Disclaimer: Own nadda
The few days travel from Lahan to Konoha took a bit longer than before since Hinata was sort of out of shape from when she'd been a Konoha kunoichi and also it didn't help that there was a late-season thunderstorm that blew up with only a few hours warning, dumping sheets of rain down on the five ninja for the rest of the day, forcing them to stop their traveling in favor of finding somewhere where they wouldn't get hit by lighting.
"I've had enough of that," Neji agreed when Tenten had suggested that they lay low for a while and see if the storm would blow itself out in a few hours. In the end, the three-day journey ended up taking closer to five. The sun was setting on the eve of the fifth day when a familiar rock ledge adorned by the stony faces of the rulers of Konoha came into view, followed a few minutes later by the high wall that surrounded the village.
"Home at last!" Sakura sighed, stretching her arms above her head.
"I never thought I'd see it again," Hinata murmured, looking happy, relieved, nervous, and hesitant all at the same time. "Neji-niisan, what do we do about Father?"
"Your husband's dead," Neji responded for the umpteenth time. Hinata had voiced the same question periodically over the last few days, the question growing ever more frequent and worried the closer to Konoha they got. "There's nothing he can do."
"Besides," Naruto added easily, throwing a casual arm around Hinata, making her go red, "if he isn't happy to see you, he's got a stick up his ass farther than Neji does and you'd better off without him."
"Naruto!" Sakura growled, pulling him off the other kunoichi by the scruff of his cloak, "You're not helping!"
"I'm just saying!"
Tenten and Hinata sighed at Naruto's attempts at comfort. "I'm sure Naruto's right," Tenten finally said as Sakura began pushing Naruto towards the gates of the village, "you're father will probably be pretty happy to see you, even if he doesn't show it." Hinata smiled gently, looking visibly more at ease than she had just a minute before, then resumed her walk towards the gates with a renewed sense of confidence.
'If anything goes wrong,' she thought, 'Naruto-kun and the others are here for me. I'm in good hands.'
"So, that's it, Baa-chan," Naruto finished. The team was in front of Tsunade's desk, retelling all of what had happened in Lahan to her. However, he'd left out the part where Itachi had shown up and told him a twisted version of what had happened the night the Uchiha were obliterated. That was something between him, Itachi, and the two old crows, who were somewhere in the village apparently. After he got out of here, Naruto's first order of business was to track them down and force them to explain.
"I see," Tsunade answered as her brush stopped moving over the mission report. "Alright." Her piercing gaze met Naruto's, as if she knew he was hiding something and Naruto had to work hard not to look away from her and betray himself. "Is that it?"
"Yeah."
"Fine. All of you have the next three days off to rest up. Hinata, I'll send a copy of this to your father to explain why you returned to the village. Something tells me you'll need all the help you can get."
Hinata bowed. "Thank you very much, Hokage-sama," she murmured.
Tsunade waved the bow off. "Yeah yeah. Now stand up. You're embarrassing me." Hinata looked shocked, not used to the Godaime's straight-forward manner but she shook it off and nodded.
"Well," Naruto said loudly as he stretched, "now that that's outta the way, I'm gonna get me a big steaming bowl of Ichiraku!" He turned and left, along with the others, who split as they emerged from the tower, heading their separate ways.
"Naruto-kun's hiding something isn't he?" Shizune asked, Tonton oinking in her arms.
"He is," Tsunade answered. "I'm sure it's nothing though. Maybe he did something to Hyotoko that he wants to keep hidden."
"Would you be willing to bet on that?" Shizune asked snidely. She had to dodge Tsunade's tea cup as the Fifth carelessly flung it over her shoulder at her assistant.
"Shut up you!"
"Homura-sama and Koharu-sama?" The man Naruto was questioning asked. "No idea. Why do you need to know anyway, demon?" Naruto snarled and turned away from the man's hateful eyes. It was much the same story everywhere the blond went. The villagers refused him information at every turn, instead asking what he wanted. Sometimes they even ran screaming.
More than once Naruto had had to duck an ANBU that had gotten curious at the commotion that had caused. He stopped, suddenly coming up with a plan.
A few minutes later, Naruto strode into the Hokage Tower again, people looking at him startled, bowing low as he passed. The blond had to do his best not to grin. His prankster background was sure coming in handy here.
"Ah! Godaime-sama!" The receptionist said happily as Tsunade, or rather, Naruto under a Henge, approached the desk. He was hoping that the hidden ANBU in the room didn't make him. Impersonating the Hokage was a serious offense and even Tsunade wouldn't be able to keep him out of jail. "Is there something I can do?"
"Where's Koharu and Homura?" Naruto demanded, doing his best to sound commanding like Baa-chan did.
"Huh? Oh, I believe that they are at their residences, Godaime-sama," The receptionist answered.
"Where's that again?"
"You don't know?" The woman asked.
'Shit. Be careful Uzumaki.'
"I forgot. I don't care where they live. The more they're out of my hair the better, but unfortunately, I need to talk with them about an urgent matter." The receptionist blinked and hesitated, making Naruto bite his lip under the illusion, but finally relented and gave him the addresses.
"Thank you."
He turned and tried not to run from the Tower. Who knew how long those two old farts would remain in one place?
The blond was barely two steps outside the gate when an ANBU stepped in front of him.
"Shit." Naruto muttered before resuming his Tsunade persona. "What?"
"Drop the act, Naruto-kun," the ANBU said, reaching up to pull off his mask. It was only slight, but Naruto instantly recognized the pale skin and dark eye.
"Sai."
The eye curved and Naruto could all but hear the other man's innocent-yet-infuriating smile. Naruto dropped the Henge, knowing he'd been had. "How'd you know?"
The artistic shinobi replaced his mask. "I've spent a great long while with you, Naruto-kun," the masked assassin answered. "I recognized the inflections in your voice, inflections that Godaime-sama doesn't have."
"It's been what, five years, and you still notice that?" Naruto answered, raising an eyebrow. "You expect me to believe that bullshit?"
"It worked did it not?" Sai answered innocently. "I'm sure you are aware of the consequences for impersonating the Hokage?" Naruto didn't answer. "If you do not give me a reason, Naruto-kun," the artist continued, voice dangerous, "then I will have to take you down."
Naruto grinned. "Don't think so, Sai. Sorry, but you lose this one."
The blond exploded in a cloud of smoke. He'd been a Kage Bunshin all along.
The ROOT graduate and ANBU blinked before smiling to himself. "As unpredictable as ever, Naruto-kun." The assassin vanished. Naruto could be any one of a thousand places inside the village and thousands more outside of it. Knowing the blond jounin, he probably had his reasons for impersonating the Kage and Sai would just have to have faith that those reasons were noble and not malicious. That's what friends did after all.
And Sai wasn't all that confident that he could take down Naruto if it came down to blows.
An old woman doing her afternoon shopping grinned brightly, old liver-spotted face contorting with the wide grin before she dissolved in a burst of smoke, revealing herself to be one Uzumaki Naruto before he launched himself to the rooftops, heading for the two advisers houses.
Luck smiled on him. Both were together at Homura's house, apparently enjoying a nice afternoon tea with the other.
'Uhg, necrophilia is so disgusting,' Naruto thought as he watched from the roof of another house, preparing to make his move. He didn't know that they and Sarutobi had been old teammates.
Koharu was laughing at something Homura said, apparently reminiscing about some antic or other of the Sandaime, who apparently had been quite the energetic young man as a new shinobi. They were about to launch into a new diatribe when Naruto interrupted.
"Having fun?" He asked, eyes searching the room as he stepped from a shadow.
Homura was the first to speak. "What can we help you with, Uzumaki Naruto-san? Surely this is not a social call."
"Hardly," Naruto agreed. He looked at each one, who stared right back. "What can you tell me about Uchiha Itachi and the Uchiha Massacre?" Naruto had to hand it to them. He couldn't find any trace of recognition or surprise in the old shinobi.
"What you know is what we know, Uzumaki-san," Koharu said finally. "Uchiha Itachi went berserk one night and slaughtered his clan. That is what the official investigation found."
"Not the way I hear it," Naruto shot back. "A little birdy told me that he was ordered to by the Sandaime Hokage."
"That is utterly ridiculous," Koharu snipped. "Sarutobi-san would never have sanctioned it."
"Even if the Uchiha were planning a coup?" The jounin argued, crystal eyes narrowing. Now he got a reaction. Both shinobi traded quick glances. If Naruto had been any less experienced than he was, he would've missed it. He reached into a pouch, pulling out a small scroll that hadn't left his hip since he'd received it. He tossed it onto the table. "Let's role play shall we? Let's say that once upon a time, the Uchiha, bitter over some feud with the Shodai Hokage, decided to ursurp the power in Konoha, which would've led to civil war and potentially the Fourth Shinobi War. While we're at it, let's say that Uchiha Itachi became a double agent for Konoha and, on the Sandaime's orders, slaughtered the clan, but spared Uchiha Sasuke before going missing-nin." Naruto glanced from one to the other then at the untouched scroll. "Ring any bells?'"
"Perhaps this latest mission has gotten to you, Uzumaki-san," Homura said slowly. "I think you should see Tsunade-sama or Sakura-san and get checked for fatigue."
"You'll keep playing this off until I go away, won't you." Naruto said. It wasn't a question. "But what if I told you that Uchiha Itachi told me everything and that scroll is from him telling you to tell me what happened?"
"I'd say that is utterly preposterous," Koharu said stiffly. "I think Akatsuki must be trying to confuse you to get the demon you carry." Homura, however, picked up the scroll, cracked the seal, then proceeded to read the scroll, eyes growing wider with every word. Finally, the scroll was set down, the advisor suddenly very very pale.
"Homura?" Koharu asked, breaking the stare down with Naruto.
"It's legitimate," Homura answered, sounding awe-struck. "It's even complete with the verification code Itachi was supposed to use in an emergency."
"Impossible!"
Koharu snatched up the scroll and read it quickly, eyes growing wide just as Homura's had done. "It is Itachi…but why would he want us to reveal it now of all times?"
"So it's true then?" Naruto asked, sounding just as struck as the two old farts. "He really is telling the truth?"
Koharu poured Naruto a cup of tea, then gestured to an empty spot around the small table. "Perhaps you should sit down, Uzumaki-san. This will take a while."
"So you saw it fit to return to the village?" Hyuuga Hiashi asked his daughter, who knelt across from him in their dining room of the mansion. He'd just finished reading the mission report.
"Yes Father," Hinata answered. She didn't stutter or go red or look away. Hiashi smiled to himself. His eldest daughter had grown up to be a fine woman, just like her mother. The truth was, he hadn't been happy about marrying her off, but then parenting was not his strong point. Killing the enemy was. Still, he had an image to project and it was an invisible mask that he could never let down, not even in the face of his children.
"So you would like to return to duty as an active shinobi?"
"Yes father."
Hiashi watched his daughter sternly. He thought he saw a flinch, but it was there and gone in a second, a bare memory in the time it took to blink. "I see. Since you are a widow and this Ren person seems to be content to let you go, then I have no choice."
Hinata's eyes widened, glistening with tears. "Father?"
Hiashi forced himself to break his mask. It was the least he could do for his daughter, who had gone through so much to return. "Welcome home Hinata." Before he knew what had happened, Hinata was on him, embracing him, crying her thanks over and over. It was awkward for Hiashi, but soon Hinata released him, the kunoichi probably realizing that she was embarrassing him. They stood, awkward. "You…should get going," Hiashi said finally. "You have to be reregistered as an active kunoichi and I'm sure the Konoha Eleven cannot wait to catch up with you again."
"Yes Father!" Hinata answered happily, smiling sweetly, the first time Hiashi had seen her do it in earnest. She left, tossing a quick 'I love you!' over her shoulder. The Hyuuga head didn't know how to respond to that. His lavender eyes dropped closed as he allowed himself a smile.
Then he picked up the newspaper and was once again the frigid Hyuuga head.
"Neji, Hanabi," he said suddenly, causing both ninja to jump, both behind the door behind Hiashi to listen to what would happen to Hinata, "I would appreciate it if you didn't eavesdrop. It is unbecoming of a Hyuuga." Both beat a hasty retreat.
"How did he know?" Hanabi asked as they strode down the hall.
"He's your father," Neji answered, "you tell me!"
"So he was telling the truth!?" Naruto almost shouted as the two advisers finished their tale.
"Yes," Homura said solemnly.
"I can't believe that that old man would do something like this!" The blond thundered, smashing his fist down on the table, upending all the cups, spilling the scant contents over the polished oak finish of the table.
"Itachi told you that Sarutobi didn't do it lightly and he was right," Homura answered. "To the last, right up until almost the last minute he argued with the Uchiha, trying to make them see reason. In the end, though, Uchiha Fugaku would have none of it and Itachi was unleashed."
"But to just kick Itachi aside," Naruto snarled, glaring at them both, his eyes flashing crimson for a terrifying second, "is that how we treat Konoha shinobi!? If that is the case then I should've let Sasuke wipe this place off the map!"
"Mind your tongue Uzumaki!" Koharu snipped back. "If we had let Itachi remain in the village or if we had divulged the contents of the investigation, it would've caused just as much panic in the village as a full-blown coup would have. Understand, we had no choice and Itachi wanted it. He was well aware of the consequences when he agreed to be a double agent."
"The only concession that we could give him," Homura added, "was that the ANBU would not actively pursue him. They would engage if they found him but other than that, Konoha would leave him alone."
Naruto stood and strode to the window. He stopped and glared back at them, both advisers quailing when they saw that the pupil of his cerulean eye was slitted like a cat's. "You both disgust me," he snarled, then was gone, like a bad gust of wind.
"We should've told him to keep this a secret from everyone," Homura told Koharu.
"He's matured over the years," the other answered, "he knows full well."
"For the sake of this village, you'd better be right."
For Naruto, the next month and a half passed without any sign of one Uchiha Itachi and the blond was just beginning to wonder if the stoic Uchiha had forgotten his promise to return or if Sasuke had killed him or something. Just when Naruto was beginning to forget about the rogue Uchiha, a note appeared on his desk one day in his room at Tsunade's place when he'd just gotten back from a solo B-rank mission to protect some diplomat. There hadn't been any trouble on the route and Naruto had been quite honestly disappointed with the turn of events. That had all changed when he'd found the note. It was simple and straightforward.
Murder site, tonight, midnight. My place. Come alone.
-UI
'The Uchiha district,' Naruto whispered mentally, trying to ignore that Itachi had slipped past multiple layers of security to get the note to him. 'At Sasuke's house…this ought to be fun.'
At the appointed time, Naruto pulled on his cloak, pulled up the hood, then slipped out of his window sticking to the side of the house as he descended from the second story to the ground below. He slipped past the guards easily with a genjutsu from the Kyuubi, whose illusions were often praised as indistinguishable from reality, then headed across town to the Uchiha sector, dodging patrols and random wanders, staggering home from the red light district.
Naruto arrived at the gate to the Uchiha sector, the ragged banners that bore the clan crest withered and moth-eaten, the fan on the fabric almost faded from existence. The blond shivered as he stepped through into the narrow streets. He could hear the ghosts of the slaughtered clan screaming at him from every corner and he thought he could smell the metallic tang of congealed blood on the chill wind.
Shadows pervaded everywhere, making every alley an ambush point, every house a mini-fortress. It would be tough to fight in an urban environment, and especially in one that Itachi probably knew like the back of his hand and Naruto knew absolutely nothing about. Still it was either this, or risk involving the entire village, which Naruto knew that Itachi wanted even less than the blond. When the moon cast its faint light on the wall next to Naruto he had to stuff his knuckles in his mouth to stop himself from crying out.
There was a tremendous dried brown stain on the wall next to him, blood that had refused to wash away, even in all the rain that had undoubtedly come in the roughly decade and a half since the Massacre. The stain was messy and swept down in an arc to the left, probably from a body that had been thrown against the wall and allowed to sag sideways, leaving the smear. Naruto soon found that the brown stains were as much the rule in the abandoned district as the rule and he hastened his pace to try and get out of there as soon as he could. Hopefully Itachi would only want to talk, not fight.
Finally, after only minutes, but it seemed like an eternity, Naruto arrived at Itachi and Sasuke's house. The old structure was in serious disrepair from years of neglect. Cobwebs distorted Naruto's vision of the interior and dust lay as a blanket over everything, muffling the jounin's footsteps, puffs rising every time his foot met floor.
One section had signs of recent disturbance, the dust agitated and distorted, a small panel pulled away but sloppily replaced.
"Damn."
Despite his misgivings, Naruto lifted the panel and slipped into the depths below, following a small ladder to a set of stone stairs that led down far below the ground. Naruto lost track of how many there were. He stopped counting after two hundred or so. Lit torches were spaced at odd intervals and the blond would be damned if he thought that they'd been burning like this for all this time.
At the end was a huge stone door, which was ajar just a hair, allowing gold light from beyond the portal to spill through and cast a sliver of light over the blonde's body. When he pressed his eye to the crack, Naruto felt a thrill run through him as he spotted Itachi at the other end of the room, beneath a huge Uchiha fan that had some saying, history, or instruction written on it. It reminded Naruto of the saying that was in the tower at the center of the Forest of Death. But that wasn't what was making Naruto want to panic.
It was more the fact that Itachi was staring right at him.
"Come in, Naruto-kun," Itachi called, his soft voice carrying easily over the distance between them. Naruto scowled, but threw open the doors and stepped into the hall, which was lit by bronze bowls that had fire blazing in them. The room was still chill though, despite the heat from six bowls.
The remains of a meal sat at Itachi's feet. Onigiri if the rice and moist strip was anything to go by.
"Welcome to the Uchiha's most sacred place," Itachi said solemnly. "This is a place that only a few know about and no outsider has ever set foot in. Except for you that is." He gestured to the wall behind him. "Written there is the instructions for obtaining the Mangenkyou Sharingan and along the walls is the whole torrid history of the Uchiha clan, from founding to only a few years before the downfall."
"Downfall?" Naruto repeated as he took in the surroundings. "Is that what you call it?"
"What would you call it, Naruto-kun?" Itachi answered, head tilting like some curious puppy. Or a ghoul. The jounin had to suppress a shiver.
"I still call it murder."
Itachi nodded. "Yes. It is murder, but you too have murdered. What do you call indiscriminately butchering any Oto-nins you find?"
"Protection of Konoha," Naruto snapped, knowing that what he'd done was no better than Itachi. But still, at least the Oto-nins weren't Naruto's own family. "But so is what shinobi do everyday. It's all murder and to a lot of people we're only evil barbarians, but we justify it by saying it's a job or that it was for the good of the village."
Itachi nodded. "A succinct and correct summary. However, I didn't come to discuss philosophy with you, Naruto-kun. What I came to discuss was my little brother."
"You found him?" Naruto asked, suddenly all ears. If he could end Sasuke's threat now, then Naruto would be gone that instant, approval or no approval from either Itachi or Tsunade.
"No," Itachi answered, shooting down Naruto's hope all at once. "What I have done, however, was find every site he's been to since he left Konoha, beginning with the Valley of the End, where you two had that rather titanic battle."
Naruto winced. That was still a sore memory for him. It was the site of his biggest failure ever. It was where he'd failed to stop his surrogate brother from betraying everything he held dear. "Moving on," he said quickly. Itachi nodded, picking up on Naruto's discomfort.
"I've also spoken with people who've seen Sasuke, who've lived with him, worked with him, fought with him, and seen how he led the Sound." Tears suddenly began to pour from Itachi's eyes. Naruto was taken aback. Crying was the last thing he'd ever expected the infamous Uchiha Itachi to do. "I still cannot believe it. I don't want to believe it, but I have to force myself to see what is right in front of my eyes." He took a deep breath and the tears stopped just as fast as they had started. "After everything I've seen, I have to agree with you, Naruto-kun. Sasuke…at least my little brother Sasuke, is gone."
The silence was deafening.
"However," Itachi said after a spell, breaking the silence, "unlike you, I refuse to believe that he is totally gone. I know Sasuke is somewhere in that thing he's become."
"What're you saying?" Naruto asked, suddenly wary, hand drifting to his shuriken holster.
Itachi was suddenly behind him, getting there with no sign of movement. A rough hand seized the hand that was going for the weapon and bent it roughly to a very painful position. "I'm saying that I'm not so willing to give up on my brother," the other Uchiha said dangerously. "And I'm willing to kill you to protect him."
"How?" Naruto grunted through gritted teeth as he tried to find a way to get out of the hold. It was no use. Itachi was too good at what he did to leave an opening.
"Genjutsu," Itachi answered, "cast on you the moment you walked through the entrance to the district. You thought you were following me, but in reality it was the other way around. You were foolish, Naruto-kun. You have progressed a great deal, but you still have a long way to go."
Naruto grinned suddenly. "You'd think that wouldn't you?" he asked. Crimson youki suddenly burst from his arm, searing Itachi's hand, forcing to the prodigy to let go or risk having his hand burned to ash. Naruto massaged his wrist as he faced Itachi again.
"So you're going to kill me to stop me from killing Sasuke?" Naruto cracked his crimson-shrouded limb. "Sorry. I'm not ready to die yet!" He threw the arm forward, a claw of red youki shooting forth, slamming Itachi into the wall headfirst. The genius went limp, then suddenly burst into a flapping, cawing, cloud of ravens that had Sharingan eyes that mobbed Naruto, forcing him to throw up one arm and shield his eyes.
The flock subsided.
Naruto blinked, spinning. Itachi was still standing near the remains of the meal, as if he'd never moved an inch. "Damn, I hate genjutsu!" He especially hated Itachi's. The other man was so good that he could cast it just by looking at you or pointing. He could also pack multiple layers into one jutsu, so by the time you got out, Itachi could either kill you or leave and you'd never find him.
"Let's pretend that didn't happen," Naruto growled, resisting the urge to just let Kyuubi run roughshod over Itachi. In this enclosed space, even an Uchiha would be torn to pieces by the fox. The genius nodded. "So, what do you really want?"
"Your help."
Naruto almost fell on his face. "Say what!?"
"You are famous for being most relentless, Naruto-kun," Itachi explained. "Akatsuki, the soldiers of the Sound, Zabuza, Orochimaru, they all have seen you remarkable tenacity. No matter how bleak the situation, you continue to go forward, always striving for victory, no matter the cost to yourself." The three dark marks on Itachi's Sharingan seemed to look right through Naruto. "You will never stop until you find and kill Sasuke." It was said matter-of-factly, as if Itachi didn't give a damn what happened to his brother.
"What's your point?" Naruto asked suspiciously.
"I'm convinced that you will find Sasuke before I do. Or rather, Sasuke will find you. He still considers you his best friend, which means he will more than likely make an attempt on your life in order to gain the Mangenkyou then proceed to hunt me down." Itachi strode over to one of the stone etchings along the walls of the sanctum. "To make it simple, Naruto-kun, I want to use you."
Itachi ran one hand over the engraved kanji. "I'm going to use you as a lure to bring out my brother. Then, when he does make an attempt on your life, I will incapacitate both of you then bring Sasuke back."
Naruto had to restrain himself from lunging at the other shinobi. The guy had a pair of big ones, that was for sure. He was blatantly telling the blonde that he was going to manipulate him, then disable him, all months, or maybe even years before it actually happened.
"Why?" Naruto asked. Itachi turned around, one slim eyebrow slightly raised. "Why are you going to such lengths for Sasuke? Even when you know he's not the man either of us remember and loved?"
"Because he's my brother," Itachi answered. "No matter how much you claim that Sasuke is the closest thing to a brother you've ever had, no matter how much you bellow that you are a better brother than I ever was, the fact remains that you are not his blood brother. Therefore, it stands to reason that you will never be able to go the same lengths as a family member would."
Naruto spluttered, but could find no response to the fact that Itachi had a point. No matter how close friends got, they were still just that. Friends. It took the love and dedication of a family member to go the extreme lengths that Itachi was willing to go to.
"What did I miss out on?" Naruto wondered aware for the first time of some empty part of him, reserved for the section of his heart that had never known a parent's love. It was only when Itachi's red eyes focused on him that the blond realized he'd spoken aloud.
"A fair deal," Itachi said. There was a note of surprising wistfulness in his voice. "Having a family is the best feeling in the world. Nothing compares to having your mother cook you a meal after a hard and long mission or have your father ruffle your hair in approval at some note of progress."
For a moment, the hostility between the two dissolved and they were simply two shinobi without parents. Finally, Naruto stated the thing that had plagued him the most over the years. "I wish I knew who my parents were."
"You don't know?" Itachi asked, surprised. Naruto shook his head. "Well then. I suppose it's not my place to tell you who they were."
"You knew them!?" Naruto demanded. Itachi nodded.
"Of course. Not many people would associate you with them, but they were two of the most admired shinobi in the village." Itachi turned. "Now that's enough. I've already told you my plan and I'm going to follow through with it, with or without your consent."
"Sounds like I have no choice in the matter," The blond grumbled.
"Indeed. However, since you are an integral part of my plan, I cannot have you dying prematurely. Therefore, I shall keep an eye on you and, should you find yourself in over your head, as you undoubtedly will, then I'll come and lend a hand."
Naruto's jaw dropped as he stared at Itachi like he was nuts. "What about Akatsuki? Speaking of that, where's shark breath?"
Itachi smirked. "Waiting for me outside the village. I told him to stay put since Konoha has changed their defenses since my last visit and the only breach I could find was big enough for one person only. As for Akatsuki, they are busy with other endeavors. Kisame and I are the only two assigned exclusively to your capture. I will do my job to keep them off your trail, but you must do your part as well, Naruto-kun."
With that, he touched a small panel in the wall behind him, a hidden panel sliding open with only a slight whisper of stone grinding on stone. Itachi didn't spare Naruto another glance as he stepped through, the passage so narrow that his red and black cloak whispered off the walls, then vanished into the pervading darkness.
The panel slid shut and Itachi was gone.
"Well hell!" Naruto shouted, his voice echoing off the stone chambers. "What do I do now!?"
Neither the stone chamber nor the demon that Naruto carried had any answer.
"I said no!" Tsunade thundered, shooting to her feet. It was noon, about two days after Naruto's little conversation with Uchiha Itachi. Now the Godaime was in her office along with Jiraiya and the two, true to form, were in a shouting match worthy of two Sannin. Ordinarily, this was no cause for concern, but today's topic was rather serious.
"Why not!?" Jiraiya bellowed, leaning across the Hokage's desk to get right up in her face. "It's his birthright after all!"
"I said no!" Tsunade repeated. "Can you imagine what it would do to him!? How would Naruto feel if he found out that the father he never knew was the Yondaime Hokage? How would he feel if he knew that his father, his own father, sealed the Kyuubi no Yoko within him before he was even old enough to know Namikaze's face!?"
Jiraiya turned redder, as if drunk. "It was what he wanted! Minato never wanted Naruto to grow up ignorant! Maybe, you old bat, you should stop thinking about what you want and start thinking about Naruto!"
"I am thinking about Naruto you old shit! Goddammit Jiraiya! He's happy not knowing! He's got friends now! He's got you and me! He doesn't need to know! Don't you think that Minato wouldn't want his child to be ashamed of what he has to live with!?" They were both using the nickname that Jiraiya had picked out one night while he was half sloshed on some stronger-than-normal sake. Namikaze Arashi, more commonly known as Namikaze Minato, had tried to ward off the nickname, but he'd been too late and it had stuck. Before long, it was as if his true name was Minato.
"He's an adult now! Can't you see that Tsunade!? Naruto's not some snot-nosed kid anymore! He turns twenty-one tomorrow for Kami's sake! He's lived on his own for five years! He's led a mission as a jounin. He's done solo missions. Actually, fuck all of that! He killed goddamn Orochimaru! Orochi-fucking-maru! One of the Sannin and someone even you and I struggled with!"
"I'm saying no, Jiraiya, and that's final!" Tsunade sat down with a huff, the plush leather hissing as air escaped from the over-stuffed interior. The Toad Hermit was not about to let the subject drop.
"He's my godkid!"
"Oh yes," Tsunade sneered up at him. "A fine job you did. Where the hell were you when he needed you most, huh? Out visiting whores and getting sloshed no doubt."
Jiraiya's gaze turned frigid and he drew himself up to his full, impressive, height, his face a mask of frosty fury, anger rolling off him in waves. If one witnessed the display, they would see why a seemingly useless perverted old man was one of the Sannin. "Like you can talk," he snarled. He was busy repressing his killing intent and an overwhelming desire to smash his fist into his old comrade's face. "You were just as bad as I was. And if I remember correctly, I was more than willing to come back to the village when you were content to drink and squander the Shodai's inheritance."
Tsunade's face suddenly matched Jiraiya's in frigidness. She shot up again and seized Jiraiya's olive-drab gi top. "Care to repeat that?" She growled. The other Sannin repeated his earlier comment. Tsunade's fist buried itself in his teeth before Jiraiya was even able to complete the sentence.
He flew backwards, bounced once off the floor, then smashed through the door to the inner sanctum. He pivoted in mid-air then skidded down the hall as the ANBU guards dove for cover as the door suddenly exploded next to them.
"J-Jiraiya-sama?" One spluttered as the Sannin glared back into the Hokage's office. "What's going on?" His words seemed to bring the sage out of his fury and his fingers unwound themselves from each other. They'd been halfway through the seal sequence for Kuchiyose no Jutsu and Jiraiya had never realized it.
The old man huffed, standing up from the crouch he'd been in, dusting his haori off. He ignored the ANBU. "Fine, Tsunade," he said, "but you can explain to Kushina why you never told him!" At that, the Godaime seemed to deflate and Jiraiya caught her mouth the name of Uzumaki Kushina, Naruto's mother. Kushina and Tsunade had been fairly good friends before the fiery Uzumaki had to leave, leaving her husband to die and her son to be branded as a demon. Jiraiya hadn't kept tabs on the last member of Naruto's family so he didn't know if she was even still alive.
Jiraiya drove home his point. "Even if you don't want Naruto to know about his parents, don't you think she would?"
Tsunade scowled and looked away. For a tense minute, Jiraiya didn't think she'd relent, but she finally slumped, the steam leaking out of her. "Fine. But since you seem to think you're his godfather, you can tell him."
"My pleasure," Jiraiya answered snidely. "Write up a training journey. I'm taking him to where Uzu used to be." He spun and marched away before Tsunade could even protest.
The following two days saw a huge upsurge in mood among the citizens of Konoha. One of the happiest, and saddest, days of their village's history was approaching. For the next three days, they would have a continuous festival, to celebrate the sealing of Kyuubi and one day to mourn the loss of the Yondaime Hokage. Coinciding with the upsurge in general morale, there was a distinct downturn in Naruto's mood, despite the fact that his birthday was approaching.
Naruto hated his birthday. Every year, for as long as he could remember, it had been nothing but a week of sorrow and suffering for him. Angry mobs that would pelt him with rocks and shards of glass and broken beer bottles. Vandals would break into his apartment and trash the meager lodgings, sometimes stealing worthless things like his entire stack of ramen just to spite him. But the worst day was the day of mourning for the Yondaime.
On that day, the villagers would turn out in force to hunt him down. At first, Naruto would always get caught and beaten to within an inch of consciousness, but as he grew older, he was able to evade the mobs, which only made the beating all the more fierce the year afterward. Once Naruto started pulling pranks on the bastards who chased him, sometimes putting them in the hospital, they started to give up, hunting him in less numbers or only beating him half-heartedly, always afraid that he let himself be caught to lower their guard then get slammed some super prank.
This year, Naruto expected a record turnout to what he'd started calling "Naruto Hunting". The reason was simple. Though it had been awhile since he'd used the full nine tails on Rokubi during the Chuunin Exams, the villagers had long memories and despite getting out of the village for almost a month, it really had only slightly dampened the villager's renewed hatred.
'Let me deal with them,' Kyuubi muttered. 'I'll show them a real demon.' Naruto smiled a little but otherwise didn't say anything. When night fell, the sky was lit up with a huge display of fireworks, set off at exactly at the hour that Kyuubi had been vanquished. Naruto had come to associate the fireworks as his coming of age when he was younger and he had also come to associate it with the opening of Naruto Hunting.
So the blond jounin went to one of the few sanctuaries he knew in the village.
The head of the Yondaime Hokage.
It gave him an unprecedented view of the village square and the angry mob that thronged within it. Naruto could even hear the unruly mob shouting drunken oaths of vengeance on the Kyuubi from the top of the towering monument. Knowing he had a long wait ahead of him, Naruto turned his thoughts to the parents he never knew and Uchiha Itachi's cryptic allusions to them. About how they were some of the most revered shinobi in the village.
"Who were you?" Naruto asked to the slightly chilly air. "Would you be proud of me? Or angry? Would you try to kill me? Or would you support and comfort me?"
"Y'know, talking to yourself is a sign of insanity," said a familiar voice from behind him. Naruto glanced over his shoulder and saw Jiraiya standing behind him with a bottle of sake and a ready grin. "It's your birthday you know!"
Naruto shrugged. "I've never had a reason to celebrate. For twelve years I spent my birthdays running from mobs that tried to kill me." Jiraiya sat down beside Naruto, looking the blond jounin over. Naruto didn't have his headband or his vest on, so his long blond hair hung free just above his eyes. It was remarkable just how much he resembled his father right then. Same drumming of the fingers, same serious blue eyes, same serious voice. It almost made Jiraiya shiver.
Jiraiya held out his sake bottle. "Here. Happy Early Birthday." Naruto smiled as he took the bottle and took a gulp. He flinched at the taste, but swallowed it down, trying to ignore the protests of his innards.
"What're you here for, Ero-sennin?"
Jiraiya feigned a pained heart. "You don't see your favorite sensei for a few years then ask why I want? Oh the shame of it all! I thought I taught you respect!" Naruto laughed and the resemblance to the Yondaime was shattered as Naruto's characteristic fox grin came over him.
"You taught me respect for the knothole in a woman's bath but not much else!" Jiraiya smacked him over the head. "Ow! Hey! You old fart!"
"You be quiet!" Jiraiya yelled back. "How could you have such an awesome sensei like me and say that you didn't learn anything!" The two glared at each other, faces inches apart, before both grinned and sat back, content, for the moment to watch the fireworks burst over the village. Watching the ornate explosions of light and color made Naruto wonder about his parents. Suddenly, something occurred to him that hadn't before.
"Hey, Ero-sennin."
"Huh?" The sage asked around a mouthful of sake. He gulped it down, wincing as it proved too much for his throat to handle at once, then regarded his apprentice. "What's up?"
Naruto watched him out of the corner of his eye. "Did you know my parents?"
Jiraiya's face darkened. He'd come to tell Naruto just that, but had no idea that the blond had been contemplating the people Jiraiya had come to tell him about. If Jiraiya had had any doubt about telling Naruto, the blonde's question cleared it right up. If he was ready to ask, he was ready to know. "Your parents?" The old man smiled wistfully. "Yeah. I knew them." Naruto was suddenly all ears.
"What were they like?"
Jiraiya grinned. He wanted to tell Naruto right then, but he knew that there was one person that could do it even better than he could. "They were the most loving parents you could ever ask for. Your mother was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen and your father was one of the best shinobi in the village."
"Are they still alive?" Naruto asked, his voice betraying his fear of the answer.
Jiraiya hesitated a second. "Your father died just after you were born, the night the Kyuubi attacked…but…your mother…Naruto, your mother is still alive."
Naruto was stunned.
Well that's that. As far as I know, the manga has never explicity said that Uzumaki Kushina is dead, so I figured for this story she could be alive. Besides, it's AU, so what does it matter about the manga? Speaking of which oh DAMN is it gettin good. If you haven't read Naruto in awhile, I advise you to do it. Why you ask? Simple. Akatsuki and fox problems. Well, whatever, enough of my rambling. This chapter lacked action, but it's mostly to set up for what I call the Parents Arc.
See you next time,
WingedFreedom622