Uzumaki Naruto (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thinhammer) wrote1970-11-26 06:20 pm
thinhammer) wrote1970-11-26 06:20 pm
Entry tags:
naruto background
BACKGROUND:
Naruto's world is most commonly referred to as the Shinobi World; a world made up of numerous countries where each location operates as a separate political body ruled by landlords. Within most of these countries are hidden villages where settlements of shinobi (or ninja) reside to support their country both in an economical sense and as military force. The five largest and most powerful countries are known as the "Five Great Shinobi Nations". They are ruled by a feudal lord (or Daimyo), and the leaders of the hidden villages in these countries hold the title of "Kage". There is no clear time period for when Naruto's world exists but there is evidence to suggest that it's reasonably dated, as they don't have projectile weapons, vehicles or other complicated machinery. However they do have convenience stores, movie theatres and TV.
Naruto hails from the Land of Fire, one of the great nations, and lives in the hidden village of Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Konoha is lead by the Hokage, who is often considered the most powerful shinobi in the village, and who's job it is to issue missions and oversee all goings on in the village. Shinobi in Konoha are trained from a very young age (often between 4-6) in shinobi ruling; first in The Academy which is much like school except instead of just reading and writing they are also learning how to control their chakra, perform jutsu and how to overcome opponents in physical battle and with weapons such as kunai knives or shuriken. Once students have reached the proper level of ability they are promoted to genin rank and given a forehead protector bearing the insignia of their village which signifies that they are now officially a ninja and can start taking missions. They are then placed onto a genin team ran by a jounin (a shinobi of the highest rank) along with two other students, often in an arrangement of two boys and one girl. Following this, the teams enter into bi-yearly Chuunin Exams in order to achieve the next rank of promotion; chuunin. Once they have made chuunin, they then continue to work hard until they are selected for promotion to the final rank of promotion; jounin. Each rank corresponds to a shinobi's professional power and capability, making it easier for the Hokage to place them on missions within their ability.
In Naruto's world, ninja utilise an energy called chakra that mixes physical energy and mental energy into a power source that runs through the body in a similar way to the circulatory system. By performing hand seals, chakra can be manipulated to create powerful effects and abilities called jutsu, which are a shinobi's bread and butter.
There also exists in this world nine giant concentrations of chakra in the form of various beasts, with tails between 1 and 9 (also known as biju, or tailed beasts), capable of immense strength and power. As the world found out that these beasts could be tempered by jinchuuriki (human host bodies that have the power of the biju sealed inside of them), the Tailed Beasts soon became weapons for the ninja villages. Because of this, the Tailed Beasts soon came to despise humans for their actions in regarding the beasts as nothing but tools.
Naruto is the main character of his series, so his background is HUGE. Brace yourself for the attempt at an overview. (I'm so sorry.)
The majority of Konoha, consumed with bitterness over the destruction and death left in the wake of the Nine-tails' attack, resented Naruto for his existence and considered him to be the fox itself rather than it's host. People weren't allowed to talk about Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki, but still the younger generation emulated their parent's attitude toward Naruto, and shunned him. This social isolation encouraged Naruto to develop a mischievous streak in an attempt to be noticed, and when he enrolled in the Ninja Academy to study and begin his career as a shinobi, he quickly became the class clown. His desperation for recognition also encouraged him to aspire from a very young age to become Hokage some day, so that everyone would know his name and give him the respect he deserved, and to prove all those who looked down on him wrong.
The only person who paid him any attention other than distaste was Iruka Umino, his teacher, who had at first felt the same scorn toward Naruto as everyone else due to the fact that he lost his parents when the Nine-Tails attacked the village... but Iruka sees himself in Naruto, and sympathises with the boy who just wants someone to see him as something other than a weak orphan. He quickly becomes something of a father figure to Naruto.
It was in the academy that Naruto was first introduced to Sasuke Uchiha, a young member from one of the main clans in Konoha, and a talented and intelligent student. Sasuke easily beat Naruto in every spar and test, and soon Naruto came to consider the other as his rival. Toward their later years in the academy Sasuke's entire clan was slaughtered in one night, making him an orphan like Naruto, and though Naruto wanted to talk to someone like himself he found he couldn't due to his jealousy toward Sasuke's skills. Still, Naruto wished for the day when Sasuke would acknowledge him as an equal.
Naruto and his team were soon entered into the Chuunin Exams. In the second round, Sasuke was targeted by a powerful missing-nin named Orochimaru and given a curse mark on his neck, and during the final round Orochimaru led an invasion on Konoha and the Third Hokage died protecting the village. It was during this exam that Naruto met with his biju - the nine-tailed fox, Kurama - for the first time when he was knocked out and Kurama spoke to Naruto in his subconscious. Kurama threatened Naruto, but Naruto stood up to him which impressed and annoyed the beast. Naruto also met the jinchuuriki of the One-Tails, Gaara, who revealed his past and led to Naruto realising that they had similar histories of prejudice, only that it had made Gaara ruthless and bloodthirsty. After a huge battle with Gaara, Naruto defeats him and shows him pity; saying that he too knows what it's like to be alone and hated, but that he was able to find people to care and give him hope, and says that if Gaara ever tried to harm the people who brought him happiness again, Naruto would be forced to take action. Gaara realised that Naruto's strength came from his desire to help those who are dear to him rather than selfishness, which inspired Gaara to change his outlook on life.
Following this, the powerful toad-sage Jiriya was tasked with finding a new Hokage, and convinced Naruto to join him on the journey by promising to teach him a technique that would be stronger than Sasuke's current abilities. Along the way they ran into two members of the Akatsuki, a group of missing-nin with intentions of collecting all the jinchuuriki. Jiraiya protected Naruto, and then taught him a very powerful technique called Rasengan in order to prepare him for protecting himself in future. When they found Tsunade, the next candidate for Hokage, Naruto inspired her with his faith and determination, reaffirmed her faith in those who aspire to become Hokage and finally convinced her to take up the role for herself. She gave him her necklace made of a special crystal that has the capability of being able to control tailed beasts in return.
Back in Konoha, Sasuke was consumed with thoughts of vengeance and soon defected from the village in order to gain more power, leaving with a group of nin who took him to join Orochimaru. Naruto joined a retrieval team after making a promise to Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back no matter what. Whilst the other members of the team dealt with Sasuke's escorts, Naruto caught up with Sasuke and fought him. Sasuke was determined to kill Naruto, and Naruto realised that he would have to take the battle just as seriously if he was ever going to bring Sasuke back. However, Sasuke's drive to kill proved greater than Naruto's resolve of friendship, and so Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra to level the playing field. In return Sasuke managed to develop his sharingan eye into it's mature stage, greatly overpowering Naruto, so Naruto harnessed the Nine-Tails' chakra even more and a red aura of chakra in the shape of a fox surrounded him. Sasuke then drew on the power of his curse mark to properly compete with Naruto, leading the two to a final clash. Naruto was knocked unconscious and Sasuke won the fight, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, so he simply continued on his way to Orochimaru.
Kakashi arrived and took Naruto back to Konoha where he vowed to Sakura from his hospital bed that some day he would bring Sasuke home. Jiraiya then arrived and told Naruto to go travelling with him and train for three years in order to make him strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and to fight off the threat of the Akatsuki. Naruto agreed, and for the three years that he was gone, Naruto's influence on his friends drove them to train more than ever before, determined to learn from his example of perseverance.
During the mission to rescue the Kazekage, Sakura learnt about a spy for Orochimaru; an opportunity for them to find Sasuke after his years of absence. Kakashi was hospitalised from his efforts in Suna, and so Team Kakashi got a new leader and third member; Yamato and Sai. Though Sai was supposed to be Sasuke's replacement on the team, both Naruto and Sakura refused to accept him, despite Yamato's constant attempts to get the team to work together.
The plan to ambush the spy backfired, and Orochimaru appeared to taunt Naruto about Sasuke. Naruto entered his three-tailed form and attacked him, only to be of no use and so progressed to four tails, losing himself to his anger. Orochimaru retreated, and Naruto blindly attacked Sakura. Yamato forced the nine-tails' chakra to recede using a Wood Release Technique that uses the ability of the necklace Naruto got from Tsunade, and turned Naruto back to normal. Yamato told Naruto of how he had attacked Sakura, encouraging him not to rely on the Nine-Tails if he really wanted to protect those close to him. They then found that Sai had joined up with Orochimaru and they followed him in the hopes that he would lead them to Sasuke.
After reaching Orochimaru's hideout and capturing Sai, he revealed that his superiors had sent him to help organise another invasion of Konoha. Sai, having now met Sasuke, asked why Naruto was so determined to bring him back. Naruto explained that the two had a bond that couldn't be broken, and that he would risk his life to protect this bond. Sai then switched sides and helped them reunite Sasuke with Naruto. When they eventually found Sasuke again, Naruto tried to convince him to come home but Sasuke, still determined to gain power, refused and told them to use force. Naruto was still worn out from his fight with Orochimaru and wasn't able to compete. Within his subconscious Kurama offered Naruto his chakra, but Naruto refused.
After various improvements to Naruto's arsenal, and after another run in with the Akatsuki, Naruto received news that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru. Naruto and Team Kakashi decided to make another attempt at bringing him home as they knew Sasuke would have been targeting his older brother, Itachi, who was responsible for the Uchiha massacre. In persuit, Naruto came across Itachi himself, who questioned Naruto about his dedication to Sasuke and to Konoha. Naruto insisted that he would protect them both at any cost, and gained Itachi's trust. Eventually Naruto found Sasuke, but they were stopped by another Akatsuki, a masked man named Tobi, who only let them continue on their way after word had reached them that Sasuke had killed Itachi. However, Tobi got to Sasuke first and the Konoha-nin were forced to give up.
Pein eventually restrained Naruto and told him that he was also once a student of Jiraiya, and that the world could never have the peace Jiraiya fought for because the world was too full of hatred. He told Naruto of his plans to create a weapon using the tailed beasts that would be strong enough to destroy a country, and the fear of the weapon would prevent more fighting.
Hinata Hyuuga soon came to attempt to protect Naruto, but Pein critically wounded her and, believing that she had been killed, Naruto lost control of his anger and slipped into a six-tailed transformation. The necklace tried to restrain Naruto, but it was destroyed. With the Nine-tails in control of Naruto's body, it soon overwhelmed Pein and pushed him away from the village.
Naruto, locked in his own subconscious and lost in despair, called out desperately for help and Kurama took advantage of the boy's pain, convincing Naruto to destroy everything in the world by releasing the seal keeping the Nine-Tails restrained. This distorted the seal to the point where Naruto produced a seventh and eighth tail but before he could completely release the Nine-Tails, his father appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him, revealing that he designed a safety measure in the seal to allow an imprint of himself to appear to Naruto if the seal was about to break. Minato said that he had sealed the biju in Naruto because he thought his son would someday find use for Kurama's chakra in defeating the masked man of the Akatsuki, who was the same masked man who kidnapped Naruto when he was born. Naruto still doubted his ability, and Minato replied that he believed Naruto would be able to find the answer, and restored the seal before disappearing.
Naruto emerged from his subconscious with the nine-tails' influence gone and his sage mode restored, brought down Pein and found the source of his power; a weakened man named Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan and was controlling the "Pein" bodies from a remote location.
Naruto admitted that he hated Nagato for what he'd done, but asked to hear about Nagato's past and reasons for desiring war. Naruto agreed on some points, but rejected the idea overall because war was never what Jiraiya wanted. To break the vicious circle of hatred and death, Naruto told Nagato that, despite hating them, he would not kill them. Amazed by Naruto's determination to his answer, Nagato said that he would believe in Naruto, and sacrificed himself to revive all the people he had killed in Konoha.
Naruto went to Iron to speak to the Raikage and asked him to forgive Sasuke, but he refused and berated Naruto for standing up for a criminal. After Naruto was taunted by the masked man of the Akatsuki who showed up to tell him that Sasuke was now intent on destroying Konoha for what it had done to him and his brother, Sakura found Naruto and told him that she loved him and no longer had any feelings for Sasuke. Naruto didn't believe her and that he hated people who lie to themselves. Sakura got angry and told him that it was true, so he didn't need to fulfil his promise of bringing Sasuke home, but Naruto told her his actions had nothing to do with the promise and that he just wanted to save his friend. Once Sakura had left, one of Sai's clones came back to tell Naruto that she had a plan to kill Sasuke herself to prevent him involving Konoha in another war. Gaara also appeared to plead with Naruto, asking him to think of all the people that will be fighting the likes of Sasuke on his behalf and to, as Sasuke's friend, do what was best. Naruto, faced with all these conflicting feelings and the steady understanding that his promise of bringing Sasuke home one day was looking less and less likely, hyperventilated and passed out in the snow.
When he woke up he found that Kakashi had gone to stop Sakura, and escaped Yamato's surveillance to follow. He arrived just in time to save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke, and fought Sasuke himself after his friend made his intent to destroy Konoha clear. The fight ended with both at equal heads, but not before Sasuke told Naruto that the only possible conclusion was for Naruto to either kill Sasuke or be killed by Sasuke. Naruto agreed and said that they had both become top class ninja, and if they ever fought again, both of them would die.
After leaving his subconscious Naruto eagerly showed off his new form to his friends; but his newly heightened sensory abilities clued him in to the well of negative energy ebbing from the missing-nin hidden inside the new sword Bee had picked up. As the missing-nin tried to escape, Naruto used his quick speed to trap him, and eventually he was subdued. The group tried to interrogate him quickly, but the missing-nin hastily killed himself before they could get any information from him. It was then that Naruto realised even bad guys like this dishonoured ninja fought for their comrades.
After this, messages reached the island of the state of affairs between the five allied nations and Naruto was tasked with the "official" S-rank mission of logging the island's ecology as a plot to keep him away from the war without him knowing anything about it.
Whilst attempting to perfect the balance, he sensed a distant source of the Nine-Tails' negative chakra and immediately legt the Falls of Truth to investigate, only to be met by a group of Konoha ninja stationed at the exit, guarding it and blocking it. Iruka is there and he implores Naruto to stay on the Island, but as Naruto enters his Sage mode he can sense the ongoing negative energy brewing from the war and can sense the emotions of his friends and those of his village. Outraged that they'd try to keep the war a secret from him instead of letting him help escapes with Bee and runs toward the battlefield.
Naruto's world is most commonly referred to as the Shinobi World; a world made up of numerous countries where each location operates as a separate political body ruled by landlords. Within most of these countries are hidden villages where settlements of shinobi (or ninja) reside to support their country both in an economical sense and as military force. The five largest and most powerful countries are known as the "Five Great Shinobi Nations". They are ruled by a feudal lord (or Daimyo), and the leaders of the hidden villages in these countries hold the title of "Kage". There is no clear time period for when Naruto's world exists but there is evidence to suggest that it's reasonably dated, as they don't have projectile weapons, vehicles or other complicated machinery. However they do have convenience stores, movie theatres and TV.
Naruto hails from the Land of Fire, one of the great nations, and lives in the hidden village of Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Konoha is lead by the Hokage, who is often considered the most powerful shinobi in the village, and who's job it is to issue missions and oversee all goings on in the village. Shinobi in Konoha are trained from a very young age (often between 4-6) in shinobi ruling; first in The Academy which is much like school except instead of just reading and writing they are also learning how to control their chakra, perform jutsu and how to overcome opponents in physical battle and with weapons such as kunai knives or shuriken. Once students have reached the proper level of ability they are promoted to genin rank and given a forehead protector bearing the insignia of their village which signifies that they are now officially a ninja and can start taking missions. They are then placed onto a genin team ran by a jounin (a shinobi of the highest rank) along with two other students, often in an arrangement of two boys and one girl. Following this, the teams enter into bi-yearly Chuunin Exams in order to achieve the next rank of promotion; chuunin. Once they have made chuunin, they then continue to work hard until they are selected for promotion to the final rank of promotion; jounin. Each rank corresponds to a shinobi's professional power and capability, making it easier for the Hokage to place them on missions within their ability.
In Naruto's world, ninja utilise an energy called chakra that mixes physical energy and mental energy into a power source that runs through the body in a similar way to the circulatory system. By performing hand seals, chakra can be manipulated to create powerful effects and abilities called jutsu, which are a shinobi's bread and butter.
There also exists in this world nine giant concentrations of chakra in the form of various beasts, with tails between 1 and 9 (also known as biju, or tailed beasts), capable of immense strength and power. As the world found out that these beasts could be tempered by jinchuuriki (human host bodies that have the power of the biju sealed inside of them), the Tailed Beasts soon became weapons for the ninja villages. Because of this, the Tailed Beasts soon came to despise humans for their actions in regarding the beasts as nothing but tools.
Naruto is the main character of his series, so his background is HUGE. Brace yourself for the attempt at an overview. (I'm so sorry.)
youth
Naruto is the son of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, and his wife Kushina Uzumaki, the second jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. On the night of Naruto's birth he was kidnapped by a masked man and held hostage while the Nine-Tails was forcibly released from his mother's weakened seal and set loose on the village. His mother and father sacrificed themselves to save Naruto and the village, but in order to do this Minato was forced to split the massive chakra of the Nine-Tails into two halves; sealing one half with himself as he died and the other in Naruto's tiny body, making him the new jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails. Naruto was left to grow up knowing nothing about his parents, receiving only his mother's surname as the reinstated Third Hokage of the Leaf thought it best that no-one knew he was related to the Fourth Hokage.The majority of Konoha, consumed with bitterness over the destruction and death left in the wake of the Nine-tails' attack, resented Naruto for his existence and considered him to be the fox itself rather than it's host. People weren't allowed to talk about Naruto's status as a jinchuuriki, but still the younger generation emulated their parent's attitude toward Naruto, and shunned him. This social isolation encouraged Naruto to develop a mischievous streak in an attempt to be noticed, and when he enrolled in the Ninja Academy to study and begin his career as a shinobi, he quickly became the class clown. His desperation for recognition also encouraged him to aspire from a very young age to become Hokage some day, so that everyone would know his name and give him the respect he deserved, and to prove all those who looked down on him wrong.
The only person who paid him any attention other than distaste was Iruka Umino, his teacher, who had at first felt the same scorn toward Naruto as everyone else due to the fact that he lost his parents when the Nine-Tails attacked the village... but Iruka sees himself in Naruto, and sympathises with the boy who just wants someone to see him as something other than a weak orphan. He quickly becomes something of a father figure to Naruto.
It was in the academy that Naruto was first introduced to Sasuke Uchiha, a young member from one of the main clans in Konoha, and a talented and intelligent student. Sasuke easily beat Naruto in every spar and test, and soon Naruto came to consider the other as his rival. Toward their later years in the academy Sasuke's entire clan was slaughtered in one night, making him an orphan like Naruto, and though Naruto wanted to talk to someone like himself he found he couldn't due to his jealousy toward Sasuke's skills. Still, Naruto wished for the day when Sasuke would acknowledge him as an equal.
part I
When Naruto graduated from The Academy he was placed on a team led by Kakashi Hatake, alongside two of his classmates; Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha who had by then made it his goal to find revenge for the murder of his clan. In the few missions that followed, between fighting with his team-mates, Naruto learned some valuable lessons about what it means to be a shinobi, what it means to be part of a team, and most importantly what it means to be a friend.Naruto and his team were soon entered into the Chuunin Exams. In the second round, Sasuke was targeted by a powerful missing-nin named Orochimaru and given a curse mark on his neck, and during the final round Orochimaru led an invasion on Konoha and the Third Hokage died protecting the village. It was during this exam that Naruto met with his biju - the nine-tailed fox, Kurama - for the first time when he was knocked out and Kurama spoke to Naruto in his subconscious. Kurama threatened Naruto, but Naruto stood up to him which impressed and annoyed the beast. Naruto also met the jinchuuriki of the One-Tails, Gaara, who revealed his past and led to Naruto realising that they had similar histories of prejudice, only that it had made Gaara ruthless and bloodthirsty. After a huge battle with Gaara, Naruto defeats him and shows him pity; saying that he too knows what it's like to be alone and hated, but that he was able to find people to care and give him hope, and says that if Gaara ever tried to harm the people who brought him happiness again, Naruto would be forced to take action. Gaara realised that Naruto's strength came from his desire to help those who are dear to him rather than selfishness, which inspired Gaara to change his outlook on life.
Following this, the powerful toad-sage Jiriya was tasked with finding a new Hokage, and convinced Naruto to join him on the journey by promising to teach him a technique that would be stronger than Sasuke's current abilities. Along the way they ran into two members of the Akatsuki, a group of missing-nin with intentions of collecting all the jinchuuriki. Jiraiya protected Naruto, and then taught him a very powerful technique called Rasengan in order to prepare him for protecting himself in future. When they found Tsunade, the next candidate for Hokage, Naruto inspired her with his faith and determination, reaffirmed her faith in those who aspire to become Hokage and finally convinced her to take up the role for herself. She gave him her necklace made of a special crystal that has the capability of being able to control tailed beasts in return.
Back in Konoha, Sasuke was consumed with thoughts of vengeance and soon defected from the village in order to gain more power, leaving with a group of nin who took him to join Orochimaru. Naruto joined a retrieval team after making a promise to Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back no matter what. Whilst the other members of the team dealt with Sasuke's escorts, Naruto caught up with Sasuke and fought him. Sasuke was determined to kill Naruto, and Naruto realised that he would have to take the battle just as seriously if he was ever going to bring Sasuke back. However, Sasuke's drive to kill proved greater than Naruto's resolve of friendship, and so Naruto tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra to level the playing field. In return Sasuke managed to develop his sharingan eye into it's mature stage, greatly overpowering Naruto, so Naruto harnessed the Nine-Tails' chakra even more and a red aura of chakra in the shape of a fox surrounded him. Sasuke then drew on the power of his curse mark to properly compete with Naruto, leading the two to a final clash. Naruto was knocked unconscious and Sasuke won the fight, but he couldn't bring himself to kill his best friend, so he simply continued on his way to Orochimaru.
Kakashi arrived and took Naruto back to Konoha where he vowed to Sakura from his hospital bed that some day he would bring Sasuke home. Jiraiya then arrived and told Naruto to go travelling with him and train for three years in order to make him strong enough to bring Sasuke back, and to fight off the threat of the Akatsuki. Naruto agreed, and for the three years that he was gone, Naruto's influence on his friends drove them to train more than ever before, determined to learn from his example of perseverance.
interlude
Over the course of the three years, Jiraiya trained Naruto to gain a better control of the Nine-Tails' chakra. Naruto learned to control the chakra cloak he exhibited in his fight with Sasuke a little better, advancing to a point where he could fully control a cloak with two out of a possible nine tails. However, when Jiraiya tweaked Naruto's seal to allow him to access more of Kurama's chakra, the nine-tailed fox took advantage of this and overwhelmed Naruto with negative chakra in order to rampage using Naruto's body as a vessel. Jiraiya managed to reseal the fox's chakra, but not without getting severely injured first, and therefore deemed it dangerous to go any higher than four tails.part II
When Naruto returned to the village he was reunited with Kakashi and Sakura and soon found out that the Akatsuki had targeted Gaara, who had been made Kazekage in Naruto's absence. When his team reached Gaara they found that he had died after having his tailed beast extracted from his body. Angered that Gaara had died because he was a jinchuuriki (something he had never asked for and had suffered because of for his entire life) Naruto lashed out at Lady Chiyo (the woman who had put the biju inside Gaara in the first place) and to make up for it she brought Gaara back to life at the cost of her own. Afterwards, Naruto and Gaara finally shook hands as a sign of their close friendship.During the mission to rescue the Kazekage, Sakura learnt about a spy for Orochimaru; an opportunity for them to find Sasuke after his years of absence. Kakashi was hospitalised from his efforts in Suna, and so Team Kakashi got a new leader and third member; Yamato and Sai. Though Sai was supposed to be Sasuke's replacement on the team, both Naruto and Sakura refused to accept him, despite Yamato's constant attempts to get the team to work together.
The plan to ambush the spy backfired, and Orochimaru appeared to taunt Naruto about Sasuke. Naruto entered his three-tailed form and attacked him, only to be of no use and so progressed to four tails, losing himself to his anger. Orochimaru retreated, and Naruto blindly attacked Sakura. Yamato forced the nine-tails' chakra to recede using a Wood Release Technique that uses the ability of the necklace Naruto got from Tsunade, and turned Naruto back to normal. Yamato told Naruto of how he had attacked Sakura, encouraging him not to rely on the Nine-Tails if he really wanted to protect those close to him. They then found that Sai had joined up with Orochimaru and they followed him in the hopes that he would lead them to Sasuke.
After reaching Orochimaru's hideout and capturing Sai, he revealed that his superiors had sent him to help organise another invasion of Konoha. Sai, having now met Sasuke, asked why Naruto was so determined to bring him back. Naruto explained that the two had a bond that couldn't be broken, and that he would risk his life to protect this bond. Sai then switched sides and helped them reunite Sasuke with Naruto. When they eventually found Sasuke again, Naruto tried to convince him to come home but Sasuke, still determined to gain power, refused and told them to use force. Naruto was still worn out from his fight with Orochimaru and wasn't able to compete. Within his subconscious Kurama offered Naruto his chakra, but Naruto refused.
After various improvements to Naruto's arsenal, and after another run in with the Akatsuki, Naruto received news that Sasuke had killed Orochimaru. Naruto and Team Kakashi decided to make another attempt at bringing him home as they knew Sasuke would have been targeting his older brother, Itachi, who was responsible for the Uchiha massacre. In persuit, Naruto came across Itachi himself, who questioned Naruto about his dedication to Sasuke and to Konoha. Naruto insisted that he would protect them both at any cost, and gained Itachi's trust. Eventually Naruto found Sasuke, but they were stopped by another Akatsuki, a masked man named Tobi, who only let them continue on their way after word had reached them that Sasuke had killed Itachi. However, Tobi got to Sasuke first and the Konoha-nin were forced to give up.
the pein arc
When Naruto returned to Konoha he learned that Jiraiya had been killed in his battle with the leader of the Akatsuki, Pein. After grieving, Naruto helped to decipher the message Jiraiya left them and once it was broken Naruto went to Mount Myoboku with Jiraiya's toads to learn senjutsu, the art of the sage, knowing that Pein was coming for him. Soon after Naruto managed to attain perfect Sage Mode (something even Jiraiya had never been able to do) he was told that Pein had attacked Konoha. Naruto and the toads were summoned into the centre of a destroyed Konoha and, infuriated, Naruto began to retaliate to protect his friends and the remainder of his village using his new Sage Mode.Pein eventually restrained Naruto and told him that he was also once a student of Jiraiya, and that the world could never have the peace Jiraiya fought for because the world was too full of hatred. He told Naruto of his plans to create a weapon using the tailed beasts that would be strong enough to destroy a country, and the fear of the weapon would prevent more fighting.
Hinata Hyuuga soon came to attempt to protect Naruto, but Pein critically wounded her and, believing that she had been killed, Naruto lost control of his anger and slipped into a six-tailed transformation. The necklace tried to restrain Naruto, but it was destroyed. With the Nine-tails in control of Naruto's body, it soon overwhelmed Pein and pushed him away from the village.
Naruto, locked in his own subconscious and lost in despair, called out desperately for help and Kurama took advantage of the boy's pain, convincing Naruto to destroy everything in the world by releasing the seal keeping the Nine-Tails restrained. This distorted the seal to the point where Naruto produced a seventh and eighth tail but before he could completely release the Nine-Tails, his father appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him, revealing that he designed a safety measure in the seal to allow an imprint of himself to appear to Naruto if the seal was about to break. Minato said that he had sealed the biju in Naruto because he thought his son would someday find use for Kurama's chakra in defeating the masked man of the Akatsuki, who was the same masked man who kidnapped Naruto when he was born. Naruto still doubted his ability, and Minato replied that he believed Naruto would be able to find the answer, and restored the seal before disappearing.
Naruto emerged from his subconscious with the nine-tails' influence gone and his sage mode restored, brought down Pein and found the source of his power; a weakened man named Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan and was controlling the "Pein" bodies from a remote location.
Naruto admitted that he hated Nagato for what he'd done, but asked to hear about Nagato's past and reasons for desiring war. Naruto agreed on some points, but rejected the idea overall because war was never what Jiraiya wanted. To break the vicious circle of hatred and death, Naruto told Nagato that, despite hating them, he would not kill them. Amazed by Naruto's determination to his answer, Nagato said that he would believe in Naruto, and sacrificed himself to revive all the people he had killed in Konoha.
five kage summit
When Naruto arrived back in the village he was heralded as a hero, with all the surviving shinobi celebrating him. He was then told that Tsunade was in a coma after her efforts in defending Konoha, and that a man called Danzo was now Hokage and had just ordered that Sasuke be executed as a traitor of the village because he was working for the Akatsuki and had captured the jinchuuriki of the Eight-Tails and the Raikage of Iron's brother, Killer Bee.Naruto went to Iron to speak to the Raikage and asked him to forgive Sasuke, but he refused and berated Naruto for standing up for a criminal. After Naruto was taunted by the masked man of the Akatsuki who showed up to tell him that Sasuke was now intent on destroying Konoha for what it had done to him and his brother, Sakura found Naruto and told him that she loved him and no longer had any feelings for Sasuke. Naruto didn't believe her and that he hated people who lie to themselves. Sakura got angry and told him that it was true, so he didn't need to fulfil his promise of bringing Sasuke home, but Naruto told her his actions had nothing to do with the promise and that he just wanted to save his friend. Once Sakura had left, one of Sai's clones came back to tell Naruto that she had a plan to kill Sasuke herself to prevent him involving Konoha in another war. Gaara also appeared to plead with Naruto, asking him to think of all the people that will be fighting the likes of Sasuke on his behalf and to, as Sasuke's friend, do what was best. Naruto, faced with all these conflicting feelings and the steady understanding that his promise of bringing Sasuke home one day was looking less and less likely, hyperventilated and passed out in the snow.
When he woke up he found that Kakashi had gone to stop Sakura, and escaped Yamato's surveillance to follow. He arrived just in time to save Sakura from being killed by Sasuke, and fought Sasuke himself after his friend made his intent to destroy Konoha clear. The fight ended with both at equal heads, but not before Sasuke told Naruto that the only possible conclusion was for Naruto to either kill Sasuke or be killed by Sasuke. Naruto agreed and said that they had both become top class ninja, and if they ever fought again, both of them would die.
count down to the fourth shinobi war
Naruto received a prophecy from the toads of Mount Myoboku that told him he would meet an "octopus", which turned out to be Killer Bee who had escaped Sasuke's clutches, and who had faced the same isolation Naruto had but had come to be on good terms with his biju. Naruto requested to be his student after marvelling at Bee's mastery with his tailed beast and after Naruto faced and overcame his darkened inner self at the Falls of Truth, reaffirming his faith in himself, Killer Bee finally accepted and lead Naruto and Yamato to a secret room within the temple behind the falls where Naruto was told to fight the Nine-Tails for his chakra. Naruto almost had Kurama beat until the beast planted his hatred into the chakra Naruto was absorbing and began to overwhelm Naruto's body again. Just before Naruto completely succumbed to Kurama's hatred, the spirit of his mother appeared to him in his subconscious. The love from the reunion purged Kurama's hatred from the chakra Naruto had absorbed and while Kushina held the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto used all his strongest techniques to finally weaken the beast and separate him from his chakra. Kurama tried to retaliate, but Naruto used an even stronger seal to imprison the weakened biju once more. Naruto is now capable of harnessing Kyuubey's chakra in the form of a new ability; the Nine Tails Chakra Mode.After leaving his subconscious Naruto eagerly showed off his new form to his friends; but his newly heightened sensory abilities clued him in to the well of negative energy ebbing from the missing-nin hidden inside the new sword Bee had picked up. As the missing-nin tried to escape, Naruto used his quick speed to trap him, and eventually he was subdued. The group tried to interrogate him quickly, but the missing-nin hastily killed himself before they could get any information from him. It was then that Naruto realised even bad guys like this dishonoured ninja fought for their comrades.
After this, messages reached the island of the state of affairs between the five allied nations and Naruto was tasked with the "official" S-rank mission of logging the island's ecology as a plot to keep him away from the war without him knowing anything about it.
the war begins
Bee took Naruto to the Falls of Truth again so that Naruto could start practising with his Nine-Tails Chakra mode. Naruto tried to create Tailed Beast Balls, but because they couldn't be made without the Nine-Tails' cooperation, Naruto tried to create a large Rasengan using his chakra and the chakra of the Nine-Tails, but never managed to get it in the right balance leaving the technique incomplete.Whilst attempting to perfect the balance, he sensed a distant source of the Nine-Tails' negative chakra and immediately legt the Falls of Truth to investigate, only to be met by a group of Konoha ninja stationed at the exit, guarding it and blocking it. Iruka is there and he implores Naruto to stay on the Island, but as Naruto enters his Sage mode he can sense the ongoing negative energy brewing from the war and can sense the emotions of his friends and those of his village. Outraged that they'd try to keep the war a secret from him instead of letting him help escapes with Bee and runs toward the battlefield.