Chapter 6
Naruto is sitting on his dingy table eating the second-best food he ever had. His uncle (Can you believe that Naruto has an uncle? An uncle?!) went shopping while Naruto was sleeping and cooked him some rice with vegetables. Naruto tried to protest eating them, but his uncle said that he would stay this short forever if he doesn’t eat them. Surprisingly the vegetables taste really good, it must be because is uncle is the greatest cook ever.
“…and when I’ll tell Jirou, Daiko and all their stupid friends that my father is the Yondaime and my uncle came back now, they will be so jealous and beg me to play with them. But I’ll say no, until they beg me on their knees, and I’ll feel bad, ya’know. So, I’m gonna start playing ninja with them and win because I’m a super awesome ninja. And…” Naruto shuffles another spoon full of rice into his mouth.
Nao chuckles and pats him lightly on the head. “Eat slowly Naruto, you’re going to choke. Then everyone will talk about how bad of an uncle I am.”
“No, no you’re the best uncle ever, believe it. You, you carried me home and tucked me into bed. You made me food and even filled my kitchen with new things. Your awesome, oji-san,” Naruto reassure vehemently.
Nao smiles sadly at all the things Naruto took as an extraordinary gesture instead of normal behaviour. He forgot how naïve he had been as a child, taking every small action as the greatest act of kindness. He abandoned that view in life just a couple years ago, thanks to Omoi. His friend/companion/lover (whatever weird relationship they had, they never put a label on it) took him aside one day, after he helped some Konoha civilians by putting up their tent.
“You have to stop, Naruto. You’re going to burn yourself out and then when you walk down the stairs you’ll trip and hit your head as you fall down. You will bleed and Kurama will try to heal you, but he can’t because he was too busy making sure you don’t fall over because you never rest. I’m going to find you bleeding on the floor and call for a medic and I’ll be so worried about you that when the next battle starts, I’ll be so distracted and get injured. You’re going to feel guilty and won’t be able to sleep and everyone is going to blame me and….”
“Omoi!”
“Ah yes. You don’t have to help every single person because they gave you something. You are our leader, Naruto. We can’t have you distracted with tasks that frankly are non of your concern. I know you think you have to repay their kindness, but Naruto you don’t owe them anything. You’re our leader, that isn’t something you should be thankful for. It is a burden not a gift.”
Omoi and Nao had a rather weird relationship. Omoi felt attracted to Nao’s positivity (as nearly everyone else in the alliance) and made sure to always priorities his needs. Konoha shinobi and kunoichi still had the tendency to take him for granted and Omoi made sure that they don’t cross the line. Nao was, for some reason, attracted to Omoi’s rather negative tangents, it was just really cute to see him get lost in his thoughts and start rambling. They started their relationship? after Tsunade’s death.
Omoi just came into his tent one night after Sakura slapped some sense into Nao for felling guilty over Tsunade and everyone else. Omoi told him: “I have nightmares, you have nightmares. So, I’m going to sleep here, maybe it’ll help us.” Somewhere along the way sleeping next to each other turned into cuddles, then kisses and after that well… . Omoi died a couple months later during an ambush, they never talked about what they were, but sometimes Nao dreamed about their future, traveling from Konoha to Kumo to just see each other. Maybe Omoi would’ve moved to Konoha or Nao to Kumo, they would’ve bought a small house with a huge garden and… He had to stop dreaming about those things before he spiraled into his grief once again. Nao hadn’t been in love with Omoi, but he could have been if there hadn’t been a war going on. He would always love the white-haired shinobi for teaching him how to put himself first and showing him that he deserves love and happiness and to never settle for anything in life. He owed him a lot and would make sure that this time Omoi would die old and happy.
First, he had to talk with Naruto. Nao wanted to tell him about his jinchuuriki status, but after all the emotional upheaval today, it would be better to wait a couple of days before the reveal.
“Naruto, I’m your uncle, it’s my job to take care of you. This is nothing you have to thank me for,” he smiles and ruffles his blonde hair. Naruto would never admit it out loud, but the now recurring gesture of hair ruffling, makes him really happy. He saw how parents would put their hand on their children’s hair or comb through it, when they did something amusing or cute. Now Naruto had someone like that in his life, too.
Nao puts his hand on Naruto’s shoulder to make sure he has his attention. His smile still kind but voice more serious, he says: “I know you want to tell everyone who your parents are, but there is a reason for it being kept a secret, Naruto.”
Naruto wants to protest but the hand on his shoulder squeezes gently.
“Your father has a lot of enemies. They would try to hurt you, Naruto. I promised to keep you save and I will, but you telling everyone who your father is, would make it harder. I’m not asking you to keep it a secret, but I also don’t want you running around and screaming it all over the village, okay? Nothing can stay a secret forever, so I won’t be angry with you if it slips out, but I don’t want you actively telling it anyone. Do you understand?”
Naruto stays quiet, he wants to think about what his uncle said before answering. Nao-oji-san didn’t tell him to keep it a secret, but he also said that it would be dangerous if Naruto tells it to anyone. At his confused expression his uncle chuckles. Naruto realizes that Nao does that a lot, and it makes him feel warm and happy knowing that it’s thanks to him.
“I’m telling you that if someone asks who your parents are, you don’t have to lie. Or if someone lies about who your parents are you can correct them, if you want to. But I don’t want you to go around and tell it to everyone, that can be dangerous.”
Naruto nods, “So I should only say it when it comes up and not to everyone because it could put me in danger.”
Nao beams proudly at him and Naruto blushes as warmth fills his chest. They turn back to there food in silence. After they finished eating Naruto helps his uncle with washing the dishes and shows him all his coloured pictures on the fridge and walls. As Nao praises his art, Naruto gathers all his courage and faces his uncle.
“Could you tell me more about my parents, oji-san?” Naruto asks shyly his cheeks back to their bright red colour.
Nao smiles at him, picking the young child up and swinging him in a circle as they move towards the bed facing the window. Naruto is still laughing full of joy as Nao puts him on his lap and looks at the Hokage monument. They spent the rest of the day with Nao telling him about everything his Minato told him during the war. Naruto is sure that he never felt this happy before.
------------------------------------
Team Ro just returned from a weeklong infiltration and assassination mission. It is late in the night, but Konoha is buzzing with tension. Something must have happened.
Anbu Hound leads his team towards HQ to report to commander Dragon. Entering the Headquarters feels like the tension tripled. A couple of Anbu run away at the sight of Hound. They’re normally jumpy around him anyway, but never to the point of running from him. Team Ro give their report anxiously, Hound staying a couple of seconds longer in anticipation of the commander telling him what’s going on, but Dragon dismisses him.
“It’s not just me, right? Something’s going on,” asks Kenji, their genjutsu expert, as they get undressed in their locker room.
Every captain in Anbu has their own locker room. As the captain they can choose members from a roster, they think would be best for missions. Most captains have a set team though, it’s better for teamwork, and rarely change it. In Headquarters Anbu don’t have to wear masks if no new members joined in the last six months. The latest member, a Hyuga, joined about seven months ago, which now allows everyone to walk around without their masks while in HQ. The rule was implemented to keep Anbu identities secret and only allow most trusted shinobi the honor of knowing.
“Did you do something, Kakashi-taicho?” Yuugao, their kenjutsu expert and medic, teases.
Hound removes his mask and moves towards the sink to wash his face, ignoring his subordinates’ question. As the three members of his team start arguing, Tenzo trying to defend him while Yuugao and Kenji tease him, Kakashi tries to think about what could have had happened. Deciding the best way to satisfy his curiosity is by asking around at the lounge, he leaves his team and moves upstairs towards his destination.
“Kakashi’ll freak out! Are you su-,” Raido elbows Genma as he sees Kakashi at the door. The conversations around them stop and everyone tenses up. The Hatake moves forward in a lazy pace, but no one is fooled by the display. The silver haired man‘s predatory gaze puts everyone on edge.
“What’s this about?” Kakashi asks as he sits down across from the two Hokage-guards.
Genma and Raido look at each other and have a silent conversation judging by their changing expression. Kakashi’s single eye bores a hole through their skull and Genma blurts out, “Raido saw someone interesting in Hokage-sama’s office today.”
The scarred tokubetsu-jounin hits his him over the head for it. Feeling Hatake’s expecting gaze on him, he sighs and tries to prepare himself for the shitstorm about to happen.
“Look man try to stay calm, okay?” Raido tries and earns himself a deadpanned look. Rubbing his hands together to get rid of his nerves and not succeeding, he decides to just tell the silver haired man everything and not care about the consequences.
“A man entered the Sandaime’s office and if I didn’t know better, I would have thought the Yondaime came back from the dead,” Kakashi jolts forward, but Raido ignores it. “It wasn’t just them looking alike, but he also had Naruto in his arms,” another twitch. “Well, long story short, the Yondaime had a brother and the Sandaime knew all along. He just came back and is going to take custody over Naruto.”
Kakashi is silent, frozen. The air around him is charged with anticipation. Everyone in Anbu knows how unstable the Hatake is about everything concerning Naruto. This could end with a deadly and overprotective Kakashi or the suicidal Hound.
“What?” asks Kakashi in a disbelieving whisper, pacing around the lounge like a wolf, everyone takes a couple steps back.
“I think his name was Nao,” Yamanaka Ena, also known as Anbu Rabbit, pipes up. As she gains Hound’s sharp scrutiny, she flinches back. “I don’t know more.”
“Are you talking about Namikaze-sama?” everyone looks at the door Itachi just walked through.
“Namikaze-sama?!” Kakashi growls.
Itachi looks at him, not showing any emotions. “Yes, I met him this morning.”
The Uchiha nonchalant attitude takes everyone by surprise, normally he’s very high-strung. The young Anbu walks towards the small kitchenette, as if he doesn’t have the undivided attention of “friend-killer-Kakashi” and every other Anbu and takes out a mug to poor himself a cup of already made tea.
“And…,” Genma implores, realizing that Itachi won’t say more. The child simply raises one eyebrow as if to say: ’And what?’
No one beside Shisui knows that Itachi enjoys gossip. Especially if he is the one with all the information. Any time Shisui tries to tell people that it was actually his little cousin who spread the rumor, they look at him with disappointment and scold him for blaming his innocent cousin. It never fails to amuse Itachi when Shisui starts flailing about how unfair it is.
Itachi makes the smart decision, before Kakashi-taicho blows up. “His name is Namikaze Nao, and Hokage-sama confirmed that he’s the half-brother of the Yondaime. According to Hokage-sama, Minato-sama knew about his brother, but decided to keep it a secret for his safety. When he died, the Sandaime determined it best for Namikaze-sama to go on a deep OP (years long infiltration) to keep Naruto’s heritage a secret, but Namikaze-sama is back now. Hokage-sama seems to respect him a lot and relented rather quickly, when he was told that Naruto meeting his uncle is non-negotiable. The Hokage trusts Nao-sama and so do I. Even if I didn’t, I don’t think I could do him any harm.”
Kakashi looks at Itachi for a couple seconds to register everything he just heard. Giving the young shinobi a thankful nod he shunshins away. He has a Hokage to interrogate.