"Hello?" Ino called out softly, closing the door to Naruto's apartment behind her and locking it just to be sure. She knew it was locked for a reason.
"Hey, Ino."
Ino frowned as she entered the loungeroom and was met with the sight of Naruto lying flat on the floor, staring off into the ceiling. His voice when greeting her had been so weak, so lacking in the joy and life that she had always associated with her fellow blonde. It reminded Ino of how he had been when the third Hokage had passed. She glanced around, taking note of the numerous used bowls and empty ramen packets that littered the apartment. The place was a mess, and Naruto wasn't much different. He was still wearing the clothes he had on when he got back from Suna, clothes that were stained with blood and dirt, torn and burnt in more places than not. It was a miserable sight to say the least.
"Is it okay that I'm here?" Ino asked. She knew letting herself in was rude, especially after everything that had happened, she just had to come and check on him, even if only for a moment.
Naruto turned to look at her and smiled half-heartedly. "Of course," he said.
Without another word, Ino made her way over and laid herself down next to Naruto, her nose scrunching up as she finally relaxed. "You smell like a furnace and blood," she said, not even trying to not sound rude.
"Yep," he said with a chuckle. "Other guy used explosions. I got caught in a few."
Ino grimaced at the thought. "I spoke to Sakura," she said, earning a wince from Naruto. "Are you okay?"
He nodded. "I'll be fine."
"That's not what I asked, Naruto."
"Oh? Back to my name now? No more whiskers?"
She crossed her arms and pouted. "Not until you start behaving."
Naruto chuckled, reaching his hand out askingly, the gesture quickly being answered by Ino's own hand. "I'm okay. I'm just…"
"Worried," Ino finished for him, earning a nod. She expected as much. From what she had heard from Sakura, the whole missions to Suna had been one huge mess. Between the Akatsuki and the Kazekage, there was already too much going on for half of the people on the mission to have kept a level head. That was before Naruto lost his cool.
"I fucked up, Ino," Naruto said with a heavy sigh. "I couldn't hold back. I saw Gaara lying there and I just… lost it. In front of everyone."
"I know," she said softly, squeezing his hand reassuringly. "But it's okay. You made it back safe. You and everyone else. We didn't lose anyone, and that's all that's important. You saved Gaara. Mission accomplished as far as I see."
What an ill-timed mission it had been too. Ino would have been worried about Naruto going on the mission regardless, but it hadn't been two days since she told him everything, about his father, about the Kyuubi, before he had been whisked away to save the Kazekage. Ino had stayed behind. Her team weren't equipped to deal with Akatsuki, nor were they good trackers. They would have just gotten in the way, as much as it pained Ino to admit. She wanted to be there, for Naruto at the very least. Now she regretted not going even more. Naruto had been struggling enough with the newfound information she had dumped on him, he didn't need to add any more stress. Yet here he was, stressing about everything.
"Everyone else… are they okay?" Naruto asked.
Ino nodded. "Everyone is fine," she answered. "Sakura will take a few more days to truly get over the poison. Her antidote wasn't one hundred percent since she made it so quick. Other than that, no one came back in any worse shape than they left in. Kakashi might hold off on using his Sharingan for a bit." She knew that wasn't what he was asking about though. "They've been sworn to secrecy, just like I was. Tsunade isn't hopeful that everyone will hold to it. Too many people know now, so it's only a matter of time until its all in the open."
"Doesn't leave me with much of a choice, does it?" Naruto said in mock humour. Despite his intentions to tell everyone about the Kyuubi and Akatsuki, he had hoped to have more time, or at the very least a good opportunity to do it properly. Now he would have to get it over with before rumours got the better of him. What a bummer. With a deep sigh he turned to look at Ino, only to find her already looking at him with a knowing smile. He had missed seeing that smile during his years away. The way she always seemed to know what was going on in his head without the need for her family jutsu, and making sure he knew it too. "I'm going to need help with this."
"As if you need to ask," Ino said. "I'll sort out getting everyone together, you just worry about how you're going to tell them. Sound good?"
"Yeah," he said. What would he do without her, honestly. "What about you? Is everything okay? I, uh, guess I was a bit distant lately, huh. I'm sorry." That was putting it mildly. Naruto had retracted into himself so hard with all the news he had received that he hadn't even taken the time to check with Ino to make sure she was okay. Then all the mess with Suna happened and, well… there hadn't been a chance to make things right yet. While Naruto knew the Kyuubi wasn't a solely evil creature, there was still no telling what kind of effects its chakra had on the Yamanaka, let alone how the whole ordeal had left her feeling. He supposed it must have not been too bad since she was still here, happily being the best friend he could hope for. Even so, Naruto couldn't help feeling guilty and ashamed of what Ino now had to deal with.
The Kyuubi was supposed to be his curse, and his alone. Naruto would be having a stern talking to with his tenant very soon.
"I'm fine, Naruto," Ino assured him gently. "No long-term damage; Tsunade made sure. Actually, it came with some pretty cool benefits, so I think I got off pretty light, all things considered." She accentuated her statement by flaring her chakra ever so slightly in a specific way, her blue eyes quickly gaining a red hue as she grinned madly at Naruto. "No more leaving me in the dust with your stupid stamina and chakra reserves, Whiskers."
Naruto scoffed. "You get a taste of the fox's chakra and now you think you're a match for me?" he asked sceptically. "You sure granny-Tsunade checked your head properly? Has your dad made sure that stuff isn't going to your head?" Truth be told, he was actually scared of the prospect of an Ino that could keep up with him. The girl was scary enough as she was without adding a bijuu boost on top of that.
Ino let the chakra drop and pouted. "Can't just let me have a win here, can you?"
"Not a chance."
"Of course not," Ino sighed, quickly giving up. Now wasn't the time to let her competitiveness get the better of her. "So… what now?"
That… was a good question. Naruto had no idea what to do, or what he wanted to do. Learning about his father had been a lot to take in, but after seeing Gaara die and be brought back, he could safely say a lot had been put into perspective for him. A younger, more naïve Naruto would have shouted his newfound knowledge from the rooftops. He knew better than that thankfully. Jiraiya had been the sensei to the fourth Hokage, and the third Hokage had been, well, the Hokage. Obviously, they both knew and chose not to tell him, which begged the question as to why. Naruto knew there had to be a good reason for the secrecy. There couldn't not be. All he needed to do was find out what it was, and things could go back to normal.
"I need to talk to some people. Figure out what's going on," Naruto said. "Would you mind keeping things to yourself until I do that?"
Ino nodded. "I wasn't planning on telling anyone anything, don't worry." Telling Naruto alone would likely get her in enough trouble as it is. "Who do you need to talk to?"
Naruto shrugged. "Kakashi-sensei for a start. The man was my dad's student and now he's my sensei. Something's gotta be going on there," he said thoughtfully. "Granny-Tsunade and Pervy-Sage are on the list too, obviously. Can't exactly question the old man anymore, but I'm sure he had his reasons, so I'll let that go for now. No point in getting myself worked up over things that can't be changed. I can already tell this is going to be so annoying."
"Look at you, all mature now, with a working brain and everything," Ino joked, earning a pout from the boy. "Guess those years away really did do you some good. Made you think for a change."
"Yeah, made me think of you," Naruto quipped, smirking as Ino blushed ever so slightly. "That's two for team Naruto, and a big fat zero for team Ino."
"Idiot," Ino grumbled as she pulled her hand out of his and got to her feet, glaring down at the smug, smiling idiot. "You go run your little errands then. I'm going to go and check in with everyone else that went to Suna and start planning that meeting. Come find me when you're done," she said with a huff.
"Hey, Ino," Naruto called out quickly, making said girl pause in her step and look back at him. Still lying on the floor, he lifted his arms out in front of him and made an 'up-up' gesture with his hands. "Help."
Ino narrowed her eyes. "Absolutely not."
Naruto chuckled and let his arms drop down. "Worth a shot."
"Go have a shower already."
"I'm getting there!"
{I}
Finding Kakashi had been insultingly easy. The man was far too predictable outside of a battle. The moniker of 'wielder of a thousand jutsu' was hilarious when compared to his list of habitual activities. If the man couldn't be found doing one of three things within Konoha, such as buying/reading questionable literature openly, being actively late for anything and everything he could get away with, or standing at the memorial stone for an infuriating amount of time, then he wasn't in Konoha to begin with. Naruto considered himself lucky that he had caught his sensei at the memorial stone, though admittedly that was before he was forced to sit around for hours waiting for Kakashi to leave. He didn't want to have this conversation in such an… unpleasant setting.
Eventually time got the better of him and Naruto took a deep breath to prepare before walking over to stand beside his sensei. Kakashi didn't react at his presence, probably having sensed him approaching. For several uncomfortable minutes the two simply stood there silently. For whatever reason, Naruto couldn't bring himself to disturb Kakashi's peace just yet. It was actually rather nice, the silence. It gave Naruto the chance to think about what he wanted to say, what he wanted to ask. He should have used the previous hours to do so, but oh well, no time like the present.
He wanted to be angry, to yell and demand his sensei spill everything he knew about his parents, about why his childhood had been the way it was. He knew better than to do that. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that Kakashi would have been too young to have any say in what went on after the Kyuubi attack. There was also the village's notorious history of keeping secrets, the Kyuubi being the biggest example Naruto could attest to. He wouldn't be able to hold it against Kakashi if the man had simply been following orders and holding true to his loyalties.
"Thank you for waiting," Kakashi said suddenly, turning an eye-smile to his most energetic student. "Thought of what you want to say yet?"
Naruto pouted. He was not that easy to read, was he? "Sort of," he said, turning his attention back to the memorial stone. "Your team are on this stone, aren't they?"
Kakashi nodded. "That they are," he admitted sadly. "I'm sure you think it's silly, but I still feel a great debt to both of my late teammates. Coming here, spending time with them, is the best I can offer until I eventually join them."
"My parents are on here too, aren't they?" Naruto asked, watching as Kakashi didn't so much as flinch at his words. Figures it wouldn't be that easy to catch the cyclops out.
"They are," Kakashi said, getting a look of surprise in response. "Come now, Naruto. I've been a ninja for a while now, I know when someone is fishing for information they already have. Though I am curious as to who told you."
Naruto sighed in defeat. He was still just a student it seemed. "Does that matter?"
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "Not to me, no. But there are some who might be upset, depending on who told you," he said. "Do you know their names?"
Naruto looked at the stone intently, his eyes focusing in on one name in particular. "Minato Namikaze."
"My sensei. A great man, an excellent Hokage, and if life had permitted, he would have made an exceptional father," Kakashi said, putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "You look a lot like him."
"I don't know my mother's name yet," Naruto admitted. "You were the first person I came to. I thought, since you were his student, you would know."
"Kushina Uzumaki. A very hard-headed woman. Loud, obnoxious, loyal to a fault. No need to wonder which of your parents you took after the most for anyone that knew her," Kakashi said with no small hint of amusement. "She would have made a good mother. There isn't a ninja village in existence that wouldn't have feared her wrathful protectiveness over you. Your parents were some of the best people I ever knew. Kind, powerful, strong willed. They would have been proud of the man you've become, Naruto. Just like I am."
Naruto stood frozen in place, a lump forming in his throat as he swallowed painfully. The tears could wait till later. His eyes scanned the stone more, finally fixing on the new name he had burnt into his mind. The location of both names on the stone were dedicated to memory faster than anything else in his life. Truth be told, he hadn't expected to get anywhere with Kakashi. His lazy sensei had surprised him, pleasantly so. Now, at the very least, he had both of his parent's names, along with a vague idea of what kind of people they were. It was more than he could have hoped for. "Why didn't you say anything before?" he asked weakly.
"The third Hokage made your lineage a secret. Only a select few were permitted to know," Kakashi explained. "For obvious reasons, your parents had a lot of enemies. People who would have gone to great lengths to get revenge, make a name for themselves, or otherwise just take satisfaction in the misfortune of a Kage. After the Kyuubi attack, Konoha was vulnerable, whether we like to admit it or not. Minato and Kushina sacrificed themselves to save both you and the village, sealing the fox in you in the process. Had word gotten out that they had a son, a jinchuuriki no less, and neither were alive to protect him, there would have been no shortage of people, whole villages even, storming our gates looking to claim you for themselves."
Naruto listened intently, absorbing every word his sensei said. He had known about the fourth Hokage sealing the Kyuubi in him for years now, yet hearing the explanation again with the new knowledge that the man was his father hit a lot harder than he expected it to. To also find out that his mother had helped in that process was also quite shocking. Did neither of them think about what his life would be like after they were gone? Was it selfish of him to even think like that given that his parents had sacrificed themselves for such a cause? Naruto didn't know, and he didn't care. All he knew was that he just needed to feel and think however he needed in the moment. Get it all out of his system while he had the chance. The silent tears weren't letting themselves be held back anymore.
Kakashi squeezed Naruto's shoulder. "Your parent's loved you, Naruto. I know that might be difficult to think given the burden they entrusted you with, but it's the truth. I swear it," he said. "You were meant to learn all of this when you were promoted to chunin. The third Hokage often spoke of how eager he was for Jiraiya to finally explain it to you. I do admit, I too was looking forward to finally talking to you about them myself."
The world stopped for a second. "Huh?" Naruto scrunched his face up and looked at his sensei questioningly. "Why would pervy-sage be the one to tell me? I know he trained my dad, but I thought he was in the same situation as you."
"Oh," Kakashi said, thankful for his mask hiding his embarrassed expression. "I might have said too much."
"Kakashi…"
"It really isn't my place to explain further, Naruto. I'm sorry."
Naruto balled his fist tightly and frowned. "Fine," he grumbled. He wouldn't push Kakashi. The man had already given him more than he had hoped and without any real prodding. Naruto knew his sensei was just doing what he felt was right, including right now, even if it pissed him off to no end. "I'm going to go and talk to granny-Tsunade soon."
Kakashi chuckled. "That can only go well."
"Tell me about it," Naruto groaned. He knew bringing this up with Tsunade would be a nightmare, especially considering she was the one who ordered Ino to keep it quiet. There would likely be some choice words thrown around the Hokage's office before the day was over. "Hey, Kakashi-sensei, why are you telling me anything? Isn't that, I dunno, breaking the secret?"
"Not at all," Kakashi said a little too cheerfully. "I wasn't the one who told you first. What I'm doing here is easily explainable damage control. Speaking of which, I must admit I am quite proud of how you are handling yourself. You've come a long way in such a short time."
Naruto wiped his face on his sleeve and smirked. His eyes quickly settled back onto the stone before them, drifting between the two names of his parents every few moments, a repetitive sway back and forth that threatened to lull him into a trance. He was starting to see how Kakashi could spend so much time here. "I think I'll stay here for a bit."
"The company will be appreciated."
Sadly, the peace and tranquillity of the moment came to a screeching halt as a sudden realisation hit Naruto like a mountain falling on his head. If Jiraiya was his father's sensei, and his father was Kakashi's sensei, and both legendary men that he already knew were notorious perverts, then…
"Kakashi…"
"Yes, Naruto?"
"…Was my dad a pervert?"
Some questions were best left unanswered.
{I}
It was almost dark by the time he managed to drag himself away from the memorial stone. He had asked his sensei where his parents were actually buried, which Kakashi had happily answered. A plan had already been made to visit their graves with the man, so it could wait for now. Naruto was just grateful that Kakashi was as eager to share as Naruto was to learn. His respect for the cyclops had grown considerably in the past few hours. However, while his bonding time with his sensei had been great, it couldn't last forever. As such, Naruto now found himself staring at the door to the Hokage's office, trying to decide on whether entering was a good idea to begin with.
He knew the reason the third Hokage had made his family a secret. It made sense when he thought about it properly. Yes, it still hurt like a kick to the guts, but he couldn't hold such a thing against the old man. Difficult times often resulted in difficult decisions being made, every shinobi understood that. Tsunade however, he understood a little less. Naruto would give her the benefit of the doubt for now. She was the student of the third and the immediate next Hokage. It would make sense for her to honour her sensei and predecessor's wishes and rules. If that was all it boiled down to, Naruto knew he would be able to forgive the Senju easily enough. Not that he thought he was any good at holding a grudge to begin with. Sasuke was proof enough of his ridiculously positive outlook on people.
With that in mind, he opened the door and walked in calmly, ignoring the immediate perplexed expression on Tsunade's face. "Hey Granny," he said with a smile that quickly fell as the woman slowly brought her hands together in a seal to dispel a genjutsu. "Oi, I am not that bad!"
"Like hell you aren't," Tsunade shot back. "Since when the hell do you come into my office like a normal person?"
Naruto paused and glanced at Shizune who was sharing much the same look as her sensei. He didn't think Shizune would know anything about what was about to go down, so the safe approach was probably best. "Since I found out who my parents are," he said.
You could almost hear the grey hairs starting to grow on the Hokage.
"Shizune, please give us some privacy," Tsunade said, her student quickly doing as was told. With a sigh the Hokage leaned back into her chair, sliding open a draw under her desk and pulling out a bottle of sake and two cups. "I have been waiting for this. Thought it would happen much sooner in all honesty. I'll give Ino credit; she kept her mouth shut longer than I expected."
"It wasn't-"
Tsunade raised a hand to silence him. "Brat, I'm not an idiot," she said. "I know damn well it wasn't Jiraiya that told you if you came here to talk to me about it. Only other person I know that would tell you anything is her. So come on then. Let's get this over with so I can drink the headache away."
Naruto frowned and crossed his arms. "Kakashi mentioned Jiraiya too. What the hell does pervy-sage have to do with any of this?" he asked.
There wasn't enough air in the room to accommodate the sigh Tsunade wanted to let out at that question. "Curse that man," she muttered. "Sit down, brat. Have a drink with me. So long as you don't blow your top, I'll answer any questions you have."
He accepted her offer, taking a seat across from her and reaching out to take the freshly filled cup she pushed towards him. With a single gulp, which left his face twisted at the flavour, it was gone. He was confident alcohol would never be for him. "Are my parents actually Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki?" he asked simply.
"Yes," Tsunade answered, downing her own drink and quickly refilling her cup.
"Why was it kept a secret?"
Tsunade downed the second glass. "Sensei was old, Konoha was weakened after the Kyuubi. There were questions about whether you could be protected properly if word got out that Minato and Kushina had a child that just so happened to be the jinchuuriki to the most powerful bijuu," she said, shrugging. "Shit move, but it had it's intended outcome. No one ever came looking for you, and Konoha was never threatened as a result."
Naruto reached out, prompting the woman to refill his glass before he downed it quickly. That was good. Both Tsunade's and Kakashi's answer matched up. He could live with that. "Why did you keep it a secret when you took the hat?"
"I… I don't have a good answer for that," Tsunade admitted solemnly. "I could say I wanted to respect sensei's wishes and wait until you were strong enough to look after yourself. If that were true, I would have told you a while ago." She downed another. "Truth is… I didn't want anything to do with it. I wasn't here when the decision was made, so I didn't feel it was my responsibility to undo it. Sensei should have been the one to tell you, years ago. I thought Jiraiya would have made the right choice and brought you up to speed while you were out on the training trip, but I guess I put too much faith in that idiot to do the smart thing."
"So, Jiraiya knew all along?"
Tsunade downed two more cups in a row before grimacing. "Naruto, who do you think Jiraiya is to you?" she asked.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "My dad's old sensei, and now my sensei," he said. "I figured he knew, and that he was just trying to do a good thing by teaching me like he did my dad." He frowned as Tsunade's expression only got more miserable. "He's more than that, isn't he?"
"Your parents were quite fond of my foolish teammate. Minato basically treated him like his own father. When they found out you were on the way, well, they practically jumped at the chance to expand their little family in any way they could," Tsunade said. "They named Jiraiya your godfather."
The cup in his hand strained under his grip, but he was able to control himself enough not to break it. That had been unexpected. Suddenly the years spent training under the sage had an entirely different feel to them. All those fond memories now tainted by the knowledge that he could have had that earlier in his life, that he could have had someone, that he was supposed to have someone. This whole time he thought he was completely alone, only to find out that the closest thing he had to proper family was right under his nose. The man hadn't so much as hinted at his relation in the years he had known him, not once. Was that all a part of the secrecy, or was it Jiraiya's own reasons that had him withhold so much? The bubbling rage that threatened to flood his body told him that it didn't matter in the end. All that mattered was that he had been alone when he shouldn't have been. All that suffering for no good reason. Or at least no reason Naruto would accept.
"You're pissed, I get it. But try to keep a level head," Tsunade said, interrupting his thoughts. "There were a lot of things at play during your childhood. Even if Jiraiya wanted to be here for you, it would have caused more problems than it was worth. The world would have caught on to who you were pretty quickly. Konoha also had to make sure they didn't look weak, and that meant keeping our heavy hitters out in play. I know it seems like no one was thinking about you at the time, but trust me, you were always the priority for quite a few people here… you just weren't the biggest problem they had to deal with."
Naruto wanted to call bullshit on that. He wanted to scream and yell, throw a tantrum and break everything in his path to hunt down his godfather and put his foot so far up the man's ass that every perverted thought the sage had would have to tiptoe past his shoe straps. Alas, he couldn't do that, not anymore. While as a child he had no reason to hold back on his emotions, now he had two really good ones. His parents would have wanted him to be better than that. Life was easier when they were just nameless, faceless shadows. Now he had names to live up to, an image to uphold. The fourth Hokage was a legend across all of the nations. It would be an insult to his father, to his childhood hero, if he carried on whichever way he wanted.
'Damn, I definitely hang out with Ino too much,' he mused internally. Not that he minded. Ino had been a good influence and would continue to be for so long as she would put up with him. With any luck she could teach him how to act a bit more presentable, more fitting for a Kage's son. Oh yes, Naruto was sure Ino would have far too much fun trying to straighten him out.
"Naruto?"
"I'm okay," he said, taking a deep breath to calm down. "Sorry, it's a lot to take in." That was an understatement. Today had been a complete mind melter. If this had happened when he was younger, Naruto wasn't sure how he would have handled it. Not well, that was for sure.
Tsunade smiled sadly at him. "Any more questions?" she asked softly.
Naruto shook he head and put his cup back on her desk. "I think I have enough to think about for one day," he said. "But… if it's okay, I'd like to come back to talk to you when I'm ready. Ino told me about the Kyuubi stuff too and I want to make sure everything is okay on that end of things."
"Of course. Whenever the two of you are ready, just come and find me."
"Thanks… granny."
"I'm not that old, brat," she huffed.
"Yes, you are."
Tsunade sighed deeply. Illusions aside, she was really beginning to feel the years weighing on her. "Yeah, guess I am."
"Does that mean you'll drop the henge?"
"Hah! Not on your life."
{I}
It had taken longer than expected, along with a tad more effort than Ino thought would have been necessary, but in the end, she had succeeded in roping everyone together for a surprise meeting. She had been a little surprised when Naruto had dropped by to say he wanted to get it done as soon as possible. There had been something in his eyes that told her that his desire to speed it up may not have been the best idea, though she wasn't about to argue. Almost everyone was currently in the village, so there was no time quite like the present for Ino to work her magic. The only ones missing were team Guy. Since the events that occurred in the recent mission meant they already technically knew, Ino didn't think it would be a problem. Sakura also knew, but she had shown up to support her teammate in this moment, much to Ino's delight.
So, there she was, in Naruto's apartment, currently babysitting the rest of the rookie nine while they waited patiently for Naruto to show up. And when she said patiently, she really meant that there wasn't much holding back the tension currently growing in the small apartment. Most of the rookies were pleasant enough and happy to wait, but some were more annoying than they were worth. The sound of the toilet flushing, and the bathroom door opening, drew Ino's thoughts back to the biggest annoyance of them all.
"Hey guys, you should see how girly Naruto's bathroom is," Kiba said, a big stupid grin on his face as he held up a small bar of soap and sniffed it. "Guess that trip out of the village finally got him out of the clos-" he paused, eyes narrowing in on Ino as he sniffed the air again. His eyes darted between her and the soap, then from Ino to the bathroom before doing a general glance of the apartment itself. "-No way."
Ino narrowed her eyes at the Inuzuka. "Be very careful with your next words, biscuit-breath," she said warningly.
Every so slowly, Kiba's grin grew across his face, eyes lighting up mischievously. "Wow Ino. I knew you had it bad for Naruto, but to move in so quickly. I'm impressed," he said, drawing the attention of everyone present, thought not for the reason he thought. "Or did you move in while he was gone? Your scent is almost as strong as Naruto's is in here. You've been here a lot. Didn't think you'd actually settle for the dead last."
Everyone was silent as they stared at Kiba with varying looks of pity. It was one thing to earn the wrath of Ino Yamanaka, but it was an entirely different thing to risk the wrath of both Ino and Naruto simultaneously. The boy truly had a death wish it seemed.
"Kiba…" To everyone's shock, it was Hinata who spoke up first, her voice as soft and sweet as ever while she smiled at her teammate. Her eyes were anything but kind, however. "Be quiet."
Like a switch had been flipped, Kiba changed his attitude immediately. His cocky and confident demeanour was discarded under the pale-eyed glare of his teammate. With a nervous smile and a shakiness to his movements, he took a cautious step back and put his hands up defensively. "I'm sorry. I'll behave," Kiba said quickly and fearfully, taking his seat. "No need to do anything drastic, okay. Look, everything's fine. Right guys? Everything's fine. Just joking around."
Ino held back a chuckle at the display. Everyone in the group knew of Hinata's new… confidence. Many that didn't know the Hyuuga personally would assume that those around her were only careful because she was currently very close with the new Kazekage. They were wrong. Hinata's relationship wasn't as much of a speculation among the group as it was a known fact. No one minded. In fact, they were happy for the girl. That being said, Hinata had… grown a bit more than anyone had expected with her relationship. It was no secret that her time with Gaara had served to soften the once murderous jinchuuriki into a polite and respectful young man, but that went both ways. As much as Hinata influenced Gaara, so too did he influence her. The world was still adjusting to the confident, deceptively terrifying, young woman that the Hyuuga heiress was growing up to be.
"Ino, please tell me you didn't drag us all here just to announce that you and Naruto are dating," Shikamaru droned from his place laying on the floor.
Everyone perked up at that, causing Ino to blush slightly. "No, Shika, that isn't the reason at all," she said. "Naruto has something very important to tell everyone."
Shikamaru groaned loudly. "Troublesome. Why do we all need to be here though?"
"It's important, Shika. Like, really important. And we are all his friends. We owe him enough to be here to support him together," Ino said. "Also, he didn't want anyone to feel left out. He wants everyone to know at the same time."
"Troublesome."
"Naruto isn't… dying, is he?" Choji asked hesitantly.
Sakura scoffed. "If only," she said. "I saw his medical charts. He's the healthiest one out of all of us, by a lot. It's ridiculous. The only people even close is me and Ino." It went without saying that the apprentice of Tsunade and a side-timer medic nin would be the healthiest members of the group.
"You sure he isn't coming out of the closet?" Kiba chimed in, chuckling nervously as everyone glared at him. "Okay, shutting up."
"Is Naruto okay, Ino?" Hinata asked worriedly.
Ino wasn't sure how to answer that. Yes, technically Naruto was fine. It just wasn't that simple sadly. Ino knew there was more going on underneath, there couldn't not be with everything Naruto was coming to terms with so suddenly. He hadn't even taken the time to let her in on what else he had learnt from Kakashi and Tsunade. Ino knew he would tell her eventually; the fact he was holding onto it for the moment told her enough as it was. It must have been a rough couple of days for the Uzumaki. "He's fine. He's just dealing with a bunch of stuff right now. That's why we need to be here for him now. We need to show him that he can rely on his friends."
Everyone seemed to accept that, many nodding in understanding and returning to waiting for the blonde to arrive. Ino knew Naruto had his doubts about the rookies. Who in his position wouldn't. It wasn't as if he had been close friends with all of them, and there was no telling what kind of rift being gone for three years would create in what little relationships he did have. Ino, however, was confident that everyone would surprise Naruto. She had made sure that no one forgot about him while he was away and had even gone to some interesting lengths to find out what everyone thought of the boy. Had she been going a bit overboard to sus out what people would think if she started dating him? Obviously. Did she care? Absolutely not. Information was a shinobi's best friend.
A knock on the door got everyone attention, especially Hinata's, who activated her byakugan and smiled. "It's Naruto," she said quietly.
"This is his apartment. Why would he knock?" Sakura asked.
Ino had the decency to blush, remembering a near miss the two had had when she was too tired to remember whose apartment she was in, and Naruto hadn't thought barging into his own apartment could lead to any unfortunate accidents. Needless to say, despite Naruto's newfound habit of knocking before entering, Ino now made sure to always be fully dressed when 'visiting'. Quickly turning away from the group, she rushed to the door and opened it with a bright smile. "Took you long enough," she said cheerfully.
"Oh, am I late?" Naruto asked unsurely, peeking over the girl's shoulder.
"Nope. Right on time. Now get in here," Ino said, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him in. She could see how anxious he was, so a little bit of a forceful push in the right direction couldn't go astray. Leading him to their friends, she smirked as she pushed him into the spotlight and took a step back to truly enjoy the catastrophe this would be. Ino would happily make sure their friends didn't misunderstand what they were told, and she would fight anyone that so much as tried to get a twisted idea in their head, but that didn't mean she was going to stop Naruto from embarrassing himself.
"Uhh, hey guys," Naruto said awkwardly.
"Naruto, please, let's get this over with quickly. This is prime nap time, and you know it," Shikamaru grumbled.
"No one forced you to come here, Shikamaru," Naruto said, quickly earning a sharp look from everyone present before their eyes drifted to an all too innocent looking Ino. "Okay, maybe they did, but a ninja shouldn't be sleeping all the time man."
"Naruto," Hinata said, getting the boy's attention before smiling sweetly at him. "We have all been waiting. You wanted us all here to hear what you have to say. So please, let us hear it," she said softly.
Ino grinned at the Hyuuga. Who would have guessed the shy little Hyuuga had the authority to suddenly command a room. Her father would lose his mind if he could see his precious little girl in moments like this. Turning her attention back to Naruto, who was looking at her unsurely, Ino gave him a nod. "It'll be okay," she promised, gesturing for him to go ahead.
Naruto sighed deeply and clapped his hands together. "Right. Okay. Umm, there isn't really an easy way to explain this without making it sound weird, so here it goes…" he took a deep breath as every pair of eyes focused on him keenly, ears at the ready to soak in his next words. "The fourth Hokage couldn't kill the Kyuubi all those years ago, so instead he sealed the thing inside of me, making me a jinchuuriki. I'm sorry, I should have told you all sooner, I just thought you would hate me for it. Sorry." With his final apology he bowed deeply, not wanting to catch sight of the likely mixed emotions crossing all his friends faces.
After a few moments of silence, nothing happened.
"Is that it?" Shikamaru asked in a bored tone.
"Huh?" Naruto looked up at everyone to find no one particularly concerned with the news he had just given them. "No one's… angry?" Everyone shook their heads in the negative. "Well… that's, cool. I think. I thought this would be a bigger thing."
"It wasn't hard to figure out," the know-it-all Nara commented.
"Wait, some of you knew already? Who?" Naruto's eyes widened as no less than four of his friends raised their hands. Ino and Sakura already knew so they just kept to themselves for the moment. The others though; Shikamaru, Choji, Shino, and… "Hinata? You knew too? How did you guys find out? Did Ino tell you?"
"E-Excuse me?!" Ino spluttered at the accusation.
"No Naruto, Ino didn't tell anyone," Shikamaru said. "As annoying as she can be, running loose with people's secrets isn't something Ino does. I figured it out during the chunin exams, then I told Choji."
"What do you mean annoying?!"
Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "Damn, that early," he mumbled. "Smart ass."
Shino stepped forward. "I learnt of your condition in the academy," he said simply, earning shocked glances from the group. "I attempted to use my insects to drain your chakra, as I did with everyone else. Why? To create a familiarity with the chakra of any potential teammates in my future of course. When all attempts at draining your chakra left my insects dead or dying, I asked my father. He did not tell me, but it was easy to deduce after some time in the Aburame archives."
"Huh," Naruto said, both a little freaked out and rather impressed with the creepiest member of the rookies. "Why did you never say anything?"
"It was not common knowledge. I assumed for good reason," Shino answered. "Your condition was not dangerous, so it would have served no purpose to inform anyone. Would it also be rude and hypocritical of an Aburame to judge someone based on what they contain within them? Yes, yes it would."
Everyone considered Shino's words and nodded in understanding. Out of all of them, the Aburame was likely the only one who could sympathise with Naruto. Sure, Shino was a willing host for his hive, but his clan were often kept at a distance and regarded carefully due to the 'unnatural' and creepy tactics they utilised. No one even questioned why Shikamaru and Choji never said anything. Shikamaru was too lazy and would avoid drawing attention to himself at all costs, and Choji was too kind-hearted to have a negative opinion about anyone. It also helped that Choji often let Shikamaru be the brains of the two. If the Nara didn't say anything, then it was for good reason. Hinata however…
The Hyuuga heiress blushed nervously for the first time in quite a while as she poked her fingers together out of habit. Being the centre of attention like this, with everyone looking at her so questioningly, was clearly not something she was expecting. "I, uh, I always knew you had a strange chakra inside of you. My Byakugan told me as much. B-but I never knew what it was until I saw the same thing in Gaara at the chunin exams," she explained. "Later, Gaara told me what he was on one of my trips to Suna, and also that you were the same for the Kyuubi."
"Well…" Naruto began, letting out a deep breath as his shoulder slumped. "Guess I really made a big deal over nothing then, huh?"
"Is that really the big secret?" Kiba asked, unimpressed.
"You mean you aren't the least bit shocked?" Naruto asked.
Kiba shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me what kind of furball you have sealed inside of you. I'll still get stronger and kick your ass eventually. Just you wait. That Hokage chair is only big enough for one of us, and it ain't gonna be you."
Ino shook her head as the two idiots began to bicker between each other who was more suited to lead Konoha. No situation was ever serious for very long wherever Naruto was involved. Stepping forward, she cleared her throat and got everyone's attention. "My turn," she chirped, placing her hands together and flaring her chakra. It wasn't as much of a spectacle as she was sure it would be if Naruto had done it, but it was still enough to shock the room. An ever so faint red chakra shroud glowed over her body as her eyes turned red, her nails growing into small claws, and three barely noticeable whisker like marks appeared on each cheek as she flashed a particularly foxy grin. Had no one known otherwise, they could almost mistake Ino for Naruto's sister based solely on appearance, as wrong as that sounded.
"That… explains a lot," Sakura said slowly. "No wonder your medical records are sealed."
Shikamaru groaned loudly but kept his opinion to himself.
"What the… there's two Kyuubi's?" Kiba asked.
"Nope. I just accidentally took some of the Kyuubi out of Naruto and, well, it didn't leave," Ino explained, letting the chakra fade quickly. "It's nothing like what Naruto has, but it's similar, and I had to keep it a secret until he came out with his." And God if it didn't suck having to hold back all these years out of fear of letting anyone find out. The only times she could ever cut loose was when she trained with Anko in isolated areas. Now she could start really focusing on improving at all times, maybe even use it to try and kick her lazy team into doing more. Poor Shikamaru had no idea what was in store for him now, or maybe he did. Was that why he was currently glaring at the ceiling? 'Too late, Shika. Cursing the gods won't save you now!'
"Ino was right," Naruto said suddenly, grinning ear to ear. "I really was worrying about nothing. You guys are awesome. I'm sorry I didn't give you all enough credit. I should have told you all sooner."
"It's okay, Naruto," Sakura said softly. "We understand. This is a big deal for you. You told us when you were ready, and that means you trust us all enough to do that. That's all that matters, right?"
The sun would be jealous of how brightly Naruto was grinning. "Right!"
"Are we done? Please tell me that's all the news we have for tonight. I have enough to think about tonight as it is," Shikamaru droned.
"Well, there is a group of S-rank missing-nin who are hunting down all the bijuu, meaning they will eventually come after me. Other than that, not really," Naruto rattled off nonchalantly.
Shikamaru's eye twitched violently. "Noted."
Ino went to tell her teammate off for his unneeded attitude, only to catch herself as she noticed the mischievous glimmer in Naruto's eyes. 'Oh, this is gonna be good,' she thought, holding herself back and waiting for the fireworks.
"Or would you like to know about how the fourth Hokage is my dad?"
Silence.
"That's a joke… right?" Kiba asked.
No response.
Shikamaru raised his head just enough to glare at Naruto questioningly, then turn his eyes to Ino. Ino could only smile and nod, causing the Nara's eye to twitch again before he slammed his head back down to the floor. Everyone else shared in a mixed range of expressions, ranging from sudden violent understanding, to horrified realisation. Only Ino was spared from the headache such a revelation was inducing.
"Naruto… come on, man. Tell me you're joking," Kiba pleaded.
Ino giggled.
"…what the fuck, bro."
A/N:
Slightly shorter chapter, but I feel like it has enough to keep you all satisfied. Now, before any of you get heated thinking that Naruto is going to take this all in stride and let Jiraiya off the hook easily, be at ease. The pervert will not be getting away with his shit... mostly. Hope this chapter wasn't too boring and such for you guys. The secrets are out, and the sky hasn't fallen. The future can only get more hilarious from here.
Just wanted to thank you all for the response to this fic. I know I'm not the greatest wordsmith going, but you have all made my efforts feel appreciated. This story was only supposed to be a one-shot, and now it is one of my favourite projects, partly due to how much you all seem to love it and how much fun it is turning out to write. I can only hope I don't disappoint you in the future.
Keep those reviews coming. I love them all.
Till next time guys.
Soul out.
