AN: Ok so here it is something that I have been working up to for a few chapters now (9) has finally arrived. Naruto is told of his family and his familial connection to the old man who had helped train him over the past few weeks. A few days ago I had somebody PM saying he disliked my story and wasn't going to read it anymore because in his eyes nothing was happening. While I disagree it is, of course, his right to walk away but I hope we can all agree that this is moving the story forward in a big way. It is kind of odd that nine chapters have passed and only now is this part of the story ready to be told but I feel now is the time so I hope you all enjoy and as always if you have any feedback please post it below.
It was a strange sort of feeling standing outside his grandson's house. It wasn't as if it was the first time he would enter the boy's home but this time his reason for coming was far different from the previous. Today he was going to finally tell his grandson of his familial connection. He was finally going to tell him that he had a family. A real and true biological family and not some made up one based on a paper and some ink on a page. By his side stood Kakashi and Inoichi. Both of whom were here as moral support as well as a way to hopefully answer anything Naruto may wish to be answered.
Here was a man who if he so wished could easily be named Hokage without much controversy being placed upon his naming to such a role. Here was a man whose name still held power over most of the elemental nations and kingdoms and yet here he was mere inches from his own grandson's door and he was trembling like a leaf on a windy day. It was a sight most unbecoming of a man such as he and yet tremble he did.
"I could do this for you if you so wished Miniko-sama". Inoichi said upon seeing the man's uncertainty. A look of true genuine concern could be seen clearly on the man's face. In the year or so that he had known the boy, he had come to view him as a son. His wife had done much the same and yet neither of them could deny this man's request. He was his real family and more likely than not his only living family at that.
"No, it must be me. It can only be me who does this task Inoichi-san but I thank you for the kind offer". Miniko said as he knocked softly on the wooden door. The sounds of movement inside the small house had ensured that he couldn't just turn around and act as if this wasn't about to happen. He had just knocked down the proverbial domino and what may come from this meeting would likely reshape their entire relationship forever. From his knock to the door's opening, it took no more than fifteen seconds, and yet to the man it may as well have lasted for fifteen whole minutes.
"Oh hi, Miniko-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, and Inoichi-san why are you here"? Naruto asked as he moved aside as to allow the three men to enter. It wasn't long afterward that the four were seated around the table an uncomfortable silence soon enveloping the room. It was so pronounced that even Naruto could tell something was up.
"We have come to tell you something Naruto-kun. It's a matter of great importance". Inoichi said as he eyed Miniko for a second before turning back to face the boy. Eyeing the three men now sitting inside his home he couldn't help but feel that whatever this was about wasn't going to be good.
"Naruto I need you to do something for me. It's nothing too hard just read this first". Miniko said as he pulled out a few bits of white parchment and handed it over to Naruto. Reading it he couldn't help but feel a bit lost. As his eyes shifted over the lines of text he couldn't help but feel a quickening of his heart. So unsure was he that he ended up rereading the whole set of letters two more times and even then he was sure this was some kind of sick unfunny joke being pulled on himself.
"W...what is this"? Naruto asked after finally placing the letters down upon the table.
"I know this is a bit sudden but hear me out". Miniko started before Naruto stood up and walked out of the room in a huff. This was far from ideal that much he knew and yet he also couldn't deny the boys understandable reaction to the news.
"I'll talk to the boy". Inoichi said as he readied himself to find the boy and set the record straight.
"No, we will wait. I did what I came here to do and I'll deal with the fallout in due course. I thank you both for coming with me this day". Miniko said as he stood up and exited the house.
A few days later and the two had yet to talk about the revelation of their familial connection. He could, of course, understand the boy's reluctance to speak to him but at the same time, he was tasked with training the boy to reenter that odd mindscape of his and find out what the hallway of doors meant. A tasked made all the harder as the boy had made it a point to take only the words of Kakashi in the following days. Today he was going to talk to his grandson no matter if he wanted to talk to him or not. Finding the boy was easy enough. He was after all the only living thing that emitted that much power even when it was being actively suppressed.
"Naruto we need to talk". Miniko said as he walked up to the boy who only rolled his eyes upon seeing the older blonde.
"Go away I'm in no mood to talk to liers". Naruto said as he readied himself to leave.
"I never once lied to you. Up to a few weeks ago, I thought you were killed in the fox attack. Had I known about you I would've returned". Miniko replied as he watched as the boy placed his things in a fairly basic looking seal. It was clearly an inferior version of the type of seals one could buy in the local store but at least it showed him that he had kept training in the art-form even after the news.
"So what you're here to try and make up for 13 years of lost time...is that it"? Naruto shot back at the man.
"In part..yes I am but I was also to train you in the art of seal-making. A task you seem to be keeping up with". Miniko answered as the boy began to walk away forcing the older of the two to stop him. It was clear the boy was upset and he could understand that feeling but he was also a Genin and that meant he had to be ready to put any feelings he had on the matter to the side in order to see the bigger picture.
"You said in your report that you saw a room with a photo with a man of yellow hair and a woman of red. One of them sounds like my son and if he is somehow alive as his father I must do all I can to save him". Miniko said trying to make the boy understand.
"Why should I care about that"? The fourth Hokage was a great man but even so, why should I care about him. He's your son. He is nothing to me". Naruto replied as he tried and failed to free himself from the man's iron-like grip.
"I see you missed a fairly sizeable part of that letter my boy. If he is alive that means your father...my son is inside that hallway of doors. I know that Inoichi and his friends have trained you in their free time so I know you can enter that place fairly easily. Now you must learn to seal or in this case unseal things. It is why I am here. I'm to train you so you can unseal them from that scroll you said existed inside that room.
"Wait...what"? Naruto yelled as he took a few steps backward.
"You didn't read the back of the letters...did you"? Miniko asked already knowing the answer.
"T...the back...no". Naruto said as he looked down feeling kind of stupid for not even looking.
"It matters not now. I have already told Kakashi-san that I will oversee your training for the coming days. Oh and one last thing that seal you have your tools in...it sucks". Miniko said as he turned around and walked away leaving a fairly redfaced boy to run after him yelling all sorts of profanities at the man's back.