The Truth

Naruto and Hinata ate their ramen quietly. Naruto tried to talk with Hinata a bit during their meal, however, being the shy girl that she was, Hinata mostly only gave short answers as she wore a blush on her face. After finishing their meal, just as they were about to leave, a Hyuga member showed up.

"F-father ...," muttered Hinata.

"You've been here all this time, Hinata," said Hiashi Hyuga. "I have been looking for you everywhere. Let's go home."

"R-right .. b-bye Naruto-kun, i-it was nice to m-meet you," said Hinata to which Naruto responded with a grin.

"She seems to like you, Naruto," said Kurama.

"Yeah ...," said Naruto with a sigh.

"And you seem to like her," said Kurama, chuckling.

"Obviously! She's so beautiful!" said Naruto. "I wonder if I could get her to marry me."

"Hmm, you could, but I doubt that father of hers would allow that," said Kurama.

"When did you start allowing others to stop you from doing things, fur-ball?" asked Naruto with a foxy grin.

"Hmph, never!" snorted Kurama. "But you're not me! You're still weak."

"And I'm still a kid," retorted Naruto. "Don't you worry, fur-ball! I'll make her my wife eventually."

Naruto was making his way home as when he sensed two chakra signatures were quietly following him.

"Kurama, who are those two?" asked Naruto.

"Some pesky Chunins looking to die!" growled Kurama. "Don't worry about them. Go to the woods to take care of them."

"Right," said Naruto, making his way to the woods. "I should check out how much I've benefited from my training."

Soon he arrived at the woods and stopped in front of a tree. He quietly took out two kunais and threw them behind him. With a clang, both kunais were easily deflected and fell to the ground.

"You two have some nerves following me! Who are you both?" asked Naruto angrily.

"Worry not, you demon fox!" said one Chunin angrily. "You're going to die for killing our father!"

"Hey, Kurama, they come to you with love, hahaha," laughed Naruto.

"Shut it kid! Pay attention!" grumbled Kurama.

"Come at me punks! Don't cry when I beat the shit out of you both!" said Naruto confidently as he gestured at them.

The two Chunins jumped at Naruto. One of them threw a barrage of punches at him while the other was constantly slashing at him with his kunai. Naruto was having a hard time trying to dodge the attacks. He had next to no opportunity to perform any counters.

Just as he was about to dodge another slash of kunai, Naruto tripped and fell on his back. The Chunin with the kunai also tripped, falling on top of him.

Suddenly, Naruto's vision went into slow motion and could clearly see the Chunin's kunai slowly coming down at his head. Naruto reached out his hand, grabbed the Chunin's wrist and changed the kunai's trajectory. The Chunin slumped on top of Natuto motionless.

"Damn, that was scary," muttered Naruto, pushing the Chunin's heavy body off himself. Naruto gingerly got up and looked at the second Chunin who had a look of shock plastered on his face.

"Don't let him get away, kid," said Kurama with a growl.

The second Chunin suddenly recovered from his shock and jumped at Naruto with a kick. Naruto quickly side-stepped and immediately pulled a kunai from his inventory and pushed it into his assailant's chest, who also slumped motionless into the ground.

"That felt like you were encouraging him, Kurama," said Naruto, panting heavily.

"Good thing you were always sparing with your clones, Naruto," said Kurama. "If you did not have experience on your side, it would have been you lying dead."

"That was still shocking!" said Naruto, his body shaking like a leaf. "It feels different fighting clones."

"Kid, undo your Sharingan," said Kurama.

"My what?" asked Naruto weakly.

"Your Sharingan, dammit! You awakened it!" said Kurama angrily. "Just stop supplying chakra to your eyes and they will deactivate. Go to the Hokage. Tell him you got attacked. But don't tell him about your Sharingan. I'll fill you in that later."

"Right," said Naruro, as he dragged his body towards the Hokage tower. "What about those dead bodies?"

"Don't worry about them," said Kurama, hurriedly. "The pervy old man will take care of them."

***** Hokage Tower *****

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage with a worried look. "You look upset."

"Old man, I got attacked just now by two Chunins!" said Naruto angrily. "In the woods!"

"What!" exclaimed the Hokage. He motioned his hand and two Anbus immediately jumped out. "Tell me everything that happened!"

"I was on my to the woods for training after I had lunch and I got followed by Chunins who attacked me!" said Naruto more angrily. "They wanted me to pay because their father got killed by the Kyubi! You mind telling me the whole story, old man?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," said the Hokage with a sigh. "I don't know how they found out about you being the Jinchuriki. It's supposed to be an SS-rank secret."

"Don't fool around with me, old man!" said Naruto who was very angry. "It's not just them who knows! The whole village knows!"

"Naruto-kun -!"

"No more excuses old man! Tell me the truth!'

The Hokage stared at Naruto's blue eyes that were brimming with anger. They were oddly intelligent for a seven years-old boy.

"Sigh ... very well, Naruto-kun," said the Hokage with a heavy sigh. He then told Naruto about how his mother - Kushina Uzumaki - was the previous Jinchuriki and how they were attacked and the Kyubi released by an unknown person. He finished with how the Kyubi was sealed inside of Naruto and how he ordered it to be kept a secret as Minato had a lot of enemies and didn't want them to know Naruto was his son to keep him safe.

"I already know all that from Kurama!" said Naruto angrily.

"Kurama?" askes the Hokage in confusion.

"That's the Kyubi's name!" said Naruto, patting his belly. "I'm already friends with him! But you are not telling me what I want to know!"

"You're friends with the Kyubi?" asked the Hokage in shock. "Naruto, you cannot trust the Kyubi!"

"Argh, shut up already, old man!" roared Naruto. "Tell me how the entire village knows about me being the Jinchuriki?"

"It was me, Naruto!" said the Hokage, taken aback from Naruto's outburst.

"YOU STUPID OLD MAN!!" screamed Naruto at the top of his voice. "DID YOU ENJOY ME GETTING ALMOST KILLED BY THE VILLAGER?!!"

"I'm sorry, Naruto," said the Hokage, his head hanging low. "I wanted to honour your father's wish for the village to hold you as a hero. I didn't know they would react in such a negative manner."

"So what now, old man?" asked Naruto, putting his hands on his hips. "How are you going to make it up to me?"

"What do you have in mind, Naruto-kun?" asked the Hokage.

"What can you offer me?" asked Naruto.

"I can raise your allowance and move you in to a new house," said the Hokage.

"Triple my current allowance and as for the house, I want it to be a manor," said Naruto. "Anything else you can offer me?"

"A manor is pushing it, Naruto-kun," said the Hokage.

"So is allowing the village to almost kill me," said Naruto. "I will let you know if I have any demands in the future. I still want to become a Hokage, gramps. Don't forget that."

"I really wish for that as well," thought the Hokage as he looked deeply at Naruto.

The Hokage had long realised that he had truly made a mistake in allowing the village to bully Naruto in such a manner. It was a miracle that the young boy had not developed a deep grudge against the village and as he stared at those pure blue eyes of Naruto, he could clearly see the deep longing desire that was present. A deep desire and longing for acknowledgement and love he had not received from anyone in the village.

"What are you thinking about, gramps?" asked Naruto with a frown.

"Very well, Naruto-kun," said the Hokage. "I look forward to seeing you become the finest shinobi ever. Always know you have my support."

"Thanks gramps," said Naruto, a warm feeling erupting in his heart.

"I'll let you know once your new home is ready for you to move in," said the Hokage.

***** Naruto's Apartment *****

After returning to his apartment, Naruto lay on his bed and entered his mindscape. He instantly appeared in front of Kurama.

"Kurama, tell me about the Sharingan," said Naruto.

"Sigh ... I suppose it's only natural for you to awaken it," said Kurama. "Do you know Madara Uchiha?"

"Of course!" said Naruto. "He was one of the founders of Konoha next to Hashirama Senju!"

"Yeah, he was also your grandfather, Minato's father," said Kurama. "Minato told me about him when he sealed me inside of you. He asked me to tell you about him when you awakened your Sharingan. I honestly didn't expect you to awaken your Sharingan this early, but it can be a good thing. You must keep it a secret from anyone and everyone because you will be targeted for your eyes. He kept his a secret, too. He hardly ever used it against his enemies. Only reveal your heritage once you are strong enough to protect yourself. Simply becoming the Hokage is not enough. You need to become someone much more than the Hokage."

"I'll think about that when the time comes," said Naruto. "Did my dad tell you about anything else?"

"No, he didn't have time about anything else," said Kurama.

"That's a shame," said Naruto sadly.

"Kid, don't worry about them for now," said Kurama. "Train your eyes as well as your body so they mature before you become a Genin. What you need at this point is strength."

"Status Window!"

Name: Naruto Uzumaki | Age: 7

Level: 16 (100/16,000)

Rank: Civilian | Class: C+

Status: Healthy

Title: Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails Fox

Bloodline: Uzumaki, Uchiha

Attributes:

VIT: 150 | STR: 145 | AGI: 140

DEX: 144 | INT: 146 | WIS: 145

Attribute Points: 0

System Points:

Chakra Point: 10,000

System Points:

Abilities:

Healing Factor - Rank: C+

(Able to heal eight times faster than normal.)

Sharingan - Rank: C+ {1 tomoe}

{Allows user to perceive motions better.}

Skills: Jutsu count includes Non-Elements Jutsu, Elemental Jutsu, Sealing Jutsu and Taijutsu

D Rank Jutsu (30)

C Rank Jutsu (25)

B Rank Jutsu (1)

Ninjutsu Mastery: C+

Taijutsu Mastery: C+

Kenjutsu Mastery: C+

Fuinjutsu Mastery: C+

Genjutsu Mastery: F-]

"I have made good progress," thought Naruto. "But what happened a few weeks ago was truly shocking."

A couple of weeks ago Itachi Uchiha had massacred his entire clan except for his little brother, Sasuke Uchiha. This had in turn made the young boy swearing to kill his older brother in revenge. Despite being arrogant pricks, the Uchiha clan were highly respected amongst the Konoha citizens. Everyone in Konoha had attended to pay their respects, making the funeral service very huge. Naruto had watched from afar with a sad face. He may not have known the Uchiha Clan members, but he was not someone who wished for bloodshed.

Naruto had decided to keep his legacy a secret. If it was known that the Kyubi Jinchuriki appeared out of nowhere after the Uchiha massacre with the Sharingan and as one of the last surviving Uchiha, they would probably be eaten alive.

Naruro felt bad for Sasuke Uchiha. He knew what it was like to be alone, without the love of a family. He also understood Sasuke's desire for revenge. Ever since Naruto had found out about how his parents had been killed by that unknown figure, he had also sworn to find the attacker and skin him alive.

Because Naruto did not have any family love, he could not say he could fully relate with Sasuke. However, he fully understood the pain of loneliness and on this aspect, he could empathise with the arrogant Uchiha survivor.