Naruto woke up in the morning with a jolt.
'So it was all a dream?' Naruto pondered silently to himself.
"No, it was all real," Minato told him, pretending not to see Kushina's glare.
Naruto sighed, summoning a small messenger fox. He decided to take the next few days off -- he had accumulated several off-days since he started training but never used them. He could never think of anything to do with that spare time until now.
"Greetings, Naruto-sama. We have all been informed of your signing of the contract by Sōsuke-dono. I am Misaki," said messenger fox introduced respectfully.
Naruto nodded and scribbled down an excuse about taking a break for once to visit his parents' graves and mourn them properly on a note. He passed it to Misaki as he ordered her to send it to Kakashi.
He then took a quick shower and had grabbed a comb to tame his messy hair when he noticed that his hair had red highlights when he finally looked in the mirror. He raised an eyebrow in confusion at his reflection as he tried to dispel it, thinking it was a genjutsu, however unlikely it seemed. When that was unsuccessful, he started to scrub frantically at his hair, dousing it in shampoo, to no avail.
Finally waking up from his nap upon sensing Naruto's frustration at his hair, Kurama explained quickly, "Kit, it's a side effect from being the first owner of the fox contract. You've gained several abilities, mostly in the form of further enhanced senses. It also changed your appearance slightly and altered your chakra to be much denser. You still have the same amount of chakra, it is just that jutsu and such will require less chakra. It seems that I forgot to tell you before making you sign the contract."
Naruto quickly calmed down and rinsed the shampoo from his hair, drying it with a small wind jutsu. He dressed in a kimono that hid the weapons he concealed on his form nicely, wearing a pair of sandals that matched the kimono that was black with red designs. He decided to leave his Sharingan activated at all times as it wasn't all that taxing on his chakra reserves.
Seeing as he was already pretty close to Kage-level in terms of chakra capacity alone, factoring in the density of his chakra, his chakra reserves now surpassed that of the average Kage. The density of his chakra rivalled that of the Kyūbi -- his chakra was already dense from being an Uzumaki. Making chakra constructs was one of the many Uzumaki kekkei-genkai, and that required highly condensed chakra. Of course, he would not have unlocked so many abilities on account of his Uzumaki lineage alone. Kurama's efforts showed in this aspect. Combined with what changes were made after signing the contract, his chakra only became even denser. With both quantity and quality, the constant activation of the Sharingan did not even scrape the surface of his chakra reserves.
Naruto requested for his father to help him maintain the genjutsu over his eyes so that he would not get found out, allowing him to use his chakra to cast the complicated illusion. It even masks the fact that chakra was being constantly channelled to the eyes, making it seem normal to even sensors and Byakugan users.
Naruto used Hiraishin, which no one else has yet to find out he knows, flashing straight to the Namikaze compound. He proceeded to unlock the chakra and blood seal that surprisingly had already been calibrated to his chakra and blood.
Naruto entered the compound that he immediately noticed had been maintained by one of his mother's very practical and useful seals that prevented the collecting of dust as well as the overgrowing of plants. It also showed how much she disliked household chores on the whole. He followed Minato's instructions to enter the basement, which even his mother had never been in since the house was built, and walked into the large area.
The first place he entered was a large training ground with seals all over the walls. They were reminiscent of those in ANBU Training Ground #9, making Naruto guess that they had the same purpose when activated. Naruto then noticed a door at the other end of the area.
It opened to an area that was definitely outside of the area that the house belonged to. Naruto shook that off and saw a seemingly endless stairwell. He frowned and was about to ask when he was interrupted.
"It is endless. It was made that way so any person who managed to get down here will never manage to find the items. Do you see the seals on the floor? It will continue leading down endlessly and if they go too far down, the passage up would have been shut and they would never return, trapped in here until they die of starvation," Minato told him.
'I see. So are those pretty "designs" on the wall the runes that open up to the place?' Naruto guessed when he noticed the intricate artwork.
Although it would seem rather insignificant to most as there was more wall art further down on the stairwell, only this one concealed the runes. The rest were just beautiful pictures that may or may not depict anything of importance. Perhaps it could be said that their function was to, at the same time, beautify and camouflage the runes.
"Indeed. They are unlocked by my chakra. By extension, you and my father were the only others who would ever have been able to access it. No other living Uchiha would be able to as they are not of the main bloodline. The members of the main family were not as power-hungry as their branch family counterparts. However, we were much more powerful and tended to have very different opinions from the rest. I believe that you should know that excessive usage of the Mangekyō causes blindness to the user. The only way to prevent this is for the person to replace their eyes with that of another Mangekyō user," Minato explained, ending up telling more than Naruto asked.
'I see... I find that that would explain a lot, seeing how the Uchiha seem like a bunch of stuck-up pricks, except Obito, Shisui and Itachi,' Naruto commented.
All he received were mere chuckles from his father.
Naruto placed his hand on the wall, channelling a small amount of chakra into it. He watched as the runes lit up, a portal swirling with yellow flames opening up.
"I based it off the Hiraishin. It leads to a place hidden in the clouds. Literally. You will see," Minato explained.
Naruto nodded mutely as he stepped into the portal, finding himself in front of a gate that swirled with a portal identical to the one in the basement of the Namikaze compound. He saw that clouds were, quite literally, billowing about. He was even standing on one, the mist obscuring his line of sight although he could faintly see the sky and a white structure off in the distance.
"No one can enter this place without your permission. Time-space ninjutsu of any kind does not work unless the thing it is teleporting either contains no chakra (it is an object) or it is teleporting you or a clone. The jutsu needs to be done with your chakra, though. Well, mine works too but you get the point," Minato explained, proud of his work.
'I can sense that there is a form of fūinjutsu barrier around this place. I am assuming that this is a place in the sky that you used fūinjutsu to make seem like empty space or part of the clouds by using a few seals or a strong, complex genjutsu to prevent anyone from finding the barrier?' Naruto said.
"That is very close! Only this place is also always floating around within similar altitudes. I was originally trying to create a pocket dimension, but this was what I got instead," Minato said with mild disappointment.
"I suppose this is an incredibly smart idea. All the seals prevent anyone else from even setting foot in here?" Naruto mumbled aloud.
"Yes, no one else can enter. Not even through the portal. If you want to bring anyone in, you need to keep physical contact with the person at all times. Otherwise, they will be thrown out of the place and into the sky. The person will probably die from the change in air pressure or the free-fall, so I do not recommend it," Minato told his son.
Naruto nodded his head as he began to make his way to the white building that revealed itself to be a marble mansion. It looked elegant with its marble pillars and exquisite engraving. When he asked Minato about it, he told him that the mansion was a gift from Madara after he was shown the place. Who knows where the old man dug out a gigantic mansion from.
Kushina, who had been silent in awe of her husband's work of art thus far, spoke up, "I now know what Minato-kun had kept from me all this time. If so, to be fair, it's about time I told you about the secret of my parentage.
"I am indeed an Uzumaki, but I am also a Senju. I was the daughter of Senju Nawaki and Uzumaki Yūmi. Senju Nawaki was the son of the Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama. His mother was assassinated within a week after he was born, having been weakened by childbirth.
"Tobirama was devastated and decided that he could not raise my father, a child that reminded him so much of his deceased lover. He begged Hashirama and Mito to take care of his son, using a memory alteration seal to make Tsunade think that Nawaki was her brother rather than a cousin.
"The time came where Hashirama deemed that Nawaki was ready to learn the truth. As such, he told him everything. Nawaki hated his supposed uncle as well as his supposed father for what they have done to him. He was lost and confused at the time, hating that his father lied to him and refused to take care of him, giving him to his brother.
"Nawaki decided to participate in the war, feigning his death and causing great sorrow to his cousin Tsunade who even now does not know the truth as her uncle and father both died before they were ready to tell her and could only continue putting it off, not wanting to gain Tsunade's hatred like they did Nawaki's.
"Nawaki ran away and found himself in Uzugakure where he stayed, eventually falling in love with Yūmi, the princess of Uzu. When they discovered that their feelings were mutual, they got married and had me.
"One thing led to another and they sent me away when I was a child to Konoha when they heard rumours of Iwa, Kumo and Kiri planning to wipe out Uzu with their combined forces. I tried to go back to help when the news reached Konoha, sneaking myself into the rescue team.
"We were only an hour late. Uzu had been only just conquered as they had managed to hold on for a whole week, however, their defences eventually collapsed.
"That was after I got kidnapped by Kumo and became the Kyūbi jinchūriki. I was warned by my father to never reveal my true heritage in fear of me being forced into the Clan Restoration Act which would essentially turn me into a baby factory. After all, the Senju clan -- except Tsunade-san -- had been wiped out a while back during the previous war that my own father escaped."
Kushina looked extremely guilty when she finally finished her story.
"It's okay. I didn't tell you either. My story is probably not nearly as dramatic, anyway. However, I'll still tell you nonetheless. My mother was a civilian by the name of Namikaze Minami. You know that's my father is Uchiha Madara.
"They met after Madara's final battle with Hashirama at the Valley of the End. Madara had used a jutsu that saved him from his fatal wounds and was only able to fake his death as Hashirama could not bear to watch him die. When Hashirama returned, he saw Madara's dead body in a pool of blood and did not check if the body was real, burying it as soon as was possible. Madara had escaped into the forest, collapsing near a civilian village where he was found and treated by Minami.
"He thought that she was an angel at first and had told her that he did not deserve to go to heaven when she supposedly blushed and told him that he was still alive. Madara healed quickly and had helped out in the village as a way to return his debt for Minami. They gradually fell in love and married, Madara deciding to leave his shinobi life behind and continue to live as a civilian. They were happy and had me soon after.
"This was according to my mother, at least. Tou-sama always hummed when she told me these stories.
"We lived happily, tou-sama only teaching me shinobi skills for self-defence. One day, it all came to the end that tou-sama had feared. We were attacked by rogue shinobi from Iwa while tou-sama was not around. Although they were only chūnin, there were many of them. I was able to hold them back, though not for long. One got under my guard and managed to give my mother a lethal blow. I killed the man without thinking, kneeling beside my mother.
"That was when tou-sama arrived and easily killed the remaining men, rescuing me. He grabbed my mother and dragged me away. He told me everything -- about who he was and all he knew about the Sharingan, telling me to go to Konoha. 'They would accept and take care of you,' he had said. And so I went, keeping my promise to him to never reveal my heritage," Minato said, sounding almost sorry when he murmured the last sentence.
"It's not that I didn't trust you enough to tell you, but rather because I promised not to. No Uchiha can break a promise. It is in our blood. That includes me," Minato explained.
'What's the difference between main house Uchiha and branch house Uchiha?' Naruto asked himself.
"The main line consists of the descendants of Indra, the biological son of tou-san and the starter of the Uchiha clan. The branch family are those he had used a blood ritual to grant the Sharingan to normal civilians in his efforts to expand his clan as quickly as possible. You can call them the half-blooded Uchiha," Kurama told him from the mindscape, having been listening to the conversation.
"If so, what's the difference? Are there any physical differences?" Naruto spoke aloud.
"The differences lie within their eyes," Kurama said.
"Eyes?" Naruto asked in confusion.
"The main house Uchiha have multiple ways of achieving the Mangekyō. They could suffer emotional trauma to force their Mangekyō to awaken such as a person's first kill and the like, be forced into a life and death situation where the awakening of the Mangekyō may very well save their lives and finally, through training the Sharingan intensely until the Mangekyō is achieved. The half-bloods are very different. They need to kill someone very close to them to awaken their Mangekyō. The emotional and mental trauma they suffer will cause them to immediately be forced to awaken their Mangekyō. This often leads to them going crazy," Kurama explained.
'You are leaving something out on purpose,' Naruto pointed out, feeling suspicious.
"You know me too well. The main line does not need to replace their eyes with that of another mangekyō user to avoid blindness as their eyes are immediately awakened to the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Half-bloods have that requirement," Kurama explained.
"I did not know that! I noticed that using it does not cause my eyes to decline but I thought that it was because I didn't use it all that much..." Minato muttered.
"Why did ojiji-sama give me his eyes?" Naruto mused.
"They are probably as a backup in case you ever need them? Moreover. they seem to be Izuna's eyes. He had given them to Madara as a gift when he was about to die if memory serves me right. His own eyes are probably somewhere else, which is why he was using Izuna's instead during the time that he was visiting you," Kurama concluded with a shrug.
Naruto nodded his head, continuing into the mansion.
It took Naruto quite a bit of effort to open the large doors manually as the automatic opening and closing seal was disabled. He enabled it and walked through the large room with elaborate tapestries and paintings (a ballroom?) and up the elegant marble stairs, marvelling at the velvet carpeting. He explored the place, first finding his father's study where he kept his notes on things that he did not want anyone to know of. Naruto admired his father's half-completed work and the many notebooks filled with his discoveries.
The next he saw was a row of bedrooms, only one of which had anything that showed any sign of anyone having lived in it before with the rest seeming to be guest rooms. Each had a balcony, although his father's room was bigger and had a much nicer balcony than the rest.
Naruto continued exploring, going to the other end of the corridor where he found a kitchen area where food was kept in stasis seals to prevent them from spoiling.
He continued up another flight of stairs and found a huge library. All sorts of books can be found here. There was a copy of practically every book or scroll in the elemental nations. Naruto practically drooled at the sight and immediately spawned ten thousand clones to go through all the books and scrolls.
He went up yet another flight of stairs only to find a massive armoury. Madara's signature armour was on a mannequin in the corner, his gunbai leaning against a stand on the wall. Weapons belonging to both Madara and Minato were in stands all over the room along with their signature outfits. Their jutsu scrolls and notebooks were on large shelves that made it seem like a smaller library.
Naruto spawned another seventy clones to go through them. He, the original, grabbed a random notebook and started to read. He found out that the Rasengan that Minato had taught him a while back was based on the Bijūdama of the bijū. He read more and found out that Minato had taken several years to create the jutsu and felt pride in the fact that he mastered it in just one week. He continued and found out that it was an incomplete jutsu that a chakra nature can still be added on to. He smirked as he entered his mindscape momentarily, making five hundred shadow clones and ordering each group of one hundred to focus on adding a different chakra nature to the Rasengan.
Naruto made sure that the clones knew that they were not to dispel all at once and that they were to dispel in groups of about one hundred and send the memories to another clone, this process repeating until only the clones that were processing the information are left. These clones are also to dispel in groups of one hundred, each group sending the memories to another clone. This process was to repeat until less than a hundred are left, all so he does not pass out from information overload.
The clones in his mindscape were not to dispel until the particular chakra nature was complete, during which only one clone pops while the rest pop one by one as long as they were in the same group. This was because of the time dilation he had activated while leaving Kurama, Minato and Kushina out from it. Time in the mindscape was travelling at an hour per second in the real world.
Naruto decided to take the gunbai as he went back through the portal, knowing that his clones would do their work. Naruto practised with his mangekyō, using a notebook that Madara had written about the abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Naruto decided that he should learn Kamui as from what he heard, it was a very useful time-space ninjutsu. He channelled more chakra into his eyes to activate his mangekyō. Naruto focused some more chakra into his eyes, concentrating on warping his body away. He was pulled into his own eyes by a swirling pattern.
"I'm successful!" Naruto cheered when he found himself in a strangely desolate place that despite being completely black and without any light source, he was able to see perfectly in.
The floor was covered by glittering black sand and had the occasional hill of black rock. He could not locate any form of light and noticed that the pocket dimension seemed endless.
Naruto once again focused some chakra to his eyes, focusing on getting out and to the mansion in the sky. He felt the air change and the lighting increase and squinted as his eyes quickly adjusted to the change in lighting.
Naruto was right in front of the portal gate, right where he wanted to be. He quickly left a hiraishin seal on the base of the gate where it was hidden by clouds before leaving using Kamui.
Naruto decided to explore the Namikaze compound that he intended to move into in time. He looked through the place, finding a library with all that his parents were able to salvage from Uzu and an open concept kitchen with a nice dining table. The living area has a cushy loveseat and another bigger but equally soft and comfy sofa of matching colours. The whole house was brightly coloured with warm colours that made it feel homey and cosy.
Naruto continued to walk around, finding the big master bedroom that his parents once shared with bedside tables on each side of a really big bed that was larger than a normal king-sized one. Two separate wardrobes sat at the other end of the room with very different clothes in each. An unused crib was beside the huge bed on the side that had the floral bedside table. A door near the wardrobes leds to a bathroom that he did not enter.
He shut the door and opened the one beside it that was coloured a pretty pastel orange and carved with the same pattern as his Mangekyō Sharingan, ironically, and saw a nicely furnished room with a queen-sized bed and fluffy pillows. The sheets are a pretty sky blue that matched Minato's eye colour perfectly. An empty closet was beside the bed, beside the balcony overhanging the pretty garden downstairs. A study desk and chair were present at one corner of the room, both made out of luxurious black ebony. The chair, however, had very soft cushions and was very comfortable. He noticed a television set and game console in front of a bean bag in a corner of the room. the other unoccupied corner had a door that probably leads to a bathroom.
Despite all that he had done, it was still only one in the afternoon. He had just slumped into the beanbag when he felt the clones in his mindscape begin to dispel.
The first bunch consisted of the clones focusing on wind chakra. He decided to call it "Fūton: Rasenshuriken" as it looked like a huge shuriken shaped from wind and was meant for throwing. The attack explodes upon contact with its target, shredding it with tiny microscopic blades of wind. If it were used on a living target, it would slice through any form of armour easily like a hot knife through butter, destroying all the cells in the body and ruining the entire chakra network in the body. It was a sure-kill technique.
Next to dispel were those focusing on lightning chakra. He decided to call this variation "Raiton: Rasenmori" as the Rasengan had kept the swirling chakra, only elongated into a lance or harpoon due to the lightning. It has great piercing power and electrocutes the target, often slicing right through it and into several other people. Anyone even scraped by the sparks from the lance would instantly die from the great electric currents flowing through their body.
Right after were the clones working on the fire variation. He had a harder time naming this one. In the end, he decided on calling it "Katon: Gōen Rasengan". This Rasengan has a black core surrounded by white-hot flames, resembling a miniature sun. When unleashed at a target, multiple targets will be encased in a blazing inferno that reduces said targets to ashes that will probably blow away in the wind. Anyone caught near the attack other than the user will be severely dehydrated by the mere heat emanating from the attack.
Next were the clones that worked on water nature. He decided to call it "Suiton: Rasenare" as it explodes on contact, swirling around the target in a whirlpool or hurricane, grinding the target and anything that so much as brushes the technique in an instant. Once its target was gone, it would continue to tear through the terrain by grinding anything and everything in its path.
Lastly were the clones that were working on the earth nature Rasengan. He decided to name it "Doton: Rasensekka", the reason being that it was an onslaught of seemingly harmless pure unhardened earth chakra. It taints the chakra systems of all living things touched by it, rapidly spreading and turning them into stone. It actually scared even him, the creator of the technique. From what Naruto had figured out, he could make it even more deadly by using senjutsu chakra. However, unfortunately for him, he does not know senjutsu.
Naruto went down to the back of the compound, kneeling beside his parents' graves. He used a minor Doton jutsu to dig a deep trench beside his father's grave. He proceeded to make ten clones to craft a coffin for his grandfather.
Naruto took a few samples of his grandfather's hair just in case he needed it, keeping one in a locket where he placed his parents' hair on separate slides. The rest he bundled up and placed in his pocket dimension (the time-halting one) for safekeeping. Naruto placed a stasis seal on his body like he knew there were on his parents' bodies to prevent the bodies from rotting, preserving them perfectly.
Soon, the clones returned with a wooden coffin and laid it in front of him. It had tomoe carved on the sides of the cover while the bottom was of both the Konoha symbol and Sharingan patterns. The lid had an intricately carved Mangekyō Sharingan pattern. It was what Kurama told Naruto Madara's Mangekyō looked like. Naruto placed several seals on it to prevent people from being able to open it, careful to make sure even the best seal masters will not be able to understand the intricate fūinjutsu that had been shrunk down to resemble the runes that only Naruto and Minato ever bothered to learn. Although the runes are more complicated and thus harder to draw compared to the normal kanji on normal seals, they are much stronger and almost impossible to break. However, because almost no one knows of its existence, it was virtually unbreakable.
Of the "runes" at the base of the coffin, one of them was a rune that protected the coffin from the sieges of time.
Naruto carefully placed his grandfather in the coffin after cleaning off the blood and grime, combing his hair and arranging his body after placing him in a silk black kimono. He placed artificial eyes that one of his clones cultivated with Madara's DNA into his eye sockets, making sure that the Sharingan had been sealed to prevent anyone from stealing the eyes.
Naruto placed a black rose between Madara's hands, shifting his fingers so they clutched the black thornless rose. He then used a simple medical jutsu to close up his wounds and another to heal his scars and smoothen the wrinkles on the aged body. When he was satisfied with his work, he placed the cover over his grandfather's corpse. He looked rather young now, probably in his twenties (if not for his pure white hair) and merely seemed asleep. Naruto activated the seals and carefully lowered the coffin into the trench he dug for it, using another minor earth jutsu to bury it.
Naruto had sat there thinking for a while, pondering over whether he should make a headstone. If he did and an outsider saw it, they would have found it suspicious. If he does not, he would feel bad and the knowledge of their ancestor would be lost if he has any children and fails to tell them. Naruto decided to leave one that only those of Madara's descent can see if they touch the headstone. To the rest, it would be a nonsensical jumble of runes that they do not understand. It was inspired by none other than the stone monument in the Naka Shrine.
Naruto used a Doton jutsu and broke off the plate of stone. He smoothened it and shaped it using some heat before carefully carving in the words and inlaying it with obsidian that he collected and kept in his pocket dimension at some point in time and carved a few seals on the headstone at the place where it would be buried. He set it into place and marvelled at his work. He decided that there should be grass and made some clones lay the grave with carpet grass.
Naruto himself just felt several of the clones from the collection of his father and grandfather's jutsu dispel upon completing their share of work. Naruto winced slightly as he felt the memory influx and found that as per usual, the data was being filed into his mental library.
Naruto went back into his mindscape, making about two hundred clones and ordering them to practice all the jutsu until they can do them without any hand signs. He made another few to learn one-handed hand signs from one of the books to familiarise himself with the position of the hands. He made sure that time was moving at twenty-four hours per second before leaving the compound with Hiraishin.
Naruto made sure that no one had spotted his use of the jutsu before walking into Ichiraku's Ramen, a place that his mother had told him was heaven on earth and the best place ever. Her words were ones that Minato did not agree with as he said that the food was not that bad while Kushina yelled something about blasphemy.
Naruto entered the small ramen stand and ordered a bowl of pork miso ramen. He placed a few strands into his mouth, chewing it slowly before swallowing.
"How was it, Sochi? Isn't it the food of the gods?" Kushina asked her son with sparkles in her eyes.
Minato was just face-palming at how she was so desperate to convert her son to the ramen cult.
'It isn't that nice. I've eaten nicer food. But it's not that bad, I guess. For ramen, it can be considered quite good,' Naruto commented, making Kushina face-vault.
Kushina cried at how her husband had "corrupted her precious baby boy" while the said baby boy just watched on with a large, comical sweat-drop hanging from his brow.
"You have the best ramen in Konoha... Teuchi-san," Naruto praised as he read the ramen chef's name tag.
"You really think so, lad?" the middle-aged man asked, touched.
Naruto nodded his head honestly, making the man beam in happiness.
"Well, then that bowl is on the house!" Teuchi shouted just as Naruto started to take out money to pay him.
"But I cannot just freeload off of you!" Naruto protested -- it was his first time meeting such a kind stranger and he did not want to take advantage of the man.
"Nonsense, you ain't freeloading, lad! I must insist!" Teuchi said firmly as he gently pushed Naruto's hand away.
"Please don't try to argue, kid. When my dad gets like that, there's no changing his mind whatsoever," a voice whispered in Naruto's ear.
"Eh?" Naruto turned around to look at the girl.
"Hello! I'm Ichiraku Ayame! That's my father, Ichiraku Teuchi! Nice to meet you kid! I hope you become a regular!" Ayame said cheerfully.
Naruto blinked, backing out of the stand.
'I swear those people are crazy,' Naruto shuddered.
"Hey! Ichiraku is the best thing to ever come to this world! How dare you insult their magnificence!" Kushina yelled childishly at her son.
Naruto just pinched his nose bridge, roof-hopping back to ANBU headquarters as he heard his parents bicker over silly things like children in his head. He went through the passages with practised ease, quickly making it back to his room and closing the door behind him. He stripped and took a long relaxing bath, slipping on a sleeping robe before going into the laundry room to do his laundry.
>•<
Naruto was turning seven this year, Hiruzen had asked him whether he wanted to join the academy yet. Naruto rejected that idea, telling him that he would join the year after that. He wished to be placed in the same class as the clan heirs and play the role of dead-last, hiding both his personality and his abilities to prevent the civilian council from acting up.
"Jiji, why don't you raise the laws from the time of the Shodaime up? You can very well put them in their place by telling the civilian council that they had no room in shinobi matters and did not need to be in the meetings unless they related to civilian matters. For your councillors Homura, Koharu and Danzo, just remind them that they are only just advisors and cannot make decisions without you! You have let them do as they wish for far too long. It is time for them to remember that they are only just advisors. They are not able to make decisions without the Hokage unless it is during a wartime emergency and the Hokage is absent. Even then, all three of them have to agree on it along with the whole shinobi council. The civilian council should not even have a say in these matters. As for me, I am the jinchūriki of the Kyūbi and a so-called weapon of Konoha. The civilian council should not have any input on what I am to do or not to do. They do not hold any authority over me -- only the Hokage does. I am to protect the village with my life and act as the village's trump card in times of war. I should not be prevented from getting stronger as the demon brat simply because they cannot understand the difference between a kunai and its sealing scroll. You are the Hokage, if you do not hold power in the council, no one does. Remind them that Konoha has a Militaristic government. We are not a Democracy, we never were and never will be!" Naruto said with conviction.
Hiruzen was stunned by his speech. He had known that the boy was intelligent and knew much more than he should. He knew that the boy knew his status as jinchūriki and probably figured out the identities of his parents. He had known all of the laws of Konoha and can recite them at a drop of a hat, but he never did notice that all the council had been doing went against the preset laws. Naruto was quite something.
"My boy, you truly are wise beyond your years," Hiruzen finally breathed after he was stunned into silence.
"It is mere fact, Jiji," Naruto sighed.
"No, you are very good in politics," Hiruzen argued, a pondering look in his eyes.
Naruto shrugged at that, "You need to deal with the council. Bring up everything I said and throw the civilians out for me. Do me a favour and help me put your advisors in their place," Naruto told him, allowing a small smile to show on his face.
"Of course, Naruto-kun," Hiruzen grinned back, practically skipping to his next council meeting.
The civilian council members felt a chill run up their spines and the Hokage's advisors failed to suppress their shiver. They all rubbed at their arms, thinking, 'It sure is cold today.'
Danzo had a bad feeling about it that he could not pinpoint, but he still strolled into the council chambers as he usually did.
"Ah, don't forget that Itachi and Shisui are going to join your training sessions!" Hiruzen called back.
"Of course not, Jiji!" Naruto replied.
Naruto cackled silently from his spot among the ANBU in the rafters with a fox mask on his face and donning ANBU gear. He was on his first mission (solely to gain experience, of course. He was not really an ANBU member, after all).
'Let the fun and games begin!'
Might as well make the best out of guard duty, no?