Naruto And The Fourth Hokage by Meji

Well after this little gem, http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/26177979/, surfaced the other day, I've been prompted to write an unbiased article on the various theories surrounding Naruto and Yondaime. By the way, if you don't know what Yondaime means there will probably be spoilers in here.

For some time now there has been an underlying mystery when it comes to Naruto's past and heritage. Who took care of him as a baby; when did he start living on his own; who are his parents or does he even have them? Now, all that we have been told of his early childhood was that as a newborn the Kyuubi was sealed into his stomach by the valiant Yondaime Hokage.

So obviously all speculations have lead to the Yondaime, with him being the only identifiable person in Naruto's early childhood. As the series progressed, Naruto was referred to as the Yondaime's "legacy*," and many people comment on his likeness to the late Hokage, even the Kyuubi. Then he learns how to summon the exact same animal as him, and the Rasengan, a difficult technique developed by the Yondaime in three years. And let us not forget they have uncannily similar appearances and expressions (blonde hair, blue eyes, squinty-eye smile).

*Legacy is certainly a debatable word meaning anything from son to something left behind as a reminder.

Well let's begin with the most popular theory, "Naruto is the Yondaime's son." In many ways this is the perfect theory. It brings a certain richness to the events that transpired the night Kyuubi was sealed. The Yondaime had to make a choice between his duty and his own family. The suffering of those closest to him or the suffering of an entire village. This would explain the similar characteristics and blood types (both are B), the term "legacy" when used to refer to Naruto, why Jiraiya apologized to the Yondaime as he threw Naruto off a cliff, and how Naruto was able to learn Rasengan so quickly.

However, it throws a lot of common sense out the window. First off, there needs to be a mother. Now many just write her off as "dying in childbirth," or just kill her in some other way. Others say Tsunade or the Anbu that wanted to avenge Hayate, named Uzuki Yuugao, is his mother and that they are just not owning up to it. Second, "Why was he treated so badly if his father was a Hokage?" In the story Konohamaru, the Sandaime's grandson, was highly revered.

Now Naruto, a Hokage's son, should have been treated like a prince, no? The response to that is usually "The Yondaime made many enemies and Naruto would've been hunted down as revenge." It should be mentioned the Kyuubi probably made a lot more enemies in his lifetime and yet Naruto is still alive. Why not add a good 500+ enemies to the mix? Finally, it is cliche. If we've already figured out the biggest plot twist in the series this early on, Kishimoto has failed as a writer. Again it can be noted many suspected surgery involved with Kakashi's Sharingan.

The next theory is "Jiraiya/unrevealed characters as Naruto's father." Jiraiya's personality and hairstyle are certainly reminiscent of a certain jinchuuriki. Also with Tsunade as the match-up it seems picture perfect. But the age is way off. Tsunade would've been 38-39 when she had Naruto which is quite late. Also why wouldn't they take care of Naruto? (There are way too many theories that combat this so I'm moving on). Next is the unrevealed character. That's pretty much it. Just wait-and-see. Finally, there is the Yondaime-related unrevealed character. Usually something like Naruto's father was the Yondaime's brother and he left the village, became an S-Rank criminal, summoned the Kyuubi, and the Yondaime used his own nephew in the sealing.

>>Related theories include "Jiraiya and Tsunade are Naruto's grandparents" which is again combated by age, and "Orochimaru summoned the Kyuubi out of spite" which only has the possibility/impossibility of summoning the Kyuubi going against it.

Now we move on to the "Reincarnation" theory. The theory entails Yondaime being reverted back into a baby when he sealed the Kyuubi into himself(not a newborn baby). It eliminates the heritage trouble and explains appearance, "legacy," and so on. This is largely based on the Sandaime-Orochimaru fight in which the Sandaime briefly explains the nature of Shiki Fuujin no Jutsu. He says "With this Jutsu, the one whose soul is sealed will suffer for all eternity in the belly of death, never gaining release. The one who is sealed and the one who performed the seal. Their souls will mingle, hating each other and battling the other for all eternity." Note the "Their souls will mingle..." This is exactly what is happening to Naruto, his essence is mixing with that of the Kyuubi's. So in theory, Naruto should be the sealer as the Kyuubi is the sealed which in turn leads to Naruto being Yondaime. Also, if the Sandaime sealed Orochimaru's arms into himself, why didn't the Yondaime seal the Kyuubi into himself?

The combatant of this is obviously impossibility. Is it truly possible to revert back to a baby? Many say in a story with huge summoned snakes, slugs, and toads, why not? Another question which arises is what happened with the Shinigami (death god)? Did he take the Yondaime's soul or what?

Now we come across a very controversial but plausible theory, "Naruto is the seal." It basically states Naruto is the embodiment of the sealing of the Kyuubi. He is the Yonaime's essence and the Kyuubi's essence held together by a seal. A person that was "made" and not born. While many are against it since it questions the humanity of the main character, it explains why Naruto has very little trouble with the Kyuubi while Gaara is constantly tortured by Shukaku. Not to mention rids us of the troublesome parentage theories. However, this can again be argued against with impossibility.

There are a myriad of theories out there, but this gives a good summary of the basics. It's all based on and combated with impossibility. Naruto is a fictional story: anything can happen. For now keep your minds open as you, I, and all other Naruto fans anxiously wait for Kishimoto to reveal the full story to us. Until another time, dear readers. Farewell.

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