On October 10th the village of Konohagakure had a tragedy. Minato and Kushina Namikaze, had a son. But seconds after the baby was born, a masked man appeared, killing all the Anbu guards with swift ease. As the man entered the birthing chamber the winds outside picked up heavily.
The masked man gave Minato Namikaze an ultimatum, it was either his child or his wife. Thinking that his son had a life ahead of him, he chose his child, teleporting baby Naruto to his crib. Minato hiraishined unto the side of the Hokage faces. There he sensed his wife's chakra, and found it near where the Kyuubi was.
This pissed Minato off.
Kyuubi chose then to fire a tailed beast ball at the village, Minato weaved hand signs as fast as he could and teleported the Tailed beast ball outside the village. He immediately regretted it, realizing he couldn't continue doing it, or else he would destroy other villages. He, sensing the chakra of the masked man, teleported near him.
"Who are you?" Minato asked.
"Madara Uchiha," He responded.
"Impossible," Minato stated.
Minato threw a hiraishin kunai at the Masked man. And soon the match was over. The so-called Madara disappeared in a swirl. That night Minato had to seal the Kyuubi in his own son, Naruto, and to do this he had to use his own soul. But the Kyuubi resisted and tried killing Naruto. Both Minato and Kushina jumped in front of the claw. Killing them but still sealing the Kyuubi inside of Naruto.
Six years after that attack, Naruto Uzumaki, the village's favorite subject of negative emotions, sat in his academy room. The room was filled with silence, as his teacher Iruka waited for the newest student to join them. As Naruto was about to begin planning another prank the wooden door slid open.
In walked a boy that looked the same age as Naruto but as Naruto looked at him, he saw the boy was different. In Konoha, it was rare for someone to have dark skin, a trait more associated with Lightning Country. So he wondered where the boy was from. Iruka answered his question.
Iruka said, "Alright class, this is Raito Arashi of the Arashi clan. He arrived late because he was with his father, protecting the Fire Daimyo as one of the guardsmen."
Everyone in the classroom could not have cared less. Except for one Sasuke Uchiha who found it fascinating that someone would take their son with them on such a dangerous long term mission. So he followed the boy as he walked up the raised seating of the room. Raito could feel the young Uchiha's eyes on him, but he did not say a word about it. He saw an empty seat next to a blonde boy and so took.
That blonde was Naruto who grinned at him and began to speak as Iruka began his lecture.
"Hello Arashi-San, I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
Raito turned to him and then turned to the board and pointed at Iruka's chalkboard. Then he didn't say anything, preferring to focus on the class. Raito Arashi internally was wondering why the blonde was so excited, but he didn't care to say anything.
After the school day was over, Raito approached Naruto who sat down on a swing looking as all the kids' were picked up by their parents. Raito's mom was out on a mission from their clan, to speak to the Fire Daimyo, and his Father was admitted to Anbu the second they returned.
So he sat in the dirt near the swing and began to talk to Naruto.
"Naruto-san, where are your parents?"
Hearing this as the conversation starter dampened Naruto's mood. However, deciding that it wasn't mockery he saw coming from Raito, he decided to reply.
"I'm an orphan."
Raito, hearing this, laughed.
"Naruto! You're only an orphan if you choose to be. While your parents are gone, you can pick new role models to learn from."
Naruto's face twisted first in horror and then confusion.
"My parents are still dead, that's according to jiji. I don't know Arashi-San."
Raito, realizing the topic was too sad for the kid, stood up and looked around.
"What do you say we do some training? Iruka-sensei didn't teach us anything today."
Naruto's eyes lit up and he grinned, "Yes!"
Raito nodded and motioned to follow him. Naruto's grin didn't leave his face even as they ran into the village. Looking at the back of the white haired boy, he believed he'd made a new friend.
Raito on the other hand was confused, the Naruto boy, his new friend, kept getting weird looks as they ran along the village. Raito had no idea what that meant, but when someone tripped Naruto he was done with it. Raito turned around, his slightly chubby face molding into anger from seemingly nowhere, three shuriken shot into the leg of the man.
The man screamed. He fell onto the ground and started cursing at Naruto. Hearing the screams people began to turn their heads. Raito got into his only taijutsu stance, Precision Fist. With his legs apart and his back to Naruto, he circled the crowd gathering. He could feel their anger, but it seemed so unjust. Naruto had not done a thing.
One of the onlookers spoke, "The demon's got control of that boy!"
Raito's eyes widened. He turned to Naruto and looked the boy over. The only odd thing the boy had were whiskers on his cheeks. So Raito once again wondered what the deal was. However he didn't get to say anything as rocks began to bombard Naruto.
Raito's concern grew greatly, as they pelted his skin. He tried his best to meet the larger ones with kunai or shuriken but he eventually ran out. He continued to circle Naruto protecting the boy, and then he grinned, feeling a large chakra approach them. It was a lot like his fathers, and so he knew it was either a jonin or anbu. It was anbu.
A white haired anbu wearing a dog mask dispersed the crowd and helped Naruto and Raito get out of the streets. Raito was glad, but unfortunately, he was tired from the experience and so, had no choice but to go home. However the next day, the two did manage to spar.
The sun was lowering in the sky when Naruto and Raito arrived at the training ground. The dirt and grass of the place felt good under Raitos sandals. Naruto grinned as the two drew a circle and entered it. Naruto adopted the worst taijutsu stance Raito ever saw, but, nonetheless the ran at one another.
Naruto was not quick, he threw punches like a street brawler and so Raito dodged them with minor difficulty. After a couple seconds of constant retreat, Raito grinned, and tackled Naruto after ducking under a hook. Landing on his shoulder and letting go of Naruto slightly, he grabbed Naruto by his feet. Then tossed him.
Naruto tumbled onto the ground outside the circle and Raito grinned.
Raito said, "I win Naruto."
"Wait! I can win! Best of three!"
The second round was close. Naruto landed a punch, and the force of the blow almost made Raito keel over. However he recovered in time to sweep Naruto's feet and then kick him out of the ring. Naruto grimaced, he hadn't expected to lose, especially with all the force he'd put into the blow.
"How come you're so strong Raito?"
Raito grabbed a few shuriken out of his waist holder. Then I looked at the nearby targets hung up on wooden posts.
Raito asked, "Shuriken practice Naruto?"
Naruto looked downtrodden before Raito spoke again.
"We'll use my shuriken Naruto. To answer your question.." he paused, as he threw the shuriken in rapid succession, "I've been training to replace my father as clan head. He says he'd like to retire young."
Raito mentally noted that he hit two of the shuriken in the bullseye but the others were near it.
Naruto grinned as he grabbed the shuriken out of the target.
"I wanna be strong one day. Just like the Hokage's."
Raito nodded and said, "Then learn from them. Let the Hokage's be your parents. Then, you can grow up to be just like them."
"Mmm."
Naruto tossed his shuriken, two of them completely missed the target and the rest grazed it but did not stick. Naruto was saddened but as they practiced that night he saw improvement. The two of them practiced for a long time. The days soon began to pass and their friendship greatly improved.
Eventually three months had passed and Naruto had improved greatly in his ability. However no matter how hard he tried, the written exams always gave him bad grades. Raito tried to help him, but was unable to do much besides repeatedly tell him the answers. The months continued to pass by, another two, another three, another four, before they knew it their first year of the academy was over and the second began. However halfway throughout their second year, tragedy struck the village.
Sasuke's clan, the Uchiha were massacred, leaving Sasuke as the only survivor besides his brother Itachi. Sasuke had not been seen in class for days afterwards, and so Raito decided he would talk to the boy. However he was unresponsive. Sasuke had nothing but hate in his eyes, and soon, Raito's efforts diminished but did not vanish.
Then one day Raito was gone. No words said to Naruto or Sasuke, he just disappeared.
Sasuke found a letter in his home from Raito. Naruto found his at their normal training ground.
Upon each letter was the Arashi clan seal, three senbon meeting at one point with two dots in each space between.
Raito wrote to Sasuke:
Sasuke-san, I hope you become better. Not in terms of strength but in terms of your mental state, I'd hoped you wouldn't sour, but I can no longer prevent it. One day, I hope we meet, perhaps at a chunin exam. When that day comes, I hope to see a smile on your face.
Sincerely, Raito Arashi. Heir to the Arashi Clan.
Sasuke did not cry but could not deny that Raito had been such a good person to him and so kept the letter. He did not heed its advice whatsoever.
Naruto's letter read:
Naruto! I have to leave the village. My family is deciding that they are gonna found their own village. Keep up your training and I will try to mail you some shuriken so you can improve that horrendous form of yours. I'll also continue to write to you, if you would like we can be penmates. Try to befriend Sasuke! He's too sour to make any good decisions!
Sincerely, Raito Arashi. Heir to the Arashi Clan.
Naruto cried. His only friend had to leave the village, and so he retreated into himself for a while. His sensei Iruka was perturbed during this time, but eventually Naruto recovered.
In the newly founded Hidden Village of the Dirt:
Raito sat in the carriage as he and his mom arrived at their home. Raito looked out the carriage with only one open window and sighed. They passed under the gate, which was still in construction. The village itself was still in construction and in the distance, he could see the stone statue of his father being built.
His Father, Inazuma Arashi, was strong and wide shouldered. His arms were thick and his eyes intimidating. Raito did not have his father's imposing figure, even at his age, one could tell that he was much more like his mom. His mom, Manari Arashi, was reserved and calculating.
Even as they rode towards the Yokage's estate, he saw his mother making calculations on how much the clan was spending and the debts they were accruing. Raito however, was not as calculated as one might have assumed.
He wasn't even sure he wanted to have his father's title. However, he was not sure he had a choice, and so he was reluctant to leave Konoha. As he looked out the window, he saw people smiling and grinning as they finished the last touches on their houses. They seemed unperturbed, and that made Raito happy. His smile stayed on his face throughout their progression in the city.
It was almost a year before the village had a good economy. However, even then, having spent so much of their clan savings on the development and buying land from the Fire Daimyo, they were now bordering four shinobi nations. Raito's father had to prepare his soldiers quickly, otherwise, the other villages would see an opportunity.
5 years later, in Konohagakure no sato:
Naruto Uzumaki sat on his swing. He saw his classmates show their parents their headbands and frowned. He'd tried, he'd tried so damn hard but he'd failed. All his classmates except for him passed, he'd lived up to his dead last nickname. Naruto continued to sulk until he was snapped out of it when his sensei Mizuki spoke next to him.
"Can we speak privately to Naruto-kun? I have a special gift for you."
"Huh? Yeah sure sensei!" Naruto replied so they went onto the rooftops to talk. Mostly because Naruto was excited.
"Naruto, I know you failed the first exam, so I got you into another one."
"Mizuki sensei?" Naruto was surprised. "Does Iruka-Sensei hate me? I'm the only one who failed the exam." Naruto looked sullen
"Oh no not ever, he's just hard on you. It's because he wants to protect you. But he and I decided to put you in an exam." Mizuki stated
"Yeah?" Naruto's curiosity spiked.
"Steal the Scroll of sealing, and bring it to me outside the village by a blue storage building in the woods. Learn any jutsu from it and if not you will fail the exam. People will try to stop you if they find out, so be diligent and beat them into the ground, after all, they are trying to stop you from becoming a ninja."
"HAI! Mizuki-Sensei!" Naruto responded enthusiastically.
So he snuck into the Hokage's Residence and stole the scroll. He then ran to the clearing. He searched the entirety of the scroll and found only a single jutsu that seemed sufficient. The shadow clone jutsu, and so he practiced. It was almost three hours into his practice when Iruka found him.
"Hey! Iruka-sensei! I did it! I learnt a jutsu! Do I become a shinobi now?"
Iruka's concern was evident and he asked Naruto, "What are you talking about Naruto-kun?"
"Mizuki sensei said that there was a second exam and this was it."
Iruka's face paled and he spoke, "Naruto, there's no second exam. Mizuki lied."
Before Naruto could reply he saw Mizuki running towards them with a massive fuma shuriken.
"Iruka-sensei watchout!"
Iruka moved out of the way as a massive shuriken whizzed past him. A thunk rang through the clearing as the shuriken hit a tree.
Naruto grew angry really quickly. His eyebrows knit together and dashed at Mizuki.
Mizuki grinned, "Yes! Come at me Kyuubi, I'm going to kill you like you deserve!"
Naruto's ears didn't register what Mizuki said, instead he threw a punch. The punch was dodged easily by Mizuki. Mizuki then hopped away. Then he made a pulling motion. A second later, the fuma shuriken ripped out the tree and came at Naruto. Naruto made the ram seal, then six shadow clones popped up just to be hit and pop out of existence.
Reaching into his waist pocket, Naruto focused. Then he saw Iruka latched onto Mizuki with ease.
Iruka screamed, "Naruto! Run! Give the scroll to the Hokage, let him know about Mizuki's betrayal!"
Mizuki let a grin fall across his face and then he pulled the fuma shuriken towards him and Iruka. Then he replaced himself with a nearby leaf, surprising Naruto and Iruka. Iruka was unable to move quick enough. The shuriken was quicker.
Blood, there was so much of it. Iruka's blood splattered onto the ground, and Naruto became livid. Growling, red chakra began to bubble around his body. His whiskers began to gain definition and ripped towards Mizuki, who began to show fear.
No longer in his right mind, Naruto summoned a thousand clones. Mizuki grimaced, but grabbed the Scroll of Sealing Naruto had left on the ground. Mizuki moved his arms left and right as he tried his best to kill the Naruto clones. He succeeded on almost all of them. Naruto was pommelling him by the time he'd done it. Chakra coated fists rang against Mizuki's head.
What had been a head quickly turned into mush and soon Naruto was hitting the ground. He screamed, his voice reaching halfway through the village. Immediately all the chunin searching for him were coming, able to sense the terrible chakra.
Naruto anger began to subside and soon turned into sadness. Tears ran down his face as he looked at Iruka's dead body. Naruto's red chakra began to leave his body and he ran to Iruka, tears running down his face.
"Iruka-sensei! Wake up! Wake up!"
Iruka smiled, blood not escaping him completely.
He spoke, "Naruto-kun. D-" he grimaced, "Don't let anyone… stop you from becoming Hokage…"
Naruto's head shot up as he heard Iruka speak. Naruto began to cradle Iruka's head begging him to say more. He didn't. No more words escaped Iruka Umino. None.
Then a group Chunin arrived, including multiple Jonin. Naruto eye's were puffy with overuse, and his mind was wary of who got near.
The Hokage arrived not too long after, in full battle armor, his headband swaying behind him.
Everyone looked at the scene unsure what to do. They didn't know who killed who, but they all wanted to blame it on the Kyuubi brat. Naruto could see the disgust in their eyes, but he didn't have the energy to fight them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi kneeled before Naruto and put on a comforting smile. The man, opened his arms, inviting Naruto in for a hug. However, the kid could not handle it.
He began to sob, his words weakly escaping him, "He's dead… Ojiisan…Mizuki..killed him.."
The boy had no more tears to shed, but he couldn't help but sob. Still holding Iruka's head in his arms. Hiruzen, despite his old age, and decaying faculties, figured out what happened.
"Naruto, did Mizuki tell you to steal the scroll?"
Naruto nodded. His eyes moved towards Iruka.
"Thank you Naruto. For your defeat of one Mizuki, Naruto Uzumaki, I grant you the rank of Genin."
Sarutobi quickly ordered a cleanup of the mess and asked for someone to retrieve a headband for Naruto.
However Naruto protested, weakly requesting to keep Iruka's headband. Iruka had been the only person to care for Naruto, besides the Hokage. Even though Mizuki had said that, he knew that Mizuki was not lying about it.
Within the hour Naruto went home and slept. He didn't dream that night. Unknown to him, that would be the first of many such nights.