Chapter Text
"Jutsu… jutsu… what kind of jutsu?" Naruto murmured to himself at his desk as he bit at the tip of the spoon he was holding. He gritted his teeth together in frustration when his mind drew up the same list of problems over and over again, "Man… how can picking a jutsu to learn be so hard? Did oji-san and everybody else have the same problem, or is it just me?"
Coming back from the library with some books and scrolls, Naruto had been doing everything in his power to come up with a sort of fail-safe project that he read in a book and decided to try it.
Sure, the research and listings were easy. The problem now was deciding what kind of jutsu was best suited for him.
With all of his time at the beginning and ends of each day spent either training or brainstorming, this meant he had very little free period for anything else. After a particularly exhausting Saturday, Naruto had decided to break away from his exercises and assignments to work on one of his other personal projects to clear his head. He was currently trying to perfect the formula for his new firework pellet; an explosive with a colorful kick to it that didn't just leave damage but also emitted blinding flashes and sparklers that did even more damage.
Once it was completed Naruto knew it was going to be sweet once he tried it out on something… or someone.
With his goggles pulled down over his eyes, the jinchuriki pulled the spoon out of his mouth and went back to work.
"Ah, I'll figure out the name of the jutsu later. All I want is for it to be a big one," the blonde boy said excitedly, using his utensil to measure the amount of powders he had. With the canister for the self-propelled explosive laid out on the table of his living room, it almost looked like he was running some sort of shady drug experiment since he had all these science gimmicks lying all over the place. It was almost comical how focused he was on the thing.
It was good to know that he had a substantial amount of experience in this area and knew exactly what he needed to do; otherwise he'd be more concerned for his own safety than he was. It was a big ass bomb after all.
Naruto continued his rampant of audible thoughts while mixing the deadly cocktail between the vials.
"I want something flashy. Not like a blazing fireball jutsu," Naruto shook his head while tapping the contents of the tube he was holding up in front of him. "It's too much burning and not enough bang. I want a jutsu that can blow people away! Something that can make people's hair stand on end! But what?"
His ideal jutsu had to have charisma and needed to be eye-catching, as well as simple enough for him to use… sort of like an explosive tag.
Shrugging his shoulders thoughtfully, Naruto reached out and randomly grabbed a flask of flash powder nearby. Without measuring it, he gently poured the contents into the vial in his other hand. It was about time for the final mix…
…
…
Plop…
Sizzle…
BOOM!
"God damn it… I fucking HATE fuinjutsu!" the Kyuubi roared out.
The entire apartment complex was rocked by a massive explosion. Every single window of Naruto's block was blown out in a horrible flash of blinding light, scattering glass and debris all across the neighborhood. Nearby villagers out and about turned towards the building in shock, many giving out startled yelps at the sight of the discharge. Seconds later, once all the fire and embers had passed, black smoke began pouring out of every opening in the building.
"What was that?" a shop keeper asked while poking his head out of his stand at the side of the road.
His most recent customer, an old woman sporting a hunch and a shawl, also looked towards the building in surprise.
"Oh my, is it new years already?" she murmured curiously.
It made sense as firework sparks were now starting to shoot out the shattered panes and were bursting into colorful flowers above the streets. It was a glorious sight to behold indeed.
Inside the disaster zone though, it was a completely different story.
With fixtures blown out of place, walls and furniture shredded, and every surface area within sight of the center charred a smoking coal black, the once clean experiment had transformed into a real, God-awful mess. And of course sitting in the very heart of the smoldering lounge room, a very surprised looking Naruto sat staring at his now disintegrated workspace.
His entire front burnt black with his back remaining completely untouched, leaving a hilarious outline of him in the soot on the wall behind him, the blonde blinked several times to bring himself back into consciousness. His owlish expression could clearly be seen through his cracked goggles.
The startled Naruto coughed out a plume of smoke.
"Something tells me that that was the wrong ingredient…"
He then glanced at nearby wall clock and saw the time was 4:59, Naruto opened his eyes widely.
"Damn it! I forgot I had appointment with Setsuna! She will kill me if I'm late!" Naruto stood up and rushed to the bathroom. After bathing and cleaning all the mess in his room, he immediately got the urgent appointment. Uzumaki Naruto is confident person, he always thought he could do anything as long as he didn't give up.
'Can I make it?' He thought as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, 'That reminds me, why does Setsuna's mother want to meet me?' Naruto recalled when Setsuna had approached to him, which she, and no one else in his class, had ever done before and surprisingly, she said that her mother invited him to dinner at the Uchiha compound. Setsuna's mother so it means that she was the wife of the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Mikoto. The Uchiha mistress wanted to meet him who was nothing more but an orphan and even an outcast in the village.
"Maybe they're planning to turn me and you into a weapon for them." Kurama growled furiously. "Those power hungry Uchihas never give up any chance for them increasing more power and authorities."
Naruto just sighed, he was really worried about his friend, 'Kurama, I understand your anger but it doesn't mean all Uchiha is bad. By the way, the Konoha Military Police Force of the Uchiha clan guard the security of the village.'
Yeah, Kurama had talked to Naruto what happened in the night of the Kyuubi attack, not everything of course, Naruto realized that as he felt his hesitance in some details but Naruto didn't want to make it more difficult so he just passed it away. Never in his life Naruto that the Kyuubi attack was caused by an Uchiha or more precisely, a rogue Uchiha, maybe a female, called herself the legendary Uchiha Madara. She had controlled the fox and caused a massive bloodbath seven years ago. No wonder Kurama had a negative opinion of Uchihas.
The Kyuubi simply responded in an annoyed tone, "Don't take it carelessly, kit. Once you let your guard down, they will turn on and backstab you, everything Uchiha care for is getting power as much as possible and they want every demand to be satisfied or will do everything to get it." His eyes then looked thoughtful, 'The costly lesson of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara is strong evidence.'
Naruto face faulted at that response but he just shook his head and didn't say anything. The ancient fox was so stubborn that he could listen to him but who could blame him. No one like being controlled and then captured in the seal, it was not wrong that Kurama hold a grudge against the legendary Uchiha Madara and the rogue Uchiha who caused the Kyuubi attack, but Naruto wasn't a fan of labels. He could see that Uchiha Setsuna was nothing like a bad person, she wasn't very sociable though and her sister, Uchiha Kasumi or ANBU captain Weasel, who helped him many times as he was attacked by villagers. Naruto just knew her name from Hokage-jiji, he had never met her yet.
"Anyway, you better run quickly or you will be late for the date with Uchiha brat." Kurama said with a smirk.
'You don't need to tell me, furball!'
"Where is the dead last!?"
In a park near the Uchiha compound, Setsuna was leaning against tree with an annoyed expression. It was past her date-time but a certain idiot hadn't appear yet and she started feeling impatient.
"Have patience, imouto-chan. Maybe he's busy something and aren't you a bit early?"
"I-I just didn't want to make him wait in case he got here soon!" Setsuna exclaimed with a reddened face. "By the way, why do you want to meet him onee-chan!?"
Yup, the other one was Kasumi. After she knew Setsuna had an appointment with Uzumaki Naruto for the dinner invitation, Kasumi asked for going with her, Setsuna had no problem with that but she wondered why her sister followed her. It's not often Kasumi paid attention to any males except her father and maybe some members of her ANBU team. Even her mother was excited about this but for some reason, she felt that her mother didn't simply want to meet him because he was her friend, she didn't miss her expression when she said his name.
"Yo Setsuna! Sorry I'm late!" A tick mark appeared on Setsuna's head when she heard the voice. He finally came.
"You're late, you idiot!" She hissed at him.
Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head, "Sorry, a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way." He said in an apologetic voice.
Kasumi sweat-dropped with his excuse, she felt something very familiar in the excuse and a certain silver haired ANBU appeared in her head.
Setsuna gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. He used a ridiculous excuse for covering his lateness? It was really hard to resist her desire to beat Naruto to a pulp but she had to, she couldn't do anything at this time, not as her sister was here and the youngest Uchiha didn't want to make a fool of her, so all what she did:
"Liar!" She yelled with her finger still pointed accusingly at him but Naruto just smiled back her idiotically, which just got her angrier.
At that moment, Naruto noticed the presence of someone other than Setsuna and himself, he turned and laid eyes on the girl who was about four or five years older than him and Setsuna. Taking a good look at her, Naruto totally saw her look pretty much like the youngest Uchiha, so this was Uchiha Kasumi, the female prodigy of the Uchiha clan and Setsuna's older sister.
However, the blonde decided to pretend not to know, "Hi! My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" It wasn't really difficult to realize the ANBU Weasel's chakra from her but he didn't think she would like knowing her identity was discovered by a 7-year-old child.
Kasumi was watching it all with a small, amused smile, "Hello, Naruto-kun." She greeted politely and Naruto nodded warily. His brain ceased functioning as he watched the Uchiha prodigy. She had silky smooth raven hair that were tied in a black ribbon in a high pony tail and came about mid waist length on her back. She was wearing a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back and an ANBU pant. She had pale white smooth skin that shone in the sunlight.
'Guess Setsuna wasn't the only one blessed with good looks, huh?' He thought with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Naruto-kun." Kasumi could see the boy was quite comfortable, she waited for a little shy or even tense as he was an orphan and didn't usually contact to many people.
Really an interesting boy.
"Nice to meet you too!" He replied cheerfully. "Setsuna said you're in ANBU Black Ops." He said with excitement.
"Yes." Kasumi nodded. "I joined in not long ago."
"And nee-chan is just 12!" Setsuna said, feeling proud of this fact. "I'm going to grow up to be just like her." She told Naruto with a smile and Naruto answered it with his giggle.
"Take your time at the academy, little moon; graduating faster is not really necessary." Kasumi rubbed her sister's head.
"Mou, nee-chan." The said Uchiha pouted cutely.
"Alright, okaa-chan and otou-sama are in home, we shouldn't keep them waiting." The elder Uchiha said and held her sister's hand. "Come on, Naruto-kun, our mother really wants to meet you."
Naruto and the Uchiha sisters walked down the street. None of the three missed the glares or mumbles aimed at the only boy in the trio, Naruto sighed and then just tried to ignore them, it hurt him so much but he knew that nothing he could do to change their opinions on him, at least now. For the Uchiha duo, Setsuna was confusing, wondering why the villagers paid so much attention to them, but she didn't say anything, Kasumi, however, fully knew the reason and couldn't stop feeling pity for the blonde. She knew that jinchuuriki had never been treated well by their village, if not be isolated completely. She still remembered how many times her team saved him from mobs and stupid civilian's wrath. Kasumi frowned as she recalled the barely breathing child in her arms, if it weren't for his tenant, Naruto couldn't survive until now.
When they walked through the gates of the Compound, Naruto whistled at the size. "Wow. So big."
"Of course." Setsuna said proudly and Kasumi just smiled softly.
The eldest Uchiha led them down the streets of the Compound, past the curious members of his clan who wondered who the blonde boy was, some realized him but they said nothing, just stared at him. He was getting odd looks because he was walking with the clan head's two daughters. He must've been important if Kasumi even was leading him. And in a way, he was.
Naruto was amazed at the size of the Uchiha clan head's house! It was huge! It was probably the size of a mini shiro with red tiled roofing and fancy wooden pillars. Then there was this huge garden off to the side of it that just took his breath away.
They stood before the wooden gates and painted walls of a relatively modest home. The green roof tiles contrasted brilliantly against the red leaves of the maple trees. The quaint two-story house was well maintained, beautiful in its elegance and welcoming in its simplicity. The soft white paint of the wall surrounding the home blended smoothly with the grey stone foundation underneath.
When inside, he followed his lead and left her shoes by the door. He followed Setsuna and Kasumi into the large kitchen to see a woman who looked a lot like Setsuna. Naruto was sure that the woman was Uchiha sisters's mom. Her black eyes darted from face to face, only to settle on his. It was there, just for a split second, but he could see the shock in her eyes. Unlike the regular looks that Naruto'd received, her eyes held none of the hate.
Why did she had that expression? Did they meet in somewhere?
Long, dark blue hair reached the middle of her back. Spiky bangs framed her pale, heart-shaped face. She wore a dull yellow apron over a dark purple blouse and plum colored skirt. Even though she looked the part of a traditional housewife, Naruto had learned to look underneath the underneath. From every measured step she took to the ephemeral grace of every movement. This woman was a tried and true kunoichi.
"Hello. I'm Uchiha Mikoto, Setsuna's mother." the woman smiled.
Grinning like a loon but recalling his etiquette lessons from Hokage-jiji and Ayumi the librarian, he gave a small bow, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Nice to meet you Uchiha-sama."
Setsuna and Kasumi's eyes went wide. Apparently,they didn't know that he could be respectful as they just saw him as an hyperactive idiot and the troublemaker everyday. Not like they blamed him because he was an orphan after all.
"No 'sama', please? You can call me Mikoto and I'll call you Naruto." The woman, Uchiha Mikoto, smiled once more. "Will you be joining us for dinner, Naruto-kun?" She smiled at him, almost motherly in the warmth she radiated.
Ducking his head down and nodding shyly, he responded. "If you will have me, Mikoto...san." Naruto winced a little. He was uncomfortable with the idea of calling the Uchiha mistress by her name all that much as he just met her. It was quite borderline disrespectful for a first encounter.
"Hmm. I guess that will have to do for now." Mikoto told the boy as she turned back to the food she was preparing. "Dinner will be done within the hour. You can go outside, but keep an ear out."
"Hai, Kaa-chan."
Setsuna dragged Naruko out of the room and down the long hall. Kasumi followed after them.
"Kasumi."
The three youngsters turned their heads in the direction of the voice. The sisters, easily recognized the voice as that of their father's while Naruto took in the appearance of the newcomer. Long brown hair framed his face, parted down the middle and held together in a low ponytail. Wearing a simple blue kimono shirt tied shut with a simple purple cloth belt. A pair of grey pants that reached mid-shin and purple shinobi sandals completed the look. The man had a severe expression on his face, only deepened by his strong square jaw and the two creases beneath his jet-black eyes.
Because Setsuna looked like the Uchiha mistress, Naruto knew where Kasumi got her features from.
"Otou-sama." Kasumi and Setsuna bowed at the waist, a sign of deference and great respect for their father and clan head.
The man, Uchiha Fugaku, nodded and looking at them with a emotionless expression. Naruto frowned. He always looked like that in front of even members in his family? But it didn't really make him surprise. Naruto heard about the Uchiha clan head so much and he thought that this man really had a big problem. He was a slave-driver and set upon making Uchiha Kasumi one of the strongest in the Uchiha clan before she even became jounin.
Naruto felt like the man was a bit insane, and messed up in his head. Kasumi was just 6 when she graduated. What the hell was the man thinking? Why wouldn't he let her enjoy her childhood. Perhaps Fugaku just had the usual Uchiha complex, where he thought of him as above everyone else. Who knows? Luckily, he didn't the same thing with Setsuna, at least now he thought.
Kurama snorted, "A pity excuse of the father, it's obvious that he just use his daughter for this pity clan's getting power. Fuck it, he even are worse than Madara." He said in disgusting tone. Naruto didn't tell but he mentally agreed with the fox.
Fugaku turned to look Naruto, he narrowed his eyes in seconds before the emotionlessness returning again. It didn't stop the blonde from assuming the worst.
"Tell Mikoto that I'm not coming to dinner." With that, Fugaku left without even looking back the boy, Naruto suppose he was nothing in his eyes but he felt more comfortable than. Kami. Talk about high-strung tension. And that attitude, this was his daughter he was telling, does he need to be so cold? Naruto met some other clan heads and most of them were stern and authoritative but no one had resting bitch face like Uchiha Fugaku.
Not that he dared to say that in the man's presence
"Alright. Lunch is ready."
Unlike Setsuna, who was practically bouncing in her seat with excitement over the mouthwatering homemade fare spread out across the table, Naruto waited patiently for Kasumi to take her seat beside Mikoto.
"Where is Fugaku?" Mikoto asked as she didn't see her husband.
"Otou-sama said that he wasn't going to dinner okaa-san." Kasumi replied, Naruto could notice her dissatisfaction with the absence of the Uchiha clan head.
Mikoto sighed tiredly, "I see." She then picked up her own chopsticks alongside her daughters and Naruto did the same thing.
"Itadakimasu!"
The dinner was surprisingly peaceful. Setsuna, behaving like the average child, completely hated the idea of eating vegetables, pushing them aside on her plate. Naruto, on the other hand, ate his without complaint. How could he complain when they actually taste good? Comparing with the leftover food he usually ate when he had been in the orphanage, they were edible.
"Setsuna! Eat your vegetables instead of pushing them to the side!" That would be Mikoto telling her to eat those veggies. For the thirteenth time. "Naruto! Eat your- eh?!"
"Finished!"
Naruto wish he had a camera. What he wouldn't give to capture the look of shock on Mikoto's face when she saw his pickled daikon dish empty.
"Hmph! At least one of you likes my cooking enough to eat their veggies."
That only prompted the youngest Uchiha to stick out her tongue at her mother and toss an annoying glare at him. Man, it was not like his fault as she didn't eat her vegetables. Caught between an apathetic Naruto and Setsuna was Kasumi, happily eating her meal. Occasionally, she would pick out a morsel of food from the main serving plate and drop it on either his or Setsuna's bowl.
It was such an older sister thing to do that he accepted every bite without complaint.
"Naruto-kun?" Mikoto's voice clearly cut through the silence, Naruto looked up, "I heard about you from Setsuna. Thank you for taking care her, I'm glad she has a friend in the academy.
"Okaa-san." Setsuna groaned and Naruto chuckled at that, which made the little Uchiha glared him.
"Don't laugh you idiot! Don't think I forgave you for being late!" She growled at him.
Naruto raised his hand for defending, "Mah mah, I'm so sorry. I was busy a little and my home is a long way from the park, so it took a while to get to you."
This grabbed the attention of both Mikoto and Kasumi, "Where do you live?" Kasumi asked.
"I live alone in a small apartment in the west of the village." The blond said, with a point of sadness. "I'm an orphan. My parents were shinobi and they died fighting the Kyuubi. I've lived there since I was kicked out of the orphanage when I was 4."
The silence that settled over the table was most uncomfortable. A quick look around him, the shocked expression on Setsuna's face. Kasumi narrowed her eyes and Mikoto, he could say that she wasn't pleased or more precisely, she was furious. Her hand was holding the teacup so tightly that her knuckles were white and it looked like it might shatter any moment.
Did he say anything to piss her off?
"Excuse me." The Uchiha mistress finally said, putting down her cup and rising elegantly, "I have a meeting to attend to." And she strode out of the room. Setsuna and Kasumi looked after her worriedly while Naruto was curious.
"I feel a bit bad for your old man kit." The fox commented sheepishly.
'What do you mean Kurama? Why does she go to jij?'
"I can just say that she wants the truth kit."
Unknown to them, Kasumi stole a glance at the boy, wondering if he had anything to do with her mother's attitude.
Four hours later
'Where are all these paperwork coming from?' the Sandaime Hokage groaned inwardly as he looked down at the hundredth file he had had to read so far. The old man was happy that Konoha was getting a steadily increasing amount of missions, but the work was becoming overwhelming; his eyes were starting to water after such long hours of reading.
'Minato,' the aged Hokage thought, his tired eyes drifting up to the portrait of his predecessor, who looked so agonizingly young in the frame. 'I know it isn't your fault, but the void you left behind is simply too vast. I am too old for this hat now. I no longer have the fierce decisiveness needed to protect this village... or to protect your son.'
Hiruzen frequently checked on the Academy classrooms to monitor the next generation, but his attention always drifted back to Naruto. Year after year, the Hokage's anxiety over the boy only worsened. The village harbored a deep, unrelenting hatred for the Uzumaki. Even if they refrained from overt violence out of fear of the Hokage's wrath, the silent persecution was constant. Behind his back, the villagers subjected the boy to a life of cruel isolation, treating him not as a child, but as the demonic Kyuubi that had nearly destroyed their home.
"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, but Mikoto-sama wish to see you," The voice of the receptionist that broke the Hokage out of his thoughts came.
After clearing his throat, the old man replied. "Please ask her in."
The large double doors parted and the familiar face of Uchiha Mikoto appeared in front of the elderly leader. He had known the Uchiha Matriarch since she was a little girl and Namikaze Minato's teammate, he had watched her grow into a powerful Uchiha jounin and transform into a loving mother of two daughters. Like many others in the village, Mikoto was like Sarutobi's own child.
With a smile on his face, Hiruzen nodded at the woman. "Hello Mikoto-san, how can I help you today?"
The Uchiha had a perplexed expression on her face as she looked down at the ground. "I need to ask you something, Hokage-sama."
Hiruzen immediately noticed her strange behavior and nodded again, "Please take a seat." Mikoto sighed and pulled out the chair for themselves before sitting down. "What do you need to ask me?"
"Hokage-sama." Mikoto looked up into the Hokage's eyes and rested her hands on his desk. "I want to ask about Uzumaki Naruto."
The Hokage became tensing once he heard the name from Mikoto but he quickly covered it up with his stoic expression.
"What questions do you have about that boy?" He asked with a calm voice
"I want the truth about him Hokage-sama" She replied coldly.
The Hokage had a million guesses but he still played it as if he didn't know anything, "Uzumaki Naruto's an orphan and the jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails. He's in same class with your youngest daughter by chance, I can make sure that nothing bad will happen to Setsuna-chan if she contacts with him."
"Please don't play dumb with me Hokage-sama. You know exactly what I mean." Mikoto said hotly "Is Naruto their-"
Mikoto was cut off of her sentence as Hiruzen raised a hand while carrying an extremely serious expression. She watched as he weave a hand-seal that resulted in a slight hum to go through the entire room. From what the Uchiha mistress knew, she assumed the Hokage activated a silencing seal in the room.
"I did foreknow all of this." Hiruzen released the sigh as he looked directly at Mikoto. "In fact, it's just a matter of time before you figure it out. Yeah, Naruto is the son of Minato-kun and Kushina-chan, but this is a SS-ranked secret and only a much selected few are privy to such knowledge."
Mikoto felt a little intimidating by the aura the Hokage was emitting, but held her ground.
"He looks like mini-clone of Minato and has the same last name as Kushina." Mikoto whispered as she leaned forward on the desk. "I've known both of them all my life, so I think we're capable of discovering such a secret by ourselves." She then looked at the Hokage "And it won't take long for other clan heads to find out, Sandaime-sama," she added.
"I know and they came to meet me before you." Hiruzen sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "It's the Ino-Shika-Chou trio"
The Ino-Shika-Chou trio was very close to Minato. Nara Shikaku was a genius from the Nara clan, it was totally easy for him to realize something and naturally, he would tell two clan heads of the Akimichi clan and Yamanaka clan.
Mikoto felt her anger grew as she glared a little at the old man, "Why didn't you tell us about him?" The woman hissed angrily. "I could have given him a home and a family; he could have grown up with people who really care for him!"
"I understand how you feel. Believe me, not only you but Shikaku, Inoichi and Chouja willing to adopt the boy and I really want to allow that but it would have caused a lot of attention to be directed to him." Hiruzen stated seriously. "All what I can allow, you can get close to him but make sure you don't tell him anything about Minato or Kushina." The Hokage leaned forward on his desk and stared at the Uchiha. "This is extremely important Mikoto; you mustn't tell anybody about Naruto's parentage, not even Fugaku. This is all for Naruto's own protection."
"But-"
"Please Mikoto." The Hokage interrupted her. "This is the best decision, it had clearly done the job for the past years. By the way, you can still take care of Naruto as an acquaintance, by the way."
"Hokage-sama..." Mikoto looked at the old man. Although she didn't want to admit, he was right this time. "I understand; no one will know but me." She replied emotionlessly
The Sandaime sighed, he knew she was displeasure but there was no other way, "Do not make me regret this decision, Mikoto." He rubbed his temples, then smiled softly. "Take good care of the kid for me."
"Hai, Hokage-sama."