The Red Flash Chapters 1 - 11 (Chakra Nature) (Patreon)

Chapter 1 (Uzumaki Seal)

In this story, Naruto has red hair.

Konoha was in sorrow at the recent death of their hero, and probably their strongest Hokage.

The most intense screams were heard in a room where a newborn baby's cries were forceful.

Konoha's Secret Room

"It's almost as though he's realized he's lost both of his parents."

"Says a tall guy with spiky white hair.

Only a couple of Konoha's shinobi were there in the room with the newborn infant boy to talk.

"Yes, we lost many fine shinobi today, citizens are still scared for their lives, and much of the country is on fire, but on top of it all, we lost Kushina Uzumaki, our Fourth Hokage and the final successor of the Uzumaki Clan. Worst of all, this youngster will have no notion what they look like "The second voice was that of an old guy in his late forties.

"What do you think we should do, Jiraiya-san, as this boy's godfather?"

Asked the elder gentleman.

Jiraiya started speaking in a low, regretful tone "I'm not certain, sensei. I'm sure Minato would want me to keep an eye on the kid, but I'm not sure what I'd be able to do since I have a lot of travel scheduled. What the village will do next is the real question. Minato died without a surviving heir."

As they waited for the former Hokage to speak, both men in the room went quiet.

"I shall assume the title of Hokage once again until I find a competent substitute to manage the village," Sarutobi remarked as he closed his eyes.

"Jiraiya, I have an assignment for you," he said to Jiraiya, a former pupil and one of his most devoted ninjas. He remarked that

"Sarutobi-sensei, what is this assignment you've given to me?" He asked, but his attention was pulled to the sobbing infant.

"I want you to utilize your spy network to fool the other villages so that we can repair our ninja squads and restore Konoha's defenses," Sarutobi said.

Jiraiya told the elderly kage, "I had no intention of employing my surveillance network for that reason, but it looks that I'm out of options. By the way, Sarutobi-sensei, you should alter the child's surname from Namikaze to Uzumaki."

Minato had numerous opponents in Iwa, including the Tsuchikage, as well as adversaries in other elements, so the senior Ninja knew what he meant. Few recall the Uzumaki clan, which has long ago slipped into oblivion. To top it all off, the infant 'Naruto' had his mother's red hair.

"I suppose I'll have to nickname the child Uzumaki." The decision was taken by the Hokage.

Jiraiya's eyes were filled with anguish and sorrow as he moved in closer to the infant, who had calmed down.

Naruto gently opened his eyes, which were a deep blue like the sea. Naruto was watching Jiraiya with bated breath.

"Would you look at that, similar eyes, and I believe his hair is already beginning to get spiky like Minato's," Jiraiya stated as she looked down at the kid.

The sage grinned and put his finger to his face. Naruto grinned and tried to move his small hands to his face, but he couldn't.

Sarutobi observed the grief in his eyes, but he also saw love.

"How about the whiskers? Is it due to the fact that he is a Jinchuriki? Kushina didn't have them, but her seal was distinctive, wasn't it?" Jiraiya raised his hand.

"No, those markings existed previous to the sealing, as far as we can ascertain.

So they're merely birthmarks, and if I had to guess, it's because his mother was carrying the Kyuubi when he was born "Hiruzen said.

Jiraiya nodded, understanding, and kept staring at the infant, who kept staring at him.

"I'll pay you a visit now and then," Jiraiya remarked, smiling and nodding to his sensei.

"I'm going to depart right now and will return as soon as possible. I should be on my way; if I have to go, I should do it as soon as possible. Keep the kid safe, sensei; I don't want to die and have to face Kushina if Naruto comes before. Oh, and I'm sad to hear of the passing of your wife."

Jiraiya stated this, and then he was gone, out the window, much to the Hokage's annoyance.

Tomorrow

It was hazardous to face Kyuubi, but confronting the council was too much for the Hokage.

He was now faced with his second-greatest adversary. The Council of Konoha.

The civilian council and the elders, comprised of Koharu, Homura, and Danzo, deliberated on what to do next.

Sarutobi had assigned the care of the young Naruto to several of his ANBU and Kakashi Hatake, one of the village's greatest shinobi.

The civilian council was arguing about how horrible things were right now. How many people had died, and how much it would take to restore to normality. The clan leaders remained deafeningly quiet. Hiashi and Fugaku were both silent, buried in their own thoughts.

"What became of the fourth?" The chief of Clan Nara queried, looking at his Hokage.

"Not that I have anything against you, lord third," the clan leader said politely, "but the fourth is in the hospital."

Everyone could see the ancient Hokage's grief in his eyes.

Shikaku's eyes widened as he comprehended what was going on.

He was extremely acquainted with the expression. He'd seen that face before and didn't need confirmation to guess out what had happened to him.

"The Fourth died sealing the Kyuubi," the elderly man broke the stillness with.

There was nothing being spoken.

Shikaku dropped his sight as he realized his comrade and Hokage had passed away. Many members of the clan shared the same idea. Minato was a well-known Shinobi who died tragically.

"Where did he seal the Kyuubi?" Danzo asked quickly, breaking the stillness.

The Hokage's pupils constricted as he looked at him. Following that, the whole civilian council started to ask the same question.

Sarutobi lifted his hand to hush them. "He sealed Kyuubi into a baby.

Naruto Uzumaki," He responded cautiously, anxious about what others would think of the situation.

The civilian council was in a frenzy, demanding Naruto's execution, just as he anticipated.

'Kill the Demon,' or 'He's Weak now, Throw him out of the community.' When Sarutobi heard this reply, he unleashed his killing intent, making the whole civilian council to experience visions of their own doom. Even the bulk of the head clans were having difficulty breathing.

A particular Nara was silent; he recalled his buddy Minato informing him that his kid will be named 'Naruto.' He understood who Naruto was straight immediately.

"SILENCE," ordered Sarutobi Hiruzen, and the whole council became quiet. He gazed at every face on the council with a gloomy expression, offering nothing but anguish if they didn't keep quiet.

"Minato intended Naruto to be portrayed as a hero, not a monster; he's the one who prevents the Kyuubi from escaping and killing us all," explains Hiruzen.

The third stated it in a threatening tone. Some civilian council members wanted to speak out against it, but when they saw Lord Third's killing expression, they restrained their mouth.

"I will retake the cap and my position as third Hokage," he said. Everyone seems to be thinking the same thing. No one on the council objected to this, save Danzo, who seemed annoyed.

Because individuals like Hiruzen made Konoha weak, he longed to be the next Hokage.

"Who are Naruto's parents, Lord Third?" a Hyuga queried, his eyes welling up with tears.

Sarutobi had opted not to tell them because he was scared the knowledge would spread and the other four great shinobi villages would soon discover Minato had a son. Iwa would go to any extent to murder him in retaliation for what The Fourth did to them during their effort to seize the leaf village.

With a sad face, Sarutobi answered. "I'm not sure, but I know his parents were killed in the fight against Kyuubi."

The leader of the Hyuga clan disagreed, but remained silent. Shikaku Nara had already worked out who his parents were, he noted.

The fact that the youngster lacked parents aided the civilian of them had already began to think of injuring the demon, and the fact that they didn't have any parents to keep an eye on him made things simpler.

The elders were suspicious about the boy's father.

Danzo, on the other hand, understood precisely who it was and realized the youngster could be transformed into a legitimate weapon and useful to Konoha, just as Kumo had done with their Jinchuuriki.

After hearing a cough, Hiruzen turned to confront Danzo.

"I'd want you to give me the boy, Hokage-sama. I can teach him and turn him into a wonderful wea... Village ninja," Danzo proposed with a smile.

Hiruzen's and several of the clan leaders' eyes narrowed. "No. And the child has a name.

He shall be reared at the orphanage just like any other boy "The Hokage declared unequivocally.

Danzo was not pleased with this one. He reasoned that there had to be more methods to make him a weapon.

"Allow me to nurture him, Hokage-sama, with all due respect. He'd have a family and could be like a brother to my kid "Shikaku offered, and the majority of the council members were surprised since they didn't anticipate Shikaku to say such a thing.

"Please accept my apologies, but the request has been refused. Naruto cannot be given to any clan. He will grow up in an orphanage. He'll start at the academy when he's six years old."

The announcement was made by the Hokage. Despite the fact that he wanted to deliver Naruto to Shukaku. He was fully aware that he wouldn't be able to pull it off. The other clans, particularly the Uchiha clan, would be enraged.

Shikaku had no time to object. "You would let the Demon to enter the Academy and become stronger," shouted a civic council member.

The Hokage clinched his teeth and dilated his pupils. He was furious because Naruto had been referred to as a demon. He motioned with his palm, and the shouting man's head rolled to the floor, blood pouring everywhere. The citizens were taken aback, but they stayed quiet.

The Hokage paused for a few seconds to check whether anybody else was sick of their head.

Because there was nothing but quiet, the Hokage shifted the topic.

"Now that we've finished this. I'd want to talk about what we lost and how much it will cost to reconstruct." The Hokage chose to change the subject.

Throughout it all, one clan chief stayed mute. Clan Uchiha was led by Fugaku Uchiha. Fugaku was well acquainted with the boy's parents. Mikoto, his wife, was close to Kushina Uzumaki. He wasn't sure how his wife would react if she discovered he was being raised at an orphanage. He, on the other hand, was not excited about it.

The Hokage stated at the conclusion of the meeting that Naruto would never be mentioned as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi again. That knowledge was classified as S-class, and revealing it would result in the death penalty.

Naruto

While all of this was going on, a baby with red hair was napping. The seal in his stomach was completely invisible. To remain warm, he was covered in sheets. Naruto was dead asleep, yet he was the only one who noticed when his seal started to burn red for a few seconds and then stopped.

Chapter 2 (Alone in the World)

1 Year Later

The village had been rebuilt, all the destroyed buildings and the flames weren't there anymore. Despite looking from the outside that nothing was wrong. Inside, you could still see that people hadn't forgotten about the Kyuubi, the demon who killed their loved ones and, most importantly, killed the fourth Hokage.

As people were walking around the street and busy doing their jobs and living their lives, The same couldn't be said for a baby crying in the orphanage.

The baby with red hair was crying. Despite being only a year old, Naruto could still say a few words and take a few steps, but that only worsened his situation.

Naruto was still tiny, but even he understood that he wasn't having the attention of anyone around him. Or if he did, he would get glares of hatred that made Naruto scared and sad.

Right now. Naruto was crying since he was alone in a room and there was no one else there. No other babies sleeping, just him. Suddenly the door opened, revealing a woman glaring at the 'demon brat' as everyone liked to call him.

Seeing someone, Naruto stopped crying and smiled at the woman; he was happy that someone had come for him despite having the cold feeling from her.

The woman got angry when he saw that the demon was smiling; that smile reminded her of her dead girl who died when the Kyuubi attacked. She glared at the monster, and his smile made her snap. She slapped him in the face.

Naruto immediately started crying and touching the place where it hurt. The woman smiled that she could break the demon and left the room. She Left Him to cry until he got tired. Naruto kept crying for 4 hours until he slept but woke up again after a few hours because he was hungry.

Naruto was given food only once or twice a day, But even then was given the bare minimum. If it were in the hands of people who worked there, they would let him starve, but the Hokage would visit once a month to check on him, and they knew. It would be dangerous to anger the Hokage. In the beginning, Hokage noticed from how Naruto looked like that he wasn't being fed. He had warned the people who worked in the orphanage to treat Naruto like the other children.

After three months

Naruto was crawling to the place where he knew they kept the food. His baby legs didn't make a sound, and he knew, if he was quiet, he could reach the room without anyone noticing. Naruto just hoped none of the other children would wake up in the middle of the night crying.

As Naruto reached the door, and was happy that no one was guarding it. At first, he couldn't reach the handle but then used a few books to reach it and slowly opened the door not to make a sound. Naruto looked inside and was even darker than it was in other rooms. The other room had windows, so the light of the moon brightened up the rooms slightly. This room had no windows that Naruto could see. He was scared, but he was hungry, so he swallowed a huge breath and decided to be brave and crawled slowly inside the darkroom.

Naruto slowly crawled to a jar with food that he knew the other children were fed with; he put his hands around the pot but couldn't move it. It was heavy for him. Naruto then tried to use his hands to open it where it was but to no success. He was disappointed, but he was hungry. His stomach started growling as to answer him.

Naruto tried again and again but had no success. Naruto felt tears in his eyes and decided to try one more time, and he started feeling something from his seal in the stomach. The seal started glowing red, and Naruto opened the jar. He smiled so much that even his eyes were smiling. Naruto felt the feel from his tummy but decided to ignore it.

Naruto then put his hand inside the jar and started eating with his little hands. That went on for almost an hour. Naruto then slowly closed the pot again and left the room quietly.

After 2 Years

Naruto was looking outside the windows as it was raining. It has been raining for five days now. Now Naruto was only three years and three months old. He was able to walk, talk, run and even knew how to read a little. He felt lonely in this place. He had seen how a woman would look and treat other children; they would always smile and be kind to them.

While no one was kind to him, they would all look at him with anger and coldness. He didn't know why. He couldn't understand what he could have done to make them hate him. The only person he knew that was kind to him was the older man with robes. He was the only one who gave him a kind smile, but Naruto could feel sadness coming from the older man whenever he saw him.

The older man told Naruto that he was the Hokage of the village and explained to Naruto what his job was.

Naruto understood that he was the strongest and the most important man in the village, but that confused Naruto; if he is, what he says that he is! Then why is he spending time with me? Naruto had asked himself but found no answers.

Naruto had heard other children calling certain people 'papa' and 'mama' in the orphanage. Naruto didn't know why he didn't have them. He had asked a woman who worked here where his parents were. She answered him.

They abandoned you, demon. No one would ever love you.

Naruto had run to his room crying after hearing that. Sometimes Naruto would see dreams of a woman with the most beautiful smile talking sweet words to him. She would call him 'sochi,' and she would kiss his cheek and his forehead. Naruto always saw her smile but never her face. The dream would always end when he tried to look at her face.

The only thing Naruto could remember from her was her long red hair. Just like his. Naruto had heard many children of his age or older calling him a tomato. Naruto didn't care that much; at least that was much better than being called a 'demon'.

But he heard many adults pointing out his hair and saying that was proof that he was a demon. Naruto then had wondered if everyone hated him because of his red hair, but he quickly pushed that thought away. That was just ridiculous to him and made no sense to him.

Naruto had also noticed the three whiskers in each cheek of his face. He wondered what they were and why he had them. For this question, Naruto decided to ask the older man once he revisited the orphanage.

Naruto had also noticed the weird drawn in his stomach. He had seen how the mysterious symbol would glow red sometimes. Naruto had an odd feeling in his tummy every time that happened.

Naruto hadn't asked anyone what that meant because he hadn't asked anything since the woman told him that his parents had abandoned him because he was a demon.

Now, as Naruto was looking at the rain, he felt someone coming towards his room. He knew this one wasn't the older man despite feeling powerful like him.

Naruto just hoped that whoever it was wasn't there to beat him or call him a 'demon'. The door slowly opened, and Naruto saw an older man walking inside.

White spiky hair, red markings under his eyes, a headband with the 'Kanji' for Oil, a traditional red geta with two yellow circles on each side of his cheek.

Naruto wondered who this one was, but he didn't feel anything sinister coming from him.

Jiraiya

As he opened the door and looked at his godson, The first thing he noticed was how much he looked like Minato and Kushina. True, his hair was red but was spiky, just like Minato's hair, and his face looked a lot like Minato's. He wouldn't be surprised if Minato looked exactly like Naruto when he was the same age except for blonde hair.

His hair looked just like Kushina's hair. Red like blood and made somehow made him look cuter. But then the old Sannin looked at his eyes and saw that Naruto was afraid of him and could tell from his face that he wasn't happy here.

Jiraiya holds himself not to go immediately and beat up whoever made him this sad. Jiraiya decided to immediately let him know that he was friendly and that there was no need to be afraid.

"Naruto, don't be afraid of me. I'm a friend," Jiraiya said kindly to the young boy.

Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion. "You are my friend?" He asked with a tiny voice but not wanting to be helpful.

The older man nodded with a kind smile. "I thought friends were supposed to be around my age. Why do I only get to get old people as friends?" Naruto asked innocently. No one from his age wanted to be his friend, and so far, the old man Hokage was the only one who Naruto could call a friend.

Jiraiya's eyebrow twitched slightly at being called old but let that go for now.

"I'm not that old, and what's wrong with a godfather visiting his grandson" Jiraiya responded, smiling and the moment he said that. He was hugged by Naruto, who had embraced his legs.

Jiraiya smiled, and Naruto was hugging him tightly, almost afraid that he would leave him. He started playing with Naruto's hair, and he looked up at him with tears in his eyes. But Jiraiya could tell Naruto was happy.

"Will I live with you? Please?" Naruto asked, hoping that he could leave this place. Jiraiya immediately frowned since he knew that he would be in the village only for a week and then leave again.

"How about you and I sit?" Jiraiya asked, and both of them sat in Naruto's bed. Naruto had noticed the feeling of sadness coming from the older man but decided to not ask about it.

Jiraiya sighed and took a deep breath. He turned to his grandson, who looked like his eyes were shining with happiness.

"Tell me Naruto how is your life here?" Jiraiya asked, despite knowing how his grandson might be treated here. From his face alone, Jiraiya knew Naruto was treated harshly.

Naruto frowned and lowered his gaze. Jiraiya felt stupid to ask that, so he decided to change the subject. "Tell me Naruto, do you know how to read and write?" Jiraiya asked, rubbing his hair.

Naruto turned his head to him. "I only know a little, I taught myself but is hard to find any books here", Naruto responded. Jiraiya was surprised that he knew how to read. He smiled and grabbed a book from his coat.

"The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi," Jiraiya said and gave the book to Naruto, who grabbed it and looked like someone just gave him the best gift in the world.

"I will teach you how to read and write. And after that, I will give you new books to read if you want to become a shinobi," Jiraiya added, smiling.

Naruto turned to his godfather. "Thank You," he repeatedly said, hugging both him and the book.

"Don't worry Naruto", Jiraiya said, hugging him back.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, and Naruto pulled back and opened the book on the first page.

Jiraiya was happy that Naruto wanted to learn, and he started teaching Naruto how to read and write.

Chapter 3 (Did They Love Me?)

1 Day Earlier

The third Hokage was standing in his office as he was battling his immortal enemy, the enemy of all kages, an enemy that couldn't be defeated. The kage was staring at his eternal enemy, and the enemy was just mocking him. The kage started breathing heavily and shouted the name of his enemy.

Damn Paperwork

The hidden ANBU in the office were trying hard not to laugh at their kage's behaviour. Sarutobi sighed as he then started smoking his pipe. He relaxed a bit and started working on his paperwork again. How were you able to complete them so fast, Minato? The third asked himself. He had no answer, and perhaps being the fastest shinobi alive had its perks.

After what felt like an eternity, he was done with the pile in front of him and decided to read something. His hand moved to open a secret drawer of his desk when a blur entered his office through the window.

His ANBU's were immediately on alert, but Sarutobi knew who the idiot had come through the window.

"The door was just never an option?" The third asked in a monotone tone looking at Jiraiya.

The sannin grinned and turned his face to his sensei. "No, windows are much better", he responded and walked to the chair on the other side of the desk. "How are things around the village?" Jiraiya asked.

"People still remember what happened three years ago, is not easy to forget for some," Sarutobi answered, and a frown appeared on Jiraiya's face.

"What about outside the village?" Sarutobi asked, smoking his pipe. His face turned from joking to serious within a second.

Sarutobi understood, and with a sign of his hand, his ANBU's left and activated a silence seal.

"What news do you have?" Sarutobi asked with a serious tone.

Jiraiya sighed. "I have news of an organization of missing nins," he said in a serious tone.

Sarutobi raised his eyebrow at this. It wasn't that much of a big deal for missing nins to create an organization. "Why is this important Jiraiya?" Sarutobi asked, knowing there was more to this.

"They all are made of S-Rank shinobis, and is called Akatsuki," Jiraiya said with a dreadful tone.

Sarutobi slightly paled at this. An organization made of S-Rank ninjas can be a big problem, he thought.

"And they're targeting the Jinchuurikis", and that organization just became far more dangerous in Sarutobi's mind.

Targeting Jinchuurikis?! For what reason can they somehow control them and wants their power to belong to them? Sarutobi asked himself and was slightly worried for Naruto.

"What do they want?" He asked, worried for Naruto, who was still only three years old.

Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows, but they're definitely not trying to reach world peace or anything like that", he responded and pinching the bridge on his nose.

"Do you think they work for any of the other villages?" He asked, thinking that they worked perhaps for Kumo or, god forbid, Iwa.

Jiraiya shook his head. "As far as I know 'No' " Jiraiya responded.

There was complete silence for a few minutes. "I want to meet Naruto", Jiraiya suddenly said. Sarutobi looked at him in total shock. He didn't expect Jiraiya to meet the kid, at least until he becomes a genin.

Sarutobi gave him a look like 'Why Now'.

"I want to meet him. I have waited long enough, and now my godson needs me more than ever," Jiraiya added with a serious tone and didn't care if his sensei would tell him 'No'.

"How long before they make any move?" Sarutobi asked with a serious tone, but Jiraiya could tell he was concerned.

"It will take some years, Naruto still has time but he needs to get stronger", Jiraiya responded and put his hand on the desk, ready to leave.

"Very well Jiraiya," The third said, and Jiraiya left through the same window he came.

4 Days after Jiraiya visited Naruto

Naruto was reading a book that his godfather had given him explaining what chakra is and how everyone had chakra. He had started reading like a mad man since his godfather tough him how to read and write. He told him, the more he read and wrote, the better he would be. Naruto listened to his godfather and started reading the first book he gave him.

To Naruto's surprise, the main character of the first book had his name. Naruto had asked him why? Naruto still remembered.

"Your father loved my book and decided to name you after that character."

His godfather had responded. Naruto could feel love and sadness coming from his godfather when he said that. When Naruto asked his godfather why his parents had abandoned him, Jiraiya had almost lost it.

' Jiraiya was looking as his godson was reading his first book. Looking at him now reminded him so much of Minato, the way his body moved, the way he stood and walked, all screamed 'Minato'. Jiraiya was already proud of him, and it had been two days since he met him. On the first day, Jiraiya had given Naruto real food to eat as much as he wanted.

On the first day after meeting Naruto, he ran to his sensei's office, asking him why Naruto was so skinny and why he had that look on his face. His sensei told him that he had already fired three women who worked in the orphanage for treating Naruto poorly.

Jiraiya was not surprised that Naruto was treated like that since apparently everyone in this damn village knew of his status as a Jinchuuriki. Sensei, of course, told him that the information had somehow leaked, and now every adult knew of Naruto being Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi.

Jiraiya wasn't happy at all, and straight-up told his sensei that if anyone dared to hurt Naruto, he would show no mercy. His old sensei nodded his head in agreement and said that Kakashi was the anbu in charge of protecting Naruto.

Now Jiraiya saw a confused look on Naruto's face. His blue eyes like ocean turned to Jiraiya, and for a moment, Jiraiya could have sworn it was Minato who was looking at him.

"Why the main character has my name Toad-Jiji?" Naruto asked, slightly confused.

Jiraiya smiled at the nickname; he had shown Naruto yesterday that he could summon toads and promised Naruto once he becomes a genin, he would be able as well.

"Well Naruto, Your father loved my book and decided to name you after that character", Jiraiya answered and was expecting Naruto to ask who was he. Still, instead, he asked something he never expected of him.

"Why did they abandoned me?" Naruto asked, lowering his face not to show his tears threatening to roll down his cheek.

Jiraiya's eyes widened, and they quickly put a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Naruto they didn't abandon you, they loved you more than anything else in the world," Jiraiya said truthfully and hugged his godson.

"People here told me that I was a demon and that my parents abandoned me," Naruto said, sobbing on Jiraiya's shoulder. Jiraiya clenched his teeth. He was already half convinced to beat up the people who told that kind of stuff to a child. He started rubbing his hair. "They loved you Naruto and never forget that," Jiraiya said quietly.

Naruto had cried for an hour and fell asleep. He then had asked his godfather who they were, but sadly no answer. He told him that he would tell him the moment he reached eight years old. Naruto could feel that he was telling him the truth.

Since he met his godfather, Naruto was smiling more frequently and gone was the sad face everyone saw him with; the smile, of course, had irritated many people who worked in the orphanage; they wondered why the demon was smiling.

Naruto, of course, had heard the way how people greeted his godfather 'Jiraiya-sama'. Naruto then knew his godfather must be an important person, and from what he could feel, he was almost as strong as the old man Hokage.

Naruto wondered why someone so important was his godfather; he knew whoever his parents were must have been important people to have people like toad-Jiji as their friend.

Naruto, of course, had no answers and just decided to wait until he reached eight years old. He knew that would be a long time, but he would make sure to make his parents proud.

As Naruto was reading a book about Chakra and Ninjutsu, he started feeling something from his tummy. He quickly shut the book and removed his white shirt quickly.

Naruto looked at the weird drawn on his tummy as it was glowing red. He wondered what it was, and he had forgotten to tell his godfather about it.

The feeling went away as quickly as it came. Naruto just shrugged his shoulders and decided to ignore it, but he knew that other children didn't have this drawing in their tummy.

Naruto returned to his book and started reading where he left it. He had asked him when he could start training. His godfather had told him that he was still very young to do physical exercise, and right now, he would teach him how to unlock his chakra and many other things.

Naruto then felt as someone was watching him; he quickly turned his head to look through the window of his room but couldn't see anyone there. He kept looking for a few seconds and then returned to his book.

Behind a tree, there was a man with a mask hiding and using genjutsu to camouflage himself and not letting out that much chakra not to be detected. He was wearing a white mask and looked much different than a normal anbu.

How did he feel me? He's still only three years old! The masked man asked himself as he kept looking at the weapon.

Lord Danzo will want to know this, he quickly shunsin away.

A Hidden Place

A man was standing in a chair waiting for reports about the weapon of the village and at the same time thinking of a way to have the weapon in his hands. If I train him, he will become a valuable weapon to the village and put Konoha where it belongs, the man thought.

The man was old, with a scar on his chin that looked like an 'X. His right arm was fully bandaged.

He heard from his ANBU's that the sannin Jiraiya had visited the boy; this didn't sit well with the man. He wanted the boy to be desperate, and then he could 'save' him, and he will have his complete trust.

The man was Danzosin, the leader of the anbu 'ROOT', which operated in the darkness and took orders from Danzo instead of the Hokage.

Suddenly one of his men who was ordered to watch over his weapon appeared in front of him kneeling.

"Report," Danzo ordered.

"I was watching the weapon as you ordered me Danzo-sama but the boy suddenly felt me and looked directly where I was for a few seconds and then returned to his reading," his anbu said.

Danzo put the finger on his chin. How can a 3-year-old boy feel an anbu? Danzo asked himself.

"Return to your post and inform me of anything else", He ordered.

"HAI", and the anbu disappeared.

Naruto

He was waiting for his godfather to come, he would usually be here by now, but this time he was late. Naruto then felt him, and a second didn't pass, and toad-Jiji came through the door smiling at him.

Naruto immediately returned the smile and ran and jumped to his arms to hug him.

"How are you, my boy?" Jiraiya asked and rubbing his hair, making Naruto laugh.

"I'm good toad-Jiji", Naruto responded and pulled back and went back to his book.

"I wanted to ask you something?" Naruto asked, and Jiraiya told him to go on.

"Why do I have a weird drawn on my tummy?" Naruto asked innocently, but Jiraiya tensed slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Naruto, and he wondered if he shouldn't have asked.

Jiraiya wondered how could have Naruto seen it; the seal would appear only if Naruto was doing something with his chakra, and Jiraiya was sure that Naruto hadn't unlocked it yet.

"How do you know about it?" Jiraiya asked carefully, and Naruto noticed his new tone.

"I - I had s-seen the drawn will glow red sometimes", Naruto answered nervously and slightly scared.

Jiraiya walked closer to Naruto and told him to remove his shirt. Naruto did as he was told and removed it. Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto's stomach, and the seal appeared.

Naruto was now tense and wondered if he had done something wrong. Jiraiya analyzed the seal and could see it was intact. Glowing red?! Jiraiya asked himself but could see the seal was as perfect as when Minato sealed the Kyuubi.

Jiraiya then turned his eyes to Naruto and noticed the fear behind his eyes. "Don't worry Naruto, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you", Jiraiya quickly said and smiled at him. Naruto felt relieved and wore his white shirt.

"Don't worry about that Naruto, is nothing?" His godfather told him, but Naruto wasn't convinced. He knew that weird drawn wasn't normal but decided to keep it silent since his godfather didn't like to talk about it.

Jiraiya kept Naruto company for the whole day and gave him new books, each one of them for different things. One of them was also for Fuinjutsu. Jiraiya hoped that since Naruto was an Uzumaki and both his parents were good with seals, it would be easy for Naruto to learn it. He knew there was a danger that Naruto might figure out about the Kyuubi, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. Jiraiya would say that it was a seal to protect him if Naruto asked.

Tomorrow

Going towards the orphanage was a woman around her 30s. She had bought some new clothes for her best friend's son. She knew he was treated unfairly and still was angry that Hokage had refused her to adopt Naruto. She had requested at least seven times to adopt him, but each time was rejected, she was going to ask for the 8th time, but her husband told her that the Hokage wouldn't change his mind.

She, of course, was angry and had cried that she couldn't help him.

She was followed by her older son Itachi Uchiha which was known through the village as a prodigy. Usually, she wanted to bring Sasuke since he was around the same age as Naruto, but he was still young, and perhaps it would be better to meet Naruto somewhere else and not in an orphanage. Also, things between the village and the Uchiha clan were a bit tense.

She reached the orphanage and asked the first woman she saw there.

"I'm sorry but where is the room of Naruto Uzumaki?" She asked, smiling but noticing the look of hatred in her eyes when she mentioned the name, so did Itachi, who knew what Naruto had sealed inside him.

"He's in room 13", she answered with venom in every word. They started walking towards Naruto's room and didn't bother to say 'thanks to the woman. After they walked away, she turned her eyes to her older son. "Treat Naruto kindly like I told you before we left home; never act like that stupid woman," she snarled.

"I know Kaa-chan, I know the difference between a kunai and a scroll", Itachi responded kindly.

They soon reached his room, and Mikoto noticed the words 'Demon' written all over the door and in the wall near the door.

She sighed and knocked on the door, "come in", she heard and opened the door and almost thought she saw her friend instead when she saw his red hair.

She then saw his eyes and noticed he was being wary of them.

"I'm not here to hurt you Naruto," she said kindly, trying to reassure him that she wasn't here for anything wrong.

Naruto only just kept looking at her like he was waiting for something. "My name is Mikoto, this one is Itachi and I brought you new clothes," she said smiling. Naruto slowly walked towards her and looked at the clothes in her hands. His eyes then turned to Itachi. And then back to Mikoto.

"Why?" He asked her.

That question broke her heart; he asked why they were being kind to him.

She wanted to say that she knew his mother, but she knew that information was still hidden for a reason.

"Because you remind me of someone Naruto-Kun", she responded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I will see you again whenever I can", she promised.

Naruto smiled a little. "Thank you," he said.

Naruto would want to talk with who appeared to be Itachi but noticed he was much older than him.

She would want to stay longer, but she knew things between the Uchiha clan and the village weren't on good terms, and the last thing they needed was for them to think that she was trying to manipulate Naruto.

"See you later Naruto-Kun," she said, and Itachi followed her behind.

Naruto was left in his room and looked at his clothes and wondered if this was like having a mother.

Chapter 4 (Friends)

2 Days Later

Jiraiya was looking as his grandson was reading books about the clans of Konoha. He was reading about The Senju Clan, how they were able to make trees and how the first Hokage was able to build the whole village.

The book also mentioned important clans from other countries, but that was on the last pages. Jiraiya sadly knew that book had nothing about the Uzumaki clan, but he would tell Naruto himself once he grew up a bit more.

Jiraiya liked the way how Naruto was every time he would read; it reminded Jiraiya of Minato. But spending time with Naruto, he could see what Naruto had gotten from Kushina. He was a caring person like her, one who cared about the precious people more than anything else. But he also looked collected and not hot-headed, or maybe Jiraiya just still hasn't seen it yet.

Naruto had already read all the books Jiraiya had given him about Ninjutsu and chakra. He still had to read about Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu. But his godfather told him he needed to know about clans as well, and for their bloodlines.

Naruto, of course, had asked many questions like 'Why no other Senju can grow up trees' 'What is a bloodline?' 'Could The second Hokage really pull out water from the air itself?' And many other questions.

Jiraiya was happy that Naruto was so interested in books. He had already made a deal that a toad would come to Naruto every month with new books. So Naruto wouldn't get bored and would have something to do and spend time, but this thought reminded Jiraiya that he would have to leave tomorrow morning and do his duty as a spy.

That broke his heart; he wanted to stay here, but the village needed information for every possible threat, and he wanted to know more about the damn Akatsuki. Jiraiya thought to take Naruto with him, but he was afraid that being out there might bring Naruto unwanted attention. And not to mention was dangerous. Naruto was still only three years old for crying out loud.

Jiraiya was a Sannin and was known throughout the five great shinobi villages, and if the word spread that he had a child with him might make things worse. Sure he would be there to protect him, but people might figure out he's the fourth's son since he looked a lot like him. Spiky hair, except Naruto, had red hair like his mother. And Jiraiya knew he couldn't be with Naruto all the time.

Hell, some people might understand immediately he's an Uzumaki and might try to kidnap him because of his Uzumaki Blood. Like how Kumo tried with Kushina.

Jiraiya wasn't sure how he could even tell Naruto that he would leave, and he knew he wouldn't be back for at least five months.

Jiraiya sighed sadly and moved closer to his grandson. Naruto felt the sad feeling coming from toad-Jiji, so he decided to shut the book, and his blue eyes went to his godfather.

"Why are you sad, Toad-Jiji?" Naruto asked, not liking him being sad. Jiraiya was slightly surprised that the kid could tell he was sorry.

"Nothing Naruto, how about you and I go outside tonight, I want you to visit a place," Jiraiya said, smiling. Naruto knew there was something wrong but decided not to ask questions. Naruto wasn't sure if going outside was a brilliant idea since people didn't really like him. But he knew his toad-Jiji was there, so there was no danger.

Naruto quickly nodded his head with a bright smile, brighter than the sun itself and got up from his bed and walked closer to his godfather, who was leaning against the wall. Jiraiya smiled at him and walked close to him. Jiraiya leaned his hand close to Naruto. He quickly grabbed his hand, and to Naruto's surprise, Jiraiya pulled him up and made him sit on his shoulder.

"Wwoooohh," Naruto said, excited and slightly scared. He felt bigger now and put his hands on Jiraiya's hair and held tightly. His godfather saw Naruto grinning like never before.

"You ready?" Jiraiya looked up and saw Naruto's eyes shining with happiness, and Naruto nodded his head. Naruto felt tall and like he was a man from up here, and being like this gave him courage.

Jiraiya left the room, and the moment he left, he saw a woman looking at Naruto with hatred in their eyes. That made the bundle of joy on his shoulder feel uneasy. Jiraiya released a tiny bit of Killing Intent, and they gulped and backed away from them.

They soon left the orphanage, and now we're in the streets of Konoha. Naruto was looking everywhere curiously. He had never been away from the orphanage before. This was his first time, and he wanted to see how it was.

Jiraiya was happy that his godson looked delighted, but he kept an eye on people walking around them. He felt two anbu following them but paid no mind since they were anbu sent by his sensei.

Naruto felt the two people following them through the roofs. He knew they weren't civilians, but shinobi was like his godfather since he could feel they were much powerful than an ordinary person. He couldn't feel bad feelings coming from any of them. But he felt sadness from one of them.

People walking around didn't really recognize Naruto at first. Most of them just kept walking and minding their business, but some of them had stopped walking and were looking at Naruto specifically. His red hair, blue eyes and his whiskers.

Our redhead started feeling sad and uncomfortable when he began feeling anger and hatred coming from some of the people around them.

"Toad-Jiji, you should put me down," Naruto said, afraid that people would start hating his godfather as well.

Jiraiya looked up at him, surprised but understood immediately why he said that.

"Don't worry Naruto, just don't mind them", Jiraiya responded but frowned when he saw that more people were looking at Naruto angrily now.

As they kept on walking, more people had stopped and been looking at Naruto with hatred. Naruto swallowed a huge breath and felt sweat coming from his forehead, but then his godfather released a massive amount of killing Intent that made everyone take a few steps back. Some of them even started screaming and running away in fear. After a few minutes, there was no one looking at Naruto anymore. Jiraiya began to walk again, and Naruto was feeling better.

Naruto focused his eyes on the stone faces in the mountain. He knew each of them. The first one on the left was the first Hokage Hashirama Senju, which built the whole village with his wood abilities, and was known as 'God of Shinobi'.

He had also battled the legendary Madara Uchiha in Valley of The End. He was known to be able to control Tailed Beasts with his wood abilities. Naruto had heard about the Kyuubi like everyone else. And wondered if there's more than just Kyuubi out there.

Then was Tobirama Senju, which Naruto had read that was known for his high water affinity. No one was in the same lever as him; even ninjas from Kiri, known for their water affinity, weren't at his level. He had created many jutsus, one of them was Hirashin that the fourth Hokage was known for.

Then was old man Hokage, who looked younger in the stone face and in the picture in Naruto's book. Naruto couldn't really see him as young no matter how hard he tried; Naruto had read that titles of 'The Professor' and 'God of Shinobi' were given to him. Naruto wondered if Jiji-Hokage in his younger days was as strong as the First Hokage in his prime. He had decided to ask Jiji once he saw him again.

Then there was The Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze. Naruto thought he was the coolest Hokage of them all. He was known as the yellow flash of Konoha because he was a master of Hirashin. But when Naruto had seen the picture of the fourth, he could have sworn that he had visited the person before. His blue eyes were the same as Naruto's, and he knew it.

Naruto, of course, asked Jiraiya why he felt like he had seen the fourth before. At that moment, he noticed his godfather was very nervous and heard him mutter Just Like Him. Of course, Jiraiya just changed the subject, much to Naruto's annoyance.

Naruto had asked his godfather to learn Hirashin, but he told him that he still needed to know the basics before moving into complicated things like learning jutsus and Hirashin.

Jiraiya knew Minato had left Hirashin and Rasengan for Naruto in case anything happened to him. Jiraiya had decided to give them to Naruto when he reached eight years old.

But Jiraiya wasn't looking forward to telling Naruto about Kyuubi. He knew Naruto still hadn't asked why people hated him, but he knew he would ask that question sooner or later.

Naruto had told him about the kind lady named Mikoto who had given him clothes. Jiraiya, of course, knew her since Kushina had mentioned her, but he wondered if she had a purpose of meeting Naruto. He knew there was a chance that she just wanted to be kind to him out of her friendship with Kushina. But Jiraiya knew that things between Konoha and Uchiha clan weren't good and had heard some shinobis clamming that Kyuubi had a Sharingan the night he attacked.

Of course, maybe they had just thought they saw it, but Jiraiya knew Minato was a master at Fuinjutsu and would never let Kyuubi be released unless someone attacked them.

Now he made his way towards the favourite place of his mother. Naruto was busy looking at the face of the fourth Hokage in the mountain when he heard.

"Oooh look who we have here", he heard his godfather say towards three men who were walking towards them. In their shoulders were three kids.

The first man was giving Naruto and Jiraiya a warm smile. His hair was almost brown and tied like a cactus. He had a scar on his face and was wearing the usual Jonin outfit. With black sandals. On his shoulder was a boy who looked bored and ready to fall asleep; his hair was the same as his father.

The second man had long blond hair and was wearing a white outfit, and beneath it, Naruto could see the Jonin outfit. On his shoulder was a girl around his age with blond hair as her father. She was smiling at them.

The third one was a fat man with weird marks on his cheek. He wasn't smiling at them, and Naruto could feel the stare of the third one. And on his shoulder was a boy who also looked to have problems with his weight.

"Jiraiya-sama is good to meet you again. Who is the cute boy on your shoulder?" The first man asked, taking a step forward and giving Naruto a warm smile.

Jiraiya looked up at Naruto. "Ohh. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, shinobi-sama," He answered respectfully.

Jiraiya held a burst of laughter, and so did the girl.

"My name is Shikaku, and this lazy boy is my son is Shikamaru" Shikaku introduced himself and the boy on his shoulder who already looked half asleep.

Naruto waved his hand. Shikaku put Shikamaru on the ground. "Say hi, or do you want to walk back to your home," Shikaku said.

Shikamaru paled at the contest of walking. "This is troublesome. My name is Shikamaru Nara" Naruto smiled and jumped to the ground to get closer.

"Hi, Naruto-Kun. My name is Inochi Yamanaka. This princess is Ino," the blond said, and the girl waved at Naruto.

"Hello Tomato," she said smiling. Jiraiya expected Naruto to act the same way as his mother when she was called like that. But he just laughed.

Naruto didn't really mind the nickname since it was much better than being called a demon.

The third one took a step closer. "My name is Choza Akimichi. This one is Choji," the fat one said, a bit wary of Naruto, which Naruto and the adults noticed. Naruto waved his hand, and so did Choji.

Naruto turned his eyes to Shikamaru and Ino, who were standing close to him. "Do you want to come with us?" Naruto asked hopefully. Jiraiya was about to respond when he was interrupted.

"Of course we can stay outside a bit longer", Shikaku answered immediately. Shikamaru looked ready to protest, but his father glared at him.

"Very well, we're going to Ichiraku Ramen," Jiraiya said happily that Naruto could finally meet kids of his own age without glares.

Choji looked happy and was clapping his hands.

"Yeah", Naruto shouted, raising his fist in the air.

Soon they started walking towards Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji were walking forward and talking, and the adults were a bit behind talking about different things.

"So Naruto, what is Jiraiya-sama to you?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

"He's my godfather."

Shikamaru's eyes widened slightly, and he murmured something under his breath.

"Wow. Really. He's one of three Sannins," the girl Ino shouted, surprised.

Naruto raised his eyebrows in confusion. "What's a Sannin?" He asked.

They all started looking at him like he had gone mad.

"Didn't your parents tell you about the sannins?" Ino asked, confused.

That question made Naruto sad, and his smile slowly disappeared and turned into a frown.

"I don't have parents," Naruto said quietly, almost like a whisper. He was feeling tears in his eyes But swallowed a huge breath. He didn't want to cry in front of them.

Ino lowered her head. "I'm sorry", she apologized with a sad tone; Choji looked saddened as well, and so did Shikamaru.

Naruto quickly shook his head. "Don't worry Ino-san. How about we talk about other things?" Naruto asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Very well. What do you like to do the most Naruto?" Choji asked curiously.

Naruto knew what he liked. "I like to read. And I like to spend time with toad-Jiji, and Hokage-Jiji," Naruto responded, smiling brightly.

All three of them looked at him, confused. "You mean. You call Hokage-sama, Jiji?" Ino asked but more like a statement. Naruto didn't understand why that was apparently a big deal but just nodded his head.

"What about you guys?" Naruto then asked and putting his hands behind his head.

"Well. I like to watch clouds, and sleep. Mostly sleep," Shikamaru replied, yawning. Naruto sweet dropped while Ino and Choji already knew his answer.

"Don't mind him. He's just lazy," Ino said, looking at Shikamaru and then her head turned to Naruto.

"I like to look at the flowers and spend time with my par . . . Friends," Ino responded, changing the answer.

Naruto knew what she was going to say but didn't mind. Now he had his godfather, and he was happier than ever.

"That's cool Ino", Naruto responded and smiled at Ino, which made her turn her face away. Naruto was confused while Shikamaru was murmuring. Troublesome blonde.

"I like to eat. Spend time with Shikamaru in a barbecue and any restaurant," Choji answered, smiling.

"Tell me Naruto, will you become a shinobi?" Ino asked, smiling at him.

"Of course. I will become a shinobi and become a Hokage dattebayo," Naruto shouted the last part with his eyes screaming determination.

All three of them looked shocked by Naruto's statement that he would become Hokage. At the same time, Jiraiya was looking at Naruto proudly.

I have no doubt you will, Naruto.

Chapter 5 (Feeling of Hope)

Naruto was having the best moment of his life. He was talking to his new friends and for the first time in his life. Their parents weren't telling them to stay away from him or telling him to not talk to them.

When he met his godfather six days ago, Naruto was pleased to know that he wasn't alone, That he had someone to call family and wasn't a 'Demon' as everyone called him.

When toad-Jiji told him that his parents didn't abandon him but loved him, Naruto felt happier, but now he had friends.

"Why would you wanted to become Hokage?" He heard Shikamaru asking him.

Naruto grinned. "Because then people of the village will finally acknowledge me", He answered.

Shikamaru was thinking about what he meant when he said that 'he wanted people to acknowledge him. Choji just kept eating chips, while Ino smiled at him.

"That's a good dream", Ino commented, smiling at Naruto.

"What about you three? What're your dreams?" Naruto asked, turning his head to three of them.

Shikamaru shrugged his shoulders. "To Sleep", and everyone sweet dropped behind their heads.

Naruto was thinking, What kind of dream is that? He wondered, but at the same time though it was excellent.

Lazy as Always, Ino thought with annoyance. While Choji smiled Typical Shikamaru, he thought knowing Shikamaru was lazy.

Naruto then turned his head to Choji.

"I'm not sure. I haven't thought about it," Choji answered, and Naruto understood, and they still were very young to think about what they would do when they grew up.

Naruto then turned to Ino. "Well. I want to be a good kunoichi like my daddy," she said happily.

Naruto liked the dream and told her that it was a perfect dream.

They keep on walking, but the more they walk, the more people start sending Naruto glares, but not daring to do anything since Jiraiya-Sama and three respectful clan heads were there with three innocent children talking with the demon brat.

The adults notice immediately, and so does Naruto who's smile disappears and turns into a frown, Shikamaru on the other hand, could see something is not right with the way they were looking at them.

Ino started feeling uncomfortable and walked closer to her dad, and so did Choji.

Naruto looked around and felt bad that maybe his presence here was making things worse, and he felt tears in his eyes. Jiraiya had enough and unleashed his KI at the maximum that made many people drop unconscious on the ground, and some were having a hard time breathing.

After 2 minutes, no one was looking at Naruto anymore, and they soon reached their destination. Ino asked her father why people started staring at them like that, and he just told her that they were stupid people. Shikamaru didn't seem bothered by their glares.

While Naruto was keeping his head down and thinking that it was all his fault and his new friends would soon abandon him like all the other kids of his age, he then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Shikaku-sama looking at him with a warm smile.

"Don't worry about them Naruto, they're just foolish people?" he said, and Naruto managed to smile.

"Here we are", he heard toad-Jiji said and pointing at a restaurant. Naruto looked at the name 'Ichiraku Ramen' and wondered what that was.

"Come on. All are on me," His godfather stated and put a hand on Naruto's head and rubbed his red hair. Choji looked to like the idea.

They were about to walk inside when the adults turned their heads to their left. Naruto turned as well when he saw Hokage-Jiji walking towards them.

"Hokage-sama, what a pleasant surprise," Shikaku said and took a step forward, and so did Jiraiya.

"I saw you with my crystal ball walking to this place so I decided that I needed a break from my war with paperwork", the old man said with a chuckle at the end.

Hokage then looked at the little kids. Ino was hiding behind her father. She knew who the Hokage was and was nervous. Choji had stopped eating and for once looked serious, while Shikamaru just looked bored.

The older man was about to say something when. "Hokage-sama is good to see you again", Naruto yelled and jumped to hug him. The Kage returned the hug, and Jiraiya smiled at the scene while the kids wondered how Naruto knew the Hokage-sama so well.

Naruto usually would call him either 'Hokage-jiji' or 'jiji'. Still, Jiraiya had told him always to show respect in front of others, so Naruto decided to call him with respect.

"Naruto my boy, how are you doing?" The Hokage asked and looked at Naruto, who looked much brighter and happier than when he saw him in the orphanage.

"I'm good Hokage-sama. Toad-Jiji is giving me many books to read is amazing," Naruto replied excitedly. Hokage laughed at the nickname while Shikaku chuckled, and so did Inoichi and Choza. At the same time, Ino and Choji were wondering how reading books could be amazing. And Shikamaru silently agreed with Naruto.

"Oh, toad-Jiji" the Hokage looked at Jiraiya grinning. "Well, that's good Naruto," he said and pulled him to the ground, and they together walked inside the restaurant.

Walking inside, Naruto saw a man with a girl older than him behind the desk.

"Oh Hokage-sama is good to have you here," the man said respectfully, looking at the Hokage.

"Is nothing, do you have enough Ramen for all of us"

"Of course", he replied happily, but then his eyes went to Naruto, and he froze. He looked at his face. Red Hair and bright blue eyes like the ocean, the man thought with a smile seeing the child of his two favourite customers.

For a moment, Naruto thought that the man would start glaring at him, but he was looking at Naruto with longing, and that confused him.

"What's your name, little buddy?" The man asked with a warm smile.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage", he responded, grinning.

"Well, take a seat, future Hokage," He said with a smile, and soon everyone took a seat. Hokage seated close to Jiraiya, Inoichi, Shikaku and Choza. At the same time, Naruto was close to Shikamaru, Ino and Choji.

"Have you been here before?" Naruto asked, looking at his new friends. Shikamaru shooked his head, and so did Ino.

"I have been maybe three times", Choji replied and couldn't wait to eat.

"Naruto, you said you liked to read, what do you read?" Shikamaru asked interested.

"I read about Chakra, Jutsu, Ninjutsu, and I have started reading about clans of Konoha and their bloodlines. I will soon start reading about Genjutsu and Fuinjutsu," Naruto said happily.

Shikamaru looked interested, while Ino thought that it was a waste of time. Choji didn't look to either care or not care.

"Don't you think is a bit early to worry about ninja stuff? I will wait until I go to the academy," Ino asked.

He turned his blue eyes to her. "I don't have anything else to do in the orphanage. So I read and I really like to read," Naruto replied.

Ino raised her eyebrows in confusion while Shikamaru nodded in agreement with what Naruto said about reading.

"My godfather even promised me that he would teach me how to unlock my chakra when I read all the books he gave me", Naruto added happily and glanced at toad-Jiji, who was talking with Hokage-Jiji.

When Shikaku heard Naruto's response, he turned to Jiraiya. "Don't you think is a bit early to teach Naruto about all that. Shikamaru likes to read but teaching how to unlock chakra and all that comes after that. I will wait until Shikamaru reaches 5 years old to teach him that," Shikaku asked, thinking that Naruto was way too young to be taught that. He needed to enjoy his childhood and not spend time training. He will have a lot of time to do that once he enters the academy.

Jiraiya thought about it for a moment but quickly shook his head. "What you said might be true Shikaku-san, but the way I see how people look at Naruto. He doesn't have anyone there and needs to do something to spend his time. And He will have to worry about the Akatsuki when he grows up," Jiraiya thought the last part.

Shikaku understood what he meant and was still slightly angry that Hokage didn't let him adopt Naruto.

The Hokage frowned at Jiraiya's answer. He knew Naruto would need to be prepared.

Of course, none of the children could hear them except Naruto, who could somehow listen to what his toad-Jiji said. Not to anyone's else knowledge, the seal in his stomach started glowing red for a few seconds and then stopped.

The adults had ordered ramen for themselves and their children. Naruto was waiting for ramen and was talking with Shikamaru and Choji, while Ino was thinking if eating ramen would get her fat.

"Naruto, how do you know the Hokage?" Shikamaru asked. From what he saw, he knew Naruto must know very well to jump like that and hug him in front of so many people.

"Oh, well he visits me every month in the orphanage. He even tells me stories sometimes about the first Hokage and second Hokage" Naruto replied like it was no big deal.

Shikamaru was confused. Why would Hokage visit him every month? This is so troublesome. He thought and decided to stop thinking about it.

"Oh wow, that's amazing. I heard from father that Hokage is the strongest in the village," Ino replied excitedly.

But in her eyes, The Hokage didn't look like much, or maybe it was because of old age.

"Yes Hokage-sama is very strong, I can feel he's stronger than anyone else around here. Perhaps even stronger than toad-Jiji," Naruto said and glanced at Hokage-Jiji.

Shikamaru was about to ask what he meant by feeling their power.

"I hope you like it," the man who worked in the restaurant said and brought them ramen.

Naruto looked at the food, and to him, it looked delicious. Choji started eating immediately.

"Eat while is still hot Naruto," His godfather said, and Naruto tried a little at first, but then his eyes turned to stars.

"Wow," he shouted and quickly started eating like there was no tomorrow. Within a minute, the ramen was gone and in front of Naruto was an empty bowl.

"This is very delicious Chief-sama", Naruto stated, looking at the chief.

The man laughed. "No need for that kid. And my name is Teuchi and this one is Ayame" he introduced himself and looked down at his daughter, looking at Naruto with a smile.

"Hello Ayame-san, my name is Naruto."

The girl noticed the way Naruto smiled and his red hair. It reminded her of a woman with the same hair colour that had visited their place before. She turned to her father.

"Tou-chan he looks like Kushina-san", she whispered, looking up at her father. He nodded at her sadly.

"Don't mention it now," her father replied quietly.

"You can eat as much as you want Naruto-Kun," Jiraiya said, and he looked at him in awe.

"Four more bowls for Naruto", Jiraiya ordered, and Naruto couldn't wait for the food.

After ten more bowls, Naruto wasn't hungry anymore, and everyone was surprised to see him eat so much. He had eaten even more than Choji, who thought not to lose next time.

"This was amazing, thank you toad-Jiji" Naruto thanked his godfather.

Jiraiya paid for the food for everyone, and now they were staying in front of the Ichiraku Ramen.

"I think is time for us to leave," Shikaku said, and Shikamaru looked to agree, and so did Inoichi and Choza. Naruto frowned and slightly lowered his head.

Shikaku noticed that. "Don't worry Naruto-Kun, you will get to play with Shikamaru again. Whenever you want," he stated.

Naruto's face brightened, and he smiled at Shikaku.

"Troublesome", Shikamaru murmured.

"I hope we meet again, Shikamaru. Perhaps next time we can cloud watch together," he suggested, and Shikamaru looked to like the idea.

Naruto then turned to Ino. "I hope to meet again Ino-san," he said, and she just nodded her head and kept her face away.

"See you next time Naruto," Choji said and walked away with his father.

Shikaku and Inoichi said their goodbyes to the Hokage, Jiraiya and Naruto.

Jiraiya was pleased that Naruto had new friends now. Hokage looked up and saw that it was close to evening.

"Naruto, We will meet again soon," the Hokage said to the redhead, who couldn't stop smiling.

He turned to Hokage-Jiji. "Of course and soon I will take that hat dattebayo", Naruto stated and pointed the finger at the hat.

Sarutobi couldn't help but feel proud of Naruto. "I have no doubt Naruto-Kun. And I'm waiting for that day," he said proudly and hugged him.

After that, Hokage returned to his office with Naruto waving his hand at him.

Now was only Jiraiya and Naruto standing at the road.

"Naruto-Kun, I want to show you something else," Jiraiya said and offered Naruto to climb on his back. He nodded and climbed on his back.

"Hold tight", he advised, and they Shunsin away.

Naruto blinked his eyes, not understanding where he was right now. He looked around and noticed they were very high.

"Wow. Can you teach me how to do that toad-Jiji?" Naruto asked, looking at him with big puppy eyes. Jiraiya growled. "Soon," he said, and Naruto jumped in excitement.

His toad-Jiji started walking, and Naruto followed him.

"Here we are", His godfather stated, and Naruto jumped to the ground and followed him. Soon they reached the edge, and Naruto could see the whole village from up here.

The sunset made the village and everything look beautiful. Naruto enjoyed the view and was glad that he wasn't alone here.

"This view is amazing," Naruto said was lying in the grass close to Jiraiya.

After minutes of silence, Jiraiya sighed and decided to tell Naruto.

"I know you're sad about something toad-Jiji. Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked, afraid that it was his fault. He had felt sadness coming from him the whole day.

Jiraiya quickly shooked his head and put a hand on his shoulder.

"No Naruto. You have done nothing wrong," Jiraiya said sadly and keeping his head low, not baring to look at Naruto.

"Do you remember when I told you that I worked outside the village to make sure the bad guys wouldn't come to attack the village?" Jiraiya asked.

Naruto remembered that he told him that on the second day when Naruto asked him where he had been all this time, and he told him that he needed to be outside the village for a long time to chase away the bad guys.

He nodded. "I will need to leave tomorrow Naruto," he said sadly, and Naruto felt tears on his eyes and then rolling down his cheek.

"Can I come with you?" He asked with a tiny voice.

"No Naruto is too dangerous out there" " but I swear I will listen to everything you say. Please," Naruto begged and hugged his Jiji arm, not wanting him to go away and leave him alone.

Jiraiya felt his heart was breaking. Naruto was sobbing in his arm and holding it tightly.

"Naruto, You won't be alone. I will return as soon as I can. Don't forget about your new friends," Jiraiya said quietly and put a hand on his shoulder.

There was complete silence again for a few minutes, and Naruto kept crying his eyes out.

"How long?" Naruto suddenly asked when he stopped crying.

Jiraiya wanted to say that he would return very soon, but he knew it would take at least five months, and if he lied. That would break Naruto's heart.

Jiraiya turned to Naruto and hugged him tightly. "Five months, five months Naruto," he said quietly.

"A toad will come to you every month to give you new books for you to read, alright," Jiraiya said, and Naruto nodded his head against his shoulder.

"Now. Once I return I will tell you about your mother," Jiraiya said.

"Thank You toad-Jiji," Naruto said quietly and stayed like that for 30 minutes.

"I love you toad-Jiji."

"I love you too Naruto-Kun."

In a forest

"Kaa-chan where are we going?" A little girl with red hair was asking her mother as they kept walking through the forest. It has been raining for two days now. Since her father died from the shinobis, it had started to rain. The ground was muddy, and her feet were all aching.

"Soon Asha, very soon we will go home", her mother replied, turned to her daughter, and started walking towards her daughter, who was four years old.

Asha saw her mother picking her up in her arms. Asha's eyes focused on a weird drawn that was in her mother's right hand.

Her mother made a few hands seals with her right hand.

"Uzumaki Style - Rainforest," her mother said, and it started raining even more.

"We will soon find our home, Asha", her mother promised with a smile. Her purple eyes look at her daughter with love.

Soon Asha, soon.

Chapter 6 (Uzumaki on The Run)

Naruto was crying, he tried to hold his tears,, but he couldn't no matter how hard he tried. Naruto was in front of Konoha's gate about to say goodbye to his godfather, who would leave to chase away the bad people. Hokage-Jiji was standing close to him.

Jiraiya had a sad face looking down at his grandson in all but blood. He slowly kneeled to his level and put his hand on his shoulder. Naruto removed his tears with his hand and looked at his godfather.

"Naruto stops crying, I will be back in no time," Jiraiya said with a grin, trying to ease the pain in both of their hearts. Naruto nodded and swallowed hard not to let more tears fall.

"Remember what I told you. Read and train, and I will be back in no time. And I will teach you how to unlock your chakra and do cool jutsus. Like your father," Jiraiya said, smiling. Naruto looked at his eyes, surprised.

He leaned closer. "Next time we see each other. We're gonna talk about your mother," he promised and his hand fist on his heart. Naruto's frown slowly disappeared, and he smiled at his godfather. Jiraiya trusted Naruto would be able to keep the secret.

"I will read and train as hard as I can. Toad-Jiji. And when I become a shinobi I will bring peace so you won't ever have to leave again," Naruto promised with the fist on his heart.

Jiraiya felt like he saw Minato and Kushina smiling behind Naruto. Their hands-on his shoulders.

I have no doubt Naruto Jiraiya thought and hugged him, and Naruto hugged him back.

They slowly pulled away, and Jiraiya got up and looked at his sensei.

"Take care of him," he said, and the old Hokage nodded his head.

Jiraiya waved his hand at Naruto, and so did Naruto.

"Bye Toad-Jiji", Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs as Jiraiya shunsin away from the gate.

The old Hokage expected Naruto to cry again, but instead, he was smiling.

He saw Naruto murmuring something under his breath.

"Time to read. Old man Hokage," Naruto said and turned to walk away. The old Hokage smiled at the young boy. He did not doubt that Naruto would become a great shinobi in the future. He turned to look at Naruto and saw what Hashirama-sensei and Tobirama-sensei always talked about.

The Will of Fire is strong within you, Naruto.

He soon returned to the orphanage; much to his displeasure, he reached his room and didn't bother to look at the word 'Demon' written in front of his door. Naruto hadn't asked his godfather why people treated him and hated him. Hokage-Jiji would always change the subject.

Naruto thought to maybe ask his godfather next time he sees him. Not having toad-Jiji here made the whole room feel colder. He looked at the frog wallet his godfather gave him today before he left. Naruto glanced down at the shirt the kind Uchiha lady had given him. It was a black shirt with a symbol of fire in the back.

He wore a second shirt since he felt cold. He went to the book about Fuinjutsu. He had finished the books about chakra, how it worked and other things. The book for Taijutsu, but that book wasn't that necessary to read since the essential part of Taijutsu was to train outside rather than read about different types.

In the book for clans of Konoha and clans outside Konoha, Naruto read about Senju, Uchiha, Nara, Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi and many other clans.

He looked at the title. The Art of Fuinjutsu Level 1.

He opened the book on the first page, and his eyes went to the author's name.

Utari Uzumaki

Naruto's eyes widened at the last name. He had always thought he had no clan; his last name 'Uzumaki' was just a random the Hokage had given him. And he was sure that neither the Hokage nor toad-Jiji had mentioned anything about an Uzumaki clan.

He then remembered that nothing was mentioned about 'Uzumaki' even in the book talking about the clans of Konoha.

Naruto wondered if maybe he was just looking too deeply into this. After all, toad-Jiji promised him to tell him about his mother once he returned.

He smiled, remembering that, And started reading about Fuinjutsu.

After 6 Hours

Naruto had read a quarter of the book. He found all this fascinating. To him looked easy.

Naruto wanted to seal something in a scroll, but he had no brush to draw any seal, and he had no scroll. And he had no kunai to seal anywhere. He shrugged his shoulders and decided to ask Hokage-Jiji the next time he saw him.

He kept reading and read that the art of Fuinjutsu was very hard to learn; the number of people mentioned to have been masters at Fuinjutsu in Konoha could be counted with only the fingers of one hand.

What is the limit? Naruto wondered if someone could seal other things other than ninja tools like kunai or shurikens. He understood that the book he was reading now. It had only the basics of Fuinjutsu, but it still was the most extensive book compared to the other books. This book had even more pages than the book about clans.

Naruto shut the book and took the second book about Fuinjutsu.

The Art of Fuinjutsu Level II and Level III

He wondered how many levels there were, but he had only two books for now. Naruto hoped the toads would give him more. Next month. He smiled and decided to sleep since he was tired.

After four days

Naruto was reading the first book for the third time now. He found the seals very interesting, but at the same time, he wondered why he had a seal on his tummy. Naruto understood the weird drawn on his tummy was not a drawn but a seal, but he couldn't understand why he had it.

He understood seals are used to seal things; some advanced seals were used to make traps. He wondered what he could have locked inside him; Naruto was sure that it wasn't a shuriken or kunai.

Naruto was using a pencil trying to write seals on a blank paper, but it wasn't working. He wondered if he needed a brush to write seals. Or maybe he was doing something wrong.

Naruto understood that he needed to unlock his chakra to do something but wanted to try if he could do something before he unlocked his chakra, but he understood he needed to wait until he unlocked his chakra.

Naruto put the finger on his chin and decided to remove his shirt. He looked down at his tummy but couldn't see the seal. He wondered if he could understand what was sealed in him. He knew he had to wait until it started glowing red which was ultimately random as Naruto understood it so far.

"When Jiji comes I will ask him how to unlock my chakra," Naruto said to himself and decided to go outside.

Naruto was looking as children of his age were playing with other children; they laughed and talked to each other. His bright face slowly disappeared; Naruto hoped he could meet with his friends again, But he knew they had their own houses and had no business to visit the orphanage.

He looked up at a roof where he could feel two anbu watching him. Naruto smiled at them and was half convinced to wave his hand at them.

One of the anbu had a mask that looked like a dog. He saw Naruto waving at them, and he wondered how the kid could know they were there. Jiraiya-sama had told him that he was an excellent sensor but to detect an Anbu at age three. That was no small feat.

"Will you talk to the kid?" The other anbu asked. She had long purple hair and was wearing a bear mask. She was good at kenjutsu. The dog knew her name, Yūgao Uzuki.

The anbu dog, known as Kakashi Hatake, thought for a moment.

"I might", he answered after a moment of silence. For a long time, he had wanted to meet the son of his sensei. But he still felt guilty for not being able to protect anyone important to him. His teammates, his sensei that was like a father to him, Kushina-san.

Kakashi thought that maybe he was cursed to watch everyone he cared for die in front of him.

Kakashi saw Naruto standing on the ground, looking at the other kids playing. They kept standing looking after Naruto for the rest of the day until he returned inside.

Secret Place

Danzo was waiting for the reports of his team. He had sent a large group of his anbu to find a family of Uzumaki survivors. He didn't know if they were or not, but it was worth experimenting if they were. They were known for their long life. And Danzo believed their cells could be beneficial. Especially the girl could become a good shinobi in his hands.

The father and mother weren't necessary, and he could just kill them or use their bodies for experiments.

As he was waiting, he was thinking about how to put the Kyuubi brat on his hands. He knew Jiraiya would be a bad influence on him, and only Danzo knew how to use a shinobi properly.

The old toad is gone for now. The stupid villagers could be helpful for once, Danzo thought with a slight smirk on his face.

I could use their hatred towards him, Danzo thought.

Yes, he will be mine like his mother should have been. A weapon for the village. You stopped me once, Hiruzen but not twice. There are many ways to break a child's will.

Suddenly one of his anbu kneeled in front of him. "Danzo-sama report from the Uzumaki mission," the anbu said respectfully, his face hidden behind his mask. His eyes were emotionless.

"Report"

"We were able to find the family, but the mother and daughter were able to escape. We tried to capture the father but in his last breath, he activated a seal that destroyed his body. We lost 6 men, sir. We left 20 anbu looking for the child, but it started raining and we couldn't follow them," he reported.

Danzo was disappointed at his men, but he wondered what he meant. "What do you mean? Why rain didn't let you follow them?" Danzo asked, quite interested.

"I don't know Danzo-Sama, our sensors couldn't detect them anymore. And three anbu felled dead in the ground after a minute of walking around the rain," he replied.

Now Danzo was quite shocked. Interesting jutsu. Someone must be pretty capable of using Water jutsus to be able to make rain.

"I want my new weapons found. I want both the girl and the woman alive."

Ashara Uzumaki - 3 Days Later

We have been in the run for a week now. The ground was all muddy; her legs were itching everywhere. Her clothes were full of mud around. Her mother would once a day wash her clothes with her water jutsus.

Asha couldn't understand why this was happening, why the weird shinobis attacked them. They were peaceful people and did nothing except fishing.

Her mother was getting more tired each day; she would leave her with a clone at least three times a day and return when she found something to eat.

"Kaa-chan when will tou-chan return?" Asha asked, not understanding where her father was. Her mother's eyes were saddened for a moment, and Asha was sure she would cry.

She was about to apologize. "He will return soon Asha. He just has something to do with the ninjas that came to our house," she replied and fought back her tears.

Asha knew her mother wasn't telling her the truth but decided not to ask more questions.

They were using a tree to cover themselves from the rain. Looking at the rain now, Asha wondered why it hadn't stopped raining since they left their home.

"Why is raining so much?"

"It helps Asha-chan, this way the bad people won't find us", her mother replied, tired and breathing heavily.

"Kaa-chan where are we going?" She asked with a tiny voice. She felt her mother's hand on her long red hair.

"To a new home my sweetheart", she replied kindly and removing the dirt from her hair.

Asha didn't want to leave her old home. She was happy there with her kaa-chan and tou-chan. She always thought that her home was the most beautiful home to exist. She remembered the sea close to their home and would sometimes just stare at the sea near their house. It was beautiful. She always liked it and occasionally would dream as the sea was talking to her.

Outside her home was a treehouse that she sometimes would hide when she played with her parents. Asha didn't want any other home. The tiny house close to the ocean and with a treehouse was the best home. She felt hot tears in her eyes when she thought about her house. Almost like her mother could feel her sadness.

"What's wrong sweetheart?" She asked and making her daughter turn her face to her.

"I want to return to our home", she replied, tears rolling down her cheek.

Her mother smile slowly disappeared. "I know that, but we will soon have a new home. You will love it," she replied in a tired voice. Asha noticed her mother looked very tired now, and she saw that it had stopped raining now.

She was breathing heavily, her legs could hardly bring her to this point, but she knew they needed to leave soon.

"We need to leave," she said in a serious tone. She slowly tried to stand on her feet and used the tree close to her to stand.

"Kaa-chan, you're tired. We should rest," her tiny ruby said. She smiled but knew they didn't have time to rest.

She put a smile on her face for her daughter; she couldn't let her get scared. "Don't worry, I'm well rested now", she replied and grabbed her hand. And they left towards their new home.

Chapter 7 (Chains of Hell)

Niko Uzumaki - After three days

She felt exhausted; that's the only thing she felt. Her legs felt numb; her skin was irritated everywhere. She would catch up on blood every few hours. Niko made sure her daughter wouldn't see her. But she knew her face was getting paler. Her red hair had started losing its colour. They had begun becoming grey, losing their pigment.

She couldn't understand why all this was happening. Horrible people destroyed her homeland; they were a peaceful clan. But it seems in this world people didn't care. As long as they viewed you as an enemy and not an ally, you needed to be destroyed despite fighting only when they were threatened.

Niko could still remember her home, and it was the most beautiful place in the world. She had escaped along with her parents and a friend of hers. Her parents died shortly after they found a peaceful place to call 'Home'.

Reaijo Uzumaki is her friend, then her lover and then her husband. He was all she had for some many years. Their love grew when their family grew; her daughter, Ashara Uzumaki. Or as Reaijo liked to call her 'his ruby'.

Niko didn't know why he called her like that, but Asha always liked when Reaijo called her that. Niko was sure that she had found her new home; she had a family that she loved. But people still remembered the Uzumaki clan. People still remember their abilities.

Niko felt multiple people coming towards them. She swallowed a huge breath; she was scared, but for her daughter. Not herself. I won't let these monsters take my baby, Niko thought, angry. She clenched her teeth And took all her courage. She grabbed Asha's hand and put her to hold behind her back.

Niko glanced at her daughter. She knew her tiny ruby was scared. "Just hold tight my baby. I will protect you," she promised and started jumping from tree to tree. The ground was still muddy, despite that she stopped her jutsu three days ago.

As they made their way, She felt a kunai flying towards them. A chain quickly came out of her hand and blocked the blade. But she knew whoever threw that wasn't alone. She felt her senses skyrocket. She promptly landed on the ground avoiding a fireball jutsu that burned the tree she was standing on.

"Mama", her daughter screamed, scared. Niko looked around and saw herself getting surrounded by at least 20 shinobi. All of them were wearing masks. Niko knew they were anbu, but she felt that something was off with them.

Her daughter covered her face in her back, not daring to look at the shinobis surrounding them. She was crying. Niko narrowed her eyes at the anbu.

"What do you want?" She asked, her voice high. She was breathing heavily. Niko knew that she didn't have that long before everything was over for her.

"Come with us. Danzo-Sama wants his weapons," one of the emotionless ANBU's replied. His hand goes to a kunai on his jacket.

Niko didn't know who the man was, but she knew from the way the anbu talked. This man was dangerous and looked at them as weapons.

She knew her chances of winning were thin.

She looked behind at her daughter, who was still standing on her back; she covered her face. Niko gave her a sad smile before turning to the anbu.

I'm sorry, my ruby. I'm sorry, Reaijo. I have failed our family, she thought And started raising all her chakra left. She slammed her hands together.

"I won't let your monsters to hurt my daughter", she screamed, and the ground started shaking. One ANBU jumped from the ground to a tree and jumped in her direction with a sword in his hand. Ready to slice her legs.

Niko felt a tear rolling down on her cheek. She screamed.

"Uzumaki Style: Chains of Hell", she shouted, and hundreds of chains came out from the ground moving at High Kage Speed. The anbu with the sword tried to swing at the chain. But he was quickly surrendered by chains. The others tried to run away but were quickly captured. And so was every shinobi around Niko. They tried to break free, but the chains were strong. They all were black chains, and some of them slightly shining.

All of them couldn't get out, but they felt their chakra running lower and lower. One of them tried to hand signs but couldn't move his arms, not even a cm. They all had no emotions, but now they were looking at Niko with fear in their eyes. She took a deep breath and prepared to kill them all.

"Please No", one of them shouted, but the chains quickly ripped them apart. Their arms, legs and heads were ripped apart from their body. The sound of their bodies ripped apart was heard; it was a terrible sound. The blood fell in the muddy ground like rain. Niko slightly smiled, seeing that all of them had died.

She looked behind her and saw that her red crystal was safe. She smiled for the first time since they were attacked. "Is alright now Asha. They're gone," she said gently. Her daughter slowly moved her head away, but Niko didn't let her look at the bodies.

Asha looked at her mother, but then she was her hair slowly turning completely white. "Kaa-chan. Your hair," she said, afraid.

Her mother suddenly felt a massive pain in her stomach; she felt like something was ripping her apart. She fell to her knees And caught a tremendous amount of blood that completely covered her hand that she tried to stop the blood. No, No, So soon, Niko thought, knowing her time was gone now.

She quickly put her hands on her daughter's shoulder and made her look at her. She kept breathing heavily, her throat dry. Her eyes felt dry too.

"Listen to me, Asha. I need you to go away now," she said as her breathing was getting worse.

Her daughter quickly shooked her head, and tears streamed down her cheek.

"No. No, I won't leave you. Not like Tou-chan. He told us to leave and now he's gone. I won't leave you," she shouted, crying and hugged her mother tightly. Niko wanted to speak again, but she could hardly breathe; she tried to but couldn't talk. Her words were stuck in her throat. Her sight was getting fuzzy; She soon felt herself hitting the ground. Her eyes looked at her daughter as she was looking down at her with tears in her eyes. Her tears fell on her face, but her whole body was numb. She could hardly feel anything.

Seira, please take care of my daughter Niko thought as her sight was getting fuzzier.

Niko felt herself wanting herself to sleep. She felt more tired than ever before. She looked back at her life what she had accomplished. And she had done nothing.

I couldn't protect my homeland. I couldn't defend my parents. I couldn't save my husband. I never found Kushi-chan. She thought about her friend. Will I see you soon? She asked herself.

She then remembered that her life wasn't a complete failure. Her daughter. The best thing that ever happened in her life.

I failed to protect my daughter, she thought and wanted to cry.

She looked up at her daughter again. Her red hair was shining because of the light of the moon. Be safe, Asha. I know you will survive, she thought and felt herself losing the feeling of her body. She couldn't feel her legs anymore. She felt a tear rolling down her right eye. She then heard a voice calling to them. She saw her daughter looking in a specific direction. Be Safe, Ashara.

Uzumaki Style: Chains of Hell (S-Rank to SS-Rank if used with Sage Chakra)

Cost: The Life of the user of the Jutsu.

Chapter 8 (Uzumaki Clan)

After three months

Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing his usual paperwork, but he could hardly do it. His mind was on Naruto, the boy was a genius, but at the same time, he was too smart for his own good. The boy loved to read, which pleased Sarutobi's heart; it made him happy, but the last time he visited Naruto in the orphanage, he could see him not being happy about something, and his bright face was gone.

' The old Hokage opened the door written 'Demon' in the front and around the wall near the door. It broke his heart to see it; people were stupid and couldn't understand that Naruto kept the Kyuubi from breaking out and killing everyone.

He sighed and walked inside; Naruto was reading the same book as last time. 'The Art of Fuinjutsu Part II and III'.

The third was happy that Naruto liked to read, and he seemed to have a knack for Fuinjutsu.

"Naruto my boy, how are you doing?" Sarutobi asked, smiling at his surrogate grandson. Naruto's eyes went to the old Hokage. He knew his Jiji was coming 3 minutes before he came here. He could also feel the two ANBU's outside the orphanage.

"I'm fine Jiji", Naruto replied and ran and hugged him. Sarutobi gladly returned the hug, but when he pulled away, he could tell Naruto was forcing a smile on his face.

"Naruto is something wrong?" He asked, wanting to know if anyone had hurt him. Naruto frowned and took a step back. He glanced at the book he was reading.

"Jiji, can a living being be sealed?" He asked, holding his hands together behind his head. Sarutobi felt tense, has been a long time since he had been so nervous.

He wondered if Naruto was asking out of curiosity or knew about the seal in his stomach. But in the same, he knew Naruto would need to unlock his chakra to see the seal.

Naruto was looking at him, almost like judging him. Hiruzen took a deep breath and looked at the blue eyes of Naruto. "Yes," he answered and noticed his eyes widened slightly for a split second and immediately turned to normal. Naruto's eyes lowered somewhat. "Oh", he whispered, but Hiruzen heard him.

"Can . . . Can you help me to unlock my chakra Jiji?" He asked with hopeful eyes. Sarutobi wondered if that would be a smart move; he was still too young. Naruto, I would want you to have a normal childhood and be a child longer, but that will never happen the moment Minato sealed Kyuubi inside of you. A normal childhood was gone, Sarutobi thought.

"I will help you, Naruto, but not today. How about next time I visit you?" He asked. Naruto looked confused but nodded his head in agreement.'

It had been one month since that day. He was sure that Kakashi would appreciate teaching little Naruto; after all, he had asked a few times by now to help him unlock his chakra when Hiruzen informed him of Naruto studying and wanting to unlock his chakra.

Sarutobi sighed and decided to write a letter to Jiraiya.

Naruto

He was rereading a book about Fuinjutsu, and he liked how it worked. But at the same time, he was getting frustrated, he wanted to try himself to do some of the seals, but he couldn't do anything without unlocking his chakra. His Jiji had given him a few scrolls and a brush to try Fuinjutsu. He was sure he was doing seals of level I, right. Simple storage seals to storage kunai or shuriken or maybe a sword. But he still couldn't prove it, and he needed chakra.

Thinking about seals made him think about the seal on his stomach. Recently had started growing red more often; he didn't know why and hadn't asked his Jiji why. But now, Naruto was sure that there was a connection between him and the Kyuubi. Is the Kyuubi sealed inside of me? Naruto asked himself and put the finger on his chin. The Kyuubi was a giant demon. Could a seal hold down The Kyuubi? Naruto asked himself.

Does everyone else call me a demon? Except for Jiji, godfather and my friends, everyone else looks at me like I'm a demon, Naruto thought sadly. Like everyone else, he had heard about the Kyuubi attack on 10th October, almost four years ago. At that moment, Naruto remembered that his birthday was on the same day as the Kyuubi attack. His eyes looked at the calendar in the room, and today was 3rd October.

He started breathing heavily and putting his little hand on his stomach. No, Naruto thought as hot tears were developing in his eyes.

The looks of hatred Naruto said to himself and remembered them very clearly.

Tears were now streaming down on his cheek and falling on the cold floor.

"No" Naruto screamed and fell on his knees, crying his heart out, holding his stomach with his hand. "Why? Why?" Naruto asked out loud at no one in particular; He sealed Kyuubi inside me! Naruto thought with wide eyes. Everyone always said that The fourth had killed the demon, but he knew now that was all a lie.

When he had asked his Jiji, and when he received his answer. He thought he had some sort of connection with the Kyuubi, but now he knew. The demon fox was sealed inside of him. Naruto fell to the cold ground and hugged his legs; Hot tears are still on his face. "Toad-Jiji please come here soon", he begged quietly. He stayed like that for a long time; he didn't know how long. All he could think of was, why him? Was he special? Suddenly He heard the rain outside.

His eyes then went to look outside the window, and it was raining even more harshly now. The sound of rain falling on the ground and the roof of the orphanage could be heard. Naruto wondered why it seemed to always rain whenever he was upset. He walked closer to the window but couldn't clearly see. He then picked up a chair and climbed on it to have a better view.

His eyes went on the two ANBU's hiding on the roof of a building close to the orphanage. He waved his hands at them, knowing they would see him.

He then noticed that it had started snowing; Naruto was confused. Where was the snow coming from? He was sure it wasn't cold enough to start snowing. That does put a smile on my face; Naruto thought, looking at the snow. He sighed and decided to return to the bed. It was 5 pm, and he was slightly tired.

After one week

Naruto knew today was his birthday. Usually, birthdays were a day to celebrate, but not for Naruto. This day was his worst day. People around were even more hostile towards him, if that was even possible. Naruto was four years old. He had locked himself in his room, he didn't want to deal with other people today except if it was his Jiji or maybe his godfather, but he knew he would need to wait two more months for his godfather to return.

Naruto sighed sadly and decided to read, but then he heard a poof in the room. He looked behind and saw a toad. It was almost the size of him. Naruto knew this one always brought him new books, he smiled.

"Thank you very much", he thanked him, smiling, and the toad smiled and went away. He noticed that it was three books this time. And to his surprise, all three of them were dark covered with a weird red spiral symbol in the middle.

Knock

Naruto turned and saw the door open violently; the handle hit the wall. And he saw a woman glaring at him with fury.

He knew that looked way too well; he was about to ask what was the problem when she just rushed at him and slapped him across the face. He felt his ears making weird noises on his head. His head had hit the floor and was bleeding slightly.

The woman grabbed his hand and started dragging him away from the room. Naruto tried to fight back, but he was only four years old. His weak legs and hands couldn't hold anywhere.

Soon he was thrown outside, and he hit the ground with his head. He put his hands where it hurt and looked at the woman still glaring at him.

"You're old enough to live for yourself", she shouted with venom in every word. Naruto felt tears in his eyes but not because of the pain in his head.

"My books, please they're the gift from my toad-Jiji", Naruto shouted and cried simultaneously. The woman only grew furious, but this time she just went inside and closed the door.

"Noooo" Naruto shouted and ran at the door, trying to open it. The books were the gift of my godfather. I can't lose them; Naruto thought as he kept trying to open the door but in vain. "Please", he begged as he kept trying to open the door.

Kakashi

It was the birthday of Naruto today; he hoped he could arrive in time, he didn't understand why he would have such a pointless mission. He was an anbu, for crying out loud.

Kakashi soon arrived at the house with the scroll he was supposed to bring. He walked close to the door and knocked. He heard footsteps coming to the door. The door opened, and he saw a soldier wearing weird green armour.

"How can I help you?" He asked with a monotone tone. Kakashi rolled his eyes and took the scroll from his pocket.

"I'm supposed to give this scroll to your master", Kakashi answered, bored of this small village.

After 6 hours - Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen, having gone through a long council meeting, the point of which he still had trouble comprehending, was annoyed at being pointlessly held back for so long. They were arguing and asking pointless things off of him that were beyond ridiculous in his honest opinion. Moreover, he still had to go and complete all the pending paperwork that must have piled up on his desk in his absence. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as his back hit the leather of his chair.

He inked his brush and started scribbling away at the stack of folders. He must have been at it for hours since the sun was beginning to set on the horizon, Hiruzen realized tiredly. The thought of not being able to see Naruto for his birthday. But he promised himself that tomorrow, at Ichiraku's, he would treat the boy and listen to all his babbles for the entire evening.

Hiruzen had just about finished on his train of thoughts when Kakashi came striding in the door, an act that made Hiruzen grow a bit confused. "Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama." Kakashi sighed lazily, further confusing Sarutobi.

"What mission is that Kakashi?" he questioned as if the masked jōnin had grown a second head. "I don't remember assigning you any missions. Weren't you supposed to be watching over Naruto tonight?" he asked with a hint of worry while Kakashi looked at him perplexed. "But, Hokage-sama, the elders sent two ANBU's saying you were busy in a meeting." Hiruzen blinked, caught off guard. "Plus, this mission required my immediate attention. They even told me that they had assigned someone else to watch over Naruto while I was away."

Hiruzen gulped thickly, "Kakashi, I never issued any missions of importance that might need your specific skill-set today." he admitted with a dry throat. "And as for the council meeting, it was a useless gathering of civilians that really had no point in me attending. What was this mission you were on anyways?" he asked dismally."I was supposed to give a scroll to the land of tea. They gave me this scroll in return." Kakashi said and pulling out a scroll. His words furthered Hiruzen's worries.

Hiruzen's and Kakashi's minds simultaneously began connecting dots. The useless council meeting summoned by the elders and the civilian council, Kakashi's pointless mission, the ANBU detail...Hiruzen stood up, "Kakashi," his voice turned desperate. "Please tell me that you made sure someone was assigned to protect Naruto while you were gone, didn't you?" he asked uncertainly. Kakashi mechanically shook his head, his lone eye-widening as he too finished connecting the dots.

Hurriedly, Hiruzen took out his crystal ball and desperately tried to locate Naruto. He looked and saw him cornered in an alley by three shinobi. Without another word, he left the office through the window with his battle armour. Please be safe, Naruto.

Naruto - 10 minutes earlier

He was walking down the streets after the sun had set, and he was wandering aimlessly, ignoring the glares they shot his way. He knew a few weak shinobis were slowly surrounding him, he would have run, but he knew he couldn't outrun trained shinobis. What confused him was that the two ANBU's that usually guarded him weren't there. Instead, a single ANBU was looking in his direction. But Naruto couldn't feel any kind of emotion coming from him, almost like a piece of rock was instead of him.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Naruto was pulled into an alley, and he fell on his back. Regaining his bearings, Naruto saw three people donning the Leaf's forehead protectors and flak jackets surrounding his way out the alley.

Naruto's stomach dropped in dread when they pulled out kunai knives at him, and their smiles were downright evil. He had shivers running down his spine in fright at the vulnerable situation he found himself in. Naruto got up and dashed through an opening, zigzagging his way down the alleyways while the three men followed hot on his tail.

Naruto knew they could have caught him by now if they so desired, being trained shinobi and all, but were probably enjoying the thrill of the chase. They were giving him some time, at the very least. Naruto tried to run even quicker when the men chuckled right behind him, apparently amused from his lame attempts at escaping them.

Naruto suddenly came to an abrupt stop when he saw the alley come to an end, and all he had ahead of him was a wall - a dead end. Naruto turned around just as the men turned around the corner and took a step back, then another, and another when his back hit the wall.

The shinobi began laughing at his sad face when Naruto's back hit the wall, and his eyes misted over with unshed tears. A lone tear rolled down his cheek when the men took out shurikens, not the practice one he was used to seeing, but the real deal. Without any hesitation or remorse, they chucked a volley of them towards him. Two shurikens lodged themselves in his right thigh, and one in his left, another once in each of his forearms and a vicious scream in agony tore through his throat. Naruto fell to his knees, whimpering in pain while they laughed at his misery.

"How the mighty have fallen," one of them taunted. "So, how does it feel to bear the pain that you inflicted on so many other humans, Kyuubi?! We know that we can't kill you, or you'll regain your strength and be free off your bonds, but we can torture your vessel and break you from the inside out. Don't worry, and you'll soon be numb from the pleasure we'll inflict upon you." He could feel the hatred coming from them. "Why?" Naruto whimpered dizzily. "Why do you people keep hating me? What have I ever done to you?" The man looked even more furious. "What did you do, you say, Kyuubi?" they sneered furiously. "You killed so many of our villagers, and now you have the gall to ask what you did?! And to top it all, you ask What you DID?

As soon as those words were said, Naruto glared back, his eyes slowly turning red, his whiskers showing more, his nails slowly growing, and his seal started glowing red like blood. "I'm not Kyuubi you Fools", he shouted as red chains began coming out of his chest.

The red chains quickly went flying and wrapped all three shinobis. Their legs and arms were tightened, and none of them could move. "Let Us Go Demon", one of them screamed and struggled to break the chains. Naruto's eyes were red like blood.

The chains only tightened around them. Soon they started screaming in pain as bones were broken and shattered by the chains. Naruto could hear the snaps sound coming from the bones. The Shinobis were feeling weaker as their chakra was getting lower and lower. Naruto had eight chains coming out of his chest, and slowly a ninth one came out and flew towards one of them and pierced him through the chest.

The soldier fell to the ground, and at that moment, blood came out of his mouth; he was struggling in the ground, coughing blood and trying to stop the blood, as he was drowning in his own blood.

Naruto felt like he now was awake. He looked at the dead body in fear and sadness. Tears in his eyes as he couldn't believe what he had just done. The chains quickly returned to his chest.

"Die" both of them shouted and threw shurikens at him despite the massive pain around their legs and arms from the broken bones. As this was happening, Naruto looked at his tiny hands. The blood had flown to his face and hands. "What Have I Done," Naruto said to himself.

He felt like a monster; what would Jiji think of him? What will toad-Jiji think of me? Will . . . Will they abandon me? Naruto asked himself, crying.

The shurikens were blocked by an ANBU standing in front of Naruto. He could feel his Jiji was here now; the two shinobis were in the ground now. He looked up to see the older man looking at him sadly along with two anbu near him.

Naruto knew the old Hokage was talking to him, but now all he could do was look at his hands full of blood. Slowly everything started getting fuzzier, and the welcome darkness took him.

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a dark corridor. He narrowed his eyes. 'Is this hell?' he thought in disgust as he walked forward. He kept walking for a few minutes and stopped seeing some light at the end of the corridor. It seemed to pull him towards it. 'Time to find out what is at the end; with that thought, he walked again, stopping only until the end.

It was a huge room, so vast it was that the ceiling was impossible to find. The floor was wet. He looked around, his eyes seeing black stone and nothing more. But the elephant in the room was a large iron-barred door with a paper that said seal.

He gazed at the piece of paper, resignation written in his eyes. His azure eyes looked past the cage, looking for what he knew was in the cell. He was just waiting for the Kyuubi to open his eyes.

Based on what he had read, Kyuubi was a being of pure hatred and evil. A mindless beast can destroy a scale he never dreamed of, But Naruto was sceptical when he read that. He might get to see it for himself now.

A growl sounded from the cage, sending a breath of hot air into Naruto's face.

Naruto steeled himself, despite the cage separating him from the beast within. An enormous red eye opened, causing Naruto to tense up. The eye looked at him as if evaluating him. The eye then started to rise, causing Naruto to look up at the massive form.

The Kyuubi had orange, silky looking fur, with black markings around his eyes connected to his, funnily enough, rabbit-like ears. The upper body was humanoid, including the hands. The lower body was like a fox, barring the nine long swaying tails in the back. The fire was the closest thing they looked like.

The red, slitted eyes looked him closely with a hint of malice. Naruto spoke first.

"You're Kyuubi-sama," Naruto said, afraid but at the same time wanting to show respect. He knew the Kyuubi was the reason he was hated and why his parents were dead, but at the same time, even he wouldn't want to be inside a prison.

The Kyuubi looked slightly shocked by the way the tiny human greeted him.

"So my jailor has finally honoured me with his presence", Kyuubi replied with a humourless chuckle at the end.

Naruto nodded his head. "Why are you sealed inside me?" He asked, knowing from before that Kyuubi was sealed inside.

The giant fox narrowed his eyes slightly and showed his teeth. "You don't sound surprised to see me here, but when you remember the number of books you read. I'm surprised you haven't died from a headache," Kyuubi said as he was slowly walking in front of the cage. All his tails could be seen.

"As for your question, you should blame your father, the fourth Hokage who sealed me inside of you", he answered with anger in his tone and focused on seeing the brat's reaction.

Naruto's eyes widened, and he quickly shooked his head in denial. My father is the fourth Hokage?! He asked himself and started making sense to him. Why Jiji would care for him and why he visited him every month. Why toad-Jiji care for him? Why a Sannin was his godfather, it makes sense, Naruto thought.

He always felt like he had seen the fourth before, but he could never really remember where. Why would he seal the Kyuubi inside his own son then? He asked himself out loud and started hitting the ground with his fists. He didn't know whenever to hate him or love him for his sacrifice.

But then Naruto thought that could not have been easy for him, and he couldn't just ask for someone's else's baby. He kept quiet, just staring at the ground.

Minutes passed, and there was nothing but silence. Kyuubi could see that the brat was coping with the fact that his own father cursed him in a life of loneliness.

Naruto remembered his godfather telling him that his parents loved him more than anything, but he wondered if his father knew if he would be treated like this? He didn't know yet.

Naruto slowly stood in his legs again and looked at the Kyuubi with bravery.

"Why are you not afraid of me brat?" Kyuubi asked, slightly interested.

He smiled. "I would lie if I said that I'm not afraid, but I'm more brave than afraid", he replied.

Kyuubi released KI at the brat; Naruto immediately fell to his knees trying to breathe; all his muscles were frozen he could hardly move a finger. He felt as he would lose consciousness at any moment. Kyuubi smirked at seeing the brat on his knees.

"N - nice t - try," Naruto said, panting and his voice low, but Kyuubi heard him.

"You're a brave kid. I will give you that," Kyuubi said, slightly impressed.

"Why did you attack the Village?" Naruto asked, trying to look brave.

Kyuubi looked at him. "Because of the damn Uchiha and their annoying Sharingan. I was sealed inside your mother. When she was giving birth to you brat. A man with a Sharingan forced me to attack the village, not that I had anything against it," he replied with a grin on his face.

My mother was like me! Naruto wondered with widened eyes. Was she hated around the village like me? Naruto asked himself.

Naruto clenched his teeth. "Who was my mother?"

"Kushina Uzumaki", Kyuubi replied.

Naruto now was sure that the last name 'Uzumaki' wasn't just a random, last name. He was convinced that it was a clan.

"Was she from a clan?" Naruto asked with a firm tone. He wanted to have answers.

"Uzumaki clan. The clan from Uzushiogakure, they were known for their red hair and their abilities in Fuinjutsu and they had a long life span. They were close with the Senju Clan," Kyuubi replied with a hint of respect. Despite hating them, he knew they were not like the others. And their strength was something not to take lightly.

Naruto's eyes widened at that, he never thought he came from any clan, and now he was related to the Senju clan. But Naruto asked himself. If that's true, why couldn't I find anything about my clan anywhere?

But from the way, Kyuubi talked he knew the clan wasn't around anymore.

"What happened to them?" Naruto asked, afraid of his answer and taking a step back.

"I don't know exactly, all I know is that your mother mentioned a few times that Kumo, Iwa and Kiri banded together and destroyed them", he responded and wondered if this would bring hatred in his heart.

Naruto was saddened; everyone from his clan was gone, his parents gone. He was alone in a village that hated him for something he had no control over. He knew he had his godfather and Jiji. He quickly raises his head high. "I will bring the Uzumaki clan back. I won't let it be forgotten," he promised with a high tone and with a smile and with a fist on his heart.

Kyuubi looked impressed by his promise. For a second, he felt like his father was smiling at him instead of the brat. He wondered if the brat was who his father talked about.

"Why are you still here," Kyuubi asked, interested in why the kid was still here.

Naruto swallowed a huge breath. He looked at the Kyuubi in the eyes, almost like he wanted to challenge him.

"Because I want to be friends."

Naruto is paired with Fuu, Yugito and OC Uzumaki Girl.

Chapter 9 (A Father)

Kyuubi looked at the little brat after he answered why he was still here. He grew angry and started releasing KI at the brat. The effect was immediate. The brat fell on his knees, finding it very hard to breathe. He was sweating heavily, He growled, and his growl was heard throughout the whole room.

"Why do you think I would want to be your friend Brat?" Kyuubi asked furiously, showing his teeth to the brat.

The little boy was panting. It took a whole minute for the brat to catch his breath and slowly stood on his legs, finding it hard to even stand on his legs. Naruto eyed the Kyuubi. He took a huge breath and, to Kyuubi's surprise, took a step forward and looked at his eyes sadly.

"It hurts doesn't it" The brat whispered, but Kyuubi heard him. He narrowed his eyes, showing his teeth again, and he released a furious sigh.

"What are you saying brat?" He asked with a firm tone and showing power in his voice. The water on the floor looked to be shaking because of his voice and power. He was still leaking a small amount of KI, which made the brat start sweating from his face.

Sadness suddenly took over Naruto's face. "It Hurts. It hurts to have no one you can call friends or family. To be surrounded by hatred your whole life. I have toad - Jiji and Hokage- Jiji but still, I know how it feels to be hated and alone," The brat yelled with a sad tone as a tear was rolling down his cheek and fallen on the wet floor. His chest was high, and looking directly at Kyuubi's eyes.

Kyuubi wanted to say something to the brat. But the words had stuck on his throat. His throat felt dry. He knew the brat had a point. His father had told them to help the humans. But they all wanted nothing else but power. Just power to destroy everything else, their greed was endless and wanting nothing else but more and more power, that's why their wars never ended.

They kept killing each other and would continue to do so for the rest of the days. Or until they all die. Kyuubi remembered his father very well and always felt longing and sadness when he recognised him, the only one to see them as creatures with souls and feelings. And not as tools to be used for nothing else but power.

Kyuubi looked at the kid again, his blue eyes like ocean looking at his very soul. Almost like he was judging him.

"I know none of us wants this, I didn't want you to be sealed inside me and I'm sure you would want the same. But I know that you're not just a creature of hatred. You have feelings like everyone else, so yes I want to be your friend" Naruto finished with a grin, and that reminded Kyuubi of both Kushina and Mito Uzumaki. He was sealed in both of them, but they didn't want his power. They never tried to control him; that was something Kyuubi respected in the Uzumaki clan. They were peaceful people.

Kyuubi couldn't remember the last time he felt anger and little happiness at the same time. He felt angry because he hated humans and happy because the kid in front of him looked at him for a living creature. He could feel Naruto meant what he was saying and not just saying empty words like almost everyone else.

Kyuubi stood up on his fours and strolled to the end of his cell. His whole figure was visible, and Naruto looked surprised to see how large he was. Now he understood why people said a single tail of the Kyuubi was strong enough to destroy a mountain.

Kyuubi looked down at the brat; he knew himself that the brat had suffered. Hell, he even remembered bad things that not even Naruto could remember that ever happened. Before, it just reassured him that humans were the real monsters and not them. To hurt a child and smile like you just did something incredible.

Kurama looked at Naruto's figure, evaluating him; so far, he thought of Naruto as a smart kid with a cool head on his shoulder.

Father, you said We should help the humans. I will give this brat a chance, Kyuubi thought with a sad smile on his face remembering him much to Naruto's surprise.

Naruto was still looking up at Kyuubi; he could feel and see different emotions flashing through his red eyes. To him, it reminded him of toad-Jiji when he said goodbye to him. The Kyuubi suddenly sighed loudly.

"Very well kit. From now on we are friends," Kyuubi said with a bit of a smile on his face, resting his head on his paws.

Naruto smiled, and his face brightened like a candle. He put his fist up. "YeS," he yelled at the top of his lungs with closed eyes. Naruto opened them to look at Kyuubi again.

"What's your name Kyuubi-sama?" Naruto asked, still showing respect in his voice.

Kyuubi smirked at the way he called him and gave him a confused look.

Naruto noticed his confused look. "You have a name right? I mean 'Kyuubi' just means nine-tails", He added as his smile looked up to brighten up the large room. The water on the floor looked calm.

Kurama was surprised that Naruto knew he must have a name and that 'Kyuubi' is not his name. He could also feel the positive energy coming from the brat, which confused him; it felt different but familiar at the same time. The energy, the calmness coming from Naruto reminded Kurama of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki.

He wondered if the brat had any connection with them, but the only connection he might have with them was through his mother and father; as far as he knew, he was an orphan that no one knew who his parents were. Kurama only knew what Kushina knew.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly and decided to think about it later. He focused on the kid again.

"My Name is Kurama, kit", Kurama replied, looking down at Naruto.

Naruto smiled that he knew his name, but at the same time, he knew Kyuubi wouldn't just tell his name to anyone. He raised his head.

"Well, Kurama-san. I'm Naruto Uzumaki, is nice meeting you," he introduced himself with an open hand on his chest.

Kurama chuckles at his childlike behaviour. He thought that it would be less horrible to have someone to talk to; And perhaps with time . . .

"Well since we're friends. I want you to walk close to the bars and remove a bit from the seal, a fingernail would be enough," he requested.

Naruto looked confused and raised an eyebrow at his request but just decided to do it. He slowly walked to the bars, and water raised him to the seal. He glanced at Kyuubi before putting his finger at the top of the seal. He was about to remove a bit when he suddenly felt a presence inside the big room.

Suddenly his hand was grabbed, and he was thrown down on the floor. Naruto didn't know who this was but could feel this one was strong. He looked up to see blue eyes like his staring at him. At first, he didn't understand who this person was and how was he here but then he went to his hair and face. Naruto felt himself freeze when he understood who he was looking at.

The long yellow spiky hair reached his shoulders, blue eyes like his, and the white coat with fire painting at the bottom and the word 'Yondaime' (Fourth Hokage) written. His mouth opened and closed, not knowing what to say or even think. He looked at his hand reaching down at him. His small hand slowly grabbed his big one, and the yondaime helped him up. He was still speechless, he wanted to say something, but all the words had stuck on his throat. Naruto smiled at seeing his father, but he wondered why was he here and how.

"Yondaime. I'm surprised to see you here," Kurama said with a hint of anger in his tone as he showed his teeth at the Hokage and released a small amount of his KI.

The fourth turned to look at the Kyuubi, surprised; he expected him to be much harsher towards him. But he was still confused and concerned at the same time. He made this to help Naruto if he ever lost control but looked down at him. He could see that Naruto hadn't lost control, so why was he trying to remove the seal. Minato hoped to god that Kyuubi wasn't manipulating Naruto to free him.

Finally finding his voice. "Dad?" Naruto asked tentatively. His eyes showed confusion but longing at the same time; His voice was as low as a small whisper. Looking at him now, Naruto felt that this wasn't the first time he had seen him in person. He just couldn't put a finger where he had seen him before.

The fourth Hokage smiled at Naruto, the same smile he had seen from his toad-Jiji and Hokage-Jiji. A smile of love but Naruto could feel concerned coming from the fourth.

"Yes, Naruto. I'm your father" he finally spoke to his son and walked closer and kneeled in front of him, and gave him a big hug. Naruto felt confused at first, but then he felt hot tears in his eyes, as his hands were trembling like a leaf, his mouth felt dry.

"Where have you been all this time tou-chan?" Naruto finally asked, and his tears rolled down his cheek. He hugged his father tightly, afraid that he would disappear at any moment.

The fourth felt his heartbreak hearing his words and his son crying his heart out against his shoulder. Minato kissed his cheek and messed his hair that reminded him so much of Kushi-chan.

Minato slowly pulled away and gave his son a good look, his blue eyes like his, but unmistakable red hair. He would recognise that hair everywhere.

"You have grown Naru-chan, you have become a man," Minato said, touching his nose with his making Naruto laugh.

To Naruto, it felt good to have someone to call tou-chan finally. He was sure this was a dream; he would soon wake up in the orphanage in the cold bed alone like always, having no one around to talk to.

"Where have you been all this time tou-chan? Why did you and kaa-chan have to leave me alone? Do you know how much I missed you both? How much I wanted to have someone call tou-chan and kaa-chan and . . . and" he stopped talking and couldn't stop crying. Naruto wasn't sure if he was happy or angry to see him.

Minato gave his son a sad smile and put a hand on his head. "I know we left you alone, and there's no excuse for that. A parent's job is to always be there for his children," he said with sadness, knowing from Naruto's voice that he was hurt.

His son said nothing to that and just kept clearing away tears from his face with his hand.

"Tell me Naruto, do you not live with anyone?" Minato asked, and not wanting to receive the answer; he knew he would. He hoped that Shikaku or Jiraiya-sensei was raising him.

After a few moments of silence, Naruto shooked his head, not knowing what to say. His head down and looking at the floor. Minato felt like another stab in the heart. He was about to ask again.

"Hokage-Jiji visits me once a month in the orphanage, toad-Jiji was with me for a week but left three months ago because of work," his son said with a sad tone. His voice was small and fragile.

Minato felt a hint of happiness that his sensei had at least visited Naruto and not forgotten about him and left him alone. He would want him to raise Naruto, but Minato wondered where Tsunade was.

"Naruto what about Tsunade? Is she not with you?" He asked, confused and leaning his head closer. Naruto looked up at his father in confusion why was his father was mentioning toad-jiji's teammate.

"She's not with me", He replied curiously, and thinking if he could have someone else to call fall family.

Minato sighed sadly. "She's your godmother. I don't know why she isn't with you," he replied sadly, thinking of a reason why Tsunade would not stay to take care of Naruto. Perhaps she was too heartbroken.

She was a good friend with Kushi, and Minato found it suspicious that she would not stay to raise Naruto. He decided to put that thought away; for now, there was something else he needed to ask, and he knew he didn't have that long.

"Naruto tell me why were you trying to remove the seal," he asked kindly, but Naruto could hear the seriousness in his tone. He was about to reply when Kurama spoke.

"Yondaime" He spoke with a firm tone and with a slight hint of anger still in his voice, grabbing everyone's attention.

Minato turned back to look at Kyuubi, and Naruto's eyes went to Kurama.

"I wanted to be able to talk to Naruto, that's why I told him to remove a small part of the seal", Kurama answered, glaring daggers at the fourth.

Naruto could tell that Kurama wasn't a big fan of his father. He saw his father glaring at Kurama, not trusting a word. But he quickly walked between him and Kurama, grabbing his attention. Minato looked surprised to see Naruto do that, and Kurama was even more so.

"Kurama is my friend tou-chan", Naruto spoke with a high tone and firm leaving no place for arguments. Minato's eyes widened slightly.

Kurama smiled at the brat and nodded his head at the Hokage, confirming what Naruto said was true. Minato was about to say something when he saw his body slowly disappearing. Naruto immediately alerted and ran at his father. "Tou-Chan" he screamed and hugged him.

"Naruto. I will be leaving now, but remember that I love you with all my heart and I'm proud of you. Hiruzen has a few techniques that belong to you. Time will come when you meet your mother too, and be happy," he said with care and love in his tone. His hand slipped through Naruto's shoulder.

Still hugging him, Naruto nodded his head. "Yes tou-chan and don't worry I'm studying. I will become better than you. I have friends, and will have a family one day," he promised as Minato disappeared with a smile on his face, leaving Naruto looking at the place where Minato was.

Silence took over the large room, and Kurama was growing concerned. He noticed the water on the floor was having small waves. And the temperature seemed to lower and felt cold.

"Naruto," He asked, concerned.

Naruto slowly turned to Kurama; he raised his head and looked at the furball with a smile that he had never had before, the sadness was gone, and his face was as bright as the sun.

"I'm fine Kurama," he said as the warm feeling and the positive energy could be felt again by Kurama confusing him again.

"What is this? Why am I having this feeling?" Kurama asked himself.

After a few moments, Naruto remembered he still needed to remove a bit from the seal. Naruto walked back to the bars and removed a small part of the seal. He could feel Kurama's chakra around, and it was dense and more than before. Suddenly Naruto disappeared from the mindscape. Kurama knew the time for him to wake up had come. He couldn't help but smile; perhaps this one isn't worthless, Kurama thought and decided to rest.

Well, Father, I'm doing what you told us to, Kurama thought with a smile on his face.

Secret Place

In a large room, Danzo was sitting on a chair and waiting for reporters. Soon an Anbu kneeled before him.

"Report," Danzo ordered his weapon with an emotionless tone.

The Anbu kept his head down and started talking. "I'm sorry to inform you Danzo-Sama but both plans have failed", he informed, and Danzo gritted his teeth in frustration. His grip tightened around the chair.

"The Kyuubi brat was followed by the three shinobis but the demon used chakra chains to tie them and kill one of them. Giving The Third enough time to go to him," he said emotionless and still keeping his head down.

Hearing the answer, Danzo was intrigued; perhaps having the Kyuubi wasn't the only useful thing his future weapon had in store. He put his finger on his chin.

"What about the girl and her mother?" He asked since it had been some time since his squad reported back.

"Nothing Danzo-Sama, no news. Should we send Anbu to check?" He asked, his voice still emotionless.

Danzo thought but decided against it; if his squad of 20 weapons had fallen, then maybe he had underestimated the Uzumaki. He shooked his head in denial and made a sign with his hand for him to go away. The Anbu left, leaving Danzo alone in his thoughts.

I should try again, and once that is done, winning his loyalty will be easy, Danzo thought with a slight smirk on his face and decided to visit his old friend.

Chapter 10 (The Truth)

Naruto

His eyes slowly opened; Naruto could only see white; first, his eyes then went to the window close to his bed. The sun was shining high in the sky, and the trees and grass shone with life relaxed Naruto. His muscles around his hands were hurting. He moved his hands slowly, trying to get up; only then did Naruto notice Hokage-Jiji sleeping in a chair close to his bed. His body was resting on the chair, and his head was on the edge of the bed.

Naruto slowly smiled that his Jiji had stayed for him; he now understood where he was. I'm in hospital. Was all that a dream? Naruto asked himself and hoping that it wasn't.

"It was no dream brat" Kurama's voice was suddenly heard.

"Kurama is that you, wow. Is good to know that wasn't a dream," Naruto replied, smiling, but his voice was heard throughout the room.

"Don't talk out loud idiot, just think of what you want to say, and I will hear you", Kurama immediately replied and shaking his head in Naruto's stupidity.

Naruto understood and mentally nodded his head at the giant fox. His mind then remembered his father being the fourth Hokage and his mother being of the Uzumaki clan. He wondered why wouldn't his Jiji and toad-Jiji tell him. Maybe I'm still too young; I shouldn't know, Naruto thought, scratching his cheek.

His movements around the bed made the old Hokage slowly open his eyes. When he saw Naruto was awake, his face smiled, and he went to hug him.

Naruto felt happy and hugged him back but still had questions on his mind. He slowly pulled away.

"Naruto my boy, how are you?" The third Hokage asked, still concerned.

Naruto nodded his head that he was alright, but the third could see something was bothering him. He sighed and looked at Naruto's eyes.

"Tell me what's wrong?" He asked, his voice low. Naruto looked at his tiny hands almost in shame; he slowly lowered his head; he could remember that he killed the shinobi, Naruto still could remember his blood coming out of his chest and mouth. Him in the ground, trying to breathe and moving his body around. His life slowly left his body. Naruto felt his hands slowly shaking at the memory.

"I . . . I . . . I killed h - him," he stuttered slowly, his voice low as a whisper, his voice fragile almost like broken glass. The third understood and put his hand on Naruto's chin. He slowly raised his head to look at his Jiji. He expected his Jiji to be angry at him, maybe calling him like everyone else 'A Demon', but he did none of that.

Naruto could feel and see the sadness in Jiji's face and sorrow.

"I'm sorry you had to do that Naruto, but you shouldn't think of yourself as a monster or anything because you protected yourself. I'm not angry at you and never would be. Listen, in the shinobi world, killing is part of the job. But we do that to help people. To help the people we love," The old Hokage said, his voice speaking of experience. He would have waited to explain this to Naruto when he was much older.

Naruto's face brightened up; his blue eyes looked to be shining again. He said nothing as his eyes looked at the trees outside the window. Silence took over the room. Naruto thought about what his Jiji said.

Naruto slowly stood up from the bed and walked to the window; he opened it and let the fresh air come inside. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he felt at peace, the birds singing outside, the leaves sound as the wind moved to pass them. The wind hit his face.

He opened his eyes again and turned back to see his Jiji in the chair smiling at him. Naruto decided to talk to his Jiji about his parents and Kurama.

"Jiji. I would like to talk something important to you," he said, his voice suddenly serious. The third nodded his head to continue, but Naruto could feel the two anbu in the room. Both of them were familiar, but he still didn't know if he could trust them with the knowledge of his parents and Kurama.

"Can you tell your anbu to leave?" Naruto asked, his voice low. If the old Hokage was surprised that Naruto knew about the ANBU, he didn't show it. The old Kage made a sign with his hand, and the anbu left immediately. Naruto couldn't feel anyone else and walked back to the bed. He sat, and his eyes went to the old kage.

"I know about the Kyuubi and my parents", he said. His Jiji just looked at him for a few moments without saying anything, almost like he didn't understand what he said. The old Hokage sighed sadly. "How do you know?" He asked but had a few thoughts of how he knew. The old kage could see Naruto was bright, and keeping the secret of Kyuubi would be hard to keep. The idiots of the hidden leaf made sure to let Naruto know that he wasn't like everyone else.

"I met Kyuubi, he told me about my father being the fourth Hokage and my mother is Kushina Uzumaki", Naruto replied, his eyes sharp as steel and looking at the old kage. He didn't mention the name of Kyuubi; he would say the name if he had his permission.

The old kage's face changed immediately. His eyes widened; he felt his heart pounded, fear-filled his whole body. He quickly put his hands on Naruto's shoulders.

"Naruto don't trust the Kyuubi, he will try to manipulate you", he quickly said. His eyes were looking at him, almost begging him. Naruto quickly shooked his shoulders.

"No Kyuubi is not like that Jiji, He was forced to attack the Village", Naruto shouted, his eyes narrowed and his chest high.

The old Hokage could tell from Naruto's tone he truly believed what he was saying but at the same time. Kyuubi was not someone to be trusted. He took a deep breath and could feel the temperature lowering, a shiver of coldness went through his body, making him shiver.

He sighed and pinched the bridge on his nose. His mind then thought about Kyuubi being forced to attack the village. . .

"Naruto what do you mean Kyuubi was forced to attack?" He asked. Hoping not to receive the answer, he knew he would.

"He said he was forced because of a man with Sharingan", Naruto replied and saw as his jiji's face lost all colour. His face looked as white as a ghost. His hand closed in a fist, and the other held the chair's arm tightly; small cracks started appearing in the arm.

"Jiji who could he be?" Naruto asked, his voice not that of a child, but of someone furious wanting to know who killed both of his parents and destroyed his life. The old kage was silent at his question, and he didn't look like he could even hear him.

Finally finding his voice. "I don't know Naruto, did Kyuubi mentioned who could be?" His Jiji asked, his hands on his chin slightly scratching his chin.

"I don't know who he was. I have never felt his chakra before, at first I thought that he was Madara but this one's chakra was different," Kurama replied to Naruto, releasing a growl remembering the masked man.

Naruto heard him and felt disappointed. He looked at his Jiji and shooked his head in denial.

The old kage sighed sadly and decided to think later about it.

"Naruto about your parents, I wanted to wait until you grow up, your father had many enemies. If you spit it out accidentally, Iwa would stop at nothing to kill you," The third said, feeling bad that he kept the truth from Naruto; he knew he had more rights to know that more than anyone else.

Of course, Naruto felt angry, and he had the right to know more than anyone else. He listened to his answer and thought about it, and he remembered to have read that his father alone was able to defeat 2000 men from The Hidden Village of Stone with his Jutsu, The Flying Rajin God. He knew what he said was true. He was only a four year old, and he knew his Jiji would tell him when he thought he was ready for the truth.

He sighed and smiled at Jiji, which he shared, filling his heart with happiness.

"I understand Jiji", he replied, smiling.

A sudden thought struck Hiruzen, and he had to resist the urge to smack his forehead for what he was about to do. 'Why didn't I ask this earlier?! Damn the forgetfulness that comes with this age!'

"Naruto-Kun, why weren't you at your room in the orphanage yesterday in the evening?" he asked slowly, as if afraid to find out the answer to that question.

In a mumble that Hiruzen barely understood, the red hair said, "The matron kicked me out yesterday evening."

Hiruzen suspected that the matron would have deliberately kept Naruto out of the orphanage last night because of the festival but did not expect him to be thrown out of the orphanage.

The kage sighed tiredly of this and the stupid villagers. "Naruto how about ramen?" He asked, knowing how much the little redhead liked ramen just like a certain redhead he knew before.

Naruto's face brightened up at the mention of ramen; He quickly jumped from the bed and ran to the door. Sarutobi laughed at his behaviour and stood up and followed him behind.

Soon they reached the Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto first arrived in front of it, his smile not leaving his face as he waited for his Jiji to arrive. The old kage couldn't help but smile at the energy Naruto had. "Wait for me Naruto-Kun. I'm not as young as you and these old bones aren't getting any younger," he replied and soon reached the restaurant. Walking inside, Naruto jumped at the chair, and his eyes looked at Teuchi.

The man smiled seeing his favourite customers but quickly bowed his head in respect of seeing the Hokage.

"Hokage-sama is good to see you again and the same for you Naruto-Kun," he said.

"Thank you for the warm welcome. I want a bowl with ramen and for Nar" "I want 10 bowls with Ramen and extra meat please", the redhead interrupted. Teuchi laughed at the little kid and started making their ramen.

Naruto clenched his hands together behind his head, his legs moving around, not being able to wait for his favourite food. Finally, the food came; he picked up his chopsticks and started eating. Naruto ate the meat and the egg and drank the whole ramen in one go.

After ten more bowls, Naruto slowed down and was eating at a slower pace.

While he was eating, Naruto stopped and turned his head to his Jiji. "What does it mean to be a shinobi?"

Sarutobi looked surprised by his question; his eyes widened slightly. He looked at Naruto's eyes almost like he was searching for something, "To be a shinobi means to endure. A shinobi can follow or lead others into any darkness and work together to overcome that darkness and make it out the other side. A shinobi walks towards danger when everyone else is running away, that is because a shinobi must look at any foe and simply say; "Bring it on". That is because shinobi exist to protect those who can't protect themselves."

Naruto had a look of wonder on his face. He had no idea Jiji was that wise.

Sarutobi looked at Naruto and mentally smiled. He knew about Naruto's treatment by the villagers. He mused that perhaps I could give him a little insight into what being a Hokage means.

Naruto recovered from his wonder and stared at his half-full bowl, deep in thought. If this is what being a shinobi meant, he had a pretty good idea of what being a Hokage meant.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Jiji said, "Now that that answer is out of the way, I can tell you what Being a Hokage-"

"I know Jiji."

Those words stopped Hiruzen in his tracks, his head tilting in curiosity. "You know what, Naruto-Kun?"

Naruto looked up, understanding and respect in his eyes. Hiruzen was touched at the respect he was receiving from Naruto, but his curiosity was increasing. "What being a Hokage means."

Hiruzen stared at him, silently asking him to continue. Naruto spoke up, "The Hokage is responsible for everything in this village. It's his responsibility to protect everyone here and to make sure they are safe and happy with their village. He tends to the finances of this village, the rules, the daily events, everything. He controls every single ninja who bears a leaf headband and basically directs when they live and die. This job is not for the faint of heart, and only for someone who loves this village deeply." At the end of his answer, he was staring back at his bowl.

Hiruzen was shocked at the understanding Naruto showed of the position of Hokage. He had no idea that Naruto was this wise and knowledgeable. Teuchi and Ayame had stopped working as well, staring at the redhead with wide eyes along with the Hokage. It was simply unheard of, a four-year-old showing such a deep understanding of something most people don't understand until much later in life. Some never understood in their life.

Hiruzen was shocked so much that he didn't notice his jaw was hanging a bit. 'Such a deep perception and insight at such a young age, he thought with wonder. Only one person had shown such understanding like this, and he, too, was three years older. Itachi Uchiha was a prodigy among the likes of Kakashi Hatake and Minato Namikaze.

Naruto looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Jiji was looking at him with a strange expression, "That is exactly what being Hokage means, Naruto-Kun."

After they ate, Sarutobi paid for the ramen and left the restaurant. Naruto was staying close to Jiji. The old kage decided to talk with Naruto.

He looked at Naruto with a serious look on his face, "Naruto-Kun, we have to find a new place for you to live."

The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, "Not another orphanage, Jiji!" Hiruzen stared at the desperate look Naruto was giving him. He was scared that one day it would come to this. And surprisingly, he agreed with Naruto. He did not want Naruto to live anywhere he would be hated. Unfortunately, that left only one option.

"Naruto-Kun, that means you have to live alone", he said, silently wishing he could take the boy in himself. Unfortunately, he could not. The dratted civilian council was in his way.

Naruto crossed his hands over his chest defensively, not hesitating for a moment to answer, "Better than living in someplace where I am treated like a demon" He was looking at Hiruzen, chin tilted upwards in a way only children could show their stubbornness. 'Oh Kushina, his stubbornness reminds me so much of you', he recalled with a sad smile. He knew Naruto would not budge from his point.

Sighing, he said, "But are you sure you will be able to take care of yourself? You will have to cook for yourself, bring food for yourself?" He asked, wanting to know if Naruto was fully aware of what it meant to live alone.

Naruto didn't care, still keeping his hands crossed over his chest. He just nodded. Sarutobi accepted it and decided to give him an apartment.

"Very well Naruto. I will go now to find a place for you to live," he replied and made a sign with his hand. An anbu appeared in front of him, waiting for orders.

"Spend time with Naruto until I return", he ordered and a slight smile on his face seeing Kakashi's head perk up at his request.

Hiruzen turned to Naruto who's focus was on the anbu. "See you later Naruto-Kun," he said and shunsin away to find an apartment for Naruto and punishment to the orphanage for kicking Naruto out.

Naruto was standing in front of the Anbu, not knowing what to say. He knew this one looked after him. "What do you want to do Naruto-Kun?" The anbu asked, smiling behind his mask.

Naruto could feel the happiness coming from the anbu and wondered why it was that. After a few moments, he answered. "Well can you help me to unlock my chakra old man?" He asked, seeing his white hair. An annoyed look spread through his whole face at being called old; he was only 19 years old, for crying out loud.

"Ahhh I'm not that old kid."

"Why do you have white hair then?" Naruto asked, pointing the finger at his hair, knowing the anbu wasn't that old but decided to make a joke.

"Follow me. I will help you to unlock your chakra," Kakashi replied, completely ignoring the question. Naruto smiled from ear to ear and followed him.

Chapter 11 (Chakra Nature)

Naruto was holding behind ANBU's back, his hands holding tightly around his neck. They soon reached a wide training yard, close to the yard was a lake and a forest, the ground was full of grass, he could see some trees had scratched marks on them. He jumped down from the ANBU's back and looked around. It seemed the perfect place to train. His eyes then went back to the ANBU.

"What should I do? And what should I train first?" Naruto asked excitedly, talking fast to the ANBU. The white hair raised his hands, "Hey calm down. First you're only four years old. Which means too young for physical training. Your bones are still weak and not well build for physical training. That means after you unlock your chakra, you can train your chakra control" he stated looking down at Naruto.

The red head nodded his head slightly disappointed but as long as he could train his Fuinjutsu he was happy. "Good now to unlock your chakra, you need to mediate" he said and saw Naruto raised an eyebrow wanting to elaborate.

Kakashi couldn't help but be reminded of Minato-sensei when he looked at him like that, for a moment he thought his sensei would be the one to talk to him not Naruto.

"What then?" He asked putting his hands behind his head.

"Well when you mediate you will feel this feeling, and you need to pull it towards you" he added smiling behind his ANBU mask.

Naruto nodded his head fast and quickly sat where he thought was alright in a mediating position, holding the fingers of his hands together. Naruto could feel the grass softly touching his legs whenever the wind came around. He closed his eyes and started focusing to find the feeling the ANBU was telling him.

"Don't worry if you can't do it immediately, some can take time to unlock it. Hell even the likes of Yondaime and Sandaime (Third Hokage) it took at least two days to unlock" Kakashi said wanting Naruto to not feel bad if he couldn't do it first try.

Naruto kept quiet and just focused on the task at hand. While this was happening The ANBU pulled out an orange book and started reading, he knew Naruto had his eyes closed so he wasn't looking and would keep his eyes closed for some time. But he kept an eye on Naruto from time to time to see if he opened his eyes.

Naruto felt nothing, he couldn't feel anything. It felt like he was in a dark room with no one around. The silence was overwhelming, he stretched out his sensor abilities but couldn't feel anything around him. The seal in his stomach slowly started glowing red. If it wasn't for his white jacket that he was wearing, one could see it glowing through the thin red shirt underneath the jacket.

Naruto kept on meditating and trying to find what the ANBU was talking about. Outside Kakashi had read many pages of the orange book.

He suddenly stopped reading and looked up to see the sun, huh it has been almost two hours since he started Kakashi thought and changing the page of the book. He glanced above the book to see Naruto with his eyes still closed.

Naruto was slowly getting irritated, he couldn't find anywhere. He tried and spread his sensor abilities as far as he could, when he suddenly felt a presence in the dark room, he felt it warm and almost like it was calling to him. He tried to grab it but it felt like it was slipping away, Naruto tried again but it slipped further away. He started getting frustrated and tried again but it got further away.

Outside Kakashi saw Naruto slightly opening his eyes and looked sad, his head down and not wanting to look up at him. He slowly approached him and put the book back to the pocket. Naruto still kept his head down in shame.

"Now Naruto don't give me that look, is normal to not achieve it in first try" Kakashi said quietly and touching his shoulder in a reassuring matter. Naruto finally looked up at him.

"I could feel that feeling but it got away from me. I tried but the more I tried it got Further Away" said Naruto with a sad look on his face. The ANBU then did something Naruto didn't expect, he removed his ANBU mask that looked like a dog.

Naruto raised an eyebrow when he saw a second mask, wondered why would someone ever wear two masks, his eyes then went to the covered left eye by his ninja emblem and noticed a scar above his left eye that went down to his eye.

Naruto wondered if he hide his left eye because is blind and doesn't really need to show it to the others.

"Listen Naruto is quite impressive that you could feel it" he said and pointed a finger at his forehead. "Try to calm your mind, don't try to act get nervous. You need to be as calm as the water over there" Kakashi advised and pointed a finger at the lake. Naruto looked at the lake and stood up on his legs.

He slowly walked to the lake, the fresh air around and the wind hitting his face. It was a few hours after midday, the sun was still shining and made everything looked brighter. Naruto felt like the grass and trees were more brighter when he was close, and he felt relaxed.

Kakashi saw Naruto walking to the edge of the lake but his focus was on the trees and grass near Naruto, it looked like they were more green than before.

Naruto took a deep breath and filled his lungs with fresh air and relaxed. Trying to feel at peace with everything. Naruto sat down at the grass and started meditating again, he remembered that he needed to remain calm.

He closed his eyes and just relaxed at the sound of trees moving from the wind, grass moving around him. The water in the lake having small waves and a few drops of water wetting his back.

Naruto found himself in the dark room again, his seal started glowing red again, but this time the glowing was much brighter. He felt the feeling inside the dark room, instead of trying to grab it. Naruto did nothing and just kept calm, he waited and waited, at first nothing happened but Naruto could feel it getting warmer and closer.

It felt warm, and almost the same as the water and trees around him. Naruto felt it getting closer and getting warmer, filling his whole body with warm. He slowly moved his right hand up, and moved it towards the warm feeling.

Naruto slowly approached it, almost afraid that he would scare it away, as he got closer the feeling didn't go away and just stood there. He finally felt it and grabbed it with his hand. It didn't slip away.

Kakashi was again reading the book, it had been an hour since Naruto tried for the second time to unlock his chakra. But he was wondering why the nature itself looked to be reacting towards Naruto. He decided to ask the third if he knew anything about it. His mind then focused again on his book, wondering when Jiraiya-sama would publish the new Icha-Icha book. He hoped to be soon, his hand slowly moved beneath the next page and changed the page.

Kakashi was about the start reading the next page when he felt it. He immediately focused his eyes on Naruto and saw as wind was getting harsher, the tree branches were hitting one another from the strong wind. The water from the lake started having small waves moving towards Naruto.

His eyes widened at his chakra, it felt warm almost like he was in front of a fire but not burning. Just having a feeling of calmness and warmness. Naruto how can you have so much chakra, Kakashi thought knowing that he had easily Chunin level of Chakra.

Unknown to them the feeling from Naruto was spreading around the village, everyone could feel the calmness and warm feeling from the chakra. Some even falled asleep.

Hokage Tower

He was looking at the pages that wrote about good apartments for Naruto. He had decided to give Naruto an apartment close to Nara compound, Shikaku had told him that his son Shikamaru wanted to meet Naruto again, and he saw that as the perfect opportunity for Naruto to have friends and be closer to them.

His eyes went to a apartment that looked decent, he would give the money needed to pay and of course extra money for different things for Naruto. He was reading about the apartment when the felt the chakra. He immediately stood up but didn't feel anything bad coming from this, no bloodthirsty or evil, hell it even made him feel calmer and relaxed.

Sarutobi decided to check anyway to see what this was all about, there was never harm from being cautious.

Training Yard

Kakashi's eyes were wide open, he had revealed his fully matured sharingan to see clearly. Naruto's chakra was enormous. He knew this amount of chakra was definitely felt through the whole village. He needed to stop him now.

Kakashi ran at Naruto but then suddenly all the chakra stopped, the winds speed was normal again and he opened his blue eyes looking at him with a smile that reached his ears, his face as bright as the sun. He quickly stood up and raised his fist in the air "YEESSS I'm the BEST" he yelled but then Naruto felt his vision getting fuzzy and his limbs feeling numb, he falled on his knees but was grabbed by Kakashi before he hit the ground.

Naruto was panting, his blue eyes barely opened but his smile not leaving his face, sweat running down his face and his eyes slowly looked at Kakashi.

"I . . . I . . . D- did i-it" he said and lost concussions. Kakashi smiled proudly behind his mask. "Yes you did Naruto. You're just like your father" he stated proudly and moved Naruto's hand behind his neck to hold him up.

He then saw as Hokage-sama came to the training yard looking directly at Naruto. His eyes focused on Kakashi when he understood that Naruto was sleeping peacefully.

"What happened here?" Hokage-sama asked with a strong tone looking behind Kakashi's shoulder at the place where Naruto had unlocked his chakra. The grass had grown a bit and the level of water in the lake had raised as well. The trees looked to be shining with life.

"He unlocked his chakra Hokage-sama. I have to say, I'm impressed" Kakashi stated but inside he was happy that he helped Naruto to do it.

Sarutobi thought as much and walked to the place where Naruto stood. His eyes were looking at the grass, he put a hand on his chin and wondered why it would react like that.

'Too bad that Tsunade is not here, perhaps she could help!? Sarutobi thought to himself and wondered if he could somehow get in touch with her. Jiraiya would arrive after two months, he hoped for Naruto's sake he would stay longer this time.

He sighed sadly and decided to think later about this and turned to look at Kakashi who was holding a sleeping Naruto on his arms. He noticed that he didn't have his ANBU mask anymore but ignored it.

"Bring him to my office, when he wakes up I will bring him to his new house" he ordered with a voice as strong as steel. Kakashi nodded and sunshin away from the training yard.

Mindscape

Naruto slowly opened his eyes, he immediately felt the familiar chakra of Kurama close to him. He slowly stood up on his little legs to see Kurama sleeping behind the cage like a lazy fox but what caught Naruto was the ambient around the seal had changed.

It didn't looked like sewer anymore but like a forest, and to his surprise looked similar to the forest in the training yard. He had so many questions on his head and turned to the only one who he thought had the answers.

"Wake Up Lazy Fox" he screamed making Kurama opens his eyes immediately, when he saw who screamed he glared and growled at the brat.

"Why did you wake me up? I was sleeping" Kurama asked growling and showing his teeth to Naruto.

Naruto didn't looked intimidated in the slightest, he just shrugged his growls off.

"You sleep all the time furball. Hell I bet most of your life was spend in sleeping. I want to know why my mindscape has changed?" He asked and pointing his hand to the forest that his mindscape has become.

Kurama knew about the forest, and his mind this was better than before. "Why would I know that brat? This is your mind idiot and second this forest is much better than that sewer" he replied liking the trees and the river close to him.

The forest had grown even inside the cage, and near his paws was a small river. Kurama couldn't feel the fresh air and the smell of forest but still was better than the damn sewer.

Naruto nodded since he himself liked this more than a sewer. Thinking about the seal reminded him of his seal glowing red and he had noticed in both times when he tried to unlock his chakra, he felt his Seal glowing like many other times.

"Kurama, why does my seal in the stomach glows red sometimes?" He asked hoping the giant lazy fox had answers.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at his question. "What do you mean?" He asked for Naruto to elaborate further of what he was saying.

Naruto was surprised to hear his question. "I mean since I remember myself. I could feel sometimes something in my stomach. And many times I saw the seal glowing red like fire" he replied and putting a hand on his stomach.

"I don't know why would that happen. I don't feel any different from your seal to your mother's seal, but maybe you should have asked your father when he was here" Kurama replied and thinking what might cause the seal to do that.

Naruto smacked his face with his hand for forgetting, he had been so excited to see his father that he completely forgot about the seal. He sighed and decided to forget about it, so far nothing bad had happened because of the seal.

His mind then went that he was able to unlock his chakra. He felt so powerful when he did it, and he felt chakra all around him when he did. Naruto knew he could always feel things that he wasn't supposed to but now he thought that he felt even more than before.

Almost as he could know what he was thinking. "Naruto, now that you have unlocked your chakra. I should tell you about the abilities you have because you are my Jinchuuriki" Kurama said as he walked closer to the end of the cage and looked directly at Naruto.

Naruto nodded his head for him to go on. Kurama raised a claw. "Well first thing you have is massive amount of chakra and since you're an uzumaki, it should be easier for you to use my chakra, but now that since you this much chakra. You will need to spend a long time training your chakra control" he stated and raised a second claw. "Second your sensing abilities will be much better now, I'm sure you will be able to tell the difference between a clone and real human even if the user is a professional" he added and raised a third claw. "Third you have KCM Mode (Kyuubi Chakra Mode) and Bayron Mode but they're not important right now" Kurama stated and his eyes went to the water.

"I don't know which are your element affinity but you should be better at them whichever they are" Kurama finished.

Naruto smiled at the different abilities he would have. "I appreciate it but I will use your chakra only if I have your permission" he stated seriously. His hand fist and looking at Kurama.

He smiled at the little kid and appreciated it that he didn't wanted to use his chakra without permission. He was thankful that Naruto was indeed like the other Uzumaki.

"We're friends Naruto, if you need my chakra you're welcome to use it" Kurama replied and Naruto smiled again and nodded his head.

"Thank you Kurama-san" he said and he suddenly disappeared from his mindscape.

You're definitely something different Uzumaki Naruto, let's see what you do Kurama thought and rested his head on his paws and for the first time since a long time. His mind went to his brothers and sisters.

Hokage Tower

Naruto opened his eyes and saw himself in a place he never had seen before. He slowly stood up from the couch and saw a desk and the word 'Fire' written in it. In the desk was what he could describe as a giant pile of paperwork. Naruto walked to the window of the office and he was surprised to see the whole village. Now he understood that he was at the hokage's tower.

Naruto turned around and his eyes went to the pictures above the desk.

Naruto knew immediately who they were, it was the picture of the Shodaime (First Hokage) the God of Shinobi, Nidaime (Second Hokage) The Greatest Water user to have ever existed, Third Hokage and his father, The Yellow Flash.

Naruto focused his eyes to the picture of his father. He knew they were four ANBU in the office. Naruto could feel one of them was worried for him. The handle of the door moved, Naruto turned to the door when Jiji walked inside.

Hokage smiled when he saw Naruto. "Is good to see you well my boy, come with me" his jiji said kindly. Naruto walked to him and he put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and sunshin away.

Naruto now noticed they were somewhere else, they were in front of a big house with four floors. I really need to know how to do this le V Jutsu Naruto thought and thinking that perhaps toad-jiji could teach him when he arrives. The house's walls were painted with red outside. Naruto could see a few cracks around the wall. The roof was red color too. Jiji walked first and Naruto followed him upstairs, during their walk, Naruto could feel many people around, some who saw him started having bad intentions.

It wasn't his first time but Naruto still hated their behavior towards him. Is not my fault and is not Kurama's fault, Naruto thought.

They soon reached the fourth floor, his jiji took a key from his pocket and opened the door. Walking inside Naruto entered what he thinks is the restroom, the room had three doors. One had written 'Toilet', the second had written 'Kitchen' and the third Bedroom. The house wasn't cold but neither warm.

The restroom had a big couch that was in a decent state, a big square table close. A TV and a shelf to put books. Seeing the shelf reminded Naruto of the books he still had left in the orphanage. He looked up at his jiji hoping he would help him.

"Jiji, can you bring the books toad-jiji gave me, they're still in the orphanage?" Naruto requested with a tiny voice hoping he could have his books back. The old hokage immediately nodded his head and gave him a warm smile and turned to the door.

"Wait here Naruto-kun" he said reassuring him and sunshin away leaving Naruto in his thoughts. He looked around the restroom again and sighed slightly scratching his cheek.

"Well this is our new home Kurama"