"Not something to worry about now." Teuchi snickered and pointed to the big red word 'TERMINATED' that was under the ID photo. Once Naruto calmed down he skimmed over the creature's information. "Whatever they're harvesting from the first guy is letting all these plants crossbreed, which made this thing and by accident you, Naruto … HA HA HA you're a pansy!" He laughed and suddenly yelped when the mini moss ninja swatted him with a vine. The two playfully glared at each other.
Ayame chuckled, but leaned over and flipped back to the set of pictures involving '000'. "If everything is connected to this person let's finish going through what little there is." She said, trying to get the boys to focus and everything back on track. "They use the word decoy!"
The second she said that Teuchi and Naruto looked at the screen. In two lines at the very end of the information were the biggest shocks of the day …
'Best emergency blood donor option for '000' - Offspring (decoy) {TERMINATED}
Replacement decoy is not a blood match.'
After a few minutes, Ayame set Naruto down on the floor and went to get something in a different room. In his shock,k Naruto actually shifted back into his human form. Unfortunately, he dropped his clothes earlier so he was naked.
"Dammit!" The blonde muttered and quickly put his clothes back on. He rolled his eyes when he heard Teuchi snicker and finally looked at the screen again. "What does this mean? They seemed to call me the decoy … but I'm not the first?" He asked, trying to ignore the sting in his heart after the emotional smack he received from believing he found his family only for that to be wrong.
"I think I know," Ayame called over from her room before running back to them. In her hand was a photo. "The thing mutating '000' is chakra based, right? Do we all agree on that?" Ayame asked hesitantly.
Teuchi frowned and glanced at Naruto, "It seems pretty clear from the pictures Naruto took."
With that said Ayame took a deep breath and showed them the printed photos, "This was when you were four and this was when you were five, Naruto-Just hear me out." She snapped at her father before he could interrupt. "I know you don't want to jog anything, Dad, but I think this explains everything."
Naruto smiled as he looked at the two pictures, which both showed the young blonde enjoying a birthday ramen with the two ramen chefs, "Jog? You mean my memory?" He pondered out loud. In fact, he did only vaguely remember the photo when he was five, but nothing before that.
"That's right." Ayame pointed to the photo with the four-year-old blonde. "A few months after this the villagers were especially ruthless and you disappeared for a few weeks. The Hokage himself came to tell us that you were in the hospital."
Teuchi scoffed, "Asshole wouldn't let us see you-ow!"
Ayame pinched her dad, effectively shutting him up, and continued, "I think that's because there wasn't a living Naruto to see. Think about it. What's a chakra-based being that is somewhat easy to trap in a human? What stigma were both these blonde children forced to carry?" Ayame asked hoping they would see what she was thinking. She felt heart ache when Naruto's eyes widened and his hand unconsciously grabbed the fabric of his shirt that covered his stomach. "That's right. I think this is all about the nine-tailed fox's real host and the decoy assigned to it publicly be the host."
"We have no way to confirm that and the files state that it's an infection," Teuchi argued weakly, trying to find a way to make it not make so much sense. If it was true then it's quite heartbreaking for all of them.
With great care, Ayame set the photos on the desk and lined them up, "Actually … Look at the differences between the Narutos. Hair, eyes, skin color and-"
"All of those things can change over time," Teuchi said pointedly and glanced at Naruto, who was watching Ayame intently. The young blonde seemed to be waiting patiently for her to continue. It was like he wanted to know, but also already had a feeling that he did know something. Almost as if he was trying to remember something.
"What about birthmarks?" Ayame asked solemnly.
There was something about Ayame's tone that made Teuchi and Naruto look closer at the two photos. For a moment they didn't notice anything. However, after a few minutes of directly comparing the two sets of whisker marks they did see a difference. More than one actually.
It was much more than just the subtle color difference. The current Naruto's marks were darker. That, however, can also change with age. What age wouldn't change is the alignment of the whisker marks.
Yes. The current Naruto's whisker marks were perfect reflections of each other on each cheek. Perfect spacing. Perfect alignment.
As for the four-year-old Naruto, the lowest mark on the left cheek was hanging lower than the lowest mark on the right cheek. That was definitely something that was harder to explain away. Can birthmarks get annoyed with their lack of symmetry and fix themselves? Not likely.
However, what if there was a chance to redo it? For example, let's say the person carrying the annoying flaw was accidentally brutally butchered by villagers and you needed to get a replacement. Would you really recreate the flaw or would you finally take the chance to carve in some symmetric marks? It was a subtle thing that only those who got close to Naruto, without covering the marks with blood and bruises, would notice. No doubt someone decided to take that chance thinking no one cared enough to notice the tiny change.
Naruto's eyes shifted, clearly frightened as his mind slowly processed what was going on, "Mizuki said … and Iruka too … If I'm not Naruto then-" He suddenly paled and looked at the two ramen chefs. "I'm not your Naruto-"
Ayame immediately pulled Naruto into a hug, "You are still you, which means you're our family. In fact, I'm happy knowing I had two little blonde brothers. The only thing we learned today is that this village didn't just torture one little brother, but took the other from me. Understand me?" She sobbed softly as she buried her face in Naruto's neck. Teuchi wrapped his arms around them both and hugged them. Of course, the touching moment came to an end with a joke.
Teuchi snickered, "At least, we have plenty of free-range meat for you, Naruto, and you can branch out your tastes."
"The puns will never end, will they?" Naruto groaned, getting snickers from the homicidal chefs.
Ayame ruffled the blonde hair, "We won't show any mercy whether it's with roasting these villagers in fire or with puns." She said and was happy to see Naruto smile as he wiped away the tears.
Naruto spotted the laptop and his smile dropped, "The nine-tailed fox is always sealed in someone, right?"
"I never heard of any other method and it might explain how the tube guy ended up like this. All someone would have to do is tweak the seal." Teuchi mused out loud.
Naruto was lost in thought for a second before looking at the ramen chefs, "That could've been done without his consent, right?"
Ayame smiled sadly, knowing that Naruto wanted to save '000', "I wouldn't be surprised if he is being held against his will, but he's clearly healing. For now, we know he's safe and we know that you aren't in danger of a sudden kidnapping any time soon. It'll be too much trouble trying to get another replacement decoy at your age. This will give us time to figure out the rest of this."
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Rest of what?" He asked, feeling a headache coming on because of the massive amount of infection they discussed already. His brain might pop if anything else was added.
The younger ramen chef tapped her chin in thought, "Well it'd be nice to know the actual name of the guy in the tube. We really only know the story, which was that the Fourth Hokage sealed the demon into a child. That's clearly a lie so what's the real story, who's behind the lab and knowing what your powers can do is something we should figure out between missions."
Teuchi scoffed, "You're missing the most important one." He said matter of factly, making Ayame twitch in annoyance.
"Do tell," Ayame muttered, waiting for the dramatic reveal of what her father believed was a brilliant thought, which usually was just a corny joke.
"We need to think of a name for you. Yeah, we still have to call you Naruto in public, but you deserve your own name that we can call you in private." Teuchi explained happily.
Ayame gasped, "That's actually a good idea!" She exclaimed with a smirk.
"Hey!" Teuchi huffed as the two burst out laughing. "How do you like the names Violet, Daisy, or Rose?"
Naruto immediately stopped laughing and glared at Teuchi, "Those are girls' names!"
Teuchi shrugged, "There's no distinction nowadays. I met a guy named Flippy a little while ago. At least, my names fit the theme."
"None of those plants were in that file of the vine creature," Ayame said pointedly.
The older ramen chef struck a thinking pose and hummed thoughtfully, "How about Moss Munchkin?"
Out of nowhere, Teuchi yelped as an annoyed moss hedgehog started chasing him. Ayame was laughing wildly as Naruto was hurling his vines at Teuchi one at a time. It was great practice and hilarious, but ultimately harmless.
After everything calmed down everyone went to bed including Naruto, who stayed in the guest bedroom. They'll need plenty of rest for what is to come.
"Hurry up, idiot!" Sasuke called out as Naruto carried a heavy box their new client gave them to deliver.
Sakura giggled, "Aren't those goggles cute, Sasuke? He's actually thinking he'll be a real ninja." She whispered to Sasuke, who had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from laughing. Due to suppressing his laughter, he ended up snorting just as the blonde got close.
Naruto heard Sasuke snort as he ran over to them, "I'm moving. I'm moving. Get off your high horse, Sasuke. Geez, you complain a lot for someone just standing in the shade." He said with a mix of annoyance and teasing in his tone, making it sound like he thought Sasuke was just being an ass like usual and was trying to get back at him.
In truth, Naruto heard the entire conversation. However, he had to play along no matter how mad he was at them. The two fake teammates had no problem leading him around and he couldn't do much to stop it. All he could do was try to get under their skin, which wasn't going to be easy considering they were trained higher-ranked ninjas.
Sasuke scoffed, "Whatever, idiot. Where'd you get those cheap goggles? Can you even see through those?" He muttered despite being well aware of what brand of goggles they were. Actually, he was a little jealous that Naruto managed to get some.
On the other hand, Sakura was more curious especially since the demon stigma should make it impossible to get decent equipment. After all, why would he need any when he was meant to be dangled in front of dangerous situations, but unknowingly be protected by Sasuke and Sakura? Ideally, he'd never need to actually fight or grow strong.
The blonde grinned, "Ayame and Teuchi gave them to me for doing that taste test last week."
Sakura smiled, "How sweet of them." She kindly, but then immediately glanced at Sasuke.
There are a few reasons that civilians aren't allowed to buy ninja equipment. Mainly because ninjas can't be left without the very things they need to complete missions. There was one time a brat wanted a ninja-themed party. So many genuine pieces of ninja gear were bought that there was a shortage and missions were delayed. As a result, the Hokage made all civilians return the gear and banned the sale of such things to civilians.
Obviously, everyone handed everything back save for the parents of the brat who started the mess, who were pissed. They demanded compensation and a fully paid birthday party in the Hokage tower since the Hokage was the one who ruined their son's party. On top of that, the brat cut his finger on the kunai his parents bought. Of course, the parents tried to use that as another excuse. The hokage answered the parents with a couple of questions …
Would you walk into your kitchen, pick up the sharpest knife, and give it to their son should he ask for it? If not, then why give him a sharpened weapon that only a trained killer would use?