I decided to start this chapter soon after the Chuunin exams; everything remains canon thus far. ((That includes Sasuke's curse mark, Naruto having his chakra sealed by Orochimaru, the snake boy attacking the village, etc. Hiruzen still passes away, and Tsunade is brought back to the village, and you'll see why)) I'll try to explain as much as I can in this chapter, so please let me know if I did alright~

"Jiraiya-sensei, there's something that we would like to talk to you about." Minato started, Kushina sitting next to him while the white haired sage sat on the other side of their kitchen table.

"This is about me taking your brat to train for three years?" Jiraiya halfheartedly guessed, raising a brow.

"That's part of it, yes." Kushina nodded her head.

Minato folded his hands together. "Hiruzen passed away after taking my place watching the final round of the Chuunin exams, and Tsunade came back to be the Fifth Hokage when I decided to step down, that gives you time to take Naruto out of the village to train and watch over him while protecting him from the Akatsuki you informed us about-"

"-That just leaves us to tell you what we will be doing during that time." Kushina finished.

At that, Jiraiya snorted. "Another kid on the way?"

"No." She sighed, leaning to the side to grab the journal she had been studying for months now. "You remember my brother, Kushito, right?" When the sage nodded, Kushina continued. "The night he disappeared after sealing part of the Kyuubi into Naruto, we found multiple journals with notes on fuinjutsu, and this journal." Handing the white haired male the journal, Jiraiya immediately started to look through it, stopping to the center of the book.

"Complex seal." He commented. "His own creation?"

"That's what we thought. Not too long ago, while we talked with Kakashi after his team's first mission in Kiri, he mentioned that the seal was left for us to figure out, so we can learn as to why he did what he did that night twelve years ago." Minato stated. "Kushina has been studying the seal since we talked, and slowly making progress."

Jiraiya sat back, crossing his arms. "What have you learned so far?"

"If I'm honest, all I know is that it's a complex storage seal." Kushina admitted. "Other than that, the notes that he left don't offer much to help decipher it."

"So you're saying that you might not be able to unravel your brother's last mystery?"

The blond clenched his fists. "Not here, we can't."

"Where are you planning on going? Not a lot of places even know of fuinjutsu." Jiraiya scoffed. "You'd be lucky if you found someone who knew more than you do, Kushina."

"I'm not looking for someone who knows more than me." Kushina sharply answered. "Kushito learned from our parents, and since they're not here, I'm going to where they learned fuinjutsu."

That made the toad sage immediately straighten up as he placed his hands on the table. "You're not talking about Uzushio, are you?"

"I am. We've already informed Tsunade when we were setting out and about when we would return; which would be around the time that you return with Naruto." She responded. "Kushito left us this journal for a reason, and that reason is to reveal what he decided to keep from us."

The sannin sighed heavily. "Does Naruto know?"

Minato shook his head. "We haven't told him yet, no. We were planning on telling him after we talked with you. And since we're talking about Naruto-" The blond reached into his pocket, placing a few slips of paper with intricate writing on them. "-these are for, or if, Naruto loses control of the Kyuubi's chakra; though it shouldn't be much of a problem."

"The seal hasn't weakened over the years?" Jiraiya raised an eyebrow as he slowly grabbed the seals.

"It has." Kushina responded first. "On his first mission; he lost control, but we found out that Kushito's residual chakra had fixed the seal. Both Minato and I checked it, and we both agreed that the seal was fixed, if not stronger, than when he left the village."

"And it hasn't shifted at all since then? Even when he fought the One Tail jinchuuriki from Suna?" When Minato shook his head, the sage continued. "Then why give me these backup seals?"

Kushina's gaze hardened. "Just to be sure. We don't know how much of his chakra Kushito sealed with the Kyuubi, so we have no idea as to whether or not his chakra will help Naruto once again if he loses control."

"That damn kid..." Jiraiya scoffed. "Your brother was always a tough person to read. Who knew he would still be that way after his death." He sat forward. "Alright, so I suppose if anything truly goes south on either end, we agree to send some kind of message."

"Messenger toad?" Minato suggested.

"That'll work."

It took less than three days for Kushina and Minato to reach Uzushio, and within the first few hours of being there, Kushina already was in any archives that were still intact after the attack more than a decade ago. The first months of their trip consisted of the two looking for any records that would be useful to help in their decoding of Kushito's seal. By the time the year was halfway gone, Minato started taking notes in his own journal, while Kushina sealed anything she deemed to be helpful, so she could bring them back to Konoha to avoid the records falling into the wrong hands. Towards the end of the year, a messenger toad had appeared with a long message from Jiraiya. The training for their son seemed to be going as well as they planned; Naruto was excelling at an amazing rate and they were only one year into training. After sending a message back to the sage, mostly Kushina fussing over Naruto and making sure that he was brushing his teeth everyday, and showering regularly; Minato wrote down most of what they had found so far that helped them, which turned out to not be as much as they wanted.

During the second year of their excavation, Kushina had started to explore deeper into the record halls; the places that were sealed off to people who didn't have Uzumaki blood running through their veins. That meant Minato was left alone, looking over piles of books his wife managed to bring out to him before running back inside. Soon, it became apparent that they were starting to run low on supplies. More than likely, they would have to return to Konoha before the end of the second year, which Kushina didn't mind. As amazing and interesting as their trip was, she was simply ready to go home to have Ichiraku Ramen. When the first snow fall of the year came around, Kushina and Minato started to pack up anything they had found and left Uzushio as they found it.

Unsurprisingly, the first thing the couple did when they got home, they passed out for four days. After that, they started their work once again. Somehow, with all the materials they gathered together, they only managed to barely get halfway through Kushito's seal. Kushina was frustrated, and understandably so. After taking a break for a little over a week, she returned to looking through records she deemed most helpful for the seal.

It was then when the time where Naruto would come home she came to a breakthrough.

"It's so great to be home, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed as he stood atop a tall pole, looking down at the village he had missed for nearly three years.

"Naruto, is that you?" Looking down, he saw two familiar figures as he jumped down with a big smile.

"Sakura!" The blond's expression soured as he looked at the person beside her. "Teme."

Sakura put her hands on her hips as she raised a brow. "Even after being gone for three years, you haven't changed!"

"Wha- I have too changed! I've gotten stronger!"

"I doubt it." Sasuke scoffed with a smirk.

Before Naruto could even try to argue, he was tackled by a red blur, the air being completely knocked out of him.

"Naruto! You're home!" Kushina cried as she tightly hugged her son. "We missed you so much!"

"Kaa-chan, I can't breathe..!" Naruto barely managed to get out. Minato softly laughed as he put a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Kushina, I think it would be nice if Naruto didn't suffocate..." He stated with a smile.

Kushina quickly retracted her arms, grabbing his arms instead as she looked over her son. "I'm sorry! I just haven't seen you in a while, dattebane!"

"You said it!" Naruto smiled widely. "You said 'dattebane'!"

"Well, yeah! I'm excited, dattebane!"

Jiraiya barked out a laugh as he watched the scene before him unfold. "A touching reunion if I've ever seen one."

"Sensei, it's good to see you too." Minato smiled as he stood up straight. "Tsunade-sama probably wants to see you two sooner than later. Kushina and I can walk with you."

"That would be alright, I need to talk to you." The white haired sage hummed as Kushina helped her son up from the ground. Looking at her husband, she nodded as she started to walk with Naruto so Minato could talk with his teacher.

"How did you research go then?" Jiraiya inquired when Naruto was far enough from the two of them.

Minato sighed. "We spent only two years in Uzushio, and even with all the materials we brought back with us, Kushina barely made it halfway through the seal."

"So even with all the records you found, it didn't make much of a difference?" The sage sighed, a troubled look on his face. "To be honest, I thought you two would have finished breaking through the seal by now."

"That's what I thought as well. Every time we thought we were coming to an answer, it would just lead us to a dead end." Minato shook his head. "I understand that what could be within the seal in important, but Kushito must have known that the three of us had a good understanding of fuinjutsu, so then no average shinobi with knowledge of it could easily release the seal."

"I've said it before, Kushito was an interesting kid; I never could get a good read on him when you all were younger."

"Nonetheless, we've made it this far, and I feel as though we're getting closer to getting the answers we need. But other than that, how did Naruto's training go?" The Fourth Hokage asked.

Jiraiya sighed heavily. "The brat is kind of slow, but he got along just fine. But, something odd happened within the first year."

"What happened?"

"Naruto said that he had a weird dream; he was standing before the Kyuubi while another figure was with them."

~Naruto PoV~

"Here again? Ugh, I just want to sleep! I already have to deal with you when I'm awake, so I don't want you here snooping while I'm trying to sleep!"

"Are you always this loud when you're here? Quiet down, or you'll wake him, you idiot." I crossed my arms as I heard the Kyuubi growl out, bringing my attention to the bright red eyes staring at me.

"And just who am I going to wake up in my dream-" I stopped short once I registered the figure sitting against the golden bars of the seal. Slowly walking closer, I noted that the figure was male; his head was leaning slightly to the side, making his hair up in a ponytail fall over his right shoulder. The green shirt that he was wearing seemed to have a big hole right through the middle of his chest. If I was being honest, he kind of looked like he was dead with his pale skin, but the Kyuubi did say I would wake him up... "Who... is that?"

"Your infinite amount of ignorance is truly astounding, boy." The Kyuubi said, a smile on its face. "You should already know who that is by now."

Squinting, I stepped closer to look at his face. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly open. "Are you sure he just isn't dead?" I questioned before seeing his chest slightly move.

"Listen here brat, you're running out of time. Sooner or later, you're going to have to break that seal."

"Break what seal? I don't even know who he is!" I yelled back, clenching my fists together. Just as I was going to say something else, a voice interrupted me.

"What...?" I looked over to see the man slowly opening his eyes as he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He turned his head over towards me as his eyes widened. "You're..." I stepped back in surprise once I locked eyes with his own purple colored eyes.

"You... look like Kaa-chan.." I stated aloud, making him look confused once again.

The red haired man sat forward and raised his hand to his chest, placing it right over the hole in his shirt. He looked at me again, realization written on his face. "Naruto?"

"How did you know my name?" I pointed at him, surprised that he knew who I was. Before he could say anything, the room started to fade as I woke up.

~Normal Pov~

"When the Kyuubi said he had to break the seal, he must have been talking about.." Minato trailed off.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. From what Naruto said, it seemed like he had a dream about Kushito. Despite only seeing pictures of him, your kid described his uncle to a tee, even the hole in his shirt from the injury he sustained before he disappeared."

"We need to tell Kushina. This is vital information to unraveling that journal's seal."

"So, there's something in the seal after all." Kushina hummed from a tree as she watched Naruto and his teammates fight against Kakashi. "Minato, do you think the dream Naruto had was something triggered by Kushito's chakra, or something else?"

Minato put a hand to his chin. "I'm not sure. If I'm correct, Kushito would have made the seal trigger the appearance of his chakra when Naruto's seal would weaken, not if he was having a mere dream."

"There's a possibility that he did something different as he was sealing his chakra in with the Kyuubi. Maybe it was a larger amount of chakra than we thought, or something that he created by himself to just do more than fixing Naruto's seal." Jiraiya suggested.

Kushina shook her head. "That still doesn't explain why the Kyuubi in Naruto's dream said that he needed to break the seal. How would he even know about the seal?"

"We might not know the answer to that question until we finally finish breaking that seal." Minato concluded as he watched his wife squint her eyes while thinking. To Kushina, it didn't add up.

Naruto went on his first mission to Kirigakure, his seal was 'fixed' by a mysterious force within the seal; presumably her brother. Naruto has a dream where he actually sees his uncle in the same place where the Ying half of chakra that resided in the seal that he made, and Kushito actually spoke to him? And how exactly would that half of the Kyuubi know about the seal when it had almost no exposure to Kushito's notes? Kushina hummed as she felt the ground rumble beneath her; assuming it was Sakura as she created a large crater, much to Sasuke and Naruto's surprise.

"Perhaps... When Kushito's chakra strengthened Naruto's seal, he also passed along knowledge to the other half of the Kyuubi?" Kushina stated aloud, not quite sure herself. "But if he knew that Minato and I would survive, why would he even add some of his chakra to his formula?"

"He was probably being cautious." Tsunade suggested. "In case there would be a time where neither of you were around him and that chakra would consume Naruto. So he wouldn't lose control of the Kyuubi and didn't go on a rampage."

"Rampage?" Kushina mumbled to herself before her eyes widened. "Rampage!"

Minato jumped, hearing his wife shout. "Kushina?"

"When the Kyuubi was extracted from me sixteen years ago, it went out of control until Kushito sealed it into Naruto." Kushina started, waving her hands around as she spoke. "But, if a jinchuuriki dies, the biju doesn't go out of control, it dies with the host. If Kushito died, then the Yang chakra of the Kyuubi should have also died, and then be 'reborn' somewhere else. And he obviously didn't seal his half of the Kyuubi in Naruto when he was born, because we would have noticed it when we checked over his seal."

"But then what you're saying is-"

Kushina's eyes hardened as she interrupted Tsunade. "That it's possible that when Kushito disappeared, he sealed the Kyuubi's chakra into his journal himself, and then died."

"But what if it's not the case?" Minato furrowed his brows in thought. "That seal could hold that chakra, yes, but it could also be information or something more vital for us. Besides, wouldn't one of us sensed that chakra from the journal?"

"He's right, you know." Jiraiya agreed. "And even if it does contain half of the Kyuubi, wouldn't it be better to leave the seal alone? You could risk letting that half out to destroy the village."

"If it happens to be the Kyuubi, then we'll be prepared. If not, then we'll just have a simple answer."

Just as the Fifth Hokage was to respond, a cheer interrupted her. "Nice! We got the bells, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Eh?" Kushina looked down towards her son and his teammates. "They're done already?"

"Yeah, because Kakashi-sensei is a perv!" Naruto yelled up to his mother. "I was going on about the end of Make-Out Tactics so he had to close his eyes!"

"Of course you would think of something so stupid, dobe." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Jiraiya huffed. "You don't even know the end! You weren't allowed to read my books because you're not old enough to appreciate fine writing!"

"Fine writing my ass!"

"Jeez, it seems like you haven't changed that much after all.. Still loud and rambunctious as always." Kakashi sighed as he scratched the back of his head. "But still, you two did very well this time around."

"Alright, alright! It's getting late, so it's time to go home!" Kushina ordered as she stood up.

"Aw, but mom, I just got back! Can't I go-"

The redhead cracked her knuckles loudly, making Naruto stop short. "Go where?"

"Uh... Go to bed?" Sakura and Sasuke sighed as they watched Naruto easily give up

"That's what I thought~" Minato sighed sheepishly, shrugging at his son when he tried to look over to him for help.

"You'll have time to see your friends tomorrow, alright? For now, let's go home and just spend some time together."

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed. "I have to tell you guys all about my training with Pervy sage!"

Kushina smiled softly. "Well, why don't you tell us on the way home then?" Pausing, she looked back towards the other members of Team Seven. "You two better get home before you parents get angry, alright?" She said in an overly sweet tone, making them shiver.

"Yes, ma'am..." They responded, defeated.

"I'm confused. Explain it again?" I asked, tilting my head as I looked up to Kurama sitting in front of me.

He sighed, obviously getting frustrated from having to repeat himself for at least the third time now. "Your consciousness somehow reached through the seal that you created on Kushina's kit."

"Okay."

"My other half told the kit that you were running out of time to break the seal in your journal."

"Yeah, got that."

"You made eye contact with the kit when you saw each other, and you even said his name."

"Alright?"

"And you don't remember that happening?"

I huffed, crossing my arms. "No, I don't! You could be making it up for all I know!"

"What would I have to gain from making up some irrelevant story?!" Kurama yelled back, staring at me inches away from my face. "If what Naruto's half of me said about you running out of time, this could be bad for the both of us."

I was quiet for a moment, thinking to myself. What exactly would it mean if I ran out of time? As far as I knew, time wasn't a factor where I was; I was just here indefinitely. Time where the living were moved at the same pace as it always had, so what does that mean, 'I'm running out of time?'

"Kurama, would you know how old Naruto looked when this happened?"

"Hm... I don't recall seeing the kit. However, there's a possibility that this happened around the same time you fixed his seal that time back then."

"So going off of that, Naruto looked like he would be in his early teens, at least.." I trailed off, my shoulder slowly drooping in realization. "Oh..."

"'Oh', what?"

"We've been here at least ten years.." I said quietly, looking up at the Kyuubi. "It seems as though we are, in fact, running out of time. In fact, that time could be here any second."

Kurama crossed his arms, brows furrowed. "And what would happen then?"

I shook my head as I lazily shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly don't know."

I'm sorry I haven't been active lately, it's been a little stressful at work and at home, so I'm trying to get everything sorted out. Since I had most of this chapter already done, I decided to tweak it a little bit and post it within the same day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, review if you did and let me know how you think it's going! Your comments help me with writing the next chapter, changing and editing previous chapters, and give me an idea on what I should do next!