Hello all, I bring a third chapter for you all to purvey.
Bold: Demonic voice / summons / jutsu / A/N.
Italics: Thoughts / focus on a word or statement / written words.
Underlined: Time skips / scene change
As always, I am a pauper, piggybacking off of the inventions of one Mr Kishimoto.
Naruto awoke from a very comfortable slumber, wrapped in thick, ruddy orange fur. The warm material confounded the boy for a few seconds, before memories of his new fathers' on-the-spot adoption gushed forth. Each memory was absolute and crisp in quality. There were no 'I think he said this' moments, no forgotten motions. Everything he noticed, he remembered. It was like a video had been put in his head. Or like a movie...
"Well, it seems someone's testing their memory..." A powerful, loving voice chuckled softly.
A small gasp of 'Tou-san' escaped Naruto, and the boy tried to find the source of the comforting voice. It was found, after a second of searching, to be ahead and slightly to the right.
"Good morning, Kit." The enormous fox murmured to the boy.
"Morning, Tou-san!" Naruto had been awake a few minutes and already he was full of energy. He pried himself free of the tails that had blanketed him for the night and clambered up from the chest he had rested upon to the head of his 'bed'. He gave a hug to his tou-san's cheek, bringing a gentle chuckle from the cheek's owner. A huge right paw petted the boy's back in return.
"Kit, last night we talked about your last wish... Do you remember?" It may have seemed like a pointless question, but Kurama had to be sure the memory retention had been successfully changed.
"Uh-huh! You said I would have an 'eye-duh-tick' memory and be a Sensor-person. You said I could do that because my Jiji or Baa-chan was one!" Naruto took care on 'eidetic', the big and strange word might be tricky to say.
Kurama gave a proud smile at this, before urging him to continue.
"You said that you were gonna help me be an awesome Ninja by teachin' me stuff and making sure I eat healthier stuff... I'll miss ramen though..." Naruto's last words were said with a sadness that almost made Kurama relent on the new food restrictions. Almost.
"Do you want to be a Ninja, capable of one day becoming Hokage?" The manic nodding was amusing. "Then you will have to be prepared to make sacrifices. Ramen is your sacrifice. You can have small amounts of it, but you will have it healthier, and tastier, than anyone else's, Okay?" A slower nod was his answer.
"Okay Tou-san."
After those words, Kurama spent a few minutes just stroking his son's back, and greatly enjoying the sensation of the boy running a warm hand over his whiskers. Idly, the Biju noticed that said boy was wearing a pair of PJs, grey in colour, he'd put them on the night before. The only places uncovered were his head, hands and feet. He couldn't help but find everything about the child so cute. After five peaceful, happy minutes had passedKurama spoke once more.
"There is still one more thing to deal with... Your training." Earning himself a quizical look from the child who still rubbed his whiskers. "I will be showing you and explaining to you excercises to get stronger and faster, and I will help you to learn things you will need to know. I will teach you a form of Taijutsu I once studied so that you can protect yourself and some basic Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. I'm sorry to say Kit, but I have never used a kunai or shuriken, nor any other weapon. I can show you strategy, however. This training will leave you a well rounded, capable Ninja-to-be. Do you accept my tutelage?" Kurama's powerful voice resounded through the sewer they were in.
"I'd like that, Tou-san, but how can you show me inside this cage?" Naruto's tiny voice was noticably closer, but he was quieter than normal, guessing that big ears meant good hearing.
"I'll tell you what you need to do, Kit. I can show you how it should look in here. Eventually, this place, this mindscape, will be changed to something more hospitable. But that will take time. Its' also why the water here doesn't make you wet, just cold. Anyway, when this place changes, you'll have a greater power over everything here, and that includes the manifestation of this seal... Soon Kit, It could be possible for me to leave the seal to be in the real world for short periods of time." The mighty nine-tailed fox imparted unto the boy, who perked up at hearing that.
"Yatta! Then I can show you everything! I'll show you the bestest parts of the village!" Naruto's babble fell upon Kurama's ears for several minutes about all of the boys favourite places. But all too soon Naruto grew restless...
"Tou-san?"
"Hmm?" The fox's hummed response came.
"Can I go now? Back to the real world? I gotta meet Jiji for readin' lessons." Naruto was excited, after all, he had a library now! Tonnes of books to read!
"Hahaha... Of course Kit, but first you'll need to leave the seal." The confused boy's tilted head made Kurama correct himself. "The cage, Sochi. You need to leave the cage..." The small arms wrapped around the fox's cheek once more.
Naruto leapt off of his father's face, yelping when he met the strange, icy cold water that permeated the place.
"'Kay Tou-san! Bye!" Naruto took off at a frantic pace, slipping through the bars of the cage, tiny hand waving.
It only dawned on the King of the Foxes as the child faded away from his subconcious, that contact inside a mind scape had a wonderful effect.
In the real world
Naruto's eyes cracked open, letting in a warm, soft, yellow light. He was in something incredibly comfortable and pleasantly toasty. It took several seconds for the Jinchuuriki to remember that he was in a clean, comfy bed covered in a thick, heavy blanket. In fact, the memory was crystal clear, nothing hazy about it.
Stretching his small, childish arms high above his blonde mop, Naruto released a large yawn. He then pulled back the cream coloured blanket, leapt from the bed, grabbed a set of clothes from the nearby set of drawers and dashed into the ensuite. Though Naruto could sense someone nearby, beyond the walls of the bathroom. Naruto shook himself of the weird feeling, though it was still there, like a blue lightbulb, though there was a slight white afterglow to it. Naruto 'saw' the light was... Crackly. Like static on a TV or the shape of a lightening bolt. Another light, further than the first appeared in his consciousness, this one dimmer and a slighlty lighter blue and about as far away as Naruto could 'see', about fifteen feet. This one was too far awy from himself to discern much else. Naruto thought on this briefly, then realization struck.
The Anbu! I can feel them! Is this what those Sensors can do? Naruto was very happy to find this out. Knowing where the ever-sneaky Anbu were made for a powerful Ninja, that he knew.
Indeed Kit, you will be a very capable Ninja if we train it up a bit. The voice of his Tou-san caused Naruto to squeak in surprise and spin quickly through three-hundred-and-sixty degrees. A soft chuckle echoed in the boy's mind.
Kit, I'm in your head. I can hear your thoughts and you can hear mine too. Since you hugged me in your mind I can see as you see, hear as you hear and listen to your thoughts. Kurama gently informed the small boy.
Really?! Wow Tou-san! You're so cool! Naruto's pride in how cool his Tou-san was made the mighty Biju's heart swell. And his ego, but that's another story.
Indeed I am Kit, but right now we need to get you ready. You will be sneaking to the Hokage's tower at 11 O'clock, it should take an hour to get there without being seen. Right now though, we need to have you fed. Go to the greenhouse. I'll tell you what is safe to eat and what is not. But wash up first, I'll stop looking so you can shower.
Twenty minutes later, after a hot, cleansing shower, Naruto pulled on his clothes, a pair of navy blue cargo pants with a pair of scroll holsters on the thighs, two orange stripes covered the holsters. He grabbed black T-shirt which had a picture of a pug-dog on it. He also pulled on a flak jacket, not a Chunin one, but it had several more pockets, out and in, most for slips of paper, though the inside, left of the jacket had three more scroll slots, the right had room for a roll of tags and a large, fastenable pocket, designed for a small case that was inside it, this case contained many blank slips of paper and a pair of blank scrolls, it contained two inkwells of blue and black ink, and a pair of simple writing brushes. On his feet, Naruto wore a pair of blue Shinobi sandals.
Tou-san, I'm finished in the shower now. Naruto hoped his father could hear him.
Good Kit, Naruto felt relieved, he had someone now and he didn't want that to change. Well well, it would appear that someone wants you to study in sealing... A very useful and powerful skill. I will see about helping you in that regard, but first, I will help the Hokage teach you to read. Writing and reading are both vital parts of Fuinjutsu, but it is a powerful tool and is what Foxes specialise in. Though we normally use our tails as brushes... The Fox King's words were spoken evenly at the sight of the jacket in the mirror..
That's cool Tou-san, I'm gonna be the best seal-user ever, then I'll make the foxes, you, Jiji and Kaa-san proud! Naruto vowed with a fiery determination.
We're already proud, Naruto-sochi. Kurama's words were not registered by Naruto, who was sprinting to the greenhouse for his breakfast.
The Greenhouse
Naruto had found his food in the space of a half hour. First had been a cluster of Shishito, the warm, dry summer that had passed made the chilli slightly spicy. Naruto was told by the fox that they were ripe, though the finger-sized fruits were still green. Next, Naruto had found some small, green onions and some tomatoes. Naruto started a small fire (something he learned when he was three for warmth) and boiled water in a pan he had brought with him. Washing the veggies was quick and easy after that. Naruto pierced the peppers at the top and bottom before he very lightly toasted all of them on a stick, just as his Tou-san said to. The result was something really good!
After the odd breakfast skewer, Naruto put out the fire with a large amount of water.
Kit, I want you to locate the Anbu again. The sudden command from his father shook Naruto from his well-fed stupor.
Closing his eyes he felt for the Anbu. The first one was Crackly-chakra, the Anbu he had first felt with his new power. 'Crackly' was maybe three feet from the fire, opposite him, and, if Naruto was as accurate as he hoped he was, the Anbu was watching him closely. The second Anbu, who was now much closer, though Naruto wasn't able to pin-pont how far away s/he was, but it was closer, Naruto sensed the chakra in this one was much more 'sloshy'. It was still dimmer however, and without the white light. And a lighter shade of blue in this one.
Crackly still gave him thought though... At head height, it felt as though a slight glow was coming from him, like a smouldering fire. It came from his head, somewhere, but Naruto would need to be closer to determine where. He also felt something of that sloshy feeling, it was barely there, and that smouldering as well... Perplexed, Naruto struggled harder, and was rewarded by discerning that the chakra had a sort-of solidarity to it, like a tall, narrow tower of building blocks, substantial but fragile. It felt billow-y to, like a loose cotton garment in a summer breeze. of them all, the crackly, zappy feeling was the most potent, followed by the sloshy bit, whilst the breezy part was weakest. That was weird... There was a shell, several layers of chakra around the Anbu... What did it mean?
Naruto opened his azure orbs, instantly his eyes flcked to the invisible Anbu. He stared intently as he thought.
How can chakra be crackly and sloshy? How can he have a really bright, angry bit of chakra in his head? Naruto's musing was cut short by his Tou-san.
Well done Kit, I just wanted to see how precise your Sensory skill is. Very, at least up close... Hmm, I cannot tell you what the information you gathered means, but I can guess. The one in front of you has likely trained in the use of many types of elemental Jutsus, but at a guess, lightning would be his dominant element, while he uses water secondarily. The giant fox's hypothesis was almost wasted on Naruto, as he had no formal training yet, but that would be rectified later. Now though, you have until 9 O'clock to run three laps of this greenhouse, that's half-an-hour, okay? Naruto gave the mental equivilent of a nod. While you do that, I will explain what I will teach you and our new training schedule.
30 minutes later...
Well done Kit! You did very well! I'm proud of you little one. The Kitsune no Yoko gushed, his son had completed his excercise and willingly done an extra two laps. Yes, Kurama was very proud of his son.
Thanks Tou-san... Naruto was very tired after that, but hearing about his training convinced him that trying his best would make it much more effective. Afterall, if his Tou-san said that he would only be as good as he tried to be, then he would try his best, and be the best!
The blonde Jinchuuriki turned his mind back towards his new training schedule. For the next three months, his Tou-san would have him condition his body - which he had then explained to the confused Naruto that 'condition' didn't mean he had to be shampoo'd first. In this time, Naruto would learn reading and calligraphy as well as basic chakra manipulation on top of the unending excercise he would recieve. To top it all off, his Faji-Tou-san -at the thought of that name the mighty Kyubi no Yoko pouted- was going to use his powers to ensure that his new found respect for healthier foods was put to the best possible use, by making every molecule of vitamin reach the best place it could!
He would also be taking lessons in statesmanship, or, as the Biju had said: 'lessons on how a leader acted'. It was all about how to eat and how to speak. It sounded boring, but if Tou-san said he needed it, he would endure. The next part of his training was chakra control, Tou-san had told him that he would one day be able to walk on water, up walls and help him learn cool Jutsus! All of this training would be backed up with meditation in hidden places all around Konoha, aiming at increasing the effectiveness of his Sensor ability.
After that, Naruto would be set to work learning the basics of the Sakuryakudo, the way of trickery and the standard combat forms and techniques of the Kitsune clan. It encompassed many of the Kitsune's Jutsu, a variant of the martial art Aikido, seal work, stealth and many things besides. Naruto was also tasked with the duty of incorporating the weapons of Shinobi into the artform for future generations, which made Naruto worry slightly. It was a big deal, adding to such an important and ancient style. On top of this, the child would be learning the Uzumaki sword techniques, the Rasenyaiba, the Spiralling Blade, and the Taijutsu style of his clan, the Jinsokuken, the Swift Fist.
All the while, Naruto would be reading about history, political history, military tactics, science, mathematics, philosophy, economics, botany, metallurgy, medical texts and a score more subjects. It all sounded very confusing to Naruto right now, but his Tou-san had promised to explain why he needed them later.
That training regime sounded exhausting. but he still couldn't wait to make his new Tou-san proud.
Now, Kit, take a five minute break then your going to do fifty pushups, followed by fifty sit-ups, okay? Kurama's deep voice, while kind, showed his demonic heritage, as he enjoyed a small portion of the child's tired groans.
As soon as the child's precious rest was over, Kurama began thinking of how to help the boy further. He carefully shielded his thoughts from the boy, but only so the surprise wasn't ruined.
The Kit's malnourished, so I'll help with that first, make sure his food helps him as best it can, and help him to convince the Hokage to send someone for food on his behalf- they'd never help the Kit if they weren't forced to. I'll make sure his muscles and bones develop properly, maybe increase the overall efficiency? It would be tricky, but worth seeing the faces of the villagers. I'll need to alter his chakra coils to help his control, that Baka-Hokage's seal might purify my Youkai, but it does nothing to help the child cope with the new chakra... Boost the rigidity of his coils, alter shape and size to help his control a little. Inari knows the Kit'll need a lot of help in control. I could give him my fire affinity too, though it would be secondary to his wind. It's possible that his mothers' water affinity is dormant too, I could awaken that if I find it.
While Kurama pondered this, Naruto progressively completed each excercise, moving on to squats, crunches, simple stretches. Overall, Kurama was truly impressed with his new sons' stamina.
This pattern of excercise and short brake continued for an hour, until Kurama spoke up.
Alright Kit, you've done very well. Now then, I want you to sneak to the marketplace, there, you will hide so that you won't be found. When there you will stretch your Sensor powers as hard as you can, I'll help you where I can, but that is all I can do. Whenever you're ready Kit. The voice of Naruto's adoptive father gave the next order, to which Naruto responded by immediately setting off for the market.
Later, at the Marketplace
Naruto was atop a small, two-storey grocery shop. Cross-legged and focussing intently on the unseen world of chakra that spun and swirled around him.
Architecturely speaking, the building was old. Designed when this was quite near the limits of Konoha, the flat-roofed building had a low wall around the roof-edge. The building was meant for being fought upon. This knowledge was lost upon the young blonde. He was lost in a world of amazing colour and form. The world was a backdrop of barely-there green chakra, what Tou-san had called 'Natural Energy'. Everything else was varying shades and intensities of blue, from near white to borderline purple, from the common dimness of the masses to a powerful blue sun that was Jiji.
Most people were like spots of dim blue light. If it were brighter, it would be cyan in colour, but the lack of chakra reserves in a civilian prevented that distinction from being made. As the signatures of chakra moved, they created small ripples in the Natural Energy of the world. They were like the bow wave of a boat at sea. Naruto struggled to tell how far away everything was like this, but at the furthest he could feel Jiji, in his office nearly a quater of a mile away, though his chakra was so bright, so powerful that he couldn't feel anything else from there, as the mighty Hokage eclipsed all around him. The only thing he could truly sense was the zipping of bluish lines from the office across Konohja, as Ninja Shunshin to and from his office.
Naruto only felt a handful of sources that compared, and two of those were the Anbu tasked with protecting him. Though they were only that bright due to closeness, it still gave a good impression of how powerful a Kage needed to be. The third, and last, signature to have anything like the power of Jiji was himself, though again, Naruto suspected it was due to distance. His chakra was a rich purple. When everyone else was blue, his was purple. Tou-san said it was because they were sharing their chakra, so it was pretty cool, something unique that no-one could take from him. his chakra was very, very billow-y, like a hurricane, all swirly and mad. Tou-san said it meant he had a wind affinity.
Naruto had been meditating for who knows how long? But he had discovered a lot on the intricacies of chakra and the manipulation and detection of the stuff, as well as other little tidbits.
Firstly he had noticed it stayed in the body for most of the time, circulating like blood. This meant he could detect people who didn't use their chakra, but it seemed easier when they did.
Second was that chakra used for a Jutsu was easily seen. Ninjas who used Shunshin, he could sense where they went from and to before the technique was actually used though, so that left him feeling proud.
The third was that everyone seemed to have these affinities that Naruto's Tou-san had mentioned, but he had yet to feel another wind affinity, by contrast, fire seemed to be everywhere... Well, affinities for fire.
Finally, the fact that he could sense more powerful chakra signatures very easily made him wonder, how powerful did a Kage need to be? If Jiji was so powerful as to be sensed from here and still outshine any other chakra source, Naruto would need to train harder than anyone else if he wanted to be Hokage.
Naruto pondered all of this as his eyes opened, the light stabbed into them painfully. Naruto shrugged off that pain quickly as his eyes readjusted. Immediately, Naruto informed his new Tou-san of just how powerful the seemingly placid old man was.
Tou-san! How strong is Jiji really?! Is he as strong as you are?! Naruto's young mind had clung to the simple fact that the Kyubi had fought the great Yondaime, and since the Yellow Flash wasn't here whilst his beloved Tou-san was, that meant that the Kyubi was much stronger than the Yondaime Hokage.
If there is anyone as strong as me in Konoha, it's him Kit. The Hokage has to be the strongest, smartest and best Ninja, or the village appears weaker, so less people employ the village for Ninja work. The Kitsune's words were patient, knowing how the child had been intentionally stunted. Speaking of the Sandaime, you should head off, you'll be late if you don't hurry... But, hehe, you should tell your Anbu escorts that they should hide better.
Understanding his Tou-san's ingenious prank idea, Naruto looked directly at 'Crackly-san', as he had dubbed the unknown Anbu, and spoke.
"Come on Anbu-san, you ain't foolin' anyone, and if we're late, Jiji won't teach me to read!" And like a blonde blur, Naruto shot down the ladder into an alley to creep through Konoha, using stealth skills far in advance of his age.
The Hokage's Office
Hiruzen Sarutobi had just dismissed the Matron of Orphange Six. He had dismissed her without pay and with a warning that any job involving children as the main client would be met with another dose of Kage-level intervention. He had already dealt with the council, it hadn't been pretty. In fact, Hiruzen had been forced to lie to his former-teammates about why Naruto knew his heritage, something they had said would only be revealed when they felt the boy 'worthy' or if he found out for himself. He had told them that during an attack, a man had mentioned that Kushina was glad to be dead, lest she put up with such an 'evil beast' for a child.
The village elders had seemed angered beyond all reason, seeing as they could no longer claim dominion over the boy's fate. Now, Naruto came from a rich Shinobi clan, thus making him a Ninja-to-be under the control of the Hokage. Then came the fun part, Hiruzen had played havoc with the council by having Inuzuka Tsume take control of the Uzumaki clan seat, having been a long standing friend of Kushina's. This gave the Shinobi council and the Hokage another vote, allowing them to match the civilian council, who had tried to disband the clan instantly, but failed.
Immediately after the meeting, Tsume had told the old Sarutobi that she intended to tell the boy a bit about his mother at her earliest convenience, to which the old man agreed. The boy deserved to know. On top of that, several Anbu had questioned if what the Fox-summon, Sukurōrumēkā, was true. About Naruto being the Yondaime's son. The way Inu had told them all it was made it clear that he was still bitter about being cut-off from the boy. The terrible sense of betrayal from the Anbu present made things much worse, as Neko was about to quit on the spot. Only when the point that she wouldn't be able to protect the child was brought up did she calm down. Hiruzen felt he had earned the glares from the assembled Anbu he sensed even now, but he had to protect the boy from assassination somehow.
But now the Kage-level Ninja was preparing to give the boy lessons in reading, he had simple sheet of the common Kanji the boy would need to know, along with a copy of his student's first book.
The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi by Jiraiya
It was this book that had given Minato the idea to name his son Naruto, and it was going to be the first book he ever read to the boy. Hiruzen had failed to carry out Minato's last wish, to protect Naruto, so he would carry out this one. But that wasn't to say Hiruzen would stop protecting the boy.
After several minutes of thought as to how to protect Naruto in the academy in a few years, a certain blonde blob of energy came barrelling through a formerly closed door, blurred past the book case to the left of the door, leapt over a small table with a set of C-rank mission reports and flung himself at the light green couch on the left side of the room and gave the supposedly invisible Anbu sat there a big hug. This hug shocked the Anbu so much, that the masked -nin dropped the simple Genjutsu, revealing a stunned Neko-masked Kunoichi.
"Oh, hi Neko-neechan! I didn't realize that was you!"Naruto exclaimed, looking quite happy, arms wrapped around the dreaded and dangerously strong Neko, who was still in shock.
"Um..H-hi, Naruto-kun..." Neko said very slowly. Honestly, right now Yugao Uzuki was sweating bullets beneath her mask. The Hokage had just seen an untrained five-year-old sprint in and glomp her. While cloaked! Ugh, she would be lucky to be sent back to the academy.
Instead of scolding her apparently piss-poor disguise efforts, the old man chuckled softly.
"Well done Naruto-kun, I was getting tired of the Anbu agents always sitting in that spot when on guard in this office! Let that be a lesson Neko-chan, never fall into a habit." The Sandaime then pulled out his pipe and prepped it for a long, calming session of smoking. When Naruto was about, the Professor needed calm.
Upon seeing the pipe, Neko developed a tick mark, but let it drop.
Habits? Really? were the sword mistress' thoughts on the matter.
"Neko-neechan always sits there?" Naruto's seemingly innocent answer caused the old Kage to face-fault. At this point the author would like to point out that the boy only answered in a seemingly innocent manner, as he knew with certainty that the old man would ask how he found the Anbu.
"Naruto-kun, how did you know where Neko was if you didn't know that Anbu always sit on that spot?" This development had perplexed the Shinobi no Kami, if the boy could see the Anbu, an enemy could.
Naruto had a quick, speed-of-thought conversation with his Tou-san, unseen and unheard by anyone else.
"I'll tell you after the lesson Jiji! It'll take a while, but I'll tell you everythin' I promise!" As he promised Naruto sneakily turned around, so that he was sat on Neko's lap. Neko almost hugged the boy to her chest, but then remembered she was supposed to be angry with him.
Hiruzen sighed, he would get nothing from the boy until after they finished their lesson, so he might as well get on with it.
"Very well then, Naruto-kun, we will begin." And with that, the Hokage produced the 'cheat sheet' for common Kanji and the book. Naruto proved to be a fast learner, and capable of figuring out complex words from only a handful of Kanji. The boys cute cry of: 'Jiji! The guy who wrote this used my name!' endeared him further to the present Anbu, especially Neko, who still had the boy in her lap. But regardless of his late start in learning, the little maelstrom picked up the symbols quickly, memorising the sheet in a mere fifteen minutes, and reading short passages back in twenty. It made Sarutobi realize that the brilliance held in Minato and Kushina was inside Naruto as well. After an hour, Naruto could read almost as well as he should have been able to. An incredible learning curve.
It was then that several Anbu were sorely tempted to quit the Spec-Ops unit, just to see how good of a Ninja they could train Naruto to be. Sadly, they knew without doubt that the Civilian Council would veto this, and try to punish the young Uzumaki for 'corrupting' the Anbu.
After the hour, Naruto was tasked with explaining to Jiji just how he could find Anbu.
"So Naruto-kun, if you didn't know that Neko-chan was sat on that couch, how did you give her a hug?" Hiruzen asked Naruto, slipping the folded cheat-sheet into the green book as a bookmark.
"Um, I said it was a long story Jiji. Well, last night, when I fell asleep, the Kyubi brought me back to my mindscape." Naruto was kind of nervous, but he trusted the Hokage to listen to the whole story before drawing a conclusion.
Naruto felt several chakra signatures flare slightly, like a tensing muscle.
"What did he say?" The old monkey asked, keeping his voice free of anything but affection. The Kage knew this required a special delicacy.
"He told me a bit about why he's helping me. And about the seal too." Naruto stopped, seeing what the Hokage thought, but was nudged for more. Though Neko did wrap her arms around him first, the warm hug bolstering him a little. "He said that if I die, he'll die to. But he was real nice to me, so I don't want him to die..." A sad look from the Kage was rare, but this time warranted it.
If this gets out, everyone will be braying for his blood! The Kage knew there would be an uprising if he tried to stop it. Praying for a way to prevent this, the old man waited for more answers.
"Anyway, he said that the only way to stop that was for him to be a genie... I think." naruto finished that sentence confused. He quickly recovered though. "Kyubi said that he had to grant the wishes I wanted most of all, but he isn't really magic, so he gives me the ability to make my wishes come true." Hiruzen Sarutobi understood that, the Kyubi hadn't given power, or even a path to power, but the fox had given the boy what he'd been denied, a chance.
"My first wish was for people to see me for me, not as the Kyubi, but as me. But I don't really see how they can't see me as Naruto anyway, the Kyubi's really big... Anyway, the Kyubi granted that wish by lettin' me sign the Kitsune contract, 'cos they can see me for who I am." Naruto had quickly pulled himself from his tangent about how big the Kyubi is, but he thought it was a good point anyway.
"My last wish was to be the best Ninja ever! And he helped me by showing me my DNA. He said that he found out that my 'bye-oh-lodge-ikal' Jiji had an 'eye-duh-tik' memory. And someone really old was a Sensor! So, Kyubi made me one too! I think I'm gettin' good at it!" Naruto was excited towards the end, especially because he manged the big words.
Now. Now was the time for Sarutobi to question what he put in his pipe... Naruto could be deadly if trained right. On par with the Sannin in skill if handled properly, trained fully. Not that those bastards on the council would let him be trained. Danzo would be chomping at the bit to snatch up the boy if he found out to! For the sake of Naruto and his parents' memories, he wouldn't let Danzo become aware of the boy's potential until enrolment in the academy.
"I see, Naruto-kun. Has he changed anything else? Or plan to?" Hiruzen asked the boy. Briefly, he considered berrating the child for accepting help from the fox, but how could he? The old Sarutobi had never told Naruto to be careful around strangers, he'd always asked the boy to give others chances. He doubted anyone cared for him enough to warn him. The boy had done what he thought was right.
"I don't know Jiji, but I'll ask him." Then Naruto went silent for a brief second before growing confused. "He said somethin' about my chakra, but it was real tricky to understand. Somethin' about shapes and a 'rigid coil'. He said he'll give me a fire affinity too, so that'll be cool. I mean, I'll be throwin' fire around and blastin' stuff!" Naruto's excitement was only broken by the Hokage clearing his throat. When the boy was calm, Hiruzen spoke.
"Naruto, that could be very dangerous, to be to trusting of anyone. Do not forget, the Kyubi did attack Konoha, so how can you be sure he won't hurt you?" Though the Sandaime had posed the question in rhetoric, Naruto answered.
"But Jiji, you always said that I should forgive people!" Hiruzen had to acquiesce, he did say that. "And anyway, people hurt me all the time, I can take it."
For the Hokage, and the Anbu present, that was the last thing they wanted to hear. A child who was used to pain, and all due to those he had saved.
"Naruto, I am sorry for how they treat you." Hiruzen's voice was a croaky whisper, knowing how the boy had been treated, knowing how it had been delivered, each time, as 'justice for Yondaime-sama' made it worse.
"It's okay Jiji! When I become Hokage, they'll all apologize then!" Naruto, wearing a big, happy-go-lucky smile.
Somehow, the Ninja in the room knew it to be faked.
A moment of terse silence followed, then Neko spoke.
"Naruto-kun, don't genies grant three wishes?" Neko's question made Hiruzen realise that Naruto had indeed only told about two of these 'wishes'.
"Yeah," Naruto dragged out the word a long way. "Um, well, last night, Jiji told me about my Kaa-san, but it's too dangerous to tell me about my Tou-san, right Jiji?" A quick nod was the answer, because internally, Hiruzen was begging for answers.
"Well, my second wish, was that, well... I wanted a daddy." Naruto's voice grew very tiny and small at the end. He was clearly upset, and Neko squeezed her arms, pulling the boy into a tighter hug. "Th-the Kyubi said he would be my daddy, he would adopt me, like other kids at the orphange were adopted, I... I said yeah..." Naruto's voice grew quieter, but a note of happiness had entered it.
"Oh, Naruto..." Hiruzen sighed, how could he explain everything to the boy? He'd been hurt too much for pain to deter him, ignored for so long that any attention was craved.
"Naruto," The voice of Inu sounded as the dog-masked Anbu revealed himself. To Naruto's surprise, it was the one he'd dubbed 'Crackly-san'. "Can you prove that the Kyubi won't just hurt you if you let him?"
"He's really not bad Inu-niisan, he's really fluffy! And warm to! He let me sleep on his belly, so I know he won't hurt me because he didn't when he had the chance!" Naruto seemed proud of himself with that theory, his arms crossed over his puffed up chest.
Deathly silence ensued, mostly due to the thought of the dreaded Kyubi no Kitsune being called fluffy by a five-year-old boy.
"Hokage-sama, please, let me tell-" Inu began, praying that he could tell the child the truth of his heritage.
"No, Inu. I'm sorry, but it would be best to wait." The Hokage took a moment to apologize to all the deities he could think of. With a sigh, he turned to Naruto. "Naruto... I... I give you my permission to be closer to the Kyubi, but I will be kept up-to-date with all of his plans for you, is that clear?" A quick nod from the boy allowed him to continue. "Good, now I need you to promise that you will be very careful! I don't want you hurt Naruto, and no-one else does either. Now, why don't you explain everything?"
And so, Naruto explained everything he could. The Sandaime grew a surprised expression when he heard about the breadth of knowledge the boy would be getting to grips with. The thought of the boy becoming Hokage had always seemed like something a long way off, but now... All the old man needed to do was stay sane for another decade and he'd be in the clear! The boy would be an excellent Hokage.
"Well then Naruto, if you think that you can study all that then by all means, do so, but don't let it interfere with your Ninja studies, which begin in a few years. You may go now, Naruto." With the Hokage's dismissal, Naruto left, but only after saying goodbye to the Anbu (seen and hidden). Naruto left with the Anbu he had arrived, though they turned invisible first.
A moment passed in the Hokage's office.
"I'm too old for this." Grouched Sarutobi, taking a long puff on his pipe. "Neko."
"Yes, Hokage-sama?" The kunoichi responded, wondering what punishment fit for an inadequate level of stealth.
"I have a long-term mission for you..."
Well, that's all she wrote... Err, I wrote. This chapter just wouldn't come out. I didn't get half of what I wanted to put in, but I'll rectify that in a couple of chapters. In the next chapter I want to add some father/son bonding, just a chapter of the Kyubi and Naruto playing together and stuff, mostly filler. After that, we're off! For the academy, though with some differences.
Now, on to building up suspense... *Gasp!* What is Neko's mission, how will Kakashi react to... Whatever. Seriously though:
I will take the Missing Hokage challenge! Perfect Lionheart hasn't responded to my PM in any way, so WTF? Why not? I'll be giving Naruto the Kitsune Clan bloodline from Chunin Exam Day too. It's cute... No mokuton or hyoton though, but those bloodlines have their place... On the summons front, and with a tip of the hat to JonnyP86, I'll be giving Naruto access to the snakes next, but Anko won't be giving the contract to him... MUHAHAHAHAHA! Or should I say: Kukukukuku!
On team placements, this is how it stands: Team 7: Sasuke, Sakura, Kiba. Team 8: Naruto, Hinata, Shino. Team 10: Ino-Shika-Cho. This can be altered for different teams if desired. Also, Naruto will be graduating early, he will be placed with Kurenai in an apprenticeship for a few years and then joined by the other two. In this time Naruto will build a mother/son relationship with Kurenai, and Kurenai and the Kyubi will meet to a degree, though I haven't decided how deeply they will have bonded by that point.
Also, Pervy-Hinata! I find this hilarious when it does come up, as rare as it is. So, Hinata will be a pervert with her sights set on Naruto. She'll be a chibi-Jiraiya with an Icha Icha addiction. With Kurenai trying to 'save' both her and Naruto from the perverseness that is the orange books of doom! She'll still be shy though, so don't worry.
For now, a thank you and answers to lovely reviewers!
TheRazgrizDragon, B.A.G-Gomez, lightskiller and MYK-ON: Thank you for reviewing, it means a lot that you review in to encourage me!
Clove15: The bashing won't be boring, Sasuke is skilled, and I will show that, but he will still be a morally reprehensible dick. I want him to be cold and calculating, but easy to anger too. Ideally, I want to show him walk down the path of madness, rather than plonk him in the loony bin right away, since I'm starting at the beginning of cannon, I can alter the degree of madness quite easily. Naruto's gonna tear the shit out of the council to, but with help. He's inexperienced and hated right now, so he is in a weak spot politically, so some give-and-take is required. Sakura is useless, and I will have this fact pointed out, she is going to be the butt-monkey (no offence to Enma) of this fic. She will be knocked over by a stiff breeze, even the ones not caused by a jutsu. Thank you for reviewing.
king of the shadows: I will give Naruto that ability to use chakra chains, but it needs training. The sword is a given, and I'm gonna give Naruto a very cool sword that will improve his sealing. On the bashing front, read above. Thank you for the review.
NerpVanRacklen: As I've already discussed teams, I'll start with the second point. In my mind, the civies nabbed a tonne of power between the death of the Yondaime and the re-instatement of the Sandaime, short though it was. In the gap between the death of the Sandaime and Tsunade's appointment, the council grabbed more power, allowing them to banish Naruto after the retrieval mission went FUBAR. Thank you for the advice on avoiding OP-ness, it's sorely appreciated, and thank you for reviewing too.
JonnyP86: I've decided on the Jonin-sensei, though Yugao, Anko and Ibiki will play important parts in Naruto's development as a Ninja. I will not be putting many jutsu scrolls in the Uzumaki library, it will mainly be in sealing. As will the foxes education, though some fire jutsus and Genjutsus will crop up. Sealing is a complicated artform, yet people say it is separated into ten books in plenty of fics. No, many volumes from Uzumaki seal users will be in there, along with historical texts and other theoretical knowledge. There will only be a few jutsus available. As I mentioned before, the snakes are a big, scaly yes. Thanks for the review!
kurifu gari: As I mentioned, the teams are semi-done, and Sakura shall be bashed. Not sure about the rape though. o_0 Thanks for reviewing!
New to Naruto: Tsurana translates roughly as 'Painful, I...' as to the story, it'll come up, but not for a while. It's not really important, but it playts into Kurama helping Naruto deal with his first kill. The adoption deal was simply because foxes are generally good parents. With the intellect exceeding a human, Kurama could easily have felt for the child enough to do so. The next chapter will go into that some more. About Sasuke's team: He's gonna be bashed, not raped! Jeeze dude! Putting him with those to will pop his cherry by the power of hormones alone! This fic will be NaruHina. If I try a harem I will be killed to death by my girlfriend. Killed to death, painfully! Thanks for the review!