Man it's been a while. This chapter gave me all sorts of headache I think I accidentally hit the back button like 5 times and erased about 500-1000 words everytime, so frustrating
NEWS: I just started a new job as of 10/7/14 so my schedule is a little shaky.
Some of you may have noticed the update on my profile, some of you may not have so I'm just putting it here just in case. There are also a couple of new links/sources that I've been using to help with my story so feel free to check those out.
I still do not have a beta. Everything is proof-read and edited by me.
Reviews:
Akgreenday: I used to watch twitch, favorite streamer was TheOddOne. Not enough hours in the day anymore Q.Q
Bluelightning0925: You'll have to wait and see I hope you enjoy the ride brotha!
LordTicky: Main goal of my prologue was to portray the event's that will shape how Naruto's life will be changing, while giving us all a bit more Minato action that we didn't get in early canon.
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Thanks again to all of you who Reviewed/Followed/Favorited your support is what motivates me to put out these chapters!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the rights to the characters from the Narutoverse, If I did I wouldn't need to get a new job to pay mah bills. KISHI-SENPAI SEND ME SOME MONEY IM BROKE DAMN IT!
Konohagakure no Sato has always been a village of resiliency. Built upon the backs of shinobi who were said to be gods in their own right Konoha has learned to endure when faced with the loss of their leader.
Though enduring does not always mean that they did not suffer, feel pain or anguish, at the loss of their beloved Hokage.
In the aftermath of Itachi's betrayal it seemed to outsiders that Konoha was at its weakest since the Kyuubi attack.
With the loss of about 75% of the Uchiha Clan fighting force, their SS-Rank Hokage, Shimura Danzo, and one of their prodigies Uchiha Shisui, things were looking dire.
Kumo was sending scouting parties to probe their defenses and it seemed there was an increase in border presence between Kumo and the Land of Hot Springs, already having an allegiance in place with the Land of Frost.
With all of these issues also came the custody of one Uzumaki Naruto.
During the emergency council meeting that followed the death of Minato the Elders believed it was time to begin training the boy as an ultimate weapon to use in case Kumo decided to attack. It was common knowledge that they already had one Jinchurriki with perfect control over his bijuu, and they could never willingly go to war against a nation with such a powerful army killer.
This idea was quickly put to rest by the Godaime, Senju Tsunade, who had become overly fond of the boy as she spent most of her time away from the hospital watching over him, when she pulled out Minato's last will and testament.
Normally, this would be handled by the deceased's family. Seeing as he had no family left, it was left to the council to see his final wishes done.
The first was the custody of Naruto being granted to Tsunade, with her being named Godmother and Jiraiya being named Godfather.
There was little outcry to this arrangement seeing as most believed their jinchuuriki should be nearest their most powerful ninja at all times.
The second was the boy's true heritage.
This came with blood samples from both Minato and Naruto for Tsunade and the medic-nins to confirm along with instructions for Jiraiya on how to remove the seal placed upon Naruto's neck.
When this particular piece of news was dropped there was first silence, then confusion and anger. Some of the civilian council members believed that the boy had somehow influenced the Yondaime through the Demon to claim him as his son. that it was all a trick to get them to believe that Naruto was the son and heir of the Namikaze fortune. This however was put to rest as Tsunade immediately sent for the blood provided to be tested. When the results came back it was a near perfect match 99.99% There could be no doubt.
With this information there was a greater push for the boy to be weaponized by the Elders, but without Danzo the argument held little substance as there currently was no one with the ability to train the boy to such emotionless degree aside from Hiruzen.
This information was kept at SS-Rank and required seals to be placed upon every single council member present including the ANBU guards. Similar to Danzo's ROOT seal, this seal prohibited the council members to speak about Naruto's heritage. By adding the seal to the back of every council members neck the seal integrated itself with their cerebral cortex, causing a temporary 'package loss' when the synpases in the brain communicated the action of speaking about the boys heritage.
This seal was placed by Jiraiya who had raced back home to find his beloved pupil dead and ashamed at the fact that he never knew he had a godson.
The third was the transfer of all assets to his son, effective once he achieved the rank of Chunin.
Again, no one could dispute Minato's wishes as Naruto's inheritance was protected by law.
In a second scroll sealed within Minato's will, were the details regarding Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi's missions. This was protected with a blood seal coded to Tsunade's blood and would burn up about 5 minutes after the original seal was broken through counterintelligence measures. It was Hokage eyes only.
With this new information Tsunade made the push to have Uchiha Sasuke remanded into her custody after the extreme psychological attack by his older brother. Citing that she was the only medic capable of healing the extensive damage of having seen his family butchered before his eyes.
This trauma was further extended when he returned home to find his mother with a dagger through the heart sending the boy into a catatonic state once again.
The final nail in the coffin everyone in the room held a great pity for the boy, having endured more than any boy his age should ever have to witness.
Days Later
Once the commotion throughout the village quieted down, they began to mourn.
Minato's funeral service had lasted for three days.
On the first day the village came together for the viewing of their hero. Wrapped in his signature 'Yondaine' cloak embalzoned with fire, he was set on a red velvet silk bed with his white and red Kage hat placed just above his head, the kanji for Fire prominently displayed for everyone to see. There were similar viewing platforms around him which included the bodies of Uchiha Fugaku, and Uchiha Shisui. The rest of the Uchiha bodies were receiving private ceremony within the clan compound.
On the second day the funeral procession began leading from the Hokage Tower and ending in Sector 3 where the funeral service was being held within the temple located near the cemetery. Upon entering the temple there were 3 funeral pyres placed, the largest of which was draped with white sheets the Kanji for 'Yondaime' while the other two were draped with the words for 'Fire' along all 4 sides.
Once the bodies were placed upon the pyres the service was held by the Sandaime with shinobi forming ranks around the pyre. Finishing the service the shinobi and nobles present within the temple began to drop white flowers into the pyres before saying their final goodbyes.
Stepping forward two Uchiha clan members took their places in front of the pyres of their fallen brothers. As Hiruzen stepped forward to stand in front of Minato's pyre, he stopped when he sensed someone else moving towards the pyre. Looking to his left he noticed young Uzumaki Naruto standing in front of his father's pyre with a lit funeral torch in his hands. Tears streaming down his face, a determined look in his eyes as he took his place alongside the Uchiha clan members.
In this moment no one spoke, everyone stunned by the boy's actions. Murmurs could be heard going throughout the civilians, they were outraged that the boy would be doing the funeral rites.
'Only family can do so?'
'What was the Sandaime thinking allowing the demon this honor?'
These were some of the whispers being spread throughout the restless crowd. All of this went unnoticed by the young boy, he only had eyes for his now deceased father. He was sworn to secrecy to never tell anyone who his father was, but that didn't matter to him. He didn't need anyone else to know who his father was, he held his father everywhere he went within his heart.
Looking back towards Kakashi who had been consoling him moments ago he gave him a thumbs up which Kakashi towards the Uchiha they shared a look, a silent understanding acknowledged all 3 turned towards the pyre.
The Uchiha went first finishing their hand seals for a Katon Jutsu of a respectable size and lit the pyres in a blaze of glory.
Katon Gōkakyū no Jutsu!
Turning towards the young Uzumaki they waited for him to begin walking to the pyre to drop the torch and end the ceremony but were shocked when he dropped his torch and began a set of familiar hand seals finishing on the traditional Tiger hand seal. Quickly jumping back they made it out of range before the boy shouted,
Katon: Karyū Endan!
Naruto produced a long stream of fire twice the size of the original Katon jutsu's used by the Uchiha, instantly lighting the pyre.
Upon finishing shocked looks could be seen throughout the shinobi ranks, a boy of 7 had just used a B-Rank technique! Hiruzen sharply looked over to Kakashi only to see his signature eye-smile.
Finishing the technique, Naruto watched as the smoke rose from the lit pyre,
'Good-bye Tou-san'
A faint smile could be seen on the boys lips as he fell forward allowing the darkness of his subconscious mind take over.
One Week Later
Sitting in her new office Tsunade sat intently staring at the picture of the Yondaime Hokage which was now framed and placed on the wall to the right of the desk.
She had just finished the paper work that legally signed Naruto and Sasuke into her custody.
Tsunade never intended to have kids after Dan's death, it was never a thought that crossed her mind. Ever since she returned to the village she couldn't help, but regret the decision. Especially since she thought she wasn't going to get the chance to experience her child going to school for the first time, or having to deal with the first dates and romances.
Now though it seemed as though fate had intervened once again in the form of Naruto and Sasuke.
She had loved Naruto from the moment he told her of his dream. He was so much like Nawaki and Dan it hurt to even look at him sometimes. She saw herself as more of a grandmother to the boy, he could have easily been mistaken as Nawaki's son for all his enthusiasm the young boy held within him. With his strength of conviction he might have even been though of as Dan's son if they had the chance to ever have children.
As for Sasuke, well she didn't really know the boy. She only ever heard stories from Naruto.
He seemed like a kind boy always seemingly in the shadow of his brother, but now? She wouldn't be sure what kind of boy he would be after so much trauma. He had only just woken up from whatever genjutsu Itachi cast upon him, only to find his mother dead on the floor of his family home.
The scars the poor boy suffered would never be erased, but maybe she could help make it easier to deal with the memories by speaking with Inoichi. There could be blocks possibly placed upon the boy in order to keep any nightmares at bay.
With a sigh Tsunade stood, gathered all her paperwork and began to move towards the door.
Of course there was also the matter of her grandniece, Ino.
She was the reason she even returned to this village. Hearing she had one last family member in Ino's mother and her grandniece made her very protective, she immediately rushed home at the news. She would not allow more of her family to leave her.
The girl was a natural at medical and mental theory. Of course it took a bit of time before she got serious about her training. Tsunade had to beat the fan girl out of the her by putting on a display of what a true kunoichi could do. After that it was easy.
Once her chakra control reached the appropriate level they would begin rudimentary medical training.
'Hmmm Ino, Naruto and Sasuke... It seems like I have myself a cute little genin team in the making,' thought the busty kage as she closed the door behind her.
'Its been a while since this village saw a team on par with the legendary Sannin, it was about time the next generation stepped up to the call. The last of the Uzumaki clan, the last of the Senju clan, and an Uchiha. It seems this village's future is bright...'
1 Year Later
"You're not gunna wear that to the first day of the Academy are you?" asked the eight year old platinum blonde girl. She was currently sitting on a bed wearing a purple dress with a yellow obi tied around her waist. The Yamanaka Clan symbol present on both of her shoulders.
Looking over at the blonde haired, blue eye'd boy in front of her she continued.
"You stand out like a sore thumb, who the heck wears orange?"
"Waddya mean? Orange is the greatest color in the world!" replied the Uzumaki. He was currently dressed in an orange jumpsuit with blue lining the shoulder area and the bottom of the jacket. His pants finished his ensemble making him resemble something similar to an orange highlighter. On his face he had taken to imitating his nii-san by wearing a black mask and a pair of goggles resting on his forehead.
"Orange isn't a color a ninja should be wearing," continued the Yamanaka, "you have to blend in with your surroundings. Be subtle. Right Sasuke-kun?"
At that moment a Sasuke, who had been passing by, stopped and looked over at Naruto
"Hn, you look like a traffic cone dobe. At least target practice with Tsunade-sama will be easier now."
Finishing he continued on his way towards the kitchen, missing the withering glare sent his way by Naruto. Sasuke was dressed in his typical high collared black shirt with a pair of white shorts.
Ino had tried to stifle a laugh and failed miserably at it.
Huffing angrily he began,
"Well you're wearing purple! What are you trying to blend in with huh? Vio...viola... FLOWERS?!"
Amused she began,
"They're pronounced violets Naru-baka. Besides purple is the color of royalty, and after all I am a princess," she said with a wink. "Orange is the color of "gut feelings" and right now my gut is feeling really sick."
Picking up a pair of pants and running her hands over them she continued,
"Where did you find these clothes anyway? They look like they came out of the trash."
Quickly looking away as a blush adorned his face,
"They are..."
A shocked look came across the girls face not understanding why her aunt let him wear clothes out of the trash.
"Why didn't Tsunade-obasan help you?"
"Well baa-chan said I could pick out whatever clothes I wanted, but even with her being the Hokage the villagers still won't sell me anything. They just kick me out of their stores," he grumbled.
Quickly getting up from the bed she made her way to the desk in the corner of his room and pulled out a pair of scissors. A gleam in her eyes as she made her way over to Naruto.
"Well then I'll just have to give you a makeover then"
When they stepped out of Naruto's room, it was like he was a new kid.
Stubbornly sticking to at least some orange, Ino let Naruto keep his jacket, with of course, some major adjustments.
First, she began by cutting off the high collared portion of Naruto's jacket, working her way down to the sleeves, taking those off as well. Underneath he now wore a tight fitting blue t-shirt with a mesh shirt underneath as opposed to his usual black and red Uzumaki clan shirt, leaving his jacket open exposing his lean, healthy body.
His pants were gone. Replaced instead by blue shorts similar to Sasuke's. His feet were covered by a pair of blue, open toed sandals, and he wore orange socks with a red Uzumaki swirl emblazoned on the front.
The final piece was on his face, a blue mask covered his whisker marks and mouth. He had his goggles placed on around his neck now instead of his head, two blonde bangs framing his face as it was no longer being held up by the goggles.
He could barely contain his excitement as he looked into the mirror.
"I look awesome dattebayo!"
An amused Ino looked on as he jumped around looking himself in the mirror.
Sasuke just grunted his approval making his way to the door.
"Thank you Ino-chan!I love it! I promise I will never call you Ino-pig again!"
An eerie silence permeated the room as Naruto slowly realized what he had just said.
Now some people would say that Naruto was stupid, but that wasn't the case. He's just easily excitable and sometimes very dense.
Very, very dense.
This was one of those times.
Turning, he made slowly made eye contact with Sasuke, an unspoken understanding passed between them as they booked it out of the house.
Behind Ino appeared a purple hannya mask.
"Narutoooooo!"
Shinobi Academy
Arriving at the doors of the Academy the three newly minted shinobi students stepped forward to walk through the doors. Two of them walked a bit more gingerly than one might expect from new recruits.
Both Naruto and Sasuke were scuffed up and dirty with what looked like scratches from a wild feline of some sort on their cheeks.
Apparently Sasuke took punishment by 'association' as Ino put it.
'Its true what Shikamaru says, women are troublesome,' thought the young Uchiha as they walked towards their classroom.
Upon entering they saw familiar faces. It seemed like all their friends had graduated into the Shinobi Academy.
In one row sat Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji, the former sleeping with his head on the desk and the latter munching on a bag of salted chips.
In another row in front sat Haruno Sakura, her pink hair standing out strongly and Aburame Shino, his thick coat and dark sunglasses made him identifiable from blocks away. Both were usually very quiet, seemed to be in earnest conversation about something... logical?
In the adjacent row sat Inuzuka Kiba, his cheeks adorned with the typical red markings of the Inuzuka clan and Hyuuga Hinata, her pale white eyes standing out among the sea of black and blue.
Throughout the classroom were other civilian children who seemed to have passed the exam into the Academy.
Having seen their friends they quickly made there way over taking the only available seats left.
As he walked past Naruto noticed there were a lot of glares sent his way. It seemed the parents didn't fail to mention who their kids shouldn't be playing with.
It made him sad, but more determined all the same. He would earn their acknowledgement, and prove to them that he wasn't a demon. He kept up his fake smile though, if anything for his friends. He did not want to burden them with his problems, they had plenty of things to worry about.
Only Sasuke seemed to notice whenever he put on a fake smile.
They shared the same pain after all.
The pain of having everything you loved in your life taken away, it was because of this reason that they were able to become friends. Bonding over their pain while living together with Tsunade, and having promised each other to take revenge on the man who had left them both with almost nothing.
Uchiha Itachi
That name was taboo in their household, and usually led to a brooding duo that would make My Chemical Romance seem normal.
The difference between the boys was how they handled their pain publicly. Neither boy burdened others with their problems
However, Naruto chose to become extroverted. Putting on his fake smiles and making everything seem alright. He was the bright light that made everyone feel comfortable, like they belonged together.
While Sasuke became more introverted, he would become highly agitated by the actions of his friends and those that took pity on his situation. He hated the pity most of all because it came from people who he believed could never understand what it was like to lose everything. Sasuke was the shadow that kept everyone anchored to reality.
Whenever they looked at Sasuke the cold, hard truth of the Shinobi world seemed to smack them in the face like a splash of chilled water.
This was the show they displayed for their friends, and they were none the wiser.
Once they arrived at their seats, there was a puff of smoke at the front of the room as a number of various teachers had arrived via shunshin.
At the head of the all stood the Sandaime Hokage who , in essence, was the principal of the Academy after Minato's reform.
Everyone quieted down as he began to speak,
"Welcome, to the first day of the rest of your lives, my young shinobi. Today marks the day you officially begin your ninja studies. I urge you all to maximize your efforts, and ensure that the Will of Fire continues to burn strong, for it is within each and everyone of you here that the Will of Fire burns. It cannot be destroyed, only transferred on to the new generation."
Pausing to take a look at his new charges, he cleared his throat and continued,
"Now many of you maybe confused as to why there are so many instructors present for your first class."
A murmur of agreement passed throughout the room.
"These instructors will at some point in time be your instructors in the various shinobi arts. Here at the Academy we have a strict structure that we will stick to in order to produce the best shinobi possible. Take a look around this room and realize this. Only about half of you will make it to graduation, and out of that half maybe a third of you will move on to make it onto the registered team of 3 under a Jounin Instructor. Everyone else will either be remanded to the Academy, or sent to specialized divisions such as the Medic Corps or the Research and Development Department. "
At this revelation, everyone in the room seemed to get a bit more nervous. No one had mentioned anything about the pass/fail rate back at the Civilian Academy. Unease spread throughout the ranks of students, but it was quickly put to rest when one loudmouth began to shout,
"I don't care what you say Jiji, I'm gunna get on one of those teams and I'm gunna the rookie of the year for this class, dattebayo!"
Everyone turned to look at Naruto who was standing with his arms crossed while he shot the Sandaime a defiant glare.
Hiruzen could only chuckle
"It seems like you're going to make things a lot more interesting Naruto-kun. Please take a seat while I finish explaining what you all will be doing."
With an ear-splitting grin, he began to scratch the back of his head as he sat down as he caught a couple of glares from some of the clanless shinobi and some smiles from his friends.
Continuing with his speech Hiruzen began once again,
"Now during your 4 years here your curriculum will be split into several difference parts.
During your first year you will focus on Battle Tactics used during the previous wars as well as familiarizing yourself with the more famous battles. You will also be focusing mainly on the academy level Taijutsu(Body Techniques) katas along with working on your Bukijutsu(Weapons Techniques) and the basic forms of chakra control.
Your Instructors for this year will be Umino Iruka, Touji Mizuki, and Higarashi Muramasa
During your second year we will introduce Ninjutsu(Ninja Techniques) and Genjutsu(Illusionary techniques) training as well as identifying everyone's elemental affinities. During the second half of the year you will have the choice to choose Ninjutsu or Genjutsu specific classes.
Your Instructors for this year will include myself and Kurama Yakumo
During your Third and Fourth years we will be including the ability to choose two electives from a list. The two that you pick will be included with your Nin/Gen jutsu's as your specializations for when you graduate. The list you will choose from is the following:
Genjutus(for those who chose Ninjutsu in Year 2) taught by Kurama Yakumo
Ninjutusu(for those who chose Genjutsu in year 2) taught by Myself
Iryo-Ninjutsu(Medical Ninja Techniques) taught by Kato Shizune
Fuinjutsu(Sealing Techniques) taught by Uzumaki Honoka
Advanced Bukijutsu this includes Kenjutsu(Sword Techniques) and Bojutsu(Staff techniques) taught by Higarashi Masamura"
During this time Hiruzen spoke slowly, each teacher stepping forward as their name was called introducing themselves. Hiruzen was pleased to see everyone was taking notes, including Naruto who did not seem to find this information to be boring.
'It seems hes taking this seriously,' Sarutobi thought. ' I can only hope Minato's Will of Fire passed on to his son. If it did, I can expect great things out of you Naruto-kun.'
With this new year, there could only be improvement on what would be an impressive graduating class, 8 clan heirs. Hiruzen could not ask for a better crop of students.
Alright!
Please leave a review, let me know what you think.
Love, Hate, Kill Me?
It rives me crazy not knowing what you guys think, my poor heart won't be able to take the stress.
Anyway dialogue is most likely my weakest point so I'm working on improving it, or maybe hopefully I'm improving on it now? Eh, its paradoxical. I feel like my dialogue in this chapter was extremely weak. Not entirely satisfied.
Til' next time!