Chapter 2
Konoha
Konoha Hospital
The rising sun illiminated the vegetation of the village and cut through the window of the hospital room and hitting the face of our young redheaded hero. Naruto woke up with a groan as he cursed the sky that made the damn sun so bright in the morning. Sapphire blue eyes blinked open and stared at the white ceiling and he immediately knew that he was in his most dreaded place – the hospital. Pain coursed through his body as he tried to move and he could feel a throbbing from his left arm. Placing his hands over his eyes, he recalled the events of the night prior. He went to the training grounds , sensed two peculiar signatures, investigated, engaged a kumo ninja in battle and then blank. He could not remember anything beyond the battle and idly wondered how in the hell did he survive as he knew he was not immune to fire. So….how?
The door swung open with a force bringing him out if his musings. Walking in, a nurse gazed at him and a small laugh found itself escaping her. "Good morning naruto-kun," said the nurse in her usual tone. This was one of the only nurses who treated him kindly. A small laugh left his lips as his face brightened all traces of the earlier pain forgotten. "Good morning Minami-san," replied naruto in a soft voice as the nurse gave him a kind smile and said that she would being him breakfast and soon left the room.
After ten minutes, the nurse returned with a tray containing milk, toast, cereal and fruit. She placed the tray on his bedside table and left after he gave her his thanks.
"So how long are you going to stay hidden there?" asked naruto gazing to the side. A few moments later, Inu appeared in front of him and with a lazy voice said, " your semsory abilities are getting better naruto-kun." "Or maybe it's because you weren't trying hard enough to mask your presence as we both know that I cannot find you if you don't want to be found," said naruto as he offered the masked nin fruit and some toast which was taken and began eating with his mask on.
Sweat dropping, naruto asked the masked ninja how can he eat with his mask still on. Shrugging, Inu just said that he had a lot of practice to which naruto just sighed in a equally lazy way. Continuing to eat in silence, when the door opened and in came Sarutobi with his hokage robes and hat on.
"Jiji!" exclaimed naruto with a grin as he saw his pseudo grandfather. The old man silently laughed and ruffled the boy's hair as he took a seat next to him. "You had quite the interesting day yesterday didn't you naruto-kun?" asked Hiruzen with a grandfatherly smile as the boy rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
Pressing forward the old man continued, " what happened last night my boy. I want you to tell me truthfully as this is an international incident so regardless tell me every single detail." To this, naruto began recounting the events of the previous night from the point of his training to the point of the battle and his blacking out. Listening to every minute detail, the hokage found everything fits perfectly and wearily sighed. "You are going to be the death of me one day naruto. It was foolish of you to engage a jounin in battle," said the old man as naruto's head dipped in shame. "But you did great and I am proud of you," said Sarutobi with a pride lacing his words as he placed his hands on the redhead's shoulder. At this, naruto grinned happily and leapt into the arms of hiruzen and hugged him tightly. Inu laughed under his mask….well two masks.
Taking out two scrolls, sarutobi said in a serious voice " I have something to give to you. I promised to give them to you when you turned five years old." "Who did you promise?" inquired naruto. "Your parents," responded the hokage still with a serious voice.
Widening his eyes, naruto reached out and took both scrolls with shaky hands. Opening the first one and began to read
Dear naruto
As I am writing this to you, I can feel the life leaving my body. My name is Minato Namikaze but you may know me as the yondaime hokage. As you may be aware, tonight is not only the day you were born but also the night that the kyuubi attacked the village. I faced the beast in combat but was unable to kill him. Killing a bijuu is pretty much impossible as they would reform later on so the only option remained was to seal it away. The only thing capable of holding a bijuu of the kyuubi's caliber is a newborn baby with uzumaki blood. You were the only one born that night and I would not have been able to ask someone else to sacrifice their child if I wasn't able to do so myself. So I sealed the kyuubi into you, naruto, but that doesn't make you the beast as you are just it's jailor in the same way that a kunai and a scroll are two different things. You were not told of your inheritance as I made many enemies during my time as a ninja who would no doubt wish to harm you in return. As such I asked the old monkey to safeguard your heritage until you were strong enough to protect yourself. Now then, naruto, there is another secret you must know, one that no one knew and they should not know in order for your safety. You see, your grandfather was Madara Uchiha and you have uchiha blood in you so one day you will activate the sharingan. I kept this a secret from everyone in the village by placing a seal over my eyes that was made by my father before he sent me to the village. The same seal I left in the Namikaze compound outside the village walls. Every technique either I or your mother owned and used is stored there in a library that you alone can access. Our fortune is sealed inside the hokage vault but you will gain access to that when you claim my name. Know this my son, your mother and I loved you a lot and wished to see you grow but that was not possible. Beneath is a blood seal with the direction of the Namikaze home which is also protected by blood seals. Do not show these letters to anyone and just tell Sarutobi that you know of your burden and heritage. I love you my son and know that I will always be proud of you no matter what you decide to do in life.
With love
Minato Namikaze
The second letter
Dear naru-chan
I am kushina uzumaki, your mother, and these are my last words to you. Know that you are one of the last descendants of the great uzumaki clan that was destroyed along with our homeland of uzushiogakure during the second shinobi war. We were masters of kenjutsu and fuinjutsu and so feared that Kiri,Iwa and Kumo attcked and destroyed it during the beginning of the war. I want to tell you so much but my time is short. Brush your teeth daily, take regular baths, eat healthy foods if you have a fondness for ramen and stay far away from perverts especially Jiraiya-sensei. Find a girl who loves you for you and give me many grandchildren. I love you my naru-chan and always will.
With love and many kisses
Kushina Uzumaki
Finished with reading both letters, he was screaming as tears flowed down his cheeks and he clutched the letters to his chest like a lifeline and kept repeating they loved me. After a while he stopped and the three people sat in silence which was broken when sarutobi asked the question that was on his mind for some time now. "What did the letters say naruto-kun," asked the old man as naruto began to stare out the window located next to the bed. "The letters told me of my burden and heritage jiji as well as the motives. Don't worry, tou-san explained everything about why it was kept hidden and I don't blame him," said naruto with a smile on his face.
Releasing a breath that he didn't even realize he was holding, Hiruzen asked to see the letters but Naruto refused stating that it was personal and he did not want to share it with anyone. With a grandfatherly laugh, hiruzen nodded and left not before ruffling naruto's hair one more time. Inu retreated to the shadows leaving naruto alone to his thoughts as he slept away, sleeping with happiness and joy for the first time in his young life.
The next day, Hiashi and his daughter, Hinata, came to visit and thanked him for his bravery and rold him that the hyuuga clan compound was always open for him. Naruto spent the next few days quietly as he awaited being discharged from the hospital which happened two days after the Hyuugas' visit. He decided to visit the Namikaze compound the day after he was released.
The next day
Namikaze Compound
Following the directions from the letter, naruto came upon the compound walls on the outskirts of the village. He smeared some blood on the seal and channeled some chakra. The seal reacted and there was a pulse as the gate opened and closed again after he went in. Walking in, naruto admitted to himself that the place was quite big. He looked around and saw the garden which had a koi pond next to it. Moving towards the house, he repeated the process from the gate and the door opened. Entering the house he was met with the sight of a big picture of his mother and father when his mother was pregnant with him. They had big smiles on their faces and tears came to naruto's eyes. Continuing to explore the house, he found a space that was supposed to be his. Moving to the library, he saw scrolls of ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu and a smaller section with an uchiha fan on them. He saw his dad's notes on the Hiraishin and Rasengan and saw that they were still being improved as they were considered incomplete. He picked up a book titled 'Fuinjutsu: Beginners level' written by his mother and someone called Uzumaki Mito and scrolls on his father's personal taijutsu style he created to work in conjunction with the sharingan and hiraishin and was based on speed and agility which suited naruto perfectly.
Entering the basement, he saw two large spaces. Entering the first, he saw an armoury. There were weapons of all kinds which ranged from simple ones such as kunai, shuriken and ninja cable to more personalized ones such as his father's hiraishin kunai. Mounted on the wall was a blade in a midnight black sheath. Upon pulling out the blade, naruto saw an elegant but deadly looking black bladed katana with a red border. It's handle was wrapped in a red bandage with a small chain hanging off the end. This was the blade known as 'muramasa' and it belonged to naruto's mother. Knowing he didn't know how to use a blade, naruto decided against using it until he could wield it properly. Leaving and entering the second space in the basement, he was met with an empty space. Looking around, he noticed some seals faintly glowing on the ceiling and walls. Thinking that this was where his parent's practiced their fuinjutsu, he left the space and the house with the book on fuinjutsu and thought about the training to be started the next day.
To be continued