Turning the Tide

by NotMemorable

They say it's always darkest before dawn. But what would happen if that event wasn't to follow its recurrent script in a putrid and resentment filled shinobi world? Under the stomping and ill desires of powerful foes that little could many do to stop. Aware of many truths, the evils that lurk, see Naruto fight for that dawn to arrive, aid by new figures, never daring to give up.

9. The Voice of the Fallen

Naruto looked at Fū and wondered if at a certain time his friends could have told him to look at her, pointing her as a mirror where he was to visualize, exactly, his previous showcased behavior, the reflection of his eight to twelve years old self.

That alone not being the only thing that clouded his mind, haven't been capable recently of reorienting his focus away from the bigger picture. The plan of all Jinchurikis working together was one far away from being in the making. In the making of the principles of how it was or could take place, rather. For there was one fatal flaw like Yugito had pointed out, warning him if he knew of him rather than it. Naruto, unfortunately, had, having seen his work first hand.

"You just don't stop talking, do you?" Questioned Tadashi, already tired with Fū's banter. It hadn't been that long since their departure. A single day had passed. Naruto not having yet undone his jutsu, where they to encounter another squad from the exam in the frontier.

"You don't stop being mean, do you?" Questioned in response Naruto, provoking Tadashi as he and Fū went ahead from the rest of the group to talk alone.

"No, actually Sora is usually the grumpy and mean one of us both". Said Tadashi. Sora was about to protest, looking at their sensei. When he noticed him nodding in agreement, he decided it was best to leave it alone.

"Please tell me we ain't going to have another intervention, now with Chomei and that other girl". Said a voice in Naruto's head. Seeing the boy not answering and before the chance of that repeating, Kurama warned. "Just so you know, brat, Chomei is mute. Or at least I think he is, I don't recall him saying much".

'Do you like any of your fellow Biju?' Questioned Naruto, how come Kurama got so peevish when they were about to meet one of his… Naruto didn't dare say sisters or brothers, he leaves it as framed in the question. One of his kin he could say.

"I like Matatabi and Kokuo, Saiken maybe… Son Goku and Gyuki I could survive if forced to, but yeah, I don't generically enjoy their company very much". Said Kurama with an annoyed face.

'Fantastic'. Though Naruto, who could have ever told from that last encounter with Matatabi that Kurama actually likes her. All being thought off in the outer dimension that was his mind, before being warned about his trance by a knowledgeable Fū, knowing where he was at. Looking at Naruto with a smile.

"We will accompany through the Land of the rivers, the moment we are in the Land of Fire, our paths separate. That was the deal". Mentioned the Jonin of Shimogakure to the nod of everyone.

Naruto for sure hoped that Jiraiya was at the meeting point.

He thought back on one thing. When talking with Fū earlier, she encouraged whatever initiative the blond had to establish at least a communication network with the other jinchurikis, if not for an alliance. Sharing information among other things. When encouraging, Fū said how thrilled she was about it all, about meeting all their fellow jinchuriki.

Naruto, when hearing that, was bemused, reluctantly disagreeing, in the back of his mind claiming, 'if you only knew Fū, if you only knew'.

But to his surprise, she knew of the someone that he was reluctant to meet.

"Fū, you said you met Roshi, right?" Fū nodded in response. Naruto couldn't understand. "How could you be excited to meet a man like that? Do you even know what he has done?"

Fū did not respond for she did not know of that. Naruto stare was one of incredulity. It certainly was great to meet someone without expectations or knowledge of who they actually were, their actions, even more so if it was a sole occasion, minute duration kind of affair. Rather than knowing and being shit scared for the few seconds you spent with the mentioned person and the hours after, thanking that you got off easy of that. Unharmed.

Roshi wrote half the pages to a two writer tale of horror known in the whole shinobi world. A tale with many names, the sculptors of death, Hyōton and Yōton, Izanami's atrocious or barbaric spawn… Things of that nature. Their acts being that of monsters.

Demon was one word that Naruto did not use given how he was signified by it for a long time, how he wanted for it to never be linked to his condition, or that of those who shared it, for it had nothing to do with their nature.

If he ever had to find someone appropriate for that title though.

"Fū, everyone knows of Hyōton and Yōton, Iwagakure's death-inducing couple". Naruto clarified loud enough for those who were a couple of steps behind them to listen. Wondering what topic they could ever discuss which path ended in the mention of those two abominations. All except Sora knowledgeable of who they were referring too.

"Yeah, so? I do too". Said Fū, confused. What did that have to do with anything? With Roshi? "What does that have to do with anything?" She questioned, not knowing where Naruto was getting att.

Naruto only arched his eyebrow, showcasing the answer that in a matter of seconds led Fū to the answer.

"Don't tell me..." Fū wanted to throw up. Naruto nodded.

"He's Yōton". Naruto simply put, a line of questioning proceeded that assertion. Naruto's mind drawing its own picture of what those two actions entailed. To whom they did them to.

---

Flashback...

"You don't want to know the story behind it, young man".

Naruto spun at flashing speed at the voice, with his hand going for his kunai holster. Before he could draw one he saw who had just talked to him.

An old man.

It didn't make any sense. According to Jiraiya, Uzhiogakure wasn't supposed to be inhabited. It was the ruins of a former village, yet here remains an elder figure? Naruto didn't utter a word, keeping his hand on the holster, just in case this was a genjutsu.

It seemed suspicious, he hadn't noticed him till now. Had his mind trailed off that much, was he that distracted to not notice? To not acknowledge someone approaching.

"Who are you, boy?" Questioned the elder once more to the incredulous Naruto, who still had no answer in his stupor. "Mute, huh? What if I introduce myself first, would that help you open up?" Naruto shyly nodded. "My name is Kaiyō, Uzumaki Kaiyō".

Naruto had no doubt of him being an Uzumaki, despite old age he seemed to have some red hairs still in his scalp, seemingly young looking for the length of his journey. That didn't erode his suspicions or reluctance to engage in anything with this stranger.

"I think it is your turn now, boy." Bring up correctly Kaiyō.

"Uzumaki Naruto". Finally claimed Naruto, recently aware of the meaning of that surname, his heritage, the fact that he had heritage.

The elder looked at the boy with wonder and doubt.

"You an Uzumaki?" He questioned looking at the boy's features. Blonde hair? He didn't think that no clan had whiskers as a differentiating feature, but who was he to judge? Uzumaki's traits they weren't, that for sure.

"Apparently" Mentioned Naruto to the bewilderment of Kaiyō given that odd answer. Right now he doubted that this boy was nothing more than the vanguard of a scavenger party. 'Apparently?' Kaiyō thought again.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Kaiyō asked suspiciously. Naruto looked around once more in the same manner, wondering too whether or not they were alone. "You don't speak much, now do you?"

"I would, had I any clue myself of what I'm doing here". Naruto stated.

"Searching for your roots? You're an Uzumaki, aren't you? I could have guessed that much". Kaiyō chuckled.

"It was my choice to come here. I just recently learned of the fact of who I am, so… I don't know. It's complicated". Naruto said inadvertently, as he saw the old man's eyes twinkled he understood that he had just revealed that he was not alone. It was obvious actually, he was just a 13 year old. The look in the elder forced Naruto to ask something "From 0 to 10, how sure are you that I'm just another scavenger?"

"With your age and that face of yours, how doubt-filled it is, with eye bags the size of my thumbs, a 2 maybe". Confessed Kaiyō, before asking. "Could I know of your parent's name? The Uzumaki one, of course, I may know of him or her. Might help you lower that two to zero."

"Once you answer me if you're alone". Responded Naruto.

"No, Naruto. You answer first". Naruto looked at Kaiyō and wondered if they were seriously going to do this, like infants, not wanting it to take forever, Naruto gave in.

"Kushina".

There was a widely known name for the people of Uzushiogakure, thought Kaiyō sarcastically. "I dunno boy. I have never heard of her."

"Neither have I". Responded Naruto bluntly. Out of his pocket, he picked the picture that he had all along of her, showing it to Kaiyō, who in response marveled a bit.

"How come?" He asked rhetorically. She was definitely an Uzumaki… "What was she doing in Konoha?" Kaiyō presumed that by the boy mentioned of never knowing her, that she was indeed dead. He could also see the resemblance between them, their eyes, it was that blatant. The boy was indeed who he claimed.

"I don't know," Naruto mentioned. He left before having a conversation in-depth with Jiraiya, he was that angry. Details and things of that nature weren't asked during their unfriendly chat.

A name did resound in Kaiyō's mind when mentioning the topic of Uzumakis on Konoha, for he could only recall one case, Mito. He did recall that arranged marriage for which the aforementioned woman had to go to Konoha. If he didn't remember wrongly, the wife to be of the first Hokage was sent with a very clear purpose besides furthering that useless alliance, she was to be the first…

His reasoning quickly led to a shock. 'Could it be that he is…. That she too was a Jinchuriki ' He thought immediately.

"Oh," Kaiyō mentioned. He was about to ask what he suddenly realized, but the boy honestly seemed like he didn't know. He was not about to blurt out a conjecture, leading to this lost boy to rise in anger. Nothing pleasing nor welcoming would come from confessing the tale of how the place you are in, the home of your ancestors, probably shipped your mother in order for her to carry one of the heaviest weights one could ask of a fellow human being. Knowing they treated her like goods, merchandise, wasn't about to induce Naruto to have good vibrations for this place.

"Yeah. I ought to ask some questions when I get the chance." Claimed Naruto. The tale of his parent's lives obviously being something he wanted to know anxiously.

"I don't know why your mother was sent to Konoha, Naruto. Wouldn't want to venture into guessing. Knowing our shinobi world, who knows… Be it what it may we are not without our mistakes." Naruto looked at the elder with more doubt than before, the one he continuously exhibited. He had said nothing that warranted this subtle apology. Where was this coming from? "In the end, maybe you could say she was fortunate, looking at this place and what they've done with it". Supposed Kaiyō as he handed Naruto his mother's photo back. "It's always good to see some of our people returning. What are you doing here, then?"

Naruto pointed out how he foretold to confess if he was alone once he answered his question. Chuckling, Kaiyō shocks his head, negating. "No, I'm not, as you could guess. Come with me."

"Wait". Naruto mentioned before the elder took another step. He couldn't grip a hold of the pace that things were occurring. 'Just like that?' He thought. Five minutes in and he was to follow him? Where?

Besides, curiosity got the better of him in another subject. Not wanting his imagination to run away with him.

"What?" Kaiyō exclaimed.

"What's this?" Asked Naruto, they hadn't moved away from the previous sculpture.

He did recall that the elder warning him, telling him that he didn't want to know, but the fact was that he did. He did indeed.

"You don't seem in shape to listen to many tragic stories right now, Naruto". Warned Kaiyō. Seeing the boy relentlessly stare at the girl, he sighed. "It's the legacy of those awful days. 18 years ago. When we were annihilated. Iwagakure's doing, bequest mainly". He pulls down the armband he had on him, throwing it to Naruto, who thanks to his reflexes, caught it. Not having been focused on it till now.

As Naruto extended it, he saw its distinctive features in comparison to the normal Uzumaki symbol. Out of instinct, he raised it so that it was near the girl's hand. The broken finger in the symbol was an exact copy of the one the girl had. 'This is weird', he thought.

"What's the meaning of this? Why carve this?" Questioned Naruto.

"Carved?" Oh boy, thought Kaiyō. "Naruto, that ain't no structure, pardon me, a sculpture of marble or concrete. They're dead people. That's Hyōton and Yōton doing."

"What?" Naruto said in shock, taking a few steps away from whatever this monstrosity was.

"As I said, you don't want to know the story behind. You are young, but I would have thought that many of the tales of the war of this world had at least reached you." When Kaiyō saw Naruto and the disgust he had after the realization that these were two people killed in such a unique and memorable manner, not in the good sense. The trace of two actual and real lives, nor the carving in the name of two factual or divinized ones for the sake of decoration or history. "We are at the center of the old city, looking at it nobody could believe it. I don't blame them. The exuberant amount of lives it once sheltered." Kaiyō looked down. The destruction of this place speaks for itself. "Now... All that remains is the rubble and victims like these ones all around. The product of lunacy. A forceful memory."

Naruto stared once again at the child bracing the older figure. Protecting him from what was incoming, facing her death head-on. He was sickened to his stomach. As he looked down at the armband he wondered why. Kaiyō once again didn't require any questioning for him to answer the boy's thoughts.

"We no longer write our history and deities in an abstract world, Naruto. While staring only at ourselves, our world and believes we forgot many things, the way to act towards good in many cases, the consequences that our actions entailed, and the intentions of many parts of the world towards us. We believed our course of history had little in common with that of the rest of the world, living on an isolated island and all. We were proven foolish". Kaiyō thought that Naruto was owed this story, him being an Uzumaki after all. "Eighteen years ago, when Iwagakure came to our shores with their mighty force and that of some other villages, we weren't ready. It was Ethnic cleansing Naruto, genocide. A war crime which dimensions you can't fathom to understand if you were not present. They wanted and effectively achieved to remove us from history, for our bloodline to be passed on."

Naruto noticed Kaiyō's gaze upon the girl too. 'Eighteen years ago, that's not that long ago' Naruto reasoned. Just happened five years before he was born.

"You ought to think wars last longer than ours did. In a matter of a week we were defeated, our leaders killed. Ashina was captured and forced to give our clan's secrets in exchange for saving each life he was threatened with as they passed through the main plaza, with an executioner waiting with his sword in hand. Children even. He knew that they were gonna be killed regardless… The greatest leader and shinobi in the history of our clan and he had to pretend to be senile so he didn't have to witness that." Kaiyō looks to the center of the place they were in, said plaza.

The way that Kaiyō explained things, it's like he was just experiencing them. Presently being there. One could fear looking at his eyes and in their reflection seeing all with plenty of detail.

"Unlike many other countries, our island does not have much shelter for those who want to hide. There's no jungle for a militia let alone for thousands of people that wanted to hide. The few skirmishes that came after that week, we lost them all. Those who couldn't escape in the boats, going past the whirlpools couldn't stay here, for the only hope that awaited you here was death or jail. More than twenty-five thousand people lost their lives that in the first month, three thousand were capable of escaping and the rest… Well, we are what remains after the invaders left, taking everything they could get their hands on."

Naruto had walked for longer than an hour among the ruins and it wasn't till Kaiyō appeared that he had caught sight of another person, not that he expected it. It was quite easy to claim this to be a ghost town.

"When we knew that it was safe to go out of our hideouts, we soon realized as we stared at what remained, that our clan was dead, yet decided to live. To live under a new set of beliefs that could not be of conflict, for we can't survive another one, a new marker so that we could carry on in spite of that. Managing to leave behind what occurred so that we didn't remain crippled. Your dear Konoha shinobi wear our symbol to our insult, for they are not worthy of it after not aiding us. Our so-called allies. A month of conflict and not a single one appeared."

Here Naruto was waiting for an answer of what was before him, the girl, and instead, he just got this figurative sucker punch as the man trailed off.

He stiffened. By the timeline of it, his mother was alive. Naruto didn't know if she participated, if she knew of all this, how she felt afterwards... He became aware, though, with perfect knowledge of each Hokage's reign, that this again fell into the hands of one man in command, 'Sarutobi'. He called out.

"We thought that what was better than an act of unsullied love, of valiance to be that new symbol? The torch amidst darkness if you're into allegorical novels."

Naruto didn't get that part.

"One of our survivors told the tale of what happened here, seeing it all trapped in the debris. A story confessed not only by what you see in front of you but the avowal of other survivors. At first, we didn't even know their names." Said Kaiyō, pointing at the people before them. "We even called her Amateratsu, like she didn't prove to be enough by herself for us to call her like one of the great goddesses." There was an initial stance where they did turn to the divine, claiming her to be the reincarnation of it. When Kaiyō thought of them, he might be talking about two people.

They did lose everything, so no one could judge them for losing their rationality.

"In disarray, being pursued by the cleaning squads of Iwagakure as they sweep door for door all the houses they could enter into, it seems that the man that lies before you, had no choice but to abandon the confinement of his home, it no longer being safe, with his daughter Hana in his arms." He paused after saying her name. "Bruised, hurt and hungry, he shielded her for a full day despite the swarm of shinobi outside in the streets, managing to hide for the night in a basement nearby in the company of other desperate souls that thought were safer than they really were.

Before the sun had even risen they were found, forced into running for their lives once more. He was hit in the back with a kunai, but shrugged it off, leaving others behind as those they spent the night with were being caught one by one. After hours of carrying her, exhaustion and blood loss caught up to him. Forced by the pursuit, they ended up in the main plaza of the city. He ought to be so caught up with escaping those that trailed them that he had no regard for the fact of where he was going. Ending up at the main core of the enemy forces. Here an aimed shot managed to hit him again. He did stand up, picking his daughter and with no consideration for his pain nor terror, he kept striding till he couldn't anymore, in between the laughter of those sick bastards and the watch of the prisoners. Despite the most valiant of efforts his body gave up before his mind ordered it to. Leaving them both in the most precarious situation. Being in clear sight and seeing the attackers, this little girl stood in between his barely conscious father and the shinobis that attacked them. Pleading for him to stand up, incapable to aid him in doing so herself, pleading for help at the beginning, with tears in her eyes, only for those cries to not be aided as the prisoners' struggle and efforts to respond proved pointless. She raised her hand as if she could stop them, unwilling to let his father behind and run away in spite of the silent pleads that he uttered.

She stood in between, protecting the person she loved independently of the capacities she had. Roshi and Okoda, Yōton and Hyōton, being the merciless and sickened monster they were, performed their prized ritual of pouring lava into their victims with Roshi before Okada froze them both, creating this outer layer of… I don't know. While it may have been an instant, as you can see, she didn't turn away from them and neither ducked, unprotecting his father. She faced death directly in the name of the one she loved, unwillingly to give up. The most ineludible act of care and courage coming from someone who was taught none of it, an effort that came purely from her own unreached will. The will of a child".

Naruto tier up a bit, he didn't expect that. His eyes watering as he stared at the girl before him. The details that prevailed in their bodies were horrifying, it was an unnatural consequence of violence. She indeed had her eyes closed, but her head pointed at whoever she did have in front before dying. The flesh rained down a bit, the few seconds in between the lava and the cooling of the mentioned lava were showcased. The decay too started to show after almost two decades.

"It's the highest act that could ever be achieved, the sentiment of love and courage that we believed was necessary to rebuild our home in many ways. Of honest care. Not wanting to erase the harshness of history we tainted what surrounded that circle with the blood that was spilled and before the symbol of our clan her broken hand, showing how despite injury, of terror, with realism, she did what she did. Protecting him, us. Not turning away. The vibrant red color of our swirl had perished." Ended Kaiyō.

Naruto passed his forearm from his cheeks, wanting to cut the downstream of water that emanated in his face. Sobbing and gathering himself.

He didn't even notice Kaiyō turn and walk away, not until he was called.

"Coming now that your curiosity is sated, Uzumaki Naruto?"

Naruto turned, the armband still in his hands.

"Where?" Naruto queried.

"You did say you wanted to know if I was alone, I want to show thanks to whom I'm not. Those who survived and remain, young Uzumaki". Stated Kaiyō.

Naruto while lost remembered a little detail, a tall someone. It hadn't been long enough, but he had no choice.

"I have someone with me," Naruto exclaimed. Kaiyō knowingly nodded.

"I know, he's coming here. You should warn him that this place is filled with tramps for those that aren't Uzumaki. Our blood seals are worth being scared of, for the misfortune of your friend." As Kaiyō said that, he pointed to the direction from which Jiraiya was coming.

Naruto wondered where his statement came from. It wasn't until Kaiyō told him that he saw a couple of small toads that were paroling the town that he understood. Not having to wait long before they both could hear and see Jiraiya as he ran up to them. Jumping besides Naruto, nor in a defensive stance or anything of sorts, having seen them both in the distance at ease. He was a bit lost, he couldn't elude pointing at Kaiyō.

"What's happening?" Jiraiya said.

"You have interesting companies, Naruto". Confessed Kaiyō, fully aware of who this new figure was.

"I would have waited where I was if it wasn't for..." Jiraiya was interrupted by Naruto.

"I know." He was still mad with his godfather, but right now his focus was to divert to what was about to happen. "Jiraiya, Uzumaki Kaiyō. Kaiyō, Jiraiya of the Sannin". Said Naruto.

"A pleasure". Said Jiraiya as he extended his hand. Both could see the reluctance that Kaiyō had towards reciprocating that action. There could lay a bit of resentment in his eyes.

"So you're the reason this boy is here, as lost as he is?" Questioned Kaiyō. Jiraiya simply nodded.

Kaiyō stared at the two shinobi before him, Naruto being incapable of sustaining his glance at the elder. 'Whatever happened between these two ought to be interesting.' He thought. He motions them to follow him. When asked where he didn't answer. For the time being, Jiraiya was surprised that Kaiyō actually believed the unlikely but real truth, that the boy beside him was an Uzumaki.

"I was going to suggest you both took off your forehead protectors just in case, but given that your companion Naruto is no other than one of the Sannin himself, it is little to no avail. I warn you of the looks that will come your way due to where you come from, your home, Konoha." Warned Kaiyō as he leads them through the debris that was the core of the village.

"The looks..." Thought out loud Jiraiya. "There was never any report of surviving Uzumaki remaining in the village."

"Not many searching parties came our way, wanting to aid". Sassy. "The ones that did come did so too late, only finding scavengers." Elucidated Kaiyō. "The core of the previous structures we had built over the last hundreds of years was so pummeled, that between the safety risks, the sanitary ones and how vulnerable and visible we would be; that the choice of moving somewhere else was simple."

Naruto and Jiraiya turned as they took a step upwards, moving uphill, looking back at the urban background. It wasn't the first time that Jiraiya had seen this much destruction, so the curiosity didn't necessarily come from the scenery that resulted from the war, but where were the Uzumaki were inhabiting now and how come they remain in the dark for so long. There were no plantations that he could see. No crops, no fallows, nothing.

Did they even trade for their supplies? They wouldn't remain unknown if they did. Did the travelers from the diaspora send what was in need? Jiraiya didn't know.

They kept going up, Kaiyō, giving his age and how steep this was, had tremendous pace. In relative terms due to his age, he was quite the fit athlete.

"There's a hidden small valley hidden in between this small formation of mountains. With built tunnels from where we can operate and escape were they to venture outside the city". Informed Kaiyō before imperatively stating an important matter. "Follow me and don't do anything that I don't, okay? This place is set with traps, so unless you want a scare or to learn at first hand what fuinjutsu can do, don't get hasty".

The couple from Konoha nodded. In a matter of five minutes, as they raised up in the irregular and steep landscape, their wonderment grew as they noticed that no trail or path seemed to be carved. They did as told, not letting their confusion guide their actions and following Kaiyō, who went forward towards the unscalable part of the mountain, at least for someone of Kaiyō age.

The angle of it must be 100°.

They could not foretell where they were actually heading, not having a clue and not seeing a guiding trace. Soon enough they were at a dead-end, like facing a wall in the hallway.

Kaiyō walked in it!

Naruto and Jiraiya look at each other for the first time since Jiraiya had told him what he was owed. Out of the wall came out a hand that invited them to get through.

'Genjutsu' Both Naruto and Jiraiya thought. A mirage. The entrance into the valley was covered by an extension that none would venture into wondering.

An extension of the mountain itself.

'Oh damn' Solely said Naruto on the back of his head. Going downhill, among a more narrow road that you could feel comfortable in. As they made it past it, he saw it.

Kaiyō called it a lake, nor Naruto or Jiraiya would call it more than an oversized pond. It was located on the core of the valley. Round it, few structures were built. They couldn't shelter a community in the hundreds. Naruto and Jiraiya turn in circles in wonderment, looking at the place.

It couldn't be more than 3 hectares, if it even reached to be two. The remaining Uzumaki all gathered in such little space.

On the mountain, rather in the intrusions of land in its support structure, the massive holes in the walls of it, were some houses and complex crafted constructions even. It did prove unique in Naruto's mind. He had never seen a place like this.

Little did he know that the more seasoned Jiraiya did neither.

Beautiful was not the precise word to describe, albeit it did have its charms.

Some eyes were set on them from the moment they entered the valley and they passed the first houses. Redheads looming everywhere.

"We're in for a surprise. Which kind I don't know." Said Kaiyō, chuckling to himself, before adding. "We don't have many guests as you can guess."

"We are you taking us?" Questioned Jiraiya.

"To meet everyone," Kaiyō responded.

After the previous warning, Jiraiya wasn't thrilled by the exposure.

"To be heckled by everybody you mean?" Asked Jiraiya, preconceiving the turn to distaste once the halo of wonderment was lifted, or the contrary, an initial halo of distrust.

"Maybe". Kaiyō conceded. "But trust me, the sooner you deal with this part the better."

They begin approaching the more crowded zone. Having seen them from afar, the villagers started to leave their house, slowly approaching them, yet maintaining a big distance or looking through their windows, looking from the doorstep of their homes, all wanting to catch sight of who was arriving.

"Who's the leader?" Questioned again Jiraiya, not understanding that he was not to be inquisitorial in his current position.

"You will see." In the blink of an eye, rather than being the three alone, impending the many steps before the crowd, they were surrounded by a not elated bunch of shinobi that in formation wanted to hold them in place. "Or maybe not".

"What's the meaning of this, Kaiyō-san?" Mentioned one of the Uzumaki that surrounded them, bewildered by the mere idea of having an outside presence in their home. Kunais hadn't been drawn, yet.

Jiraiya and Naruto didn't utter a word, thinking that the only result of that would be to escalate things.

"I can perfectly explain." As they approach closer… "That is if you left me."

"Bringing Jiraiya the Sannin, Konoha, to our home… You better have one hell of an explanation". Mentioning a young woman imposingly, all stares focus on Jiraiya.

Despite being on a small island in the middle of nowhere, in a secluded area where they prevail with no contact with the outside world, they knew of the elder. 'In the end, he might turn out to be right, they do know him overboard'. Thought Naruto, hoping that he did not inspire this sentiment elsewhere.

"This has nothing to do with the Sannin, but with him," Said Kaiyō as he extended his hand, pointing at Naruto, guiding the glares.

"What of him?" Questioned the guards, not letting them move a muscle. When staring at the boy, they didn't see anything that warranted this kind of treatment, the passage to their land.

"Him? What's he doing with that in his hands?" Wonder another of the guards pointing too at Naruto, who still had not returned the armband. He didn't notice, jumping in a rush to make amends.

"Oh sorry, I didn't notice". Said Naruto as he made the effort to hand back something of so much symbolic value.

"No worries kid, keep it," Said Kaiyō, not dismissing, but rather with conviction, before the surprise of his people.

"What?" Said Naruto and the guard in unison, both in disbelief.

"This represents all the goodwill that we want to raise in our people, Naruto. We may have a debt with your lineage" He said once again out of the blue. 'In consequence of the treatment we had towards your mother and although it could never be enough nor a valid apology, let's hope is enough' That Kaiyō thought, not daring to blur it out. "Think of it as a way to remember a part of who you are, your mother even. Besides, you're an Uzumaki nonetheless". Kaiyō said with full felt emotions and with the honest hope that the gesture could be a pathway for Naruto to not despise a part of his roots. The people that made that kind of decision were long gone and with all the stakes they had at hand, apologizing for actions that weren't their own would prove disheartening and alienating if kept in time, prolonging it. It wasn't heartless, but a moving forward kind of approach.

Naruto looked down at it. Hana's will… His mother's will. Naruto didn't even know how she died. A way to remember her? Envelope in this mystique of symbolism, this armband exemplified the courage and love of a figure who was ready for the worst in hopes for the best for the one she cared for most.

The will of an entire village, a clan. As he looked at the guards, forgetting their surprised looks, many filled with doubt, all had the armband upon their attire, same wise as with the forehead protectors.

This meant so much.

Naruto bowed respectfully, grabbing ahold of it.

"Are you sure about that?" Mutter a guard.

"Again, who's this child, Kaiyō-sama?" Questioned another.

The way they talked to the man, amidst presuming of his madness, they did seem to not raise their tone or imperatively called him to retract in any of his actions.

'Sama?' Thought Jiraiya, who was this guy again.

"Sama?" Naruto didn't hold it in. Kaiyō turned to him and smiled. "Don't tell me you are the leader?" Kaiyō's smile turns to laughter.

"Oh god no. Could you imagine… No". Said Kaiyō as he tried to stifle his laughter so that he could explain himself. "No, Naruto, although close enough."

Before the anxious stares of all the present, Kaiyō extended his arms and silently pleaded for everyone to calm down as he lowered his palms.

"All right. End the fun I shall. Guys, this boy here is an Uzumaki, the spawn of a child born here, Kushina Uzumaki." All looked at the boy, not trusting. "Don't bother. It's factual truth, you're in no need for a test, believe me."

"So you say. And what if he is? Look at his forehead protector, why bring him here?" Questioned the young woman with care, not wanting everyone to go off simply because he had some Uzumaki blood in his veins.

"I don't know." Nobody facepalmed when Kaiyō said that. Naruto and Jiraiya simply grew uncomfortable. "It ain't only a hunch or a gut feeling, I don't know how to elucidate it best. I just simply did it."

"Did you even ask them what they are doing here?" Wonder the woman. Increasing her displease with this care-free attitude.

"Yes, but I was answered with doubt, Ashita". Stated Kaiyō as he turned to Naruto, who still had not an answer to that question. "I must admit that it flew past me to ask again, but maybe now that the Sanin is with us, he can give us an answer, given how this trip had to be his idea."

Talking about the spotlight.

Naruto folded his arms and turned to Jiraiya to look at him incisively. He wanted to hear him say out loud the maddening reason he was here, the main purpose that it had… For everyone to hear how nuts it all was.

Jiraiya didn't see any exit, he was to tell the truth. At this juncture, even Naruto would call him out if he was telling a lie, not exactly being on his side after the previous reaction.

"Well?"

Naruto didn't say anything out loud, but Jiraiya could hear him saying 'go on, tell them…'

'Crap' Thought Jiraiya before eventually responding. "Well, given the boy's roots and the nature of this island, secluded and uneventful, outside the prism of the main problems that we have in the continent, I thought of this place as the best one for us to train in. Gathering even some scrolls if there were any left even for him to venture into fuinjutsu". Jiraiya confessed. "Of course, we didn't have a single clue that you were here like I already said."

"Your boy did talk about his roots as if something he had recently grasped, came to know," Kaiyō said with wonder. Jiraiya gasped, looking at Naruto who had no mercy nor pity in his eyes for him.

He was indeed angry, so much so that he answered that part himself before these people, whom he shouldn't.

"Yeah, as recently as the moment we set a foot on this island". Said Naruto.

Jiraiya obviously couldn't respond by saying this wasn't this people's business.

"I..." He couldn't come up with more than that.

"Saying it's complicated wouldn't cut it, now would it?" Intervened Kaiyō.

"No, it fucking wouldn't". Naruto's tone was not that welcoming.

"My wonder ain't about that. As I said..."

"You aren't going to repeat your point about them being from Konoha are you, Ashita?" Kaiyō asked.

"After all my grandpa did for them, for them to not answer when the time came. Give me a reason to trust them". Ashita stated, waiting for the old man to give her a single reason why she shouldn't beat them both.

"I don't have to. My resentment in that regard is bigger than yours Ashita, I was present at the time. But that responsibility falls on the Sanin and like I won't repeat, my wonder is towards a fellow Uzumaki. With the few that are left, he has a right to see this, what has become of us".

Kaiyō didn't want to be extremely harsh, shouldn't you have already noticed by the name semblance, Ashita was indeed the direct successor of Ashina, so that warranted a bit of respect. His granddaughter. Too was the fact of her prowess and status on the island.

"What right could he have?" Mentioned another guard.

Naruto closed his fists, it wasn't like he wanted to live up to the expectations or wishes of this place. Again, for as little as he knew, he grasped that they ostracised his mother, someone you didn't want to meddle with in such a manner in order to have Naruto's good wishes.

"We forced her mother out of her village, to a country which had costumes and manners she had no knowledge of and only with two bodyguards that in no way she was fond of, acquainted with." Mentioned the till now silent figure among the guards, a tall bearded man by the name of Nadera.

Naruto's eyes were immediately on this figure, and so was his interest. It was a given if he knew about Naruto's mother. So far what he said was troubling.

"Do you know of her?" Kaiyō wondered with curiosity, that had to be so long ago that among the small sample of people that remained, little did he expect for anyone to remember.

"Not so much as her name, but I do know about the two only figures this village ever sent to Konoha, Kushina's not resembling Mito's case. For hers was an arranged marriage." Nadera looked at the blonde boy. "I now know of her. I did see her once before they left. One of the guards was my brother's friend. He died protecting her." Unfortunately, he did not remember her to the point of being able to point out the similarities between mother and son. She ought to be close to Naruto's age when she left, maybe a bit younger, Nadera though. "Do you carry it to, boy?"

"Too?" Naruto said, shocked. For some reason, he had a lead to what that it was. When he said carry something automatically clicked. You could not fathom to understand his feelings as he thought of the chance...'Oh no no no, please no.' He didn't want to think that what he believed they were about to tell him was in any way true.

"Yeah, like your mother before you and Mito before that." Added Nadera.

Naruto looked at Jiraiya searching for an answer, when his glare reached the height of his eyes, he noticed that Jiraya's stare was too on his, his look speaking for itself. Naruto came to the realization.

His mother was a Jinchuriki.

He made an effort to not stumble out of shock, seeing that any movement could warrant this shinobi's imminent and awaiting retaliation.

He was confused to no avail, confused, and angry. Did she ever go through with what he did?

Suddenly realizing too that she was being shipped by these people in order for that! The warming tale of meeting the Uzumaki was withering, instead, he was before the pricks that dare did that to another human being.

With Nadera's question still unanswered, Naruto didn't know whether he should answer or not. If he looked up to Jiraiya once again, he would tell them all they needed to know, if they hadn't realized it the first time around or when looking at him at this single moment, a boy who couldn't raise his stare from the floor.

"Carry what?" Questioned another guard.

"The Nine Tails". All of the figures, except Kaiyō and Nadera himself, took a step back. "Both women were sent for their capacity to hold the Kyubi, for their endurance, and huge chakras."

"What of it?" Asked Naruto with anger. His nails were enhancing a bit, his voice got deeper, but not enough for them to notice the big chance. His pupils remained blue.

For now.

Jiraiya begged Naruto silently to control himself.

Gasps could be heard. By now the people of the village were looking at them from a distance. This was a once in a blue moon kind of occurrence. None approached, so they neither heard anything said up until now nor could Konoha's members hear anything they were mumbling.

"So let me get this clear. The last time Konoha's actions were of consequence to our kind, the thing to distinguish was their disappearance, which led us to lose for a matter of numbers, facing two of the great five alone. The close extermination of our people. In no part thanks to the last time one of these so-called Jinchurikis appeared on our shores, melting our people alive, when not to make them living statues..." Ashita posed thinkingly. "After all that, our response to such actions is to let them into our bulwark with no afterthought. I mean cool. Cool, cool, cool..."

"Bigotry and prejudice ain't endearing and enchanting qualities, Ashita. You're speaking of them like they're the same, prelude that they're to commit the same actions. Be careful now, you may not want to be lectured into which either leads to". Warned Kaiyō. He always cared for those of her lineage, they were powerful people in matters of strength and will, feared warriors with smarts about them. But they were too idée fixe on some matters. Inheriting such opinions and ways of doing things not by nature, but wrong teachings that led them to be cold, lacking the emotional intelligence that Kaiyō believed necessary to lead. That led him to be part of this new government.

"Are you expecting more understanding from my father?" Ashita asked with a smirk on her face.

"I'm not solely expecting anything from one sole person, much less with this matter. Remember that your father is an elected man and that this kind of quandary is up to many more opinions than his alone". Said Kaiyō as his index finger managed to circle, highlighting the whole town, village, whatever you want to call it.

"The whole town is gathering". Simply stated one of the guards as Kaiyō turns to Ashita.

"This conversation is over, escort us or move aside, Ashita. We're going to the hall."

Ashita greeted her teeth, seething with anger. To let someone in with so little information was something beyond sketchy.

Being in no position to stop them, the trio continues walking the path near the small lake, hoping to reach the main inn of the town. Seeing the villagers approach furthermore made Naruto and Jiraiya worry, wondering if they would be part of another delay.

Whispers started to be heard as the path diverged from the water.

"Who are they?"

"What's a Sannin doing here?"

"What's Kaiyō thinking?"

"Are those whiskers?"

"No one has ever come here, why would we let them now. Fucking Konoha."

"Cowards"

"Would anyone miss them if we took our revenge on them"

"They didn't even make the effort to send a delegation this large and considerable during war. The wonders that we could have done with a midget and an elder". Sarcasm was strong in that one.

"Dad, who are they?"

"I don't know sweetie. Konoha shinobi from the looks of them. People of the continent. It's better if we keep our distance."

Naruto thought back on Kaiyō's empty praise of his people. The first impression didn't recall in any manner the values he preached his people had built, upon which was to rest the weight of their development and progress.

He felt like that child once again, the child that roamed the streets of Konoha being called a monster for actions he had never committed, parts of history in which he had no place or agency.

"Feel welcomed yet, Uzumaki?" Whispered Ashita in Naruto's ear, pointing out with emphasis his surname.

"Like I was back at home". Responded Naruto with honesty, an honesty that one could misconstrue as sarcasm. Like Ashita did. Jiraiya knew better, looking down once again, reminded of his recent words.

There were no great structures in the center of the valley. The houses were dispersed enough for green to remain in between them.

The one exception to the rule was this inn. An agora kind of built. Its dimensions were sufficient to give shelter to the population of this place, which wasn't that awe-inspiring of a figure. If these were all the Uzumaki that remained within the island, they could be counted before the hundred, thought Jiraiya. How these people survived and reproduce was something that Jiraiya's mind wanted to elude, incest taking place more comfortably in his mind in weird erotic fiction, some wich he wrote, that when he came to face it in reality.

They had to know each other on a first-name basis, all of them.

People were stopped momentarily from entering it.

"We should cherish these first moments alone with the upper echelon, after that we will be swarmed by everyone," Kaiyō mentioned before turning and noticing Naruto looking at the side, snickering. "I warned you of the looks, Naruto." Behind him, Ashita was enjoying herself too much.

'Don't worry, I'm used to them' Naruto thought. 'This place ought to be a second home… My ass'

They passed the pillars, before walking down the stairs they saw in the middle a group of seven people who turned towards them. Whispering. Their stares were simply plastic.

'This is going to be fun gotta be the least thought fraise before heading into one of these things' Thought Jiraiya.

"Wait here. Stand behind me". Kaiyō said as he approached the elders, leaving Naruto and Jiraiya alone with each other. This was not the best time to not be talking to one another. Naruto could notice the stares of the villagers behind them, feeling a small breeze in his nape.

"I hope we can look back on it as the worst first impression that we managed to get past, it managed to be the best experience despite it". Jiraiya said to Naruto's silent response, agreeing. His first impression was actually Kaiyō and until now he was the only pleasant part of this whole experience.

Withdrawing from this didn't seem plausible, the least when all the members in front of them started approaching.

"Here they come". Said Jiraiya before looking at some sulking faces, this promise to be an enjoyable experience. As they turn, Jiraiya regains memory of meeting one of them, here hoping that she had a short memory.

"Now, here is the curious boy that I found in the city". Kaiyō said as he pointed at Naruto. "Naruto, Jiraiya, seemly as they all know of you let me introduce them, from left to right..."

"That won't be necessary Kaiyō, he does not need our names for us to talk to one another and solve this matter quickly before they depart". Said Shoken, Ashita's father, after interrupting.

"Charming". Responded Kaiyō to the man's manners.

"He doesn't voice our opinions, just his own. The name is Miwara, Uzumaki Naruto". She said as she extended her hand. Naruto did so too in response. "Now. Jiraya-san, tells us the whole reason behind your planning. Why you're here?"

Jiraiya debated being honest with these people, not regarding their behavior as a factor when doing a quick pros and cons scheme in his mind. This was a great opportunity before for shelter and training, with actual Uzumaki remaining here, it could prove to be a not great but a golden occasion.

They had inadvertently overstepped their boundaries coming here, Jiraiya felt the entitlement they all felt as if they were owed an explanation, were they to stay or as their pleasant friend claimed, leave… Given how they found out of Naruto's jinchuriki secret and how secluded and out of the "game" they were…

"How in toon are you with the events that are occurring in the shinobi world?"

When their faces turned into ones of confusion when not of negation, Naruto turned to see if there was a place where he could sit. This going to take long.

An arduous wait was incoming as they made sense of the current state they all seem to be so ignorant about.

...

Naruto waited for Jiraiya to end his briefing, simply staring quietly beside him. Looking at Ashita's father, reciprocating his unbecoming and unpleasant stare. Was he gonna stare, leer, at him like that for much longer? 'What a jackass.' Though Naruto, 'it might run in the family' he added.

The chances of him liking this place were dwindling.

"So what all implies is that the Akatsuki doesn't affect us, basically. Care to introduce me to reason, a reason why we should shelter you, becoming a target." Wondered Shoken with a smirk.

"Yeah, if they are to threaten all the big nations, we are the better for it. I would sign a petition and even aid them". Added another of the seven.

"You can't seriously mean that".

"I'm doing this because he's an Uzumaki". Answered Kaiyō. "If we don't help one another, then what fate might await us? If this is a rebuilt and we are to welcome those that come back, this could be a great start."

"He ain't one of us, Kaiyō. Besides, he's from Konoha". Answered another member.

Naruto clenched his fists in anger, tired of not saying anything before these supposedly bunch of "adults".

"Why the long face Kaiyō? It's the truth. He hasn't been nurtured in our ways, our culture. He just learned of who he is and you just let him in like nothing, this place was to be secret from strangers. And in case you hadn't noticed, he is one, he's not from here". Shoken added repetitively.

"Who are you to say..." Started claiming Kaiyō, not being able to finish his words.

Naruto didn't care anymore.

"You're right I'm not, not that I want to be anyway." Everyone turned to Naruto, seeing his anger as he focused on Shoken. "Not 2 hours ago, I was an orphan, the son of nobody, with no name but my own. I was told that Uzumaki meant nothing, that it was given to me for no reason other than to have more than Naruto to mention when they ask for my name. Two hours ago I was motherless, and now I'm standing before the people who simply ship her with no consent to another country, to be a vessel. Again, unwillingly." If stares could kill. "If you think that I'm searching for your approval or acceptance, as if I owe you something, think again". Said Naruto before the shock of everyone. "For all I care, just tell me if I've got any close relatives here alive, grandparents or uncles and aunts, maybe, so that I can ask them a couple questions. After that, you can go fuck yourselves."

… Everyone stared blankly.

Jiraiya put his hand on Naruto, before reorienting both the tone and the present atmosphere of the conversation. "What he meant to say is…" Naruto brusquely free himself from Jiraiya's grip, his anger with him rising, if that was ever possible at the moment. To think that after all his fuck ups, he would dare infantilize what he was honestly claiming.

"I know perfectly well what I said." Naruto claimed, standing and not leaving after saying those words, the 'fuck yourselves' bit so loud that many of the villagers outside could grasp a part of it.

'Kid got spunk, I will give him that' Miwara thought with a smile, seeing the looks of the other members of the council. Even Kaiyō was blank. 'Oh boy'.

Shoken was about to take a mindless step forward towards the boy, but a wise hand kept him in his place. If Shoken dared to attempt anything on the boy, he would get killed by the Sannin. The son of Ashina was surprisingly not the first to protest or go verbally after the boy.

"Petulant brat! How dare you?"

"Mind your tone, boy".

Miwara before having to deal with the incoming brawl, thought of a better thing to wander off to, disappearing briefly with no one noticing.

"Naruto you're not helping". Said Kaiyō as he stood in between.

Cries of protest, tones rising proceeded to reign in the next two minutes, voices stepping on each other, making whatever they each claimed incomprehensible.

"Kaiyō you've really done it this time. You've outdone yourself." Added Shoken pointedly, his index finger violently shaking as it showcased his wrath, inches away from Kaiyō's face.

"Could you just calm down, he's just a kid" Said Kaiyō to his partners.

"That kid now knows where the fuck we are. All because of your doing. You go look at him and tell me why should I let him leave? He would tell on us. Like that fucking Sannin will to their Hokage". Shoken this time did put his finger in Kaiyō's chest. Kaiyō's demeanor wasn't that of a man who would tell him to go fuck himself or to simply punch Shoken in response, but don't think that he would back away, or tremble in fear.

"Furthermore reasons to welcome him, attempt at least" Kaiyō stated.

"The Hokage is Mito's Uzumaki granddaughter." Jiraiya pointed out to the bashfulness of some of the members.

"And what of it? Where was she when all happened, huh! I for one don't have many desires of reunion with distant relatives given the present one". Pointed a man as he referred to Naruto.

"Second that!"

"Could you behave like the responsible adults that your positions preconceive you to be," Kaiyō begged at this point.

"Rich coming from you after this stunt".

Naruto looked away from the conversation for a second, noticing Miwara approaching them. When did she leave again?

She had a giant book at hand, with two scrolls kept steady in her armpit. She seemed to be groaning, an incredulous look as she realized that they were all still going. She tried to look above them, trying to catch sight of what was happening outside the agora.

The whole town seemed to be at the door, looking at them, no one attempting to go past the guards and venturing inside.

As she got a few yards again, perceiving Naruto's stare on her, she winked at him before throwing a scroll to the floor. Some wrist she had to have, or some special type of scroll, because as it hit the floor, it unwrapped, completely showing what it contains. A circle with some weird markings.

The bickering stopped for a second. 'You know he is one Miwara, this goes beyond that' Kaiyō thought, all the Uzumaki knew perfectly what that scroll was.

"What's the meaning of this Miwara?" Shoken asked, his eyebrows twitching.

Miwara raised her hands, tired of their demeanor before claiming."It was better to bring this and go past some things than to simply paralyze you all so you stop your pouting. What a scene you're making".

"And what's this?" Asked Jiraiya.

"That seal is all the proof these fools need to know with certainty that Naruto is an Uzumaki. A blood seal that tells you whether he is or isn't." Naruto looked down at it. "This one the other hand..." Miwara said as she opened the book. "... is the register, a census of all the Uzumaki before us. With the different branches and houses, relations of parentage..."

"The fact that he's an Uzumaki has nothing to do with..." Whoever was about to go on was interrupted.

"Will you stop it! The boy is already here, so unless you plan to kill him he will forever know of the existence of this place, it's not like he is alone in that. Unlike you, I trust Kaiyō's judgment here. And like you, I believe that trust has nothing to with some matters, with the fact that if he somehow isn't who he suddenly believes, if we were to teach him in our ways, he could be hurt or killed because we blindly venture into it. This is all the proof we need, for us, for him and the villagers."

"And then what?" Questioned Shoken, having no angst for the moment when the boy poured an infimum amount of blood into the scroll, already believing that the boy is who he claimed.

"Then we all come down and face the facts. We show him who he is, who we are, and shelter one of our own like they desire and teach him. Even laughing and cheering, myself for certain, at your mercy once you realize who he's to you" Mawari claimed.

"Just like that?" Shoken said, forgetting that last part.

"Just like that, because when they eventually leave this island and we will ensure they do so safely, knowing perfectly who to blame if they don't," She stares at Shoken directly, and his trio of cheerleaders "you're going to have to deal with the fact that you can't surveil him twenty-four seven. Learning to trust that he won't say anything and that the boy would at least not act in this town disinterest. Given that not everybody wants to kill us and given that I'm the only one in this place with knowledge on memory and the art of how to manipulate it, Shoken, therefore being the only one capable of choosing if I was to erase it. Those are your few chances after Kaiyō's stunt, which we all can agree was reckless, coercing, and sudden. So tell me what is it going to be?"

Kaiyō had no time to be thankful for Mawari as he saw Shoken's dark and insidious smirk.

"Don't even think about it, Shoken. I will beat you to unconsciousness myself before that". He warned.

"Where's your pacifist self at the moment old man?" Shoken asked, smiling.

"Delegating in others so that I don't look away and don't intervene before you plant a cursed seal in a thirteen-year-old boy".

'A cursed seal?' Thought Jiraiya in disbelief, taking a step towards Shoken, erasing immediately Ashina's son smile as he stood imposingly before him, two heads above him in height. Jiraiya didn't want to utter threat out loud, his eyes spoke for themselves though. 'I will kill you, you arrogant bastard.' Jiraiya thought.

Shoken unnoticeably gulped.

Miwara put her hand on Jiraiya, subtly pushing him back before he could step on the scroll. She decided to act before this could somehow escalate.

"Naruto, could you give me a hand here". Miwara said as she pointed at the scroll. Naruto knew what to do and conceded with Miwara, seeking to help her from her struggle, hoping too to confirm that Uzumaki's side of him. If not and he was lied about who his mother was, he would go berserk. "Just bite your thumb and press it in the middle."

And simply enough Naruto did, just like when summoning only that in slow motion as he aimed without difficulty to the dot in the middle.

Miwara could lose herself when explaining how this worked, the thing is that even if asked, today she wasn't in the mood for it. A long lecture on chromosomes and autosomes, the gathering of them and finding the trace, the genetic link of it, the complexity of how they managed for it to be translated and written over a scroll that was to recognize it…The historical eventualities that lead for them to need this kind of thing.

She preferred the simplistic visual effect that ended the conversation. That everyone took for granted and didn't venture afterward to ask any questions.

When Naruto effectively pressed it, the little blood that was smeared over the dot started to spin, in circles? 'Wait a minute, is that...?' Naruto wondered.

Indeed… The blood started to mimic the trace of the ancient clan symbol. Simplistic enough. The surprise wasn't that resounding.

As the blood ended the outer layer of the symbol, it shined on the paper. Prevailing the mark. Naruto didn't dare presume that it meant that he was an Uzumaki, so he asked.

"What does that mean?"

"That you are indeed an Uzumaki". Shoken said, not gritting his teeth to the surprise of Kaiyō, who was honestly relieved.

Miwara picked up the scroll and took a few steps away from the group, Naruto following her and in due time so did the rest. She seated, with the book opened in hand, motioning Naruto to sit beside her.

"Here she is Naruto, Kushina". Naruto followed Miwara's finger after she called his mother's name. When looking at the book, all he saw were names, dates of birth, family, no photo.

He read the date of birth of her mother, the 25th of July. She would have turned 38 years old this year. According to this, his grandparents were called Takaba Gezo and Sara Uzumaki. As he kept going down he got to the brother and sister section, two sisters and one brother.

"Are any of them alive?" He asked looking up from the paper. Miwara shook her head.

'Great' Naruto thought. So there was no close family, he grasped that many here were his relatives, but he wanted to know those directly involved with his mother. "Not even a cousin or something?" That he said inadvertently.

"When I said ethnic cleansing I meant it, Naruto," Kaiyō said.

"Ethnic cleansing?" Questioned Jiraiya.

"Yeah apparently for you continentals we're another race altogether," Shoken claimed, before adding. "Rats I recall they called us as they forced us to our knees".

Jiraiya thought back on the nonsense. It's true that they had different attributes. Life expectancy in the shinobi world didn't reach the fifty mark, not by any stretch of the imagination, Uzumaki's meanwhile was in the eighties, reaching some of them a hundred years old and beyond. Ashina being an example. They were redheads mostly, pale, had larger chakra capacities, had different deities and religion, and an art of their own, meaning fuinjutsu… That didn't amount to another ethnic group. Not that there needed to be many rational judgments so that you could dehumanize those that are strangers to you.

Jiraiya turned to Miwara.

"You said that he was closely related to sunshine here" Jiraiya claimed as he pointed at Shoken.

"I said that he was more closely related than he could ever bear. Given how he's appalled by the mere idea of him being an Uzumaki, it ain't that much of a close call". Miwara stated.

"Then what is it? You sounded like there was substance here". Kaiyō wondered, happy at least that the volume decreased a bit, tired of the constant shouting.

"Well, while I may have led you to believe that they're all dead, we don't know for a fact about one of your mother's sister's Naruto, we know that she managed to escape, but there's no knowledge after that. Your Aunt Onada. We heard rumors that she died and that her daughter was kidnapped or escaped, but our sources weren't certain about anything". That at least meant that there was a chance, Naruto was content with that. "In regards to the link between these two. Do you want the long version or the shorter one?"

"The longer". Said Naruto instantly.

"The shorter one". Claimed Shoken, enticing Naruto's angry stare upon him. The youngling wondered if the Uzumaki had a main branch like the Hyuga, lamenting not only its existence if giving the case but that its lead had fallen to such a dickhead.

"Your great-great-grandfather is Ashina's older brother". Mawari said, looking to Shoken more than Naruto, as she claimed before, enjoying his imminent shocked face.

"Reo? My uncle Reo?" Shoken was shocked, alright. He did make an effort to not show it, failing.

Jiraiya focuses his stare on Shoken too.

"How old are you man?" The Sannin questioned, baffled. Naruto was the fourth rung in the generational lineage ladder in reference to this Reo guy, Ashina's brother, no more no less. Meanwhile, Shoken was his son, in the first step. He didn't look to be older than sixty years old.

Shoken could see how this came as a surprise. "My father had me when he was sixty-one years old. I'm the runt of a vast litter".

"You don't say?" Jiraiya said rhetorically, not daring to ask how old was the mother then. Or joking saying how he made a family habit out of it, given that his daughter Ashina was near her twenties. This guy was contemporary to his uncle's great-great-grandson or his cousin's great-grandson.

A shiver ran down Naruto's spine.

"It's no coincidence that Kushina was sent to Konoha. Do you see it? Let's do this chronologically okay?" Naruto nodded. "This is a game of guessing who's whose nephew or niece. Or find the uncle or aunt. The prize is an armor set! I guess" Nobody was in the mode for Mawari joyous search to light up the atmosphere. 'So the mood is still tense I see, not my best material'.

All eyes were fixated on her. She proceeded.

"As I said, Reo was Ashina's brother. He had many sons and daughters but we only care about two of them right now. One of them is Mito Uzumaki". Jiraiya gasped loudly, that meant… "The other is his youngest, Tora. Your great grandfather." She accelerated her speech. "Then came Sara, then Kushina and finally you".

"Wait a minute, are you saying that Mito is the daughter of Reo?" Jiraiya asked, Miwara simply nodded. "The big sister of Tora?" Miwara nodded again looking at Jiraiya like he was some old senile. Jiraiya looked at Naruto, not flinching when seeing his angry stare. It wasn't going to go away anytime soon. "You know what that means, Naruto?"

Naruto didn't answer. Jiraiya didn't know if it was out of spite or out of doubt, he proceeded nonetheless.

"You are related to Tsunade". Jiraiya stated factually. Shocked that Tsunade's and Kushina's parents were cousins. That their family proximity was such, and mad at the brief chance that each had to talk to the other given everything that happened. Only in Mito's deathbed did they cross paths. With Tsunade immersed in her pain and self grievance, her imminent travels and efforts to remain as far as the village as she could, there was very little chance for anything else.

The blond travels internally to deal with that fact. Looking down, smiling. Holding his necklace. What a warm, life-affirming statement that was. He considered her family regardless, but this… This was great.

Immediately to his mind came their first and last encounters. The way he gained his necklace and how she earned his care and appreciation. The day of his departure.

---

Back again to the day he left Konoha to his three-year training trip…

"Ready, Naruto," Jiraiya said as he appeared out of the window with the first trace of morning light, a habit of his that had earned him a couple of scoldings from Tsunade.

A storm broke loose, Naruto cleaned himself up, made his bed, got dressed, almost going through the door. He was ready, all right. As he closed the door he took a minute to look outside before closing it. Yeah, he was ready.

As they walked through the village, all looks wonder at the boy and the Legendary Sannin of their village. Naruto didn't look back. In the distance, he saw the gates and without looking he could already picture both guards out there, it seemed to talk about it without them somehow felt wrong.

He then saw different haircuts and shades of color, brown, pink, black… His friends.

A voice stops them both.

"Planning on not saying goodbye?" Naruto turns to the voice, aware and smiling.

"Baa-chan, Shizune-nee-chan". Naruto called for them, both approaching them with a smile. There was something special in the way Naruto called their names, in it was the sadness of saying till latter and the happiness and thankfulness for them appearing in his life, all at the same time.

Tsunade groaned after hearing the appellative once again.

"Today I will let it slide.." There was no point in trying to correct him right now, she hadn't been able in the last months. Why would she think that she could do it in an instant? "Naruto you promised me something, don't you dare forget it. Don't let this pervert drive you to the creepy side. If you come back as a clone of him I promise to beat you senseless. I will cut your balls, got it?"

"I'm not that bad. I think." Jiraiya said with a hand in his chest, hurt.

"I will not grandma. Pervy-Sage here won't rub off on me in that." Naruto said in response chuckling, not scared by the threats. Jiraiya was not so happy after hearing what he just said.

"Why you little? What did you call me?" Jiraiya asked, angered.

The trio of Tsunade, Naruto, and Shizune laughed at the new nickname the little blonde came up with. Tsunade held her hand up high for her little rascal and he clapped it with force.

Jiraiya cursed out loud.

Tsunade roughs up Naruto's hair, making the boy pout. Before he could protest Tsunade hugged him motherly, leaving Naruto with no other choice than to desire to embrace her too. He felt nothing but a pleasant warmth.

Ending her embrace they both shared a stare that didn't need words. Naruto then proceeded to hug Shizune before Tsunade called for his attention one last time, enticing him to go to talk to his friends so she could lastly talk to Jiraiya. Warning him.

When lastly looking back before proceeding, Naruto notices Tsunade smiling at him.

---

Back on New Uzushiogakure...

'Ba-chan'. Naruto succinctly said in his mind.

He could gather the strength to be angry at her too for not telling him who his parents were, but he didn't want to. She probably left that call for Jiraiya to make.

Naruto became aware of many things in such a short amount of time. The answers of a lifetime, agglutinated in little more than six hours. It was taxing.

He recalled his promise to her, the promise to come back to the village, to become stronger and wiser, her using the Hokage title as motivation for him to achieve great things. He didn't need it or desire it that much, at least not in comparison to protecting those he cared about. That did fuel him.

He had been so angry in the past hours. 'Sara, Kushina, Onada, Mito, Reo...' Those names were now imprinted in his mind. He wanted to know more about each of them.

"When did you manage to gather all this? How?" Whispered Kaiyō in Mawari 's ear.

"When all of you were bickering and nagging each other, I excused myself for a second". She whispered back.

"That quick? You were able to find all this in just a couple of minutes?" Kaiyō asked again, incredulous. Mawari nodded with a smile. "Impressive".

"How come I don't recall them, my own cousin? Mito?" Questioned Shoken, having met both Tora and Sara. "Could I take a look at it?" Shoken pleaded, hoping to be lent the book, his tone very different now.

Mawari stood up and with no second thought gave it to him.

"It's not like we all met our cousins Shoken, you were probably too young when she departed". Said Kaiyō.

Shoken follows Mawari's index finger as she guides him through the vast ocean of information that resided in that book.

It was the truth.

Shoken put the book down.

"Now what?" Questioned one of the others.

That was the matter at hand.

"We all give this a chance". Kaiyō hopefully incited.

'Could I?' Thought Naruto and Shoken in unison. Looking again at each other.

"Although it is not my call and whatever I claim will do nothing but entice you to do the contrary, I am with Kaiyō." Said Jiraiya as he raised his voice, looking at Shoken. "I know my word and Konoha's means nothing to you, deservingly so, but we are not gonna tell of your position, ever. And if I'm brutally honest we won't ever be questioned on it. You are no longer a topic in the shinobi world. We can't honor that alliance, but this is a matter of your people".

"I don't know". Shoken said with an awakening headache. "If you make a name for yourself Naruto, in part with the teachings we share with you, the target and interest in us could rise again. I have a feeling that that will happen regardless… But you can't judge us for grudgingly trying to erase that chance." He looks above Naruto. "Those are the remains of us, Naruto. I'm entertaining the thought, I want to know more, to discover what happened to my family, I…" 'But I want to protect those that I have left'. Shoken thought.

"I want that too". Naruto claimed, hoping to know more about them too.

"Yeah". Shoken simply breathed out.

Jiraiya, Kaiyō, and Mawari looked at each other. Someone had to intervene before this impasse prolonged.

Naruto thought so too.

"I ask for your help. I ask for you to make an effort, like the one I'm about to make. You did send my mother away, but none of you partake in that decision. I'm tired of people who are not responsible, not for them to be held accountable, but for them to be seen as blameworthy of everything bad that has ever happened. Believe me, I'm a jinchuriki so I know best what that I'm talking about." Naruto looked at Shoken. "If I do that you have to do the same with me being a Konoha shinobi, which I warn you is not gonna change. Whether you forgive Jiraiya here is up to you, he has many explanations to give still." The members of the council nodded.

Jiraiya was left in a precarious situation, he was at fault for not telling Naruto the truth about his parents. In Konoha's lack of aid of Uzushiogakure meanwhile… He was fighting in a war too in another country, he was not in command. If he could just explain that to the lurking eyes on him.

"What?" He claimed, no pity or empathy was coming his way. "I take full responsibility for Naruto's anger towards me, it's deserved… But I was fighting in a war when the attack of Uzushiogakure happened. I did not make the calls. I'm not ubiquitous. I was in the front from July to September, if there was ever a regiment coming in your aid, mine wouldn't have been regardless. We had our hands full."

Mawari hummed in response to the Sannin's panic defense.

"Not the more convincing excuse I've heard in my life, but it will have to do". Mawari said. "We are not gonna end this because of you." Ouch.

There was a moment of dubious chat. Things slowing down, getting settled.

A hand found its way to Naruto's shoulder minutes after. "I don't think you're in the mood for a swarm of people to relentlessly question you right now," Kaiyō said. "You both could get some rest."

"I will handle the crowd. I warn you that their questioning session is unavoidable, I will postpone it to tomorrow, we will meet here again." Shoken said.

"What are you gonna do?" Kaiyō questioned with wonder.

"Give me the scroll. The mark is still on it?" Mawari lends it to Shoken, nodding, who turns towards the crowd, uttering words that he himself didn't expect to come from his mouth. "Welcome to New Uzushiogakure, Naruto."

Shoken's begrudge was not palpable in those words, but in an afterthought. 'Let's hope we don't live to regret this'.

---

Back to the present…

'A magical place indeed' Naruto reminiscence.

"You are not a very present person, Naruto, are you?" Fū asked.

"What?" Naruto said with no conscience of what she was talking about. If he had been talked to, rather. Fū chuckled.

"Is he always like that?" She questioned, turning to Tadashi and Sora.

"We only have known him for a week, so we have a marginal sample, but yes". Said Tadashi.

"He isn't the life of the party, I will tell you that," Sora added.

"Thanks". Naruto begged to differ, he was known for actually being that. The loud one. He just had a lot in his mind. He was focused on something else. If only things were easier.

"It's alright. As of now try to not drift when someone is talking to you". Tadashi said, poking in the wound.

"Again, thanks". Naruto said, clenching his teeth. "Sorry Fū, what were you saying".

"I was asking you if it was safe to say that Roshi won't partake in this jinchuriki initiative of yours, and Yugito's." She wondered.

"I wouldn't be so certain. I would rather strip Son Goku from him and protect him separately, freeing him from that monster, that fight alongside him, aiding him, but that's easier said than done. Iwa has made him officially a renegade. Officially he isn't in their ranks, a publicity stunt by which they clean their reputation" A false recant. "He's still living in the land of Earth, guarded by their shinobis as far as we know. No matter what he's done, we can't let that monster fall into Akatsuki's hands".

"He's a killing psychopath, Naruto, you can't..." Fū tried to install some sense into the whole thing. She at least reached to grasp that.

"I know." Naruto didn't know better at the moment.

"Brat." Kurama resonated with echo in Naruto's mind, something had to get into him to make him talk to Naruto.

'What is it Kurama?' He asked, thankful that Kurama attempted to start a conversation between them. Or that's what he wanted to think. He would be disappointed if it was otherwise.

"Focus. Stop the group and do your sage thing".

'Is there something wrong?'

"I couldn't explain it to you so that you could understand." Touch was not Kurama's thing "You talked about trust between us, right? Trust me and do it." Kurama was so adamant in his plea that Naruto had to give in. He nodded.

"Guys, stop!" Naruto exclaimed without shouting, just in case.

"What's happening Naruto?" Asked the team sensei.

"Let's take a brief break while I do one thing". He subtly made a clone, putting his glasses on again, trying to make it imperceptible so that no one thought that he had fallen on something. Their pursuers, in case of this being about that.

"What's he doing?" Questioned the Jonin.

"I don't know sensei, but he has his reason, believe me". Tadashi said. "It was thanks to whatever he's doing now that we made it through the exam"

Naruto had purposely stopped near a fountain, so that it all seemed natural.

"How long is he going to take?" Questioned Kegon. Having no clue what this was either. As did the rest of Takigakure's team. Fū could sense him gathering something, it didn't feel like... Was it chakra?

She felt Chomei rise, though. Something funny was going on.

Three minutes in Naruto opened his eyes.

'What I'm searching for, Kurama?' Naruto asked before feeling it. His gaze turned to the source of an easily noticeable and considerable amount of chakra. 'Nevermind, I've found them. They are getting closer. That signature is rare, like unnatural. Bigger than a normal Jonin.'

"That is no coincidence brat". Kurama stated with certainty. He knew that this in his gut, it just felt wrong. At this point and given who they were protecting...

'I won't bother asking you how did you know, but you're right. Could it be them though?' Naruto wondered. 'The other one's chakra is almost average'.

Naruto fell into who he could be. 'Hidan!'

"He fits the profile". Like Kurama previously said, at times he did pay attention.

'I will send a clone to scout. It's too soon, we are three hours away from the meeting point.' Naruto thought. 'Who's the other?'

"Go look into it. Send a message through one of those stupid toads to that sensei of yours". Wisely advised the Biju.

'You're right. Thank you, Kurama'

"I didn't do it for you brat"

Naruto didn't care, he had other things at hand.

He made two clones and sent them separately to the possible enemy position. Summoning after a little size toad and briefing him on a message that he was to give urgently to Jiraiya.

"Mind briefing us too, Naruto," The Jonin said.

Naruto stood up once the toad disappeared.

"Someone is in our tails, at this point they're clearly following us. Given the situation, it's a safe bet to say that they're Akatsuki." Naruto said.

"What?" What kind of person just blurts out that out of the blue. Kegon didn't believe they were ready to face S-Rank shinobis. "What leads you to believe that? How could they have tracked and reached us so fast, it has only been a day and we have been in the running too". If they were here, they were pursuing Fū. Kegon's mission was clear.

"Sunagakure is full of leaks, they might have somehow found out about you coming here". Naruto had to warn Jiraya in important detail, he and the crew of Suna's traitors were not the only ones looking from the distance at Neji saving both Fu and Gaara. There was a very particular village team lurking, with suspicious care to not be caught. "I think it's wise to get ready for the worst. They're an hour away at that pace, it's imperative we manage to elude contact until we reach the Land of Fire". 'You better hurry Ero-Sennin'. Jiraiya alone could probably beat them. With a Sannin, three Jonin and practically four chunin they could beat them and elude casualties… Without Jiraiya, things were going to turn for the worst.

They all grew scared, they had reasons to. Some felt their throats tighten up, they're voices tremble as they jokingly disregarded the chance, their heartbeats accelerated, they started sweating more… This seems to emanate out of a terror tale for many of them, having not faced an enemy of this magnitude in their lifetimes, nowhere close. Wanting to elude the possibility.

"Let's move people!".