Naruto steadily ate his cereal as he watched Mito and Eiji argue with one another while Mina was eating her toast and making a mess of it with peanut butter smeared all over her face and cheeks. Kushina was in the kitchen making her own breakfast while Minato had already left for work.
It was Saturday and the twins were arguing over who would have the last piece of toast. Both had themselves in a headlock before Naruto picked up a spoon and gave them both a good whack on the top of their heads.
"OWWWW NII-CHAN!" both moaned as they nursed their heads and pouted at Naruto who just look at them with an amused look on his face.
"If you didn't fight then I would not have to knock some sense into you."
"Yeah no fighting!" Mina said as Mito and Eiji glared at their little sister while Naruto rustled the top of Mito's hair which had grown in length now that she was five. Her hair went down and stopped just past her shoulders and was still a vibrant red just like Kushina's.
"Messy girl aren't you Mina-chan?" He said as Mina gave him a toothy smile while Kushina appeared beside Mina and wiped her youngest child's face making Mina wriggle in her seat. While Mina was not looking he leaned over a took a bite out of her toast.
Mina caught him as he took the bite and pouted before she started tapping Naruto on the cheek with her little fingers, an unhappy look plastered on her face.
"No take my toast," she said as Naruto laughed.
"Kaa-chan where is tou-san?" Mito asked as she and Eiji split the last piece of toast.
"He is at the office. He has a meeting with the elders again," she said making Naruto frown a little as he ate his breakfast.
His father and Hiruzen had dozens of meeting with the elders over the last few weeks and it made him curious to what was going on. Never before had they had so many meeting and been so secretive about them since it started.
The two elders Koharu and Homura he knew a little of since they were his jiji's team mates and friends but the other elder he did not know much about.
He was called Danzo and when he saw him on the rare occasions, the man just had this uneasy, chilling feel to him. Like everything he looked at he was analysing and studying their worth.
His mother and father had told him when he was little that he was to stay away from him. Naruto thought they were being silly but when he started being taught by Tsunade, Shizune and Hiruzen they all told him the same thing. Only then did Naruto begin to take that seriously and keep his distance from the man.
Not only that but he felt something odd was going on with Itachi and his family. He rarely saw Mikoto as of late and when he did she had this jumpy look about her, almost like she was scared of something. When he tried asking Itachi he would never answer and would divert the conversation somewhere else.
Finishing his breakfast and shaking his head as he left the thought for another time, he got up, washed his plate and left the room just as Kushina had sat down to have her own breakfast.
He didn't have time to think on that since today was a big day for him, Itachi and Anko. It was the day they were moving into their apartment. After working their butts off for the last year along with her and Itachi being moved up to special Jonin.
They would have made Jonin given their spotless records and increasing strength but the council had all agreed that like the Konoha Academy where they moved up the age of admittance from six to eight, they did the same for becoming a Jonin and Anbu.
Now the age was fourteen which neither Itachi nor Naruto minded since it meant they only had to wait one more year; Anko was not quite ready though but they knew within the year she would work her butt off and try and match them.
As he walked to the stairs to begin to pack Naruto stopped at a small cabinet and looked at framed photo that sat on top of it.
The picture was of Mito and Eiji on their first day of the academy with their arms around each others shoulders. They had joined little under a month ago and so far they loved every minute of it. Their teacher was a new, young teacher called Iruka Umino, a chunin with a pretty good record that Mito and Eiji seemed to like though mentioned he had a habit of going spending a lot of time on lectures.
From what the twins had told him when they told him about their day, many of the other clans had their children entering the Academy. Itachi and Hana's little brothers Sasuke and Kiba had all entered along with the heirs of the Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Hyuuga, and Aburame. Eiji spend most of his days with his friend Kiba Inuzuka while Mito was with her best friend Ino Yamanaka. The rest were all civilian children.
"It does not seem that long ago that Itachi, Anko, Hana, Yugao, Hayate and I had entered the academy." he thought before making his way back upstairs to begin packing.
Despite planning to move out today, he had not told his family just like Itachi had not told his. Mainly because they both knew that if they told them early on, they would attempt to do their best to sway them from leaving the nest.
Though Naruto knew deep down what his biggest problem would be.
Mina and Kushina.
While Minato might respect his decision and give him his space which is what he wanted and desired, he knew that Kushina would be against it and try to keep him at home. They very thought of one of her children leave the nest at thirteen would no doubt hit her hard and try what she could to stop him and keep him in her grasp.
Mina meanwhile was always with him when he was home. She stuck by his side whether it was sitting next to him at meal times, reading and drawing with him or sneaking into his bed at night when she had a bad dream or just wanted to be nice and warm with her big brother.
He was not looking forward to that but it's what he wanted. He loved his family but he wanted his own space with his friends, who were like a second family to him.
As he shook his head, he pushed his door open and slowly began to decide what to do first.
He pulled ut a few scrolls from his desk draw and laid them out on the bed, each one open fully so he could pack what he needed into certain scrolls.
For half an hour Naruto worked in his room as he neatly folded his clothes on top of one scroll and sealed them away and put it to the side.
The next was for all his books and jutsu scrolls that he had copied from his parent's library. He had only added a few over the last three years since Hiruzen was happy to give him a few ninjutsu techniques since he was known as the Professor for his mastery of ninjutsu.
As he began putting them away he stopped on one book in particular. It was a book he found right at the back of his parents library and since neither obviously read it often since it had dust covering it, Naruto took it and never really gave it back.
Mainly due to what was inside it as he found a forgotten family member he never even knew he had
Flashback
"So it's some kind of old bingo book?" Naruto said as he looked the book over while Hiruzen was sat next to him pouring some tea in to two small cups. He handed one to Naruto who thanked him and took a small sip.
"It looks like it. I have not seen one of these for a long time," Hiruzen said as he looked at the book. "This I believe was one of the first bingo books to have ever been distributed. Here I thought they were all gone."
Naruto had to admit he was a little curious about this bingo book. If it really was the first one of the first kinds of bingo books to have been made, then it must have been around back when Hiruzen was in his youth and his parents were children.
Opening it up he began looking through the book and he was quickly enwrapped with the shinobi that were inside it.
"The Nidaime Mizukage and a member of the Hozuki clan, S ranked Shinobi."
"The Nidaime Tsuchikage Mu of the Dust Style, S ranked shinobi."
Beside both names he saw the words deceased by their names.
"Ahh yes those two in particular were known for their rivalry. They ended up battling one another in a grand battle and ended up killing one another. Onoki became the Tsuchikage just after Mu's death."
Naruto nodded and turned the page and almost laughed when he saw Onoki, the Sandaime Tsuchikage and what he looked like when he was younger. He must have been in his late thirties Naruto guessed when the picture was taken and his nose was even bigger then it was now.
Hiruzen saw the picture as well and let out a low chuckle thinking the same thing. Beside his name Naruto saw the S ranked symbol but that it also mentioned that Onoki bordered on being SS Class.
Turning the page Naruto almost let out a loud laugh when he saw a picture of Hiruzen who looked in his mid thirties. His hair was not grey and there were now wrinkles on his face. It was so odd to Naruto to see his jiji when he was younger.
Next to Hiruzen old photo was a SS Class symbol that made Naruto almost choke on his tea.
"Jiji you were a SS Class shinobi?" he asked as Hiruzen looked at the photo and laughed when he saw his old photo and beginning to wonder where the time went. He knew his jiji was strong but SS Class was almost unheard off.
"Back in my youth I was though I have slowed it down now that I am older. Though I can still give most a good beating if they push me enough." He said as Naruto knew that was true. He could easily fight on par with people like Tsunade and Jiraiya even now in his early sixties.
As Hiruzen turned away to drink his tea, Naruto turned the page and stopped immediately at the person he saw next. His brow furrowed in confusion as he read the top name.
"Jiji do you know who this person is?" he asked.
"What is their name Naruto-kun," he asked as took a sip of his tea.
Beside him Naruto took a breath as he re read the name in his mind before he spoke it aloud. "Genryusai Uzumaki."
Turning to look at Hiruzen, Naruto noticed that Hiruzen had just frozen and his cup that was touching his lips was completely still. Naruto began to wonder if he said something wrong.
After a moment of just sitting there in silence, Hiruzen gently took the book from Naruto and looked at the page.
He saw Hiruzen looking at it intently before a very tiny smile appeared on his face. "Genryusai Uzumaki, now there is a name and face I had not seen or heard of in a long time."
"You know him jiji?" Naruto asked as he saw Hiruzen nod his head.
"In a manner of speaking I did. He is someone battled in the past as well as someone that I have the utmost respect for." he said turning to look at Naruto and handed the book back and gave him an inquisitive look. "As you can tell from the name he was part of the Uzumaki clan as well as its clan head before it fell. This is the first time you have ever heard of that name isn't it?" he said as Naruto nodded.
"Should I know him?" Naruto asked as Hiruzen nodded his head.
"Yes though I am not surprised you do not know of him. Your mother rarely speaks about him to anyone, even to your father."
"My Mom? So this guy was someone special to my mom then?" He asked as again Hiruzen nodded.
"Yes Naruto. Genryusai Uzumaki was the clan head of the Uzumaki clan back when your mother was a girl. But more importantly he is your maternal grandfather Naruto. Your mother's father."
"My grandfather?" Naruto said in shock as he looked back down at the picture. The man had black hair on the sides of his head, and was bald on top. He had a tuft of hair sticking up at the back of his head in a topknot. He had thick black eyebrows and a long, thick black moustache. The most noticeable feature though was on his forehead was two long scars that interlaced with one another and formed an X shaped scar.
Naruto looked at Hiruzen in confusion. "Why have I never heard of him before today?" he asked as Hiruzen had a saddened look appear on his face before he began speaking.
"Your mother probably should be the one to tell you but since she has kept it from you and your siblings then perhaps it's okay for me to tell you about him now that you know about him."
"Your mother told you when you were younger that she came to Konoha when she was a young girl. Her father Genryusai was against her going to Konoha since he wanted her to stay in Whirlpool so she would be safe, secure and so he could watch over her. But your mother has always been an adventurous one and she wanted to go to Konoha."
"In the last few months of her staying in Whirlpool, she and your grandfather argued a lot and when Kushina left for Konoha, their relationship became very strained to the point where she told him that she hated the fact that she was his daughter and they stopped speaking all together. Your grandfather was a very stern and strict man who led his life by certain principles and it clashed a lot of times since your mother is very free spirited."
Naruto nodded and urged him to continue.
"Months later the siege and destruction of Whirlpool occurred and your grandfather died protecting it. Your mother was heartbroken because she never had the chance to make peace with him. She only told very few people about him and I guess thinking about it hurt a lot, so she just kept it quiet. I guess she thought it was better not to tell you and your siblings since she felt ashamed at what her last conversation with her father was."
Naruto listened intently before he spent the next half an hour asking question about his grandfather. Though he understood in a way why his mother never spoke about him, she wanted to know about his grandfather.
End Flashback
Looking at the old bingo book Naruto quickly sealed it into one of the scrolls.
Hiruzen had told him that his grandfather was one of the most formidable and powerful people that Hiruzen had ever met to the point that when Hiruzen and Genryusai battled with one another, it would always end in a stalemate, something that shocked Naruto. His jiji was a SS Class shinobi in his prime and his maternal grandfather had matched him in power and skill.
Genryusai was a master of the sword which was what probably led Kushina down the path of being a great Kenjutsu user and as a way of honouring her father.
He was infamous because he would combine fire chakra with his blade and would cause enormous pillars and blasts of fire to erupt on the battlefield. Naruto had learnt that his grandfather blade was named Ryujin Jakka and it put the fear of death into those that heard that name.
Though as far as he knew his grandfather remains along with is blade was lost in the rubble and ruins of Uzushiogakure.
"I wish I could have met him. To have been able to take 2,000 invading shinobi down with you, one of which was a strong jinchurikii was nothing short of incredible."
With those thoughts over with and put the back of his mind for now, he placed the current storage seal away and he began packing away his shinobi tools like kunai's, shuriken, ninja wire etc. Though when did he heard his door open to see Mito standing there.
"Nii-chan can you…" she started but then stopped when she saw how bare Naruto's room suddenly was with all his bookshelf's empty and closet open with no clothes in it.
"What are you doing?" She asked as she looked at Naruto with a confused look on her face, trying to figure it out.
Naruto stopped for a moment before deciding it was best just to answer truthfully. "I'm moving out Mito-chan. I'm not going to live here anymore."
As soon as he spoke the words Mito looked at him a little confused before she made sense of what he just said and Naruto watched as her face looked sad and heartbroken. Naruto turned away and kept sealing stuff away.
She sniffed a little before she did what Naruto knew she was going to do.
"KAA-CHAN!"
Mito's shout echoed through the house and as soon as she shouted Naruto could hear footsteps racing up the stairs and Kushina's chakra signature getting closer to them, feeling panicked and confused.
Kushina appeared in the doorway and went down to Mito's level. "Sweetheart what's wrong? Why are you shouting?" she asked as Mito sniffled and pointed to Naruto.
Kushina turned to look at Naruto but then noticed how bare the room was, just like Mito had noticed just moments ago. Her eyes went all over the room before they eventually looked at Naruto and her eyes looked confused.
"W-What's going on? Why is your room completely bare and why are you sealing stuff away into that storage scroll?" she asked though deep down an ugly feeling was building as if already knowing the answer.
"I'm moving out," Naruto said again and from the corner of his eye saw Kushina go completely pale as her eyes look at him in shock.
"B-But you can't move out," she said in a slightly raised voice that had Mito take a step back from her mother. "You are thirteen you are not old enough to be moving out."
"Wrong," he said not looking up from his storage scroll but tapped his Konoha headband. "The moment I became a shinobi and put this headband on, I became an adult. Old enough to kill, old enough to move out."
Kushina looked at him and was struggling to find the words and voice them.
"Then where are you going to go? Do you already have a place in store?" she said trying to look imposing though Naruto took no notice of it.
"I have a three bedroom apartment with Itachi and Anko. We have been saving and putting bits of our mission money to the side for the last two years and we finally have enough. We already made the deposit. Anko is probably already there while Itachi will be doing the same thing as I am right now."
Looking down on his bed and seeing everything he wanted to take was packed, he closed the final scroll and put the scroll away in a backpack that he slung over his shoulder.
Walking over he went down on one knee and kiss Mito on the head. "You can come and see me whenever you want okay," he said as Mito nodded though was still a little teary eyed. She gave him a hug around his neck and stayed that way for a few moments before they let go.
He stood up and looked towards Kushina who was struggling to come up with what to say.
"I will come by and visit when I can," he said before giving his mother a quick kiss on the cheek making her gasp a little before he made his way downstairs.
As he got downstairs he quickly explained what he was doing to Mina and Eiji who were standing at the bottom of the stairs wondering what all the commotion upstairs was about.
As her mind began working, tears welled up in her eyes and pushed of her spot and ran down the stairs at great speed. As Naruto said goodbye to a teary eyed Eiji and Mina, Naruto felt two arms wrap around his shoulder and hold him in a tight grip.
"You are not going anywhere. This is your home. This is where you belong," Kushina said in an uneven but firm voice. While she held onto her son she pushed a small flow of chakra in her wedding ring where a small Hirashin seal was located.
Naruto took a deep breath and tried to fight out of her grip but her grip just got tighter and tighter. Seeing no other way to get out of it, he used the Kawarime with Eiji who suddenly appeared in Kushina's grasp.
Naruto quickly went towards the door and was about to open it but stopped mentally cursed when he heard his father's voice.
"Kushina what's wrong? Why did you call me here?" Minato asked as he appeared moments before beside his wife and saw her teary and pained look.
Kushina sniffled and looked towards Naruto. "Naruto's moving out. I'm trying to stop him, but I need you to help convince him. Help me get him to stay Minato!" she cried as Mina, Eiji and Mito all stood to the side just watching their parents and older brother.
Minato looked surprised and looked over to Naruto who had his back to him and had his hand on the door handle.
"Naruto," Minato said softly as he took a step forward. "It does not have to be like this. We…we can figure something out. If its space you want then we can find a way around it. We don't want you to leave our home. Not yet at least. Your mother and I….we are sorry, sorry for the loneliness we put on you for five years but as you can see we are not quite ready to let you go yet."
"Please Naru-chan," Kushina said calling him by his old nickname, "Please stay with us. Stay with me." She whispered the last part but Minato and Naruto both heard her.
Naruto stood there a minute not saying anything before he slowly turned his head just enough that they could see his left eye.
"I'm not the little boy that needs to coddled anymore and I have been taught how to look after myself since the day after the fox attack. Neither of you helped so I learned on my own or from those that were willing to help me. Now I want to branch out on my own and become my own person with my own life away from home." he said before his eye narrowed.
"You owe me that much." he said as both Minato and Kushina flinched.
Neither Minato nor Kushina answered at first as they played it over their minds. While Kushina was still set on him staying with them, Minato's mind however was thinking something different now. If his eldest child and first son wanted to leave the nest then maybe they should let him. He needed his own space and needed time way from his family though mainly Minato and Kushina. Just maybe giving Naruto his own space could help build that lost bridge between them and their son.
Minato sighed before he took a step back. "If you want to go then I won't stop you. But know you are always welcome to come home. You will always have a home in this house," he said as Kushina looked at him in shock while Naruto looked at him before giving a small nod and a very tiny smile as if saying 'thank you' to him.
"No, this is his home. I don't want him leaving us just yet," Kushina said but before she could get close to Naruto Minato's arms wrapped around his wife halting her.
"Let him go Kushina. He's ready," Minato said but felt his heart break when he heard his wife's sobs.
Minato watched as Naruto finally pushed the handle down and walked out of the door before gently closing it behind him.
Letting out a small cry, Kushina wriggled out of Minato's grasp and ran upstairs and into their bedroom, closing the door behind her as she cried and sobbed as her eldest left the home at only thirteen.
As Mito and Eiji went back into the kitchen and wiped their noses, Minato walked upstairs to comfort is wife before he had to leave to go back to his meeting.
As he did he never noticed his youngest child bolt towards the door and slip out.
With Naruto
Taking a steady breath as he set foot out of the door, Naruto began to walk forwards away from the house he grew up in when he heard the door creak open. He sighed thinking Kushina had gone after him but instead felt two smaller arms wrap around his waist.
Looking down he saw Mina holding him tightly with tears trailing down her face. "Don't go. I don't want you to go away." she hiccupped out.
Naruto felt his heart break when he saw the state she was now in and could not help but feel guilty. Getting down to her level, he hugged her close and felt her put her face into the crook of his neck.
"Mina-chan its time for me to head out on my own; however I will still be around. I will still see you everyday if you want and we will still have dinners together. But I have a life away from home now," he said but Mina didn't look any better as she clung to him desperately.
"Hey Mina-chan," he asked as he tilted her head up to look at him. "How about I take you with me to where I will be living with Itachi and Anko. That way you know where I am and how to get to me. Would you like that?"
Mina hiccupped and Naruto wiped away the tear marks from her face as she gently nodded.
"Okay come on then sweetie," he said as Mina jumped onto his back as he piggy backed her before he started walking again.
Mina snuggled into his back and rested her head on his shoulder.
As they walked together the villagers of Konoha noticed the two together and all smiled and the women awed at the brother and sister duo. They could see from Mina's face that she had been crying and guessed Naruto must have been cheering her up.
As Naruto talked softly to his little sister who was happy being snugly with her brother, Naruto saw across from them was Itachi who had little Ria perched on his back just like Mina was.
Naruto appeared next to Itachi and nodded to the Uchiha. "You too huh?" he asked as he nodded. "How did they take it?"
"My mother was what I expected. She was shocked but she understood the need for space though she did cry and hug me for five minutes asking where her baby went. My father was not happy and told me I was forbidden from leaving. As you can see I did not listen and left. Sasuke was upset but I told him I would still see him most days though Ria clung to me."
"Yeah same here. The twins took it well as did my Tou-san though Kaa-san was not happy and wanted me to stay home. Mina clung to me as soon as I stepped outside."
Itachi nodded and both walked quietly with one another while their sister chatted to one another on their backs.
After five minutes they eventually made it to their new home. It was a decent looking apartment building with seven floors to it. It was a creamy colored building with a light red wooden roof on the top. It looked relatively new and was one of the better looked after apartment building in the Konoha since some tended to be a little worn. It was only fifteen minutes away from his old home.
Both boys entered and walked up all the flights of stairs until they entered up on the top level. They walked down the corridors and with their news key open up the last door on the end of the hallway.
As soon as they entered the saw Anko sitting on a couch they had bought together eating a late breakfast. She looked over and grinned when she saw them.
"Yo it's about time you got here. And you brought the little munchkins too." she said happily as she grabbed and spun Mina and Ria around making the two girls laugh, forgetting their earlier sadness as the purple haired older girl cheered them up.
"Can we keep them?" she asked and mocked pouted when Itachi and Naruto shook their heads.
"As nice as that would be I don't think our parents could handle another child leaving the home."
Anko winced. "That bad huh?"
"Pretty much," they both said before they went to put their things away in their new rooms.
Naruto walked towards the room that was opposite Anko's and walked into a room that was nearly twice the size as his old room and had a double bed stationed in the middle of the room. The bed had dark grey cover's and pillows and the wall of the room was painted dark blue. A window was stationed on the right side of the bed and two along with a bedside table on the right and a decent sized wardrobe to the left.
Naruto smiled at his new home and began to pack his stuff away.
Midway to putting his clothes into the wardrobe he saw Mina walk in and look around his new room.
"Do you like it?" he asked as he saw her looked at the room with narrowed eyes as if debating whether or not it was a good room and more important if she could sneak into it.
"Hmmm," she said before she ran over towards is bed and jumped onto it and rolled around on the covers. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her as she mess up his bed covers. He smiled and jumped onto the bed as well as making Mina go up in the air a little as Naruto caught her in his lap and tickled her tummy.
For a minute he ticked his little sister until she begged for mercy as tears of laughter went down her face. Once he stopped he saw her pout before it broke into a smile.
"I love you Mina-chan." he said as he kissed the top of her head. In response he got a big smile and a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
"Love you to Nii-san!" Mina said as brother and sister just sat there for a few minutes as they enjoyed each other's company and Naruto playing with Mina's longer hair which made the little girl giggle.
After a few minutes Itachi appeared in the doorway with Ria holding his hand. "We need to go pick up the coffee tables and the wardrobe for Anko. She did sucker us into getting it for her." he said as Naruto nodded.
"Mina-chan, Itachi and I just need to go make a few errands. Stay in the apartment and play with Ria-chan. We won't be very long." he said as the little red head nodded and ran out of the room and into the living room with Ria.
Cracking his shoulders Naruto stood up and with Itachi left the apartment together after seeing Ria and Mina playing with Anko.
"Do you think we should be worried? Leaving her alone with those two?" asked Naruto remembering their friend's new…hobbies.
"I'd rather have them take after her than those fangirls." Said Itachi, shuddering slightly as they walked out of the apartment building, making their way to the furniture store they had ordered from, which was on the other side of the village much to their annoyance so they jumped on top of the buildings and ran over.
Though after a minute of running Naruto suddenly stopped and his head snapped to the right of him; in front of him Itachi had stopped and jumped next to him, looking at him curiously.
"What is it?" he asked as Naruto narrowed his eyes and gained a look that Itachi recognized as when he got ready for a fight.
"There is a battle going on just right of us about a mile away and it seem to be a group against one person and that person is not faring well from their emotions and chakra. I recognized the signature." he said before turning to look at Itachi. "It's Shisui."