And I'm back, yes… this is a new story I'm posting. Now before you ask… yes I'll be updating my other stories. I am close to updating Hybrid's Game, Alternate Plans, and Essence of Chaos. Hybrid's game will most likely be updated first.

This has been one of the main stories I've worked on by the side so I hope you enjoy it. And yes… It's a crossover, despite the fact that I didn't place it into the crossover section. I did this mainly because there will be so many crossovers that choosing any particular one would be impossible. Or… I should say that saying exactly what the main crossover element in the story is would give everything away. There will be a lot of mystery in this fic… and it will be long… so I hope you enjoy!

Additionally… Pairings will be non negotiable. Unlike most of my other stories where I'm perfectly fine adding girls to a harem or some such simply because most reviewers ask for it, this story's pairings will be set in stone from the beginning. I've put a ton of thought into the plot line for this story so please don't give me a bunch of reviews about which girl to add.

Now without further ramblings. On with the story!

(I don't own any part of Naruto or any other anime, books, movies, and or comics included within)

Master of All Things – Part one – Broken Words

Chapter 1: A Bit of Light Reading

Ooo

Ooo

It had been raining for days. The torrential downpour could have easily been attributed to the power of a wrathful god hungry for vengeance. It started out as a light drizzle that came out of nowhere one day. The people of Konoha were pleasantly surprised by the little shower in the height of summer. It was a welcome relief from the scorching heat of an up till then dry year. But the rain didn't stop… and on the second day of the downpour it turned from a light drizzle into what the elders of the village claimed hadn't been seen in decades.

The streets were mud by the end of the third day. Some depressions in the streets became nothing more than lakes. After four days flooding was a real threat and all Shinobi out on missions were recalled to help deal with the minor crisis. The first floors of homes and business were boarded up and sealed by the on hand Genin and Chunin. Jonin were tasked with diverting water elsewhere and out of the village.

On the fifth day the Hokage announced that this was the greatest storm in fifty years. Thunder and lightning lit the sky constantly, seeming to be never ending. The rain had become a real threat to the village, washing the streets away entirely as the hard packed upper layer of the roads were turned to mud and erased. The lowest areas in the village were flooded and only the efforts of Konoha's water users kept places like the Hyuuga clan compound from becoming a lake.

Day six and it was the longest and hardest storm in living memory. The village was flooded up to four feet in most places. Travel for Shinobi was possible but civilians were restricted to moving with the aid of the ninja.

Still the storm worsened. With no end in sight and the waters threatening to undermine the foundations, the Hokage ordered a full rotation of all the ninja in the village. They were to take shifts reclaiming the village from the storm that had taken hold of the streets. Meanwhile the great barrier around the village was activated for the first time since the last Great War.

The rain stopped for the most part. It still required a week to regain the streets, but it was only the beginning. After a further two days the chakra generators keeping the village's defensive barrier up failed. The Third Hokage was forced to reapply them… but making the powerful seals by himself was time consuming.

In the three days it required to remake the seals… the village had flooded again. Outside the village, the forests were unrecognizable.

Civilians and Ninja alike no longer doubted that this was the work of the gods…. Who else could cause the skies to weep for so long? The village seemed to be in agreement. This storm was a message from Kami-sama.

But there was one person in the village that didn't care about the rain. Sitting in his apartment Naruto Uzumaki was unconcerned with the downpour outside. The blond fourteen year old was lying back on his bed, an annoyed expression fixed firmly upon his face. Where the rain caused him no discomfort… the piles upon piles of books in his usually Spartan apartment did.

Blue eyes stared out over his bed at his room… His territory had been invaded when the storm had stated to flood areas of the village. Unfortunately the library was at street level and could not be properly sealed in time. Therefore the council… or whoever was in charge of the library… had decided to relocate all the books to Naruto's apartment complex. This was mainly because the building had three floors and the top two were mostly unused.

He didn't know that of course. What he did know was that all the other rooms in the apartment building were jam packed full of books and… his room had not been spared either. Fully half of his room was filled with tomes on everything from History to Science to Jutsu theory and more.

He hated books. They were plain useless things. From his experience, admittedly limited to the books at academy, they were boring. Admittedly the ones on jutsu were helpful to a ninja like him, but there were still dry and not in the least bit interesting. And he'd been stuck in his apartment with them for the last few days… His now very cramped apartment he would be quick to add if asked. With all of them in stacks to the ceiling… the only free room to move was between his bed, the bathroom, and the door out into the rain. He'd already moved all his ramen into the bathtub since the refrigerator was effectively blocked off.

All in all it sucked.

What made it worse? He had nothing to do. He was a Genin with no water jutsu and no skill in Fuinjutsu. Which meant that he was of absolutely no use to the squads outside dealing with the storm. That annoyed him even more than he was willing to admit.

All he really wanted to do was get out and train. With Sasuke gone from the village he felt like he was wasting his time in a very serious way! Or… fuck that. Who was he kidding? What was he going to do if he went out and managed to train some? He didn't have anyone to teach him. Kakashi had proven that one well enough already. A whole month and he barely even did anything for him. It was always about the stupid Uchiha.

Naruto grimaced and rubbed absently at his chest where, not three weeks before, there had been a smoking hole.

Try "fucking Uchiha". Stupid Uchiha wasn't quite harsh enough to express his feelings for that prick. It didn't matter how much he cared for Sakura or Sasuke. The retard had put a Chidori through his chest, fully intending on killing him. He could go rot in hell for all he cared.

Of course he still intended on bringing Sasuke back… But Sakura never said she wanted her crush back in one piece. He'd drag Sasuke back to the village alright. With two broken legs, two broken arms, and if he could manage it… a dozen broken ribs. Maybe if he was lucky one rib would pierce his cold uncaring heart.

As if…

Naruto huffed again as his thoughts continued to churn. After the incident with Sasuke leaving the village he'd come back mortally wounded. Although that didn't keep him down for long. He recovered in record time and returned to the daily routine… That is he did until the rain started.

And now he was stuck in his apartment, fully cognizant of his own uselessness. He despised the feeling… wanted it to end. Naruto's eyes flicked from one end of the apartment to the other and back again. His eyes narrowed.

Well….

If he didn't have anything else to do, then he would swallow his distaste and do a little light reading to pass the time. He wasn't usually welcome in the library so this was an opportunity that he shouldn't miss. And… if he was honest with himself… his academic scores in school sucked the big one. Maybe he could actually learn something if he spent some time reading…

With a loud, "Fuck it!" Naruto made the Ram handseal and six clones burst into existence. Having given them no orders the clones just looked at him puzzled.

"Oi, boss? What you want?"

"Guys… can't believe I'm saying this but if I don't do something I'm seriously going to die of boredom. We are going to read until the storm blows over."

The clones nodded, still looking at him as if waiting for more.

"And! Since I never do anything fifty percent, were going to read ALL the books in this room before the storm stops."

The six clones shared genuine looks of surprise and distaste. They didn't like the idea of reading any more than he did. But… they were him after all. What could he expect?

"Okay boss… if you say so."

"Good, then start by putting all the books you can in the storage scrolls I got. Once you free up some room I'll make more clones to speed this up." He stood up on the bed, smirking. "Since I figured out you guys give me memories when you die… I've been thinking about all kinds of things to do with it. But since I can't train I'll use you to learn all I can!"

The cloned nodded again in unison. "If you say so boss."

Naruto jerked his head to the numerous books stacked nearly to the ceiling. "Well, get to it! One each of you reads a book I'll disperse you and take a while to absorb all the info and make another clone to replace you."

A second later the clones were in action. Naruto thought for a moment then said. "If you find a book I personally might like, toss it to me."

They didn't respond, but they didn't need to. Naruto leaned back against the wall with arms crossed. In the last month… or more precisely, in the week after he failed to bring Sasuke back, he'd learned a lot. First and foremost he learned that the Kyuubi was a bitch… Okay, maybe not literally a female dog but he really was an ass hole. After nearly dying the Kyuubi had taken him inside his mind to give him a very rare lecture.

It had completely blindsided him. The Kyuubi gave him the dressing down of his life, basically telling him that if he ever wanted to be Hokage he better start to "USE HIS FUCKING HEAD FOR SOMETHING OTHER THAN A BATTERING RAM!" The fox was pissed at him for nearly dying and took the time to tell him just how close he'd come to croaking.

Apparently his body had just finished adjusting to the fox's chakra two days before the fight with Gaara in possession mode. This meant that he had come within a hairs breadth of dying. If he'd fought Sasuke any sooner… the Kyuubi wouldn't have been able to force enough chakra into his body to heal him. So yeah… a seriously close call. So close in fact that it scared the shit out of him and… in a roundabout sort of way… made him wise up.

But that wasn't the only thing that happened. He also discovered the secret of Shadow Clones. Or well… discovered was a bad way to putting it. Hitting his head repeatedly against a wall at his own stupidity and lack of perception was what really happened. It was blatantly obvious the entire time… and he never noticed…

Oh! and he was going to kill Kakashi for not taking the five seconds needed to tell him… lazy ass had it coming.

But that would have to wait until the rain let up. Until then he would have all the time in the world to… read. With that grim proposition running in his mind Naruto dropped onto his rear in bed as his clones started sorting the books into more manageable piles. It took about thirty minutes, but together they completed the task.

When it was done all the books in the room were organized by subject and interest. Subject was a broad definition. The clones only made stacks according to what looked like academics, jutsu, fiction, history, and miscellaneous. "Interest" only referred to books that the clones thought would actually be interesting.

A moment later there were a couple books lying on the bed, the most interesting ones of the bunch. Naruto idly noted how much extra room had been made and frowned. Then a light bulb went off above his head. "Oi! you guys pick out the books you're going to read and then stick yourselves to the ceiling to read… That will double the amount of clones that will fit in this space."

The clones shrugged and each grabbed a book before jumping upwards to land on the ceiling feet first. They stuck there using their chakra, then sat cross-legged to read.

Naruto made the proper handseal again. Nine clones appeared this time. Two grabbed books and went to the ceiling while the rest sat on the floor. A moment later they were all reading… with varying degrees of interest. Naruto sighed and grabbed the first book on the corner of his bed. He opened it and read the dedication.

-This book is dedicated to all my fellow Shinobi who are having trouble with the fairer sex. At the request of my teammate, my sensei, my male comrades, and several people all over the village… here is the "Shinobi's Guide to Women and Other Dangerous Creatures" I hope that it will provide my readers with a good base when dealing with the most deadly beings in our world. Be aware, what you will read here would get me hanged in the street by a mob of angry women… so do be discrete.-

-Orochimaru of Konohagakure-

Naruto lowered the book in shock, his eyes widening in realization. "So… the bastard actually had some good in him after all…?" He shook his head hard and turned his attention back to the book. He turned the page, reading it carefully. While he hated Orochimaru for several (dozen) reasons… if the snake had written a book like this, then he has atoned for at least one of his many crimes. Naruto was willing to forgive Orochimaru summoning a snake to eat him at least… depending on just how useful this book really was… the evil son of a bitch might actually get formal thanks the next time they met.

Naruto turned the page again, slowly becoming absorbed into the book. Orochimaru used a lot of what he would call "big words" and his writing style was difficult to sift through… but what he wrote was… amazing. The guy… twisted as he was… seemed to know what he was talking about.

By god, the snake was on to something.

Ooo

Ooo

Six hours later Naruto dropped the book on the bed side and dropped back onto the bed. His mind was swimming with memories of every interaction he'd ever had with a girl. From bumping into the "Crazy snake lady" to getting on the wrong side of Sakura…

"I was blind but now I see…"

Naruto sat up and shouted to his clones. "Hey, if you find anything written by any of the three Sanin, prioritize it. I think I need to get that assholes autograph before I try to kill him next time. He was a genius!" He got no response from at least half of his clones, but the rest looked up and nodded. Naruto grinned and grabbed the next book from the small stack. It was smaller than Orochimaru's book, practically a journal. He read the title.

-The Compendium of Summoning – A beginner's guide to the summoning animals of the Elemental Nations, by Sakumo Hatake-

Naruto hummed to himself as he started in on the book. Maybe he could learn more about the Toad summons from this? If he could it would be a big help.

Ooo

Ooo

A long while later there were several loud pops and an agonized scream.

A little while after that Naruto came back from the realm of unconsciousness after about thirty books were forcefully shoved into his head in an instant. He sat up shakily and rubbed at his eyes, cursing himself for not thinking about the consequences of dispersing all his clones at the same time. It hurt like hell and made his head spin unpleasantly.

It required a long few minutes before he regained any composure. By that time he was aware of what his clones had picked out to read. The results were in. A full thirty-two books had been read cover to cover in eight hours. All in all he was pleased… except for the brief migraine. Three books on history, two on Geography, one about the clans of Konoha, five on important individuals in the village's past… Then his clones had devoured no less than twelve books detailing jutsu and jutsu theory. Followed by this were three books on math, one on applied chemistry, two on medicine. And all that was topped off with the entirety of Lord Jiraiya of the Sanin's works.

They were, The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi, Icha-Icha Paradise, and Icha-Icha Violence.

And those last two were mainly responsible for the migraine. Naruto groaned as he realized he was blushing furiously and rubbed his hand over his cheeks. Damn that stupid perv… he'd never get those out of his head now. His Shadow Clones would make sure of that. That was one of the main strengths behind the technique… anything they learned was memorized permanently with perfect recall…

"I feel like I just lost my innocence…" He sat for a moment, just looking at the stacks of books with a blank stare. "No… I'm fairly sure I did just lose it."

He would never be able to un-remember two entire smut novels… especially after binge reading a book all about how women think and act. In other words he just fucked himself over without even realizing it. At least he wasn't in the dark about why Kakashi was always giggling during training… He was reading that stuff constantly.

Not to mention the books on math and human anatomy were still throwing random facts into his train of thought every few seconds. Naruto hissed in pain as lances made of pure applied chemistry imbedded themselves in his brain. He lay back on the bed, cringing as the overload of information continued to integrate its self into his long term memory.

An hour or so later he was at last able to stand up and get some much needed food into his belly. He sat on his bed then with half a dozen cups of instant ramen as a new batch of clones started reading again. He decided to leave off doing any reading himself from that point on. He would have more than enough disjointed information to sort through already. He hated math… He hated chemistry… and now he thoroughly despised Geography. Naruto made sure his clones knew from then on to discard any books pertaining to that subject.

Ooo

Ooo

Kakashi Hatake, Jonin sensei of Konoha, smiled as he felt the rain dissipate, going from light sprinkles to nothing more than mist… and finally nothing at all. The great storm was over at last. Three entire weeks of torrential downpour… give or take a few days. It was the longest and most severe storm on record in Konoha… and even before that!

He was simply glad it was over. For the first time in over two weeks he could see the blue sky and clouds that were no longer black and foreboding. In fact… besides the waterlogged village, it would have been a beautiful scene. A rainbow of epic proportions hung over the south side of the village wall, giving the sky a surreal beauty.

Kakashi turned to the rest of his clean up squad. "Alright everyone. You have an hour off while the water settles in the low spots and exits the village. When that's done we meet up by the Akamichi BBQ to start dealing with the standing water."

The three men nodded and jumped off to get some much needed lunch. Kakashi just stood there on the roof, watching the rushing river where the street had been a few weeks before. It was almost disturbing how much water could fall in a week. And for it to continue for so long was unnatural to say the least. But hopefully it was over. Kakashi sighed and reached into his pouch for his Icha-Icha book, only to find his precious book was ruined by water. His visible eye widened in horror as he looked to the back of the volume to see the waterproofing seal had… failed…

Tears welled up in his eyes. This book had been given to him by Jiraiya himself… if was a first edition copy… signed by the perverted Sanin himself. It was beyond price… and now ruined simply because of water… Kakashi stared up at the heavens cursing them for destroying something so precious to him! Didn't the gods now? Icha-Icha was how he coped with all the mistakes he'd made?! This book had been his friend and companion for years! The dog-eared pages and worn cover were symbols of his love for it! It declared to all who saw it just how much he enjoyed reading it, even the dialogue and action scenes!

But… he could not cry. He was a Jonin and that was not acceptable. The only thing for it was to get another book… and take care of it far better than this one. He would make his next collection of Icha-icha damn near indestructible!

With that purpose firmly in mind Kakashi jumped off in the direction of Naruto's apartment. He knew that the Civilian council had decided to use his apartment complex as the storage place for the local library's books. And the boy could use Shadow Clones better than anyone he'd ever met. He could find him the first two books in the series in no time!

Kakashi arrived at Naruto's apartment five minutes later. He walked up to the door, already preparing suitable excuses to help the boy find what he wanted. After all, Naruto knew what Icha-Icha was… even if he had yet to experience the true joys of it. He personally didn't need Naruto getting on his case about reading erotic literature. The other Jonin had that right… His cute little students didn't.

Kakashi fixed his best eye-smile on as he raised his hand to knock on the door.

He knocked again.

And again…

The Jonin frowned and prepared to pound the door hard when it suddenly opened. Standing in the doorway, looking up at him, was Naruto… Or at least one of his clones. Kakashi looked into the room, somewhat shocked by what he saw.

There were at least thirty clones in the room. Half of which were adhering to the walls and ceiling. The rest sat on the floor or leaned against large stacks of books. All of them were reading. Kakashi's gaze settled on Naruto's bed where the blond was reclining back against the wall. In one hand was a book. In the other were a pair of chopsticks. And in his lap was a cup of instant ramen. As Kakashi watched the blond used one finger to flip the page while taking another careful bite of ramen… as not to spill the precious substance.

Meanwhile his eyes were keenly focused on the book in hand. Kakashi's scanned the title from the doorway, his eyes widening even further.

-A Treatise on Survival; Fangirls, Fanboys, and other Vicious Beasts'

-Minato Namikaze-

Kakashi watched as one of the clones suddenly popped. Naruto flinched like a kunai had imbedded itself by his ear and he closed his eyes for a moment. Then he shook his head and turned the page again.

"Hellooo? Earth to Sensei?"

He snapped out of his daze and looked down at Naruto's clone. "Oh, sorry about that. I just knew that the library had put its books in this apartment complex and there was one in particular I needed. By the way… if you haven't noticed… the rain stopped."

The clone nodded. "We knew. But we're kind of busy. We already read all the books in this room and we finished half the books in the apartment over. Boss just found one written by the Fourth Hokage too…" He tilted his head. "Anyway… what did you need? I could probably get you whichever book you need as long as it isn't one on Geography or Physics… We've been discarding most of those out of hand."

Kakashi blinked. "You sound a bit different. Something happen while you were stuck in here?... besides reading more books than most people read in a lifetime?"

"Well we read a dictionary yesterday and found out that our vocabulary was lacking. So boss prioritized literature so he doesn't sound like a moron all the time. And plus it makes reading all the other technical works much easier." The clone smiled. "Anyway… what book did you need?"

"I uh…"

"Let me guess… Icha-Icha Paradise or Icha-Icha Violence?"

Kakashi started to sweat. "You…"

"Read them? Yeah. It was boss's fault though. He didn't realize that they would be in the stacks here so he didn't advise us not to read them."

"I see." The jonin glanced around the room. "So you have already read all of these books?"

The clone shook his head. "No, these are from the other room. All the books we read we put in storage scrolls and then moved them to where these books originally were in the room over." He squinted at Kakashi with a suspicious look. "So… what book were you looking for?"

"I uh… -sigh- …You got me. Get me the Icha-Icha books."

"Knew it… perv."

"Hey, you've read them too now. And with Shadow clones you can probably recite the entire thing word for word. I should tell Jiraiya you memorized his books… He'd be so proud."

"Sensei."

"Hm?"

"If you breathe a word of that to Pervy Sage, Boss will steal Kurenai Sensei's panties and hide them in your house… and then frame you for it."

Kakashi cringed within the confines of his own mind, but crossed his arms as if unimpressed. "Okay Naruto… If you want to play hard ball, so can I. You should know that just because I wasn't a prankster, doesn't mean I can't do it like the best."

"Oh… you think you can even hold a candle to Boss Kakashi-sensei? Maybe he should tell Bushier Brows-sensei that you wear a green jumpsuit behind closed doors and shout about youth when no one is around to hear you." The clone grinned wickedly. "Do you really want to make war on the Boss? I'm sure he's more than up to the challenge after being stuck in here for three weeks with nothing to do but think up new pranks and read."

Deciding a tactical retreat would be best, Kakashi eye-smiled again and put his hand to the back of his head nervously. "Now, let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. I'm sure we can come to some arrangement."

"Like I thought." The clone smirked and popped.

A second later Naruto, the original that is, looked up. Kakashi waived to him and put his hands together in a slightly pleading gesture. The blond boy in the orange jumpsuit shrugged and made two clones. The first one darted out of the room past Kakashi, while the other one grabbed a book from the pile, scanned the cover, and sat down in an empty spot to read.

Kakashi entered the room carefully, keeping his head low to avoid the clones stuck to the ceiling. "So Naruto, how are things going. I see you took an interest to reading while you had the opportunity."

Naruto glanced away from his book. "I guess. Some books are better than others. I never knew so many people from Konoha wrote books. It's like everyone has a book lying around somewhere. I've found books written by all three of the Sanin, three written by Jiji, and this one… written by The Fourth. It's pretty awesome. Hey, sensei, did you know that the Uzumaki are a real clan?!"

He froze. Naruto was peering up at him with a blatantly curious expression… but he was a master of looking underneath the underneath. And there was a certain subtle… something in Naruto's eyes. As if he was testing him. "Actually I did."

"Then… why didn't you tell me I was from a real clan?"

Kakashi chuckled, his uneasiness never entering his voice. "Well, you see I never really thought about it. I never really thought of you as an Uzumaki."

A flicker of disappointment entered Naruto's eyes and Kakashi had to force himself not to wince. He knew that look. It wasn't betrayal exactly. But the look of someone who knew he was just lied to. The blond's gaze dropped. "Oh well… I guess that's fine."

"Shit." Kakashi glanced around the room, wondering what he could do to quickly make it up to Naruto. That was when he noticed the clone in the corner of the room reading a book on Elemental manipulation. "Hey Naruto… what do you know about using the Elements?"

He blinked, confused. "Um… I know that Elemental Manipulation is the cornerstone of Ninjutsu. There are five elements, each one being weaker to another and stronger to a second. There's fire, water, earth, wind, and lighting. Fire beats wind. Wind beats lightning. Lightning beats earth. Earth beats water. Water beats fire."

Naruto frowned for a moment. "You use lightning and fire jutsu for the most part sensei… but because of the Sharingan you can copy jutsu of any elemental affinity you can use… which means you can also use the other three elements like you used water in the Land of Waves." Naruto seemed puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

Kakashi stood there dumbstruck for a few moments before he at last got a hold of himself. The change in Naruto's attitude and knowledge was astounding… After just a few weeks he'd memorized concepts that would normally have been inimical to him. The Naruto he remembered would have probably had a hard time even remembering which elements were good against which. Now he could recite them all in order.

Truly this storm seemed to have had at least one benefit.

"-ahem- Naruto… I would be willing to help you find and train your elemental affinity. It's something I happen to have a lot of experience with. Before the Chunin exams I helped Sasuke find his. I'd like to do the same for you."

Naruto frowned and then reached under his bed for a moment, fumbling for something. Then he leaned back, bringing a book with him. Kakashi immediately recognized it. The book was titled The Fall. It was a history of Uzushiogakure written by the last known Uzumaki, Kushina… Naruto's mother. "What? How is that even here? Did the restricted portion of the library somehow find its self into his apartment as well?!"

"This here…" Naruto said, weighing the book with one hand. "…is an account of how Uzushiogakure was destroyed by the alliance of Kumo, Iwa, and Kiri about fifty years ago. But it talks about the clan its self a lot. It says that Uzumaki are born with one or two of three elements; water, wind, or lightning. Although it says that Uzumaki are usually born with two elemental affinities. One from the father and one from the mother. It's actually rare for an Uzumaki to be born with just one affinity." Naruto's eyebrows drew together. "And the clan is supposed to have a lot of powers that are borderline Kekkei Genkai…"

"I knew that… But what does that have to do with anything?"

"One of my clones read a book about elemental manipulation for beginners. And it showed how people discovered their affinities back in the old days before chakra paper was available." Naruto pointed to himself. "It showed a way to channel me chakra into the air around me. Supposedly if you do it right then your chakra manifests in intricate patterns. I referred back to the book constantly for three hours until I was sure. I know I have Wind affinity… and I'm pretty sure I have a Lightning affinity."

Kakashi found himself amazed again. "Just how much has he learned all this time? Has he been reading and learning from an entire library worth of information on every conceivable subject for the last three weeks?! If he has then… it might take months to sort through everything he'd learned." He mentally cried for the good old days when Naruto was easy to manipulate. Now he'd actually have to give the blond 100% or be left behind.

That is… if Naruto was anything like his father.

"So Sensei… I'm pretty sure I know my affinities, but I suppose it would be more precise to get it tested the usual way. Do you have the time to help me?"

"Of course." Kakashi smiled behind his mask. "Not really. The village is going to be in a state of disrepair for weeks until dirt and gravel can be shipped in to fill the riverbeds that were once streets… all of the barricades and such need to be removed and flooded street level buildings need cleaned… But I suppose I can use my legendary reputation to give Naruto a hand for a while. Yep… those black cats are everywhere… constantly making me take the long way around."

"Cool, so… I'm just going to leave my clones here. I'll come with though." A second later Kakashi found two books deposited in his hands by the clone from before. He saw Naruto hand the book written by the Fourth to the clone as he put on his forehead protector. "Come on Sensei. Let's go."

Kakashi slipped the two small books into his side pouch. "Okay Naruto… don't get ahead of yourself. We'll need to stop by Hokage's tower for the Chakra paper. Most of the equipment from the ninja stores ended up being stored there. And we can pop in to see the Hokage while we're at it. I'm sure he'll want to know about your affinities."

"I guess." Naruto shrugged and they both left.

A few minutes later they were entering Hokage's tower through a window. The grounds outside were still filled knee deep with water. Afterwards they headed down the hall and into the second floor lobby. Naruto glanced around at the piles and piles of stuff crowding every corner of the building. It seemed as though the tower was almost as crowded as his own room. Which was certainly saying something.

Kakashi led him to the third floor and over to the Hokage's office past a few Chunin who seemed to be looking over a map of the village. Naruto scowled inwardly as the secretary looked up from her small desk. She in turn scowled back, muttering something under her breath about good for nothing Jonin and the creatures they taught. Kakashi tensed at that last part, his fists clenching even as they stopped in front of her.

"I'm here to get Naruto's affinity tested. I'd like to know where the chakra paper from the ninja supply store is kept."

She glanced between them, almost seeming to think about refusing. But in the end she decided to tell them. "Down the stairs in room 2-14. Only take what you need Hatake."

"Will do." Kakashi grumbled and turned away, walking back down the stairs to the second floor and taking a left. Naruto followed after him. his mind was lost… darting constantly between what was happening in that moment and what he'd learned in the past two days.

Since he started reading and having his clones study on mass for him… he'd improved himself more than he'd ever imagined. His vocabulary was no longer limited to what a ten year old might know. He no longer went looking for conflict… as he demonstrated when he tried to get a feel for Kakashi earlier. Even the Fox had commented on the rapid change, saying that, "Well… brat you have a functioning brain after all… amazing. And you acquired that man's penchant for study. It seems you aren't a useless meat bag as I originally believed."

It wasn't exactly the best compliment he'd ever received, but it wasn't the worst either. And the very fact that the Kyuubi chose to comment at all proved how far he had come in such a short time. Naruto personally thought that he had always had the potential to do this… to change from an immature kid into an intelligent young ninja… It just wasn't going to happen without that little extra push. The storm was that push.

Without it the books would have never been stored in his apartment building. And without that he would have never become interested in reading or researching the myriad subjects available to him.

Hell… he managed to improve himself immensely just having one of his clones read a dictionary. It tripled his vocabulary in six hours! Then Orochimaru's book… Now that was something that would stay with him for the rest of his life. As twisted as the man himself was, he had a far better understanding of women in general than anyone he knew. Certainly Pervy Sage had no clue… While he himself didn't understand why women acted the way they did, the book gave him guidelines to figure out the cause and effect.

He even read an entire book on Fuinjutsu… which also happened to be written by Minato Namikaze. There was a book he might just have to reread, clones or not.

All of it was a… eureka kind of moment for him. It was all here, he just had to read it and sort through what he learned. Not all of it would be correct and some of it would certainly be opposite to the truth… but it was a start. He couldn't honestly say he wasn't still ignorant, but he could easily claim that he was working his way out.

Naruto frowned, thinking back to the book, The Fall. It made his blood boil just thinking about it… but he'd read a book about controlling one's emotions and never letting others know what you felt inside. While he didn't like the premise of the book, which was to deceive others, he felt that the skill its self would be invaluable. Besides, he put on a fake smile all the time… and no one seemed to notice.

Why couldn't he be calm and collected on the outside and furious on the inside? It would be excellent practice and allow him to get what he wanted easier. After all… how many people would tell anything to a pissed off fourteen year old? If he wanted to discover the information he felt he needed to know, he would have to be calm… and he would have to be collected.

He forced the frown from his face, replacing it with a neutral expression. If was hard… and it didn't feel right, but he needed to stop wearing his emotions out on his sleeve all the time. Otherwise people would find it too easy to take advantage of him. People like the Third Hokage and Kakashi…

Yes… he knew about them and their secrets alright. Once he read the entirety of The Fall he learned about Kushina Uzuamki. She was the last official Uzumaki alive only twenty years ago. She was the sister to the Uzumaki clan heir and therefore… the princess of Uzushiogakure. When she was little she was sent away to Konoha to be the container for the Kyuubi… and shortly after that the entire village of Uzu was destroyed. Her last name was Uzumaki. His last name was Uzumaki.

It was easy to put two and two together.

Even for the less than observant idiot he'd been a weeks ago… it would have been a piece of cake. Kushina Uzumaki was his mother. He had no doubt about it… and it would account for so many things in his life that had gone unexplained. For instance… why he was made the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. If what he read was true, there was only one clan capable of having such a beast sealed inside them. His mother was the last Uzumaki… and now he was the last. He literally was the only one who could be used.

It certainly helped put things in perspective. His parents hadn't hated him. They'd had no other choice! It was either him or the whole village… And it was clear from how Kushina wrote that she cared deeply for Konoha. She couldn't let thousands die just because she wanted her own son to live a happy and fulfilling life.

And he respected her for that decision. He really did. He just wished she could have survived.

But that wasn't all of it. Not by a long shot.

His clone had been surprised… after starting to read Pervy Sage's first book. It wasn't smut at all. and point in fact the name of the first character was Naruto… apparently named because of an incident in Jiraiya's life that got him his first kiss. Naruto… that was his name… and a fairly uncommon one. For instance he knew two people named Sakura. And there were lots of people named Kiba in the village, although most were civilians. It was a popular name after all. But he'd only ever known of one Naruto and that was him.

It was also known to him that Jiraiya of the Sanin trained the Fourth Hokage. And it seemed like a big coincidence that his name would be Naruto… the same as the main character in Pervy Sage's first and only non-smut novel.

His Jiji, the Third Hokage had told him that his parents were heroes who died during the Kyuubi attack… His mother certainly had died… probably when the Kyuubi was being released from her. He didn't know much about the Biju, but he knew now that having one extracted from you was almost guaranteed to be lethal. But his question now was… who was his father?

The possible answer to that had come like a bolt of lightning to the face. One of his clones… who just happened to be reading a book about politics and the structure of the first Hidden villages… popped. And one of the first facts that jumped into his head was this. "Jinchuriki, as the most destructive weapons a village can possess, are inherently a risk to the village its self. In order to retain control of the Biju they held, Jirchuriki were often made of the Kage's direct family… or adopted into the family at an early age…"

The answer seemed so clear. Minato Namikaze died the same day he sealed the Kyuubi inside him… at the cost of his own life. He was of course the Fourth Hokage and most likely related to Kushina Uzumaki in some way… But he had no other family. As it was well known, the Namikaze clan was all but extinct. So… if the Hokage was close to Kushina Uzumaki, his mother… how were they connected?

Well… Mito Uzumaki was the first container of the Kyuubi… and she was married to Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. Was it so far a leap to think that Minato Namikaze might have married Kushina Uzumaki?

It would explain why he himself looked nothing like an Uzumaki… and yet had the name. From The Fall he knew that Uzumaki had pale skin and red hair of varying shades. But he was tanned with bright spiky blond hair.

…. Just like the Fourth Hokage.

When he'd first come to this conclusion he'd laughed himself silly, thinking how stupid and desperate he was… and how comical it was that he managed to convince himself he was the son of the Fourth Hokage. But… then he'd gone back to the book written by Minato Namikaze and compared the picture to his own face in his bathroom mirror.

Then it was obvious… He looked like a carbon copy of the guy… except his face was a bit rounder. Their eyes, hair, and skin were all the same.

So… what did that mean for him? If he was the son of the Fourth Hokage and the last Uzumaki, who just so happened to be the previous container for the Kyuubi…

Well for starters it meant he was royalty above and beyond even Sasuke. Not that it mattered to him if he was or not, but the fact that he was equivalent to a prince and yet lived in a tiny rundown apartment annoyed him. That wasn't even counting the fact that the villager's still over charged him in civilian stores. Shinobi of the Konoha trusted him now… especially after saving the village from the Shukaku.

If he was the son of the last Uzumaki and the last Namikaze… it meant that he probably… No, certainly had a massive inheritance. And even a fraction of it could probably have him living in a decent apartment in a better district of the village… probably with anything else he wanted. He was sure of it. As the heir to two of the greatest clans in history and the Fourth Hokage's son… there would have to be something wrong for him not to have a huge inheritance.

So… why did he live in a rundown apartment in the first place?

The answer to that was simple. He didn't know about any of this before.

Naruto's mind came to a screeching halt as he realized something. All the checks that Jiji had sent him over the years… That was probably all his money anyway! He was probably living off a very small fraction of his inheritance this very moment!

As Naruto walked behind his sensei through Hokage's tower he felt the vein on his forehead begin to throb slowly.

The nerve of him.

That old bastard had him thinking for the last eight years that all the checks he sent were out of his own pocket! As if! That penny pinching jerk probably had full control over his inheritance. It wasn't out of generosity! He was probably giving him the money that would be coming to him anyway!

Naruto fumed silently. Going through his mind was the whole section on Jinchuriki in that book on politics. That's right… the old man wanted him loyal to the village. And what better way to encourage loyalty from a helpless orphan than to give him the money he depended on to survive? What was he supposed to say to that? If he ever found a reason to want to leave the village the old man could use it against him! He'd say, "Naruto-kun… after all I've done to help and support you… even going against the council to sent you money… you're going to leave the village?"

His teeth ground together at the thought.

The FUCKING old man had some explaining to do. And if he didn't like the answers he got, he was going straight to Shikamaru. The lazy Nara was just like his description… lazy to a fault. But when it came to his friends Shikamaru pulled out all the stops. Shikamaru would come up with a way to get the information to the right people and he could devise a plan to get his inheritance. Hell! Maybe… since he knew Shikamaru's dad had nothing against him, just like Choji and Ino's parents… maybe he could get the elder Nara to help as well…

But first…

"Kakashi-sensei."

The silver haired Jonin didn't stop walking but asked, "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto looked right at the back of Kakashi's head and went for the kill. "Why didn't you tell me you knew my parents?"

Kakashi stopped dead, his body suddenly rigid. A few seconds ticked by and he suddenly swiveled on his heel, one eye looking down at Naruto in shock. "How did you…?"

"It doesn't matter how I know sensei, but if you must know… it was because I'm smart enough to connect the dots when they're thrown in my face. If I decide I don't hate you when you're done answering me then I might tell you exactly how I found out."

"Naruto… I'm sorry.."

Looking up at Kakashi with a deadpan expression Naruto muttered, "Nice start kiss ass."

Kakashi blinked and unfroze. His shoulder dropped and he sighed. "Listen to you… for a second there I thought I was speaking to your father… and then suddenly your mother pops in." He pulled a hand through his hair muttering to himself about something under his breath. "Let me put it this way Naruto. The Fourth put down a few things in his last will. And let's say that some people might have ignored or deliberately misinterpreted them. The reason I haven't told you… is because I was afraid to."

"Why?"

"Because I might not have been able to stay as your sensei." Kakashi said honestly. "I tried to adopt you Naruto… over fifty times. And there are others too. Tsume Inuzuka… she's still trying, but Lord Third won't allow it. Lord Third told me that I couldn't adopt you, but that if I was so keen on being there that I could be your sensei… under the condition that I focused on Sasuke, who would be training under me because we both have the Sharingan."

Naruto's expression fell. He couldn't sense any outright lies from Kakashi. Which meant… "So Jiji really has been responsible for all of this… He's the reason why I didn't even know who my parents were a week ago…"

"Naruto… it's not as simple as that."

"Then how is it!? Explain that to me Kakashi!"

Kakashi silenced him with a look, his expression grave. "Listen to me and keep your voice down." The Jonin grabbed his hand and whisked him down the hall to the room they'd been looking for. The Jonin quickly opened the door and pushed him into the room, following a second later.

"Tell… me.. now…" Naruto hissed.

"You're dangerous Naruto." Kakashi spoke bluntly despite the look of anger on his student's face. "You are a Jinchuriki who could possibly release the Kyuubi at any time. You're seal is based off your emotional stability. The stronger your will is the stronger the seal will be. But if something ever happened and you lost your will to live… or you felt you were betrayed by someone… the Kyuubi could get free. And there is no one in this village capable of stopping it if that happens."

The older man knelt down by Naruto. "Listen Minato was my sensei. He, along with one of my teammates, made me who I am today. But regardless of how I feel about you Naruto, you are still you. You are going to be the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi for the rest of your life. And the Hokage had to make sure that you… who could be the most powerful Shinobi in the world someday… would remain on our side."

Naruto eyed Kakashi, his anger unyielding. "Then why keep me in the dark? Why would you not tell me who my parents were?! Why after all that's happened?!"

"Because Naruto… things got out of control. Lord Third was planning on making you a Chunin after the exams and telling you then, but he saw you use the Kyuubi's chakra. It scared him more than he's willing to admit. He thought that if you released the demon's chakra in a simple tournament match… that the seal must be coming undone. He probably assumed that telling you about your parents was too much of a risk."

"A risk…" Naruto's growled. "A risk because I might lose control and release the Kyuubi in anger?"

Kakashi nodded sadly. "Yes…"

"And you wanted to tell me?"

"Very much so." He smiled as best he could with only one eye showing. "After all, you're almost like a nephew to me. If your parents had lived I'd probably be your lazy uncle Hatake that Kushina would beat for reading Icha-icha around you."

"So…" Naruto looked down at his feet in thought. "Now that I know can I confront Jiji about it? I mean, if I know the secret what is the point? Could I move out of that dingy little apartment and into a halfway decent home…? Just little things like that. I'm not expecting him to go and announce my heritage to the whole village."

"Nor would he. You're parents both had enemies. Despite how it looks the village has only just recovered to the strength we were before the Kyuubi attack. Kumo is regrettably the strongest village and they'd probably go after you if they found out the Fourth had a son. They tried to kidnap your mother when she was about your age you know."

Naruto grimaced. "I know alright."

"Then you understand that revealing your heritage isn't advisable for quite some time. I personally wouldn't do it until you were a Jonin… or later. You have to remember that Iwa still despises your father and by extension you."

"Well I never said I would do that!" His scowl deepened. "I wasn't asking about telling the village. I specifically asked about telling Jiji!"

Kakashi sighed. "I don't see a problem with it. Just don't harass him to release you inheritance. The fact is that both your parents were rich, but getting the money would require you taking up the mantle of the Uzumaki clan in the very least. Right now you are only "officially" an Uzumaki by name. Those clan funds won't be available until your status as a clan member is released.

"And why is that a problem?" Naruto crossed his arms. "Everyone already knows me as Naruto "Uzumaki". What is the issue with coming out and calling myself the exact same thing?"

"I…"

"And besides that! If I'm the only freaking Uzumaki in Konoha and my mom had enemies or something… what's the point then? I'm still tagged as an Uzumaki either way!"

The Jonin blinked and groaned as he realized the truth behind that. "I guess you're right about that much. Now… how about this. We will go up and talk to Lord Third after we get your elemental affinities tested. We can work out what to do from there." Kakashi frowned thoughtfully. "But come to think about it, he'll be stepping down as Hokage soon."

Naruto shrugged. "Already knew that. Granny Tsunade is gonna be the next Hokage. Damn old woman. I was supposed to be the next Hokage."

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Don't let Lady Tsunade hear you say that…"

"As if I care! Jiraiya might be a perv, but as least he doesn't transform himself to make him look like he's twenty!"

"True…" Kakashi allowed. "But I still wouldn't say it to her face."

"Too late for that. Already told her when we met the first time."

Kakashi paled. "Okay… I wouldn't advise doing it again though. Lady Tsunade is not one who is known for her patience." He shivered at that thought. She certainly didn't have any patience with him. Before all this rain started she'd told him that if he intended to continue reading smut on the job she would roast him alive over a pile of burning Icha-icha. "Anyway… let's get that chakra paper."

Naruto didn't answer as Kakashi started looking through the stacks of equipment looking for it. He simply stood back to watch his sensei. He didn't know what to think about Kakashi's claim that he tried to adopt him. It wasn't a lie… exactly… but there was just something not right. If Kakashi really cared about him that much would he have disobeyed Lord Third and done what he wanted? Or was this part of being a real Jonin of the village?

"Ah! Found it."

Naruto looked up. "That was quick sensei."

"Not everything takes a long time Naruto." Kakashi turned away from the stacks of the equipment with two pieces of paper in hand. He gestured to himself and began speaking.

"As you said earlier I use mostly Lighting and Fire jutsu, but I don't have an affinity for fire. My only affinity is lightning." He held the first piece of chakra paper between his fingers and channeled his chakra. The paper immediately crinkled. "And since my affinity is lightning the paper crumples. If it's fire it will turn black and burst into flame. If it's water the paper will become wet. Earth will cause it to harden and turn to dust. And wind will cause the paper to be cut."

Naruto took the other piece of paper. "So just push my chakra into this and it will tell me my affinity?"

"Pretty much. The Aburame clan harvests this paper from special trees here in Konoha. It reacts very strongly to chakra unlike most substances."

"Okay…" Naruto held the paper between his thumb and forefinger. "Here goes nothing."

They both watched as Naruto channeled his chakra.

That was when something odd happened. The paper in Naruto's fingers turned a brilliant gold, crinkled, and then fell apart in little yellow flakes. Naruto just looked at the paper flakes fluttered down to the floor dumbly. He opened his fingers and a few more of them fell.

He looked up at Kakashi. "Um… I'm taking a wild guess that means something different from normal…"

Kakashi nodded. "You could say that."

"So… what's my affinity?"

"Um… I have no idea."

Naruto bent down and picked a few golden flakes up. "This wasn't supposed to happen was it?"

"No it was not." Kakashi frowned and bent down as well. "But… I know someone who will probably know. Let's get a couple of these and go talk to Lord Third. He's not called to Professor for nothing."

"I guess…."

Ooo

Ooo

And that's the end of the first chapter. So just so everyone knows I plan on making this a trilogy of sorts. The story with have a pretty slow start, leading up to the first real crossover element, which may come around chapter six. Until then I hope you enjoy having a better educated Naruto to read about!

Now… on to other things. I have a Poll up for a Naruto/To love Ru crossover I've been working on for a while. Please check it out if you're interested!

And last of all remember to review!