ncpfan: I'll have Tsunade and Shizune work with Naruto in a later chapter and in that chapter they will really get to know each other. That's when Tsunade will really start to make amends. As for the neglect, Naruto has kinda moved on ever since he saw that his parents really desperately wanted his forgiveness. As for why they neglected him and went so long without noticing him, that is answered in this chapter. Naruto has mostly moved on and is comfortable where he is at with his parents but if Menma and Narumi were to bring up the neglect during a fight, it might do a little more than piss Naruto off.
Animaman: I plan to fill some gaps in with this chapter and a few in the next couple of chapters. Maybe even some in the fight with Tsuranabi. You'll have to see how the toads feel about the Great Toad Sage in this chapter. Probably next chapter is when I will give a little more of the spotlight to Menma and Narumi. At this point they don't really care about Jiraiya or his goals, they just feel that they have basically become gods. As for their childhood, they don't feel like it's a lie so much as that the people around them betrayed them, more on that probably next chapter.
PinkiePieParty122894: As always I appreciate the support and I hope that you like this chapter.
Ryu wolf: Thanks I'm glad that you're enjoying the story.
Sage of the Azure Phoenix: I thought it needed to be Yakumo to wake up Hinata since she had just dealt with the loss of an important person as well. I am thinking that a strong friendship is going to blossom maybe best friends I don't know yet.
zero fullbuster: Glad that you love it and I hope that I continue to impress.
RaudomGny: I get what you are saying about the power levels. Right before the Tsuranabi fight I will put out a chapter that basically details the key characters' power levels in all forms like Naruto's base form and Naruto's lunar form etc.
LegendaryMob: Part of using the Hammer Slash was due a little to Naruto's ego. His fight with Zabuza could be seen as kind of a pissing contest and Naruto just wanted to emphasize that he was the better swordsman with that move. The Hammer Slash is only really dangerous to Naruto when he puts too much into it and overexerts himself which he tends to do a lot.
rasenganwarrior: I have read a few fics where Naruto uses a katana and they were really good. I just wanted to go in the direction of him using a big sword because I thought that it would go well with the boost in his abilities.
Today was the day. Today was the day that not only he, but his family would get the answers to the numerous questions that had begun to surface. Naruto stood in his front yard waiting on his father, his mother, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. Over the past few weeks since finding Jiraiya's personal journal, inconsistencies had arisen between Jiraiya's inner thoughts and Jiraiya's behavior. One thing had held consistent however, the toads were somehow involved. Today, he and the five others closest to Jiraiya would travel to Mount Myoboku in order to receive answers. What Naruto had withheld was that he was willing to go to any length to get these answers.
Jiraiya's actions which were influenced by the toads somehow if the journal was to be believed, had directly affected Naruto's life. The years of feeling like a stranger in his own home, the years of neglect, the years of a loveless relationship between he and his parents. The toads could speak whatever reason they wished, but if need be, Naruto would take matters into his own hands or rather into his very powerful partner's.
All at once, the four that he was joining on the trip to the toads homeland exited the house knocking the blonde boy out of his thoughts. Not a word was said as the four kage level shinobi approached the area that Naruto stood. He had no idea how long the confrontation would last so just in case, he had called Yakumo over who was currently watching over Aiko. The two had immediately hit it off and formed a sort of bond of sisterhood that was quite entertaining.
Minato approached his son and placed his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Are you ready Naruto?" the man asked and got a simple nod of the head from him. The blonde Hokage said nothing else and turned to the rest of the group who nodded. Taking a deep breath, Minato put his hands together and instantly a seal formed on the ground beneath the five. It glowed for a second before the group was transported away in an instant leaving no trace behind.
(Mount Myoboku)
Everything was calm in the realm of the toads. The air was clean, the massive plants were healthy and stood tall, and the realm held a soft silence. Only the sounds of water flowing through the many waterfalls interrupted the silence. This was the scene that Naruto, Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, and Orochimaru arrived to. Kushina and the two remaining Sanin looked in awe at the beautiful land, Minato smiled as he never got tired of visiting Mount Myoboku, but Naruto kept his eyes narrowed not paying attention to the scenery. He had a mission of which he would not fail.
Minato took a few steps before turning around to face the rest of the group. "Okay everyone, follow me. The two elder toads should be nearby where they will take us to the Great Toad Sage. I've already informed them on the need to address an important issue, they just aren't aware of what" and with that the Hokage turned around and the group began their march to the highest ranking toads. It was not a far journey, it just took longer because of the time it took to get through the plants. After about fifteen minutes, the group cleared the plants blocking their view and came to a very large waterfall. Sitting in front of the waterfall were two small old looking toads and one massive ancient looking toad. The Hokage was personally shocked at seeing the Great Toad Sage away from his chair, something he had never seen before. The Great Toad Sage being here just went to show how serious they were taking this.
As the group came to stand in front of the three toads who looked at them with smiles, they all bowed in respect except for Naruto who remained standing. The act caused the two elder toads smiles to falter and the Great Toad Sage to focus on him, but they did not comment. "All of you please stand and be welcomed to Mount Myoboku, our home" the male elder toad said. The four bowing ninja stood up at once and Minato smiled. "Ma, Pa, it's great to see you again. You as well Great Toad Sage. You all remember Kushina I take it" he asked gaining nods from Ma and Pa. "This is my son Naruto, and Tsunade and Orochimaru of the Sannin" he introduced to which the toads nodded.
"The summoners of Katsuyu and Manda, we have heard many good things from the slugs and snakes. We have heard even more information about you from Jiraiya boy, Lady Tsunade" Pa said causing the woman to blush slightly but gain a sad look in her eyes. Seeing this Ma immediately hits Pa. "Be more sensitive you old idiot" the female toad shouts before looking back at the group. "This looks like a fine group indeed" she says before focusing on Naruto. "But perhaps this boy needs to be taught some more lessons in respecting his elders Minato" she said staring directly at the boy with a frown on her face. Naruto mirrored the action towards her.
Trying to stop things from getting too far off course, Minato took a step forward. "You have all heard of Jiraiya's death I presume?" Minato asked to which the toad elders both nodded. "A shame it is, Jiraiya was among the best summoners one could have. He made the toads very proud. I still feel like it was only yesterday that that reckless little boy ended up here in Mount Myoboku because he tried the summoning jutsu without a summon. He will truly be missed" Pa said with a somber tone in his voice. Ma looked at the ground in sadness and the Great Toad Sage had no reaction.
Minato nodded his head. "Well Jiraiya is actually the reason that we are here" the blonde Hokage said causing the two elders to gain a confused look on their faces and the Great Toad Sage to suddenly gain interest. "Jiraiya had a special journal on his person when he died. A journal that detailed a few trips that he made to Mount Myoboku when he was receiving the prophecy about the future of the ninja world. He talked about receiving the prophecy from you Ma and Pa, but he also wrote down certain very private interactions that he had with you Great Toad Sage" Minato said keeping a respectful tone.
Ma and Pa looked at the Great Toad Sage for they had not known that he had met with Jiraiya in private. The Great Toad Sage took a breath before slowly shaking his head. "I'm afraid that Jiraiya was mistaken. The only times we would speak to each other, Fukasaku and Shima here would be in attendance as well. If that is what you came here for, you have your answer. Now I must ask that you all leave" the Great Toad Sage said trying to dismiss everyone which surprised the toad elders at his behavior.
Deciding he had been quiet enough, Naruto stepped forward and looked up at the Great Toad Sage. "So you will deny it. Good, that makes my decision a lot easier" the boy said confusing the rest of the group and elders while causing the Great Toad Sage to narrow his eyes at him. Naruto bit his thumb and let the blood leak. The Konoha group's eyes widened but the Great Toad Sage chuckled. "You arrogant child, no summon may pass through here without our permission, to attempt it is futile so-" the massive toad was interrupted as Naruto finished the hand seals.
Dark storm clouds seemed to instantly cover the former peaceful blue skies of Mount Myoboku. The calm breeze picked up into a strong gust of wind. A large pillar of mist started to form behind Naruto getting more intense by the second. Before anyone could react to the sudden change, Levios, the son of Leviathan the great serpent rose from the mist. Rising high above everyone else, when the serpent reached its apex, it let out a mighty roar that silenced the realm it had been summoned to. Looking back down, Levios lowered himself beside Naruto as best he could.
The Konoha group were in awe at the magnificent beast that had settled itself beside Naruto but all three of the toads were shaking terribly in fear. "H-H-How? I thought the s-s-serpent c-clan was g-g-gone" asked the Great Toad Sage. In an instant, Levios was no longer beside his faithful summoner but instead coiled tightly around the massive toad. The sharp ridges digging deeply into the toad's body drawing blood and causing the sage to let out a cry of pain.
"I assure you that we are far from it toad. I was told that I would be summoned if you didn't provide satisfactory answers to the boy over there. You see, this boy has been given permission to summon any serpent that he desires and I am his chosen retainer. He is capable of taking on any obstacle but every once in a while he requires assistance. Assistance that I am more than happy to provide. Now, you will tell Naruto all that he wants to know or else your paradise that you have created here, will be no more" the serpent said his ridges still digging in. The Great Toad Sage nodded obediently while the toad elders were too scared to say or do anything not that it would matter if they could.
Naruto nodded his head in thanks to Levios before he began. "In Jiraiya's journal, he says that you told him to neglect me, to enable everyone to neglect me. I had to grow up without the love of parents, without the love of godparents, without friends, without anyone. For so long I suffered loneliness and it all seems to come back to the prophecy and instructions that you gave. Still though, to be able to affect my own family with a simple prophecy doesn't make sense. My mother is an Uzumaki so her devotion to family is among the strongest in the elemental nations. How would simple words and suggestions convince her to leave her first born child behind in the dust?" Naruto asked while the group behind him lowered their heads in disappointment of themselves.
For a second the Great Toad Sage didn't answer until Levios tightened his hold on the toad. "I DID WHAT I HAD TO! As a sage, my duty is to protect the world not the individual. Sacrifices have to get made in order to keep the world from coming to an end. Jiraiya didn't have the heart to truly convince everyone to abandon you so I had to intervene.I had to make him see objectively what he needed to do. I placed him in a genjutsu that took away all feelings of love he had towards you. The genjutsu placed upon him would spread to each person he talked to, each person he met, each person he saw. All of Konoha was soon placed under the genjutsu. The more it spread the weaker it would become, but it would stay strong on Jiraiya and anyone he immediately interacted with namely your family. In order to save the ninja world, you could not be allowed to grow up with the love and affection of a family" the toad finished causing everyone to look at him like he was insane, even Ma and Pa.
Naruto crossed his arms before stepping forward and staring the toad directly in the eyes. "But the genjutsu started to fail. After years, my mother and father were able to break out of it. I was able to gain their love and affection but for so long I resisted it because of your actions. Jiraiya kept trying to resist it but he couldn't. He tried to break out of it multiple times but he couldn't until facing his demise, didn't he?" Naruto said his voice getting louder with every word. Reluctantly, the toad nodded. Clenching his fist, Naruto looked at his summon and nodded.
Levios nodded back at his summoner before quickly tightening his hold. The speed and force of the tightening caused his body to slice through the Great Toad Sage killing the oldest toad. The Konoha group was suddenly transported back to where they came from but the serpent remained. Ma and Pa did nothing other than look on in shock and fear. The serpent rose up and faced the two small toads. "By decree of the last great clan, the Serpent Clan, the toads will go without a summoner for the next 1000 years. Your paradise of Mount Myoboku shall be no more, and you will not leave this realm until you find another summoner. All of this is punishment for interfering in a prophecy, revealing a prophecy, and directly influencing a realm outside of your own" Levios said causing both of the elders to nearly have heart attacks. With one final roar, Levios started to disappear into mist.
After the serpent was gone, hard rain and lightning storms started to surface over the once peaceful paradise. The winds picked up even more, and the skies remained black. This would be the state of Mount Myoboku for the next thousand years.
(Namikaze Compound)
Naruto and the rest of the Konoha group were transported into the front yard of the Namikaze residence. Each of the shinobi except Naruto were wide eyed and shocked at how quickly things things escalated along with the information that they had received. The toads had influenced not only the life of Naruto, but the lives of the entire Namikaze family and their closest friends. All for the sake of fulfilling a stupid prophecy. The members were knocked back into the real world as Naruto started to walk into the house. Without a word, Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, and Orochimaru followed the blonde into the house.
Walking into the living room, Naruto smiled as he was welcomed with the sight of Yakumo and Aiko immersed in a conversation about the different places to have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The blonde chunin had to suppress a chuckle. The obsession that Aiko had with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches provided serious competition to his mother's obsession with ramen. Finally able to hold in his laughter no more, Naruto let out a small chuckle at Aiko and Yakumo who both immediately turned around with a smile at his presence.
"You're back!" shouted Aiko as she ran to meet Naruto. "You were gone for sooo long, I thought you were gonna be gone forever" the little girl said now grappling onto him. Naruto shook his head and let out a small laugh while Yakumo stood and walked up to her boyfriend with a smile.
With a sigh, Naruto patted the little girl's head as the rest of the Konoha group now entered the house behind him. "Aiko, I wasn't even gone for an hour" he said while Kushina, Tsunade, and Orochimaru all took seats in the living room. Yakumo narrowed her eyes at the sight of the mighty shinobi all looking like they had seen a ghost. Minato meanwhile stood beside his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. Glancing at his father, Naruto gently removed Aiko's little arms and looked at Yakumo who nodded at him.
"Aiko, how about we go eat some peanut butter sandwiches. Maybe you can show me how to make a perfect sandwich while Naruto has a talk with his parents" Yakumo said with a smile. Aiko looked up with a thinking pose for a few seconds before smiling and nodding rapidly. The little girl immediately ran to the kitchen and was followed by Yakumo.
Once the two entered the kitchen, Naruto walked to one of the couches in the living room and took a seat while Minato placed a hand on the wall silencing the entire room. After making sure that they had privacy, Minato slowly joined the rest of the group and sat down next to his wife on a couch. All eyes rested on Naruto and the look on the boy's face gave nothing away. For what seemed like hours, the room was silent. It was the red headed Uzumaki who ended up breaking the silence.
"Naruto, I am so sorry for all that you had to go through. I should've been a better mother, I should've fought harder against the genjutsu, I should've" the mother was interrupted when Naruto raised his hand to stop her. "Mom, I had my suspicions that there were bigger things at play for awhile and I forgave you and Dad a long time ago. I spent years being angry at you but I learned that I would rather let things go and be happy than hold a grudge and stay angry. There is no point in asking me for forgiveness because I've already forgiven you" Naruto said bringing the mother to tears.
Minato shook his head. He was happy that his son had forgiven them, but in his mind and Kushina's as well, they didn't deserve his forgiveness. Not yet at least. "Naruto, nothing makes us happier to hear that you've forgiven us, but we still aren't sure that we deserve it. It's not right that you had to go through most of your life alone. We failed you as parents."
The blonde chunin shook his head. "Listen Dad, you and Mom have worked every day since I returned to earn my forgiveness. I'm telling you that I want us to just move on. I want us to just enjoy what we've got right now okay?"Naruto asked and got a nod from his father and smiles from both parents.
Minato's smile dropped however when he went back over the recent events. He took a moment before asking a question. "What did we just see Naruto?" the blonde Hokage asked still unsure at what he had witnessed at Mount Myoboku. Naruto tilted his head slightly before remembering that no one in the room had personally seen his summon before. It almost made Naruto chuckle, Levios could be quite a sight when he tried. "What you saw was my personal summon Levios, son of the leader of the Serpent Clan. He was delivering punishment upon the Toads for violation of the Laws of Summons" the chunin said and sighed when he noticed the confused looks coming from Minato, Kushina, Orochimaru, and Tsunade.
Shaking his head, Naruto began a brief explanation. "The Laws of Summons are rules that any clan that chooses to be a summon must abide by. Summons are only supposed to interfere in a realm that isn't their own by protecting and working with their summoner. They cannot interfere by their own volition which means if they receive a "prophecy"" Naruto said sarcastically with air quotes, "they have to keep quiet and let it happen. They can't just tell their summoner what to do to make the prophecy happen because that falls under interfering in a realm that isn't their own. The toads violated that rule and so they were punished. They won't be able to work with any summoners until whatever punishment they are receiving is over. Another key rule is that summons are not allowed to act against others from a different realm unless in self defense or acting on orders of their summoner. Summons are allowed to disobey their summoner if an order goes against their ideals. When that big toad used his genjutsu to affect others, he violated that rule. All in all, the toads deserved to be punished" Naruto finished crossing his arms.
Minato was quiet contemplating the new information again before a question popped into his mind. "Why did your summon get to dish out the punishment? What gives your summon the authority to do that?" Minato asked trying to gain a better grasp on the situation. He was still in quite a bit of shock that the summons he had worked with for so long could be capable of such treachery. It was another shock that he would no longer be able to use said summons in combat but at the moment, he wouldn't summon them even if he could.
Naruto smiled slightly at his father's question. "Levios can carry out the judgement because he is part of one of the three legendary clans" the blonde said before sighing as he noticed a few looks of confusion. "Okay, in the world of summoning clans, there is a pecking order. At the top are the legendary clans. For the sake of organization, let's call them S class clans. Below them are the A class clans which include the toads, slugs, and snakes. Below are the B, C, and D class clans respectively. The Serpents are the top clan so they carry out the punishment" he explained refraining from rolling his eyes at the new looks of understanding from everyone else.
"What about if the serpents were to break a law? Who punishes them?" Tsunade asked inserting herself into the conversation. Naruto shifted his gaze to the woman and continued his explanation. "The other two S clans would have carried out the punishment" Naruto said slightly looking away.
Orochimaru noticed Naruto's action and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say would have? Aren't the other summons still in power?" Orochimaru asked. Naruto bit his lip before answering. "One of the S class clans is no more and the other has not been heard from in hundreds of years. The Serpents have only recently come back into the picture. All three clans were forgotten by time because they didn't deal in flashy battles or care about how much fame they received unlike some other clans."
"Who were the other two S class clans and how do you know all of this about the summons?" Kushina asked. Naruto took a breath and raised a hand into his hair. Today was proving a lot more taxing than he thought it would. "The three legendary clans consisted of the Serpents, the Dragons, and the Hell hounds. The Serpents' domain is the sea, the Dragons' domain was the sky, and the Hell Hounds' domain was the land. I learned everything I know about summons on my trips to the Serpent realm. In order to be a proper summoner, I needed to know the ins and outs of the different clans, the rules of summoning, and the history of my summoning clan" Naruto said briefly remembering having to sit and listen with Levios as Leviathan went on about the need to know history and rules.
The entire room was quiet. A lot had happened in the short time they were at Mount Myoboku and a lot of information, important information, life changing information, had been shared. It was almost too much to process and it had everyone mentally exhausted. Their silence was interrupted when Aiko decided now was the best time to interrupt with lunch. "It's time for lunch everybody!" the little girl shouted marching into the room with a massive smile and a large plate stacked with multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Her appearance brought a smile to everyone's faces in the room as Yakumo entered behind and took her seat next to Naruto. Aiko set the plate down, grabbed a sandwich, and took a seat on the other side of Naruto. With a smile, everyone took a sandwich, even Kushina though she muttered something about it never being better than ramen while she took one.
(Hours Later Namikaze Compound)
Naruto sat on his roof looking into the night sky. Tsunade and Orochimaru had left some time ago, Yakumo had gone home after spending time with the blonde, and Aiko had reluctantly gone to bed. Minato and Kushina had gone to their room no doubt to further discuss today's events. So that left Naruto up on the roof once again contemplating his thoughts.
"So what's got you this time kid?" asked a voice that caused the blonde to smile. Looking up he watched as Sera made her way next to him and sat down.
The blonde swordsman smiled at his teacher and looked up at the moon. "Today was a rough day. It really got me thinking about how things could have been if not for the toads' interference. Like would I have still been forgotten by my parents? Would Menma and Narumi still have turned out evil? Would I have ever met you? Then I started thinking about all the things I still have to do. I still have to get on Tsuranabi's level and I have less than a month to do it. I have to decide what to do about Menma and Narumi. I'm trying to figure out all of this but it's too much. For the first time since you passed your legacy onto me, I'm not sure about whether or not I can do this" Naruto said looking down.
Sera looked at her student with a smile. The only regret that she had held when she died was that she wouldn't be able to personally see her student's growth, but these short moments she had with him were enough. It truly was beautiful to see the little boy she had come across not so long ago growing more mature with every day that passed. She chuckled to herself as she remembered how fragile and scared he was when she met him, and now he was among the most dangerous swordsman in the world.
"You have grown so much in such little time Naruto. You have the weight of the world on your shoulders and you refuse to give that burden to anyone else. Every time I see you, I grow more and more proud of who you are becoming and it reinforces that I was correct when I chose my successor. Things will work out so long as you stick to what you know is right. You need to let go of these hypothetical scenarios that cloud your mind. It's no use focusing on what could have been because there is no way to change the past. The only thing you can affect is the present and the future so focus on that. As for your fight with Tsuranabi, it's time for you to finally reach the peak of your abilities. Tomorrow, you will go to the Serpent realm and return to to the Stone of Sanctity. Myself along with all of the other legendary swordsmen will turn you into the pinnacle of all swordsmen. You will be the greatest in our line. Now, go ahead and go to bed. You will need the rest kid" she said smiling as Naruto lifted his head up with a smile.
Sera watched as he jumped off the roof and went to his room. Her smile died down as he left and turned into a contemplative frown. "You didn't tell him did you?" The question caused Sera to look up and focus on the newcomer. Tenji walked up and stood next to the sitting form of Sera.
The blue haired woman shook her head. "I will tell him in the Stone of Sanctity about the true source of his power. I only hope that he will be able to truly harness it when the time comes" she said looking up to the moon. "He has power unlike any of the former swordsmen, a power not given to him by the sword. He has learned much today, all of this extra information can wait." Tenji stared at his fellow swordsman for a moment before nodding at her judgement. She knew her student best, he would trust her judgement.
Author's Note: Well the age old question of how the parents just forgot about Naruto has finally been answered. Hope you all were satisfied with it and liked the chapter. It was actually a lot more difficult to write than I thought. I decided to go with Hell Hounds because I wanted a powerful creature that was land based. I was going to go with the phoenix but then I realized two legendary creatures from the air was a bit much so why not go with the air, land, and sea trio. Let me know what you think of it. And yes, you will see the Hell Hounds later on. Anyways, hope that you liked the chapter and I'll see you next chapter.