Author's note

Special thanks to my beta Sakiku Torakak for her AMAZING job on this chapter. Without her input this chapter would barely be half of what it is now. On another note, check out my new story, Naruto: the Reckoning. I also have new ideas that I'll either put up as a challenge or try it myself in the future, so check my profile for them. All reviews/criticism is welcomed. Without further ado, I give you chapter one of Naruto: The Specialist

Sorry, I should have put this in the first time. This will be AU (obviously) and Naruto will be two years older than Canon. Which means that the Kyuubi attack will be two years earlier. Everything else should still happen around the same time as in Canon.

Summary: Sarutobi had always had the best of intentions when he made his decisions concerning Naruto. But, you know what they say about intentions and the road to Hell.

'THOUGHTS'

LINEBREAKS=CHANGE OF SCENE/POV

CHAPTER ONE

October 10: Konohagakure no Sato

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked down at the small bundle in his arms. 'What kind of life will you live, Naruto?' the aged Kage wondered before frowning regretfully. 'Such a heavy burden should not fall to one so young.' Still lost in his thoughts, he moved aside a portion of the blanket to gaze at the seal upon the infant's stomach.

'What an unbelievable seal array…Minato, you truly were a genius.' Not for the first time that night, he was beset by guilt and regret. Such a talented and promising man shouldn't have died so young. Especially not when an old man such as himself could have died in his place. 'Why, Minato? Why wouldn't you let me perform the sealing?' He sighed tiredly as he looked away from the child and out over the village of Konoha.

Not three hours ago, the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune, a creature so powerful it was more a natural disaster than a fox, had driven the village to the brink of destruction. Nothing the shinobi of mighty Konoha tried had been able to stop the great beast. In fact, Sarutobi knew that the only reason the ninja had managed to stall the great fox at all was that the Kyuubi had been having too much fun butchering them. He shivered as he thought of the slaughter that had been unleashed on the shinobi of his village. He had seen entire wars that were less brutal.

Shaking off the thought, he looked down at Naruto once again, sighing quietly in frustration while being careful not to awaken the sleeping child. It had been a difficult decision to inform the council of Naruto and his burden, a decision that he was already regretting.

Given the choice, Sarutobi would have much preferred to keep everything about Naruto a secret, but he had been Hokage too long not to be wary of the consequences of others learning of Naruto on their own and jumping to conclusions, especially Danzo. There was no telling how badly people would react to that. 'Though,' he thought bitterly, 'it's hard to imagine a reaction worse than the one from the council.'

Flashback

Looking around the room Sarutobi took in the various members that made up both sides of the Council. First off there were two of the three village Elders, his former teammates Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado. The final Elder was Danzo, his old friend and rival for the title of Sandaime Hokage and the leader of the supposedly disbanded Root Anbu program. 'I'll have to be careful with him here,' he reminded himself. 'Danzo will be quick to try to gain access to Naruto and he's never been above disobeying me if he believed it was necessary.'

Then there were the Heads of the major clans. Fugaku Uchiha, head of the Uchiha clan as well as the commander of the Konoha Military Police, was sitting with his arms crossed between Inoichi and a stony-faced Tsume. Inoichi was the head of the Yamanaka clan and a member of the infamous Ino-Shika-Cho trio -possibly the most famous team from Konoha since the Sannin. Tsume was sitting in for the head of the Inuzuka clan since her husband Teiru had taken crippling injuries fighting off the Kyuubi.

Sitting to Inoichi's left were Shikaku and Chouza, the heads of the Nara and Akimichi clans respectively. They were also the other two members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Rounding out the major clans were Murakumo Kurama, Hiashi Hyuuga, and Shibi Aburame. With Tsunade absent, the Senju clan seat was left empty.

There were also a number of minor clan heads to round out the shinobi portion of the council.

The civilian council was composed mostly of wealthy citizens and well off merchants, though there were a handful of doctors, teachers, shop owners, and even a couple of restaurant owners as well. Their main purpose being to keep the civilian portion of Konoha from being completely forgotten.

Clearing his throat Sarutobi stood and called the meeting to order. "Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I know this is a painful and trying day for all of us, but we must persevere for the good of our village." Sarutobi ran his gaze over the rather simple room considering the matters that were often discussed here. Plain unadorned walls broken only by two double doors on opposite sides of the room surrounded two long tables that ran the length of the room. There was also a smaller table sitting between the heads of the two tables that seated him and his two former teammates.

"As most of you are aware, the Yondaime was able to defeat the Kyuubi at the cost of his own life." Seeing the various council members nodding he continued his explanation. "What none of you know is exactly how he defeated it." That got their attention. A jutsu that could kill any of the Bijuu, let alone the greatest of them would be worth more than an entire country. Even at the cost of the user.

Before they could continue down that path, Sarutobi continued, crushing some of their hopes of an ultimate jutsu. "He used a forbidden technique combined with a number of Fuuinjutsu to seal the Kyuubi away. This also required a child to act as the prison. His last wish was that the child he chose to be the prison be seen as a hero of this village." Finishing his explanation, Sarutobi sat down and waited for the council's reaction.

He had been prepared for fear, but the outright hysteria that gripped even some of the shinobi veterans on the council caught him completely off guard. Shouts of anger and even shrieks of fear came from every corner of the room, though the latter came mainly from the civilian members. Only Shibi of the Aburame clan remained completely calm, though it was hard to tell with him. Even the normally lazy and uncaring Shikaku, head of the Nara clan, jumped to his feet.

It took nearly half an hour for the cacophony to settle and order to be restored in the room before the meeting could continue.

While this was happening, Sarutobi began to observe the council to try to predict their reactions once they calmed down. The civilians were in an uproar, despite the fact that not one of them had even seen the Kyuubi. Luckily, in this matter at least, they would probably look to the shinobi to come up with a "solution".

Looking to the major clan heads once again, he noticed that both Shibi and Hiashi had remained sitting side by side with impassive looks on their faces as they listened to the many conversations going on around them. 'You know...sometimes I think those two are in some kind of competition to see who can be the most impassive.' Only the single bead of sweat traveling down Hiashi's face let him know that he was indeed worried. Shibi on the other hand, he couldn't guess what he was thinking at all without getting close enough to be able to hear his bugs -as that was one of the few ways of observing an Aburame's emotions.

From there he looked over at Shikaku who was in a hushed conversation with Inoichi and Chouza despite scanning the room and faces of the others from time to time. Seeing Sarutobi watching, Shikaku met his eyes and nodded respectfully before turning back to his teammates. 'Ah...so you understand what this meeting is really about...clever as always Shikaku.' Sarutobi understood that Shikaku's nod meant that he knew that Sarutobi had no intention of letting the council make any decision concerning Naruto. It was for that reason he was conferring solely with Inoichi and Chouza, to warn them not to stand against the Hokage and to just keep their opinions to themselves. Maybe the Nara head would make a good candidate for the position of Jounin Commander?

One glance at a scowling Fugaku let Sarutobi know his opinion, 'Although, Fugaku is responsible for maintaining security and law and order within the village walls. I suppose it's only natural that having a Jinchuuriki in the village would upset him.'

Finishing his sweep of the room he noticed Tsume was also still in her seat with her fists clenched on the table, though her face showed some conflicting emotions ranging from anger to pity to hatred, even a bit of guilt.

Sarutobi felt for her, as she was likely still dealing with her husband's injuries and Naruto was probably at the center of her storm of emotions.

Finally there was Danzo himself, still sitting alone. Sarutobi knew Danzo was doing exactly what he was, observing the others to see what he could use to his advantage, who he'd have to sway or intimidate, and how he could go about doing it. Truly, the man was like a mirror opposite of himself at times.

Before he could think further on that thought, Homura and Koharu began calling for order among the room's occupants, who eventually began to return to their seats. After a few minutes, the last few council members seated themselves and the meeting continued. It was then that things truly started to go downhill.

A merchant named Kisabi Takeda from the civilian portion of the council was the first to speak up, jumping to his feet as he did so. "Hokage-sama, why is the monster even still alive?"

Kouta Zuki, the shinobi representing the small Zuki clan stood as well. "If it's in a child, we can kill it for good, correct?" Scattered murmurs of approval greeted this question.

"Don't be a fool," came from a rather surprising source, though his next words quickly explained his reasoning. "Think of the boy's potential. With the proper training he could become our greatest protector. With the power of the Kyuubi under our control we could tip the balance of power our way once and for all, and crush all of our enemies. I'm not exaggerating in the slightest when I say that this child could bring about an era of unrivaled peace and prosperity for our village." Danzo spoke passionately despite the injuries he himself had suffered at the hand of the Kyuubi. Such passion in the face of his own loss only gave his words more weight.

This suggestion brought more murmurs until Sarutobi crushed the idea before it could truly take root. "No." All talk ceased as Danzo returned to his seat. "He is a hero and we owe it to him to allow him to live as normal a life as possible."

Fugaku rose from his chair immediately, a look of complete outrage and disbelief painted across his face. "Are you insane!" This drew a handful of gasps from some of the civilians as Fugaku not only shouted at the Shinobi no Kami, but what he said could be taken as a direct insult. "You suggest we just let that thing roam freely in our village! What if the seal fails or the child loses control? We'd never be able to evacuate the civilians in time, nor try to contain the damage! If you insist on keeping it, you must send the child somewhere else, like Training Area 44, or some other secure, yet isolated and remote location."

Sarutobi's gaze hardened as he struggled briefly to keep his killing intent from leaking out. "His name is Naruto and he is no more a threat than the man who sealed the Kyuubi within him."

Kisabi, who had remained standing, could no longer contain himself as he cried out in rage, "WE SHOULD KILL IT NOW WHILE WE STILL CAN!"

Before Sarutobi could respond, Shibi Aburame- perhaps the only person, who had, so far anyway, kept at least his face calm- stated in a simple monotone. "Killing the child will not kill the creature within him."

"Shibi is correct; killing the infant will only release the Kyuubi once more." Hiashi Hyuuga nodded his head in agreement. "We dare not kill him when doing so would only lead to more destruction."

Danzo rose to speak once more, probably to state something about how his training methods could grant them control over Naruto and the Kyuubi, but Sarutobi beat him to it. "Enough." The council silenced and looked to him once again. "This council has already gone far beyond what I called it for. I've already made my decision on this matter." Fugaku, Danzo, Kisabi, and several others began to protest, only to be cut them off yet again. "I only informed you as a courtesy, not to ask your opinions on this. However, I must say I am very disappointed in many of you for reacting in such a way. The majority of you have children or even grandchildren, who the Yondaime could have easily used as Kyuubi's prison instead of choosing an orphan." Sarutobi felt there was no reason to inform them of Naruto's heritage just yet. After all, without his parents to protect him, it wouldn't take long for someone or other to attempt to kidnap or assassinate him or for one clan or the other to try to pull him into their political intrigues. Especially when he had so few resources to protect the boy from such a threat. No, it would be best to wait until he was older before revealing that tidbit of information. "Would you be so eager to see your own child dead, or raised in isolation?" He finished with a glare at the council.

Despite his words, many of the council still muttered angrily. Seeing this, Sarutobi moved to try and ensure Naruto's safety. "From this point on all information on the Kyuubi's defeat, as well as Naruto's role in it, is an S class secret. If anyone asks, the Yondaime killed the Kyuubi and died in the process; revealing the truth is punishable by death." Again, some members of the council began to protest only to be silenced by Sarutobi's killer intent. "Do not test me on this. All that will come of it is your deaths." The council as a whole stiffened at such a blatant threat, but no one dared to speak out.

Looking around the room Sarutobi sighed before speaking again. "Dismissed" With that he walked from the room.

End Flashback

Yes, Sarutobi greatly regretted his decision to inform the council about Naruto. Barely an hour after he had dismissed them, a number of civilian members as well as a handful of the minor clan heads had immediately begun to spread word about Naruto and the Kyuubi, no doubt in an attempt to force him to concede to their wishes.

A foolish move on their parts.

Sarutobi's retribution had been swift and without mercy. More than two dozen civilians and no less than seven shinobi council members had been executed immediately after. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. While no other members of the council had been connected to the information leak, and almost no one else in the village would admit to knowing about Naruto let alone draw attention to themselves by calling for his death or banishment, it had been guaranteed that the whole of the village would soon learn about the sealing.

Attempting to lessen the damage in any way he could, the Hokage had been left with no choice but to both inform the rest of the population and to raise the security level on all the information to SS rank. When he had given his warning to the gathered villagers and shinobi, Sarutobi had been certain to make sure they understood the full consequences of breaking his new decree.

Flashback

"If any of the other Hidden Villages were to learn of our situation, they would not hesitate to take advantage of it," he began as he sent a steely gaze over the assembled village. "So allow me to make myself perfectly clear on this matter. You will not tell your children or anyone else who does not know." At this point, Sarutobi's visage hardened, and he began to radiate just enough killer intent to remind everyone why he was called the God of Shinobi.

"No one, other than myself or the child when I choose to inform him, is to reveal any information about him, or anything about the Kyuubi's defeat other than that the Yondaime gave his life to kill it, to anyone. If anyone breaks this law, they, along with their immediate family, as well as whomever they told, and their immediate family will be executed." Here his killing intent skyrocketed before disappearing. "You are dismissed."

As he walked away, he briefly wondered which had made the bigger impact, his impressive killing intent or the row of more than thirty severed heads that had once belonged to the council members who had disobeyed him, which were impaled on pikes behind him.

Hopefully, they would take his words to heart. Konoha really couldn't afford to have him execute anymore shinobi.

End Flashback

Sighing once again, Sarutobi reached for his trusty pipe and began trying to stuff it with tobacco one handed. Just as he succeeded, a knock came at the door.

"Enter," he called wearily as he raised his pipe to his mouth and attempted to light it.

A young rookie Chuunin named Kurenai Yuuhi entered the room with an armful of reports and stated tiredly. "I have some more reports for you to look over, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi recognized her as a temporary secretary that had been working in the Tower while waiting for a leg injury she received in the last Chuunin Exams to heal. He had seen her quite often as even though he had retired he had still come in almost every day to help his successor get used to the job. Of course, he also remembered when she had been a freshly graduated Genin excited about getting her first mission, but still trying to act professional in front of her leader. He couldn't help but think, 'Getting old sucks.' The Hokage sighed as he gestured vaguely towards his hardwood desk that was almost as old as he was- having belonged to his predecessors- and said in a grandfatherly tone, "Thank you Kurenai-san, just put them anywhere."

"Yes Hokage-sama," replied Kurenai as she approached the Hokage's desk. However, as she drew near and set the stack of papers down in one of the few clear spaces on the crowded table, she realized just what it was that the Hokage cradled in his arm.

Kurenai's crimson eyes widened in surprise at the sight before they narrowed in anger when she took note of what occupied the Hokage's other hand. "Hokage-sama!" she snapped. "What on earth are you doing!"

The Hokage looked up at her in surprise for her sudden outburst as he removed his pipe from his mouth and blinked owlishly up at her. As he did this, his hand seemed to unconsciously drift closer to the newly awakened child, who blindly flailed one hand up to the object in the Hokage's hand.

Kurenai's arms whipped forward and snatched the infant from her surprised leader's arms, then quickly moving to a nearby open window.

The Hokage jumped to his feet and moved to follow her before she glared at him and snapped, "I can't believe you could be so irresponsible, Hokage-sama!" The Hokage looked at her in confusion before she continued, "A man of your age and status should know better than to smoke around an infant!"

The Hokage looked surprised for a moment, before he smiled widely. This of course did nothing to soothe an irate Kurenai, who never noticed the Anbu in the shadows above the window who was just a fraction away from using the ninja wire in his hands. She also missed Sarutobi's subtle signal causing said arms to recede back into the shadows, while she continued to scold him. "What if he burnt his hand or some embers fell on him? Not to mention second hand-smoke!"

The Hokage gave a sheepish chuckle at this, before he spoke in that grandfatherly tone he was so well known for. "My apologies Kurenai-san, I was so busy it slipped my mind- not that that is a very good excuse."

It was then that Kurenai remembered just who she was scolding, before her face turned red as she began stammering an apology. "For-forgive me Hokage-sa-sama, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that." She bowed as well as she could while holding a baby, who was becoming more and more fidgety.

Sarutobi chuckled as he looked at the suddenly blushing and nervous kunoichi who cradled young Naruto. It warmed his heart to see someone react in such a positive way when it came to Naruto's health. It also made him glad he had been as tired and off guard as he was. Otherwise he might have killed the well-meaning Chuunin without understanding her intentions.

"It's quite alright Kurenai-san, you were only looking out for the welfare of young Naruto and for that you have my heartfelt thanks."

Before Kurenai could respond, little Naruto started crying loudly. She began to rock him while making hushing sounds.

Sarutobi smiled at the little domestic scene, before he spoke again. "It sounds like little Naruto is hungry again." He then looked around his office for the bottle he had prepared earlier. Finding it among his paperwork, he tiredly moved to take Naruto from Kurenai.

However when he reached out for him, Kurenai bit her lip and said, "I can feed him for now, Hokage-sama. I'm sure you would like a moment of peace, perhaps to finish smoking your pipe?"

Sarutobi's eyes narrowed imperceptibly as he read the Chuunin's body language, trying to determine if she might be a threat to Naruto. Seeing only an earnest young girl, Sarutobi nodded his assent before handing the bottle over to the kunoichi.

On his way out, Sarutobi subtly signaled to the Tori masked Anbu hidden in the shadows above Kurenai, the wire that he was about to use to garrote her before Sarutobi stopped him still held in his hands. His message was perfectly clear. If it looked like she intended to harm Naruto…kill her.

Kurenai smiled gently as she looked down at the blond drinking eagerly in her arms. She had of course heard all about just who and what the infant was; however, she just could not associate the adorable child with the Demon Fox many were accusing him of being. 'He's a lot better behaved than some of those brats I had to baby sit during all those D rank missions.' She thought to herself with a smile.

When he finished his bottle, Kurenai pulled down his blanket a bit to examine him more closely. On the rare occasions that he opened his eyes, she could see that he had sky blue eyes with slit pupils. Eyes that appeared to be filled with curiosity that seemed to look right into her soul, and when his lips moved into what might have been a smile the weight of the world just seemed to lighten… and those birthmarks! They were so cute! Feeling a slight tug on one of her fingers, she looked to see Naruto had wrapped his tiny hand around her index finger, tugging on it curiously. It was at that moment that Naruto yawned sleepily. No longer able to resist, Kurenai let out a quiet squeal and began speaking nonsensical baby talk to the sleepy child.

Once Kurenai calmed down from her snuggle fest with Naruto, she began gently rocking him again until he dropped back off to sleep.

As Kurenai was busy with her baby talk, a young Tatsu masked Anbu in the room turned to his Tori masked Captain and began signaling to his superior, 'What is she doing?' His superior simply signed back, 'Don't worry about it, it's a chick thing so there is no understanding it.' Both Anbu felt a chill run through them as the lone female of their detail glared at them. They quickly returned to their positions with Kurenai completely unaware.

It was a heartwarming sight for Sarutobi when he reentered the room to find Kurenai rocking a sleeping Naruto. A quick and discreet check with his Anbu guards confirmed that everything was fine, though two of them seemed oddly shaken…and why was Tori looking everywhere but at Hebi?

Gently clearing his throat to get her attention, Sarutobi motioned for Kurenai to hand him Naruto, which she did, albeit a tad reluctantly.

"Thank you for watching him, Kurenai-chan." He said quietly so as not to disturb Naruto. He carefully retook his seat and sighed as he glanced at the reports he had yet to look over.

Attempting to put them off just a little longer, he addressed Kurenai again, "Is there anything else you need?"

He watched as Kurenai bit her lip somewhat nervously, before she finally spoke, "Hokage-sama… if I may ask you a question?" Curious, Sarutobi agreed to her request.

"Well… it's just that… what are you planning to do with Naruto now?"

Sarutobi sighed at this question, one of many he had considered in the past hour. Seeing the young kunoichi still waiting, he answered. "For the next few months I will care for him. Then he will be placed in an orphanage and eventually I hope he will be adopted within a few years. Other than that I have no plans for him."

Seeing the uneasy look on the kunoichi's face, Sarutobi smiled and reassured her. "Don't worry, I plan to have an Anbu watch him at all times. I will not allow him to be harmed; however I also intend to let him make his own decisions in life."

Nodding, Kurenai stood at attention and said, "By your leave, Hokage-sama?" Once Sarutobi nodded, she leaned in close and planted a soft kiss on Naruto's forehead before saying, "Goodnight Naruto-chan, and sweet dreams." She then straightened, bowed respectfully to Sarutobi, and left the room.

Once she was gone, Sarutobi began to shift through the latest reports on his desk, while thinking on another problem concerning little Naruto. The child had yet to have a checkup, because many doctors were refusing to have anything to do with him. Coincidentally, that was one of the reasons why he kept Naruto with him rather than at the hospital.

Thinking it over he decided to see if he could track down his old student, Tsunade. 'While it would be nice if she returned, I doubt I can convince her to set foot in Konoha again.' He sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot tonight. 'It might take a little convincing, but I'm sure she would at least be willing to perform a checkup or two on little Naruto so long as I go to her.'

With that decided, he turned his attention back to the reports on his desk once more.

Translations

Tori=Bird

Hebi=Snake

Tatsu=Dragon

Kyuubi no Kitsune=Nine Tailed Fox

Sandaime=Third Lord

Hokage=Fire Shadow

Well, there you have it. If you have any reviews, questions, criticisms, suggestions, etc. I'm more than willing to hear them. Let me know what you think.