A/n: Another chapter posted for enjoyment. Please excuse the roughness as this chapter is unbetaed. Because of that I am looking for a second Beta reader. If anyone is interested please PM or email me.

Also I have a poll up for who you want to see as a Kamen rider. The poll is up on my bio page so please vote and if you choose other please email me the character of your choice. The poll will remain open until I post chapter 4. Also to my reviewers, please leave an email address if you are leaving an anonymous review so that I can respond.

So now submitted for your approval:

Ch. 2: Look underneath the Underneath

Clearing near old Konoha border outpost

Naruto groaned as he came to, his head feeling as if someone went at it with an ax. "And the hero returns to the land of the living" said Iruka cheekily. Naruto slowly opened his eyes as his brain rebooted from what he could only call a total blackout. "Easy now you had quiet an experience there, how many fingers do you see" asked his teacher as he held up four fingers in front of Naruto's face.

"Um that's one, that's two, and that one is twenty-six" said the blonde knucklehead with a smirk.

"Well you still have your sense of humor so I think we can rule out a concussion, not a real surprise given that thick skull of yours" said Iruka with a smile. He then helped Naruto into a sitting position allowing Naruto to finally have a clear field of vision as his teacher, looking like he had seen better days, took a seat against a tree trunk his Hitai-ite gone from his brow. He was about to comment when he began to feel a strange weight on his forehead. Cautiously he reached up and felt the smooth surface of a Konoha Hitai-ite instead of his goggles. Surprised Naruto looked over at Iruka who smiled proudly.

"But the test you said…"

"You more than proved yourself Naruto, learning and using the Kage Bushin in the same night and defeating a Chunin to boot, you more than earned that hitai-ite Naruto" said Iruka proudly cutting him off.

Naruto looked at him in shock. "I did all that… But I never got a chance to show you my Kage Bushin and the last time I saw Mizuki-teme he was about to decapitate you!" cried the young ninja.

Iruka looked at him curiously then sighed, "Of course, a first time henshin tends to cause short term memory disassociation" he said softly in an understanding tone. "The memories will return in time Naruto so for now take my word for it, you earned your Hitai-ite tonight."

Naruto looked at his teacher in shock before smiling his first genuine smile in a long time before he embraced his teacher as tears streaked down his face.

0o0o0o0o

Few hours later
Hokage's Office

Sarutobi was feeling his years tonight as he read the report written by Iruka that only confirmed what he had witnessed through his spy crystal. He sighed heavily as he looked up to the picture of his predecessors and the man who should have been his successor. "You knew didn't you Minato, some how you knew he would awaken his seed" he asked to picture of a young blonde haired man who Naruto would obviously look like in five to seven years. With another sigh he got up and went to his book case and pulled down a small leather bound book with a lock on it like a diary. On the cover were two symbols one a spiral not unlike the one found on Konoha Hitai-ites and the second being what according to Iruka's report was the symbol of Agito. He placed the book on his desk with a heavy thud and moved to take his seat pushing the intercom as he did, "Send them in."

With out another word his door opened as Naruto and Iruka entered his office. It was not the first time this trio had been here. Usually it was because of one of Naruto's pranks or him being caught trying to escape class occasionally accompanied by the either Nara Shikamaru and his friend Akamichi Choji. Unfortunately this was not one of those times. "Sit both of you" said Sarutobi as he himself took his seat at his desk and proceeded to stuff his pipe. "I have gone over your report Iruka and find that it does agree with my own observations and given that it is time for action to be taken and in my personal opinion it is action that is long over due" said the old Hokage seriously. "As of this night, Umino Iruka you are hereby promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin with all rights and privileges that go with it as well as responsibilities" he said causing the pair to drop jaw in shock. "We'll handle the paper work on your promotion in the morning right now I just need to cover the bases with what it is that I am about to tell you both."

"Jii-san, just what is so important that you had to promote Iruka-sensei just to tell us?" asked Naruto with eager curiousness.

The old Hokage sighed and took a puff on his pipe and watched the smoke. "What I am about to revile is an S-class secret known only to me a few Jonin and specific members of the council" with that he handed Naruto a sealed manila envelop that was surprisingly addressed to him.

Carefully he opened it and pulled out its contents a sealed letter, what looked like important legal documents, and… a birth certificate. " 'Let it be known on this date October 10th that one Uzumaki Kushina wife of Namikaze Minato gave birth to a healthy 5 lbs. 7oz. baby boy at 2:07pm named… Namikaze Naruto' Jii-san is this…"

"Yes Naruto" answered Sarutobi. "That is your official Birth certificate, the one on file with the orphanage and civilian registries were carefully made forgeries provided by our ANBU Counterfeit Identities Bureau at your father's request. I was not to revile your lineage until you either turned sixteen, made Chunin, or had what happen tonight happen."

"Just what are you talking about, Iruka-sensei said that I beat Mizuki-teme but I don't even remember fighting and what about my parents huh? Just who was my dad if could make a request of ANBU like it was nothing?" demanded a now confused and angry Naruto.

Sarutobi sighed as Iruka took a look at the birth certificate as his eyes went wide. "By Kami, Lord Hokage is this real, is Naruto really HIS son?" the old man only nodded.

"WILL SOMEONE TELL ME JUST WHAT IS GOING ON?!"

Iruka looked over at his upset set student and placed a claming hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, Namikaze Minato, your father, was known by two names well known not only in the village but through out the Shinobi world, the Konoha no Kiiroi Senko and the Yondaime Hokage" said Iruka softly.

"What? My… dad… he…"

"He had no choice Naruto" said Sarutobi answered the question the young boy before him was trying to ask. "Only a child recently born could handle the enormous power of the Bijuu let alone the King of all Bijuu. And how could he ask another to make the sacrifice that he himself could not. As I have told you many times, the Hokage must be ready to sacrifice anything to protect the village he serves. He wrote the letter in the envelope just before his death. He intended for you to read it."

In a state of near shock Naruto pulled over the letter and opened it.

To my dear Naruto,

If you are reading this then one of three things has happened. You have turned sixteen in which case the Old Man should have given you this as a birthday gift with many happy returns on your reaching adult hood. Secondly if you have reached the rank of Chunin in which, know that I am most proud of you on the day of your promotion. And lastly, and I hope to Kami that it is not so, that your seed has awakened in which case I can only say that I am so sorry that I will not be there during what might be your most trying time in your life.

I know you must have many questions and I would like nothing more than to answer every single one of them but time is short and I must go and face the Kyuubi. So I leave that to Sarutobi. I hope that one you can understand and forgive me for what it is that did but know that your mother and I love you and will be watching over you always no matter what.

Sincerely,

Namikaze Minato

Yondaime Hokage and more importantly your father.

PS: One day, should you encounter an old man peeping on the girls at the hotsprings remind him of the debt he owes me after you beat him up.

Naruto smiled as tears streaked down the sides of his face. For so long he had wanted the love of a parent and now he knew, his parents loved him. With a chuckle he folded the letter and put it away before he wiped his eyes. "So since I'm sure I am not sixteen or a Chunin that means that this seed thing happened, just what is it?" he asked hoarsely.

Sarutobi could only smile proudly at the young shinobi's resolve. His father had that same trait, it was not his ability or great skill that made him feared during the war with Iwa but his ability to never give up and find a way to succeed either by doing it himself or by giving others the chance to find the solution. "The answer to that question you will find in this" he said as he pushed the book he had pulled from his bookcase over to him. "The book before you is a relic of the former ninja village located in what was Uzu no Kuni, specifically your mother's clan history. Parts of it are sealed so that only one of the Uzumaki clan could read it, what I could read detailed history from before the great cataclysm that formed our world as it is today to the present. From what your mother told both me and Minato her family descended from one of the first people to awaken their seed."

"Just what is the seed that you keep talking about?" asked Naruto starting to get annoyed.

"It is an old legend from our ancient past that has some measure of truth" said Iruka immediately going into lecture mode "Long ago after Kami created the Earth he turned over control of it to two of his children. Our ancient ancestors called them the Overlords of Light and Darkness, for a time they ruled peacefully. However the pair eventually disagreed over how they should affect humanity. The Overlord of Light believed that humanity should grow and change with out interference except in the most dire of circumstances. His brother, the Overlord of Darkness however believed that humanity should remain guarded and unchanged for all eternity.

The disagreement eventually sparked a war between the two that culminated in a battle that cost the Overlord of Light his life. However as a final act he took the total sum of his power and seeded it through out the populace in the hope that the seed would allow humanity to grow beyond his brother's control. In retaliation the Overlord of Darkness took human volunteers and blended them with the sprits of animals creating Lords who were given the task of killing any person shown to have an active seed. When Kami discovered what happened he had the Overlord of Darkness' physical life ended but before he did, he created an El Lord of Water using what remained of his own life force to oversee the work of all the other Lords and to serve as his representative on Earth.

However the Overlords did leave behind a way for them to return to physical life. Ironically enough the only way for it to be used humanity would have to become smart enough to unlock the secret. About eleven years before the great cataclysm our ancestors discovered and unlocked the secret and allowed the Overlord of Darkness to return to life.

Disappointed at how much humanity had changed, he began making plans to wipe us out and begin again with a clean slate. Kami however had other intentions and used the seeds that the Overlord of Light created to stop him by jumping him forward in time before his brother's resurrection and let him use the last of his power to awaken the seeds in a group of boat passengers."

"Among those passengers was you ancestor Tsugami Shouici born Sawaki Tetsuya. The boat was attacked by the El of Water and Tetsuya lost his memory and took on the name Shouici because of the envelope he had on him at the time. After the Overlord's resurrection he led the fight against him and in fact was the one to finally end it. After the battle the Overlord realized the truth of his brother's beliefs and resolved to look after humanity taking with him the original Tsugami Shouici as a reward for trying so hard to show him the truth of humanity through out the conflict" concluded Sarutobi.

"Okay how does this prove that I have the seed and just what does it do?" the two adults looked at each other before Sarutobi stood and moved over to his cabinet and pulled out his spy glass.

"The bearing of a Seed of Agito as it is formally called has many traits in common with Kekkei Genkai in fact the majority of clans that have Bloodline Limits have a large amount of seed positive but dormant members. Your mother's family was well known for their skill and ability as Shinobi. It was not until after she came here as a refugee that we learned that her family had large number of awakened Seed Bearers. As for what the seed does, that was why I pulled this out" said Sarutobi as he retook he seat. "My Scrying Jutsu can not only spy on events but with this crystal I can replay the last image viewed. Now look into it and watch" with that Sarutobi began running through a series of seals before the orb began to glow. Naruto looked into the orb intently, and watched as the scenes of the last few hours replayed. He watched as he was enveloped in the bright white light and transforming into his armored form; his face off against Mizuki and his sound defeat of him.

Naruto found his mouth unnaturally dry as the images faded from the crystal. "It's alright Naruto just breath" said Iruka as he helped Naruto to lean back as he saw the boy having trouble reconciling what he had seen and the fact that he was the one who did it. From what Sarutobi had said, Mizuki had suffered three cracked ribs, a broken collar bone, and two ruptures in his spinal column as well as numerous sprains, lacerations, and bruises.

"I hope that you understand the weight of the responsibility of your situation Naruto. The power you displayed here is not to be taken lightly and if not properly controlled, it can not only destroy you but this village and everyone in it" said Sarutobi with blunt seriousness.

Naruto audibly gulped at the prospect, there may be a lot of jerks in the village that may disserved to get pranked but he never hurt any one, excepte perhaps their pride. "If I need to control this in order to protect the village just tell me how to do it" he said giving the two men a firm glare of determination. It was a look the old Hokage had seen many a time on his successor's face, the look of utter and unwavering determination. The old man smiled nostalgically.

"Like anything else, the only way to gain mastery of your new powers is to practice which is part of the reason for me promoting Iruka. He is one of the few who can actually train you in your powers and as a Tokubetsu Jonin he can be assigned to assist a Jonin-sensei in the training of his team, and therefore no one can make a fuss over your extra training sessions" said Sarutobi knowingly.

Naruto gave his teacher a look thoroughly confused. Yeah Iruka was the only ninja in the village who even had a chance of tracking him but he was still a regular ninja or as regular as ninja get. Then he recalled the fuzzy memory of Iruka's arm being covered by a red gauntlet during the fight but he had only attributed the vision to his body being hyped on adrenalin. Iruka just chuckled at Naruto confused look. "I'll explain it during our training session tomorrow, nine o'clock at training ground 27 and don't be late" he said.

Naruto nodded, taking the hint that meeting was over for him. Taking up the items his parents left him, he bowed to the two men before exiting leaving the pair alone. Iruka immediately slumped into a chair as exhaustion began to take him. It had been a while since he had to stifle his powers in such a way. It took everything he had to not transform as soon as Mizuki made clear his intentions. Things probably would have worked out better if he had, hindsight was always 20/20 but then things that we could not change always were. He sighed before looking at the hokage as old fears began creeping upon him in new ways. "Hokage-sama, I don't mean to sound rude but are you sure that I am the best person to train Naruto? I am still working on my own training every day and I still have not got to any of the higher powers yet."

The old Hokage just chuckled sagely. "Your powers will appear when they are needed, you above all should know that you cannot rush these things. And as for the training of Naruto, I asked the Shodai and Nidaime the same thing when I was put in charge of training the Sannin all those decades ago. They told me that it was because I asked that they knew I was the right one to teach them. They also said that the best teachers are the ones who learn something from their students. I think you will learn just as much from Naruto as he will from you. Besides should the worst happen I know that you will do your best to save both Naruto and the village, at this point you are perhaps the only one who could stand against Naruto should his seed overwhelm him" said Sarutobi sadly.

"'Hope for the best but plan for the worst' Hokage-sama?" remarked the teacher rhetorically.

"Yes" said Sarutobi as he took a long pull on his pipe and sighed. Deep in his bones he knew, change was coming.

A/n: I know mostly filler but I wanted to set up something and this chapter was getting long enough as it is. Please review and vote

Until next time true believer