best if you have a seasoned sealer to teach you to make sure you aren't making mistakes," Kotaro answered, putting the scroll away with the sealed items inside.

"Oh. Are you a seal-master Nii-chan?" Naruto asked, he had many questions lined up.

"Yea I am, and don't forget it. We Uzumaki love fuinjutsu, so the parents tortured the children to learn it. Our clansmen invested way more of their time into it rather than say ninjutsu or taijutsu. It's our bread and butter!" Kotaro answered honestly with a hearty laugh.

"Can you teach it to me? It seems like something I'll need it if I want to be Hokage," Naruto said with his fist thumping his puffed-out chest.

Kotaro then smiled and wiped away a fake tear. "Ah Naruto, you warm my heart with those sweet words you say! Of course I'll teach you!" he scooped his little brother up, bear-hugging him in the process. He started vigorously swaying him side-to-side making the Naruto dizzy. Kotaro dropped Naruto and he fell on his butt, with birds flying around his head.

"Do you have everything you need?" Kotaro asked as he really wants to see his new home.

"Yeah, let's get out of here! The sooner the better," Naruto said while walking out of the door.

Kotaro looked back one last time. 'This place must hold bad memories for Naruto. I'll make sure he has lots of good ones in our new home!' Kotaro thought. He then followed the little blond out of the door as well.

---

West sector of Konoha

"Woah, this is our house?" Naruto asked as he has never seen a house as big as this one.

Kotaro just smirked as he opened the door for the two. "It is! And don't worry about landlords. I own the property, so nobody will mess it up," Kotaro told him.

Naruto can only look in amazement as he eyes widened to see the whole living space in front of him. The house was huge, and they only entered the living room. It already had furniture, a large three-cushioned cream couch with two bachelor chairs in the same fabric across from it.

A glass coffee table between the seats. There was wooden flooring that was oiled beautifully that you can see your own reflection. He saw in the distance a modern kitchen that would put his old unit to absolute shame. Fume hood over the cooker/oven and a large fridge near it. So far, this place was a palace to Naruto.

"Jiji said he left some presents for you Naruto in your new room. Go upstairs to see them. Also take a bath when you're up there, you smell like freaking pork ramen!" Kotaro spat out.

Naruto giggled and sprinted up the stairs. He turned to the right and went down the empty corridor. There were five doors. Two on the left, two on the right and finally one in the middle at the end of the corridor. He went into the first room on the right. He didn't know why he picked it apart from the fact that it felt like the right choice. When he entered the room, he was gob-smacked, his jaw hitting the floor.

The room was clean and organised and had a magnificently crafted wooden wardrobe and desk. There was even a double bed in the corner fitting snuggly near the window. He then noticed some items on the bed as he delved further into his new room.

There was a new ninja pouch. A freshly sharpened set of shuriken and kunai. And five sets of identical outfits consisting of black shinobi sandals, black shinobi pants with an orange strip going down the side of the pants. There was a white t-shirt with his clan symbol on the back.

And finally, Naruto saw a blue zip-up jacket with three parallel orange stripes going down from the high collar all the way down to the wrists. There was only one jacket where the other items of clothing were a set of five, but the jacket looked expensive. Naruto knew that it would be a waste to buy five of them if he should and could wear just the one.

On the back of the jacket, the Uzumaki swirl was proudly showing itself. The inside of the jacket was completely orange. Naruto's eyes were popping out of their sockets as he was looking through all the new equipment. His blood was pumping with adrenaline and his body was shaking with excitement.

His excitement broke suddenly when an envelope fell from the pocket of the jacket onto the floor. Breathing deeply, he picked up the envelope and sat on his new bed. 'Comfy! Way better than the piece of crap I called a bed back at the apartment!' Naruto joyfully thought.

He opened the packaging and a letter appeared. He put the letter the right way up and began reading it.

Dear Naruto,

I'm thrilled that one of your wishes came true at last, that you finally found family. I have and always will treat you as if you are truly my cherished grandson. However, with my job taking care of the village and her people, I find that I have very little time to spend with you. I'm glad that Kotaro has come into our lives as I can expect great things from him and I know he'll be great for the both of us, especially you. Naruto, I am truly hoping that with this event, your life will turn for the better.

I want you to become a great ninja. I expect nothing less than that from my successor. Because of this, I wanted to give you a few gifts. I got you some fine equipment and a sharpening stone. I'm sure Kotaro will teach you how to maintain your kunai and shuriken. I also thought you needed a change of outfits. Don't worry, I left plenty of orange so you wouldn't get mad, but a ninja isn't supposed to be seen when on missions, so I had the orange on the inside. Now don't disappoint me Naruto. I can see you becoming a fine man, and I wanted to be a part of it.

The Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato,

Sarutobi Hiruzen.

Naruto's tears were freely falling from his eyes. He rolled the letter up and put it in his drawer in his desk for safe keeping. 'Jiji and Kotaro-niichan believe I can become Hokage. I must get stronger. I will never give up!' Naruto determinately thought. He grabbed a plain white t-shirt and a pair of grey baggy lounge-pants. He exited his bedroom and looked for the bathroom.

He entered the room across from his bedroom and found a large space. It had cream coloured tiles, turquoise paint ran on the walls and the ceiling was a clean white. As he tiptoed through the room, he couldn't but shiver as the cold floor ran its course into Naruto's small body. He looked to his left and saw himself in the large mirror that was over the sink. It seemed that the mirror was installed directly to the wall. The porcelain sink had golden taps and there were many fragrant soaps around it. He looked down the room and his eyes widened again.

There was a large bath, big enough to hold two people at the same time and still be comfortable. He slowly walked over, marvelling at the beauty of the bath and the whole room. He kneeled and turned the bath taps. Hot water flowed into the large tub. The steam already hitting Naruto's Face. Breathing outside the steam fumes, Naruto then picked up some bath salts and chucked it in, not knowing what the hell to do with it. The explosion of smell instantly went up Naruto's nostrils. 'That's intense!' Naruto mused as he started looking around again.

He saw an ordinary toilet near where the sink was. It seemed to have the same design style as the bath and sink but it didn't look like it had anything unique about. Then in the corner of his eye, he saw a large shower in the corner of the room.

Again, he was surprised at the size of the shower. Like the bath, it could hold two people and still be comfortable. He then saw that it can be used by two people as there was a shower head in the shape of a large rectangle, that was only a bit smaller than the surface area of the shower floor. The hot water was rising so he slowed down the flow of hot water and turned on the cold-water tap. He then got the wooden bath stick that was hanging on a stand beside the tub and started to churn the water.

'Perfect!'. Naruto then undressed and slowly descended into the foamy waters. He stretched out his body and cracked a few of his stiff bones. He let his body soak in the first hot bath he had in his life. It was truly relaxing, something he missed through his sad childhood. For the first time that day, Naruto had to think about the events that occurred through that day. To think of all of it was some sort of mega pipe-dream wouldn't be unrealistic.

'When I entered Jiji's office, I thought it was bullshit from a prank I did ages ago. I'd never have thought I was going to meet my cousin. Hell, I was convinced I had no family whatsoever. Kotaro-nii must be one of the coolest guys ever.

I glad he's my Nii-chan. Who thought my name, Uzumaki was a super famous clan that were so feared, three major countries had to gang up on our small country. Just shows us that we're amazing. Kotaro-nii said that many escaped when the attacks started. I might have more family out there. They'll only be distant cousins, but I'll take any family I can get.

It's only been half a day since we met, but it's like me and Kotaro-nii already known each other for ages. I don't want to disappoint him with my training now, him and Jiji. They have given me this chance and I have to take it with my two hands!' Naruto thought. Naruto sighed and sunk further into the waters, letting his body relax in the fragrant waters.

'I should be better, I'm actually pathetic. Sure, I'm fast and I can make traps and the greatest pranks, but as a ninja, I'm crap. Now that I think about, no instructor ever gave a damn about me. But I have to be honest to myself. I did myself no favours. I skipped class. I was cheeky to the instructors. I drove people away because I wanted everyone's attention. I was a brat. But that's going to change.

I suck because I had no-one to guide me in the right direction, it also doesn't help that I get the bluntest of weapons when we do any type of practice. I never get instructions on my taijutsu and when I try to learn from the scrolls, they tell me I'm doing it wrong.

I was just ignored. And I just ignored them.

God, I hope when Kotaro-nii trains me, he can and will actually teach me, then I will make my dream come true!' Naruto kept on thinking for another five minutes. He then noticed his skin was saturated from the water as wrinkles appeared all over his hands.

He stood up suddenly, letting the water splash around and the bubbles on his body flow down his skin. He unplugged the bath and grabbed a fresh towel. Drying himself thoroughly, he then rubbed the towel intensely into his hair. He threw the towel into the wash bin and put his clothes on.

Cleaning the bath from the bubbles, he didn't want to leave a bad impression for his big brother, so he cleaned the tub. He left the bathroom with a sigh going into his room. He grabbed and put on some slippers and went back downstairs. He saw Kotaro bringing a tray with two cups of black tea in his hands. He then set them on the coffee table beside a scroll with some diagrams and writings.

There was an ink brush beside a jar full of the black liquid. Kotaro then sat back down and started to write into said scroll.

"What'cha doing Nii-chan? Looks interesting!" Naruto asked, wanting to get to know of his big brother. He sat down on the couch and took the other cup and began to drink it. His face scrunched up as the hot liquid went down his throat. "AH! Nii-chan, how do you drink this stuff? It's so bitter!" Naruto complained.

"Well black tea always helps me concentrate when I'm doing this kind of work. And to answer your question, I'm writing down some of my findings. I've been experimenting with medical ninjutsu and seals. I'm trying to develop a seal that let's medical chakra flow through the body, healing any wounds around the body while in combat at a constant rate. I haven't made much progress but I'm not going to stop, this is too good of an idea to let go," Kotaro answered whilst not taking one eye away from the scroll.

Naruto could only stare in awe. Although he had no idea what any of it means. To him it sounded like the smartest thing he has ever heard. 'Kotaro-nii is a genius,' Naruto thought as he drank more of the bitter beverage. "So, when did you start working on it?" he asked.

"During when my Kaa-chan was dying of her illness. I thought if I could make this healing seal, it could stabilize her, but she was getting weaker and this seal was much harder to create than what I hoped for," Kotaro replied with a dejected and sorrowful look.

Naruto picked up on this and felt awful for bring painful memories back for his big brother. "Sorry," He said glumly.

Kotaro's face changed from one to sadness to surprise. "Sorry? Naruto, you had no idea your Aunt was dying. Don't feel bad for making me feel sad. Don't worry about talking about my Kaa-chan to me. She was your Aunt as well, so you do have a right to know about her. I'm sure if she saw you she would squeeze you to death and say that you're the 'cutest thing ever!'. Yeah, I'm positive she would have loved you the instant you would've met," Kotaro said with unbreakable belief.

Naruto smiled deeply at this, feeling loved was something so new to him, it was addicting. He finished his tea then he set it on the table besides Kotaro's empty cup. He looked at his brother once more. Completely enamoured by the concentration that he is showing. Naruto felt tired, his body wanted to lay down and a small yawn escaped his lips. However, his curiosity needed to be fed first or he'd be up all night. "Kotaro-nii, what kind of training are we going to do?" Naruto asked.

The room was quiet, the only noise was the inkbrush making its mark on the paper. Kotaro looked up to Naruto's gaze when he finished writing. He put his hands to his face and placed his elbows on his legs.

"After you finished with the academy tomorrow, we're going to do training in the training grounds behind the house. I'll let you know what we'll do when we are there. After, we eat dinner and I'll begin to teach you fūinjutsu. How does that sound?" Kotaro asked with a sly smirk, knowing what reaction he will get from his hyper-active little brother.

"Sweet! I'm going to get so strong Kotaro-nii, this is my first step into becoming the Hokage!" Naruto announced.

"Man, I hope you're that enthusiastic when we do the next training session after tomorrow's. Now Naruto, get to bed now. You'll need plenty of sleep if want to grow another inch," Kotaro ordered with a hint of laughter.

Naruto's forehead grew tic marks and his eyes narrowed on Kotaro. "Just you wait! I'll have a growth spurt and then I'll be taller than you!" he shouted while pointing his finger at Kotaro. Naruto ran up the stairs to his room to go sleep, he kept muttering "I'll be the tallest man alive!"

All Kotaro could do was laugh his ass off as he fell from his chair. After the slam of a door, Kotaro calmed himself and went back to work before going to bed himself.

---

The Next Morning

Naruto woke up, his alarm clock was ringing at a loud volume. Slamming the button on the top of the clock to stop the annoyance. His ears were ringing, he rolled out of bed and rubbed his eyes with his hands. Trying hard not to get back under the covers to continue the greatest sleep he ever had, he hopped out of bed.

Doing some quick stretches and cracking his back to get that satisfactory pop. Naruto strolled into the bathroom to wash his face. He filled the basin with warm water and scooped some in his hands and splashed it in his face. He then massaged his temples, forehead and cheeks. He grabbed the hand towel and then dried his face. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he couldn't help but not smile. The small and dark, noticeable bags that were usually under his eyes have disappeared and his skin glowed.

'Must be from the bath last night,' he thought.

Naruto went back to his room and quickly got his equipment ready for his day at the academy. He then sat on the comfy chair that was beside his new desk and got dressed. He wrapped his elastic bandages from the top of his ankles to just underneath his knees.

Naruto wrapped the bandages on his wrist to act as wrist guards. He puts on his new clothes, the black shinobi pants hugging nicely on Naruto's legs, ending hallway down his shin cupping the lower calf. Naruto grabbed his t-shirt, with some quick motions, the t-shirt went over his head and covered his torso. Wrapping his new jacket around his upper body, Naruto zipped it up until the metal zip pin was just at his chest.

Getting new shoes made everyone excited. Naruto was no different. He pulled out his new shinobi sandals and wiggled his small bt growing feet into them. It was a perfect fit.

The very last job was the easiest. Taking the roll of his new shinobi bandage wraps that the Hokage gave to him, Naruto wrapped it around his thigh on his right leg, finishing it off by strapping his shuriken holster onto the bandage.

Naruto looked at himself in his huge mirror that was hidden in the room. He had to admit he looked a lot more like a ninja instead of wearing all that orange on the outside of his clothes. But in all honesty, he liked the colour orange and he loved wearing it. It always brightened up his day.

'It's what is in the inside that counts,' Naruto thought as he looked lovingly at the orange inside his new blue jacket.

Naruto went down the stairs in his slippers, and turned to see his big brother was putting breakfast on the table. A strange feeling was pitted deep inside of him. 'I usually have a cup ramen for breakie and now I'm actually getting a meal. I could get used to this! But still, nothing can ever beat the amazing taste that is ramen!' he thought.

"Wow, someone looks good!" Kotaro said with a happy smile accompanying his face.

Naruto puffed out his chest, "I know I do ttebayo!" Naruto cheered out.

Naruto went to his seat beside the table and saw the assortment of food. There was a bowl of fruit, not that he was complaining, but Naruto wasn't a big fan of fruit or vegetables.

There was also a small bowl of rice, a small bowl of vegetable soup. A platter of salmon and what looked like some sort of bread. "Kotaro-nii, this looks good but what's this?" said pointing at the strange bread.

"That Naruto is sour-dough bread. It's a thing I picked up on my travels. It's very filling and it's slow to digest, it'll help you with your hunger throughout the day. Now come on eat up! You need your energy for what I have in store for you!" Kotaro replied while Eating his own breakfast.

Naruto dug into the rice and fish first, without noticing, it vanished as he ate it so fast. He then looked at the soup and bowl of fruit. He just gulped and took a taste of the soup. And to his surprise, it was tasty, no it was delicious!

Naruto gulped it down as if it was water. He then looked at the fruit bowl again, it was colourful, and it looked a lot better than the fruit he scrounged around for or picked in the wild. He took a bite out of an orange slice and a citrusy flavour exploded in his mouth. It was amazingly tangy. He then picked up a strawberry and chewed it down. The sweet juice of the berry slid down his throat like honey. Naruto then tried each fruit piece, not knowing the wonders of fresh fruit.

'Seems like ramen isn't the only nice thing in the world!' he thought with disbelief.

Kotaro got a milk carton from the fridge, opened it and slid it down to Naruto. Naruto finished his fruit and downed the milk in record time. Naruto wiped his mouth clean with a happy sigh. "What are your plans for today while I'm at the academy?" Naruto asked his big brother.

Kotaro closed the fridge door and sat back down in his chair across from Naruto. "Well I'm going to put security seals around the house, so no-one can break in or vandalise it. I paid too much money for some asshole to break a window or something like that. Then I'll do a quick work out and work on the healing seal I told you about last night. And if I get annoyed and blow some steam, I'll ask Jiji if I can help around before my probation ends," Kotaro answered while sipping on his black tea.

Naruto just listened to Kotaro, still amazed by the fact that Kotaro was working on something like that. He looked at the clock and it was twenty past eight. His class didn't start till nine, however he lived a bit further away from the academy now. He didn't want to be late on the day he was going to take things seriously. "Kotaro-nii, I'm going to class now," Naruto said with a neutral tone but went over to his brother and gave him a tight hug.

Kotaro returned it and ruffled Naruto's hair slightly and gave him a nod. Naruto checked his equipment one more time, satisfied, he went out of the door and walked to the academy.

Naruto noticed there were less people in his path from his new home. Thankful to his new home that he didn't to deal with such unrestrained hate as much now. He made it to the academy with no troubles whatsoever. He stopped mid-way and looked to the lone tree with a wooden swing set. He remembered himself swinging on it, nobody to talk to, all alone. More reason to be thankful for his big brother's appearance, all that loneliness and sadness that was built up for years and years is being dissolved away. Feeling loved can do wonders for the soul.

He entered the academy and strolled into the classroom. It wasn't full yet and he scanned the room. The only other students that were there were Shino, Shikamaru, Chōji, Sasuke and some civilian family kids. There was an empty seat beside Shikamaru, so he went and claimed it for himself.

Even if he admits that he didn't really have friends, Shikamaru and himself were always on friendly terms and shared banter when they wanted a bit of trouble. To say in Shikamaru words "the day is too troublesome" just to sit around and listen to Iruka, so sometimes they would skip class, but somehow Iruka always found them.

"Yo, what's going on Shikamaru? Chōji?" Naruto asked them, trying to act a bit like his new big brother.

The two stared up at Naruto as if he was a stranger, a new student. When they saw his mop of blonde hair and his trade-mark whisker marks. They finally cracked the puzzle. "Naruto!?" they both said in quiet shock. The Naruto they knew was louder, more brash, and wore more orange, a lot more orange.

"You know it ttebayo," he said with a smirk and took his seat beside Shikamaru. Laughing internally at the two faces of complete shock. 'Everyone is going freak out how much I changed in one-day hehe!' Naruto giggled inside his head.

Shikamaru composed himself after the biggest shock for him in the school year. "Naruto, not that I'm complaining but what happened to you?" Shikamaru asked, his interest in the blond grew hugely in just a couple seconds.

Naruto simply replied with "Everything," and he ended it with a wink.

Shikamaru huffed and muttered "troublesome blondes."

However, Shikamaru wasn't going to give up on why Naruto changed so drastically, he was going to get to the bottom of this.

"You want some food Naruto?" Chōji offered, the two would often talk about what they would describe God's gift of food to mankind that is ramen.

"Yeah sure. Thank you, Chōji," Naruto answered with a smile, grabbing some potato crisps and eating them.

The three just then talked about life in general and cloud watching. It was a good discussion. The classroom was filling up as the clock was turning closer to nine o'clock. Suddenly, two girls raced into the classroom and suddenly stopped in the row where Sasuke sat. The two were arguing who got there first, and the other girls started grouping around them. The classroom was filled with screeches, Naruto had to resort to cover his ears.

Then the pink-haired girl, went over and bonked the head of the poor soul that was sitting beside Sasuke. Naruto looked up at the scene and saw Sasuke was brooding, his eyebrows were twitching, and his face wore a dark expression. The girl, Sakura was yapping about her day yesterday and other nonsense when she sat down beside him. Naruto turned around, so he was facing the blackboard and began to rub his temples.

'I see where Kotaro-nii was coming from and he never met her before. I wouldn't call her what Nii-chan called her myself, but I can see she's not the nicest person ever,' Naruto thought.

Naruto recollected all the events concerning himself, Sakura, Ino and the fangirls and he realised that every one of them had to do with diverting their attention off Sasuke to him and getting beat up in the process. He shivered like crazy.

'Maybe another reason why I picked him as my rival, I was jealous of all the attention he was getting while being broody!' Naruto thought after sighing.

The door to the classroom door opened and two men walked in and went behind the desk. "Good morning class!" they both said.

All the students scattered to the remaining seats and quieted down. "Good morning Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei," the class replied in mixed voices.

Iruka scanned the classroom and saw that there was no blob of orange in one the chairs. "Where's Naruto? Did he skip class?" he asked a bit irritated.

"I'm here Iruka-sensei," Naruto said while putting his hand up. Everyone in the class gasped as they noticed the new appearance of the blond loud-mouth.

The most surprised was Iruka, the sudden change sucker-punched him. He recomposed himself and gave a shaky smile, "Great that you're here! Now let's get started on the class," He said.

The lessons dragged on until it was noon and the bells rang. They students got up and left for the courtyard. Naruto cracked his knuckles and began walking with Shikamaru and Chōji to some shade under the large oak tree. They all sat in a triangle on the soft patch of grass. Shikamaru was watching the clouds, Chōji was nibbling on a bento lunch box and Naruto was munching on some of Kotaro's sour dough bread.

"Naruto, after school, Shikamaru and I are going to Yakiniku Q for some food. You want to join us?" Chōji asked, having enjoyed his time with the blond.

Shikamaru looked like his was just lazing about but he was carefully watching Naruto. Analysing any new details and behaviours he would show, he had to admit, this Naruto was much more enjoyable to hang around with, he was more realistic then the loudmouth before. The itch to know what caused this change was irritating him, he wanted to scratch it out immediately, but he was too lazy and not desperate enough to do so.

"Sorry guys, I have to disappoint you, I have to do some training after this. We can go there or have some ramen some other time," he said with a saddened tone. He was amazed how quickly the friendship between himself and the two others grew by acting a little calmer and putting an effort into the conversation instead of saying something related to the Hokage every three seconds.

"Training? What kind of training?" Shikamaru inquired.

"Honestly, I have no idea?" Naruto said with a smile.

"Huh!" was all he got from the two other boys.

"I don't know what training I'm going to be doing, someone else will tell me what to do!" Naruto answered their unspoken question with honesty.

"Who's going to be training you Naruto?" Chōji asked while opening a bag of potato crisps and started to munch on them.

The old Naruto would have blurted out that Kotaro was going to be teaching him, but he needed to be mature, to become the Hokage and get answers of who his father is, he needed to show the Hokage that he was maturing. "Actually, I don't know if I can tell you. I'll ask him and I'll tell you then," he answered calmly.

They weren't satisfied with the answer, but neither were going to push the subject. They sat there for a little while longer, Chōji was still snacking on something and Naruto started pulling on the blades of the grass. Shikamaru was noticing the strange looks some of his fellow students were giving Naruto. 'Must be the outfit change if I had to guess,' he thought.

The bell rang, and everyone went back inside into the classroom, the trio retook their seats and waited for the teachers. Iruka and Mizuki came back in and resumed the lesson where they left off. It was the longest two hours in Naruto's life. Compared to how Kotaro describes history or how his sealing works, the lessons were crap. No more, no less.

However, whenever the Shodai or Nidaime Hokage were mentioned, Naruto perked up with a smile, remembering the relation between his clan and the Senju clan.

Unbeknownst to him, Shikamaru noticed this as well, 'I wonder what's going through that thick skull of his?' Shikamaru thought.

The lesson ended and then the children left the class. Shikamaru, Chōji and Naruto walked out of the academy together, talking about whatever was on their minds. They were the first students to leave the building. When they got close to the gates Naruto heard his name.

"Oi Naruto!" Kotaro said while leaning on the fence that was enclosing the academy grounds. In his usual attire and with his forehead protector, the only items he didn't have on him were his flak jacket and swords.

Naruto turned to see his big brother, his face lighting up even more, "Nii-chan, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"Oh... Am I not allowed to pick you up? I'm shocked, and here I thought you liked my company," Kotaro jokingly said while grasping his heart.

"No, it's just that I didn't expect to see you, that's all!" he answered quickly.

"Good! You know I have sensitive feelings!" Kotaro said in a cynical tone. He then saw a young boy with pineapple shaped black hair and a large boy with brown hair eating some food. "Naruto, why haven't you introduced me to your friends?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, this is Akimichi Chōji and Nara Shikamaru," Naruto said while letting Kotaro walk over to the pair.

"It's lovely to meet you two. My name is Uzumaki Kotaro," Kotaro said with a smile, putting his hand out for the two to shake them.

The two shook his hand and they both exchanged greetings. As this was going on, murmurs of other students were heard by all of them. The children were wondering who the new person was and why was he hanging out with Naruto.

"It's nice to meet ya and all, but I need to get this little man out of here, so I can repair him," Kotaro said with a sickly-sweet smile while patting Naruto's shoulder.

"Repair?" Chōji asked, completely not understanding what Kotaro had meant.

"He means he's going to train Naruto. Isn't that right Kotaro-san?" Shikamaru said with a bored expression.

'Like Naruto said yesterday, he's smarter than he looks,' Kotaro mused. "Yeah you're correct. And bin the honorifics, just call me Kotaro or I'll call you pineapple-chan," Kotaro replied with a smirk as he heard laughing from Chōji and Naruto.

Grabbing Naruto's shoulder, "See you two later, and I know we are going get along just right," Kotaro said with a wink. Then he and Naruto vanished via a body-flicker that left a subtle breeze of wind.

Chōji and Shikamaru stood there in silence. "That guy is cool," Chōji stated as he walked to a bin to put his wrapper away.

The duo began their walk to the BBQ restaurant. Shikamaru was going over what happened with Naruto and the appearance of the new Uzumaki. "I have to ask Oyaji about this. He'll tell what I need to know," Shikamaru told Chōji as they entered the restaurant. "I'm sure it won't be last time we see him," he said after, as the Nara and Akimichi heirs took their seats to eat.

---

Uzumaki Residence

Naruto and Kotaro appeared at their house's training grounds. It was large clearing of dirt that had a large white rectangle making a small battle pitch, it was twenty metres wide and fifty metres long. There were training posts on the far side of the battle pitch and on the close side, there were bullseye targets and target dummies.

Kotaro went over into the middle of the battle pitch and motioned Naruto to follow him. "Come on now Naruto, we need to do some good ol' exercise!" he said.

"Yes Nii-chan!" Naruto replied enthusiastically.

"Alright send some chakra into the heart piece to activate level one. And prepare yourself for the sudden change," Kotaro ordered Naruto.

Naruto flowed some chakra from his finger tips and placed them on the metal piece on the strap. The metal glowed a light blue. Naruto felt the change immediately; his body fell to the ground. Picking himself up, he dusted off his trousers and looked up at Kotaro.

"God, this is heavy!" Naruto commented on the sudden change.

"Well I hope it is! Alright GO! Do ten laps around the white line!" Kotaro barked out his orders. Naruto darted off doing the laps. He felt the strain on his muscles already, he felt as if he was running through water. As he was starting to build up a sweat he finished his tenth lap and stood in front of Kotaro, breathing heavily.

"Fifty push-ups, squats, jumping jacks, sit-ups and fifteen pull-ups! COME ON! GET TO IT! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" Kotaro shouted. Naruto paled and quickly got to the ground to start doing his push-ups. Kotaro watched him like a hawk, and when Naruto got to his forty-second push-up, Kotaro slammed his foot into Naruto's back, making him drop to the ground.

"What the hell was that!? Don't be a bitch and do a half push-up. Take ten seconds and then do twenty more for your mistake!" Kotaro yelled at Naruto, scaring him.

Naruto took deep breathes to regain his cool. 'What the hell was I thinking, Nii-chan is insane!' he cried inside his head.

"Come on Naruto, that's ten seconds, or do you want me to add more!?" Kotaro barked out. Naruto got to back to his push-ups, he saw Kotaro also doing push-ups along with him, as a sign of support.

Naruto finished his added push-ups and immediately got to his squats. After his second squat, his legs were pulled from him and he fell on his rear. "You call that a SQUAT! What the hell are they teaching you in the academy!? Here Naruto watch me," he said. Kotaro then did a low body squat with perfect form, "Now you do the same. Feet stuck to ground and think 'ass to grass' alright!" Kotaro yelled at him.

Naruto not wanting to add to Kotaro's wrath, quickly got to it. He did and finished the squats without any disruptions and began his jumping jacks. When the fiftieth was done, he heard Kotaro mutter "At least they got one thing right," under his breath. He breathed deeply and raspy, sweat was pooling on his fore head and his hands were getting clammy. Naruto was then led by Kotaro to the pull-up bars.

"You know how to do a pullup, right?" Kotaro asked. Receiving a nod from Naruto, he then pointed his finger at the bar. Naruto jumped and grabbed the bar and began to do his pull-ups. He was struggling all the way through. On his fifth pull-up, he was hand palmed in the stomach, hard. He fell off the bars and onto the floor. "Your form was terrible in the last one. Take another ten seconds and start where you left off!" Kotaro said with a commanding tone.

Naruto breathed as if his life depended on it. He got back up and did his pull-ups. He took his time and finished his set. He dropped to the ground and sucked the oxygen out of the air. Kotaro smiled and went over to Naruto. He had a bottle of ice-cold water, a towel and a strange looking brown bar.

"Good work Naruto! Seems like Jiji was right that you had crazy stamina and can take lots of punishment. Clean yourself up, drink and eat this," Kotaro said. He then handed Naruto the items and walked away from him.

Naruto used the towel to wipe the sweat off his face and poured the drink down his throat. He took the brown bar and scoffed it down. The taste was bland, and the texture felt strange and funny on his tongue. Then suddenly, a rush of energy flowed through his body. He was amazed, the difference of how he felt from only a minute ago was monumental.

"Nii-chan, what was that bar, I feel amazing after eating it," Naruto asked.

"Oh, it's an energy bar. The bar itself is based off the soldier pill recipe, it is easily digested and gives you more energy," Kotaro answered as he was getting a box of shuriken, kunai and a pouch of senbon needles and placing them on the ground.

Naruto stood up and walked over to where the targets were. "We going to do target practice now?" he asked.

"Yes. You did tell me your aim was awful so it's something we need to improve. Now Naruto do you the difference between the different ways you have to throw shuriken, kunai and senbon needles?" Kotaro asked Naruto.

"I was told but I don't think they explained it well to me or I even listened hehe," Naruto admitted.

"Alright, it looks like I have to give a quick crash course. The shuriken is, in my opinion the easiest out of the three to throw and master. It has perfect weight distribution and is completely symmetrical, so it's very easy to grip it properly when you're throwing it.

The kunai is a little harder to throw compared to the shuriken. It has a big head and a thin handle, so most of the weight is centred at the thickest part of the blade. So that means when we're throwing it, we give it a slight angle towards the sky, and I mean a tiny angle Naruto. You also must throw it a little higher than the intended target, because as it travels it dips. Don't worry about it too much, as you get better it'll come naturally.

Senbon needles are the hardest to master, but they are my favourite. Many ninja today are too good to get killed by shuriken and kunai, so when I use senbon needles, I can immobilize enemies and go in for the attack, if not kill them straight away with them. The needles are hard to master because you must be dead accurate. Certain places on the body, such as the neck and throat can make your body numb and stop the functions of some of your muscles. The needles can be used for therapy or put you in a near-death state.

Because they are long and thin, you can only throw them straight at the target. Shuriken can curve and kunai dip, but these needles can only follow a straight path or you'll miss your target and the needle would be useless," Kotaro lectured to Naruto.

The blond Uzumaki just nodded along, soaking in every detail. He was engrossed by Kotaro's explanations once again. Kotaro was so easy to follow for Naruto.

"Ok! Now throw some shuriken at the training dummy. I'll see your form and fix it along the way," Kotaro said as he stood beside Naruto. Naruto then went some distance, got into a comfortable stance and had his shuriken in hand. He then took a deep breath, focused on the targets and quickly threw the shuriken. He was surprised that they hit the wooden targets on the dummy's body, but they were nowhere near the black centre dot.

"Hm, that was better than I expected, but the enemy isn't going to be staying the one place and you missed the centres," Kotaro said from the side. He walked over and started moving Naruto's body parts to put him in a new stance. "Now try it like this, but stiffen your shoulder a bit, have you elbow in line with the targets and your wrist isn't loose enough when you throw them," Kotaro advised him.

Naruto took Kotaro's advice in. When the last set of his shuriken were picked off the targets, Naruto settled into his new stance, breathed deeply once more. He aimed his elbow at the first target and threw the star. He repeated this with the other targets with as much pace he could muster.

"Nice work! Look at the difference Naruto, the shuriken are in deeper and they're closer to the target. Now we're going to repeat this until you get it right or if I get bored and move onto the next exercise," Kotaro said while crossing his arms. The two brothers then practised Naruto's aim for the next forty-five minutes. He improved but out of every five throws, miss the target completely.

"Come on Naruto, we only have one exercise left before we get dinner," Kotaro yelled as he went back toward the middle of the battle pitch. Naruto quickly followed. Lagging a bit behind, still not used to his new and intense training.

Kotaro got several leaves and dumped them in the centre of the pitch. He then sat down and crossed his legs in a meditative position. Naruto finally reached him and sat directly across, mimicking the position Kotaro was using. Naruto was wondering what they're going to do now.

"Naruto, how bad is your chakra control?" Kotaro asked with a hint of a smile.

Naruto narrowed his eyes on Kotaro. "Why do you think it's bad?" he asked.

"Well, am I wrong?" Kotaro said with an evil smirk.

Naruto puffed his cheeks and looked angry at Kotaro. "It's like everything else dattebayo, it's crap!" he admitted, disappointed that he's skills were terrible.

"Okay, that's all I needed to hear. You're going to do chakra control exercises every day, this will help conserve chakra, even though you have a ton, and it will improve your ninjutsu making them more effective. You may think it's boring, but anything is possible with chakra! So, I want you to stick these leaves to your forehead and fingertips. Once you got one on your forehead and a leaf on every finger, we're going to use chakra to rotate the leaves in place. Like this!" Kotaro said. Kotaro then showed what he just explained by rotating the leaves on his fingers and forehead. The leaves were moving extremely quickly, like propellers as a buzzing noise was coming off them.

"You need to make your chakra to have a suction effect on the leaves, if you apply force outward, it'll just shred the leaf. And since you're right handed it'll be easier for your chakra to rotate clockwise," he explained. Kotaro then got up and walked towards the house wall.

"Once you learn how to do that exercise, you will be learning this!" he then climbed the walls and got up to the roof. "Next thing you know you'll walking on water and climbing waterfalls," Kotaro said with a gleeful smile.

Naruto once again was amazed, his brother climbed the wall as if it was the ordinary floor. He looked at the leaves and tried the exercise, but he couldn't do it at all and failed miserably.

"Naruto, you're rushing it. Try it with just your forehead first, then include your fingers. And don't try spinning them until they all stick on your fingers. And do the same thing, one at a time. I know you want to be Hokage, but even the Hokage took their time training. It's how smart you train, not just how much. You could waste hours doing it your way or spend a fraction of time doing it the smart way.

NOW! Go do that until I call for dinner, I'll make you a big meal for the work you did today," Kotaro yelled from the rooftop. He jumped down and landed silently on the ground, he then waved at Naruto, going inside to prepare for the feast to come.

Naruto looked at the leaves again, thinking through Kotaro's words. 'It's not how much I train, it's how smart I train. I see why Kotaro-nii is so strong while he's only a few years older than me, he's been training hard and smart ever since he could! I better prove that I'm worth teaching.' He thought. Naruto then picked up a lone leaf and placed it on his forehead. He applied his chakra to it, but it instantly slid off. 'Not enough chakra!' Naruto thought.

He tried it again and this time the leaf blew off from the force.

'Damn! Now it's too much!' Naruto thought.

This happened for about ten minutes, finally the leaf was stuck to Naruto's forehead. 'Sweet! Now stay still!' he internally cried. He stayed in place and the leaf didn't budge, he swayed his head from side to side, and yet the leave didn't fall off. Smiling for his small achievement. He started to put leaves on his right hand.

He started with the thumb, and thankfully it didn't fall off instantly. Then he put one on the index finger but it fell off, he tried again and now it blasted off. In the hour and a half that Naruto was trying to control the leaves he only got as far as holding leaves on his forehead and right hand. He found it very difficult to maintain the control. And when he tried putting some leaves on his left hand, there was too much to concentrate with. He was going to attempt it once more.

"Naruto! Grub is done, get in before it gets cold," Kotaro shouted from the kitchen. Naruto immediately went inside to see a meal fit for kings.

On the table, there was a huge assortment of sushi. There were tons of different pieces, most of them had a type of fish n them. There was also a large bowl of vegetables placed beside where Naruto. There was the same soup from the morning, just a larger bowl. A rice bowl, more vegetables and an instant ramen cup was also present.

Naruto wasted no time and dug into the food. He was hoovering the ramen noodles and then when he finished, he started to stuff his face with the sushi. After he ate the cup and his plate. He went to the soup and sucked all up. Having a small burp, he scoffed down the rice bowl.

Finally, Naruto looked at what was remaining, he grimaced at the veggie bowl and salads. He gulped and ate as quickly as possible, 'Uh, why can't it taste porky!?' he thought. After five minutes of munching on broccoli, spinach and other greens. He sighed and drank the water that was the table.

"So, how far did you get?" Kotaro asked with one eye focused on Naruto.

"It's hard Nii-chan. I got the leaves to stick to my forehead eventually, then all the fingertips on my right hand. But when I tried with my left hand, it went downhill. I couldn't keep it sticking and they all slid off," Naruto complained as he went off to the couch to lie down.

"It's not supposed to be easy Naruto! You'll get it soon enough. It will be a week or a month from now. I know you can do it. I sensed your chakra is wild, and it'll be harder for you to control it. And before you ask, I was just blessed when it comes to chakra control, thank my lucky stars or something like that!" Kotaro said loudly while he was cleaning the dishes.

'Naruto's chakra must be wild for either two reasons, actually it's probably because of these reasons. He is clearly untrained at controlling his chakra. Poor boy, he has so much that anything he does it's going to be too much. The other must be because of the Kyūbi. The seal within him must be affecting his chakra pathways. I'll have to find out what seal is used. It's must likely the Eight Trigrams Seal. An Uzumaki seal is the only calibre of seal that can restrain the Kyūbi,' Kotaro thought.

Naruto was listening to him intently. It felt nice to know that Kotaro believed in him. He felt his tiredness catch up to body. Before he even realised his world turned to darkness and he fell into a nap.

---

The Nara Compound

"I'm home," Shikamaru said as he opened his house door.

"Ah, Shika you're home. Want to play a game of Shogi?" an older man known as Shikaku asked his son.

Shikamaru smirked at his dad, "Sure thing Oyaji," he said. The two walked into another room where a shogi board was set up. They sat in their respective places and started their game.

Both were concentrating hard but by their standards they would call it casual. Shikamaru remembered a certain redhead that he had his dad about. "Oyaji?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hm?" was all he got from the scarred man.

"Today, something strange happened," he said.

"What do you mean by strange?" Shikaku said while focusing his gaze onto his son's eyes.

"Naruto changed," Shikamaru stated simply.

Shikaku was now very interested but didn't let it show. "How has he changed?" he asked.

"He has a new outfit for starters, thankfully he isn't as loud as he used to be and the conversations he had with Chōji and me weren't troublesome," Shikamaru said with a bored tone, waving his hands in a lazy motion.

Shikaku thought on the words carefully, knowing it was the appearance of the new Uzumaki that caused the change. His concentration was broken by his son.

"Some guy called Kotaro was at the academy gates, he was waiting for Naruto. They seemed to know each other because Naruto did call him Nii-chan, and now that I think about, they look similar and they both have the Uzumaki name," Shikamaru yawned out the last part.

"What do you think of Kotaro?" Shikaku asked.

A small grin and a twinkle appeared in his eyes. "I like him, he's funny and laid-back. Also, he seems like a powerful ninja. I can see that Naruto looks up to him. To be honest, I want to get to know him better," Shikamaru said.

A small grin similar to his son's, grew on Shikaku's face. He had to hand it to his son when it came to analysing people or situations, he always hit the nail on the head. "You're correct to assume that he's a powerful ninja. We had a council meeting two days ago about Kotaro," he told his son.

"Oh? And what did you find out about him?" Shikamaru asked as he was more interested in the new redhead than playing shogi.

"He had an evaluation to test his skills before he was allowed to become a ninja to the village as he was an outsider. According to the reports, he defeated two Jōnin and came out in top in both matches in most aspects. Hatake Kakashi, one of our elite Jōnin was beaten by him. He gave his own report on Kotaro in the meeting. Even though both Kotaro and Kakashi weren't going one hundred percent, he was easily a Jōnin through and through. Even the Hokage said so," Shikaku said. "I'm looking forward to the day I meet this Uzumaki Kotaro."

Shikamaru was stunned by the revelation, 'No wonder Naruto was stuck to him like glue!' he thought.

A sly grin took its place on Shikamaru's face. "I take it that I'm going to hear more stories about him in the future then?" he said as more of a statement than a question.

"Hm, yes I'm sure he'll make a big name for himself and checkmate," Shikaku stood up and left, leaving a confused Shikamaru staring at the board.

"Damn. I lost again!" Shikamaru said to no-one in particular, and then left the room himself.

---

At The Uzumaki Residence

"And that's how basic sealing works," Kotaro said, as he was drawing a basic seal and showing Naruto basic seal diagrams.

"So, there are types of seals that have a unique type of foundation, and for any purpose you need an array of markings and other intricate seals to form a chain. This chain is usually in the shape of a circle. It can also be a straight or curved line and those are the three most basic shapes. If one of the seals isn't right, the chain is broken and the seal simply doesn't work or it can blow up. Is that everything?" Naruto said as his mouth was running dry.

"Yes, in the most simple of terms, that's right. But it's not completely true. Seals comes in all shapes and sizes. You might need a Kanji instead of another seal, or a special curve to make a pathway. And I didn't go into the foundation part with enough detail. There are three common seal foundations that I'd say dominate the sealing world. There's chakra infused ink seals and chakra infused blood seals. And chakra seals that are created on the go, so essentially made from just your chakra.

These seals are hard for even the experienced. The other types are only mentioned because people experimented to try to make new types of seals but there was no point as anything you could do with those, you could just use ink or blood, and the seals themselves were very inefficient. We're not going to talk about them at all just to let you know," Kotaro said. Currently he was acting in his 'Teacher mode' that Naruto dubbed.

"So, what's next?" Naruto asked.

Taking a clean scroll, a new brush and a jar of ink. Kotaro handed Naruto the items. "You're going to practice your handwriting now. It must be perfect if you want to be any good at sealing. So, you're going to go through these difficult exercises in this book. The book is filled with kanji and various symbols. Start here and draw them all in nice even spacings. Try and get it as close to what the picture looks like. When you finished the page, redo it and I'll have a look at what you did tomorrow," Kotaro answered. He then stood up and gathered some of his scrolls and went for the door.

"Do that for an hour. Then, clean yourself up and go to bed. Also... good work out there, you were fantastic already Naruto. We might practice a bit of basic ninjutsu tomorrow. I'm going to do some work in my study," Kotaro said before he left Naruto's room.

After he heard the door for the study close, he dived straight into work. He looked the first Kanji and it was for water. 'I should just take my time with this!' Naruto thought as he slowly copied the kanjis on the page, not trying to screw up with his terrible handwriting skills. Time flew by and before he knew it, it was already ten o'clock. He got off his chair and put away his brush and jar of water, not letting dry out.

Naruto left his work on his desk as he knows he's going to go back to it tomorrow. He was getting excited for the next day, learning ninjutsu. However, he remembered something bad.

'I don't know my hand seals,' he thought with disappointment. He left his room and went to where the study was. He knocked on the door lightly.

"Come in," he heard so he opened the door to see Kotaro working on his seal again.

"What's the matter Naruto, you look sad. Did something go wrong?" Kotaro asked with concern dripping out of his voice.

Naruto felt nervous, he didn't know what his reaction would be once Kotaro finds out that he can't do basic hand seals. "Eh, Kotaro-nii, I need to work on hand seals, because I don't know my hand seals," Naruto admitted with his head looking down at his feet.

There was silence for about five seconds. "Alright, we'll just add to the never-ending list of what I need to teach you! I'll tell ya about one right now. For the ox hand seal, you put your left hand up like this, spread out your fingers, then with your right hand's fingers, you put them between the gaps with the pinkie finger of the right hand going on the outside. There are eleven others, and these make up the basic hand seals. We'll have a look at it tomorrow when we train again. You cool with that?" Kotaro responded to his little brother.

Naruto nods his head, and then formed the ox hand seal. He smiled from the ease, he wondered on why he would struggle with this before today. Naruto was about to set off but was stopped by Kotaro grabbing his shoulder. Looking up, he saw Kotaro's happy face. Kotaro then kneeled down and put his other hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Naruto, I have one piece of advice for you," he said, his amethyst eyes piercing into Naruto's clear cerulean blue.

"What is it Kotaro-nii?" Naruto questioned with curiosity.

"You want to be the best, right?" he asked.

"Of course I do! How else am I going to be Hokage?" Naruto cried out.

A small laugh escaped Kotaro's lips, he calmed down and focused on Naruto. "It's good to have that goal. However, we're ninja, and ninja are known for their deception right. So, promise me, that you'll stay toward the bottom or even go as far to the middle of the class in the academy. And hear me out before you complain! There's an old saying; "A famous ninja, is a dead ninja."

If you stick out from the crowd then you'll be targeted by ninja from other villages. That's bad! And if the enemy ninja underestimates you, then you can destroy them with your hidden superior skills. So, be average to the eye, but amazing in the heart. If only you and your comrades know your true strength, then you have a big advantage. Do you see where I'm coming from," Kotaro said with a raised eye-brow.

Naruto thought over the words. It made sense, it would benefit him a lot more rather than paint a huge target on his back. The desire to show everyone how great he was very strong but he didn't want to disappoint his brother or get himself killed in the future. "Fine, but you're going to teach me some ninjutsu because of this," he demanded.

"Of course! We'll do that in the future, when you're about to become a Genin, I'll teach all that stuff. Now have a shower and go to bed, I still have work to do!" Kotaro replied to his little brother. 'This will give me time to learn some ninjutsu as well!' he thought.

After Naruto had a quick shower, he got into the same night outfit he wore yesterday and crawled into bed. 'It seems the road to be a Hokage is a long, winding and tough path. It's the path of a hard life. But hard is the only way I know,' Naruto then drifted off to a deep sleep.

---

~ 0 ~