The next day, Naruto was presented with a jounin vest and a Konoha hitae-ate. Naruto used the Uzu one as a belt and tied the Konoha one around his forehead. Naruto was given the mission to find and bring Jiraiya to Konoha to certify his Fuiunjutsu. Naruto was given a list of places of where he was usually at. Naruto scanned the list, shaking his head. 'Jiraiya of the Sannin? More like ero-sannin. I think I will call him that from here forth ha-ha,' thought Naruto. He found Jiraiya in Hot Spring Country, spying on the fairer gender from a tree with a telescope while he quickly scribbled down notes and sketches for who-knows-what. Smirking, he crept up behind Jiraiya, who was too concentrated on peeping to notice the looming threat behind him. "HEY ERO-SANNIN!" shouted Naruto scaring Jiraiya off his branch and into the women's side of the bath. Naruto laughed as he heard the toad Sannin plead for his life as women approached him with various pointy objects they produced from thin air. The sounds of metal meeting flesh, girly screams, and the general cry of 'beat the pervert' was in the air. The Sannin was flung outside the fence and landed at Naruto's feet. He stood up as if the beating had never occurred and brushed off the dirt on his clothes before turning to face Naruto. "Kid, what was that for? I had a good view and you had to spoil it," said Jiraiya whining. Naruto decided to play innocent and asked him what his name was. "I am the great Gama Sannin Jiraiya!" said Jiraiya hopping left and right on one foot. "For a Sannin, you are the lamest person I've ever met, Ero-sannin," he said flatly causing Jiraiya to fall over. "For your information, boy I am the writer of the best book ever!" said Jiraiya showing Naruto the Icha Icha book in his pocket. "Ah, Kakashi-san writes that smut you write. Let me tell you, Ero-sannin, I consider that book to be trash. I could write something better," said Naruto. "You are not even a gennin yet are you?" asked Jiraiya. "I forgot to introduce myself. I am Naruto Uzumaki, prince of Uzushiogakure and a level ten seals master. I came to ask you to check my seal work and bring you back to Konoha," said Naruto.
"You a seals master? Kid, Naruto. There has not been a seals master since the destruction of Uzushiogakure…" Jiraiya's eyes bulged upon seeing the Uzu hitae-ate tied around Naruto's waist. "If you are so sure, care to check my seal work, Ero-sannin?" asked Naruto. "Stop calling me that. Sure let's see your seal work," said Jiraiya. Naruto showed him the mechanical creatures he made. Jiraiya's eyes bulged upon seeing the seals involved. "Naruto, where did you learn these seals? They have been lost for decades," said the toad Sannin. "I was kicked out of Konoha at four and found my way to the ruins of Uzu and learned Fuiunjutsu and a multitude of other things over four and a half years," said Naruto eyeing Jiraiya. Jiraiya turned to Naruto and nodded. "You are definitely a seals master. Even the Yondaime wasn't this good," said Jiraiya. "The fourth Hokage? He was a seals master?" "Yeah, he was my student after all," said Jiraiya grinning. The two men headed to Konoha were Jiraiya certified Naruto's Fuiunjutsu skills in front of the Hokage. Naruto grinned and left to go eat somewhere. "So Naruto has been through a shit load from the Council?" asked Jiraiya solemnly. The Sandaime nodded; "Naruto-kun has overcome it though. I'm glad." "By the way, what rank is he?" asked Jiraiya casually. "Officially or realistically?" "What do you mean by that?" "Pick one." "Just give me both." The Sandaime grinned and readied the camera under his desk. "Officially he's a jounin but realistically, he could best you, your teammates, and me without breaking a sweat," said the Sandaime. Jiraiya's mouth dropped as Sarutobi took a picture and handed it to him. "Here, for your photo collection," joked the Hokage.
Jiraiya had searched around for Naruto and finally found him slurping down ramen at Ichiraku's ramen stand. The cook and his daughter stood watching the bowls pile up in shock. The old man had waterfall tears going down his face. 'Kami has answered my prayers! We will be rich from just one of his meals,' thought Ichiraku Teuchi. Ayame spotted Jiraiya and bowed to him. "Jiraiya-sama what came we get you," she asked. "A miso ramen please." Jiraiya sat down next to Naruto. "Naruto, the Sandaime told me about your rank. Why didn't you become an ANBU? You are skilled enough to be one," asked Jiraiya as he muttered a quiet Itadakimasu. "My dream is to become the Hokage plus I don't like the masks ANBU has to wear. It's too secretive for me," said Naruto finishing his fortieth bowl before he called it quits. He paid Teuchi and Ayame and was about to leave when Teuchi called out to him. "Naruto come back anytime!" Naruto grinned and gave him a thumb's up. "Don't worry Teuchi-ojii-san. I can't eat ramen all the time but I will swing by to have a few bowls now and then," said Naruto. Jiraiya looked at Naruto as he disappeared from sight. "Jiraiya-sama, do you know Naruto-san?" asked Ayame. "Yeah and he's more than meets the eye," said Jiraiya before he finished off his bowl. Naruto had wandered off into the forest of death after he had gotten bored of wandering around Konoha. Apparently the place was filled with freakishly large man eating creatures. Naruto climbed a nearby tree and leaned against the trunk of the tree after he put down seals around the tree's base, if he fell.
The sound of a kunai whistling through the air toward him woke him several hours after he fell asleep. "Gaki, aren't you too young to be here? I admire your bravery but it's forbidden for any shinobi lower than a chunnin to be in this training ground," said a feminine voice. She jumped on the branch where the boy was and found to her surprise, he had vanished. "I believe that was unnecessary. Isn't attacking a fellow jounin and a loyal Konoha shinobi a crime?" asked Naruto appearing in Anko's face, hanging upside down from a branch above his resting place. "I was having a good dream too." "Alright, stop with the jokes. Who are you?" asked Anko. "Isn't it impolite to ask for someone's name before telling them your own?" he replied back. "The name's Anko Mitarashi. So what's your name, jounin-san?" asked Anko in sarcastic tone. "Naruto Uzumaki, tenth level seals master and fellow jounin at your service." Anko gasped at the name. The kid's promotion to jounin was sudden and from the stories that Kurenai and Yugao told her from their spars with Naruto, his true strength was beyond that of a jounin's. "Kurenai and Yugao told me about you. So what are you doing in here? Not many jounin would even come in the forest of death on a mere whim," said Anko. "I wanted to take a nap and brush up on some training." "That's amusing. Fall asleep before you could start?" "No, it was my training. To learn to distinguish enemies and the sounds they might make in an environment where the visibility is limited. The fact that I fell asleep just makes it more challenging." "Interesting, how about a spar?" "Here or on the ground?" Naruto's answer came in the form of a kunai launched the direction of his face.
Naruto expertly dodged the kunai and summoned a few clones. 'Kage Bunshin without hand seals? That requires the mastery of the jutsu 'thought a bewildered Anko. Naruto unsealed some seal paper he had on him and quickly made an immobilization seal as his clones distracted Anko. "Hey boss, can you hurry up? This crazy woman tried to get her snakes to eat us," shouted a clone as it dodged a snake that Anko sent towards him. "Finished! Seal!" shouted Naruto as he switched with the nearest clone and applied the seal on her with a single fluid motion. Anko was having fun dispelling the clones. They were challenging to hit but that made it more enjoyable. She was about to impale a clone where the sun don't shine when she found herself unable to move. The clone that was about to be impaled glared at her before dispelling with his fellow clones. "I win, Anko-chan," he whispered into her ear. "I was surprised you could keep up with my clones. Not even Kakashi and the other jounin I faced had enough stamina." Anko shook with rage as Naruto sat down in front of her and unsealed a box full of dango. "Yummy. This stuff is good. I should eat it more often," said Naruto as he gauged Anko's reactions. He laughed before removing the kunai from her hand and unsealing her. She almost fell over but Naruto quickly caught her and offered her some of her favorite treat.
Anko greedily ate the dango given to her as Naruto asked about her. Naruto learned she was a special jounin, not a jounin yet. She worked in the T & I department for the ANBU. She liked dango and sweet bean soup. She was the student of the traitorous Snake Sannin who left Konoha because he wasn't given the position of Hokage, and had marked Anko with a seal that hurt her body. "Can I see the seal, Anko-chan?" asked Naruto gently. He knew she was touchy about the subject given her sensei was a traitor. Anko showed Naruto the seal and Naruto quickly sketched the seal. "If I could remove it, would you let me?" asked Naruto softly. Anko perked up as she grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and shook him while asking if he could do that. "So dizzy…" said Naruto who had swirls in his eyes. Anko stopped shaking him and waited for him to snap out of the dizzy spell. "Yeah but I need time study the seal. Does it have any more forms?" "There's a second form but it hurts to use. It spreads across my body in black tendrils that cover my body from head to toe." Naruto wrote the information down and with a quick goodbye, he left Anko alone. 'Maybe he could break the seal…' thought Anko hopefully.
Naruto headed home to the apartment he rented to study the seal. He dissected the seal into its various components and was working on breaking the seal but was ultimately interrupted by a knock on his door. A shinobi in ANBU uniform stood in his doorway. "The Hokage asks for your presence," said the Tiger masked ANBU. "Tell the Hokage I will be there shortly, Tora-san," he said. The ANBU nodded before disappearing. Naruto sighed as he locked his apartment door and headed to the Hokage tower. The Sandaime was present and asked him to follow him to the hospital. "I have a hunch on your genealogy but I need some proof. Could you give a small blood sample?" asked the Hokage. Naruto looked the man who was like his grandfather and nodded. He bit his thumb and asked for a small vial which he filled. The Sandaime smiled as Naruto waved goodbye and left; he could finally confirm Naruto's lineage, give him his inheritance and rub it into the council's face. He would enjoy Naruto and the Council's reactions.
A week later, Naruto had made a discovery on the seal and worked on finishing the counter seal to destroy the vile chakra source that kept it connected to Anko. Again, he was interrupted by the tiger masked ANBU member. "The Hokage has asked for your presence in the council chambers," said the ANBU. Naruto locked his apartment and was escorted to the chambers where Sarutobi stood in wait for Naruto. Naruto was told to go in and walked in and stood by the Sandaime. "I have found the heir to the Namikaze and Uzumaki clans. Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze," said Hiruzen. The council gasped while Naruto was hard to read. "Old man, you knew of my lineage but chose to keep it from me" asked Naruto slowly, the anger in his voice clear. "Your parents asked that it be so until you reached at least chunnin rank or the age of sixteen," said the Sandaime giving Naruto two scrolls. Naruto unsealed both scrolls with his blood, knowing to do so after learning about them in his studies. The first scroll contained letters from his parents.
Dear Naruto,
This is your dad, Minato Namikaze. I'm truly sorry for the burden I have put on you by sealing the Kyuubi into you as an infant. You have the right to be angry at me but remember I love you no matter what. I will not be here to guide you but I am always with you in your heart. I got to go now.
Your father,
Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime.
Dear Naruto-kun,
This is your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. I never wanted your life to be like this but I write this as you are coming from my womb. Breathe Kushina. I may not make it through but know that I love you unconditionally and will always love you even if I am no longer present to hold and comfort my baby boy. Don't worry I hit your father a few times for giving you this burden without giving you a choice.
Your mother,
Kushina Uzumaki, princess of Uzushiogakure.
"So I was right about being the prince of Uzu," whispered Naruto as tears streamed from his covered eyes. The council was shocked at the revelation. The shinobi side were either ashamed of their inaction or actions that caused Naruto to be kicked out of Konoha. Inoichi and Hiashi were the best friends of the Yondaime and they had taken an oath to protect his only son or daughter. They had failed miserably. The members of the civilian council had either been ashamed or were screaming about how the demon child couldn't be the son of the Yondaime. Their arguments ceased upon seeing the confirmation of his status. "The other scroll holds the key to your home and jutsu scrolls from your parents Naruto. I'm sure they would be proud," said Sarutobi. Naruto hugged his 'grandfather,' but the happy mode turned sour when the civilian council tried to marry him off to their daughters. "You fools! The CRA can only be implemented by the heir or heiress. In addition, they have until their twenty first birthday to marry a minimum of seven women. I am not obligated to marry any one's daughters! I am wary of this council and I will do it my way!" growled Naruto. "You insolent brat! You may be the clan head of two clans but you answer to the council!" snarled a fat merchant. "You stupid buffoon! I am a shinobi and as such I only answer to the Hokage. This is a dictatorship, not a democracy!" Naruto replied back shutting up said civilian council member. "Naruto-san," said Homura and Koharu, trying to use their silver tongues to persuade Naruto. "You are young and so we recommend that you allow us to choose one wife for you to guide you." "I am considered an adult as soon as this head band worn on my head. I will make my own decisions so stay out of my clan's business."
Naruto had moved out of his apartment into his new home. He quickly set up his study and began to work on Anko's seal once again. "Eureka!" he exclaimed as he finished decrypting the seal's secrets. He set the seal aside and put a note on top of the paperwork to talk to Anko. He unsealed the folder of seals and jutsu he had been in the process of creating. He had seals from the basic repair seal that was created by him to repair his mechanical creatures from scrap up to his unfinished seal that would give the user a second chakra pool, which was created by siphoning off access chakra from the body. Naruto worked late into the night on various projects while he thought of the CRA that he was under. "I don't have to worry about that for a while," said Naruto dismissing the idea. The next morning Naruto went to find Anko and informed her of his discovery. The snake using jounin smothered him in a hug that almost suffocated him. She only let go when Kurenai, who was eating with her friend, pointed out Naruto was turning blue. "Sorry Naruto-kun," she said, barely hiding a blush. "Naruto-kun is it now?" asked Kurenai as her friend glared at her. "Meet me at the Namikaze estate in two hours. We'll take that seal off in no time," said Naruto who miraculously recovered from his near death experience.
Two hours later, Anko tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for Naruto to show. She jumped as the gates opened and Naruto came through them. "You live here?" asked Anko incredulously. "Yeah, I'm the Yondaime's child it turns out," he said as he motioned for her to follow. The gates closed behind her as she entered the mansion. A picture of a pregnant Kushina and Minato standing next to her adorned the stairwell. Anko hadn't realized until now that Naruto looked just like the Yondaime minus the whisker marks. Anko looked around in awe as she was lead to a room that had a giant seal drawn on the floor. "The seal on the floor prevents anyone to tamper with the unsealing process when it starts," explains Naruto. "It's kind of like a barrier of sorts." Naruto asked Anko to undress from waist up as he applied the ink for the seal over her whole upper body. "Seal!" shouted Naruto as he pressed his palm against the curse seal on Anko's neck. The seal he drew glowed blue as it fought the curse seal's black tendrils. The blue chakra won after half an hour's time. Anko gritted her teeth as the area where the seal was burned as if the seal was lit on fire. The seal gave off a sickly black glow before it faded from her neck. Naruto removed his chakra from the seal and watched it crumble. He helped a shaky Anko redress, with his eyes closed of course.
Anko had left the Namikaze estate feeling like a new woman. Her only link to Orochimaru was finally gone and she was grateful. She would find a way to repay on Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze. Meanwhile, Mei Terumi was in the Sandaime's office asking for some help in the bloodline wars against Yagura who become a tyrant and started killing off bloodline users. Sandaime called for Naruto who appeared in his office dressed in jounin uniform. "Naruto, this is an s-rank mission. You have the opportunity to refuse now if you choose," said Sarutobi. "Mei-chan's country is turmoil due to injustice. I will do everything in my power to help. I accept this mission Jiji-san," Naruto said.