Disclaimer: Not Mine!

-Konoha General-

"I feel like shit."

That was what Anko tried to say, but the only thing out of her mouth was a cough that illustrated just how parched her throat was. She felt a straw touch her lips and allowed it into her mouth, eagerly drinking down the cool water and making sure that her throat didn't feel as dry as the desert of Wind Country.

She slowly forced her heavy eyelids open only to blink with a wince at the blinding white light that assaulted her, blinking repeatedly in order to allow herself to get used to the amount of light in her room.

Trying to sit up, Anko winced at the pains she felt at about gut-level.

'That's where I got stabbed by that old bastard.'

The purplette took a fortifying breath to try and ward the pain away, before a thought moved through her mind.

'Wait… Old Bastard…'

Her eyes widened as she forcibly threw herself into a sitting position with a shout of "BLONDIE!"

She knew that was a bed move by the sharp sting she felt around her injured area, but she forgot her pain at the voice that spoke to her.

"You wake up after a two-day coma and the first thing you do is shout my name? I'm starting to think that you have serious issues, Anko-sensei"

Anko froze, before her head turned towards the source of the voice. She was met with a widely grinning Naruto garbed in the white, Kimono-style robe afforded to the patients of the hospital, the torso of which was parted, revealing the fact that he had bandages wrapped around his chest.

The purplette spoke up in an unusually serious tone.

"Kid… What happened after I went down?"

Any trace of cheerfulness disappeared from Naruto's countenance, with him leaning forward and clutching at his bandaged injury, his headband-less hair falling over forward and shading his eyes as he answered in a somber tone.

"I got destroyed."

Anko kept her gaze on Naruto, seeing his hand clenching tightly around his bandages, his shoulders shaking lightly, though she couldn't really identify what brought that about. Naruto, his thoughts fully turned in another direction, kept speaking.

"After seeing you go down, I… I got mad. I got angrier than I ever thought I was capable of. Seeing his sword running through you, and then watching him just drop your body and disregard it as if it were nothing, as if your blood on his blade meant nothing…"

By now Anko saw that his other hand was clenched so tightly that his fingernails cut into his palm, causing small rivulets of blood to flow freely down his white sleeve and onto the ground. The shaking of his shoulders intensified, and she was surprised when his face rose, their gazes meeting.

She saw a mixture of despair, self-loathing and sheer, all-encompassing rage burning in his eyes, but… All of that was directed towards himself.

"I snapped and attacked him directly, but nothing I had done bothered him. He was toying with me all along. When he talked about you I got mad enough that I used hat power… But he still beat me. He absolutely an utterly destroyed me, and there was nothing I could do about it."

Having said that, Naruto seemed to deflate as all of his energy left him. He fell backwards onto his ass on the ground, his legs curling up lightly onto his torso, while he gazed at his hands desperately.

"I was too weak. Too stupid. Nothing I did was enough."

Anko kept silent, letting her charge expose his frustrations, his negative feelings, to her.

"I keep thinking back to the fight and asking myself if there would've been a different result if I had done things differently.

'Would I have won if I flooded the clearing with clones? If I had an army of me running around, breaking stuff, attacking him or tossing around C-rank jutsu all at once? If I had more control of that power, would things have gone differently? Could I have won if I were just a bit faster, stronger, smarter… If I had remembered to use the moves you showed me…'

But… No matter how much I think back on it, nothing I could've done would have lead to things turning out differently. I was just… weak. Too weak. And we almost died because of it."

After Naruto finished saying that, he clenched his eyes shut, waiting for Anko to act.

He expected her to agree with him, to berate him, swear, shout, anything like that.

He didn't expect to feel a fist lightly bump him on the head, before a pair of arms wrapped around him.

"You little idiot… If there was anyone at fault in that whole thing, as your superior and teacher, it was me.

I am the stronger, more experienced one between the two of us. It was my responsibility to protect you, not the other way around. Remember that you're just a wet-behind-the-ears genin, and I'm a tried-and-true Tokubetsu jounin."

"B-but, Anko-"

"But nothing, brat. Fact of the matter is, we both got handily trounced by an old fart, and that is unacceptable. What we're going to do is get stronger. As strong as humanly possible, so strong that we'll be able to blow that old man away with just a look. That means that we'll be undergoing the tried and true 'Training from Hell'. I can't promise you that by the time we're over you won't hate me."

Naruto gave Anko an easy smile, before it progressed into a massive grin, his eyes showing a mixture of mischief, fondness and unyielding determination at her words.

"While that is an admirable resolution-" the aged voice of Sarutobi Hiruzen interrupted, prompting Anko to look towards her room's door, seeing the old man favoring her with a genial smile while a curvaceous brunette behind him ticked things off in a list while mumbling about 'stubborn blondes who won't stay in bed' "-unfortunately it will not be happening. You see, the team assignments from the academy were revised, and the finalized teams will be made effective in a week, which happens to be the recovery time that Doctor Hamna here gives you."

The doctor beside Hiruzen gave Naruto a reproachful look, which the blonde responded to with a cheeky grin, before turning towards Anko and speaking in a professional tone.

"You got stabbed through the intestine, and the released bacteria flooded your bloodstream and resulted in a blood infection. Had Uzumaki-san taken just a few hours more than he did, it's likely that you would've died."

That caused a question to pop into Anko's head, prompting her to turn towards Naruto, before speaking up.

"How did you get me here anyway? How is it that we're both alive if the old man managed to beat you as well?"

Naruto's grin dimmed at that, as he spoke up.

"I… heal really fast. I woke up a couple of hours after that whole clusterfuck, sent a clone to our hotel room to get your stuff, used the gauze and disinfectant spray from your first aid kit on my wound and then I flooded my body with as much of that power as I could in order to make it here as fast as possible. Spent a full day without being able to move as much as a muscle. Bathroom breaks were… awkward."

The purplette nodded in understanding at that, before asking another thing that was in her mind.

"What about our mission?"

She saw Naruto biting his lower lip, while Hiruzen answered.

"Your mission was, after having been bumped up to A-rank, marked as successful."

"But how?"

Naruto let out a heavy sigh, running his hands through his hair, before answering.

"Before we left, I made two clones. The first one made for the hotel room to get our stuff, the second one went back to inform the mayor of the fact that we failed the mission. But when I got there, the people from their village that had been missing were all back home with their families. Old man said that some Yakuza guy with green hair delivered them all, and said that their boss considered me the reason for their safe return."

Anko didn't miss the low 'punch his smug old face in' that Naruto said under his breath, Sweatdropping at it, before speaking up again.

"Well… That's unfortunate. But the fact that he has a different team doesn't mean that I have to stop meeting up with blondie, now does it? We'll just have to train ourselves into the ground during his off hours."

Hiruzen smiled softly at that, nodding in agreement, before bidding the two recovering ninja in the room goodbye and walking away.

As he was about to take a step past the door's threshold, Naruto spoke up in an unusually serious tone.

"We'll be having a serious talk about the legacy of number four, old man."

Hiruzen stiffened almost imperceptibly, gave a stiff nod, and then continued to walk away from the room.

Anko, seeing Naruto's look, decided not to ask any questions.

The doctor cleared her throat in order to both dispel the heavy mood hanging around the room and to get the attention of both her patients, giving the two of them a chastising look as she spoke.

"I swear, it seems like I've been getting all of the most infuriating patients lately! First I had to deal with Maito-san wanting to do his insane work outs with a concussion, then his mini-me joins him and the two proceed to try to traumatize the nurses in the room, then I get Mr. 'What the hell is medical school' over there that, for all intents and purposes, should still be in bed with the majority of his body's musculature shredded, but he goes and spits on everything I learnt about anatomy and is doing pushups in under 48 hours.

Now you already want to go for a hardcore training session despite the fact that you just came out of a medically induced coma! How did you even manage to stand back on your own feet? The morphine shouldn't be out of your system yet!"

Naruto and Anko looked at each other, shrugged, before turning towards the doctor and giving her a massive pair of grins that had the medic ready to strangle them, face palm and rip out her hair all at once.

She responded by heaving a sigh, before speaking in an annoyed tone.

"Mitarashi-san, back to your bed. Uzumaki-san, no more defying of conventional medicine."

The two grinned wider, before Naruto responded by Jumping out Anko's bedroom window.

Before Anko could follow suit, she found herself wrapped up in her bed sheets and tied down to her bed so thoroughly she couldn't even try to move a limb. Looking towards the doctor in awe, she felt a sense of danger at the image of the woman tilting her glasses upwards, the glare of the light blocking sight of her eyes in a sinister manner.

"Shiori."

A brown-haired nurse, seemingly around 16 in age dropped from the ceiling, kneeling in front of her boss the same way an ANBU would in front of the Hokage.

"Yes, Doctor Hama?"

"Make sure that Uzumaki-san does not escape."

The teen nodded a that, mumbling out a low 'Hai!' before vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Anko could only sweatdrop at that, before asking.

"Who the hell are you really, Doctor?"

The woman focused back on Anko, the light reflecting eerily off of her glasses as she answered.

"Someone with high enough clearance to access both yours and Uzumaki-san's medical records, despite your individual… peculiarities."

Anko whistled loudly at that.

"The old man must really trust you, huh…"

"Well" the voice of Naruto startled Anko, causing her to look over towards the window, seeing the Shiori girl carrying a trussed and bundled up Naruto over her shoulder as if he were a sack of potatoes "She also happens to be the village's best user of rope binding techniques, the mistress of restraints, and secretly a sadist."

"I'M NOT A SADIST YOU IMPUDENT-"

The woman took a deep breath to center herself, annoyed at how easily Naruto managed to get under her skin, before refocusing on him.

"As I was saying, you leave only when I allow you to, Uzumaki-san."

"But hospitals are soooooo boring!" the blonde whined, before surprising Anko and Shiori by managing to wiggle his way out of the cocoon of rope and wire, jumping out the window again with a mad cackle.

Anko blinked owlishly twice, before speaking up.

"How did he-"

"He's running away, Shiori."

"He's impossible to pin down, Hama-sensei! Every time I manage to capture him, he manages to escape! He's even shedding his bindings faster and faster!"

"Uzumaki-san improves by doing. If there is any weakness in your bindings, he will escape. That means…"

"That I have to make sure that my bindings are flawless. Thank you for your counsel, Hama-sensei."

Shiori followed that up by jumping out the window, chasing after the blonde.

Anko could only sweatdrop at that, annoyed for having been ignored, but amused by the situation in general. When she finally managed to shake off her amused thoughts, she found herself alone in her room.

Bound to the beds frame.

By an apparent mistress of all things S&M.

Great.

-A few minutes later-

Team 8, currently lead by Yuuhi Kurenai and composed by Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba, could only stare at the scene that was happening in front of them with wide open jaws.

'What is this scene?' I hear you readers asking. Well, the scene was none other than that of a cackling blonde clad in a white robe running away from a teen dressed as a nurse.

Who happened to be carrying around… rope, a straitjacket and a riding crop?

While Hinata was torn between giggling perversely at the images that her mind conjured, and shouting indignantly at the injustice of her not being the one to- … I mean, of Naruto being chased around like that by some perverted floozy in cosplay, the rest of her team had no idea about how to deal with the scene.

Kurenai felt a surge of anger directed towards Kakashi who was probably the one to have corrupted the boy, causing the cyclops to shiver in terror even as he watched his two genin, Sasuke and Sakura, sweating like pigs as they ripped out weeds from a man's garden.

Kiba felt a mix of envy and relief at the fact that he wasn't the one being chased by a crazy BDSM chick.

Shino simply adjusted his shades, his face impassive as ever, though his bugs seemed to be buzzing at a slightly higher speed.

"STOP RIGHT THIS INSTANT, UZUMAKI-SAN!"

"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME ALIVE, SHIORI!"

That sentence was followed up on by crazed cackling.

Team 8 seriously needed some time off after this.

~oOo~

"Hello, Naruto-kun."

"Old man."

Hiruzen winced at the frosty tone that Naruto spoke to him with. Two days had passed since the talk in Anko's hospital room, and finally, after playing cat and mouse with Dr. Hama's nurse, the blonde had been given leave.

After spending a full day checking over his office for any hidden seals, plants or spies, Hiruzen had finally sent one of his few trusted ANBU to summon Naruto to his office. The blonde had arrived to his office, glowered at the picture of his successor/predecessor, Minato, and then sat down across from him, his arms crossed.

Before Hiruzen could say a thing, Naruto leaned forward, bracing both hands on top of the old Hokage's desk, before speaking up.

"I want to know why, old man. Why did you hide this from me? Why did I have to hear about my parentage from the mouth of an enemy? Why is it that you keep hiding shit from me?"

Hiruzen sighed deeply, his age showing on his features as he spoke.

"Naruto, your parentage had to be kept a secret. Your parents made enemies that-"

"Bullshit! That's not the answer to the question that I asked. I know that making my parentage stupid is a move as stupid as making my Jinchuuriki status known."

That barb caused Hiruzen to wince, hard. Naruto, not caring about that, kept speaking up.

"I want to know why you hid my parentage from me."

The blonde followed this up by slamming both hands on the desk top, leaning over forwards and locking his gaze on Hiruzen's, his blue eyes blazing intensely as he spoke.

"How could you look a 6-year-old orphan in the eye and lie like that? You didn't even have the decency to say something like 'I'll tell you when you're older' or some other bullshit like that. You lied, just like you did when I asked you why people always whispered, glared at or completely ignored me in the streets. Why did you do it?"

"I… You…"

Hiruzen sighed heavily at that, looking away in order to not have to see the look of pain and betrayal in Naruto's eyes, leaning back into his chair and trying to compose himself, organizing his thoughts in order to get an answer for Naruto.

He already had an answer, but he was afraid to how the blonde would react to it. He knew how his mother would have reacted were it her in the boy's seat, and it would've been bad. Real bad. He could only hope Naruto had more Minato in him than just his appearance.

Steeling himself, Hiruzen straightened in his chair, taking a fortifying breath, before speaking up.

"The reason is mature. I wanted you to learn this when you were older and more mature, so that you wouldn't lash out as you are or create an image of Minato that doesn't exist, and does not speak of the real him. I wanted you to learn more of him through the people who truly knew him first."

"…In other words, you tried to manipulate me into having a certain opinion of him, so that I could simply shrug off the fact that he chose to make me into a Jinchuuriki when I did learn of both my burden and parentage. Is that what you're saying?"

"OF COURSE NOT! I WOULD NEVER-"

"But it's exactly what you were doing. You had no real reason to keep that information from me. It provided no strategic advantage for Konoha, I wouldn't run around the village spouting out that information if you made me understand the need for secrecy in this matter, and had me promise not to expose it until I was older and stronger. There were absolutely zero valid reasons for my parentage to be kept from me, other than making sure that I didn't even think ill of the 'hero of the leaf'."

Hiruzen found himself speechless for a second, his lips flapping uselessly, before he tried to push a sound out his throat.

"Naruto, I… Minato wasn't… Your father-"

"Chose to make me into a Jinchuuriki, despite knowing of the lives they live. He was a genius, everyone knows this. He used a sacrifice jutsu to make his own child into one of the most hated and reviled entities to exist in shinobi history. There's no explaining this away, old man. No amount of rationalization will change this fact."

"HE WANTED YOU TO BE SEEN AS A HERO! He wished for you to live a life full of love, with the village seeing you as their hero and protector! For them to know that you kept the village safe with each breath you took!"

"…So he chose to make his own child into a sacrifice, but he wanted rid himself of that guilt by trying to make me into some sort of heroic figure for holding the Kyuubi in me. Thing is, the Kyuubi had just finished devastating whole sectors of the village and kill thousands. He knew of this, he probably knew how the populace would react, yet he chose to do what he did regardless."

Hiruzen didn't have a response to that, feeling only a sense of simultaneous pain and numbness in his soul at how disappointed Naruto sounded in Minato, how disillusioned he was with the fourth, the man who had been his hero and idol for the majority of his life.

Not giving Hiruzen any respite, Naruto kept speaking.

"If you're so keen on defending him, old man, then answer me this: Were it you in his place, what would you have done? Would you have made Asuma or Konohamaru into a Jinchuuriki, knowing that he would live a life of hatred and loneliness, or would you have sealed the entirety of the fox with you with your suicide jutsu?"

That was a logical point. A very valid, logical and well thought out point, which just made Hiruzen feel worse. He believed Naruto to just be lashing out, and that he'd see things differently when he calmed down from the discovery, but with him having thought things through to a degree that not even he nor Jiraiya had… It showed that Naruto wasn't just being a moody teen.

He had actual reason to dislike Minato, and that saddened him. He couldn't even imagine how he'd feel if Asuma said the same things about him as Naruto was about Minato.

-Naruto's POV, the same moment-

Naruto was having a hard time dealing with this situation. While outwardly he was as calm and rational as any child his age had the right to be, inwardly his emotions were all over the place. He felt betrayed. His own father consigned him to the life he lived. His own grandfather figure kept things from him and tried to manipulate him. Both his heroes had done him a great disservice.

He decided to figure out just how deep the betrayal went.

"Enough about the fourth. What about my mother? Who was she? Why isn't she present? Did she look at me and see the death of her husband? Did she abandon me because of that?"

"OF COURSE NOT! KUSHINA WOULDN'T EVEN CONSIDER SOMETHING LIKE THAT!"

'So her name is Kushina…'

"Then what happened to her?"

"Kushina, she… She passed away during the attack."

"…I see."

"No, Naruto, you do not. In order for you to understand what truly happened, you'll have to learn more about the events that led up to that night."

Naruto met the old man's gaze and nodded, prompting him to proceed.

Hiruzen started with a question.

"Naruto… What do you know of Senju Hashirama?"

"…He was the Shodaime Hokage and one of the founders of the village, alongside Uchiha Madara. He possessed a Kekkei Genkai, which was the Mokuton (Wood Release). He fought Uchiha Madara in what is now known as the valley of the end, creating the waterfall that now exists there. Older brother of Senju Tobirama, the second Hokage, teacher of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, and grandfather of Senju Tsunade, one of the Sannin."

"…Correct, but not complete. There are a few facts that you left out, but the two most relevant to this discussion are that the Kyuubi was a participant in the battle between Madara and Hashirama-sensei, and that Hashirama-sensei was married to a woman named Uzumaki Mito."

Naruto's eyes widened at that information, while Hiruzen kept speaking, his eyes lightly glazed as he searched through his memory banks for the relevant information.

"Mito-sama was part of the Uzumaki clan, a clan that shared a common ancestor with the Senju clan before they decided to split from them and create their own nation, in order to not be involved in the conflicts of the Warring States Period. The creation of their nation, Uzu, was said to be one of the factors that inspired Hashirama-sensei and Madara to create Konoha, which gave origin to this whole village system.

The Uzumaki clan was very well known, revered and, in some places, reviled, for their nigh-inhuman longevity, their very strong life force, immense chakra, and their prowess in the art of fuuinjutsu. More than small amount of them were also very accomplished Kenjutsu users and sensors. These skills made them a force to be reckoned with, which led to Iwa, Kiri and Kumo forming an alliance to wipe them out, starting the third Great Shinobi War.

But that is for later.

As I had said, the Kyuubi was a participant in the battle between Hashirama-sensei and Uchiha Madara, put under the thrall of Madara via his Sharingan. Hashirama-sensei fought the two of them off for the most part, but when the damage started piling up much too high, Mito-sama showed up in at the battlefield and sealed the fox within herself, allowing Hashirama-sensei to finish the battle against his rival.

Thus, the first Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was to be.

Many years later, before the destruction of Uzu and the start of the third war, a second Jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi was selected by Mito-sama. She felt herself going on in the years, and decided that it was time to pass the torch on to the next generation. She selected a young girl of her own clan, and she was brought to Konoha in order for the Hokage at the time to oversee the process.

The one chosen to be the second host of the Kyuubi was a feisty young girl by the name of Kushina, and the reasons why she was chosen were twofold.

First was the fact that the Kyuubi's chakra was strong. Extremely so. In fact, it is so strong that only an individual of Uzumaki descent can take the strain of the fox's chakra running through their system at a constant rate, as was usual for most Jinchuuriki.

Second was the fact that Kushina happened to possess a very rare trait. She was capable of manifesting thick, powerful chains off of her extremely dense chakra, a technique she named Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains). These chains were powerful enough to subdue even the Kyuubi at full strength. For those reasons she was chosen as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.

Mito-sama and Kushina-chan were left to rest here in Konoha after the transfer, since it wasn't easy on either of their bodies, despite the Uzumaki heritage, but it was during that time period that Uzushio, the Uzumaki village in the whirlpool country, was destroyed.

After having recovered from the extraction, Mito-sama was informed of this event. With her heart broken by it, and believing herself incapable of caring for Kushina as she should, Mito-sama faded into obscurity. Her death is still unconfirmed as of this moment.

Kushina, well, despite the fact that she never forgot about her home country, she managed to move on with her life. She joined the Konoha academy, and after a series of events she befriended one of her classmates, an orphan named Minato, who chose to the name Namikaze as his own family name.

The years passed, and the two became more than friends, though they chose to keep that fact a secret because of Minato's growing popularity. Although mostly extroverted and outspoken, Kushina was private about things like those, and Minato was absolutely whip- smitten with Kushina, so he couldn't deny her wish.

Time moved on, Minato was chosen to be the fourth Hokage, the two got married, and then Minato took the seat. Very little time after that, some of their closest friends were surprised by the announcement of Kushina's pregnancy. She all but retired from public view at that point, and they lived those months in constant bliss.

I can still remember how Kushina would rant and rave about how much of a 'manly badass' her little Naru would grow up to be…

Something else that is pertinent to the conversation is the fact that during birth is when a female Jinchuuriki's seal is at its weakest…"

Naruto's eyes widened at that, before he whispered.

"October 10th… My birthday…"

Hiruzen nodded at that, before he continued speaking.

"Just like her pregnancy, Kushina's birth was kept secret to all but few. My wife was chosen as the midwife, to deliver the baby, while a few trusted ANBU of Minato's were chosen as their guards. I can't tell you everything that happened that night, I can only tell you that somehow, someone with less than good intentions managed to learn of both the fact that Kushina was close to delivery, and the secret area away from the village that had been chosen to perform the delivery in.

Other than Minato, Kushina and you, everyone that was supposed to be there were found as corpses, with their throats cut open.

The fact that the Kyuubi suddenly showed up in Konoha, instead of emerging at the site of Kushina's delivery or near that area speaks to me of enemy action. That is corroborated by the fact that Minato didn't show up instantly to ward off the Kyuubi. My belief is that there was a battle of some sort, which is backed up by the few impact craters, chakra burns and Paper bomb residue a short distance away from the sealing spot.

I don't know who it could have been, or how they could have done it, however.

The last thing I found at the sealing spot was an image as tragic as it was beautiful. Your parents, in their last legs, sporting massive wounds to their torso matching those of a gigantic claw, had taken each side of your baby self. Even as they lay there, dying, they could only look upon you with happy, proud smiles, knowing that their child would grow up to be a great person, doing great things."

While Hiruzen had a few tears rolling down his face, Naruto was stone-faced, his fist clenched tightly as his shoulders shook. A sob managed to make its way past his lips, before his face hardened further, prompting Hiruzen to favor the boy that he loved as blood with a sad, understanding smile.

While Naruto tried to force down another sob, Hiruzen walked around his desk, and pulled the boy into a tight hug.

He felt the boy tremble harder at that, sniffs emerging from his nose as small whimpers managed to crawl up his throat and pry his lips apart.

At that moment he wasn't Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchuuriki of Kurama the Nine-tailed fox, student of Mitarashi Anko, maker of friends, breaker of enemies, the nightmare of all ANBU and the interrogation and information extraction prodigy.

He was just Uzumaki Naruto, the hurt, sad 12 year old orphan, who wished for nothing more than to hear the voice of his mother lulling him to sleep. To climb onto his father's shoulders and look down at the world from a new perspective.

To have his mother wake him up with a kiss to the forehead, to have his father check his closet and under his bed for monsters. To have his parents celebrate his birthday with him.

To hear them say-

"They love you, Naruto. No matter what happens, no matter what you do. Whether you choose to be a shinobi or a baker, whether you choose to stay in the village or leave, whether you become a hero or the enemy of the world, they will always love you.

And seeing the person that you are, a hardworking young man who always does his best, and who goes beyond his limits to protect whoever he holds dear… They'd be proud of you, Naruto."

Tears welled up deeply in Naruto's eyes, despite how hard he tried to keep them away. His body shook freely, wracked by sobs, as a deep wail emerged from his mouth, reverberating throughout the walls of the office.

That day, Naruto cried like he never had before. Like he seldom allowed himself to, throughout his entire life. He cried in the knowledge that even in their last moments, his parents chose to show their love for him, despite the fact that his birth was the cause of the entire situation.

Hiruzen looked towards the row of pictures of the previous Hokage, seeing an odd, reflective glint coming from Minato's picture that made it seem as if the picture itself was crying. He could only smile tearfully at that.

'Truly, you are their child, Naruto.'

~oOo~

It was a day like any other in the village of Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Maito Gai was challenging Kakashi to… something.

In a normal day like this, Ino had the bright idea of inviting the other genin teams to eat out at Yakiniku-Q, the place that one went to eat barbecue at the village.

Chouji, not one to pass out on tasty food at good prices, agreed, while Shikamaru, like always, was dragged into it by the troublesome blonde that was Ino. She had invited Sakura and Sasuke, and Sakura had accepted on their behalf, if only to show Ino how much closer she had gotten to Sasuke after the long amounts of time they spent together as the only members of team 7, with a borderline neglectful sensei.

It wasn't as close as she wished they were… It wasn't close at all, period, but Ino didn't know that! She could at least pretend…

Kiba had accepted for the fact that he had a chance to show up that bastard Sasuke. Probably. Maybe. Shino had said something about 'it being logical that as members of the same graduation class they gained familiarity with each other to ensure a functional degree of teamwork in any possible eventuality' before adjusting his glasses, which Shikamaru translated to the others as a yes, and Hinata was prompted to go by her teammates, as an attempt to help her emerge from her shell.

As they made their way towards the restaurant, they all spotted a spot of bright orange at the edge of their vision. They collectively turned around, a reflex that everyone in the village had ingrained into them by Naruto (after all, a quiet Naruto is a pranking Naruto, and that was a bad thing for whoever was the victim), only to spot the blonde, clad in a long-sleeved black shirt, orange zip-up, hooded vest, and burnt orange shorts with a red trim, his hands in his pockets as he made his way around the village.

Oddly enough, they couldn't catch sight of his forehead protector anywhere in his person.

"Yo Naruto!"

The blonde stopped mid-step, turning towards the group of genin from his graduation class, before giving them his usual sunny grin as he made his way towards them.

"Hey! How're you guys doing?"

Hinata blushed deeply, as was the norm while around Naruto, while Ino and Sakura twisted their noses at Naruto's clothing. The rest of the group just favored the blonde with their own greetings, with the exception of mister sunshine himself who gave the patented Uchiha grunt.

Ino, being the budding fashionista and still not completely over the fact that Naruto had shut her down so completely in the past (though the fact that he was now a hottie, and that he got punishment via crazy snake lady mitigated that) decided to get her digs in.

"Ugh, I thought you had outgrown that look already! You're regressing, Naruto. We don't need to worry about you shouting to all and sundry about you being Hokage, do we?"

To everyone's surprise, Naruto responded to that by chuckling, before answering.

"What's wrong with my clothing?"

"It's orange." Ino and Sakura deadpanned simultaneously.

Naruto shrugged, before answering.

"I'm on break, so I'm wearing my civvies. After all, my work clothes may follow a set style, but my regular clothes are different, and varied. I presume the same is true with all of you, after all, it'd be really weird if you wore the same thing every single day.

I mean, it isn't like anyone buys like, 30 pairs of the same clothes, right?"

All of the others sweatdropped at that, even Shino, knowing that that was exactly what they, and really most other shinobi did.

It really was weird, looking at things that way.

Shrugging that off, Kiba spoke up again.

"Hey, we're all heading towards Yakiniku-Q for a bite, wanna come with?"

Having nothing better to do, already having paid his daily visit to Anko at the hospital, and to Makino in her cell in the ANBU prison - though it'd be more fitting to call it a hotel room than anything else (hey, Naruto delivers on his promises, and he promised her comfort, goddamnit!) – Naruto accepted their invitation, making small talk with Kiba for the entirety of their walk towards the restaurant.

They sat down together at a booth, having just enough space to do so, before the second most unexpected person to have done so, spoke up.

"What happened, dobe? Why're you on leave?"

With the exception of Shino and Naruto, almost everyone showed surprise at Sasuke speaking up.

(Hinata glared at Sasuke just for a nanosecond, causing a chill to go down his spine, though only Shino noticed it).

"Well…" Naruto started, rubbing his chin in thought, before speaking in a questioning tone "Mission gone wrong, I guess?"

Sakura smirked smugly at that, still being angry at the fact that Naruto humiliated her in front of their entire graduation class, that he wasn't forced to participate in the glorified chores Kakashi called missions and suffer with them, and that he apparently got to choose his own teacher, before speaking up in a mocking tone.

"Oh, what happened? Did you pull your back while plucking weeds? Get bit by the dogs you were walking? Or were you just that bad at carrying groceries?"

"Plucking weeds? Walking dogs? Carrying groceries?" Naruto asked in genuine surprise, looking around the booth before asking "You guys did all of these things?"

That took the wind out of Sakura's sails, replacing the smug satisfaction by a sense of confused curiosity that was mirrored by everyone else in their group. Chouji was the one to answer that.

"Well… Yeah. They're D-ranks. You mean that you did no D-ranks?"

"Nope. My teacher said that those were useless, so we went with something of a higher tier."

"Oh man, are you saying that you did a C-rank already?" came from Kiba.

"Not really…"

Everyone relaxed at that, before Naruto continued his thought.

"It was a B-rank."

Everyone froze at that, while the blonde started scratching his chin pensively, his tone getting absentminded as he thought out loud.

"… But it did get bumped up to A-rank afterwards… Does it count as it started, or as the records say?"

Further shock filled everyone else there, before two people slammed their hands on the table simultaneously, before shouting out.

"YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO D-RANKS?" came from Ino.

"STOP LYING, BAKA! THEY WOULDN'T GIVE YOU THESE MISSIONS IF THEY HAVEN'T GIVEN THEM TO SASUKE-KUN YET!" came, predictably, from Sakura.

Blinking owlishly, Naruto looked back towards the speakers, before responding.

"In order: No, and why would I need to lie to you?"

Before the girls could show outrage at Naruto's responses, Shikamaru spoke up.

"This mission of yours… Is it because of something that happened during it that you're on break?"

Naruto turned his gaze towards Shikamaru, before answering.

"Yeah, bad shit happened."

While Sakura fumed, delivering a monologue about the injustices visited upon her lord and savi- the love of her life, Sasuke-kun, everyone else focused on Naruto, wanting to know what happened during his mission either out of curiosity, worry, or a mixture of both.

Surprising everyone present, it was Hinata who asked the question.

"A-ano… Wh-what happened, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto let out a heavy sigh, running his hands through his hair and pushing his free bangs away from his face, inadvertently causing a net increase of 40% in the amount of estrogen flowing through the barbecue joint, before answering.

"Anko-sensei and I were sent to investigate some missing people in a town that was said to be occasionally frequented by Yakuza members, but we ended up uncovering a slaving ring. We crashed a slave auction and dealt with most of the guards present, and even some of the Yakuza, but we ended up opposed by this old mob boss. Turns out, dude was a dishonorably discharged Kumo-nin and veteran of the second and third wards that fought both old man Third, and the Fourth, and lived to tell the tale.

He took down my sensei, before absolutely demolishing me."

Naruto's tone turned slightly somber at this.

"I gave it my all, and the old man toyed around with me as if I were an academy student. Well, I was an academy student just a few weeks ago, so that's not much of an insult, but… You get what I mean. Turns out, the old dude wasn't a total asshole as I thought and showed up at the auction in order to stop it as well, or something along those lines. Could've told me that before trying to cut me open, though."

Ino gulped at that, asking in a hesitant tone.

"C-cut you open?"

Naruto responded by zipping down his vest before lifting his shirt, revealing his torso, and the deep scar running from slightly below his sternum to the upper portion of his left shoulder.

His shirt lift also had the effect of causing the level of estrogen in the air to rise by another 40%, bringing it to 80% of the original amount. More than a few women were giving Naruto speculative looks, with others openly ogling them.

Ino was torn between worrying about him (It might be Naruto, but he was still a classmate after all.), and drooling over him. Sakura's brain seemed to have frozen, unable to process the thought that Naruto, of all people, looked hot.

Her processors pushed themselves to the max, trying to find any possible way to rationalize that thought away and not have to add Hot to her mental folder concerning one Uzumaki Naruto (Other results in a search for Uzumaki Naruto would lead to the terms loud, clueless, annoying, insufferable, and orange) , causing her to blue screen.

Hinata's ears had let off a massive cloud of steam, and the only thing preventing her from having a nosebleed was the fact that the blood chose to manifest as a tomato-red blush from the tips of her hair to her chest, otherwise she would've gotten one to put Kakashi, Iruka and Hiruzen to shame, all at the same time.

Kiba was torn between being jealous at Naruto's physique, and awed at the battle scar that proved him a survivor, a symbol of strength in his clan.

Shikamaru and Chouji were feeling thoroughly outclassed by the blonde, and decided to compensate by focusing even more on their obsessions, food and laziness.

Shino was inwardly cackling at the fact that he had a solid workout plan that sculpted his own body nicely as well… Though adding a few more reps to his crunches would be a good idea. Nothing to do with Naruto's display, at all. Promise.

Obliviously shrugging off everyone's reactions to his physique, Naruto lowered his shirt again, causing a wave of dissatisfaction and whines to flow through the eatery, before focusing back on his companions.

"He got me good, old bastard. I'll sock him a good one next time we meet."

"Fight me."

Everyone's heads whipped towards Sasuke after he said that, with Naruto responding in almost instantly.

"…Hah?"

"I said fight me, dobe! Or are you scared?"

The Uchiha deliberately gave Naruto the cockiest grin he could muster, knowing that it used to drive the blonde up the walls during their academy days, expecting him to accept the challenge in order to try and show just how much he had progressed sinc-

"No, thank you."

"What."

Well, that wasn't what Sasuke expected.

"What? Why?"

Uchiha Sasuke did not whine, and whoever said he did was a liar. A filthy, filthy liar, whose pants deserved to be on fire, and probably would actually get put on fire; Sasuke was really good at Fire jutsu after all.

"Well, aside from the fact that I wouldn't get anything valuable out of sparring with you at this moment, what with me watching you train nearly every day and knowing your moves in and out" – that last part was said in a whisper, and you probably can understand why – "my doctor told me that I wasn't allowed to."

The male blonde of the group sighed tiredly, his shoulders slumping sadly as he spoke.

"I can't even train properly nowadays. She said that I can't go beyond 5 sets during my work outs!"

Feeling a sense of trepidation as he did, Shikamaru decided to ask the most important question at the moment.

"How… many reps exactly do you do per set?"

Naruto answered in a despondent tone.

"1500."

Cue collective blue screen of death.

Shikamaru was the first one to recover from it, speaking up weakly.

"Fif-1500 reps?"

"Yup."

Kiba was the next one.

"She restricted you to 5 sets of those?"

"Yes! It's horrible, right?"

Sasuke, surprisingly, was the one to speak up next.

"Because you were limited to 5 sets of 1500 per exercise type, you're sad?"

"YES! I am limited to only 7500 reps for each major muscle group until next week! So much lost work-out time! HOW UNYOUTHFUL!"

Everyone else at the booth felt a chill of terror at the final two words, with Kurama foaming out of the mouth inside the seal at the flash of green that invaded that space.

-Elsewhere, Team Gai-

"G-Gai-sensei! Did you feel that?"

"Indeed I did, Lee, my prized pupil!"

"T-that much Youth, being produced by someone other than you, Gai-sensei!"

"Yes! It seems someone else in the village has a natural sensitivity to the forces of YOUTH! We must find our youthful brethren, and share upon our unmitigated flames of youthfulness! We shall blaze like the sun, spreading our youthful light upon the whole world!"

Gai followed that up by giving his Nice Guy Pose™, causing Lee to look at him with unmitigated admiration. Rivers of tears streamed from his eyes as he shouted out loud.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

Gai, the youthful blue beast of Konoha, also found himself streaming youthful rivers of manly tears, responding to his pupil in kind.

"LEE-KUN!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE-KUN!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE-KUN!"

They followed that up by clutching to each other in the MANLIEST of the YOUTHFUL embraces, causing the view of a rocky beach being buffeted by the ocean to emerge behind the two of them, the setting sun illuminating the scene in a dramatic manner.

A few meters away from the two of them, Tenten balked and Neji banged his head against a tree, crying inwardly as they asked themselves why they got such a weird team.

"It seems that fate, once again, was a cruel mistress." Were the pessimistic thoughts of Hyuuga Neji.

-?-

Somewhere way up high in the sky, a totally bodacious babe clad only in a crop top and daisy dukes with a sash with the word "FATE" embroidered into it could only shake her head at the Hyuuga boy. She hadn't ever interfered in his life!

If he kept following this direction, she might just schedule an entire war just to make sure that he died!

-Back to Yakiniku-Q-

"Oh."

Naruto pushed his hand into his vest pocket, pulling out a pocket watch, before he jumped to his feet in urgency.

"Shit, I was scheduled for something important today! Seeyouguyslaterbye!"

And just like that, Naruto dashed out of the eatery.

Before anyone could complain about him eating and not paying his part, the blonde rushed back into the restaurant, slammed a handful of Ryo notes on top of the table, and then took off again.

Everyone else traded looks, before unanimously deciding to ignore the events that happened that day, at that booth.

~oOo~

It was a day like any other in the village of Konoha. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Maito Gai was challenging Kakashi to… something.

In a normal day like this, one Uzumaki Naruto could be found whistling merrily as he made his way into the ANBU dungeons, with screams of terror coming from each cell and interrogation room as they heard his cheerful tone.

The workers of the T&I department tried to get as close to him as possible without actually touching him, the level of reverence shown to a 12 year old going beyond what most show to even religious figures.

Some even tried to catch fleeting touches of the blonde, believing that their interrogation talents would be blessed by him.

It was in a sunny, joyful, normal day like this that Kakenase Marufoshi shat himself when he saw the blonde terror himself stepping into the interrogation room he was confined to.

It was a day like any other in the village of Konoha…

-Chapter, End!-