A/N: Hello there and welcome to the second chapter of Naruto Unleashed, and let me just say, thank you. You guys and gals rock! Seriously, you all went crazy on the last chapter, favoriting, following and reviewing like no tomorrow! At this moment this story has 57 Reviews, 306 Favs and 430 Follows, those are crazy numbers right there!

Now normally I don't like to write my author's notes at the beginning of my chapters, but I just wanted to take the time to thank everyone that Reviewed, Followed and Favorited, thank you all! I hope that this chapter is up to your standards.

Now then, with that out of the way, let's continue with the story, have fun!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; all rights go to the original owner.

~Naruto Unleashed~

Chapter Two: A Slice of Life

'Shit!' Naruto screamed mentally as he dodged yet another hail of thrown Shuriken. Back flipping toward a nearby tree, the twelve-year-old Genin was forced to substitute with a nearby log to avoid death by impalement. Four Shuriken embedded themselves in the wood only split seconds after Naruto made it to safety.

Deftly regaining his balance after his impromptu substitution, Naruto phased into a sloppy Shunshin. He reappeared, engaging his opponent in a flurry of taijutsu strikes, though Naruto had no luck whatsoever. His opponent was faster, stronger and simply more skilled than him, he could only hope for a lucky shot to get through his enemies' guard.

Thinking quickly, Naruto reached into his hip pouch and felt the cool metal of a Kunai slip into his grasp. In one fluent motion he drew the knife from the pouch and swiped it at his opponent in a wide arc.

Unfortunately for the young blonde, his assailant dodged the sweeping slash that was aimed at the throat with almost casual ease, moving quickly to gain some distance from Naruto. A few hand-seals later and a large Suiton: Teppōdama (Gunshot) flew at the Genin, who barely managed to dodge.

Across the clearing Naruto too flipped through a quick series of hand-signs all the while he cursed his lack of talent in using said skill, still a few seconds was all it took before Naruto's own, far smaller and slower Teppōdama soared through the air, though predictably his opponent simply jumped aside.

'Still not good enough.' Naruto cursed himself. 'Why is it that I just have to suck at hand-signs?' And Naruto was right, he was no genius in other areas of combat, but he was descent enough, though when it came to hand-seals, it was as if Naruto had two left hands.

It was nothing that hard work couldn't fix, but so far it only served to annoy the blonde Genin.

Naruto once again cursed himself, this time it was for getting lost in thought during a battle and he only had split seconds to move his head aside, though he wasn't fast enough and a Shuriken grazed his cheek, giving him a shallow cut; nothing that his amplified healing wouldn't heal but it stung badly.

With his head back in the game, Naruto followed his opponents' example, reaching down to the Holster attached to his right leg, he pulled out five Kunai and promptly threw them at his assailant. Naruto's brow furrowed as all five Kunai managed to hit their target and his enemy fell.

'Somethings wrong, there's no way that sensei would let himself be hit by my Kunai.' Naruto was right, the form of his sensei puffed away to reveal a log. 'Damnit, he did a Kawarimi (Substitution) and hid it beneath a low-level Genjutsu.'

Naruto's blue eyes sharpened as he looked around, he pulled out a Kunai and gripped it tightly as he moved into the Academy Taijutsu Style's defensive stance. A low whistle drew Naruto's attention to the left where he saw dozens of Kunai and Shuriken fly out of the woods, all headed towards him and they were far too spread out to dodge them all. Which left him with only one other option, quickly pulling out a second Kunai he began to deflect the hail of steel with both his arms. He moved quick, his arms becoming nothing but blurs as he tried to defend his vitals. Kunai and Shuriken grazed and cut into his arms and legs, but none hit vital or debilitating areas, which was all that mattered.

Once the hail of deadly projectiles ended Naruto was out of breath, sore and most importantly distracted. So much so that he did not notice the figure that stalked at him from behind. Before the blonde Genin could react, he felt the cold steel of a Kunai dig into his throat, hard enough to break skin and draw a trickle of blood.

"Ah damnit!" Naruto's reaction of throwing his arms into the air and cursing might've been surprising to anyone watching the scene play out before them, but to the two fighters it had become quite normal. "One of these day's I'll get you sensei!"

"But that day is not today." The figure behind Naruto spoke before taking the knife from the blondes' throat. "But you did well Naruto, honestly, your growth is phenomenal."

"Thanks Yamato-sense!" Naruto rubbed his sore throat with a grimace. "But honestly, do you always have to cut me during sparring matches? If I didn't have my enhanced healing those wounds would scar over!"

"Well, who said that you are the only one that can take advantage of your durability?" Naruto sweat dropped as his sensei casually stated that he was being that brutal because Naruto could take it. "Besides, pain is the best teacher."

Naruto proceeded to give the masked man a deadpan. "Right."

"You shouldn't complain Naruto, the maneuver that I just used was the same that your very own father had once used on his Genin team." Yamato stated, "only that your father was even more brutal than I."

"Fine! I get it, no pain no gain!" Naruto threw his hands into the air exasperatedly. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"None of us do." As Yamato said that an image of a certain snake using Kunoichi flashed through his mind. 'Okay, most of us don't…'

"So, what's next? Another round of torture the Genin?" Naruto asked as he gave the ANBU the stink eye.

Yamato chuckled sheepishly. He might've been a bit too brutal during the first few days of training. Hey! He was personally trained by the number one hard ass of the Village! It might've been brutal, but Yamato turned out a fine Shinobi, there was no reason to assume that the same wouldn't work on Naruto as well.

"No, I think that this was enough for one day, you can leave…"

"Really!?" Naruto grinned at the ANBU, looking like an eager puppy.

"…Yes, you can leave and have the rest of the day off…AFTER you ran twenty laps around Konoha." It was hard, so hard for Yamato to stop himself from chuckling like an evil maniac, but that look of despair on Naruto's face was just too adorable.

'Ah it's fun to mess with my cute little student.'

Somewhere in Konoha Kakashi suddenly sneezed before looking around frantically, after assuring himself that it was nothing, he once more raised his Icha Icha and continued walking.

"Sensei, I hate you." Naruto grumbled but did as he was told. "I hate you so much."

Yamato chuckled and shook his head as he watched his temporary student run off at a brisk pace, no doubt hoping to get the laps over with as quickly as he could. Yamato didn't give the boy much time off, so even a stamina freak like Naruto was happy for every moment of rest that he could get.

'Though if Naruto continues to improve the way he did over the last few days, then there truly is nothing that he couldn't accomplish.' Yamato inwardly praised his student, praise that was well deserved.

Naruto had taken to Yamato's training like a fish to water. Only seven days passed since training had begun and after the first day, Yamato had taken off the kiddy gloves.

Training started at 4am sharp, if Naruto was late the punishment was running laps around Konoha. The first time were ten laps, the second twenty, then forty and so on, each time the Genin was late, the punishment doubled.

Yamato had found out that that was a very good way to motivate Naruto to do what he was told. And the punishment didn't even cut into the Genin's training time. After all, as Naruto ran laps, Yamato could simply teach the boy's Kage Bunshin.

'Kami bless Naruto's massive chakra reserves. The Shadow Clones make teaching the kid a breeze.' Though Yamato couldn't help the sudden cloud of depression that appeared over him, it wasn't fair, Naruto's learning curve just wasn't fair.

Not even the greatest of prodigies that came before him could match Naruto's learning-curve or the sheer amount of knowledge and training that Naruto could gain in a single day. It was only a week, one week, and yet Naruto had increased his Chakra Control Three-Fold, Mastered the Tree Walking Exercise, had increased his accuracy with Kunai and Shuriken to a degree that he could blindfolded hit a bullseye eight out of ten times, he had mastered the Academy Taijutsu Style and learned two Water-Style techniques, the Water-Style: Gunshot and the Water-Style: Water Wall.

Such growth was phenomenal.

And that wasn't even considering that Naruto had his Kage Bunshin read several books as well. Yamato didn't know how many books Naruto's clones had read, but the blonds mind already seemed to be sharper than it was a week ago.

'Well I better go and report to Hokage-sama' With that Yamato vanished in a swirl of leaves.

~NU~

-Hokage Office-

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed as he monotonously stamped out paper after paper all the while his thoughts revolved around his surrogate grandson and the future of his beloved village.

The village had finally recovered from all the blows it had received over the last twelve years. It had fully recovered from the devastating attack of the Kyuubi; and the attempted kidnapping of Hinata Hyūga as well as the Massacre of the Uchiha Clan were nothing more than painful memories to those that were directly involved.

Sometimes Hiruzen truly hated his job. In his youth he never would've imagined that he would one day have to make choices that made him question his own humanity and mental health. To be forced to choose between the good of one and the good of many, it was agonizing.

And now, after all those years of suffering, Konoha was finally back to its old strength. The Shinobi Corps was manned and fully operational, their manpower was higher than ever before, and the overall skill of their Shinobi was excellent.

A certain few of their Shinobi like Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi and Might Guy could even compete with the best Shinobi of other Villages.

Things were looking up and now that Naruto had brought back the one bloodline that was responsible for the formation of this Village…'I feel like the Will of Fire might just become a raging inferno.'

Then again, the reappearance of the Mokuton could be just as much a curse as it was a blessing. Kumo might've mellowed out under the rule of the Fourth Raikage but they are still very much eager to add new bloodlines to their ranks. The chance that they might be able to get their hands on the Wood-Style through Naruto could be too much to pass up.

Then there was Iwa…'Kami help us if that old fence-sitter decides to act out his revenge on Konoha by harming Naruto-kun.' Not that Hiruzen would allow that of course. He would rather personally bathe Iwa in Fire and Blood than allow them to harm Naruto.

'I've already let Minato-kun and Kushina-chan down once, there won't be a second time.' He swore resolutely.

But Naruto was not the only young Genin the old Kage worried about. Thoughts revolving around Sasuke Uchiha were plaguing his mind as well. It was his hope that putting Naruto and Sasuke on the same Genin cell might hopefully get Sasuke to open up.

The self-imposed isolation that Sasuke had adapted too was worrying Hiruzen. He sighed once more, something he did a lot recently. He looked up from his paperwork as he heard someone knock at his door.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Hokage-sama, Yamato-san wishes to speak to you." The feminine voice of his secretary answered.

"Please tell him to come in." Hiruzen said and moments later the ANBU operative in question came walking into his room. "Ah, I see that you've finished Naruto's training for today."

"That I did, Hokage-sama." Yamato confirmed. "I have to admit, that boy's growth is phenomenal:"

"I can imagine, especially with the way he is able to use the Kage Bunshin." Hiruzen shook his head with a smile. "How has he been doing over the last week?"

"Very good, sir." Yamato stated, "I have taught him the Tree Walking Exercise and had him polish the skills he already knew. And as a little reward for doing as well as he did, I have taught him two Suiton techniques."

"I see, and his progress with the Mokuton?" Hiruzen asked.

"Good, sir. I haven't taught him any techniques yet, but he is able to call on the Mokuton at will now. Admittedly, using the Mokuton without hand-seals is slow and not very powerful but there are no longer any concerns of him being a danger to his allies." Yamato reported.

"That's good to hear." The Hokage smiled. "I take it that you will only start teaching Naruto any Mokuton Jutsu once he mastered the basics?"

"That is the plan, sir. I have no doubt that Naruto is an absolute natural when it comes to the Mokuton, his aptitude for it already surpasses my own, which makes me fear that he might become too dependent on it. He already shows signs of being overly reliant on the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, so much so that I had to forbid him from using it in our Taijutsu Spars." Yamato said with a sigh.

"How so?"

"Naruto's Taijutsu is abysmal, Hokage-sama." Yamato admitted, "he has all the grace and skill of a drunken street brawler. And once Naruto realized that I outclass him in both skill and technique his go-to response was to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to overwhelm me with numbers. Now I'm not saying that that isn't effective, because quite frankly, facing a hundred angry Naruto's is quite intimidating but it didn't help him in getting a better and more adept fighter. So, I forbid him from using his clones during spars which resulted in him actually having to improve his fighting style."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding. "I see, though Naruto's Taijutsu shouldn't be a problem for much longer."

"What do you mean, sir?"

"I'm currently having a few trusted Shinobi gather everything that Minato and Kushina owned and left behind, once they are finished and all assets have been gathered, I will give Naruto his rightful inheritance. Amongst it should be Minato and Kushina's Taijutsu styles."

Yamato hummed thoughtfully. "That would certainly get rid of one problem, will you hand Naruto Shodaime-sama's jutsu scrolls as well?"

Hiruzen nodded, "yes, at least the scrolls about Mokuton, as for the rest, I plan to hand it to Naruto once he reached Jonin. Some of the techniques Hashirama, Tobirama and Minato left behind are far too dangerous to be in the hands of a Genin."

"True, though if you want my opinion sir, some of the techniques like the Bringer of Darkness for instance would be very handy for someone with massive chakra reserves like Naruto to have." Yamato said, he knew that the infamous Genjutsu, the Kokuangyo no Jutsu was a kinjutsu because it required a metric shit-ton of chakra to be used. So much so that if a 'normal' Jonin where to even attempt the technique, he/she would be dead within seconds, Naruto on the other hand could most likely use the Jutsu without any negative side effects.

"True enough, I'll think about adding the technique." Hiruzen said. "Is there anything else that I should know about?"

"No sir, I don't think so."

"Then you're dismissed."

Yamato gave his leader a respectful bow before he left the office in a Body-Flicker.

Hiruzen took out his trusty pipe, filled it with tobacco and lit it, leaning back into his chair. Things were looking up; it filled his old heart with pride to know that the new generation would surpass the former like it was supposed to be.

Still there was much for him to do before he could finally go back into his deserved retirement. For one, he had tried to contact his two students, Jiraiya and Tsunade. He received an answer from the former who stated that he would try to return to Konoha as soon as possible but there was no answer from the latter.

Tsunade either didn't receive the message, which was a possibility, or she was still drowning her woes in sake and had simply ignored his message.

'That girl…"

Hiruzen didn't blame Tsunade for the way she acted. Her many losses had broken her. There was only so much one person could endure and losing her cousin and little-sister figure, Kushina, had driven the final nail into the coffin. Tsunade had started to believe that she was cursed to watch everyone close to her die. She didn't have the strength to stay in Konoha and raise Naruto like Kushina had wanted, instead Tsunade left the village, taking only her apprentice with her.

Thinking about that caused Hiruzen to have another headache. There was no doubt in his mind that Naruto would sooner or later conclude that the 'Legendary Tsunade Senju' was related to him and he would more than certainly have questions about her. The wizened Kage could only hope that by that time Jiraiya would be back in the Village. Say what you want about Jiraiya, he was a master at tracking people down and he was quite possibly the only man alive that could locate Tsunade.

'Ah well, those are all problems that can wait…my paperwork on the other hand can't, not if I want to sleep tonight.' Being Hokage was hard, he already pitied the poor fool that would succeed him, he truly pitied them.

-With Naruto, Two Hours Later-

It was evening and the Village was bathed in a beautiful Orange glow as Naruto dragged himself down the main street of Konoha. He had finally, after two hours, finished the last lap around the Village.

People may assume that Konoha was small and that one lap would not be all that long. They would be wrong. Konoha was fairly large, easily the size of an ordinary city of a major country and it was only made even bigger by the many training grounds that surrounded it.

What was even worst was that Naruto had been rounded several times by a weird green clad duo that quite literally blitzed rounds around Konoha. During his run, Naruto had been lapped by them at least five times, and whenever they did, they shouted that Naruto's Flames of Youth were burning brightly, a statement that caused the blonde to shudder every time.

'Though their jumpsuits were kinda neat, if only they were orange…if they were, I would get one myself, dettebayo!'

"Naruto?" Said blonde looked to his right as he heard a feminine voice call out to him. "What happened to you!?"

Standing to his right, in front of the Yamanaka Flower Shop was his classmate and fellow graduate Ino Yamanaka. She was looking at him with wide eyes and had a questioning look on her pretty face.

"Huh? Wha da ya mean?" Naruto asked as he looked himself over. Sure, he was dirty, sweaty, slightly bloody and the top of his jumpsuit was missing, leaving him in only a tight black mesh-shirt.

"What do I mean? You look like you ran into a lawnmower!" Ino shouted, her pale blue eyes moving over the many cuts and tears in Naruto's clothing. She could also see darks patches if what she could only assume to be blood in the boy's bright orange trousers. "What happened? Have you been attacked!?"

Naruto was surprised, he never felt like he was all that close with Ino. He never really talked with her either. What few conversations they had could be amounted to her being sassy and him being an idiot.

Still, he appreciated her worry. "No, nothing like that, I have just been training for a bit." Naruto answered.

Ino gave Naruto a scrutinizing gaze. "What kind of training caused you too look like this?"

'The training of a sadistic ANBU operative, that's what.' "Oh, just normal training really, don't worry I heal quick." He said.

"Well, if you say so." Ino crossed her arms over her chest and gave the boy a look that told him that she didn't believe him. It was then that she noticed the hitai-ate that her classmate proudly wore on his forehead. "Wait a minute, I thought that you failed the graduation exam!"

"I did." Naruto admitted while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. "It was Iruka-sensei that graduated me later that day after I managed to do a more advanced version of the Bunshin no Jutsu."

"A more advanced version? How did you manage to learn a more advanced clone than the rest of us?" She asked, giving him a questioning look.

"Ahh, that's something of a secret, all ya need to know is that I learned the Jutsu under questionable circumstances." Had Naruto truly known Ino, he would've realized that all Yamanaka tended to rather nosy and rarely took no for an answer.

"Okay, that won't do at all." Ino frowned at her fellow blonde. "You can't just make a girl curious and then clam up! Naruto, would you kindly tell me how you managed to learn a more advanced clone that the rest of us Academy graduates? Pretty please~"

Naruto was facing a losing battle as Ino looked at him with wide doe eyes and a pouty lower lip. She fluttered her lashes and leaned forward, enhancing her natural beauty even further than it already was.

For the first time Naruto realized that Ino was really pretty, gorgeous even. Ino had fair skin, light blue eyes, and long platinum blonde hair that she wore in a long ponytail. Her face was flawless and the way she currently looked at him could only be described as the epitome of cuteness. Ino was dressed in a purple outfit consisting of a high-collared blouse and matching apron skirt, and her abdomen and legs were covered in white bandages.

'Must…resist!' Naruto fought hard against the ultimate technique that all women possessed, but in the end, it was no use.

"Pleeease~"

That was the final nail in the coffin. Naruto folded like a paper towel and told Ino the story of how Mizuki managed to lure him into stealing the forbidden scroll of sealing from the Hokage Tower. Though he did keep out the truth about his bloodline, that was something that the Gossip Queen of Konoha really didn't need to know.

Ino was stunned, hearing that an Academy teacher, a Teacher that she trusted, went and betrayed the village was a shock alright. Being told that Mizuki would do something as low as to bribe a desperate student to do his dirty work was even worst.

'I hope that daddy hurts him badly.' Her thoughts turned vindictive and she couldn't quite suppress the evil glint to her eyes, her father was the leading officer of Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Department which meant that Mizuki would end up in Inoichi Yamanaka's care.

Though she was impressed that Naruto had managed to learn a Jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing, the Jutsu written in that scroll are supposedly all very dangerous and difficult to learn. She never truly disliked Naruto, sure he sometimes annoyed her, and she genuinely believed him to be the dead-last but that didn't mean that she ever disliked him.

Now hearing this story made her question if Naruto was truly the idiot everyone believed him to be. An idiot wouldn't be capable of learning a high-level jutsu in a few hours after all.

"Please Ino, you can't tell anyone about that." Naruto pleaded after he explained the story to Ino.

"Why not? Did Hokage-sama order you to keep this a secret?" She asked.

Naruto thought for a moment, he could remember receiving the order to keep his heritage and bloodline a secret, but his Jiji never specifically told him to keep what happened with Mizuki a secret.

"…well, no he didn't." He admitted.

"Then there is no reason for secrecy." Ino stated confidentially. "Mizuki-sensei was only a Chūnin, he's simply not important enough to warrant high secrecy."

"If you say so, though I still think that-

"Hush, none of that." Ino cut Naruto off with a smirk on her face. "Tell me, do you really want to keep the fact that you beat a Chūnin a secret?" Ino mischievously asked.

"Well no but-

"No buts, that's juicy gossip right there! I can't wait to tell everyone!" Ino grinned, it gave her the appearance of a feline, it suited her in Naruto's opinion.

'Kami am I glad that I didn't tell her about the Mokuton, dettebayo!' Naruto couldn't help but sweat drop at the way Ino acted.

"Anyways, congratulations for passing, Naruto; but I really need to get going. I still have to clean up shop and check the inventory." Ino sighed in dismay. She loved her family's little shop, but it cut a lot into her free time.

"Do you need any help?" Naruto asked. While he was dead tired and wanted nothing more than to take a shower and fall into his comfy bed, he didn't want to leave a comrade hanging.

Ino looked at Naruto in surprise. "Are you sure that you want to offer me your help? You look like you are on your last legs yourself."

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I don't mind, just tell me what you need help with, together we should be able to finish quickly."

"Okay then, why don't you carry those flowers over there into the shop while I do the inventory." Ino said and the two of them began to clean up the shop before closing it for the night.

Ino had to admit that she enjoyed herself. It was nice to have someone to talk to while she did her work and surprisingly Naruto made for a good listener. It didn't take the two of them long before they had finished with everything and they parted for the evening.

~NU~

-Next Day-

It was a bright and sunny day in the Land of Fire. The clouds were white and puffy against the baby blue sky. The birds were chirping melodiously, and a nice summer breeze wafted through the air granting some relieve from the heat of the scorching midday sun.

Naruto Uzumaki, or was it Naruto Senju? Namikaze? Naruto was calmly waling through the streets of Konoha. He smiled as he saw the many people going after their daily businesses, most of them seeming joyous and chipper. Children were running amongst the crowd of adults, playing Ninja, playfighting with sticks and paper shuriken.

It was a sight that only a week ago would've invoked feelings of longing and jealously in Naruto. He could remember it clearly, how lonely and hurt he had felt whenever he saw other children being doted on by there parents.

That feeling had lessened ever since the truth had been revealed to him. Oh, he wished that his parents were alive and that he could've experienced how it would be to come home to a loving family. He wanted to find out how it felt to be hugged by his mother, or how it would feel to be praised by his father. He simply wished that he could've spent time with his parents and his family, to get to know them in person and not just from stories.

But…at the same time he no longer felt lonely. He no longer had he urge to seek out the acknowledgement of strangers. No, he wished to make his parents, grandparents and great-grandparents proud of him.

Of course, he would still gain the acknowledgement of the people, there was no doubt in his mind. Once he reached his goals, people far and wide would know him, respect him, possibly even fear him. He had a legacy to uphold, he would become the greatest Hokage that ever lived, and he would surpass every Hokage that came before him.

That was his new dream, his ambition.

Naruto was headed towards the Academy. Yamato had given him the rest of the day off because today was the day where the pictures for the Ninja registration were taken. Furthermore, the Hokage wished to see Naruto for something.

He honestly looked forwards to spending some time with his surrogate Grandfather, the last week had been busy and Naruto hadn't had the energy or the time to visit the Hokage. He had so many questions that had been left unanswered and he wanted to hear more stories about his family.

As he drew closer Naruto could make out the huge building that was the Shinobi System Academy. The building was quite large and was composed of several buildings that had been erected over time. It could be easily identified by a large tree that was in front of the main building which had a swing on it and by the giant sign above the building that displayed proudly the Kanji for Fire.

Naruto could still remember that he used to frequent this swing in front of the Academy. He used to sit on it and watch as parents collected their children from the Academy. Those were the more painful moments of his young life. He felt so lost and alone, but things had gotten so much better when Iruka-sensei and the Hokage took time out of their schedules to make him feel loved and wanted.

Thinking about Iruka made him remember the talk they had a day after the Mizuki incident…

-Flashback-

"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto called out, sounding slightly hesitant. He slid the door to the room up at the top of the rows open and looked around before he saw Iruka sitting at his desk. "Hey there sensei. You wanted to see me?"

Iruka sighed before smiling, "Yes I did Naruto. I wanted to say that I'm very proud of you for proving that you had what was needed to graduate, and I wanted to thank you for saving my life." Iruka sighed, "I also wanted to apologize for not realizing what kind of man Mizuki was sooner."

Naruto grinned widely as he started walking down the stairs towards Iruka while sheepishly rubbing the back of his head in what had to be his signature posture. "No problem sensei, I mean you saved me first, didn't you? I just returned the favor."

Iruka smiled warmly at the boy he saw as his own younger brother. "That's true enough I suppose, still how about I take you out for some ramen for helping me yesterday?" Hearing that he would get free ramen caused Naruto to grin brightly.

"Yatta! C'mon let's go, let's go!" Naruto hoped on his heels like an eager puppy.

Iruka chuckled at the display before he became slightly more serious. "Before we go, I have to ask, did you speak with Hokage-sama about the Mokuton?"

Naruto too reigned in his enthusiasm a bit and nodded at Iruka's question. "I did, Jiji even gave me a new sensei that will teach me how to control the Mokuton. Today was my first day of training and it ended only about half an hour ago."

Iruka nodded, "that's good to hear, still be careful with your bloodline alright? I don't want to see you being hunted by the other villages because of it."

Naruto sighed, "I will try but Jiji said that I probably won't be able to get around that. One day the other villages will find out about me having the Mokuton no matter what I do, so Jiji told me that all I can really do is to try and become strong enough to protect myself from all threats."

"I was afraid that that would be the case." Iruka frowned, the thought of anyone hunting his surrogate little brother sent jolts of anger through his being. He shook those thoughts off and decided to change the topic. "How has your new sensei been treating you then?"

Naruto shuddered as he recalled the beating, he received at the hands of Yamato, "he's…dedicated alright. He's a member of the ANBU and another Wood-Style user just like myself."

"What? There's someone else that can use the Mokuton? How?" Iruka inquired in shock.

Naruto nodded his head, "yes, he can use the Mokuton just like I myself, though I don't know why or how he gained it. At first I thought that he might've been related to me but sadly that's not the case, when I then asked how he could use the Wood-Style he only told me that it was a Village Secret and rather personal so he couldn't give me an answer."

Iruka nodded in understanding before he rose from his desk. "Well then, I think we've both had enough of this serious talk so let's head out to Ichiraku's."

Naruto was never quicker to agree with anything and they both headed out and left the Academy.

-Flashback Over-

Naruto reached the Academy building and headed inside. He knew the layout of the building like the back of his hand and effortlessly maneuvered the hallways of the Academy, heading up the stairs until he reached the rooftop where he knew the professional photographer to be waiting.

The rooftop was a large circular area that was surrounded by a simple fence. The roof was empty with the sole exception of an elderly man that stood behind a camera rig. The man looked ordinary, he was nearly bald, only a few bushels of white hair circled around the back of his head. He had round wire-framed glasses and a light-grey mustache.

"Ah good, you're finally here." The man said, "I was just about to clean up and leave."

"Yes, sorry for being late" Naruto apologized with a sheepish chuckle.

The man waved him off. "Don't sweat it, you're here, that's all that matters. Step in front of the camera and let's take this picture."

Naruto did as he was told. After Yamato-sensei had allowed him to leave, Naruto quickly raced home and got himself freshened up. He wore his custom orange jumpsuit but left the collar of it open to show a bit of the black mesh beneath. At first Naruto thought about using this chance for a little prank, he thought about making the photo for his Ninja registration a bit more exiting by using some make-up. But sadly, he lacked the time to set everything up and, in the end, he thought better of it, he didn't want that everyone who saw his Ninja registration would think of him as an unprofessional jokester.

"Say cheese." The man behind the camera said and Naruto smiled into the camera before a flash of light went off that had Naruto seeing stars. "And done. I'm sure the picture will turn out nice, good job."

"Thanks!" Naruto grinned brightly.

"Hokage-sama will have your registration file on his desk in a few minutes, so you better get down to his office."

Naruto nodded and left the roof with a final wave goodbye.

A few minutes later Naruto arrived at the Administrative Division of the Academy, the wing where the Hokage's Office was located.

Along with being a School, the Academy also housed the Hokage's Office and as such the Academy was sometimes called 'Hokage Tower' as well. It was in this wing of the Academy where missions were distributed, and the day-to-day running of the Village took place.

In front of the office was a small reception, a desk at which the pretty secretary of the old man was working. Said secretary was giving Naruto an iffy look, it wasn't a hateful glare like the less friendly villagers sometimes directed at him. No, Naruto knew that the Hokage's secretary was a nice and friendly lady that always treated him well.

"You aren't here to steal something, are you Naruto-kun?" She asked him, giving him a mischievous smirk. "I don't think that the guards would take kindly to you sending them on another wild goose chase."

"N-No, I don't think that that will happen again." Naruto awkwardly chuckled, a blush staining his cheeks.

"Good, then head on in, Hokage-sama is waiting for you."

Naruto nodded and headed into the office where he found the old kage sitting at his desk with a lit pipe in hand. "You shouldn't smoke that stuff Jiji. You're already old enough, don't let the smoking kill you even faster."

The old man chuckled at Naruto and playfully took an extra-long drag from his pipe, blowing out the smoke in several grand rings before he put the pipe out. "Take a seat my boy." Hiruzen said before he grabbed Naruto's file from his desk and gave it a read. "That's a good picture, makes you look professional."

"…that was what I was going for." Naruto lied.

"Right…" Hiruzen drawled, "anyways, how've you been doing Naruto-kun?"

"Great! Training under Yamato-sensei may be hard as nails, but I've been getting stronger with every day! I bet that I could beat Sasuke-teme in three seconds flat!"

Hiruzen frowned, "Naruto, be careful, arrogance comes before the fall. You might be getting training from an ANBU but remember that Yamato had to teach you everything that you missed and neglected to learn during the Academy. Even with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and the Mokuton you are only at the level of an ordinary Genin. Besides, Konoha Shinobi do not fight one another outside of sanctioned sparring matched."

Naruto nodded with a frown on his face, "I know Jiji."

"Good. You are a talented young Shinobi but so is Sasuke. Instead of fighting one another you should try to make friends with him. I'm sure that you both could profit greatly from one another." The Hokage said.

"No way!" Naruto formed an X with his forearms. "There is no way that I'll make friends with that teme, dettebayo!"

Hiruzen sighed, "Naruto-kun, I'm not going to force you to become Sasuke's friend, but it would mean a lot to me if you gave him a chance. Just know that Sasuke probably needs a friend after all that has happened to him over the last few years."

Naruto sighed, he knew what the Hokage was talking about, how could he not? Everyone knew about the horrible massacre that caused the Uchiha clan to nearly go extinct. Naruto had already tried to become Sauske's friend, once before the Academy started and then again during the Academy but Sasuke was just so cold and indifferent. It was like trying to talk to a freaking wall, he was getting nowhere.

And when Sasuke then started to become the number one student in the Academy along with him getting the attention that Naruto so desperately wanted…Naruto became jealous. He began trying to show Sasuke up at every chance that he got, it never worked which only caused Naruto's determination to grow.

But maybe he could give it another chance and once more try to get Sasuke to open up. It couldn't hurt, right?

"Alright Jiji, I'll give Sasuke another chance."

"Thank you, my boy."

"Yeah, yeah, anyways, Yamato-sensei said that you wanted to talk to me about something?" Naruto asked.

"I did, I called you here because I wanted to personally give you something." The Hokage said before he opened a drawer in his desk and took out a scroll. "This is a sealing scroll and it holds a part of your inheritance."

"Inheritance?" Naruto repeated, a look of longing entered his eyes as he took the scroll from his surrogate grandfathers' hand. "In there is the stuff that belonged to my parents?"

"Yes, at least a part of it."

"Huh? Why only a part?"

"Because some of your parents' belongings are dangerous and can cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands. Your father left behind a great many experimental seals and unfinished jutsu that can be very dangerous in the hands of someone that lacks understanding of the sealing arts. Those dangerous items and techniques will stay in save keeping until you reach the rank of Jonin, once you did you will receive everything that your parents, grandparents and great-grandparents left behind."

Naruto nodded, he wondered just what techniques could be dangerous enough that he couldn't have them right now. That thought made him giddy and he wanted to become a Jonin as quickly as possible. "So, what's in this scroll?"

"Now that you will have to find out on your own my boy." Hiruzen stated, receiving an annoyed look from the blonde Genin. "Don't look at me like that, it's not like I would invade your parent's privacy so a lot of the contents of this scroll is unknown even to me, I only looked through the shinobi related things that your parents owned."

"I see…" Naruto looked at the scroll in his hands. He wondered what he would find once he opened it. This was his chance to find out more about his parents and he couldn't wait to see what they left behind.

Naruto was so lost in thought that he didn't see the door to the side of the office open to reveal a small figure that came storming into the room. It was only when the figure let out a loud war-cry that Naruto looked to the side, and promptly proceeded to sweat drop.

"Hey old man!" A young boy shouted before he recklessly charged towards the Hokage's desk. "I'm going to defeat you and become the fifth Hokage!" As soon as he said that the boy tripped over his own feet and faceplanted hard with the wooden floor.

Both the Hokage and Naruto could only watch in a stunned silence as the young boy writhed on the ground and held his face in both hands.

"What the-

Naruto was cut off as another person stormed into the room with a loud shout of "Honorable Grandson!"

The second intruder was a tall middle-aged man wearing a dark-blue full body suit, thick round sunglasses and he wore his leaf headband as a bandana.

"Something tripped me!" The young boy complained loudly. He was short, nearly two heads shorter than Naruto and wore a weird helmet-like hat that had an opening at the top to allow some of his brown hair to spill out, looking almost like a high ponytail. The boy had a far too long scarf wrapped around his neck that was most likely the cause of him tripping in the first place.

"Are you okay Honorable Grandson?" The man wearing sunglasses asked while looking worriedly at his charge. "And by the way, there is nothing for you to trip on. The ground is pretty flat."

Naruto was perplexed as he watched the duo that barged into the office unannounced. 'Who is this shrimp…this was the most pathetic ambush that I've ever seen!'

The young boy righted himself up into a sitting position and looked at Naruto before the kid suddenly jumped up and pointed at the Genin. "You tripped me!"

"What!?" Naruto shouted back. "I've been sitting here doing nothing! You've tripped over your own feet kid!"

The man wearing glasses frowned at Naruto, clearly not liking the way Naruto talked to the Honorable Grandson of the third Lord Hokage. "Hey you! Show some respect, you are in the presence of the Honorable Grandson of the Honorable Hokage-sama!"

The kid standing in front of Naruto shot him a smug smirk, a smirk that vanished as soon as Naruto simply gave him a flat and unimpressed look.

"And?" Naruto simply asked, "the Hokage could be that kid's grandmother and I would still give a rats ass about him."

Both newcomers looked stricken at Naruto's words while the old kage folded his hands in front of his face to hide a smirk.

"Now then if ya would excuse me, I have some other things to take care off." Naruto turned around and began to head out of the office waving a hand over his shoulder. "See ya later Jiji, oh and squirt, if ya really want to defeat the old man then you need to work on your stealth skills, that 'attack' of yours was just embarrassing."

With that said Naruto left the room, leafing behind a shell-shocked Shinobi, an intrigued kid and a silently chuckling kage.

-A Few Minutes Later-

Naruto calmly walked down an empty street when he noticed that the kid from earlier, the old man's grandson was following him. He didn't know why, nor did he really care, all he knew was that the boy did a horrible job at staying secret.

'Why is that squirt following me?' He wondered but, in the end, he opted to ignore the kid in hopes that he would leave him alone. He wanted to go shop for some more Shinobi equipment that he would need for training before heading home where he could finally look through his inheritance.

After a few more steps he stopped and looked over his shoulder, what he saw made him snort. That brat truly was inept at keeping hidden, seriously he simply draped a blanket over himself in the middle of the street no less. Still Naruto continued, believing that his earlier assessment would strike true.

Though the longer Naruto continued to play ignorant the more annoyed he became.

The same little game continued for a few more minutes until Naruto's patience reached an end, he quickly spun around and once again, the brat's methods of staying hidden were insulting to every Shinobi worth their salt. The kid once again used a blanked to hide himself, this time he had a painted blanked to mimic the wooden fence at the side of the road, it could've worked too, had the boy lined the blanked up to parallel to the fence that is.

"Okay what the hell are you doing?" Naruto confronted the kid who let his 'disguise' drop. "That's so obvious its honestly pathetic."

"He-he! Saw through my disguise, did you? The rumors about you are true, you're good!" The brat complimented Naruto, trying to butter him up. "Alright! From now on I'll be your apprentice and you'll be my sensei!"

"Huh? That's some kind of joke, isn't it?" Naruto asked in bewilderment, the kid wanted Naruto to train him because he was able to see through a disguise, if one could call it such, that even a civilian would've been able to spot from a mile away?

"No, I need a new trainer. Please boss!" Now that got Naruto's attention.

Kushina Uzumaki's genes were strong inside of Naruto and neither she nor her son would ever turn down the opportunity to have an underling.

"Keep talking…" Naruto smirked, the kid had his attention now.

"Yeah! You're the boss!" The kid shouted like an eager puppy. "Please, I need a new sensei! Ebisu doesn't teach me anything and I've heard that you managed to knock out my Jiji and stole something from his office! You gotta show me how you did that!"

"Well, how can I refuse." Naruto said while rubbing the back of his head. "C'mon walk with me for a bit."

Konohamaru nodded and began to walk besides Naruto. "So how did you manage to know out my gramps?"

Naruto had a light blush on his cheeks as he gave his answer. "I used a Jutsu that I myself came up with, I call it the Sexy Jutsu, it works well against all manner of perverts."

"Really!? Boss, you gotta teach me that Jutsu!"

"I don't know, that Jutsu isn't something that a kid like you should know." Naruto stated as the two continued to walk down the street, arriving at a slightly more populated area of Konoha.

"C'mon, you aren't that much older than me!" Konohamaru complained.

"Maybe not, but…" Naruto pointed a thumb to his forehead protector, "I'm legally an adult whereas you aren't."

"Please boss!" The boy pleaded, "I need it to defeat my Jiji!"

Thinking about the kid using the sexy jutsu to make the old man's life a living hell caused Naruto to smirk, an evil glint entering his blue eyes. He already agreed to teach the squirt a few things so he might as well get some personal enjoyment out of it all.

"Alright I'll teach ya."

"Yay! I won't let you down, I swear it!"

Naruto waved the boy off, "don't sweat it, the jutsu is easy to learn anyways. Now tell me, do you already know how to channel your chakra?"

Konohamaru nodded, "yes, Ebisu taught me how to use my chakra."

"And do you know the Henge no Jutsu as well?" Konohamaru gave another nod, "good, then show me a Henge."

"Huh?"

"Show me a Henge, you just said that you already know it." Naruto stopped walking and turned to face Konohamaru.

"Uh, sure but what should I transform into?"

"Hmm…" Naruto looked around the street until he noticed a beautiful woman standing in front of a food stall, looking at the different items on display. "Henge into that woman over there."

"Alright! Here I go boss!" The young boy shouted before he formed the single hand-sign required to perform the jutsu. "Henge!"

In a puff of smoke the boy's small figure vanished and a…a monstrosity was left standing in his place. "Well? Do I look like her?" The voice of the transformed kid was deep, rough and masculine, going well with the beard that decorated the woman's(?) chubby face.

"Ahh…the clothes kinda look like hers." Naruto finally said after he got over how ugly the kid's transformation was.

When Naruto felt killing intent coming from behind him, he started to sweat bullets. "You think this thing looks like me!?" The woman the kid was supposed to transform into screeched while waving her fist around threateningly.

'Why did I agree to teach the kid again?'

-One Beating Later-

"Now, now honorable grandson, the next time you transform into me, make me a little cuter, alright?" The woman chastised lightly before she headed off, leaving behind a bruised and beaten Naruto and a shacking honorable grandson.

"Women are scary." Konohamaru shuddered in fright.

"You did it, why was I the one who got the beating?" Naruto whined before he stood up from the ground where the woman had left him. "Okay…! Let's head to a secluded place, far away from any women. There I'll show you how to do the Jutsu right."

"I agree boss."

The two boys went to a training ground and Naruto proceeded to slowly do the transformation technique in front of the kid, he put emphasis on how he needed to proportion his henge in order to make it effective and believable. It took them a while, but Konohamaru eventually managed to make a perfect henge and by extension a perfect sexy jutsu.

"Good, now that you have mastered the henge, I'm going to show you another useful technique. But I don't expect you to master it right now, or anytime soon for that matter." Naruto said which gained him a wide smile from his subject.

"What are you going to teach me, boss!?"

"Tree climbing."

"W-what!? Are you insane!? I can climb a freaking tree just fine!"

"Just watch squirt."

Naruto walked up to a tree and placed his foot against the bark, he channeled chakra to the soles of his feet and to Konohamaru's amazement he simply began to vertically walk up the tree with his hands casually in his pockets. He walked over a branch and stopped as he hung upside-down from the tree-branch.

"Now what did you say again?" Naruto smirked.

"That's so AWESOME!"

"I know right! But while it is an extremely useful technique and you would have to learn it sooner or later anyways; it is also very difficult to master. I had help in mastering it and it still took me a few days of constantly trying to get it right." Naruto explained to the boy before he jumped down from the tree, landing perfectly on his feet.

"So how do I do it?"

"You need to channel chakra to the soles of your feet and have them stick to the bark of the tree. Too little chakra and you will slip, too much and you'll blast yourself off. It's very tricky to find the right amount, my personal tip is to try and make baby steps, lie flat next to the tree and try to get a feel of how much chakra you need to have your feet stick to the bark, once you are a little more certain of how it feels you can begin to try and actually walk up the tree. Trust me, taking it slowly will spare you from some painful drops to the ground." Naruto explained while he petted Konohamaru's head.

The boy nodded eagerly and went to work, he did it just like Naruto told him to. He went down next to the tree on his back and tried to get his feet to stick to the bark, slowly gaining a feeling of the right amount of chakra he needed.

Naruto watched the kid train for a good hour, he had to say that Konohamaru was doing much better than he himself did, then again Naruto did start with the idiot approach and simply tried to run up the tree. He called Konohamaru over and decided that he deserved some rest, they sat down on a small log nearby and simply enjoyed the silence until Naruto broke it.

"So, what's with the obsession you've got with your grandfather?"

Konohamaru looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered, "my grandfather named me Konohamaru, after the ancient name of the village. So, it should be easy to remember but no one calls me that name, not one person in the whole village. That's because if they look at me, they don't really see me; all they see is the honorable grandson of the great Lord Hokage. No one knows who I am… I can't stand it anymore, it's like I'm invisible, like I don't even exist. I hate that, that's the reason I got to become Hokage now, so people know who I am!"

Naruto frowned as he heard the boy explain himself to him. It was kind of similar to his own youth. People seemed to prefer to pretend that he simply didn't exist because of the fox. At least Konohamaru had the luxury of already knowing what it was they saw when they treated him that way, for the better part of his life, Naruto didn't. And the reason Konohamaru was treated that way wasn't negative, still, the kid strangely reminded him of himself, especially at that age. Though Naruto wished that he had the balls to go up to someone and ask them for training back then.

"Get real kid, you think that people would accept a squirt like you as Hokage?" Because Konohamaru reminded him so much of himself, Naruto quickly decided that he would be painfully honest with the kid.

"Huh?"

"A kid can't just turn into a Kage after a day or two…"

"WHAT?" Konohamaru jumped up and balled his fists.

"It's not that simple, you keep saying Hokage this and Hokage that, but to really be a Hokage you need to be the best. The best in body and in spirit, no one will hand you the hat on a silver platter. You'll have to earn it." Naruto sighed before he looked at Konohamaru. "Your grandfather is known as the 'Kami no Shinobi', that is a title that was once the moniker of Hashirama Senju. Do you really believe that you could lead this village better than your grandfather, do you?"

Konohamaru stayed silent, not knowing how to answer that question.

"I thought so." Naruto looked up at the sky, "you know, a week ago my believes were pretty similar to yours. I believed that if I managed to 'defeat' the old man Hokage that I would become the Hokage in turn, and I believed that once I was the Hokage, then the entire village would look up to me, acknowledge me and love me."

"What changed?" Konohamaru asked.

"I grew up." Naruto stated before turning to once again face the kid. "A week ago, I met a man that showed me just how big the gap between me and a real Shinobi really is. It made me realize that the Hokage is in a completely different league than I. I also realized that there was more than just strength to being Hokage. I don't like it, but a Shinobi needs wisdom and knowledge just as much as he does strength and skill, if you're not skilled in all those areas then you will never become the Hokage."

"So, what should I do?" Konohamaru's head hung low and his shoulders were slumped. "If what you say is true then it will take years before I can prove my existence to the people."

"You will need to endure squirt, it's what I've been doing for the last few years." The kid's head shot up to look at a serious Naruto. "No one ever said that becoming Hokage or reaching any other goal for that matter would be easy. You'll have to put your nose to the grindstone and keep improving, it's going to be difficult and you most likely will be faced with many challenges, but it's the only way. There are no shortcuts to reaching a position like becoming Hokage, you are going to have to prove that you deserve it because otherwise people just won't follow you."

"But I want that the people know my name now!" Konohamaru whined childishly.

"Heh, I know, believe me I do." Naruto shook his head with a sad smile, thinking back on the many times he had wished to be acknowledged. "But I'm afraid that the world just doesn't work that way, we can't just get everything we want without having to put effort into it. Besides, I don't believe that your life can be all that bad. I'm sure that your grandfather calls you by your name and you surely have a few friends that call you Konohamaru as well, don't you?"

The boy nodded, "I do have a few friends that call me by my name, Uncle Asuma and Jiji too use my name."

"Then hang on to them, they'll help you and make your life easier until everyone knows who you are." Naruto smiled, though his smile quickly vanished as a familiar voice announced the presence of someone he really didn't want to deal with.

"I finally found you!" Both Naruto and Konohamaru turned around to see Ebisu standing on a tree branch above them. Ebisu had to hold back a sneer as he looked at the orange clad Genin casually sitting next to his charge. 'Hmpf, the Nine-Tailed Fox, what a nuisance…'

Ebisu jumped down from the branch and turned to look at his disciple, deciding to ignore the Kyuubi-Brat completely. "Honorable Grandson, it's time for you to stop associating with this rabble and come with me." He sneered in Naruto's direction, pushing his wire-rimmed glasses up with a finger.

Naruto growled and returned the Jonin's sneer with one of his own. 'What is this guys problem? The Kyuubi? And here I thought that a Jonin would actually be above petty and narrow-minded behavior. This guy looks like he's trying to set me on fire with his eyes!'

"NO!" Konohamaru shouted much to Ebisu's shock. "I want to go with Naruto! Unlike you he actually taught me something today! Here, check it out, Orioke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)!" In a puff of smoke, Konohamaru turned into a beautiful and completely naked brunette bombshell that winked at Ebisu. "Hey there sweetie, how do you like my jutsu?"

Naruto smirked at the display, he felt oddly proud of Konohamaru.

Ebisu on the other hand looked mortified, "Honorable Grandson! What kind of deplorable acts have you been coerced into by this brute!? This 'jutsu' is far below someone of your stature! The only guaranteed way to achieve a shortcut to becoming Hokage is through my teachings! I'll show you the way to the top!"

Naruto growled, "Oi, can you forget the damn way he looked for a second and think about what he just did?"

Ebisu stopped pulling on Konohamaru and looked at Naruto who he had expected to say something at any minute, just not something like that. He expected a challenge to fight or something. But hearing this boy perceived as a dead-last having anything to say to him rose his ire. "Oh, and what would that be? Besides making himself a public nuisance and besmirching the name of the honorable Lord Hokage with your tasteless influence? This is the honorable grandson of the honorable third Hokage, whatever he does reflects back upon his grandfather. If he fails in his studies, it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage. If he is seen making a nuisance of himself, it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage. If he is seen in the company of an uncivilized ruffian like you, it reflects badly upon Lord Hokage."

Naruto's eyes twitched. He so wanted to fight this guy and show him what was what, but he promised his sensei that he would try to act more mature and professional and getting into a fight with someone who was technically his superior wouldn't bode too well for him. Naruto grit his teeth and continued to speak, "he successfully did a transformation jutsu you idiot." Was all that Naruto really had the self-control to get out.

Ebisu looked at Naruto expectantly, as if to say, 'that's all?'.

It took a few seconds, but the facts of what he had just uttered seemed to finally dawn on Ebisu as his eyes slowly panned down to Konohamaru who was still trying to break his grip.

After realizing that Konohamaru had indeed used a jutsu that he hadn't even come close to teaching him yet, he let go of the young boy in shock. "Honorable grandson, this is incredible! To learn such a jutsu in one day!"

Naruto soooo wanted to yell at the idiotic Jonin for changing his tune so abruptly; "kami, I hate arrogant assholes and brownnosers!'

"Of course, it only took a day!" Konohamaru bellowed before running back over to Naruto, "Boss taught it to me after all!"

Naruto patted Konohamaru's head, "yeah, but now you can use it to turn into other stuff, all you need are the hand-signs now since you already got the idea of turning into a different form." He pointed to Ebisu, "that guy can show you how to that later."

Konohamaru frowned as he looked over at Ebisu, "but boss, he doesn't teach me any cool jutsu like you do and he also keeps on saying that there are shortcuts to being Hokage!"

Naruto looked over at Ebisu and allowed himself to smirk, "he can talk all he wants but, in the end, he has no influence over who becomes Hokage and who doesn't." Naruto's smirk widened at the insulted look on Ebisu's face before he looked back down to Konohamaru. "If you really want to be Hokage one day, you're going to have to prove that you're better than me." Konohamaru gulped at that, "you need a lot of guts, and you're going to fall down a lot, but if you work hard and never give up then I truly believe that you can become Hokage one day…after me of course."

Konohamaru stared at Naruto as he started to walk away from both him and Ebisu. "Fine! But you're still going to teach me stuff!"

Naruto chuckled and waved absently over his shoulder, "yeah, fine. Tell ya what, if ya manage to master the Tree Walking by the next time we'll meet I'll teach ya a new Jutsu."

Ebisu's eyes nearly popped out of his head, 'The Kyuubi-Brat knows the Tree Walking!? I thought that he is the dead-last!? I need to speak with Hokage-sama about this, this cannot be allowed to go unchecked!'

"You bet!" Konohamaru shouted just before Naruto vanished from his line of sight.

~NU~

A/N: Phew! Here it is my dear readers, chapter two of Naruto Unleashed, I hope that it was enjoyable!

As you can all obviously see I want to take my time with this story, I don't want to simply skip the three weeks of Naruto's training in a single chapter and I want to introduce the characters that are important to this story before the team placements and the follow up Survival Test. So be prepared to read another chapter or two before the Teams are selected and Naruto get's his true sensei.

I hope that you enjoyed the way that I've written Yamato in this fic, I wanted him to have more of a playful side to him, same as he had in cannon, but I also want him to be a bit of a hard-ass. C'mon, he was trained by Danzo, I think that making him a rough and brutal teacher is more than justified.

I also want to underline the importance of Naruto's relationship with Konohamaru in this story. I want it to be important to both Naruto's character and the story as a whole. If you are wondering what I am planning that relationship to be like, I want Naruto and Konohamaru to have a similar relationship to what Hiruzen Sarutobi had with Tobirama Senju. A real student-teacher bond, mostly because I personally simply don't like Ebisu and think that Kono and his teammates deserve far better.

Finally, my dear readers, I wanted to once again bring up the pairing. I know that last chapter I've written that I have three possible pairings in mind but that wasn't a poll, only an announcement. There is no need for anyone to be worried about the pairing just yet, it will take a while before Naruto truly ends up with any girl. Right now, his character growth is important, his pairing won't come into play before the Chunin exams and we are still a few chapters away from that arc happening.

Now, then I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter and I wish you all the best!

R&R

Have a good time.

-Just4fun23000