Well here's chapter six I hope you guys like this one. I'm trying to keep this story moving at a slow pace, because that's how I like stories to be made. Alright enough jaw jakin here's chapter six!

Chapter 6: Truths and Training

Naruto took in the sight of the house before him, with an air of amazement. The place was a nice two story home all though it looked like it hadn't been occupied in years. The grass was overgrown along with the bushes and shrubs in the front yard. He knew they would have some major renovating to do to the house, but that was a small consolation for getting to live in the place.

Shizune smiled as she observed the house. She recalled all the fond memories of the house and sighed with content as she made her way towards the door with Naruto, Haku, and Kimimaro right behind her. "Well this it" she says while turning to her three little otouto's. "This will be your home for now on; it's a five bedroom so everyone will have their own room." Shizune stated as she placed the key in the door and opened it up.

A cool draft emitted from the house when Shizune opened the door, and some dust accompanied it causing Shizune to cough a bit. "I guess it really has been awhile" she stated as she entered the dimly lit house, with the three small boys at her heels.

Naruto, Haku, and Kimimaro stared around the place curiously taking it all in. The house was incredibly spacious, with only a mild amount of furniture occupying the rooms.

Shizune scrunched her nose, when she took notice of the musky smell coming from the old house. "Looks like we've got a lot of cleaning ahead of us." Shizune commented, before directing her clones to take Naruto's plant's up to one of the rooms. After Shizune's clone's returned she summoned up two more and assigned all five of her clones to start cleaning and making the house livable again.

Meanwhile Naruto, Haku, and Kimimaro were already exploring the house, with unrivaled excitement. Naruto went to check what his new room look liked, while Haku was already assisting Shizune's clones in cleaning and Kimimaro was scoping out the kitchen.

Kimimaro was by far the most impressed with the house. After living in a prison cell for the majority of his life the spacious homely house was a welcomed change.

As this was going on Naruto was setting up his few belongings in his room the way he liked them. Placing his plants on the windowsill Naruto stared at the plants contently.

"Those are some nice flowers you've got there." A voice called from the door way knocking Naruto out of his thoughts.

Naruto turned around and was greeted with the sight of Tsunade standing at the doorway.

Naruto grinned at her "yah think so, Shizune-nee also thought they were nice she said I had talent."

Tsunade smirked. "Is that so?" she says while stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her.

Naruto quirked his eyebrow at the action.

"Well I must say I'm not surprised considering who your mother was." Tsunade stated as she made her way towards Naruto.

Naruto stared at Tsunade awestruck. "M-my m-mother you mean you knew my mother?" Naruto asked frantically.

Tsunade sat down on the bed in the room and patted the spot next to her gesturing for Naruto to sit there. Naruto complied without question.

Tsunade sighed she had been wondering how she was going to explain all this to Naruto without giving too much away in the process. Deciding it would be best just to wing it Tsunade pulled out a framed picture from her coat and handed it to Naruto.

Naruto gingerly took the picture and stared at it. The picture was that of a young beautiful woman most likely in her lower twenties. She had long red hair that reached to her lower back, and she had an ear splitting grin plastered on her face.

Tsunade continued to watch Naruto stare at the picture before he spoke up in a somber tone.

"So this is her my kaasan?"

Tsunade nodded. "…Yes her name was Kushina Uzumaki."

Naruto had to fight back the tears welling up in his eyes. "So you knew her, then what can you tell me about her anything at all?" Naruto asked hopefully.

"Just calm down gaki I promise I'll answer what I can" Tsunade stated with a smile. "I just need you to remain calm while I explain."

Naruto instantly stopped talking and readied himself to soak in everything Tsunade had to say.

"First off you should know your mother was a refuge from the former land of whirlpool. She came to Konoha after whirlpool was invaded by Iwa." Naruto nodded thoughtfully and continued to listen to Tsunade. "After her arrival to Konoha she strived to become one of the most fearsome kunoichi the leaf had ever seen."

Naruto's eyes lit up at this. "Really my kaasan was tough, what kind of jutsu did she use?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"I was getting to that before you interrupted me" Tsunade replied irritably. "Now as I was saying your mother had always had an aptitude for botany."

"Botany?" Naruto asked with a confused expression on his face.

"Botany is the scientific study of plant life. Kushina was able to use her knowledge of plants to give life to a form of jutsu that incorporates using plants. She nicknamed her ability petals & thorns."

Naruto at this point was hanging on to every word Tsunade spoke.

"By using her chakra and infusing it into already existing plant life Kushina was able to manipulate plants to her will. Whether it be turning blades of grass into sharp precision tools like senbon, or turning simple petals of flowers into weapons as deadly as kunai."

Naruto couldn't keep the grin off his face as he meditated on the thought of having that ability.

Tsunade continued. "Yes Kushina had a most unique style of fighting and she was very proficient at it. Some had even gone as far as to compare it to my grandfathers Mokuton bloodline. Though I believe Kushina's ability was even more versatile then that of my grandfathers. She wasn't able to create life like my grandfather, but what she could do with already existing plant life was something to behold."

Naruto was quiet for a moment as he allowed everything he'd learnt to soak in. "So that's why I'm good at growing plants because of my kaasan?"

Tsunade nodded. "I'd like to think so, other wise teaching you to use Kushina's style would probably be impossible." Tsunade concluded.

Naruto's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "Y-you're going to teach me my kaasan's style of fighting?"

Tsunade grinned before pulling out a scroll. "Yep your mother left all her secrets and techniques to you, and I have them right here in this scroll."

Naruto didn't know what to say as he eyed the scroll in Tsunade's hand. So many emotions were flooding through his head, as his eyes drifted back to the photo that was in his hand.

Tsunade noticed the look in Naruto's eyes and decided to pry. "So what's eating you kid?" Tsunade asked already knowing the answer.

Naruto took in a deep breath before he asked. "What happened to my kaasan, and who was my father?"

Tsunade bit her bottom lip nervously, she wasn't entirely sure how far she should go with this conversation, but choose to throw caution to the wind. "Listen Naruto" Tsunade stated in a solemn tone. "To explain what happened to your mother and father would be to reveal some darker truths that I'm not sure you're ready for."

Naruto quirked his eyebrow. "Darker truths, like what I want to know."

'I know Sarutobi-sensei's gonna kill me for this, but this is for the best.' Tsunade concluded before she turned to Naruto. "Tell me Naruto how much do you know about the nine-tailed fox that attacked our village seven years ago?"

Naruto pondered on this for a moment, before he came up with his answer. "Not much really just that it attacked our village and killed many shinobi, and that the fourth was able to kill it that's why he's our hero." Naruto concluded.

"Well that's the fabricated version of it." Tsunade replied "but I'm afraid the details surrounding how the fourth defeated the kyubi are a bit clouded."

Naruto looked confused "What do you mean clouded?"

Tsunade sighed in stared at Naruto directly in the eyes. "Well gaki it's a well known fact that bijuu can't be killed by mortals, they can only be…. contained"

"Contained, you mean like trapped?" Naruto asked curiously.

Tsunade merely nodded.

"But if the kyubi wasn't killed where did the fourth trap it?"

Tsunade hesitantly outstretched her hand and placed it on Naruto's stomach.

Naruto stared at Tsunade with wide eyes; it wasn't hard to put two and two together. The way the villagers stared and treated him, why he was alone it all made perfect sense. Naruto didn't know what to say, do, or think for that matter. So he did the only thing that felt natural at the moment, he cried.

Tsunade was taken aback my Naruto's sudden breakdown. To be honest with herself she wasn't exactly sure how Naruto would take the news. But the cat was out of the bag and it was time to run damage control.

Tsunade allowed Naruto to cry into her coat, while she rubbed his back soothingly. "It's oaky gaki I'm here for you." Tsunade whispered into Naruto's ear.

After a few minutes had passed Naruto was beginning to calm down, when Shizune burst through the door. "Naruto-kun what happened I thought I heard you crying." Shizune says speaking a mile a minute until she noticed Tsunade in the room with Naruto. "Oh lady Tsunade forgive my intrusion but what's going on in here?"

"Don't worry about it I have it all under control Shizune." Tsunade stated while gesturing for Shizune to leave the room.

Shizune got the meaning and bowed slightly before excusing herself from the room.

Naruto's crying by this point had deescalated into a light sobbing.

Tsunade tilted Naruto's chin so he was looking up at her. Using her coat she wiped away the tears from his eyes and smiled down at him.

Naruto smiled back, it wasn't in his nature to stay down for long. "So I take it my parents died during the kyubi attack?" Naruto asked quietly.

"…You're mother died during your birth" Tsunade replied mournfully. "And your father gave his life while fighting the kyubi on the front lines."

Naruto nodded thoughtfully. Although the news for Naruto was hard to take in he couldn't help but take in some solace of finally learning something about his background. For the longest time he had just assumed his parents, hated him like the rest of the village and abandoned him in the process. But knowing that his parents hadn't left him of their own choosing brought him some form of comfort.

Tsunade could tell Naruto was already feeling better, and was completely surprised at how fast he was able to bounce back. "You know gaki you're a lot like your mother." Tsunade stated more to herself then Naruto.

Naruto grinned. "You really think so?"

Tsunade nodded "yeah I do, you're every bit just like her right down to that goofy grin of yours." Tsunade answered teasingly.

Naruto chuckled slightly. "Yah know I feel a whole lot better now." Naruto stated while standing up from the bed and placing the framed picture of Kushina on the bedside table.

Tsunade followed suit "I'm glad you're feeling better." Tsunade says while placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Now why don't we go out for something to eat we can pick up were we left off later."

Naruto nodded "just so long as I get to pick the place." Naruto added while heading for the door.

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Tsunade questioned.

"My favorite place in the whole world, ichiraku ramen!"

Tsunade sighed 'yep just like Kushina.'

(Fifteen minutes later)

Naruto, Tsunade, Shizune, Haku, and Kimimaro were seated at ichiraku ramen.

Teuchi was thrilled at seeing his favorite costumer; he even gave Naruto his first bowl on the house.

Tsunade was thankful considering Naruto was tearing through bowl after bowl mercilessly.

After everyone had finished eating their fill Tsunade took the liberty of addressing all three boys. "Alright gaki's now that we pretty much are situated; I think you should probably know what I have in store for you."

All three boys were giving Tsunade their undivided attention.

"First off I've decided to take all three of you as my students, but Shizune will also help with mentoring you three."

Haku could barely contain his excitement by this point. Naruto had an earsplitting grin considering he already knew he'd be learning his mother's style of fighting. Kimimaro really didn't know what to think he was used to bettering his skills on his own, having someone teach him was a new concept.

Tsunade continued "I'll be overseeing your taijutsu training and I'll help you three were I can with your ninjutsu. Though in Kimimaro's case I don't know how much help I can be in that department but I'll try to guide you to the best of my abilities. As for you Haku I'm sure I can find someone to help you with water jutsu. But when it comes to ice techniques I'm afraid were just going to have to figure it out as we go along like with Kimimaro."

Both boys nodded their understanding.

Shizune took that moment to cut in. "As for me I'll be overseeing your weapons training and mental training, such as math skills, history, human biology, and etiquette in your case Naruto-kun"

Naruto grumbled unintelligently under his breath. While Shizune merely chuckled.

"So will we not be joining the academy then?" Haku questioned curiously.

Tsunade shook her head. "You gaki's will still be joining the academy but not for another six months."

"What!" Naruto shouted in protest. "Why would you hold us back that long, were going to get left behind."

Tsunade sighed. "Would you listen to yourself gaki? You're going to be getting private training from a Sanin and an accomplished Jonin and you think you're going to get left behind by those other gakis?" Tsunade replied irritably. "When you return to the academy those other gaki's won't know what hit them."

Naruto thought about it for a minute before he grinned like a maniac. Oh Sasuke was in for a rude awakening when he returned.

Tsunade smirked "well I see I got my point across. Now let's get going we still have to finish making that house livable again." Tsunade stated while slapping down some money on the counter to pay for the bill. "And your training begins first thing in the morning understood."

All three boys chorused a hai in response before they departed ichiraku.

(Three hours later)

With the assistance of Shizune's clones they had managed to clean the house up in only a few hours. Now Naruto was resting on his bed, while staring at the picture of his mother that Tsunade had given him. His mind was currently mulling on the thought of the kyubi being trapped within him.

He really didn't know what to make of it. He had his answers to why he was scorned, but did that really make his life any better. He honestly couldn't blame the villagers for how they treated him after all the kyubi was a terrible monster that caused many pain. It was only human nature that the village needed something to vent out their anger on, and it just so happened he was it.

Sighing to himself Naruto took the picture from off the bedside table and held in his arms as if he was hugging it. "What would you think kaasan?" Naruto asked quietly, before shifting in his bed sheets and letting sleep take over him.

(The following Morning)

"Rise and shine Naru-chan we've got training to do." Tsunade called in a sweet tone.

Naruto simply continued to sleep ignoring Tsunade's coaxing.

"I said wake up brat!" Tsunade shouted while grabbing Naruto by the ankle and lifting him out of his bed upside down.

Naruto's eyes shot open at the rude awakening, and he stared around the room bewildered. Naruto's eyes then landed on Tsunade's face although it appeared upside down. "Uh morning what's going on?" Naruto asked stupidly.

"Training's going on" Tsunade replied while dropping Naruto back onto the bed. "Now get cleaned up and get dressed, you've got a long day ahead of you." Tsunade stated while leaving out of Naruto's room and heading for Kimimaro's.

Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes tiredly, while looking out the window. "The sun isn't even up yet." Naruto grumbled before hauling himself off to the shower.

Twenty minutes later Naruto, Kimimaro, and Haku were lined up in front of Tsunade in the front yard. "Alright gaki's I'd like to be the first one to welcome you to hell, my name is Tsunade and I'll be your guide."

Haku raised his hand timidly.

"Yeah what is it Haku-chan?"

"Um why is it that we needed to wake up so early?"

"Because I'm going to work you to the bone, were going to be putting in fourteen hour days."

Naruto and Haku both paled, while Kimimaro merely raised his eyebrow.

"Now I thought we'd start with a nice jog around the village, which will be the first thing we do when we come out. Every two weeks we'll increase the distance by one lap you got that?"

The three boys simply nodded their understanding.

Tsunade at the moment placed leaves on each of the boy's heads. "Good now let's get going. "Tsunade called as she sat Tonton on the ground and began to jog with Naruto, Haku, and Kimimaro following close behind.

Forty minutes later Haku was sprawled out across the yard panting hard. He'd never put in so much physical effort into doing anything and the jog had really taken it's toll on him. Meanwhile Kimimaro was perched against a tree, breathing slightly hard but appeared to be in good shape. Naruto for his part was in the best condition of the three boys, he honestly felt like he could have gone a few more laps.

Tsunade wasn't very surprised by the outcome of the jog. She had expected Haku to be the most tired considering he had no ninja training up until that point. Kimimaro was where she expected him to be. Naruto considering he was just a bundle of energy she wasn't surprised in the slightest to see him up in about like nothing had even happened.

"Alright gakis' you did that fairly well I'm impressed." Tsunade says trying to sound more contradicting then praising. "And Shizune should have breakfast prepared by now, so why don't you go in and see what she's cooked up for you?" Tsunade advised the three boys, they complied without hesitation and darted into the house but not before Tsunade grabbed Naruto by the shoulder. "Just one second gaki, I got something I wanted you to try first."

Naruto quirked his eyebrow before he shrugged and followed Tsunade off to the back yard.

When they got there Tsunade reached into her coat and pulled out a small seed.

Naruto stared at the seed curiously. "What's with the seed?"

Tsunade sat down cross-legged in the grass and Naruto followed her example. "Well I've been reading some of your mother's scrolls, and this is the most basic form of plant manipulation and I wanted to see if you could accomplish it." Tsunade answered while handing the seed to Naruto.

Naruto took the seed in his hand and eyed it carefully. "So what am I suppose to do with it?"

"Make it grow" Tsunade replied bluntly.

"What I'll need a pot and some dirt to do that." Naruto shoot back.

Tsunade shook her head "No you're not listing don't you remember what I told you about petals and thorns yesterday. With that ability you should be able to make that seed sprout with just your chakra."

Naruto looked skeptical but tried it none the less. He tried to focus his chakra into the seed but nothing came of it. Naruto sighed in defeat. "This isn't working; maybe I'm not like my kaasan." Naruto stated mournfully.

"No you're just approaching this from the wrong angle. The scroll said you just can't want the seed to grow you have to make the seed grow. Your chakra is only a catalyst; your will to make the plant grow is the true secret behind this jutsu."

Naruto nodded his understanding before getting back to the task at hand. After a moment of complete silence Tsunade's eyes started to widen as she watched the seed sprout a tiny stem. Naruto continued to focus on the seed until the stem started to grow and become more defined right before his very eyes. After a moment a fully blossomed rose was held in Naruto's hands. Naruto simply stared at the rose in his hands with utter amazement. "No way" Naruto muttered silently.

Tsunade grinned before rubbing Naruto's hair. "That was quite impressive gaki."

Naruto grinned as well before sliding the flower behind Tsunade's ear. Tsunade normally would have found the gesture cute, but the fact that the rose had thorns on it wasn't cute in the slightest. "Damn brat!" Tsunade shouted while clutching her slightly bleeding ear.

Naruto rubbed his head bashfully "Ops I forgot about the thorns" he replied before getting up and running for his life from an angered Tsunade.

(A few minutes later)

Tsunade and a battered Naruto entered the house and were greeted with questionable looks from Haku, and Shizune.

"Um lady Tsunade what exactly happened to Naruto-kun?" Shizune asked curiously, while setting a plate down in front of Tsunade and Naruto.

Tsunade shrugged "we just had a light sparing match is all" Tsunade replied casually.

Naruto grumbled some things under his breath, but was silenced by a stern glare from Tsunade.

"Anyway eat up gaki's I've still got a hell of a lot in store for you after this." Tsunade says with enthusiasm.

The boys quickly got to work on destroying their food.

"Actually" Shizune interjected. "I was wondering if we could rotate lessons. That way the boys won't be too tired when it's my turn to teach."

Tsunade shrugged. "Fine, we'll do it your way."

Shizune grinned, along with Haku. Haku already could tell physical training wasn't exactly his forte but he was more then confident in his abilities to succeed at academics.

Naruto and Kimimaro felt opposite of Haku, academics definitely wasn't up either of their alleys.

(Two Hours Later)

Naruto had never been so happy in his life to have to do pushups. Shizune's lessons although more entertaining then anything the academy taught, he still preferred physical training over mental.

And now Tsunade was grinding them into the dirt by having them run drills that consisted of pushups, sprints, situps, arm circles, lunges, leg extensions, and knee lifts. Haku had thought the jog around the village was bad but this was on an entirely different level.

After they finished with the drills Tsunade had them work on the katas of a basic taijutsu style for an hour.

Once they completed that, they were shipped back off to Shizune for some weapons instruction. Shizune had set up a few practice dummies and had a numerous amount of kunai, shuriken, and senbon spread out across a table.

Haku discovered he was an excellent marks man with the senbon although his kunai and shuriken skill were just slightly above average.

Kimimaro was a close second to Haku when it came to weapons precision with kunai, and shuriken, but his senbon skills were no where near Haku's level.

As for Naruto he was by far the worst. Shizune had blamed it on the academy's instruction and assured Naruto that his skill would progress under her care.

After completing their weapons training Tsunade had made the boys work on some light sparing. Both Naruto and Kimimaro were able to thrash Haku in their sparing matches against him. But Tsunade noticed Haku's taijutsu skills were progressing swiftly, and it would only be a matter of time before he caught up with the other two boys. But when it came to Naruto and Kimimaro fighting each other it was a sight to behold. Kimimaro was very proficient in quick strikes and take downs while Naruto was strictly a brawler that kept getting up no matter how many times he was knocked down. All in all Tsunade concluded that Kimimaro was the best taijutsu fighter out of the three, after he successfully knocked out Naruto in their final bout.

Once they completed their sparing matches they went back over to Shizune to begin their etiquette and literature lessons, which Naruto and Kimimaro found out they despised.

Their long eventful day ended with both Tsunade and Shizune trying to help the three boys with their ninjutsu. Tsunade merely had Kimimaro work on his speed at pulling bones from his body and having him try to sprout bones from places he hadn't before. Shizune was trying to direct Haku on pulling moisture out of the air, which proved an easy task for him. Finally Tsuande had Naruto practice on his speed of making flowers sprout from seeds.

To say Shizune, Haku, and Kimimaro were shocked at seeing what Naruto did would have been an understatement. Shizune had even thought Naruto was performing the wood style jutsu until Tsunade explained to them what Naruto was really learning.

After their training commenced for the day each boy tiredly dragged themselves up to their rooms. Haku and Kimimaro fell asleep instantly while Naruto stayed awake a little longer talking to his mother's picture.

"Guess what kaasan, I'm learning your style of fighting and Tsuande-sama thinks I'm learning it pretty fast. She said you would have been proud of me I wonder if that's true." Naruto says as tears threatened to fall from his eyes. "I swear it on my nindo I'm gonna make you proud of me kaasan." Naruto says as he let a tear fall onto the picture frame. After wiping away his excess tears and set the picture back on his beside table and fell asleep almost instantly. He never noticed Tsunade staring through a crack from his door that wasn't shut all the way.

Tsunade sighed to herself before shutting the door completely closed. "That's some kid you got their Kushina, Minato."

Well there's chapter six, I know it took long enough but you finally know what petals and thorns stands for. Anyway I hope I did a decent job on this chapter, I'm not really good at writing sappy stuff so I hope it didn't come out too bad. Anyway please review and I should see you again next week.