Chapter 9: Mysteries & Paranoia

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I'm not gaining profit from this.

This chapter isn't betaed, any mistakes are my own and English is definitely not my first language. Constructive criticism is much appreciated, flames are not.

Naruto's thoughts

Emphasis

WRITING

Naruto talking to Kurama

Kurama talking to Naruto

The next day, Naruto led Team 9, Guy, Kakashi and Iruka into the house.

"Ok," hands on his hips, Naruto looked around, thinking back to when he'd first visited with Kakashi. "I want Team 9 to clean the entire house except for the library and armoury," Naruto summoned two clones, "my clones will clean those two." The blond looked at Iruka, "Nii-san if you could please supervise them?" The Chunin nodded and the Jinchuuriki turned back to Team 9. "I want you to note down any broken or battered furniture and describe the damages in detail. I need to know what needs replacing and what can be fixed. Any questions?"

The Genins shook their heads.

"Yosh!" exclaimed Might Guy, "Do not worry Naruto-san, we'll take care of it."

Naruto nodded at the Jounin. "I'll be reading outside if you need me."

Naruto settled down in the grass beside the empty koi pond, between it and the small grove of trees that hid the Uzumaki training ground. The books and scrolls were carefully stacked around him, he didn't want to damage them.

Kurama, why did Kushina stop living here?

She left close to the end of the Third War, she bought an apartment to maintain appearances, she really lived with Minato.

Yeah, but why did she leave?

Kurama sighed. Everyone died, kit. They went on missions and never came back.

Naruto looked towards the graveyard. All of them?!

I don't know. The nine Uzumaki that lived with Kushina for sure, the others died before she got here so I have no idea.

I really need to become Clan Head then. I won't be able to access their files in the Archives until then.

Please do, I always found it weird, especially since less and less relatives came to the funerals.

Relatives?

There have been Uzumaki living in Konoha since Mito married that fool Hashirama. Some people married in, but a majority of the Uzumaki married into other Clans to strengthen their alliances. Some couples had kids, some didn't, but there were less and less children and grandchildren of Uzumaki coming to the funerals. And the celebrations. The dwindling numbers of participants in the Can festivities is what made Kushina so paranoid. She thought the Uzumaki were being targeted.

Do you agree with her?

Yes. Uzushio was destroyed for a reason. The other villages feared the Uzumaki, it wouldn't be surprising if they'd chosen to aim for the survivors. You have to remember, Kumo tried kidnapping your mom even before she became my Jinchuuriki.

Naruto had forgotten that, Minato had saved her that time. Why were we so feared?

Uzumaki used Fuinjutsu like others use ninjutsu, but what sealed their fate was their Chains' ability to stop the Bijuu, and the Jinchuuriki by extension.

Naruto growled. So it's Mito's fault for revealing that!

It was actually Hashirama. He bragged too much, always in the village, but information spreads fast amongst ninjas. Mito begged him to stay silent, even his arrogant brother admonished him, but that fool said he 'trusted his people' and that 'no one would say anything'. He was confident that he was strong enough to protect his wife's Clan if it came to that.

Maybe, but it's not like he'd live forever.

Kurama laughed. Long term planning wasn't his forte kid. He was an idealist but his plans were rarely concrete. His brother made them a reality.

Naruto sighed and stared at the pile of books and scroll. Thank you for telling me, but I should focus now.

Good luck, kit.

Naruto opened each scroll and skimmed through them quickly, he would start with those with lots of pictures on them since they'd be faster to read through.

"Naruto," called Iruka from the porch.

Naruto looked up from the 8th scroll distractedly. "Yeah?"

Iruka walked closer to the blond, "Kakashi-san went to get lunch. I think you should dispel the clones, you shouldn't keep them going for too long, you don't want another headache."

Naruto agreed and cut the two small links he could feel in his chakra. "Wow, nii-san, you're a slavedriver."

Iruka had the clones clean the floor of the library, wipe down the tables and chairs while he went around the room and noted down any damages. Then he had them remove all books and scrolls from a shelf so they could clean it while he wrote down the titles. When all the 8 bookshelves were empty and the floor and tables were positively covered in papers, he forced them to organize them into piles: ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu, history… It seemed that previously, the library was just split between bloodlocked and not.

The clones and Iruka still weren't done, not with the list nor organizing everything. Naruto was happy that Iruka seemed to be having fun, but he could do without the headache of having so many titles and skimmed books crammed into his skull.

"Ouch, nii-san." he complained. "Don't work my clones too hard, remember that I'm the one that has to deal with excess of memories."

Iruka laughed, "Sorry, sorry" he ruffled the boy's hair, "You use more clones during spars."

"Yeah, but I'm fighting too, so my brain has an easier time believing I'm the one who did all of that. It's also easier if we're doing completely different things, they don't get jumbled in my head then. It gets all mixed up if we're all reading different things."

Naruto wasn't sure why that was, he could fight with his clones no problem, but read or write with them and his brain had a hard time keeping everything he learned clear. I should really stop pushing it like yesterday and just keep one clone reading while I do something else or vice versa. I hate headaches.

I think you should keep pushing your limits. You'll suffer no permanent damage thanks to me, and the more used to it you are, the easier it will get. Stop being a baby, your headaches never last longer than two hours.

For now. Naruto groused. He sighed. I guess you're right. I've suffered worse and I'll get hurt worse in the field.

Exactly. said Kurama smugly.

"Naruto?" asked Iruka. "Everything okay?"

Naruto looked up at the Chunin, "Yeah, I was just trying to organise the memories."

Iruka hummed, "Found anything useful?" he asked nodding towards the mess of papers around the blond.

Naruto sighed and shook his head, "I now know of several different fighting styles and techniques to use with the Chains, and an interesting recipe used to celebrate an Uzumaki's first Chain, but nothing useful."

"I wouldn't say that," said Iruka, "You're learning more about your origins."

Naruto nodded, "Yeah, but if I don't find out how to get my Chains I'll lose this place." He said while looking around the garden, "I feel like I'm disappointing my mom. She left this in my care and I'll lose it."

Iruka crouched down and grabbed the child's shoulder, forcing the blond to look at him, "Your mother loved you. I'm sure she's watching over you right now and that she believes in you." Iruka looked Naruto in the eyes and caressed his cheek, "I believe in you."

With a sob, Naruto threw himself into his brother's arms. "Thank you. Thank you. I promise I won't fail. I don't want to fail."

They had lunch right there in the garden, just the two of them. Iruka telling stories about his childhood and the pranks he pulled.

"No. Really?" asked the little blond gleefully.

"Yes," Iruka snorted, "I dyed his hair green. You should have heard his scream." He laughed, "Hyuugas are so proud of their hair."

"What did he do to deserve that?" Naruto touched his own hair, horrified at the prospect of waking up one morning and finding it dyed. Green at that.

"He said I'd never amount to anything," Iruka smirked, "Now I'm a Chunin and an Academy teacher and he's a paper pusher in the mission office and still a Genin."

"The best revenge really is living well." mused Naruto.

Iruka nodded, "It really is." Then he winked, "I sometimes parade around the office in my flak jacket when I know he's there just to rub it in."

"Do you like him sensei?" asked Naruto curiously.

Iruka blushed and spluttered, "Wha…?"

Naruto smirked, "Why else would you still be pissed about a comment from so long ago?"

Iruka shrugged, "He still says he's better than a clanless orphan like me sometimes. Not to my face, obviously."

Don't the Hyuugas enslave their own family? What's so good about being in that Clan?

There's still a certain amount of prestige to being a Hyuuga, even a Branch member.

Iruka suddenly stood up and patted off the grass stains on his trousers. "Well, I'll go back to work."

Naruto looked at the books he still had to go through, "Yeah, me too."

He summoned two clones and they followed Iruka inside.

Naruto picked up one of the last three scrolls at random. I really hope I'll find something.

The last three scrolls were no help, they detailed different ways to use the Uzumaki Chakra Chains to lay seals. The first scroll explained how the Chains could be used to activate seals without touching them. Since they were made entirely of chakra, any part of a Chain could be used to set off a Fuinjutsu array. Because of that, they could also be used to draw a seal by carving it into an object, or using the chakra in them to form them with a single touch. That last one could only be achieved if a Fuinjutsu user already knew how to shape seals with only their chakra.

The last two scroll described two similar techniques. With the first one, the Uzumaki would wrap their Chains around an enemy and shape the seals within the bindings, the author compared it to shibari (Kurama had to explain to Naruto what that was. The blond refused to ask Kurama where he learned of it, he really didn't want to know).

In the second one, instead of shaping seals around a captive, the author explained how to use the Chains to shape seals directly into the air. Both techniques could be incredibly dangerous to the user, because the chakra the Chains were made of could set off the seals at any moment, even while they were incomplete, which could result in an explosion or worse.

To ensure that the seal only activated when one wanted it to, the Uzumaki either covered the Chains in nature chakra, which can't set seals off unless they're especially designed to work with elemental chakra. Otherwise, they would start the seal by 'writing' a specific matrix that would only activate the seal once the chakra reached a certain output or with timed pulses.

Naruto was pretty excited at mastering these techniques in the future, but they really weren't helpful for his search, other than giving him something to look forward to.

The book he was reading now seemed more promising. It mentioned the Chains being traditionally 'gifted' on a child' 9th birthday, because the coils had to be 'fully grown' but not 'set' (Naruto was glad for Iruka's lessons, Original wouldn't have known what the hell that meant). It also mentioned how a year or two before their birthday, the child would be visited by a 'Guardian', and a bearer of the Uzumaki kekkei genkai, called 'Wielder'. The Guardian would memorise 'the shape of the child's chakra coils and his mind', while the Wielder would start adding small amounts of their chakra to the child's body to get them used to it and also 'teach the child's mind to recognise theirs'.

The Wielder would slowly increase the amount of chakra until the child could tolerate about a quarter of their coils being filled with foreign energy. Once the Guardian was ready, and the child could stand the Wielder's chakra and mind in theirs, the 'Revelation' would begin. The Guardian would act as an 'anchor' for the child while the Wielder would 'guide' the kid to his Chains.

Naruto had no idea what any of that meant. Any ideas?

Mito had the utmost respect for those who held the position of Guardians in the Clan. I don't know why though.

Do you know anything about this Revelation?

No. Kurama huffed. Both Mito and Kushina had already had theirs when I was sealed in them. He seemed to think about it for a second and then slowly said, I do remember your mother being worried you wouldn't be able to have yours since there were no more Guardians… I think... I remember your mother studying a lot after she fell pregnant with you. She complained that becoming a Guardian was hard work.

Mom was a Guardian?

Kurama sighed. I don't know if she succeeded kit. She was a Wielder and was learning to be a Guardian, whatever that means. At least now I know why.

Naruto thought about it for a second. So… that means there must've been books she was learning from, since there was no one to teach her.

If there are, they must be in this house. She never would've moved them and they can't be in Uzushio's ruins. She only returned there once, when she was thirteen, to bury the dead.

Naruto decided to ignore the image that painted in his head. He didn't want to think about how his mom lost everything, the tears she must've cried and the desperation and loneliness that she must've felt. He didn't want to think about how his Clan was once big enough to have its own village, and now he was the only one left.

By the time Naruto returned to his apartment, he found nothing more useful than that book, the two thin ones he read after just held recipes. He still had seven books left, but the titles didn't give him much hope. Who knew though, there might be some hints.

Naruto had told Team Gai that their work was done and Kakashi had payed for 9 D-rank missions. The copy-nin had refused to tell the blond the full price when he'd asked, the Jinchuuriki felt a bit faint at how much that could be. From Iruka's flabbergasted face, it must be nothing to sneeze at.

Naruto had thanked the man and invited him to eat ramen with him and Iruka, his treat. The Jounin had refused, saying he had a short mission early the next day, but Naruto made him promise to take him up on his offer one day.

Gai had insisted on reminding Naruto that Kakashi had employed them for one more day if he needed them, but the Uzumaki had refused. The Green Beast had then enthusiastically insisted they could fill the flower beds and koi pond and help him move in new furniture and throw away the old one, but Naruto had refused saying he wasn't moving in yet.

No one had questioned it, no one except the Bijuu in his mind that was bringing it up now, just when the blond was going to sleep.

You couldn't ask tomorrow?

I just find it weird that you'd rather stay in this crappy apartment than in your Clan's house.

Naruto sighed, I don't want to move in just to be kicked out later.

Kurama growled, You'll never achieve anything with this defeatist attitude. You'll get your Chains, just…

It's not that. Naruto sighed, staring at the ceiling, Kurama, don't you think it's weird that the Sandaime was sure I'd lose the house?

What do you mean?

He admitted he didn't know anything about the requirements for Uzumaki kekkei genkai other than our dense chakra was necessary. How could he be sure that there was no point in stressing me out with the time limit? He seemed certain I'd fail and didn't want to give me false hopes. How? How could he be sure?

What are you saying kit?

This is the same man that lets Danzo run free, that covered up a massacre and allows a weapon to grow up miserable and still expects him to fight for Konoha. He's a pushover who blinds himself to people's faults. I think that he's so sure I'll fail because even if I do get the Chains, I'll still lose. I'm thinking there's a trap up ahead, some other requirement or obscure law I'm unaware of.

Kurama growled, What are you going to do? We can't let him get away with it.

Naruto felt warmed by how Kurama didn't call him paranoid. You believe me? A small part of him thought he was reading too much into it.

I can see Konoha doing that. It can't hurt to check, if you're wrong nothing will happen and if you're right we can fight it.

Naruto nodded, I'm going to talk with Shika's dad tomorrow.

Oh?

Naruto smirked, Sarutobi never said I had to keep my parentage a secret, just that he didn't tell me before because he didn't want me to spread it around.

Kurama laughed, I'm pretty sure that's the same thing in his eyes, but this is something Kushina would do.

Naruto smiled at his fond and disgusted tone. I'm pretty sure Shikaku knows anyway. He is a Nara.

True.

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