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I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER OR THEIR SUCCESSORS IN ANY SHAPE OR CAPACITY. I ONLY OWN MY FICTITIOUS OC'S.

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Upload Schedule: Sundays 8pm CST and Thursdays 8pm CST

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Glossary: Scene breaks will be denoted by a line of X's

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Demonic or summons speech"

'Demonic or summons speech'

Jutsus shall be rendered in Japanese or English depending on which they are. For example, I will not be saying Almighty Push, I will be saying Shinra Tensei, or Rasengan instead of Spiraling Sphere. However instead of Raiton: Gian I will be saying Lightning Style: False Darkness

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"When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow." - Ursula K. Le Guin

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The cool autumn wind blew through the trees, the smell of smoke and pine wafting into his perimeter. He had been in this same position for nearly two days, he only moved to drink water or take a bite of the single piece of deer jerky his mother provided for him. In, out, in, out, this was his mantra and his entire being for now. Th sound of a limb breaking drew his eyes slowly to his left and that is when he saw it. He quickly ducked off to the right and started to run as quickly as possible. The soreness of his body groaning against his need to move, though that would not deter him. He has undergone some of the most rigorous training in the Fire Nation. He has been trained to resist torture, to resist seduction, even to resist feeling something for his enemy. However, there is one thing he had not been trained to face and that is what he had to face now. Fear itself.

"Stop running boy, you know you want to!" The young boy ignored the voice as he kept moving forward. He heard a twang and felt a crushing pressure hit his right arm, looking down he had an arrow, half of the shaft and the tip were sticking out from the injury. The boy broke the arrows back end and pulled the shaft from his arm. Using his sleeve, he tied off the wound, however in his moment of distraction he failed to notice something obvious. A foot, a very large foot going for his face. Pain, shooting pain, definitely a broken nose, a bleeding arm wound, and his muscles were screaming at him. Feeling the point of an arrow at his neck the boy opened his eyes sneezing blood from his nose.

"Dead, again. Naruto, you need to be more aware of your surroundings. Even with your regeneration, your enhanced eye sight and hearing, you need to be vigilant. Without perceiving the enemy, you cannot overcome the enemy." The boy spat out a globule of blood.

"Why not? When we could take the target out before they could react, why should we be observant?" Muy sighed looking down to his surrogate son.

"Boy, we are not only long ranged fighters. What would happen if you faced down an Inuzuka or Hyuuga when you leave for Konoha? You would be dead. You focus too much on your archery and your stealth, you need to learn that brawn is just as important as brains." Naruto nodded to his surrogate father as the man removed his arrow and sheathed the arrow into his quiver. Naruto took the hand Muy held out to him and was hoisted to his feet. The two started to walk towards the southeast, they had a several hour trip ahead of them and Naruto had many questions, but they all pertained to one singular question. Why had his father hated him so much as to pawn him off? Looking up to his surrogate farther the red head wanted to say something, but he did not know how to approach it. Muy felt similarly, even though he did not show it. He was nervous, extremely so. Even though his now wife Zarehya is pregnant, Naruto will always be his son. To be frank, Muy is solely afraid that Naruto will cast him aside to be with Minato even if the prick was only manipulating him.

"Papa? What will happen while I am away? Mom is ready to give birth sometime in the next month, and I am just going to leave? That is not responsible of me to not be here when my younger sibling is born. It just does not feel right."

Muy looked down to the boy as they walked.

"You are going because of what you are. You may be a Yu, but you are also a Namikaze. You belong in Konoha, not because of your father, but because your mother wished for you to become a ninja. To best your classmates, your elders, and eventually your father. To be the best you that you can be. You must remember who you are and where you come from."

Naruto looked up to him almost as if hurt by the statement. Shock and a tiny hint of pain to Muy's words, but as his normal self he did not let those emotions show.

"I come from the Yu Yan clan. I am a son of Yu, a child of fire, a weapon to be used by the Fire Lord. I have never lived in Konoha, so how should I be acting to your comment. I know who I am, I know my origins, but yet I am being pushed to someplace every person believes I should be calling home. It is not, my home is here, with my family, my mother, father, little sibling. My Instructors, my fellow trainees. Not with some man who claims to be my father, an empty home. I should be going with the other acolytes to serve in the Fire Lords military. Not to play dress up and fling flashy attacks all over the place in the name of love and this Will of Fire every person speaks so fondly of. It seems foolish and unplanned to send the top recruit from the Yu Yan clan to some ninja village when I would be of more service where I am."

Muy closed his eyes and sighed softly looking to the sky.

'Kushina, what do I say to convince him. He holds no love for the village yet will be asked to risk his very being for it.'

As if an answer he recalled a similar even with Kushina, so Muy smiled softly before saying one thing that ends the conversation.

"Ask Zarehya, your mother had this very situation happen t her when she was young. Zarehya was there for every moment of it and can console you better than I." With that the two continued their trip in silence, only thinking of the road ahead of them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The two men walked the ling of tents one by one till they came to the largest tent in the center of the make shift camp. Muy pulled the flap back and Naruto entered, he smelled the freshly baked salmon, the boiled turnip greens and the fresh baked bread. A short woman poked her head from around the corner, now wearing a flowing gown, dark green with burnt orange floral designs spreading up the dress.

"Oh, you two are back early, the food is still very hot. Come and tell me about your testing Naruto!" Zarehya took a seat on her cot leaning against the thick wooden post that helped support the tent. Naruto laid down placing his head in her lap and smiled softly up to her seeing the pure, almost agonizingly so, love in her eyes.

"I failed, I only hid for two days, but you knew that. How are you feeling? Not too sick or tired?"

Zarehya nodded softly as she ran her right hand threw his soft red hair, undoing his hair from its ponytail she began running her hand through his shoulder length red hair.

"No, not sick or tired, just anxious. One of my children are leaving, and another is being born. IT just makes me anxious, and terrified. IF something were to happen to you, I don't know what I would do."

Naruto smiled nuzzling her swollen stomach, relaxing against her form, the earthy smell that had a hint of lavender filled his senses.

Muy walked into the open room of the tent and smiled to the scene.

"You know, were not going anywhere right? Just because you are going to Konoha and a baby is being born does not mean we will love you less. You are our son, our little boy. Just as we are your parents, even if your sire will be where you will lie your head. As for your test, you did not fail. You passed your test, none of the other recruits hid from their instructors for more than a day." Muy smirked as Naruto's eyes widened.

"You mean?"

Muy nodded as he approached the mother and son. Holding out his left hand he had a small red headband. The headband has a small maroon headband with an orange triangle on it, the alchemical symbol for fire.

"This is the traditional headband for the Yu Yan. This represents our fealty, our strength, and our pride. You are now officially a Yu Yan Soldier of the great nation of Fire."

Naruto took the article of cloth and smiled looking at it. He looked to Muy and Zarehya as he slowly stood. Bowing deeply before the two Naruto spoke.

"I will never be able to repay the love and time you have given me. Since my night of birth you two have protected, nurtured, loved, and raised me. I am the man I am now due to your teachings, compassion, and lessons. I pray someday I will be able to repay you for this chance at life."

Zarehya smiled to her son softly as she spoke, and these words will stay with Naruto for the rest of his days.

"You already have paid us Naruto, in full. You made us a family, Muy a father, me a mother. You paid us by being our child, by being our little Maelstrom."

Naruto smiled widely as he closed the distance between him and his mother and hugged her tightly.

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Naruto stood before three teenagers and one child a few years his junior. The three teenagers each gave him an item. The first a small tin can filled up with maroon paste. The second gave him a small pack, inside was the necessities for a ninja, some kunai, shuriken, wire, exploding seals, and a piece of flint. The third, and by far the most meaningful to him, was a small piece of paper with runes painted onto it. This was a rune for luck and good fortune, and even though he was not superstitious he placed it in his shirt to lay across his chest. The child gave him a letter and told him to open it when he was facing doubt or heartache in Konoha. With these gifts, a quick goodbye from his family, he was off to the port city of Kanzo to take a boat to the mainland. The trip only took two hours, but the longest was the ride on the boat, it took the boat four days to arrive on the mainland, and another ten hours to be cleared for docking. The shock for Naruto was when he left the boat to continue his journey there were three men waiting on the dock with Konoha headbands looking straight at him.

"You must be Naruto. I am Kakashi."

Naruto took in the Silver haired cyclops, eyeing him with the trained precision that was trained into him by Muy, he already knew of three escape angles, and four ways to stall the three men.

"I am indeed Naruto. I take it you are my escorts?"

Kakashi nodded before motioning for Naruto to follow him. Obliging the cyclops Naruto began to walk.

"You must have a thousand questions, such as why you came to get me or why do I need more than you to guard me."

"No, my only question is where we are moving to, it should take us at least a day to get to Konoha should it not?"

Kakashi internally frowned at this, why hadn't his adopted little brother inquired about him? Had Muy and Zarehya not told Naruto about Kakashi? He will have to rectify this situation.

"Ma, we are here on another mission I am afraid. We are just picking you up and getting you to the hotel on the other side of the city. Though I do hope we can have another conversation once we make it back to Konoha."

Naruto nodded and before long the four arrived at a tall marble building with long flowing red curtains.

"This is your stop, go up to room 34-C and ask for Kado. The man in that room is in charge of your return. I do hope I get to see you again Naruto."

The boy nodded before leaving the men to their devices. As he opened the tall metal rimmed glass door he was hit with the stench of bleach and roses. Looking to the diagram on the far wall he saw that he needed to go to the third floor. Making his way up a steep set of marble stairs he came to a long hallway. Walking with intent down the long hallway he finally came to door 34-C. Giving the door a light wrap on the body of the frame a voice, rough and strong came through the door.

"Who is it?"

"I am Naruto, I am looking for the man named Kado."

With a short click the door opened to reveal a man in a long white garb, with a cream colored over coat and a pair of dark green glasses on his face. The man was obviously older, if not the grey hair then the wrinkles of his skin.

"Good good, you have arrived. Let me grab my scroll and we shall be off. No reason to wait another minute. It is terribly inefficient."

Naruto only had to wait a second before the elder man led Naruto back to the lobby, turned in his key, and the two started their long journey.

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It had only been four hours, but the older man had said nothing. Naruto was used to silence and patience but he realized this was a perfect opportunity to gain information.

"So, what can you tell me of Konoha Mr. Kato."

The older male cut his eyes to look at the blonde. Smirking the older male realized what the child wanted.

"Why don't you ask the true questions you wanted to ask boy. I have no time for games, it is terribly inefficient."

Naruto clicked his tongue before nodding.

"How large is the city?"

"The city has approximately fifteen million people living within its borders. Outside of the borders add one a few thousand more. The size of the city is roughly nine miles in diameter with the Hokage tower in the middle. The city is divided into five sections. The North is the Civilian living sector, to the south is the Shinobi living sector. The western sector is the clan compounds and training ground. The North-Eastern sector is the market, and the South-Eastern sector is the red light district."

Naruto nodded absorbing the info like a sponge and voices his next question.

"Out of the populace how many are shinobi, how many are civilian military, and how many are non-combatant?"

"There are roughly seventy percent non-combatants, ten percent shinobi, and twenty percent civilian militia. The police force is entirely run by the Uchiha clan, and the special investigations unit are a mix of Hyuuga and Uchiha with Inuzuka partners."

Naruto continued the questions, the might of the clans, how many Jonins there were, and even what the financial status of the city had been. Nearing the twelve-hour mark of their journey only three hours left in the journey the discussions took a turn.

"Naruto, may I ask a question?"

The young male nodded affirmatively.

"What are your views on Shinobi? I know of how you were raised, as military for the Lord of Fire, but what do you personally see?"

Naruto had to think on this one. This question seemed more like a test. Maybe to see if he was adequately taught, or maybe to see if he even cared to be a shinobi.

"Shinobi are necessary. The fighting force of two Shinobi are worth a battalion of civilian militants. Ninja are at the height of secrecy, power, and stealth. They guide the Fire Lords will by the shadows as the Military guides by the light. Though I personally feel as if too much room has been given to the Hokage. He has made the village compromised due to not giving the same level of training to this new generation of Shinobi. I always believed a good and strong Shinobi as one that knew to think ahead, plan, and be ready for any given situation."

The older man was happy to hear the young boy's response, it seemed to match his own.

"That is good to hear, there are far too many people who should not be in the Shinobi training program and as such we have suffered. This needs to be corrected by the next Hokage because if the current trend continues, we will lose the quality of our Shinobi for the quantity of the Shinobi.

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Goal 500 words or more

Meeting with Minato and talking about Minato's behavior → Zarehyas warning to Minato

Minato was having a dreadful day. First thing in the morning his toaster had nearly set fire to the whole house. Secondly, when he came into work he had realized that he had several shinobi registration forms, over fifty requests to be seen, to which he had to review and comment on the schedule changes. Thirdly, not even half an hour into his paperwork had been started that Fugaku barged into the room and started to vent to his best friend about how the Hyuuga had been encroaching into their training zones. Altogether, this morning had been dreadful, and he wished something, anything would happen to make it better. He was interrupted in his musings by a short knock on the door.

"Enter." After a minute of impatience Minato nearly went to open the door himself before it slowly opened. Minato's heart nearly stopped in his chest. Standing in the door way was a boy, about thirteen years of age. HE stood at nearly five foot and three inches easily, he looked lean, but not bulky, obviously trained more for stealth and flexibility. However, what made Minato stop was his hair and eyes. His hair was tied in a tall ponytail reminiscent of his late wife, but the eyes killed him. The boy's eyes were violet, beautifully so, with blue flecks, but it was the cold stare, the anger, pain, frustration, and sorrow in them that killed him.

"Hello, I am Naruto. I was told to come here to get the appropriate information. You must be Minato."

Minato's eyes closed as he tried to mentally prepare himself for any situation that could arise.

"Yes, I am Minato, your father. IT is very good to have you home, Naruto."

"It is not."

"What?" Minato's eyes widened at the boys words.

"This is not my home, and you are not my father. Do not try to act as so. You are my progenitor and that is all. Now, what paper work needs to be filled out so I may be sorted into teams?"

Minato closed his eyes feeling his chest tighten in both anger and heartache.

"Naruto, I know I was not the best father."

"You were not a father at all. You are allowing yourself to be put in a place you have neither earned nor are wanted to be in. Please Lord Hokage, this is your place of business and your office of power. This is not the place, time, or best situation to have this conversation, just give me the paper work and I will be on my way." Naruto's pride was his patience, not once since he was eight years old has he lost his patience, and he was very close to losing it.

"Very well, here are the documents, you need them filled out and presented to the teacher in class 3-F tomorrow morning for selections." Minato opened his bottom most drawer and pulled out a small orange packet, placing the packet on the far side of his desk he proceeded to go back to his paperwork.

Naruto strode forward, taking the paperwork and in a hurry left the room. He had presumed to be in the clear however a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Ma, Naruto, it is good to see you have not wandered off yet. I was about to head out to meet with you, however now that you are here I can take you to your apartment."

Naruto nodded and motioned for Kakashi to take the lead.

"You know we never had that much time to talk. If you want, we could talk for a short time. I have no assignments left for the day and I have been given tomorrow off as well."

Naruto nodded and looked up to him as they continued to walk out of the Hokages tower.

"I know you are Minato's student and you also took care of my mother when she was pregnant."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow looking down to Naruto.

"Let me guess, you want me to tell you about her?"

"I would like that very much so. I only have my mom and fathers stories to go by, and I want to know more of what she was like later in life."

Kakashi smiled to the boy softly, he had been half his age when he asked his father the same question about his own mother. So, he told Naruto the exact things he wanted to know.

"Well, where to start. Your mother was a kind woman, wise beyond her years. Though she did have a childish and a mean streak when provoked or was relaxed. She was strong and courageous, unbelievable so. In the mornings I was staying with her as her guard she would make us both breakfast and we would talk. That woman, bless her soul, she could talk your ear off, but her best quality was how loving she was and how caring she was for those she loved. One time she even faced down an entire battalion of Earth nation troops, and even benders just to save my teammates and me during a mission. She would do anything, be anything or anyone we needed when we needed her no matter what. She was a special and amazing woman, and she was so excited and nervous about being your mother. She wasn't concerned about herself that night, or during the nine months she carried you. She was only concerned about you. You are the single most important person to ever exist to her, and nothing can change that."

Naruto stopped walking in his tracks causing Kakashi to look back to him. Naruto looked up and for the first time since Kakashi had seen him he saw something in those violet eyes that made him soften. Naruto's eyes were watering, Kakashi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. Kakashi reached to his left breast pocket and pulled out a small photo. This photo was a very pregnant Kushina, Minato to her left, and Kakashi in front of Kushina who had her arms draped around him. Naruto looked down at the photo and took it from Kakashi's hand slowly.

"Keep it, you don't really have a photo of her I assume. At least not when she was like this, so keep it."

Naruto look up into Kakashi's eyes and nodded.

"Thank you, this means a lot to me. I have a picture of her, but of when she was young, before her move to Konoha."

Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile and waved for Naruto to continue with him. The two took over an hour to reach Naruto's apartment which was on the edge of the Shinobi dwelling district. Reaching their destination, a tall brick laid building with a pillar on either side of the main door. Resembling a hotel more than an apartment complex Naruto wondered how the privacy was at the location.

"Here we are, Kaguya Dwellings. This is one of the more recent additions of the Shinobi living sector of the village. The apartments are fifteen hundred square feet each with a Kitchen living room combination. There is one bedroom with a bathroom and the other room is a private training room. I live here as well, the location is nice, most of the people living here are Chunin or Jonin. All residents are given free reign of the apartments, such as decoration and painting the walls. Your apartment is on the fourth floor, the top floor. There is only one other resident on that floor, though she is pleasant company if you can catch her there. If you need any help with any problems or moving anything around my apartment is on the second floor, apartment twenty-two."

The two walked up the last flight of stairs and opened the door. The long hallway white and lacking in décor. The two continued their journey as Kakashi and Naruto looked to each room before stopping at the end of the hallway.

"Here we are, suite forty-nine. Well this is nice, you have the corner suite, which means you will have more windows and only one neighbor if somebody moves in."

The sound of a door opening greeted the two as the door four numbers down from Naruto opened revealing a five foot four-inch-tall woman with mute black hair. Turning to her right she see's the two males and smiles to Kakashi.

"Ah, hello Kakashi."

"Good evening Shizune, how was your move?"

"Oh, it was fine, though Masters attitude has been pretty rough to deal with. She is as brash and angry as ever. Oh? Who is this young man?"

Naruto had to say the woman was certainly beautiful. It took Kakashi nudging Naruto's shoulder with his elbow to break the teen out of his mind.

"Naruto, this is Shizune, she is the apprentice to Tsunade of the Sanin."

Naruto nodded and gave her a wave of his hand.

"Hello Miss Shizune, I am Naruto Yu. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah, so you are him eh? Minato's child?"

Naruto grimaced but nodded.

"OH, well that is a shocker, you look so much more like your mother. You know we were close friends! While not as close as Mikoto or Tsume were to her, we did love to get together to chat and relax. In fact, if you want, every once in a while, I can peak in or you can come over to my apartment, I'll make you something for dinner and we can chat about Kushina if you wish."

Naruto nodded and gave her the faintest smile.

"Good, now I have to go, my shift starts in fifteen minutes and I have to get to the hospital in the Civilian sector. I'll see you later Naruto, and remember Kakashi, you need to come in for a check-up later."

The woman waved as she vanished in a swirl of leaves leaving a small clutter of the leaves behind. Kakashi opened the door and walked into the apartment behind Naruto.

"Hmmm, it needs to be personalized, but welcome home Naruto. This place is yours and nobody else's. Remember Naruto, no one can disturb you here, this is your place, your home, and it will always be. Well, I am sorry to cut this short, but I have to go to the hospital for a check-up. I will drop by at a later date to come by and see you. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot of each other later. Bye."

Naruto waved to the man who vanished in a swirl of leaves similarly to the woman. Naruto took in his environment and he sighed. Looking around Naruto began to work on the apartment, setting out his possessions and placing his clothes in the chest of drawers. It had not even been an hour when there was a soft knocking on the door. Naruto opened the door and to his surprise it was Kado.

"Hello Naruto, how are you doing? Settling in well?"

Naruto let the man into his apartment, but the man was dressed differently. Now he had on a white garb with a red neck scarf on.

"Yes, Mister Kado. I am settling well. The apartment is adequate even though unfurnished for the most part. I will be rectifying that once I begin missions."

"Good, good. Oh, I should properly introduce myself. My name is Homura Mitokado, I am an advisor to the Lord Hokage and one of the teammates of the Third Hokage. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the name. Who had not heard of Homura Mitokado in the Fire Nations court. He was the premier ambassador to the court and personal friend of the Fire Lord. Naruto had only seen him twice, once when he was young he went with his father to see the Fire Lord. The second time was when he was sent to be the body guard for the Fire Lords children on a vacation.

"I apologize, I had no idea that you were Homura Mitokado. It is a pleasure to officially meet you."

"Young Naruto, we do not need to stand on ceremony here. This is your home, not an official setting. You can speak frankly here."

NAruto felt uncomfortable with the way he spoke to him, but he felt obliged to listen to the wise man.

"As you please Homura. If I may, what brings you to my home?"

"I will be honest, you interest me and I make a point to make friends with those who interest me. I have a deal I would like to make."

"What is the deal?"

"I am prepared to help you grow into a ninja, but later in life you will owe me a favor. It could be anything I say, but you will follow it to the letter. In return I will supply you with anything you need, weapons, scrolls pertaining to all types of Jutsu, and personal instructors if you so wish it. In addition, I would like to personally train you for your Chunin Selection Examinations once your instructor deems your team worthy. Does this sound satisfactory?"

Naruto took a minute to weigh his options. On one hand he gets assistance with whatever needs he should have and makes an ally of one of the most powerful men in the country. On the other hand, he will owe a favor, that could be called in at any point, for any reason and be anything.

"Before I decide Homura, may I ask for some concessions about the favor?"

Homura raised an eyebrow, no other person he had given this same choice to had asked for concessions, this pleased Homura greatly.

"Of course, let us hear the concessions and we will negotiate the terms."

"I only wish for three things. The first, that the favor should bring no harm to the Fire Nation or its allies. Secondly that the concession shall not include my future decedents should I have any. Thirdly and more importantly, I will not be forced to raise a hand against my family, the Yu Clan, or those residing here in Konoha."

Homura smiled as he heard the concessions, he covered most of his bases with only three requirements.

"Very well, I agree to your concessions, however due to relenting to these you need to relent to one more condition on my terms."

"It will have to depend on the condition."

"As of the moment you reach the rank of Chunin, I wish of you to join the honor guard of the village. It is a force that protects the Civilian sector alongside the Civilian militia and the Police Force. This will last for the duration of your time as Chunin and once you gain the rank of Jonin you would train one squad from the academy. Is this reasonable?"

Naruto nodded.

"That is a very agreeable condition. I will accept your aid for the conditions set."

Homura shook Narutos hand and the two had struck their accord. Homura stood and excused himself from the apartment, however he did not close the door, and the moment he cleared the frame a tall blonde man walked into the apartment.

"Hello Minato."

Minato smiled warmly to Naruto and motioned to the couch asking permission to sit.

"Go ahead."

"Thank you. Was that Homura? What did he want?"

"It has nothing to do with you, it was just an agreement we had to settle, nothing more."

Minato sighed as he looked into Narutos eyes and he started to speak.

"Naruto, we need to talk, about us. About what you are going to do here, and about our future here. I know I wasn't your father as I should have, but I want the chance to make that up. I know Muy has been more of a father too you, even in your first moments of life he has been more of a father to you than I. I just ask for a chance to prove myself, and a chance to get to know you."

Naruto let the man continue to speak about second chances and trying to make things right. After a few minutes Naruto spoke.

"I will be frank Minato. I do not like you, nor do I want to have anything to do with you. I was told what you said on the night of my birth, how you acted. You rejected a new born baby, who had just lost its mother. You pawned the child off onto two people who were not prepared for a child nor had any experience. I do not hate you or dislike you for what you did to me. I do not like you due to what you did to them and to my mother's memory."

Minato closed his eyes and placed his face in his hands. He softly spoke, sounding broken.

"I was lost, confused, hurt. I was in no place to raise a child and in my attempt to cope I hurt you, your aunt, and uncle. I never meant to hurt anyone Naruto. Especially not you."

"The path to hell is paved with good intentions Minato. I will give you a chance to be a friend to me, but you lost your privilege to be a father to me. My name is Naruto Yu, son of Zarehya and Muy Yu the heads of the clan Yu and advisors to the war council. I am the son of Kushina Uzumaki, the red-habanero, and the wife to the Fourth Hokage. That is who I am. Though that may not be who I will become later in life. Should you wish to maintain a healthy relationship with me, I only ask you to not over step the boundaries laid. Be my friend, that is all I ask."

Minato felt heartbroken, but he accepted the conditions and he smiled warmly to Naruto.

"If that is how it has to be, then I will be glad to be your friend, Naruto. I am sorry to have to cut this short, but I have to be home or my seals will lock me out of the house. Though, I do hope we will get to talk more, outside of business."

Naruto nodded as he watched Minato leave, before Minato closed the door he handed a letter to Minato.

"This is from mom to you, she said it was important to read. Good night Minato."

"Good night Naruto." With that Minato closed the door leaving Naruto to prepare for the next day and reflect on his thoughts.

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Zarehya climbed into her and her husbands bed. Feeling the warmth of his body next to hers she laid on her side letting Muy lean against her back.

"What troubles you my love?" Muys concern dripped from his tongue when he spoke.

"We just sent our baby boy to a village he does not know, to a man who doesn't love him. They will ask him to lay down his life for strangers unknown and serve a village implicitly. Have we made a mistake?"

Muy leaned his face into the back of her head and gave her a gentle kiss to the back of her neck. He took her hand in his left and spoke.

"It wasn't our choice. If it were up to me he would be here, with us, serving as the heir to the Yu Yan. We would watch him grow in stature, power, and favor with men. We would see him fall I and out of love. Eventually we would see him settle down with a wife, a few grandchildren for us to spoil. Then when we grow grey he would take over the clan and we would be able to watch as he took fight on his own. However, this is an imperfect world, with imperfect situations. We have put off this for three years, since we have received letters from Minato and his threats to take this up with the Fire Lord. We had no choice, Ozai would have sent Naruto to live with his father just to appease one of his Generals. This whole situation if fucked beyond all repair, but all we can do is send him letters, visit when we can, and pray that he stays fine." Muy leaned around and gave Zarehya a chaste kiss as he laid his arm around her midsection under her bust. Holding her close Muy began to drift off before a loud knocking on the post outside of their door way took him from his bed. Muy groaned as he stood up and grabbed his pants. Pulling them on and tying off the looped cloth belt he walked to the tent flap and angrily opened the flap only to be shocked.

"Lord Ozai, please come in." Muy moved away from the door and bowed off to the side as Ozai made his way into the room his long maroon with gold trimmed cloak following him.

"I do hope it is not too late to be visiting."

"No my Lord, t is never a wrong time when you visit."

Zarehya came around the corner in a night gown.

"Who is it sweetie. Oh my, Lord Ozai, to what do we owe this honor?"

Ozai smiled to Zarehya, out of all the people in his cabinet Zarehya was the one who he respected most and he took her words of counsel very seriously.

"I will et straight to the point now that Zarehya has joined us. I am sending my children and two friends of Azula's to Konoha for lessons. I am aware that young NAruto has gone to Konoha has he not?"

Muy nodded as he took a seat next to his wife across from the Fire Lord.

"Good, then this will be easy. I am giving Naruto and extra assignment, when not on a mission he will be a bodyguard for my children. They trust him and call him their friend. It will be good for him to have someone familiar to him while he transitions from this home to his next. However, once he reaches Chunin, I will be sending him on an important mission, one that may take years, even decades away from him."

Zarehyas eyes widened as she bit her lip in nervousness. What could be so important that would-.

"Your spies have found him?" Zarehya looked up to Ozai and he nodded.

"They are keeping tabs on his movements as we speak. It seems he has picked up a small following as well. Two Water Nation tribesmen, one of which is a bender, and a girl from Kiyoshi island. Once he reaches the rank of Chunin he will be sent with my son and daughter to track down this boy and murder him." Ozai gauged their reactions. Not surprising Zarehya had reservations written all in her body language and face. However, his shock came from Muy. He saw pride and happiness in his eyes. What did he not know that Muy did?

"You seem pleased by this mission Muy. Pray tell why?"

"It is simple, Naruto is my chosen successor for our clan. To go out into the world, even tracking down that by will give him experience I only got through war. He may become an even wiser and stronger man than I from this mission. When he returns from that mission, I will release an official statement, that Naruto I my heir."

Ozai now understood why Muy had been filled with pride.

"Good I look forward to seeing more of young Naruto, the boy is pleasant to be around. Please send him a letter alerting him of my children's arrival, and pass on my regards for his health." Ozai stood and without argument or any other words said he left the couple. Zarehya in an uncharacteristically way only said one thing.

"Oh fuck."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXSo there ends chapter two. This was more of a filler chapter to outline a few points. As for Naruto's attitude, remember all his life he was told of how Minato did not want him, and now seeing the man wanting him is making Naruto curious.

Next chapter will be out and will cover up to the wave mission. Till next we meet.

~ Ardent Chronicler