"Talking"

'Thinking'

Bijuu / Jutsu / Summons

letters / flashback / setting

Disclaimer :- I don't own Naruto. It is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Chapter 13. Long overdue revelations

Senju Compound :-

As soon as Naruto entered his room in the Senju compound, he immediately collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to shower and change his clothes after being on the road for four days. He was that exhausted and sleeping in sleeping bags was not comfortable especially with his feelings of paranoia of someone attacking them whenever he fell asleep. So, for Naruto, sleeping in a proper bed, in the safety of the Senju compound, was looking like Kami's blessing.

It was late in the evening when he woke up. He stretched his hands above his head, and sighed in contentment as his spine cracked in several places.

Naruto sniffed at the odour coming from his armpit, and grimaced in disgust.

' I definitely need a shower badly', Naruto thought, as he immediately stripped out of his dirty clothes and threw them in the clothes hamper.

Naruto sighed in relief as he soaked in the tub of hot water, as it soothed the ache in his muscles and washed away his weariness and fatigue. Feeling refreshed after taking the bath, Naruto put on a pair of loose green shirt and loose black hakama pants, as he headed for the kitchen, as his stomach rumbled in hunger.

As soon as Naruto entered the kitchen, a small pink blur crashed into his stomach, making Naruto stumble in shock, but he still managed to catch the little pink pig which had rushed at him. And as Naruto carried the little pig in his arms, as he went to the stove to make himself some food, Tonton was cuddling with him, and inspecting him, as if to make sure that he was alright.

Naruto simply smiled at the affection she was showing him and softly petted her head as he said "Hi Tonton, I missed you girl. Did you miss me? "

" Oink " Tonton said angrily, as she snootily turned her face away from him, which surprised Naruto as just a moment ago she was all over him, trying to cuddle with him.

" Now what has got into you, little Lady. What have I done to make you upset with me? " Naruto asked in amusement, as he looked at the most pampered pig in the elemental nations looking at him like you would look at a person asking a particularly stupid question.

" Oh, think nothing about it, Naruto. Tonton is just a worrier, she worries a lot if she doesn't see someone she likes for a lot of time, and they don't inform her before leaving somewhere. She is just upset that you didn't tell her before going on a mission ", said Shizune, who had just arrived and heard the tail end of Naruto talking with Tonton.

Naruto just looked at her with his right eyebrow raised skeptically, as if to say " are you serious? ", only to receive an emphatic nod from her.

So, deciding to take her word for it, Naruto tentatively asked " Is it true Ton chan? Are you angry that I left on my mission without telling you? Did I make you worry, Tin chan? "

Naruto was shocked to see her bobbing her cute little head up and down in agreement. It made her look so cute in his personal opinion.

" Aww!" Naruto cooed out on seeing her agreement and immediately scooped her up into his arms, as he nuzzled her to his face and said " sorry Tonton. I didn't know. I will definitely tell you the next time I leave the village on a mission. Now, how about I make it up to you by giving you two big juicy apples ".

Seeing her squealing in delight at his suggestion, Naruto assumed that he had been forgiven, and created a shadow clone to take her outside and get her a few apples from the big apple tree in the garden in front of the house.

As soon as Naruto's shadow clone left the kitchen with Tonton in tow, Shizune bombarded Naruto with questions about his mission, as she hadn't seen Tsunade after having breakfast in the morning, and was thus not aware of Naruto returning to the village or about the details of his mission.

And predictably, Shizune had about the same reaction as Tsunade, when she heard all the details of his mission.

Naruto found himself in a bone crushing hug courtesy of Shizune, as she hugged the stuffing out of him, almost to the point that Naruto had to tap her arm in panic as he found it difficult to breathe, making her loosen her grip a little, but not enough for her to let go of him completely. She couldn't believe how a simple C ranked mission had turned into such a complete disaster. But she was also impressed with how beautifully Naruto had handled himself, and decided to let him know about how proud she was of him.

" While I am not at all happy that you were in so much danger, but I can't tell you hiw how proud I am of you, for not losing your cool and handling the situation perfectly. You used everything that you had at your disposal, to increase the chance of your success, and that type of improvisation, Naruto is a mark of a good shinobi ", Shizune said in a voice filled with pride, as she kissed his forehead lovingly, conveying all the positive feelings that she had wanted to convey through it.

" Everything Shizune said is true, Naruto ", said Tsunade, who had just entered and she greeted him with a hug and a kiss to his forehead.

" But I want you to answer a question that I couldn't ask you in my office".

" What is it baachan? " Naruto asked in a nervous voice, as he had an idea about where this conversation was going, and didn't like it at all.

" How are you dealing with your first kill? And answer me truthfully."

Naruto just wanted to end the troublesome conversation by saying that he was fine, but he remembered what Inoichi san said about being honest with his feelings with his loved ones, and not trying to suppress negative or sad emotions, as that wasn't good for his psyche.

With a shuddering breath Naruto tried to tamp down upon the overwhelming feeling of guilt and shame he had kept suppressed since that Night. He didn't succeed completely, as in a somewhat shaky voice, he said " I don't know what to do, baachan. Every time I sleep I see those horrible visions of hundreds of dead bodies and the smell of burnt corpses assaults me. I haven't had a decent night's sleep in three days".

" And you know the funny fact, after seeing the women kidnapped and assaulted by those bandits, I started to be okay with what I had done, thinking that they deserved what they got. But, a small voice in my head keeps saying that, only a monster would kill so many people and feel no remorse about ", Naruto said in a trembling voice.

" Am I a monster, baachan ? " Naruto asked in a pitiful voice, as all the suppressed emotions came rushing out and tears started spilling out of his eyes and he started shaking as he muttered " I am a monster_ I am a monster " , over and over again.

Tsunade saw Naruto was about to suffer a panic attack, and immediately hugged him and gently said " oh Naru chan! You are the farthest thing from a monster. It is ok to not feel guilt or remorse about killing or wanting people like those bandits you encountered dead. You just have to ask yourself the question, if saving those poor women and little girls was worth killing scum like that? "

" Yes, it was definitely worth it. I would have done the exact same thing if I am given a similar choice again ", Naruto said in a soft tone, as he knew that he had done right by them by killing those bandits.

" And as far as killing hundreds of people is concerned, did you know that I killed more than a thousand Suna ninja during the second shinobi war. Do you think I am a monster, Naruto? Jiraiya killed an uncountable number of shinobi through both the second and third shinobi wars. Do you think that makes him a monster? Kakashi has killed shinobi in the hundreds? ", and if your answer is no, then you are definitely not a monster. I am sure Anko already told you all this, but Iam just reassuring that you are not a monster.

"And in my opinion, anyone who agonises over killing such scum of the earth, is definitely not a monster".

" But promise me Naruto, that you will never derive enjoyment from a death of another person, even if it is a person that you hate. I have seen what happens to people who go down that route, and it led to my teammate Orochimaru becoming an unfeeling uncaring monster ", Tsunade said.

Naruto simply hugged her back tightly and said " I promise, baachan. Killing will never be something that I enjoy ". And Tsunade smiled at him and kissed his forehead.

Shizune felt that the atmosphere had become a little heavy and decided to break it by announcing that dinner was ready and all of three of them enjoyed their dinner together, after having Naruto away for the past few days.

After dinner, Tsunade asked Naruto to join her and Shizune in the living room.

After all three of them were seated comfortably on the couch, Tsunade addressed Naruto, as she said " Naruto, today I had a meeting regarding the findings from the interrogation of Ittan, and while the situation isn't favorable to us, Shikaku had an idea, and while I definitely don't agree with it, and it is a gamble, but it might work in our favor. And it involves using you as bait. But before I tell you about it, or you agree to it, there is something that you should know."

" I think that it is time for you to know about your heritage, Naruto ", Tsunade said in a firm voice.

She was determined to tell Naruto the truth of his heritage, as even though Minato wanted Naruto to know the truth of his heritage only after he had become atleast a chunin, or reached sixteen years of age, whichever comes first ; Tsunade was not going to let Naruto risk his life, before knowing all the relevant details, like why his life will be in danger, if an Iwa shinobi sees him clearly. She already knew that Ittan had recognized Naruto for who he was, after just a single glance at him, during the end of their fight.

And while she knew that she could tell him at a later date, as Naruto was still dealing with the trauma of his first kill, but Tsunade knew that Naruto was strong enough mentally, to deal with it, and she didn't want to keep making excuses, for delaying it. And also Naruto had many people to help him get through it. And Naruto was no longer alone and didn't have to deal with all his problems himself.

"You are the son of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki, the Red Death", Tsunade said, directly, as there was no way to delicately break such news.

Tsunade was expecting many things, but she didn't expect Naruto to simply smile at her and say " thank you for telling me the truth, but I already know ".

Naruto chuckled lightly as he saw the dumbfounded expression on Tsunade's and Shizune's faces. And seeing Naruto all relaxed and happy, Tsunade smiled softly and asked, "Naruto, when did you figure out your parentage? "

" As soon as Kakashi told me that he owed my father and mother a great debt, and I also saw a colour photo of the Yondaime, in an outdated Bingo Book in the genin section of the Shinobi library. And with my new longer hair and my whisker marks fading, I look like a younger version of the Yondaime. Also I had assumed that I was given my mother's surname, as giving me the Yondaime's surname would be suicide for me, as although it would have improved the villagers attitude towards me, I also knew that Konoha was incredibly vulnerable at that time, and they couldn't have staved off a major offensive from Iwa if they attacked. So, I looked up about Konoha kunoichi with the name Uzumaki, around the same age as the Yondaime , and found out the name of Kushina Uzumaki from the memorial stone, and later looked her up in the old Bingo Book. She really was a badass kunoichi, " Naruto explained about how he had deduced the truth about his heritage.

" And then there was Jiraiya teaching me the Rasengan and allowing me to sign the Toad Contract. All those facts added up to an obvious conclusion ".

Shizune shook her head, as she along with Tsunade sama and everyone else, had underestimated Naruto's intellect badly .

" You seem to have reacted to your discovery rather calmly, Naruto. As we had no clue that you knew the truth? " asked Shizune, as despite Naruto's new maturity, she had expected atleast a little sign that Naruto knew the truth about his heritage. But he had fooled them all completely.

" Oh! not at all. I didn't react to the situation calmly, in the least. You remember that day I spent killing the giant spiders in the forest of death, under the pretext of trying out combination jutsu of various elements, with the aid of my shadow clones? " Naruto asked.

" Of course I remember, I got several complaints about loud noises caused by large explosions, coming from the Forest of Death", Tsunade answered.

" Well, that was me venting my negative emotions, in a productive way. And using that excuse, I didn't let anyone suspect about my knowledge about my heritage. And I didn't confront you about it, as Kakashi had already told me about the condition in the will of my parents, and so I didn't want to put you in a difficult position ", Naruto replied.

" Oh Naru chan, you sly devil! " Tsunade exclaimed, as both she and Shizune laughed out aloud.

Quickly composing herself, Tsunade asked "given your apparent acceptance of the situation, am I to believe that you don't have any issues with your father? "

" Well, I wouldn't say that I had no issue with my father's actions regarding me, but after I had cooled down a bit, I thought about what I would have done in his position, and found to my surprise that I would have done the same. If I had a child of my own, then I couldn't in good conscience, ask any other parents to use their child as a Jinchuriki ", Naruto answered. And what he said was the pure truth, though he was not happy with his treatment at the hands of the villagers, he would never wish his circumstances on any other child. That was just not his character.

" Well, now that you already know the identity of your parents, do you have any questions for me Naruto ? " Tsunade asked.

" Yes, I would like it if you can tell me more about them. I know nothing more about them, other than their names and famous feats ", Naruto asked , as he was very eager to know about the personal details of his parents.

" Well, I can't tell you much about Minato, as I wasnt particularly close to him, but your mother, she I knew well. She was my cousin. Her mother was my aunt, the daughter of my grandfather's little sister Senju Toka, who had married the son of the first Uzukage, a man who went on to become the second Uzukage. Your grandfather on your mother's side was Arashi Uzumaki, the Nidaime Uzukage. He was the nephew of my grandmother Mito Uzumaki. So, technically you are a prince, even though Uzu is no longer present" .

Naruto was about to ask why she hadn't raised him then, if she was close to his mother, but held his tongue, as he knew that there must have been a reason, as he knew that she genuinely cared about him, and he was not going to accuse her of abandoning him, without knowing her reasons.

So instead, " you know that now I can get away with calling you Baachan, right? " Naruto asked with a straight face.

Tsunade and Shizune cracked a small smile, and Tsunade grumbled playfully about ' damn troublesome Uzumaki's '.

But she seemed to have anticipated the question that he had originally wanted to ask, as she said " and before you ask, the reason that I was not able to raise you is that, I didn't know that you were alive, till I saw you for the first time in Tanzaku Gai. I recognized you immediately for who you were, and that night, I wheedled out the information out of Jiraiya, about how you were alive, when I had gotten a message from Sarutobi sensei informing me about your death along with that of your parents, when I was on my way to Konoha, to take you away from there and raise you myself, as your mother had designated me as your godmother and Jiraiya was made your godfather by Minato. From, what Jiraiya told me, sensei didn't want the Kyubi Jinchuriki to be outside Konoha, even though he knew that you would not be treated fairly, and if I was present, then I would have taken you away from here, which he didn't want, so he apparently lied to me, and I didn't have any reason to doubt his word."

"But, I still beg your forgiveness for not doing more for you", Tsunade said, as she bowed ger head in apology to Naruto.

As he looked at her begging his forgiveness, Naruto immediately hugged her tightly as he said " please don't say that, baachan. You should never have to ask forgiveness from me, and especially not for something that is definitely not your fault. You have treated me like a part of your family, since the day you met me. You were the first person along with Shizune neechan, who have treated me like a valued person. You were the first person to ever hug me, and the first person to ever give me a kiss. It was the first time that I experienced genuine affection from anyone. You are the closest thing to a mother that I have ever had or will ever have. You are also along with Shizune neechan and Anko sensei, one of the people I respect the most, so please don't bow your head before me ". But Naruto was a little nervous after his confession, and hoped that he had not overstepped when he had called her the closest thing he had to his mother, as he couldn't let her keep feeling guilty for something that she was not responsible for. He just hoped that he hasn't ruined his relationship with her.

Tsunade gave a slight watery chuckle, as she heard Naruto calling her the closest thing he had to a mother. Tsunade felt her throat clog up as she felt herself having to exert a massive effort to stop herself from shedding tears. It had once been her dream to marry Dan and become a mother, to raise a child and dote on him / her. But she had given up such thoughts after the death of her fiance, as she couldn't imagine herself having a child with anyone else, other than Dan. But when she saw Orochimaru about to kill her godson, she had first felt the awakening of a fierce feeling of protection for him, unlike anything she had ever felt before, and so she had taken a blade through her chest, to protect him. Only later when she saw Naruto lying helplessly on her hospital bed, near death, that she identified those feelings as the love of a mother for a child. The anger that she had felt that day towards Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha, eclipsed any anger that she had ever felt towards anyone. That day she had made a vow to herself that those two people who had brought her son in all but blood, to that near death state, would die, and she didn't give a damn about what anyone else said about the importance of the Sharingan or any such justification to spare Sasuke. She knew shinobi who were more than twice as strong as that brat, at the same age as him, and they didn't have any Sharingan or any Kekkai genkai. She had intended to adopt Naruto as her son and heir, but was afraid that after he learned about his parents, he would be reluctant to accept her offer, as he might think of her as trying to take his mother's place, but hearing Naruto openly admit that he considered her as his mother, had alleviated all her fears. It was the greatest gift anyone had ever given her.

Tsunade brought herself out of her feeling of euphoria, and she saw that Naruto was looking s little nervous, and she deduced that it was about fear of her reaction to his confession that he considered her as a mother to him. So, to put his mind at ease, Tsunade hugged him tightly and placed a kiss on his forehead, as she said " why the nervous expression, Naruto? You didn't say anything wrong, because as far as I am concerned, you are my son in all but blood ", she declared firmly.

" So, can I call you Kaa chan? " Naruto asked, in a hopeful voice.

Tsunade beamed in happiness and nodded her head furiously , and said " of course you can, Naruto. I would be proud to call you my son. But I have a condition, you can call me Kaa chan, only if I can call you Naru chan ".

" Whatever you say, kaa chan ", Naruto said, his voice choking in happiness as he buried his head into her chest.

" There are a few more things that you should know about , but they can wait for tomorrow. You are exhausted, and I want you to take rest", Tsunade said in a stern voice, when she saw Naruto trying to hide a yawn from her.

Naruto was in no mood to argue with that, and so he simply kissed her cheek, and said " good night, Kaa chan ", as he wished good night to Shizune neechan as well, and departed to his room, to turn in for the night.

" Good night, Naru chan " , Tsunade called out to him, as he left the living room.

Next day afternoon :-

Naruto was having a little longer lunch break than usual, as he was a little tired after completion of his usual physical fitness routine, after not having taken part in it for the past four days. He was feeling a little more tired and worn out than usual.

As Naruto took a little time during lunch, to catch his breath, Tsunade, who had joined him for lunch, decided to continue the conversation that they were having the previous day night.

" Well Naruto, the only other thing that I think that you should know about your parents is that your mother was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi before you. In fact she was the second Jinchuriki of the Kyubi, while the first was my grandmother Mito Uzumaki, who had sealed it inside herself, after my grandfather had broken it out of Madara Uchiha's control, during the battle of the Valley of the End, to prevent it from being controlled and used again. Your mother came to Konoha during my grandmother's twilight years, in order to take over the burden of being the Kyubi Jinchuriki, as your mother's chakra was dense enough to form the famous adamantine chakra chains of the Uzumaki clan, which were capable of suppressing and calming down the Bijuu making her the perfect candidate for being the next Kyubi Jinchuriki, and also at that time, she was still a child, so her chakra coils were not fully developed, making it easier for them to adapt to the sudden influx of Bijuu chakra in her system. "

" But despite being strong enough to control and use the Kyubi's chakra, I have never known my grandmother and your grandmother to ever need to use it, as even without it, they were some of the most deadliest shinobi to ever walk the elemental nations, and they didn't like to depend on borrowed strength, as they used to call it. And they also never liked the feel of the Kyubi's chakra, as according to them, it felt like it was full of hatred and bloodlust. And coincidentally you have the same type of verbal tic like your mother", Tsunade said.

" Really, " Naruto asked. Happy to share something in common with his birth mother, other than his surname.

" Oh yes, she couldn't say two sentences, before using the word " ttebane "", Tsunade said chuckling , as she remembered how irritated it made Kushina, who couldn't get rid of her verbal tic however much she had tried.

" And well there was that time when your mother sent ten civilian boys to the hospital for teasing her constantly, by calling her a tomato, as she used to be quite chubby and had flaming red hair, and eventually your mother snapped and thrashed the lot of them. Actually it was my idea, when she asked me how to deal with them, and I told her to not take shit from anyone, and to teach them a lesson, just like I did during my genin days when a bunch of Uchihas tried to mess with me, thinking that they could mess with me because apparently as a female Senju, I was weaker than them ", Tsunade said.

" Well don't stop there, Kaachan. What did you do to them? " Naruto asked impatiently, as he wanted to know how she had handled the arrogant Uchiha.

Tsunade cracked a blinding smile when Naruto called her kaachan. She was still not used to it, but she was definitely enjoying it. She liked how interested and excited Naruto was to know about her exploits.

" Well, you know me Naru chan. I don't tolerate someone trying to bully me, so I broke all their jaws and busted their gonads. As according to me, bullies only learn their lesson when they get a taste of their own medicine. Things like that happen all the time in the academy, where civilian students try prove themselves to be tough, by picking on helpless clan children ", Tsunade said.

" Oh! I know kaachan", he said, remembering a similar incident from his academy day.

" Once in our first year at the academy, I saved Hinata from three older civilian students who were trying to bully her because they couldn't mess with her cousin Neji, whom they seemed to dislike." Naruto said

" What did you do, Naruto? " Tsunade asked, eager to know how her sly blonde devil had dealt with those bullies, though she had to wonder if those civilian students were mentally retarded for trying to bully the daughter of the Hyuga clan head.

" Why do you think that I did anything? I resent the accusation that I go looking for trouble " , Naruto said in fake indignation.

" Because I know you, and you wouldn't have left an innocent girl like Hinata be bullied, if you could help it ".

" Oh kaachan, you know me too well, it is no use trying to fool you. Well I knew that they would have kicked my ass in straight fight, so I lured them into chasing me into a warehouse where I knew there was a large beehive, and after agitating the bees, I set them upon the bullies and quietly slipped out. I don't think that they ever dared to even try to bully anyone ever again," Naruto said proudly, as he was definitely proud of what he had done that day.

Tsunade laughed out loud at the trick Naruto had pulled. It was a great way of dealing with enemies you were not strong enough to fight directly.

"Did my mother have any students, like Dad training Kakashi? " Naruto asked.

" Oh yes. Your Kenjutsu trainer Yugao, is your mother's only student who is alive. She was for many years part of the ANBU team that was assigned to protect you, infact she volunteered for that duty, in order to watch over you in whatever manner that she could.That was why she volunteered to teach you Kenjutsu. Infact, I know that she had petitioned to take you as her apprentice, when you became a genin for the first time, but the Sandaime didn't allow it, as he wanted you on Kakashi's team, in case of the Kyubi's seal weakening. Your mother had another student named Gekko Hayate, but he died during the Sand - Sound invasion".

" And also two of your father's students, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara were killed during the last war, making Kakashi his sole living student, infact Kakashi's sharingan eye is a dying gift from his teammate to him, as Kakashi had lost an eye during that eventful mission. The devastation that your father caused to the forces of Kiri and Iwa,in response to the death of his students at the hands of Iwa and Kiri, was what caused the end of the Third shinobi war in our favor. If you want to learn more about your father, then you can ask Kakashi, who can now tell you everything he wants, as there is no law binding him any longer. "

"Do you want to know how your father and mother got together ? " Tsunade asked.

And Naruto immediately agreed.

" Well your father was infatuated with your mother, since the day he saw her beating several upper students in the academy, who were picking on her by making fun of her hair and calling her a tomato. And though your mother never showed it, she was insecure about her hair. Your father on the other hand absolutely loved her hair. He had wanted to ask her out many times, but he was awfully shy and always ended up stuttering nonsense when in her presence, and once when she touched his forehead to make sure that he was okay, he fainted ", Tsunade said bursting out in laughter, as she recalled that incident.

" Then how did they get together? " Naruto asked impatiently.

" Well, one day your mother was kidnapped by Kumo shinobi who had infiltrated Konoha, and as your mother was exhausted from a mission that she had just returned from, she was not in any condition to defend herself. They wanted to get hold of a female Uzumaki to breed a clan of Uzumaki ninja for their village.So not knowing what to do, she laid out a trail with her red hair, for someone to follow and rescue her. And to her surprise your father turned up and killed all the Kumo shinobi, and saving her. When asked by her how he had known where to find her, he told her that he had apparently seen her getting kidnapped, and had followed the trail laid out by her, as he would recognize her beautiful hair anywhere and had waited for an opportune time to kill the Kumo shinobi and save her. And even then he stuttered trying to ask her out on a date, after saving her. But your mother seemingly had enough of his bumbling attempts, and straight out kissed him, and asked him out on a date ".

Naruto smiled happily as he heard the story about how his parents got together. Though something about the story struck him as familiar. After thinking about it for a moment, he suddenly remembered something similar happening to him.

Seeing Naruto's look of contemplation, Tsunade asked him " what happened Naru chan? what are you thinking about? "

" Well, you see, Hinata's behavior around me is frighteningly similar to that of my father around my mother. So, I am wondering if she has a crush on me? "

Tsunade smiled a sharp smile and said " Oh my blonde baka! So, you finally caught on, did you. Everyone except you knows that she has a massive crush on you ".

" Really? " Naruto asked in disbelief.

" Yes, really. And you should do something about that. She is a very nice girl and cares very much about you, and you should not string her along any longer ".

" I will think about that ", Naruto said, and he meant it, as he didn't have any experience with girls, and he didn't want to crush Hinata's feelings by doing or saying something stupid. Naruto decided to change the topic, in order to stop talking on such an embarrassing subject.

" Is there anything that they left me", Naruto asked in a hopeful voice, at the prospect of owning anything however small, belonging to his parents, as a tangible proof of their love.

" Yes, there is a scroll addressed to you from your parents. But it is in my office, sealed in a vault that will require your blood to open. Come with me after lunch and I will give it to you. And there is also the house that your parents lived in, and it will also require your blood and willing cooperation to enter, as it was sealed tight by your parents. Anything you want in their, is yours. And you can also live there, if you want ", Tsunade said in a tentative voice, as she hoped that Naruto would continue living with her, but she was not going to force him to stay, if he wanted to leave.

" I will visit the house, but I would like to continue staying with you, if you don't mind, as even though my parents house is available to me, that is a part of my past, and you and Shizune neechan are my family now, so I would like to live with you. As staying in my parents house would only remind me about all that I have lost, which is not how I want to live my life ", Naruto said, bringing a brilliant smile onto Tsunade's face.

" Of course you can continue to live here sweetheart. I already said that you are my son, didn't I. That means that this house is as much yours as it is mine ", Tsunade assured him quickly, to avoid any misunderstanding.

" Love you kaachan ", Naruto said as he hugged her quickly and rushed off to wash his hands, but not before giving her a quick peck on her cheek.

" Bloody scamp ", Tsunade grumbled playfully as she touched her cheek where her son had just kissed her for the first time.

Hokage's office :-

Tsunade swung aside the portrait of the Yondaime on her office wall, to reveal a small locker protected by seals.

Tsunade indicated a small indentation on the locker and directed Naruto to place his right thumb finger on it.

Naruto followed his mother's directions and placed his right thumb in the designated slot, and sharply pulled his finger back to him, and sucked on it, as a sharp needle had emerged from the indentation and pricked his finger, and Naruto also felt a wave of chakra pass through him, and it felt as if it was analyzing him.

Naruto watched as a complicated sealing script appeared all over the locker, and Naruto recognized it as a multifaceted security array, which required both the correct blood as well should be given willingly, and in order to determine that it also checks your intentions.

It took a few seconds, but eventually the locker opened with a sharp click, and its door swung open, revealing its contents to be a single scroll and a three pronged kunai, which Naruto immediately recognized as the tool used by Yondaime in conjunction with his infamous Hiraishin jutsu. He couldn't believe that he was holding the famous tri pronged kunai belonging to his father, in his hand, and just stood there looking at it in something akin to worship in his eyes, only to be pulled out of it when Tsunade coughed lightly.

Breaking himself out of his embarrassing fanboy moment, Naruto bit his lip and smeared the blood across the seal on the scroll, and it opened to reveal a single letter in it, along with what looked to be a jutsu scroll.

He pocketed the jutsu scroll and the Hiraishin kunai, and opened the letter, and read it,

Dear Naru chan,

If you are reading this, then that means that both of us have left for the pure world.

But know that we would both have fought our hardest to return back to you, and if we died it was to make sure that you have a secure future.

Below is a seal which contains letters from both of us to you.

Yours lovingly,

Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

And below was a seal, just as written above, and Naruto pushed some of his chakra into it, and two rolled up letters popped out of it.

Naruto opened it, to see that it was written by his mother. He started reading it,

Dear Naru chan,

This is your dear mother. Naru chan you are only a few months from being born, and I don't want to write something so morbid to you, but your father is write and something happens to us, these letters will be all that will be left of us to give you advice.

Naru chan, you couldn't possibly imagine how much I love you, and I haven't even seen you yet, Tsunade obasan just confirmed that our child will be a boy, and your father took inspiration from his pervert sensei's first book, and managed to convince me to name you as Naruto.

Oh my little maelstorm, if you ever have doubts about anything in life about anything, then remember that your mother would always be with you, and will support you, no matter what.

Now here is some life advice for you, stay away from the three shinobi evils, which are money, sex and alcohol. All of us them are good only in limited quantities.

Don't let that pervert Jiraiya corrupt you with his perverted books. Or else I am going to smash the perversion out of you, ttebane!

Oh oh, I again used that dreaded verbal tic, I just hope you don't inherit that from me.

As for as your heritage, if I am dead, then you are the last remaining Royal Uzumaki. So it falls on you to carry on our family. So please find a nice girl like your mother, and marry her, have children and enjoy your life. Most of the Uzumaki artefacts have been destroyed, but I do have some secret techniques of mine written down and stored in our family home. As for as my adamantine sealing chains are concerned, I have written down the process to learn them and different ways to use them, in a scroll and it is located along with these letters. Learn all you can, and become the greatest shinobi ever, or whatever you want to become, but give your all to accomplish your goals. And also never take abuse from anyone lying down, you are my son, and if anyone tries to abuse you, then destroy them.

I just hope that you never have to read this letter, but if our worst fear comes true and you are reading this, then know that your mom loves you more than life itself.

The greatest achievement of life is being your mom.

Your loving mom,

Kushina Uzumaki.

Naruto wouldn't be able to stop the tears flowing from his eyes even if he wanted to, and he didn't want to. These were tears of happiness, at the fact that in his hands was the proof that his mother loved him above all else.

He felt himself being embraced and pulled into Tsunade's chest, as she consoled him.

It took a few minutes for Naruto to compose himself enough to read the letter written to him by his father.

He finally managed to calm himself down and opened his dad's letter, and read it,

Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this, then my worst fears have come true, and I am dead.

Being a shinobi for as long as I have, I have made peace with the idea of death, but my only regret is not being able to be there for you. To celebrate your success and console you in failure.

If both of us are dead, then follow all the advice that your mother gave you Naruto. And especially don't become a pervert like Jiraiya sensei, though there is little chance of that happening, as if something happens to both me and your mother, then it would be Tsunade sama who would be raising you, and she would definitely kill Jiraiya, if he tries to corrupt you.

I am from a civilian family, and am an orphan, so I don't have any grand inheritance to give you, but all that I have is yours to do with as you will. In our home, you will find my notes on my personal creation, the Rasengan, and my ideas on how to improve it, and also you will find my Hiraishin kunai in the vault in the Hokage's office, that is a challenge for you to figure it out on your own, just like I did from reading the Nidaime's notes on his Hiraishin, and improved it.

And also never feel obligated to become a shinobi, just because we were both shinobi. Never let anyone tell you that it would disappoint us if you choose not to become a shinobi. I couldn't care less what you choose to become, as that is your personal choice. Just know that I will always support you. And also never let people walk all over you , as you are all my son, so please always stand up for yourself. And if you do become a shinobi, then I have no doubt that you will surpass me in all ways.

My only request from you is to find a woman like your mother, who will always love and support you, and live happily together. And do whatever you must do to protect your family.

People say that my greatest achievement was becoming the first SS ranked shinobi with a flee on sight order, or becoming Hokage or the Hiraishin. But they all are absolutely wrong, as my greatest achievement is you. Always remember that Naruto.

Yours lovingly,

Minato Namikaze ( your dad).

Naruto again succumbed to sobs as he read his dad, the great Yondaime Hokage, calling him his greatest achievement.

It took a few minutes for Naruto to completely calm down and regain control over his emotions.

After Naruto was calm again, Tsunade asked "Naruto, do you want to take a look at your parents house? "

Naruto shook his head and said " not today Kaachan. I have had an emotional overload today. I want to just work myself to exhaustion today. We will go to my parents house tomorrow ".

Tsunade agreed with him and after kissing him on the cheek, she sent him on his way.

Training ground 43 :-

Naruto was trying his level best to prevent himself from being sliced and diced, as he frantically tried to evade or block Yugao sensei's assault with her sword. Because while Yugao sensei was skilled enough to only give him shallow cuts, he was not ready to subject his body to that, as by the end of the training session, his body usually resembled that of a person who had suffered paper cuts all over his body, and they stung like a bitch.

And as the original Naruto was trying to evade Yugao's sword, his clones were going through basic Kenjutsu katas over and over again, so that they would become a part of his muscle memory, which was a mental skill and not physical, hence his shadow clones could help him with that.

Seeing as being on the defense was not working, Naruto used his fastest shunshin to appear behind Yugao, and swung his sword at her back, only for it to phase through her body as it turned out to be an afterimage, as she suddenly appeared behind in a burst of speed, and had a sword at his neck before he could even react.

"Alright, alright, I give up! " Naruto exclaimed, when she pressed the sword a little harder against his throat when he tried to escape.

' Dammit ', Naruto thought. It was a very frustrating exercise to spar with Yugao using only Kenjutsu, a she forbid him from using any other jutsu, except the Shunshin along with Kenjutsu, when sparring with her, as she wanted him to improve in Kenjutsu without the crutch of his Ninjutsu to fall back on. She only allowed him the use of the Shunshin, as apparently he needed to improve it a lot before it was battle ready for her teach him a few of her personal moves which involved heavy use of the Shunshin jutsu. But despite all his efforts he hadn't been able to land even a small cut in the over one month that he had been training with her.

Yugao sensed his frustation from his body language, and so said " don't become frustrated Naruto. It would be a surprise if you actually managed to land a blow on me using pure Kenjutsu, when I have not even taught you anything beyond the bare basics, when I am a master level swordwoman. You are improving very well, but you have certain tells when you are about to use some moves, like how you try to make some distance form your enemy and stop for a second when you are trying to use the Shunshin jutsu against your enemy. An experienced opponent will easily read your moves when you telegraph your moves or have such obvious tells. You need to hide what you are thinking, as well as learn to mask your body language. You will need to master complete control over every inch of your body, so that you can feint your enemy to make mistakes by tricking him using your body language into making him think that you are about to make a certain move, when you plan to do anything but that. You should also learn to read the body language of an individual, to deduct when they are lying, when they are about to make a move, which way they are about to move etc., as they are very useful in a battle. As a battle is like a shogi match, and the person who can read his opponents moves well in advance,always wins, unless they do something unpredictable."

As my sensei used to say, " you should always be able to read your opponents moves, well before they make them, but inturn you should always be unpredictable. Your opponents should not be able to read your future moves, as you should keep confusing them. "

" I will get you the book used by hunter nins on body language in and out of combat, and you should read it and implement it as it is very useful and an essential skill to have. As currently I can read every move you are about to make in advance ".

Naruto nodded his head and brought up a topic that he had been meaning to talk to her about. " So, Yugao sensei, your sensei was my mother, wasn't she? ", Naruto asked.

Yugao choked on her spit, as turned towards him and asked with an urgency in her voice " who told you this Naruto. No one was supposed to tell you anything about that till you were a chunin. That was the Sandaime's law. If anyone knows that someone broke the law and told you about it, then they will be in trouble ".

Seeing Yugao in a slight panic, Naruto decided to calm her down as he said " I worked out the truth of my parentage myself, and kaachan confirmed it for me and also she was the one who told me about you being my mother's student ".

Yugao calmed down after hearing that but after processing completely what he had said, she asked in stupefied voice " kaachan? "

Hearing the question in his sensei's voice, Naruto responded " Oh that! The Hokage told me that I could call her as Kaachan, when I told her that I considered her as the closest thing I had to a mother, and she told me that she also considered me as her son ".

Seeing the beaming smile on Naruto's face, Yugao also cracked a small smile and said " good for you Naruto. I am happy for you ".

Seeing as Naruto now knew about his heritage, she decided to tell him a few stories about his mother.

" Do you want to know how me and Hayate became students to your mother? " Yugao asked.

Seeing his enthusiastic nod, Yugao chuckled as she ruffled his hair and narrated the incident,

Flashback:-

Yugao and her friend Hayate were sparring with their wooden bokken in the academy training ground after the academy hours were over, when they were interrupted by three boys who were their seniors in the academy, with a reputation of bullying other students.

Seeing Hayate coughing in discomfort from the physical exertion which exasperated his genetic lung condition, the boys jeered at them and started heckling them as one of them said " hey, look guys, that cripple can't even breathe properly and he and that little girl are trying to learn to use swords. Ha ha ha! "

And his friends joined him in his laughter.

Seeing Hayate's downcast expression as they made fun of him, Yugao got very angry as she shouted at them "shut up you stupid meanies. Dont insult my friend. He is ten times better than you".

" You little bitch, you dare to talk back to us? " one of them shouted at them.

" Come on guys, lets beat them up", one of them said, as they rushed at them to to beat them up.

Rather than be afraid of them, Yugao also rushed at them with her bokken, intent on beating them up for insulting her friend, and ignoring Hayate, who wanted them to get out of there. And seeing as his best friend was ignoring his advice, he decided to join her in order to help her.

The older boys were shocked to see their juniors charging at them instead of running away from them, and Hayate and Yugao used their surprise to attack the three boys, as they hit two of them on the face with their wooden bokken, breaking their noses.

They cried out in pain as they clutched their bleeding noses, but they quickly regained control of the fight, and once the initial surprise was got over, Yugao and Hayate were being overwhelmed by the superior speed and strength of the older boys.

As Yugao and Hayate were trying to fend off two of the boys, the third boy whose nose was still bleeding started going through handseals and launched a fireball at Yugao and Hayate, as his friends jumped out of the way, but Yugao and Hayate were paralyzed with fear at seeing the ball of fire coming towards them, and they closed their eyes in fear as the ball of fire neared them, but they slowly opened their eyes when they didn't feel any heat from the attack, and saw a beautiful woman with ankle length bright crimson red hair standing in front of them with a sword drawn in her hand, with which she had apparently dispelled the fireball. And seeing an adult shinobi, the three bullies ran off in fear.

- flashback end -

"That was the first time that I met Kushina sensei. She took us to her house, and bandaged our injuries. And next day at the academy, me and Hayate were called to the Principal's office, to find Kushina sensei in the office, who then offered us an opportunity to become her apprentice, saying that she liked both of us for standing up to bullies older than us, for our friends, and she had also said that she thought that we were talented in Kenjutsu, and that it would be a waste of talent to not nourish it and she was the only master swordsman in whole of Konoha other than Orochimaru. We both immediately accepted, and those three bullies were expelled from the shinobi program after Kushina sensei told the principal about everything that had happened, including the Uchiha boy using a fireball jutsu against them ", Yugao said, concluding the story.

" Your mother taught me everything that I know about Kenjutsu. And it is my honour to teach her son, Kenjutsu. "

" Sensei, how good was my mother at Kenjutsu", Naruto asked.

" Oh she was very good. She was equal to or better than any of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. In fact she was in consideration for the post of the Fourth Hokage. She used a combination of Kenjutsu, her chakra chains and water Ninjutsu to deadly effect. Infact even after how much I have improved over the years, I still don't think that I could have matched my sensei in Kenjutsu. Her style was truly unpredictable, and you never knew how she was going to attack you next. And I know that she had written it down and it should be in your parents house, and I recommend that you learn from it, as it is a truly formidable Kenjutsu style. "

After letting Naruto digest all the facts, Yugao decided to break up the bonding moment, as she got up and said " up up, get up Naruto. Time for another spar ".

Naruto groaned as he got ready for another round of beating at Yugao's hands.

The next day found Naruto standing outside the gates to his parents house, which was located at a corner of the village near the Nara compound. He placed his right palm on the similar shaped indentation on the gates and pushed some chakra into the seal, and they clicked open after scanning his chakra signature.

As Naruto entered the estate, he found that although the estate was fairly big, it was mostly consisting of empty land and a single large house. And there was also a large training ground.

The house itself was surprisingly simple, consisting of three floors.

Naruto entered the house after again pushing some of his chakra into a security seal.

The interior of the house was simple in appearance, with a cozy feeling. And every inch of the house was clean, even after being empty for thirteen years, most probably due to sone seals.

The dining room was located on the ground floor, and the library and office room were located on the second floor, while the first floor was dedicated to two bedrooms and a guestroom. All of them had attached bathrooms.

Naruto entered the library and found a fair amount of jutsu scrolls in it. He immediately created a few clones to go through them and seal them all into a storage scroll to take back with him to the Senju compound. He also sent a few clones to his parents office room to see if there was anything important present there, while he went through the house looking for any photographs of his parents.

He finally found a few photos of his parents in their bedroom, they were mostly of the two of them together, along with a few people like Jiraiya, Tsunade, Kakashi, Yugao and whom he assumed were close to his parents. Naruto sealed all of them in a storage scroll. And he finally found the photo that he was searching for in the room which he assumed was meant to be his nursery, as it contained bright animals painted on the walls and stars on the ceiling, along with an exquisite wooden cradle in the centre of the room, which was decorated beautifully. On the wall directly behind the cradle, Naruto found a photo of his pregnant mother and his father smiling brightly with their hands placed on the womb of his obviously pregnant mother.

As he stood in the room, his mind was overcome with visions of a baby version of him playing with his parents, his mother trying to feed him and sing him to sleep. Of his father teaching him the basic shinobi arts and his mother teaching him Kenjutsu and Fuinjutsu. He had visions of a little sister and himself driving his father spare with their antics, while his mother stood in the background silently congratulating them for a successful prank that they had pulled.

As the visions overwhelmed him, Naruto collapsed on the floor of the nursery, his legs no longer able to support his form which was trembling with emotion.

And there in that deserted nursery, Naruto completely broke down, as he sobbed heart wrenchingly at the loss of innocence and the loss of the life he could have had with his parents alive, as that was what the visions were all about, a glimpse of the life that he could have had.

It took nearly half an hour for Naruto to regain complete control over his emotions, as he cried for the last time over what he had lost and what he could have had. As he departed from that nursery, Naruto knew that it was time to let go of what ifs, and live his life as it was. He may have lost all his family on the day he was born, but now he had a new family, and he was going to do everything and anything that he had to do to protect them, and damn his morals, ethics or anything else. Their safety came above anything else for him. From now no he served Konoha only because the people whom he considered as family, lived here. Otherwise he didn't owe the people of Konoha anything whatsoever. He no longer gave a damn about becoming Hokage Or trying to make people like him. He would only care about the opinions of the people whom he considered family, other people's opinions meant nothing to him any longer.

As Naruto departed from the nursery, one of his clones handed a storage scroll to him and then dispelled, sending him a rush of memories.

His clones had searched his parents' study completely, inch by inch, and had found two jutsu scrolls in a secret compartment under the desk in their office. One of them contained details about the Rasengan and ideas for its improvement, while the other held details of the Shiki Fujin, the seal used by his father to summon the Shinigami to seal the Kyubi inside him in return for his soul as payment. The clones had taken both of them and sealed them in a storage scroll that he had been handed.

As another clone burst and sent him the memories, he learnt that his clones had found a basement, which was like a seal workshop. They had sealed everything that was present there. One of his clones presented him with that storage scroll. And Naruto sealed all those storage scrolls in a storage seal tattooed on his right arm.

After finishing with the work he had set his clones to do, Naruto quickly departed the house, and left the compound, sealing the house and the compound after exiting.

' I was right in my thinking of not wanting to stay hear, as it will only remind me of all that I have lost, and will not allow me to move on. Now, this chapter of my life is over, time to move on ', Naruto thought, as he left the compound.

At dinner that night Tsunade finally told Naruto about the details of Shikaku's plan to postpone the inevitable war for a few years.

And she also made clear her stance on that matter, as she vehemently protested against Naruto accepting such a mission. But Tsunade also said that the final decision on whether or not to accept the mission would be upto him. And she also informed him that even if the mission succeeded, he would become a permanent enemy of Iwa, and any Iwa shinobi he met in the future would be baying for his blood.

And while Naruto was in no hurry to die, he also knew that what Shikaku san had suggested seemed to be the only viable way to atleast postpone the war, as preventing it from happening seemed to look like a lost cause. And if this idea succeeded then atleast Konoha would get more time to get themselves ready for war, as if war happened now, then Iwa and Kumo together, will destroy Konoha and its allies.

And this seemed like the only way to ensure the safety of his family, if only for a little while longer, and so Naruto accepted the mission.

Tsunade as a Kage was happy that Naruto was brave enough to accept the mission, but as a mother she absolutely hated Naruto's decision.

And seeing as Naruto had accepted the mission, Tsunade decided that she would personally make sure that he would be ready for the mission, as she was not going to lose her son, like she had lost her little brother and fiance.