Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

"Windows to the Soul"
by Chronos Astral

Chapter 9:

'Been a While'


The scarred chuunin waited patiently by the Hokage's office, looking quite frightened and nervous, feet shifting uncomfortably as he stood. Outwardly, he looked to be guilty of a crime and in line for execution, which was exactly how he felt inwardly. He had been summoned by the Hokage shortly after what felt like a brief drug trip courtesy of the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki. There were no specifics said of why he had been summoned, only saying that it had something to do with the Uzumaki kid himself. That alone had sent him into a spasm/panic attack.

Umino Iruka knew he was going to be in really deep shit. Really deep. Around mid-waist level of it... Okay, grotesque thoughts, but as it is, he was still seriously screwed. The chuunin kept playing over the situation at hand in his head, trying to come up with the possible outcomes. 'Did the Hokage find about what happened during class!? Crap! I'm going to be sentenced to death! I'm not ready to die yet!' He screamed in his head. Indeed there were many things he had yet to do in his life, like reading at least one copy of Icha Icha (out of curiosity, of course, and pressure from his fellow male instructors).

After many calming breathes, he focused his partially controlled thoughts on what the boy had said to him after class. 'Uzumaki said something about his uncle causing the Kyuubi attack... Is it true...?' Iruka twitched at the though of the Kyuubi. Though why would the boy outright say it was his uncle's fault? Wouldn't that just give more incentive to hate him?

Iruka shook his head of such things. He'd look at this logically and not bias the boy. 'He did some weird jutsu on me afterwards. I can't remember what happened exactly...' His thoughts were cut off by the appearance of Ebisu, who had cleared his throat to signify his presence.

"Hokage-sama will see you now..." He stated formally, and raised a brow when he saw the scarred chuunin gulp audibly.

Hesitantly, Iruka turned the knob to the door of the office opened it slightly. He peeked his head into the room, seeing the Sandaime Hokage with his back turned, looking over the village through the window. Having already sensed his presence, Sarutobi motioned him to come closer. "Come in, Iruka-san. Take a seat."

Iruka nearly jumped at the mention of his name. He walked over with rigid limbs to a lone chair set in front of the Kage's desk.

The elderly man turned on his seat to regard the obviously nervous chuunin. "Relax, Iruka-san. Though I am fully aware of what happened at your class this morning, you are not guilty of any crime." The Sandaime put on an austere frown, increasing the tension within the room. "Naruto is free to tell whomever he's ready to tell to, but it is still a matter of concern. We are lucky that the other kids his age have no knowledge of the relationship between the jinchuuriki and the bijuu, but it maybe a matter of time before they find out."

The chuunin gave a brief sigh of relief that he was not in any trouble, but he knew there was more to this. "So then why have you summoned me, Hokage-sama?"

For a while, older man closed his eyes in contemplation, making him look much older. After a stifling moment, he spoke up again. "Iruka-san, you are aware of what he told you of the Kyuubi attack?"

Iruka felt hesitant at this. "Y-yes, Hokage-sama. He said that the cause was... was-"

"His uncle, Uzumaki Toruna." The Hokage finished for him, getting an affirmative nod from the man. "Yes, it's true. His uncle had been the main catalyst that drove the Kyuubi here."

Iruka felt a familiar twitch on his eye. His parents were among those that died because of the demon fox. There was a bit of anger boiling within him but he put it out for now. With as much control as he could muster, he tried to calmly ask his question without sounding to enraged. "W-Why'd he do it, Hokage-sama?"

"Honestly, I do not know. Twelve years ago, he admitted his crime but fled soon afterwards. How he managed to temporarily 'control' the Kyuubi in a sense is, as Naruto had already told you, an effect of his bloodline. A bloodline that he has passed on to the boy."

"It sounds dangerous..."

"Only if he cannot control it. Powerful as it maybe, it is not without its repercussions..." He mused, lighting his pipe in preparation for what he knew would be a migraine-inducing explanation. "Which is why he will be needing a bit of your help..."


"Ahaha! So that's you girls have been up to lately. To think you all wanted to be kunoichi and end up as classmates..." Naruto chuckled good-naturedly as his old friends chronicled the events that led to their studying in the ninja academy. A coincidence, really, that Sakura and Ino had befriended the once unconfident Hinata, three of his most valued friends becoming friends themselves. With a heartfelt smile, he looked them all over through lidded eyes, admiring how they've grown into these strong-willed soon-to-be kunoichi.

The girls, on the other hand, felt quite confused at how they all knew the boy. It was a strange feeling of nostalgia and irony.

Sakura shook away such thoughts to regard the dining Naruto, who was amazingly pacing through his fourth bowl of Ichiraku miso ramen with the refinement of a gentleman yet the speed of a cheetah on his prey. Such a growth from his once semi-boisterous self was evident in the calmness and serenity he exhumed, even his words and voice sounded so at peace with the world, like there was a sense of balance. And she knew she wasn't the only one who noticed.

As happy as the pinkette was that her second true friend had come back to her, she didn't know what to say. It had been so long since they've met, and so little they knew about each other. The same could be said for her two best friends who kept up a casual conversation of sorts with the blond boy, inwardly seeking a sense of companionship with him. Sakura could tell that they, her included, admired the boy to a great degree, by they way they acted differently in his presence.

Ino had never once let a boy come close to her so openly. Whether it was a consciousness around the opposite sex or simple distrust was never truly known. Now, not only was she having pleasant discourse with one, but she was within close proximity of one as well.

Hinata was a strong-willed if not a very gentle girl with outstanding refinement born from her family's teachings. With that said, it was hard to believe that same girl was fidgeting nervously and was squirming in her seat. Was she tapping her fingers together?

After a few of the initial pleasantries (and at least 6 bowls of ramen later), Sakura decided to voice a question that had been bugging her since the day after meeting him for the first time. She took a deep breath to abate her hesitation. "Where have you been all this time, Naruto?"

The blond stopped the chopsticks halfway towards his mouth. There was a brief silence...

"I've been... training." He continued eating normally, his smile not having vanished or faltered in the slightest.

"Ah... I see..." Though they noted his pause, they thought nothing of it and continued their jovial session. The girls didn't take notice of the blond unconsciously tracing an unsightly scar underneath his kimono.


"'Shinsui Setsuzoku (Spirit Link)'? I've never heard of such a bloodline."

"I'm not surprised. It's been a well guarded secret known to only one village, one that has been wiped out years ago. Right now, the only few known to have possession of it are Uzumaki Toruna, Uzumaki Kushina, and Uzumaki Naruto." Sarutobi mused whilst smoking on his favorite pipe.

Iruka was still inquisitive and thus pried further. "What does it do, Hokage-sama?"

"More than you can imagine." The Hokage put up a stone hard look as he elaborated. "The Shinsui Setsuzoku unlocks a person's inner-being and intertwining it into a link of mind, body, and soul. It breaks away the limitations of the human body and enhances the human mind into infinite bounds. A power even I cannot comprehend completely."

"Its main aspect is to amplify human emotion to the point where his body and mind are connected to his soul, giving him the power to unlock countless abilities an average human cannot attain. Add this to a combination with a ninja's skills, its wielder can easily become a powerful warrior."

"But what does it have to do with human emotion?" Iruka asked.

"As you know, emotion is a powerful force, one that can gain victory over all odds or utterly break a person. I think Morino Ibiki of the Interrogation Division can vouch for me on that." He paused to see Iruka gulping at the mention of the man also known as 'Death-Scars Morino' who was famous for his rather interesting variety of torture methods. The number of times that tears, vomit, blood, and other fluids were spilt by his victims was said to be countless.

They had the buckets to prove it too.

The Sandaime cleared his throat to banish those grueling thoughts and catch the chuunin's attention once more. "One of its more notable traits is the Shinsui Kansei (Spirit Sense) Like the Byakugan, it senses all things around the person, except into a deeper level to the point where nearly nothing is concealed. It does not sense chakra, but it can see, hear, smell, and feel everything around the person using it, concealed or otherwise, at a depth on par with that of the Sharingan. It can also be aware of the emotions felt by other people. Whether it be pain, happiness, sadness, or plain apathy. I'm sure you have seen the boy walk around with ease despite not opening his eyes?"

"It also possesses the On'you Iki Hinsei, another ability unique only to the Shinsui Setsuzoku. I don't have much information on this except that it creates three individual spirit entities that represent his inner-being."

"As in split personalities?" Iruka inquired with wonder.

"Much more complex than that, I'm afraid. My student, Jiraiya, may know more of the details for I have no further knowledge of what it does exactly. Jiraiya has also told me that the bloodline had a connection with spirits but he has yet to clarify this with me."

Iruka mulled this over quietly, not fully understanding the concept of this bloodline. Sarutobi continued. "As I was saying before, this bloodline is driven by the boy's emotions and thoughts. But because emotions are amplified, it is quite easy to lose control of these powers when under stress and may even sever him mentally without proper emotional balance. He may snap and go mad, berserk even. Add this to the fact that he has access to Kyuubi's strength-"

"The results could be devastating..." Iruka finished for him with a tone of apparent horror and premonition. Sarutobi only nodded sternly. "Hokage-sama! If this is true, we should seal away his bloodline then!"

"I'm afraid that we know of no way to seal his bloodline. Even if we did, we may very well kill him, or worse destroy his very being and leave a hollow shell of himself." Both men winced at the implications of a hollow body with no mind or spirit to guide it. "That is why I need your help, Iruka-san. I ask this as more of a favor to me than it is an order," He stopped a moment to remove his Kage's hat, to ask the chuunin not as the Hokage, but as an old man concerned over his young ward.

"I want you to watch over Naruto, go to him if he is troubled or in need of guidance. You don't need to be with him all the time, just put him on the right track of things. I would do it myself if it weren't for my role as the village head. While the repercussions of Naruto losing control are indeed worrisome, I fear for what it may also do to the boy himself." The man's eyes spoke pleadingly to Iruka, worry and trepidation present in his aged face.

Iruka was hesitant. Taking charge of the Jinchuuriki? Doubt, agitation, uncertainty, and much more tore away at him, making him sweat more as the village head waited for his answer. The boy had Iruka's parents' murderer inside of him! Not just his parents, but thousands of others as well!

But... It wasn't his fault. Iruka understood that. He knew that the boy would need someone to guide him, to be looking out for him.

"I... I understand what you ask of me, Hokage-sama. But why me? Doesn't Naruto have any other relatives, much preferably those who share and have a better knowledge of his bloodline?"

Sarutobi looked downtrodden at this question. "The boy is an orphan, with his father dying at the Kyuubi attack and his mother also coming to the same fate at child birth. His uncle had come to us once, six years ago, and looked after the boy."

"But he..."


After bidding a heartfelt goodbye to his old friends, Naruto made his way through a thick forestry, expertly weaving through the shrubs and trees along the way. He could sense the buzz of life within the otherwise quiet forest, seeing how the trees swayed silently in the twilight winds, various wildlife scurrying about on their own business, the sounds of his padding feet against the grass.

It was dark there, but he needed no light. His new eyes saw for him.

He found his way into a familiar grassy clearing, littered with the mesmerizing floating lights of the fireflies of the season. He made his way to a rock, searching its exterior for its hidden seal. He bit his thumb, drawing some of his blood and smeared the crimson liquid onto the seal, illuminating the grassy terrain in a blue hue. A modestly sized, though rather unique looking home hazed into existence from one side of the area. The abode had many curved moon-like designs adorning it, light colors coating its exterior with exotic stones embedded into it. It looked runic, almost symbolic.

The boy smiled at the vision of his home. He couldn't wait to tell his 'Nii-san' of his first day to the academy.

He entered the strange housing, his senses greeted with the feel the smooth carpet floor and plain lavender walls. His furniture consisted of a few soft couches, homely plants for decoration, some desks and doors that led to the bedrooms, bathroom, library, training room, and other places.

"Tadaima. (I'm home)" He called across the halls.

Across from him, he had spotted his surrogate older brother. Naruto beamed brighter.

"Nii-san." He started calmly with a fond tone. "I had my first day at the academy today. It's almost as boring as you say, but I met my old friends! You know, Hinata-chan, Sakura-chan, and Ino-chan. My sensei seems like a good person. Then after school I met up with my friends at Ichiraku's for ramen! It was so much fun..."

Naruto opened his brilliantly deep, glowing cerulean eyes to better regard the engraved writings on the small stone grave. Crouching, he traced the kanji longingly, his eyes glowing deeper hue at the words written.

'Uzumaki Toruna'

"I'll be having my second day at the academy tomorrow. Hope it will be as fun as it was today." He stood and shut his eyes again, relying on his Shinsui Kansei to see for him once more.

"Oyasuminasai, Nii-san..."


A/N

I may not update for a while on account of a few matters.

Wrote a new fic called "I am not Submissive!" Narutocentric focusing on how Naruto can be a little too nice at times. Harem?

I can't be bothered to write the girls already in the harem as I've already written within previous chapters. Only some have been revealed. The one girl left for debate would be Shizune. (I find her cute, oddly enough)

Drop me a review.