Chapter 1 - Final Birth
Fear.
That is all he felt.
Pure, unadulterated fear.
He felt as if he was being bathed in rage and malice. The mixture of the two brought up such a primal reaction from him, one he hasn't felt in decades.
Fear.
Then he heard a roar. One he will remember forever.
He then heard muffled screaming, and shouting. He pushed through his fear to focus on what was being said.
"You! Lead the group that will be escorting the civilians to safety! The rest of you! We will be holding that thing off as best as we can until the Yondaime arrives! Go!"
'Yondaime? That's japanese! Fourth what?' He thought in confusion until it hit him harder than the fear he felt. 'No. No no no! It can't be! There's no damn way-'
His rant was cut off by another roar.
'Am I truly in the Naruto world?' He thought to himself.
He cracked his eyes as open as he could. He looked around at the destroyed building, then at the night sky. He looked back down at his body, and found a healthy baby's body instead of the toned adult one he died in.
His name was... well he didn't know his name. He's had so many different names as the centuries moved on that he forgot the one his first mother gave him. He was technically immortal, but also not. He could die, but he would be reincarnated.
He remembered when Bayek first came up with the plan to protect the innocents of the world in the shadows.
"Who are the ones that work in the shadows for the people? We are. Something has come of all of this. And it starts right now. We must continue the fight, and defend the free will of the people. And no matter how small, our brotherhood is the only hope and our kingdom needs no crowns."
He was one of the first to join.
The Hidden Ones. That was their name. Made as a direct opposition to the Order of Ancients, a syndicate made to rule and shepherd humanity politically and religiously using instruments of great power called the Pieces of Eden.
A Piece of Eden is a type of sophisticated technology created by the Isu, a race of highly advanced humanoid species that predate the most ancient of civilizations by several millennia. It was the Isu who created humans, and the majority of the Pieces of Eden were designed for the primary purpose of mentally and physically controlling human thoughts, emotions, and behavior.
They were, therefore, the main instrument by which the Isu forced the humans to serve as slaves before the war between the two factions. Humans rebelled against their "gods". While they warred with each other, they were too distracted to notice the looming threat.
The disaster was often misconceived to have been the eruption of a super-volcano that occurred at the same time, but was in actuality caused by a coronal mass ejection. In the simplest terms, the sun lashed out violently. Before that occurred, three of the Isu knew that their race would die out, so one of them built a device to look into the future and provide aide to one man who can prevent a second Great Catastrophe.
By the time the Isu and the humans found a solution to this catastrophe, the surface of the earth was rendered barren, and less than ten thousand humans and "far fewer" members of the Isu survived. In order to recover from the event, the remaining members of the Isu and their human creations brought their war to an end and began to work together to restore life to the planet.
Because their numbers were too few, the First Civilization failed to survive long as an independent species. Humans, on the other hand, who had been built by the Isu "to survive", successfully managed to reconstruct their society and flourished. Over time, the reshaping of the Earth's landscape and geography would eliminate nearly all physical evidence of the Isu, leaving only legends and myths. The different pantheons mentioning the different gods and goddesses were just the Isu.
The Order of Ancients, later called the Order of the Knights Templar, or Templar order, was made to collect all the Pieces of Eden so that they can enslave humans. They envision that true peace can only come when all of humanity is shepherded by an enlightened society of people, in their eyes, them.
Because of this conflict in ideology, the Templars became involved in a covert war against the Hidden Ones, later called the Brotherhood of Assassins, spanning millennia and continuing into the modern era.
The Templars have also become enemies with the Instruments of the First Will, a cult who have sworn their lives to restore the Isu's rule over humanity.
One of the three Isu who looked into the future, Juno, tried tampering with the Eye, so that she would remain in power when the catastrophe finished. Seeing this Minerva and Jupiter, the other Isu, imprisoned her and destroyed the Eye. Minerva made a second Eye so that she can make sure that Juno's tampering didn't harm anything, only to find that Juno had digitally stored her conscious inside the temple where she was imprisoned and made it so that whoever opened the prison to stop the second catastrophe, would also free her.
Minerva tried to tell Desmond, the man who would open the temple, that a destroyed planet would be preferable to a freed Juno. Desmond decided to save the world, trusting that humanity would be able to counter Juno's threat.
That's as much as our protagonist knew before he died again.
There exists a special type of Piece of Eden called the Shrouds of Eden. It has been used to heal wounds of varying severity, mending injuries ranging from stab wounds to birth defects. It spoke in an almost kind voice that constantly offered healing, and urged its users to disregard their own physical frailty.
When he first died, he was fighting a high ranking member of the Order of Ancients who had a Shroud of Eden.
He managed to kill her, but she left him a fatal wound. He accepted his death, but he died wishing that he could've forever fought the Order of Ancients until they all lost power and influence.
It was a "debunked" rumor that Shrouds of Eden could bring back the dead completely, but no one met the requirement to activate that power until he came along.
The Shroud attached itself to his fading soul and he found himself opening his eyes as a midwife pulled him out of his mother. The panic of the odd situation caused him to scream, and his father noted his strong voice.
When he grew old enough to leave his home, he rejoined the Brotherhood.
Through trial and error over the centuries, he found that he was more durable, he healed far quicker than any other human, poison doesn't affect him, and when he dies, he is born again.
He was a paranoid man, so he never told anyone this fact, but he made sure to learn as much as he possibly could before dying. He noticed that he was never born in the same country, so he made sure to add a Brotherhood location at the country he's born at, then make contact with the higher members of the Brotherhood to officially add that country to their contacts.
It was a horrible experience, being born a slave. Thankfully, he was able to secretly train his fellow slaves at night. When they were all sufficiently trained, they stormed the slave master's home and killed him, but let his wife and children leave in relative peace.
Some were suspicious at first to see a random country having a Brotherhood, but he gave the credit to his previous incarnation since they can't really check.
Now though, it seems that his work in Earth is over, and he's somehow in a fictional world. Even with the somewhat serious lifestyles he's had, he still found enjoyment in mundane things, like manga, anime, and other things.
That means that he knew how canon Naruto was supposed to go, but he refused to adhere to canon. He spent the entirety of his existence fighting the Templars and searching for different Pieces of Eden, but here?
Here there aren't any Templars, Pieces, Shrouds, none of that. He could definitely make a new Brotherhood here. The shinobi of this world depend on chakra entirely too much, so they'd never suspect highly trained civilians taking them out.
He suddenly felt the malicious killing intent and chakra he's been ignoring disappear. 'It seems Minato was able to chase away Obito. Now I wait for someone to find me.'
Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, sat in the Council Room with a blonde baby in his arms. The Clan Heads, the Shinobi Advisors, and the Civilian Representatives were also present in this meeting. He had just finished explaining to them the fate of their Yondaime, and what happened to the Kyuubi.
"So that thing in your arms is the Kyuubi? Why aren't you killing it?! The Yondaime weakened it for us to finish!" One civilians shouted.
Sarutobi's normally kind and grandfatherly face hardened immediately and he directed his gaze towards the speaker. "I understand that as a civilian, you do not know the fine and intricate art of fuinjutsu, so I will not waste time explaining it to you in detail, but have it demonstrated to you."
He pulled out an empty sealing scroll from desk he was sitting in, then pulled out a kunai. He opened the scroll, then sealed the kunai into it. He then proceeded to throw the scroll at the nearest Clan Head, who happened to be Tsume Inuzuka.
"Poke yourself with that scroll Inuzuka-dono."
Understanding what he was doing, she carried out his order, then poked at the Clan Head next to her, Hiashi Hyuga.
"Are either of you harmed?" Sarutobi asked.
"No, Hokage-sama." They both replied.
Sarutobi turned his gaze back to the civilians. "If you didn't understand the point of this demonstration, I'll tell you. The kunai represented the Kyuubi, and the scroll represented Naruto. The Kyuubi is no threat so long as the scroll is undisturbed. Inuzuka-dono, please break the scroll."
Tsume bent the scroll in half, tearing it, and in a poof, the kunai reappeared and clattered on the table in front of her.
"Put too much stress on a scroll, and it's contents come out. The same way if you kill a jinchuuriki, they will release the bijuu they hold. Hyuga-dono, Uchiha-dono, please use your dojutsu to look at Naruto-kun's chakra network." Sarutobi held up the baby, and both Hiashi and Fugaku Uchiha carefully looked at him.
"Is there any difference between his chakra network and the network your children have?" Sarutobi asked.
"No. His chakra network is as normal as any other, if not bigger than others his age, but with my suspicion of who his parents are, I'm not surprised." Hiashi reported.
"The only difference is the seal holding the Kyuubi. It's confined to one place, and it isn't disturbing the baby's network." Fugaku concluded.
"There you have it. This child is not the Kyuubi. It is the kunai, and the boy is the scroll. It is a drink, and the boy is the cup. It is the prisoner, and the boy is it's prison. The Yondaime sacrificed his life so that the Kyuubi would be sealed, and his dying wish was for this boy to be seen as a hero. By your initial reaction, I see that that will never happen, so now I'm going to make it a law that Naruto Uzumaki's status as a jinchuuriki is to remain a secret. Any one speaking of it will be sentenced to death. Is that understood?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama." The whole room chorused.
"Then this meeting is adjourned."
"See reason, Hiruzen. Give me the boy, and I will train him to be the greatest weapon for Konoha. No other country will dare start anything with us." Danzo Shimura, one of the three Shinobi Advisors, beseeched his old rival.
"You mean turn him into a weapon for you to wield. My answer will not change. Naruto is not to be trained and brainwashed by you. A jinchuuriki needs their emotions to properly use the power of their bijuu, and you would stunt his emotions, turning him into a timed explosive seal." Sarutobi remained adamant in his response.
It has been a week since the Kyuubi attack. The buildings and walls had been rebuilt, and there was a mass funeral for the lives lost in the attack.
Both Iwa and Kumo already sent small squads of shinobi to test the defense of Konoha, but they were ruthlessly squashed. All the shinobi who were out on missions that Konoha could afford to return were recalled so that they can help bolster it's defense.
Now Sarutobi was meeting with his Advisors to discuss the best course of action for Konoha's future.
Danzo was about to speak again, but Sarutobi cut him off. "This subject is closed. I will not change my mind, but because of our history, I will give you this one warning as bluntly as possible: if Naruto were to "mysteriously" vanish, then I will hold you solely responsible and I'll kill you with my bare hands. Is that understood, Shimura?"
"Hai, Sandaime-sama." Danzo replied stoically.
"Now, I feel that in my advanced age, I have too many responsibilities placed onto me as Hokage. I would like to brainstorm with you three to hire some different people who can help run things that I don't really need to pay attention to."
Homura Mitokado, a second Advisor, spoke up. "Why not delegate some tasks of running the village to the Civilian Representatives? Even though this is a shinobi village, we could gain more civilian support if we gave their representatives more responsibilities."
"That idea does have some merit. What is your opinion, Koharu?" Sarutobi asked his final Advisor, Koharu Utatane.
"I believe it's a sound plan, but I'd make sure to remind them that the power you're giving them can be reclaimed at any moment, and I would advise random checks to make sure that they're doing they're job properly." She commented.
Sarutobi smoked from his pipe, thinking on the idea for a moment before he made his decision. "I agree with this plan. Now let's decide which representative gets which responsibility."
Takeshi was his name now. It has been several years since his arrival to this world, and he has already made two shocking discoveries.
One, he had red hair. Uzumaki vibrant red hair.
During one of his walks through the village, he asked a random shinobi if he could see a simple storage scroll. Just a cursory glance was needed for him know how to remake one. No wonder the Uzumaki were so feared. Fuinjutsu was literally in their blood. He knew he'd have to train in fuinjutsu, though. He looked at one of the walls that Konoha had, and the seals on it were vastly beyond his knowledge.
It wasn't too long after that that he received his second surprise.
For as long as he lived, it would've been impossible for him not to give into despair for the friendship and loves he'd lost with his death, so he decided early on that once a year, he would dedicate one day to properly mourn.
It was when he was five. He had unlocked his chakra through meditation, and spent months getting familiar with it. When the mourning day arrived, he went to a secluded pond he found exploring, and wept.
He released all the pent up negative emotions he allowed to build up over the years he wasn't able to find a secluded place.
When he finished, he washed his face in the lake, then got up ready to leave. He then felt odd. He could see even better then before. The fluttering leaves were falling slowly, slower than they were supposed to. Following his hunch, he looked back into the pond at his reflection, and saw a pair of red eyes with three tomoe in each staring back at him instead of the usual black.
Before the realization of the ramifications of having the Sharingan would do to him, he was already planning on how to steal a pair of Sharingan and learning medical jutsu to do the surgery himself and earn the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. 'But wait, I have the incredible life force and healing factor of the Uzumaki clan, so I should be able to get the Mangekyo without going blind. Am I an OP character? Damn, I hope so.'
As he made his way to his room in the orphanage, that's when the ramifications hit him. 'I HAVE THE SHARINGAN!'
Takeshi was now six, and he is currently making his way to the Konoha Library. It was one of the rare days he gave himself a rest from constant training.
When he made it to his destination, he marveled at the large size if the building. He was surprised at how small the Civilian Section was compared to the Shinobi one. There were only the different history books, the law books, the porn that Jiraiya wrote, which was a substantial amount, poems from samurai, and some dumb stories about some shinobi gallantly saving a damsel in distress. Takeshi found the last to be lazy writing and sexist. He walked to the Librarian.
She was an older woman. Her hair was greying and she had laugh lines by her eyes. Takeshi could tell she was a kunoichi, or a former one, by the way her upper body looked to still be in shape under her navy sweater, and how her sharp brown eyes kept a close eye on the two shinobi in the Shinobi Section of the library.
"Excuse me, oba-san. May I ask you another question?" He asked her.
"Another question?" She glanced down at him, then returned her gaze to the shinobi.
"By asking if I could ask 'another question', I already asked one." Was Takeshi's retort.
She gifted him a small smirk and a light chuckle. "How cute. What's your question, gaki?"
"Is that all the books and scrolls available to civilians?"
"Yes it is. Are you saying that you're planning on reading all of them?" She asked, her small smirk growing.
"No. They're all boring. Is there another library?" He needed to know all of this if he was going to go forward with his idea.
She chuckled again. "Sorry, gaki. This is the only library in Konoha, and that is all the books and scrolls available to civilians."
"Then I'll write my own." He replied.
"Oh?" She laughed this time. "I wouldn't mind reading something new. I've read everything here already. The Shinobi Section is filled with jutsu scrolls only, so not much entertainment there."
"Give me three years. I should be be done with several series by then. If you give them your personal stamp of approval, then I'll get in touch with a publisher when I graduate the Shinobi Academy." Takeshi stated confidently.
The Librarian stopped laughing by now, and stared at Takeshi with an eyebrow raised for a moment. "What's your name, gaki?"
"Takeshi Uzumaki."
"Uzumaki, huh? Heh, the hair should've gave it away. I'm Hanako Tanaka. I look forward to your stories, Takeshi-kun."
"Thanks, Hanako-oba-chan."
Konoha was currently hosting the Chunin Exams. They just finished the Forest of Death portion, and eight year old Takeshi was casually strolling through it.
He had two big duffel bags. Both were filled with storage scrolls. One for him to keep any still usable weapons, the other to put any rusted kunai, shuriken, or any other weapon.
They'd go to waste anyways, so why not take them for himself? He already got lucky twice because two dead bodies had jutsu scrolls on them.
'I'm about done now. I should head to the weapons store now if I want to get everything I need today.'
He made his way out the forest with ease. He didn't want to rely too much on chakra, so he decided to use it only in forested areas while in other areas he would parkour and free run.
Hopping over the fence in one hop, he hustled his way towards Higurashi Weapons.
Making his into the building, he walked straight to the counter. He rung the bell present and waited.
He heard heavy footsteps before seeing a large man come out the back. He had the body of an Akimichi, big, muscled arms, and a rotund belly. He had a brown beard, and his long hair was in a ponytail.
He took his gloves off and placed them into the pocket of his apron. "Welcome to Higurashi's. I'm Haru Higurashi. What can I do for you, kid?"
"Do you buy rusted weapons?" Takeshi asked right off the bat.
"Yeah, I do actually. I could use the metal to make new weapons. I'm guessing the bags behind you are filled with rusted weapons."
"Well one of them is. The other has some still usable weapons I'm saving for when I'm a shinobi."
Haru nodded his head. "That's good, kid. You're thinking ahead. Let me go get a crate so we can empty out your bag safely."
After dumping out all his storage scrolls, it turned out that three crates were needed. He was given a large chunk of money for all of that. Takeshi was surprised at first that Haru had that much money he could give away without batting an eye, but then he realized that shinobi run out of kunai and shuriken fast, so they have to resupply often, and that is expensive.
He went to all the stores he needed to, buying everything he needed, putting them in a storage scroll, and leisurely made his way back to his new apartment.
When an orphan signs up to be a shinobi, they are given an apartment. The rent is paid for, and they are given a stipend every month for groceries and such. This only lasts until they are shinobi.
When Takeshi made it home, he emptied out all his non weapon scrolls and started to put everything in their designated areas. He bought pots and pans, a large amount of plates, cups, bowls, silverware, and chopsticks. He was surprised at the different spices that were sold, but he bought all the ones he was familiar with, and bought some unfamiliar spices to experiment with.
He had crossed paths with quite a few animals in the forest and put their bodies in storage scrolls. He wanted to test how long they could stay in stasis in a simple storage scroll. He put all the animal scrolls in a drawer, and took the one with a boar.
He went to the bathroom, and opened the scroll face down. Putting a bit of chakra on the back resulted in the carcass of the boar laying in the bathtub with the scroll on top of it.
"Wow, it's still warm!" Takeshi exclaimed. It's been in the scroll for almost fourteen hours, so his surprise was warranted.
He skinned it, and carefully sliced all the meat off of it. He placed the skeleton and the intestines to one side of the bath, while he washed the meat and placed them in a container. When that was done, he sealed the container, in a scroll, and placed that to the side.
He then took all the intestines, and put them in another container, as well as the skeleton. He sealed that mess away, then turned the shower on to wash away all the blood, all the while using bleach to scrub all the entire tub.
Walking out the bath, he put the meat scroll on the counter, and the other scroll in the trash. "Damn, I love fuinjutsu."
He threw his clothes in a hamper, then went to take a shower.
'With this apartment, I have a lot more leeway to do what I need to.'
Finishing his shower, he put on some house clothes on, then went to the kitchen to begin cooking.
A bit later, he heard knocking on his door.
"Takeshi-nii! You home?! I'm hungry-ttebayo!"
Sighing in both exasperation and amusement, Takeshi went to the door and opened it. Standing in front of him was one Naruto Uzumaki. When it was time to move to apartments, Naruto practically demanded that Takeshi be his neighbor.
He was shorter than the average eight year old, but that was because he was only able to eat ramen. Takeshi was sure that after feeding him proper meals, and exercise, Naruto would grow to be tall.
"Hey, Naruto. You're right on time. I just finished cooking." Takeshi said, beckoning Naruto into the apartment.
"Awesome! So what did you make?" Naruto asked curiously. He could already smell the delicious meal, and his stomach was grumbling.
"I made butadon! It's a pork bowl dish. In it you will find thinly sliced pork as well as onions which have been simmered in a soy sauce broth until tender, and served in a donburi bowl over rice." Takeshi answered. He figured that he should focus on cooking asian cuisine in a world that was asian influenced.
"It sounds amazing, but I doubt it'll be better than ramen, dattebayo." Naruto said petulantly.
Takeshi chuckled and directed Naruto to the dining table while he brought the food out.
As they ate, he thought back to when he first met the blonde.
Flashback no Jutsu
Seven year old Takeshi was walking back from the nice secluded pond he frequented to train his chakra control.
He was taking his usual cool down walk when he saw a dejected blonde leave a park with glaring parents at his back.
'Oh? Main Character-kun has made his appearance.' Takeshi thought to himself.
Before Naruto could walk too far, Takeshi caught up to him. "Hi, I'm Takeshi, what's your name?"
Naruto looked at him in undisguised shock, before the mask settled in and he grinned wide. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be Hokage-dattebayo!"
"Wait, Naruto? Uzumaki?!" Takeshi clutched both of his shoulders, and looked dead in Naruto's eyes.
A little surprised at the action, Naruto stuttered his reply. "Y-yes? What's wrong?"
"Come with me, quick!"
With that, Takeshi darted off, Naruto following behind him. They went into the civilian home district.
Naruto had never been in this area of the village, so he made extra care to follow Takeshi so that he wouldn't get lost. Making it to their destination, Naruto saw a modest two story house with a decent yard, buy it looked unkempt.
Pricking his finger on the seal prick that was on the door, the door unlocked, and both kids entered the home. Takeshi made sure to lock the door behind them, then hurried up the stairs to the office.
"Wait up! Just who's house is this? I don't think your parents would want me here..." Naruto trailed off as Takeshi held up a framed picture with three people.
One was a tall man with red hair in a ponytail dressed in Anbu armor. Another is a woman, with the same shade of hair in a ponytail, stood in the middle with a standard jonin attire but with a katana strapped to her back. The last man was a well known figure. It was the Yondaime Hokage.
Through trial and error, Takeshi was able to recreate the Eagle Vision without the use of an avian companion. The hidden ANBU agents as well as different shinobi glowed blue, while ROOT agents glowed red. He went to the area where he first woke up in this world, and distinguished two chakra signatures that was similar to his. He was kinda disappointed that he found a brothel there. He henged as an adult and discreetly asked older people in the area if the brothel was there before the Kyuubi attack, and it was.
Following the first chakra signature, he was led straight to the Uchiha compound. Then, going back to his starting point, he followed the second signature to the house he was currently standing in. His father was Tatsumi Uzumaki, younger twin brother of Kushina Uzumaki, and his mother was an Uchiha.
His mother was most likely banned from the clan because she couldn't activate her Sharingan, so she was forced to whore herself to survive.
"Who're these people?" Naruto asked as he took the picture.
"The man with red hair was my father, while the woman is my aunt, Kushina, and you know who the Yondaime is." Takeshi replied as he flipped through a journal.
"That doesn't explain why you went crazy when you found out my name." Naruto said as he kept staring at his parents.
Smiling, Takeshi found the page he was looking for, and handed the journal to Naruto to read.
Entry 174
Nee-chan and Minato finally decided on a name for their kid.
Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki.
It's a good name, I gotta admit. Much better than that dumb one she wanted to name him, Menma.
They made the stupid degenerate, Jiraiya, Naruto's godfather. I don't get why, but I won't argue.
She looks so swollen now, it's hilarious!
"So does this mean we're family?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"That's right, itoko-kun! I'm Takeshi Uzumaki!"
"And my dad is the Yondaime?" Naruto whispered.
"Yup, but I'd advise keeping that a secret."
"Why?! Maybe now people will stop hating me for nothing." Naruto said desperately.
"Naruto, what was the Yondaime famous for?"
Caught off guard at the random question, it Naruto a second before he answered. "He killed a lot of Iwa shinobi during the the Third Shinobi War, and he killed the Kyuubi."
"Good, now tell me, how would Iwa react if their number one most hated enemy had a vulnerable child?"
Naruto didn't know what the answer to this was, so he said nothing.
"I'll tell you. They'll send assassins after your head." Naruto paled. "If the Hokage keeps killing off the assassins, then either Iwa will decide declare war with Konoha, or the Hokage will declare war because Iwa keeps sending assassins to his village."
Naruto looked frustrated. "So I'll have to keep the fact I know who my father a secret, but I could tell anyone about my mother."
"Yup." Takeshi responded, popping the 'p'.
"Do you know what happened to my mom?" The blonde asked hopefully.
"She died the same night my dad did, during the Kyuubi attack."
Naruto just sighed, but then looked hopeful. "Do you, by chance have anymore pictures of my mom?"
Takeshi just smiled.
Kicking the door open, Naruto proceeded to yell. "Hey, jiji! We got a lot to talk about, old man!"
Takeshi walked in calmly looking around the room.
The Hokage looked up at Naruto with a small smile on his face. He looked curiously at the other boy who came in. "Hello, Naruto-kun. What is it you wanted to talk about? And who is your friend?"
"That's what we gotta talk about. But what I tell you has to stay a secret, okay?" Naruto said as serious as a kid his age could be.
With an indulgent smile, The Sandaime nodded. "Of course, Naruto-kun."
Before Naruto could speak, Takeshi spoke. "Um, I don't know if you realize this, Hokage-sama, but there are other people hidden in this room."
Takeshi whispered this as he glanced around the room again, with a worried expression.
Sarutobi blinked, then looked directly at Takeshi. "How can you tell, child? What else can you sense?"
"Well, I could just feel them around. Three of them don't give any bad emotions, but that one right there doesn't feel like anything, and it's weird." Takeshi finished by pointing directly at the hidden ROOT Agent.
The next couple seconds were a whirlwind of actions as the three other ANBU Agents attacked and subdued the ROOT Agent as he tried escaping out the open window.
Sarutobi was truly angered at this, but made sure to keep out of his expression, less he scare the children. 'A ROOT Operative right under my kamidamned nose, and it took a small child to point it out. Damn, I'm slipping.'
As the ANBU left to have the new prisoner properly taken care of, Sarutobi looked back at the children before him.
Takeshi watched the ANBU shunshin with his Sharingan activated, then made sure to turn it off when he faced the Hokage again.
"I don't think you realized this, child, but you just uncovered a spy that was directly in my vicinity. You may have just possibly saved my life. What is your name?" Sarutobi asked, grateful of the child before him.
"I'm Takeshi Uzumaki."
"Uzumaki, you say?"
"Yes. I'm Naruto's direct cousin."
Sarutobi was getting a bit nervous. "And how do you know this?"
Naruto pulled out a picture and handed to Sarutobi. Now he was full blown panicking, but he had enough experience not to show it. The picture was of Naruto's parents and his uncle. "Where- ahem- where did you find this?"
"Takeshi gave it to me as soon as he heard my name." Naruto stated.
"Then where did you find this, Takeshi-kun?"
"In my tou-san's house."
"Your tou-san? How do you know that this man is your tou-san?" Sarutobi asked in trepidation.
"The same way I sensed the other people in the room, something told my senses to go to a abandoned looking house in the Civilian District. There was a seal on the door that unlocked after I cut my finger and bled on it. In his journal, he explained that, due to the heavy amount of security seals all over the house, only those with Uzumaki blood can go in, and there was only two Uzumaki in Konoha."
Takeshi took out his father's journal and opened it to the page he showed Naruto.
That was when Sarutobi sagged. He looked as if he aged twenty years in the span of two seconds. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun."
"You lied to me. I thought that, out of everyone in this stupid village that hates me for no reason, I could trust you. Takeshi already explained to me why it was kept a secret, but you could've at least told me about my kaa-san. I don't know if I can trust you anymore. I bet you do know why everyone hates me, but once again, you're not gonna tell me." Naruto ranted.
"I'm truly sorry, Naruto-kun. You're absolutely right, I definitely could've told you about your mother. That is a mistake on my part, one I apologize for, but please don't ask about the villagers, not yet. I want you to have a normal childhood." Sarutobi tried to reason.
This was the wrong choice of words it seems because, Naruto exploded after that. "Normal childhood?! PEOPLE HATE ME! If I make a friend, their parents come and pull them away telling them to stay away from me because I'm a bad kid! I get kicked out of every playground I go to, sometimes thrown out! Everywhere I go people glare at me and mutter under their breaths about how I should just go die, or how I'm a demon, or a monster, or a murderer! Some people even throw things at me! How could I possibly have a normal childhood where this happens every day?!"
The room was silent besides Naruto's panting from yelling. The Hokage looked horrified, while Takeshi patted Naruto's shoulder comfortingly.
'How could I be so horribly blind? Have I in truth been neglecting my duty to you, Naruto-kun?' Sarutobi let out a grief filled sigh, and contemplated for a moment.
Decision made, he activated a silencing seal in the room. "To earn a bit of your trust back, I'll tell you why the villagers are antagonistic towards you."
He pulled out an empty storage scroll and a kunai. "You see the scroll and the kunai, yes? You can tell that they're different things right?"
Both boys nodded.
"Good." He sealed the kunai away. "Now, I sealed the kunai away. This doesn't mean that the scroll suddenly became the kunai. The scroll is simply holding the kunai, just like how a cup holds water, or a bowl holds ramen. Are you following, boys?"
"Yeah, but what does this have to do with why the villagers hate me?" Naruto asked impatiently.
"I'm sure you were told about how the Yondaime, your tou-san, killed the Kyuubi that attacked the village, correct?" Both boys nodded. "Well that was a lie. It is impossible to kill a bijuu. They can only be sealed away, just like how I sealed the kunai away."
Takeshi made a face like he caught on. "I see you understand, Takeshi-kun."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."
"Well I don't! Explain!" Naruto shouted.
Sarutobi sighed. "The Kyuubi can only be held by an Uzumaki, and there was only one Uzumaki newborn, as far as Minato knew. Tell me Naruto-kun, when was the Kyuubi defeated?"
"October 10th, seven years ago."
"And when is your birthday?"
"Oc... tober 10th..." Naruto finally caught on. "I'm the Kyuubi?" He whispered, horrified."
Suddenly, Sarutobi slammed his fist onto his desk, making both boys jump. "Remember the scroll, Naruto-kun! Does the cup become water when it holds it? Does the bowl become ramen when it holds it? No!"
That calmed Naruto down significantly, but he was still upset. "Then why does everyone hate me if me and the Kyuubi are two different things?"
"A person is smart, but people are idiots. I knew that the villagers would react foolishly towards you, that's why I made it a law not to speak of it during a Council Meeting. Unfortunately one of the representatives in the Council decided that my words don't mean law to him, so he spread the news as far as he could before I publicly executed him. That at least made people realize that I would not tolerate those breaking my law. The damage was already done by then, and everyone decided you were the Kyuubi reincarnated, instead of it's container."
"I see. I have a lot to think about. It sucks that I had to corner you to get the truth out, but you would've kept lying if I didn't. Come on, Takeshi. I'll show you my apartment." Naruto led a silent Takeshi out of the office, not before Takeshi used his eagle vision in the room, and noticed the portrait of the Yondaime glow gold.
Flashback no Jutsu Kai
It wasn't long after that that Takeshi adopted Naruto as his younger brother. He has been training Naruto in stealth, and while Takeshi spent his day in the Forest of Death, Naruto was wreaking havoc across the village with pranks.
"So how is it? It tastes great doesn't it." Takeshi asked knowingly.
With the way Naruto was savoring each bite instead of just swallowing without chewing like he does ramen, Takeshi got his answer.
"It tastes incredible." Naruto managed to get out, better hastily adding. "I-it's still not better than ramen!"
Takeshi just chuckled again. They finished their dinners, and brought the dishes to the sink. Naruto doodled in a notebook while Takeshi washed the dishes.
"Hey, Takeshi-nii? You already know my dream, but what's yours? What are you going to be when you grow up?" Naruto asked.
"My dream is a secret, so before I tell you, I need you to promise not to tell anyone." Takeshi knew Naruto would sooner die before breaking a promise, so he didn't mind sharing this with him.
"I promise I won't tell anyone your secret dream." Naruto swore. A quick use of eagle vision cemented that they were in private.
"There's a lot of bad people in the world, Naruto. People who hurt others for bad reasons, like for money, or because they enjoy it. In the future, I want to build a secret organization, a brotherhood, that stay in the shadows and remove those people. This brotherhood will span throughout the entire Elemental Nations to protect the innocent." Takeshi said passionately.
"That's an awesome goal! But why keep it a secret?"
"Not everyone is going to be on board with a hidden organization policing everyone. People like power too much. That's why if anyone asks, I'll just say my dream is to be your second in command. The Hokage's Kage."
"Do you believe that I'll be Hokage someday?" Naruto asked tentatively.
"Of course." Takeshi replied with no hesitation. "So long as you dedicate your time and effort in training physically, and mentally."
"How do I train mentally?"
"After we start the Academy, we'll begin training seriously. You'll be Hokage, Naruto. You'll be one of the greatest."
They spent another hour of just hanging out before it was late enough for Takeshi to shoo Naruto to bed at his own apartment.
Takeshi needed to figure out a proper training schedule for Naruto.
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