Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

XXX

"Kakashi, do you know why I called you here?" said the blonde Hokage.

"Not really," was the silver haired jonin's reply.

"I wish to know about one of your former students, one Naruto Uzumaki," said the Yondaime.

"Ah, him."

"Yes, him. I want to know how a sixteen year old genin, who only took the chunin exams once, was able to easily beat three Iwa assassins."

"Well, you best call the caretaker of the orphanage. To know about Naruto you have to know about his first years of life."

"Fine, bring her here and we can begin this discussion," the Hokage finally stated.

XXX

"So, you knew Naruto when he was a child, could you describe him," asked the Hokage.

"Naruto was a happy child. He seemed to bring joy to everyone in the orphanage. I was sure that he would make some couple quite proud. The problem he had was that he wanted to have others adopted first. He felt that he would be ok and that some of the other children could use homes first. It always shocked the couples that came in that he would respectfully decline their offer and show them another child that needed them more," said the caretaker sadly.

"Sounds like a very good person," said the Hokage.

"Yes, he was. That changed somewhat one day. It was after he turned four and he was playing hide and seek with some of the other children. He somehow got into the records room and found his file. I still don't know how seeing as the room was locked on the outside with a padlock and there are no windows. But anyways, in his file he found the note his mother left when he was dropped at our doorstep. He had just learned to read and found one phrase that he could read clearly. The phrase he read was 'he is too much of a burden for me to care for.' I found him a few hours later crying because of the letter, I put him in bed to try and rest. When I checked on him the next day he was gone. That is the last I heard of him for two years. When he was six I heard he had bought an apartment and was living on his own. I asked him why he left and he said 'so as not to burden anyone else.' I was heartbroken that such a child had come to view himself as a burden but I could do nothing else."

"Thank you for this information, you may go now if you choose," said the Yondaime.

"Hai, thank you. Please try to make Naruto happy, just try."

"I will," was the reply.

As the door shut the Yondaime turned towards Kakashi.

"Why was that necessary? We just pulled up bad memories for her," Minato said angrily.

"If you want to understand Naruto, you must understand the reason he is the way he is. He is polite, obedient to a fault, has more potential then even you had, but he is utterly spineless when the issue of himself comes up. He never wants to burden anyone; he feels that he will be left alone again if he is. What he does not realize is that by not feeling he is worthy he actually has no one to abandon him. The only area of being a shinobi that he feels that he excels at is in cloning techniques."

"Can you tell me of his academy days or should I drag his teacher up here?"

"His teacher can tell you nothing. When he was on my team I went over the files and found that he had skipped more than half the time there. When I asked him he said he went every day. He was able to recite lectures and events almost perfectly, despite them happening years ago. I asked him about why he only took some tests then and he stated 'I was not handed one, but I decided not to burden them with my questions, they knew best.' It is surprising that not only did he pass but the fact he was second in line for rookie of the year. I later asked my students what he did in class and they can only remember three incidents in which he was present. The first one was very early in their academic career. Their instructor told them to line up for throwing practice, which they had only been lectured on before that point. When Naruto got to the front, the instructor didn't know who he was but saw he was on the list and allowed him to throw. Naruto got all fifty points with shuriken and senbon, which were optional. With kunai he got forty-nine points, very good for first time throwing. The instructor was shocked but said nothing. I believe that Naruto took this for having done bad and he just left. Another incident my other students remembered was about a year before graduation. The day before the students had been shown the hand signs for the Bushin no jutsu and told the theory behind it. The next day a substitute teacher showed up to class. The substitute looked at the class list and asked Naruto to randomly come up and demonstrate his Bushin. To the shock of the class and the teacher he preformed it flawlessly. Fifteen clones and no one could tell which one was real. The instructor praised him, which was the first time this happened since joining the academy. The last incident was the day of jonin selection. He walked in with a hitai-ite on but no one knew how he got it. Everyone in the room questioned who the new kid was and why he had passed without taking the test."

"So you are telling me that a child with potential to be the best since Itachi was neglected and still placed second in the class?"

"Yes, although I believe he could've placed first if he had been given a written test or had been tested in taijutsu. With only the ninjutsu, genjutsu detection and throwing weapons skills he passed as second in the class."

"So why is he not chunin?"

"When I got the team I tested them, the bell test. It was easy for them, in particular Naruto. He has this uncanny ability to disappear, whether it is in a crowd or out in the open. There were times when I didn't even notice him at the training grounds. I believe this comes from trying to not bother anyone he has learned to hide in plain sight. But during the bell test he snatched the bells without me noticing he had. When the time was up he presented the bells. When asked how he got them he said 'I walked up behind you and cut the string. I would have said something but I didn't want to be a pain.' He then proceeded to give the bells to his teammates saying they could have them and he would only slow the team down. I passed them on his performance alone."

"I later followed him to see him train by himself. As soon as he got to an isolated area he addressed me. He wondered why I was using my precious time to follow him. I said I wanted to see what his training was like. That was the only time he ever asked me a question to help him train. He asked me if there was any other type of clone besides the one the Academy taught. I wondered why and he said it was the only ninjutsu he was very good at. So I explained the theory behind Mizu, Tsuchi, and Kage Bushin. He was pleased and went off to train. As I watched I saw that he had a large amount of chakra, as he produced ten of each clone. He got hand seals and everything else right the first time. I was shocked and asked how he did it and he told me what theory called for proper use and how each hand seal helped shape part of the clones. He knew more about hand seal theory then most jonin; I barely understood some of it. He then went on to taijutsu practice and I would have said it was a chunin performing the style. When he graduated from the academy, he most likely could've taken on any chunin and had a fifty percent chance of winning in my opinion. He then practiced his limited jutsu repertoire besides the cloning techniques. This included Kawarimi, Henge and surprisingly Kaze no Yaiba.I found he had mastered doing all without hand seals and would have given many new jonin a run for their money in terms of chakra capacity. His control was practically Tsunade's level and he had never practiced any control exercises. It is like he is in tune with his chakra on a whole different level."

"Again, why did he not pass the chunin exams the one time he took them?"

"He forfeited in the prelims. He did not believe he could beat anyone with as he said 'basic techniques.' That has been his problem throughout his life, he believes he is holding everyone else back and no one but me has tried to dissuade him of that. Why are you asking of him now, I know you said something about assassins but why would they target him?" Kakashi finally asked.

"As you know my wife gave birth to a girl a few days ago. Tsunade put her in a medical coma because of the stress she went through. She will be up and about in a month or so. I could not watch my child and didn't feel safe leaving my daughter at the hospital. So I looked for an experienced genin with good reviews on babysitting to watch her while I am a work. Naruto got the job. Yesterday, while the ANBU were changing shifts, three assassins tried to enter the house. Naruto used three senbon to incapacitate them all. This while holding my daughter and supposedly making funny faces at her. Naruto then created clones to carry off the attackers when ANBU and I got there. Imagine my surprise when a genin had taken out the attackers and wasn't even going to inform the ANBU. He said that he didn't want to be a bother and was just going to have his clones take them to ANBU head quarters. That is why I am wondering about him," said the Yondaime.

"That he could do all that does not surprise me. Even though he asked to be dismissed from my squad when the other two made chunin, stating that one jonin for one 'unworthy' genin made no sense, I still check up on him. He could probably beat me if he tried and it was an order from you to attack me. Like I said he is obedient to a fault."

"Well we can't let potential like this go to waste. How do you go about solving this problem though?" asked the Hokage.

"I believe we could call in a specialist; someone who knows the human mind. I believe Ibiki, Inoichi, Tsunade or Kurenai would be a good choice. They could break him of his self deprecating habit. Plus if you go with Kurenai we could get another genjutsu specialist and if you went with Tsunade you could get one fine medic," said Kakashi.

"I believe both those two would be beneficial. I'll call Tsunade and Kurenai for their new assignment. Meanwhile I want him to babysit my daughter more. I trust now that he can handle most anything that could be thrown at him."

"Thank you Hokage-sama for trying to help him. I wish I could've helped earlier in his career. Once he gets past this problem he will make one fine shinobi," said Kakashi.

"I believe he already is one. With this problem fixed he will become a legend."

XXX

Tsunade and Kurenai stood in front of Minato after he explained all he knew on Naruto.

"So, this gaki is this good and only a genin? What is wrong with you, promote him," said Tsunade.

"I would if I thought he could handle being a leader of a squad. He is mentally unready for that. That is why you two are going to break him of being so passive and give him some backbone. Kurenai, you did wonders for Hinata's self esteem and Tsunade, you can help just about anyone express some emotion other than being passive, just grate him until he attacks you. Do something, I don't want a person who could possibly be the best ever to lose that opportunity because of emotional damage that I believe we can fix."

"I see, would we be teaching him anything other than to be assertive?" asked Kurenai.

"Supposedly he has ungodly chakra control and ungodly reserves for one of his age and level. If this is true then I want you to train him in both your fields. We can always do with more medics and genjutsu experts."

"Fine, where is the gaki," said Tsunade.

"He is at my home, babysitting my daughter. He was highly recommended for the job and took out three attackers before the ANBU could respond," the Hokage said in a neutral voice, seeing the reactions both kunoichi was priceless.

"I see, must be more to him then we thought, well let's get started now, come on Kurenai," cried Tsunade as she rushed out the door.

"I should probably go and assist her," Kurenai mumbled as she left.

"I am going to help you Naruto, even if you don't want it," said Minato.