Naruto Chronicles: Rise of the Bandits

Chapter 2

Speaking: normal

Thoughts, flashbacks, com-link, and notes: italicized

Jutsus, summons, demons: bold

Summons's and demon's thoughts, and mind link…: bold italicized

(): author speaking

…: Time change

~: Scene change

Summary: On the night of the sealing, Minato seals the entire fox into Naruto and Sarutobi reveals his true heritage to the village. When the council demands his death, Sarutobi sees just how far Konoha has fallen from grace. He then gives Tsunade an important assignment: raise Naruto Uzumaki to rise above the village that betrayed him. However, during his life outside of Konoha, Naruto gains a second goal that he intends to make into a reality.

Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto. This is a fan-made story made simply for the sake of enjoyment.

As soon as Naruto awoke the next morning, he went down to the kitchen and found Tsunade and Jiraiya arguing over a glass of orange juice.

"I bought the damn juice, Tsunade. It's only fair that I get the last glass," said a thirsty Jiraiya.

Tsunade pulled out a senbon and stabbed it into the table between the Sennin's fingers. "Touch that glass and I'll have you begging to be experimented on by Orochimaru when I'm finished. If you want some orange juice, you had better go buy another carton."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he walked past Shizune, who had been reading a medical book in hopes of ignoring her master. The young blonde wasted no time in grabbing the glass of juice and draining the entire glass.

He then turned to his mother and said, "You two act like a pair of whiny little children fighting over a cookie. I'm honestly not surprised as to why everyone likes to call me and Shizune-nee your elders. Now, I have to go and meet with Sarutobi-jiji and Biwako obaa-chan."

As the genin turned to exit the kitchen, he looked back at the table and said, "If I come home and see you two still acting younger than I am, everyone in this room is going to have trouble sleeping for a month. By the way, I'm taking Tonton out with me."

Shizune instantly looked up from her book to say, "Hold on a minute, Naruto-kun. How in Kami-hime's name am I involved in their stupidity?"

Naruto picked up Tonton and said, "You knew that they were being foolish yet you chose to ignore them for your own reasons and let them squabble about. If I were an enemy shinobi, I could've and most likely would've rigged this house to explode and none of you would've known until the morgue had finished identifying the remains of your charred corpses."

Shizune just nodded tiredly as she realized the validity in her little brother's words. She then watched in slight annoyance as Naruto and Tonton vanished in a swirl of rose petals.

From over at the kitchen table, Jiraiya looked at Tsunade and said, "Hime, you never did tell me the story behind Naruto's shunshin. Why did he choose rose petals?"

Tsunade simply pulled out a deck of cards and a bottle of sake. "Deal the cards out and I'll tell you while we play a few hands. I have all day to recap this little tale and playing card games are better than being bored."

Hokage's office…

As Naruto entered the Hokage's office, he was less than surprised to see both Hiruzen and Biwako sleeping in their chairs. Deciding not to be a cynical jackass, Naruto pulled out his flute and played a soft melody to gently awaken the man who signs his paychecks.

When the couple had finally been roused from their slumber, Naruto stowed his flute and bowed in respect. "Sarutobi-jiji, I was informed that you needed to speak with me about something."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "As a matter of fact, I do have something to discuss with you. You see, I would like to ask you…"

He was cut off by the sound of the office door being thrown open. In the doorway, a small boy with a shuriken and a needlessly long scarf yelled, "It's time to die, old man!"

Sadly, the boy only managed to take a single step before tripping over his own scarf. After finally scrambling to his feet, the boy searched the room for his would be attacker until his eyes landed on Naruto. "What's the big idea tripping me up like that? I almost had the old man until you ruined my master plan!"

Hiruzen took a single look at the blonde while silently praying in his mind, "Kami-hime, I know I don't ask for much but please don't let Naruto-kun kill my grandson. Please let the boy at least survive what's probably going to be later described as 'a seriously one-sided as hell fight'."

Naruto hoisted the boy up by his collar and said, "Listen up, you pint-sized little runt. I was on the other side of the room and you tripped over your own damned scarf. I should honestly smack some common sense into that thick skull of yours for being so stupid."

At that exact moment, Ebisu ran into the office and shouted, "Naruto-sama, put the Honorable Grandson down! Someone of your status should not be seen picking fights with children!"

The child gave a cold snarl at his given title. "My name is not 'Honorable Grandson'. My name is Konohamaru Sarutobi!"

He then looked Naruto in the eye and thought, "This guy's probably like everyone else. After hearing about who I am, he'll set me down and start begging to be forgiven."

Much to Konohamaru's surprise, Naruto balled his fist and roughly brought it down on the child's head. He then pulled Konohamaru back to his feet and said, "I don't give a damn if Sarutobi-jiji is your grandpa. Hell, I wouldn't give two shits if baa-chan over there was the Sandaime. Hiding behind a name or a title only pisses me off. Speaking of which…"

Naruto quickly flipped over Konohamaru and slammed a rising foot into Ebisu's chin. The man hit the ground in a loud thud which caused Naruto to smirk. "I don't care if I am the Shodaime's great-grandson or that I am Tsunade's son. It was made clear that you were to never call me Naruto-sama, Ebisu."

He then refocused his attention on Sarutobi and said, "Now, let's get back to why I was called here in the first place."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "I called you here for a personal favor. Biwako-chan and I were hoping that you would draw our grandson's attention for a while."

Naruto instantly said, "Hell no," before vanishing in a swirl of rose petals.

Ebisu let out a sigh and said, "Come along, Honorable Grandson. We must continue your studies if…"

That was when he noticed that Konohamaru had vanished. Biwako chuckled and said, "It seems as though our grandson has gone searching for Naruto-kun."

Minutes later…

Naruto chuckled to himself as Konohamaru made his best attempts to follow and stay hidden from the blonde. Sadly for Kono, his hiding techniques were severely lacking and Naruto wasn't an idiot.

After another hour had gone by, Naruto finally ended things by saying, "Your stealth skills are terrible, runt. Now come out here and tell me why you're following me."

Kono dropped his poorly placed camouflage sheet and said, "You're not like everyone else. They all see me as the 'Honorable Grandson' and not who I really am."

Naruto just let out a tired sigh as he picked up Tonton. "Listen runt, I'm in a good mood today. Tell me what your goals in life are and I'll see if I can give you a few tips to put you in the right direction."

Konohamaru smirked as he proudly shouted, "I wanna be the next Hokage so that people will see the real me and not my grandpa!"

Naruto shook his head in amusement as he led Kono to an open field. He then sat down on a large rock and said, "That's good and all, but being the Hokage is about more than simply getting people to stop calling you by some title. You have to make them see you first so that people will know you by more than just Hokage-sama."

Naruto then held up three fingers so that Konohamaru could see them. "Now, my first piece of advice is that you need to master your basics. They are the foundation of what will eventually build you up to become a Hokage."

Konohamaru scoffed and said, "That's not what Ebisu-sensei tells me. He says that he can show me all of the shortcuts to becoming…"

"…a power-hungry criminal or something even worse," Naruto cut in. "Ebisu is a fool for telling you something like that and you are just as much of a fool for believing him. The last Konoha-nin who sought a shortcut to power betrayed the village."

As Naruto let one of his fingers drop, he pulled out an onigri and tossed it to Kono. The boy ate in silence as Naruto said, "My second piece of advice is this. You need to find a reason for becoming the Hokage that's not just having people see you as you. If you were to become the Hokage without allowing people to see you shine without some fancy title, they will only come to know you as Hokage-sama and not Konohamaru."

As Konohamaru gave Naruto his undivided attention, he never noticed that Ebisu had been listening from the tree line. "So, Naruto-sama was able to keep the boy's attention on him. It seems as though Hokage-sama was right to leave Konohamaru in his care."

He then locked eyes with Naruto and gave him an approving nod before leaving the area with a satisfied grin. There was simply no reason to interfere with a good thing.

Meanwhile Naruto looked to the setting sun and jumped down from his rock. "It's getting late out here and I don't think that Sarutobi-jiji would appreciate me keeping you out so late into the night."

As the duo walked back to the Hokage's tower, Naruto could feel an Anbu following them. After arriving at the large building, he felt the Anbu's chakra vanish. Something in the back of his mind told him that he would be dealing with this particular Anbu soon enough.

Once the two boys made it to the doors to the tower, Konohamaru quickly said, "Hey, you never gave me that third tip."

Naruto just smiled under the building lights as he handed the small boy a rose. "I'm glad to see that you were paying attention. My third piece of advice to you is the most vital part of what I have to say."

Kono could only listen on in silence as the blond continued, "If you desire the mantle of the Hokage so much, you must prove to me that you are worthy of the title. As the future Godaime Hokage, that is my advice to you."

The brunette's eyes widened as Naruto pulled out a second rose. As the petals fell from the stem, Naruto quickly said, "I was raised for the sole purpose of becoming the Hokage when Sarutobi-jiji retires again. If you want that hat, you must prove to me that you are worthy of being my successor."

Konohamaru stared at him before holding out a fist. "I'll do it. I'll work hard and prove to you that I can become the Hokage."

Suddenly, the fallen rose petals began to rise from the ground and spiral around Naruto. As the blonde's body dissolved into rose petals, he gave Kono an approving smile. "I'm going to hold you to that, so you had better make me proud. Good luck, Konohamaru Sarutobi. You will need it."

Kono could only smile as Naruto vanished. Not only had Naruto acknowledged his dream of becoming Hokage, the blonde had also given Kono the one thing he wanted above all else. He had acknowledged the brunette as himself and not by some title.

Kono turned to enter the building and said, "Thank you, Naruto. Thank you."