Summary: As Naruto, Kakashi, and Jiraiya settle into their new lives back home. Each of them take on new roles, as their time away, life has brought many changes into their lives. One new change has is the shocking revelation Naruto has just discovered of his true heritage to the infamous Sannin Tsunade and Jiraiya. How will he react to this knowledge and what will it mean to the people closest to Naruto?
Naruto vs. Sasuke: The Aftermath
Chapter 69: "The Consequences of Truth"
"Grandmother... I'm your grandmother Naruto."
If the silence in the room was deafening before, the pall of silence that now gripped the room like a shroud of death was positively thunderous. Tsunade finally found the strength to lift her head up and to gaze at Naruto. The blonde Hokage almost exhaled a sigh of relief, when she saw Naruto had dropped his head down and was staring at the floor, so she couldn't get a good luck at his face. However, Tsunade knew this reprieve was temporary and she would have to face her grandson and the guilt, shame, and fear of what she might see scared her beyond belief, as she shivered at the thought. Jiraiya felt Tsunade trembling and realized she shouldn't bear this alone and gulped nervously, before he announced with as much courage as he could find.
"And I'm your grandfather!"
Jiraiya then gave Tsunade's hand he was holding a reassuring squeeze, as he said.
"Minato Namikaze was my son…our son."
Naruto's head immediately snapped upright upon hearing this and both Sannin gasped at the heart-wrenching and pain-filled visage upon their only grandson's face. It nearly brought Tsunade to tears, as she gazed at Naruto's anguished appearance. Jiraiya also saw this agonized look and hastily stammered.
"Nar-Naruto, I know this is a shock for you and you're probably feeling hurt right now. But if you'll sit down Tsunade-chan and I can explain….."
"Explain?...EXPLAIN!" Naruto angrily shouted, as the look upon his face went from being one of sorrow to now one of something much….darker in nature.
However, before anyone could say anything else, Naruto closed his eyes and in an eerily calm, but also deep resonating voice requested.
"Kakashi-sensei, would you and Kurenai-sensei please take Hinata-chan back to our home. I need to have a private conversation with my...grandparents."
Kakashi was about to respond, when suddenly he and everyone else started to feel the slow, but growing pressure of Naruto's killing intent begin to rise. Shooting a quick glance to Jiraiya and Tsunade, as if silently asking them what he should do. Both Sannin gave a quick nod of their heads to the one-eyed Jounin who quickly grasped both Kurenai and Hinata's arm much to her protest and quickly escorted them out of the office, closing the door behind him.
"Kakashi-san, what's going on?" Shizune nervously asked in confusion, as she could now feel the rising killing intent coming from behind the closed door of Tsunade's office.
Kakashi wasn't able to answer Tsunade's first apprentice and assistant, as he along with Kurenai were struggling to keep Hinata from marching back into the Hokage's office. Suddenly there was a massive spike in the killing intent and Kakashi wrapped his arms around all three women and dove behind Shizune's desk covering their bodies with his own, before the door to Tsunade's office was suddenly blown off its hinges with tremendous force. After a moment to catch their collective breath, the quartet of shinobi rose from behind the desk and tentatively entered the Hokage's office.
The sight that greeted the four shinobi was shocking to say the least. The entire room had been torn asunder by the explosion, as debris was scattered about everywhere. However, the previous occupants of the room were nowhere to found. It was then everyone gazed at the huge hole that had once been the doorway leading out onto the balcony, as Shizune stammered nervously.
"Wh-where are Lady Tsunade and Master-Jiraiya?"
"And Naru-kun?" Hinata quickly added.
"Well I'd say judging by that hole, they all went that way." Kakashi replied, before he said.
"Hinata, activate your Byakugan and see if can spot them."
"Byakugan!" Hinata shouted, as the veins near her temples and around her eyes bulged out. Scanning the village, Hinata's eyes flared a bit, as she said with concern.
"I see them, Master-Jiraiya is carrying Lady Tsunade and they're using the Shunshin no Jutsu to travel from rooftop to rooftop with Naru-kun hot on their heels."
"Can you tell what direction they are heading?"
"Hai, it looks like they are heading towards the arena."
It was at that moment that Ibiki arrived with several Anbu and asked.
"Kakashi, what's going on here, where is the Hokage?"
"Ibiki, I need you to gather as many Anbu as you can and cordon off the Leaf village arena as soon as possible. I don't want any civilians or shinobi for that matter to gain entry to the stadium. Seal it off so tight that not even a bug can enter!"
"You still haven't answered my question, what's going on here, where is the Hokage? And for that matter, why does the arena need to be sealed off?"
"The arena needs to be secured, because Lady Tsunade and Master-Jiraiya have decided to have a private spar with Naruto to test his abilities and make sure he is strong enough to take the mantle of Rokudaime Hokage. And the testing area they have chosen to have this spar is the Leaf village arena."
"Really…...testing Namikaze-sama's strength, is that really the story you want to give as an explanation for all of this?" Ibiki questioned with skepticism, as he looked about the destroyed office and at what he had just heard.
"Well, it's the best I could come up with on short notice. And I'm pretty sure Lady-Tsunade will confirm exactly what I just told you."
"Alright, if that's the story you want and the Hokage will back you on it, I'll go with it. I'll have my Anbu cordon off the arena in a matter of minutes. Where will you be during all of this?"
"At the arena of course." Kakashi replied, as he flashed his trademark eye-smile, before he, Kurenai, Hinata, and Shizune shunshin'd out of the office and began racing towards the stadium.
Meanwhile, minutes earlier as Kakashi and the others were hesitantly entering Tsunade's office. The blonde Hokage found herself being carried bridal-style in Jiraiya's arms, as he raced from rooftop to rooftop via the Shunshin no Jutsu. Craning her head to look behind her, Tsunade's breath hitched in her throat, as she saw Naruto chasing after them. The look of unbridled pain and rage her grandson bore upon his face was heartbreaking to the Sannin, who turned back and with tears welling in her eyes asked.
"Jiraiya-kun, what are we going to do?"
"The only thing we can do at the moment…..RUN!"
"We can't run from Naruto forever!"
"Well if we don't run then were going to have to stop and fight him, because he's in no mood right now to listen to anything we have to say."
"Well then stop and we'll face him."
"My love, do you have any idea how much damage a battle between two Sannin and one very pissed off elite Jounin, who also happens to hold the most powerful of the tailed-beasts within him can cause? We're in the middle of the village and if we were to stop now and try to fight him, the damage will be enormous and some innocent people might be hurt because of it."
Tsunade realized that Jiraiya was correct in his assessment of their current situation and racked her brain for a solution. A moment later, an idea sprung to her mind and she quickly said.
"Head for the arena, it's empty with no people around and it's large enough to contain our fight and any damage that will occur from it."
"Good idea, I'd say it's are best shot, because I'm not sure how much longer I can stay ahead of him."
A few minutes later, Jiraiya landed at one end of the Leaf village arena floor and set Tsunade down upon her feet. A few seconds later Naruto landed at the other end of the arena floor and if looks could kill, both Sannin would already be dead by the murderous glare their grandson was leveling upon them, as he stalked slowly towards them. They gulped nervously, as Naruto got closer and closer to them. The killing intent he was exuding was so oppressive that had they both not possessed the strength of a Sannin, they would have collapsed to the ground.
"Please Naruto, please calm down and give us a chance to explain everything!" Tsunade pleaded, with tears running down her cheeks.
"Explain! The two of you have had years to explain everything to me! Naruto snarled with mixture of both profound suffering and fury ringing in his voice.
The blonde Jinchuuriki then punched the arena floor with earth-shattering force breaking the stone around him and sending an enormous shockwave heading directly at Tsunade and Jiraiya. As the shockwave raced towards them Tsunade unleashed her own earth-shattering punch onto the arena floor and sent a tremendous shockwave of her own racing towards Naruto's. Upon impact, both shockwaves had canceled each other out, but the collision was so immense that the entire stadium shook violently for a moment causing all three combatants to fall to the ground.
As Jiraiya and Tsunade rose to their feet and saw Naruto do the same. They watched nervously, as Naruto began channeling chakra into his hands. Jiraiya eyes grew wide, as he recognized the hand-signs Naruto was using and knew what Naruto was about to unleash and he shouted in a panic to Tsunade.
"Hime, anchor your feet to the ground using chakra, do it now!"
Normally the blonde Sannin would have questioned Jiraiya's command, but when she saw Naruto thrust his arms forward towards them she crossed her arms in front of her, as Jiraiya did the same. A second later, a powerful gust of wind erupted from Naruto's hands and impacted the two Sannin with such force they literally were bent backwards at their knees. The only thing that kept them in place and not blown all the way to Suna was the chakra they were continuing to pump into their feet to keep them anchored to the stadium floor. After the attack finally subsided, Tsunade pulled herself upright and asked in disbelief.
"What the hell was that?"
"That's the kid's Reppushou!" (Gale Wind Palm Technique)
"Are you serious? I've never seen or felt a Reppushou attack that strong in my entire life. It's even more powerful than Orochimaru's Daitoppa!" (Great Breakthrough Technique)
"Well don't get to caught up in admiring it, because the gaki has several wind techniques that makes that one look like a cool summer breeze in his arsenal." Jiraiya warned in earnest, as the two Sannin turned their attention back to Naruto.
Naruto saw that his newly discovered grandparents had successfully countered his Reppushou attack. Seething with anger as well as pain at them, he decided to charge up two Rasengan, one in each hand and see if they could stop this attack, as he sprinted towards them.
"Shit, he's not kidding around this time!"
"I think I can stop him, but I don't want to hurt him Jiraiya-kun!" Tsunade exclaimed.
"If you've got an idea, use it and don't hold back!"
Tsunade nodded her head and quickly ran through a series of hand-signs, before she slammed her palms onto the ground and shouted.
"Doryuu Taiga!" (Earth Flow River)
Suddenly, the ground beneath Naruto transformed into a river of mud, causing the blonde youth to slip and fall on his ass, while sliding towards the two Sannin. Tsunade then began another set of hand-signs and before Naruto would reach them and slammed her hands onto the ground once more and called out.
"Doryuu Gachan!" (Earth Style Slam)
Instantly, the earth began to rise up and split apart acting like a channel for the mud river, before Tsunade removed her hands from the ground and the earthen canal suddenly snapped shut like a Venus flytrap capturing Naruto within it.
"That should hold him until he calms down a bit and we can talk to him." Tsunade proclaimed in relief.
Jiraiya wasn't as confident that Naruto was trapped and immediately leapt over to Tsunade and wrapped his arms around her. Suddenly, just as Jiraiya thought would happen Naruto came shooting out of his earthen prison using one of his Rasengan to free himself, while launching towards the two Sannin with the other one thrust directly in front of them.
Jiraiya began forming the needed hand seals for his famous Hari Jizou Ninjutu technique (Underworld Guardian Spikes) and his hair suddenly grew in length to surround and protect him and Tsuande. In this form Jiraiya's hair became ridged and spiked, forming a layer of protection from direct strikes and blows. The strength of the hair was determined by how much chakra Jiraiya pumped into the strands. And right now he was using a lot of chakra and prayed it would be enough to stave off a blow from a Rasengan. A few second later, Naruto connected and to his surprise the Toad-Sage's defense held, although Naruto's Rasengan did snap off several of the hardened hair strands. Inside this protective cocoon, both Sannin hugged one another tightly, while debating what to do next.
"Well, I can think of worse ways to die than having you in my arms when I do." Jiraiya wryly quipped to Tsunade.
"That's sweet of you to say, but I don't want to die at all. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know, give me a minute to think to come up with something to stop or at least slow down our grandkid."
"I don't think we have a minute." Tsunade stated, as they both felt the ground below them begin to vibrate.
Jiraiya immediately canceled the technique and he and Tsunade jumped away from one another, just as Naruto shot out of the ground where they had been standing like an underground missile. Naruto landed in-between his grandparents and thrust each arm out to his sides and unleashed another Reppushou attack towards each of them. This surprised both Sannin, that Naruto was able to launch the infamous wind technique from each hand. As this was something no one had ever been able to do before with this particular technique. Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade had time to anchor themselves to the arena floor as before. So when Naruto's attack hit them, it sent both Sannin tumbling and skidding away from one another, until they both crashed into the arena wall at opposite ends of the stadium.
Struggling to rise and coughing to catch her breath, Tsunade turned to look at Naruto and pleaded to her grandson in a stammering voice.
"St-stop Naruto… pl-please give us a chance to explain."
"Explain…are you kidding me baa-chan! Baa-chan, how ironic that I've called you that, as a term of endearment, since I've met you. When for years you could have told me the truth and I could have called you that out of love. Now because of a slip of the tongue you revealed the truth and now want to explain to me why you never told me before. Tell me, were you or pervy-sage ever going to tell me the truth?" Naruto growled out in query with furious anger.
"Y-yes, I promise you, we were going to tell you. W-we were just waiting for the right time!" Tsunade hurriedly exclaimed in reply.
"THE RIGHT TIME! HOW ABOUT ANYTIME DURING MY ENTIRE LIFE!" Naruto screamed, infuriated at Tsunade's answer.
Naruto then stepped towards Tsunade and extended his hands out pointing his fingers at the blonde Sannin.
'Oh Shit!' Jiraiya thought to himself, as he recognized what Naruto was about to unleash and he instantly shunshin'd over to Tsunade.
Just as Jiraiya arrived, he immediately scooped a surprised Tsunade up in his arms and began running just as Naruto shouted out.
"Mini Rasengan Tama Renda no Jutsu!" (Mini Rasengan Bullet Barrage Technique.)
Suddenly four small fast, rotating spheres of chakra appeared in front of Naruto's fingers, before they shot forward at incredible speed followed in quick succession by another and another, like bullets from a machine gun. As Naruto aimed towards the fleeing Sannin, both Jiraiya and Tsunade could hear the stadium wall being torn apart behind them, as the Toad-Sage ran around the arena trying to stay ahead of the miniature Rasengan salvo. After a few minutes, Naruto ceased with the attack, allowing a panting Jiraiya to stop running and put Tsunade down, before she asked in a whisper.
"Jiraiya-kun, maybe you should summon Gamabunta to help us subdue Naruto-kun."
"Can't, can't do that. Nar-Naruto's name is also on the Toad contract and one of the rules of the contract is no toads may be used in battle between two summoners."
"I understand, I'd summon Katsuyu, but she's not really a summons equipped for fighting and I doubt she could be of help to us."
"I've, I've got an idea to bind Naruto long enough for you to land one of your famous chakra-enhanced punches, but you can't hold back when you hit him. It's got to be strong enough to hopefully knock him out."
"I'll, I'll try my best."
As Naruto glared at his grandparents, he still seethed with anger that they had betrayed him so heinously by keeping their heritage of who they truly were from him. So enraged was Naruto, that he failed to notice red chakra slowly leaking from his body and turning the blue colored chakra he exuded from his body into a more ominous purple color. The blonde Jounin also failed to hear the faint chuckle from within his mind, as he watched Jiraiya rise up and begin walking towards him with Tsunade following close behind.
"Look Naruto, both Tsunade and I are sorry for not telling you the truth sooner, we truly are. I know we've hurt you terribly, but I'm asking you, no I'm begging you, please let us talk to you about it. We don't want to fight you, we never did. All we want is a chance to explain what happened and why we kept our true heritage from you."
"I don't give damn about what the two of you want!" Naruto snarled, as his chakra grew darker in color, while an almost imperceptible voice of the Kyuubi whispered in his mind.
'He lies, they both lie, they're not sorry at all.'
"Lies, you're not sorry at all! Why should I believe anything the two of you have to say, you're lying to me just as you've always done!"
"That's not true Naruto-kun! I swear we're not lying and we didn't mean to hurt you, we…..we wanted to tell you the truth, but we just didn't know how. Please Naruto-kun, we don't want to fight you anymore, we….we love you." Tsunade pleaded with desperation, as tears streamed down her face.
'They don't love you, they hate you! Why else would they keep the truth from you? It's because they are ashamed and loathe you just like all of the villagers growing up.'
"More lies, you don't love me….you hate me! Why else would you keep the truth from me? Is it because you're ashamed of me or is it because you loathe me just like all the villagers did growing up?"
"We're not ashamed of you…we're proud of you kid. You make us proud every-day!" Jiraiya shouted in an attempt to assure his grandson of their true feelings, as he noticed some of the Kyuubi's chakra starting to leak out and taint Naruto's own chakra.
"We could never hate you Naruto-kun. You're our grandson and you epitomize everything that was good and noble about Minato-kun and we love you just as much as we loved him!" Tsunade cried out in desperate entreaty.
'Yes, they're so proud and love you so much, they chose to keep the truth of their heritage from you and they never would have told you, if not for the blonde bitch's mistake.'
"Yeah, you two are just so proud and love me so much, you chose to keep the truth of your heritage from me and you never would have told me, if not for the blonde bitch's mistake!"
So incensed was Naruto, that he didn't even realize that the words he had been speaking the past few minutes mimicked the faint, devious whispers he was receiving from his tenant.
When Jiraiya heard Naruto refer to Tsunade as a blonde bitch, it confirmed his suspicion that the Kyuubi no Youko was exerting a subtle influence over his grandson. As no matter how angry Naruto was, he would never refer to Tsunade in such a way. Turning to his fellow Sannin, in a low voice he said.
"We can't wait any longer. I fear the Kyuubi no Youko is starting to exert an influence onto Naruto. We need to take him down now, before the tailed beast gains any more control over him. Are you ready?"
Tsunade nodded her head sadly, before she started charging her fist with as much chakra as she could muster, while Jiraiya formed a series of hand-signs and stepped forward shouting.
"Ranji Shigumi no Jutsu!" (Wild Lion's Mane Technique)
Instantly, Jiraiya's hair began to grow and lengthen, before it shot outwards to subdue Naruto. The chakra flowing through the lengthened hair made its hardness comparable to that of steel wire. As Jiraiya sent his hair forward to entangle Naruto, he thickly bundled the hair to further increase its strength. Naruto momentarily paused, as he had never seen the Toad-Sage use this jutsu before and was surprised to see the hair take the shape of what resembles a lion's mouth just before it struck him and began wrapping around his body binding him.
"Now Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted.
Tsunade rushed forward with her arm cocked and her fist glowing a bright blue, as she prepared to deliver the strongest chakra-enhanced punch she had ever created. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she silently prayed to Kami that she wouldn't hurt her grandson too badly and hoped this would be enough to stop him. The Kyuubi saw the blonde Hokage charging and realized if she connected with her blow, it very well could incapacitate his vessel and he would lose the control he had been slowing gaining over Naruto.
Suddenly, a purple chakra flare erupted from Naruto's body and because of the demonic chakra it was laced with, it burned away the hair entangling the young man. Naruto immediately charged his own fist with his tainted chakra and stepped forward. A second later, both Tsunade and Naruto unleashed their punches and struck each other's fist simultaneously. The power of the two blows colliding with one another was so powerful a concussive sonic boom exploded from the impact. Both Tsunade and Naruto cried out in pain, as they both felt all of the bones break within their hands. However, Tsunade screamed in additional agony, as she pulled her hand away and fell to the ground.
"Tsunade!" Jiraiya shouted in a panic, as he raced over to cradle her.
Lifting her arm, the Toad-Sage saw that Tsunade's hand had been severely burned by the demonic chakra mixed in with Naruto's natural chakra. Quickly shucking his red haori, Jiraiya grabbed the front of his gray short shirt kimono and tore it open, accidentally also tearing open the mesh armor he wore underneath it. Taking the torn remnant of his shirt, Jiraiya began to wrap Tsunade's injured hand with it.
For his part, Naruto's right arm hung loosely at his side, useless as he panted from the exertion of that last attack and stared at the two Sannin. Like Tsunade, Naruto's hand had been equally shattered from their colliding punches. However unlike the blonde Hokage, Naruto benefited from the healing power of the Kyuubi's chakra, which was already busy re-stitching and healing the broken bones within his hand. As Naruto stared with fury at Jiraiya tending to Tsunade, the Kyuubi subtly whispered once more.
'Now is the time to strike, they're both down. Take your justified revenge for their betrayal and strike now…...STRIKE!'
Yes, strike…..get my revenge…..strike now." Naruto mumbled to himself in a befuddled state of mind, as he created a Rasengan in his left hand and moved towards Tsunade and Jiraiya.
Jiraiya was so concerned about Tsunade he failed to notice Naruto approaching them. And just before his grandson was about to unleash his Rasengan, the Toad-Sage turned his body towards him. It was then that Naruto got a good look at the torn open shirt and saw for the first time in his life the ugly rough claw-like scar in the center of Jiraiya's exposed chest. Seeing this was like a splash of cold water to Naruto's face, freeing his clouded mind, as a long deeply buried memory flashed across his brain and stammering he asked.
"H-how did you get that scar pervy-sage?"
Jiraiya looked down and saw the scar he had kept hidden from Naruto since their time in the Cornucopia village now exposed to the young man and quickly brought his hand up to cover it.
"Nar-Naruto, I…..I….." Jiraiya stuttered, not knowing what to say, as his grandson asked again.
"How did you get that scar?"
'Mwa, ha,ha,ha, you gave it to him or to be more accurate…...we gave it to him.' Kyuubi cackled in laughter within Naruto's mind.
"What, what do you mean I gave it to him?" Naruto openly asked to seemingly no one, before he stared off into space, as he suddenly felt himself sucked into his own mindscape and was standing in front of the imposing cage doors that kept the King of the Bijuu imprisoned.
It was at that moment Kakashi, Hinata, Kurenai, and Shizune suddenly appeared on the arena floor. Shizune immediately rushed over to check on her mentor, while Hinata was about to run over to Naruto, but Jiraiya signaled her to stop, as Naruto's conversation with his tenant continued on.
"Kyuubi, what, what am I doing here?" Naruto stammered with confusion.
'I brought you here brat for my amusement.'
"Wh-what do you mean?"
'Well you're the one who wanted to know how that perverted old mortal got that scar.'
"Yeah I do."
'It's as I said you pathetic whelp, we gave it to him. Or don't you recall the events that transpired after we saved that worthless village Cornucopia and its revolting mortal scum a few years ago.'
The memory of what had happened after Naruto had saved the village of Cornucopia, along with Kakashi's help surged back to him. Naruto remembered needing to call upon more of the Kyuubi's chakra than he could control to save the village. And for a short time the fox-demon had taken possession of him. Naruto also remembered fighting the Kyuubi for control of his body. It was then he saw for the first time Jiraiya step-up and slap a chakra suppression seal onto him and drive the demon back into his cage. Naruto also saw much to his horror the fox-demon using Naruto's body to deliver a vicious slash with his claw across the Toad-Sage's chest, before being driven back. Naruto dropped his head in guilt and shame, knowing he was the one to injure Jiraiya so viciously, as he asked in distress.
"Why did you show this to me?"
'As I told you before, for my amusement. I knew after you saw that scar I had lost my opportunity to have any more fun by giving you some of my chakra to use for your little family reunion with your grandparents. Besides, I thought it would entertaining to point out yet another truth kept from you by one of your…...precious people. Mwa,ha,ha,ha,ha,ha!'
"You damn fur-ball, I hate you so much!" Naruto spat angrily.
'Like I care, now be gone from me as the very sight of you no longer amuses me, but sickens me now!'
Back in the outside world Jiriaya, Tsunade, Kakashi, Kurenai, Shizune, and most importantly Hinata watched with concern, as Naruto stood motionless with his eyes closed. Jiraiya exhaled a sigh of relief, as during Naruto's conversation with the fox-demon. The purple chakra surrounding his body began to dissipate and return to its normal blue color. A minute later, Naruto's eyes snapped open and he openly announced.
"I gave you that scar."
"No, you didn't, it was the Kyuubi who did this, not you." Jiraiya declared in an effort to discourage his grandson from believing he was the one to wound him.
"Maybe, but it was my fault he was able to injure you and my body he used to do so." Naruto solemnly replied, before he turned around and began to walk away.
"Wait Naruto-kun….please won't you talk to us…..give Jiraiya-kun and I a chance to explain." Tsunade frantically pleaded with all of her remaining strength.
Naruto stopped walking and exhaled a heavy sigh and without turning around coldly stated.
"I have nothing to say to either one of you and nothing I want to hear from you right now."
"Naruto, can't you at least give them a chance?" Kakashi asked his student.
This time Naruto did turn his head around and looked directly at his teacher before saying.
"No I can't, not right now if ever. Tell me Kakashi-Sensei, did you know they were my grandparents?"
Kakashi winced upon hearing Naruto's question and didn't want to respond. However, he was saved from answering the question when Kurenai stepped up and grabbed his hand for support, as she said in a contrite tone of voice.
"We only found out recently Naruto."
A small sad smirk flashed across Naruto's face, before he forlornly stated to everyone present.
"I don't know if it's funny of just pathetic that the only being that has never lied to me is not the people I looked up to and cared about the most, but a nine-tailed fox-demon sealed within me."
Naruto then turned back around and started walking away again.
"Naru-kun!" Hinata cried out in distress for the man she loved.
Naruto paused, but didn't turn around as he spoke once more, before disappearing in a flash of brilliant yellow light.
"Hina-chan, please know that I do love you, but right now I just need some time alone."
Kurenai wrapped her arm around her distraught student to comfort her and attempted to assure Hinata that everything would be alright.
"Just give him some time and try not worry; he'll be back in your arms before you know it."
Hinata could only nod her head sadly, before Shizune called out.
"Hinata, I need to get Lady Tsunade to the hospital and prepped for surgery to repair her hand and I could use your help during the procedure."
"Hai Shizune-san." Hinata quickly replied.
A moment later, Shizune, Hinata, and Kurenai were transporting Tsunade to the hospital leaving Kakashi and Jiraiya behind. Both men remained silent and at a loss for words, as they stared at the sky above them. Finally, Jiraiya exhaled a weary sigh and said in a defeated voice.
"It's just as my hime and I feared would happen, he hates us now."
"I don't know if that's correct. Is Naruto hurt?...Yes he is. Does he feel betrayed?... Definitely. Is he angry?...Most definitely. But does he hate you and Lady Tsunade? As I said earlier I don't know, but what I do know is that the capacity to hate is less in Naruto than in anyone else I have ever known. Just give him some time to work things out; he'll come to you and Lady Tsunade when he's ready." Kakashi stated in assurance.
"I hope you're right Kakashi."
"So do I Master-Jiraiya, so do I."
A few hours later, Shizune and Hinata exited the operating room, where they had been working to repair and heal Tsunade's hand. The both heaved a sigh of relief, before Shizune turned to her medical-nin student and complimented with pride.
"Hinata you were wonderful in there. I don't think we could have saved Lady Tsunade's hand without you."
"Thank you Shizune-sensei, but you were the one to perform the surgery. You deserve the credit more than I do."
"Don't be modest; if it wasn't for you, we could have never repaired her hand. Some of the bones in Lady Tsunade's hand weren't just broken, they were to your Byakugan, you were able to locate even the smallest of bone fragments and shards and help me to reset them correctly. And because of that, I think our esteemed Hokage will have a fully functional hand once again."
"I hope that is the case Shizune-sensei." Hinata replied with a small bow of respect.
"Now I'm sure you're anxious to get out of here and go home to Naruto, so why don't you do just that. I'll get Lady Tsunade transferred and settled into a private room."
"Are, are you sure, I can stay and help you with that."
"I'm sure, you've helped enough for the day. Now go home to your fiancé and be with him. He needs you right now even if the knucklehead doesn't realize it."
"Th-thank you!" Hinata gratefully replied, before sprinting for the nearest exit.
A short time later, Hinata burst through the front door of the Namikaze mansion surprising Kakashi, Kurenai, and little Minato who were just finishing up having dinner.
"Is Naru-kun back?" Hinata hurriedly asked.
The downcast faces that appeared on Kakashi and Kurenai answered her question before they had to say anything. In fact it was Minato who spoke up and said.
"I haven't seen Unca Nawuto since all of you took me to school this morning."
The little boy then looked around and saw all the dejected looks upon his parents and his aunt's face and sensed from the gloomy atmosphere that something wasn't right and asked in a worried tone of voice.
"Is, is everything ok with Unca Nawuto?"
"You uncle is fine son, he just got some news today that….upset him a bit that's all." Kakashi answered to his sons query.
"Is he coming home?"
"Yes Minato-kun, he's coming home. Now, why don't you go play in your room for a little bit, while I fix your aunt some supper. Then you can come down later and have desert with us." Kurenai sweetly said to her son.
"Ok, mommy."
After Minato had left the dining room, Kakashi stretched his arms over his head and before looking to Hinata and sympathetically declared.
"Try not to worry Hinata, I'm sure he's fine. I'll head out and bring him home, I promise."
"Thank you Kakashi-sensei." Hinata softly replied.
Kakashi then gave Kurenai a quick peck on the lips, before he shunshin'd away, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
Kakashi spent the rest of the evening checking around the Leaf village for his blonde-haired pupil. He decided to check some of the old spots Naruto would go to in his youth when he was feeling down like Ichiraku's or atop Hokage Mountain to sit upon his father's monument. However, now that he's grown up, could only guess where he might have gone now. After thinking about it, Kakashi decided to try the Sharpened Shuriken tavern to see if Naruto might have gone there. Upon arriving Kakashi entered the bar and approached the bartender.
"Hello Giro, I was wondering if Naruto has been here today?"
"Ahh yes he was Kakashi-sama. He came in a few hours ago and bought a case of high-proof sake and then left."
"Giro, this isn't a liquor store, why would you sell him a case of your own stock?"
"Well, normally I wouldn't have, but the amount of money he was willing to pay was too much to pass up. And truthfully, the mood he seemed to be in, I didn't want to risk what might happen if I had refused him." Giro sheepishly answered with guilt.
Kakashi exhaled a heavy sigh, before he patted Giro on the shoulder and let the man know everything was alright, before he then asked.
"Do you any idea where he might have gone?"
"I don't know for sure, but I overheard him mumble something about going somewhere that no one in their right mind would go to bother him. When I saw him leave, it appeared he was heading north."
Kakashi bid Giro a good evening and left the bar, before turning his attention to the north and thinking to himself.
'North, why would Naruto go north? What's north that no one in their right mind would go to?'
Suddenly Kakashi's lone visible eye grew wide in realization and he exclaimed to himself.
"Training ground 44, The Forest of Death!"
At that moment, both Kurenai and Hinata landed beside Kakashi.
"I'm sorry Kashi-kun; we were going stir-crazy waiting for you to return with Naruto. I don't see him, does that mean you haven't found him yet."
"Hai, but I have a strong suspicion where he might be. Hinata, can you use your Byakugan and scan Training ground 44 for me."
"Th-the Forest of Death, where we had our first Chunin exam."
Kakashi nodded his head to the young Hyuga girl, who activated her famous kekkei genkai and turned her attention towards the north. After a minute, Hinata eyes flared wide for a moment, before she closed them and deactivated her Byakugan and remarked.
"Naru-kun is there, I've spotted his chakra signature."
"Well let's go get him, we'll follow you Hinata." Kakashi declared, before all three shinobi leapt away heading towards the Forest of Death.
As Kakashi and Kurenai were following Hinata, the silver-haired Jounin turned to his fiancé and asked in curiosity.
"Since you and Hinata are here, who is watching Minato?"
"Kiba and Ayame had dropped by to pay a visit and were kind enough to stay and watch over him, until we returned."
"That was fortunate."
"Indeed it was, because I don't know how much longer I could have kept Hinata at the house. She's terribly worried about Naruto, but I didn't want her storming out on her own to look for him in her current state of mind."
Kakashi nodded his head in agreement, before he noticed a very faint almost undetectable chakra signature following them from a discreet distance. Had Kakashi not been an elite shinobi, he probably never would have even perceived the chakra. However, even the though the chakra signature was practically invisible, he recognized this chakra well enough to identify it and knew it posed no threat to them.
A short time later, the trio of shinobi arrived at one of the gates of the Forest of Death and entered the infamous training ground. They quickly made their way into forest following Hinata until a mile in they had finally reached their destination. There under branches of a massive tree was Naruto sitting on the ground and leaning against its large trunk asleep. One could easily tell what had put Naruto to sleep, by all of the empty bottles of sake strewn around him. Kakashi walked over to Naruto and gently nudged his shoulder to try and awaken the young man. When that didn't work, Kakashi nudged Naruto a bit more vigorously and finally Naruto opened his bleary eyes and slurred out.
"Ka-Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here (hic)…..?"
"I came here to find you."
"Well now you did, so go away." Naruto replied, before closing his eyes again.
"Naruto, I didn't come here alone."
Naruto opened his eyes again and squinted, before he finally caught sight of Kurenai and Hinata and he slurred once more.
"Kur-Kurenai-sensei and Hina-chan, you're here to (hic)."
"Yes Naruto, we're here to. We were worried about you." Kurenai answered, while Hinata looked on sadly.
"All of us were worried about you Naruto." Kakashi added.
"Th-that's nice, (hic), but you don't have to worry about me. In fact, (hic) while I've been sitting here, (hic) I've had a chance to think and a little while ago, (hic) I had an epuffnay."
"Epuffany?" Kurenai openly questioned in confusion.
"I think he means an epiphany." Kakashi answered.
"Yeah, yeah, and epuff…..an epup…..episs…what you said (hic)." Naruto declared, before grabbing an empty bottle of sake to check and see if there was any of it left.
"So what was your epiphany?"
"Well Kaka-sensei (hic) it's a pretty amazing one (hic)…..believe it."
"So what was it?"
"I, I just realized that I've been a fool these past few weeks (hic). All those damn villagers who have been kissing my ass and praising me (hic), thinking that their adoration of me means something."
"You mean it doesn't?" Kurenai asked.
"Naw it doesn't, it's all just a bunch of crap. I thought it did (hic) and I've been eating up like a dog at a food bowl. But now I know I was a dumbass in believing that their approval of me had anything to do with what I've done and not because I'm the Fourth's son (hic). I let those hypocritical bastards fill my head thinking I was someone special, (hic) when the truth is I'm nothing at all."
Naruto exhaled a labored sigh, before he continued on.
"I know now that when the villagers ignored and rejected me growing up (hic) they were right. Even my own grandparents rejected me and were too ashamed to claim me and I understand why. I'm the loser everyone considered me to be (hic) I mean how could I be anything else. Pervy-Sage and Baa-chan couldn't even stand to be in the same village with me and were embarrassed and humiliated knowing I was their grand-kid. They probably hated the very sight of me and that's why they left me all alone and when they did come back never told me about them. I mean can you blame them?"
"Oh Naru-kun." Hinata exclaimed in great sadness.
Naruto heard his fiancé and announced.
"Wh-which brings me to you Hina-chan."
Everyone froze upon hearing this, as Naruto continued on without slurring once belying the significance he felt of what he was saying.
"Hinata-chan….Kami you're so pretty, I mean there are times I look at you and it literally takes my breath away how beautiful you are. But that's not the only amazing thing about you. You're also kind, considerate, polite, smart, classy, and probably a million other things I can't think of right now to describe how awesome you are. You're everything that I'm not and I want to know why?"
"Wh-why what Naru-kun?" Hinata asked in confusion.
"Why do you want me? You could have any guy you wanted, but you chose me and I don't understand why? I've been trying to figure it out all night long, but I can't. Like I said, you're everything that I'm not and you deserve to be with someone who isn't such a baka loser that even his own grandparents didn't want like meeeeeee..."
Naruto's final word drifted off in the air, as he slid sideways from the tree and slumped to the forest floor in a heap unconscious.
"Oh Naru-kun." Hinata exclaimed with sorrow, as she knelt down and cradled his head onto her lap and gently stroked his hair, before she softly declared to him.
"You're wrong Naru-kun, you are all those things you described about me and many more. If I'm as amazing as you say, it's only because I have you in my life. You're not a baka or a loser, but the greatest person I know and I consider myself the luckiest girl in the world to be with you. Because I never viewed it as me choosing you, but you choosing me. I love you Naru-kun and for me there is no one else, not now, not ever that I want to be with other than you."
Both Kakashi and Kurenai watched the tender scene playing out before them, before Kakashi went through a series of hand-signs and a moment later a kage-bushin appeared and the silver-haired Jounin ordered his shadow-clone.
"Help Hinata get Naruto back home safely."
The shadow clone nodded before he bent down and hoisted Naruto over his shoulder, before he and Hinata leapt away. Kurenai was about to follow, as she turned to her fiancé and said.
"Let's get going."
"You go ahead Kure-chan, there's something I need to check on first. I'll be home shortly."
Kurenai looked at Kakashi with puzzlement, before he flashed her his patented eye-smile, silently assuring her that everything was alright. The red-eyed Jounin nodded her head in understanding, before she to leapt away to catch up with Hinata and Naruto. A few moments passed after Kurenai had left, before Kakashi called out.
"I take it you heard everything?"
"When did you know I was here?" Jiraiya said, as he appeared out of thin air a few feet behind Kakashi.
"I picked up of your chakra signature, faint as it was following us."
"I'm impressed Kakashi, usually when I reduce my chakra signature in combination with my Toton no Jutsu (Transparency technique), I'm virtually undetectable by most shinobi. You're skills really have grown quite a lot these past few years."
"Yes, well training with you and Naruto does seem to have advanced my skills, but that's not the issue right now. You still haven't answered my question yet."
Jiraiya heaved a sigh of resignation, before he finally spoke in a defeated tone of voice.
"Yes, I heard everything."
"And?" Kakashi questioned.
"And what? The kid's wrong, you know that. Tsunade and I didn't abandon him because we were ashamed of him or hated him." Jiraiya defensively replied
"But the two of you did abandon him." Kakashi pointed out.
"Damn it, yes we did, I know that!" Jiraiya lashed out angrily, before he took a moment to try and calm himself. After a minute, the Toad-Sannin spoke once more in a subdued and regretful tone of voice.
"I know we abandoned him and if Tsunade and I could go back in time now to prevent us from doing that we would. All I can say is when Naruto was born; the two of us were dealing with our own demons about many things. It's not an excuse, but because of those demons, we both made the worst decisions of our lives, and now were both paying for that mistake, he hates us, just as we feared he would upon learning the truth."
"I can't say that Naruto doesn't feel extremely hurt and betrayed by the two of you right now. All you and Lady Tsunade can hope and maybe even pray to Kami for is to trust that eventually Naruto will find it in his heart to forgive you both in time." Kakashi declared in a somber tone of voice.
"I hope so Kakashi, not for my sake as much, but for Tsunade's sake. I came from the hospital, before I picked up on yours, Hinata's, and Kurenai's chakra signature heading this way."
"Is Lady Tsunade alright?"
"She needs to undergo some skin grafts on her hand because of the chakra burns she received, but thankfully thanks to Shizune and Hinata, they were able to save her hand. However, psychologically and emotionally…..I, I just don't know."
Jiraiya exhaled a tired sigh, before he continued on.
"When I left her, she was heavily sedated, but that didn't seem to give her any peace, and her very dreams seemed to be tormenting her, as I could hear her softly beg for Naruto not to hate her over and over again."
"I don't know what to say Master-Jiraiya."
"There's nothing to say, it is what it is. That's why I hope you're right and that Naruto will find it in his heart someday to forgive us. I know the kid's ability to forgive is one of his greatest traits that sets him apart from anyone else. But I also fear that by Tsunade and I keeping the truth from him for as long as we did. We might have pushed him past even his capacity to forgive."
The atmosphere around the Namikaze/Hatake household was indeed somber the next morning, as an uneasy silence permeated the home. Only Minato's boundless youthful energy broke up themelancholic mood, which the young boy was blissfully unaware of in the adults around him. As Kakashi and Kurenai took their son to the academy that morning, Naruto and Hinata decided to go out and do some shopping. While they were walking through the village and shopping, the young couple ran into their friend Kiba. The Inuzuka heir informed Naruto and Hinata that he along with several other members of the Konoha 10 were meeting this afternoon to train and have some friendly spars and invited the two of them to join them.
Naruto seemed hesitant to accept the invitation, but Hinata thought it would be good for him to get together with his friends. She hoped it would help take his mind off of what he had learned about Jiraiya and Tsunade, if only for a little while at least. Reluctantly, with Hinata's gentle prodding he agreed to come and Kiba informed them of the time and where they were meeting.
A few hours later, Naruto and Hinata arrived at the training field and looked about to see who was there. They quickly spied Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Rock Lee, Shino, and Kiba with Akamaru. Naruto noted that once again Sakura was not around. He had seen very little of his former teammate since he had returned. Naruto knew she must be making a concerted effort to avoid him, but he wasn't angry at her about it. He thought Sakura must be feeling nervous and apprehensive to speak with him and truth be told he felt the same way about her. However, Naruto knew this silence and distance from each other they both were doing couldn't continue forever. They would have to address their relationship to one another soon, but not today Naruto thought to himself, as he already had a plethora of things he was dealing with right now.
As Hinata and Naruto walked towards Shikamaru, Temari, they were greeted warmly by the former Suna princess.
"Naruto, Hinata, I'm so glad you came! We haven't seen the two of you since our wedding. Thank you both again for being a bridesmaid for me and best man for Shika-kun at the ceremony."
"Thank you Temari, it was both our honor and pleasure to do at your wedding." Hinata politely and sincerely replied, before asking.
"Perhaps both you and Shikamaru could reprise those roles for my own wedding to Naru-kun?"
"We'd love to that, wouldn't we Shika-kun."
Shikamaru who wasn't paying attention to the conversation was squinting, as he gazed into the sky and grumbled.
"Troublesome."
This response instantly ignited the fiery temper of his wife, who smacked his shoulder rather sharply and scolded her husband.
"How dare you say that about Hinata's wedding!"
"Owww,….. huh,….. what are talking about?" Shikamaru groused in confusion, as he rubbed his shoulder.
"I'm talking about you being a jerk and insulting Hinata with your comment of troublesome, when she asked us to be a part of their wedding!"
"Damn it woman, I wasn't saying troublesome about that, of course we'd be happy to do that. I was saying troublesome because there's not a single cloud in the sky for me to look at and because it's so damn hot today!" Shikamaru declared in aggravation, as he wiped some sweat from his brow.
"Same old Shikamaru, complaining about the heat as usual." Ino commented in amusement, as she along with Rock Lee, Shino, Kiba, and Akamaru approached the quartet of shinobi.
"You should not complain about the heat, as it helps to stoke the flames of youth that burn within us all Shikamaru!" Lee proclaimed with zeal.
Everyone looked at their green-clad comrade in puzzlement, before they turned their attention to Naruto who stated that he and Hinata had an announcement to make to them. The young Hyuga girl was nervously of poking her two index fingers together, before a gentle nudge from Naruto got her to stop and Hinata exhaled a deep breath before stammering.
"We, we just wanted to tell you that I learned a couple of days ago that I'm, I'm…pregnant."
It took a few seconds, for this information to be processed by everyone, before a throng of cheers erupted from all of them.
All of Naruto and Hinata's friends began to congratulate and give their best accolades and wishes to young couple for the momentous blessing in their lives. After a few minutes, the kudos, laurels, and hugs Naruto and especially Hinata were receiving began to die down is when Shikamaru jovially declared in amusement.
"Damn Naruto, getting married is stressful enough, but now you've got a kid on the way. Better you than me is all I can say, as having a kid this soon would be so troublesome if it were happening to me."
Before Naruto could reply or Shikamaru could elaborate any further. A few feet away Temari suddenly let loose a high-pitched squeal of delight, as she hugged Hinata fiercely and said.
"Oh Hinata, I'm so happy for you and for me as well. I was afraid I was going to have to go through my pregnancy by myself. Now we can help each other out during it. Tell me, how far along are you?"
"Wait...huh...what?" Shikamaru stammered in confusion, as his face suddenly took on an ashen color in appearance.
"I'm about four weeks pregnant." Hinata answered.
"Oh that's perfect; I'm about five weeks along." Temari happily replied.
Shikamaru could only look back and forth between his wife and Hinata in fear and panic, as they spoke about their pregnancies.
"So how did Shikamaru take it when you told him you were pregnant?" Hinata asked in curiosity.
"Well, see for yourself, I hadn't told him yet." Temari said, as she turned her head to where Shikamaru had been standing and began to say.
"I'm sorry to spring the news on you this way Shika-kun. I was going to tell you tonight, but when I heard about Hinata I couldn..."
Temari suddenly stopped mid-sentence and grit her teeth in anger, as her husband was no longer standing, but was now curled up in a fetal position on the ground with his arms wrapped around himself shivering and muttering in a stammer. As the full magnitude of what he had just learned hit him like a ton of bricks.
"C-cold,...wh-why is it so cold?"
Temari suddenly reached down and possessing frightening strength gripped both of Shikamaru's shoulders and lifted him up, before she began to thrash the young man about like a rag-doll, as she shouted with fury.
"You damn cowardly slacker, I doubt Naruto acted this way when he found out he was going to become a father!"
"O, O, O, Only...be, be, be, because...he, he, he, he...does, does, does, doesn't...un, un, un un, understand...how, how, how...troub, troub, troub, troublesome...be, be, be, being...a, a ,a, a...par, par, par, par, parent...is, is, is, is...go, go, go, going...to, to, to, to...be, be, be, be!" The young shinobi stammered out under the violent shaking he was receiving.
Everyone else discreetly moved away from Temari and Shikamaru and let the two newlyweds continue to have their...discussion about becoming parents.
"When is Shikamaru going to learn that he can't just shoot his mouth off anymore, not when your wife is as volatile as Temari. Ino commented in amusement, as she watched her teammate seemingly get the life shaken out of him by his wife.
Ino then turned her attention back to Hinata and Naruto and proclaimed.
"You know, I can't wait to see how adorable your kid is going to be considering how hot the both of you are."
"I agree, I predict your son or daughter's flames of youth will burn very brightly, both in appearance and in achievement in their lives!" Lee declared with zeal.
Both Naruto and Hinata smiled brightly at their friends proclamation, before Ino then asked.
"Hey Lee, how come Sakura isn't here?"
Lee eyes shot a quick and nervous glance towards Naruto, before he answered.
"My cherry-blossom is at the hospital helping Shizune-san with some of the injuries Lady Tsunade received after her spar with Naruto yesterday."
At the mention of Tsunade's name, the smile that was adorning Naruto's face disappeared and now a small scowl appeared. It was then that Kiba jokingly remarked in amusement.
"Damn Naruto, how badly did you jack-up the old lady yesterday?"
"Kiba's right, I know the word around the village is that Lady Tsunade and Master-Jiraiya were testing your strength to be the next Hokage. But don't you think you went a little overboard putting her in the hospital." Ino said in admonishment to Naruto.
Naruto shot a glare towards the Yamanaka heiress, which caused her to shrink back a bit, before he replied in an icy tone of voice.
"She's still breathing isn't she."
Naruto's statement and the tone in which it was delivered caused all of his friends to give pause and gaze at him with a little apprehension. Naruto saw the uneasy looks he was receiving from everyone and exhaled a sigh and rubbed his forehead before saying in a despondent voice.
"I'm sorry guy's, I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment. I know you wanted to do some training and sparring together, but I think I'm going to go over to the next field and train on my own for a while."
Naruto then turned around and walked away disappearing through a grove of trees that separated one training field from another. Kiba was about to call out to him, before he felt Hinata grip his arm and shake her head at him.
"Hinata, what's going on with Naruto, he seems so bummed-out? He's not acting like Shikamaru is about having a kid?"
"No Ino, Naru-kun is very happy about becoming a father. It's just as he said, he's got a lot on his mind right now." Hinata answered in a forlorn voice.
"Like what?" Kiba asked in curiosity.
"Like none of your business!" Kakashi brusquely declared, as he suddenly appeared in a swirl of leaves.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Hinata exclaimed in surprise.
"Hello Hinata, I just thought I would come by and see how our boy is doing?" Kakashi stated, while waving and flashing his patented eye-smile at her.
"He, he's still a bit down, but I think he will be alright." Hinata softly stammered, before thinking to herself with concern.
'At least I hope he'll be alright.'
"Hinata, is something wrong with Naruto?" Ino questioned.
However, before the Hyuga girl could answer her friend, a spine-chilling barbaric roar of a battle-cry from several voices erupted from the neighboring training field Naruto had gone to.
"What in Kami's name was that?" Temari asked in alarm, as she and Shikamaru had joined the others.
Hinata didn't bother to respond and immediately took off running towards the training field Naruto was at. Kakashi quickly followed and raced behind her. Shikamaru, Temari, Ino, Rock Lee, Shino, and Kiba with Akamaru looked around at one another with confusion, before they all followed suit and sprinted after Hinata. Upon entering the grove of trees, they all came upon Hinata and Kakashi standing at the far edge looking out upon the training field Naruto was at. And what Hinata and Kakashi were observing was chilling when they all saw it.
In the training field off in the distance, everyone saw that Naruto engaged in bloody hand-to-hand combat with 50 shadow-clones he had created. Naruto and all of the clones were armed with a kunai in each hand and everyone watching could hardly believe how brutal and ferocious the fighting that was taking place. The battle taking place was so savage, that it almost seemed animalistic in nature.
Everyone looked on in shock and awe, as Naruto fought like a man possessed. Everybody also gasped and visibly winced when they saw their friend take a vicious slash or stab wound from one of the clones, before it was destroyed by Naruto. Granted, the injuries were already in the process of healing thanks to the Kyuubi chakra Naruto held, but that chakra didn't negate the agonizing pain he must have felt when he received those wounds.
"I've never seen anything like this, is this some sort of training?" Temari openly asked, in confusion.
"In a way, yes it is. It's a training regiment Naruto developed during our travels that he would employ usually to try and alleviate any anger or stress he was feeling. Naruto's the only one who can utilize this type of training because of the healing properties he has." Kakashi solemnly answered.
"It's so violent, how could Naruto think of such a thing?" Ino remarked with appall.
"He thought of it because of an attack technique I told him about a long time ago." Kiba replied in a guilt laden voice.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I'm guessing Naruto came up with the basis of this training from an Inuzuka clan attack technique we call The Frenzy."
"I've never heard of such an attack technique from your clan." Shikamaru commented to his friend.
"The Inuzuka don't like to talk about that technique, I only told Naruto about it after he used his clones to kick my ass during the Chunin exams. I was pissed off at losing to him and told Naruto if I had used that technique I could have beaten him and his clones."
"What is about the attack you don't like?" Ino asked in curiosity.
Because the technique is nothing more than a suicide attack! It's used as a last resort, when a person is facing multiple enemies at the same time. The last person to use that shameful attack technique was in the Third Great Shinobi war was my…father. Kiba angrily spat in disgust.
"It's not a shameful attack technique Kiba, but an honorable one."
"That's bullshit Kakashi-sensei! Where's the honor in choosing to throw away your life, leaving behind a widow who to this day still cries about it and a son who never got the chance to know or even grow up with his father!" Kiba shouted with pain and fury at the one-eyed Jounin.
"Do you know why your father died Kiba?"
"Yeah, I just told you, he used that damnable technique!"
"No, that's how he died; I asked you do you know why he died?"
Kiba looked at Kakashi with confusion, before the veteran shinobi continued on.
"My sensei, the Fourth Hokage considered your father one of the bravest and most honorable men he had ever met."
"Well he wasn't, he was a coward or he wouldn't have used that technique."
"You're wrong Kiba and I'm going to tell you a story about honor and bravery that Minato-sensei tried to impress upon his Genin squad students." Kakashi declared, before he exhaled a deep breath and said.
"It was during the Third Great Shinobi war and the Fourth Hokage was leading a reconnaissance mission of which your father was a part of into the Lightening Country. Of course Minato-sensei wasn't the Fourth Hokage yet, but he was so highly regarded by his peers, that all shinobi wanted to be a part of his squad during the war. So literally the best of the best of the Leaf was assigned to Minato-sensei's team. And your father was one of those shinobi Kiba."
"I, I never knew that." Kiba quietly remarked.
Kakashi nodded to the young man, before he continued on.
"As I was saying Minato-sensei's squad was on a reconnaissance mission a few miles into the Lightening Country when they were ambushed by a platoon of Kumogakure shinobi. Minato's squad consisted of eight men in total, while the Kumo platoon had over 30 ninja. Still, as I said Minato-sensei's squad was the best of the best and they were able to defeat the platoon, but at a heavy cost. Three squad members had been killed and four others were wounded including your father. Even Minato-sensei had been injured during the fight."
Kakashi exhaled another deep breath and spoke once more.
"However, before the squad could regroup and attempt to retreat back to the Fire Country. An entire Kumo Division consisting of about 100-150 shinobi crested the hill about a mile from their position and raced towards them. Now Minato-sensei had the Hiraishin no jutsu and could transport some of them away to escape, but even that jutsu had its limits. Due to his own wound and diminished chakra, Minato-sensei would only be able to transport himself and three others to safety. Now of the remaining members of Minato's squad, three were seriously wounded and in need of medical attention."
"Only your father and Minato-sensei could still fight, but even if they did it would prove meaningless. The size of the enemy force they would be facing was too great and ultimately they all would be killed. So your father, much to Minato's strenuous objections volunteered to hold off the oncoming enemy as long as he could using the Inuzuka Frenzy technique to allow Minato-sensei to escape with his wounded comrades. Reluctantly, Minato-sensei agreed and spirited himself and the three remaining members of his squad away, but not before promising to return as quickly as he could for your father. Alas, both Minato and your father knew he wouldn't be able to return in time to save him. When Minato did return a few hours later, he stunned at the carnage and saw that your father had managed to kill over 50 Kumo shinobi."
Kakashi then put his hand on Kiba's shoulder to comfort the young man, as he stated.
"The sacrifice your father made saved the lives of his comrades and by using that technique had bought Minato and the others the time they needed to escape. So there is nothing shameful or cowardly about that technique or your father. You're correct it is a last resort technique, but if it's used to save the lives of others, then that is what makes the technique honorable."
Nobody said anything for a few minutes, before Kiba finally spoke up in a choked voice.
"Th-thank you for telling me this, I, I, never knew any of it."
"Your mother never told you about this?" Kakashi questioned in surprise.
"I was an infant when the Fourth Hokage brought my father's body back to the clan for burial during the war. When I got older, me and my sister used to ask my mother about our father, but it would always bring her to tears. We didn't want to make her sad, so we stopped asking her about him."
"Well, they say time heals all wounds, so maybe you should take the chance and talk to Tsume again. I'm not saying she won't be sad, but perhaps now she'll be able to talk to you about your father. I never had the honor of meeting him when I was younger, but the way Minato-sensei spoke about him, I wish I had. Also, I'm sorry I snapped at you earlier." Kakashi said with sincerity.
"It's alright, you were right, it's none of my business what's bugging Naruto and I will speak to my mother. After what you've just told me, I want to know a lot more about him now." Kiba replied with genuine honesty.
At that moment another fierce shout was heard and everyone turned to see Naruto thrusting a kunai into the chest of the last remaining shadow-clone, before he sank to his knees in exhaustion.
Panting heavily, Naruto gazed at the blood covering his body from the wounds he had received. He could see many of the slashes and lacerations already closing and healing thanks to the Kyuubi's chakra, but he cared little about it. Even the pain he experienced from the battle had done little to replace or quell the anger and pain he still felt from learning that Jiraiya and Tsunade were his grandparents. Naruto had hoped this battle would alleviate the raging torrent of emotions going through his mind, but sadly it had not. As the memories of all the moments he had experienced and shared with the two Sannin in his life came crashing into him like a tidal wave. All Naruto could do was slam his fist onto the ground, before lifting his head to the heavens and screamed with all the pent up rage and anguish he felt at that moment.
"WHY…...!?"
Everyone watching Naruto felt a profound sadness for their friend and though only Hinata and Kakashi knew the reason why the blonde Jinchuuriki shouting to the heavens. They all could hear the unbearable pain he was feeling etched in his cry.
However, unbeknownst to Naruto or anyone else at the training field, there was one other person who had seen everything. As the image of Naruto screaming in torment was shown on the Hokage's crystal ball. Tsunade couldn't hold back the grief-filled sob that escaped her mouth any longer and quickly deactivated the Tomegane no Jutsu (Telescope Technique), before she buried her head into her pillow at the hospital and wept uncontrollably.
Author Note: What a sad ending to this chapter, even I have to admit to shedding a tear when I wrote it. First, I know this chapter took me longer than I would have liked to get posted and I appreciate everyone's patience and not giving up on the story. My main reason aside from life itself is that after being out of work for longer than I care to dwell upon. I recently secured employment again and with a company that shockingly isn't opposed to assigning overtime. Hence, why I've been working 60 hour weeks over the past couple of months. And while the overtime is nice, it leaves me precious little time to do anything else other than eat, sleep, work, and repeat. I don't know how long this schedule is going last, but hopefully it will ease up a bit in the future and I'll be able to spend more time on the computer writing this story.
Well, this was a very emotional, angst-filled chapter. I know I've said in the past I'm curious to see how everyone will react to a chapter, but on this chapter I'm just downright nervous. I mean so many of you have been clamoring to see Naruto's reaction to the revelation that Jiraiya and Tsunade are in fact his actual grandparents. It caused me some serious writer's block during its creation. Now I know it's impossible to meet every single readers expectations and the best that any author can do is hopefully meet the expectations of the majority of them. So this chapter proved to be one of the most difficult ones for me that I've ever written not only to my satisfaction, but hopefully all of yours as well. I guess I'll find out soon enough if I succeeded in that endeavor from your reviews.
Anyway, all of that aside, I hope everyone did enjoy this chapter and though it wasn't planned, consider it my Halloween gift to you all. I do wish to thank everyone both old and new readers who took the time to review my last chapter. I apologize at not being able to respond to as many of the reviews as I would have liked, as I normally try to do before I post a new chapter. For those of you who did review, you all had a lot to say about it and I'm pleased that this story has such a strong fan base with readers who actually write out well thought-out reviews. Because of that, I enjoy reading many of your reviews, so please leave lots of them, as they do help a writer get a sense of the thoughts and opinions of the fans of a story. They also can help lift the spirits of an author as well. Also, to any readers who are staff members to any C2 communities, please feel free to add my story to your community if you feel it is worthy of it. I won't mind, I swear. I'll even pinkie swear if I need to?
Homage time
I've inserted into this chapter another one of my subtle homage's, which gave me the idea for creating Naruto's Mini Rasengan Bullet Barrage Technique. If you can guess where I got the inspiration to come up with this attack you'll get all cyber-candy you can eat in honor of the holiday. Now this is going to be a tough one for a lot of you, so I will leave a clue. It's from a Japanese original live action TV series, which aired from 1967 to 1968. It was later English-dubbed and developed and aired for American television a few years later. Just name the series I'm speaking of to win the candy and once again, all I ask is please don't leave a review with just your answer, but also say something about the chapter or the story in general.
Now, onto everyone's favorite section Kingkakashi's rants on the manga yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
Surprisingly, I have mostly positive things to say about the following issues of the Naruto manga.
*Warning I do give away some spoilers in my rants, so read at your own risk.
#689 – The chapter starts with Kakashi showing off his new Susanoo in battle against Kaguya. Now Kaguya starts to regain control of the 10-tailed chakra she has and morphs back into her female form as opposed to the amalgamated blob of all the bijuu she had become. She's ready to start kicking-ass again and knows all she has to do is kill either Naruto or Sasuke and then she won't have to worry being sealed away ever again. The rest of the chapter is basically a series of "Rah-Rah" moments of Kakashi rallying Team 7 is back and that this is their last mission to save the world. He formulates a plan and the reformed Team 7 launches an attack to seal Kaguya away and it looks like it's going to succeed ending the chapter. This chapter was alright, but the reformation of Team 7 just didn't move me, as much as it might have other people.
#690 – This chapter begins with shockingly the tri-pronged attack of Team 7 working and Naruto and Sasuke are able to seal Kaguya away, defeating her for good. The bijuu escape from her and Naruto even manages to toss the Black Zetsu into the sealing getting rid of him forever as well. Now their only problem is escaping the dimension they're in and returning to earth. Kishimoto decides to try and add some humor into the chapter, once again taking a knock about Naruto's intelligence. Needless to say, it wasn't funny at all. The chapter ends with the Sage of the Six Paths and all the Edo-Tensei revived Kages and the ancient Gokages bringing Naruto and the others back and thank them for saving the world. This chapter was ok, but all it was basically the first 10 minutes after Kaguya was defeated, that's it.
#691 – Well this chapter is just more of thanks being handed out by everyone and then you get this one last conversation between Kakashi and Obito and for some reason Kishimoto decides that at the end Kakashi loses his Sharingan powers once and for all. It was totally unnecessary and pointless to do that in my opinion. The rest of the chapter is straight out of a Dr. Phil episode with Hashirama and Madara talking and resolving their issues before they die. And then Naruto and Minato have one final conversation before he passes on ending the chapter. Once again, an ok chapter, but this chapter really starts to drive the point home that Naruto is coming to a close, which sucks!
#692 – This chapter starts with all the Edo-Tensei revived Kages crumbling away and going back to the afterlife. All the bijuu discussing what they're going to do now that they're free again in the world. And the Sage of the Six Paths explaining that all Naruto and Sasuke have to do to dispel the Infinite Tsukyomi the world is still under is to combine their seals and that will end it. However, Sasuke decides he wants to kill the five living Kages still trapped in the Infinite Tsukyomi and he traps all of the tailed-beasts sealing them away using his Rinnegan. Yes, Sasuke has betrayed everyone because he wants to bring about to the world…..revolution. The Sage of the Six Paths tells Naruto he's the one who has to stop Sasuke and that he can't help anymore. Kakashi can't believe Sasuke is doing this and all Sakura can do revert to #1 fan-girl mode and say "Sasuke-kun." The chapter ends with Naruto and Sasuke about to square off for their final battle. A good chapter, as it's the prelude to the ultimate showdown.
#693 – This chapter starts off with Sasuke stating he's going to reshape the world as he sees fit and the only person left to stop him is Naruto, who Sasuke promises he's going to kill. Naruto of course says that isn't going to happen and the two square off. Sasuke decides he wants to take his fight with Naruto elsewhere. I'm sure you can guess where that will be. Kakashi tries to stop Sasuke but is too weakened and falls to the ground. As for Sakura…..oh boy here we go!
Sakura gazes at Sasuke's back forlornly and then in typical Sasuke's #1 fan-girl fashion goes into this weepy plea to him of how she can't believe he turned out this way but that she still loved him and if she has even just a little place in his heart for her, she begs him not to go. Pleading that they could go back to the old days when they were together. (When was this exactly except in Sakura's delusional fantasy she's had her entire life?) Sasuke's response is to tell her she's an annoyance and then the next shot is Sasuke thrusting his hand into her chest. Now for a brief moment, you might think he's killed her, unfortunately that isn't the case. Turns out Sasuke put her under a genjutsu and that's what she saw and felt.
Naruto's hacked off at Sasuke for doing that to her and Kakashi admonishes him as well. However, Sasuke explains to both of them that it's better off this way as Sakura would only interfere in their battle. Kakashi goes into this diatribe about Sakura's love for Sasuke to him, but Sasuke could care less. Sasuke leaves and then we get Naruto declaring he's going to keep that idiotic promise he made to Sakura all those years ago and follows Sasuke. The rest of the chapter is the Sage of the Six Paths Hagoromo and Kakashi having a philosophical discussion about "love" and what it can do to people. The chapter ends with Naruto and Sasuke arriving at you guessed it the Valley of the End for their final climatic battle. This chapter was pretty good as I was wrong about chapter 692 being the prelude of the big fight. This chapter is the prelude without a doubt.
I've decided to stop my manga rants here, as I want all my rants regarding the Naruto vs Sasuke showdown to be in one place. So look for them in chapter 70, hopefully coming soon.
Yes, I'm still thoroughly disgusted that Kishimoto hasn't done anything yet with Hinata's confession to Naruto now reaching 256 freaking issues!
Now I'd like to give a shout out to a couple of stories of quality work that I recommend. I urge all of you to check-out these fine works when you have the time.
Recommendations:
"Ninjutsu in the Bedroom" by Armageddon Angel: As you could guess from the title this is a one-shot which revolves around the bedroom antics of several couples within the Naruto universe. The story isn't graphic at all and merely takes a frank, nonjudgmental look at the sex lives of Naruto and Hinata and the sex lives of other Naruto characters, but in a very humorous way. So if you're looking for something different to read that might provide a laugh for you, then this is a story you should check out.
"The Shy Fox" by DelicateButterflies15: This is a short one shot involving Naruto and Hinata in which the author has reversed their personalities. In other words Naruto is shy and timid and Hinata is loud and boisterous. However, the author does a good job in bringing them together as a romantic pairing. My only minor complaint about the story is I wish the author would write a follow up chapter to give the story a bit better closure.
Now please be kind and leave precious valuable reviews on these stories.
As always, if anyone wants to discuss my story in greater detail, just shoot me a PM. I enjoy talking about the story with any readers who really have an interest in it. I'll try to respond back to you as quickly as I can.
Take it easy and be good!
Kingkakashi
School Time:
Imperceptible
Definition: Impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses: Eextremely slight, gradual, or subtle.
Etymology: Medieval Latin to Middle French to Middle English 1520-1530a.d.
Part of Speech: Adjective