Uzumaki Naruto was born twelve years before the series start to Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage. Naruto was named after the lead character in one of Jiraiya's lesser known semi-biographical works, while Jiraiya himself got the name while eating ramen. Minato felt the main character's drive and determination made excellent qualities and he hoped to raise his son to be a shinobi like the "Naruto" character. Kushina agreed that the name would fit their son nicely. They then agreed that Jiraiya should be Naruto's godfather, as he was the finest shinobi they knew.
Jiraiya was embarassed but accepted the honor, a role he would finally fullfil later in life. A short time later within moments of having his umbilical cord cut, Naruto was made the vessel for the Kyuubi fox demon attacking Konoha. The Fourth Hokage was able to finally end its destruction when he used the Shiki Fuujin technique to seal the demon's yin chakra away and leave the yang within the body of his newborn son Naruto. Minato lost his life, but he made sure that the Kyuubi would help Naruto while sealed away. Jiraiya would later surmise Minato knew precisely what he was doing, putting such a burden on his new son. Minato would leave a "key" to Naruto's seal with Jiraiya and the toads, to allow Naruto to manipulate the seal holding the Kyuubi, potentially to utilize an unknown incomplete and powerful jutsu. Naruto would know neither of his parents, as Kushina was unable to raise her son for some unknown reason.
The imbuing of the Kyuubi made Naruto a "Jinchuuriki," a person with a tailed demon sealed within his body. As a side effect, Naruto would gain "whisker" marks on his cheeks. The hope of Jinchuuriki creation is for the human and the tailed beast to resonate together, thereby granting the human some measure of the demon's immense power. There were nine demons in total, known by their number of tails. Naruto got the nine-tailed and most powerful of the demons. The seals the Fourth used would ensure the Kyuubi would lend some of its power to Naruto. The seals would allow the Kyuubi chakra to leak back into Naruto's own chakra. This allows Naruto to draw on the chakra of the Kyuubi and still keep the Kyuubi itself imprisoned. The biggest benefits are the way it grants Naruto some measure of the Kyuubi's immense chakra and heals most any wounds he receives. Please see Naruto's entry in the Jinchuuriki Guide for further information.
Naruto's father hoped the village would look on Naruto as a hero for containing the Kyuubi demon. Unfortunately quite the opposite happened; as Naruto grew the village began to see Naruto as the demon itself. The adults who knew the real story of the Kyuubi looked down on Naruto, and their feelings were passed down to their children who didn't even know he was the Kyuubi vessel. This resulted in Naruto living a lonely life as he was often shunned when seen in public. Because his parents were no longer present, he was an orphan who was raised by the village itself, under the direction of the Third Hokage who resumed his position after the Fourth died in battle. When Naruto was old enough he was given money for living and an apartment to live in. He was also enrolled in the Konoha Ninja Academy. It is unknown at what age he entered the Academy, but he attempted the graduation exam several times before those of his same age group.
Naruto grew to resent his outcast status in the village, turning to pranks to gain the attention of the other villagers. He would slack off in school, much to the dismay of his teacher Umino Iruka. Naruto would sometimes play hooky with other slackers in his class like Nara Shikamaru, Inuzuka Kiba and Akimichi Chouji. For the most part though, Naruto had no real friends. He would also feel annoyed by his fellow classmate Uchiha Sasuke, who was loved by all and always got the best grades. When Sasuke's clan was wiped out the two young boys shared a moment in their loneliness when Naruto saw Sasuke sitting by the river. As Naruto grew he saw Sasuke as a rival, especially for the affection of Haruno Sakura. Sakura was a fellow classmate of Naruto's who he had a crush on. Unfortunately Sakura found Naruto annoying and instead had eyes like most girls her age on Sasuke.
Because everyone viewed Naruto negatively, he yearned for respect and admiration, the best way to gain that would be to become the village Hokage. Unfortunately Naruto had trouble mastering even the most basic of Ninjutsu, like the Bunshin technique. When the graduation exam arrived once again, Naruto was asked by his teachers Iruka and Mizuki to do the Bunshin test, unfortunately he managed to make only one pitiful Bunshin. Once again he was held back while those around him graduated. Mizuki had his own plans for Naruto though, confiding that there was another way to graduate. Unfortunately Mizuki was manipulating Naruto for his own ends, to gain access to the scroll of sealing, which held the secrets to many forbidden jutsu. Naruto stole the seal from the Third Hokage's office and managed to learn one of its jutsu, Tajuu Kage Bunshin, a technique which created multiple clones with real substance in exchange for an equal part of the ninja's chakra. The village ninja were sent to track down Naruto but Iruka managed to find him first.
Iruka couldn't believe Naruto's actions and he was surprised that the normally jutsu challenged Naruto could learn a jutsu from the scroll. He also soon learned that Mizuki was behind Naruto's actions. Mizuki further manipulated Naruto, revealing to him why the village shunned him, that he was the vessel for the Kyuubi Demon. Naruto reacted in fear and anger and fled, both men gave chase and when Mizuki went to kill Naruto with a giant shuriken, Iruka stepped in the way to take the blade for him. Iruka told Naruto he led a lonely life too, losing his parents to the Kyuubi he acted stupid to get attention.
Naruto fled and they gave chase. Iruka stated he believed in Naruto and Mizuki moved to kill him. Naruto arrived to save him and his emotions boiled. Using his new technique, Naruto created numerous Kage Bunshin which pummeled Mizuki for hurting Iruka. The Third Hokage watched from afar and realized Naruto was developing in interesting ways. Iruka was amazed by his growth and gave him a reward, the headband from his forehead. He congratulated Naruto on graduating from the Academy. Naruto began to cry and hugged Iruka after achieving his first step on the path to Hokage.
Shortly thereafter Naruto and Iruka would go and have a meal at Naruto's favorite place to eat, Ichiraku Ramen. He would also be introduced to the Third Hokage's rambunctious grandson Konohamaru. Naruto would not be impressed by Konohamaru's bad attitude and hit him for his actions. Konohamaru was shocked and wanted Naruto to be his boss and teach him his secret pervy adult weakening "Sexy Techniques". Naruto would teach Konohamaru and the two boys would become fast friends. With Naruto now a Genin he was placed in a squad under the leadership of a Jounin sensei. Naruto waited with eager anticipation to learn who his teammates were. He rejoiced when Sakura was placed on his team, and felt miserable when Sasuke was too. The group then waited for their sensei, who was late. The sensei eventually arrived, Hatake Kakashi, who appeared to have a rather droll personality, being unimpressed with his new squad.
Kakashi revealed he had his own test for the Genin; they would have to take two bells from him. If they failed to take them in the allotted time, they would be sent back to the Academy. The Genin began to go after Kakashi and the bells in their own unique way, and all failed, Naruto especially. He was easily caught in Kakashi's traps and then tied up when he attempted to cheat. Kakashi chastised them for not seeing the truth behind things, and that if they fed the tied up Naruto they would fail his test. Knowing that a hungry Naruto did them no good, they fed him. An angry Kakashi then appeared and demanded to know why they went against his wishes, they stated that it was like he said; they were a team and had to act as one, no matter what the consequences. His attitude then did a complete 180 and he congratulated them on being the first Genin to past his test; telling them that those who didn't take care of their comrades were worse than trash. The next day they then began their missions as Team 7.
Unfortunately the missions of a Genin team typically consist of menial labor. Naruto began to grow frustrated and begged the Third Hokage for a more exciting mission, he then got his wish. Tazuna, a drunken bridge builder from the Wave Country asked to be escorted back to his home. Team 7 set out and Kakashi quickly realized they were being followed. Two missing-nins appeared to kill Kakashi and then moved to kill Tazuna. Sasuke and Sakura moved to protect him and Naruto could only watch on in fear. Kakashi then jumped in to subdue them. He congratulated Sakura and Sasuke and Sasuke asked if the scaredy-cat Naruto was okay. Naruto did not take kindly to being called names and was angry at himself for freezing up like he did. He then took a kunai and stabbed his hand, drawing blood. He made a promise to himself and the others that he would never be afraid and make the same mistake again.
They continued on their journey and were soon attacked yet again, this time by Momochi Zabuza, a missing-nin who wielded a large head-cleaving sword. Kakashi began to do battle with Zabuza but was soon imprisoned. Zabuza moved to kill Tazuna and Naruto went to flee against the deadly foe, feeling pain from his stabbed hand he reaffirmed his promise to never run away. He then created a large number of clones to subdue Zabuza but they were easily thrown away. Naruto then threw a large windmill shuriken to Sasuke. Moving in unspoken planning they tricked Zabuza with a real windmill shuriken and fake shuriken which was actually Naruto, which forced Zabuza to end his imprisonment of Kakashi. Kakashi and he then did battle and when Kakashi moved in for the kill, a masked boy took Zabuza out. Naruto was angry and confused that a boy his age could be so powerful. The group then escorted Tazuna home.
Tazuna's grandson Inari had a poor view of heroes. His stepfather was killed by Gatou, Zabuza's employer, for trying to stop him from taking over their country. Naruto reacted harshly to Inari's hopeless outlook. Kakashi explained to Inari that Naruto once felt useless too, but he never gave up and cried about it. With their mission now more dangerous, Kakashi had his students train. Showing them how to focus their chakra, he directed them to climb trees with only their feet. Sakura quickly mastered it while Sasuke and Naruto had problems. The two boys constantly trained in their desire to one-up the other and soon mastered it. While resting Naruto was approached by an unmasked Haku, the mysterious boy from earlier. Haku asked Naruto why he trained so hard and if he had any precious people in his life. He explained it was the desire to help these people which drove one to become stronger. Haku took his leave and he and his boss soon moved to strike Tazuna again.
Because Naruto was so tired he was left at Tazuna's house, when he awoke he rushed to join his comrades. When Gatou's men moved to kidnap Inari's mother, Naruto returned after he realized what was going on. Appearing at the last instant he saved both Inari and his mother, and Inari was inspired to then do what he could to help. He rushrf out and tried to rally the frightened villagers to finally rise up against Gatou. Back at the bridge Naruto's team began to battle Zabuza and Haku, and Sasuke fight Haku one on one, becoming trapped in his deadly mirror prison. Naruto soon arrived and unfortunately chose to save Sasuke inside the prison rather than destroy it from without. The two men attempted to stop the quickly moving Haku as he passed from mirror to mirror throwing kunai. Sasuke began to get the feel of Haku's movements and in a surprise move, jumped in front of a fallen Naruto when Haku moved in for the kill.
Sasuke was pierced with needles and Naruto could not grasp why the young man sacrificed himself for the one he always insulted. With emotions raging inside Naruto, the seal holding the Kyuubi back began to weaken, pouring forth from within him. This powerful red chakra turned Naruto feral, growing out his teeth and nails and making his hair go shaggy. With his new found power and speed he quickly captured the moving Haku and laid a powerful strike into his face, knocking him outside the mirror prison, destroying it. Naruto then charged to kill Haku but stopped as the young man's mask fell away, revealing the youth Naruto had spoken with earlier. With his sanity regained Naruto demanded to know why he was helping Zabuza, and Haku explained how he had come from a wiped out bloodline. Naruto could not understand how he could have been twisted by following a precious person so steadfastly. Seeing his usefulness to Zabuza at an end he asked Naruto to kill him. Naruto moved to do so but Haku quickly realized Zabuza was in trouble, he rushed to his aid and sacrificed himself. Zabuza was soon beat by Kakashi and Gatou arrived with mercenaries to finish them off. Zabuza managed to kill Gatou in one last act of redemption, and when the mercenaries moved to kill the rest of them, Inari arrived with help from the villagers, who had finally rallied to his cause. The mercenaries fled and Naruto went back to his team. He then soon discovered that Sasuke wasn't dead after all, Haku felt some measure of compassion and didn't go for the killing blow.
Looking back at the fallen Haku and Zabuza, it began to snow. Naruto began to cry, explaining how Haku had come from a snowy village and had found a precious person in Zabuza. Team 7 then buried Zabuza and Haku. Naruto promised to be a different type of ninja who didn't bury his emotions. He would use his drive to protect his precious people to get stronger. They finally took their leave from the Wave Country and Tazuna finished his bridge, which he named the Great Naruto Bridge in honor of the young man who helped inspire Inari and in turn them to finally stick up for themselves.
Team 7 would return to Konoha and undertake even more mundane missions. However it was soon time for the Chuunin Exam. Kakashi had been impressed enough that he chose to enter his team into the exam, an unheard of move for a rookie team. Two other rookie teams were also entered, Teams 8 and 10. Naruto was eager to prove himself and the squad headed to the Academy for the first test. Before they could enter the classroom they saw two older Genin blocking the entrance, really Chuunin Examiners in disguise. They noted that it wasn't actually the real classroom, it was Genjutsu. They also met another team, lead by the previous year's number one rookie Hyuuga Neji. Neji ignored Naruto and instead focused on Sasuke, much to his anger. When Neji's teammate Rock Lee later challenged Sasuke, a jealous moved to attack him first. Lee easily swatted Naruto away and battled Sasuke. Lee's sensei Gai showed up and chastised him. The team then went to take the first test.
When they made it to the exam room an excited and boastful Naruto yelled his arrival to the other gathered Genin. His fellow rookie Genin tried to quiet him and another elder Genin named Yakushi Kabuto came to warn him to be careful. Kabuto explained how the test worked and provided data on other test takers. Naruto and his team then sat down for the first test. The first test was a written exam demanding the ninja have a wide variety of knowledge and practical experience as a ninja. The point of the test was to make the Genin realize they had to cheat to proceed. Unfortunately Naruto failed to realize this and began to panic. When fellow rookie Genin Hyuuga Hinata offered Naruto the chance to cheat off her, he considered taking her offer. He did not know whether to trust her though. Naruto didn't realize that Hinata had long had a huge crush on him. Naruto reaffirmed himself though, stating that an awesome ninja like him didn't need to cheat.
With time run out and none of his nine questions answered, Naruto had to rely on answering the final question. Examiner Morino Ibiki offered the remaining Genin a stark choice, if you answer the question correctly you'll proceed, if you do not you can never take the Chuunin test again. Quitting now allowed one to take the test again in the future. Many Genin decided to leave then and Naruto appeared to consider the matter raising his hand. Sakura thought it would be best to have their team withdraw to fight another day but Naruto screamed out that he would never give up. Even if he had to remain a Genin forever he would never back down. To the confusion of the remaining Genin, Ibiki congratulated them on passing the first test. The will to go on and take that leap of faith showed their resolve to be courageous and make it through any hardship which a mission could throw at them. Naruto and his squad then moved to the second test.
The next test took place over the next week and forced the squad to obtain another scroll from another team. Naruto was eager yet again to prove himself. As the team rushed into the exam area, Naruto excused himself to use the bathroom. In his place a Rain Genin impersonated him to take their scroll. By the time the Rain Genin was driven off, they were under watch by yet another ninja, a Grass ninja who soon separated the real Naruto from his squad with a huge wind gust. Naruto was then attacked by a gigantic snake, which soon swallowed him. Naruto was in a bad spot being slowly digested until he used Tajuu Kage Bunshin to explode the snake's stomach and escape. When he came back to his team, he found Sasuke in a fierce battle with the Grass Genin. When Sasuke reacted in fear to his opponent Naruto struck him for his cowardice. He then moved to fight the Grass ninja.
When the Grass ninja and his summoned snake moved to get Sasuke, Naruto stopped it as his Kyuubi powers emerged. The Grass ninja quickly realized who Naruto was. Naruto asked Sasuke what kind of scaredy-cat he was. Before he could do more, the Grass ninja struck, putting another seal over his Kyuubi seal, disrupting his ability to access that power. The Grass ninja was revealed to be Orochimaru, a Leaf village missing-nin. He had set his sites on Sasuke and the two did battle. Naruto remained unconscious and Sasuke was soon knocked unconscious too when Orochimaru put his curse seal on him.
Naruto was taken care of by Sakura and he awoke a short time later to see the outcome of a battle between Sakura and other Leaf Genin against the Sound Genin. The team rested and began to worry about how to gather their needed scroll in the short time remaining. Naruto theorized they could open their scroll, going against the rules, and then fake their needed scroll. Before he could carry out his actions Kabuto arrived to warn them not too. With Kabuto's help they proceeded to the tower to try for another scroll.
On the way they got caught in the Genjutsu of the Rain Genin who had attacked earlier in the test. They did battle and made use of Naruto's stamina to trick the Rain, knock them out and get their scroll. With the needed scroll they completed the test. At the central tower they met Iruka who congratulated them and talked about what it meant to be a Chuunin. The group then proceeded on and saw that their fellow rookies also made it. The Third Hokage explained the purpose of the test and stated since so many who passed, a preliminary tournament would be held. The Genin would be randomly paired against another, with the winner advancing. Sasuke spoke of how eager he was to test himself. And thinking over the strength shown by Naruto in the last test, he added that he couldn't wait to fight Naruto as well. Their compatriot Kabuto, really Orochimaru's spy, took his leave and he wished them luck.
Naruto watched the battles and eagerly awaited his turn. It soon came when he was placed against Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru. Kiba remembered how poor Naruto was in the academy and began to launch his attacks against Naruto. Despite flooring Naruto with a beast mimicking style of Taijutsu that made Naruto bleed from the mouth, Naruto refused to stay down. Kiba then created a cloud of smoke and used the lack of sight along with Akamaru to keep the advantage to himself. However, Naruto once again stole the advantage back and used a combination of Kage Bunshin and Henge to fool Kiba and capture Akamaru. Insulted, Kiba fed Akamaru a pill that turned his fur red and increased his strength. The two then used a combination technique to make them both into feral-looking versions of Kiba that boasted enhanced speed and strength, double-teaming Naruto with a spinning drill attack. Kiba’s confidence only increased after the attack, causing him to taunt that he would be more likely to be Hokage before Naruto.
However, Naruto’s determination caused him to stand again. Irritated, Kiba and Akamaru proceeded to shred him up even more, throwing more smoke bombs to prevent his escape. However, they halted their assault as Naruto masked himself as one of them. Kiba’s sense of smell proved superior, however, causing him to lash out at the fake. However, the hit figure changed into Akamaru. Instantly, Kiba slammed an even more savage hit into the other, who also slide away and transformed into Akamaru. The first Akamaru then transformed back into Naruto and attacked Kiba, now Akamaru was out of the match entirely thanks to Kiba. Kiba resumed his solo assault against Naruto; seeking revenge for making him hit his own dog. The tide of the match began to turn in his own favor but Naruto repeatedly threatened a new move which he could never complete.
Kiba would rush in to finish him off before he could start by slipping in for an attack on his blind side. However, Naruto’s nervousness caused him to lose control of his bodily functions inadvertently. Kiba was forced to stagger back due to the flatus, as it revolted his ultra-sensitive nose. Naruto then managed to do his move, a Taijutsu attack using Kage Bunshin. Inspired by Sasuke's own new move, he kicked Kiba into the air and then spun around and kicked him back into the ground. Naruto was victorious to everyone's surpise and he went to watch the remaining matches.
When Hinata was matched against her cousin Neji, Naruto became angry at his words concerning losers, and their destiny to always remain such. Naruto inspired Hinata to not give up and fight back. Neji won the match but didn't give up on his "loser" talk. An annoyed Naruto gathered Hinata's blood on his fingers and made a promise to Neji, that he would kick his butt in the next test. He would get his chance, as he was paired against Neji in the third test. After the prelims Naruto was eager to train under Kakashi, but his sensei instead had him train under Ebisu, the "elite" ninja who had trained Konohamaru. Naruto didn't care for Ebisu, calling him a closet pervert. Ebisu managed to get through to Naruto and began to teach him how to walk on water. Before they could finish their lesson Ebisu moved to stop a spying pervert at the women's hot springs. The pervert was Jiraiya, Orochimaru's former teammate and one of the three Legendary Sannin.
Jiraiya was the sensei of the Fourth Hokage, and saw a bit of himself and the Fourth in Naruto. Naruto demanded the pervy sage teach him in Ebisu's place. With the usage of his Sexy Technique, Naruto convinced the experienced ninja to train him. Jiraiya first set about removing the seal Orochimaru had placed on Naruto several weeks before. He then allowed Naruto to sign his toad contract, and be the next ninja to have a summoning contract with the toad family. Jiraiya began to teach Naruto how to draw upon the Kyuubi's chakra whenever needed, rather than just during times of heightened emotion.
Jiraiya forced Naruto to learn to draw it out by pushing him off a cliff. When Naruto focused he found himself in an internalization of the Kyuubi prison. He met the Kyuubi face to face for the first time and demanded the fox give him chakra as rent. The Kyuubi was angered at his imprisonment but chose to humor Naruto, as Naruto's death would result in his own. From that point on Naruto could draw on the Kyuubi power when he needed a large amount of chakra. This power allowed him to summon the toad boss Gamabunta.