I do not own Naruto. This is a Mina/Naru story. NOT INCEST. You'll see why in future chapters.

Hidden Leaf Village

The sun was setting on a beautiful city known as the Hidden Leaf Village. It was near the end of the summer season as the heat had lowered with autumn approaching. A man with blonde spikey hair sat atop of the Hokage Monument where the previous and current Hokages faces were carved into the mountain side that overlooked the Leaf Village.

The man stared at the sunset then closed his bright blue eyes breathing in the sweet air. It smelled of nature: grass, pine, flowers, and overall fresh. A smile, a small one, crept on the tan face of the man as he began to get lost in the memories.

'The memories' he thought. He then cracked his eyes open to look down upon the Leaf Village; Once again seeing its beauty. People we walking through the streets with their family and friends, kids ran around at the park with no worry, and even ninja were relaxed but overall still on guard.

The man's eyes then transfixed themselves by a lake that was nearby. By this particular lake a woman had presented a ring to another woman that was right beside her. The latter then held her hands to mouth in shock then seconds later hugged the former with excitement and affection.

'It's not every day that you witness a proposal' thought the man as he smiled wider.

'I almost forgot why I came up here.' The spikey blonde hair man then brought his hand down to his pocket where a book was kept and brought it out followed by a pen.

Jumping the fence that was to prevent anyone from falling off the Hokage Monument the man sat down on one of the Hokages heads.

He flipped through the fresh pages that were blank without a spot of ink even on the hardcover of the book. Click as the pen was then opened up and had found the tip on the cover of the book.

However, this pen didn't move an inch as it wavered but being dared to be moved to name a story that most wouldn't expect.

Deciding against his better judgement to give the book a title the blonde haired man then open to first blank page began to write.

Hidden Stone Village

A man with a dragon mask ran quickly through the Stone Village maneuvering past people towards the Tsuchikages Office. The village's infrastructure was brilliant yet complicated as it was built from much of the surrounding rock and stone, shaped into tower-like structures that were inter-connected by a network of bridges. Getting lost was easy if you weren't paying attention to where you were going.

"Hey, watch it!" shouted a villager as the dragon masked man jumped over multiple citizens and onto the rooftop as he rushed towards his leaders office.

Quickly bursting through the buildings doors and rushing up the stairs to the Tsuchikages office he then knocked on the doors ever so politely.

A gruff and elderly voice then spoke "Come in" and doing as told the man walked in as professional as possible. The Tsuchikages office was the shape of hexagon with two shelves between a large window that overlooked the village. A couch was against the wall to the left with a coffee table in front of it. A desk made of dark oak wood sat in front of the large window with an old man reading a scroll with a face that was deep in concentration.

The Tsuchikage, Onoki, was a very short, old man with a triangular beard and a moustache that has angular corners, a big red nose and thick eyebrows. The top of his head was completely bald, although, he has long white hair on the lower-half of his head which was styled in a traditional chonmage haircut, the back of which was tied with a yellow ribbon into a topknot. He wore a green and yellow coat with a red collar. Underneath he also wore the traditional Iwagakure outfit consistent of a light green version of Iwagakure's flak jacket and mesh armor.

"What news do you bring, Naruto?" asked Onoki as he looked up putting the scroll down.

Taking off his mask the newly named Naruto began to speak, "More border crossings Lord Tsuchikage, the Leaf doesn't seem to understand our agreement upon keeping off one another's land. Tensions are high enough as it is."

Naruto Uzumaki, a man with mild blonde spikey hair and dazzling blue eyes, his face was sharp but still held some baby fat. There were three very faint lines across each cheek but couldn't be seen very well unless very close. He was adorned with one sleeved red outfit like standard Iwa ninja with black ninja pants with a pouch attached to the right leg as well as traditional open-toed black sandals.

"Is there any sight of him?" asked the third Tsuchikage folding his arms leaning backwards in his chair.

"There was no sight of him, I think they were just rumors" said Naruto looking into one of the most powerful ninjas eyes.

The old kage looked back at the scroll that had laid stretched across his desk and said "We cannot afford to go to war with the Leaf Village" Onoki then sighed "It is strictly one of things that will not only ruin us but the other major villages as well."

Naruto nodded as he could understand that not only would there be physical destruction but also depression, unstable economics, and ultimately the number of those who would perish.

"Naruto, I wouldn't ask you to do this if things were not in such high tensions with the Leaf Village, understand that this mission that will be given to you has no malicious intent and is only meant to better the ties between the Leaf and ourselves" explained Onoki with a solemn face.

"You, Naruto Uzumaki, are hereby assigned with Minato Namikaze of the Leaf Village to be sent to track and eliminate ex-ninja Gari" stated the Tsuchikage.

Naruto fidgeted slightly when hearing Minatos and Gari's name which was noticed by the Tsuchikage as he then signed once again and began to explain.

"You need to understand that the Hokage and I have come to this agreement because it appears that our villages will be at war in no time if nothing is changed. Eliminating Gari by Minato and yourself means we can come together and bring unity to our two villages" explained Onoki "Once the Stone hears that an enemy as great as Minato has helped us and vice versa for you and the Leaf… I think that it will be no better way to bring forward peace."

Naruto looked at the ground with annoyance then back at the Tsuchikage, "If this is your will… then it will be done…" Naruto then bowed.

"I shall give you a day's worth of rest before meeting him" said the older man as he turned away from the blonde looking out the window.

Surveying his beloved village he added "And please Naruto have faith."

But as Onoki turned around one of his most prized warriors was gone.

'I hope we have made the right choice Hiruzen' thought the Tsuchikage as he then began to get back to paper work.

Undisclosed Training Ground

Naruto kicked a wooden cross made out of logs over and over at the training ground. 'Why me' thought the blonde as he struck the wood repeatedly in a swift kick to the neck region.

'You would think after everything I have done this would have never happened, being paired up with that man' Naruto thought as he then grits his teeth as he kicked the cross with such velocity and force that it shattered the head region.

Creating hand signs Naruto then turned around to another wooden cross "Wind Style Vacuum Sphere" then breathing in deep and feet planted firm he blew hard as a couple of small cylinders of wind were shot at the cross. The wooden cross then blew apart into chunks of wood as Naruto then walked towards another one.

"You would think that you would be resting on the day before your mission, Naruto" said a gruff voice of a young man. His name was Kitsuchi a very tall and brawny ninja. He had dark eyes and short dark-grey-coloured hair as well as a bulbous nose. He wore the standard Iwagakure ninja uniform with a left sleeve and a right lapel. He also wore the forehead protector of Iwa in a bandanna style.

"Yeah, well, might as well be these wooden logs than Minato himself" said Naruto as he stopped to look at the other man.

Kitsuchi then sighed and began to speak "Naruto, that mission, the day you- we met… him… we both made mistakes that day."

The Uzumaki stopped in his tracks as he himself remember what had happened that day.

Flashback

A group of Stone ninja were running across a plain of grass coming home from a mission. They were battered and beaten but holding their stamina as they just finished the mission of killing bandits from terrorizing small towns.

The head of the group Naruto adorned with his dragon mask stopped abruptly holding up his hand effectively stopping the whole group. It was too… quiet.

A soft wind brushed across the plain then so very faintly a group of Leaf ninja then presented themselves as they rose from the field holding all types of weapons in defense position. In response the Stone ninja also drew out their weapons: swords, kunai, and shuriken.

The leader of the Leaf ninja was none other than Minato Namikaze and his face was cold and calculating planning multiple outcomes of the situation before him.

"You have crossed the border, please go back to where you came from" he said standing tall pointing a kunai straight at Naruto.

Naruto said nothing at first then drew out a short sword in response and replied "We were hired for a mission in the Land of Lightning and we are returning home. We can no longer travel between lands without being attacked by multiple ninja"

Minato eyes softened in the briefest moment but hardened as he couldn't risk a surprise attack. "Please, understand our situation" said Naruto as he noticed that some of his own men were shaking out of fear; some with injuries and others none.

"We are low on food, water, and energy we are not prepared for another fight" he said. He then slowly moving into a defense position with his feet planted, knees bent, and his short sword in front of his chest.

"As terrible as your situation is I cannot risk you attacking anyone or anything in the Land of Fire" Minato stated with a tinge of pity as he could see that the group of ninja from the Stone were in no shape for battle.

"We will undoubtedly protect you from here until we reach the closest border but that's as far as I can assist you" Minato stated trying to come to a resolution but it was useless as the air was filled with tension between the two groups.

Naruto glared at the group of Leaf ninja through his mask.

"I, Naruto Uzumaki, will not allow you to do this, we ask for safe passage but you instead offer protective custody to the closest land where they will pick us off one by one" Naruto said calmly putting his hand behind his back and flashing signs to his men on what their task is.

"Captain…" said Kitsuchi quietly shocked in what the captain had told them to do.

"You need to-" Minato began but was interrupted with smoke clouds billowing around the group of Stone ninja.

Just as quickly as the smoke erupted had the ninja then jumped out towards Minatos team with Naruto in the lead aiming his sword at the Namikaze.

The ninja of both villages began to fight hard but never aimed to kill as they tried to disarm each other.

Clang went Narutos sword and Minatos kunai as they both forced their weapons against one another sparks flying.

"I would've thought you would be more compassionate" growled Naruto as he then lifted his left leg with a quick strike to Minatos side sending him flying backwards across the field. In response Minato did a backwards somersault and landed on his feet with his kunai still raised.

"You were the one who failed to negotiate, Naruto!" yelled Minato as he rushed forward and the two parried strikes as sparks flashed as their speed increased as well as their strength.

This time as their weapons clashed two hands erupted from the ground seizing Narutos legs and dragging them into the ground.

Only Narutos head remained above ground as Minato pointed his kunai at the formers head and said "Naruto, I place you and your men under protective custody until we reach the Land of Rice" said the Namikaze breathing a little heavier than normal as his clone then came up from underground and disappeared in smoke.

"Did I actually make you tired?" teased Naruto as he melted into mud making Minato look around as his men were still battling the other ninja but it looked as if his own comrades were winning.

"Never take your eyes off your opponent" said Naruto jumping out of the ground as he creating more mud clones.

"Pretty skilled at clones" said Minato drawing another kunai "If I had not underestimated your abilities I'm sure I would have caught you quicker"

"Your mistake" said a voice behind Minato as a clone of Narutos then raised his short sword to attack. The Namikaze didn't flinch as he quickly dodged the blade slamming a ball of blue swirling chakra into the clone causing it to dispel immediately.

"What attack is that?" asked Naruto curiously staring at the blue orb of spinning chakra.

"What?" shouted a Leaf ninja catching both Narutos and Minatos attention as he had successfully overcome one of the Stone ninja but had strangely melted to mud.

Minato then looked around as his teammates then began experiencing the same situation as the Stone ninja all melted into mud, except Naruto.

"Not just skilled but mastered" whispered Minato with his eyes narrowing in on Naruto Uzumaki who didn't seemed fazed by the outcome. If anything his demeaner looked overall exhausted.

'Just who are you' the Namikaze thought. His attention was then drawn to where they had originally thrown down the smoke bombs to see overturned dirt.

"Where have they gone?" asked Minato with complete astonishment. 'How could this have happened? For them to do something as simple as this' His attention was then drawn to Naruto as the Namikaze called for his men to come to his side.

Naruto then put his short sword back into its holster and withdrew two kunai falling back to the stance he was previously in.

"I will give you one final chance, gather your men and come with us or face the consequences" stated Minato.

Naruto charged straight for them without even a flinch and Minato in response ran along with his men. This time it was Minato who jumped forward but his men remained on the ground.

'Two assaults from the ground and air? Clever' thought Naruto as he then fully stopped throwing down his kunai and created hand seals. "Earth Style Tearing Earth Turning Palm" he said as he slammed his palm into the ground causing the earth before him to tear itself apart and attempt to swallow the Leaf ninja.

'How has he lasted this long?' Minato thought as Naruto jumped backwards away from his attack.

The two stared at one another as the earth behind Minato continued to try and catch the leaf ninja. It was obvious Naruto was at his limit but he still didn't surrender. He then flick his wrist as another kunai appeared ready in hand. This time the blade looked coated in malicious red chakra amplifying the sharpness and length of the weapon.

They once again clashed as they both tried to gain the upper hand on one another with their weapons. Whatever Minato had attacked with was counteracted by Naruto so easily as if he already knew his fighting style.

Minato, enraged, shot his foot up kicking the kunai out of Narutos hand into the sky then with a triumphant look Minato kicked off with his left leg, spinning into the air and slamming his right foot into the side of Naruto head.

Naruto then flew a couple of yards as he laid there in shock. 'How could I let that happen' thought the Uzumaki as he felt the right side of his mask crack and shatter as Naruto was met with great blue sky and brilliant sun.

The Namikaze ran up to where Naruto laid staring at the sun utterly defeated and exhausted.

When Minato came up to the ninja he looked at the face that gave him so much grief in only a span of an hour.

"Naruto Uzumaki" whispered Minato with his weapon drawn.

"Do you feel honored yet?" said Naruto as blood dribbled out of his mouth "You're one of the few that have seen my face"

"No, but I do see honor and courage allowing your men to escape while you faced my own head on. In fact, do you even know-"

Naruto interrupted "Minato Namikaze, I know your reputation, probably better that you do yourself."

"What do you mean?" asked Minato with his eyes focusing on the blonde.

"Well since you've cracked my jaw, broke a couple of my ribs, caused my left arm to dislocate with just one kick. I don't really feel up to explaining myself. But know that you are a popular man, Minato" said the Uzumaki with a sigh followed by a heavy cough.

His comrades then caught up and stood behind Minato with weapons raised for safe measure.

"Naruto Uzumaki you are under arrest for attacking ninja of the Leaf Village" said Minato with a triumphant smile. Naruto grinned and looked at Minato with a strange look as they both stared into each-other's eyes.

"Who exactly are you?" said the Namikaze.

"I'm Naruto, of course" said the blonde cheekily which made Minato a little irritated.

"That's not what! You show up out of what appears to be nowhere just a year ago making a name for yourself for the Stone. There's been rarely any data on you. Home village unknown, age unknown, heritage unknown, and even height unknown" ranted Minato as the clouds covered the sun.

"It's nice to know Minato Namikaze has been stalking me" Naruto replied as the rain began to drop from the sky. Naruto then didn't look natural as his face and body started melting "Looks like our time is up" he said with a smirk as he melted into the ground.

Minato stood wide eyed at where Naruto had been frowning deeply and began to walk away from the scene.

Flashback Over

"What a jerk, I didn't break his bones or dislocate any of his appendages" said Naruto slightly pouting as he remembered how long it took him to heal from those injuries.

"Well, if he's a jerk then he's a powerful one" stated Kitsuchi with a grin that earned a glare from Naruto.

"Whatever, Kitsuchi, I could've beaten him with one armed behind my back if we didn't have to deal with all of those bandits it would've have been a completely different story" Naruto said frustrated with his friend.

"I would like to say that nothing was filed though, maybe you should give him a thank you" Kitsuchi added as he sat down on the ground as the blonde looked at him with confusion.

"Nothing was filed?" he asked ignoring the thank you portion.

"Nope not a single document of the incident was declared against our village or even you for that matter… maybe he's not the jerk after all"

Naruto then pouted once more as he infused chakra into his fist and struck the wooden post causing it to break apart "You would think that he would rat out our little excursion" said Naruto.

"He honored your sacrifice to let your team escape while you took on his whole squad all by yourself" replied Kitsuchi.

'Maybe you're not the man I thought you were, Minato' thought Naruto as he waved goodbye to Kitsuchi and grabbed his mask while going back to town to start packing.

Hidden Leaf Village

"Yes, Lord Hokage, you summoned me?" asked Minato as he entered the office. He had jaw-length bangs framing either side of his face with unruly blonde spikey hair. His attire consisted of a standard Leaf Village uniform with two bands on both of his sleeves, a green flak jacket, blue forehead protector, and blue sandals.

"Ah, yes, please come in!" said Hiruzen with a smile. The Hokage was seated in his office with a scroll in his left hand and a stack of paper work to his right. "I'm glad you could come in quickly; I don't mean to cut into your break time."

"It's perfectly fine, how can I assist you, Lord Third?" asked Minato.

"I have a mission for you to partake in Minato. However, this one that can't be taken lightly" said Hiruzen looking towards the blonde with absolute seriousness.

Minato with a concerned look gazed at the Hokage and replied warily "Of course".

Hiruzen Sarutobi then sighed and began to explain, "It is time for both the Leaf and Stone villages to have complete and unbreakable peace, no more quarrels that lead us to undesirable conclusions. It is with great deliberation with the Tsuchikage that we come together to take care of a problem that benefits all of us."

"What would that be Lord Hokage?"

"You and a selected ninja from the Hidden Stone village will travel together and eliminate Gari from the Stone."

Minato's bright blue eyes widened with surprise "But Lord Hokage how can you be sure that the Stone will not try to betray us? How do you know that we will-"

Sarutobis hand went up to silence Minato and the Hokage then spoke "I understand everything that you are saying Minato but please have trust in me. Once you two have completed this mission it will be a new era of peace between our two villages."

Minato took a few moments to ponder on what the Hokage had said and then nodded as he understood.

"Thank you, Minato."

The blonde haired man replied generously to his superior and began to leave. Right as he was about to leave he asked "Who is my partner?"

"Naruto Uzumaki"

Ichiraku Ramen Shop

Minato sat staring at his bowl of ramen with confusion and uncertain thoughts. 'Meeting up with him… you would think that I would be angry or frustrated to be partnered with Naruto'

A masked man came up the ramen stand and sat down next to Minato. He was adorned with a black cloak that covered his head along with black gloves and regular black ninja sandals.

"I heard you received a new mission, and it's supposed to last awhile" said the man with a mellow voice.

"I'm always up for a challenge, Bird" said Minato with a wry smile as he looked at the intricate detail of the mask that resembled his name. The blonde then picked up his chopsticks and began to eat his food that was getting cold.

"And what a challenge it is, working with Naruto from the Stone. Talk about being brave. That you and him would be the first two to try out this experimental mission"

Minato nodded to acknowledge what the man was saying as he ate but all the while thinking about Naruto and how he looked as he laid in the grass staring at the sky, and when he looked at the blonde and stared at those blue eyes, those deep blue eyes…

"-ato? Minato? Hello?" said the anbu as he waved his hands in front of Minatos face trying to get his attention.

Blinking rapidly and blushing the Namikaze stuttered to respond "Y-yes, sorry, got lost in thought" as the blonde then scratched the back of his head.

"Thinking about him, again?" asked the anbu.

Minato avoiding the question entirely. "It's strange don't you think, Naruto has blonde hair and blue eyes but with the last name of Uzumaki? I mean I spoke with Kushina about her heritage and she explicitly said that all of the Uzumaki had red hair but his was blonde"

"It is curious if you think about it…" the anbu then thought about it a little more and added "And a Uzumaki in the Hidden Stone Village? Weren't they the ones who destroyed the Uzumakis home village? The Hidden Whirlpool?"

Minato then rubbed his temple with his fingers as it was so much to think about. "I would have to ask Kushina… actually when I told her about Naruto her reaction was beyond excitement to learn of another clan member."

"Honestly, Minato, I would be wary about your partner he does have a lot of rumors surrounding his character" said the anbu.

"Rumors?"

"Don't tell me that you haven't heard them?"

Minato thought about it and said "No, not a single one"

"A big rumor is that he went one on one with the Tsuchikage and lived"

Minato scoffed, and said "I doubt that Naruto had battled the Tsuchikage. He had barely survived a battle with me and I still beat him in the end."

"Oh, is that the story? I thought he escaped with a simple mud clone right from under your nose" the anbu said grinning behind his mask.

Minato blushed lightly with embarrassment "It's not like that. He's just really good at clones…"

Just then a hawk screeched from the air and Bird immediately stood up. "We'll have to talk more later, Minato, I have to report to the Hokage" said the man as he vanished with incredible speed.

Minato thought about the mission and how they would have to defeat Gari.

He then pulled out a black book known as the Bingo Book and flipped to the page that had the description of him. 'Explosion release?' thought Minato as he kept reading 'Adept in taijutsu as well as nature transformation… left the village a year ago after a battle with…' Minato inhaled sharply when he saw the name of Naruto Uzumaki printed clear as day.

Minato then paid for his food and left studying Gari and how they would defeat such a powerful opponent but the thought of Naruto and those blue eyes still lingered in his mind.

Just who was he?

Hi everyone,

This is definitely experimental. Please tell me what you think! I'm not the best writer and am always looking to improve.