What If Konoha Honored the 4th Hokage's Dying Wish

Chapter 3

-Start of Training-

A 4-year-old Naruto woke up at the crack of dawn to get to his training. For the past 6 months, he had trained 4 days a week. On Mondays he trained with Tsunade and sometimes Shizune. On these days, he would join the hospital staff for their morning physical training. After physical training, Tsunade would make breakfast for Naruto while quizzing him on the previous week's homework. They covered subjects like chakra, chakra nature, chakra control, the basics of field medicine and human anatomy. While it could be said that Naruto was smart for his age, most of this material was quite hard for him to understand. He learned basic anatomy quick enough, and he knew how to treat cuts and basic wounds, but anything about physiology or internal medicine would clearly have to wait until Naruto was older.

It was during this training that Naruto learned how to awaken and use his chakra. If Tsunade Ba-Chan wasn't so scary, Naruto would admit that this was his least favorite day. Sure, Naruto understood that chakra control was super important. However, when a 4-year-old has jonin level chakra, it gets very frustrating for a 4-year-old to control that much chakra. The leaf sticking exercise was very hard for Naruto. It took him a whole month to be able to stick the leaf for 30minutes. Damn leaves kept blowing off his head or lighting on fire when he was just trying to keep them stuck to his head.

In between his weekly lessons, Naruto had stripped most of the trees near the Namikaze estate of their leaves. He would be out there on the training fields, day after day just trying to make the damn things stick. Tsunade recognized that Naruto's frustration just made the exercise harder. When she saw this, she would make him do physical exercises. Naruto did sets of 50 push-ups, diamond push-ups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, sit-ups and burpees and then he would run around the training grounds 10 times. By the end of 6 months, Naruto could repeat these sets easily. He remembered trying to learn the tree-walking exercise. He got frustrated so often that he ended up doing 12 sets of his "usual" workout in one day. Tsunade was so surprised when she saw his physical prowess that she started made him meditate in between sets and tree-walking attempts. To her immense pride, Naruto learned tree-walking in three weeks. This control helped Naruto and after tree-walking, Tsunade attempted to teach Naruto his first jutsu, the henge-no-jutsu. At the 6-month mark of his weekly training, Naruto was close to mastering this technique.

Naruto felt his progress and that filled him with pride. It also helped that whenever Naruto hit his training goals or mastered a new technique Tsunade would take him to Ichiraku Ramen. After mastering the leaf sticking exercise, Tsunade took him took Ichiraku's. And like a crack addict, Naruto was hooked after the first bowl. The repeat visits led to Naruto eating three extra-large bowls of ramen at the ripe young age of four. Teuchi, the stands owner, saw the next coming of Kushina and his future best customer. Teuchi and Ayame were quickly added to Naruto's list of those he would train to protect.

Tuesdays were days that the Hyuuga clan opted to teach Naruto. Hiashi, Hizashi and Hitomi split this duty. Their goal was to teach Naruto the basics of taijutsu to establish a base for his taijutsu. They also focused on the importance of being precise during katas, which taught Naruto attention to detail and precision. Hiashi was strict and emotionless, but it was clear that he took pride in his training. Days with Hiashi started with footing, form and katas. They evolved into attacking the wooden training dummy and hand positioning. This was hard work, especially when Hiashi found out about Naruto's "usual" workout. After that, Hiashi would make Naruto do 50 repetitions of one of his exercises for each mistake he made in his katas. This produced results in Naruto's taijutsu basics.

On the days Hizashi taught, Naruto often got to spar with Neji. This served to motivate both, and a friendly rivalry was formed. Under Hizashi's strict tutelage, both boys dared-not step out of line. They were evenly matched, despite Neji being nearly a year older. However, toward the end of the 6-month period, Hizashi had to admit that Naruto was pulling ahead in raw taijutsu. If Neji used the actual Juken, then Naruto would be defeated but Hizashi did not want to start that type of sparring yet.

Days with Hitomi were Naruto's favorite. Hitomi was kind, pretty and patient. She taught Naruto things like manners, etiquette and proper conduct. She knew this boy was going to grow into an important figure and didn't want him to be an ignoramus when it came to dealing with important people. The going was hard, but she could see the improvement. She also tried to bring Hinata whenever it was her turn to come. Naruto liked Hinata, she was nice, and she listened to him talk about whatever. After the first couple of visits, Hinata started getting more comfortable with Naruto. She would talk with much less stuttering; she stopped flushing whenever he looked at her and she was even able to yell at Naruto once when he made a distasteful joke about her mother. Naruto was so caught off guard by a yelling Hinata that he immediately apologized profusely. The two kids had a good friendship, but Naruto made it his mission to break Hinata out of her shell.

Wednesdays were weird for Naruto. The old mummy came on Wednesdays. Naruto initially needed Tsubaki present when Danzo was teaching because Naruto feared the gruff, bandaged man. He was super strict, emotionless and talked about stuff that made Naruto feel awkward. Naruto hadn't seen a dead person yet, so whenever Danzo-sensei had talked about killing Naruto got wide-eyed and shy. The first three months Danzo kept the training topics lighter. Talking about the importance of stealth and operating without drawing attention. Surprisingly, Naruto proved an effective study at stealth lessons. The child had no concept of suppressing his chakra, which made him a beacon for a shinobi of Danzo's caliber. However, the boy was surprisingly good at staying out of site.

Danzo also piggy-backed on the chakra control lessons Tsunade was teaching Naruto. He tried to get the boy to understand the importance. He was forbidden from teaching him water walking yet because his chakra coils were not developed enough. However, he would have the boy do exercises and katas while sticking to the tree. He did this to teach him control and multi-tasking. At four months in, Danzo started bringing his "personal bodyguards" with him to training. These people were pale sticks in the mud. They never smiled, never joked, never did ... anything. All they did was spar with Naruto and teach him. After watching Naruto do the leaf sticking exercise with one leaf on each of his arms, legs, torso and forehead Danzo noticed that the boy was starting to burn some leaves. This led him to test Naruto's chakra and find out that he had very high fire and wind affinities. Despite this amazing discovery, the training group concurred that it was too early to teach him any elemental jutsu. Even though the boy was a natural, all trainers felt like they should hold off, except Danzo.

Finally came Thursday! This was Naruto's favorite day each week. This was Uchiha day. Fugaku heard about the training of Naruto and knew that he had to take part in it. He focused on the boy's taijutsu, trap-making and shuriken jutsu. Things like physical activities seemed to motivate Naruto and he soaked up the knowledge like a sponge. Fugaku couldn't help but be proud of Naruto in Minato's stead. He would bring over Itachi, who had just entered the academy and was on track to graduate early. He also brought Sasuke, a very kind but competitive boy that was Naruto's age from the Uchiha clan.

Sasuke liked these days because his dad would actually train him and Itachi-ni would train with him as well. He was frustrated and motivated by the fact that he had never beaten Naruto. In fact, over the 6 months Naruto had started to lap him in progress. Although Fugaku knew that it wasn't fair to compare the boys due to Naruto's other trainers, it still brought a frown whenever he thought his boy was being outdone. On the other hand, Naruto had never beaten Itachi. In the beginning, Itachi had walked right over Naruto. He was better in every shinobi art, a true Uchiha.

By the sixth month, Itachi would have to admit that the boy who was 3 years younger than him made him have to try. Itachi was being pushed in a spar, by a 4-year-old naruto. The boy was slightly slower than him, but Kami was he tricky to fight. His reflexes were top notch, and his fighting instinct was incredible. In the last week of the sixth month, Itachi activated his Sharingan by sparring with Naruto. Despite Itachi only being 8, he was now the youngest Uchiha since Madara to activate his Sharingan. When Itachi returned to the clan compound that day and told his best friend Shisui about activating his Sharingan while fighting Naruto, Shisui insisted on coming to every Thursday training session after that.

Jiraiya would stop by the compound for a week at a time, a couple times each year. After the night and subsequent morning with Tsunade, they worked things out. To Jiraiya's immense relief Tsunade said she would give them a test-drive. Her conditions were there is absolutely no peaking in Konoha and if he slept with any woman other than her, not only would it be over, but she threatened impotence. She requested that he abstain from it outside the village as well, but she knew that was a big ask. She just didn't want his perversion thrown in her face is all.

Jiraiya always woke up with a shit eating grin when he was in town, and this had a positive effect on Naruto's training. Jiraiya focused on Naruto's fuinjutsu. Being the only fuinjutsu master in Konoha meant that the responsibility to teach the last Uzumaki the art fell to him. Since the kid started his calligraphy when he was three, Jiraiya was always surprised by the progress Naruto made. Jiraiya couldn't help but get excited and talk through seals when Naruto displayed an almost innate understanding of the art.

When he was 4, Naruto created his own storage seal. He managed to improve on the basic storage seals found in the shinobi shops and increase their capacity by double. When Naruto was 6, he created a variation of the explosive tag that Jiraiya instantly took to the Hokage for mass production. Naruto made a flash tag that would only flash a 180degree angle from where it was deployed. The potency of the flash depended on how much chakra was put into the tag. Being a knuckle head, Jiraiya had asked Naruto to flash him on max power to see the tags effects. Jiraiya couldn't see until Tsunade had gotten home from the hospital that night and fix the poor pervert's eyes.

Speaking of perverts, since Jiraiya had sworn off all things perverse, he needed a muse. He found that in Naruto. The boy would talk about his innocent friendships with Ino and Hinata and the perverts mind automatically converted it into his raunchy novels. All he had to do was add in all things sexual, which came naturally to him, and Naruto's stories helped him find his inspiration. At the risk of Tsunade's wrath, Jiraiya gave Naruto a scroll on "sensual ninjutsu – level 1". This scroll taught Naruto how to use chakra in massages to stimulate other people relieve stress.

As Naruto's chakra control got better, he began testing out the 'sensual ninjutsu'. At first, he offered Tsunade, Tsubaki, Shizune, Ayame and the nurses from the hospital massages. He said it was to practice chakra control and make them feel better. Most of the women found it amusing until Naruto would give them a massage on their back, feet or hands. The immediate relief of tension and pain made Naruto a hero around the hospital. Stories of Naruto's success in the sensual arts gave Jiraiya even more inspiration and made him want to teach Naruto even more. Jiraiya poured his effort into his student's son whenever he was in town and always left Naruto with the next level of fuinjutsu book. At this rate, Jiraiya would be able to let Naruto into Minato's study in no time.

These training sessions produced such good results that Fugaku and Hyashi couldn't help but share with the other clan heads. The hype around Uzumaki Naruto grew to a dim roar among those in the know. Sure, there are prodigies like Itachi, Shisui and Kakashi. They were young and each of them displayed an amazing level of skill for their age. However, the positive energy that each teacher got from training Naruto made him unique among the prodigies. Not only did Naruto learn at an amazing rate, but he also made those teaching him enjoy doing so. These rave reviews caused Inoichi, Chouza and Shukaku approach the Hokage about getting time to teach Naruto. For Tsume, it was the reviews on Naruto's massages that made her want to teach the boy. It seemed like a great deal to her. Teach the pup a bit and then he can take care of all the stress. To the Hokage's amusement, all requests to teach Naruto came in on the same day. He couldn't help but chuckle. This resulted in Naruto's playdates turning into impromptu training sessions with various clan heads and heirs.

-Naruto's Free Time-

The rest of the week were rest days for Naruto. Although Tsubaki still made him study on these days, it was his time to relax, recover and be a child. Over the following 3 years, Tsunade frequently took him for play dates with his clan friends. She preferred to have the kids come to the Namikaze estate since Naruto was still young and they wanted to keep him out of the public eye, but relaxed that standard after a while. All clan leaders and family members had agreed to keep Naruto's existence a secret. Whenever he was in public, he was referred to as just Naruto. No clan name was ever said out loud, in case nosey ears were listening. This worked well because there was not a single attempt from the villagers, or outside shinobi, to attack Naruto. So, after a while, Tsunade and Tsubaki began accompanying Naruto to the other clans' compounds or out to parks. He developed relationships with each of the clan children.

Aside from the premade friendships between the Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji, Naruto was the link that bound the clan kids together. Naruto was the ringleader of the boys. He would always partake in the games, choose where they should go, kept the conversation fun and flowing. Not to mention that he even made the lazy Nara enjoy running around and playing. Kiba loved rough housing with Naruto and running around the woods in the Inuzuka compound with him. Chouji loved the trips to the BBQ or ramen stand. Naruto even got Sasuke into his friend group. The timid Uchiha child struggled at first, but Naruto never left anyone out. In time, Sasuke began hanging out with the boys even without Naruto present.

Shikamaru enjoyed just talking with Naruto while cloud gazing. He even taught Naruto how to play shogi, which often led to the boys sitting on the porch while huddled over the shogi board. Either Naruto was a Nara in disguise or he was a natural at shogi because he would come to the Nara compound, talk about anything and everything while playing shogi and then push Nara clan members hard. The boy was just so frustratingly random in his moves. Even Shukaku nearly lost to Naruto when Naruto was 7. The complete and total lunacy of Shukaku having to visibly concentrate, sweat and plan out his game made it seem like the Nara clan head lost, even though he won.

Yoshino couldn't get enough of the blonde knucklehead. He brought such vibrant energy to the lazy compound that she often bribed Tsunade with sake nights just to get Naruto over. When Naruto was 6, Shukaku made Shika spar with Naruto. Shika was beaten in 10sseconds, which frustrated the lazy Nara. No matter how troublesome it was, nobody wanted to be beaten that soundly. So, Shukaku nearly fell out of his chair the next morning when Shikamaru asked him to train him. The sight of the Nara heir running around the compound and sweating made the lazy clan feel one word, troublesome.

Ino had the hardest time with Naruto. She liked hanging out with him so much. He was a fellow blonde, he was cute, he was funny, he was strong, and he always put his friends first. Ino loved that much about him. What was hard for Ino was that she wasn't allowed to talk about him or ask questions. She knew that everybody knew some big secret about Naruto, it was obvious from how the parents acted around him. It was why the secret was so important, it was why she couldn't ask questions, it was why Naruto seemed to be one big secret. When Ino turned 5 and Naruto came to her birthday party, she decided to ask him. She pulled Naruto into her room and then asked.

"Naruto, do you know why I am not allowed to talk about you to anyone else?"

"I'm sorry Ino, I don't really know myself. I asked Ba-chan about it and she said it was to keep me safe and that she would tell me soon." a sheepish Naruto replied.

"Well, that sucks, do you know who your parents are? We only get to call you Naruto and we never use your last name."

"I know that my mom was an Uzumaki and that she died the night of the Kyuubi attack. I don't know who my dad was, but he is part of that secret that Tsunade-Bachan said she would tell me soon."

"Oh, OK. So, you are an Uzumaki, were they a clan? I haven't heard of them."

Naruto's face fell and he replied, "Yeah, they were a clan. Supposedly they helped found Konoha, but they never really lived here. Then, in the 2nd Great Ninja War their home was destroyed. Tsunade-Bachan thinks that I may be the last Uzumaki."

Ino felt terrible, she saw how much this hurt Naruto and she didn't want him to be sad. She even surprised herself when she leaned forward and gave Naruto a kiss on the cheek and said sorry for asking.

A blushing Naruto reeled and asked Ino, "What, what, what was that for?"

Ino giggled and replied with, "It is because I like you silly and I don't want you to be sad."

From that point forward, Ino was Naruto's champion in the gossip network. She kept an ear out to make sure nobody was talking about Naruto or spreading any information that shouldn't be out. Sure, she loved telling her friends how nice and cute he was, but she never betrayed Naruto's trust or told anybody his last name. She kept him on a pedestal in her heart as the truest standard of a friend.

-Meeting the Fox-

Naruto loved his life. He was almost 8 years old. Tsubaki had always been there for him, taught him and dare he say, loved him. Tsunade was another part of his family that Naruto couldn't live without. She kept him reeled in and bound to sanity. Naruto always found it amusing when Tsunade would pull him inside from a long day's training. She would throw him into the bathroom and not let him out until he was spotless. Her training was productive and made him feel in control of himself, which was quite a feat for an endless ball of energy.

He has been meditating for almost 4 years now. This practice helped him process his training into easily manageable and digestible portions. It was during one such meditation session at the end of Naruto's training that Naruto went deeper than ever before. He was feeling his chakra and giving into its flow. He followed it from its origin, his heart, down and throughout his body. As he got caught in the flow, Naruto felt something pull on his conscious.

As Naruto followed that pull and opened his eyes, his found himself in a hallway. One side of the hallway was illuminated in blue light. As he reached out and touched it, he immediately knew that it was his chakra. He could feel the flow. As he crossed the hallway, he paused in front of the red lighting. Once again, he knew it was chakra, but it felt ... different. As he reached his hand toward the red light, he felt the heat and immense energy it was emanating. When he touched the source of the red light, he felt anger and hate and something … else. It felt wrong, like it was off balance.

While this feeling scared him a bit, he decided to follow the hallway. He noticed as he walked by that the doors were labeled with names. Over one door read "Ba-Chan". Out of curiosity he opened it and watched a memory of him and Tsunade learning water walking. That was only a couple months ago but it played out for him like a movie. He was in his orange swimsuit, completely soaked from head to toe. Tsunade was standing out on the lake laughing at him holding her favorite bottle of sake.

"Aw, c'mon Ba-chan. There is something you aren't telling me. I can't seem to get this right. Last time, I created a tidal wave and this time I take one step and then fall right in."

"It is something you have to figure out for yourself, brat. It is kind of like tree walking, that is the only clue that I will give you."

Naruto pouted for a bit, then got a devious smirk on his face. "Are you sure that's all you can tell me Ba-Chan? If you help me get this done today, I will give you shoulder and foot massages every day this week."

Tsunade couldn't help but be proud of this bugger, "Alright, brat. The thing is that water is not a solid like wood. Therefore, the chakra flow cannot stay fixed. You must fluctuate your chakra based on the depth and condition of the water. Try double what you did for your last attempt then just trying to stand on the water's surface before walking."

"Thanks, Ba-Chan!" said Naruto as he flashed his million-watt smile at Tsunade. After another few attempts, Naruto found the right flow and was able to stand on the water.

Naruto focused on pulling himself out of the memory and stood in front of the door. This was surreal, who knew he could meditate and review memories like this. As he marveled on this, he continued walking down the hallway. After a minute, he came upon a massive door, about 40 feet high and 20 feet wide. It was emblazed with the crest of a nine tailed fox on each door. Naruto felt drawn into the room, like there was something he needed to do in there. As he entered, he marveled as the room opened up into a massive auditorium like room. However, Naruto noticed that he couldn't see all the way across. After a bit, the room faded into darkness. So, being a curious almost 8-year-old child, Naruto continued walking. As he approached the darkness, a massive cage came into view. Being this close, Naruto could not see the end of the cage. Since Naruto couldn't see anything behind the cage, Naruto called out.

"Hello, is there anybody there?"

After he spoke, a light appeared from above and illuminated the massive head of a fox. Its head was lying over its paws that were crossed under its snout. Naruto could feel the massive power radiating from the creature. Its beautiful fur produced a reddish orange sheen that was ... beautiful. The beast didn't move or do anything, so Naruto called out again.

"Hello, Mr. Fox?"

This got a response from the creature. It opened its massive eyes, and, in its eyes, Naruto saw the projection of what looked like a windmill shuriken. It had three black blades with a hole in the middle. Each of the blades curved off clockwise and connected to the next blade. Underneath the projection of this Shuriken, Naruto could see a pair of slitted red eyes that looked out of focus. Naruto was stunned by the pattern, but he got the feeling that something wasn't right. It was then that Naruto heard one word before being ejected from that place, "Help".

Naruto reeled and took a deep breath upon returning to the world. He couldn't believe what he just experienced. He knew that happened inside him, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to see his own memories. So, what was that fox? That was so vivid and real. It couldn't have been his imagination, could it? "No. No way. It asked me for help. There is something inside me that needs help!" thought Naruto. He got up and raced off to find Tsunade. Since the sun was setting, Naruto was sure that he would find Tsunade in the kitchen with Tsubaki. He would probably get scolded for missing dinner again. As he burst into the kitchen, Tsunade laughed at him.

"Out late training again, Brat? Your dinner is in the fridge."

Despite his hunger, Naruto needed to get this out. "Not now, Ba-chan. I have something every important to ask you."

Tsunade and Tsubaki noticed the serious and slightly panicked look on his face, "Okay, Naruto, what is it?"

"Ba-Chan, I was meditating and saw something. I need to know. Is there a fox in me?" The color drained from Tsunade and Tsubaki. Seeing their reaction, Naruto knew the likely answer. Four years of learning and training his mind led him to one conclusion, "Is it ... is it the Kyuubi?"

After a pregnant pause, Tsunade answered Naruto, "Yes, brat. There is a long story behind this, and it appears we will have to deal with it now. Get cleaned up and then we are going to the Hokage's office."

An hour or so later, Tsunade, Tsubaki and Naruto walked into the Hokage's office. Hiruzen had dealt with most of the paperwork and was puffing on his pipe as they entered. He immediately noticed the serious looks on their faces and sat up.

"Good evening, Naruto-Kun. What brings you to me so late in the day?"

Tsunade answered by asking Hiruzen to clean the room and asking if Jiraiya was in town. At the serious response, Sarutobi said that Jiraiya just got into town. He dispatched an ANBU to find him and bring him to the office. 15 minutes later and Jiraiya jumped in through Sarutobi's window and threw out a casual, "What's up, sensei?" He then looked around the room and saw the rest of its occupants. He walked up to Tsunade and gave her a chaste kiss while greeting Tsubaki and ruffling Naruto's hair.

Tsunade returned the kiss and said, "Jiraiya-kun, serious mode please." This got an immediate response from the normally playful toad Sanin.

Sarutobi retook control of the conversation and said, "Okay, Naruto-Kun. Why don't you tell us what this is about?"

Thus, Naruto recounted his trip into his mind. What started as being impressed by being able to visit one's mindscape turned into a deathly silence and pallid looks on the faces of Jiraiya and the Third Hokage.

"Okay, my boy. It appears that it is time to have this conversation." replied Hiruzen with palpable desire to avert this conversation. Thus, Hiruzen began recounting the night of the Kyuubi attack with the conclusion of the Kyuubi being sealed into Naruto.

Naruto processed the information for a bit, then asked, "GiGi, something didn't feel right with the fox. When I felt its chakra, it felt like something was interfering with it. Like when Shizune-Nechan put me in a genjutsu. Then, when the fox opened its eyes, it looked like something was on its eyes."

The pallid expression of Jiraiya and Hiruzen darkened, while Tsunade and Tsubaki didn't seem to know what was going on. It was Jiraiya that asked, "Naruto, could you show us? Maybe draw it for us?"

"Sure thing, Jiraiya-sensei." Naruto unsealed a brush and some paper from a storage seal on his shirt. He then drew out the pattern that he saw on the fox's eyes and the entire room was drowned in killing intent from the Hokage. In response to this, four ANBU showed up kneeling. "What do you need, Hokage-sama?" asked the dog masked ANBU.

"Inu, bring me Fugaku and Shisui Uchiha, NOW!"

In response to this, the ANBU disappeared and reappeared 20 minutes later with a confused Shisui and Fugaku. The Hokage held up Naruto's drawing and asked, "Do you two recognize this pattern?"

Although confused, and now slightly perturbed by the feeling in the room, they both nodded.

Hiruzen then asked, "Fugaku, this is the pattern of a Mangekyo Sharingan (will be called MS for short from here on out). Is that correct?"

Although he was hesitant to spill clan secrets, Fugaku caught the mood in the room and noted the present parties. "Hai, Hokage-Sama. May I ask what is going on?"

Hiruzen had Naruto retell his encounter with the fox and he put focus on how things felt off and the pattern on the fox's eyes. Both Fugaku and Shisui immediately went white. There had been suspicions about the fox being controlled, specifically by the Sharingan. Now, there is little doubt. So, there is either a traitor among the Uchiha, or an unknown MS wielder controlled the fox.

"Fugaku, I never thought I would have to ask this, but I need a straight answer from you. Are you two the only MS weilders in the Uchiha clan currently?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama. As far as the clan is aware, that is correct."

"You understand the implications of this effect being on the Kyuubi still?"

"Hai, Hokage-Sama. The user is still alive and if the fox were free, it would still be under that user's control."

At this point, the Hokage flared his chakra again calling the ANBU. "Bring me Inoichi, it is an emergency." Once again, the ANBU disappeared and reappeared with an Inoichi in his nightwear.

"You called, Hokage-Sama?"

"Yes, Inoichi. There is a lot going on, but I trust Fugaku and Shisui will consent to you taking a look through their minds. I need to clear them of suspicion before we move forward."

Fugaku and Shisui looked startled, but nodded their heads nonetheless and said, "Hai, Hokage-Sama."

A very confused and hesitant Inoichi responded, "Can I ask why, Hokage-Sama?"

Hiruzen looked to Naruto, who once again recounted his visit to the Fox's chambers. Inoichi was stunned speechless. He was only brought back by Hiruzen clearing his throat.

"Inoichi, make no mistake. I trust Fugaku and young Shisui there. I need only confirm what I believe before we can move forward."

"It will be done, Hokage-Sama." replied Inoichi as he bowed and saluted.

After an hour of mindwalking both Fugaku and Shisui, clearing them both of any liability, Inoichi recounted to the Hokage that they are trustworthy.

"Okay, Fugaku and Shisui, do either of you possess enough chakra to attempt and break the control on the Kyuubi?"

Fugaku responded with, "Hokage-Sama, my MS does not have any mind control abilities. Mine are all combat oriented." He then looked at Shisui.

"I believe I can do it, Hokage-Sama. I want to help Naruto-Kun."

Hiruzen nodded and looked to Inoichi, "Can you take Shisui into Naruto-Kun's mind and attempt to free the fox of this genjutsu?"

Inoichi paled, "Hokage-Sama, that is extremely risky. What if the demon awakes and attempts to hurt Naruto, Shisui or myself?"

"According to Naruto-Kun, the fox said only one word, "help". If we were to help it, not only would eliminate the control an unknown enemy has on the Kyuubi, but it might be grateful and make things easier on Naruto-Kun."

Naruto stepped forward, "GiGi, I don't know a lot about this, but I want to help it. It has been under someone else's control for almost 8 years. If I were it, I would want somebody to help me."

The room marveled at the confidence and righteousness of this boy. Most ninja would cower in front of the Kyuubi, but this boy is standing up to his burden head on.

Inoichi reluctantly conceded, "Hai, Hokage-Sama." Shisui also nodded. Inoichi continued, "Okay, you two take a seat on the couch. Naruto when I connect Shisui to you, your mind it is going to feel heavy. I need you to focus on meditating and drawing us back to your mindscape. I will help guide you there. Shisui, just hold onto my chakra and enjoy the ride. Once we get there, it is all on you."

"Hai, Inoichi-Sama."

As Inoichi sat and touched Shisui's head, a moment later Naruto felt Inoichi's hand touch his head. He then felt their presences and dragged them along his chakra flow, down toward his stomach and into his seal. The three opened their eyes in the hallway that led to the Kyuubi's auditorium. Inoichi marveled at the layout and precision of a child's mindscape. When he saw how the memories were divided by each person important to Naruto, he marveled at the boy's ability to organize his mind in this way. The group continued walking to the massive door. Before opening the door Naruto gave them a warning to prepare themselves. They both nodded and followed in after Naruto. The immediate pressure they felt from the Kyuubi's aura was immense. The density of its chakra, the might of its presence. Then there was this child, walking forward like it didn't bother him at all. Naruto approached the cage and called out once again.

"Kyuubi, I am here. You asked for help, I have brought it."

The light above once again illuminated the head of the giant fox. It opened its eyes in response to the noise and looked out at Naruto, Shisui and Inoichi. Inoichi took as step back and felt himself sweat. Shisui marveled at the fox and the pattern emblazoned upon its eyes. He took a deep breath, channeled his chakra to his eyes activated his Sharingan, which gradually transitioned into his MS. This got a response from the fox. Its head raised and it seemed to respond to the Sharingan.

Shisui intoned, "Kai, 'Koto Amatsukami', return to your own free will, Kyuubi."

The lights around the room shuddered. The Kyuubi let out a mighty roar that instantly ejected Shisui and Inoichi from the mindscape. The Kyuubi stood and shook out its fir, seemingly happy to be moving of its own volition for the first time in eight years. After settling back down and getting comfortable, the Kyuubi looked at Naruto with its massive, red slitted eyes. He took in the boy in front of him and a growl emanated from deep in its throat.

"So, I finally meet my new jailor. Normally, I would eject you from my presence, but I am in your debt." Said the Kyuubi in a deep tone that radiated with power.

The young boy standing in front of the majestic fox stood stricken by the combination of power, grace and beauty. He took a while to process that the Kyuubi was waiting for him to respond.

"It... it's nice to meet you, Kyuubi-Sama. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

A guttural chuckle escaped from the Kyuubi, "Ah, so Kushina's brat is the one I am now stuck in. Well, boy, as I said, I am in your debt for freeing me from that man's cursed control. I do not leave debts unpaid, so speak."

"Uh, I, uh. I don't really want anything from you. I saw you when I was meditating and noticed something wasn't right. Then you asked me for help, so I brought help. And, uh, yeah. That's pretty much it."

"Why did you help me, ningen?"

"Because I thought that I wouldn't want somebody controlling me and I felt its influence in your chakra. It was dark, nasty and nothing good could ever come from it."

"So, it seems you picked up my ability to sense negative emotions. Very good. Okay, Ningen. As I said, I do not want to be in your debt, and I am tired from that accursed genjutsu. I will answer one more question, then I will sleep."

"Oh, okay, uh." Said an overwhelmed Naruto, then he took a deep breath and asked, "Did you attack Konoha because you wanted to or were you forced to attack Konoha?"

Once again, a deep chuckle filled the auditorium. "When I was ripped from your mother, I was angry. However, as I was reforming, that man put me under his control. After that, he gave me the command to destroy Konoha. When I was given that

order, I began attacking your village until that yellow haired ningen and the toad attacked me and moved me away from the village. We fought for a bit, but the toad and your mother held me down while that cursed Yondaime Hokage sealed me into you."

"Wow, so the Yondaime did fight you, huh? And my mom? Thank you for telling me. Can I ask one more thing?"

The Kyuubi nodded while looking at this child. Such a small ningen, but he is holding in his fear. What's more, I don't feel any hate or resentment coming from him, thought the Kyuubi.

Naruto continued, "Can you tell me about this man that controlled you? I want to tell my Hokage-GiGi and Tsunade-Bachan about him."

"Very well, tiny Ningen. The man wore a black cloak and an orange spiral mask. The mask had an eyehole on the right side where his accursed Sharingan put me under his control. That is all for today, I wish to sleep. Give me some time and think about what you want from me. I do not wish to owe any favors."

"Thank you, Kyuubi-Sama. By the way, my name is Naruto Uzumaki, dattebayo."

As Naruto withdrew from the Kyuubi's auditorium and exited his mindscape, he heard that deep chuckle again. "Very well, Naruto Uzumaki."

As Naruto came back to the real world, he blinked open his eyes and saw every eeye in the room trained on him. Tsunade was worrying over him like a mother hen. When she saw him come to, she crushed him into her breasts in a full-blown, back-breaking hug. "Naruto, Naruto are you okay?"

The boy was exhausted, his eyes were threatening to close on him. He shook out his head and summoned just a bit more energy.

"Hai, Hai I am fine. I just talked with the Kyuubi for a bit. He told me about the man that attacked that night and put him under his control. He also said that he owes me a favor for breaking that genjutsu and that I should think about what I want from him."

Everyone was startled by this bit of information, but Jiraiya and Sarutobi's eyes met briefly. They had their suspicions about that night, now they were confirmed.

Naruto continued, "The Kyuubi said that a man in a black cloak with an orange spiral mask took him out of my mother. The mask had one eye hole on the right-hand side and that all he could see was the Sharingan."

Fugaku and Shisui exchanged a worried glance to each other then looked to the Hokage. Hiruzen locked eyes with each of them.

"This information is to stay in between the people of this room. The damage this could do to the Uchiha, and the village is unimaginable. Naruto, that is all for tonight. I will ask you to come back to my office later to review this conversation you had with the Kyuubi. For now, go home and rest. It is clear you need it."

Tsubaki bowed to the Hokage and took Naruto and left the room.

"Fugaku, I trust you; Minato trusted you and Naruto trusts you. I need you to be discreet and investigate every clan member that was unaccounted for that night. Before you start, I am not saying with certainty that it was anyone still within the village that did this. However, we cannot leave any stone unturned. You are not to tell anybody of the real reason, but I need you to watch your own clan."

Fugaku's face tightened. The Uchiha clan were a proud clan. It is painfully obvious the ramifications this could have on his clan. So, he swallowed his pride and the bit of betrayal he felt at suspecting his fellow clan members.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. It will be done." Shisui bowed with Fugaku, showing his loyalty to the Hokage.

"Very well, that is all for tonight, you may return home. We will talk more later." He continued, "Jiraiya, I don't even need to say it. Find this man in the orange mask. Work that spy network of yours. It is clear that this man poses the greatest threat to our village. And please, be discreet. We don't want him knowing that we know."

Jiraiya replied with a deadly serious face, "Hai, Sensei. I will set out soon, but it is time the gaki knows. It is time we give him access to his inheritance and help prepare him. Please sensei, tell him. He is ready." With those parting words, Jiraiya jumped out the window.

The night drew to a close. So much time had passed that the sun was rising, and light began peeking into the Hokage's office. He sighed; this damn job is going to be the death of him. He shuffled some paperwork into a makeshift pillow and tried to catch a little bit of sleep before the day started right back up on him.