"Jii-jii, I know why they hate me."
A startled expression flashed on the Sandaime's face before he quickly retracted it. "What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"
"They hate me cause of my parents. They hate me cause they released the Kyuubi."
One Day Ago
Laughter filled the air as 9-year-old Naruto leaped across the leaf-top as ANBU elites chased after him. He liked to think this was his best prank yet.
After all, who else can say they set firecrackers in the Shinobi bathhouse.
As Naruto nimbly avoided his pursuers, he let his gaze reach the people below. He bet they heard of his recent accomplishment. But, instead of being entertained or even being annoyed, their expressions were the same as always.
Disgust and Hatred.
Naruto didn't know why no matter what he did, whether pull pranks or even just eating at Ichiraku, he always receives such nasty looks from the adults. Sure, he may not be the best-behaved kid, but neither were his classmates Shikamaru or Kiba. And those two didn't get any glares as bad as he did.
Despite what some people would say, Naruto wasn't a complete idiot. He was aware that there was some reason he wasn't aware of that made people hate him. It was much worse on his birthday when the glares were extra harsh and more of the mask men were nearby, weirdly enough glaring at the other people instead of him.
Luckily he had his master plan: become Hokage and everyone will forget their hate and respect him, just like Jii-jii.
Hearing the masked ninja's coming closer, he turned corners and leaped into the window of a rusty-old apartment. He could hear the frustrations of the ANBU as they made off.
"Heh heh!" Naruto chuckled.
"Who's there?" he stiffened as he saw an old man lying on a tattered sofa. The man rose into a sitting position and glared at Naruto, leaving his various liver-spots and scars on his bald face in clear view.
"Uh, hi?" Naruto said.
"You again," the man grumbled as he got up and walked towards him. "What're you doing here, Kushina?"
Naruto winced at the man's breathing. Clearly, he's been drinking that weird adult stuff sake. "I'm not Kushina! My name's Naruto, and I'm gonna be the next Hokage, dattebayo."
The man blinked and let out a curse, one Ayame-nee told Naruto never to say. "Sorry missie. I must be too drunk right now. You just look a lot like Kushina. Hell, ya even had the same weird verbal tick."
"Hey, I'm a boy, 'tebayo!" Naruto protested. "Wait, did you say I look like her?"
"Yeah, I did. And you even sound the same."
"Cool!" Naruto grinned. "I must be related to her!" One of the lessons that Naruto barely remembered was that clan kids always inherited traits from their parents. He figured if that was the case for Shikamaru's laziness and Sasuke's bastard-ness, then his own traits must be Uzumaki's
The old man laughed. "I hope not! After what she and her boy-toy did, I doubt any kid would wanna have her as a mom."
Naruto frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Sit down, kiddo." Naruto sat on the floor as the old man did the same. "Ya heard of the Kyuubi?"
Naruto nodded. "You bet! That's the demon that attacked Konoha 9 years ago before he was beaten by the Fourth Hokage!"
"Bah!" the old man yelled. "That was only the honorable Namikaze-kid cleaning up Konoha's mess."
"Huh?"
"How do you think a giant demon fox got into the village? Unless it was already here."
"What do you mean already here?"
"Ya see," the old man grimaced. "The inglorious bastard Uchiha Madara was jealous at the First Hokage. So he found the demon fox and unleashed it onto the village. But Hashirama-sama had a plan. He had the fox sealed into his wife, Uzumaki Mito-sama."
Naruto gapped at the fact that he shared a name with the First Hokage's wife before frowning. "But why would he seal it into her?"
"Cause that what responsible ninja's like we do, The old man said. He gestured at a green vest hanging on the wall by a rusty nail. "I used to be a chunin in my day. Shinjitsu Kazuto, everyday paper-nin. I didn't get access to all the big-wig info, but I found what I could.
"Anyway, life went on after that. Hashirama-sama died and passed the mantle to his brother, who passed it to his student Sarutobi-sama. The Sannins made their arrival. And through it all, Mito-sama grew old. She couldn't keep the Kyuubi inside her. They needed a special person with a large amount of chakra and stamina to put it in. So they brought over a girl from Uzushio. Her name was Uzumaki Kushina."
He coughed. "She did well, given the task. She rose up to become a Jounin and fought valiantly in the Third Ninja War. But at the end, she failed, all because of a selfish choice."
"W-what do you mean?" Naruto asked. "What did she want?"
"She wanted a child."
"And that's bad?"
"In her case yes. Ya see that special seal that keeps the Kyuubi inside her had one vulnerability. It'll weaken when she was giving birth. I learned that when overhearing the Sandaime's wife, Biwako-sama, talking about it in her office at the hospital. Bless her soul." He rose up his hand as if he still had a bottle in it.
"So," Naruto began, fearful of what will come next. "What happened after that?"
"The Kyuubi got out, didn't it. She had her child and the seal fell, letting that demon run wild and kill without cause. Heard she died after that, after what she'd deserved. And you know the rest. Namikaze-sama shows up. Fights the demon, then kill it before ending his life." He held to his chin in thought. "Now that I think of it, even a last Uzumaki like her couldn't get a clearance to have a kid if they knew what'll happen. Maybe the boy's father was the Yondaime himself. Imagine that, our sacrificial hero was only cleaning the mess he and his lover made. Ha! I wouldn't want to be their kid after that!"
Naruto was deadly still as he took in the news. He was the reason the Kyuubi went wild. His parents had him, and then the Kyuubi got out of her mom and went crazy. No wonder everyone hated him.
"And guess what, the fox wasn't even killed. Get this, the Yondaime actually sealed it into the-" Kazuto blinked when he saw the empty space in front of him. "Where'd he go?"
The Next Day
Normally, Sarutobi Hiruzen had to finish the latest batch of paper-work at this hour. But it's not like he couldn't focus on it with the current news.
Naruto didn't come to class that day. Despite his low grades, the boy made an effort to attend in his goal to become Hokage. And when Hiruzen checked with Ichiraku, he learned that Naruto didn't even stop by for some ramen. Something was clearly wrong.
Hiruzen stopped at the entrance to Naruto's apartment. He knocked once before speaking. "Naruto-kun?"
"Go away, Jii-jii!" He heard. He frowned at the pained expression in the boy's voice.
"Is everything alright?"
No answer. "If you don't open…" he was silent for a beat before smiling. "I'll use one of my many Jutsu's to break down this door. One. Two."
The door was quickly open. "Don't do it!" Naruto yelled in protest.
Hiruzen's smile fell when he looked at the child. His eyes were red from a lot of crying. He smelled like he hasn't cleaned up since yesterday.
"What's the matter Naruto?"
Naruto was silent for a few seconds before speaking. "Jii-jii, am I bad?"
"Of course not."
"Were my parents bad?"
Hiruzen froze. Where was that coming from?
"Jii-jii, I know why they hate me."
A startled expression flashed on the Sandaime's face before he quickly retracted it. "What do you mean, Naruto-kun?"
"They hate me cause of my parents. They hate me cause they released the Kyuubi."
"Where did you learn that?" Hiruzen said. He was lucky that Naruto didn't know he was the Kyuubi's container. But knowing his parents were connected to it, now that was worse.
"And old man named Shinju Kazu."
It probably wasn't right, but it was close enough for a lead. "What did he say?"
"That the Kyuubi was actually in a woman named Uzumaki Kushina. But then she gave birth and it came out of her seal. Then she died." Naruto looked up with a broken expression. "I'm the only kid my age born on October 11, the day it attacked Konoha. I'm the Kushina lady's kid. Shinju-san said I even reminded him of her. The Kyuubi hurt everyone cause I was born. My parents died because I was born. It's-"
"That's enough, Naruto," Hiruzen said, before gently placing a hand on the boy's head. "Naruto. Don't blame yourself for what happened. And don't blame your parents, either. They didn't have you because they hated Konoha," 'Far from it.' "They had you because they loved you."
"R-really?"
"You should have seen Kushina when she learned she was pregnant. She glowed with a life most mothers would be envious of. She and her husband counted down the days until you were born. I told you that Konoha was like a family. Well, everyone should have the right to have a flesh-and-blood family of their own. And no one could be more deserving than Kushina."
"She really loved me?" Naruto asked, a smile growing on his face.
"That's right. My wife Biwako and the Yondaime worked to adjust the seal so she can safely have you in her arms." A dark frown crossed his face. "But on that night, an enemy ninja came and ripped the Kyuubi out of her. That's the man responsible for unleashing the Demon Fox. Not you, and not your parents."
"Did the Yondaime ever stop him?" Naruto asked.
"He did, just like the Kyuubi. Your parents gave their lives to save Konoha, and to save you. Always remember that, Naruto."
"Thanks, Jii-jii!" Naruto rose up to his feet and held up his fist. "Yosh! I'll become an awesome ninja just like Kushi- just like mom! And then when I'm Hokage, I'll remind everyone of all the good they did!"
"Ha ha ha!" Hiruzen laughed. "I know you will, Naruto."
"Especially since I'm also the Yondaime's son!"
"Excell- wait, what did you say?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot. Shiju-san said the only reason my mom was allowed to have me must have been because my dad was the Yondaime. You know, now that I think about it, I also got blonde-hair and blue-eyes like him! I must be his kid, right Jii-jii?"
"... oh, shit."
So I've been reading some Naruto fanfiction, and I discovered a few points where elder ninja's would blame the Kyuubi attack because of Kushina's pregnancy. So I wonder how would Naruto feel if he thought the reason people hate him was literally because he was born.
On the bright side, he now knows the identity of his parents, and remains unaware about Kurama for now. On the downside, Shinjitsu Kazuto is going to be executed for spilling vital secrets to a child while intoxicated.
