I hope whoever reads this story ends up liking it. This story is just for fun so if I happen to take a bit of time writing it, I apologize now for those who wait for updates also I would love to hear any and all ideas that you guys have hope to hear from you. On a different note, this story will at times seem similar to other works that have been posted on this site and while I cannot avoid this all the time, because let's face it there are so many stories on this site that it is hard not to sound similar at some point or another. This story will take some points that are plot, I don't think should be changed and are fine as is and some that I do if it seems too similar to any other works on this cite, I apologize now but this story is different and not meant to be trying to take someone else's idea. Also, the names for the siblings will be similar to other works "Hey if it ain't broken don't fix it.", I will do my best to try and make it fun to read. Last but not least I in NO! way own anything in this story except the characters I add that are mine all characters in the anime and other stories on this site are owned by their creators.
P.S. if you don't like don't read no one is forcing you to read, if you want to troll someone get off this page and get a real life. Now on with the show.
Prologue
October tenth is a day that shall always be remembered to the citizens of the leaf as a disaster. As this night will be remembered as the night the Kyūbi also known as the nine tailed fox nearly destroyed the hidden leaf. Many brave souls in the way of shinobi and kunoichi this night would put their lives on the line to protect not only the leaf but those important to them. One such Shinobi was standing atop the Hokage monument now as he took in the sight of all that was happening, he thought to himself that he would much rather be with his wife right now who was recuperating from not only giving birth to quadruplets but also having the nine tails released from her body due to the seal being weakened from her giving birth. This however was something that couldn't be avoided. Minato Namikaze knew what he would need to do to save everyone he could but he would have to give up his own life to do so in the end it was a choice he was more than willing to make but he feared for his children whom he would have to seal the beast inside of, he knew it would be hard for them growing up but he hoped that the village would see them as heroes but fate seemed to be on his side if not in a twisted sort of way as he made the necessary hand seals to perform the Reaper Death Seal. When the Shinigami appeared in its ghostly form, he knew that it was to late to turn back but what made his skin crawl was not the fact that he was about to die no for when he summoned him the Shinigami spoke.
"You are the luckiest mortal who will ever use this jutsu for this one time only since you have helped to father the chosen one, I will not take your life but if you use this seal a second time, I will collect your soul without a second thought or a shred of remorse. No for the payment this time I will collect a different currency from you." The ghostly form said as Minato sealed the fox into his four children the yin and yang of the beast into his two daughters the soul into his second son and the excess chakra that was still running amuck into his eldest son using the Eight Sign Seal which would have a profound impact later on for the eldest son of the Hokage for at this very same time someone else in the leaf was also sealing the excess chakra they could syphon from said fox into another newborn child whose fate would intertwine with that of the eldest child. After this warning Minato rushed to find his wife fearing for her life at the words of the Shinigami but when he found her she was alive and well which gave him great relief. With the disaster averted for the most part now the village turned its focuse to healing the wounded and finding the bodies of the dead.
"Everyone had better not be slacking you hear me! If I even think you're not giving it everything you, I'll drive you through a wall!" roared a beautiful blonde woman as she walked through the hospital. Said woman being one Tsunade Senju one of the legendary Sannin, as she stormed into the hospital after checking on the Uzumaki-Namikaze family.
Glancing around and noticing the lack of attention directed at her due to the craziness of the whole situation, Tsunade turned her right-hand woman, assistant, and student, "What's the situation looking like so far?! Shizune!?" she roared not seeing said women anywhere.
"Tsunade-sama! The injured have been reduced by half thanks to the field staff dealing with situations outside of the hospital that weren't severe enough to warrant admission. From the number of patients and medics, I'd estimate that we're just about finished treating the ones who have been admitted, and I haven't seen more than seven patients be admitted in the past hour. I think most of the shinobi and villagers who were injured have been taken care of!" replied a pretty yet exhausted woman with raven color hair now known as Shizune.
Releasing a relieved sigh that she had been holding, Tsunade voiced her relief now that the situation was under control. "Whew, that's good. I feared that there would've been many more injured and dead than there were, thank goodness. That means that all the injured are accounted for, meaning that the village got out in extremely good shape when you look at other villages who were attacked by bijū."
Sharing a sigh of relief with her mentor, Shizune remembered the two who were in the middle of the attack. "Tsunade-sama! You said that all the injured were accounted for right?! What about Kushina-sama and Minato-sama?!" shouted a worried Shizune, having momentarily forgotten about her village's leader and his wife.
"Relax, they're safe. Minato had a severe case of chakra exhaustion but he'll be alright knowing him. Kushina, other than the typical signs of having just given birth is completely fine as well thanks mainly in part to her Uzumaki longevity. Even after having the Kyūbi forced out of her, she's still alive and is going to make a full recovery. She'll be up and about in a few hours. Look I'll even make a bet with you about it I'm so sure!" Tsunade confidently replied, so confident that she offered to make a bet with Shizune about it, which given her nickname as the "Legendary Sucker" was no small statement.
The two shared a relieved and happy laugh as the danger that had threatened the whole village was finally passed. That is, until Tsunade realized that Shizune was also laughing at her mentors extremely notorious bad luck and chased her around the hospital wing, her fists waving threateningly in air anime style while the other occupants and staff of the hospital laughed in good humor at the antics of the two. Until a young nurse came running up to the duo and told Tsunade what had just happened in another wing of the hospital and handed her a chart before heading back off to take care of her duties. Shizune had overheard what had been said and had her hands over her mouth as she looked at her mentor whose face was both angry and sad art the same time. As Tsunade looked up from the chart she looked off into the middle distance as the question that was on her mind came from the lips of her student.
"How do we break the news to her?" Shizune asked as she knew that it wouldn't go over well with who was going to be receiving the news. After waiting for a response for almost a minute she asked a second time "What do we do Tsunade-sama?" she looked to the other women for the answer. Only for her to reply with "I don't know."
Back at The Uzumaki-Namikaze estate "Minato, are you sure that you're alright? You used the freaking Reaper Death Seal but somehow you didn't lose your soul like what was supposed to happen don't you find that this is just a bit too strange?" a tall man, with a spiky white hair that reached his mid back and red paint markings on his face worriedly asked his former student now Hokage, this man was Jiraiya also one of the legendary Sannin and mentor to Minato.
"Sensei, I told you I'm fine! look, I can do everything without any problems. I need to go see Kushi-chan and my kids, so please don't worrying everything is fine." Minato replied, creating his fabled Rasengan just to emphasize the point he was trying to make to his mentor.
With a sigh, Jiraiya relented, putting a hand on his students shoulder he congratulated him not only for his defeating of the Kyūbi but also the beginning of his family. "I'm proud of you Minato, you've come so far even without my help. I couldn't have asked for a better student in all my life." Jiraiya said, pride filling in his voice as he walked with Minato towards the room setup specifically for his children.
Opening the door quietly, they found what they were looking for. Kushina with her arms full of her, no their four children. Wordlessly walking towards her and sitting down, he wrapped her and their children in a loving embrace. "They're beautiful Kushi-chan." Minato said. Just before he could relax there was a knock at the front door which Jiraiya informed Minato about. Rising from his place he went to see who it could be due to all that had been happening. When he and Jiraiya reached the door, they found Tsunade and Shizune at the door with Shizune carrying a newborn in her arms both women had a less than pleased look on their faces.
"May we come in?" Tsunade asked to which Minato gestured for them to enter after which both women turn to them as Minato turned to face them once the door was closed. Minato couldn't help but wounder what had happened to make them come here at this hour and whose child was sleeping in the Raven-haired girls' arms. Jiraiya found it just as strange but new better then to get on Tsunade's bad side and kept his mouth shut. As they both look at Tsunade, "we need to talk to you, all of you." Indicating Kushina as well needed to be part of the coming conversation. Leading them to the room where his wife and kids were entering Tsunade couldn't help but fawn at her god kids who were just the cutest. To which Kushina smiled at her until she looked to Shizune and saw the newborn in her arms.
"Shizune who's your passenger?" she asked somewhat confused at the sleeping child. At this Tsunade was snapped back to the whole reason that the two of them had brought the child with them here. She smiled sadly and looked Kushina in the eyes before she said, "This is Umiko's son." Tsunade said as Shizune passed him to Minato for the both of them to see which Kushina and Minato both smiled at the young babe as he slept soundly.
"Oh, he is so cute she must be so happy." Kushina said then paused as she wondered why they had brought the baby here when she would have seen him when… she looked around and then at Tsunade "Where is Umiko and why is he not with her?" she asked a slight bit of confusion and worry in here voice. When both women looked away and didn't say anything Kushina stiffened as shock than sadness came over her as she looked at the baby and back at them with tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want it to be true with all of her heart she wanted it to be a bad joke but the look on Tsunade's face said it wasn't. "How?" the question was quiet but was so cold that a chill ran down the two women's spines.
"Shortly after she gave birth, they tried to bring her back but..." Shizune said leaving the last part off didn't lessen the sadness that Kushina felt at the loss of her sister. Looking back at the baby who was her nephew no, her new son knowing full well that if they didn't adopt the boy as a full member of the family he would be used by the council in ways she didn't want to think of as she looked at him he stirred in Minato's arms for a moment only to fall back to sleep. She couldn't help but to smile a bit.
Jiraiya put a hand on Minato's shoulder as he spoke "I'm so sorry both of you for your loss." the mentors' words did little to make the situation any better but both of the newfound parents took some small measure of comfort in his word. While he had only met her a handful of times in the past and known her for a short time while she lived with them in the village Minato had liked Umiko and thought of her as family in every sense of the word. In fact, when she had come back to the village after moving to a small village with her husband after his later death which prompted her return it was Minato who had told her she always had a place in the family estate they lived in and that she didn't need to even ask.
"We know that this is not the best time to ask but…"
"Yes." Kushina spoke before Tsunade could even finish her question, "We will adopt him and raise him as ours it is what my sister would have wanted." Kushina said taking the boy from Minato to add to her already full arms looking at the two women "What's his name?" She asked. Tsunade blinked for a second caught off guard by the sudden answer that she was given before she regained focus and replied.
"she died before she could name him." Tsunade said at which Kushina felt tears slide down her cheeks at the thought that her sister never got to even hold her son let alone name him but this little one who managed to make it by the grace of Kami needed a name and a family, she would be dammed if she let her sister down by not giving this boy a home and all the love she would have if she were here. She knew without a doubt in her mind that if the situation had been reversed Umiko would've taken Naruto, Menma, Mito, and Narumi adopted them and raised them as her very own and given them all the love she had to give. It saddened her that her family had lost a member but seeing that little baby boy in her arms brought her joy as well she may have lost one member of the family but she gained a new one.
"Well, we can't have that now can we." Kushina mused looking down at hers and Minato's little bundles of joy. The room turned form somewhat somber back to happy as they all thought of what would be a good name for the boy, Minato put forward the idea of Izuma but was shot down by Kushina. Jiraiya's idea Yuto was vetoed as well other names were put forth when finally, Kushina looked up from the boy "How about Kōga?" she asked as the room went silent for a minute and then Tsunade spoke up saying "I like it." Smiling down at her new son she stroked the side of his cheek she saw him smile and knew she had named him well. Shortly after the two Sannin and Shizune left leaving the two alone with their children.
Sinking into her husband's embrace, Kushina sniffled a bit before expressing her sincere thanks to whatever entity that allowed her family to stay together for the most part, through what seemed like impossible odds even though she was saddened by her sister's death she was just as grateful for her husband and children surviving. "Mina-kun, we're together. We're all together. You didn't have your soul taken, and I survived having the Kyūbi removed from my body. We're going to be able to watch our children grow up and they'll have a family to love and take care of them." Kushina whispered as she sobbed quietly while shaking a little, the all too real possibility that she could've lost her husband and her life, leaving her children alone in the world with no one to care for them taking a toll on her.
Nuzzling his wife and holding her closer, Minato reassured her that nothing would ever threaten to tear about their family again. All through the night, parents and children stayed together until sleep took them as the mental and emotional exhaustion that the two had accumulated had finally reached its peak. Looking down upon the scene before him the Shinigami knew that what he was going to do would change everything for the family but a bargain was struck and the debt must be paid. "Sleep well child for the price that replaced your father's soul will greatly affect you. As the child of prophecy, and the child who will change the world, you will be without the love of the one's who should love you the most. That is the exchange that I had made in place of your father's soul. You will be without love but you will be the one who will defy all obstacles that will stand in your way. As you will forge a path that will change the world, remember this one thing do not give into the hatred that will undoubtedly plague your heart in the future to come, for you must rise above it."
What the Shinigami did not know was that to balance the scales his sister Kami made a few changes to his plan as she knew that if his plan were to succeed it would not only destroy a family but lead the child of prophecy to not only forsake everything, he was supposed to protect but it could very well lead to him destroying everything and bring about the end of the world.
Time skip eight years
As time passed it seemed that things would go mostly the way the Shinigami had said they would as the Scene that was being looked down upon by a silent observer made him somewhat saddened as in the private training area of the Uzumaki estate four young children were being trained on the art of chakra control by both Kushina and Minato as four young kids tried to walk up a tree using only chakra and nothing else. Falling to the ground for the third time that training session Menma complained "Kaa-chan! Tou-san! Can't we learn any cool jutsu yet?!" which was responded to with a patient toned response of "When you have better chakra control then we move on to a jutsu or two but first learn the basics." From Minato.
Kushina who was standing next to her husband commented on Menma's complaint with "Good chakra control is the key to being able to do all kinds of things in the way of jutsu. I've told you before that when I was young, I had a lot of chakra but no control so I couldn't do much in the way of jutsu and it made it hard for me to learn things this is why it is important to practice good chakra control so that you won't end up like I used to be back when I was young." While she knew the boy wouldn't like her answer to his complaint, he wouldn't argue with her either due to the fact he knew that she wouldn't hesitate to get her point across by knocking some sense into him. Kōga Uzumaki-Namikaze had seemed to get the understanding of it better but only by a small margin. Born the same night as the other Uzumaki-Namikaze siblings he favored Kushina in hair color as his hair was a vermilion red but he had a mix of his parent's looks his eyes were just like Umiko's a clear bright aquamarine with a slight green tint while she would guess that he had his father's jaw line, he had on a black t shirt with the Uzumaki crest on the front and tan cargo shorts. As the four siblings tried fell and tried again one would think that it was a happy family moment of the whole family. But one member was absent from the scene that would have been seen as normal.
When everyone was headed inside Kushina and Minato had looked at each other as they knew one member of the family was sadly missing as they turned and headed in Kōga had stayed outside for a minute looking up, he saw Naruto who had been watching from a tree and gave his brother a gesture to come inside and try to spend time with the rest of the family but Naruto shook his head as he stood on the branch and hoped down to the street side of the wall. While Kōga and Naruto got on well the rest of the siblings didn't Menma seemed to almost hate his brother but before they turned six, he would always be trying to act like Naruto now it seemed like the boy just wanted to be rid of him. The two sisters seemed to avoid Naruto as if he were a stranger to them but much like Menma they too had a better relationship with the young boy when they were younger.
As for his parents they tried to include Naruto and even tried to be close to the boy but every time they tried or would go to ask him to join them for practice they would feel a sense of overwhelming dread take hold of them like the world would end if they even went near Naruto and would chicken out or they would look for him and find the boy would just be gone, he would come home late and head out early it was as if he were avoiding them which in all fairness could have been seen as true. One and a half years back the Two of them had yelled at him for trying to do the water walking exercise without supervision and it had gone a bit too far when they had said some things that no parent should say to their child now that they looked back. Both of them wished they could take back what they had said and how they acted but knew the only thing they could do now was be better and show him they loved him.
Naruto walked the streets of the village mostly ignored by the majority of the people who lived there only about a dozen people maybe, seemed to even notice the boy and didn't act like his family did. One such pair of people were Hana and Tsume Inuzaka along with their partners the two women were nice to the boy and would let him and Kōga come over to play with the ninken when they were free. The pair had met the boys one day after Naruto had run out of the house due to Menma telling him that he should get lost. Followed by Kōga who wanted to try and fix the problem that had been going on for a while now between his two brothers. The boys having not looked where they were going found the selves in the Inuzaka kennel face to muzzle with Kuromaru and the Haimaru triplets. When Mother and Daughter ran to see what the commotion in the kennel was, they found the two boys being licked to death by the ninken who had taken an instant liking to them which was a rare site to see for the two women. After that Naruto and Koga had played with the dogs till they were worn out. The picture that Tsume had taken of the two boys napping along with the four ninken in a pile made her squeal with delight as her female genetics that seem to make women think things are cute kicked in and ran to get Hana who had the same reaction as her mom did. After which they took the two boys back home and showed Kushina the photo of the boys and ninken napping together which cause her to Squeal just like the two Inuzakas had. After that, the two women would stop Naruto when they saw him and ask how he was doing among other things.
Alongside the two of them were the Ichirakus who owned the ramen stand that Naruto liked but then again everyone in the family liked their ramen, Mikoto Uchiha Kushina's friend and aunt of a sort to the five kids, along with Yūgao Uzuki a Member of the Anbu who was like a big sister figure to him and Kōga both. Might Guy who while he was friendly enough and even helped Naruto with his taijutsu, sometimes Lee and Kōga would join them now and then, he was just a bit too enthusiastic for him at times. Izumi Uchiha who was nice and had encouraged him to try and do his best and never give up, this had helped more than she would ever know. Naruto saw her as another sister figure but one he could tease about how she needed to talk to Itachi Uchiha and tell him how she felt or she would lose him to some else. This of course made her threaten that she would steal all the ramen in the village and burn it, which would make Naruto beg her not to do such a horrible thing. Shino Aburame who had asked the boy if he would go bug hunting in the woods outside the village with him from time to time which they both enjoyed. Shikamaru Nara and Chōji Akimichi who were both nice to him and even tried to be friendly but when Menma would come around he would leave telling them he had to go. And last but not least in the list of persons who knew the young blond was one Anko Mitarashi who loved to both tease and prank the boy and would chase him/be chased by him around the village as well as be pranked in return by the young boy.
This had been the normal for a few years now. While things at home were not getting better in fact they seemed to be getting worse, Naruto would keep to himself mostly or go train with Kōga who was the only member of the family that didn't have a problem with getting close to his brother but was trying to get everything back to how things used to be before they turned five. If not training with his brother he would just be scarce in general going to the training spot that the two boys had found that was secluded from most of the village it was also a great spot to skip rocks and just go when he wanted to be by himself. He never spoke up much or gave his opinion on things when they would go for family outings and or go out to eat, he figured it would just be a chance for someone to get mad at him so he kept quiet. But what the family didn't know was that Naruto had a secret sibling who was sealed inside him. What his father hadn't realized was when he had sealed the fox's excess chakra inside Naruto the sealing method he had used had mixed the chakra with some of his sons own chakra and also taken a small amount of chakra from a passing by dire wolf that had gotten too close the three chakras that had been sealed inside him merged to make a whole new Tailed beast which Naruto met the night his parent had punished him for trying to water walk by himself. Looking back on the memory of how he met the wolf pup who shared his mind he couldn't help but wonder if what he had planned to do tonight was the right thing.
Flash back 1.5 years
Naruto awoke to find himself in a forest of trees that looked like they went on and on. The trees themselves being a light brown color with green leaves that were to high up to reach unless he tree walked and even then, it looked like he would have a bit of a walk before he got to the lowest branch. Naruto wondered how had he gotten here last thing he remembered was crying in the corner of his room. Just to make sure this wasn't a dream he pinched himself and felt it with a small "Ouch." He knew it was real. This made Naruto try and think how could he have gotten here as he thought he heard a sound that drew his attention away from his thoughts it almost sounded like someone crying and being the curious child that he was went to see where it was coming from. After a few minutes of searching, he found the source of the sound and couldn't believe it in a small clearing a lone wolf pup lay curled up in a ball whimpering. With slow steady movements as to not startle the pup he moved closer till he reached out a hand and tried to comfort the small pup. When his hand met fur the wolf's head snapped up as he jumped back only to find the boy he was sealed inside of crouched near him with his hand stretched out. The small ash grey wolf stared at him for a second before he spoke.
"w-why are Y-you here?" the pups said though short sobs. Naruto blinked several times before almost jumping a whole foot back.
"Y-you j-just talked." The blond boy stated which earned him an eye roll from the you wolf as he stared at him.
"Of course, I can talk you act like it's a big deal." the pup said with a bit of irritation in his voice. "Kuromaru talks and yet you don't find that strange."
Stunned for a brief moment by that fact and for the fact that he had now met two animals that could talk, Naruto looked the young wolf pup up and down before asking "Who are you and why were you crying just now?"
The young wolf looked at him like he had stupid written on his face in big bold letters. "I am alone why else do you think? I have been here all by myself with no one else around."
"How long have you been here?" Naruto asked.
"Ever since you father sealed the chakra of the Nine tails in you, I also have all the fox's memories up till the portion of excess chakra was sealed inside you but what your father didn't know was that when he sealed the chakra inside you it took a small amount of your own chakra and some of that of a passing by wolf that got too close, when it all was mixed together inside the seal I was born." The pup said as he sat next to Naruto.
"So, what your saying is that you're the son of the Kyūbi?" Naruto asked eyes wide at the statement that the wolf pup just made a moment ago.
"Kind of but when I woke up, I was here and no matter how much I looked no one was here with me I have been alone from day one." The young pup said making Naruto's heart ache for him as he was able to relate in a small way to the wolf.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked the wolf pup only for it to shoot him a glare.
"Are you trying to be funny I don't have a name. did you not just hear me say I have been here all by my lonesome since day one with no one to give me a name." the wolf said a bit of heat in his voice.
"Well how about I give you one." Naruto said making the wolf blink at him with a stunned look on his face.
"Y-you would really do that?" He asked as if it were unheard of all trace of heat gone from his voice.
"Of course, I would everyone deserves to have a name…" Naruto paused for just a moment "plus I know what it's like to be alone too." He finished as he stroked the fur of the pup next to him.
Snorting the pup turned his head away from the boy. "How would you know what it's like to be alone you have a family." The wolf said with a bitter tone to his voice.
When the wolf looked back at Naruto, he saw a grey cloud had formed over Naruto's head like it was about to rain which made the wolf blink just to make sure it wasn't imagining things the boys head low and looking down at his feet as he spoke. "They don't see me like that they avoid me like I'm a stranger or treat me like I am not worth their time…" he looked away from the wolf and muttered "Some family."
"What about your one brother who trains with you and spends time with you?" The pup questioned.
"Kōga is the only one who seems to treat me like family and even tries to get the others to do things with me or even asks my opinion most of the time though it just ends with Menma telling him that it isn't worth the time to ask me and they end up arguing or my parents telling us to behave." The young boy remarked, "He also says that I should try to find a way to fix things with everyone but every time I try it ends up going bad and I just feel worse afterwards."
"Do you hate them?" The young wolf asked.
"No, I don't hate them in fact I love them all of them I just wish that they would see me as family too." Naruto replied before perking up. "Now then about that name, Let's see huummmm… Kou yes that sounds about right." He said doing a 180 on topic and mood. To the wolfs confusion the small cloud that had formed over the boy vanished as fast as it had come like it was never there.
"Kou?" The newly named pup repeated trying it out.
"Yup it means happiness, also it's a prayer that one day you and I will find happiness and love." The boy beamed at the small pup.
Kou looked up at the boy and then smiled at him with tears in his eyes "Thank you for giving me a name." he said.
End flash back
The memory brought on a mix of emotions some sad some happy. He knew that whatever happened from now on he had someone who would be with him even when he felt alone. As thoughts passed through his mind about what he was about to do his family made him a bit apprehensive. I mean it was one thing to go to his and Kōga's special training spot but to do what he was about to do would make any sane person think twice. At that moment he hear Kou voice echo in his mind.
"You should try talking to them, maybe even tell them about me it might make a difference you know." The wolf Bijū said as his presence could be felt in Naruto's mind.
"I don't think it will make a difference besides who would believe me anyway." He responded mentally to his tenant's suggestion.
"I still think you should leave a note at least to let them know where you're going." Kou countered, "Plus if you want them to believe you all you have to do is channel my chakra." He said referring to the fact that in secret Naruto had been learning to control the chakra cloak that the young tailed beast's presence inside his body granted him access to. The chakra that was produced by the cloak unlike the fox's was a viridian green color and while it was not as corrosive as the fox's it still hurt like heck.
"All that would do is make them ask to many questions and they would get mad at me for not telling them." Naruto replied, "Besides bro with what we are about to do its best that we just go." The young boy finished, having stopped along the way to pick up the pack that he had stashed at his and Kōga's favorite training spot as he headed for his destination.
"I still don't like this plan of yours it's called the forest of death for a reason you know most sane people try to avoid going in there." Kou commented on their destination.
"Look bro were going and that is that." Naruto replied with a tone that told his adoptive brother that his mind was set and there was no changing it.
"You're nuts. Seriously, you have to be the craziest person I will ever meet." The young Bijū shot back at the blond boy.
"It's who I am and there is no changing it, you should know that by now." Came the blond Jinchūriki's answer.
"That's what I am afraid of." Kou said as he was in no better way to say it 'dragged along for the ride.'
Naruto just gave a mental laugh as he continued straight for his destination unbeknownst to the two several blurs were following while trying to stay hidden.
As it turned out Kou had grown a lot in the time that the two had met which led them to believe that through the seal, he was absorbing chakra which led to the idea that as the boy continued to grow so would his tenant, who already had three tails. This was not life threatening as for the fact that the boy had huge chakra reserves not only due to the fact of being an Uzumaki but also being the son of a Jinchūriki as well. What they believed would happen was that Kou would continue to absorb chakra till he reached the level of the nine tails or that is what they thought would happen to be honest they really didn't know one way or the other.
When he reached his destination, he stopped for a minute as he looked up at the gates that surrounded the ominous training ground 44, otherwise known to many as (The Forest of death.) The name was only a name after all but that still didn't mean it was safe far from it in fact that was why he had picked it for where he would go to train in seclusion where he would hopefully find what he needed to get his family to acknowledge him as a member of their family.
"I still think this is a horrible idea." Kou said as the training ground loomed in front of them.
"Kou are you a wolf or a mouse?" Naruto questioned the Bijū, "The only thing we will have to worry about is Anko who supposedly live here. Otherwise, the animals most likely will leave us alone because they can sense your chakra." Naruto said as prepared to go into the deadly forest.
"That doesn't mean that a few of them won't think twice about trying to make us their meal, and I for one plan on living well past the point of getting my ninth tail thank you very much." The wolf Bijū responded. As this was going on the four blurs had gotten close enough that both boy and beast could feel their signatures.
"Anbu four of them and one is … Neko o'nee-chan." Naruto surmised as he sensed them drew near.
"You mean that Pretty Anbu girl with the cat mask?" Kou perked up as Naruto shot a mental Glare at his surrogate brother.
"Now is not the time or the place Kou." Naruto replied.
As the four shadows who had been following him for a bit now landed behind him one stepped forward. Her hair was purple and long while she wore a white cat mask with red lines on it.
"Naruto what are you doing here its late and why come here of all places?" The masked women asked as she was puzzled by the youth's actions.
"I'm sorry o'nee-chan but I need to be away from the village and my family for a while." He said not looking back. Yūgao was a little shocked to say the least. She knew both of his parents and knew about how things had been going at home as well as how most of the village just ignored her favorite blond but she didn't think it was this bad.
"Naruto please listen to me." She pleaded, "Whatever is going on at home you can talk to me about it. But right now, let's get you home."
The blond's eye glistened with tears at the mention of that word.
"Home… I wish that place did feel like home," Much to the confusion of Yūgao's team. "But… I'm not wanted or even needed there, since no one but Kōga will even come near me."
Yūgao's eyes went wide at his statement, "Please don't say things like that Naruto your family loves you."
He turned to look at her and gave her a sad smile and brought his hands up to make a hand sign.
"Sorry Nee-chan," he said, "But this is something that I have to do, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he called. To the surprise of all those standing there in 9 plumes of smoke appeared 9 identical copies of Naruto.
"N-nani? Shadow Clones, but he's not even part of the academy yet." Were the responses coming from her team.
Naruto rubber the back of his head as he gave a bashful smile, "Yeah, me and Kōga kinda broke into the vault where the forbidden scroll of sealing is kept and copied the directions for the jutsu," he said with a chuckle before looking back to Yūgao "Tell Mom and dad I don't hate them or Menma, Narumi, Mito and Kōga, tell them despite everything that has happened I still love them all…" he paused and looked down "And tell Kōga I'm sorry."
With that said he did a chakra infused jump with a lazy back flip that carried him over the fence and into the forest while his clones followed suit and bolted off into the forest.
"Shit this is worse then bad what do we do Neko?!" One of the members of the group questioned as said Anbu member bit back a curse, she was well versed with the Shadow clone jutsu and its uses, one of which was the ability to throw off pursuers by getting them to chase clones rather than the target you were after. Turning to the other members of her team she snapped orders at them.
"Go get another team and Anko she will know this place the best and be able to guide use through some of the more dangerous parts," she said to one member and looked at the other two "Go in after him! If you find you're following a decoy double back and pick up another trail!"
The two members looked at each other like she was out of her mind. Feeling a large amount of killing intent directed at them turning their heads slowly back to the source of said hostility. Neko's killer intent seemed to take the form of a giant cat ready to pounce on its pray, the two men also swore her eyes had turned red in that instant.
"If you two want to live past tonight get in there and start following him or I will cut your legs off at the knees and leave you for the predators of the forest to feast on." She said coldly.
"B-but where are you going?" One of the two men asked as Yūgao's eyes narrowed.
"To tell the Hokage," she responded, "Now get moving!"
The two men with great hesitation took off into the forest, as Yūgao turned about and ran full speed straight to the home of the Hokage to tell him the bad news.
x x x x
Kushina Uzumaki was in the kitchen making dinner for the family with Mito helping her. As her thoughts went from one thing to the next, they came to one subject in particular. She remembered her oldest son as a sad expression crossed her face as she started to think about how much the family had been neglecting him. She even recalled how she and Minato had yelled at him after catching trying to do water walking an advance chakra exercise.
The words that she and her husband had said to him along with the tone they had used surely made her feel horrible. When she looked back on that day she knew they had undoubtably frightened the boy and made him feel hurt and confused, it was only after the event and she took a minute that she realized what they had done and recalled the look of fear and terror that had been on the young boy's face. Afterward she went to go apologize, when she entered his room that night, what she saw made her regret every word she had said to the boy.
Flashback, 1.5 years Naruto's room
Kushina walked up to the door to her eldest sons' bedroom and turned the knob slowly, before opening the door. When she walked in, she noticed Naruto's bed was empty and began to panic thinking the worst till she saw the mop of blond hair on the other side of the room. Walking over to him, she froze when she saw the boy curled up in the corner of his room legs tucked in tight to his chest with his arms wrapped around them like he was expecting to be hit by someone.
"Naruto…" Kushina said quietly as she carefully walked forward and knelt down next to the boy, "Naruto…" she tried again as she reached out a hand and put it on the boy's shoulder only to get no immediate reaction from him. See that her son was fast asleep she stood walked to the bed and pulled the covers back. After which she knelt back down near the little boy and gingerly lifted him into her arms so as not to startle him awake. Laying him down gently on the bed she removed his shoes and pulled the covers up over the boy.
When she saw the tear stains on his cheeks, she felt disgusted with herself and Minato for treating the boy the way they had that afternoon and wished she had come to apologize sooner. Sitting lightly on the edge of the boy's bed she lightly stroked the side of his face.
"I'm sorry Naruto," she said still keeping her voice quiet so as not to wake him, "Your father and I didn't mean to overreact the way we did. We just… she shook her head at what she was about to say and looked back at the boy "No, there is no excuse for what we did. But please know that no matter what we still love you and care about you just like we do the others, and that we would never let anything happen to you."
She leaned down to kiss his forehead ever so lightly and looked down at the boy with a expression only a parent could make to show their love for their child.
"I will talk to your father and we will try to be there for you more, especially me." She stood up and a loan tear ran down her cheek as she lightly brushed a stray bang of Naruto's from out of his face and a sad smile formed on hers.
"Good night My little Maelstrom," She said, "I will always love you." With that she left the room shutting the door quietly as to not wake her sleeping son.
Flashback end
From that day on Kushina tried to get closer to her son and be there for him but just like before that feeling of dread would come over her and she would wimp out to her everlasting shame. She had talked to Minato about what had happened and he agreed with her that what they had done was inexcusable and that they needed to make amends for how they acted. Once again though when Minato tried to approach his eldest son, he felt the same fear that if he got close to his son things would go horribly wrong and he would walk away feeling defeated and like a failure as a father. Not only that but the boy had become scarce and would seem to never be around. But as a mother she had resolved that the next time she approached her son she would not fail and would say what she had needed to say for some time.
Her thoughts were disrupted when she heard her husband come in the front door and enter the kitchen. As he entered the room, he slumped into the chair he'd pulled out and sighed muttering under his breath something about burning paperwork.
"Long day?" Kushina asked looking over her shoulder at Minato who looked up at her with a tired expression on his face.
"I swear it seems like every day there is more and more paperwork even with Sarutobi's help. Sometimes I think that the council tries to find ways to make more paperwork just so they can get some kind of sick pleasure out of it when they see my face."
Trying to hide the fact that she was finding amusement at her husbands' misfortune by turning her head back around she got herself under control and told him to get the kids for dinner. As Kushina turned off the stove she moved to set the table just as she was finishing up an urgent series of knocks at the front door were heard.
"Hokage-Sama! Sensei! Open the door!" Shouted the voice of Kushina's student Yūgao, and from the way it sounded it was urgent. Heading to the front door she was stopped by Minato.
"Kushina have you seen Naruto?" he asked, "I can't seem to find him I checked all the rooms and none of the other kids seem to know where he is." Minato said worry showing on his face. At this the rest of the kids entered the room only to wounder what was going on.
"Sensei open the Damn door." Yūgao shouted again knocking even louder when she opened the door Kushina saw her former student standing in the doorway. Dressed in her standard Anbu uniform the look on her face spoke volumes whatever it was it was urgent and she was pissed.
"Yūgao? What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's Naruto…" The purple kunoichi said gaining the full attention of both Parents and the kids, as a look of worry crossed both Minato's and Kushina's face, "He went into Training ground 44."
The whole house was silent as if time itself had stopped only for the silence to broken by Kushina.
"WHAT!?" Kushina's scream was so loud that the whole village heard it, heck the whole land of fire probably heard it. Her eyes widening in horror and fear for her son.
"The Forest of Death? What is he even thinking going in there alone!?" Minato questioned now terrified for his son.
"He felt that you didn't want him, and the best way to make everyone happy was to leave." Yūgao said as her face showed angry and how worried she was, "But he said to tell you that even with all that has happened he still loves you all." This news shocked them all even Menma was surprised by what his brother had done.
'U-un-unwanted?' Kushina thought, 'Naruto you truly believe we didn't want you?' She was broken out of her thoughts when Yūgao continued. "He also said to tell Kōga he was sorry." This statement caused everyone in the room to look at the boy, who in turn held his hands up and stated that he had no idea about what his brother meant and that he had been trying to get Naruto to work things out with everyone else for some time.
Yūgao looked Kushina and Minato in the eyes before she asked the question, "Have either of you even talked to Naruto in the past few weeks or even paid any attention to what has been going on with him?" to say she was aggravated would be an understatement, "Most of the village ignores him while only a hand full of people even acknowledge he even exists and you, the people who are supposed to love him the most seem to be too busy to even notice that he's hurting on the inside."
Those words cut like a knife right through Kushina and Minato even though they were true they had been keeping Naruto at arm's length when they should have gotten closer to the boy and tried to help. Kushina was about to respond when a hand was place on her shoulder when she looked at Minato, he shook his head before speaking.
"We can place blame and feel sorry for ourselves later right now our son needs us more than ever." He said looking at his wife.
Looking to the rest of her children her resolve found she told them, "The four of you stay put lock the doors and don't open them for anyone." Kushina said as she went to hers and Minato's room coming back dressed in her Jōnin ninja gear with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She looked to Minato "Let's go get our boy back." And with that said the three of them ran off into the night to find Naruto.
x x x x
Naruto was jumping from branch to branch as he traversed the tall trees of the infamous Forest of Death not much had happened so far as his clones had done their job and drawn the attention of his tails making it that much harder for them to track him. So far, he had yet to run into any of the creatures of the forest much to his and Kou's relief. As he went deeper and deeper into the forest, he knew soon he would have to rest for the night while the Uzumaki blood line granted him large stamina reserves he would have to rest sometime. Naruto knew about his blood line from studying scrolls on his clan's heritage in the family library and learned about his family's unique abilities and other useful facts. While he had wanted to learn them from his parents the knowledge, he had gained through study would serve him well. But all that knowledge would be useless to him if he exhausted himself to the point of collapse, this Kou chimed in on his thoughts.
"We need to find a place to rest for the night even with your Uzumaki longevity you will burn yourself out if you aren't careful."
"I know that but first I need to find a place to rest that is secure." Naruto stated.
"Why not use one of the trees it will keep use away from predators and will allow us a high vantage point." Kou responded thinking it was a good idea.
"No that's way too obvious and will not help we need to find somewhere that is hard to spot and can stand bad weather I mean we are going to be here for a while so it only seems like a logical choice." Naruto countered.
Heading deeper into the forest he was hoping to find a cave that was hidden from view. While looking for a spot that he thought would be ideal, he was told to stop by Kou who told him to turn back and head down to the forest floor. When he got to the spot his adoptive brother had mentioned he saw an opening in the side of a small hill it looked almost like a crescent moon but seemed like it was a dead end and was too easy to spot but when he was about to leave Kou told him to take a better look and that he would help. When Naruto looked again this time Kou enhanced the boy's eyes as they changed to a lupine yellow and Naruto saw what his friend was talking about it was dark enough that when one looked at the hole it would look small and cramped but with his enhanced vision, he saw that there was a small passage at the back which was hidden by the cave's layout.
Following the passage, he found himself in a much bigger cave that led to what looked to be some kind of mural depicting wolves and what looked to be ninja fighting side by side in battle. This reminded Naruto of the Inuzaka and their ninken but what he saw led him to think differently do to the depiction of a set of hand signs that Naruto thought he recognized as the summoning technique. Deeper in he found a lone scroll that sat on a stone pedestal of sorts taking the scroll he opened it and found that it was not just any old scroll but a summoning contract Naruto read the scroll and found that it was the contract with the summoning wolves which from what he saw and how much dust the scroll had gathered told him that there had not been a living user of this contract in a long time. After talking with Kou and making his choice he signed the scroll with blood as was directed in the contract on the scroll. Deciding to try out the new technique he bit his thumb and swiped it on his palm, making the proper hand signs and slamming his hand down he called "Summoning Jutsu." A large plume of smoke filled the room and when it dissipated a large white wolf with a black diamond in the center of its forehead stood in its place. The wolf looked around the room and when its eyes fell on him, he froze as said wolf growled and crouched down. Naruto thought he would be ripped apart by the summon. His mind racing he was thinking about using a jutsu when Kou's voice was heard in his mind.
"Naruto Kneel down." His voice was urgent.
"What?" Naruto responded not knowing if he should fight or run.
"Kneel, this wolf is one of the Matriarchs of the pack if the scent I am getting is correct, kneel or she'll attack you." The tone in the Bijū's voice said it was either that or get mauled.
Taking his friends advice Naruto Kneeled and lowered his head. The she wolf quirked its head in curiosity and approached sniffing when it had finished the she wolf backed up and seemed like it was trying to figure something out. Then it spoke asking him, "Who are you young one and why does your scent convey that of a human and wolf?"
Naruto blinked before answering, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze and I'm a Jinchūriki if that helps answer your question." He said never looking up for fear of her attacking him.
The she wolf seemed confused at the statement. As she looked the boy over it was strange, she was old enough to know that there were only nine Bijū and none of them were wolves.
Before she could ask what he was playing at Naruto answered her unasked question. "If you are going to tell me that you don't know of any Bijū that's a wolf it's because he's a new Bijū born from my chakra, the nine-tailed fox's and that of a wolf who had some of its chakra absorbed by the sealing technique that was used."
At this new information she was even more confused how could this be true. The boy had to be lying about what he claimed but his scent was no lie so how was it possible. If he were telling the truth then it would explain how his scent was so abnormal.
'Naruto ask her if she will let you place a hand on her shoulder, I should be able to connect her to your mindscape so we can show her that you aren't lying but she might say no so don't be surprised if she turns you down or worse threatens to take your hand off.' Kou said hoping that she would allow it.
Not having any alternatives Naruto took a chance and looked up at the she wolf swallowing. "If I may my Bijū says he might have a way to show you that I speak the truth but in order to do so he says that I would have to be touching you to do so if you would allow me the chance I will show you that what I say is true."
The she wolf thought for a second then replied, "I do not know you well enough for that young Naruto but perhaps I can help both of us."
With that said the wolf started to approach Naruto who lowered his head and when she reached out he thought he would have felt a paw but he instead felt a human hand softly place itself on his shoulder, when he looked up he saw a beautiful women with snow white hair and a black diamond mark on her for head with what looked like wolf ears atop her head. She was dressed in a white kimono with black accents. The next thing Naruto knew he was in his mind scape and so was the beautiful women who he had seen in the cave. Kou walk up next to Naruto but when he didn't move or speak Kou waved a tail in his face but got no response from his surrogate brother who seemed to be broken when he nudged Naruto the boy fell over having fainted in his own mindscape. The she wolf women giggled as Kou commented, "Now there is something you don't see every day you left him speechless not many people can say that."
The beautiful women walked over to Naruto and placed his head on her lap and waited for him to wake as Kou laid down next to Naruto when he woke Naruto felt his head resting on something soft and opened his eyes to see the radiant face that had caused him to faint looking at him with a smile before his brain could short circuit again she spoke in a voice soft and smooth like verbal silk. "I know not many have seen this form but like the summoning foxes certain summoning wolves have a human form they can change into." She said as she gazed down on the boy, "Sorry if it took you by surprise…"
"No that's not it," Naruto said as he looked at her, "It's just that you're so beautiful I didn't know what to say or how to react." this comment caused the women to blush and clear her throat.
"Well yes… Thank you," she said looking to the other wolf in the room and asked, "And what is your name young Bijū?"
"Kou," he responded with a bow, "And may I ask what your name is?"
"My name is Usagi." She answered with slight bow of her own.
Meanwhile, somewhere else in the Forest the sounds of what would have been thought to be a battle were going on as a group of Ninja raced from branch to branch as a certain red headed kunoichi was plowing her way through whatever was that got in her path.
"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY!" an angry and desperate voice shouted out, as a large sanke fell to the ground with its head cut off. The voice belonged to none other than one Kushina Uzumaki as she cleaved her way through many of the vicious beasts in the Forest that were foolish enough to get in her way.
Following behind her were Minato, Yugao, and a handful of other Anbu as well as the Training Grounds only human resident, Anko Mitarashi. They stayed back as Kushina using a 'borrowed' sword from one of the Anbu sliced and diced or used any sort of jutsu on the unfortunate creatures that were either dumb enough or unlucky enough to get in her way.
"Oh man even I know not to mess with an angry mother who is looking for her child." Anko said with a small hint of fear, as she watched as Kushina proceeded to beat a bear's skull in when it tried to swipe at her.
Minato could only look on with worry and concern, seeing the state his wife was in. He knew she was desperate to find their son the same as he was, but he could also see that she was starting to fatigue and had used a lot of her chakra. He needed to do something, or else she would hurt herself.
"Kushina. Please stop! We have to go back!" he said, as she was now strangling another poor creature with her chakra chains before using them to slam it to the ground and looked back at him with anger and pain in her eyes.
"I'm not leaving Naruto out here in this damn place! I'd rather rot in hell than go back without him!" she argued, as she back-fisted a huge lizard, that was about to attack her making said reptile fall to the ground it's eyes having rolled back in its head.
"I want him back just as much as you do!," Minato retorted, "But if you keep overusing your chakra, and pushing yourself in your current condition, you could end up killing yourself!"
Kushina could only narrow her eyes as she kept moving forward, by now all the creatures were hiding in fear from the red heads wrath.
"You all can go back if you want, but I'm no-ugh!," she gasped out as she felt a chop to the back of her neck, her senses not warning her due to focusing all her attention on getting her son back and falling unconscious only for Minato to flash forward and catch her.
"I'm sorry sensei. But for Naruto's sake and the rest of your children I have to stop you. "Yūgao said apologizing for her actions, as she sighed and turned to Minato who had a solemn look on his face as he slung his unconscious wife over his shoulder.
"Come on everyone," he said, "We'll continue looking for Naruto in the morning when we have better light." With that the team of shinobi vanished as they departed the area. Minato's last thought being. 'Naruto...be careful and stay safe.'
x x x x
After a bit more conversation with the young boy Usagi learned what had been happening with Naruto and what had brought him to the forest and why he was looking for a place no one would find him so he could train. With a bit more questioning she also learned that the boy didn't crave power but wanted to improve to show those who around him that he was worth their time. Thinking it over for a bit and finally coming to a decision she offered to take him back to where she was from so he could train under the wolves which would be an improvement to training by himself with no instruction at all. The young boy agreed and was teleported back to where he had called her from when he saw where they were his mouth fell open before him was a large cave that as he was lead through it he found that it was huge and the center point of the cave was vaulted room with a skylight that let the moon shine through giving a silvery glow to the room.
"Welcome to Full moon cavern," Usagi said to the boy leading him through the long tunnels to a room of sorts which would be his while he stayed and trained here. "Get some rest you will meet the leader of the pack tomorrow." She said as she turned and left the boy to his sleep.
Unrolling the sleeping bag, he had brought with him and a comforter from home he laid down only to sit up and rummage through his pack to grab a photo he had taken with him from a family photo album it was of the family when Naruto and his siblings had just turned six the last time that they were a whole family and things had been better. Sighing he tucked the picture under his sleeping bag and put his head down on the small pillow he brought and let sleep claim him his final thoughts before he drifted off were of when he was younger and how he hoped things could go back to the way they had once been.