Naruto's Confidence

Two Eternal Guards were resting on the side of the gate when Naruto and his team returned.

Kurenai went toward them and said.

"Team 8 has finished their mission and returned safely."

"Alright, you can go in!" One of the two Eternal Guard answered.

Kurenai took her team to meet Hokage. Right now, he seemed to be alone working on his paperwork.

"Old Man, how are you doing?" Naruto simply walked in with a confident smile on his face.

"Naruto, I am glad to see you return smiling after your first mission." Hiruzen was surprised to see that big smile on his face especially after he sent them on such a mission.

Then, he observed others. While his words did get some reaction from them, it wasn't much.

"Hokage-sama, our mission has been completed. Though on the way home, we met someone unexpected." Kurenai said while giving him a scroll.

"Thank you for the mission report!" He said while taking the scroll and then he looked at them and asked.

"So, what happened?"

"We met Han, the Five Tails Jinchuriki." Naruto replied.

"What?"

Hiruzen jumped from his chair and shouted.

"Don't get so worked up, Old Man. We are alive, aren't we?" Naruto's sweat dropped upon seeing his reaction.

"But, that's Han. Wait, did he let you live because you ….." Hiruzen looked at him with a serious expression and asked.

"Yeah, but a lot of things happened. We ended up battling Han…."

"What did you do?" Hiruzen instantly shouted jumping out of his chair.

"Nothing Nine Tails wanted to warn Five Tails about a certain group of people but he didn't expect Five Tails to react dangerously."

"Han almost lost control. Thankfully, we had Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi's help during our battle. We managed to subdue him though he wasn't fighting back unless his instinct forced him."

Naruto lifted his hand and made Hiruzen shut up until he finished explaining.

Hiruzen slowly calmed down and said.

"So, you met Han's group and somehow made him lose control. After that, you had to fight him to subdue him. Let me ask you something. Why didn't you try to run away when he wasn't attacking you?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"You know exactly why, Old Man. I wasn't going to simply let that Genin Squad die for my mistake."

"They are not your responsibility, Naruto. While we do not like to cause war and are known for peaceful village, we do not want to risk our lives for others." Hiruzen shouted angrily.

"That's what the village might be but I am not the village. I am Naruto Uzumaki. This village along with the other four villages are idiots. I am not going to be one of them." Naruto resorted.

Suddenly, the temperature of the room dropped.

"Naruto!" Kurenai's expression turned pale as she shouted at him.

But, Naruto didn't care. He simply stared at Third Hokage and said.

"I don't care what others think of me. I follow my belief and it tells me everyone is a fool. Preaching peace while giving others the means of war is a way of a fool."

"If you try to disturb other's life, they will do the same. I did nothing wrong when I fought for that Genin Squad. I might be a shinobi but I am Naruto Uzumaki first."

Hiruzen was looking straight into Naruto's eyes for a long time. There was no emotions in his eyes. He was just staring until he finally sighed.

"I will not blame you for doing that. I am just upset that you will put other's lives above yours especially when they are from an enemy village."

Naruto also calmed down. Most of his anger died down as he slowly bowed his head.

"I'm sorry for making you worry, Old Man. But, I am not going to sit back and let something that I don't like happen in front of me. That is not the life I want."

"You won't always have good luck with you. You might face opponents you can't defeat. You might die."

Naruto clenched his fist and said.

"Then, I will die trying at least. I am not going to remain a coward who can't even take a step to change this world."

He turned around and left without even thinking. He did have other things that he should explain but he wasn't going to.

"He is such a drag." Shikamaru sighed and looked at Hinata.

"Go and accompany him. I will give the remaining report to Lord Third."

Hinata nodded her head and bowed to Hokage before leaving.

Kurenai and Shikamaru were left with Hokage. Kurenai was sweating bullets while Shikamaru was just feeling troublesome.

"I am starting to regret making him a Shinobi. He might have put your lives in danger."

Shikamaru raised his hand just like Naruto and said.

"We do not regret anything. I can't speak for Kurenai Sensei. But, if I am going to help Naruto change this damn world, then I will gladly put my life on the line."

"As for Hinata, I doubt she would even hesitate for a second to give up her life for Naruto."

Hiruzen eyelids got heavier as he sighed.

"Alright! So, how did the battle go?"

"Naruto was able to tap into Nine Tails' Chakra. He had three tails behind him but his version of transformation was different. Han's transformation was much more demonic while Naruto only had a shroud of Chakra around him."

"We fought to make him exhausted while Han's consciousness was doing nothing. As Naruto stated, he only fought back because of his instinct. That continued until Naruto made a hundred shadow clones and used a hundred Great Breakthroughs at the same time."

"Kurotsuchi had a bloodline where she could create ash-colored lava. It was pretty strong since it managed to bind Han until he regained his consciousness. After that, Naruto gave a speech to Han and we left."

Hiruzen nodded his head and said.

"So, Naruto did pick up the bulk of the fight and all of you helped him subdue Han."

Shikamaru nodded.

"Naruto used several attacks against Han. He managed to do quite a lot of damage but most of that was thanks to Nine Tails Chakra. I think I understand why Naruto wants to befriend that beast."

"If he could access the full power of Nine Tails without the fear of losing his consciousness, it would be worth forgiving it for what it did."

Hiruzen sighed and shook his head.

"I am afraid even with that most people won't like the idea of befriending the demon. They are not as smart as you."

"They won't have any choice. Remember when Nine Tails told Naruto about to warn Five Tails about some people? From Five Tail's reaction, we can guess that they are stronger than Kage."

"Not to be rude Lord Third, but we doubt even with your strength our shinobi strength, we can make Tailed Beast fear us."

Shikamaru shook his head and explained.

Hiruzen turned pale as he heard that.

"If that's the case, we would be in deep trouble. The only person that Tailed Beast would fear is Lord First and it's thanks to his Wood Release. Do you have any information about those people?"

Shikamaru shook his head and said.

"Only their name. They are called Otsutsuki."

Suddenly, Hiruzen looked confused.

"I have never heard of them."

"Indeed! So, that means Nine Tails and other Tailed Beasts met these people several hundred years ago and their numbers might not be large. This once again shows us the threat level of Otsutsuki."

"Oh! I did get another piece of information during our conversation. While we normally seal the Tailed Beast inside a person, Otsutsuki can devour them. I think that's what frightened them the most."

"And, since they are frightened, we can be pretty sure that they can absorb the Tailed Beast."

Shikamaru continued to explain.

Hiruzen sighed heavily and said.

"So, you think Naruto befriending Nine Tails is the only way we can fight against those people."

"I mean, there is a limit to how much an individual can grow, right? Even with all of my strength, I will barely be Kage Level and even then, I wouldn't have strength similar to most Kage."

"Naruto might reach your level of strength on his own but if he wants to fight threats that are beyond Kage, he needs Nine Tails' power. That's the only option."

Hiruzen nodded his head and asked.

"Is there anything else that I need to know?"

Shikamaru shook his head and said.

"Nothing!"

"Alright, you can leave. Kurenai, stay behind!" Hiruzen said.

Shikamaru gave a bow and left the room.

Hiruzen sighed and looked at Kurenai.

"Kurenai, I am afraid I can't put you as their Sensei. I do not want you to risk your lives for their stubbornness."

Kurenai bit her lips and decided something in her mind.

"Lord Hokage, I don't mind. If I can help sharpen the future of these children, I can put my life on the line."

Hiruzen gave her a serious look and said.

"If that's the case, you need another friend to help you. Tenzo, come out!"