Title: Secrets
Summary: Exploring the origins of Naruto's Birth, and why the son of the Hokage was raised as an orphan. Now contains the former story "Guilty" as chapter two.
Disclaimer: I don't own it; I don't even do it justice.
Author's Note: This comes from wondering about whether the fourth is Naruto's dad, and if he is someone had to know. Also I've always wondered why Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji didn't group up as friends if their fathers were a team. The first time Shikamaru and Chouji really meet is on the roof.
New Author's Note: This story has taken on a life of it's own and therefore will be longer than anticipated.
The three had lost their closest friend the night the fourth Hokage had died.
The villagers weren't suppose to tell Naruto that he was the carrier for the demon fox, and they didn't.
The three men alone knew what other secret was kept from him. But they liked to forget this little bit of information when others were angrily complaining about the demon child. If by chance one of them mentioned it, all it garnered were guilty looks and silences. After all he had been their fourth and their friend.
It got to point where no one mentioned it at all; it was like they'd never known. If someone had asked them, they'd have remembered and possibly felt a little of that guilt, but nobody ever asked because nobody really wanted to know. It was easier to hate without the emotional ties.
They didn't really stay friends after his death, it wasn't the same. They'd carry out missions together just as before, but long gone were the dreams of raising their children along side each other. The boy was the nasty elephant in the room that no one could ever talk about.
Naruto grew up, and the more he resembled their former leader and friend the more they hated him. Perhaps they hoped if they hated him enough the guilt would go away completely. They pushed him, they ignored him. That clumsy child couldn't be his son. He had made friends easily and with grace, all of their children disliked the boy. It was inconsequential if they were the reason their children disliked him. The boy was nothing like him.
When he finally passed the Genin exam they worried, but not too much after all it had been his third try. They breathed a sigh of relief when their children weren't assigned to his group. It wasn't like he'd shine as a shinobi and upset the balance they created in the dozen years since his birth. Because they'd convinced themselves that no matter how much the boy resembled him, he couldn't be his son. He was just the demon's container.
They were wrong. The boy became famous for his tenacity. Anyone who spent any time in his presence was drawn to his energetic personality. Their children forget their parent's hatred and became his comrades. He even drew two of the legendary Sanin into his circle.
Most of the village forgot why they hated him so, they pretended as though he'd always been a hero of the village. But those older ninjas; the three who were the closest to his father couldn't forget their hatred, because if they forgot for even a moment then they'd have to face what they had done. They'd have to acknowledge the secret they'd kept.
And still no one told him…