Well, I know I should be updating A New Yet Similar Path, which I will later this week, but I've had this sitting around in my head for a while, and I felt like I should get this going as well. It'll be a nice challenge to start writing two fanfic's as well as writing the story for a comic.

Anyways, hopefully this'll be a good fanfic in your eyes, but it is mostly for me…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… :'(

Chapter 1: The Training Begins

Naruto sat on a building just a block away from the Hokage tower, thinking everything over.

'So all I have to do, is get this scroll, get to the clearing in the forest, and learn a technique from it?' Naruto sighed as he got to his feet and stretched his back, feeling the joints pop.

'Sounds kinda weird, but I guess it makes sense…' Naruto jumped from the building and serpentine through the streets, to make sure he wasn't spotted.

He looked at the large building he hoped to be in control of in the future as Hokage.

Sneaking in was a simple task for the blonde academy student. Even though he always wore the orange jumpsuit, he was one of the few people who could hide from five squads of ANBU. The only times he had been caught were when Iruka had hunted him down.

Naruto walked silently through the halls, heading for the Hokage's office. Occasionally, he would stop and hide from an ANBU guard patrolling the building, but otherwise the place was deserted.

Naruto found the door he was searching for and slowly opened it. Once there was enough room to slip into the room, he darted in and shut the door behind him.

Naruto looked around the room, recognizing the four pictures of the Hokages, past to present, hung on the wall. Next to them, was another door.

Naruto ran across the room and wrenched the door open. Inside were various scrolls and books. Naruto remembered the description of the target scroll and started searching.

'There you are!' Naruto grinned as he picked up the large scroll and strapped it to his back.

He walked out of the room and into the hallway only to come face to face with Sarutobi Hiruzen.

'…shit…'

"What are you doing in here?" The aged Hokage asked.

"Oiroke No Jutsu!"

XXXX

Naruto looked on in anger at his former sensei Mizuki who was crawling to his feet. The one that had tricked him, the one that had broken the decree formed for Naruto's protection. He had shattered his whole world, revealing the knowledge of the Kyuubi's incarceration inside Naruto.

Then, the worst of it all. He had harmed Iruka-sensei.

"If you lay one hand on Iruka-sensei, than I'll kill you!" Naruto said.

"Little demon fox, this is what you get!" Mizuki screamed as he scrambled to his feet, preparing to attack the young blonde.

Naruto quickly formed the one seal required for the jutsu he had just learned.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

What was once one Naruto was now hundreds.

'Solid copies! He learnt an a high classed jutsu in a few hours and managed to produce this many copies! Amazing' thought the wounded Iruka.

Mizuki seemed to be overwhelmed as he looked around him, knowing that all of them were real.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto and Iruka were in the Hokage's office, going over what had happened out in the forest.

"Naruto, I am truly sorry that I've kept this burden of yours a secret from you, but you must understand…"

Naruto interrupted him with a sad smile. "Its okay Oji-san. I just wish that at least a few people would understand what I really am. That I'm not the Kyuubi… I'm just some orphan that the Yondaime Hokage picked to give this curse to."

Sarutobi's heart seemed to break at this.

"Do you hate him, Naruto?"

The blonde boy looked up at the aged Hokage and thought for a moment.

"I understand that he had no choice, and I would have done the same if I was in his position" he replied.

Hiruzen looked at the blonde for a moment before speaking.

"But do you hate him for giving you this burden?"

Naruto closed his eyes, thinking hard, wondering how he should reply to this question.

"I don't think I do… I… I wish it had been someone else, but there probably wasn't any other option... No, I don't hate him…"

Iruka and Sarutobi looked at each other when he said the last part.

"But there is something bugging you Naruto, isn't there?"

Naruto clenched his fists, wondering what to say at this.

"I… I do hate someone though… and I've never even heard of them or met them."

The two others knew what he was about to say.

"If my parents had abandoned me for this reason, I would hate them" he said flatly.

"They didn't abandon you Naruto" said Hiruzen before he could catch himself.

Iruka and Naruto both turned to the Hokage, knowing he knew something.

"You knew them didn't you?" It was Iruka that asked, before Naruto could.

"Tell me, please…" begged Naruto.

"I'm sorry Naruto… But I can't…"

"Why not?!" Naruto yelled out as he stood up only to be shoved back into his chair by Iruka.

"Naruto, control yourself!" the academy teacher reprimanded.

They were all silent for a few minutes, each of them staring at each other.

Finally, after about five minutes, the Sandaime Hokage spoke.

"Iruka, could you leave the room for a moment?"

Iruka looked at the Hokage and nodded. He opened the door and glanced back at his blonde student whom he had given his Hitai-ate to just hours earlier.

"Naruto, I don't know if I should be the one to tell you about either of them, the responsibility lies with someone else."

Naruto glared for the first time at the aged Hokage.

"Who would that be?" he asked.

"That responsibility lies with your godfather."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"I… I have a godfather?" he asked in shock. Sarutobi nodded and suddenly, the blonde exploded.

"Let me guess, he left when he found out about the fox, am I right?!" he yelled.

Before the Hokage could answer, Naruto continued yelling.

"Then fuck him! I don't want to have anything to do with someone who's going to leave me to rot for something I had no control over! He can burn in hell for all I care!"

As the last words left his mouth, killer intent knocked Naruto back into his seat.

Many times, he had heard that Sarutobi Hiruzen was a force to be reckoned with, but he had never taken it seriously. He was just the kind old man, right?

Now he could see why he was the god of Shinobi. Why he was called the professor, and why he was their third Hokage.

"Naruto, he did not leave you because of your burden. He left you here because taking you with him would have been reckless and dangerous. He has a duty to this village and he has been performing it."

Naruto couldn't form any words at the moment, too scared of the village leader in front of him.

The Sandaime lowered the killer intent and looked upon the small orange jumpsuit wearing Genin.

"Can…can you at least tell me about my parents?"

Sarutobi sighed. 'It couldn't hurt to tell him a little bit…'

"They were strong, especially your father. He was possibly one of the strongest Shinobi in the land. The amount of jutsu he knew was astounding, and his knowledge of the battlefield, was amazing. He had never really known his own parents, as they had died when he was younger, but he had the will of fire burning brightly within him. You seemed to have inherited his own fierce determination."

Naruto smiled at this, not a false smile, but a true one.

"Then there was your mother, who was one of the most beautiful Kunoichi I had ever had the graces of meeting. She was a bit of tomboy and loved pranks, as did your father. She was the troublemaker of the two however… When she found out about her pregnancy with you, I had never seen her so happy."

Naruto had tears in his eyes. 'So I was wanted… They didn't just toss me aside like some piece of garbage.'

"Oji-san, could you tell me who my father was?" he asked.

The Hokage shook his head. "That responsibility lies with your godfa…"

Naruto interrupted him at this. "I want to find out from you… I've always looked at you as a grandfather, and you're the closest thing I have to a friend… Please?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen had made many difficult decisions in his past. Not killing Orochimaru, retaking his position as Hokage when the fourth had died, keeping the knowledge of Kyuubi from Naruto, and much more. This however, was the toughest.

'If I tell Naruto, I may have to make it public knowledge, and the villagers would be less than accepting… Then there's Danzo, who would want to make the boy into a weapon if he found out, although I suspect he already knows of Naruto's origins… Then there's Iwagakure… If they found out that Minato had a son, they may attempt to hunt him down. But we could protect him from that. If his lineage is revealed, he could move into the Namikaze estate, and we could reactivate all the protection seals. Jiraiya would probably come back to the village as well when he finds out that Naruto knows…'

The debate raged on in the mind of the Hokage as Naruto sat on the edge of his seat with bated breath.

"His name… Was Namikaze Minato… Our Yondaime Hokage…"

Naruto's eyes widened at this.

"T…t…t…the fourth?!" he asked.

Hiruzen nodded as he rose to his feet.

"I didn't intend on you finding out for many years, if ever, but if the occasion ever arose, I thought that maybe you would like something of his…" he said as he approached the picture of the blonde Hokage.

He took the framed photograph down to reveal a paper seal on the wall behind it.

He placed his hand on top of it and let his chakra flow into the kanji written on the paper.

The spot glowed for a moment a released a plume of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Sarutobi Hiruzen held several scrolls.

"These, are notes on some of your father's jutsu, and a few of these are storage scrolls.

In them, are more scrolls containing different kinds of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu… He never was one to rely on Genjutsu."

Naruto was tearing up again when he noticed one more thing, draped over the Hokage's shoulder.

"What's that Oji-san?"

Hiruzen smiled at this. "This was the coat your father wore constantly. It was probably his favorite piece of clothing, especially after he became Hokage."

Sarutobi set down the scrolls on his desk and took the coat that was draped over his shoulder, and presented it to Naruto.

"I don't think it fits, but if you like, we can always get it resized and…"

"No" Naruto interrupted as he gazed at his fathers coat.

"I think I would rather not change this specific coat… Maybe I could just get one made for me, but I would rather not change anything on this one."

The Hokage smiled. "If you would like, you could also have access to the money he left you. It wasn't as much as the wealth of the Hyuga or the Uchiha, but he did have a fair amount of wealth that he left you when he died."

Naruto continued to stare at the coat in amazement.

"I regret… not living up to what my father probably expected of me…" Naruto said suddenly.

Sarutobi lifted an eyebrow at this.

"From here on out, I promise to train myself so that I can surpass not only the Hokages, but my father."

Sarutobi smiled at this. "Those scrolls will help you quite a bit I would assume."

Naruto nodded. "Can I tell anyone?" he asked suddenly.

'I don't want to be known as the fatherless orphan any longer.'

Naruto looked up at the Hokage to see a stern look on his face.

"Naruto, I'm not going to lie to you… Many people respected and even loved the Yondaime Hokage, and many see you as the reason for his death. If we were to tell them suddenly that you were his son all along, many wouldn't believe me, and they would disregard it."

"So I guess I'm not allowed to wear this jacket…"

Sarutobi smiled at Naruto.

"You may wear the jacket Naruto, not many people will remember it very well, and only those that were close to Minato would notice and I doubt very much that they would mind. For now, keep this knowledge to yourself, but later on, I will inform the village of your lineage. You just have to give me some time to prepare it and I will need at least a few months. Perhaps by the time the Chunin Exams start…"

Naruto nodded. "Can I at least tell Iruka-sensei? He's helped me so much, and I want him to know."

The Sandaime thought for a moment before answering. "Iruka is a trustworthy person, so I don't see why not…"

Naruto suddenly hugged the aged Hokage. "Thank you Oji-san… Thank you so much…"

The Sandaime nodded.

"I want to hear about my mother as well, but let's let Iruka back in and catch him up!" Naruto said as he ran to the door, not giving the Hokage a chance to say no.

XXXXXXX

Iruka had to sit down when the bombshell had been dropped.

Uzumaki Naruto, the Jinchuriki of the fearsome Kyuubi no Kitsune, was also the son of the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Naruto.

"Does this mean that you'll be going by Namikaze Naruto instead of Uzumaki?" he asked Naruto.

Naruto looked at the Hokage for an answer to this.

"Not straight away… When I reveal the news to the rest of the village, than yes, but until then, you will continue on with your mother's name…"

"What was her name?" Naruto asked suddenly.

"Uzumaki Kushina..." Sarutobi replied, raising a gasp out of Iruka.

"Kushina really is his mother?! I thought she just gave the boy her name because she thought he was cute!"

Sarutobi chuckled. "That was the only excuse she would use for that… I still don't understand why…"

"Is she alive?" Naruto asked.

Sarutobi shook his head, causing Naruto to drop his.

"I'm sorry Naruto…" Iruka said, patting him on the shoulder.

"It's okay… At least I know now that I wasn't just abandoned."
"Naruto, it's been a long day, so how about this… You go home and sleep and tomorrow, we'll catch up on the smaller details. Sound good?" the Sandaime asked.

Naruto nodded. "That's fine…"

XXXXXX

Iruka walked Naruto to the rundown section of the village where Naruto's apartment lay.

"I'll be accompanying you and the Hokage tomorrow" he said to the blonde.

"Thank you Iruka-sensei."

"It's no problem Naruto. You should probably get to bed though, it's been a long day and you've found out so much…"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it has…" He could already feel the events of today taking its toll as he started up the stairs to his door.

"Bye Iruka-sensei!"

"Good-bye, Naruto."

When Naruto made it into his small apartment, he immediately walked up to his rundown mattress and fell on top of it, asleep.

XXXXXX

Naruto woke up to what appeared to be a tapping noise. Not feeling like opening his eyes, he merely groaned and turned over so that his face was in the pillow. That's when the events of the day before caught up to him.

'I'm the Kyuubi container, and my father is the man that sealed it inside of me who also happens to be my hero…'

He shot out of bed to see Iruka standing in his door way, tapping his foot on the ground.

"It's nearly noon Naruto…"

Naruto paled. "It is? Sooo, yesterday really did happen?"

Iruka simply nodded. Naruto sat back down on his bed.

"Wow… For a moment, I thought it was all a dream…"

"Well it wasn't, now come on; the Hokage is waiting downstairs for you."

Naruto nodded and was about to go get dressed when he realized he had fallen asleep in all of his clothes, including his sandals.

They got to the bottom to find the Hokage smiling at them.

"Naruto, I remembered you saying that you wished to surpass your father, so I figured that maybe Iruka and I could help you get started."

Naruto didn't move, still taking everything in.

"How will we do that?" he finally asked.

Iruka looked Naruto up and down.

"First off, we need to get you some new clothes. I know you like the color orange, but it's too bright. It makes you an easy target for enemies."

Naruto pouted.
"Naruto, I know you like attention, but wearing an orange jumpsuit attracts negative attention, which isn't what you should be striving for" the Hokage lectured.

"Also, your kunai and shuriken are all dull and rusting, so we'll be getting you some more of those along with a few explosive tags." Iruka said as he recalled all the times Naruto used his equipment in class.

"Books on basic chakra control are required as well, and books on the history of Konohagakure."

"But that stuff is boring!" Naruto whined.

Iruka scowled at his one time student.

"Naruto! These things are necessary for a Ninja to know, especially for a ninja that wishes to become a Hokage!"

"I doubt that my father had to do this…" Naruto said, still pouting.

"Ah, but your wrong Naruto, he did have to do this stuff. It's required for a Hokage to know. Not only is the Hokage the ruler of the village, but he is a diplomat. He must know things that many do not."

Naruto said nothing, but both Iruka and Hiruzen knew that he would read the books now.

"Some books on proper etiquette would be a plus as well as grammar." Iruka commented as he recalled more of Naruto's behavior in the academy.

Naruto could only huff as the list went on and on.

XXXXXXXX

"Okay, I'm coming out now…" Naruto called out from the dressing rooms at the Shinobi clothing store.

Iruka and Sarutobi turned to see the blonde Genin walk out in his new outfit.

They both grinned at how Naruto looked.

He had black Shinobi sandals on instead of his blue ones. He had the finger less Shinobi gloves on, with the metal plates engraved with the leaf symbol. The Hitai-ate had the blue cloth removed and replaced with black.

His pants were black and ended at his ankle. There were only two pockets at the front. His kunai holster was new as well, being black in color and strapped to his right thigh.

He had an orange sash and a black long sleeved shirt. But what caught their eyes was the jacket he was wearing. They had recreated the jacket Naruto's father had taken to wearing for Naruto. Instead of it being white a red, it was red with black flames at the bottom.

"Not bad Naruto… not bad at all" Iruka said as he inspected Naruto.

"Why did you alter the colors for the jacket though?" Sarutobi asked.

"I'm not good enough to wear my father's jacket, so I figured a change would be best for now…"

The Hokage nodded, smiling to himself.

'He wants to earn that right… He's a lot like his father…'

"How do you feel Naruto?" Iruka asked.

"Pretty good actually… I'm just glad you guys let me keep a bit of orange on."

Iruka and Sarutobi sighed. There was just no getting rid of that color.

"I have a question though… How am I going to pay for all of this?"
Sarutobi just smiled at the boy.

"Think of this as a grandfather spoiling his grandson…"

'I owe you a lot for what I kept from you… You seem so happy knowing the truth…'

"But I don't think th…"

"Naruto, please just take my gift!" Sarutobi asked.

Naruto stared at the Hokage for a moment before speaking.

"I guess I can do that…"

"Thank you Naruto."

"No Oji-san… Thank you…"

They bought the outfit, along with copies, so that Naruto wouldn't have to constantly wash the same one over and over.

They also bought a few training outfits for Naruto to use when he would train alone.

They went on to a weapon store and bought new kunai and shuriken for the Genin which seemed to excite him.

It was only a quick stop there before the shop Naruto had been dreading, the bookstore.

They spent a lot of time there, hunting down the multitude of books that Naruto was going to have to start reading.

Chakra control exercises and theories, proper dieting, proper etiquette, food preparation, books about different plants and their usage, histories of the Shinobi world including a few books about Konohagakure alone.

Naruto saw a few scrolls that seemed to peak his interest on advanced chakra control exercises. Although he was told that he would learn them with his new instructor.

"So when do I meet this new instructor?" Naruto asked as they left the store and started walking to his house to drop of his stuff.

"Three weeks from Monday, you'll be assigned to a Genin squad and given a Jonin instructor to help guide you and take you on missions."

Naruto seemed torn for a moment.

"What's wrong Naruto?" Iruka asked when he noticed Naruto's conflicting thoughts.

"Well, what if this new guy just focuses on the others and leaves me in the dust… I mean, he would know about…" at this, Naruto looked down at his stomach.

"Naruto, if that does happen, I want you to report it to me straight away, is that understood?" The Hokage ordered.

Naruto nodded. "I don't want to cause any trouble though…"

"Naruto, the troubling thing is if they do discriminate against you and hinder your progress" said Iruka. "I know it happened in the academy before I became your teacher, and I tried to help you out, but the damage was done. If your Jonin instructor does that to you, than they shouldn't even be a Jonin."

Naruto nodded as he continued down the street.

"So I have three weeks to improve my skills before meeting my new team?"

"That's right Naruto! Plenty of time to catch up or even surpass most of the graduating class if last night says anything!" Sarutobi exclaimed happily.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Naruto, the Kage Bunshin technique is a Jonin level Ninjutsu. Not only that, but it's also a forbidden technique because it splits your chakra evenly. You managed to not only perfect the technique in a few hours, but you made hundreds of them, perfectly. Add to the fact that you had been training yourself to get that technique down for at least two straight hours, you were pretty much unfazed by the amount of bunshin you had produced; you could easily surpass all of the Hokages. Not even I could do what you had done!"

Iruka and Naruto seemed surprised by this fact.

"Naruto, there is also a way you can train even faster with the technique that you learnt."

This again, surprised Iruka and Naruto.

"What is it?" Iruka asked, suddenly curious.

"With the Kage Bunshin technique, anything the clone learns will be transferred to the user upon it being dispelled."

Iruka raised both eyebrows at this.

"What's so special about that?" Naruto asked, not really catching on.

"Naruto, if your bunshin were to read a book, when you dispelled it, you would remember anything it had read."

Naruto thought for a moment when it suddenly dawned on him.

'I could read the books without actually having to read them!'

Sarutobi seemed to be thinking as well.

'With the amount of clones he could make, he could easily get his chakra control to the level of a Chunin within the next three weeks. If he were to also work on Kata's just to see how they work… Naruto you truly are on the way to becoming an amazing Shinobi…'

Naruto was already scheming on how to use this to his advantage they made it to his apartment.

"Now Naruto, I bought these for you as well" Iruka said. He reached into a bag to present four weights, to be worn on his arms and legs.

"With these weights on, you'll increase your strength and speed by just walking around in them doing day to day things. You should also wear them for training of course."

Naruto beamed and immediately set down his bags and started to put them on.

"They're adjustable, just put a bit of chakra into them and they'll get heavier."

Naruto did as instructed as he thought they were a bit light. It took a moment for the weights to adjust to the chakra, but when they did, Naruto groaned slightly.

"Whoa… That's heavy…" He could still walk but with quite a bit of effort. Lifting his arms was also a chore but he guessed he could get used to it.

"Naruto, if I were you I wouldn't take those off to often. The Kyuubi is constantly healing your body, so I think you would get more out of it if you wore those weights constantly. You'll probably be used to the current weight by the end of the week" the Hokage advised.

Naruto nodded as he looked at the stairs he had to climb with the weights on.

'Damn it, this is going to be harder than I though…' He took a breath and started trudging up the stairs to get to his door.

"Naruto, I expect to see you in a few days to get your photo for your ninja license" the Hokage called after him.

"Yeah… I'll do that…"

XXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto was sitting on the roof of his apartment, looking at the Hokage monument.

'It's been nearly a week wearing these things, and I can finally jump from building to building…' he thought tiredly.

He glanced down and watched people walking through the streets. He noticed a head of pink hair and blushed.

'There's Sakura-chan… Man, why does she have to be so in love with Sasuke?'

He glanced back at the mountain where four faces were carved.

"I bet you never had to deal with that kind of stuff, did you…" he said to his father's face.

'What would he do in this situation?' Naruto asked himself. 'He would probably just recognize it as a lost cause… I mean, I like her and all, but she hits me too often and she's really bossy… Then she isn't really that great of a Kunoichi either. Sure she's smart, but what the hell? Plus, she isn't the nicest person around… Hell, Ino's kinder than Sakura. She treats Choji and Shikamaru with some respect, even if she is head over heals in love with Sasuke… Sakura treats all the other guys like obstacles in her way...'

Naruto sighed as he went back into his one room apartment via a window.

He looked around and picked up a book.

'Which chakra control exercise do I move onto now…? I finally got those leaf exercises done… Hm, tree climbing?'

"How the hell does that help chakra control?" he asked himself before continuing on.

Naruto continued to read the page and reread it to make sure he had it all memorized.

He set the book down and walked out the door, leaving his new jacket at home, but the rest of his attire on.

He walked through the streets, ignoring the glares and the new looks of confusion.

He knew what the confused looks were for. Everybody had heard of his failure in the academy and yet he still had received a Hitai-ate. Not only that, but he hadn't pulled a prank on anyone in five to six days… It was a new record.

Naruto had been surprised by the new looks, but quickly gotten sick of them. It was just like he had been told not long ago… He should be aiming for positive attention, not negative.

Although, confusion was kind of neutral, wasn't it?

'What the hell am I thinking about this for? I should be focused on how to do this tree climbing thing…'

Half an hour later, Naruto was in the same clearing he had been in when he had learnt the Kage Bunshin technique. He had taken a liking to this spot, as it was secluded and he hadn't seen anyone out here before.

Naruto took out one of his kunai, just as the book had advised for marking his progress and focused chakra into the soles of his feet. He ran towards the tree and placed his foot on the bark. He attempted to place his other foot on the tree but slipped off and hit the ground, hard.

'Damn weights…' thought Naruto.

He got up and looked around the clearing.

'May as well try…' He made the familiar cross with his fingers and shouted, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

At least twenty other Naruto's appeared.

"You know what to do!" he ordered. "Hai!" the bunshin replied before picking a tree and starting their exercise.

Naruto turned to face his own tree and glared at it.

'I will get this exercise done by dawn!'

Naruto charged up his feet with chakra and ran at the tree yet again.

When he set his foot on the tree, the bark seemed to explode and throw Naruto away from it.

'I think I get it… Too much, you're pushed away, too little, nothing happens…'

Naruto concentrated for a few minutes this time, trying to get the proper amount of chakra concentrated.

He kept waiting as the clones around him had varying results… But he didn't pay them any attention.

'Now!' he thought as his eyes snapped open.

He ran at the tree, fast, wanting to, needing to get up the tree.

First one step, two, three… He was actually running up the tree! Then, he lost his concentration. He slashed at the tree, marking where he had gotten and fell back down.

Naruto landed on the ground and looked up.

"Ten feet… Maybe nine…"Naruto sighed.

'At least it's progress… What's that saying? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step?'

Naruto sighed as he stood back up.

"Back to the grind" he muttered to himself.

XXXXXXXX

Naruto was having a pleasant dream, involving him standing on top of a tree, in the Hokages robes when he felt something poking his side.

"Stop that…:" he mumbled out as he turned onto his side.

"Gai-sensei, he seems to be alive!"

Naruto gritted his teeth. 'Why is someone so loud this early in the morning?'

Naruto opened his eyes only for him to shut them again and reopen them.

'Those are some serious eyebrows this guy has!'

"Hello there my youthful friend!" said the boy looming over him.

Naruto stood up quickly and looked the newcomer up and down.

The boy was taller than Naruto, which wasn't that hard to be, and seemed to be wearing a green leotard.

On his legs were orange leg warmers and on his arms, were wrappings, covering his forearms up to his knuckles.

"My name is Rock Lee, and you are?"

Naruto continued to inspect Rock Lee.

His eyebrows seemed to be very large… The largest he had ever seen. His hair was in a bowl cut style, and his eyes seemed to be large and full of a word Naruto would come to fear… Youth.

"My name is Na… I mean Uzumaki Naruto."

'I nearly said Namikaze… I need to stop practicing saying that in the mirror…'

"It is a pleasure to meet you Naruto-san!"

Naruto nodded when he noticed that there was someone behind Lee.

"Hello there Naruto, my name is Maito Gai!"

Naruto was glad that he had been practicing hiding his emotions all his life and for the book on proper etiquette otherwise he would have been very rude…

'HOLY SHIT! Those eyebrows are fucking HUGE! What are these guys? The wonder twins?'

Maito Gai seemed to be wearing nearly the exact same outfit as Lee. There were only a few differences. Gai didn't have any wrappings on his arms and was also wearing a flack vest. His facial structure seemed to be stronger and his eyes weren't as wide, but were just as youthful.

"So why are you out here on such a youthful morning Naruto-san?" Lee inquired.

"Oh, I was out here training last night and I guess I just pushed myself too hard."

"What were you working on?" Gai asked.

"Tree climbing exercise… I think I have it down… I probably would if I wasn't wearing these damn weights…" Naruto mumbled the last part, but Gai and Lee both heard it clearly.

"You are wearing weights?" they both asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Yeah! It's pretty cool, but I've only been wearing them for about six days, but I'm starting to get used to them."

"May we see your weights Naruto-san?" Gai asked immediately.

"Um… sure I guess…" Naruto took off all four of his weights and handed them to Gai.

'Hm… They aren't too heavy, but he just started wearing them and they seem to be heavier than when I got Lee his first set of weights… They're adjustable which is good… Not too bad…'

"Have you had to readjust these recently?" Gai asked.

"Um… twice… Once when I first got them, then just yesterday… I get used to them pretty quickly."

Gai nodded. 'It's the Kyuubi… I had heard that Uzumaki Naruto had been gifted with a healing ability by having the Kyuubi inside of him… I guess it's true. He's getting used to the weights because his muscles are constantly healing and adjusting, meaning he's getting stronger every second… In a few months, he could be as fast as Lee…'

"I have to say there Naruto-kun" Gai said, taking no notice of Naruto's reaction to the added honorific, "it's fantastic that I've met another youthful Genin that is using weights… The only other one being Lee here!"

"Really!" Naruto exclaimed. "That's awesome! How heavy are yours?" he asked the green clad Genin.

"That is a good question Naruto-kun" Lee said, also taking no notice of Naruto's reaction to the honorific. "I've been wearing them for a year now, so they are quite heavy."

"Wow… I'll bet…" Naruto said, his jaw feeling slightly lax.

Gai smiled at the blonde. "Tell you what Naruto! How would you like to train with Lee and I!? We could always use another training partner! What kind of Taijutsu do you use?"

Naruto looked away from Gai for a moment before answering, feeling ashamed.

"I don't have any style… I was never taught one."

Gai remembered hearing that Naruto wasn't the academy's favorite student, but not being taught even the academy style Taijutsu?

"Tell you what Naruto, how about Lee and I teach you our style? It's called the Goken style! It relies on speed and strength and is one of the greatest styles a man could want! What do you say!?" Gai asked as he gave a thumbs up and a sparkling smile.

"Uh…yeah! Sure! That would be awesome!"

"This will be great Naruto-kun! I have not had a training partner in Taijutsu so this will be new for both of us!" Lee exclaimed as he too gave Naruto a thumbs up.

"Yeah, this'll be fun!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto arrived at his apartment after learning when and where to meet Gai and Lee the next day. Unfortunately for him, he had gotten an eyeful of what seemed to be a horrible Genjutsu that is activated by the two green clad Shinobi hugging.

Naruto was sure to have nightmares of the two later that night.

He quickly undressed and went to take a shower in the bathroom.

He threw on his weights and a clean outfit and jumped out his window, forgetting that he had put his weights on.

The result felt painful, and the ground underneath him had cracked slightly, but he was in too much pain to notice.

"Fucking weights… I'm not doing that again anytime soon… FUCK! Did I break any bones!? Fuuuuck!" Naruto seemed to be cradling his legs for a few minutes as people looked on in confusion and anger at the loud Genin.

Finally, when the pain had dissipated, Naruto got back onto his feet and slowly walked to the Hokage tower where he had to have his photo taken and submit it along with his information.

'Too bad I didn't have time to do anything cool with face paint… That would've been cool, but probably not very Shinobi-like… Meh, at least I look good in these clothes.'

Naruto sighed as he walked through the village, look from building to building.

'It's a nice day that's for sure… Then again, when isn't it a nice day in Konoha…? We hardly ever get snow, and it rains once in a while… It'll be nice to get missions outside of the village, get some variety and all.'

Naruto grinned to himself.

"Gotta love Kage Bunshin" he said, drawing a few curious looks from Shinobi he was passing by.

'My vocabulary is getting better; I guess reading isn't all that bad, especially when it's my clones that are doing it instead of me!'

He made it to the tower and entered it quickly, thankful that it wasn't too busy today as it had been on some days quite frequently.

He made his way to the proper floor and opened another door.

"Hi… I'm here to get my photo taken for Ninja Registration…" he said politely to the receptionist at the desk.

The woman at the desk didn't even bother looking up.

"Uzumaki Naruto?" she asked.

"Um… yeah…"

"You were supposed to be here five minutes ago… Go to the roof, that's where they're taking the photos…"

"Um… ok, thanks."

"Whatever…" the receptionist said.

'Wow… what a bitch…' thought Naruto as he scowled at her before leaving the room and heading up further.

He made it to the roof to see a middle aged man wearing glasses waiting with a large camera.

"It's about time you made it Uzumaki, I've been waiting here for hours!"

'Liar… I'm five minutes late…' Naruto shrugged and walked over to the spot marked with an X.

"I'm guessing I stand here?" he asked.

The man glared at Naruto before speaking. "Don't get sarcastic with me Gaki… Now hold still while I take the picture."

Naruto rolled his eyes and waited.

'Another thing I should thank books for… Patience…'

A few minutes later, Naruto grinned for the camera and told to go to the Hokage's office.

Naruto yawned as he walked down and almost didn't notice when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry" Naruto apologized as he turned to face the person he had bumped into.

"Naruto?"

"Shikamaru?"

"Why are you wearing a Hitai-ate…? Scratch that, why aren't you wearing your orange jumpsuit… not that I'm complaining or anything."

Naruto grinned at him. "I passed the exams! Plus, I thought it was time for a change!"

Shikamaru grinned. "Man, you look a lot like the Yondaime Hokage with those duds…"

Shikamaru noticed the gleam in Naruto's eyes when he mentioned this.

'Interesting…'

"Really? I didn't notice… Anyways, I'm in a real hurry, I have to go down to Oji-san's office to fill out some crap! See you in a few weeks Shikamaru!"

With that, Naruto turned around and walked away.

'Huh… He seems to be straining a bit more with walking… and he seems… taller?'

Naruto continued on towards the Hokage's office and bumped into another person. This time, it was a man.

"Sorry sir… I wasn't paying attention to where I was going…"

"It's alright…"

Naruto looked at the man and was slightly amused.

'What kind of guy wears a mask and has his Hitai-ate so you can only see his right eye?'

The man seemed to be wearing standard Jonin attire, with his Hitai-ate slanted over his left eye and a mask covering all but his right eye. His silver hair seemed to defy gravity and pull to the left. He seemed to be holding an orange book titled Icha Icha Paradise.

"Aren't you Uzumaki Naruto?" the man asked suddenly.

"I am… Who are you?" he retorted.

"Hatake Kakashi… You seem to be dressed, differently than usual…"

Naruto didn't find this surprising at all as most people had seen him either performing a prank, or running from ANBU all over the village.

"Felt like it was time for a change…" Naruto said. Kakashi eyed him for a bit longer before shrugging.

"Sometimes, change is a great thing…" with that said, he started to walk past Naruto.

"Don't I get one?" Naruto asked.

"Get what?" Kakashi asked as he started to read his book.

"An apology… You seem to have been reading a book and you bumped into me… Don't I get an apology?"

Kakashi looked at him before closing his eye which resembled a U, meaning he was smiling.

"You already admitted to bumping into me and you apologized, meaning I don't have to… But if it will make you feel better, then I'm sorry for bumping into you."

Naruto grinned at Kakashi before continuing on.

"Nice to finally meet you Naruto…" Kakashi whispered to himself before vanishing in a flurry of wind and leaves.

Naruto finally made it to the Hokage's office and trudged in.

The Sandaime Hokage smiled at Naruto while his two advisors, Koharu and Homura gave him blank looks.

"How has everything been Naruto?" The Sandaime asked as he set down the photo he had just received of said Shinobi.

"It's awesome! I'm getting stronger already! I've been working on that tree climbing exercise and I think I'm ready to move on to the next step!"

The Hokage raised an eyebrow at this as did his two advisors.

"Really? Would you care to show us?" It wasn't Hiruzen that had asked, but Koharu.

"Um… Sure!" Naruto was taken a back that the old lady had taken an interest in him at all.

He walked up to a wall and focused his chakra and began to climb the wall, up to the ceiling, and started walking across the ceiling as if it were the floor.

"How long have you been practicing this technique?" Sarutobi asked the blonde Genin.

"I started this one last night… Took me all night, but I got it down finally, especially after I used the Kage Bunshin to help learn it."

Suddenly, Koharu and Homura were whispering to each other while the Hokage beamed with pride.

"That's quite an amazing feat Naruto… Especially for someone with your chakra capacity."

Naruto chuckled and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Thanks… But it was really hard and I didn't take any breaks…"
Sarutobi nodded. 'He definitely inherited Minato's drive…' He looked down at the photo and the papers that had all of Naruto's information.

"Well Naruto, I think everything is ready… So all you have to do now is wait another two weeks and then you'll attend the academy one last time for team assignments."

Naruto beamed at this. "That's great Oji-san! I'll just…" Naruto was interrupted by the door opening suddenly and blur entering the room.

"On guard old man!" came the voice of a small boy.

'Not this again…' thought the aged Hokage.

The blur suddenly tripped over its own feet and fell to the ground.

"This is a trap! Right!?" It was a small boy, was wearing what seemed to be a large scarf, shorts and a shirt with a cap over his hair.

"You!" he shouted while pointing at Naruto. "You made me trip!"

Naruto clenched his fist in anger.

Before anyone could react, he held up the boy by the collar, ready to deck him.

Once again, the door opened to reveal a man in a black bodysuit, a black bandana and sunglasses.

"Naruto! Unhand the honorable grandson this instant!" Naruto glanced at the man before looking back at the boy.

"That boy is our Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru!"

At this, Konohamaru grinned at Naruto.

"Go ahead; hit me, if you dare."

'This is how it always is… Once they find out who my grandfather is, they all…' he didn't get time to finish his thought as he felt Naruto's fist impact on his skull.

"I couldn't care less whose grandson you are! You're still a brat!"

With that said Naruto shoved past the man in the black bodysuit and stormed out of the building.

The man, also known as Ebisu, watched the Kyuubi Jinchuriki storm off and mutter to himself.

'So that is the demon… Most interesting type of clothing he has now…'

Ebisu rounded upon his student Konohamaru to find that… "Where did the honorable grandson go?"

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto was starting to get pissed off, plain and simple. Not only did he have to deal with someone who he knew judged him for the fox, but the Hokage's grandson was stalking him, and wasn't doing a good job of keeping out of sight.

Naruto stopped walking, letting his anger get the better of him and whirled around, pointing at the poorly disguised academy student.

"Listen, I don't know what you want and I really don't care, just stop following me!"

Konohamaru lowered the cloth that was painted to look like a fence and chuckled.

"So you noticed me following you, the stories don't lie…"

Naruto stared blankly at the kid before whirling around and walking away.

"Get lost kid!"

Konohamaru ran past Naruto and blocked his path. "No! I need you to teach me that Oiroke no Jutsu so I can beat the old man and take over as Hokage!"

Naruto stared at the kid for a moment before busting out laughing.

"You!? Hahahaha! That's good kid! Believe me, if that was all that was needed to become Hokage, I'd be the Godaime Hokage right now!"

"Please?" Konohamaru begged. "I'll do anything to learn that awesome move."

Naruto looked at the boy who was on his knees now.

'Why not… It'll help kill some time… I'll just have some Kage Bunshin head home and read up on a few things!' Naruto made a cross shape with his hands and six bunshin appeared.

"You guys go home and pick something to read…"

The Bunshin all saluted the original and ran off towards their apartment.

Konohamaru looked on in awe at his new idol.

"Come on… um… what was your name again kid?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Konohamaru!" he exclaimed eagerly.

"Alright! Let's go and train!"

XXXXXXXX

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" Konohamaru disappeared in a plume of smoke only to reveal a fat grotesque, possibly female version of him.

"Wrong" Naruto said flatly. "It's been four hours and you keep doing the same thing… Look."

Naruto formed the ram seal and in another plume off smoke, Naruto disappeared only to reappear as a nude, beautiful blonde teenage girl with what seemed to be at least a D cup.

"Like this" 'she' said to the boy.

Another puff of smoke and Naruto was back to his original self.

"Keep trying…"

XXXXXXX

Naruto had just gone to relieve himself behind a tree when he heard Konohamaru.

"BOSS! I think I did it! Come back and see!"

Naruto sighed. 'He better have… It's been eight hours since we started…'

Naruto reappeared to see Konohamaru forming the ram seal.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!" A puff of smoke later and there stood a beautiful, slender, well endowed, brunette girl.

"Well?" 'she asked.

Naruto grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"It's about time too!" Konohamaru reappeared with a huge smile on his face.

"Now I can become Hokage!" he exclaimed.

"That's a load of crap" Naruto said, frowning at the young boy.

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm on the shortcut to becoming Hokage" he said innocently.

Naruto clenched his teeth and resisted the urge to smack the boy.

"There aren't any shortcuts to becoming Hokage you twerp! The only way to become this village's leader is through hard work. Nothing else!"

"There you are honorable grandson!" came Ebisu's voice.

Naruto and Konohamaru looked up to see the Jonin looking down at them from the trees.

'Damn demon...'

'That same damn look… Always because of the fucking fox!'

Ebisu jumped down from the trees and started walking towards Konohamaru.

"Come now Konohamaru, if you associate with people such as this, it will cause difficulties on your shortcut to becoming Hokage."

Naruto had had enough of the shortcut talk and the glares and did the one thing he knew would work, but Konohamaru was already on it.

"Oiroke no Jutsu!"

Ebisu stared, and stared…

"Such a thing is unbecoming of me! Stop this foolishness honorable grandson and let's go!"

Konohamaru deactivated the jutsu in confusion.

"Why didn't it work? That's a killer technique?"

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The clearing was suddenly full of Naruto's.

Ebisu merely grinned at this. 'Such a trick may have overwhelmed a feeble minded fool such as Mizuki, but that shall not work on me!'

Then he noticed that they all were forming the ram seal.

Naruto grinned. 'Game over…'

"Harem no Jutsu!" The Naruto clones suddenly were dozens of beautiful women, all swooning over Ebisu, and unsurprisingly, naked.

It took a moment for Ebisu's mind to process what was happening, and when it did, it overloaded, and Ebisu was tossed back from the force of blood pouring out of his nose.

The clones all disappeared, leaving a grinning Naruto, a shocked Konohamaru and an unconscious Ebisu left in the clearing.

"Like I said, there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage."

Naruto turned to Konohamaru and stared at him. "You may want to become Hokage one day, but in order to do that, you're gonna have to take that title from me. I will be Hokage on day" he said with such force, Konohamaru was reminded of his grandfather.

XXXXXXX

In his office, Sarutobi Hiruzen watched through his crystal ball, smiling serenely at the young blonde.

'There is no doubt in my mind, that you will be Hokage, Naruto…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto dispelled his clones as he walked into his crammed apartment room.

He sat down on his bed and kicked off his sandals, sorting through the memories of what his Bunshin had read.

'Hmmm… Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama founded this village… fought each other… could control Biju… tailed beasts… wood release…'

On and on the knowledge continued to pour into his skull, all about the history of Konohagakure.

'Ugh… History lessons…' Naruto sighed and looked out the window at the setting sun, casting an orange glow on the village.

Naruto sighed and got back up; knowing that he still had to continue training for a few more hours before he went back to bed.

'Two more weeks to catch up… Maybe I can master the regular bunshin jutsu… but why would I want to?'

Naruto pushed these thoughts away and grabbed a scroll that his father had left him and headed out to the clearing he trained in.

XXXXXXXXX

Naruto sat down at the base of a tree that he had clearly used for the tree climbing exercise, as there were kunai slashes straight up the tree.

There was enough light left that Naruto could still read what jutsu he was going to attempt to learn.

"Hmmm… A water technique? Uh… No hand seals! Nice! Hm… Suiton: Hahonryu… Hmmm…" Naruto looked up to see that there wasn't any water source around, which seemed to be recommended when first learning the jutsu.

"Well… From what I remember…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he pocketed the scroll and took to the tree branches. 'Not too far from here… There!'

He rocketed through the trees, his weights helping him move faster with momentum.

He found the river he was looking for and tried landing just on the bank but overshot.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuuuuuuck!" With a loud splash, Naruto landed in what seemed to be the deepest part of the river, his weights dragging him down.

'Fuck! Gotta kick hard to get to the surface!' he thought frantically.

After a few seconds of slowly ascending, his legs started to cramp up.

'So close! Come on!' Naruto broke the surface of the water and took in a quick breathe of air before going back under.

'Okay… Now to get to the river bank… Come on Naruto! You can't just drown here!'

Naruto could feel himself inching his way to the shallower parts of the river, but it was slow progress, and he seemed to be sinking as well.

'Wait… I see the bottom!' Naruto looked up to see that the surface wasn't too far.

'All I have to do is hold my breath a bit longer…' He hit the bottom and immediately started to walk along the bottom.

'I could always take these weights off, but what would Lee and Gai say?'

He felt the pain in his lungs, signaling that he needed air, and soon. He kept up the hard work and continued to slowly walk along through the cool water.

His lungs were screaming at him and he was starting to feel light headed now.

'Just a bit further!' he yelled at himself mentally.

Finally, his head emerged from the water, cool air greeting his scalp. Naruto jumped up, far enough to get his entire head above the water to get another breath of air before going back under and continuing forward.

One minute later, he was on the ground, wheezing, enjoying the air that he took for granted.

"I'm… never… doing that again…" he wheezed out.

He took his coat off along with his black shirt, leaving him clad only in his pants.

He dug through the coat's pockets and pulled out the scroll the jutsu was written on.

"All right… let's get to work on this shall we?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto woke up in his bed, wishing he hadn't agreed the day before to start training with the 'youthful' duo.

He pulled on his training clothes, which consisted of a plain black Gi.

He popped his neck and walked out of his apartment and walked down the stairs. On the street, Gai and Lee were already waiting for him.

"Ah! Naruto-kun, you are early! I take it that you are ready then?" Gai asked him enthusiastically.

Naruto could only nod, not feeling like talking this early in the morning.

"All right! A light jog around the village to warm us up!" With that said, Gai and Lee took off at high speeds down the street, heading for the outer wall.

'Light jog?! They're running at the speed of light!'

Naruto started to run after them, attempting to catch up with the two energetic Shinobi.

Naruto found out, that a 'light jog' for Gai and Lee, was twenty laps around the entire village at speeds that seemed inhuman.

Afterwards, it was to the training grounds for some sparing… Or it would have been if Naruto had known any type of Taijutsu.

"Alright Naruto! Today we'll start on some of the basic forms for the Goken style of Taijutsu! Just copy Lee's poses and I shall correct you when needed!"

It was then that Naruto first started to realize just how much he had missed out on in the academy. Both thanks to previous teachers that ignored him, to him constantly skipping out on school when he had Iruka as a sensei.

'I'm such a loser…' Naruto thought as he was corrected by Gai for the hundredth time.

For what must have been hours, Lee and Gai had Naruto go through the rigorous poses over and over until they felt that he was starting to get the hang of things.

"I'll say this much Naruto! In a way, it is a blessing that you weren't taught any form of Taijutsu!"

Naruto looked at Gai as if he were insane. 'He probably is though…' Naruto thought…

"If you had been taught any other type of Taijutsu, you would be having a much tougher time as you would get Kata's from this style and the other style confused, which could end up costing you your life in a mission. However, this way, you shall only remember the Kata's for this style, meaning you could perform it perfectly one day to an extent that could surpass Lee or even myself! I must say that I am slightly jealous of you!"

Lee could only nod in agreement.

'I never even thought of it like that… I guess I owe those jerks at the academy a thank you!'

After another hour reviewing the poses and Kata's he had learnt that day, Gai decided to call it quits for the day.

"Naruto, I want you to practice those whenever you can! Tomorrow, we shall see if you have been practicing! For now, Lee and I must return to our Shinobi duties and meet the rest of our squad! Until tomorrow!" Gai and Lee both struck the same pose, complete with sparkling teeth and thumbs up.

Naruto sweat dropped, hoping to god that his new sensei wouldn't transform him into something like this.

Naruto headed back into town to see that it was fairly close to noon.

'Guess I should head over to Ichiraku's… I haven't been there in a while and I'm sure they've been wondering where I went to…'

Naruto continued to walk home, too tired to run or jump from roof to roof.

'Man… If I keep up that kind of training, I'll definitely surpass Sasuke-teme!'

He made it to his apartment much slower than usual and had some difficulty climbing the stairs to his door.

He quickly showered and changed before heading back out and headed towards the ramen bar he loved so much.

'Man… A nice hot shower really does a lot of good!' he thought to himself as he didn't feel as drained as he had when he got home.

He walked down the street, ignoring the usual glares he received, occasionally grinning to the fact that he was getting stronger.

'After this… I'll go back to the river and work on that jutsu…'

Naruto made it to his favorite restaurant and took a seat on one of the stools.

"What will… Naruto?"

"Hi there old man!" Naruto said to the owner of the ramen stand.

"Where have you been!? Ayame and I were worried you'd forgotten about us!" the ramen chef accused.

"How could I forget you guys? I've just been busy with training is all! Besides, I'm here now aren't I?"

Teuchi nodded. "True! So what'll it be Naruto?"

"Hmmm… Three bowls of miso ramen!"

The chef nodded and got to work right away. "I like those new clothes by the way Naruto! They look a little familiar though…"

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, I've heard that! My old outfit was getting a bit… old… So I thought it was time for an upgrade!"

A new voice joined the conversation. "I think they look good on you Naruto-kun!"

Ayame had snuck up on the once orange clad Shinobi and scared him.

"Oh! Ayame-neechan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Glad to see that we haven't been forgotten" Ayame teased. "So you've been training?"

Naruto nodded as he was handed his first bowl of ramen. Ayame took a seat next to Naruto, as she wasn't working yet.

"Yeah, been learning a few chakra control techniques and I'm working on this one jutsu! It's really hard though… Oh! And I met someone named Maito Gai who's helping me with my Taijutsu!"

Ayame smiled at how enthusiastic Naruto was being about the whole thing as he slurped down his ramen at the same time.

"AH!" he exclaimed when his first bowl was finished. "How I have missed you ramen!"

Teuchi took notice of this and asked Naruto something. "Haven't you been eating ramen lately?"

Naruto shook his head. "I can't eat it too often anymore… Not if I'm to become a great ninja. I was reading about it, and a ninja actually needs a balanced diet… I don't like it too much, but as long as I can have ramen at least twice a week, I'll live."

Ayame and Teuchi both stared at Naruto. "W…what? Do I have a noodle stuck to my face?" he asked as he started feeling around his face to see if there was anything on it.

"N…no… Just… it's nothing Naruto…" Ayame said, still in shock.

'Naruto's reading?'

"But anyways… Yeah, so I had to start cooking different kind of meals… It took me a few tries, but now I can make things that are at least edible."

This caused jaws to drop. 'Naruto's cooking as well?' Naruto continued to talk as he waited for his second bowl.

"It's a lot of trial and error, but I'm only getting better!"
Teuchi snapped out of his shocked state first.

"Congratulations Naruto! You're finally becoming a true man!"

Ayame just nodded her head in agreement.

"Thanks! Does this mean I get this ramen for free?" Naruto asked, hopeful of yes.

"No chance! If you're only eating here once in a while, you're going to be paying for all of your meals!"

Naruto hung his head at this. 'Man… Free ramen is the best…'

Ten minutes later, Naruto was done with his ramen and was filling the two ramen cooks in on the gory details of his training.

"I've seen those two guys walking around here doing the weirdest things. Walking on their hands, to carrying boulders through the streets" Teuchi commented shaking his head. "Naruto, if I ever catch you wearing what they wear, I'll ban you from eating ramen at my establishment."

"W…why?" Naruto asked. The fact is that Naruto had been given the same type of outfit that his Taijutsu teachers wore by Gai, and he had been planning on trying it on that night.

"It's an abomination Naruto! Never wear one, ever!"

Naruto could only agree to not wear it… It wasn't worth being banned from Ichiraku's.

Finally, Naruto said his goodbyes and headed for the river he had been training at the night before.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When he arrived, he created fifty Kage Bunshin and ordered half of them to continue the tree climbing exercise.

"I need to make sure that I have that mastered by the end of next week!" he yelled to his bunshin.

"Hai!" they all replied.

"The rest of you will help work on this technique with me!"

The remaining twenty-five clones nodded and set to work.

In the tree tops, a figure was watching him with interest.

'Hmm… Naruto just got a whole lot more interesting' thought a certain curious Nara.

XXXXXX

Naruto left his clones to continue working on the Suiton jutsu and went to check on the tree climbing group.

"How's it going over here?" he asked.

One of his bunshin that was resting got up and walked over to him.

"Great boss! We're just walking up and down the tree now. Making sure we have the hang of it just like you asked."

Naruto nodded his head in approval.

"Good, I'm going to go work on that Taijutsu!" The bunshin nodded to the original and left to pick a tree and continue mastering walking up it.

Naruto left them and walked a little further into the forest.

'Man… This is awesome!' In his head, he could already imagine himself impressing Sakura, putting Sasuke to shame, and being handed the Hokage's hat.

He quickly got into the beginning pose that he had been taught and slowly moved through the few Kata's he had been shown.

'I can't let Gai-sensei or Lee down!' He had earned their respect just by wearing the weights, and now he wanted to keep that respect by mastering the Taijutsu they were teaching him.

Over and over, he went through the Kata's, not wasting any time, or energy. Occasionally, he would notice that something felt off and he would try to readjust himself.

A few times, he caught himself trying to speed through them and making more mistakes.

'No… I need to get them perfected first! Just like my father's scrolls say… You must master the basics to master the technique…'

He continued on into the night until he felt it was time to check up on his clones. He had received a few memories from clones that had accidently been hit, but not enough to figure out how far they had made it.

He checked up on the tree climbing group first. Eighteen of the original twenty-five remained.

"All right guys, I want you all to dispel right now!"

Without another word, they all exploded into smoke, their memories and experience assaulting Naruto's mind.

'Not too bad' he thought to himself.

He glanced back at one of the trees and then continued on to the other group.

"How's it going over here?" he asked the closest Bunshin when he arrived.

"Well, we did use the jutsu a few times, but it's too weak right now…"

Naruto nodded. "Okay then… I think that's enough for tonight then." The remaining fifteen nodded and disappeared.

Naruto felt the memories flow into his head, seeing what was working and what wasn't.

Naruto held out his hand and concentrated on the chakra in his hand. Converting it to what the scroll had said, felt like a rushing current. A small amount of water shot out of the river and into his hand, swirling around in a small vortex, reminding Naruto of a whirlpool… Although, it was only the size of a small coin.

'Better than nothing…' he thought to himself as he cut the chakra flow, allowing the water to fall into his hand.

He shook his hand dry and started back towards the village.

XXXXXX

Two weeks had come and gone. Naruto could already feel the effects of all the training he had been going through starting to pay off. It was the day of team assignments and Gai and Lee had agreed that Naruto should take the day off. He was already making wonderful progress to the point that he could actually spar with Lee now.

Naruto lost of course, as Lee had much more experience with the style and was a lot stronger than Naruto. Gai had commented though, that if he kept up at this rate, he would be on even ground with Lee in a few months time. Naruto beamed at this, but said nothing, having been taught by Gai in a few other subjects as well.

Naruto had to increase his weights every four days, as his muscles would get used to them quickly and Gai had quickly explained the reason being his healing factor.

'One good thing about being a Jinchuriki…' Naruto had thought gloomily. He had finally figured out what he was technically called in the Shinobi world, and he hated the term straight away. 'Human sacrifice? That's all I am?'

He had nearly tossed the book out the window, but realized that it was a hard truth… He didn't have to like it though.

He had to admit, reading wasn't so bad now that he thought about it. In a way, it was slightly entertaining, reading about past wars. Especially when he got to the parts about the third great Shinobi war.

There were chapters just about his father's battles. All of them being wins.

'I have a lot to live up to' Naruto thought to himself.

And now, here was Naruto, smiling into his pillow as he awoke that morning. The sun streamed through his window and lit up his one room apartment, warming the sheets that lay on top of Naruto. He could hear the people on the streets going about their business. The noon air was like perfume and…

'Wait a minute…' Naruto sniffed the air, his enhanced senses kicking in.

"SHIT!" he yelled as he threw the covers off of him. "I'm late! I'm sooo late! Shit shit shit shit!" Naruto scrambled around his apartment. "The one day I sleep in past five and I wake up at noon!" Naruto jumped into the shower in the bathroom and grimaced when he realized that there was only cold water.

'Fix that later…' he thought to himself.

Once he was cleaned, he jumped out and threw on his boxers, his weights, and then the rest of his clothes that he taken to wearing now.

He looked at himself in the mirror and noticed that his face was a bit leaner.

'Wow… That training's starting to pay off!' Naruto looked himself up and down, getting used to his new look. 'May as well measure myself again…' he thought.

Back in the academy, Naruto would always measure his height, to see if he was getting any taller. His height was a sensitive subject for him and he hated being so short.

He walked to the wall and placed his back to it, standing straight up. He took a kunai out of his holster and pressed it against his scalp. He then pressed it into the wall until he was sure that it was in there properly.

He stepped away and looked.

"No way… I'm an inch taller!"

Naruto was jumping for joy at this point. He grabbed his kunai out of his wall and placed it back in the holster and left his apartment at high speed for the academy.

XXXXXXX

"Where the hell are they?" Sakura screeched.

Sasuke didn't say anything as he merely glared at the pink haired girl.

"Naruto's late, and so is our new sensei!" Sakura was pacing around the front of the classroom, vaguely reminding Sasuke of Iruka when he was irritated.

Sakura kept glancing at the door and her crush, torn between adoration, and irritation.

'Naruto's been keeping us waiting way too long… That BAKA!'

'At least it's just me and Sasuke though! I owe you Naruto! Shannaro!'

Suddenly, they heard a crash outside the door.

Sakura ran to it and opened it to find two people lying on the ground.

"I'm so sorry sir I… Kakashi?" One of them was Naruto, but he was dressed differently.

The other one was a mask wearing Jonin, with only one eye visible and gravity defying silver hair.

"Hello again Naruto" the man said lazily.

Naruto got to his feet first and offered a hand to the Jonin.

"Sorry… I was running late and so I wasn't really watching where I was going."

Kakashi waved his hand, his eye in a U shape indicating he was smiling.

"It's okay; it must be our thing, to literally bump into each other."

Naruto chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head.

That's when Naruto noticed Sakura looking at him, torn between shock, and rage.

"Ah! Hi Sakura-chan! Have the teams already been formed?"

"Naruto you BAKA!" she yelled, throwing a punch at the blonde Genin.

Naruto was torn at the moment. He saw the punch coming and had the choice to avoid it, or take it. As usual, the blonde took the latter and impacted on the wall.

"G…gomen Sakura-chan…" he muttered from the wall.

'Weird… That didn't hurt too badly. Gai and Lee throw harder punches.'

Kakashi looked on at the situation; wondering if now would be the best time to announce who he was…

"I take it you are Haruno Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura hesitated, slightly shocked that he knew who she was.

"H…Hai…"

"Good! I guess I'm in the right place! I'm sorry I'm late, I was walking past a tree and a cat was stuck in it, so I got it down and hunted down the owner to return the cat!"

'What a lame excuse…' thought Naruto.

"Meet me on the roof in five minutes" Kakashi said with a bored expression on his mostly covered face. With that said, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sakura could only blink.

"Hey, uh… Sakura-chan? whose team am I on?" Naruto asked.

"Dobe…" came Sasuke's voice. "What's with the new outfit?"

Naruto glared at the Uchiha. "None of your business Teme!"

"Hn" Sasuke retorted as usual.

Sasuke started towards the stairs to head to the roof. Sakura quickly followed as Naruto poked his head inside the room.

'Damn… I'm on the same team as Sasuke… great… Oh well. At least I'm with Sakura-chan!'

With that, Naruto followed his new teammates to the roof of the academy.

XXXXXXX

"How about we all introduce ourselves?" Kakashi suggested.

"Um… how?" Sakura asked.

"Oh you know… Likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies, you know!" he answered with a bored expression.

"How about you show us how?" Sakura suggested.

Kakashi shrugged. "My name is Hatake Kakashi; my dreams are none of your business… I like plenty of things and I have tons of hobbies."

'All we learnt was his name…' thought the Kunoichi of the group.

"You next" Kakashi said as he pointed to Sakura, who was on the right of the group.

"Ok… Um… My name is Haruno Sakura and I like…" she glanced at Sasuke.

"My dreams are…" she glanced at Sasuke again, only this time, she blushed and squealed.

'It seems that she's just a fangirl… great…'

"I hate Naruto!" she declared angrily.

Naruto hung his head slightly, hurt by the statement.

'Maybe I should just give up on her… She obviously only has eyes for Sasuke.'

"You next" Kakashi said as he pointed at Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes but I dislike many things. I don't have a dream; but a goal. To restore my clan and to kill… a certain man."

Sakura looked on in amazement while Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 'That's to be expected.'

Naruto had mixed emotions. 'From what I read, I'm going to go ahead and guess that it's his brother… Who else would he want to kill? Uchiha Itachi is in the bingo book for killing off his entire clan save for Sasuke.'

"Last one up."

Naruto glanced at Kakashi.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are pranks and training as well as the few friends that I've made in the past few weeks. "My dislikes are people who judge someone for something out of their control. My dreams are to become Hokage and to surpass my father."

'That shouldn't be too much information' Naruto thought to himself.

Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi all looked surprised at the last part.

'Father?' Sasuke asked himself. 'I thought he was a nameless orphan.'

'He's lying about that last part I bet…' thought Sakura.

'Hmm… I guess he really does know about Sensei being his father.'

"Well, I think that's all for now. Take these as tomorrow, we'll be doing an exercise to see if you all have what it takes to be Genin" said Kakashi as he handed them each a piece of paper with the rules he was about to explain.

"Exercise?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi nodded. "A test, to see if you can have what it takes to be Genin."

"But we already took a test" Naruto retorted.

"That was to weed out the weaklings. You all have the potential, but let's see if you have enough. Tomorrow, we'll meet at the training grounds listed on that paper. Seven in the morning, oh and don't eat breakfast."

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"If you do, then I hope you enjoy puking it up" he said simply.

"What kind of test is it?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi started to chuckle.

"Well, let's just say that this test has a sixty-six percent fail rate. Meaning that only nine Genin out of the twenty-seven that graduated will make it. The rest will be sent back to the academy for more schooling."

At this, all three Genin gulped.

"Till tomorrow… Ja ne!"

With that, Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind.

Immediately Sasuke got up and started to walk away.

"Sasuke! Do you want to practice together to prepare for tomorrow?" Sakura asked as she got up to follow him.

"No" he said simply, walking away.

Sakura stopped in her tracks, rejection sinking in.

"Hey Sakura-chan, if you want, I can…"

"NO WAY!" she yelled at him.

Naruto scowled slightly, irritated at Sakura.

"No need to yell Sakura… I was just trying to offer you help."

"You? The dobe? Offering me help?" Sakura asked, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah, but I guess you'll be alright" Naruto said politely as he walked past her.

"Of course I will be!"

Naruto shrugged. "If you say so. See you tomorrow Sakura." With that said Naruto opened the door to the stairs and walked away, just as Sasuke had done.

It took Sakura a moment to figure it out, but it finally hit her.

"Wait… he didn't call me Sakura-chan!" 'Maybe he's finally out of my hair!'

Sakura beamed at this new revelation and skipped the rest of the way home.

XXXXX

Translations:

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)

Oiroke no Jutsu (Sexy Jutsu)

Suiton: Hahonryu (Water Release: Tearing Torrent)

Well, honestly, I'm proud of that chapter… I really didn't want to write out the Mizuki scene, kinda just useless for me as it's the same… If that bugged you, I'm sorry, but I was VERY lazy. Don't worry, it won't happen again from now on. By the way, this will be a NarutoXIno… Get over it and no, I won't change it no matter what.

Chapter two is in two weeks, so I hope you can bear the wait…