Naruto had been pouring over the scroll and he just couldn't decide on what to try and learn, there were so many cool things that he never even heard of. There were elemental attacks, defensive jutsus, genjutsus but since he sucked at those he just skipped them entirely. He was like a kid in a candy store and he just wanted to learn them all if he could. Hinata was looking with him but something was wrong to her, all these moves were way too advanced for them so why was the test to take this scroll if it held such dangerous looking techniques? Everyone had some type of warning to it and she was starting to worry that maybe they took the wrong one.
"Man Hinata-chan this is awesome which one should we try for?" he asked her.
"I-I don't know I mean th-these look a little too dangerous..."
He just shrugged, "Hey the shadow clone is in here and I use that so how bad could it be? Oh cool something with lightning that should be great!"
"Um w-w-wasn't your affinity wind?" Naruto looked at her a little confused as to what she meant, "You remember w-w-when Iruka-sensei tested us for affinities...the paper that changed w-when we touched it?"
Naruto thought hard but he honestly had been thinking about something else, he kind of remembered a paper being passed around but he was too busy making doodles in his notes of him beating up Sasuke to pay much attention. Hinata saw this and sweat dropped that he could forget his own elemental affinity, she herself learned that hers was water but Hyuga's didn't use much jutsus in battle and mainly used their gentle fist style a lot.
"N-Naruto-kun yours was wind remember?"
He just shrugged, "Sorry but if you say so then let me see...oh here's a cool one, vortex fist."
"No don't!" Hinata said stopping him from making the hand seals, "L-look at the warning."
Naruto looked and reading it over the jutsu was used to make a condensed wind in your fist, then with a punching motion you sent out a blast of powerful wind that would rip to shreds anything in its path the downside was that it could also rip apart the users hand and arm if they weren't careful and in bold it said that only seasoned jonin should even attempt it. Naruto looked at his hand and even though he had two he wasn't sure he wanted his arm ripped off.
"Man this sucks what can I do then?" He asked as he looked around some more and then his eye caught something, "Huh what's this? Exploding Shadow Clones..."This looked like it would work for him and he read the name and it was credited to have been made by an Itachi Uchiha. Naruto thought back and he wasn't sure if he remembered someone like that or not. It sounded very familiar to him for some reason but he just shrugged.
Sasuke was the only one left now but he wouldn't ask him if he knew the guy, most likely it was just some clan member that he wouldn't have known anyway. Naruto looked at it but it was kind of complicated so he asked Hinata for help. It would be later when Mizuki eventually showed up and put on his smile again as he came to the two children.
"Well I'm most impressed you two managed to do it, you're parents will be very proud of you two." Mizuki lied to them.
"Yeah I knew it, it wasn't hard at all they barely even tried to stop us anyway," Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his head.
Hinata stepped forward looking a little worried, "Uh...M-mizuki-sensei I-I think we took the wrong scroll."
"Oh and what is that?" He asked her.
She fiddled with her fingers as Naruto rolled it up, "I-It's just that, what's in it is way too advanced for g-genins. W-why would that be the scroll for the test when a-any genin that took it could do a lot of harm with it?"
Mizuki shouldn't have been surprised that Hinata had figured out something was wrong but it didn't matter he was going to kill the kids anyway so it hardly mattered to him. He smiled at her to reassure her and knelt down to her height.
"It's okay Hinata I'm sure that everything is okay, Naruto why don't you hand me that scroll now?"
"Oh okay sure thing," Naruto picked up the large scroll.
"W-wait maybe we should be the ones to take it back after all we t-took it," Hinata said to them both. She wasn't sure but something about all of this was wrong it something inside was screaming it at her. She didn't know why but she felt that the scroll had to be taken back and they had to be sure of it, from what she read it was too dangerous to be out in the open like this. It held a lot of the villages justus and some looked as though they were ones that the village only had as well.
Mizuki smirked at her, "I should have guessed you might have been a problem, Naruto is too stupid to think things through but I figured since you're such a weak little girl you wouldn't have said anything."
Both kids looked as though they had been slapped in the face by his words as his face shifted from the kind teacher to that of a darker look. He quickly grabbed Hinata and turned her around and gripped her throat with his free hand.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto called out.
"Move and she dies brat," Mizuki told him harshly.
"What's going on Mizuki-sensei?"
"You really aren't all that bright are you?" He smirked at the boy, "That scroll is the Forbidden Scroll, I had you steal it before I left this stupid village behind so I could finally get what I deserved all these years. I hated teaching at that school while my talents were wasted but because I'm not from some elitist clan or a noble family or some other junk like that I was held back. Well no more, now I get what's coming to me and you will give me that scroll."
Naruto gritted his teeth seeing Hinata's hands going to her throat for air, he couldn't believe that Mizuki had betrayed and used them like this. He thought he had known him, he had always seemed so nice but he had used them to steal from the Old Man and because he had dragged in Hinata into this she was in trouble all because of his stupid pride. He closed his eyes and picked up the scroll wondering what to do and then he thought of something his father told him many times in their training.
'Naruto remember this, a ninja that breaks the rules is trash but a ninja that turns their backs on their friends is worse than trash.'
'I remember dad,' Naruto thought to himself and looked at Hinata's pained face as she struggled for air. It was all his fault and he wouldn't let Hinata get hurt because of his stupidity, he angrily looked at Mizuki and tossed the scroll by his former teacher glaring at him as it landed a few feet from the adult.
"There now let her go," Naruto said to him.
Mizuki just smirked at the boy and with his hand tightened his hold on Hinata's neck even more, she was frantically trying to get his hand off as she couldn't breath anymore. Naruto saw her face changing colour and saw her eyes widen in fear and pleading for him to help her.
"What are you doing? Stop it you're going to kill her I gave you the stupid scroll!" Naruto shouted at him.
He just laughed in response, "Stupid brat you really think I'll let you two live? You can tell them exactly who took the scroll and by the time they find your bodies and figure out that I'm no longer in the village I'll be long gone by then. You should have known better but I guess it won't be all bad after all there are people that would celebrate your death."
Naruto had always known that some people hated him, he never knew why he just figured that maybe they just hated his family after all he had heard from his dad how his grandfather had killed himself after being a disgrace and all, but he was more worried about Hinata as she looked as though she had passed out by now.
"Do you want to know the real reason why so many hate you and why people have tried to kill you even like those two ninjas or those 'accidents' that happened to you from time to time?" Mizuki grinned seeing the boy's look made this all too sweet for him. "You remember the lessons on the demon fox that came and killed so many of our villagers? The Kyuubi the Nine Tailed Fox, well it was said that the Fourth Hokage killed it but it turns out that was all a lie. You see he couldn't kill it but instead sealed it into a boy a baby born on October 10th."
Naruto's eyes widened as he felt a sliver of fear and dread enter his heart at his words because that was the day he was born.
"You were that boy, you are the Nine Tailed Fox in a human form," Mizuki laughed seeing the boy's eyes and he had to admit it was nice to take the Demon Boy down a bit and he decided to twist the knife a bit more. "If you don't believe me how do you think you survived that kunai to the chest when you saved this girl all those years ago? How do you think you even managed to defeat a ninja at that age? You used the power of the demon inside of you that's how."
"The village just should have killed you and be done with it but no that stupid fool the Third thought otherwise and then Kakashi of all people had to take you in as his own son."
Naruto felt like he had just been kicked in the chest, he knew that he didn't look like his father but he just figured that he got his looks from his mother but every time he had asked about that his dad just changed the subject or said that it was too painful to talk about and he would tell him when he was older. But he had always thought that his father was Kakashi Hatake and now to learn that his father had been lying to him his entire life he felt his world caving in.
First he found out about a demon inside of him, that he wasn't really a Hatake and now Hinata would get killed because of him. It was that last thought that focused his mind seeing Hinata's limp form, and the all his pain he focused on the sole task of not letting her down anymore. He wouldn't let her die and he promised himself that he would protect his friends.
More determined than ever Naruto faced Mizuki, "Let her go now or I swear I'll kill you."
Mizuki just smirked as he threw Hinata's body aside and reached behind him to pull out one of the large shurikens that was attached to his back. He'd deal with the boy first then he could deal with the girl since she wouldn't be a problem. Naruto saw this and gritted his teeth as he got himself ready, he had to push everything he heard to the back of his mind and focus on beating him. Naruto formed a few hand seals and suddenly there were several dozen Narutos now in the forest.
"Ha! I like to see you beat us all!" Naruto shouted at him.
"That might have caught me off guard if I didn't already know you could do that," Mizuki said as they clones threw their weapons at him, they hit but he transformed into a log. With the substitution done he appeared again out of nowhere the threw his large shuriken weapon into the mass of clones. He took many of them down with one move and landed in the three tops pulling out the last one he had to his back.
"Pathetic you can't beat someone with the same trick brat."
"That's why I learned something new," Naruto said making more clones as they all charged Mizuki. He only threw the weapon at them cutting them all down to pieces.
He jumped down to the Naruto left and grabbed the boy by the throat and held a kunai to his neck, "You should have run boy and what did I say about the same old trick?"
Naruto only gave a small laugh, "I guess I forgot to say the new move huh? Exploding...Shadow Clone Jutsu..."
With that Naruto suddenly blew up sending the chunin back into a tree with small burns and in a lot of pain. He held a hand to his face feeling the pain of the explosive damage to it and to his body. He was trying to think what had happened when he heard a noise and saw Naruto walking out of the woods. Naruto calmly walked over to him thankful that his plan had worked. While Mizuki had been focused on the clones they covered him long enough to make a special exploding one and with a left over clone from the first wave he pulled his own substitution jutsu with that clone.
It had been something he had been working on for his dad for the next spar but it seemed that it worked. Now he just walked over to the man who was glaring angrily at him. Mizuki tried to speak but he couldn't get any words out he thought that Naruto was saying something but he couldn't hear with the ringing in his ears, that was when he passed out from the pain.
Naruto quickly ran to Hinata and checked her out, he held her in his arms and checked her breathing, she signed hearing her soft breath and he felt like crying at that moment. From nearly losing his best friend to the truth of his life he just didn't know what to think or feel at the moment. He was totally lost and he didn't even know what to do next. He just sat there holding her close to his chest.
It was a bit later when Kakashi had come to the scene one of his dogs had been taking him in the general direction and when he heard the explosion he came onto the scene with Naruto holding Hinata and Mizuki looking pretty bad on the floor. Kakashi walked over to Naruto and knelt down to him.
"Naruto what happened here?" He didn't get a response and that was worrying, "Son please talk to me."
"He told me," Naruto said and looked up at him with tears in his eyes, "Why didn't you ever tell me, why didn't you ever tell me about the fox or...or that...that I'm not your real son?"
Kakashi knew that he needed to have a talk with Naruto it was obvious that his son had taken the news pretty hard and he had been meaning to tell him but he wanted to do so when the time was right but it looked like fate and a certain chunin had ruined that.
-Hatake home-
Kakashi watched as Naruto walked silently to the couch, they had dropped off Hinata home on his son's insistence but he had been unusually quiet the entire time like he was now. When Hinata woke up she had told Kakashi what had really happened and he in turn had told the Hokage. Mizuki would be under guard at the hospital until he was well enough for Ibiki to get to work on him.
Kakashi was worried for Naruto as he looked so lost the entire time and now they were in his room sitting on his son's bed. The quiet was like nails on a blackboard to Kakashi but he sat down next to him and waited for Naruto to make the first move. He had to wait for a bit until Naruto seemed to come around long enough to start asking questions.
"Is it true? Was what he said about me being a demon and you're not my father true?" He asked choking back a sob.
"Well, yes and no." Kakashi said gently and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Listen to me you are not the demon, you're a hero Naruto because you keep the demon from harming anyone else. You're the jailer not the prisoner inside of you. So I don't want you to ever think of yourself as a demon, because there are those that know the truth and see you as the one that keeps us all safe."
Naruto felt a bit better hearing that, that he wasn't a demon but the fact he had something that terrible locked up inside of him wasn't something that he wanted to deal with. It was scary to think of that creature living inside of him all this time. Then he looked at Kakashi and pulled down his mask to look at the man who he had though had been his father.
"And...you're not my dad?" He asked his eyes filled with hurt at that.
Kakashi in a rare moment pulled his own mask down as it was a way for them to know when they were being totally truthful with each other, something to show that there were no secrets in that moment. He sighed and looked at the boy who looked so much like Minato it was scary. "I'm not your biological father no, I took you in and raised you as my own because I owed it to him to do it. He asked me to protect you and I will do that until the day I died."
Naruto looked down a moment hearing that.
"But, I soon saw you less as just a responsibility but more as family, Naruto you are the only family I have in this world and I wouldn't trade you away for anything. In a time in my life where I had lost everyone important to me you gave me something to help fill in that void and to keep me from a lost and lonely existence. I love you like you were my own son and I never want you to forget that."
Naruto was at a loss for words as he looked up at him, and before he knew it he lunched himself into a hug with the man. Kakashi smiled and gave him an one arm hug back rubbing his back, he knew that this all would be difficult to him. They stayed like that for a moment until Naruto pulled himself away wiping his eyes with his sleeve.
"Who, who were my parents if..." he let the end hang there he was going to say 'if you're not my dad' but after everything that seemed cruel to say.
Kakashi knew what he had meant to say but was thankful he didn't finish. He got up and Naruto watched him leave he came back later carrying a small box with him and sat back down. "Naruto I want you to know that you can't tell anyone who they are at least not yet. You're father made a lot of enemies and if they ever found out that he was your father they would come after you and you're not ready yet to face that. Do you understand?"
Naruto nodded his head.
Kakashi opened the lid and pulled out several old pictures, one was of him when he was a kid with his team and Minato. He smiled seeing Rin and Obito's faces in the picture they had been so young back then. He handed the picture to Naruto and picked up one of Minato Namikaze with a pregnant Kushina Uzumaki both of them were holding each other and smiling as he gave Naruto the photo.
Naruto looked at them and they seemed so happy and looking at the tall blonde man he couldn't help but see the resemblance, it was so weird for him to see these two as his parents. But he couldn't deny that he looked so much like the Fourth Hokage, although with his mask he guessed not many would suspect that.
He looked at the photo of Kakashi as a boy, "So he was your sensei?"
Kakashi nodded, "He was like a father figure to me after my own had died, the night he died he left several things one of them was a note to me to take care of you and I guess this is for you too when you were old enough."
Naruto was handed a small letter envelope that looked very old, he gently opened it up and took out an old piece of paper.
Naruto, I know that this is a long time coming and you'll have grown up so much by the time you read this. But I needed to give you some last words that I wanted you to have. I'm sorry this letter isn't longer there is so much that I wanted to tell you and so much that I wish I could have done with you but the Kyuubi is too close and I have to go soon.
By the time you read this I guess I'll have been dead for a long time, I wish I could have watched you grow up with my wife but it seems life doesn't go as you wish it to. I hope you have had a good life with lots of love my son, because we both loved you so much even before you were born. Your mother would sing to you all the time when she was pregnant with you and always talked about all the things she wanted to teach you. I wish she could have but she died fighting to give birth to you, she wanted you to live even at the cost of her life and that's why I chose you as well.
By now I guess you know what I had to do and I'm sorry I had to place this burden on you but there wasn't another way. A newborn was needed since only that would survive and hold the demon and I couldn't ask anyone else to do this if I wasn't. I designed the seal to allow the demon's chakra to merge with yours over time it's my hope this will give you a lot of extra power. It is also my hope that you are seen as the hero of the village as was my wish.
I asked Kakashi Hatake to look after you, I trust him more than anything to take care of our son. Naruto know this, you are a hero and your parents loved you more than life itself so please remember this my son and I know you will do us proud.
Minato.
Naruto felt the sting of tears on his eyes again after reading it, he didn't know what to say to that. He had learned so much about his life in one night that it was just too much to take all at once. He would need time to digest this all but the thought that his birth parents had loved him so much and that he wasn't the demon but the one holding it back gave him a sense of strength. And his dream of becoming Hokage took on a new determination as well, his biological father had placed a lot of trust in him and he would do him proud. He would become Hokage as well just as he did and protect this village too.
"Can...can I keep these?" Naruto asked Kakashi.
"Only if you keep them save and out of sight for now," He told him and Naruto nodded his head. Kakashi was about to leave when Naruto spoke up again.
"You know...they may have been my birth parents and he may be my father but I don't know him." Naruto said softly and then looked up at Kakashi, "He was never there for me when I was scared or hurt or lonely. He never made me laugh or took me out for ramen or trained me. He never told me stories when I was little or took me to the park to play."
"Yeah he was my father...but you're my dad. You always have been and you'll always be my dad no matter what."
Kakashi smiled as he ruffled Naruto's hair and the young boy grinned up at him. "I'm glad because even in all the ways that matter you are my son."
"Thanks dad," Naruto said softly.
"Well it's been a long night and you got a big day coming up remember?" Kakashi said and Naruto knew what he meant in a couple of days they would put him on a team. He couldn't wait for it but he was also dead tired. He could see Hinata tomorrow and check in on her as well, he hoped that she was okay. He put the letter and photo back into the box and placed it on a shelf in his room as he got ready for bed.
Kakashi watched him by the door and gave a soft smile, he knew that Naruto was keeping things inside he always did that to prevent other from worrying. He just hoped that he would be okay this was a lot to put on his shoulders he was a strong boy but even the strongest blades can break eventually. He walked off hoping that Naruto would eventually be okay and hoping that Ibiki would have a lot of fun with Mizuki and wondering if the man would let him join in at one point after all the man had tried to kill his son and frame him for a theft as well.
Next up Chapter 22: Choosing the Teams