OoO

It had been a few days since Minato had passed away and in its wake lay discord and disharmony….well that might've also been because of you know, the rampaging giant Fox but whatever.

Anyways, back to the point, a plebiscite was being held in the council room of the Daimyō of Hi no Kuni.

The Daimyō was a fickle man, he could be swayed by a strong enough idea which was not quite good considering he was to appoint the next hokage of Konohagakure no Sato.

There was a heated debate going on in the room between the finance minister and the chief minister of the Daimyō.

Shikaku Nara, The ANBU division commander and the three elders along with the Sandaime were present on one side of the table to represent the village. The Finance minister, the Head of the Twelve Guardian Ninjas who was represented by Chiriku, the Chief Minister and some other ambiguous ministers.

"-which is why Shimura Danzo should be made Hokage."

"But Sarutobi-sama has led this village to glory through Second and the Third War. He helped make the Sannin what they are today and his student Jiraiya-sama helped create the Konoha's Yellow Flash who was a big factor in why we won the Third War. Don't you see? Sarutobi-sama is the best bet we have at staving off a potential attack on Hi no Kuni! " the finance minister said to which almost all agreed.

"Aye, I hereby appoint Sarutobi-dono as the successor to Namikaze-dono, may Kami rest his soul." Daimyō said as he waved a fan over his face.

The Chief Minister was left a spluttering mess as well as red-faced.

"Now Hokage-dono, what is the status of our shinobi force? How much damage has the rampaging of the beast caused?" the Daimyō asked, fanning himself.

"Daimyō-dono, our shinobi force is relatively stable and the death toll has been less than fifty with many wounded, thanks to the Yondaime who transported the Kyuubi out of village territory and into the forest surrounding it. That one act saved the lives of hundreds if not thousands." Sarutobi responded.

"Good, I trust you to handle the rest of it, we don't want war when we've just achieved peace." The Daimyō said.

"Daimyō-sama, one more thing to be added, Namikaze-dono's wife gave birth to a son on the day of the Kyuubi's rampage. He entrusted the care of his child to the Toads of Mount Myoboku and the clans of Konoha. His last wish was that the existence of his son would be kept a secret lest assassins be sent after him." The Hokage finished, the Daimyō had to know that Naruto was alive, he couldn't keep that secret from his country's leader.

"My-My, Kushina-san gave birth?! That's good news, the Uzumaki line lives on in the village. Did Namikaze-dono leave any guardians appointed to him?" Daimyō seemed excited at the prospect of one of his favorite Hokage's line having lived on.

"Yes, he did. Jiraiya of the Sannin is his Godfather but he also asked Kakashi of the Sharingan to look after him as well. Kakashi was his only surviving student." Shikaku spoke.

"Good, he's in fine hands then. I look forward to seeing his escapades." The Daimyō laughed a mirthful laughter.

"This council is adjourned now, I'll expect reports from you Hokage-dono about the status of the village." Th Daimyō said in a commanding manner.

OoO

(Eleven Years Later)

The forests surrounding Konoha were said to be created by the Shodaime Hokage, Hashirama Senju with his Wood Release powers. These forest gave the village it's moniker of Village Hidden in Leaves.

And right now, walking between these trees was a pair of Godson and Godfather.

"How much longer Raiya?!" the boy asked his Godfather.

Jiraiya looked at his Godson with longing in his eyes, he was so much like his father and yet when emotions got the better of him or he was excited, he could act so similar to his mother that it was frightening.

It seemed that he had also inherited her verbal tick, Dattebayo he says.

The majestic gates of Konoha were in sight and Naruto could barely hold in his excitement.

Eleven years, for Eleven years he had dreamed of this place…well make that nine years as he had yet to know about this place.

He had lived with the toads for eleven years, for the first three years, he thought he was a toad as well, just a different looking toad but then Raiya had come to visit him.

He said that he had visited him countless time before….which might have been true because he never seemed to remember his first three years of life. He only remembered bits and piece of it, which was not so much.

Year five brought his Kaka-nii to meet him and in year eight figured out his dad's identity.

Life on Myobokuzan was peaceful and perfect, he was taught etiquette by Ma and politics by Pa. A foreign taijutsu style by Gamashao-sensei. They weren't just preparing him for the academy, they were preparing him for the world. Even though the life was perfect…he thought it lacked something…which meant it was not as perfect as he used to think.

He had only ever met two humans, Jiraiya-jiji and Kakashi-nii

So when he got to know that he would be going to Konoha Ninja Academy to complete his final year there, he had been excited, so excited that he hadn't slept the day before they left on their month long journey.

They entered through the gates and were greeted with the sight of two chunin guards' playing cards while eating snacks

The first one to spot Jiraiya, Izumo broke out of his stupor and started pointing at them.

"Ha! You think you can fool me with that again? You just want to take a peek at my cards don't you?" the other chunin, Kotetsu said before folding his cards.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Izumo finally blurted out.

"Yeah…..no" Kotetsu said as he reached for his snack when someone coughed behind him.

"Rijaya-sama! I me-mean Jiraiya-sama! What are you doing here?!" Kotetsu said through this surprise.

"Here to report to Hokage, also brought someone Hokage wanted to see." Jiraiya said, bringing attention towards Naruto.

He greeted the chunins, "Nice to meet you, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uzumaki! Hey-hey Izumo, do you think that he's-he is her son?" Kotetsu whispered to his partner.

"Shhh! Not now Kotetsu" Izumo shushed his friend.

Handing them a very important looking scroll, Jiraiya started walking ahead, he didn't even wait for them to open the scroll.

Naruto followed after him in awe, his godfather was so cool!

Naruto took everything in as he walked the streets of Konoha, the hustle and bustle of the village, so many people in a single place had him in awe.

Jiraiya led them into a bulky red tower in front of the Hokage Monument. They climbed three flights of stairs and walked through a winding hallway before they reached a room with broad oak doors, the doors shone as if they had just been polished.

As soon as they passed through the rooms, the smell of tobacco hit Naruto's nostrils and he knew that it was tobacco for the fact that he and Gamakichi had tried to smoke a pipe once, to look cool like Gamabunta. The horrendous coughs that had followed didn't help them much in looking cool.

The Hokage was sitting behind his desk, smoking a pipe and looking cool. Gods! What was with pipes that made people look cool? Naruto wondered but he forgot all about it as the room seemed to fall silent.

The Hokage regarded Naruto with an appraising look before his eyes crinkled up in a honest smile.

"Ah, Naruto-kun, you've grown up! It feels just like yesterday that I saw you. How have you been?" He said to Naruto tenderly.

Naruto was silent for his part, he was in presence of The Professor, the God of Shinobi, the Hokage for God's sake. The question went over his head as he was basking in the warm yet powerful chakra of the man before him.

"Ruto! Answer the old man." Jiraiya prodded him from the side.

"Uh…could you repeat that please?" Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I was in a zone….your chakra felt nice."

"Ah! A sensor." Sarutobi said in silent awe, this was not in Jiraiya's reports.

"You both are just in time, final year of academy starts two days from now. Perfect time to get him enrolled isn't it?" Sarutobi pointed out.

Naruto looked excited and nervous and the academy hadn't even started yet!

He kept looking out the window, wanting to explore the huge village. Seeing him practically bounce on his feet, Sarutobi said, "You can go see the village Naruto-kun, I just have to talk to Jiraiya about some other matters." At being given the permission to officially start his adventure by the Hokage, Naruto practically jumped in joy. He looked to his Godfather and when he got the nod, he walked outside, giddy with excitement.

Normally he wasn't like this, he was calm and collected but this was his first venture outside of Mount Myobokuzan. He had practiced for this day ever since he had been told that at some point in life he would have to live with other humans.

But exploring could wait, he first had to pay his respect to his parents. So he started walking towards the grave remembering the first time he was told about his parents.

*FLASHBACK*

Eight year Naruto was a smart boy, he had finally signed the toad contract and he couldn't help but beam in pride at the fact that he had signed the same contract as the fabled Yondaime.

He had grown up hearing the tales of his personal legend, Minato Namikaze. The story of how he had gone toe to toe with the Hachibi jinchuriki and the now-Yondaime Raikage to how he had defeated Kyuubi no Yoko with the help of Bunta (that only made Bunta even cooler!).

But somethings kept bugging him, like why he was the only non-toad to live on Mount Myoboku or why Kakashi-nii came to visit him?

He had slowly started piecing together the truth but it wasn't until he signed the Toad Contract did it all make sense.

Kakashi had once told him during a story how he was Yondaime's student. Also wasn't Jiraiya-jiji Yondaime's sensei?

Why were two people who were close to the Yondaime looking after him? Why would the toads, Yondaime's summons care after him? After bringing all those things together in one picture, the answer seemed simple. He was a direct relative of the Yondaime, which was the only seeming answer to his little mind.

So one day Naruto, when Jiraiya had come to visit him, he asked him a blunt question directly, "Raiya-jiji, Was the Yondaime my father?"

Jiraiya for his part didn't sputter or act surprised…that would've been too clichéd. He was a spymaster, he knew how to handle these situations and handle he did.

"I'll respond with my own question, what brought you to this conclusion?" And so Naruto had told him about his deductions and Jiraiya inwardly whistled, 'Damn Minato, your boy is something else.'

So Jiraiya had told Naruto about his Father, and his mother and the Kyuubi…though the Kyuubi part wouldn't be for a while later though.

*FLASHBACK END*

Naruto didn't know what to feel about his parents, though he thought it was awesome that his father was the fabled Yondaime, he didn't know what to feel about them from the bottom of the heart.

He had never felt the loss of his parents like the other orphans might, he had a loving family…even though most of them were toads the fact that he had forged some strong emotional bonds with them was undeniable.

Undeniably, a warm feeling would encompass him whenever he heard stories of how his parents had loved him and all the things they had planned for when he would've been born.

He sort of resented Kyuubi for what might have been, but Kyuubi had been under another man's control so maybe the Kyuubi wasn't at fault either. The hate came and went away, it never festered because Naruto was surrounded by people he loved and those people loved him back.

He was drifting through village at a sedate speed, step by step making his way to the Memorial Stone.

He spotted a Flower Shop in the less populated area of the village which was coincidentally also near the Memorial Stone.

He thought of getting some flowers for them, maybe as an offering for bringing him into this world…..yeah maybe he should get some flowers.

As he opened the door to the shop, the bell above the door chimed from the motion. A blue eyed, blonde girl looked up from the magazine at the sound.

"Welcome to Yamanaka's Flower Shop, how can I help you?!" she said with a synthetic cheer in her voice.

"Uh...I'm here to buy flowers for my parents-" he didn't even finish the sentence before the girl's eyes twinkled with an unreal gleam.

"Ah! Is it there anniversary?!" she asked with hearts beating in her eyes.

"No" Naruto said with a sullen look. Explaining to someone that his parents were dead was harder than he thought. There was a psychic ache in his chest as he said, "it's for their gravestone."

"Oh…." Ino said as she measured the awkwardness of the situation, "I'm sorry!" she quickly added.

"No-no, it's alright. I probably shouldn't have led with that sentence. You don't need to apologize." Naruto said with a sad but a genuine smile.

"Here, let me help you with the flowers." She said as she led him deeper in the shop.

"A chrysanthemum surrounded by pink carnations. They symbolize your grief and remembrance of your parents." She said.

"Oh" was all Naruto said.

She led him back to the counter and arranged the flowers in a bouquet.

"The bouquet is on the house." She said as she handed him the bouquet with a cheerful smile.

"Oh." Was all Naruto said as he exited the shop in a….daze?

OoO

Placing the bouquet in front of the stone, Naruto said a quick prayer for his parents' departed souls.

He stood there for a few minutes in silence, just standing. He didn't know what to say, from what he had heard, his parents had loved him even if they only knew him for a short time but he couldn't say the feeling was mutual. He knew that deep down he should feel something, some form of sadness at being here but he didn't.

For him, his parents were the Elder Toads and Jiraiya being a stern yet loving grandfather, and the other Toads and Kakashi being an extended family that he loved from his heart and wanted to protect but that didn't mean that he hated his real parents. They weren't just there for him to feel anything towards them.

Maybe if he had being raised by them as the toads had raised him, he was sure that he would've loved them just like he did Ma and Pa. So he stood there and said thank you, thank you for creating him, thank you for bringing him into the world, thank you for giving him the chance to meet his current family.

After being there and expressing his gratitude, he turned around and walked towards the village, never once looking back.

OoO

Hokage Tower

"So Jiraiya, you never told me he was a sensor….any reason why?" Sarutobi asked as he inhaled from his pipe.

"His sensing abilities started surfacing only two months back, I thought that I might as well report it to you when we meet in person." he said nonchalantly.

"Ah, alright then. I've rented a place for both of you in the Shinobi quarters. It's a spacious two bedroom apartment, I hope that it will meet both your expectations." Sarutobi said changing the subject.

"Oh nonononono! I see what you're doing, first it's me living in the village and then next thing I know, you will be placing that hat on me. I know all your schemes Old Man, I'm smart like that." Jiraiya said motioning with his hands in denial.

"Jiraiya-kun, I'm not trying to do anything of that sorts, I'm just looking after Naruto-kun. He can't very well live with Kakashi as he's on missions and he isn't used to living alone. Would you let the poor boy fend for himself?" Sarutobi asked guilt tripping his student.

"Well when you put it that way, I will stay till he graduates but I expect missions and not those C-rank missions I'll tell you. I still need to maintain my Spy ring and need to do research, can't have the Great Jiraiya-sama being tied down to one place now, can we? I'll admit him into the academy today and then go do my research!" Jiraiya said as he exited the room….this man had his priorities straight, that was for sure

Only Sarutobi was left in the room, as he exhaled the smoke, one thought came to his mind. I won't let you down Minato.

OoO

It was evening and Naruto was now scoping out the places where he would be spending his life for a considerable time. He was near the grounds behind the academy when he heard the telltale sound of shurikens hitting the trees.

Curious to see as to who would be practicing at this time of the evening, Naruto made his way to the clearing.

There, a boy just about his age was practicing his shurikenjutsu. Naruto kept watching for a few minutes as the boy hit bull's yes eight out of ten times. This guy's gooooood! He thought.

"You can come out now, I know you've been watching." The boy said loudly in a monotone voice for Naruto to hear.

So he came out of the shadows and into the light of the setting sun. The boy wore the crest of Uchiha clan on his back, he had coal black eyes which to Naruto seemed like could look into one's soul.

"I was just scoping out the academy when I heard you practicing your shurikenjutsu, so I stayed and watched. You're really good at it to be honest." Naruto pointed out.

"Oh, thanks. I'm not as good as my nii-san to be honest." The boy said rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Uchiha Sasuke." The boy said, offering his hand to Naruto.

Naruto was a bit unsure of what to do, he had never met a human before but when he saw the look of hurt on the boy's face, he shook the boy's hand with fervor.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Pleased to meet you!"

OoO

There are some changes in this version of story, you'll see it as we move forward. For one, Sasuke is not a douchebag, he hasn't been affected by the curse of hatred….yet.

Please read and review and I hope you guys have a great day :)