What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish

Premise:

1) This Naruto is based on the Naruto we all love. He is the kid with infinite potential due to his lineage and his tenant. The basic idea is what would happen if this infinite potential was nurtured early on instead of being suppressed.

2) Hiruzen deals with the demons lurking in the shadows of the leaf and gets everyone on board to honor the 4th Hokage's dying wish. Everything isn't perfect, but it is better. I am no emo.

3) All of Minato and Kushina's friends band together and take part in raising Naruto. This changes the clan leaders, the destinies of their clans and the future of Naruto.

4) Due to the support Naruto receives, his attitude and personality inevitably change the relationship with Kurama

5) I am going to keep everything within the bounds of the Naruto-verse. Fuck this Boruto shit with all the Otsutsuki nonsense. There will be a small change with the Shinigami, but I believe it contributes positively to the story.

6) Please feel free to message me at bradkucera90 with feedback. I have listened to a bunch of Naruto What Ifs and wanted to contribute to the community.

7)Finally, I am sure my grammar and sentence structure could use work, but please bear with it. If something is glaringly obvious, feel free to point it out.

Chapter 1

Prologue:

As the longest, darkest night in Konohagakore's history came to an end, a flash was seen as a massive, 50meter tall fox suddenly disappeared. Near the sight of the disappearance, a blonde man in a shredded white haori can be seen lying next to a beautiful, motionless redhead. In his arms, a blonde baby boy with 3 whisker marks on each cheek was sleeping peacefully. As the barrier around the ritual site faded, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the 3rd Hokage of Konohagakore-no-Sato, approached the downed couple.

"Minato, what happened to the Kyuubi? Are you ok, my boy?" asked the previous Hokage.

"Hiruzen, I don't have much time left. This is my son, Naruto. I sealed the Kyuubi in him with the reaper death seal. Please, keep him safe. Raise him with love and help him carry his burdens."

"Oh, my boy. Why didn't you ask me to use that seal? The village still needs you!" cried a dejected Hiruzen.

Each member of the ANBU detail could be seen shaking with tears pouring out from below their masks. One silver-haired ANBU was on his knees, wailing openly and crying, "Sensei, sensei please don't go. Not you too sensei!"

"Kakashi, don't cry for me. I protected my village, and my son. He is going to need you Kakashi. Be strong for him, help him and when the time comes teach him. As I loved you as my own son, I ask you to love him."

In between sobs, the now-known Kakashi swore an oath to the heavens, "I swear Sensei ... I will do as you ask."

Minato looked back to Hiruzen, "Hiruzen, I am fading. Please old man, fight for my son. Protect him. A lot of hate will be aimed at him from inside and outside the village. He should be seen as a hero. Please, old man, protect him. Rely on my and Kushina's friends. I have faith in them."

With the last of his willpower, Minato rolls back on his side and embraces Kushina. With a final kiss to her lips, Minato's soul is finally pulled into the stomach of the Shinigami. As the shock faded, Hiruzen stumbles over to the baby swaddled in Minato's arms and picks him up. "Dog, Soru, please secure Lord 4th and Lady Kushina. Everything you saw here is an S-rank secret that is not to be spoken of. Take them to the tower and secures their bodies."

-Later In the council room-

Hiruzen enters the council chamber still holding Naruto to see all his clan heads assembled on his left. Their clothes are dirty, singed and clearly displaying signs of the battle that just drew to a close. He nods his head to the clan heads as an incessant racket draws his attention to the other side of the room. On the right, the civilian council is present. It should be noted that they are all in their fine dress that is perfectly clean. After all, they were all escorted to their bunkers early in the battle. As soon as they notice the 3rd Hokage, the noise starts to fade.

To the rear of the Hokage chair, 3 older people can be seen. These are the village elders. Homura Mitokado, genin teammate of Hiruzen, is an old man with a long face, glasses, a grey chin-wrap beard and wild grey hair. Koharu Utatane, also a genin teammate of Hiruzen, is an old woman with narrowed, down-cast eyes and a permanent frown. Finally, is Danzo Shimura, long-time rival of Hiruzen. He has jet black hair and an X-shaped scar over his chin. However, his most defining feature is the bandages wrapped over half of his face, covering his right eye. He also has his right arm bandaged and in a sling.

As Hiruzen takes in the panicked and distressed looks of his council, he knows he is in for a long night. As he takes his seat, he draws in a deep breath and says, "Alright, let's get this council meeting started." Immediately, cries ring out from the civilian side of the council. Each shout drowning out the next. As the noise escalates, a pineapple haired clan-head raises his head off the table and in a voice few have ever heard yells, "Toublesome. One at a time! This isn't the fucking school cafeteria!"

As the rest of the noise dies out, the newly appointed civilian representative, Mibuki Haruno, a pink-haired woman in her early to mid-20s says, "Lord 3rd, what happened to Minato-Kun?"

Hiruzen replies, "Please, Mibuki, sit down. There is a lot I must cover with the council. Please hold all questions until I am done speaking."

The civilian representative sits with a sour look on her face at being dismissed but listens in as Hiruzen recounts the events of the night to the council. As Hiruzen's story comes to a close, he broke the bad news.

"Minato-Kun and Kushina-Chan are dead. They died defeating the Kyuubi and they have left their son in the care of Jiraiya and Kakashi Hatake."

At this, the clan heads all shifted, and their heads swiveled. Finally, Hiashi Hyuuga speaks up, "Lord Third, are you saying that boy there is Minato and Kushina's child?"

"Yes, Hiashi. This is Naruto, the heir of the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans."

The Hyuuga head replies, "Lord Third, Minato and Kushina were dear friends of the clan and Hitomi-Chan. Naruto should be raised in a set household, not in the care of ... Lord Jiraiya and a teenage boy." This riled up the clan heads, many proclaiming their friendship to Minato and saying they would also like to raise the boy.

After a minute, Hiruzen called for silence and said, "Hayashi, I appreciate your friendship with Minato, but I cannot show favoritism to one clan. Young Naruto was bequeathed to Jiraiya in their will, and I bore witness to Minato asking Kakashi to help raise him during his final moments."

Hiashi bowed his head and sat back down. This led to a pregnant pause which was once again broken by Mibuki Haruno, "Lord Third, what happened to the Kyuubi?"

After taking a deep breath, Hiruzen says "Minato sealed the Kyuubi into young Naruto using the reaper death seal. Before you start shouting to kill the demon, I would like to demonstrate something for the civilian side of the council." He pulls out a scroll and a kunai. He asks Mibuki in a patronizing tone, "Mibuki, can you please tell me what I hold in each hand?"

She replies with "a scroll and a kunai, Lord Third."

"Precisely" he replies while sealing the kunai into the scroll. "Now Mibuki, what do I hold in my hand?"

"A scroll, Lord Third."

A small smile flitters upon the wizened visage of Hiruzen. "Ah, I am so happy you see it that way. I wanted to make this clear. Young Naruto is not the Kyuubi. He is the prison into which the demon is sealed. If this young man is killed, the demon will be released and will once again imperil our village."

A male civilian councilor stands up and shouts, "No, Lord Third! That THING is a DEMON! It should be killed here and now so we can finally be rid of it!"

After that outrageous statement, Hiruzen made a motion with his hand and the dog-masked anbu appeared behind the civilian councilor. With a swift stroke of his wakizashi, he removed the man's head and let it roll to the ground. The silence was broken as blood sloshed out from the man's neck and made a sickening, squelching sound. Two ANBU descended and picked up the remains. Hiruzen took this as his queue to issue a warning.

"My fellow council, listen up because I will not repeat this." This silence in between his sentences was deafening as the man radiated a killing aura that caught the attention of shinobi and civilians alike. "Naruto is under my protection. I swore to Minato as his final wish that the boy would grow up safe in a village that will see him as the hero he is!" As his eyes swept the room, many of the civilian council looked down, not meeting his eyes. The shinobi met his gaze proudly, with slight nods of their heads confirming that they were with their newly reinstated Hokage. Behind Hiruzen, Danzo made a slight shift and narrowing of his eyes. "Let me close this meeting, it has been a long night and all of us have family and clans to check on. I will be relying on each of you to fill out damage reports, prioritize key infrastructure and needs. We will need to work together to rebuild our beloved village and protect it. Fugaku and Hiashi, please stay."

As the council room emptied, Fugaku and Hiashi stood to attention and saluted. Hiruzen returned the salute and motioned them to sit. "Fugaku, with over a third of the western village destroyed and the wall collapsed I will need the police now more than ever. I also ask you, Hiashi, to provide support to the Uchiha until our defenses have restabilized."

Fugaku begins to reply with, "Lord Third, the Uchiha can ..."

"Enough Fugaku! Your rivalry be damned. Every man and woman that can help rebuild and protect the village is needed now. I ask you to work with Hiashi to make sure our village is secured."

"Yes, Lord Third." Says Fugaku with his head bowed.

"It will be done." States Hiashi with his typical, unreadable impression.

"Thank you. Now I know both of you will want to help with young Naruto-Kun. I will invite you to a meeting to discuss his future once this madness has settled. In the meantime, he will stay at the Sarutobi compound.

As the two leave the room, Hiruzen sighs and takes out his pipe from his robes. He lights it up and takes a deep drag as he looks down on the infant in the makeshift cradle, "I promise, Minato and Kushina. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

-Two weeks later in the Hokage office-

Hiruzen sits down in his leather chair behind the Hokage desk with Naruto laying in a cradle beside his desk. His visage peeks through stacks of paperwork as he looks out over those in attendance. The three elders were seated on the right side of the room with Hiashi and Fugaku seated on the couch in front of his desk. One the back wall, a massive, middle-aged man with long, spiky white hair and a hitiate with the kanji for "oil" inscribed on it. He is wearing a red overshirt with a grey undershirt, metal arm bracers and grey pants finished with wooden geta sandals. This is one of the legendary Sanin, Lord Jiraiya of Mount Myuboku. To his right is a beautiful woman who appears to be in her mid-twenties that has beautiful honey eyes with a purple diamond in the middle of her forehead. The green overcoat opens to reveal a white shirt that provides just enough cleavage to make all men struggle to keep their eyes up. She is leaning against the wall with an impassive expression on her face and her arms crossed across her ample chest.

After summarizing the events of October 10th for the Sanin and getting a report from Fugaku on village security and the progress of the wall rebuilding, Hiruzen addresses the room. "Thank you for your help over these past two weeks. Much has been done and there is much to do. Tsunade and Jiraiya, thank you for returning to the village on such short notice. I wish it were on better terms."

Jiraiya gets a goofy grin on his face and says, "Sure thing, sensei!" After that, his face turns serious and he says, "Now, can we talk about my student's child, please."

"Yes, Jiraiya, I was getting to that. Minato and Kushina left young Naruto to your primary custody, Jiraiya. He also asked Hatake Kakashi to assist in raising the boy."

"Sensei, I know why Minato gave me that responsibility, but I cannot possibly accept. I have my re ... I mean duties outside the village, not to mention my spy network. With Konoha in this state, it is more important than ever that we stay ahead of the threats."

Tsunade makes a "tsk" sound and snaps her head away from Jiraiya in disgust. The pain she feels just from being in this god-forsaken village has her at her wits end. Now she must put up with her perverted ex-teammate. Unbelievable.

Danzo cuts in before anyone can respond, "I agree with Jiraiya. We cannot recall him to the village at this time. His intel has been instrumental in preventing many threats to Konoha. I ask that the wea ... I mean child be put in my care, where I can train it properly."

All faces in the room hardened as Hiruzen steps in, "Danzo, I know that the roots of the Great Tree need to be kept but if I hear you refer to young Naruto in that way again, I will be finding a new groundskeeper." He takes a drag on his pipe and exhales, "This child is to be raised in the light, with the help of the people in this room." Hiashi and Fugaku made an almost imperceptible shift and looked on excitedly. He continues, "My plan is to have Naruto raised on the Namikaze estate. I have already assigned Tsubaki Sarutobi, a wet-nurse and caretaker of the Sarutobi clan, to raise Naruto in his family home. As you all know, his existence as of now is only known to the council and is an S-class secret along with his jinchuriki status."

After taking a deep breath and another drag, he continues, "I plan on the child's formative years being hidden in the Namikaze estate. Once he is old enough, each person in this room will be able to take part in his development and training. Yes, before you ask, even you Danzo." He chuckles and finishes with, "You have many good things to teach, old friend. When the time is right, I will let you teach young Naruto and help form him into the shinobi we all know he can be."

After an admittedly stunned silence, Tsunade says, "Sensei, I will stay until his first birthday. After that, I am out. The pain this village brings me is too great, but I owe Kushina at least that much."

Koharu chimes in, "Hiruzen, you know how I feel about that ... child. I will not be around it any more than need be. I want no part of that boy; he is a ticking time-bomb."

Jiraiya leans forward off the wall as he lets loose a sizeable amount killing intent, enough to make the elders struggle under the weight of it. "I know sensei made this clear for his part but let me enlighten you. Naruto is under my protection. Whether I am in the village or not. If ANYTHING happens to the child, I will hold each person in this room personally responsible." He lets off a bit on the KI and continues, "I have inspected the Shiki-fuin seal, and I will say that it is the strongest and most intricate seal ever placed on any of the jinchuriki. Not only will the seal lock the Kyuubi into Naruto, but the seal will also convert the Kyuubi's chakra bit by bit into Naruto's own chakra pool and reserves. If you don't believe me, ask Hiashi."

Every eye in the room turned to the startled Hyuuga. He activated his doujutsu and scanned Naruto, "It is as Jiraiya says. Around the seal, I see small fragments of red chakra circling through the seal and turning into the natural blue chakra that we all have. Naruto's chakra does have a deeper blue look to it, but I think that is because of its potency. Another note, Naruto's own chakra reserves at two weeks old are already equal to most academy students."

A gasp flittered through the room and a gleam appeared in Danzo's eyes. "This could be the greatest weapon in the entire elemental nations. I need to have this child, but Hiruzen would never allow it. I cannot believe the fire that has returned to his eyes. If I cross him, I will not survive the fallout. For now, I will try to get access to the child so I may observe firsthand" thought Danzo.

Danzo looks at the Hokage and asks, "Hokage-sama, what is the plan for the child? Surely, he will need to become a ninja to learn to control the Kyuubi. If he doesn't learn control, the beast could take advantage of that and escape."

Hiruzen looks at Danzo then at each of the others around the room, "I plan on Tsubaki raising Naruto in secrecy until he is ready to become a shinobi. I will give each person in this room access to the Namikaze compound so that you may each visit Naruto. I would hope that with the right guidance, we can instill the will of fire into young Naruto and secure Minato's legacy and the future of our village."

Tsunade chimes in, "Sensei, Kushina would have wanted Naruto to have a normal childhood with friends, unburdened by the darkness of shinobi."

"I know, Tsunade, but no matter how you look at it, Naruto is not normal. Furthermore, if his existence is made known, then we will have assassins from Kumo and Iwa looking to finish off Minato's legacy. Those grudges run deep. If we can keep him safe on the Namikaze estate until young Naruto starts at the academy, then we will have a much better chance of keeping Kumo and Iwa off his trail."

At this point, Hiashi steps in, "Lord Third, what if the child is raised under the name Uzumaki and then when the time is right, and the child is strong enough, we can announce his heritage? This would allow us to bring Naruto into the public and possibly create friendships with the other clan children. He will be watched and protected by the shinobi families while creating bonds that tie him to the village."

"That is an interesting idea. Kushina had her fair share of enemies as well though and the Uzumaki name may still attract the attention of Kumo."

Jiraiya decides to put in his two cents. "Sensei, I will be able to stay ahead of any of that. We can provide a better life to Naruto; furthermore, if we play the Uzumaki name off as a common 'orphan's' name then that would allow Naruto to be raised normally. We would of course tell him about his heritage, along with the trusted few clan heads who are loyal to Minato. This would keep his self-identity intact and protect him as much as possible."

"That is an interesting idea, Jiraiya. If the Uzumaki name reaches Kumo, I expect you to do some counter-intelligence work and make sure they believe the orphan story. I believe that is all for this meeting. Please return to your duties and aid with the village recovery."