As I announced a few days ago, this chapter was slightly changed for grammar mistakes.
Greetings Wanderers! Ha, I probably shouldn't be writing this I have so many papers due, but every once in a while the allure of writing does bring me back. Mostly the Naruto Ino stories. God has there been a better-written fic than Better Left Unsaid? Loved it. Read it 4-5 times. Neo-Yondaime is also amazing, but I love the possibilities in just Naruto and Ino. Something about it seems right even though they don't have any real interactions in the show/books. I feel like everyone overlooks how similar the two are and honestly, if you think about it, they really don't look bad together. The two, very loud, very stubborn blondes. Seems like they would get nowhere... I digress. In many parts, I may skip over some events. I don't really feel like writing some of the main plot points in the show/manga just because I know that if I'm not interested in it won't come out well. A good example of this would be the preliminaries of the Chunin exams. I don't feel a need to write about Hinata and Neji so I'll probably reference it but skip over it. Anyways Ja ne! See you at the end.
Everything was fine in Konoha, the shinobi village within the land of fire, one of the five biggest Elemental Nations. It was a nice day out, the sun shined brightly over the city. The clouds were big and calming. The villagers were out and about. Nothing out of the ordinar-
"NARUTO!"
Ah yes. That too. How could anyone forget? The shouts of people screaming at a young Naruto racing through the streets. How nice. How peaceful.
"Naruto! Get back here this instant!" yelled the man with a large scar across his nose.
Said blond chuckled a bit like the prankster he was as he sprinted through the streets of Konohagakure. He knew that he would probably be in trouble for doing this. Hell, probably some major trouble, but it didn't matter to him.
At least I'll be able to talk to Jiji. he thought. It had been a while. After all, the current greatest ninja of the village had a lot on his plate. It was nice to be able to drop by and say hi even if it meant causing trouble to do so. He couldn't contain his excitement to see him.
"You can't just deface the Hokage monument like that!"
Oh. Right. That. Maybe the Hokage wouldn't be that happy to see him after what he sees what he did to the Hokage's face. But then again, the man had always liked a good laugh. Oh well. Naruto figured he would find out when the ANBU eventually caught him. He turned back to see that Iruka-sensei was starting to catch up.
But I sure as hell can't let Iruka-sensei catch me.
He could see the anger in Iruka-sensei's eyes. It wasn't like the rage that the villagers seemed to have, it was more of a "I can't believe you did this" kind of rage. He knew he would get hell if he got caught by sensei. There was no way he was going to deal with that sort of rage right now. That rage usually meant he would have to grade papers. Or even worse, clean the toilets.
Naruto turned on the jets leaving Iruka in the dust as the people around him were beginning to react to the graffitied monument. The Shodaime's cheeks were painted bright red as if to make it seem like he was deeply blushing. The Nindaime was given giant fake eyelashes and a dash of red on his lips to make it look like he was cross-dressing. The Sandaime had a giant stick… sticking out of his mouth much like the pipe that is regularly found with the Sandaime. His eyes were also painted slightly red as if he had not got any sleep. Or something like that. (A/N wink) The great Yondaime, personally Naruto's favorite, had been left untouched. He couldn't imagine the great Yondaime like that. The villagers apparently had mixed feelings. He could hear them talking as he ran by.
"I can't believe he did that."
"That might be the funniest thing I've ever seen! Haha!''
He smiled as he kept running, Naruto felt a little bad about ditching Iruka-sensei, Iruka was nothing but kind to him. However, a prankster gotta do what he gotta do.
Hokage's Tower
Hiruzen Sarutobi could admit he was an old man. He had lived three times as long as a regular ninja normally would, so he really couldn't say anything. But in all the time he had been alive, no one had ever been ballsy, no, idiotic enough to try to accomplish what Naruto had done. He stood on the top of the Hokage tower looking at the defaced mountain.
Naruto-kun, you always manage to surprise me. He paused a moment, "Neko-san, Boar-san. Could you bring Naruto-kun to my office," he called out calmly with a small smile on his face.
Two shinobi with masks related to their names appeared, seemingly out of thin air. "Hai Hokage-sama." They stopped a second and stared at said mountain.
"Do you think he'll ever stop Hokage-sama?" Boar asked, knowing that if he wasn't on duty he would be cracking the hell up.
"As much as I wish to say yes... Naruto, I believe, will always be Naruto," Hiruzen replied, not taking his eyes off the mountain.
Neko's mirth could be easily detected, even through her mask, "We wouldn't want it any other way though would we?"
"That we don't, Naruto-kun brings life to the village that no one else can. It seems that if he doesn't make things interesting, something will always make things interesting for him."
The Anbu both nodded and quickly disappeared with a shunshin.
Moments later in the Hokage Office
"Hey Jiji! You called?" The blond said as he was held by the back of his shirt in the hand of Boar.
The eldest Sarutobi waved his hand and Naruto was immediately dropped to the floor and the pair of Anbu disappeared.
"OOF- Could've given me a warning you know!" he yelled while rubbing his head. He looked back to only see leaves in the air. He stared in amazement, "Jiji can you teach me how to do that?"
The Hokage smiled before getting serious, "In due time Naruto, in due time. Now, would you like to tell me a story about your day."
"Oh, yea sure. So I overheard a conversation today while I was at Ichiraku's and there was a dad talking to his kid something about a bird and a be-"
Hiruzen coughed rather forcefully to avoid the conversation he had accidentally almost started. The kid was eight. There was no way he was going to have that conversation with an 8-year-old. Never ever. Having that conversation with Asuma was already one time too many and he was 13 when he got that talk. "No Naruto, that's not the story I was looking for. You know what it is. What made you ever want to do such a thing?"
"Well, it's been a while since I've done a prank, and I felt that that technically meant that I had pranks saved up, which means that I should prank a large number of people to offset that."
The Third Hokage sighed, "Naruto, you know better than to do that. You should know what the Hokage means to the people."
Naruto had the decency to look ashamed, "Sorry Jiji, I won't do it again."
Hiruzen eyed what Naruto was wearing, "Thank you Naruto-kun, but now regale this old man, how in the world did you do it while wearing that monstrosity… and where did you even get it?"
Kami it's an eyesore.
"Huh? Oh, this?" Naruto looked down at his orange workman's jumpsuit… thing. "I started to grow more, and I didn't want to keep having to spend money on new clothes every time I grow more. That clothing tax is insane! Besides I noticed that during the afternoon the light hits the Hokage monument in a way that no one would ever see me!"
The Third's eyes narrowed, getting a mix of surprise and suspicion. However he decided to leave the fact that a child, specifically how Naruto could work out a plan like that and focus on the more pressing matter.
"Clothing tax? Do you mean sales tax?"
"No! That's the cheap one right? The owner told me that the Clothing tax was 50%!"
The old man sighed, the people of this village were really stupid. The law he had put in place said no one could talk about the kyuubi, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't try to get around it. It was like they thought that he wouldn't do anything if they got caught. "Oh did they? Could you tell who did this?"
"Who? What do you mean who? They all do! And there's the Grocery tax, the Rent tax, and the-" Naruto stopped as he suddenly felt some crazy killer intent coming off of the old man's body. "Jiji?"
The Kage relaxed. He sighed once more as he brought out his pen and paper, "Naruto-kun, please write down the list of people who have told you about these taxes."
"Sure Jiji," the misinformed child replied as he reached for the pen.
It seems that it has been too long since I have shown my power as Hokage. The Third thought. He had told some of the trusted Jonin to tell him whenever they saw anything happen to Naruto, but the villagers seemed to have figured out not to do anything bad in front of the ninjas. I have failed Naruto-kun too much. I need to make this up to him somehow. He glanced over to the disgusting orange clothes. We might as well start there.
"Naruto-kun, how about you and I spend the day together?"
Naruto's eyes shot up as he looked up from the paper. The Sandaime could see the eyes sparkling, "Really Jiji? You have time for that?"
The Third smiled, "Come, let's get out of this kami-forsaken office."
"What do you mean by that?"
The kage looked over his shoulder at the stack of paperwork that awaited him. Kami, how he wished he could say a stray katon jutsu came along and burned it all away. He had to figure out a way to deal with it. Yea. Paper-go-away no jutsu. I am the god of shinobi. I can do this.
Naruto stared incredulously as he saw his grandfather figure's eye twitch and decided he really didn't want to know. "Let's go!"
"Yes… let's go, indeed. One moment, Naruto I'll meet you outside the door, I need to talk to someone for a second."
"Got it!" Naruto quickly left and closed the door.
The God of Shinobi picked up the piece of paper that Naruto had left on the table, "Neko-san, could you please tell Inoichi-san that it would seem that he will be having a lot of company very soon that needs a very deep mind search?"
"Hai Hokage-sama."
Konoha Shopping District
"Okay, I'm coming out now…" Naruto called out from the Shinobi clothing store, Shinobi Arms.
Sarutobi turned to see the little blond devil walk out of the fitting room.
His pants were the standard black shinobi pants that end at the ankle. He wore a very dark blue, almost black, long sleeve shirt with a dash of orange going down the sides of the shirt in a serpentine pattern.
"You're looking good, Naruto-kun."
"Thanks Oji!
"Hokage-sama isn't kidding you really do look good!", said a voice coming from another part of the store.
The two turned around to see a giant man wearing a black apron coming towards them.
"Ah yes, Naruto-kun this is Yoshie Shiratori (pronounced Yo-she-aye sheer-a-tory). He is the owner of this shop."
"Thank you Hokage-sama, but please Uzumaki-san, call me Yoshi.
Naruto nodded, "Then please just call me Naruto, Uzumaki-san feels so strange."
The man smiled, "Understood Naruto-san, how do you feel about your clothes?"
"Great! My jumpsuit was really itchy on the inside to be honest. Here take a lo-" Naruto turned to grab his jumpsuit from the dressing room, but it was nowhere to be found. "Huh… where'd it go?"
The Hokage stepped in quickly, "Don't you worry about that Naruto-kun, I'm sure it's in a better place..." He coughed.
Alley next to store
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
"Thank god we never have to see THAT thing again," whispered Boar.
Back in the store
"You wouldn't have been able to wear that thing when you become a ninja anyways. Orange is so bright, it'll get you killed immediately on any kind of stealth mission," Yoshi reasoned.
"I guess you're right," Naruto replied disappointedly, "but I sorta liked it…"
The Third quickly changed the subject to lift the young man's mood, "Naruto-kun, how about I give you a few jutsus to learn?"
Naruto stared at the Hokage suspiciously, "Jiji, are you sick or something?"
Hiruzen looked back incredulously, "No, why would you say that?"
"You've just been so nice today! I don't mind, but I've been asking for jutus for years! And you're always busy, it doesn't make sense how you have time to take me out like this. Something is just off!"
Okay Hiruzen, think. How do I get myself out of this one… Should I tell him? The Hokage started to sweat as he thought. I would prefer not to tell Naruto about Kyuubi until he's at least a Chunin. However, my crystal ball has shown me that Naruto has definitely matured at least a little bit and it really is unfair that he doesn't know why the villagers act the way they do. He looked at Naruto who was on his toes, waiting for an answer. He sighed. "Let's go back to your apartment and I'll tell you a little story. But first we pay."
Naruto's Apartment
"So what's up Jiji!"
Hiruzen did not speak immediately. He had bought himself some time to think of the best way to go about this, but it would be rough any way he could think of. "Naruto-kun, there are many secrets about you that even you are not allowed to know."
Naruto turned his head slightly, confused, "That makes no sense Jiji. Why can't I know about myself?"
"No it doesn't, but there are subjects I do not want to tell you until you are older." Naruto's face fell slightly, "But there is something that I have been keeping from you that has been making this old man feel guilty."
The blond's face came back up to reform the questioning look, "What is it?"
"The reason the villagers have a hatred for you."
The child's eyes widened, "You know?"
"Yes, Naruto-kun. Do you remember the taxes from earlier today?" Naruto nodded, "None of those taxes are real."
Naruto stayed silent at this. The Hokage could no longer see Naruto's eyes as the blond had lowered them to the ground. He took this as a sign to continue.
"They're doing this because you have the Kyuubi inside of you"
Naruto's eyes bulged out as his eyes flew back towards the kage.
It was quiet again for a moment until the Naruto uttered a reply that Sarutobi could barely hear, "That makes… sense"
Hiruzen stopped, of all the responses he would have expected from Nartuo, "That makes sense" was the most unlikely. "Why do you say that Naruto?"
"I mean I was bored the other day so I read a book-"
Hiruzen coughed. Naruto's reading? Hell might've frozen over.
Naruto eyed the old man, but continued, "It said that the Yondaime had killed the bijuu, but honestly that didn't make much sense to me."
"Why?"
Naruto started walking in circles rubbing his hands together nervously, "Well, I don't know, it seemed weird that something made out of pure chakra and rage could be taken down forever. I learned in the academy that energy is never destroyed, but instead it takes another form."
Naruto paused, realizing what that could implicate, "Wait a second… DOES THAT MEAN I'M THE KYUUBI?"
The Third mentally hit himself in the face, "Sorry Naruto, what I meant was that the Fourth Hokage sealed the Kyuubi in you." He took out a scroll and a kunai from somewhere in his clothes. He opened up the scroll and placed the kunai inside. "You can see here that the scroll and kunai are two seperate entities, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"Good. now if I do this. Fuin!" The kunai disappeared into the scroll. "The kunai is now gone, but it still exists. It is not the scroll itself, it is simply held in it. Do you understand?"
"I think so. I'm guessing that's why the villagers are scared though, right? They think it's me? Or it'll become me?"
"Most likely," The Hokage sadly looked at the boy, "What do you think about that?"
"I think the villagers are stupid!"
Ah yes. There is the Naruto we all know and love.
Still impulsive as ever. However, he is a lot more mature than I could have ever imagined. I thought he would go wild with this information. He saw an opportunity to take this conversation in a new direction, "With what you know now, what would you like to do?"
"I'm going to change the way everyone thinks! I get that they don't acknowledge me now, but I'm going to work hard and become Hokage! Then everyone will have to acknowledge me!" Naruto exclaimed.
The Professor thought about Naruto's statement, "That is a good dream Naruto-kun, but you must remember that you don't become Hokage in order to be acknowledged. The one who is acknowledged by everyone in the village is the one that becomes Hokage."
"Got it Jiji! Then I'll become the best damn ninja around! I'll never back down! I'll never go back on my word! That'll be my nindo!" Naruto exclaimed with emphasis.
The Third's eyes widened fractionally in shock. The Will of Fire shines bright in you, Naruto.
"With that kind of thinking, you will get to wherever you want to, Naruto-kun. I will be the first to say that I believe in you." Sarutobi said as he poofed two more scrolls into his hand. "These will be very helpful to you as you begin your journey. The first scroll contains a few basic chakra exercises to gain better chakra control. The second contains a few different basic jutsus as well as a few taijutsu styles for you to use as you see fit." Hiruzen thought about Naruto's massive chakra reserves. Even as an academy student, his chakra reserves dwarfed most jonins. It would make him a user of the Kage Bunshin. "Come to my office after school tomorrow, I may also have a jutsu that is perfect for you."
Naruto had never been happier in his short little life, "Thank you so much Jiji! I won't let you down!"
The old man smiled as he handed the scrolls to Naruto, "I think to start you off, it would be good to have a tutor of sorts to help you. I think I know exactly the right person to help you with your taijutsu."
And it serves as a great punishment for what you did to the Hokage monument. I just hope Gai-san won't have Naruto shout "Youth!" every other sentence. If so, I may have to kill Naruto then commit seppuku as self punishment.
The Hokage decided to try to put an end to it before it even started. "Naruto, please promise me you won't let your sensei influence you too much. Only listen to him about Taijutsu. Understand?"
Naruto looked at the Hokage confused, "What do you mean Jiji?"
"Let's just say the punishment you will receive if I see you wear a green leotard after I got you your new clothes will be greater than any punishment received in mankind."
"Green leotard?"
"Yes, I highly recommend you take my advice."
"Sure Jiji…"
"I shall take my leave. I'll see you tomorrow." The Sandaime said before he shunshined away.
Well that's the beginning! I hope to make this an epic story type, one that crosses through many story arcs. I do need someone to help me edit the story and make it better as this is one of the first stories I would be writing. So, if you have decent editing skills for story writing, please hit me up! I know some of my lines are not the strongest and I would like to improve.
I already know what I will write for the second chapter, so I'll start on that soon. I actually cut this chapter short because I couldn't think of a way to start the next part without bringing out what I want to do next. Most likely I will update about every two weeks. It seems like the most reasonable with the amount of time I have. However, I really do want to get the second chapter out so that one may come quicker. I have a great plan all the way until the Team Assignments which I haven't decided yet and I have plans for the stories afterwards.
See y'all later.