Chapter 1

CLANG

CLANG

CLANG

The sound of something hard striking metal resonated across a bleak hallway.

It was poorly lit and had several heavily fortified metal doors on both sides. A pair of men wearing guard uniforms were walking down the hallway, one of them being the obvious source of the noise. He had a bored look on his face as he struck each door with the baton in his hand. His companion, on the other hand, seemed to be agitated.

"Fucking Gen, leaving me to do this chore." He grouched.

"Calm down Kurou, I know this task might seem like a chore but don't forget that it's necessary." Warned the first guard. "Even without the ability to use chakra, these prisoners are very dangerous and merciless. By doing this-"

"I know, I know it alright! You don't have to lecture me again, Kichiro." The now-named Kurou interrupted indignantly. Of course, he knew why they had to do it. Didn't make it any less boring though.

Keeping the new prisoners from getting proper sleep kept them tired and easier to control, which in turn reduced the chances of someone starting trouble. An easy yet efficient way to take the fight out of them and keep them under control.

No matter how extreme that would look to an ordinary person, they needed to keep a tight hold on these prisoners. Everyone incarcerated in the Blood Prison had committed grave crimes and was too dangerous to be kept in any normal prison but too valuable to be given a death sentence. Only the worst criminals in the entire continent were sent here to be locked away.

The guards needed to stay vigilant because even with their chakra sealed, almost all prisoners were seasoned shinobi and could effortlessly kill a person in less than a moment. After all, shinobi were nothing if not tricksters.

By now, Kurou could recite the whole spiel word for word with how many times he had been lectured about it.

'Worst criminals in the continent' 'highly dangerous shinobi' 'tricksters'

'What a load of crap! All they do is whine and go on with the same miserable routine every day.' He thought mockingly.

Most of them broke within their first few weeks in this prison after they realized how futile it was to attempt to escape.

With their chakra sealed and the knowledge that even if they did somehow succeed in breaking out, they would be incinerated just after reaching a certain distance, it didn't take long for them to accept their fate.

He scoffed, catching the attention of his companion.

"Hmmm? Something on your mind?" Asked Kichiro as they entered an isolated portion of the prison.

"Just thinking how pathetic these scum are, left to rot here by their villages and leaders until they are executed or needed. And we both know how unlikely that is." Answered Kurou with a laugh, making Kichiro release a chuckle of his own while shaking his head.

More often than not, those who had sent the prisoners here seemed to 'forget' about them. The list of names of those who had walked out of this prison was quite short.

"Anyway, did you hear about the new inmate from Konohagakure? There's been a lot of rumors going on about him. Real crazy rumors, I tell you." Kurou whispered to his partner, "He's been put in the cell over there." He pointed toward a cell at the end of the darkened corridor they had just entered.

"Since when did you start gossiping like civilian housewives?" Kichiro looked at him from the corner of his eyes after seeing the cell he was talking about, "Let's just go back, we are not allowed to enter the Solitary Confinement Section anyway."

His comments earned him an affronted look from Kurou. "I didn't." He insisted as they turned around to leave, "I just heard the Konoha chunin sent here to deliver some message talking among themselves when they thought no one was looking. They were deadly afraid of this guy, calling him a monster, traitor, and a whole lot of such things. One of them even said that HE was the one who killed the …"

Unknown to both of them, another person was listening to their conversation. In the unlit corner of a prison cell, a pair of bright amethyst eyes snapped open, glinting in the dark.

The person sat with their back against the wall, hearing the voices of the guards fading away. The figure remained motionless even as the moonlight coming through the tiny opening in the wall moved along the floor, indicating the passing of time.

Eventually, it fell on the figure, lighting up the rest of their features, a pale aristocratic face, and bright red hair that seemed to contrast heavily with the bleak and depressing surroundings.

The man remained unmoving. His empty gaze stared ahead, detached from the world around him.

***********************

Sometime in the past

***********************

In an underground lab, two figures stood in front of a cylindrical tank filled with an unknown fluid and a developing fetus submerged inside it.

"What is the status of our new weapon, Orochimaru?'' Asked the first figure, who appeared to be a dark-haired man in his sixties with a cross-shaped scar on his chin and one eye wrapped in bandages.

"My, you're being awfully impatient, Danzo. You have to understand that this is no simple task. However, I can understand why you would feel that way. It is, after all, such an interesting endeavour." Replied Orochimaru.

"Though I wonder what Sarutobi-sensei would think when he finds this." He commented.

He was a tall and intimidating man in his late thirties with long dark hair, yellow eyes with purple marks near his eyes, and pale skin.

Danzo scoffed at the statement, "What Hiruzen thinks is of no concern. If he weren't such a softhearted fool and had allowed me to train the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, I wouldn't have to resort to such methods."

"With this procedure, we will be able to create powerful shinobi with bloodlines to fight in the name of Konoha." He said.

And destroy all of its enemies, become the sole superpower and rule the entirety of the Elemental Nations. He continued in his mind while looking toward the fetus floating inside the tank, connected to several tubes.

"Now tell me, was the bloodline integration successful?" He asked.

Just thinking about the prospect of having an army of shinobi, with multiple bloodlines, large chakra reserves, and strong vitality under his command was enough to make him excited. However, none of that was allowed to appear on his face.

Orochimaru let out an amused chuckle before saying, "Oh yes, it went better than I expected. The Uzumaki clan sure is fascinating! To think the samples would merge so seamlessly. I can't help but look forward to the results."

There was no doubt about that. Never had the snake Sannin anticipated working on something this marvellous. It unlocked more possibilities than he could comprehend.

This was his first successful attempt at integrating multiple bloodlines, all of the previous ones being failures. But now, with the generous 'donation' from the only known living Uzumaki, he could finally further his research.

His musings were broken by Danzo's words, "Don't forget to notify me when it's ready." With those parting words, he left Orochimaru to his devices.

*****************

Three years later

*****************

The last few years have been interesting for the Snake Sannin. His experiment was successful and it was magnificent.

After the child became an infant, he was taken out of the tank and then put in the care of root kunoichi until he was ready for his training to start.

During that period, he was meticulously monitored and given a specific diet along with various drugs, supplements, and even poisons in minute doses to make him grow faster and stronger as well as make him immune to poisons.

And the results showed that despite being only about three years old, the child's physique was more developed than most 5-year-olds with denser muscles and bones. He was also much stronger, faster, smarter, and overall better in every possible way than anyone his age was supposed to be.

That wasn't to say everything was good for him. Being raised in isolation inside a lab with emotionless ROOT operatives as his caretakers, replaced regularly to avoid any emotional attachment, affected the child's part.

While they made sure that the development of his brain's thought processes and decision-making wouldn't be impaired by the isolation through various means, social interactions and understanding of human emotions were some things he couldn't grasp properly.

Orochimaru snorted at the thought. It's not like it bothered the old War hawk.

If anything, Danzo preferred it this way. For him, the boy was merely a weapon. Easily replaceable.

And today, they started sharpening that weapon.

He saw the Elder walk inside the lab with his ROOT operatives shadowing him and decided to receive him.

"Welcome, Lord Danzo. It's a delight to be in your presence after so long. Is there anything I can do for you?" He greeted, with blatant faux politeness.

"Spare me the pleasantries Orochimaru," Said Danzo, "You already know why I'm here."

"Of course, I do. I have been expecting you for some time." Replied the Sannin with mirth in his voice before moving on to what the old War hawk had come for.

"The boy is healthy, far better than any child his age would be. The drugs and procedures have worked wonderfully and accelerated his rate of growth. Though he has yet to activate any of the bloodlines, he does show the signs that imply he has them." He explained while handing Danzo the file he was holding.

He turns around and leaves the room, returning a couple of minutes later with a boy who appeared to be about 4 to 5 years old. Furthermore, he had pale skin, signature Uzumaki red hair, and violet eyes.

The slight hint of curiosity was the only emotion that could be seen on his surprisingly blank face.

Danzo looked over the child. The boy had strongly inherited the Uzumaki genes from the looks of it, along with the powerful chakra they were renowned for. Despite being little more than a toddler, he had more chakra than most fresh out of the academy Genin.

'Yes, he would certainly be a great asset for him.' He thought. And if the experiment was successful, he would have more such powerful shinobi under his command.

All he needed to do was mould him into the perfect shinobi.

******************

Three years later

******************

For one Kushina Uzumaki, the day started just like any other day.

She had woken up in her and her boyfriend's shared home and went on to complete her morning rituals.

Usually, her boyfriend would be with her but because of the ongoing war, he was sent on a mission while she was forced to stay in the village.

Though it wasn't because she was weak, she was anything but that. However, as quite possibly the last Uzumaki and the jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Fox, she was too 'valuable' to be sent out on dangerous missions.

She was also arguably the best seal master alive, so all things considered, she was a prime target. To avoid anything from happening to her, the Hokage and Elders rarely allowed her to venture outside the village.

'Bah, a bunch of old farts just want me to be holed up in the village and pop out more Uzumaki.' She thought in annoyance as she finished brushing her teeth and headed to the shower.

'At least they stopped pestering me to get married, especially the marriage proposals,' She shuddered. Partly because of cold water falling from the shower hitting her and partly because of the suggestions they had given her. Some of them were just… urgh, better not think about that.

Ever since Minato had started making his name on the battlefield, the Hokage and his fellow 'advisors' stopped showing their dissatisfaction with her choice of a viable partner. More so for the advisors, at least the Hokage was subtle in his attempts.

She huffed as she washed her head.

Not that they could do anything about it except nag her in a roundabout manner and annoy her with their suggestions for prospective men to pop out children with.

They couldn't force her even if they wanted to as that would fall into the clan matters. Doing so would backfire on them as she would have the support of other clans.

After all, if they intervene in clan matters once then they can surely do it again. There's no way clans would allow the hokage and his advisors to interfere with the internal workings of their clan. With the majority of clans against him, not even the hokage can do anything.

There's also the fact that she could easily destabilise the leaf village if they did try to force her into it. Enough to put the village on the back foot economically.

Unknown to all but a handful of people, Tsunade was not the only living grandchild of The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and Mito Senju née Uzumaki.

An agreement signed during Hashirama and Mito's marriage stated that a child born from them would be sent to Uzushiogakure to strengthen the ties between the Uzumaki, Senju, and the Leaf village.

As agreed, the youngest daughter of Hashirama and Mito was sent to marry the heir of the Uzumaki clan. And she, Kushina Uzumaki, was their daughter. Making her and Tsunade first cousins.

Being a granddaughter of Hashirama came with a few benefits. Some physical and some political.

She has inherited a strong body and particularly powerful chakra, even among the Uzumaki that allowed her to subdue and suppress even bijuu chakra.

The other…well, seeing as she was a grandchild of Hashirama, the current head of the Uzumaki clan and the potential head of the Senju clan, she could simply shut down all the shops, stores, and businesses owned or leased by the Senju clan as well as take back the rights to use the Uzumaki fuinjutsu in possession of the leaf village.

There's also the revenue that comes to the village through taxes from the royalties of her general-purpose sealing formulas that she licensed out to other seal mass producers in several other countries.

Of course, there would be consequences for her as well, but if it came to it, she wouldn't hesitate.

If that wasn't enough, she was also the only fuinjutsu master that was skilled enough for the maintenance and updating of the barrier around the village.

Even Minato doesn't have as much sealing knowledge as her, after all, she was the one who taught him most of the things he knows.

'Hah, take that you old coots!'

After finishing her shower she went on to get dressed.

As she was doing so, her eyes fell on the window of her room. Through the window, she could see shinobi rushing around the village. She even caught sight of some ANBU among them.

'Hmmm? I wonder what happened to cause this much ruckus.'

Shrugging, the redhead went to prepare breakfast as she thought of what she would be doing today.

The merchants from the Wind country would be arriving today for the new thermal seals designed for desert clothing and food storage they had ordered to be made.

Then a meeting with several seal makers and businessmen from the Fire Capital to discuss and negotiate the licence agreements for mass production, distribution, and sales of various seals.

Some of them were acting very stubbornly and overestimated their importance. They needed to be set straight.

She also has to take the evaluation of the sealing and barrier corps. The last time she conducted one, she found that they were seriously lacking in skills.

Sigh

'That's a lot of work, thankfully I can just send Shadow clones.'

Just as the redhead finished her breakfast, she was alerted of someone's presence just outside the house.

She could tell that they had jonin level chakra and from how well it was suppressed it was most likely an ANBU.

She was proven right when she opened the door. "What is it?"

"Lord Hokage has requested your presence in his office." He replied curtly.

"I'll be there in a few minutes."

He gave her a nod and left.

***************

Hokage Office

***************

As soon as she entered Hokage's office, she was a bit surprised by his expression. His face appeared to be set in stone, though it softened just a bit as he saw her.

Still, she could tell it was just for appearance's sake.

"Ah, Kushina. I hope I didn't call you at the wrong time." He apologised, though she knew it was just him being polite. As the hokage, he could call any shinobi at any moment and they would have no other choice but to come.

"No, no, it's fine. I wasn't doing anything important right now." She waved off.

"That's good here, take a seat." He waved toward one of the chairs in front of his table.

"I suppose it would be better to be straightforward."

She straightened up when she heard his words and saw how his face tensed. Hiruzen pursed his lips, and his usually squinted eyes could be seen clearly.

"Last night there was an incident near the outskirts of Konoha. A large pulse of chakra was detected just a few moments before a loud noise was heard and vibrations were felt." He brought his hands towards the files lying on the table.

"The ANBU sent to investigate the location found what appeared to be several white pillars jutting out of the ground which were discovered to be made of the same material as bones" Picking one of them, he opened it and started looking for something.

At this point, the redhead was getting confused as to how any of this was related to her.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it shut in annoyance when he simply continued to speak.

"But that was not all they found. There was also something else, or should I say someone."

He presented her with a piece of paper from the file. It was a picture, she realised.

The moment she looked at it, she felt a veritable rush of emotions including but not limited to shock, scepticism, hope, anxiety, and joy.

For in the picture, there was a young boy around 9 years of age strapped to a hospital bed.

He seemed to be lying unconscious with various scuffs, cuts, and bruises on his small body along with a few bloodstains.

However, the most distinctive feature that held her attention was his hair. She could easily identify that brilliant shade of red, identical to her own.

As she looked closer, a strange sense of familiarity struck her. It felt as if she had seen him, that she must know him.

It was all there in the shape of his face, his nose, and his mouth. The colour of his skin and hair.

Suddenly, it hit her. She has seen those same features for her whole life in the mirror. The resemblance was uncanny, he could be easily mistaken for her brother.

Her mind had no doubt that he wasn't an Uzumaki, but the sheer likeness to her he exhibited was enough to render her speechless.

"Just like you, I was surprised as well when I saw how much he resembled you."

She lifted her head from the picture in her hand to look at the elderly man as he spoke.

"Just to make sure I ordered a DNA test to be done to see if he did have any relation to you. My suspicion turned out to be true. Almost half of his DNA matches yours." He finished.

"That…that's impossible!"

The shock she felt could not be explained with mere words. Getting a 50-percent match between two individuals' DNA meant that they were either siblings or parent and child.

Her mind raced to figure out how this could be possible. He couldn't be her son.

Ignoring the fact that she'd know about it if she had a child, the kid looked like he was almost 8 years old, and she was still 19. It was just physically impossible.

He could be her brother, yet as far as she knew, her parents were long dead, and she was the only child they had.

There was another possi-

"This child was found unconscious on the outskirts of the village."

She was broken out of her reflections as she heard the Hokage speak.

"He was lying unconscious on the ground surrounded by white pillars sticking out of the ground that appeared to be made out of bones, one of which was impaling a rogue Kiri chunin." He handed her a picture of the area they had found the child in, "After further analysis, we discovered that the child was responsible for it."

Her fists clenched when she heard about the Kiri-nin. Even the thought of Kiri and Kumo makes her blood boil because of their part in Uzushiogakure's destruction.

They didn't just stop at that, realizing that they had lost far more shinobi than they had expected and not finding the wealth and knowledge they were hoping for, ruined any feeling of accomplishment that had been present.

All of their shinobi that were on the island were wiped out by a mysterious wave of chakra leaving only those on the coast.

In their anger, pettiness, and desire for misguided vengeance over their loss, they started killing any of the surviving Uzumaki they could find. Most, who had either escaped or were not present on the island during the invasion were then hunted down.

The notion that the boy may have been on the run from those Kiri ninjas filled her with rage.

Then she heard the last part, which surprised her. As far as she knew only those of the Kaguya clan with Shikotsumyaku kekkei genkai could do something like that. And they were very rare, even among the Kaguya clan.

"It appears that the child also has Kaguya blood inside him." Said the Hokage, confirming that she had heard clearly and further deepening the mystery behind the young Uzumaki's origin.

Kushina mulled over it for a few minutes before looking the hokage dead in the eye.

"I want to see him."

**********************************

Konoha Hospital, Pediatric ward

**********************************

The feeling of familiarity she got from just looking at the boy's picture, couldn't be compared to what she was experiencing right now, as she stared at him sleeping on the bed in front of her.

The similarities weren't solely limited to the physical appearance, from up close, she could sense the large and potent pool of chakra that all Uzumaki possessed, and it felt too much like hers for them to be unrelated.

While it may not be possible for an average shinobi to detect, those with greater skill or advanced sensory abilities can easily tell if two or more people were related to each other with just the feel of their chakra.

She couldn't help but wonder if something else was at play here.

While a part of her was delighted to finally meet another Uzumaki, the other, more cynical part of her mind was suspicious of this whole situation. His being related to her to such an extent, and being found just outside Konoha was too good to be true.

It all stank of a setup, plus she could tell that Hiruzen wasn't revealing the entire truth. Everything he had said was a mix of lies and half-truths. Even then, he was hiding a lot of things.

There was another possibility that could explain the child's origin, but she thought it was better to ask a trusted expert before assuming anything. And she knew just the right person to ask.

Still, it wouldn't stop her from taking care of young Uzumaki who was most likely her closest blood relative alive.

Suddenly, she caught the sound of fabric shuffling and saw that the boy seemed to be waking up.

As his eyes fluttered open, Kushina realized that they were the same shade of violet as her. Once again surprised at how much he resembled her, she wondered if that is how she and Minato's future son would look when they decide to become parents.

'It's too soon to think about that.' Her cheeks flushed before she shook her head to get rid of the thought.

Hearing the kid cough, she quickly moved beside his bed and handed him the glass of water lying on the table.

"Here, this will help you."

He must have been really thirsty because the moment his lips touched the glass, he guzzled it all within a moment.

Taking the glass from his hand, she put it away and turned to see that he was looking around in a curious manner.

"Hey there, little guy." She said with a warm smile, making him look at her.

The inexpressive face that she found herself looking at, dimmed her smile a bit. Seeing such an impassive expression on a kid so young was unsettling.

Getting no response from him, she decided to skip the greetings and get to the point.

"You are in Konohagakure General Hospital right now, I've been told that you were found unconscious just outside the village," Kushina informed him.

"Do you remember what happened there?" She asked in a gentle tone.

Once again, he didn't answer. For a moment she thought he had either a hearing impairment or was suffering from some emotional trauma but not a moment later he slowly shook his head.

"Ah, ok. Do you remember what you were doing there?" Urged Kushina, again getting a shake of the head in response.

The next few minutes were spent similarly, she'd ask questions, and he would answer her with just a nod or a head shake.

She found he didn't remember anything, not even his name. It was almost as if he had forgotten everything except basic knowledge and understanding of language.

Something that only served to increase the suspicion she felt. It was too convenient for that to happen, and she could tell he wasn't lying.

In an attempt to cheer him up, she ruffled his hair, "I'm sure you will remember everything in time, we will worry about it later."

"You must be pretty hungry, so how about we go out and eat something?" She asked, receiving a nod from him.

"Okay, then just wait here for a while until I get permission and bring some clothes for you."

She gave him a once-over to gauge the proper size of clothes that would fit him. From what she could see, he was around 4 feet in height, maybe a couple of inches taller and had a build that clearly showed that he had been trained from an early age, something she had noticed but pushed aside in favour of talking to him.

It was all there. The absence of most of the baby fat kids usually has, his silent demeanour, how he tensed whenever she came close, and the way he subconsciously assessed the room for openings and escapes.

All of it indicated that he had undergone some harsh training, not something a child should be put through. It was enough to engrain some habits that aren't even seen in some experienced Genins or new Chunins.

Then there was his behaviour and lack of expression. That brought a brief frown to her face.

Deciding to investigate it later, she left the room and created a shadow clone. She handed it something, a strand of red hair that belonged to the boy and one hair of her own, "You know what to do."

After nodding her head, the clone took her leave.

*****

Later

*****

"Well? Do you like these clothes?" Kushina asked as she watched him try out his new clothes.

Despite the mostly blank face, he was curiously looking over himself in the mirror, just like any other little kid who had just gotten new clothes. She found it cute, to be honest.

He just looked at her and nodded.

"That's good. Now come over here, let's go eat something." She held out her hand towards him.

Walking up to her, he tilted his head a bit. After staring at her extended hand for half a moment, he reached out and held onto it.

"I don't have any food prepared at home so we're going to eat outside. I'm sure that you'd like ramen. If not, then there's always barbecue." She said as she led him out of the hospital.

In a few minutes, they reached their destination.

It was a small ramen stand, with the banner saying 'Ichiraku Ramen'.

"Yo, Teuchi! I brought you a new customer. Hope I get some discount for this." She announced as she walked into it with the child in tow.

"Of course, anything for my favourite customer, and who is this lucky fellow?" Came the reply from a man slightly older than Kushina.

"Well, you can say he's a family and will be staying with me from now on." Said the redhead as she ushered the curious boy to an empty seat and took one beside him.

"That's great news!" The older man exclaimed, "I guess this calls for a celebration. So, what do you want to eat? It's on the house today."

"You are the best, Teuchi!" She praised happily before giving her order and turned towards her companion, who was busy looking around curiously. "So… what do you want to eat?"

All she got in return was a slight tilt of his head as he faced her with a questioning look. Something that she found adorable and made her want to hug him, but she refrained from doing so for fear of scaring him.

Realising he had no idea about the different dishes, she made the order for him.

While Teuchi was preparing their order, she spent the time contemplating the origins of the boy sitting beside her. She had a theory, but it was a bit too wild to be believable without any further evidence.

It was a good thing she would hopefully be able to acquire it, having already made preparations for it.

Now she just has to make sure that there was nothing malicious on him that could be used against the boy, her, Minato, or Konoha.

While she didn't believe he had any such intentions, it wouldn't be far-fetched if this was some convoluted plan to use him without his knowledge or approval.

Maybe she was being too paranoid, but after the experiences she had gone through, it was hard for her to simply ignore such thoughts.

"Here's your order." Came the hearty voice of the resident ramen chef as a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of her, breaking her line of thoughts.

"And this is for you. Hope you enjoy it." He continued putting a bowl of Miso ramen in front of the kid before asking. "And I apologize for not asking earlier, but what's the name of the young man?"

His question was however ignored by the child, who was too occupied with the new delicacy lying in front of him. Hence, he looked toward the only lady present at the moment.

"He doesn't remember it, much like most of the things." She answered the unasked question with a frown on her face.

At this, his lips curled downwards, "Hmmm, that is just unfortunate. Still, he needs a name. Maybe You should give him one now that you have basically adopted him."

This brought a pondering look to her face. She swiveled her head to look at the younger Uzumaki and saw him struggling with his chopsticks.

Despite his almost blank face, she could easily make out the irritation he was feeling and couldn't stop the tiny smile that appeared on her lips. It was reassuring to see him finally acting like a kid, and he looked quite adorable in her opinion with the slightest narrowing of his eyes, furrowed brows, and little crinkle on his nose.

Deciding that she had enough fun at his expense, she leaned close to him, "Here, hold it like this…." and held his hand to show him how to use the chopsticks, making him look at her for a moment before he started doing as she taught him.

While this was happening, Teuchi looked on in bewilderment at the scene happening in front of him. He had noticed that the child looked a lot like her, which made sense as they were relatives, however, the resemblance between them still surprised him.

Thus, he couldn't stop himself from commenting, "If I didn't know any better, I would think both of you are mother and son or at least siblings."

This made Kushina pause, who was now in the process of enjoying her meal after having finished teaching the younger Uzumaki.

Hearing those words brought back a certain memory.

"Naruto" She muttered, catching the attention of both of her companions.

She remembers the conversation between her and Minato. She had asked him what they should name their future child partially as a prank to fluster him.

It had worked beautifully, for a while that is.

But then, being the genius dork he was, he had started to panic and pace around their bedroom, switching between being an overprotective husband and making plans for the 'upcoming' children at 3 pm the night.

She then had to spend an entire hour calming him down.

However, it had soon turned serious, and they had come to an agreement that Naruto would be a good name if that had a boy, after the main character from Jiraiya's first novel.

"Naruto." She repeated whilst facing the boy, "From now on your name would be Naruto."

Her statement surprised the only other occupants of the shop. Having known how eccentric the Uzumaki woman was, Teuchi quickly got over it and just shook his head with a smile on his face. It was just like her to give someone a name in such a bold and impulsive manner.

"I know how much you love ramen but don't you think it's a bit too much to name a newly found family member after a ramen topping?" he joked, much to Kushina's indignation.

"Hey! It also means Maelstrom, and I'll have you know that I would never do something like that." She declared with a pout.

The noncommittal hum she received made it clear to her that he was far from convinced.

They would have continued the friendly banter if not for the whisper they heard from the seat beside Kushina. They realized it was the boy who had spoken.

"Na…ru..to," He repeated as if testing the name he had been given just a few moments ago. His voice was quiet and hoarse. Not meek per se but the word 'soft' was the best word to describe it.

Hearing him speak for the first time, Kushina was quite surprised, but that soon turned into joy. While she wouldn't have thought anything less of him, she was happy that he could speak perfectly fine.

"Do you like your new name?" She asked the younger Uzumaki, wondering if she was being too forceful.

The boy, Naruto, just nodded. Despite his lack of enthusiasm, Kushina could see a glimmer of excitement and happiness in his eyes.

"Alright!" Cheered Kushina, "from now on, you are Naruto…."

*****************

Three years later

*****************

"Uzumaki!"

Now a young man around 13 years of physical age, Naruto was jolted awake from his sleep at the sound of someone yelling his name and shaking him up. He could also hear the sounds of distant explosions in the background.

That instantly put him on high alert.

"Gather your gear and prepare for battle," Ordered the person who had roused him, "We are being surrounded by the Iwa ninja, they have found our base." It was a man in his early twenties wearing the standard garb of the Konoha Jonin.

His words and the urgency they were spoken with, were enough to chase all traces of drowsiness the young man was feeling and remind him of their present situation.

Currently, they were positioned on the outskirts of the Land of Grass, a few miles from the borders of the Land of Waterfalls.

He was a part of the company containing 15 Jonins, 50 Chunins, and 80 Genins, which was sent here to hold the ground and stop Iwa shinobi from advancing through here.

The secondary objective was to support their allies from Kusagakure and Takigakure whenever necessary.

Something that both of these villages were in dire need of, considering the Iwagakure's attempt at expansion.

They had arrived here two weeks ago, and it has been a constant struggle to shelve off the advancing Iwa forces.

Iwa shinobi were already notorious for their hardiness and skills in earth-style ninjutsu. However, what truly made them dangerous was their sheer fanaticism when it came to following the Tsuchikage's orders.

They would go to any length to do as ordered and never backed down, even when facing certain death.

And in the last couple of weeks, Konoha and its allied shinobi were unfortunate enough to experience it firsthand.

Despite the reinforcements from Taki and Kusa, the Konoha shinobi were taking huge losses. Both in terms of personnel and morale.

There had been multiple skirmishes with the considerably larger invading force of the Hidden Stone village with both sides suffering great losses each time that left them all drained and paranoid, knowing that the next battle would soon take place.

While he had also partaken in the previous battles, he was mostly relegated to minor tasks and support from a distance. As expected, there was very little time for rest. This was one of the rare few times the young Uzumaki has been able to get more than 2 hours of uninterrupted sleep.

From the looks of it, this could very well be the last time he'd have to worry about sleep, as it seems their camp was about to be attacked by the Iwa shinobi.

Scrambling for his gear, the redhead tried to prepare himself for the upcoming battle, despite his frayed nerves and shaking limbs.

Naruto then turned to face his commanding officer, the person who had rudely awakened him. Granted, it was also for his benefit, but that didn't lessen his ire at the man, regardless of the precarious situation.

He had quite an unassuming face with brown hair and dark eyes. Despite not belonging to a clan, Tetsuo Shiraki was a powerful and skilled Jonin who specialized in taijutsu and earth-style ninjutsu.

There was no doubt about his skills, whether it be as a ninja or a squad leader. Naruto was fully aware of that, having been led into battle by him several times yet it didn't stop the young Uzumaki from feeling annoyed at the man.

For all his qualities, he was a jerk who seemed to enjoy tormenting Naruto with chores and remarks directed toward his height, age, and inexperience. His reason, "I didn't like brats." Were his exact words.

Still, the redhead followed the orders given to him by the older shinobi.

"Listen, runt. We have just got the information that the Iwa force is about to launch an attack on this camp. Their reinforcements came earlier than ours and they thought this was the best time to finish us off. Previously, we were barely holding them back. But now it's impossible." Said Tetsuo in his usual gruff tone while looking him in the eyes. As if searching for something.

It made Naruto stand a little straighter while doing his best not to let the fear and trepidation he was let the fear and trepidation he was currently feeling show outwards.

Seemingly finding what he was looking for, he shook his head before proceeding, "Messenger birds have already been sent to both the base camp further into the Land of Waterfall and the oncoming reinforcements. This outpost is now lost, as such your job will be to rush further into the Land of Waterfall towards the reinforcement and give them the information our intelligence unit has discovered."

"The rest of us will hold the enemy back as long as we can," Tetsuo added.

The redhead knew that it was simply a strategy based on logic and the fact that despite his young age and inexperience he was one of the fastest shinobi at the camp. He also knew that in any battle the outcome is largely decided by the level of intelligence the parties involved have over each other and how they use it.

Yet he couldn't stop himself from feeling like he was being told to run away because the jonin considered him too weak and unreliable to fight alongside, especially considering how the senior ninja always treated him.

"But-"

"You'll do as you're told, genin." Stated the Jonin, firmly putting down the argument before it could even start and handing him

All Naruto could do was nod with his fists clenched and look down at the ground before a scroll was pushed into his sight.

"This scroll contains all the intel we have gathered from the battles and the minds of the captured Iwa ninja, hand it over to the commanding officer of the Waterfall base camp. The chances of you getting followed are extremely high, so be fast and cautious." And with that, he handed the scroll to the young Genin before leaving.

Naruto stayed rooted in his place, staring at the scroll in his hand for a few moments before putting it away in his pouch and exiting the tent.

He could already hear the sounds of combat as well as see the dust and smoke rising over the trees not far from him. Realizing that it would be hard for him to leave this camp without coming across enemy ninjas, he kneeled and placed his index and middle finger on the ground to get a sense of his surroundings.

While it paled in comparison to his adopted mother figure's, his sensory skills were decent enough to point out the enemy ninja in his immediate vicinity. In his mind's eye, he could see several spots of lights all around the camp as if flames in the darkness. Some of them he could identify as his allies while others were entirely unfamiliar to him which he marked as enemies.

Something he found strange, considering their confidence to attack them so blatantly, was that they didn't outnumber the konoha shinobi by much if anything. And stranger still, most of them were keeping away from the conflict and using what he could only guess -from the repeated bursts of chakra- long-range ninjutsu to harass konoha shinobi, seemingly waiting for something. Nevertheless, he chose to shelve it off and decided to focus on his current task.

There! To his 3 O'Clock, Naruto could sense a gap that would allow him to escape and to his luck, it was also in the same direction as his destination. There were only two ninjas in that direction, with a wide space between them.

Taking out a couple of kunai and tying explosive tags to them, he threw in the general direction of both the unfamiliar presences. The explosion that followed forced them to spread even farther apart and distracted them long enough to give him a clear path.

In a burst of speed, utilizing the shunshin he ran off, traversing through the forest and jumping from branches as fast as he could. Eventually, after reaching a satisfactory distance away from the camp, he slowed down his pace to not tire himself out.

He hadn't traveled too far from the camp when the hair at the back of his neck rose. All of a sudden, the Uzumaki felt an enormous surge of chakra from the camp's location, making him almost stumble into a branch and crash to the ground. After steadying himself, he frantically rushed to the treetops to look in that direction.

Just as he reached the top, he felt the chakra rise in intensity to a frightening level. If he were to describe it, he would call it dark and oppressive with an undercurrent of rage.

"No no no no, this can't be happening!" He had trouble breathing and his limbs shook as he tightly held onto the tree trunk while muttering denials. Only a few people in the world could conjure such an absurd amount of chakra, and their arrival on any battlefield never spelled good for the opposing -and sometimes either- side. No one within the camp could stand up to one of them.

In the end, his fears turned out to be true as not a moment later a gigantic explosion could be seen right where the camp was located. It was soon followed by a minor earthquake that shook the entire region and a powerful shockwave, not a moment later.

All he could do was stare in horror at the rising cloud, which signified the end of his comrades' lives while tears fell from his eyes. He wasn't delusional enough to think anyone would have survived.

Now, Naruto realized why the Iwa shinobi were so confident despite the even number and why they maintained the distance. It was so that their reinforcement, a jinchuuriki could finish them off.

With this realization came another thought, the approaching Konoha force must be informed of this. Otherwise, not only would they lose their lives but also forfeit this region to the Iwa if they were unprepared to fight a jinchuuriki.

Hence, he turned around wiped his tears, and proceeded to continue the task he was given. This time he didn't slow down.

Yet, one thought kept plaguing him. Could he have done something…anything to prevent it?