"What do you know about my parents?" He asked.
Kurama looked into the eyes of Naruto and he saw the sadness etched within them. The kid had never known his parents. Not even their names let alone their faces. "I don't know much, kit. But what do you wanna know? I might be able to answer some questions of yours."
"Do you know their names or who they were?" He asked full of hope. Finally he might find out who his parents were.
"It is not really my place to tell you who they are. The Hokage has kept this from you for a reason. However, I guess I'll give you something as you are my host. I'll give you your mother's name," Kurama said. He knew who Naruto's parents were but he did not feel that he should be the one to tell him. In addition, he was in fact the one who killed them. "Your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki, my previous host."
Naruto was at a loss for words. He finally knew something about his parents. Even if it was just a name, he still knew about his mother now more than ever. Furthermore, to think that she was like him, a jinchuriki of the Kyubi. 'That probably explains why I have whisker marks on my face. I probably got it from the furball in her,' He thought.
He looked up with tears rolling down his cheek, "Thank you Kurama."
"No problem kit. Now on to your last question," He said.
"Actually, I don't really have any pressing questions. So how about, how are you doing here? Would you like me to change anything, other than obviously releasing you?" He asked.
Kurama's eyes widened . He was flabbergasted. Never had anyone ever cared about his wellbeing since the days of the Rikudo Sennin and yet here comes a five year old kid he just met. "If you don't mind, I would love to be near water and a large rock for me to rest on," he said.
Naruto sat down in a meditative position, clapped his hands together and thought hard of a new environment for the seal. He then slammed both hands on the ground and the seal changed. Half of the forest environment disappeared and a lake was created in its place. Near the edge of the forest lay a rock big enough to fit Kurama and facing the lake. He smiled as he took in his handy work. "How is this for you?"
Kurama was for the first in a long time smiling out of great joy. Never had anyone done such a thing for him. "Thank you, Naruto. You have no idea how great this is. As a thank you, I'll give you a gift. Naruto, bump fists with me. He said as he proceeded to raise his paw in a fist and pointed at Naruto.
Naruto bumps fists with him and feels a surge of energy pass through him. "What was that?" Naruto asked with a questioning look.
"It is something that will come in useful for your days as shinobi. You can test it when you exit the mindscape. Now if you will, please leave me. I would like to rest. Just think yourself out of the mindscape." Kurama said. Naruto nodded and thought himself out of the mindscape.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked over the village. It seems like only a few minutes have passed and yet he was talking to Kurama for at least an hour. Suddenly he felt it. He sensed someone Shunshin (Body Flicker) beside him. 'Kurama, you sly fox. You gave me sensing abilities.' He grinned on the inside. Beside him an Anbu in a dog mask appears. "Naruto, we have to go. Looks like the Anbu couldn't hold the villagers. There's a mob heading your way. Hokage-sama has asked me to bring you to him," he said.
"All right," was all he managed to say before he was Shunshin to the Hokage office.
The Hokage was anxious for Naruto. He knew that on this day, many would try to attack him. Hence, he sent Kakashi to find him and bring him to the office. Then, he heard a knock on the door. With a "come in" from the Hokage, the door opened to show a small boy and an Anbu beside him.
"Naruto-kun, happy birthday. How are you today?" He asked.
"All's good Jiji!" He exclaimed. "Hey Jiji, do you think I can get a present for my birthday?" He asked.
The Hokage was curious. Naruto wasn't usually the type to ask for gifts unless he really wanted it. "What is it, Naruto-kun?"
"Can you tell me about my parents?" He asked.
Hiruzen mentally sighed. 'I knew this day would come eventually.' He thought if he should finally tell the boy but decided against it when he remembered Minato's letter that he left on the day of his death. Naruto would only know about his parents when he became a shinobi. "I am afraid I cannot do that Naruto-kun. Your parents made a lot of enemies and I cannot risk them knowing about you. However, you may know about them when you are a shinobi. So for now, you can ask for another present."
Naruto sighed in disappointment. He understood the reason but he still wished to know more about his parents. "In that case, can you train me to be a shinobi and can I move out of the orphanage?" He asked.
Hiruzen somewhat expected the first question but he definitely did not expect the second. "Why do you want to move out, Naruto-kun?" He asked. Naruto then explained to Hiruzen that the orphanage usually doesn't allow him to return on his birthday. He also explained about the bad things they did to him such as neglecting his education etc. Hiruzen was furious when he heard this. 'Those bastards. How could they treat the boy so differently?' However, he could do anything to them. He can't just go to the orphanage and arrest the workers or kill them. What would happen to the other kids?'
"So…Please Jiji," he persuaded. Then he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Actually Hokage-sama, I believe I have an answer to both of those questions." The Anbu Inu (dog) said. Hiruzen gestured his hand as a sign for him to continue. "I seek your permission to train him. As you know, I always had him in mind to train so why not start now? Furthermore, he can stay with me. My apartment is more than big enough to fit both of us." Both Inu and Naruto looked to the Hokage for an answer.
"Very well, you are allowed to train him and live with him if Naruto permits," he said. Naruto had never nodded as fast as he had. He could finally move out of the orphanage and he could become a shinobi. Furthermore, both of those things were fulfilled by Kakashi. He had never felt more grateful than this."Inu, take off your mask. As Hokage, you're hereby released from the station of Anbu and will be a Jonin of the village. You will contribute to the village by taking missions from the mission centre and by training Naruto to be a shinobi."
A few hours later, Naruto was unpacking his stuff, which wasn't much, just some clothes, books and a toothbrush, in an extra room Kakashi had. He had never felt happier in his life. He finally had a proper home to go home to.
Kakashi was watching Naruto unpack while leaning on the door of the room. 'Minato-sensei, I will keep my promise to you. I will protect him and will train to be a great shinobi like you.'
The next morning, Naruto's alarm rang signalling his time to wake up. He woke up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while staring at the ceiling fan. He just spent his first night in his new home and he never felt better. Naruto walked out of the room to see Kakashi preparing some toast.
"Morning Naruto, get some breakfast, shower and then we'll head out." He said.
"Ok sensei," Naruto said, still affected by sleep. Naruto thought that since Kakashi was gonna train, he might as well call him sensei. Naruto actually could not wait to start training. He could finally start his journey to become a shinobi.
Moments later Naruto is seen seated in a training ground with Kakashi sitting across from him. "Naruto, to access your chakra, it will be best if you meditate. Feel for the chakra, it should be a blue pool within you that radiates a comfortable heat, then pull it towards you," Kakashi said. Naruto closed his eyes and felt for his chakra. He felt his chakra coils and followed it to the source. When he reached the source, he saw two pools. One pool was filled with a dark blue chakra and emitted a comfortable heat just as kakashi said. The other pool was much larger and was orange. The pool did not have the same comfortable feeling. Naruto could feel the rage and hate from it, it was very cold. 'This must be Kurama's chakra.' He thought. He went to the blue pool and pulled it towards him.
From the outside, a dark blue aura surrounded Naruto. Kakashi watched in awe as he saw the amount of chakra Naruto had. 'This amount of Chakra is insane. The amount must be around three quarters of my chakra. As a five year old, to have three quarters the chakra of a jonin/anbu is unheard of. Even if he was an Uzumaki, a child should not have this much chakra. This must be because of the Kyubi.' Thought Kakashi. Kakashi was broken from his train of thoughts when the aura disappeared and Naruto opened his eyes.
"Looks like you accessed your chakra. Good job!" Kakashi said as he gave Naruto his famous one eyed smile. Naruto was then asked to train his chakra control by trying to make a leaf float on his palm. That was what Naruto did until noon. Naruto found the leaf exercise very boring but he also understood that the basics are always important. "All right, let's stop training here for today. I have other things planned to do with you in the afternoon." Said Kakashi. "What do you wanna eat?"
"RAMENNN!" Shouted Naruto.
Naruto and Kakashi proceeded to head to Ichiraku Ramen stall to eat. After having lunch, Kakashi brought Naruto with him to do some shopping. "Naruto, let's do some shinobi shopping. We need to get you into some more shinobi style clothes and buy some kunai and shuriken."
A few moments later, Naruto and Kakashi were outside a nondescript store with a kunai shaped sign with the words "The Sealed Kunai" etched on it. When they entered, Naruto saw racks on racks on racks of weapons and scrolls in neat columns. There was a young girl with a Chinese style red top with white shorts and had her brown hair done in two buns sitting behind the counter. "Hello, welcome to the Sealed Kunai, the best store for shinobi," she said. "Good afternoon Kakashi-san, welcome back. Anything I can help with."
"Good afternoon Tenten. Me and Naruto here are looking to buy some clothes and basic shinobi needs." Kakashi replied. Kakashi and Naruto were brought through the store to look for the things requested. They took some sealing scrolls to make transportation of the items easier. Now Naruto is standing in front of the mirror trying to find an outfit fit for a shinobi with the help of Kakashi and Tenten. "How about this one?" Tenten asked as she took out a shirt. "No." Said both the guys. Naruto tried to make a conversation with Tenten while trying on different outfits. "Hey, Tenten. Do you go to the academy?" He asked.
"Yeah. I joined it earlier this year. From the looks of it you plan to join too. This one?" She said as she got two shakes of disagreement from the guys and continued searching through the clothes rack.
"Yeah. I wanna be one of the strongest shinobi ever. Hey, do you work here or do you just help or something?" He asked.
"Technically she doesn't," said a third voice from behind the group. "Hi nice to meet you, Naruto. I'm Higarashi, the owner of this shop. Kakashi told me to expect you guys soon." The man was big and muscular but it seemed as if he was favouring one leg over the other. Naruto presumed this was from a past injury. He wore a brown tee and had white cargo pants and wore the standard blue shinobi sandals. Although, Naruto realised that he and Tenten did not look alike at all. He had black hair and black eyes while Tenten had brown hair and brown eyes with a greyish tint.
"What do you mean technically, Higarashi-san?" He asked.
"She doesn't work here and she is just helping out. However, nowadays its as if she works here. She never leaves the place. She loves weapons too much. When I adopted when she was younger after the kyubi attack, I noticed that she had a liking for all types of weapons. But I never would've thought it'll grow to be an addiction," Higarashi said. Tenten buried her face in embarrassment. Her father just exposed her to Naruto and Kakashi. Naruto and Kakashi chuckled at the girl's reaction.
After a few more minutes of conversation between the group, Naruto finally had a complete outfit. He wore grey cargo pants that were durable enough for a shinobi. He had a t-shirt similar in colour to the pants and wore a black jacket with orange stripes running along his arms and shoulder. He had black shinobi sandals. Lastly he had an orange scarf and wore it around his neck. "You definitely look like more of a shinobi now," said Kakashi. Higarashi agreed with a nod.
"You actually look pretty cute in that outfit especially with the whiskers," complimented Tenten. Naruto's face heated up. He had never been complimented like that before. Let alone from a girl. "Th-Thanks," He managed to say. 'What the heck. Why am I so flustered?' he thought. In the back of his mind he can hear Kurama laughing loudly at the situation. Kakashi also chuckled at the boy's reaction.
After paying for the supplies, both of them returned home. They both sat at the dining table eating some rice and fish that Kakashi had cooked. Then, they created Naruto's training plan. "Ok, so here's the plan: In the mornings, you will train your physical strength and endurance with a lot of exercises. Then you will have a lunch break. In the afternoon you will work on your chakra control. Every Wednesday and Sunday you will train half of what you usually do and instead learn academic subjects such as history, maths etc. When I am on missions, I will ask some people to take care of your training. They will be giving specialised training for the few days that I will be gone. They will train you on what they are best on. If you impress me, I promise that I will teach you a new jutsu." Naruto agreed to the plan. He felt that this would him help become stronger. He had until mid-February to train at the maximum before he joined the academy and his time will be cut down by school work.
