Chapter 1
Uzumaki Naruto was a strong willed boy of ten, he believed in his ninja way and of the Code of Fire. At his core he was extremely loyal to the people who talked with him and interacted with him in anyway. The stares he would get from the others in the villages were confusing which was why he needed to show them he deserved them, some nodded and waved, these were Shinobi most the time and the other group were villagers who didn't really do anything to him except glare and look away. This was accompanied by whispering behind his back most of the time, he couldn't really catch anything besides the usual; troublemaker, that-boy and strangely enough taboo was a common word to be used. He shrugged off everything, they would respect him someday as a Konoha Shinobi, if they didn't by the time he was Hokage then he wasn't going to give them the time.
His normal routine for the summer was wake up eat Raman followed by a shower and then going outside for some pranks, either with others or by himself. After the successfully pranking whoever deserved it he would head home for lunch and doing something completely random for the rest of the day. A week into his summer vacation and he was heading home after a very quick day where everything went almost perfect.
Naruto made it back before dark and decided to work on his plants by the window seal before going to bed at a late hour. It had become a ritual for him to look after the plants before he finally slept for the night, a way of calming his mind.
That night was a little more different and the dreams he had were also different as a power in him stirred uncomfortably.
Uzumaki Mito awoke in chains, her entire body wrapped tightly, as the last memories of her life immediately became clear. What had happened after her death, she remembered Kushina and the training she had given the young girl of four before she gave her life for the transference. That's where her memories ended though, Uzumaki Mito is dead and she knew that but she also knew why she was here, a backup in case something went wrong with Kushina, the girl would be able to unconsciously call on her if she required help in subduing the Nine-Tails forcibly.
But why had she been activated now, the time limit had already started on how long she could be here, the chakra fading by the second. If her estimations were correct about the amount of chakra she contained and how much would be required to break the chains holding her down then she wouldn't have more than an hour to help Kushina.
She felt out trying to get a feel of what the outside world was like and what was happening that would require her being summoned. Darkness, Kushina was asleep, her consciousness seemingly dreaming peacefully.
'Okay first goal', she reached her chakra out from her body she used it to rip the weaker chains from her body releasing her from the hold cell and releasing herself into the consciousness of the host.
The second goal was a little harder since Kushina was dreaming and her mind was already focused on something other than the power inside her. The sewer of the Kyuubi No Kitsune was similar to the one she had remembered when she contained the beast, at least something never changed as she spotted the sleeping tailed beast. Although this sealing method was vastly different to Kushina's and Mito's the premise was the same, she wondered what could have happened to her to change the seal so much.
She reached out with her limited power and found the consciousness of the host, she really didn't know exactly how to pull Kushina into the seal with her but she was running out of time. She mentally pulled, really hard on the consciousness.
Uzumaki Naruto was dreaming of his two favorite things in the world, Haruno Sakura and Raman. The three of them sat on a grassy hill talking about Ninjutsu and eating Raman, it was currently the best day ever. At least until something grabbed him by the head pulled him hard into the ground and out of his dream.
He landed in a pool of dark water at least that was what he thought it was. "Ouch, that hurt," Naruto rubbed his head. He looked up and saw someone he didn't know and instantly thought the worst, someone had kidnapped him and he was being held for ransom. Although this lady didn't look very strong, maybe he could take her? "Who are you and where is this?"
"That's my question kid, I was stuck into Kushina and now I pop-up in your head?" Naruto was extremely confused and his faced showed it, 'In his head?'
"What The Fuck-" she smacked him over the head quickly and he flinched, "What do you mean my head?"
"Isn't it obvious that were inside your head? I was sealed with the Kyuubi No Kitsune into Uzumaki Kushina in case she ever had a need to call on my chakra and skills as a last resort." All of this only left Naruto even more confused as he only registered about half the words the first being Kyuubi No Kitsune and the second being Uzumaki Kushina. He didn't know any other Uzumaki in the Village, he had a living relative? "What's your name? I'm Uzumaki Mito."
She tapped on his head lightly to break him from the trance he was currently in. "Uzumaki Naruto, I'm ten." She nodded and looked thoughtful for a second.
"You're much too young to start controlling the Kyuubi, it's curious that I'm here since you don't need my help, which is my purpose but..." She looked at Naruto who was processing the current state of affairs. "Nobody told you about it did they…" Naruto didn't look up.
Naruto didn't understand what was going on, one minute he was dreaming and now this.
"It doesn't matter who you are as long as you have the right attitude towards being the host, you'll be strong. I don't have much time, so I want you to tell me a couple of things, firstly what do you think about Konoha? Have they treated you well as a host?"
Naruto looked confused again, "Host?" She rolled her eyes, he obviously was completely oblivious to the fact that one of the Tailed beasts was sleeping behind them.
"The foolish woman means me, you worthless brat." Naruto quickly looked around for the source of the voice in tell a set of red cat eyes opened, Naruto looked into the eyes of the Tailed beast known as Kyuubi No Kitsune. He was so confused, well that might have been an understatement and voiced some of those thoughts, not out of resentment but pity.
"I should have known… after everything." Naruto was hit on the head again, a little harder this time he noticed. He looked up into her eyes and she looked back with compassion that no one had ever shown him.
"Being hated for something you had no control over, such as hosting this beast is something I don't regret but it was hard, really hard. I was the first host in over a hundred years for the Kyuubi No Kitsune and I had the full support of my Village and husband Hashirama but even then some people had that look, like they were looking straight through you at the Kyuubi." Naruto nodded still looking down, he didn't really comprehend anything she said but he still listened intently. But he knew that look; it was the same one everyone gave him, the one that made him hungry for attention. "But I know were related distantly, and I believe you still are strong enough to face life with the will to live and strive through the hardest of times."
Naruto nodded he knew it was hard but now he knew why he had to strive towards his goals, 'Nothing would ever keep him down! Not even the Kyuubi No Kitsune, "You better believe it Oba-san, Dattebayo!" She heartily laughed with him; he must be related to her in some way. She smiled down at him, and nodded.
The Kyuubi No Kitsune growled narrowing its eyes angrily; he wanted to hurt her so bad! Smashing his claws at the wall of the seal, Mito merely offered her own glare back infuriating him all over again.
"I believe you'll do your job very well, and hope you the best in finding people who truly believe in you and will stand by you in the darkest of those times. It's hard but finding these people will keep you grounded and they will be your life." His smile was as bright as Kushina's, she clearly remembered it. "Let's take this somewhere a little more private, he's annoying." She looked over to the fox and it snarled back again. The hatred radiated off it clearly visible. She placed her hand on Naruto's head and dragged his consciousness a little more softly this time to a new area where they could talk.
Naruto and Mito ended up in an area all too familiar as the Hokage's of the past were carved into stone right under them and they overlooked the village. She sighed nostalgically overlooking the village before turning on Naruto, "You probably have trouble controlling your Ninjutsu?" Naruto nodded and tilt his head curiously; maybe she would help him get the Bunshin down? "Controlling the amount of chakra in your system will be very difficult and can become very tedious with the amount of work you'll have to put into it. The chakra will always be expanding and will require constant work to keep it under control, as Hosts it's a necessary boon that will annoy and anger you at times. Work very hard in all the chakra control techniques and promise you won't cheat and give up once you finish one as they're very important."
"Sure! I promise I'll work hard! I'll never give up my dream to be Hokage!" He didn't really yell but his voice was so full of that childish confidence that it brought that smile back to her face knowing that he would be okay.
"That's a wonderful dream Naruto; I believe with all my heart that you'll be able to achieve it. But that goal is just as hard as controlling the tailed-beast inside you, so I'm going to give you some advice okay?" Naruto nodded as he was finally receiving some recognition from someone. "Along with a daily routine of chakra control techniques I want you to start studying seals as it's part of family tradition as an Uzumaki Shinobi to learn them and become at least somewhat proficient in reading, creating and using them."
He nodded even know he didn't really understand what they were, he would do it because it was family tradition something he longed for, to belong to family. "I promise I will work hard! I will never give up, and I'll make you proud!"
She knew he was being truthful from what he had seen in the limited memories she was now receiving but knew it was time to leave already and frowned. "I'm sorry but it's nearly time for me to leave," Naruto instantly calmed and paid attention as she was already slightly opaque. "Ask the Hokage to give you access to my library if it still exists, you'll find knowledge on how to control your tenant, along with my knowledge in seals, okay? And remember that I believe in you. Were strong in here as Uzumaki, be strong for me." She pointed at her heart before finally disappearing.
Chapter 2
Naruto awoke happily that night and with renewed vigor the next day he confronted the Hokage, the old man merely sat stony faced thinking about everything his young charge had told him.
After showing Naruto the Library where Mito's knowledge had been cataloged from her own and explained that it had been close to sixty years since she had wrote her last scroll he moved along the stacks of scrolls in the section looking for something.
Naruto was curious so many scrolls to look through and he wasn't strong in the area of studying like Sakura but he wouldn't give up. "She wanted me to work on chakra control techniques but I don't see any here, also seals but…" Naruto was confused and it showed.
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded thoughtfully, "Should I help you, Naruto? It is after all my Library." A look of determination flooded Naruto's face as he continued to look at the cover of each scroll trying to coerce the knowledge of each scroll to the surface. He had to laugh at the confused look on his as he picked up a scroll on Advanced Sealing which had so many odd and foreign symbols on it that it didn't even look slightly kana. "Naruto, It may be beneficial for one such as yourself to seek aid in the areas you're unfamiliar with, such as my library here, I know the contents of each and every scroll even if it's only the basics."
Naruto was confused again, he knew this was going to be hard but this…He scratched his head. "NEH NEH, Ji-Ji could you point me in the right direction?" Sarutobi chuckled and pulled out the basic scrolls that would get him started.
From that point on Naruto seemed to work hard even know he would get confused easily, Naruto had so many questions it was starting to get tedious to answer them all but Sarutobi knew he at least would get Naruto started and then let him off, he didn't want to give the impression that he wouldn't help at all but began to slowly move towards letting the blond figure it out for himself. Naruto had been restricted to an area in the main branch of the Library and Sarutobi made sure he would have access to anything in that area despite the animosity of the locals who frequented the villages library.
Naruto himself found seals at first to be hard, but… he wouldn't give up for anything the advice of his ancestor still fresh in his mind he pushed his mind hard during the two month break. In fact the prospects of returning to the Ninja Academy loomed harshly over him as the final weeks bled into days. He knew that his accomplishments' in learning the basics of seals went a long way towards him becoming a Ninja and accomplishing his final goal of becoming Hokage.
Naruto was finishing his second set of chakra control techniques in where he focused a very fine amount of chakra into a basic D-Rank seal he had made and drew into his floor boards of his apartment, the diagram showed exactly how much chakra he was pumping into it. This allowed him to set a very precise amount of chakra to meet and then focus his chakra into the seal slowly. He burned the seal the first twenty times with the unnatural amount of chakra sent into it, overloading it nearly every time burning the seal into the floor.
By the time the Academy was about to start he could hold a chakra flow on the set amount for three seconds before losing the required concentration that the seal needed. He thought about drawing the seal into the work table at the academy but didn't think the teachers would like that. Well, tough luck!
The quietest summer in years ended shortly after that, the boy everyone hated quietly making his escape into the world of a ninja.
Uzumaki Naruto bounded down the streets of Konoha heading towards the academy he would be spending his day in, at least the ones he didn't skip. He spent the first day drawing the design onto the desk using an erasable graphite pencil, lightly outlining the actual design. Most of it was completed by lunch so he was able to go home and grab the Ink and brushes he would need to continue.
The person next to him a timid girl named Hyūga Hinata didn't understand what Naruto was doing, from her perspective as well as the rest of the class Uzumaki Naruto had his head down and was doodling on the table. But being a Hyūga she had certain aspects others didn't have which led her to looking a little more closely at the writings with her Byakugan while class was in session and then after when everyone was leaving and Naruto left the room. They weren't doodles for sure, as she traced the kana with her fingers, the design didn't look at all familiar which led her to believe Naruto was planning something. Probably another prank or something of the sort, although from the design it clearly looked like a seal of some sort which confused her even more because she hadn't ever seen Naruto working on seals before.
Naruto found the girl hovering over his Control seal when he returned and stood back for a moment watching as she analyzed them, he didn't know her at all in fact picking the seat he choose was nearly random, he had chosen the position in the room where he would be the least noticeable. Not that it mattered since nobody paid him any attention anyway; she finally gave up and walked outside facing away from him.
By the end of the first class he had finished with the seal, it was a smaller seal with a more refined purpose of helping him control the chakra through a visible representation of a number system rather than a the previous style he had used. It was all basic seal knowledge, but the use of and creation of the new seal gave him a great deal of pride as his journey began.
The first term of school Naruto focused on obtaining the absolute control of his chakra that would be needed for the next phase of his training. Focusing on holding the chakra at the same level and consciously paying attention to the teachers was hard. The required concentration of splitting his attention was mind draining; he was forced to ignore his teachers in a lot of instances which got him in more trouble. But the constant fluctuations in his chakra pool made his control waver, just as Mito had said, added into the fact that he was still maturing and his already huge chakra pool was growing.
After the three months of the first term were up he would forgo studying seals for now and use what he knew now to develop a new control seal, something permanent which would be applied to his body. He knew messing with his seal was a bad idea so it had to be separated but also incorporated through it. From his readings on the Host scrolls from Mito and what little knowledge he had on his own seal he deduced that the output of the seal allowed him to manifest and control the Biju's chakra At least that's what he thought was happening, no one else seemed to be having any problem with basic Ninjutsu only him.
Another person watched Naruto a little more closely now, something had changed with the dead-last over the past summer, before the blond haired moron couldn't do anything and was literally the biggest loser in class. Uchiha Sasuke stared briefly at the table the dead-last used noticing the marks he was struck with an odd sense of confusion.
Chapter 3
Uzumaki Naruto sat at home once again working on a new seal, and also trying to figure out the exact required amount of chakra that the Bunshin would require. A normal Bunshin would require an amount of chakra so small he was sure a first year academy student could pull it off. For example, out of one hundred percent of his current chakra poll, less than one percent would be required to create one clone. He had adjusted the seal just to see results lower than one percent, which was about the hardest thing ever to control.
He ended up destroying that seal over forty times before finally getting the grasp of controlling one percent of his chakra. It was being very tiresome rewriting that seal over and over again…
A knock came from his door, which of course was odd seeing as he never really got visitors ever, expect maybe the Hokage. He stood and answered the door and his assumption was correct as the Hokage stood at the door with another odd man with white hair.
"Hi, Ji-Ji! Good morning." Naruto was excited for guests but his house was a mess and he nervously scratched his head in embarrassment.
"Good morning to you to Naruto-kun, this is Jiraiya-kun one of my students." Naruto merely nodded still entirely embarrassed by his house. "Can we come in Naruto-kun?" Naruto nodded.
Jiraiya was not disgusted by the room in fact it all looked rather interesting, he was instantly reminded of his previous pupil and his tendency to go overboard when researching a new jutsu or seal. What really interested him was the seal engraved in the floor, chakra burns surrounding each etch, obviously from chakra overload. His sensei also noticed out of the corner of his eye and merely looked away, meaning he already knew of the boy's attempts.
"We have come today to check in with you, as you now know of your tenant and your new interest in seals hence Jiraiya's presence since he's a masterful seal user." Sarutobi was looking around the room with a little dismay. "We may have to have another talk about cleanliness regarding your responsibilities of living alone." Naruto paled.
"I know, He-he but I've been busy with training and version two, this is really hard I'm surprised I've made this much progress on my own," Naruto looked over to his notes thoughtfully.
"You've matured greatly Naruto-kun," Naruto looked up towards Jiraiya and tilted his head in confusion, had they met before? "I've met you only once before this, you were nearly four."
Naruto nodded, "Of course I've matured since then, I mean really…four." He smirked as Jiraiya playfully smacked him over the head. "Oba-san was a source of change for me, also the Kyuubi really put everything into perspective you know? Finding out a giant source of malicious chakra is stuck in your gut really changes your view of life. I know I can't be a kid anymore and I have to grow up and now I know why everyone felt the way they did."
Jiraiya nodded in understanding, he could equivalent that with his own past. "It's curious how much we change when we face down something that has plagued our lives for so long." Thoughts of his last battle with the Snake Sannin came to his mind.
The current Hokage of Konoha could remember over a dozen of such instances in his long life. "Enough of this talk let's see where you're at with the seal you're working on, maybe we could help."
As it turned out they were able to help him greatly, not that he doubted the Hokage and a member of the Sannin. Naruto really liked this new guy despite his perverted nature.
The Hokage left about an hour into the discussion after his brief yet embarrassing speech about cleanliness and his responsibilities. Naruto and Jiraiya worked on the seal for another three hours after he had left fixing small and large errors in his diagrams that any inexperienced seal user would create. In the end, Jiraiya was impressed by his knowledge and Naruto had learned a lot from his newest teacher a promised to work even harder over the next term to overcome his lack of skill in certain areas. Jiraiya also warned him not to focus too much on the theoretical and to remember that exercise and practical use of all his skills was required to stay sharp.
By the time Jiraiya left the sun started to set and the aging man returned to the tower to speak to his teacher.
Sarutobi Hiruzen looked up towards the opening door to his office to notice his student walk into the room; he set down his pen and pondered his question carefully. "I won't force you to take him, he is special and if you won't take him seriously I would put Kakashi up to the task." Jiraiya looked taken aback for about one second before he realized what his teacher was pushing onto him.
"I don't think I would mind just taking him," Jiraiya didn't want anyone else, it was clear in his intentions. "He's a good brat, smart like his father and mother, but something has changed him over the past years. His personality is more like his mother rather than his father." Sarutobi nodded and didn't say anything. "The brat was calling me an Ero-Sennin before I left," This time he laughed out loud with his teacher.
"The spy has already reported movement within that organization," Jiraiya nodded, he knew already. "It would be wise to train him up to a level we would both find suitable for the coming storm, I didn't want this for him but for his survival…" Sarutobi trailed off they both knew what would be in store for the young Jinchūriki if they intended hunt him down.
"I think he's already on a good path, that seal he's been working on quite a piece of work. And that other seal is ingenious, his chakra control will be great at the rate he's going." Jiraiya nodded to himself, the boy had left an impression, familiar but different to either of his parents, better almost. "It's very basic work but with my help I think he can understand even the Dead Demon Consuming seal and the properties that it instills. I don't worry about him yet, he'll become strong like his parents."
"You truly think so? I still have a bad feeling about the next year, something is looming on the horizon of this village and it's shadow feels almost heavy." Sarutobi was looking outside now, the conversation over and his student had already departed. He starred briefly as his age caught up to him before returning to the Bane of his Existence.
The end of the term was coming and he had made a lot progress but was it enough. A month ago he was successful in creating three regular Bunshin, the amount of control it took to hold that amount of chakra was annoying and he didn't think it would ever be useful in an actual battle.
Today marked one week before the end of term exams and the final chance to graduate with his class, this year would be different and he knew it. He practiced everything from throwing shuriken to the replacement technique daily and today he was skipping class but not for pranking or any other childish reason, he had other ideas in mind for today.
Uzumaki Naruto was going to use this day for research purposes, funny a year ago he probably would be defacing some monument or something akin to vandalism. Not doing research in the local Shinobi Library anyway.
His plan for the day was to research the applications of sealing and what he could use it for in the future. He knew of course the most popular uses of it, storage. But it was such a broad term; storage could be used in any number of ways from sealing physical items, to pure a chakra beast such as Kyuubi no Kitsune. Another huge application of seals was also extremely well known, summoning, or the Fourth Hokage's main Flying Thunder God technique which allowed him to appear anywhere a seal was placed. Also he really didn't understand the difference between time and space yet, the basic concept of it made his brain hurt.
This didn't really excite Naruto too much because the technique wasn't his and recreating that technique could take years so he blew it off as not possible yet. But that didn't mean he wouldn't look into it in the future it just meant he wasn't currently interested.
No, what currently interested Uzumaki Naruto was the last way of using Seals that he knew of; Barriers were complicated also but not nearly as much. Barriers required huge amounts of chakra to control and multiple people which he hoped another version of Bunshin could help him in his creations. But the one thing he wanted was the ability to create a Barrier around him using the Kyuubi, the mass of chakra was a battery waiting to be used and if he could tap his control seal directly into that source, well he doubted anyone could force their way past it.
He spent the rest of the day doing research on this very subject and planned to create the first test applications when he figured out how to link his chakra correctly. He wasn't dumb in the area of testing and retesting, seals failed and exploded very often enough and the Hokage had directed him and warned him more times than he cared to count.
He spent the half the day reading and making notes, it was tedious but for some reason he was learning it and liking it, not unlike history or math that revolved around other areas of being a ninja, this way of the ninja seemed to click with him. He thought about his family and did a little research that came up with the village Uzushio and a lot of boring history about that village. It really only held his attention when they talked about sealing and what little information he could gleam from the history scrolls.
Naruto ended that day at home working on a new way to direct his chakra into a seal farther away from him, after several unsuccessful attempts he completed it and was able to channel chakra from his hands down a seal chain and into a seal roughly six meters from him. The seal in question was another variation on his control seal he used for training except this one expanded on the concept that his chakra is split into two parts, a physical and spiritual part.
Half-way through that day Hinata walked out of the Academy for lunch wondering where her crush was, it wasn't unusual for him to skip at least one class a week but today was the third day. She walked down the street leaving the Academy grounds in search of him; of course she knew his normal spots from her weekly stalking/tailing of the boy.
Hinata had found Naruto in his apartment that day but didn't knock out, obviously she couldn't just walk up to his house and say 'Hi, you weren't at school today, where were you?' I mean really. She decided to follow him to school the next day and maybe ask him about the day before, maybe. Hinata didn't really believe she could work up the courage to actually talk to him but maybe, just maybe.
The next day Naruto had plans to test the next part of his seal which meant another day of skipping school, but this being the third day he made the effort of showing up until lunch. After being chewed out by the big-headed teacher he skipped the rest of the day and headed out to his local training ground with a tail he hadn't noticed.
An hour later a five-point barrier seal was being drawn on sheet of sealing paper he had 'acquired.' A pentagram circling the seal was one of the strongest he knew, it was a direct copy from the original and his first test barrier with the external chakra seal added on. It allowed him to be approximately twenty feet away from the main barrier seal.
Naruto rechecked his work five times with the notes he had brought with him for errors and corrected the two he had found before finally declaring it ready. The area he chose to test his first seal had a stone wall next the field he had intended to use, the stone wall was a little less than thirty centimeters thick so he had plenty of protection just in case.
"Here we go!" He had said it to himself but the other person watching him heard it clearly as she watched him activate a seal on the wall and she quickly activated her Byakugan. Even without her Byakugan both of them could see the symbols light up and the barrier light up brightly. Inwardly she cheered for him as the barrier lasted ten seconds, she could see him straining slightly with her Byakugan she could tell the flow of chakra was irregular. Fifteen seconds in and the flow collapsed and Naruto over reacted by shoving a huge amount of chakra into the seal, the result was explosive.
Naruto panicked, he had done it but the control required to keep all five points controlled at the same time was intense, fifteen seconds or so into the activation he overdid it. A burst of chakra shot in all directions, his chakra shooting towards him it lashed out at the entire wall causing him to duck behind the wall which was hit by the full force of the remaining chakra It washed over the wall and the event ended as quickly as it started.
He jumped up quickly looking at the seal paper with despair; it was burned but only lightly. He ran out and checked it out, it could take another shot but he decided on another day, he would focus his remaining time and control of his chakra and ways to control it through seals.
Chapter 4
He spent the last four days researching while not in the academy; he had proven to his teacher Iruka that he could do the basic techniques the day after his first foray with barriers. It didn't stop his teacher from giving him lines that day for skipping two days so close to graduation.
His standing had taken a small increase since he started his research into seals but he hadn't gained but two places in the class, now only Kiba and Shikamaru remained below him. He knew both kids had been gunning for him in different ways. Kiba had been challenging him to Taijutsu whenever he could, which allowed Naruto to practice his very flawed Taijutsu. Shikamaru had proclaimed him too troublesome to even try; he remained second no matter how much Kiba had prompted a challenge. Naruto wasn't angered per-say towards Shikamaru's attitude, the only thing Naruto wanted to do was get out of the class and work on his own shit.
"Hey, dumb-ass," Kiba kicked his chair from behind, "Let's go outside after class, I'll test a new technique I created yesterday on you." Naruto merely nodded not really caring but it was fun, almost like having friends, sparring with Kiba after class was more of a rival relationship rather than a friendship. Kiba used to participate in some of his pranks but after he gave up on those he hadn't had a reason to even interact with Naruto, in tell the class standings came out.
Today after class he would try his seal in the spar, the distance had mattered after further testing, he had thought about it all day, controlling chakra from a distance is much harder to do than close up. As usual Misuki, the physical arts instructor stuck around to watch the children spar after class. This allowed him to keep watch over the children just in case things went too far, and permitted him to keep watch on certain individuals.
Naruto began to set up the five point seal around him, Kiba noticed it and watched curiously. "What are you doing? Is that a jutsu?" Kiba was inspecting a corner of the seal.
"Nothing you need to be worried about, it's defensive," Naruto finished writing the seal on the ground, Kiba smirked at the 'defensive' part, "It won't hurt anyone."
Kiba dropped into his Inuzuka Taijutsu stance, Akamaru had jumped down from his head and sat obediently nearby.
As he finished the barrier seal on the ground Naruto stepped into his academy/bruiser Taijutsu stance, he shoot forward towards Kiba knowing the close combat he had a better chance to land hits on his opponent. Naruto landed within a meter of Kiba when he dropped down for a slicing kick, Kiba shot up still on all fours dodging his attack, he swiped at Naruto and shifted his body weight into a kick before landing.
Naruto was sent flying from the strong kick, the dog like style of Taijutsu hurt a lot, instantly he palmed the floor by shifting his body weight avoiding slamming into the ground.
Kiba took this to his advantage though as he launched back at Naruto once again moving into that unique Inuzuka Style, his sharpened claws slashed at Naruto quickly and accurately. Kiba knew he had him beat in the Taijutsu area once Naruto was forced back to his circle, he to shot back and prepared for his new technique. "You better be ready Naruto!" Kiba shot over the field twisting into his new technique, "Gatsūga"
Naruto new instantly he need to block this technique, he shot his hand down to the control seal activating the barrier, everyone around him either gasped or their eyes widened.
The force at which Kiba had been moving was immense, he slammed into the barrier at full speed as the unstoppable met the unyielding in one on one combat, for a half a second it looked like Naruto was going to be able to deflect it.
Abruptly the shield cracked and each boy was sent flying, Kiba took most of the brunt of the assault as the speed at which he was moving dissipated instantaneously onto him into the ground. He hit hard and rolled, a couple of people ran over to him as he finished rolling.
Naruto on the other hand took the most damage because his seal collapsed sending him flying backwards into a training poll, nobody moved for him but one, Hinata who had been watching moved instantly to his side.
"Naruto!" Hinata looked into his eyes checking him for the obvious signs of concussion, Naruto didn't look dizzied. "That was.."
"Extremely dangerous," Mizuki stood next to him a smirk, "I didn't think you had something like this up your sleeve." Mizuki was looking over to the remains of the five point seal with an unread emotion.
"It's incomplete," Naruto started but was interrupted.
"That," Mizuki said, "was obvious; I don't think you should use that in class anymore."
"It's fine, Kiba hurt himself." Naruto started again and stopped seeing Kiba get up, "See he's alright. In fact the only reason he's hurt so bad was because of that spin he was in."
Mizuki huffed and sneered slightly before reverting back to his teacher like attitude, "I'll still be telling Iruka about this."
He walked off to check the other boy for injuries.
Naruto looked around for Hinata but she had made an escape during his alteration which the teacher.
Since the day of that fight nearly a week ago Naruto spent most of his time practicing what he would require to graduate, as tomorrow was that test, today was no different. He had worked on using the seal to produce twenty Bunshin clones, this number was much easier than three because of his chakra capacity, he knew it was large, probably as large as Iruka or Mizuki which made his life hell when it came to chakra control.
After class today was a little different since he didn't want to do anything that would hurt his chances of passing the exam he decided to choose another area of Seals to research. This time he wanted to incorporate version two into his work, if he could perfect his chakra control then controlling any other jutsu would come with time.
The only thing about this new technique is that it required access to his seal which was by far the most stupidly dangerous thing Naruto could think of, messing with a Tailed-Beast was not a thing Naruto thought he could do. He needed a teacher with access to the seal or a diagram to the seal itself to practice on.
Which led to his research on containment seals, in the Hokage's Library once again, with the Hokage behind him he ran his hands down the list of scrolls, he knew probably a forth of what the scrolls contained which meant he was looking for one that he didn't know.
This amused Sarutobi Hiruzen to no end, the boy's stubbornness showing through once again. The Hokage sighed from his chair at the Library, "Naruto," The boy looked over, Sarutobi took his pipe out and sagely looked him in the eye. "Shouldn't you be practicing for tomorrow's exam rather than looking through these dusty old scrolls."
Naruto smiled warmly, a look of confidence on his face, "Eh, I've got them all down Ji-Ji, Iruka says I could easily pass now that I've figured out my problem with clones." Sarutobi puffed his pipe and his eyebrows rose slightly.
He had known Naruto had problems with jutsu before, "Problem?" he asked curiously.
Naruto scratched the back of his head smiling, "He-he, Bunshin don't take very much chakra to make and I had too much chakra running through them." A poof of smoke shot upwards in a circle.
"I see," The boy went back to looking for, whatever he was looking for, which was getting rather close to the forbidden section. "Those scrolls are forbidden currently to you, Naruto." He looked down, but was determined to find at least a reference to the seal in question. "Do you remember the first time I brought you into this Library?" Naruto looked over and nodded, he was now near Mito's section looking through a scroll he hadn't tried before. "And What I said to you about finding something in this mess?"
Naruto smiled warily, putting the scroll back into its place, "To ask you,"
"Correct," The Village leader said, another poof of tobacco smoke launched upwards.
Naruto knew he couldn't ask for something like this, it was suspicious and he didn't want to deceive the person he thought the world of. "I can't remember which scroll I came to find." Embarrassed he placed his hand on his head comically.
Sarutobi nearly fell out of his chair, composing himself he looked back up to the son of his successor, "Pick up something that interests you and lets head back out." Naruto nodded and grabbed an advanced sealing technique scroll from Mito's collection.
The classroom was filled with applicants as everyone waited for their names to be called, Naruto sat next in his normal spot practicing his one percent chakra control, it was easy enough as his pool remained nearly at seventy-five percent after forty-five minutes of practice.
Uchiha Sasuke watched him closely, the blond haired dumb-ass that used to be, and the loudest person in the class was sitting quietly watching his desk. He knew what was on the desk after testing the seal more than once; it was interesting to say the least, a seal that measured his exact physical and spiritual levels and offering a balancing percent to the user. He had copied it and redrew it a day later in his apartment for his own use.
Sasuke heard his name and stood to take his turn, Naruto shot him an arrogant middle finger, the idiot.
Naruto was a the same time as Sasuke practicing his chakra control, it was good enough for the teacher and Iruka knew it, all he had to do was show him during the test.
After a couple of minutes Sasuke walked out arrogantly with a Leaf Hitai-ate tied off around his head, he smirked at Naruto and the boy shot back the middle finger again.
"Uzumaki Naruto!" The teacher called, he stood up and went inside the room to where the teachers would be preforming the tests.
"Uzumaki Naruto, Ninjutsu rank one point five out of ten, Taijutsu rank one point five out of ten, Genjutsu rank one out of ten, to pass this class you must achieve a total of fifteen points or better on your overall exams, your current score is thirteen." Iruka was looking through his file which contained his past exam scores, a Ninja of an academy rank could only max a forty on the overall scores. The tests included Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Intelligence, Strength, Speed, Stamina and Hand seals. "To pass we'll need to see at least three Bunshin, and the full sequence of the replacement technique's hand seals."
Naruto nodded, "No problem," he formed the Ram hand seal, and focused his chakra perfectly, before finishing the technique with the last two hand seals, twenty clones popped into existence around him.
Iruka checked off the Ninjutsu part of the test before nodded at Naruto to continue.
Naruto released the clones before preforming the Ram, Boar, Ox, Dog, and Snake hand seals perfectly without adding the required chakra. Iruka nodded and wrote that down also, "For extra credit can you do all the hand seals in order by name." Naruto nodded and did so. "Good job, you passed."
"YATTA!" Naruto jumped in the air causing both teachers to sweat drop for a half a second. "Thank you, sensei," He bowed respectfully all the while smiling. Mizuki wasn't smiling, he was indifferent. Naruto took his head band off the table. "Report to the Hokage with your Ninja Registration tomorrow by five, don't be late. From nine am to noon tomorrow there will be a photographer on the roof of this building." Naruto nodded leaving the room with a wave.
Chapter 5
Four days later, two 'rivals' defeated, which included a mouthwatering sixteen bowls of Raman consumed and a boatload of research into his new seal completed. The next version was coming along nicely and at the core was version one in all its glory, his design with the help of Jiraiya provided Naruto a great base to start off of. The basic concept of the next version was to integrate it into a seal that allowed Naruto to use the chakra of the Nine Tailed Fox in any way he could imagine. Currently the place was to simply use the chakra as a battery and super charge his barrier seal but the problem with the barrier seal was its incomplete structure, and he knew all too well how a seal would react to an overload of chakra, using its chakra would be like setting off a bomb.
So his research the pass two days had been based around the idea of using the chakra internally, which led him to research on what the previous hosts, used the chakra for and how it would affect his body. The Hokage Ji-Ji sent him to an old doctor that was around when his mother alive to do research on negative effects of the power.
That interview was awkward to say the least because the man seemed to be around eighty or so which was different. But in the proved fruitful, the chakra of a Bijū create is corrosive because of the beast itself, a study was done in his time testing the chakra of the beast to confirm that it is poisonous to others and thus the reason for sealing it into a child.
This didn't deter Naruto in his research of the Bijū and its chakra source, Naruto went back to the Hokage's Library to do even more research which prompted the Hokage himself to show up.
In his hands was a box, wrapped with a small bow on top Naruto noticed immediately what it was and smiled warmly.
Sarutobi noticed the warm smile as he approached Naruto with his pipe already lit, he set the package on the table next to his would be grandson, "This is a graduation present from me, in the hope that you will be able to follow in both your parents' footsteps to a certain extent."
Naruto was elated by this, his bones trembled for a mere second before crossing the distance between them and hugging his Ji-Ji around the waist, "Thank you, Ji-Ji and you know I will," Naruto beamed up at him and the Hokage nodded to the present.
Flipping a kunai out of his holster he snapped the bow off the present and opened to simple box, a scroll on a small book lay inside. He reached for the scroll first, unrolling the first part of it to see the title, it read 'Kage Bunshin no jutsu & supplemental Tajū Kage Bunshin no jutsu basics and theory' it was an B-Rank and an A-Ranked forbidden technique taught to those approved.
"It's a very dangerous technique that allows users to create clones of the user, clones that hear, touch, see, feel and remember everything they do. It's forbidden because of the cost to the user in terms of chakra, if a clone uses all its chakra and is dispersed the remaining chakra and memories are returned to the user. It's a very powerful technique that your mother used some times to do her own work." Naruto nodded he understood what a powerful tool lay in his hands, and to be given to him after just becoming a Genin was unprecedented.
He laid the scroll down on the table before grabbing the book from the inside of the box, it was a black book roughly an inch thick with a basic locking mechanism built into the front that would allow for a blood seal to be place on in addition to a small key. It wasn't locked and he opened it to the middle of the book curiously, it was blank. He flipped to the front cover and immediately stopped, his eyes widened a fraction of an inch, a picture was embedded into the front of the book his mother and what looked like the Forth Hokage were standing there with their hands intertwined.
He understood everything within the first five seconds of gazing at the picture, "My father and mother," He said it quietly but Sarutobi heard it fine. He smiled and shut the book, "Thank you for this, it means a lot to me, but I do have a question, the woman, my mother was she the last host?"
Sarutobi was curious about this question but thought Mito would have said something about it, "Indeed, she was, she was known as the Red-Hot Habanero, Kushina Uzumaki, because of her ability and temperament, her hair color certainly didn't help things either." Naruto smiled a little, he was looking at the picture again. "You must keep this a hush-hush at all times, everything regarding your identity is classified as a Double S-Ranked secret because of you know what."
"Can you tell me what happened the night I was born, why I assume my father was forced to reseal the Kyuubi into me?" Sarutobi looked stony faced again, he didn't want to lie but he couldn't tell the boy it was his birth that caused the Kyuubi to be released.
"That is a mystery even to me, your parents were world renown sealing experts who were truly gifted in their fields. All I know is what I seen, after the Kyuubi escaped your father teleported it so far away from us it took time to reengage it, before we could a barrier capable of holding the Kyuubi back was put up to prevent it's escape and the three of you were trapped inside."
Naruto nodded in acceptance, "Thank you again Ji-Ji," He put them both back in the box for safe keeping, "I'll definitely use both they're a big help."
The Hokage nodded and coughed slightly, "That isn't all, in light of recent events; you will not be put on a team with other Genin." Naruto looked up immediately, this meant he would still be alone… he had been looking forward to being on a team. "I understand that look Naruto but things are happening fast within the world of Shinobi, Jiraiya wishes to train you alone."
"But-but why can't he take on someone else with me it's not fair I was just starting to make friends with my classmates." Naruto was looking very miserable at the current moment, why had he always been alone…
"Jiraiya was very insistent on only training you, you will probably be his last student before he quits teaching completely, and you should feel honored." This didn't brighten Naruto's current mood, he grabbed the book from the box, if things had been different. "He did personally train your father also and your father passed down his secrets to only a select few people."
"I suppose, I was just hoping to have some friends on my team, whoever they were." Sarutobi nodded the despair of loneliness was one he hadn't chosen for the boy but the thought of it worried him. But Naruto had to be trained; no matter the costs the coming storm would be cruel on him.
"You'll have one month before Jiraiya gets back to the village, I've set it up with my son and two other Jōnin for you to undergo the basics of being a Genin, including teamwork exercises and mastering the basics of what you know already." Naruto nodded, 'That did sound like so much fun,' the thought even sounded sarcastic.
Despite the bad news he was informed to meet his first teacher the Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma, at the Genin team placements, which were even more awkward when he arrived late.
"Baka-Naruto, you're not on a team," Said a boy, he had forgotten his name.
Naruto stared blankly at him, "Who are you again?"
The boy fumed at him as he sat down in his usual seat. "Yo Naruto," he looked up at Shikamaru and waved. "We thought you graduated," Naruto noticed Choji behind him stuffing his face with chips.
"I did, I've been requested by someone as an apprentice," Shikamaru didn't make an interesting comment, he just seemed to be digesting what he had just said, "Neh, has Sarutobi Asuma come to get his team yet?"
Shikamaru looked at him with an odd expression of boredom, shaking his head "He's our teacher along with Ino." Naruto smiled at this, this meant he would be hanging with the three of them, or at least Choji and Shikamaru. "Troublesome blonds, complicating everything," he finally put his head back and stared out the window lazily.
"Yeah right Naruto," Ino strode over to him, "Your lying, you probably flunked out or nobody wanted the dead-last." Ino was now in his face.
'Why was she always this loud…?' Naruto put his head down on the desk ignoring her completely.
After another hour of listening to Sakura and Ino fight over something Sasuke related the first teacher came in and took a team. This went on for about thirty minutes before a man with a beard walked in, "Team Ten, Naruto." The man walked out just as soon as he walked in.
The four of them walked out of the room in silence, leaving only Team Seven to wait for their teacher.
Sarutobi Asuma stepped into an empty classroom and took a seat on top of the teacher's desk waiting for his 'pupils.' They stepped into the room, each took seats near the front of the class and Shikamaru stared at his new teacher with an odd expression of curiosity and boredom.
He cleared his throat, "First of all I would like to introduce myself, I am a Jōnin of the Leaf previously I was the bodyguard of the Fire Daimyo." He stared at them for a second, "My name is Sarutobi Asuma, and my likes are playing shōgi and smoking." As he finished he lit a cigarette and let out a quick stream of smoke, "Now I expect you all know each other and I expect to learn more about you if you pass my exam so I won't ask you yet."
As he had expected, the Nara thought something like this would be the likely case, 'Annoying…'
Ino wasn't quite as calm, "We've already passed the exam why should we have to take your exam." Asuma stared at the girl, what balls to talk to her teacher that way, Ino flinched back.
His stared directly into Ino's eyes only stopping when she flinched back, "The true test to become Shinobi of the Leaf is given by the teacher of the Genin cells, meaning me. That means out of everyone in your class only ten will pass, including Naruto who has already passed." The other three looked at Naruto thoroughly confused. "Naruto, in tell your teacher returns from his trip you shall be placed under myself and two others, I will be teaching you to control your chakra to a finer to degree. Even if they fail, I will still be training you in this area, do you understand?"
Naruto nodded, this had been explained already, "Yeah I understand Saru-sensei."
"Good, we will meet at a training ground for these lessons," Asuma handed a slip of paper to Naruto, "This is the map to the location." Naruto nodded again, "Your first session with the three teachers will begin in two days, and do you have any questions?"
"Will I be working with your team?" Asuma raised his eyebrows curiously.
"You will not be taking up time that we use for team training but if they wish to attend your lessons I will not stop them, assuming they even pass, anything else?" Naruto shook his head, "Fine, I'll see you in two days at that location and time, you may leave." With that Naruto left for home, leaving Team Ten amazed and confused.
If someone was to enter the Hokage's Library at this current moment they would be greeted by around nine Naruto's sitting around talking.
"What if we made a different seal?" One Naruto asked the rest, all of the Naruto's were brainstorming ideas to use on version two. "Besides with this new technique we could work eight times as fast on it, think about it."
Another Naruto glared at well, himself… "After all that work coming up with the seal in the first place we cannot abandon it in favor for something else," He shook his head, "What we should do is research different types of chakra."
"I'm confused." One said blandly, Naruto hit that one on the head; it released a 'poof' disappearing instantly.
The boss stood up thinking hard; putting this new technique to use was harder than he had thought. "Do you remember that book on old seals, the Uzumaki history book?" They each nodded, "They used the seal to create a contract with the Demon." They were all looking at him by now, "What if we created something similar with the Kyuubi?"
"We already decided altering the seal was a very bad idea; in tell we figure out exactly how it works, it's dangerous." A clone nodded thoughtfully, "But if we went to Ji-Ji and asked him about it, maybe he could help us with the research." A lot of clones nodded, but the problem with agreeing with yourself is that even if you were wrong, thinking about it wouldn't make it right because you're still talking to yourself.
The original Naruto thought about that last time he was in the Hokage's Library, he hadn't gotten anything done after Ji-Ji gave him the presents. "I want to try," Naruto was looking at the others, they finally gave up, "Our goal is to research that seal, and possibly a new seal that can be placed on the main seal, and we already know the chakra is dangerous so we should work out a way to use its chakra safely." They all nodded, a planned formed and the research began anew.
It was around two in the afternoon when a man with silver hair came in followed by a man with the oddest bowl cut hair, all the clones stared at them as they walked in, "Back to work you slackers," Naruto yelled, he stood from the table to greet the two Jōnin, "Hello!" He stared at the man, the eyebrows…
Maito Gai was quick to introduce himself; in his haste he introduced his friend Hatake Kakashi, finally ending his introduction with some crazy idea about wearing a skintight suit like he did.
Kakashi sweat-dropped at his over enthusiastic co-worker, he coughed quietly silencing them both, "As you are no doubt aware you will be training with our teams during the one month before Jiraiya returns," Naruto looked about ready to interrupt him but he continued quickly enough, "As Team 7 passed you will be working with us every other day on teamwork exercises, from there you will be put under Asuma for afternoon training." Naruto nodded he already knew that part.
"YOSH! From five in the morning to the time you meet my rival here," Speaking about Kakashi, "You will be placed under my command for morning Taijutsu training. Team Gai meets for missions at eight so we will work hard during morning training. My youthful student Lee shall be joining us during all these exercises, you should be warmed up by the time you meet us at five!" It was Naruto's turn to sweat drop now.
"So you both graduated teams this year?" Naruto asked assuming that had been the case with Asuma and Team 10.
Kakashi started before Gai could even respond, he lazily said "Team 7 passed, barely, Sasuke, Sakura and Kiba." He took out an Icha Icha book and strode back out the door ignoring his overly excited rival.
"Team Gai contains my beautiful Rock Lee, the amazing Tenten and the commanding Hyūga Neji! Good Luck on your research! I must go!" With that he disappeared.
"Wow, I need to learn how to do that," Naruto went back to his work.
An hour later the Hokage walked in already speaking, "-don't care who you think you are, and you can contest it as much as you wish, he is my Shinobi now and you have no say as to how a Hokage uses his Shinobi." Utatane Koharu stiffened as she saw the boy behind Hiruzen, he turned around also noticing.
"We only want what's best for him and the village," Hiruzen stopped her right there with a hand.
"It is already decided, I thank you all for your concern but he will do fine." Koharu knew she was being dismissed finally giving up and walking away.
The God of Shinobi pinched the bridge of his nose, before turning back around to face Naruto, whose entire body was shielded by a large scroll. "I don't know how many times I came in here looking for your father to see him exactly like this." The scroll dropped a little, as he set it on the ground carefully.
Naruto grinned holding up a scroll, "Introduction to Contract seals."
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his eyebrows, "That's quite advanced stuff," taking out his pipe and lighting the tobacco inside. "What do you plan to do with that?"
Naruto's grin fell a little but recovered, "I want to make a contract with the Kyuubi." The God of Shinobi choked on his smoke a little coughing loudly.
"Surely you mean something else," Recovering quickly the aging ninja stood for a second and moved to sit closer to Naruto. "Controlling the Kyuubi can be very intimidating and dangerous thing to do."
"I don't think of it as controlling the Kyuubi, I want to form a contract with it, both of us would benefit in some way." Sarutobi was listening intently his face not betraying his distrust in the boy's idea. "I've been reading on the battle between the First and Uchiha Madara, the one by the Valley of the End. In Mito-obasan's journal it says Madara had formed a contract with the Kyuubi, this got me thinking."
"And you need help in progressing to the next step, its one thing to research and read stories but to contact the Kyuubi within you requires some skill." The Hokage of Konoha let out a puff of smoke thinking about what he could do to either help Naruto or dissuade him off the issue. "There are techniques used by some clans within Konoha that would allow this, but it would have to be under their supervision in tell you can do the exercise on your own."
Naruto looked thoughtful, considering the information given to him, "Can't you do it? I don't know those people."
"I could, but their better controlling the mind is a delicate art, only a small portion of people outside of that clan are taught the skill." Smoke wafted from the end of his pipe, a light smell filled the room. "Do you suppose your taking on too much Naruto?" Glancing over at the clones that were still hard at work, "Mental drain can be an issue when overusing this technique."
Noticing the obvious changing of the subjects he replied, "This is nothing, when I first started using Kage Bunshin I was making tens at a time and they would charge me, others would throw stuff at me." The Hokage raised his eyebrows again, "Learning to dodge and fight against a larger force at the same time."
"Impressive, I wouldn't of guessed you would think of that so quickly," Naruto looked up at his Ji-Ji with a hurt expression, the old man chuckled a little. "Not that you're dumb, but I remember just last year when the only thing on your mind was pranking the villagers who ignored you."
Naruto didn't respond to that, bringing up the past hurt in more ways than one. He stood up from the table, "Now that I know who my parents are I want to make them proud, and do my best, Mito-obasan taught me that someone will always behind me pushing me to move forward, caring for me from the shadows."
"Naruto," He looked over to the older man. "You could have done anything with your life, and your parents would have been proud of you." Naruto nodded in understanding.
"I still want to form a contract seal with the Kyuubi if we can come to an understanding," Looking straight at the Leader of the Leaf, the boy remained resilient.
Hiruzen sighed thoughtfully, "Tenzo," He snapped his finger and instantly a ANBU body guard appeared, "I need you to prepare the sealing room for us, I want you and Inoichi to meet us there in an hour."
"Hai, Hokage-sama," He disappeared quickly.
The Hokage stood walking over to the forbidden section of the scrolls and removed a large seal marked, 'Eight Divination Signs Seal Style' "This is part of a key, the rest is held by Jiraiya, with this part of the key I can allow more interaction between you and the Kyuubi." He set it down, "Many hosts have the ability to talk to their respective Bijū, similarly many hosts learn to control their Bijū," He was looking at Naruto calmly now the boy was listening intensely his clones already dispelled. "What I will be doing is unlocking just enough of the seal to allow the three of us to converse with your Bijū."
Naruto nodded, this was a very serious situation he had initiated, "Does the Kyuubi have any control outside the seal?" A very basic question he knew, but with changes to the seal he didn't know what would change for him.
"No, I suspect he would try and flood your system with chakra to overwhelm you but I already planned for this," He unrolled the seal a little checking it, "Everything will be fine, in fact I was hoping for a chance like this." Naruto's head tilted sideways in confusion. "The night the Kyuubi was sealed within you my wife was their helping your mother birth you." Naruto looked down shamed a little, the older man heard him mutter 'I'm sorry' "We both knew the risks going into that situation, as did your parents when they married."
The man returned after thirty minutes, "Hokage-sama, the room is ready for you and Inoichi wishes to speak to you before you enter the room." Hiruzen nodded as they all exited the Hokage's Library.
Chapter 6
They had walked deep into the earth, dropping about five stories under the village, where they came out was a giant room with an underground river, and roots grew everywhere holding the ceiling and supporting the structures built underneath. He was led to a room built at the end of a balcony, the outside looked ancient.
As Naruto stepped into the darkly lit room he noticed five wooden statues surrounding a seal, in the middle was a control seal that integrated into the wooden statues.
"Very few people will see this in their lifetimes, the underground facilities span throughout the village, a maze of buildings built to house the entire village in case of attack, no village has ever penetrated this deep during a war." Sarutobi quickly explained, beside him was a man in his forties wearing a Jōnin vest with a red coat.
"This is my personal friend Yamanaka Inoichi; he is from the clan I spoke of earlier." The Yamanaka nodded his head at Naruto. "Tenzo, you will provide backup if the Kyuubi decides to unleash any of its power, do not interfere with our objective unless necessary." Tenzo nodded.
"In the middle," He pointed at Naruto, as both he and Inoichi stood around him, "Ready?" They both nodded and Inoichi preformed a set of seals.
Instantly they weren't there anymore, instead they stood in front of a familiar set of bars, they all looked around expecting something else, Inoichi preformed a seal and the entire place lit up like someone turned the lights on.
A growling voice came from the inside, "More visitors Boy." The Kyuubi's voice boomed over them, "I do not wish to be disturbed."
"Kyuubi No Kitsune, I am Sarutobi Hiru-"
"I know who you are monkey, after so long being trapped inside these hosts even I get to know the people around them." It interrupted the Hokage, he didn't look happy about it either.
"Regardless of your previous misgivings, Naruto wishes to ask you something." He looked over to the boy and nodded.
"I wish to perform the contract seal, so that we both may live better lives." Instantly the Bijū started laughing its booming unnerving laugh.
"Do you honestly believe I would allow another HUMAN to control me so easily after that MAN defiled me, USED me for his own gain? I would sooner eat my own paw!" He was yelling so loud by now.
Sarutobi stared intently at the beast before him, "You speak of Uchiha Madara?"
The Bijū hissed at the name slamming it's tailed onto the bars of the cage, "Those vile EYES, cursed by my father's son, he will pay for what he has done!"
"The Uchiha no longer exist, down to a measly two members of the clan, surely that would suffice as your revenge." The Kyuubi glared down at him.
"THAT man still exists, the contract was dissolved by your Forth Hokage but I can still feel it even through this seal, that man still exists!" The Kyuubi's rage was coming through, affecting Naruto a little. They both noticed this, and Sarutobi chose try and calm the beast.
"What if Naruto pledged to find him?" The Kyuubi calmed down it's tails swishing behind him menacingly, Hiruzen took this as his chance. "If what you say is true and Uchiha Madara remains alive today than it is within our best interests to seek and destroy him. If you were to give consent and allow Naruto to seek your revenge, through him he could hunt the man down."
The Kyuubi no Kitsune took a second to think this through, although there was no way to tell, the humans merely stared at the beast before them. He dropped lower facing Naruto, "Interesting." The beast stared at Naruto, "This boy is incapable of taking on such a powerful man." The sinister underlying tone lay there, Naruto took the bait.
"Screw you! I'll find him if he is responsible for everything that happened, including all the hatred in my life! I'll find him and destroy him for the good of Konoha!" The Kyuubi bent lower staring Naruto in the in the eyes, Naruto didn't falter under its gaze. The beast didn't laugh this time, Kyuubi just leveled his sight onto the rest of them.
"I will not help him; he is too weak to use my power." The underlying message was clear, if Naruto was to grow strong then he would.
Sarutobi Hiruzen understood that their time was ending, "One final question, did Uchiha Madara control you that night you were ripped from Kushina?" Naruto looked up to his grandfatherly figure, the beast sneered.
"Not him, the contract was passed down to another who controls HIS power." The Hokage of Konoha looked thoughtful,
'Another Sharingan user, how?' he thought quickly, "This person is controlling the power of Uchiha Madara?" The Kyuubi didn't respond but closed his eyes, "If there is another Uchiha alive we need to know."
"Foolish human, those eyes can be used by anyone, it's possible for someone to steal that power for his or her use, but the contract I was bound by must be given willingly."
Sarutobi looked thoughtful again, 'I will need to assess this information.' He looked back to the Kyuubi, "Thank you for this information, and as the Leader of Konoha I understand your hatred for us but it would be best if you were to let go of that hatred, and maybe one day you and your kind will be free of our influence."
The Kyuubi no Kitsune growled angrily, but didn't reply. The God of Shinobi turned around intending to leave, "I will provide help to Naruto," Sarutobi didn't turn around, "In exchange you will kill all of the Uchiha; there kind along with that power must be obliterated from this world."
"Save one, it will be done, the boy has shown no ill intent towards us." Sarutobi looked over to the Yamanaka and nodded his consent to end the Inner-World Walk technique.
Chapter 7