Chapter 3: Birthrights
Legend to text:
"Normal Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Tailed Beast or summon speaking"
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Passing through the gates of his ancestral home Naruto was filled with bittersweet excitement. He was glad that that he was here but at the same time he was a little sad to be leaving it so soon, unsure of when he would return or if it would even be his if he did.
"Naruto, welcome to the Uzumaki Estate, it is considered to be one of the oldest estates within Konoha having been built the just after the village's establishment. It is believed that the First Hokage actually built the entire place himself as a gift to his wife Mito Uzumaki just after their betrothal. It was meant to be a symbol of unity between husband and wife but also between Konoha and Uzushio who's insignia adore our clothes as I am sure you are aware. However, this place was rarely used as Mito preferred to stay with the Senju. It wasn't until the end of the second Shinobi war that this place had its first permanent resident, your mother, who immigrated here in the wake of Uzushio's destruction."
Naruto simply nodded as Hiruzen continued with his monologue of the property's history, he had read about it before and was preoccupied just taking in just how big the property was, from what he'd seen the wilderness alone was just as large or larger than the third training ground. However, nothing could prepare him for the lavish home that sat in the middle of it all. From what he could see on the outside, it was a hilltop compound with several separate structures, all connected by covered pathways and all encased by stone walls that led into a large raised base providing both a clear boundary to the forest and due to its elevation, it also made the property easily defendable. (Describing what is shown in the show actually, look up the scene where Kushina is kidnapped and you will see it for a moment.)
Walking into through the gate they were greeted by an open square courtyard with what they presumed to be the family home in the back. a garden to its right, and guest/extended family lodging to its left. All the buildings looked very traditional with the main home being the largest, being two stories unlike the rest. However, Naruto wasn't here to observe so he created a handful of clones to explore both the garden and guest area while he approached his parent's home. Before going inside however he noticed that Hiruzen was no longer with him and was instead sitting in the courtyard smoking his pipe.
"Naruto, if it's alright with you I will wait out here, I am sure there are things in there that are only meant for you and I do not wish to get in the way of that." He said half truthfully with a small melancholy smile.
Knowing that this was the last time he was going to see him a while Naruto replied with a similar look on his face
"Jiji, before I go inside, I wanted to ask if you could sign this place over to Jiraiya after... you know? I want to keep it safe and the in family until the right time comes.
Hiruzen gave him a knowing glance and silently nodded in agreement as he resumed smoking with Naruto proceeding inside.
Upon entering his parents' home the first thing that Naruto noticed the lack of dust, as a matter of fact everything on the property looked well-kept despite the years of neglect. 'The sealing must have literally put the place in stasis, it's like someone was here yesterday.'
Looking inward, the home had a large foyer with a long corridor straight ahead to the left and stairs to the right of it. Naruto noted the little door in the middle of the stairs that undoubtedly led to the basement, but he would come back to that last, thinking it would be the most interesting place. On the first left was the living room, it was fairly large with several couches and ornate wooden furniture. This room was connected to the dining room which was also connected to a large kitchen with the rooms arranged from front to back (living room in front, dining room in the middle and kitchen in the back). He walked through all three rooms before returning to the foyer using the long hall. The kitchen and dining room were more of the same when compared to the living room with the furniture being nice and ornate, if not a little dated. There was also two bathrooms, but those weren't noteworthy either. However, before proceeding upstairs, Naruto went back into the living room to a table that had caught his eye earlier. It was in the corner and had 3 picture frames on it. He grabbed all three them and then walked over to the couch, placing them each on the coffee table in front of him. The pictures showed Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki in the three stages of their life. The first showed them as kids, close to his age. From what he knew about them they were probably awkward friends at that point not really sure what they were feeling. The second was much more familiar, it showed them as young adults probably in their early twenties, he inferred by their combat gear that this was taken during or just before the Third Great Shinobi War. His father's actions during said conflict were what lead to his rise as the Fourth Hokage and his infamous title as the Yellow Flash. However, the last picture was the hardest for him to look at. It appeared to have been taken a month or so before they died, his mother was full term and his father was wearing the signature robes of the Hokage, looking at their eyes he could tell that they very excited with what the future would bring. Little did they know their future would be cut short and their baby wouldn't find out who they were until much later. It took Naruto sixteen years to learn his true origins and he only knew about it this time because of his past life. Still, he was happy to be able to see his parents in a new light so continuing on that note he decided this was also a good time to read the scroll that Jiji had given him. Unwinding it and then placing placed it on the table, he eyed the large familiar blood seal and so he cut his finger before placing it on the document.
To our only son, Naruto
If you are reading this, it means that well…. Your mother won't get to scold you when you don't make your bed and I won't get to teach you to be the young man that I hope you have become without me. This also means that you have likely assumed your mother's burden and I just want to tell you that your mother and I are very sorry, but know that we wouldn't have done it if we didn't believe you could handle it. Now, as fair as possessions and property we leave everything to you. Until now all of our assets have been placed in a trust but they are now yours to use as you see fit, but please, use them with discretion. Lastly, the seal in the bottom corner of this document contains a few important mementos that we wanted to give to you directly. We know you will do great things for this world; we are sure of it. And even though we can't be there with you, we want you to know that we are still there in your heart. We hope that you live a happy, long, and loving life and when the time comes, we will be waiting to welcome you to the other side.
We love you and wish you the best on your journey
Your parents,
Minato and Kushina Namikaze
As Naruto finished reading, he teared up but he quickly wiped them away. His parents wouldn't want him to cry, they were trying to give him something so with that in mind he focused on releasing the second seal and with a poof of smoke, three objects appeared before him. He recognized them immediately as he glanced back at his family's last photograph. Sitting on the table were his parents wedding rings, one gold, the other silver and both bearing resemblance to the Uzumaki crest with the larger silver one having it framed inside another symbol that he wasn't familiar with. 'Must be my dad's crest family crest.'
Sealing these inside his storage scroll along with his parents last will and testament he then picked up the third object, a necklace that his mother had been wearing. It was a large gold Uzumaki crest about an inch or two in diameter with a large red ruby inlaid into the middle, all dangling from a thick black cord. 'This must be Uzushio, maybe something similar to Baa-chan's old necklace?' He couldn't know for sure, but in the end, that part really didn't matter to him. What did matter is that it was clearly important to his mother so without any more thought, he put it on before getting up to go check out the upstairs.
Reaching the upstairs landing he saw three rooms in front of him and two flanking both his sides. Starting with the left most room, he slid the door open but shut it just as fast, it was an extra bedroom so he wasn't going to waste time on it. Moving on he opened the middle room to reveal the master bedroom. A couple of things caught Naruto's attention immediately, the first thing was one of his father's cloaks hanging on a chair, he grabbed it and then created a clone that he sent to the closet to grab the rest of his father's shinobi clothes and cloaks. He wanted to use some of them as a basis for a new outfit he would have made when he had time to commission it. The second thing that caught his eye was his parents' nightwear sitting neatly on the bed, it made his heart ache as he looked at it.
"They must have laid it out the day of the attack."
Turning away, he decided that he would leave the rest of the room as it was, it was too haunting. As he exited the room, his clone returned from the closet and handed back the scroll before dispelling. This clone told Naruto that in addition to the cloaks, the clone also grabbed several formal Kimonos from his father and also several dresses and kimonos from his mother's side too. He didn't know if he'd ever return and thought that maybe one day, he would give them to Temari, being from a land that no longer existed made them one of a kind. He could already imagine how beautiful she would look in them but quickly stowed those thoughts for later and proceeded to the next room.
Naruto felt another tinge in his heart as looked at the room that would have been his. He wondered what his life would have been like if his parents didn't die. However, there wasn't much in it besides the typical things you would see in a baby's room. There was a large ornate crib on one side and a changing table across from it with a large cabinet for baby clothes, toys, and supplies in between them on the back wall. Like his parent's room he decided to leave this room as it was, a chapter of his life that just wasn't meant to be.
Arriving back in the foyer Naruto then turned his attention to the basement door, the only place left to explore and what he figured would be the most interesting so without delay he opened the door and proceeded down.
When Naruto reached the bottom, he was met by a very large set of twin doors with the Uzumaki Crest in the middle of them, he groaned as he bled himself for what felt like the hundredth time today and placed his bloodied thumb in the middle of the symbol. He could feel the door pulse as he pondered.
"Maybe I can try to invent a seal that can read people's eyes. Ehh, on second thought you can remove a person's eye, but then again you can also take someone's blood. I guess nothing is full proof unless it could constantly identify who was in the space. Might be something to look into one day if I ever come back here."
The large doors swung open and Naruto was impressed as we walked into the large space before him. The basement was probably as large as the house itself, being two stories with the top floor being where the entrance was with a balcony overlooking the bottom with four full bookshelves being spread between them. He noted sealing formula traveled all throughout the bookcases and when he reached the balcony he understood why. Down below, the space opened up into an area that featured a desk/workbench on the left, a scroll where all the formula led to on a table in the right, and in the middle, there was a wall with a large Uzumaki crest carved onto it. As he made his way downstairs, he approached the workbench first, a few things catching his eye. The first was a scroll that had a drawing of his father's kunai above it, he opened it to reveal that it was full of thousands of his father's famous weapon.
"Well at least I found my way out of the village and I don't need to worry about making more, all I need to is practice, well, with clones anyway if can help it. Performing the hirashin for the second time today is certainly going to be interesting, hopefully I can pull it off again."
The next object that caught his eye was a metal fan. It was pretty small, being slightly longer and wider than a kunai but it was peculiar in that it had seals drawn all over it. However, as picked he it up and opened it, it reacted to his chakra, expanding out rapidly becoming a one-handed war fan maybe a quarter the size of Temari's. He pulsed his chakra two more times and the shinobi tool responded in turn, first changing to a full-size fan and then finally back into its closed form for storage. He was impressed, it was no bigger or heavier than a kunai and yet in a moment's notice he could turn into a powerful. He put this one directly into his weapon pouch, Temari would have to like him if he gave her something like this but in the meantime, he would keep it for himself. Without the rasenshuriken he was missing a wide area of effect jutsu and he believed this might fulfill that roll given his knowledge of fan-based wind techniques that he picked up from before.
Satisfied with the tools and equipment he had acquired from the workbench he then turned and made his way to the scroll that had all the formula from the bookcases leading to it. He didn't quite understand how it worked but from what he could see, it contained the collective writings of all the text in the shelves behind him, he was relived as he picked it up and confirmed that it still worked even though he disrupted the formula. He would have to figure out how to reattach it later to add more to it but for now this was fine and a much better solution then having his clones try to seal all of the scrolls manually.
Finally, he arrived at the last noteworthy thing in the basement, the large Uzumaki Insignia, carved into the rock wall in the middle of the room. Why was it here and what was it trying to tell him? As he examined it closely, he noticed that the middle of the symbol was missing. Feeling for his new necklace as if instinctual, he placed it inside the middle of the slot. The necklace pulsed in his hand and the symbol ignited with bright red chakra flowing out from the middle. When the symbol completely lit up, the wall split open to reveal another room.
The secret room was about as big as a bedroom and it was bare save for a pedestal in the middle with a long wooden box resting on it and a sealed scroll on top. Naruto picked up the scroll and opened it.
Naruto,
If you are reading this it means that you have arrived at your mother's estate and that you have found the inner sanctum of your family. This document concerns the secret that we could not mention in our official will. In the box below you will find your true birthright from your mother's side, you must keep it safe and handle it with both responsibility and caution. The sad truth is that Hiruzen will not be around forever and you are in great danger from our enemies, some of which still reside in Konoha and with this gift it will likely make things even worse. It is with these reasons in mind that we ask that you leave Konoha immediately. We are truly sorry, but there is no other way.
Love,
Your father and mother
Minato and Kushina Namikaze
Naruto folded the paper and placed it in his pouch before placing his fingers on the long box in front of him, he was a little shaken up. Even as the Hokage he had never heard anything about his "true birthright" but he knew the dangers that some members of the council posed and while his parents didn't mention the Akatsuki or the other nations he knew that would probably know something about this as well. He then began to wonder if he even should take this gift, sure it was his, but clearly taking whatever was in the box presented its own risks and he already have enough to deal with being a jinchuriki for the 9 tails.
'Dammit, I have to do this, it's my responsibility, they entrusted it to me along with everything else.
He then pushed the lid off of the long box and peered inside.
Looking in, he saw a long narrow object wrapped in a red blanket. It was about four feet long and as he picked it up, he noticed the weight, it was heavier than he expected it to be. He slowly unwound it and was in awe by what he saw, it was a beautiful katana. The sword had a dark reddish scabbard that became black at the end, likely due to wear and age. This led into a warn gold habaki with a dark metal tsuba and a red menuki wrap ending with a matching dark metal kashira. With much anticipation he placed his fingers onto handle and gently pulled, freeing a dark colored bladed with etched patterns of swirls all along its length leading to a mirrors edge. As gazed upon it, he felt a peace descend on his body. It was at this moment that he felt it, a slight chill followed by the muscles in his hand and arm tightening as the blade appeared to glow with a blueish hue before becoming a faint red.
"Naruto, what is that you are holding? I can't see it but I can feel something tugging at my chakra."
"It's a gift from my mother's family, a sword of some kind, I haven't ever seen one that consumes chakra other the Samahada. You know anything about this?"
"I know enough from what I am feeling that it is something that shouldn't be used lightly. Best to come back to it later when we are away from others."
"Your probably right." Naruto said as he started to slide the sword back into its scabbard, preparing to seal it into his scroll for safekeeping. As he did, he noticed the etching by the base of the blade.
'Shūsoku suru uzushio' (Converging Whirlpools)
"Fitting, but for another time. I gotta get out of here and fast.
Arriving back on the main floor of his parents' home Naruto was greeted by a small pile of folded clothes as the memories of the clone he sent out this morning entered his mind. Without delay he began to change; this was a new chapter in his life and he had grown tired of orange and wanted something more subtle. In the end he was wearing an outfit somewhat similar to what his father wore when he was younger, consisting of his mesh armor shirt with navy blue pants and a Gray open zippered jacket that went just past his midthigh. As he looked at reflection in the one of the windows, he stared at the metal headband for a while. He sighed as he took it off and he placed it in his sealing scroll.
"To new beginnings." Naruto said as he concentrated his chakra to try to find a marker outside the village but not so far as to be risky. The greater the distance the more likely he could make a mistake and any mistake made with this jutsu could result in a debilitating injury at best or be fatal at the worst. Luckily, he found a marker about 15 miles outside of Konaha which he could feel clearly so in a flash of light he was gone.
It only took a moment for Hiruzen to notice, so in response, he slowly he got up and exited the property, heading in the direction of the tower. He would raise the alarm once he got there to avoid suspicion but he was willing to give Naruto a head start. As he walked on, he thought about the boy and how much more grown up he seemed but his thoughts were interrupted by a white-haired man who hid his left eye who landed in front of him. He was surprised how fast he had noticed Naruto's absence and even though he knew this man would be the boy's greatest obstacle he felt like it was his right to know. He was the student of the Fourth Hokage and was also personally selected to look after Naruto as his Jounin-Sensei. He smirked as the man leapt off, if Naruto's abilities had progressed as much as his attitude, then Kakashi would be in for a hell of a fight.
A/N: And that's three, yes I know this one is a little shorter and I know it took a while for me to publish it. Another Grad school semester just started so between school and my career I haven't had much time or energy to write. Also, this chapter was originally longer but I ended up splitting since I think it ended at a good point. This also means that chapter 4 is actually not far from being published so be on the lookout for that by the end of this week/weekend. Also, I realize that Naruto getting a sword is a bit different from how his character is typically portrayed but honestly I think weapons and tools as a whole are underutilized in the manga and since Naruto can't really on his overpowered abilities yet (since he is still young) he will need to adapt new ones to supplement them. Lastly, I know some of my descriptions seem exhaustive but in my experience if I can't imagine it then I can't get into it and so I typically like to give pretty detailed descriptions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and you are so inclined leave a review, I do enjoy reading them and they do provide motivation for me to keep doing this.
PS: This is slightly revised per chapter 2 which was also revised. Like I said there, I think this makes a little more sense in the world as Naruto would never really be able to leave Konoha at this point in the story. Anyway, happy reading. Chapter 4 should be out this by the end of this weekend or early of the next one.
BBG out
