Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"I remember that day. How could I forget? It was happiest day of our lives. But at the same time it was one of the scariest. Not because of the knowledge that it was going to be a painful happy day or that there won't be any sleep for a while. That I could deal with. No, what made it scary was something else entirely."

October 10^th, 6 years ago…

The thought of being a mother never really crossed Kushina’s mind. She was a foreigner from a far-off land who was forced to come here for one specific purpose – to survive. It was one reason she became a shinobi in the first place. She needed the knowledge and skills the Leaf offered to survive and enough strength to protect herself from whatever the future may hold.

The thought of being a mother and raising a child never crossed her mind until she met him.

Sitting to her right was her husband and current leader of Hidden Leaf Village – Minato Namikaze. She remembered meeting him when she first moved here and found his dream of being Hokage an impossibility. She was happy to be proven wrong.

“Are you alright, Kushina?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah… I’m fine…” Kushina replied with a strained smile. The truth was the contractions were beginning to become more frequent, but that’s too be expected. Of course, that wasn’t what really made her anxious.

On the other side of the table sat the previous Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his wife, Biwako.

Minato's eyes subtly jumped back and forth between his wife and their guests. He had hoped that the jitters for the occasion were all he had to face, but it wasn't to be. For months, he steeled himself for the possibility of something much more drastic to take place.

Kushina solemnly glanced down at her enlarged stomach and gently stroked it with her right hand.

"Just so we're on the same page… Why are we doing this again?" she asked.

"It’s just a precaution," Hiruzen simply stated. Kushina winced and leaned back ever so slightly to keep the smoke from his pipe from reaching her.

"With all due respect, I still don't see how all these 'signs' makes this necessary."

Minato scratched his right cheek anxiously. As a father to be, he wanted to side with Kushina on the matter, but as Hokage, he knew that what had been proposed needed to be done.

Throughout her pregnancy, there had been a few signs that the eventual delivery of their child may not be a simple one.

The first sign was the discovery of the amount of chakra the child she carried occasionally gave off. Sensory ninja in the village had informed them that normally a developing fetus womb gave off such little chakra that it is hard to detect. However, at times their own emitted so much that it was nearly impossible to ignore.

It was strange, but they figured that it wasn't necessarily a concern until the second sign. One day, while they were visiting the local playground, Kushina felt a hot, bubbling sensation in her stomach. For a brief moment, crimson red chakra seeped through her skin and shrouded her stomach. Before they could process the sight, the shroud vanished.

The third sign occurred that very night. After dinner, Kushina let out a belch so powerful that it blew Minato across the kitchen. The fourth and final sign was her missing her expected due date. To everyone's surprise, the child they were waiting for was still developing. An eye was kept on the development of the child until it was clear that today was the day they would meet him.

"We have never faced a situation like this before, Kushina," Hiruzen calmly reminded her. "It goes without saying that we wouldn't normally do this for mere childbirth, but your child has been giving off chakra to such an extent that it has had clear physical effects on your body. A newborn naturally won’t have the ability to control their chakra so we have to prepare for the worst once he's here."

"You make it sound like he's dangerous…" Kushina muttered.

"We don't know whether he's dangerous or not, but it's best to air on the side of caution," Biwako pointed out. "Perhaps this is just a result of his development and it'll end once he's here or…"

Deep down, Kushina knew they were right, but still-

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she was greeted with her husband's smile. It was soft and reassuring like always. "No matter where we are, all that matters is that we're all together when he's here."

She feigned a sigh and returned his smile. "Fine, you win this round.”

“Hm.” Hiruzen chuckled under his breath. Despite the circumstances, today was a day worth celebrating.  "We will set up shop outside the village and erect a barrier around it. Only Minato, my wife and Taji from the Anbu will be inside. This must be kept top secret. Of course, there will be reinforcements outside, Anbu under my direct command."

"I'll tell you where the place is, so get your things ready!" Biwako added.

Few things make Kushina shirk back in fright, but Biwako’s war cry like declaration was truly unsettling. "Yes… Thank you both…”

…

"Didn't you have a girl?" Kushina leaned over closer to get a better look at the baby tucked in the arms of one of her old friends – Mikoto Uchiha.

"Nope, another boy," Mikoto corrected.

"Well, what's his name?"

Mikoto looked down at her child and proudly answered with, "Sasuke."

Biwako eyes briefly lit up with interest. "Ah, the same as the Third's father."

"Yes… I'm sure he'll become a fine shinobi."

Mikoto's eyes were then drawn to Kushina's stomach.

"You're almost due, aren't you Kushina? You should pick out a name before it's too late."

"We've got one – 'Naruto'," she chirped. "He and Sasuke will be in the same grade, I hope they become friends."

Her expression immediately darkened as she leaned in close to Mikoto’s ear. She whispered a simple yet important question. "By the way… Does it hurt? Like, bad?"

Mikoto chuckled. The sight of Kushina shivering in fear was a rare sight indeed. "Well well, even you're afraid of something. I'll be."

Before she could say more, Kushina felt something tug her left arm.

"Come on already!" Biwako scowled as she pulled her away.

"Oh, sorry," Kushina apologized as she waved by to Mikoto.

"Remember, we need to keep the birth classified. Try not to talk to anyone while we're on the move, even your friends."

"Right, sorry about that."

Kushina couldn't help but feel flustered over such reprimanding. She's not used to being on the receiving end.

"The fact that we're leaving the village for this is classified as well!" Biwako reminded her. "Don't go screaming you're head off, even when the contractions started."

"R-Right…"

Later that night…

 "OH GOD, IT HURRRRRRRRRRRTS!" Kushina screamed.

The pain was even worse than she imagined. With each spasm of pain, she gripped her husband's hand tighter and tighter to the point they felt as if they were one.

"I, uh… I've never heard Kushina in so much pain. Are… Are you sure he's all right…" Minato anxiously asked.

His hand was squeezed even tighter than before as Kushina let out another roar.

"The head's out!" Almos-!"

Biyako and Taji's eyes widened as a dark red shroud slowly engulfed the baby's head. Two long, foxlike ears sprouted from the atop his head as he stared at them with dull, white eyes.

"What in-?"

A jagged line was right where the child’s mouth should be and he slowly opened his maw. He roared, the power and ferocity of his voice sending the two flying into a nearby wall.

"Biwako, Taji!" Minato felt a sharp chill as he watched his child drag himself out of his wife.

His shoulders rampaged for freedom and soon after, he forcefully freed his arms from the canal.

Each violent move for freedom caused his mother so much pain she wondered how she was still conscious. But it wasn’t over yet. Even with his body free, something still connected them. She howled as four long tails swiftly flew out of her.

Each tail swayed menacingly in front of them. His blood red appearance, his ears, his tails, and his preference to crouch on his hand and legs -- one would be forgiven to mistake the child for a demon fox.

"Naruto…?" That was all Minato could say as he tried to process everything that had transpired in such a short amount of time.

"Lord Hokage!"

The team of Anbu who had been assigned to keep watch over the area burst into the room. They all had kunai at the ready the moment they laid their eyes on Naruto.

"No, wait!" As soon as those words left his mouth, Naruto flew past Minato and dug his sharpened fingers into the captain’s mask. His four tails viciously cut through air before wrapping around the remaining Anbu. Minato watched as they were lifted into the air like they were merely toys before they were slammed down with a sickening Crunch!

All the while, the captain struggled to escape the monster holding him down. His attention was solely on his final captive, his hollow eyes stripping away any and all notions of escape.

One of his tails swayed dangerously close. The tip was pointed right at him — Naruto was about to skewer him.

The captain laid motionless, his life flashing before his eyes. At the end, he suddenly felt relief. It wasn’t because he accepted his death, rather because the pain he felt was fading. Before his world went dark, he watched Minato land on the other side of the room with Naruto.

“Urk…!” He didn’t have to look, he could tell how his wound was by droplets of blood that had already hit the ground. His son’s claws were as sharp as he expected them to be. Despite, the gravity of their situation, Minato was unable to stifle a quiet laugh. "You… You really know how to make a first impression, Naruto…"

Naruto swiftly pulled his arm out of his father’s abdomen, blood rushing out of the wound. His four tails quickly wrapped around Minato and mercilessly began crushing him.

“Ugh!” The tails pressed against him from every angle, leaving him no room to struggle. Squeezing him even harder, Minato began to feel a burning sensation on his skin. Even if the life wasn’t squeezed out of him, the acidic surface of Naruto’s skin may burn him alive. "N-Naruto…"

He couldn’t focus. Kushina was in no position to help and because he was focused solely on her when they arrived he hadn’t marked the room. He still had his previous locations, but leaving everyone behind for even a second was not an option.

Minato struggled against his binds as hard as he could. He just needed to free his hand, either of them would do. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt his newborn child, but that may be his only choice if he wanted to save everyone.

No choice…! Rasen-

Naruto was kicked away from him, freeing Minato from his restraint.

“You okay?” An unknown figure stood close to him, their identity kept hidden under their hooded cloak.

They didn't appear to be reinforcements from the Leaf which begged the question — Who were they and how did they find this place? More importantly, how did they get in?

Judging from their height and voice, they had to have a teenage boy or a young man at most. If so, Minato had to ensure a safe escape for him. "You need to get out of here. And if you could, could you take my wife with you?”

“…If I leave you here, you’ll end up getting yourself killed.” The mysterious figured moved in front of him. Though his face was obscured by the shadow of his hood, his sharp purple eyes shone through.

He recognized those eyes, or at least, he’s seen a close variation of them. Not only that, even with just a glance, he could tell that this person has seen their fair share of battle and the trauma that followed.

“I’ll handle this.” He reached down and grabbed one of Naruto’s tails, easily bringing the child to his face. He was fast, faster then any ninja he’s seen in the past. Minato was sure that a certain someone would be crushed by that assessment.

The stranger placed his palm on Naruto’s stomach, his violet eyes shining bright.

"Sleep."

The shroud that covered Naruto vanished, revealing a tiny boy with blonde hair and three whisker markings on each cheek. He cradled the newborn and, taking gentle steps, brought him to his mother.

"Thank you," a weak, but bright smile spread across Kushina’s face.

"No need," he said as he turned his back to the couple.

"Wait," Minato called.

The stranger turned back.

"At least let us give you something to show our gratitude."

The cloaked figure glanced at the newborn Naruto and once again turned his back to them.

"Take care of your son. That'll be enough for me."

With those parting words, the stranger vanished from sight.

"I remember that day. It was one of the happiest and scariest days of our lives. But what made it scary wasn't how Naruto lashed out, but the realization of what could happen if the knowledge of the power he contained became public knowledge. What kind of people would develop a selfish interest in him if they knew what happened that day?

 I hoped that question would remain unanswered, but…"

Chapter Text

Hokage's Office, Present Day.

When one thinks of the position of Hokage, they think of one who has earned the title of strongest in the entire village. A shinobi that possesses the power to protect the village and all of its interests; that is what a Hokage is.

What most people don't usually think about however is how that doesn't just apply to physical conflicts. There are many other duties a Hokage must do. For some reason, normal citizens and rookie ninja never really consider sifting through mountains of paperwork to be one of the Hokage's responsibilities.

That was what Minato was doing until one of his elite bodyguards, Raidō Namiashi, rushed into the room.

"Lord Hokage, we have a problem!" he said.

"What is it?" Minato calmly questioned.

"We've been getting reports of some kind of wild chase happening throughout the village."

"Wild chase? Wild how?"

"According to the reports, two individuals have been jumping through rooftops, slipping through alleys and in and out of stores and overall disrupting day to day activities.

"Is there someone nearby that can convince them to stop?"

"That's the other thing…" Raidō averted his gaze, but Minato could still see the fear in his eyes. "Every shinobi nearby are too afraid to step in."

"Afraid?"

"I probably should have informed of the descriptions of the two in the reports. One of them is a small child with blonde hair and distinctive whisker marks on his cheeks and the other is a woman with long flowing red hair."

A weak chuckle slipped through Minato's lips. "Y-You don't say…"

Another aspect of the Hokage job that others don't really think about is balancing the responsibilities of work with the responsibilities one has towards their families. An even more obscure aspect of the are the scenarios when those two responsibilities come together.

"Alright, I'll go and get them to stop," Minato declared, slipping on his long white haori. "Raidō, where were they last seen?"  

At that moment, the two heard something banging on the office windows. Turning around, Minato found his son swiftly going back and forth between the windows, hammering his fists on each one.   

"Dad! Dad! Open up! Open up!" he cried.

Minato calmly opened the center window and watched in silence as Naruto dove under his desk. The fear on his son's face was all he needed to confirm the situation.

"Naruto, you know running just makes it worse…." he weakly encouraged.

"That's easy to say when she's not chasing you!" Naruto argued.

Minato contemplatively scratched the back of his head.

Can't argue with him there…

"NARUTO!"

A sharp chill shot up their spines as they heard what sounded like a rampaging bull heading towards the office. Suddenly, everything went quiet. One would hope that the silence would signify the other participant of the chaotic chase went away, but they all knew better. Mere seconds later, the door to the office violently swung open.

 Naruto's heart started to race as he heard the sound of someone stomping towards the desk. Images of his pursuer's face flashed in his mind. There were two faces that he was afraid of; there was their angry face and then there was their other face. The face that was even scarier. You couldn't even see their face when they're like that. Their face was blanketed by an out-of-nowhere shadow, as if to emphasize the blank white eyes and the demonic flowing red hair.

He, like most of the villagers, feared that face the most; a face that was now directed solely at him.

"Gotcha…" Kushina growled.

A small child's scream could be heard throughout the entire village.

…

A small groan escaped Naruto's lips as he stared at the plate in front of him. There was nothing but vegetables on it.

I hate veggies…

The 6-year old glanced at his mother. Not too far away, she was washing the dishes. But even though she wasn't looking his way, he could tell that her focus was mostly on him.

But I'm afraid of Mom more…

With no other choice, Naruto grabbed the plate of food and crammed everything on top into his mouth. Regret hit him quickly as the variety of vegetables brushed his tongue all at once. He wasted no time swallowing his dinner, battling the desire to throw up what he was forcing down his throat.

I hate veggies…!

"See, was it really that bad?" Kushina asked with a proud smile. "Definitely didn't call for having your mother chase you around the village 3 times, huh?"

Naruto blankly stared at his mother. He expected to lose her before he made it to Ichiraku, but, to his amazement and horror, she forced him to zig-zag through the village more than once. What was even more horrifying was the idea that she could have kept that up longer than that.

"Why are parents always so serious about giving their kids vegetables?" Naruto complained.

"Wait… I'm prepared for this one…" Kushina dug into her pocket and pulled out a tiny sheet of paper. Clearing her throat, she read, "Most parents understand that vegetables are an important part of their child's diet because vegetables are a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals."

"Huh?" Naruto could only stare at his mother, confused by what he just heard.

"They're good for essentially," she said. "You gotta eat a lot of veggies if you want to be strong like your father and mother."

"I don't really feel much stronger. Did you eat a lot of veggies when you were a kid?"

"Uhm…" Kushina's cheeks grew bright red as she nervously scratched the back of her head. "Of course I did."

She started anxiously laughing, confusing her son. Memories of her first encounter with vegetables were as clear as day.

At least I didn't use the chains on him like they were used on me…

Her brief stint down memory lane was soon interrupted by the sound of a door closing. Minato breathed a sigh of relief as he walked into the kitchen.

"Dad!"

A bright smile crossed Naruto's face as he waved at his father.

"Anything interesting happen today?" Kushina asked.

"N-Not really…" Minato weakly answered.

He wasn't too sure if he should tell his wife and son that their village wide game of chase that ended in his office was the most "interesting" part of his day. Would they find that insulting or would they not care. Maybe they would take it as a compliment?

Minato shook his head. A droplet of sweat crawled down his face as he chuckled.

One of them definitely wouldn't…

"Hey, Dad, did your parents force you to eat a lot of veggies when you were a kid?" Naruto asked.

"Vegetables? Actually, now that I think about it, they didn't. I ate them of my own volition," Minato answered. "They are good for you."

Minato received two different reactions from his family; his son was dumbfounded while his wife was gleefully snickering. But though their reactions were different, their thoughts were the same.

Had to be the only kid who did so…

"Sensei said I had to be the only kid who did so," Minato chuckled.

"And yet look who became Hokage?" Kushina pointed out. "I rest my case."

Naruto glanced down at his empty plate.

I still hate veggies…

"Anyway, it's time for bed," Kushina announced.

"What? It's way too early for bed!" Naruto complained.

"Not for those that makes their mother chase them around the whole village three times."

Though she had a smile on her face, Naruto could tell how she really felt. Her hair slowly raising up and down made it all too clear.

"Yes, ma'am!"

Naruto wasted no time running out of the kitchen.

"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Kushina yelled.

"On it!" Naruto yelled back.

Minato turned to his wife with a inquisitive look on his face.

"Three times? I thought that was an exaggeration in the report."

"It wasn't," Kushina sighed. "He really did run around the village three times. Probably would have done more laps if he didn't dive into your office, ya know. Wait… There was a report?"

"Nothing specific, just two people jumping around the village…"

"Screaming at each other…?"

"That may have been on there…"

Kushina's cheeks grew red with embarrassment as she plopped down in a nearby chair.

"…At least I didn't use the chains, ya know…" she said.

Minato just stared at his wife. "Your parents used the chains on you?"

"Yep. Said veggies are 'good' for you and I had to eat them," Kushina moaned. "I know that now, but the chains were still going a bit overboard."

"Yeah… That really does sound like an overreaction. I never realized the dark relationship between kids, parents and vegetables."

The young Kage glanced at a nearby photograph hanging on the wall. It was the official team photo he took with his old students: Kakashi, Obito and Rin.

It was a tough time getting everyone together in the photo, but he still looked back on the day with fondness.

"You know, the way you act around Naruto sometimes is similar to how you acted around Obito," Minato noted.

"Well, I did kinda wish that Naruto would be like him…" Recalling her past interactions with Obito, a small smile formed on Kushina's lips. "They really are alike in personality; they both know exactly how to get on my bad side."

On the floor above them, Naruto dragged himself into his room and jumped into his bed. Like always, his eyes were drawn to the covered up hole in his ceiling. It's been there for as long as he could remember, but he never knew what caused it. The scorch marks that outlined the hole only made it even more mystifying.

Maybe someone used a fireball in my room.

 He had asked his parents but they always dodged the topic.

"Oh well."

 Naruto shrugged and turned over in his bed. Despite not wanting to, the child quickly drifted into the blankets of sleep.

The next morning…

Minato's eyes scanned through the front page of the local newspaper.

"What's going on with the world today?" Kushina asked as she placed a plate in front of her husband.

"Nothing much. Though there is some noise about the release of a new book," Minato answered.

"Your old Sensei got another book published?" a look of disgust planted itself on his wife's face as she considered what she just said. "It's not another one of that series I catch Kakashi reading is it?"

"It's not one of Sensei's novels. It's something called In the Darkness of Sh-"

"Morning, Mom! Morning, Dad!"

Naruto rushed into the kitchen and strapped on the backpack sitting in his seat.

"Are you seriously going to leave without eating breakfast?" Kushina asked perplexed.

"Right, right."

Naruto dug into his bag and put on his signature goggles. Once they were securely in place, he grabbed a nearby sandwich and stuffed it in his mouth as he rushed to the kitchen window.

"Hey! You could at least eat at the table with your family!" his mother raged.

"I gomaa jeb jovig ko I kin wock hide end bd e awdsohm shobbi <I gotta get going so I can work hard and be a awesome shinobi>" Naruto replied.

With a confident grin, the child dove through the window and took off.

"Could've at least go through the front door…" she sighed. "He's really making hard not to use the chains…"

Once again serving as a witness to the typical family routine, Minato sheepishly chuckled before returning to his morning paper.

…

Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop on his way to the academy. He didn't really know why, but he was one of the few kids his age to so effortlessly; a fact that made the other members of his class green with envy.

He continued to make his way to the academy until he heard a scream. One negative to using the rooftops as a route was when the need to make a sudden stop arises. Naruto frantically waved his arms in a counter-clockwise motion to force his body to fall back on the roof instead of forward towards a 3 story fall.

He breathed a sigh of relief then looked down towards the street below; a familiar young girl with medium length brown hair scrambling around the street.

He hopped down next to her and asked, "Hey, Ayame, what are you doing?"

"Huh?" the startled 11-year old looked up and followed the greeting to Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, I kinda tripped and…"

The two looked around. Scattered across the ground were bowls that were miraculously undamaged.

"…You see the rest," she sighed. "Dad's not going to trust me with another supply run when he finds out I dropped everything the first time he trusted me to do it."

"Pops getting mad?"

Naruto closed his eyes and recalled the last time Teuchi was mad and lashed out at someone. A snort slipped out of him.

That was hilarious.

The idea of seeing him get mad again was enticing until he noticed the distress on Ayame's face.

Then again, Pops yelling at Ayame isn't that funny.

He knew right then and there what he to do. A bright smile stretched across his face as he reached for a bowl.

"C'mon, Ayame, we got to get these to Ichiraku before Pops gets mad at us," he declared.

"Us? But don't you have class today, Naruto?" Ayame asked.

"The interesting stuff doesn't happen this early, so I'm good," Naruto assured her. "Anyway, GO!"

On his signal, the two began collecting ramen bowls as if their lives depended on it. With lightning speed, they gently placed the bowls into their original packaging.

"Alright, let's get these to Pops!" Naruto loudly declared.

"Wait…" Ayame started counting the bowls. While they did collect everything she dropped, her expression darkened as she discovered a new problem."We can't take these to Dad…"

"Why not?"

"I just realized that they're all dirty from being on the street…"

"Can't you just wash them at Ichiraku?"

Ayame's shoulders slumped forward and her expression darkened even more.

"Oh right, Pops would yell at you…" Naruto crossed his arms as he contemplated their situation. "I got it! To my house!"

…

Naruto and Ayame poked their heads out of a nearby bush and fixed their gazes towards the former's house.

"What are we doing at your house, again?" the 11-year old asked.

"To wash the ramen bowls," Naruto answered.

"Oh, I get it; we're going to ask Mrs. Kushina to help us out."

"Are you crazy?! You know what would happen if Mom finds out I'm skipping class?"

Naruto shivered at the thought. He didn't want to see the blank eyes and swaying red hair again so soon. He already considered himself lucky that he didn't see the red aura she sometimes has.

"Alright, let's see if Mom's home."

Using the utmost caution, the two approached Namikaze/Uzumaki household and peeked through the kitchen window. As Naruto expected, his mother was still home.

"How are we going to get to the kitchen with your mom still home?" Ayame whispered.

"Um…"

His mind was as blank as a white canvas. He never really thought that far ahead in regards to sneaking by his mother.

It seemed that he would have to abandon the plan and come up with a new one until he noticed someone approach the front door.

It was a young woman with fair skin and pink hair that was tied back with a black ribbon. But what Naruto found most notable about the stranger were her green eyes. There was a gentle and inviting.

He didn't know why it was happening, but Naruto felt his heart race just by looking at her.

He was sure that she was literally sparkling, but that radiance disappeared when his mother answered the door.

He couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but judging by their happy faces, they seemed to be familiar with each other. Moments later, the two took off, eventually disappearing from sight.

"I didn't know Mom had a friend like that," Naruto thought aloud.

"A friend like what?" Ayame asked.

"…I don't know. Just a friend like that."

"She's as pretty as Mrs. Kushina."

"Yeah…" his heart slowly returned to its usual pace as he shifted his focus back towards the task at hand. "Anyway, let's go."

The two carried the box filled with ramen bows into the house and into the kitchen.

"Alright, let's get these bowls ready for ramen!" Naruto declared.

"Alright! Hand me the C-V̅XX soap and towel!" Ayame cheered.

"What…?"

An awkward atmosphere hung above the two.

"You do have C-V̅XX products here, right?" Ayame anxiously asked.

"What is that?" Naruto questioned.

"They're probably that best brand in the world. They make almost anything which includes towels and soap. Dad says that we need the best to properly clean the bowls we serve our customers."

"Wow… I never realized Pops took serving ramen this seriously… No wonder his is always the best."

"So…"

"I don't think we have any of those… But I know where we can get some!"

…

A child's screams could be heard over the heads of the citizens on the streets. Ayame's grip on Naruto tightened and tightened as the 6-year old jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

"Why do we have to go to wherever you're going by rooftop?" she cried.

"Because it's faster and I don't want my Mom to see me on the streets," Naruto replied. "Do you know what will happen if she catches me cutting class?"

"Okay, so where are we going?"

"There!"

Naruto jumped down to street level and landed in front of one of the many stores around.

Ayame glanced up at the sign and read aloud, "'Emporium Karin?' Isn't this a ninja weapon shop?"

"Yeah, but they got a lot of other stuff too. I bet they got what we need here."

Naruto led Ayame into the store. The inside was barely lit and possessed a gloomy atmosphere that weighed on their souls.

"What is this place?" Ayame shuddered as she looked around.

"Yeah, the owner kinda runs this shop this way…" Naruto sighed.

"Can I help you…?"

Such a sudden greeting caused the two visitors to fall flat on their face. Naruto quickly jumped back on his feet and turned around. Standing behind him was a small girl. She was about Naruto's age but lacked the energy that his age group usually had.

Just by looking into her reddish-pink eyes was enough to see that she was hollow inside.

"Karin, you got to stop doing that," Naruto said. "You're going to scare your customers away."

"Sorry…" Karin apologized.

The tone of her voice was almost cold and emotionless as the weapons that surrounded them.

"Um… So, do you have any C-V̅XX soap and towel?"

"I believe I do… Let me check the back…"

Karin walked to the backroom, leaving Naruto to wonder why she so gloomy all the time. 5 minutes later, Karin returned with a bottle of soap and a towel.

"There were some in the back…" she said.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. "Thanks, Karin!"

"That will be 200 ryō…"

All sense of happiness vanished the instant he heard that number.

"T-Two hundred ryō?! It's that much for soap and a towel!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"Yes…"

Naruto frantically dug into both of his pockets. As he expected, he didn't have even a single ryō.

"Um… I'm kinda broke…" he admitted.

The child glanced down at Ayame and asked, "Hey, Ayame, you got any ryō?"

Not a word was said in response to his question. Taking a closer look, he realized that she was unconscious.

"Oh…" Naruto muttered.

"I guess I could give it to you for free…" Karin proposed.

"No way!"

Though Naruto had no qualms about receiving items for free, he knew that it wouldn't be good for Karin to keep giving things for free.

"I don't have any money, but what if I do something for the store, like help you sell stuff?" Naruto offered.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class right now…?"

"The interesting stuff doesn't happen this early anyway," Naruto shrugged. "So c'mon, give me something to do."

"Well… There is a shipment of supplies waiting for me at the Post Office … It was always my job to pick it up, but it's been hard to do that lately while keeping an eye on the store…"

"Got it! I'll go get you your things and you can give us the stuff right?"

"Yes…"

"Alright, stay right there! I'll be back in no time!"

…

The Hidden Leaf Post Office, a fairly tall building where mail comes and goes. It is the job of those that work there to sort through and deliver incoming mail to those in the village. For outgoing mail, they enlist the help of the local delivery birds to send mail to destinations far away.

It wasn't the most glamorous or eventful job, but-

"Hey!"

Naruto's sudden appearance in the top floor along with his loud voice proved to be an event itself.

 It took a full minute for them to regain their composure. Envelopes were scattered across the floor due to his sudden outburst, a fact that earned him more than a few glares.

"Um… I'm here to pickup something?" he awkwardly explained.

…

Naruto paced back and forth on a nearby rooftop in a huff.

"I said I was sorry!" he complained. "What more do they want from me?! And what do they mean 'only authorized personnel can pickup for someone else'!"

The annoyed child plopped himself down along the edge of the roof and groaned.

"Can't ask Dad for help and only assigned ninja can collect mail. I didn't know you could even be assigned boring missions like that. Hope that doesn't happen to me."

All hope seemed lost until he got an idea. A devious smile crossed his face as jumped down into a nearby alley.

…

Normally the entrance to the Post Office wouldn't have staff members guarding the entrance, but they knew Naruto wouldn't give up that easily. They knew something eventful was going to happen, but what they did not expect the next one to be the arrival of the Fourth Hokage.

"Morning, guys," Minato greeted with a wave.

"L-Lord Hokage?! What brings you here?!" one of the asked.

"Just here to pickup something."

Minato whistled a little tune as he walked past the sentries. They were dismayed as they watched their Hokage stroll by with a single fox tail jutting out from underneath his haori.

"Wait a minute…" one of the guards grabbed the tail and violently jerked it towards them.

Minato exploded into a puff of smoke and, once it cleared, revealed a startled Naruto.

"Naruto!"

"Crap! Plan B it is then!"

Naruto pulled a spherical object from his pocket and slammed it on the ground, covering the immediate vicinity with smoke.

"I'm getting Karin's supplies!" he yelled as he charged into the building.

From outside the building, the villagers could hear a variety of dialogue that made it clear what was happening in the Post Office.

"Stop him!"

"Grab him!"

"I'm just trying to get supplies for someone!"

"Authorized personnel only!"

"I need to get it for her!"

"Don't let him get any further!"

"Fine, take this! Sexy Jutsu!"

Everything went silent after that final announcement. Moments later, Naruto jumped out of the building with a package in hands and proceeded to make his way back to Emporium Karin.

…

Naruto plopped the supplies in the middle of the store with a victorious grin on his face.

"Got it."

"Thank you…" Karin slowly approached Naruto and presented the C-V̅XX products he asked for. "Here you go… Please come again…"

"Thanks, Karin!"

Naruto lifted the still unconscious Ayame over his shoulder and rushed out of the store. He carried her all the way to his house and woke her up once he reached the kitchen. They then spent the next 45 minutes cleaning the bowls then rushed to the Ramen Ichiraku.

Along the way, they tripped and dropped the box, leading to dirt covering the somehow undamaged bowls once again.

"Oh, come on!" Naruto raged.

Gathering and stuffing the scattered products back into the box again, the children turned around and rushed back to Naruto's house. They spent 45 more minutes washing the bowls and rushed to Ramen Ichiraku.

Tired and out of patience, the two plopped the box in front of the restaurant.

"There you are, Ayame," Teuchi said. "Where have you been this entire time?"

"She was just making sure that the stuff got here without anything happening, Pops," Naruto breathlessly answered.

"Naruto? Aren't you supposed to be in class right now?" Teuchi asked.

"The interesting stuff doesn't happen this early, so I'm good," Naruto assured him.

They anxiously watched the restaurant owner inspect his order. To his surprise, they were cleaner than he expected them to be.

He thought for sure that they would need to clean them, but they were near spotless. He could tell just by looking at the gleam what really happened.

A proud smile formed on his lips as he drew his daughter to his side.

"Good work, Ayame," he praised.

A happy giggle slipped past her lips.

Teuchi then turned his attention to Naruto.

"Do you think you have enough time for a free bowl of ramen?" he offered.

"You bet I do!" Naruto cheered.

"Naruto?"

Naruto turned towards the voice calling him. To his surprise, it belonged to his father.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" he asked.

"I was just taking a stroll," Minato answered. "But more importantly, why aren't you in class?"

"I was just helping someone with something. Besides, the interesting stuff doesn't happen this early anyway, so I'm good."

"Actually, Naruto, whether you find it interesting or not, everything they teach you in the academy is important, so missing anything is detrimental to your growth as a shinobi."

"Really?"

Naruto shot his father a look of disbelief.

"Really," his assured him. "Plus…"

Minato bent down and whispered into his ear, "You are aware that classes for the day will end soon, right?"

A sharp chill shot up and down Naruto's spine as he processed what he was told.

"OH CRAP!"

Wasting no time, Naruto frantically scaled the nearest building and took off for the Academy.

Minato scratched his right cheek as he watched his son disappear from sight. "He left before I could offer to take him there…"

From the corner of his eyes, he noticed a familiar look on the passing by villagers. Anxiety and fear; those emotions were aimed at the direction his son took off towards.

Chapter Text

A tired sigh was expelled from Naruto's body as he slowly rocked back and forth on one the local playground's swings. From there he could see most of his classmates play after a day of learning at the academy.

Normally he would join them in the fun, but he couldn't find it in him at the moment. Despite his best efforts, he missed class and now had to figure out how to avoid the consequences that would assuredly arise when that knowledge reaches his parents.

"So now you're skipping class now, Naruto?"

Snapped out of his thoughts by those mocking words, Naruto soon found himself face to face with Sakura.

 First you fall asleep and now you don't show up… For the son of the Hokage, you sure aren't being a good role model," she jeered.

Naruto shot his pink-haired classmate an annoyed look. "I was helping someone. Besides, those things wouldn't happen if it wasn't for Sensei making class so boring most of the time."

"He's got a point," Shikamaru agreed. "Paper tests, taijutsu training, team training… The whole thing's a drag."

"I don't think class is boring you, Shikamaru; I think you're just lazy," Ino derided.

"You say that like its not obvious," Kiba laughed.

"You're not exactly in a position to insult others yourself, Kiba. How many times did Iruka Sensei keep you after class?" Ino retorted.

Kiba's cheeks grew red with embarrassment. He couldn't come up with a response to that fact.

Naruto meanwhile turned shifted his attention to Sasuke and asked, "Hey, Sasuke, you always get good grades; how do you stay up during the boring lessons?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but was immediately cut off by Sakura.

"Unlike you, Sasuke realizes the importance of staying awake in class," she said.

Naruto and Sasuke shot the young, pink-haired girl looks of disbelief.

"Um… Yeah," Sasuke awkwardly scratched the back of his head, recalling what he was about to say. "Anyway, it's really-"

The young Uchiha was once again cut off, this time by a pair of hands wrapping themselves around him.

"Wow, that was a desperate way to compliment Sasuke," Ino calmly chided.

"She's got a point there…" Naruto mumbled under his breath.

"W-Who are you calling desperate?!" Sakura argued. "I'm not the one throwing myself at Sasuke."

"Yeah, about that…" Sasuke cheeks slightly grew red with embarrassment as he glanced down his captor's arms.

"INO!"

Ino turned around and was greeted with a dozen angry glares from her female classmates. It was the usual banter between the female half of their class.

"Get your hands off of Sasuke!"

"He's not yours!"

"Notice me, Sasuke!"

A tired sigh slipped through Sasuke's lips. He quickly slipped out of Ino's embrace and approached Naruto.

"I'm heading home…" he said.

Naruto nodded his head. "Right…"

The young Uchiha jumped towards a nearby fence and propelled himself forward, quickly disappearing from sight. Naruto didn't even need to look back at his female classmates to know that they were disappointed once again.

"Must be nice to have every girl in class completely obsessed with you..." Naruto thought aloud.

"I don't get why some people would want that…" Shikamaru yawned. "Having a bunch of girls that invade your personal space all the time; sounds like such a drag."

"I don't know, it looks like it'd be great," Choji admired.

"Trust me, it'd be a real pain," Shikamaru assured him.

Naruto glanced towards the sandbox. Sitting there was the one girl he knew that didn't gush over Sasuke: Hinata.

Glad not every girl in class is like that.

Right after that thought, Hinata looked up and met eyes with Naruto. He couldn't really understand why, but there was something about her eyes that he was drawn to.

Suddenly, Hinata averted her gaze and continued to construct her sandcastle.

Again…?

Naruto never really understand why she suddenly had trouble looking him in the eye sometime after they first met. It was as cofounding to him as the why he was sometimes drawn to her eyes.

Shrugging the thoughts off, Naruto briefly swung back and forth until-

"No one has talked to me yet."

"Whoa!"

Startled by the sudden voice, Naruto found himself instinctively diving towards the sandbox. He expelled the large quantity of sand that had filled his mouth and looked back to swings to find-

"Shino?!"

Lurking right next to the swing he was on was the classmate he considered very creepy.

"…How long where you standing there, Shino?" Kiba asked.

Naruto could hear how disturbed Kiba was, a feeling he whole-heartedly agreed with.

"I've been here the whole time," he answered in his usual monotone voice.

There was only one thing on Naruto's mind in regards to the scenario. That's super creepy…

"That's super creepy," Ino flatly stated.

"It's not creepy. This is a public space and as such, I'm allowed to stand wherever I want," Shino replied.

"Doesn't mean that you have to lurk around like a ghost."

"I'm not lurking around. I'm just standing here."

"Seriously…?" Ino muttered.

There was something about how he spoke and his matter-of-fact tone that irritated Ino.

Hope I don't end up on a team with him when I graduate… Kiba silently pleaded.

"You know it's getting late. Probably best that we head home," Ino suggested.

"So you decide to go home just when I get a line a dialogue?" Shino questioned.

"Urgh!"

Naruto scratched the back of his head as he considered Ino's suggestion.

Yeah, I'm in no rush to get back…

He began to wonder what he could do to pass the time until he heard a loud roar. He looked down and gently rubbed his pleading stomach.

It was then when he realized he could kill two birds with one stone.  "That's it!"

…

"More please!" Naruto and Choji announced in unison.

"I said we should go home and yet we're at Ichiraku…" Ino sighed.

"Something you suggested when I finally got some dialogue," Shino said.

Ino shot an annoyed glare at her classmate. She could feel her patience with him wearing thin.

"Don't blame me. I just said that I can't go home without a bowl of Ichiraku and you guys followed," Naruto pointed out.

Ino exchanged a knowing glance with Shikamaru and Choji. "Well, I know why I'm here."

She then directed a knowing smile at Hinata. "And I know why I certain someone is here."

Hinata meekly averted her gaze.

"But I don't know why the other three are here," Ino concluded.

"I just don't want to go home yet," Sakura answered. "My parents keep trying to have "the boy" talk with me."

"At 6?" Ino marveled.

"'For future reference', they say," Sakura sighed.

"Why's there need to be a talk about it? Boys are simple," Kiba said.

"You said it, not us," Ino chuckled.

"You pretty much gave her that one," Shikamaru pointed out.

"But you also got Ino to call Sasuke 'simple'," Naruto snickered.

"Uh…" Ino groaned at her mistake. "He's the exception!"

"We know. Sasuke is the best, there is no one better, blah, blah blah," Kiba mocked. "Just wait. Soon, I'll be the top dog in class."

"You?" Sakura snickered. "Naruto has a better chance than you and he's pretty much hopeless right now."

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "I have as much of a chance as anyone!"

"You can't even do the transformation jutsu right," Kiba argued. "How do you keep accidently adding a fox tail to everyone you transform into."

"Urk-! Well, at least I'm not lazy enough to take tests!" Naruto shot back.

"I won't refute that point," Shikamaru calmly agreed.

"Or spend all day obsessing over someone," Naruto continued.

"Jealous that you're not that popular?" Ino jeered.

"As far as I'm concern I have a better chance than a lot of people in our class!"

Naruto slammed the bar with his fist, causing his next order of ramen to fly up and land on his head; naturally leading to him rolling along the ground, screaming over the burning sensation.

His classmates laughed at the spectacle barring Hinata. Though initially worried, she soon grew curious over the reactions of the other patrons of the small restaurant. Fear rested on the other customers faces before they slowly backed out of Ichiraku.

She had seen similar reactions in regards to whatever Naruto was currently doing before and wondered why.

…

That evening, Minato continued his daily duty of reading through a plethora of different documents; some were mission requests made out to the village while others were forms regarding the local facilities.

He thought that would be the only stressful thing he would have to deal with that night, unaware that something much more would appear before him signaled by a knock on his office door.

"Come in," he said.

The door opened and in walked a familiar half bandaged face.

"Danzō. What do I owe the pleasure?"

 The seemingly frail old man stopped in front of the Hokage's desk and suddenly produced an envelope in his right hand.

"I believe this is yours," Danzō said.

Minato reached for the envelope and opened it.

"Everything the Hokage receives is important to the village," Danzō continued.

"Yes…" Minato agreed.

"And yet, this specific document, whatever it may be, was delivered late. In fact, if I hadn't brought it to you, then who knows when it would fall into the Hokage's hands, if at all."

"I understand."

"But do you understand why you received something important so late in the day?"

Minato remained silent.

"I've heard your son disrupted a vital part of the village's day-to-day operations by impersonating you," Danzō explained. "I don't think I need to explain to you how damaging such an interruption could be, let alone the idea of someone impersonating the Hokage."

"I understand, Danzō. I'll talk to Naruto about it as soon as I can," Minato assured him.

"But will that be enough? This isn't the first time your son has caused trouble for the village."

"I would appreciate if you didn't compare what was most likely an unintended side effect of an innocent act to something he had no control of when he was younger," Minato requested with a stern tone.

Instead of replying right away, Danzō turned and walked towards the exit. "A Hokage shouldn't show such bias when it comes to the village's well-being."

The elder was soon gone, leaving Minato alone with his thoughts.

Chapter Text

Naruto cautiously spread the bushes in front of him apart, giving him a clear view of his house. He tried putting it off as much as he could, but even he knew that he couldn't avoid coming home eventually.

He was sure that his mother was notified of him missing class today and knew the end result of that scenario would be him seeing her trauma inducing face once again.

I already saw it last night!

However, that wasn't the only reason Naruto was currently hiding.

Right now, all the lights in his home were off. It was the state he found his home when he first returned. Unsure whether his mother went to bed, wasn't home or was just creating a false sense of security for him; the young child figured it would be best to observe his home from a distance for no-.

"Hey, Naruto…"

Naruto's entire body was paralyzed by fear upon hearing that demonic-sounding voice. The child slowly turned around to find himself face to face with the horrifying face he didn't want to see.

"Hey, Mom…" he gulped.

"You didn't go to the academy today…?" Kushina asked.

At this point, it was clear to Naruto what he should do: run. But as he tried to do so, he tripped over his feet and tumbled out of the bushes.

His body was heavy, not because of the pain but because of the demonic pressure emanating from his mother as she slowly approached him.

Each step she took sharply increased the dread he felt inside. I'm so dead.

"So… What do you have to say for yourself, Naruto?" Kushina growled.

"I didn't mean too! I was just helping some people I know!" Naruto desperately explained.

He knew it was probably pointless to explain this to her, but he had to take the chance.

Kushina tilted her head. "Is that so…?"

Naruto violently nodded his head. "Y-Yeah! Yeah!"

Suddenly, Kushina's face softened.

"Okay," she said with a smile.

"Okay?"

Naruto could only stare at his mother, shocked by her nonchalant response.

"Can't really be mad at you for helping out around the village," she answered with a casual shrug.

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was sure that his mother would have reacted in a more negative way.

"Still… I feel like you need some kind of punishment for trying to sneak pass me," Kushina continued.

Naruto silently groaned as she crossed her arms.

Should've known I would still be in trouble…

A bright smile soon filled Kushina's face, frightening Naruto. What kind of twisted punishment could bring about such a smile?

"Here's what's going to happen: One day, when I feel like going out somewhere, you have to come with me no questions asked," she declared.

Naruto could only imagine what kind of nightmare the place his mother was referring to was like. It had to be something he wouldn't like if she was using a punishment as a way to force him to go.

"Got it?" Kushina asked.

"Yeah…" Naruto muttered.

Like I have any choice…

Kushina dropped to her knees and playfully ruffled her son's hair.

"Hey, no pouting. What I got in mind isn't nearly as bad then where my parents took me whenever I got I got in trouble," she assured him with a soft smile.

"Where'd they take you?" Naruto asked.

"Um…"

Kushina's face soon sported an uneasy look.

"Best you don't know, ya know…" she chuckled nervously.

Naruto didn't know what to say and could only watch his mother continue struggling to give produce a nochalant laugh.

What happened to mom as a kid…?

He then reached forward and placed his hand atop Kushina's head, ruffling it just as she did his.

"Looks like you need this more than I do right now," he sympathized.

…

Naruto let out a loud yawn as he rubbed his full stomach.

I still hate veggies…

Stumbling into his room, the child could feel the weight of his eye lids grow more and more heavy. Everything was beginning to go dark and the only thing he could manage to make out through it was his bed.

Diving in headfirst, Naruto reflexively shifted his body and looked up at the ceiling. The last thing he saw before closing his eyes shut was the covered-up hole in his ceiling.

He was soon surrounded by nothing but darkness until a faint light suddenly cut through it. Despite not knowing where it would lead, he felt a strong urge to go to it.

But he couldn't on his own power. No matter what he did, he couldn't muster up the strength to move an inch.

All seemed lost until he felt a strong force begin to slowly push him towards the light.

It was painful. It felt like ever inch of his very being was being crushed as he moved forward.

He felt the urge to cry as the pain grew to become unbearable, but something else happened.

He felt a wealth of power enter him. Power was pouring into him at an unbelievable rate, giving him the strength to make it to the light himself.

He had to escape now before he went crazy. Dragging himself forward, he fought through the pain and forcibly crossed through the light.

Everything was soon engulfed in that bright white light. He was now free from the pain.

That should be the end of that, right? A demonic roar proved that thought wrong. Bloodcurdling screams soon followed, each one growing more and more painful to listen to as they grew in intensity.

"Naruto, don't!"

Naruto's body jolted up; the young boy panting heavily as he looked around. Sunlight was now spilling into his room.

"Not that weird dream again…" he yawned.

What else could he see it as? Constantly having a dream where he saw nothing but a faint light and heard random screams was both confusing and a little unnerving. But it was mostly confusing.

But like always, Naruto shrugged it off, got ready for the new day and headed downstairs to the kitchen.

"Morning, Naruto," Kushina greeted.

"Hey, Mom…" Naruto yawned.

"What's wrong? Didn't get enough sleep?"

"No. I had a weird dream again…"

"Weird dream?" Kushina eyes lit up curiosity. "Was it the one where you were a girl named Naruko? Or the dream where you had a twin sister named Naruko?"

Naruto shook his head.

Minato stole a glance from beyond his newspaper. "Was it the one where you and your friends were teenagers and went to a school for normal citizens?"

Naruto shook his head once again. "No, it was that weird going to the light dream again."

Naruto started the ponder the weirdness of that reoccurring dream, leaving him unable to notice the quick exchange of uncomfortable glances his parents shared.

"Well, you know how dream can be, Naruto; they really can be really, really…" a look of abject horror fell on Kushina's face. "… really strange at times."

"Like…?"

"Please don't ask," Kushina solemnly requested.

"Okay…"

With a small pout, Naruto jumped towards the kitchen window and opened it. He looked back at his parents and grinned. "I'm off to the academy now!"

"Hey, what about breakfast!?"  Kushina shouted.

"I'll get some on the way!" With those parting words, Naruto jumped through the window and took off.

"Does he really have something against going through the front door in the morning?" Kushina wondered with a sigh.

"Well, at least it visually adds to his enthusiasm to get to school," Minato defended.

"I just think he likes to make an exit."

"That too."

Minato looked back down at the article he was reading. He didn't continue reading it, he was just using it as something to keep his eyes on.

"By the way, what dream di-?"

"Please don't ask."

"Okay…"

…

Naruto gingerly rubbed the cut on his right cheek. He didn't really mind the cut himself, it'll most likely be gone after a good night's sleep.

What really bothered him however was how he got it. He couldn't believe that the shuriken he threw ricochet around so much that it ended up coming back for him.

Sneaking glances at his fellow students as they left the school, Naruto could tell they were talking about his latest blunder.

"Hey, Naruto."

Naruto immediately turned towards the voice that called him. Standing behind him was Sasuke.

"I'm going to work on my shuriken throwing after school; want to join?" Sasuke offered.

"Why are you practicing?" Naruto questioned. "You already get them all in the center."

"I kinda know from experience that mine could be a lot better. I have to get it to where it's comparable."

Naruto shot Sasuke an annoyed and envious glare. Having the best student in class say he needs work made him feel even worse than before.

But was he really mad at Sasuke or himself?

His face soon softened, and he nodded his head.

"Hey, is your mom gonna make us some brownies?" Naruto queried.

"Why would she? She doesn't know you're coming over today," Sasuke pointed out.

"Could you ask?"

"I don't even know if we have any of the ingredients. Probably don't."

"So, we gotta go shopping, huh?" an eager grin crossed Naruto's excited face. "Alright, let's get thos-!"

"Do you even have money?" Sasuke calmly interjected.

Like a balloon rapidly losing air, Naruto felt his sense of adventure quickly leave him. He sheepishly scratched his right cheek as he considered Sasuke's question. "Um… No…"

"Why don't we forget the that and hit my usual spot?" Sasuke suggested.

"No way!" Naruto loudly rejected. "I'm not in the mood for senbei."

"Come on, they're the best in the village."

Despite agreeing with that, Naruto was refused to give in. "Still not in the mood."

"Let me guess what you are in the mood for: Ichiraku Ramen?" Sasuke said, sarcastically sounding surprised.

"Well, since you suggested it!" Naruto approved.

"Your parents okay with you eating there all the time?"

He didn't know how he did it, but Sasuke once again robbed Naruto of his excitement.

"…Dad doesn’t mind…" Naruto sheepishly answered.

"And your mom?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto awkwardly turned away. "…Dad doesn't mind…"

That was the last thing either of them said. Realizing that they were stuck in a stalemate, Sasuke came up with a proposition he knew Naruto would agree to.  "How 'bout this, we'll settle this with rock-paper-scissors."

Naruto's expression lit up. "Alright, you're on!"

Keeping their firm eyes on each other, the two children drew their dominant hands to their sides. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as they prepared for their immediate showdown.

"You ready?" Sasuke confidently questioned.

"Always," Naruto boasted.

They clenched their fists and called out, "Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

…

"You cheated…" Naruto moaned, taking another bite from his senbei.

"Did not," Sasuke denied.

"You did that Uchiha trick to beat me."

"It's called using the Sharingan and I don't have it yet. Just accept that you lost and enjoy Auntie's senbei."

"I know they're good, but I still prefer Ichiraku…"

Naruto eyes scoured the surrounding area. He's been to the Uchiha District enough that he was familiar with most of the locations he considered noteworthy, but even before then, there was one burning question that he has yet to get an answer to.

"Hey, Sasuke, why do the Uchiha get their own part of the village to themselves?" Naruto asked.

"I don't really know. Maybe we're just being like the Hyuga clan," Sasuke theorized. "Have you ever been to their estate?"

"Yeah, it's huge," Naruto said, stretching his arms as wide as he could to emphasize his point. "I didn't expect Hinata's house to be so big."

"You know that's not just Hinata's place, right? It's for all the Hyuga who want to live there."

"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that their place is really big. Looks a lot fancier than your clan's place too."

Sasuke awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, well… At least we have a more important role. Not to mention we have something they have."

"The ability to shoot fire out of your mouth?"

"That and most importantly: my big brother."

Itachi Uchiha. That was a name Naruto heard a lot whenever Sasuke was in the vicinity. He didn't really know much about him at first, but by the way everyone talked about him, he had to be a skilled shinobi

What little Naruto saw of him since then, he could see why he was talked about with such reverence, at least a little.

Still isn't better than my dad though.

Content with that conclusion, Naruto followed Sasuke into his residence.

"I'm home!" Sasuke announced.

After taking their shoes off, the two were approached by Sasuke's mother.

"Welcome back," Mikoto's eyes were drawn to Naruto. "I heard that you caused quite the ruckus at the post office, Naruto."

"They were making things really tough on me for no reason," Naruto complained. "I just wanted to pick something up for someone I knew."

"I'm surprised Father let that go so easily," Sasuke admitted. "Speaking of which, is Father home?"

"No," Mikoto said, shaking her head. "He said he had a case to investigate."

"Oh. I wonder what cool case he's working on."

"Maybe it's a case issued by Lord Hokage himself. Could you imagine both of your fathers working together on something like that."

"I doubt it," Naruto rebuffed. "Dad spends most of his time in the office. Isn't it weird that the strongest guy in the village is stuck in an office all day?"

"There's more to being Hokage then fighting, Naruto," Mikoto explained. "Heck, it's the same for Fugaku and other leaders too."

"Mom says the same thing, but I still don't really get it."

"I'm sure you will. I bet you'll be a leader yourself one day."

"Leader…?"

Hearing that sent Naruto's imagination into overdrive. He could see himself being respected by all even if he screwed up.

"Yeah…" a bright smile stretched across Naruto's face. "That would be awesome!"

Sasuke slowly shook his head, amused by Naruto's reaction. What Mother said about there being more to being a leader went over his head.

"We're going to be out back practicing our shuriken technique," Sasuked explained.

"Okay, just don't work yourself too hard," Mikoto advised.

"It's just shuriken training. No way, it'll tire us out," Naruto boasted.

Later that evening…

While what Naruto said was true physically, mentally he was exhausted.

"Why…?" Naruto's body trembled as he let out a violent scream, "WHY CAN'T I HIT ANY PART OF THE TARGET!?!?!?"

"Maybe because you have a crazy throwing arm and a crazy throw." Crawling out from under his house, Sasuke looked on in stunned silence. Shurikens were littered all over their immediate vicinity. "Seriously you have a really crazy throw."

"I'm throwing it like everyone else!"

"Not really. You're kinda just doing it in a way that makes everyone worried it's gonna slip out of hand, mid-swing."

"That only happened five times…" Naruto admitted. "Besides, it's just throwing shuriken; why is so hard?"

"You know, I asked my brother the same thing," recalling that specific memory, Sasuke gave Naruto an unyielding stare as he mimicked Itachi's tone of voice. "He said, 'What you hold in your hand, Sasuke, is something that will define you. Depending on how it's handled, this can be the used to save the lives of you and your teammates or doom you all. That's why it's important to keep training so it's always guaranteed to hit your intended target'."

"…That's kind of weird way of saying to train to get better," Naruto said, perplexed.

"Yeah… But at least he told me that instead of poking me on the forehead and saying, 'Sorry, Sasuke. Maybe another time'. Granted when I asked him to help me after, he said that."

"You really look up to someone who leaves you hanging a lot."

"Yeah, well… he's my brother."

"Some brother," a third voice chimed in.

A figure soon dropped in front of the two. It was someone Sasuke knew very real. "Shisui!"

"Yo," he greeted with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood and nearly got hit with a shuriken."

"Come on, you're just making that up," Naruto fumed.

A nervous smile formed on Shisui's lips as he drew attention to the cut on his sleeve. Naruto felt both regret and annoyance, so much that he could only mutter a quiet, "Man…"

Shifting his gaze to Sasuke, Shisui exchange his nervous smile for a more playful one. "Anyway, I gotta agree with Naruto. It's pretty incredible how you still look up to a guy that constantly leaves you hanging. You think you would begin to idolize someone more worthy to idolize."

"Like who?" Sasuke questioned.

"Like me."

"No way!"

To say Shisui was taken aback by Sasuke's immediate and steadfast response would be an understatement.  "Why not?"

"Why would I?" Sasuke questioned back

"I mean, there's the fact that I'm stronger than Itachi," Shisui answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No way!" Sasuke angrily denied.

"It's true. Check our record of wins for our sparring matches. I currently have more wins."

"He was probably just having an off day!"

"You're seriously going to say my wins were because of 'off days'?"

"It's the only explanation. There's no other way my bro would lose to you."

"Really? I mean I'm older…"

"Age has nothing to do with being a ninja. My brother would never lose to you."

"Well, I got the Sharingan…"

"He has it too and he got it before you."

"How would you know?" Shisui argued, baffled by what he just heard. "You don't even when I unlocked mine. Plus, I got several Sharingan abilities he doesn't."

"Doesn't matter. It still wouldn't be enough to beat my brother," Sasuke stubbornly continued.

"Man, it's like arguing with a brick wall…"

"Still better than arguing with my ma," Naruto chimed in.

"Oh yeah… Was that the reason she was chasing you throughout the village the other day; You two had an argument?" Shisui queried.

"Yeah… She wanted me to eat some vegetables."

"Wait…" Shisui took a moment to try and stifle the laugh he felt coming up. But he couldn't. "You mean you two ran around the village, several times, because you didn't want to eat your vegetables?"

"I hate veggies!" Naruto raged.

"Well, I give you points for actually doing what every kid would do when first faced with veggies," Shisui consoled. "Extra points for doing it despite your mother being… Well, your mother."

It was always incredible how talking about Kushina always led to Naruto seeing people become scared if only for a moment. Not that he could blame them at all.

As much as he loved her, her scary side is just too scary.

"By the way… Shisui, do you know why the Uchiha and Hyuga have their own parts of the village to themselves?" he asked.

"Probably because we're considered some of the leaf's strongest clans," Shisui looked around before drawing the two closer to him. "Though personally, I think that it's because most of us are loners."

"Loners?" Sasuke said, perplexed.

"Think about it, why else would we willingly seclude ourselves in some of the corners of the village? It's because we're loners and not good with people," Shisui hypothesized.

"Then why is the Police Force further into the village?" Sasuke questioned.

"So people don't come to our doorsteps."

"Shisui…"

"I'm joking," Shisui joshed. "Still, I don't really know the real reason. Maybe it's a nobility thing."

"Nobility?" Naruto repeated, confused.

"Like I said, everyone thinks that the Uchiha and Hyuga are some of the most powerful clans in the village and I'm sure the clans themselves agree with that too. So maybe us being holed up in our own little section gives us a bit of nobility."

The ever present confused look on Naruto's face made it clear to Shisui that what he was saying wasn't getting through as well as he hoped.

"It's like this; we have our own piece of land and no one else does. It's the old school thinking of control of land space=nobility," he explained further. "Of course, of all the things we compete in, when it comes to looks, we've pretty much lost. The Hyuga's pplace looks much fancier."

"That's what I said," Naruto said, smiling upon receiving validation of his earlier comment.

"Does anyone really care how fancy our place looks compared to the Hyuga's?" Sasuke groaned.

"If we have another party involving the head of states again, where do you think the Hokage will host it at between the two of us?" Shisui quizzed.

"Neither," a fourth voice chimed in. "That is, if they ever become worried about spending time in the far corner of a foreign land."

Another figure landed in front of the three.

Like Shisui, it was someone Sasuke was happy to see. "Big brother!"

"Speak of the devil," Shisui nonchalantly greeted.

Itachi looked around, taking note of the plethora of shuriken surrounding them. Once done, his serene gaze landed squarely on Shisui and Naruto. "Shisui. Naruto. What are you doing here?"

"Working on Naruto's shuriken throwing skills," Shisui pointed to the cut on his sleeve. "He could really use some more work."

Itachi took note of the shuriken surrounding them once again. "I see."

"Big brother, you think you can help us practice?" Sasuke requested.

With a small smile, Itachi motioned his younger brother to come closer. Sasuke eagerly approached his brother only for him to have his forehead jabbed as usual.

"Sorry, Sasuke, another time," Itachi softly apologized.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about, Sasuke. This is why you should idolize me instead," Shisui beseeched.

Sasuke violently shook his head. "No way!"

"Wait, what's this about idolizing you?" Itachi inquired.

"I'm just trying to get your little brother to realize that I would be a much better person to look up to," a sly smile stretched across Shisui's face, one Itachi interpret easily. "I'm more personable, I'd be around more, plus, I'm stronger than you."

"No, you're not!" Sasuke turned his fiery gaze to Itachi and demanded, "Big brother, tell him you're the stronger."

Itachi could only respond with an awkward smile.

"His silence says it all," Shisui continued. "I'm stronger and he knows it."

"Big brother, c'mon, say you're stronger then Shisui!" Sasuke angrily pleaded.

As the brothers continued their one-sided conversation, Shisui kneeled next to Naruto and whispered, "You see, Naruto, this is one of the rare ways you can genuinely trip up the normally stoic Itachi."

"He doesn't look like it…" Naruto doubted.

"Trust me, it's all about the subtle stuff. You'll learn to read things like that at the more you train," Shisui assured him with an encouraging grin.

Naruto nodded his head in agreement. He had to keep training in order to be a great shinobi like Shisui, like Itachi and like his parents.

"You know…" Shisui turned his gaze back to the Uchiha brothers. "I kinda admire the relationship those two have. It's the kind that even if you're not a part of, you want to protect with everything you have."

Shisui's words resonated with Naruto. He didn't really understand how Shisui came to feel that way but he did respect the determination behind his words.

It wasn't just that though. Watching Sasuke and Itachi, Naruto felt something he didn't understand on a conscious level.

He was overcome with a sense of longing.

Chapter Text

“Ow-ow-ow!” Cries of pain filled a room in the house of the Hokage. Every time the rag briefly pressed against Nartuo’s cheek caused him an immeasurable amount of anguish.

“Hold on…” Stopping for just a moment, Kushina reached for a bottle of alcohol and slowly poured it on the rag. “So tell me again… How do you accidently ricochet several shuriken off each other back to yourself?”

That was something Naruto could not even fathom to answer. He didn’t want to admit it but he felt lucky that he got away with little injury after he achieved what would probably consider a travesty.

“It wasn’t on purpose…” Naruto grumbled.

His mother kneeled back down  in front of him, a coy smile spreading across her face. “I did say accidently.”

“I was just trying to hit the target; how can they bounce off each other back at me!?” Naruto loudly complained.

“Hold that thought."

Without warning, Kushina dabbed the alcohol drenched rag against Naruto's face, the sending the hysteric child spiraling around his bedroom.

"Why does that hurt so much?!" he cried.

"'Cause I'm not a medical ninja. Now stop hopping around so I can put the bandage on already."

Doing as he was told; Naruto cautiously approached his mother. She giggled slightly at the sight of his hands pressed tightly over his wound.

"You know, I can't do it while you're like that," she pointed out.

"…You're done using that rag, right?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Okay…"

Naruto slowly removed his hands away from his right cheek.

"Mm… Maybe a little more!" Kushina shouted, raising the rag up for Naruto to see.

"I knew it!" Naruto screamed, quickly covering his wound once more.

His mother burst into laughter, filling Naruto with embarrassment.

"That wasn't funny…" he muttered.

"It was hilarious,” Kushina chuckled. “But seriously, let's get this bandage on before something happens."

Naruto violently shook his head.

"Come on, I promise no tricks this time."

Naruto shook his head once again..

"If you don't, I'll start giving you extra vegetables at dinner."

Naruto didn't respond that time. After a minute of silence, his hands slowly dropped back to his side.

Hm? Something peculiar, but familiar caught Kushina's eyes. Naruto's wound was already closing. In a few short moments, it will be as if it was never there..

"Mom?"

Snapped out of her trance, Kushina was met with a confused stare from her son.

"R-Right. Here you go."

She quickly placed the bandage over Naruto's healing wound and softly patted it in place.

"Should be fine soon," she said. “Now, time to get into bed.”

Naruto gently rubbed his cheek as he slipped into his bed.

"Hey, Mom…"

"Yeah?"

"Do we have any cool clan stuff?"

Kushina eyes lit up with curiosity. "'Cool clan stuff?'"

Naruto jumped up and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"You know, like the ability to shoot fire out of our mouth or having a giant, cool place to live at."

Kushina snickered at her son’s imitation of the most basic fire release technique. She also found humor in the irony once reminded of why there was as once a hole in ceiling of this very room.

"Well, not everyone can be Uchiha or Hyuga.” Kushina said with a playful shrug.

Naruto crossed his arms, dissatisfied by that answer.

"Actually, now that I think about it, how come there's no other Uzumaki Clan members in the Leaf except for us?" he asked.

"Our clan…?"

"Yeah, every other clan here has a whole lot of people, but we're the Uzumaki here."

That was one of the questions Kushina knew she had to answer one day. It was something she knew she needed to think about since the day Naruto was born just in case it came up earlier than she expected. She needed to be prepared.

Unfortunately, she was not.

"That's… Well, it's really because… It's because, I'm not from around here."

"You're not?" Naruto gasped.

"Haven't I told you before; I came here from another village as a kid."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. The reason we're the only Uzumaki here is because our clan hails from a place far away from here."

“Another village…” Naruto’s head bobbed from side to side as he took in what he’s seen as just told. “So how come we've never gone there to see the others?"

"I guess… We just never had the time. I mean, there was always life and death missions and then your father became Hokage and then I gave birth to you…"

"Well, how come no one you knew came to visit… Wait, was that pink-haired lady an Uzumaki too?"

"'Pink-haired...'” a stern, almost angry look landed on Kushina’s face. “Wait, were you spying on me when you missed class that day?"

"No way!” Naruto waved his hands at a speed that seemed inhuman as he denied Kushina’s claim. I just happened to see you when washing the ramen bowls… twice!"

"Mm-hmm…” her expression soon softened into an inquiring smile. Anyway, no, she isn't. She's an old friend of mine."

"Oh… So, how come I haven’t seen any other Uzumaki come to visit?"

"They… Most likely can't make the trip."

"How come?"

"For one, my old village was surrounded by tides and steep hills and also… A lot of things happened that keeps that from happening."

"Like?"

"Too much to tell you all at once."

"Come on, can't you tell me one thing?" Naruto begged.

Kushina crossed her arms in the shape of an X. "Eehh. No way."

"Come on!"

Kushina went silent as she pondered her son’s request. “Well… Maybe if you let me add more vegetables to your dinners from now on."

"Bleh… Never mind…"

"That's what I thought."

It was at that moment when Naruto realized his mother had another weapon to use against him, a fact that did not sit well with him.

"So, it's just us?"

"Just us,” Kushina confirmed, nodding her head. “Ya know, being the only one here's kinda the reason you have my surname instead of your father's."

"Really?"

"Yep. Plus, as soon as I laid eyes on you, I could tell you were more Uzumaki than anything else."

"You mean I have something that's really Uzumaki?"

"Definitely."

Naruto didn’t know what about him would lead his mother to believe that, but it nonetheless filled him with pride.

"Wait, is it that I can jump higher than the other kids?"

"No, that's squarely you."

"Then what? Is it some cool thing our clan has over others?"

"That's right, you did pretty much ask what our clan brought to the table. Um… Give me a minute.”

Kushina turned and left the room. Moments later, she returned with her old flak jacket. She casually flipped it over and drew Naruto’s attention towards the center.

“Alright, Naruto, notice anything interesting?"

"Like what?"

“You don’t notice anything eye-catching on the back?”

Naruto stared at the jacket hard.

"Um… That red circle in the center?"

"Yep. You’ve noticed these before, right?"

 "Yeah, they're on the back of all of them."

"Well, guess what? Those circles are actually the spiral that represents our clan.”

"Wait, really?"

Though previously confused at what his mother was hinting at, Naruto was now astounded by what he just learned. It was almost unbelievable.

"You know how the Uchiha are always walking around with their clan crest on their back. Well, a lot of the ninja in the village walk around with our clan crest on their back.”

"That's so cool!” Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs.”Did Dad make them wear them?"

"Nope.” Kushina replied, trying to fix her nearly blown away hair. “It's been a tradition since the village was founded."

"Really?"

"Mm-hmm. Our clan was good friends with the clan of the First Hokage: Hashirama Senju. It's because the Uzumaki and Senju were such good friends that Lord First put our crest on every flak jacket ever made."

"Wow… That's even cooler than Uchiha crest on the police force."

"Yep.”

Kushina leaned in closer, the once playful atmosphere she held vanishing immediately. The amount of seriousness she displayed perplexed Naruto. “Just remember, the crest worn by the shinobi of our village isn't meant to symbolize power or bragging rights. It's a symbol of friendship."

"It's still pretty cool though! We may be the only two here, but our crest is really important!”

Kushina laughed. Though she knew the meaning of her words flew over son’s head, she hoped that they would remain with him.

"Oh, but that's not the only cool thing Uzumaki's are known for."

"Really? What else is there?"

Acknowledging her son’s continued interest, Kushina opened her mouth, “I’d tell you, but you’d be up all night. Time for bed.”

“Aw, come on!” Naruto complained.

“Can’t give you all the secrets now, now can I?”

“Ugh…”

“Hehe. Good night.

The next morning…

“Hey, Minato.”

His wife’s call seemed like a well-timed wake-up call. He looked up and discovered her eyes transfixed on the report he was just reading.

“What happened?” she asked.

“…Last night, I received another report of missing-nin.”

“Which kind? Rogue ninja?”

Minato shook his head.

“It was another group of young genin.”

“Again?”

Kushina hands were clenched tight upon hearing that, seemingly to keep her alternative response at bay.

“Hey, I know you said ‘genin’ but does that report happen to mention-?”

Minato somberly shook his head again.

“Okay… What happened now?”

“Seems like a team from the Hidden Stone were taken while on a standard delivery mission.”

“The contents weren’t important?”

“No, they were delivering plush toys of Lord Tsuchikage.”

“Say no more.”

Kushina jumped up from their coach, throwing her hands up in amazement. While Minato did not share wife’s feelings regarding the Tsuchikage, he did find her “It all makes sense” reaction somewhat humorous, if not also a little worrying.

“Wait…” A realization hit Kushina like a ton of bricks in that instance. “If you’re theory’s right, doesn’t that mean that whoever’s responsible has a full set by now?”

“And they’re all young genin, fresh out of their respective academies. At least for the most part.”

“What’s throwing a wrench in the theory?”

“The world’s no stranger to ninja disappearing at a moment’s notice and faking capture is one of the most common tricks to go rogue. The reason I considered the possibility of someone being involved with those disappearances was due to the age of these new ninja.

But at the same time, it’s not like age is always a good measuring stick for a ninja’s skill. Just look at Kakashi when he was younger; he was jonin and could most likely pull something like that off if he wanted to.”

“You remember Kakashi was a jonin due to a need of ninja at the time, right?”

“It’s still a testament to his capabilities.”

Minato had been wracking his mind trying to find some way to definitively figure out what was going on, but he always came up with one answer.

If no answers come up soon, this may lead to strained relations between countries again. It may be past time to-

“Morning, Mom. Morning, Dad.” Naruto’s cheery voice filled the room as he rushed in. He jumped up and landed right next to his father. “What’re you guys doing?”

“We were just talking about what’s happening in the world,” Minato answered. “Did you know they have plush dolls of Lord Tsuchikage again?”

“Tsucha-who?”

“The respected old man with rocks,” Kushina explained.

“Oh… Wait, who?”

“Aren’t they teaching you world history at the academy?”

“Eh…” Naruto turned his eyes away and started laughing. “H-Hey, Dad, did you know that Mom’s clan is super important to the village?”

“Of course. In fact, I genuinely wondered if she was a VIP when she was first introduced to our class.”

“Y-You did?”

The moment Minato turned to Kushina, she quickly covered her faint red cheeks.

“You were escorted into the classroom like an important figure would be. That and along with your flowing red, I thought it was a fair assumption to make back then.”

Kushina turned around, softly twirling strands of her long hair with her fingers.

“If only our other classmates had the same reaction…” she mumbled under her breath.

Naruto glanced at his father from the corner of his eyes. He looked as if he just saw something horrifying.

“What happened?”

“Nothing!” Kushina shrieked, flailing her arms. “Nothing, just a lot of ‘peaceful’ resolutions to some ‘hard introductions’! Ya know what they say, when first impressions fail, you have to make stronger second ones.”

“…You beat up your classmates, didn’t you?”

“Whaaat, no? What makes you think that?”

“You chased me around the village over veggies.”

“Any mother would do that. Granted, not every mother has a child that would run around the village several times over just because they didn’t want to eat vegetables.”

“They’re gross!”

Though at this point, Naruto was not sure if there was anything else he could do to avoid vegetables  now that he knew that his mother was willing to commit to chasing him down over them.

“Speaking of running around the village…” Minato spoke up, catching his family’s attention. “Naruto, there are no classes at the academy today, right?”

“Yeah. I’m going to spend the entire day working on my shuriken throwing technique.”

“About that…”

Naruto felt a chill. This conversation seemed to be veering towards a direction similar to how his talk with his mother went the day he skipped class.

“What would you say to working at the Post Office today?” Minato proposed.

Memories of the child’s recent raid on the establishment came rushing back. Naruto remembered the differing expressions and hat his opposition held, none of them positive.

“Why do you want me to work there?”

“Do you remember the last time you were there?”

“…No.”

“That means yes,” Kushina translated.

“I’ve had some complaints on how you’ve acted while there and it may be best if you spent the day there to erase those bad feelings,” Minato continued.

“Why? I didn’t do anything wrong; I was just trying to pick up a package for someone and they wouldn’t let me at,” Naruto argued.

“I know you went there with good intentions, and I am proud that you went so far to help someone, but you did cause a major uproar there for those who were just doing their job and had no relation to the few that were keeping you out.”

“I still don’t get what the point of spending my day there. Shouldn’t I be using my day off to follow my ninja way?”

Instead of a straight answer, Minato placed his hand on Naruto’s head and explained thusly.

“Naruto, one thing to always remember is that everyone in the Leaf is one big family and knowing that, we strive to support each other in our times of crisis and try to right the wrongs that we’ve done. After you left, the staff had to spend time trying to get everything back in order and felt as if they were wronged for no real reason.”

“You mean, I made their day harder even though I was trying to do someone a favor?”

“That’s right.”

It was a strange feeling. Up until this point, Naruto felt no regrets in charging in and grabbing what he needed. Now however, he felt some shame for his actions.

“But… I was just trying to help people.”

Sympathizing with her son’s feelings, Kushina sat down next to Naruto and pulled him close.

“Naruto, we know your heart was in the right place, but you’re method was a little… it was relatively destructive. Maybe next time something like this happens, you could try a different approach.”

“Like what?”

“You could call me. I’ll sort out those that give you unnecessary trouble, because when I still think about it… Those guys giving you a hard time gets my blood boiling…!”

Before she even realized it, Kushina’s left hand was tightly balled into a fist. She sheepishly turned her o her family, their faces saying enough.

“A-Anyway, diplomacy is the way to go.”

“So… I should make it up to the post office people?”

Minato nodded his head. “That would be the right thing to do.”

A bold smile crossed the child’s face and he eagerly jumped on his feet.

“Alright, I’ll do it!”

One hour later…

Sitting in the middle of the uppermost level of the post office was a giant pile consisting of nothing but letters and envelopes. It was so impressively massive that a child could easily be consumed by it.

At least, that was one of Naruto’s thoughts as he stared at the behemoth. The other-

This sucks.

Chapter Text

Naruto eyed the tower intensely, but as time passed by, it became abundantly clear that the problem was not going away. If anything, it was only getting worse.

“What’s going on?”

A dull, uninterested voice prompted an annoyed sigh to slip out of Naruto. He continued to stare at the pile as the head of the post office assuredly approached him. He heard heavy footsteps before the sounds stopped abruptly.

Suddenly, a sharp object flew past him and dug into the ground in front of him. Hanging off the kunai in front of him was a white envelope.

“Aaahh! What the heck was that for?!”

Naruto shot a glare at the one who put him in charge of dealing with the giant pile of mail in the first place.

Midomo Edarata, Head of the Post Office approached him with the same indifference she had showed him since he first arrived. Though it took the child awhile to accept that she was in charge; her shaggy light brown hair and noticeably worn down baggy clothes didn’t fit his image of a leader.

“I thought I told you to deal with this pile of mail, New Kid.”

“I did deal with the pile of mail and then this pile just showed up after I finished!” Naruto argued. “And it’s ‘Naruto’, not ‘New Kid,!”

“I told you, if you give an inch, then the work will literally overtake you.”

As if to punctuate Midomo’s point, one of the staff members valiantly pulled himself free from the mound of mail.

“Like that.”

Naruto met her indifference with an even sharper glare.

“I’m tired of just taking the mail and putting them in squares! I want to do something less boring or-!”

Midomo simply stared at Naruto, her indifference effectively shutting down his complaints.

“Are you done?” she asked.

“I’m… not really sure.”

“Listen, New Kid, you clearly don’t understand the importance of what is done here on a daily basis.”

“It’s just moving mail around.”

Midomo sighed.

“Look around, New Kid, and tell me what you see.”

The child did just that. Staff members were running across the room, around each other and even back and forth between other rooms.

“People just moving mail around.” Naruto answered bluntly. “And it’s Naruto.”

“Alright, now look again like you’re not a new kid, New Kid.”

“Huh?”

Midomo kneeled behind Naruto and cupped her hands around his eyes.

“You know what I see? I see hard working individuals pushing themselves to the limit to make sure the unforgiving flow of information doesn’t suffer any delays.”

“‘Unforgiving’?”

Midomo turned Naruto back towards the mass of mail he was tasked to deal with. To his shock, it was even bigger than before.

“Oh yeah…”

As if to prove her point even further, another staff member pushed through the ever-growing mountain with paper cuts all over his arms and cheeks.

“I still don’t get why everyone’s working so hard on mail though,” Naruto argued.

Sighing once again, Midomo took Naruto by the hand and led him up a nearby stair case. Once up top, they entered a room with caged birds there to greet them. Several cages were wide open, but the avian creatures didn’t leave.

On the far end of the the room were windowless spaces allowing birds to come and go as they please, delivering and taking letters from the podium in the center of the room.

“Whoa… I didn’t know birds delivered mail,” Naruto marveled.

“You’ve never noticed them occasionally landing near people with messages?” Midomo queried.

When he thought about it, there have been similar occurrences. He could remember seeing birds freely approach his parents or even them noticing them flying around. It would always lead to them saying that they needed to go somewhere right away.

But they didn’t have any mail on them.

“Our usual team up here is out sick, so I had to send individual birds to handle more tasks then they usually would,” she explained.

“But if you guys have birds that can deliver mail, then why not let them handle all the boring stuff?”

Midomo casually scratched the back of her head. “Well, I’d explain but it’s pretty clear you’re not getting any of this, New Kid.”

“I’m not getting anything because you haven’t explained anything!” An annoyed Naruto pointed out.

“I was actually trying to build up a bit of context, but you’re making it clear that that would be pointless now, so just get back to working on that pile of mail.”

“But that’s boring! I want to do something more fiery! Something that helps further my ninja way and gets my soul burning!”

Naruto’s impassioned request was immediately rendered inert by Midomo’s stoic demeanor.

“Do you ever make a different face…?”  

“Look, New Kid, if you have such a problem working here then you can just go home. It’s not like I wanted you to be here anyway.” She flatly admitted.

“No way. I promised that I would help here and I never go back on my word. That’s my Nindo, my ninja way!”

“You’re not a ninja.”

“Well, I’m going to be one day and when I do, that’s going to be my nindo.”

“You say that, but you seem really unwilling to do the simplest of tasks.”

“Come on, there has to be has to be something that’s more exciting then this!”

Midomo approached Naruto and handed him an envelope. “You have a pile waiting for you, New Kid.”

“It’s Naruto…” The child groaned all the way back to where the conversation started. Once he arrived, he was sure that it was even bigger than before.

…

Naruto yawned as he slipped his last envelope into one of the mailboxes he was told to. Hours of tedious work and he still didn’t really know what he was doing.

“Alright, time to tell Ms. High-and-Mighty I’m finally finished and head home.”

Naruto sat up. Looking around, he discovered that he was the only person around.

I kinda thought everyone here worked all day and night.

It was strange. The once frantic environment was now quiet and somewhat ominous. But just as he was taking that in, he heard the creaking sounds of feet against wood. For anyone else, the encroaching noise would instill fear, but, perhaps because to his current mindset, Naruto was curious.

The footsteps grew closer and closer until a figure finally appeared beyond a nearby doorway.

“What’re you doing?” Naruto loudly asked.

Blanketed in shadows, Naruto could only see the figure frantically back away before suddenly running out of sight.

Shrugging the strangeness of the moment, Naruto ran up the nearby stairs. Once up top, he came across a sight that left him immediately paralyzed.

It was only for a moment, but the burns and claw marks etched into the back of Midomo was burned into the child’s mind.

“Hey…!”

Midomo glanced over her now covered up shoulder. “Done already, New Kid?”

“Y-Yeah. And it’s Naruto.”

“Alright, let’s check it out, New Kid.”

Was she ever going to refer to him by name? That single question stayed in the back of his mind as he followed her back to where he was stationed. She quickly glanced into mailbox after mailbox before turning her attention back to Naruto.

“Everything looks to be in order, New Kid. You can go home.”

“Alright!” Wasting no time, Naruto rushed out of the building in the flash. But just as he entered the now dimly lit surroundings, an odd feeling brought him to a screeching halt. “Wait… That was too easy.”

Fueled by his new suspicions, Naruto quickly returned to where he left Midomo and found her re-sorting his work.

“Aha, caught you red handed!”

“You caught me fixing your abysmal work?” she said, without even breaking her stride.

“If it messed up, why didn’t you tell me!?” Naruto questioned.

“Why does it matter? Wouldn’t it have just been more boring work?”

Naruto shook his head. “That doesn’t matter. I made a promise to help here, and I never go back on my word. You doing my work over again is pretty much the same as far as I care.”

Midomo’s hands stopped moving in that instance. Without saying a word, she handed Naruto the envelopes in her hands.

“I have time, so this time I’ll make sure you do it right this time,” she informed him.

“What’d I do wrong, anyway?” Naruto asked.

“Pretty much everything.”

That was impossible. Even if he was bored, Naruto was sure that he didn’t spend hours working on sorting mail only for everything he had done to be rendered pointless.

“How’d I do that?”

“For the most part, you mixed incoming and outgoing mail.”

“There were two kinds?!”

“That’s right, New Kid.”

For once, Naruto didn’t have it in him to fight back against that nickname. At this moment it time, it felt deserved.

From that point on, Naruto followed her instructions without complaint. But as he continued his work, the image of Midomo’s scars was at the forefront of his mind.

“Hey, Midomo, have you ever been in a fight before?” Naruto asked.

“I’ve been through a lot fights. Comes with being ninja.”

“Wait, you were a NINJA?!” That was the last thing Naruto expected to hear. He already found it hard to believe that she was a leader, let alone a ninja.

“Still am.”

“Wait, if you’re a ninja, then what are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story.”

“We have a lot of mail too, so tell me.”

Midomo shrugged.

“Alright, well it all started with me graduating the academy and becoming a Genin. I did a lot of missions, a lot of them chores like farming and cleaning. Then one day, I was tasked with a delivery mission.”

“What’s that?” Naruto asked.

“Pretty much what it’s called. A client can request a ninja to deliver anything, but I was specifically tasked to deliver a package.”

“What was in it?”

“I didn’t know back then. All I knew was that I thought it would be a simple mission.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“It was until I was a quarter to my destination. My mission was to deliver the package to a merchant at a fairly nearby town. Some distance, but wouldn’t take forever to get there kind of deal. On my way there, I was suddenly ambushed by bandits.”

Naruto’s eyes sparkled with amazement. “What happened?!”

“They wanted my package; I flipped them the bird.” Midomo answered, mimicking the exact gesture she used years ago.

“Really? …Wow.”

“I was on a mission and it was my duty to deliver the package no matter what, but at that moment, I cared more about the fact that someone wanted to take something from me out of the blue.”

“So what happened?”

“Naturally, they attacked me.”

“Did you beat them all up?”

She shook her head. “Not really.  I was outnumbered, so I did what I thought was best: take one down, rub their faces in it, dodge their assaults while whittling down a few more bandits until they were completely ticked off.”

“Then what happened?” Completely enraptured, Naruto was eager to hear more.

“That’s when lured one of them to punch out one of their own, that guy retaliated, and it led to a huge brawl between the bandits. Since I was given a reprieve, I decided to eat my lunch while watching the circus continue. They pretty much took themselves out.”

“Wow, that was pretty smart of you, Midomo. So, what happened after that?”

“I arrived at the town in no time at all and delivered the package safe and sound.”

“So, you finished the mission and tricked bandits; that’s pretty awesome.”

“True, but it was what happened after that I look back on fondly.”

“After?”

There was a subtle gleam in Midomo’s eyes.

“I assumed the package was some kind of good the merchant needed, but when he opened it up, I was shocked to see that it was a tiny statue depicting the waves of an ocean. Along with it was a letter; it was from his son.

Apparently, they haven’t seen each other forever and were on pretty rough terms. So when he received a letter and gift from his kid, the merchant nearly broke down crying.”

“A letter made him do that?” Naruto marveled at the concept.

“I learned something then: What I held in hands was something that allowed a nearly broken bond to be strengthened. If I had failed my mission, then who knows what their relationship would be like today.

So even though my mission was a low-ranking one, I felt as if I had accomplished something important. And overtime, that became my preferred type of mission to take on.”

“Delivering things?”

Midomo took a breath and began to explain, “In the ninja world, deliveries come in all kinds of shape and sizes and varying levels of importance. Maybe you’ll be handed a secret letter between two lords or maybe you’ll deliver the blueprints to revolutionary devices.

Or maybe, you’ll deliver something as simple as a letter from a distant friend. You’re a kid, so I get why simple mail is boring to you but look at it from the views of the sender and the recipient. The sender is pouring their hearts out to a blank sheet of paper, just hoping the words have the possibility of reaching their desired destination and the recipient could just be happy to hear something from them.

Whatever the package, I know most of the time, our job is part delivery and part making sure someone is happy or just content to have whatever they desired actually be received and to receive. To me, that’s the job of a delivery ninja.”

W-Wow…

He had never thought of it like that. Naruto was sure the job only meant moving boring documents from place to place. How could he have known that it would be something cool and important as what he was told?

“Well, we’re done now.”

“Huh?” Snapped out of his enraptured state, Naruto was completely stunned to discover that he had actually finished his given task.

“You can go home now,” Midomo informed him.

“Oh. Yeah…”

“That reminds me,” Seemingly pulling an envelope out of thin air, Midomo causally handed it to Naruto. “This is for your mother. Be sure to give it to her on the way home.”

Naruto slowly nodded his head.

“What’s wrong? You didn’t go back on your word; you should be happy.”

“I guess…”

Naruto sighed, but his vocal dejection was suddenly cut short by the weight of Midomo’s right hand dropping on his.

“Thanks for help… New Kid.”

She cracked a thin smile she thanked him, causing Naruto to respond to a satisfied nod.

“Yeah.”

“Now get going before your parents chastise the both of us.”

“Right!”

…

“Kushina…?” The last thing Minato had expected to find when he came home was his wife standing on the ceiling of their living room. Lines of green thread were wrapped around her hands and a single pair of needles laid in her shadow. “Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah… You’d think Naruto would be home by now.”

“Well, the Post Office is a constantly busy place. He may have gotten swept up by the workload.”

“Hmm…” Saying no more, Kushina dropped down and swiftly grabbed the needles next to her. “…I don’t like it. They better not have decided to mess with him just because he’s the new kid.”

“I’m sure Midomo wouldn’t let that happen,” Minato assured her. “You know she keeps everyone focused on the task on hand.”

“That comes with its own set of problems… Speaking of which, made any headway in your latest case?”

“I sent a team to look into it, so its going to take some time.”

It looked as if Kushina was going to inquire further, but their conversation was brought to a halt by a sudden cool breeze.

“Hey!” Naruto greeted them as he slipped in through the nearby window. “What team is looking into what?”

“Top secret,” Kushina teasingly answered. “It’s a need-to-know basis.”

 “Oh, come on! I want to know.”

“You want to know what I want to know: How come you’re home so late again? Did anyone there hassle you?”

“No… It was just a lot of work and I kinda messed up and Midomo had to help me get everything right. She also wouldn’t stop calling me ‘New Kid’.”

“That sounds like something she would call you.”

Couldn’t you have told me that before? Words Naruto could only scream in his mind. He turned to his father and asked, “Hey, Dad, did you know Midomo was a ninja?”

“Of course. Midomo is one of the top Delivery Ninja in the village and maybe beyond,” Minato answered.

“Hmm…” Taking those words into consideration, Naruto began to make his way out of the room. “Wait a minute.”

He jumped back to his mother and presented the envelope he was tasked with giving her. With that task accomplished, Naruto quietly made his way upstairs.

“That… Was not how expected him to be like when he got home,” Kushina thought aloud.

Minato nodded his head in agreement, but he saw it as a good sign.

Upstairs, Naruto jumped on top his bed, his eyes glued to the boarded hole in his ceiling.

“A Delivery Ninja’s Nindo…”

Chapter Text

Kushina intensely flipped through the pages of an old cookbook a friend gave her long ago. She scoured the book from front to back, back to front then front to back again.

“Where is it!?”

She shook the book vigorously while eyeing the fluttering pages carefully.

“I just want to know which mushroom to use!”

She dropped the book with a pout and sighed.

“C’mon… I- Huh?”

It was right there. The recipe she was looking for proudly displayed itself for all to see.

“…You just wanted to stress me out, didn’t you?” Kushina groaned before breaking out into laughter. “Ah, well.”

She picked up the book, pressing her finger next to the word ingredients and sliding it down past the ones she had already used.

“Wha-?!”

Every ingredient she had used was legible, but everything underneath had been covered in black what appeared to be black ink.

“H-How did this happen?”

Immediately, the answer came to her. She recalled how, in a moment of rage, she knocked over a cup of ink that had been sitting next to the book. The look of pure shock on her face back then matched her expression now.

“Mom?” A single word from her son broke through the trance of self pity she was in. He was staring at her, absolutely confused by her previous petrified state. “What are you doing?”

“Nothing! Just working on dinner!” Kushina frantically returned to the kitchen counter. Near a boiling pot were two mushrooms — a spiral mushroom and a blue shadow mushroom. Which one is it!?

She held both in her hands, slowly moving them up in down in a fixed rhythm in order to ascertain which one she needed.

I just need to use my cooking expertise and instincts.

She glanced at the spiral mushroom then the blue shadow mushroom. They were both fine ingredients on their own, but her current meal needed the correct mushroom or else the entire entrée would fall apart. She had no one to consult and nothing to reference — a decision needs to be made now.

“Spiral it is.”

Kushina cut the spiral mushroom into tiny slices then dropped the pieces into the boiling pot.

“What are you making?” Naruto asked.

“Something a friend once made for me.” Kushina answered. “Hey, since you’re here, why don’t you help your mom out with dinner?”

Naruto shook his head.

“No… That seems like a mom thing to do.”

“Oh… But what if I say it’s a child thing to help their parent with cooking when asked?”

Naruto shook his head again, only faster this time.

“Okay, let’s try this again…” Kushina’s hair swayed around dangerously. “Will you help me with dinner?”

Naruto stomped his feet on the floor and thrust his arms out in the shape of an X.

“No way!”

“And why not?”

“Because you’re scary when you have your kitchen stuff!”

“Wha-?! You’ve never been scared when you were just watching me make dinner -- Why is working with me suddenly scary?”

Naruto pointed to the ladle his mother held. “Because I know how you can be when you have that stuff and I don’t want to end up on the wrong side of them.”

“Give me one example of me being scary with kitchen utensils.”

“What about that one time you chased that one guy with a frying pan?”

“…Y-Yeah, I did that but-” The hue of Kushina’s cheeks matched the color of her hair. She really wished her son weren’t there to see that.

“Or the time dad had to stop you from using that spiny thing on that other guy?”

“Okay, that happened too, but-”

“Or the time you chucked wooden spoons at the other other guy?”

“They were all the same person and he was trying to scam us with bad products!” Kushina passionately argued. Her face was now completely red to the point Naruto couldn’t tell where her hair began. “It’s not really wrong to not let people get away with things like that…”

Naruto didn’t offer a rebuttal. Instead, he just stood in place staring at his mother for.

“…Have you ever used a frying pan on a mission?”

“…Yes.”

2 minutes later…

“No, you have to swing it with the snap of your wrist.” Kushina instructed.

“But I seen you swing it like this,” Naruto argued and continued to flail his frying pan around wildly.

“Yeah, but if you want a quick power move, you have to fling it like I said. Flailing around wildly only works as a crazy all around attack that only works when your opponents don’t see it coming.”

“But what about knocking them out with all my power, like this?” Naruto swung the pan down with all his might.

“Yeah, that works for a powerful attack. But what I’m saying is something that’s quick and powerful. While not as powerful as something like what you did, the speed and momentum makes what I’m saying more viable, especially for surprise attacks.”

Kushina took the pan back from Naruto and held it in her left hand. She swung it back, the force generating a small breeze that hit Naruto’s face.

“See? Like this.”

Switching to her right hand, Kushina swung the pan back again – slamming it right into her husband’s face.

“Minato!?”

Kushina could only watch in horror as her husband collapsed before her.

“Geez, Mom, you weren’t kidding…” Naruto shuddered.

…

Kushina finished applying the last band-aid on Minato’s face and backed away with an awkward giggle.

“So…”

“It’s fine, Kushina. We both know that this isn’t the first time this has happened,” Minato gently assured her.

“…Please don’t say that in front of our son…”

Naruto glanced at both of his parents with judgmental eyes.

“It was an accident,” Minato explained.

“Still…” Naruto mumbled.

“Sorry again…” Kushina apologized.

“Really, it’s fine,” Minato replied. “Why don’t we just move on?”

“I think Dad just wants dinner too,” Naruto patted his empty stomach.

“Right,” Kushina eagerly brought over two bowls of mushroom soup. The smell was intoxicating. “Presenting the dish that did everything in its power to make it hard for me to make. Dig in.”

The two did exactly that.

“Mmph-!”

Minato squinted his eyes, notably forcing himself to swallow. Naruto did not bother trying however, mindlessly letting the soup pour out from the corners of his mouth.

“…Was it really that bad?” Kushina asked.

“It’s… an acquired taste,” Minato replied nervously.

He only says that when it’s bad… Kushina scooped some more soup from the pot and took a sip.

“Ufmph-!”

She clasped her hands over her mouth and rushed over to an open window. She felt no shame spewing out what she had just tasted.

Weakly stumbling back to her family, Kushina only had a few words to say. “Okay, we’re heading out for dinner tonight… My treat.”

…

“Okay, got any idea of where you want to eat?” Kushina asked this of Minato as they wandered the streets of the Hidden Leaf.

“I don’t really have a preference right now.”

“C’mon, Minato, you say that every time we go out. It wouldn’t kill anyone for you to choose more often.”

“It’s not really that. I really don’t mind where we go when we’re together.”

“Oh and I’m never that easy to please just because we’re together,” Kushina joked, playfully shooting Minato a fake glare.

“What are you two talking about?”

Naruto was between the two, squeezing his parents hands tight. He could tell right away that letting them continue would keep them from quickly finding a place to eat.

“We still need to find a place to eat!”

“Ok, how about…?” Kushina glanced around their current surroundings. There were no food establishments in their immediate vicinity.

“Ichiraku! Let’s get some Ichiraku!” Naruto suggested excitedly.

“Of course…” Kushina sighed. “Still, it wouldn’t kill you to want to eat anywhere else though.”

“But Ichiraku’s the best.”

“Yeah, but it’s not good to eat that stuff everyday.”

“But didn’t you say that dinner was your treat? Meaning that you’ll let us choose for dinner, right?”

“Yeah, but maternal worries supersedes that.”

“‘Super-what’?”

What did “super seeds” have to do with being a worried mother?

“Look the point is that, as a parent, I can negate my own words as long as it keeps you healthy.” Kushina told him.

“That’s not fair! You’d never let me get away with that!” Naruto complained.

“Yeah, well, that’s something that all kids have to deal with! I was the same as a kid! You don’t know what my parents put me through for the smallest of things!”

A droplet of sweat crawled down Minato’s face as he witnessed the argument continued. He could swear they were wrapped in an intense, fiery aura.

Looking around, he could tell that he wasn’t the only one around that felt it.

“Kushina. Naruto. I’m sure there’s another way to resolve this without…”

Hearing his plea, Kushina was then reminded of how she had already caused an uproar recently when she chased Naruto around the village. She couldn’t stomach embarrassing him like that again.

“…Okay then. Naruto, let’s have a little contest,” Kushina suggested.

“Contest?”

…

“This spot should be perfect.”

Naruto looked around. What did his mother have planned that they needed to go to the park? “Perfect for what?” he asked.

“For our little match,” Kushina answered. “Remember your physical training exercises at the academy?”

“Um… I guess… What does that have to do with anything?”

“Remember the one exercise where they try to see who can leap the farthest?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, the two of us are going to do that. The person who lands farthest gets to choose where we get to eat.”

“Really? Alright, this match is mine!” Naruto confidently declared.

“You think so, huh?” Kushina chuckled. “You really think your old enough to defeat me when it comes to things like this?”

“I already kept ahead of you before. This should be easy.”

“Oh, really? Looks like someone needs a lesson in humility.”

The two stood five feet apart and crouched down.

“Call it, Minato.”

Minato nodded. “On your marks… Get set… Go!”

Naruto and Kushina jumped forward with all their might.

“Ichiraku’s mine!” Soon after saying that, chains snaked along Naruto’s body before tightly ensnaring him. Glancing over his shoulder, Naruto was stunned to discover that they were coming out of his mother’s palm. “Hey, you didn’t say we could use jutsu!”

“Never said we couldn’t,” Kushina said with a smug grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to pick somewhere delicious to eat.”

With a childish giggle, Kushina flung Naruto towards Minato.

“No fair!”

Suddenly, he had a brilliant idea. He clapped his hands together and was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. A long tail shot out of the smoke and wrapped itself around Kushina.

“What!?”

Naruto, now in the form of his mother, pulled himself towards Kushina and latched on to her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure we eat Ichiraku tonight.” Naruto taunted.

“Oh really?” More chains emerged from throughout Kushina’s body, sealing off Naruto’s movements. “You were saying?”

“Okay, that’s it!”

Naruto rampaged against his restraints and sent them spiraling towards the ground.

Crash!

They were dazed, the impact returning Naruto to his original form.

“Did I win…?” Naruto asked.

“I’d say it was a tie,” Minato judged.

“Dang it!” Naruto and Kushina pouted in frustration.

“Maybe instead of this, we should-” The fiery aura that enveloped his family prevented Minato from saying anymore.

“On to round 2!” They declared.

…

Ready for the next challenge, Naruto and Kushina stood atop one of the many roofs in the village.

“So what are we doing this time?” Naruto asked.

“The name of this game is balance.” Kushina drew his attention to two thin lines of wire stretching from their roof to another across the street. “We carefully make our way to the other side along the wire and whoever makes it to the other side last or falls and touches the ground forfeits their right to pick dinner.”

“Can’t we just jump across?”

“Well then, it wouldn’t be a challenge, would it? Besides, being able to maintain balance is an important basic skill that all shinobi should have. After all, you can’t be sneaky if you don’t have balance. For example, how could you sneak along rafters of an enemy’s stronghold if you don’t have balance or maintain balance on a tree branch as you listen out for info above an enemy camp or-?”

“What?! I can’t hear you over here!”

“Ah!” Kushina cried upon spotting Naruto halfway along his wire trail. “So that’s how you want to play it.”

She smirked and casually stepped on the other wire.

While Naruto had a huge lead, it was only because he started while his mother wasn’t paying attention. Balance training was something he was never good at – just standing up straight was something he barely managed to do.

It’d be so much easier if I could just jump across…

“How’s it going?”

“Aaaah!”

Unlike Naruto, Kushina had no trouble standing up straight on her wire, but that wasn’t what shocked Naruto. Somehow, she was standing up straight, while upside down. The sight instinctually made Naruto jump back but he was able to grab on to his wire before he could plummet even further.

“No fair! How are you doing that!” Naruto complained.

“Oh, it’s just a little something I picked up over the years.”

“That’s got to be cheating! How are you supposed to fall when you can walk upside down like that!?”

“The rules never said anything about holding your balance upside down.”

Naruto was conflicted. As cool as his mother’s trick was, it meant that his chances of winning dropped dramatically. Also he found it impossible to pull himself back up on such a thin walkway. His only remaining options were either hang there and lose or drop to the ground and forfeit the game.

“Just hang on, Naruto. I’ll be back for you after I win.” Kushina confidently declared before resuming her upside-down trek.

“D-Darn it!” Naruto floundered about like a fish on dry land trying to pull himself back up. But it was no use.

His mother was about to claim victory and there was nothing he could do.

“That’s it!”

He had another brilliant idea. Naruto let go of the wire and clapped his hands together.

Transform!

His tail once again shot out of the surrounding smoke, wrapping around the wire and halting his descent a mere centimeter from the ground.

He was then flung up, cutting through the air like a knife before suddenly colliding into Kushina. The rough impact broke the transformation again and both slid across the roof before slamming into the base of a water tower.

“Ooooow…”

Minato soon appeared before them, looking down at their dazed forms for the second time.

“Did I win?” they both asked.

“It was another tie.”

“Dang it!”

“Perhaps we should just-”

“ROUND 3!”

…

“That’s not good…”

The third challenge took place in the third training grounds. The last exercise performed here involved non-lethal traps and the game was to see who could last the longest without triggering any.

Somehow, in a way that Minato still couldn’t comprehend, both Naruto and Kushina were strung up in a net.

The challenge didn’t even last 5 minutes.

“Maybe-?”

“NEXT ROUND!”

…

Hours later, Kushina laid along the ground with Naruto resting his head on her belly. They had ran a gauntlet of challenges, so many in fact that they had lost count. For a brief moment, they had forgotten why they were competing in the first place.

“Wow, what a beautiful night.” Kushina softly stroked Naruto’s head, her fingers running though his spiky blonde hair.

“…Hey, Mom, did the skies ever look like this in your old house?”

“Hm? Don’t skies look the same everywhere?”

“I heard from a guy that goes all over the place that some places have red and purple skies! He also said that there are places that look like its night all the time even when it’s supposed to be sunny!”

“Eh… I can neither confirm or deny that.”

“Huh, why not?”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination.”

Naruto hated when she did that. Was it the truth or not? Because of how Kushina answered he didn’t know whether she knew it was the truth or if it was a lie.

“All done?”

Minato slipped out of a bush holding a basket and a blanket.

“Where’ve you been?” Kushina questioned.

“I figured the challenges may go on all night so I went home and whipped up something for us to eat when you finished.” Minato spread the blanket in front of him and placed the basket in the center.

“It’s not more of that soup, is it…?” Naruto groaned.

“It was just the wrong mushroom…” Kushina muttered under her breath.

Minato opened the basket. Inside were sandwiches and bags of chips.

“Sandwiches?” Naruto reached in and grabbed one. He took a bite, his face lighting up with delight. “This is so good!”

“Yeah, but you know sandwiches and snacks isn’t actually a meal, right?” Kushina lightly teased.

Minato chuckled. “I know, but I didn’t know how much time I had.”

“It’s not Ichiraku, but at least it’s not that gross soup again.” Naruto thought aloud.

“It was just the wrong mushroom…!” But perhaps she should be grateful for her mistake. If not for that, then she wouldn’t be able to have a picnic on such a beautiful night with two of the most important people in her life. “…Hm. Life works in funny ways sometimes.”

Chapter Text

A long, long time ago there was once a great sage who was once known as a god to his people. Stories were told of his great accomplishments – from creating the stars in the heavens above to having the cure to all ailments, this sage was a strong, but benevolent being. Legend has it that-

“Hey, Dad.”

Minato looked up from the book he was reading. Even if he didn’t get far, perhaps Naruto already found the bedtime story boring.

“What’s a ‘sage’?” Naruto asked.

“A sage is usually a title given to a very wise person.” Minato answered. “It’s usually somebody that has a lifetime of experience and almost always gives sound advice, have specific techniques to get out of a jam or overall has a viable solution to a problem. Even if not, they tend to help point someone in the right direction.”

“So are you a sage?”

“Oh no. I still have a lifetime of experience to earn myself. I’m nowhere close to being a sage in that sense.”

“But you’re the Hokage. You’re like the strongest ninja in the world. How can you not be a sage?”

“It’s as I’ve told you – it’s not about strength but it’s about wisdom and experience. While I do have experience under my belt, I know there’s still a lot for me to learn.”

“So you mean you still have to learn as an adult…” Naruto groaned.

Minato chuckled. “I know you find it a pain now, but knowledge is important.”

“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t mean that learning’s not boring…” Naruto groaned before puffing his cheeks as hard as he can. Learning was one thing, but the constant stream of books and paper tests was another. “…Hey, is Mom coming home tonight?”

He was told before that Kushina was busy with something important but no one would tell him what it was. He didn’t give it much thought then, but before he knew it, an entire day went by and he still has yet to see her.

“I actually got in touch with her earlier,” Minato said. “She said that we’ll probably won’t see her until tomorrow.”

“Seriously? What’s she doing?”

Minato beckoned Naruto closer. “Well, between the two of us, your mother is on a top-secret mission.”

“Really?! What kind of a mission?”

“She’s testing one of our training grounds for future events.”

“Training grounds…?” Naruto’s excitement was gone as quickly as it came. “What’s so cool about that? It’s just being outside.”

“Well this one’s a little different. It a bit more… It involves a little more realistic danger. It’s essentially a simulation of how to survive in a harsh environment.”

Naruto cocked his head to the side.

“For example, it has giant and wild beasts.”

“Really?!” Naruto marveled. “Can I go there?”

“Sorry, it’s a little above your current level.” Minato said, shaking his head. “It’d be too dangerous for you to go there for any reason right now.”

“But Mom gets to stay there all night!”

“True, but…”

…

“HAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”

The Forty Forth Training Grounds, also known as the Forest of Death, is a well-known testing ground for those aiming for a higher shinobi rank. Those who hear tales of its lethality usually come in cocky, but, if they survive, they come out realizing that the stories were truth rather than fiction.

What Minato had told Naruto was no tall tale or hyperbole – there truly were giant flora and fauna. Gigantic beasts were always on the prowl, looking for their next prey.

“TAKE THIS!”

The forest was their stomping ground and it was only now and then when they found a challenge.

“GOT YA!”

Even rarer was when they found someone who dared to take them on directly.

Unfortunately for them, someone who came from outside dared. Someone with a lot of steam to blow off.

“BOOM!” Kushina fell from the branches above and slammed her frying pan down on the head of a giant bear. The beast staggered on its feet and hobbled to the left, as if trying to escape her wrath. It didn’t make it far before dropping to the ground alongside the others that fell by her hands. “WOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAH! MY BLOOD IS BOILING!”

In most cases, humans would be locked in with the beasts. In this case however, they could tell it was the other way around. It may be more accurate to say that they were trapped with a demon.

“Alright…” Kushina pointed her frying pan at those that remained. “Who’s next?”

Standing before a demon radiating a spine-chilling aura, it was obvious what their choice would be.

“Hey!” Kushina roared as she chased after the fleeing beasts. “You think you can run when you started this fight!? This isn’t over until my blood stops boiling! COME BACK HERE!!!”

…

“I think we both know that you don’t want to be caught up in that.” Minato concluded.

“Good point.” Naruto shivered as he laid back down. “Now, I kinda feel bad for the animals…”

“Yeah…” Minato, however, had trouble completely sympathizing with them considering how much they tried to eat his teammates in the past.

“Hey, Dad, what was your favorite mission?” Naruto suddenly asked.

“My favorite?”

“Yeah. You’ve been on a lot of cool missions, right? You got to have a favorite, right?”

“Favorite…” Minato was silent for a moment. “…That’s a tough one because when you say favorite, I tend to think about ones that led to pivotal moments that made me the person I was today. Not all of them were pleasant so it’s hard to refer to them as ‘favorites.’”

Naruto didn’t speak a word, but it was clear that Minato’s response didn’t completely register with him.

“Um… Oh, one mission that stuck with me was when I had to rescue Kushina when we were younger.”

“You rescued Mom? What happened? Was she in a fight and you had to bail her out?” Though he said that, Naruto had a tough time imagining his mother ever needing help in a fight.”

As someone who grew up with her and watched her fight, Minato could understand his son’s feelings. “Not exactly. Kushina was actually kidnapped during a mission.”

“Kidnapped?”

“Yes. You see, Kushina had a… special quality to her that others wanted to take advantage of.”

“Was it because she’s one of the last of our clan?”

“Partially yes, but there were other things that were considered. As to how she got captured, Kushina was outnumbered and caught off guard, so she didn’t really have a chance to fight back and, because we were still kids, she had no way of overpowering any of them head on. She was in a tight spot, but she didn’t let that stop her.”

“So what did Mom do?”

“…Something I always found striking about Kushina since the day I met her was her red hair. I couldn’t really explain it back then, but my eyes were always drawn to it.”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Naruto furrowed his brow.

“I say that because when I found out that your mom was kidnapped, I immediately went after her,” Minato began to explain. “We only had her last known location though and there were no trackers available at the time. It may have been impossible to find her if it wasn’t for the clever trail she left behind.”

“You mean-?”

Minato nodded. “Kushina had been discreetly plucking out strands of her hair and leaving it behind as she was led to the border. I told you that I always found her hair striking and so I knew right away that it was hers.”

“So what happened after that?” Naruto inquired further.

“I followed her trail and eventually caught up to her,” Minato continued. “Of course, that was the easy part. After all, I was no stronger than Kushina and the ninja that captured her outranked me in level and experience.”

“So, what’d you do?”

“I used my head. I couldn’t have overpower them, so I had to outthink them. It was touch and go, but I was able to get Kushina to safety.”

“So, that’s why it’s your favorite mission — because you rescued Mom.”

“No, that’s not why it’s one of my favorites.”

“It’s not?”

“It was very stressful, but at the end of it I was finally able to tell Kushina how I always thought her hair was very pretty.”

That was why it was his favorite mission? It was something he could’ve said at any time — why was such a casual compliment so important that it would make the moment so memorable?

“I know you don’t understand it now, but I always look back at the moment as the thing that finally connected us. Up to that point, I don’t think I’ve made much of an impression on her…”

“Uh-huh… I still don’t get it.” Naruto said bluntly.

“It’s okay. You will some day.”

“Hey, wait…! If Mom got kidnapped because she’s an Uzumaki, doesn’t that mean someone would kidnap me too?”

“Well again, your mother’s circumstances were a bit different than yours.”

“But-!”

Minato smiled and gently ruffled Naruto’s hair. “You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Minato then sat up and moved to turn out the light.

“Now, why don’t you get some sleep. We can pick up the story tomorrow.”

“Okay.” Naruto grinned.

…

The lights have been out for more than an hour. There was no movement in the house, they could sense it.

A figure had been waiting outside Naruto’s window ever since the first bedtime story, waiting for the perfect opportunity to fulfill their purpose.

“…”

They crept ever closer towards Naruto’s bedroom window, keeping him in their sight as it prepared to slip in.

“Excuse me.” A hand plopped on their shoulder. To their right stood Minato, somehow slipping past their scans. “Is there something I can help you with?”

They instantly smacked his hand away and threw a smoke bomb on the side of his house. It was completely covered in smoke, providing would be intruder a chance to escape.

Before the smoke cleared, they were already gone. They already had a huge lead on Minato and yet they felt compelled to err on the side of caution. The compulsion was so strong that it was all they could think about.

They kept to the shadows, moving from alleyway to alleyway until they could see their goal – the gate that led out of the village.

Security was surprisingly lax, but it didn’t matter. They felt like it should matter, but those feelings were pushed down in order to relieve them of any doubt.

“…”

  Freedom was just around the corner, but they couldn’t move any further. If they did, then kunai hanging in front of their neck would slice through it like butter.

“Sorry, but I still have a few questions for you,” Minato said calmly. “I’m going to have to ask you to come with me.”

Moonlight spilled into the alley, providing Minato the opportunity to get a better look at the stranger. He thought he couldn’t make out any distinguishing figures because they were bathed in the shadow of his home, but he never figured it was because their entire body was draped in purple bandages.

Bandaged from head to toe and was able to sneak into the village without any alarms. Only one person comes to mind, but… They’re supposed to be dead. Plus, there’s no way I’d be able to catch him off guard this easily.

Suddenly, the bandaged figure twisted their head around to face him. Bandages that previously covered the lower half of their face hung to the side, revealing a mouth full of rotting, crooked teeth.

A faint purple light enveloped their body and soon it would envelop the entire alley.

This is-!

Minato quickly threw a kunai towards a nearby tree and another far into the air above them. He grabbed the intruder and, in a flash, they were high in the sky just as the intruder achieved detonation.