Chapter 1
A young blonde haired boy sleepily drifts. There's a sensation of someone rocking him.
It's dark.
But it's the type of dark that's comforting, safe and warm - the kind you find while snuggled under your bed covers at night. It's completely different from the bad kind of darkness; where you have to run, fear thundering in your ears and your heart in your throat as you desperately try to hide from the monsters chasing you.
He can tell, he knows the difference well.
The boy sighs, content to just listen as the person holding him croons softly.
The singer is female, her voice a low rich alto. The voice is strangely familiar, bringing to mind the blurry image of a woman. To the young blond's frustration, the only things he can make out about the woman is her crimson red hair and her large, breathtaking smile.
Who is she? He can't remember. He never can remember.
The tune the woman sings is familiar. The boy swears he's heard this tune before, how the melody builds and fades.
The boy inhales, tasting a pleasantly tangy yet salty breeze. It's also strangely familiar, but the boy cannot place it.
Beyond the singing, there is the sound of rushing water.
The blond frowns, trying to place the sound. It takes a moment, then he realizes it.
Waves. He was hearing waves.
It's nostalgic, how familiar it all is and all too soothing to the boy.
The blond smiles, snuggling deeper into the woman's arms. He sinks into a peaceful bliss that had he been awake, he would have desperately grasped with all his might, just to keep it a little longer.
The young boy drifts, listening to the faint song and sound of water…
**BEEP!** **BEEP!** **BEEP!**
Naruto awakens with a start, jackknifing up on the bed. He flails, half off the bed and partially tangled in his bed sheets. Then gravity takes hold, sending him to the floor.
*Crash!*
“Ugh…” Naruto groans, the last vestiges of the dream quickly fading away. “Dang it, not again…”
The boy sits up on one elbow and tiredly wipes at his eyes. He ignores the gut-wrenching ache of loss in his chest. It never fails to surface whenever he awakens from that dream. That feeling of complete safety, secure in knowing he's loved… He's never really had it.
The only time he even came close was when he was with Jiji, or at Ichiraku's. He rarely saw Jiji anymore with how busy he was and he only could see Ayame and Teuchi when he had enough money to buy a few ramen bowls.
The rarity of the feeling made it all the more precious to Naruto.
‘At least that dream is better than my nightmares.’ He muses, struggling to untangle the sheets wrapped around his lower body.
Naruto doggedly shakes off the phantom imagery that was brought to mind - the overwhelming sensation of fear and pain, of shadowy people laughing and taunting him and the harsh impacts of objects and fists pummeling him.
In those dreams, he never gets away and Kohona's paved streets run red with his blood.
Naruto refuses to acknowledge the fact those nightmares were actually his memories from when he was left to fend for himself on the streets.
It is the only way he could stay sane.
Naruto finally succeeds in untangling himself from his bedding and stands. He slams his hand down on the still blaring alarm, shutting it off.
Yawning heartily, the blond makes his way out to his small living room/ kitchen.
He fills the kettle on his small stove with tap water and sets it to boil for his instant ramen. Naruto sleepily stares at the dented silver appliance, willing it to go faster.
'Why does it take so long to prepare such Rameny Goodness?!' His stomach snarls in agreement, demanding the tribute that was the food of the gods.
Finally, the kettle whistles.
Naruto snatches it off the stove and quickly pours the hot water into his ramen cup. He barely lets it cool before scarfing the food, ignoring the blistering pain from his burnt tongue. Naruto knows the pain will go away soon, just like it always has.
All too soon, his lovely ambrosia was gone. Naruto stares sadly at the empty cup in front of him. He wishes there was more.
A sly thought whispers to him, that there was more ramen in his cupboard that he could eat…
No, no! Naruto violently shakes his head, scolding himself. What was he thinking!? He has to save it! If he eats it now he won't have anything else to eat through the week until Jiji gives him his allowance!
Better to wait and savor it over time, rather than be hungry with nothing left to eat. Naruto learned this lesson the hard way when he was younger and refuses to have it happen again.
With a supreme amount of effort, Naruto discards the empty ramen cup into the trash and shuffles into his bathroom for his daily ablutions.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Naruto steps out of his shower and runs the ratty towel he managed to scavenge from a dumpster over his soaked locks. He just happens to glance at the cracked bathroom clock hanging on the wall.
09:20
The boy squawks in alarm. “I’m late!”
He rushes around his apartment, throwing random Academy supplies into his pack while hopping into his white t-shirt with the will of fire symbol on it and a pair of blue shorts that were laying on his bedroom floor.
Naruto zips out his apartment window and swiftly bounds towards the Academy. He barely arrives on time and slides into an open seat, breathing harshly.
'That was way too close!'
The boy pillows his head on his arms, half lying over his desk as he waits for class to start. Naruto's ears prick as he overhears the excited chattering between some students huddled together nearby.
"Are you guys excited for today?!" One student exclaims. "We're finally learning the Academy Three!"
"I know!" Another squeals, "This is so awesome! With this we'll be one step closer to being actual ninja!"
Naruto perks up, a large grin on his face. ‘That’s right!' He realizes, 'Today’s the day we’ll learn the hand signs for the three academy jutsu! Aw yeah, this’ll be great!’
His enthusiasm wanes a bit as the day drags on, having to suffer through the Academy sensei droning on about history, cyphers and other Academy subjects, but Naruto manages to pay attention for most of the whole day.
Naruto's enthusiasm returns full force as the whole class files outside for justu practice and the prerequisite lecture held just before lunch.
Nearly vibrating with excitement, he waits with the other students for the teacher to start the lecture, when an angry yell pierces the air.
“Naruto!”
Uh oh. It's Hidaka Yori-sensei.
For some reason Naruto can't understand, this Sensei hates him. Hidaka is always giving Naruto detentions, even when he didn't do anything!
The other kids in the academy quickly figured out that they could blame Naruto for anything. Naruto would always take the fall for any type of prank or misbehavior if the other kids said that he did it. Yori-sensei wouldn't even question it.
The other Academy students gleefully turn to watch the unfolding drama as the ninjutsu teacher stalks towards the apprehensive boy.
Hidaka looms over the young blond, glaring down at Naruto.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The Chunin instructor growls.
“...Waiting for class, sensei.” The boy replies, steeling himself for the inevitable.
The man’s scowl grows when he hears this.
“No, you're distracting the students!” The teacher roars, inches from Naruto’s face. “Unacceptable! Now get out!”
“B-but—”
“OUT!”
Shoulders hunched, Naruto leaves the training ground amid the derisive laughter of his class. He ends up wandering the village for a time, hands stuffed in his pockets as he stews.
‘Stupid sensei! I wasn’t doing anything, yet he throws me out! What a jerk!’
Naruto kicks a small pebble down the village street as he sulks. 'Why does he hate me? I didn't even do anything to him! I'm always getting blamed for stuff and the other kids that did it get away with it. They think it's so funny too.'
Naruto scowls. He stomps off the street and into a park. The few civilians in the park scatter when they see him, driving Naruto's mood down even further. The blond Academy student sullenly watches them flee with clenched fists.
'I'm tired of it. I'm tired of all of it. The hateful glares, the laughter as I'm given another detention for stupid Saiki's pranks, getting rotten food and broken bottles thrown at me by mobs of drunk people during the Kyubi festival...'
Naruto sits on a lone swing, holding onto the sturdy rope. 'No one sees how hard I'm working. It hurts.'
Naruto hangs his head. His eyes burn. The lap of his shorts become spotted with water marks. The boy furiously wipes at his eyes with the back of his hand, mad at himself for being so helpless and mad at the world for being so cruel.
"No more!" He cries, jumping off of the swing. His fists clench so hard, his knuckles are white. "I won’t take this lying down anymore! Sorry Jiji, but emulating the Sage and letting it go just isn't working. If they want to treat me badly, I'll just show them how bad it is to cross me."
Naruto breathes out as he looks up. Steely determination glints in his eyes. 'From now on, it's war. Anything they do to me, I'll pay back tenfold. They'll rue the day for trying to mess with Naruto Uzumaki!'
~~Some time later~~~
*BOOM!*
“Naruto!” An enraged voice bellows.
Laughing maniacally, a lovely young lady races out the side of a well-to-do restaurant and into the street. She squawks, twisting awkwardly in her kimono to avoid a few kunai thrown by the paint-covered Chunin chasing after her.
One of the kunai just barely nicks her form, dispelling the transformation and revealing the blond prankster in all of his jumpsuited glory.
Without missing a beat, Naruto darts through the pedestrian traffic and veers into the alleyways of Konoha. Palming a blunt kunai, he slices a barely visible wire as he darts past.
*Clang!*
A scream of utter fury rends the air. “Brat! I will get you for this!”
Naruto risks a look back to see his teacher, Hidaka covered in feathers and the pail they were previously held in now stuck on the man’s head, thanks to the fast drying glue applied around the pail’s rim.
Hidaka tugs at the pail as he stumbles around, banging into the grimy walls of the alley and tripping over various pieces of trash, the Chunin screaming obscenities all the while.
Naruto giggles at the sight. 'Oh, I'll never get tired of this! This is justice well deserved!'
His self assigned mission now complete, the blond prankster turns back around and darts through the winding alleyways and back into foot traffic, leaving his raging and ranting Chunin sensei in the dust.
But like anything, luck doesn't last forever. And Naruto's luck just ran out.
Word had spread from the restaurant about his latest prank and the various ninja and civilians caught in the restaurant's paint bomb blast banded together, forming a mob to hunt Naruto down.
And they just found him on Kohona's busy market street.
"There he is!" Someone cries.
Naruto inwardly groans. 'Ah shoot! I thought I had more time!'
The busy street falls into utter chaos as the mob charges. Ninja spring into action, snatching children and civilians alike out of the ravening mob's path. People scream in fear and anger.
Produce from the market stalls is knocked down and trampled underfoot as the mob surges towards Naruto. Several of the mob members take initiative, grabbing whatever is nearby and flinging it at the blonde.
“Seriously?!” The blond cries as he dodges various projectiles. “You people can’t think of something better to do than flinging crap at me?!”
Naruto spins on one foot to avoid the strike of a broken wooden stave and darts off towards the alleyways.
The alleyways of Kohona are a twisted labyrinth that is almost impossible to navigate. As a result, they are rarely used, which Naruto uses to his advantage. He knows these alleys like the back of his hand. Anyone who pursues him and is unable to keep up with the blond will get lost when they try to chase him here.
It's his favorite tactic, especially when he seeds the area with his own traps. His pursuers never see it coming.
Naruto passes his first trap and sets it off. He snickers at the furious cries that erupt behind him.
He continues down the alleys, setting off more traps. Each trap set off gains him more lead time for his escape. Conversely, it also further enrages the people chasing him. A few more people end up joining the mob after Naruto when they get caught in the released trap’s crossfire.
It's a merry chase until Naruto runs out of traps. With nothing left to slow the shinobi in the crowd down, they quickly herd him out of the alleys and finally corner Naruto near the cliffside of one of the training grounds.
Several members of the mob brandish weapons, both actual and makeshift.
'Crap. I am so done for.' Naruto bemoans as he frantically looks for a way out.
Swish.
The crowd’s blood thirst falters when several armored and masked figures appear on the scene.
Anbu. More specifically, the Anbu team charged by the Third Hokage to watch over Naruto and keep him safe.
‘Oh thank Kami.’ Naruto breathes out a quiet sigh of relief. ‘With Anbu here, the crowd won’t try to string me up or beat me.”
“Go home.” One of the masked Anbu intones in a flat voice. His spiky and gravity defying white hair waves in the breeze. The shinobi's lopsided hairstyle is barely noticable when compared to the snarling Anbu dog mask over his face.
The civilians in the crowd grumble but comply. They know better than to argue against their shadowy protectors. They drop their rotten fruit, broken glass bottles and clubs, shooting Naruto hateful glares as they disperse.
But that is all the Anbu do. Once the civilians have left, most of the Anbu squad melts away, leaving the white-haired Anbu member behind. They regard Naruto with a cocked head.
“Bring him to the Hokage.” The white haired Anbu captain commands. Then they too disappear, leaving Naruto on his own against several angry ninja.
“Wha?” Naruto yelps, whipping his head around to try and locate the elite ninja that were just protecting him. “You traitors! Don’t you dare leave me!”
The shinobi from the mob quickly spread out around Naruto to make sure he can’t escape. Several of them snicker as they pull out rope and shinobi wire. They waste no time in tying Naruto up and dragging him off to the Hokage's office.
The blond prankster did not make the trip easy for them, having just enough experience to make the entire trek back a complete nightmare for the ninja “escorting” him.
-Hokage’s Office-
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, eyes the various paint stains, feathers, tar and other substances splattered on the irritated ninja standing before him. The aged Hokage takes his smoking pipe from his mouth and sighs tiredly.
“What did he do this time?” He asks the congregated ninja.
The various ninja each explain their involvement; how they were caught off guard as Naruto blasted past them, setting off various traps as he went… but none of them knew what started the whole thing, as they all had joined the group of people already chasing Naruto.
Sarurobi sighs as a hidden Anbu operative reports that most of the injuries and property damage were caused by the mob in the market street area. As for Naruto, some of his pranks left gunk spattered across the cobblestones, sides and the roofs of various buildings. If it isn't cleaned up it will be counted as property damage as well, and a misdemeanor for the aspiring shinobi.
'I'll have Naruto clean that up as part of his punishment, depending on the reason for the prank.' The Third Hokage decides.
As the Anbu finishes their report, a light knock comes from the office doors.
“Hokage-sama, some civilians have come to explain the situation.” One of Hiruzen’s secretaries reports.
“Hmm. Let them in.”
The civilians file into the room, making it quite crowded from all the people packed into the office. Sarutobi notes with amusement that the civilians are much worse off than the shinobi in the room with the amount of gunk spattered onto them.
‘His aim is getting better.’
The Hokage fixes the civilians in front of him with a look. “Report.” He smoothly orders, taking a draw from his pipe.
The civilians tell their stories one by one and how they got into the mess. One particular civilian breathlessly states that they were present at the start of it all, that Naruto had transformed into a popular waitress at a famous restaurant and served a paint bomb primed bento to one of the Academy sensei.
After the prank Naruto took off and the infuriated sensei gave chase, along with several others who were also hit by the prank.
'So now we get down to the bottom of it.'
The Hokage withdraws the pipe from his mouth and blows out a ring of smoke. “Thank you all for your time today. I will decide Naruto’s punishment accordingly, in light of his misdeeds.”
The mob of people grumble at the clear dismissal, having wanted to witness the prankster’s sentencing. But in the Hidden Village in the Leaves, the Hokage's word is law. They all shuffle out of the office.
The door clicks shut.
With the office cleared, Sarutobi then turns to Naruto and shakes his head. He points the tip of his pipe at the blonde, admonishing, “Naruto, you should know better by now. You’re at an age where you should be focusing on your learning, not causing pranks during class time.”
The Hokage continues talking about a ninja’s responsibility and duty to learn while in the Academy. Naruto automatically tunes the rest of it out, having heard it many times before.
“—and that’s why I hope you will put more effort into your studies. You do want to be Hokage one day, yes?”
With those magic words, Naruto snaps back into awareness, wiping a bit of drool from the corner of his mouth. “Hwah? Um-yeah, I do!” He blinks and grins sheepishly at the deadpan look the Hokage is directing at him. ‘Uh oh. I don’t want him to scold me again. Quick Naruto, distract him!’
“He heh, sorry Jiji.” The boy apologizes, rubbing the back of his head. He then changes the subject by asking, “Hey Jiji, do you know who Uzumaki Kushina is?”
The old man pales and chokes on his pipe.
Naruto stares at the Third Hokage, taken aback as the man beats his chest while coughing. He didn’t think his question would cause such a dramatic reaction!
When Hiruzen recovers, he pins Naruto with his gaze, demanding, “Where did you hear that name?”
Naruto shrugs. “Some Chunin that laughed at my prank today commented that she would have loved it. They called her a ‘Red Pepper’ or something.” Naruto makes a face. “Sounds like a lousy nickname if you ask me. I mean, a pepper? Come on!”
‘So he knows. Or will know, if he puts his mind to it and connects the dots.’ Sarutobi lets Naruto ramble on, quietly pondering. ‘Is it too soon to tell him about his heritage? He’s still so young… There’s also the fact that Naruto will tell anyone he can about his mother once he knows. I know it’ll be because he’s proud of his mother, but once those who knew Kushina well hear of it, they will put two and two together.’
The thought causes the Third Hokage’s grip to tighten on his pipe, the wood creaking in protest of the treatment. ‘They’ll guess who Naruto’s father is, since Naruto looks just like him. He’s not ready for that yet. To be honest, he’s not ready to have Kushina’s enemies aiming for him either...’
“—A kickass shinobi–or well kunoichi, I guess–should have a proper nickname! Like the Death Cleaver! Or or, the Phoenix Blade! Yeah, that’s a great one!” Naruto cheers, completely oblivious to the fact the Hokage wasn’t listening to him.
The Third Hokage sighs, feeling the weight of his years catching up to him. ‘Damn you Minato. I finally pass the hat onto you, then you go and leave me with this mess!’
“—and the funny thing is, we both have the same last name…” Naruto voices, his face scrunched from thinking so hard. The boy’s eyes widen as he realizes something. ”Wait, does that mean we’re related?!”
The thought makes the excitable boy bounce in place.
‘And there he goes, making those incredible jumps of logic again.’ A sad pang aches in Hiruzen’s chest as he watches the blond. ‘He’s so much like you Kushina. I wish you could have seen this.’
The Professor takes a deep draw of his pipe, closing his eyes. ‘Do I lie to him, tell him he was given the name in honor of the last Uzumaki who fell on the 10th? If I do lie, it will damage our relationship when Naruto finds out I purposefully hid this information from him.’ The thought of having the cheerful boy, whom Hirzen saw as a grandson, hate him makes the Third Hokage wince. ‘No, let’s not go that far. I could keep silent and protect him a bit longer and allow him to grow more, but that will still strain our relationship... Do I take the risk and tell him now?’
After deliberating the pros and cons, the God of Shinobi comes to a decision.
“Yes Naruto, it does.” The Hokage heavily says, tiredly watching the boy in front of him.
“—That would be great, she’s got a nickname and—Wait, what?!” Naruto shrieks, screeching to a stop. He whips around to stare at Hiruzen, stunned.
The Hokage snorts at the boy’s reaction. ‘Yes, so much like you.’
Puffing on his pipe, Sarutobi explains, “I was hoping to tell you this when you were older… But since you’ve figured it out already, this is as good a time as any to tell you.” He raises his eyes to meet the young blond’s. “Naruto, Uzumaki Kushina is your mother.”
The young boy stands there, dumbfounded at the sudden revelation. Tears gather in his eyes as Naruto, utterly heartbroken, whispers, “Wha—why didn’t you tell me, dattebayo?”
The Hokage lets out a great sigh. “That is a tale in and of itself. Come and sit.” He motions over to a nearby seating arrangement at the corner of his office, moving around his desk to sit across from Naruto.
Once settled, Naruto gives the old man an expectant look. Hiding a smile, the Hokage questions, “Tell me, what do you know about the Uzumaki clan?”
“The Uzumaki clan?” Naruto parrots, confused.
“Yes Naruto.”
The old man waits for a moment, then exasperatedly pinches the bridge of his nose at the sight of Naruto’s uncomprehending face.
“If you had been paying attention in your history classes, you would know about them.” Hiruzen rebukes, giving the young blond a look.
Naruto chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry, Jiji, but that stuff is so boring! Even if the teacher’s good, history is hard to pay attention to, dattebayo!”
The Hokage shakes his head at the boy’s short attention span and starts lecturing. “The Uzumaki were the Leaf’s nominal allies, based in the Land of Whirlpools. It’s just off our coast, in between us, Kumo and Kiri. They were the main clan of their hidden village, much like the Senju and Uchiha were for the Leaf.
Unfortunately, the hidden village and the rest of the Whirlpool archipelago were destroyed by the combined forces of Kiri, Kumo and Iwa during the Second Shinobi World War. As far as we know, your mother was one of the only survivors of the clan's main line. To honor our fallen allies, we incorporated the Uzumaki clan symbol onto the backs of our flack jackets.”
Naruto sits quietly, digesting this. Hushed, he asks, “Can--can you tell me more about my mom?”
Hiruzen smiles indulgently. “Indeed I can. Your mother came from the Uzumaki clan’s main line, who had close blood relations to Uzu’s daimyo. The Uzumaki’s main line were considered royalty on the island, having multiple clans underneath them; both ninja and civilian, that supported them.”
Naruto hangs on the Hokage’s every word, eyes wide and earnest.
Sarutobi leans back into the chair, puffing on his pipe thoughtfully.
“Your mother had the bright red hair that is a trademark of the Uzumaki clan and blue grey eyes, like the ocean on a stormy day. As a young genin, your mother was just like you, a vivacious tomboy that was loud, passionate and loved pranks. She had quite a fiery temper to go with her vibrant hair.” He chuckles. “The kids that were with her in the Academy quickly learned to fear her, calling her the ‘Red Hot Habanero’, due to her hair and temper.”
“Your mother was an accomplished fuinjutsu and kenjutsu user, one of our best, in fact. So much so that in the Third Shinobi war, she was called the ‘Crimson Death’. She died along with many other ninja on the night of the 10th.” The Third Hokage smiles sadly at Naruto. “She would have been proud of you and loved you very much, Naruto.”
Naruto sniffs, wiping at his eyes with his sleeves. “Thanks, Jiji.”
Sarutobi nods as he clambers to his feet, groaning as his back cracks loudly. “I’m getting too old for this.” He mutters, walking over to a section of wall in the office. Then in a louder voice, comments, “Actually Naruto, I think I have some things she wanted you to have.”
Naruto sits bolt upright, practically vibrating on the seat. “Really?!” He exclaims, eyes wide with hope.
“Really.” The Sandaime gifts him with a brief smile before turning back to the wall. “Now where did I put it… Ah, here it is!”
With a quick gesture, he knicks his thumb on his teeth, smearing the welling blood on a specific section of the wall. A brief pulse of chakra from the venerable ninja causes a shifting and glowing design to appear on the wall.
The golden lines swirl before disgorging a large scroll, almost as tall as the Hokage himself. “This seal here is actually one of your mother’s works.” Sarutobi comments, gesturing to the now fading marks on the wall.
Naruto stares, jaw hanging. “What the–it just–squigglies–scroll?!!” He blurts out.
Sarutobi laughs. “That Naruto is a seal. One to store its contents and hide its visibility until someone who is keyed into the seal’s matrix puts blood on it and unlocks the seal with a pulse of chakra.” He cleans off his desk, laying the supersized scroll on it with a slight *Thump*.
“Now,” he murmurs, “This particular scroll is special. To open it I need some of your blood, Naruto.”
The boy hops off of his seat and hurries over. He pricks his thumb like Sarutobi did on his sharp canines and unthinkingly offers the digit to the man.
The Hokage gently takes the young boy’s thumb, pressing it onto the center of a design winding its way down the scroll, where an iconic spiralling circle is. Hiruzen then places his own bleeding thumb beside Naruto’s and pushes another brief pulse of chakra.
The design on the scroll shines and shifts, prompting Naruto to instinctively pull away from the light show. “It’s all right, Naruto.” The man reassures him. “That was me keying you into the seal so you can open this whenever you want.”
With that done, he opens the scroll across the desk. “Let’s see what she left for you.”
Naruto grips the edge of the desk, hefting himself up to see. He spies another seal within the scroll. “Hey, it’s another one of those seal thingys!” He cries excitedly.
“Quite so.” The Hokage nods, “This, Naruto, is a storage scroll. It can hold a surprising amount of things within it.” He works as he continues to explain, “Now most storage scrolls just need a bit of blood and chakra to open. You trace your blood on this line like so, a pulse of chakra and… Ha!”
A thick plume of smoke erupts from the scroll, right in Naruto’s face.
Coughing, Naruto drops to the floor, waving the smoke away from him. When the air clears, there’s a haphazard pile of various sized hard and soft cover books and random papers on the scroll.
“Books?” Naruto blurts, dejected and slightly disgusted, “She left me books?!”
“Not just that, Naruto.” The Hokage chides. “These are mainly her fuinjutsu notes, journals and the journals of her shishou; who lived all the way back in Uzushio, if I remember correctly.”
Naruto slumps, kicking at the desk. “What good does that stuff do?” He complains. “Reading’s boring!”
The boy huffs and flops dramatically on the floor. “You got me all excited for nothing Jiji!”
The Hokage ignores him, having heard Naruto's complaints against the written word many times before and riffles through the pile. He makes a thoughtful noise, surprised at his find. “There’s a few pictures in here too.”
That was highly unusual. Personal cameras only came out a few years before Naruto’s birth and still are pricey today. Only the richest and highest ranked shinobi of Kohona could afford them.
So Naruto’s reaction was completely understandable.
“Wait, what?! Let me see!” The kid squawks, scrambling over to the Hokage’s side.
The old man carefully hands him a few polaroids. Naruto handles them reverently, taking a slow look at each one.
All the pictures contain a lady in various stages of her life. A few pictures show just the lady, but most of them show her with other people, in various posed and candid shots.
Using deductive reasoning, Naruto realizes that this girl must be his mother. With that, he focuses intently on the first picture in the pile.
It’s a colored photo of Kushina and a dark haired lady. Both adults are clad in flak jackets, hitai-ate and the typical jounin attire. Despite having their arms thrown around each other’s shoulders, the two women are a study in contrasts.
The dark haired woman has finely crafted noble features and dark eyes. She’s more reserved than Kushina, giving the camera a serene smile while the redheaded kunoichi practically hangs off of her, a wide foxy grin on her face. With her other hand, Kushina flashes the camera a peace sign.
Naruto can’t help but grin stupidly at the picture. ‘Heh, her smile is just like mine! I have my mom’s smile!’
With that thought, Naruto then moves his focus onto comparing his features to his mother’s.
‘She has my eye shape and cheekbones… but my coloring is completely different from hers. Huh, I must get it from dad.’ The blond offhandedly realizes. ‘It’s too bad, it’d be cool to have red hair… Hey, I could use that for a prank!’
Naruto giggles at the thought. The movement shifts the pile of pictures in his hand. The young Academy student hurriedly steadies them, not wanting his mother’s precious mementos to fall on the floor. When he does, Naruto’s sensitive fingers accidentally run across fine divots on the back of a picture.
‘Huh. That’s weird. Wonder what it is.’
Naruto slides the picture out of the pile and turns it around. There’s kanji written in pencil on the back. The blond squints at the fine strokes for a moment, trying to decipher it.
But it’s too hard. No matter how Naruto tries to make sense of it, he just can’t read it.
‘Must be a description or something.’ Naruto decides, then looks at the smaller notation beside it. This he recognises.
‘Hey, these are numbers! I can read these!’ The boy squints at the paper and holds it close to his face, as if being any closer to it would divulge the answer. ‘Uh... something... 3... 28…103…'
'Is it the date of when the picture was taken?’ Naruto tilts his head as he thinks. ‘...Yeah, probably.’
With that Naruto loses interest in the picture. He moves on to look at the next one.
This is a colored photo as well. His mother is around the same age as the last photo, dressed in casual clothes. It looks like she’s at a picnic with other people.
There’s someone walking behind Kushina, but with the person being so high up in the frame, their body is cut off at the waist. The person is wearing shinobi blues with the pants taped down at the shin over their shinobi sandals. Other than that, there’s no distinguishing features to tell who the person is.
Naruto gives it barely any thought and instead focuses on his mother.
Kushina lounges on a checkered picnic blanket, propped up on her elbows. Her head is thrown back in a laugh and her long red hair flutters behind her in the breeze.
‘She’s really pretty.’ Naruto realizes with a pang.
Naruto notes that the same lady who was in the last picture with his mom, is in this one too. She’s sitting nearby Kushina, dressed in a kimono with her hair down. The lady is pointing back at Kushina, a smirking laugh on her face. The woman’s chin is slightly tucked and there’s a devilish gleam in her eyes.
Naruto stares at the woman. ‘There’s something about her that’s really familiar… But where have I seen her before?’
...
“...Eh, not important.” He eventually decides, dismissing the nagging sensation.
‘...They must have been good friends, this lady and my mom.’ Naruto realizes, looking at the interactions between Kushina and the lady. ‘But if they were such good friends, surely she would have taken me in?’
Naruto’s heart twinges at the thought.
A cold voice in his head hisses, She couldn’t have been such a good friend. You don’t even know who she is! She hasn’t visited you, not once! She obviously doesn’t care about the friendship she had with Kushina, or you!
Naruto flinches away from the horrible thought. In an effort to squash it, he quickly moves on to the next photo.
The next picture is an old monochrome. It’s creased in places and clearly well loved. It shows a much younger Kushina, around Naruto’s age.
She’s in very different clothes than he’s used to, with warpaint on her face. The picture manages to catch her in midair, ambushing a few other kids in similar clothes and warpaint from above. Her mouth is open in a silent warcry, her eyes alight with fierce determination and exhilaration.
Naruto blinks, a bit surprised to have a picture as old as this one. He didn’t realize they had cameras that far back.
The last picture is also a colored one, showing the young vibrant redheaded lady, her hair held back by her hitai-ate. She’s in a flak jacket again, grinning widely at the camera as she leans over a trio of boys, ruffling their hair fondly. They don’t seem to appreciate it, judging by their expressions.
One of the boys wears a purplish blue turtleneck over shinobi pants. His dark brown hair pokes out from underneath an askew blue bandana with the Konoha hitai-ate on it. He stares deadpan at the camera, clearly unimpressed with the situation.
The second boy standing beside the first one has mussed, spiky blue hair and the standard blue Konoha hitai-ate. A trio of bandages accentuate his chin and cheeks. He wears a blue turtleneck with a grey scarf thrown on top and shinobi pants. Two large handles with kunai loops poke above the boy’s shoulders. The boy’s mouth is open like he’s yelling, his head tilted to the side from the pressure Kushina’s exerting on him with her hand.
The third boy has slightly shaggy black hair and green eyes. He wears a sleeveless hoodie over a t-shirt and the standard shinobi pants and sandals. He’s batting away at Kushina’s hand with a pissed off expression, trying to keep her away from his disheveled hair. His hitai-ate hangs around his neck.
Naruto snickers, then sobers.
‘Those kids… They should be adults now. They never visited me either.’ A part of Naruto wonders what happened to them and the lady. ‘...Maybe they're dead. If they are, it’s not like they could visit me anyway, right?’
The morbid thought is cold comfort. With a shake, Naruto focuses back on the pictures held in his hand.
This is his mother. Uzumaki Kushina.
These pictures are part of her legacy to him. He feels slightly pathetic, feeling so grateful to have just this pitiful handful of pictures. The other kids at the Orphanage were lucky if they had something even remotely close to this. No one there had pictures of their parents, as far as he knew.
It made him feel special.
“Kaa-chan…” He breathes, testing out the word. It feels strange, finally having a face to go with that elusive mother figure he knew he once had.
Abruptly overwhelmed, he looks up at the Hokage. “This is it, Jiji? This is what she left me?”
The Sandaime smiles, eyes twinkling. “Not quite. If you could hold these...” He drops the rest of the books and papers into Naruto’s hands. The boy staggers under the weight, random papers flying about and fluttering to the floor.
Naruto carefully sets down the books and gathers up the fallen papers, stacking them neatly and returning them to the top of the pile. When he looks up, he sees the Hokage is waiting for him, a mischievous grin on his face.
“The fun thing about storage scrolls is that they can hold multiple seals at once, so long as you have a long enough paper to put them on.” The Hokage confides, unrolling the scroll to reveal multiple seals marching down the paper.
“Whoa…” Naruto breathes, eyes wide. “And they all have stuff in there for me?”
“I believe they do.” Sarutobi quickly glances at the dying light coming through the office windows. “But you can look at the rest later. It’s getting close to dinner time.” The Hokage rolls up the scroll so just the first seal is showing. “If you would hand me the books and papers, I’ll show you how to reseal items in the scroll once you are done using them.” Naruto hands him the aforementioned books and papers.
“Thank you. Now, this is how you reseal items for storage scrolls. You place them on the seal, channel a bit of chakra, and…”
*Poof!*
The books and papers disappear in a puff of smoke.
“Wow! That’s all you have to do?” Naruto questions, gazing at the scroll where the items previously were.
“Yes. Nice and simple, isn’t it?” Hiruzen sets the closed scroll back down on the desk.
He turns back to Naruto with a stern and solemn expression. “Now. I have something I need your full attention for, Naruto.”
The Hokage sinks down into a crouch so that he’s at the same eye level as the boy.
The boy immediately knew this was serious. The boy straightens and meets the Hokage’s eyes with his own. “Yeah, Jiji?”
“You must never tell anyone that you are an actual Uzumaki.”
The boy’s brows furrow. “But why?”
“Yours is a very ancient and valued bloodline, Naruto. It’s so highly sought after, that when your mother was a bit older than you, she was kidnapped by Kumo so they could have it.”
Naruto gasps, his eyes widening in shock. “They kidnapped her?!”
“Yes.” The Hokage’s eyes stare into Naruto, his face grave. “Thankfully, one of her classmates realized that something was wrong. They discovered the kidnappers' trail and brought her back safely with the help of several Anbu.”
Seeing Naruto’s anxious face, the Hokage’s expression softens. “It’s unlikely to happen to you, Naruto. As I said before, the Uzumaki were well known to have bright red hair.”
The Sandaime’s eyes trail blatantly to the top of the boys’ head. Naruto’s gaze also follows upward, until he spys his own blonde locks.
“But I don’t.” The boy realizes, eyes widening.
“Your blonde hair Naruto, is the perfect disguise. No one would expect a non-redheaded Uzumaki.” Sarutobi shares a conspiratorial grin with him as the boy giggles in delight.
The moment fades and Sarutobi grows stern again. “You must promise me, Naruto. Never tell anyone about your heritage.”
The boy nods, face set in an adorably determined expression. “I won’t Jiji! Promise!” He links pinkies with the Hokage, sealing the deal.
The man smiles and straightens, groaning again at the effort. He hands the scroll to the surprised blonde. “Now, it’s getting late. You can take the scroll, but I expect you to keep it safe and not stay up all night looking at it.”
Sarutobi then busies himself with setting his desk back to rights. Naruto pauses in taking the scroll, his happy expression fading. He shuffles his feet, looking down.
“Uh, Jiji?” He hesitantly calls. “I… I don’t know if keeping it is such a good idea…”
Sarutobi frowns, turning back to the blond. “What do you mean by that, Naruto?” He asks carefully.
“Its… Well, it’s just… Um–well, y’know...”
Dread creeps up Sarutobi’s spine when he sees Naruto struggle to explain himself.
‘Please, not that. Don’t let it be that again.’ The Hokage prays, recalling the painful memory of Anbu dropping a skeletal and grime ridden Naruto in front of him, reporting that they found the boy on the streets digging in tipped over garbage cans for food.
Sarutobi mentally runs back through the conversations today, about and with the blond. He knew how some of his villagers viewed Naruto and why. The reasoning was ridiculous, but people dealing with grief rarely look past their own feelings and impulses to see the truth.
“Are you saying that the scroll may not be safe, Naruto?” He quietly asks, doing his best to be approachable and nonthreatening.
Naruto freezes, studying the floor to avoid eye contact. His entire posture slumps and he barely nods his head.
‘Oh Kami. Where have I gone wrong?’ The Third Hokage closes his eyes in grief. He was right. So horribly right.
Somehow, in some way, the villagers of Kohona are still mistreating Naruto.
Sarutobi sucks in a deep breath, restraining his KI and the urge to bash some sense into people with his Adamantine Staff.
“Naruto, look at me.” He softly orders.
The young blonde slowly raises his head and hunches his shoulders.
“You’re not in trouble, Naruto.” The Third Hokage murmurs, resting a hand on the blond’s shoulder. He has to give himself to keep his voice steady when Naruto flinches at the touch. “But I do need to know if anyone’s done something to make you think your apartment is not safe.”
‘Because if he feels his apartment is not safe, then something happened inside of it. And that is unforgivable.’ Hiruzen’s eyes tighten at the infuriating thought.
A shinobi needs a sanctuary, a place to relax and unwind after stressful missions. Usually, that place is their home. If their sanctuary is violated, this has repercussions all over.
A person not feeling safe suffers sleep deprivation, both from being unable to sleep and sleeping uneasily. This affects their entire lifestyle, from having enough energy to being able to process a situation on the fly. It affects schoolwork and missions, often causing the shinobi to make mistakes.
Fatal mistakes.
It’s partly what killed Sakumo Hatake. Remembering how drawn and stressed the shinobi was the last time Hiruzen saw him has the Hokage gritting his teeth.
This needs to be addressed. Now.
The Sandaime brings his attention back to the blond, who still hasn’t replied. The blonde’s head lowers and Sarutobi sighs.
“Anbu!” He barks.
A swirl of shadow appears and from it steps a dark clothed and masked individual. They immediately fall onto one knee before him.
“Neko, who has been monitoring Naruto’s residence?” Sarutobi demands.
“I, Rooster, Hound and Bear, sir.” The masked figure replies in a monotone voice.
“Has anyone entered Naruto’s apartment without his express permission and/or damaged it in some way?” The Hokage demands.
“Several individuals, sir. All apprehended in the act or caught after exiting the premise.” Comes the clipped reply.
Sarutobi’s scowl deepens as he barely reigns in his temper. A bit of KI still slips out, causing the Anbu crouched before him to flinch, the other hidden Anbu guards to shift uneasily and Naruto to pale.
“I see.” He states through gritted teeth. “What were the damages and the corresponding punishments of the perpetrators?”
The Anbu, frozen in place by the KI, struggles through their fear to reply through hand signs. Their hand signs speed up the further they explain.
‘So both civilians and ninja are the perpetrators.’ Hiruzen muses, interpreting the flashing hand signals. ‘They break the furniture and any other smashable items, tear his clothes and take anything of value that they can, especially good gear and weapons. They have spray painted threatening messages on the walls or furniture...’
With every set of hand signs, Sarutobi’s temper and KI increase. By the time the Anbu is finished with their report, they’re shaking and sweating in place. Naruto is barely conscious, slumping against the trembling Anbu, who helps prop him up with one arm.
Sarutobi wearily closes his eyes, forcing himself to contain all of his rage, lest he harm his subordinates and the blonde he so loves. ‘Oh Naruto, I have failed you. I failed the promise I made to your parents.’
The KI fades and Neko gasps in relief. Naruto soon stirs, the Anbu beside him helping the poor boy to his feet. Sarutobi moves to stand in front of Naruto.
“Right. Naruto,” The venerable Hokage crouches down to be at eye level with the young boy, “I need you to tell me about things like this, so I can help you and prevent it from happening in the first place. Do you understand?”
“...Yes...” Comes the quiet reply.
Sarutobi gently ruffles the boy’s hair, catching the tiny flinch the move creates.
‘Clearly I am going to have to put the fear of Kami into some people.’ He muses, an eye twitching. ‘And remind them just why I was chosen to be Hokage in the first place.’
“You and I are going to your apartment, Naruto.” The Hokage declares, “I will look over what needs to be fixed or repaired in your apartment, then show you how to create traps. Then the civilians can’t get in without quite a bit of pain and effort on their part.”
‘As for the shinobi part of the issue…’
With a grim look in his eye, he hand signals the Anbu around him to fetch one of the few seal specialists in Anbu so they can seal Naruto’s apartment against anyone with ill intent coming in.
Surprisingly, Neko signals that she can do the job. ‘Ah, that’s right. She’s one of them. Can’t believe I forgot that.’ Sarutobi acknowledges her reply, ordering the Anbu member to follow him and Naruto.
-At Naruto’s Apartment-
The place is dark, musty and unsurprisingly, a pigsty. Dirty clothes and empty ramen cups litter the apartment floor with some poor grade weapons and other items scattered about.
Sarutobi makes a mental note to have a word with the Orphanage caretakers, as no one apparently showed Naruto how to clean up after himself, do laundry or any other mundane tasks that are done around a living space.
It was unacceptable.
Even the kitchen wasn’t unscathed from damage.
The fridge door is heavily dented in the middle, preventing it from closing all the way and allowing all the cold air inside to escape, effectively rendering the appliance nonfunctional.
The Hokage opens the door and gags at the wafting smell. The milk in the fridge is past it’s expiration date and the few foodstuffs in there have turned into science experiments.
‘No wonder Naruto is living on Ramen.’ The Hokage realizes. ‘It’s easy to tell if it’s been tampered with, nonperishable and easy to make without messing it up or turning it into something inedible.’
Sarutobi makes a mental note to have one of his loyal ninja show the boy how to care for himself, one who doesn’t care that he was a jinchuriki. He also reminds himself to have a trusted repairman come and fix or replace the appliances in the kitchen.
‘...Perhaps Neko would be willing to teach Naruto? The smell in here would be too much for Hound and both Bear and Rooster are hardly good choices, for various reasons.’
Rooster is a hard core Anbu member, he’d have no patience for teaching a hyper kid like Naruto and Bear… Poor, poor Bear is still trying to find himself again and learn how to be a normal, functioning person.
‘Well, as much as a ninja can be.’ Hiruzen amends, hurrying to open the kitchen window and get rid of the smell. He ends up having to force it open, as the latch and frame were broken, then wedged back into place.
‘A forced entry point that Naruto tried to fix with what he had available.’ Sarutobi notes, examining the frame with several bent senbon stuck in it. ‘Not a bad job for an 8 year old.’
He uses a quick Futon jutsu to air out the kitchen and does a quick examination of the other windows. There’s more signs of forced entry and patchwork jobs in two more windows, one of which is in the living room.
Hiruzen leaves that one alone and opens the other window beside the broken one, performing another Futon Jutsu. The modified Okuridashi Kaze (Propelling Winds Jutsu) sends a stream of howling air from one window on the opposite side of the apartment out the window the Hokage just opened, refreshing the stale air in the apartment.
“Whoa!” Naruto exclaims from picking up dirty clothes and ramen cups. “What was that, Jiji?”
“A wind, or Futon jutsu, Naruto. I’m using it to help air out your apartment.” Sarutobi explains to the excitable kid.
Naruto’s eyes shine as he gazes up at the Hokage. “So cool!” He breathes. “Hey, can you teach me that, ‘ttebayo?”
“Maybe someday, Naruto. But not now. It’s getting really late and it's past dinner time.” Sarutobi rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Hmm, what should we have for dinner, Naruto?”
The distraction works, the boy jumping up and down as he cries, “Ichiraku ‘ttebayo! I want Ramen, Jiji!”
The Hokage chuckles, nodding at one of the hidden Anbu that was on guard duty. He signals for the hidden shinobi to order and pick up several dishes of ramen, for both Naruto and himself. The Anbu nods and vanishes.
After about 15 minutes, the Anbu reappears with a paper bag with stacked containers of Ramen in it. The Hokage and Naruto break off from cleaning the apartment and dig in.
By this time the apartment is clean enough for Neko to get to work sealing the place against any unwanted intruders and those wishing to harm the apartment’s occupants, as well as other securities, like warding off mice and other pests.
Naruto watches the Anbu work, at first puzzled then excited and awed when Hiruzen explains to the boy what the Anbu is doing.
By the time they’re both finished eating, Neko has finished sealing the apartment against any threats. They and Sarutobi help Naruto finish cleaning the apartment.
With that done, the Hokage teaches the boy some quick and easy traps to protect him and his apartment, promising to give him some trap books that he can use to rig up more defences later.
By the time the clean up and defensive measures are set up, it’s really late. Sarutobi says his goodbyes to the young boy, telling him to come to the office whenever he wants to look at his mother’s scroll and its contents.
After the door to the apartment closes the Hokage quietly calls, “Neko.”
The Anbu member shunshins in front of him.
“How did the sealing go?” He asks the Anbu, motioning them to walk alongside him. The Anbu’s form shimmers as a genjutsu flows over them, turning them into an ordinary and unremarkable run of the mill shinobi.
“Just fine once the apartment was cleaned, Hokage-sama.” They reply, keeping pace beside him.
He nods. “Good… Now I have a question for you.” The disguised Anbu cocks their head inquisitively, “How do you feel about showing Naruto how to care for himself?”
The Anbu walking beside the Hokage directs an unimpressed look at him, their aura channeling an affronted kunoichi who is milliseconds away from violently objecting to whatever offended them.
Holding up his hands, the Hokage continues, “Let me explain. It’s not because you are a woman. I trust you to do what’s right in teaching the boy, being my personal Anbu and from having a vested interest in him. This also gives you an excuse to personally get to know and connect with Naruto. Besides,” he wryly adds, “You’re the only one from your squad that has the patience and knowhow to do this. Well, that and the lingering smells won’t bother you nearly as much as it would a certain member of your team.”
The disguised Anbu member settles down at the reasonable explanation and Sarutobi glances at them out of the corner of his eye. “I won’t ask you to make a decision now, of course. Sleep on it then get back to me.”
A soft, “Hai, Hokage-sama” is the reply. The Hokage nods and with that silent dismissal, the Anbu blurs and vanishes.
Sarutobi continues on to his home. His bed’s calling him after such a long and trying day.