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Shenanigans -- Chapter THREE:

A History Explained

Uzumaki Naruto slowly leaned back at his desk in his large old chair. The same chair that the sandaime, his father, and baa-chan had all sat in. The same chair that had been severely abused by his last predecessor, and was thrown out the window in fits of rage. Apparently the chair had even more of a rough time when she was just sitting in it. Naruto figured that the weight of her boobs just stretched the entire framework of the poor chair, and to this day it groans and squeaks when moved in the slightest. "Yeah," he thought. "This sadly abused chair would appreciate a replacement."

He sighed a long, frustrated sigh.

But not because of the chair that would not be replaced for sentimental reasons. He had more important things to sigh about.

Like the fate of his daughter.

It had been looming over him for five and a half years like a thick gray cloud filled with guilt. He hadn't told anyone. Not even Hinata, who deserved to know. At first, he just denied what his demon was telling him, and it's connection to all the strange incidents of small demon underlings appearing along the borders of fire country. After the defeat of Akatsuki, he became the only jinchuuriki (and he knew the only demon) left, and told himself that there was no way that the demons could come back from the dead. But there were a lot of things humans didn't know about the youkai.

Well, there was one human who did know at least one of their secrets. Uzumaki Naruto remembered how it was told to him the night after he found out that Hinata was pregnant with their second child.

FLASHBACK :

(a/n: yes, I'm so evil. but this would not really be considered in the style of naruto if there weren't any flashbacks. oh, and there may be ONE more that lasts about two seconds)

Naruto awoke to find himself in a place oh-so-very familiar to him. He sat up and sighed. He hadn't been to this leaky, dismal sewer in a few years. The only conclusion he could come to:

"What does that seething pile of filth want now?"

He got to his feet and instinctively walked down the corridor to the room his 'tenant' resided in, after muttering, "And when I was having such a good day, too."

He was greeted by those impossibly big steel bars and the blackness behind them, in which the feint outline of kyuubi no youkai could been seen. With red eyes that pierced the darkness, he gazed onto to the new occupant of 'his' room. Despite the eerie scene which would have anyone a tad nervous, he walked up to the cage groggily and stopped at a safe distance. He had been there so many times, it was almost an instinct for him to stand at least this far away from the cage.

(a/n: I could imagine naruto drawing a line when kyuubi reached his claws out to know the safest distance from him, then, when he leaves, kyuubi erases the line, draws it closer to the cage, and shreds him to ribbons the next time he pisses him off. just like in tom and jerry cartoons.)

Naruto crossed his arms. The slight presence of a smirk on his face. "Okay. You have me stumped. What could you possibly want from me this time? Couldn't get to sleep? Need me to read you a bedtime story?" He asked sarcastically.

The Kyuubi's eyes narrowed. "I assure you," he began. "This is a matter of grave importance. It concerns your precious country, but more importantly, my precious forest territory."

Naruto immediately knew that this had something to do with the recent demonic activity along the fire country's borders. "So you've decided to tell me about how all of the attacks came about? Or have you just decided to tell me how to stop it and save me your life story?"

"Actually," Kyuubi started, "A bit of both. You see, youkai like me are really forces of nature. We cannot be ever by truly destroyed. Even when a jinchuuriki dies, our presence from this world does not end completely, like that of a mortal. We may be gone for a few years, but we always come back, even after death."

"So you're saying that all the other youkai killed that were in jinchuuriki, or just found and used, have finally come back, huh?" Naruto interrupted.

Kyuubi continued. "But that's only the start of my problems. That's not what's affecting me in here. As I was saying, we are as much a part of nature as anything else. For example, have you ever wondered why there are different youkai in different ares? It's because we each have different territories, like regular animals. Your 'fire country' is just one big forest, and therefore, all my territory. I rule over it, even when I am imprisoned inside of you. All the demons have been slowly regaining power, and reining over their territories in peace again, now that they are free of the Akatsuki, and their jinchuuriki." He paused. "ALL OF THEM BUT ME!!" He barked. "I am still held captive here, in this horrid place, and the other demons mock me with their freedom, and they're taunting me. I can feel it. They see my weakness and have been advancing into MY forest and disrupting the natural ORDER!"

Naruto was apparently enlightened and unfazed by this information. "Well, if you're deranged enough to think that I'll kill myself to let you out, think again."

"Well of course I know you're not so stupid as to kill yourself, and I've given up on escape long ago..." Kyuubi sighed. Then continued in a surprisingly calm, and a bit proud, voice. "So I've taken the liberty of putting a solution in order." Then silence.

Naruto waited, but nothing came. "Well, what is it?"

"Oh." Kyuubi started, almost as if he just remembered what he was going to say. "Your unborn child."

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Naruto was engulfed in rage. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" He shouted, with a tone so dark and threatening, and eyes so filled with bloodlust, Kyuubi was for once thankful to be behind bars. (a/n: hehehe. Kyuu-chan's doin' time. He's so bad-ass.)

He explained/defended himself. "Calm down! It's not like I mated with your vixen, kit! Still so quick to assume."

"So how do you plan to use my child to help yourself, exactly?" Naruto was still using a harsh tone, but in more controlled manner.

"To put it simply, your next child will have the blessing of the forest, and the ability to call upon my control over it. The child will be connected to the forest, and feel, with as much clarity as I do, how it feels. This ability over all living things in a territory is what allows youkai to claim land as their own, and better defend and nurture their homes. Basically, a house-sitter/defender until I get out of this miserable imprisonment. In my eons of life, I have never had a real time to use this substitute guardian trick, so I don't know all the exact abilities that the child will have, but I do know that one is never born with these abilities. They are awakened some time, and with them, so awakens their responsibility to defend my forest, and care for it while I'm on a...hiatus"

Naruto felt relieved, but still seething angry that the kyuubi would burden his child with such a responsibility. Not only would they have to fight other enemy ninja, but enemy demon's henchman, too.

"Well, you're lucky you're in that cage. You'd make one hell of a fur rug." Naruto knew there was nothing he could do now except hope he could help in some way. Maybe make the burden a bit easier.

Kyuubi laughed. "You still have guts, kid. I respect that. If you're kit's anything like you, they'll take the responsibility no problem. This was my only choice, after all. To help you and me, really."

The strange real yet unreal world faded, and Naruto opened his eyes and he was once again back in his room. He sighed and closed his eyes again. He would tell Hinata tomorrow...

END FLASHBACK

Needles to say, he never told her. Every day seemed like a good day to say something. But just how do you go about saying it? It was even harder than telling his friends about being a jinchuuriki in the first place. It's not that he thought Hinata wouldn't love him anymore, he just thought she would get angry that he'd put it off for so long. She'd think he had been trying to hide it from her. He just never knew how to tell her. It might be a little scary to one day hear: "Oh, and by the way, Teikiatsuzu (a/n: Suzu's full name. Literally means 'cyclone' and 'figure' just stuck together. Figure like a scientific drawing or picture like you see in math or science books. When she was really little, she mispronounced it by saying teikiaSUZU by changing the 'tsu' symbol to a 'su' by accident. Of course it was cute at the time because suzu means 'bell' and she couldn't even say her own name. The nickname 'suzu' stuck. ) is cursed to a life of servitude, being at the beck and call of a demon until the day he comes back from the 'dead' and she'll have to fend off demons and feel every emotion of living things in the forest, too."

It just didn't seem like something a mother would take very easily.

In fact, he took it horribly. It made him feel more guilt than when he used to link himself to the murders committed by the Kyuubi years ago, and the guilt he released the power of the demon to kill again. He could handle that burden himself, but burdening his own child with such a task seemed to tug on his very being. He had ignored his own belief in making your own destiny. Suzu's life's purpose was predetermined for her before she was born. He had cursed Suzu, and he wished Kyuubi had told him earlier. He would have given his life in her place and killed kyuubi so he could come back (hopefully more docile) and take care of his own damn forest. Doing this would sever all connections between demons and his family. Now, all he could do was hope that Suzu would one day forgive him, and he would protect her from the persecution she would face for being seen as a youkai. Just like that which he had faced.

Naruto then sat up in his chair, a determined look on his face.

"I've decided!" He thought. "I'll tell Hinata as soon as she gets home! Before Suzu starts using her abilities, and before everything gets out of hand, maybe I'll be able to help her, and get everyone to see her in a better light than they saw me."

An assistant opened the door to his office and poked his head through. "The diplomats from tea country are here to see you, Hokage-sama." He spoke meekly.

Naruto was pulled from his train of thought. "Thank you very much. You can send them in." He replied.

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Wow. That one took a while cuz I was basically banned from the computer for the entire month of October for reasons we won't go into, but now I'm back! The next chapter won't be as serious, and definitely expect humor. LOTS. I was in a funny mood. It's comin' soon!

This chappie was one big explanation, and a little insight into naruto's feelings about the situation. It's deep stuff for him! So, the next chapter will be out soon!

Questions? Compliments? Complaints? Comments? Suggestions? FINANCIAL ADVICE…?

REVIEW!

For the next chapter: What should happen? I have the ending, but I need suggestions of some tom-foolery they could get into before then... Drop me a note!