"Spoken"
'Thoughts'
Demonic/Inner persona spoken
'Demonic/Inner Persona thoughts'
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Summary: As a young boy Naruto has a discussion with a ANBU member about what exactly it means to be Hokage. With a new determination, Naruto sets out to achieve his dream of not only becoming Hokage, but protecting the village and everyone in it. Not a Super Naruto, more like a smart Naruto.
Secrets In The Will Of Fire
Chapter 1
Being a member of ANBU normally entails dangerous work. Work that makes you question the very core of human existence. As a Ninja, you are a tool, but as ANBU, you are a specific tool. You are a knife, or a sword, or an axe. You are something made to kill. So why was it this particular ANBU found himself in the middle of a Konoha park on a sunny afternoon?
The answer was a young boy sitting beneath a tree. His blonde hair moving gently with the wind as he slept. The boy was alone, no parents or other children where with him, which was strange seeing as how he wasn't even seven years old yet. As a matter of fact, it seemed that the area he was in was vacant of anyone save for the ANBU, hidden amongst the leaves of a tree. He had actually watched as children came through this section of the park, only to be quickly ushered away by their parents.
'What fools…' The ANBU member thought to himself. Yes, he knew of the Kyuubi, knew that it was sealed within the blonde haired boy. He also knew that the boy was about as harmful as a sleeping kitten. This wasn't the first time he had been selected to watch over him. The Hokage himself funded the money for these "A-ranked" missions. Not to say there wasn't any danger involved. The boy was often the target of the more rowdy or disgruntled villagers. But still nothing more than a single Chuunin should've been able to handle. It was simply a testament to how much the Hokage cared about the child.
ANBU-san's musings were cut short when he heard the boy yawn, and open his eyes, adjusting them to the light of the afternoon sun. He stood up and stretched, before looking around him. At first he looked wary, maybe even scared, and the ANBU couldn't blame him. The boy had been chased to the park by a group of Genin out to make a name for themselves. Rocks and kunai had been thrown at the boy as he ran away. The ANBU had just gotten to the scene in enough time to stop the group from seriously hurting him. Of course, the Genin were currently being stripped of their ninja rank by the Sandaime Hokage. Were it not for the general outcry that would surely come from the villagers, he probably would have had them imprisoned. The ANBU found that he himself like that idea.
Naruto finally seemed to decide the area he was in was safe enough, as he stopped glancing at the sides of the park. He sighed, and started to walk back to his apartment. As he did, the ANBU dropped out of the tree and waved to him.
Naruto's eyes lit up for a second, and he rushed over to the ANBU. "ITACHI-SAN!" He greeted, in his loud manner. The ANBU groaned inside his head, wanting to strangle his captain for forcing him to wear a weasel mask. He was pleased with Naruto's greeting however. He was one of the few ANBU who would actually talk with the boy, and the boy showed his appreciation with his excitement whenever he was the one on guard duty.
"Hello Naruto-kun, are you feeling alright?" He asked. Physically, the boy was fine. However that was normally the case after resting. Itachi was more worried about the boy's mental state than anything else.
"I'm fine! They barely even got me with the rocks, and I don't think any of the kunai hit!" Naruto said, flashing a toothy grin. Itachi wasn't fooled for a second, but Naruto couldn't tell due to the mask.
"Alright Naruto, if you say so. The Hokage would like to see you, so why don't we head over to his tower?"
Naruto nodded, and the pair proceeded towards the Hokage's Tower. After a few moments of silence, 'A new record' Itachi thought amusingly to himself, Naruto began to speak.
"Hey Itachi-san, what do you think of the Hokage?" Naruto asked.
Itachi was silent for a few moments, before answering. "I think the Hokage is a strong and wise ninja. Why do you ask Naruto-kun?"
"So you wouldn't pick a fight with him?" Naruto knew Itachi-san was strong. He had seen him fight before, normally a couple of drunkards who would find the "demon brat" and decide to have some fun.
"Of course not. The Hokage is a kind and honorable man, why would I want to fight him?" Itachi seemed surprised by the boy's question.
"I was just thinking. Maybe if I become Hokage, it'll mean no one will pick on me anymore since I'd be so strong! Then everyone would have to respect me right?" Naruto looked pleased at himself for coming up with such a brilliant plan. In his mind, it seemed rather simple. After all, if the old man could become Hokage, how hard could it really be?
Itachi stopped walking and looked at Naruto, who stared back up at his guard, wondering why they had stopped. Itachi sighed, and knelt down in front of Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, I wouldn't pick a fight with the Hokage. Not because he's strong, but because he's a good man. Being Hokage means more than being the strongest or the smartest. It means protecting everyone in the village, caring for them whether they care for you or not. I wouldn't fight the Hokage because I respect him, not for his strength, but for his character."
Naruto was obviously confused by this, so Itachi decided to elaborate. "You already know about the Fourth Hokage don't you Naruto-kun?" At Naruto's nod, he continued. "He was the strongest ninja to ever come from any of the elemental countries. He became Hokage not because he was so strong, but because he wanted to use that strength to protect the people of this village. The funny thing is a lot of the people he protected didn't even like him that much. Yondaime-sama had a lot of enemies, even in the village. Yet when the Kyuubi attacked, he didn't even give it a second thought. He stopped him, not even thinking of his own well being. Do you understand Naruto-kun? Even though he knew people in the village didn't like him, didn't respect him, he still gave his life to save them."
Naruto looked thoughtful for a few moments. "So, you're saying that being Hokage means protecting people, all the people in the village?" He asked.
Under his mask Itachi smiled, and nodded. "Not just protecting people, but also always doing the right thing. If you really want to be Hokage Naruto-kun, those are the things you must understand."
Naruto smiled at this. Not his dumb toothy grin, but a true and genuine smile. "Alright then! I will become Hokage some day Itachi-san! Just wait and see! I'll become strong enough to protect everybody, and I'll be greater than all the Hokage's put together!"
Itachi's smile grew under his mask. The boy was incorrigible. "Well spoken Naruto-kun!" He said. "Here then, we can't have our future Hokage training on an empty stomach. After meeting with the Hokage why don't you go get yourself some ramen?" Itachi handed Naruto some money, and Naruto's eyes lit up with happiness.
"RAMEN! YAY! ALRIGHT! I GET RAMEN!" Naruto yelled, dancing around Itachi as the two continued their walk to the Hokage's tower. Itachi laughed to himself at the child's antics. If only his father wasn't such an arrogant bastard, Itachi would like to introduce Naruto to his little brother. He had a feeling that the two would be good friends…
One Year Later
A young girl found herself huddled down, crying as the people around her mocked her. Shouting things about her "stupid big forehead". Her knees were drawn against her, and she had her hands over her ears, trying to block out the hurtful words. It wasn't the first time she had dealt with this. For some reason she seemed to be a favorite target of the bullies at her school. It happened at least once every couple of days. She would be sitting there, minding her own business, but sooner or later they'd find her, and it would all begin again.
"Seriously Sakura, I bet we could see your forehead from space!" One of them, a particularly mean girl with purple hair said.
Sakura felt herself cringe at the mean words, while on the inside she berated herself. She knew she was giving these people exactly what they wanted, but she couldn't help it. Why did they have to be so mean? What had she ever done?
She might have thought more about it, but one of the girls who had been teasing her gasped in surprise. Sakura looked up to see something… well, it was something all right. The girl who had just been teasing her stood there, only now she was covered with trash. A fish bone was caught in her hair, and she had something… Sakura didn't even want to think about what it was sliding down her arms.
"Hah! Now not only do you talk trash, but you're covered in it!" A voice called out from above them. Standing up in the branches of a tree, and overturned trash can in his hands, stood seven year old Naruto Uzumaki.
"YOU JERK!" The purple haired girl wailed at him. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU UZUMAKI!"
Naruto jumped down from the tree, landing between the bullies and Sakura. He was grinning widely at the scene as the girl and her friends glared at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. Here, I'll help you throw that stuff away." With that said, he took the trash can, and slammed it over the fuming girl, before knocking her into her friends. The girl cried out in shock, struggling with the help of her friends to get back to her feet. While this was happening, Naruto grabbed the pink haired girl he now knew as Sakura, and ran off.
Sakura just followed along in shock. This boy had just… with the trash and… the tree… where had he… Her thoughts were moving a mile a second. Naruto for his part was just laughing that his devious plan had worked out so well.
They finally came to a stop, once Naruto had judged they were far enough away from the bullies. He turned and looked at the girl who he had just saved.
"Sorry about that, but I thought you might be getting tired of that purple banshee's screeching." Naruto said, grinning impudently at her. Sakura just stood mouth agape at the boy. "My name's Naruto Uzumaki!" He said cheerfully, extending his hand.
Sakura finally shook herself out of her stupor, and hesitantly shook his hand. "M-my name is Sakura… Sakura Haruno." She said. Naruto smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back despite her nervousness. It was almost infectious, this boy's smile.
"Nice to meet you Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed. Before she could even blush at the familiar honorific he had added to her name, the bell rang, signaling that it was time to return to class. Sakura looked towards the Ninja Academy building, and back to Naruto, but he was already gone. She looked around, but he was nowhere in sight. She sighed to herself, and walked back to class, but not before being joined by a little blonde girl, who had seen the entire event.
Naruto laughed to himself as he ran across the Konoha streets. When he had heard the bullies taunting the girl, he knew he had to stop it. After all, if he wanted to be Hokage, he had to protect everyone right? He was still trying to work out whether that meant that dumping the trash on the bullies' leader had been the wrong thing to do, but since no one got hurt, he figured he was okay. Still, it was confusing. How could he protect everyone, if some of the people who were hurting others were the very same people he was supposed to protect? Just thinking about it made his head hurt. He'd have to ask "Itachi-san" next time he saw him.
And so he decided to skip the rest of the day's class. After all, he had spent his lunch break helping people, so it was only fair that he take some time to feed himself right? And it's not like Iruka-sensei ever caught him at it! So with those thoughts in mind, he headed to his favorite ramen stand.
As Naruto sprinted towards his destination, Ichiraku Ramen, he heard shouting coming from somewhere nearby. He could only make out the words "hot blooded", but the tone they were being used with was evidence enough for him. With an internal sigh, he changed directions. 'Ramen will have to wait, a Hokage-in-training's work is never done!'
The sight that greeted him as he rounded the corner was a strange one indeed. A boy with impossibly thick eyebrows was surrounded by other boys, his hands stuck firmly against his ears to ward off the taunting. The boy had wild black hair, and was wearing a white Chinese style shirt with dark pants. The scene was almost identical to what he had just witnessed earlier, only in this case his opponents were going to be boys. Boys about a year older than him. To a normal person that would be the time to start rethinking one's actions. For Naruto, it wasn't even a consideration. It just meant that he could actually fight them if things got out of hand.
Any planning on his part was cut short however, when the black haired boy took off, to taunts and jeers of "Hot blooded dropout!" and "Loser!". Naruto glared at the children, but ran after the boy.
Naruto finally caught up to the boy at one of the nearby training grounds. The boy was standing in the center near the training logs, kicking it fiercely. Naruto stepped into the training field.
"Hey, everything ok?" He asked.
The boy turned and looked at Naruto. His face was gloomy for a split second before it became an overpowering grin.
"I am just fine thank you!" The boy said. "What is your name, I don't believe we have met before."
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Who're you?"
"My name is Rock Lee! It is a pleasure to meet you Uzumaki-san." Lee gave a slight bow.
"Just Naruto is fine, no need to be formal." Naruto said with a grin. His grin faded though, as he said "I heard what those kids were saying about you. You sure you're ok?"
Lee's face fell slightly. "What they were saying is true. I wish so strongly to be a great ninja, but I have no talent for Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, and my Taijutsu isn't even that great."
Naruto looked slightly angry at that. "So what if you're not that great at Ninjutsu or Genjutsu? That doesn't give them any right to make fun of you! Besides, I'm sure even with just Taijutsu you can become an awesome ninja. You just need to work hard and believe in yourself!"
Lee looked up in surprise, before tears started forming in the corner's of his eyes. Pretty soon they leaked out, trailing down his face. He hid his face in his arm, and Naruto began to wonder if he said the wrong thing. Then, Lee's head suddenly shot up, and he held his arm out in front of him.
"You're right Naruto-kun! Even if I cannot use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, I will become a splendid shinobi! I will work hard on my Taijutsu and become a legendary ninja!" There was a fire burning in Lee's eyes now. He looked determined, and happy.
"That's the spirit! And if you ever want someone to train with, look me up! I need to get stronger to accomplish my dream too!" Naruto said, smiling at Lee.
"Oh? And what is your dream if you don't mind me asking?"
"I'm gonna be Hokage some day! That way I can protect everyone in this village and everyone will respect me!"
"What a great dream Naruto-kun! You and I shall train hard and someday we will both accomplish our dreams!"
"All right! Together we'll be unstoppable!" Naruto said, the fire in his eyes now matching Lee's. The two stared at each other, and then began to laugh.
"Alright Lee, how about from now on, we meet at this training ground after the academy? Then we can train or hang out."
Lee smiled. Most kids either made fun of him for his thick eyebrows, or his poor ninja grades. It would be nice to have a friend willing to help him. "That sounds like an excellent idea Naruto-kun! Let's begin our training right now!"
Naruto smiled apprehensively. He hadn't meant right now, but Lee seemed really excited. He gave an inward sigh. 'I guess ramen can wait a couple hours…'
The next day Naruto found himself struggling to stay awake during one of Iruka's lectures on chakra control. Not that he thought it was boring, okay so he did think it was boring, but that wasn't the reason. His training session with Lee yesterday had lasted 5 hours. Most of which was spent doing push ups or running laps. They had then spent the remaining hours sparring. Even after Naruto had gone home and gone to sleep (he was much too tired to even consider waiting three minutes for ramen) he still felt sore and exhausted. But he realized he liked the feeling. It was his body's ways of saying he was getting stronger.
"NARUTO!" Naruto shook out of his daze as he felt an eraser hit his head. He looked around confused as the class laughed at him. Iruka was glaring at him from the front of the class. "I asked you a question! Don't space off in the middle of an important lecture!"
Naruto laughed sheepishly, his hand behind his head as he grinned. "Sorry Iruka-sensei."
Iruka just sighed, and went back to explaining how chakra control was crucial to being able to master jutsus. Naruto tried to pay attention, but once again felt himself spacing out before he felt an elbow in his side. Clearing his head, he turned to see the black haired boy who was sitting next to him had done it. Naruto gave him a small smile, before focusing on Iruka's discussion.
"Alright class, now break up into groups of two and practice your chakra control using the exercise I just explained."
'WHAT?! I DIDN'T HEAR ANY OF HIS EXPLANATION!' Naruto scream at himself mentally. It was bad enough when he had missed the explanation on the henge jutsu and turned himself into a comically deformed version of the Third Hokage. Iruka was gonna give him so much extra homework for this he'd might as well never leave school!
Sensing his distress, the boy next to him turned to face him. "Don't worry, we'll partner up and I'll help you go through the exercise. Since I was actually listening." He added the last part with a smirk.
Naruto didn't know whether to be thankful or insulted, so he just gave a grin and said "Thanks."
The boy nodded, and the two stood up near their desks. He went over the exercise step by step with Naruto, before performing it himself flawlessly. Naruto grinned, and attempted the exercise himself, with less than stellar results. The boy next to him smiled a bit cockily, and gave him a couple tips.
By the end of the class, Naruto was at least decent at the exercise, but by no means had he mastered it like his partner.
Realizing the boy had helped him and he still didn't even know his name, Naruto caught him as class was ending. "Thanks a lot for helping me with that today (Even if you were kind of a jerk about it). My name's Naruto Uzumaki!" He stuck his hand out and gave a grin. They boy smirked slightly.
"Sasuke Uchiha." He said, shaking Naruto's hand before heading out. Naruto smiled to himself, before running out of the classroom. After all, he had training to do! He could almost hear his body groan at the thought.
Time passed in much the same way for the young blonde. His days were always spent at the academy (or ditching, if he and his small group of friends found it too boring that day) where he'd normally get a little extra help from Sasuke, and his afternoons spent training with Lee. The two had become the best of friends during their time spent together, and were often seen in each other's company whenever they had free time. This was normally spent training of course, but on occasion they would make a stop at Ichiraku's Ramen to feast on Naruto's favorite food.
It was also during that same year that tragedy struck Konoha. In the span of one night, it's most prestigious clan was almost completely wiped out, leaving only two survivors. One was the person who had committed the atrocity, Itachi Uchiha. The other was his little brother Sasuke, who was spared for reasons unknown. After this happened, Sasuke was removed from the academy for a six month period, during which no one saw him.
When he did return, he was a different person. Arrogant and cold, he no longer associated himself with anyone from their class. Even when Naruto attempted to talk to him, he simply called him a dobe and left.
The next year more students dropped from the academy, coming to the determination (or their parent's determination at least) that the ninja life was not cut out for them. Luckily for Naruto, his friends were still all attending. So as he entered the classroom, he took a moment to scan the room to see who the new students were.
He didn't really recognize any of them. Though he was glad to see that a lot of the school's bullies seemed to have been removed. He looked around and finally took his normal seat next to the brooding Uchiha. Sasuke gave him an annoyed look before turning to face the front of the classroom. Naruto returned with an annoyed look of his own before facing away from him. He couldn't blame the guy for being upset, he just wished he was willing to let someone help him.
"Hey what are you doing sitting next to Sasuke-kun?!" Someone said. Naruto looked up, his eyes widening in surprise. It was the girl he'd helped on occasion from various bullies. Sakura. He was about to smile and say hello when he noticed the look she, and the blonde haired girl next to him were giving him. They looked upset for some reason.
"Ummm… I sat here last year, so I just figured…"
"Well you figured wrong buster! I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun!" The blonde next to Sakura said.
"No you're not Ino-pig! I'm sitting next to Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said.
"Pffft, why would he want to sit by you Billboard Brow?"
Naruto looked on in confusion, before giving an incredulous look to Sasuke, who just shrugged. In that small gesture though, Naruto noticed that Sasuke was almost normal, like the days before when he'd helped the blonde with a harder technique or concept. It was enough to make Naruto smile slightly, before turning back to the two girls.
Two, did I say two? I mean the six or seven that were arguing with the original pair over who was going to get Naruto's seat next to their precious 'Sasuke-kun'.
The argument continued for a few minutes, and Naruto finally got fed up. He stood up, and grabbed Sakura's hand, pulling her into the chair he had been occupying, before sitting in the chair next to her. There was a gasp from the other girls, before they glared at him. He just gave a sheepish grin back.
"Hey, can I have my hand back?" Sakura asked, her eyebrow twitching. Naruto blushed and looked down, realizing he was still holding her hand. He quickly drew his hand back.
"Ah, sorry Sakura-chan!" He said, giving her a smile. She gave him a confused look 'That sounds so familiar', before turning to smile at Sasuke.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun!" She called out cheerfully, and was answered with an annoyed glare from Sasuke.
After class was over that day, Naruto once again made his way to the training ground him and Lee shared. 'Well, that was certainly an…interesting day.' It seemed that Sakura didn't even remember him from before. Not that he blamed her. They had technically only met once, he'd never revealed himself the other times he'd stopped her bullies, but still! It seemed her and the blonde girl 'I think she said her name was Ino' and practically every girl in there class had some type of infatuation with Sasuke. Lunch had been a particularly hectic time for the Uchiha, as girls were constantly chasing him down trying to eat with him.
Thinking about it, there was only one girl in their new class that wasn't 'Sasuke crazy' as Naruto put it. A quite girl with dark blue hair and white eyes. 'Good to know that not all girls are insane.' He thought to himself as he ran.
He finally came into the clearing and found Lee waiting for him. Lee seemed excited for some reason.
"NARUTO-KUN! I just met the most amazing person today! He is very kind and he told me that if I work hard enough I'll become a splendid ninja! He even showed me a few of his exercises to improve our strength and samina!"
Naruto stared at Lee. Over the last year he thought he had gotten used to the other boy's excitable nature. Today though Lee seemed to be exploding with energy. Naruto's stare quickly became a grin though, when he realized the boy had learned a new way for them to get stronger.
"Well what are we waiting for Lee? Let's get started!" Naruto said excitedly.
"Yosh! For a warm up we shall run 25 laps around Konoha!" With that said, Lee took off, leaving a dumbfounded Naruto behind.
'Oi, did he say 25 laps around Konoha as a warm up?!'
Not one to be left behind, Naruto quickly, though hesitantly, followed after his friend.
Five hours later, night had fallen, and Naruto was collapsed on the floor of his apartment, not having the strength to make it to his bed. He'd thought the first workout he and Lee had had been painful. Even though he normally had a lot of energy, this was just too much. 25 laps around the village then 500 pushups and sit ups before a two hour sparring session? 'I don't know anyone other than Lee who could've kept up with all that!' He thought to himself as he laid on the floor.
And even though he was tired and sore, he couldn't help but smile slightly to himself. It was only a matter of time until his dream came true. Soon he'd be Hokage, and be strong enough to protect everyone. His thoughts went to those people he wanted to protect as he fell asleep.
Author's Note: So pretty good for a first chapter I think. Hope you all enjoyed it :)
Now, just so everyone knows, this story will follow closely with cannon in the beginning, with some differences. I know it can be kind of annoying reading what you've already seen in the show, but I can assure you there will be differences to the way Naruto acts, and the way people react to him.
That being said, I haven't decided on any pairings yet, but I'm leaning towards Naruto/Harem, albeit a small one, probably only three of four of the girls. Any thoughts on that?
Please read and review!