A/N: If you have any suggestions or criticisms that are positive please PM me or review so I know I'm doing a good job! Just clarify for anyone. Naruto is quite AU and I'm actually taking a bit of Sai's character ( his terrible social awareness and amazing artistic nature) I thought I should do this because Naruto is born to be able to use fuinjutsu to the highest of levels ( Kushina was a princess of the Uzumaki clan renowned for their fuinjutsu skills and Minato himself was a fuinjutsu master) and I thought it would make sense if he too picked it up along with his artistic ways to properly express himself which he does not in the cannon unless someone is in a terribly dire situation which will still happen in my fic.
(At the gates of the Konohagakure no Sato)
An Old man with a headpiece with the kanji for 'Fire' in his hand with a flowing white with dark red trimmings robe stared longingly at his home village " Ah, It's good to be back" he was interrupted from his musings " Hokage-sama we will accompany you to the tower". Hirzuen turned to the speaker to see none other than one of his most trusted Anbu, the dog masked captain. "All right dog, as you were".
The entourage made their way through the village, many of the villagers bowing or nodding their heads in respect and appreciation for their Hokage. Some who knew that their Hokage had a soft spot for the 'demon child' but could not help but still respect and admire this man, survivor of all three great ninja wars and 'god of shinobi'. When the entourage finally reached the Hokage tower he could sense in his office there was a very large signature, he motioned for the rest of the Anbu to leave except Dog and silently told him of the situation. Both high level shinobi approached the door to the office slowly opened it. Dog silently entered as protection for the Hokage and motioned him to come through. When he did he saw the cutest imaginable scene. Young Naruto sleeping curled up in a ball on the couch with his chest rising and falling peacefully. And they both thought this was an assassination attempt. "My god he has more chakra then a chunin" they both thought incredulously at exactly the same time.
Dog stood rigidly when he saw this, a very small pudgy version of his late and great sensei. This brought a slight smile under his Anbu (and cloth) mask(s). "He looks like a spitting image of you sensei, I wish you were here now, to help him grow up into a splendid shinobi". Hiruzen quietly walked toward the little bundle and gently shook him. The blonde boy began to stir and his eyes slowly but surely fluttered and then opened with a bit of sleep in them. He proceeded to try and make sense of his surroundings while sitting up and rubbing his sleepy eye with his pudgy fist and yawned loudly which would make every woman in the entire village scream 'KAWAI!'
His bright cerulean cesspools widened in surprise and quickly he jumped into his Jiji's arms and finally let loose some of the emotions he had bottled up from when he was beaten to now and after a few minutes the boys sobbing and sniffing slowed and then stopped. When he was done Hiruzen put them at length "what happened Naruto? Why are you crying?" but Naruto wasn't listening, his shy nature came into full power when he realised there was a stranger standing a short distance away from them watching. Naruto looked fearfully at him and then at Hiruzen then clung on to him for dear life.
"Jiji don't let him get me!" and the demon fox inside him, was now watching his hosts life through his eyes with interest after their short encounter "How can this mortal fear some puny human with a dog mask but not me! I am the strongest of all bijuu! AND FOR GOD SAKE WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE GET THOSE PATHETIC NICK NAMES!" the bijuu was pulled from is thoughts when the Sarutobi comforted the boy and said "Naruto do not be afraid of dog, he is one of my most loyal and powerful shinobi and will not allow harm to come to us, there is no need to cling to me" he finished with a grandfatherly smile.
He gently put Naruto down and motioned him to introduce himself to the shinobi in front of him. The young boy was again fumbling and mumbling while staring at the ground. Dog could see the uneasiness and shy attitude that Naruto exuded "Yo, I'm dog as Hokage-sama has already told you. What is your name?" he started off a little bit aloofly. "I-I-ma-my na-name is Naruto Uzumaki!" he began very cluttered but finished with a bit of strength and looked up into the imposing figure of dog with determination to show he was not afraid. "Interesting he is very shy like his father in the beginning from what Kushina-Chan had told him but her personality sometimes bursts to the forefront. Very interesting indeed". Naruto continued with his undying determination "and I will become Hokage and take that hat off jiji! Then all the meanies will stop looking down on me and I will gain their respect!" after this he blushed up a storm for telling a complete stranger his dreams that he has never even told his own Jiji no less and reverted back into his shy shell.
The other two in the room were staring dumb-founded at not only how fast the boys attitude could change, but just how uncanny his resemblance to his parents, his looks, his attitudes and even his goals! "Well Naruto I'm sure with hard work and dedication you can 'take my hat' so to speak, but why may I ask did you never mention this to me?" Naruto became embarrassed again "Well, I thought you would be mad at me for wanting to take your job" Hiruzen chuckled at this an Naruto got shy yet again "B-but, I'm sorry Jiji but one day it will be me sitting in that chair and having friends like Dog who will help me be a great ninja!" and with that said the young boy for the third time in a few minutes had reverted back into his shell.
The Third was now seated in his Hokage seat with a gift in his hand, of course he didn't forget the boys' birthday. "Naruto come here" as he approached his curiosity got the better of him. When he saw jiji pull out a rectangular sketch pad with a box of pencils. Not only that but he also brought out a jet black handled brush with a whirlpool symbol on the golden band near the brush itself. It instantly caught his attention. "What is that jiji?" he questioned whilst pointing at the intricately designed brush. "That my boy is a brush made specifically for kanji writing and fuinjutsu". "That's what foxy-Chan told me to start studying!" " well Naruto, happy birthday my boy, I hope you didn't think I forgot!" and at the end of the sentence the Hokage was nearly crushed by a four year old boy hugging and sniffling while he stuttered out thank you constantly.
"Ok ok, Naruto I understand your happy but it is your birthday, remember this is the day you were born so cherish it and take these gifts-"Jiji" he was interrupted by Naruto and he continued "can I ask one last favour" as he looks up into the hokages eyes with the PUPPY DOG EYE NO JUTSU "can you please let me have a book on fuinjutsu? I want to learn so that I can fulfil my dreams, and I remember you told me that fuinjutsu is very good! But you said that the last masters of Konoha have either left or are gone to heaven like the Yondaime! " His interest in fuinjutsu is well founded, maybe I will give him his father's book as it goes from beginners to masters and takes years study and take it in to its full." "Of course my boy, and I have the best one for you" Hiruzen got up and walked over to the bookcase "Naruto close your eyes" to which the young boy comically slapped his hands over his eyes and you could tell he was listening intently. Hiruzen proceeded to nod to Dog who simply nodded back and the Hokage knew he wasn't watching either.
The Sarutobi went up to the bookcase on the side of the office and whispered "release" and the bookcase disappeared to show a gigantic room full of scrolls and books. But in the middle lay the villages most powerful secrets, the scroll of sealing. Naruto the ever so curious boy he is spreads one hand on his face and peaks into the room that is shown to all and his eyes widen at all the books and scrolls but what catches his eye is the huge scroll in the middle. Naruto runs over to the third in excitement and asks "What's that jiji?
Sarutobi is flustered as he realises Naruto has just entered the Hokages secret libr-well not so secret library now. "Naruto what did I tell you?" to which the boy becomes his trademark fumbling mess "sorry Jiji but I-I-um, really wanted to see." The third stern expression cracks and he gives the boy a wide grandfatherly smile "its ok Naruto I can trust you, this is the Hokages library and if you stay dedicated like you say you will you get to enter here whenever you need more knowledge and even to place in some of your own so you can pass on your knowledge to the next generation, strengthening the will of fire." Naruto was staring at the Hokage with his full attention and asked in a whisper "what is the will of fire jiji?"
Hiruzen pondered this silently, thinking of his three students, the legendary sannin; all of them were gone, none TRULY inheriting the will of fire. But as he looked upon the face of this boy, he knew in his heart that he would carry the light that brightens this dark world; he would carry the will of fire like no other. "Naruto, the will of fire is the will to never give in, to never give up, when all seems bleak, when the darkness is engulfing this village; the will of fire is to be the pillar of light that holds up our village, our home full of our precious people. This will of fire will ignite through this dark time and light up the village. I am this village's pillar of light, the Hokage, and my will of fire will last until my dying breath. But with my death that fire will not dissipate, it will ignite through those that I have passed it on to. This was the same for the First Hokage who ignited his brother the Second Hokages will of fire to continue to protect this village and act as it's pillar, then they both ignited my own will of fire. My will of fire will never dissipate Naruto, as long as this village stands and my precious people are within it I will burn bright! Protecting it even if I must lay down my life! For that is the will of fire"
A cycle of emotions went through Naruto as he listened to his Jiji's speech until he quietly spoke up "Jiji, am I one of your precious people?" to which the Hokage answered "You Naruto are one of my most precious, one that I would gladly lay down my life to defend". Naruto was dumbfounded, being mostly alone most of his life besides seeing his Jiji he never thought anyone would love him after all the meanies glared at him and called him mean names. Although he was young he was not naive, he knew there were bad people out to hurt the village, he could feel the sinister thoughts and feelings of people within this village and that was enough to realise the outside world was worse. Brimming with determination and resolve the four year old glared right into his Jiji's eyes "If you are willing to lay down your life for this village and be its pillar Jiji then I will be your pillar! I will protect my precious people to my dying breath just like you and I swear to never give up or never give in even if the darkness engulfs me or this village, I will work to change how the mean people treat and think of me, I'm not dumb Jiji I know they hate me, I can feel their evil and sinister thoughts when I'm near them. But I won't let that stop me; I will never give up because that is my nindo!"
The Sandaimes eyes widened to epic proportions after witnessing and hearing this and he could see, he could feel, he could SMELL the will of fire burning in this four year old boy stronger than any other. To believe this mere child had such a hardened resolve and a nindo no less at the age of four! "It seems my boy, that the will of fire has been passed and burns strongly within you" to this they both smiled widely at each other " You have made your nindo, you cannot go back on it now, here take this fuinjutsu book, it was written by the Yondaime himself, treat it with care and learn from it all you can, for you will need to grow strong to keep your promise and ignite this villages will of fire that has been waning over the years" he continued " and here take these 5 books, I know you are young, but I can tell you will become a great ninja Naruto and you will need all the training you can get, once you have read and studied those 5 books come back and we will see what you have learnt"
Naruto looked at the 5 scrolls "Road to Ninja: Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. Chakra: the basics. Strategies and Tactics One. How to play shogi for dummies. Laws and regulations of Konoha." " Finally we will be getting knowledge into this brain, I will have to properly reveal myself to him, he is only four so he believes me only to be a part of his imagination, I cannot tell him now for it will derail his learning and training"
"Now Naruto it is getting late, take your new books and the gifts I gave you back home, Dog will accompany you" once he had finished saying this he looked at Narutos body and realised his clothes were destroyed and grimy "And dog could you please accompany him to a clothing store under my direct orders, and if they refuse use necessary force, get him some shinobi clothes for now and clothes that he can grow into so we don't need to make this a daily ritual" he looked at Dog who had been standing there listening the entire time, taking in every waking moment with the son of his sensei, drinking it in as he knows this is all the time he can have with him as the elders forbade him of approaching him for fear of his identity getting let out "Kami damn village elders!"
"Hai Hokage-sama, Naruto lets go" Naruto looked at him and nodded containing his happiness within a foxy grin that only Kami knows is trade-marked for our favourite whiskered blonde.
(A short time later)
After one shop had refused Naruto, Dog resorted to so much killing intent that Naruto felt it and got a little scared, so he had to lay off it and use physical means to tortu-...persuade the shopkeeper to allow them to buy new clothes, and buy they did.
"Thank god this imbecile didn't choose any stupid colours like bright orange, HIDEOUS! Now we can work on his stealth much easier" Naruto was now decked out in tight long sleeved black top with the Uzumaki swirl on the back with standard shinobi pants, black sandals and black fingerless gloves with metal plates with the Konoha insignia. Yet the biggest wardrobe change was the medium length grey scarf that wrapped around his neck and face covering up to the bridge of his nose and the ends of the scarf framing the red Uzumaki swirl on his back. " Well Naruto, now you look like a midget, pudgy shinobi, all the girls will be screaming 'kawai'" Naruto blushed heavily after hearing this and said " Well I need to look like a shinobi if I'm going to be one" he muttered indignantly " Naruto? Why did you decide to wear a scarf like that?"
"Well it looks really cool for one and also because it hides my whiskers so it's harder for the enemy and others to tell it's me! " "And so it's harder for the villagers to tell it's me so they don't glare at me but it will probably be short lived as my hair and eyes are too rare"
"Ok Naruto hold on let's get you home now" and with that Dog grabbed Naruto and performed shunshin to the front of his grungy apartment. Naruto turned to Dog and excitedly asked " Can you teach that to me!" while jumping up and down his eyes shining with awe " sorry Naruto but it is a very hard jutsu and you will have to get much better and stronger to use it as it is a jonin level technique" "Well I will just have to learn it myself and become stronger for my nindo" he muttered under his breath as he reverted to his shy state again but finishing with a hint of determination.
"Good night Naruto" and with that Dog shunshin to wherever he needs to be and Naruto turned back towards his home and started walking towards the front door " Well now it's time to fulfil my dream and become the Hokage dattebayo!"
"Boy!" a deep and gruff voice spoke in Narutos mind, " Foxy-Chan!" he said out loud and looked like he was talking to himself until he went into his home and flopped down on the couch. "MY NAME IS-you will have to earn my trust and respect before I give you my name so you will in the mean time call me Kyuu-" "Foxy-Chan right? Ok so mister Foxy-Chan I got all this stuff so I can draw and so I can do fuinjutsu like you said AND learn about chakra basics!" "KAMI DAMN BRAT! Calm Kurama CALM he is only four he doesn't understand your limitless source of chakra or immense fury...calm...cal-" "FOXY-CHAN! ARE YOU THERE! PLEASE DON'T BE GONE! You're my first friend and I need to make sure I look after you because jiji taught me to protect my precious people!" he all but screamed "Well I'll be he wants me, the most sinister being in the universe to be his precious person, hmmmm maybe this mortal boy is different, maybe he doesn't just seek us bijuu out for power like the others" "ALL RIGHT BOY! I'M HERE NO NEED TO YELL, now let's get to it, we have a lot of training ahead of us now open up those books and get STARTED!" to which Naruto smiled under his scarf wildly and started bouncing up and down at the prospect of training and learning new things "Ok Foxy-Chan, me and you are going to be the best! DATTEBAYO!"