CHAPTER 10
"our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail"-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Naruto and Sasuke had made quick friends with Fu and had her join in on their spars multiple times and there was only one accident that happened.
One day while they were sparing a taki shinobi had seen them in the training area and called Fu a monster, it's safe to say that he is still in the hospital recovering from naruto and Sasukes beating and that was almost five months ago.
Naruto and his family had been in taki for about six months and they were preparing to leave now. Once they were all packed Naruto and everyone said goodbye to Fu, then they were on their way to…
-End Flashback-
"and that was it we pretty much spent most of the six months training and getting to know Fu-chan" Naruto said. Naruto had told them about his time in taki except of course his and Sasukes spars he had to have some secrets.
"also old man that scroll from taki is very important, if you sign it the scroll will allow for Fu-chan to become a konoha shinobi after the chunin exams here" Naruto said. Hiruzen looked at Naruto for a minute before taking a puff from his pipe "not that I see anything wrong with this Fu-san Naruto-kun, but why would I allow for Fu to be a shinobi of konoha?" Hiruzen asked.
"in taki Fu-chan is treated like less than a human except by a select few that scroll if you allow will give Fu-chan the chance for a life without the fear of everyone thinking she is a monster and not knowing who to trust at the end of the day" Naruto said.
Hiruzen could see the truth in Narutos eyes about how she was treated so he nodded slightly "alright Naruto-kun I will send a letter to taki to let them know I will think about it, after I see Fu-san in the chunin exams I will decide whether or not to have her become a konoha shinobi" Hiruzen said.
Naruto nodded in understanding "well then you might want to relax a little because what I'm about to tell you next will shock you" Naruto said.
-Flashback-
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU THINK WE SHOULD GO TO IWA" Jiraiya all but shouted at Naruto. Naruto stood firm however "I feel like we are running away from them and I know that it could be hazardous to go there but jiji I feel like that is where we should go right now" Naruto said.
Jiraiya was slightly surprised by Naruto not only did he basically want to sign his death but he also had sasuke agreeing with him on this one. Jiraiya took a breath to think this over while they may not be at war with iwa konoha didn't exactly like them either but this is when jiraiya noticed something.
Naruto hadn't called Jiraiya a pervert that meant he was extremely serious about wanting to do this. Jiraiya took a moment to let out a huge sigh "very well I can't disagree with you on this one and even if I did I can tell you won't relent on this on so to iwa it is" Jiraiya said.
The journey to iwa was a short one but the second they stepped into earth country Jiraiya was looking over his shoulder almost every second and had stayed incredibly close to Naruto the entire time. Finally the moment had come they were approaching the gate to iwa.
When they were almost upon the gate a figured started to float towards them that made Jiraiya sweat. Slowly floating towards them was the third Tsuchikage Onoki of both scales. Although he wasn't outright attacking them Jiraiya had a feeling that this would go bad.
"what is the reason for your sudden appearance near iwa Jiraiya-dono Tsunade-hime" Onoki said. Naruto deciding to put all his cards onto the table walked forward until he was standing a few feet away from Onoki. Naruto bent down on one knee and looked right into Onoki's eyes as a show of respect and began to talk.
"Tsuchikage-sama my name is Naruto Namikaze and we have come here on my request I wished to have a meeting with you to ask a question" Naruto said. Jiraiya was sweating bullets Naruto had just flat out told the strongest man in iwa that he was the son of their greatest enemy, Jiraiya had no idea what to do.
Onoki let the slightest smirk onto his face at the boy in front of him 'this boy is remarkable to look me straight in the face and tell me who he is with no fear even now he shows no fear of me or death at all' Onoki thought.
"you intrigue me young Namikaze you and your group follow me and we shall have the meeting you desire at my office" Onoki said. Naruto nodded and got up while following Onoki and Jiraiya let out a huge breath he didn't even know he was holding.
During the short walk through the village everyone noticed something strange almost all the civilians and shinobi that they saw smiled or waved at them being confused naruto turned his head to Onoki. "excuse me Tsuchikage-sama..."Naruto started before Onoki cut him off.
"please call me Onoki Tsuchikage-sama makes me feel old" Onoki said. "uh ok well Onoki-sama why is it that people are being nice to us I thought iwa hated konoha and my dad?" Naruto asked. "well you are correct in saying that there are those that hate konoha and your father but a majority of us see the truth and that is that what your father did was protect his village, we were at war and your father did what any good shinobi would do he protected his village and allies by killing his enemies, and while I do agree that we lost a lot of men that is the cost of war" Onoki said.
Naruto nodded "I see thank you for telling me what you believe." Naruto said. Once they reached the Tsuchikage's office Onoki sat in his chair and waited for Naruto to speak. "ten and a half years ago when the kyuubi attacked konoha no one knew why but I believe it to be a lie. my mother was the previous jinchuriki and I know that my father would have been next to her keeping the seal intact but somehow the kyuubi managed to escape and attack the leaf what I believe with the information I have gathered is that someone attacked my father to distract him from keeping the seal intact allowing this person to remove the kyuubi and use him to attack konoha.
" My suspicions were slightly confirmed when I talked to the kyuubi because he said that he doesn't remember attacking the village only waking up being sealed in me. I have told no one these suspicions until now because I did not see it necessary but this situation is different. I have traveled to the other nations and met four other jinchuriki and that is part of the real reason I am her Onoki-sama. I wish to meet my fellow jinchuriki that is true but I have also warned each I meet of my suspicion that whoever it was that tried to use the kyuubi ten years ago would try again and with all the bijuu so with this information in hand I ask you to meet your jinchuriki's if you will allow it" Naruto said.
Onoki was surprised and it showed on his face he was in a major internal discussion. 'someone able to separate Minato Namikaze from his birthing wife long enough to remove the kyuubi is indeed a terrifying person indeed and he believes this man will come after the other bijuu I will agree that his fear is not unfounded' Onoki thought.
"I agree that for such a thing to happen will be bad and I will even allow you to meet the jinchuriki however I have something to tell you that is important" here Onoki took a deep breath "from what you have told me about this person that you believe to be manipulating events I don't know how it would be possible but I believe the only person capable of doing what you said specifically separating Minato from Kushina would be Uchiha Madara" Onoki said.
Everyone in the room looked completely stunned by that and naruto was the first to recover "but that's not possible Hashirama-jiji killed madara at the valley of the end like 40 years ago" Naruto said. "Hashirama-jiji so minato was your son Tsunade-hime I guess that explains a lot" Onoki said.
Tsunade nodded her head to confirm his half question half statement not seeing a reason to hide it. "very well I will find a hotel for you to stay in and I will contact you when I have one of my jinchuriki available to meet you" Onoki said. Everyone nodded in understanding and went with Onoki to find a hotel to stay in while they waited.
It wasn't too long before Naruto and the others had been called to the Tsuchikage office only about two weeks or so and when there got near the office they heard loud shouting. "why did you call me here you old man, you said that it was important and that I had no choice but to come so what is so important?
When Naruto knocked on the door the yelling stopped and when they heard a brief "come in" they entered. When Naruto entered he was slightly surprised by what he saw there was a huge man standing in front of the Tsuchikage's desk, the man was a staggering seven foot four and wore a large red looking armor.
"are we disturbing anything Onoki-san" Naruto said. "no Naruto you are not this man here is Han and he is one of the two reasons you came here" Onoki said. Naruto then turned to the man who easily dwarfed him and stuck his hand out for a hand shake.
Han didn't understand what was going on so he took the man's hand to shake it but the instant he did he was shocked "you're a jinchuriki" Han said. "yes I am Naruto Namikaze I have traveled to many other places to meet others like myself so we came here to meet others like myself I hope we can become good friends Han-san" Naruto said.
Naruto and everyone else had spent the last two months getting to know Han and waiting to meet the other jinchuriki. When Naruto and his family first started spending time with Han they learned from him that he had been losing faith in humanity do to being treated like less than human. This is where Naruto told him that no matter what the five of them would always see him for what he is human.
After almost three months had passed they were once again all called to the Tsuchikage's office. When Naruto Sasuke Han Jiraiya Tsunade and Shizune entered the office they saw a man waiting there who was about four foot nine and had a battle helmet on along with a connecting red moustache and beard.
Onoki was the first to speak "Naruto this is Roshi" Onoki said, but before Roshi could ask why he was here a girl about Naruto and Sasukes age came running through the door. "jiji you should retire now you're too old for the job" she shouted.
Everyone in the room looked at her funny for a moment and she blushed in embarrassment until Onoki talked. "Naruto Sasuke this is my granddaughter Kurotsuchi who happens to know the worst possible moment to interrupt a very important meeting" Onoki said with a slight glare.
Kurotsuchi just glared back "what important meeting could you have jiji?" Kurotsuchi asked, she then turned around and froze. In the room were two sannin and iwa's two jinchuriki. Kurotsuchi stuttered slightly "I'm sorry I didn't mean to interrupt your meeting" Kurotsuchi said.
"that is quite a different attitude then when you busted in here a minute ago" Naruto said. Kurotsuchi had a slightly angry look now "ya so, what I said is true jiji is too old for his job he should get a replacement" Kurotsuchi said.
Naruto chuckled slightly and put his hand out "Naruto Namikaze nice to meet you Kurotsuchi-san" Naruto said. Kurotsuchi looked surprised, but not for what Naruto thought "you-you used my name" she said. Naruto looked surprised "uh yes what else would I call you by Kurotsuchi is your name right I see no reason for Onoki-san to lie" Naruto said.
"uh well everyone here calls me the honorable granddaughter it's so annoying no one calls me by my name but the old geezer" Kurotsuchi said. "damn kids not respecting their elders, I'm not that old damn it" Onoki said.
"not to be rude Onoki-san but you are older than everyone here" Sasuke said. "damn kids I tell you no respect, but that's beyond the point before Kurotsuchi came here Naruto you where about to surprise Roshi" Onoki said.
"ha as if some brat could surprise me, well let's hear it what do you have to say" Roshi asked. Naruto shook his head and put out his hand and waited for Roshi to shake it. Roshi like Han looked skeptical at first but slowly brought his hand to Narutos and the second they touched Roshi's eyes widened.
"that's not possible I never thought I would meet another let alone number nine what is the meaning of this" Roshi said. "hold on I'm extremely confused what just happened all Roshi did was shake your hand and he's extremely surprised, I shook your hand and nothing happened" Kurotsuchi said.
"you wouldn't have been able to tell Kurotsuchi" Onoki said. "what do you mean jiji?" Kurotsuchi asked. "Naruto-kun is a jinchuriki like Han and Roshi so that is why when Roshi grabbed Naruto-kuns hand he was able to tell that he was a jinchuriki" Onoki said.
"wow that's cool I've never met another jinchuriki besides Han and Roshi and they are hardly ever in the village" Kurotsuchi said. "well not anymore Kurotsuchi-san I am moving back into the village and I am even going to take a genin team later on" Han said with happiness in his voice.
"where is this coming from Han you never liked the village because of being a jinchuriki what happened?" Roshi asked. Here Naruto stepped forward with a serious face "I'm sure you can understand what I'm about to say Roshi-san so please listen, as a jinchuriki you lose much and you feel as though there is a hole within you. No matter what happens though if you find something anything that fills that hole even a little you fell stronger like your battle against the bijuu isn't as hard. It's almost like a sun as a jinchuriki you learn to hold what is precious to your heart and that something that fills the hole in your heart feels like a warm sun making you feel bright. I don't know what uncle Han found but to him it must be precious to fill the hole" Naruto said.
Everyone was speechless at that, but the most affected was Han and Roshi, Han was smiling and Roshi was deep in thought knowing that what Naruto had said was true. Hans smile got even bigger "there really is no way to describe it other than as a sun is there Naruto-kun" Han said. Naruto nodded with a smile also present on his face, but then Roshi spoke up and he sounded almost ….hopeful? "what is your sun then Naruto-san?" Roshi asked.
Naruto smirked "my family and friends, they have put all their beliefs in me believing in me and my goal to succeed and try to find the answer to peace that I seek" Naruto said with a small but true smile on his face.
"I see that indeed is an admirably goal I believe it will be fun to get to know you and see if I to should put my belief in you" Roshi said with a smile, Narutos happy grin just stretched a little further in happiness.