Chapter 4
Izumo and Kotetsu first hear about the rumor of Naruto being Kushina’s son when they are lazing about in the chunin lounge.
Izumo is sprawled out on a couch, his legs up on the Chunin lounge coffee table while reading a book and Kotetsu is right next to him sipping one of his bottles of syrup.
One of their fellow chunin saunters up to them. “Hey, is it true that your jounin sensei was Uzumaki Kushina?”
Izumo trades confused glances with Kotetsu then turns back to the other chuhin. “Yeah, why?”
“No reason.” The other chunin shrugs nonchalantly and saunters back to a knot of chunin clustered in a corner. There’s a flurry of activity the moment the man joins the other shinobi.
‘That’s strange. What was that about?’ Izumo and Kotetsu trade glances again, their well-honed trouble senses going off.
“I better find out what’s going on.” Izumo puts his book away and slides his legs off the table.
Kotetsu just waves at Izumo, not even bothering to move from his spot on the couch, prompting the brunette to huff at his partner.
Izumo reluctantly gets to his feet and ambles over to join the group, muttering, “So much for downtime.”
“Hey, what’s going on?” The man drawls, slinging an arm over one of the shinobi in the group.
Izumo recognizes ninja as one of the guys down in Logistics. The man might be ranked as a chunin, but he was just a paper pusher. No combat skills whatsoever. And that made him an easy mark for Izumo.
The guy jumps, having neither noticed or sensed Izumo sneaking up on him.
“H-hey! Get off me!” The chunin protests, trying to pry Izumo’s arm away.
Izumo grins and tightens the hold he has around the man’s neck. “Nah, I don’t think so. Not until you spill. Now come on, tell me.”
The other chunin start edging away from the two. They know that nothing good will come of this.
“A-Ack!” The man chokes, the tight hold restricting his windpipe. No matter how he squirms, he can’t get free. Finally, the man rasps, “A–Alright!”
Izumo lets the man go and he falls to the floor, coughing and sputtering while holding his throat. When the man regains his breath, he finds himself hoisted up into the air by the collar of his flak jacket and slammed against the lounge’s walls.
Izumo watches him with eerie hooded eyes from underneath his bandana. “Well? I’m waiting.”
“We were just talking about the recent rumors, about the Demon Brat being the Crimson Death’s kid! Then someone remembered she was your sensei!” The man sputters. “We were just curious! Now c’mon, let me go!”
Izumo drops the man, allowing him to crash to the floor. He turns to Kotetsu who by this time had finished his syrup and was standing quietly behind Izumo.
The duo’s eyes meet and without a word, shunshin out of the chunin lounge.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“So, you think the blond gaki is Sensei’s kid?” Kotetsu remarks, twirling a pen while leaning back on his chair behind the front gate’s check-in desk.
Izumo finishes signing off on a packet of papers and nods at the Jounin sensei in front of him. The jounin nods back and ushers his three genin through the gates.
“I don’t know, Kotetsu.” The bandanad shinobi murmurs once the ninja were out of earshot.
“Some of it makes sense. Their personalities are similar and they both love pranks and ramen. But why are we hearing about this now, instead of earlier? If it was true, we’d have heard something about it before. Then there’s the fact it’s a rumor . Do we even want to put stock in it? You know it didn’t go well the last time we took a rumor as fact.”
Both chunin shudder as they recall a pissed off banshee with writhing red hair chasing them and the doom that followed.
“Yeah, I getcha.” Kotetsu lets the chair fall to all fours. “I’m just getting a gut feeling about this, ya’know? Something’s up.”
The two chunin lock gazes.
With a sigh, Izumo nods. “We can check it out. Those ‘gut feelings’ of yours haven’t been wrong yet.”
Kotetsu beams at his partner in crime. “It’s settled then! Why don’t we track the brat down after our shift is done?”
~Meanwhile~
“I don’t believe this!” Yugao yells at a civilian shop keep, right in the middle of their store. “I’ve been coming here for years and all of a sudden you’re overcharging me?!”
“It’s the rules.” The shop keep stoutly replies, their arms crossed.
“What rules!” Yugao snaps back.
The civilian store owner nods over to the small blond boy hiding behind the kunoichi’s legs. “You bring that boy in here, you have to pay double-no, triple the price!”
The man glares defiantly at the kunoichi. “And that’s the way it’s going to be! Now pay up or get out!”
Uzuki Yugao straightens, pinning the man with her glare.
They both know that Yugao can’t do anything to the man, no matter how pissed off she is. Otherwise, she’d be picked up and brought in by the Military Police for assaulting a civilian. The punishment for that is usually a one-way trip to Kohona’s Strict Correctional Facility.
‘Sometimes I wish those damn shinobi conduct laws didn’t exist. This man deserves a punch to the face!’
Her voice is colder than the Land of Frost when she spits, “I see how it is. Come Naruto. We’ll go somewhere else.”
The kunoichi stalks away for a few paces, then turns back. “Oh, and by the way? I’ll be telling every single shinobi about this, including my clan. See if you can keep in business when you’ve offended the Uzumaki.”
The man’s face goes pale. He totters to one side then falls to the floor, frothing at the mouth.
Yugao reels in her killing intent and contemptuously flicks her hair before walking off. Naruto glances between her and the store workers converging around the fallen man, then scurries to keep up with the long-legged woman.
It’s the same at every single grocery store and market they go to. Yugao and Naruto are either barred from entering the premise or ridiculously overcharged.
“How are these people still in business?!” Yugao moans, rubbing her face as they walk down the street. They were kicked out of the latest store when the henge Yugao placed on Naruto was dispelled from another shopper’s basket bumping into the boy.
“This is extortion!” The woman rants, throwing her hands up into the air. “The founders of Kohona agreed that such a thing is illegal in the first Village Charter! How are they getting away with this?!”
“U-um…”
At the timid voice, Yugao does her best to stuff away her anger. Naruto’s been through a lot today. The last thing they need is for him to think Yugao’s angry at him, or that it’s his fault.
Because it’s not . It’s the fault of those people being short sighted idiots.
“Y-you can go in without me, Yugao-sensei.” The boy mutters, looking down. “You can get the produce then come back out. I’ll just wait, dattebayo.”
Yugao stops walking and crouches down in front of her student.
“Absolutely not, Naruto.” The woman quietly declares, looking straight into the blond’s eyes. “I wouldn’t be fulfilling my job as your sensei if I did.”
The boy opens his mouth to object, but Yugao cuts him off.
“Part of learning to cook Naruto is to know when the food you need for a recipe is a reasonable price or not. The prices those shops had were way too high.”
The boy shuffles his feet as he looks away. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea…”
“Nonsense. This just makes it more challenging.” Yugao declares, her determination firming. “In fact, I think this will be excellent training for you.”
Training. Naruto perks up when his sensei utters the magical word.
The kunoichi smiles slyly.
“Yes, this will do quite nicely.” She murmurs to herself, tapping a finger on her lips.
“Tell me Naruto,” The kunoichi fixes her gaze on the boy again. “Have you had any classes on undercover work, or gone over any disguise techniques?”
“So far we’ve gone over the henge, but nothing else.”
“Perfect.” The woman purrs, straightening up. “We’ll just drop by my place for a few things. Your first lesson is Disguise 101.”
- Later, At Naruto’s Apartment -
Yugao stands in front of Naruto, who is seated on one of his kitchen chairs facing her. His short spiky locks are pulled back by a headband, having been dyed a vibrant dark shade of red.
The kunoichi pulls back from daubing a tannish paste onto the boy’s face as Naruto winces.
“Don’t scrunch your face, Naruto.” Yugao murmurs, frowning as she looks over her handywork. “I only have so much of this concealer and it has to cover all of your birth marks if this will work.”
“But it feels weird.” The boy complains. “Why do we have to do it this way? Can’t I just henge into a disguise?”
Yugao raises a brow. “Do you want to have your henge popped and be thrown out again?”
“…No…”
“Then we do it this way. Yes, it’s more work, but it doesn’t run the risk of going away if someone touches you, like with a henge. Now stay still. I have to cover this last part then we’ll be done.”
Naruto takes a deep breath and looks straight ahead, fighting not to wince or shy away as the cold wetness is smeared onto his cheeks and the rest of his face.
“There.” Yugao nods and wipes her fingers off with a rag. “That looks good. I can’t see the marks at all.”
Naruto grins as he pulls off the headband. “Great! So what’s next?”
“Clothes.” The kunoichi responds, holding up a bag. “Try these on. They looked like they’d fit you.”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Are you sure this won’t cut me?” Naruto asks once again as he gingerly pokes at the wire mesh under armor on his chest. His upper body is bare save for the mesh, while baggy navy pants cover his legs, tied down by bandages over a pair of shinobi sandals.
“Yes, Naruto. I am sure. I’ve worn it for years. The skin-tone undershirt will protect you from it.” Yugao answers, slightly exasperated. “Now try on this haori.”
Naruto slips it on over the mesh then twists back and forth, craning his head in order to look at it.
Yugao chuckles as she fishes a hand mirror out of her bag of supplies. “Here, Naruto. Take a look.”
“Whoa.” Naruto breathes, looking at his reflection. “I look totally different!”
Gone is the boy’s characteristic blond hair and whisker marks. What’s left behind is an adorable red haired and blue-eyed boy.
Yugao smirks, completely satisfied at the result of her efforts. “That’s the point.”
‘Naruto looks like a main line member with his red hair and clothes. He should have been dressed like this the moment he was born.’ The melancholy thought sends a pang through the kunoichi’s chest.
She hides it by smiling, taking the mirror when Naruto passes it back to her. “Ok, so we have the disguise down. Now we need to work on your act.”
“Act?” Naruto tilts his head, nonplussed.
Yugao sighs, then breaks it down. “The whole point of this is for people to think that you’re someone else, not Naruto Uzumaki, right?”
“Right!” Is the eager response.
“Well, if you act like you usually do, people will guess that it’s you under a disguise, right?”
“Right!”
“So then you have to act differently. Aka, pretend to be someone else.” The kunoichi finishes, a hand on her cocked hip.
“Oh… I see!” Naruto nods his head, grinning widely. A thought crosses Naruto’s mind. “But who am I supposed to pretend to be, sensei?”
Yugao’s smile grows a little strained. ‘Keep it together, Yugao! You’re almost done!’ “That’s a good question. With the clothing you have on right now, you could pass for a little lordling.”
“Yeah…?” Yugao internally screams as the nonplussed look returns.
“So then you’re going to act like one. Pretend that you’re from a prestigious family visiting Kohona. You can do that, right?”
“Yeah!” Naruto cheers, throwing a fist in the air. He catches himself and pauses. “Uh, what do lordlings act like?”
Yugao facepalms.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Where is the gaki?!” Izumo exclaims, surveying Konoha’s streets from a rooftop with a pair of binoculars. “We’ve looked for him at all of his favorite spots and the most populous places in the village and we still can’t find him!”
Kotetsu taps his shoulder.
“What?!” Izumo growls, yanking the binoculars down to glare at Kotetsu.
“He’s right there.” Kotetsu points at a redheaded boy in fine clothing walking down the street, heavy grocery bags in hand.
Izumo’s jaw drops. “T-that… That can’t be him!”
The two chunin had doubled back home after their shift to grab the one picture they had of Kushina, their team’s genin picture. It comes in handy now as the bandanad chunin looks frantically back and forth from the picture in Kotetsu’s hand to the redhead below.
“He’s a redhead?! How is this possible?! Naruto’s blond! All the rumors emphatically state that the gaki’s blond!”
“It could be hair dye.” Kotetsu helpfully comments.
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Izumo checks once again, comparing the boy below to his genin picture. “Man, that’s scary. They almost look exactly alike with Naruto’s red hair! If sensei was a guy instead of a girl.”
Izumo shares a look with his partner. “That settles it. They have to be related.”
“Wanna grab him?” Suggests Kotetsu.
A wicked grin grows on Izumo’s face as he faces his partner. “I like the way you think, Kotetsu!”
Without another word, the two vanish from the rooftop.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The setting sun beams down on the cobbled street and houses of Konoha.
Naruto hums happily to himself as he strides down the street on his way home to offload his groceries. ‘I can’t believe that worked! Yugao-sensei was right! The food is so much cheaper when I use a disguise. The people in the stores were much nicer too!’
After leaving the store the two split up, with Naruto taking the groceries home and Yugao stopping at her own apartment to drop off the stuff used in Naruto’s disguise. They’d meet back up at Naruto’s apartment to start cooking dinner.
The boy has no time to react when two ninja appear on either side of him. He squawks in alarm as they grab his arms on either side, forcing him to drop his groceries as they hoist him into the air.
“H-hey! Let me go!” Naruto cries, violently kicking his legs.
“Sorry shrimp!” The two chunin chorus. “No can do!”
With that the two men take to the rooftops with a shrieking blond between them.
“Heeelp! Kidnap!! I’m being kidnapped here!”
The duo and one vocally protesting blond swiftly make their way through the village with a hidden squad of Anbu in swift pursuit.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Ow!” Naruto yelps as he’s dropped unceremoniously on his ass.
“Whew, you got a set of pipes on you kid,” Kotetsu comments, using his pinky to clean out his ear. “I swear you made me go deaf in one ear.”
Izumo rolls his eyes at Kotetsu’s banter.
As the boy straightens to a sitting position, he quickly surveys the area. They’re in a forest clearing, a secluded training ground judging by the wood posts in one area and a few forgotten kunai and shuriken lodged in some trees.
Naruto quickly fixes the pair of chunin in front of him with a glare, shouting, “What do you two losers want?”
“Aw, is that any way to treat your senpai?” Kotetsu clutches a hand over his heart. The man sways and Izumo is quick to catch his dramatic partner and steady him before Kotetsu falls over. “I’m hurt, truly. Here we go out of our way to find you, and this is how you treat us?”
Naruto stares at them with distrustful eyes.
“Like I said, what do you want?” The boy barks. He’s acutely aware that he’s alone with these two strange chunin and Naruto has no clue if his Anbu guards have followed them or not. He doesn’t know what the two want with him either.
It puts the boy on edge.
“Easy there, shortstack.” Izumo responds, “We just want to talk, that’s all.”
With that Izumo and Kotetsu plop down to sit across from Naruto.
“So, we heard that your mom’s Uzumaki Kushina.” Izumo nonchalantly states while examining his nails. “That true?”
“What’s it to you?” Naruto spits back.
“Well, it’s kinda funny. You see, she was our jonin-sensei. So we know her well and this is the first time we’ve heard that you’re her kid.” Izumo drops the act and leans forward with a no-nonsense expression.
Kotetsu is right beside him as the two chunin use their height to loom over the blond.
While Izumo works to keep the blond’s attention on him, Kotetsu starts weaving a subtle genjutsu around them both that causes the caster and any target to appear like dark wraiths to the person the jutsu is cast on.
“And we don’t take kindly to people spewing shit about our sensei.” Izumo finishes, just as the genjutsu’s completed.
““ Especially if it’s snot nosed brats who should know better. ”” The chunin growl together, wreathed in writhing shadows just inches from Naruto’s face.
Naruto’s completely unphased by the display in front of him. Despite the scary image the two are presenting, he knows that the two chunin mean no harm. They don't ooze killing intent like the people who hurt him in the past.
The boy cocks his head, glancing at the two chunin in front of him.
“Huh, so you guys were in mom’s genin picture. Let’s see…” Naruto points at Kotetsu, “You're the kid with the ridiculous bandages on his face.”
“And you…” Naruto examines Izumo for a moment then says, “You must be the brat that had the bandana. Man, you two haven’t changed much since then.”
Izumo and Kotetsu are a bit nonplussed as they look at each other. At this point, the genjutsu target is usually spilling their guts, but this squirt is completely unaffected.
“Man, you are one tough cookie. That shtick usually works on brats like you.” Izumo comments, leaning back and thoughtfully regarding Naruto. “I’ve seen other chunin wet their pants when we do this, but you’re not even phased. Brass balls, kid. I’m impressed.”
The bandanad chunin blinks then turns to his partner. “Hey, cut the genjutsu Kotetsu. It ain’t workin’.”
Naruto blinks as the world snaps back into place around him. “Thanks. That was weird.”
“No problem, gaki.” Izumo easily replies. “But really, we need to know. Is Kushina your mom or not?”
Naruto hesitates, recalling the promise that he made with the Hokage, to not tell anyone about his parentage. “Uh…”
“Yes, yes she is.” A voice calls out. A nearby bush rustles and out steps Yugao. She comes to a stop next to Naruto, her hands on her hips as she gives an unimpressed look at the two chunin.
“Really you two? Kidnapping a kid just to find out if a rumor’s true?”
The kenjutsu mistress shakes her head. “You both really need to find a hobby if this is what you get up to when you’re bored.”
“Hey!” Kotetsu protests, clambering to his feet. “That’s not true!”
“Yes it is.” Both Izumo and Yugao say at the same time and causing the two to look at each other, startled.
This causes Kotetsu and Naruto to start snickering, then full on laughing.
Yugao huffs, exasperated with all three males.
“Come on, Naruto. We need to get back and cook dinner.” The kunoichi says to the blond. “I picked up the groceries that you dropped. They’re at your apartment.”
Naruto perks up at her words and scrambles to his feet. “Thanks, Yugao-sensei!”
The kunoichi nods in response, giving the two chunin a gimlet look that said, ‘Try pulling something like that again and I’ll turn you into mincemeat’ before heading out of the clearing.
At Yugao’s look, the duo chunin’s jaws snap shut instead of protesting Naruto leaving so soon. They knew better than to piss off an elite kunoichi.
“See ya later!” The blond calls back behind him as he hares off after Yugao.
“Hey!” Kotetsu calls out after them. “The names’re Izumo and Kotetsu! Come find us at the gates or the chunin lounge gaki!”
“Okay!” Is the distant reply.
Kotetsu grins and turns to see his partner giving him a deadpan look. “What?”
Izumo just sighs.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
The next day, Naruto finds himself wandering the village after a morning lesson in how to do laundry with Yugao.
“Man, I’m bored.” The boy complains to himself, linking his hands together behind his head. “There’s nothing for me to do! Yugao-sensei’s forbidden me from training until I have my remedial lessons with her and after cleaning up my apartment with her, I can’t find my pranking stuff!”
Little did Naruto know that Yugao had hidden it underneath a few of the apartment floor boards at the request of several Anbu members, as a small measure of getting back at the blond for his pranks.
The boy huffs as he tries to come up with something to do. “I guess I could go look at the scroll again—”
“Hey, gaki!” A voice calls from behind the blond. “Wait up!”
Naruto pauses, wondering if the person was calling him, then shakes his head. ‘They’re probably calling someone else.’
The blond hunches his shoulders and keeps walking.
A hand grabs his shoulder as the same voice, in a slightly irritated tone says, “Naruto, I said wait up!”
Naruto instinctively whips around while scuttling away from the person grabbing him. He only relaxes when he sees that it’s Izumo and Kotetsu.
“Easy Gaki. It’s just us.” Izumo soothes, surprised at the blond’s reaction. He carefully tucks his outstretched hand into his pocket so he doesn’t startle the blond further. “Didn’t you hear us calling out to you?”
Naruto sheepishly rubs the back of his head. “Sorry, I thought you were calling someone else.”
“Ah, it’s fine.” Kotetsu nonchalantly replies, flapping a hand.
The two chunin exchange a brief wordless look before turning back to the blond.
Izumo restarts the conversation by asking, “So, what are you up to today, Naruto?”
“Nothing.” Naruto mutters with a grimace. “Yugao-sensei’s banned me from training and I can’t find my pranking supplies so I have nothing to do!”
The two chunin wince.
“That’s rough, kiddo.” Izumo answers sympathetically with Kotetsu nodding his agreement.
There’s a period of awkward silence.
Naruto’s just about to leave when Kotetsu exclaims, “I have an idea! Izumo and I are just on our way to our shift at the front gates. Why don’t you come join us?”
Izumo frowns and begins to say, “Kotetsu, I’m not sure that’s a goo–”
“Bah, it’ll be fine.” Kotetsu interjects, waving his worried partner off. “What’s the worst that can happen?”
Kotetsu turns and smiles down at Naruto. “So, whatdaya say, Gaki? You can pick our brains while we’re working.”
“More like while I’m working.” Izumo mutters while Kotetsu warms up to his idea.
“—I’ll even tell you stories about your mom!” The bandaged chunin wheedles, sweetening the offer.
“R-really?” Naruto’s bright blue eyes glisten as he looks up at the duo. “You’d do that for me?”
Izumo caves at the blond’s pitiful expression. “Yeah, fine. C’mon then.” The brunet murmurs, waving a hand. “Let’s get going.”
The two chunin head off and Naruto tags after them, a large grin on his foxy face.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“—And that’s how we learned how to not leave a trail while moving through the forest.” Kotetsu finishes, leaning back in his chair behind the desk at the front gates. “Your mother can be terrifying when she wants to be.”
Underneath his breath the Chunin mutters, “Stupid bloodthirsty squirrels…”
“Heh heh, okaa-san’s awesome!” Naruto giggles delightedly at the story, clinging to the far edge of the desk so he can see what’s going on over it.
Kotetsu shares a grin with the boy. “That she is.”
On Kotetsu’s other side, Izumo hands back the clipboard to a trio of road weary ninja, two chunin and a special jounin. “Here you go, you’re all set!”
“Thanks. Let’s go report in.” The special jounin grunts. He heads through the gates and the two chunin stagger after him.
They barely give a glance to the redheaded brat bothering the chunin at the gate.
A thought comes to Naruto. He lets himself hang from the edge of the desk as he asks, “You said that there’s three genin to a jounin sensei and that you were on my mom’s first genin team, right?”
“Yeah, why?” Kotetsu absently replies as he fishes out another container of his syrup from his pack. The chunin pops the cork off and takes a sip, sighing as he smacks his lips in satisfaction.
“Where’s your third teammate, the one in your genin picture?” Naruto questions, feet kicking at the desk’s side to try and hang on longer as his grip slips. “You guys are pretty cool so I wanna meet him too!”
The two chunin at the desk freeze.
Despite Naruto’s attempts, his grip on the desk slips and he falls to the ground, landing on his back. “Oof!”
“Our third teammate… He uh, died.” Izumo awkwardly answers, sharing a glance with Kotetsu. “In the third war. It’s what caused Kushina-sensei to go on her mad rampage and be nicknamed the ‘Crimson Death’.”
A wide-eyed Naruto stares up at the two chunin. “I’m sorry.”
“S’okay.” Kotetsu shrugs, staring contemplatively at his syrup bottle. “It happened a long time ago. ‘Sides, after that we got Iruka as our third genin team member. We got along pretty well.”
“Hey, one of my sensei is named Iruka!” Naruto exclaims.
This causes Izumo to look over and join in on the conversation.
“Long dark hair pulled into a spiky ponytail, brown eyes and a large scar across his nose?” Izumo inquires, raising a curious eyebrow.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“Huh. So that’s where the porpoise went.” Kotetsu kicks his feet up back onto the desk and leans his chair back again. He grins down at Naruto, ignoring the fact that a merchant has come up to the desk.
Izumo sighs and starts talking to the man.
“Tell you what, gaki.” Kotetsu stage whispers, “How about I tell you some stories about the guy, then you go and bother him about them when you see him next at the Academy?”
An unholy gleam enters Naruto’s eyes. “Yes, tell me!” The boy practically begs, bouncing in place.
“Well, there was this one time–”
~.~.~.~.~.~.~
“Bye Izumo, Kotetsu!” Naruto hollers, waving at them while standing at the front gates of Konoha. The huge monoliths are a stunning sight with how they are shaded by the late afternoon light.
“See ya, Gaki!” Kotetsu calls back.
Izumo joins in yelling, “Yeah, take care!”
With that the former blond turns and races into the village.
“Man, that kid is a handful.” Kotetsu comments.
Izumo snorts and nods.
“… Did you see how Naruto flinched when I put my hand on his shoulder, when we caught up to him in the village?” Izumo mutters under his breath.
“Yeah. I don’t like it.” Kotetsu murmurs back with a grim expression. “It reminded me of those kids we rescued back in Grass, the ones that were being trafficked and abused by their captors…”
Izumo’s eyes widen in horror and he turns to his best friend. “You don’t think—?”
A muscle twitches on Kotetsu’s jaw. “Only one way to find out.”