Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of Konoha, sighed sadly to himself as he stared over the village from the very large window in his office.

The day was October 10th, five years after the attack of the Kyuubi no Yoko, a beast that had literally appeared out of nowhere and attacked the village. In a last ditch effort his predecessor sealed the fox I his own son, young Naruto, at the cost of his life. His last wish was for the villagers to view his son as a great hero.

They did not. Sarutobi snorted. To put it lightly.

Although Sarutobi had yet to witness any actual physical abuse, what he had seen was already bad enough. Not only had the older people ignored his existence at the best of times, they encouraged their children to do the same. So young Naruto had only one friend in the entire village. Sarutobi himself.

Forcing his mind to shift to a lighter train of thought, the elder Hokage wondered what to get the young boy for his birthday gift. Nothing coming to mind, he sat on the chair and drew his pipe, lighting it in thought.

Let's see… He doesn't need kunai or shuriken yet. No weapons either. Maybe clothes… Sarutobi's mind shifted to his last conversation with Naruto.

Flashback Sequence

Naruto sat on the table watching the old Hokage, who had a miserable look on his face as he signed a mess of papers. He snorted in amusement when the old man sent a victorious smirk at the pile after he was done.

"So, tell me Naruto, what is it that you want to be when you grow up?" Naruto took an amusing stance, scratching his chin in though with a comical look on his face.

"A Legend."

"Oh?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. That, he was not expecting. "Would you mind explaining?"

"Nope." Naruto shook his blond head wildly. "All the old people in the village treat me like I don't even exist. So, if I become a Legend, then they couldn't forget me even if they wanted to." He explained with a large grin.

"Good thinking, Naruto." Sarutobi nodded slowly with a small smile, before ruffling the kid's hair, much to his annoyance.

Flashback End

So, with a victorious look on his face, the Hokage reached for one particular leather tome at the top of his bookcase and looked it over. He smiled before exiting the office.

Naruto's Apartment

Naruto sat on the bed in his bedroom, his feet dangling off the edge, waiting for the old man to come over and play with him for the day. Naruto smiled at the thought. The old man was really fun sometimes, when he wasn't lecturing too much.

"Hello there, how's the little birthday boy doing today?" The old man asked as he enetered the room through the window.

"I'm not little, dammit. I'm already five." Naruto pouted at him, showing him his hand.

"That's only four fingers, Naruto." The Hokage chuckled when Naruto quickly corrected himself and grinned without a word. "And where did you learn that word, anyway?" The old man frowned.

"From you." Naruto smiled. "You said it when the nasty lady outside your office brought in those papers."

"Eh, right." Sarutobi sweat dropped. "Well, don't use it until you're older, ok?" Naruto shrugged.

"So where's my present, huh?" Naruto asked, trying to pear behind the Hokage.

"Now, now, relax." Sarutobi chuckled. "How do you know I brought you anything?"

"Because it's my birthday. And people get things for other people they like on their birthdays."

"Oh? And what do Anbu get?"

"A day off and a boot to the butt if they don't like it." The Hokage chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair.

"That's right. And here's your birthday." He brought out the tome from behind his robes. It was very large, so large that Naruto couldn't hold it normally yet, and very thick. The leather was black and it had an intricate gold design on the front cover. It was a phoenix made of what looked like flames

"You brought me a book." Naruto deadpanned at the old Hokage. "I hate reading."

"Not just any book, Naruto. It's very special. Trust me; you'll see once you start reading it." Naruto looked at the Hokage. Then at the book. Then at the old man again.

"If you say so." He shrugged, putting it on his bed.

"Now come on, let's see how good you've gotten." The old man said, motioning to the shogi board he had gotten the boy on his last birthday.

Later that day, when the sun had already set and Sarutobi had to say goodbye to Naruto for the day, Naruto was still looking at the book the old man had given him. He liked the phoenix design enough, but was still kind of hesitant to open it. But finally, after staring at the golden insignia for a good couple of minutes, he shrugged and opened the book.

The first page was completely blank. The second, however, had a black and white sketch of a man in simple traveler clothes with a cloak, holding a long sword in one hand and with a bow and quiver on his back. On the other side was what Naruto suspected was the man's name and a text below it. He scanned the rest of the pages of the book, only to find them all with the same basic context. The only differences were that the pictures were more like black silhouettes, with the names looking more like titles and under those were just a few short lines.

Naruto turned to the first figure and read his name out loud. "Aragorn, son of Arathorn? Who the hell was he?"

"Me." A deep voice called in front of him. He looked up and saw the same man that was on the sketch, only he looked more… see-thru.

"Who are you?"

"I am Aragon, son of Arathorn." The man bowed to Naruto.

"Are you, by chance, a ghost?"

"Yes." Naruto nodded for a moment before throwing the book in the air and jumping behind the bed.

"What's wrong?" Aragorn asked the boy with a bemused look on his face.

"I'm kinda afraid of ghosts." Naruto answered, peeking from the edge of the bed.

"Don't worry kid, I won't hurt you." Aragorn chuckled. Naruto did nothing for a moment before slowly stepping in front of the bed.

"Are you sure?" Seeing the man nod he sat back on the bed and put the large book on his lap.

"Now, I think it's time for an explanation, yes?" Naruto nodded somewhat eagerly. "Well, you see, I am an ancient hero from a long time ago. Once I died my essence was trapped in the book exactly as I looked at my prime, but with all of my memories. Are you following me so far?" Naruto nodded again, getting more engrossed in the story. "I was made the guardian of the book so that, when somebody that the enchantments on it judged worthy takes possession of it, I can guide him, or her, in the use of the book."

"Use?"

"Yes. Just like me, many of the ancient legends you'll never hear about anymore are residing in the book. We can pass on our skills and knowledge on to you."

"How?" Naruto was now very, very interested in the book.

"Well, if one of us had a special skill, you would gain access to it. And you would get our ancient weapons and know how to use them by heart."

"Awesome." Naruto had stars in his eyes. "But why was only your picture visible?"

"Because I'm the only one automatically unlocked when you get the book. The others you'll have to unlock yourself." Naruto opened a random page.

"Build a ship?" He asked incredulously, looking at another one. "Kill a dragon? Where am I supposed to find a damn dragon?" Aragorn shrugged with a small smile.

"To use the book, put your hand on the golden symbol and shout out: Legendary Form: Aragorn. If you want to use someone else, just substitute their name for mine." Naruto nodded and followed the instructions. There was a golden flash of light that showed Naruto, still in his old clothes, holding a giant sword in his hand, with a bow and quiver around his legs. Aragorn laughed at the sight. "Looks like we'll have to train you a bit."

"you're gonna train me?" Naruto asked with a hopeful look on his face, his gear disappearing in a golden flash.

"Oh, yes." For some reason, the kid didn't like the smirk his first Legend was sporting.

Hey, this is an old challenge from Crimson Lion that I wanted to start now. And before you start bitching know that I use three coins with letters 'os' and 'ns' for them, so it's two out of three, and now it was on new story.

And I'd be glad if you submitted your ideas for the other Legends in the book. I already have about thirty, but if I like your suggestions, I'll incorporate them. Note that they have to be the full name of the character and the media they're from. Will be mentioned from the third chapter, the second will probably be coming up right after this one.