Dragons of the storm

by Retcon343

What if the Uzumaki Clan had contingencies in place in case the village was to fall? The Uzumaki were known to play the long game and would never go quietly into that good night. Join Naruto on his journey to resurrect the only clan that stands between the shinobi world and its utter destruction. No Uchiha massacre, none jinchuriki .

3. A day in the life

This was a lot harder to write than it had any right to be. But here it is Chapter 3

Operation zone Delta Sigma - Designation "Dragonstone"

It was always the same. He knew it was a dream. The heat, the pain, the rage, just a dream. Yet, it was so real. Konoha burning in the distance through the purple shimmer of the barrier erected by his mother. He could see her, so far below him, with his father standing over the mewling form of his infant self.

Naruto knew he wasn't watching the scene play out from his own eyes. It was a memory, yes, but not his own. He could almost feel the blood of his parents run down the long claw he had impaled them with. The chains that sprouted from his mother's back dug into his legs as the golden chakra that created them made it impossible for him to move.

The masked man, Madara he called himself, his sharingan lingered in the recesses of his mind. The great beast hated the Uchiha, Naruto could feel that much in this shared memory. It was a deep and heavy feeling, all consuming. He couldn't make out entirely what the Kyuubi was thinking in this moment, but he had a good idea.

Far out in the distance the old Hokage and his Anbu gathered at the edge of his mother's barrier and waited. But there was someone else, something else. As his father began to ready what had to be the Reaper Death Seal, a light, blinding, and agonising filled the clearing. As sudden as the dream began it ended and Naruto woke with a start in his bed.

It worried him greatly when he first had that dream. It was terrifying to think that he was seeing the last moments of his parents lives through the eyes of the beast that killed them. But in time he grew to appreciate the brief, if gory, sight of them. If he listened closely, he could hear their voices, if he peered at the right angle, he could just make out the wry smile on his mother's beautiful face as they spoke their last. He was never going to meet them, hear them, feel them, not in the real sense any way. He would take what he could get.

There were still many unanswered questions from that night. Who was the masked man, why didn't the reaper death seal work, where did the Kyuubi go and most worryingly, why could he see its memories? The masked man claimed to be Madara Uchiha, one of the founding fathers of Konoha but Madara was long dead. He was Killed by the Konoha's other father, Hashirama Senju, when the Uchiha turned against the village decades ago. No, Madara was dead and even that lead to more questions.

Naruto took a breath to clear his head and reached for the alarm clock just by his bed, 06:59 it read. He pressed down on the large red button on the top just before it began to ring. He rose up quickly, fully awake to the stray morning rays that poked in through the curtains of his bedroom. He stretched to the satisfying pop of his joints as he walked to his bathroom.

Five minutes and a warm shower later he was dressed in his usual black Konoha ANBU jumpsuit, Kakashi had made sure he had dozens of things after their final training session. He paired that with combat sandals and his customary grey pouch strapped to his thigh. He went over to his curtains and pried them open, letting the day in. His bedroom was flooded with light. He placed his hands on his hips and breathed heavy as he took a look around. His room was a mess.

He had only arrived from his last mission four hours ago. A routine client protection detail to Nanakusa island to gather plants of all things. Mind numbingly boring but the pay was good. In a puff of smoke, he summoned a clone. The clone looked around the room with a frown before looking at him questioningly.

"What?" he asked.

"Really?" the clone replied and gestured to the mess of blueprints and half-finished drawings that were strewn about the space. Clothes and equipment draped haphazardly over his desk and chair with a none too fresh pair of underwear sitting cosily on his easel stand.

"Yes, really" Naruto said. "Now get to work and no funny business" He warned. His clones had a tendency of making a mess of things the moment he turned his back. Maybe deep-down he was a bit of an asshole.

"Whatever" the clone said before rolling his sleeves up and getting to work.

Naruto began to make his way down the tight wooden stairs that led to the main room and open kitchen.

The windows of the lower half of the house were wide open, letting the wind in to waft the soft linen curtains about lazily in the air. A gentle breeze rushed in and rustled his blond locks into his eyes, he needed a haircut. He quickly reached into his pouch retrieved a head band and wrapped his hair into a spikey ponytail with two long bangs framing his tan face.

Someone had made breakfast, bacon and eggs with a bowl full of sliced fruit to compliment. Naruto wasn't particularly hungry though and grabbed a slither of crispy bacon before making to head out of the open front door.

"I go through the effort of making breakfast and you never eat it" He heard behind him.

"That's because you never make ramen" He replied without turning

Haku walked up near him with a large wooden model in her hand, seemingly looking for an open space in the cluttered room to rest it.

"I never make it because it's not very nutritional" She replied absently, still searching. "At least have a drink of water, it's really humid today."

"What's with the whole mother hen act this morning?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow while waling over to her as she peered at a wall with many other wooden models. They were of buildings and lined up on cramp shelves on every wall baring the one the kitchen occupied.

Naruto picked one at random and removed it, creating space for the one in Haku's hands.

"No!" She rebuked sharply. "Not that one, I always liked that one"

"Okay" Naruto said before moving on to the one next to it. A small model of the stumpy apartment block just down the road from their home.

"Definitely not that one" Haku said.

"Oh, come on" Naruto rebutted "Now you're just hoarding"

"So what? you put a lot of work into these."

"If that's the case just chuck them into a storage scroll and you could have them forever"

"But then no one would see them."

"Well, they're not exactly decorations" he said through a chuckle

"They are to me." She rebuked "Anyway shouldn't you be heading to the big meeting?"

"I've got time" he replied "But, Shizune's back today and I'm guessing you want me out of here so you two can talk all girly"

She eyed him sharply and her mouth curved into a rare frown.

"You mean gossip" she said.

"What?" Naruto replied.

"Aiko said when girls get together to talk, it's called gossip" Haku said plainly

"It's kind of sad that you get your advice from a ten-year-old."

"Sad?" She asked with a chill in her tone. In that moment the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. A thin mist accompanied Naruto's words when he spoke next.

"Yeah, but in a cute way" He teased with a slight smirk, taking some joy in getting a reaction out of the stoic girl.

"Leave" She said calmly "Shizune will be here soon, and we have much to discuss" Naruto could make out the slight redness on her pale cheeks. She had grown her hair out into a long straight mane of black tresses that ran down to the small of her back. Two overlong bangs raced down the sides of her face to frame her almond eyes and the soft features around them.

Much like Naruto she garbed herself in a simple black ANBU jumpsuit, but Haku wore a green sash around her slim waist that added a decidedly feminine tint to her outfit.

"Fine" The blond sulked and began for the door "I don't wanna hear you two squealing about cute boys and girly outfits anyway" He stuck his tongue out at her in an infantile display before he exited and smiled a little when the corners of her lips quivered up slightly at his antics.

He spent a good deal of his time with Haku trying to get a smile out her. After their first meeting four years ago under not so ideal situations, Naruto had taken her in with the goal of offering some semblance of family to the girl. Zabuza didn't strike him as the fatherly type, truth be told. Kami only knows what he had planned for her. Though, the effects of his short tutelage had a lasting effect on Haku. A part of her still saw him as her father and she held some reverence for him for taking her away from the hell hole that was now Kirigakure.

If he was to be completely honest with himself it wasn't solely for her sake that he pleaded with Kakashi to allow him to bring her to his home. He had always felt something of an outcast within his family and having someone who was also an outsider alongside him had changed his life for the better.

It took some time for her to adjust, at first, she tried to escape every chance she got. She was convinced that he had kidnapped her and Zabuza was somewhere out in the world looking for her. Naruto wasn't quite sure when it all changed, but one day she made breakfast and the rest was history. He'd like to think it was his amazing sense of humour that turned her, but he knew it was most likely Tsunade's influence that finally broke through to her. Her weekly session with Shizune had also probably helped her to work through her trauma.

The two girls had grown inseparable since then. Shizune was always like a big sister to him but to see her take Haku under her wing really did warm his heart. They were good for each other. But with Shizune's frequent trips to the mainland they didn't spend as much time together as they used to, which was why Haku was so excited to learn that the older girl was on her way back to the island.

Naruto took a breath of the fresh sea air as he began down the worn dirt path that led from their humble wooden house. One of his earlier projects. It was nestled against a rocky outcropping with a small stream that ran right next to it and down a gradual hill into a water fall that fed a small lake at the centre of the island. He had chosen the high ground because from here he could look out for miles over the verdant blue of the Southern Ocean. In the distance he could, on a clear day, see the shimmering forms of some of the hundreds of islands that dotted the sea between the continent that housed the elemental nations and Sea Country to the south. It was less of a country and more a loose conglomeration of city and island states with a largely ceremonial figure head holding the position of Daimyo.

All around him tropical birds sung their morning songs from the tops of towering island trees that coated the entire scene in a sea of vibrant green with brown trunks that ran with morning dew from the humid night. The foliage here was thick and anyone who didn't exactly where to look would confuse their home for any of the hundreds of near identical islands that gave the Sea of Mountains its name. The many islands that dotted the landscape housed small villages and towns and harbours that traded from Kumo to Sky country. Some even had small ninja villages that leant their services to the highest bidder. Those bidders were usually on the large island at the centre of Sea Country which housed its capital. It was a larger landmass than Water Country, with much more temperate weather than the boggy island that housed Kiri but unfortunately constant raids from its neighbours had left Sea Country with less than half the population of Water Country.

That was precisely what Naruto, and his cousins were taking advantage of. With such a small and agrarian population no one asked many questions about what happened on any island but their own. There was no unified army or even police force to enforce any real sense of law and order. As such many pirates and missing-nin had set up mini kingdoms of their own under the umbrella of Water Countries sovereign territory. Ancient treaties enforced by The Lands of Fire, Wind and Lightning from a time long before hidden villages meant that no invading force tended to stick around long enough for Water Country to cash in on the promises made by three of the big five countries. Even Kiri in the height of the last war steered very clear of Water Counties borders. With no outside force to come and unify the disparate people of this country they inadvertently created the perfect situation for him and what was left of the Uzumaki to move in and earn a healthy living as shinobi for hire.

They kept their true identities a very closely guarded secret. Only a handful at the highest level of Konoha's government knew of their existence.

Before the blond had escaped the shadow of his home a familiar chakra tugged at his senses, and he flashed out existence moments before a great wave of water washed over the ground he stood on. It flowed away from the house, down the path and along the river that bordered it.

Naruto reappeared a few feet away, chakra under his feet keeping above the muddy mess made by the technique. He folded his arms and sighed loudly. "I don't have time for this" He spoke out into his empty surroundings.

In response, dozens of shuriken raced towards him from all directions. Naruto flicked through a quick series of hand signs before slamming his hands onto the floor. A loose dome of mud formed around him, hiding him from his would-be attacker. He heard the wet thuds of the shuriken meeting his barrier. He knew what to expect and prepared accordingly. It wasn't long before he felt the tell-tale signs of a fire technique engulfing the hardening mud and baking it into a white-hot oven before exploding it inward under the force of the flames.

A moment later a young boy landed where Naruto had seemingly perished under the force of the technique. He was weary, brown eyes scanning his surroundings feverishly. He had spikey blond hair that ran down to the small of his back with a silver happuri covering his forehead and the sides of his chubby face.

He shrieked loudly when a pair of hands broke through the baked earth and reached for his feet. The boy bounded away quickly before Naruto burst from the ground and dashed into his guard, not allowing him to create too much distance. As Naruto reached for him the boy clamped his hands together, interlocking his fingers, and summoned a spike from the earth that Naruto barely avoided by halting his momentum and flipping backwards. More spikes rose up and gave chase, forcing Naruto into a series of deft turns and agile flips to avoid being impaled. Concentration was etched on the young boy's face as his technique failed to pin Naruto down, a miasma of power warped the air around him as he poured his dense chakra into a never ending series of spikes that had quickly turned the small clearing outside of Naruto's home into a death trap.

Naruto had seen enough and soon sprung high into the air, his opponent seeing his opening broke his technique and made to form another but was forced to roll away when Naruto rocketed a kunai at his head. Another followed when he stopped rolling and the boy batted it away with one his own but to his shock the moment he connected with Naruto's blade it burst into smoke from which a great fist raced out and connected with the side of his head sending him careening across the floor and crashing into one of the spikes he'd made earlier. With the chakra that had created it all but gone it was brittle and crumbled easily under his momentum. Naruto eyed him closely as his clone landed next to him in a crouch. To his credit the boy was up quickly and began to rush through hand signs.

"Oh, no you don't" Naruto said under his breath and leapt into close combat range not allowing any further ninjutsu. His first punch was parried but the second broke his opponents guard with a quick jab to his shoulder. The boy swung out with a hasty uppercut, but Naruto had the reach advantage and simply leaned back then delivered two more punishing jabs to the boys chest and stomach. Before his attacker could recover the blond shifted his angle to the boys left side and sent an uppercut into his ribs that took him off the floor then a snap kick sent him skidding away under the wooden house.

"Had enough?" Naruto shouted out.

"Not by half, you smug son a bitch!" the boy shouted as he rose to his feet and wiped the blood from his split lip.

Just then the window on the second floor above where the boy had landed rocketed off his hinges in shower of splinters. Naruto immediately grew pale and the younger boy froze with abject terror in his eyes. He quickly covered his mouth when he realised the word he had used.

"Itama!" A female voice bellowed out across the whole island. "What did you just say?!" Tsunade Senju poked her head out of her bedroom window and peered down menacingly at the boy beneath her. "Do you two have any idea what time it is!?"

She was clearly incensed, even with the youthful looks afforded her by her unique transformation technique, Naruto could make out slight bags under eyes. She was awake when he arrived last, studying some medical paper or the other with copious amounts of alcohol on her desk. Not that she really dealt with the effects of alcohol poisoning given her godlike expertise with medical jutsu. He doubted it was the drink that made her cranky nor was the lack of sleep. No, it was probably who Shizune was traveling with that had her on her edge. And it was probably his imminent appearance that signalled Itama's need to test himself against Naruto.

"About time you got of bed don't you think, old woman?" Naruto said as Itama's eyes grew wide at Naruto provoking Tsunade of the Sannin.

An instant later an object impacted the ground Naruto stood on with enough force crater it. The whole house shook and he heard the tell-tale sound of one of his models falling off a shelf and could almost feel Haku's annoyance. Had he not shushined away Tsunade could have killed him with appeared to be an ornate decorative metal bowl.

"Hey!" Naruto screamed. "I got you that as a gift" he shook a fist in her direction. "You're lucky I've got somewhere to be or I'd…." He paused when he noticed she was no longer perched out of her window. He took a step back and swallowed harshly when he felt the soft flesh of her very generous bosom on the back of his head.

"Or you'll what?" She whispered almost sweetly behind him, peering down at the top of his head. She was a fairly tall woman and Naruto wasn't going to win any prizes for his height in this life, so she towered over him as he looked up at her. Her brown eyes barely hid her fury and the pristine purple dot in the middle of her forehead shimmered slightly in the light as her chakra flared within her.

Danger rang through his senses, and he vanished away in a sloppy teleportation that landed him next to Itama in a skid as Tsunade's fist connected with the floor, sending chunks of earth in every direction and rattled the entire hill they stood on. Again, there were a series of crashes from within the house and Haku audibly cursed this time. But she knew better than to come between a Sannin and her prey.

"You know what comes next right?" Tsunade said to the boys when she stood up fully. A stray breeze ruffled the grey kimono she wore under a green haori. Itama was dressed in similar colours with a loose green kimono and grey trousers.

"You let your darling son go and focus your rage on the idiot who just had to run his fat mouth?" Itama asked nervously and pointed at Naruto when he said the last part.

"Shut up!" Naruto said. "This is all your fault"

"My fault? We could have just walked away" Itama rebuked.

Both boys kept their eyes firmly on Tsunade as her considerable chakra swelled within her and distorted the air, created a hazy effect that added even more menace to her. She began to walk towards them, leaving indents in the floor as she did so. She was known for her inhuman strength, she could level mountains when so inclined and Naruto knew better than to wait for her to come to him.

"I say we rush her" he said hastily.

"Are you crazy?" Itama asked.

"Listen" Naruto tried to sound calm. "She can only stomp so much ass before she calms down and I don't see why that needs to be both of us. And it's not like we can outrun her. If we rush her, she picks one of us and the other gets to fight another day."

"That is the dumbest thing you've ever said, Naruto" Itama replied

"Oh, so you'd rather she kills both of us. At least my way you might actually get away. Besides I'm the one who upset her, chances are she doesn't even want you."

Naruto could see the moment the younger boy bought into his obviously flawed logic. As usual. Itama had led a largely sheltered life on the island, it was too easy sometimes to talk him into things.

"Okay" he said.

"Okay" Naruto replied "On three"

Naruto counted down and at zero both boys shushined, but only one towards the enraged Tsunade, Naruto had taken that opportunity to get as far away from his godmother as possible, while Itama, her son, had rushed straight into her waiting arms. He didn't stick around to see what happened next as he sprinted away for dear life.

"You bastard!" he heard as he made his way down the winding path that led away from their hilltop home. A loud bang was followed by a scream that made him wince at the horrors that Tsunade was putting the poor boy through. She'd patch him up when she calmed though. He hoped.

Naruto had stopped running and broke into a calm stride when he was far enough away. He came up to one of the only other buildings on the island, the dorms they were called. He had designed and built it a few years ago. With an army of clones working around the clock he had overseen its build even though he would never spend a single night there. No, it was for his cousins, his family, a cheap bribe to win them over. Before this they lived in a rickety shack that howled something awful when the wind ran through it on a stormy night.

When his godfather had told him that Tsunade was coming to visit with young Itama in tow he had decided that she could not stay in the old shack. He had always had a head for building, as far back as he could remember whether it was with sand or the random sticks and stones that dotted the landscape, he was always building something.

He took it up a notch and moved from making chairs and tables to rudimentary tree houses before he was even six. As it turns out being a shinobi had a lot of transferable skills. If you had the vision. Also, living this far away from civilisation meant that he had to learn to all sorts of things. He was taught to sew, to cook, to forage, he was tutored in metallurgy, masonry, and a dozen other seemingly superfluous disciplines from the day he could talk. It was all in the hopes that he could benefit his people. All his cousins had been taught the same things and they'd each found their niche, things that they excelled in that could be leveraged on missions and used to make life on this distant rock somewhat more bearable.

By the time Tsunade had arrived he'd built a house for her. It was a tiny one-story hovel with room enough for the four of them. She didn't stick around long and was back to wandering Fire Country soon after. Naruto had taken that personally. He worked himself to the bone afterwards to build something worthy of her, something that would convince her to stay longer.

The next time Jiraiya took him to the mainland to see her and Itama, he pleaded his case. She didn't accept his offer but some careful prodding from Jiraiya eventually changed her mind. He wasn't sure what he said but was grateful to get what he wanted in the end. She wasn't exactly blown away by what he's built for her, but it was enough to get her stay. She did disappear for weeks on end, she was still Konoha shinobi and had to check in least they'd start to think she went rogue, but at least he knew she would always come back.

With the addition of Itama, Shizune and Haku, his little family had taken shape. He couldn't ask for more. Well, he could, but he wouldn't.

He kept on walking past the empty dorms and continued down the winding path that led, eventually, to the islands centre. The dirt road was well trodden and lined with thick shrubs and tropical flowers that let of sweet scent in the morning air and dotted the world around with bright summery colours.

He could hear the rumble of the waterfall now. It was a modest thing fed by a number of small streams that ran down from the tall hills that crested the circular island. Down below he saw his cousins waiting for him. They sat in a half circle on an island in the middle of the lake. In the middle of the tiny island and at their dead centre, a lapping whirlpool churned silently. All around them hung the banner of the Uzumaki, a swirling red whirlpool against a field of black. Outside of the circle and on a slightly raised stone that was almost directly under the waterfall were three other people who sat patiently, staring down at the assembled Uzumaki.

Almost as one they turned to face him, a sea of red hair rolling like waves in the wind.

He didn't apologies for arriving last, nor did he pay any real attention to the glares they shot at him. Naruto simply strode over the water and took his place in the circle; he clasped his hands in front of him and bowed his head to those on the pedestal above him.

"I pay my respects to the retainers" he said flatly before resting on his knees on a red pillow that bore the mark of his clan.

"Your respect honours us, Naruto-Dono" The three of them said in unison.

At their middle was an older man of diminutive stature. His wispy white hair jutted out from the sides and back of his large balding head. He wore a fixed frown under his thick beard and stark white moustache. He draped himself in the ceremonial garb of the Ishida clan head, a jet black haori with their quince flower emblem emblazoned in stark yellow across his back and above his heart. His name was Masahiko. In his mid-seventies he was from a time when the Uzumaki clan dominated the seas, the Great Turtle, they called themselves and the Ishida clan were their most loyal followers.

Hundreds of years of service were rewarded with official status as retainer. They were his ancestor's right hand, wherever the red whirlpool swirled it was guarded with devotion by the men and women of the Ishida.

Next to Masahiko on his left was his wife Noriko, her dark eyes stared impassively ahead under the cover of her long pink hair. It was tight into a tight bun with a golden senbon holding it together. Much like her husband she wore the black and yellow of the Ishida but in a less formal Kimono with a high collar that reached just above her chin. The years had moulded her into a fierce woman but at seventy they had begun to show their wear.

On the old man's right was Daisuke, his grandson and youngest member of what was left of the Ishida clan. Naruto was told he was the spitting image of his grandfather in his younger years. He had dark blond hair and warm brown eyes that lit up as he watched the younger blond take his seat. He too was covered in his clan's colours but in a lose Kimono that showed his bare chest underneath. Daisuke smiled at Naruto and offered a brief thumbs up. They had a lot of history between them. Daisuke was everyone's unofficial older brother given the age difference between him and his Uzumaki charges, in his mid-twenties he was still at least ten years older than the oldest Uzumaki on the Island.

"Nice of you to show up" Naruto grit his teeth at the remark. Keijin always had something to say. He sat on Naruto's left, was only three older but towered above the blond and the rest of the family for that matter with bulging muscles and a mane of spikey unkept red hair.

"You're right, it is nice of me" Naruto bit back in a whisper "Now shut up before I show you my not so nice side"

"Big talk, little man" Keijin shot at him in a low growl. "We can settle this anytime."

"Will you two quit it, just this once" Karin added over them, drawing attention to their bickering. Naruto eyed her sharply. She glared back before adjusting her glasses, her red hair was smooth on one side and defiantly spikey on the other. A trait she hated.

"You're being disrespectful to our honoured retainers" Another Uzumaki added, Akira, she was the same age as Keijin but carried a dignity and assertiveness about her that spoke volumes about her maturity. "Apologies Ishida- Dono, please continue."

Masahiko cleared his throat. "Thank you, Akira-Dono. Now that we are all here, we can commence our monthly general-purpose meeting. Before we begin does anyone have any matters of importance to table?" He looked around but none of the shinobi in front of him offered anything. He was probably used to that by now.

"Okay then, as has become customary, I will table the first motion; Head of the Uzumaki clan." He sighed as he spoke. "Has there been any consensus among you on who shall take up this most honoured responsibility?" They all knew the answer.

"No" The gathered Uzumaki said as one. It was a wedge between Naruto and cousins. Baring Aiko, the youngest among them, they all believed they should be clan head. When Great Uzu fell the leader of their clan and his children were slaughtered. While they all could tangentially sight some blood claim to the position by virtue of being Uzumaki, as it stood there were no official records remaining to give credence to their claims.

It was decided by the retainers, who deemed themselves unworthy of selecting their future leader from the crop of children that remained of their master clan, that they had to choose amongst themselves who would lead. That had not gone down well. It caused the constant bickering and one-upmanship that drove them all apart.

Where they were once a makeshift family, now they stood at odds. While open hostilities were hidden under a thin veneer of respect, their spars tended to get well out of hand without Daisuke to supervise and keep the bloodletting to a minimum.

"Noted" Noriko said calmly.

"Second motion" Masahiko added "Natsu, you reported sighting Kiri shinobi off the cost of Taro Island. It's imperative that we avoid contact with them at all costs. So, it is decided that Taro and its surrounding islands will be listed as no-goes for a period of three months"

"Oh, come on gramps" The aforementioned Natsu spoke up. He was a head taller than Naruto with hair that was more pink than red, with an open vest in lieu of a shirt that showed his muscular frame to the world. "It was only one patrol, nothing we can't handle. I've just picked up a boat load of work there, I can't reneg on these jobs, it will hurt my reputation"

"What reputation?" Another boy said next to him. "Everybody knows you as a loudmouth monkey who's as likely to burn their house down as he is to complete a D-Rank." He said the last part with particular venom. He was another red head with long spikey hair that led down to his mid back and a series pf piercings running up the bridge of his nose and one under his button lip. His eyes were a vibrant red under even more metal studs in the young man's brow.

"Keep it up, Kengo everyone knows who the real dragon is" Natsu spat at his cousin. Kengo to his credit cracked out a gruff laugh and smiled good naturedly before letting the meeting continue.

It was Daisuke who spoke next. "Grandfather" He boomed in a deep resounding voice "Natsu may be right, from what I've heard it was a hunter squad and they've found their target. It would be unlike them to stick around for too long. Also, so long as everyone sticks to protocol, we shouldn't draw too much attention to ourselves."

His grandfather stroked his pointy beard in thought.

"Have faith in them, husband. We cannot rely entirely on Konoha's good will." Noriko added. "All wells run dry" She spied Naruto a look when she said the last part.

The young blond looked on impassively. It wasn't like they would be broke without Konoha throwing them a few missions every now and then, but those missions often paid a lot more than the pittance of the local C-Ranks.

Another problem with Konoha's assistance was that it was usually directed to and through Naruto. The others saw this as the Leaf exerting its influence in the power structure of their fledging clan. Naruto couldn't deny that there was definitely a game being played but he didn't really care, he had brought two Sannins and the most powerful hidden village in the world to the table. What did they bring?

That being said, he had very little ambition to be the clan leader. He wanted his family and he had one. His goal was to protect them, if that meant staying here or going back to the village he was born in then so be it. He was not overly tied to the Uzumaki clan, he didn't even look like them. And they were very sure to remind him of that every chance they got.

Their meeting went on for another forty-five minutes, they ran over logistics, resource management, made plans for group training and allocated this month's duties and responsibilities.

The elders had done all they could to instil some sense of military discipline into their charges and this worked for the most part. Duties were carried out with diligent precision and orders tended to be followed well enough. A lot could be said for cohesion and general backchat but one step at a time, Daisuke had assured. It was also a tad awkward because technically the retainers should have no authority over Uzumaki clan members but when Konoha had stepped in to ensure the clans survival, the Third Hokage made it very clear that among other things it was for the retainers to raise the children as they saw fit with, sometimes, minimal influence from the Leaf. He had a few theories as to why they chose to do it all in secret, why they had to be hidden half the world away and why the Hokage had such a stake in their wellbeing in the first place. Some could argue that it was due the age-old bonds between them and the Senju and their distant relations with the Uzumaki which spilled over into a robust and long lasting politic arrangement that hugely benefited both sides over generations.

Naruto had been on autopilot since the meeting ended, his cousins went their separate ways, as usual. He wandered across the pristine beach, taking in the rays of the sun and the cool breeze as it ruffled his hair. Life had a strange pace on the Island. Things would slow to almost standstill then as if by divine intervention…

A small red toad croaked out a grown a few yards from him as it emerged from the white wash of a wave. It had blue dots all across its small frame and looked up at him with a bored expression, its pale green eyes stared on passively. There was silence for a few moments but for the breaking of the sea against the golden shore.

Naruto sighed tiredly and assumed his role in his master's pantomime.

"Oh my" he said flatly "A toad, from the sea. That's not possible, whatever could this mean?"

There was a puff of dry smoke that filled the area around the blond, it smelled of cinnamon and sage and stuck to the back of his throat causing him to cough as he swatted it away from him. A figure began to take shape in the centre of it all. It was a towering man with flowing spikey hair that ran down almost to his feet. A giant scroll was slung across his lower back and shook a little as the man spun on his heels with his giant hands hung out wide in dramatic fashion.

"Fear not, for it is I, the sword of the morning, the shield at your back, the courage in your heart." Rhythmic drums began in the background and a subtle fire technique cast wispy orange plumes in arcs overhead. "I bring the sunset breeze that rests so easy on the maiden's bosom, the creeping twilight that frees her from villainous sobriety. To gaze upon me is to gaze upon the pinnacle of shinobi" By the time he had finished the smoke was gone and Jiraiya of the Sannin stood in all his glory on the back of a large toad that thundered down on the thin skin of a pair of drums in its webbed hands.

There was a long moment of silence as both of them just stared at each other. Jiraiya expecting a response and Naruto very much reluctant to give him one. The exasperated groan of Shizune broke the standoff.

"Can we just end this before the tide comes in?" She asked as she emerged into view from being the giant toad. It disappeared in a puff of smoke, and she ignored a pouting Jiraiya and walked over to the young blond. "How've you been, Naruto?" she looked down at him with her with her dark eyes and ever-present short cut black hair. Before he could answer she threw her arms around him and pulled him close.

"I've been good, Shizune" He returned the hug in earnest. She was like a big sister to him, Nurturing and Kind. "It's not the same here when you're gone. Plus, Haku has no one to talk to"

"Well, she does have you" Shizune responded and took a step back to appraise him. "You haven't grown a bit." She said teasingly.

"Ouch" Naruto played wounded. "Barely a foot back on the island and you're already destroying my self-esteem."

"I'm sure you've done something to deserve it while I've been away" She giggled as she spoke.

Naruto shrugged "True" he said nonchalantly.

"So?" Jiraiya interrupted the reunion.

"So?" Naruto asked just to aggravate his godfather.

"What do you think, brat?" Jiraiya truly towered above Naruto as he drew close, his deep baritone played contrast with Naruto's prepubescent pitch. "I added that first bit just for you."

"And that last bit?" Naruto asked in return "Got real pervy there, big guy"

"Had to add something for the ladies" Jiraiya laughed in booming tones as he brought a giant hand across Naruto's shoulder and almost took him off his feet. The long white bangs that framed his face wafted gently in the wind. "Come, take me to my boy, I have gifts!"

The three of them made their way up the path that led to the house at the top of the hill, speaking in animated conversation all the while.

It had been months since Naruto had seen his godfather. His work as Konoha's premier spy master and most dangerous asset took him all across the continent. His clandestine nature put the Leaf's enemies in an awkward situation, there was no telling where the Sannin was at any given time, overextend yourself and he might just pop up behind your lines with his Alpha tier summonings in toe. One didn't have to imagine very hard to picture the damage a fifty-foot toad could do inside their village walls.

They made good time back to the house and were greeted heartily by Itama and Haku. The young boy met his father with a deep embrace and challenging glare before declaring a duel to showcase all he had learned over the past few months in Jiraiya's absence. The giant man was keen to accept. It was how they bonded. Naruto did not want to interrupt, he would have his time with the old man. His gut told him that there was more to this visit than simple family time any.

He watched on as Tsunade, Shizune and Haku rattled through a discussion on a herb that was recently discovered by a Chunin squad on a mission to the frozen north of the land of snow. She had brought samples and a scroll full of notes for her master to review. Haku who was more of a field medic simply nodded along and listened in to the more practical applications of the find.

There was a deafening boom outside that shook the windows and rattled some of the fine figures from their perches along the walls. The silence that followed told them that the spar had concluded. Haku, with visible irritation went about the task of tidying up the living space. Naruto simply smiled as the door burst open, undoing Haku's work, and Jiraiya walked in with Itama slung over his broad shoulder.

"The kids getting good, Hime" he said with a toothy smile aimed at Tsunade. She simply scuffed and turned away from them. "Seriously, look how tall he is for his age. He takes from his old man."

"He's just as dumb" Tsunade said and couldn't hide the ghost of a smile that crept onto her pristine features. "He also lacks discipline, just like his father"

"Nah, he's just full of energy" Jiraiya replied while placing the young boy in the sofa. "Maybe he needs a little sister to play with" He wagged his thick eyebrows suggestively "One that takes after their mother" He leered openly at her exposed cleavage "you know, to balance things out."

Naruto didn't even see her move, but he felt the shockwave that rocketed out from her fist as his godfather went careening through a new hole in the wall. The blond sighed; he'd have to fix that. He wasn't sure when or why his god parents began their, for lack of a better term, arrangement. It could have been long before he was born, back when they were team seven in Konoha or much later. Jiraiya would bring him to Tsunade every few months under the guise of a routine check-up, it wasn't until he was older that he realised that it was a thinly veiled excuse to see her and well, you know.

Jiraiya eventually made his way back up to the house and the day continued on. They caught up over dinner, discussed the state of the outside world, politics, and up and coming shinobi. He was given an officially updated bingo book and a not so official ANBU protocol update by his godfather. Given the amount of time he spent with the secretive special forces it was in his best interested to know their codes of conduct. They changed every three months, and it was on the Hokage's orders that he was to stay familiar with them.

As nightfall drew overhead and the conversation died down Naruto made his way outside. He stood next to one of the taller trees and stared out at the sea. He loved the sea. Something about the unburdened blue stoked a longing deep inside of him. He just didn't know what he was longing for.

He felt the familiar presence of his godfather next to him but did not turn to greet the man. He was handed a small, unmarked scroll and took it with a precise movement. Unfurling it quickly, he raced through the information presented with rigid posture and then with a snap of his fingers, it went up in bright flames and disintegrated into nothingness.

"That's a lot of zeroes" The blond said flatly.

"Well, the old man wants you to feel valued" Was his reply.

"This is an A-Rank, in unfriendly territory" Naruto looked over to Jiraiya as he spoke.

"That it is" The white-haired man said

"This can go very wrong "

"Hence all the zeroes" Jiraiya replied

"That's a lot of zeroes" Naruto wiped a hand through his hair.

"Yep" The older man was sounding all too chipper for Naruto's liking.

"What's the catch?" He asked quietly after a few moments pause.

"Plausible deniability" There was some ease to how his godfather said that.

"Can I say no?" Naruto asked. Jiraiya gave him a look.

"No" The older man replied, he was very serious now.

"He owns me, doesn't he?" The blond shifted to a passive mask as he spoke.

"Konoha" Jiraiya corrected "Values you, Naruto. But you're in the machine now, you have to put aside your feelings and think about your duty." He placed a giant hand on Naruto's shoulder. "A lot of lives depend on this."

"Okay." Naruto said and drew in a sharp breath. "Let's do this"

A/N

So, I've had a real think about where this story is going and fundamentally, I don't want to write something too close to the thousands of Naruto stories on this site. That's probably why I gravitate towards to AU and cross overs.

To reset the scene and I'll change the bio to reflect this, Naruto is not a Jinchuriki and the Uchiha clan did not get massacred. Have the reason I wanted to write this story was to explore what a world like that would look like. The dominoes that would have to fall after the Kyubi is removes are very interesting to me.

In regard to the OCs, I've simply borrowed the likenesses of some characters from another series I really enjoy, Fairy Tail. It's a lot easier than creating them all from scratch. I saw this trick in another fic years ago and it really helped to smooth things out visually.

Uzumaki - Naruto, Karin, Akira (Erza), Kengo (Gajeel), Aiko (Wendy), Natsu, Kejin (Laxus)

Ishida - Masahiko (Makarov) Noriko (Porlyusica)