Author's Note:

Rated 'T' just in case.

Disclaimer: Hmmm... copy and paste preferred disclaimer here...

I do not own Naruto or anything having to do with the original plot. The only things I do claim are my OCs, my continuing plot, and the jutsus I have created. Any likeness relating to pre-created jutsus are unintended and will be explained upon discovery.

"Thinking or Inner converstation / Dreams"

"Kyuubi speaking"

"Normal speech"

(Author's Note)

Family Ties, Truth Be Told

Prologue

"Mmm," she sounded off. "It's... warm... and light?" She thought to herself, taking note in the brightness from the window shining through her closed eyelids. Feeling a small weight on her hip, she groggily opened her eyes to find the cause.

She thought she was waking up but it was such a familiar sight that she saw all the time in her dreams... so she must be dreaming now. The love of her life was sleeping next to her peacefully, but something was different... She groggily lifted her head to look around. Naruto's hand was resting casually on her hip and their bodies were so close together she could still feel his breath on her skin.

This was new. The scenery was new. But it was nice, though it seemed way too familiar. Bathed in the morning warmth, she looked towards the source. Upon looking out the window, last night's events started coming back to her.

"Wait... morning?!" She thought frantically, sitting up. "Naruto, wake up!" She whispered sharply, gently shaking his shoulder. "We fell asleep!"

"Yeah, it was nice," he muttered, still half asleep and slightly blushing at whatever thoughts were going through his head.

This hadn't gotten past Hinata, however. She was conflicted between embarrassment and shock... but mostly embarrassment.

Applying herself back to the situation at hand, Hinata knew of one thing that was sure to wake him up.

The blond merely stirred to the familiar moisture on his lips. Finally opening his eyes just crack, his blurred vision showed that of a long dark haired figure with a red hue on her cheeks and closed eyes. The beautiful visage was now pulling away, once again opening her own eyes but not before a somewhat michevious thought struck him and had him closing his eyes again before she noticed, hoping to get some more easy lip action.

Slightly disappointed that he had not really woken up, or so she thought, she too had a michevious idea strike her.

With a beliveable fake gasp, Hinata perfectly acted out a panicked tone of voice as she said, "Naruto! Where's my clothes?!"

A moment ago, he had barely been suppressing a smile until he heard her words. His eyes snapped open and he sat upright in the bed, looking around before his eyes fell on his new girlfriend. At some point in time, she managed to cover herself neckdown with Naruto's blanket, effectively fooling him into think she was truely naked underneath.

"Wha-?! I-I... uhhh," unable to find the words, his eyes swept around the room unable to find any clothes on the ground. Finally looking down at himself, his panicked state finally startle to settle down as he realized he, himself, was still fully clothed. Taking another look at his princess, she had dropped the blankets to reveal that she too, was in fact fully clothed and barely stifling her giggles.

"Hinata-chan... You really had me for a moment there."

Without showing it, he was silently surprised by his dreamless sleep. Normally he would have been inflicted with a formless speech surrounded by the usual darkness, but this time... nothing. He did remember one thing though. It was not a dream, more like... a single image...

A darkish-haired woman with pretty brown eyes and a carefree smile...

Hinata giggled some more and then leaned her weight upon her hand on the bed and the other on Naruto's hip like he had been doing... or what she thought was his hip. She wasn't paying attention at first, but soon turned her head at feeling the odd curvature. It clicked in her mind that it was not exactly his hip... it was in fact, Naruto. She pulled her hand away so fast, she might've hit herself in the face. The certain blush on her face was now covered by both hands with muffled words coming from behind them.

"I-I-I-I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry N-N-Na-Naruto-kun! I-I d-didn't mean t-to..." She panicked, now sitting upright. She risked a peak at him through separated fingers.

"Oh, no, no, no, Hinata-chan. It's not what you think!" He tried to explain. With some effort, he managed to pull one of her hands away from her face, realing the predictable hue of her cheeks.

"See, look..." He stuffed his hand in his pocket and pulled out the blue box. It's edges were now a bit dented, but overall, still intact. The seal on the ribbon had faded by now and it became just a normal ribbon.

"W-Wha-What's t-that?" Hinata asked, now curious but clearly not completely over the ordeal.
"Dunno, Baa-chan gave it to me. I forgot all about it," he answered a bit sheepishly.

"A-Are you going to open it?" She asked, barely getting over the most previous incident.
Without answering, Naruto pulled on the ribbon undoing its knot. He let it fall to his lap. Next he took off the lid and fitted it underneath the box in his palm. At last, with building anticipation, he peered inside. Sunlight glinted off a shiny metal.

"W-What is it?" The timid girl asked breaking the silence, even more curious than before.
Naruto broke off the staring contest he was giving the object to glance at the questioning kunoichi next to him. Her eyes moved from Naruto to the object in his hand. He returned his gaze back on the box. He finally dipped his index finger and thumb inside to remove the mysterious item that held their attention.

"It's..." He started. He held the dangling oval object from its chain for them both to see.

"...a locket?" Hinata finished for him before gasping at a sudden idea popping into her head.

"What?" The blond asked, looking slightly worried for some reason.

"M-Maybe she wanted us to put our p-pictures in it...?" She guessed, blushing once again.
Naruto's eyes widened at her statement. Blood rushed to his cheeks to match the color of hers.

"Th-That's impossible! She didn't know about us at the time..." Naruto surprised himself slightly at the use of the word 'us' and sneaked a peek at the beauty next to him to see if she made any sort of reaction as well. Though she tried to hide it, her cheeks told him that she caught it too.

"I... didn't even know about us," she returned, trying to quietly sneak in the comment, though surprising on Naruto's behalf, not unnoticed by him.

This time not daring to sneak another peak at the blond boy, Hinata was now only gazing at the hanging locket, entranced by its features she had somehow missed the first time. Naruto decided to do the same.

"It looks expensive," he said, bluntly stating the obvious.

The locket hung from a silver and gold entwined chain. The two halves of the locket, which were also separated by silver and gold, had extensive designs on them. The silver side was etched with the spiral symbol that Naruto bares as the Uzumaki family crest. In the background, as if behind the 'spiral', there was an extensive carving of a large body of water beyond a cliff, presumably the sea, complete with birds, waves and... a whirlpool?

"What the hell is that supposed to mean...?" Naruto asked himself inwardly, perplexed. Like usual, he did not give it any further thought and turned the shiny object over.

The gold side was much like the silver except it was bestowed with Konohagakure's symbol for 'Leaf'. Behind the Leaf symbol was another extensive, but different, sculpture. Unlike the other side, it was a view seen by him on a daily basis. Though it looked a little different, it was his home. It was Konoha.

It appeared to be carved a long time ago as it looked almsot the same as it used to before the Chuunin Exam invasion a while back; which caused much needed repairs to the village.

Naruto guided his thumb across its surface, feeling every curve and bump in its design. He then noticed another difference in it's design. The Hokage mountain. It did not bare the face of the Fifth Hokage. It was definately old. Though old, it was very well kempt; otherwise, it would have been hard or next to impossible to make out its features.

"Wow..." They both muttered at last, entranced by its entricate design.

"O-Open it," Hinata suggested breathlessly, finally breaking the spell over themselves.

Naruto hadn't even thought of the possibility of it being opened. He was surprised at the suggestion at first, but then fumbled with the object for a few seconds before locating the button in which to open it. He pushed it, allowing the gold door to spring open revealing even more surprises.

What they had expected to be empty was, in fact, quite the opposite. On the inside of the locket, directly in the middle, was a small folding heart that not only served as the hinge for the two doors, but also as a press, to keep the two pictures pinned in place.

The pictures...

The silver side held a picture of a beautiful woman with long red hair and hazel or maybe brown eyes that were almost too hard to decipher due to the fading of the image. Though it was just a picture, the woman's radiant smile gave forth such a serene feeling that it washed over Naruto, locking his gaze. For some reason, this woman seemed so close to him, yet so distant.

Naruto's eyes finally wondered over to the other picture. Naruto let out a disappointed sigh. It was a man, that much he knew for sure. The firm jaw line, short spikey blond hair, and the adam's apple told him so. But the most important part of the face, the middle, was faded beyond recognition; almost dilberately?

Naruto was abruptly brought out of his trance by the sharp breath intake from the girl who had been quiet for quite some time. Naruto looked at her queastioningly. After a short while, he decided her silence was not helping so he followed her gaze back to the locket. After further inspection, he noticed something under the male's picture.

"An enscription?" He thought to himself. Getting a closer look at the tiny letters on the mini plaque, he could barely make out the name... Nomikazo Minoto. "Who's that?" He asked himself inwardly. "Well if this picture has one, then the other..." His eyes raced to the other picture and focused hard on the tiny letters. Had this been what had stopped Hinata cold... this name? He looked at the name in disbelief before examining the above picture for a long minute. Finally, he then switched his intent stare back to the other name. He focused even harder on it this time. If he looked surprised before, it was nothing compared to his face now.

Naruto's breath was caught in his lungs. His heart seemed to skip a beat or two. The look on his face was torn between horror and stupidy with a mix of relief, and at last, realization. His eyes were transfixed on this newfound discovery. The name of his parents... and with them, for some unknown reason, a genjutsu seemed to have lifted as neither of the pictures seemed to have faded one bit.

Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato!!

"WHAAAT?!"

A/N: Now I hope I have hooked you into the story with this prologue because this is the sequel to Troubled Decisions, Tears of Joy. If you have not read the prequel, please do so. This portion of the story focuses more on the Action/Mystery/Adventure portions. I'd like to think that I put enough action into the story for it to fall into that category.

Ok, now for those of you that have already read this part of the story, you may notice a change. This prologue was originally part of the last chapter of the the prequel, but upon request and attempt to improve the story, I have made this change. I hope you all enjoy it more this way.

Until Next Time...