I do not own Naruto

Two weeks later, shores of Whirlpool country

After Ashina's wake, team 7 had doubled down on their training. Their disguises became so good that, to Sasuke's great pleasure, not even the Sharingan was able to consistently pick up the differences between the original and the disguise. Needless to say, with every member of team 7 capable of perfectly imitating the others, they were able to perfectly anticipate each other's moves. Naruto had focused his training in fuinjutsu and was able to set up Kekkai Hojin and Fubaku Hojin, formations that would automatically trigger the respective explosive tags or sealing tags whenever someone entered the area. After learning the formations, Naruto had decided to practice more with Ashina's swords. Using them in combat wasn't too different from the knives he had been practicing with, but switching to longer and heavier blades required some adjustments.

Sasuke mastered the Katon: Engeki and had progressed rather nicely on his swordsmanship to the point that he could somewhat keep up with Risu and his naginata.

Sakura had a breakthrough the last day of the trip and had finally managed to use the Shosen Jutsu to heal a fish that Risu had prepared for her to practice on. The kunoichi was ecstatic and had spent the evening healing every single wound, all of which were barely more than a scratch, that the boys had gotten during their training.

Now, team 7 was pushing Tazuna's boat into the ocean and was ready to head back to Konoha.

"Well kids, you have come a long way from the snotty brats that I picked up at the academy two and a half months ago. I guess you're no longer little hatchlings, are you now?"

"Oh, and what are we now, sensei?" Asked Naruto, picking up something in his sensei's voice

"Well, after hatchlings you get to be a larva."

"Sensei! That's worse! So much worse!" protested Sakura.

"Plus, I'd say we are nearly fully grown now." smirked Sasuke.

"Don't push it, Uchiha. I can still defeat the three of you together."

"Assuming we give you time to set up a fuinjutsu array, probably. But we won't" smiled Naruto.

"You haven't seen half of my techniques, little ones. You might put up a good fight, but you won't win." Smiled Risu.

"Hey, I like that." pointed out Sakura "Little ones is certainly better than hatchlings or " she shuddered "Larva"

Risu chuckled. "As you wish, little ones. As you wish"

Two days later, Hokage's office

"Team 7 reporting for duty, Hokage-sama" announced Risu

"Welcome back, my boy. I have received an initial report of your team's accomplishment from team 8, team 9 and a delegation from the fire Daimyo, I have to say I'm interested to see how yours will differ." commented Sarutobi.

Risu nodded, handing a file to the Hokage. "We traveled with team 9 and linked up with team 8 on their way to Wave country, with myself staying behind to ensure the teams weren't followed. As it turned out, Momochi Zabusa and his apprentice were stalking the client, but refrained from engaging most likely due to number disadvantage. Once in Wave, my genins were tasked with surveying the situation with the local population, while myself stalked Zabusa and Gato, discovering that both were planning to betray each other. After planting evidence, Zabusa killed Gato and his army of thugs collapsed on itself once young Sasuke killed the two stronger bandits that were keeping them together. Once the Daimyo delegation arrived, Naruto reported to them all relevant information and we considered our mission concluded. We spent the next three weeks in Whirlpool country training. Additional details such as the team's progress are included in the report." reported Risu

The Hokage nodded "Excellent work. I am eager to read how the three of you have progressed thus far."

"Thanks jiji! I've become a super amazing ninja!" boasted Naruto.

"Naruto! Show some respect!" chastised Sakura.

The Hokage waved off Naruto's comment. "It's quite alright, dear. Naruto-kun has known me since he was a baby, he's practically family at this point."

"Well, little ones, you have a free day to relax. Now, scram while I discuss a few details with Hokage-sama." ordered Risu.

"Yosh! Ichiraku ramen here I come!" exclaimed Naruto while leaving the room, immediately followed by his teammates"

Sarutobi smiled before turning his attention to a serious Risu.

"Something bothering you, Risu-kun?"

"During our stay in Uzu we discovered the remains of Uzumaki Ashina. I told them the man's story and Naruto was quite touched by it. He requested permission to add Ashina's hitai-ate to his uniform."

Sarutobi nodded "The boy has discovered his origins, it's only natural for him to want to keep their memories alive. I see no issue with that, as long as he doesn't replace his leaf hitai-ate."

Risu smirked "He's not going to abandon the hitai-ate Iruka gifted him on his graduation day. It's too important for him."

Sarutobi smiled.

"Hokage-sama… with all due respect… Don't you think it'll be wise to tell the boy about his parents?" asked Risu.

Sarutobi looked at the man, pondering the question. "Very well. But if we're doing this, can you please drop your disguise, Naruto-kun?"

Risu scoffed. "What gave me away? I thought I had sensei's whole character nailed down perfectly."

"It was quite the convincing act. Unfortunately for you, your stilts are a bit on the short side. With Risu's expertise in disguises, it wasn't hard to puzzle it together."

Naruto started to remove his mask "Damn, jiji, you are good at this. Sensei warned me you'd probably notice, but we honestly thought we had you."

"To be fair, Risu's interpretation of you was also a bit less energetic than usual."

Naruto smiled. "That wasn't sensei, it was Sasuke. Sensei was disguised as Sakura"

"In that case, extend my congratulations to your teammates for their progress." commented Hiruzen, impressed.

"Sure will!" exclaimed a happy Naruto, now finally back in his normal appearance.

Sarutobi sighed "I have long pondered whether keeping you in the dark about your parents was a good idea. I've had doubts about it since day one. I have doubts and will probably always have doubts as to whether it was a good decision. To be perfectly honest, Naruto, I'm not even sure I had the right to make such a decision. I probably didn't, but I want you to know that such a decision was made with the sole purpose to keep you safe. Both your parents made powerful enemies, enemies that will stop at nothing to kill you simply for what your parents accomplished." Hiruzen paused, taking a long puff from his pipe.

"I will tell you about your mother. Please understand that your father's enemies are much more numerous and will go to much greater lengths to get revenge should they learn about you."

Naruto frowned "You don't trust me to keep the secret?"

"Naruto, my boy, I am the Hokage. I am not so naive as to think other villages won't spy on me. I trust my office to be reasonably safe, but even someone like the Professor doesn't know all the jutsus an enemy village might have developed to spy on us. To give you an example, we didn't know genjutsu could be casted via smell until Risu-kun recovered clan scrolls from the Fianna clan. You might think I'm being paranoid, but I didn't get to live for so long by being careless. I once trusted the security of these walls with the secret of your status as a jinchuriki, and we both know how that turned out."

Naruto frowned. He didn't agree with jiji's decision and thought he was being paranoid, but the man had fought in two shinobi wars, his paranoia was somewhat understandable. The last point was particularly effective in shutting down any possible objection.

"Your mother's name was Kushina Uzumaki. She was a great kunoichi. A seal mistress, a surprisingly good strategist considering the fact she preferred to simply charge in and punch people in the face than sit at a table to plan an attack. She could have made into ANBU, but she opted to join Konoha's police force, one of the few non-Uchiha to do so, even if it was only for a year before she retired to raise you. During the third shinobi war she made a name for herself by killing Kumo's jinchuriki of the Nibi." He chuckled, remembering the event. "The Raikage was terrified after learning that our jinchuriki killed one of theirs without even using Kyuubi's chakra. He would have sued for peace if Kiri didn't join the war against us."

"Wait!" Interrupted Naruto "My mother was the second jinchuriki of Kyuubi?!"

Sarutobi nodded.

"Jiji…What happened the day I was born?"

Sarutobi sighed "We were attacked. We don't know who, how or even why, but the ANBU tasked with protecting you and your mother were found dead, their throats slit open with a blade. We've tried to investigate, but the destruction caused by the attack made performing a proper investigation essentially impossible. I'm afraid we'll never know the truth."

Naruto frowned, deep in thought. "Say, jiji, how come you let me keep the Uzumaki name? Wouldn't that give the secret away?"

The Hokage smirked. "The day after the Kyuubi attack I announced both yours and Kushina's death. To honor your memory, I gave all 7 orphans that were born on that day the Uzumaki last name. Once the others were adopted, they took the name of their adoptive family. I was planning to give you the option to reclaim your clan's name and add it to your adoptive parents once you were ready to claim your inheritance, but…"

Naruto nodded.

"Do you have anything of hers?"

"I'll have her records, bank account details and the few pictures I'll have delivered at your apartment later today. Unfortunately, your parents' house was destroyed during the Kyuubi's attack, so we couldn't recover much. Do you wish to meet your mother's genin team?"

Naruto nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.

"I'll have them be the ones to do the delivery then."

Naruto was about to leave, when he suddenly stopped. "Wait, how did Risu-sensei…?"

"Risu-kun was on a deep-cover mission in Kiri and didn't come back until a year after the attack. He never learned about the orphans being named Uzumaki after her and I didn't feel the need to tell him about it. In a roundabout way, he was one of the very few people to know the truth about your heritage."

"He knew who my mother was the whole time?!"

"He might have suspected it, but I don't think he had any evidence. Besides, Risu-kun isn't the type to share information he has not verified."

Shortly after, Ichiraku's ramen

"You knew my parents!" Shouted Naruto, pointing at his sensei.

Time seemed to freeze at the ramen stand.

"I was never told who they were, but I have a hunch. If I'm correct you should already know why you were never told their identity in the past."

Naruto slumped "You could have told me…" he muttered.

Risu smiled, offering him a hot ramen bowl.

"I didn't want to give you false hope. I might be pretty sure about who they are, but I didn't want to risk hurting you in case I was wrong."

Naruto nodded. Sitting down between Risu and Sasuke.

"So…was I correct?"

"Who do you think they are?" asked Naruto.

Risu stared at him "Hokage-sama didn't tell you who they are, didn't he?"

Naruto frowned. He thought he could get his father's name from sensei.

"Only my mother. Uzumaki Kushina."

"Your mother was Kushi-nee?!" Shouted Ayame.

The group looked at her quizzically.

"Did you know her?" Asked Risu.

"Of course we did. I've hired her to babysit Ayame every time I had to go for a supply run out of Konoha. I'm fairly sure she kept coming back for the free ramen coupons I gave her after as a thank you. She became one of my best customers and… now that I think about it, she's the only person that could devour more ramen than you do, Naruto. Should have guessed you two were related." Said Teuchi, handing Naruto his second bowl.

The boy smiled. " I guess we have that much in common, at least."

"Oh, you have much more than that in common. You have pretty much the same personality. It's kind of scary, actually. I should be glad you're not threatening us with a frying pan." Commented Risu.

"A frying pan? Really?" asked Sakura with a raised eyebrow.

Risu started to rummage through his scrolls "Sorry, it's a bit of an in-joke. After the academy, your mother organized a fuinjutsu study group. She would open up her home every saturday afternoon to anyone who wished to study the subject. We were mostly freshly graduated genins and academy students, but there were some chunins and even jonins that took her up on her offer. Whenever someone started a fight, Kushina would threaten to kick them out with a frying pan. Not that she ever needed to." He sighed, smiling at the memory. "A lot of the current clan heads participated, at least at first, but most dropped out after a while. There were whispers of war approaching and when the war actually started she was forced to stop." He finally unsealed a picture, sliding it to Naruto. "This was taken on the last day."

Naruto looked at the picture: a group photo of roughly 50 people under a banner titled 'Fuinjutsu rules!'. Most people were serious, except for a tall man with long spiky white hairs trying to force a pale man with long black hair and snake-like eyes to drink a cup of sake. Looking over Naruto's shoulder, Sasuke noticed both his parents, his father smiling as he hugged his mother. Near another two Hyuuga, probably twins based on how similar they looked, was a much younger Risu-sensei. But what attracted Naruto's attention in the middle, next to someone who had to be a younger Yondaime Hokage: a young redhead with crossed arms and a blinding smile wielding a pair of frying pans.

Naruto stared at the picture. She looked so… happy. A tear dropped on the picture, startling him. He quickly dried it up, handing the photo back to his sensei.

Risu took it back. "I can have a copy made by tomorrow."

Naruto nodded, tears in his eyes.

"Sensei… can I ask for a copy as well?" asked Sasuke.

Risu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? May I ask why?"

Sasuke pointing at his parents hugging in the corner of the picture. "My father didn't smile often. Seeing him so happy was a rare event… I'd like something to remind me of those few moments when he did."

Risu nodded, sealing the picture away. "I'll have a zoom of your parents."

The team sat in silence, enjoying their ramen.

"You know, sensei… We never took a picture as a team. It'd be nice to have one." pointed out Sakura.

"I have a camera in the back. Give me a minute." Ayame left the stand.

"You know? Maybe we should get a picture where we're impersonating each other. Have a collection of them and have others try to puzzle together which one is the real one." suggested Naruto, smirking.

"Mission accepted." agreed Sakura.

Risu smirked " You know, you three are getting far too comfortable posing as one another… You think you're ready for the next step?"

"Please, sensei. We have mastered this technique. Give us a challenge." boasted Sasuke.

"Really? Well… I suppose you three won't have any issue pretending to be… say…Teuchi? Do you mind it, Teuchi?" asked Risu.

The man laughed. " Not at all. I'm flattered, actually."

"Easy! We already know how to keep up a disguise while fighting and I've known old man Teuchi for years. We'll blast right through this exercise! 'ttebayo." shouted Naruto.

"Oh? So you three won't have a problem running at the same speed as Teuchi? Acting tired when Teuchi would be tired? Throwing shuriken as accurately as Teuchi would?" his smirk grew larger "You'll be able to cook just as well as him?"

The look of dredd on his student's face told him everything he needed to hear.

"On second thought, maybe this exercise won't be as easy as I thought…" muttered Naruto

Their musings were interrupted by Ayame pointing a camera at them. "Now, everyone, look at the camera and say 'Ramen'!"

Later, Naruto's apartment

Naruto was fidgeting. He was waiting for his mom's genin team. His mom's students. Would they be happy to meet him? Would his presence bring up bad memories? What if he didn't live up to their expectations? Would they be disappointed? Would they offer to train him? Should he accept if they did? What about Risu-sensei then? What if…?

Naruto's mumbling was interrupted by the sound of his doorbell. He waited a second and took a deep breath. A second ring echoed through the house.

Before Naruto could register his movement, he had opened the door.

In front of him stood two guys: the first one was wearing a long sleeveless white robe with a tall conical hat that completely covered his hair. The other was a sickly-looking man wearing a jonin vest and a headband bearing the leaf hitai-ate. Both men were carrying a box and looked rather nervous.

The sick-looking man spoke "Uzumaki Naruto? I am Hayake Gekko and this is Koiji Tokara. We…" He paused.

"...We are here to deliver some personal effects. May we enter?" finished the other man.

Naruto moved to the side. "Of course. Please."

The two entered, placing the boxes on the table. The three stood in awkward silence for a bit, occasionally interrupted by one of the men's random coughing fits.

"Koiji-san, I have never seen anyone wearing clothes like yours." said Naruto.

The man smiled. "It's understandable. Not many people join the Kekkai-Han and we don't really take visitors."

Naruto looked at him in surprise. "You're in the barrier team?"

The man seemed genuinely surprised at the question. "I am. You know, not many people are aware that the Kekkei-Han even exist. I was not expecting you to know about it."

Naruto frowned. "You know, if you guys walked around the village some more maybe people would know about what you do. I mean… making sure no intruders enter the village seems rather important to me, you should be more well-known."

Hayate smiled, before being caught in a coughing fit. After a few seconds, Koiji started talking "It's probably safer this way. If our own ninjas don't know the barrier core exists, chances are the enemy don't know about them either. And really, it's not that bad. Since the work is very tiring and the security is high, most of us just decide to live there. Over the years we essentially built our own mini ninja village. And once we retire it's not that different from coming back after a long term mission. But if you don't mind me asking… How did you learn about the Kekkai-Han? I'm fairly sure our department doesn't appear in the academy curriculum."

"Well, a future Hokage needs to know how their own village works, doesn't he?" asked Naruto, smiling brightly.

Hayate left out a small chuckle. "You know… Kushina-sensei used to smile the same way you do."

"She also kept on repeating that she was going to be the first female Kage ever. It's a shame the council didn't pick her, she would have done well as the Yondaime."

"Wait… mom was running for the position of Hokage?!" almost screamed Naruto

"She sure did. While Minato-sama almost single-handedly defeated Iwa, Kushina-sensei came very close to forcing Kumo to surrender. She used to tell us of her battle against the Nibi jinchuriki all the time. Remember it, Koiji?"

"How could I ever forget that speech? Hey boys, have I ever told you about the battle at Tanzaku town? It was a full moon, and…"

Hayate joined in a chorus "...I knew things would be bad because bad things only happen on a full moon." The two chuckled.

"She told that story every full moon while dragging us to the training field. Nighttime exercises, she called them."

"They were the worst. She always went all out at night."

Naruto looked at them, tilting his head "She trained you at night?"

"Only during a full moon. Never explained why, she almost expected us to know the reason already."

The three settled in a comfortable silence, before Hayate spoke up.

"Look kid… I know we've never met and you already have a sensei, but… Kushina-sensei taught us almost everything we know. She was a great woman and, you know… If there's something you need help with… Doesn't matter if it's training, jutsu, a bowl of ramen or a place to spend the night… If you need anything, just let us know. We're not exactly Hokage material like your mother, but… we're here for you. And we're sorry it took us that long to notice you. And even if Ibiki didn't join us today, I'm sure he shares the sentiment. And if you see Ibiki, please be patient with him. Not even your mother could handle him."

Naruto smiled and looked at the men. "Thank you, Hayate-san. Thank you, Koiji-san. I appreciate it."

Koiji clapped his hands "So, kid, I know there isn't much there, but… do you want to open up these scrolls?"

Naruto smiled "I'd like that, Koiji-san."

It took the trio almost three hours to browse through the various objects sealed in the scrolls. The two seemed to have a story to tell for almost every object, and really seemed to enjoy sharing them. Naruto almost had a stroke when he saw how many zeros his mother's bank account had. As the only Uzumaki in Konoha, Kushina had inherited everything owned by the Uzumaki clan, from stocks to jutsu scrolls to land to seal patents. So many seal patents. Apparently Kushina had decided to give Konoha most of her clan's arts, sold the land to merchants and farmers and just forgot stocks and patents somewhere in her bank account to grow interest for most of her as well as Naruto's life. Not having any idea on what to do with them, he decided to simply leave them. The Hokage had bought him this apartment and he earned enough money from missions to cover expenses as well as to put a few thousand ryo away every he could afford a much bigger and nicer apartment, he liked it here. Plus, it was very close to the training grounds, so that was a nice bonus. He almost cried when he saw his mother's fuinjutsu scrolls being even more of a mess than his own. After unsealing everything, he thanked Hayate and Koiji and accompanied the two to the door. Once again alone, he took his time watching one of his mother's photo albums. As he turned the page, he saw a picture falling off. He watched with a raised eyebrow: what was a picture of the Yondaime doing mixed between his mother's childhood pictures? As he flipped the picture over, he saw a note.

Dear Naruto,
sometimes, the best way to keep a secret

is having the truth staring at you in the face.

Good luck on your disguise training,

Hiruzen Sarutobi

Naruto pondered the message. Was the Hokage suggesting he'd disguise himself as Minato Namikaze? Why? Sure, the Yondaime wouldn't be too hard of a disguise. Sure he, the man was taller, Naruto's face was rounder and the Yondaime's eyes were smaller, but apart from that the two had the same eye color, the same hair color, the same…

Realization struck him like lightning. He started flipping through his mother's pictures, from childhood to jonin sensei. He was there. Minato Namikaze was always there, right next to his mother. Dancing together at a party. Practicing shurikenjutsu. Studying seals. A vacation together to the land of hot water. And then there was the note next to Yondaime's coronation:

You made it, Minato-kun!

I can't even describe how proud I am of you

Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage, was Naruto's father. Shellshocked, Naruto closed the album and headed to bed, trying to sort out his thoughts.

Notes

A bit of a longer chapter, but I wanted to publish this whole scene as a block.

I had to make up some facts about Kushina. None of them should have any real impact on canon. Since both the Kyuubi's attack and the Juubi's resurrection happened on a full moon, I decided to have an excuse for Naruto to point that out and maybe be wary of it. The frying pan was always a nice gag to me, so I decided to make it canon in the story. At first I wrote about her using a frying pan in combat, but that felt too silly (don't write fanfictions while drinking vodka, people!), glad I didn't publish that.

As for Kushina's team, I really wanted her to train Hayate, so I was forced to have her be Ibiki and Tokara's students as well. They were in the same chunin exam as team Minato and team Orochimaru, so timeline-wise it fits.

Tokara is technically a canon character, but he only appears in a single panel, so I had to improvise. I considered having him killed, but ended up assigning him to a very secretive position to explain why he won't pop up in the story very often. Plus, I wanted Kushina's student to follow her up in studying fuinjutsu

Answering PM/Review

As mentioned, Kage Bunshins do not transfer memory back to the user when dispelled. This will become a rather important point in the next chapters