A/N – I'm an asshole, that is all. I'm joking with you. I have some more things to say. I apologize for the long wait. I kept having to rewrite this chapter because it kept coming out like crap. There are four prewritten chapters after this so those will come in later. I would like to also mention if I don't post, it's because school is taking up my time afterschool. Please don't fret about me not posting! I love you all so much!

Naruto blinked open his eyes, groaning quietly. Everything felt stiff and numb. He heard shouting as he sat up in what felt like a makeshift bed. His heart rate started to pick up as he stared into wide, hopeful black eyes, "…D-Dad?"

The bandaged man smiled, pulling his son into a hug, "You're okay… r-right?"

"I…" His blue eyes frantically looked around, seeing the rest of his family and friends standing behind his father. They too were bandaged up and bruised looking. Chōjūrō, although missing one of his arms, smiled brightly at the wakening boy as if nothing had changed. Naruto's eyes trailed to look at his mother, seeing one of Ameyuri's eyes bandaged up heavily but that didn't stop the tears from forming and sliding down her cheeks in pure happiness. Haku was sitting propped up against a tree, both legs either broken or severely damaged. Tears started to well up in the boy's eyes, "W-What… D-Dad… Haku… I don't u-understand… Chōjūrō… A-Ameyuri… I… Konoha t-took me… T-They had me… I w-was gone… and t-they… they-"

"Naruto." Zabuza stopped the boy's worried words with a soft, sad smile, "They did. They took you away from us, however, when Ameyuri and Chōjūrō heard Haku and you screaming, they came as backup. Together, they took down those Konoha ninjas and brought you back. We were all so worried. I thought you would be in another coma… I thought… I wasn't sure if we were g-going to get you back." Tears trailed down the man's face, Naruto's eyes widening at the sight.

"I'm still… h-here?" His heart pounded violently in his chest, gripping his father as if the man were his life source.

"It's okay." His father's voice was soothing to his ears.

Gripping his waist tightly, Naruto let out all the pent-up fear and sadness, sobbing loudly, "I… I w-was so scared a-and I thought… I t-thought I lost y-you… and t-that they took me a-away… and-"

The black-haired man smiled, humming lowly, "It's okay, Naruto. You're fine… we're fine."

He hiccupped, "So… it was all a d-dream?"

"No." The monotone voice called out to him from the distance.

"W-What?" The boy froze, eyes widening, "N-No… it can't…. no, no, no…" Naruto let go of his father quickly, turning his head to stare into deep red eyes. His bottom lip quivered, the tears still leaving his eyes, "K-Kurama?"

"You need to wake up." Naruto twisted his head up to fully stare up at him. Not a single display of emotion played in the demon's eyes like it had done many times before. Kurama let out a deep sigh, "This a dream, kid. Nothing more, nothing less."

Suddenly, the air felt so uncomfortably cold. Naruto's heart pounded in his chest. His hands shook beside him as he slowly turned his head back to look at his family; he could see them slowly disappearing. Haku was the first to leave, eyes flickering shut before falling on his side. He convulsed violently, looking pained. A gagged sob left the boy's mouth, his body starting to vanish.

"R-Remember… me." The long-haired boy uttered as he completely vanished from the plains of existence.

Naruto continued to stare with wide eyes, absolutely frozen, "H-Haku!" There was a gargling noise as Ameyuri fell to her knees, holding her neck painfully as blood spilled out of her mouth. He watched as a line of red started to appear on the skin under her chin. Tears ran down from her only good eye, blood starting to pool around her knees.

She reached out for him weakly, voice coming to her in pained breaths for oxygen that she could not grasp. "It's… o-okay."

"M-Momma!" He cried out, watching her curl up and disappear into nothingness.

"I-It's okay, Naruto…" He heard Chōjūrō's whisper, head turning to watch his best friend falling backwards. The world seemed to slow as he watched emotions flash on the older male's face. The bandages surrounding his wound seemed to undo themselves, blood draining from it. A single tear left Chōjūrō's eyes as he gave his best friend one last smile. His body dissipated before even touching the ground.

"Chōjūrō, no!" The ten-year-old called out, sobbing uncontrollably. A firm hand on his shoulders startled him, making the boy turn around swiftly with shaky hands. With expectant, wide eyes, Naruto gazed worriedly into Zabuza's eyes. "D-Dad…" He whispered out, "No, no, no! Not you t-too!"

"I… I love you… N-Naruto… Never…" The black-haired man took a shaky breath in, exhaling out blood. Tears filled his father's eyes, the color of blackness becoming a dull gray. "N-Never forget… it…" Zabuza fell forward into Naruto's open and frozen arms. "Never… f-forget… me…" With those shaky words, the swordsman disappeared.

Naruto quivered, hot tears streaming quietly down his face. Kurama watched with narrowed eyes, "You're dreaming, kid."

He couldn't hear the demon, the pounding of his heart echoing in his ears, "T-They're… gone…" A sob escaped his mouth, holding himself tightly. "No… N-No… no, no, no!" Naruto whispered out harshly, curling in on himself, "It… It c-can't be… K-Kurama… I…"

"You don't know that they're gone. They could very well be alive, kid." The demon rolled his eyes, "Stop dreaming already and you won't have to feel like this."

"I'm s-still in Konoha… I c-can't… NO!" He suddenly screamed out, clawing at his head, "I CAN'T!"

Kurama let out an uncontrollable groan, "Yes you can. We're going to get out of here and you can see your family again."

Naruto let out another sob, "I'm n-never going to see them again!"

"Oh Kami, give me the strength to handle this bullshit." He whispered out before sighing loudly, "Naruto, stop fucking crying this instant or I'm seriously going to hurt you!"

He froze, hearing the demon's demand over his own hot tears and pounding heart. He sniffled, pulling himself out of his hold, "I… I wanna g-go home…"

Kurama rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, I know, okay? You've told me about a hundred times already."

"…sorry." Naruto wiped away his tears and looked down at his shaking palms.

"Stop that!" The demon groaned, "How many times do I have to tell you that?"

The blond-haired boy looked away, "I know… I just c-can't help it sometimes."

Kurama sighed, flicking his tails, "Yeah, whatever."

"Thanks for… um… stopping that dream." He looked into the demon's eyes, "It would have given me f-false hope… and I don't really need that here…"

"Well, your dream was making me depressed." He rolled his eyes again.

"Didn't mean to." He mumbled.

Kurama sighed, "I know."

"Should I wake up now?" Naruto asked.

He shook his large head, "I don't sense anyone in the vicinity right now so you can probably get another hour or two of sleep."

He nodded slowly, wringing his hands together, "C-Can… Can I sleep b-beside you?"

The nine-tailed fox stilled for a second before sighing, "Yeah, sure, whatever. Come here."

Naruto crossed the distance between him and the demon, eyes staying on the concrete in the dream world/mindscape. The ten-year-old boy sat in between the Kyuubi no Kitsune's two large paws, sighing heavily. He slowly turned, curling up against the demon's chest. Pulling some of Kurama's red fur into his hands, he squeezed his eyes shut, "Sorry if I'm a handful."

"Handful doesn't even compare to what you are," Kurama mumbled, laying his head down on top of his paws. Naruto smiled slightly, letting sleep consume him.

Even if he was curled up against the most powerful, strongest, and by far a terrifying demon in general, Naruto still felt empty… alone.

"Um… Minato?" Kushina's voice was a hopeful whisper.

He turned around, cutting Ibiki off from whatever he was going to say. Cocking his head to the side, Minato smiled, "What is it?"

Titling her head down, the redhead stared at the ground, "Is there any chance that I can speak with Naruto?"

The Hokage and his lead interrogator froze, eyeing each other. Ibiki coughed into his hand, "While I can see why you would like to speak with him – he is your long-lost son after all – however, Naruto has proven himself to be dangerous.

Kushina's back straightened, eyes narrowing, "Are you implying that I can't take care of myself?"

"Honey, you know that's not what he meant." Minato defended.

"That's my son in there, Minato!" Her voice rose an octave, "That's my baby that I haven't seen in ten years!"

The blond-haired man sighed, closing his eyes, "I know, babe, I know. He's just very… unstable."

"And who's fault do you think that is?" She whispered underneath her breath.

Ibiki's eyes widened in surprise, glancing between the two. He coughed once more, "I've got to go ask Inoichi about… um, prisoner #3056, yeah… I'll catch up with you later about Naruto, Hokage-sama." With that, the taller man left the room, leaving husband and wife inside.

"You think it's my fault that he's like that?" Minato couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"Look, Jiraiya hadn't ever reported to us about whether or not Naruto grew up to be unstable due to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. For all we know, he could have been the happiest kid in the world… with his family." Tears filled her eyes, "Minato, he's ten-years-old; does that not mean anything to you? While reports from the squads you sent out to get him suggest that he is very capable in battle, that doesn't mean that Naruto doesn't get scared. He's still a child. Hell, I'm guessing that he's never been so far away from at least one of his adoptive family members once in his life."

"Kushina-"

She held up her hands, "Naruto is still a child. He doesn't deserve to be treated like an adult who is being charged with mass murder. Let me talk to him. I think he'll be more comfortable in my presence than in yours."

Minato nodded numbly, heart aching terribly at her all-too-true words, "Fine, you can take a crack at him tomorrow. Maybe you can get something more personal out of him."

Kushina sighed, preparing to walk out the door. She stopped halfway, turning around to stare into those deep blue eyes, "If you ever try to do that shit – to interrogate my son without my knowledge – again, we are going to have some serious problems."

He gulped in fear, nodding once more, "This is all my fault."

Naruto was wide awake when there was pounding on his cell door. It was the Yamanaka man from the last time they called him out. He stood up, shoulders slumped and eyes downcast. Inoichi opened the door, slapping some cuffs on the boy's wrists. The blond-haired swordsman stared at the handcuffs with sharp eyes, glaring holes into them, as if that would do anything. The interrogator nudged him to start walking. Naruto internally sighed, "Kurama, I want to go home."

"I know, you already told me that." The fox honestly wanted to roll his eyes but had stopped from doing so since he could only guess what the kid was going through; it wasn't very hard to guess when you were stuck somewhere whilst listening to every thought he conjured.

"Now, Naruto," Inoichi started, standing close behind the boy, "I know you and Kurama swapped places last time we saw each other. I regret to inform you that you won't be able to use any chakra – especially from the Kyuubi no Kitsune – whilst in this interrogation room."

Naruto glared at the gray stone below his feet, teeth starting to grit, "I hate this."

"As do I." Kurama stated, slightly aggravated, "You just need to calm down, alright. We'll get out of this eventually."

"I hope so." He externally sighed, catching the Yamanaka's attention. Upon reaching the door to the interrogation room, several ANBU were standing outside the door. Naruto stared into the holes of the animal masks, hardened eyes making them freeze for a split second as the boy was escorted into the room. Stepping inside, he could feel the difference from the first interrogation room and this one. Inoichi was right, he wouldn't be able to use neither his chakra nor Kurama's.

"I really want to maul these Konoha scum," Kurama growled from the mindscape. Naruto smiled at the thought of the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune tearing about Konohagakure from the inside out. The fox laughed at the boy's thought, "That's exactly what will happen!"

"I'm already so tired of this place. How long do you think we've been here?" The blond-haired boy questioned, looking around the empty room.

The nine-tailed fox hummed in thought, "About a week already. The last interrogation was five or six days ago. I'm surprised that they left you to your devices for that long."

Naruto huffed before his eyes ended up landing on the handcuffs, "How long do you think they are going to keep me here? I want to go back home, with dad, mom, Chōjūrō, Haku… all of them."

Kurama was silent for a few seconds before a long, drawn-out sigh left the olden fox, "Never."

"But isn't it illegal to kidnap someone? Shouldn't that count?" He frantically asked.

"It is except for the fact that you were born in Konohagakure, therefore, making you a citizen of the village. You are also the Jinchuriki of the nine-tailed fox so, by law, you are bound to this village." He informed.

Naruto blinked, eyes moving from side to side, as if in thought, "What if you weren't in me? Like, if I just let you get out or… something like that."

"Naruto, you would die if I was pulled from you or if your released me. Your body wouldn't be able to handle the stress of such a massive body of chakra – like me – leaving your system." The Kyuubi no Kitsune explained.

"Oh." The door clicked open. Already inside was a different kind of person. Instead of the male interrogators, he's seen during his week's stay in Konohagakure, there was a woman who didn't look particularly like anything.

Naruto did not know what to make of this woman who had taken a seat in front of the chair Inoichi pushed him toward. As he sat down, he noticed that she did not look like anyone important like the interrogators that'd talked to him before. She had an aura of warmth surrounding her that made the room just a little brighter. It alleviated some of the heartaches he felt. However, he could still sense the outer lining of danger around her that made Naruto quite frightened. Maybe she was a ninja who always had her guard up.

Try as he might, Naruto found that he could not hold eye contact with her for long, those violet eyes piercing his soul in a way that startled him. Hell, he couldn't even look at her because she reminded him so much of Ameyuri – it was probably due to the hair color, even though Ameyuri's was a much darker shade – and that just hurt his heart. Naruto tried desperately to look like he wasn't uncomfortable by her presence, afraid that she might do something to him.

He was failing miserably.

"Naruto," Kurama spoke with a low, cold tone inside his mindscape.

"What's up?" He wanted to sigh in relief to have some distraction from the woman in front of him.

The fox let out a growl, "That is Kushina Uzumaki, you dimwit."

Naruto felt his eyebrows twitch, knowing that it had gotten the woman's attention slightly, "You mean…"

"Yes, the woman in front of you is your mother." Kurama gave a sigh of frustration as he sensed his jailer's heart rate start to increase, "Calm down. The only reason you should be worrying about is her temper. Don't say anything stupid and you won't anger her. Other than that, you should be fine. I don't think you'll need my assistance in this."

"I… I d-don't know if I can… she…" He couldn't even finish the thought.

Kurama sat up in the mindscape, "Calm down."

Naruto mentally nodded to him, "I'm trying, I r-really am."

The woman – his mother – cleared her throat, "Um… it's good to see you face to face… again." There was a hitch in her voice, words seemingly forced. His eyes flicked up to look at her, seeing tears in her relieved eyes.

Looking away quickly, he leaned back in his chair, "Why is she crying?"

"Well, you are her long-lost son. She only got to hold you like once before you went away." Kurama huffed from inside his mindscape, "I feel like this is going to get super emotional. Good luck with that because I fucking hate emotional shit."

"Right, I get it. Should I say something?" He questioned while Kushina was wiping away the tears in her eyes.

The fox groaned, "I don't know, brat, just… do whatever feels right? I literally just said I hate emotional shit which also translates to 'I have no idea what to do with emotional shit'."

"Right." Naruto internally hummed, "You should probably stop cussing; Dad would get mad if he knew you-"

"Don't tell me what to do, brat!" Kurama growled out, "And I'm not scared of your dad!"

He scoffed internally, "Yeah right, everyone is afraid of my dad, he's-"

"I apologize for that." Kushina mumbled out after finally collecting herself and completely tearing Naruto from his thoughts, "This is honestly a dream come true."

Naruto looked up, raising an eyebrow, "Hm?"

She smiled sadly, "I had started to lose hope after several years after your disappearance, fear clouding most of my judgment. I didn't know what had become of you. I didn't know whether you had died in that boat or found a family somewhere."

He lowered his head, his dad coming to mind, "Well… I did find a family, a really good one too."

"Really?" Kushina leaned forward slightly, smile seemingly warming the room, "Do you want to talk about them? I really would like to know how well they treated my son."

Naruto blinked in surprise, head rising to meet her gaze, "Y-You want to know… a-about them?"

She grinned, giving the younger boy a small eye-smile, "Of course! I'm your mother. I think I have the right to know how his adopted family treated you."

The blond-haired boy could feel his bottom lip quivering, "Are you sure… those other, um… Konoha nins didn't seem to want to know about my dad and the others. They just wanted to talk about the Kyuubi no Kitsune and-"

"Naruto. It's okay. I'm listening." Kushina smiled.

"Well, as my Uncle Jinin used to say, our family is just made up of a bunch of misfits. From my knowledge, none of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist members are related to one another and only thought of each other as associates or… coworkers? I'm not sure. However, I do know that Dad says that once I came into their lives, everyone came together as a big family." He smiled, hands slowly entangling themselves in each other. Naruto licked his chapped lips, feeling the tears starting to well up in his eyes, "We were always so h-happy."

"That sounds wonderful." The older woman was having a hard time holding her emotions at bay, her own waterworks being held back by pure willpower.

"My d-dad – Zabuza Momochi – is a great father. He's kind and compassionate. He loves me very much… and he would never want anything b-bad to happen to me." The tears were starting to get to him. Naruto whipped his eyes, trying to make them go away, "He's done so much f-for me and has loved me u-unconditionally. He was there for me when Granny and Uncle Jinin died."

Kushina tilted her head, "Who are those two, your granny and your uncle?"

Naruto sniffled, "Well, since none of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were related, Dad kind of gave them family roles or nicknames to be in my life… or something like that. Um…" He took a minute to take a deep breath in before continuing. "Jinpachi was the grandpa of the group. Mean and gruff and old. Kushimaru – even if he is a male – Dad still named him as 'Granny' because… well, I'm not really sure why. I never got the chance to ask…"

The room grew quiet. Kushina could see the hurt and pain in her son's eyes, heart strings thumping wildly. "What about the other members? Did they have roles?" She questioned.

"Dad ended up dating Ameyuri… so I call her Momma." He smiled sadly, not noticing the warmth and hurt on his real mother's face, "She cried the first time I called her that. She was just so happy… so was Dad." Naruto rubbed his eyes once more, hoping not to cry in front of these Konoha ninjas. "Chōjūrō didn't really get a role… maybe a role model or a brother, something like that. He's my best friend and I look up to him so much." The ten-year-old shrugged, "Jinin is the cool uncle of our group. He used to let me get away with so many things when I was younger and wasn't in training."

"And the last one?"

Naruto smiled slightly, showing off his pointed teeth, "That's Kisame-sensei! He originally was dubbed the great-grandfather of the group because he's much older than the other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist and is a clown. He taught me a lot and I respect him a lot… I haven't seen him since the rebellion."

"You mean the Great Mist Rebellion that happens in the Hidden Mist? The one that was orchestrated by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist?" She raised an eyebrow.

The blond-haired swordsman nodded, "Is that what they're calling it now that it's in the bingo book?"

"Yes, unfortunately. News of the rebellion has spread through leaks." The older woman informed, "May I ask you something?"

He raised an eyebrow before turning to look away, "I guess. I'm not really going anywhere."

Kushina sighed internally, "Were you involved in the rebellion at all?"

"Not directly." He stated, getting a nod from his birth mother to continue, "Dad, Kisame, Momma, and Chōjūrō decided that I wouldn't stand a chance against the other members in their village so I hid out in a safe house near the border of the Hidden Mist. It was to keep me safe but apparently, I wasn't alone."

She cocked her head to the side, "What do you mean you weren't alone?"

"Mangetsu Hōzuki is… or was – I don't know if Yagura is still in charge – the Mizukage's second in command. Yagura sent him after me since Dad 'brought in another Jinchuriki into his village'." Naruto did a few air quotes to get the point across, not noticing Kushina tensing up for a few seconds in front of him, "So, that was really the only reason why, under my name in the bingo book, it says something like helping in the rebellion against the Mist."

"Speaking of the bingo book, you are the new user of the Nuibari?" Kushina asked, "Is that because Kushimaru died?"

The swordsman flinched, looking away with sad eyes, "My granny asked my grandpa as he was dying if he would give the Nuibari to me. He wanted me to become his successor… so, yeah, I am the new user of the Nuibari. I don't know how that information got into the bingo book though."

"I see…" The redhead nodded, "Naruto, there is something more… urgent that I must ask you. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you hate it here?" Kushina whispered out.

The world – both inside the interrogation room and out – stopped, frozen to the chilling words that left the woman's mouth. Naruto's eyes had widened only the slightest, before instantly narrowing. He turned his head, closing his eyes and taking a slow breath. When the blond-haired boy opened his eyes again, he could see the look of worry on his birth mother's face. Naruto's bottom lip quaked slightly, "Y-Yes. I wanna go h-home."

He sounded awfully like a small child who'd lost their parents in the crowd. It tore Kushina's heart strings apart. All she wanted to do now was hug the ten-year-old and say that everything was going to be okay which it most certainly wasn't if these interrogations kept happening. After a few seconds of silence, Naruto saw the woman nodding slightly, quickly blinking away her tears, "I figured as much. You wish to go back to Zabuza? And Ameyuri? You adopted father and mother? Your best friend? Sensei too?"

"Y-Yeah…" Voice cracking, Naruto could feel his eyes starting fill with tears, "Yeah, I j-just wanna go h-home." A few stray tears left his eyes, running down his face in slow motion. "I don't e-even know if they're a-alive…" He admitted, the waterworks starting to spill over, "They n-never even h-had a chance. I n-never even got to s-say good-bye…"

Kushina couldn't hold back her own tears, hurt because her first born was in so much pain and it was all caused by her village. She let out of choked sob, hand covering her hand to minimalize the noise. "My son… how could they do this to you? W-Why do this and never console me about this?" The redhead thought to herself, "Minato, we are supposed to be a team… especially about Naruto. We were supposed to make the decisions together. You weren't supposed to just send squads off to hunt N-Naruto down."

"I just wanna go home…" He whispered out harshly.

Q&A:

#37: Will Naruto hate Minato and kushina? Will he have neutral relationship with them? Will he grow to love them? Will zabuza join them or be against it? Will Naruto escape Konoha? Find out next time on DEAGON BALL Z!

helpusobi1kenobi from Fanfiction (.net) asked this:

Ay! Dragon Ball Z, that's one of my favorite anime/manga series. I might write fanfiction for it soon but that is for a later time. As for Naruto hating Minato and Kushina… you can kind of see where I am taking Naruto's and Kushina's relationship but as for Naruto's and Minato's relationship, I guess that you will just have to find out. I also can neither confirm nor deny that Zabuza will join them/be against them or that Naruto will escape from Konoha. I'm a sucker for making you guys have to wait!

#38: Just wondering but why did you choose Aleck as the name for Naruto's brother's name? (Pretty sure this question's been answered but I'm just too lazy to find out)((Shame on me :P))

Nobodylikeyouandme from Wattpad asked this:

Oh, you're fine, this question wasn't asked yet. No shame on you! I was actually kind of waiting for someone to ask this! I discovered the name Aleck back in 2012 whilst I was reading some fanmade Creepypastas. I don't quite remember where I got the name from but it was on Wattpad that I saw the name and fell in love with it. It's just really nice to read and/or say.

#39: Could he have not instead invite the remaining swordsmen into Konoha under fake names so to regain his son without ruining relations with him, got back the Kyuubi's Jinchuriki, and gained allies in the swordsmen. Would that not have been a better choice.

surenwolfen from Wattpad asked this:

Shh… you're going to reveal all the angst I have planned for the next several chapters. However, I am thinking of making a spinoff series once I get this fanfiction to completion where I change up what happened in Chapter 17 where instead of fighting and kidnapping Naruto, they instead request that the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist + Naruto come live in Konohagakure so war wouldn't pop out so soon after the Great Mist Rebellion. That spinoff would have a lot more fluff chapters in it than the angst I'm about to put you readers through. I hope this makes sense.

P.S – THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT! Okay, so I was talking to some of my other writer buddies about the plot of this fanfiction. We were talking about the differences in the plot if Chōjūrō or Haku was Naruto's significant other. That conversation actually made me reconsider having a pairing… or making Chōjūrō the official pairing. So, because I'm an indecisive person, I'm redoing the poll:

If you would like Naruto to not be paired with anyone in the fanfiction, comment: fruit loops (my sister's idea).

If you would like Naruto to be paired with Chōjūrō, comment: whales (my bestie's idea).

If you would like Naruto to be paired with Haku, comment: icebreakers (my boyfriend's idea)