While the prophecy would've had happened, it simply would've been someone else. Minato was also believed to be the child of destiny, after all. And when he died, Jiraiya simply changed chosen ones.

On the contrary. Naruto was literally the chosen one. In the end, Jiraiya's choice was to chose Naruto's ninja way, which led to Nagato's defeat. Tsunade became Hokage and did all she could to support Naruto because she became convinced he was chosen. Jiraiya similarly didn't believe Naruto until he was truly shown by Naruto that he was capable. The Biju's decision to accept Naruto was ultimately influenced by the prophecy.

In addition, Minato was at some point believed to be the chosen one, but once he died that belief (obviously) faded. Nagato was also believed to be the child of destiny, causing Jiraiya to directly seek to enact the prophecy (acting uncharacteristically). If he hadn't known of the prophecy, he wouldn't have taken in Nagato, and subsequently, Naruto would never have undergone the major character development during the Pain arc. In other words, by trying to enact the prophecy, he made the prophecy come true. But that means it never was a true prophecy in the first place, just an instruction.

In the end, the point made to Neji is that destiny can be chosen, and Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, the Biju, Hagoromo etc chose to believe that Naruto was worthy of that power.

But what kind of Naruto would he be? Would he be a kindhearted Naruto who defeated his enemies with talk-no-jutsu, (which I think is bullshit) or some other kind of ninja. As the Mission at Land of Waves started the talk-no-jutsu, and with it, Naruto could have become a different type of ninja, and I was wondering what kind.

Well the most important thing Naruto gained from the Land Of Waves, is his bond of friendship with Team Seven, especially Sasuke. If the land of Waves didn't happen, Sasuke leaving tbe villagw wouldn't carry as much influence to Naruto, he probably be a bit shocked. And them probably hate him for it, a little like the rest of Konoha 11.

Now, it was because of Zabuza's presence that Kakashi actually though to train his team. If without it, Naruto's chakra control would be even worse.

Character wise, I don't know. Zabuza and Haku were the first to influence him, but there were many other, Neji, Gaara, and probay some other people he'll meet.

Before the fight with Zabuza, Naruto's goal was still to become Hokage. But he only wanted to be Hokage so everyone would acknowledge him.

After his fight with Zabuza, his motivations shifted to him wanting to not just becoming a killing tool, and to protect those precious to him. And to not lose his conviction in his motivation (I never go back on my word, that's my Ninja Way!). Some of Naruto's most defining character traits came from the fights with Zabuza and Haku.

He could probably learn those values elsewhere too. But I think that life and death scenario and the way the events played out made it so Naruto was changed far more than any other fight would have. Even Neji.

I'm gonna assume that everything after the Land Of Waves happens just as normal, just that we're assuming something such as Tazuna dying before he got to the Leaf Village, thus the Leaf never sent any support because they knew nothing.

I'm thinking that Naruto would've died in the Chunin Exams. His experiences in the Land Of Waves hardened him enough to be able to fight Orochimaru and stand up to him whilst Sasuke was cowering. Hell, maybe Naruto wouldn't have even stepped in to help them, the KI projected by Orochimaru freezing his body in place or worse, forcing him to run away. And that's assuming he even managed to build up enough willpower to explode the snake he was swallowed up by.

There's a lot of possibilities, and frankly, this all seems to be pretty likely to me. Simply put, the trauma that happened in the Land Of Waves gave him the strength, will, courage and drive to succeed in the Chunin Exams. It even showed him the dark side of the shinobi system, where they're all trained from a young age to be killing machines. Everything that happened to him was necessary for the end of the journey. Change one thing, and everything collapses.

Ah, I yes he wanted to be Hokage even before. But that was like a dream every child would have, especially someone like Naruto. It was after Haku and Zabuza's deaths that made him even more clinged to being Hokage and believing he could everything wrong in the system. Not to mention Sasuke's sacrifice gave him a huge trauma, and Haku's words after that, "A person becomes stronger when he's fighting to protect someone precious" these two factors made him fight against any indivual stronger than him to protect his loved ones and actually get stronger with it.

Indeed, Zabuza and Haku were the best way to start Naruto's journey.

The only one who comes close to being TNJ'd is Obito. Nagato didn't care for Naruto's words, and was only convinced by himself (or rather, his younger self, whose words were transmitted by Jiraiya's first book). Zabuza was already beaten when Naruto broke his spirit, Neji wasn't TNJ'd but rather his ideals were proven wrong by Naruto's actions. Gaara only warmed to Naruto because he proved that you can be strong because of others (again, actions). He couldn't convince sasuke with words, he couldn't convince Obito with words (the man was plainly denying everything Naruto said to him, and in the end it was Madara who caused him to turn back). Kakuzu was plainly defeated, Deidara was trolling Naruto hard, Kimimaro was utterly unfazed, Orochimaru didn't care, Kabuto didn't care... am i forgetting anyone? Black Zetsu and Kaguya were brute forced. Toneri was brute forced.

In fact, i think TnJ is much more infamous due to filler arcs where it was much more prevalent, rather than the actual manga where it was rare. In the end, even Sasuke was only convinced when Naruto proved he was the Hokage that Sasuke envisioned (since Naruto was able to endure Sasuke's hatred, which was what Sasuke envisioned a Hokage would do. In addition, Naruto envisioned a Hokage as the one who walks in front, and Madara acknowledges this to Obito, though unknowingly, thereby inadvertently proving that Obito was the "hokage" he wanted to be.)

@Thekillman, I never participated in the TNJ jokes, but I always just had it in my head that Naruto did that all the time. Especially since people complained about it so much.

But now that you mentioned it, he really almost never TNJed at all lol. Crazy.

Man, I couldn't help but chuckle while reading @Thekillman's list of supposedly TnJ'ed people. Especially the "Deidara was trolling him hard, Kimimaro was utterly unfazed yada yada" part. So true. Even Obito wasn't really TnJ'ed by Naruto, he had to get his ass beaten and to be told off by Madara first.

Back to the topic, Zabuza and Haku were an important piece of Naruto's growth as a shinobi. It was Haku who taught him what true strength was, something that Naruto would stick to for the rest of his life. In the death match against Gaara, it was Haku's words which motivated Naruto to fight. Without the Land of Waves arc, Naruto's journey would've been definitely different.