Part 3
After another filling trip to Ichiraku, Naruko left a suddenly financially deprived Iruka and headed toward the Hokage Tower. She really hoped this wouldn't take too long, she'd been out all day either sparring, socialising or running errands, getting her village life back in order. It was nice, being back home and seeing everyone again but she missed her bed, especially since she'd replaced the old lumpy mattress earlier that day. She'd changed out of her kunoichi clothing and, instead opting to wear a comfortable tank top and shorts, with her hair tied into a high ponytail but left the two locks of hair framing her face down.
Turning onto the main road, the only road that went from one end of the village to the other, the Hokage Tower came into view. She made her way inside, walking past mission halls where briefings took place and sealed doorways, to where she didn't know. Even after all the times she'd been in the Tower when the Sandaime was in power she only really knew the open hallways and the floor dedicated to the Hokage's office. Despite its lack of high defensive walls or large amount of guards, the Tower was one of the most heavily guarded buildings in the world. Despite popular belief, the ANBU didn't just melt into the shadows and stand watching. There were genjutsu seals placed on the ceiling hiding rafters and making the ceilings appear lower than they were. In fact, she'd been up on the rafters a few times when playing pranks as a child after she'd figured out the genjutsu was there. So every time she entered a new hallway she'd wave up at the ceiling, seemingly at nothing, only for a gloved hand to occasionally appear for a split second and wave back. She'd always liked the ANBU as a child, despite their cold exterior they were the only group that didn't seem to hate her like the rest of the village. Jiraiya explained to her that it was likely because basic fuuinjutsu training was mandatory for all ANBU Trainees, as such they understood the difference between the scroll and the kunai. It was a shame fuuinjutsu was such a complex and obscure art. It was widely acknowledged as one of the most powerful ninja tools that didn't require any prerequisites, like a bloodline, however the dedication and years of study turned many off. Fortunately for Naruko she seemed to have an inborn talent for the art, though she wasn't sure why, it was a very academic ability, whereas she was more of a practical person.
Eventually she walked up the final staircase and entered the Hokage's reception area. It was a fairly large rectangular room, at one of the long ends was the entrance to reception that she'd just entered through and the other to the Hokage's office at the far end. There were tables and chairs against the walls for visitors to sit in while waiting for the Hokage to call on them. This was the only room in the tower she knew of where ANBU guards were standing out in the open, one in each corner of the room. They all wore large cloaks so she could only see their masks. The only thing you could glean was their height and she'd seen some ANBU where heeled sandals, as it gave them more autonomy, so if they needed to go out of uniform on a mission it made it far less likely to be identified. The ceiling in reception was also higher than the rest of the tower, however the same genjutsu defence was in place, at least four operatives would be up there was well. She also knew of a few hidden seals around the room but she didn't know what they did, nor would the ANBU be too enthusiastic if she tried to examine them.
She walked up to the desk, the receptionist looked up and nodded then jerked her head towards the door. The same woman had been the Sandaime's receptionist and based on the kunai Naruko knew was strapped to the bottom of her chair she'd wager that 'Hokage's Receptionist' wasn't all she was.
Normally, Naruko would just enter through the window like Jiraiya however, he'd told her that wasn't a good idea after the sun went down unless she wanted an ANBU squad breathing down her neck. Knocking on the door she heard Tsunade call 'Enter!' and went inside. She found Tsunade sitting behind her desk, a bottle of sake held loosely in her hand and Jiraiya leaning against the wall fiddling with some kind of weirdly shaped kunai.
"Hey, Baa-chan, Ero-sennin, what's up?" Naruko asked.
"Hey, gaki. Take a seat. You'll want to sit for this." Tsunade responded.
Naruko nodded and sent Jiraiya a questioning look, he just lightly shook his head and nodded toward Tsunade. "So, what's going on?"
Tsunade sighed and placed her sake bottle onto the desk. Resting her elbows on the desk, she intertwined her fingers and finally made eye contact with Naruko. "Since you've been promoted to chuunin, as per their request, we will tell you about your parents."
Instantly Naruko stiffened, her relaxed posture disappearing as she sat up in her chair. She'd never managed to get anything out of the Old Man, the Sandaime only telling her he'd tell her when she was older, and all she'd gotten out of Jiraiya is that her mother's kenjutsu skills seemed to have been passed down to her as well as her father's calm demeanour, though apparently she'd been a lot more like her mother when she was younger in that she was quick to anger.
Seeing that Naruko wasn't going to say anything, Tsunade sighed again and pulled a file out of her desk and placed it in front of Naruko. The girl wordlessly picked it up, at the top it said, 'Uzumaki Kushina'. Opening it, she came face to face with a picture of a beautiful woman with bright red hair in the same style as Naruko when she had it down, but a lot longer. She had a round face and light purple eyes. She was wearing a black hoodie with the red spiral pattern on the front that was on the flak jackets and a long black skirt with a rose pattern and white casual shoes. She was sat on bench underneath a large frangipani tree with one hand on her slightly swollen belly and another held up, giving a peace sign to the camera.
Naruko pulled the photo up to find another underneath of a younger Kushina wearing standard jonin gear, sitting underneath the same frangipani tree, though it was smaller than in the other picture. It seemed she didn't know that the photographer was there as she sat tending to a nodachi with a whetstone. Her hair was done up in a high ponytail with two locks framing her face and a Konoha Hitai-ate around her forehead. Pulling that photo up as well she found a standard shinobi profile that read:
Uzumaki Kushina - A-rank
Konohagakure no Sato Elite Jonin, Ex-ANBU, Uzumaki Clan Matriarch, 'Reddotaigā no Kushina' (Kushina the Red Tiger)
Notable Skills - 0-5 Scale:
Fuuinjutsu: 4
Kenjutsu: 5
Taijutsu: 4.5
Ninjutsu: 4
Elemental Ninjutsu, (Suiton): 5
Genjutsu: 2
Shurikenjutsu: 3.5
Chakra Chain Jutsu, possible bloodline trait: 5
There were a few more pages, with bank details and old mission reports.
It was the last line on her personal details page, which listed only one family member that got Naruko's attention in particular:
Husband: Namikaze Minato - Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō (Konoha's Yellow Flash)
Naruko looked up at Tsunade with wide, teary eyes. Tsunade answered her unasked question. "Yes, Kushina was your mother. You were born in the late hours of October 10th, she died soon after in the early hours of October 11th, via a stab wound from one of the Kyuubi's claws though her back and out of her abdomen. She was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi before you. Her seal weakened during your birth and an unknown assailant attacked her and released it. He was defeated by the Yondaime, but a body was never recovered."
Naruko just starred at Tsunade's desk for a couple of minutes. Eventually she composed herself and asked, "What about my father?"
Tsunade was surprised by the evenness in her voice but put her hand into the draw again and placed another file in front of Naruko.
Naruko picked up the file titled 'Namikaze Minato'.
There was only one image. The Yondaime Hokage in his famous white cloak over standard jonin clothing, his messy, bright blond hair seemed to be swaying in the breeze. He stood under the same frangipani tree her mother had been sitting under in her pictures, his hands behind his back and a pleasant smile on his face and his bright blue eyes reflected a calm and friendly demeanour. It appeared as though she'd taken after him in looks somewhat with her more angular face as opposed to her mother's rounded one. She even had the same eyes and hair, right down to how naturally messy their hair was. Judging by the size of the tree, the photo seemed to have been taken around the same time as the picture of her pregnant mother. Pulling up the picture a she found a similar shinobi profile:
Namikaze Minato - S-Rank
Yondaime Hokage, Konohagakure no Sato Elite Jonin, Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō
Notable Skills - 0-5 Scale
Fuuinjutsu: 5
Kenjutsu: 2.5
Taijutsu: 5
Ninjutsu: 5
Elemental Ninjutsu: 4.5 (Katon, Doton)
Genjutsu: 3.5
Shurikenjutsu: 5
Especially notable for fuuinjutsu ability; the Hiraishin no Jutsu in particular.
Given a 'Flee-on-site' order during Third Great Shinobi War.
Seeing Naruko finish reading Jiraiya said "He died during the sealing of the Kyuubi into you. He wanted you to be seen as a hero. Unfortunately, the village didn't. He would've been a great father, I see so much of both of them in you, Naruko. Minato was my student. He was like a son to me-"
"Then where we you!?" Naruko suddenly shouted. She had stood up, tears and fury and sorrow shining in her eyes. "Twelve years! I was alone for twelve years! Why!?"
Jiraiya's eyes were filled with a similar sorrow, though he contained it far better. It showed clearly in his voice, however. "After the war and the Kyuubi attack, Konoha was in a greatly weakened position. The Sandaime needed me out of the village, defending it in the shadows. He assured me that he would keep you safe. He occasionally sent me updates on you; when you began living on your own, when you entered the Academy, how you graduated, for example. I didn't know how badly the villagers were treating you. I think part of the reason Sensei didn't tell me was because he knew I'd come straight back and there would be hell to pay." His shoulders were slumped and he bowed his head, unable to look into her eyes anymore. "I know it's not an excuse. I'm sorry, Naruko. I really am. I don't think I can ever make it up to you, but I'll try."
Naruko's rage seemed to evaporate, her energy leaving her. She collapsed into her chair and silently sobbed. Neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade knew what to do. They wanted to comfort the girl but they didn't know if her anger would return. After a while she calmed down and stopped crying, her loud sniffles filled the silence. "...where are they?" she asked just loudly enough for them to hear. Jiraiya walked over slowly and held out his hand. After a moment she took it and stood up. Tsunade got up and walked round the desk and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder.
The three disappeared in a shunshin and appeared in the small garden area behind the Hokage Tower. They led her toward an older part of the village. It wasn't part of the main city, it was where the various clans of Konoha had their private compounds and estates hidden in the forest. A ways up the path they suddenly turned, seemingly at random into the forest. After a couple of minutes they came upon a dirt path and they followed it. Soon after they came across a two story house that had fallen into disrepair. They walked around to the backyard; there were no fences around the house it was just by itself in a clearing in the forest, apart from what looked like what was once a garden. They stopped beneath a huge frangipani tree with two gravestones stones underneath. She broke down again, but this time both Jiraiya and Tsunade held her as she sobbed.
Part 3 End