14 The promise!

Naruto slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the clock that was sitting on the nightstand next to his bed. He had his own room in the hyuuga household for when he stayed over and didn't sleep in the same room as hinabi or hinata.

It was currently seven in the morning and he let out a small groan. He felt like an idiot for crying so much last night but he was glad that hitome was there to calm him down. After he cried himself out the mother of two practically tore his blood filled clothes off and tossed him head first into the bath before scrubbing his entire body with a scrub brush. It was both embarrassing and frightening to the boy. Who knew women could be so scary?

He sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes. He reached his hand over and grabbed a new mask he had lying on the nightstand and slid it on until it was in place before getting out of bed and changing into his day clothes which consisted of a dark grey, long sleeve button up dress shirt. He put on a pair of dark blue jeans and his black sandals before throwing on his black fingerless shinobe gloves. After tying his kunai and shuriken pouches to each thigh he was ready to start his day. Walking towards the door he quickly snatched his now blood free headband from his dresser top and put it back n before leaving his room while adjusting his weight bracelets that were on his arms.

He entered the kitchen, saying hi or nodding his head to the maids or guards he passed, naruto swiped a fresh apple before heading to the dinning room.

" mommy whens aniki gonna be up?" He heard hinabi question as he silently slid the door open, he smirked as he silently began to creep up on the smile child who was sitting next to hinata with their backs to him. Hitome and hashi locked eyes with him but he signaled for them to be silent.

"Well honey, naruto had a rough day and needs his rest" hitome said with a small grin.

"Y-yeah hinabi-chan, n-naruto-kun needs his rest" hinata nodded sagely.

"Boo!" Naruto shouted right behind the two girls.

" ahhh!"

"Eeek!"

Both girls almost jumped out of their skin. They wouldve fallen from their chairs had naruto not caught them.

"N-naruto-kun!" Hinata cried out in embarrassment.

" big beother!" Hinabi cried out happily as she practically shot into narutos arms. Naruto chuckled as he put an arm around the kid to hold her up before sitting in her chair.

"Morning everyone" he gave them an eye smile. Hashi took a bite of his omelette and gave the boy a small smile.

"How are you feeling today naruto?" Hashi asked, his voice was deep and it used to intimidate naruto a bit but the boy got used to it.

"I think im okay now." The boy replied as he sat a happy hinabi on his lap and let her began eating her food. He reached over and patted a blushing hinata on the head." On the way back to the village I was usually always in my fox form so I didn't really have time to think about what I did, with the women there of course. But when I got here it kinda all hit me at once." He scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Huh?" Hinabi pipped up in confusion." Did big brother cry cause of a girl?" The kid questioned, naruto sighed lightly and patted the girls head.

" were having grown up talk firecracker-chan, cover your ears." Naruto told her.

"But im eating!" She pouted. Naruto chuckled and covered her ears with his hands before looking back up at the two adults, hinabi just shrugged and continued eating.

" theres nothing to be embarrassed about naruto." Hashi spoke up, his usual calm expression was on his face. Hitome nodded her head.

"First kills are always hard, even for us. When we got our first kills it haunted us for a few weeks." Hitome gave him a motherly smile." But it helped when we talked to our friends or loved ones about it."

Naruto looked down a bit before sighing. He looked back up with sad eyes." It wasn't just one person. Me and my clones took out maybe thirty to fifty thugs." He sat his chin on top of hinabis head who was still eating without a care in the world. Hinata reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, gaining his attention.

"W-well try thinking about the good you did."hinata told him softly. Naruto frowned for a moment before sighing.

" I did basically free a lot of slaves." He told them." Speaking of, I should go check on them today to see how theyre doing."

"That's an honorable thing to do." Hashi nodded while naruto took his hands away from hinabis ears. Said girl perked up and looked at him.

"Grown up talk is over right?" She asked, getting a chuckle and nod from naruto. That's when the dinning room door slid open and a hyuga branch family guard walked in. He bowed his head before speaking.

"Hashi-sama, excuse this interruption but hokage-sama is here." The guard spoke. Hashi wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"Send him in." Hashi ordered. The guard nodded before leaving the room, returning a few moments later with the old hokage beside him." Hokage-sama, how can I help you this morning?" Hashi asked, standing up and greeting the hokage at the door with a handshake.

"Good morning hashi, hitome-chan." The third smiled softly at them." Im actually hoping to see naruto." Said boy waved at the older man.

"Hey old man" hiruzen chuckled at the boy. He walked over and patted his blond hair.

"Naruto-kun, I have good news!" Hiruzen said happily." The medics had finished checking the girls out and declared them alright. Some do indeed need to see a therapist but should be alright otherwise." He could see the happiness shinning in the boys ringed eyes." And I have people working on tracking down the families of the girls as well. Hopefully within the next few months we'll have them all reunited with their loved ones." He finished with a proud smile.

" oh man, im so happy to hear that!" Naruto felt a huge weight leave his shoulders after hearing the girls would be okay.

"One more thing." Here Hiruzen grinned." One of the nurses informed me that the younger kids kept asking about 'inari-sama'" naruto looked confused for a moment before his eyes widened.

"Oh!" He chuckled out.

"Whos inari-sama?" Hinabi asked in confusion. Hitome and hinata were giggling.

" inari-sama is the god of foxes" hizashi answered the girls question.

"Oh!" Hinabi nodded before her eyes widened and she looked at naruto in aw." You didn't tell me you were a god!" Hinabi cried out.

"Shh!" He held a finger to his lips." Cant have other mortals knowing im here." He joked. At least it was supposed to be a joke until he saw the aw in hinabis eyes. He deadpanned.' She believed that im actually a god' he shook his head before looking back up to the hokage.

" it seems youre already getting nicknames huh?" Hiruzen chuckled with the blond." Anyways, I wanted to check up on you and let you know that I wanted to see you in my office later today around 1pm."

"Of course old man, ill be there." Naruto gave him a thumbs up.

"Then ill see you all later, have a good day." The third gave hashi and hitome a curt bow of the head before walking to the door. He stopped and looked back at naruto." Im very proud of you naruto. Just a few more years and youll be wearing these robes instead of me." With that said he left the shocked family behind.

- 1pm, later that day.-

Naruto adjusted the gravity weight bands he hand on both his wrists and elbows before entering the waiting room outside the hokages office. He had to re-up the weights once again as he had gotten to use to the last level.

He walked up to the secretary who was sitting behind a metal desk putting some papers into a file. She looked up at naruto as he approached and gave him a small smile.

"What can I help you with today?" She asked, naruto scratched his cheek.

"I have a meeting with the hokage, I was seeing if I could go in." Naruto told her. The secretary picked up a clip board that had a fee papers on it.

"Name?" She questioned.

" naruto uzumaki." She shuffled through the list of names before finding his. She gave him a small nod.

"Ah, yes. Go right on in, hokage-sama is expecting you." She gestured to a wooden door across the room.

Naruto gave her a nod and headed for the door. Entering the office naruto picked up the sent of burning tobacco and smirked under his mask.

"Old man, that's a bad habit you know." Said man looked up from a few papers on his desk and smiled while taking his lit pipe from his mouth.

" ah, naruto. How are you my boy?" Hurizen asked as naruto closed the door behind him and stood in front of the hokages desk, his hands in his jean pockets.

"Im doing okay old man. So what did you need me for?" Naruto questioned curiously. The third took a puff from his pipe and leaned back in his chair.

" well I have something for you actually." Naruto looked curious as the older man got up from his chair." As you know by now, the fourth hokage had to seal the nine tails inside of you yes?"

Naruto furrowed his brows and put a hand on his stomach over the invisible seal." Yeah. Whats this about?" Naruto asked softly.

"Before his death minato was able to write his will, but instead of a regular will he had left.. instructions so to speak." Hurizen walked up to the portraits of the fourth hokage. He put his hand up to the bottom left corner of the painting and naruto heard a small click before he watched hurizen move the photo over, almost like a door on its hinges. Behind the photo was a safe. The third looked back at the boy and gave him a coy smirk." No peaking now." He chided.

Naruto blushed and looked away as the third began putting in the combination on the safe." Anyways, the night of the kyubi attack he wanted you to be seen as a hero. Sadly that didn't happen, but he did also plan for that." Naruto heard the sound of a safe opening, papers rustling and then the safe closing. Naruto looked back to the hokage in time to see him put the fourths painting back in place." He had left me instructions stating that I was to give you some 'gifts' if you will, everytime you complete a thing on the list he gave me."

Naruto was able to see a scroll in the mans hand as he walked back behind his desk and sat down in his chair. He reached over and laid a rolled up scroll on his desk in front of the blond who looked at it in surprise.

"H-he left me stuff?" Naruto asked quietly. Hurizen nodded softly as the boy looked at him." What were these other things on the list?" Naruto asked.

" the first- which is this scroll- was when you took your first life. The next is when you become chunnin and the last is jounin or if you choose, anbu." Hurizen answered.

"Why not just give me the stuff when I became genin?" Naruto asked as he hesitantly picked the scroll up from the desk.

" he didn't want you to have everything handed to you on a silver platter my boy. He wanted you to work hard and become strong on your own. Tell me, if I had given you these scrolls when you first began training in the ninja arts, would you have been able to keep your mouth shut about them?" Hiruzen asked with a chuckle, naruto scratched his head and chuckled along.

" I guess that makes sense old man. C-can I read it now?" He asked as he eyed the scroll in his hands.

"By all means, go ahead naruto" Hurizen nodded.

With the old mans okay naruto sat down in a chair that was seated in front of the desk and gently opened the scroll. He was slightly surprised to see a sealing matrix instead of words. But boy was he glad he knew what it was, it was a basic sealing matrix, so after adding a bit of chakra to the seal and a cloud of smoke later naruto was holding a neatly folded up piece of paper. He set the scroll down and gently unfolded the paper and began reading.

' dear naruto.

If youre reading this then you have indeed taken your first life, which means youre most likely a gennin now. My name is minato namikaze, you might know me as the fourth hokage or the one that sealed the kyubi into you.

I don't know if the village did as I asked and treated you as the hero that you are, if they didn't then im so sorry. You must've been confused when you found out about what I had done to you. You might even hate me for it and I wouldn't blame you. But please try to understand that you are the only one I can trust with the task of keeping the kyubi at bay. I know that it doesn't make sense to you right now, but it will all make sense after you read all my letters.

Now, I've taken the liberty to leave you  some things that might help you in your shinobe career that are sealed down below. That's all for now so ill talk to you when you become chunnin.

May the will of fire burn within you naruto.

- Minato namikaze '

Naruto looked at the bottom of the page with a bit of sadness in his eyes and saw another sealing matrix. He put the note on the desk and added chakra to the seal. After the cloud of smoke was waved away naruto and hurizen saw two objects lying on the desk.

Sitting next to each other was a black leather covered notebook that had a multitude of small different colored bookmarks throughout the entire book, the object next to the book was what made both of their eyes widen. It was a three bladed, black steeled kunai that had a wooden handle with a sealing formula on it.

" so he left you his sealing notebook and a flying thunder god kunai." Both men looked up at the new voice and saw jiraya sitting in the window with a small smile on his face.

"I-I guess so?" Naruto replied as he picked the notebook up and slowly looked through a few pages before closing it and picking up the kunai.

"You know what this means right?" Jiraya grinned at the boy." He wants you to learn the flying thunder god jutsu of his."

Naruto almost choked on his own spit. The flying thunder god was considered an S ranked jutsu. Yes the second hokage invented the jutsu but the fourth not only fixed the jutsu but improved it. Anyone that was able to use the fourths version of the jutsu would be considered a high A to S ranked shinobe no matter what rank you were. It could literally level armies as shown by the fourth himself during the third shinobe war.

Naruto looked up at jiraya with a bit of panic in his eyes." Are you serious? I know next to nothing about sealing! How am I supposed to learn that jutsu!?!" He cried out.

" calm down my boy." Hurizen spoke up as he relit his pipe that now had fresh tobacco in it." Im sure that notebook he gave you will help. Just fallow its instructions and one day youll figure it out im sure of it. It may not be tomorrow, next week or even next year. But you will learn it." Hurizen smiled." I have faith in you and so does the fourth or else he wouldn't have given that book to you."

Naruto calmed down and sighed softly. He looked at the book before nodding his head." Then ill just have to train in the art of sealing and ill get it one day." He was clapped on both shoulders by his sensei who was now behind him.

"That's the spirit brat!" Jiraya chuckled." Now put that stuff away, I gotta talk to both of you." Naruto put the book and kunai away in his left leg pouch before giving his attention to jiraya.

"Is something wrong jiraya?" The third asked, said man sighed heavily.

" I got a message from one of my spies. I need to leave the village to meet with him." Jiraya crossed his arms." I cant take naruto either or itll scare my contact off. So he'll have to stay here." Both naruto and hurizen frowned.

"What about my training?" Naruto asked the sannin.

" ill be gone for about two months so I want you to began training with your elements. Go in whatever order you wish to, and as for missions well.." jiraya rubbed his chin for a moment before looking at the third." Do you think you could get kakashi or a few jounins to take him on some mission?" Hurizen hummed for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yeah I can do that." Hurizen replied." But keep me updated on whats going on outside of my village walls yes?"

"I can do that, ill send a toad to naruto and have him give the messages to you. If hes out of the village and receives a message from me then he'll have to send the toad on its way to you." Jiraya looked at naruto who nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, you can go jiraya." Said man nodded and looked at naruto.

" now in two months when I get back ill spar with you to see how much you improve. Then we'll train for another month before I ship you off to the up coming chunnin exams." Hurizen choked on the smoke he had in his throat. After hacking and coughing for a moment before he looked at jiraya like he was insane.

" you cant be serious jiraya! This years chunnin exams are in kumo! And anyways, hes only been a gennin for like two months!" Hurizen cried out.

" listen old man." Jiraya began with a chuckle." In my honest opinion, narutos a prodigy-" said boy flushed happily at that."- everything I teach him is soaked up like a sponge, and if the mission he just did says anything , its that he's almost ready for chunnin. I have no doubt in my mind that by the time I get back- plus the extra month of training he'll be getting- hes gonna be well past chunnin in strength." Jiraya explained." Plus think of it this way. If we sent just one kid to a non-friendly villages chunnin exam and he wins, what would that say about our village?" Jiraya motioned to the hokage.

Hurizen frowned. He hated to admit it but even he knew that naruto was indeed a prodigy, one possibly stronger than itatchi uchiha when he was narutos age, no doubt the boy would move through the ranks quickly. Plus, jiraya was also correct about his last statement. If he sent a six year old boy to another villages chunnin exam and the boy did win- hell, he didn't even really need to win he just needed to make it to the third exam- then not only would it prove to the leafs enemies that the leaf was still strong despite the recent events such as the kyubi attack and the massacre of the uchiha clan, itd also bring the village even more customers, which in turn made them more money. He let out a weary sigh and looked at naruto.

"What do you think naruto?" Hurizen questioned. Said boy rubbed his chin with a thoughtful look on his masked face.

"If both you and sensei believe me to be ready then ill do my very best in order to win the exams. I may not be quite ready now but ill make sure im strong enough by the time the exam rolls around." Naruto answered with a small nod.

" naruto, the chunnin exams are extremely dangerous. Gennins from all over the nations take them, most of them even die. The rest of them might not even make it to chunnin in the end." Hurizen explained to the boy, his voice showing naruto just how serious the chunnin exams were.

"Im a shinobe old man. My lives in danger every time I leave the village gates. Ill be strong enough for this as im not just representing myself, im representing my entire village. I give you my word old man, ill win the entire event!" Naruto declared and hurizen could see the fire in the boys eyes. He faintly saw the image of a beautiful red headed women standing behind the blond boy, a look of absolutely pride on her face.

He let a small smile grace his old wrinkled face as he nodded to the boy." Very well naruto. Ill hold you to that promise. Now get out of here both of you." He shooed them away with a smile on his face ." I got work to do." He chuckled.

"Right! See you later old man. Bye sensei!" With that naruto ran out of the room and headed for the one person he knew that had a fire affinity. He had to began his training ya know.

Jiraya and hurizen watched the boy leave and waited for the door to close before looking at one another with grins on their faces.

"He has his fathers looks and brains but his attitude and death defying devotion comes straight from kushina!" Hurizen commented and jiraya boomed out a laugh as he chuckled.

" ah youre damn right about that sensei." Jiraya managed to stop laughing and headed for the window." Ill see you soon sensei." The sannin stated before vanishing out of sight.

" be safe jiraya" the third mumbled to himself before going back to his paper work.