I do not own anything from Naruto, that is all Masashi Kishimoto.

This is my first fanfic and because it is my first, criticisms are welcome, feedback is appreciated, and flames (well, noone usually likes you anyway :P), no I'm kidding, please still feel free to post reviews.

Also this will not be a harem unless one of the readers can really change my mind away from that or unless they want to see a different pairing. I do not like to write to canon because it limits creativity in my mind, but at the same time, I will keep some parts of the story as canon because it had a good plot/storyline. Hypocritical? Sure. However, thats how I choose to write. I will also be doing my best to keep to the characters personality. That being said, lets get into the story :) Hope you enjoy!

"Normal conversations"
"Thoughts"
"Kyuubi talking"
"Kyuubi thoughts"
"Jutsu"
(Jutsu name)

Chapter 4: The Letter

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXTime skip of 6 months

Naruto had just woken up and sat up, he was going to try to learn more jutsus and sealings today. He had gotten a new apartment, what with saving up money from his allotments and having a new name, he was able to live in a nicer area, one that usually had the upper class families in it, but more specifically the Uchiha and Hyuuga clans. Their compounds were not too far from each others and there was quite abit of land in between the two which he had thought about building his own compound with the mission money he would get and possible bounties from dead ninja. He got out of bed and put on his black pants and walked into the living room, looking at the many books and scrolls scattered about the floor, opened to various pages about various subjects ranging from Konohagakure history to high level jutsus. Looking over the books and scrolls made him think back to how he had obtained the many books and scrolls.

FLASHBACK

It had been two months since Itachi and his team had been reassigned to new tasks and Naruto sat on the top of a lamp post, looking at the library of the Leaf. Inside that building housed many scrolls and books on many various subjects, subjects he wanted and needed to learn if he was ever going to become Hokage. He expanded his chakra network and felt the presence of three shinobi in the library and one abit away from him, which he noted was probably the person assigned to watch him. Under his black fox mask, he had his fox-like grin, knowing he'll get away from his pursuer once he got the books he needed.

"Alright Kyuubi, what books and scrolls will I need for your training regiment?"

"Everything on elemental jutsus and sub-elemental jutsus, herbs and healing, and the history of Konohagakure. Of the history though, you need to focus on Uzushiogakure."

"Why Uzushiogakure? I've never even heard of the place." Naruto scratched at his mask, where his cheek and whiskers are, in thought. "Did Uzushiogakure start something?"

"Uzushiogakure was known far and wide for their fuinjutsu. After you get the books, head back to your apartment and you will begin studying every book and memorizing everything in it. As for the jutsus, we'll go to the Forest of Death to practice them." The Kyuubi behind the gates and dragged his claws over the wooden bars, leaving marks in them from boredom. "This kid needs to get strong and fast if he's ever going to call himself a shinobi and be my container."

"How many books should I get at one time?"

The Kyuubi grinned evilly,"As many as you can carry runt. Now, leave me alone until you need me again, I'm tired and must rest."

"Tired... right, because you do anything but sleep." Naruto commented towards the fox, hoping to get a rise out of his life-long friend.

"How dare you! I am the one who has been able to help you with the overly intense training that those Uchiha demons had you do! Without me, you would have been thoroughly exhausted and your muscles would have been constantly sore and tired! Watch the way you speak to me next time, you pathetic runt of a human or the first time I get out of this cage, I'll eat you myself!" The Kyuubi roared at his container, growling at him.

"Yeah yeah yeah. Thats if I let you out of this cage." The only response Naruto got was a growl from his pet fox. He rolled his eyes and shunshin-ed into the library, noting the many, many rows of books and scrolls, taking in the fact that they were sectioned off into their own respective categories. Naruto walked to the history section and began putting books into the storage seals he always kept on him. He looked around to make sure noone was watching him before putting away the sealed books into his right hand pouch and made his way to the herbs and healing. Once at the herbs and healing section, he did the same thing as in the history section, loading his seals with books and putting those seals into the right side pouch. He stood up and checked to see if he had anymore seals, "Two more seals, probably good enough for what I need." He looked around for the elemental section, noticing it was in a section with a grand archway into it. "Wow... so many books." He didn't really need the use of clones as the elements were also separated into their own areas. He went down each row, grabbing every book he could find that would have more information on jutsus as well as advanced techniques, putting the books into his final two scrolls before putting them away. He grinned at his success and shunshin-ed back to the entrance and walked off, his hands behind his head, scratching at the black mesh that covered his blonde spiky hair.

"You should return those books Menma-kun." spoke up a purple haired cat ANBU.

Naruto grinned, "What books are you talking about Neko-chan? I only went inside to take a look around." Attempting to remain as innocent as possible. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small gift in a box. "It's actually a good thing you're here, I wanted to give this to you." he smiled at her, "It's to thank you for everything you've done for me."

Yugao took the box he handed her and opened it, inside was a necklace with a crescent moon amulet that had an amethyst stone in the middle. She smiled softly at it, it was a great gift and she enjoyed it tremendously. "Thank you Menma-kun, I'll never take it off." she said as she put the necklace on, a soft blush coming to her cheeks at how it fit perfectly between her breasts, thankful that he couldn't see her blush and elated that he was so thoughtful. "You still have to return those books as they are for all of Konohagakure to read and learn from."

"Oh come on! I'm sure the library has many copies of the books I borrowed! I'm going to return the books as soon as I'm done with them! Promise!" he exclaimed, trying to get his watcher to let him go quietly, which so far doesn't seem to be the case.

"Regardless, you still need to return them." she responded, stepping towards Naruto.

"Hmph, fine, but if you want me to return them, I hope you catch me." Naruto grinned and laughed as he made five shadow clones, all of them saying in turn, "So which one is the real me?" they all laughed and jumped onto separate rooftops, looking down at Yugao, each one giving her a thumbs up.

"We're going to do this again, really?!" she exclaimed back in exasperation. Every time they played this game, she always got covered in paint on the few occasions that she was able to get the right Naruto. "Fine, but no paint or traps."

"I can't guarantee that, I do have a reputation to keep up as the prankster of Konohagakure." one of the Narutos stated, grinning at her. "How about this, if I get you again, I'll buy you dinner tonight at Ichiraku when you get off duty." he asked her, giving her a proposition to fail purposely.

"That sounds great, however that means I'd get paint all over me again and would consequently need to wash my hair multiple times before I'd go out." she looked at the Naruto that spoke first claiming to be a prankster. "Got ya brat!" She jumped at the second of the five Naruto clones, taking out her wire and trapping him in it.

"Oh no! You got me!" Naruto grinned evilly, "Or did you?" He makes a hand sign and whispers "Boom..." and explodes into a shower of purple and orange paint, effectively covering Yugao with splatters of it. "One down, four to go Neko-sensei." he grinned as all four of them jumped off the roofs and went different ways.

Yugao groaned and wiped off her mask. Shaking her head she took after another one of the Narutos, hoping she doesn't get splattered with paint again as she was getting tired of constantly washing her hair. Though on the bright side, her hair has never been softer and smoother, to which she did thank Naruto.

FLASHBACK END

Naruto felt bad about covering her with paint all the time, but he needed this knowledge so he could perform new jutsus. He created ten clones, leaving each of them to study more of the books as there were still plenty more that have not been read yet. He got his shirt and mask on and looked at his nightstand. On the nightstand was the letter left for him from the Fourth Hokage, which still had yet to be read. "I should probably read that at some point, maybe today. I'll have my clones do training and I'll read that." He nodded to himself and left the apartment, shunshin-ing off to the training grounds that he used when his teachers were training him. "Taji Kage Bunshin no Jutsu"(Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu) All in a poof of smoke to cover half the field, was six hundred Naruto clones. Naruto then divided his clones into thirty groups of twenty clones, working on various jutsus and skills and also working to create sub-elemental jutsus, which he was going to try to find more information on later. He shunshin-ed away and back to the apartment and went to his bedroom. He looked over to the scroll, before walking over and grabbing it, going to his bed and sitting down. It looked like a normal scroll with his name on the front of it.

"Hey, Kyuubi, what do you know of the Fourth Hokage?" Naruto asked of his tenant, knowing that he was defeated by the Fourth Hokage from the history books that his clones have read.

"That guy..." he growls, "Why should I tell you anything about him?"

"Because I asked you fluffy ball of fur! Why are you always so difficult to talk to?"

"Because you humans deserve no help from us tailed beasts. All of you are the same." the kyuubi countered, his head still resting on his paws inside his cage in Naruto's mind.

"That doesn't mean you can't answer a simple question."

"Fine, but if I do, you have to do something for me."

"What do you want Kyuubi?" Naruto asked, getting more irritated that he was having this argument with his tenant.

"Change the scenery in your mind for me so I have room to move around for starters." The Kyuubi grinned, his claws scraping the watered floor.

"In order for me to do that, I'd have to alter the seal that you're contained in."

"Exactly..."

"I don't know enough about the seal that's used to contain you to alter it enough to keep you contained."

"Thats why I told you to learn about Uzushiogakure you damned brat!" He growled at his jailor, his claws clicking over the floor.

"How about, when I do learn how to alter the seal, I change it then?"

"Afraid you wouldn't be able to control me otherwise? Is it because you're too weak to fight me?"

"I'm only 8 and a half! Give me a chance furball!"

"Until you think you can defeat me, don't request information from me unless it benefits you getting stronger!" The Kyuubi growled at his jailor.

"Fine... one of these days though, you're not going to hate humans as much as you do."

"Thats what they all say, but none of them do anything different."

"Well I will. I promise! Believe it!"

"Hmph."

Naruto shook his head before looking at the scroll again, untying it and rolling the beginning part of it open.

Dear Naruto,

If you're reading this scroll, it means that I'm dead and that the Third Hokage has deemed you mature enough to know this information.

First off, let me tell you who I am. My name is Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, otherwise known as Konoha's Yellow Flash. I am also your father. I ask that you not tell anyone this information as there are still many enemies around that did not particularly like me, and as consequence, would probably seek to end your life if they knew you are my legacy to our village.

I hope you aren't too mad at me for sealing the Nine-tailed Fox inside you. Your mother had just given birth to you and we were attacked by a masked man that pulled the bijuu out of her. Yes, your mother was a jinchurikii too. I regret not being able to stop the rampage of the bijuu and was forced to seal him inside you before he destroyed the village even more.

I used the Hakki no Fuin Shiki (Eight Trigram Sealing Style) to seal him, in the hopes that one day you could use the bijuus power for your own.

I hope that your life hasn't been all that terrible and as I watch you from the heavens, know that your mother and I loved you deeply. If your life has been bad, please don't give up. Your mother would always tell me, "If you give up, everyone else will give up on you." The life of a shinobi is a hard one, the trials you will go through will make you a strong shinobi. Always keep in mind, you are a shinobi of the Leaf, the son of the Fourth Hokage, and an extraordinary person. I have high hopes you will do the shinobi world some real good.

That being said, to hopefully recount for making you the jinchurikii, speak to Jiraiya-sama about the key to the seal. Also, if you wipe your blood over this seal at the end of this scroll, you will get another scroll, take this scroll to the Hokage and show it to them. They will know what to do from there.

Again, I hope you aren't too mad at me for sealing the fox inside you and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I love you Naruto.

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage

P.S. Ask the Hokage about the Namikaze compound and getting the land deed to it. It is a large bit of land that you can use as you see fit, though you might need to use some of your mission earnings to build onto it.

Naruto finished reading the scroll and leaned back against the wall, taking in all that he read. He had a father, albeit he was dead, but he had a father and it was none other than the Fourth Hokage. He began silently crying at the newest findings that he had just read about. He cried for at least a half hour before gathering his composure once more, wiping away his tears.

"That would explain the similarities with our hair color." He stated, looking up at his ceiling and staring at a picture of the Fourth Hokage in his white cape, who was giving a thumbs up and a grin. "I wonder what kind of man you were Oto-san, a good, kind one I hope. And who the hell is Jiraiya? I've never heard of such a man in my life." He looked back towards the scroll and unrolled it abit more to see an altered form of the storage seal. Biting his thumb, his wiped his blood over the seal, his blood being drawn into the seal and another scroll coming out. "Might as well go see the Hokage about this."

Naruto left his apartment a few hours later, deciding to personally read some history on the Fourth Hokage and the night that the Kyuubi attacked, gleaming no extra information than what he already knew. He was walking towards the Hokage tower, greeting random passers-by and store vendors as he passed. As a masked character, they showed him great hospitality, though as Naruto, they showed him none. It was saddening to him that he couldn't be his true self in his own village, which caused him great inner turmoil, sometimes bringing him to thoughts of leaving the village.

"If I left the village, noone would miss me except maybe a few people. Though, then I wouldn't be able to become Hokage and show the villagers who I really am. Of course, if I left, I could easily get more powerful than any shinobi from the Leaf ever has and then come back. Probably something I'll think more about later. I wonder what Yugao-chan would think if I left. I wonder what she's doing anyway?"

He reached the tower and knocked on the Hokage's door, entering it shortly after knocking.

"And to whom do I have the satisfaction of meeting?" The Hokage asked, not having known of a child with a fox mask.

"Really? You know who I am. I received this scroll from a storage seal in a scroll I was given by you." Naruto reached into his pack and grabbed the scroll that had the kanji for 'Hokage' on it, handing it over to his grandfather figure. "The scroll said you'd know what to do with it."

Hiruzen grabbed the scroll and looked at it, opening the scroll and reading the contents of it. "Wait here a minute." He walked over to the space between his two bookcases and made some hand signs, placing his palm on the wall, the wall opening up to reveal a set of stairs.

"The Hokage's hidden room, seems all the rumors I have read about were right. Interesting. I wonder what secrets lie down there?"

"Do not enter this passageway, it is forbidden from anyone who is not a Hokage."

"All the more reason to become one I suppose." Naruto grinned, snickering to himself.

Hiruzen shook his head, before walking down the stairs. Thirty minutes later, he came back, carrying a small pack of books and scrolls. "This is everything the Yondaime left to you Naruto. I'm not sure all what you read about, but your father loved you very much."

"I know Oji-san, his scroll said as much." Naruto looked down and sighed softly before looking back up. "I was told to ask about the Namikaze land deed. What happened to it?"

"Ah, the land deed to the largest compound in Konohagakure. Many people have been trying to buy that land as it is great for many things and indeed quite large..." he walked over to his desk and opened the center drawer, rummaging through it before grabbing a folder and handing it to Naruto. "The Namikaze compound is not too far from here actually and is situated by the western wall and its about five hectare of land. To put it in perspective, a training ground is usually only one hectare of land."

Naruto whistled lightly. "That is a lot of land."

"The Namikaze compound is third in size compared to the Uchiha and Hyuuga compounds." Hiruzen stated, bringing out a map to show the sizes of the three compounds.

"Why's the land so large if there's noone remaining in the Namikaze line except me?" Naruto asked, looking at the map, noticing how the three compounds resembled the three points of a triangle. "Curious, probably nothing to it though.."

"I can only venture to guess that Minato-san was attempting to bring his clan or the Uzumaki clan together when he bought the land, but never actually got around to it. Instead, I know he used it as his own personal training grounds and taught his own students there instead of the traditional training grounds. Was there anything else you wanted Naruto-kun?" he asked of the child standing in front of him.

"Yeah, could you not tell anyone that I'm still alive? As far as the villagers know, I'm dead right now. I have already come up with an alias, Menma Shonjiki and would like to be known as that from now on. When I feel comfortable revealing my true identity, I'll do it then."

Hiruzen nodded, "As you wish... Menma-kun." "Already thinking like a shinobi. Whoever his teachers were, they taught him well."

Naruto smiled and nodded, "Thank you Oji-san." he shunshin-ed away from the tower and went back to his apartment to look through the books and scrolls Oji-san had just given him. He walked inside and noticed that it was getting pretty late, around 5 PM. He walked over to the couch and released his clones for the day, getting a slight headache from the massive wealth of new information he was learning through his clones, taking the next two hours to meditate and analyze it all. After eating some dinner and changing, he headed to bed, deciding that he would take the day off tomorrow to study the scrolls and books left by his father.

Naruto woke up the next morning, no longer having a headache and made himself some oatmeal breakfast, eating it in his room as he started sifting through the books and scrolls. He found one that was titled "The Hiraishin no Jutsu", remembering that it was that technique that made the Fourth Hokage such a dangerous competitor and what got him the nickname Konoha's Yellow Flash. Naruto opened the book and began reading it, noticing that most of the book was just notes and seals and formulas, each of which referring to getting the way the seal and technique would work together. He flipped through the pages, reading the notes and formulas, slowly piecing together why it took so many variations to make it work. He had read half the book and came to realize that his father wanted him to recreate this jutsu and utilize it for the good of the village. He took a kunai and copied the seal that his father had made onto the hilt of it, looking back at the notes again, "Focus your chakra into the seal and throw the kunai, and recall a small bit of the chakra to yourself"

Naruto walked into the hallway and threw the kunai at and into the wall in the living room, drawing a small portion of the chakra from the kunai, quickly being teleported to the kunai. As he wasn't expecting to move so fast, he smashed his face into the wall, successfully breaking his nose and causing a nosebleed. "Damn it. I guess I need to learn how to use this while fighting without causing myself harm." He took the kunai out of the wall after having fixed and healed his broken nose, walking back towards his bedroom. He continued reading the book, finding out a new piece of information. "Utilize chakra blades to allow chakra to be held more effectively." "Now where do I get chakra blades?" He kept reading until he had finished the book and closed it, putting it on top of his nightstand, mentally telling himself to study the book closer upon a later time.

He started sifting through more books and scrolls, noting there were many scrolls about advanced fuinjutsu, books about Uzushiogakure, books and scrolls about the Uzumaki clan, and many scrolls and books about the Second Hokage and his use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu. He made a few clones and decided to go for a walk to check out the Namikaze compound he had just inherited. Grabbing his mask and putting it on, Naruto left his apartment and headed towards the Namikaze compound, keeping his senses spread in case any shinobi were following him, but ever since he changed apartments, no ANBU teams were assigned to watch over him.

"So, the Fourth Hokage decided to give you his original jutsu, eh brat?"

"Morning to you too Kedama-sama. Yeah, what of it?"

"Call me that again and I'll make your life a living hell."

"You mean, you haven't already?" Naruto replied, grinning as he spoke to his friend.

The Kyuubi growled, not knowing exactly what to say."I can make it more of a living hell than you've experienced so far and believe me, it can be made worse. You haven't even begun to feel a portion of my power and hatred."

"No, but surely that hatred can't be good for you Kedama-sama and there has to be some way to get rid of it. I'm not sure how, but I'll figure it out. Thats what friends do, right?" The kyuubi was silent, unsure how to respond to the kid's response about being friends and taking away his hatred. "So what did you what?"

"Be sure not to overuse that jutsu the Fourth Hokage has given you. If you do, you'll be killed quickly because you'll be in the Bingo Book."

"Doesn't matter if I'm put in the Bingo Book or not, I'm not going to die until after I make Hokage and live a long prosperous life."

"Don't let Kami hear you say that or she'll do her best to make sure you find out otherwise." The Kyuubi growled out softly before going back to his own business.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and laughed to himself as he turned the final corner to the compound and stood in front of a large roadway, leading to a large magnificent building. The building itself looked like a very large, very rundown dojo. It had four red pillars in the front holding up a white roof, all of the pillars cracking with wear and the tiles falling off or missing. The windows were closed on the outside and had a lock on them in the middle, the locks obviously rusting away due to the lack of attention, while the wooden panels that covered the windows were falling away slowly. In the middle of the building, was a set of double doors with a swirling circle painted in the middle. The symbol paint was fading and the doors were starting to fall off the hinges. All in all, the building would have looked magnificent in its prime and if it wasn't so run down.

Naruto walked down the roadway, noticing the bountiful piles of unkempt leaves that littered the ground along with the many layers of weeds. He walked around the left side of the building, noticing more decaying window covers, more weeds and more piles of leaves. "How long has this place gone without the single touch of a villager?" He kicked through the piles of leaves as he came upon a wooden fence and pushed open the gate, causing the gate to practically fall off. He looked around what he assumed was the backyard, weeds as tall as him blanketed the area. To him, it looked like a jungle, minus the trees. Looking over towards the building again, he noticed many vines climbing the walls and through the windows and whatever other crack and crevice they could grow through. He signed sadly and jumped up onto the roof of the building, flowing chakra to his feet so as not to fall off as tiles became loose and fell to the ground below.

He noticed that the fenced in area had three other doors, leading to three different training grounds, though one wouldn't be able to tell they were training grounds as they were covered in weeds, fallen trees, and random sprouting trees. He sat down and started thinking about everything that he was going to have to do to; pull weeds, cut grass, uproot trees, lift trees, chop wood, replace windows. Just thinking about the work gave him a slight headache. "Great, looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me to fix up this place..."