Chapter Thirteen
Previous Chapter: Naruto has realized that Kurama knew the truth about his parentage all along and confronts him. Walking right up to Kurama's cage, Naruto looked the giant fox in the eye and whispered in a deadly tone, "Why didn't you ever tell me the truth? You said we were friends. I was happy to finally have a friend and I find out that he killed my parents! Well, what do you have to say for yourself!?"
xXx
After Naruto asked his question, silence filled the mindscape. 'I knew I should've told him as we were running but I didn't want to distract him while it was just Mikoto and Naruto. How can I put this?' Kurama was slightly embarrassed, he knew that he had made a big mistake by withholding the truth and now he was going to answer for it.
"Naruto, you have to understand. I wanted to tell you but while in The Pit, that knowledge would've only distracted you. You would've spent a large amount of time wondering why Minato did what he did and what your mother looked like. The first few weeks after we got to The Pit, that kind of distraction would've been disastrous."
Kurama paused, marshalling his thoughts. He needed to make sure that Naruto didn't explode at him but he also knew that he deserved the truth, even if it might be painful. He continued,
"Don't forget, Mikoto said that the Third Hokage had told everyone the truth about you. Judging by the way they treated you, all your friends back there, particularly Sora, knew the truth about your family and didn't tell you either. I'm going to guess and say that their reasoning for not doing so was similar to my own. I know I promised to help you get stronger; telling you the truth at that time would've only been delaying that but for what it's worth... I apologise."
The apology seemed to be forced passed Kurama's lips. After a distinct pause, Kurama continued.
"I did indeed kill your parents; they intended to imprison me against my will again. You know how bad it got in The Pit, not being able to move freely, locked in a cage when all you yearn for is fresh air. When the only thing you could possibly want at the time is the ability to choose what you want to do. You understand what it feels like to have your basic right to choose taken away.
"I had been sealed away for many decades by the First Hokage. When the Masked Man unleashed me from my cage, I breathed free air again. I had been demonised by humanity for centuries and I had grown to hate your kind. My sudden freedom was intoxicating and I; I had absolutely no intention of being sealed away again. I won't hide the fact I killed your parents but I do have one small gift. Through my eyes, I witnessed your parents last moments. They spent them giving you their blessings and love and if you would like, I can show the memory from those years ago, you can hear your parents for the first time. Just uh- ignore my claw stabbing them."
While Kurama had been explaining, Naruto had been pacing back and forth but when he heard the offer he froze. 'I can hear them? I can see them!?' Turning to face Kurama, Naruto replied,
"Well I'm not super happy with you right now but I can understand your reasons. I will take you up on your offer though; I wish to see this memory."
Red chakra leaked through the bars of Kurama's cell and enveloped Naruto. As it covered his face he felt a distinct tug as he was sent towards Kurama's memory.
xXx
Naruto wiped his face, brushing away the first tears of happiness that he had ever cried. He had seen his parents. 'I look like my father but I can't believe how beautiful my mother was; I kinda wish I had red hair like her although I think I have her cheek bones.'
Viewing the memory had been an enlightening experience. Kurama had said it would be through his eyes but in reality, Naruto had appeared to be an invisible ghost, able to walk around and see things from different angles but unable to interact with anything in the memory. He used this mainly to feast his eyes upon his mother.
No matter how much he wiped, the tears refused to stop flowing. Idly, Naruto noticed that some of his tears flowed down the channel of scarred tissue that crossed over his eyes. 'Without a thought, they both threw themselves in front of Kurama to protect me. Mother said to make friends, to eat healthy and make my dreams come true. Also, apparently I have to watch out for Jiraiya and his 'vices', whatever they are.
'They said they love me,
'I can't really stay angry at Kurama, not after he let me see my parents for the first time. I guess I'll reveal some truth to him,'
Naruto gave up his attempts to dry his face and let his tears fall freely. Turning back to Kurama, Naruto began in a wobbly whisper, "Thank you, I never imagined I would get to see my parents."
He went to continue but the emotion caught up to him again and Naruto smiled wistfully, falling silent. Taking some time to collect himself, Naruto looked up at Kurama. Kurama had barely moved since Naruto had returned from the memory. Unsure of what to say or how to act, he simply sat in his cage waiting for Naruto to go on.
"Kurama, I understand. I won't ever be happy that you killed them but I can understand why. I would kill someone to prevent going back and I was only jailed for five years. Can we agree to be honest with each other from now on?"
A flicker of emotion flashed across Kurama's face but it vanished before it could be identified. 'Well, at least he isn't looking at me like he was before. Honesty huh, I guess I can agree to that although, with the way he worded his question, this won't be binding like my pledge to help him.'
With a single nod, Naruto got his answer from his friend. The tears had finally petered out and he wiped his face again while taking a breath, "Well since we agreed to be honest, I figured out that somehow, you feel the same pain that I feel. Over the years, whenever I got an injury that was really bad, your voice always got rougher and you kind of curled up on the floor. I first noticed after I got branded for the first time.
"I guess you have your reasons for not mentioning this. Probably lack of trust but its' okay; even with everything I have learned today, I am still going to call you my friend and I won't hurt my friends, at least on purpose. After everything we have suffered together, I hope you can see that."
Kurama smirked. He had had a feeling that Naruto had possibly figured it out. The kid was just too damn smart for his own good.
"Ha, you are the smartest kid I have ever seen Naruto. In truth, the seal is engineered so that I feel any pain you do but it is proportional to you. So, say you stub you toe. My body is far larger than yours and in comparison I wouldn't even feel it but due to the seal, I will feel the exact same amount of pain you would. In the beginning, I feared that you might use this as leverage to try and control me but having gotten to know you; I know that this just isn't in your character.
"Alright, let's be honest from this point on."
As the two looked at each other, they both felt as if a new page had been turned. A partnership out of necessity was slowly blossoming into a real friendship.
xXx
The trio had been walking throughout the forests that filled the Fire country for two weeks. Naruto didn't know if they had a destination in mind but had single-mindedly devoted himself to practicing his Body Flicker. He was at the point where he could look at a point and know how much chakra he needed to use and compress but was still too slow at using it.
Naruto had also been practising with Itachi in the use of his Sharingan. Itachi had told Naruto, rather bluntly, that he had no real aptitude for genjutsu but with both of his eyes and Kurama; Naruto would almost always know if he was under one. However he had trained Naruto in genjutsu anyway after he realized what Naruto's Mangekyo did.
After much experimentation, Itachi discovered that the Eternal Mangekyo ability of Mikoto's left eye was a very unique genjutsu that Itachi had named 'Psylink'. Instead of attacking one's mind, it bridged them. As a form of communication, emotions and memories were shared between Naruto and his target with no restrictions. No feelings could be hidden from Psylink, and Naruto had been greatly disturbed when, during testing, he saw Itachi kill his clan and felt his disgust at his actions. Itachi had been unable to hide anything from Naruto until the Psylink had run out, nothing was left in the shadows and as a result, Naruto knew Itachi, down to his core.
In return, Itachi had been horrified as he witnessed a young Naruto cut his way through hundreds of people. He felt the numbness that had plagued him for years. Itachi had mentally screamed alongside Naruto when Naruto had gotten his brand, the pain was so raw, it over powered everything and afterwards, Itachi had physically checked his own back, the pain he felt from Naruto had been so real.
Although completely useless in a fight, Psylink was extremely powerful. The mental training that Itachi had received from ANBU to protect his mind was smashed aside as if it didn't exist and Psylink could be a powerful interrogation tool, provided the user was unafraid of sharing their deepest and darkest feelings and memories.
Through trial and error, it was discovered that to use Psylink, Naruto needed eye contact and that it cost a large chunk of his natural chakra reserves. It was only after a second Psylink that both Itachi and Naruto realised that they shared everything not just the painful memories. Naruto saw for the first time what a loving family home looked like and how protective of Sasuke Itachi was. Itachi felt the sheer joy Naruto had felt when they had managed to escape the Pit.
As a result of this mental communication, Naruto and Itachi had become very good friends. It was a little awkward at the start but when they realised that there were no barriers or secrets, they only had a new friendship to start from. It was refreshing knowing that there was no bullshit to cut through.
Aside from Psylink, Naruto could use the basic Sharingan genjutsu but he lacked the imagination to use it well. This didn't matter to Itachi who had known that his mother regarded Naruto as an adopted son and after going through Psylink; Itachi was just as attached to Naruto as he was to Sasuke. Itachi persisted with his training with vigour.
Naruto had one random thought, 'I wonder if I can Psylink with Kurama?'
xXx
Hiruzen sighed heavily. Mikoto had just finished her retelling of her imprisonment and escape. He would need to inform the clans who had lost members. He was not looking forward to talking to Hiashi Hyuga who had cherished his baby sister although he would vehemently deny it if questioned.
The details that Hiruzen could connect were very troubling. There was no doubt in his mind; it had to be something involving the Daimyo of the other countries. No single group of missing ninja could ever hope to possess the power needed to detain jonin level fighters from all five elemental nations. Hiruzen was on a slippery slope here, the amount of punishment that the other four Daimyo could smash his village with was truly terrifying. Orochimaru and Akatsuki were dangerous to be sure but neither had access to the amount of resources of this group.
The amount of influence needed to keep it all a secret was staggering and Hiruzen was in a quandary. His sense of justice told him to march on the Rice country and raze the Pit into ash but his common sense told him that it would be suicide, not just for him but his people.
The Daimyo wielded too much power; in fact the Third Shinobi World War had, indirectly, been caused by them. A decline of military power of their ninja villages did nothing to deter the Daimyo from engaging into a political game of 'I want more than the other Daimyos' and encouraged the border skirmishes with the smaller nations.
Now that Hiruzen knew the truth, he would have to calculate every move so that he wouldn't raise suspicion. He wrote a short message to the Fire Daimyo, politely asking him to visit Konoha to discuss the future and hinted at his possible retirement. 'If that doesn't spark his interest enough to come here than I don't know what will.' It was also vague enough that it wouldn't raise any eyebrows if it got intercepted or was read by an informant.
Hiruzen sighed yet again, all this scheming was exhausting. He really should think about retirement soon. Pulling out his pipe, he sent the memo off with a courier. He thanked Mikoto for her time and summoned Sasuke to be brought to his office as soon as possible. He then smoked as the weight of responsibility dragged his shoulders low.
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A/N: So the memory Naruto views is straight up the same one from the manga and anime. Where Minato and Kushina get stabbed with Kurama's nail and they die than Minato seals Kurama. I was basically just lazy here and didn't want to type it out. Sorry. It's also why this chapter is a little shorter than normal.
If you haven't seen it here: watch?v=6GXCsszDE04&t=1s (if the first part of the link disappears, its just .)
The only detail I would change is that Minato seals ALL of Kurama in my story.
Also yes, I invented a new power for Mikoto. For those wondering, her right eye controls and manipulates fire, all natural fire but only slightly effects Amaterasu.
'Psylink' is my solution to Talk no Jutsu since just talking seems lame. It's similar to the Point of View Gun from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter.