Author notes:
Kakashi will not appear till later chapters. Naruto sometimes acts childish and sometimes serious. The reason for that will be explained later.
PROLOGUE
KONOHA
The blonde kid looked at the lean man wearing a weasel mask with unshed tears in his eyes. The man who was emotionless for normal people's eyes, could be easily identified as miserable to the blonde jinchuriki kid. The village jinchuriki aka Naruto, understood that the man was There to say goodbye.
"I guess you are leaving then. Where will you go?", the seven year old boy asked with concern lacing his voice.
"I got an invitation to join some organization. Remember what we discussed earlier. Not a word. You can't afford to slack off. You are always in danger inside and outside Konoha", the stoic man replied.
Clenching his small fists, Naruto replied, "Don't worry about me. I will keep an eye on him. Send me a raven now and then. I will update his condition".
The man looked surprised at that. After all the evil he had seen and he was sure, he had become one, as of today, he couldn't help but think there was some good in the world, looking at the boy. He had interacted with the seven-year-old orphan on many occasions as part of his ANBU duties and on personal interests. He saved Naruto after a particular brutal incident, courtesy of his now almost extinct clan. He got to witness how cruel people could be, and how kind the child could be.
He nodded at the child gratefully. He knew with him gone and no one to protect, Naruto might need something to hold on in the village. He contemplated for a minute and asked a question that sure would intrigue the child.
"Naruto, do you know who your parents are?"
The said child looked up to the man with black hair and smiled at the Hokage Mountain in mirth. "It is him, isn't it? The Yondaime, Minato Namikaze, my father?"
Not surprised at the child's intelligence, the former ANBU nodded.
"Your mother's name is Kushina Uzumaki, she was like an aunt to me", Weasel ANBU, Itachi Uchiha informed, and Naruto silently mouthed the word 'Kushina' to himself with a small smile.
He handed Naruto a scroll and continued "It contains my notes on basic lessons on ninja skills and few jutsus suitable for you. Use it appropriately. Remember Naruto, every jutsus has its weakness."
Naruto took the scroll and thanked him. He nodded and turned to leave when Naruto asked for one final request.
"Itachi, give me your weasel mask", Naruto asked, his piercing blue eyes filled with determination.
Itachi, the former ANBU, codename 'weasel', looked stunned at the odd request. ANBU were only allowed to take their mask in front of the hokage except in rare cases. This was not a rare case, but the boy was a rare one. And, that mask was the last good link he had of Konoha. That mask reminded him, his sacrifices were necessary and he was a good shinobi. Without that, he would be a traitor as almost everyone believed him to be.
Seeing his hesitation, Naruto continued, "One day in future, I will give this back to you, lawfully. That day, no one can question you wearing that anymore. That day is not today. Until then, I will hold on to that. From that day, I will make sure no lives and names are sacrificed as nothing for the grand scheme of things, in the name of Konoha. Holding on to this mask will remind me not to give up on a fellow shinobi, whatever the circumstance and create scapegoats for my incompetence. It may sound naïve and improbable, but I will never give up. I will not wallow in grief and give way to hatred. I will rise above it. Hatred cannot be solved by hatred. It only makes us miserable".
It was said in a calm and sheer voice. Combined with the look on his eyes, Itachi believed that the seven-year-old standing in front him, could do that one day. He removed the weasel mask and handed it over the boy. He gave it to the boy, who looked malnourished, homeless, living under a bridge, who held no earthly possessions, but held a great Will of fire in his heart and housed a demon in him.
The boy received the mask and nodded at him with a smile. And in response, Naruto gave him another mask.
Itachi looked surprised and took the 'Crow' mask from him and heard Naruto say, "To remind you that, your sacrifices are not in vain and you are always a Konoha shinobi. You are never alone. You will always be remembered and loved, just like he was."
Itachi smiled at that and decided to held on to the mask and to remind himself not to get lost in the darkness.
Suddenly, the alarms in the village started to go on and the former shinobi of Konoha, now a missing-nin started to leave but not before turning to look at the boy at the last minute, and saying, "Do it, Naruto. Become the hokage".
The said boy, looked at the four faces in the Hokage Mountain and the weasel mask in his hands. It seemed so many thoughts were running on his head. He stored the mask in his storage scroll, thanks to another former ANBU, 'Crow', teaching him that.
Now that Itachi Uchiha, second last Uchiha gone, he contemplated, the hokage would call his 'Inu' back, as he was one of the strongest shinobis of Konoha. He remembered once Weasel told him 'Inu' was his ANBU senpai and he was a great ninja.
But before anything else, he had to get strong soon. Now that Itachi was also gone, he didn't have anyone to fall back. He could only rely on himself.