Aljan Moonfire does not own Naruto or Bleach

"Normal Speech."

'Normal Thoughts.'

"Demonic/Godly/Summon Speech." - also used for jutsu, with translations in brackets.

'Demonic/Godly/Summon Thoughts.'

"Otherworldly Speech."

'Otherworldly Thoughts.' - italics will also be used for both temporary and full flashbacks or dreams.

.-. - POV or scene change.

Chapter 2 – Names and Secrets

An indeterminate amount of time later…

The zanpakuto closed his eyes in slight relief as Naruto eventually cried himself to sleep, his presence dispersing from the soul/mind-scape with the onset of unconsciousness. He had always disliked dealing with crying women and children, even f he knew that the release of emotions was necessary.

Relaxing back into the seat he had vacated when he'd first awoken, he turned to look out the broad windows of the office. The sight that met his eyes had a slight smile creeping across his face under the bandages. The constant, depressing drizzle of rain was finally beginning to die down, small rays of sunlight bursting through the clouds.

"It seems the rain is finally letting up." He murmured softly. Then he raised his voice slightly, as if speaking to someone, "So, when do you think he'll be ready to meet you two?" he asked idly, not even bothering to look away from the view.

"Not for a few more years, I'd think, but he might surprise me," answered a low male voice. "It'll have to be before you absorb the last of the Kyuubi though; the seal will dissolve after that after all."

"Well, I'd think that'd be obvious." The sword finally turned his attention to the one he'd been conversing with. "Your presences won't be necessary after that anymore anyway. Meeting you two at least once though… it'll be good for him – and for you too, I suppose."

The man leaning back on the Hokage's desk looked like an older clone of Naruto, just missing the whisker marks and in completely different clothing. Upon a closer look, his facial structure was a bit sharper as well. "That was one of the major reasons why we did it after all, and the other reasons are really a bit redundant at this point." The Yondaime said solemnly, "I'm glad he's grown so well though, even without us around. I can tell, when I look at him, that I was right in what I chose to do that night." He smiled slightly at the thought.

The zanpakuto just arched a dark eyebrow at him. "Don't go getting all sentimental on me now, Namikaze. That boy would have been strong no matter what happened that night, and he'll be even stronger with me around. The training will begin soon, you know. He'll be even stronger than you by the time he's sixteen."

The man in question just frowned back lightly at the jab but conceded the point, remembering the man he had fought the night he died. "I know. He'll need to be though. He has far too many enemies, even now; to ever survive this as an average person."

The Yondaime then closed his eyes, felling the pull of his seal tugging him back to the depths of his son's mind/soul-scape. The zanpakuto he'd been conversing with didn't so much as blink as the man's form shivered, and dispersed into the surroundings.

"Yes, he will need to be, won't he?" He responded to the man that was no longer there before turning his attention back to the ever so slowly clearing rain. A golden glint appeared and then quickly disappeared back into the honey depths of his irises. "But no matter what happens, it should be very interesting."

.-.

Two years later…

Umino Iruka looked up from his desk to glance over the room. Hopefully, he would never have to attempt to teach the children that were constantly filling the room with noise ever again. After all, today was the day of the graduation exam. Even with a single glance, he could tell who was most likely to pass, as well as who wasn't.

He knew that over a third of the preteens in the room would find their dreams crushed today, and that over half of those that remained would probably end up being sent back to the academy by their temporary jonin-sensei. In fact, he could only really pick out nine that were most likely to pass, and even that wasn't entirely certain.

Seven of those nine were from some of Konoha's most prominent clans, and most of those seven were actually the heirs to said clans. The fact was, if they didn't pass a lot of the blame was likely to fall on his shoulders. Fortunately, that didn't seem to be too much of a problem.

Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, and Hyuga Hinata were solidly placed in the upper middle level of the class, and excelled at many of the more practical subjects. For those that knew how to look, it was clear that both Hinata and Shino were holding back most of the time, though most likely for different reasons, respectively.

Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru on the other hand, were on the other side of the spectrum, placing low on the middle areas of the class' grades. They both seemed to have chosen to spend their academy days fooling around as much as possible with out failing; Kiba mostly acting like an idiot and Shikamaru sleeping.

Up in the top reaches of the class, were another three that, while apparently skilled, he couldn't help but worry over. Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino had both been scoring quite highly in the academic sections, but their physical condition left…much to be desired, to say the least. That wasn't even mentioning their attitudes when came to being a ninja.

And then there was Uchiha Sasuke. He could already tell that that boy would be nothing but trouble for whatever unfortunate jonin secured the Uchiha for their team. The kid had a weird cross of an inferiority and superiority complex hanging over his head and was completely focused on avenging the massacre of his clan to the exclusion of almost anything else. Also, even though he had only caught glimpses of it over the years, he could tell that the poor kid was desperately lonely but almost afraid to let anyone get too close. Considering the circumstances, that was understandable though. Maybe he should talk to whoever his jonin-sensei turns out to be at some point?

But even then, Sasuke wasn't the biggest problem in the class. That spot was reserved one person and one person only. Uzumaki Naruto. He had no idea what to do with the kid! He skipped classes on a regular basis, only showing up enough to acquire the minimum attendance record required of him. He almost never showed up to participate in the physical exercises and barely passed his written assignments. Even then he only filled in the minimum amount of answers needed to pass.

Even as his eyes met the dark blue of said problem student in the back of the class, he couldn't help but wonder, what had changed? After he failed his first graduation exam, it almost felt as if he had given up. But if that was the case, why was the boy still here? From what he could remember though, even his clothing had changed drastically. Before he had failed that first exam, he could remember the boy being almost unnaturally hyperactive and cheerful and, despite many slights towards him on the part of the teachers, he had never let it get him down. He had even worn a bright orange jumpsuit for god's sake!

But now he seemed to be almost the complete opposite of the kid he had once been. He no longer wore any orange at all, that he could see at least, and seemed content with very neutral colors such as gray and black, and sometimes blue too. No jumpsuits though – he seemed perfectly content with normal shinobi styled pants and sandals with long-sleeved fishnet tops under t-shirts and sleeveless hoodies that were consistently zipped half-way up the front.

His dark blond hair was long, especially in the back where it actually reached his shoulder blades, and was tied up in a low ponytail with bangs that hung over his eyes and in front of his ears. He couldn't help but feel that the hair-style was familiar though, he just couldn't place it exactly. Naturally, he also carried the standard shuriken holster and kunai pouch, but he had also taken to carrying a long katana across his back.

And that sword in and of itself just added to the mystery. It looked relatively normal to tell the truth, but anyone with even the dullest senses could tell that it wasn't even remotely ordinary. The fact that the kid refused to allow anyone to even touch it only added to the enigma. In fact, that was the only time Iruka had ever seen Naruto lose his temper over these past two years; when someone tried to touch his sword. It wasn't pretty, to say the least.

He shook his head exasperatedly. There was no point in thinking on this all, again. Even if Naruto failed once more, he would no longer be his sensei, and even if he passed, he'd still be someone else's problem. He turned his attention back to the chattering class as a whole and felt his eyebrow twitch at the noise he had previously been tuning out.

"Would you all please settle down?" he called out.

They ignored him.

"Be quiet!" he shouted.

The same result. He felt his eyebrow twitch again.

Even as he discretely made the seal for the secret sensei technique he sighed at the necessity of it. Then, even as he felt his head enlarge to titanic proportions, he yelled out with frustration, "SILENCE!"

There was immediate silence.

.-.

Naruto couldn't help the slight twitch of amusement that caused the corners of his lips to curl up in a slight smile as Iruka's giant head and commanding tone sent all of his noisy classmates dashing for their seats. He almost snorted with laughter as he noticed Shikamaru, who had been snoring face-down on his desk a moment earlier, bolt straight up in his chair.

He'd met the boy's mother before himself and had to say, when Iruka got like this they sounded frighteningly alike. They even had the same giant head technique. He couldn't help but wonder if they knew each other. Maybe she'd been an Academy sensei at one point? Well, it didn't really matter anyway.

Turning his attention back to the front of the class room, he was surprised to realize that he'd completely missed whatever speech Iruka had given out and that both he and that white-haired teacher he'd never been able to remember the name of were now handing out the written tests.

As they moved up the bleacher-like seats towards him he continued to frown in aggravation at the 'nameless' man. What the hell was his name again? He looked so familiar too…

.-.

Mizuki gulped unobtrusively as he felt nervous sweat begin to gather between his shoulder-blades. That fox brat was staring at him again.

He couldn't have already discovered what he was planning to do could he? No, there was no way. That slacker couldn't have. That was what made him the perfect scapegoat didn't it? He relaxed a bit at that thought.

Yes, there was no way. He returned to scoring the Taijutsu portion of the test as two nameless nobodies that were bound to fail anyway continued to attempt to pound each other into the dirt.

Still, he could contain the slight shiver that ran down his spine. The fox brat was still glaring at him after all.

.-.

Naruto continued to glare frustratedly at the white-haired man's back. What the hell is his name? And why the hell couldn't he remember?

In the back of his mind his zanpakuto was having a hard time containing his laughter at the thoughts that continued to aggravate his wielder. This was the third time today! Even when he was Ichigo he'd never been this bad with names and faces!

Naruto just crossed his arms as he felt his sword's amusement at his situation. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." He muttered almost inaudibly. He'd forever deny that he was pouting. Even though he was.

Maybe it was Mirimi? No, that was a girl's name.

Minaka? No, not that either. The end sounded wrong.

Argh! How frustrating! He really wanted to know, but it'd too embarrassing to ask someone, considering. What was his name! He knew it had to start with an m…then again; maybe it was an n…? Nanaki, maybe? No, that was too many n's…

.-.

Iruka beamed proudly as Naruto nonchalantly preformed the three academy jutsu flawlessly. So maybe he'd been paying attention after all? Naruto strolled lazily out the door, a yawn stretching his mouth open lazily.

Then again, maybe not.

Beside him, Mizuki grit his teeth in frustration. That kid probably won't believe him now, he's been at the academy long enough to know that there aren't anymore tests in it after they passed the finally exam. If he'd flunked again he may have been able to pull it off, but now?

He grimaced, narrowing his eyes as alternative plans were thought up on the spot and then immediately discarded one after another. It seems he'll have to do it himself. With that conclusion the probability of him actually getting away with it just went down by about twenty percent.

He cursed mentally so as not to alarm his fellow sensei. Damn that fox brat! This was all his fault!

.-.

At around 11 o'clock that night…

Naruto grimaced as he felt his sword continue to laugh at him.

'So, you still can't remember his name, huh.' The zanpakuto continued to tease. 'Or the name of that grocer you've been buying from for the past two years. Or those two banshees in your class." The boy could almost see the grin in the sword's voice.

'Oh, shut up,' he thought irritatedly to the weapon. 'I'll remember eventually.'

'I'm sure.' The soul slayer murmured sarcastically and just loudly enough for the newly-minted genin to hear. The boy in question just grit his teeth in annoyance and attempted to ignore the zanpakuto.

Looking around, he noticed that he had somehow wandered to the outskirts of the training fields. 'Hmm…' he wondered idly. 'Where am I? I suppose I spaced out again…' then he caught sight of a nearby sign. 'Training Ground 6, huh?' he was thinking about taking the opportunity to train when a rather loud alert sounded form the Hokage Tower in the distance.

"What the hell..?" He was about to go and see what was happening himself, when another sound caught his attention. It was the familiar sound of clashing weapons and the exertion of battle. The sounds were clearly muffled, saying that the combatants were a fair distance away, but he decided to go investigate anyways.

He might even get the chance to use his newest technique, if it's what he thought it was. After sending one last glance back at the organized chaos of the main part of the village, he was gone, a slight disturbance in the dirt where he'd been standing the only thing left behind to hint that he'd been there at all.

.-.

Iruka panted with exertion as he skidded to a stop, one hand on the ground to brace himself. He barely had time to bring his arms up to guard himself again before a kick slammed into it harshly, sending him flying once again.

"Why are you even trying?" Sneered Mizuki as he assumed an arrogant pose, spinning a large fuma shuriken around his wrist, a large scroll tied to his back. "You know that I've always been stronger than you." He continued.

Iruka slowly rose into a crouch again, and replied. "Because I'm a ninja of Konoha." He said resolutely. "Because there's no way in hell I'll let you do this without a fight." Finally he stood, wincing inwardly at the pain of his injuries and the strange stiffness in his limbs. "Now give back the Forbidden Scroll!" he yelled.

Mizuki just sneered again. "No way in hell." He quickly increased the speed of weapon he was holding and threw it.

As the large shuriken cut through the air towards Iruka in a deadly arc, Iruka's eyes widened in horror. 'I can't move!' he thought frantically.

Mizuki smirked at his opponent as the weapon neared the chunin. "My weapons are soaked in a slow-acting paralytic poison, Iruka. There's no way you can dodge this."

As it turns out, the academy sensei didn't even need to.

Suddenly, Iruka was staring in startled surprise at the back of one of his students, a student that had appeared in front of him without a sound and reached out to plucked the fuma shuriken from the air as if it were nothing. A spiky blond ponytail that reached below the boy's shoulders normally floated down to cross over the pre-teen's shoulder even as Mizuki stared in shock from the other side of the clearing.

"So…" the boy began softly in a low, furious voice, "What do you think you're doing, you bastard." It wasn't really a question. Naruto had watched the entirety of that last exchange from the tree line and was now pondering whether or not to kill the obvious traitor before him. He supposed not being able to remember said traitor's name was a moot point by now.

"Heh," said bastard sneered at the blonde boy, almost happy that he'd appeared. It might make things a bit more difficult, but it wasn't as if the kid would really be able to make all that much of difference; he was only a freshly graduated academy student after all. He'd wanted to pay the brat back for making him change his plans anyway.

"Well, if it isn't the fox-brat." He said as an ugly smirk stretched across his face. "I've always wanted to be the one to take you out." Naruto just looked at him quizzically, wondering what the hell the guy was mumbling about.

Then the former sensei spoke louder, "How about I tell you the truth then, Naruto-kun." He began mockingly.

Naruto paused at that, wondering what the man knew. He already knew about most of the secret's the Hokage was pretending didn't exist, but maybe he knew something else? It was doubtful, honestly, especially considering that the man talking was only an academy teacher with relatively low security clearance, but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

"What truth?" he asked, both curious and skeptical.

Mizuki's twisted grin just widened at the question, while behind the boy Iruka's eyes widened in horror and realization. "N – no!" Iruka yelled in apprehension, "Don't –"

Mizuki ignored the exclamation and continued, "You know about the attack of the Kyuubi twelve years ago, right? How the Fourth killed it?"

"Stop it, Mizuki! You know that's forbidden!" Iruka protested and was promptly ignored.

Naruto just nodded in response. 'So it's that is it?' he thought scornfully, 'Couldn't he have at least come up with something more original? He's probably going to actually call me the fox now…'

"Well, that's a complete lie. There was even a law made to protect it, one that made it so you'd never know." Mizuki's smirk widened as he came to the climax. "The Fourth couldn't kill it, so he sealed it into a human form – into you! You are the demon fox and attacked the village and killed Iruka's parents!

"Mizuki! Stop it!" Iruka shouted again.

The traitor continued on gleefully, regardless of the useless protests, "Everyone in this village has lied to you your whole life! Didn't you ever find it odd how everyone hated you?" He removed a second giant shuriken from the holster on his back began to spin it rapidly, completely ignoring the darkening of the newly minted genin's expression – or if he did he just took it as confirmation that what he was saying was working.

"Mizuki!"

"Iruka's the same! He actually hates you!" and the second shuriken was sent flying straight towards the pre-teen.

Iruka's eyes widened even further as he struggled to move. The shuriken was moving to fast! There was no way the kid could dodge in time! And even if he did it'd sill hit him!

And then the boy threw the shuriken that he still had in hand – the one that both of them had almost forgotten about – and knocked the other away. Even as they gaped in shock at the immediate dismissal of the threat, the boy began to chuckle, and then laugh, head flung backwards in mirth.

"Ha ha ha!" the blonde gasped out, the chuckles finally dying down. Then he turned his attention back to the still stunned traitor. "That's it?" he asked. "That's the big secret? Not only did you get almost all of your facts wrong, bastard, but I've known that for years." They were both even more stunned by this proclamation.

In an office half a village away, the Sandaime also choked in surprise. Naruto knew? He blinked slowly as he tried to absorb that piece of information, hands clenching slightly on his scrying orb. Well, it might explain a lot of the changes in his personality over the past few years, but why hadn't Naruto ever said anything before this?

He quickly returned his attention to the scene playing out in the crystal ball as Naruto continued to speak. "I'm not the fox – never have been, never will be." Then his eyes narrowed menacingly under his bangs, and he reached behind him to take hold of his sheathed sword. "And I think I've wasted enough time on you tonight."

"Wasted enough time?" the white haired man questioned slowly and incredulously. "What the hell are you talking about brat? What could you ever do to compare to me? I'll destroy you in a single move!" He shouted, making to attack.

But the boy was gone, the only remnant of his presence a dispersing puff of dust hovering above the ground and two discarded fuma shuriken. "Really?" came the boy's voice from behind him, "Because for some reason I'd thought this mockery of a decent fight was already over."

Even as he spoke the brief sound of a sword being sheathed echo in the abnormally still air, and blood gushed in arching spurts from each of the traitor's limbs as he collapsed to the ground with a scream. Even as the genin adjusted his sword on his back he turn back to glare down into the shocked eyes of the panting and wounded man. "Don't worry, you won't die. At least not yet. I'm sure Morino-san is just dying to meet you though."

At that thought the former academy-sensei went even paler and immediately passed out. Then Naruto's attention was distracted by the sound of his other academy-sensei collapsing to the ground. Trusting both that the injured man wasn't going anywhere at that the Anbu team he could feel approaching could handle it even if he did, he quickly hurried over to the chunin.

What he saw once he arrived on the other side of the small clearing made him sigh in slight exasperation. "Couldn't he have at least stayed conscious long enough to vouch for me to the Anbu?"

.-.

Sarutobi sighed tiredly as he regarded the boy sitting across from him. This entire night had been just one headache after another.

First had been the theft of the forbidden scroll, obviously. Then the revelation that Naruto had known of at least one of the secrets he had hoped to keep from him for a while longer. Then that mess with the Anbu completely misunderstanding the situation when the found Naruto standing alone beside the two unconscious academy teachers and in possession of the stolen forbidden scroll – the conclusions they made at that were both obvious and expected though, he supposed.

And now he had to deal with the absolute migraine that consisted of explaining to his surrogate grandson just why he'd attempted to keep a secret like him being the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki from him for the first twelve years of his life.

He was way too old for this job.

Sarutobi paused almost imperceptibly for a moment before clearing his throat and beginning to speak. "Naruto, I am aware of what happened in that clearing tonight – what was said, as well as what you did."

"You mean you were using that peeping ball of yours to spy on me?" the boy deadpanned.

"It's not a 'peeping ball'." The man replied in automatic irritation. "But yes, I was using it, though not to spy on you. I was attempting to locate the thief, and when I came upon the confrontation between Iruka and Mizuki I immediately sent out an Anbu team and continued to watch. I wasn't expecting you getting involved at all, honestly."

Naruto nodded at that, his interference probably was rather unexpected. But it wasn't as if he could let Iruka get killed either, and there was no way the Anbu would have gotten there in time.

"But –" Sarutobi cut himself off before he could continue, a guilty feeling welling up in his chest. "If you knew this whole time, why didn't you say anything, Naruto." It was obvious what he was talking about.

Naruto just smiled slightly, the expression somehow both ironic and open. "I was waiting for you to tell me, old man."

The Sandaime's eyes widened at the answer before his expression softened. He opened his mouth, as if to reply, but hesitated. "I'm sorry Naruto." He finally replied. "I should have told you earlier, without it having to come to this, but… I wanted you to have a childhood."

Naruto began to raise a skeptical brow at that, but before he could interject the elder man raised his hand and continued. "Even if it may not have been a very good one, you still had a childhood you wouldn't have if I'd told you earlier. I've seen far too many bright young shinobi through away their innocence like that. The first time I saw you smile as a child I realized that I didn't want to see that happen to you."

Guilt was made apparent in his expression at this point. "I'm sorry that that I didn't succeed entirely, but I'm also sorry that I seem to have betrayed your trust. I hope you can forgive an old man's sentimentality." He finished, the apology in his voice and words sincere.

"It's alright, old man." Naruto replied after a moment of surprised silence. He rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly as he looked away for a moment. Then he returned his gaze to his grandfather-figure and said, "Just don't do again then, I guess." with a slightly uncomfortable smile.

Sarutobi smiled back but then frowned slightly, thin of something else – something important – he'd also been keeping back. "Naruto, about your parents," he began. This time though, Naruto was the one to cut him off.

"Yeah, I kind of already know about them too." He said sheepishly.

Sarutobi just gaped. "Really?" he finally responded after a moment of awkward silence.

"Yeah." Naruto glanced meaning fully at the photos of the previous Hokages that hung on the nearby wall. He then smiled again, once more feeling ill at ease.

"Oh."

Author's Note

And…that's a wrap. For now at least. Sorry for the lateness of the chapter though.

As for the chapter itself, it mostly followed cannon, as you could probably tell, mostly because the effects of the changes I've made haven't really reached beyond Naruto yet. However, as you can also probably tell, as a result of having someone to talk to that accepts him 24/7 Naruto isn't as desperate for companionship as he was in the original storyline. One of the most obvious consequences of this is that he isn't anywhere near as close to Iruka as he was in canon.

Also, I considered dragging out the Mizuki scene, maybe making the bastard a bit stronger than he was originally or something, but I eventually decided that Mizuki was too weak, and honestly too unimportant in the long run, to drag it out much. He won't be making a comeback by the way, the way he did in that filler arc of the anime. When Naruto attacked him he took out most of the tendons in the guy's arms and legs. Even if they get him to a proper medic in time, I honestly doubt he'll be able to continue as an even remotely competent ninja.

That's also if he even wants to after spending some quality time with Ibiki. Off we go to prison, the wonderful prison of Konoha!

Another thing though, and also the reason I was reluctant to post this chapter. Is the end of that last scene really as awkward as it felt to me? I couldn't find a better way to end though, so I figured I might as well post it. Hope you enjoyed it anyway though.

I think I've rambled on enough for now. Now it's you turn. Review! (I always appreciate the long ones! *hint*hint*)

~ Aljan Moonfire