Naruto was born on the night of October 10th to (the Fourth Hokage) and (the second jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails). He was named after , the protagonist of 's , which made the his godfather. The made special arrangements for Minato to preserve Kushina's seal containing the Nine-Tails while she gave birth to Naruto in a remote location, escorted by midwives and . A masked man, , tracked down their location, however, killed the midwives and Anbu, and captured Naruto, forcing Minato to quickly rescue him and him to a .
Minato and Kushina protect Naruto from the Nine-Tails.
With Minato gone, Tobi captured Kushina and the Nine-Tails from her, using it to . Minato saved Kushina and left Naruto in her care before he went to protect the village, eventually defeating Tobi and the Nine-Tails from Tobi's control. Returning to Naruto and Kushina's location, Minato realised the only way to stop the Nine-Tails was to seal it within Naruto, believing that his son would someday need the fox's power to defeat Tobi when he returned. Since the Nine-Tails' was too immense to be sealed into an infant, Minato to split the fox's chakra in half, sealing the half within himself and the half Naruto. After telling Naruto how much they loved him, Minato and Kushina succumbed to their wounds from protecting their son from the Nine-Tails and passed away.
Orphaned, not having parents or anyone else to provide for him, Naruto received monthly income from the village in order to afford daily necessities. Naruto grew up not knowing who his parents were, receiving only his mother's surname, as Hiruzen wanted to protect Naruto from his father's enemies. Minato's dying wish that Naruto be regarded as a hero was honoured by the very few who could put aside their pain and losses caused by the disaster, while the majority of Konoha, however having no knowledge of the circumstances surrounding his birth, openly ostracised and resented Naruto for containing the beast that devastated the village and took many lives; some even viewed Naruto as the Nine-Tails itself. Soon, the Third Hokage forbade anyone from mentioning the Nine-Tails, hoping that the younger generation would not blindly hate Naruto as their parents did. However, Naruto's peers emulated their parents' hatred of him, despite not knowing why. This social isolation caused Naruto to crave acknowledgement, which he would gain by pulling pranks.
Naruto meets Hinata.
On the day of his enrolment in the - Naruto first met , who was being picked on by three bullies. Despite not knowing her, Naruto immediately came to her defence, but he was outnumbered and knocked unconscious, and the bullies damaged his red scarf. When Naruto awoke, Hinata thanked him for helping her and returned his scarf to him, but he let her keep it. He was unaware that the girl's growing affections for him began from that moment onwards.
Naruto and Sasuke in the Academy.
In the Academy, Naruto became a student of , who acted as a surrogate older brother to keep him in line and help him work harder. Naruto also met his class-mate and tried to befriend him, since he was alone as well. Jealous of Sasuke's skills and popularity, however, he developed a one-sided rivalry in his pursuit to prove himself just as good as, if not better than, Sasuke, wishing that someday, Sasuke would accept him as an equal. Naruto also grew close with the owner of , and his daughter , being welcomed as their favourite customer.
Personality
Naruto's ninja registration photo.
Naruto is noted as boisterous, exuberant, and unorthodox, quite similar to . He inherited his mother's verbal tic, as he ends his sentences with "" (だってばよ!) when emotional. Though he responds best to competition and is not afraid to ask for assistance, Naruto is relatively naïve and slow to understand principles or situations. He often requires an oversimplified analogy in order to grasp explanations and can even prove forgetful. Naruto is aware of his faults and admits he acts strong to mask his embarrassment and frustration about them. Despite his naivety, Naruto can be quite observant, picking up on things others miss and retaining information casually gathered through conversation.
