Chapter 30

Sombre Discoveries

Konoha was always going to be a little different in the aftermath of the purges and that's what it became. The weather felt a little gloomier, the clouds overhead a little darker, the sun not as bright. Everyone who called Konohagakure home seemed to have lost a little of their cheer. The complete silence following Minato's pronouncement was eerie, no one spoke, not even a whisper, not even a cough.

In response, the other Shinobi clans concerned over village perceptions took action to improve their reputations and relations with the general Shinobi and civilian populations. Their efforts bore fruit as it also allowed others to better understand the normally isolated clans and better appreciate their usually unacknowledged contributions to the village.

The Nara clan for the first time worked with civilian herders to tend to their deer populations. Given how inherently lazy most of the Nara clan was it was a surprise they hadn't thought of it earlier since it greatly reduced the workload of many.

The Aburame started just simply interacting with the rest of the village more, while always polite and courteous they had almost always kept to themselves, but no longer. It wasn't uncommon now to see an Aburame clan member perusing through the large open-air markets anymore or socialising.

With the Uchiha clan massively reduced in size, it was left for others to fill the now gaping holes in the Konoha police force. The Inuzuka and Hyūga clans filled many of the positions, with the rest taken by clanless Shinobi. Bizarrely the combination of the Inuzuka's exuberance and the Hyūga's stoic professionalism synergized incredibly well as the new police force quickly built itself a reputation for efficiency thanks to the Hyūgas and a more open, friendlier face courtesy of the Inuzuka's.

As for the remainder of the Uchiha clan, they began the long, slow process of rebuilding their shattered reputation. They started with concessions, they ceded nearly 40% of their clan holdings back to the village, agreed to no longer run the Konoha police force and handed over their previously secret Jutsu library so that all Konoha Shinobi may put them to use.

This was far more than was initially asked of them, Minato had only made minor demands to help the broken clan save face in the eyes of the village, or at least as much as could be saved. The Yondaime Hokage had deemed the decimation of their clan numbers as sufficient punishment. But Uchiha Mikoto had extended the offer and the council had accepted it. The final act was to bar the Uchiha clan head from taking their seat and deliberating on the council for the next five years.

The concessions had the desired effect, the village was placated, there were a few isolated incidents of Uchiha members begin harassed but were quickly dealt with by the new look police force. And the village adapted, it moved on as all things must do with the passing of time. These events Rezano saw and experienced first hand but there were many more, some he knew the existence of, others he didn't.

For starters, he and his classmates graduated from the Academy, he was delighted to finally be an official Shinobi.

*Thud*

Tri's suspension was upheld, ending on the day Tsunade confirmed him once again medically fit as Minato had originally declared. With his Hitai-ate returned and the uproar from the Purge still occupying the minds of many he was quickly and quietly promoted, Minato had found a line of work he suited and immediately put him to work. This Rezano had indirectly seen unfold.

*Smash*

The Purge had also had a knock-on effect on the negotiations with the Iwa delegation, it had completely over-shadowed and pushed them far down the list of priorities. So sadly they had returned to Iwagakure with nothing having been agreed but for a promise to pursue another diplomatic exchange at a later date, something which did eventually take place months later.

It did ensure that Naruto and Kurotsuchi would have to wait out those months but their patience wasn't rewarded. The second meeting took place in the rocky village of Iwagakure but not a single opportunity presented itself over the course of the several weeks Naruto was there thus their wait would have to continue. This was something Rezano knew nothing about.

*Thud*

But then again even if he did, he'd push it from his mind. Rezano had far more pressing concerns, things that were far more important in his life, things that took immediate precedence. Such as the kunai and Shuriken that were currently flying past his head.

"Come back here you little shit!" an angry voice shouted from somewhere behind him. He tried to put it out of his mind as he ran, jumping from tree to tree, branches slapping against his face leaving scratches to go with his whisker birthmarks.

He was so confused by what was happening. He and his sister had brought the scroll just as Mizuki-sensei had said. Then he'd turned on them and now he didn't know where Minusha was. They'd both been separated and he was scared something had happened to her. He was working himself into a panic as images of his potentially dead sister flashed through his mind. With him so distracted he completely missed the barrage of kunai aimed at him.

"AH!," he screamed in pain as one of the sharp implements cut the ligament at the back of his left ankle. His left leg was planted at the time so he couldn't jump to the next tree. He came crashing down hard on the dirt below, his head cracking off an exposed tree root leaving a mean looking cut beside his right eye, blood quickly running down his face. It also knocked him for six and sevens.

His head rang and his vision swam and he couldn't refocus his mind. His eyelids felt heavy and he was starting to feel nauseous. He tried to crawl away but struggled to get his limbs to respond properly. His vision worsened as blood got into his left eye. He cried out in pain again as a foot came down hard on his bad ankle.

He was pulled to his feet by his hair and thrown back against a tree, again his head smacking off the wood. He fell on his backside, propped up against the tree trunk. The figure in front of him was just a blur, he still knew it was Mizuki-sensei but he couldn't make out any facial features, he could barely tell what colour his clothes were.

Not that he'd be able to fight back if he could see straight, he didn't have any of his equipment or his chain kunai blades on him.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, little Rezano-kun," Mizuki grinned. "You know, I put all those hours into planning how I'd get you all on your own, away from your parents, away from your brothers. I wouldn't have bothered if I'd have known it was going to be this easy." The young boy was just about able to understand his words, "Whii?" he slurred

"Why you ask?" The teacher shook his head in amusement. "Because little fox, you're the reason my family are dead."
"W-wha?" Rezano's confusion deepened, he'd never killed anybody in his life and why did Mizuki call him 'little fox'? "Did you not know little fox?" Rezano didn't answer, Mizuki laughed as he interpreted his silence as no.

"My, my little fox. There is much you don't know. But most importantly what you don't know is that the tale that the Yondaime killed the Kyūbi is a lie. Rezano kept quiet, what on earth was he going to say? "It's impossible to kill a Bijū, did you know that? The only way to successfully defeat them is to seal them away," he explained. But still Rezano didn't know what he was talking about.

"Wow, I must say I'm disappointed Rezano-kun. You were one of the smartest in your class I bet Meshikamaru-san would have gotten it by now. You can't seal a Bijū into any old thing, it's too powerful, a scroll just won't do. You have to seal it into a person, the younger the better, perhaps now you can figure out who."

Even with his brain all over the place he was able to pool enough of his thinking power to piece together what Mizuki meant. What he came up with made his heart sink, 'It couldn't be true, could it?'

"Ah, there you go," Mizuki laughed as he saw Rezano's facial expression change. "You've put it all together I see. Yes little fox, it's true. You are the Kyūbi Jinchuriki! You are the Kyūbi!" he triumphantly declared. Mizuki continued laughing for a few seconds as he walked away. He reached around 15 feet, stopped and turned around.

"When I first heard the rumour, I didn't know whether to believe it or not. I'd pretty much given up on ever getting my revenge for that night, the night you killed my parents and destroyed my life. Many people in this village consider your brother Naruto a hero, I wonder after I've killed you whether those same people would consider me a hero too."

"Oh yes, it's not just me who knows. All those dark looks, all those insults you overheard. The whole village knows it and they hate you. Not even your precious parents can save you from their scorn." Mizuki revelled in the comments he was laying into Rezano with, the boy's look of confusion was turning into one of despair.

"And now it's time to end this little fox. Die knowing that nobody will know who killed you. You and your sister's deaths will forever remain a mystery," he sneered. Admittedly Rezano didn't need to know that he'd lost Minusha almost as quickly as the boy did, he had no idea where the brat was nor did he care, he had the forbidden scroll over his back. He'd be long gone by the time they figured out what happened.

He lifted up a Fūma Shuriken, pulled his arms back and hefted it with all his might. Rezano's vision focused just enough to see the large black instrument of death sailing towards him. Seeing his death coming he closed his eyes in resignation.

Minutes earlier

"Suzushii, please tell me you see something," Naruto called over. He was growing more and more concerned. They'd been searching for nearly ten minutes now. Unbeknownst to nearly everyone the forbidden scroll had a highly advanced security system protecting it, utilising some of the incredible electronic-based camera technology imported from Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow).

It meant ANBU knew almost immediately that it had been taken and they knew who had taken it too. Within minutes the Hokage had been informed and not much later ANBU squads were out in full force across the village. Naruto and his squad were about to depart for a mission when they were roped into the search as well.

The Hyūga was scanning through the innumerable trees that surrounded Konoha. He'd opened his Byakugan's field of vision up as wide as possible, zooming in whenever he spotted something, like he was right now. "I found Rezano, about a mile and a half ahead, just off to the left."
"What about Minusha-chan?" Naruto worriedly exclaimed. "About the same distance but off to the right slightly, they're maybe four hundred yards apart," he answered, his eyes were drawn back to the left. "There's someone chasing Rezano."
"Friendly?" Hana asked. Suzushii shook his head, "No they're throwing kunai at him."

Naruto had to react quickly and he did, "I'm trusting the three of you to get to Rezano, I'll go for Minusha."
"Hai," the three replied. Naruto was gone in a flash.

The blonde Jōnin charged through the trees at a speed Naruto didn't know he was capable of. It was speed more commonly associated with his brother, speed fuelled by adrenaline. Blurs of brown and green flashed past him, it almost seemed like his vision was narrowing. That mile and a half was chewed up in less than 100 seconds.

He burst out through the last patch of greenery. On the ground below him was a young girl with bright red hair, she was huddled in between two large tree roots, tears pouring down her face, there was an elongated cut down her right forearm, blood dripped from her hand.

Naruto was of mixed emotions as he dropped down in front of her, he was both angry and yet his heart was breaking at seeing her cry like that. He gently put his hands on her shoulders, she shook trying to get loose of his grasp, "It's me Minusha-chan, it's me," he reassured her. Her head shot up as she recognised his voice, "Nii-chan!" she cried as she threw herself into his arms.

"I'm s-sorry, Nii-chan," she blubbed. "Hush now Minusha-chan, it's ok," he comforted her. "I-I don't know where Rezano Nii-chan is."
"It's ok, my team know where he is, we need to go see if he's ok so we can't stay here, okay?" he explained as he tried to curb the blood seeping from her wound. She continued crying, a hand rubbing her red eyes but she nodded. He lifted her up and held her with a single arm as he took off again.

Mizuki watched with delight as the Fūma Shuriken drew closer to Rezano. Time seemed to slow down so Mizuki saw every detail as a white-eyed Shinobi slid in front of the Shuriken, twisting their body they shouted out. "Kaiten," (Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven).

"NO!" Mizuki shouted in anger as the oversized Shuriken struck the revolving orb of blue chakra, bouncing off with a loud metallic clang and deeply embedding in a nearby tree trunk. "Why? Why couldn't you just let the demon die!" his voice almost despairing.

Suzushii came to a stop and assumed his Jūken stance but he didn't say anything, he left that to the others. "You really are pathetic, Mizuki," Hana darkly said. The teacher flinched, she was right behind him, he hadn't felt her presence at all. Shinsuke appeared next to Rezano's side, a protective hand on his shoulder.

"Please you three, see reason. Just let me kill the fox. No one has to know," he pleaded. The three Chūnin looked at one another, then at Rezano then finally back to Mizuki. "Nah," Shinsuke answered, "we could kill you instead though. I reckon there's a good case for treason here."
"You know, I think you might be right Shinsuke," Hana evilly added, a malicious grin showing off her fangs.

Then the penny dropped for Mizuki, if Hana was here then so were her Ninken, he mentally winced as his eyes began scanning for an escape route. His worry escalated as he heard the low growls of the trio of oversized canines.

He ran, straight into the trees. Naruto's three Chūnin chuckled amongst themselves, something that confused Rezano greatly. "I've got the boy, you two deal with him," Shinsuke said, the other two nodded and shot off after him, quickly followed by the Haimaru brothers.

"Will they catch him?" a quiet voice asked him. "Hmm," Shinsuke said, he admittedly hadn't been listening. "Will they catch him?" the injured boy repeated. The Chūnin gave him a wide grin, "Oh, don't worry kid he's got no chance."
"Really?" Rezano didn't seem too convinced by Shinsuke's casual attitude. "Yep, he can't outrun three Ninken and he can't hide from Suzushii's Byakugan. So don't worry, he's done for," he said as he looked over the boy's injuries.

And that was how Naruto with Minusha in arm found the both of them, Shinsuke wrapping a bandage around Rezano's head. Naruto looked around, "Where are the others?" Shinsuke didn't get chance to answer.

"ARGHH," echoed a voice in the distance. "See kid, told you they'd get him. He really neglected his training while he was a teacher, they got him quicker than I thought."
"I presume 'they' means Hana and Suzushii?" Naruto inquired. "Indeed," Shinsuke answered with his ever-present grin.

Minusha wriggled out of Naruto's arms and rushed to her youngest brother. "Careful little lady," Shinsuke warned as he tearfully threw herself at him, "Your bro's got one hell of a concussion."
"Anything more than the concussion?" Naruto asked as his younger siblings hugged one another in relief. "Yeah, a gash on the side of his face, and a cut to the back of his ankle, think the ligament may have been nicked too."

When Minusha finally let go of her youngest brother Naruto assessed her injuries properly, thankfully the only one was the cut on her arm. But he was worried by how quiet they both were, Minusha's gaze flickered between the two brothers while Rezano just stared blankly into the distance.

After a few minutes Suzushii and Hana returned, The Hyūga dragging the rather savaged looking corpse of Mizuki behind him. Sporting multiple nasty looking bite marks, blood still draining from the puncture wounds, the neck in particular was a mangled mess, and… why was a hand missing?

"Hana… Where did the hand go?" Naruto drolly asked. "Uhh, eheh. About that," she sheepishly laughed, her eyes flickering briefly to her right. Naruto followed them and there was one of her Ninken, the missing hand clamped in its jaws. "My over eagerness may have also manifested in my boys."
"May have?" Naruto deadpanned.

Minusha stared at the corpse of her Nii-chan's former teacher. She may have cried at being hurt, she may have been scared not knowing what had happened to her brother. But looking at the ravaged body of Mizuki didn't fill her with revulsion, the bile didn't rise in her throat. Despite her young years she knew that wasn't the normal reaction of someone her age, she wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Nii-chan, is being a Shinobi always this… messy?" Naruto evaluated his sister's expression, he found surprisingly that he couldn't read her very well, 'She's got a good poker face.' "Yes, it can be," he honestly answered. "I see," was her neutral reply and Naruto couldn't help but worry, as all should for their younger siblings.

"Don't suppose any of you have a sealing scroll for the body?" Shinsuke snorted, "Do we look like your brother?" he joked. Naruto gave him a playful withering stare, "No I suppose not, he's a professional after all, I guess it's too much to ask of you, you bloody amateur," he riposted. "Not half bad," Shinsuke commended giving Naruto a wide grin and a patronising applause.

"Do Shinobi normally act like him?" Minusha again questioned. "No, Shinsuke's just an abnormality," Hana said. "HEY!" the discussed Shinobi whined, he did his best to sound genuinely offended. "We all know I'm the life and soul of this little troupe of ours."
"All right Shinsuke, quit your whining and finish so we can leave, I imagine Hokage-sama and Kushina-sama will be rather anxious," Suzushii butted in before Shinsuke and Hana started trading barbs as he hefted the forbidden scroll over his shoulder. "Hmph," he pouted, "already finished."
"Then we're done here, let's go," Naruto ordered.

Suzushii carried the scroll, Shinsuke got to drag the body, Hana carried Minusha and Rezano got a piggy-back from Naruto.

"Nii-san," Rezano quietly said. "Hmm," Naruto hummed. "Am-am I the Kyūbi?"
"What? What sort of a question is that?" Naruto was legitimately baffled while his team all looked nervously at one another. "Am I the Kyūbi?" he repeated, his voice a little more forceful. "Rezano-kun, I've no idea what you're talking about."

Hana gave Suzushii a stern look and jerked her head towards the two brothers, the Hyūga sighed in resignation before chiming in. "Did you not hear this rumour Naruto?"
"What rumour?" he said in exacerbation. "The rumour that Rezano-san is the Kyūbi Jinchuriki." Naruto was silent a few moments as he comprehended what he'd just heard. "Where in the world did this rumour come from?"
"It cropped up around the time most of the Uchiha went to live with the Shinigami," Shinsuke replied. "Who started it?" Shinsuke shrugged his shoulders, "No idea, I doubt anyone does. I heard it from another Chūnin."
"Same," Hana said. "I heard it from another member of my clan," Suzushii admitted. "Does everyone but me know this rumour?" Naruto complained. "Let's be honest Naruto, who in their right mind was going to tell you?" Hana said. "Hn," Naruto grunted, "Good point," he conceded.

"So you don't know Nii-san?"
"I'm probably not the best person to ask, Otouto. What exactly did Mizuki say to you and why did you take the scroll?"

Naruto could feel Rezano tense up on his back but nevertheless he recounted the evening's events. While the fogginess in his brain had for the most part dissipated he still had to pause occasionally as his headache ebbed and flowed.

The more Naruto heard, the more he felt being mauled to death by three Ninken was an appropriate way for Mizuki to die. "I wondered why people kept giving me evil looks, why some civilians and Shinobi insulted me. Now I know and so do you. Guess I'll just have to get used to everyone hating me."
"Now you know that's not true, Otouto. I know for a fact your main teacher Iruka-san doesn't, well apart from when you decided to paint the Hokage monument he was pretty upset that day."
"How do you know? I thought Mizuki was someone I could trust…"

"Well, first let me ask you this. This rumour started when the Uchiha purge took place, did the way Mizuki acted around you or towards you change?" Naruto had hit upon a question that Rezano had asked himself months ago and already knew the answer to, "Yes," he quietly answered. "And how about Iruka-san?"

Rezano wondered that perhaps he was too transfixed on those who did change that he missed those who didn't because he racked his brain for those similar signs but he found none. "No," his voice even quieter this time, barely a whisper. "And that's what separates people like Mizuki and Iruka-san Otouto because Iruka-san lost both his parents on the night of Kyūbi attack too."
"He did?" he glumly asked. "Yep, he wasn't that much older than you either. I was there when a Jōnin dropped him off just before the protective barrier went up, both his parents were on the other side, he never saw them alive again."

"How close were you Nii-san?"
"Close enough, I was like half a mile away and its roars were still deafening. You should ask Tri-kun about this, he was right in front of it."
"He was?!" he said in shock, by now everyone was listening with interest, none of the three Chūnin had caught any glimpses of the colossal orange furred demon and had only heard it off in the far distance.

"Yeah, from what Kaa-chan and Tou-san have said, he simply appeared out of nowhere. And while he doesn't talk about it I imagine there isn't another question in the world he wants an answer to more than 'How did I get here?'"

The rest of their journey back into the village was a quiet one. An ANBU team had discovered them and had since returned to the village to inform the Hokage.

"Do we take them to the Hospital first Naruto?" Suzushii asked. "No, we'll take them home first, I imagine Kaa-chan worked herself into a panic a while ago."

They didn't have to go that far. As the village gates came into view, they could make out a figure pacing back and forth. As soon as they caught sight of the returning Shinobi they shot towards them, long red hair streaming behind them.

"Kaa-chan!" Minusha cried, Hana hurriedly putting her down, the young girl soon lifted off the ground once more this time in Kushina's arms. The moment he came into range Naruto and by proxy Rezano found themselves yanked into the hug. "Stupid, stupid children," Kushina quietly cried. "Sorry, Kaa-chan," Rezano mumbled, desperately trying to make himself as small as possible to try and hide behind Naruto.

"What on earth happened to Mizuki?" Minato asked the Chūnin Trio, having obviously noticed Shinsuke dragging the body. The Hyūga quickly recovered from the surprise of being directing questioned by the Hokage. "From what Rezano-san's said, Mizuki tricked him and Minusha-san into stealing the Forbidden Scroll. After handing the scroll over he intended to kill them and then vanish into the night."

Suzushii stepped closer to Minato, "Rezano seems to have gotten it into his head that he's the Kyūbi. Mizuki took the rumour to heart and told him before trying to kill him." Minato winced, he had hoped that 'rumour' would simply fade away, 'Clearly I thought wrong,' he bemoaned. If one person was willing to allow a rumour to drive them to kill a child then there would certainly be others.

He would have to take action to ensure the safety of his two youngest. 'Will I finally have to hand out one of my kunai?' Minato had never handed someone one of his Hiraishin kunai, at least not for an extended period of time.

"How are they both?"
"A few minor cuts and bruises on Minusha-san while Rezano-san had a laceration to an ankle ligament, a sizeable gash on his face and I suspect a hefty concussion," Shinsuke relayed. Minato nodded his understanding before addressing all three of them, "Thank you for tonight. I know you were thrown into this rather suddenly and that it's thrown out your mission schedule."

"Now I was going to inform you after you'd returned but I may as well tell you now. After looking over Naruto's proposal I've decided to accept it. Upon your return the four of you will officially be designated as a permanent team. The first permanent non-Genin team that aren't apart of ANBU," The look of delight was evident on their faces.

"I'll also be dispensing compensation equivalent to the sum of a B-Rank miss... Wait, where's his hand?" Hana blushed in embarrassment as Shinsuke burst out laughing.

The family sat in silence. They knew what needed to be said but no one knew quite how to start such a discussion. Minato and Kushina were desperate to alleviate their youngest son's worries over who he was but both were so nervous they'd make a hash of it and say the wrong thing or describe it poorly that neither were yet to say a single word.

Kushina was sat in the middle of the sofa, a protective arm over Rezano and Minusha either side of her. Minato lazily leaning back in an armchair, a decidedly tired look on his face, Naruto half sat/ half leaned on the arm of the Sofa. The young man couldn't start this conversation, because he simply didn't know enough about Jinchuriki's or Bijū's. There were only two people in the room who did but neither of them were saying anything.

Naruto found himself growing more and more frustrated as the silence dragged out and he was about to lay into his parents for their sudden bout of nerves when the front door opened. Naruto held station, 'Perhaps there is another who can break this absurd silence.'

The late arrival soon walked through the door, "Well this silence is pretty much what I expected," Tri remarked. Scanning the room, he could sense the nervousness permeating off if his entire family. "So… Who wants to walk me through exactly why ANBU headquarters in a matter of minutes devolved into a frenzied panic?"

Nothing.. "Anyone?"

"No one? No one's gonna talk me through why the forbidden scroll was stolen and why an Academy teacher is in the morgue with only one hand?"
"I will," Minusha answered to the surprise of most present.

The next few minutes were filled with Minusha's naturally soft voice as she explained how Mizuki had tricked them both into stealing the Forbidden Scroll and his attempts to kill them. "Mizuki also said some things to Rezano nii-chan that I don't really understand."
"Relating too?"
"The Kyūbi," Naruto answered. "Ahh, so Rezano-kun now knows he's the Kyūbi Jinchuriki," he said without a hint of trepidation.

'Actually Tri is perfect for this conversation, he just doesn't care if it's a sensitive matter or not, he'll have it regardless. Like any good ANBU,' Naruto thought to himself. "So I am the Kyūbi then," Rezano sombrely said, his head dropping.

"Otouto, you weren't listening. I said you were the Kyūbi Jinchuriki, not the Kyūbi," he bluntly said. "What's the difference," was his bitter reply. "A great deal Baka. Do you have orange fur?"
"No," he irritably answered. "Are you 100 foot tall?"
"No."
"Do you have nine tails?
"No."
"Then you ain't the Kyūbi are ya." His words were un-embellished but brimming with tack. Rezano didn't need coddling right now, it was too serious a matter.

"And looks can be deceiving," he shot back. Tri understood his meaning, he was referring to Mizuki and what Rezano thought he knew turning out to be false. "A fair point but does a prison become the prisoner?"
"No it is just a prison, you're trivialising this."
"Perhaps, but only in the sense that you are both the prison and the prison guard as well as holding the cell key."
"Cell Key?"

"Uh huh," he nodded. "Stand up." Rezano was unsure what he was doing but he did as Tri asked. "Lift up your shirt." Now he was really confused but with a reassuring nod from Naruto he again did as he was asked. Tri approached him and with two chakra laced fingers and poked him in the stomach. "What are you…"

Rezano was silenced as a frighteningly complex seal appeared on his stomach. "This is your key. Tou-san wasn't just going to seal it away without taking some serious precautions. The Kyūbi's influence, it's power is kept in check and contained by this seal."

"Technically the seal is the lock, your willpower is the key," Minato added. "The seal is unlockable if you chose to. I wouldn't recommend that however, not yet anyway, you'd be forced into a battle of wills against it, you win you could permanently gain a portion of its power, you lose…" he trailed off.

"You die," Tri finished.

"So what does this all mean for me?"
"Negatively speaking, it means you'll have to put up with a lot of crap from bigots who can't tell the difference between a gigantic orange fox and a pre-teen Genin. Congratulations on graduating by the way Otouto."
"Thanks," he replied, with the first smile he'd had all evening before becoming serious again. "Am I the only Jinchuriki?"
"No. There are nine Bijū and near enough nine Jinchuriki. The major Hidden villages tend to horde them as Shinobi super-weapon."

"Super-weapons?"
"Yes, you need to remember the Bijū aren't regular creatures like Hana-chan's Ninken or Minusha-chan's pet Goldfish. If the old stories are true the Bijū are instead masses of pure chakra given consciousness, they are incredibly powerful beings. And Jinchuriki tend to inherit some of that power especially when the sealing takes place very young like yours."

"So I might inherit some of its power?"
"We don't know for sure but we believe you already have," Kushina said, finally finding her voice. "I and Minato-kun have sizeable chakra reserves, Naruto-kun and Minusha-chan both have large reserves thanks mostly to this. Tri-kun's are larger still but yours dwarf his Rezano-kun."
"Then there's your healing factor too," Naruto said, "But for all the ability and talent the 'Prodigal Three' have, your potential likely eclipses ours by some margin," he added.

"Have you ever met another like me?"
"Yep," Tri nodded. "And so have you. Remember my and Naruto's Chūnin Exams, my second round opponent Fū-chan is a Jinchuriki."
"Are all Jinchuriki treated badly?" he asked, remember some conversation Tri and Minato had had. Tri sighed, "I'm afraid so Otouto, Fū-chan is treated incredibly poorly in Takigakure despite Tou-sans efforts to make things better for her. Although perhaps its not all doom and gloom, I've heard some interesting things coming out of Kumogakure about their Jinchuriki."

"Like what?"
"Kumo's rumoured two Jinchuriki, who were supposedly hated for years may not be anymore."
"How come? Most don't let g off such animosity easily," Naruto questioned. Tri shrugged his shoulders, "No idea. But it means it ain't all hopeless for you Rezano-kun. You'll just have to channel that inner stubbornness of yours and make people see you as the young Shinobi you are."

Rezano's face seemed to have brightened and regained some of its colour. "Remember, you wear the Hitai-ate of Konoha now. You're expected to be professional in your duties so you can't kick someone's ass if they insult you." Rezano looked a little annoyed at that and was about to retort but Tri cut him off. "So if someone does insult you, tell me or Naruto and we'll kick their ass."

End Chapter

Well thirty chapters, thirty chapters and we've finally fucking reached Naruto: Episode 1. Took longer than I thought to reach the start of canon but we're here. Will probably be another thirty before we reach Shippuden at this rate.

Anyway I wanted to inform you all that the pilot chapter for my second fic is currently being written. It revolves around Sasuke taking the decision to walk a path of his own and not the one manipulated by Itachi and how it changes the course of his life. Unlike in TPT, Sasuke will be the sole main character and will also follow Canon much closer. It's release schedule will also be far more erratic than TPT.

So if that sounds like something that catches your interest keep an eye out. It'll be called 'Path of my Own'.