Naruto’s Parents

After half an hour, Hiroki, Naruto and Karin were walking towards Hiruzen's office. Karin asked both how it went with the chunin exams and both said that they are in the the final round tournament. She felt happy for them knowing that they did well. Even though they've met not even a week ago, they had become friends, specially Naruto and Karin. They were related by blood. Both had hard childhoods and didn't really have one to care for them. Karin had her mother for some time, but after she died, she still continued to suffer.

"Naruto, before you ask the Hokage about your parents, let me ask him for a favor. I believe that he will accept it. And I hope that you accept it as well Karin." Hiroki said.

"What? Why me? What do you have in mind?" Karin asked.

"Don't worry, it's for the better. Trust me." Hiroki said as he smiled.

*knock, knock*

"Ah, it's Hiroki-kun and Naruto and... I've never seen you before." Hiruzen said as he looked at Karin.

"M-My name is Karin, Karin Uzumaki." Karin said as she bowed slightly.

"Ah, Uzumaki. Now that you say it, that bright red hair is a trait of the Uzumaki family." Hiruzen said as he chuckled. But on the inside he was a little worried.

"Well then, what is it that you guys wanted to talk to me about?" Hiruzen asked.

"I'll go first. Karin here is a genin from Kusagakure. She and her mother found refuge after Uzushiogakure was destroyed by it's enemy in Kusagakure, but they were treated as outsiders and shunned by the civilians of that village. I met her in the Forest of Death when her team attacked me. She tried convincing them to not do so and I didn't see her as threat. After dealing with her teammates, I told her I wouldn't harm her and asked her name. She told me her name. She told me about the way her team members and her village in a whole treated her. I felt that it is a responsibility of Konoha as a sister village of Uzushiogakure to have her become one of our citizens as she doesn't want to return to Kusagakure. And not to mention her blood relation to Naruto since they are both from the Uzumaki clan." Hiroki said as he analyzed every reaction Hiruzen had. Hiruzen hearing Hiroki's last sentence, showed a surprised and tense expression for a split moment, but Hiroki was able to capture it.

"Hiroki, that..." Karin said as she looked at Hiroki. She felt happy about it. She looked at Naruto and saw that the blonde had a really bright smile on his face.

"Huuuum. That is not something easy to happen. Konoha and Kusagakure have a good relation with each other and for that, we would need to ask the shinobi leader to sign a document allowing Karin to be transferred to Konoha. Unlike normal civilians, when a person becomes a shinobi of another hidden village, it is many times harder to become a shinobi of another village. In cases of an enemy village, the person would defect their village and join another one after some investigation, but in Karin's case it is a little more sensitive. She being an Uzumaki is already enough reason for us to ask Kusagakure to let her become a citizen of Konoha, but the problem is that the shinobi leader of Kusa has to allow that to happen or conflicts may arise because of that." Hiruzen explained as he crossed his hands in front of his face.

"I see. Then I already ask in advance if you may please allow me to go and talk to the shinobi leader of Kusagakure after the end of the chunin exams." Hiroki asked very politely.

"I would have no problem in that, Hiroki-kun, but that can only be possible if you were at least a chunin. Even though Kusagakure is an allied village, there might be danger lurking on the way." Hiruzen said.

"Then that shouldn't be a problem. Once the exam is finished, I will certainly become a chunin." Hiroki said with confidence and conviction in his eyes.

"Oh. You're very confident, Hiroki-kun. If it comes to that, then come back here and I'll assign you that task." Hiruzen said.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hiroki said as he politely bowed.

"Is there something else?" Hiruzen asked.

"No. That was all I had to say." Hiroki answered.

"Now then, what can I do for you, Naruto?" Hiruzen asked as he lit his pipe, inhaled some smoke and then slowly exhaled it. He then looked at Naruto and saw an expression that he usually didn't see on the blond's face.

"Can you have your men exit the office and set privacy seals?" Naruto asked. Hiruzen was surprised in hearing Naruto talk about his anbu. They were shinobi of the highest qualities that were hard to be found out by others when they were in hiding.

Hiruzen then have a signal and the anbu left the office. He then pulsed some chakra onto his desk and a privacy barrier was placed all around the office where the doors and windows were, making sure no sound would leave.

"So, Naruto, what is so serious for you to ask for privacy seals?" Hiruzen asked. It was a question that he asked, but knowing that he wouldn't like the response.

"Who are my parents?" Naruto asked. He noticed that Hiruzen had a surprised look on his face and he became tense as well. He saw that the old man was about to say something and interrupted him.

"And before you say anything, I know my mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the second jinchuuriki of the kyubii. So, I'm going to ask again. Who are my parents?"

"Naruto, since when did you know about you being a jinchuuriki?" Hiruzen asked as he breathed in heavily.

"It was because of Mizuki. On the day he tried using me to steal the scroll of seals, he told me that I was the demon fox that attack Konoha over twelve years ago. Don't try to change the subject. Please, just answer me just this once." Naruto asked as his expression showed anger as he remembered Mizuki, but then changed to hopeful with some expectation deep in it.

"Naruto, this is something very sensitive information. I can't..." Hiruzen started saying, but was interrupted by Naruto's shout.

"STOOOOP! I'm tired of the lies. I'm tired of being kept in the shadow. Tell me who are my parents. I DESERVE TO KNOW!" Naruto shouted angrily as his eyes started watering down. Hiroki went next to him and tried comforting his friend and so did Karin.

"Naruto..." Hiruzen called out blonds name. He found himself between a meteor coming his way and the edge of the tallest cliff that he had no way to survive if he jumped.

*sigh*

"I was only supposed to tell you this information once you at least became a chunin or were 16 years old. Indeed, your mother was Kushina Uzumaki, the second jinchuuriki of the kyubii, Naruto. I've always wanted to tell you who your parents are and how great they were. The only reason that Konoha stands today is thanks to their sacrifice. The reason why I didn't say who your parents are, was because they had many enemies. If others knew at the time, it would attract the enemies of your parents and they would surely have killed you, releasing the kyubii inside the village. You know what that means, complete destruction. Anyways, moving back to the context. When a female jinchuuriki gives birth, the seal that binds the tailed beast starts getting weaker since the woman needs to give her all to birth the child. On that night, everything was going fine. Your mother gave birth to you and there was no danger of the kyubii being released. That was until an unidentified enemy was able to trespass our walls and discovered where your mother was. He took your mother and extracted the kyubii from her. Normally, when a biju is extracted from the jinchuuriki, they die, but due to your mother's vitality, she was still alive, although she had no strength from both the labor and the extraction. That enemy was able to take control of the kyubi and made it attack Konoha as it brought destruction upon the village and it's people. Your father, he was able to fight the unidentified enemy and remove the control he had over the kyubii, but it still continued attacking the village as it was angry for being sealed all those decades. In the end, your father and mother were able to imobilize it thanks to your mother's special ability, the adamantine chains. The next step was to seal the kyubii back, but your mother wouldn't survive due to how weak she was at that moment and because she was the one holding down the beast. You father then decided to seal half of the kyubi's chakra into himself and the other half of the chakra into you, since you were just a new born and couldn't survive if it was completely sealed inside you. When he did that, he used a forbidden Jutsu that would take his life in exchange. He had hopes that your mother would survive and take care of you, but things didn't work out as he planned. When he sealed the first half into himself, the kyubi was able to set free one of its paws. It then attacked you. Your father and mother got in front of the attack as they held the nail of the tailed beast that went through them. It was less than an inch from reaching you and killing you. Your father then finished sealing the other half of the kyubii's chakra inside you and died because of the forbidden Jutsu. Your mother, she was still alive after the labor, the extraction and even the deadly attack from the kyubi that left a gaping hole on her body. All thanks to her will to protect you. In her last moments, she asked me to take care of you. Your parents wanted you to be seen as a hero that saved Konoha from the kyubi when you grew up. I took you in for some time and after you were already old enough, sent you to the orphanage. One day someone we still don't know who it is, let out the information to the whole village that you were the jinchuuriki of the kyubi and you were the reincarnation of the beast. That's when I made a law that prohibited anyone that knew you were the jinchuuriki from telling you or the future generation of that fact. I wanted to protect you in that way and let you to have a normal childhood, but some of the villagers still shunned you and did disposable things to you. I had my anbu keep watch on you 24/7 so that they could protect you, but even then, some of them still had hate towards the kyubii and vented against you. That was when I placed only two to always watch over you. Those two were people that were close to your parents and they knew who you were and I was sure that wouldn't let anything happen to you " Hiruzen finished telling the whole story to Naruto.

The blond was crying profusely even before Hiruzen was half done. When the old man said that his parents died because they protected him from the kyubi, more tears came out as it started sending his orange jacket. Naruto understood that they really loved him and that they did everything to protect him even though he was only born that night. He could only cry and cry as he crouched down. After thirty minutes of crying nonstop, Naruto felt a warm hand on his shoulder and looked up to See that it was Hiroki.

"Now you know that you had the most wonderful parents anyone could have, Naruto. I understand your pain and your grief. It must not have been an easy decision for them, but it was their only decision. That is what is most important." Hiroki said as he pulled Naruto up.

It was then Karin's turn to comfort the blond as she hugged him tightly. She too teared up as she listened to the story.

"So... I wasn't left behind by my parents as I always thought I had been?" Naruto asked as he sniffed.

"No, Naruto. They loved you very much. Ever since the day they learned that they would have you, they loved you. They also placed on you their hopes that you would be a hero to the village as you kept the kyubi sealed and away from destroying the village." Hiruzen said.

*sniff, sniff*

"You said that my father sealed the kyubi in me, but wasn't it sealed by the fourth Hokage? How did he die then?" Naruto asked as he started wiping away the tears.

"Well, Naruto... that is why I never told you who you parents are. Because of the enemies your father had created in the third shinobi world war. He was the strongest shinobi at the time. Your father was Minato Namikaze. Also known as the Fourth Hokage." Hiruzen said.

Naruto heard Hiruzen say those words as they rang loudly inside his head. He kept looking at nothing and didn't move even and inch. It seemed that his brain had short circuited.

"My father... was the... Y-Yondaime Hokage? Why didn't you tell me before? Why didn't you take care of me? WHY DID EVERYONE IN THE VILLAGE TREAT ME AS A MONTER?" At this moments, the kyubii's chakra started to manifest itself as Naruto felt extreme anger as he remembered the episodes of being hunted by civilians and some low level shinobi whenever it was his birthday. Hiruzen and Karin could feel the pressure of the kyubii's chakra as it enveloped Naruto and his physical appearance started changing as his nails, fangs got bigger and sharper and his whisker marks became thicker and darker. Hiroki could feel that the kyubii was feeding on Naruto's anger and hate. He knew that he had to do something, otherwise it would start taking over since Naruto wasn't at his strongest mentally.

"Naruto!" Hiroki called out. Naruto turned towards Hiroki with dark red eyes that looked like a beasts. When Naruto saw Hiroki, he was placed in a strong genjutsu that made him sleep. Naruto closed his eyes and fell as his normal expressions returned. Hiroki caught him and laid him on the floor.

"Hiroki-kun, thank you for doing this." Hiruzen said.

"I did it because Naruto was being influenced by the kyubii's chakra. His mental strength was weak and unexpected things could happen. It was best to calm him down." Hiroki said to Hiruzen.

*sigh*

"I never thought that I'd have to tell Naruto all of this now. I was hoping to having someone else do it for me. He is Naruto's godfather after all." Hiruzen said.

"Well, it must not have been easy for you and Kakashi either to keep all of this from Naruto." Hiroki said.

"Huh? How do you know about Kakashi?" Hiruzen asked.

"It's not hard, Hokage-sama. The Yondaime had three disciples and only one survived from the third shinobi world war. It was no one other than Kakashi. Kakashi being the Yondaime's student, obviously knew who Naruto's parents were." Hiroki explained.

"That's true." Hiruzen said. He then saw Naruto quivering his eyes as if he had started dreaming.

———

*drip... drip... drip...*

Continuous sounds of drips sounded as Naruto woke up inside an underground sewer. It was a very dark place and he could barely see things in front of him.

"Where am I?" He asked himself as he got up. He then started walking slowly towards the only path there was. He could faintly hear deep growling sounds, so he followed to see what was in that place with him. After walking for less than a minute, Naruto saw a big opening compared to the path he followed. He couldn't see a horizontal limit to the place. He could only see a huge cage door in front of him and the cage extended with the horizon as he didn't see it's limit either. Naruto walked closer and closer to the cage, he couldn't see what was inside of it at all, but could hear the growling sound. As he was about to touch the cage, a big dark red pupil appeared in front of him from inside the cage. Then another pupil appeared and a huge orange fox appeared as the beast raised its head and body.

"You're the..." Naruto started saying in surprise.

"Yeah. I'm the kyubii. Now be a good boy and rip this seal and let me be free." The kyubii said in a very deep voice that reverberated all around the sewer they were in. He then pointed towards a paper seal that was in front of the gate of the cage.

Naruto was surprised listening to the beast talk, but he quickly shook his head.

"If I open the seal, you'll destroy Konoha and kill everyone in it." Naruto said.

"Heh. You still care about that tiny village and those people that hurt you and hunted you down? You're more stupid than I thought, kid. They lied to you all your life and kept you in the dark about me and about your parents. Remember that hate and that anger you had a moment ago. Use that to set me free and destroy this place for revenge. Pay back to everyone what they did to you." The kyubi said as it made Naruto remember the emotions he felt a few minutes ago. Naruto moved closer to the gate and stretched his hand towards the seal.

"That's it, now just rip it off and your revenge will come true." The kyubi said as it urged Naruto to rip the seal.

"Keep dreaming you damn fox. I have people important to me in Konoha. Even if the majority treated me badly and hunted me, I have my friends. My parents also protected the village at the cost of their lives. I won't let you influence me to destroy what they died to protect. So you better stop dreaming about me letting you go. And since you've been living here for twelve years, it's already past the time for you to start paying rent." Naruto said as he smirked at the giant red fox.

"You stupid brat." The kyubi said as it slammed it's paw at the gate door. The gate didn't even budge, but that slam was enough to create a large gusts of airs that pushed Naruto out.

Naruto woke up as he opened his eyes and found himself in the Hokage's office. He looked around and saw Hiroki and Karin next to him and Hiruzen seating behind his desk. He then remembered their conversation and how he was letting his hate and anger get the better of him as the Kyubii started influencing him. He then looked at Hiroki as he got up.

"Hiroki, thank you for stopping me. If I continued, I feel that I would do things that I would regret for ever." Naruto said.

"Naruto, what did I tell you before. There are no "thank yous" between us. We are friends. I did what I thought would be best for you. Are you feeling better now?" Hiroki asked and Naruto nodded his head.

"That great then." Hiroki said as he smiled.

"Old man, my parents must have left things behind for me. I want them and don't you dare deny me those things. You've already took so much from me." Naruto said to Hiruzen.

"Naruto, please, don't be like this. You understand that in the position I was in, I couldn't say anything to you because my job is to protect Konoha and everyone in it, including you." Hiruzen said as he had a saddened expression.

"I don't hate you, but I'm disappointed in you. Now, I want the things my parents have left for me." Naruto demanded.

"I knew this day might come. It came sooner that I wanted and not how I expected." Hiruzen said as he opened a secret compartment from his desk. He then took out a key and held it.

"This is the key to your parent's house, Naruto. The tag has the address of the house and you'll be able to find where it is. Everything they left to you is inside there." Hiruzen said as he threw the key towards Naruto.

Naruto took the key and started walking out from the office without saying anything. Karin looked at Hiroki then to Naruto and went after her cousin.

"Thank you for your time, Hokage-sama." Hiroki said as he walked out as he went after Naruto and Karin.

"Are you better, Naruto?" Hiroki asked as he arrived next to the blond.

"It's hard, you know. To know that your father and mother died to protect the whole village, have no choice but to seal a tailed beast in their child, hope that the village see's the child as a hero that save the village, but then have things happen in a totally different way. My blood boils and I fell so much anger, but then I remember that my parents died to protect the village. I still feel that I have the duty to protect it even after all it did to me." Naruto said.

"Naruto, all I have to say is that I'm here for you. I just don't want you to let the hate consume you. I know that the only way for you to not let the kyubi feed off on those feelings is to love. You have plenty of friends that care for you, your team members and there's also Hinata, who likes you more than a friend. Let's not forget about Karin here, your new cousin." Hiroki said.

"Uhum. I'm here for you as well, Naruto." Karin said as she smiled at Naruto.

"Thank you, Hiroki, Karin. You guys are really helping me." Naruto said.

"Hey, how many times do I have to say it? There is no "thank you" between us." Hiroki said as he passed his arm around Naruto's shoulder and messed his hair as he placed the blond in a head lock, getting a good laugh out of the blond and Karin.

After walking for over ten minutes, they finally arrived in front of a red house. It was a very pretty house and it was still kept in good condition even though no one had been living there for almost thirteen years. Instead of Naruto, the one that had shining eyes was Hiroki as he remembered the short years he had with Kushina and Minato in the other timeline. It was then that he made a promise.

'I'll do everything in my power to see Naruto grow up and protect him until he is powerful enough to protect himself from every and all harms. Once that is done, I'll return even at the cost of my life to see you guys again even if it's just for a short time.' Hiroki thought.

"How do I open this?" Naruto asked. He had seen that there weren't any key holes on the front door.

"From what I know, your father and mother were fuuinjutsu masters. There's a chance that the door opens with a seal mechanism that recognizes their blood and the blood of their descendants. Try opening the door normally, Naruto." Hiroki said. Naruto grabbed the door knob, he felt that some kind of chakra was flowing through him and it suddenly stopped as the door opened.

"Ah, it opened." Naruto said as he pushed the door and walked inside the house. Hiroki and Karin followed behind. Naruto went through all doors and checked all rooms until they arrived at his parents bedroom. What impressed the three of them the most was that there was no dust in the entire house and everything, electricity, water were still working in perfect conditions.

"This must be the work of a special seal to keep the house clean and functioning perfectly fine even after so long without anyone living in it or doing maintenance." Hiroki said.

"That must surely be it." Karin said.

"Hey, weve looked all over the house and I didn't see any places that had a key hole in it." Naruto said as he held up the key he got from Hiruzen.

"There must be a place here that we couldn't see it." Hiroki said.

"But we looked everywhere." Naruto said.

"Maybe it's a hidden place, Naruto. It must be where your parents kept their most precious belongings and probably the secret techniques they had as well." Hiroki said. He then closed his eyes and spread some chakra around them as he sensed every nook and cranny of the house. He opened his eyes and had a smile on his face.

"Naruto, open that closet next to the bathroom." Hiroki pointed to Naruto.

Naruto went to the closet door and opened it. Inside, he saw a door that had a knob in it and it had many writings all over it. Under the door knob, there was a key hole.

"We found it. Hehe." Naruto said. He then put the key into the hole and turned, opening the lock and then twisted the door knob, pulling it and opening the door. As he took the first step inside, a light shone and he saw that it was a quite large room that had many shelves that were filled with books. There also were some three pronged kunais on some shelves as well as some scrolls. In the center of the room, there's was a big picture of Kushina and Minato smiling happily as they caressed Kushina's belly. Naruto couldn't hold his tears back as he saw this. He smiled happily seeing how his parents loved him even before he was born.

"See, you've been loved even before being born, Naruto. It's a shame that you only came to know all of this today. I understand how this must have felt for you, but I also understand why the old man didn't tell you when you were younger. Your father ended the third war almost just by himself as he killed thousands of shinobi from Iwagakure. If his enemies learned he had left a child behind, I'm sure that they would have come after you and killed you. I'm not trying to defend Hiruzen, I'm just giving out my opinion. All in all, you just have to never forget the love your parents had for you." Hiroki said to Naruto.

"Yes... I know." Naruto said as he sniffed, trying to stop crying.

"Anyways, look at all the stuff in here. This is probably all the techniques your parents had learned and were developing, Naruto. You'll have a lot of reading to do." Hiroki said.

"I do. And I'll read every single one of them. I'll learn their techniques and use them myself to remember forever that even though I lost them when I was born, they cared and loved me, leaving to me everything they had." Naruto said.

"That's very good, haha. Now then. I had an offer to make you for the chunin exam finals. Want to train together?" Hiroki asked.

"Ooooooh. Let's do it. Even if I get to the finals and have to fight you, I'll do my best in defeating you." Naruto said as he was fired up.

"Very good, Naruto. Before we begin, I'll let you familiarize with your new home. I'll leave now. I have a few things to take care of." Hiroki said as he started to leave the room and walked to the door. He then looked back at Naruto and Karin.

"If I were you, I'd start with the basic fuuinjutsus. It may not seem like it, but there's so much you can do with it. And Karin, don't let him do anything stupid." Hiroki said as he finally left.

The sun was about to set as Hiroki left Naruto's new home. He started walking towards his apartment, Hiroki felt a presence hidden behind some bushes. The person was observing him walking out and he felt that the person was someone also watching Naruto's house.

'It's someone strong. Better check to see who it is.' Hiroki thought as he flung a kunai with full strength towards the person. Hiroki got the person off guard, but they were still able to dodge it in time, but it was useless as Hiroki kicked the person from behind, sending him out of his hiding spot. Hiroki was already in front of the person as he had his sharingan activated an his tanto pointed to their face.

"Argh, Damn it kid. What the hell was that for?" A man's voice came out as the person scratched their back.

"What are you attacking me for? That could have killed me. Ah, those eyes. You're an Uchiha." The man said as he looked at Hiroki.

Hiroki deactivated and sheathed his tanto.

"Stop creeping around like that and don't be rolling around on the ground like that. That wasn't enough to hurt you, Jiraiya." Hiroki said.

Jiraiya showed a surprised expression when Hiroki said his name.

"Oh. So someone in the young generation still knows who I am. What's you name, kid." Jiraiya asked.

"It's Hiroki."

"I see. Well, your quite strong and fast for your age. You can easily become a Jounin if you apply for an exam. If I'm not wrong, you must be a chunin already, right?" Jiraiya asked.

"No. I'm a genin. Same class from you godson." Hiroki said aa he got another surprised expression from Jiraiya.

"So you know?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah. I believe that Hokage-sama has told you what happened today, right? Anyways, aren't you always out of Konoha? What are you doing here? Looking for Orochimaru?" Hiroki asked a few questions.

"The old man told me what happened today. I came to check out and see if I could have the opportunity to talk to him, but I guess he will be busy checking out his parent's house and everything in it." Jiraiya said.

"Well, you're right about that. He will stay there until tomorrow. If I were you, I'd try getting closer to Naruto. You've already disregarded your responsibility for long enough. His parents wouldn't be happy if they knew you haven't even come to see him once. Anyways, I'll be leaving now. It was nice meeting you Jiraiya." Hiroki said as he started leaving.

Jiraiya on the other hand, thought about what Hiroki had told him. He could only sigh and leave for today.