110 -=Timeskip intermission: I am still here=-

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A/N: Read 10 chapters ahead in my P a T r E o N

www.p-atreon.com/joao132135

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Note for y'all, Kaede's and the team 7 trainings are NOT connected, so they don't happen at the same time, okay? moving on

Also, this chapter didn't happen exactly after the previous one but had a specific time, you will see what I meant soon, so don't worry

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Konoha

The day is September 10th

today is the day that Konoha gathers to mourn the death of their fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato

A very sad day, indeed but... the saddest part of this day isn't the death of that man, but what happens every year to his son

Naruto was sitting at his home, having nothing to do this day, Hiruzen had to take part in Minato's death anniversary, as the previous kage and Minato's sensei

So no training...

Sasuke had a day off of training and was jot interested in the fourth's death, it could have been even his own birthday, he just wasn't a fan of gatherings

But... Sasuke spent his day off brooding while he read some books and trained in his personal training ground (Uchiha's training grounds)... bleh, Mr. Brood

Luna different from Sasuke had some respect for the fourth, so she was there, and was also unavailable

Kakashi would go to the gathering, remember the past and spend the rest of the day crying without tears at his sensei's grave, instead of looking out for his kid

Jiraya was out of the village currently

the only option seemed to be Teuchi, at Ichiraku, but...

*RUMBLE*

It started raining... a lot

as if the skies cried the death of that man who had actually less screen time than his genocidal disciple...

... what?

Naruto sat at a chair by his window as he watched the rain with no interest

he saw some kids play in the rain, unconcerned about anything

A cruel way that the world can remember him that he is alone

why are those kids even there? shouldn't they be at Minato's mourning party or something?

"sigh..." Recently Naruto felt like he has been sighing a lot more

the world he always saw as a colorful place seemed duller every day... but at least he wasn't alone anymore, right?

Hiruzen, Kakashi, Luna, Sasuke... he had friends and people who cared about him, right?

Well, that's what he thought until today

He never really cared about his birthday as he knew it was also the day of the death of the fourth Hokage and many others, but... this all changed the day he almost lost himself to Kyuubi and its hatred

He met his father and got to know the truth, by Kaede's weird genjutsu he also got a taste of what life could have been to him, the exact colorful and beautiful place he thought it was

Sasuke and Luna apart, since they probably didn't know it either, why has Kakashi and Hiruzen kept this from Naruto? he didn't deserve to know who his family was? was he that worthless?

He kept those dark thoughts away, it was probably for his own good... His father had many enemies, no? he learned that enemies can go after your family from Hiruzen, so it made sense...

but... what about his mother?

She wasn't even remembered by the people of Konoha itself, imagine the people of other villages...

Why keep her name hidden from him? why never tell him about her? it's not like he would make a connection and discover he was the son of Minato, since the name of every wife of every Hokage is kept secret until they die

Yet another thing Hiruzen told him, it was the case with his wife that died during the Kyuubi invasion as well

Questions kept piling over Naruto's head, and he did his best to keep them away with good thoughts, but in the gloomy day that it was, and with the rain, as the only sound he could hear.., that was harder to do than anything

that's why today he missed his friends because his mind was seemingly against him, and only when he had someone with him to talk with, bicker with or just listen to, could his mind be kept in check

But it didn't matter how much he wished to not be alone today...

because nobody came

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Luna was at the gathering that happened every year, about the death of the fourth Hokage she heard, it was a little gloomy festival that was done to remember every life lost during the Kyuubi attack more than 10 years ago when she wasn't even born yet

The gloomy atmosphere, plus the gloomy face of everyone that went there, the gloomy day because of the rain this place was as gloomy as Sasuke was brooding daily, she noted

'What a... USELESS... boring thing...

I should... SET IT ON FIRE... go home to do something' She thought

Close to her, a group of weird-looking hags had a 'quiet' conversation

"*Sniff* today is Kyoshi's death birthday... *Sniff*"

"Right... Today is a sad day... and it's all because of that damn demon brat"

"Yeah, good thing he isn't here, that abomination took away my son!"

Hearing that bs, Luna's face twitched, she couldn't understand why people blamed Naruto for something he cannot physically have done

albeit Jinchurikkis are not something that the masses know, she cannot understand why people blame him... he is a kid and for God's sake. if he was one-third of what they say he is, there would be no more Konoha today...

"Wasn't today his birthday? I remember that some years ago, today was the day some people took to throw stones at his house... unfortunately the Hokage told them to stop because of structural damage..."

"It was? I don't remember, neither do I care

And yes, I remember those days, My neighbors always grouped together to do it, it was like a festival to us... sadly we can't do it anymore..."

Hearing this, Luna stopped walking

She was shocked, and by two things actually,

first, she was disgusted by those villagers that the Hokage always said are part of the big family of Konoha. Heh, such a joke...

'Just how cruel can those... BITCHES... be?' She asked herself in disbelief, even agreeing with her counterpart

'That's not important... I can't believe that I didn't know today was Naruto's birthday! what do I do?

I have no time to buy some good gift, and everywhere is closed... wait, the Ichiraku! yes, Teuchi said his shop is open every day, no exceptions! I will buy him a ramen... no, a bunch of ramens, yes, he will like it'

She thought frantically, maybe even exaggerating, even

though... little did she know that even by being there she would have made his day, much less a gift, the poor kid never got a gift his whole life, as the most Hiruzen ever did was paying ramen or a visit to him, sometimes he didn't even do that...

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*Knock knock knock*

Naruto who was almost sleeping out of boredom, immediately looked at his door

there was a knock, so it means someone came to visit him, which was incredible but

'I can't feel their chakra?' He thought confused

was it the rain? or was it the sleepiness that he didn't wash away yet? he could only guess

*Knock knock knock*

The knocks sounded once again

"I'm coming, I'm coming" Naruto said quickly, not wanting whoever was there to just go away because he took too long to answer

*Click*

*Creaaaak*

The old rusty door made a loud noise as Naruto opened the door, and as soon as he did, he saw someone of his size, wearing a rain hat, those are like our world's umbrellas, used by everyone, everywhere on the elemental nations

"Can I help you?" Naruto asked, not recognizing the person

"Oh my, you can't recognize your old friend, Naruto-Kun?" A snarky female voice sounded and immediately after hearing it, Naruto jumped back, with a flicker of his hand, the seal on it glowed and his staff was on his hands

"What are you doing here...

...

...

Kaede?"