Chapter 1: Kami no Shinobi

Note:- I want to clarify some things or else it will cause confusion in future.

A. My fanfic is in an alternative universe. Some things will be similar to canon, while some aspects of character personalities and events will differ from canon for a better flow of the story.

B. Naruto is not an idiot like canon, he will be a bit more mature and smart. Naruto will kill, there is no 'no-kill' motto in my fic.

C. He was trained by Hiruzen from an early age, making him much stronger than the canon version.

That's all.

Enjoy the Fic

Sarutobi Hiruzen was stalking through the corridors of Hokage tower with a yellow bundle in his arms, His destination? The Council chamber of Konoha. Anybody who notices him takes a side as his face was of pure rage and his aura radiated the power of once Kami no shinobi.

The title of God of Shinobi was not one that could be acquired easily; there were only two known Gods of Shinobi within the entire Elemental Nation. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the man who had led Konoha through two of the Three Great Ninja Wars, and Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, and the wielder of the most feared Kekkai Genkkai, Mokuton.

It could not be said that Hiruzen had lost his strength, but people are strongest during their prime years.

Hiruzen was livid with himself; why didn't he sacrifice himself to seal the Kyūbi into the boy? The said boy was in his arms, the cute little bundle of innocence. He was a brave boy, evident as the boy only cried once when he came out of Kushina, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He was peering curiously towards the face of Hiruzen, Hiruzen's anger melted away at the sight of the boy's face. He smiled at the boy, smothering him and went toward the gates of the council chambers, automatically, four guards surrounded him and he opened the gate to enter.

Danzo Shimura, The Yami no Shinobi - Darkness of the Shinobi, was a shrewd man who was also the former rival and friend of Hiruzen. In his prime, Danzo had started a shinobi foundation known as 'Ne'. A.K.A Root, he was feared as well as respected throughout the entire population of Konoha.

Danzo looked towards the Civilian Council. Scum, disgrace, and greedy bastards they were; they were a bunch of power-hungry fools who only wanted to stash as much wealth as they possibly could. They had their seats through the trade that connected the Elemental Nations together. Danzo, himself, respected power. He once was a very ambitious man who wanted Konoha to be at the top of the Elemental Nation. But the death of his son, Sora Shimura, broke his will. It wasn't just the death alone, but Sora's last words. At the edge of his life, he said that "the sacrifice was for the peace." Even an apathetic person like Danzo was stricken to his core when his son took out an entire battalion of 200 ninjas with his death, through a technique known as "Angle Flash." Danzo abandoned all of his ambitions that day. ROOT was disbanded, and its agents were merged with regular ANBU Black Ops, yet he kept ten agents for his own safety and as reserves.

The Civilian Council was in chaos over the destruction caused by the 'Fox Demon'. Hiruzen entered the room through double doors, two Anbu stationed on either side of him. He set the boy in the arms of a Cat-masked Anbu and went on to stand in front of the Hokage's seat.

A fat man named Hiroki Takase stood up and asked, "Where is Yondaime-sama? We need to discuss the repairment of the village, plus we need funds for infrastructural damage across the village."

Shikaku Nara was a tall, thin man with two distinct scars adorning his face; one on his left cheek and another on the forehead on the same side. He was known as a genius of his own league and was the current clan head of the Nara clan. Standing up, he bowed to the previous leader before speaking, 'Sandaime-sama, we need to discuss the losses of our shinobi we have incurred, as well as the need to deploy more guards across our village boundaries, so that no spy can exploit our weakened state for their benefit.'

Hiruzen looked at the council for a moment without any expression on his face and replied, "I am very sorry and I regret to inform you this, but our Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze, gave his life to defeat Kyubi and seal it within a vessel."

A pin-drop silence spread through the council chamber for a few minutes before some began to murmur and others started to whisper about the loss.

The silence was broken by a firm but experienced voice of Danzo Shimura. "What about his successor, Hiruzen?"

"It appears that Minato hadn't chosen a successor before his untimely death; therefore, I will be assuming the role of Hokage once more and serve you until I choose a successor," Hiruzen stated confidently.

"Very well, Sandaime sama," Danzo said firmly, using the leader's former title to show his acceptance of the decision.

Before any civilians could speak up, Satsuki Yakima spoke up first. She asked, "What about the repairment costs? Who will pay that? And, what about the Kyubi vessel? Who is it? How do we know it's safe to let it live? If Yondaime-sama couldn't defeat it then, what will a damn seal do? Why shouldn't we complete what Yondaime-sama started?" She glared at the yellow bundle with hate and disgust.

This was what Hiruzen feared; he had hidden the identity of Kushina as a jinchuriki due to the feelings of animosity borne by the villagers toward the monster. He knew the seal was safe, and any person with some knowledge in fuinjutsu could confirm that. He also had full trust in his successor's skills. He contemplated for a moment and looked toward Danzo, who nodded firmly, as a friend he would help Hiruzen in this situation.

Sandaime replied "The boy is in safe hands with my Anbu here, and the seal will lock up Kyubi up for a long time within the boy's body. His name is Naruto Uzumaki, and he is to be treated as a hero of the Leaf because of his burden."

That caused five raised eyebrows; those belonging to Hiashi Hyuga, the clan head of the Hyuga clan.

Tsume Inuzuka, the clan head of Inuzuka clan; Fugaku Uchiha, the clan head of Uchiha clan; Nara Shikaku, Commander of the Leaf force and Hokage's strategic advisor and Danzo Shimura.

Hiashi was on the same Genin team as Kushina and knew there was only one Uzumaki in the village. Same could be said about Tsume, who was a partner in pranks with Kushina and one of the three friends of the redhead. Fugaku's wife was friends with the 'Red Trouble'. Nara Shikaku was a genius and just figured it out, and nothing was hidden from the Shimura clan's head.

Soon after the announcement, an uproar echoed on both sides of the council; the entire civilian council supported the execution of the said 'demon'. However, from the shinobi side of the council, three clans opposed the Hokage's decision; one was a lowly clan, second was the Kurama clan, lastly and most shockingly, the Uchiha clan.

"Enough!" Hiruzen roared and the entire Chamber felt the aura of the legendary shinobi the next moment. All the people, including Anbu and excluding Danzo, were on their knees, sweating profusely. While most of the civilian councilors fell unconscious under the intense gaze of Hiruzen.

Neko spoke fearfully to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, the boy is terrified; I request you to please stop this aura."

Sandaime glanced at the baby and saw the terrified expression on his face and the wet diaper.

Hiruzen restrained his Killer Intent and Aura; everyone let out the breaths they had been holding unknowingly. Sandaime glared toward the Murakumo Kurama clan head, who flinched and ducked his eyes down to the floor. However, Fugaku Uchiha looked right back at Sandaime and said, "Hokage-sama, I do not mean to offend you. And, I truly believe in the skills of our renowned Yondaime, but the boy is a burden and should be dealt as such. We should either kill him or use him as a weapon."

Fugaku Uchiha was a very ambitious and competitive man; he was the rival of Minato, a rival more like a true enemy. He despised non-Uchihas and wanted the mantle of Hokage, but not to be mistaken, it was not for peace or safety of the village, it was for power. Yes, Fugaku Uchiha was a power hungry man and Hiruzen knew that Naruto was a sore in the eyes of the Uchiha clan head.

Tsume Inuzuka erupted in profanities at the challenge from the Uchiha clan head; she was friends with the pups' mother, so this pup was a part of her pack, and she would not allow any fucking body to harm a single strand of hair on this boy's body.

"No, Naruto is safe and the Kyubi's chakra is locked up inside the seal. As of today, Naruto's status as a Jinchuriki is an S-ranked secret, and anybody found discussing it will be executed. Naruto will be under the regular and direct surveillance of top Anbu agents, and anyone who dares to put a single scratch on the boy will be executed publicly."

Fugaku nodded, feigning neutrality on the outside but from within he was seething; he wanted the last proof of that man's existence to be erased, yet he would do it indirectly at the right time.

Ultimately, the members of the civilian council woke up and the discussions on various matters continued.

After four hours:-

Hiruzen returned to the Hokage chamber with the yellow bundle in his arms, he set the baby in the crib, brought by the Owl-masked Anbu earlier, which was situated in the corner of the office, that was also known as the Chamber of Hell and Bad Luck by Tsunade Senju, the former student of Hiruzen and one of the three legendary Sannins, who left the village after the death of her lover Dan and brother Nawaki.

He wanted to adopt Naruto, but his wife had died in the Kyubi attack; his first son was in ANBU, and his second was going to be a part of the famous Twelve Guardian Guards of Daimyo. He also had to maintain the duties of the Hokage; he would have to wait for the opinions of three individuals. If all of them refused to take care of the child, then he would put the boy in an orphanage.

Hatake Kakashi, also known as Sharingan no Kakashi, gained his Sharingan from his late friend Obito Uchiha. Having lost his own father at the age of five. Kakashi's father, the legendary ninja Sakumo Hatake, committed suicide by impaling himself on his famous sword. Kakashi's first friend died in the cave near Kannabi Bridge, and his second friend, Rin, took her own life by impaling herself with Kakashi's Chidori technique. The only remaining tie to humanity for Kakashi were Minato and Kushina, but they too have since passed away.

Kakashi could not aid them because he was held back by Danzo's men; he was broken and wounded, as his only connection to the village was now in shreds. He might even leave the shinobi ranks and the village altogether. At first, he had joined the shinobi forces to reinstate the honor of his clan, which, according to his childish self, was tarnished by his father. But, the death of Obito made him see the value of friends and his father's ultimate sacrifice. He wanted to protect his loved ones by serving the village's shinobi system, but now he has no one to protect. He was fuming with rage, and today, someone was going to endure the wrath of the last student of the late Yondaime Hokage.

He knocked on the Hokage's chamber door.

"Come in," a voice called from inside.

Kakashi entered the chamber to see Sandaime sitting near a crib and signing letters, presumably for the people who had sacrificed their lives during the previous night's Kyubi incident. Some of his anger melted away by looking at the face of the old and tired leader of the village, who had reclaimed the mantle accordingly. The face was a reflection of the decision that he had taken for the betterment of the village, a reflection of the lost ones, a reflection of regret, a reflection of the burden that he had shouldered so that the village did not fall into the leadership of people like Orochimaru. Sandaime sensed a presence and looked up to see Kakashi standing in front of him. Kakashi's eyes were bloodshot and puffy, probably due to crying over the loss of his last loved ones, and his hands were clenched, a clear sign of stress and frustration. He stood up and walked toward Kakashi.

"I am sorry, my boy." He apologized, placing a hand on the masked Anbu's shoulder. "It seems we are on the familiar yet unwanted turf again; I have to pass the bad news to you, your sensei and Kushina sacrificed themselves to save the village. I can understand your pain, Kakashi, and I regret that Minato didn't give me the chance to seal Kyubi, as expected from him, he sacrificed himself for the safety of this village, and Kushina followed him," Sandaime expressed his regrets sadly.

Hiruzen walked back to his desk and took out two letters from a small stack of seven letters that had been handed to him by Minato just the night before the Kyubi incident. He handed them to Kakashi. He further said, "These were handed to me by Minato and Kushina; they stressed to me that only your eyes should see them—you may not know this, but they were suspicious of the events, as the seal on a Jinchuriki is weakest during childbirth."

Sandaime handed the letters to Kakashi sadly and motioned for him to take a seat on the sofa and read them.

Kakashi opened the first letter, which was titled 'Minato to Kakashi.' It read:-

Dear Kakashi,

I am proud that I found a student like you; you are my son above all else. I am writing this letter before the night of Kushina's delivery, and if you're reading this, then I am gone. I apologize for leaving you alone, Kakashi. I know you have endured much in your short life, but your determination is strong. I want you to look after your younger brother, Naruto. I trust that you will guide him on the right path. If we both die, then you are his only support in the village.

I just want you to take good care of yourself and make sure Naruto doesn't go down the wrong path.

Love, Minato.

By this point, Kakashi's mask was damp with tears; he had always looked up to his sensei as a second father. He put the letter back in the envelope and pocketed it before going on to read the second letter, which was addressed to him by his mother, Kushina. It read:

Dear Kakashi,

I don't want to write a lengthy speech for you; I always viewed you as my son. I entrust Naruto to you; please take good care of both of you.

Kushina.

Kakashi knew that Kushina was not good at describing her feelings through words; she was truly a lovely woman and was the only one capable enough to keep his sensei in check. His train of thought went to the name 'Naruto'; he looked up toward the face of the Hokage expectantly.

Sandaime saw the various emotions playing across the silver-haired Anbu's face. Sadness, fondness, grief, and finally, hope; he looked up into Hiruzen's eyes, and Hiruzen understood what he was about to ask. He motioned him toward the crib; Kakashi, with shaky legs, got up and staggered over to the crib.

Kakashi looked inside the small wooden bed and nearly had an anxiety attack when he saw, those deep blue eyes of his sensei on the face of Kushina, with three whisker like marks on cheeks and a golden patch of hair on the head. Naruto was looking curiously toward Kakashi, Kakashi tried to touch the boy's face but regressed his hand back immediately.

Sandaime watched the scene with a small frown; he now understood that Kakashi was not in the right mind and couldn't take care of himself or this child. Moreover, if Kakashi was this messed up, then he didn't want to know what would be the state of Jiraiya after he came to know about this whole incident. Yes, the second person on the 'want-to-confirm list' was Jiraiya, one of the students of Hiruzen, one of the members of the Legendary Sannin, sensei of Minato, and godfather of Naruto. He had made a decision after some pondering.

He walked towards Kakashi and placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "Kakashi, I know he is your last hope and connection to your sensei, but right now you are not in the right state of mind to take him under your care".

Kakashi's eyes widened at the proclamation, and he looked toward the face of the Hokage. "But, we both are brothers in everything but blood," Kakashi said. "I will take good care of him. Please let me have his custody."

The Hokage looked sympathetically towards the boy and said, "I am sorry, Kakashi, but I can't do that. You aren't in the right state to take care of him; I understand your reasons and respect them, but, you should also consider my reasons."

"However, fear not, Kakashi; I'm not going to separate him from you. You will be his third guardian. And I am assigning another Shinobi to look after the boy," clarified Hiruzen.

He signaled his Anbu, and one of them appeared before him kneeling. "Bring me the new recruit from the Chunin department; she was recruited yesterday," he ordered.

After five minutes, a shinobi wearing full-body mesh armor beneath a purple top and black short skirt with net leggings emerged from the doorway; it was Mitarashi Anko.

"Kakashi, you and Anko here have an S-Ranked long term assignment. Your mission is to protect this kid from threats inside and outside the village, anyone who tries to touch even a single strand of his hair with hostility in mind is to be killed." Sandaime explained firmly. "You are given the relish to kill them after extracting necessary information, you will do regular missions between the duty, but your free time is to be used to protect him. Both of you will never go on missions at the same time, Do you understand your mission?" Sandaime asked seriously and they both nodded.

Anko was confused, why a chunin like her was being assigned to guard the baby? And, why was this mission an S-ranked? Isn't this some kind of discrimination? But, Kakashi knew, with the burden that the boy carried, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato was not discriminating. He was just making sure that the son of two heroes, who had sacrificed their lives and their son's life by converting him into a jinchuriki, was safe at all costs, which was the least that could be done for the boy. Hiruzen had chosen Anko for this mission because she was on the end of a probation period after her return from the lab of Orochimaru last year.

Three hours after Sandaime had dismissed Kakashi and Anko, there was a knock on his door again.

The leader replied, "Enter."

Danzo Shimura entered the cabin. He walked with support of a cane as he was crippled; however, only a few people knew that this was rather a decoy to fool the enemies. Danzo was always a cunning bastard; he was the master of deceptive art. He wasn't able to acquire the level of strength Hiruzen was able to accumulate, but he covered his shortcomings with his cunning mindset. Whomever saw him as weak shinobi was already six feet under the ground in a nicely decorated coffin.

Sandaime gave a small smile to his friend. Once the arrival or presence of this man would have been quite bothersome and a bit dangerous. Though, after Sora's demise, he was far more calm and wise. "Ah, Danzo. Thank you for your support, my old friend. Do you think I took the right decision about revealing the boy's burden?" asked Hiruzen for his friend's advice.

'If you take my advice into consideration, you did the right thing, my friend. By revealing the boy's status to a few trusted individuals, it will be easier for you to handle certain situations," replied Danzo thoughtfully.

"I also wanted some help from you, Danzo. I need two of your Anbu to look after the boy day and night, and protect him if the shinobis, I assigned to guard him, are unavailable" requested the aged Hokage.

Danzo nodded and approached the crib; he had seen the boy in the chamber and was amazed by the boy's resilience. He hadn't even cried in the presence of Hiruzen's anger. Any other baby of his age would have died from that aura, but the boy was only afraid of the power.

He had seen Minato and had tried to integrate him into ROOT, but the boy had declined his offer and was being guarded by Jiraiya at the time. He was sure, if he still had the command of "ne" under him or any inclination toward his former goal, he would have fought tooth and nail to acquire this boy, but he had abandoned those motives far behind. He turned toward Sandaime, bowed curtly to him and left through the door.

Early hours on the date of Kyubi incident :-

Jiraiya, the self-proclaimed super perverted hermit, was roaming around the edge of the Earth Country in disguise. He was on his way to meet one of his contacts in the said country; he was currently in a small village known for its taverns and wine. He strolled into a red-pillared bar and took a seat at the last table, after ten long minutes, another cloaked figure joined him.

"What news do you have for me, Daira?" asked Jiraiya to his contact.

"There have been rumours about some tension arising in between 'Mad Bomber' Deidara and Tsuchikage Onoki" informed the cloaked figure.

"Anything else?" Jiraiya questioned after a brief ponder.

There also seemed some tension arising between Kumogakure and Iwagakure. The man informed him suspiciously.

"Well, that's an interesting piece of news," said Jiraiya as he passed a pouch of coins to the cloaked figure. The cloaked figure caught it and disappeared into the crowd the next moment.

Jiraiya was returning from the bar, searching for an inn to book a room, possibly to venture into the village in search of a public bath or brothel to satiate his perverse needs, when suddenly he experienced a pull. Within a millisecond, he vanished with the speed of the wind like a magician.

Jiraiya landed with a thud on the wet soil of Mt. Myoboku, standing in front of him were two familiar entities; Maa and Paa, the elder sage toads of the Toad Summoning Clan.

Hey, what's the meaning of this? Why did you summon me like that? You could have sent a toad to inform me." Jiraiya asked, pointing his finger at the two toads.

"The messenger toad would have consumed unnecessary time to reach you, and the situation is urgent. Great toad sage Gamamaru-sama has awoken up and has a prophecy for you to hear" Fukasaku informed him sincerely.

"Yeah, That old senile sage has been pretty adamant about only telling you his prophecy" agreed Shima offhandedly.

This caused a bickering riot between the two toad sages regarding the conduct toward the ancient toad, Jiraiya just sweatdropped and went inside the cave ignoring them both, grumbling about old mad toads and a senile Gamamaru.

Jiraiya reached to the throne of old toad and stood infront a sleeping Gamamaru. After a lot of bickering Shima and Fukasaku joined Jiraiya, with Fukasaku having a ball size bop on his head. Jiraiya just sweatdropped again and asked "Is this old senile gonna wake up, or not?"

He also got bopped on his head by Shima.

"Hey! What's the big idea? You also called him senile, you fool." Jiraiya glared at Shima, who huffed and turned away.

After 2 Hours:

"This is insane, Is he gonna wake up or not, Paa?" yelled Jiraiya irritatebly.

"He just wakes up to eat, see young female toads dance or to give prophecies," voiced in Fukasaku.

Jiraiya pondered for a moment and then grinned lecherously. He went in front of Gamamaru and performed four hand seals before yelling "Magen: Heavenly Looks". A vision of a young female toad without clothes, wearing a seductive smile, appeared before Gamamaru. It motioned him to come towards her in a lecherous manner. Gamamaru's eyes opened from the voice, his eyes bulging out for a second as he saw the young female toad before falling unconscious with a large nosebleed.

"Ow...Ow...Ow." Jiraiya received three blows to the head, one from Fukasaku and two from Shima.

"You idiot, now he won't wake up for another three hours," shouted Shima angrily.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Jiraiya.

After half an hour, Gamamaru woke up and found himself facing three sages in front of him.

"Who are you?" asked Gamamaru to the three of them; Shima just facepalmed while Jiraiya deadpanned.

Fukasaku answered the question "He is Jiraiya, Great Toad, our Summoner."

Then came an expression of recognition and seriousness on the face of Gamamaru.

"Ah...yes...Jiraiya boy. It seems I had another dream." The toad's expression turned serious. "It contained both good and bad, the coming days will be dark times for the Leaf Village. The Leaf Village will lose its greatest hero at the hands of a red-eyed monster." Jiraiya's fists clenched and his eyes widened; he understood the reference correctly.

The greatest hero of the Leaf Village is 'Yellow Flash'. His student is Minato, and the red-eyed monster that was sealed inside Kushina is known as Kyubi.

He then remembered that Kushina was pregnant and she was going to give birth today, but his thoughts were cut off by the voice of Gamamaru, "Though with the loss of the greatest hero of the Leaf Village, we will gain the hero of the entire Elemental Nations. A child who will save humanity from this cycle of war and hatred."

Now everything was clear for Jiraiya; his student was going to die and his son would be 'the child of prophecy.' Jiraiya had been searching for this child of prophecy ever since he was young, when Gamamaru first spoke to him and predicted that one of Jiraiya's students would bring peace and end this cycle of hatred.

Jiraiya reversed summoned himself to the Elemental Nation and was now on his top physical speed towards Konoha. The toads strictly advised him against interfering, but he was not going to lose another member of his family. Many people didn't know this, but Jiraiya was also an orphan, whose parents died during the Second Shinobi War, and he was left with their wealth and a mansion. He trained himself aiming to make them proud, and when he received the title of Sannin, he was sure that they would have been proud of him, if they were alive. But, the hole of loneliness always gave him pain. He tried to fill that hole with the help of the war orphans in Ame, but he had to leave them due to Konoha's security issues. After some years, he received the grave news of their demise, so he focused himself on Minato. He trained Minato to his best extent in all ninja arts, including fuinjutsu. Minato was even a greater and stronger ninja than himself. He loved Minato as a son and he was happy with them, but now this new problem arose.

14 hours after kyubi incident :-

A white blur passed through the Konoha gates; the gate guards didn't need to check the individual's identity as there was only one man who wore red and green robes and had white spiky hair - Jiraiya, of the legendary Three.

He was running at full speed until he saw the devastation of over 1/5th of the Leaf village; the repair work was underway.

Jiraiya headed directly for the house of his student, which was located on the outskirts of the forest at the top of Hokage Mountain. His fear increased exponentially when he saw the seals placed by Minato, the Blood Seal and the Chakra Seal, which would only react to the Namikaze bloodline.

Jiraiya entered the Hokage office, thinking maybe Minato had simply moved into the office for added security, but was disheartened when he saw his old sensei in Hokage robes looking worse than ever.

"So, its true then, they have sacrificed themselves to protect this village, and sealed Kyubi in a vessel" asked Jiraiya with his eyes boring holes in the floor of the office.

Hiruzen has sensed the chakra of his student when he had entered the village gate, and was waiting for him to come to the office.

"I am sorry, Jiraiya, I tried to reason with him to let me do the sealing, but he was adamant on sealing the Kyubi himself" Sandaime stated remorsefully looking at his Student.

"I know, sensei," Jiraiya replied, "I just need some time alone right now. I will be on a two-year reconnaissance mission, collecting evidence on Orochimaru and a new mercenary group forming between him and two or three other S-ranked shinobi." Jiraiya's voice remained emotionless, but Hiruzen caught the subtle twitch in his hand, indicating regret and guilt.

"I know this isn't the right time, but could you please just take a look at the vessel's seal and confirm that it's secure?" asked Sandaime, motioning toward the corner of the room where the crib lay.

Jiraiya tried to say something; his mouth opened and then closed, but he just closed his eyes and nodded. Hiruzen motioned him toward the crib, and Jiraiya went near it. Just like Kakashi, he was stunned and aghast. In front of him was a mop of yellow hair and blue eyes on the face of Kushina Uzumaki.

"I..Is h...he their...?" were only words that Jiraiya can muster up to say.

"Yes, Isn't he a replica of them Jiraiya? He has Minato's hairs and eyes with Kushina's face" Hiruzen agreed softly.

He asked hesitantly, "Can I touch him?"

Hiruzen nodded positively; Jiraiya took the baby in his arms, finding it to be a healthy boy. Jiraiya felt a pull from the boy, who looked at him happily as if he knew him. The moment was interrupted by the soft yet firm voice of Hiruzen.

"He is all yours, Jiraiya," the old Hokage informed him. "As your godfather, you are his first guardian. Therefore, you must make all the decisions for him until he becomes a shinobi."

"B..But, isn't she also one of his godparents, what if she wants his guardianship? Beside, I can't travel and run a spy network with a kid in my care" contemplated Jiraiya.

"Yes, she also has an equal right on him, but she is not available here and I doubt that we can find her that easily," Hiruzen said, looking at the crestfallen expression on Jiraiya's face. "Don't worry, I won't force my care on him; he will be sent to an orphanage, and I have deployed three ANBU and one Chunin for his protection. Additionally, I will take an equal part in his upbringing; I can do that at least to repay Minato for his bravery and sacrifice."

"I will come regularly to check on him and become his first Guardian when the time is right. But, sensei don't disclose his relationship to me, keep his files and other document secure. Iwa or Kumo would do anything to get their hands on him, he should be protected like no-one else. Can you at least tell me who are the Anbu that will look after him?" questioned Jiraiya seriously.

Ah...Yes, one is the last student of Minato, and a new recruit named Anko, while the other two are Root Anbu, and they will only take action if the first two are unavailable." Hiruzen explained.

"You are deploying ROOT after my godson; they will try to use him or kidnap him. You very well know what Danzo wants and what are his aims," Jiraiya yelled with a rage-filled face.

"Keep your voice down, Jiraiya," Hiruzen reprimanded sharply. "Danzo has promised me to help and protect the boy. He also supports my decision, after Sora's death he is much calmer and wiser than before. He will not attempt anything like that or commit any actions, for he knows what I am capable of doing to him." Hiruzen said with a firm and strict voice.

Jiraiya nodded, kept the boy back in the crib, glanced a last time toward the boy and left through the window.

Hiruzen just nodded and returned to his paperwork for the day.

Naruto had to be kept safe; the legends of his father were enough to endanger his life from enemies. He would be named Naruto Uzumaki, and not Namikaze.

Disclaimer : I don't own Naruto; All rights are reserved to Kishimoto.