Author's Notes I: This is a re-edited chapter. Once you read this, you'll see that one event has been completely changed. Yeah, you know which scene. That said, enjoy the show.

I want to own Naruto. Unfortunately, I don't

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

There was a deafening silence in the room.

The two current occupants of the room sat opposite to each other, as a table stood firmly in between them..

One observed the ground, fiddling with his fingers, as he did his best in avoiding the gaze of the elder person who was directly looking at him.

The person who was looking at the other human being was an aged man.

Nearly seventy years old and sharp as he was back at the height of his youth, Sarutobi Hiruzen's coal eyes softened. They had a look of understanding as he observed the person before him.

Earlier tonight the Seal of Scrolls containing jutsu that not only was powerful, but so delicate in nature that they would cause some unrest, had been stolen.

Such duties like this befell upon the leader of Konoha and when Sarutobi had heard that it had been taken, he was nearly livid. Such an event was both embarrassing and highly dangerous, as it indicated treason inside ranks of the Leaf.

However his calmer shinobi side helped him keep a lid on his myriad of emotions that he had felt in that moment.

Imagine his surprise when he used the Tomegane no Jutsu / Telescope Technique to find out that a thirteen year old failed examinee of the Academy had stolen it, and of all people it had to be Uzumaki Naruto.

The whole situation didn't add up.

Uzumaki Naruto was many things.

He was brash, outspoken, loud to a fault and a bit (a lot most of the times) overconfident of his own skills. However, there were also many things he was not.

He was not a thief, that much Sarutobi could stake his life on and make such a claim.

Despite being overcharged of even the basest of needful items one needed, he always paid that amount and despite the Hokage's continuous efforts to get the civilians to treat him more humanely it always failed.

Someone always got away with a dirty deed every now and then, it was worse when he couldn't reports of such recorded incidents from the chunnin whose exact jobs were to look out for cases like this.

Sarutobi observed the situation and saw that Naruto had somehow entered the Tower, with no chunnin guards conveniently not around at the time, and stole the scroll and then was resting in the forest near the outskirts of the village.

Being the hyperactive and restless person he was, Naruto started reading the scroll and much to Hiruzen's surprise he actually mastered one of the techniques down in an hour.

The Kage Bunshin no Jutsu maybe a jounin level technique, but due to the large amounts of chakra consumption shinobi of that caliber often opted not to use it that much due to the drain. Hence the technique was labeled as a kinjutsu.

Naruto not only learned the jutsu, but he mastered it pat down.

Then as Sarutobi continued to observe the situation, he saw Umino Iruka arrive and berate his delinquent of a student for doing such a deed; he was one of the very few people who saw Naruto for what he was and not what he contained.

Then the real instigators Toujo Mizuki and Matou Butai came in revealing they had tricked Naruto into stealing the scroll from the Tower, and they also revealed one of Naruto's greatest secrets that even he not knew.

Uzumaki Naruto was the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Upon hearing this news and further demoralizing statements on how he and the Fox were one and the same, Naruto had nearly broken down.

However, due to Iruka standing up for him and some heartwarming words from the scarred chunnin, Naruto realized that not all people looked at him like that though it did explain why he was seen with those glares and the subject of hateful words, occasional beatings on his birthday and the general ostracizing in his life.

As Naruto and Iruka were facing them down, Iruka had gotten injured in the middle of the battle and Naruto himself was going to die as a giant fuma shuriken came for him.

However, in the last moment Naruto disappeared from plain view in a blur.

Even the Hokage was surprised, the ANBU who had been observing the entire situation had the same experience.

The Sandaime had only seen something like this once when Hiruko, a former shinobi of the Leaf, had gone rogue and was somehow stealing Kekkei Genkai to use it for himself. His actions had caused unrest between the villages and Jiraiya no Gama Sennin himself had later killed him due to his actions.

Uzumaki Naruto, then proceeded to shell shock the two traitorous chunnin by overwhelming them with a horde of his own physical copies, numbering in hundreds, and traps with gear he had borrowed from Iruka in the spur of the moment, though that part wasn't surprising given the intricate designs of high level pranks the blonde had devised numerous times before.

Then he was given Iruka's hitai-ate by the scarred chunnin himself for his act of bravery and loyalty, officially graduating him and giving him the rank of genin. After that, the ANBU came in taking Iruka to the hospital and escorting Naruto along with the Seal of Scrolls to the Hokage.

And now, here we are.

"Naruto-kun." the Sandaime said finally shattering the wall of silence built for some time. "You're not usually this quiet."

"It's nothing Jiji." He said with a fake smile plastered on his face, a smile he had been practicing for years.

A smile that defensively came to life to protect him from whatever words would come next from any person who spoke with him.

All the hate and glares he received, he always answered them with a goofy grin.

It was instinct by now.

"You shouldn't lie to me, Naruto-kun." The older man spoke and the blonde's smile faded to be replaced with a look of sadness that he didn't show.

But Sarutobi knew that look, he tried spending time with the boy whenever he could.

However, his duties didn't allow him such privileges.

Honestly speaking at times, Sarutobi felt ashamed of himself and his failures.

But that red tape bureaucracy of bullshit by the Elders and the Council often barred him from doing so. He needed to make up for it, now that he boy knew about his tenant and had shown a new skill there was only but a few ways to go about this.

"Why didn't you tell me about it before, Jiji?" he said as his blue eyes which usually shone of confidence didn't have that shine. Instead they were a bit dull, they looked a bit lost.

Hiruzen sighed out of sadness knowing this question was coming. It didn't make the guilt he felt lessen.

"Honestly, I didn't want you to know. The reason being, you would've probably ended up hurting yourself if you found out. You have done that before." Hiruzen said and the boy winced a bit at his tone.

Naruto did often try hurting himself, indirectly in a manner, when he used to often punch his arms against wooden posts or even bang his head out of frustration at the generally hostile behavior he was on the receiving end of.

The worst of it was when he had finally managed to slash his wrists with a kunai, it was rusty but he had made it work. He would've been free, but he woke up at the hospital next day as his Jiji stood with another man watching over him. The boy had depression, that much was clear as day.

He knew what his Jiji meant and was sort of understanding that, but another question ate away at him. One he blurted out.

"Jiji, what was that thing I did? You know when I moved really fast." He asked and the Sandaime looked at him in surprise first. It seemed that the old man was shocked at his words.

"You've never done that before?" he asked and the blonde who had prominent red highlights in his hair shook his head. "I see. That Naruto-kun, was the Jinton."

"Jinton? What the heck is that?" he asked not really sure what it really was. The old man chuckled at his answer and spoke up again.

"Jinton or Swift Release is a Kekkei Genkai, something that is only known to manifest in a clan or immediate family members." He said and almost immediately the boy beamed up as his hands landed with thuds on the desk.

"Does that mean my parents had this Jinton thing? Am I from a clan?! Jiji, am I-" whatever remaining questions that the blonde with red highlights wanted to make was stopped when the old man raised his hand to stop his frivolous barrage of queries.

"To my knowledge, you parents didn't have Jinton." The old man said in order to bring his excitement level down. "You're the only one in Konoha with such a bloodline."

However, Sarutobi noted that the boy's eyes widened, then they grew dull as he began to speak.

"So…you did know my parents." He said with an intermediate pause as the Sandaime's eyes widened for a moment before retaining their normal dimensions.

'Did he plan to say it in that way?' Sarutobi thought with a small grimace in mind.

The boy was a tricky one.

While he may not be the sharpest kunai among them all, he certainly had his own way of doing things and this did not seem far from his modus operandi. It was almost befitting of the Fox that was held back inside him and as much as he wanted to tell the boy about his heritage he couldn't.

At the end of the day, Naruto was a Jinchuuriki and the Sandaime could've done something but he didn't.

Some part of him ignored the boy and retained knowledge from him, knowledge about the boy's parents and the life he could've had.

"Very well, Naruto-kun. I did know your parents." He said and he immediately expected a yell, a shout or some form of vocal responses with large amplitude that would shake the rooms of the wall.

However, instead he heard a groan, a sigh, a hollow chuckle.

Uzumaki Naruto was crying a bit as well.

He had let down his walls again, Sarutobi had only seen the boy crying a few times.

Once when he was admitted into the hospital after the first 'hunt', second when a woman who often visited Naruto to talk with him died and finally when he was nine after he had received the worst beating resulting in a completely fractured arm and heavy internal bleeding.

His suicide attempt was different, after he had woken up he didn't cry but had a hollow look on his face and a voice devoid of all his optimism...just like now.

"So…you did know." He said in a near depraved voice in between the sobs. Then he rubbed his eyes and dried off his tears, the fire that was always in his eyes had returned. However betrayal and anguish were present too as he spoke, "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you always lie to me?"

"I did it for your own good Naruto-kun, your parents…..they were shinobi who had many, many enemies outside the village. If they found out you their son were alive, then you would've been marked for death from a young age." He said a calm tone trying to wash away the guilt he felt from looking at those betrayed blue eyes.

While the young teen was far from composed at the moment, his mind did register the words.

Uzumaki Naruto was dense and maybe slow, but he wasn't stupid.

He knew that there were many people with dark agendas in the world.

An example would be the woman Uchiha Mikoto who often visited him in the park when he was alone since he was six, later whom he learned more than a year later was Sasuke teme's mother, and she wanted him to be friends with Sasuke so he could ease up a bit.

That woman often brought him gifts, sweets, and of course his trademark goggles when he was curiously eyeing them one day at a store.

Then, three years later she had died.

The Uchiha Clan Massacre happened and he had lost something akin to an aunt, he still went to the Cemetery every now and then to lay flowers on her grave.

He kept those goggles.

They were precious to him and were a memoir of Uchiha Mikoto, one of the few people who cared about him and a woman, who despite being there for a short time, who had showered him what he assumed to be motherly love. He would forever remember her.

To honor her, he tried to reach out to Sasuke, in his own way, and realized the boy was a bit like him. Alone.

However, the two were like oil and water. Naruto considered Sasuke his rival and set it as a goal to reach his level on day so that he would acknowledge him and in turn, he could keep a promise to Miko-oba-chan.

The fact that he was brooding emo was something he couldn't change much, but he'd still try his best.

"Fine, but I want to ask you one thing." He said and sighed before he spoke looking at the old Hokage. "Did they love me?"

He needed to know.

This was something he asked himself day in and day out.

Did his parents love him?

Did they care about him?

Did they willingly gave him up to become the vessel for the Nine Tails?

"Of course they did. They….they died protecting you from the Kyuubi." Sarutobi said and noted how the blonde's face had morphed into anguish.

He was the reason his parents were dead…they died protecting him. And he actually questioned their love towards him …he really didn't deserve them.

"Listen to me, Naruto-kun." Sarutobi said who had appeared in the chair next to him without seeing the old man move or even hearing the noise.

His mind idly registering the level of speed made him a bit nervous.

Perhaps it was because his mind was fresh off the first time he had taken part in an actual battle where his opponents were trying to kill him. It made him a bit more cautious.

"Your parents loved you. They wanted you to grow up to be a strong shinobi, I was there as they told me that. Don't you want to keep up with their word? After all, it is your nindo." the old man finished and the boy nodded slowly

"Hai." He said softly, but there was firm tone of confidence in his voice. Still he couldn't help but ask the question. "Who were they jiji?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Not until you're a bit older or a jounin at the very least. Your identity, is something of an S Rank secret even among the higher ups." He said the absolute truth. This was something that Sarutobi had planned a very, very long time ago.

"Fine then jiji. I'll wait until I become a jounin. Then you'll have no choice but to tell me and finally…give me your hat as well." He said with a small smile, as he looked forward to the day he would find out who he was, where he came from.

"Well, that said I'll see you tomorrow with your picture when you register, then a month later team placements will take place. Looks like the Kage Bunshin will help you in training more than you can know." The Hokage said and the blonde looked at him an inquisitive stare.

"Jiji, what do you mean the Kage Bunshin will help? And why are placements a whole month later, dattebayo?" he asked and the old man chuckled at his response.

"Right, did you know that Shadow Clones can relay memories to you?" he asked and the blonde looked at him with squinted eyes, not clearly understanding what the elder was saying. "What I'm saying is Naruto-kun, you can use Shadow Clones to train. Since you have large chakra reserves, even without your tenant, you can use them to increase your training. Take it this way, if you use three clones to train with you the entire day then you'll get three extra days of training in one day."

"Suge!" Naruto said as his eyes somehow shaped into stars and the old man had to bark out a small laughter at his reaction. That was the Uzumaki Naruto he knew. Then the blonde looked at him with a more serious look, "Jiji, what about my…Jinton, yeah. What about that?"

"I'm afraid I can't help you personally with that nor can anyone else. However, there is something else I can do." the Sandaime said as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi looked at him curiously. "There was one other person who had the Jinton. He's dead, but I did manage to excavate scrolls from him that contained knowledge on the Jinton since he himself wasn't an inheritor of it as he stole it."

The last part of Sarutobi's sentence made the blonde feel unnerved.

"You can steal Kekkei Genkai? How?" the blonde asked a bit scared at the aspect of someone stealing his ability.

All his life he was treated as a pariah, sometimes even lesser than that as people would vehemently ignore his existence.

That's why he did pranks, so that they would look at him and acknowledge his existence.

For someone out there to take away something that not only made him special, but also having something that probably one of his parents had made him feel that much wary at the prospect of such an ability being forcefully taken away from him.

"There are a few ways to do it. Take the Uchiha Clan for example, their Kekkei Genkai manifests in their eyes and is called the Sharingan." Sarutobi said as he noted the undivided amount of attention that the blonde was giving him without getting bored. "Their Kekkei Genkai allows them to not only see what future moves their opponents will make and a vision on how much chakra they have, but also allows them to copy techniques down to the tiniest detail"

"What?! But that's unfair?!" Naruto yelled out and though the neither of them knew it, two of the four ANBU in the room mentally nodded with the blonde. An Uchiha's abilities were almost unfair. The orange clad boy continued, "Are you telling me that if someone works hard for years to fire a jutsu properly, a guy with a Sharingan can just look at him with his eyes and steal the technique just like that? That is so wrong dattebayo!"

"True, the Sharingan is a versatile ability and often times people who wield those eyes have been called jutsu thieves. But the shinobi world is unfair, Naruto-kun. We aren't just heroes. Tell me what do you think of the Yondaime?" Sarutobi asked, he had asked that question before knowing how well the boy looked up to his formerly living successor.

Naruto shifted his eyes from the old man to the four portraits on the upper left side of the wall.

His eyes fixed on the fourth portrait. The man who sort of looked like Naruto in terms of hair and eye color, was almost a spitting image if Naruto's facial shape and eye shape weren't different.

That and the Jinchuuriki had red highlights in his hair people often teased him about. He didn't care he liked the small bits of red in his hair. Naruto then spoke.

"The Yondaime was a genius, he stopped the Kyuubi and was the hero of the Third Great Ninja War." He said and the current Hokage lit up his tobacco pipe as he calmly took a few breathes in. Naruto shook his head. "Smoking will kill you, Jiji."

"Heh, I'm too young to die." He said and along with the blonde both smiled at his words. He then looked at the Jinchuuriki to give his answer. "You're right about Minato's status as a hero, Naruto-kun. But do you know people in Iwagakure hate hIm? Even to this day the Yellow Flash remains their most hated nemesis."

"Why? I mean sure they were enemies in the war, but other countries were involved as well." The blonde said trying to make an argument in favor of his hero, even though the man sealed the Kyuubi in him he still admired him. Though not as much as before, finding out that you were basically housing a mountain sized demon does that.

"True, but Minato didn't just win the war. He annihilated Iwa's chances in the war. Using his famed Hiraishin, he killed over a thousand ninja of Iwagakure in a single battle." He said and let that information sink in, knowing full well that the boy must've skipped a few twenty lessons in history. He had emphasized his sentence properly and saw the conflicted look on the blonde's face. "That is another thing I wanted to talk to you about, Naruto-kun."

"Entire families, mothers, daughters, sons, fathers and brothers never saw their living ones again once Minato was done killing them." He said and saw the boy meekly nod at him.

"So, you're saying that the Yondaime was just a killer?" he asked and the man made no physical reaction.

"All shinobi are killers at one point, Naruto-kun. At times we get missions that are well more or less assassinations. The Yondaime had killed plenty of times before that, but not because he was a murderer." He said and the blonde with red highlights looked at the old man. "He did it to protect the village and his loved ones so that Iwa would not destroy Konoha. At one point you too have to kill, Naruto-kun which is one of the things I wanted to talk to you about."

"Well what is it, Jiji?" he asked and gulped a bit. He had never seen his Jiji look at him so seriously.

"Naruto-kun, you generally have very low skills when it comes being an actual shinobi." He said and the blonde slumped into the seat. Sarutobi had to say it. He couldn't prolong this any longer and let this chance go to waste.

Uzumaki Naruto had potential, a very good potential.

So much that Shimura Danzo made requests several times to train the boy, not because he was just the Jinchuuriki but because he was an Uzumaki with large chakra reserves that would make them both of them look like children at one point and because the Shinobi no Yami believed that despite his 'loud' personality there was some of his father's drive and tenacity in him along with his mother's unwavering will.

And now he found out the boy had the Jinton, though how he had it will perhaps remain a mystery since neither his father nor mother had the ability.

Perhaps it was dormant in of them, perhaps it was Minato as the Sandaime mused.

"You're loud, you don't think clearly, you walk around in that orange monstrosity, your projectile skills are that of a civilian's and you have horrible chakra control." He said and if the boy could, he would've sunken further into the chair.

Sarutobi placed a hand on his shoulders getting the boy to sit upright as he continued.

"However, you have the potential Naruto-kun. I'm not joking. With your chakra reserves, the Jinton and your will to never give up…I have no doubt one day, you will become the Hokage. Who knows maybe I'll live long enough to see when that happens." he said and the boy nodded at his words.

"Good, now first thing's first. There are a few things you need to know. Remember that stupid 'civilian tax' people made you pay?" he asked and the boy nodded with a near scowl on his face. "Well, if they do make sure you show them your headband and tell them you'll report such a thing if they do again or even mention something like 'shinobi tax'. There is no such thing, they were simply letting their hatred for the Kyuubi get to you. Next, you will be using the Shadow Clones to train yourselves. How many can you make, a round figure that is?"

"Well I made around 300 in the forest and I didn't feel anything, but now that you mention it I do remember every blow that they made on those guys." He said now realizing why received all those images after the clones dispelled.

"I see, keep it to three hundred a day and train. Wait, take these too." Sarutobi said as he moved over to his drawer and brought out two scrolls. He gave them to the blonde who took it with fervor evident in his shaking hands. "These contain sealing materials and since you can use the library without anyone stopping you because of your rank, I suggest you start on fuuinjutsu."

"But fuuinjutsu is boring dattebayo. Why can't I have something more awesome to suit a great ninja like me?" he asked and the old man shook his head.

"Not yet, Naruto-kun. Like I said before, you need to make your base strong before you grow. The month you have should make you strong on a decent scale along with the added help of Shadow Clones." He said and the blonde looked like he needed one more push. He needed to make a calculated risk that would serve as a catalyst.

"Besides, I thought you would've liked fuuinjutsu considering you're from the clan that specialized in it and the fact that the Yondaime was a seal master." He said and the blonde froze right then and there.

He was from a clan?

He was…from a clan.

He was from a clan!

"WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT JIJI?!" he yelled and the ANBU stood there emotionless.

Some of them heard of the Uzumaki Clan, well one of their more formerly notable living members was an Uzumaki. She was the Crimson Death and earned her nickname.

It didn't take a genius to figure the situation out.

"You're from the Uzumaki Clan. Sad to say, there are no other survivors though." Sarutobi added so that the blonde would calm down. "The Uzumaki Clan was from Uzushiogakure. They were cousins to the Senju Clan and were one of our greatest allies before the village was destroyed by Iwa, Kumo and Kiri. Maybe there are some more survivors scattered across the world."

"I see." He said, this day was starting to take its toll on him. Whenever he beamed up at something it would be shot down. Life was so not unfair at the moment dattebayo. "Is the Jinton thing an Uzumaki Kekkei Genkai or something?"

"I'm afraid not. Jinton has never been recorded in the Uzumaki Clan's history. However, they were famous for their large amounts of chakra and strong life force, so much they were called the Village of Longevity. I suppose that's why they were wiped out despite being a neutral nation who never took part in conflicts."

"Dammit." He said releasing a frustrated sigh.

He found out that HE, Uzumaki Naruto was from a clan.

Only to know said clan was extinct or some living members were far away. Maybe he'd meet them one day. But first things came first.

"Jiji. I wanted to ask something, why is there a one month gap? I thought it was one week."

"It was, Naruto-kun. However due to too many graduates emerging from the Academy, the teachers are having a hard time sorting teams out. That and because some people will be laid off." Sarutobi said and the blonde once more looked at him in a confused manner.

"Laid off? Wait you mean not everyone is going to be a genin?" he asked incredulously. Upon seeing the old man nod his head, he was a bit shocked. He decided to voice his confusion. "Then what about all those years we spent at the Academy?"

"Not everyone can be a shinobi, Naruto-kun. Due to peaceful times, the standard for shinobi have gone down. The generation before you entered the Academy was also growing weak with a few exceptions. I've seen so many genin being killed, so many young kunoichi raped that their minds were broken after that and some even got sold as human toys." He said not sugarcoating his words as the boy flinched.

He wanted the boy to flinch. He needed to be serious now.

"This is why I want you to train seriously, Naruto-kun. While I am not asking you to be a mindless tool who only knows how to take orders and kill when given the instructions, I don't want you to be weak. That is why those who can't hack it, will be sent to other departments instead of on field." He said and the boy sighed a relief which the Hokage found interesting. "You seemed to be relieved, Naruto-kun. Can you tell me why?"

"Well I may not have been friends with everyone at the Academy, but I'm kind of glad they'll be able to help without going to the field, dattebayo." He said as he grinned at the old man.

The ANBU in the room though emotionless in behavior couldn't help but smile underneath their masks, even though he made them clean up his mess one times too many.

Hiruzen himself had to smile widely at the words.

It was incredible how the boy still cared about the general kids who studied with him despite their behavior.

He truly was one of a kind.

"You're going to make a fine shinobi, Naruto-kun. I'm surprised all the girls haven't come after you yet." Hiruzen said and the boy grumbled.

"Yeah right. All girls want right now is to be with their 'Sasuke-kun!'" he finished with a tone that was reminiscent of fan girls. He then continued. "Honestly I don't get it, all he does is 'Hn', 'Hn' and 'Hn'. Then proceeds to be a jerk and everyone, including Sakura-chan, just squeal at him for grunting."

"Maybe they like him more because of your perverted jutsu and avoid you." Hiruzen said as he chuckled at the boy's reaction. One of the ANBU, who happened to be female twitched a bit at her leader's words.

"That, I just made that after seeing a guy reading a magazine that had girl on the front wearing little to no clothes. A couple was going by, the guy with the woman was staring at the cover before the woman with smacked him on the head. It works as a good distraction so I made it." He said and the Hiruzen stopped for a minute.

Surely the boy didn't…..

"Naruto-kun what do you mean you made that after seeing a magazine? What about your Sex-Ed class?" he asked and the boy was quiet for a minute before he spoke up.

"Oh yeah, I was kicked out of that class all the time. Pssht. Like I'd have a problem without that class. I mean who needs sex? It's just a gender." He said and the ANBU couldn't believe what he just said. Sarutobi's eyes were the size of dinner plates.

"Then how'd you make the Henge?" Sarutobi asked and the boy replied earnestly.

"Well it was more or less the same picture, only I added no clothes and smoke to cover my body parts. I didn't want anyone to see my fat chest and my thing hanging out." He said and everyone were shocked at his words.

In their minds they imagined that sexy blonde he transformed into….with that in between her legs. Sarutobi shuddered at he implications.

"Oh dear." The Hokage said as he breathed in and exhaled. He needed to fix this, for all that was straight and perverse he needed to fix this. "So no one ever taught you about the birds and the bees?"

"Birds and bees? Well they're animals, bees are insects cause you know Shino always liked to clarify that." He said and the old man pinched the bridge of his nose. This was going to be very, very awkward.

That night Uzumaki Naruto went home with a red face and steam blowing out of his ears. He kept muttering incoherent sentences 'penis goes there' and 'how do babies even come out of that place'.

However the one he kept repeatedly chanting , and more than once a few women who were in earshot heard him had to blush, 'They do it in the ass too'.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

This was frustrating.

No this was far beyond frustrating. Let it be said that while Uzumaki Naruto may not be the most patient man or living being in general on earth, he was far from being the worst.

Still, having to sit still and study for more than three hours without having to yell his frustration out was wearing thin on him.

That and the strict librarian lady had already hit him twice with that accursed, unholy stick whenever he increased his volume.

One day, one day he would have his revenge. Just wait, dattebayo!

Beside him were fifty other Shadow Clones who were working on reading as well. He had decided to get started on fuuinjutsu and was currently studying the First of the Ten Distinguished Levels.

He had to admit that it did beat carrying a backpack with him and much to his own surprise, he found it interesting; far more interesting than the other stuff which consisted of knowledge on not just Konoha but the other major villages as well.

The Academy had seemed to skip out on a lot of things, and Jiji was right.

The standards had dropped.

The standard genin age for graduation was ten years old before he joined, nine during wartime.

Now it was thirteen, the curriculum was also easier and Naruto realized just how far behind their generation was compared to the ones before. Naruto also picked up books on ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu. He quickly made notes, in a very ugly style much to his distaste, on all of them and was making more notes upon notes.

He didn't even know he had that much empty space in his notebooks.

He decided to go out and test out his taijutsu skills and quickly realized that he, Uzumaki Naruto sucked in his own opinion.

Yup, a spar with his clones and he realized just how horrible they were. He needed to work on his taijutsu, thank god Training Ground Three was virtually abandoned as Jiji had told him.

Summoning 500 hundred clones - bah, he could pull it off - he gave each one hundred of them to learn the katas, and hours later when he had received the memories, vertigo took a whole new meaning for him. Uzumaki Naruto was lying down on the grass as his eyes wandered to the sky.

Last night's conversation with Jiji about his skills was his main focal point now. He had to get stronger, he needed to find out who he was and then finally he could be Hokage so that people would finally realize that he was himself, not the Fox and treat him like he was somebody important not a demon incarnate.

Groggily getting up he sat still perfectly still.

Apparently meditation helped calm one's mind, helped them control their emotions and enhanced senses extending to the area around them. Considering how hyperactive he was, he needed it…..a lot of it.

"Well time to start the other part of training and-"

*GRUMBLE*

Even though no one was around, he blushed a bit out of embarrassment. He then walked up and got out of Training Ground Three. Soon enough he was in the general vicinity where the populace noted his presence and as usual whispers began emerging like the norm they were.

Learning about how chakra could be sent to organs and body parts to enhance their use he heard the usual whispers of him being condescended. This would've affected him, no it did affect him but only little now.

These people didn't understand the burden he held, how he protected them each day by holding the Fox back instead being its human form. Fucking idiots is what he called them.

Or maybe, just maybe they were jealous of him.

'Yup.' He said as he grinned with his arms behind his head as he walked proudly among them. 'They're just jealous of my natural awesomeness. Hell if I was any cooler it would unfair to the world dattebayo!'

Uzumaki Naruto then finally found the most divine place in all of Konoha.

Ichiraku's Ramen.

Entering the stall, he gave his loud declaration.

"Uzumaki Naruto is here! Prepare the ramen for the Champion of the Gods has arrived!" he said and the two other people in the stand, two chunnin, scoffed at his words. He proceeded to ignore them as well.

Bah! As if they understood his love for ramen.

Some may call him weird or obnoxious for having such a craving for the starch based food, but he still remembered it.

He was six and alone, living on the streets after the orphanage kicked him out. It was raining heavily and he had come to this side of the town. A heavenly smell of various spices had brought him to the stall and he was peeping through the door trying to figure out what the smell was.

The man at the counter, Teuchi had seen him and called him.

At first he thought he was going to be yelled at or pushed away whilst thrown to the ground. Instead Teuchi ushered him in and gave him a towel to dry himself off and asked him whether he was hungry, the young boy replied no. Despite that the man put a steaming, freshly made bowl of miso ramen and Uzumaki Naruto had unknowingly shed tears of joy that day.

Teuchi was later the one who informed Hokage of him being here and the boy got his own apartment after that.

Ichiraku's became something of a safe haven for him.

Ramen was his emotional comfort, a means of escaping his sadness.

"In a minute, Naruto-kun." came the voice of one Ichiraku Ayame who was happy to see him again. He sat down and she ruffled his hair before Teuchi came in with an extra large 'Naruto' special.

Finishing his prayers to the Gods of Ramen and muttering a gracious 'Itadakimasu', the blonde drove into the bowl. The ramen never stood a chance as he began to viciously wolf down the noodles as they happily entered his abyss of a stomach.

It didn't take him long and soon after five more bowls followed. Before Teuchi could say he'll put it on the tab, Naruto brought out the money and paid him in full.

"Umm, Naruto." Teuchi said as he took the money and counted it, a bit confused. "Don't you usually pay later when having more than two large?"

"Yeah, but apparently some of my monthly stipend got mixed up and I got some extra cash last night." He said as he chuckled at the lie he said. The truth was, Naruto was paid for what he did last night. Sarutobi said it was not only a means of saying sorry to him, but also for the service he did.

He got the pay for a C Rank Mission and boy it was good be rewarded.

"Well that's good, but what else do you have planned today?" Ayame said and the blonde looked confused for a second before he spoke.

"Right I got some more training to do and after that I need your help." Naruto said with a furious nod as both father and daughter looked at him in a confused manner.

"My help? In what exactly? I'm not exactly a shinobi." Ayame said and the boy nodded but spoke up once more.

"True, but you're one of the damn best cooks in the village aside from Teuchi-jii-san and Jiji said to grow stronger I need to eat other things than just ramen, which is so not right." He said and Teuchi laughed at his words. Ayame blushed at being called at one of the best damn cooks but later also chuckled at his reaction.

Then he heard it.

Her voice.

'Sakura-chan.' Uzumaki Naruto thought as he heard her talking with someone. He could sit here and waste a few more bits of time, or he could pay his money and ask her out. Surely she was bound to say yes one of these days. He then got up and made a salute like gesture at the two of them.

"Right, gotta go now jii-san. See you later Ayame-chan." He said and exited the stall waving his hand at their goodbyes with a grin on his face.

"You know," Ayame began with a smile as she looked at his retreating form, fading into the distance and finally out of her sight "I haven't seen him this happy in a while."

"Yeah, not since he got those goggles." Teuchi added and smiled a bit sadly. "Kami rest that woman's soul. She was one of the few who cared about him like that."

"Hai. If only her son was a bit more like her. Though, I guess he takes more after the Commissioner." Ayame added as she remembered the husband of Uchiha Mikoto.

While he wasn't a jerk or something along those lines, the man was too uptight. Everyone should relax in a while, too bad he didn't live long enough to experience such a joy.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Naruto slowly jumped from rooftop to rooftop as he silently, as silent as he could, followed the crush of his life.

He can still remember it today.

The day he met Haruno Sakura.

Once more his life had changed in the Park where children never played with him. He was around seven at the time, and was going to start his life at the Academy a few days later. A few kids, a bit older than his age and some were the same as him, were teasing someone about their big forehead.

Naruto, being the idiot with the Hero Complex he was, rushed in to 'save the day'. Upon his arrival, the instigators had left. Not because they were afraid of him, but because their parents told them to isolate the boy and avoid him at all costs. The girl he saw did have a larger than normal forehead, but he found it cute for some reason and her pink hair.

Along with her was the pinkette's future best friend err..rival.

He remembered playing with them in the park that day, happy and socially interactive memories were something he had in few amounts. As such, he remembered every single happy moment in his life along with the sad ones.

Maybe it was her hair that he found fascinating, pink hair was a rarity and the exotic nature of it perhaps ensnared him.

Then of course he didn't see her again until the Academy, and she too avoided him like the plague.

Now he mused that ultimately it was her parents that must've advised her on doing this.

"Oh kami this is boring." Sakura said with an exasperated sigh. She looked at the person who was beside her, that would be her mother Haruno Mebuki.

Both of them had grocery bags in their hands.

"Now, Sakura-chan don't be so lazy. Honestly you're going to be on a team two months later and become a genin. You should be a bit more active." Mebuki said as she walked with her daughter, unlike her daughter who had pink hair hers was more like a dark blonde, almost brownish.

"Geez, Kaa-san." Sakura said with a whine. "It's not going to be problem, especially if I'm on the same team as Sasuke-kun." She said dreamily with stars around her and hearts instead of her emerald eyes.

Naruto made a vomiting gesture at her words.

Seriously, it was always 'Sasuke-kun' this and 'Sasuke-kun' that with all the girls at the Academy, funny thing was he never even gave them a second glance. Maybe girls were into that stuff.

The blonde with red streaks idly noted what he would be like if he was like the raven haired emo with teen angst issues.

He shuddered at the thought.

While he did feel bad for Sasuke for going through something like that at that age, he did however feel that he could've been less of an ass.

Then again, he was an ass even before the massacre.

Miko-baa-chan did tell him to be friends with him, maybe it was because he was a broody moody from the first place.

"Sakura-chan, while I don't have anything against you going after Uchiha-san," she said as both her daughter and the Jinchuuriki listened to her words "you do realize he's a bit…..strange. I mean, he's never shown any interest in any girls…..ever."

Naruto snickered as he listened to the words. Last night, Sarutobi had told him about the guys who played for the other team.

At first Naruto couldn't believe it, in fact he didn't want to believe it.

However Sarutobi told him to believe it.

'Looks like Sasuke is…..Sasugay!' he laughed out loud in his mind as a chibi Naruto in his head was holding a list, Chibi-Naruto cackled as he took a pen and put a tick mark on the check-box beside which was a sentence stating 'Make a very original joke about Teme'.

"You wouldn't understand, Kaa-san." She said with a spirit Naruto had never seen before. Such absolute determination and unwavering faith in her resolve that Naruto was almost surprised to the point he nearly gave out an audible gasp. "I love Sasuke-kun and sure he's a bit weird, but he's still better than that Naruto-baka!"

'Well that escalated quickly.' Naruto thought as he flinched previously upon her mentioning his name like that. Honestly he didn't understand why she resented him so much. 'I mean I'm always kind to her, and I try to cheer her up….but she's still like that.'

"I see." Mebuki said and uttered no further words. Naruto could understand why she didn't. She was probably like the rest of them, although he was glad that she didn't add anything horrible about him. That was….good?

"Honestly, that baka. Always screaming and yelling how he's going to be Hokage. Like someone like him could ever be Hokage. It's probably because he never had any parents to teach him anything." Sakura added further and Naruto clenched his fists.

He may love – or he thinks he does – Sakura, but that doesn't give her the right to say things like this about him. He didn't have anybody growing up, nobody was there for him all the time.

'Wait….maybe this isn't the first time she said something like this. Why isn't her mom telling her anything?' he thought with some hope but the dirty blonde haired woman said no words to his defense or at the very least reprimand her daughter for saying such a thing about his parents.

"Always pestering me for dates when he knows I'm going to refuse him. He's so annoying all the time." she added further and Naruto once more winced under the implication of the words.

Sure he was a bit loud, louder and boisterous than most but that's how he was dattebayo! Everyone had their quirks, so why was he being the only one scrutinized like that.

"And I don't want you to go on a date with him…ever." Mebuki spoke after some time and Naruto could understand the adult saying this.

They were blinded by the image of the Fox too much to see him for the teenage boy he was.

"That reminds me, why did you always tell me avoid him?" Sakura asked all of a sudden, and the blond in hiding near their sight was more interested in the answer than the pinkette.

"Because he's a delinquent. Always pulling pranks and disturbing the people with his loud rants." Mebuki added with some venom in her voice and Naruto could almost feel the resentment in her voice.

'No surprises there.' He thought with a small chuckle in his mind.

"That's true. I wish he would just leave us alone. Well, at least he didn't graduate. He even failed the graduation exam. I mean who can't do the Bunshin no Jutsu? Anyone can do it." she said and this time Naruto felt a bit annoyed at her words.

Jiji explained to him that the reason why he couldn't do such a low rank jutsu was because he had so much chakra, such massive reserves of densely coiled chakra that it was impossible for him to pull it off without having near perfect control of his chakra which only one of his students Tsukane or Tsu-something had done.

Though he was a bit upset at not having control, he was ecstatic when he learned about his large chakra reserves, even without the Kyuubi. Uzumaki chakra FTW!

"Honestly I'm glad he's not a ninja. Otherwise he'd be a failure of a shinobi and drag everyone's name in the village down with him. I just wish he'd go away." She said and that was the last thing Naruto heard before he turned around and left.

He jumped away as he didn't realize that small trickles of tear were floating from his eyes into the wind as the sunlight made them reflect some light.

In that moment, Uzumaki Naruto hated himself. His mask of oozing self confidence had been shattered by the first girl he had ever loved, yet he couldn't bring himself to hate her. He couldn't even now.

All he could do was writhe in self-loathing.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

The Sandaime Hokage was breathing out of relief. At last he was done with today's pile of paperwork. It always was his bane, even with the assistance of his Shadow Clones the Professor had trouble sorting them out properly.

Then as he relaxed in his chair, he thought about pulling out his pipe and read that orange book he liked. It certainly would be a good way to pass his time.

Then he felt the presence, the presence of a man he hadn't seen in some time.

There was a knock on his door, and Sarutobi voiced that the person may enter.

The man entered and was old in age, around the same age as him give or take a few days here and there. He also had bandages covering the right side of his face, more specifically the eye as if he were hiding something. A crutch rested in his hand as it pushed against the ground to make him stand straight, however his lone eye was closed.

In that state, he walked forward and sat on the chair. He didn't need to open his eyes to know where the items and furniture in this room were. He knew where everything in this room was.

"Danzo," Sarutobi spoke up with a voice that displayed the opinions of both interest and mild hostility "what are you here?"

"The Jinchuuriki boy is training at Training Ground Three." the man known by the title Shinobi no Yami said in reply.

He opened his lone onyx eye as he watched his rival look at him impassively.

He then continued, "He's training properly. What exactly happened to instigate such an event?"

For a moment Sarutobi Hiruzen remained quiet and observed the situation in front of him. Shimura Danzo did love his village, but his methods were almost that of a tyrant's at times.

More than once he had asked for the young Uzumaki to be put under his care so he could 'train' him to be the weapon Konoha deserves.

Sarutobi had told him in front of the remaining Elders that he would rather die than spit on Minato's grave in such a way.

Uzumaki Naruto was off limits and over a certain amount of time Danzo accepted the fact. The reason was because he couldn't make the Jinchuuriki his 'soldier'.

The Kyuubi was not a beast to be underestimated or trifled with by normal means. He simply couldn't put a Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal and not expect the Kyuubi to do something to disrupt it.

He also couldn't use the Kotoamatsukami now. He had to wait for at least another three years before he did it. Kotoamatsukami / Distinguished Heavenly Gods despite being the most versatile and non-detecting genjutsu in recorded history did have its own share of drawbacks. Even with his Senju cell enhancements, the highest caliber of genjutsu in existence required a ridiculously large amount of time to recharge so he could use it again.

He had last used it when Sarutobi had made his decision to kill him after the Uchiha incident.

Activating the Kotoamatsukami, he implanted the idea that Sarutobi shouldn't kill him rather disband his ROOT operations. The genjutsu also had a three second time frame and due to the hallucination induction it conducts on the victim, Sarutobi was still walking towards him when he used the jutsu.

If he made any attempts to defend himself or let his ROOT agents come to his aide then a battle would've ensued and there was little possibility he would come out on top as Sarutobi wouldn't give him a fair fighting chance.

And now here he stood…..a failure trapped within his own weaved plots.

"I may have given him a right push to what he needs to be rather than what is. What are you really here for?" Sarutobi asked not at all amused at how his friend conveniently appeared at such a time.

"Nothing I just wanted to know why the Jinchuuriki was training that….seriously. My offer still stands Hiruzen, I could train the boy properly." Danzo said and Sarutobi looked at him as if he was serious.

"You already know my answer, Danzo. It won't change. I owe his parents that much." Sarutobi said and Danzo remained quiet for some time.

"If you owe his parents that much, then you shouldn't have let his life gone to shit." The Head of ROOT said with no hint of amusement in his voice. "I'm going to be honest, I did not like Minato. His ideals were far too similar to your own, but he had more spine than you. I am sure he would've handled things differently."

As much as Danzo utterly disliked the Fourth Hokage, he did have a begrudging amount of respect for him.

Namikaze Minato was perhaps the greatest prodigy barring Itachi to come out of the Hidden Leaf. Danzo pretty much knew that had Minato lived for a few more years and wasn't tied down by the official duties of the Hokage which consumed large amounts of time, he would've gotten even stronger and to be honest Minato to some extent reminded him of Senju Tobirama.

Not just because he was the fastest shinobi of his time like his formerly living sensei, but also because both were highly meticulous, shrewd shinobi and were realists who didn't hope for the best scenario, but rather played out situations to suit for the best result.

"You know about the Council. They wouldn't have-" Sarutobi was cut off by Danzo once more.

"Done anything once you put your final say in it. Sometimes I wonder why you lie to yourself so much. You didn't allow Uchiha Mikoto to adopt him, or the Ino-Shika-Cho group to at least raise him. Don't get me started on Jiraiya, the boy may be running a spy network, but he is leaving the son of his only student whom he considered a son here in the village alone as the people feed him with apathy and hatred." Danzo said not even bothering to notice the flinched expression of Sarutobi.

Whatever Danzo had said had been harsh, no it was cruel.

However the cruelty of his words did not take away the truth in it. Sarutobi could've done something about it.

However, he was a Jinchuuriki. A Jinchuuriki is a weapon no matter how much the term is sugarcoated and being the Hokage, Sarutobi unconsciously did just that.

"I'll be leaving now. Take care, Hiruzen." He said and left the room.

Shimura Danzo may be cold, but he did not like how the boy's potential was wasted. He knew that the Hokage was aware of his grades being tampered, lessons taught to him the wrong way yet for all his ideals Sarutobi did nothing.

Shimura Danzo wouldn't care that much simply because he was refused the chance to train the boy, his stunted growth would be blamed on the Professor and he would take no share of the blame that was to be put out.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat in his office as he saw his rival leave the room. The words he said kept echoing in the chasms of his mind. All that he had said had been true. He needed to help the boy. But how?

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

"GOD! FUCKING DAMN! IT!" each word that was yelled with rage evident in his voice was followed by a large thud noise as Uzumaki Naruto's fists shattered against the thick trunk of the tree.

There were indents now in the tree, outlines of the shape of someone's fist could be seen clearly.

Splatters of blood were seen on the tree as it slowly made its way down along the lines of wood and downwards to the ground.

Above the place he punched were also more blood prints. Uzumaki Naruto was shedding tears and blood.

The warm liquid fell not just from his bruised and broken hands, also from his forehead as he had kept slamming it against the wall. He had very thick skin and took some time to injure himself, but now he could do it. He could harm himself.

Naruto did show suicidal tendencies before and having a village who hate you for your very existence coupled with the fact they barely acknowledge your existence does play with the psyche of a child.

Despite Hiruzen's promise and his drive to find out who he was, dark thoughts still loomed in his mind.

In a part of his mind he did hate the villagers. He never said it or voiced it, but a part of him hated them. When Sarutobi revealed him being part of a clan that was related to the Senju, the fucking founders of the damned village, he had also been angry.

He wondered if other clan members of nearly extinct clans were like this.

No they weren't, he had quickly concluded this in his mind. He remembered Uchiha Sasuke getting extra lessons at the Academy all because he was recognized at 'the Last Uchiha'. He was not the last, Sasuke's thrice damned traitor of a brother Itachi was also alive and out there.

And here he was an Uzumaki living in the Red Light District, while the Hokage held back information not only about his Jinchuuriki status but also his parents. With fury, and despair he brought his forehead against the dark bark of the tree.

Pain composed a beautiful tune as a high frequency noise erupted in his head, echoing deep into the depths of his mind as everything became dark.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Uzumaki Naruto fell. He fell deep through an endless pit. Winds thrust against his body, the pressure weighing down on him made him feel that his entire body was breaking. In the midst of it all, he cried out of anger. Deeper and deeper, he fell into the abyss, not sure when it would come.

He yelled out of frustration and finally hit the floor of the endless chasm he had fallen into.

Water splashed on his face as jolted up and stood in shock. It felt like a large darkened hallway that was dimly lit. It sort of reminded him of the hospital, but it felt like a sewer system too. He walked across the place as his feet touched the moving waters every now and then. Then finally he stopped before a door.

It was large, far too large to be a gate.

It seemed more akin to the size of the gate the Village had in its entrance if it was probably around three to four times larger.. The red gate had splits in between and someone like Naruto could've easily stepped through them. However instinct told him to stop and turn around.

Then he saw it.

Two red large orbs glowing in the dark, a black slit present in them both. Then he heard a growl emerging from the dark end of the gate, or a he realized it a cage. Then the being came into view.

The beast was titanic, easily as large as the Hokage Monument. His teeth were bare for the world to see as some saliva dripped from it. The fangs looked like they could bite and tear through anything and the body of the beast had dark orange fur all across it. Its hands were large and seemed more humanlike which piqued his curiosity. However it was the slow and rhythmic movement of its nine menacing tails that made him freeze in a trance.

It felt like an overture to chaos that would be unleashed.

"So, my jailor comes at last. How many times do I have to save your worthless life, ningen?" the Kyuubi said and blond broke out of his momentary lapse as he looked at the beast.

"Is this place inside me?" Uzumaki Naruto asked and the Kyuubi smirked toothily as the blond felt a bit unnerved by that gaze even though the Fox was lying down clearly on the wet floor.

"Seems you're not as stupid as I thought, but you're still stupid. Throwing a bitch-fit like that after a worthless girl dressed you down. How pathetic." Kyuubi said as he looked at the blond clench his fists.

"Shut up." Naruto said and the Fox looked at his with a raised eyebrow. "I may have made a mistake when I did what I did, but I don't expect you to understand."

"And I don't want to. All you humans are the same. Always so concerned about yourself that you let even the littlest of things get to you. Wars have been started for less, for only something as despicable as humans could do such acts." Kyuubi said as looked at the blond. He then got up and looked down at the blond.

"You're no different, selfish to the core like the rest of them. Now get out, I healed your wounds. I will not have my jailer, as much of a retard he is, dying for something as juvenile as that." The mightiest of the nine said before he was walking back into darkness, but the blond's words stopped him.

"Hey! Is there any way to change this place?" Uzumaki Naruto said out loud as he didn't move a single step from where he stood. The Fox looked back in surprise before he spoke.

"….What?" Kyuubi no Kitsune asked in a confused manner.

"This place, can't I change how it looks?" the blond asked and the large Bijuu stood still before he spoke.

"It's your mind. Whatever you want it to look like, it will take that form." No sooner had the Bijuu finished saying this the entire landscape of his mind changed to that of a lush green field with no end in clear sight. 'Not bad for an idiot.' the Kyuubi thought as he began to move away from once more, except it wasn't dark anymore.

The fake sun was there in the inner depth of his mind and everything was visible.

Once more the Kyuubi stopped.

"Before you go I just want to say one thing." Uzumaki Naruto said as the Kyuubi stopped to listen to his words. "Thank you!" he yelled as he put his head on the ground as a form of gesture and the beast had to look back in surprise.

This was a first for him.

A human thanking him….the Kyuubi no Kitsune being thanked by a human and his Jinchuuriki no less.

"Just don't try to commit suicide again. I will not have my container being so pathetic or weak. The next time you do this, I won't heal you." the giant fox said and before he could retreat the blond teen spoke.

"Do you have a name?" Naruto asked and the Fox contemplated in thought about that.

"You're not worthy." Kyuubi said as he went back to resting showing that he had no further wish to speak.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Uzumaki Naruto gasped as he got down on all fours after jumping off against the tree where he had been previously resting.

He breathed heavily for some time before realizing that all that had happened was true, but a better question was why did a bird shit on him? Ugh! Slowly reaching for the bottle, he took off the cap and poured the water on his shirt. Damn birds and their shitty actions.

He sat down and breathed until he was completely calm.

He had let his emotions get the better of him, once more. He had just read today on how a shinobi should always control their emotions and not let the enemy read them.

He had done just the opposite and this time had nearly managed to give himself a concussion, but the Fox had healed him.

He felt almost ashamed of himself, he had gone and thrown his life away because of a few words Sakura said. He shook his head.

He couldn't do things like those. Even though he was hated there were a lot of people who cared for him.

'Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka-sensei, Jiji.' He thought of those four people. Even though the Sandaime outright hid things from him, he still cared for him enough and Uzumaki Naruto was never really one to hold for grudges.

But he would take revenge for it in some way.

Sighing he went to the Hokage's office as he felt a bit drained today, mentally.

No use training in that state. Maybe the old man could give him a few pointers. He was the Hokage after all.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

"I see," the Sandaime said after hearing Naruto's eagerness to learn a bit more.

He could tell his Jiji was happy, he understood the old man in a way. He tactfully didn't mention the whole 'Headbanging' situation. He didn't want that guy with the long blond, ponytail to put his hand against his forehead for hours…again.

The first time he met that 'Mind' something guy was after he tried to commit suicide. He was nice, if not a bit overbearing and constraining him from a month of ramen.

In what noodle world did that make sense?

Oh yeah he nearly forgot.

"Jiji, you said something about you having…jutsu on Jinton?" Naruto asked and the Hokage looked at him for some time before he pulled out his drawer from his desk and held a scroll.

"This scroll is important, Naruto-kun. Make sure it falls into no one else's hands. However, I suggest you train more and improve your chakra control before learning jutsu from this scroll. Do not mess up." Sarutobi said as he held the scroll before handing it out.

Naruto took the scroll and gripped it with both hands before he spoke up again.

"Don't worry, Jiji." Naruto said with a small smile. "I…I'm gonna make sure that I use the whole month to train properly."

"Actually about that." Sarutobi said as he looked at the blonde with a nervous expression. "I think I have someone to help you out with your training."

"Who is it? Is it Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked with hope and joy.

That would be awesome if it was Iruka. However the Hokage shook his head before he spoke.

"It's someone else who's going to help you every now and then in a lot of aspects. A tokubetsu jounin and she's a bit….energetic like you, albeit in a different way. She also happens to know about your condition and the Jinton." That was all Sarutobi could say before there was a knock on his door and judging by the time, she had arrived early. "Come in."

And then the door opened and Naruto stared at the person who had entered the room.

She had light brown, pupil-less eyes. Her hair – a dark shade of violet he had seen once or twice - wass styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. She wore a fitted mesh body suit that covered her from her neck down to her thighs. Over that she wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. In addition to the typical forehead protector, she also wears a small pendant that looks like a snake fang and a wrist watch.

However her sultry appearance only made her developed body look that much more seductive and the blonde noted that she was rather gifted in the chest department and mentally fought back a nosebleed.

'I'm not a pervert. I'm not a pervert. I'M NOT A PERVERT!' he kept chanting in his mind as he tried to look away, but was failing. Ever since 'the talk' with Sarutobi last night, women had become so different in his eyes.

Perversion was truly both a gift and a curse. The slight jiggle and her wiggle didn't help.

'Down boy! She's older than you. She's more mature! She's much hotter and…damn it!' Naruto yelled inside his mind, and utterly failed.

"Looks like the gaki can't take his eyes off me, Hokage-sama." She said with a grin in a loud manner and Sarutobi noted that he may have been right in choosing her as his part-time sort of teacher.

Both were loud, energetic and often times prone to acting without thinking.

Maybe this could help the Tokubetsu Jounin in becoming a bit more responsible when she has someone to look after and Naruto would learn things from her, while building some form of resistance to seduction techniques.

Judging by Naruto's efforts to look away he couldn't and a foreign kunoichi could exploit this when the time came.

"Yes, Naruto-kun recently found out about the birds and the bees. So, excuse his behavior for now." Sarutobi said and the boy grimaced a bit. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, she'll be able to help you when she has time in between missions."

"I see. Arigato, Jiji." He said with a small nod of his head that could be almost considered a bow, considering Naruto's severe distaste for authority. He then looked at the dark violet haired beauty before he spoke, pink could be seen on his cheeks as he spoke. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you…um?"

"The Incredible and Sexy Mitarashi Anko!" She said with a pose as she held a victory sign near her eyes.

'Can't deny the second part, though.' Naruto thought not really believing how his mind was rather fixated on that statement.

"When can we begin?" Naruto asked. He really didn't want to do it today. He needed some rest to clear his head, plus he had to go and see Ayame. Good food equaled good body for fighting and endurance.

"From tomorrow gaki, come at Training Ground Thirteen and don't be late." She said and then leaned near him before she breathed hotly against his cheek making him squirm. "Otherwise, Anko-chan will do naughty things to you."

"Eh?!" He said and prominently fell off his chair as the Tokubetsu Jounin laughed before she looked at the Hokage again.

"He's like you said, Hokage-sama. Farewell." She said but not before winking at Naruto to tease him a bit more, and him blushing like that made her feel amused. 'Gaki is kind of cute though. More fun to tease him.' She thought as she exited the room.

"Jiji, what was that?" He asked and the Hokage had been chuckling at his predicament.

"That Naruto-kun was you being…..what do the young ones call it these days…ah yes, owned." He said and laughed a bit as Naruto grumbled incoherent sentences about stupid old men laughing to much for their own good.

xXxXx-SKU-xXxXx

Author's Notes II: Le done! The suicide part is officially gone. Now, go and read the next chapter. Review people ! :D