~~~Naruto : The Flames Rekindled~~~

~~~Chapter 1 : A New World~~~

The large forested hills that surrounded the village hidden in the leaves played host to one rather disgruntled looking man looking for his only child.

Around forty years or so in appearance, he had fair skin, long black hair that cascaded down his waist, and stoic onyx eyes. His attire consisted of a black shirt and blue pants underneath a full bodied crimson battle armor. Not exactly attire befitting of a ninja, more like that of a samurai walking into a full blown war really.

"That boy…" he said to himself as he walked around in a huff, searching around for his beloved grandchild, "How many times do I have to tell that boy to stop leaving the village like this? I swear I do not know where in the world he gets it from."

The least he could have done was not leave alone. Even though the lands surrounding the village that was their home and the entire country of Fire in general were markedly safer than any of the mainlands of the Elemental Nations that they were to the east of, it was still dangerous for a little boy to be out there all alone.

Ninja or not, he was only six.

But that was by proxy.

The only reason he was deemed one was because he was old and skilled enough to be considered one in the village they lived within. Conscripted to be a shinobi of the Uchiha clan which they were a part of.

He hadn't ever been on missions outside the village. He had never fought a true battle against a shinobi or taken a life on purpose. None of the kids in the village had to, quite fortunately.

This was the enactment of the vision he and his endeared friend had once shared, for children to grow old enough to taste sake.

They were far too powerful to be engaged in battle with more of the budding hidden villages in the world. And the fact that attacking even one of them meant incurring the accumulated wrath of two of the most powerful clans in the world kept them in relative peace. The Village Hidden in the Leaves was definitely the one that engaged in the least amount of pointless conflict with other budding villages or independent clans for that matter, even though currently they took the highest amounts of missions in the world.

Their life expectancy had become much higher than those of independent clan or the so called 'new hidden villages'. Instead of the usual age of twenty, many were reaching the ripe ages of forties. And some were looking to go even beyond that.

But back with the Uchiha clan's grandfather looking for his only grandchild ~

Fortunately for him, Naruto wasn't that hard to track. The trees he was rushing past were marked with nicks and cuts and holes, one that he could decipher were from shurikens and kunais. Most probably from Naruto practicing his shuriken and kunai as he went wandered the wilderness all on his own.

Eventually coming to a stop since he was tired of doing all this for the past two hours, putting in such effort just to look for his six-year-old grandchild, the man just sighed and held the pinch of his nose as a vein began to pulse on his temple. A short growl gave way to his booming thunder-like voice, "NARUTO! YOU SPOILT CHILD, GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW! IF I ACTUALLY HAVE TO SEARCH FOR YOU ANYMORE, I'M BARRING YOU FROM ENTERING THE HOUSE FOR THE WHOLE OF NEXT WEEK! YOU HEAR ME!"

His voice reverberated through the woods and echoed in the open air for what seemed to be miles all around, and all the while he stood there stupidly with his arms crossed over his chest. Tapping his sandaled foot on the ground, he counted down five minutes in his head to give him a fair bit of time to scurry his little ass back here.

But eventually that time tickled down to precious final seconds ~

"Ten, nine, eight, seven-"

He had to stop counting when he heard a distant rustle of leaves coming from behind him, and a loud chanting of repeated "no's" bellowed from a voice he knew all too well by now.

Facing in the appropriate direction with the sternest of his faces, he put his hands on his hips well in advance as a little yellow blur toppled into sight and slid to a dusty stop, bumping face first into his metal chest plate before bouncing off and falling down on his backside.

A short little boy six-years of age, Naruto looked up at his grandfather with a wince after running straight into him. Disheveled silky blonde hair and bright baby blue eyes, he had dressed himself in a white silk kimono shirt with the Uchiha clan insignia at the back of his neck, and a pair of blue shorts matching his sandals.

He just stared up at his grandfather with a fearful yet adorable wide eyed expression and didn't move a muscle, as if he was sitting down in front of a predator that would only attack him if he felt his movement.

He didn't want to look at it on first glance, but with his time doing missions Madara was still the finest shinobi the Leaf had within their ranks right now. A man with scary skills and a thirst of combat to match; the 'Ghost of the Uchiha' wasn't one to be trifled with so lightly. Naruto himself had seen this man's performance firsthand, sometimes on the few times that he had seen him spar with the Hokage himself. His grandfather was known by many names across the world.

He just called him 'Grandpa' though.

"Okay Grandpa I'm here!" his soft voice could have melted even the iciest of glaciers in but a moment. Jumping back to his feet as panic flooded his very being, he clamored in front of his grandfather in a disheveled mess, "You were just kidding with the 'keeping me out thing', right grandpa? Right?! I can still come in right?"

"I don't know…" Madara said undecidedly, turning his eyes away from him as he seemingly ignored all his hopping around his large form completely, "…I mean you keep disobeying me whenever I say…" he wanted to do a gentle bonk, but floored him completely to the ground instead with his fist on top of his head. "-to stay in the goddamn village and stop running around all by yourself when it isn't safe for you to do so!"

"Heh." Naruto grinned even though tears welled up in his eyes. "You did it again grandpa, with the fist and all."

"N-Never mind that -" Madara replied, though he did turn around to hide his embarrassment from his grandchild, "Honestly Naruto, listen to your grandfather for once. It's not safe out here for you, all by yourself no less! I told you to at least have someone escort you if you really want to go out so much!"

Preferably one that was at least competent enough for protecting the only precious little thing he had left in his life.

"Where do you even go all the time?" he asked again. Naruto didn't have any secret training grounds per say, at least as far as he knew. He did his thing all over their personal estates back home, which he had free privy to do as he pleased with them, to the point of even blowing the goddamn field up if willed it so.

"I just like to look around the village sometimes, you know a walk of sorts."

A delicate raven eyebrow raised in skepticism at the youngsters pathetic excuse making, " A walk?" he asked, and pressed on when Naruto nodded, "-where you run around and use your weapons on tress, while coming back covered head to toes in cuts and bruises with your clothes in tatters no less!"

His voice had gone louder and louder with each passing word, to show how truly livid he really was, "Well, I get a little adventurous sometimes…" Naruto ventured while sheepishly rubbing his neck, but realizing his grandfather wasn't budging in his stance he finally relented, "Sorry grandpa." he said, still sitting on the floor with sprawled out legs that made him look all the more adorable in his grandfather's eyes, all unknown to him. Madara did feel a tad bit guilty seeing the slight bump over his head from the 'gentle tap' he had overpowered by mistake, but never once did his grandchild complain about it, or anything else for that matter. Ever.

"I really have a good reason, it's just…well I don't know."

Madara's stone face softened upon hearing Naruto struggle for an excuse as to why he kept running farther and farther away from the village, each time on a whim. He knew why already, but he also knew that he'd never it out loud, even to him. Such was the pride of a true heir to the Uchiha.

'Kami, he looks so much like you Izuna. I wish you could see him.'

Seeing his darling little thing open his arms at him, he placed his hand on top of Naruto's hair - this time to rub it affectionately before picking the boy up in his arms like a fragile glass doll of sorts. Letting a small smile flash on his lips when Naruto kissed his cheek sloppily, he quite enjoyed his grandchild's feather light breath tickle his neck each passing second when he plopped down his cheek over his shoulder.

"Come on Naruto, let's go home."

~~~Later that evening~~~

(The Leaf Village)

The village's sanctioned land that was now the Uchiha clan's main base of operations was rather large due to the amount of people that lived there. There were more civilians than ninjas due to the old tradition of keeping their populace up to par since ancient times, only a select few and gifted clan members were allowed to be shinobi. But the safety was always ensured by the clan that was the centerpiece of said settlement led it to a rather sprawling autonomous society.

The main point of the clan grounds was a rather large river, the Naka river to be precise, that ran straight through the center and separated the settlement in two halves. One half was meant for the whole of Uchiha Clan, the other half was meant for Madara's personal estate.

Their Uchiha estate was highly guarded, and a traditional Japanese castle of sorts. There were several bridges over the river to the other side that were guarded by two shinobi per bridge. Only a select few could make their way over to this isolated part of the village, but even civilian could be let in - only if they had prior invitations firsthand with them that is.

A huge wall covered the riverbank to keep people from being able to swim across, and the castle like estate itself was a small town of sorts. At the center of it was a rather large hill that could overlook the entire village with a tall traditional mansion on it's top where the former clan leader and his grandson resided.

This isolated yet unbelievably large part of the village was where Naruto and Madara lived as members of the Uchiha clan and an integral part of the village. But even as they passed the village and clan's streets to make way for their home, Naruto could feel the cold stares on his back even as he hid his face in Madara's snugly embrace. He already knew why, other kids taunted him for it constantly in fact.

Madara gave each of them a chilling stare right back, but even as they walked past the guards that bowed when he passed the bridge to their estates - Madara felt his child's soft sniffles and quivering form in his arms. He decided to put an end to it before he went berserk over these pests and did something he wouldn't feel any remorse for in the slightest, "So did you just play in the woods or did you do something useful with your time today?"

"I didn't just play…" Naruto peeked out of his neck and gave him a pout. He did more than play, he was a shinobi for crying out loud!

"I was totally doing something useful! Since you won't teach me any ninjutsu, I've got to do my own stuff." as subtly as he could, Madara wiped off the tears from those puffed up cheeks of his child.

"Little one, ninjutsu is dangerous…" Madara told him, "I taught you taijutsu maneuvers and shurikenjutsu, but if you can't even get the first three ninjutsu I taught you down, I can't possibly teach you anything else, now can I?" he asked with a flick to the blonde boy's nose whose face scrunched up in annoyance and slight irritation, "Now can you do the Bunshin no jutsu?"

"…No" Naruto begrudgingly admitted, "But I can so do the other two! My Henge is awesome and I can so Kawarimi with anything I want! I can even stick to trees and walk on water, and all of that stuff!"

That had indeed been a heart stopping day for Madara, quite literally in fact. He had almost suffered a heart attack seeing his grandchild running up a tree when he sure as hell hadn't taught him that. He had never been so scared in his life before that point but after hearing that he had simply tried to attempt it after watching a guard of their estate do it once, merely by following his own simple hypothesis of what he could devise off of that single glance, Madara had never been so proud.

Even still…

"Now get the Bunshin no jutsu down and we'll talk."

"Aww."

Naruto knew his grandfather had a lot of cool stuff in his repertoire. Word on the street was he'd been very, very good; heralded as one of the most powerful Uchiha not just of his generation, but ever. He was even said to possess one of the most potent chakras and the strongest of their clan's techniques that only he could do, all thanks to that dense chakra.

He'd never seen him use any of it though, or any of his high level techniques for that matter, even when he'd been training him. Then again, he'd never done well enough whenever they sparred to justify him using much more than what he'd already been taught. It was just an act of a mama bear playing with her cub.

He hated the Bunshin no jutsu though. What need would he ever have for a technique that didn't even make real copies, he did not know. So what if all his replications looked dead and lifeless, it wasn't like any shinobi who had some real skill wouldn't be able to see past that pathetic technique anyway.

"Don't be in such a hurry to grow up." Madara told Naruto as they arrived at their quaint little mansion, "Not too long ago, a child like you would be pushed into the battlefield right now."

"That sounds so cool!" Naruto said dreamily, as he envisioned himself being rejoiced as a hero of some cool ninja battle.

"No, not cool." Madara broke his trance by flicking his forehead, "We're lucky the Leaf is now completely out of the way. There isn't any other clan in this country for us to fight tooth and nail with anymore. Unlike many of the other countries out there."

"You've been there?" Naruto's voice sounded more excited than worried and it irked Madara quite a lot than what he normally would have liked.

"Yes, of course. And it's horrible out there" Madara said, trying his hardest to exaggerate so as to get his point across. He continued on as he entered a room before sliding it's door close behind him, "Adults butchering children like cattle. Some even younger than you, children who were put out onto the battlefield with no prior experience whatsoever, just to let their clan's be represented in one way or the other with absolutely no regard for their life - all of that just to fight for their clan's name." he then saw Naruto's confused face and realized he might even leave some mental damage if he continued on with this over exaggerated story any longer. "All I'm saying is that this is no race, you need not rush it. You've got plenty of time to get involved in these things, because once you're out there, you wish you could have gone a bit longer without ever going to the world out of these walls that keep my little one so protected and safe."

"On my missions?"

"On your missions." Madara confirmed before putting down the adorable thing down from his arms, "Now go and hop off to play, I've still got to make my report back to Hashirama. I'll be back with your favorite pork cutlet bowl with some extra mayonnaise and fried rice." seeing him grin happily, Madara placed a kiss on top off his head before making his way out the door. Naruto though grumbled at his public display of affection when he heard two of his guards stifling their laughs from behind him. Inside the house was fine, but his grandfather always left guards over here. He wanted to look cool after all!

Either way Naruto hopped off the porch to the open fields behind their house and ran off to his favorite spot by their small personal lake.

Even from here, he could see all the kids in the village and his own clan grounds playing and laughing with each other. There wasn't any use in trying to run over there and get himself involved with them since they wouldn't play with him either way.

It was all due to them that his grandfather had stopped taking any and all missions altogether. Either because of his concern for his stress or due in part to his willingness to always be with him or to keep him company, that answer was one he'd never know for certain.

He had never ever known his parents or even seen a picture of them. His grandfather never talked about them openly and he had never pressed over the matter, no point in raising a point over people that weren't even alive in the first place and cause his grandfather even more grief than he already might have had.

But the man had told him that his father too had been a really strong man, second only to Hashirama Senju and Madara himself. But it was his mother that he was always way too scarce about. From what he'd been told, his mother had been a simple civilian women that had no living family herself. His parents had married in secret and there had been no one to give them their blessings. She was a sort of an outsider in the clan's eyes, and that was what made Naruto a black sheep in every clan members eyes.

But what he didn't quite get was why the rest of the village too hated his guts. A clan member marrying outside their clan was against their customs and frowned upon, but what reason did the village have for hating him?

He was beginning to have his doubts over his parent's identities and the truths his grandfather had told him were becoming less and less legible by the day.

But to keep his dear grandfather in high spirits, he never let him see his sad side any more than what he absolutely could not hide.

So, sitting down by the lake's shore he let out a soft yawn and fisted his eyes off a little sleep. It had been a tiring day indeed, he could do with a nap.

Naruto loved naps.

Plopping down sideways on the wooden porch by the lake's shore, he let his eyelids droop and breathing soften over the crisp grass bed underneath him and let the ever calmness of deep slumber overtake him.

But right before slumber could pull him completely into it's heavenly domain, an annoying and harsh fist was drilling itself over the side of head for a noogie.

"You left the village again didn't you?" the annoying intruder asked him before pulling him upright into a seating position, a bit too forcefully for his tastes, "What's out there that you always go out even after so many warnings anyways?"

Looking sideways in slight irritation, he sighed dejectedly when it had absolutely no effect on the other person, "How did you know I went out in the first place?" he retorted back sleepily.

The flat look she gave him reminded him how stupid a question it was, not like it was his fault in the first place. He was still sleepy, "Stupid sensors." he muttered, reminding himself off her abilities.

"Why do you have to so mean all the time, Tsunade?" stupid sensory techniques, she could sense anything she willed to for miles all around her. And here he was, pestering his grandfather for his first real ninjutsu to no avail.

"I'm not being mean, I'm toughening you up for ninja life!" the young girl argued back, something that made Naruto roll his eyes at. As if she was so much better than him, well considering she had an advantage over him in family techniques she probably was. But he didn't have to admit that, "I sensed your absence and Uncle Madara rushing out right after he came home. So, how much trouble are you in?" she asked, a bit dryly.

"I'm not in trouble!" 'Today.' he replied hotly, his cheeks turning a bit rosy in embarrassment at being caught off guard so quickly.

He wasn't in trouble, at least not for today. Not really anyway, but tomorrow ~ now tomorrow was a different matter altogether.

"You're always in trouble Naruto, if it's not with your grandfather, it's with mine." by then Naruto had turned away from her, which she was a bit too late to realize, and something she wasn't quite too fond of. "What's out there that interests you so much? Huh, tell me…pretty please!" by then she had sidled down by his side and was trying to give him the best wide doe eyes she could muster, to sway him by increasing her cuteness exponentially.

It did have an effect, but not as much as she had hoped for, unfortunately, "It's a secret." Naruto said with a small smile, much to her annoyance.

Tugging cutely on his sleeve, she let out an adorable pout, that did make his will waver ever so slightly, "Come on you can tell your best friend right?" her mumble actually made no sense at all, her way of persuasion had absolutely no sense behind it.

She was not so subtle in pointing out that she had loads of friends and that he wasn't on top of her friends list on countless occasions. But this statement was always slapped in his face whenever she wanted to milk something out of him, like right now.

But even then, he knew she was always honest in her words.

He really was her best friend, and she really was his only friend. Sliding an arm around her waist and smiling even more so when she laid her head on his shoulder in defeat, both sat by the lake shore in silence, "Are you going to leave the village tomorrow like you do every day."

He gave her a flat look bordering on a deadpanned stare, before smirking ever so slightly. "…Maybe, who knows?"

~~~Next Morning~~~

"I might kill him this time…" Madara muttered as he slapped down the tray full of breakfast on the velvety soft blanket over his grandchild's futon, the same one that had been filled with two pillows for a makeshift escape dummy to fool him, "I seriously might, that boy couldn't stay in the house for a week before running off again. I've seen puppies that are easier to train."

"Naruto troubles again?"

"Why are you in here?" barked Madara, not even turning around to see who actually had the gall to taunt him about his grandson's antics. In the morning no less, "If he hasn't broken down anything that belongs to you, hurt you in any way, or done something that can actually be warranted as bad; you may leave before I decide to end you."

"Do you really think the village leader would complain about your kid behind your back? Especially when he's an old friend of yours?"

Madara stopped folding up the futon and turned around to stare blankly at a familiar face smiling stupidly at him. A man with tan skin and long straight black hair coming down halfway across his back, he wore a traditional cream white kimono befitting of his noble status.

He just sat there, waiting for Madara to complete folding up the bedding material and react somehow, which he did by giving a nod to acknowledge his existence. As unwanted as it was, he still acknowledged it, "Hashirama, do you not have anything worthwhile to do so early in the morning than to come pick a strife with me?"

Crouching down by side, chuckling and rubbing his neck at not looking very cool, "I call it checking in to see an old friend." he said, hugging down the man who pushed him away in annoyance.

"Good to see you too Madara… it's been a while. I wanted to stop in before the Senju and Uzumaki Clan meeting in about a week. No idea when else I'd have the free time."

"Being clan leader is a tireless job after all." Madara commented sarcastically, "I don't really get much to do with clan affairs anymore as you know, so it's nice to know sometimes that I've got a friend up there somewhere. But I guess it does get lonely up at the top for a 'God' after all."

"Don't you start calling me that now too." Hashirama complained, a bit too joyfully for Madara's tastes, but he digressed, "I actually like the fact that someone around doesn't always consider the Mokuton first when they think of me."

"Because when I think about you Hashirama, I can't help but think back to the crybaby you used to be." Madara retorted back, placing down his grandchild's futon in a corner of the overly large room.

"The good old days, seem so far away now don't they?" Hashirama asked, getting a bit nostalgic remembering their childhood days.

Even so, with people falling down at his feat for just a favor, Madara wasn't one of them; something Hashirama was quite glad for. He really appreciated how honest the ever melancholic Uchiha truly was, even though he was as blunt as a hammer in times when honesty wasn't needed.

By the time he had truly reigned in the strives of the newly minting village he and Madara had created, countless events had taken place. None of which he had been able to stop from occurring, even with all of his power as a god.

That, and he'd known Madara for most of his life. He had been a great active ninja, probably still was. But most of all, he was his endeared friend for life.

He trusted him so much so that even when the man hadn't made a presence at his office for the personal mission request he had handed him as a personal favor, he knew it must have been completed with no hiccups. He honestly would have been worried if Madara had indeed decided to pay a visit to dear old him, just for filing a mission report no less.

"So…" Hashirama said, as Madara finally started making his way out of the beautifully crafted room filled to the brim with several plushy toys, "…where's our little troublemaker."

Madara chuckled darkly when the topic of Naruto was brought up, something that creeped Hashirama out to no ends, "Take a guess." he asked.

Taking a step back, just in case the man's temper went haywire, the joyful Senju took his chances, "…Ran off again?" he asked uncertainly.

"Of course. It's his thing apparently." as annoyed as Madara was, he sighed before a melancholy look overtook his eyes, "Not that I can really blame him for not staying scooped up in these guarded walls all day long. It's the only thing I regret about my life, I never was good with caring for others." it was a pretty big regret for him. There were several things he could have done differently, maybe even do something that would have let him have his parents shadow his childhood.

Clasping his friend's shoulder, Hashirama gave him one of his famous warm smiles, "You are a great grandfather Madara, you dote on Naruto even more so than I do for little Tsuna. And that's saying something!"

Even with all the gambling and playing Hashirama did with his granddaughter, he knew the amount of love Madara showered Naruto with - he was no where near him.

The man had virtually bought a whole damn hill and it's surrounding area to build his estate just because Naruto had spoken that he loved this place the most in the world.

It comprised an eighth of the whole damn village for crying out loud!

"You could join back with the clan." suggested Hashirama, "That would make his bonding with the other children of your clan that much more easier -"

"Hashirama…" warned Madara, he wasn't one for patience too much when someone poked him way too deeply for his tastes, "I am not joining that clan of fucking ingrates even if hell freezes over." he spat, and Hashirama had to throw his hands up in defeat to calm down the riled up man.

"Then let him join the Academy where he can make some friends?" Hashirama suggested, once more getting an irritated look from Madara, "So they can taunt my little one of how much bastard of a child he is, or how he too will end up like me? I think I'll pass."

Sighing, Hashirama followed the man out with no idea how to get his point across to the man. He had all but cut himself off from the world, it almost seemed as if Naruto was the only link he had that was connecting him to this world. He wasn't too far from reality if he were to be perfectly honest.

"Why do you even stay in the village then" he asked, after years of pushing back this question he just had to ask it today.

"Because currently, it's the safest place for Naruto to live in." was Madara's simple reply, answering as honestly as ever, "…if there was one safer place on this hell forsaken spit of land that is the earth, I'd be there in a heartbeat. But there isn't, so all I can do is make Naruto's life as happy as I possibly can."

It was a wild world out there and he hadn't exactly made the nicest of names out in the fiery nations. Even a second of side eye from his part, his innocent child would have to pay the price for his past deeds.

The Uchiha clan were still one of the most revered and dangerous clans out there. The bloodline ran it's purest form in the head family - Madara's family. And Naruto by descend was his blood.

Hell, the only reason the village didn't think of Naruto's lineage as a myth was because he was there, a living breathing proof of his heritage since the exotic features his little one possessed were far too uncanny for most to swallow. It didn't need to be brought up to piss him off though, it had been done enough times in the past for people to remember just how protective a new grandparent could be when they were out looking for their only grandchild.

Some even had short lived memories how scary a badass Madara was after being subjected to a torturous genjutsu for poking his child with filthy words. Needless to say, people scooted aside to whisper from his child for which he was glad for. Even if they didn't accept him, at least they didn't poke the boy anymore.

"You really do care for him, don't you Madara?" earnestly asked Hashirama. He was glad his friend, even if he had cut his ties with virtually everyone, was so kind and caring when it came to his only grandson. Taking out a scroll from his sleeve, he handed it to his old friend with a wide smile.

"Here, this will surely make things easier for Naruto and help cement our friendship even more so than before." raising a delicate eyebrow, Madara flicked the scroll open before eyeing it's contents vehemently.

With each word, his eyes went wide until he turned up to look at his friend with a stupefied expression.

Hashirama hadn't laughed as hard as he did at that moment in his life and probably won't for years to come.

Thank you all for reading this! Please do leave reviews!

Thanks goes to Narutoxsharingaxenthusiast for his help!