Chapter 7
Chapter 7: The Truth Has Come
I bit my lip as the woman stood before me, her presence both familiar and utterly foreign. “It’s you. I can tell you’re Naruto!” Her voice was firm, but there was a hint of something softer beneath it—something that tugged at a memory I had buried deep.
I felt Kakashi and his team behind me, their confusion palpable. I could almost hear the silent questions passing between them. Was this another trick? An illusion? My heart raced, caught between disbelief and the rising tide of emotions threatening to overwhelm me.
I glared at the woman, trying to regain some sense of control. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, miss, but you need to leave.”
Her red hair glinted in the dappled sunlight, and her green eyes pierced through my defenses. “It’s me, your mother, Naruto… But how are you a girl, not a boy?”
The words hung in the air, heavy and electrifying. This was impossible. “First, I’ve always been a girl,” I snapped, my voice laced with a mix of anger and confusion. “And second, I am not Naruto. I am Hana Kagame!”
The revelation felt like a slap in the face, and I could see the gears turning in Kakashi’s mind as he tried to process what was happening. I could sense Sasuke and Sakura tense up behind me, their reactions blending curiosity with apprehension. The air around us crackled with tension.
My mother—Kushina Uzumaki, the princess of Uzuagure and the last survivor of the royal Uzumaki clan—was alive before me, just like the rumors had said. The very idea seemed absurd. I had spent my life mourning the loss of a family I never really knew. The man beside her, his blond hair glittering in the sun, stepped forward. “It’s a long story; we can explain.”
I suppressed a laugh, my emotions swirling in confusion and anger. “What?”
The man before me sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Naruto, please come back to the village. We can fix this!”
I forced my heartbeat to steady as I casually ran a hand through my red hair. Damn it. How did he find me? “Listen, I am Hana Kagame. I don’t know what the hell you’re on about, but I need to continue my film, so excuse me!” Turning around, I ignored the pair, but a tri-pronged kunai flew past me with a yellow flash, and suddenly, my father stood before me, his expression urgent.
“Wait!” he exclaimed, blocking my path. The annoyance boiled in my chest as I pulled out my sword, and pointed it at him. “I said I am not Naruto!”
“Damn it, Hana, just listen!” He looked almost desperate, and for a moment, I felt the long-buried need for a family I had grown up without surge within me. “If you don’t leave, I’ll ask Kakashi to take me down. I assume you’re a fake one. The Fourth Hokage I recalled died on the night of the Nine-Tails.”
Silently, Minato’s body was engulfed in Nine-Tails chakra, and I knew he wouldn’t hold back. Luckily, I had a contingency plan. Kurama snickered within me, teasingly nudging at my defenses. Minato lifted my shirt, searching for a seal. “...I am sorry. I believed you were my son...I am sorry..."
The moment hung in the air like a thick fog, and my heart twisted painfully at his words. I watched as they turned away, the confusion and desperation on their faces palpable. In my mind, both Kurama and I snickered at our trick.
I let out a huff of frustration, pushing back against the storm of emotions. “You think I’m your son? Then sexually harass me! Tch, I hate shinobi.” After sending Kakashi’s team away, I went back to filming, determined to bury this encounter beneath layers of work.
Skip: One Year Later
A year had passed since that fateful day, and the Fourth Shinobi War had erupted and ended in the span of months. I had retreated to a remote island, far from the chaos of the Hidden Leaf Village and its tangled history. My days were filled with quiet contemplation, and I found solace in the simple pleasure of sipping tea while watching the sunset over the ocean.
But today felt different. As I savored the warm liquid, a sudden chill crept down my spine, a familiar sensation that signaled someone was approaching. My senses heightened, and I set my cup down, listening intently as footsteps crunched on the gravel path leading to my secluded spot.
I glanced toward the sound, my heart pounding. The door burst open. Anbu from Konohagakure. It was sadly only a few seconds, and I was teleported back to Konohagakure. I glared at Minato Namikaze, his expression a mix of urgency and determination. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but if this keeps up, I will get mad.”
Minato raised his hands, trying to calm me. “Hana—Naruto—we need you back in the village. There’s no time for games. The war may be over, but the aftermath is just beginning. We can’t do this without you.”
“Do what? Act like a family?” I shot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’ve spent a year building a life away from all of that. You think I want to go back to being a pawn in your shinobi world?”
“We’re not asking you to be a pawn,” Kushina interjected, her voice steadier now. “We’re asking you to be part of something bigger. There are still threats out there, and we need your strength, your connection to Kurama.”
I felt a flicker of the power within me at the mention of the beast, a reminder of the potential I had been trying to leave behind. “Why should I trust you? You abandoned me once. What’s stopping you from doing it again?”
Minato’s face hardened, and I could see the pain etched in his features. “We had no choice. You have to understand… Things were happening that you couldn’t comprehend. You were safer away from us.”
“Safer? You think hiding me away is safety?!” My voice rose, the anger bubbling to the surface. “I was alone! I built my life from scratch while you two played house back in the village!”
Kakashi, who had been standing quietly in the background, stepped forward. “Hana, we’re not here to fight. We just need you to listen. There are things you don’t know about the events that led to your birth, about the prophecy surrounding you.”
“Prophecy?” I echoed, my skepticism rising. “You left me for a fucking prophecy....”
Suddenly, Kurama’s chakra enveloped me in a protective surge. I could feel the power rising within me, a mix of anger and determination. The air crackled with energy as I leveled my gaze at them. “You think I’m just going to accept this? Do you think you can drag me back into that life? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I FUCKING WENT THROUGH?!”
Without waiting for a response, I concentrated, harnessing Kurama’s chakra to vanish from their sight, leaving behind only the faintest shimmer of my presence. The world blurred around me as I teleported away, determined to reclaim my solitude and escape the tangled web of family expectations and shinobi politics once more.
At that moment, I felt both liberated and lost, a fugitive running from a past I wasn’t sure I wanted to confront.