Naruto found himself standing with Konohamaru next to the Hokage's hospital bed, not able to count the times it had been the other way around because of the grief he found himself experiencing: after an extensive medical analysis followed by a concerted effort by Tsunade and the best doctors of the Leaf Village to cure Sarutobi, it was obvious that what he was suffering from (e. g. lung cancer) could not be cured. "Grampa Hokage..." Naruto whispered, "what's happening? You can't leave..."
"I must, Naruto..." Sarutobi replied. "My time is over, and I must rejoin my wife in the realm of the afterlife."
Konohamaru was sobbing uncontrollably. "But you can't! I'll be all alone!"
"My dear grandson, you shall not be alone. Naruto will be there, as well as both Tsunade and Asuma," Sarutobi replied, coughing violently before resuming. "Be brave... death is not the end of all things. If it were, there would be no point in living. Remember that... and protect the village as you have seen me do."
"I promise," Konohamaru said between sobs and hiccups.
"Naruto... listen to me. No matter what happens, never forget the road you have thus traveled and where you have determined yourself to go." Sarutobi reached out and held Naruto's hand, saying, "Your heritage doesn't make you who you are; you do. But regardless of what happens, you deserve the truth. In case I die, I left a letter for you, but I wanted to survive long enough to tell you myself."
"Save your strength, Grampa Hokage," Naruto replied. "Asuma will be here in a second." At that moment, Asuma, Kurenai, and Team Eight came in. "Use your last words for him, please..."
"... And that is why I think you'll be the best Hokage," Sarutobi whispered, and then turned up to look at his son. "Asuma... my son..."
"Father..." Asuma choked out, barely able to speak. He took Sarutobi's hand as Naruto gave it to him and held it tightly. "I'm so sorry for leaving."
"You came back; that's all that matters," Sarutobi assured him. "I love you, Asuma, my son."
"I love you too, Father!" Asuma bent down and gently hugged the old man, and when he straightened he realized that Sarutobi had closed his eyes and, though was smiling, he was no longer breathing. "... Father..." Kurenai took her cue and ushered Team Eight out into the hall with the rest of the genin teams and their teachers, leaving Asuma, Konohamaru, and Naruto to mourn.
…
The falling rain did not deter any of the citizens of the Leaf Village, civilian or ninja, from turning out for the Third Hokage's funeral. Asuma and Konohamaru gave their speeches first, but everyone who didn't know Naruto was shocked to see the blond boy raise his voice and deliver a speech as well.
"Old Man Hokage, you were like a grandfather to me," Naruto began. "When no one else wanted anything to do with me, you would always welcome me into your office and let me sit on your lap, telling me stories while you signed papers. You always listened and never made me feel like I wasn't important, but as I grew older I realized it wasn't because of me, but because that's how you treated everyone. You truly loved this village, more than anyone I've ever known and probably more than I ever could. I promise you, though, that I will do everything in my power to love the village like you did, even if most of them don't love me back. You can rest in peace, knowing that the village you loved will be in good hands; my friends and I will make sure of that." Pausing to sniffle and wipe away his tears, he said, "I'll miss you, Grampa, but I hope I can make you proud." He laid a flower down on top of his casket and stepped to one side with Asuma and Konohamaru while everyone else paid their respects. Several hours later, only Naruto and Konohamaru were left staring at the mound underneath which Sarutobi was buried. "You know, Konohamaru, if I could give up ramen to have him back, I'd do it in a heartbeat."
"Same here..." Konohamaru muttered. "I feel bad for all those times that I charged into his office, pretending to challenge him for the hat."
"You know he loved it when you showed up, and that he knew you weren't ever serious," Naruto replied. "He knew of my aspirations for the hat, too, and he always encouraged me. Now, though, I'm not so sure... like I said earlier, no one can love like he did."
"But you do, Naruto," Konohamaru insisted. "I've seen you fight hard for people who treated you like trash."
"Maybe," Naruto replied glumly, "but sometimes I have to stop myself from beating up some people. I may look like I let it go like water off a duck's back, but that's because I have to check myself."
Konohamaru nodded and said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. Grampa always warned me about that. Hanabi and I don't really get along all that well; she says I'm too loud, and I think she's too arrogant."
Naruto put his arm around Konohamaru and patted his shoulder. "Give it time... who knows? Maybe you'll end up marrying her in the future?"
"Eww!" Konohamaru exclaimed, to Naruto's amusement. "Don't even make me think about that. Even if I was interested, I doubt Hanabi would."
"Then show her how much like your grandfather you are," Naruto replied. "Be serious about your training and love everyone." Seeing that the rain had finally stopped, he asked, "So, want to go get something to eat? No ramen today; it wouldn't feel right." Konohamaru nodded and they walked off together to go find something to eat.
…
Tsunade continued to stare at a piece of paper on the desk, fighting back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her yet again. Despite anything she said, Tsunade knew she had a special soft-spot for her teacher that, when he died, had exposed her old wounds yet again.
"Thinking of them too, huh?" Jiraiya asked as he stepped into the room.
"You always could read me better than anyone else," Tsunade softly commented while she continued to read the letter.
"No, you just have really obvious tells, which is why you suck at gambling," Jiraiya responded. "I think the only time I cried as much was when my own parents died." He sat down in a chair in front of the desk and said, "So, what did Sensei have to say?"
"Here, you read it," Tsunade said as she gave him the letter. Jiraiya read it and began to cry as well. "Sensei had a lot of regrets... Orochimaru, Dan, Naruto, Danzo... I never knew how burdened he was. I wish I could have told him how I felt, Jiraiya... I never hated him. I hated the position, but never him. I never blamed him because I knew he had to make the hard choices."
"But he knew the burden you carried, too, and that's why he let you leave," Jiraiya pointed out as he handed the letter back. "He wanted to right the wrongs, but there was nothing he could do, so he did what he could and let us make what we could of it. He loved us, Tsunade." He turned to the window behind her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, which Tsunade covered with her own hand. "Sensei is counting on us to finish what he started, to do what we can to right the wrongs of the world. The new generation needs us to teach them, show them what not to do. Sensei will rest in peace now, but we cannot relax, not while there is work to do. Rest is for the night; the day has only begun."
"If you keep talking like that, you big pervert, I might actually begin to like you again," Tsunade commented. "'The Gutsy Ninja' should have sold better; it was your best piece."
"Well, I found consolation in the fact that it sold better than the numbers said among ninja," Jiraiya replied. "It is the one I'm most proud of."
Tsunade nodded as she picked up another letter. "This one was addressed to Naruto, along with instructions to me to not reveal its contents without your approval." She handed that one to Jiraiya to read.
"Dear Naruto, I know you will miss me a lot. I cannot express my joy in seeing how much you've grown these past thirteen years; I know your mother and father would be proud of you. The reasons I wrote this letter to you are as follows: one, I knew that I would not survive long enough to tell you what you need to know; and two, I wanted to leave you one last thing that you could remember me by, along with the picture I included with the letter. You need to know your heritage, but you also need to know that your heritage does not make you who you are. Only you can decide what paths you will take and who you will allow to travel with you. As a Hokage, I must let everyone follow alongside me so that they can support me and I can support them. No man is an island unto himself, Naruto. This is one lesson you should have, and I have no doubt that you have, learned during team placements and the final genin exam. As much as I regret their choices later in life, I stuck by my old teammates because they were always there to support me. Unfortunately, it took me until recently to realize that support comes in the form of both rebuke and encouragement; I did far too much of the latter without much of the former, when it came to them and the citizens. My fear was that I would not be loving to rebuke others, and I lost my son for a time as a result, and I nearly lost you many times.
The truth is, Naruto, that you have been deceived this whole time. I thought it wise not to tell you who your parents were, for fear that the Rock Village would find out and go to war just to kill you, but that in turn did a great disservice to both you and the village. Your full name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, son of Whirlpool ninja Uzumaki Kushina and Leaf ninja Namikaze Minato, also known as the Fourth Hokage. I imagine that this might not come as too much of a shock, since Jiraiya has been teaching you jutsu known by Minato, and if you ever came across a full-color picture of him you might be able to put two and two together since sans the birthmarks on your cheeks you look just like him. There's another issue that you need to understand: your mother, Kushina, was the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-tailed Demon Fox before you, and was killed when the Fox was unleashed on the town by Uchiha Madara. This man, who already had a history with the Fox back during the Founding War, was determined to take the Fox for himself and use its power to take over the world. How, we're still not sure, but we know he's planned this for many years, and that was the best time for him to begin moving. However, he did not know that your father had become a seal master and devised a much stronger seal for containing the Fox than the one your mother had, and so thirteen years ago he tried again to steal the Fox, but lost out when Minato sealed the Fox inside you. Years later we found out that he had instigated sedition among the Uchiha ruling members, but before we could deal with them he murdered all of them, drawing both Itachi and Sasuke into this; I imagine he wanted them on his side because of the power of the Sharingan, which is the only jutsu that, theoretically, could be used to control a Tailed Beast. If Madara believes that to be the case, which there can be no doubt of at this point, then you have to do whatever it takes to protect Sasuke from the fate his ancestor would want for him. You need to learn how to harness the power of the Demon Fox without succumbing to its primal instincts of rage and destruction. This comes before you even begin to consider personal relationships, especially with your teammate. I believe that you and Hinata are soul-mates, but you must gain control over the areas of your life that you can control. Also, remember that every day is a new opportunity to learn something new about her, and never let that interest die out; if you truly love her, you will want to know more and more.
My time is short, so I must tell you what is left to tell: inside my desk is a secret compartment, one that only the Hokage knows about. Tsunade knows about it and how to access it. Inside it lays every secret of this village, including your secrets. The Fourth left behind his estate to you, along with a sizable monetary and jutsu inheritance; knowing you, you'll be far more interested in finding out what jutsu your parents knew than in the money, and that's a good thing. You know what it's like to live on only a little, so you know that the only things that need be concerned about are the needs of food, shelter, and clothing. Use what you know to help others, and don't let greed grip your heart.
I must finish... it's time for me to head to the hospital. If I tell you all of this, then only keep this around to remember me. If not, then as your godfather Jiraiya must decide when it is best for you to see this. Do not mourn for me long, my beloved grandson; I must return to be with my wife. We'll continue to watch you from heaven. Strive for excellence, but know that whatever happens I'm proud of you. Your surrogate grandfather, the Third Hokage of the Leaf Village, Sarutobi.
"Talk about dropping a bomb, Sensei..." Jiraiya muttered. "I'll decide what happens to this after the trial. If it goes how I imagine it will go, then I'll have plenty of time to break it to him."
"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.
"If they don't get his head on a platter, the civilian half of the council will demand banishment," Jiraiya answered. "Naruto used the image of the Fox as a motif for his combo-transformation jutsu with Gamabunta during their fight against the One-tailed Demon Tanuki. They think he unleashed the Fox itself, though, like Gaara did the Tanuki, and they see it as a sign of weakness on his part to contain the demon. They also think that if they kill him then they can kill the Fox, not knowing that the demons are demons for a reason; spiritual beings cannot be killed by physical means."
"So they want to keep both the jailed and the jailor away," Tsunade concluded. "And none of this has to do with his resemblance to Minato."
"I think the younger people don't think to put two and two together, and the older ones don't see what they don't want to see," Jiraiya replied. "Besides, Sensei didn't tell them about his lineage; if he had, Naruto would've likely had an easier time growing up in the village, but the village itself would've been under pressure from the Rock Village to give the boy up or go to war."
"That's not good," Tsunade replied. "I guess we do have to wait."
Jiraiya nodded and removed his hand from her shoulder. "I'll keep the letter with me; if I know Naruto, he'll have forgotten about it right now, between mourning for Sensei and the upcoming court martial. I'll do my best to defend him, but I'm not putting high hopes in the civilians seeing the facts; fear has an easy way of blinding people."
"I know," Tsunade replied, knowing that it was up to her to determine Naruto's fate.
…
The night before the trial, Naruto sat atop the roof of the Hyuuga compound's main building, staring up at the full moon and the bright stars; the Hokage had ordered one night of complete electrical blackout, so the starry sky was easy to see. As he watched the moon slowly creep across the black pinhole-covered drapery of sky, he mumbled, "I wonder how long I'll be able to see the moon like this?"
"Naruto?" Hinata whispered as she climbed out of her window. "Why are you out? Father ordered a curfew because of the blackout."
"We haven't left the house, so we're still obeying the curfew," Naruto replied, and Hinata chuckled lightly as she saw his cheeky grin in the moonlight. "Want to look at the stars, Hinata?"
"Okay," Hinata replied, flipping herself up onto the roof and laying down next to Naruto. "What do you think will happen at the trial tomorrow?"
"Well, I hope my speech at the Old Man's funeral helped soothe some of them, but I'm not going to hold my breath," Naruto glumly replied. "Anyway, Jiraiya told me earlier that he wants to take me on as his apprentice, like he did with the Fourth Hokage. I want to, but I don't want to leave yet, either. Itachi's supposed to get his surgery done next week, the chunin promotion announcement is supposed to be made after the trial tomorrow, and..." He glanced over at her and said, "I wouldn't get to see you much anymore."
"N-N-Naruto..." Hinata stammered, blushing again.
"I don't know why, but you've become the most important person in my life. When Neji nearly killed you, all I could think about was trying to protect you; when Gaara had all of you trapped, you were the only one I could think of. I had to save you, no matter what," Naruto continued. "I hope that this doesn't sound too weird, but I enjoy making you laugh, hearing your thoughts, even making you blush and stammer like you just did. Like I said, I don't know why, but maybe one of these days I'll figure it out." Turning to her, he continued, saying, "I can't ask you to leave and come with me if I need to leave, but just remember me-"
He was surprised, however, when Hinata lunged over and hugged him tightly, saying through tears, "How can you ask me that? I'll always remember you, no matter how far away you are, because I know you'll come back! You promised to protect the village and become the next Hokage, remember?"
"I remember," Naruto said as he held Hinata, "and every part of it was true, especially since I have a new reason to come back: to protect you. I will come back, I promise. I will tame the Fox and become the next Hokage." The rest of the night was spent with the two holding each other and looking up at the stars, eventually falling asleep together.
Hiashi, of course, had heard the entire conversation and chuckled to himself. "They love each other and don't even realize how much. Better start drawing up the marriage contract now... Mrs. Hinata Hyuuga-Namikaze. Nah, Hyuuga-Uzumaki; yeah, that sounds much better. I hope they can wait five more years, though... with love, it can be either a very short time, or it could take forever."
I wanted to save the next part for its own chapter, since we're coming up to the end, so this chapter is going to be shorter than usual. Enjoy, and as always, R+R!