Speaking"
'Thinking'
"Kurama speaking face to face"
'Kurama speaking inside head'
Naruto stood in front of the fireplace, eyes glued to the portrait, a storm of emotions raging inside of him. He didn't know what to feel; whether to be happy that he finally has found out who is parents are, 'Or were', he thought bitterly. Or whether to feel hurt that his jiji hid his parents' identity from him, or whether to feel furious at the treatment from the village.
His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Kurama consoled him, 'It's okay to feel this way, Naruto. Anyone who would have been in your shoes would have felt the same.'
Naruto finally sat down in Indian position, the energy leaving his legs. He tried to think something, but the thoughts evaded him, only the image of his parents situated in his minds. He was finally with his parents, yet at the same time, he was not.
Tears finally fell from his eyes from holding them back for so long. He cried for a long time, finally letting his emotions have an outlet. For the first time in his life, he felt like he was alone in the whole world.
Sniffling, he asked inside his head, 'Kurama, did you know about this?'
Kurama remained silent for a few moments, which were enough for Naruto to deduce that he knew. Kurama knew, and he still didn't tell him. 'I did know, Naruto. After all, you shared the same space with me for nine months inside your mother', the fox replied softly.
Naruto cried even harder after hearing this. It was like a whole new storm colliding with storm that was already raging inside him. On one hand, he was happy that he and Kurama were together even before he came into this world. On the other hand, he felt betrayed that Kurama would hide something like this from him. He was too emotional to make sense of Kurama's statement right now. He felt really alone.
After he finally stopped crying, he stood up too tired to explore the house right now. Hell, he was too tired to even form a coherent thought. Somehow, he climbed the stairs, opened the first door that was in front of him, and fell onto the bed, asleep before even hitting the soft mattress.
XXXXXXX
Hiruzen was panicking. He knew what the day was, and he had been wanting to get out of this office to spend time with his surrogate grandson. But fate seemed to have other plans for him as instead of having the normal amount, three stacks of paperwork in front of him, he was literally buried in the paperwork.
He assigned two of his ANBU, parrot and ox, to keep an eye on Naruto. Sadly, he didn't know and was unaware that the two ANBU were firmly against the demon-boy. He didn't know that they were the ones who gave the mob directions to where Naruto was in the evening.
It was only when they came to report that he found out the truth. The two ANBU appeared in his office and knelt down in front of him.
"Report!" he ordered.
Parrot was the first one to speak, "We lost the de- boy, Hokage-sama. Because today is the Kyuubi festival, crowds were thick and that is where we lost i- him."
Unfortunately for the two, Hiruzen didn't believe them for a second. If not for the seriousness that the situation demanded he would have laughed out loud that a five year old was able to lose them in a crowd.
ANBU were specifically trained for such scenarios. Secondly, he caught both of the slips of tongue. Demon and it were not so hard to deduce.
Hiruzen rarely felt anger. In fact, he rarely found the reason to get angry. Even Danzo could only get a small amount of irritation out of him. But right now, he was past irritated. No, he was downright furious.
All the ANBU in the room felt it. The ridiculous amount of killing intent that was coming from the Hokage. 'Shit', both the ANBU thought.
"CAT, BEAR!" he shouted. In an instant, the two ANBU were kneeling in front of the Hokage, just behind parrot and ox. "Orders, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen barked out, "Take these two to Ibiki! Tell him to hold nothing back and find out what they were doing this evening! Also, tell Inoichi that I want to know every face that was there in the mob! "
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" The two ANBU instantly caught the traitorous ANBUs and promptly flickered out.
Now that he was somewhat calm, the previous panic returned. Where was Naruto? Was he injured? Worse, was he dead? Was he even in the village?
He took out his ball that he used to keep tabs on the village occasionally. Mostly, he used it to ensure whether Naruto was alright or not.
He channeled his chakra through the ball, searching for Naruto. However, he was floored when nothing came up. He repeated his search two more times, just to be sure. The result remained the same. He did not like where this was going.
It was a strong possibility that Naruto was outside village walls.
"DOG, TIGER!" he called out. In an instant, the mentioned two were before him. "Track him down, no matter what! Even search outside the village if you have to!"
"Hai, Hokage-sama!" They flickered out. Hiruzen sat down with a heavy sigh. He was mentally exhausted from the paperwork he had been doing all damn day and then this.
'Where are you, Naruto-kun?'
He decided to sleep in his office and wait for them to come back and report, trusting his ANBU.
XXXXXXX
The sun's rays peeked from in between the curtains, falling straight onto Naruto's face. Blearily, he opened his eyes. Although he slept peacefully last night, he was mentally and emotionally exhausted. This type of exhaustion was new to him, having never experienced it before.
At first, he had no idea where he was, but then last night's memories came back to him.
He viciously fought back the tears that threatened to fall out again. 'NO! I will not cry again! I did enough of that last night!" he reminded himself. It was time, he decided, to think through this logically.
First things first, morning rituals. He got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom. Surprisingly, it was very clean and dust free, compared to the rest of the house. 'Weird', he thought before closing the door.
Second, he needed to get out of here and meet his jiji. He had no desire to meet that man now, but the man had looked after him like his own. He was there for him when no one was. He was probably worried sick.
Although, he was dying to explore the house, it was best not to worry the old man even more. Besides, the faster he could get this over with, the quicker he could return here to explore. Besides, who knows, maybe his parents left something for him.
As soon as he closed the gate behind him, he was surprised to see the seals on the gate glow a bit before the gate locked itself. 'They were not malfunctioning! The seals recognized my chakra, which is why I was able to get in!', he thought in awe. He had read that the Yondaime was regarded as a seal master of the highest caliber, but seeing it with his own eyes was entirely different. Sensing his chakra signature when he hadn't even unlocked his chakra? His father was awesome!
That decided for him. If his father could do fuinjutsu like this, he will too! And he would be better than him!
He then turned to leave, when a thought struck him. He was about to dwell on it but he roughly shook himself out of it, 'I don't have time! I have to meet jiji!'
With that, he ran out of the area, picking up speed when he realized he was quite far from the Hokage tower. En route, he mentally nudged his friend.
'Hey, Kurama! You awake right now?', for a few seconds he heard nothing, then he heard a yawn in his head, almost making him do the same before he viciously squashed the urge.
'What's up, Naruto?'
Naruto faltered in his running, almost falling flat on his face. He couldn't help the grin that came on his face. Hearing Kurama, an ancient demon, using the slang that kids his age do was hilarious. A stray thought from last night's conversation with kurama
'About last night, what did you mean when you said that we shared the same space for nine months inside my mother?', he asked curiously, turning serious once more.
Kurama replied, 'I meant what I said, Naruto. You are smart enough to figure out the answer to your question.'
Naruto's expression turned grim at that. It meant he and his mother were exactly the same, host of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. But why was his mother…..?
'Jinchuriki', Kurama interrupted his thoughts. Naruto blinked at that, 'What?' Kurama elaborated, 'Jinchuriki is the term that you are looking for. It means 'Power of the human sacrifice'. They are humans who have a tailed beast sealed inside them."
Naruto did not falter even for a second after this revelation. He was almost halfway to the tower, which means he could learn a little more.
'I get what you mean. What I don't understand is why my mother was a Jinchuriki before me? Also, what is my mother's name? Why was I made into one?', questions were coming one after the other like water from a running tap.
Kurama raised his eyebrows at the onslaught of questions, 'Whoa, whoa! Slow down, Naruto. You have to understand that I cannot answer all of your questions.'
Naruto was a little peeved at that, 'Why not?'
Kurama simply shrugged at that, acting as if he didn't even notice Naruto's anger, 'Because there is an old man who can answer these questions better than I can.'
Naruto calmed down at that. Kurama was right; he had no hand in who he was sealed. Jiji was the Hokage, he was the one who probably knew more about these matters. Another thought struck him, but the tower was within his sight now. Better make this fast, he mused.
'Hey Kurama! What was that you gave me last night as a gift?' he asked.
He could see Kurama grin in his mindscape, 'I'm surprised you could pick up on that. The fact that you unintentionally used it is even more impressive.'
Naruto scowled a little, 'Stop beating around the bush, Kurama! Just tell me!'
Kurama however, did not budge, 'Don't tell me you can't figure it out, Naruto. You may not know, but I can feel how close you are to figuring it out.'
Naruto was slowly getting irritated with the game of riddles that Kurama was deliberately dragging on. He was about to give him a mental scar to remember when he suddenly figured it out.
He had actually felt the mob approaching. 'Did you…..did you actually give me a sensory ability?'
Kurama shrugged.
Naruto mentally whooped, 'Thank you so much, Kurama! Secondly', his tone turned menacing, causing Kurama to lift an eyebrow, 'This is for annoying me with riddles!' With that, he turned his entire mindscape orange. He would cherish Kurama's yell of horror forever.
He reached the Hokage tower, panting only lightly. Standing in front of the tower, he felt a little anxiety creeping up inside him. He faced the sky, 'What is the time, Kurama?'
'Observing the position of the sun, it should be around six in the morning', he deduced.
Naruto idly questioned himself, 'Would jiji be even awake at this hour?'
He shook his head; he would not back down now. He steeled himself and entered the tower. Seeing almost no one in the corridors, he almost turned back, but resolutely thought to himself that he would wait for him.
He arrived in front of the Hokage's office; seeing the absence of the secretary he knew was supposed to be here, he sat on the bench outside the office. This was his first time in the Hokage tower, so he decided to look around. But there was not much to look around, 'All the important stuff must be someplace where only authorized people could access it', he assumed.
Sighing he closed his eyes, figuring he could talk to Kurama about his newly acquired sensory abilities.
'Kurama, how could I sense the mob before when I haven't even unlocked my chakra?'
Kurama thought about it a bit and then answered. He had nothing else to do anyway, 'Good observation, Naruto. It is simple; it was a newly awakened ability. Naturally, it would require time before it stabilizes. But before that happens, it is unstable for a little while. It was in that time period that you could sense the mob. If you were to try it now, you won't be able to use it", he explained, keeping it simple so Naruto could understand it.
After hearing Kurama's explanation, Naruto concluded that the ability Kurama had given was a chakra dependent ability. He could only use it as long as he infused chakra, that too, in a specific way so that he could sense.
'Damn, that means I have to first unlock my chakra', he pouted.
Kurama again spoke up, 'Before I forget, I did something else as well. Sensor ability was not the only thing I gave you.'
Naruto rose an eyebrow in confusion. Now that he thought about it, not many kids his age could do that, 'What do you mean?'
Kurama expanded on his statement, 'I tweaked your ability to sense danger as well.'
Naruto nodded, 'I noticed that.'
Kurama's grin became sly, 'Then did you also notice that when your danger sense activated, your surroundings seemed to slow down?'
Naruto froze. Did that really happen? He thought back to the events of last night, specifically when he avoided the knives that were about to skewer him. He did remember seeing the knives coming in a sort of slow motion. Damn…..
He mentally whistled, 'Holy shit, you are right! I remember that! How is that possible anyway?! This ability would be so useful in the future!'
Kurama shrugged, 'It was my way of saying thanks for what you did for me last night, Naruto.'
Naruto deliberated on whether to try and unlock his chakra right now, or to wait to enter the academy and then unlock it. So deep he was in his thoughts, he did not notice the Hokage coming his way.
XXXXXXX
Hiruzen had a restless night. The aged Hokage's worry increased when Dog and Tiger came back after a search that lasted four hours. The reported that they searched every corner of the village, every possible place where Naruto might be, but found nothing. Hiruzen had dismissed them and headed back to his home, turning in for a sleepless and worrisome night.
When he got up in the morning, his first thought was about whether Naruto was alive or not. He immediately got up, shaking off the morning drowsiness like a seasoned veteran. He quickly got dressed and used the body flicker to get to the Hokage tower. He quickly climbed the stairs that led to his office, intent on resuming the search for Naruto as soon as possible.
He froze in his tracks, however, when he saw a familiar orange jumpsuit wearing kid, deep in his thoughts, which was not unusual for him.
"NARUTO!"
His exclamation was filled with relief and happiness. Naruto looked up, and Hiruzen knew something was wrong when instead of seeing the usual face-splitting grin, he was greeted with a small smile filled with…sadness?
Nevertheless, he grabbed the boy into a bear hug, which Naruto did not hesitate to reciprocate.
"Are you okay, Naruto-kun? Where were you last night?", the questions rushed out like water breaking from a dam. He felt tons lighter than he did last night.
Naruto gave him a small smile and said, "Somewhat jiji, and as for the second question, I need to talk to you in private."
Relieved but his confusion growing, he ushered the boy in his office. Naruto's keen eyes scanned the office, looking for places where shinobi might be hidden. The Hokage cannot be without bodyguards, after all.
'The upper four corners of the room, that's where they are hidden', Kurama supplied helpfully. Naruto gave him a nod of thanks and then turned his attention to the aging Hokage.
"So, Naruto-kun, what did you want to talk about?"
Naruto debated whether to tell the old man to make his ANBU leave, but decided to kill two birds with one stone.
"I know who my parents are."
That simple statement changed the entire atmosphere of the office. Hiruzen tensed up and so did the ANBU in the office. To those who were intelligent, it was quite easy to deduce just whose son Naruto Uzumaki was. Fortunately or unfortunately, those were very few. However, Naruto's file itself was classified, with no one but only the Hokage had access to. To find out that Naruto knew about something that only the Hokage had the right to know was very unexpected.
Hiruzen wasted no time, waving hand seals. The ANBU recognized the order to leave them alone. They vanished and Hiruzen activated the privacy seals in the office.
He gave his complete attention to Naruto, "And who were they?"
Naruto was unnerved by the caution in the old man's eyes, but steeled himself and answered, "The Yondaime Hokage and his wife."
Hiruzen closed his eyes in acceptance and resignation. He always knew Naruto would find out, he just never expected it would be so soon. He opened them to find himself on the receiving end of Naruto's accusing stare, "Why did you pretend you didn't know, jiji?"
Hiruzen barely caught himself from flinching. He gave a sigh, "Who told you ?"
Naruto promptly answered back, "I figured it out myself."
"How?", the curiosity was killing him. He had to know if someone was out there wielding such dangerous information.
Naruto recounted the events of last night and at the end of his explanation, Hiruzen was both relieved and curious. Relieved because he was glad that no one besides Naruto and him knew his parents' identity, curious because he never knew that Minato had found a way to hide from his 'peeping' ball.
Both him and Naruto sat in silence for a while. Naruto was the one to break it first, hurt in his voice, "Jiji, why did you not tell me?"
Hiruzen responded, weariness coloring his tone, "Naruto, you have to understand that your father had many enemies. I could not afford to take the chance that you wouldn't blurt it out accidentally."
Anger finally filled Naruto, "Do you have any idea how desperate I was for answers?" He whispered, but the anger in his voice was as clear as the sky.
Guilt hit the Hokage with the force of Gai's fist. He could honestly not relate to Naruto's situation.
"Do you know", Naruto's voice was a bit louder this time, "How it broke me to not know the identity of my own parents?!" He was shouting at the end. "I have the right to that information more than any other person IN THE WORLD!"
Tears were freely flowing down Naruto's face by now. Hiruzen himself was shedding tears of his own. Naruto was right in that account. He had a right to know who the people were who brought him into this world. More so than anyone. But as the Hokage, his decision had to be logical. Sentiment could not be afforded by someone of his position.
Naruto had calmed down after a few minutes. "I have a question, jiji. And I want an honest answer." He was glaring at the Hokage by now.
Hiruzen wiped his own tears and answered, "I will do my best."
Naruto was looking at his feet, "Did they love me?"
Hiruzen smiled this time, nostalgically, "Naruto, you were their world even before you were born."
Naruto felt as if a weight had been taken off his shoulders. He had always wanted to know if his parents loved him. What child didn't?
"Did they leave something for me?"
That question caught Hiruzen off guard, however he was able to recover quickly, "Yes they did, but I don't know where."
Naruto lent back in his seat, eyes on the ceiling, thinking. If it was in this office, jiji would know, which means it is probably in his house.
'Kurama, would you know by any chance?', he decided to ask the fox.
'…damn, I was hoping to watch you scuttle around for answers. It is always entertaining', Kurama grumbled.
Naruto mentally raised an eyebrow, 'So you DO know.'
'Yes, in fact, it is the place where everyone would least suspect', answered the demon.
Naruto waited for more but it never came. He mentally huffed, 'Fine, I'll do it myself. And just for leaving me in the suspense', he changed his mindscape to orange, again. Kurama's howls were somehow louder than before.
'In a place where everyone would least suspect. Hmmm…..where could that be? From what is written in the books, dad was a very humble man, but the size of the house implies he liked to live in comfort. Since he was a seal master, a study where he did his work would also be there. But he would place seals all over it to be safe. Everyone would expect him to keep the important stuff in his study, locked tight', he thought.
Like lightning, the answer came to him, causing his eyes to widen slightly, 'Seals can be broken if someone is skilled enough. But no one expects to find treasure buried right under their noses. Which means what isn't in the study, is right in front of me!' The image of his parents' portrait came into his mind.
He stood up from the chair with such force that it was knocked backwards. "I KNOW WHERE IT IS!"
Hiruzen jumped up at the shout, eyes wide, "K-know what, Naruto-kun?"
But Naruto was already running towards the window. Hiruzen hurriedly deactivated the privacy seals, just in time. Naruto opened the window, and jumped onto the slope of the Hokage tower. His speed easily carried him towards the edge of the slope. He executed a perfect cartwheel on the edge, his hands holding on and legs going over in an arc, onto the wall. He then released his hold, falling towards the ground. He rolled perfectly to soften his landing and then ran full throttle, back to the house of his parents.
Hiruzen had gone pale as soon as he saw Naruto cartwheeling over the edge and letting go. However, panic gave way to relief when he saw Naruto had landed perfectly and was running away.
'That boy will send me to an early grave', he thought as he prepared to follow. He gave the order to stand by to his ANBU as he darted after Naruto.
He had to admit, for his age Naruto was unusually fast. He easily caught up to Naruto, who was easily ignoring the stares around him. Hiruzen asked the excited boy, "Naruto-kun, do you mind if I take us there quicker? I know where you are going."
Naruto glanced at him and said, "Then pick me up and do it!" Hiruzen nodded as he did just that and vanished in a body flicker. The villagers thought the Hokage was chasing the demon boy to kill him and when they saw him pick it up and vanish, they smiled. Everyone continued about their business, not suspecting a thing. [Villagers of Konoha are idiots, anyway]
XXXXXXX
Both the Hokage and Naruto, stood in front of his parents' portrait. Naruto spoke, without removing his eyes, "I forgot to ask in the excitement, jiji. What was my mother's name?"
Though he asked just that, Hiruzen thought it was better to tell him her story now rather than later. "Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She was a woman who was fearless, blunt, brash and one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She was a deadly Kunoichi as well. It is her name that you carry, Naruto", his nostalgic.
Naruto was amazed that his mother was so lovely. Beautiful, as well as deadly; Naruto mentally applauded his father for landing such a catch and promised to do the same.
"She was from Uzushiogakure, The Land Hidden in Whirlpools. The Uzumaki's were distant relatives of the Senju clan, the clan of the Shodai and Nidaime Hokage. They were feared for their fuinjutsu skills; they were the undisputed masters of the art. It was your mother who taught your father fuinjutsu. They had immensely dense and large chakra reserves, which gave them a longer life than any other ninja. Some of them had special chakra, which they could physically manifest in the form of chains. Your mother was one of them.", he recalled, with Naruto soaking it all up like a little child hearing stories from his parents.
Hearing how powerful his mother's clan and by extension, his mother was in fuinjutsu, his resolve to master it only strengthened. He wanted to ask him why she was made the jinchuriki of Kurama, but let it go. He could always ask another day.
He turned his attention back to the portrait. He could not find any seals, but given his parents' skills in fuinjutsu, they could have made a seal that hid all other seals. "How do we go about this jiji?"
Hiruzen pinched his chin in thought. There was a high possibility that the portrait only required Naruto's blood to open. Letters from parents were only meant to be read by family, after all.
"You have to apply a bit of blood on the portrait, Naruto-kun. If something such as letters from your parents is there, Minato would trust no one but his blood to read them."
He took out a kunai and silently asked Naruto if he could slice his hand. Naruto gave him his hand without protest. Quickly and efficiently, Hiruzen sliced Naruto's thumb, opening up a small cut.
Naruto, knowing his fast healing would seal it within seconds, instantly wiped his thumb on the painting before it closed.
For a second, nothing happened. Naruto and Hiruzen thought that they might have been wrong, but then the whole frame of the painting lit up, showing intricate seals that only an Uzumaki or Minato would have hopes of understanding. There was a small click, and the portrait pushed out a little.
Naruto, more eager than he had ever been in his life, opened the portrait. Inside there was something very unexpected.