"Wow, I never would thought that such a basic meal would be so wonderful." Koyuki said as she and Naruto were sitting in the special booth in the back. Ever since the event that took place, Tsuchi and Ayame felt sorry for the boy and decided to give him his own personal spot.
"I noticed these two. They aren't like the others." Koyuki pointed out.
"Tsuchi and Ayame are two of the people in the village that never once saw me as a monster." Naruto said as he was eating his ramen.
"Why do people look at you like a monster?" Koyuki asked curiously.
"I don't want to talk about it." Naruto said.
"Alright, well, I've got a meeting with the hokage and his wife. You may go to your own devices if you so choose to." Koyuki said.
"No, my orders are to remain with you at all times." Naruto said and the two of them proceeded to the Namikaze estate. Naruto cut his thumb and placed it on the blood seal to open up. "Come on. Let's go." Naruto said in a low tone.
Naruto knocked on the door. "Why are you knocking on the door? Is this not your home?" asked Koyuki.
"No Lady Kazahana. This is Lord Fourth and Lady Kushina's home. I must show the absolute respect." Naruto said as the door opened.
"Naruto? Is everything alright?" asked the red haired woman.
"Hello, Lady Kushina. Yes, I am well. Lady Kazahana informed me that she had a meeting with both you and Lord Fourth." Naruto said in his emotionless tone.
"Naruto, why don't you go out back? Kakashi is back there." Kushina said with a warm smile.
"My apologies, Lady Kushina. I must remain with Lady Kazahana at all time." Naruto reminded her.
"Relax, Naruto. She will be fine. Please, go in the back and visit with your siblings along with Kakashi." Minato said in an order like tone.
Naruto bowed. "Yes, Lord Fourth. Lady Kazahana, I will be in the back. You will be fine with Lady Kushina and Lord Fouth." Naruto said as he left.
"Come on in. We'll go to the meeting room." Minato said as he was followed by the two women.
With Naruto
The blond walked to the backyard and saw Menma and Mito training with Kakashi. He remained silent at sat on the bench as he watched the training before him. Kakashi was teaching the two kids how walk up a tree. Mito was understanding the concept along with being able to walk up the tree with only four steps. Menma was struggling and couldn't get passed two steps.
Kakashi noticed the blond. "Yo. How's it going?" asked the silver haired man.
"Hello, Captain. I am doing well, how are you?" asked Naruto.
Menma and Mito froze. They were scared of their brother and began taking a few steps back. Naruto noticed this and sighed. He then threw a kunai at Menma and Mito. In a mere moment, Naruto flashed in front of them and with the help of a shadow clone, the two Namikaze kids had a kunai to their neck.
Neither kid wanted to risk moving. "You two, you fear me. Your eyes look at me like I'm a monster. If I were going to kill you, I'd do it with ease." Naruto said as he flashed back to the bench.
Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, was that really needed?" asked the single eye anbu with laziness.
"I apologize, Captain." Naruto said.
With Koyuki
Minato was sitting at his desk in front of both Kushina and Koyuki. A privacy barrier was activated to prevent anyone from seeing anything along with a silencing seal. This would keep the conversation between the three of them closed off from all outsiders.
"Why?" was all Koyuki asked.
Minato and Kushina looked at each other. "Why, what?" asked Minato.
The woman looked at the hokage with an annoyed expression. "Don't play stupid. I've been with your son since his arrival in my home. You know what I'm asking." Koyuki said in an annoyed tone.
Minato sighed. "Tell me, what do you known about the Nine Tailed Fox?" Minato asked.
Koyuki had flashbacks of her dreams with a massive fox that had nine tails was attacking the Land of Snow. "I don't know much. I do remember hearing that Konoha was attacked years ago." Koyuki said.
"Koyuki... What we tell you right now is an S rank secret. Punishable by death if revealed. My son, Naruto Namikaze, Kitsune of the Cold mask, whatever you want to call him. He is the Jinchuriki of Kyuubi." Minato said. The woman looked at the hokage with confused look. "You see, a Jinchuriki is known as a human sacrifice. When Naruto was born, I had no choice but to seal the fox inside of him. It was the only way to prevent the destruction of Konoha." Minato explained.
"In otherwords, Naruto is a hero. Everyday, he's protecting the village by keeping the beast sealed. The reason everyone glares at him, it's because they fear the fox will break out and try to finish the job. Many also believe that Naruto was the reincarnation of the fox." Kushina spoke up.
"If you two are his parents, why does he act like you are both strangers? I've never met a person to act like such." Koyuki declared.
Minato sighed but the voice of Kakashi entered. "Those are two seperate things." said the Copycat ninja.
"What do you mean?" asked Koyuki.
"Tell me, do you know why Naruto is called Kitsune of the Cold Mask?" asked Kakashi.
Koyuki shook her head. "I figured it was because of how cold he was on missions or something." Koyuki said.
Kakashi chuckled. "No, yes, he is cold. But that's not why. You see, even though Naruto had been hated by many of the villagers and shinobi, he developed a mask. The hated demon child of Konohagakure was the happiest of all people. Even the most wealthiest of children couldn't compare to our knucklehead." Kakashi explained.
"Wait, you mean he wasn't always like this?" asked Koyuki.
"That's right. Even though it was a mask, Naruto and his trusting nature were never erased. He tried to make friends and often trusted everything. This led to may people harming and brutally beating him into the ground. It's amazing he never once retaliated. Naruto was a special kid. His only desire was to have one true friend, yet, nobody wanted to be his friend." Minato said.
"I can't believe it. I always thought Konohagakure was known for their love and compassion." the Ice princess said.
"People fear what they don't understand. However, one person decided to go against what the village and shinobi alike said. This woman ended up befriending little Naruto. It was the strangest thing. The two of them began spending nearly twenty-four seven with each other. Minato and I believe the two of them would end up getting married." Kushina said with a blush.
Koyuki's face had a blush on it. "Where is she? It sounds like she was quite the person in Naruto's life. Did she get kidnapped, killed, what happened?" asked Koyuki.
Kakashi sighed. "Her name was Itachi Uchiha. She was around the same age as Naruto. Three years ago is when it all started. Naruto was on his way back home from training. When he met the women, she was covered in blood. Naruto tried to find out what was going on but Itachi wouldn't tell him. He kept at it and I guess, she was already under enough mental strain from what she did." Kakashi said.
"What did she do?" Koyuki asked.
"Itachi Uchiha is wanted across all five shinobi nations for the destruction of the Uchiha clan. She killed every single member with the exception of her younger brother and mother. None of us know why she did it. However, we were told that it was so she could test her own abilities." Kakashi said. This made Koyuki go quiet.
"Is this why Naruto became the emotionless person that is?" asked Koyuki.
Kakashi shook his head. "No. It's what happened next. Tell me, do you know anything about the Uchiha clan bloodline?" asked Kakashi.
Koyuki shook her head. "The Uchiha bloodline is known as the sharingan. It's a powerful doijutsu that offers many different abilities. In fact, rumors had it that it's one of the strongest bloodline aside from the Rinnegan. Well, there are two stages of the Sharingan. As you can see, this is the first stage." Kakashi said as he showed his single sharingan eye. The eye then swirlled into a triangle-like pattern. "This is known as the Mangekyou Sharingan. Each person is given a unique ability. Mine allows me to warp things at a long distance." Kakashi said.
"So, what is Itachi's ability?" asked the girl.
"Tsukuyomi. It's a powerful Genjutsu that is only rivaled by the kotoamatsukami. The genjutsu places a person inside a world for three days. During the those three days, the caster of the jutsu is like a god. Itachi revealed to Naruto that he did indeed contain Kyuubi inside of him. She also showed him the hatred that people, including his siblings had for him. What affected Naruto the most, it was Itachi revealing that she never cared for him and that he was just a tool for her to become powerful. He was nothing but a demon in her eyes." Kushina said.
"Along with the damage done to him inside the Tsukuyomi, Naruto was never the same. We have tried our hardest to get him to move past it. However, the once happy-go lucky brat became an emotionless soul that believed he was nothing more than a tool. While as his parents, we didn't like this one bit. Though, he became one hell of a shinobi and had become exactly what a shinobi is. A tool without emotion." Minato said.
Koyuki sat in silence. "That's why he closed his heart?" asked Koyuki. She let a tear out after Minato and Kushina confirmed her question with a nod. She then stood up. "Lord Fourth, Lady Kushina. With your permission, I would like to keep Naruto around me. I believe that I can help him get through this." Koyuki said.
This shocked the three of them in the room. When Kakashi asked how she planned on doing that. Koyuki explained that while she wasn't a shinobi, she was born with a strange ability to understand a person. "I promise, I will bring your son out of this darkness. I just need permission by you. You see, he is like me. We are both from royalty. Me, the daughter of the Damiyo and Naruto, the son of the hokage." Koyuki said.
After the conversation ended, Koyuki greeted Naruto. She noticed the glares that Menma and Mito shot at their brother. "Naruto, come on. I'm ready to go back." Koyuki said.
"Yes, Lady Kazahana." Naruto said with a bow. He then turned to face his family. "Thank you for having us over. Lord Fourth, Lady Kushina, Miss Namikaze, Mr. Namikaze, and Captain. I will be leaving." Naruto said and the two left.
"Do you think she can do it?" asked Kakashi.
"I'm not sure. We've tried everything. I suppose there is always a chance." Kushina said.
"Kakashi, do you really want to be a genin sensei?" asked Minato.
"Huh? I mean, not really. I only agreed to do it so I can help Sasuke with his sharingan and help Mito and Menma." Kakashi said lazily.
"I see. Well, as of right now, you will remain on duty as an anbu captain." Minato said.
With Naruto and Koyuki
The two of them returned to the hotel. Thanks to Naruto's fuinjutsu skills, he was able to place seals inside the room that would allow Koyuki to choose what outfit she wanted to wear for that day. Unlike a traditional hotel, the one they were inside of, it had a kitchen along with a pool and exercise room. A library was also acessed by going upstairs.
"Naruto?" Koyuki called out.
Naruto looked at the woman and assumed the position of attention. "Yes, Lady Kazahana?" he asked.
"Okay, I've got some new rules that I'm ordering you to follow." Koyuki said.
"Yes, Lady Kazahana." Naruto said.
"Rule number one, call me Koyuki. I understand that you're big on respect, but I truly hate being called that. Especially by my friends." Koyuki said.
Though he remained emotionless, Naruto was stunned at what she said. "Friend? Does she actually consider me a friend? No, she is just being nice for the sake of the mission." Naruto silently thought.
"To think, you're considered one of the most deadliest shinobi and considered a genius. Yet, you can't read women." said a deep voice.
"Shut up. You aren't even a human." Naruto mentally muttered.
"Kid, I've been alive for many years. I have plenty experience with what you humans consider affection." said the voice.
"Kurama, you know I can't do that. I refuse to. Last time was really the last time." Naruto said with annoyance growing in his voice.
"Brat, take off the mask. While I will not lie and deny that your mask even frightens me, you're with your mate. You don't need to wear it." Kurama said.
"She isn't my mate! Also, what the hell do you know about having a mate?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto!" Koyuki called out and snapped the blond out of his mental conversation. "Did you hear me?" asked Koyuki.
"No, I'm sorry. I was lost in thought by the stupidity of my tenant." Naruto said.
"I told you about the schedule I'd like us to follow." Koyuki said.
"My apologies, Lady Kazahana." Naruto said but was instantly hit in the back of the head.
"I told you not to call me that. Anyway, our schedule will be to wake up at five, every morning. I'm aware that as a shinobi, you will need time to train. We can spend two hours in the morning so that you can train. I'll use that time to work on my own devices. At seven, we'll get breakfast. I spend from eight till lunch inside the office that Lord Fourth has given me. At twelve, we'll have lunch. From lunch to around five, we will return to the office. From five to seven, you'll be given time to train. We will then get dinner. At eight, we will return here and relax. Does that work for you?" Koyuki asked.
Naruto nodded. "Yes, Lady, I mean Koyuki." Naruto said.
The woman smiled. "Good. Now, as far as the sleeping arrangements go." Koyuki said but Naruto spoke up.
"I will use my sleeping bag. It's not proper for an unmarried man to lay in the same bed with an unmarried woman." Naruto said.
"Man, they weren't lying." Koyuki mentally sighed. "Naruto, as I said before, you will be sharing the bed. If it makes you feel better, you can have that side and I'll have this side." Koyuki said.