Caught in the Middle
Chapter 5
Family Legacies
Disclaimer: Nooooooooo.
Sorry about the longer than usual wait guys. School and all that. I'm stressing over my chemistry grade; short-hand notation of atoms is, for some reason, not my forte. I did learn something useful though; burning copper is fun, try it some time.
Now, let's get moving on this chapter so I can work on the next one!
Naruto woke with a start, still expecting danger from the last time he was awake. He immediately regretted his action however, because his muscles ached like hell and his head was pounding so hard he was sure his skull would crack open any second. He groaned and fell back into the bed he was laying on.
He turned his head to survey his surroundings. He was obviously in a bed; the room was white for the most part, with a few machines around him; heart monitors, IV equipment and the like. He was in his own private room with curtains drawn on all sides except behind him, which was a solid wall.
He assumed he was in a hospital, the only question was how he got here…and why was he alive? His last memory was getting gutted by that kitsune assassin, then nothing.
"Finally awake, eh?" said a voice to his left.
He looked over to see the silver haired, mask wearing Kakashi sitting at his bedside reading a book.
"Make-Out Paradise? Never would have pegged you as a pervert Kakashi," Naruto grumble out.
"I take offense to that. This is nothing but a romantic novel, so what if I happen to like books aimed at a more mature audience?"
"There's a fine line between romance and porno; you obviously have no concept of it," he shot back.
"Hn; well I'd love to keep discussing this with you, but I have a lot to show you so we'd better get going," he said, closing the book and squaring it away under his suit jacket.
Naruto gave him as much of an incredulous look as he could manage. "How am I supposed to walk, I can hardly sit up?"
"I expected as much, here," he said, taking out a small red pill from his pocket, "this should hold you until until you heal. No need to swallow it whole, you can just chew it, it doesn't taste half bad."
The blond took it and popped it into his mouth, and Kakashi was right, it tasted a little like cinnamon. After swallowing the crunched up pill, he suddenly felt way better; his arms and legs were fully movable again and he was more awake than he had been in the last few days.
"What was that thing?"
"We like to call them Ration Pellets. They're a super-enhanced mix of proteins and vitamins molecularly compressed into an easy to chew pill. The one you ate was a medical grade one, but the military grade stuff can have someone going without food or sleep for three days."
Naruto gave an impressed whistle then hopped out of bed.
"You think I could get some actual clothes?" he said staring down at his hospital gown.
"I took the liberty of grabbing some and laying them down on that chair over there. Once you're done, we'll get going."
He nodded and grabbed the clothes as Kakashi left the room. The clothes consisted of an orange shirt with a black symbol in the front; it was a spiral with a pointed edge coming out of the lower left side and pointed down diagonally. It was weird, but a cool design nonetheless, and he couldn't argue with the color. Next he slipped on some plain blue-jeans, some socks, and his shoes.
One he was done with that, he exited the room where Kakashi was waiting next to a sleeping Karen. The red-head was slumped back in her chair and was snoring lightly. He snickered to himself as he thought of a funny way to wake her up. He jumped into the chair next to her, earning a confused look from Kakashi, and lowered his head next to her ear.
He sucked in as much air as he could until it felt like his lungs would pop, then he let a huge belch blast out his mouth. He had to admit, it was probably the largest one he'd ever pulled off, and the kitsune's reaction was well worth the effort. She shot out of the chair and nearly tripped herself getting up.
Naruto stood up as well, but almost fell over as well from laughing so hard, the look on her face was priceless. His laughter would have continued if not for the fact that as soon as she regained her composure, Karen reacquainted Naruto's face with her fist. The blond was knocked on his ass and slid a few feet before jumping back up rubbing his cheek.
"Damn, just when the pain was going away from the last one."
"What the hell was that about!?" she shouted.
He put his hands behind his head and grinned. "Just having some fun is all," he laughed.
"I stay here patiently waiting for you to wake up and this is the thanks I get; a belch as a wake up call!?"
Naruto waved off the comment. "Oh come on, it's not like you could leave anyway. You forget, we're sorta bonded together and stuff."
"Not that I don't find this reunion heartwarming, but we do have a lot of things to cover," interjected Kakashi.
They both forgot their argument for the moment and nodded. They followed him out into a hallway with a few people who were also in suits walking past. Naruto noticed something odd though; there were symbols on the wall that matched the one on his shirt. That was something he'd have to ask about some time.
"Kakashi, where exactly are we?"
"This is the FBPS headquarters in Washington DC, we're in a secure underground location beneath the Pentagon."
"Really; how long was I out!?"
"About a day in a half," answered Karen.
"A day in a half, are you kidding me!?"
Naruto was so wrapped up in his questions he wasn't looking where he was going and ended up colliding with someone walking through the halls. The both of them were knocked over and Naruto quickly apologized.
"Oh man, sorry, didn't see you there!"
He looked up to see a guy a few years older than him with long brown hair and the same formal suit as everyone else. What he noticed most was his eyes. From what it looked like, he had ocular albinism; hanging out with Hinata for the past few months had made it easy for him to spot. To be honest, the guy looked a lot like her to.
"It's not a problem, I'm in no hurry anywhere," he said calmly.
"Hey, what's your last name?" asked Naruto.
He gave the blond a strange look.
"My last name? It's Hyuuga, why?"
"You wouldn't happen to be related to a Hinata Hyuuga would you?" he pried.
"Why yes, she's my cousin. Do you know her?"
He nodded. "Yeah, her boyfriend is my best friend, so we hang out a lot."
"Hm, I see. Well then, a pleasure to meet you, I am Neji," he said introducing himself.
"The name's Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya."
At the mention of his name, Neji's eyes widened in surprise.
"D-did you say…Uzumaki?"
Naruto gave him a strange look but nodded anyway. "Yeah…why?"
Neji then turned to Kakashi.
"Kakashi, is he…?"
"Yes," Kakashi cut in, "he is, and I'll be explaining that to him in a moment."
"I see," Neji muttered as he turned back to Naruto, "In that case, it is a true honor to meet you Naruto Uzumaki. I hope to see what you're capable of after proper training."
With that, Neji passed them by and continued on his way. The whole conversation left him confused but he supposed Kakashi would be explaining things soon enough, so he held his tongue for the time being. They continued walking down the hallway until Kakashi stopped and pulled out a key-card, sliding it into a reader and opened the door.
Inside it was a simple supply room, not a thing looked the least bit important. There were just old boxes of food and a few packets of Ration Pellets. Kakashi paid none of these objects any mind though, and walked to the back of the room until they hit a dead end between two racks of supplies.
Before Naruto could ask what they were doing, he quickly formed the same strange hand signs he'd seen Karen do and then placed his palm on the wall, causing it to disappear and create a new doorway that he'd not seen before. With a bit of apprehension and confusion, he walked through and he was brought into a completely new room.
It was still a dark room about the same size as the supply room, but much less organized. Boxes and books were piled on the floor, and a few of them were a bit crunched up or crinkled. Again though, Kakashi paid no mind to these objects and continued again to the rear of the room where he repeated his actions. This time, instead of a doorway, the front of a wall mounted vault was revealed.
After a quick input of the combination, Kakashi opened it up and reached in. He pulled out two boxes, one long and slender, and the other was more bulky but equally smooth in appearance. The FBPS agent laid them both on the floor and sat Indian-style in front of them, and motioned for the two of them to do the same. They did as instructed and waited for Kakashi to explain what this was all about.
"Naruto," Kakashi suddenly said, "You were visiting your mother's grave when I found you, correct?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'd never done it before and Karen thought it was a good idea. I have to admit, it helped a lot more than I thought it would. I got a few things off my chest that was sort of eating at me for the past few days."
Karen looked away and blushed, remembering all the things she'd heard him say while at the cemetery. Luckily it was dim and neither male paid any mind to her shift in position.
"Well I have something here that I think you might like to see," he said, flipping open the locks on the longer case. He rotated it so that the front was facing the blond and then opened it.
Inside was a long curved blade. It was sheathed in a scabbard that was black with a dark blue stripe going down its side. The hilt was also black with more dark blue, making a simple diamond pattern, but impressive all the same.
"Go ahead, pick it up," said Kakashi.
Naruto nodded and grabbed the blade. It sent a jolt through his nerves, picking up the elegant weapon. He slowly unsheathed it, marveling at its strong steel edge and its glowing silver appearance. Once it was completely freed, he stared in utter awe at the beauty of the blade; it reflected even the smallest amount of light and shown like a star in the night sky. It was so breathtaking he thought he might cry.
"That katana was your mothers in her ANBU days. It was her favorite weapon and she never went on a mission without it. Even though she is no longer with us, had she lived, she still planned on handing this blade down to you. She left me specific instructions to give it to you if something ever happened to her," explained Kakashi.
Naruto was near speechless. "My mother…was an agent for the FBPS?"
Kakashi nodded. "Both your parents were. Both were some of the best, if not the best, that had ever joined the Bureau."
"This…was my mothers," he whispered to himself, feeling a tear slip down his face. To him this blade wasn't his mother's possession; this was a piece of her soul, some of her that he could carry with him no matter where he went. This blade was already more important to him than anything that he'd ever been given before.
"I'll teach you how to use it later, but right now I have something else to show you," said Kakashi.
As much as he didn't want to, Naruto sheathed the blade and placed it back in its case. He turned his attention back to Kakashi as he opened the second more square case. He flipped around just as with the last case. What Naruto saw this time was not a blade, but a gun.
It was black as night, and was definitely a revolver, but it was like no gun he'd ever seen. The barrel was unusually tall, and the handle looked to custom made. It had an impressive iron-sight and had an aura of deadly precision around it.
"This Naruto, is a Wesson PPC .375 Magnum, this was your fathers."
Kakashi picked it up and held it in his hand and freeing the ammunition from inside the weapon. He held up a silver round with strange, deep spiral grooves running all through it, making it look like a sort of drill bullet.
"This Naruto, is called a Rasengan round. The most deadly bullet ever created by man. It's actually based on a spell you father created by the same name. It's an enchanted round that uses a wind based enchantment to create a sort of drill effect around the tip of the bullet. In lay-mans terms, it's sort of like firing a magically enhanced industrial strength mining drill."
"Whoa," was all Naruto had to say.
"This one though," he said, putting it back into its case, "you're going to have to earn."
"What?"
"Your mother left me specific instructions to give you her sword if she was to die, and I could never go against her wish. Your father however, never left me such instructions regarding his pistol. I think he'd still want you to have it in light of your situation, but I want you to earn it. I want you to have something to work for."
Naruto put his hands in his knees and gave him a confident smile.
"Alright then Kakashi, you're on! I'll be the best damn agent this place has ever seen, and once I'm done, I'll get that gun!"
Kakashi gave him an eye-smile in response. "We'll see."
He pulled his sleeve back a bit and glanced at his watched. "Well, we should keep moving; we have an appointment with the Bureau Director in a few minutes. She's eager to meet you both. You're more than welcome to carry your mother's sword with you Naruto."
He smiled a bit and nodded. "Thanks, I will."
With that, Kakashi promptly stood, as did Naruto and Karen. The blond and kitsune walked out into the hallway while Kakashi re-locked his vault and sealed off his personal storage room.
"So, now I know where you get it," said Karen.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Get what?"
"Ya know, the whole 'taking on a demon hunter with your bare hands' thing, now we finally know why you were able to take him on. You're parents were obviously bad-asses."
He looked down at the case that held his mother's katana. "Yeah well, I'm just happy I finally have something to remember to remember my mother by. Soon I'll have something of my dad's to; if Kakashi thinks he can scare me away with a little work then he's got another thing coming!"
"Just try not to hurt yourself," she said folding her arms.
Naruto eyed her teasingly. "Worried about me are you?"
"No; our bond is two way, if you get seriously hurt, I feel it to!" she shouted.
He put his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, I get it! It's an improvement at least."
She cocked an eyebrow. "What's an improvement?"
"You didn't punch me this time. Every time I teased you before you'd hit me, you didn't this time," he said with a smile.
Karen immediately became defensive. "I...I just forgot, that's all! You haven't been awake for almost two days, this is the longest I haven't had to nail you in the gut or the head! Don't think for a second I didn't want to though, punching you is the most fun I've had in this entire ordeal!"
He gave her another annoyed scowl, but dismissed the negative feelings when Kakashi emerged from the storage room.
"Alright, let's get moving."
Naruto quickly followed the silver haired FBPS agent, followed by Karen who was feeling a little bad about that sudden defensive outburst. The hallways were made of primarily a dark tan concrete and were never deserted as there was always someone passing by. Kakashi led them to an elevator and they silently stood as the elevator descended further underground.
Once they heard the ding, the doors slid apart, and they were led into an even busier set of hallways. They dodged and weaved their way through the stream of people and stayed behind Kakashi who seemed to effortlessly blend in with the crowd.
Once they reached the end of the hall, there was a door that was labeled: FBPS Director Tsunade Senju.
He knocked three times and a few seconds later he heard a muffled, "Come in!"
He opened the door and the two followed behind him, walking into the directors office. They both looked around the room. It was largely empty except for some bookcases on the walls, some lights on the ceiling, some potted plants near the door, and a desk on the other end of the room with a blond woman sitting behind it. There were three chairs in front of the desk, and they were all motioned to sit.
Kakashi sat to the left, Naruto in the middle, and Karen on the left. Tsunade stood immediately after they sat, coming around her desk and standing in front of Naruto. She bent down and stared him in the eyes, inspecting his face from every angle. After about a minute, she stood back up and smiled at him proudly.
"Well I'll be damned; if you're not Minato's son then I don't know white from black anymore."
Naruto stared back up at her. "Minato...that's my dad's name?"
She nodded. "Indeed it is; Minato Namikaze."
Naruto cocked his head. "Namikaze? My last name is Uzumaki."
"Yes, I know; you were given your mothers maiden name for your own protection. It was actually his idea to begin with, just in case."
"So...if you don't mind me asking, what happened to them? My parents I mean."
Tsunade sighed and went to sit back in her chair. "That will actually be much easier, because your family and Karen's here have quite a history together."
They both looked at each other with mutual confusion, then back at Tusnade, eager to hear more.
"You see, twenty years ago Naruto, your father was the Director for the FBPS, the youngest in history might I add. Back then, humans and kitsune were not on good terms, in fact, war was a very real possibility. The Kyuubi no Kitsune at that point in time, Karen's grandfather, was...less than tolerant of humans. When your father took over however, things changed. For four years he orchestrated a plan to assassinate Karen's grandfather, with the help of none other than your mother Karen," she said, motioning to the kitsune.
She shrugged. "I do remember my grandfather getting killed, but I never heard any of the details. This actually explains a lot. I loved him, but I never did understand why he hated humans so much. It wasn't something I liked, but it was necessary. I don't blame my mother or Naruto's parents for wanting him gone."
"The assassination actually took place only a few weeks after your birth Naruto. Your father, mother, and Karen's mother all confronted her grandfather and fought him. The battle was intense, and it unfortunately claimed the life of both your parents. Your father was given a proper burial, but your mothers body was never recovered; it is assumed there wasn't even anything left to bring back except her sword, which I assume Kakashi has given you already. After your fathers death, I took over as a last favor, and a few days later in honor of their sacrifices, Karen's mother sign a peace accord between humans and kitsune."
Naruto stared down at the floor, but couldn't help but feel pride. His parents had died averting a supernatural war, at least they did something meaningful. He was now all the more determined to be the best damn agent in this place, and to get his fathers pistol. He'd be better than both of them, both of them combined! That was his new dream.
Naruto wasn't finished with his questions though, he still needed a lot of answers.
"So, if there are these peace accords, then why are the kitsune attacking Karen? What could she have possibly done?"
Again, Tsunade sighed, pinching the bridge between her eyes.
"Well, it was a few months..."
"Director Senju," interjected Karen.
She turned to face here with a questioning look.
"Ma'am, if you don't mind...I'd rather tell him myself," she said, sadness evident in her voice.
The second blond nodded.
Karen turned to Naruto and sighed; she was already sure she was going to cry.
"Look Naruto, about three weeks ago there was a coup against my mother. A huge uprising of thousands of kitsune assaulted our home and attacked her and my father. They both fought and killed a great number of them, but there was only two of them, and there were thousands of attackers. They were overwhelmed by numbers...and killed."
That hit home, and suddenly everything fell into place. That was why she was always so angry, it made perfect sense.
"I got away with a few guards help, and a fled here. The other kitsune want me dead because I'm the only one true heir left. Since I'm still alive there can't be another Kyuubi no Kitsune unless I achieve all nine of my tails, or I die. The demon hunters want me dead because honestly, who could resist a chance to kill demon royalty. I was on my own until you found me."
Naruto sat there awestruck. "Wow...Karen I'm...I'm so sorry. Here I was whining about my parents and I didn't even know that..."
"Stop Naruto...just...don't. Don't feel guilty over me, things are bad enough as it is. Don't lose sleep on my account," she said, trying not to let the tears slip out.
Tsunade leaned forward and spoke again. "I realize this is hard for you, but now that Naruto his bonded with you, you're going to have to be more open with each other. He's going to be your personal guard after he completes his basic training. He needs to know everything you can tell him."
She sniffed softly and nodded; Naruto nodded as well, practically clawing the chair in anticipation for his training.
"That is all we need to discuss for now. Naruto, you will be living on this base for three months so Kakashi, and occasionally other Senior agents, can train you."
He nodded. "I can't wait to get started, bring it on!"
"Hm, well then, that's all for now, you're all dismissed."
They all nodded and stood. As the trio left, Tsunade smirked to herself and leaned back in her chair.
'He's so much like Minato it's scary.'
As they stood outside Tsunade's office, Kakashi turned to Naruto.
"Well, let's not waste any time. I'll take you to the nearest gym and I can help you out with that sword, that is if you want to use it in combat."
Naruto nodded furiously. "Of course, I'm aiming to be better than my parents, I think a great place to start would be to master my mothers fighting style!"
Kakashi gave him another one of his eye smiles. "A lofty goal, we'd better get started."
As they set out again, Naruto looked back at Karen, who smiled lightly and nodded. He didn't like just getting started right after everything she'd just revealed, but he'd make it a point to talk to her about it later. Something told him she really wanted someone to vent to, even if she didn't say it out loud.
For now though, Naruto focused on learning how to use his mothers blade, and followed Kakashi to his first lesson.
Alright, everything is out in the open now. I tried to make everything fit into this modern setting, and I hope I did a good job of that. If not, well just promise not to yell at me.
Next chapter will be fuuuuuuun!
