Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (wish I did though)

Damn this chapter just did not want to end! Anyway hope ya like it!

Chapter 2 – A Brand New Day

"Naruto-san!" Shouted the dog-mask ANBU known as Hatake.

"Mmmmmh?" Groaned Naruto still half asleep, under the covers of the hospital linen.

"Naruto-san I'm here to discharge you from the hospital and take you to your new apartment." Explained Hatake.

The moment Hatake finished that sentence there was a small whirlwind and Naruto appeared fully dressed in his only clothes, a white T-shirt with a red swirl on the back, some blue shorts that came down to his knees and a pair of worn sandals, and ready to go. "What are we waiting for then Hatake-san! Let's get going!"

Hatake just sighed at this and said, "Follow me."

As soon as Naruto and Hatake left the hospital, Naruto employed the foxy grin he usually reserved for the Hokage. This caused Hatake to ask, "What's got you so happy?"

"Well, apart from finally getting out of that orphanage, I know something that the villagers don't!" Explained Naruto.

"Really what might that be?" Asked Hatake.

'Kyuubi-san? You there?'

'Aaaaaah.' Yawned Kyuubi. 'Yeah I'm here Kit what's up?'

'Should I tell Dog-mask here that I know about you?' Asked Naruto.

'No. You've already told the Hokage. I don't think anyone else should know for now.' Explained Kyuubi.

" 'Fraid it's a secret Hatake-san. Can't tell ya." Was all Naruto said.

Hatake looked at Naruto for a moment and thought, 'Does he know about Kyuubi? Nah! He couldn't, it's illegal to talk about the Kyuubi, even to him. Must have been the Hokage-sama that told him something to make him happy.' After this, Hatake thought nothing more of it.

Hatake and Naruto finally came to stop in front of an apartment complex. Hatake started up the stairs at the side of the building and stopped at apartment number '9' and handed Naruto a pair of keys, one being labeled 'SPARE'.

Hatake spoke up before turning to leave, "There's a backpack inside with school supplies already in it. There's also a set of kunai and shuriken. I suggest you don't start training with them until you get some basic knowledge from the academy. I also took the liberty of putting some food in the cupboards for you, don't get too excited it's just some instant ramen. If you need to get anything else like new clothes or some medical supplies, just take a look around town and you should be able to find what you need in some of the shops. Finally, here is your first allowance pack." Flicking the envelope towards Naruto who fumbled about before catching it. "You'll get another one at the beginning of every week. Try to save some of it every week. Now I have to report to the Hokage-sama. Bye."

At that Hatake just disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Naruto just stood there for about 5 minutes taking in all the information he received. Finally he just broke out in a huge smile, turned to the door of HIS apartment, stuck the key the lock and turned it. He opened the door and stepped over the threshold into the apartment, at first he just dashed around finding out where everything was. The bathroom was next to the bedroom, the bedroom was next to the living room/kitchen. By some standards it was a minimalists dream but for Naruto it was a safe haven. He wouldn't have to worry about staying out too late anymore, he could come and go as he pleases.

It was at this moment that the Kyuubi decided to speak up, 'Hey Kit. I know your still over the moon about all this, but do you think I could talk to you?'

'Sure Kyuubi-san what's up?'

'First off no more of that Kyuubi-san stuff. If I'm going to be teaching you and training you, I would prefer it if you called me Kyuubi-sensei.'

'How about Kyu-sensei?'

'Hmmm, okay you can call me that,' Secretly smitten with his/her new nickname. 'Now then I want you to sit down and close your eyes that way we can talk face to face.'

'Okay' Naruto said while sitting down on his new couch and crossing his legs and finally closing his eyes.

Naruto suddenly found himself back in front of the bars to Kyuubi's cage. The first thing to come out of Naruto's mouth was, "Do we always have to be in this place if your gonna be teaching me?"

"Hey, that's up to you, it's your mind Kit." Replied the Kyuubi.

"Okay lets see what I can do." Said Naruto as he started to concentrate. Suddenly the dank walls and submerged floor were replaced with a small room exactly the same as Naruto's new living room, the main difference being that the wall that usually led to the kitchen was replaced with the cage that held the Kyuubi. "There we go that's better." Said Naruto as he once again sat down on the couch. "Uh... Kyu-sensei? Do you have to always stay in that cage?" Asked Naruto.

"Actually that was something I was going to go over with you. I will be taking a human form for the purpose of teaching you so I just wanted to ask you which gender would you prefer me to take?" Asked the Kyuubi.

"Gender?" Asked Naruto confused.

The Kyuubi sighed, "Do you want me to take the form of a man or a woman?" Asked the Kyuubi exasperated.

"Oh! Well, I guess it would be better if you took the form of a man, I guess." Answered Naruto.

"Very well." Said the Kyuubi. After a few seconds, a red mist-like substance leaked from the cage and formed into a man about the same height as Hatake, the differences were though that Kyuubi had orange-red hair which was styled similarly to Naruto's hair except longer. The Kyuubi was barefoot with a red pair of pants that came down to his ankles and a shirt with a flame motif on it. He also had some bracelets on each wrist and a collar around his neck. His eyes though were exactly the same, red with slit pupils. In his current attire he looked like a Karate master as he also had a black belt around his waist keeping the shirt closed.

"Alright, now that, that's sorted I'm going give you the full story of what happened and why 6 years ago when I 'attacked' Konoha." The Kyuubi then went on to explain that he was in fact suppose to be Konoha's protector. He explained how the Yondaime with the help of Naruto's Mother made a deal with the Kyuubi to protect the Hidden Village if the need ever arose. On the night of the supposed 'attack' it turned out that a certain clan member had found out about the deal the Yondaime was making with the demon and didn't like the idea of having a demon anywhere near the village. The clan member then went on to use his Kekkei Genkai to send the Kyuubi into a blood lust rage and attack the village. "And during the attack your mother gave birth to you and the Yondaime had the idea of sealing me in you. Which effectively stopped the attack and saved the village."

"What happened to my mother?" Asked Naruto with a sullen look on his face probably already knowing the answer.

"I'm afraid she died giving birth to you Kit. But since that night I made a promise to protect you and make sure you grew up right. To be honest I'm surprised you've made it this far without going mad from how you where treated" Answered Kyuubi.

What happened next shocked Kyuubi slightly, because Naruto had gotten up and given Kyuubi a small hug and said, "Thank you, Kyu-sensei, for finally coming forward and saving me from going bad."

"No problem Kit. NOW THEN! Take a seat and I'll begin the lessons. Naruto do you know what true strength is?"

Taking a seat again, Naruto merely looked at Kyuubi, then started thinking. Eventually he looked back at Kyuubi and said, "Admitting to your mistakes?"

Kyuubi chuckled a bit and said, "That is one aspect of it Kit. But I believe that true strength is the will to get back up after being knocked down. Being able to knock your opponent down is one thing but if your opponent keeps getting back up then there's no point, eventually you'll tire, which will allow your opponent to finish you off. There are some things that can help you with this will to get back up, one is someone you care for, two is having a goal you wish to achieve with all your heart and third and final is a nindo that you follow in your life. Seeing as you have very few you currently care for do you have a goal?"

Again Naruto thought a while about this and finally says, "To be Hokage!" He said with a determination in his voice that did not go unnoticed by Kyuubi.

"I see that's a pretty good goal to set for your self. But why do you want to be Hokage?" Asked Kyuubi.

"I want to be acknowledged by the people of the village. No matter how bad they've treated me, I'm still technically a hero because I had you sealed in me to save them all. So I want to be recognized for what I really am!" Answered Naruto.

"Again, good answer Naruto! But you should know your going to have to work hard for your dream, to be Hokage is to be the strongest shinobi in the village. You will have to endure many challenges to make yourself stronger physically and mentally and you'll have to beat a lot of opponents to show that physical and mental strength. So do you still wish to be Hokage?" Kyuubi asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yes! For I also have a nindo that I will also follow to make myself stronger!" Answered Naruto.

"Interesting and this nindo will be what exactly?" Kyuubi asked, raising his eyebrow again. 'This should be good.' He thought to himself.

"My nindo is that I never go back on my word! So I will one day become Hokage!" Naruto answered again with confidence.

'Damn this kid is just like his father. Something tells me this kid is gonna be great, with a little help from yours truly of course.' Thought Kyuubi. "That is a good nindo, Naruto. Now the rest of what I wanted to do involves your training so open your eyes and get back to the real world. I'll instruct you from here."

"Okay Kyu-sensei. See ya!" Naruto yelled before snapping back to reality.

'Hey sensei? What gives, it felt like I was talking to you for a good few hours but it looks like only an hour has passed out here?' Inquired Naruto.

'That's just a trick of the mind Kit. Time is an illusion that only occurs in the real world when in your mind, you could spend what feels like a day in your mind and only a few seconds might happen in the real world.' Kyuubi explained.

'Oh! Okay, cool! Alright Kyu-sensei, what do I do?' Asked Naruto in his head.

'First off lets see how much you got with your allowance from the Hokage.' Said Kyuubi.

As soon as Kyuubi said this Naruto grabbed the envelope which he had left in the kitchen. He ripped it open not expecting much. A little while after opening it Naruto finally asked the Kyuubi how much was there. 'What you can't count that! There's enough there to get a good amount of food for a month. Obviously the Hokage expected you to buy some training equipment or something.' Kyuubi exclaimed.

'Hey it's not my fault! I hate math! So what is it that you were thinking of getting with the money?' Naruto asked.

'Well you're gonna need to train your physical strength and stamina. I'll leave you to learn a few basics about chakra at the academy before I do anything about that with you. Now, there is good way to train your physical strength and stamina and that is by wearing weights so lets go have a look at what they've got at the ninja stores, I guess it would also be a good idea to get some more food as well. Ramen's cheap but not all that healthy, your also gonna need protein to build your muscles. Now then lets get going!' Exclaimed Kyuubi.

"Alright let's see what I can find!" Naruto also exclaimed.

As Naruto walked down the street he noticed that it was a little after noon from where the sun was, also thanks to a little help from Kyuubi as well. First things first he wanted to find some weights for his legs and arms. Eventually he came across a ninja equipment shop which had all sorts of weapons and other equipment but the one thing wanted caught his eye as he was about to leave the shop. There in a glass casing was a set of weights with removable plates which allowed a person to increase or decrease the weight as the person saw fit. So Naruto asked Kyuubi if they would do.

'Yeah, those will do it's got a good starting weight which will be fine for your age and the difference in weights will be good for when your ready to up the weight. Plus the blocks are large enough for me to alter them once your used to the max weight so I can make them heavier.' Explained Kyuubi.

'Great! Now where's the shopkeeper I gotta ask him for a set. Ah ha there he is!' Naruto thought noticing the shop keeper at the other end of the store polishing a weapon. "Ohayo! Shopkeeper-san! Can I have a set of those wrist and ankle weights choudai!"

"Hai! Give me a moment to get a set from the back kiddo." said the shopkeeper in a tired voice. As he turned to look at his young customer before getting the weights Naruto noticed there was something about the old man's look that wasn't uncomfortable but it wasn't what he normally got from someone's look either.

After the old man got back from the behind the counter he handed the box to Naruto and asked, "Now why would someone so young want weights?"

"I'm starting at the Ninja Academy this Monday and I wanted to train myself." Answered Naruto.

"Your very committed for one so young, not many young ninja bother with this form of training because it's quite exhausting but the end result of the training is always worth it!" Said the old man.

"Good! 'Cause I wanna be the strongest ninja, I'm gonna be Hokage!" Naruto emphasized the last part causing the old mans eyes to widen seeing the boys strong resolve.

"That is good to hear kiddo. I wish you luck on your way to be Hokage, just remember where it all started and tell everyone about my shop . I like you kiddo I'll give you a 1/4 off the weight set that brings the price down to 1500Ryo! A bargain!" Said the old man.

'Your telling me! That is a good deal. To pay for the set give the old man three of those greenish notes they're each worth 500Ryo.' Announced Kyuubi.

'Thanks Kyu-sensei' Naruto said as he took out three of the greenish notes like the Kyuubi told him. "Here you go Ojii-san!" As Naruto began walking out the old man shouted in a happy voice, "Don't forget to tell your classmates about this place and don't forget about it yourself either kiddo."

"Don't worry Ojii-san I'll be back if I need anything!" Naruto shouted as he walked onwards toward the markets to get some food.

"HEY OJII-SAN!" Yelled a feminine voice from behind the counter.

"Yes Tenten-chan, I can hear you I'm old not deaf." Replied the old man.

"Who was that? A customer or just a friend?" Asked Tenten.

"That was a customer. You'll probably see him in the academy on Monday he said he was starting there." Replied the old man.

"Oh! Okay! I'm gonna go home now then Ojii-san! I moved everything like you asked. Bye!" Said Tenten.

"Bye Tenten-chan." Yelled the old man as the kunoichi ran out the door for home.

It had been about half an hour since Naruto had gotten back from shopping for a few essentials, one of which was a small frog shaped purse, he couldn't keep using the envelopes to carry his money! He had just finished putting everything away when Kyuubi spoke up, 'Hey Kit! You better get those weights on now so you can get used to them.'

'Already on it!' He replied pulling them out of the case and figuring out how they were supposed to be worn. Turns out they worked the same as sweatbands, he just had to slip them on his wrists and ankles and tighten the straps at either end to keep them from slipping off. The colour though in his opinion could be better, they were a tan skin colour which he thought was a bit boring. 'Hey Kyu-sensei, should I add more weight to these things? It's just, they feel kinda light.'

'I guess me being sealed inside you affected you more than I thought! You currently have a quarter of the weights from the set on your body and that's supposed to be heavy for a genin!' Chuckled Kyuubi. 'I guess you better put a couple more plates in each limb.' Kyuubi paused while Naruto inserted the plates. 'Better?'

'Yeah they feel fairly heavy now.' Replied Naruto.

'Good. Now, get some rest Kit. I'm gonna work you to the bone tomorrow.' That said Naruto got in his bed. Marveling at how soft it was compared to the one at the orphanage, he quickly fell into a deep slumber.

The next day Naruto was awoken by the shout of Kyuubi in his mind. He didn't complain, it was better than the usual wake up call. The day went by quickly with all the workouts that Kyuubi had him do and he asked about the weapons training to which Kyuubi answered, 'You can learn about that at the academy and train yourself from there it's pretty easy. Once you learn how to throw the kunai and shuriken properly it's just a matter working on your aim.' Naruto just agreed silently and went back to his workout.

Through the first week Naruto had learnt quite a lot from being at the academy, even if most of the teachers had ignored him when he tried to ask them questions. One of the things he was most proud of was the amount of chakra he found out he had. He found out when the teachers had taught them to gather chakra for the purpose of doing jutsus but as soon as the teacher told them to release the chakra, Naruto released the chakra through some of his tenketsu points unwittingly causing a wave of chakra which not only knocked over the students closest to him but apparently could be felt up to a half-mile radius from the school. Or so he heard from the ANBU who arrived shortly afterward to check what had happened. After the ANBU left, a teacher came over to Naruto and told him to be careful next time he tried that. That teacher was Iruka-sensei, the only teacher at the school Naruto felt like he could trust because he didn't look at him the same way all the others did.

On his first day a girl with her hair up in two buns had come up and said hi to him. She explained that she was the granddaughter of the old man at the ninja store where he got the weights and her name was Tenten but he could call her Tenten-chan cause she thought he was cute. Before she left for her class since she was a little older, she gave him a pat on the head and wished him luck on his first day. After she left he blushed a little, embarrassed with the attention she had given him and how she said he was cute.

There was one kid at the school he took an instant dislike to though. That kid was Sasuke Uchiha, it wasn't the fact that it was a member of Sasuke's clan that caused Kyuubi to attack that made him dislike Sasuke. He knew Sasuke wasn't responsible for that. What Naruto disliked about Sasuke was the fact that he was always so moody and he always thought he was better than everyone else. Sometimes he wished he got a chance to knock him off his high horse, little did he know he would get that chance in a few years.

Then halfway through the week Naruto managed to make a friend with another kid named Kiba who always had a puppy with him, called Akamaru. Eventually he also introduced himself to another couple of kids, a kid that always had a bag of potato chips called Chouji and a kid that looked like he had a pineapple for a head called Shikamaru. They would talk during break-time and lunch but every time he tried to talk to any of the other kids at the end of the day their parents would just drag them away with the same lame excuse, "Your mother will kill me if I don't get you home now so come on!" And Naruto would be left on his own.

Naruto asked the Kyuubi if he should try anything to change this and all the Kyuubi said was, "Just wait Kit, once you become a ninja and save one of your friends, it'll just mean their parents will be more ashamed of themselves for shunning you."

Thinking about this, Naruto quickly formed another nindo for himself and told Kyuubi, 'Hey Kyu-sensei I got another nindo!'

'Which is?' Asked Kyuubi with interest.

'I will always protect my friends!' Thought Naruto fiercely.

Kyuubi gave out a chuckle and said, 'You know Kit your so much like your father it's unbelievable, almost.'

Naruto grinned at this and continued with his workout.

The next few years carried on like this, Naruto would be woken up in the morning thanks to Kyuubi. He would workout then go to the academy. At the academy he learned the bare minimum he needed to pass because of his teachers not bothering to teach him properly. At the end of the day he would go to one of the open training grounds near the academy and practice his aim with his kunai and shuriken, his aim steadily got better and he had to buy many new sets of kunai and shuriken from the same shop he got his weights at because they eventually got too dull. Sometimes he would see Tenten there and they would talk about weapons and school. After practicing with his weapons he would practice his Taijutsu until his knuckles were bleeding and his legs were sore from kicking the target so much, he did this because Kyuubi said it would make his knuckles and skin strong, eventually he also got some bandages to wrap his knuckles in because he was so tired of having to scrub the blood stains from his clothes and weights. Sometimes though he could swear it felt like someone was watching him when he was doing all this training but every time he looked around he couldn't see anyone.

Sometimes on his way home he would treat himself to some ramen at a place called Ichiraku's, much to the dismay of Kyuubi. Once at home if he had not already had a meal he would have instant ramen and something the Kyuubi suggested. Afterwards he would practice the katas shown to him by Kyuubi in his mind. His apartment had also changed quite a lot, he had gotten a couple of scrolls to hang on his walls. One read in kanji 'Never Give Up!', while the other read in kanji 'Will Of Fire!'. He also had some manga littering the floor and different clothing he had bought.

After the first year in the academy Kyuubi had him running up trees with chakra but he mastered this pretty quickly and moved on to water walking. He carried on with these practices until he could walk up a tree without much trouble and started to walk on water without a second thought. He had also increased his weights to the maximum amount half way through his third year, about a month before his ninth birthday. According to Kyuubi the maximium weight equaled around 500Kg thanks to the seals he had placed on them.

His birthday wasn't such a bad thing anymore either, he could easily get to his apartment to get away from the villagers. Not that the villagers tried to attack him anymore since they found out he was in the academy. They still liked to give him an evil stare though.

On his 9th birthday though Kyuubi did something he didn't normally do.