Chapter Two

They all moved to the living room. From there, Naruto had several questions answered for him. He asked the Third about the Hyuuga incident and the Uchiha Massacre and why they weren't stopped. He knew there had to be someone from Konoha in on it, because his pranks had happened in remote parts of the village as well, and he'd been caught any time they got out of line. It had taken him a few years to figure it out, but Naruto knew his Jiji had a hand in it, and that knowledge had hurt like a bitch.

Naruto also questioned Jiraiya on his training methods over the three year period they were gone. Naruto knew his dad was much more capable when it came to taijutsu, and he was more than a little hacked off that he hadn't even approached that level after three years under Jiraiya. He just hadn't brought it up at the time because that method didn't seem to work.

Both of them answered him, although he didn't like the answers. Sarutobi admitted that he had wanted to punish the Hyuuga a bit for the arrogance they had shown over the years by using their political influence to curb all efforts to halt the Caged Bird Seal. He had also admitted to taking the easy route when Itachi offered to wipe them out, although he admitted that he expected more Uchiha to survive, especially among the young.

As for Jiraiya, he had told Naruto that most of that time was spent trying to improve his mind. He refused to help the blonde out until he let go of some of his knuckleheaded ways and buckled down mentally. So he helped him with the stuff others didn't have the skill to do, like Kyuubi and the Rasengan. Although Naruto was angry, he knew the man meant well. If Naruto had actually gotten that much strength without tempering his temper, it could have spelled a disaster. Besides, Jiraiya hadn't counted on dying so early and not being around to protect Naruto when no one else could.

They talked for a while, telling stories. Naruto found out he had nearly been named Mikoto or Mito because his parents didn't know if he was a boy or a girl, having waited until he was born. Finally, Naruto decided to find out what all they had left to him before time ran out. "Alright, this is a lot of fun, but I know you each left me something, a legacy of sorts. I want to get it all out of the way before we run out of time, just in case."

Jiraiya went first. "Well, that's not likely to happen. These aren't shadow clones, gaki, they're blood clones. You can't use them very much because they take a lot out of a person, laying them out for a month to initially form. People at our level don't have that kind of time. The First's wife invented them, and they are a closely guarded secret of the Uzumaki family. I didn't teach you much during the trip, but that doesn't mean I hadn't planned ahead. I left the secret to the Kage Bunshin in a note on top of everything else I gave you."

"Under that, I put a copy of every jutsu I knew, as well as several books of stories from my time in the war so you could hear about some of the tricks others pulled on me and the ones I used in return. I also put in everything I'd learned about dealing with people, from interrogation to seduction. I figured if I could just teach you to like learning, you would be able to do the rest faster than I could. You needed to learn that first, gaki."

"I don't need that pervy stuff, sensei, but thank you for the rest. I promise you all right now I'll learn everything you left for me." At their incredulous looks he bristled in irritation. "Hey, just 'cause I don't likelearning, doesn't mean I'd dishonor people's work like that! You put a lot of work into leaving that stuff for me, and I'm gonna learn it all, no matter how boring it might be. Except that pervy stuff!"

The Third laughed. "Well, Naruto-kun, I knew what Jiraiya and Kakashi would be doing as far as jutsu went, so I just made sure they didn't miss any. As for the rest, I left several kata of stances for weapons I thought you would use. There are some for a bo staff, a sword, twin short swords and even tiger claws. There are a few more as well, but I don't remember what they were. On top of that, I put in everything I knew about mastering your chakra. I'm an adept user of genjutsu and good with medical jutsu, as well, so I put in tips I thought you could use to try and learn them. It's up to you if you want to do so, though."

"I already made a promise that I would learn everything, Jiji, and I never go back on my word! I haven't before, and I'm not going to start now. If it takes me a hundred years, I'll learn everything you've got! That's my nindo!" Minato and Kushina smiled with pride, while Kakashi looked at him in a new light. Jiraiya just smiled smugly. Naruto turned to look at his parents.

"So what did you leave me?" The two looked at each other before smiling sheepishly. "Actually, Naruto-kun, we kind of forgot to move everything out of our apartment before the Kyuubi attack. It was stomped to pieces."

Naruto began crying to himself. About a second later, they both cracked up laughing. "Oh Minato-koi, I can't believe he fell for that! I haven't gotten to prank someone in forever! It was soooo funnnnnyyyyy!"

Naruto pouted at having been caught out, but he smiled not long after at having something in common with his mom. He knew so little about his family that this was nice to learn about, especially when it came to his mom. "You did pranks, too?"

"Your mother was a nightmare with a bucket of paint, Naruto. Granted, she never did anything quite as…grand as your last prank, but she was still quite talented."

"Oh, really? Our little Naruto is that good? What was your last prank, Naruto?"

"I painted the Hokage Mountain in broad daylight!" Minato and Kushina burst into laughter, as did Jiraiya. He'd never heard about this one. Kakashi smiled, fondly remembering the day it had happened.

"Oh it was more than that," said Kakashi. "He painted it all, starting at dawn. He gave the Shodaime a clown face, put a full set of geisha features on the Nidaime and a sign that said 'anything if you pay me', gave the Third a nosebleed and put blinders on the Fourth. Even back then he knew that sensei could be optimistic to a fault, genius that he was."

"He also knew the Nidaime's true nature," cut in Sarutobi. "The man was my sensei and Hokage, and I respect him for those things, but he was a power-hungry whore. He spouted to a lot of people that they must do everything for Konoha, but since he was Konoha, that meant they did it for him. He hated the Uchiha as rivals to his power, and I suspect he orchestrated much of Madara's hatred of Konoha in order to secure his own position as Hokage."

"Madara was the only other viable candidate if Hashirama left office before he died. Without him, the job of Hokage was kept 'in the family' so to speak. Fortunately, the Nidaime's influence never caught in wider circles, and I was able to partially break his hold by giving the position of Hokage to Minato, even if he was a successor of ideals. He also taught Danzo an idiotic theory he cooked up that said the Sharingan itself was a source of madness and all Uchiha must die. I think it was the start of the eventual Massacre, which was at least partially, if not mostly, Danzo's fault. Thus, Konoha's troubles are the Nidaime's fault."

They laughed for a while and talked about pranks done before Naruto's parents finally spoke. "Actually Naruto, since we didn't know exactly what you would be good at, we left a manual for every basic skill we could think of. I was a Weapons Mistress, so I've left you manuals on using wires, shuriken, kunai, sai, swords of all sizes and shapes, polearms, kama, fans, archery, you name it. I also left you a book on how to make the chakra chains I used to use, in case you were capable of the same thing. I'm not sure if you are, but there's only one thing for it."

Minato interjected here. "As for me, well I didn't know what you would be good at either, so I left you everything I had learned about the human body and about chakra. I wanted you to at least be able to equal if not surpass me as one of the best men alive in close combat, and my training methods were very… unique. Aside from that, there was a large library of shape manipulation. Any jutsu that used neutral chakra, I learned, from rasengan to chakra strings and everything in between. I also left you a manual for learning the five types of chakra elements. Even if you only had one natural affinity, I figured you could work for the other four as well with the chakra pool you would have."

"What do you mean, Dad? I thought people only had one kind of affinity?"

"Naruto," Kakashi said. "Do you remember what I told you about chakra natures?"

"Sure, sensei. Everyone has an element they are in tune with. Some are attuned to more than one element by a bloodline ability, but other than that, everyone only has one natural affinity."

"Exactly, Naruto. Now you've seen me use many jutsu. I'm telling you now I don't have a bloodline, so how do I use the rest of them?"

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "Well, I guess your Sharingan copied them and that lets you use them?"

"You're only half-right, Naruto," said Kakashi. "It is true that people are only born with one affinity outside of chakra-based bloodlines. It is also true that the Sharingan can let someone copy a jutsu. That being said, they can't use a jutsu they haven't worked for the affinity for without burning a good deal more chakra. It might be better for Uchiha, but it wouldn't be that much better, otherwise Uchiha would use more than Fire all the time. I've got some pretty good reserves, but there's no way all the jutsu I copied would be of any use if I didn't have the affinity to pull them off. They'd wear me out too fast."

Kakashi paused to take a drink before continuing. "So, anytime I copied a jutsu with handseals, I learned the affinity for it. It could take a while sometimes, but I knew until I had them down copying the jutsu wouldn't do much good. Due to the war with Iwa, Earth obviously came first. It was easy because a lot of jutsu were more shape manipulation than nature manipulation, thus much less draining without an affinity – things like Earth and Water dragons that came out of the ground or lake. The only reason I haven't done that for Wind is because most users in Konoha master the affinity enough to not need hand seals. Anyone outside of Konoha that uses it seems to have the same tendency. It makes it harder to copy. I actually have a minor affinity, but I haven't worked at it as much."

Naruto's face dawned with understanding. "So what you're saying is that I could actually master all five? That would be so awesome! Sure it'll be hard, but it'll be so worth to see the teme's face when I throw a fireball at him! Hah! Bow to the awesomeness of Naruto-sama, Sasuke-teme! Bwahahahahaaaa- OW!"

Tsunade's fist was imbedded in his skull. "Never do that again, gaki. It's creepy like the Pedo-teme."

The others all nodded in agreement as Naruto looked up, so he said, "We never speak of this again."

"Agreed."

Minato decided to break up the awkwardness. "Anyway, Naruto-kun, we also left our most prized legacy – Fuinjutsu and ramen recipes."

"Y-you made recipes for… for r-ramen?" They nodded at Naruto. Naruto had stars in his eyes as he hugged them, completely ignoring half of what she said. "I love my family so much!"

Kushina giggled. "Don't forget the Fuinjutsu, Naruto. It's what Minato excelled in the most, but the Uzumaki were infamous for their abilities in the field. Before they were destroyed, the clan managed to send me the entire Uzu Library with a Double Reverse Summoning – which is why we never had any books return late. I've got every book or scroll that was in Uzu at the time of the attack. We left it and everything else we had in the basement library, along with everything else."

Kakashi spoke up. "That's also where I left all of the jutsu scrolls from myself and Sandaime-sama. Sorry Sandaime, but I didn't want to risk Danzo making off with them."

The Third laughed. "So that's where they got off to. Danzo was quite irritated when the Wind scrolls he had left for me to study went missing. I believe he still has a bounty out for the thief's hands."

Kakashi laughed nervously. "You wouldn't try to send him a message from beyond the grave… would you? I swear it wasn't me that took your signed limited edition Icha Icha, it was Bear!"

The Third grumbled. "Damn that Ibiki and his poker face!"

They all laughed, before Minato remembered a few things. "Naruto, I have a few more things to pass on that the clone inside you didn't have time to say. I was low on chakra when I made that one, so there are a few things it thought of as it was fading. First off, I need to show you all of the seals around our house. The estate is what he remembered as he was fading. There was one other- oh yes! He wanted me to tell you two things that were very important."

Here Minato got quite serious. "First of all, when you are ready to take full control of the Kyuubi's chakra, Kushina will be there to help you. She left a clone behind to help make sure you weren't overwhelmed. The other thing was that- oh, just a second!"

Minato did a few handsigns and slammed a familiar purple seal into Naruto's gut. "There, now the fuzz-butt won't hear anything. Here's the thing Naruto. You're only going to be fighting the Yang half of Kyuubi. The Yin half is actually sealed behind the Yang, so you have to get through it first."

The others exploded, although Jiraiya was the loudest. "Holy shit, you crazy-ass blonde gaki! You don't do anything by half do you! Fucking shit of the Shinigami's ghost, that's a crazy-ass plan! How does the Kyuubi not know it's there?"

Minato got a secret smile on his face that the pervert had seen many times before. "Seals, sensei! There was no way I was only going to put one half of the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto, it would have thrown his chakra system horribly off if I did. Having too much of either Yin or Yang beyond a certain point cuts off classes of jutsu entirely, and I couldn't cripple him like that. He still had trouble with learning, but that was a learned response, and it showed in his ability to learn when he wants to."

"Having an unbalanced chakra system is like only ever using one type of weapon – it cuts off the ability to be creative and use more of the tools in the ninja trade. It's why you only see those like Kakashi who have a balanced approach throwing around all manner of jutsu. Those that specialize have a hard time with certain brands of jutsu, like Gai with ninjutsu, or the Kurama clan with taijutsu."

"It's really a bit of irony. The Shinigami helped me trick everyone into thinking I was putting it into myself, even that old trickster of a fox! I'm using the Kyuubi to guard itself and buffer its own negative emotions! The whole 'even the Shinigami couldn't hold all of it' was utter bullshit. It's a kami, and that outranks all bijuu."

Kushina piped up here. "I think that tops even your prank, Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded in utter awe at his dad. He really was one in a million. "You'll get no argument from me."

Minato continued. "The Yin holds more of the negative emotions of the Kyuubi than the Yang – don't ask me why. Some mysteries are simply beyond mortal minds. Anyway, I figure that by putting it in there, it will leak into the Kyuubi but keep the Kyuubi from tainting Naruto's mind too much. It took years to build up that hatred you felt on the bridge, Naruto. If you can gain control of the Yang chakra, it will help you defeat the Yin chakra. A warning, though – the Yin is far more mentally potent. You'll need to have steeled your will a great deal more to face it. With the Yang it's more a measure of power and control."

Tsunade just stared slack-jawed. "I know everyone bandies about words like prodigy and genius, but I really think they just never met you and Itachi. If they had, it would be used a lot less often. That Lee kidis a genius of hard work like he proclaims, but he's the only one in your generation, Naruto. You mastered the Kage Bunshin so fast because you've got chakra to burn. Don't get me wrong, you're still a force to be reckoned with, but it's not like with Lee or your father. They are just in a league of their own in their fields of choice, and no one else comes close."

Naruto nodded. "Again, no arguments from me on either side. In my defense, I didn't have too many teachers that wanted to answer questions. They wouldn't send me out, but after a few weeks of being ignored I stopped listening. It probably frustrated Iruka; by the time he came in I didn't want to learn. I really owe him an apology for all the times he tried to help."

With that, they were done. For the next several hours, they talked and laughed about stories old and new. They had also taken the time to let Naruto get settled in. Clones had gone to fetch all of Naruto's things, what few were in his tent. When they returned, the group had taken a tour of the house, getting rooms ready as they talked. Minato made sure to show Naruto every secret compartment and security array he knew about in the house. The man had been rightfully paranoid when he built the veritable fortress, and he made sure Naruto knew how to use it all, or where to find out how to use it all.

Naruto got several tips on jutsu as they moved through the house, and stories to go with each tip. His dad had also handed him a copy of the secret to the Hirashin, although he offered to explain it right then. Naruto's respond had startled him.

"I want to see if I can figure it out on my own."

Minato had smirked proudly and a little smugly. Naruto would have the scroll to work from, just in case. It would be a lot of work, but Naruto was ready to do what it took.

As the day was finishing up, Minato had a suggestion for Naruto. "I know that we've left you a lot of things, but I'm thinking there might be times where you could use some advice. Thus, I think you should put us in your Seal. Whenever you need help, you can visit us in your mind. If need be, we can be released into the real world, but I think it might be good to have something prepared if you are ever captured and need discreet advice."

Naruto's eyes widened. "You really think we could do that? That I could have you in my mind? I know that Kakashi-sensei can help me learn a lot of the jutsu and stuff, but you're right. Sometimes, I'll just need a willing ear to rely on or someone to give advice. It could get boring, though. Are you sure you would want to do that?"

Minato smiled. "It wouldn't be that boring, actually. Just like I did with the Kyuubi's seal, I can link the seals so that we can see what you see. With time, I might even think up a way for us to talk to each other and you without you entering the seal, although this might drain our chakra faster. All five of us would love to be available to help you."

Kakashi butted in at this moment, swiping the scroll with his clone and unsealing it in a puff of smoke. Another noise signaled the release of a shadow clone. Then Kakashi spoke. Both of them.

"Besides, it's not as if-"

"-We have anything-"

"-Better to do with-"

"-Our time."

Naruto sighed, running his hand down his face. "I knew I shouldn't have taken you to see the movies. The Twins were hilarious, but following their conversation was annoying."

Just as the five Clones were about to be sealed into Naruto, Minato had pulled out one of his kunai and gave it to Naruto. "Let's see you figure it out, then, Naruto-kun. I'm counting on you! Don't worry. The scroll will be able to explain everything, and I can explain the scroll!"

With that, and a final round of goodbyes, they left Naruto to get ready for bed.

BreakBreakBreakBreakBreak

It had been nearly a month since Naruto had talked with his parents. In that time, Naruto had helped out with the cleanup and studied from his parents' library. He had yet to talk to any of the clones, as Naruto wanted to save the precious time they had for possible future problems. Currently, Naruto was working on the one thing he knew could help them beat Akatsuki: Hirashin.

Naruto's dad had warned him that it would be hard, but Naruto really believed he could figure this out. He had worked out the basics of the kunai, and was planning a small test run.

Naruto channeled chakra into the seal and threw it at the floor, but nothing happened. He tried again, but still nothing happened. He summoned a horde of clones, and they each tried it with their kunai, yet nothing happened. Finally, Naruto decided to try to put as much power as he could into it. He sent out four clones to gather Nature chakra with orders to dispel only when they were ready. Twenty minutes later Naruto got a rush of chakra. He channeled every scrap of Sage chakra into the kunai.

Outside, Tsunade was walking up to the house, preparing to visit him. She knew he had been working a lot, and they had promised to talk more often. She walked through the gate, only to be greeted by a rush of chakra. She could only watch in frustrated disbelief as the entirety of the Namikaze estate – with her still in it – was engulfed in an orange flash.

"Damnit, gaki."

With that Naruto, Tsunade and the entire Namikaze estate vanished to parts unknown.

Coincidentally, the Nidaime's head, as well as a good portion of the Mountain behind him, was vaporized in an immense yellow flash. His head, which would take a while to put back in place, would forever be behind the rest, unable to share equally in their glory. The Third had the protective seals on the head removed when he entered office. It was also unfortunate that the incident killed the sleeping Danzo, who had long since slept in a cave behind the head of his mentor in secret.