Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version

Hey Everyone, Welcome to the sixth chapter of Re-Version. This chapter includes a some re-done scenes, as well as an entirely new one I added which gives a slight glimpse into Madara and how he feels about everything. Hope you enjoy.

Arc I: The Origin:

Chapter 6: A Grandfather's Tale, Enter the Nine-Tails

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Smoke was everywhere. A white, odorless haze had engulfed the forest around them. Not even a single shaft of sunlight could pierce the cloud. With it came a heavy feeling in the air, the feeling of his grandson's chakra. The massive wave of chakra that Naruto released was impressive. It would give most jonin pause. Madara smirked proudly. Though Naruto took after his mother far more than Minato or himself, there was no denying that he shared their latent potential even if he wasn't a traditional genius.

Though that malicious tinge hidden amongst it gave him pause. An ominous chakra that was all too familiar. 'So, he used so much chakra the seal started to draw out the Nine-Tails chakra. Unexpected.'

Madara found himself very glad he'd taken the precaution to set up a barrier jutsu to prevent others from feeling the chakra used here. It highlighted the need for a more permanent–and far more secluded–training area. He'd realized the need after he sensed an unfamiliar Uchiha signature snooping around Naruto. Upon investigating the boy it belonged too–Shisui Uchiha–he'd learned that Sarutobi was growing suspicious. It was only a matter of time until he learned the truth, but Madara could stall it by setting up a proper training area to teach Naruto in.

"A problem for another day …" He muttered.

He smiled when he saw the look of wonder on Naruto's face as the smoke cleared. Fifty clones stood in front of his grandson, far more than anybody else in the village could possibly create. It filled him with warmth to see Naruto happy. Unbidden, familiar dark thoughts bubbled to the surface. 'It's your fault he wasn't happy in the first place! Your schemes got his parents killed.' His mind wander

A sudden waiver in Naruto's chakra caught his attention. Seconds later the clones suddenly –poofed–out of existence. His eyes widened when Naruto started to sway on his feet. A spike of panic filled him.

His body moved on instinct. Chakra invigorated his weary muscles and allowed him to move faster than sound. He was just in time to catch Naruto as he tipped backwards. Madara grunted at the weight in his arms. It was pathetic really. He could barely do anything these days without reinforcing his body with chakra. The combination of his age and the period he was dead had taken their toll. A stasis seal had kept his body preserved, but at the cost of some of his life force. Soon it would be to the point he couldn't even help Naruto with taijutsu. He forced his frustration at his weakness down, and instead examined Naruto to make sure he was okay.

His right hand glowed with a mint green miasma of chakra. A quick sweep made him sigh in relief. Just a case of mild chakra exhaustion. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"Look at me, worrying like a mother hen. Hashirama would never let me live it down if he saw me now." It made him smile. Times like these reminded him of how much his wife's nature Naruto inherited, even if they'd never met. She too had a way of bringing out his kindness. "Better get you home." He said.

Thankfully, the makeshift training ground wasn't too far from his house. The stroll was relaxing. Branches swayed in the breeze, filling the air with the rustle of leaves. He could hear squirrels chatter back and forth. Peaceful moments like this needed to be cherished. Soon after, the house came into sight around a bend in the forest path.

He shifted Naruto over to his left arm so he could open the front door. Madara didn't bother to try and remove his shoes. Any dirt he tracked in could be cleaned later. He carried Naruto through the first-floor halls and upstairs to his bedroom. After he'd set him on his bed, Madara felt a frown slip onto his face as he looked at his grandson.

It was fairly easy to detect the slight fluctuations between the boy's chakra and the Nine-Tails from the seal. Was he communicating with the fox? A twinge of worry went through his stomach. If he was, no doubt Naruto would know about the sealing. That had weighed heavily on his mind. When he first told him about his parents, he'd considered telling Naruto about the fox. Ultimately he'd decided not to. He didn't want to burden him with too much at one time. Madara didn't regret that. It was the right decision, though he might have to suffer the cold shoulder for a while if the reaction Naruto had to Sarutobi lying to him–justified as it was–could be taken as an indicator. He'd hope not too, but if he had to endure it he would.

'If I must face the music, then face the music I will. I can endure any pain to protect him.' He thought with resolve.

His mind made up, Madara fetched a cool glass of water to place at Naruto's bedside. He pinned a note underneath it, telling his grandson he'd be waiting in the living room.

Madara took one last glance at the boy as he stood in the doorway. Naruto's head rested on the pillow with a peaceful look on his face. Golden blond hair spilled across his forehead. He looked so much like Kazehana and Minato. One day he'd have to tell him everything. Even what he suspected was waiting out there for Naruto and his fellow Jinchuriki. 'But not today.'

That thought brought him comfort.

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Naruto could feel something hard underneath him, and he also had the oddest sensation of coolness that lapped at his body from below. He lay there, not quite sure what was going on. For some reason his thoughts were fuzzy, and slow. Drip, drip, drip.

His face scrunched in annoyance. What was that noise? It almost sounded like water. He shook his head in annoyance, only to pause at what he felt. His hair felt like it was moving under water. Yet he didn't feel wet at all. Instantly, he shot up into a sitting position and his mind was on full alert. His eyes widened at what he saw. He was in a network of concrete tunnels, with an intersection not too far ahead. The area was lit with an odd golden light. Pipes ran along the ceiling and parts of the walls, interwoven in a confused jumble. Water dripped slowly from one of the pipes. That was probably where the pool he had laid in came from.

'The last thing I remember is training with Grandfather. So, how'd I get here?' Naruto slowly stood up and looked around. Every sound he made seemed to echo off the walls, and the sound of lapping water filled his ears. The constant–slap–of his sandals followed him everywhere.

How the hell did he get to this strange place? There's no way his grandfather would let someone, or something just take him to a weird place like this. So how'd he get here? A second later he felt like chastising himself. He knew his grandfather would. The how wasn't important. 'I can find out how I got here later, right now I need to find a way out and get to Grandfather.' The intersection up ahead seemed just as good a place to start looking for an exit as any.

Naruto took a cautious step forward but stopped immediately. A deep growl echoed around him, and with it came a voice, and an ominous feeling.

"Come . . ." It whispered. The voice was deep, and ancient, and it made his body tremble in fear. Yet, he felt himself drawn towards it.

Without even realizing it, Naruto began to walk towards the tunnel ahead of him on the left. In the back of his mind, he was terrified. He knew he should run. Every logical bone in his body told him to turn around and get away as fast as possible. To run away and never look back. But something was drawing him. He had to know what that voice was.

As he turned the corner, Naruto saw a bright white light at the end of the hallway. He began to walk towards it, until he walked right through it.

The brightness of it forced him to squint. When he came out the other side there were spots in his eyes. He had to blink rapidly to try and clear them. As they finally did, his eyes popped wide at the sight before him.

He stood in a large room. The walls and ceiling stretched so far it made him feel tiny. But the most impressive thing was the cage. Directly across from him, a gigantic set of doors were set into the wall. Bars stretched from the floor almost to the top of the ceiling. On either side of the cage there were intricate swirl patterns carved into the metal, and in the center of the two doors was a slip of paper as large as his body, with the word 'Seal' written on it in kanji.

"Wh-what is this place?" Naruto whispered in awe. He began to walk further into the room, trying to peer into the vast darkness inside the cage.

Whooo … whoosh. Whoo …. Whoosh.

That noise … it was like the breathing of some massive animal. It seemed to be coming from within that darkness. "Is someone in there?"

Suddenly, Naruto felt a wave of malice and hatred crash down upon him. He couldn't talk, he couldn't even will himself to stay standing, yet his body refused to fall. He was just frozen in place. The terror he felt was ten times worse than what he had felt so many months ago when that man chased him. The blond felt himself breaking out in a cold sweat. The pressure increased to the point he couldn't even draw breath.

Naruto struggled to stay conscious. Black spots began to invade his vision. Then, finally, mercifully, the pressure lifted from him. A deep rumbling chuckle filled the room.

Naruto collapsed forward onto his hands and knees, panting with his eyes still wide in shock and fear. Suddenly, that same voice that drew him there boomed out.

"Hehehehe. So . . . my warden has finally come before me."

A visiblyshaken Naruto got to his feet slowly. He looked directly into the darkness. Right now he stood just a short distance away from the cage. All he wanted to do was turn and flee in terror. The boy shook his head. He attempted to reign in his fear, managing to shift his facial features from being terrified with wide eyes, to simply one of wariness.

"Wh-who are you?" He asked cautiously.

In response, he received another deep chuckle, before something terrifying happened. In the dark abyss inside the cage, two enormous crimson eyes with slit pupils shot open. A huge, gleaming white grin soon followed. The large, pointed teeth were as big as Naruto himself.

Naruto took a step back in fear at the bloodthirsty grin, and the almost manic glaring eyes. It was just as well that he did. For not a moment later did a huge reddish-orange paw resembling a human hand shoot forward towards him. Gleaming white claws looked to impale him. His sharingan activated on instinct and he saw it coming as if in slow motion. Naruto threw himself backwards desperately and landed on his rear in the pool of water on the floor. Still, the claws continued to come towards him, and were just about to impale him, when–

CLANG!

With a resounding crash, the paw was stopped as it slammed against the bars of the cage. One of the deadly claws stopped just inches away from Naruto's face. If the blond hadn't thrown himself backwards, he would have been impaled on it.

Looking up at the owner of the paw with eyes wide in shock, Naruto gulped in fear as he saw a vision of terror.

The shadows in the cage crawled backwards to reveal a beast of nightmares. Standing there looking at him with a menacing grin and one paw attempting to impale him was a giant reddish-orange fox with a human-like torso and rabbit like ears. Jet-black markings extended from its eyes into the inside of its ears. Behind it waved nine giant tails that seemed to have a mind of their own.

He was standing in front of the Nine-Tailed Fox. The greatest calamity to ever befall the Leaf Village. And it was glaring at him fiercely. Unconsciously, Naruto activated his sharingan. The increased perception let him make out every individual hair on the foxes body.

"Look at you, little whelp. Standing before me with those eyes. To think you would be from that damn Uchiha clan." It growled.

For his part, Naruto was frozen in shock and fear, it felt like someone had poured ice water into his veins. It took several moments, for him to register what the fox said, and even longer formulate a reply.

"Y-you're the Nine-Tails! Where are we? What the heck do you know about my clan?" Naruto asked, shaky at first, but stronger and more confused at the end.

In response, the Nine-Tails removed its claw from the cage door. It laid down and growled at the boy.

The Nine-Tails growled, causing Naruto to look up at it once more. The fox snarled in fury when Naruto met its eyes. "Turn those infernal things off, before I find a way to rip them from your skull and make jam from them to spread on crackers." It snarled in annoyance, its tails whipping about in agitation. Naruto gulped in fear.

For a second he felt a flash of anger. He thought about defying the fox, just to be petty. Ultimately cooler heads prevailed, and he decided not antagonizing a giant incarnation of rage was the better option. He cut the flow of chakra from his eyes and felt his vision shift back to normal. Shakily, he looked back up at the Nine-Tails, still having questions for the ancient entity. Like where the heck they were, and what the beast was doing there. For a few minutes, everything was silent, until he finally worked up the nerve to speak to the being once more. He chose his words carefully so as not to upset it.

"I don't wanna be disrespectful, but I've got some questions. Where are we? And what did you mean when you called me your warden? More import, how're you here, all the stories say my father killed you!" Naruto asked cautiously.

As soon as the last sentence left his mouth, Naruto knew he touched a nerve. Instantly the fox once more tried to impale him, slamming its hand-like paw into the bars again. It snarled in fury, trying in vain to get to the blond.

"KILL ME? THE GREAT NINE-TAILS KILLED BY A LOWLY HUMAN?" TheNine-Tails roared in fury, causing him to cower slightly from the sheer might of its rage.

Even though his father was his hero, he didn't dare try to talk back to the chakra being. After a moment, the fox seemed to regain its composure, but with the malicious snarl still in place. When next it spoke, it was much calmer, with a touch of arrogance.

"Please, that blond bastard barely managed to seal me away with the help of your pathetic mother. The mere notion of him being able kill me is laughable." The fox told him.

That flash of anger bubbled up. He hated hearing the fox badmouth his parents. If this were before he met his grandfather, he'd be ranting and raving right back. His training had taught him differently. Now wasn't the time to let his emotions get the best of him. He had to focus. There were more important questions. Like what the fox was talking about when it mentioned a sealing. Naruto didn't know much about sealing—only what his Gramps had told him, his grandfather hadn't taught him much either—, but if the Nine-Tails was sealed in something, there was no way he should be able to be face-to-face with it.

"If you're sealed away, how can I be talking to you, how'd I get in a seal?" He asked. To his surprise, the chakra entity seemed to find this amusing. Its dark chuckles filled the boiler room, as it replied with a malicious smirk. He got a sick feeling. Like somehow … he already knew what the fox would say.

"Foolish little boy. I called you my warden, are you too stupid to realize what those two things mean?" The fox taunted. "The reason you are my warden, and the reason you can be here—the very reason you are shunned by the people of your village—is because your beloved Father sealed me inside of you!"Said the Nine-Tails with a twisted grin. It seemed that the fox took a bit of glee in Naruto's pain.

Naruto's eyes widened in shock, as the booming echoes of the Nine-Tails' hate-filled mirth reverberated through the room and through his body. A sick feeling settled into his stomach as the words sunk in. It made horrifying sense. The reason everyone ignored him or glared at him. Why, when he used to describe people that were particularly mean to him to Gramps, they would disappear. All because he had the Nine-Tails sealed in him the day he was born, by his father no less. He felt like crying. Whether in relief or sadness he didn't know. He had to fight off the prickling sensation around his eyes.

It took him several minutes to recover his faculties. That's when he remembered the fox's reaction to seeing his sharingan. It had been so visceral. Why was that? 'I might as well get as much information as I can. Now that I know I'm in seal, there's not much else to worry about.' He could deal with the other ramifications of the revelation later.

"Hey, why do you hate the Sharingan and the Uchiha so much?"

At first it seemed like the fox would refuse to answer. The silence stretched for near a minute. Finally, it was broken with a resigned huff from the monster.

"I see the village hasn't seen fit to teach children about how I came into their possession, and your grandfather hasn't mentioned his role either." The fox growled. Naruto's eyes widened. His grandfather? "Those filthy monkey eyes have been used to control me twice by members of your damned clan. First by your grandfather when he fought the First Hokage. That led to me being sealed in my first container. The second one was the night I was released from my second container, your mother, on the night you were born." It answered. There was a certain sadistic glee in its eyes at the end.

He felt his stomach drop. His mother … had the Nine-Tails before him? It wasn't just Gramps that had lied to him. His grandfather had too. There was no way he didn't know about it. He'd told Naruto everything else about the night of his birth. Naruto didn't believe he didn't know about the fox for a second.

'There had to be a good reason.' He assured himself. That didn't help much. This was something he'd have to deal with when he got out of here. Speaking of which, how did he get in the seal? Unfortunately, there was only one person to ask right now.

"Hey, Nine-Tails, how'd I end up here?" He asked.

The fox snorted. Thankfully, the fox decided to grace him with an answer. "Tch, you ended up here from your own stupidity pathetic human. When you tried that Shadow Clone Jutsu, you used too much chakra and the seal automatically started to supply my own. That drew you to this mental representation of the seal when you lost consciousness."

Naruto nodded slowly. That made sense. Sort of. Okay, he didn't totally follow what the fox said. Though he got the gist of it. He'd used too much chakra and knocked himself out.

He was going to ask another question, but he began to feel a strange sensation. It felt like he was being pulled, pulled from his spot, yet not in any direction. His form began fading. Naruto looked down at his rapidly disappearing hands in worry. "What's happening?" He asked in a panicked tone. It was mostly rhetorical.

Seeing the panic, the fox snorted in amusement, resting its head in its palm in a bored fashion.

"Oh settle down foolish boy. Your body is simply awakening from its forced nap, " The fox chuckled.

He didn't have a chance to respond before he faded completely.

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His eyes snapped open to be greeted by the now familiar ceiling of his bedroom at his grandfather's house. It only took a second for him to figure out what happened. His grandfather must have brought him here when he passed out.

The room was slightly dark. A dappled pattern of orange light covered the bedroom wall across from him, and he could hear the sounds of crickets chirping. Definitely almost night. He hoped that meant he'd only been out for a few hours. It would be hard to explain missing school on just his second day. Though honestly, that was only a slight concern. His mind was still consumed with what he'd learned from the fox.

Naruto sighed heavily. It felt like the most massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He finally knew why all the adults seemed either weary or outright hostile towards him. Why none of the parent's wanted their kids to play with him. It didn't make it better, but at least he knew.

His lips twisted in a frown. Naruto cringed as he felt how dry they felt. For that matter, his mouth was tacky and filled with a disgusting taste. He hated that feeling. 'I should go get some water.' He thought.

The wooden bed frame creaked as he sat up and swung his legs out to the side. He blinked with disbelief when he saw a piece of paper on his nightstand along with a glass of water.

You'll probably wish to talk when you wake up.

I'll be in the living room.

Naruto smirked. That was just like the old man to predict what he planned before it even happened.

'No reason to keep him waiting' He thought. He grabbed the glass of water and downed it in a few greedy gulps. The cool sensation as it went down his parched throat made him sigh with relief.

Madara was right where the note said he'd be. The orange glow of the setting sun spilled through the paper-screen door and threw the room into a stark contrast of light and shadows. His grandfather was sitting in the same place he had so many months ago when he saved Naruto. It was hard to believe it hadn't been that long ago. He found it hard to suppress the anger that wanted to bubble up. 'He had to have a good reason' That was the hope he clung to.

"Please, sit down." Madara said. He gestured to the spot on the tatami mat in front of him.

It crossed his mind to be petulant and refuse. After all, why should he listen to anything his grandfather said until he had answers? The slightest narrowing of his grandfather's eyes persuaded him otherwise. He sat down on a pillow with a huff and scowled at Madara.

"You lied to me." He said coldly. It probably didn't have the effect he wanted, what with his squeaky child's voice. That just made him scowl even more.

"I'm afraid I don't recall such an occurrence. Maybe you're misremembering." Madara said with a challenging look. It was like he was trying to send a message with his eyes. Naruto got it loud and clear. 'I can be petty as well, stop being childish.' That didn't dissuade him.

"You didn't mention the Nine-Tails when you told me about how my parents died." He growled.

His grandfather gave him a heavy-lidded stare. "Omitting the full story isn't lying," He countered. Naruto's jaw clenched. He was about to tear into his grandfather, but the old man held up a hand. Then, he said softly, "Easy. I'm sorry. By your reaction, I assume you accidently contacted the Nine-Tails as I predicted, and have learned it's sealed inside you?" His grandfather asked.

Naruto nodded as confirmation. Madara sighed. "I see. Then I suppose I'll start with why I didn't mention it that day." He said. Naruto leaned forward unconsciously. There was a certain tension in his body. "The truth is, I was afraid to overwhelm you with too much life-altering information at once. Considering you aren't ready to learn to control it, and the other things I told you, I thought it might be too much."

His eyes met Naruto's, trying to convey his sincerity. He deflated at the emotion he saw in his grandfathers eyes. It was like all the righteous anger had been knocked out of him.

"How much did it tell you?" Madara asked.

"A bit. Mostly about the other people he was sealed in." He answered.

The old man gave a slight nod. "Ah, the previous Jinchuriki. Mito and your mother." He said. Jinchuriki? The word sounded odd to Naruto. He'd never heard it before. His confusion must have been evident, because Madara quickly clarified. "Jinchuriki is what people like you, those with tailed beasts sealed inside them, are called."

"There are others?" Naruto exclaimed in astonishment. How had he never heard of such a thing?

"Indeed. There are eight others. One for each of the tailed beasts. They are spread amongst the five major villages. Hashirama distributed all but the one-tails following his defeat of me at the Valley. His hope was to maintain peace by keeping the power balanced after his wife–Mito–sealed the Nine-Tails in herself to stop me from using it." His grandfather explained.

Naruto nodded in understanding. It sort of made sense. One question still burned in his mind though. Something that had been nagging him since he talked to the Nine-Tails. How had it gotten out of his mother to go on a rampage? The fox had mentioned another Uchiha controlling it. Did he have something to do with that? He had to know. Naruto looked at his grandfather as serious as possible.

"How did the fox get out of my mom?" He asked.

His grandfather gave him a searching look. It took him a few moments to answer.

"According to Ukki–" Naruto had to muffle a laugh at the name. Who was Ukki?
"–the name Hashirama's clone insisted it be called, a masked man attacked minutes after you were born. He took the Nine-Tails and controlled it with the Sharingan to attack the village. Your father managed to drive him off, but by that time the fox was already laying waste to the village. With little time, and your mother too weak to have it sealed in her again, he had no choice. He had to make the decision to seal it into you." His grandfather said. As he spoke, he gripped the cloth of his robe so tightly his knuckles turned white.

He sat stunned for several seconds. His body and mind felt numb. There was a vague buzzing in his ears. At first the meaning of the words didn't sink in. The implication was overwhelming. There was someone out there who could control tailed beasts, possibly an Uchiha! His first instinct was that they needed to tell somebody about this. He had to shake his head. For some reason he felt a little dizzy. Was it just him, or was it a little hot? No, that wasn't important 'Maybe I could somehow tell Gra–'

"Naruto, calm down." Madara said urgently. His firm hand on Naruto's shoulder brought him back to reality. He looked at his grandfather with confusion.

'Calm down?' What did his grandfather mean? He was fine. That's when he actually took stock of himself. Naruto was shocked to realize he was shivering. His breath came out in choked gasps, and he could feel a hot flush across his body.

"Wh-what happened?" He asked in confusion.

"You had a panic attack. I suppose learning about that man was a bit too much." His grandfather explained kindly. Naruto could only nod numbly. He'd never had a panic attack before. "Naruto, I need you to listen carefully. You can't tell anyone about that man. Not until I say so."

That made him stare at his grandfather in confusion. What the heck was he talking about?

"Huh?" He said eloquently.

Madara sighed and brushed a hand through his short white hair. "There are some things I haven't told you Naruto. Things about my past. I need you to trust me on this. For now, it's imperative you don't tell anyone about that man. Before you can even think about doing something about those things, you'll have to be much stronger. I'll explain more when I think you're ready to handle it." He said.

His words jarred Naruto to his core. For his grandfather to act so nervous about something, what could it possibly be? He couldn't help the sense of foreboding that sent a shiver down his spine. He'd always viewed his training with his grandfather as just something fun. Something they did to help him reach his dreams and learn about his family. Now he was faced with a realization he hadn't considered. It was also to prepare him to defend himself, and others. The visage of that dark-skinned man bearing down on him flashed through his mind. Metal flying through the air. A warm spray of blood across his arm. Yes, there was more to training than just fun. Between that realization and the knowledge of the Nine-Tails, it almost felt like a new and immense weight was pressing down on his soul.

"Are you okay?" Naruto jumped at his grandfather's voice, even as gentle as it was. He'd been so caught up in his thoughts he completely forgot about him.

"Um, I guess. Just thinking." He answered quietly. He tried to smile, but it was half-hearted at best. Clearly, his grandfather wasn't convinced.

There was a slight frown on his grandfather's face. "I suppose it's only natural. You've had some serious subjects dumped on you." Madara mused.

It was quiet for several moments. In the silence, he could hear some of the animals in the forest going about their business. Birds' song rang back and forth, and crickets had started to chirp. Finally, his grandfather broke the silence by suddenly standing with a loud clap. The resounding-CRACK–of his palms meeting almost made Naruto jump in surprise.

"Well, I think that's enough thinking about serious things. I know just the thing to cheer you up, a treat as it were, for doing so well at learning Shadow Clones.." He declared.

Naruto blinked up at the old man. There was an uncharacteristically enthusiastic grin on his wrinkled face. It made him look a lot younger than his ninety-five years. Unconsciously, he found himself smiling back.

"A treat?" He asked.

His grandfather nodded. "Yes, a treat. But first, dinner. You'll need your energy."

He could hardly sit still during dinner, left-over curried chicken from the night before, reheated in the oven. As with all his grandfather's food it was really good. It had taken a while for Naruto to get to the hot spices of the curry. The combination of cumin, chili, coriander, and ginger had made his mouth burn so bad the first time, Naruto almost thought his tastebuds were shot. Today he barely felt it.

After their plates had been picked clean and left in the sink to soak, his grandfather led him down the hall and around the corner to a small training hall. It was a relatively new addition, made using the Wood Style. Naruto couldn't help but marvel at how easily his grandfather could modify the house using it.

Naruto rose an eyebrow when his grandfather took a seat on the raised platform that ran alongside the wooden floor.

"Come, sit. We're only in here so there's extra room." His grandfather explained.

That just made him any more curious. What could he possibly be learning that was safe to do inside the house? Despite his confusion he didn't hesitate to take a seat in front of his grandfather. Madara gave him a slight grin, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"You've been hounding me for quite some time about when we'd get to you bloodlines, I think it's about time we did that." He said.

His eyes widened in delight when his grandfather reached into his robes and produced a few cubes of silvery metal. The cubes made a–click-cling–sound as they bumped together in Madara's palm.

"The Magnet Style? You're gonna teach me the Magnet Style?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Indeed. For now, we'll start off small. Once you're more used to it, we'll work on doing more. What you did when that man attacked you was pure instinct. You have to learn how to control metal intentionally." Madara said.

That managed to dampen his spirits a slight bit. Thinking of the day he'd first used his bloodline reminded Naruto of his earlier thoughts. He frowned lightly.

"You said this was a reward, but after earlier, I thought you were trying to teach me that my training wasn't just about fun." He said.

His grandfather smiled at him softly and gave a slight shake of his head. "It's true your training is serious, but it's okay to enjoy it Naruto. After all, you're a child. The entire reason Hashirama and I created this village was so children could enjoy youth and learn without throwing away their lives in war." He said firmly. "Always remember, you should seize every ounce of enjoyment you can from life. So, cheer up."

Naruto nodded hesitantly. Madara held his gaze for several seconds. There was a playful scowl on his face. He couldn't help it. The silly expression made him giggle. His stomach filled with a pleasant pressure as he laughed. The old man gave a chuckled of his own and ruffled Naruto's hair playfully with his other hand.

"Good, now that I've got that through your thick skull, let's begin." He said. Naruto's protest at the slight went completely ignored. "I know the basics of how to use Magnet Style thanks to my conversations with your grandmother, and seeing it used. These chakra metal cubes should make your first attempt easier. Hold out your hands."

He did as asked and put his hands out. His grandfather tipped the cubes into his cupped palms, the metal was cool to the touch and had a slight weight to them. They must have been fairly dense.

"So, what now?" He asked eagerly.

"Channel your chakra into your hands. Magnet Style is a combination of Wind and Earth. Try to feel the metal. Feel the small grains that make it up. You have to will them to move so fast they make a magnetic charge. There should be a slight tingle to the chakra. It might help to recall how it felt when you first used it." Madara said.

Naruto nodded at the directions. Though his brow furrowed slightly. He wasn't exactly sure how to make a magnetic charge. His best bet was probably trying that last part. 'How did that feel again?'

He closed his eyes and tried to recall that day. The feeling that had flooded him. A greater tingling than he usually felt from his chakra. That sensation of it wanting to push and pull at once. He lost himself in it. Naruto wasn't sure how long it was, but eventually he started to get it. Push and pull. Yes, that was it! Magnets pushed and pulled to cling together or propel away from each other. He tried to imagine it as he channeled his chakra. As his chakra saturated the metal cubes, Naruto felt them hum. Just as his grandfather said, he could feel the metal grains. He could control them, make them move at will! His eyes opened slowly to the sight of the metal cubes floating off his palm.

With a mere thought, he tried to make them move around. The cubes began to orbit slowly above his hand. A grin stretched across his face. He'd done it!

"My, you certainly are unpredictable. One moment you struggle to control your chakra, the next you're getting complex jutsu on the first try." His grandfather said. There was a touch of admiration. It made Naruto blush. He could feel a warmth spread through him. Was this what it felt like when the other kids parents were proud of him? He couldn't help but think it must have been.

As he played with the cubes, making them do tricks and sweep around each other, Naruto suddenly felt a shiver go down his neck. His mind clouded over slightly. Like a distracting thought was dancing at the edge of his thoughts. It almost felt like a mental itch he couldn't scratch. Or somebody poking you incessantly while you tried to ignore them. The sensation was enough to break his concentration and send the cubes to the ground with a dull–thunk.

"Aw man, I had it, ya know!" He exclaimed. 'What the heck was that!'

"Hehehe, looks like there's room for improvement." Madara chuckled.

Naruto shot the old man a dirty look. That just seemed to amuse him more. Eventually he ended up joining him in his mirth. The odd sensation was driven from his thoughts. It wasn't important for now. All that mattered was that in that moment, he was glad to have his grandfather. For the first time he truly started to embrace the idea of being happy. 'This is what it's like to have family.'

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

There you go, sixth chapter down. Kurama has been revealed, and Naruto is now learning how to use his bloodline. I also left an easter egg for one of the changes I made to the backstory. It shouldn't be too hard to figure out for people who read the first version.

Anyways,

Until Next Time,

RinneTaicho, Signing Off!