Naruto : Path of Wind

By the time Weasel finally lead Naruto back into the old man's office the sun had begun to set and the queasy fullness in his stomach was long gone.

Walking in, Naruto noticed that the two weird Anbu, as he now knew them to be, had left, leaving the Sandaime by himself. The Hokage was currently facing away from them, his chair swivelled to look out at the village through the office's large windows. Wispy trails of smoke floated up above the chair, and the smell of tobacco hung in the air.

"Have a seat, Naruto," The old man said. Sitting down again was just about the last thing Naruto wanted to do, but the old man sounded serious, and when old man Hokage got serious you listened. Period. So he grabbed a seat and waited.

"Thank you, Weasel. That will be all." Naruto twisted in his seat, a goodbye on his lips, but found the shinobi had already disappeared. Huh.

"Naruto." He whipped around to see the Sandaime staring at him with an unreadable expression. "What does being a shinobi mean to you?" Naruto blinked.

"Uh, what?"

"What does being a shinobi mean to you?" The Sandaime patiently repeated. "Why do you wish to be one? Why would you rather be a shinobi than a blacksmith or a cook?"

"Because ninja are awesome!" Naruto said enthusiastically. "They can breathe fire like dragons and break trees with their fists and teleport like Izumo-sensei! They get to save princesses and beat up bad guys and everyone notices and respects them. Especially the Hokage! And-"

"Is that why you want to be a shinobi, Naruto?" Sarutobi interrupted him softly. "To be noticed and respected?" Naruto sputtered for a moment, eventually shrugging with forced nonchalance under the weight of the man's gaze.

"I guess that's one reason..." He agreed casually. The Sandaime raised an eyebrow.

"Do you want to know why I became a shinobi, Naruto?" Naruto nodded eagerly, of course. "I became a shinobi to protect Konoha." The blond child's eyebrows furrowed.

"Uh, don't they all do that?"

"To some extent, yes," Sarutobi agreed. "But some desire fame first and foremost. Or money, or power," The old man peered down at him. "Some desire respect." Naruto averted his eyes, feeling guilty for reasons he couldn't even understand.

"There's nothing wrong with desiring such things," The Hokage assured him, allowing Naruto to relax. "But I worry that they won't provide the incentive you need."

"Why?" Naruto asked curiously. Sarutobi drummed his fingers pensively on the desk, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he rose and beckoned for Naruto to follow, turning and cracking open the window behind his desk.

"Hop on, Naruto." And for the second time that day Naruto scrambled up onto a piggyback ride with a shinobi. This time, however, they didn't travel with a super cool jutsu.

Instead, the Hokage stepped up onto the windowsill, crouched, and leaped across Konoha towards the Hokage Mountain. Naruto shrieked in surprise as they soared above Konoha's nighttime inhabitants, cringing when the Yondaime's sculpted head came into view.

Yet, amazingly, the Hokage landed light as a feather on one of the sculpture's spiky locks. He crouched again, allowing Naruto to slide off his back and collapse into a sitting position.

Once Naruto had regained his wits (for the second time that day), he turned to chew out the old man only to find him staring ahead.

"Look, Naruto." Grudgingly, Naruto turned towards Konoha. And his breath froze in his throat.

He'd never seen it from a bird's eye view, he dimly realized. It had always been a street view for him, or a roof view depending on who he was with. But he'd never seen it all laid out in front of him before. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" Naruto jumped.

"They?"

"The trees," The Hokage said, and when Naruto looked again he realized that while he'd been staring at the thousands of little people darting around below he'd missed the towering trees covering nearly half the village. He felt awe as he traced a simply enormous one that curled up and over the Academy, covering it in a protective canopy of leaves.

"Wow," he breathed. The Sandaime chuckled softly beside him.

"Indeed."

The two stayed that way for a long while, marvelling at the village they called home until the sun had disappeared completely and the moon had begun to rise. Finally, Naruto reluctantly broke away from his inspection of a group of Anbu bouncing around the village via rooftop, craning his neck to look at the Sandaime, who was still standing there with a peaceful expression on his face.

"Hey old man?" He asked quietly. The Sandaime hummed, which he took as a sign to go on. "Why'd you bring us here?"

"I wanted you to see why I became a shinobi." Understanding bloomed on the boy's face, and he turned to look at Konoha again, this time in a different light.

"To protect... all of this?" The Sandaime's lips curled into a small smile at the baffled expression on his face.

"All of it," he said simply.

"How?"

"I had help," Sarutobi admitted. "Look at those trees, look at how they shield Konoha, hiding her from those that might wish her harm." He ordered, and Naruto obliged. "The Shodaime Hokage created them." He nodded seriously when the boy whipped around to gape at him.

"Look at those rivers, at that waterfall," he pointed towards the area of the village where the training grounds resided. "Those were made by the Nidaime Hokage, and have kept water in every villager's home for decades."

"What did you do, old man?" Naruto asked wonderingly. Sarutobi's smile widened.

"I kept it all safe through three great wars."

"Three?" Naruto said incredulously.

"I'm certainly old enough to have lived through them all, am I not?" The Sandaime responded in amusement. Naruto considered that for a moment, eventually nodding in acceptance.

"So what does that have to do with my, uh..." He trailed off, face scrunched up in frustration.

"Incentive?" The Sandaime smirked.

"Yeah, that! What's it have to do with my incentive to be a ninja?" Sarutobi frowned, returning his attention to Konoha.

"You have a chakra defect, Naruto," he revealed, and Naruto could have sworn his heart stopped.

"A what?" He asked, horrified.

"Your chakra is different from the average shinobi. Instead of the regular brand used to perform Genjutsu and similar arts, it's elemental in nature."

"What do you mean?" Sarutobi sighed at the question.

"Channeling elemental chakra is a skill that most shinobi spend years attempting to accomplish in order to perform special Ninjutsu. It is a complicated process that involves morphing one's chakra to closely resemble their element of choice. Yours has skipped that stage entirely."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Sarutobi grimaced at the desperation in the small boy's voice.

"In some regards, yes," he agreed. "But with only wind natured chakra at your disposal, you will be unable to perform even the simplest Genjutsu and Ninjutsu not directly related to the element. Fuinjutsu will also likely be out of your reach."

Naruto exhaled shakily, attempting to process the man's words. He'd never heard of Fuinjutsu, and Genjutsu only vaguely rang a bell, but he couldn't use Ninjutsu? How was he supposed to become Hokage if he couldn't use Ninjutsu? How was he even supposed to become a ninja?

"What can I do?" His head dipped, bangs fell over his eyes, and his tone was bleak. Sarutobi frowned.

"You can stop sulking first of all," he said, voice hard. Naruto lifted his head quickly, staring up at Sarutobi, shocked. "Just because you're at a disadvantage doesn't mean that you can't still achieve your dream. Don't ever think otherwise," he said sternly. Naruto nodded slowly.

"But how can I-"

"There are other arts for you to learn. Taijutsu, the shinobi art of hand to hand combat, even more essential a skill than Ninjutsu, requires no chakra given the right style.

Likewise, Kenjutsu, the shinobi art of weaponry, relies only on your determination to exceed. Stealth, a skill that every shinobi worth their title possesses, doesn't require any chakra either." The Sandaime crossed his arms across his chest. "Do you see where I'm going with this, Naruto?"

"I think so," Naruto said slowly. "As long as I work really hard, I can still be a ninja?" The Sandaime's hard expression softened, and he nodded.

"Exactly. Now hop on, these old bones can't take the cold." Naruto giggled and nodded, quickly wiping at his eyes and jumping on the old man's back once again for the return trip. This time he managed to hold himself to an exhilarated whoop as they soared through the sky towards the Hokage's office.

When they were safely indoors Sarutobi allowed Naruto to drop and collapsed back into his chair with a relieved sigh. Naruto, meanwhile, bounced around in front of the desk, too giddy with excitement and something else he couldn't identify to sit down. Sarutobi coughed firmly, expression serious once more, and Naruto forced himself to calm down and listen.

"To answer your question, Naruto, I brought you to the Hokage Mountain to show you what the right goals can accomplish. The Shodaime, the Nidaime, and myself all strove to protect Konoha above all else. We accepted nothing less than a prosperous village, and so that's what we got.

"If you truly wish to become a shinobi, to overcome your handicap and excel despite it, a simple desire for respect won't be enough."

Naruto fidgeted, conflicted, but the Sandaime didn't give him a chance to speak.

"I'm going to make you a deal, Naruto. The same deal I made with a boy a year older than you with a similar problem, Rock Lee." Sarutobi stated. "I'll enroll you in the Academy if that is still your wish, and I'll make sure the instructor's don't penalize you for not being able to perform the required Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Fuinjutsu.

"And if when the day comes for you to graduate you are at the top of your class in Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, and Stealth, and you can present me with a desire to be one worthy of a future Hokage, you will be made a shinobi." The Sandaime leaned forward, smiling conspiratorially. "I'll even give you a special scroll from my library as a reward for your hard work."

"Really!?" Naruto cried, leaning forward and nearly headbutting the Hokage in his excitement, who merely leaned back and laughed.

"Of course, of course," he assured. "So, what do you say?"

"I say you've got a deal," Naruto reached out and grabbed the old man's hand off the table in a hearty handshake.

"I'm glad," Sarutobi said sincerely. "Your first class will be a week from now, and I expect you to make a very good first impression with your instructor."

"You got it old man!"

"Now then, if all of that is settled, I think it's about time we got you home," he said. "I'm sure Mrs. Wakayama is worried sick about your absence." Naruto rolled his eyes at the mention of his crazy caretaker but followed the Hokage out of his office nonetheless.

They traveled at a leisurely stroll, an appreciated change from the day's previous means of transport. Naruto looked around at everything with new eyes, the amazing view from the Hokage Mountain still burning in his mind. They were just reaching the district that housed Naruto's orphanage when a thought occurred to the young boy.

"Hey old man, what did the Yondaime do for Konoha?" He asked. Sarutobi glanced at him thoughtfully for a moment.

"He did more than any of his predecessors," he answered quietly. "He saved Konoha from annihilation seven years ago, sacrificing his life to defeat a demon bent on her destruction."

"Woah..." Naruto twisted his head to stare at the Yondaime's monument with something like hero worship shining in his eyes. And in doing so he missed the look the Sandaime gave him, one of deep sadness and regret.

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