Author Note

Hi everybody and welcome to another chapter of Regret.

I know that it's been some time since I last updated this story. The reason is that since the plot is bearing its end, the author must now work real hard to close the story while at the same time keeping up with the created events. For instance, the ending in this story will certainly be different than what's happening in canon or even what I managed to create for my other completed stories. That being said, I took advantage of my vacation period to think of a suitable ending that hasn't been exploited yet. I'm not saying that this will be the last chapter. I'm saying that this story is very close to being finished. Now last chapter, Naruto went through some very tough times, beating the nine-tailed fox and meeting his parents. Now, he has gained the fox's power and his jutsu will be much stronger now. Also, what will happen when Sasuke and Itachi meet?

Check it out…

Chapter 21 – The truths

Beta: Kyuubi123

Tsunade, the Raikage and Nara Shikaku were busy watching the members of the formed alliance as they went through specific drills meant to familiarize each other as a team. Battle team formations, collaboration jutsu, leadership skills; these and more were slowly being formed under the leadership of the Raikage who was appointed the general of the alliance. The three formed teams will battle S-ranked opponents, so aside from completing the drills, it will be up to Shikaku and the Raikage to best see which team will be up against which member of the Akatsuki organization. The material gathered by the villages was extensive and should very well aid them. Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage, was quiet as she watched the teams; though her focus was only on one person. Ever since Jiraiya arrived with Naruto from the Land of Toads, she could see in his face that something was wrong with Naruto.

Jiraiya told her what happened and told her about Naruto's cold shoulder after waking up from beating the fox.

She could only guess that the kid was angry with those who deliberately kept the information about his parents from him all this time. In this group, was herself, the Sandaime Hokage and Hatake Kakashi. Because of the events right now, Tsunade hadn't so far found a proper time to talk to him about it. She knew that it would take some time to convince him of the reason behind it all. Tsunade briefly contemplated talking to Yuugao about it. The Hokage knew from Shizune that Yuugao had a long talk with him about the subject. Yuugao was shocked about the news that Naruto was the Yondaime's son. Tsunade heard that Yuugao apologized to Naruto about not figuring it out sooner. According to Shizune, Naruto thought nothing of it, saying that he wouldn't even consider blaming Yuugao for something she didn't know as well. However the fact remained that he did blame those who did know about it and didn't tell him about it.

Truth be told, Naruto was supposed to be informed about it when he received the promotion to chunnin, but a lot of events led her to postpone what would clearly be a sensitive topic.

With a resolved mind, after today's training, she would call Naruto, Kakashi and Jiraiya to put some closure into this situation that the Sandaime Hokage started. As she witnessed the power and anger behind Naruto's attacks especially when pitted against Jiraiya or Kakashi, she feared that Naruto wouldn't function correctly in the future assignment without it. Taking the trouble aside, Tsunade couldn't help but smile at how much more powerful and faster Naruto was now due to receiving the Kyuubi's power. Aside from Kakashi, due to the sharingan, only the Raikage and the Sannin managed to follow Naruto's speed. The Raikage was deeply impressed to see the second coming of the Yellow Flash. The Yondaime Hokage was perhaps the only one that was faster than the Raikage and now the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would take over the mantle, it appeared. In a sense, the Raikage was thrilled to see that the Akatsuki will have a fierce competition ahead against these selected shinobi.

The training progressed smoothly until the sun began its descent. The Kages followed Tsunade to her office, while the shinobi from Kumo and Suna left to their hotels. Jiraiya, Gai and Kakashi knew better than to stay close to Naruto now if today's training was any indication. With Gai's exception since he considered Naruto's fierce training as a result of his youthfulness, Jiraiya and Kakashi knew the reason behind Naruto's behavior. Jiraiya had already heard bits and pieces of it and told Kakashi about it. With that in mind, both of them departed, leaving the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki alone to ponder on his thoughts. The sky was slowly but surely changing its color from the bright blue to a melancholic orange. Naruto's eyes lost their focus as he surveyed the destroyed field, courtesy of his anger. To this day, the people he trusted the most in his life had withheld the truth about his past. He only became aware of his jinchuuriki status when he was twelve and that was because the traitor Mizuki didn't care if he went against the Hokage's orders. He wondered about if the circumstances were different that day? What if he went against Mizuki from the beginning? Would the Sandaime tell him about the Kyuubi?

Walking a little towards the small river, Naruto looked at his reflection in the water and was surprised to see the image of the fox smirking at him. He sighed and closed his eyes.

===Inside Naruto's mindscape===

Looking at the gates that held the creature responsible for the destruction of the village, Naruto released a sigh once more.

"You wished to speak to me?" The haunting laughter echoed for a while, before the gigantic beast appeared for its jailor.

"I can feel your anger towards those who wronged you in the past and I applaud how you thrashed your sensei for withholding this precious information from you." Naruto just stared at the creature which was savoring every bit of his negative thoughts, as if it was the fox's meal of the day. He knew that the fox's power was directly linked to the human's negative emotions. Truth be told, though, Naruto didn't simply believe himself capable of letting go of it all without confronting the ones responsible about what they did. Before the quest to plunge the Kyuubi out of its hatred, Naruto must understand the source of its power. All the bad events in the world culminated in the fox being as powerful as it was now. For Naruto to end this cycle, he must find a way to break it and start a new one.

"I won't lie and say I'm not angry at them for keeping the information of my parents from me. I will demand every bit of explanation possible, but I will not let my anger get past that." The fox kept looking at the jinchuuriki. "I told you before that I managed to feel your chakra. I could feel the amount of hatred coming from it and I understood the source; actions moved by negative emotions like vengeance, treason, murder. I won't be moved by my anger, no matter how strong you make it out to be." The Kyuubi snarled at his jailor, but Naruto didn't waste more time inside his mindscape. When he opened his eyes, it was already night time and he allowed himself some ramen time. It wouldn't do him any good to keep his stomach waiting.

===With Sasuke===

Every step Sasuke took towards the direction Tobi has supplied him with, his heart skipped a beat. Ever since that fateful day, when Itachi annihilated the entire Uchiha Clan with the exception of Sasuke, the young Uchiha had prepared for this meeting. Until a week ago, Sasuke wanted nothing but to kill Itachi for the sins he had committed against their family. Now as he understood the truth behind the events, Sasuke's revenge was now shifted to another target. His ire was now pointed to those who forced Itachi's hand into killing their family. Konoha had taken everything from him. And worst of all was that Sasuke had spent his entire life seeing the peace inside the village walls. He saw people smiling and going on with their lives. All the laughter he heard was nothing but torture for the young Uchiha. To Sasuke, they were laughing at the Uchiha Clan, laughing at the sacrifice made by his brother. It only made Sasuke even angrier when he remembered the Sandaime Hokage smiling at him from time to time.

He was the one who ordered Itachi and yet, the old fossil had the nerve to show a happy face to Sasuke as if he didn't have anything to do with it.

Sure, Sasuke knew what was at stake. According to Tobi, the clan was about to make a move against the village in retaliation for the village supposedly diminishing the prestige and power once held by the one of the founding clans. Because of this, the elders of Konoha believed that one from the inside of the clan would be perfect to cut the roots of the problem before it happened. Thus, Itachi was used for the village's benefit. In the end, he was declared an S-ranked missing-nin and branded as one of the worst criminals by doing what the village wanted from him. Just by thinking about it, Sasuke's blood began to boil. His arms began to tremble as he remembered all that'd happened so far in his life. It was all a lie from the beginning, he reasoned. After a few minutes, the trembling stopped as Sasuke calmed down somewhat. He would find his brother and together they would make Konoha pay for what they did. As he entered inside the old castle that was used by the Uchiha Clan in the past, Sasuke smirked as he would see his brother again, not as his enemy but an ally once more.

Reclining on a stone throne located in a room inside the castle, Itachi had his eyes closed as he sensed Sasuke's chakra presence enter the compound. Today was the day his destiny would be fulfilled. Itachi opened his eyes just as he heard footsteps echoing in the hall that lead to the room he was in. Itachi had a detached expression and even placed one hand on his chin as if he was bored from being here. In seconds, the Uchiha brothers stared at one another quietly as Itachi was busy contemplating the subtle changes in Sasuke's behavior. He knew that Madara told Sasuke the truth about the day he slaughtered the Uchiha Clan. It was the reason that Sasuke was here in the first place. Itachi made it this way so that Sasuke could avenge his clan and kill Itachi, but instead Itachi couldn't sense any hatred coming from his younger brother.

"Tell me Sasuke, what is your sharingan showing you? Still to this day, you fail to fulfill the one thing I told you to do. You lack hatred and without it, you will never defeat me." Despite knowing the truth about it, Sasuke couldn't help but flinch at those words that still haunted his mind. Every time Itachi used the Mangenkyou on him, the same words were repeated over and over.

"I didn't come here to kill you Itachi." The older brother remained impassive as he listened. "Madara told me the truth about what happened and I no longer bear any ill will towards you for what you did. They forced you into doing this and they will pay for what they did. I came here to talk to you about joining forces and killing the real ones responsible for the death of the Uchiha Clan." Itachi still remained impassive as he now understood the small shift in his brother's mindset. Sasuke now wanted to kill Konoha and not him.

"I see that Madara has told you what happened that day…however he didn't tell you one crucial aspect behind the event. How could he since he wasn't in my head to understand it." Sasuke immediately tensed at the words.

"What are you talking about?"

"Sure, Konoha felt that the Uchiha Clan was about to start a civil war and yes I was chosen to end it before the problems escalated to a full out battle that could cost the village greatly. However what Madara didn't explain to you was that when confronted with different ideas to resolve the issue, it was I who came up with the solution and even volunteered for it." Itachi was sill stoic as he saw Sasuke's eyes bulge at the recent revelations. Itachi could very well see the ramifications of his declaration and stood there waiting for Sasuke to snap. Itachi could not control what Madara spoke to Sasuke, but he could very well twist and bend the truth a bit to make sure the events occured to his liking. When Sasuke's sharingan activated, Itachi allowed a brief sigh in dismay at how easy manipulating Sasuke was.

"You asked me what my sharingan showed me, Itachi. It showed me your death. I'll avenge the clan right here."

With impressive speeds, Sasuke unleashed his sword and immediately charged Itachi, while casting a subtle disorienting genjutsu. Itachi, though, snorted at the amateur tactic and parried the sword with a kunai. Itachi had a look of surprise on his face, though, when a different sword pierced his stomach. He looked at the Sasuke he was battling and saw his brother smirking, before it transformed into a bunch of white snakes. For a moment, Sasuke stood behind Itachi with his sword inside Itachi. He allowed a moment of silence, wondering if it was that easy to kill his brother when Sasuke realized that something was terribly wrong with this image. For one, he didn't remember if Itachi ever got up from the throne where he was seating.

"It took you a while, Sasuke. I already told you brother, without hatred, you cannot defeat me. You do not have the Mangenkyou Sharingan." This time Itachi did get up as the other image faded from view. Sasuke saw red.

"I don't need the Mangenkyou to beat you Itachi. I know about the secret behind the Mangenkyou. I know about the cost of being blind just to be able to control the Kyuubi." As usual, Itachi remained his usual façade which infuriated Sasuke.

"Yes, indeed, the mangenkyou does come with a price. However, there is one way out of it, Sasuke. You see, there is another level to the Mangenkyou that I bet you knew nothing about. It's called Eternal Mangenkyou Sharingan and it consists of merging a set of sharingan eyes with the Mangenkyou, thus ridding the curse." Sasuke was immediately startled when he saw a sudden look of madness and laughter from his brother. "Now I'll take your eyes foolish little brother and will be unstoppable." Itachi activated the Mangenkyou and vanished before appearing in front of the surprised Sasuke and sending his flying to the stone pillar behind them. Upon contact, Sasuke spit blood from his mouth as Itachi began to extract the right eye from Sasuke's sockets. "One down…" Sasuke, though, screamed at his brother and used the power of the cursed seal to force Itachi away from him. Itachi did back off from Sasuke as he looked at the influence of the cursed seal, courtesy of Orochimaru.

"That alone won't stop me from getting what I want, Sasuke. Eventually, you'll succumb and I will have your eyes." Sasuke now looked at his brother without one shred of doubt in his mind.

"I will kill you for good Itachi…my hatred will make that a reality." Itachi smirked at the answer. Sasuke was already going through hand signs for a fire technique.

"We shall see." Itachi said as he mirrored Sasuke's hand seals and started the sequence as well.

===In Konoha===

Unaware of the fight happening between the Uchiha, Naruto was heading straight to the Hokage's Office as he was summoned to attend a meeting there in ten minutes. The Anbu that give him the message was rather vague in stating the subject, merely stating that the Hokage wished to discuss personal subjects with him. Naruto snorted, though. There was only one sensitive subject in his mind and that was why he was kept from the truth. No it was worse than that, he reasoned. He found out the hard way about the truth, because no one had told him about it. Mizuki told him he was the jinchuuriki for his own selfish reasons. As he entered the Hokage's Administrative Building and climbed the stairs towards the office, he wondered how the conversation would go.

===With Sasuke===

The extinct compound of the Uchiha Clan became alive as the gigantic fireballs clashed against each other. As far as fire manipulation, it was clear that both brothers were equally matched. Itachi conceded to his little brother that he had advanced a lot as far as fire ninjutsu was involved. However, he wasn't kidding when he said that the Mangenkyou Sharingan was the key to winning the fight. While continuing with the fireball technique, Itachi morphed his eyes into the Mangenkyou Sharingan and released the deadly black flames of Ametarasu at Sasuke. The young Uchiha was surprised and instantly activated his second level cursed seal, before placing both wings in front of the black flames to protect himself. Immediately, upon contact with the wings, Sasuke let out a scream of pain as the wings were extensions of his own body. He remembered the lessons from Orochimaru and realized that these flames would consume his body in seconds.

He yanked the wings from his back and backed off, while looking at his brother with a snarl.

"You still believe yourself capable of defeating me, Sasuke?" Sasuke snarled and charged at Itachi once more unleashing small sized fireballs forcing Itachi to dodge them, allowing Sasuke to reduce the distance and strike Itachi with his sword. Sasuke's speed had doubled and Itachi wondered if Orochimaru supplied his little brother with something that would enhance one's normal speed. He doubted that Sasuke would move slowly at the beginning just to trick him. However, Itachi was well versed in speeds much faster than this when he was still an Anbu Captain in Konoha. He turned just as Sasuke moved in for the last blow and dodged slightly and moved in to stab Sasuke in the stomach. The young Uchiha saw the move and abandoned his course of action, before throwing a bunch of shuriken at Itachi, hoping to stall him.

Itachi's body transformed into crows and he appeared behind Sasuke, who also used a replacement technique to escape Itachi. Sasuke immediately went through hand seals, before slamming his hand on the ground.

Itachi saw a chain of lightning leave Sasuke's hand and charged him at impressive speeds. Itachi jumped slightly to avoid the lightning technique when he saw a windmill shuriken approaching his position, threatening to slice him in half. The elder Uchiha dodged it before seeing another following it shortly. Using a simple replacement technique with the other windmill shuriken, Itachi then charged Sasuke once more. Both Uchiha began a series of taijutsu blows to each other. On occasion, one would cast a disorienting genjutsu and the other would break it before defending the blow. Eventually, Sasuke and Itachi parried swords in the middle of the room, before backing off slightly. Sasuke took the opportunity and made quick hand signs.

Katon Gouryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique)

From Sasuke's mouth, a bunch of considerably sized dragon mouth shaped fireballs charged at Itachi. The elder Uchiha couldn't dodge them all and even one scorched his arm, before continuing its travel towards the ceiling. The dragon mouth shaped fireballs opened a hole and continued to go up until it reached the atmosphere. Itachi decided to take the fight to the roof and took advantage of the hole created by Sasuke's technique. Once outside, he saw the entire compound surrounded by the ethereal black flames of Ametarasu. The stage was already set for this fight as Itachi saw Sasuke emerging from the hole with the cursed seal level two without his wings. The Uchiha brothers stared at each other for a while. Both were slightly panting, but for different reasons. Sasuke's chakra was nearing its end. But Itachi was suffering from his disease. Black clouds started forming above their heads, but Itachi thought nothing of it. Thunder began to echo in the clearing, before heavy rain assaulted the area.

Sasuke was smiling, though as his plan was completed. There was no way Itachi would be able to dodge it. He went through a long series of hand seals, before lifting his arm up. His hand was coated in lightning energy just as a lightning crossed the sky and headed straight towards Sasuke. Quickly using the power of an actual lightning, Sasuke directed it towards the surprised Itachi as he saw a huge dragon made of lightning roaring at him. Sasuke smirked before unleashing the powerful beast.

Raiton Kirin

Itachi had only time to use his both Mangenkyou Sharingan before he was hit dead on as well as the compound that they were standing on. In instants, the compound was reduced to nothing, but rocks scattered. Sasuke got up from within the rocks and looked around to search for Itachi's body. After a couple seconds, Sasuke began to smirk in victory as he managed to exert vengeance for his brother's sins. Sasuke was about to take a seat and rest when he saw a purple light beam erupt from the debris a couple meters in front of Sasuke. His chest began to ache as he saw Itachi getting up. His body was terribly damaged because of the attack. Sasuke saw the purple light beam take shape into a creature Sasuke couldn't quite describe. In one hand there was a shield and in the other was a sword.

"That was some technique Sasuke. Who would have thought I had to resort to Susanoo against it? Too bad your chakra is depleted." Itachi soon started walking towards Sasuke.

It didn't take two seconds for Sasuke to realize that he was as good as done against his brother. Instantly, fear began to rule his thoughts at the possibility of his brother ending his life right here and taking his eyes. Everything he went through; every sin he committed to get stronger would be for nothing as he saw his doom approaching step by step. Sasuke thus tried everything he had at his disposal that didn't need chakra. He threw kunai at his brother, but the shield blocked. He even attached paper bombs to the kunai, but to no effect at all. Itachi just kept walking towards Sasuke.

"This shield is impenetrable, Sasuke. This is the end for you. Now I shall take your eyes and will be complete." Sasuke started to back off until he stopped at a destroyed wall with the Uchiha symbol as Itachi's hand was inches from his eyes.

When Itachi stood in front of Sasuke, the young Uchiha's heart was beating than ever before. When his brother poked his forehead instead just like he did when they were younger, Sasuke looked at Itachi's face shocked to see Itachi smiling at him. The creature's sword descended and struck right on the place Sasuke's cursed seal was located. Sasuke thought that he would scream, but the deafening noise he heard wasn't coming from him, but Orochimaru instead. Itachi still maintained the smile as he realized that everything had gone according to his plan.

"I'm sorry for what I put you through Sasuke. I hope that in time you can forgive me for everything." Those were Itachi's last words before falling on the ground, dead.

Sasuke looked at his brother dead on the ground and wondered what Itachi's last words were. His last actions were meant to rid Sasuke of Orochimaru's influence before collapsing on the ground. Something was wrong in the truths that he was told from both Tobi and Itachi. He didn't know what it was, but he couldn't for the life of him figure it out. For some reason, as he looked at his dead brother, he didn't feel what he expected to feel upon being able to kill his brother. Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he saw Itachi smiling to him like he did just before falling. This Itachi was different from the one that tortured Sasuke every day and every night. Just after taking a soldier pill, he grabbed Itachi's body and vanished from the location using a flame body flicker just as Zetsu emerged from the ground.

===With Naruto===

After entering the room, Naruto saw Jiraiya and Kakashi there as well as Shizune. All four of them were looking at Naruto as he walked inside before closing the door.

"You wish to see me, Hokage-sama?" Steeling her resolve after not being called like Naruto usually does, Tsunade nodded.

"Yes Naruto…it has come to our attention, particularly from Jiraiya, that while attaining control from the fox, you managed to contact the images of your parents Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. I thus called you here in order for us to talk about it and to answer any and all questions you see fit to ask from us. Feel free to ask anything you want." Naruto looked at everyone's faces for a while and could tell that the Hokage meant what she was saying. Indeed, the ones in the office knew the most about Naruto's parents. However, Naruto didn't feel at ease. The main reason was that this conversation was occurring only because he snapped with Jiraiya shortly after the confrontation with the fox. This conversation wasn't happening because they wanted to tell him.

"First, I wish to know who I'm talking with. Are you the Hokage now or just Senju Tsunade?"

The first question was intriguing to the others present, but Tsunade smirked.

"If you're worried about questioning my authority or something in that regard, I have stated before you came here that everything discussed in this room is off the record. As for your question, now I am both the Hokage and Senju Tsunade." Naruto nodded and looked at the sannin for a while. Off the record, she said. Surely, the shadows hidden in the room weren't there, but the only ones who had the power to prevent anything from happening were in the room. Jiraiya knew more tricks than any to stop a jinchuuriki's power and Kakashi could use his sharingan to keep Naruto in check. Despite the current assessment, Naruto swore to himself that he wouldn't give in to the fox's urges, even if right now he was battling against the subtle influences.

"First of all, I would like everyone in this room to know how I felt after realizing a couple of things. Four of five years ago, for instance, I was only made aware of my jinchuuriki status because Mizuki-sensei said so minutes after betraying the village. I wondered the entire day if Mizuki didn't do what he did, would someone tell me of the fox inside my gut and the fact that my very father was the one who sealed it inside of me. At the time, Sandaime explained to me that he didn't tell me because he wished for me to have a normal life. Today, though, I realized that it would have been much better if he had told me long before instead of keeping the lie from me. Now, after almost being killed by the fox trying to defeat it and claim its power, I was saved by my mother and my father. Once more, neither of the ones I come to trust in my life told me about it. Because of this, I find myself wondering if my trust was misguided. You claim to care about me and yet you kept information that was vital for me. They were my family."

Everyone remained silent as they listened to the surprisingly eloquent way of speech. None of them were too surprised, though. It seemed that Naruto's impulsive and hyperactive behavior was gone for good. Of course, while they were all proud to see a grown Naruto, none of them were very thrilled to hear that Naruto began to mistrust them. After all, their goal in withholding information from Naruto was meant only for his protection.

"Naruto…" As Hokage, Tsunade was there in Hiruzen's behalf as well. "I won't waste anyone's time here and tell you we understand what you're going through. Indeed, choices were made to keep you from the truth. However, as I'm sure everyone will agree, these choices were made to protect you. As you were well aware, the Yondaime Hokage while considered a hero in Konoha for his actions in the last war; in Iwagakure and even in other villages, he was considered the opposite. You could imagine the lengths these villages would go to kill you if they were aware that the man they hated with a passion had an offspring. I'm not saying that my predecessor's actions were valid. Sensei believed it to be the best course of action to protect you as much as possible from outside interference." Naruto kept silent hearing, before Jiraiya cleared his throat.

"He gave you your mother's name so that no one would know the truth and keep you safe."

"Ok I get that Iwagakure could have attacked me and all that, but let me ask you something. What about my mother? What did she do? If I couldn't know about my father, I could at least know about her, right?" This time, Kakashi spoke.

"Kushina didn't do anything to other villages, but she was captured by Kumogakure when she was a genin. I don't know if she showed you Naruto, but Kushina's chakra was so dense that she could mold it to resemble objects, not to mention that her knowledge in the sealing arts was second to none, since the Uzumaki Clan was wiped out. I'm sorry for keeping everything from you Naruto and I know I wasn't the best jounin-sensei you could hope for." Naruto didn't say anything to that. Kakashi did help him after Sasuke's fight and started him on the path he was now.

"I'm not angry about that Kakashi-sensei. Okay, I wasn't aware that my mother was targeted by Kumo a long time ago. She didn't tell me much. However, I fail to see any reason why I didn't know there was a Uzumaki Clan in the past? I loved Sandaime-jiji with all my heart. He cared about me when no one else would, but he could have given me hints about my mother and our clan. This way, I could know about her and about my family that is now dead. Eventually, I would appreciate news about my father, but I would be more than satisfied in knowing about my mother. I only met her inside the Kyuubi's cage and I wished to spend more time with her. I wished to spend more time hugging her, feeling what it meant to have a mother that cared for you more than anything." Naruto was having trouble containing the tears that were threatening to escape from his eyes. Also, the lack of prompt response from the group seemed to be enough for him to realize that they failed in this regard. Would Naruto's life be much easier if he had known about his mother?

Without a doubt, it would be.

Tsunade sighed for a while and realized that Naruto wasn't searching for a rational explanation here. She approached Naruto and quickly enveloped in a fierce hug.

"You're right Naruto; we failed to tell you about your clan. However, you're wrong in assuming that your entire family is no more." Naruto looked at Tsunade's eyes for a while and the woman could see hope in those deep cerulean eyes. Aside from Jiraiya, Kakashi and Shizune were perplexed about the news of another Uzumaki that was still among the living. "An interesting fact about the Uzumaki Clan is that they were related to the Senju Clan, which means that you and I are related." Naruto's eyes were open wide in realization. As Tsunade took a step back to let the kid breathe somewhat, she saw a faint smile on his face. He was looking down for a while, probably wondering about the new information about his family.

(Author Note: I know that Nagato is also an Uzumaki, but his identity is not known yet).

"It's nice to know that I have family, but still the past happened and cannot be changed. Sarutobi-jiji did manage to take care of me and he still had an entire village to run. I know that it was hard for him to take care of everything on his own. I'm not saying I'm okay with everything, but I suppose it's now impossible to change what happened. I understand also that you all wished to clear everything up and I appreciate it. It will take some time but at least I have met my parents and saw them together instead of merely hearing stories about it. Now, my father told me about a house that they lived in. He said that my godfather knew where it was." Jiraiya nodded and gave Naruto a scroll. He was saddened, but could feel that Naruto was more at ease now.

"I would go with you, but I can see you wish to go on your own. The scroll contains the map and the key to the house."

Naruto simply nodded without giving Jiraiya much acknowledgement. The subtle nod was only seen because of the group's experience in the shinobi arts. Naruto simply bowed in respect to the Hokage, before leaving the office. The tension in the room eased with Naruto's departure, but all the tree shinobi involved in the debates found themselves hard pressed to fall back on their respective vices. Tsunade grabbed a bottle of sake underneath her table; Jiraiya vanished towards one of the bathhouses and Kakashi left the room while reading his perverted book. Shizune just left, not saying anything. She wasn't a part of the mess, but she knew one thing. When Naruto was pissed off at something, he sure knew how to keep the tensions high. The woman was seriously considering going to a bar and ordering a couple of drinks.

Once outside, Naruto walked for ten minutes until he arrived at the destination pointed out by the map. When he looked to see the house, he was hard pressed to wonder about the necessity of hiding this place. First of all, it was located in a secluded neighborhood filled with identical twin two-story houses. The population here was rather mixed between civilian and shinobi, so Naruto must have figured that the place was better suited for small shinobi families. In front of the houses, a small playground was located. Thinking nothing of it, Naruto approached the small white gate that separated the little road from a small porch in front of the house. According to the scroll, the key to the house consisted in Naruto's fingertips, actually. As soon as he placed his hands on the fence, though, Naruto sensed something odd with the place. First of all, as he passed the fence, the usual noise outside was reduced somehow, which was strange. According to the scroll, the only fuuinjutsu was located in the fence, but Naruto didn't understand much.

He remembered getting through the place where Soujiro-sensei was located and guessed his father had done the same to protect his house.

Once he opened the door to the house, Naruto was bombarded with the confined air that was begging to be released. As expected, the house was filled with dust on the floor and spider webs on the walls. The furniture was entirely covered in white sheets. Closing the door, Naruto started touching the wall to find a switch, before his hand touched what appeared to be a scroll paper. Instantly, the house lights came alive. Apparently, both his parents were fuuinjutsu users, so it made sense that everything here would work by the use of seals. However, while the house had light, Naruto still needed to clean up the place. Quickly summoning ten kage bunshins and sending them to do the dirty job, the real one began to scout the area for clues left by his parents.

Lifting the sheets from the furniture, Naruto found a few pictures and looked closely at them. He found a picture of his father wearing his Hokage's outfit. There was another picture of his father with his jounin attire, his mother and the Sandaime Hokage. It must have been the time when father was appointed the Yondaime as the picture showed a disgruntled Orochimaru looking at them from the back. Naruto heard from Jiraiya one time that Orochimaru was meant to take on the Yondaime title, but Sandaime thought against in the end and nominated Minato instead. There was another picture of his father posing with three other people. Looking closer, Naruto could see a young Kakashi looking away. Naruto didn't recognize the other two next to his sensei, though. What he knew, though, was that the picture was very similar to the one he had taken with Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi-sensei. Moving on, Naruto inspected the living room and found it very cozy despite the simple design. He smiled knowing that his parents weren't big fans of fancy stuff either.

Naruto inspected the first floor a bit more until he came across another seal placed on the wall. There were no doors nearby and the lights were on.

Naruto couldn't for the life of him figure out what this seal did. He placed his fingertips either way, wondering what would happen, perhaps it turned on the water supply or something. He definitely wasn't expecting a door to materialize behind the seal and open to him. He saw a wooden made ladder going downstairs. Checking the quality of the wood, Naruto found that some of the steps were missing pieces, but nothing that couldn't be fixed, he reasoned. When the ladder ended, Naruto's eyes threatened to leave their sockets at what he saw. It was a library filled with scrolls and books on a lot of subjects. He found material about pretty much all there was out there about ninja arts, including the art of seals. After inspecting a bit, Naruto found a lone desk inside the library. On the desk, was an open scroll and Naruto took a seat to check it out. Before reading, though, he sensed an odd feeling as he imagined how many times both his mother and his father were here studying. He smiled at the memory before checking the contents on the scroll. He was surprised to see that it was a letter from his parents.

The letter was basically the same thing his parents said when they battled against the fox together.

What surprised him was that the letter had one odd looking seal that, according to the text, it was left by his mother and it contained the secret of her most powerful skill. Just like the other seals around the house, this one activated when Naruto pressed his hand and focused some chakra in it to show a new hidden scroll. The chunnin was flabbergasted when he read the contents of the new scroll. It contained the knowledge of his mother's ability to mold her chakra into chains. He figured he could learn bits and pieces about fuuinjutsu, but Naruto would smack himself in the head if he didn't learn his mother's ability. It did sound more like his style as Naruto was more of a close range fighter. Whispering prays of thank you to his parents, Naruto summoned even more kage bunshins to go over the contents of the library. He set aside one clone to do something for him outside the house, though.

===Fifteen minutes later===

The clone managed to bring Yuugao inside the house. The Anbu captain was thrilled to be with her boyfriend as he went through this. She was inside the library as well and immediately drooled at the prospect of reading material about kenjutsu. Naruto looked at Yuugao with a fond smile while going through the different knowledge in the library. All of a sudden, something popped in Naruto's mind and his eyes began to water a bit. Yuugao noticed it immediately and looked at Naruto for a while.

"What happened?" Naruto said nothing for a while, before getting up from the chair.

"Could you follow me for a moment?"

Yuugao nodded as they climbed the ladders towards the living room and then another ladder to the second level. Yuugao was at a loss for what was going on, as they entered in one of the rooms. As soon as she saw the crib in the middle of the room, she understood completely. Instantly, the image of both the Yondaime Hokage and the woman from the picture appeared around the crib smiling while playing with a baby Naruto with whisker marks. Yuugao gently embraced her boyfriend as he stared at the crib in front of him. There were no words that she could say to him now. All she could do was be there for him all the way. Eventually, Naruto turned to look at Yuugao with a smile on his face, despite the tears that were falling non-stop.

He was back home after all.

===At the old Uchiha Compound===

When Zetsu and Tobi inspected the battlefield, neither of them were able to find Sasuke or Itachi's body. It was something Tobi couldn't have predicted, since based on the level of destruction and heavy usage of the chakra, it would seem that both bodies were destroyed. Sasuke going as far as to die together with his brother was unheard of. The same could be said for Itachi. Tobi's sharingan eyes began to spin madly showing how angry he was that things haven't gone like he expected it to.

"I want you to scout this entire area and I find traces of them."

The plant like shinobi said nothing and went back to the ground, leaving an infuriated Tobi alone, before the man vanished once more.

Author Note

Ok many different choices, huh?

Who saw this coming? Not even I did, to tell the truth. I came up with this idea when I finished writing the fight scene (which is a carbon copy of Kishimoto's work, I know.). For those who are wondering about why Itachi said that he was the one that came up with the idea of killing the Uchiha Clan, it was just an elaborate twist to turn Sasuke's hatred away from Konoha and focus only on him. Because of this, a few changes will occur. Next chapter, I'll do something that will definitely shock all of you.

See ya then.