This is my first story. Don't hate for no reason. Will take fair criticism though.
I do not own Naruto or anything related. That goes to Masashi Kishimoto
CHAPTER 32
The silence was deafening inside the Hokage's office as Naruto stared at Hiruzen with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.
"Y-y-you s-said you didn't k-kn-now who they w-were," Naruto stuttered.
Hiruzen sighed, "I…I lied."
Tears began to form in Naruto's eyes as he thought back to the hundreds of times he had asked his Jiji to tell him about his parents. Once every few weeks he would alway try to dig a little deeper on information on his parents. However, each time he was met with, "I don't know," or, "they died in the kyuubi attack," or, "all you need to know is that they loved you."
Throughout his childhood he would have killed for even the slightest information on his parents, "W-w-why?"
Hiruzen could see the heartbreak in Naruto's eyes, "We thought—"
"We? Who's we?"
"Me and J-Jiraiya."
Naruto's eyes widened further, "Jiraiya… he knew my parents…Is that why he trained me?"
"Partly. He felt that he owed you as your father's sensei…and your godfather--"
"My GODFATHER!" Naruto bellowed, "I had family? Alive family, and he chose not to take care of me?"
"After the Kyuubi attack we needed him. As Konoha's spymaster we needed him to shut down any rumors of Konoha's weakness."
Tears began to fall as Naruto cried, "Do you know how lonely I-I was? Did you know how much my heart ached when I saw other kids get taken home by their parents? Do you know what I would have done to know that someone…ANYONE… loved me?"
Seeing how happy Naruto was mere minutes ago Hiruzen had thought it would absorb some of the blow, but as Naruto's mood slowly fell, Hiruzen realized the emotional damage that withholding this information caused.
"I should tell you who your parents are before I tell you why we waited so long," Hiruzen said quietly.
"Well?" Naruto glared with a mixture of anger and hurt.
Hiruzen took a long drag of his pipe then said, "Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina--"
"I'm an actual Uzumaki?" Naruto sputtered.
"Yes. Your mother had moved to Konoha a few days before the invasion of Uzu." Hiruzen confirmed.
"Why?"
"Well…She was brought here to be the Kyuubi's jinchuriki."
Naruto was confused, "What do you mean?"
Hiruzen sighed, "You're Not the first Kyuubi jinchuriki. You are the third. The first was the wife of the Shodaime. Uzumaki Mito turned Senju Mito. The second was your mother."
"At least I know that my mom would've known my pain," Naruto muttered somberly.
"Not quite," Hiruzen mumbled.
"What was that?" Naruto said growing angrier once more.
"No one knew that your mother was a jinchuriki. Only me and a few important shinobi like the jonin commander."
"So why was my jinchuriki status so public?" Naruto shouted.
"It was an S-class secret--"
"Worst one ever kept," Naruto muttered.
"I know. I thought that if no one spoke of it, you could have a normal childhood."
Naruto rolled his eyes , "Oh yeah, my childhood was totally normal."
"But if not many people knew my mother held the Kyuubi, then how did the Kyubi escape?"
"The thing is.. pregnancies in female jinchuriki are dangerous. The seal weakens due to chakra being used to power the seal being drawn away to build another human life. It's why your mother's pregnancy was 10 months long instead of nine. Something must have gone wrong during your birth and led to the Kyuubi's release."
"Where was my father in all this?" Naruto questioned.
"Well, your father…he was the one who sealed the Kyuubi into you. Your father was…Namikaze Minato."
There was a pregnant pause in the conversation as Naruto stared at the hokage with a mixed look of shock and betrayal.
"My father…was the Yondaime (Fourth) Hokage?"
"Yes…he was."
"Then why?" Naruto whispered, "Why would he condemn me to that hell?"
"Minato had a great sense of honor," Hiruzen said mournfully, "How could he ask a parent to sacrifice their own child, when he himself could not. His dying wish was for you to be hailed as a hero."
"And look how much that helped," Naruto commented sarcastically.
"Admittedly the request was naive, especially in face of the death and destruction caused by the Kyuubi, but is it so wrong to believe in the village that you lead?"
"YES!" Naruto bellowed, "You the so-called, 'Professor', decided that directly after a disastrous attack on our home you would inform CIVILIANS who know nothing of shinobi life let alone the complex art that is fuinjutsu, that a baby was holding the cause of all their grief and problems. Does that sound smart to you?"
"I had hoped…"
"HOPED FOR WHAT! "Do you think anyone would be emotionally sane or make logically sound decisions just after an incredibly tragic event in their lives? You and I both know that when you told them of my status, all that the civilians heard was three words: Kyuubi…Inside…Boy. When they heard those words all they wanted was revenge for their fallen loved ones, regardless of any Hokages dying wish.
"I know Dammit! I KNOW!...I thought…I thought that two Hokages worth of reassurance would keep you safe. I thought the less you knew the better. I THOUGHT that what you didn't know couldn't hurt you. But I know that I was wrong."
"You keep keeping secrets from me Old Man and I don't like that. Every secret you've kept has been an active detriment to my life!"
Naruto's eyes were red from tears, yet they were still not done falling as Naruto continued, "Information is power and you know this. Not telling the public who my father is?...Who my parents were? Sure, they don't really need to know anyway. But to keep them from me is wrong. I had a right to that information regardless of you or Jiraiya's opinion. I–I'm going home. I have to think..maybe talk with Hinata."
Hiruzen started sadly into Naruto's eyes. He underestimated just how important his heritage meant to him. Naruto had turned to leave when Hiruzen suddenly spoke up, "I'm truly sorry Naruto. But before you go I should tell you the location of your parent's home. Luckily it wasn't destroyed in the Kyuubi attack."
Naruto turned around and stared at Hiruzen expectantly. The aged hokage sighed and took out a small scroll with a map on it. After a quick scan Hiruzen drew a circle on the map, rolled it up and handed it over. Naruto snatched the scroll out of the Hokages hands and quickly walked out the door.
-Next Day-
Naruto and Hinata were walking through the streets, close to the edge of the clan estates. The day before Hinata was waiting outside the Hokage's Office when suddenly the door slammed open and Naruto stormed out the door angrily walking towards their home. Hinata had been very surprised and it took her almost two hours to calm her lover down enough from his ranting to explain the situation.
When he did, Hinata went through her own swing of emotions. She was happy that Naruto found out about his parents, angry that that information was kept from him, and sad about the reason why. But eventually they calmed down enough to have their first decent meal of the day. Naruto then remembered the map that Hiruzen handed over to him and opened it. He had thought about going that day, but was too tired and resolved to go the next morning, Hinata of course offering to come along leading to where we are now.
"It says we're close," Naruto said. "Just around that corner."
Rounding the corner of what seemed to be the Akimichi clan walls,Naruto could see the entrance to a clan compound marked by a large Uzumaki symbol on the door. Walking up to it he cursed, "Dammit! I was so angry I forgot to ask for the key." Naruto walked towards the door hoping to find a key under a rock of some sort when suddenly the door began to glow faintly. Naruto and Hinata were startled when it finally clicked for Naruto.
"Ohhhh. My parents were both sealmasters. They didn't need a key, the door would just recognize them, and apparently me as well."
The double doors creaked loudly as they slowly swung open.
'I'm definitely going to have to get that fixed,' Naruto thought. But just as he passed through the doorway the door slammed shut behind him, leaving Hinata outside. Whipping his head around he ran back towards the door, but luckily the door creaked open once more.
"What happened?" Hinata asked.
Naruto scratched the back of his head, "The door probably didn't recognize you and wanted to keep you locked out. I'll find the seal later to edit it to let you in."
"Oh…okay." Naruto walked forward, held Hinata by the hand and pulled her inside. As they turned around they finally got a good look at the property. Their mouths gaped at the beautiful two story home. The front yard was clearly overgrown, and though he expected it would be the same for the backyard, it was to be expected for a lawn that was untouched for over a decade. Slowly the couple walked up to the house. As they got close to the door the door slowly creaked open, just like the gate.
The door opened to a hallway to the back of the house where he could see a kitchen. To the right was a doorway to the living room, and along the wall was the staircase to the second floor. Walking through the hallway to the kitchen he saw two doors. One to the left that opened into a bathroom, the other had stairs that led to the basement. Walking into the kitchen he saw that it was a big room with a dining room attached to the right. He tried flicking on the light switch to his right but the lights stayed off.
'I figured, but I guess I'll have to get that fixed too,' Naruto thought
All the appliances were to the left along the wall, with cabinets above them. And to his right in the center of the room was an island with a marble top, a sink facing the kitchen and four stools on the other. In the dining room to his far right was a rectangular wooden table with six chairs pushed in. On the back wall there were sliding glass doors covered with curtains. He saw there was a light switch to his left and tried flicking it on, but as he expected the lights didn't turn on. He slowly wandered around the island and into the dining room eventually stopping by the back wall. He slightly pushed the curtain to the side to see into the backyard, where he saw a small patio with a few chairs and a campfire by the door, a small training area with a few targets off to the right side, a garden off to the left, and to the back a mini forest at the very back, though he did see a wall through the trees.
Turning back to the house Naruto let the curtains fall. He walked into the living room where in the center there was an oval shaped coffee table with a rug under it. Surrounding the table there were two sofas on the long ends and arm chairs on the short end. Along the walls he saw pictures of happy moments between his parents. There were a few pictures of Kushina with her friends, or Minato with his.
He was looking at a picture of Minato smiling next to a younger Ino-Shika-Cho trio when he heard Hinata call out, "That's my mom in this picture!"
Turning around he saw Hinata staring at a picture of his mother standing next to a Hyuga that Hinata identified as her mother and a female Uchiha that neither could recognize. Eventually the pair started walking up the stairs. At the top of the stairs the railings on the left cut off into a wall, while the wall on the right cut off into railings. Standing at the top there were 7 doors. One to his left, one in front of him, and 5 along the pathway parallel to the stairs. Deciding to start on the left and work his way around he opened the leftmost door where he found a bedroom. There was an open door to his right that when he looked inside he realized it was a walk-in closet. Turning to his left there were a pair of dressers along the wall to his left and a door at the far end that he assumed was the master bath. There was a queen sized bed facing the dressers with nightstands on both sides, but a lamp on the left.
Around the room there were picture frames, these were much more personal. On the left nightstand were two pictures, the first was a picture of a younger Jiraiya standing behind three male genin, one that Naruto was able to identify as his father, the second was a picture of a Jonin Minato standing behind his own genin team. He couldn't recognize two of the genin, but the third he recognized as the jonin sensei of Team 7. On the right night stand were also two pictures. The first was Kushina as a child standing excitedly in front of a much older redhead, with a diamond on her forehead and sealing tags attached to her hair that were in twin buns. After a minute he was able to identify this woman as Senju Mito, the Shodaime's wife. The second picture was the picture of a young Senju Tsunade standing in front of three genin, one he could identify as his mother, the second he understood was Hinata's mother, and the third was the Uchiha he saw in the picture earlier. After staring at the pictures for a while he walked out of the master bath and opened the door to the room across from the staircase.
Opening the door revealed an office. There was a desk in the middle with two sealed letters, a glass bottle with dried ink and a pen in it and three pictures facing the other way on it. There was a window behind the desk and bookcases lining the walls stuffed with scrolls and books, most of them on fuinjutsu and ninjutsu. Walking around the desk he looked closely at the three pictures. The first was of a younger Jiraiya ruffling a teenage Minato's hair. The second was of Minato and Kushina on their wedding day. But the third had Naruto's eye watering. It was a picture of Kushina eight months pregnant, and Minato holding her stomach both with the widest grins he has ever seen. Naruto was relieved by how happy his parents seemed in the picture. He felt it was proof that his parents truly loved him.
Naruto picks up one of the letters to see who they were to. With a flick of his finger he unsealed it and opened the letter. His breath hitched as he read the first line.
Dear Naruto,
To be continued...
Sorry for the extremely late post. I will try to post every two to three weeks. Thank you for reading.
