Chapter 1: Of memories and ninjas

She had died in the U.S. but had been buried in Japan, her home country. Since he and his father stopped visiting Japan permanently after her death, he simply kept a photo of her with him. He stares at it while sitting under a tree. The sun is setting and he was supposed to meet up with friends but he likes the idea that she's listening when he talks.
"Got an A on that paper Mom. Remember the one from my history class that I was stressed over? Turned out it was for nothing." The picture doesn't say anything, just remains in that same smiling pose with a hand waving to the camera. "Let's see what else...Oh! Dad's cooking skills have improved a lot since he started watched Food Network. It's amazing! We used to actually fear for our lives when he'd get in the kitchen but it's gotten a lot better. I've been looking at colleges. I asked once...just once if I could apply to a few in Japan. I figured I could stay with Granny and Grandpa Uzumaki. Dad shot me down before I even got the words out. I swear the day I turn eighteen he can't stop me from going back!" He balls a hand into a fist as he recalls the heated exchange. "I still can't believe he cut us off like that. What the hell is he hiding? I know it's something huge. The day you died seemed to cement whatever it was he was feeling. And on top of that I feel like I'm being followed. My friends said I should tell Dad but he'd freak out." Naruto pauses to scan the small park. All the families that were just there are gone. He sits up a bit straighter. In fact he doesn't see anyone outside in what is normally a busy area.

"Where'd everybody go?" Naruto slips the photo into a pocket and stands.

"Naruto Namikaze?" A voice asks from what sounds like above him.

"Yeah?" As Naruto's head swivels up there's a sudden movement. Instinct tells him to get out of the way. He dodges several knives thrown down at him. "What the fuck!" In the tree is a man dressed in camo clothing with the bottom half of his face covered.

"Don't make this hard kid." More knives are thrown and these too he dodges.

"What's your problem!"

"You're not dead yet, that's my problem." The man unsheathes a short sword and jumps down. Without hesitation Naruto turns to run. However the man easily cuts him off.

"What're you like the Flash or something?" Naruto turns another direction and is again cut off. This time the sword is swung at him. He manages to dodge though he isn't quite sure how. His reflexes come naturally, surprising even his attacker.

"I thought you weren't trained."

"Of course he is, he's playing dumb. You know who his parents are," This comes from a woman wearing the same clothing with black scarf covering the lower half of her face. "Honestly I'd be more surprised if he was actually normal. And you're not supposed to kill him, just incapacitate him for a little bit." The man shrugs as Naruto tries to quietly back away. His plan doesn't work because the woman appears behind him, throws him easily to the ground and presses her own sword to his throat.

"Why are you guys doing this to me?"

"Nothing against you but we aren't big fans of your parents."

"I don't understand why we can't kill him," The man says.

"We discussed this! He's worth more alive." The two go into a discussion about whether they should kill him or not. Not being one to miss an opportunity, Naruto takes in a deep breath then easily pushes her off with strength he didn't know he had. She's in shock but only for a moment. Naruto is full out running even though he knows he won't get far. He feels something sharp pierce a shoulder and cries out. He stumbles before finally falling to a knee. His attackers are in front of him once more.

"I changed my mind, let's kill him," the woman gives a nod to the man. Only he isn't looking at her. His eyes are on something or someone else behind Naruto. She follows his gaze and manages to get out a "Fuck!" before her throat is slit. The man tries to run but ends up with his legs cut from underneath him. As he howls in pain, another man covered from head to toe in black stands over him. A swift cut across his throat silenced]s him. Naruto's eyes are as large as dinner plates. This new person, ninja, he looks exactly like one, turns to Naruto. Unlike the other two, his face is entirely covered. Naruto thinks about running away but gives up. Obviously the ninja would catch him so what would be the point? He stays where he is and watches in amazement as the ninja crouches down when he's close enough. They simply stare at one another for several minutes until Naruto clears his throat.

"If you just wanted to save me, thanks. Really appreciate it. If you're gonna kill me, fuck you then pal!" The ninja lifts a hand and Naruto thinks it's the end, only the hand touches his cheek.

"Your life is in danger. Talk to Minato." Minato is his father's name but why would he get him involved? He's a good man but he's definitely not someone who would last against ninjas. In fact the man can barely open a new jar of pickles without help from his son. Naruto smiles at the comment.

"You obviously don't know my dad."

"Talk to him," the ninja repeats. It's strange but Naruto feels like he knows the man who just saved his life.

"Do...we know each other?" At the question, the ninja stands.

"Talk to him," he says one last time before disappearing at an inhuman speed. Naruto sits there in shock for a moment. Then finally decides it's time to go. He has no intention of being around when the police show up.

The TV blares from the living room as Naruto trudges in. Minato is sitting on the couch with a beer in his hand watching some baseball game. Naruto adores him, idolizes him even if the man can't open a jar of pickles. He does hate his father's protectiveness. It started around the time his mother died. Minato stopped him from returning to Japan to spend his summers and made him cut off all contact with anyone there. Naruto had cried and screamed yet it had changed nothing. Over the years he had learned to deal with his father's ways. The making him call every half hour while out, the questioning of any new friends he made, the constant moving that first year of Kushina's death, the ban of any social media of any kind, etc. His friends all said it was a miracle he'd turned out normal.

"Dad."

"Yeah?"

"I…." At his voice trailing off, Minato turns around. The smile falls instantly from his face. He sets the beer down and rushes to Naruto's side. He inspects him.

"What happened." It's not a question, it's an order and though Naruto hesitates at first thinking that he'll sound crazy, he begins.

"You believe in ninjas?" Minato stops and takes a step back to fully regard his son. "I'm not making it up Dad. These two ninjas, a guy and girl, were gonna kill me. Well it was mostly the guy at first then I pissed off the chick. Anyway before they could, another ninja popped out and cut their throats. I thought he was gonna kill me too but he said I should talk to you."

"Naruto."

"I'm not lying!"

"I know."

"I mean I can see why you would-wait….what?!"

"I know son." Minato let out a sigh and rubbed a hand over his face. "I was trying to keep you safe. Look how that's turned out." Naruto waits for his father to say more and when he doesn't, he slams a hand on the wall.

"Dad what's going on? Please tell me!" Naruto's friends have always been terrified of his father. It was a little bit of his protectiveness, it was the way his eyes seemed to analyze each one and found them lacking in some way. That they weren't worthy to be near Naruto and that if any of them hurt him in any way he'd kill them. At least that's how it'd been explained, they were all terrified of his eyes. The same eyes that now regarded Naruto cooly. As he stands there, he finally understands what his friends meant.

"Ninjas exist Naruto," He states abruptly. "They have for many, many years. They operate in secret as you can probably guess. I'm from the Namikaze clan, your mother was from the powerful Uzumaki clan. My parents had been killed in a feud with another family and so I had no desire to run the Namikaze clan after their deaths. My clan fell into ruin and I stayed hidden until I met Kushina. It was love at first sight and when she fell pregnant with you I decided to move us away from Japan. There are clans all over the world, the older and powerful ones reside there. I got permission from your grandparents to move my family to the U.S. where I had a few friends. Minato hesitates and Naruto can see he's struggling with if he should share more. Finally he simply places a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Who's trying to kill me?"

"I don't know. I've been out of the loop for so long...I think I might have someone I can talk to. Go clean up first." Naruto nods. He heads upstairs to his room and strips out of his clothes on his way to the bathtub. Once he's finally soaking in the hot water he thinks back on his mother's funeral, the many, many guests, his grandparents, his uncle. His father had cut him off from all of them. He had wondered why for so many years but he something also pokes at the edge of his mind. Something he should be remembering but isn't. There's a knock on the door. Minato steps in without waiting for a reply and sits on the toilet.

"Are you mad at me?"

"You just told me ninjas exist, I'm still trying to wrap my head around that one." He slides down a little more in the water. "Feels like I'm missing something...besides the stuff you're obviously not telling me." When Minato doesn't, Naruto looks over at him. His father's eyes are glued to the floor.

"You were by no means a prodigy like that Uchiha kid but you were starting to show promise." He gives a sad smile at the floor. After the funeral, I had your memories altered so that if you tried to recall any of the techniques you learned you wouldn't. To be on the safe side, I also altered any memories you had of friends and family there."

"You did what?" Naruto had never truly been mad at his father. Oh he'd heard horror stories from friends about parents who were strict or made unreasonable demands and while Minato could be the typical parent and annoy his son, Naruto never got upset likes his friends. But this…

"In order for this trip to work I needed you to forget everyone and everything you learned in Japan.

"That's not right! So these memories I have of running around with kids my age or visiting certain areas or even a girl named Hana! None of that is true?!" Minato looks at Naruto with pain in his eyes.

"I'm so sorry Narut-"
"What about my memories of my grandparents and cousins and-"

"None of it true. I altered everything, probably went overboard. Your grandparents cried after it was done when you didn't recognize them." Naruto was beyond angry. He stood up not caring about the water pouring off of him or his nakedness.

"How could you do that to me! I used to …" His voice trails off as he tries to put into words how he feels. He used to cling tightly to those memories of his grandparents or who he thought were his grandparents. Now he's discovered none of it is true. He wants to cry or scream.

"Naruto."

"Why'd you do this to me! I get it you were scared and upset after Mom but this is insane Dad!"

"Naruto."

"I have all these memories that weren't my own! I can't even remember what my grandparents really look like! Whenever I felt low I could hold onto those memories…" He wipes his eyes with the back of a hand.

"Naruto look down," Minato says as calmly as he can. He does and is stunned by what he sees. There's a strange sound filling the room as a bluish light begins to form in his hand. He stares at it in shock for a moment.

"Rasengan but how?" He hears Minato whisper. He has no idea what a 'Rasengan' is but he's beginning to feel light headed. The toll of everything that's happened to him within the past few hours is starting to catch up to him.

"Dad," Naruto sways. Minato is on his feet as Naruto falls. He easily catches him and grabs a towel to wrap around his waist before lifting his son into his arms. He turns towards the doorway to see a familiar ninja with his face uncovered. Minato gives him a nod then continues on towards Naruto's room. Only once Naruto is safely resting does Minato anything to his visitor.

"Thank you for watching over Naruto," He says from his son's bedside. "How're things back home?"

"Unstable. You are being ordered to bring the Uzumaki heir to Lady Mito." Minato sighs and runs a hand over his face.

"And since when were Uchiha's used as errand boys?"

"When the safety of my best friend came into the picture," The ninja dressed in black jumps out of the window leaving Minato to his thoughts.