Perspicacious

A/N: I started watching Naruto and instantly became hooked on it, and even though I'd only just gotten past The Land of Waves arc, I decided to start writing this story. My initial premise was based on Iruka's regret from the pilot, that he hadn't done more for Naruto. Unfortunately the Muses love to inspire me with new ideas, so I decided to merge the original idea with their second idea, which will be revealed in Chapter II: The Land of Waves.

Perspicacious

Prologue

         "How bad is it?" Uchiha Fugaku asked.
         "They're still counting the dead, and we've been working all night with the wounded," Uchiha Chiasa replied, having just come from the hospital. "However, among the dead are Sarutobi Biwako and-"
         "I already know about Minato and Kushina," Fugaku almost yelled. He instantly regretted it, however. "I apologize, the pain is still very fresh," he explained, rubbing at his chest. The loss of his bond with Minato, not to mention the echo of loss that Mikoto was feeling from losing Kushina would take several months to get used to. "And what about Naruto?"
         "Rumors have already begun circulating about him being the new jinchuriki, and some are blaming him for the attack as a result. The rest blame us," Uchiha Haruto reported. As he ran a popular inn, he was often used as a source of information for what Konoha thought about looming issues.
         "They what?" Fugaku asked in shock. "I can understand them being mad at us for not losing anyone in the attack, but blaming us?"
         "Some still remember Lord Madara and that he could control the Kyuubi, Uncle," Uchiha Shisui reminded him. "Most of our fellow ninja also believe misconceptions about us and the Sharingan, so they find it easy to blame us when things go wrong."
         "And what of Naruto?" Fugaku asked.
         "He's in the hospital nursery being cared for, but some of the shinobi are already speaking about killing him, as are the civilians," Uchiha Akito replied. As one of the merchants, he was also a great source of information.
         "Shisui, find some ninja in the clan that are willing to protect Naruto, preferably ones with great skill in remaining undetected. I want him watched day and night, and they are to protect him as if he were their own son, let no one near him that they wouldn't trust with their own children." Fugaku then gave orders to the other Uchiha and prepared for the inevitable Council meeting.

         One month passed before the Council met, and as a result, Fugaku was in a horrible mood. "Tell me, honorable councilmembers, why has it taken so long for us to gather again?" he demanded once the secretary had called the meeting to order.
         "Because of the Kyuubi's attack, of course!" one of the civilian leaders stated.
         "That is exactly why we should have met sooner!" Fugaku roared. "If we had met no later than the day after the attack, we could have coordinated the relief efforts! How many people have suffered needlessly because the rest of you didn't think we'd need to work together?" The other members of the council looked guilty for a moment until Shimura Danzo proposed a vote on a new Hokage, to which the representative of the Senju clan proposed Sarutobi Hiruzen. "I will second the proposal," Fugaku replied. Everyone stared in shock until he finished. "On one condition: that it is recognized that Hiruzen is only an interim Hokage until Konoha can stand strong again and we have a chance to propose a Fifth Hokage." Other clans, including the Naras and Yamanaka's supported the vote as well and Hiruzen was named interim Hokage.
         Hiruzen then led yet another boring meeting, though Fugaku knew the best way to liven it up. "Now, before we conclude, I ask if there is any clan business that the leaders wish to announce. Clan Aburame?" One by one the clans announced their losses to the Kyuubi and changes in inheritance as a result. "Clan Uchiha?"
         Fugaku stood, barely hiding his smirk while imagining their reactions to his announcements. "First off, I wish to announce that we have discovered the reason that we Uchiha were unable to leave our district during the Kyuubi's attack. Senju Tobirama used fuuinjutsu to seal our district should the Kyuubi's chakra be sensed within 25 miles of Konoha, as a result, no Uchiha would be allowed to leave the district. As we had been in the midst of finalizing our preparations to deal with a potential escape by the Kyuubi, we were all caught inside the seal. And seeing how the village's only masters of fuuinjutsu were all outside the village at the time, we were unable to escape." The rest of the council grumbled at that, but all knew the power of seals and acknowledged that such a thing was definitely possible.
         "Second, I have ordered all Uchiha merchants to give away food, drink, shelter and clothing to those who lost something during the Kyuubi's attack. The offer will continue to be open for the next month. Also, all those who lost their homes during the attack may stay at any Uchiha inn rent free until their homes have been rebuilt."
         "Attempting to buy the people's good will?" Utatane Koharu asked with a scoff.
         "No, I'm attempting to buy peace," Fugaku growled. "We all know that many will blame the Uchiha for the Kyuubi's attack. But we hope that this generosity will at least keep such feelings to words at worst and that it will not lead to a civil war. Now, if I may continue?" he asked sarcastically. "Good. I have also ordered changes to the recruitment policies of the Konoha Police Force. Starting today, we will no longer accept ninja who have applied even once for the jonin exams. However, we will now accept anyone else who wishes to join, civilian or ninja, irregardless of heritage."
         "You are giving up control of the police?" Nara Shikaku asked in shock.
         "I expect the Uchiha will remain the dominant force in the police for years to come," Fugaku replied. "However, I believe no one clan should ever have complete control of anything. On a similar note, I have also decided to open a new orphanage, and this one is to be dedicated first to the children of those who died in the Kyuubi's attack who have no living family to care for them. As time passes, we will also accept the children of those who are killed in action that do not have a clan to care for them and their education will be funded by the Uchiha as well. After all," here he turned to smirk at Danzo, "we don't want another ROOT situation now, do we?"
         Now the civilians started whispering amongst themselves until the leader of the Merchant's Guild spoke up. "What is this ROOT, and why haven't we heard of it?"
         "Oh? Did our dear Lord Third not mention it to the Council?" Fugaku replied, sounding as sarcastic as possible. It was things like ROOT that had him looking forward to seeing how Minato and Kushina were going to run things. Hiruzen let his old friends and students get away with too much for too long. "It seems that Lord Danzo had been creating a private army of ninja out of orphans, an army loyal only to himself, not to Konoha. Even worse is what we know he ordered them to do, and one can only imagine what else he has ordered. ROOT spied on Uzushio before their fall, conspired with Amegakure, turned deserving allies into enemies and enemies into undeserving allies in order to fulfill his dream of an all-powerful Konoha." Shimura Danzo hid his rage well, but rage he did, and with it, a determination to see everything Fugaku loved turn to dust.
         "My final announcement is simple. As per the Clan Laws on warding the children of fallen allies, I have placed one orphan under the protection of the Uchiha Clan. So long as even one Uchiha lives, no one can claim him without our permission, and to harm him is to invite the wrath of the Uchiha." He paused, letting the suspense build. "The new ward of the Uchiha is Uzumaki Naruto." Immediately the Council erupted as Fugaku knew they would. It didn't matter how they or Sarutobi raged. The Clan Laws dated back to before the Clan Wars and had never been repealed, nor would they, considering the protection and power the laws gave ninja clans. Fugaku's claim over Naruto was untouchable.
         "You dare claim control of the jinchuuriki?!" Mitokado Homura demanded. "By what right do you claim such?"
         "I have every right by the Clan Laws, as the Uchiha and Uzumaki have been allies since before the Clan Wars. Also, I had a partner bond with Namikaze Minoto, thus making us allies." That point made people gasp in shock, no one had known about their bond, and for good reason. The bond had been forged shortly before the Third Shinobi World War had begun, and the secret of the bond had helped them win several key battles. "There's also the fact that Naruto's godfather hasn't been in Konoha for several years, while my wife is his godmother. Also, there is no one else who has a legal right to be his guardian, and I'm certain that without our guardianship, he would either be left to fend for himself or be forced into a ROOT-like situation in order to control him."

         Five years later and Fugaku was smiling as he watched Sasuke and Naruto spar ... as much as five year olds could, that is. With the two of them growing up as close as they were, they might as well have been twins. Unfortunately, Naruto growing up in the Uchiha District was having an unexpected side effect. "I'm not only going to be the first to use the Fireball Jutsu, I'm going to get my Sharingan first, believe it!"
         "No chance, dobe, not with the way you've been at practice!" Sasuke called back. "You're going to need your Sharingan just to catch up to me."
         "Teme!" Naruto yelled before attacking Sasuke again, resulting in Arisu, Emiko and Benjiro having to pull them apart. The two girls and other boy were all civilians, but they were also Naruto and Sasuke's closest friends within the clan. Arisu's parents were travelling merchants, often gone for months at a time, but always returning with amazing stories and wares that couldn't be found anywhere else in Fire Country. Emiko and Benjiro were siblings and the children of tailors, or rather they had been tailors until the Kyuubi attack. Now their father was a member of the police while their mother had restarted their shop on her own. Fugaku didn't know how the fivesome had come together, but he knew that they already had a strong bond, one that would last for many years to come.
         However, that discussion needed to be dealt with, and soon. "Boys, come with me, we need to have a talk." With that, he led the two boys to his wife. "Mikoto, dear, it's time. We need to teach them about the Sharingan."
         She just smiled at him. "So, you finally heard them, did you? I was wondering how long it would take you to catch on dear. They've only been arguing about it for a month now." Fugaku turned to the boys in shock, both of whom were blushing at having been caught. "Fortunately, I have been preparing for today. Sit down boys, and hear the story of the Sharingan." Fugaku smiled and let his wife teach their clan's history. Two hours later, both boys said they didn't want the Sharingan any longer.

         A month later on November 15, Fugaku met with Yamanaka Inoichi due to the riot that had occured five days earlier. The riot had resulted in several changes to Fugaku's family, including Naruto moving in with them so he and Sasuke could actually sleep. Shisui and a few others had arrested some of the ringleaders behind the riot and Fugaku had come to find what Inoichi had found. "Well?" he demanded.
         "I haven't found anything."
         "NOTHING?!" Fugaku demanded. "Didn't you try to mind-walk them?"
         "I did, and I didn't find anything. However, I do know why," Yamanaka replied. "They've all been sealed on the tongue, and Shisui was able to identify it." Fugaku raised an eyebrow at that. Not that Shisui was working with Yamanaka, the two had been close ever since Inoichi became his nephew's sensei and second father (not that either would admit that part.) No, he was surprised that Shisui identified the seal, he wasn't skilled at fuuinjutsu, at least, no more than most Konoha shinobi. "His partner, Tenzo has the same seal on his tongue, but Raidou has been removing it as best as he could, and Tenzo has revealed who was responsible. It's Danzo."
         That made Fugaku almost lose his temper. "ROOT," he growled out. That was the last straw. "Inoichi, I'd like your help removing both Danzo and Hiruzen from power and choosing the Fifth Hokage."

         Umino Iruka couldn't understand it. Uzumaki Naruto was a good student when he wanted to be, yet he couldn't seem to get the clone justu, or a few other jutsus. And it certainly wasn't for a lack of effort, so what was wrong? He had assumed it was shock and grief due to the Massacre, but it had been over three years and there had been no improvement. In hopes of finding an answer, he had come to Konohagakure's library. Eventually the guardian of the library found him something that could help, and to his surprise, the answer had a familiar mark, one he saw every day but didn't know the origin of. Curious, he asked the guardian about the symbol and learned many things as a result.
         The next day when his class arrived, they were all confused to find a piece of paper on their desks. "Iruka-sensei, what's with this paper?" Yamanaka Ino asked.
         "That is the start of a new training for both you and me. This is chakra paper of a specific kind. Some can be used to find skills that you are specially attuned to, others for determining your elemental affinity, but this is for measuring both your chakra reserves and your level of control. All you need to do is place your hand over the paper and direct your chakra into it, like so." With that, Iruka demonstrated the technique, and when it was done, held up the paper. On the chakra paper there was now a perfect blue sphere covering much of the paper. "Go ahead and let's see what the paper reveals, shall we?"
         As he expected, two of his students had a bit of trouble with the chakra paper. First Uzumaki Naruto then Uchiha Sasuke both said that they didn't get any results from the chakra paper. While his students laughed at Naruto, they stared in shock at Sasuke. "Actually, I was expecting this. Sasuke, come to the paper on my left, Naruto to the right." That was when his students realized that there were other papers hanging on the wall. Sasuke's was four papers put together, while Naruto's was even bigger at nine. To everyone's shock though, when the two directed their chakra into the papers, their chakras were enormous, each covering their set of pages, though neither were perfect circles. Sasuke's had the basic look of a circle, but it was very uneven, while Naruto's was a little worse off. It was actually much better than Iruka had expected, as he had assumed that Naruto would have horrid control. "Well Sasuke, you need some work, but you have pretty good control over your chakra, very good. Naruto, you have enormous reserves of chakra, but your control needs some work. Fortunately, that's one of the things we'll be working on in the near future."
         Nara Shikamaru was the next to notice something. "Iruka-sensei, why is the red whirlpool on the back of the pages?"
         "And that is what we'll be spending the rest of our lesson on: a bit of history that I didn't know about our village, and our most important citizens: Clans Senju, Uchiha and Uzumaki." The entire class looks up in shock, especially Naruto and Sasuke. "Back during the Warring States period, Clans Senju and Uchiha were considered the most powerful of the ninja clans and when one warring state hired one of the clans, their enemy would inevitably hire the other, leading to some serious bad blood between the two clans and eventually the two fighting each other due to a blood feud. However, during that time, Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama met and became allies and eventually founded Konohagakure at the end of the war. They couldn't overcome the bad blood between their clans though, and each had their own ideas as to how to ensure that peace would continue. That is where Clan Uzumaki came in.
         "The Uzumakis were the third most powerful clan, and powerful enough that many clans sought their extinction. While they existed however, the Uzumakis did their best to keep the peace between Senju and Uchiha. The Uzumakis proposed a solution: while the Senjus would hold political power in Konoha, the Uchiha would become our military and police. That kept the peace for many years, until the attack of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Many people blamed the Uchiha for the attack, especially since they had a kekkei genkai that could supposedly control the Tailed Beasts. Then, only three years ago, almost the entire Uchiha clan was slaughtered, and to this day no one knows who did it," Iruka finished, causing Sasuke to sigh in relief. He didn't want anyone going after his brother in a stupid attempt to win his affection.
         "What's a kekkei genkai?" Haruno Sakura asked.
         "It's a ninja skill passed down in the blood. The Uzumakis for example have enormous chakra reserves even without training, can rapidly heal both themselves and others and are naturally skilled in fuuinjutsu, the art of sealing. In fact, the last thing that Uzumaki Kushina did before she died was to seal away the Nine-Tails, which is why Naruto here is the only Uzumaki in the village. Another prime example is the Naras and their ability to manipulate their shadows, which then have the ability to control other people. Now, I want you to pass your papers forward so I can study your results and help you control your chakra." After classes ended, Iruka watched as Naruto came up to Sasuke and started talking. Iruka smiled as he saw what he hoped would be the start of the healing of their relationship.

         Two years later and Iruka's class took their graduation test, Naruto's third attempt. While he did do better, Iruka just couldn't pass him, though he did compliment him on his unique sexy jutsu. After the tests were all done, Iruka took Naruto out for some ramen (his second time in as many days.) "Naruto, do you know why I'm so hard on you?"
         "No, I've basically given up figuring out why people don't like me."
         Iruka frowned at that. If it had been up to him, he'd have told Naruto the truth, but Hokage Sarutobi had banned discussing the truth about the Nine-tails. "I push you so hard because I believe in you Naruto, I know you can be great, even to the point of fulfilling your dream of becoming hokage. You could do it Naruto, but only if you push yourself, or at least let others push you into doing better, and you are doing better. Give it just a little more time and you will be a ninja." Naruto groaned at that, but Iruka continued. "Remember your test today? Before you couldn't create a single effective clone, but today you did it. You are getting better, Naruto. If you had managed to make even a second clone, I would have passed you." He paused a moment before reavealing "I used to be just like you, you know. The Nine-Tails killed my parents, but no one seemed to care, so I used pranks to get everyone's attention." Naruto finally smiled again at that statement and vowed to work harder.

         A few hours later, Sasuke found his only friend alone with a large scroll. "Naruto, what are you doing?"
         "Sasuke! Hey, Mizuki-sensei told me about this scroll and said that if I manage to learn even one jutsu from it, then I pass, believe it!"
         Sasuke smiled at that. "Well then, I guess I should leave you to it, shouldn't I, dobe? Can't let my best rival fall behind me now, can I?" Naruto and Sasuke fist bumped and Sasuke left, hoping that Mizuki really was telling the truth there and that the rumor he had heard was just that, a rumor. Come morning though, Sasuke was shaking his head, knowing that only Naruto could have gotten into so much trouble and fixed things so quickly.
         When Iruka found Naruto half an hour later, he was shocked at what he found. Naruto was smirking. "Found me already, sensei? Good, then we've got some work to do." Iruka was utterly confused, even more so when Naruto explained who had told him about the Scroll of Seals. When Mizuki arrived and threatened to spill the beans on a secret, Naruto hushed Iruka. "Let him," he whispered. "If he breaks the law, then we have a legitimate reason to stop him, right?" Iruka stared at his (secret) favorite student in shock. It was almost as if he wasn't interested in what the secret even was!
         When Mizuki finally did explain about the Kyuubi being sealed inside Naruto, Naruto only acted surprised. Iruka didn't know how, but he could see it in the blond's eyes: he had known for some time. But how? Ten seconds later though, it didn't matter because Iruka had to take a shuriken to the back in order to protect Naruto. Mizuki smirked, glad to have at least wounded his rival. He was about to start speaking again when a sudden pain struck his lower back. "Wh-what's going on?"
         "Honestly, I was hoping I'd get a chance to learn some interesting jutsu from you," a voice said from behind him. "But you tried to hurt my sensei and my friend, and that is something I can never forgive." Suddenly the kunai in his spine heated up and Mizuki cried out in pain as the wound was cauterized.
         "Damn you, you demon," Mizuki growled out. "How did you get up here without me knowing?"
         "Easy, I've always been up here, simply waiting for you. That's a clone down there with Iruka-sensei," Naruto explained. "You never noticed me because you're in the middle of a genjutsu."
         "Genjutsu?!" the two chunin asked in shock. "But Naruto ... how?" Iruka asked in shock. Genjutsus usually required far more chakra control than Naruto could do, and far less chakra than Naruto could ever use. Neither chunin had thought Naruto would ever be able to weave a genjutsu, even if he became good enough to join ANBU.
         "I just ensured that a large area would be covered by my genjutsu, even if it was a simple one. Now Iruka-sensei, how about we take care of this traitor and give Hokage-jiji the scroll back?" Iruka smiled and agreed, but not before telling Naruto that he had graduated.