LS67: Greetings everyone and welcome to-

Anko: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!

Dontei: What have you done to me!?

LS67: You're not in this story!

Dontei: WHYYY!?

LS67: I'm here now, Anko-sama. I promise you I will not leave you. You are the heart of my story; the mother if you will.

Anko: Sweet talk will only get you so far. So far I am pleased. Now continue.

LS67: Right. To change things up I will try to narrate each chapter. This is the beginning of Bonds of a True Shinobi. It will follow the tales of Naruto Uzumaki and his journey to become a True Shinobi.

Hyperactive Uzumaki

Twelve years didn't seem like that long of a life. Naruto himself would say he still had many years of awesomeness left in him to live. Internally the young Uzumaki felt as if the weight of the world was placed inside his gut. It all made so much sense and yet it still felt like he was just cursed. The mean looks the adults gave him when they thought no one was looking. The times kids were told not to play with him or outright dragged away from him even if he just did them a kindness at the cost of a butt kicking. All because the "Hero of the Leaf", the "Yellow Flash", and Fourth Hokage decided to seal the got damn Kyūbi inside of him at birth!

Naruto had all that dumped on him by his EX Sensei Mizuki. The hateful bastard had used him to commit high treason by stealing the Forbidden Scroll from Old Man Hokage for him; thus getting the young Jinchūriki into framing himself! How could he be so STUPID! To make matters worse all he could do was run away when Iruka-Sensei defended him and told him to run. He wanted to show off the new jutsu he learned, but the sudden growls and grumbling from deep within his mind stirred him to run! Was the Kyūbi surfacing and if so what would or could he do about it?

Naruto took a moment to catch his breath and get some idea where he wandered to. The blonde Jinchūriki pulled a handmade map from his backpack and tried to see where he was. He found himself somewhere along the outskirts of Konoha. It was the oddest place he had ever seen. Being an orphan meant he had no one that was responsible for him and thus no one to be accountable to. That made traveling both in and on the outskirts of the village through the years easy. He thought he had been to every part of the village, but the ruined shrine was definitely new.

"How could such an old and busted down shrine be allowed to stand in Konoha? You'd think the Old Man would have demolished it by now I mean it probably hasn't been used since before even his time." Naruto pondered aloud.

While walking through the half collapsed entrance, Naruto took notice of the giant symbol replica that hung overhead. It was the same symbol on his jumpsuit and on the standard Konoha flak jacket uniforms. Wanting so much to be a shinobi, Naruto had his own version of the symbol sewed into his jumpsuit; that and he thought a white spiral would be cooler and fit the maelstrom of his namesake. He wondered if the symbol was from one of the older and forgotten clans of the past; he didn't pay too much attention in class to know any specifics though.

Naruto felt some comfort in the ruined state of the shrine seeing as that meant it was the perfect hiding place from Mizuki. Even though Iruka-Sensei was injured and caught off guard by his former friend, the blonde Jinchūriki had faith in his Sensei. Iruka always found him and that took true strength and ingenuity; things Mizuki truly lacked. Hearing the signs of the faintest of feet gliding through the trees, the blonde Jinchūriki hid behind the only stable pillar of the entrance and threw his invisibility cloak over himself as an added measure. Not even a second later, a team of masked Konoha shinobi arrived on the scene.

"Anbu Black Ops! Man I'm real screwed if the Old Man had to send in the masked freaks!" Naruto cowered in his hiding place.

The group of Anbu did a sweep of the ruined shrine, with the Tiger Masked Anbu seemingly sniffed the air around him. "His scent ends here…" the oddity of Naruto's disappearance stumped the shadowy elite of Konoha as a search of the shrine grounds and inside the shrine itself turned up nothing. Naruto didn't dare move or even breath as several highly trained shinobi walked past him and right in front of him before leaving none the wiser.

"Squad Leader it appears Naruto isn't in the shrine area anymore. Is it possible he thought he could find something of value in the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple and abandoned it when he found it ruined?" a Monkey masked Anbu questioned while pondering how Naruto could have escaped their sensors.

"It is possible, but I was able to detect both Iruka and Mizuki nearby, so we can only assume one or both are involved in this. Tora, expand your search. Sari will go deal with either Iruka or Mizuki. I will report to Hokage-sama." An Eagle masked Anbu directed.

Each of the Anbu seemingly vanished like phantoms of the night. Naruto stayed frozen and shaky in place for what seemed like forever, before he finally let down his cloak and sighed deeply. He didn't take any chances and ran into the temple. Inside the inner centre was a podium of sorts where hung several oni-masks. Beneath the oni-masks were three connected symbols of the spirals and black ornate flames licking them from below.

"Suddenly I understand why this place fell into ruin. No place this creepy should be allowed to exist!" Naruto declared loudly, before he was literally silenced!

"SHOW SOME RESPECT YOU BAKA!" A gravely voice called out from seemingly nowhere.

The great Naruto, self proclaimed future Hokage of Konohagakure was reduced to a trembling child at the thought of what could have spoke to him… He didn't DARE ask and bring the mere idea into existence.

"Oh so you can hear me? I wonder how many of us you can hear. Tell me your name boy." The voice called out which only made Naruto's fears grow worse!

He actually hoped it was the Kyūbi so at least it was something tangible to confront, but what he feared he faced no kunai or jutsu seemed able to hurt and that was a shinobi's worse fear! If it was the his dreaded fear, then all he could do was swallow his fears and try to at least answer it before it got angry.

"Nauto Uzumaki…" Naruto actually shuttered in fear.

Meanwhile, Hinata lied asleep in her bed. Her nose tickled and woke her for a moment. She scratched it and sighed knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep that night. When you have to spar 1,000 times before dinner and bed you find sleep hard to hold onto…

"WHAT'S THE WORLD COME TO! HAS THE UZUMAKI BLOODLINE THINNED SO MUCH WE'VE EVEN LOST OUR SIGNATURE RED HAIR?" the gravely voice seemed to sigh in frustration.

Uzumaki Bloodline? When Naruto thought about it the Anbu called the shrine the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple. Could he have been a member of some lost clan like the Uchiha, or Kaguya clans? Why wasn't he excited about that? How could he be when he never knew. Why did he never know anything?

"Look Uzumaki spirit. I don't know what you want… Just please don't take my soul!" Naruto begged as pathetically comedic it looked to the sweat dropping oni-mask in the far right corner.

"Would you stop groveling, Naruto was it? I'm not about to possess some kid, especially not the inheritor of Mito-Sama's Will. Allow me to explain myself and the shrine you find yourself in." oni-masked cleared before letting Naruto pick himself up and chuckle nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"I am Ashina Uzumaki, former leader of the Uzumaki Clan and forefather of Fūinjutsu or Sealing jutsu as they were called during the forming of Konohagakure. I had this temple built to both foster an alliance with Konoha and to serve as a Tomb for those in our clan with the most bountiful of life force." Ashina Uzumaki explained, though based on the blank look of Naruto he cleared his throat somehow and decided to summarize.

"I am a Clan Head of the Uzumaki. I helped form this village and had this temple built to house my own spirit after death. The masks you see are other Uzumaki who had the same idea, except for the one that houses the Shinigami inside." Ashina summarized as best he could.

"So when you say Shinigami…" Naruto grew a little blue with fear at the implication.

"I mean the Death God. You put on its mask and it will possess your body. You can't miss the most hannya mask of the bunch; looks just like it." Ashina explained casually.

"YOU ALL LOOK HANNYA TO ME!" Naruto roared in fearful fury!

Naruto was not proud at the thought of running away, but he knew he had to get out of there! He pumped as much chakra into his legs as they would take without thinking and tried to bolt out of the nearest exit, but he found his escaped blocked by some invisible force!

"I thought you said you wouldn't possess me… Do you plan to sacrifice me to the Shinigami in order to free yourself?!" Naruto's fear took center stage.

All his bravado and bolster was laid flat at the presence of ghosts and evil spirits! How could he stop that which was already dead? Ashina would roll his eyes if he could.

"Is it the new way of the Uzumaki to be so brash? Think Naruto-kun, why would I offer up the possible only living clansmen among us?" Ashina asked the cowering Naruto, who stopped to think.

"How do you know I am actually an Uzumaki?" Naruto asked both Ashina's mask and himself internally.

Could the Old Man have given him the surname to keep the name from dying out completely or maybe one of his parents truly was a member? How could an orphan know all these things?

"You may not be a direct descendant of mine, but you are a member of the clan. Only an Uzumaki with our strong life force and longevity bear the burden of sealing the strongest of the Bijū inside ourselves." Ashina explained to Naruto.

Placing a hand on his stomach, Naruto found it odd that the Kyūbi actually gave him some confirmation as to who at least one of his parents was. He was a member of a clan, even if it was a lost clan.

"So why seal me inside here?" Naruto asked.

"I sensed negative intent from someone trying to locate you. This temple may be a tomb, but it is also a sanctuary for all Uzumaki seeking asylum. I have activated one of a series of Fūinjutsu tags I placed throughout the entire temple area before my death. No one can enter or leave until I deactivate it." Ashina explained feeling a bit worn from so much expository.

"Mizuki! Damn him! I can't just hide here and let him get away with all he's done! I can't let it end here! Not with the Uzumaki name slandered with treason!" Naruto found himself getting more furious!

It was bad enough to trick some nameless orphan, but to trick Naruto Uzumaki was an offense he simply could not take lightly! He may have still been an Academy student and Mizuki a seasoned Chunin, but he had to think of something! He looked to the many masks and his fears gave way to his determination.

"Say Old Mask Ashina! What happens if I were to put on either your mask or someone else's mask?" Naruto asked getting a crazy idea.

"Hard to say. In the temple's prime traveling Uzumaki would come to the shrine room and offer their life forces in the hopes of favor and strength in battle. After the clan's downfall, Iwa attempted to steal the masks, but each thief were consumed by the spirits of the Uzumaki within the masks before they could even leave the shrine room." Ashina warned.

"Has an Uzumaki tried to put on a mask?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Yes and the results vary. The spirit could do nothing and the mask had no ill effects. The spirit could sense ill intent and unleash its fury on the Uzumaki. No matter what though, the masks always return to the shrine thanks to seals placed in each of us." Ashina explained.

"If you haven't been able to hear the other spirits yet, then that means their masks won't respond to you. Putting my mask on will allow me to possess your body and bestow my expertise and jutsu to you through my control. Of course while I am in control you will go to a place called the Mindscape." Ashina further explained.

The idea sounded less and less appealing the more Naruto heard. Having Ashina take over his body and basically win for him just felt too wrong. Plus he knew next to nothing about the spirit or even the Uzumaki clan for that matter. What happened to them and what did Konoha do to help them?

"The idea of possessing you is not idle for me. Instead I suggest we work to come up with a plan using your own skills. Now tell me what sealing jutsu have you learned in the Academy?" Ashina asked.

Time didn't seem to matter in the sealed temple and unbeknownst to Naruto it didn't. In effect was a time-space seal that placed all inside the shrine room inside a pocket dimension outside the normal sense of space and time. To those inside time had literally frozen giving them more time to think at least.

Talking to Ashina filled more time up than Naruto thought possible. There was something about the laughing hannya masked Uzumaki spirit that made talking feel easy. His sensibility to seals made for some easy and funny jokes at his utter shock and disappointment at how little Fūinjutsu was taught.

"Fūinjutsu is more than weapon storage! I knew Konoha's understanding of Fūinjutsu was rudimentary outside the 1st Hokage-Dono, but that's just the bare basics. Even their barrier jutsu is B rank at best; any B rank summoner could breach it easily." Ashina went on a rant.

With that disappointment set aside for later discussion, Ashina and Naruto went over some strategies using the one skill Naruto felt was his best trump card. Though he only just learned it, with the sense of a deadline oddly gone, Naruto went over the section of the scroll a little more. He didn't like to read, but since he could do the jutsu he wanted to see if there was anything else he missed in his haste…

LS67: I'm going to stop it here.

Anko: This chapter has a distinct lack of my sexiness in it. I thought you had loyalty inside your being? What happened to me being the mother of it all? Shouldn't I be in the first chapter?

LS67: To be fair now Anko-Sama. You weren't in the first few chapters of my older stories either. I just want to establish this will be different than canon in only slightly different ways. I felt the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple was wasted and felt more like a Dues Ex Machina instead of a natural part of the lore. More of an afterthought since Naruto never ONCE went there or was even made aware of it. Hell not even Karen went there, but Orochimaru knew of it, but not Kabuto. Who was obsessed with collecting DNA from all the great leaders. He clearly would have been interested in bringing back the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Hokages. Even mentioned how because they were sealed inside the Shinigami he couldn't. So yeah a bit of an after thought.

LS67: I felt instead of the Alexandros clan, I can focus on the one clan that really needed fleshing out considering it is the surname of the main character. The Uzumaki clan and Fūinjutsu for that matter got the barest of explanations and storytime and maybe it is because Naruto never really knew anything about them or their customs. Sasuke at least knew his clan customs and you really get a sense due to Naruto never knowing a family we never knew the Uzumaki. Head Canon on my part I am sure, but I plan to just give my own explanations and figured why not start it off with the easiest and closest thing to an Uzumaki custom in Konoha itself.