Naruto was smart. Maybe he wasn't the type of smart that made him brilliant with numbers or words but that didn't mean he wasn't.

No, he was the type of smart when you're given a puzzle with missing pieces, he still completes it and knows what he's looking at. That's how Naruto was smart and the reason why he knew he wasn't like everyone else.

It had taken him nearly five years to finally understand that he was different than everyone. It took him that long to understand that no one else received the glares did, no one else was cursed at and thrown out of stores, no one else had their right to exist denied.

It had puzzled him for a very long time. He knew that he wasn't like everyone else but he didn't know why. He had a head, two arms, two legs, feet, hands and etc. He looked like everyone else.

Well, perhaps that wasn't true. He was the only one that he knew had blonde hair yet his hair darkened onto a reddish blonde at the tips. He didn't know anyone else that had the same shade of cerulean blue eyes but around his pupil his eyes darkened into an amethyst purple.

But that didn't make sense! He had seen a man with gray hair that stood up and he wasn't treated any differently! Well, except for the women cursing at him because of some book he read.

After Naruto ruled out that it was because of his appearance, he searched for the reason elsewhere. He looked up his name, trying to see if his family had done something in the past and he was being hated for their deeds.

He found out that there was a clan called the Uzumaki's but they had been destroyed in the second shinobi war. What's more, the Uzumaki and their village been very close with Konoha so that couldn't be it.

That didn't mean he hadn't been excited to know that he once had family, there was even the chance there had been survivors!

He looked in the village's ninja records of shinobi to see if any came to Konoha, secretly of course, and found the name of a woman named Kushina Uzumaki. Much to his sadness, she was deceased due to the Kyuubi attack six years ago.

Naruto knew that the woman was likely his mother. The records had shown that she had been pregnant five years ago and he had been born at the time of her death. From her autopsy report, she seemed to have given birth to him then joined her comrades fighting the Kyuubi!

Naruto thought he had a really badass mom and cried over her passing. After his tears had dried, he looked for some information regarding his father but he sadly found nothing.

After ruling out that he wasn't hated because of something his clan had done wrong in the past, he was at a loss for a long time.

He had nearly given up hope until one night he had snuck into the library to read. Reading was one of his favorite pass times; books never cursed at him, books never called him mean names!

Books just wanted to be read; it didn't matter if it was by an orphan or by a king!

He wasn't allowed into the library; the librarian always threw him out when she saw him. She would even throw away the books he had touched! Though, she didn't know that Naruto always rescued them from the trash.

During his midnight reading, he stumbled upon a word that finally gave him the answer he had been looking for. A single word that ended his quest for an answer and changed the world for him forever.

Jinchuriki.

A human sacrifice, a vessel for one of the nine Bijuu. A human weapon that would slaughter thousands when ordered.

That's what he was. A weapon. A tool for his village to use at their convenience.

What else could he be? He had been born on the same night that the Kyuubi had attacked. He found out that there was no known way of killing a Bijuu, they could only be sealed away.

Unlike other Bijuu, the Kyuubi couldn't be sealed inside an object. It could only be sealed inside a person.

That person was him.

Naruto had been understandably distraught after learning this. Especially when he realized that his hero had sealed the Kyuubi inside of him.

In truth, Naruto didn't hate the Fourth Hokage. He understood that there had to be sacrifices in order to protect Konoha, he was just one of those sacrifices. Naruto didn't think that the Fourth wanted to seal the Kyuubi inside of him but he just didn't have another choice.

Naruto had been depressing for days afterward. It was to be expected considering what he had just learned.

However, there had been an edge of happiness in him. He finally understood. Now that he knew why everyone looked at him with those cruel and cold eyes; it was so much easier to bear.

After he had left the library that night, he had hardened his resolve. He would show the village! He would show them that he was Naruto Uzumaki and not the stupid Kyuubi!

The only way he knew how to show them that was to become a ninja. He hadn't really wanted to be a ninja, even though he was friends with the Hokage. He didn't like the fact that ninja lied and murdered.

That scared him; he didn't want to hurt anyone! The thought of murdering someone was unthinkable to Naruto's young mind.

However, if he wanted to be viewed as Naruto Uzumaki and not the Kyuubi then he would have to swallow his fears. He would become a ninja, not just any ninja but he would become the Hokage!

The only problem was how to become strong enough to become the Hokage. The Hokage was the strongest ninja in the village, and from what he had read about Jiji than he had a very long road ahead of him.

He didn't know how to become strong! While he was eligible to enter the academy this year because of Jiji, Naruto knew that he would be sabotaged. While most shinobi never out right hated him, he knew that the majority didn't like him.

He could only get a start in the library; it had the ninja basics available to civilians. Stuff like how to access your chakra, the basic three, how to throw kunai and things like that.

However, that wouldn't be enough! He couldn't become the Hokage with the Henge!

Naruto had begun to despair; if he didn't get anything above the basics then his dream was over before it even had a chance to begin! The academy teachers wouldn't teach him anything and he couldn't get anything else in the library that meant he was screwed!

However, unknown to Naruto, he would soon meet someone that would solve his problem.

Naruto raced home late at night, judging by the moon Naruto guessed it was roughly midnight. The streets were practically deserted, the only people in sight were a few drunks and ninja's running on the roof tops.

However, Naruto paid them no mind. He had just committed a major crime! He had stolen from the library!

He broke in and took several books that all related to becoming a ninja. He wasn't exactly sure what he had grabbed, he had been too nervous that he was going to be caught to pay any mind to the titles.

They were big though! One of them was nearly as big as his arm!

He had them stuffed in his book bag that he held to his chest. He was so focused on making sure that not a single one was visible or that his bulging book bag looked suspicious that he wasn't looking where he was going.

That was until he rounded a corner and collided face first into someone.

Naruto was knocked backwards and he fell on his side, his backpack coming free of his grasp. Naruto hissed in pain as he pulled himself together, ignoring his scraped knee as he looked for his backpack as he stammered an apology.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going and I didn't see you, I'm sorry," he said as he looked down. From past experience, people were kinder when he bumped into them if they didn't recognize him.

Naruto felt panic bubbling in his small chest as he looked around, he couldn't find his book bag! He looked all around him and it was like it suddenly vanished!

'Unless,' Naruto dared to peek up and saw that his book bag was being held out to him. If that didn't surprise him enough, he knew the person! It was the masked guy that got yelled at a lot by girls.

Naruto froze for a second before he reached out, "T-thats mine," he said weakly, knowing that now the man knew that it was his he wouldn't let him have it.

To Naruto's shock, the man smiled at him! Well, not exactly a smile, but an eye smile.

"I know, here you are," he said kindly as he gave the bag a small shake. Naruto snatched it from the man's grasp and gave him a small glare, almost as if he dared him to try to take it back.

Kakashi chuckled as he returned to his full height as he looked down at the small boy that would have been his little brother.

This was Kakashi's first time having a conversation with him. However, it wasn't because Kakashi hated Naruto for what he contained.

It was because Kakashi was a part of his ANBU guard. The Hokage had prohibited him from speaking to the boy; then he and the shinobi council had denied every attempt he made to adopt Naruto.

He had nearly rained down hell on the village for that but he was stopped thanks to the combined efforts of Gai and Asuma to calm him down.

After the failed adoption attempts, he became Naruto's ANBU guard. If Kakashi couldn't protect Naruto in the light than he would protect him from the shadows.

Kakashi repressed a sigh as he took in Naruto's appearance. The boy was a little on the skinny side and his clothes were several sizes too big. However, Kakashi ignored that in favor of focusing on Naruto's bloodied knee.

He nearly winced when he saw it, he felt terrible when he realized that he caused the wound. To his surprise, Naruto didn't even seem to register the knee.

'Children your age should be screaming their head off when their hurt like that,' He thought as he watched Naruto get up and begin to make his way back home.

Naruto had already thanked the odd man, he had manners of course, but Kakashi had been too lost in his thoughts to hear him.

"However," Kakashi said, a grin in his voice, "I believe this belongs to the library," he said as he held up a book titled 'Fuinjutsu for beginners; how not to blow yourself up!' by Jiraiya.

Naruto froze as he slowly turned around. His stomach was in his sandals; he had been caught! When did the man take that out of his bag? What did he do now?

"I, uhh, that's, I...I'm sorry," Naruto said in an upset voice as he slowly made his way back to Kakashi for whatever punishment awaited him. He looked down at his sandals as he held out the book bag filled with knowledge.

Kakashi stifled a chuckle when he saw Naruto walking back like any other child would when caught red-handed.

He took the back pack and opened it and saw that it was stuffed with ninja basic books. His only visible eye widened a fraction as when he saw that. Not even a week ago, Naruto was completely against being a ninja.

What had changed?

"Hmmm, quite the haul you have here...any reason why a boy your age is stealing from the library at this time of night?" He asked in his most stern parent voice. It was bad at best considering he had just turned seventeen and his father had killed himself when he was five...then sensei died when he only knew him for a few years.

So Kakashi wasn't exactly sure how to sound like a parent.

If it were possible, Naruto's shoulders lowered further, "I wanted to learn how to become a ninja," Naruto answered honestly.

Kakashi already knew that so he prompted Naruto to continue, "Why do you want to be a ninja?" He asked in a lazy tone. Despite his tone, Kakashi was rather curious.

The boy had shut the Hokage down every time the old man brought up the subject of shinobi. While Kakashi could see that the ability to breathe fire and command lighting appealed to the child, like it would to any other, Naruto saw past the glory.

Naruto looked underneath the underneath, he saw how bloody and brutal the shinobi world was and wanted nothing to do with it.

"I...I want to become Hokage!" Naruto all but shouted as his eyes shined with determination. He stared up at Kakashi as if he were daring him to ridicule his goal. His stare promised a bloody end if he did.

Once again, to Naruto's surprise; the man seemed to bring up that feeling a lot with Naruto, the white haired ninja chuckled, "Hokage huh? That's a pretty big goal," Kakashi commented.

Naruto paused for a second. The man hadn't made fun of him? Why? Why didn't this man look at him with those cruel, cold...eye? What was different about this man?

All these questions raced through Naruto's young mind but he was snapped out of his pondering when he saw Kakashi was waiting for him to say something, "Yeah I guess..." Naruto muttered.

"Aren't you a bit young to want to be a ninja," Kakashi asked, feeling like a hypocrite as he did so. He had become a genin at five, the same age as Naruto right now. Hell, in three months from now would be the anniversary of his first kill!

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "I'm joining in the academy this year," he shot back. Slowly his initial nervousness began to fade and a brash attitude replacing it.

"Oh, if you're enrolling this year than why did you steal these books?" Kakashi asked though he knew the answer. It seemed Naruto was able to foresee the problem with entering the academy as well.

Naruto winced, realizing that he walked right into a trap, "Because...because people don't like me! They're going to mess with me so Imma become strong on my own," Naruto yelled.

Kakashi sighed softly when he heard that and before he even knew what he was doing, he patted Naruto on the head, "No need for that, I can teach you if you want," he said. The words slipping out of his mouth before he even knew what they were.

Naruto looked up at the man in complete shock and Kakashi felt how he looked.

'Where did that come from?' he silently asked himself. The words just came out, he hadn't thought about what he was saying until he had already said it.

Kakashi could practically feel the shit storm that was going to rage because of that one simple sentence.

However, Kakashi didn't regret saying it. Those few words were how he truly felt. He wanted to teach Naruto, he wanted to help him to his goal unhindered by the idiots in the village.

He wanted Naruto to look up to him, to see that he was there for him.

Naruto looked up at Kakashi with wide eyes, "R-really?" He asked in a guarded tone. The offer had come completely out of nowhere and Naruto was more than a little suspicious of it. For all he knew it was some mean trick!

However, Naruto hoped the man's offer was genuine. The man hadn't looked at him with that mean stare, no he looked at him like the opposite! The man's eye was warm, like he liked him! Like he saw Naruto for Naruto and not what he contained! Like he wasn't a weapon for the village!

The man gave him another eye smile, "You bet," he said in a chipper tone as he gave Naruto's head another rub, "I'll just have to tell the Hokage but that'll be simple enough!" he lied smoothly.

Naruto beamed with happiness, a smile on his face so bright Kakashi nearly had to look away, "Thank you mister!" He said with a full blown smile.

Kakashi smiled underneath his mask, "The name's Hatake Kakashi," he said as he gave Naruto back 'his' book. Naruto flushed as he took it back and stuffed it in his backpack.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto introduced himself as he slung the backpack over his shoulder.

Kakashi gave him another eye smile, "Nice to meet you Naruto," he said as he shook the young boy's hand.

"Absolutely not," Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a flat tone. He was the Hokage of the village and the strongest one in it. At one point in his earlier life, he had been one of the strongest in the world.

He was the God of Shinobi, the man that knew and mastered every jutsu in the village that wasn't a clan technique. He had a SS-rank in the bingo book when he was younger but now he was an old man.

He was still an S-ranked shinobi without a doubt but he was approaching his seventies and was nowhere near as strong as he once was.

Kakashi was unfazed by his request being denied, he had expected that from the beginning.

"Hokage-sama, Naruto wishes to become a shinobi. He can't go to the academy, they'll ruin him! I, on the other hand, am ANBU and until recently I was a captain, I can teach Naruto and make him a force to be reckoned with," Kakashi responded calmly but there was passion in his voice.

"That's the problem Kakashi, you're ANBU, one of the best," Hiruzen said as he puffed on his pipe. The smell of tobacco filled the room but Kakashi paid it no mind.

After the Hokage lit his pipe he continued, "Kakashi, you are a major asset to this village, with the Kyuubi attack and my...student's defection, we are severely weakened. Our position as the strongest village is nothing more than smoke and mirrors to keep others from invading. I cannot allow you to withdraw from ANBU at this time. We are already too weak as it is and if you step down from ANBU, then we will be weakened even further," Hiruzen explained.

If it had been a different time, Hiruzen would fully support the idea. He saw potential in Naruto and knew he would make a splendid shinobi. However, the timing was too poor; they couldn't lose another excellent shinobi at this time.

It had actually been that reason why Hiruzen prohibited Kakashi from interacting with Naruto. He had been even against Kakashi becoming Naruto's tail but had relented when he saw how passionate he was about it; how much hell he would raise if he was denied this as well.

Kakashi nodded in understanding, he understood his village's situation and how big of a part he played in it.

Kakashi steeled himself and took a calming breath; he was about to do something very, very, very, VERY stupid. However, if it worked then the payoff would be big enough that he could teach Naruto.

He just hoped his horrible luck took a major turn for the better.

Kakashi walked forward to the Hokage's desk, confusing the weathered man greatly, before he reached up to his headband and untied it.

"If that's the case, I, Hatake Kakashi, jonin and ANBU of Konoha's forces, hereby resign," he said in an aloof tone to mask the nervousness he felt. He placed his headband on the Hokage's desk and took a step back.

There was a heavy silence, the only sound that could have been heard was the ANBU in the room taking a sharp intake of breath. The Hokage stared at Kakashi with a blank expression but Kakashi could see the surprise, shock and lastly, anger in the old man's eyes.

Kakashi briefly pondered that a few sentences seemed to change his life completely.

Hiruzen looked up at Kakashi in shock. While shinobi leaving the forces wasn't exactly uncommon, it was very dangerous for the higher ranking ones.

If you were a genin, it was as simple as handing in your headband. Genin weren't trusted with the secrets of the village so they didn't know anything worth wiping their memories for.

Chunin, on the other hand, depending on where they worked, had several memories sealed away. There was no permanent damage other than a few holes in their memory but those could be filled with fake memories by the Yamanaka's.

Jonin was a completely different story. Jonin ranked ninja knew dozens of very dangerous secrets about the village and if they were sealed away then brain damage would be the least of their worries.

It usually took a ninja years to reach the level of jonin so that was several years of experiences and missions that needed to be sealed away. When that happened then years of rehabilitation were necessary to help the ninja cope with having half of their life missing along with some brain damage that would occur during the sealing.

However, Kakashi wasn't just a jonin, he was ANBU. Hiruzen would have to double check but he was sure that there has never been ANBU that withdrew from the shinobi forces.

If they wanted to retire then they became a Jonin but they never left the forces.

While there were a few exceptions to this rule; like if a ninja went on maternity leave or they were forced to retire; then they were placed in the inactive list. They were still technically in the forces, they just didn't take missions.

Hiruzen wasn't sure the exact result if Kakashi proceeded with withdrawing but he was sure it would be something along the lines of him becoming a drooling wreck incapable of feeding himself.

Slowly, the shock and surprise left Hiruzen's eyes, leaving only anger, "You are playing a very dangerous game, Kakashi," Hiruzen said in a stern tone.

Kakashi didn't respond, he was too busy worrying if he had made a mistake. If this huge gamble didn't play out how he hoped it did than he had more or less just condemned himself to being mentally handicapped.

This entire gamble rested on the hope that he was too valuable to the village to let that happen and the Hokage would rather lose him for a year or two than lose him permanently.

Hiruzen breathed in tobacco and let it out in the form of a deep sigh, before he picked up Kakashi's headband and threw it back at him.

"You can keep that," he said in a flat tone, "but there are going to be several conditions if you want to teach Naruto."

Kakashi nodded as he tied his headband back on its rightful place, silently thanking lady luck for listening to his pleas for once.

"Firstly, you are still going to take regular missions. Since you became Naruto's guard, you've only gone on three or four missions a month. That's a major drop from your average of fifteen before. Now, your minimum is five missions a month."

Kakashi nodded, that was doable. Especially if they were assassination missions, those only took a day to complete, two depending on the difficulty.

"Secondly, you will have Naruto become genin material within a year," Hiruzen said, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock on Kakashi's face.

'That...that's going to make things difficult,' He thought. If he was going to be taking five missions a month then he was going to be gone on average a week, possibly two, out of the month. So in reality, he only had six months, give or take, to make Naruto genin material.

Not only would he have to cram four years' worth of the academy into a single year but he was going to have to do it from scratch because Naruto didn't know jack about being a ninja.

"Failure to meet those conditions will result in you being discharged from the shinobi forces and your memories will be sealed accordingly. In addition, all memories of Naruto will be sealed away," Hiruzen in a cold tone.

If Kakashi wanted to play this game then he was going to make sure that he did it right. He wasn't going to let Kakashi half-ass this like he did just about everything else.

Kakashi's eye narrowed but he nodded, "Understood Hokage-sama," he said with conviction in his tone. He would never let that happen.

Hiruzen puffed his pipe before he decided to toss Kakashi a bone, "if all of the requirements are met then Naruto will be named your apprentice and I'll allow you to retire from ANBU."

He could allow that. If, no, when, Kakashi made Naruto a genin in a year, Naruto would need a capable sensei to utilize his potential to the fullest. Kakashi was the best man for that job considering his brotherly bond with Naruto and being a prodigy himself.

However, there was another reason Hiruzen needed Naruto to become a ninja as soon as possible. It was because he was a Jinchuriki.

He needed Naruto to become a message to the other villages: "Not only do we have the strongest Bijuu but its container is also a prodigy."

That's what he needed Naruto to represent if Konoha wanted to keep its seat as the strongest village. To keep other villages away so they won't prey on them in their weakened state.

Kakashi's eye widened in surprise before he bowed, "Thank you Hokage-sama,"

"If that's all than you're dismissed,"

Naruto was practically bouncing with excitement. He had been woken up at six o'clock, something that confused him because he always woke up around eight, and saw a note telling him to be at training ground seven in thirty minutes.

At first he had been freaked out that his new sensei had broken into his apartment to leave a note and reset his alarm clock but he brushed away those concerns because he found out that Kakashi was strong!

Naruto had placed traps around his apartment in case someone ever tried to break in. It happened once before a few months ago, he wasn't home but some of the villagers had trashed his apartment. They drew on the walls, broke his stuff and tried to burn it down but the fire never caught.

Naruto had cried for hours when he came home but now he accepted the changes to his home. He placed posters over the mean words written on his walls, he replaced his carpet, something he was proud of, and used some money that Jiji gave him to buy new plates, chairs and stuff like that.

Anyway, after the event, Naruto had booby-trapped his apartment to prevent others from entering without his permission. None of the traps were deadly of course, they aimed to humiliate the intruders to the point vandalizing his home simply wasn't worth it.

When Naruto saw that Kakashi-sensei had managed to not only break in, but he did so without setting off a single trap! If he could manage that than Naruto could only imagine how strong his new teacher was!

Naruto raced to training ground seven, he had to ask directions from a ninja with a scar across his nose to get there, but he arrived ten minutes early. He was excited to see that his sensei was standing in the field with his back to him.

However, instead of running into the field like he had intended mere moments ago, Naruto felt a wave of nervousness wash over him.

What if this was a trick? What if it was a trap?

These things had happened before, people tricking him by pretending to be his friend so they could hurt him. They didn't happen anymore because he knew better but he had been so excited that Kakashi was nice that he hadn't considered the possibility.

Naruto slowed to a stop as he pondered if he trusted Kakashi. The man seemed nice, he seemed like Kakashi liked him like Jiji did.

However, Naruto knew that appearances were deceiving. People lied all the time and lying was a part of being a shinobi! If Kakashi was as strong as he thought he was then didn't that make him a good liar?

While Naruto considered himself a good judge of character, he had to become one when he was treated how he was, he didn't know if his ability to judge people surpassed Kakashi's ability to lie.

Naruto stood still for nearly a minute, filled with doubt and indecision, before he took a step forward.

He had faith in his ability and if Kakashi did turn out to be a bad guy that Naruto had faith in his ability to run away.

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask and he continued to fake his obliviousness to Naruto's presence. He was testing how much Naruto trusted him and his instincts.

He did rather well, he would have scolded the boy had he just run up to him without a second thought. However, Naruto debated if he trusted him since he only met him a handful of hours ago and decided to put faith in his abilities.

Naruto didn't know it but he already had the mindset of a shinobi.

Kakashi thought that was both a good thing and a very sad thing.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto greeted loudly as he entered the clearing.

Kakashi turned around and pretended that he hadn't noticed Naruto, "Ah, there you are! You're early," he commented as he gave the boy a disarming eye smile.

Normally, he himself would be several hours late but he really couldn't afford to waste time. So he had went to the KIA memorial a few hours earlier.

Naruto grinned at the silver haired man as he subtly examined his surroundings, he relaxed when he saw that he and Kakashi were alone.

Kakashi patted Naruto's head as he silently praised Naruto for taking in his surroundings. It made his job of turning Naruto into a genin in a single year so much easier since he already had a shinobi mindset.

"So, for us to get started, I need to know if you actually know anything about being a ninja."

"Ninja's kill and steal stuff," Naruto answered instantly, causing Kakashi to blanch. While the answer was most certainly true, it kinda hurt knowing Naruto didn't have a high opinion of him because of his job.

"Well, that's right but I was asking for stuff like if you've accessed your chakra or if you know how to throw a kunai," Kakashi stated, causing Naruto to 'oh.'

Naruto shook his head, "I don't know how to do any of that stuff, that's why I stole the books," he answered, feeling slightly guilty when he said the word stole.

Kakashi hummed in thought. While he hadn't expected any different, it was a little disheartening to see how long a road he had.

Then again, he got to teach Naruto from the ground up, if he was a quick learner then that would save time.

"Then we should start with unlocking your chakra," He said as he began to tell Naruto how to do so.

"Look deep within yourself and try to find a warm feeling in your stomach. When you find it, jump into it," Kakashi instructed. While the wording was rather vague, it had been the same instruction he was given when he unlocked his chakra.

Naruto nodded and did what he was told. He looked inside of himself as he cleared his mind of any other thought other than finding and unleashing his chakra. It took several minutes but he found the warm sensation in his stomach.

He mentally plunged himself into the feeling and he felt a reaction all over his body. It was like his entire body had fallen asleep and it awoke, bringing a prickly feeling all over.

However, it didn't feel bad! Naruto felt stronger, more alive than he had ever felt before!

Kakashi rose an eyebrow he was impressed. Not many unlocked their chakra on their first try.

"Very impressive, now take this and channel that feeling into it. This will tell me roughly how much chakra you have," he said as he gave Naruto a small piece of white paper.

It was similar to chakra paper but instead of telling you what chakra nature you had, it told you how large your reserves were. It would turn blue in the presence of chakra so the more blue you turned the paper the more chakra you had.

Naruto nodded as he accepted the paper and began focusing his chakra into it. He was surprised when he felt a sharp drain but ignored it and focused more chakra.

Several seconds later he was done and he showed the results.

Nearly half of the slip of paper had tuned into a dark blue; meaning that Naruto roughly had low jonin to high chunin chakra reserves.

'No wonder he accessed his chakra so easily. It would be hard for him not to,' Kakashi thought as he gave Naruto a pat on the head and explained what the results meant.

While having large reserves was never a bad thing in the shinobi world, it did mean Naruto was going to have a major problem with chakra control. With his reserves so large, likely because of the Kyuubi, it meant that they were going to have to prioritize chakra control for the time being.

If they didn't then it would be unlikely that Naruto would ever be able to do the clone jutsu.

That thought made Kakashi realize something.

'What about the Shadow Clone Jutsu?' He wondered to himself. Apparently Naruto had the reserves for it and it would most certainly speed up his learning process.

Kakashi gave Naruto a thoughtful look, 'No, not now. I'm not going to teach him an A-ranked jutsu on the same day he unlocked his chakra; I'll give it a few weeks and decide from there,' the masked ninja decided.

Not only were there risks but he didn't want Naruto to become used to the easy way of training. If Naruto became used to using shadow clones from the beginning then it would only hurt him in the long run.

"So I have a bunch of chakra?!" Naruto half asked and half exclaimed. He was excited, since he unlocked his chakra he had a lot more energy than he usually did.

Kakashi nodded, "Yep, a lot more than just about every other kid your age," he commented before saying, "Now, that is both a good and a bad thing," he said, causing Naruto's cheering to cease.

"How is it a bad thing?"

"Because that means you're going to have to work on chakra control a whole lot. It's really important because if you don't have good control then you're going to waste chakra whenever you use a jutsu," Kakashi explained before he handed Naruto a kunai.

Naruto looked down at the sharp piece of metal in confusion, "What do I do with this?" He asked his sensei who gave him an eye smile.

"You climb trees with it,"

They spent much of the day like that; Naruto practicing his chakra control by climbing trees without his hands, Kakashi offering tips and encouragements when the five year old became frustrated.

Kakashi didn't show it but he was very impressed with the progress Naruto had been making. Not only did he unlock his chakra but he was only a few feet away from reaching the first branch.

He was still a good while away from mastering the art of tree walking but he made great progress.

After Naruto went home, looking worse for wear but with a smile on his face, Kakashi decided to treat himself to some sweet literature and maybe a cup of tea.

Well, that had been his plan until his self-proclaimed rival saw him.

"Hell-o Kakashi! How is my most youthful rival doing this most beautiful evening?" Gai said, doing his best to sound...well, youthful.

Kakashi considered pretending that he hadn't heard his longtime friend just to rile him up but he was in a good mood, "Oh hey Gai, I'm doing rather well actually," Kakashi said as he flipped the page to his little book.

Gai's eyes widened; Kakashi was never in a 'good' mood! He was always either in a 'meh' or 'fine' mood! Something must have happened for his eternal rival to be in an exceptional mood!

"What happened?" Gai asked as he fell in step with Kakashi.

"I'm training Naruto," he said simply and chuckled when he saw Gai's surprised and worried look, "with the Hokage's permission of course," he added.

Gai stopped moving for several seconds, even though Kakashi kept on moving, before he yelled at the top of his lungs, "HOW YOUTHFUL OF THE HOKAGE-SAMA!" he yelled as tears ran down his cheeks.

Gai ignored the crazy looks he got from the civilians and caught up to Kakashi, "But why now? He would only let you be Naruto-kun's guard before," Gai asked in confusion.

"I threatened to resign," was all Kakashi said as he gave his rival an eye smile.

He nearly laughed when he saw Gai's jaw drop in shock and before he even had to ask, Kakashi quickly explained the situation to him.

Gai didn't interrupt once during Kakashi's explanation, a rare occurrence for him. Once Kakashi finished he nodded in understanding.

"So you have to make young Naruto-kun eligible to take the genin exam in a single year," he said in a serious tone. That was no easy task; there was a reason that the academy was a four year program.

Kakashi nodded, "Yep, and I have to do it while doing five missions a month," Kakashi said with a hint of a sigh. It certainly would be a challenge but Kakashi was sure that he could complete it.

Suddenly Gai gave him his signature nice guy pose, his teeth even sparkled in the dying sun's light, "How about I help you train young Naruto-kun when you're off youthfully helping out the village?" He said in a youthful tone.

Kakashi seemed to think about the offer for a brief few seconds. Could he do that, he wondered? The Hokage never said anything about him not getting help to train Naruto so it technically wasn't against the rules.

It would be a serious help too! He didn't know if he could trust Naruto to keep up his own training yet. It would also mean that he wouldn't have to worry as much about Naruto's taijutsu since Konoha's number one taijutsu expert was teaching him.

Kakashi gave Gai an eye smile, "That would be a help," he said and Gai began to shout about the youthfulness of gaining a student.

Naruto crawled into bed, his entire body ached but he was glad for the weariness. It meant that he was getting stronger already!

Not only was he getting stronger but he had learned to walk up freakin' walls! How cool was that? He didn't even know something like that existed or could be done with chakra!

He had asked Kakashi about what else chakra could do and he found out that after he mastered tree walking than he would learn how to walk on water! What could possibly be cooler than that?

Naruto grinned as he stared up at his ceiling. He had been a little cautious around Kakashi at first but now Naruto could honestly say that the masked ninja was now his second favorite person, Jiji being number one of course.

The man seemed to genuinely care about him and his goal and Naruto didn't want to let him down.

That was the reason he forced himself up and practiced tree walking on his walls.

That's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Tell me what I did right and what I did wrong and any neat ideas you have for this story!

Also, a big thank you to savethetub, who's a good friend of mine in real life, for helping me come up with the idea for this story and letting me borrow a few elements from his.