He wasn't going to lie; he already had sworn that to himself the moment that he stepped out of the Nation of Fire he was going to be honest, through and through. He felt a torrent of emotions that he really didn't want to face at any given moment. Common knowledge pointed out that he should be ecstatic that he has living family... Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze is no longer that kid that has no one to come home to; this is why he felt like screaming. It's weird, isn't it? He spent all his life wanting to have a family to call his own, someone he can speak to at anytime... not dead within the ground; so now that he has found that, why did he not just feel happy? He knew for a fact that if he found this information out just a few years ago, he would have been the most happiest kid in the world!

But, right now, he wasn't... and that revelation only added to the churning in his gut; he felt ungrateful.

These people are strangers. People that share his blood... but are also from a whole other world of law. They don't understand Ninjutsu... just like he doesn't comprehend their Magic. After all, Nagato turned out to be his distant cousin; that man was too busy trying to destroy the world in the means of so called 'peace'. Only for him to end up dead in the end, just like everyone else.

He was angry with Minato all over again, different reason, but all the same. When they had their chats and battled together, not once did that man even mention he had family that he left behind... even if it was on the other side of the world. What the hell was Minato thinking? To just dismiss the topic of living relatives when his own child was out on the streets getting beaten? He may have been one of the strongest Hokages, but he was also one of the most deadbeat fathers out there in the world. Sealed a beast into his gut within hours of his birth, died, thought it was the grandest idea to tell the village 'what a hero he is' (which causes him to get tortured by everyone), then hides the fact that he has had family that he could have been with all these years; yeah, because that's what everyone looks for in a Dad. Naruto didn't care what the man had to say in defense of himself: too many f*ck-ups in a row, even for him.

He was scared. The same teen that faced off with a goddess, that could destroy mountains with a blink of her eyes, was petrified. Ninety-nine percent of his life consisted of rejection and/or loss... a good sum of it was from people that he wasn't attached to in any form. But after the war, the raze of Kohona and the other villages, he didn't honestly know if he could take anything else bad happening. It just seemed like the past five years was a steady down fall into a void of... pure Hell. He is the jinchuriki all nine great and powerful bijuu; what if they see him just as everyone else has? A demon? He honestly didn't feel like these people would judge anyone too quickly, but he has been wrong before.

That's why he wasn't exactly estatic to learn that his loud-mouth of a teammate was running her mouth to complete strangers; they didn't have to know all the gritty details from their past. He figured he might as well involve himself with everyone else; beats getting talked about behind his back. There was no telling what Sakura had said, and he couldn't trust that she explained things in a way that didn't make him out to be a weapon or some demon.

He rolled over onto his side in the horrible attempt to shield his eyes from the early morning sun. Kakashi had a moment of stupidity as he assigned Naruto to a room with Sakura until further notice. Despite having a 'crush' on the girl as kids, he couldn't even stand to be near her anymore; he didn't know how bad it was until he realized how much he was hanging out with Madara. He may not ever admit it aloud, but the guy wasn't so bad once you started getting him to speak. Turns out, Madara Uchiha has better qualities to him than his own teammate Sasuke. Not only that, but the man had not only lost his younger brothers to the Senju brothers, but also his wife and child. It only proved to Naruto that you can't judge a book by its cover. In his personal opinion, both sides in the First Shinobi World War wasn't all that black and white; both had their fair share of losses and both thought they were doing the 'right' thing. How could people so blatantly pick a side like everyone else has some disease?

"Hey, Kakashi! Do you know where Naruto is?"

Naruto opened his eyes, squinting from the onslaught of sunlight. Half-heartedly listening in on the conversation that was happening inside the guild, he enjoyed the warm rays of the sun against his orange shirt. Ever since the war ended, he had started to wear a less attention-seeking outfit, consisting of a orange shirt and dark black pants; besides, he has to have orange on him somewhere!

"Marakov, how are you today? Naru is on the roof, has been ever since last night."

Naruto could practically feel his old Sensei giving a lazy wave with the famous closed-eyed smile that he only seemed to do in order to disturb people. And he would bet all his ramen money that Kakashi had that porno book in hand with no shame that he was surrounded with several under-aged people who wouldn't appreciate the perv being so bold. But Jyraiya was the worst, he had to admit.

"Oh, is he okay? Was there not enough rooms upstairs? He could have just let me know and I could have helped." Naruto didn't remember the girls name, just that she was the bartender and had snowy white hair; he was surprised she sounded so concerned.

"Please, miss, don't worry. Everyone bunked with a roommate, so there was plenty of rooms. Naruto... just has a habit of falling asleep in weird places." Kakashi probably had his nose buried in his book, barely paying enough attention to reply to any comment that comes his way. It went silent... well, the conversation did. The guild was still as loud as yesterday. He smiled slightly, he liked how much it felt like... a home; he hadn't even been there for two days and he could tell this place was... something magical. He chuckled at his own pun, feeling a little pathetic at his own weak attempt at a joke. He supposed it had to be better than sulking like a duck-butt in a emo corner, surrounded by fan-girls. He winced at those memories, back at the academy when he could pull pranks without a care in the world. His only focus had been to beat Sasuke in everything, date Sakura, and become the greatest Hokage out them all; he missed the innocent naivety. Is this what growing up felt like? Kami, it sucks!

He sat up, sensing his pervert of a sensei just below him on the ground. He walked to the edge of the tiles, giving his stiff muscles a roll, before he stepped off the roof. It looked like the poor group had seen the Shinigami himself as he fell towards the ground, it was amusing. He didn't really give it thought as he cushioned his muscles and bones with a heavy dose of Chakra. When his feet met the ground, it was near silent and little to no dirt was disturbed. He really didn't have to use Chakra for the fall, there was other techniques he could have applied like loosing the muscles in his legs to lessen the impact; he was feeling just a little too lazy, though.

"Need something, gramps?" He questioned as he placed his hands behind his head, tightening the band for his small ponytail. Growing his hair out wasn't something he just decided to do, merely too busy to think of such meager things such as monthly haircuts. He hadn't cut it in several months, and Sakura took every moment to point out how he looked like Ino or Inoichi, but with darker hair. He had yet to grow so impatient with it, that he shaved his head, so he guessed that was good.

"DO YOU WANT TO GIVE THIS OLD MAN A HEART ATTACK? YOU CAN'T JUST JUMP OFF A ROOF AND THINK ITS OKAY!" Marakov yelled, stomping his foot down angrily as he place one hand on his chest and the other pointed at the blonde accusingly. Naruto blinked, not really seeing why jumping off a roof would scare the man, but to each his own, right?

"Sorry, didn't think it would be a problem. Besides, I didn't come all the way here just to die from jumping off a little roof." He shrugged as Kakashi turned on his heel, heading back inside the guild. "These people don't know the shinobi arts, Naru; nor what it entails. We are going to have to explain it all later."

He already knew that, not like he needed it explained. "I plan on introducing you and your friends to some people, the ones you came looking for." Marakov intervened as he placed his hands behind his back. Naruto was certain the man only came up a little past his knee. Well, he now knew where his short height had been gained as a kid; it was only last year that he had a unexpected growth spurt. Jiraiya swore up and down that it was because he had been unable to eat ramen. With the war going on, and the village destroyed, luxury eating wasn't a option; so he now was taller than Kakashi, which was freaking awesome!

"Sure, lead the way." He looked over at the others that had accompanied his grandfather and sensei outside. One of them was the bartender chick, and the other one had striking red hair that made him do a double take. She looked almost exactly like his mother, body build and all.

"I'm Mira, we met yesterday, remember?" She questioned softly as she smiled tilting her head to the side like some kind of puppy.

"Names Ezra." The name didn't ring a bell, but kami, did she look exactly like a Uzumaki.

"Naruto." He nodded his head in greeting, and in the attempt to get out of his little dazed surprise. He held out his hand for the girls to shake, slightly taken back at how pale and small their hands were compared to his own. Despite their petite nature, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that they weren't incredible fighters; it was the way they held themselves. He knew it wasn't the most ideal moment to start popping questions off on someone he literally just met, but he couldn't help it.

"You wouldn't happen to know a Kushina Uzumaki, would you, Ezra-san?" He had added the suffix in hopes of coming off more polite, possibly saving himself from getting his face bashed in by the red-head; but it didn't stop the said woman from narrowing her eyes in suspicion. You would think you would learn to have more patience over the years, kit, Kurama grumbled from his place within Naruto's mindscape.

Leave the kit alone, brother. He only wants to know if he could have family from his Momma's side, Matatabi reprimanded softly from her stretched out position on the floor. What use to be a dank sewer was now a cave, agonizingly similar to the one that they had shared with the Sage of the Six Paths. It was all thanks to Naruto, whom figured there was a definite necessity of change in scenery for the tailed beasts. No one had a problem with the blondes actions, but kami did it surprise the siblings when he drew up the same cave their 'father' had last said goodbye to them.

YOU CAN'T CALL MY KIT, KIT! THAT'S MY NAME FOR HIM!

Matatabi opened her chromatic eyes to look at her dark orange furry sibling who remarkably looked like he was pouting. I can call him whatever I like. Besides, he hosts all of us now, not just you.

Kurama growled, his tails flicking dangerously around him. I was here first! And have remained here the longest! Call him 'kitten' for all I care, but the Kit is mine!

You racist! Just because i'm a cat doesn't mean I have to call him my Kitten! She spat at fox who merely growled back in retort.

Am I the only one who realized Kurama says Kitten with a emphasized 'H'? Gyuki questioned as he looked towards his other brothers who was too busy lazing about to pay attention.

Shut up, squid! You have no right to make fun of me!

Naruto's eye twitched as his little parasites fought over such simple meager things. He sometimes wondered if they were actually several centuries old like they said they were, and not two year olds.

"My aunt was named Kushina..."

Naruto blinked as he took a moment to process those words as Matatabi and Kurama had settled on wrestling with each other, making it quite difficult to concentrate. So he has a cousin too, now? He should have come over to these lands years ago.

"How do you know that name?" Ezra demanded, and he watched her fingers twitch towards her side. Apparently, he was taking too long to answer. Naruto lazily looked over to Gramps who was keeping a carefully eye on him and the girls. "Whaddya know, gramps? I gotta 'nother cousin."

Ezra stuttered as she took a step back, "W-what is the meaning of this?" Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he looked the girl over. The confusion, fear, and slight hope in her eyes told him all he needed to know.

"My Mom was Kushina..." He allowed that to sink in before adding, "She passed away several years ago during an attack on my village."

Kurama paused in mid-swing of one of his tails that was sure to knock Matatabi off her paws and into the others that was resting on the other side of the room. It wasn't a manly thing to do, so he fought back a slight whimper at the feeling of guilt eating at his insides. sure, he was under control of a man who was in-turn being puppeted himself, but that didn't take the blood off his claws. Matatabi saw his brief moment of weakness as she curled her body up next to his much larger one. He doesn't blame you, Kura.

He doesn't have to.