Chapter – 2

Ancestry

"Kyubi talking"

'Kyubi thinking'

"Normal conversation"

'Character thinking'

*I do not own Naruto*

Kyubi said, "Rest for now, kit, we'll talk again, very soon." And with that, Naruto departures his mindscape and opens his eyes under the same oak tree. The cool breeze swept through his face, forcing him to shut his eyes as he experiences it. His pain went, his exhaustion was gone; however, his mental fatigue was there. The slight noise of the Kyubi festival was coming to his ears. Kyubi, yes, the big bad wolf looking celes… something. And he graced the much-needed sleep with both arms and lost into his dream world where he was happy and everyone around him was cheerful.

Naruto woke up during dawn hours; not feeling his comfortable futon, he moved and adjusted his sleepy eyes while noticing his surroundings. He came to realize that he slept in the forest – under that Oaktree. Remembering his little meeting with the giant fox yesterday, he recalled last night's event. His tiny mind once again raced towards the unknown with questions; however, a low growling sound from his stomach broke his chain of thoughts. He was hungry and away from his apartment. On hearing a sound of a waterfall, he moved towards the nearby river.

On his way to the river, he found a handful of berries for breakfast. After reaching the riverbank and making himself comfortable, he sat down and munched those berries. Enjoying the flowing water while listening to the chirping of the birds, he was in no hurry to head back. No one was worrying for him; no one was waiting for him at his apartment. He could adore this morning as much as he wants. After 30mins of sightseeing at the riverbank, he got up moved back towards the area where he spent the night. Something was bugging Naruto, and it was undoubtedly related to a sizeable furred animal.

Once reaching under the shade of large Oaktree, he sat down in a lotus position." time for answers," he muttered. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and dived into his mind. After a moment or so, he found himself in front of the bright seal.

The first thing he noticed was that there wasn't any darkness like yesterday. The giant fox was asleep, while the seal fluctuated with glow – matching its heartbeat. But the surroundings were foggy instead of dark; things were visible, but something was out of place – yes, there was no chair to sit on. Sensing his troubled thoughts, Kyubi motioned his claw in Naruto's direction when a chair came out of thick air.

Taking the cue, he sat down, "Thanks," he added. The fox didn't respond. Time passed in silence, as none of them spoke. 'ahem' clearing his throat, Naruto began, "Hello Kyubi-sama. I guess I didn't intrude on your sleep time." The fox, who was still lying down, closed his eyes on the kid's statement. "I have some doubts, err questions, which I believe you could answer. Like, where did you come from? How did you end up here, with me? Do you know me? Since how long have you been here? Why did you choose me? Will you kill me?" Naruto bombarded all the questions at once.

On hearing the series of question-marked statements, Kyubi opened his eyes and stared at Naruto for a few moments. He measured the tiny, small being in front of him; looking deep into his cerulean blue eyes, he found the pure innocence of humankind. He exhaled warmly from his snout he raised his enormous head.

"Naruto Na.. - Uzumaki, heir, and child of a lost clan. Why do you seek the answers? What a 7yr old will do knowing what he can't fathom?" Kyubi questioned in his deep voice. Naruto was taken aback by the fox's counter-question, surprised, and a little frustrated when treated as a child (though he still is!).

"What will I do? What would you do if you had no idea of your origin, your history, your clan? Although I might be overstepping my boundary a little bit by saying this, I believe you were sealed inside me since a very long time ago, so you do owe me a lot of explanations," Naruto retorted.

'The courage of Uzumaki blood,'the fox realized. "Very well then, I can provide the necessary answers to content your troubling thoughts. However, I have one condition," Kyubi stated. Naruto raised an eyebrow. The fox continued, "Riddle me this, Journey without it, and you will never prevail, but if you have too much of it, you will surely fail," the fox asked.

Being an Uzumaki, Naruto had two things in abundance, courage and bravery! He was courageous enough to save an unknown Hyuga girl from some bullies. Although, he got a handy beatdown. And brave enough to paint the Hokage Mountain with the word 'Stupid.'

One thing people were not aware of Naruto was that he was wise, perceptive indeed. More than 99% of the village ignores him, yet, he never passes over anyone. He saw everything, heard everyone, and observed all the movements, be it shinobi or civilian. Being wise gave an advantage and confidence to Naruto for new challenges, be it pranking the Inuzuka clan dogs or some filthy red light district shop-owner. He never backed down from any challenge.

He knows his limits and capabilities; that's why he has still not infiltrated the ANBU HQ. It's not like he couldn't, but he was not confident enough that he could hide tracks entirely from all the Jonins there. 'Yes! Confidence, the one thing which drove his decisions whether or not to go through a particular prank,' he realized. If he isn't confident enough to come out clean of a challenge, he will leave it for another time. He smiled and looked towards the fox. Said fox's eyes were already studying him.

"It's, Confidence," Naruto replied. "Without it, one would remain at a sub-par level and won't be able to give his/her 100%. On the other hand, having too much of it will be welcoming 'failure' with open arms." He finished with confidence.

After a moment or two, Kyubi acknowledged his response, "Indeed, it is."

"Do you know why I asked that particular riddle to you, naruto?" thefox asked. Naruto shook his head. "Because overconfidence and slight ignorance are the reasons why I'm, Kyubi no Kitsune is sealed inside of you."

"You see, being a celestial god, I'm ancient and one of the most powerful beings of the universe. Firstly, I ignored some basic knowledge in the sealing techniques as I realized that it was beneath my use. When I emerged on this planet, your shinobi world was in its genesis years. I knew my presence would be enough to keep the balance between good and evil. I grew overconfident while duelling an outer world entity who knew the means of sealing me. As a result, I was, for the very first time in my life, sealed inside a human being." Said giant exhaled a hot breathed after remembering his early years.

"Even though I was angry being under a seal, I had a responsibility to carry on. So, I decided to work through the mental link of my host. Whenever I saw malevolence is piling up in any portion of the world, I played my way through my host to be the end for said evil. Centuries went by, and my hosts started to mature with time. They began understanding my nature, the reason behind my existence. As years went by, the Uzumaki clan made its name in sealing; they became legendary in this skill. So, it was obvious that someday, I'll be with an Uzumaki. It started with Mito Uzumaki, the first host from your clan. Very sensible and diplomatic lady. We had a pact; I share my knowledge with her, and in return, she would take upon my responsibility in mitigating the evil (though it was his husband who worked on it)."

Naruto was in awe when he heard about his clan. Finally, he did belong to a family. He was not some nameless, clanless brat. Overcoming his newfound interest in his surname, he asked, "What happened afterwards?"

"After Mito, I was sealed in your mother." His heart skipped a beat on hearing about his mother.It'sbeen7yrs, and Naruto had no idea about his parents. No mother's name, no father's name; no one told him anything even after asking repetitively. And here he was sitting in front of a celestial god or giant fox – who could talk, telling him about his ancestors.

Tears were on their way in those tiny blue eyes. Naruto was eager to know about his mother. After wiping a tear that was about to leave his right eye, he looked towards the fox again. "Kushina Uzumaki, your mother. A fearsome and kind lady. She was also one of the best hosts I've ever come across and the most powerful of them all. But, she did have a temper issue, which gained her the nickname of Akai Chishio no Habanero (Red Hot Habanero). The sole wielder of ancient Uzumaki sword 'Ra'" Kyubi finished introducing his favourite host.

"Kushina Uzumaki, my mother," Naruto repeated with teary eyes. He couldn't help it; all those emotions buried deep down in a 7yr old kid's heart, hidden behind the masks of mischief, attention-seeking, and prankster. No matter how strong one is, the pain of lost parents and being an orphan is not something that one could let pass.

Besides the tears, there was also a smile on Naruto's face when he heard how strong his mother was from the Kyubi. He also recalled reading something about that nickname in a history book, which stated 'flee-on-sight' orders alongside it. Now he could imagine the danger level his mother's name signified.

Yet he couldn't figure out who could kill such a prominent person? That, too, at such a young age. Kyubi knew his subsequent response would either break or make this kid, "It was me who killed Kushina! Naruto."

If he had the power, he could have decimated every single thing in his sight right now, which was just the giant fox. Naruto was seething in fury when he heard Kyubi's response to his thoughts. A moment ago he was happy by knowing about his mother, her friendship with the Nine tails and in the next moment he was crying, sad and angry because of the fox.

"Why? How could you? You dirty piece of sh-" were the only words that left Naruto's mouth when he felt the temperature suddenly drop to zero. Feeling a shiver down his spine, he saw Kyubi on his haunches, looking down at Naruto. The temperature was so cold that it could freeze the Sun, he thought.

"KNOW-YOUR-PLACE-HUMAN" wasthe sole reply from the mighty Kyubi no Kitsune.

At this moment, Naruto realized how angry gods could be and how big they could be. Not sure about exact measurements, but the fox would give the Hokage mountain a run for its money, Naruto thought.

"I-I-I'm sorry. I apologize for my words. But if I may ask - why the hell did you do kill my mother?" Naruto begged and asked after experiencing the Kyubi's anger first hand. The temperature was back to normal, though a slightly eerie feeling was still there in the air.

"Be better than this. Don't be a slave to your emotions." Kyubi reprimanded Naruto.

"I didn't kill her intentionally, brat. It was an accident, or for better words, someone was controlling me as a tool to kill her."

"Who on could use a god as a tool?" our little confused hero questioned.

"Remember when I said ignoring sealing arts was my first mistake? My second mistake was falling prey to Uchiha's eyes – Sharingan. A visual prowess capable of hypnotizing celestial animal gods. If I'm not mistaken, your history books highlighted that I attacked this village 7yrs ago, which is far from the truth. In reality, it was an Uchiha who unleashed my rage on this village. When your mother was giving birth to you, the seal holding me and her together became weak. The unknown Uchiha knew about it and extracted me from your mother and controlled me while attacking your home." Kyubicontinued.

"Thanks to the Fourth Hokage, who arrived on time and with your mother, stopped the attack, broke the genjutsu, and sealed my yin half in you." The fox finished.

Shocked and jaw-dropped were the only suitable description for the situation of Naruto at the moment. He was appalled at how easily the history could be tempered with and stunned because someone from Konoha's Uchiha clan was behind all this. On seeing his principles of loyalty and 'Will of Fire' on the brink of shattering, Kyubi added, "So an answering your earlier questions, I, Kyubi No Kitsune, was sent here from higher-order to maintain the balance. I know you because this seal is holding me inside you since your birth. I didn't choose you, your father did, and no, I won't kill you. Not yet!"

Before Naruto could even react, "Just kidding kit," Kyubi added, snickering. "Oh, and your father's name was Minato Namikaze aka the Fourth Hokage aka the Yellow Flash" answering all of Naruto's questions, the Kyubi lay down again.

What more could an orphan child ask if his lifetime idol comes out to be his real dad. Naruto has never felt so proud. On thinking upon, he realized the similarities between himself and his father. Blonde hairs, face-cut and lean built; is it just him or everyone else were unknown to his heritage. He was not sure about others, but he knew Jiji was aware of this, yet he kept the truth hidden from him.

Granting, he was not brooding or keeping grudges kind of person; he understood that people have their reasons for keeping secrets.

On the bright side, 'He has the biggest ace with him. He now knows his ancestry; knows that Uzumaki's were well-versed in sealing arts. His father was the fastest person in the shinobi world, and a celestial god is there right inside him who 'thankfully' won't kill him,' Naruto brainstormed the ideas. He knew things that others weren't even aware of; how much advantage he can have with all this information.

To pull him out of his thoughts, the fox questioned young Naruto, "What do you want in your life Naruto?"

Naruto thought upon the fox's question for some time and replied, "Well, at first I wanted to be the Hokage of this village, you know; to gain respect from the villagers and all. But now I realize that there is a bigger picture here, far more significant than Konoha's Hokage. I want to be a legendary ninja, just like my father, but I also want to walk beside a celestial god on his path of balancing good or evil, just like my mom, and right some wrongs.

And being tied to an office chair is not the future I look at myself spending. So yeah, that's what I want to be – a ninja of such calibre that it is unheard of in the history of the shinobi world. A human being whose stories resound through the realm of your celestial god and more."

Naruto had a determined look, full of courage and vigour. Kyubi smiled after hearing such big words from such a small kid. "Your thoughts are commendable kit, but do you think you ready to take on every obstacle this world throw at you? Can you stand another beating like last night's? Those were civilians (except one); what will you do when you face a real shinobi and not some wannabe?"

With great conviction, Naruto responded, "I'll train and surmount any hurdle. I'll attain the knowledge and train until every muscle of my body is tearing apart and every bone of my body is on the brink of breaking. And since you helped my mother, I'm sure you will help me too."

"umm, and here I thought you will be shouting dattebayo- and promising to become the greatest Hokage ever," Kyubi muttered.

"so be it kit, in the name of the Sky Lord, I King of bijuus, at this moment acknowledge you as my host and will train you to be worthy enough," Kyubiannounced in his authoritative tone.

"hmm.. worthy enough for what? Kyubi-sama," the confused kid asked.

"You don't think Kyubi No Kitsune is my real name, do you?" the Nine-tails replied with a poker face.

And with that, Naruto exits his mindscape.

Naruto realized the Sun is coming up on opening his eyes, and in a couple of hours, it will be noon. So, after spending the afternoon in his apartment, thinking about how to proceed with the new information he has, he decided to go to the library to verify a couple of things.

Apart from the Ichiraku's ramen shop, the library was second in Konoha, where he didn't feel alone or helpless. On arriving there, he spent quite some time going through the history section specifically. He read about the beginning of the Ninja era and how villages were formed. Moreover, he did go through all the critical events in Konoha's history – all three great wars, the Kyubi attack, Uchiha massacre.

On confirming various things, he proceeded to the section of the library which was most often used by newbies – the section about Konoha's finest. Although, unlike most people, he did not limit his interest in recent generation heroes, probably Sannins and his father - Yellow Flash. He knew that being the most powerful village in ages, Konoha didn't produce just four strong shinobis. He went through the section which was least used, books that were untouched for a long time.

And he got what he was looking for, the greatest ninjas Konoha ever witnessed. An old book which no one issued – 'Legends of Konohagakure no Sato'. Naruto engrossed himself in the book and ended up learning about Hashirama Senju (God of Shinobi/user of wood release/strongest of them all), Madara Uchiha (the Fire idol/army killer), Tobirama Senju (the Water God/fastest shinobi of his era/ultimate sensor), Might Duy (sole user of eight inner gates/annihilator of the seven swordsmen), Sakumo Hatake (supreme assassination specialist/Kage no Hokage/the White Fang), Kito Inuzuka (single man battalion), Minato Namikaze (fastest man ever/ massacre specialist/the Yellow Flash) and other founders of current Konoha clans.

After going through the book, Naruto thought, 'Kyubi-sama was sealed in Mito Uzumaki who was first Hokage's wife, so he should be aware of each one of these people. I could learn so much more about them.'

On reaching his apartment after a knowledgeful evening, he ate dinner and was sitting on his bed looking outside the window. The calm wind breezing through his face as the sky lit with bright stars. Naruto was thinking about how an instance could change one's perspective in life. He might be thinking something else right now if he didn't end up in the Forest of Death and met the fox in the process.

"So what now, kit?", Kyubi nudged his host's thoughts.

"I've one year before I join the academy. So, I've to get as strong as possible before that. Something tells me that I will be treated the same in the academy as I'm being treated in most parts of the village. This thing could hinder my progress, so I'll get stronger on my own." Naruto said out loud.

"I could hear your thoughts, kit; you don't have to announce everything." The fox stated in an obvious manner.

"Don't worry about training, kit. I've thought this through. Your time before joining the academy will be utilized to the fullest." Naruto could feel the evil grin on Kyubi's face. He shuddered.

"I'm thinking to ask Jiji about my parents and also what happened to my mom's sword?" Naruto was hoping to consult his thoughts with his tenant.

"You should, however, be wary about what you ask. Sarutobi is not a fool. He will look through your disguise if you will lie or hide things from him. Better use your tact and don't disclose about us. Also, be careful around him. He is still in his office, and even from here, I can sense some evil feelings from one of 'his guards'. Be on your guard."

"Sure, and thanks", Naruto replied, smiling.

"You won't be thanking me after tomorrow's training session!" the fox said with his smile.

The next day, Naruto thought to speak with Jiji in the early morning, or he might miss some of his training time. Around 9:30 am, he went to the Hokage office to book his appointment. The secretary was kind and knew about his treatment by the villagers. She gave a sweet to the kid out of motherly instincts and went to inform Hokage about his visitor.

After 5 minutes, the lady gestured towards him to go inside.

Naruto went into the office and greeted Hiruzen with his ever-smiling face, "Hey Jiji, What's up?"

Looking at his adopted kind of grandson, the Hokage smiled back and asked, "Naruto-kun, where have you been? Did you forget about your Jiji? Did you have your breakfast?"

"Yes, Jiji, I did, and I'm good," Naruto replied while moving towards the Hokage's desk and putting a folder paper on it.

Raising his left eye at the paper, the third Hokage picked it up and read silently – Where is 'Ra'?

Hiruzen stiffened but hid his posture well and gestured his ANBU's to leave. After his guards left, he waved few hand signs, and a 'silence barrier' rose around them.

"What is this Naruto-kun?" the old man asked in the Hokage tone.

"I've figured it out, Jiji. I know about my mother." Naruto answered usually. "But how? Did someone say anything? How come you suddenly figured it out?" the Hokage was now suspicious, Naruto realized from his speech.

"It was not hard. Yesterday was my birthday, and I thought, what my mom would have gifted me if she was there with me? The thought hit me! I went to the archives section in the library to search for someone who was Uzumaki. Bad luck, I didn't find anything unless I came across a name in an old book - 'Legends of Konohagakure no Sato'."

The third Hokage felt some remorse. He was sad because Naruto is not ready to know about his heritage; he regretted not removing her name from that book. 'How could he forget something so trivial?' Hiruzen thought.

Naruto continued, "Kushina Uzumaki, the only female Uzumaki name I could find in the library, and interestingly she died on the same day, October 10, on my birthday. After that, it not hard to connect the dots. I read more about her and asked the librarian too; luckily, he knew about her. So, I ended up learning about her being the wielder of an ancient Uzumaki sword, 'Ra.'"

"Naruto-kun, I apologize for keeping it a secret from you. But it was done to keep you safe. Since you have read about your mother, I believe you know how famous she was. She had the second-highest death count as per Konoha's record, surpassed only by the Fourth Hokage. Eventually, she made tons of enemies, and if her enemies found out that her child is alive, they would have surely come after you. I hope you understand the criticality of this secret."

Naruto never thought about it this way. He pondered on the words of his Jiji, thinking and considering the risk of this secret getting out. Realizing that it was for his benefit, he spoke in a way mature tone, "You don't have to apologize Jiji, what you did was right."

If Hiruzen Sarutobi was expecting some reply, this was not one of them. He was taken aback by the boy's response. It was a very calculated response, neither reckless nor brash. He was surprised with the maturity Naruto just reflected in his tone. Though he couldn't point his figure on it, the kid was different from when he met him two days ago. Did knowing about his mother changed him so much? Might be!

"I'm happy that you kept it a secret. However, I would like to see my mother's sword. It's a family heirloom, after all. And since most of the people have already forgotten about my mom, using her sword might not be that suspicious." Naruto said.

"You don't have to worry about that since almost no one from Konoha ever saw Kushina using her sword in a battle. And those who saw, they are not alive to tell about it." Hiruzen replied while moving towards a hidden compartment behind his chair.

"Behold, kit. You are about to see something as ancient as me and directly related to an Egyptian Sun god." Kyubi announced in his thoughts.

The third Hokage stood in front of the hidden compartment and started doing a series of hand-signs. After a non-stop series of 82 hand signs, the compartment shifted slightly and a knob was visible. Hiruzen bit his thumb and dropped a couple of blood droplets on the knob. The compartment vibrated and slid to the right side, revealing a sizeable hidden wall. Naruto could see inside the section, where things from previous Hokages and other village valuables items were hung.

Hiruzen picked up a large case covered in red markings; intertwined with the markings were pieces of crimson red hairs. He brought the case to his table and closed the compartment. He picked a small pin from one of his drawers and gave it to Naruto.

Knowing that family heirloom things are generally connected through blood, he pricked his thumb as a drop of blood fell on the handle of the large case. The crimson red hairs burned to ashes, and the red markings glowed, changing its colour from red to yellow. Hearing a sound of unlocking, Naruto lifted the handle and opened the case.

Inside the case, a royal blue silk velvet covered the extremely bright sword of 'Ra'. Naruto slowly moved his hand towards the sword; while, Hiruzen was on guard if things went haywire. Naruto stopped just inches away from touching the sword when he felt a tingling sensation in his fingers. While, keeping his hands still, he felt the soothing warmness that was coming from the sword. It was like someone provided a warmer in a bone-chilling night of winter.

Naruto slowly removed the silk velvet and picked up the sword. The sword 'Ra' glowed for a moment and then went back to its normal state. He marvelled its beauty, with a golden handle and guard of 6 inches covered in the shape of a falcon. From its pommel to point, the sword stood at a length of 32 inches, with a sharpness that looked so intense that Naruto felt it could even cut the very soul of a human being. It was covered in seals from the blade collar to the point. It felt like a featherweight to him; swaying it a little bit, he put it into the case.

Hiruzen relaxed when nothing terrible happened while Naruto lifted the sword. He feared something worse would happen since the sword was ancient, and he didn't have any knowledge of it.

Before Naruto closed the case, he turned towards the Hokage and asked, "Do you want to try it out? Want to see how it looks in your hands?"

Hiruzen shivered on the thought of it. He knew better than others that it was not advisable to mess with the family heirlooms; it could be risky and life-threatening. He declined politely, "I would not give that advice to others if I were you, Naruto-kun. It's a family inheritance; be wary that it may harm someone other than your immediate family."

"He is right, kit. You still don't know everything about 'Ra'." Kyubi added his two cents as Naruto closed the case and picked it up.

With the matter related to the sword resolved, Naruto turned to another important topic. Facing Jiji, he asked curiously, "So, who was my father then?"

Hiruzen smiled casually and went back to his seat, getting into the Hokage mode, and he replied, "First learn how to wield that thing, and then I'll tell you about him. Now I have got a lot of paperwork to sign, so please excuse me Naruto-kun, we will catch up later,"

Well, that was his cue to leave. Naruto stood up, reached the gate, "You are a great person Hokage-sama." He said before exiting.

The third Hokage smiled and narrowed his eyes while thinking, that is the first time I've ever heard those honorifics from him. He is growing up so fast, Minato!

"Alright, so where next Kyubi-sama?" Naruto asked his tenant.

"ahh, my victi-, student. The Forest of Death, of course. Let your tort-, training began." Kyubi said, correcting his evil thoughts.

A/n – Please like and leave a review. This story is my first attempt at a fic. Just a head-up, this fic is not going to be like others. The initial plot is slow since I want to make sure character development should not be rushed. The plot will remain on the serious side—no yaoi/harem. Naruto will be strong, that's for sure, but his enemies will be even stronger. Feedbacks are always welcomed!

Till next time!

Peace