I ran all the way back to my house, momentarily forgetting about school. I prayed Iruka-sensei wouldn't go to the old man himself. Then I could just tell him I was with the old man the entire time.

Once I got inside, I climbed on a chair and reached into the corner of my closet. That's when I saw it. A small, green box.

Chapter 3: A Letter and a Future

I slowly pulled it out, balancing it in my tiny hands. That's when I noticed that the box wasn't small at all. I did a backbend and fell off the chair, hitting the floor with a thud. The contents of the box and my own body came spilling out.

I quickly got up, as to not drip blood on the carpet, and ran to the bathroom, washing off my elbow. I expected to see a nasty wound, but instead there was no trace of anything except a small scab. I practically toppled over. How could I heal so fast?!

"Because of me."

Who are you?

"You'll find out soon enough."

I wasn't sure exactly what to think. Was I going insane? Then the box came back to mind and I ran back to the closet to see the spilled contents of that small green box.

The first thing I found was a scrapbook. I opened it up to the first page and found two baby pictures. One seemed to belong to a girl and the other a boy. But why did I have this? It wasn't me in these pictures. I resolved myself, however, to keep reading. I checked the caption underneath the boy's picture.

Minato Namikaze. 8 lbs. 10 oz.

Who was Minato Namikaze? I had no idea so I read the caption underneath the girl's picture.

Kushina Uzumaki. 8 lbs. 5 oz.

I didn't know who she was, but we had the same last name. Could she be…my mom?

I kept flipping through the book. The next set of pictures I stumbled upon were pictures of two small kids on each page. I was right; one of them was a boy. He had light blonde hair and deep blue eyes. They looked a lot like…my own. Could he be my father?!

I dropped the book. It flipped closed with a thud. These people, they were my parents. I wasn't sure what to think. I was happy because I finally knew who they were. But I was also angry because no one would tell me. I finally knew what I had to do.

~*~

I stormed into the old man's office. "Hey, old man!" That's when I noticed that Iruka-sensei was right there next to him. I swallowed hard.

"Naruto! Where have you been?"

I didn't know how to answer. I clung to the book in my hands.

"You were skipping school, weren't you?"

"Um…" I gripped it tighter.

The old man sighed. "What am I going to do with you Naruto?"

"Now that we have you, we'll be going back. Arigato gozimasu, Hokage-sama."

"Matte!" I called out. Both of them turned their attention to me. "I-Why?" Their faces were contorted in confusion. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

A small flicker of recognition appeared on the old man's face. "Didn't tell you what?"

"Who my parents were." And I held out the book. Iruka-sensei took it from my hands and began to flip through it. My face was on fire. I had been defiant tons of times but this felt different, like directly disobeying someone.

The book slammed closed. Iruka-sensei leaned in to whisper something to the old man. All the while, the old man stared directly at me, unwavering. I swallowed hard and began to wonder what kind of trouble I was going to be in this time.

"Naruto, let me talk to you," the old man said, standing up.

"Why can't you just say it right here?" I asked, being stubborn. I knew I was already in trouble, why not get in more? Besides, I liked the attention.

"Alone." He grabbed my shirt and dragged me out onto the streets of Konoha.

A/N: Sorry for the wait guys! The next chapter. Now i have to go back to more studying. Thanks for following! ~SleepyFox