Night after the kyuubi attack
Hokage Tower
Koharu Utatane felt all of her 56 years of life, a long lifetime for the Kunoichi who had been born only 5 years after the end of the warring period thanks to the first ever five kage summit. Not to mention 7 years after the founding of Konoha. She had survived every war ever since, became the advisor to the third Hokage, and the fourth for his short tenure.
And then the Kyuubi attacked the village, something had gone wrong with the birth of the boy who was now the matter of difficult discussion.
On one hand, while Hiruzen was right, little Naruto was a baby, a human being and deserved to have a chance to pursue happiness. He was also the Jinchuriki of the village, even if the burden was forced on him. He was now a military asset, and he would need to be trained properly to make sure he can be the best shinobi he would have to be.
His parents were left with no choice but to sacrifice themselves for their child by taking the Kyuubi's claw; they too sacrificed their child in order for the village to survive.
A human sacrifice-
If only Hashirama-sensei was here. He would know what to do.
Then it clicked into place, if she recalled correctly, but it wasn't Minato's mother… "Hiruzen, wasn't Minato's mother a Senju?"
Hiruzen looked at her, as she elaborated, "You both have your points in regards to this child. Danzo, you are right that little Naruto- willingly or not-is a military asset. His is role is to keep the balance of power and to do so he must grow up to be a strong shinobi. But Hiruzen is also right, he is a child! A baby and a Human being. He deserves the chance to pursue his own happiness. Although Minato wasn't part of the Senju clan, he has their bloods, and Kushina was distantly related to the Shodai through Lady Mito."
"What are you proposing?" Homura questioned her, raising an eyebrow at her long winded explanation.
"I say once he's old enough we situate him in the old Senju district and ensure he has the same access to Shinobi training as any clan heir would have, and enrol him into the academy," Koharu suggested, "that way, he can still have a chance to be a child while also having a chance to become a strong Shinobi. Minato was an unparalleled genius, and Kushina despite being a late bloomer was one of our strongest Kunoichi."
Hiruzen started nodding as he got pensive, stroking his goatee as he muttered too quietly to himself. However, after a while the Hokage said, "We would need someone to look after Naruto. Someone impartial, I'm not so blind as to believe he won't have his own fair share of enemies due to his burden, Koharu, would you look after him? I trust you more to have his well-being in mind than I trust anyone else right now."
Koharu bowes, "Of course my friend, I'll make sure that he is well taken care of, they all saved our village."
The next few months after the Kyuubi attack were trying times for the village, none more so than the Jonin Commander as he had to regroup and restructure the Shinobi Forces. Shinobi who lived in outposts around the land of fire and other important military installations were called back to Konoha.
Shikaku Nara sighed as he signed away another report, if only Minato was still here.
The door opened, and Elder Utatane walked in.
"Commander Nara," she greeted him with a small dip of her head as she moved closer to his desk.
"Elder Koharu, how can I help you?" Shikaku Nara asked respectfully acknowledging her entry into his office.
"You were on the front lines with your team on the night of the Kyuubi attack," Koharu questioned him.
But Shikaku detected no disrespect on part of the Advisor, it was just that, a statement of fact.
The Jonin Commander answered truthfully recalling the event, "Yes we were trying to prevent it from getting it further into the village, but the damn beast was putting up a fight against my jutsu."
Grimacing at the thought of being able to even just catching the Kyuubi in a jutsu and holding it. The Humble Nara was a powerful ninja indeed.
Admiring his efforts she proceeded, "As you know, the Kyuubi appeared in the village suddenly, what do you think happened?"
Nara frowned, he could see where she was going with this, "Kushina was moved to give birth away from the village. We have found the bodies of the ANBU at the sight of the birth place. The birth was compromised, had to be. At least 2 people, could be one person, but I doubt there's anyone out there that could outrun the yellow flash. And Minato didn't appear for a while. So he had to have been fighting someone who took his son, while someone took Kushina and released the Kyuubi. Then somehow infiltrating the village, and summoning it here."
"That confirms our suspicion, many report seeing the Sharingan in Kyuubi's eyes." Koharu reminded him.
Shikaku didn't want to believe that the Uchiha were responsible. They were loyal to Konoha, but he couldn't deny their absence in fighting the Kyuubi was suspicious.
The room grew quiet for a while, seeing that the commander refused to speak on the topic any further, Koharu moved on, "As you know, Minato did not kill the Kyuubi as popular rumours insinuate. He sealed the Kyuubi into his own son,"
Shikaku let out a sigh, "Of course he would. Minato was not the type to ask others to make a sacrifice that he isn't willing to do himself."
"We've isolated the boy, put him into the care of an orphanage at the moment. But he's going to need friends," Koharu informed the Jonin Commander, "When he's old enough he's going to be moved to the old Senju district and situate him with an apartment."
"I can speak with my teammate, we all have children," Nara offered easily, Minato had been his best friend. He wouldn't fail the man now, "I can also look after Naruto if needed."
Koharu agreed, "He's going to carry the Uzumaki name, since the Senju are distantly related to the Uzumaki, we don't need to tiptoe around his orphaned status. He will be treated like any other clan heir."
"Minato's mom despite being married to the Namikaze clan was a Senju," Shikaku pointed out.
"Yes, however, we cannot let our enemies catch wind of Minato having produced a child," Koharu reminded, "They would be too eager to kill or kidnap him, the last thing we need is a war breaking out."
"Who will take care of Naruto then?" The Jonin commander asked.
"I will look after him and make sure that he is taught everything he needs to know," the Elder stated, "However I'm not as young as I once was. The more physical parts of his education I leave to you, and who you deem trustworthy enough to help look after the child."
"It would be an honour," Shikaku said with a bow.
"Good, now that Naruto is a little older perhaps we can think about doing playdates in the near future."
Years Later
Yoshino Nara observed her son and Yondaime's son playing shogi outside. So far, Naruto and Shikamaru were fairly even players, like a true Nara, he would calculate things ten steps ahead. Then, Naruto would come in with an unpredictable move and all of her son's hard work would be thrown out the window.
Such unpredictability was exactly what was needed to break the dullness that her clan tended to develop.
As she prepared tonight's dinner- she couldn't help but feel bad for the orphan. Aside from her own clan, the Aburame, Yamanaka, and Akimichi clan, Naruto was usually not welcomed around the village.
Perhaps the fact that the boy looked so much like the fourth with whiskers was something the village felt was a mockery.
The hypocrisy really, if Minato had survived the attack they would've worshipped the ground his son walked on.
But perhaps it was better this way. The young Uzumaki was well spoken and kind. He had the drive that her own son lacked and aptitude for the ninja arts, which were frankly prodigious. But the boy was also humble.
Hell, even her own husband often praised the little Uzumaki when they trained together.
"Hello there boys!"
"Choiji!"
"Shikamaru- is your mother inside?"
"Uh- yeah Uncle Choza! She's preparing dinner!"
The door slid open and the burly figure of Choza Akimichi walked into the house. Along with his wife.
The Akimichi pair hugged the Nara woman and immediately pulled out a number of scrolls revealing their contributions to the night's occasion.
A number of dishes were set out across the table.
"We wanted to make sure Naruto has a birthday to remember." Chouji's mom commented.
Yoshino Nara smiled, "He has been working hard all day today. I only managed to get him cleaned up after he exhausted those ridiculous reserves of his."
Choza chuckled, "If only Chouji put as much effort into training."
"Hush my dear, as if you're any better!" The plump woman chastised without any real heat behind her.
Tsuki Uchiha let loose the string of her bow, striking true at the wild boar she had been spying on all day, "Yes!"
"Good Job- Tsuki!" Itachi congratulated from behind her, "What are you thinking? We surprise mom with this boar?"
The girl smiled and nodded, her mom's cooking was the best!
"Um, Itachi?" The younger sibling called out to her brother as he got to work on skinning the animal.
"We have to work fast Tsuki," the elder sibling explained, "We don't want the meat to go rotten and the food to go to waste huh?"
Tsuki giggled and let out a shudder, "Ew no!"
Soon enough, Tsuki got down to her knees and helped Itachi prepare the Animal.
When they arrived home, their mother greeted them with hugs. And once Itachi mentioned the results of Tsuki's hunt. The Uchiha Matriarch had a gleam in her eyes as she immediately went to rummage through the Kitchen.
After a while, Tsuki heard a sigh as her mom said, "I'm going to go out into the village to get some ingredients."
That perked up Tsuki's attention, as she went up and did the one trick she knew would still work on her mother, she hugged the Uchiha matriarch and out on the widest eyes possible as she asked, "Can I go with you please?!"
Mikoto sighed and gave in, it would be good for her daughter to get out of their district for once.
"Thanks for the stuff, Keiji!" Naruto said as he walked out of the store, as he began walking around the Uchiha district he sighed, "Man, nobody can beat the prices here!"
It was true, many of the people here who owned shops and restaurants were Uchiha's who had family as either members of the military police or as full time shinobi, they were generous to orphans like himself, offering good discounts and often times he would find himself leaving the district with a good haul having spent significantly less money on more stuff, and still having money left in his pocket.
He walked around the Uchiha district, his eyes caught on a girl that looked to be around his age. She was cute, he had seen her around the district whenever he passed by.
As he racked his brain, he quickly began to recall where he knew her from. She was in his class, she was overall the top student thanks to her perfect score in academics.
Tsuki Uchiha
Suddenly, he felt an immense pressure behind him, as he turned around and came face to face with the Commander of the Military police.
Bah! As if anyone could intimidate like aunty Yoshino!
"Any reason why you are eyeing my daughter?" Uchiha Fugaku questioned him icily.
Naruto cocked an eyebrow, "I just looked at her cause I recognized her. We are classmates."
The Uchiha scowled, "And you think that gives you the right to glance in her general direction? You and her wouldn't even be in the same circles."
"You're right," Naruto replied feigning surrender, "I'm sorry for looking at your daughter. It won't happen again."
"See that it doesn't."
The Uchiha chief walked away and Naruto too left in his own direction, grinning evilly as a plan formed in his head.
Fugaku grimaced heavily as he watched his building. It was painted orange, ORANGE! Once he catched the one responsible for it, he had a suspicion as to who had done it.
But so far, nobody remembered anything. Nobody remembered seeing anyone painting the HeadQuarters of the military police, such preposterous nonsense.
And the worse part? The culprit had left no evidence behind that could be traced back to him.
"Damn the Yondaime's brat!" Fugaku cursed in his home after a long day of digging for anything that could give him an excuse to throttle the boy.
"What about Naruto?" Mikoto questioned as she sat down on the table across from him.
"I'm sure he painted the station orange! I'm sure of it!" Fugaku replied with a scowl.
"And why would he do that?" His wife continued, this time raising her eyebrow, "Did you do something to him?"
"I told him to stay away from Tsuki after I caught him eyeing her," the Clan head replied, his scowl deepened, nobody was worthy of his little princess damnit!
"Are you a moron?" The Uchiha Matriarch gave him a glare that made it clear she was less than impressed with him, as she stated, "Naruto is a good kid, I've spoken to him multiple times. He's also the son of Minato and Kushina, and he's already considered to be a prodigy by Yoshino and Inoki, and the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. If we could get him into our side… damn, why didn't I approach Kushina myself about this?"
"No! My daughter is too young to be with any boys," Fugaku rejected the idea out of hand. He respected the Yondaime Hokage, an orphan who rose to become the deadliest shinobi in the leaf, but that did not mean he wanted his spawn marrying his daughter, absolutely not!
"At least you show that you care for her," Mikoto snarked with a scowl of her own.
The Chief of Police couldn't help but wince as his wife's word hit home. It was true that he wasn't the best father, and had the emotional range of a teaspoon but that did not mean he didn't love his daughter, "She's my daughter, my flesh and blood! How could I not love her?"
Unknown to either of the two, Tsuki was listening to their argument not two doors away.
Hiruzen looked at the carnage and death in the streets of what was the Uchiha district. Now nothing more than a scene straight out of a novel. He was tired of being Hokage, but who could take the mantle now?
In one night- an entire clan had been condemned, a child had been orphaned and betrayed, and another one was now on the run, permanently.
He should have listened to his father and gone to art school!
But noo- he had to become a shinobi, and learn from the great Hashirama Senju!
"Burn the bodies!" He ordered at last, managing to pull himself from the grief he felt. All had been murdered except for one, Itachi's little sister.
He had promised the Uchiha heir to watch after his sister, and he would. He needed to set her up with a place away from the compound. Then set her up with therapy and counselling for the poor child.
The air had changed around Konoha after the shocking wake up call that was the Uchiha massacre. The nights following the act of terrorism had only made the tension in the air grow worse. The once vibrant city had become quiet from 8 PM to 6 AM.
The Village Hidden in the Leaves, was at its lowest point it had been since the Kyuubi attack that took the Fourth Hokage with him.
The days following reminded the fragile stability of the village. It was not another shinobi attack, or an invasion, no, what brought the village to such a low point?
Boards across the village spread headlines and newspapers. In the absence of a police force and the vacuum in the line of policing, a new threat had emerged. Not one that took out shinobi, no, it was a monster that currently terrorised civilians it seemed.
"Another victim," Naruto said as he read the news article print.
"That makes what? 4 victims? Troublesome." Shikamaru spoke with a tremble in his voice.
"Oh man!" Kiba said, holding his head, "I'm not going to be allowed out anymore if this keeps up."
Naruto looked towards the skyline, the sun was setting already. Soon his friends would all have to go back home, so he suggested, "Why don't we all walk back and drop each other off one by one?"
"You're staying with us tonight?" The Nara heir asks. After all, the Senju compound was pretty far from where everyone else lived.
"Nah," Naruto said dismissively, "I can get to my place pretty quickly."
Shino spoke up then, "That's not wise Naruto, why? We don't know anything about the killer. He could get you too, is the risk worth it?"
Naruto shook his head, "I'll be fine Shino, I'm pretty tough!"
Chouji however didn't seem convinced as he said, "Your funeral!" And continued snacking on some chips.
They spent the rest of the afternoon joking as they walked towards one of their houses. Kiba was first since he was the closest, then Shino, and finally Chouji.
As Naruto and Shikamaru arrived near the Nara residence, the black haired boy turned to his blonde friend and asked, "Are you sure you don't wanna spend the night? Mom is going to be worried about you."
"You can tell Aunt Yoshino that I'll be fine," Naruto said with a chuckle, it was true. The Nara matriarch was overbearing and could be a bit of a tyrant, however he had training to do back at the compound.
"Troublesome blonde!" Shikamaru called out as Naruto walked away, causing the Uzumaki to chuckle.
Reaching the more urban areas he jumped into the roofs to circumvent having to navigate the village streets.
As he flew from one roof to another something caught his eyes. He came to land on a roof, then he heard the sound of jostling.
Dropping down onto the streets he watched as a woman struggled to gasp for air, her clothes all turn up. Hurriedly, he approached her, trying to get her focus as he spoke, "You're gonna be alright, OK? I'm gonna get you to the hospital."
Picking her up in his arms, he cursed as he jumped towards the roof. Upon landing he nearly twisted his ankle but he managed to find his footing quickly enough and continued hopping, careful with every landing as he made his way towards the hospital.
Each time he jumped once more he flared his chakra out hoping it would act like a beacon and get the attention of any nearby Shinobi.
As he landed on the courtyard of the hospital building he was quickly joined by ANBU as he took a knee, calling out to them, "She needs medical attention! Call the medics!"
One of the ANBU, with her mask painted like the face of a cat and purple hair approached him and took the woman from his arms and rushed her into the building.
Another one suddenly appeared in front of him, this time with a tiger mask as it spoke, "I'm going to have to take you to the Hokage."
Naruto nodded as he stood up, and began to follow the masked shinobi. However, just as they were about to set off, the Hokage arrived, surrounded by his own escort of ANBU personnel.
"Lord Hokage, we were just about to go see you," the tigered masked ANBU stated.
"Naruto here was flaring his chakra, I decided I had to come see whatever he was myself," the Hokage responded as he made eye contact with the Uzumaki boy, "Report?"
Naruto blinked, not expecting to see the Old Man much less having to report to him directly. He was only an academy student, nevertheless, he composed himself and spoke up, "I was making my way back home after dropping Shikamaru Nara off at his place, when I heard someone dropping something heavy. I dropped down from the roofs and found a lady that had been stabbed and her clothes were ripped. I brought her here as fast as I could. I was trying to catch the attention of a nearby ninja by flaring my chakra and these guys took the lady to the hospital."
"Cat took the patient inside, Lord Hokage," Tiger confirmed, "We were on patrol as we sensed the spike of the boy's chakra and found him here with an unidentified young woman."
The Hokage nodded, and walked closer to the boy, "Is there anything more you can tell us?"
"I heard the sound of footsteps, someone was running away from the scene." Naruto recalled, "I- I think it could have sent a shadow clone after whoever did it… B-But…"
The sight of the lady he had stumbled on flashed across his face as he struggled to get out, "All I could think was getting her to the hospital."
Hiruzen sighed as he closed his eyes. Great, just what he needed, they had a serial killer on the loose and now Naruto had the misfortune of stumbling into one of its victims.
Neko came out of the Hospital, and came up to the grow up, taking one knee and greeting with reverence, "Lord Hokage!"
"How is the woman Naruto brought in, Neko?" Hiruzen questioned with both hands interlocked behind him.
"She's in critical condition sir, the doctors said had she been one more minute late there would have been nothing to do for her," Neko reported not leaving her kneeling position.
"Stand up Neko, and ensure Naruto returns home safe," the Hokage ordered, then turned to the blonde boy and stated, "I will be by later today Naruto."
The Uzumaki boy nodded and then turned to follow the feline themed Kunoichi.
As they walked away, the shock of everything that was happening hit him. Realising the implications of what he had borne witness to, he turned to the ANBU and said, "He… He raped her didn't he?"
The ANBU froze, making no other sound and keeping herself composed. She spoke after a while, "He did, and that's one of the worst crimes one human could carry against another. Here in Konoha it carries the weight of Execution."
"Why?" Naruto asked almost in a whisper, "Why would he do that to her? How could anyone do that to someone?"
The kunoichi let out an audible sigh, as she answered, "There's a ton of bad people out there, Little Naruto. Some of them braver than others,"
The world was often not kind, and might made right.
Naruto nodded but didn't trust his own voice, he was trembling. Seeing his emotional deterioration the Kunoichi put her hand on his shoulders and before he knew it he was back at the Senju compound.
Once he reached inside and onto his room he flopped down on his bed, too tired to move or do anything else. As he laid on his bed, the images of what he had come about invaded his focus.
He slept through nightmares, so tired that he couldn't wake himself up. Until eventually he felt a tap on his shoulders.
Jerking awake, he blinked several times to get rid of the blur in his vision, he saw the old man Hokage and Koharu standing there.
"Naruto," the Hokage spoke up, "We would have let you rest but it's midday already."
Looking out the window he saw the sky was blue without a cloud in sight. At least his room wasn't situated at an angle where the light from the sun wouldn't hit him.
"How can I help you, old man and granny?"
If the occasion were any less serious the Hokage would have chuckled, but it wasn't. It was a far more serious case than he hoped, "The Kunoichi you saved yesterday. Her condition stabilized, and we have a match on the DNA sample acquired from the rape kit. She wouldn't have made it without you."
"I just did what I thought was right," Naruto stated as he sat up, a tight smile appeared on his lips as he continued, "I hope she gets better."
"I hope so as well," Koharu replied, and then frowned, "Naruto, stick with your groups of friends. We have an ID on the target and the perpetrator of this attack is being hunted as we speak, but there's still holes in our security."
"Keep in numbers and keep safe? " Naruto asked.
Hiruzen nodded, as he said, "Think of it like a mission, make sure you and your friends keep each other safe."
The weeks after the attack had been somewhat more subdued, with the news of the survivor, wanted signs had been posted all over the place. But something still wasn't right.
However that's not the focal point of the matter.
Naruto was currently reading a scroll left behind by the first Hokage.
… the nature of advanced elements most often associated with Kekkei Genkai is interesting. While Bloodline limits certainly give people an affinity towards a specific advanced element- no advanced nature transformation is beyond anyone, in fact I have been working on a mature release of my own. By mixing water and earth I can make wood! Though it feels incomplete, as if it's missing something. Though, it's a good thing I used my primary and secondary affinity….
His eyes widened, he had some chakra papers he could use around the library. He didn't know if water was his natural affinity, Koharu had taught him some water ninjutsu because that was his mom's primary affinity.
And also an Element that Koharu was familiar with. And he had just taken practising the nature transformation because it helped his chakra control.
It did come naturally to him by this point, after months of hard work with nature transformation.
Making his way towards the library he approached the dresser were he kept some of his most important tools and-
"Right where I left it!" Naruto cheered as he opened the box and took a piece of paper.
As he channelled chakra into the chakra paper it first ripped in half before becoming wet.
Wind and Water.
If he recalled correctly- the Yuki Clan of the hidden mist were renowned for their ice release. Composed of water and wind.
Yeah, Naruto Uzumaki could work with that. But before then, he paused. Who could actually teach him about wind release?
Tsuki stared blankly out the window of her new apartment. It was far away from… she shook her head, she didn't want to think about that now?
As she stared down the street she picked down her classmate. She noted her classmate, she had seen him multiple times around the Uchiha district but he wasn't an Uchiha, and he certainly stood out like a sore thumb with his blonde hair and blue eyes.
She remembered that around the district he was well-liked by her aunt and uncle as he often came around to buy from them. And he seemed to be welcomed in their part of the village so she had never made note of him aside from him being the top spot.
But looking at him near the center of the village? The villagers seemed to give him a wide berth, looking at him in his direction with frowns and fear.
Then he stopped and turned to make eye contact with her.
As soon as the moment came, it left. As her classmate returned to whatever he was doing, a hand raised up as if to say goodbye.
She noted his posture as he walked, confident and commanding of sorts. Demanding the attention of those around him despite the reception that the civilians seemed to have towards him.
Turning away from the window she muttered, "What an Idiot,"
The Academy was boring- that was an undeniable truth. Most of what he was being taught here he had already learned from the old hag or by going to the library.
Looking up at the clock he sighed in relief as the bell rang all across the academy marking the end of the day.
Ignoring Iruka's dismissal he called out, "Hey Shika! Choji! You guys and to join Kiba and I? We were gonna grab dinner and go train afterwards!"
"Hell yeah!" Chouji answered with excitement, however Shikamaru only agreed with a small mutter of his favourite word.
Turning to the Aburame, Naruto called out, " Shino? Would you like to join us as well? We should all be thinking about getting stronger."
However, Shino shook his head, "Not today Naruto, I have training with my father. Maybe next time?"
The Uzumaki nodded, as he proposed, "How about this? Me and you can have a one-on-one next week, so we can show each other what we are learning."
The bug user thought about it for one moment and agreed, "That would be most agreeable, I'll see you guys tomorrow then."
"Man, it sucks that Shino can't join," Kiba protested before he leapt out the window much to the distress of Iruka-Sensei.
Following in his lead, Chouji leapt out as well, followed by Naruto and finally Shikamaru. As the four kids ran away laughing about their great escape they began to slow down once they reached the vicinity of Ichiraku Ramen.
"So- what will we be focusing on in today's session, Captain Naruto?" Kiba asked in a teasing manner, causing the Uzumaki to scowl.
"What am I? A ship captain?" Naruto replied with a snarky tone as he proceeded, "I wouldn't want you in my crew!"
The Akimichi boy burst out laughing, and even the lazy Nara let out a chuckle.
However Naruto was not laughing, he turned his body towards the outside and with a side glance caught a figure moving towards the shadows. He sensed an assortment of different emotions such as anticipation, anxiousness, and excitement. However the most disturbing thing his sensory skill caught was bloodlust.
Turning back to his group he turned to Shikamaru who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded in turn and paid for their food, "Alright guys, how about we go train now?"
"About time!"
"Yeah!"
"Troublesome."
"So- Captain Sunshine and Rainbows, what are we training on now?" Shikamaru asked aloud as they stretched on the training field.
"Teamwork," Naruto replied as he took out a kunai from his pouch, "We're going to need it to see who has been following us this entire time."
Kiba and Chouji's eyes widened as they heard the sound of clapping reaching their ears as someone walked out from the tree line.
"Ah! The demon boy! I had suspected that you knew I was tracking you." The assailant spoke.
"I have been waiting for you- Toyo Akito!"
Naruto growled, "Guys, he's an academy drop out. But make no mistake- he has killed 4 Genin and a Chunin, he's the one responsible for the murders. Don't charge at him brashly."
Akito chuckled as if someone told him a good natured joke, but his face and frown twisted into an avatar of manic anger as he yelled, "Haha! As if four academy students wet behind the ears could defeat me! Tell me little demon, why are you playing nice? Tried to save that girl but in the end she took her own life. I guess she couldn't bear being saved by the filthy demon."
Naruto took one step forward but was stopped, turning back he saw Shikamaru holding his shoulders, "Naruto, don't let him get under your skin. As much as this guy disgust me. We can't take him one on one- as you said, today's training is teamwork."
"Yeah!" Kiba agreed, "Let's kick this guy's ass together!"
The Uzumaki boy nodded- his face hardening with determination, Chouji stood next to him and together. Three of the four academy students charge at the crazed maniac engaging him in a battle of taijutsu and shurikenjutsu.
Unknown to the five battling it out in the training grounds, they were being observed.
Anbu Commander Crow analysed the unfolding fight- the kids were doing alright, his target was more experienced than them. Even if he wasn't a shinobi by any means, he still had a number of techniques under his belt and a more refined academy taught taijutsu.
If the scumbag hadn't turned out into such a rotten apple he would have pulled him into the ANBU. But much too late for that and he didn't need someone like that in his outfit, the tragedy of Itachi Uchiha was bad enough for the group of elite assassins.
Quickly and rather embarrassingly the Akimichi boy was knocked out of the fight, and as he predicted it complicated things for the two other academy students that actively engaged in the melee combat.
Akito jumped to make some distance between himself and the two academy students, he quickly flipped through five hand seals, too fast for the genin to catch- however Naruto caught the tiger and boar seal and he quickly moulded his chakra- holding the ram seal as his opponent spit out a fireball that was hurtling towards Kiba.
Substituting with his now confused friend Naruto let out a stream of water that overpowered the fireball. And sent steam everywhere obscuring everyone's vision.
The commander of the ANBU was impressed with the performance of the Uzumaki. As he observed the academy student he hadn't so much used a jutsu, as much as he converted his chakra nature into water and thus imitating the water bullet technique.
Was the kid that advanced with nature transformation already? Crow's eyes narrowed, that was typically jonin level skills. But as he observed the fight as it carried on, it became more and more apparent that aside from the academy-three that the boy didn't possess a repertoire of jutsu.
'He has the potential to surpass the Second Hokage with water.' The commander thought to himself, 'Could he have completed the training required to master water transformation?'
A shadow clone popped into existence, and ran towards Shikamaru, "Boss is going to try to manoeuvre that bastard towards us through the mist."
Shikamaru acknowledged the clone from his perch, "I can see where he's going with this, troublesome blonde."
As the mist began to disperse Naruto knew he had to finish this quickly, Kiba and Akamaru were running out of stamina and he was beginning to feel every hit he took himself.
As the last of the mist lifted he saw Shikamaru's shadow possession technique and jumped onto the murderer kunai parrying chokuto as they dodged and paried each other- until
Stab
Naruto looked down at his chest, immense pain shocked through his body. As Toyo Akito laughed like a maniac, but Naruto grunted holding onto the academy drop out. Until he heard, "Shadow Possession jutsu, success!"
With one last burst of strength he slit the throat of the murderer, and pushed him off.
Staggering, he fell onto one knee coughing up blood. The tears he had been holding onto since he first got the news that the kunoichi he had saved from this very same bastard had killed herself.
For a week he had been plagued with the kunoichi's face begging him for revenge. Those lifeless eyes that had stared at him whenever he closed his eyes.
His friends rushed towards him, some of them shocked, Kiba had tears streaming out to him as they called out to him to keep him awake.
"HEY! STAY AWAKE YOU BASTARD!"
"YOU CAN'T DIE NOW YOU TROUBLESOME BLONDE- MOM WOULD KILL ME!"
"Who's going to eat premium ramen with me?"
Coughing, Naruto reached out to his friends, grasping the hands of his best friend as he spoke to all, but mainly Shikamaru, "The cough nightmares cough the visions cough f-finally, f-free, over."
The last thing he saw was being surrounded by black cloaked and masked figures. As his eyes closed and he finally- let go.
"Explain to me again, Crow, why you didn't deem fit to stop four academy students from being harmed by the serial killer your team was supposed to get rid off?" Hiruzen questioned, he was tired, angry and annoyed with the situation.
"I was going to, but something stayed my hand," Crow admitted, "I will take any punishment you deem fit, but you should hear me out."
Hiruzen raised an eyebrow, crow was the most efficient ANBU in the village and a powerful one as well, nothing rarely ever piqued his interest. So, Hituzen was curious, as he asked, "What stayed your hand?"
"Uzumaki, as far as I'm aware of, shouldn't know any elemental jutsu," Crow stated.
That was true as far as he knew, so far Naruto had only been taught the Shadow clone jutsu and all techniques in the Senju compound had been removed with the help of Tsunade and moved into another room for Naruto to learn at a later date with the help of his Jonin sensei, much like they had done for the Uchiha girl.
"Yes," Hiruzen clarified, "All that Naruto has at the moment are chakra control exercises."
"Did you know he could emulate jutsu with nearly just pure nature transformation alone?" The ANBU commander asked, "He tried to emulate the Water Bullet jutsu I believe to counter the target's fireball technique. Has he completed the training to master water ninjutsu?"
That left Hiruzen stunned, his eyebrows raised before he began to chuckle, "It seems Naruto is more talented than I realised. He replicated a jutsu he saw once during last chunin exams."
"I suggest he's recruited into the ANBU," Crow requested with a tone of total seriousness.
"Denied," Hiruzen replied out of hand, "He's a boy."
Crow shook his head, "Within the span of one week he saw things no child should see, and took someone's life without hesitation. He's not just a boy, he's a Shinobi."
"I'm not arguing about this, Crow," the Hokage commanded; however, the Commander wasn't backing down either.
"How about a compromise then,"Crow offered, "You allow the ANBU to take young Naruto under our wing. We give him training and experience for when he goes out into the Shinobi world. We both know that he's far too much like his father and when he goes out there it won't take long for the other powers to notice and start sending assassins after him."
"I agree," Koharu spoke up as she, Danzo, and Homura entered the room, "While I don't appreciate you putting my charge in harm's way, he's too much like Minato. Keeping him bound to the academy will only make him plateau."
Then turning to the ANBU Commander she said, "I will be having words with you later!"
"My friends, how can I help you?" Hiruzen spoke up, bringing attention back to him.
"I heard what happened to little Naruto, all of it," the retired Kunoichi stated, "Naruto is too much like his father, with Kushina's willful and brash tendencies. He's progressing faster than I wanted him to, and unless Jiraiya wants to take Naruto as his apprentice and bypass the academy completely. Then, making him a part time ANBU is currently the best course of action."
"He's a child!" Hiruzen protested.
"He's my ward," Koharu rebutted, "He's beyond the academy level, there's nothing more we can teach him."
"Kakashi wanted to train him," the Hokage reminded his former teammate.
"Then when the time comes we assign him to his team, it's not the first time we've removed someone from the roster," Crow suggested, "You did that to Kakashi himself."
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow as he reminded his subordinate, "It was for his own good."
"And this is for Naruto's" Koharu replied.
"You dumb little runt," Yoshino Nara hissed as she rested Naruto's head in her chest, "What were you thinking putting yourself in danger like that?"
"I had to," Naruto replied enjoying the affection from his surrogate mother, "I had to…"
"The nightmares?" Chouji's mom said as she sat a little further back.
"They're gone now," the boy answered, "I don't see her when I close my eyes anymore."
"You silly little brat," Yoshino muttered, "Why do you have to grow up so damn fast."
Then Naruto turned his head, lifting himself from the embrace as he said, "The old man is here."
Indeed, not a minute later the Hokage walked in, a grim expression as he greeted, "Lady Nara, Lady Akimichi, I'm glad to see you here. If you don't mind, I would like a few minutes to speak with little Naruto here."
The two Matriarchs agreed and walked out of the room, with Iko Akimichi turning back to say, "We'll be back once your business with Lord Hokage is done!"
Once the door closed the Hokage smiled a little, "How are you feeling, my boy?"
"Like I got run through with a sword," Naruto answered with a bit of humour, "What brings you here old man?"
"Naruto, your heroic actions in stopping Toyo Akito have not been unrecognised, word is already spreading about how you brought him to justice," the Hokage congratulated, "Of course, the fate of such a villainous man was not revealed to the public. Merely that you caught him as he tried to kill you and your group of friends, but that poses an interesting problem."
"What do you mean old man?" Naruto questioned with confusion, "He's dead, it should be over!"
"Naruto," Hiruzen spoke, making it clear that the professor and not the old man was speaking right now, "It's clear to me that leaving you in the academy would do you no good. You are far ahead of your peers, but make no mistake. I still want you to graduate and be placed on a genin team."
The Jinchuriki was confused, trying to get to the point he asked, "What do you mean old man?"
Sighing, Hiruzen spoke, "You've officially been asked to join the ANBU. Though not full time- you'll train four times a week after the academy and once you are ready you will start going on missions occasionally."
The boy was left wide eyed as the Homage turned to leave, he said one more thing, "Speak of this to nobody but your caretaker, she pushed for your admission. Report to me next week."
Heyo! Welcome back to another installment of Tales of the Uzumaki clan.
I would like to clarify to any litigation and any copy right attorney- I do not in the slightest own Naruto. I'm but a humble fan-fiction writer just trying to tell a story.
I hope you all enjoy and review :3