Minato stood on the small platform as he over looked the academy ground as well as the new academy students stood in front of them all with looks of concentration on their faces. At the back the parents stood as they watched this proud moment that a lot of them had been waiting a long time to see.
"Today you make your first steps into becoming a shinobi and your first step to becoming a protector of the Leaf Village. You all start your journey on the road to becoming ninja to protect Konoha and all of the land of fire; but what does it mean to protect? Why should you protect this village and country?
"That is a question you will eventually have to answer yourself; however being a ninja is a serious job so not do so lightly. Your comrades and this village depend on you; so do your loved ones. One only becomes strong when they have something that they are willing to protect to the death. Step forward to day and makes us all proud."
The new academy students clapped loudly as did the parents as the Fourth Hokage gave them all a wave of embarrassment from all the cheering they were giving him before suddenly he disappeared in a yellow flash.
As he disappeared a similar head of blonde hair looking down at the ground and just gave a tiny sigh as he watched his father disappear.
"You okay Naruto?" his friend Itachi who was standing beside him asked as he had seen him sigh when his father had flashed away. Naruto just nodded.
"Yeah I am fine. I was hoping he would stay to wish we good luck, but I guess that was just wishful thinking."
As the instructors began to call out names signaling for what person would be in whose class Naruto stared behind him to see a lot of the parents conversing with each other and happily talking with one another.
His nee-chan and his jiji were there and gave him a small wave when they saw him look in their direction. Naruto gave them a half smile and waved back.
He looked over a little ways to the right of them and saw Itachi's parents standing there. Fugaku had his usual emotionless face on just staring at the sky while Mikoto was next to him with Sasuke gripped onto the hem of her dress while in her arms she held a small bundle that was wrapped in light pink blankets.
Mikoto was carrying her daughter Ria Uchiha who was born three months ago and had taken the Uchiha clan by surprise especially Itachi who never thought he would get another sibling other than Sasuke. Though when she was born, Naruto had never seen his best friend smile as big as he had when he had told her about little Ria.
As he scanned the mass of parents he had noted that a certain red head was not at the ceremony which was one of the reason he felt so down right now.
His mother had decided it was best not to go to his gennin induction. Though this time it was not the twins or work duties that kept her away this time.
Just like Mikoto, Kushina had been given the biggest surprise when she discovered she too was expecting another child. It made her extremely happy, especially when she and Minato discovered they were expecting another girl.
While Naruto was genuinely happy that he would get another younger sibling, it also meant that he would be saying goodbye once again to any quality time with his parents.
Nine months later little Mina Uzumaki had been born, this time in the leaf hospital and with no crazy giant foxes trying to destroy the village.
One look at her and everyone knew she would grow up to be the carbon copy of Kushina. Little tuffs of red hair lay on top of her head with the same skin tone and even the same violet eyes that Kushina and Naruto had.
Though he was weary of the fact at first, when he held his youngest and newest sister in his arms for the first time, just like Itachi had with Ria, Naruto quickly loved his baby sister and silent promised her that he would protect her and would get strong to protect her and the rest of their family.
His and Itachi's drive to train and get stronger hit a new intensity when their baby sisters were born.
"Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," Naruto heard as the noise went silent and all watched as Naruto walked over to the man who just called him. He was a man in his early thirties with brown and hair and eyes wearing the standard chunin uniform.
"Namikaze-sama I will be your instructor for the next four years. I am Itamo Oba."
"It is nice to meet you Oba sensei. Please look after me." Naruto said bowing a little and in a polite tone.
Naruto got in line with some of the others kids that were in his class. He smiled when Itachi was called by their sensei which meant they would be in the same class together. He was happy to have one friend with him.
After about twenty minutes the parents all said their goodbyes as well as Shizune and Hiruzen who gave Naruto a good luck and good bye before they left.
Walking though the academy they arrived in their class room and quickly took their seats. Naruto and Itachi sat in one of the middle rows.
They were joined in the middle row by a purple haired girl who gave them both a shy hello which they happily reciprocated.
As they sat in their seats and listened as their new sensei explained the life of a shinobi and elaborated on the speech Minato had given them earlier Naruto took a look around the room to see if there was anyone he recognized.
Other than Itachi the only other girl he recognized was a girl sitting at the front. She had brown hair with slightly tanned skin and had red fang marks on each of her cheeks. By her legs he saw three little puppies all snuggled together and were leaning on her leg as her hand scratched one of the on the head.
"An Inuzuka," Naruto whispered to which Itachi heard and nodded.
"Her name is Hana Inuzuka, the heiress of the Inuzuka clan. My Kaa-san and hers are old friend back from their gennin days." he said as Naruto nodded.
"I think the same for mine."
Continuing to look around the room there were two others that stood out to him.
One was a sickly looking child who was coughing every few minutes. His skin was slightly pale and looked like he could be knocked over by a simple gust of wind. He had brown hair and ark eyes and rested his arms on the desk.
The girl beside him was a purples haired girl that had her hair tied up in a pineapple shaped pony tail. She had a dark shirt on along with a slightly tanned skirt. She was playing with a kunai in her hands and looked like she wanted to throw it at the nearest person she could find.
Naruto shook his head before his mind wondered elsewhere and thought about his current strength.
His fūinjutsu had now completed level two and was now moving onto level three. Hiruzen no longer acted surprised when it came to his fūinjutsu. He knew Naruto was in every way a prodigy when it came to the art. Since level two focused on weight seals and things of that nature, he and Hiruzen applied a few weight seals to him to help with his body conditioning and to improve his strength and stamina.
He had mastered the water jutsu he took from his parents library thought it took him a little while to fully get it down. Afterwards he just found water jutsu's just fitted him and since his parents were so focused on Kushina's pregnancy, neither noticed him make a few more stops to their library. Now he knew three water jutsu's while Itachi had knew three fire jutsu's.
His training with Shizune continued and was surprised when Tsunade got involved and decided that since Hiruzen was teaching him fūinjutsu and Shizune his chakra control, she would teach him taijutsu since it was one of her specialties.
She had tried to show him the slug style taijutsu bit she quickly found it just did not fit his style at all. So instead she began showing him the Senju style. Even though she did not use it often herself, she was trained in it since it was her clan's taijutsu style.
While it was not perfect for him, he made it work plus Tsunade had been adjusting small parts of the style to help fit him. She even had Might Gai, Konoha's resident Taijutsu expert come and take a look at the style for Naruto.
Gai had cried out how wonderful it was that Naruto was training to become a great shinobi and cried out about some Youth for whoever knows why. Gai even showed him some of the Goken style. When Naruto showed an aptitude for that style as well, Gai and Tsunade decided to entwine the two styles together and create something completely new.
They didn't have a name for it yet but Naruto knew it had to be something awesome. And when it came to Taijutsu Naruto was learning quickly as well, once again showing that being a prodigy and being hard working was already paying off for him.
"Naruto pay attention," Itachi said elbowing him in the side jogging Naruto back to attention.
"Right, right, sorry," Naruto whispered back as Itachi shook his head at his friend's habit of letting his mind wonder.
Naruto paid close attention to his sensei and what he was discussing to the class thought he had noticed that some of it Shizune had already covered in his studies with her.
"I don't think the academy is all it is cracked up to be." he thought to himself as he shook his head and tried to drown out his sensei's voice.
The purple haired girl next to Naruto saw his lazy form and the look on his face and covered her mouth to stop from giggling.
"Young lady is there something you wish to say to the class?" their sensei said who looked like he did not enjoy being interrupted while all student eyes fell onto the purple haired girl. The girl blushed a little and twiddled her index fingers together.
"Urm, no sir; sorry sensei."
"What is your name?" he asked looking towards her.
The girls stuttered a little. "Y-Yugao U-Uzuki."
"Well then Miss Uzuki please try and keep any comments of noises to yourself." he said before he continued with his teachings.
Nodding she fell quiet as the rest of the class fell back to listening to their sensei; everyone except Naruto who had turned his attention to Yugao.
"What were you laughing at?" he asked since he had heard her giggle from beside him.
"I was laughing at you. You had a funny look on your face and made me laugh." she said as Naruto's eye shot up in surprise before internally he grinned.
"You mean expressions like this?" he asked before he began pulling multiple different faces ad Yugao who was turning red and had to cover he mouth with her hands.
Their sensei never saw any of this as Naruto pulled funny faces at Yugao who looked ready to burst out laughing. Next to him Itachi rolled his eyes though half a smile on his face as he watched his friend act that way.
Though Naruto was a lot like him and was quiet and serious most of the time, he had moments where a more fun loving personality took hold of him. It was a lot like his mothers in that way. Naruto had inherited more than just his eyes from his mother.
From the front row Hana Inuzuka saw what he was doing and laughed into her hand as well thinking that what he was doing was very funny.
While at the back row the other purple haired girl and the sickly boy laughed as well; though the sickly boy needed to cough every few minutes which gained much attention from their sensei.
End of the Day
At the end of their first academy day most of the children went home to their parents so they could tell them all about the great first day and what they had learn.
Everyone except for a group of six children that is; Naruto and Itachi were once again training with each other in the same opening in the forest as before. The others four had followed them after school to see what they were doing.
The four were none other than Hana Inuzuka, Yugao Uzuki, Anko Mitarashi and Hayate Gekkou.
The four had become quick friends, but when they had tried to befriend Naruto and Itachi, the two boys kept eluding them and separated themselves from everyone else. They almost spoke with them during lunch but the academy school bell rung and when they looked back the two boys had already disappeared.
"Hayate-kun, stop coughing or they will know we are here." Yugao said to the ill boy who nodded.
"My apologies Yugao-san; the pollen from the plants is making it difficult to breathe." he said as he tried to get his coughing under control.
"Shh, stop talking you two or our cover will be blow." Hana whispered a little harshly while Anko grinned as she watched them.
"I wonder how strong they are. I bet they would be a good fight." she said licking her lips a little before zoning in on scene in front of them. "Wait, where did the Uchiha go?"
They all looked in front of them and realized that Itachi had indeed disappeared and that Naruto was now just standing still and was looking towards where they were hidden.
"You know you four can come out now. We know you have been following us since we left the academy." Naruto called out, making the four freeze in place.
"We would appreciate it if you could just come on out." a voice said from behind them making them jump out of their skin and turn around to see Itachi with an amused expression on his face.
"You know if you wanted to watch us or train with us you could have must come out and say it. There was no need to just hide." Naruto added appeared in front of them.
The four kids looked a little embarrassed and went a little red.
From Hana's side the three pups sniffed the air and patted over towards Naruto.
Naruto saw the three pups and smiled as he went down on his knees and began petting them. The pups seemed to enjoy it since they were wagging their tails and had their tongues hanging out of their mouths.
"Whoa that was quick." Hana said as she walked towards them. "I have only had them for about six months and they have never taken to someone so quickly before. They must really like you. They are called the three Harimaru brothers." she said introducing them.
The six introduced themselves properly and after a few minutes of talking and Anko asking whether they could train with them, Naruto and Itachi shrugged and told them it was fine.
As the four revised what they had gone over that day Anko looked towards Naruto and Itachi and saw that the two boys were facing across from each other.
In the blink of an eye the two suddenly charged forwards towards each other and began throwing punch and kicks towards each other.
They stayed that way for a few minutes as each tried to land a hit on each other. The four recognized Itachi's way of fighting was that of the Uchiha Clan fighting style while the one Naruto was using looked like the Senju Style though a few bits of it was off and it looked like another form that they did not recognize.
It also made them wonder why Naruto was not suing the Uzumaki style that his mother knew since Kushina was quite well known for her strong taijutsu prowess.
The two were then forced and stumbled back when both managed to land a punch on the others cheek.
Shaking out of their slightly dazed state the two quickly focused their chakra and made the necessary hand seals.
"Fire Style Fireball Jutsu," Itachi called out as he blew out a large fireball that went towards Naruto.
"Water Style Water Bullet Jutsu," Naruto declare as clomps of water shot out from his mouth.
The tow jutsu's collided in the middle causing a small blast to be created from the impact as well as steam from where the water met the fire.
The steam caused the view of the two to get block out for a few minutes as the four tried to make out where the two boys were. Though they knew they were fighting if the sounds they could hear were any indication.
"They are incredible." Yugao said as she watched their sparring bout with each other.
"I didn't think people are age could do elemental ninjutsu. I mean they are so hard to do and the chakra control has to be so precise." Hayate spoke as he coughed again into his hand making Yugao pat him on the back.
"Oh man these two of good. We really need to catch up with them if they are already at this kind of level." Hana said while Yugao and Hayate nodded before noticing Anko had disappeared.
"Where is Anko-san?" Hayate asked looking around.
"Striking Shadow Snakes," a voice called from within the steam cloud. When it did Naruto appeared jumping out of the cloud from one side while Itachi jumped out the other both looking a little surprised from the interruption.
The steam mist disappeared and they were all surprised to see Anko in the middle with what looked like to fairly large green snakes coming out from her sleeves both impacting the ground where Naruto and Itachi were formally standing.
"Snakes?" They all thought while Naruto and Itachi narrowed their eyes as the snakes and the purple haired girl.
They were wary of her suddenly because of that snake jutsu she used. There was only one person that both were aware of that had connections to snakes and who could use snake like jutsu's and that man was no longer part of the leaf and was one of the worst traitors that the world had ever seen. Itachi's parents had told him while Hiruzen and Tsunade had told Naruto of this man.
So it left the question to the two boys that was, now on both of their minds. "How can she do snake techniques?"
Anko meanwhile grinned at Hana, Yugao, and Hayate shocked looks and Naruto and Itachi's weary and thinking looks. "You boys didn't think you were the only tow with tricks up their sleeve did you?"
Month later
Some time passed since the six academy students met each other and the six quickly became fast friends and an inseparable group.
Since the first training session, the six met up whenever they could and would spar with one another and help each other get stronger.
The academy quickly saw that Naruto and Itachi were prodigies after only a few days. It was mainly noticeable when the two were first showed how to do the henge technique and managed to master it by the end of the day which left the instructors baffled.
Itachi was quickly becoming known as the prodigy of the Uchiha Clan where Fugaku and Mikoto were immensely proud of their son while Naruto was the same for his family. He was even surprised when Kushina and Minato had hugged the life out of him when they found out.
Though the small celebration did not last long, Naruto enjoyed that moment where his parents eyes and attention was focused only on him.
Tsunade, Hiruzen and Shizune marveled at it though since they were training him before the academy it did not come as much of a surprise.
Meanwhile Anko was quickly becoming the best of the girls though Yugao and Hana were doing there bet to give her a run for her money.
Though Anko was strong for her age, she was not quite at Naruto and Itachi's level though when she sparred with the two, she made sure to make them sweat as much as possible.
"So jiji, are you sure you don't mind taking me?" Naruto asked Hiruzen as they walked down the market towards a shinobi store that Hiruzen had told him about and had wanted to take him to for some time now.
"Of course Naruto-kun; now that you are in the academy it's time to get your some proper shinobi clothing and some proper weapons and equipment. Even though it's the person that makes the shinobi, it is essential that you have the correct equipment with you and that you are wearing appropriate clothing." Hiruzen glanced down at his surrogate grandson.
"So an orange jump suit would definantly be out then?" Naruto said pointing towards an orange get up in the window of one of the stores.
"Unless you want to be a walking target then yes Naruto, it is definantly out." Hiruzen said shaking at the mere thought of someone wearing clothing that color.
Somewhere in Konoha a Jonnin wearing tight green spandexes with orange leg warmer sneezed.
"But I didn't bring enough money jiji," Naruto said as he began checking his pockets. "I'm not sure I can afford it. Kaa-chan and Tou-san forgot to give me my pocket money this week."
"Do not worry about money Naruto-kun. I will buy you everything you need." He said patting the boy on the shoulder.
Naruto wanted to argue but he knew his jiji would only tell him that a grandfather was allowed to spoil his grandson whenever he wanted. Plus his jiji was a former Kage, so if there was anyone who knew the right equipment to wear and the correct clothing then it was him. He was the man who fought in the first shinobi war, was picked by Tobimara Senju to become his successor and lead the leaf to victory in the second and third shinobi wars.
"Okay jiji!" Naruto answered getting a smile from Sarutobi in return. He was happy that Hiruzen still spent time with him and trained him even when he actually had a real grandson now.
Konohamaru Sarutobi was born a month before little Mina was born by Hikaru Sarutobi, his eldest child and only daughter. And they named him after the village since they knew he was going to be a great shinobi one day.
After walking for another ten minutes they eventually stopped at a moderate size store on the edge of the shinobi district of the market.
"I have been coming to this store since I was a young man Naruto-kun. There is no place better in my mind to get your shinobi supplies then this store?" he said as he led the Naruto inside.
As soon as they walked in Naruto saw Locking seals on the door hinges. "To stop burglars." he mused to himself.
"Tirano?" Sarutobi called out just as a man in his mid-thirties appeared from behind the counter with brown hair and wearing civilian clothing.
"Ahh Hiruzen, it's good to see you. What can I help you with?" he asked as he noticed Naruto beside him.
"And this must be Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, son of the Minato and Kushina. I was wondering when you were going to bring him here."
"Now that Naruto-kun is in the academy, I believed it was time to get him his proper shinobi gear."
"Well I am honored you came to my store. I am glad the shinobi of the village continued to come here even after my father passed the store down to me."
"Tou-san look, look!" a squeaky voice called making them look over to see a little brown haired girl with her hair tied in two buns wearing a little pink top and shorts with a wooden kunai in her hands. I can finally throw it on the target right," she said making Tirano and Hiruzen laugh.
"That is great sweetie. Hiruzen you remember my daughter Ten Ten?" he said as Hiruzen gave her a small hello as did Naruto while the girl went towards her father who lifted her up and sat her on the counter.
Naruto looked around the store and it was no wonder why the place was popular with the shinobi in the village as well as why his jiji liked it so much. On the walls as well as in secure racks were weapons of all different types. Swords, axes, nunchucku, sai and a whole range more.
On another side were rows and row of different clothing ranging from kids his age to people the size of Akimichi's and were in a variety of colors though most were dark colors; the brightest being a purple and red top and skirt.
"This all so cool," he said as he began to pick through the clothing range and find something that suited him while Hiruzen spoke with Tirano and cooed over little Ten Ten.
Ten minutes later he had five black tops with a blue stripe going through the middle while he a five sets of pants and sandals that ranged from black and grey in color.
Next he moved onto his kunai and shuriken. The ones he currently had been ones Minato previous used and had given to Naruto since they were still in great condition. Hiruzen joined him and began helping him. He nodded approvingly at the clothes Naruto picked out.
"Ahh kunai and shuriken made of chakra metal. Good eye Naruto."
"Chakra metal?" Naruto asked not quite remembering what it was.
"It is metal that allows chakra to run through it, so that it makes the attack stronger than just using it normally." he said as Naruto marveled at it. He wondered why more ninja's did not use it though when he thought about it his mother used a sword and when he had seen her using it before the twins were born, he remembered it glowed blue. He realized it must have been chakra metal.
They added them to the basket and continued looking through the small isles.
They also got to a small section that had scrolls and inks for fūinjutsu. They also sold sealing scrolls. Naruto didn't know that someone could sell sealing scrolls or other sealing related equipment.
He made a memory to save that information for later.
Finally they browsed at the different weapons they had on display as Naruto and Hiruzen looked over them.
"You know Naruto your mother is very powerful when it comes to the art of a sword. She could probably fight the Seven Swordsman equally and come out on top if she wanted too." Hiruzen said as he picked up a katana, looked it over and handed it to Naruto. "Maybe you might follow in her footsteps?"
Naruto took the katana in his right hand. He held it in his hand and swung it through the air a little. He looked it over and had to admit it was a beautiful katana and he knew the art of a sword was a major area of being a shinobi.
There was Kiri who he knew had the Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Mist, seven of the best there was with a sword. Kumo he had been told learnt an academy style of Kenjutsu whilst in the academy and normally carried a sword with them.
Then there was Iron country where they had samurai instead of shinobi and were training extensively in the art of Kenjutsu.
Hiruzen watched as a frown appeared on his face. "What's the matter Naruto-kun?"
"I'm not too sure jiji. It is just the sword does not feel right in my hands." he said as Hiruzen and Tirano looked in surprise.
"Interesting," they both thought as for the next ten minutes Naruto tried handling all the swords that Tirano had but yet all of them just did not feel right in Naruto's hands, with him saying that they just felt off.
"This is an interesting development." Hiruzen said tapping his chin. "Are you sure wielding a sword is something you want Naruto?" Naruto just nodded his head.
"I want to be a great Kenjutsu user and to one day surpass my Kaa-chan."
Tirano listened in and spoke what he was thinking. "You know when my father ran this store he always told me that a sword were like an extension of one's arm and that swords in a way have a life of their own.
"He said that the wielder does not choose the sword, but instead the sword chooses the wielder. Maybe the reason you don't connect with the swords is because the sword you are supposed to wield has not been made yet." he offered as Hiruzen and Naruto thought about it. Little Ten-Ten meanwhile just listened and watched from the top of the counter.
"Would you make the sword?" Hiruzen asked as Tirano shook his head.
"Not myself, but I have a trader from Iron country that visits here a few times a year. He worked for my father and even did some business with. I can contact him and ask for a blacksmith to construct a sword for Naruto. The man he does dealing with believe it or not is Muramasa Sengo." he said getting a look of surprise from Hiruzen.
"Who is that jiji?" Naruto asked.
"Muramasa Sengo is one of the best blacksmiths of our era Naruto-kun. His katana's and weapons he makes are works of art and many would like to get their hands on one of his swords."
"He is also the man who built your mother's katana." Tirano said getting a look of surprise from Naruto. He had only seen his mother katana a few times since she always kept it in a storage seal on her wrist but it was truly a beautiful katana. It was called the Kitetsu. Seeing his mother wield a blade was one of the reasons he wanted to become great at Kenjutsu and to one day surpass her since she was the best in Konoha.
"Would you really be able to get Muramasa Sengo to make Naruto a sword?" Hiruzen asked as Tirano nodded.
"He was good friends with my father and always offered to help him. He gave me the same courtesy. Knowing that he is building a first class katana for a boy who wants to be a great Kenjutsu wielder and uses it strength to protect those precious to him, I know he will say yes. It might take a month or two, but expect one of the finest katana's you will ever see becoming yours Naruto." he said making the boy smile brightly.
"We can sort out payment later." he said as they all nodded and paid for the current equipment in their basket.