Parental figure

Prologue

The day of the massacre brought along many changes, the strongest village was brought to its knees, it's leader killed along with his loving wife, a portions of its military forces wiped out and the prideful inhabitants were made to fear for their very lives. But it was also the end of the being known as Kyuubi no kitsune, the strongest of the bijus, it's soul torn in half with the yin half never to be retrieved. The interesting thing to happen was when it's yang half was sealed in a child along with the the memory imprints of its parents, it resulted in a creature of energy that was a whole greater than the sum of its parts, with only the child it saw as its own bringing about purpose to its existence.

It watched it's child grow up alone and unloved with no one to take care of him. The hopeful existence of its innocent child was being slowly crushed before it eyes and it was helpless to prevent it. It lived in a prison anguishing in agony and rage without any way to comfort it's forsaken son and no option left but to abide it's time. It might not have had any memories of how it came to be, but was clever enough to watch and learn about the way the world worked. With the clarity brought on by its cunning nature it was obvious to see that it was not the child's parent. But it also could not refuse it's love for the child. It decided whatever may come in its path, the child would be better off with him as his parent as it was obvious no one else was willing to step forward.

The years flew by and Naruto soon joined the academy to be trained as a ninja of the village. It despised the village but was at least grateful for the small mercies life threw Naruto's way. The manipulative nature of the supposedly kind old man was clear as day even to its limited experience, but those honeyed words also kept the hope alive. That there was light at the end of the tunnel and things would turn out for the better in the future. The old man wanted Naruto to be beholden to Konoha, trying to win the hearts of its deluded denizens, chasing a fool's dream while wearing rose tinted glasses. Well, not if it had any say in it.

The ninja academy was a gateway to knowledge. Paving the way for minds to be enlightened. The rules of reality are explained for those willing to listen, along with proper training provided to manipulate the chakra within. That is, if you are not named Naruto Uzumaki. The pettiness of the human nature stoked its fire but all it could do was wait for its time.

The nature of chakra at least cleared the mysteries of the inhuman feats it had witnessed before. And why only a few could do it. It's chest welled with pride when it saw how great Naruto's chakra capacity was with the potential to achieve greater heights. Sadly it could not clear up the truth of its existence what with it being a creature of energy that clearly was not human.

The days passed with Naruto slowly being disillusioned about finally finding his place in life in the well propaganded academy and the hopes of any change being steadily overshadowed by the truth in front of him. It knew it's day would come, but it could only hope that it would not be too late by then.

The doors of change creaked open a little providing the opportunity it was waiting for. The children were being taught how to unlock their chakras and it felt a small connection form with Naruto when he unlocked his. There was a small part of its energy leaking into his, nothing too significant to be noticed but enough to provide some leeway for it. It waited for the connection to be stabilized while the day turned to night. When it felt it was good enough to begin, it pulled the sleeping Naruto into his mind.

Naruto jolted to consciousness when he was dropped into the puddle and scrambled to his feet trying to make sense of his surroundings. Everything was too real to be a dream he decided, the coldness of the cave slowly seeping into him. He could not see very far on either of the paths and didn't know whether to move forward or look for a way behind him.

"Naruto, stop dawdling about and come here soon.", called a deep inhuman voice making him jump in surprise. "I have waited long enough to finally meet my son."

To say Naruto was shocked would be understating what he was feeling. He started moving forward, his body moving towards the voice on its own, half in curiosity and half in fear. He soon reached the entrance to a large cavern, a steel door barring him entry.

"Hello, are you in there?" Naruto hesitantly called out, his voice tinged with confusion and rekindled hope.

"Yes Naruto, I have always been here. And I have always wanted to tell you how proud of you I am."

The obvious pride and love he could feel from the voice brought him so many questions with one being at the forefront of all.

"Who are you?"

"I am your father Naruto. I have been watching over you from when you were just a baby."

"But, I have never seen you or heard you before. Where were you all this time? How am I even able to speak to you now? I thought you were killed by the Kyuubi."

"I might not be the father that died in the massacre, son, but I am the one who will be with you from now on. It is not by blood that we are related but by fate and love."

"If what you say is true, then how come you are still behind this door and not in front of me?"

"This is your mind Naruto. I do not have the power to open this door for I am bound to this place. Only you can reach this place. I could do nothing but wait for this day to come for as long as I could remember."

"Can I come back here again?" Naruto asked fearing the worst. "Will you still be here?"

"Don't worry Naruto. This is only the beginning. There is much we have to talk about and things are about to change for the better even in the outside world."

"How do you know that? I don't even know your name. Are you also a Uzumaki?"

"No son, I am not a Uzumaki and you can call me dad. I do not have any other for I did not exist until after you were born and never had any reason for a name."

"But that doesn't even make any sense."

"I do not have an explanation either, son. This is all that I have lived."

That was the last Naruto heard as he felt himself being woken up from his fitful slumber by the first rays of the morning sun.

"Dad?", he called out in a panic, fearing being alone again only to be reassured by a wave of energy ripple out from his core. When he listened closely he could almost feel the steady pulse of energy leaking into his body that he was sure was not his chakra. He couldn't help but keep smiling at the thought of someone being there for him.