A/N: Thanks for all the reviews and alerts and favourites, it really gets me itching to write more and update more frequently. Anyway short Note this time; let's get on with the Story. PAY IN MIND, SMALL SPOILER ALERT FOR THE LATEST CHAPTER, I think, honestly don't know

Disclaimer: I don't have anything Witty to say, but I don't Own Naruto...nor do I make money off this

Chapter 3: The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja

Previously: Apart from both Naruto's sobbing and wailing, a silence hung over head. The Shinobi Village was now mourning the loss of one of its greatest Hokages.

Naruto stood atop the recently deceased Yondaime's head on the Hokage Mountain. The silence was deafening. The village was mourning below him, counting their dead and preparing them for being buried. Naruto was waiting for two people. In his mind the night's events were replaying over and over again. The loss of his parents, his inability to save them. What kind of Hokage, no that wasn't really possible anymore, what kind of leader would he be, if he couldn't even save his own family. On top of that, Oji-san has forced, or rather 'advised', that Naruto should leave the village as soon as possible. His thoughts drift to an hour after the Kyuubi's sealing.

Few hours ago…

Naruto's eyes flicker open. Bright light attacks his eyes; he immediately squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to block it out. After a few seconds tick by, he slowly opens his eyes, white floods his vision. He was staring at a white ceiling, he slowly gets up and checks his motor functions. Everything was in working order. Where the hell was he, and more importantly how did he get here. Suddenly the nights events flashed by him, he grimaced; he had failed in rescuing his parents. He knows he passed out from the over whelming grief, well it was more of a factor, on his way into Konoha, or so he thought, it couldn't be from lack of energy could it. He was known to have crazy stamina back in the day, but then again he had the Kyuubi at the point. He doesn't now, and he did run for a long time continuously.

His thoughts were interrupted by a voice, "It seems your awake"

He looked around, startle blue eyes met calm collected chocolate brown eyes.

"Oji-san" Naruto whispered.

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead gently, there were currently only a few people he knew that disrespected him like that, and all of them he knew intimately. "I'm the Sandaime Hokage boy, I would prefer it if you addressed me by that title."

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, an action that the veteran Hokage did not miss. "Now, I need some answers in relation to your appearance, the first being, your name."

Naruto looked down at the hospital floor, his mind was conflicted, should he keep his identity a secret, "I am…an Uzumaki…I guess you could say"

It was Hiruzen's turn to be slightly shocked.

"I go by the name Shio, so in turn my full name is…Uzumaki Shio" the last part came out almost whisper-like.

"So then, why did you help us? Against the Kyuubi that is, you could have turned your back and walked away"

Naruto winced, how could his most trusted person think of him like that, but then again, this was before he formed the relationship with the elderly Hokage.

"It was my duty, always has been, a duty entrusted to me by my father, not only that, I will never turn my back on those who need my help, regardless of our past relations," as the words came out, Naruto's eyes burned with determination.

The Sandaime relaxed ever so slightly, the young man in front of him was of good origins, and had good intentions.

"Last question for now, What was your Relation to Minato Namikaze and Uzumaki Kushina, though with the latter it seems somewhat obvious, assuming a clan relationship"

Naruto let out a big sigh, he was hoping this wouldn't come out, after his break down at the battlefield near the barrier, he had howled for his mother and father. He had come to a decision however, if this question did come up, he promised to himself he would spill the beans to Hiruzen, he would never lie to his precious people.

"The Truth?"

Hiruzen nodded.

"Well, I would prefer it if it was only between you and me, no-one else," Hiruzen yet again, was surprised, but it didn't show on his face. With a wave of his hand, four shadowed figures left the room. Hiruzen then proceeded to draw some symbols on slips of paper in his hand.

"Allow me" Naruto reached out and took the paper and brush. After a few seconds, the sound suppressing seals were done, and he handed them back to Hiruzen, who stuck them on the door and windows nearby. The room was now sound proof.

"Well then, let me begin with my relation to the Yondaime Hokage and the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero as you would know them as, I on the other hand, know them as…" Naruto paused briefly, letting the suspense fill the air. Hiruzen couldn't stop himself from leaning in curiously.

"Oto-san and Kaa-San"

Hiruzne let out a small gasp, "That cannot be possible; your appearance is that of a 20 year old…they would have to have been 6 and 5 respectively, when they had you, which by a fact is not even possible, let alone true"

"I'm flattered you think I'm 20, you are close though, I'm roughly 19, now-"

"That doesn't change the fact that your story is imposs-"

"Let me finish, Oji-san, I wasn't born 19 years ago…I was born roughly an hour ago,"

"No, you can't mean…"

Naruto grinned, "Believe It, My true name is Uzumaki Naruto!"

Hiruzen sweat dropped, he could definitely see the resemblance of Kushina in there, and it was Minato's blue eyes staring back at him, "But the child has blonde hair."

"Dye old man, I'm naturally a blonde"

"Then how is it even possible?" Hiruzen was truly having difficulty keeping up his serious façade, he was truly in shock, actually that would be an understatement. "I need proof"

"Well, I guess I could show you the proof"

He held out his open palm in front of Hiruzen, slowly a blue sphere of chakra formed in his hand, it had gotten a lot easier to do ever since the Kyuubi left him, he didn't have the near-infinite chakra messing with his control, though he still had large reserves.

"The Rasengan" Hiruzen whispered.

Naruto let it dissipate, "I completed it to, Oji-san, though I won't show you, the results are slightly devastating, "Now only three people ever knew this jutsu, in this time frame, Oto-san, Ero-Sennin and Kakashi-Sensei, I believe that this is adequate proof. If you want I could show you the Hirashin, and I'm pretty sure again, only four people know how to pull that off,"

Hiruzen shook his head, "Yes your right, the Rasengan is adequate proof, but why are you here?"

"Honestly, because of my clumsiness, I was messing around with the Hirashin, and while in a rush I slipped and activated it," Naruto responded sheepishly scratching his head, while Hiruzen nearly face-vaulted, his serious Hokage face façade going straight out the window.

"Now before you begin asking anymore questions let me finish my story. It all began 19 years ago, when I was born and Kyuubi no Yoko, better known as the fuzz-ball, attacked Konoha…"

Naruto then proceeded to tell the old Sarutobi the ups and downs of his whole life, the adventures he had, his one love, well to him anyway, his friendships, the betrayal he underwent, everything. Hiruzen was soaking in every word as if it was Jiraya himself who had written this story. After what seemed like days, but in reality a few hours, Naruto finished his tale with, "And POOF! Here I was in the hospital with you staring at my face!"

Hiruzen gaped at Naruto like a fish out of water, he was utterly speechless, what could he say, the boy in front of him was a hero, in more ways than one. Another reason he was speechless was that his brain was going into overdrive. Naruto couldn't stay in Konoha, if Danzo even got a whiff of another Uzumaki in Konoha, there would be outrage, not only that Naruto cannot take his younger self with him, if word got out that Konoha's Jinchuuriki was not in Konoha anymore, who knows what would happen. He had to send Naruto to another Hidden Village, Iwa and Kumo were out of the question, mainly for obvious reasons. So was Suna, they had their hands full at the moment looking for their Kage, and they would ask to many questions. Kirigakure was the only village left at this point in time, not only which, his relations to younger Naruto might allow an alliance to be built in the future.

"Kirigakure…"

Hiruzen looked up, "I can't be here, for obvious reasons, Kirigakure is the only logical place to go, Haku is there, Zabuza can be salvaged, and they will have a civil war, if it hasn't started already, from what I remember Zabuza telling me."

Hiruzen smiled, a true hero indeed, Naruto arrived at the same conclusion as he himself had, however for completely different reasons.

"Look oji-san, I know you might disagree with me, saying it would be wiser for me to go to Suna or-"

"I agree" Hiruzen interrupted

"What?" Naruto gaped at Hiruzen in shock

"I agree, going to Kirigakure would be a good idea, there has been rumors that the Mizukage has gotten blood thirsty, and is slowly becoming paranoid with his own forces, you might be able to change that, and save Kiri, and your connection with your past self might allow an alliance to be formed…"

Naruto fiercely nodded, "And I can save Haku, and even Zabuza, and maybe that fish-"

"However! I do not want you take your younger self with you, your relation to your younger self will be more like a cousin from another village, and you will only be known as Shio."

Naruto nodded again, albeit with less gusto, "Fine, but at least allow me to train him, I really needed companionship when I was younger, and a mentor, things that I lacked, I want to be able to visit him atleast, Please Oji-san, you don't know how lonely I got, even with your laws in place"

"I will send two companions with you, to help you infiltrate-"

"No"

"You have no choice on that matt-"

"Fine," Naruto sighed, "As long as I get to choose who goe-"

"Not possible, as I've already thought of who to send with you Shio," Naruto winced slightly, "It will be the two Shinobi that located you with me."

Naruto shook his head in defeat, agreeing with Hiruzen, "Fine oji-san, just please don't call me Shio, please just call me Naruto, I need a connection if anything…"

Hiruzen's features softened, "It's okay Naruto, but only when it is just us two, otherwise you will be known as Shio, as you picked the name, you need to get used to it"

Naruto glumly sighed.

"Now, can you explain to me how the Kyuubi recognised you? Because I do believe you said he recognised you on the battlefield"

Naruto turned serious, "Hai, Well, I have a theory, I believe that, you know since the Fuzzball is purely made of chakra, when I entered this period, there was a serious unbalance in the bijuu balance, hence the world, in an attempt to even it out, figuratively ripped out the remaining of Kyuubi's chakra in me and forcefully merged it with the current Kyuubi, and since its memories lingers with its chakra, the memories also transferred. I believe, actually hope that those memories were sealed away with Dad, but we will only know once Naruto has access to the Kyuubi."

Hiruzen understood, it all made sense to him, but before he could dwell on his thoughts, a knock on the door interrupted them.

"Sandaime-sama, You've been in the room with the Patient for over 2 hours, is everything alright in there?"

Sandaime chuckled, he had completely forgotten about their location. He stood up and undid the seals and opened the door, a flustered nurse stood in doorway, "I h-hope I w-wasn't interrupting anything?"

"No you weren't, we were just about done anyway" Hiruzne smiled at the nurse.

"Oj-Sandaime-Sama, Look after the boy for me, and I'll send a message anytime I'm about to visit" Naruto had just caught himself before his slip of his tongue.

"Ok, Shio-kun, just go to your favourite thinking spot and I will send you your guards," The Sandaime turned towards the young nurse, "Shio-kun here has recovered, Nurse-chan, I think it would be nice of you to discharge him"

"Hai H-Hokage-Sama," the young nurse stuttered, it wasn't every day you got to talk to one of the leaders of the village.

"Oh Sandaime-sama"

"Hmm?" The old Sarutobi turned around.

"I need some money to pay for my clothes I bought from a tailor in wave, and some Shinobi equipment"

Hiruzen laughed. "Ok Shio-kun, I'll send them along with the guards"

With that Nurse discharged Naruto from the hospital, Hiruzen left for the long night that awaited him, and Naruto headed for the Yondaime's head on the Hokage Mountain.

Which leads us to our hero's current location, Naruto looked around, he felt a presence nearby, correction, he feels two chakra sources nearby.

Naruto looks in their direction, and flares his chakra. Two figures land in front of him.

"Uzumaki Shio-san?" A womanly voice speaks at him.

Naruto nods, "Are you the shinobi assigned to protect me?"

The Kunoichi and Shinobi nod, the latter handing Naruto a bag, "The things you requested Uzumaki-san."

"Please, call me Shio, I'd prefer it if we became friends over the course of this mission, and right now I'd also prefer my heritage kept a secret"

The shinobi nods.

"Hai Shio-san, I am Shiranui Genma, and this is your other guard and my current team-mate Rin-san"

END

A/N: Phew, that took a while to think out and plan out, even longer to write out that I was hoping for. Sorry about that, also I was tossing up between whom to send to escort Naruto to Kiri, and the latest chapter really helped with that. Again, please Rate and Review, it really helps me with how you guys think of my story. All the current positive feedback has really made my day, keep at it guys. Look forward to the Next Chapter. If any of you disagree with my choices in who i sent with Naruto feel free to drop a PM or Review at me.