Well, it's good to be back, i must say! Thank-you to all my readers who have waited so patiently for me to get back to writing. I should be able to update every week or two. I promise that it will be a rare exception when it takes longer than that for me to update!

So, on this chapter, i apologize for it being a little shorter than normal, but it's kind of a transitory chapter where a lot of time-skip occurs so most of it will be summary, unlike my normal chapters. It will help set the mood for some of the chapters that follow without going into details of Naruto's younger years. I think this chapter is okay, but not nessecarily the best; still, it felt like the best way to do what i wanted to do.

So, i hope ya'll enjoy the new chapter. Next chapter should be back to normal! Enjoy!

disclaimer- i do NOT own Naruto

The day was just starting. It was bright and clear, barely a cloud in the sky. However, there was little of happiness in the village of Konoha. Many lives had been lost, many families and loved ones torn asunder. A fair portion of the village had been destroyed where part of the wall had been knocked down, and the villages beloved fourth Hokage had been killed by the attack, along with his wife. Most of the village had known that Kushina had been pregnant, but no one seemed to know what had happened to their child; most assumed that Kushina had died before giving birth, the child trapped in her womb when she was mutilated by the nine tailed fox. So, it was with a heavy heart that the village attended the ceremony to reinstate Hiruzen, the third Hokage, as the acting Hokage of Konohagakure.

"Good people of Konoha, it has been sad day for us all. Namikaze Minato and his wife Kushina, along with many others, died last night when the Kyuubi attacked our village. We may never know why this happened, and it saddens me that I must take his place as Hokage once more, but Minato gave his life to save us all, so we need to remember this and understand his sacrifice." It was then that the sannin Jiraiya walked forward, a bundle in his arms that he cared very carefully. He handed the bundle to Sarutobi who cradled it for a moment, gently rubbing the little child's face with a finger and cooing at it as it laughed and grabbed his finger.

"Citizens, shinobi, all those of Konoha, the Yondaime gave his life to seal away the kyuubi inside this young child so that it can no longer harm us. I understand the resentment that many of you may feel for the kyuubi, but rest assured, this child is only a jailor, and not the kyuubi itself self." A cry had slowly risen as he spoke that contained all the anger, hate, and frustration that was felt at the loss of so many loved ones. The cries to take action against the child began to rise more and more and Hiruzen hung his head sadly. If the hate was so great despite his words he could not trust them too greatly to help him care for the child; still, he could provide the girl with some degree of safety.

"Very well," he called out, his face and stance strong, his voice booming. It caused a momentary lull in the crowd. It seemed he was just in time as Jiraiya's fists had begun to clench. He almost thought it was a good thing that Tsunade wasn't here; her temper was even worse than Jiraiya's. He would need her to return eventually, though… "Very well," he said again as the noise continued to fall, "I understand, as I said before, your resentment, but I do this to show my confidence in what the Yondaime has done: this child, who shall henceforth be known as Uzumaki Naruto, shall be a part of my household! I shall live with her and she shall be known as my granddaughter. If any harm befalls her, the doer shall answer to me personally. In addition, I decree a new law, than no one is to speak of her as the container of the Kyuubi in any fashion. The story is that the fourth killed the fox. This shall be a village secret punishable by death if it is revealed." He looked over the crowd.

"I assure you, I shall otherwise be the same Hokage who always led you before, only in this matter shall I seem so harsh. You are my people; rest assured knowing that, as always, I shall do all in my power to protect this village. Konoha, though hurt, shall rise again from the ashes of this tragedy, and we shall still be strong! Now, let us rebuild our village! Let the will of fire burn within us! Let us show the world that not even the attack of the Kyuubi can weak us, the people of Konoha!" This allowed the people of Konoha to recover somewhat from their mixed feelings about the Kyuubi child, and it was a much more energized village that went about the rebuilding of their village.

"Oh Naruto, I'm so sorry, but things will be very hard for you," Hiruzen said to the child in his arms.

"Hmph, no kidding. I had half a mind to go out there and knock a few heads," Jiraiya said. He folded his arms as he walked to stand next to his sensei. "So," he said, watching as the crowd dispersed, "why didn't you tell them she was Minato's daughter? I assumed you had a reason, so I didn't say anything, but I want to know why it is I kept my mouth shut." Hiruzen sighed. Naruto was yawning and falling asleep. He was just glad it wasn't time to change her diaper; so far she'd proven to be a very energetic baby, and messy. A grandpa wasn't made for changing diapers, he'd decided, so he was looking forward to getting someone else to help him take care of it. For now, of course, he needed to answer Jiraiya's question.

"Jiraiya, after we talked last night about what to do, I realized something; no one can know who Naruto's parents are beyond those who already know. Think about it; how many enemies did her father have?" Jiraiya winced. Especially heading a spy network he was very well aware of the sentiments in Iwa especially concerning Minato.

"So what you're saying is that without him around, and the village in its current condition, Minato's enemies might try to kill Naruto to take out their resentment on her instead, eh?" Hiruzen nodded, causing Jiraiya to sigh and look up into the sky. "There really is too much hate in this world, sensei. I wish… I wish I could do something to stop it…" Hiruzen turned and clapped a free hand on his old students shoulder.

"Don't worry my boy; one day, one day I'm sure you'll find the answer." His smile seemed to have the desired effect and Jiraiya laughed before leaning over to gaze at his god-child.

"She's so beautiful. She's gonna be a heart breaker one day sensei!" Hiruzen laughed.

"We'll see, we'll see. Mean while, I need to find someone to change her diaper for me!" Jiraiya nodded.

"Yeah, and I need to track down everyone who knows about Naruto's parentage and tell them to keep their knowledge secret." Hiruzen nodded.

"I believe I made a note in my journal about who was there; we'll take a look at it now and you can tell them before you leave about it. You'll be back to visit the girl soon, right?" Jiraiya gave a thumbs up and smiled.

"Of course, sensei! After all, I'm her god father!" Hiruzen nodded

"Good; now let's get moving…"

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Out of many of the ones left saddened by the loss of loved ones was one Uchiha Mikoto. She had been a close friend of the Namikazes, especially Kushina. She missed her friend dearly, and she had so wanted their children to grow up being friends. She had almost missed the ceremony for reinstating Hiruzen until she thought how Kushina would have wanted her to be there. So it was that she was working her way through the crowd when the Hokage held up the child, announcing it as the container of the nine tails. At first, she felt the same anger fill her that filled many of those around her, and it was this that caused her sharingan to activate, but the clearer vision that it granted made her gasp, her anger forgotten.

That child in the hokage's arms… her blond hair was so much like Minato's…and Kushina had been pregnant, due any day before the day of her death…could it really be? Could it be that they had sealed the kyuubi into their own child?

Mikoto continued to push closer, hoping to ask the hokage about this, and straining to hear over the crowd as they began to disperse, she managed to catch Jiraiya-sama saying one thing: "After all, I'm her god father!" She gasped, a few tears coming into her eyes, collapsing to the ground. She felt ashamed. She had blamed that poor child for the death of her friends, and it was her own friend's child! Surely they would not have sealed the kyuubi into their child unless they were sure it was safe. No, it was safe, the girl was safe, and even better, she would be cared for.

Mikoto looked up again to see the Hokage and he sannin walking away, still in deep conversation. She thought for a few moments and decided that they must have wanted it secret who the girl's parents were for some reason. Fine, she would keep it secret, but she would watch over that girl as much as she could, and one day she would make sure that her son became friends with…Naruto, Hokage-sama had said. Yes, that was what Kushina had said they wanted to name their child.

She smiled. Wouldn't it be funny if instead of just friends, they became more? However, she never suspected that she would die before she properly tried to get the two together. Having been on such great terms with the last Hokage and his wife, how could she have ever expected what her clan would try to do just a few years down the road…

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Kakashi didn't spend too much time at the ceremony. He was surprised to say the least at little Naruto now being the jinchuuriki to the kyuubi. However, he didn't really feel like reacting. In fact, he wasn't feeling much at all today. He had lost Rin, the woman he had grown to love, and he had failed in his promise to Obito to protect her. He looked over from the rooftop his was sitting on. He was the only one who knew about Naruto, now, the daughter of Karura, as well as the Hokage and his wife. At least she would be okay, he's decided. Hokage-sama would be looking after her.

Kakashi stood. For now, he didn't really feel like doing anything. He knew that was stupid; he knew he should look after the girl, but for now it was too painful. Rin and him and spent alot of time together right before the child was born; in fact, that little girl was part of the reason they had been spending so much time together. It also reminded him of losing his sensei, and Kushina, and even Karura, even though they hadn't been as close. Maybe one day he'd be able to look at her without this pain filling him up, but for now, he needed to go talk to Obito...

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"Say what dad? You want Youriche to help you with that kyu, I mean, um, kid you told everyone about?" Hiruzen massaged his temples.

"Yes, I do. I thought it would be good to at least keep it close to within the family, and your mother, even if she were alive right now, would have been too old, so the first person I thought of that I could trust was your girl friend." Hiruzen's son rubbed his chin. He really wasn't sure if he liked this idea. After all, no one had been there when the sealing had taken place. Did they really know how strong that seal was? What if the kyuubi broke out after all?

"I don't know, dad. I mean, this seems a little sketchy to me. How do we even know that it's really safe?"

"Ugh, I told you that Jiraiya and I both examined the seal extensively. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" His son blushed slightly.

"Well pa, it's not that I don't trust you, really, but Hokage-sama and his wife were a little above everyone else in sealing, weren't they? How can you be sure?" Hiruzen stared his son down.

"So, we lesser seal makers look at it and say that this seal, made a an even better seal maker say it's say, and you think that this seal master wasn't able to make the seal safe for the village he was dying to protect?" His son blushed in embarrassment.

"I uh, I guess I didn't think of it that way." He scratched the back of his head. "I don't know dad. It's just, well, you know, it'd be kinda weird, don't you think, dating a girl who's takin' care of a kid?" The older Sarutobi laughed.

"Yes, that might seem odd, but then again, maybe she'll be fine. How about we ask her so you don't have to try and speak for her anymore?" The boy nodded grudgingly. As it turned out she was one of the few that had seen the little girl the way that Sarutobi had hoped everyone else would. So not only was willing to nurse the infant, but excited that she could be one to take care of the kyuubi's container, the child the yondaime imprisoned the fox into. So it was that they began to raise the child. Naruto was safe and still had some around her that did not hate her.

It also turned out to be a good thing that she had the protection of the Sarutobi name. There were many that gave dirty looks to Youriche whenever she was out with the child, and she even over heard a few drunks talk about the things they would like to do to the child who killed their friends and family. She had rushed back to the Sarutobi household quickly after that.

Naruto began to walk fairly early compared to many children, and by age two she was all over the place. She even managed to run out the door on her own once before they pulled her back in, afraid of what the villagers might do to her on her own.

It was shortly before that that Hiruzen's son and Youriche got married. They began to look after Naruto as if she were their own for real. Sarutobi's son had still been a little resentful of the little girl, but she'd grown on him with her enthusiasm for life. Still, he was a shinobi and often had to leave the village; it was during one of these missions that he failed to come back. Sometime later it was reported that he'd reached his original destination safely, but in the smaller country that had contracted him it turned out that there was a large group of missing nin that were hired to take over. He had been caught in the cross fire and killed. The grief stricken Youriche had a hard time with it. She had been pregnant when he'd left, dreaming of their lives together raising their very own child of their blood. Her body was too weak when their boy came due, and she died in child birth.

Again, Naruto was left with no parents, and Jiraiya never had come back to see her, but now she was a little older and Sarutobi could look after her without too much extra help. He would occasionally ask some of the genin, and occasionally chuunin, to take a mission o baby sit her. He was surprised when Anko, Orochimaru's old apprentice, volunteered to take that mission. He had questioned her about it when she came in to volunteer. She had looked at her feet a moment, toes scuffing the ground, hands behind her back before answering. Then she looked up, and he could see pain in her eyes.

"Hokage-sama, I, I know what it's like to be alone, and for people to look down on you. When, when Orochimaru-sama, I mean, sensei, left and I was found, well, a lot of people started to really look down on me and treat me different, especially after all of the experiments that they learned he did. They, they think I helped him, that I'm no different. Naruto, she, well, I see people looking at her the same way they do at me, and I want to help her. I want her to be strong enough to resist that pain when she comes to realize what it is they're doing to her." Hiruzen nodded hands together and elbows on his desk. He had heard that some of the villagers were treating her like that, but it wasn't often those reports made their way to him. Many of his shinobi also felt betrayed by their former comrade, he realized, and likely felt Anko deserved some punishment for her sensei's actions.

"Very well," he said, smiling. "I'll grant your request. You may take the mission, but make sure that you keep my granddaughter safe." Anko bowed, thanking him and began to dart towards the door.

"You do, of course, realize that some of these days you'll also be looking after my grandson, Konohamaru?" Anko grimaced, but nodded.

"Yeah; I'll take care of him good too, but for me, the important one is that Naruto girl." Hiruzen nodded.

"Very well, but for the first few days I'll have someone helping you out. After all, I don't think you've had too much experience with kids yet, have you?" She blushed and shook her head, but he just shrugged.

"Oh, don't worry about it, that's fine. I just need to make sure that there's someone there to teach you about proper baby care and also nutrition for a girl that age, which does not include huge amount of dango, I might add." Again Anko grimaced.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Whatever you say, as long as I can be there for her."

"Very well; head over to my house with the mission scroll and I'll find someone to help you out."

Not long after, Anko became almost the express caretaker of young Naruto up until she entered the academy. She began training her in weapons use at age six so that she was well versed in the basics, but best of all, Naruto's spirit taught her how to prank. With Anko's experience and Naruto's ingeniousness, they became greatly feared for their ability to prank anyone around, even 'old gramps' who'd almost had a heart attack when he'd opened his desk drawer to find hundreds of pop-up snakes explode at him (realistic-ness courtesy of Anko's experience with snakes). And so, it was a very happy Naruto that entered the ninja academy at age nine, never knowing about the creature inside her…

Alright, time skip complete! A couple points in here were inspired by the original story, such as Naruto looking at Anko as a sister, but i needed a reason for her to do so, which the first story didn't do. Also, that story is no longer posted so no one will be able to compare the two anymore. *shrugs*

Oh, also, i have NO idea what the name of Konohamaru's parents are. Is there anyone out there that does? I didn't want tot use false names if the were, but as you could see, i kinda compromised but not naming his dad, though still naming his mom. If anyone knows, please notify me; the sooner i knew whether or not their names are contained anywhere at all or not, the sooner i can go back and tweak those parts so it doesn't feel so awkward reading about Hiruzen's son.

As always, thank-you very much for reading my story. Hope you enjoy and if you have the time, please post a quick review! Have a nice week!