Author's Note:

Thank you all for the follows and reviews. This has gotten a lot more attention than I expected, I'm glad you are enjoying it! Here is Chapter 2. Again, I welcome any reviews and comments you have.

I do not own Naruto or the related IP. OCs and original story elements are mine.

The next morning, Naruto woke with a start. His neck and back were aching terribly, probably from the unusual sleeping arrangement he had made last night. He had been so engrossed in the books he had found that he hadn't noticed the time passing, and had fallen asleep at his small, rickety table. He groaned as he stood to stretch and work out the kinks, and the chair creaked in agreement. He froze in mid stretch as a thought occurred to him. Didn't he have a team meeting today?

"Aaggh! I'm late!"

He scrambled to grab his gear and sandals, pausing only briefly to stuff the book he was reading into the equipment pouch at his waist, then jumped from his open window to the nearby rooftop. The mid-morning village bustle was lost on him as he sped toward the training ground where his team was hopefully in a forgiving mood. He bounded from roof to roof where he could, and blitzed through the crowded streets where he couldn't. More than one villager shouted angrily at him when he wasn't quite nimble enough to avoid bumping into them, but he barely took notice. He couldn't stop going over what he had learned the previous day.

I can't believe I come from a clan, he thought. Why hadn't anyone ever told him? He didn't remember ever hearing about an Uzumaki clan in class. The Hokage had never said anything either, despite Naruto's repeated questions about who his parents were. That stung more than he cared to admit. He was hurt that something he so desperately wanted to know was kept from him, especially by one of the few people that would even give him the time of day. He resolved to confront the old man about it as soon as his team meeting was over.

His thoughts turned to what he had been reading. The book on sealing by Uzumaki Ashina was far too complex for him to make much sense of, but he wondered if the technique was related to the seal on his stomach that held the Kyuubi. He had set that one aside to read later, after he found something a bit more basic. There were a couple of journals that he had thumbed through, but they hadn't held his attention for long. He had then turned to the book about Kichijōten that had first piqued his interest. She had apparently been a strong kunoichi known for her use of several Noh Masks, porcelain masks carved or painted into various likenesses, hence her moniker. He hadn't been able to find out why she seemed to have so many different masks before he had fallen asleep, but she had made a point of describing several in detail.

As the training ground came into view, he breathed a sigh of relief that Kakashi-sensei was still absent. His two teammates were there, however, waiting for the day's training to begin. Sasuke was leaning against one of the well-used training posts, brooding. His high-collared, dark blue shirt partially obscuring his nearly perpetual scowl. His head was pitched forward so his black hair hung passed his forehead protector and shaded his eyes. He seemed to be ignoring his female teammate, but a near-imperceptible twitch at the corner of his eye betrayed his annoyance. Sakura was sitting on the grass next to him, the hem of her red dress arranged neatly on the grass. She was twirling a strand of her pink hair in her fingers, vainly trying to get the last Uchiha's attention. Naruto skidded to a stop, and braced his hands on his knees as he panted from his cross-village sprint. Both his teammates looked up at his appearance.

"Na-ru-to!" Sakura growled, jumping to her feet with her fists clenched. "You're late!"

Naruto straightened, rubbing his neck sheepishly. "Heh heh, sorry Sakura-chan, I slept in."

Sasuke grunted in derision, shaking his head slightly. Naruto was about to launch into a tirade at his teammate/rival, but a hand lightly patting his head stopped him short.

"Well, Naruto," a calm voice drawled, "nice of you to finally join us."

Naruto's ire was immediately turned on his gray-haired sensei as he spun and pointed accusingly up at him. "Whadda ya mean Kakashi-sensei! You're even later than I am!"

Kakashi continued as if he hadn't heard Naruto, "Punctuality is very important for a ninja." Kakashi raised one finger, his eye closed as he imparted his great wisdom upon his young students, "It shows respect to your employer and reflects on the reputation of the village. Please don't make a habit of being late."

Naruto growled at the hypocrisy of his one-eyed teacher, but just huffed and turned away, pouting and folding his arms petulantly.

"Now, now, don't be like that," Kakashi again patted Naruto's spiky head. "Why don't we get started with some team building exercises, then we'll head to the mission office for the day's chore-I mean mission."

This drew a collective groan from all three of the genin, plus some dramatic head-hanging from the blond and pinkette, but they reluctantly trudged off to begin the training. Kakashi chuckled as he reached back to retrieve his favorite orange book. He should be able to finish a couple of chapters before lunch at this rate.

Several hours later, Naruto flopped on the cool grass, sweaty and panting. Nearby, Sasuke and Sakura were in similar states of exhaustion. Kakashi perched atop one of the training posts, nose-deep in a familiar orange book. He glanced up at the sound of his last student finally collapsing, "Well, if you three are tired already, we may have to start doing more endurance training," he cut off at the surprisingly large flash of killing intent emanating from the three genin. "But I guess you can have a short break before we head to the mission office." He turned back to his book, a perverse giggle escaping as he turned the page.

Naruto glared at his lazy sensei, but the sight of the book reminded him of his own reading material. He groaned slightly as he sat up and retrieved it from his pouch. In the bright midday sun, he was able to get a much better look at it. The cover was well-worn leather with silver embossing on the front declaring it as Kichijōten's personal journal. He flipped open the book to search for the last thing he could remember reading. Kichijōten had a very fine, elegant hand. The writing was crisp and clear, just like the other books he had found, and a sharp contrast with Naruto's own abysmal penmanship. The pages themselves were made of a high quality parchment, and there seemed to be very little wear on them.

The journal spoke about Kichijōten's life as a kunoichi of Uzushiogakure. She had been the second of three children, and only girl. Naruto had skimmed through most of her early life until she had become a chunin. At that point, she had begun using masks to augment her techniques. Naruto's eyes widened as he read how Kichijōten used seals during the masks' construction to imbue them with properties that helped her channel her chakra more efficiently and quickly. As her skill and experience grew, so too did the complexity of the seals she used in her masks. She was eventually able to use the masks to change her chakra nature to any of the five basic elements, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, and Fire. From there, her reputation had begun to take off, and she soon became known as the Shinobi of the Masks.

Naruto paused for a moment, thinking of the masks he had seen hanging in the shrine the day before. Had any of those belonged to Kichijōten? He filed that away to investigate later, and dove back into Kichijōten's story.

Soon after seeing her moniker begin to appear in the bingo books of rival villages, she began to expand her skill with seals, and thereby increase her repertoire of masks. She was constantly striving for perfection in everything she did. She learned that through her masks, she could copy some of the skills she had seen from other ninja. It seemed she had discovered a way to create seals that would help her improve her taijutsu as well, though her explanation was a bit over Naruto's head.

"–it. He's reading?–"

It wasn't long before Kichijōten had been promoted to jonin, and she became even more feared and respected among rival villages. Her use of seals was prodigious, and some in the village had begun calling her the second coming of Ashina. Had she changed her focus to seals generally, there was little doubt in many minds that she would quickly surpass her mentor. Kichijōten's true passion, however, remained with her masks and seeking out new styles and techniques she could incorporate into her arsenal.

"–book is it? Hey! Nar–"

The tone of the entries started to change. War was raging ever closer to Kichijōten's home, and she was needed more frequently to defend her village's borders. She lamented the constant fighting and bloodshed, but she wouldn't allow harm to come to those she loved. Even when the Second War was declared over, the fighting never really stopped–

"NARUTO!"

He was broken out of the book's spell by a foolproof method, administered with vigor by his pink-haired teammate: a punch to the head.

"Ow-ow! Sakura-chan! What was that for?" Naruto rolled on the ground, clutching his head in pain.

The kunoichi huffed, "We've been trying to get your attention for five minutes! Pay attention you knucklehead!"

Naruto continued to rub his aching skull, and grinned sheepishly at his team. "Oh, sorry guys," he chuckled, "guess I was kinda focused."

Sakura hesitated, curiosity warring with annoyance in her green eyes. The war was brief, and curiosity emerged victorious, "...What are you reading, anyway?"

Sasuke was standing with his back turned, pocketed hands and feigning indifference, but his ears pricked up at Sakura's question. Even Kakashi put his own reading away to hear Naruto's answer.

The orange-clad blond jumped to his feet, the abuse to his head already forgotten. "It's a journal I picked up yesterday in this creepy old shrine out in the woods," he bubbled. "It's by a kunoichi named Uzumaki Kichijōten, she was called the Shinobi of the Masks, and she lived in a place called Uzushiogakure, and she was really strong, and the best part was, she was an Uzumaki! The whole place was filled with stuff about Uzumakis, so they must have been a clan right? I wonder why she didn't live in Konoha? Maybe there are more in this Uzushio place-"

"Woah, woah, slow down, Naruto!" Sakura pleaded, "What are you even talking about? What shrine?"

Kakashi jumped down from his perch and walked over, putting his book away, "I think Naruto means the Uzumaki Mask Shrine. Huh, I thought that was destroyed in the Kyubi attack."

Naruto's eye's widened as he turned to his teacher, "You know about the Uzumakis?"

"Well, yes, some. They were a quite well-known clan several years ago. Didn't they teach you about them in the Academy?" His students all responded with confusion, glancing at each other. Kakashi sighed, though inwardly, he was shocked. Kushina would be livid. "The Uzumakis were an old clan, distantly related to the Senju, and they were close allies with Konoha since the founding of the village."

"Senju?" Sakura's mental database whirred, "You mean they were related to the First and Second Hokages?"

Naruto looked starry eyed up at the Hokage Monument, distantly visible over the treetops and roofs of the village. The mountain's shear face was carved with the likenesses of the four leaders of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and his clan was related to the first two! His attention snapped back to his sensei as he replied to Sakura's question.

"Yes, Sakura. The Uzumaki and the Senju were cousin clans from before the founding of the ninja village system. In fact, Uzumaki Mito was the wife of Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage. The Uzumaki were invited to join Konoha, but they declined. Instead, they decided to settle in the Land of Whirlpools, and founded Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden in the Swirling Tides. They remained close with Konoha, however, and provided assistance through the First and Second Shinobi World Wars. They were known and feared for their mastery of fuuinjutsu, ninja sealing techniques."

Sakura looked puzzled, "Sensei, why do you keep saying 'were'? Did something happen to them?"

Kakashi sighed again, "Yes. Between the Second and Third wars, an alliance of two Great Villages and several smaller villages invaded the Land of Whirlpools and destroyed Uzushio. The Uzumaki were trapped, and few, if any, were able to escape. The survivors of the invasion were scattered. Naruto here is the only Uzumaki I've heard of in quite some time."

Naruto's excitement took a mortal blow from Kakashi's words. To find out he comes from a clan, and almost immediately learn his clan is gone, was devastating to the young ninja. He bowed his head, eyes shadowed. At his side, his clenched fists trembled as he struggled against the tears that threatened to escape. He screwed his eyes shut, a reinforcement to his determination to stop the flood. The next voice he heard shocked him, even as it threw a lifeline to his flagging will.

"Wait, if the Uzumaki's lived in a different country, how did Naruto end up here? He can't be a descendant of Lady Mito, can he?" Sasuke spoke up for the first time that day, no stranger to losing a clan.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. Now he'd done it. There were some things he couldn't say, not now, but looking at his blond student, he knew he had to say something. He cleared his throat, nervously, "No, Lady Mito's children took the Senju name. As for Naruto's parent's, there have been other Uzumaki who immigrated to Konoha from Uzushio, prior to the invasion, so he would have to be related to one of them," Kakashi saw Naruto's excitement being it's resurection, and knew what would come next. "And before you ask, Naruto, I can't be expected to know the name of every person who moves to Konoha from a distant land. We are a prosperous village, after all."

Sasuke and Sakura seemed satisfied with the impromptu history lesson, and Naruto was mollified enough that he was back to his old self. Kakashi sighed once more, though this time in relief, "Well, that was a bit more than I expected for the morning training. Let's head over to the mission office and see what's available." Kakashi clapped once and turned to lead the way back to the village proper, his three students falling into step behind him.

Naruto looked up into the clear blue sky, determination ablaze once more in his eyes as he felt Kichijōten's book tucked firmly in his pouch. He raised one finger, defiantly to the heavens, "I'll be the greatest ninja the world has ever seen. I will make my village and my clan proud," he did not shout, as he would normally when making such a declaration, but his voice carried more gravitas than his teammates had ever heard before. "I'll bring the Uzumaki back. I swear it."