Mists: Chapter Two – Beginnings
Hiruzen stood in his office gazing through his large window at the village he had devoted his entire life to. Today was October 9th, and the sandaime's mood was considerably darker than it usually was these last few years. After the death of his successor, he returned to his position as hokage. It had not been an easy job when he had first become hokage, but now things were considerably different.
Since he had been reinstated as hokage, there had been several problems from both within Konoha and from without. The peace that had settled over the village after his successor had taken up the position of hokage was now a thing of the past. Treaties that Minato had all but sealed with Sunagakure and Kumogakue were abandoned just months after Minato's passing. Skirmishes were frequent between all of the ninja villages, just as they always had been. Hiruzen feared another Great Ninja War was approaching in the near future. He knew how friction between nations could build hatred over time, and it was only a matter of time before one of the villages went too far and the flames of war would ignite once more.
However, foreign threats were a constant for the a kage, what troubled him deeply was the turmoil within his village. Though Konoha had regained much of its strength after the attack nearly a decade ago, the village was weaker than it had ever been. The military strength they once possessed was just under what they had before Minato's death, but this wasn't the main problem. Two events had occurred that had severely damaged the morale, and reputation of his shinobi.
The first event had caused the complete disruption of all communications with Kumo. During alliance talks with Kumo, one of their top Jonin had attempted to kidnap the heiress of the Hyuuga Clan. It was common knowledge that Kumo and the current Raikage had an obsession with kekkei genkai, the abilities born to a family by blood that were infinitely valuable to a ninja and their village. Kumo had been secretly stealing the bloodlines of the four other Great Nations for as long as anyone could remember. Wars had been fought over such crimes and countless had died in the attempts to bring such abilities back to their village.
Konoha was famous for the diverse and powerful bloodlines it possessed, and contrary to the other hidden villages, treated their clans with honor and respect.
One of the most powerful, and famous clans were the Hyuuga. The family possessed an rare type of bloodline that granted them an ocular ability deemed the Byakugan – the all seeing eye. Kumo lusted after the power of the Byakugan and had attempted to steal it from Konoha. In the past, that meant they would kidnap a female member of the family and forced her produce bloodline bearing children for the village for the rest of her life. Such an act would normally cause a war between the two nations, but after a vicious political battle, they had settled the fight with minimal bloodshed. Unfortunately the Hyuuga Clan had withdrawn into itself for a time. Nearly two years had passed and only now had the Clan begun to return to normality.
The second event was considerably more painful for Hiruzen to think about. Only six months prior, the clan who possessed their other ocular bloodline – the Sharingan, had been completely decimated.
Hiruzen, growing increasingly more solemn returned to his desk and withdrew a file from a locked drawer.
The file was the profile for Sasuke Uchiha, the lone survivor from the incident.
As Hiruzen flipped through the documents that contained reports from his psychiatric experts from the Yamanaka Clan, he thought back to the day he had slaughtered the Uchiha Clan and by default was responsible the this boy's troubles.
Flashback
Hiruzen sat in a secret chamber beneath the Hokage Tower. The chamber was very small only a ornate square table with a chair on each side for furnishings. The plain white walls and cream colored carpeting gave the room a comfortable feel.
Hiruzen was not wearing his Kage robes but instead wore very plain clothing, a black tee with orange swirl on the sleeve and dark blue shinobi pants. Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe, enjoying the rather expensive Tobacco he had brought in the hopes it would help him feel less horrible about was he was sure had to happen this night.
Without a sound the door to the chamber opened and a figure shrouded in a black cloak with the hood pulled up stepped in. The figure approached the table and knelt before the elderly shinobi.
Hiruzen sighed before speaking to the figure. "None of that Itachi-kun, as of this moment you and I will speak as equals. Tonight may be the last time we speak- let us be ourselves, not the titles we bear."
The figure stiffened in shock, then relaxed. Itachi removed his cloak and hung it over his chair before slumping into his set and leaning forward and gazing at Hiruzen.
"Sandai- …Jiji, I have gathered the information you need. The Uchiha Clan has plans to overthrow you. Fugaku has completed his preparations and will make his move tomorrow night. He has tasked me with your assassination and the capture of Naruto-kun. I do not know what has caused him to become this way.. but he will not change his course." Itachi reported solemnly.
With another deep pull on his pipe Hiruzen resolved to what needed to happen. This was not something he liked to do, but in order to ensure the protection of the village he loved and the boy he considered his grandson he would have to do what he must. "And you are certain that you wish to be the one to end the threat, Itachi? You wish to kill your own family?"
"Jiji, my family has been consumed by a thirst for power that is unquenchable. Every man, woman, and child has become an instrument of this villages destruction. If my family succeeds in overthrowing you, it would mean the deaths of far more than just my family, but countless innocents as well. It is better that I do this, I know the inner workings of the compound and have access to the Uchiha's Secret Chamber. I can complete the mission and seal off the Clan's secrets before this night is done." Itachi said in a voice that was beginning to lose its emotion.
Hiruzen had no doubt that Itachi could accomplish this task, but there were still pieces on the board that needed to be accounted for.
"Have you met with Danzo, Itachi?" Hiruzen questioned.
"Yes, just before I came here. He had me followed but thanks to a rather powerful genjutsu they believe they are watching me return home" Itachi allowed a slight smirk at this before continuing in the slightly emotionless voice. "He has ordered me to slaughter my clan, and then to defect as a missing-nin."
It infuriated Hiruzen that there were so many entities playing for power in his village. Not just Fugaku, but his own teammate had clearly not disbanded ROOT, the Secret ANBU corps that followed only Danzo.
Hiruzen took a puff from his pipe before setting it aside and speaking. "Itachi, I, the Sandaime Hokage am assigning you a permanent S-ranked mission". Itachi straightened and gave Hiruzen his undivided attention. "You will eradicate the Uchiha Clan under guise of Danzo's orders. You will become a missing-nin under my orders. After you leave the village I want you to go into hiding. After I handle the fallout, which may take several weeks, I will find you to discuss your mission parameters in detail". Hiruzen paused to allow his special tobacco to relax him a bit.
"I want you to investigate an organization formed of missing-nin from every corner of the Elemental Nations". He handed Itachi a scroll as he spoke. "I expect you to gather as much information as possible before our meeting. Word of your clan's destruction and your defection will spread wide and far in a very short amount of time, It is likely they will approach you soon enough. That will be your opportunity to infiltrate."
Itachi was not very surprised by his mission, it was something he and Hiruzen had dicussed in their previous meetings in the last few months. What surprised him however was this organization.
"Jiji, I have a request" Itachi muttered. Hiruzen noted a bit of the boys emotion seemed to have returned as Itachi gazed at him with hope.
"I wish to spare my younger brother.. I care for him more than anyone in this world. I will spare him, I will give him a reason to become strong. So strong that he will surpass me and seek me out to avenge our family. In doing this, I will ensure he will be able to survive in this world.. In order for him to survive, he will need an ambition to become as powerful as possible."
Itachi sighed deeply before finally making his point. "My younger brother is very soft-hearted Jiji, I am afraid what I am about to do to him will twist him, or even break him completely. Please…watch over him, help him become a ninja worthy of our sacrifice, a man who can revive the Uchiha in light instead of darkness".
Hiruzen, responded immediately. "Yes Itachi, I promise you I will do all I can for the boy".
End Flashback
The Sandaime attempted to shake off the brooding nature he noticed was beginning to overwhelm him. As he looked through Sasuke's file, he analyzed the vast improvement in the child's performance in the Academy. Sasuke was a good shinobi to begin with, as were most children born into ninja clans, but Sasuke had a noticeable increase in his performance in every field since the Uchiha Massacre.
As he reminisced the event, and the fallout from that day he remembered the reason that had caused his mood to darken to begin with. He swapped the file with another from the drawer.
The file was that of one Naruto Uzumaki.
An eight year old Naruto Uzumaki was on his way to his favorite place in the world, Ichiraku Ramen. Tuechi Ichiraku the ramen chef and his now 11 year old daughter Ayame had been close to him for as long as he could remember. They were two of the most important people in his life and were on the very short list of people who actually cared about him.
For as long as he could remember he had always been treated badly by almost everyone in the village. Besides the Sandaime and a few of the the higher ranked shinobi of the village, Teuchi and Ayame were all he had in the world.
He was on his way to their ramen stand for a special all-you-can-eat lunch with Ayame and Tuechi to celebrate his birthday.
As he walked up the street he had a huge grin on his face, but inside he was frowning slightly at what he had to do tonight, and why he was forced to celebrate his birthday a day early.
His thoughts drifted through the last two years of his young life. Ever since he had been thrown out of the orphanage he had lived alone in his rundown apartment, living off the allowance the Sandaime gave him monthly. Thinking back, he acknowledge that he had a pretty sweet deal. He lived rent-free in an abandoned shinobi apartment complex that he owned since the hokage had given him the deed that very day. Naruto was over-joked that he had a home of his own and thanked the Sandaime over and over. It was that day he decided that the Sandaime Hokage was important to him and became his grandfather figure in his life.
He met with the Sandaime nearly every day since. He had taken it upon himself to teach naruto the things was being denied over the years such as how to read and write. It was also the Sandaime who taught him about the world, Ninja, and the way things worked in juncture with civilian lifestyle. Once he learned about the Kage, Naruto had made up his mind.
Naruto Uzumaki would become a Ninja, the BEST ninja, the Hokage.
It wasn't long before he he'd finally turned eight and entered the academy to begin his ninja training. He had been excited at first but when he learned that he would not learn any practical skills until he was ten. He had begun to lose interest and had quickly begun to gain a reputation as a slacker and a prankster.
Naruto had spent most of the day practicing his kunai and shuriken accuracy taking it easy on his training since he did not want to be messy for his party.
He strolled up to Ichiraku Ramen with a large grin on his face. Ignoring the large 'closed' sign, he pulled a key from his pocket and opened the sliding door enough for him to slip in and lock behind him.
The young blonde had barely taken three steps into the ramen bar before he was tackled to the ground by an auburn blur.
Naruto looked up into Ayame's coy smirk. "You know Naruto-kun, for a ninja who wants to be hokage, your were taken down pretty easily! And by a little civilian girl too!". Ayame said teasingly.
Naruto blinked before responding in an accusing tone, "That's not fair! Your older and taller than me! Besides, I only been in the academy for like..eight months!".
"Is that what you are going to tell your enemies when you are a ninja?" Tuechi laughed from the bar. "Ayame, get off Naruto so we can eat!".
Ayame got off Naruto quickly for grabbing his hand and pushing him into a seat the bar.
"So what are we starting with Naruto?" Tuechi asked with a smile.
"Two chicken ramen!" He said excitedly.
"ill have a Veggie, daddy" Ayame requested.
"Just one?" Naruto asked her with a little surprise.
"Not everyone can eat ten bowls of ramen in one sitting", Ayame responded flatly. "Besides, I've got to keep my figure."
Naruto laughed before turning to Tuechi. "You know…you didn't have to close up shop just for me". This had been a customary exchange on his birthday. Naruto felt guilty that Tuechi lost business on his birthday birthday due to the villagers dislike for him. So Every October, Tuechi would close up shop on both his birthday and the day before to celebrate with Naruto, for Naruto would be leaving the village tonight, and would not return until after his birthday was over. Tuechi was aware of this, and would ensured that Naruto had a decent birthday before he left. Each time Naruto's guilt surfaced Tuechi would merely smile and wave off his concerns before serving up another bowl.
As expected, Tuechi dismissed his concern for his business and placed two nearly overflowing bowls in front of him and Ayame. "So, how was your training today?"
Naruto thanked him and said a quick prayer before taking a large bite of his meal. Mouth full, he replied nonchalantly. "It was great! I can finally hit all my targets! Even the ones behind the trees and rocks!"
"wow, that's really cool You've been working on that for a long time" Ayame praised.
Tuechi nodded approvingly. " That is very impressive Naruto, what will you work on next?"
Naruto finished off his bowl before replying, "I think I'll work on my stealth skills, that way I can get a few pranks in while I train!" Naruto added excitedly.
Tuechi palmed his face while Ayame started giggling at Naruto's antics. The remainder of the meal was very enjoyable for Naruto. Ever since Tuechi had begun this tradition, Naruto had learned to love the day before his birthdays more than anything, because he was able to spend time with people he truly loved.
After polishing off his twelfth bowl, Tuechi invited him into his home above the restraint, and the three sat in a modest living room, Tuechi on his favorite recliner, and Ayame on the sofa with Naruto's head in her lap. This had become customary as well. Naruto would eat too much, and would lay groaning on the sofa with Ayame snickering at his discomfort.
Tuechi discretely observed his daughter and Naruto on the couch. He was well aware of Naruto's condition, and his situation with most of the villagers. He wished he could do more for the boy, but anyone who was seen caring for the boy had been condemned by the rest of the village. If people knew how much he cared for the boy, and how well he treated him, he could lose his business and could potentially bring harm to his daughter. However, he vowed to do everything he could for the young boy, it was not his fault that the was the Kyuubi's container, he was a young boy with a pure heart, who only craved love- love that he truly deserved to have.
Tuechi interrupted the end of the dramatic telling of one of Naruto's recent pranks on a clothing store owner with a question. "So, Naruto, What do you have planned for tomorrow?"
Naruto finished his story with a few odd gestures that Ayame apparently understood because she rolled off the side of the couch giggling hysterically. Naruto being forced to sit up at this point, looked at Tuechi. His formerly wide grin now looked a bit forced. "I'm going to go camping."
Ayame stopped giggling at sat up on the floor, "That's so not fair! Your too little to go camping on your own!" Ayame said with a slight pout.
Tuechi noticed Naruto slightly nervous look before he played it off, rather smoothly too. "Nah Ayame-chan, I've fallen asleep at the training grounds tons of times! So I know I can sleep outside just fine. Besides I think the future Hokage can handle camping out for a day and a half."
Ayame looked like she was going to say something more, but Tuechi interrupted quickly. "Well that's perfect! Because you'll have the time and space to make use of the present I got you!".
Naruto's face lit up at the mention of presents. "REALLY!? Can I open it now!" he asked excitedly.
Tuechi grinned before walking into his room off of the living room and returning with a rectangular box.
Naruto wasted no time in tearing the lid off the box before gasping in shock. "No way!"
Tuechi laughed at the boys expression. "I won it in a card game with a couple of my old friends. Have you heard of the Ino-Shika-Cho Team?".
Naruto nodded slightly as he examined the ninja scroll in his hands.
"Well," Tuechi continued. "They are some very close friends of mine. This scroll was something Inoichi picked up several years ago on a mission. It contains all you need to learn a ninja style that was used in the Land of Wind, where Sunagakure no Sato now stands."
"No way… This is… is… THE GREATEST PRESENT EVER!" Naruto yelled before rushing over to Tuechi and hugging him tightly.
But then Naruto stepping back and stared at Tuechi with a little seriousness. "Are you sure you want to give me this old man? Iruka-sensei says that ninja scrolls are extremely valuable, and ones that contain a complete style are even more valuable! This one is really old too! This is probably worth a lot of money!"
Tuechi kneeled down to Naruto's eye level. "I am well aware of what this scroll is worth. I could likely sell it to the Hokage and live comfortably for the next ten years. However, you", Tuechi poked him in the chest for emphasis. "Are much more precious to me than any amount of money, and besides, this scroll could possibly help you become Hokage, then you make Ichiraku Ramen famous!" Tuechi added with a laugh.
"You got it! I promise ill make you proud Tuechi-jiji!" Naruto pledged.
"My present now Naruto!" Ayame said excitedly.
Ayame pushed a crudely wrapped bag in his hands with a large smile on her face. Naruto accepted it with a smile of his own and opened it reverently. He withdrew from the bag a necklace with a dogtag bearing a familiar orange swirl attached.
Upon further inspection, Naruto noticed the necklace was made of ninja wire that had been rather creatively woven together. The swirl was made of the same material as his kunai and shuriken.
Naruto couldn't speak for a few long moments before he hugged Ayame tightly.
This was the best birthday he had ever had.
It was nearly midnight, and Naruto had just slipped through the wall near the east gate. Easily avoiding detection of the chuunin guards, he made his way into the forest. It wasn't long before Naruto had found an acceptable clearing to camp in. There was a stream, and plenty of open space surrounded by thick trees. Naruto set his tent and drifted into a comfortable sleep.
Naruto woke early the next morning his excitement for learning from his new scroll had seeped into his subconscious and was wide awake at first light. After setting a fire and catching a half dozen fish from the stream for his breakfast, he sat cross-legged in front of the fire as he read the scroll.
As soon as he unfurled it, he knew it was very old, Ninja scrolls were made to last through wearing and aging, but this one had obviously been exposed to the elements for a long time.
Written in a clean, elegant scrawl was:
Kaze Kiri no Shunpo (Wind Cutting Flash Movement)
"Whoa", Naruto whispered aloud to himself. As he read through the details of the style, he felt both excited and concerned. This was an extremely advanced style, likely only reserved for high ranking shinobi who could handle the physical strain of the techniques used. He realized with a little sadness that it would be a long time before he could really make use of the style, but he could at least work on the basic katas now, and work his way up.
Shaking of his disappointment, Naruto jumped to his feet and got to work. By the afternoon, he realized something didn't seem right about his new style. It was very hard for him to flow through the movements. After reviewing his scroll further, he realized he had been going about it the wrong way, he had been so focused on putting everything he had into each movement that he was making the style choppy. The Kaze Kiri no Shunpo was a style that called for high speed, swift accurate strikes, and a balanced fluid movement. He also found that the style was designed to be used in combination with the Wind Style, and most of the power behind this style would rely solely on the physical strength of the user.
This new information seemed a bit odd to Naruto. Iruka-sensei had taught their class that a shinobi's taijutsu style provided them added strength to their hand-to-hand combat, which is what separated them from civilian brawlers. His style however, was not amplifying his strikes, he would need to be physically strong on his own, and train his body to be able to move at the speeds required.
'I need to train harder, at my current level I can't make this style work'
Just as his frustration was mounting, his musings were interrupted by a green blur crashing through the clearing. Naruto was only just barely able to distinguish that the blur was a shinobi, however the figure had streaked into the tree line not even noticing Naruto or his little camp.
'That guy was fast! I wonder what he was-' Naruto's thought was again cut short when the shinobi appeared right in his face with a huge shiny grin on his face.
"AHH!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs falling hard on his backside and wincing before staring up at the speedy shinobi. The man was certainly strange looking for a shinobi. He was dressed in a dark green spandex workout suit and had black hair cut in a bowl. The only way Naruto could tell he was a shinobi was his green jounin flak jacket, and the Konoha headband fastened like a belt around his waist with a black cloth. The man was very tall, and it was obvious that he was a taijutsu-type shinobi by the sheer magnitude of his build. He was a very imposing figure to the young ninja, but what stood out to Naruto was the thick bushy eyebrows that were risen in surprise at Naruto.
"My apologies!", Naruto was a little startled by the man's loud exuberant voice. "are you alright? I am very sorry for interrupting your-". The man hesitated in his loud apology when he had finally examined the small camp. Noticing the ninja scroll a short distance away from the fallen blond, he analyzed the young want to-be ninja before him for a few long moments.
Naruto felt uncomfortable with the way the man suddenly seemed to be staring through him, he had caught the man glancing at his scroll and was slightly afraid he may try to take it from him. Most people from the village would jump at the chance to steal what little Naruto had. However this man seemed different, Naruto decided to give this guy a chance.
"Um, That's okay. You didn't interrupt me, I was just trying to learn this new style." Naruto said as he rose to his feet and dusted himself off, glancing at the man who seemed to be deep in thought, he asked, "Who are you anyways?"
The green clad shinobi seemed to have come to some sort of decision. He exclaimed. "I AM MIGHT GAI! THE GREEN BEAST OF KONOHA! THE GREATEST TAIJUTSU MASTER IN THE FIVE GREAT NATIONS!". Calming down slightly, he continued, "Aren't you a little young to be learning a taijutsu style? You couldn't be more than a first year in the academy."
Naruto was immediately impressed by Gai's introduction, and decided he would answer the man honestly. "Yes, but most of my classmates are from the most famous shinobi clans in Konoha, they all have all started learning the signature styles of their clans already. I'm...I'm an orphan, So if I am going to be able to keep up, I need to have a style too. I was given this scroll as a gift for my birthday".
"You are Naruto Uzumaki, correct" It wasn't really a question.
Naruto began to panic slightly, this guy knew who he was! What would he do to him? but before Naruto could properly react to this information, the man spoke.
"Don't look so frightened. Fear not! I do not have any ill will towards you. This is not the first time I have seen you training. In fact, I have seen you at the training grounds several times, you work very hard." Gai praised him with a earnest smile. "Tell me Naruto, Why do you train so hard? Why do you wish to become a ninja?"
Naruto was surprised by the question, but answered quickly. "I am going to be the greatest Hokage who has ever lived!"
Gai hid his surprise at the young blonde's proclamation. Guy had seen something in Naruto's eyes that he had not expected to see. He saw what could only be the Will of Fire. He had met a similar boy not much older than Naruto two weeks prior. He too was a young ninja, still in the academy who showed great potential despite his upbringing. Guy had decided he would take that young ninja as an apprentice, and now he wondered if he could do the same for Naruto.
"Hokage? That's quite the goal. You know the Hokage need to be very powerful shinobi, are you prepared to push your body beyond its limits, persevere through unknowable pain, and learn everything you can to become one of the most powerful ninja in the Five Great Nations?".
"YES!" Naruto exclaimed with absolute determination. "I will do whatever it takes to achieve my dream."
Gai stared at the boy for a few moments, sizing him up. 'The will of fire is strong in him. He does not have any idea of what it is to be Hokage, but he is still young, with the right molding, he just may have the drive to do it.'
Guy made up his mind. "Naruto, would you like to learn from me? I can help you achieve your dream. I will help you become strong enough to become Hokage", glancing at the scroll still sprawled on the ground he added, "and I will help you master your style."
Naruto was shocked, he had no idea how to respond. No one had hardly believed him when he said he would become Hokage. Most shinobi would scoff or insult him for making such claims. Gai however, not only believed he could do it, but was offering to help train him!
"Yes Gai-sensei! I promise I will not let you down!"
Guy grinned widely at the young ninja. "Well Naruto, I hope you are ready to work hard, because you will be receiving training unlike you have ever experienced before!" he accentuated this with a pose and a thumbs up.
With a bright smile, Naruto returned the gesture. "I'm ready!"
Naruto had no idea what he was getting into.
A/N: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I expected to put it up way earlier. But the good news is I have chapter 3 done, which I will be spitting out as soon as a check for errors.
This chapter isn't very exciting. But I mainly wanted to introduce Naruto to Gai, and show a bit of Naruto's childhood a little bit. This chapter was much longer, but I decided to split it into two chapters. Chapter 3 will have atleast a bit more action in it. I know it's moving kind of slow, but chapter 3 marks the end of the 'build-up arc'. Chapter 4 will be when things really start to heat up.
For those of you who are interested in the Minato/bleach side to this story. I am still hoping for more feedback on this part of the story, but I think I am going to continue that portion as a seperate story that still follows this one (did that make sense?). Anyway, I'd appreciate any thoughts you have on this.
R&R or PM if you have suggestions/thoughts. Thanks!