Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Prince Naruto

Chapter 5: read a bombshell

Sayuri hadn't been on any mission for over ten years. Still she was very careful. She had never been in Konoha before and really didn't want to get caught. Sure, she could force her way out if necessary and no elemental country would go to war against Diamond anyway. But Sayuri didn't want to hurt any friends of the Prince. And nobody in Konoha should know just yet, where Prince Naruto was. He should tell his friends about everything himself.

Getting in the village was easy enough, now she only had to find the documents. The Tower was the best protected place in Konoha, so any documents about someone as important as Prince Naruto would surely be there. Probably in one of the higher floors or the basement.

During a shift change of the Anbus, Sayuri silently jumped up to a window in the Hokagetower and waited in the dark office. Two Anbus of the new shift came in her direction with about as much stealth as a group of first-year Academy-students on a field trip. She considered killing them, so they couldn't raise the alarm. But quickly decided against it. It wouldn't do to kill someone Naruto-sama was fond of. And the notion, either of the Anbus would notice her, was laughable. They were too busy with the latest gossip to pay attention to anything.

"Seriously, Dog. I can't believe Hokage-sama still wants to search for the brat! I mean one lucky hunter probably found him already the very first day and did everyone a long overdue favor. And hunters should be able to let a body disappear."

"... I can understand Hokage-sama. After all if the jinchuriki ends up in Kumo, Iwa or worse - with Orochimaru -, he would likely prepare to strike back at Konoha, possibly together with his new allies. And I for one can live without seeing the Kyuubi another time in his full glory. Thank you very much. Some like me, just wont be able to relax until the boy is found. Rabbit, right now I don't care if they find him alive or dead, as long as they do find him! Even the Hokage prefers Uzumaki dead to missing!"

"I guess you're right, Dog. After Mizuki's stunt, the brat probably wants nothing more than to get back at Konoha..."

Sayuri's heart was racing. Not because she was on a mission. Not even because this mission could generate quite a political fallout. Nor because off enemy ninjas walking by close enough for her to hear their heartbeat. She was used to those situations well enough. No. What made her blood cold like ice was one word: Uzumaki. They were talking about the Prince! And they rather had him dead than outside their control! No wonder, the Prince traveled alone and hardly spoke about his past. He probably ran away from here.

What else had they said? Mizuki's stunt? Maybe an important incident. She would have to find out what exactly happened. They also called him jinchuriki and mentioned the Kyuubi. Well, the elemental countries were usually too weak to fight a biju. That could be the reason, why they were so scarred of Naruto-sama. They were especially worried about Naruto-sama ending up in Kumo, Iwa or with Orochimaru. Hm, yeah, as far as she knew those were the groups that had one grudge or another with Konoha. Naturally they wouldn't want somebody, they feared, with those groups.

Ok, now she was calm enough again. Sayuri sneaked from door to door, always looking for an archive of some kind. After over twenty-four doors, seven more patrols and way to many spider filled hiding places - really, those Konoha-Nins should clean the Tower a bit more often, or more thoroughly - She found a promising room. Shelves were everywhere - like in a library. But instead of books or scrolls, they hold boxes and paperwork.

Sayuri closed the door soundlessly. Sure, she was now in pitch black darkness, but those patrols wouldn't come in here. They were far to lazy. With a still shaking head she made her way to the middle of the room and read titles of some boxes to understand the system of ordering. It was sorted by name with "A" close to the door. Well, this made everything simple.

Within a few seconds Sayuri found the Prince's documents and those of any other Uzumaki and Namikaze. She was surprised of how much documents about Naruto-sama were there and decided to take a look while putting everything in sealing scrolls. Maybe she would find a hint about that "Mizuki's stunt", the first patrol had been talking about.

But what she read, was so disgusting, inhumane and just plain wrong, that only the experience of decades kept her from flat out leveling this whole village.

His own father was basically a hero and his only dying wish was for Naruto-sama to be treaded as one too. But instead the village wanted to execute him before his fathers body was even cold! On the first day of his live he survived five different attempted assassinations. One of those from the doctor, that was supposed to heal him after the second attempt. His medical files didn't become much better. He had more often than not some sort of injuries. Mainly those kinds, a fresh Ninja would receive when barely surviving a misranked mission, that should have been handled by a veteran in the first place.

The Council decided to kick him out of the orphanage, when he was only five! When the Prince should never have been there at all. The Hokage should have put him somewhere, where he was safe and would be raised like his standing demanded. Even without knowing about Naruto-sama's connection to Diamond. After all the Hokage obviously knew about his family in Uzu, since he gave the Prince his mothers maiden name.

Basically the village completely ignored not only the dying wish of their greatest hero, but also proper protocol, basic human rights and plain common sense, and let a five-year old live alone! In an hostile environment. And then complained about his pranks! Pranks - that was another big part in Naruto-sama's files. He had done more pranks than she missions. And with more success too. Sayuri smiled at a few pictures like a painted Hokage-Monument, an Academy with its roof upside down, Anbus covert in orange paint and about two-hundred pieces of pink lingerie, with what looked like little Uchiha-fans on each, scattered around the village. A small corner of her mind wondered whether the lingerie was already pink before the prank. In Naruto-sama's file were even a few incidents mentioned, where the culprit was never proven but everyone suspected him.

Another interesting part of his file included a few psychological files and notes about his life. The Sandaime had written most of the notes and recorded every little thing about Naruto-sama, from his favorite food (Ramen) to his strange love matters (the crush of Hinata Hyuuga on him, his crush on Sakura Haruno, an unbelievable long list of persons with a crush on Sasuke Uchiha including Sakura Haruno and Naruto-sama's jealousy of Sasuke Uchiha) to his expected military power (high stamina and resilience, Ninjutsu, probably not very obedient) to his dream (Hokage).

Sayuri didn't dare to look at any of the recorded discussions of the Council about Naruto-sama. She would most likely explode before finishing the first page and level the Hokage-Tower on principle. Making a mental note to get some distance away when the Queen read that part (preferable with a mountain between them), Sayuri looked for reports about incidents, that happened to the Prince. She probably shouldn't, but she wanted to know at least the full name of this Mizuki-fellow. That way she could find a report on his stunt in the guy's files.

Thankfully Sayuri had found the incident rather fast. But what she found got her blood boiling for the umpteenth time this evening. To use any child that way... and from a teacher no less... No wonder the Prince didn't talk about this place. But worst of all was actually how the Konoha Council tried to use this to execute Naruto-sama. For heaven sake, they basically tried to kill an innocent little boy for listening to his teacher! Those bastards.

The files of the other Namikaze and Uzumaki were a lot smaller and what Sayuri read, while putting them in sealing scrolls, was mostly normal. Those Ninjas were apparently rather strong for the elemental nations, but that still only added to the sins of the Village. After all, the Village had mistreated the sole heir to those clans.

The most interesting of those files were actually those of Naruto-sama's parents. They had each a personal letter for the Prince and all of the jutsu-scrolls of their respective clans with blood-and-chakra-seals. Clever. The blood must be from a descendant and could have been taken from the baby, but since the chakra must be from the same person as the blood, nobody could open those scrolls before the Prince learned to use chakra. And by the time he learned it, he was clearly old enough to understand what the scrolls were about and that he was entitled to them. Well, the Yondaime was clearly a caring father and an expert in human nature.

After putting away the last documents (about Naruto-sama's inheritance), Sayuri silently made her way out of the tower. She would stop shortly in the Prince's apartment and take anything he had left behind. Maybe she could make his day with this? Surprisingly, the apartment was rather bare (if you exclude anything that was broken), Sayuri couldn't even find a single toy. Maybe the Villagers already took everything of value? Well, at least she found a few photos.

With her objectives secure in her scrolls, the director of all Cristalls was on her way back to Diamond. All the while wondering, what the Queen would do, once she read those files.

XxXxXxXxX

Naruto was beat. Beyond beat. So far beyond, that he didn't even complain about the vegetables in his meal. No matter how much fun he had, learning in one day, what others learned in three weeks was damn exhausting! And he would probably study equal bulks every day for the foreseeable future.

Hell, he was even too tired to explore the basement. Or just prank someone. That had to be a first in his entire life!

Thankfully dinner was pretty quiet and small. Gran-gran looked sometimes at him, but didn't ask anything. Maybe she felt bad for making him study so hard...? Well, better than repeating all lessons. Naruto really didn't feel like explaining how his day was. It would just take forever. He actually did enjoy today, but he wouldn't be able to go into details. Too much happened...

Even Naruto's guards were silent, they knew how hard their Prince worked today. And all of them felt incredible proud. They had naturally only protected the original, but seeing the Prince exercise for almost a whole day straight... Not to mention, when they changed shifts, some of the girls went past quite a few Naruto-clones. And they all worked just as hard as the original Prince. Diamond would for sure prosper under someone like him.

After dinner Queen Sari told Naruto, that his room was renovated while he studied. A few things may still be not perfect, but the room was as least ready for him, so he could recover and rest for the evening.

Naruto dragged himself towards his room, a little worried about those changes gran-gran mentioned. With trembling fingers and after a quick prayer that his room wasn't now pink or otherwise overly girly, he opened the door. A single look around and he dared to breath again.

Thankfully, his room still looked bearable - even a little better than before. The carpet was obviously new and in a light blue, like the sky. Naruto patted it shortly to confirm: yes, it's incredible soft and comfortable. The wall also had the same color. Making the room look like it was floating just under some clouds.

Naruto flopped down on his new bed and watched his guard come in. The bed was far larger than the previous, as were the wardrobe and desk. Thankfully the paintings weren't changed. A few shelves were added, some already filled with books, others still empty. Two maids put his new kimonos in the wardrobe, while three other still put books on shelves and still another two maids put the stuff of his guards away. He couldn't see his toys anywhere. Maybe they were still somewhere else.

The young Prince opened his mouth to offer his help to the maids, but closed it again. He was still too tired to move. Most likely he wouldn't be of any help, even if they accepted. But what to do? It was still too early to sleep and he was mentally and physically too exhausted to study, train or explore. He also couldn't play some games with any of his guards, because his toys were somewhere else... Not to mention, it would be pretty mean to play while others worked hard to tidy up his room...

His gaze trailed through the room again and stayed on one of the bookshelves. Well... school actually was fun today and his history teacher did advice him to read something, he found interesting. Working hard for school was probably almost as good as helping those girls. So maybe... he should take a look and see if there were any good books there. His grandparents choose them after all...

Mind made up, Naruto went to the fullest shelf and skimmed over the titles. A little orange book caught his attention. "Icha Icha Paradise"? Well, if there was any place, that was called 'Paradise', Naruto sure as hell wanted to know about it. And if it was just a little story for entertainment, it had to be cool too. Besides a book, that was selected by his own grandparents and was on top of that orange, just had to be good, right?

"Hey ladies, does anyone of you know a place called 'Icha Icha Paradise'?", asked Naruto.

That caught the attention of everyone and all heads were shaking. Even the maids didn't know of it.

"Never heard of such a book, but it sounds more like a romance than an actual place to me. Do you mind reading out loud? I'm kinda curios."

"That's a great idea, Miyuki. Maybe his Majesty could read it to us all, so it would be like a shared book.", suggested Ayame. She was the only one of his guards, who had witnessed that he learned to read just earlier today and wanted him to practice it. If all of them shared the book together, the Prince would probably agree to read, when one of the girls asked him to. That way she could make the Prince practice more.

After a short nod, Naruto began to read aloud while his guards made themselves comfortable.

(Note: I'm a woman and the explanations of those guards are actually what I would think in those situations)

"Icha Icha Paradise

The Journey begins

The farewell was even worse than he could have imagined. Of course Rajija knew some of the girls would cry, but seeing tears in all those beautiful eyes almost hurt physically. Two of the younger girls vowed to stay virgin for him. It was very touching and certainly something to look forward to his return. But it couldn't be helped, the world waited and he had always wanted to travel. Some of the guys looked partly happy with his leave (probably because they now had a chance at the girls - or at least believed so) and were comforting the girls. The entire village came to see him of and to wish him a save journey.

After two hours of travel Rajija saw a young lady. Her kimono was stuck in an tree stump and almost completely destroyed, revealing her melon-sized, soft and fair-complexioned bosom. "Good evening, lovely lady. What does a beautiful woman like you do in such a dangerous place. By the way, you should really get out of such destroyed clothes."

"Well, I'm on my way to visit my sister. Ohh and thank you for the advice mister, I should have thought of this before. By the way, what's your name?", with this she got out of her kimono and stood in the moonlight with just a bra and slip. The slime figure was easy to see, even in the night and the moon reflected on her fair and round breasts. The Kimono laid forgotten on the forest floor.

"I'm Rajija, hero of all children, charmer of women and bravest man in the world! And who are you, my beautiful young lady?"

"Sakuya."

"Well, beautiful, want me to keep you warm tonight? Maybe I should help you carry your assets, after all a young lady shouldn't lift something so heavy." Sakuya laughed lightly and smiled shy at her savior. Such a smile usually promised a reward later in the night.

..."

Before Naruto read more than two complete pages, laugher interrupted him and he looked up to a very strange sight: Maya's, Kaji's, Rika's and even Ayame's eyes twitched rather violently, Tariko, Mariko and Miyuki were laughing and Haruhi was passed out with a face, that could be considered neon-scarlet. Kyoko and Kazami also had very red faces, though at least they were still awake - even if their eyes seemed to try to leave their place and ran for dear life. The maids, that put Naruto's things away all had similar reactions.

As varied as those reactions were, none of them were what Naruto expected. He found the book incredibly boring and was sure, that at least one of them would fall asleep before the end of the first chapter. He just had hoped that person wasn't him... But the story was neither exiting nor funny. Nothing really happened. Then again, he had already realized earlier this same day, that girls made absolutely no sense.

"Naruto-sama... Please promise me, that you will never be like that!", Ayame pleaded.

"Like Rajija?"

"The author of this so called book was clearly never in any serious relationship. Otherwise he would know better than to think (or write!) women would like a behavior like Rajija showed."

"... So you wouldn't like it, Ayame?"

"No sane women likes to be ignored!", Kaji insisted.

"But Rajija didn't ignore any women ...? He even talked to them, right Ayame?"

"No, Naruto-sama. He bragged to them. He was mostly the only one who talked. And he clearly didn't listen to any of them. There is a very huge difference."

"?"

"The small details usually show your true beliefs better than anything else. And far too often, they show the opposite of what those people say."

"...?"

"For example: Rajija hears only pleas of girls, that they will stay virgin for him or say otherwise something flattering of him. No guy beside him had said anything. Also Rajija had only asked intimate questions. Normal Women don't answer those questions to strangers. Of course there are women that don't understand the difference between being loved and desired. But any girl with enough sense of self-worth and who demands any standard of a potential boyfriend, would at best ignore Rajijas questions. More likely though, they would beat him up for disrespecting their privacy."

"..."

"You still aren't exactly happy at being surrounded by us all the time, right? Well, just imagine we would have watched you getting dressed or bathing and then joked about the size of your member, just like Rajija made fun of Sakuya's breasts."

"!"

"My point exactly!"

"Well, Ayame, at least it is funny to imagine how real woman would react to such a 'man'."

"True Tariko, he would need a hospital before even closing his mouth."

This was not only a pervy book, but also complete wrong! Naruto couldn't believe it!

XxXxXxXxX

Meanwhile in Whirlpool the old Daimyo didn't believe what he was reading either. The Queen of Diamond rarely dealt with any of the elemental nations, much less the smaller countries around them. So a letter from her was pretty unusual. Though not nearly as strange as what was written in it:

Dear Daimyo of Whirlpool,

yesterday a young boy arrived in Titan. Due to reasons, I rather not send per mail, an ancestor-table-seal was used on the boy. Surprisingly your name also appeared on the result. The boy's name is Naruto Uzumaki. A copy of the result as well as a few photos of Naruto are attached.

Since Naruto is closer related to you than us, you are well within your right to demand custody of him. However, since he is our only known heir, we would like to discuss a possible arrangement. We would also like to hear about our daughter Kari. We had believed her dead for over twenty years now and would like to know if she is alright. In case she doesn't want to come back to Diamond, we wont force her. We only wish to know what happened to her and whether or not she is alive, healthy and happy.

Please contact us about Naruto and Kari as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Sari Shira - Queen of Diamond and Tsure Shira - King of Diamond

Next to the letter were a few photos and a scroll:

Ancestor-Table of Naruto Uzumaki

(Child - Mother + Father

Mother - Grandmother + Grandfather

Father - Grandmother + Grandfather ... )

Naruto Uzumaki - Kushina Uzumaki + Minata Namikaze

Kushina Uzumaki - Kari Uzumaki + Sato Uzumaki

Minata Namikaze - Tsunade Senju + Jiraya Kyuushu

Kari Uzumaki - Sari Shira + Tsure Shira

Sato Uzumaki - ...

That couldn't be right ... Kushina's child died in the Kyuubi-attack ... And his wife was Rina, not Kari ... But Rina had no memories when she arrived in Whirlpool ... , maybe she really was the daughter of Diamond's Queen. Well, that would explain her stamina...

All thoughts just went blank as the Daimyo saw the first picture. A young blond boy was seen riding on a horse. True, his hair and eyes were from Minato, but his face and especially his smile was all Kushina. There was no doubt, no need for the ancestor-table and no room for arguments, that boy was his grandson. He had to go to Diamond. Yesterday.

"Father, is something wrong?"

"Kenshin, get an escort ready, at least twenty men. They are to prepare for travel to Titan in Diamond, we will decide there the length of our visit. It can be anything between one day and three weeks. And pack for yourself as well."

"Of course. But why all of a sudden?"

"Somebody appeared in Titan, who looks a lot like Kushina and Minato. A twelve year old boy. Naruto Uzumaki."

"I will prepare everything immediately.", with that his son was gone, faster that he could blink. Probably faster than Minato's favorite jutsu, too.

The Daimyo chuckled quietly to himself while preparing for the long journey as well.

XxXxXxXxX

"Hokage-sama! I have urgent news! The Daimyo of Whirlpool was seen on his way towards the south. He may come to Konoha!"

The Sandaime tried desperately to keep a normal face, when Izumo barged in his office. He looked at the very out of breath Chunin. There just couldn't be more difference between the young man and the old kage. Izumo was grinning like mad and close to bouncing. He obviously believed that Whirlpool wanted to renew their old friendship. Meanwhile the old man felt his age clearer than ever before.

The Daimyo of Whirlpool had not left his home for over two decades. Though he would have come to Konoha twelve years ago, if the Hokage hadn't lied to him about his grandson's survival. Or later, if he found out the truth. But then he would have marched to Konoha with his best Samurais. Hell, he almost started a war over losing Kushina and Naruto anyway. Even while believing that Whirlpool had nothing to gain from winning such a war.

If Naruto somehow got to Ayindril, the Daimyo would know immediately he had been lied to. Naruto looked too much like the Yondaime, everybody in Whirlpool would make the obvious connection and bring him to his grandfather. The only reason nobody in Konoha had seen it, was because they all saw the fox whenever they looked at the boy.

After twelve years of being sure to do the best for Konoha, the Hokage actually regretted his decision to lie about Naruto's heritage. He had wanted to keep the boy close to Konoha. That was the reason, why he tried to play matchmaker with Naruto and that Haruno-girl and why he had told so many stories about the Yondaime and explained the then three-year-old a glorified version of what a Hokage does. Predictably, the young Naruto decided the very next day to become the best Hokage ever.

If the boy just had made enough bonds to the village, his family wouldn't attack Konoha after finding him. Or even take him away, because that could make Naruto hate them. Something the Uzumakis would never let happen. It would have been perfect, Konoha would have kept their jinchuuriki and the heir to the Namikaze-clan. Once the boy would be old enough, he would have gotten the sealed scrolls of his parents and very likely become even more powerful. For Naruto Whirlpool would have renewed the old alliance and opened trade roads again. It would have been perfect.

But now this plan had backfired with more force than all nine biju put together. Naruto never made a single friend, the adults hated him, the children made it a competition to see who could be the cruelest to him and Sakura had used him as a punching-bag. The only ones who didn't hate Naruto were the Ichirakus, who saw the boy as a main income and he himself. But in the end Naruto would hate him the most, because he was the one who actively kept him from his family. If the Daimyo of Whirlpool ever found out, he would have his army at Konoha's doors in an instant. And the old Hokage wasn't stupid enough to believe they could win against this foe.

Despite his heart rate getting out of control and the blood that thumped loud in his ear, the Hokage calmly asked for a detailed report. He would need any information, he could get.

"A Carriage with around twenty Whirlpool-Samurais was signed two days ago on the eastern border. The Carriage held the crest of the Uzumaki-clan. They were heading south on the road towards fire. They even saw the Battosai, Hokage-sama"

"I see. Tell the border patrol to let them through and to inform me as soon as possible where exactly they are headed. Avoid any fights. Should the Uzumaki approach one of them, be polite and answer them only with public information."

When Izumo left, the old Kage looked over Konoha. He prayed silently that the Uzumaki headed to the Capital or only passed through Fire. And that they would never meet Naruto. They didn't take their army with them, so they obviously didn't knew about Naruto yet. Maybe Konoha would stay lucky, peaceful and intact. Well, there was nothing he could do right now, aside waiting and praying.