Disclaimer- Correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe that the name of this site is Fanfiction net. Logically, that means that I don't own Naruto.
Iruka was currently sitting at his desk taking a break from grading his student's papers. His classroom was currently empty because of the fact that it was currently lunch/recess period. Unlike other teachers who liked to hang out in the lounge during this time of day, Iruka liked to catch up on grading his student's homework after he ate his lunch. The scarred Chunin's thoughts wandered onto one particular student- Naruto Uzumaki. Out of all of the students in his class, Iruka felt the most drawn to the resident prankster of the class. Iruka supposed that he was drawn to Naruto because both of them were orphans and, unlike Sasuke Uchiha, had to deal with being a social outcast.
However in Iruka's mind Naruto's lot was worse then his own had been growing up. Unlike Iruka, Naruto had to deal with the stigma of being a demon container. Although the attacks against his person had stopped some years ago, Naruto still had to deal with being shunned by practically the entire village. Iruka didn't want to imagine trying to grow up as alone as Naruto was. Naruto's situation altogether was a fate that Iruka wouldn't wish on his worst enemy and defiantly not a kid like Naruto.
Propping his head up with his hand, Iruka sighed and thought about Naruto's academic situation. Naruto had to be the WORST student that Iruka had ever tried to teach. The boy was constantly scraping by in the more intellectual parts of the academy's curriculum. As for his applied ninja skills, Naruto was only average at best at Taijutsu, slightly below average at Ninjutsu, and pathetic at Genjutsu. To make the whole matter worse in Iruka's opinion, Naruto was loud and like to spend a good deal of his time pulling pranks. While some of Naruto's pranking skills could be translated into good trap making skills, it wasn't helping Naruto in the areas that he needed it.
Sitting back in his chair, Iruka thought about what he could do to help out his (although he wouldn't admit it) favorite student. Naruto didn't have the benefit of a ninja clan to help oversee his training or to go give him a slight edge over the non-ninja clan students. Unlike some students, like Sakura Hurano who didn't have an active ninja currently in the family, Naruto wasn't good at book learning. Actually, Naruto at times didn't seem to be good at sitting down for long periods of time.
Iruka's eyes suddenly lit up as that last thought of his caused a flash of inspiration to occur. A small smile started to form on Iruka's face as he thought over his sudden plan. The idea was genius in its own right and Iruka was surprised that no one had tried it with Naruto before. Sadly Iruka realized that the reason no one had tried it was because most people didn't care enough to help Naruto out. With the small amount of people that cared about Naruto, the chances of someone else thinking of this plan was quite small. Iruka also realized that Naruto would have to be approached in a certain manner in order for this plan to work. However, Iruka was sure he could help Naruto pull the boy's grades up and maybe even cut down on the number of pranks that were pulled in class.
Class was over for the day and Iruka's students were happily walking out the door. Just as Naruto was walking past Iruka's desk, Iruka calmly spoke, "Naruto." Much to Iruka's relief Naruto stopped walking out the door and turned to face the scarred Chunin. With a friendly smile on his face Iruka continued speaking, "You're not in trouble but I would like to talk you. Will you please go sit down in the front row? I'll get to what I want to say once everyone leaves."
Do to a few of his classmates snickering at him; Naruto's cheeks became a little rosy. However Naruto respected Iruka and quietly got out of the line of academy students leaving the room. Besides, Naruto hoped, Iruka may just be going to take him out for Ramen! Sitting down in one of the seats that Iruka told him to sit down in, Naruto impatiently waited for his classmates to leave the room. Iruka closed the door behind Choji as the big boned boy left the classroom and turned to face Naruto. Looking up at his favorite teacher Naruto called out, "Why did you have me stay behind? Is it because they've recognized my awesome skills and are going to promote me?"
Iruka had to bite back a slight chuckle as he slowly shook his head. "No Naruto, you aren't going to be promoted to genin; although I am sure that you will be one soon enough next year when your class graduates." Naruto had a slight pout on his face when he heard Iruka's news but soon brightened back up. Walking over to Naruto, Iruka put his hands on the desk in front of Naruto and looked Naruto strait in the eye. Once he was sure that he had Naruto's full attention, Iruka continued to talk. "Naruto, I've been going over the work that you've done so far this year in class and I have mixed feelings about what I see."
Naruto's attention was even more focused on Iruka then head had been. With a slight bit of apprehension in his eyes Naruto waited for Iruka to continue. With a gentle and brotherly smile on his face Iruka continued, "Naruto, you have the potential to be a great ninja BUT, you aren't working on realizing that potential." Iruka hastily continued talking to prevent Naruto from protesting this last fact. "You see Naruto; you have three problems that you need to overcome if you want to start reaching your true potential. I've spent some time thinking about how you can overcome these problems and I've come to a solution."
Although he annoyed that he was being told he had faults, Naruto was listening to Iruka so that he could hear how to correct the mistakes. Getting off the desk, Iruka continued to talk in a friendly manner. "Your first problem Naruto is that you have trouble controlling you enthusiasm and emotions. Enthusiasm and emotions are very good and an important part of what makes us both human. However, both of these things cause trouble for ninjas if their not kept in check. I'm not saying that you have to be cold like Sasuke is but you need to learn some control. Your second problem is that you don't pay attention to things like you're supposed to. I know at times that what I teach is boring but if you don't pay attention in class, how are you supposed to pay attention on a mission? During a mission, a single moment of inattention could spell disaster. Finally Naruto, you have a great deal less control over your Chakra compared to other students your age."
Iruka stopped at this point in his speech to make sure that Naruto was paying attention to him. While he was currently frowning, Naruto was paying attention to Iruka. Happy that Naruto was paying attention, Iruka continued once again. "As I've said earlier, I've come up with a way to help you on all of these accounts. I wouldn't have brought these things to your attention if I didn't want to help you improve. For the first two problems I've told you about I recommend that you take up meditation in order to correct. For the first few days or weeks this idea may seem boring and a waste of time to you. But I know that in the long run it will help you. As for your Chakra control problem, I'm going to teach you some Chakra control exercises. We normally don't teach these exercises at the academy because almost none of the students produce enough Chakra to merit teaching these exercises. So Naruto, will you work with me to correct these problems you have?"
Naruto's mind was furiously working on what Iruka was telling him. A large part of Naruto was upset to hear that he had so many problems impeding his way to become Hokage. However, Naruto was grateful that Iruka cared enough about him to tell him about those problems. The fact that Iruka was willing to work with him to help him correct those problems made Naruto happy. With a smile on his face, Naruto cheerfully replied, "Don't worry Iruka. I'll do what you tell me to and become a great ninja!"
Eight months after Iruka took Naruto under his wing for personal tutoring, the two of them could be found over at Iruka's house. Both teacher and student were sitting on Iruka's family room floor back to back in the lotus meditative position. It had taken a few weeks, but Iruka was able to get Naruto to take up meditation and stick with it. At first the scarred chunnin had to resort to bribery in the form of teaching Naruto various E- and even the occasional D-rank jutsu. However Naruto had eventually come to see the benefits that meditation had brought the young whiskered boy. No longer was Naruto the loud and brash young boy he was earlier in the year. While still very happy and joyful, Naruto now had an air of true confidence about him. He also no longer strove for everyone's recognition but only the approval of those people that truly mattered to him.
Personally Iruka was very proud at Naruto's accomplishments. The boy had through his own hard work managed to pull himself up from the 'dead last' position to slightly above average in the class. No longer seeing 'cool and powerful' jutsus as necessary to being a great ninja, Naruto had made great strides in mastering the jutsus that Iruka had taught him. During several of the in-class sparing sessions that took place throughout the year Naruto repeatedly made it into the top 5 of the class. There were several very sore egos from some of the clan heirs when the 'dead last' managed to defeat their attempts at a clan jutsu with only a basic and 'useless' jutsu. The most memorable occasion of this in Iruka's mind was when Naruto was fighting against Kiba. Naruto escaped a particularly nasty attack of Kiba's by using the replacement technique with Sasuke. Sadly for Naruto and Kiba, neither of them could escape Sasuke's enraged fangirls.
One thing though, that had both fascinated and frustrated Iruka, was the amount of chakra that Naruto had at his disposal. Even with hours of practice after school doing the water walking exercise, Naruto barely able to create ONE clone. This wouldn't be too bad if it wasn't for the fact that part of the requirements to become a genin was to be able to produce TWO clones. Not wanting Naruto to be held back due to circumstances beyond his control, Iruka went and had a private meeting with Sarutobi. The worried chunin had carefully explained the situation to the aging Hokage and had listed the various lengths that he had gone to in order to help Naruto control his chakra. Sarutobi told Iruka not to worry about Naruto's little problem and that he would help find a way around that little problem.
During the eight months of private tutoring Iruka and Naruto grew even closer together. There might not have been any indication of it in the classroom but Iruka and Naruto had started to view each other like brothers. A part of this could be seen in that Naruto continued to want to meditate with Iruka and just hang out with him. These private meditation times together were something that Iruka always looked forward to and was more than happy to continue to do with Naruto.
As he meditated, Iruka focused on the Chakra in the room. Whereas is his chakra was orderly and calm, Naruto's chakra was reasonably massive and bubbly. The boy's Chakra seemed to be best described as a surface of an agitated body of water. Iruka was very impressed that Naruto had been able to get his Chakra control down to this point. When the two of them had first started the mediation sessions, Naruto's Chakra could at best be described as a raging bonfire. It was powerful but wild and uncontrolled. At first Iruka had been worried that he would see traces of the Kyuubi's chakra bleeding off into Naruto's chakra. A part of Iruka had suspected that the Kyuubi might have been responsible for Naruto's lack of control and massive Chakra supply. Luckily in Iruka's opinion that was not the case and it was just that Naruto was naturally very powerful.
Slowly, and much to Iruka's pleasure, Naruto's chakra calmed down and started to seem like a reasonably still pond. If Naruto could continue to hold his chakra in this state, it was conceivable that Naruto would finally be able to gain the control the boy needed in order to pass the genin exam. True Naruto would only have 'average' control over his chakra compared to his fellow students. However, in real terms that would grant Naruto the power of a high chunin or low jonin in terms of chakra supply. While still focusing on his own meditation, Iruka slowly counted the amount of time that Naruto was able to hold his Chakra in that position.
Iruka was getting ready to end his meditation session and suggest that he and Naruto head out of teriyaki when Naruto did something that completely surprised Iruka. Naruto's Chakra, which had a very vivid and deep blue color to it, suddenly shifted its color to a pale blue-white. This sudden shift in the color of Naruto's chakra completely shocked Iruka and caused him to fall out of his meditative state. Shaking his head to get over the shock, Iruka stood up and walked over to being in front of Naruto. Iruka leaned over and gently shook Naruto's shoulder.
Naruto slowly responded to Iruka's shaking by grunting and opening his eyes. To Iruka's immense shock Naruto's eyes had changed. The boy's normal sky blue eyes were now the same vivid orange that Naruto liked so much. On this orange background in each eye Naruto had what looked like eight spokes of equal lengths joined together like a map compass or a star. These 'stars' in Naruto's eyes were both imperial purple in color. Iruka was completely shocked that Naruto had what seemed to be a bloodline. All Naruto's 'big brother' could think was that Naruto needed to know what had happened to him and that the Hokage needed to be informed about this development.
Sarutobi was calmly sitting in his seat in his office smoking his pipe while looking at the confused Naruto and Iruka sitting across from him. The old Hokage took a deep breath, removed his pipe from his mouth, and exhaled a puff of smoke. Putting down his pipe Sarutobi looked Naruto in the eyes, which still had their bloodline activated, and smiled. "Naruto," Sarutobi began to speak, "I knew that eventually I would have to have this conversation with you, I just wasn't expecting to have it with you at such a young age. As is plainly obvious, the Uzumaki clan does have a bloodline. The name of your bloodline is the Ranseigan otherwise known as the Chaos Star Eye."
"Naruto, I know that you have repeatedly asked me to tell you about your family and I am truly sorry for not telling you about your parents. You see, both of your parents were powerful ninjas and wonderful people. Sadly they both had some powerful enemies so your father before he died asked me to keep your heritage a secret until you've met certain conditions. According to your father's wishes I can't tell you right now about his side of your family. However, I am permitted to tell you about your mother's family because it is from her that you get your bloodline."
Both Iruka and Naruto grew more interested in what Sarutobi was saying when he mentioned that he was allowed to talk about Naruto's mother. Without bothering to stop talking Sarutobi continued, "Your mother Naruto was Kushina Uzumaki. Kushina came to Konoha when she was 14 years old from the destroyed Village Hidden among the Whirlpools seeking sanctuary. I granted her sanctuary and she quickly rose in the ranks to become one of the better Jonins in Konoha's employment. You and your mother are so alike Naruto in how you look at and handle the world. Both of your cheerful attitudes are very refreshing to those who have to deal with the harsh world that is a ninja's lot in life. Sadly she died during the Kyuubi attack due to a combination of a complicated pregnancy and the severe lack of medical personal and supplies because of the attack. Don't be upset Naruto; I was told that the nurse who was with Kushina as she died that she died happily and was proud that you were born."
Sarutobi took a second to just smile at Naruto and then the old ninja reached into his desk and pulled out a thick hard-back book. After setting the book down in front of Naruto, Sarutobi continued to speak. "Although your mother showed me her dojutsu several times and told me its name, she didn't talk about it and what it did. She said that such things like a bloodline limit were merely tools and deserved no more notice then a kunai or a sword. While she didn't like the attention that bloodlines have in Konoha, she did understand the need for information on the bloodlines to be kept secure. Kushina gave me this book when she and her husband found out that she was pregnant with you. I was instructed to hand this book over to you if neither of your parents lived and when you activated your bloodline or you found out about your heritage."
Naruto looked down at the table and focused on the cover of the book. There were three words written on the cover in purple letters and descending order: UZUMAKI, CLAN, and CODEX. In between Uzumaki and clan was the spiral shape that Naruto had been told was his clan emblem. A drawing of the Ranseigan was between the words clan and codex. For a boy who had never known his parents, the book seemed to be worth more than anything else that Naruto had ever seen. That book represented a connection to something that Naruto had always wanted; a family. Naruto gently picked the book up and clutched it tight to his chest.
A grandfatherly smile slowly spread across Sarutobi's face. The old Hokage considered Naruto to be as much of a grandson to him as Konohamaru was. Being able to give Naruto such a precious gift as that book represented was something Sarutobi had wanted to do for a while. Wanting to wrap this business up so that Naruto could go read the Uzumaki clan codex, Sarutobi said, "Naruto after you read your clan book, would you please tell me what your bloodline allows you to do? It would help me when I have to place you and your classmates on genin teams if I know what your abilities are. Also-" Sarutobi stopped for a second to pull out a small scroll and hand it to Naruto, "I know how hard you've been working to try and get the clone jutsu under control. From what Iruka has told me it sounds like you just have too much Chakra to be able to do the jutsu well enough to pass the academy standards so I found this more advanced version of the clone jutsu for you."
Curious as to what technique Sarutobi was giving him, Naruto opened the scroll to see 'Shadow clone Jutsu' written as the heading. Naruto looked strait into Sarutobi's eyes as if asking his 'grandfather' for an answer. As if to answer Naruto, Sarutobi started to explain himself. "This jutsu requires a FAR greater amount of Chakra compared to the regular Clone technique to work. Kushina actually brought that technique to Konoha with her. She told me that the Uzumaki had invented the technique so that they could have a reliable clone technique to use. Please DON'T share that technique with your classmates; it is extremely dangerous for the average ninja below Chunin rank." Naruto nodded his head to show that he understood what Sarutobi was telling him.
It was late at night and Naruto was currently reading the Uzumaki clan codex in his bed. The codex started off telling him the origin of the Uzumaki clan. According to the codex, there were once three brothers who had studied under the Six Realms Sage. Once the brother's training was complete the Six Realms Sage took the three brothers to a sacred shrine. Naruto's ancestor had apparently never written down where this shrine was and what exactly happened there. All that his ancestor had told Naruto's forefathers about what happened at that shrine was that the brothers were offered a choice by the spirit of the shrine.
The choice was a simple one, which do you seek the most: power, prestige, or knowledge? The youngest brother had chosen power as his answer and would go on to found the Uchiha clan. Prestige was the option of choice to the middle brother and that person would go on to eventually founding the Hyuga Clan. Finally the eldest brother, Naruto's ancestor, had given the answer that he sought knowledge. Once the three brothers' answers were given to the spirit that the shrine was dedicated to, the brothers and their teacher left the shrine. Shortly after they left their teacher and the shrine a quarrel broke out between the three brothers. That quarrel caused the three brothers to each go his separate way and, although they did stay in contact via letters, never see each other again.
The Eldest brother eventually came to what would become the Land of Whirlpools and he established a hermitage. It was after several years in seclusion that Naruto's ancestor had developed the very first Ranseigan. Over the next decade after the Ranseigan appeared Naruto's ancestor started to pick up some students. Eventually a rather timid girl who was recorded as being the daughter of a local farmer captured the Elder Brother's heart and the two were married. This happy couple only had one child, a cheerful and energetic son that they named Jimmu. Jimmu would apparently go on to spend his life fighting to protect the Land of Whirlpools from various bandits and even modern ninjas that were starting to show up. It was Jimmu that gave the family the name of Uzumaki. According to the family tree in the book, Jimmu Uzumaki was Naruto's great-great-great-great-grandfather.
After the family history, the Uzumaki clan codex went on to explain the Ranseigan in great detail. Naruto's ancestors divided the Ranseigan's abilities into two categories: younglings' abilities and parental abilities. This distinction, Naruto read, was because there was a major change that occurred to a Ranseigan bearer when the bearer first sired a child. While both sets of eyes looked exactly the same, a parental Ranseigan had expanded abilities that the younglings couldn't access.
Besides a sharpening of the eyesight, the Ranseigan had two main abilities. The first ability was that with the Ranseigan a person could remotely look at something even things that behind the user or in a building. It wasn't like the Hyuga's 'all seeing' Byakogan as the Ranseigan only allowed you to see what was going on as if you were physically in the spot you were remotely looking from. Secondly and in Naruto's opinion even more impressively, a person with the Ranseigan could actually look into the future! This wasn't like the Sharingan, which only allow a person to make very accurate guesses from what could be seen, but actual prescience abilities.
As cool as the ability to actually look into the future was in Naruto's opinion it wasn't without some troubles. First off, there was the fact that the Ranseigan could only see up to a minute into the future. It was biologically impossible for the eye to see even a second further into the future. The next, and really the biggest, trouble with the Ranseigan was that when he was looking into the future he wouldn't be able to see what was going on now. True Naruto could choose how far into the future he could view or simply choose not to use that particular ability of the Ranseigan. However, Naruto didn't want to cut off such a major part of his bloodline. Luckily for Naruto, the Uzumaki clan codex listed several mental exercises that would allow him to use the Ranseigan's prescience abilities in a fight without getting confused.
Curious as to what a parental Ranseigan was capable of doing, Naruto turned the page. According to the codex, a parental Ranseigan gained the ability to use three very powerful jutsus. Genesis was a jutsu that allowed the caster to create, awaken, or enhance a bloodline in a person as long as it wasn't another Ranseigan bearer. Golgotha allowed a person to transfer chakra from one person or group to another person or group. This technique was useful in battle because its caster could drain his opponents' chakra dry and give the chakra to an ally without even touching the person. Finally there was the dreaded Megiddo, a technique that could completely destroy the chakra system and/or the bloodline of a person that was targeted by the jutsu without actually killing the person.
Naruto felt a pain in his heart as he read the techniques that would have been available to his mother had she survived. With jutsus like those three, she would have been able to stop the villagers from attacking him. Gogotha and Megiddo could have been used to stop those rioting villagers from attacking while Genesis would have commanded such respect that no one wanting a bloodline would dare to hassle him.
As soon as those thoughts entered Naruto's mind he quickly stomped on them. He could see why his mother had been very quiet about her bloodline. If Kushina had revealed the Uzumaki bloodline, she would have been either feared or respected only for the Ranseigan. Naruto figured that even if the villagers knew of the Ranseigan, they still wouldn't respect him. They might possibly respect his clan name like they did with Sasuke but they wouldn't respect him as an individual. While that situation might be wonderful for Sasjerk, Naruto knew that it wasn't for him. He wanted to be recognized for his own person and not just because of who he might be descended from. Right then and there Naruto vowed not blab about the Ranseigan but only use it during training or when he was on a mission that needed it to be used.
Letting out a small yawn, Naruto figured that it was time for him to go to bed. Naruto opened up the drawer of his nightstand and reverently put the Uzumaki Clan Codex in the empty drawer. After closing the door Naruto turned off the light and put his head to his pillow. He would, after all, need a good night's rest so that he could be at his best tomorrow morning. Graduation was coming up in two months and Naruto figured that he would need all available time to train that he could.
Author's notes: So what do you think of the story so far? I'm planning on working on this story and Mother Moon for a while before I go back and start writing the sequel to Prince of the Planets. If anyone would like to suggest a romantic partner for Naruto I am all ears. Please note that all calls for a Hinata/Naruto pairing will be ignored (HistorianoftheKais activates his Stargate to escape enraged Hinata/Naruto fans) and that I want to keep the girls at a reasonable age gap with Naruto. That means no Naruto/Tsunade romantic pairings.