Prologue: Decisions, the Hokage's Tale
The Hokage sighed as a bout of fresh rain hit the streets of Konoha, looking at the carnage caused in the Kyuubi's latest, final attack. As he looked at the body of his successor, the great Yondaime, rage, and sadness filled him. All was quiet as he looked at the strongest of the Kage's in remorse.
The streets were fairly silent, the tragedy that had be smote the citizens at the death of the Yondaime were mixed. Some were astonished, and others confused. Tired of his morose thoughts, the Sandaime turned, prepared to leave the scene of death, when a small, unshakable cry caught his attention.
A pedestal, surrounded by four fires, held up a crying, pained baby. Its blonde hair, and blue eyes, bore into the Sandaime's soul, looking for a reason for its torment. The man sighed. The legacy, right, he had nearly forgotten. Placing a stasis jutsu on the body the Hokage walked towards the child, who he remembered was named Naruto, into his arms.
Looking back at the body one final time, the Hokage turned, tear stricken, and left, as ANBU guards arrived at the scene. And thus, with this one turn of events, the future of Uzumaki Naruto was changed. The village would never learn of the sealing of the nine tailed fox.
And, there would never be need for certain laws to be passed, forbidding the truth to the boy.
All it took was a simple change, in the giant spectrum.
Chapter One: Learning of the Kyuubi: Events that would Change the World
Uzumaki Naruto walked through the forest, the cold night air circling him like a thin blanket that was used more for keeping small children warm, other than his body. The orphanage didn't care though, not since it was learned he shared a birthday with the man that died protecting this village.
The party in town lasted much longer than usual. He'd never been invited to the party in town, because of his birthday. It was a painful reminder that he was unwanted. It was like the old man said, "Give a dog a bone, and he'll be your friend for life. Give the dog a kick, and he'll be an enemy for life."
In all honesty, Naruto couldn't remember a time when he was so alone. The other children were all adopted, and the orphanage was closed. "No rest for the wicked, no room for the unwanted."
He picked the best looking area, the cold, winter's snow already starting to cover the ground, to lay his head. A mound of a greenish plant, soft, but squishy. Covering himself with his too thin blanket, Naruto wished for parents.
But, he knew it was not meant to be. As much as he wanted someone, Naruto knew that people would only see their own illusions.
And, if that meant a five year old lived alone because no one cared, so be it.
As a wave of unrest hit him, Naruto fell asleep, the blue of his lips the only clue that he was about to die.
He appeared in a large; under basement of a house that was so wet there was no way a human could actually live in these conditions. The set of cages, as large and boding as anything he'd ever seen, almost staring him down.
He stepped closer, feeling warmth spread across his body. The shiver he felt only seemed to make the cages feel more perilous, as if whatever contained in them was as powerful as it was old. And Naruto didn't like that.
Step closer, kid a voice sounded from within the cage. Naruto gulped. While he didn't understand all of what was said, he did as he was told. Walking slowly towards the cage, warmth covering him as he did so, Naruto was only hoping the thing inside didn't hurt him.
"Whaddya want?" he asked, acting braver than he actually felt. The voice just remained as gruff as before.
you're too weak, get stronger the voice simply commanded. and I mean, stronger
Naruto's face scrunched up as he thought about what was said. Well, as well as a five year old abandoned, orphaned child could. Stronger.
"How, how do I get stronger?"
The voice chuckled. you don't, not by yourself. Tell the Sandaime that you want your birthright; he'll understand and will train you. Go.
With that, Naruto disappeared from the room. Never once did he notice the red, bulging eyes of the Kyuubi, or the Demonic Soul Seal and Four Image Seal combination that were meant to keep it in. All he saw was a chance to get stronger.
With a new determination, Naruto lifted his leg, which was miraculously warm, and stood up. Walking towards the Konoha gates, he walked through, the sounds of the party long gone.
He walked up to the large, castle-like home and wondered, even for a brief moment what being the Hokage would be like. The voice in his head snickered, but he tried to, mostly, ignore it. He'd seen people respect the Hokage, and had no idea that Sandaime would be pissed off if he learned what had happened. The warmth he had felt left as soon as he entered the gates, his small blanket barely keeping the wind off of his small frame. And, so, with trembling hands, Naruto opened the door.
Inside, what once seemed like the most beautiful place in the world seemed just that, another place. The Sandaime, Sarutobi, looked up, the door opening with the smallest of creaks. He knew, then, that it was probably Kakashi or Naruto, as neither knocked before coming in. He puffed smoke out of his Winchester pipe, and greeted Naruto, who was looking cold, and somber.
"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Sarutobi asked his young friend. Sarutobi looked at Naruto as his student, and had taught him the basics of Chakra control already, knowing the boy would soon need it, if the Kyuubi's power ever leaked into him.
Naruto shivered, and Sarutobi noticed for the first time the blue lips, and wet clothes, making him wonder just how long Naruto had been outside. The boy walked over to the fire, and Sarutobi was thankful that he had just stoked it.
"I want you to train me in my birthright, Old Man."
Sarutobi chuckled. Naruto, as long as he could remember had called him "old man" and never once did he correct the five year old. He was angry though, that the villagers would see him on the streets and not help, causing the knowledge of who he was finally is revealed to him, not that they knew who he was to begin with.
"Alright, Naruto. I'm glad you come boy today, at any rate. Happy birthday."
Naruto's eyes welled in tears at the site of the oddly shaped present. It was, he found as he opened it, a set of scrolls. The Hokage smiled, and waited, as Naruto opened them, and instead of seeing words, jumped. "YEAH! RAMEN!"
Sadly sighing at the boy, whose love of Ramen was measured because it was his only food source, he stood up. "I've been waiting for your birthday to give you a scroll that your father entrusted to me. It's not anything having to do with your birthright, but you need it to understand a lot of things before you learn about that."
"Just, out of curiosity, Naruto, who told you about your birthright?"
Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. The Hokage sighed, by now kids were supposed to have at least the basic knowledge of words, but Naruto didn't, and all because of his birthday. He looked at Naruto and nodded, "curiosity means I'm confused, and want to know something that's private to you."
The boy's eyes lit up. He had a few tears in his eyes, as he ran over to the Hokage. "Thank you, Old Man."
The Hokage smiled as Naruto tentatively gave him a hug. He had a tear in his eye, but then cleared his throat. "Alright brat, let's get going."
Naruto was lead to a dilapidated manor, run down because of several burns, among other things. The semi-burnt state of the ground, however, disappeared when the Hokage placed his hands together and whispered, "kai!" and touched Naruto's forehead. Soon, the view disappeared. The new site before him was exquisite. The house was at least three stories high, white with blue shutters. It had a design on it, with the symbol of Konoha on its side. The surrounding land was large, about fifty acres and, it had a feel of homeliness that Naruto had never felt before.
"Hokage, what is this place?" he asked the man, momentarily slipping in his 'be rude to everyone' routine. Sarutobi grinned. "That, my dear friend, is your house. It was your father's house, until he died. I've been inside there many times, and believe me when I say you will enjoy it. As your still young Naruto, I still have to insist that you come into town every day to check in with me, but as of now I turn your property over to you.
Would you like a tour?"
Naruto, grinning like there wasn't a tomorrow, nodded very fast. Sarutobi sighed, and walked up to the door. "It has a ninjutsu that has to be performed before you can go in, and can only be done by yourself, or the current Hokage. It's a C-ranked ninjutsu that you need to learn, because it's more powerful than others, but one that you can do easily."
Naruto nodded. He did something with his hands, Naruto wasn't exactly sure about what he did, and said, "Kai".
Naruto grinned, "That was the one you did earlier!"
The man nodded. "Yes, the Kai jutsu is one that is used to dispel genjutsu, or jutsu's used on your senses. It is one that is very easily misled as easy, but isn't. Now, follow my hand seals exactly."
Naruto tried, but it was too fast for him. The Hokage chuckled, and correcting most of the seals on Naruto as he went, said, "Now, you should feel something moving to your eyes. When it feels like it's touching them, yell "KAI!"
Naruto did, and for just a moment, the door blinked out, revealing a key in the hole. Naruto touched the key, and knowing it was there, found it. He turned it, and pulled it out of the slot, and went in the house. It was gigantic. Three stories was an exaggeration, he thought. From the outside, it looks small, because the house was so big, though, it was bigger than he remembered.
"This is mine?" he asked, and Sarutobi nodded. A foxy grin appeared on Naruto's face, and he screamed, "Yeah! Take that, bastards!"
The laugh that Sarutobi issued after that statement was one that would be remembered for a long time.
The training, which began a week later, was grueling the five year old realized. When asked, all Kyuubi would answer was, "you'll understand when you're older."
Now that he was older though, Naruto realized that he really, in all consciousness realize anything. His training for the last year had consisted of tree walking, water standing, and boulder running, all three exercises meant to test endurance and raise Chakra control.
While he was learning those three things, it having taken six months to get boulders running to the level he wished, Naruto could easily be considered the best chakra freak in the land.
The Kyuubi, in a voice that sounded entire too amused, told him that at his current rate, Naruto would easily face the two tailed demon in another five years without using his Chakra, a feat for anyone that wasn't demon born.
Now however, he had to start learning about the fighting style that Sarutobi, as he learned Sandaime's name truly was, gave him yesterday. He saw the scroll as a chance to fight against the oppression he felt, only having learned the fighting style because he was so alone.
So, as it was, he sat in the room on the second floor he had deemed his, looking at the scroll that introduce the Za Gamen style, a style that was called so because the rigorous
It consisted of weeks of nothing but sleeping, eating and training, the last going on more than 50 of the time. It was so intense, that it was said in the scrolls that most people never bothered mastering the style, just getting enough from the techniques, which could rival the Jyuuken style of Konoha village. In fact, this style was the one used by a clan in the Village of the Hidden Mist, but was forsaken because they thought that Swordplay, Kinjutsu was more favorable.
The style was first started out by testing stamina, and Chakra. Both had to be depleted before the style would be effective in training, and after the application of Chakra would keep the style at its highest. So, in order to test both stamina, which Kyuubi had a chuckle out of, Naruto began boulder running for miles on end, keeping only to turn the boulder. After two miles, at full speed, he'd be too tired to do anything else, but the style said to start learning the stances.
Sarutobi came, to supervise his training and teach him basic combat, which was needed before learning Za Gamen style.
"Alright, Naruto, it's time for me to teach you a few things about fighting" he had said one day, when Naruto had first startled studying the style. The boy looked over and nodded. He was six now, but the village still hated him and would teach their children their own style, so why not have an advantage by knowing his style. He did learn, by happenstance, that the Uchiha clan had just been killed, and a boy named Sasuke stood to inherit everything from that, including jutsu's, and learned styles that were copied through the Sharingan.
'Alright, here's what you need to do."
He set to teaching Naruto proper forms for punches, and kicks. Each time repositioning the posture to meet the standards the Hokage had set. It irked him that they dared belittle the boy for something as sharing a birthday with the day the Kyuubi attacked, but he did. "You need to keep your wrist straight, and your ankle bent slightly. I'd have Maito Gai teach you about the arts but you're learning a bloodline style, and can't reveal that to anyone.
Alright, remember, keep your wrist straight, and your ankle slightly bent, it gives you a better chance at recovery should you miss."
"Arigato" Naruto whispered.
For a month, he learned nothing but how to properly kick, punch, and dodge and other forms of the main art, that others recognized. Finally, after learning that, he started on the first object in the Za Gamen style, which would raise his stamina. It was called "limber tree exercise".
Kyuubi, who had seen this exercise before, explained it. it's simple, brat. You need to raise the control and stamina you have over your chakra. To do that, you'll have to find the most limber tree there is in the forest. Then, using the tree walking technique, climb to the top. At the top, extend your chakra along the tree, and keep it as straight as you can. Have Sarutobi use a wind jutsu to keep it swaying as much as possible.
After that's done, your chakra will be confined, and you'll successfully be able to master the Za Gamen style.
He started the exercise when he got to the top. The chakra control was so hard, that it would have taken him years without help from Sarutobi, who told him that in order to successfully learn the style, it was needed. He also made a comment about the Yondaime, but Naruto didn't catch that.
As it turned out, the purpose of the Za Gamen was to learn not to rely on your Chakra completely. But to use it to the point that any time he released it, the enemy would have a surprise. Surprisingly, it took nearly two months to learn the Limber Tree Exercise, because of the precision point control needed.
Finally, however, the time for preparation was over. And, Kyuubi was all for that.
Kyuubi no Kitsune was very happy. Today, he learned that it was time for his student to learn the Za Gamen style, and he was all for that. It had taken two months, but the brat's chakra control was at a perfect level to begin training in the taijutsu art. The others, Genjutsu and ninjutsu would come later, but now was the proper time for the opening stages.
Alright brat, playtimes over. Time to get down to work. Tell your Hokage that it's time for you to see any training areas, and that I'll take over now. If he asks who, tell him it's your tenant. Naruto did so and was lead to a large clearing that had to be activated by the Hokage's genjutsu release.
Okay, I've seen a user of the Za Gamen about three thousand years ago, and decided to imitate it as well as I could. It's simple, the counter to the style Shuuryou, or Termination Style, which will end a battle quickly and decisively. You've studied the stances, now you need to learn the proper procedure for the first few opening stances. The first you'll want to use consists of you separating your legs, positioning your ankles the way Sarutobi showed you. Your fists will be slightly curved, and you'll be able to jump start the battle with finer finesse than you usually has.
From there, you will do one punch, and step with your right foot at the force of impact. When that is done, return to your new position. That's called the punch of destruction, metsubou sentou. It uses chakra, which you'll learn to use little of in the fighting style, to hit the body with such power that it causes massive external damage.
The next attack, a kick, will be used with chakra too, and it's called shadoashige, the Shadow Kick. It uses chakra to bend light away from the kick. If you're in good enough with this kick, you can blend into the shadows and use them to attack, again causing massive damage. Try it, brat.
Naruto, who was currently confused, did as the voice, Kyuubi said. In all honesty, with his control of chakra, these attacks were easy to do, and fun at that. It took a week to master the Shadow Kick, but it was worth it.
Now, he could learn the basis for all of the Za Gamen style attacks.
Good job brat, I didn't think you'd make it that far. Well, I'm done for today, you practice. And, sleep inside tonight, it's supposed to be cold.
It's said, when people learn great things, that they're expected to be great. For the Uchiha's, there was nothing more true. Having a bloodline limit, they were among the most respected of the clans of Konoha. Even greater among them, Uchiha Itachi was considered to be the greatest genius of the clan, having obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan just a week ago. To the Uchiha clan, nothing was more important, for it was said that the Mangekyou Sharingan could beat even the 359 degree view of the Byakugan.
But, on this particular night, things would happen that would send the world of the ninja into a tailspin.
It all started when Itachi had heard his father in a conversation with an ANBU of the clan, who decided that they also wanted to achieve the Mangekyou Sharingan. In order to do that, Itachi was forced to kill his best friend, or be kicked out of the clan, and his Sharingan abilities thereby removed.
He would have left, but then they used their trump card, declaring that if one son went traitor, the other would pay for his actions.
He had, then, killed his best friend, only to awaken the Mangekyou.
A week later, there was a dispute in the clan. They wanted to kill Sasuke, who was considerably weaker than the rest of the clan, even though he was not yet a ninja. The clan voted, in a ridicules 159-1 vote of killing the boy, the one dissent coming from Itachi himself. That night, as Sasuke was walking home from the Academy, which he had just applied for that day, their was a scream of pain.
He walked in, having just seen his brother killing off his parents. It was then the desire for revenge came to him. He ran forward, and attacked Itachi, only to be stuck in the world of the Tsukuyomi, and forced to watch the truth before his eyes.
Itachi left the village with a challenge, "learn, learn to hate, and learn to fight. Only when those two things are combined, will you be able to kill me."
It was nearly two years later when Sasuke was accepted into the academy, his cold demeanor and cool outer shell making everyone believe he had not thought of revenge for a while.
Sadly, with a different turn of events, Sasuke and Naruto would have been on the same team together, but a simple plan changed everything.
It was amazing, Naruto thought, how large the academy was. When he finally mastered the Za Gamen style of fighting, he had learned all about their tight control, and the fact that the jutsu's used in that style were done without seals. The body flicker jutsu, Shunshin no jutsu used speed to get at the opponent, so they could beat he could beat the crap out of them was done with just his legs and specially made seal tags.
And, although he hadn't learned it, as there was only one person that could teach him, Naruto had studied the concept of the Rasengan technique. He learned there were three steps involved in making the Rasengan, and that you had to have precise control, something that Kyuubi told him he would never have unless they merged.
He stepped inside the academy, the voice in his head telling him to watch out, as a man with a large head yelled at a brooding kid, who left the academy dejected. 'Uchiha Sasuke' he remembered, the only surviving member of the clan that was able to call himself a shinobi.
He stepped into the room, and immediately covered his eyes.
"Bright" he said, aloud. It wasn't known, but he had been also working his sences, his sight and smell on par with the Kyuubi, and his strength, supposedly unmatched in the village. He had, having Sarutobi as a part-time sensei, also seen and learned a few jutsu from the Forbidden Scroll of Seals, the Kage Bunshin one to say the least.
They had explained to Iruka that a move that used little Chakra was next-to-impossible for Naruto to do, due to a bloodline limit that they found out about. He nodded, after all doujutsu were used all the time, and used a constant amount of chakra, but if you didn't have something like that, and a lot of chakra, you'd not be able to use too small.
His control, however suited to the style, never was fully learned and that bothered him a lot.
Remember, brat, don't show your skill. Do just enough to pass and be considered the weakest the Kyuubi had reminded him.
As he sat down, a very weird looking, uni-browed kid smiled. Naruto turned away after saying "hi". The boy, who was weird even in Naruto's point of view, simply smiled, and his teeth turned into large, fang like things. "Hi! I'm Rock Lee! I'm gonna be the strongest Ninja in our year!"
Naruto nodded. He knew, by the look of the kid, that he had no true ability in ninjutsu, but by his build and tone, he had practiced enough taijutsu to be considered a master. The girl next to him had to pig tails, which were black, and brown eyes. She had a bulge around her waist, which he assumed was weapons.
Across the room, with a green bird on his forehead, and white eyes, was a Hyuuga. Naruto remembered when he had met Hyuuga Hiashi a few months ago, Sarutobi had wanted him to practice Za Gamen against Jyuuken, or the Gentle Fist style of their clan.
Though he didn't defeat Hiashi, the man did have thirty plus year's experience, Naruto did do considerable damage to the man's tenketsu coils. He couldn't see them, only someone of the Byakugan could, but he did know how to locate them, all he had to do was hit to the left of a pressure point, and he'd more than likely hit one.
Hiashi had told him of the separation of the clans, and the Caged Bird Seal. Naruto looked at his naval, and sighed. He knew the burden of seals, and knew the resentment that the Main house must have gained from the Branch.
To the left, there was a very weird looking girl, paint covering her face, and a dog sitting beside her. Sarutobi told him of the Inuzuka clan, and their affinity with Dogs. His teacher said her name, Nushi, and she was all but happy at him.
To the right, there was an Aburame, though the Kikai bugs that they used in battle were absent. Apparently, his name was Shino, and he was lazy.
The person in front of him was named Riyousha Kimourii and she too was a dangerous looking person. Of the others in the room, the only other person that caught his attention was a large guy with a Chuunin vest, and a scar across his nose. Kyuubi had looked at him, and growled, but made no move to describe why.
He was Umino Iruka, a victim of the Kyuubi attack several years ago. He was a Chuunin now, because of his love of teaching, but he really didn't care for the interaction that the parents insisted on. He looked at Naruto, knowing that the village expected certain things from the master teacher of the Academy, but he didn't care.
The other man beside him was Mizuki, and he was another instuctor. He had white hair, and a pale complexion. Kyuubi didn't feel right about him, but didn't elaborate on why.
"Settle down" the man that Kyuubi was silent about said. Naruto did so, as did Kyuubi, which was weird. In the time Naruto had ever had him, Kyuubi only ever had listened to him, and that was in the direst of circumstances.
"Alright class, I'm Umino Iruka, I'm one of the Master Sensei's of the Ninja Academy. In this class, you'll learn about the different styles of taijutsu, and about hand seal used in ninjutsu. Genjutsu will be introduced to you by my fellow Chuunin Kurenai-san. She has been teaching genjutsu for three years and is a master at the art.
My colleague is Mizuki-sensei and he's a part of the Chuunin Counsel that decides whether or not a Genin becomes a Chuunin."
"Thank you Iruka-san, welcome students. I'm Mizuki, and this year we will be going over new arts, such as a fabled art that is so powerful, the Hyuuga can't learn it correctly. Also, we will be going over recent history in Konoha, and you will learn about how the fourth died. At the end of this year, we will have the final examination, which will decide whether or not you become Genin.
Anyone ready?"
And with that, class started.
End Chapter