Thank you for your reviews and follow ups.

Okay. I know I said in 3rd Chapter that I was not going to use much honorifics. But then I realised, some of them are needed, otherwise Naruto (the series) will not look like Naruto anymore, at least for me that is. So to keep the flow correct, I'll use some. Sorry about that.

Now to answer some reviews,

ZeroKaze : Thanks for that. I changed the spellings in the chapter.

bloody dragon fang: It gets more interesting after team placements. Just wait for it.

TheWateringWizard : I admit, it will not be 'I love you-I love you too, Let's go out'. And since I've already set it where Naruto and Hinata already know each other for a long time, there wouldn't be any freaking out. They are still 12, just hitting puberty, the 'Old enough to kill, old enough to drink, old enough to f#$%' does not always work. But don't worry it won't be long.

Onward with the chapter.

"Speaking/YELLING"

"Bijuu/Summon speaking/ YELLING"

'Thinking'

'Bijuu/Summon Thinking'

No, Still do not own Naruto.

Chapter 8: Secrets

Hokage's Office

The room was tense. It was like a stare off going on between the old Hokage and the newly minted Genin. The only females in the room could do nothing but watch and the last occupant of the room was fortunately still unconscious because of the chop on the back by the staring Genin. The reason for this stare off was the words Naruto spoke almost immediately on his entry in the Hokage's office.

"Was what Mizuki said really true?" He knew the Hokage watched everything through his crystal ball, so no more explanation was needed.

That was a few minutes ago. Two set of calm eyes staring at each other. But they knew one thing, this needed to be resolved before the last occupant woke up.

Finally after getting bored of it and also due to curiosity Tsunade decided to break it off.

"Naruto, even if something did happen, they are still village's secret. You shouldn't pry on them. Sensei probably has his own reasons to do whatever he did." She scolded. While she was curious about these new…developments, she knew being the Hokage meant something like that needed to be done.

"I know that Mother but if Sasuke knew that Hokage-sama is hiding something like that from him, about his clan, he will only just become more difficult and may just do something we don't want."

"But Naru-"

"He's my friend, Mother. Even though he may have stopped being one after the massacre, I know he can be saved from the destructive path he has chosen. The path similar to your teammate." Naruto pointed out. While his tone did not change from his calm one, the Hokage and his lone female student felt it like an arrow to the heart.

Especially the Third. It brought back the memories of his failures in stopping his now wayward student. He knew what Naruto said was true and an unfaithful Uchiha will not be good news for the village. Especially if the said student caught wind of it. But the secret about what actually happened would not be easily explained when he himself did not condone what happened. He did not know how the news will affect Sasuke's young mind. But maybe with more people bearing the news with him will help him. With that in mind he started,

"This is a SS class secret that only I and the three elders know about the village and I would like it to remain as such. That applies to you too Sasuke."

This made all the blonds in the room look at the now announced awake Sasuke, who was feigning sleep. After being pointed out, Sasuke promptly got up and stood in front of the Hokage with the twins. All the others just looked at him oddly but he said nothing, so the Hokage just started.

"Now Sasuke there will be many times where you won't like what I say but I would like to finish it uninterrupted." The Hokage requested which was answered by a small nod from Sasuke.

"It is true that the Uchihas were suspected for instigating the Kyuubi incident and were under constant observation. But it was not only by the officials, the villagers also accused them of it. So the Uchiha police started reacting badly against such suspicions. And the situation was getting worse. That is where your brother comes in Sasuke." The Hokage paused to gauge his audience's reaction. Other than Sasuke's tightened fist there was nothing much. So he continued

"Itachi and Shisui Uchiha, they were the ones who brought the worst news in that situation. The Uchihas, fed up of their situation, were planning a coup."

"THAT'S A-"Sasuke started but was stopped by Naruto's hand on his shoulder.

"Sasuke, what you think and what you know, we will hear it at the end. First listen to everything." Naruto told him calmly. Sasuke reluctantly did.

"This came from your own brother and Shisui, Sasuke. And sadly it is true. We tried to negotiate with them, with your father. But they wouldn't listen. As a last resort Shisui suggested to use his Kotoamatsukami, a very high level Genjutsu, on your father and make him give up the idea. But something happened. One of our former councillors, Danzo Shimura, secretly attempted and was successful in taking one of Shisui's eyes. I don't know what exactly happened after that but Shisui's body was found in the Naka River, though devoid of both eyes. But after his death we were only left with one choice. A choice that I regret even now. The only choice left to avert the awaiting internal civil war, was annihilation. The Uchiha clan needed to be stopped. The internal struggle would cripple the village that could have encouraged other villages to attack us and thus starting the Fourth Shinobi war." The Hokage paused.

Sasuke clenched his fist. Danzo Shimura. He knew that name. Three years ago he was declared a criminal at a level just below Madara Uchiha. Not all the information was given out, but apparently he carried out many illegal activities inside and outside the village and was the leader of an unauthorized group of ANBU believed to be amassed to go against the Hokage and as such was executed on many charges.

The Hokage finding his audience quiet continued, "Itachi, he was a pacifist. Moreover, he was loyal to the village and believed that the clan flourished with the village instead of the opposite idea the rest of the clan seemed to have. That was why he took it upon himself. To kill his own clan." The old man explained further.

"But why kill the whole clan? Why not only the conspirators?" Namiko asked speaking for the first time. She didn't think much about the former councillor's action. She knew about a few things he did, all of them illegal. This didn't surprise her.

"To save the remaining honour of the clan. If the news got out that only a few people, the whole ninja population of the Uchiha clan, were killed, it would surely raise suspicion. It would have gotten increasingly difficult to keep it a secret and it would hurt Uchihas' reputation even more. The reason Sasuke here gets treated with respect is because of Itachi's sacrifice. But he didn't do it without conditions." The Hokage admitted making everyone curious.

"He told us to keep it a secret to everyone and ensure that Sasuke was cared for in the village. He accepted to be labelled as a criminal and become a missing ninja to save not only the village but you too Sasuke. I don't know what he told you before he left but I for one know that Itachi didn't kill your clan for power. He still remains loyal to the village. Protecting her from outside." The Third finished.

Everything became silent again in the room. All of them had a contemplating expression on their faces except for Sasuke. The tell-tale signs of rage was slowly appearing on his face. Signs that Naruto noticed. Personally he thought nothing about what happened to the Uchiha clan. Sure there could have been something else that could have been done. But since he wasn't there at that time, he couldn't judge the exact situation. And if what the Hokage said was true, that the whole clan was behind the coup, then that probably was the only thing they could have done. He did not know what Kotoamatsukami was, but if Danzo's intervention caused that plan to fail and a whole clan to be killed off, then he was glad he and his sister were part of the reason a criminal like that was brought to justice. Meanwhile though he gauged Sasuke's reaction and was ready to intervene.

And surely enough, as soon as he finished his thought process, Sasuke was about to lunge towards the Hokage. Since the explanation was still going on, he decided to restrain him by putting him in an arm lock.

"LET ME GO, NARUTO. HOW DARE HE….HOW DARE HE…" Sasuke was furious and struggled to get free from Naruto's hold but against the brute strength of Tsunade's son, it was futile.

"Sasuke, what you were trying to do was treason and condition or not would have you put into jail or executed for attacking the Hokage. Calm yourself. Attacking the Hokage won't achieve anything." Tsunade told the squirming Genin in her son's hold which did not do much except stop his struggle, still Naruto did not let him go.

Seeing his rage the Hokage sighed, "I understand your anger towards me Sasuke but I am the Hokage and have to think foremost about the village. I wish I could have saved your clan but if I would have tried to, the result would have been even more drastic."

Sasuke was conflicted. He could never imagine his father doing something like that. But he also knew that Itachi was also not like how he portrayed himself that night. He knew something was missing, something was wrong with Itachi. But the only thing that was going through his mind was that it was the Hokage's and the elders fault. It was because they ordered him to do it. 'Yes, that's right Itachi would never do it himself. It was because he was ordered to. No, not ordered but probably he was forced to do it. Yes, the Hokage said something about not harming me. They probably blackmailed him. So, he did everything to save me. He –'

"Thinking yourself into your own delusions won't work Sasuke." Naruto said from behind him effectively breaking out Sasuke from his internal ramblings and turned his head sideways to look at Naruto. But Naruto changed his gaze from Sasuke to the Third.

"Hokage-sama, about what you said. What proof do you have that Itachi was not blackmailed into it by the higher ups?" Naruto accused.

This shocked everyone. Sasuke was shocked that he asked the exact same question he was thinking about while the others were shocked that Naruto would accuse the Hokage of something like that.

"Onii-sama/Naruto!" Both female blondes exclaimed at the same time.

But, "You're right. I do not have any proof of it except for my verbal testimony. Even if I was to ask the elders they would deny it to save face and not only will I lose my Hokage seat for revealing such information to Genins, you might be executed too, to avoid information from spreading further. So, the only thing that I can say is that I am telling you this on the risk of my authority as Hokage." Hiruzen admitted shocking everyone again.

While it seemed to be a reliable reason to believe the Hokage, it still wasn't enough to persuade Sasuke to believe otherwise. As a matter of fact, even Naruto was not completely satisfied. While Namiko and Tsunade were thinking something completely different. They still weren't able to believe that Naruto was questioning the Hokage, the authority he dreamt to have. His sister was the one to put her question to words.

"But Onii-sama, how could you say that to Jiji? Don't you trust him?"

"It's easy for us to trust him Namiko because whatever happened didn't happen to us. But for someone like Sasuke, who was just told that his father and his whole clan were traitors instead of his brother like he thought and what happened was because of it, then it's not that easy to swallow." Naruto said shocking Sasuke that he was doing it for him.

"But", Naruto continued, "Sasuke, Jiji is the Hokage. He knew the chance of you believing him was less and he may end up losing a promising Shinobi in turn breaking his promise to Itachi. But still he told you everything. Do not take his confession lightly."

Sasuke again fell into his thoughts. What Naruto said was true. The Hokage wouldn't disclose such kind of info in front of this many people and lie about it. But still,

"Is there any way?" Sasuke whispered.

"What?" Hiruzen asked Sasuke not exactly catching what he said.

"Is there any way, to contact Itachi? You said he is still loyal to the village right? I want him to tell me everything about this. If he is still loyal to the village then that means you should have some way of contacting him. I want to hear the truth from him. If you say you cannot do that, then I'm sorry but I may not be able to serve this village anymore." Sasuke said in louder but still controlled voice.

Hiruzen was not pleased. True, he could call Itachi back for it, but doing so would probably blow his cover in whatever he was doing. But it seemed he didn't have a choice. He couldn't let Sasuke become rouge. Putting the Sharingan aside, if he didn't do it he probably would lose the faith of his grandson figure and with him his granddaughter and student's too. He could not have that.

"Alright. I will call Itachi for it. But the meeting has to be done in secret and in my presence. We cannot let the village populace know that Itachi just strolled into the village and then out without repercussions. I will send for him today, when would he be here depends on where he is now, of which I am not aware of." Hiruzen accepted, "Till then Sasuke, I request you not to disclose this information to anyone even if someone says it's for me. The same goes for the others."

"Now then, tomorrow is the team arrangements I think you should go home. Again I'm sorry for what had to be done Sasuke, I hope you think about it more before you do anything drastic." said the Hokage dismissing the others. Everyone reluctantly did so starting with Namiko.

Once everyone was out, Sasuke turned towards Naruto with a serious look, "Why did you do it for me there Naruto? Risking yourself a charge of treason."

Naruto just smiled, "You may have stopped being my friend long ago Sasuke, but I never leave a friend behind. You are my friend and always will be." He said making Tsunade and Namiko smile too but then he turned serious and said, "But know this Sasuke. If you decide to go against the village then as a friend it will be my job to put you down, to stop you from harming the village as well as yourself. I won't hesitate there either."

Sasuke just nodded and turned to walk away, "Naruto, I want to ask a favour. I want you to be there with me when Itachi comes back. If what the Hokage says is true then you would also have to apologise, right?" he said without turning back.

"Sure thing Sasuke." Was Naruto's answer. Sasuke, after getting his answer, started walking again.

Senju Compound

Having finished their dinner, after Naruto got scolded for misbehaving in front of the Hokage by Tsunade, the Senju family including Shizune were now sitting around the dinner table, again with serious expressions. This seriousness was because of a statement from Tsunade.

"There is something I have to tell you concerning you two."

And now the twins were waiting for this 'something' to be told.

Tsunade wanted to lay off this discussion after today's ordeal but thought getting over it now would be better. So with a sigh, Tsunade started, "Now what I'm about to tell you is an SS class secret known to a few people but once I tell you it will be your choice to tell anyone or not, but I advise against it unless it is someone you really trust. Do you get it?" After getting a couple of nods she continued, "Okay, You already know about the Kyuubi incident. You also know how your birthdays are on that very day. The thing is, the story about the Fourth killing the Kyuubi is not completely true." Tsunade said shocking the twins. To them the Fourth was their hero, especially for Naruto. He wanted to surpass and become a Hokage and one of his idol Hokages was the Fourth who gave his life to save the village. The idea that what he did was not true was outrageous.

"Now before you go thinking wrong, the Fourth did save the village from the Kyuubi but not by killing it. As you already know, Tailed Beasts (Bijuu) like the Kyuubi are entities made completely out of chakra. They do not have a body to kill and hence are also said to be immortal. That's why the Fourth did something else to stop it. He sealed it." This relieved the twins first and shocked them again. They knew about what the Bijuu's were. Being a descendent of the first Hokage, Hashirama Senju, you normally read about it. They also knew that their great grandmother, the First's wife, Mito Uzumaki, had the Kyuubi sealed inside of her. Then it hit them, then it meant that the Kyuubi was sealed inside someone again by the Fourth Hokage.

Seeing realisation come to their faces, Tsunade braced herself before saying, "I see you got it. Yes, it was sealed inside a person just like your great grandmother. But you see to seal that much big chakra entity into someone is difficult especially during a fight. So what the fourth did was divide the Kyuubi's chakra and sealed them into two people." That revelation hit the twins like a ton of bricks. Seeing their reaction Tsunade almost cursed herself for telling them this. But it was their right to know what they carry so she continued.

"Yes, he sealed it into you two. Naruto, you have the Yang half of Kyuubi's chakra while Namiko has the Yin half." Tsunade finished and waited for her children's reaction. Shizune was also listening to this and waited for her them.

During the course of 12 years from when Tsunade adopted the former Namikaze twins, she and Shizune had become very attached to them. To Tsunade, it felt odd at the beginning to have kids. She had once dreamt of having them with Dan, but lost all hope after his death. Then at one point she did have a baby, but gave him up to his father before leaving the village because of her emotional turmoil. She still regretted not being with her first child and instead handing him to his father. That was also the reason why she didn't want to adopt the twins at first. It brought the memories of her own child back, who she abandoned just for the sake of avoiding her sorrow. She never thought she would be able to give as much love to these children as a mother should give considering the sin she committed.

But after saving them from the kidnapper, she understood. She was doing it all over again. Abandoning something for her own selfish reasons. That is why she decided to adopt them. And she considered it the best decision of her life. The day they called her mother, she felt all the joy a mother could have felt. She knew it didn't correct her past mistakes but she thought she was able to feel like being a mother. And now she couldn't even think about a life without them. Never did she feel that they were adopted, she raised them as if they came out of her own womb.

Shizune for her part was the same. When her master adopted the twins she was not much older than 15 but still when they started calling her Nee-chan, an indescribable feeling filled her being. After losing her family, she never thought she would get any siblings. But now after these many years, she didn't think of them of anything else than her brother and sister, she also started calling Tsunade her mother.

For these reasons, both of them were anxious about the twins' reaction. But when Naruto hit his palm with the base of his fists with a look of realisation they became confused.

"So that's what the seal holds. It did indeed look like holding something big and holding it very tightly I must say. Even with my knowledge of seals, I was hardly able to understand it except for the part that said that it was holding something." Naruto said. Being a Fuuinjustu (Sealing arts) specialist he was able to understand that much of the part of the seal. While Namiko was also well versed in seals she normally leaned more towards Medical Ninjutsu her mother taught her. Naruto had more interest in learning seals from his perverted uncle than Medical Ninjutsu, but their Sannin family made them learn everything anyway.

"Right, Onii-sama also said that both his and my seal had a very intricate difference. So that was probably due to the difference in chakra natures, right Onii-sama?" Namiko asked.

"Exactly. And also an even numbered seal is always good in sealing something related to chakra so as not to disrupt the balance of chakra in the person." Her brother explained further.

Tsunade, for her part, just sweat dropped, while Shizune did it while smiling 'Should have known.'.

"All of this and you just caught the seal part. Did you not hear the thing about a giant Bijuu sealed inside of you?" Tsunade exclaimed to which Namiko answered.

"We did Kaa-chan (Mother) but then great grandmother also had it sealed inside of her." Namiko started,

"So we thought it isn't that bad. It's like having something special handed down to you from the family. In this case a giant nine tailed fox demon." Naruto finished.

Tsunade just smiled at their answer. It was true. The Kyuubi was first sealed into her grandmother, then into their biological mother, though they were currently unaware of it, and now them. But there was still some warning left for them.

"It's good that you're taking this positively. But not everyone who carry Bijuu in them are treated well. Jinchuurikis, as what you are called, are normally hated in their villages for what they carry because the Bijuu's at some point of time have wreaked havoc to their villages and still fear them. Even here in Konoha if the civilians were told about you, you would be hated. That is why it was kept a secret till now, even from you, and why it should remain as such till the time is right. While the people have had enough time to heal from the wounds caused by Kyuubi's rampage 12 years ago some may still hold a grudge. But most of the ninja population except the Chuunins and Genins know about this. It would be better not to tell this to everyone and only to the ones you trust." Tsunade explained.

"But Kaa-chan, how come we haven't felt its presence in ourselves till now. I mean if we have the strongest Bijuu inside of us won't we feel it?" Namiko asked.

"I guess the seal has a key which can tighten and loosen it and with the six resistance seal on us it was difficult to tell even for us." Naruto explained.

"Correct Ruto-chan, the pervert made it such that you don't feel it. He knew if you took to the seals how normal Uzumakis do then you would probably figure it out yourself or may even end up using its chakra prematurely. That's why he tightened the seal just enough so that you don't feel it, neither do you feel the back lash when it is loosened, which we will do after your team assignments." Tsunade explained.

The trio called each other affectionately in times like this but changed to formal greetings when times required like in front of Hokage, even then it was only because of the seriousness of the talk they had.

"So Ero-oji (Pervy Uncle) is coming tomorrow. Good, I wanted some advice on a new seal I was working on." Naruto said.

"But, Onii-sama, you said you will work on my Taijutsu tomorrow." Namiko whined.

"Of course I will Hime (Princess). We will work on the seals afterwards." Assured Naruto bringing a smile on his sister's face.

"Why don't I work on your Taijutsu tomorrow Miko-chan and let Ruto-chan work on his seal with his Oji-san (Uncle)." Their mother offered cracking her knuckles.

Namiko paled after hearing that but then grinned, "Bring it on then Kaa-chan."

"Ruto-kun you shouldn't spoil her so much." Shizune chastised.

"I don't know what you are talking about Nee-chan." Naruto countered.

Shizune just shook her head. After some more arguing and bonding they decided to call it a night and proceeded to their rooms.

Previously the next day was only supposed to be special because of the team assignments but it suddenly got even more important. What more did the next day hold for them?

Sasuke's Apartment

The young Uchiha was laying on his mattress, wide awake, unable to sleep. The secret unveiled to him was too great.

Ever since the massacre, his only goal was to kill his brother to get his revenge but now, he didn't know. If what the Hokage said was true then his brother was innocent. Though he DID kill the clan but apparently the clan itself was guilty. His father, and maybe even his mother. He didn't want to think that his parents were traitors but the proof said otherwise. The way the Hokage said it, he didn't seem to be lying or else he would have been killed by now for having confidential information.

The only thing he could do now was wait for his brother and ask him directly and hopefully get the truth.

Then there was the team assignments. He didn't care much for others but it was true that he would need a team to get stronger. Then a face came to his mind, someone he left behind in his path for revenge. But if there wouldn't be any revenge, would there be any reason to push his friends away? Truthfully if that friend wouldn't have been there today then he probably would've been in a jail cell for treason. That's why if he wanted to be in a team then he wanted it to be with his old rival and friend. With that thought somehow sleep overcame him and he started his unconscious wait for tomorrow.

AN:

No omake on this one. I did have an idea but after I wrote it, it just didn't fit right with me. So I deleted it.

So yeah the secret to Uchiha massacre is out. I know it seems odd to reveal it to a 12 year old Sasuke, but a revenge obsessed 16 year old Sasuke is no different from a 12 year old one. And I feel if he was explained by a proper person like Itachi, he would have understood, somewhat. Tobi obviously spun the story to make his hate grow.

The secret to Kyuubi is also out. Since the Mizuki incident didn't do it, it would have to be done somehow. Again I think if Naruto was told about it by someone else, say Hokage, he wouldn't have reacted to it negatively either. Mizuki literally told him he was a demon. And the extreme level of stupid Naruto (over 9000!) was in the cannon, he would obviously buy it.

So next is team assignments, who will be in whose team? We will see in the next chapter of Twice Fated. So stay tuned.