Flounders and Fishcakes

Chapter 0: The Guy Who Flies the Plane

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he walked up to the door. He had tried to open the scroll hundreds of times in the past 7 years, but all of his attempts had met with failure. He didn't want to give it to the boy, he really didn't, at least not while he didn't know what was inside. For all he knew, it could be an assassination attempt, hidden within a forgery. But he had no choice. The blood seal required someone with both Namikaze and Uzumaki blood to be opened, and there was only one person in the village that fit those requirements.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Hiruzen banished his worries and put on a smiling mask as he knocked on the door. It was the boy's birthday, there was no need to give him any unnecessary misery.


Naruto smiled as he saw the Sandaime walk up to his door. Although he hated his birthday, one thing that happened without fail is that the Hokage would come to his house, and give him a gift, and make him laugh. In fact, he could see his present in his jiji's hand. He grimaced when he saw that it was a scroll. "He wants me to read? No way!" thought Naruto. "But maybe it has a super-cool jutsu inside, and when I learn it, I'll be able to take that hat from him! I'll definitely read it, -ttebayo!" He ran towards the door of his apartment when he heard the knock from the other side. He opened it, and was greeted by the smiling visage of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

"Hello Naruto-kun. Happy seventh birthday!" greeted Hiruzen as he gave Naruto the scroll.

Naruto peered at the scroll, trying to discern its secrets. After a while, he tried to rip it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Jiji, what's with this thing?"

"It's from your parents, Naruto-kun." At hearing this, Naruto calmed down a little.

"What do you mean?" asked the boy.

The Sandaime chuckled. "Whatever's inside that scroll, is from your parents, or your father at least. They put a seal on it to make sure that only you can open it. You have to put some of your blood on this, you see?" Hiruzen pointed to the blood seal. "Come here, and I'll help you open it." A few minutes later, the scroll sat on the ground, ready to be opened. Hiruzen coughed to get Naruto's attention. "Well, Naruto-kun, I'll leave you to it. If you don't understand your gift, come to me, and I'll help you to the best of my ability. See you later, Naruto-kun." At that, the old Hokage left, but not before asking an ANBU to watch the boy, especially if the present seemed dangerous or was a weapon or jutsu of some sort.


Naruto looked down at his present eagerly. He gingerly grasped the scroll and pulling it downwards, he began to read.

Hey Naruto.

This is your tou-san here. If you're reading this, then that means me and your kaa-san didn't live long enough to give you this in person. We're sorry about that. But that doesn't matter. Today's your birthday, and birthdays are for happiness. Now, I doubt you even know my name, never mind who I was. So I'm going to tell you. But Naruto, you have to promise me that you will tell no one about this. I have many dangerous enemies that you won't be able to fight for quite a while. So keep it a secret that you know, alright? Naruto subconsciously nodded and kept reading. Okay, Naruto, you ready? My name is Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and Konoha's Yellow Flash. Naruto was shocked by this statement. He continued reading. I know you're shocked, Naruto. But remember, no one must know. Now, I'm running out of ink, so I guess my time's up. There's a seal underneath this that has your real present. Do the same thing you did to open this scroll and it'll pop out. Naruto, make sure you always remember, your kaa-san and I love you very much, and we're always protecting you, even if you're dead. Guess that's all I have to say, huh. Be careful. Bye, Naruto.

Naruto sat back in disbelief. "My tou-san... my tou-san was the Hokage! And not just any Hokage, the Yondaime, my idol!" He looked towards the Hokage Monument. "Now I'm definitely going to surpass you ... tou-san." The blonde turned back to the scroll. He bit on his thumb hard enough to make it bleed and wiped it on the seal. Nothing happened for a second, before a huge, wrapped, ...thing came out, accompanied by a book and a lot of chakra smoke. Naruto grabbed the book. "Hi-ra-me-ka-rei, by Man-getsu Ho-zu-ki. What's a hiramekarei? And who's this Hozuki Mangetsu guy? I'll go ask Jiji tomorrow." Naruto yawned. He went to take a nap, before the annual mob showed up and tried to knock down his door and keep him awake all night.


The next day, Naruto was found walking to the Hokage Tower, lugging along the thing that had come out of the scroll, and the book as well. He had tried to lift it back in his apartment, but he had found that it was extremely heavy, and impossible for him to lift. It was a struggle for the boy to even pull the thing along. When he eventually got to the tower, he was sent in to see the Hokage.

"Hey Jiji!" shouted Naruto belligerently. "Do you know what a hiramekarei is? Oh, and who's Hozuki Mangetsu ?"

The venerable Hokage smiled at the question. "That's easy, Naruto-kun. Hiramekarei is a Sōtō, or Twinsword. It is one of the blades of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. It was the second-to last of the swords in the Mist's possesion, till a few years ago, when it was taken after an unknown shinobi defeated Hozuki Mangetsu, who was the wielder of Hiramekarei, and the leader of said swordsmen. If I may ask, why are you asking me this, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto scratched his head before answering. "Well, in the scroll, there was this thing, and this book, and the book is about Hiramekarei, and it was written by that Mangetsu guy." Naruto gestured to the bandaged thing he had gotten yesterday. Hiruzen looked at it, and was shocked when he recognised it.

"Naruto-kun, could I take a look at that? And the book as well?"

"Sure Jiji!" Naruto handed over the two items. The Hokage looked at the thing, and was more and more surprised as he looked at it. He recognised everything, the two handles, the shape, the bandage wrappings, everything.

"Naruto-kun... I think that this thing is Hiramekarei. And not just some cheap knock-off, the real sword wielded by Hozuki Mangetsu! Naruto-kun, this thing is legendary!" Naruto's eyes widened.

"R-really!? Can I still keep it?"

"Yes Naruto-kun, yes! This is yours now."

Naruto broke out into such a huge grin, his face was in danger of ripping in two.

A scream of "YATTA!" was heard all over Fire Country at that moment.


A month later, Naruto was fidgeting outside the door. It was his first day in the academy, and he was nervous. He had taken to wearing Hiramekarei on his back, in the hopes that he could build up his strength enough to hold the sword. He calmed himself down, put on a wide grin, and walked inside the classroom. He saw a raven-haired boy with red eyes sniveling on the middle row. A white-haired and red-eyed girl was playing with a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. A light blue haired girl with sky-blue eyes was talking to a dog-like boy. Another boy with sunglasses and a long coat was playing with bugs, while a boy with hair shaped like a pineapple was sleeping next to a chubby boy with brown hair who was eating chips. He walked over to sit next to the girl with blue hair, touched the bench, and crashed through, due to the immense weight of Hiramekarei. As the class laughed at him, the teacher told him to stand outside for breaking the seat, unknowingly securing his position as the class clown and the dead-last.