A.N.

This chapter has been edited as of 12/26/15. The pairing for this story has been confirmed. The pairing will be a Naruto x femHaku x Tenten x Fu x Samui. The pairing is final as the poll has been closed. No other girls will be included because I don't want the harem to be too big. Also this story's plot is about Naruto learning C-Rank and below jutsus. Jutsus such as Shadow Clones and Rasengan will be learned by Naruto in the sequel. Thanks for reading!

A.N.

Hello everyone! I decided to make a Naruto fanfiction centered on a smart Naruto. He will learn low rank jutsus and find creative ways to use them. The Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) is super useful, I don't know why it's not used more often. Maybe it has to do with not having enough logs around?

This story will be AU and will follow the canon storyline loosely just so I can match with the timeline. I'll try my best not to bash characters so forgive me if it looks like I am. Regarding pairings, honestly I don't know at the moment. It won't be a NaruSaku, NaruHina, or NaruIno because there are so many fanfiction of those pairings. Some characters will be older or younger, for example, Naruto will be a year older than the rest of rookie 9 or the same age as Team Gai.

If you notice any grammar/spelling issues, please inform me so I can reedit the chapter. Well I hope you enjoy the first chapter of Master of the Basics.

"Talking"

'Thoughts'

Jutsu/Biju

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was a peaceful morning in Konohagakure no Sato as many of the civilians were going about their daily lives. The lone exception was a little blond boy running throughout the streets, hoping to shake his pursers. The boy hid between gaps of buildings while sticking in the shadows to conceal his bright orange jumpsuit. The blonde paused to catch his breath as he wiped the sweat off of his whiskered face. Green googles were fastened on his forehead as his bright blue eyes scanned the surroundings, eyeing his safe haven.

Finding the coast to be clear, the boy dashed towards the red light district of Konoha. He smiled, sure of his victory, when he was suddenly hoisted into the air by his jacket collar. "NA-RU-TO!" An irritated male voice said as he looked at the boy. Nine year old Uzumaki Naruto turned to see his diabolical Academy instructor.

"Geh." Naruto blanched. "How do you always find me Iruka-sensei?" The boy asked, trying to struggle out of his captor's grasp. Umino Iruka was an average height Chunin that served as an Academy instructor. He wore blue shinobi overalls underneath his green flak jacket. Iruka's most prominent features were his brown hair that was typically tied in a ponytail and a scar on the bridge of his nose.

"We're going to the Hokage, where you'll explain yourself." Iruka said. He placed the young boy on his shoulder and walked towards the Hokage building, ignoring the various stares from the villagers of Konoha. Upon arrival, Iruka greeted the Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. Hiruzen was an elderly man that served as Konohagakure's leader. Despite his elderly appearance, many shinobis feared him for his vast arrays of jutsus. This eventually earned him the moniker, 'The Professor.' As the strongest person in the village, his word was typically the law but a few were beginning to undermine his rule. Hiruzen had initially retired from his position but was forced back into duty after the death of his successor.

"Ah thank you Iruka. I was hoping that you would be able to find Naruto-kun." The Sandaime said as he lit his pipe of tobacco. The scarred Chunin bowed in recognition before dropping Naruto unceremoniously on the ground.

"Be a little gentle will you, Iruka-sensei." The boy complained as he rubbed his sore behind. Before Iruka could retort to his student, the Sandaime intervened.

"Naruto I have several reports from people claiming that they've seen you painting graffiti all over the Uchiha Compound." Hiruzen stated. "Is this true?" The old man asked for confirmation. Sometimes the villagers would blame Naruto for things the young boy didn't committed in order to get Naruto in trouble.

"Of course that was me. No one else is able to pull off a prank that awesome. I actually think this is my best prank yet old man." Naruto replied as he gave a foxy grin. He had pranked the Uchihas because they often sided with villagers when the villagers pressed charges against Naruto. Of course the charges were usually falsely accused but the military police didn't believe him.

"Show Hokage-sama some respect Naruto." Iruka scolded as he wished his student would mind his manners. The Hokage could only chuckle as the two began bickering with each other.

'If only the rest of the villagers would treat Naruto like Iruka does.' Hiruzen remarked sadly. He knew that the boy was hated for what he carried. The Sandaime had tried a variety of ways to make Naruto's life easier. From making laws to giving the boy a monthly stipend was just some of the ways that he tried. Still the villagers would try to sabotage the boy every chance they got. "Well since you take credit for the act, as punishment, you're to clean the ENTIRE compound."

Naruto's face instantly soured from the words. "WHAT!?" He shouted loudly. "What do you mean I have to clean it?" The blonde asked in protest. Hiruzen calmly took a drag from his pipe and blew the smoke into the air.

"Think of this as a lesson. Shinobi are required to have a variety of skills to succeed in a mission. One of those skills is stealth. Learning to complete your objective without being spotted could be a matter of life and death." The Sandaime advised the Academy student. Naruto rubbed his chin as he processed the words he just heard.

"So as long as I don't get caught in the act, I don't have to worry about receiving punishments." The boy summarized while flashing a wide grin. Both Hiruzen and Iruka shuddered at the innocent smile. But before they could say anything, Naruto continued. "Thanks for the advice old man. I'm going to head off and start on my punishment. I'm going to make sure that this is my last punishment." With that, he finished and left the room.

The two adults silently stared at the door where the blonde left through. "Iruka please tell me I didn't make the situation worse." Hiruzen hoped while rubbing his temples with his thumbs. A headache was quickly forming because of Naruto.

"Don't worry Hokage-sama, there's absolutely no way that we won't be able to catch Naruto if he pulls another prank." Iruka tried to reassure the Hokage. 'That being said, besides me, no one else has been able to catch him recently. I hope I'm thinking too much into this.' The brunette Chunin mused.

*Later that evening*

Naruto finally finished scrubbing out all of the paint from his prank. He had forgotten how huge the place actually was. The Uchiha Compound was located northeast of Konohagakure, isolated from most of the village. The compound spanned several acres, making it easily the biggest clan compound. Collapsing on the ground near the front entrance, Naruto remembered the Uchihas he saw during his cleanup. Almost all of them were subtly glaring at him or whispering things like 'demon boy' behind his back.

He did manage to see Sasuke, who was practicing on a dummy. Naruto usually didn't associated with the other boy as they were stark opposites. Sasuke was the upcoming prodigy while Naruto was known as the dead last. The blond was overly friendly while the Uchiha kept more to himself. This resulted in the two arguing whenever they saw each other. This time was no different as Sasuke said that Naruto was trespassing. They argued until the blond eventually left to finish cleaning up.

Naruto steadied his breath as he laid on the ground. Hearing footsteps coming towards him, Naruto turned to see a woman carrying a plate and a glass of water. The long blue haired woman was wearing a dark blue kimono held together by a white sash. On the back of the kimono was the Uchiha symbol, a fan that was red on top and white on the bottom. "Good job on cleaning up your prank." The woman smiled as she bent down on the ground. She placed the glass and plate in front of Naruto. The boy sat up and looked at her oddly.

"Who are you?" Naruto pointed to her. "And what's this?" He then pointed to the plate that was holding several sandwiches.

"Oh forgive me." The woman replied. "I'm Uchiha Mikoto and you are-"

"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, dattebayo," He replied back while smiling. The lady in front of him seem friendly. She hadn't curse or glare at him even after he told her his name.

'Hmm dattebayo, why does that sound familiar?' Mikoto mused as an image of a red haired female popped into her head. Looking closely at Naruto's features, she began to see his resemblance to Kushina. 'Could he possibly be Kushina's son but I thought the baby died along with Kushina?' Mikoto continued to stare at Naruto, unnerving the blond. 'Oh Kami, if you take away those whiskers, then you have a carbon copy of a younger Minato. I need to talk to Hokage-sama about this.'

"Is there something on my face?" Naruto wondered as he began to feel around his face. This snapped the blue haired woman from her trance.

"Oh it's nothing." Mikoto replied quickly. "Here, have something to eat. I'm pretty sure you're feeling hungry." She said to change the subject. Naruto eyed the sandwiches suspiciously, wondering if it was tampered with. It was odd that someone was willing to give him free food. The only person that ever did that was the Sandaime. Seeing the food, caused his stomach to rumble. With his stomach winning out, he graciously accepted the sandwiches and began devouring them.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Naruto asked with a mouth full of food. Mikoto was disturbed by the sight. She briefly wondered if he was ever taught manners.

"Uzumaki-san, please finish eating before talking." The Uchiha matriarch released a small killing intent to get her point across. The blonde was startled by the killing intent and quickly nodded his head. After a minute, the plate and glass were empty.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" The boy once again asked. "You can call me Naruto by the way. I'm not good with the honorifics and stuff."

"Well can I call you Naruto-kun then?" Mikoto's question was answered with a nod of Naruto. "Well the reason why I'm being nice to you is because I saw you working hard cleaning up. So I thought you deserved a reward."

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Why should I get a reward?" He asked before clarifying. "This was my punishment for pranking your place."

"That may be but nonetheless, you deserve something for working hard." Mikoto smiled at him. He blushed from the praise.

"Thank you Mikoto-san." Naruto said shyly as he scratched the back of his head. She frowned mentally, wondering if the boy was ever praised before. Standing back to full height, Mikoto helped Naruto off the ground.

"Now I must ask, Naruto-kun, why did you prank the Uchiha compound?" The blue haired woman inquired. Naruto pondered for a second before giving his answer.

"Well someone had to teach the Uchiha pricks a lesson." The boy answered. Realizing his mistake, Naruto hastily spoke one more. "I don't mean you're a prick Mikoto-san. I'm talking about the other Uchihas." He said nervously, hoping he didn't offend her. Mikoto chuckled at how the little boy was acting.

"Can you promise me not to prank this place again?" Mikoto asked politely.

Naruto shook his head, much to her dislike. "I can't promise that." The blonde replied.

"Okay, how about a deal then?" She proposed, getting his attention. "If you promise not to prank the Uchiha Compound then I will teach you how to be a shinobi."

"How do you know I attend the academy?" He asked.

Mikoto smiled as she answered his question. "My sons, Sasuke-kun and Itachi-kun, talk about you." It was more of Sasuke complaining how the blonde boy kept on interrupting class with his pranks. Naruto received the shock of his short life.

"You're the mom of Sasuke-teme!" He shouted in disbelief. "How can the mom be so nice but the son be such a jerk?" Naruto muttered, trying to wrap it around his head that Mikoto was Sasuke's mom. "Wait a minute. Who in the heck is Itachi?" As on cue, an ANBU wearing all black and a weasel mask appeared before the two.

"Itachi-kun/Weasel-nii." The two said from the appearance of the ANBU. Naruto ran up to the ANBU and gave him a hug. Every time someone tried to harass Naruto, an ANBU would typically be there to intervene. Usually it was Weasel, Dog, or Cat that came to his rescue. Weasel would even piggyback Naruto back to his apartment. The blond loved to fly across the rooftops on Weasel's back as he felt safe from all dangers.

"Hello Kaa-san, Naruto-kun." Itachi replied to the two, slightly surprised to find Naruto in front of the compound.

"Wait." Naruto said in realization. "So your name is Itachi, not Weasel?" The blond asked as he released the hug. It would be weird if his name was actually weasel.

Itachi nodded to the question. "Yes, my name is Itachi." The Uchiha heir said as he removed his mask. "Naruto-kun, can you promise me not to tell anyone my real name?"

"Sure thing Itachi-nii. Your secret is safe with me." The boy replied confidently. Mikoto smiled watching the two boys interact. "Mikoto-san is it too late to accept your deal?"

"Of course not Naruto-kun. I take it that you accept then?" She asked to which he nodded. "Well, how about I meet you at Training Ground 11 after school?"

"Where's that?" Naruto inquired. Itachi decided to answer the question.

"Directly south of the Shinobi Academy, there are multiple training ground. There is usually a sign that indicates what number the training ground is. Simply find the number 11 and you'll be at the right training ground." The Uchiha male explained.

The jinchuriki nodded to them and was about to head off when Mikoto stopped him. "Wait a minute Naruto-kun." She said before heading to her home. A minute later, she came out with a book. "Here Naruto-kun." Mikoto handed him a book titled 'Shinobi Basics 101'. "I want you to try to read all of this before we see each other tomorrow."

"I hate books." The blonde muttered. "I don't want to read it." Naruto said as he politely handed the book back.

Mikoto denied it and shook her head. "Naruto-kun if you want to be a great shinobi, you need to read books."

Itachi agreed with his mother. "Naruto-kun, books have knowledge in them. The more knowledge one possesses, the stronger the ninja becomes." The male Uchiha reasoned. Naruto sighed, knowing it would be futile to resist. He reluctantly accepted the book.

"Okay, I'll try to finish it by tomorrow." Naruto frowned slightly before turning to the two Uchihas. "Bye Itachi-nii and Mikoto-san." He said his farewells before leaving the compound and towards Ichiraku's.

"Kaa-san." Itachi said to get her attention. "May I ask why you wish to train Naruto-kun?"

'There's a chance that he's the son of my best friend and she'll never forgive me for not being in his life.' Obviously she couldn't tell Itachi that. "I always wanted to help my sons train but your father wouldn't permit it. So I thought it would be nice to train Naruto-kun."

Itachi stared at her impassively and nodded. "That is fine mother but I believe you should talk with Hokage-sama about this." He said and began walking towards their house.

"Well I'll do just that. Tell your father and Sasuke-kun I will be back shortly." Mikoto then used Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to appear outside the Hokage Tower. Luckily it was late in the day so having an audience with the Hokage was easy. After being let in by the secretary, she appear in the room where Sandaime was doing paperwork.

"Oh Mikoto-chan what can I do for you today?" Hiruzen smiled as he glanced up from his work and gestured Mikoto to sit.

The Uchiha matriarch sat down as the elderly man gave her his attention. "Hello Hokage-sama, I wish to talk about matter regarding a certain blond headed boy and his heritage."

With a wave, Hiruzen dismissed all the ANBU in the room and activated the privacy seals. "What do you wish to talk about that pertains to Naruto?" The image of a friendly grandfather was replaced with that of the Shinobi no Kami (God of Shinobi).

"I wish to know why I wasn't informed that Kushina's son was alive." The Uchiha woman went straight to the matter at hand.

Hiruzen took a puff from his tobacco pipe. "Why do you believe that Naruto is the son of Kushina?" Mikoto let out a sigh and began explaining.

"Hokage-sama. I can't believe no one including myself hadn't seen it sooner. If you take away Naruto's whiskers, you'll have a carbon copy of Minato when he was younger." Mikoto said as she was still in disbelief.

Hiruzen nodded, believing the same. The nod was all Mikoto needed to confirm her suspicions. "When people are blinded by hate, they fail to see the most obvious of things." He remarked sadly and wondered if the village will ever regain the Will of Fire. Meanwhile, Mikoto was feeling angry not only at the villagers but angry at herself for not noticing it sooner.

"Does he know about his heritage?" She asked even though she suspected that Naruto didn't know.

"Just like with the Kyuubi, his heritage is an S-Class secret. This is to prevent the likes of Iwa and Kumo coming here to either kill or kidnap him." The Hokage explained. She agreed because that would most likely happen if Iwa and Kumo would ever come to know of Naruto's existence.

"Hokage-sama, please allow me to adopt him. It is the least I could do for Kushina's boy after not being in his life for nine years." Mikoto knew she would feel Kushina's wrath if she ever saw the red head again.

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that." He answered.

"Why, Hokage-sama?" Mikoto was confused. Why was he refusing her?

"If I were to let one of the clans adopt Naruto, then that clan would have more power over the others due to the fact that Naruto is a jinchuriki. Believe me when I say that you weren't the first to approach me to adopt him after finding out his heritage." Hiruzen answered her.

"Who else knows besides us?" Mikoto was shocked that others knew of this secret as well.

Hiruzen took another puff from his pipe. He really was too old for this job. "Including us, it would be Jiraiya, Shikaku, and Shibi. Jiraiya is Naruto's godfather but unfortunately he has a spy network to run so he can't be here. Shikaku found out when he went to pick up his son from the park. He saw Naruto and immediately connected him to Minato. Shibi said that his kikaichu detected that Naruto's chakra was similar to his parents. The latter two also asked to adopt him."

"I see." The mood depressed as Mikoto uttered those words. "Would it be alright if I taught and trained him to be a shinobi?" She asked, hopeful of the Hokage's answer.

The mood was no longer gloomy as Hiruzen chuckled. "I see absolutely no problem with that."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." Mikoto's face instantly brightened as she bowed deeply.

"So the Kawarimi no Megami (Goddess of Body Replacement) is going to teach someone again." Hiruzen teased the younger woman.

Mikoto sighed at that nickname. "I really loath that moniker. Couldn't they come up with something else?" She frowned before addressing the rest of the statement. "I didn't even teach Shisui much, it was mostly due to his own hard work."

"According to him, you helped in making the Shunshin no Shisui (Shisui of the Body Flicker) into a deadly force he was known as. It's a pity that he committed suicide two years ago." Hiruzen remarked sadly. Shisui had committed suicide in hopes of quelling the flames of rebellion. It had worked as the Uchiha had temporarily halted their plans. It wasn't until recently that plans had begun anew. Mikoto nodded as she still remembered the compassionate Uchiha that was Itachi's best friend.

"Well I must leave to prepare dinner, please excuse me and have a good day Hokage-sama." She said as Hiruzen dismissed her. Mikoto exited the building with a swirl of leaves. The Sandaime sighed as he leaned back in his chair.

"It's a pity that there aren't more Uchiha like you Mikoto. I can only hope that your clan doesn't do something hasty and actually try a coup d'état. Hopefully I can patch things up soon. He turned back to his paperwork as the pile seemingly got bigger since he last saw it. "I really need to look for a successor."