Hello everyone! So, I know that I said I would not be able to post anything due to me moving in a few weeks, but I was bitten by the writing bug and this story just came to me as I was laying in be this morning. So, I welcome you to Unlocked. I have the story in my head right now and have not written anything down. I literally just had a moment to type this. This story will have the normal pairing of NaruSaku, but it will not be the main focus. Instead, family will be the main focus. Those who make up that family... you'll see.

Disclaimer: I do not own, claim to own, or profit from this fanfiction or the Naruto franchise.

Chapter 1: Betrayal Discovered

Naruto pulled himself to the hotel room that he was sharing with Jiraya. It had been six months since the pair had left the village on a training trip, if you could call it that. All Jiraya had done was peep at hot spring and go out at night. In order to entertain himself, Naruto had taken to volunteering for different jobs in town, which often left him exhausted at the end of the day. On his off days, he either worked on some form of chakra control or simply conversed with Kurama, as he had a good relationship with the for, contrary to popular belief. The talks that the pair had ranged from strategies to experiences, and although the lessons may not have stuck the first time around, Naruto could feel that he could think things through a little better.

Approaching the room door, he noticed a crack, something that neither ninja ever did when they left the room. What he heard as he leaned in to listen would change his life.

Voices… male voices… one of which was the Pervy Sage himself.

"Is all going to plan, Jiraya?"

"Of course it is. Ever since the brat was born, Sarutobi-sensei and I made sure that Naruto would die by Sasuke's hand after you finished with him Orochi."

"You know, sensei never did tell me everything. How did you get him to be such an easy target?"

"Oh? Well, I guess I can tell you, since he's gone and all. When Minato died sealing the Kyuubi away, the original plan was to make the brat a weapon. But the risk of the monster breaking free was too great. So, we decided to make it so that we would kill him once he reached the age of 16, which ironically is when Minato wanted him to get his inheritance.

The problem was that the brat is a prodigy like his father and mother. To combat that, we placed a loyalty seal, a regression seal, and a memory seal on him. No matter what happens, the idiot won't ever become more than a genin."

"Regression seal?"

"I knew you skipped that section of fuinjutsu. Hence the reason I had to make your curse seal for you."

Orochimaru gave Jiraya a pointed look, prompting him to continue.

"The regression seal stunts the growth of the person wearing it, both physically and mentally, as well as preventing adequate chakra control by disruption pulses. We added the memory seal to replace any memories that conflicted with the loyalty seal."

"Doesn't the memory seal have lag time?"

"Only 12 hours. I've been slipping him sleeping pills in his ramen every night, making sure he gets 12 hours of sleep for it to work at midnight. Speaking of which, he should be back soon. I'll have to get the ramen to drug him again. Maybe next time you'll get here earlier and we can have some fun."

"We still can. Besides, don't you have a brothel to go to for your contact?"

"I guess. The brat is probably still doing those jobs I bribed the towns folk to give him so I could help you out with Sasuke. Come here."

As moans erupted from the room, Naruto felt the bitter tears of betrayal sting his corneas. There was only one thing he could do… RUN!

And run he did. He just kept going. He didn't care where he ended up. He just had to get away from that traitorous bastard named Jiraya.

Fortunately for him, Kurama had also heard the conversation, as Naruto's initial distress had awoken him from slumber. While the seals mentioned crippled Naruto, they did nothing to the fox thus far, and instead of suggesting a location, Kurama simply guided his tortured friend back to the one place that no one would look for him, the Forest of Death.

Back in Konoha, a single-eyed Jonin looked up at the night sky, his eye glossy with tears that he refused to let fall.

"Naruto, please be safe. I hope you can forgive me my transgressions. If only I could have done something."

In her office, a pigtailed hokage sat as stone in her seat after reading the mission scroll in front of her. It was a scroll dated 12 years ago calling for the death of her beloved blond grandson at the hands of his missing teammate to take place 4 years from now. It had been signed, not only by her former teacher, but also both of her teammates. Rage slowly leaked into her being as she reached for the accompanying scroll, thus discovering the details of a dastardly plan.

She had been told about the Mizuki incident, but now she saw that the whole thing had been planned. The only this they had not counted on was Iruka. The Chunin had been tasked with failing the boy, but he put the good of the village ahead of the ideologies of a few old men. Instead of punishing Iruka, they deemed useful to augment the loyalty seal, as well as Teuichi and Ayame Ichiraku.

Tsunade found herself in a bind. If she tried to save Naruto, there was too much of a risk that Jiraya would kill him early. Also, she could not undo the decrees of past hokages. There was also the fact that she had no idea if Jiraya had completed the apprentice ritual with Naruto yet. She prayed that he had not, or there would be nothing that she could do.

A pulse of wild and angry chakra ran through her, one that she knew only belonged to one person. The potency indicated that something had happened and the fox was in control. She could not approach him now, especially with where he was. But she could do one thing.

"ANBU!"

The four operatives in her office appeared.

"Command your units to block all entrances to Training Ground 44 to all shinobi, including Anko. Only those who bear my seal may enter. Any resistance will result in death with my permission. Your units are to remain there until further notice. Am I understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama!" came the reply as the quartet vanished.

'I hope this will be enough to protect you, Naruto." She thought sadly.

"WHY?! Why would they do this?! I trusted them!" Naruto screamed in his mindscape as he cried into the soft fur of Kurama's tails.

"I do not know the answer, kit. If I did, I would tell you. But shouldn't we try to fix this before midnight when the memories are erased? We only have about 6 hours until then." Kurama soothed, gently pushing Naruto out of his rage and sadness.

"But how do we fix it?! I have no idea where the seals are! And I can't release seals anyway. If I could, you wouldn't be in here still."

"I know that, kit. I may be able to do something. But I'll need to pump more chakra than the seal allows into your system to find them. The only way to do that is by ripping some of the seal off."

"The loyalty seal would prevent that right?"

"Not if I help you to it. The seals cannot affect me. Also, if I know what the Fourth, he would have placed a failsafe so that if you tried to release me, he would appear. If he does, then the loyalty seal should not activate, as my release would be prevented by his presence and would keep you loyal to them."

Naruto slowly processed the information, feeling the regression seal kick in and actively fight him. He ground his teeth together and uttered two words.

"Do it."

Kurama used two tails, on lifting Naruto to the seal, the other placing his hand on the edge of it.

As he gripped it, they both felt the loyalty seal activate, pulling Naruto away from the cage, causing the seal to rip in his grip.

Then time froze.

A blond-haired man appeared, grabbing Naruto and leaping away from the cage as he felt the loyalty seal deactivate.

"I guess Kushina was right. I got to meet our son first."

So, here is chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed. If you did please leave me a review with your thoughts and what you think is going to happen next. Until next time.