A week had passed since Naruto had arrived at Suna, in that time Yashamaru had brought him some new clothes made for life in the desert. He now wore a blood red sleeveless robe-like shirt that had a flap of extra cloth on the front and back. They reach down almost as far as his black pants, which end a little higher than his ankle and has a hole for his tail, and a black sash that keeps the shirt closed. (Like Yoko Karama in YYH.) They were made of a cloth that didn't absorb heat, so even in his dark colors he wouldn't overheat.

Since he arrived in Suna, he was hardly ever separated from Gaara, today was one of those rare times. He was summoned to the Kazekage's office and through he wasn't a ninja, he was obligated to go. He was let in as soon as he got there and found the Hokage there as well. "I know why you're here old man, I'm not going back."

The old man sighed. "I had a feeling you would say that, but I had to try. Lord Kazekage, would it be alright if I spoke with him alone?"

"I have no objections, but it's up to him."

"I'm okay with it as well." The Kazekage nodded and left the room. "I tried the speech you used on me when you told me about Kyuubi old man, and it didn't help that person anymore than it did me.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Naruto, you know the council isn't happy you left?"

"Really, I figured they be jumping for joy now that I'm gone."

The Hokage looked angry. "Oh they're happy you're gone, but not that you're in another village. They view you as a threat."

"As long as I'm left alone, I won't have any reason to be a threat, and you have no reason to attack me. I can't even be listed as a missing-nin because I was only a civilian and I know none of Konoha's secrets. You could have said this in front of the Kazekage, so why ask to talk alone?"

"I figured you wouldn't come back, and I don't blame you for not wanting to, so I brought you two scrolls about your Kekkei Genkai."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You know who my parents are? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I'm truly am sorry about it Naruto, the council overrode my decision to tell you, but since they have no power over you now, I can. Now, I only know who your mother is, and I can tell you that she is still alive, but only she knows who your father is."

Naruto's head dropped. "So she didn't want me."

"No, she did, she really did, but they decided to tell her that you had died after birth. She doesn't know you're alive, except that a child had Kyuubi sealed into them."

"Who is she?"

"My former student Tsunade, the Slug Sannin."

"But that means…"

"The Shodaime was your Great Grandfather. Before his brother, the Nidaime, died, he entrusted these scrolls to me and said that the Kekkei Genkai of their family was pasted down to the eldest male of each generation. The Shodaime had a daughter and Nidaime never had children, so it skipped a generation. His daughter had two children, your mother Tsunade, and Nawaki, her younger brother. Unfortunately, he was killed in the war before he learned to use it. He graduated from the academy only a year and a half before."

"So I'm the only one who can continue it. Do you know where she is?"

"I wish I did, but ever since she left, I haven't heard anything from her. If you plan to try and find her, you should check the bars and casinos first."

"A drinker and gambler?"

"Heavy drinker, and bad gambler, in fact last time I saw her, she had the kanji for gamble on the back of her coat."

"Thanks old man." The Hokage gave Naruto the scrolls and was about to leave when Naruto stopped him. "Next time you see Old man Ichiraku and Ayame, could you tell them I'm sorry?"

The old man smiled at him. "Of course. If she should return, I'll send her your way."

"Thanks, but I don't think she will easily." After the Hokage left, the Kazekage returned and dismissed him. He took off to find Gaara on all fours as soon as he got outside. He followed his scent to a deserted playground. Gaara was staring down at the ground, sadness filling his bloodshot eyes. "What's wrong Gaara?"

The boy's head shot up. "Yashamaru said that my father summoned you to his office and that the Hokage had come to the village earlier. I thought… I thought that…" Tears were falling down his face.

"You thought that I was going to be taken back." Gaara nodded slowly. "I'm not going anywhere Gaara. The old man came to ask if I wanted to go back and if not, to give me scrolls about my Bloodline Trait."

"Did he tell you who your parents are?"

"Only my mother knows who my father is, and she thinks I'm dead because that's what the Konoha council told her. She's the Slug Sannin Tsunade."

"I'm surprised he didn't try harder, your family is basically royalty in Konoha."

"So is being the son of the Kazekage, but we both know they don't care that!" Tears again welled up in Gaara's eyes. "I'm sorry Gaara, I shouldn't have yelled, but it's true, the council knew all along who I was and they did nothing, just like this council does nothing even though you're the Kazekage's son." Naruto smiled. "Would you like to read these with me Gaara?" He pulled out the two scrolls.

"Are you sure, they are your families secrets."

"Yeah, as far as I'm concerned, we're family too." Gaara ran forward, wrapping him in a hug. At first Naruto was shocked that Gaara, who was normally shy, would do something like that, but that soon gave way to the feeling of being ashamed that he didn't know what to do in response. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around Gaara as well.

"We should probably go home to read it, Yashamaru will be able to help us with any words we don't understand. Care for a ride?" He tucked the scrolls away again after Gaara nodded. He got down on all fours, his knees popping backwards. "Hop on and hang on." Gaara was getting use to traveling on Naruto's back and was starting to really enjoy it. They made it to the house that they shared with Yashamaru in only a few minutes and went to the table. He unrolled the larger of the two scrolls and started to read.

The bloodline of our family is passed to the eldest male of each generation. It has, in fact, two abilities. The first being that they are born with two affinities, Earth and Water, by combining them, they create the sub-element of Wood. With this, you can grow entire forests with enough chakra, as the plants feed on your chakra to grow. The second is an ability that was rarely used, it gives them the power to suppress demonic chakra. It is rarely used because demons tend to keep to themselves as long as they're not threatened. The stronger the demon the more chakra is required to suppress it. When used along side the necklace, the chakra required is cut in half. It is recommended that it be used to suppress the Bijuu should it be necessary to do so.

The Bijuu are the nine most powerful demons, they each have a different number of tails between one and nine. We believe these rank them from weakest, one, to strongest, nine. We have only come across one such demon, and it told us what they were, but gave no names for them, if they even have names at all. They are as follow:

The One-tailed Raccoon Dog

The Two-tailed Cat

The Three-tailed Shark

The Four-tailed Cockatrice

The Five-tailed Dog

The Six-tailed Weasel

The Seven-tailed Badger

The Eight-tailed Snake

The Nine-tailed Fox

We trust this information as the demon gave us its word, and as legends say, this type of demon cannot break its word. We speak of the Nine-tails, who called itself Kyuubi no Kitsune. My brother and I came across it while we searched for a place to build a village, at first it did not like the idea of us being there, but it relented when I used Mokuton to spread the forest further. By doing so, I increased the boundaries of it domain and it was pleased to have more room in which to hunt and live. It gave us its blessings in making the village.

Sadly by spreading the forest, I also had infringed on another demon's domain and it was not happy. It tried to attack us, but Kyuubi had not taken the trespassing lightly and the battle between the two nearly killed those who had traveled with us. I ended up suppressing both of their chakras, and as you can imagine, neither were happy. The weaker demon retreated, as did Kyuubi, but it swore vengeance on us.

We must continue our line so that someone will be there to defend the village when it comes to fulfill its promise. I have given the necklace to my granddaughter, Tsunade, for safekeeping and so that the future generations with have it. With any luck, there will be a wielder of our bloodline when the Kyuubi seeks it's vengeance, if there is not, the only thing we can do is hope and pray that it will show mercy.

Along with this scroll, there should be a second, it contains jutsu that utilize Mokuton. These will be useless until they chakra coils fully develop, which is usually around the age of twelve. The other ability is usable from birth, but the user must have a strong will and concentration. On the second scroll, there are also hand signs that channel this power, depending on how much chakra is put into it the longer the affects will last.

Gaara's eyes were glued to the list of the Bijuu, more specifically, the first. "Shukaku and Kyuubi are two of these Bijuu?"

"Which one is Shukaku?" Gaara points to the One-tailed. "Raccoon Dog. That would explain the rings around your eyes and I'm not surprised Kyuubi is. At least I finally know why I got suck being its jailor, through not why I was chosen out of everyone else."

"It may have been your bloodline limit. Who better to contain a demon than someone who can suppress its chakra?"

"It does make sense I guess. Well Gaara, looks like you're going to be able to sleep after all."

"You're going to suppress Shukaku so I can sleep?"

"Yep, every other night for a little while, until I know how much chakra is needed for it to affect you the whole night. Seeing as how it is one of these Bijuu and I don't have the necklace, it could be quite a bit, and I don't think that I can use Kyuubi's chakra to help. Gaara, you get your first peaceful sleep tonight. What should we do till then?"

"You should probably practice the hand signs needed."

"Okay, but I might need you're help, I'm not completely sure on all of the seals."

"Alright." They unrolled the second scroll and Naruto practiced the seals, with Gaara correcting them when it was needed. They continued until dinner and sat on the roof afterwards.

"Gaara, I'm going to do something, it won't last long, but it may seem like I fell asleep, but I'll actually be in my head, there is something I want to check, so don't try to wake me. When I'm done, I promise that you'll get to sleep." Gaara just nodded and continued to look at the stars. Naruto closed his eyes and when he reopened them, he stood before a large gate being held shut by a slip of paper that read 'Seal'.

From within, he could hear deep breathing. He slipped through the bars unafraid and walked up beside the giant sleeping fox that was curled up in a ball, its tails touching the tip of its nose. He stood beside its head, coming up to about its lower lip, and placed a hand on the giant form. "When are you going to wake up?"

Flashback:

The Sandaime had just told him of the fox and he ran from the old man. He continued to run, further and further into the forest, crying real tears for the first time in two years. "Why me? Why was I chosen to be the container? 'For the good of the village.' Aren't I'm part of this village too? How is this good for me?" He ran to the wall of Konoha and fell upon the ground and cried himself to sleep.

When he woke up, he found himself in a sewer, not caring what had happened, he started walking forward, and continued to walk until he come upon a large room with a equally large gate held shut by a piece of paper. He walked closer and saw that kanji for seal on the paper. He peered through the gate and saw a large shadowy figure lying on the ground, with nine twitching tails. 'So this is the seal, a sewer is a good description of my mind since my life is crap.'

He stepped through the gate and walked up to the fox. 'It's asleep?' "Hey fox, wake up!" The fox didn't even twitch. "Might as well go to sleep too, since I have no idea how to get back outside anyways." He climb up on to one of the fox's tails and fell asleep. Waking up he was back in the forest, it was dark out, but he could hear movement in the forest around him, but no sounds of animals. He knew this meant a person was coming towards him. His body tense as it prepared to run, but relaxed when the old man came out of the brush.

"There you are Naruto, I was really starting to worry that the villagers had found you first." He noticed that the boy wasn't acting like he normally did, there was no smile, or light in his eyes, then he knew what happened, the mask was gone. Sadness filled the old man's eyes. "Naruto, let me take you home, tomorrow we can talk about the ways to hide you ears and tail."

"No, I'm done hiding. The mask is not going back up. I don't owe this village anything, my chance at a normal life was taken to save them and they try to kill me because of it. The only people who I owe anything to is you, the old man at Ichiraku, and Ayame. I no longer care about being Hokage, and if I become a ninja at all, it will only be to protect the three of you."

Going on the instincts that had always served him well, he got down on all fours, screaming in pain as the knees bent the wrong way. The Hokage looked concerned and disgusted when this happened, and tried to check on the boy, but the legs pushed forward and propelled the boy at incredible speeds through the forest, leaving the Hokage in a state of shock.

Flashback End:

Naruto pet the fox and went back into the conscious world. "Alright Gaara, time for bed." Gaara laid down and was asleep almost instantly. As Naruto made the hand signs, Gaara started to shake. He finished and the kanji for 'Seat' appeared on his palm. "Pleasant dreams my brother." When he placed his hand on Gaara's forehead, the shaking stopped and a smile appeared on the sleeping boy's lips.

Naruto kept himself busy by running through the twelve hand signs over and over. He was slowly getting faster at them, but had to stop after four hours to suppress Shukaku's chakra again, using the slightly more chakra. "It's his first peaceful sleep, he deserves to sleep in."

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Yashamaru woke up just after seven and after dressing for the day, went to the roof to see if Gaara wanted breakfast. To his surprise, he found Naruto practicing hand signs and Gaara lying down. "Good morning, would you like some breakfast?"

"Thanks, but I think I'll wait for Gaara to get up, just in case Shukaku acts up again."

'Again? Shukaku only becomes active when Gaara's sleeping…' His eyes widened as Gaara started shaking, he started forward to grab Naruto, but said boy was making hand signs.

"I guess I made the right choice." He finished the seals and placed his palm on Gaara's forehead. The shaking stopped almost instantly and Yashamaru's jaw hung open in surprise and confusion. Naruto turned around and saw this. He smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we forgot to tell you huh." It was a statement more than a question. "You know how the Hokage was here yesterday." He nodded. "He told me about my family, and that I have a kekkei genkai that allows me to suppress demonic chakra, so I told Gaara that we would take turns sleeping. Sorry for not telling you before."

"It's alright, it's just that even through I know it wouldn't be his fault, even I'm afraid of what might happen."

"Can't blame you for that, Shukaku is a demon after all. I'm gonna stay up here until he wakes up."

Yashamaru smiled. "Alright, Naruto. Listen, I have a mission today, and I might not be back for a few days, I know you can take care of yourself, but be careful, the villagers get worse when I'm not around."

"Alright, we'll be careful, thanks for the warning." Yashamaru went back inside and Naruto sat back down to run through the hand signs again. He had made quite an improvement, he could now do all twelve, in any order, in under a minute, and was getting faster every time. Another hour passed before Gaara opened his eyes. "Sleep well?"

"More or less, a few times things started getting bad, but they didn't last long."

"That's why I said we'd be taking turns sleeping, those few times were when the jutsu was wearing off. Yashamaru knows that you can sleep now, in our excitement, we forgot to tell him and happened to be there for one of those times."

"Did he take it well?"

"Of course, he was just a little worried that Shukaku would do something that you'd be blamed for." They went downstairs to eat and found that Yashamaru was already gone and had left a note.

Boys, I'm going on a mission and I could be gone a few days, so stay out of trouble and try not to burn the house down while cooking. There should be more than enough food in the kitchen to last you, but if you need anything, there's some money in an envelope by the fridge. There's not much though, so use it wisely.

Naruto put the note back and turned to Gaara. "What should we do today?"

Gaara looked fearful. "We should stay inside, the villagers get restless when Yashamaru isn't here, I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"Trust me Gaara, by now they all know why I look like I do. And even if they don't, it wouldn't be your fault, you have no control over their actions." Naruto could easily see that this hadn't eased Gaara's fears any. "But if it makes you feel better, we'll stay here unless absolutely necessary." They spent the entire day inside, not doing much of anything, but as night fell, they could be found on the roof of the Kazekage building staring up towards the heavens. "This is a great place to look at the night sky, no clouds to block out the stars."

"Yes, but unless you're up far enough, the street lights still make it difficult, that's why I come here when I decide to."

Naruto rubbed his eyes and yawned wide. "I'm beat, what say we head home?"

Gaara smiled, but shook his head. "I think I'm gonna stay a bit longer."

Naruto moved over and hugged him. "Alright, but don't stay out too late. I know the sand protects you, but I don't want anything to happen to you." Gaara nodded still smiling. Just as Naruto was about the leave the rooftop, three kunai flew straight towards Gaara only to be blocked by the sand.

The assailant wore the standard outfit of a Suna jonin with a veil covering everything but their eyes, but even they were hidden by the shadows. The attacker pulled six shuriken, three to each hand. "By order of the Yondaime Kazekage, you, Gaara Sabaku, are sentenced to death for inciting mass panic and hostilities toward civilians." As he spoke, Naruto's eyes widened.

'It can't be… why would he, accept this?' As he thought, the jonin let loose the shuriken. Again the sand shot up, but it didn't stop there, the sand formed a demonic looking hand as it raced toward the attacker. Naruto started running forward. "Gaara wait!" But it was too late, the sand had encased the jonin and quickly compressed, sending blood everywhere. The sand then retracted and Gaara looked on in horror as Naruto made it to him. Naruto looked into Gaara's eyes with a sad look.

"N… Naruto, I didn't… I didn't mean to." He grabbed onto Naruto and started crying, which Naruto returned the embrace.

"I know Gaara, I know." He looked over at the body and saw that they were still breathing, but it was labored. "Gaara, I want you to head back to the house, I'll be there shortly." Gaara looked up at him with a scared expression, to which he smile reassuringly. "Don't worry, I promise you, I'll be there before you know it." Gaara was a bit hesitant, but he eventually went and Naruto moved over to the assailant. "Why'd you accept this mission Yashamaru?"

He removed the mask showing Yashamaru's smiling face. "Orders are orders, Naruto. The charges, while partly true, aren't why he was condemned, is because of you." Naruto's eyes widened.

"Me?"

"Yes, you see Gaara's father intended to turn him into a weapon of the village, but because of his inability to sleep, it was very likely that he would become unstable, but my brother-in-law was convinced that he could mold Gaara into the weapon he wanted, then you came along. Your seal is stable, you have access to your demon's chakra, and you aren't influenced by it as far as we can determine. Then just today you show a kekkei genkai that allows you to suppress demonic chakra. I told the Kazekage about that this morning, but afterwards he became more determined that Gaara die, he said that he couldn't allow the two of you to grow too close or you may turn on him."

"And sending you to kill him would drive me to?"

"You weren't supposed to be with him, but he expected the job to be done by tomorrow. He thought it was a very good chance that Gaara wouldn't fight back if he knew it was me, but in the event that he did and I died, he wanted me to shatter his mind and heart to keep his fears from happening. He wanted me to tell him that I hated him for taking my sister from me and that I asked to do this job, but I would rather die than do that to him." Yashamaru started to cough violently and blood came from his mouth. "Naruto, I know I won't live through tonight, so I want to ask you to do three things for me, will you?"

"Depends on what they are."

"Fair enough, first don't tell Gaara it was me, the Kazekage will deny even knowing of such a mission to save face in the eyes of the other villages and probably say I died on a fake mission. Second, look after Gaara for me, keep him from becoming what his father wants him to be. Finally, and I regret having to ask you this, could you get me a quick death?"

"While I don't believe you should get such an easy death, I owe you that much at least. I will do as you ask."

"Thank you. Everything I own is in the house, and I leave it all to you two, anything of value is in a metal box on the shelf in my closet." Naruto nodded and took one of the kunai from Yashamaru's pouch. In a flash the kunai had passed through Yashamaru's throat and the life gone from his eyes. Naruto said a silent prayer and headed home to where Gaara waited.