Previously: As the Rinne Festival begins, so does the visit of the Cloud Village's envoy. Under suspicion from the Hokage, the Jonin Commander, Raido, is tailed by a single Anbu in hopes of capturing him should he make a move against either the Hyuga clan, or the Uchiha clan for their Doujutsu. Meanwhile, Naruto and Kaguya's first festival is brought to a halt with the appearance of none other than one of the Sannin, claiming to be Naruto's grandfather.

Part One: Childhood

5: A Small Voice

Naruto lay awake in his bed that night after they had returned from the festival. Across from him, Kaguya lay curled up with her new stuffed toy, sound asleep. For the blond, the festival had been fun, of course, except for that one mishap at the mask stall.

'I've got a grandfather?' The boy wondered silently, 'And he sent me letters and birthday presents?'

A mumble to his left made him look over at Kaguya as the little girl came awake. She saw him looking over at her and signed, "What's wrong?"

The blond shrugged, "Can't sleep."

"Why?" The girl signed to him, sitting up in bed, and rubbing her eyes sleepily.

"Just thinking about what that old man said to me," he said, making her look at him curiously, "About him being my grandpa, and all that."

Kaguya slipped out of bed and tip-toed over to his bed and sat on the edge, taking hold of his hand, "Aren't you happy?" She asked through the contact, "I mean, if it were me, I'd be happy to know that some of my family still wanted me."

Naruto sighed, gripping her tiny hand in his, "It's not that I'm not happy, but I always thought that my parents were dead, and not just them, all of my family," he said, frowning, "But this guy just comes out of nowhere, and tells me I'm his grandson?" He shook his head, "And that he's been sending me stuff for my birthday? And letters? Where were they?"

Kaguya frowned at this and sighed, "Maybe someone didn't want you to know?" She said, looking down at her feet, "I mean, there was something I wasn't supposed to know, and when my papa found out..." She trailed off, looking sad again. Naruto hated seeing her like that.

"I don't know," he said, trying to take her mind off of whatever she was thinking about, "All I know is that I lived on the streets for two years, and then a really beat up apartment for a little while, and there was no one around for me. 'Cept maybe Gramps, but he's busy being the Hokage and all that."

Kaguya smiled a little bit and laid down with him, snuggling up against him, "I'm here, now, too." She sighed, closing her eyes, "Hey, Naruto?" He looked down at her, "Promise me we'll always be together, okay?"

Naruto smiled, and pulled the blanket over them, "Yeah, I promise," he told the girl as she fell back asleep, "Right here and now, I vow to never break a that promise."

(*)

Jiraiya stood with his arms crossed as Hiruzen finished telling him of Naruto's life up until that point in time, and about the little girl that now stood at his side. And of the looming threat of the Otsutsuki clan should the little girl develop as they feared.

"So you see, Jiraiya, the girl is quite possibly a greater threat than even the one that unleashed the Nine Tails seven years ago," the Hokage said, "I know that I sent you out on a wild goose chase to find that man, but now I have reason to believe that he was, and still is, an Uchiha that poses a threat to us for an unknown reason."

Jiraiya nodded, "As per your orders, I searched the Five Great Nations for rumors and whispers of this man," the Sannin said, his face still harboring anger for his sensei. "I don't know yet if they're connected, but the mercenary group near the Hidden Rain Village is known for wearing black cloaks with red cloak designs on them, but I've not seen or heard of a man wearing anything like the mask you described to me."

"I had thought that Lord Hanzo of the Salamander stomped them out," Hiruzen frowned.

"He did," Jiraiya said, from what I understand now, only a few of them now survive, and rule over the Hidden Rain." He said, "I don't know who's leading them right now, but he's rumored to be insanely powerful."

Hiruzen sighed, "As long as they do nothing to harm anyone from our village, then I will not worry about them," he said, "Back to the topic at hand. What will you do now that you know of Naruto?"

Jiraiya growled, "You know that I adopted Minato just after becoming his sensei, so what do you think?" He demanded, "In truth, I'd love nothing more than to put you and your advisors in the ground so deep you'd never see the light of the Pure Lands." He said, "I may still do it when I find out who was responsible for taking what little Naruto had and hiding it away from him."

"Do you intend to stay in the village?" Hiruzen asked.

"For a time," the man said, "But seeing Shisui with the children, do you really think that I've the heart to take one of them away from him?"

Hiruzen nodded knowingly, "He's already grown so attached to them that he feels like a father, as I had planned," the Kage said, smiling, "In the beginning, I thought it best to have the young man care for them to help with the Uchiha's relations with the rest of the village considering that they received unwarranted blame for the Nine Tails' assault on the village, considering all know that A Sharingan has the power to temporarily control a Tailed Beast. And now I have Fugaku bolstering his police forces with members outside the Uchiha clan."

"And the children are attached at the hip," Jiraiya noted as he recalled how the little girl had clung to the boy. "Separating them now would be just as cruel as casting them out into the streets again."

"And I agree," Hiruzen said, "In the mean time I have gone through the records of incoming mail for the passed seven years," he said, ruffling through a few papers on his desk, "While I haven't yet found who is responsible, I have found that the letters and gift you sent for Naruto are locked away in my vault, which narrows down my list of suspects immensely. Only four people have access to that vault, considering it is full of village secrets such as the Scroll of Seals."

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "And I know all of them."

"Please don't do anything just yet, Jiraiya," the man said, "I'm sure there was a - "

"Enough trying to see the good in that man," Jiraiya sneered. "How many times has he gone behind your back and done something horrible. He wiped out an entire clan! And let's not forget what he wanted to do with the Uchiha!"

"I'm well aware of his ideals," Hiruzen snapped angrily, "But...Danzo has never been the same since Lord First and Lord Second appointed me as the Third." He admitted, "And when he was maimed, things only got worse. And then the whole debacle with Orochimaru and Minato being candidates for Fourth Hokage..."

Jiraiya shook his head, "As he always says, Sensei, the roots of the village run deep, but I say when a root has begun to rot it's best to cut it off before it infects the whole village."

Hiruzen sighed, turning to look out over the village, "I understand your anger with him, but please, allow me to deal with this matter." He said, frowning, and looked back at the younger man, "You know that he fears you out of all my students, do you not? If you did indeed become Hokage, then he would be less inclined to interfere with the village affairs."

Jiraiya scowled at the man, "Get those gifts out your vault, else I might just rip it open myself." The man said, "And I have every intention of letting Naruto know about who his parents are. Try to stop me, and I'll give you the same treatment I gave the mask salesmen."

"You know I only did that because of Iwa," Hiruzen said as he moved toward the vault, "If they knew that Minato had a son - "

"Old Onoki already knows," Jiraiya said, "And he has no intention of harming the boy. What Minato did was an act of war, and no one on either side blames him for the lives he took. They did the same thing to us, and Uzu."

Nodding as he opened the vault, and entered it, the Hokage returned with several packages in tow, as well as envelopes. "Then, as his legal guardian, you may do as you wish."

Jiraiya nodded, taking the packages with care, and taking his leave of the office. Hiruzen sighed as the ordeal ended, and sank into his seat behind his desk. He took a small bottle of Sake from his desk drawer, and poured himself a drink to lighten his mood somewhat. He looked toward the door, sighing, "You once called me a good leader," he said, the space in front of him shimmering, "After hearing all of that, can you still say the same?"

Once again, the Otsutsuki from before appeared, "It never ceases to amaze me that you know that I am present when I hide myself from others," he smiled serenely, "And to answer your question, yes, I still stand by the words I said once before. You are, indeed, a good leader, if in only that you care so much about your people that you are willing to go to these lengths to protect them, even if it means that they may come to hate you in the end."

Hiruzen nodded, "In truth, I had intended for that little boy to know who his parents were from the beginning." He relented, "But hatred is a powerful thing, and still holds an iron grip on this world and its people. I feared that the hatred of the father may have passed to a hatred of the son."

The Celestial being nodded, "Quite an understandable woe," he said, sighing, "I must say, though, you've let the girl come into some interesting company. The Uchiha acting as her father will be interesting to say the least, but the little boy you've spoken of is...troubling."

Hiruzen frowned at the man, "Troubling how?" He asked, sipping his drink, "As far as I've seen, the girl is perfectly normal, and notably sweet." He said.

"It is not that they will harm each other, just that the boy is one of the keys to her awakening as the Rabbit Goddess." He explained, drawing a look of shock from the man, "You see, the original Kaguya held the Chakra of the original Tailed Beast, the Ten Tails, which was later split into the nine beasts you've come to know. Absorbing chakra from the beasts will provide the girl with the keys that will awaken her previous self."

"I see," Hiruzen frowned, "Then you believe I should separate the two?"

"No, she would have to consciously absorb the fox's chakra as well as the chakra from the others as well," the man said, "Absorbing chakra from the Nine Tails alone would only strengthen her physically, and add to her Byakugan's power, which will sooner or later evolve into the second stage."

"The Byakugan that I know of does not have a secondary stage," Hiruzen frowned, thinking of the Hyuga clan, "You're saying that it indeed has a mutated stage like the Sharingan and the Mangekyou Sharingan?"

"Indeed," the Otsutsuki said, "For my people, our Doujutsu have always had two stages. Though we do not have to go to such extremes to achieve them." He explained, "For the little girl, if she stays as she is, in around nine to ten years, her Byakugan will evolve into the Tenseigan, a far stronger Doujutsu then even the Mangekyou."

"And this third eye that you have mentioned?" Hiruzen questioned.

"That is a product of absorbing chakra from all nine of the Tailed Beasts, and as I said, may manifest itself earlier than that if the girl grows in power too quickly." He said, "There is one in this world that was born of Kaguya's will, and will stop at nothing to see its mother brought back into the world to finish what she started."

"And this being's name?"

"Zetsu," he said, "A being of unknown origin, even to my people, yet it is no less dangerous."

Hiruzen sighed and downed the rest of his drink, "I appreciate you telling me all of this, and would even call you my friend if you permitted it, but I have to ask; why tell me this when you once told me that our realm doesn't concern the Otsutsuki?"

The Otsutsuki smiled, "I would happily call you friend, Hiruzen Sarutobi," he said, "As for why I'm telling you this...the answer is two fold. The first and foremost reason is that should Kaguya's previous self rises, then it would mean that she would eventually come after the rest of us, seeking the chakra that lies within us." He said, sighing as the man nodded, "And the second reason would be that I feel like that you have a true chance of raising the girl into a something other than the monster she had once been."

At this, the aging Hokage smiled, "In that case, I hope I can live up to those hopes," he said, then frowned, "I must also ask if there is a way to face one of your kind in battle. A member of the Forest Realm, I believe he called it, has taken an interest in the one raising Kaguya at the moment, and he did not seem at all friendly."

The horned-being frowned, and nodded, "So I see." He said, "Normal Ninjutsu will not work on us. Nor will Genjutsu. Taijutsu, and Sage Arts are the only techniques that could damage us in any way shape or form."

"That will not be an easy feat," the Hokage sighed, "Out of all the shinobi in the world, only my self and my three students practice the art of Senjutsu. But we doe have an extremely powerful Taijutsu specialist that is capable of doing cataclysmic damage if pushed to his limits."

"The one I believe is interested in the young Uchiha is young, and impetuous." He said, frowning, "Also, if one of us were to pass from his life, our laws dictate that should it be in the realm of humans, such as this land, then we are forbidden from seeking retribution."

"Good to know," Hiruzen sighed, "Thank you for your help. I am eternally grateful."

The man began to disappear once more, "Take care, friend." And just like that, he was gone.

(*)

It was early the next morning when Shisui was roused from his sleep by a pounding knock on the front door. The Uchiha prodigy groaned as he rose up from bed, blinking sleepily, "Who'd be up at this hour?" He wondered, glaring at his alarm clock, noting how early it was. Usually, he would be up and at'em just after dawn, but the previous night's events had drained him physically, and mentally.

The knocking came again as the exhausted teen stumbled out of bed, "Alright, alright!" He frowned as she stumbled toward the front room, slamming the door open, "What the...hell..." The young man started, but came to a screeching halt as he saw who was.

"Good morning, Shisui," Jiraiya greeted him with a raised hand, looking slightly sheepish, "I...realize it's a bit early, but I thought...I'll just come back alter," he sighed, seeing the stupefied look on the Uchiha's face.

"Ah, Lord Jiraiya," Shisui called out as the man turned to leave, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to come off like that." He said, straightening up, "It was just a long night last night. The kids didn't go to sleep until late, and I didn't sleep all that well, either."

Jiraiya turned to him with a sad smile, "Worrying that I might come by and take the boy away?" He asked.

Shisui blushed, and gave a short, slight nod. In truth, he had been fearing such a turnout since he saw the name on the documents concerning Naruto's legal guardian. "I didn't think I was cut out to be a father figure, but..."

"You already love them both like your own," Jiraiya nodded, sighing, "Don't worry, Shisui, I can't take Naruto with me, even though I want to, a life on the road such as mine is no life for a boy his age." He smiled at the young man, "Besides, I doubt Naruto would want to come with me. He doesn't know me as he was supposed to, and then he has that little sweetheart to keep company, doesn't he?"

Shisui rolled his eyes with a smirk on his face, "Ugh, not another matchmaker," he bemoaned, "Either way, it's true that they're very attached to each other. I doubt Kaguya would ever be able to recover from her trauma if Naruto wasn't around to keep her company."

Jiraiya chuckled, "I wouldn't do that to either one of them," the Sage said, smiling, "I...uh, found the gifts that Naruto was suppose to be receiving over the years, so I brought them by."

Shisui smiled, "I'm sure he'll love them."

Indeed, when Naruto and Kaguya woke up it was to find the front room piled with seven years worth of gifts for the young blond. The first of which was a nightcap that he shared with Kaguya since she thought it was cute. Next came a little toad-shaped wallet. These were sent to Naruto when he was just a toddler. The next few were different. They were picture frames. With pictures already in them.

"Who're these people?" Naruto asked his grandfather, pointing to a blond man, and a red-haired woman, who was obviously pregnant as she smiled at the camera.

Jiraiya smiled at the boy, and patted him on the head, "Those, Naruto my boy, are your parents." He said, making the little blond look up at him with teary eyes. "My adopted son, Minato, the late Fourth Hokage, and his wife, princess of the Uzumaki clan, Kushina Uzumaki."

Hearing this, a flood of questions erupted through the little boy's mind, but nothing came out of his mouth as his tears spilled over. He looked down at the photo, and clutched it to his chest, "Did...did they want me?"

"They did," Jiraiya smiled at the boy, and sat him on his knee, "When your mother found out she was going to have you, she was so happy that she cried for half an hour straight."

"Crying's what you do when you're sad," Naruto said, his own tears still flowing.

Jiraiya chuckled, "Not so, Naruto," he said, and tapped him on the nose, "There's some times in a person's life that they can be so happy that they just start crying. Just like you. Or aren't you happy?"

The answer to that question, surprising even the little blond boy, was yes. Naruto was, for once in his life, happier than he'd ever been.

His other gifts were for his coming years at the shinobi academy which included a box each of kunai and shuriken, and some plated steel under armor that could be adjusted for any growth spurts he might have.

All the while this was going on, Kaguya sat in Shisui's lap, watching the two of them. Even though he had made her a promise, the little girl couldn't help feeling that this man would take Naruto away somehow.

"P-Papa?"

Shisui stiffened when he heard the familiar, yet strange voice speaking to him from his arms. He looked down and saw Kaguya staring up at him with a sad look on her face.

"I-Is N-N-Naru-ru-to g-gonna g-g-go away?" The little girl asked, stuttering horribly. Yet the young Uchiha smiled down at her, and hugged her tightly.

"Of course he's not," he said, smiling happily, "He's gonna stay right here with us."

Kaguya beamed, "R-r-really?"

Jiraiya chuckled as Naruto grinned widely at the little girl as she spoke for the first time since meeting her, "Just so long as you don't mind a grumpy old toad like me coming around once in a while." Jiraiya grinned widely, "You'll have to tell me your birthday, too. That way I can spoil both my cute little grandchildren, right?"

Shisui laughed as Kaguya wriggled out of his arms, and bounced right into Jiraiya's as the large man hugged both of them, laughing loudly. The young Uchiha smiled as he saw his little makeshift family getting bigger right before his eyes.

The Childhood Arc will be coming to and end soon as we move into the Academy Arc. Really, there's only one, maybe two chapters left to this arc with everything coming together.

Please review if you liked the chapter.