Chapter 4: Define Family...
"I'm Naruto," he said, noticing that her nails were not the manicured pieces of art that a fangirl would wear. No, they might be painted black, but they were rough and chipped, showing that she was a real kunoichi and not some weak little shinobi wannabe. "Naruto Uzumaki. Who are you?"
The girl looked shocked by his name, but then pulled herself back together again, looking at him with a challenging glint in her eyes. "I'm Mito Uzumaki, but what I want to know is if you are an Uzumaki, where the hell have you been all my life!"
That should have been the beginning of a long conversation, but Neko had arrived at the point to summon Naruto back to the Hokage's office. Mito had wanted to follow, but Neko informed the rather confused girl that as of right now it was a village secret. This had led to a rather hasty exit for Naruto from the ramen stand, not even getting to talk with this version of Hinata. Still, there were compensations for the hasty exit, mainly in the form of watching Neko's backside as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop in the tightest pair of skintight grey shorts Naruto had ever seen. Honestly, they were so tight he figured she might have just painted them on and given the predilection of the people around here, she just might have.
"I managed to make it this far without becoming a pervert, but one day in this village and I'm quickly losing the battle," Naruto thought to himself as his eyes were riveted to Neko's bouncing backside.
At least you aren't acting on it, yet. Remember, there is nothing wrong with admiring beauty or indulging in sexual thoughts, that's not perverted. It's like the old joke, kinky is using the feather, but perverted is using the whole chicken.
"I'm not even sure what that means, but just the thought of it makes me queasy," groaned Naruto. "I may never be able to eat chicken flavored ramen again."
Reaching the Hokage's tower, Neko let Naruto to Tsunade's office fairly quickly. Watching her backside sway as the climbed the stairs left him grateful that his pants were fairly baggy. It didn't help that she wore modified ANBU chest armor that left her belly bare and served to accent her chest more than anything else. Still, he found himself reviewing what he knew so far of the Steel Skin Seal. If it left the person's skin hard as Steel, harder if they focused more chakra on it, then why wear armor at all? Part of it had to be intimidation factor, but he wondered how much of it was distraction tactics to make it hard for the enemy to focus during a fight.
"We're here, Uzumaki-san," announced Neko, opening the door to Tsunade's office.
Nodding, Naruto smiled at the young woman, saying, "Thank you, Neko-chan."
Stepping into the office with Neko following after him, then taking her station to the side of the office, Naruto noticed that there was a new face here now. Along with Tsunade and Jiraiya, the ANBU guards were the same as before, there was was a proud looking woman sitting on one of the couches. She looked vaguely familiar with her long black hair and dark eyes, reminding Naruto of someone, though he couldn't really tell who. The woman wore the traditional robes of a Clan head, consisting of a kimono with a haori over top, but as with everyone else this one was made of light linen rather than the heavier fabrics he was used to. She was without a doubt a beautiful woman and her lightweight clothing revealed an impressive figure, even sitting. Still, he just could not help but think he knew here from somewhere.
"Naruto, let me introduce you to one of my advisors, Mikoto Uchiha," Tsunade explained, getting a nod from the woman at her introduction.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-san," Mikoto said, standing and holding out a hand to Naruto. "Tsunade has given me a brief rundown of your circumstance and I wanted to welcome you to our village after hearing about you."
Taking her hand and shaking it, Naruto smiled. "You're Itachi's mom, right? I just met him at the ramen stand. Nice to meet you!"
"Yeah, niceties aside, brat, we need to talk to you," cut in Jiraiya, looking serious. "Mikoto here knows your true heritage, so we wanted to bring her into this conversation. See, we know you just met Mito, but we wanted to talk to you before you got to friendly with her."
"Is there a problem with me getting to know her?" asked Naruto, a bit confused at how seriously they were all looking at him.
"Yes and no, kid," Tsunade said, leaning forward on her chair and resting her chin on her clasped hands. "See, we have not informed Mito of her heritage yet, mainly because we didn't want to put any pressure on her to continue her family bloodline. She's knows she is, or was before you arrived, last Uzumaki in the village, but not that she is the last Namikaze as well."
"Even with the old Civilian Council being disbanded, the Fire Daiymo would push for her to be made a part of the Clan Restoration Act if he found out about her true parentage," Mikoto explained. "The Namikaze, before they were virtually wiped out in the opening days of the Third Shinobi War, were a powerful Clan. The majority of that power came from the fact they were merchants and traders around the Elemental Country. They amassed phenomenal riches over the years, most of which was invested in Fire Country and Konoha in general. That was why they were targeted by enemy forces at the beginning of the war, to prevent them from using their riches to financially cripple the other side."
"Iwa in particular used their deaths to take control of the Namikaze assets within their borders," continued Tsunade. "After the war, with only Minato left, he tried for years to get his property back from them, but they denied him every time. Considering they hated him with a passion for the way in which he decimated their troops with his Flying Thunder God attack, he let it go in an attempt to appease them."
"Doesn't mean they wouldn't try to kill you and Mito if they knew who your father was," cut in Jiraiya.
"So, no revealing who my father is," supplied Naruto, looking a little down at the thought of still not being able to claim his heritage.
"Didn't say that, brat," Tsunade countered, shocking Naruto. "Blood tests proved you are who you say you are, combined with the fact you can use your Father's technique without needing other people to help you do it, like the Guard Platoon does, means you are without a doubt a Namikaze. I admit it, I was skeptical at first, but you proved me wrong. With that in mind, and now that there are two Namikaze living in the village, Mito is safe from being forced into the CRA. So, what we would like to do, after your testing tomorrow, is to have you present while we inform her of her parentage."
Naruto thought about that for a moment, he and Mito would be safe from being forced to marry someone not of their choosing, which was great. It would also mean he would finally be able to tell people his father was the fourth, or at least let Mito do so. He was a bit more complicated as people would know he wasn't the Fourth's son, at least in this world, so he would still not be able to tell anyone.
"She will be able to claim her heritage, but I won't," he finally said. "No one that knew my mom was pregnant would buy that I was somehow a lost twin. It just won't work."
Jiraiya nodded, then explained their plan to Naruto. "See, we realized that as well, kid. So, we're going to tell them you are the child of Minato's twin brother, Arashi. Arashi's body was never found after the attack on the Namikaze in the Fire Capital, so it's possible he could have survived. We do actually know he died, Minato actually saw it happen, but no one else knows that. We're going to tell people he survived, but was gravely injured and spent the rest of his life living in secret because of lasting complications due to those injuries."
"Later he married an Uzumaki girl," continued Mikoto, "your mother's cousin to be precise. You are the result of that marriage, but unfortunately your parents both died the night of the Kyubi attack. From there it's just a matter of fabricating a bit of background for you, like the fact you grew up in a small village on the other side of Fire Country, and everything else can be kept the same."
"That will be the public history," added Tsunade when Mikoto finished speaking. "Jiraiya's spy network can have the proper paperwork forged and in place fairly quickly, to prove you exist. Personally, amongst your friends and family, you can tell them the truth if you want. I'ld be careful with that information and who you share it with, but you get the idea."
"So, I'm still a Namikaze-Uzumaki, just not the Fourth's son," summarized Naruto, making sure he got it right. "I'm a long lost nephew, which explains how I look like dad, but I just recently came to this village. I can live with that."
"Good, because Arashi was the heir to the Namikaze Clan, he was born before Minato, so you are now the heir to their fortune," Mikoto said with a smirk. "Honestly, that works out better for Mito as she won't have to worry about being hounded by marriage proposals from jerks out to get her money, though you might."
"Meh! I'm used to it," countered Naruto with a shrug. "I had already promised to help the Priestess from the Land of Demons have a kid, not to mention several others, so I'm used to it."
"Shion, the bitchy little girl that Mito saved from the demon?" asked a stunned Tsunade. "She asked you to father her children? And you agreed? Wow! She hated Mito with a passion, only tolerating her after Mito helped her defeat the demon."
"Shion isn't so bad, at least the one I knew wasn't," argued Naruto. "She's had a hard life and just needs someone to show her life isn't such a pain in the ass as she thinks it is."
"Note to self, write a book about Naruto's adventures," Jiraiya mumbled to himself, pulling out a notebook and starting to write.
"Nothing pervy, old coot!"
"Whatever, brat!"
"Anyway," cut in Tsunade, giving Jiraiya a dirty look, "I'm assigning two of my ANBU as your guards for now. No, it's not to try and hurt you, but as you're not a shinobi yet and you're new to the village, you have to go through a probationary period."
Naruto had expected that, he just hoped he didn't get some stuck up pricks as his guards. "I'm good with that. Who you got in mind."
"Neko! Hebi!" commanded Tsunade, with Neko stepping forward and Hebi stepping out of the shadows. "Remove your masks!"
It was a bit of a shock to see Hebi, or Anko as he knew her to be, step forward. Naruto, if he was really honest, expected her to just walk around naked given his experience with her in his world. Instead she was quite the opposite. This Anko wore a black top that covered her from the neck to her belly button, granted it looked painted on, but was a far cry from the see through mesh he was used to. Instead of her trench coat and miniskirt, she instead wore a black leather jacket and form fitting pants, with soft leather boots on her feet. She was still a very curvaceous woman, but she now covered it. It was a little shocking, but then again from what he knew of his old world's Anko, she had only dressed like that to stand out. Made sense in a world of exhibitionists she would go the opposite route.
Removing their masks, Anko and Yugao, waved at Naruto before bowing to the Hokage. "Naruto here will be staying in the Namikaze compound, you will be staying with him for now. Until the day after tomorrow you are all three to not be seen entering the compound, so you'll be using the secret entrance they had at the back of the compound. Minato had blood seals all around the place, but Naruto should be able to get you in. I also want you to drill him on his backstory and bring him up to speed on Clan politics."
She handed two stacks of scrolls to the ANBU agents before continuing. "Naruto has already told us that he knows the secret of training with Shadow Clones, so tonight you can use that to get him up to speed. Meanwhile, if anyone asks where you are, tell them you are on prolonged guard duty for a visiting dignitary, but that you are unable to reveal the details of that guard duty. After we tell Mito the truth, then you can reveal what you are doing. This assignment is long term, probably six month minimum as that is the duration of a standard probation period. If Naruto is needed for missions, you will act as his teammates during said mission. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" both women said, bowing once again to Tsunade.
There was a bit more to talk about, mostly having to deal with the specifics of Naruto's testing the next day, but it wasn't that complicated. He would have to basically take a modified version of the Genin exam, then the Chunin exam, followed right after by the Jonin exam. The Genin exam would make sure he knew the basics and they would consider the Shadow Clone as an acceptable replacement for the standard Bunshin. Then the Chunin exam would be a combat situation against three current members of the shinobi ranks, with the final match being against a Jonin. That last match would actually be part of his Jonin exam as well, but afterwards he would have to demonstrate his mastery of several advanced techniques. Jiraiya thought it was all a wast of time since the kid already knew Sage Mode, Rasengan, and the Flying Thunder God technique, but Tsunade insisted they get a good view of Naruto's skills before just making him a Jonin.
"It's ok, Jiraiya, really it is," Naruto finally said, calming the old hermit down. "I never got a chance to do this in my old world, so I missed out on it. This way I get to do something I always wanted to do, prove that I deserve my rank."
"Pardon me," Yugao said, looking a bit nervous, "but if you know Sage Mode, aren't you already as powerful as Jiraiya-sama?"
Anko nodded, then added, "Yeah, so you would be like a new Sannin, wouldn't you?"
Naruto blushed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was the new Toad Sage back home, after my mentor died, but I never got the rank officially. As for being a Sannin, well that's complicated. That was a title they got from Hanzo the Salamander, so I can't claim that one."
"He's right," agreed Tsunade. "That was just a title that Hanzo gave us for fighting him, a fight we actually lost by the way, so only Hanzo would have been able to grant him that title. We were actually all just Hokage level Jonin back then, nothing really all the special."
"The title Sannin is respected now, but when we got it we felt it was more of an insult," added Jiraiya with a scowl. "We got the title for losing, not winning. Hanzo had a twisted sense of the world, so for him it was a compliment. It was years before we realized he meant we were Hokages without villages, defenders of all the Elemental countries. Later, after Orochimaru turned traitor, then it lost some of it's shine again."
Naruto could understand that, it was similar to how he had felt about being a member of Team 7 back after Sasuke turned traitor. It was only after teaming up with his long lost friend that it had seemed like the title meant anything again, but after the final battle he had never gotten to speak with his friend again, so there was no way of knowing if Sasuke really changed, or if it was just an act. He hoped it had been real, but given his current situation, who knew. Whatever the case, he soon found himself dismissed and following his two guards out of the Hokage's office.
What wasn't a surprise was finding Mito and Hinata waiting for them outside the tower. Naruto was a little nervous about talking to either of them, for various reasons. Mito was obvious, being his counterpart in this world, but Hinata was complicated. He had really started to care for the shy Hyuga before the final battle, but never gotten a chance to really talk with her about it. Now, in a new world and with a much more confident looking Hinata, Naruto just wasn't sure how he felt about the girl. Add to that the determined and slightly hurt look on Mito's face, well it was going to be a long night.
"Guess you want answers," Naruto said before Mito could say anything, before turning to Yugoa and whispering. "Can you go ask the Hokage if we take them in the back way to where I'm staying. They shouldn't be able to tell much from that, should they?"
"No, probably not," agreed Yugao, vanishing from sight thanks to a Shunshin.
Turning back to the two girls, Naruto sighed, creating a clone and sending it for carry out from the ramen stand and Anko's favorite dango place, getting a raised eyebrow from the snake mistress. "I can't answer all your questions right now. After tomorrow I'll tell you everything if you still want to know it, but you'll have to accept that I am under orders not to reveal too much at the moment. Can you accept that?"
"I don't care about orders," growled Mito, hands on her hips and a look of righteous fury on her face. "I just want to know how you can be an Uzumaki and not have been around when I was a kid."
"Calm down, Mito-chan," soothed Hinata, rubbing the other girl's arm and causing her to relax. "I'm sure Uzumaki-san will tell you what he can. Like he said, he will tell you everything after tomorrow, you just have to be patient for now."
Her expression softening as she turned and looked at Hinata, Mito sighed before nodding. "Alright, but tomorrow I want to know everything."
"Deal," agreed Naruto, just as Yugao returned.
"Hokage-sama says it's ok, but they have to wear blindfolds when entering and leaving, at least until after tomorrow," she informed them, getting reluctant agreement from the two younger women.
Thirty minutes later they were all sitting outside a large Clan mansion while a horde of clones was in the process of cleaning almost two decades of dust from the place. Another group of clones was hidden in one of the larger rooms memorizing Naruto's fake background and Clan laws. He hated to study, but with fifty clones doing the work it would go fairly fast. Momo claimed she would help, making sure to memorize the details as well in case Naruto forgot anything. So, with that dealt with, Naruto and the ladies were enjoying a meal under the stars.
"So, you've been living in another village, Naruto-san?" asked Hinata as she finished up a cinnamon roll he had sent a clone out to get.
Naruto nodded, grateful that Momo had insisted he memorize those details first. "I have, though for the moment I request that you not ask too many details about that. I promise, I'll tell you all about it tomorrow after my tests."
"But you are an Uzumaki, right?" asked Mito, lounging on the ground in rather provocative pose.
Glad it was too dark to see what she wore under her 'skirt,' if it could really be called that, Naruto confirmed her question with a nod. "Yes, I really am an Uzumaki, Mito-chan."
Thanks to the darkness Naruto didn't see the girl's cheeks redden at the affectionate suffix he added to her name, though the other girls did, he continued. "I never knew my mother or father, they died during the Kyubi attack, but I was told about them when I got older."
"Just like you, Mito-chan," Hinata pointed out. "It sounds like you two have a lot in common."
"Yeah, maybe," grunted Mito, still not convinced. "You also say you are going to be tested tomorrow before joining the ranks of Konoha shinobi, but who trained you?"
That was a trickier question to answer, but Naruto decided a half-truth was better than a complete lie. "I had three main teachers. One was a Chunin that taught me the basics of being a shinobi. The second was a lazy bastard that taught me teamwork, not much else though. My real teacher was a good man, even after all his faults, who taught me the real meaning of being a shinobi. He died some time ago, but I still try to live up to his ideals."
Mito seemed to think of that for a few moments, yawning as she did. "Okay, I can sort of relate to that. Iruka-sensei and Kakashi-sensei did the same for me, but thankfully the old pervert isn't dead. That had to be really hard on you. I can't imagine losing that old perv, no matter how twisted he might be."
"It was hard," agreed Naruto, remembering hearing the news that Jiraiya was dead. "I tried to keep it together, but eventually I broke down when I was alone. He was a good man, even if he was a leacher."
Hinata giggled, nudging Mito when she heard that. "Sounds like Jiraiya-sama, alright. Remember before the Chunin exams when he tried to convince you that training naked would improve your Taijutsu?"
"Thumped him good for that one," agreed Mito with a vicious smirk, reaching up to grab her chest and jiggle her breasts. "I may be proud of what I got, don't really care who sees it either, but no one gets a free show."
"Yeah, right," snorted Anko. "Do you even own panties, Mito?"
"Meh! I own a few pair for that time of the month, but that's about it," answered Mito, causing Naruto to blush and turn his face to the sky in an attempt not to look at the shadow created by the redhead's skirt. "Oh, is Naruto-kun embarrassed by that?"
"A little," he admitted, still not looking down. "My old village was a bit more conservative that this one. We didn't have the Steel Skin Seal there, so we had to wear more body armor and clothing to protect ourselves."
"That explains why you keep watching Yugao's ass," teased Anko. "Granted, she's got a great ass, but most people around here don't blush when they see it."
"Yeah, make fun of the guy that's trying not to be a pervert," groaned Naruto.
"You think I have a nice ass?" asked Yugao, trying to sound as innocent as possible, though the devilish glint in her eyes proved that to be a lie.
Naruto just groaned, flopping down on his back and covering his eyes with his arm. "Yes, you have a very nice ass, Yugao. Now, can we talk about something else?"
"Ok," all four girls said, their tone just a bit to playful, causing a shiver to run down Naruto's back.
"So, who has the nicest breasts here, Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, and that was all it took to make Naruto faint.
When he next awoke Naruto was in a very comfortable bed, the early morning sunlight just having entered the room. He was confused for a moment, not sure where he was, till Momo reminded him that he was inside the Namikaze compound. In his old world he had never known there was a Clan compound for his father's family, but evidently here things had been a bit different. Whatever the reason, his father's family had been rich beyond belief and now he was the heir to all of it.
"Talk about a change of pace," muttered Naruto.
"Shut up, gaki, we're trying to sleep here," groaned someone from nearby, causing Naruto to sit up straight in bed.
What he saw was just a bit too much for his early morning sleep addled brain. On his left, barely covered by the thin sheet was a clearly sleeping Yugao, her bare back turned to him as she dozed. On his left, equally as bare, but turned towards him, was Anko. On either side of them, also asleep, were Hinata and Mito. Hinata looked rather cute, hugging her pillow like a stuffed animal under the sheet, which thankfully covered her from the shoulders down. Mito on the other hand was laying bare as the day she was born, face down and sprawled over the far side of the surprisingly large bed. The sight of all four of them in bed with him was enough to make him blush, pinching his nose and trying not to make a mess. It wasn't until he tried to get out of bed that he realized he was naked under the sheets.
"Ok, who undressed me and what are you all doing in bed with me?" he asked, pulling the sheet up a bit as it had fallen around his waist when he sat up.
"Your clones only found one set of sheets that wasn't ruined," Anko said, sitting up and scratching the underside of her left breast. "It was really late by the time they finished cleaning and we girls lost track of time, so Hinata and Mito crashed here. As for who undressed you, well that was Yugao and since your bed was so large, we all just shared it. Don't worry, your virginity is still intact, though only barely. Trust me kiddo, with what you got dangling between your legs and how sweet you are, you're going to be really popular once we get you some decent clothes."
"Oh, Kami, why have you forsaken me?" Naruto pleaded to the sky.
Four sets of giggles was his only response, proving the other girls were awake now. It was early, only just sunrise, so Yugao offered to make them all breakfast. Watching her walk naked from the room was one of the sexiest things Naruto had ever seen, though currently he was dealing with one perverted thought after another as the other girls got out of bed without covering up. Modesty was obviously not an issue for these girls, though Naruto still wrapped the sheet around his waist as he made his way to the bathroom to deal with certain issues.
"If you need a hand with that beast, Hinata says she'll help," Mito shouted once Naruto had closed the door to the bathroom behind himself.
"Hey! You're the one trying to look through the keyhole, not me!" Hinata was heard to say, causing Naruto to hang a towel over the knob to cover the keyhole.
"No fair!"
"Perverts," groaned Naruto as he turned on the shower, "I'm curse to be surrounded by perverts my whole life."
Most likely.
"And you didn't think to wake me when they started undressing me?"
Yugao was actually really respectful about it. She didn't slide your pants off till after you were under the sheets, though Anko snuck a peek once she got in bed.
"Great, felt up by a woman for my first time and I wasn't even awake for it." groused Naruto as he climbed into the shower, enjoying the hot water immensely.
Quit complaining. You know as well as I do that you've seen more naked women that you care to admit, especially when you were perfecting your little anti-pervert technique. How often did you peek on women in the public baths for that one?
"I was a little kid, I didn't have a clue about women back then, just that the perverts were weak against the really pretty one," Naruto argued, blushing at the memory. "I stopped peeking after I got the Sexy-jutsu down to an art."
True, but you aren't the prude you pretend to be, Naruto-kun. Admit it, you enjoy seeing them naked as well.
"Ok, it's true, but it's still kind of strange seeing them like that," he said with a sad smile. "With the exception of Mito, I knew them all in my world. Anko disappeared towards the end of the war. Yugao was dating Hyate up until he was killed, after that I rarely if ever saw her again. Hinata was too shy to show off any skin, so meeting this new one really has me confused. Then we have Mito, this world's version of me, though I can't seem to wrap my mind around that bit at all. I would have figured a female version of me would have been blonde, but she's got hair like mom's."
It's strange, that I'll grant you, but remember these aren't the people you knew, even if they look like them. You'll have to get to know them all over again. As for Mito, she might be this world's version of you, but that doesn't mean a whole lot. You aren't brother and sister, so you aren't going to just hit it off right away, so put that out of your mind. You are both different people that may have led similar lives, but that's where it ends.
"But we are brother and sister, aren't we?"
Not really. You have smimilar DNA, but having Kurama inside you would have tweaked your body enough to make it only a trace. Heck, I had to tweak your blood a bit when Tsunade took her samples, just to prove you were related to your father. If anything, you and Mito really are more like distant cousins than anything else.
"Too strange," grunted Naruto, turning off the water and heading for the door naked, forgetting he wasn't in his old apartment.
It's probably no wonder he almost fainted as he opened the door and found four young women staring at him as he stood naked in the doorway. Yugao, the only one that wasn't blushing deep red, just held a plate up for him and smiled.
"Breakfast is served," she informed him, then looked down at his waist. "It's just toast and fruit, but we may have some sausage later."