A/N: Well, we are now onto the second chapter. I got a lot of [FF Story Alert+] s and it was so sweet. I'm going to take that as you all loving my story so far. Okay, not this is going to be a little shorter than last time, but it will be just as good. I hope you enjoy the second chapter and, if you REALLY want to, review at the end. All reviews are appreciated and accepted with loving tenderness.

Chapter Two

Naruto winced at the speed his grandmother was going. She sure seemed in a hurry to find something. He just didn't know what. She seemed to know the underground passage ways like the back of her hand. She would look back occasionally, but she would keep on running.

Finally, after traveling about two kilometers, she stopped. She looked around and touched a brick that was in the floor of the pathway. The passage way started to shake. Naruto looked at her. Zebina was standing proudly as the wall in front of them opened. After the shaking stopped, she bowed before the entrance. Naruto did the same.

Zebina motioned for Naruto to follow. He did so, very quickly. He noted that she was looking straight ahead, not even looking at all the figurines around them. It was of different figures of the past, including his father. Naruto gasped as he saw his father next to a woman. Zebina paused and touched the woman on the head.

"I have brought him to this place, just like I promised, little one," she murmured. "Naruto, this is your mother, Kushina." His parents were depicted embracing one another. His mother had a very heavenly smile on her face. His father looked content as he looked down at whoever was there to witness this statue.

Zebina continued walking on. Naruto started to hear the faint sounds of rippling water. He frowned. Surely there couldn't be water down here.

Zebina put the sack on the floor and knelt down. She dipped her hand past the floor and brought it back up. It was wet. Naruto looked at her in amazement.

"They call this luck," she mocked herself. She shook her head. "This is the lake of our ancestors. This is the water that has made its way throughout time… this water is what gives us the ability to do what we do. We carry this water in our blood. When we die, this water takes us home…" she sighed and looked around. "All of our ancestors have communed here, one time or another. They had to have protectors, though, to keep the evil out of this holy place…

"That is where your father's tribe came in. they were the most powerful in the world. They have protected these lands since the first Hokage. He protected them from the Uchiha clan… now; you must take up that torch. You are the last of the two tribes, Naruto. You are the one who will bring peace to a land that has been at war for millenniums." Zebina smiled as she looked at her reflection in the water. She put one finger in the water and watched the ripples. "You see how the ripples get larger? The smaller ripples were our ancestors, now we are the larger ones. But at some time, the ripples always stop… Naruto, you must stop ripples… please finish the job that I couldn't." Naruto nodded and then the water started to glow. Zebina got up and bowed to the water. She pushed Naruto toward it. "I will watch the entrance."

She left him to commune with someone who he had never seen, but had known his whole life.

A woman came out of the water and smiled at Naruto. She wore a long white dress. She motioned for him to come forward. Without even looking at what he was walking on, Naruto came forward. The woman had long red hair and green eyes. The green eyes were the exact color of Zebina's.

"I have been waiting for this moment since you were born," she said. Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. "We had no choice, Naruto. You were the only one who could handle the beast. The fact that you had our blood within you was enough. Your father and I never wanted to sacrifice you, but why would we take and use someone else's child?"

"Why did you leave your village?" he asked softly. "You could have remained safe. You could still be alive today." Kushina reached out and touched him on the cheek.

"Love is a mysterious thing, Naruto. I love your father. Even in death, I love him," she said. "I knew what would happen when I accepted his hand in marriage… he and I were in love so deeply that we couldn't live without each other… it was a tragic love, but if I hadn't gone with him, you wouldn't have been born."

"What was the letter about?" he asked. He remembered the old woman allowing him to read the letter that his mother had written to her mother.

"Your grandmother and I had a falling out before I died," Kushina said sadly. "She knew that I was going to die, and tried to make me stay in the village. Back then, she was the leader of our village. She was very determined to alter fate… because she knew what it was like to die for love." Kushina smiled sadly at her son. "Your grandfather died saving your father. When Minato was young and cocky, without Jiraiya around, he decided to attack around two hundred ninja by himself. He was at the borders of our lands… my father was on patrol and he was worried about the bandits that plagued our village from time to time. We would always have forewarning, and that would help us, but not by much. That day that my father was on patrol, my mother told my father to be on the lookout. I still hadn't discovered my gifts yet, nor had I been told, so I just shrugged it off. What did my mother know, anyways? She was always meditating and had a dreamer's stare. That's what it seemed like to me, anyways. I didn't know that she saw all the evil in the world and dared to question it.

"She was always right, though. She would tell me randomly to keep an eye out for something and be on guard. I would come home from training and thank her. She would just shrug and go back to whatever she was doing… but that's not the story I was telling, was I?

"The day my father went out on patrol, he saw a young ninja outnumbered. He went down into the fight to pull Minato out… he got stabbed in one of the major arteries that was in the back… my mother sensed it and rushed out of the house. Before I could even fathom a thought, she had disappeared. She had located my father and Minato. She fought off one hundred and fifty ninja, according to Minato.

"After the fight, she healed your father. She put a mark on his shoulder. The mark of the fox. To this day, I don't know what it means, and I'm dead." She laughed and looked around. She touched Naruto on the forehead and brought him close.

"My darling little baby boy… I have to go now," she said sadly. "I am sorry that we can't visit more… know that I am always watching you and that I love you… you are my baby boy, now and forever. I love you, young Naruto."

She became one with the water again. Naruto kneeled down and wept.

Zebina sighed as she looked at her daughter's statue. She knew that her daughter needed time with the son that she never met, but she was still a little jealous. She had never been able to speak with her daughter after that night that was so long ago. She felt a presence behind her, and looked. Kushina was standing there and smiled.

"Mom…" she said. Zebina put a hand up and opened her arms. Kushina rushed into them. For a split second, Zebina was able to hug her daughter once again. The feelings of love coursed through her as she held her daughter.

"It's okay," Zebina murmured in Kushina's ear. "I love you… I'll see you soon." Zebina smiled and pushed her daughter back to the other side. Kushina's eyes widened as she realized what her mother had just said. She started shaking her head violently. Zebina smiled and waved her daughter off. She closed her eyes for an instant, letting emotion seep in, and then took out a very deep breath. She was normal when the breath was done. She turned and saw Naruto ready for his destiny. He had the mark of the fox on his shoulder, just like his father had.

Up in the city, Kakashi stood overlooking the village. He didn't know why he was up here, but he knew that he had to be. Sakura was right behind him, just looking at the sights. She gasped when she saw it initially.

"Why are we up here, teacher?" she asked. Kakashi shrugged and looked down at his old teacher's head. He looked at his old student and sighed.

"I'm here because something tells me that I have to-"he was cut off when a loud explosion and veered toward the jail building. He looked down and saw Danzo waiting in front. Sasuke came tumbling out. Kakashi saw two flashes and his eye widened.

"She can't be thinking-"he was cut off again when Zebina threw herself in front of Danzo. Naruto came and attacked Sasuke. Sasuke tried to dodge him, but Naruto was too quick. Zebina and Naruto then came back to back and held hands. They switched positions, causing a large just of wind to swirl through the village. Sasuke and Danzo barely managed t hang onto their feet. Kakashi decided that he needed a better look.

Kakashi saw Zebina start doing some motions that made him uneasy. He remembered a comment that she had made many moons ago.

"If there was one thing that I could do, it was to make my daughter and her husband happy," she had smiled sadly.

"You old hag," Sasuke growled. Zebina grinned at him. "I hate you and I don't even know you." Zebina shrugged and looked at him in the eyes.

"It's because I can do the one thing that you can't," she said. "Not even your leader can do that technique." She dodged his attacks and saw Kakashi rushing down. Sakura was behind him, her eyes only for Naruto. Zebina smiled at Sasuke.

"I have a question for you," she said to Sasuke. "Why would you give up the love of a young girl who was so devoted to you? Didn't you know that she would ask my grandson to go after you? But, then, you were probably only thinking about yourself. It is sad, but probably true." Zebina started doing motions that were more ancient than the elements themselves. She looks up toward the sky and offers the one thing that she would never have offered in her life. She offered what made her herself. She offered her chakra and techniques. She looked up and bellowed to the sky, "Now! Fulfill my wish!" she looked at her grandson and smiled at him. She nodded and disappeared from the world of the living.

Zebina stood at the gates of her ancestral home. Her mother was there, with her long black hair and green eyes. Her father was there with his green eyes and black hair. But the one person whom she had missed the most was standing next to them.

"Haron!" Zebina cried. The man turned and smiled lovingly at his long lost wife. Zebina rushed into the arms of her red-headed husband. She cried in his arms and held him tightly to her. He held her tightly as they swayed to their own beat.

"I made the way," he said. "Everything's set. They can go back anytime." Kushina and Minato came forward. Kushina knelt to her knees. Minato bowed low. Zebina smiled.

"He needs a mother and father," Zebina told both of them. "I have taught him all of our family's techniques. He needs his family now." Kushina looked up and tears started coursing down her cheeks.

"Why did you do this?" she asked her parents. Zebina smiled and Haron shrugged.

"Your mother knew many years ago," he said. "She knew the moment that you were born that we would have to do this. The ancient blood within helped guide her, but she knew that she had to end the battle within herself.

"The blood of the clans has finally started to wither… with your son, it will thrive again…"

"No," Zebina said. "With him, we are all free. The blood will not thrive again. We will all be free. As you two are free to go back to him." Zebina kneeled down and touched her daughter's cheek. "I was never ashamed of you. I love you." Kushina nodded. Zebina looked up at Minato. He nodded and touched his shoulder. She touched her shoulder. Minato gave a short nod and pulled Kushina up. In the distance, Jiraiya was waving and smiling. Zebina turned and saw him give her thumbs up sign. She smiled and waved heartedly. He grinned back at her and shook his head.

Naruto was fending off Sasuke as Kakashi stood against Danzo. After Zebina had disappeared, Naruto had stood frozen. Kakashi had pushed him into motion again. They were getting weaker by the second though, and both Kakashi and Naruto knew it. Naruto's speed was decreasing and he was dodging less and less attacks. Sasuke was getting rougher and rougher. Naruto couldn't hold one attack back, and it almost came to contact. Something appeared in front of him.

"Get out of my village," the voice commanded. Naruto looked up and saw the fourth Hokage looking at Sasuke. Sasuke paled and saw Kushina holding Danzo back. Kushina forced Danzo's hand down and looked him right in the eye.

"Why are you harming him?" she asked gently. "Your fight isn't with him. It's with us."

Just then Tsunade came into view and sighed in relief. She stood by Sakura, who was looking at the two with complete shock. Kushina grinned at Tsunade and Tsunade grinned back. Minato continued to look at Sasuke.

"So, you are Orochimaru's apprentice," he said as if that clarified everything. He looked at Naruto, who looked at his father. "You have caused my son harm for a very long time… and you want revenge against my family and my village? That is one thing that I cannot allow. But seeing as though my son wants your head for himself, I am guessing that I have to allow it." Kushina looked at Danzo.

"How long have you been trying to take over this village?" she asked him bluntly. He glared at her and she rolled her eyes. "Fine. Be that way. See if I care." She took her index finger and middle finger and poked him in the neck. Danzo gasped. "There. Now, you can't do any damage with no chakra." Kushina looked at Sasuke then at Naruto.

"What do you want to do with this one?" she asked him gently. Naruto shrugged and looked at his father.

"Let him go," both father and son said at the same time. Kushina looked at them both with confusion.

"Why would we do that?" she demanded. Naruto spoke up first.

"Because he's going to come back with some more friends," he said. Kushina nodded. She shoved Sasuke and looked him right in the eyes.

"When you come back, we'll be ready for you," she said. "You went up against Kakashi more than once, but you've never gone up against me." She smiled at him and Sasuke backed up. He glared at Naruto then disappeared. Kushina sighed and looked at her son. She smiled warmly. Naruto looked at both of his parents in amazement.

"How are you two here?" he asked them. Tsunade cleared her throat.

"Your grandmother had a technique that was taught by the ancients," she said. "It was to bring the souls of the dead back to finish their job… your grandparents knew how to do it and had agreed to do it when your grandmother had her vision."

"What was the vision?" Kushina asked. Tsunade looked up at the sky then looked at them. She sighed and nodded.

"Your mother knew that you were going to die. She knew it since the moment of your birth. But she also knew that you had to be brought back somehow. So, she and your father did the rite of passage and sacrificed their souls for you and your husband," she started. "They really didn't sacrifice themselves, but rather promised that when the time came, you two would replace them as the elders of your tribes. Which you are now." Tsunade looked at Naruto and smiled sadly. "Zebina taught you more than you will ever know. She taught you the ways of your people and something else."

It wouldn't be until Naruto was a father himself did he understand. His grandmother had given him the reason to continue, even when he didn't know it. She had given him everything that he had ever wanted, and she had been the one to show him a different view of the world. As he trained his own children, he realized that she had given him all of the old techniques that had been forgotten. She had taught him to love and to be different. To be a part of something, but also be alone. She had taught him to be himself in a society that wouldn't always accept him. She taught him that all out of her loving him.

A/N: I had to finish this, and it was a very abrupt ending. I'm so sorry for that. I have had so many emails about people Fav+ this story, and as an author that makes me immensely happy. I just had a midterm this week, so my brain is half dead. I have one next week too, but I can rest my head by doing much needed updating and a lot of studying. Gotta love college.

Until next time,

DarkBelieverAnge