Normal person: "Talking" / 'Thinking'
Tailed beasts/Spirits: "Talking"/'Thinking'

Konoha is known for its dense forest and very unforgiving fauna, that's why Konoha shinobi learn from an early age to traverse these dangerous forests without anyone's help gaining an advantage over their home turf. But there are some places which are restricted even for general student's training and one of such turfs was training ground forty-four or as it was commonly known as "Forest of Death".

It was not dangerous mainly because of the huge trees or the fact that no sunlight penetrates the extremely dense canopy. It was mainly dangerous because of the mutated animals living in the forest. When Hashirama Senju laid the foundation of Konoha, he also destroyed a huge chunk of the existing forest. To compensate for this loss, he used his wood style in nearby open fields to create and expand the forests and in one such area he used an extremely high amount of Chakra mixed with Senjutsu, much more than required, which was absorbed by the animals who took shelter in that place and this extremely heavy dose of nature chakra mutated them. It also didn't add to the fact that the extremely dangerous conditions gave rise to the perfect environment for Chunin exams to take place and all the deaths every year accumulated even more chakra thus providing the forest with a never-ending supply of 'Nature Energy' to absorb.

I am explaining this to you because our blond protagonist is currently in the same forest, currently fighting a 15-foot-long crocodile. When Naruto found his parents' home four years ago, he also found a goldmine of different techniques and training programs as well as multiple scrolls on different branches of jutsu. But due to his body being relatively very young he could not even attempt to perform even one of the chakra-based techniques, the other reason he found out from his Father's notes, that the Hokage's Office has a crystal ball, an invention of Yamanaka clan, which is directly linked to village barrier and all the Kage's use to monitor the happenings in the village and nearby area. He was not so trusting that he would let even a small piece of information slip about him. By studying the Shinobi Code of Conduct he understood that in this shinobi world information is the most important asset. One must never let it be disclosed to another even if they're allies.

But now it led him to a dilemma in which place he should train, for physical training he had no qualms about since he created a persona of a very gullible, trusting and hard-working kid. So all the physical exercises could be passed with the excuse- "I am training hard to become Hokage." But when it came down to his Taijutsu training it was a different matter altogether, so he looked for a secluded place to train and found out that the forest of death was perfect for this little venture, since no jonin or chunin comes to this place after Chunin exams and it remains abandoned the rest of year.

In this place when Naruto first came he was jumped on by a pack of hounds which injured him very badly but he was somehow able to escape from them and moved a little further into the forest. As he travelled inside the forest more dangers started coming his way. The place which was supposed to be his secluded area for training became the place for his survival. In this place, he learnt from nature itself. Nature taught him how to escape his pursuers, nature taught him the ways to kill, the ways to survive, the way to gather resources and most importantly the ways to adapt to nature. Though he had no idea at that time, this very adaptive nature of Naruto will make him the most unpredictable ever.

Naruto through his rigorous training could say he laid a solid foundation for his ninja training. His body developed in a way such that it is not too heavy like taijutsu specialists nor too light like genjutsu specialists and medical ninjas. His body was in perfect condition to become a ninjutsu specialist. But he didn't have a single technique under his belt. He thought he could train in ninja techniques just through the scrolls but he still needed a more discrete hiding place and it didn't help the fact that a kunoichi was nowadays lurking around the same forest.

He first saw her a month ago when he was eating a cooked wild boar's meat he killed, he heard the howl of a wolf and heavy crashing sounds. He immediately became on guard and masked his presence as much as he was able to. He began approaching the place where he heard the sound coming from. But just from 100 meters away he could make out the scene where a pack of wolves had surrounded a young kunoichi, she was probably 18 years old as he guessed from her height, and she was wearing a mesh shirt with a mini-skirt and a white cargo colour trench coat.

She was fighting off the pack with a kunai in hand and from one of her areas in the trench coat a snake was coming out. Naruto decided to remain in the same place to not give away his position. He saw a wolf trying to jump on her when suddenly the snake out of her coat attacked the wolf and bonded its body around its neck. The woman then pulled the snake a little tighter and the snake snapped its neck effectively killing it. Seeing this the pack became wary and took a few steps back. But just as they were withdrawing, the kunoichi threw a kunai at the biggest wolf, and Naruto observed that on the kunai a paper bomb was attached. Just as the kunai reached its target it exploded with a big explosion and the biggest wolf and some of the surrounding pack members were caught in it. The wolves were terrified and they ran back into the forest. Naruto had concluded that the biggest wolf was the pack leader and seeing him taken down the rest of the pack lost their will to fight.

Just as the pack moved back the kunoichi started gasping on her knees and clutched her stomach. Naruto also thought of moving back to his original spot but just as he took a step back the kunoichi turned her head in his direction, but fortunately for Naruto, she couldn't spot him. She assumed it was just another one of the wild animals sneaking up on her, but she didn't have any energy left to give chase after just fending off the pack of wolves, so she just threw a kunai towards the animal who moved away and she made a run to escape from the forest. Naruto thought it was weird of the woman to run away just after defeating the pack but he didn't want to contemplate it much further since she left his field of training. But Naruto's relief was short-lived since the kunoichi came back the next day in search of more training and the day after that and from then onwards so forth every day. Thus, we come to the present of him trying to find a secluded place away from the prying eyes of his enemies to continue his training.

Naruto Pov:

Naruto was currently walking back towards his apartment after another day of useless classes. His teachers trying to purposely fail him, Kiba trying to pick a fight with him, Sakura and Ino insulting him, and he trying to rile up Sasuke, while returning Hinata trying to follow him. But today he used a different route and walked faster than usual and she couldn't keep up with him.

Naruto: 'I have to find a place for training as soon as possible. The training ground 44 has now become that Kunoichi's home. I think her name was Anko. That's what I could hear when Jiji was talking to her.'

The previous weekend when Naruto was with Hiruzen in his office slurping down a cup of ramen noodles sitting on the guest sofa, Hiruzen was on his chair doing paperwork, also occasionally taking glances at his surrogate grandson- keeping an eye on him. At that moment he heard a knock on the door and upon Hiruzen's approval a kunoichi entered and she was the same woman Naruto had previously seen in the forest of death. He was momentarily stunned but regained his composure quickly and due to having the cup noodles halfway in his mouth no one was able to notice his quick change in demeanor. She was there for the mission debriefing and introduced herself as 'Anko Mitarashi'. She also had a stone-cold mask on her face, likely due to a recent traumatic incident.

Naruto: 'Well, this sucks but I don't have a choice. I think she is going to hog up that place and other places don't have the requirements I need for training and I think Jiji has been suspicious of my activities lately. Also, what's with all this tension in the village. It's like the villagers nowadays are purposely trying to pick a fight with the Uchiha clan. Everywhere people are insulting the police force.'

Thinking about all this Naruto came across an alleyway where he saw many women were present who were wearing only yukatas or just sashes. There were also many men wandering around who were either shinobi or who were looking very roughed up. This was the red-light district area of Konoha and the alley he was in was known as 'Pleasure Alley' for this was one of the safe heavens for Naruto. The women living in this area were kind to Naruto, they sometimes gave him food or helped him hide from some drunkards when Naruto didn't have a choice to protect his cover.

Naruto's apartment was on the other side of the alleyway in a shabby-looking building. After Naruto was thrown out of the orphanage, he didn't have a place to return and he had enough self-respect to not beg in front of the caretaker, so he tried to live on the streets, taking shelter under some bridge, scrounging for food in the forest or through stealing. But one day Kakashi found him digging through trash and brought him to Hokage. After hearing Naruto's demand to not return to the orphanage and his recent exploit of being self-sufficient enough to live on the streets, Hiruzen decided to provide him with his apartment, but sadly due to the council's influence not any district was willing to take him in and he had to put him in the red-light area. His apartment was one bedroom, one kitchen without a good water supply and frequent issues with the power shortage. Though it was enough for Naruto, he didn't complain and was content with it.

Naruto: 'Can't I do anything about this. This is so frustrating. If only I had some other secret place. Wait Mom and Dad's home! How could I even forget about that. It's already night, I can sneak in there.'

Thus in the middle of a cold night, Naruto Uzumaki was moving towards the clan district near the outskirts of the village where his parent's abode is located. For the past four years, there are two aspects of Shinobi Life that Naruto has engraved in his heart, and those are: 'The Art of Stealth' and 'The Art of complete control over emotions'. He practised them on a daily basis in every passing moment of his life- when he was interacting with his friends, when the villagers would scorn him, when he would talk to The Hokage and his Anbu Guards, all those moments he would always put up a mask to control his true emotions. Later when he decided to prank the villagers- it only started as a small act of petty revenge but he later found the important aspects of this activity, like, increasing his stealth skills, infiltration of important buildings, vandalisation as a form of sudden attack. Thus what he learnt in those aspects he was now a master at, so much so he could now get past the anbu headquarters and nobody would even notice it.

Thus now Naruto after passing every single patrol guard including the anbu one, once again stood before the two-storeyed moderately-looking building. Naruto pricked his thumb and wiped the blood on the wooden doors pushing some chakra into them and a click was heard. He quickly opened the door, entered and locked the compound from inside. Once inside the main building, he went towards the main hall. Naruto had only returned to his parent's home twice and all those times it was beneficial to his training, he hoped his luck would not fail him.

Naruto: 'Now what should I look for? I have already searched Mom and Dad's bedroom and there is nothing that could be used to me now. The library has only books and scrolls about ninja techniques and history or other related topics. I think I haven't completely checked everything in Dad's office.'

Thus Naruto moved to his Dad's office which was beside the kitchen in the south-west direction. It was a small room comprising of a desk and chair, the desk had scrolls and books on which dust was settled and there also was a hanger on which his Father's Hokage Hayori was placed. Naruto roamed around the room in search of something useful as he was also tracing the walls to feel something unusual. But a nail sticking out slightly from the wall had a cutting edge and it pricked Naruto's hands and a few drops of blood fell on the ground. As Naruto turned around retracting his hands caught sight of a seal appearing on the floor where his blood fell and a hatchet revealed itself. With a mixture of surprise and curiosity, Naruto opened the hatchet to discover a winding staircase leading down into the basement.

Naruto: "What's this? A secret chamber right beneath our house?" Naruto mumbled to himself in surprise and wonder.

As Naruto descended the stairs he found a magnificent dojo with a very spacious area. The dojo was covered with wooden floors and the walls were painted half orange and half red. There were many weapons like kunai, shurikens, swords and nodachi hanging on the walls. Though the entire area was enclosed and was possibly underground it was still very bright in there without any presence of a light source and it somehow felt like the roof of the dojo itself was illuminating the entire area. Naruto speculated it was somehow due to some seals his mother used.

Naruto: 'Dad, Mom, you guys are genius. Who could've thought to build a secret training area under a house.'

Naruto moved wall to wall inspecting all the weapons, he also noticed there were seals in every corner. He couldn't understand their purpose but assumed they were there for an important purpose. Naruto noticed there was a small resting area behind the wooden doors on the northern side. As he slid open the door his eyes laid their sight upon a katana which was placed on a stand. The katana was covered in a blood-red coloured sheath with gold carvings on the open edge, the handle was completely black with small red tints on it. There was a nameplate right next to it and it read in gold letters "Amaya".

As soon as Naruto read those words he recalled his mother's journal where she gave a thorough description of the sword 'Amaya', the Uzumaki Clan's prized legacy and the one through which mother inherited the name of 'Red Death'. Amaya was also known as 'The Sword of Annihilation' and 'The Sword of Damnation'. This sword was the heritage passed down to the head of Uzumaki Clan and has been present ever since the era of 'Sage of Six Paths', the father of all shinobi.

Naruto took a deep breath and touched the sword and suddenly a surge of energy erupted inside him. It was neither harming him nor providing any kind of boost, it was just flowing through his chakra pathways but soon it retracted and Naruto was able to trace it back into the sword suddenly its weight almost decreased and Naruto was able to lift the sword easily on one hand. It felt as if the sword had just judged him and approved him of being worthy enough to wield her.

Though Naruto didn't know at that time the sword had its own sentience and she just reviewed his memories and will. She saw the torture and pain the boy went through and she felt compelled towards his determination but when she tried to experience his soul she was frightened because his soul was completely covered with hatred and it made her submit to him. Due to his lack of training, she couldn't contact him just yet, it would take a few months or years till she could even talk to her master. Unknowingly, now Naruto became the 159th head of Uzumaki Clan and the 17th Uzukage. Thus, he also became the richest man currently in the world from all the wealth of Uzumaki Clan and his father's savings.

[One year later]

Naruto was on his way to the academy and was thinking about all that happened in the past year ever since he discovered the secret dojo. First and foremost he did not need to go again in the forest for training and no need to hide from the old man since he learnt one of the seals of the dojo completely cuts off any outside connection and isolates the space thus preventing anyone from being able to spy. So, Naruto kept most of his belongings in his parents' place. There were still some necessary items left in his apartment so the anbu that regularly checks up on him don't notice anything strange.

Naruto also spent a lot of his time training secretly in the dojo and since no one was able to spy on him, he didn't have to hold back anymore. With the help of all the scrolls with techniques present in the house's library, he was able to practice his taijutsu. He became very proficient in his father's 'Hummingbird Style' and equally if not more capable in his Clan's 'Whirlpool Style'. Though both of the styles were powerful he was not able to incorporate them into one style and it always felt like one of the pieces was still missing. So he didn't rush in that aspect. In the ninjutsu area, he flourished the most. Due to him having a large amount of chakra from his Uzumaki lineage and Kyuubi's chakra seeping into the seal, he was unable to perform lower-ranked techniques so he started with C-rank ones, and he took them like fish to the water. He breezed easily through most of those techniques like 'Air bullet', 'Water bullet', 'Rock boulder' and many more. He was still struggling with the B-rank ones though. He also started training with the sword but he only knew the basic katas since he didn't have anyone to train him in that regard.

This year, Naruto went from a beginner academy student level to a mid-genin level, though his stealth skill was already on par with infiltration anbu specialists. But he still thought it was far from being perfect.

Naruto: 'Well, I have seen recently the fights with the Uchiha Clan have turned more hostile and I think I have to get the information by sneaking into the old man's office. Well that is for another time, now it is time to focus on the current goal, I have to find out about Hinata's intentions of liking me. What is it that she really sees in me. I can't grasp her behaviour so I have to inspect her directly. But she will not answer me directly since every time I try to talk to her she always faints. I have to think of something peculiar.'

A/N:-
Guys to clear some doubts here are the few details people are confused about.

1. Naruto is currently eight years old but after this chapter, he will be 9 to 10 years old and 2 or 3 chapters later we will start the genin arc so he will be 12 years old at that time.

2. Naruto is not completely mature, he still has some of his childish traits but all the hate from villagers has somewhat changed his view.

3. The story is completely on Naruhina ship and no harem will be there but there will be instances where other characters will have a crush on Naruto.

4. The story will not only take place in the Naruto world since there will be crossovers and various OCs and the complete 4th Great Ninja War arc will be modified.

I still don't think I will be able to update regularly but if you like my story then please follow and stay tuned with it.