Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Author's Notes

This is part of a triple release. So before reading this chapter make sure you have read chapter 10 and 11.

Chapter 12

Konoha's intelligence division was located in a large building. It didn't appear any different from the other official buildings, but there was a layer of unease always surrounding it. Naruto hated coming here, as he had no intention of meeting the more eccentric shinobi and kunoichi working here. However, right now, he had no choice as the hokage had previously ordered him to come here and provide details about Guren.

It was at least a small consolation that he only needed to visit the Analysis department, headed by one Inoichi Yamanaka, and not the other branches like torture and interrogation.

After filling some forms required to access the building, he was directed towards Inoichi's office. He knocked on the door softly and entered, "Good morning Inoichi-san."

"Naruto-kun, good morning. It's good to see you. Come in." Inoichi ushered him inside happily. "Would you like some tea? I just made some." He asked.

"Allow me," Naruto said as he hastily stood up and poured in some tea for both of them. It would be inappropriate for him to let Inoichi-san serve him.

Quietly enjoying the first few sips, Inoichi sat there in silence before speaking, "How are you doing? Everything's fine?"

"More or less, nothing too bad," Naruto said.

"Breaking your arm in multiple places, you consider that not bad," Inoichi asked amusedly.

"How did you know about that."

"I hear things."

"and I was deliberately avoiding everyone until I healed," Naruto said dejectedly.

"Don't worry. I haven't said anything about that to Yume or Ino,"

"Thanks, I don't want to worry Yume-san," Naruto was relieved to hear that, he didn't want to sense the feeling of distress coming from that kind woman.

"Neither do I," Inoichi agreed. "Speaking of worrying, I heard that you are training Ino."

"She was mad at me, and in trying to make her happy, I kind of promised her training."

"You know Naruto, that I have no problem with you being friends with her, but Ino is inquisitive and impulsive, and she doesn't know about… it." Inoichi delicately stated, "Her abilities as a Yamanaka are dangerous to both of you, so please be careful and avoid any instance of giving her an excuse of using her jutsu on you."

"I understand," Naruto said. Out of curiosity, he asked, "What would happen if she was successful in using her mind jutsu on me."

"In theory, it can be done without an incident," Inoichi said thoughtfully, "but I don't want to take chances. Ino is not quite proficient with the jutsu, so I fear the worst-case scenario of her suffering trauma would be the most likely thing to happen."

Naruto paled at hearing this, he quickly promised, "Don't worry, I will make sure something like that doesn't happen."

"I believe you. Also, since we are on the subject, I would ask you to carefully consider what you teach her."

"What do you mean?"

"Naruto-kun, you are a smart boy, so you must understand that teaching someone extends beyond just helping them learn the technique. You must also teach them when to use it. Take, for example, the body flicker you taught her, did you tell her that the technique can be easily countered by sensors or faster shinobi. It's important to take the job of teaching seriously; lack of knowledge and experience can often lead to dire consequences."

Naruto listened intently and tried to recall how he was taught, and winced at his negligence. Grandma Mito would always tell him about the background of the technique, its application, and as most of what he had learned from her were from her skill pool, she would give him anecdotes of where she had correctly and incorrectly used the technique in battle. There was merit in letting the students figure out some problems, but most of the basic shinobi techniques have been polished to perfection and should be taught as such. Shinobi life was a precious commodity; that's why tutors and teachers were highly respected in Konoha.

Naruto answered solemnly, "I will do better next time. I will also teach her how to correctly use the body-flicker."

"Thank you for taking the time to teach my daughter. She can be very curious."

"It's fine, no need to thank me," Naruto replied embarrassedly. Although he decided not to mention to Inoichi that he had also told Ino about her lightning affinity. He would have to talk to her about that.

Inoichi smiled. He liked Naruto. The boy was hard-working and intelligent, "I extracted some memories from the three shinobi you captured, it has been a long process, but the results have been promising. Your squad might receive a reward."

That was unexpected. Naruto was excited to tell Izumo and Kotetsu about it when they came back. Izumo had gone to the outpost where Kotetsu was hospitalised to keep him company. They were scheduled to come back, in a couple of days.

"That's good. Anything interesting?" Naruto asked. He had been curious about the condition of Ame.

"I can't tell you, it's above even my own pay grade."

Naruto was surprised. Inoichi was a department head; his position was above that of even the jonin elites. Only the hokage, his council, the anbu commander, and the jonin commander had more authority.

"Anyway, tell me the reason for your visit."

A jonin shinobi with an unknown bloodline was an important matter. Not to mention Guren was part of the newly emerging shinobi force. Naruto took his time, giving thorough information on her.

After finishing up and bidding goodbye, he went for a bowl of ramen. As he sat there slurping on delicious ramen, he gave Ayame the gift he had purchased, which earned him a bone-crushing hug. He spent some time chatting with the Ichiraku's even after he had finished eating.

Deciding to leave as he watched the evening rush come in, he paid for the meal and hopped off the stool. Taking to the rooftops, he quickly arrived home and settled on his couch. His home had filled up over the years after he had started making money from doing missions. He had bought some essentials as well as some items for comfort. The couch had been one of them; it was an expensive plush one, very comfortable.

He was about to settle down read some new books he had purchased when he heard a buzzing sound coming from his workroom. Recognising the origin of the sound from his memory, Naruto started panicking. Biting his thumb and going through the hand signs, he slammed his hand onto the ground drawing upon his chakra to summon his partner. Unexpectedly he felt more of his chakra drain out than usual whenever he summoned Umi.

With a puff of smoke, an old blue serpent with an impressive handlebar moustache appeared staring at him. "Young master Naruto, it would appear that you have been negligent of my lady's summons. She had been expecting you for a while, and I am deeply troubled to say that she had reached the limit of her patience. She is extremely displeased with your tardiness."

"It's not my fault." Naruto protested, "I forgot. I just had a lot going on."

Looking unimpressed the serpent continued, "Be that as it may, you have earned the ire of lady Kiyo, and it would be in your best interest to go meet her as soon as possible. I'm going to stay here. With the amount of chakra I possess, I can easily stay here for about two hours and still perform the summoning jutsu to bring you back. Please make preparations to leave. You have ten minutes."

Resigned to his fate Naruto went into his workroom and found the still vibrating summoning contract. It was a giant scroll about his height and very thick. Unfurling it, he winced at the sight of numerous messages demanding his presence written on it.

Naruto rushed, setting up the required seal on the floor, that Akihito-san, the serpent present in his house, could use to summon him back. He had serious doubt that the serpent clan had working clocks. He was not so sure in their ability to know ten-minutes from five.

Proving his hunch correctly, Naruto abruptly disappeared in a small puff and reappeared somewhere else. He quickly sat down on the floor, nauseated by the teleportation.

"You are going to get scolded."

Naruto heard a giddy voice. Looking up, he saw Umi smirking at him.

"How bad is it?" Naruto groaned.

"She's furious. Apologise quickly and hope for the best." She said, wriggling in place, "Come on, move, don't make her wait any longer."

Standing up, and using the walls as a support, Naruto made his way towards the inner chamber. The walls beside him moved periodically, and he could hear a faint, thumping sound. It was the reverberations of a heartbeat. Deep underneath the islands of whirlpool, swimming within the unseen depths, the giant serpent was the home of its people. The serpents of the depths possessed an unusual constitution allowing them to survive the water pressure outside, which he as a human could not.

As soon as he entered the inner chamber, he heard the angry voice of the most esteemed elder of the serpent clan questioning him.

"Finally, deemed us worthy of your presence, have you?"

Naruto watched as a slim, pale green serpent with shimmering scales, several meters long resting on a bed of pillows and cushions stir. Uncoiling gracefully, she disappeared and appeared without an indication before him. Floating in mid-air, with red ribbons of silk dancing around her, she watched him with glassy white eyes.

Fidgeting slightly, he answered, "I had a busy week, and I kinda forgot."

"Stand still!" Lady Kiyo ordered, forcing Naruto to snap his back straight in attention, "I understand you are busy, and I get that you have a memory of a goldfish, but I expect you to honour your promise. Did you or did you not send word to me that you would come to meet me within a week."

Naruto felt that comparing him to a goldfish was harsh, but he was genuinely afraid of her; she had been alive for a long time, even before his grandma Mito was born, "I'm sorry, elder. Won't happen again."

Kiyohime stared at him for a while before she said with a huff, "Fine, I will let you off this time because you are no different from a tadpole."

"Hey, that's unfair." Naruto protested. He could let it slide once, but twice now, he had been, compared to a stupid animal. First a fish, then an amphibian.

"Is it. Look at you, unruly hair, sloppy clothing, and I can see grease stains on your sleeve. You look like a dirty urchin." Kiyohime snapped.

Naruto was thoroughly embarrassed. He tried to pat down his hair, it was getting kinda long. As for his clothes, he was in his home lazing about, what did she expect. He didn't know how she could see the grease stain he had gotten when eating ramen, he could barely see it, and the elder was blind.

"Enough chitchat, sit down, shut your eyes, and don't move," She ordered.

Naruto was familiar with the process and seeing that she was still quite angry, he didn't dillydally. He sat down, cross-legged on the floor and closed his eyes. Trying to clear his mind, he fought the urge to move when he felt long fangs pierce the skin of his neck, injecting foreign chakra into his system. He focused all his attention on the tiny wisp of chakra moving, invading, rampaging inside his body. He needed to learn how the chakra felt and familiarise himself with its unique nature, quickly as time was short. To him, in a timeframe of what felt like seconds, the chakra disappeared, devoured by his own reserves, his body winning and annihilating the foreign invader.

"Now, focus on your surroundings, envision the soft ebb and flow of the nature around you. Lose your physical body in it. Try and find chakra like the one I gave you. Let your soul swim inside nature's aether."

Soft murmurs reached his ears, guiding him forward. He tried to follow, abandoning the sensations of his body, but soon his thoughts started wandering, his skin felt sensitive, he was awfully aware that his tongue was having a hard time finding a natural place to rest in his mouth. Was he breathing too quickly, or was it too slow? Maybe he wasn't breathing deep enough. Why was it taking so long for him to sense the chakra around him?

WHACK

The sound of a fleshy tail hitting Naruto skull reverberated through the air. Sprawled on the ground, Naruto rubbed his head furiously.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not focus on your physical body. Your heart is in turmoil; it makes you blind to the world around you." Lady Kiyo chided.

"I'm trying," Naruto complained.

"Yes, you are trying, and that's why I'm still teaching you. As long as you keep trying, I'll continue, but you have to ask yourself how much time are you willing to spend training. The world moves faster than you, kid. But the more you rush, the harder it becomes to be calm." Withdrawing to her throne of cushions, she continued, "Tell me about your last fight. I heard it was a rough one."

Naruto quickly recounted the fight, carefully detailing the whole encounter. As he finished, he asked, "So what do you think?"

"I think it would have been easier for you to win if you had been able to cut through the crystals of that girl. How's your progress with the sword."

"It's been slow. I still can't cut materials harder than my sword," Naruto replied gloomily.

"That's the mark of a master. It's not easy to reach. I would advise you to artificially sharpen your sword skills, the best way for you would be to learn wind manipulation."

"I don't know where to start with that."

"Kiddo, I know you love your water manipulation, and it's necessary for you to improve that so you could summon us. Wind manipulation, however, could be very helpful to you. I now Mito-chan taught you well, but you have to start looking for another teacher if you couldn't figure it out on your own. You might have an easier time. It's your natural affinity, after all."

"I guess," Naruto mumbled. It wasn't that he hated wind or anything. His mother also had an affinity for wind. He didn't know about his father, but Mito Uzumaki was a water user, and as her student, he had learned almost all of his ninjutsu from her. He hadn't tried to learn wind manipulation because he did not have access to wind jutsus, so it seemed to be a waste of time. His chakra might have an affinity towards wind, but personally, he felt a stronger affinity towards water. He just loved it because water was so malleable, it was so easy to craft and give form.

Naruto spent the rest of his short time learning under Lady Kiyo, getting advice on how to improve his summoning and work out a way to form collaboration jutsus.

Danzo Shimura liked the silence of his base. It didn't mean that he despised the hustle and bustle of places like the Hokage tower. It was because he felt that a shinobi should be quiet, silent as a shadow. The Root base housed dozens of shinobi at a given time, yet one would find it difficult to find any with their hearing and sight alone.

He sat at his table, reading through the various report. His operatives gathered information from all over the elemental regions. He had even ordered some of them to follow specific key individuals over the nations.

Picking up another piece of paper, he frowned. Kumo was leaking information about the Kyuubi jinchuriki. Placing the paper back on his desk, he leaned back on his chair and tried to make sense of the events.

He knew of the recent skirmish between the jinchuriki and Orochimaru's squad. He suspected Orochimaru knew of the boy's heritage, so it would be no surprise if he was the leak, or there could be another source, as it wasn't hard to figure out the boy was an Uzumaki. It wouldn't be too far-fetched to think that someone might have connected the dots.

He still felt that Orochimaru was up to something. He had closed up the line of communication between them, and recently he was aggressively building up his forces, as was Kumo. Both of them seemed to be preparing for war. If Konoha's current situation continued, in a few years, he believed Konoha would be unable to catch up and militarise in time.

His Root operations had slowed down after Hiruzen had foolishly declared the organisation illegal. Before the Uchiha massacre, Root was one of the highest priority organisations in Konoha, and he could forcibly recruit children from even the various clans' resource pool, except for the Hyuuga and the Uchiha. After finding out that they had no choice but to volunteer certain numbers of children, the Hyuuga elders decided to use the branch house for the matter. He could do nothing but decline the offer as he couldn't stomach the thought of someone else having a leash on his operatives. The Uchiha were protected from his recruitment drive by their association with the police force. It was an exclusive Uchiha only organisation created by the second hokage; it held priority over everything short of war. Therefore unless an Uchiha shinobi volunteered themselves for Root, he couldn't get his hands on them. He had planned to get some Uchiha shinobi from the massacre as his Root operatives were positioned to snatch a couple of children, but they were slaughtered, by who he wasn't quite sure.

Within a week, he believed all the major villages would be receiving the news about the son of the Yellow Flash. Opening up his cabinet, he picked up a file from within. It contained the detailed observations of his operatives about Naruto Uzumaki. Looking through it, he could see that the boy was an excellent seed, capable of growing into a mighty tree. He could also see that the boy was capable of becoming the firm foundation of Konoha. Still, he was unsatisfied. Naruto Uzumaki's motives and loyalties were unclear, and he didn't like that one bit.

Standing up, he picked up his walking stick that was leaning on his table, and he walked out of his room, heading towards the Hokage tower. For now, he needed to talk to Hiruzen and devise a way to soften the news about Naruto's heritage amongst the masses.

Neji decided to make a trip to his home to change into fresh clothes before going for his part-time job. It would be his second week on the job, and frankly, he didn't know what to think. Naruto, his employer for the month, was quiet most of the time, content on doing his own thing after he had asked him to hand out fliers to the populace, mainly to the shinobi forces.

There have been no customers apart from Gai, and the only visitor to the shop he had seen was Tenten, who had taken to hang around the shop admiring the weapons in her spare time. At first, Neji had suspected the shop would go under after some time, considering it a foolish venture. That is until he had learned that Gai had happily paid Naruto the equivalent of two A-rank missions for the set of training equipment he had created. Now he understood why Naruto insisted on creating specialised equipment and weapons. He was targeting a different client base. Only time would tell if the shop could survive.

His life after the spar with Naruto, or more accurately described as a one-sided ass-kicking, Neji thought bitterly, had been confusing. Gai-sensei was slightly more subdued, which was a big deal. Tenten was eager to do more missions, even the D-rank ones, to earn more money. Lee was working harder than ever if that was possible, and he, Neji, was lost. He felt the world around him slowly crumbling.

He had thought long and hard over his choices, and still, he had reached the same conclusion, he was chained. There was nothing he could do, and no matter how he wished, he could not see a way out. He wondered if Naruto's way of simply trying would in the future unfold to him a new direction. He envied the conviction Naruto had in his words, and he knew Naruto meant what he said. He couldn't tell why he was so sure, but for a moment, back then, he had felt a connection between them.

After taking a shower, as he walked out of the building, he bumped into someone. Reflexively he activated his byakugan and glared at the offending person. Realising it was his cousin, Hinata, knocked on the ground, watching him with nearly vacant eyes, he scowled and swiftly walked away without offering assistance. Neji knew if he had shown such disrespect to anyone else from the main house other than Hinata, he would have received punishment, but he could not muster the patience to be respectful to her. She was weak, there was no fight in her eyes, and he despised her weakness.

With a sour mood, as his cousin's apparent clumsiness could have cost him humiliation and pain, if anyone else had witnessed the collision, he entered the weapons shop. Picking up a mop, he started cleaning up the floor. He didn't mind the menial tasks. He had lost the bet, and for the month, he was fully committed to it.

"What's wrong?"

Neji didn't turn towards Naruto as he heard the question opting to continue cleaning, "Nothing. Just doing my job."

"You are angry about something. It's all over your face."

Neji looked up from his task and stared at Naruto impassively.

"Okay, fine, I can't tell by your face, but I can tell something's wrong." Naruto insisted.

"It's none of your business," Neji replied coldly.

"I don't think if you keep your problems to yourself, anything will change." He usually wouldn't have cared about Neji's problem, but out of curiosity, he had looked into Neji's background, and the Hyuuga-Kumo incident hit him too close to home. He knew there had also been an attempt to kidnap his mother once, and to this day, he felt furious about that.

"There is nothing to change," Neji replied bitterly.

"Didn't I say to you that if you don't try, you wouldn't know for sure."

"I thought about it a lot, and I can think of no other way. Just leave it, okay," Neji said irately.

"Tell me about your problems then. What's the worst that can happen to you."

"I could be put to death." Neji sneered.

"For removing the seal?" Naruto asked.

"So, you know," Neji asked dryly.

"Tell me, why do you want to be free, don't get me wrong, I know it must feel terrible to be chained like a dog, but I haven't seen such hostility from the other members of the branch house as you do." Naruto probed. He knew he was making Neji angrier, but if it made him open up, then so be it.

"Because they are cowards, they have given into their roles as the inferior members of the clan,"

"But didn't you say that destiny cannot be changed? Then why are you so resisting?"

"I will always be a servant, but I won't ever be mediocre or weak. Despite the oppression of the main house, I will become the strongest Hyuuga marring their legacy. I will make it known that despite being from the branch house, Neji Hyuuga surpassed all others." He said spitefully.

"So you are giving up on ever being free," Naruto asked. He too, suffered a similar problem, retirement. He could not see a future where he could just live in peace. He would always be called for war. If he could ever grow old, with his back bent from age, his bones creaking and his joints aching from strain, he would die on the battlefield or keep fighting until Konoha decided he should retire as a jinchuriki, passing his burden onto others. He really didn't want to keep fighting.

"I have thought about it, and there's nothing I can do."

"Are you sure about that? What if I tell you that I can look at your seal," Naruto said.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Even if you can somehow remove it, I wouldn't be free. The Hyuuga law would judge me as a traitor, there would be no one who could save me then, even the Hokage would be unable to step in." Neji said. Although he did feel touched by Naruto's offer. Thinking about it more, he continued, "You might even get put on trial for meddling in clan business."

Naruto almost laughed at the thought. After all, he was not easily replaceable, "You don't have to worry about me. I doubt the Hyuuga clan could do anything. Anyway, if you commission me to do something about the seal as a customer, then I am protected by Konoha's law. There are several checks in place to protect businesses, as long as they do not participate in activities deemed illegal by the Hokage. These laws, along with many others like it, were placed during the reign of the First and Second Hokage to incentivise civilians and other merchants from the Land of Fire to migrate to Konoha."

"Then, by your own admission, you would be charged for breaking the law."

"Nope, I said deemed illegal by the Hokage, removing your seal is deemed illegal by Hyuuga clan law. There is nothing that states it is illegal, according to Konoha."

"But the Hokage knows about it." Neji pressed.

"He does know about it, but there is no official writing in place." Naruto calmly elaborated, "Since the Hokage is not supposed to stick his nose in clan business, the issue was never brought up. Your issue also violates the Konoha directive that shinobi of Leaf only serves the Daimyo, the hokage, and the land itself, another law put in place to ensure the unification of various clans under a single banner. Shinobi are also military assets, so their loyalty is of great concern to the Hokage and the Daimyo. Now, since the Hyuuga clan isn't an official department, I am pretty sure a case could be made that the main branch is breaking the law."

Neji looked astonished; he was having trouble processing the information. After a while, he asked weakly, "Then why hasn't anyone done something."

"Didn't you say the others were cowards?"

Neji scowled at Naruto. He was starting to hate the fact that Naruto seemed to enjoy throwing his words at him. Swallowing his pride, he asked, "There might be more to it. I don't understand, please tell me."

"It's because it's not worth it for the Hokage," Naruto said. Seeing Neji growing angrier he continued, "Listen carefully, the kage of a village has a lot of responsibility, and their main concern above all else is the ensure stability of the village and keep the Daimyo happy. Under the current system, the Hyuuga clan is united, so they are unwilling to do anything about the situation. Now, consider the possibility that they free the branch house, which isn't all that easy, then the hokage might gain the support of the branch house, but in the process lose the goodwill of the main branch as well as the other clans. Some might feel the hokage is abusing power and meddling in clan business. So, in the big scheme of things, the current situation is favourable to the leaf as a whole."

"Then why would you tell me this," Neji growled. It was cruel, to give hope and take it away, "If you already knew all of it beforehand, why pretend and ask me questions."

"Well, I just wanted to know if you are willing to do whatever it takes, even after knowing all of this if there is a small chance would you be willing to plunge in," Naruto said.

"But- but you said there was no way. If I remove the seal, not even the hokage would step in," Neji said, his teeth clenched, the veins around his eyes almost visible.

"You have no imagination. If you try to change the branch house's situation as you are right now, you will be branded as a traitor by the Hyuuga clan, but what if you held more political power than the whole clan," Naruto spoke, slowly, deliberately as he, leaned forward, hinting Neji to think.

Neji looked at Naruto, comprehension slowly dawning on his face. The idea seemed to be so insane, he wasn't sure he could even pull it off, "You want me to become the Hokage." He whispered in disbelief.

"Yes. If you become hokage or even if you're an official candidate, then I can work on removing your seal, a Hokage, after all, cannot be under the control of anyone else. The Hyuuga couldn't outright stop you from running for the position. What are they gonna say? 'We don't want a hokage in our clan, the position is beneath us.' They can't even interfere with the voting. The choice is made by the Daimyo and is later confirmed by the Jonin of Konoha. If you succeed, then you can start making small changes, and in the long run, even if you fail, you might be able to lay down enough groundwork to let your successors completely abolish the caged bird seal." Naruto spoke fervently. He didn't know if Neji would buy this idea he was pitching.

Neji felt that something wasn't right. Why would Naruto know all of this, "Be honest with me. Why have you thought of this?"

"Good you are trying to know me better, that's a good place to start if you want to be a hokage, public perception is important, be more friendly," Naruto said.

"I'm serious. What do you want," Neji pressed on.

"Do you know of the Uzumaki clan?" Naruto asked.

"There's an Uzumaki clan?" Neji asked. He tried recalling anything, but his thought process was interrupted when he suddenly felt an oppressive weight fall on his shoulders, panicking he looked towards Naruto. He saw violet eyes blazing with anger, flecks of red like smouldering embers burning and vanishing. He suppressed the urge to activate his byakugan and ready himself to parry an attack. As quickly as the feeling has come, it disappeared almost as swiftly, leaving him with cold sweat running down his spine.

"The Uzumaki clan, my clan, was located in the islands of whirlpool. We are the distant cousins of the Senju and once held a very close relation to Konoha. Ushio, the hidden village of whirlpool, was destroyed sometimes ago. Konoha could not send reinforcements in time. The remaining clan members scattered throughout the nations, changing their names, their appearances, and going into hiding. No one came to Konoha for shelter. I want to have my people acknowledged, maybe build a home here for any that require one." Naruto said almost mechanically, focusing on his words helped him keep his temper in check. He was still mad that Konoha was revising its history, only superficially acknowledging their lost allies.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Neji said solemnly, "Then wouldn't it better for you to try and become the hokage yourself?"

"I don't have an interest in the position," Naruto said quickly, setting aside the fact that if he would even be considered for the position, he didn't want to be stressed by the challenges of the job. Frankly, he felt that the hokage post required far too much sacrifice, he already had enough on his plate by just being the jinchuriki. "I just want to work on my sealing, my smithing, travel, things like that when I grow older."

"So, you want me to become the Hokage and help you?"

"You will need all the support you can get, and when you succeed, you can support me back. I'm not asking you to do something immoral, I won't ever ask you for that. I just want us both to be free of the shitty situations we are in." Naruto expressed his thoughts as sincerely as he could.

"Do you really think it could work?"

"I'm not sure, but ask yourself this, are you willing to find out. To you, the hard work this would require, is it worth it?"

As he stood there, Neji recalled his father, helpless, pushed to death because he was weak, because the Hyuuga clan was weak, because Konoha was weak. He didn't want that, he didn't want to suffer, he honestly didn't want the generations of branch members after him to suffer.

"I'm in, and I think I will need your help," Neji replied sincerely. He also hoped that one day Naruto might tell him more about his problems. He heavily suspected there was a lot more he was hiding.

"Great. Let's shake on it." Naruto said happily as he extended his hand.

On this day, Neji Hyuuga had no idea that this little handshake would change his destiny, nor did he know that it would forge a strong bond between him and Naruto Uzumaki.

Hiruzen was feeling a bit off today. He had a feeling in his gut that something annoying was going to pop up. He felt his hunch solidify when his old friend and once bitter rival walked into his office. He watched Danzo stroll calmly towards his desk and take a seat.

"Danzo. What can I do for you?" Hiruzen asked.

Danzo patiently took out a folder and placed it onto the desk, "Take a look."

Hiruzen quietly picked it up and started reading through t document, his eyebrows furrowing as he progressed, lines upon lines of wrinkles appearing on his aged face. "How sure are you?"

"Pretty sure, got it from a trusted source."

"And who is this source of yours?" Hiruzen asked suspiciously.

"Just an old civilian friend of mine in Kumo heard some rumours. I asked some of my old contacts to get a rough picture."

"Right," Hiruzen knew Danzo was hiding his operatives, but right now, he had other matters to handle, "This could be a disaster if it isn't handled correctly."

"It was a bad idea to hide the information in the first place. It was unrealistic to think that no one would find out; I'm surprised no one did for this long." Danzo said.

"I had no choice. When I made the decision the situation was volatile, Konoha was in ruins, manpower was low. I frankly didn't have enough time to put the required security in detail. Losing the Uchiha didn't help matters either. My Anbu and the jonin didn't know the first thing about working as a substitute police force." Hiruzen replied coldly, "Still, the situation isn't that bad; even if the other villages find about Naruto, it isn't as if they will suddenly start a war or something."

"Not for being Minato's son, no, but the boy is an Uzumaki and a Jinchuriki on top that. The boy might get the same level of interest as our most famous jonin shinobi. It's true there wouldn't be a war nor would someone come looking for him in Konoha, but beyond the walls, everyone's eyes would be trained on him, and he is not strong enough to fend off the bounty hunters," Danzo supplied. "either he gets stronger, or he shouldn't leave for missions anymore."

Hiruzen mulled over his friend's suggestion, Naruto getting stronger was a matter of time; there's not much he could do there, as for not letting him go out on missions, it would be hard to explain that to him. Still, it wasn't as if he could not find a middle ground.

"You don't have to worry about him Danzo, I'm calling Jiraiya back. He can look after Naruto for a while." Hiruzen said.

"What about the boy? Are you going to tell him about his parentage? It would be prudent to tell him yourself if he hears it from an outside source, it could be disastrous." Danzo asked.

"You are right. How about right now? There's no need to delay the matter," Hiruzen said decisively, rendering Danzo speechless. He wanted to know if Danzo had approached Naruto before. Through this meeting, he might be able to get an indication. There was also a chance that the situation would backfire, and Naruto would come to view Danzo as an authority figure by seeing him with the Hokage, however with Jiraiya coming in, it wouldn't be hard to reverse that mentality.

As they waited, they discussed other measures they could put in place to slowly disseminate the news about Naruto to the populace.

Showing the swiftness of his shinobi Hiruzen was informed that Naruto was waiting outside his office not more than five minutes later. He told his secretary to send him in.

Naruto entered the room, smartly saluting the Hokage, "You asked for me, Hokage-sama?" Looking confused, he gave a short bow to Danzo, appearing unclear of his identity.

"This is Elder Shimura. He once held a position in the hokage council; he has since then retired," Hiruzen said.

"Elder," Naruto gave a deeper bow.

"Chunin Uzumaki," Danzo said, acknowledging the gesture by dipping his head slightly.

"Naruto-kun take a seat, I have to tell you something." Hiruzen said, "It's about your parents."

Naruto froze for a moment as he was sitting down, his hand clenched on the handle of the chair, creating small fractures on the surface. Taking a deep breath, he settled down, "I'm listening."

"I always knew who they were, and I'm afraid that I have kept the information from you." Hiruzen confessed candidly, "It is a failure on my part, but I wanted you to be sufficiently strong enough so that the knowledge would not be a burden to you."

"Who were they?" Naruto asked, he knew who his mother was and he suspected his father's identity, but this was a huge moment for him he could finally say with conviction that he was not a bastard, unwanted by his parents.

"Minato Namikaze the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki." Hiruzen stared intently at Naruto, waiting for his reaction.

Naruto simply closed his eyes and sat there in silence digesting the feeling, after a while, he asked, "So my father was the one who sealed the Kyuubi in me?"

Hiruzen heavily suspected Naruto knew about his parents, but he wasn't sure if it was Danzo who had supplied the information or not, "Yes. For various reasons, that I'm not too sure about, he thought that you were the best choice."

"Did they leave me anything?" Naruto asked.

"There's some money in their bank account, I will transfer it to you as soon as I can. Your mother owned a house, your parents lived there, but it was destroyed in the Kyuubi attack. It was rebuilt later, no ones living there right now, I will give you the keys to the place. I also salvaged some odd knickknacks from the rubble, I have them stored in my house, come by later." Hiruzen said.

"Thank you," Naruto said sincerely he could not sense deceit from the Hokage so at least he knew he was giving him everything.

"There's another thing Naruto-kun," Hiruzen continued, "As I said that I had intended to tell you about your parents when you were strong enough, maybe after you made jonin."

Naruto stared at Hiruzen listening, he wasn't sure if he didn't already know about his mother and father how he would have acted, "Something has happened to move your plan forward?"

"There's been a leak, we are not sure from where but there has been some unconfirmed information circulating in the elemental nations about you being the son of the Yellow flash as well as information about your Jinchuriki status," Hiruzen said. Naruto was taking the information far positively than he had thought, and he was certain it was because he already knew.

"I see."

Danzo who had been listening and observing cut in. "There's also the matter of the Konoha populace and their reaction towards the knowledge of your ancestry. I'm sure you are aware of their aversion to you, correct."

Naruto almost flinched at the blunt statement, "I'm aware. You think they would react poorly towards me being the son of their hero."

"They won't react positively is all I can say. How do you think we should handle this matter." Danzo asked.

Both Hiruzen and Naruto looked surprised. Hiruzen was going to interrupt Danzo before, but after hearing the question, he decided to keep quiet.

Naruto was conflicted he just wanted to be acknowledged as having parents, and he despised that even something as simple as that was marred in politics. After some thought, he said, "There's no use hiding, but I also don't think it would be right to announce it to the village right now. I believe the best course of action will be to update all my files, so it would seem that we are not hiding anything, this way, the rumours won't turn into something malicious. Next tell this information officially to the most important people in Konoha, the elders, department heads, Anbu and the elite jonin. After a month maybe tell the clan heads. We can see how the situation unfolds from there."

Hiruzen smiled, "That's an excellent suggestion Naruto-kun, I believe with a few tweaks your idea would be the best course of action to take. You have shown exceptional thinking."

Quickly thumbing through his personal calendar, he checked through the dates. "I believe you are ready for your special-jonin assessment, how about a week from now sound."

"I will start making preparations, sir," Naruto replied.

"Good, then you're dismissed for today. If you want to find more information about your parents, my door is always open to you." Hiruzen said.

"Thank you, sir, "Naruto said as he stood up and walked towards the door. He stopped when he reached the exit and asked, "I would like to pay my respects to my parents, could you tell me where they are buried?"

Hiruzen replied, "In the inner region of Konoha's graveyard. I will tell the Anbu guarding the place that you are allowed in the area. You can visit the place tomorrow."

Naruto nodded in understanding and walked out, fully intent on making a visit first thing in the morning.

The Land of Rain was small, it didn't stretch far and wide. It was unlike the Land of Fire with its lush forest, verdant fields and colourful wildlife, a land of full bounty. Nor was it like Land of Rock with its hard metals and valuable gems or like the Land of Wind with shimmering gold buried in the desert. It did not have access to the beautiful water's of the ocean, providing salt and fish like the Land of Water and Lightning.

The ground was soft here, always muddy with small streams crossing paths here and there. The constant rain decayed wooden structures, so the people of this land built their homes with metal, creating tall buildings to satisfy the need of the growing population. Those few intelligent people this land gave birth to developed large engines running on steam, to spread power and electricity.

The land wasn't blessed; its people struggled, but they still thrived, what broke their spirit was the curse. Ame was a cursed land surrounded by tyrants. Large nations ravaged Rain's villages and cities with their war. The curse was strong, but Ame had a saviour, a God, one who wished to free the suffering of humans, by spreading pain.

Pain looked through his eyes, watching, monitoring his land. Metals constructs, large pipes, towering structures, cables running between buildings, this was Amegakure. It held all his good memories and his bad ones. He loved this village. He had fought for the land, he had fought for his friends, and now he was fighting for its peace.

"Nagato"

Pain heard a distant sound calling for his attention, he knew the voice. It belonged to the only living person he trusted.

"Call me Pain, Konan," He said as he withdrew his focus from his other bodies, giving his full attention to the woman in front of his true weakened body, hidden behind great walls.

"I understand," Konan replied, "It's about the nine tails. Naruto Uzumaki Konoha's jinchuriki fought one of our shinobi squads, capturing them in the process."

"Can he draw upon Kyuubi's power?" Nagato calmly asked.

"The report said that he didn't use it in that fight. Should we look into it?"

"No need, now's not the time to capture him," Nagato said. "Even if he could use the Kyuubi's power, he would still be unable to stand against the power of God."

Naruto Uzumaki, a member of his own lost clan, he wondered how close they were. It would be a shame to reap his life, but he knew it was necessary, in another life where the Uzumaki weren't wiped out he wondered if both of them would have grown up on the same island.

But in this life he had only Konan left as his family, his brother was lost. He could find a way to bring him back, but he felt the world was still filled with too much strife and suffering, he would wait until he had reached his goal and then they would be together again.

Konan, Yahiko and Nagato.

Author's Notes:

Phew, I'm finally done. This felt like running a marathon. I also updated the first chapter of this fic, it required a lot of time to rework. It should flow better now.

About this chapter lot of stuff is going on this one, but the one thing I would like to address is Hinata. At the start of the story, I promised there would be no bashing and I still stand by it. I promise I won't bash Hinata but I want everyone to understand that her portrayal in my fic might not be entirely positive (since there is no Naruto in her life she might be more depressed or colder, I haven't thought it through.) She would have character growth though but it won't be the main focus as her arc is now tied with Neji.

To Infinitymask's question about Neji, I hope this chapter gave you some indication. As for Orochimaru giving info to Kumo I intentionally kept it vague, no need to make everything super clear. Sometimes a little mystery is more exciting.

As for Naruto's ancestry and Konoha's reaction, I'm still thinking about it.

Thanks, everyone for reading my fic also please review, your support means a lot to me and it keeps me motivated to write more.