Naruto: Archer and Loner
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach.
Chapter 2: The Truth
A beam of sunlight filtered in through the blinds of the hospital window hitting the face of Naruto waking him up. "Ugh! I hate the sun. Always waking me up when I don't want it to," Naruto grumbled loudly. He rubbed his eyes, trying to fully wake up. Then the events of the previous day hit him. His eyes widened and an odd look came across his face, it was a mixture of anger and excitement. He wondered how long he'd have to wait for the Hokage to come and tell him what he promised. 'I hope it won't be long. I'm excited to learn about my mother, yet angry at Jiji for what he's done. What has he been hiding from me. When will I learn the truth,' Naruto thought to himself.
Knock, knock. Naruto heard the sound from the door. Pulling him from his thoughts, he says, "Come in." He sees the Hokage enter along with a Fox masked Anbu.
"Good morning, Naruto. I hope you had a good night's rest. I hope you thought over what I said yesterday," the Hokage says, sitting down in the chair by the bed. The anbu leaned up against the wall, alert but relaxed.
"Yes, I've thought over what you said and I've decided to follow this path wherever it leads me. I won't fail or give up, Jiji," Naruto says, conviction clearly shining in his eyes.
"Very well, Naruto. First I must introduce you to someone who will be able to help you in your training. He will be training you in both the ninja arts and teaching you what he knows of Quincy's," the Hokage says, motioning over to the anbu. "This is Kiski. He, like you is an orphan. He was trained by your mother and her family. His training was for you. To protect you and guide you if your Quincy powers manifested."
The anbu stepped forward, removing his mask. He stood at 5'9, with piercing blue eyes and long brown hair. He wasn't overly muscled, but you could tell by looking at him he packed a punch. He looked to be in his 30's or perhaps even younger.
"Hello, Naruto-sama. I am Kiski Uzumaki. My Uzumaki name was given to me by your mother. If you are wondering why I didn't raise you, it is because of your mother and partially because of the civilian council. Your mother forbid me to ever contact you until your Quincy powers awoke. The council barred me from ever coming near you," Kiski says solemnly, his head bowed toward Naruto.
"Wha-," Naruto stutters. "You knew my mother? Who was she? Did she love me? Why didn't you try harder to take care of me," Naruto asks.
"Naruto," the Hokage says, getting up from his seat and getting down on his knees bowing to Naruto "there is a lot to tell you today. Don't blame Kiski for what happened to you growing up. That blame lies solely at my feet. I failed you, my boy. I failed to protect you when I should've."
Naruto's eyes widen in shock at seeing the Hokage, The Professor, bowing to him on his knees. Naruto knew what this meant. It meant the Hokage was ashamed by his actions and was begging for forgiveness.
"Jiji, get up please," Naruto says. "I forgive you Jiji. I know you did your best. I know that you couldn't be there all the time. You are Hokage. You have a village to worry about. You can't be expected to watch one person constantly. Kiski, I will wait until I hear your side of the story before I say anything. Just stop with the sama stuff. I am not older than you, nor am I more powerful than you."
The Hokage gets up from his position on the floor, smiling at Naruto at his words. "Very well, Naruto. Since I now know you are mature enough to forgive an old man, I'll start telling you the truth. Be mindful that I can not tell you the full truth. There are still some things that I must keep from you for your protection and the protection of the village as a whole," Sarutobi says while sitting back in the chair.
"I understand Hokage-jiji," Naruto calmly replies.
"First off, everything I am about to tell you must remain a secret. You can't tell anyone because if it got out, there could be some serious repercussions. Now, about your mother. Her name was Kushina Uzumaki. She came to this village when she was only 5 years old. Kiski traveled with her. The reason your mother came to this village was at the request of the Shodi Hokage's wife, Mito Uzumaki-Senju. Mito was coming to the end of her life and she needed an Uzumaki for a specific purpose. She needed to transfer the Nine-Tailed demon fox into your mother," Sarutobi stated.
Naruto looked up in shock, eyes wide in disbelief. "Wha- what do you mean, Jiji," Naruto asks.
"The truth is Naruto, Mito Uzumaki sealed the Nine-tailed demon fox into her when her husband, Hashirama Senju and Madra Uchia fought at the Valley of the End. Madra was trying to use the Nine-Tailed demon fox to fight Hashirama and Mito was a sealing genius. She sealed the Nine-Tailed fox into herself to protect her husband and everyone else from Madra," Sarutobi stated. "Mito became the first jinchuriki of the fox. Jinchuriki means 'The power of human sacrifice.' It is the term we use to describe anyone who has a Biju, or tailed beast, sealed into them. Mito needed an Uzumaki to seal the Nine-Tailed fox into because only a Uzumaki can keep the demon at bay."
"Do you understand so far, Naruto," Kiski asks, concern showing in his voice.
"I think so, Jiji, Kiski," Naruto replies. "The Shodi's wife sealed a demon into herself to protect everyone from Madra. I may not be smart, but I have heard of him and what he did to people. He would've used the fox to destroy everything around him. What I don't understand is what you mean by that only an Uzumaki can hold the demon at bay."
"Uzumaki's have very large chakra reserves and live for a very long time, Naruto," Kiski answers. "Mito Uzumaki was actually over 100 years old when she died after sealing the fox into your mother."
Hearing this, Naruto was in awe. "Were they human after the fox got sealed into them," Naruto asks.
"Yes, they were human," Kiski replies. He pulled a scroll out of one of his pouches and a kunai from another. He opened the scroll and wrote something on it. Placing the kunai on the writing, he then pressed down and muttered 'seal.' The kunai disappeared in a plume of smoke. Rolling up the scroll and showing it to Naruto, he asks, "Is this a scroll or is it a kunai?"
"It's a scroll," Naruto replies.
"There is your answer then. They were not the fox. They were the scroll that held the fox much like that one holds a kunai," Kiski says with a small smile.
"Since you understand, let me continue, Naruto," Sarutobi says. "Mito sealed the fox into your mother and gave her some advice. The advice was this 'The Kyubi is a being of hatred. In order to counteract that hatred, you must fill yourself with love.' What this meant is that your mother, Kushina, had to find something or someone to love. Weather it was the people around her or someone she chose to spend her life with. She had to fill herself with love to counteract the hatred that was sealed inside her. It took her quite a while to find that love. I remember when she did, her smile could brighten the darkest days."
"Wow. She sounds amazing. Do you have a picture of her," Naruto asks.
Kiski steps forward pulling out a photograph from the pouch on his hip. Handing it over to Naruto, he says, "This was taken a few months before you were born. I have many pictures of your parents, but because your father must remain a mystery for now, this is the only photo I have of your mother by herself."
Naruto takes the picture, nodding at the man in thanks. He looks at the picture and gasps. He sees a beautiful red-headed woman sitting at the base of a tree. A small smile on her face as she looks down at her stomach. Hands resting on it.
"Wow. She's beautiful," Naruto whispers.
"Indeed she was, Naruto. I wish she was here with you. It would make things so much easier. But, we can't dwell on the past. Only learn from it. What I have to say next is hard, Naruto. I don't know where to begin and I don't know how you will take it," Sarutobi says quietly. "I hope you understand my reasoning and are mature enough for the burden you carry. We don't know exactly what happened the night you were born. What we do know is this. When a female jinchuriki gives birth, the seal that holds back a biju weakens because energy is redirected to the growing infant. The Yondaime Hokage was there with your mother to add power to the seal as she gave birth. He was a sealing master, so he was the best person to help your mother out in her time of need. For one reason or another, the Nine-tailed Fox broke free and begun attacking the village. Many brave people lost their lives that night, including your mother and the Yondaime Hokage. The history books all say that the Yondaime Hokage defeated and killed the Kyubi. This is a lie. The Biju cannot be killed. Only sealed."
Naruto's eyes widen a bit at this revelation. "He sealed it in me, didn't he," Naruto asks.
"Yes, Naruto. Out of every person in this village, you were the one chosen by the Yondaime to protect this village every second you live. You were chosen not because of convenience, but because you are an Uzumaki and because your mother was the previous host to the Kyubi. Every second you draw breath, you protect us all. The Yondaime wanted you to be seen as a hero for holding the Kyubi at bay. I tried to honor his wishes and I failed. We both failed you, Naruto. The Yondaime for thinking the villagers would see you as a hero and me for not protecting you better. I passed a law prohibiting anyone from mentioning the Kyubi to children around your age, hoping that you'd be able to have a normal childhood. The penalty is death for anyone who breaks the law, but, I failed even in that. People scorn you and beat you. It is my fault, Naruto. I failed," Sarutobi says, tears freely flowing down his face.
"It is the people of this village who have failed, Jiji," Naruto says. Sarutobi looks at him in awe, seeing a blazing fire behind his piercing blue eyes. "I don't blame you. You tried. That is more than what the majority of this village has done, Jiji."
"Thank you, Naruto. I have told you everything I can for now. From now on, it will be up to you and Kiski where you go from here," Sarutobi says, getting up. He hands Kiski a few scrolls and whispers something in his ear. "Goodbye for now, Naruto. Know that if you ever need me, my door is always open to you," he says as he leaves the room.
"Well, that is a lot to dump on you, Naruto. I know. For now, I want you to rest here for the rest of the day and I'll be back in the morning to take you to your new home," Kiski says.
"Why can't we just go now, Kiski," Naruto asks.
"I need to get things ready for you, Naruto. Plus, I want to take things slow for now. Allow the information you just learned today to seep into your brain. Think over questions you may have for me tomorrow. You must learn that patience is important for a ninja and learning something new too fast can cause more harm than good. Everything will make more sense tomorrow, trust me," Kiski says.
"Ok. I may not like it, but I can tell you know what you're doing," Naruto says. Kiski nods at him and leaves. Naruto looks out the window at the Hokage monument. Looking at the face of the Fourth Hokage, he thinks on what he learned. 'Should I hate you for what you did or should I hate the villagers' Naruto asks himself. 'I guess only time will tell what I choose. I now know why I am hated. I will become stronger to protect myself and others who need protection. That is a promise that I will at least make you, Yondaime.' Naruto turns away from the window and stares off into space. Trying to be patient and think over everything he learned. 'I will show Kiski that I can think for myself and be patient. He is right that if I learned too much at once it could hurt me. I hurt as is from what I learned.'
Naruto looks at the photo of his mother and smiles. 'At least I know who my mother is and that I was loved. You can see it in her eyes.' Naruto carefully places the photo on the bedside table and lies down looking at it. He slowly drifts off to sleep with a small smile on his face.
'So the child knows who his mother is now. He has no idea what he's in store for. I can't wait to see him break when he learns the full truth. And I will be there to see it all and push him over the edge. Hehehehehe.' The voice thinks to itself.
Whew! Chapter 2 done. I originally had planned to start Naruto's training this chapter, but telling the back-story took a bit longer than I had though. Hope you all enjoy this. And before anyone asks, yes the voice is the Kyubi. I have a plan on the direction it is going. I'm just hoping it comes out correctly.