NSS 1.4 AN: I do not own Naruto

For three months Naruto faded in and out of depression. He went to class, he went to therapy, he threw himself into his sealing practice to further develop the guns, and he trained. Slowly Naruto pulled himself back together with the help of Mr. Higurashi and his psych nin. After the first two weeks Mr. Higurashi forced Naruto into taking the empty room above the forge instead of letting the boy continue to live in his old apartment, alone. Iruka did his best to show the blond his support taking him out for ramen when there was time and giving him a few pointers after classes.

For those three months the Hokage had put off answering Naruto's question about why the villagers hated him for fear of exasperating Naruto's existing mental stress. But Naruto's psychiatrist assured the aged leader that Naruto's mental state had stabilized, that he was well on his way to working through what had happened. So the time had come for Naruto to receive his second answer, and to come to grips with his burden.

{}{}{}{} Hokage's Office

Naruto stepped into the office with none of his standard cheer or pep. Instead the young blond walked solemnly. Also absent was his normal orange pants and jacket, Instead he wore black boots, brown pants, and a deep green hooded sweatshirt. The boys blond hair was hidden behind simple black hat with a jutting front that shaded his blue eyes (AN: Baseball hat). The standard weapon pouches were fixed to his legs and waist along with two separate pockets for scrolls, one on either leg.

"You wanted to see me, Jiji?" Naruto asked, hesitating slightly before using his chosen moniker for the village leader.

"I did. Naruto, what's with the hat?" The Hokage asked having never seen a hat like it before, and choosing to ignore the slight stumble in Naruto's greeting.

"You like it? I made it to keep the sun out of my eyes."

"Clever, but you may want to reconsider. While it will keep the sun out of your eyes it will also create a blind spot above you."

The blond blinked then took the hat off and put it back on, and repeated the process several times before cursing mildly and putting the hat into the pocket on the front of his sweatshirt.

"Not something to wear on missions then, I guess. Still it's good for wandering around the village." Hiruzen nodded agreeing with the boy's analysis. "I appreciate the tip, but that can't be why you wanted to see me."

"It is not. I've been holding off on the last pieces of your mission pay until your psych nin thought you were ready to handle it. I would have told you when you came back but the mission placed you under a great deal of stress, and it was decided to wait and see how you were coping before piling more worries on you." Naruto simply waved away the explanation.

"It's alright; I wasn't… it's alright. So, you're going to tell me why people hate me now?"

"Indeed. You may want to sit down for this."

While Naruto got comfortable in one of the seats across the desk, Hiruzen went about filling and lighting his pipe, taking the time to inhale several calming breaths before addressing Naruto once more.

"Twelve years ago the nine tailed fox attacked this village. That is only a partial truth. The true story is more complicated. Since the time of the first Hokage this village has kept the nine tailed fox captive, sealed inside human beings, the only kind of prison capable of containing so much power." Naruto sat silently, taking in the information but not visibly reacting beyond twitches and the widening of his eyes.

"There are two flaws with sealing of the nine tailed fox. The first is that because it is more powerful than the other eight bijuu it takes a person who possesses an incredibly strong life force to contain. It takes an Uzumaki, a clan known for their longevity."

Naruto's grip on the edge of his chair tightened considerably. Rapidly his mind churned out revelation after revelation. With dawning sense of dread Naruto bowed his head and asked questions to which he already knew the answer.

"So I am from a clan? Uzumaki really is my last name?"

"It is."

"And the fox is sealed inside me, isn't it?"

"... It is."

For several minutes Naruto sat silently assimilating the new information, looking at it from the point of view of an amateur sealer.

"You haven't had me banished, or locked up. You're letting me train to be a ninja. So the seal must be strong, right? Strong enough to keep the fox locked up?" Naruto was fairly sure his assessment was accurate, but this was too important. He needed confirmation.

"It is. The reaper death seal, your seal, is probably the most sophisticated seal in existence. To apply that seal the fourth had to make a deal with the Shinigami, who then took his soul in exchange for sealing the fox in you."

Once more Naruto lapsed into silence.

"The villagers know about the fox, but they don't understand or trust the seal, is that about right?"

"Sadly, yes. The fourth had hoped you would be seen as a hero. Unfortunately the village did not live up to his expectations in that regard."

"You said there was a second flaw in sealing the nine tailed fox. What did you mean?"

"The second flaw is that when a female jinchuriki, which is the term for people with demons sealed inside them, gives birth it weakens the seal. That is how the fox escaped your mother on the night of your birth."

Naruto's eyes went wide.

"So I am the re-"

"No!" The Hokage cut him off with a shout. His eyes blazed as he rejected the very idea of it. "You cannot be blamed for what happened. Your birth came almost a week and a half early, and your mother's labor was incredibly short. The fourth was only halfway through the process of reinforcing the seal when you were born. He simply wasn't fast enough to finish in time."

The Hokage stared off into nothing as memories of that horrible night played through his mind.

"Once the fox was released everything went to hell, and the entire village had to fight to buy the fourth time to complete your seal. Your mother and father died defending you from the fox."

Naruto nodded and stayed silent. It was a great deal to take in.

"I should let you know Naruto, only the adults are aware of your status. I passed a law forbidding people from discussing any of this. Your generation has sadly picked up on the way the adults treat you, and emulated it."

Again Naruto remained silent, though he nodded sadly.

"The clan symbol you gave me, was it really mine?"

"Yes, that is the Uzumaki clan symbol."

Naruto's eyes clenched tightly closed.

"Why? Why not use a fake name? Why not a more solid deception, why give me any link to my true identity at all?"

"Honestly? Because it wouldn't have mattered." Naruto's eyes shot wide.

"Any spy would know to keep a close eye out for people who are ostracized by the village for several reasons. The first is that those individuals are the easiest to turn against Konoha, the other is that jinchuriki are often treated as you have been, or worse. And while your mother certainly made enemies your last name is no proof of either of your parent's identity, and I'm more concerned with keeping your father's name hidden than your mother's."

The Hokage took a moment to gather his thoughts and to take several more puffs from his pipe.

"I have no doubt that spies and village leaders know of your status and suspect your mother's identity. However, there is a difference between spies, people who know when and how to keep their mouths shut, and village leaders who are afraid to risk starting a war knowing who you are, and every shinobi with a grudge knowing."

Naruto cocked his head to the side questioningly.

"Mist is in no position to do anything as they have just entered into a civil war. Sand is our ally therefore our strength is at least partly their own. Stone and Lightning are both recovering from the last great war so their leaders must step carefully to avoid starting another. Lightning is on thin ice already after the Hyuuga incident. However, shinobi from those villages might be less inclined to think through the ramifications of their actions and simply attack you."

Hiruzen shook his head to clear it of idle thoughts. Naruto nodded his in understanding.

"So basically, it didn't cost you anything to admit I'm an Uzumaki... because that doesn't confirm who my parents were, just that one was an Uzumaki who might not have even been a shinobi, and they would have had eyes on me no matter what you did, right?"

"Correct."

The pair lapsed into a semi comfortable silence, for a time. Then Hokage decided to explain some of what being a jinchuuriki meant for the blond.

"I believe I offered you an alternative to the bunshin, Naruto. I think along with that you deserve a better explanation of the pros and cons of being a jinchuuriki."

"There are benefits to having a demon trapped inside me?" The blond asked as he arched one eyebrow. Hiruzen chuckled in response.

"Well for one your Chakra reserves are already truly massive, even by jounin standards, and they will only continue to grow. Unfortunately this means that fine control, and therefore low powered jutsu like the bunshin and genjutsu, will be forever beyond your abilities. Thanks to the demon's chakra you heal at an unnatural rate and have unbelievable stamina. Eventually, once you learn to harness some of the fox's chakra, all of these things will come together to make an unmatched heavy combat specialist, which is a good launching point for your goal of Hokage."

Hiruzen shot the young blond a warm smile. That smile morphed into a confused expression as he noticed Naruto grimacing.

"Eh hehe about that um, Jiji see… the thing is I uh, I don't really want the hat anymore." Naruto admitted hanging his head. Hiruzen's eye shot wide open at this declaration. "And I ugh, I don't want to be a heavy combat specialist. I've been training for stealth and assassination missions for awhile now. I've got some ideas, tactics using the guns I've been making with Mr. Higurashi, and some other ideas too. Jiji, you sent me on that mission, and I get that it was necessary, but… but I can't do that. I don't think I could ever do that to anyone, and I don't want any other kid to ever have to go through that."

Naruto paused before resuming speaking, this time with a steely edge to his voice. "So I'm going to specialize in assassination. I'm going to be the best at it. I'm going to get so good that I'll be able to kill people like the lady Suki in spite of all their guards. So no other kids ever have to do that!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen, third Hokage of the village hidden in the leaves, sat stunned. He loved Naruto like a grandson, but at the same time the boy represented a military asset. The boy was a chakra powerhouse who in time would be able to fight for hours without rest. In times of war jinchuuriki were expected, even needed, on the front lines where they could send whole battalions running for their lives. Between the losses in the last war and the losses caused by the nine tailed fox's release, the village was in a precarious position. That their jinchureki was only twelve, and barely trained, in no way helped.

While a skilled assassin could turn the tide of battle, even war, it was not nearly as good a deterrent as a shinobi who could call up the chakra of a raging demon. That Naruto wanted to make sure no other child ever needed to undertake such a mission was a heartwarming, though likely hopeless, ambition. Assassins capable of slipping into heavily guarded compounds, getting the kill, and then getting out were rare. Even among ANBU veterans that sort of mission could easily end badly. That Naruto intended to make a career out of exactly that sort of mission was troubling in the extreme.

"Naruto, what are you talking about? Don't you want to be a ninjutsu specialist?" The Hokage asked, trying to maintain the kindly grandfather visage. "Thanks to your tenant, and your reserves, you are going to have enough chakra to throw high powered jutsu around like water in a rainstorm. With proper training and the right combinations you have the potential to wipe out armies all on your own. And if you can learn to use even a fraction of the fox's chakra you could be the most powerful shinobi the leaf has ever produced."

He went on to explain, seeming to think the concept would excite Naruto. Instead Naruto stared at his aged leader as if the man was spewing clouds of pink gas and chattering like a squirrel.

"Jiji…. are you stupid or something?"

Of all the responses that the Hokage could have received this answer was not something he had ever even considered. Reaching into his side pocket Naruto produced a scroll and quickly unsealed its contents showing the twisted wrecks of several gun barrels. The Hokage blinked in confusion.

"Jiji, I get what you're saying. I'm a weapon, or I could be. But you mentioned two other people who've had this done to them before right?"

"Yes."

"Did either of them ever use the fox's chakra before? Did they leave behind any helpful tips on how to go about it? Did they experience any side effects?"

"Well no, but"

"So Konoha has never weaponized a, what did you call us, Jinchuriki, before. These," Naruto swept a hand over the broken guns "are some of my mistakes when Mr. Higurashi and I were building guns. Even though we thought we understood the math and the technique we messed up the little details and they literally blew up. Too much of a newer, more potent, batch of gunpowder. The barrel of the gun narrowed out halfway down and the bullet got stuck. A weak spot in the metal we didn't notice." As Naruto spoke he pointed at different twisted hunks of metal.

"And these are just some of the ones that blew up. For every explosive failure we used to have two that survived firing but have some other issue we never would have expected that make them useless."

The aged leader seemed confused as to where Naruto was going with this, which only further frustrated the blond.

"Jiji, I'm the third person to ever have this done to them right? And you said neither of the two before me ever tried to tap into the furball?" The Hokage nodded. "So there is no possible way of knowing what will happen, because no one has ever done this before. The best case scenario is that I get all that chakra with no drawbacks. The worst is I try to tap into the things chakra and it escapes, killing me and everyone else when it does. It took me seven tries to make a gun that fired accurately and survived repeated firing."

"Naruto, what is your point?"

"My point is I'm basically one of the earliest stages of an experimental weapon, and testing an experimental weapon gets more dangerous as the weapon gets more powerful. I've got the nine tailed fox sealed inside me… It doesn't get any more powerful, and dangerous, than that. You might be in a hurry to see if your weapon turned out to be a success, but I'm not. I like not being spread across half of the village."

The Hokage fumed in his seat.

"Your seal is the master work of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage! It is perhaps the most complicated seal in existence with the possible exception of the fourths Hirashin!" Naruto continued to stare at the Hokage like the man was delusional.

"It was still the first time he used the seal on anyone, let alone to seal a demon inside of them. Which means everything about the seal is theoretical, and if he misjudged me, the demon, or any aspect of the seal, using the damn thing could turn out to be a death sentence. Soooo no, screw that. I'll stick to designing the ultimate long range weapon. Then I can be Konoha's best assassin. It's smarter and way cooler." Naruto nodded to himself as if he was stating an indisputable truth of the universe.

"You have a duty to your village! The Yondaime entrusted you with this power so that you could use it to protect the village!"

"Well he never asked me! The stupid thing has brought me nothing but trouble, and I'm not going to commit suicide by fox to satisfy your curiosity about your weapons potential!"

"You have a duty to protect th-"

"THE HELL I DO!" Naruto roared, lurching from his seat to slam open palms on the Hokages desk. "This village treats me like shit! I'm an outcast and I can count on one hand the number of people who treat me well! If I really have a duty to protect them, then I fulfill it just by not letting the fucking fox out! That's all the ones before me did, and that's all I'll do."

For a moment the office fell silent before Naruto resumed speaking.

"I asked you to tell me why they hate me as proof that I could trust you. I'm willing to serve this village, hell I want to serve! But I'm not going to go and play 'poke the demon fox, and see what happens'."

Smoke curled lazily from the Hokage's pipe as it swirled around his aged face. The man's eyes were cold and hard, they spoke of countless atrocities committed in both war and peace. For the first time Naruto truly understood that the Hokage was not just the leader, but the most efficient and powerful killer in a city of killers. Cold calculations and plans buzzed through the aged leader's mind. Finally he settled on a course of action.

"I'll make a bet with you Naruto. You want to be an assassin? Then you need to prove to me that you would be more useful as an assassin then as a combat specialist."

The blonde's eyes light up with fire at the challenge to his newfound life goal.

"How?"

"I'll give you until graduation to prepare. The week before the academy graduation exam you will be excused from classes. For the duration of that week I will stay at an agreed upon location while I send a shadow clone to see to my daily business within the village. You must assassinate that shadow clone and make your way to the border of fire country without being captured, and without harming any Konoha shinobi who are sent to pursue you. You pull that off and you will have proven to be potentially the most skilled assassin in the elemental nations. You fail; you shift your focus to heavy combat."

Unholy glee shone through Naruto's blue eyes as he stared down the Hokage.

"You're on Jiji." The blond said with a vicious grin. "Now what was is you were saying before about an alternate to the bunshin?"

"Ah yes, the kage bunshin no jutsu, here let me show you the seal…"

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