Let me just start off by saying that this story has a pairing but will not be told as of now. As you will find out, Naruto won't be stupid or weak, but he also won't be super overpowered. A lot of things will be different, and we won't see as many characters being killed right away and will put up more of a fight.
Konoha, October 10th, five years after the Kyuubi attack
"Get him!" A man said, running after a young blonde kid, "He's getting away!" Another said, No one thought the little 'demon' could run so fast; "he's getting away!" A woman yelled, trying to catch up with the group.
"Why are you doing this? I didn't do anything!" The young blonde yelled in between tears, "You know exactly why! You took my little girl from me!" The man yelled, shedding a few tears, "You will pay for what you did to us!" A few in the crowd yelled.
The young blonde took a left into a dark alley and ran across an empty part of the village and took a right into another alley he did not recognize. Soon enough, the boy thought he had lost the crowd, but he was wrong. "There you are, you little monster," the man assumed to be the leader of this crowd and the only civilian with remotely any Shinobi experience. "There's the freak," came a woman from the back of the group.
The young boy could do nothing but run, dodging the countless items thrown by the group. He took a left, trying to outmanoeuvre them, but he realised all too late that it was a mistake, a mistake that could have very well cost him his life; it was a dead end.
"No," the blonde said. "No, no, no, please, no!" He screamed; he always hated being put in a corner. "Oh, nowhere to run, huh, freak," the man said in an all-too-nice voice, "Please don't. I haven't done anything. I'll be good. I won't show my face again." The boy said in between tears, trying to stand up right but couldn't.
A man with brown hair started pulling out a kunai. "You know these kunai are exported directly from Wave; they have some amazing blacksmiths there, and I don't particularly hate you; all I want is for my daughter to have a safe life far away from you, so I, Kiashi Ten, am doing my duty in protecting my daughter no matter what," the man now known as Kiashi said. "Now enough talking, it's time to finish what was started 5 years ago," Kiashi said and lunged at the child embedding a kunai in his shoulder.
The boy couldn't do anything as he waited for it to be over; all he could feel was punching, kicking, and sharp objects puncturing his body. It felt like it would never stop; he thought it would never stop until it did.
Naruto could barely open his eyes as he saw a man with waist-long white hair drop down into the crowd, and moments later all he could see was blood. 27 people lay dead on the ground, lifeless, staring right at the boy, their cold eyes staring into his soul—something that will haunt him for years.
There was only one person left alive, and that was Kiashi Ten, who had seen everything. He was shaking uncontrollably, dropping the Kunai he used to slash and stab the boy. He couldn't tell what made this guy so strong, but he knew just by his presence he was nothing to joke about.
Kiashi finally decided to speak up: "W-who the hell are you?!" The man screamed, barely able to stand. The man only turned around; he was a bloody mess; his white hair had become a light shade of red from the blood in his hair. It took a second for the man to realise who he was. "J-Jiraiya-Sama," Kiashi said barely able to talk, he had never felt so much fear before.
The man now known as Jiraiya, someone the boy had never heard of, didn't say anything. He looked at the man with a cold murderous glare. Jiraiya never said a word, but in a split second, Kiashi's neck was slashed with what looked to be a three-pronged kunai. The boy didn't get to see much else as he was falling in and out of consciousness. "Hang on, kid, you're going to be alright," Jiraiya said, picking up the blonde and rushing towards a hospital.
The boy could only remember a few things that happened after that; there was the running from rooftop to rooftop and then a big thud having landed on the ground.
He remembered being inside the hospital and being refused treatment, but the lady was threatened by the old man. He remembered being laid on a table, and then he was out.
Deep in a sewer, there came a large growl. Suddenly, huge, slotted eyes emerged from the darkness.
"Humans will never change; they will always hate each other and anything that's different from them. I wonder what you will become, Naruto Uzumaki; will you let the darkness consume you or will you find your reason to fight for what you believe in?" a deep voice said in a growl.
"Only time will tell what you will become; do not disappoint me," and with that, the beast was gone, leaving only darkness and iron bars held shut by a seal.
3 days later
The boy woke up in a hospital room. He just stared at the roof but soon looked to his left to see the same old man who had rescued him that night with his head on the edge of his bed snoring. Suddenly, the door opened to see an old man wearing a red and white hat as well as a robe. This was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Naruto-kun, you're awake!" The old man said louder than usual. He ran up to Naruto, checking to make sure he was okay. Naruto had never seen the old man so worried. "Hey Jiji," Naruto said in a raspy voice.
"How are you feeling? Do you need anything?" The old man asked worried, "No, I'm okay, thanks though," Naruto said, looking down. He still hasn't had enough time to process all that has happened.
"Okay, Naruto, don't be afraid to ask for anything at all. I can only stop in to see how you are; I'll come by to see you later today, Alright," the old man said, turning around to leave until the blonde boy spoke up.
"Jiji," Naruto said, making the old man turn around. "Yes, Naruto?" the Hokage asked, unsure of what the child was thinking.
"I remember everything that happened; it's like I can still feel what they did to me," Naruto said shaking, he felt traumatized, however, Naruto failed to notice the old man's hands clenched, causing his hand to bleed. "It will get better, Naruto, don't worry," the old man said, finally opening the door and leaving without another word.
Another thing Naruto never realised was the malice leaking off the Hokage, and all he heard was a loud crash right outside his hospital room.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had nearly broken one of the walls of the hospital with just his strength alone.
"Weasel," the Hokage said calmly, and out of nowhere, a black-haired man showed himself. "Yes, Hokage-Sama," the man said, kneeling to his leader.
"I want you to go and find anyone else involved in this; you may do as you please with them, no witnesses," the man said coldly. He would turn over in his grave before he allowed anyone involved to go unpunished.
Weasel smiled under his mask, and his eyes turned a bright red with three black markings on them. "As you wish, Hokage-Sama," and with that, the Anbu left without another word. Hiruzen knew Weasel could find whoever was involved and make them wish they had never done anything.
"I'm getting too old for this," the Hokage said, leaving the hospital.
Naruto, however, had already fallen back to sleep and wondered just who the man with the white hair beside him was.
Later that day
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his office going through a pile of paperwork he liked to called 'worst nightmare' or the proper name being "D-Rank mission report." "Why must every new Genin team fill out a report on some stupid D rank? I am the God of Shinobi, not the God of paperwork. Why did I ever sign up for this?" the old man said, almost crushing the pen he was using.
Suddenly the door slammed open to reveal a white-haired man in his 40s barging into the office. "You have a lot of explaining to do! I thought it was supposed to be a secret!" The man said, Hiruzen only looked up and looked towards a chair. "Take a seat, Jiraiya," he said calmly.
Jiraiya didn't like how calm he was but took a seat regardless. "Jiraiya, two years ago, someone spread a rumour that Naruto was the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. I'm not sure who spread it around, but I believe it was one of the village Elders," Hiruzen said, staring out the window and smoking his pipe.
"What about the Civilian Council, did they know?" Jiraiya asked, finally calming down, "No, the civilian council was never made aware; however, the Shinobi council knew ,however, it is very unlikely that they would have done this as they have nothing to gain," Hiruzen said he was finally taking his seat and facing his student.
"Well, if it was a rumour, couldn't you have dismissed it, say it was false?" Jiraiya asked, and Hiruzen sighed. "While that was my first thought, it seemed that the elder thought it would be a good idea to tell the village, excluding the Yondaime final request for Naruto to be seen as a hero," Hiruzen said. He didn't have any better way to say it as it was.
"And you just let them off the hook; you just let the civilians do as they please!" Jiraiya yelled; he couldn't stand how his own sensei could let this happen; this wasn't the God of Shinobi he knew.
"You think I wanted this! There are only 3 Anbu I trust to guard him, and they have important missions they must complete! You think I like sending some random Anbu to protect Naruto? They slack around and don't bother helping; you have no idea how it feels to have so much power but be so helpless to help one kid!" Hiruzen screamed, finally unable to contain his anger.
Jiraiya was taken aback; he had never seen Hiruzen so mad; he had never once seen the Hokage raise his voice to that point. Jiraiya just looked down and sighed. "I'm sorry, sensei, I had no idea," Jiraiya said. Hiruzen just looked at him. "Of course you don't; you have never bothered to be in Naruto's life." The old man said, and Jiraiya just looked around, contemplating what the man said. "However that can change, you can take Naruto with you when you leave; you can teach him just like you taught Minato, I'll deal with the council," Hiruzen added, making Jiraiya look up.
"Old man, you and I both know I can't take him; my spy network is too important for me to be babysitting Naruto; as much as I want to, I can't, and you know just how hard Minato's death hit me; I can still see his face in Naruto; I don't think I can handle it," Jiraiya said, looking down. He knew he was a failure of a godfather.
"You may be right, your spy network is invaluable, but that doesn't make up for you not being a part of his life," Hiruzen said, looking at his student. He didn't train him to be a coward, and he couldn't be more disappointed in his student than he was now.
To the right of the Hokage, coming out of the shadows was a white-haired Anbu member. "Ah, Inu, what brings you here?" Hiruzen asked. Inu kneeled to his leader before asking "Hokage-Sama permission to speak freely." The Hokage nodded, wanting to hear what he had to say. "Permission to take my mask off," Inu asked again the Hokage permitted it. Inu took his mask off, revealing his one Sharingan eye and his one normal eye. He looked to be around 19 years of age.
"Hokage-Sama, I am here as Kakashi Hatake, not as Inu," Kakashi said, staring at his leader. His leader only nodded, motioning for him to talk. "Hokage-Sama, I would like to adopt Naruto," Kakashi said, much to Jiraiya and Hiruzens surprise.
"What brought this up, Kakashi? I thought you were in the same boat as Jiraiya, plus your Anbu duty's are far too important," the old man said. Kakashi only looked down. "Yes, that is how I felt; however, after finding out what those monsters did to him, I can't just do nothing, and Hokage-Sama, as you know, my 5 years in the Anbu were up 3 months ago, so I can choose to either stay in Anbu or go back to become a Jonin," Kakashi said. He decided he would continue after seeing the Hokage nod.
"I was going to leave Anbu at some point, but I have decided that I would like to go become Jonin in 3 weeks, so long as you approve Hokage-Sama," Kakashi asked, not sure whether his leader would allow him to leave.
Hiruzen had to think for a few minutes: 'Kakashi is one of our most skilled Anbu and is a valuable asset to the leaf; on the other hand, he has completed his minimum Anbu duty to the village. Hiruzen let out a sigh and grabbed Kakashi's file from his desk. "You have officially completed your Minimum Anbu duty with only one mission failure; I approve for you to become Jonin in 3 weeks; however, that does not mean you can adopt Naruto," the old man said, much to Kakashi's disappointment.
"But Hokage-Sama Minato-Sensei was the closest thing I had to a father since I graduated from the academy; I can't just let his son be an orphan when I know I could have changed that," Kakashi protested but was stopped by Hiruzen. "If you would let me finish, I cannot allow you to adopt Naruto at this moment; since Naruto is a Jinchuriki, we cannot allow just anyone to adopt him; I must speak with the council," the Hokage said, but was stopped from leaving by Jiraiya. "I agree with Kakashi; he is the best person to adopt Naruto, but seriously, you are going to ask the council; they will never agree," Jiraiya said, making Hiruzen stop in his tracks.
"Who said I was asking? I'm telling them. They are not allowed to speak against their leader no matter how powerful they are," Hiruzen said, pushing past Jiraiya and opening the door. "I have let the council push me around long enough; it is time I fix my mistakes, starting with putting the council in its place," Hiruzen said, leaving but not before calling his Anbu.
"Weasel, summon the council at once," Hiruzen said. He got a nod from Weasel, who vanished. "Oh, and Kakashi, may I remind you? You're still on Anbu duty, so put your mask on and escort me to the meeting room. Oh, and bring the failure of a godfather with us," Hiruzen told Kakashi. Kakashi understood that he wasn't being asked but was being told. Jiraiya just looked down at what he was called but smirked.
'Now that's the God of Shinobi I remember,' Jiraiya thought, and with that, they all left towards the meeting room.
15 minutes later, the council meeting room
In front of Hiruzen were the Civilian Council (they don't matter), and then there was the Shinobi Council. There was Hiashi Hyuuga, head of the Hyuga clan; next to him was Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan; then there was Tsume Inuzuka, head of the Inuzuka clan; Shikaku Nara, head of the Nara clan; Chouza Akimichi, head of the Akamichi clan; Inoichi Yamanaka, head of the Yamanaka clan; and lastly, Shibi Aburame, head of the Aburame clan.
Then there were the Konoha elders, Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado.
Behind Hiruzen stood Jiraiya of the Sannin, as well as one of Hiruzen's most trusted Anbu Kakashi Hatake a.k.a Inu
"Why have we been summoned, Hiruzen?" Danzo lazily replied. Hiruzen was not happy at how he was addressed. "Danzo, may I remind you that I am your leader? You follow my orders and only my orders; you will address me as Hokage-Sama or Sandaime-Sama, is that clear?" Hiruzen said, glaring at Danzo, who hesitantly nodded.
"Yes, Hokage-Sama," Danzo said with malice, glaring back towards Hiruzen. Hiruzen decided now to stand and address the council but was interrupted.
"Hokage-Sama I hope this does not take too long, as I have a meeting with my clan elders very soon," Fugaku said, looking at the old man.
"Ah yes, Fugaku, this should not take too long. I just have to clear a few things up," Hiruzen said, gaining a nod from the Uchiha clan head. Hiruzen decided to continue.
"The reason as to why this meeting has been called for is that I have come to the realisation that I have been too laid back with this council. I have let you push me around for far too long; that will not happen again. I am your leader, and what I say goes, I do not need your permission to do what I think is right," Hiruzen said much to the Civilian councils disagreement until one decided to speak up. "But Hokage-Sama, that is why we are here to help you make these decisions," a pink-haired lady said.
Hiruzen just glared, "May I remind you that you are a civilian and that the only reason you are here is because I want you here? Do I make myself clear?" Hiruzen said with enough malice to make the civilians shake. The Shinobi council was shocked at how Hiruzen was handling this but agreed with his statement, the Shinobi Council never knew why they kept the Civilian council; they never understood why they were created in the first place.
"Now that that's out of the way, we can get started. I have decided to allow Kakashi Hatake to leave Anbu duty in three weeks time, and on his last day he will be adopting Naruto Uzumaki," Hiruzen said, and suddenly, as if there was a switch, the Civilian Council and the elders started arguing.
"Enough!" Hiruzen yelled, making all of them shut up. He took his seat again and grabbed his pipe. "As you know, 3 days ago Naruto Uzumaki was attacked and almost died. In light of that, I am placing him under Kakashi Hatake's protection from now until the foreseeable future. The best way that can happen is for Kakashi to adopt him. If you wish to complain or argue, you are free to leave," Hiruzen said, pointing towards the door.
"Hiruze—-" Danzo was about to say before getting a look from his leader, "Hokage-Sama, may I remind you that Naruto is a valuable asset to Konoha and cannot be given to anyone that could twist his way of thinking? For all we know, Kakashi could try and manipulate Naruto into attacking the leaf?" Danzo said, thinking he had brought up a valid point. Hiruzen just smiled.
"Don't forget, Danzo, the only reason your Root Anbu division is still around is because I find use in them," Hiruzen said, causing Danzo to be taken aback. He had thought he had hidden it well. "May I remind you, Danzo, that nobody does anything in this village without my knowledge, no matter how hard you try to hide it? The Hokage said. Danzo had enough got up from his chair and left the meeting.
"Anyone else unhappy with my decision?" The Hokage asked daring anyone to speak up, but no one did. "Now, as for the second order of business, I will now be passing a law that if Naruto Uzumaki is to be harmed by any leaf, Shinobi and or civilian, lethal force is allowed to protect himself from danger" Hiruzen said. The civilians were about to complain when they realised this was to try to find out who had organised the attack on the boy, so they kept their mouths shut.
"That's what I thought," Hiruzen said. He stood up and was about to leave when he turned around "Oh, and clan heads, I'm very sorry to have taken up your time; I needed you here for you to hear this example that I am no pushover," and with that, he left without another word, followed by Jiraiya and Kakashi.
Soon everyone had left and the meeting room was empty. The only person left was an unknown person hiding in the corner. "Ah, so Kakashi adopted the boy; how sweet. Let's hope he doesn't fail him like he failed his so called friends," the figure said, his lone sharingan spinning into another shape, and with that he was gone, vanishing into a spiral.
The next day, Konoha Hospital
Naruto woke up early in the afternoon to see that the strange white-haired man was nowhere to be seen; however, there was a scroll on the table.
Naruto leaned over to grab the scroll so he could read it but fell out of bed. He got himself off the floor and sat upright on the bed. Naruto opened the scroll and started reading.
—
Dear Naruto
I'm sorry I won't be there when you wake up, and you may have questions as to who I am. My name is Jiraiya, and I'm one of the legendary Sannin, your father, who was a very powerful man named me as your godfather, and I have not been a good one. I have chosen to stay out of your life for far too long, but I see so much of your father in you, and it pains me.
I still am not ready to be in your life, but that will change soon, I promise.
I cannot tell you who your father is, but if you are smart like he was, you will have no problem finding out who he is if you haven't already figured it out.
Inside of this scroll is your inheritance from your parents, as well as a letter from your mother and father for you. Only you can open it, as it is a blood seal. You are given your inheritance once you can open the seal, which is when you are ready.
I hope I can be in your life soon.
With love, your Godfather, Jiraiya.
—
To say Naruto was shocked would be an understatement. He did have some family left, someone that actually cared about him. He let a few tears run down his face before it stopped. He hadn't felt this emotion before; was it longing?
After so much mistreatment by the villagers, he had never felt emotions the same. He had always acted like a knucklehead to try and get their attention, but it never worked.
He finally realised that he didn't need their approval, just the approval of those he held dear. From that day on, he vowed he would protect whatever loved ones he had in his life; he would become a strong Ninja, just like his supposed father, and just like his godfather.
He will not take no for an answer.
This was a slightly short chapter, but the next will be a bit longer. Please leave me reviews and ideas so that I can make this story better.
Let me lknow if you want more
