Disclaimer: Naruto is one of the things I have no rights to.

Iruka-sensei assigned them a homework on thrown weapon trajectories. Naruto made an honest attempt not to scream in frustration.

For Naruto, this meant a lot of work. Not like he thought any sort of papers to fill out were a breeze, but this was math, you know. But theory is just theory – any sort of variables can be eyeballed. There are angles, forces, speeds, distances and curves and whatnot, but the kunai is always the same. Why not just go to the training field and try it out with what he had on hand, Naruto reasoned today.

And so, the young boy stood on the field for the fourth hour in the late afternoon, occasionally looking to his homework for the next question, and lobbing a kunai after kunai to the air in many different ways. He'd approximate the results, write the answer in and continue on his merry way. Because who needs math in battle, right? You could know everything about a million different ways to throw a projectile, but what mattered is whether you were able to actually use all of them. Therefore, in Naruto's eyes, theory could stick it up the bum.

Naruto got down on his knees to pick the last of his practice kunai up when something razor sharp dug into his shin. He winced and discovered a true kunai, those that real ninja used (as opposed to the practice intended, blunted sets the Academy provided him with) – burrowed in the earth, with the point about a centimetre deep in his leg. But Naruto didn't cry out about that.

Injuries were never a biggie for him. A broken bone was healed in a day or two, what could a little blood even do? A diet full of ramen made miracles, he thought in satisfaction. People didn't believe its properties when he defended them, but that was their loss.

And now he had a sharp, real kunai. It stood to reason that sharp things would fly better than blunted ones, right? They'd make swish sounds and go farther, so he had to test it. Naruto moved his arm in a thoroughly practiced manner and threw the kunai high, in a wide arc, in the direction of the forest behind him.

That's when he spotted a pale set of eyes. And their owner, standing exactly where the kunai would be landing. His stomach dropped and a shiver ran down his spine.

The girl noticed the projectile flying her way. And promptly stumbled when taking a step back. Just his luck, Naruto thought. If this weapon could pierce his leg, there was little question as to what would happen in the case of a close girl-kunai encounter. He'd be royally screwed. "And the girl would be pretty dead, which is a bit worse, moron." She could still raise her arms up, no reason to panic yet.

He had his practice kunai, but Naruto was far below the proficiency needed to use them to parry something midair, especially something 30 meters away. And he had only seconds, as the metal just reached the highest point and started its descent.

Naruto spent the afternoon watching and guessing trajectories – he knew fully well this one ended somewhere in the girl's torso. She was now a bit dazed, seeing as her head just hit the ground hard. So she lay there instead of moving herself or her arms. The situation now officially reached desperate levels. He had to save her. But there wasn't any other way to do it – the practice kunai would have to do. He moved his arm to where he stored them-

At least he thought so at first.

Something strange took a hold of him. His hand shot forward and a he felt surge of chakra flowing inside of him. And the he heard a rattle. His head hurt a bit and black spots appeared in his vision, but he still saw the silvery chains shoot from his palm. Like they had a mind of their own, the few thin lines found their way to the girl and took to incredible speed. Naruto froze in fascination as the chains circled both sides of a tree the girl lay in front of and imbedded themselves in the ground on her feet, covering her in an improvised, irregularly woven veil of metal.

Both children watched as the kunai finally met the end of its flight and gave a clank as it bounced of the chains. A soft thud resounded through the now silent field when the tool fell to earth.

The nine-year-old boy tried to catch up with what just happened, but the chains gave him no respite as they tugged his hand. He fell, hands outstretched and face first into the dirt, as they rattled back into his right palm. Naruto flexed it, not quite sure whether or not he even could use it now, but it didn't hurt.

He briefly faltered at the fact that there was no blood on it. And seeing as there was no way these chains that just now flew some full thirty meters could fit inside of him, that had to mean it was some sort of a technique. A jutsu, just like ninja used, he grinned happily. He turned back to the little girl, his first instinct to brag about it, but he realised she still lay down on the ground.

Naruto quickly ran to her side, screaming a concerned "You okay!?" while he moved. The girl was around his age, with blue hair and strange pale white eyes that were now squinted, as a painful wince settled itself on her face.

"I'm f-fine," she answered in a soft voice, raising herself from the ground. Naruto looked at her face, examining her and trying to make sure that was right. An uncomfortable silence developed. Her eyes looked anywhere but him.

"Look here, uh, I was…" Naruto trailed off. "I messed up. Could have hurt you, and it was my fault. I'm sorry."

She finally met his eyes. "No, I… i-it's okay." She shied away again. Naruto attempted to make sense of the silent girl, trying not to think about how much he would be freaking out in her place.

Yet she apparently didn't want to make a fuss. The girls he knew were loud, shrieking about the tiniest of things, and quick to make fun of him or to lecture him.

Somehow, Naruto thought he already knew the girl. Could she be one of his classmates? There were plenty of them, and most he didn't know and didn't pay attention to. None of them thought much about him and his plans to become Hokage. None of them ever wanted to spend time with him, often brushing him off as an annoyance. He didn't remember their names, simply because most acted the same way towards him. But he so, so wanted a friend… "What's your name? Do I know you?"

She nodded in response and started poking her index fingers together. "Hyuuga H-Hinata. W-we're c-classmates, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto blinked. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. Though you know that, I guess," he laughed.

"Nice to meet you, Hinata." She blushed, and a shy smile stopped him from asking more questions. He didn't want to intimidate her more, especially after he almost skewered her on the spot. Naruto coughed awkwardly.

"Hey, would you mind not telling anybody what happened here? Especially the chains part… I uhh, don't want anybody knowing my awesome techniques, y'know. I'd um, w-want it to stay a secret," he stammered out while imagining what the villagers would say if they knew he had almost stuck a kunai in someone. What they would do to him if they somehow heard about the chains… They hated him enough already, better not risk it. Naruto learned not to make assumptions on this front the hard way.

Hinata straightened her back and locked her white eyes onto his. "Of course, d-don't w-w-worry about that!" Her voice seemed filled with more confidence than before, so he relaxed. The clan children were always particular about their secrets, he remembered. He figured Shikamaru would be easy to coerce into giving him some useful training info, but he miscalculated quite badly there. The lazy bum managed to manifest a bit of anger, even though he could not be bothered to keep it up for long.

"N-N-Naruto-kun?"

"What is it?"

"I'll… I w-will s-see you in the c-c-classroom tomorrow!" And she darted away.

"Weird girl, isn't she?" he thought. Then again, perhaps she did not want to stay with him longer than was necessary… "Nah, Hinata looked too nice a person for that," Naruto reasoned. She didn't berate him for his rather massive fuck-up, after all. She even smiled. He might even sit next to her the next day and try to know her better.

His smile dimmed. Today he wanted to meet the Old Man for dinner at Ichiraku, but it would seem he had to venture to the Hokage Tower before that. Naruto didn't have a clue about what had just happened, after all. Lord Third was the Professor – there was no way he wouldn't know. The chains… looked badass, but how in the world was he supposed to learn how to use them? They'd be no use if he couldn't control the things. Was there someone else who had them? Probably not…

Something clicked in his mind. The villagers, with their dirty looks, hated him for something none would explain to him. Was this why they always glared at him? Was it something bad? Demon. Brat. Dangerous. Maybe people hated him because of that…

Were the chains something his family had used? But his parents were heroes of the Leaf, weren't they? Old Man had said so. They'd not use them against the villagers. They wouldn't be heroes then.

Naruto shaked his head, his blond spiky hair bouncing around. Old Man better explain this.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed heavily as he signed the last paper of the third column on his desk. Only one, smaller, remained. The one he delayed for two days already, since he liked to contemplate it longer than necessary. Genin team assignments were serious business that could determine much about the future of the village after all. That, and Hiruzen genuinely loved reading the graduating students assessments.

Teaching was his passion, and he was more than sad to never have gotten the chance to do more of it. Hiruzen had looked forward to teaching at the Academy once Minato settled in his chair safely, yet here he was.

Then again, this career was not a sad state of affairs, he sighed contently.

Today however would not be the day for the last pile, as he had already promised Naruto the evening. But just as he reached for the hat on his desk, the door opened, and the blond energetic boy bounced onto the sit.

"Wasn't I supposed to meet you at the ramen stand, Naruto? Or are you in mood for something else for a change?" he said with a chuckle. But the boy opposite him stayed uncharacteristically quiet. Hiruzen eyed him with attention. "Did anything happen, Naruto?"

Said child glanced at his face. "Yeah. Something weird." He clutched his chair, took a deep breath, and started speaking, words tumbling out of his mouth like an avalanche.

"So, I was training, throwing kunai at the field, for homework, since Iruka-sensei gave us math, but then I found a real, sharp one, and tried it out, but it flew kinda far, and there was a girl there, y'know, and I almost hit her, but then it happened. Some kinda chains flew outta my hand and covered her before the kunai hit her, it was so cool! And, and, well, she's kinda nice, and my classmate! But yeah, it was weird, so I wanted to ask what those chains are!"

Hiruzen blinked once, then twice, and then reached for his pipe for a long puff. "Did you make sure to tell the girl not to speak of what happened?" These chains had to stay under the wraps, so he'd still make sure she was made aware of military secrets. Most civilians knew not to run their mouths on shinobi business, but when it came to the matter of Uzumaki Naruto, predicting civilians was not always possible.

"Sure I did. Her name is Hyuuga Hinata, by the way."

Hiruzen blinked. The Hyuuga heiress, of all people, happened upon Naruto's stray kunai. He tried not to think of the consequences this afternoon could have had. They would have been disastrous. Better not dwell on it. Well, in any case, there was never any danger of a Hyuuga willingly telling someone they had to be saved. Besides, he really would rather avoid talking with Hiashi any of this.

"That, my boy, is an interesting ability," he said carefully, returning to the main topic. "We'll have to train you on the basics of it, and you can't be using them in the Academy, because such powerful abilities are better when they stay secret, you see? Powerful abilities mean people want them, and before you know how to defend yourself properly, this should stay between us. I want you to learn how to use them still, so I'll find someone to do just that." Hiruzen smiled, imagining chains bursting out at every Naruto's outburst of emotion. Kushina used them effectively while angry, after all. Her teammates often complained how painfully she could whip them.

"But where did that ability come from? Like, is it, you know… from my parents?" The boy eyed him with caution, but his blue eyes glistered.

Hiruzen puffed from his pipe again to give himself a pause. He didn't want to impart the knowledge of the Uzumaki clan on him yet. Hiruzen still remember how the Uzushio refugees shunned his offer to settle in Konoha, outraged with the lax help he provided them in the Second Ninja War. Hiruzen sent reinforcements as soon as he heard that Kumo and Kiri were planning an invasion, but Konoha's entire east flank was stretched thin at the time, and to top it off, his ninja arrived a day late. The few Uzumaki however stressed that he was not covering their backs when they needed it and opted to go into hiding.

Hiruzen was somewhat afraid the young child could side with them and blame him. He could not afford to lose the trust of his only jinchuuriki. That, and he was afraid of being disliked by his almost-grandson. But hiding the boy's heritage would not do good when one of the clan's signature bloodlines appeared within him. The only path ahead was to tell him the truth of his mother.

Lord Third refocused on Naruto, who was once again quiet, but with a badly hidden flame of hope in his expression. Hiruzen had to rebuke his questions before, and Naruto was now determined not to rush his elder. He smiled – there was at least some amount of diplomacy hidden in him.

"Yes, that would be right. These chains you told me about I presume to be the very same ones that belonged to a few members of the Uzumaki clan." Naruto's pupils widened and he opened his mouth to say something, but Hiruzen interrupted him. "I know you have questions right now, but let me speak my part first, and then we can address what you have to say, and I'll answer, as long as it does not concern village secrets. I promise you that, Naruto."

The blond smiled wide after a moment. "Sure, Old Man, go on."

Hiruzen put his pipe back down. "The Uzumaki were a clan known for their vitality and unusually high amounts of chakra. They were masters of sealing techniques unparalleled in history. Much of their knowledge was lost however at the end of the Second Ninja War, when their village, Uzushiogakure, was wiped from the map. They were our allies and we failed to help them in their time of need." Naruto furrowed his brows but said nothing.

"Not many survived, but there were two who stayed in our village," continued Hiruzen. "Uzumaki Mito, widow of Lord First… and Uzumaki Kushina, your mother." Lord Third watched as the boy's eyes fogged for a bit and settled for a short pause. He was tempted to puff from the pipe yet resisted the urge.

"She used these chains to great degrees as a ninja of Konoha, and you seem to have inherited them. There is of course nobody else who could use them, so you'll have to learn using them from scratch, but we'll see to that. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I haven't told you one bit about your heritage before."

The boy tensed, but didn't turn his head, and Sarutobi smiled. "I was not sure you wouldn't start boasting about it." Naruto puffed his cheeks in anger, but the Hokage continued.

"Understand, Naruto, that powerful shinobi are targets, and their families are at danger of being used against them, or, in case of bloodlines, stolen for the sole reason that their inherited abilities counter them. Steal a child, and in twenty years, you have yourself their five sons or daughters as loyal ninja. That is the reason clans exist – families stay together not from the love to their third cousin twice removed, but rather because meeting people who can fight the same way you do on the battlefield is the last thing you ever want to happen. You however have no relatives, as far as I am aware, and that would make a perfect target for abduction," stressed Hiruzen gently.

"I know you not knowing about your parents was hard, yet I did not want to straight up lie to you, Naruto." He rested his elbow on the desk and inched forward a bit. "And I did all of that for your safety, please trust me on that."

Naruto spilled a lone tear before rubbing his face with sleeve. "Yeah, I knew that already, Old Man," he laughed. "Of course I trust you."

Hiruzen ruffled his hair fondly and settled his old back in his chair once again. "Ask away then, Naruto."

The blond gave it a minute, but then spilled his question. "Say, you told me about my mother, but what about father? He was not an Uzumaki from what you said, so why do I have my mother's name?"

Hiruzen closed his eyes and settled for a blank expression. "That, my boy, concerns village secrets, I'm afraid. I stand by my claim that he was a great ninja and loved you very much, though this is all you're allowed to know. It's not fair, but please, do not search for his name or question others. You'll be allowed to know in due time." Naruto smiled sadly but did not pry further.

"So uh, I really have no relatives?" he asked with a level tone.

"None that I'm aware of," Hiruzen assured him. Naruto nodded.

"The chains…" he whispered, almost afraid. Hiruzen raised his brows. "Are they why the villagers look at me nasty? Do they hate them? Are they a bad thing?" The boy gulped, afraid of what would come.

Lord Third didn't like the direction this was heading. The answers to that he did not want to give the nine-year old child. "My boy, that ability is nothing sinister." Naruto tilted his head. "That means they're perfectly fine," Hiruzen smiled. "An ability is only as wrong as its user. Well, there are exceptions to that," he reminded himself, memories of a few kinjutsu reaching his mind. "But nobody hates the chains, I promise you."

"So why do the villagers… look at me…" Naruto trailed of.

Hiruzen reached for his pipe again. "None of that is your fault and you are not in the wrong, Naruto," he reached for the boy and covered his hands on the table in a vaguely assuring way. "People can hate for all the right reasons or for simply being rotten at heart, but there is one more kind of hate that is, sadly, your case. The kind born from ignorance."

"You are not the fox, but its jailor," supplied his mind, though he knew that could not be spoken of now.

"You are strong, Naruto. Not in body yet, but in mind. Many in your place would be angry at the people that hate you. You instead want to prove yourself and correct their wrongs, and I'm so, so proud of you for that, my boy," Hiruzen smiled wide. "Today, you are not strong enough nor wise enough, yet you are already a Hokage in your heart," he beamed, and smiled even wider at Naruto's astonished expression, not quite knowing those words would mean the world for him.

.

.

.

That evening, Teuchi's ramen tasted better than ever, Naruto told him.

A.N.: I'm ending the first chapter here. I actually already wrote it once and then forgot to save. Now I'm not even mad, because it came out better the second time around. The Matrix stuff I pulled in the beginning is not something that I'm really proud of, but it was central to the idea of this fic that could not leave my head for a week.

I don't want to lure someone for an awesome, fleshed out story this would be a part of – I'm horrid at planning. But I'll try. It may take a lot of time, though this will be a good pet project, and I already sense that these ideas for future will nag me until I put them down.

A.N.'s half as long as the chapters itself are not to my taste, so I'll cut it. Please, do review and tell me what I could have fleshed out more or cut, or simply come tell me you like or disliked it. Reviews are fuel for the authors' inspiration.

Next time, I'll focus on Hinata's perspective, promise!