⋆ ✦ ⋆ ✦ ⋆
BANG.
A sudden jolt shook Naruto awake. He palmed his eyes briefly, trying to fight off his fatigue. It felt like he had just closed them before something woke him up.
He looked through the tiny window high above. It was still dark out, so he was sure he hadn't drifted off long.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
Naruto froze. He could hear footsteps approaching, a faint light from lanterns carried by guards. The young boy thought it was just a routine round before he saw two of them escorting a thin-looking man with his hands bound. They stopped in front of his cell. The guard fumbled with his keys before unlocking the door.
"All right, Nyago, I don't want any more trouble out of you. Ya hear me?"
The man's laugh was light, almost musical. "He he he. Of course, Warden. You won't hear a peep out of me. I'm not in the habit of being bad twice in one day, not unless it's wearing something strapless, anyway."
"Ha. Good. Next time you'll be in isolation for a week. Smart mouth."
Naruto watched in breathless silence as the guards slammed the cell door behind his new cellmate. He didn't move an inch as the light from the guards' lanterns faded and left him alone with this potentially dangerous stranger.
It was too dark to see the man's face, but it was clear he was a lot taller than Naruto and had a very sturdy build. The man stood there grunting, stretching his body and twisting his arms, several pops and cracks sounding off as he did so.
"Ah, there we go." The man exhaled contentedly. "Finally get in a good stretch after a hard day's work. Ha ha ha ha."
The man's voice was very smooth, almost had a softness to it. For Naruto, a person's voice was a clear indication of whether they were a good guy or a bad guy. Most bad guys he had come across had menacing voices, after all. It was just common sense.
The man sat against the wall at the other side of the cell. He sat there, barely moving. Naruto could hear the sound of deep breathing coming from him. Relaxing a bit, thinking the man was probably asleep, Naruto finally took the chance to shift into a more comfortable position.
The man grunted. Naruto froze mid-shift, staring hard into the dark. Still not moving. Still breathing deeply. Maybe he just makes noises in his sleep. Naruto squinted, trying to get a better look.
"Well, are you just going to sit there glaring at me? It's rather rude to do so to strangers, kid."
Naruto's brain froze. Without his chakra, if things got out of hand, especially with someone who looked a lot bigger than him, he was in trouble. I have to respond at least, or he might get mad. He opened his mouth.
"I... am... I..." Naruto cursed himself for how stupid he sounded. His nerves were far too frayed to speak clearly.
"Relax, kid. No need to be nervous, I'm not into harming. I'm a cultured man, and I have a strong abhorrence to violence. So why don't you start with something simple, like your name?"
Naruto took a deep breath. The man's voice somehow calmed him.
"My name is Naruto."
A pause. Then, with a hint of amusement: "Naruto? Like the ramen topping?"
That irked him immediately.
"No, it means Maelstrom, you jerk!" He responded on instinct, it had been a usual teasing of his classmates back at the academy. He flinched, realizing his snap may have made the man angry.
To his surprise, the stranger just laughed harder.
"Ha ha ha ha! Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you. To be honest, I really like ramen, so it was the first thing that came to mind."
Naruto's defensive posture crumbled. He relaxed his body, letting his legs stretch out, a bright smile appearing on his face before he could stop it.
"You like ramen? Really? Me too! It's my favourite food in the whole wide world! I eat it every day! What kinds are your favourites?"
"I do like all kinds, though I'm partial to miso."
"What? Seriously? Me too! That's awesome!"
Naruto was beaming.
He couldn't believe there was someone in this place who liked ramen and preferred the same flavour as him. He felt kind of stupid now for thinking this guy was suspicious. Anyone who liked ramen couldn't be bad, to Naruto, this was also common sense.
"I've got to say, kid, you look awfully young to be sent here. What are you, fourteen? Fifteen?"
Naruto's smile dropped slightly as the momentary distraction faded. The sad realization of where he was still abundantly present.
"No... I'm not that old. I'll be turning thirteen in a few months."
"Not even a teenager. Tsk, tsk, tsk. What the hell could someone as young and naive-looking as you have done to be sent here?"
Naruto didn't take the slight about his appearance personally. To this man, he probably seemed like a child playing ninja. Bitter emotions began to bubble to the surface, his eyes beginning to get wet.
"I... I don't know. They told me I'll find out at my trial, but I swear I didn't do anything. Getting thrown in prison, I'm innocent. This is all a mistake. I don't—"
A soft sound cut him off.
"Shh. It's all right. I believe you."
Naruto flinched, he hadn't seen the man move, but a hand was now on his shoulder. He was shocked at how fast he had crossed the cell.
Then he processed what the man had said.
"You... you really believe me? Really?" Naruto spoke so softly it was almost a whisper, almost doubting himself. Since that morning, it had felt like his cries fell on deaf ears. The relief now was overwhelming.
He felt the man pat him gently on the head, tousling his hair.
"Of course. I can feel how honest you are just by standing near you. Truly, you are one that wears his emotions on his sleeves. An appealing quality for building trust and camaraderie with others."
Naruto was confused on whether that was a good or bad thing, but the man did say appealing, so it must have been a compliment.
"Um... thanks, I guess."
"Don't mention it. Now, I think we've chatted enough for the moment. It's time I got to work."
The man stood up, walking to the other end of the cell. He placed his hand upon the stone wall and stood there for a long moment, making Naruto question whether something was supposed to happen.
Knock knock.
The man started tapping the wall with his knuckles, slowly, methodically, moving from one end to the other.
Naruto watched for a full minute before speaking.
"Umm... Mr... what are you doing?"
Not even turning around, the man replied simply: "I'm working."
This left Naruto staring blankly. Isn't this guy locked up here? So what is he working on?
"Working? Aren't you a prisoner, though?"
"Yeah. I'm here on a job. I'm only impersonating a prisoner."
Now Naruto was completely lost. This man had gone from strange-and-friendly to just plain confusing.
"Impersonating a prisoner? What does that mean?"
Knock knock.
"It means the person who was supposed to be in this cell with you found himself unconscious thirty clicks away from this island. Lucky for him too, freedom in exchange for a short nap." The man paused. "Sorry, kid, could you save your questions for after? I want to get this done as soon as possible."
Naruto nodded, not really understanding his motives. Why someone would purposely get themselves locked in here seemed insane to him. Despite this, he felt compelled to find out.
"Umm... do you want some help?"
The man stopped for a moment. Even in the dark, Naruto could almost feel the grin that spread across his face.
"He he he. Sure, kid. Just tap the wall and tell me if anything sounds different from this—" He knocked on the stone once more in demonstration. "Then just tell me, and I can get down to business."
Naruto nodded and stood up, wincing slightly as he wasn't yet used to the pain of the prisoner seal. Persevering, he followed the strange man's lead and began knocking on the wall, listening carefully.
Five minutes passed before he stopped. I'm not hearing anything different. What is he even looking for? Naruto thought. He turned, and nearly collided with the man standing right beside him.
Caught off guard, Naruto tripped backwards over his own feet and landed hard on the ground.
CLANK.
"Ow! Can you say something the next time you invade my personal space?!" Naruto grumbled, rubbing his sore backside.
"He he he. Sorry, kid. But it seems like Lady Luck is with you, I think you just landed on what I was looking for. Move over a bit so I can take a better look."
Naruto blinked and scooted aside. The man placed his palm on the stone floor. A moment later, a small glow raced its way around a large tile in the ground.
"Good find. This was what I was looking for. You may want to move."
Nodding mutely, Naruto stepped behind the man as the stone tiles began to silently slide into one another, the floor opening up to reveal steps leading down into a dark tunnel.
It baffled him why something like that would be in his cell. More importantly, it made him very curious as to where this tunnel led.
The man held out his hand, producing a light jutsu, one Naruto had seen Kakashi-sensei use on missions. Now, with real light, Naruto got his first proper look at the stranger.
Light brown hair cut short, almost shaved. Sideburns that stretched to a wide jaw. And a smile a mile wide stretched across his face. He turned to Naruto, revealing confident, almost humorous deep green eyes.
"So — would you like to go first, or shall I?"
"What? What do you mean what?"
"You want to get out of here, right? Prove your innocence. Fight for your freedom and all that. Or would you prefer to stay and wait until you're old enough to drink to get out of here?"
"Till I'm old enough to drink?" Naruto gulped. "That's forever from now!"
Granny Tsunade had said it could take years before his trial. Years he'd be stuck waiting with no way of knowing what was happening. He already hated being here alone after only a few hours, years was out of the question.
Besides, he wasn't one to just sit around anyway.
"I'll follow your lead, Mister."
"Stay close, then."
Closing the entrance behind them, they set out down the long, dark, and narrow tunnel. It was pungent with dust and had an uncomfortable cramped-ness, even for someone of his stature. Which is regular size for someone my age, Naruto thought, lying to himself.
It wasn't long before the tunnel made a slight descent and opened into a wider passage. The air flow was incredible, it seemed like it would knock him over if he didn't watch his feet.
Curious, Naruto took a step out in front of the strange man.
He didn't make it half a foot before a hand yanked the scruff of his robe hard enough to jerk his neck.
"Hey! What's the big idea, Mister—"
His voice echoed back to him, resounding through a vast darkness below. He watched the man move the light lower to the ground.
It was there that Naruto saw just what he had almost stepped off of.
"Be careful." The man said lightly. "One more step and you would have fallen three hundred feet to an unfortunate splat. Ha ha ha ha!"
While it seemed funny to the man, Naruto couldn't help but gulp at the close call. Shakily, he followed the man down the long winding steps that wrapped the inside of the structure.
"So, tell me, Naruto, how long have you been a guest in this home of the ill-begotten and criminally marginal assortment?"
"Huh? How long have I, I didn't understand half of what you just said, Mr."
"Ha ha ha ha! Sorry, I'll keep it simple. How long have you been locked up?"
"Oh! Why didn't you just say that? Um... actually, I just arrived here this morning."
The man stopped abruptly, making Naruto bump into his back. He turned around, smile beaming brighter than his light jutsu, his body seeming to shake with barely contained laughter.
"You mean to tell me that you have been here less than a day?"
"Yeah. Why? Is that important?"
"Ahahahaha!" The man barked out an incredibly large laugh that echoed throughout the chamber before taking a deep breath to restrain it. "That's rich! This is the infamous Hozuki Castle, you will be the first person ever to be locked up in the most secure facility on this continent and escape the same day you arrive! You have to be the luckiest kid alive!"
He started back down the steps, resuming his laughter as they reached the bottom. Naruto didn't think this was amusing in the slightest. He shouldn't even be here, and yet this man, who knew nothing about him, had the nerve to call him lucky.
What a joke.
"All right. Now let's see what we have here."
The man walked up to what looked like a massive door in the dark. Even in the dim light, Naruto could tell it easily dwarfed the main gate in Konoha.
"One, two, three... And let there be light!"
Fire erupted from grooves surrounding the door. On its front was a design depicting a strange creature with wings and a giant, open mouth. It creeped Naruto out by how grotesque it was, and made him nervous as to what might be living down here.
"Hey, Mister, can I ask you a question?"
The man placed his hand on the door, looking up at the carving.
"I think you just did."
Naruto groaned. That was an old one Kakashi-sensei used from time to time. It always annoyed him when people had to be so literal.
"I'm messing with you. What's your question, kid?"
"What are you looking for down here, anyway?" It had to be something important if the man had gotten himself locked up just to find it.
"A box."
Naruto blinked. Twice. Three times." A box?"
"That's it."
"It's special?"
"Special."
"Does it have something inside it you want?"
The man turned and shrugged casually, smiling even wider.
"Haven't a clue."
"If you don't know what's in it, why are you going through all this trouble?"
"A rumour."
"A rumour?"
"Yes. They say the Box of Paradise is somewhere down here, and under special conditions, it can grant wishes."
Naruto folded his arms, face scrunching in thought. Wishes. That kind of sounded familiar. He vaguely remembered a trip to the beach involving some weird jar that did something similar, but Kakashi-sensei had said it was just an elaborate genjutsu, and everyone had stopped mentioning it. Maybe this was the same.
"All right, so here's the deal — pay attention, and save your questions till the end."
Naruto's attention snapped forward.
"I came here about a week ago already knowing where the box was located. However, it was behind a number of blood seals that would have required doing more unsavoury work than I had intended. Luckily, this prison was built on ruins that go back centuries, ruins with underground tunnels that happen to lead to the same room the box is stored."
"Oh! So this is like a back door, right?"
"Exactly. The problem is that these old ruins were built with traps installed to stop intruders whose chakra wasn't keyed into the ruins' defence seal. Meaning from here on, it will be extremely dangerous."
Naruto stood tall, puffing out his chest.
"You don't have to worry about me, Mister. I don't look it at the moment, but you're looking at one of the best ninjas from Konoha!"
"Ha ha ha ha! Good, you're confident. However, I need you to do something for me first. It's extremely important and will be the deciding factor in whether we survive this. This is so crucial I barely dared speak of it. Something so important I need the full brunt of all your willpower to achieve."
The man leaned in close, speaking with such dramatic intensity that Naruto tensed in anticipation.
"Yeah? Sure! Whatever it is, just leave it to me!"
"Are you sure? Absolutely sure?"
"You bet! Lay it on me, Mister!"
"I need you to take off your shirt."
There was a pause.
Naruto's overly excited brain began to slowly process what he had just heard. His eyes widened. He jumped back five feet, wrapping his arms protectively around his chest, then shot out one arm pointing accusingly at the man.
"Ah, come on! Why did you have to get me all hyped up and then say something weird like that?! You can't just ask someone that! Yeah... No!"
The man crossed his arms, tilting his head to the side. Then the confused look was replaced by that smug grin again.
"Weird? Watch, I mean weird. You're a guy, aren't you? Wait, you don't like guys, do you? Are you acting shy because a handsome man like me asked you to undress?"
"What?! No! Of course I like girls! It's just weird when some guy I just met asks me to remove my shirt, especially after last time with Pervy Sage."
"Pervy Sage?"
"Yeah?"
"That sounds like a story I don't want to dig into for my own sake. Anyway, I told you it's going to be dangerous. So you need access to your chakra. For that, I need to undo that seal."
Naruto's ears perked up." You can remove it? I thought the Warden said he was the only one that could!"
"The essence of being a good thief is knowing every detail about your target — including what special techniques they possess and the countermeasures for them. So, if you would kindly—"
Naruto relented, sliding his arms out of his robes and wincing slightly at the stiffness and residual pain. He normally healed fast, but his fight with Sasuke had been the worst he'd ever been hurt in his entire life. The prisoner seal only added to that pain. He would be more than happy to have it removed.
"All right. This will only take a moment. It won't hurt, but you need to stay still."
The man placed his left hand on Naruto's chest while forming a seal with his right. His hand was warm but felt tough and rugged — the hands of someone who had worked hard for a very long time. Like Bushy Brows and his sensei.
"I see... so that's how it is. You're a—" The man paused, muttering to himself.
"What? Is something wrong, Mister?"
"No, it's nothing. Just need to make one adjustment. Now..."
He took a quiet breath.
"Heavenly Fire Suppression Jutsu... Release!"
The man's hand glowed red as a wave of energy encased Naruto's body. Like a weight being lifted from his shoulders, he could instantly feel his strength returning, flooding back into his limbs like sunlight after a long winter.
A moment later, the man removed his hand and placed it gently on Naruto's head.
"There. You should be all good now."
Beaming, Naruto formed his go-to seal to test his new freedom.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
POOF.
Out of the smoke appeared another Naruto, who, like the original, was smiling like a complete loon. They both turned to the man at the same time.
"Thanks, Mister!"
"Ahaha, don't mention it. But don't thank me until we're out of here first. We need to get through this door. Does it need some sort of key or something?"
"No, it requires an unlocking seal to open. I already removed the seal, but it seems something has fused this door shut. We'll need to break it down somehow. Sadly, I don't think I have enough explosives on me to tear a door of this size."
Naruto grinned. Needs to be torn down, huh? Well, I've got something that'll knock this guy's socks off. He held out his hand to his clone, who nodded in understanding.
"Just stand back and watch, Mister, I'll take down that door for ya!"
The clone shaped the chakra in Naruto's palm until a bright blue spiralling sphere appeared. The clone dispelled as Naruto charged the door without hesitation, his hand slamming against the cold metal.
"RASENGAN!"
BOOM.
A loud explosion rang out through the chamber, followed by the sound of scraping across the stone as Naruto slid back toward the man's feet. He winced, looking back at the door from his prone position.
The door was still there. Completely unharmed.
"Seriously?! There's not even a dent?! That's my strongest jutsu, though!" Naruto whined.
A hand grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him to his feet.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
"Bravo. Not bad, kid, I didn't think someone your age would possess an A-rank jutsu. Par for the course for a weird one like you, I suppose. In any case, you didn't notice, you just need to push more chakra into it to make it bigger."
"Bigger?" Naruto thought he had no idea the Rasengan could be made bigger. Besides needing a clone, he had thought his version was comparable to Pervy Sage's. If it was possible, he was sure Jiraiya would have shown him. "Um... I'm not sure if that's possible, Mr."
"That's the Fourth Hokage's jutsu, correct?"
"Yeah, how did you know that?"
"I've met the Fourth before. That jutsu is very versatile, I've seen him create one that was as big as a house."
Naruto's thoughts went into overdrive. This guy has MET the Fourth Hokage?! That's so awesome! Images of his hero creating a giant Rasengan flooded his mind. He was a little miffed Pervy Sage hadn't told him something as cool as that, but it was always a struggle for Jiraiya to explain anything properly.
"I'm guessing since you don't know what it is, we'll try something else."
"Yeah... sorry. I wouldn't even know what to do to make it bigger."
"It would require you to effectively contain a larger amount of chakra into an even larger sphere — but that would take time to practice. Time we don't have."
Naruto hung his head. "Sorry, Mister."
"Ha ha ha ha! don't worry about it, kid. However, I am curious as to what jutsu you do know. Shadow Clones and the Rasengan are advanced techniques."
"Actually, I know those two as well as the Replacement and Transformation Jutsu." It wasn't like the thousand jutsu his sensei was famous for, but they had gotten him far.
The man scratched his chin in thought, studying Naruto with those sharp green eyes.
"A strange assortment. But I think I can work with that. All right, kid, here's the plan. We're going to blow this door down with your Shadow Clone Jutsu."
"With Shadow Clones? How will that help?"
"These clones will be special. I want you to do four hand signs, then make about a hundred Shadow Clones. Once you do, I want them to walk up around the door frame in an arch — they shouldn't stand on the door though. Do you think you can do that? You should have the chakra for it."
"Um, yeah, sure, I guess. I don't really get what you're trying to do, but I'll give it a shot. What are the hand signs?"
"Boar. Tiger. Dragon. Ram. Then use the clone seal like you normally would, to make a hundred Shadow Clones. Make sure they don't dispel before they're all in place, and that they stay there no matter what... so be careful."
Nodding, Naruto built up his chakra and went through the hand seals slowly. His chakra felt a little different when he did it — but not far off from when he normally used the technique.
"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
POOF!
POOF!
POOF!
POOF!
POOF!
Roughly a hundred Shadow Clones appeared before him, all looking the same. They quickly walked in line, forming an arch around the door frame, and stood there waiting.
"Done. Now what, Mister?"
"All right, kid, you and I are going over to the far wall. When I say cover your ears, do it. Make sure you stay as low as you can."
Moving to the other side of the chamber, the man placed his hand on the ground and formed a stone wall in front of them. Then, from his sleeve, he pulled out a pocket knife barely bigger than a finger. He peered around the side, arm bending back in a throwing position.
"Cover your ears."
Habitually shutting his eyes tight as he cupped his ears, Naruto was shocked by the loud explosion that shook the chamber with an almost unrelenting force. He half-peaked, expecting the stone barrier to crumble from such force, hell, the whole place seemed like it was going to collapse in on itself. He stayed huddled for a few moments before he felt a tap on his shoulder.
"All right, kid. Looks like it worked."
Naruto gaped in awe. The massive metal door lay flat, only a few feet from the barricade. Around the edges were crumbled rocks and scorch marks.
"Whoa! What the hell happened?!"
"The door was too thick to tear through, but the arch holding it in place was made of stone. Much easier to break. So with a shaped charge, we literally blasted the door off its hinges."
"No, not that, I mean how did you cause that explosion with just your pocket knife? That was so intense!
" I hit one of your clone, once they were dispelled, they exploded. Once one went off, there was an instant chain reaction. So good job, kid."
He said it so simply. So matter-of-factly.
"You just learned another A-rank jutsu: the Exploding Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Naruto's eyes went wide. He looked at the door. The shattered frame. The scorch marks.
An A-rank! just by adding four hand signs to my clones, I did all this?!
An urge of overwhelming excitement came over him. He just couldn't contain it.
"All right! I just learned another amazing, powerful jutsu! I'll become Hokage for..."
Naruto's body froze.
The words had been almost an uncontrollable verbal tick. His hands tightened until the nails dug into his palms. He collapsed to his knees, forehead pressed against the cold floor as reality bit him hard once more.
"Hey! Kid! are you all right? Are you hurt? Talk to me here!" The man's voice was panicked.
Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes.
Why did I have to go and say that? What's the point of learning new jutsu if I'll never be allowed to achieve my dream? What purpose do I have anymore? These thoughts filled his entire being.
"Come on, kid, if you're in pain, you have to tell me or I won't be able to help."
Naruto rolled onto his back, arm covering his eyes to soak up the tears. He gritted his teeth bitterly.
"Just... leave me here." He managed. "Even if I escape, even if I'm proven innocent, I'll never be allowed to become a shinobi again. It was all I had. My ninja way was to never give up. From the time I was little more than an infant, I was dead set on becoming Hokage. The greatest Hokage that ever lived. I made so many people promises that I would reach that goal. And now I can't. It was everything to me. And now I... I have nothing driving me forward. So just leave me here and go on without me."
He panted, having just spilled his heart out. He hoped the man would understand.
A pause.
"Oh. Is that all?"
The man spoke completely casually.
"I thought it was something important, like a stomach wound. Besides, I'm a man of many talents, but my medical skills are pretty pathetic."
Naruto flipped onto his knees.
"What the hell do you mean 'that's all'?! Did you not HEAR me?!"
"Oh, I heard you. Your dream is to become Hokage." The man shrugged. "Ha. What a joke. Reaching such a goal is a waste of effort for someone like you."
Naruto stood up silently.
His anger drove his actions before he could think. Staying low, his right fist curled as he reared it back, jumping forward, he pounced on the man who was laughing at his dream.
"You don't think I'm good enough to become Hokage too, huh?! Well, laugh at THIS, you bastard!"
SMACK.
His fist was caught in the palm of the man's hand. Naruto tried to free it, but the man's grip was like iron.
"Ugg! Let go!"
"Relax, Naruto. I think you misunderstood me. I apologize if I insulted you, I wasn't insinuating you didn't have the talent to become Hokage. On ability alone, I have no doubt you could easily become one."
The way the man said it made it sound as though he was stating a simple fact. Naruto stopped struggling, relaxing his arm. The man released his hand.
Naruto looked away, head hanging in shame.
"Well... as I said, it doesn't matter now. I'm not even allowed to become a Leaf shinobi anymore."
"Good. You shouldn't be."
Naruto was about to yell again before the man held up a hand.
"Before you blow up at me again, let me ask you a question. Naruto, how long has the title of Hokage been around? How many years?"
Naruto was about to answer before he stopped. He didn't know the exact number. All he knew was there had been four altogether, and the Old Man Third was almost seventy, so maybe a little longer than that. Actually, he had no idea when the Third had become Hokage. History wasn't what he would call his best subject at the academy.
"A hundred years? Maybe more." He ventured.
"Pfft. Wow. Not even close."
"So what does it matter? It's a respected title that's been around for a long time."
The man shook his head.
"I may not look it, but I'm older than even the First Hokage. So let me say this, if you had asked me sixty years ago who or what the Hokage was, I would have drawn a complete blank. Same goes for the rest of the other Kage. Although some of the other lesser ninja villages have been around longer, the Kage is a title that was made up and then adapted into the military structures of different countries."
Naruto set aside the comment about the man's age for the moment.
"I don't get it. Why are you telling me this? Are you saying just because you're older than the title, it's not important?"
"No. I'm saying that the title became important because the one who started it, Hashirama Senju, was so strong that when he made the title, everyone went along with it and made it special. Since then, it's been a hand-me-down title to whoever gets appointed, not necessarily by actual skill. It's basically been a popularity contest based among the highest achievers in the village. In some cases it's inherited through family. Even then, the position is only second to the whims of the Daimyo of that land, as you no doubt know, since your Hokage couldn't do anything when he disbarred your right to an open trial without telling you why you were even here. So it's not some holy position that's been around since the beginning of time. Hell, I doubt it will last longer than a century at the rate it's going."
Naruto frowned. He was a little surprised by this knowledge. He too had been a little shocked that Granny Tsunade had gone ahead with this. He guessed that even she had to listen to someone, even though she was Hokage. The position he wanted more than life itself.
Naruto's depression radiated off of him.
"Ugg. Stop with that look." The man huffed. "What I'm saying is that it doesn't matter if you can't become Hokage, because I can see it in you."
Naruto could barely keep himself from staring into the ground, so disparaged he didn't want anyone to see his sadness so closely.
"See... what?"
The man placed his hand on Naruto's head. He stared directly into his eyes — those piercing green eyes looking so determined and strong. Stronger than he had ever seen in anyone before.
Naruto couldn't help but be entranced.
"The potential to create your own title." The man said. His voice was low, intense, almost reverent. "A title that makes even the Hokage, any Kage, or any Daimyo for that matter, worthless. To shape your own destiny without being trapped in the shadows or rules of others. To use them as mere stepping stones. To become so great that your shadow envelopes over them. To become something that cannot be judged by the whims of others."
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Naruto stilled.
His eyes widened. The hair on his neck stood up as an almost electric charge swept through him. He didn't know why, but what he was hearing seemed to lift some of the pain that had filled his heart. A smile slowly formed on his face.
A title that surpasses the Hokage... is it even possible? I always thought being Hokage was the pinnacle of strength. But why do I feel like what this guy is saying is true?
These new thoughts filled him with almost nostalgic feelings. One so familiar.
Yes... this feeling. It's like when I first decided to become Hokage.
Wiping his eyes, Naruto stared up at the man with new determination.
"Is it... is it really possible? To become greater than all of the Hokage?"
"That depends." The man held his gaze steadily.
"In my experience, it's through adversity that we grow stronger. If you had stayed in your village, you would have limited your potential, because of all the support you would have had."
"However, that changes now. By escaping here, you'll become a criminal wanted by the world. Should you overcome this challenge and become stronger than anything this world throws at you, your name will become greater than those of legends."
Then the man grinned again. His smile had an almost dangerous edge to it.
"This means, however, you'll have to work even harder than you would have to become Hokage. If not, you better give up now."
Naruto wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of being a criminal, but everything else the man said resonated so strongly within him. He stood taller, staring back at the man with even more confidence than before.
"Of course I'll work hard. I'll work harder than anyone else has before me. You're right, if I can't become Hokage, then I'll aim higher. Become someone so great that no one stands above me."
A brief thought drifted to his friends and teachers back in Konoha. The doubt nagged at him realizing the man was right about facing this without their support.
"It's not the hard work I'm concerned about. I... I don't even know where I would start."
"Don't worry, Naruto. Follow me, and I will show you the path you must take to reach that height. Know that you won't face this task alone."
Another weight lifted from his shoulders. Naruto couldn't help but tear up in happiness, not sadness, for once.
It had seemed that his goal in life had abruptly ended. But it was just that, a harder path was taking its place.
"Thanks, Mr. Eye--"
"Noriyuki." The man interrupted.
"What?"
"Noriyuki. That's my name. Stop calling me Mister."
Naruto smiled. Brightly. He couldn't stop beaming his joy toward the man who had just pulled him out of this nightmare.
"Thank you, Sensei. I won't let you down. That's a promise of a lifetime."
Never losing his grin, Noriyuki turned away from Naruto, facing the large dark path that lay before them.
"Then prepare yourself, Naruto, because even I don't know what we're about to face."
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