Chapter 2: Altered beginnings

The council turned silent as the massive doors to the meeting room in the Hokage Tower creaked open, revealing the Sandaime Hokage, and the Toad Sage Jiraiya. Hiruzen walked into the chamber taking the seat at the head of the U-shaped table reserved for the hokage, Jiraiya followed standing behind him, Naruto still in his arms. "Hiruzen . . ." started an elderly woman, Koharu Utatane, she wore a plain dark gray kimono with her hair pinned in a bun. Hiruzen raised his hand to silence her. He took out and lit his pipe, taking a deep puff and blowing the smoke out in a sigh.

"Minato and Kushina have died. Kushina was fatally injured holding back the nine-tails while Minato performed a forbidden technique to seal it into their own son, Naruto, at the cost of his own life. Effective immediately, pursuant to the Konoha charter, I am reinstated as Hokage," Hiruzen reported to the shinobi and civilians that made up the council.

"Hokage Sama, the Yondaime has turned the demon defenseless, we must finish his work and kill the beast," said a pink haired council woman, Mebuki Haruno.

"Hiruzen, I will take the boy and train him to be a powerful weap-shinobi for the village," slipped Danzo Shimura, an older man with bandages covering one eye and half of his torso.

Several of the clan heads offered to take in Naruto, some, such as the Inuzuka and Yamanaka wanting to honor the Yondaime and raise Naruto, others, such as the Uchiha and Hyuga, thinking about how their clans could use the young jinchuriki. "Enough!" shouted the Sandaime, "hours after Minato and Kushina lay down their lives, you lot sit here fighting over their only son as if he were some piece of meat in front of a pack of hungry dogs. And worse yet, some of you argue to kill him!" Hiruzen finished flaring his killing intent making everyone in the room feel as if there was a heavy weight pressing down on them. "Young Naruto will go to none of you," he finished.

"Hokage Sama," Danzo spoke, "as a civilian orphan, the boy falls under the purview of the civilian council, he must be placed in a civilian orphanage."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at Danzo, he knew the elderly advisor was still running his secret root program whose ranks were filled, at least in part, by orphans he kidnapped from orphanages in and outside of the village. Jiraiya spoke up for the first time since the meeting began, "Danzo, if you even think of getting your hands on Minato and Kushina's son, or if any of you even try to hurt him in a dream, you'll become intimately aware of why I'm known as a legend throughout the elemental nations."

"Jiraiya, that won't be necessary," Hiruzen spoke, "Naruto is not a civilian orphan, he is a jinchuriki, a military asset. And while civilian orphans are under the jurisdiction of the civilians, the military power in this village rests solely with the Hokage."

Danzo interjected, "Hiruzen, if you claim him as a military asset, then you must train him as such."

"And trained he shall be, but I am classifying everything surrounding his training, his parentage, and his status as a jinchuriki," Hiruzen replied, "if anything about this is spoken outside of this chamber, he or she will lose their head. Now, I think we've all had enough for one night; this meeting is adjourned. Jiraiya, with me." And with that the councilors left the room to return home.

Hokage's Office

Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya who was looking down at the sleeping Naruto in his arms. "We'll keep him in Anbu headquarters for now, once he's older maybe we can get him an apartment and assign an Anbu detail to watch over him. We'll need you out there visible to show the other nations we're still strong, especially Iwa."

"Sensei, if you think I'm leaving Minato's son to be raised in Anbu, then you've gone senile in your old age. I swore to his parents that I will be there for Naruto, and I intend to keep that promise," was Jiraiya's reply.

"Watch it Jiraiya, I am the Hokage and there's a line for even you. You're a spy master, there's no one who can step into your shoes to protect the village. Having you stay would cripple us, especially now when Iwa and likely others will be testing the waters to see how vulnerable we are," Hiruzen cautioned his former student.

Jiraiya turned his eyes from Naruto to the Hokage, "I know, Sensei, but I've given my word to Minato and Kushina. You're the only other person here I'd trust to take care of him and with the duties of the hokage, you obviously can't take care of him."

Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke and say back in his chair, "what about Kakashi, he's young, but he's already an Anbu captain and Minato's former student."

"He's already a mess from the death of his team, and after losing Minato and Kushina, well he's not a in a place to raise a kid," came Jiraiya's reply.

Another puff of smoke, "Is there really no one?"

"How about the toads?" asked Jiraiya, "he'll be safe at Mount Myoboku. The toads can help me raise him while I'm traveling around, and I can even reverse summon myself almost every day to see him."

"We can't have a jinchuriki outside the village Jiraiya," came Hiruzen's reply.

"Damnit Sensei work with me. It's not like anyone can get to him on Mount Myoboku, hell, I'm the only person in all the elemental nations who can go there. The only other possibility is Anbu, and you know Danzo still has his roots dug into the organization. Minato was working with Kakashi and to take them out. Anbu wouldn't be safe for him either," said Jiraiya.

Hiruzen let out a sigh, "Jiraiya."

"Five years, Sensei, just give me until he turns five then I'll bring him back and you can have him protected in an apartment. In that time, you can remove Anbu's root problem," Jiraiya pleaded.

Another puff of smoke, "fine, Jiraiya, five years, and not a day more. And I want you to bring him to the village once every six-months."

"Done!" Jiraiya agreed as quickly as possible, "we'll take out leave now. I'll see you again in six months, Sensei. Thank you." Jiraiya then summoned Fukasaku, an elderly toad wearing a gray cloak. Fukasaku had a gray mohawk, bushy eyebrows, and a soul patch on his chin. Jiraiya explained everything that had happened that night and asked Fukasaku to reverse summon him and Naruto to Mount Myoboku.

Mount Myoboku

Jiraiya appeared in a puff of smoke holding Naruto, they had arrived at Mount Myoboku, the picturesque home of the toad summons. Wherever one looked they would find gargantuan flora, rolling green hills, waterfalls, lakes, and stone toad statues. Jiraiya walked towards a building to meet with Fukasaku, the elder who summoned him, and Gamabunta, the current boss of the toad clan. "Jiraiya you old pervert, why the hell did you bring some human gaki here?" asked Gamabunta. Jiraiya explained the day's events once again, this time to the toad boss.

"Very well," Gamabunta lamented, "he can stay, Gamatatsu and Gamakichi were just hatched so maybe they can keep each other occupied around here."

"Thanks, boss, and I'll come every day I can," Jiraiya said.

The next few years went by fairly uneventful. Jiraiya set off to continue managing his spy network, and to be seen around the elemental nations as a show of force for Konoha. Nearly every night he would return to Mount Myoboku to see Naruto, unless his current mission didn't allow him to. Naruto and Gamabunta's kids were also growing up close, being raised by a combination of Bunta's wife as well as Fukasaku and his wife, Shima. Not knowing anything different, Naruto had taken well to Shima's bug cuisine, especially her caterpillar stew and his all-time favorite, grasshopper loaf. Despite the lack of human interaction, Naruto was being raised well and was even advanced for his age, he could speak well and was even starting to read. His favorite book was one written by Jiraiya, "Tales of an Utterly Gutsy Shinobi." He loved the book so much because the main character shared his name.

Just as he agreed the night of Naruto's birth, Jiraiya had brought the boy to Konoha every six months to see the Sandaime. Tomorrow, he would once again bring the three-year-old Naruto to the Hidden Leaf Village. Just as Jiraiya walked through the front door of the two great toad sages' home, he was tackled by a flying yellow bullet. "Jiraiya!" Naruto shouted, excited to see him again.

"Naru-chan, sit back down and eat yer dinner. Come on in Jiraiya boy, we have plenty of grasshopper loaf for you too," said Shima.

Jiraiya turned pale before saying "oh I-I-I just ate before coming here, I wish I would've known."

Shima retorted, "at least Naru-chan hasn't picked up your bad appetite Jiraiya boy," as she placed Naruto back at the table. The little blond boy began devouring his helping of grasshopper loaf before his butt even hit the chair. Looking at the boy, Jiraiya threw up a bit in his mouth before heading to his room to drop his gear.

After dinner, the humans and toads sat together in the living room while Jiraiya captivated Naruto and the newly arrived Gamakichi and Gamatatsu with a highly edited and dramatized tale of his latest mission. According to Jiraiya he had flown gallantly to a demon country just in time to rescue a priestess from an evil demon. Shima only had to hit him on the head once with her frying pan when Jiraiya got a little too in depth on the part where he returned to the temple with the priestess.

Jiraiya was upstairs in the elder toads' home giving Naruto a bath to get ready for bed. "Hey Jiraiya," Naruto said with a wide foxy grin plastered on his face.

"What's up, Gaki," the white haired sannin asked.

"While you were gone the last couple weeks, Boss Bunta taught me a jutsu!" Naruto excitedly told his caretaker.

Jiraiya laughed and decided to indulge the kid, "Oh yeah? What kind of jutsu is it?"

"Can I show you? I think doing it here will be good so we don't mess up ba-chan's house," Naruto said.

"Haha sure kid, go ahead," Jiraiya said, curious as to what the boy would do.

"Yosh! Here I go Jiraiya!" Naruto said standing up. He then raised his left knee bringing it to his middle before sweeping it out to the left and stomping his foot in the water in the tub. He then repeated this action with his right leg. He then slowly and mostly incorrectly went through a set of hand seals, a look of concentration on his face. Jiraiya actually started to worry for a moment before checking to make sure the boy wasn't actually molding any chakra.

Naruto then jumped onto the edge of the tub and shouted, "Water style, snake stream!" and proceeded to pee right in Jiraiya's face.

"Agh, pfffh, gah, ugh, pleh! Jiraiya sputtered and spit. He grabbed a towel wiping his face, "Gamabunta!" he shouted so loud his voice echoed throughout Mount Myoboku. Naruto was rolling around in the tub laughing hysterically, and Bunta's loud booming laugh could be heard from his home as well.

Konoha

Mebuki Haruno was just leaving the Hokage tower having just met with the elder Danzo. She just learned that Jiraiya would be coming to the village tomorrow with the demon boy. She stepped into a business and leaned in to whisper to the merchant managing the shop "he'll be here tomorrow." She then stepped out and went on to tell several others before stepping into the Uchiha clan district.

Hiruzen was sitting in his office doing the same thing he did every day, try to conquer the evil paperwork. He was startled when he heard a thump by the window in his office, looking up he smiled, Jiraiya was finally back with Naruto. "Jiraiya, when are you going to learn how to use a door?" He asked.

"I'm a ninja sensei, and way too cool of one for that," was Jiraiya's reply.

"Yeah old man, the window is the shinobi door!" Naruto added in his opinion.

"Naruto, it's so good to see you my boy, come in and tell me how you've been these last six months," said the Sandaime.

"Boss Bunta taught me my first jutsu!" Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"Oh . . ." Hiruzen started but was interrupted when Jiraiya grabbed Naruto, who was in the process of unbuttoning his brown cargo shorts.

"Don't even think about it Gaki!" Jiraiya shouted, stopping the budding prankster from giving the Hokage the same treatment he received the night before.

"Ah man, but I need to show him how strong I am so I can become the hokage!" Naruto nearly whined. Naruto really had no clue what a Hokage was, but Jiraiya had told him before that the Hokage was the strongest ninja in the whole village, so he wanted to be that one day. Naruto loved it when Jiraiya would tell him stories of the four hokages, especially stories of the Yondaime.

Seeing the puzzled look on his sensei's face, Jiraiya, with interjections from Naruto, told the older man what happened during bath time. Predictably, Hiruzen couldn't hold back his laughter, less predictably, neither could the Anbu hidden throughout the office.

After talking for a couple of hours, catching up and just chatting, Jiraiya took a more serious tone, "Sensei," he said, "we need to have a talk about the villages little snake problem," he continued giving a knowing glance toward Naruto. The Sandaime nodded in recognition and Jiraiya turned to the blond, "hey gaki, why don't you go run around a little bit to explore the village."

Naruto was walking around the village looking for something to do. Sandaime and Jiraiya weren't worried about him because the village, save for a couple areas like the red-light district, was safe and for added safety, there was a silver-haired dog masked Anbu tailing the young jinchuriki as well.

Walking down one particular road a scent wafted into Naruto's nose causing him to inhale deeply. Given his limited interaction with other people, Naruto didn't know it, but his sense of smell was far better than most others. It didn't rise to the level of an Inuzuka, but it was certainly enough to track down a decently strong scent. And he did just that, coming up to an unassuming stand, he looked up at the sign, "I-chi-ra-ku," the young boy sounded out, stepping into the stand. He sat down at the bar and hit a bell on the counter.

Hearing the ding, a young girl, about 12 years old, came out from the back area, she had long brown hair, black eyes, and she wore a white robe with folded sleeves, a white bandana and a blue apron. "Welcome to Ichiraku's what can I get for you?" she asked, but when she looked up, she saw the blond-haired blue-eyed young boy with three whisker marks on each cheek. He was wearing brown cargo shorts and a white T-shirt with a cartoon toad on the front. "Kawaii!" She squealed and wrapped Naruto up in his arms. She started rubbing her cheek against her own and almost passed out from kawaii overload when the blond started releasing a purring sound."

"Ahem," came a sound from behind the kids, "I didn't think the boys I need to worry about would be this young Ayame," the girl's father Teuchi said.

Realizing what she was doing, Ayame shot up, "Dad!" she exclaimed.

Seeing the red faces of both children, Teuchi laughed heartily. Ayame quickly straightened out her outfit and cleared her throat, "Er-uhm, sorry about that, hehe, I'm Ayame and this is my father Teuchi. Welcome to our ramen bar, what can we do for you?"

"Hi, I'm Naruto!" the blond replied, flashing a foxy grin to Ayame and her father, "what's a ramen?" he asked.

The father and daughter duo gasped and Teuchi clutched at his heart. "Father, we've got a ramen emergency, one bowl of miso with char siu pork stat!" Ayame shouted to her father.

"Hai, coming right up," Teuchi said disappearing into the back of the stand.

Two bowls later, and one awkward conversation where Teuchi tried to explain why he wouldn't put grasshoppers, or crickets, or flies, or even caterpillars in the ramen, a satisfied Naruto walked out the ramen stand having found his perhaps new favorite food, though he still thinks it would be better with grasshoppers. After promising to come back to see his Ayame Nee-chan (the young girl insisted he call her nee-chan) Naruto set off to see more of the Hidden Leaf Village.

The young jinchuriki was now walking around hoping to find some other kids to maybe play with. He loved his toad nii-sans, but a lot of his books showed kids playing with other kids, and he wanted to try that too. Walking down the pathway, Naruto was startled by a sudden explosion a couple of streets over. Before he could recover, someone shoved him into an alley. "Hey!" he started to yell, but before he could continue someone grabbed him. Naruto was then engulfed in a puff of smoke and found himself on the ground, dizzy and disoriented.

"Finally, now we can finish what the Yondaime started. And maybe now my family can rest in peace," said a man's voice.

"Ugh," said Naruto, trying to catch his bearings and get back on his feet. "What happened?" he asked.

"Shut up, Kyuubi!" a voice said before Naruto felt something strike him across the side of his head. "You killed a lot of our clan back then, now it's our time to get some revenge. You can either die here, or serve the Uchiha," the man said.

Naruto tried to focus his eyes, but in the dark alley all he could make out were the man's eyes which seemed to be glowing. Other than them glowing, the thing that stood out to Naruto is that the eyes were red and had two black comma looking marks in them.

Before Naruto could make sense of what the man had said, he heard another voice, this one a young woman, "Hey! What's going on back there?" she said. Looking down to the entrance of the alley, Naruto could just barely make out the visage of a young woman with purple hair tied up in a pineapple shaped ponytail.

"Get lost snake-whore, this doesn't concern you," the man answered her.

"I think someone trying to beat up on some kid should concern anyone, Uchiha teme," she retorted.

The man then snarled and through several shuriken at the woman. The woman then did a series of back flips, each one allowing some of the shuriken to pass under her harmlessly. On her last flip, her momentum carried her back a few extra feet as she ran through a set of hand seals before shouting, "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" and thrusting her arms towards the Uchiha. The Uchiha scoffed before running up the wall next to him and out of the alley, so he'd have more room to confront the woman.

The Uchiha landed in the road, facing off with the purple haired woman. Just as he was about to make his next move, he felt a wave of killing intent that made him think the Kyuubi had returned to its previous power. He turned around and although he did not find the Kyuubi, the visage of the furious Jiraiya did not give him any comfort. Naruto managed to crawl out of the alleyway just in time to see Jiraiya and the Hokage land right behind the man who had attacked him. Feeling the killing intent being released by the two men, Naruto fell unconscious. Seeing this in his periphery, Jiraiya became even more enraged and grabbed the Uchiha by his throat squeezing so tight the man couldn't make a single sound. His eyes started to bulge, and his face was turning a deep purple color. Just as Jiraiya was about to give a final squeeze, the Sandaime put his hand on the Sannin's shoulder.

"Jiraiya, you can't, we need to interrogate him and see who else might have been involved," Hiruzen told his former student.

"Tch," was Jiraiya's only response, as he threw the now unconscious man to the ground.

"Anbu, take him to Ibiki," the Hokage ordered, "Dog, Anko, come with us."

Hokage's Office

"I'll slaughter every last one of them Sensei," Jiraiya roared.

"You will do no such thing, Jiraiya," the Sandaime countered, "it appears the Uchiha took a suicide pill before Ibiki could get to him. And because of the effects on the brain, a Yamanaka cannot do a mind walk on him."

"So, what then, you want me to just let this go? They attacked him Sensei, he's not even four years old yet!" Jiraiya said.

"No, I have already called the council. The Uchiha are a prominent clan, but I will have Fugaku answer for this," said Hiruzen.

Council Room

As soon as the door to the large chamber opened, an oppressive killing intent leaked in making it hard for some to even breathe. The Sandaime walked in followed by Jiraiya, the source of everyone's discomfort. Hiruzen sat down in his chair, Jiraiya standing behind him, his glare leveled at the Uchiha clan head, Fugaku.

"Now," Hiruzen started, "Fugaku, I demand an explanation, and I warn you, I'm hardly in the mood for your posturing."

"Hokage Sama, I don't have the slightest clue what you are referring to. And I won't stand for veiled threats against my clan," was Fugaku's response.

"You really expect me to believe that your thug just so happened to come across Naruto, and there just so happened to be an explosion two streets over calling away his Anbu detail, and the bastard just so happened to use that opportune time to try to kidnap Naruto?" Jiraiya cut in; every word steeped in his rage.

"Oh, that must be the Uchiha I was told was taken away to see Ibiki," Fugaku said, "surely once a Yamanaka dives into his mind you will see this errant boy acted on his own. The Uchiha have no involvement . . ." he was cut off when the already considerable killing intent leaking from Jiraiya poured out like a vast ocean. At this point even the veteran clan heads were having difficulty just breathing.

"Jiraiya," came the Sandaime's voice neither a yell nor a whisper, but cutting through the air to reach everyone, "that's enough. Fugaku, don't think for a second that I believe this was the act of just one foolish Uchiha." The Uchiha clan head narrowed his eyes at the Hokage. Hiruzen continued, "alas, since the coward managed to take his own life, we cannot find his co-conspirators."

Fugaku's glare gave way to a smirk. "However," said Hiruzen, "there's enough here for me to adjudicate him guilty of attempted murder of a military asset of Konoha. And as such, the entirety of his estate is to be seized as restitution to compensate his victim. Given that his estate is entirely clan assets, I Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, order payment in the amount of 1,000,000 ryo. Dismissed!" and with that the Hokage got up and left followed soon after by the rest of the occupants. The last to leave the chamber was an Anbu who stepped out of the shadows and hung his head in shame before leaving.

Outside of the Hokage Tower

Fugaku had just left the tower and started back towards the Uchiha district. While he was angry the Hokage dared levy such a fine towards his clan, it was far from a burden on the wealthy Uchiha. Fugaku was halted when a kunai flew in front of his face, coming so close to his nose that he wasn't sure if it was the kunai or the wind that grazed it. Fugaku turned towards the direction the kunai came from, his sharingan swirling as he activated the famed bloodline. Just as he turned, though, he felt a presence directly behind him. "You should know, Uchiha," came Jiraiya's voice, barely audible, "the Hokage used up every bit of grace he has with me to stop me from sending your entire clan from meeting the Shinigami."

Fugaku jumped forward to distance himself from the seething sannin. "If I get wind of another Uchiha even looking the wrong way at Naruto, I'll declare a blood feud with the entire clan," Jiraiya continued.

Fugaku flinched, "even you don't have the gall to think you can stand alone in front of the Uchiha."

"Maybe not," Jiraiya said casually before narrowing his eyes, "but, I'll be coming for you and your entire household first. Then I'll move on to each of the elders. I wonder just how far I'll get before I can be stopped," Jiraiya then walked away, having said his piece.

Hokage's Office

Jiraiya sighed, "I think we should tell him, Sensei."

"We can't, Jiraiya, at least wait until he's a genin," was the Sandaime's answer.

"I'm going to begin his training when he turns five. Having the Kyuubi sealed in him is going to affect his chakra capacity, control, and probably physical aspects as well. He needs to know. Besides, Anko didn't hear whatever the Uchiha said to him before she arrived, he might have taken that choice out of our hands," the sannin countered.

Hiruzen sat back in his chair, turning to look at Naruto who was fast asleep on the couch. He sighed, suddenly looking every bit the almost 70-year-old man he was. "Very well, Jiraiya, when do you plan to tell him?" asked Hiruzen.

"When he wakes up, I'm going to take him back to Mount Myoboku now though, so he can wake up in his own bed," was Jiraiya's answer.

"I'll trust in your judgment, Jiraiya, but don't tell him about Minato yet. If he tells anyone about him when he comes to live here, if the wrong people find out the consequences could be dire," Hiruzen cautioned his student.