Chapter 7 – Truths
The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. The ANBU in the room could feel the anger roll off Naruto. Hiruzen looked back at the book before looking back at Naruto.
"ANBU, leave us and seal the room." Hiruzen ordered. They vanished and sealed the room. The two were now alone. Hiruzen looked at Naruto with a heavy heart. He steeled himself for what was about to happen here. "Naruto, I don't know what I can say that will make you understand my reasons for lying to you."
"What reasons? Look at the book old man, I had a clan. Why couldn't you have told me that?" Naruto shouted.
"You would have shouted it to the roof tops Naruto. I could not let you do that, especially with your clan's history. Members of your clan are well sort out Naruto, for good and bad." Hiruzen explained.
"That doesn't mean that you had to lie to me! What else haven't you told me? Do you know my parents? Do you?!" Naruto demanded loudly.
"I do but I will not tell you their names." Hiruzen answered.
"Why not?!" Naruto roared.
"It is for your protection Naruto. Everything I do is to protect you. If the names of your parents ever got out, their enemies, both foreign and domestic, will do everything in their power to hurt you. I will not allow that to happen. I'm sorry if that angers you but I will not reveal the identity of your parents." Hiruzen said firmly. Naruto balled his fists up. He was mad, really mad. He couldn't believe the nerve of the Hokage to do this to him. He had been searching and searching for any information about a family. The one person who he thought the world of had all the answers and refused to give it to him. It was the ultimate betrayal. Hiruzen moved to place a hand on Naruto but the blond slapped it away.
"I will never trust you again! I HATE YOU!" Naruto screamed and ran out of the office. Hiruzen let out a long sigh and sat back down in his chair. Those words hurt a lot. He knew that Naruto might be mad but he did not believe that he would be this mad. He had miscalculated and he was now paying the price. He would sit in his office for a few minutes when his ANBU told him that both Shikaku and Tsume were here. He allowed them to enter. The two shinobi entered and saw that their leader's expression. They saw Naruto's book before facing their leader.
"We are sorry Hokage-sama. Our sons thought that creating a book for Naruto about his family would have been a good birthday present. The mistake is ours." Tsume said.
"It is not your fault or the fault of your children. They were doing something nice for their friend and I appreciate it. I always knew that if Naruto ever found out that he would not be happy that things were kept from him. He is still a child. Still, his words cut deep and I must figure this out on my own." Hiruzen said. The two bowed and left the Hokage alone. Hiruzen looked at the book that his friends made and had it delivered to Naruto apartment. He sighed and felt guilty for ruining the young man's birthday.
XXX
Naruto was sitting on the head of the Fourth Hokage. He always came here when he was sad or needed to think. Right now, he was sad, hurt and angry. How could the Hokage do this? How could he lie right in his face and then try to reason it as protecting him? If he was really protective of him, he would have done a better job of it for the past eleven years. He was just making excuses and he didn't want to hear them. He knew how he could be but it would have done so much for him if he knew. Maybe he would have changed and become less active.
He forgot about his anger for a second and thought about his present from his friends. He didn't have it on him and if he knew the old man, he would have sent it to his apartment. He recalled what Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru told him. His clan was feared and respected. They even had their own village. That was pretty sweet. They did have one specialty, which was sealing jutsu. He didn't know what that was but he could always find out. He would have to read that book that was waiting for him.
Naruto just sat down and looked into the village. He was just wanted to be alone right now.
XXX
It would be a week later since the confrontation with the Hokage. Naruto was currently thinking about something that he could do to help his situation. A day after his birthday, his friends came to check on him. Naruto explained what had happened and everything was cool. They sat down and talked about his clan and their specialty, which was sealing jutsu. Naruto read the book that his friends made, which he thanked them for by the way, and decided to get some manuals about the art. That would prove to be hard as no store would sell one to him. He returned home only to find two manuals on his table. One was explanation of the art called 'Beginner's Guide to Sealing' and the other was called 'Beginner's Sealing Formulas'. Naruto was curious about where these books came from but he had an idea.
Naruto dove right into the first book. Surprisingly, Naruto found it very interesting. Yeah, it was pretty complicated but he kind of got the explanation. He continued to read and learn a bit more before he moved on to the other book. It did not look like that he would be able to do that due to his poor penmanship. All the characters that he saw in the book, he attempted to copy however, they came out wrong and crooked. They would probably never work in the field. How was he going to solve his problem? A problem that he was having six days and counting.
When he entered his apartment, he was surprised that the Hokage was there. Naruto quickly adopted his cold demeanor that he had developed just for him. Hiruzen was not insulted and understood why. Despite that, he helped young Naruto out. He got him the two books and dealt with the store owner who refused to help him. He also looked over Naruto's work and was a little impressed that he was doing this well for a beginner. He saw Naruto's problem and knew that he would not really get far without it.
"I see that you have been busy Naruto. Still, I don't think you can proceed without correcting this little problem of yours." Hiruzen said.
"Yeah, I figure that much. I guess you can help with that like you helped me with the books?" Naruto said with a tone. Hiruzen was saddened by the tone but he didn't let it bother him.
"I know someone who might be able to help you. Her name is Miyuki Samara. She teaches calligraphy to those who want to learn. If you are interested in improving your skills, I would go to see her." Hiruzen said. He left a piece of paper on his table and stood up to leave. Naruto opened the door to let him out. When Hiruzen was standing by him, he gave the blond a look. "I know that you do not trust me Naruto but I did what I did because I was trying to protect you. I hope that one day that you will see that." With that, Hiruzen left the apartment. Naruto closed the door and made his way to the table. He picked up the paper and saw the address. He thought about it for a while before deciding to go. Just because he was mad, didn't mean that he wasn't going to accept any help.
XXX
Naruto arrived at the address and looked inside. What he saw was a woman that was the Hokage's age. She had long white hair and amber eyes. She was dressed in a blue and green kimono that was tied with a blue sash. She was standing over a box of sand and was writing in it. Naruto was confused by this and just continued to watch.
"This is not a viewing boy. Either come in or leave." The woman said. Naruto was stunned but he steeled himself and entered the shop. She finished her writing and turned to face him.
"Are you Miyuki Samara?" Naruto asked.
"Who wants to know?" she asked.
"Uh, the old man Hokage gave me your name to help me with my sealing." He said. The woman looked at him before remembering.
"Oh, so you're Naruto? Yeah, Hiruzen told me about you. Apparently your penmanship sucks and you will need it if you're even thinking about doing sealing jutsu. Yes, my name is Miyuki and starting today, you belong to me." She said. Naruto could only wonder what the hell he got himself into.
XXX
"Wait a minute; you're ditching us for that teacher? You've only known her for two days! How does she have this type of hold on you?" exclaimed Kiba. He was with the others as they were planning to cut class today. However, Naruto could not as he promised Miyuki that he would stay in class for a week.
"Hey, don't you shout at me! I have to do this or else and can't go any further in my learning sealing. I made a promise and I don't break those. Besides, two days with her and my penmanship has improved by a little." Naruto said.
"What are you shouting about loser?" a voice said. They all turned to see Sasuke. He was looking up at them. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Sasuke.
"None of your business bastard. If you don't mind, I am talking with my friends." Naruto said.
"Right, you losers have to stick together." Sasuke said with a chuckle. Some of the class snorted in laughter. Shikamaru could see that it bothered Naruto and Kiba but decided to stay out of it.
"We might be 'losers' but for someone slated to be 'Rookie of the Year', we've beaten you in every exercise that we've had so far." Kiba stated.
"We've only had one of those exercises stupid." Sasuke said.
"Yeah and your team was caught in like what, thirty seconds? Yeah, you're a really shining example of a great ninja." Kiba mocked. Sasuke glared at the young Inuzuka. He, like everyone else, did not like the fact that the lowest members of the class did better in these stupid exercises. Even when the group was split up, they still got the highest mark even if their group failed. It was an insult to him and Kiba had just reminded him of that failure.
"I don't really care for those exercises. The fact is, you and your friends are still losers and will always be losers." Sasuke said with a tone.
"Whatever Uchiha, just go back to your brooding and leave us alone." Kiba said. The group went back to their talk. Sasuke clenched his fist at being dismissed like that. He was going to show them just how low on the pole they were.
XXX
It was time to spar today and everyone was stretching and getting ready. Mizuki looked at the class and held his clipboard.
"Alright, our first spar with be Sasuke Uchiha against Kiba Inuzuka." He said. The two stepped into the circle and faced each other. Sasuke just smirked at Kiba as he was going to make the boy pay for earlier. Shikamaru saw the smile and was worried. He figured that Sasuke would still be sore about Kiba's words earlier and he was going to humiliate him. The match started and Kiba charged in like he always did. He threw punches and kicks at Sasuke but the last Uchiha dodged each attack with ease. Sasuke then tripped him, making him fall flat on his face.
Kiba growled and charged again. Sasuke just kept tripping him, making him look foolish. This only served to make Kiba angrier. Sasuke finally hand enough of Kiba and caught his arm. He tossed Kiba out of the ring for his victory. Kiba got to his knees and was breathing hard. Sasuke just looked at him.
"Is that all an Inuzuka can do?" Sasuke mocked. Kiba was enraged and looked ready to charge but he was held back by Naruto and Choji. Shikamaru got in his face.
"Calm down Kiba. This is exactly what he wants you to do." Shikamaru said. Kiba was still breathing hard but he did relax. Mizuki told Kiba to do the hand shake but Kiba would not do so. He walked away to cool off. Shikamaru went with him to make sure that he did nothing stupid. Sasuke just returned to his spot, ignoring the cheers that he got. He taught Kiba a lesson about dealing with his betters. He felt good about it. Naruto saw the smirk and did not like it. If he thought that he was going to get away with what he did, he had another thing coming.
XXXXX
