AN: Hello everyone! Welcome to my first Naruto fic. I've had these idea's for a fic running around my head for a long time now and finally decided to write them down. It's basically Naruto finding out a way to put his ungodly large amounts of chakra to good use by overpowering everything that he lacks the control for.

Most of it makes sense. I hope.

I also always thought that Naruto drew the short stick where jinchuuriki are concerned; they all get cool abilities or masteries over an element, but all Naruto gets is advanced healing. Something not unique to jinchuuriki, or Uzumaki, or shinobi in general! (I'm looking at you Orochimaru, you unkillable bastard you). So I decided to go for that fandom cliché where Naruto's Henge are solid, due to Kitsune's being associated with Tricksters in Japanese folklore.

Basically, Ichibi gives Gaara control over sand, Kyuubi give Naruto the power to shapeshift.

I have some idea's written up that I think are pretty neat, so I look forward to sharing this journey with you! ^^

To my readers who are still waiting on updates for MotC and HI, have no fear! As I was writing idea's up for this, I went through my notes for those stories and was struck with inspiration! MotC should have an update this week and HI the next, as long as my internet doesn't screw me over.

Let's get on with it.

A six year old boy, with impossibly bright yellow hair, was panting and sweating as he preformed push-ups in a small grassy field.

Well. Tried to anyway.

Arms shaking, Naruto Uzumaki, persona non gratia in the ninja village of Konoha, prankster extraordinaire, and determined to become the strongest shinobi his village had ever seen, gritted his teeth as he tried, and failed, to perform the next set of push-ups.

'Come on! Just one more! I can do this dattebayo! Come on stupid arms, work, dammit, work!', the child yelled inside his head, glaring at his trembling arms as if they were the cause for everything that was evil in the world.

Sadly, his glare was insufficient to keep him up, and with a soft 'thud´, young Naruto's body fell to the ground. Naruto groaned in defeat, before rolling over so he was lying on his back, looking at the clouds that were lazily drifting by overhead.

Unknown to him, many Nara were currently doing the same.

Still lying on his back, disappointment clearly on his face, Naruto heard the grunts and pants of his fellow classmates as they too struggled with the exercise.

His class was outside on one of the training fields of the Ninja Academy, the teachers finding the pleasantly sunny day to be perfect to engage the class in some physical exercises.

The class disagreed.

Still, the rest of Naruto's classmates had noticeably less difficulty with the exercise than he did. This wasn't very unusual, given that many of Naruto's classmates were several years older than Naruto was, the six year old having applied for the Academy at a far younger age than usual.

As a result, whenever they were assigned physical activities, Naruto would almost always fall behind. The only exception to this was whenever the assignment was endurance related, Naruto having not met anybody who was his equal where stamina was considered. Not that that mattered to the young child, who, with the logic all six-year old boys possess, thought that physical strength was both the coolest and most important thing a shinobi-to-be could have.

This led to some sneers being sent at the small blond, who had by now finally regained his breath and was now sitting up, looking dejectedly at his hands.

´Why am I so weak? Shinobi are supposed to be strong, right? How can I ever become a shinobi if I'm not strong?', Naruto thought to himself, so absorbed in his thoughts he didn't even register the sandal clad feet standing in front of him, before a bellow brought him back to the real world with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

"UZUMAKI!"

The small child yelped in surprise, almost flying a few feet off the ground in shock, before realizing who had called his name.

He gave a sheepy grin at his Academy Instructor, scuffing his feet.

Considering the man's furious expression, Naruto didn't think he was impressed.

"Uzumaki," the man ground out between clenched teeth, "do you mind telling me why you are sitting here daydreaming instead of finishing the exercise like I told you to?"

Naruto clenched his jaw before looking at his feet, mumbling something lowly under his breath.

"What was that? Speak up Uzumaki, I didn't hear you!"

The blonde winced at the harsh tone before speaking up a little louder.

"I said that the exercise is too difficult.", the boy said softly, feeling more than seeing how the eyes of the rest of the class were fixed on him.

The instructor's face went an interesting, if alarming, shade of red, and his nostrils flared to an impressive size. Naruto hunched in on himself, anticipating the tirade that was sure to follow.

"Too difficult?! TOO DIFFICULT?! THAT'S IT UZUMAKI; I WON'T TAKE ANY EXCUSES LIKE THAT TO COVER UP YOUR LAZYNESS ANY LONGER! YOU WILL DO THESE PUSH-UPS AND YOU WILL STAY ON THIS FIELD UNTIL ALL YOUR PUSH-UPS ARE DONE! UNDERSTAND ME UZUMAKI?!" the man roared at Naruto, nearly bowling the small child over with the sheer volume of his voice.

Tears sprang unbidden up into the young boy's eyes, though he refused to let them fall.

'It's not fair! I'm not lazy! I'm not! These exercises are all for the bigger kids, not for me. It's not fair.', Naruto thought to himself in a mix of frustration, anger and sadness.

He gave a small nod to his Instructor and dropped down on his hands and feet, and started continuing his push-ups.

He was forced to continue long after the last bell had rung, signalling the end of the school day.

A tired, battered and dirty Naruto shuffled along the streets to the small apartment he called home. He was too tired to even be bothered by the angry glares and derisive sneers that were sent his way by nearly everybody on the streets. He simply trudged along, his mind solely focused on the seemingly impossible task of setting one foot in front of the other.

As a result, he didn't look up in time to see a tall person standing in his way holding a very large box. With a small yelp of surprise Naruto ran into the man, who appeared to barely register the impact. Unlike Naruto, who was rubbing his head in equal parts of pain and confusion.

'Damn. It's like I walked into a wall instead of a person.', the young boy thought to himself, before blanching that he had walked into someone.

While for anybody else this may have been simply the cause for some embarrassment, for Naruto it was far worse. Usually the villagers left him alone, something they made sure to remind him of in the most hurtful of ways. However, walking into someone would give them the excuse to at least smack him around the ears for a bit.

Disciplinary action, they would call it.

So it was with great fear as Naruto looked up at the man he had just collided with. Or at least tried to. The man's torso and head were obscured by the enormous box the man was carrying, the reason why he hadn't seen Naruto.

Briefly Naruto thought about making a break for it, but any hope for escape was dashed when a spiky-haired head peered around the side of the box, looking around confusedly, before landing on the small, prone and dirty form of Naruto Uzumaki.

"Oh. Hey kid, didn't see you there.", the man said jovially.

Naruto was surprised at the mild reaction at first. He scrutinized the face of the man in front of him and released a quiet breath when he saw the man's forehead protector. A ninja then. Naruto didn't mind ninja so much, mostly because they didn't mind him, as long as he wasn't playing pranks.

The ninja set his box on the ground before crouching in front of Naruto, a concerned look on his face.

"You okay kid?"

Naruto mutely nodded, unsure what to do with this positive attention that was given to him. Usually it came only from the nice people at Ichiraku's or else the Old Man Hokage, but the rest of the ninja's usually tried to simply ignore him.

Another voice called out above the din of people walking up and down the streets.

"Kotetsu! Kotetsu, what's the hold up!?"

"Hey Izumo! Over here!"

Another ninja joined the first one, an irritated expression on his face, that made Naruto shrink back out of habit. He didn't need to worry though, as the second shinobi lost his expression when he saw Naruto's sweaty and dirty clothes and distraught expression.

"What happened Kotetsu?", the newcomer asked in a far more relaxed tone of voice.

"I ran into little Naruto here, quite literally in fact.", the one called Kotetsu quipped back, before turning to Naruto.

"Speaking of; what are you doing out here, kid? It's getting pretty late and you look like hell."

This earned him a slap around the head from Izumo, annoyed expression back on his face.

"Ow! What?! He does!"

Another slap.

"That doesn't mean you have to say it straight to his face, you buffoon!"

Kotetsu opened his mouth to retort, but was stopped by a soft giggling sound coming from somewhere around his knees. Both shinobi looked down to see Naruto laughing at the pair of ninja in front of him. When he saw them looking at him however, he quickly clasped a hand over his mouth, while feeling an impressive blush crawl up his face.

Izumo and Kotetsu simply smiled, before Izumo squatted down so he could look Naruto in the eye.

"Still, Naruto, Kotetsu is right. It is getting rather late, and you... don't look your best. Why are you still out here? Didn't the Academy finish a few hours ago?", Izumo asked in a gentle voice.

Naruto bit his lip, looking from Izumo to Kotetsu and back again. Feeling somewhat encouraged by their friendly faces and attitudes, Naruto told them what had happened during his school-day. As he finished his tale, Naruto looked sadly down at his feet, missing the angry expressions the two shinobi in front of him sent each other after hearing the treatment the small child had received from his teacher.

"I just don't get it.", Naruto said softly to himself, catching the attention of Izumo and Kotetsu.

"What is it you don't get Naruto?", Izumo asked gently of the blonde boy.

Naruto looked up at the two ninja, unshed tears in his eyes.

"Well, ninja are strong right? And I know the exercises at the academy will make me strong too, so I can be a ninja too. But I'm too weak to do the exercises, so... does that mean I can never be a ninja?", Naruto asked with a trembling voice.

It was his greatest fear, to not be a ninja, since becoming one was his biggest dream. His only dream. It was what allowed him to wake up in the morning and face the rest of his shitty day with a beaming smile on his face, because no matter what, Naruto Uzumaki was going to be the best damn ninja the Leaf had ever had, dattebayo!

Except now, doubt had begun to set in if his dream was even attainable in the first place.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Kotestu placing a large hand on his narrow shoulder, a grin on his face.

"Don't you worry kid! Sure you can become a ninja! Do you think ninja get their strength from just physical exercise? If that was the case, then there'd be a lot more civilians in the shinobi business, don't ya think?"

Naruto nodded his head, despite not being sure he completely understood what Kotetsu was trying to say. Something Izumo obviously picked up on, because the man gave a sigh, before giving Kotetsu a firm shove, sending the spiky-haired man face-first into the dirt. Naruto withheld a snort of amusement, not willing to antagonize one of the two friendly shinobi he knew, before focusing on Izumo who was looking at him intently.

"What Kotetsu was trying to say, and miserably failed at," "Hey!" ", is that shinobi don't rely solely on physical strength. Sure, it's important, but what gives a shinobi his strength is chakra. Do you know what chakra is Naruto?", Izumo asked.

Naruto scrunched up his face. Classes at the Academy were hard, both because of the course material being intended for children older than him and because of the negative attitude from both his teachers and his peers. As a result, Naruto didn't have the most stellar performance in the Academy.

"Chakra is... uhh... the energy stuff. Right? It lets you do jutsu?", he asked, unsure of himself.

Izumo opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by Kotetsu.

"Sure thing kid, close enough, for now at least. But it doesn't just let you do jutsu. If you call on it and focus it to run through your body, your body becomes stronger and faster and becomes more durable!", Kotetsu exclaimed with great enthusiasm.

A light lit up in Naruto's eyes.

"Really!"

Kotetsu grinned.

"Really, really. Here, try to lift this box."

A little surprised at the odd request, Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and decided to humour the man. After all they had been nice so far, and Kotetsu had been carrying the box around without any problems. So how heavy could it be?

Very heavy, it appeared.

Naruto grunted, his fingers scrabbling against the box, trying to lift it, or at the very least nudge it a little bit.

The box didn't budge. Not even slightly.

Naruto let out a huff of frustration and tiredness. Kotetsu clapped him on the back, grin still on his face.

"No worries kid. You see, without chakra I probably couldn't lift this thing myself. With chakra however...", Kotetsu trailed off, his grin growing even wider.

He cracked his knuckles before walking over to the box and with a flourish, lifted the entire thing in a single smooth movement above his head. Kotetsu laughed at Naruto when the boy's jaw dropped in shock, while Izumo looked on with a small smile.

As Kotetsu put the box back down, after all, with or without chakra, the thing was damned heavy, Naruto found his voice again.

"That's so cool! So I can do that too?! As long as I use chakra?!", the small boy yelled excitedly.

Izumo chuckled, placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder in order to keep the hyperactive blond from literally bouncing in place.

"Yes Naruto, when you have unlocked your chakra you can steer the flow of it through your body and use it to strengthen your body. If you use a little chakra, you become a little stronger, if you use a lot of chakra you become a lot stronger."

"COOL!", the small boy yelled, drawing a few glares from some bystanders. Naruto didn't care though.

It would seem his dream was still attainable. As soon as he learned how to unlock his chakra he would be the strongest shinobi ever, dattebayo!

Naruto stood in the middle of the deserted Academy training ground, the school having already finished for the day, both teachers and students eagerly having headed home.

Naruto, however, had some far more important things to do before he could even think about going back to his apartment.

It had been a little over two months after he had met Izumo and Kotetsu. A little over two months since he learned that the secret to a shinobi's strength was his chakra. A little over two months of agonized waiting for the moment where he finally learned to unlock his own chakra.

That moment had been today.

The teachers had deemed them ready and had spent the entire day on the theory behind unlocking one's chakra. It was the first time Naruto had managed to keep his attention on the material for an entire lesson.

After the instructors had finally gotten through the entire theory the day had already come to an end and the students were dismissed with the promise of the application of the theory tomorrow and the threat of bodily harm should they try to do it themselves before then.

However, after spending two months of waiting already, Naruto couldn't wait any longer.

Which led him to standing alone in a deserted training ground, his feet spread evenly apart, his hands in the ram seal and his eyes scrunched up in concentration.

'Breathe. Breathe. Find your centre. Feel the warm glow of your chakra, hidden inside of you. Draw it out and hold it. And breathe.', Naruto kept chanting the theory in his head, trying to look inwards like the instructors had told them.

He had been at it for a few hours now and still hadn't found the glow the instructors had talked about. However, he had become really bored.

'Breathe.'

As a result he slowly lost his rigid stance, his furrowed brow smoothing out.

'Breathe.'

His mind, noisy with the mantra he kept repeating over and over, quieted to a serene silence.

'Breathe.'

Slowly, without Naruto even consciously aware of it his mind turned inwards.

'Brea- wait, what?'

There was no glow as from a candle, like the instructors had told them, the candle representing their chakra. No, what Naruto encountered was as far removed from a candle like an ocean was to a glass of water. Had Naruto not been speechless with what he was seeing, feeling, experiencing, he would have compared his chakra to a sun instead of a measly candle.

At first, the unexpected frightened Naruto, and he kept away from the enormous light and warmth. But the warmth seeped into his bones, warming him up pleasantly and the light felt soothing on his skin. Slowly, with a blissful smile on his face Naruto let himself be enveloped by the benevolent light.

Had anyone been present, they would have seen Naruto light up like a beacon, before a blue, flame like light shimmered into existence around the boy, swirling around his body like a maelstrom, slightly grooving the ground beneath his feet.

Naruto didn't notice though. The light felt so good on his skin, in his bones, running through his veins.

'Chakra is so awesome.', the thought floated through his mind.

This brought him out of his semi-delirious state. Naruto snapped to attention.

'Chakra! I have found my chakra! Now I need to draw it out.', Naruto thought happily to himself, even as he felt a little saddened at having to leave the warmth of this light.

He slowly drifted out of the centre of the light back to his consciousness, his chakra still surrounding him, trailing away from the source. As Naruto came back into his own consciousness he could feel the chakra running through their pathways through his entire body. It was as if instead of the light surrounding him like it had, he was now surrounding the light.

Naruto grinned and opened his eyes, not knowing they were glowing impossibly bright with an inner light. Naruto retook his stance, chakra still swirling around him. He concentrated feeling the chakra flow through his body.

'Wait.', a thought suddenly broke through his concentration.

'I apparently have a lot of chakra. Izumo said that the more chakra you use, the stronger your body becomes. Sooooo... what happens when I draw out even more chakra?', Naruto thought to himself, starting a train of thought that would change the history of the Elemental Nations.

But that was still a few years off though. For now, Naruto simply grinned, the same way he would when he was about to pull a particularly spectacular prank and closed his eyes. Focusing on the warm feeling that had enveloped him not so long ago, he drew more of it out.

The swirling chakra around him grew even larger, churning faster and faster, the ground beneath Naruto's feet scarred with deep grooves.

Naruto didn't notice though, he simply kept his eyes closed and focused on drawing more and more chakra out.

By now, several shinobi and even a few civilians had taken notice of the enormous chakra being emitted from around the Hokage Tower, where the Academy was located. The Hokage himself, a wizened old man in white robes with a wide hat on his face, sat up straighter in his chair, eyes widened in shock.

"Naruto?", the man asked softly, chewing nervously on his unlit pipe, before reaching for a crystal ball.

Unaware of the unrest he was stirring up, Naruto was still drawing on his chakra, though he was frowning now. Calling on his chakra had become uncomfortable, not exactly painful yet, but Naruto didn't like the feeling nonetheless. On top of that, instead of being pleasantly warmed by the light running through his veins, his body now felt as if he was burning up from a fever.

'This is it.', Naruto thought to himself, gritting his teeth.

He opened his eyes, and focused on a young tree nearby, for no other reason that it stood closest to him. Cocking his fist back and forcing the light in his body to run through his limbs and pool in his balled hand, Naruto bend his knees, preparing to rush forward.

Due to his focus on his target, and because he held his clenched fist a little behind him, he didn't see chakra beginning to swirl around his fist and forearm, coating it in a violently churning shroud of chakra.

As Naruto prepared to take off, several ninja managed to reach his training ground. Among these shinobi were the majority of the sensei's of what would later be recognized across the Elemental Nations as the Rookie Twelve. Right on their heels, was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself.

"Naruto!", he called out in shock.

Within him, and most of the other shinobi present, worry wrestled with pride. To call upon ones chakra at such a young age was impressive. Not to speak of the truly gargantuan amount the child was channelling, making it visible as a swirling shroud around him.

However, calling upon ones chakra wasn't without its own risks. There was a reason why it was always done supervision after all. Not to mention what kind of damage channelling such large amounts of chakra could do to such a small body.

Naruto heard his Jiji's call, recognized the worry in the aged Hokage's voice, but discovered that he couldn't stop. The sheer amount of chakra had already been called upon and now demanded an outlet.

It hurt trying to hold it back, so, in what would later be regarded as a typical Naruto-like leap of logic, Naruto decided to continue instead.

With a yell, that to the surrounding shinobi sounded more like a roar that shook the earth, Naruto pushed off, shunting power into his legs, and shattering the ground beneath him as a result.

Faster than a regular eye could track, Naruto shot forwards, a blinding blue blur, streaking across the training field, creating a deep furrow into the ground, shocking many of the watching ninja.

Naruto, however, was simply scared. Everything was going so fast! He couldn't see anything, the world around him dissolving into a blur, except for the young tree he had elected to serve as his practise target.

Deciding that hitting the tree with his face would be a lot more painful than hitting it with his fist, Naruto shot his fist forward, only now noticing with amazement the way his swirling chakra coated his hand all the way up to the elbow.

He had no time to think anything of it though, because then the tree was suddenly right there and Naruto managed a single shriek of fear before the world lit up before going dark.

Hiruzen held his hand across his face, blocking out the brilliant light as Naruto collided with the tree. He couldn't block the deafening sound though, a bone rattling 'BOOM' that shook the earth. As the light died away, Hiruzen removed his hand, not bothering to hide his worried expression.

'Kami, Naruto, what have you done?', the elderly man asked himself silently.

He quickly rushed towards Naruto, sensing Kakashi and his son Asuma, as well as a few others doing the same. When he arrived at where Naruto had collided with the tree, his face lost all colour, hand clutching at his breast in fear. Vaguely his mind distractedly noticed one of the female shinobi throwing up, his son comforting her.

He couldn't really blame the woman. Only willpower and a lifetime of seeing similar or worse in brutal wars kept him from following her example.

Because there, lying in a blackened crater, with his shirt shredded and unconscious was Naruto. His right arm though... It couldn't really be called an arm anymore. As far as Hiruzen could see, there simply wasn't any skin left, exposing the red muscle underneath to the air. What was left of it anyway. Most of it was as blackened as the ground Naruto was lying on. Stark white bones stuck out of his arm at odd intervals, standing in sharp contrast to the boy's flesh.

Hiruzen fell to his knees next to his surrogate grandson, unheeding of how the charred earth smeared soot across his pristine white robes.

Slowly, as if afraid he may harm the boy should he move to fast, Hiruzen placed his fingers on Naruto's throat.

'Please! Please, Kami, revered and honoured ancestors, please, anybody, let him have a pulse, please, let him have a pu-'

'thud-thud.'

Hiruzen almost cried with relief as underneath his fingers he felt a steady, if faint, heartbeat.

Looking up in the worried face of Hatake Kakashi, Hiruzen let out a shaky smile, before nodding once, not trusting his voice right now. Obviously Kakashi understood what he meant, because the Elite Jounin let out an explosive sigh, before sinking to the ground next to Hiruzen, dragging a shaky hand across his face.

Around them, relieved murmuring was heard as Naruto's status of remaining amongst the living spread. Neither man bothered to pay attention, looking at the unconscious Naruto with unblinking intensity, as if afraid that if they looked away for even a second, Naruto would slip away.

Given how hurt he was, the fear was not unfounded.

Hiruzen felt a hand clamp on his shoulder, as the scent of tobacco his nose.

"Medics are on their way, and an emergency operating-room is being prepared as we speak.", Sarutobi Asuma said to him in a soft voice, any animosity between father and son shoved to the background in the face of this crisis.

Hiruzen patted his sons hand and nodded, acknowledging the message. He would much rather take Naruto himself and shunshin to the hospital, but that could easily aggravate Naruto's wounds even further.

No, best to let the professionals take over. For now.

Suddenly a silence fell across the clearing as Naruto groaned.

Hiruzen was at his side so fast it put the Hiraishin to shame.

"Sshh, Naruto, it's going to be alright, okay? You just need to lay still. Do you hear me Naruto?", Hiruzen said, trying, and failing, to keep the worry out of his voice, not wanting to scare the boy he considered his grandson.

An affirmative grunt was his response before Naruto turned around, looking up at Hiruzen with pained eyes. Suddenly the boy let out a shaky grin.

"I did it Jiji. I unlocked my chakra. I'm going to be super strong now Jiji, dattebayo!", Naruto managed to croak, a victorious expression on his soot covered face.

"I did it Jiji...", Naruto trailed off as he fell unconscious again.

Hiruzen laughed shakily, running a hand trough his hair, not caring he knocked off his ceremonial hat in the process. He looked around the small crater where there once used to be a tree, before turning to look at the direction Naruto had punched in, several slack-jawed ninja already walking across it.

"I would say that you did indeed, Naruto.", Hiruzen managed, while beside him Kakashi lifted his forehead protector in disbelief.

Where once had been a part of the small forest, there now was a clearing, starting from the crater where Naruto was lying in, then fanning out to a diameter of about twenty meters and continuing on for almost twice that, felled trees littering the ground, their scorched barks making the ground appear to be black.

"You did indeed."

AN: Ah, Izumo and Kotetsu, you are among my favorite minor characters.

Fun Fact: Naruto's favorite ramen shop "Ichiraku" exists in real life. Ichiraku is a ramen shop in Kyushu near the university that author Masashi Kishimoto graduated from. Talk about some good product placement huh?