Recommended Story: 'Hinata's Guardian' by Rasenganfin
Chapter Eighteen
Everyone was seated in the hotel's restaurant looking at the menus. To their relief there were plenty of foods they were familiar with, though of course there were some they weren't. Things like the roasted alligator and the bear claws (which weren't pastries in this restaurant by the way) were very unexpected.
Naruto was the first to order, and the rest followed once they found something acceptable to them. Tsunade was the only one who tried something different. She wanted to see how different Alfheim sake was from the kind of her world. Her judgment, so far not as good but she wasn't drunk yet so it had a chance still.
"While we're waiting for our food, I guess I should tell you all something that up until now wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense." Kushina started. "My background story."
Everyone listened in, curious about many things about Kushina. Like how could she have been a succubus? Why did she live in Konoha if she came from this world? Why did she leave Naruto? And why only now did she return?
"Just so you know, a lot of what I'm about to say will confuse you. Feel free to ask questions if you must, but please refrain from yelling. We are in a public place after all."
Everyone nodded, curious to hear this. But Ino was probably the most curious of all. 'Maybe I can learn what Forehead and Hinata are refusing to tell me about Naruto.'
"My parents, my birth parents that is." She said, giving Tayuya a brief glance during the clarification. "They were the king and queen of Ai no Kuni, the daimyo's if you will. My father was an incubus and my mother was a succubus, as was normal for royal lines. I don't really remember much about them, because they died when I was really young."
"How?" Naruto asked.
"My memories are really hazy and for most of my life I thought it was just a dream, but apparently what happened was a coup de taut."
"A what?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"A revolution Naruto. A mutiny. Someone thought they deserved to be in charge instead and decided to get rid of the ones who were in charge." Ayame explained to him.
He nodded in understanding then looked back at his mother. "Why would they do that? Were your parents bad rulers Mom?"
"I have no idea son. All I have to go on at this point are stories. Some people liked them, and some didn't. Eventually fights broke out over it and the haters took action. I was unaware of this when it happened, and growing up I thought it all was just a recurring dream I had as a child. So some of what I'm telling you is based on what I was told when I got back here, not based on memory."
"How old were you at the time?" Tsunade asked.
"Four." Kushina answered.
"Then it's very likely you filtered out the memories that no longer made sense to you when you made it to Konoha. At that age it's very understandable."
Kushina nodded. "During the revolution, my nanny managed to get me out of the castle and somehow got me to Yggdrassil. I think she got wounded, because after we made it to Midgard and the Elemental Nations she just... disappeared. She stayed long enough to get me away from the tree we used to leave Midgard, and took me coincidentally towards the Uzushio refuges, but... I don't remember what happened to her. My best guess is she died or maybe came back here once I was safe."
"And then you were found by my family." Tayuya mentioned.
Kushina nodded. "Yes. The Uzumaki family heading to Konoha found me along the way and took me in, sensing my aura they mistook as special chakra. I came with them to Konoha and quickly forgot my life here in Alfheim, but I didn't mind. I was happy in Konoha with my friends, new family, and later husband."
"Now, when Naruto was born and the Kyuubi attacked, I knew there was a good chance I would die. But before that happened, some soldiers from here managed to find me. They said the timing was pure coincidence, but I still find that a bit too convenient. They abducted me before the sealing on Naruto could be complete, and brought me against me will back to Alfheim."
"Sealing on Naruto?" Ino asked. Isaribi was confused too, and judging by the looks on everyone's faces, she and Ino were the only ones here that didn't know what that meant.
Sakura, Hinata, Moegi, and Ayame gave the platinum blonde sharp looks. "Now's not the time to discuss that." Ayame told her, leaving no room for discussion.
"When I came here I was incredibly confused and angry. The problem was I had no idea how to leave, so I was forced to stay at first. During that time I learned what I had forgotten and was never told. It was confusing as hell, but it was hard to argue against the evidence. I mean, how else would you explain me having wings and a tail for once?"
"Kushina, did you get those traits before you left Konoha or after?" Tsunade asked. "It's obvious you didn't have them when the Uzumaki's found you or else you might have been feared by them and left behind."
"It wasn't until after I came here. You see, my kind at first look human, but as we get older we develop extra body parts. Basically our puberty has a few extra features included and starts a bit sooner than in humans. First comes the tail, then the wings, and for succubi then breasts, then for both of us the ability to have children. Naruto right now is basically close to finishing puberty."
"Wow." Sakura, Ino, and Hinata said.
"For me however the process was different, thanks to a certain influence." Kushina said, carefully avoiding a direct mention of her being a jinchuuriki. "For some reason, instead of maturing as a succubus, I developed as a human. I grew breasts but not tail or wings. Those didn't appear until after that influence was removed from me. So I sort of went thru puberty twice."
"Whoa, bummer." Tsunade said, then widened her eyes when something clicked in her mind. "Wait, you say this 'influence' prevented you from developing succubus traits. So why isn't it preventing Naruto from developing incubus traits?" The others looked surprised now that they started to consider that.
"I've been asking myself that for days now, and I can't offer a concrete answer." Kushina replied. "But I do have one idea that might be the explanation."
"What's that?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto, you're in the same situation I was in at your age. The only difference is I'm a female and you're a male. Maybe this 'influence' is more compatible with men than with women."
"What influence are you talking about?" Ino asked, not liking the feeling of being excluded from something everyone else knew.
Kushina turned away instead of answering, seeing a waitress being them their food. "After lunch when we have privacy we'll tell you, only if you can swear to keep it secret."
"You can trust me to keep it a secret." Isaribi said. "You guys helped me out dearly, the least I can do is keep a confidential secret."
"Good." Kushina said.
As they were all served, Ino had one thought. 'Am I really the only one here who can't be trusted to keep her mouth shut?'
Lunch consisted mostly of eating and small talk, topics kept to safe public-appropriate topics. After it was paid for in a type of money only Kushina had on her, she led the group to one of the hotel rooms and knocked on the door.
A man answered it wordlessly. He was dressed in a dark purple uniform that reminded the genin of Ibiki's outfit but without the trench cloak, and had a clean-cut hair style much like Hiashi's if he kept it short. However, his hair was bright cobalt blue and his clearly-visible ears were pointed.
"Ah, Lady Kushina, you've returned. I was almost afraid you would leave us."
"Like your army wouldn't be able to drag me back here if I tried Admiral Banfu."
The blue-haired man looked towards Naruto. "Is that the son you went to go find?" Suddenly he looked startled. "He's... is he really...?"
Kushina nodded. "Yes. I'm surprised too, but my son is an incubus."
"You're surprised?" Naruto asked. All this time she had barely acted surprised.
"Son, there's one thing about us I haven't mentioned yet. Incubi and succubi can breed with any sentient race, but when we do the offspring tends to be the same species as the other parent, not us. And I'm not talking about hybrids or hanyous or that sort of thing. The odds of you being born an incubus were slim, so all this time I thought you had been born as a human like your father. I was very surprised to see you took more after me in this sense, though I was also happy since it gave us something in common."
"Wait, you mean instead of being half-human half-incubus like normal genetics say he should be, Naruto is all incubus?" Tsunade asked.
"That makes no sense." Shizune added.
"I wish I cold tell you why our DNA works this way, I really do, but I don't understand it either. From what I understand, no one does. It's an unexplained genetic quirk of our race, kind of like why scorpions glow under UV light."
"Don't forget the fact that the majority of infants in your species born are female." The blue-haired man added.
Kushina nodded. "True, succubi are more likely to be born than incubi. Even when the other parent isn't one of those. Naruto being an incubi when his father was a human... the odds were very unlikely. I honestly wasn't prepared for that outcome, but I'm not saddened to see it."
"If anything, this is a major blessing to our fair country." The blue-haired man added.
"Why?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Young man, at this moment, you are the only known incubus in all of Alfheim."
"The only one?" Ayame asked. "How is that possible? What happened to the rest of them?"
"That will have to wait for later. There's something that needs to be addressed first." Kushina stated. "Admiral Banfu, can you get us some of our best medics? I have two girls here in need of medical help."
"Finally." Tayuya commented, being supported by Tsunade at the moment. "I was beginning to feel a bit overlooked here."
"I believe that should be no problem, though they will have to give your son a physical to ensure he's healthy." Banfu stated.
Kushina nodded. "That can wait. My sister and the young girl in bandages need aide first."
The blue-haired man looked just as surprised to hear this as he did to hear about Naruto. "Your sister? You found one of the other missing heirs?"
Kushina shook her head. "No, she's not that type of sister. Her family took me in when I was taken away so she's my sister in all but blood. She is family and I insist she receive treatment so she can walk again. And help the bandaged girl too. She deserves the chance to regain normalcy."
"I'll see to it they get the best."
"Mind if I and my assistant be a part of this?" Tsunade asked. "We'd appreciate overseeing this process."
"I don't see why not if you're trained medics." Banfu told them.
"Rumored to be the best in Midgard." Kushina told him.
"Then yes. Their assistance could be quite helpful. I'll get in touch with them right away, but they may not show up until tonight at the earliest." Banfu said.
"We can wait." Kushina said.
"Easy for you to say." Tayuya argued, making Kushina silently chuckle.
Kushina went with the elfish man, who turned out to be an actual elf, to contact some doctors. Tsunade, Shizune, Tonton, and Tayuya accompanied her to see for themselves what they people were like, mostly out of professional curiosity. Or in Tayuya's case personal reassurance.
This left Naruto, Hinata, Isaribi, Sakura, Ino, Moegi, and Ayame alone in the hotel to kill time. Luckily the hotel management had no problem giving Kushina a few rooms for free for the night, which they all appreciated. At the moment all of them were in one room, because they needed to be together for what was about to happen.
Ayame looked at Ino and Isaribi, the only ones in the group unaware of Naruto's burden. Even Tayuya knew of it thanks to Orochimaru, and because of that she had first thought of him as a risk to be eliminated or avoided. Of course finding out he was also Kushina's son affected her perception of him, as did the fact he didn't do anything bad to her when she was at her most vulnerable even though he was more than justified in doing so.
"Ino, Isaribi, the odds are likely you're going to find out that secret about Naruto we've been keeping from you two sooner or later, and personally I'd prefer you'd hear it before someone else finds out and reveals it." Ayame started.
"Would anyone in this world even know?" Isaribi asked.
"I can't imagine they would, but it's not impossible. Kushina-sama has been here for years and she might have brought it up at some point. Either way, we can't keep it hidden from you two much longer." Ayame told her, then faced Naruto. "Naruto, maybe this time you should be the one to say it."
He first wanted to argue, but saw her point. He couldn't do it the other time because he was emotionally compromised, but now he wasn't, and he needed to learn to face this sort of problem himself if he ever wanted to be a leader. What leader can do anything except admit something unpleasant about themselves after all?
The whiskered blonde then looked at the platinum blonde and bandaged diver. "Ino-chan, Isaribi-chan, you already know about how I'm apparently the son of the Yondaime Hokage right?" They nodded, told that before they came to Alfheim since Ino was surprised Naruto had a living parent. "Ino-chan, do you remember me ever being treated like that back in Konoha?"
She didn't even have to think about it. "No, not once that I saw. But why would you have been? Nobody acted like they were even aware you were that."
"Doesn't that strike you as suspicious?" Ayame interjected. "Yondaime-sama was a very respected man. Do you really think he could have a son without anyone knowing it? There are a lot of people in Konoha, surely someone there had to know who Naruto's parents are."
Isaribi nodded. "You're right. Logically it would be impossible for no one to know."
"But then why wouldn't they tell anyone?" Ino asked. "Wouldn't they want everyone to know Yondaime-sama had a living son? If more people had known, maybe Naruto would have been somebody back home."
"Think about it Ino, why would someone stay silent?" Hinata asked.
Ino thought it over, but little came to her. "The only answer I came come up with is they didn't want Yondaime-sama's enemies to target Naruto."
Hinata shook her head. "That's a lousy answer. Even if his enemies did decide to target Naruto, would the village not defend him with all their might? I mean, when Kumo tried to kidnap me my clan acted on it right away. You really think that Konoha wouldn't be as quick to defend the Yondaime's son if he was in danger?"
"Unless they wanted him to be taken." Ayame added.
"Oh you're right." Hinata said back.
"Wait, wanted him taken? Are you implying that Konoha wouldn't have cared about Naruto even if they did know who his father was?" Ino asked.
Ayame nodded. "Yes, many would have done exactly that. To the majority, it doesn't matter where Naruto came from. Most people would deny the truth because accepting it would mean admitting they were wrong about him and they've been dishonoring the Yondaime instead of avenging him. Any who would accept the truth would be admitting they are shallow and judge a child's worth based on the identity of the parent and not the child itself."
"But why?" Ino asked. "I mean, I know he's not the most liked person in town, but for days you guys have talked like this about him and not said one word why. Tell me dammit! If he is the Yondaime's son and someone knew it, then why would the rest of Konoha want him dead? Why would they care? Why wouldn't they think he's just another orphan and leave him alone?"
Naruto sighed, regaining her attention. "It's because of what he did when he got rid of the Kyuubi."
"The kyuubi?" Ino asked. Isaribi just listened, not aware of the story since ninja stories for the most part don't spread outside their respective villages.
"Yes. We were lied to. He didn't make it disappear. He had to seal it away. But he didn't seal it in a scroll or a metal jar or anything like that. He sealed it... inside me." Naruto admitted. Ino and Isaribi had wide eyes to hear this, and he continued while he had the chance. "The Kyuubi is trapped, unable to leave or do anything to me or thru me, mostly it's just a large chakra reserve for me. But many of Konoha's civilians and some of the ninja too are convinced I am the fox or will lose control of it any second."
"So they want you dead or gone settle their fears of you?" Isaribi asked. 'It kind of reminds me of my own situation, just much worse.'
Naruto nodded. "Yes. Worst part is I wasn't even aware of this until I was twelve and was tricked into almost helping a traitor of the village steal something valuable."
Isaribi looked a bit reassured now. "And yet you still go out of your way to help people. If I had been you, I might have gone bat-shit crazy and killed someone."
Ino still looked unsettled, and suddenly bolted upright and ran from the room.
"Ino!" Everyone shouted, but she didn't turn back.
Sakura got up. "I'll go after her. Maybe I can get thru to her." They nodded and she left.
Naruto hung his head. "I should have known she'd hate me."
Hinata hugged Naruto from behind to comfort him. "If she does, then too bad for her. It's not like anyone here will let her do anything about it."
"Ino!" Sakura said loudly as she caught up to her fleeing friend just outside the hotel, grabbing her arm to keep her from running.
"Let me go Sakura."
"No. Now tell me what your problem is. You don't actually believe Naruto is the Kyuubi do you?" Sakura insisted, making the platinum blonde face her.
"How can we know that for sure?" was the first thing to pop out of her mouth.
Sakura frowned. "I can prove it to you. How many times have you seen me hit Naruto?"
"Too many to count."
Sakura nodded. "Now tell me, why would the most powerful demon known to mankind let a mere girl like me hit him and live to keep doing it?"
"Well he was sweet on you for a time before Hinata got his attention." Ino suggested.
"Even then, why would the Kyuubi be interested in me like that?"
Ino threw up her hands. "I don't know. Look, I admit it's too unlikely for Naruto's personality to be Kyuubi's too, but how can we know he really can't be controlled by the fox? Does he seem like the strong-willed type to you?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes. He has the strongest will I've ever seen, and you would see that too if you bothered to see it."
Ino frowned. "And why should I take your word for it Forehead? Just a month ago you couldn't stand the sight of Naruto and now that Sasuke's no longer Prince Charming you decide Naruto has appeal to you? Face it Billboard Brow, if Sasuke hadn't gone off on you like that you'd be with him, not here."
Sakura's resolve falter for a moment and Ino took the opportunity to build her momentum up. "Don't bother trying to argue it. We both know it's true. Sasuke's always been your top priority, even more than our friendship. You know as well as I do that if you knew all this stuff about Naruto before Sasuke broke your heart, it still wouldn't have meant that much to you."
Sakura frowned a bit with small tears in her eyes. "Maybe you're right Ino, but I'm not that way anymore."
"What changed? Tell me Sakura, what exactly made you want to be different?" Ino pressed. "Did you decide to settle for the silver since you couldn't get the gold? Did hearing about other people hurting him suddenly make you feel guilty about doing the same? Or is it because he now likes Hinata and not you?"
"None of those. I'm not that shallow." The pinkette said.
"Then what is it? Because unless you've got a thing for men with trauma in their pasts, from what I can tell those are the only answers." The mindwalker pressed.
"It's because I don't deserve him." Sakura answered, surprising Ino. "You were right about one thing Ino, I do feel guilty about hurting him so much, especially now that I know why everyone else did. Any normal person in Naruto's shoes would want me dead, but even you must see that he still values me as a friend. I'm very, very grateful for that, but I don't deserve to be his friend. I owe Naruto for being such a bitch to him, and I intend on making it up to him by being his friend and anything else he needs me to be."
Ino just stared at her, all fear of the situation gone. "And you have complete faith Naruto isn't going to lose control of the fox and endanger us all?"
Sakura nodded without hesitation. "Yes."
Ino blinked. "Sakura, what makes you so certain of that? I want to believe you, I really do want to believe that Naruto is no threat, but... how I can not be afraid of the worst?"
"Think about who Naruto was before you knew all this. Did you back then have reason to believe he'd kill you? The boy who defended Hinata's honor even before she became his girlfriend? The boy who stood up to Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and the sand-user during the invasion? The boy who brought Tsunade-sama back to our village when we needed her the most? Are you really going to forget all that now? And if that's not enough for you, then consider this. You heard them say people have been trying to kill Naruto for years. If he was going to lose control to the Kyuubi, wouldn't he have done it by now?"
Ino's eyes widened. "You... you're right. That makes too much sense to ignore." She sighed. "I messed up, didn't I?"
"No, not yet. If you go back and tell everyone you're not afraid anymore, I'm sure you'll be forgiven."
"I sure hope so."
The two girls walked back in, and saw everyone look at Ino expectantly, though Hinata's gaze was the hardest. Ino looked at Naruto, seeing fear in his eyes. "Naruto, I was worried for a moment, but Sakura reminded me that the only ones who should be afraid of you are your enemies, not your friends. I know I'm not much of a friend, but as long as I'm here, I would like to try to be one."
The whiskered blonde smiled, fear leaving his eyes. "Thanks Ino."
Ayame smiled. "Good, now that that's cleared up, let's unwind and relax. Any ideas?"
"I saw this hotel has a pool. How about we go swimming?" Isaribi offered.