Naruto: The Path of the Sage

Prologue: The Beginning after the end

The beginning of the new year after the Fourth Great Ninja War…

The last few months after the battle with Kaguya and then straight after that dispelling the Infinite Tsukuyomi cast by Uchiha Madara only after one last fight with Sasuke that decided the fate of the world. But all was good as he turned over a new leaf giving Naruto his full support and at long last his respect for his capabilities. Then there was peace over the Shinobi nations, no major wars just a few skirmishes and criminals who were easy enough to persuade (put that however you want it), his friends now spent a lot more time hanging out with even more reserve than before thanks to all major conflicts coming to an end to his joy and most of all, the family he made was once again back together even if Neji was resting in a better place. The only real downside during the last few months was that Naruto had so much to talk about with him but the guy just had to be put in prison, he wasn't going to lie he understood the way things worked better than most people give him credit for but still… no need for all that chain and bonds crap, but what was even more infuriating was that after Kakashi-sensei's inauguration to become the 6th Hokage to use his authority to clear Sasuke of any crimes and Naruto's own reasoning to further push for his freedom, the freaking teme decides to go on a 'guilt trip' literally. But it was for his own good rather than ours so we all understand, and I'm glad to see that underneath all that cool demeanor he subtly hinted at returning Sakura-chan's feelings with that poke to her forehead, that moment for some reason made me want to do what Lee does; cry tears of joy seeing both my teammates who I saw as the closest things to a brother and sister get together but I did envy them wondering if I would ever get to know what that felt like.

Naruto's POV

After Sasuke-teme's departure, we all split up back in the village to get back on with our lives and whilst I was wandering around the village with a few people greeting me with a little too much glorification in my eyes, but all the same gave my usual grin as I found respectful and was stopped by an Anbu who asked me to go to the Academy as requested by Lord Sixth, Kakashi-sensei.

I quickly made my way there and headed toward my old classroom and saw Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei waiting there.

I greeted "Oh, Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei, what are you guys here for?"

They greeted me and we made some small talk for a while, eventually Kakashi got straight to the point and asked me "Naruto, you never got to take the Chunin exams right?" I nodded "Well… By my authority as the Sixth Hokage, I promote you to Jonin…" I stood there dumbfounded with a look of pure shock of joy until "… after you finish three years of studying"I ended panicking and tried running out the window proclaiming I'd just stay a genin until I'm Hokage. But I was knocked out of my panicking when I heard Konohamaru tell me my own words "There are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage! You aren't giving up before even trying, are you?". This came along with another statement from Kakashi who told me what it took to become Hokage; it takes more than being a powerful ninja, but a sharp mind and making harsh decision for the sake of the village. So I ended up giving studying a go… which at the end of the lesson I was braindead and Iruka-sensei told me another three of studying like this then I'll be finished in no time.

Which leads me as to why I'm at Ichiraku's eating away my fatigue telling my day to Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-neechan who were happily listening. As I was so absorbed in my ramen and storytelling, I almost didn't register the fact a few people entered the stall, I turned around and saw Team 8: Kiba, Shino and Hinata (arf! Don't forget me!)… oh yeah and Akamaru too. For some reason, I really liked spending time with them, even if Kiba is a bit mean, Shino being a bit hard to understand and Hinata's natural soft and caring nature that made me for some reason not wanting to make feel uncomfortable around me. Akamaru is fine as he has Kiba around. It didn't change the fact they were some of the only few who saw me for who I was back during our Academy days and so I started a conversation.

"Hey guys! How y'all been!?" I hollered.

Shino gave me a nod and Hinata gave me a small smile and a hello whereas Kiba responded with "Yo! If it isn't the Naruto or should I say the Hero of the Fourth Great Ninja War!" I did feel pride in those words especially coming from a person I can call a friend, but a part of me felt put off by that title.

"Really? I just did what everyone else did and fought the enemy during the war like everyone else, tebayo!" I replied trying my best to be modest about the topic without taking away from the atmosphere.

Surprisingly Hinata spoke up "No Naruto, you did so much more than that! You lead the Five Allied Shinobi Nations Alliance during the most difficult time against Madara and the Ten-tails, you inspired everyone to keep fighting with your words when we wanted to give up, saved Gai-sensei from an inevitable death and saved the whole world from the Infinite Tsukuyomi! So, tell us what doesn't make you a hero?" with a conviction she rarely shows at times when its necessary, hell she didn't even blush or stutter during that speech to the point I couldn't form words and probably look stupid.

Shino nodded and added his two-cents "Hinata-san is right, that is because…"and said some long-complicated statement about how she was right and that I was a hero even though I barely understood less than half of what he said. Should I be worried about my Jounin studies if I couldn't understand much of what he said… I'll worry about that later.

Honestly, I was flattered, but mostly by what Hinata had to say and I was so mesmerised by her unique character and sincerity behind her words that I found myself staring intently at her which cause her face to flush pink and fidget with her fingers whilst looking down.

Third Person

Being the oblivious and brash guy that only Naruto was, he quickly regained his happy composure and gave Hinata a huge grin that made her shy away even more. However, that didn't stop him from saying what he said next.

"Thanks, Hinata! But I think you're selling yourself short!" he put out and Hinata looked up confused but still embarrassed from his attention.

"I may have did all that, but do y'know who made that possible…?" with a dramatic pause that made Hinata wonder who, whereas Kiba was actually interested in what Naruto was going to say next and even Shino was paying close attention to him but you wouldn't notice due to his sunglasses.

"… IT WAS YOU HINATA!" Naruto shouted out, this declaration made Kiba and Shino confused but kinda happy with where this was going, especially with Hinata going all red and sputtering due to Naruto saying she was responsible for his achievements.

He continued on with a much calmer demeanour in contrast to before "When I thought about giving up so no one else would die because of me, I really wanted to give up. But you slapped some sense into me, you told me that everyone who died gave their lives for a good reason; to fight for a world to make our dreams a reality and live in peace and you held my hand and stood by my side. You helped me find my strength again, you brought me back from my darkest moment and because of that the Shinobi Alliance could win in the end. So Hinata, even if I ended the war with Sasuke, you were responsible for making it happen…" Hinata listened closely and this time she in a daze at what she was hearing from the boy, now man who had her heart and she was blown away by what she heard next "… even if you are a bit shy and quiet, that doesn't change the fact that to me you are my hero!" He exclaimed. With that Kiba was smiling at the two and Shino gave a small smirk. Hinata just stood there captivated.

However, she wasn't for long as Naruto swept her off feet in bridal style eliciting an audible "EPP!" from her, he then said "And for that guys, we should celebrate that we have someone as amazing as her among us, ramen is on me dattebayo!" while he gently plopped a blushing Hinata down on a stool next to him. Kiba gave a small chuckle whereas Shino had a wide smirk on his hidden face towards the comical scene, Shino then replied "If that's the case me and Kiba will be celebrating outside", Kiba nodded in response as he knew what he was up to and walked out with him after ordering a large serving of Gyoza for him and Akamaru, and some plain soba for Shino. Naruto was a little confused, but paid no mind to it and went back to ordering a huge number of miso ramen for both himself and Hinata, it never ceases to amaze him just how much she could eat; he swore it had something to do with the 'things' on her chest. He started a conversation with Hinata by asking her about what she has been up to lately, which she manage to stutter out that she has mostly been training and hanging out with Team 8 and visiting Kurenai-sensei and her baby. In response, he told her he understands how spending time with Kiba, Kurenai-sensei and her baby is considered hanging out but why Shino, he barely talks and anything he says is more like a riddle than a conversation he joked making Hinata stifle a giggle and in a mock serious voice "Naruto-kun! That's not nice!" but Naruto broke her into a full-blown laughing frenzy with "What can I say!? Just like his bugs he plants on people, he slides into the any group without anyone noticing" he added with a shrug, then to add to top it off he ended it quietly with "Shino and I could have done so many pranks back then if he talked just with me rather than his bugs at the same time", at this point even Kiba was laughing at Shino's expense but if one looked closely you could see him shaking a bit from anger? Or laughter?

A good half an hour or 15th bowl of ramen for both Naruto and Hinata, into the celebration, Kiba and Shino already said their goodbyes leaving them both at Ichiraku's Ramen. After talking a bit, Hinata mentioned something about the how she wished her home had a bit more colourful flowers in the compound to emulate the atmosphere that Ichiraku's gave off (Naruto actually), he surprised her with his sudden mentioning of a grass type plant that blooms white glowing leaves tinted with a gold hue that also grows lavender fruit (I don't know the name, I saw it grow in my garden at one point, I just put it in because Naruto is surprising good with flowers since he has his own garden). Hinata's eyes sparkled and she was suddenly more outgoing wanting to know more about the plants he nurtured as all the flowers he mentioned she has never heard of which was strange to him since you'd think a rich family would have the rarest of things, he was delighted to know that she liked gardening as much as he did and promised to show her when she could see him again.

Another half an hour later, they finished their ramen competition with Hinata winning by 16 bowls which had Naruto pouting that she had an unfair advantage whilst looking at her chest, but she didn't realise that was the case. They talked to each other on their ways home and split up afterwards saying "seeya later" to each other. Naruto went back home for some unknown reason feeling happy due to the warm feeling in his belly and chest staying with him for the rest of the day, but he decided not to ponder why that was but hope to spend more time with Hinata soon.

With today's events over, Naruto arrived at his little apartment which contrary to what others may believe, was very neat and clean save for a cob web in the corner of the ceiling or two. Even the unexpected large stash of books and scrolls in the two corners of his bedroom was quite organised despite being considered messy by his standards and he was no neat freak either. Never the less this was what he was looking for, he picked up a book and three scrolls that were part of his heritage he received from Kakashi-sensei when he became the Sixth Hokage after today's lesson.

With a look of determination and eagerness for what he was about to learn, he entered his mindscape and greeted Kurama "Yo, Kurama-chan!", the fox yelled back in response "Don't you ever called me that Kit!". Laughing at how easy it was to unnerve Kurama Naruto apologised before asking seriously "You ready to start working on Fuinjutsu Kurama?", the giant fox in question nodded "I am, I've picked a thing or two about it as I always was at the receiving end of it" Naruto chuckled "Quiet Kit, anyway, even with my timeless knowledge, Fuinjutsu isn't exactly a straight-forward art, sure you can know all the basics and all the advance knowledge, but even then only a few people can be called seal masters, hell even Hagoromo couldn't be called one as he just did with only chakra at his command when he seal the Jubi. It was until your ancestor Ashura, that sealing became a thing and I would consider him to be a seals master."

Naruto let this information sink in, but remained undeterred "I don't care, that was what they could do, I know I'm not the sharpest when it comes to theory, but I do know I have a lot of ideas I want to try out so even if it takes a while, I won't give up trying to be the best I can be at what I was supposed to be born for, dattebayo!" Kurama just observed him intently before cracking up "oh boy, you never will change that will of fire of yours, well not to blow smoke up your ass, you being an Uzumaki and better yet a reincarnation of Ashura, you find you will have the strongest natural affinity for Fuinjutsu meaning you could potentially become the next greatest seal master after him, your father and that perverted Godfather of yours. But even then, you gotta work for it Kit" Naruto replied "I wouldn't have it any other way! No point getting something if it was easy tebayo!?" Kurama nodded, "By the way…" Naruto continued "I wanna train myself in a few new way since I got the Super Gramps to awaken my Six Paths Yang Chakra, y'know how you have a tendency towards an element or two, it affects your fighting style including taijutsu" Kurama grunted in understanding "I was wondering since I have all five elemental affinities being pretty strong already, maybe I could mix in a few basic moves from each derived elemental fighting style and make my own style being unpredictable as people say, so I could make let's say 'Uzumaki Style: Naruto's Six Paths Yang (light, life force or physical) Spiral Storm Fist'! or 'Six Paths Yang fist' for short" instead of laughing like Naruto was, Kurama actually was quite taken back with his suggestion "that could work" he blurted out and Naruto was knocked out of his laughing fit out of shock.

"Kit, get ready since we are gonna grind you into the ground with what we have planned for you" Kurama said evilly, "Wait I only know that we plan on studying Fuin and maybe Shinobi training but nothing else I know from you! What is it!?" Naruto screamed.

Kurama said in a dark voice "We are making you someone on par if not better than the Sage". Naruto gulped.

And that is how his journey to becoming a sage of Hagoromo's level began.

There you guys go, this is my first Naruto fanfiction but don't let that stop you people from giving me honest reviews because it helps me improve my writing and story planning.

Well as you can see, I added in my own theories to this fanfic about the Naruto universe. I have seen in some instances that Naruto shows signs of already knowing how to do most of these things without actually knowing what they are such as his Henge being an actual transformation rather than an illusion. So in my fanfic, it'll have Naruto being able to create his own seals before he even serious studied them since he must have pull out the random ninja tool from somewhere. As the story moves on, I'll go on about Naruto's true feelings towards Hinata as well as why he hasn't responded to her confession.

Tell me what you guys think of the development between Naruto and Hinata as well.