Chapter 11

Talking to Inner Self / talking to Biju

Jutsu Name / Summon or Biju talking

A/N: Hey guys, so Naruto has finally become a ninja. As mentioned in the prologue, Naruto will be getting his inheritance, but will not be using his full name till he becomes a chunin. Also the team placement will be different from canon since Naruto achieved second position instead of dead last. Kakashi might not become his sensei as well, so I am sorry if you are disappointed with that. Let's roll with new chapter.

(At Hokage Tower)

The Third Hokage told Iruka to report regarding the events happened tonight even though he had already seen them through his crystal ball. Iruka started explaining about Mizuki's plan from using Naruto to getting power from Snake Sanin Orochimaru. Hearing his prized student's name the Sandaime felt sadness in his eyes. After that Iruka also mentioned that both Naruto and Hinata know about the truth of Kyuubi.

The Sandaime sighed and then called out two Anbus. He ordered one to take Mizuki at I & T department for interrogation and second to call Hiashi Hyuga. After sometime Hiashi arrived in the Hokage office. He looked at the occupants within the room and saw his daughter with Naruto.

"Hello Hokage-sama, you called for me? And why is Hinata here as well?" – asked Hiashi Hyuga.

"Yes, Hiashi please take a seat. Your daughter is the reason I have called for you" – spoke the Sandaime Hokage.

Hiashi began to panic on the inside. He did not know of the situation which his daughter had gotten herself into, but if the Hokage had called for him, then it could not be good.

"Hokage-sama, I would like to request that Hinata's punishment for whatever she has done be carried out by the Hyuga Clan. The Hyuga Clan is one of the most prestigious clan in Konoha and if a member has done anything to dishonor its name then I Hiashi Hyuga as the Hyuga Clan head would like to see through it, so it does not repeat again" – spoke Hiashi

"There is no need to punish young Hinata for anything Hiashi" – said Sandaime Hokage

"Pardon me Hokage-sama. But if Hinata has done nothing wrong then, why is she here?" – asked the Hyuga Clan head.

"I am sure the news had reached to you about the 'Scroll of Sealing' been stolen. One of the Chunin instructor Mizuki, held a deep hatred for young Naruto here and he decided to frame Naruto by transforming into him. Young Naruto and Hinata were at the top of Hokage's Monument when they heard a sound and saw Mizuki running with a scroll. So they followed him. Young Naruto and Hinata helped Iruka capture Mizuki after he had arrived on the spot, but Mizuki spilled Naruto's secret and now both know the truth about the event 12 years ago" – explained the Sandaime Hokage.

"I see" – said Hiashi and then looked at her daughter.

He saw Hinata was standing close to Naruto and understood she had taken the news well and has decided to remain his friend. A small smile came across his face, but was quickly replaced by his poker face.

"Now even though young Hinata has taken the news well and has made her decision to support young Naruto-kun, but she cannot tell any of her friends or anyone else about the truth. The law still remains, so I hope you will explain to her the gravity of the situation" – spoke the Sandaime Hokage in a stern voice to the Hyuga Clan head.

"Hai Hokage-sama" – replied Hiashi.

After that the Hokage dismissed Hiashi, Hinata and Iruka. He told Naruto to stay. After they left the office, Sandaime ordered his anbu to stay outside. He then put a privacy seal in the room.

"I am sure you have lots of questions. I am sorry for hiding the truth from you. It always saddened me whenever I had to lie to you instead of telling you the truth. I was going to tell you the truth after you became Genin, but I did not anticipate for the truth to come out this way. I will answer any questions you have" – said Sandaime Hokage.

"I don't blame the Yondaime for choosing me that day. Before I met you, I would do anything to gain the attention of people around me in the orphanage. People would come to adopt a child at the orphanage, but nobody would even look at me. If I tried getting their attention, they would glare at me with hateful eyes. I did not understand why they did it and so I would cry in my room. But there was one person, who was nice to me and for a while I thought maybe I could be happy and loved as well. She was a year older than me. I did not know her name, so I called her Panda-chan because she had tied her hair in bun shape. But then after a while, she was adopted too and I was left alone again. I am never one to give up and admit defeat, but at that time I was slowly slipping into loneliness. I would have done anything for attention, bad or good. But then you came, that day and filled my emptiness with laughter giving me hope. Tell me, why did you not come sooner in my life? Where you afraid, I would give into hatred of the village and decide to kill anyone who hurt me or where you afraid that I might run away from the village and you would lose a weapon of the village like Danzo thought?" – spoke Naruto.

"I have made many mistakes in my life Naruto-kun and I will regret them for the rest of my life. You have every right to be angry, but never consider yourself a weapon. You are your own person. Your mother and father sacrificed their life, so you could live on and fulfil their dreams".

Hearing about his mother and father, Naruto made a surprised look. He already knew about his birth mother, but he wanted to know about his father.

"Yes, my boy. Your mother and father were great people and I knew them. I did not tell you, because it was their request for you to become strong and a capable ninja who could defend himself, before you receive your inheritance. Your parents had many enemies and if they knew their son was alive, they would have killed you" – said Sandaime Hokage.

"C-Can I know t-their names?" – asked Naruto

"You look just like your father, but you have your mother's hair and stubbornness. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki of the Uzumaki Clan. I am sure you have read about the destruction of Uzushiogakure in the book. Your mother was brought to Konoha before the destruction of the village to become just like you. Yes, your mother was the second jinchuriki of the Kyuubi"

"Second?" – interrupted Naruto.

"During his death battle with Madara Uchiha, Shodai Hokage Hashirama Senju fought with Kyuubi who was controlled by power of Madara's Sharingan. Hashirama-sama broke Madara's control over Kyuubi with his 'Mokuton Kekkai Genkai'. He was able to tame the Kyuubi with the power of Mokuton. After the battle, due to fear of someone else using the Kyuubi, Hashirama-sama decided to seal Kyuubi. But due to its massive amount of chakra, Kyuubi could not be sealed into anything. So Mito Uzumaki, who was Hashirama-sama's wife came with an idea of sealing Kyuubi into herself. The Uzumakis were known for their massive chakra and strong life force aside from Fuinjutsu expertise. Thus Mito-sama became first jinchuriki of Kyuubi. But as Mito-sama was getting old, the Kyuubi had to be sealed in someone else. During that time, your mother was the only one born with special chakra which had the strength of suppressing Biju and thus she was brought to Konoha to become Kyuubi's second jinchuriki" – said Sandaime Hokage.

"What about my father? How did the Kyuubi get out?" – asked Naruto

"You have your father's eyes and intellect. Your father was a very shrewd man. He was kind, compassionate and loyal leader of his village. He always risked his life to protect those who were dear to him. It was those qualities that made him a leader worthy for the title of Hokage. Yes, your father is the very person you have admired since your childhood – Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage"

"I guess now I know, why I was given only Uzumaki name instead of Uzumaki-Namikaze. It also explains why he chose me instead of anyone else" – interrupted Naruto.

"Minato before he died, gave me a letter in which he had mentioned how the Kyuubi got out. A Biju cannot break the seal, unless it is loosened to a certain point. For a female jinchuriki there comes a time, when the seal is loosened to extreme point. It is when a female jinchuriki is giving birth. Therefore, Kushina's pregnancy was a close guarded secret. But somehow, a rogue Uchiha came to know about her pregnancy and was able to bypass the barrier. We don't know exact details about what transpired, but your father was not able to reseal in time and the assailant was able to pull Kyuubi out of your mother and control it with his Sharingan" – said Sandaime Hokage.

"I see. Is there anything left behind by my parents for me?" – asked Naruto.

"Yes. They have left behind a letter for you. Their house was destroyed in the attack. Their jutsu scrolls are hidden with their summons. Your father was a Toad summoner just like Jiraya and your mother had the Phoenix contract of the Uzumaki clan" – said Sandaime

After that he handed Naruto, his parent's letter.

"You can read those letter at the apartment. Now I have told you the complete truth, but you cannot take the Namikaze name until you have become Chunin. The reason behind it is, now that you are a ninja, you will be given missions outside the village. Even though you are just a genin and your mission parameters will not take you outside Fire country borders, but there might be Iwa spies within the fire country just like we have our own spies everywhere" – explained Sandaime Hokage.

"I understand. Alright, I will take my leave" – said Naruto

The Sandaime nodded his head. After that Naruto left for his apartment.

(At the Apartment)

After reaching the apartment Naruto went inside his room and decided to read his parents letter. He first opened his father's letter.

Hey Son,

This is your father Minato Namikaze. I am sure you may know me as the Yondaime Hokage. If you are reading this letter, then you must be a Genin now and the Sandaime must have deemed it right for you to know about your heritage. First of all I am really sorry for placing a great burden on you, but do not think for a second that we did it because we hate you my son. Sometimes you have to sacrifice what you love the most in order to protect them.

Now I know your mother has written a long list about what she wanted to tell you in her letter. So I will keep it short. I have given my jutsu to the Toads for safe keeping. I am sure Konoha has followed my last wish and sees you as the Hero for saving them all that day. I wish, I could be there to watch you grow, teach you cool jutsus, play with you, but in our absence your Godparents – Jiraya and Tsunade must have taken care of you.

Be strong Naruto. I have been proud of you since the day you were born. Follow your dreams and remember, I love you and will always be watching over you.

Love,

Tousan

"I love you too Tousan. I don't blame you for what you did. Also the village you saved did not follow through your last wish, but I will never give up, because I am an Uzumaki and Uzumakis never give up. Also regarding Godparents, I guess I will ask them their reasons for abandoning me. If I find the reason valid, I may forgive them with time" – said Naruto to himself.

After that he started reading his mother's letter. There was a 'Storage seal' on the letter. He applied some chakra and a sword poof out of it. He took the sword out of the sheath. The sword was an 'O-Katana' with black blade and purple lining on the outer edge of the blade. The handle was red in colour. It was his mother's sword. He then put the sword back in the sheath.

My dear Sochi,

I hope you are doing well. I am so sorry, I could not be a part of your life, to watch you take your first step, to sing you lullaby at night, to teach you how to read and write, to play with you, to tend your wounds whenever you would get injured, to make you Ramen which is the 'Food of Gods' dattabane. I am sorry if you got my verbal tic. It slips whenever I am excited or nervous.

If you are reading this letter then you must be a Genin by now. I am not gullible like your father in believing that your life as a Jinchuriki will be easy. Even though my status as a Jinchuriki was not known among the civilians, I was a Kunoichi and I know very well how jinchurikis are treated as an outcast in other villages. I want you to be strong my sochi. I am sure you must have met Natsumi by now. When I became her jinchuriki, Mito-sama told me, only love can defeat the hatred of the Bijus. I took her advice, but even then we did not became friends at first. But as time passed on, we became great friends.

My dear sochi, don't be a picky eater. Just eat a lot so you would grow to be big and strong. Make sure you bathe every day and stay warm too. Also don't stay up to late. Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Also don't forget to make friends as well. You don't need a tons of them, just a few is fine as long as they are the one who you can really trust. Make sure you study hard and always remember everyone is good at something and not so good at others. So even if things doesn't go well, don't get depressed. When you are at the academy, respect your teachers and upper class-men.

Oh! Now this is important, regarding the three prohibitions of the shinobi. Be extra careful about lending and borrowing money. Take your pay and put it in saving account. No Alcohol, not until you are of age. Too much sake is bad for you, so practice moderation. And another prohibition is women, remember I am one so I don't know much about it, but keep in mind that this world is made up of men and women and so at some point you will notice girls and that's normal. Just be careful and don't fall for the bad ones. Just go out there and find someone like me. Ah! That reminds me, speaking of the three prohibitions, you should be wary of Jiraya-sensei and Tsunade-neesan dattabane. My dear sochi, I am sorry to say but there are going to be many hardships ahead in your life, just be true to yourself. Make sure to have dreams and have the confidence to make those dreams come true.

Oh and regarding my jutsus, they are with my summons – the Phoenix. They will appear before you when you become 12 years of age. They will explain more about their contract to you.

Oh Naruto! There is so much more I want to tell you, but time is running short. Just remember, I love you so much and will always be with you.

Love,

Kaa-san

Tears started flowing from Naruto's eyes as he read the letter.

"Natsumi Kaa-san has been taking care of me like her own son. I also have two elder neesan. I will take care when lending or borrowing money, just like you said. There is a girl I like. Her name is Hinata Hyuga. She is very kind and always so supportive of me. She even knows my secret about Natsumi Kaa-san and yet she accepted me. I will stay away from alcohol until I become of drinking age. I haven't met Jiraya or Tsunade yet, but I will be wary of their bad habits. Thank you for loving me so much and bringing me to this world. I love you too Kaa-san" – spoke Naruto to himself.

"Naruto-kun please come here" – said Natsumi

Naruto reached inside his mindscape and went inside the house. Natsumi brought him to a motherly hug and wiped away his tears.

(Inside Mindscape)

"My dear Maelstrom, I know it's hard, but you will see them one day. When you see them, you can tell them about all your adventures. Until then remember, they will always be with you. So, make them proud but achieving your dreams" – spoke Natsumi in a gentle tone.

"You are right Kaa-san. I will make them proud by becoming the greatest Hokage ever"

After that they talked for a while and then went to sleep.

(Next Day at Hokage's office)

It was noon. Kurenai and Anko had just briefed about their mission report to the Hokage and were about to leave the office when the Hokage told them to stay for Genin Team selection. Soon after a while few jonins entered the office including Kakashi and Asuma Sarutobi.

"Thank you all for coming. Time has come for you to guide the next generation of Konoha. These are the report cards of the students who has passed from the academy this year. I have already assigned jonin sensei for all the students except the clan heirs. So you may see the students assign to you and will meet them one week from now at the academy" – said the Sandaime Hokage.

After a while only Kakashi, Asuma, Kurenai and Anko were left in the office.

"Okay, now this are the teams I have prepared for the clan heirs. There is Ino-Shika-Cho team of this generation which will be information gathering team. Next I wanted to make a tracking team, but the Inuzuka heir has the lowest score in the academy, so he will be paired with the 'Rookie of the year' and 'Kunoichi of the year' which will be an frontal assault team. The last team will have an extra member. The third team will be tracking and assassination team" – said the Sandaime Hokage.

"Excuse me Hokage-sama, why not keep Naruto in frontal assault team? He has the largest chakra reserves, so wouldn't he be more fitted for frontal assault team with his Ninjutsu poweress?" – asked Kakashi

"I know what you mean Kakashi, but if I do that, then the assault team will be highly overpowered, while the tracking team will become without any offensive power. Plus it has been tradition to pair the dead last of the academy with Rookie and Kunoichi of the year" – said the Sandaime Hokage.

"But sir, I was hoping to train both the last Uchiha and Sensei's legacy" – pleaded Kakashi.

"I am sorry Kakashi, but the teams cannot be changed. But after Naruto becomes chunin, I will try assigning missions for him with you. Meanwhile you can always give him tips for Ninjutsu training when you meet him in the village" – said the Sandaime Hokage.

"Alright so I will take this generation Ino-Shika-Cho team" – said Asuma.

"I will take the tracking team" – said Kurenai

"That leaves the assault team with Kakashi. Alright be at the academy one week from now" – said the Sandaime Hokage.

After that the Sandaime Hokage dismissed all the jonins.

A couple of days later Naruto was heading towards academy to submit his ninja registration form. The Sandaime Hokage was sitting behind the desk. Naruto entered the room and submitted his form.

"Ah yes, Naruto-kun! Everything in your form looks perfect. I see you have also added your mother's sword with your outfit, but I don't see your Shuriken and Kunai Holster. I recommend visiting Dragon Claw Weapon shop. They sell best weapons for ninjas" – spoke Sandaime Hokage.

"Hai. Thank you Hokage-sama. I will make sure to visit the shop" – said Naruto.

Just then the door of the room opened and a young kid with a very long scarf came into the room running with a blunt Shuriken in hand and spoke, "Old man! I challenge you. I am going to defeat you and become the Fifth Hokage".

But before he could throw the Shuriken, he tripped his leg with his own scarf and fell on the floor. Just then a guy wearing black shades appeared by the door. The Sandaime recognized the kid as his Grandson and sighed.

"Are you alright Honorable Grandson?" – asked the guy with black shades.

"Urgh! Something trip me" – spoke the kid to himself.

Naruto got up from his seat and walked up to the kid. He helped the kid up and asked, "Hey kid, are you okay?"

The kid instead of thanking Naruto accused him by telling, "You are the one who tripped me".

"Actually you tripped your leg with your long scarf. Anyways who are you and why did you try attacking Hokage-sama?" – asked Naruto.

"Hey you! Step away from the Sandaime Hokage's Grandson" – spoke the guy with black shades to Naruto with disdain in his voice.

Naruto looked up to the guy who had spoken and then towards the kid.

Seeing Naruto look towards him, the kid spoke in an arrogant tone, "That's right! I am Sandaime Hokage's Grandson. You can't do anything to me".

Naruto just sighed and shook his head and bonked the kid in the head lightly before speaking, "Don't take that tone with ninjas or you might get into serious trouble one day. Hokage's grandson or not, you should never become arrogant".

The kid started rubbing his head and thought, "This guy is different"

After that Naruto looked towards the Hokage and spoke, "Hokage jiji, is there anything you need of me?"

"No, that will be all" – said the Sandaime Hokage

Naruto bowed slightly and then the wind started circling around him. After a few seconds the wind shattered and Naruto was gone.

The kid was in awe, while the Sandaime Hokage had the surprised expression on his face and only one thought came to mind, "Impressive! To learn Elemental Shunshin at such a young age".

"Listen to me Honorable Grandson, you mustn't get into fights with someone who is beneath you, even though they deserve it. You want to be the next Hokage right, well I the elite instructor – Ebisu can teach you how to become Hokage through shortcuts" – spoke Ebisu

But the kid had already left the room in search for Naruto. After a while Ebisu saw the kid wasn't in the room and started panicking, "Huh! Where did he go?"

"I am afraid he went in search for Naruto" – spoke the Sandaime Hokage.

"Naruto! That's worst. Hang on Honorable Grandson, I am coming" – said Ebisu and rushed out of the room.

The Sandaime just signed and thought, "How did my Grandson turned out to be this way? This was his 28th attempt. Maybe Naruto can shade some sense into him".

Naruto was walking down the street when he sensed someone was following him. He turned around slightly and saw the kid trying to disguise himself through the wall but was failing poorly. He sighed and called out the kid, "I know you are following me, so might as well come out".

"So you saw through my disguise huh? The rumors about you are true, you are good. Alright it's decided. I will be your apprentice and you will be my new sensei" – said the kid.

"Slow down kid. I can't be your sensei. I have just graduated the academy, so I am a fresh genin and you look like an academy student. So the teachers at the academy must be teaching you properly" – reasoned Naruto.

"I don't care. I want to learn how you did that jutsu with wind around you and then disappearing like nothing and I am going to follow you until you teach me how" – said the kid.

Naruto knew the kid wasn't going to leave him easily so he told the kid to follow him. They came across a training ground. Naruto told the kid to sit on a log and he sat beside him.

"Alright kid, first of all tell me, what do you know about chakra?" – asked Naruto

"Chakra is the element of life energy that is used to perform jutsu. A ninja arts combine physical energy from each cell in the body with mystical energy which is intensified with training and experience. When this two chakra mix with special hand seals that allows to focus energy and perform jutsu" – read the kid from the scroll.

"Well at least you read it correctly. Now listen carefully kid, the jutsu I performed is called 'Elemental Shunshin' which is an advance version of regular Shunshin. In order to do 'Elemental Shunshin' one must be aware of his or her elemental affinity. After that they have to master their affinity to an appropriate level before attempting to do such jutsu. I am not telling you cannot learn this jutsu ever, it's just you cannot learn such advance jutsu now" – explained Naruto.

"Ohh man! Then how will I defeat my Grandfather?" – spoke the kid in a sad tone.

"Why are you so obsessed with defeating your Grandfather?" – asked Naruto

"My grandfather named me Konohamaru, after the village ancient name Konoha. But everybody sees me as honorable grandson of the Sandaime Hokage and not as me – Konohamaru. It's like I am invincible to them. I am sick of it. That's why I want to become Hokage, so everybody will know me as me" – spoke Konohamaru.

"I see. So do you think your grandfather became Hokage because he wanted to let every people in Konoha know his name?" – asked Naruto

"I u-uh" – started Konohamaru to speak something but nothing came out.

"Tell me Konohamaru, have you ever heard your grandfather speak to you about the 'Will of Fire'?" – asked Naruto.

"He did tell me once about it, but I wanted to learn cool jutsu, so I did not pay any attention to it, why? What's it got to do with being Hokage?" – asked Konohamaru

"The 'Will of Fire' is a strong belief that Love is the key to peace. It states that the entire village is like a large family and every shinobi with the 'Will of Fire' inside him or her loves, believes, cherishes and fights to protect the village just like the previous generation before them. Your grandfather is Hokage not because he wants to be recognized, but he considers the whole village as his family and wants to love, believe, cherish and protect it. That is why he is recognized as the Hokage" – said Naruto.

"Whoa! I didn't know that" – said Konohamaru.

"I too have a dream of becoming Hokage. That is why I train very hard and pay attention to my sensei in what they teach me. Remember, Konohamaru there are no shortcuts in life. You must work hard to achieve anything" – said Naruto

"You are right boss! From now on we are rivals. I am going to train hard and pay attention in the academy, so that I can become Hokage one day" – said Konohamaru.

Just then Ebisu arrived on the scene and spoke, "Honorable grandson you don't need him to train you. I Ebisu, the elite instructor will guide you into shortcuts of becoming Hokage".

"Ebisu-san, care to accept a challenge? If I defeat you, then you will stop spouting these non-sense to Konohamaru and actually train him to be a better ninja and if you defeat me then I will accept, your way of tutoring is better" – said Naruto.

"I have heard about you defeating Mizuki. He was a chunin instructor, but I am an elite jonin. You have no hopes of defeating me. I accept your challenge. I will show you I am way better teacher to honorable grandson then you" – said Ebisu.

Both Naruto and Ebisu got ready. Just as Ebisu was about to attack, Naruto shot 'Kongo Fusa (Adamantine Sealing Chains)' at Ebisu. Ebisu was caught off-guard by the chains and was not able to dodge them. The chain kept Ebisu bind, suppressing his chakra and Naruto knocked him out with the hilt of his sword and retreated back his chains.

"Awesome! How did you do it? You defeated my instructor like he was nothing. At this rate I will never catch up to you" – spoke Konohamaru.

"The chains you saw is my clan's 'Kekkai Genkai'. Your instructor was only caught off-guard because he did not believe I could do such a thing and was defeated. Remember Konohamaru, in shinobi world, you must expect the unexpected. That's why you have to always be on-guard, or you might get killed. Also never lose the fire you have to prove yourself, because once you do, you will become just another sheep in the crowd" – said Naruto.

"I am sorry boss. No more doubting myself. I will train hard from now on" – said Konohamaru.

"Good luck Konohamaru" – said Naruto while ruffling his hair and then disappeared through 'Wind Shunshin'.

The Sandaime Hokage who had watched the entire scene through his crystal ball, smiled proudly and thought, "Letting Konohamaru meet with Naruto was a right decision. Now my grandson will focus on becoming a better ninja for the future. Naruto-kun has really grown into a splendid shinobi. Minato, Kushina, I am sure you are proud of your son from above".