For those of you who are following me from Fox in Tokyo, I have not abandoned it. It's my hope that purging this from my system will allow me to resume writing and get off this horrible writers block. For those of you where this is new, I hope you enjoy my retelling of Naruto with a slight twist.

I will use English for almost everything except for a few exceptions. The main ones being the three academy jutsu, and the suffixes that the Japanese use.

A/N: I tried to spruce this up a bit. I hope it worked.

Disclaimer: This applies to any and all chapters that may be added in the near future. I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! Damn lawyers can go extort someone else now.

Minato and Kushina both stared at their child with love as they slowly began to fade. The Kyuubi had broken free, wreaking havoc upon the Leaf Village. With no other options left, Minato sealed the beast into his own son. The Kyubi tried to stop the sealing by killing Naruto but Kushina and Minato sacrificed themselves to save him. They coughed up blood as the giant claw through their stomachs slowly killed them.

"N-Naruto, make sure to grow up big and… and strong." Kushina coughed harshly as she spoke to the child. Her eyes shone with unshed tears and her voice wavered with grief. "Make sure you always… stand up for what's right… and never… give up. And stay away… from the three shinobi vices. Never drink until you're at least twenty, and stay away from gambling. If you ever," here she coughed once more while blood dripped from her chin. "If you ever… find a girl, make sure that… she is a… strong one. And Kami forbid you ever… end up with a fangirl." She watched as his hands opened up showing small mouths. "Don't ever… let anyone… tell you that you're odd because of those… those hands. You're a special child. You're my son."

Minato watched as Kushina seemed to collapse in on herself. "Your mother has already given you loads of good advice, now it's my turn." He gently stroked his son's face. "You have been given a great gift, and a terrible burden. It is my hope that you will be a hero, but I know better." Kushina cried softly as Minato continued to speak. "Find people who will accept you and never let them go. Become the man that I know you were born to be!" Forming a hand sign to help his concentration, he yelled out "Hakke Fuin!"

Both of them toppled forwards as the Kyuubi disappeared into the seal. This is the scene that Hiruzen and the ANBU stumbled upon.

"Minato!"

"Ah, Sarutobi. You're just in time," Minato managed weakly as he lay there.

Sarutobi knelt beside the two. "Just hang on. We can get you to a healer in two minutes."

Minato just shook his head. "No good. I used the Shiki Fuin. My life is forfeit. And Kushina has already left us."

Sarutobi looked on sadly. He never dreamed that he would live to outlast his successor. His eyes turned to the child between the two. His eyes widened as he saw the child's hands. He kept quiet, however. "Is this him?"

Minato smiled. "My son, Naruto." He watched the Third pick him up. "Please Sarutobi, my boy is a hero to the village," Minato's eyes clouded as he seemed to stare off into the future. "Please, please tell the village he is a hero!" The desperation in his voice alone was enough to break Sarutobi's heart.

"I will do as you ask," he promised as the child started to fuss.

"Thank you," Minato said as he shut his eyes and embraced the sweet relief of death. Sarutobi and the ANBU all hung their heads. The Third gently closed the leader's eyes.

"May you rest in peace," he said. "None of you are to speak of the boy's lineage on penalty of death." His ANBU just nodded, too taken with grief. They all took off for the village as fast as they could to spread the news.

Sarutobi sat in his office waiting for Jiraiya to arrive. Immediately upon arrival in the village, he was forced to attend a council meeting. The meeting could have ended much worse than it did all things considered. However, he was in no way satisfied with the results.

Flashback

Sarutobi sat down just as the council began. He turned his eyes to the faces in front of him.

"Since it is obvious what we shall be discussing, why don't we skip the formalities and get to the point," Sarutobi said.

Immediately the civilian members leaped up. "We need to kill it before it finishes the job," one of them spat while the others agreed.

"That is not an option," Danzo stated as he rose from his seat. "The jinchuriki have always been used to keep the other nations at bay. We kill the child, the rest of the nations will be at our doorsteps in a month."

"Then what would you suggest," the civilians said.

"I propose he be given to me for training," Danzo said as he swept his gaze across the room. "Under my tutelage, he will become a weapon that Konoha will use to strike fear in the elemental nations."

"Hell no!" Tsume snarled as she jumped from her seat. "You will not brainwash our container with your methods."

"I agree," Shukaku stated. "The boy cannot be allowed to undergo emotional trianing with the Kyubi ready to snap him up at a moment's weakness."

"Then what would you do? Take the boy in yourself?" Danzo asked. That opened the floodgates as every other clan jumped in.

"Silence!" Sarutobi yelled as he stood up. "Neither of your suggestions are viable options. Shikaku is right, the emotional training of ROOT might give the Kyubi a foothold to escape. However, he cannot join a clan because he will be the founder of his own." That brought everyone's attention to him in a second. "This boy was born with the Explosion Style kekkei genkai." He showed the boy's palms to the council causing many to go wide eyed.

"Damn, that's troublesome," Shikaku stated. All the veterans remembered that clan. Their skills made them particularly useful on the battlefield and for infiltration missions.
"What will happen then," Danzo said.

"He will be raised like any other orphan of the Leaf with a few exceptions. I will send Jiraiya to Iwa to try and find some information on this kekkei genkai. He will be given any information he needs to utilize his kekkei genkai. Until then his kekkei genkai will be sealed away. No one is allowed to speak of his kekkei genkai on penalty of death. The mention of his status as a jinchuriki is also forbidden. We cannot allow word to leak out and bring assassins into the village." He swept his eyes across their faces. It was quite easy to tell that the civilians would try to make the boy's life miserable. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to see Jiraiya right now."

Danzo watched his rival disappear, his eyes cold and calculating, while the rest of the room descended into chaos once more.

Flashback End

The Third sighed before turning to the window of the tower. "You can come out now Jiraiya."

The toad sage leapt through the open windows. "Never could get anything past you sensei." His words rung hollow, the life and spark torn to bits with the death of an apprentice he considered a son. "Is this my godson?"

The Third nodded. "We've run into something unexpected."

Jiraiya was instantly all business. "Is it the seal?"

Sarutobi shook his head. "No, the anomaly lies on his hands."

"His hands?" Jiraiya asked confused before he opened the clenched hands. "Th-this is! This is the same ability as the Tsuchikage's apprentice!"

"The kekkei genkai of Iwa, Explosion Release." Sarutobi watched as Jiraiya seemed to collapse into the chair behind him.

"How?" was all Jiraiya could ask.

Sarutobi just frowned. "I don't know. He was born with this ability, which makes him an unbelievably precious gem as he can pass on this ability." He turned his eyes on Jiraiya. "However, that leaves us in a bit of a bind. I have little knowledge on how this ability works."

Jiraiya's eyes seemed to light up. "And you need me to infiltrate Iwa to find any information I can."

"Exactly," Sarutobi turned to his student fully. "I don't care how long it takes you so long as no one knows you were there. We cannot allow this information to leak, especially in Iwa. But before you leave, I need you to seal away his arms."

Jiraiya looked up in thought. "I believe I have something that might work. I'll key the seal to your blood so that only you can release it."

"Excellent," Sarutobi said. "I will see this boy as a hero, just as I promised Minato. He will burn with a will of fire greater than all who have come before."

Please tell me what you think after reading the first chapter.