Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything associated with Naruto, though I wish I did.

Gaara was not expecting those words to come out of Arashi's mouth. Through their mating bond he could feel Naruto's anger and anxiety concerning the Hebi Sannin. Orochimaru was not legendary for nothing and no shinobi lives long enough to be considered ready for retirement because of old age unless they are very skilled. This development was not a pleasant one or an expected one.

Actually, the whole thing gave Gaara a feeling of foreboding as if his instincts were trying to warn him. But what were they warning him about? There was nothing they could do at the moment. They did have at least seven months to prepare because there was no way Gaara was going to put his precious people in danger. Not after he finally had them.

"You have Seen this? In that vision earlier? The one that upset you so much?"

Arashi looked at Gaara with solemn eyes. "It was one of them. It would be best if I saved the other things for another time. We all have things to deal with now and time to deal with the other things later."

Gaara exchanged a look with Naruto. Those dearly loved sapphire eyes told him to leave things as they were, for now, and drag it out of Arashi later when they were safe and secure at home. So Gaara nodded in agreement before leaving quickly after a glance at the clock.

xxxxxxx

Naruto was rather amused at the moment. A year of living with his mate and their family, their Clan, had softened his views and made him more forgiving. He could now say with no doubt that he had forgiven Jiraiya and Tsunade, as well as come to appreciate and understand just what Sarutobi, and Kakashi sacrificed for him.

And his father.

He had slowly over the year of being happy forgiven Namikaze Minato. The man, his father, really had had no choice. Arashi had explained that Fate did have a role in who would be one of the Guardians, the Biju, the Jinchuuriki, and the Gifted. So Naruto was destined to be a Jinchuuriki but something seemed to bother Arashi when the seer spoke of the Sealing of Kyuubi.

Arashi had been very helpful when he had stolen and copied a great number of important scrolls and files in the Hokage Tower. The white-haired seer had made sure to procure everything he could find about Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina for Naruto's benefit. Naruto hoped to have a private talk with Jiraiya later to confirm what he had read. His father... it was still so strange to acknowledge the man as such, had been forced by the Council of Konoha to marry Kushina.

Naruto hadn't been the only one to have been fucked over by the greedy meddlesome Council. And it hadn't been a happy marriage at all from what he had read. But Naruto had the strangest feeling that there was something missing from the files, something vital that would help him make sense of this mess.

There had to be a reason that the Yondaime Hokage had sacrificed himself in the Sealing of Kyuubi when the Sandaime had offered to make the sacrifice for him. That piece of information would make this puzzle make complete sense. And it would.

xxxxxxx

Leaving his thoughts to be pondered another day, Naruto watched Arashi interact with Jiraiya. The two, father and son, separated as they were, fit together. And deep down Naruto wished wistfully that he could have had the chance to interact with his own father in the same way. All of them were sitting under one of Konoha's great trees in the shade.

When they began to speak of hobbies and Jiraiya began to talk about his writing Naruto spoke up. "You know Sensei while your books are good I like Rashi's better. Of course, that might be because all of them are geared toward same-sex couples. Temari and her intended both love the yuri books you have written and quite a number of us, Gaara and myself included, love the yaoi books you have written so far."

"Where did you find them Naruto? I had no intention of publishing those, especially since some of them were inspired by several of our kind, you and Gaara included." What Arashi didn't say was the reason he had written them to begin with.

Jiraiya looked his son over curiously. He could almost swear that he had seen him in a painting or had his son described to him years ago. The way Arashi looked, and he wasn't talking about what he saw every time he looked in the mirror, just tugged at a vague recollection of his that wouldn't go away, but he stubbornly pushed it to the back of his mind. Those startling silver eyes coupled with that hair were just too hard to ignore though.

Jiraiya was interested. Apparently his son was just as good of a writer of smut as he himself was. Being good writers must be a family trait. He knew Arashi was a good writer because it would have to nothing short of fantastic for Naruto to like it, much less love it. He himself wrote mainly heterosexual smut, though he did branch out into more adventurous sexual practices, having tried quite a few. It did surprise him that his unmated son, who was a Jinchuuriki, had so much experience in the more carnal and sensual side of life. But who was he to be a hypocrite?

The Gama Sennin became even more interested when Naruto unsealed several copied versions of the books Arashi had written and handed them to Jiraiya for the Sennin's expert opinion. Clearly Naruto thought they should be published; a feeling that was shared by more than several of those who were among the Guardians. After reading several pages of the first manuscript in the stack Jiraiya was among the number who thought Arashi should publish them. This was erotic and absolutely addictive. Jiraiya decided right then and there that he would publish them himself.

"You know Arashi I do own my own publishing company. I bought it to publish my Icha Icha Paradise and would be more than happy to publish any of your books."

Arashi looked between Naruto and Jiraiya taking in their encouraging expressions. It made him feel a little warm inside to know that his father liked his books as much as his friends had. Though it still amazed him how much everyone who had read them liked them and how addicted they were to them. Konan and Tobi asked if he had finished another one every time they saw him. Not that the rest of the Akatsuki were any better.

In fact, Arashi still remembered the time when Tobi had managed to destroy Itachi's clothes before dumping the raven-haired shinobi right in the middle of the bed he shared with Nagato before dragging Arashi into a chair in the corner and dumping a naked Nagato beside his love so that the seer could be inspired. His occasional inspirations had been more than happy to follow Tobi's suggestion to inspire Arashi; they liked the books too and loved to know that they were inspiration for them.

"If you think they are good enough then that would be fine. Do what you wish."

Arashi observed Naruto for a moment as Jiraiya and the blond-haired Jinchuuriki celebrated Arashi allowing his works to be published. Naruto clearly wanted to speak with Jiraiya alone for a little while. There was obviously something on his blond brother's mind. So making a quick decision the silver-eyed seer stood up, gaining the attention of the other two.

"I will leave you both to speak to each other privately for a little while. I need to speak with Haku, Ranmaru, and especially Kisame about certain things." Arashi barely gave them time to understand what he was saying before disappearing into thin air as was his habit.

Naruto stared at the place his silver-eyed brother had occupied moments before. It was very clear, at least to him, that Arashi had sensed his need to speak to Jiraiya in private, away from attentive listeners who didn't need to hear what he wished to speak of.

Jiraiya for his part noticed the serious expression that had settled upon Naruto's face. He too had understood what his son Arashi was doing by leaving and he wasn't surprised by his son's actions, not with what he knew of Arashi. Obviously Naruto needed to speak with him about something of importance and private in nature. Arashi would not have left as he did if Naruto wanted him to be hear when they discussed what ever they were going to discuss.

"Sensei... I have read every file that Arashi found for me on my... father. Before you even think about trying to defend him I will tell you this; I no longer hold any ill-will against him. Namikaze Minato did what he had to do. Arashi explained that I would have been a Jinchuuriki even if my.. father did not seal Kyuubi within me. But he always avoids speaking about what he Sees in regards to my father so I never speak of it with or around him. Tell me about him. Solve the mystery I sense."

How was Naruto to know Arashi avoided the subject because of the bad feelings Naruto gave off when the subject of Minato came up? And how was Arashi to know that those feelings were not inspired by Minato, but by Kushina whose very mentioning reminded Naruto of far too many bad memories? Kushina left Naruto by choice; Minato was taken from Naruto.

"Minato was very lively around those he trusted but very reserved otherwise," Jiraiya paused and looked at Naruto very hard, as if he were analyzing the blonde's very soul.

There was no reason to keep this from Naruto, who would not scorn his father for what he was. If anything it would help Naruto understand and empathize with his father better. Not to mention Naruto might be able to help Jiraiya figure out the mystery surrounding Minato's death.

"Naruto, this might come as a bit of a shock, but I am not lying at all. It was not widely known, at least not in Konoha, but Minato was the Jinchuuriki of the Fenikkusu Kasei, just as Arashi is the Jinchuuriki of the Kimera Kuronue and you are the Jinchuuriki of the Kitsune Tenkou also known as Kyuubi."

Naruto really wasn't sure he could be anymore shocked than he was right now. His father was a Jinchuuriki just as he was. Then realization dawned. This was why Arashi didn't bring up the subject of his father. Someone had interfered at the Sealing of Kyuubi because Minato should still be alive. This was why the Yondaime Hokage had been the one to do the sealing instead of the Sandaime. Jinchuuriki, those who were immortal that is and Minato was more than old enough to be immortal, could summon Shinigami safely to ask for a favor in return for giving Shinigami a great deal of chakra and perhaps owing a favor if the favor asked is large enough to warrant it.

Minato and his Guardian Biju Kasei had been pulled into Death's realm and had stayed there for a little over sixteen years; something that was not possible without someone meddling. This revelation upset Naruto quite a bit. He would have grown up with his father's love and guidance if some meddling, or more likely power-hungry, asshole hadn't interfered with Kyuubi's sealing. He listened as Jiraiya continued to speak.

"Minato was forced into an arranged marriage with Kushina. He was not happy with her in the slightest and had no desire to marry her at all. I knew that his interest had always been in males, though he had never given any indication that he was interested in anyone." There was that tug again. Jiraiya really wished he could remember what memory he had forgotten that seemed to elude him every time he tried to reach for it.

"She was a jealous slut and she used you as a way to control your father when she could. Of course the Council did put a stop to that after she unwisely threatened to abort the Yondaime's child in front of a greedy Council member; a Council member who couldn't wait for Konoha's most powerful shinobi to have a legacy so that Konoha would have another strong and malleable weapon to wield. You already know that Kushina left you. I had my network try to keep tabs on her but she is one slippery whore to catch."

"Don't be sorry about that Sensei. I do not care about that traitorous slut. Though what you have told me has cleared up quite a few things." Then Naruto explained what had most likely happened to Minato. It was not a horrific fate for a Jinchuuriki to be in Death's realm, but it was hard to leave without knowing how. It would take quite a bit of hard and in-depth research to figure out how to retrieve Minato from Death's realm, but by no means impossible.

Naruto looked Jiraiya in the eyes to convey his seriousness as he spoke. "I forgive him Sensei. He was never at fault, the villagers are for there treatment of me. My father did not make them act as they did. All of them are responsible for their own actions and decisions. He never imagined someone would sabotage the sealing and leave him unable to take care of me, which was his obvious intent. All he was trying to do was spare Sarutobi-Jiji a sooner death when he could summon Shinigami safely and then be able to raise me. Thank you for telling me."

xxxxxxx

Fenikkusu - Phoenix

Kimera - Chimera

Kitsune - Fox