Naruto waited until Dr. Furiko had left the room before rolling to his left and wrenching the IV from his arm, it had, during his previous visits to the hospital, contained all manner of carcinogenic substances. Naruto glanced down at his arm for just long enough to see the puncture wound in his arm beginning to close he gave a small smile as he leant back in the bed and closed his eyes and followed the rhythmic dripping finding himself in his mindscape once again. He wandered through the plains his eyes darting around as he searched for Kyuubi "Hey! Kyuubi-chan!" Naruto called as he caught sight of her reclining against a tree and ran over to her.

"Hey Naruto-kun, over here!" Kyuubi waved at Naruto as he trotted to her.

Naruto smiled as he sat down next to her giving her a small kiss on the cheek "Missed you." he said softly

Kyuubi blushed fairly and shifted over settling herself in Naruto's lap, enjoying the bright crimson his cheeks went, "Missed you too." she agreed as she leant against his chest with a satisfied sigh

Naruto wrapped his arms around Kyuubi "So why won't blood tests work?" he questioned

Kyuubi looked down "It's because of my youki." she explained "Your body is in a constant state of balance with your enhanced regeneration fixing your cells as fast as my youki kills them."

"But I thought my regeneration was your youki?" Naruto frowned confused

Kyuubi shook her head "No, it's not. Exposure to youki has caused some kind of mutation that accelerated the rate at which your cells divide. Your metabolism increased in order to compensate for all the extra energy this splitting takes." she gave a almost inaudible sigh "If my youki wasn't killing off the cells almost as fast as they divide then they would probably develop into cancer-like cysts. The more youki in your body the faster this division will become and the faster your regeneration will function."

Naruto frowned "But isn't your youki killing them as fast as they get made? How can it heal me?"

"Well the simple answer is your body flares youki in the injured area almost unconsciously, that temporarily accelerates the cell division, as cells will take their energy from youki, and seals the wound shut. I'm not entirely sure of how much damage you can take before you will be unable to fix it or what limits there and I don't really want to have to find out." it wasn't the whole truth nor particularly accurate but it was the general gist of it and simple enough for Naruto to understand. If problems arose because of this explanation she would correct him but otherwise he could keep believing the simplified version.

Naruto gave a faint sombre nod "Oh ok, so why does that mean I can't have a blood test?"

"Well anything taken from your body will quickly die from youki poisoning, it might be possible if the doctor was quick enough but we're talking a matter of seconds so it's unlikely." Kyuubi explained.

"Oh, ok." Naruto smiled softly "I get it now, that's awesome." he grinned "So why didn't you tell me before?"

Kyuubi looked to a side, avoiding Naruto's gaze, "Well... I didn't want to tell you it was my fault that you lost your only solid link to your parents." she mumbled

Naruto paused for a second "Oh, a blood test could've told me who my parents where couldn't it?" he muttered then frowned "Then why didn't the old man ever try it!"

Kyuubi frowned too "He didn't?" she asked

Naruto shook his head "No, all he said was that there was no record of who my parents where." he muttered "Why would the old man not try that?"

Kyuubi gave a low growl "There's no reason, unless he was trying to keep something from you." she muttered

"You think he knows who my parents are?" Naruto asked

Kyuubi gave a faint nod "Yeah, there's something I'd like to check." she stood up and held out her hand for Naruto, who happily accepted threading his hand into hers as they walked towards her house.

"What do we need to check?" Naruto asked curious

"Your memory of your mum, I've got an idea of who was holding you." Kyuubi replied, silently pleading to every deity she knew that she was wrong, Naruto didn't deserve to be betrayed by one of the few people he really trusted.

Naruto's eyes widened before narrowing "The old man was carrying me?!"

"I think so, I don't know for sure." Kyuubi said sadly as she stepped inside and headed to the memory door.

Naruto took a calming breath and nodded facing the door "I guess there's one way to find out." he mumbled quietly. Closing his eyes and focusing on the memory as he stepped into the corridor and finding only the one door. A small smile passed across his face despite his sombre mood, he was proud of the improvements he had made in his memory walking techniques. He stood outside the door shaking "Please, please." he chocked out to any higher being that happened to be listening "Let it not be the old man." he took a steeling breath and stepped through the door the world around him shifted and warped, colour fading to black.


Slowly Naruto's vision returned and he found himself once again in his memory and gave a small mental shudder, it still felt weird inhabiting his younger body like this. "The demon has been sealed." the man holding him confirmed stepping closer and handing Naruto to the woman "Your son is a hero Kushina." Naruto strained his mind focusing on the voice of the man who had just handed him to his mother, comparing it to the voice of the old man.

It was different, less strained and world weary, and much stringer than the voice he was used to but it was undeniably Sarutobi's voice. He ejected himself from the memory immediately and forcefully suddenly snapping back to his mindscape, the sudden shift sending a powerful wave a nausea through him that went unheeded as he through himself into Kyuubi's arms tears streaming down his cheeks as he fought to hold them back.

Kyuubi rubbed his back comfortingly "What is it?" she asked softly although she knew what his answer would be.

"It was him, the old man lied to me." Naruto muttered taking a deep shuddering breath and blinking the last of the tears from his eyes "He's just like everyone else."

Kyuubi hugged Naruto closer "Not everyone, I don't lie to you and neither does Hinata." she pointed out, at least about anything important, she finished silently.

Naruto gave a small nod and a smile "Yeah.. you're right." he lifted his head and planted a soft, chaste, kiss on her lips "Thanks."

Kyuubi smiled resting her forehead against his "No problem." she replied planting her lips on his in a considerably less chaste kiss.