As the sun slowly set over Konoha, the sounds of crying could be heard coming from an apartment in the Shinobi Orphan's Care Complex. These cries were coming from the top most floor of the complex which currently only had one occupant on the floor. Because no one else was on the floor, the cry went unheard. Inside the apartment, this lonely soul could be found curled into a ball on his bed sobbing into his pillow.

Seven year old Naruto Uzumaki cried to himself and mumbled out in emotional pain. "Why! Why won't anyone play with me? What did I do to deserve not having a mommy and daddy of my own?" He continued to sob and said, "Why do the other orphans get to know who their parents were and I don't?" Most of the other orphans were brutal in their teasing of Naruto since they all knew who their parents were even if it was just by their names. Everyone in the complex knew that they all had to have had at least one shinobi parent to be here. Otherwise, they would be at the other orphanage in Konoha. However, all Naruto knew was that his parents were 'shinobi who died fighting the Kyuubi'. He had no names, photos, or mementos of his parents to his name.

To the kids at the shinobi orphanage, this meant that Naruto was at the absolute bottom of social totem pole. The orphan kids were generally slightly outcast among the kids at the pre-Academy school. However, Naruto was an outcast from the outcasts. Most of the children of civilian parents had been told to avoid Naruto because he was bad news. The fact that Naruto was being avoided was quickly caught on by the other kids like a head cold in a school and more kids joined in on avoiding Naruto. The other shinobi orphans started to shun Naruto as well instead of offering him support. After all, he was bad news which might explain why he had no names for his parents.

Growing up as an orphan in an orphanage could never be described as easy or pleasant. There were simply too many children for the caretakers at the orphanage to possibly give every child the comfort, closeness, and attention that a child would receive from a parent. The caretakers insured that all of the children got good meals, clean clothes, regular baths, expected education, and taught some discipline. But, it was all so institutional and cold with none of the special moments that make childhood so enjoyable and carefree for children with caring parents. Most the orphans bonded with each other as brothers and sisters. Naruto had tried to form such bonds, but he had been relegated to the bottom of the heap before being kicked out of the group by the other orphans.

Emotions and desires are powerful things that can drive and motivate people to do things others would think unlikely or even impossible. Somethings these drives and goals are beneficial to the desirer and to others. Goals and drives can also be dangerous to people both for the person wanting the goal and to others who can be hurt by it. More often than not, the goals and drives fueled by emotions and desires run a massive spectrum of results between the two extremes. For Naruto, his emotions and desires were unknowingly preparing a mixed blessing for him.

As Naruto continued to cry out for friends he never had and parents he never knew, a battle was being fought in his body. This wasn't a battle between the Kyuubi and the seal imprisoning him. The war was between Naruto's body and a power that had been sleeping within his paternal line for generations and was finally ready to be revealed. Naruto's subconscious called to this power demanding it awaken as it would give Naruto what he desired. Naruto's body fought back as it tried to suppress the power since it wasn't ready to handle it just yet. A headache came over Naruto increasing his pain and driving him to more fervently wish for his unknown parents to make it all better.

Something finally gave in Naruto and his chakra started to flare. A second later, the young boy let out a bellowing blood curdling scream. The scream continued until Naruto fell back in a seizure. From there, Naruto continued to let out cries of agony as he had a seizure on his bed.

The door to Naruto's apartment was broken down less than a minute after Naruto's chakra flared. Standing in the door frame was the grizzled commander of the Shinobi Orphan's Care Complex who had been a Chunin in the Second Shinobi War before losing half of his right leg. The commander walked into Naruto's apartment with a slight limp from his prosthetic leg and looked around for the source of the chakra spike. He relaxed slightly upon seeing no sign of enemy ninjas. One of the reasons shinobi orphans were kept separate from civilian orphans was the chance of enemy ninjas attacking the kids in revenge against their parents.

Once he spotted Naruto, the commander put his kunai away and reached for his radio. He turned it on and said, "Get the hospital on the line Daichi and tell them to send someone to pick up one of the kids for an emergency visit. It's the Uzumaki boy so also send a message to the Hokage." The commander then proceeded to shove anything out of the way that Naruto might accidentally hit while in his seizure.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood in a patient room in Konoha's Hospital looking down at Naruto Uzumaki who was resting in a medically induced slumber with several IVs pumping nutrients, water, and medicine into him. Instead of a pillow, Naruto's head was resting on cloth covered ice packs. Hiruzen never liked seeing children in hospitals as it reminded him too much of the horror stories he father used to tell him of the times before the shinobi village system. It also brought back memories of the after effects of too many terrible battles that had been fought in his life. The Sandaime never liked it when he passed the pediatric ward whenever he had to visit the hospital. That Naruto was in the pediatric ward made things even worse for Hiruzen. He was sure that he could only feel worse if it was infant Konohamaru in Naruto's place.

How could this have happened to Naruto? Hiruzen wondered if Naruto's condition had been caused by the Kyuubi, but that didn't make much sense to the Sandaime. After all, Naruto had been exposed to the Kyuubi's chakra for 10 months before even being born, he had the Uzumaki vitality, and the strongest seal to hold back tailed beast. Perhaps it was an assassination attempt by another village via poison? But, none of the other orphans had been brought in with similar symptoms so that was a low probability.

The Sandaime was pulled from his musings when he heard the sound of the door opening. Hiruzen turned to see Dr. Ryuken Ishida walk into the room. Dr. Ishida bowed his head and said, "Lord Hokage, the test results have come back. Patient Uzumaki is past the critical state of his condition and it should be safe to allow him to wake up sometime tomorrow. Physically, it looks like he will make a full recovery within the week. However, there are some uncertainties given how unique this situation is and the unknowns we're dealing with in his case."

Hiruzen turned to focus on the white haired medical ninja and quickly spoke in a firm voice. "What has happened with Naruto?"

Dr. Ishida looked down at his notes for a brief second and then regained eye contact with Hiruzen. The doctor then said, "Patient Uzumaki has apparently activated an undocumented kekkei genkai that seems to be centered around his brain. We think that this kekkei genkai was somehow activated too early and the stress of activating it almost killed him."

There was shock and horror on the Hokage's face. The Uzumaki and the Namikaze clans didn't have a kekkei genkai. True, the Uzumakis had been known for their unusually large chakra reserves and vitality. But, those traits never showed the customary medical signatures of a kekkei genkai. As for the Namikaze, they had been a clan of merchants. Minato's father had been the first shinobi from the family and his mother had been the child of an actress and an unknown shinobi from Konoha. The only reason Hiruzen had known that little fact was the fact that he was there when Minato's mother requested permission to join Konoha to become a ninja from the Nidaime and her background had been part of the screening process. Hell, Hiruzen had only kept an eye on Minato's mother because the Nidaime had been oddly interested in her career. The Nidaime's interest in Mimi had led to the Sandaime's decision to put her son on Jiraiya's team when Minato was a genin.

A second later the shock and horror were no longer visible on Hiruzen's face. He then calmly said, "What can you tell me about this kekkei genkai doctor and why did it almost kill Naruto?"

Dr. Ishida glanced at Naruto and started to explain what he knew. "I cannot tell you too much about this bloodline as we don't have any records of it in the hospital at all. All the other doctors and I have is our observations from treating Naruto through the night yesterday. The first thing that I can tell you is that this kekkei genkai is not a dojutsu of any sort. That was the first thing we started checking when the patient's eyes started to change. Except for the now blue within blue coloration of the eyes, his eyes are perfectly normal. One of the doctors thinks that this coloration is merely a biological sign that the kekkei genkai is active similar to the bulging veins the Hyuga have when the Byakugan is in an active state. I think it's a little premature to state that with certainty, but I think that Dr. Kurosaki is correct on that matter."

The good doctor was able to hide his distaste at agreeing with his annoying goofball peer as he continued his explanation. "As I said earlier, this kekkei genkai seems to be centered around the patient's brain. Two unknown small growths have appeared where his brain connects to the spinal column. These growths, which appear to be additional brain mass, grew at an astonishing rate from apparently nothing to their current size in a matter of hours. We were concerned about these growths, but they've stopped expanding and are definitely tied into the rest of the patient's brain. The portions of the brain associated with memory and critical thinking have undergone extensive development reaching a state of development more like an older teenager's than a seven year old child. His brain activity has also skyrocketed to unprecedented levels. The closest I've ever seen to this level of brain activity was when an Uchiha allowed us to observe him while he was copying several jutsus and even then there was only a fraction of the activity we're now observing. A significant portion of that brain activity is in the new additions to the patient's brain."

"All of this growth and development in the patient's brain was producing a large amount of pressure and dangerous amounts of heat. I'll be honest, we almost had to do a Decompressive Craniectomy to prevent brain damage. Thankfully, our little patient inherited his family's vitality and we never had to reach the point of prepping for surgery. The massive developments in the patient's brain have slowed down and it looks like it will stop soon. We should be able to remove the ice packs in an hour or so. Uzumaki will probably have a massive migraine, but that is one of the reasons we're keeping him sedated."

"The rapid brain development is why my fellow doctors and I think that this kekkei genkai was somehow triggered too soon. X-rays taken of the patient's skull reveal indentations that perfectly protect these new brain lobes. We think that whatever this bloodline does, it is supposed to activate once the bearer has had the chance to slowly grow these new lobes. Based on other parts of the brain that have rapidly developed, it's thought that this is supposed to occur in the bearer's mid to late teens. However, we don't have enough information to say for sure sir."

Hiruzen nodded his head as he finished processing what the doctor had told him. Dr. Ishida then left to continue his rounds after giving Hiruzen a respectful nod. The Sandaime let his mask fall revealing all of worry and concern show on his face. None of this should have happened. Minato should be reigning as Hokage instead of him and Naruto should be growing up happily with his parents, maybe have a younger sibling to look after, and at least a dozen cousins from the Namikaze side of his family. This was not the life that the friendly, but unfortunately lonely boy resting in front of him should have had. If only that damn unknown ninja hadn't succeeded in releasing the Kyuubi.

The Hokage had known for years that someone had killed his beloved wife and the guards who had been protecting Kushina when she gave birth to Naruto. Examinations of their corpses had made that perfectly clear. Unfortunately, the identity of this enemy was impossible to determine as none of those who had been killed in the birthing chamber had caught a glimpse of their killer while Minato's and Kushina's brains had been too damaged by the Kyuubi's chakra and the Shinigami's energy for the Yamanakas to delve into their memories. Many of the ninjas who had been on the front lines holding back the Kyuubi thought that the Uchiha Clan had something do with the attack since no Uchihas showed up for the defense and several respectable ninjas had seen the Sharingan on the Kyuubi's eyes.

Supposition on that matter was pointless in Hiruzen's mind since he didn't have enough hard evidence one way or another to really act. Not that such actions would help poor little Naruto. The poor boy had lost his parents and his father's birth clan who had been wiped out that night by a stray attack from the Kyuubi. Hiruzen dearly wished he could help Naruto more, but there was only so much he could do. Having one of his kids raise Naruto would just put a massive target on the boy's back. If Jiraiya took an active role in Naruto's life it would also paint a target on his back as well as weaken both Konoha and the Land of Fire's defenses by pulling Jiraiya from his spy rings. Kushina and Minato had both been the last surviving members of their old genin teams so no help from that traditional quarter for shinobi orphans. As for their surviving former genin students, none of them were ready to try and raise a child.

Leaving Naruto, or any orphan for that matter, in the orphanage was never something Hiruzen liked to do. It was a wish of his that no child of Konoha had to grow up as an orphan. But as the old saying goes, wish in one hand, shit in the other, and see which one fills up first. At least with the orphanages in Konoha all of the village's orphans had their physical needs taken care of and they had a safe place to grow up into adults. Many orphans in other parts of the Land of Fire would dream of having it so good and the situation in other countries was even worse.

With a sigh, Hiruzen got up and started to head to the door. He turned to give one last look at the sleeping Naruto and whispered, "Try to have pleasant dreams Naruto. I know you'll make it through this and things will get better."

A few days later, Inoichi was standing in the Hokage's office having been summoned by Hiruzen. The Jonin bowed his head in greetings and then firmly said, "Sir, what mission do you need me to preform?"

Hiruzen put his pipe down and folded his hands together on his desk. He then looked at his subordinate and said, "I will not lie to you Yamanaka. The mission I need you to preform is extremely risky and there are many unknown variables. However, it is potentially vital to the safety of Konoha that this mission succeed. This mission will also require a good deal of discretion even though this mission is just in the village. It already involves several pieces of knowledge that I have deemed to be kept secret for Konoha's good. Is that understood?"

Inoichi gave a firm nod of his head and replied, "It is sir.

The Hokage then explained the background of the mission. "Five days ago, Naruto Uzumaki developed a completely unknown kekkei genkai that appears to be focused around his brain in some way. What this bloodline's abilities are we haven't been able to determine. It apparently activated too early and nearly killed the boy. Naruto woke up two days ago. However, we haven't been able to talk to him as every time he is woken up he starts either screaming in horror or jabbering incomprehensibly. The doctors have determined that Naruto's mind is still processing a tremendous amount of information of some sort. We're currently keeping the boy sedated to try and let his mind sort through whatever it is that it's trying to process."

Hiruzen's voice became harder as he continued. "However, this situation has gone on long enough. Naruto may be a child, but he is also the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi and cannot be allowed to remain without control of his mental faculties. There is just too great of a risk of the demon finding a way to use Naruto's condition to escape and we have no one else who is nearly as capable of keeping the Kyuubi safely sealed within themselves as Naruto. Your mission Inoichi is to enter Naruto's mind, determine what is going wrong, and use whatever means you need to in order to restore Naruto's senses."

A sigh escaped Hiruzen's lips and was the only outward sign of the pain the old leader was in. He then added. "By whatever means does mean whatever you need to do Inoichi. While I want as little harm or change done to Naruto as possible, this mission must succeed. If you must, erase Naruto's memory and rebuild his personality. He's a young child and any amnesia you might need to cause can be explained away by his illness."

Both men were upset about what lengths this mission might have to go to in order to succeed and Inoichi's disgust was not nearly as well masked as Hiruzen's. Having to rewrite a person's sense of self was not an easy or a pleasant task. Having to do such a thing to a child made the already vile act especially revolting. However, having an insane jinchuuriki or even having the Kyuubi escape was something too terrible to think about. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few in this situation and if things came to it, both men would just have to learn how to live with their actions.

It took Inoichi a few seconds to collect himself and then he spoke. "I understand and accept the mission Hokage. I shall see that the mission is a success even if I hope I do not need to use every means at my disposal to do so." He then received some paperwork necessary for him to locate Naruto and get into the protected room he was in. Inoichi then bowed again and left the Hokage in his office.

The jonin left the Hokage Tower and started to walk towards the part of the hospital Naruto was in. Most of the hospital was in one central and defensible location, but there were several wings that were set up in separate locations for various reasons. The wing Inoichi was heading towards was the isolation and quarantine wing which was naturally enough the farthest wing of the hospital away from residential or commercial areas of the village. Inoichi could have gotten to the I&Q Wing in about ten minutes if he took to the roofs like many ninjas like to do. However, Inoichi wanted to take a good look at the village and remind himself why he had to defend it if the worse scenario should happen on his mission.

A half hour after leaving the Hokage Tower, Inoichi arrived at the I&Q Wing of the hospital. There was a security guard at the desk who Inoichi had to show the paperwork that allowed him entrance into the wing. Once the guard verified Inoichi's documents, he buzzed for an orderly to show the jonin around. The orderly soon showed up and led the ninja into the main hallway of the wing.

Once inside the hallway Inoichi spoke, "How is the Uzumaki kid doing?"

The orderly replied, "Good as long as he's sedated. He still screaming or jabbering whenever we let him wake up. However, it seems like both of those slowly lessening in severity so he might be working through them on his own. Don't quote me on that though as it's not my field of expertise. Seems a shame for the kid to be in here. Given the boy's unique status it makes sense from a security point of view to place him here, but we're not set up properly to handle neurological issues."

They then stopped at the door to the room Naruto was being kept in and the orderly unlocked the door so Inoichi could go in. It was a spartan room with only the bed Naruto was on and a few IV drips that were going into him. The emptiness of the room made Naruto seem so weak and vulnerable. Inoichi felt a tug at his heartstrings as he briefly replaced Naruto's image with that of Ino for a brief second. Inoichi took a second to close his eyes and reminded himself that he could complete his mission by helping Naruto get through whatever was causing him to be in this situation. He then walked to the head of Naruto's bed and placed his hand on the boy's forehead.

Inoichi had seen a lot of different things walking in many different peoples' minds. Everyone's mindscape was different and reflected many things about a person. However, Inoichi had never found himself in a mindscape that was like a hurricane made out of bubbles. The mind walker was nearly swept away by the various jumbled memories that were assaulting him with the full furry of a storm. Each bubble that hit Inoichi proceeded to roll over him as they continued to go where the storm directed them. As the bubbles passed by his face, the jonin was able to catch glimpses of what was inside the bubbles and was shocked at what he saw.

Each bubble was a memory like Inoichi expected, but they weren't Naruto's memories. Inoichi knew that because he recognized a few scenes in the memories from his own childhood. These memories were Minato Namikaze's memories as impossible as it seemed to the Yamanaka ninja. The shock and surprise of this fact caused Inoichi to lose his proverbial footing and his mental self was shoved down the wave of memories. The memories from each bubble started to show earlier and earlier moments of Minato's life. Then there were two new waves that seemed to branch off of the wave of Minato's memories.

Inoichi was swept into one of the new waves and confronted by someone else's memories. Many of the memory bubbles showed images of Minato, but they were from a different viewpoint and not memories from Minato himself. Most of these memories seemed to be clustered together with a memory of whoever Inoichi was observing holding Minato. Once there were no more memories of Minato, the wave of memories smoothed out showing things in the smooth, if rushed manner that Minato's memories had been displayed. A few more glances at the memories revealed that these memories were from Minato's father.

The memory front came to an abrupt end with a hazy memory of Naruto's grandfather's birth. Inoichi found himself outside of the memory storm even though it still raged around him. To his proverbial right was a long front of memories that seemed to stretch into the horizon. Based on what he had seen, the mind walker was willing to bet those memories came from Minato's mother and whoever down the line was passing down the kekkei genkai that Naruto had activated. To his left was a second front of memories. Fear gripped Inoichi since the vast majority of that front was an angry red color hinting that they could be the Kyuubi's memories. Several members of his clan had been rendered brain-dead from trying to use the clan jutsus on the demon and Inoichi was in no mood to join them.

Using his hard earned skill, Inoichi willed himself above the storm of memories making his mental body rise about the storm. Once Inoichi reached the ceiling of the mindscape he was able to get a complete look at the storm. It was like a hurricane with two fronts wrapping around each other. One front had seven different spurs coming off of one long front. Based on what Inoichi had seen from the spur he exited, those spurs represented the memories of the parents who didn't carry this kekkei genkai. On the other front there was a second that was the same color as the front he had been in and then there was the massive red spur that dominated that front. Inoichi was willing to bet that the second front came from Kushina and the Kyuubi. Where the two fronts met there seemed to be a small eye forming.

The eye of the memory hurricane had to be where Naruto's consciousness was located. The memory bubbles seemed to swirling extremely fast around the center. Inoichi took a second to collect himself and then sent his mental body flying towards the eye of the storm. As soon as Inoichi entered the outer wall of the eye he wished he hadn't Kushina and Minato's memories were jumbled together with Naruto's own memories. Furthermore, the memories from the night of the Kyuubi attack were very prominent. There were even a few memories from the Kyuubi itself in the mix of that night and the hatred radiating from those memories was terrifying.

Finally, Inoichi was able to force himself through to the center of the memory storm where Naruto was residing curled up in a little ball. Inoichi look around him and all he saw around Naruto were memories of his parents saying their last goodbyes and dying. The mind walker grabbed onto Naruto and then focused a great deal of energy into creating a barrier between the memories and the duo in the center of the storm.

Naruto slowly stopped crying as he felt the constant assault of memories stop. He then looked up to see Inoichi holding onto him. As Naruto's tears started to dry he looked at the man with a puffy, but confused face. "Who are you? You look very familiar, but older than someone I've seen a few bubbles? What is this place? How did we get here?"

There was a somewhat haunted look in Naruto's eyes that startled Inoichi. The boy's eyes had aged way too much for a seven year old. It was probably a side effect of being assaulted by all of these memories. Inoichi then said, "I'm a jonin on a mission for the Hokage. He was concerned about the state you were in and asked me to check on your wellbeing Naruto."

Naruto looked puzzled and said, "The old man?" Suddenly, the memory bubbles around the duo were filled with ones containing memories of Hiruzen. Many showed the Sandaime as an old man, but there was also a fair number showing Hiruzen as a younger man. A couple even showed Hiruzen as a teen or as a little kid. Naruto blinked his eyes and then muttered, "Why did he send you to check on me? Wait a minute, the Kyuubi?"

As soon as Naruto said that, all of the memory bubbles shifted to show the Kyuubi. Several of these bubbles were angry red and projected nearly overwhelming feelings of hate. Naruto started to shiver under the onslaught of the Kyuubi's memories and Inoichi wasn't far behind him on that score. Inoichi grabbed onto Naruto and held the boy tightly. He then firmly said, "Focus Naruto, Focus. You can change the memories we're seeing. Think about your parents, focus on how they felt when they found out you were coming." This was a bit of a gambit on Inoichi's part, but he figured that memories of happy parents would be the only thing strong enough to pull a child out of this situation.

Sure enough, the nearly overwhelming memories of the Kyuubi were forced aside by new memories of Minato and Kushina as they got things ready for Naruto's birth. Inoichi had to hold back a chuckle as he saw Minato using the Hiraishin jutsu to quickly go to various grocery stores to satisfy Kushina's cravings in several memory bubbles. There were also memories of the couple debating what they should call Naruto, who would get to train him the most, how old Naruto could be to start training, and all the other things expectant parents talked about. A sense of love and comfort radiated from these memories cheering up Naruto in a flash.

Inoichi smiled at the memories he was seeing. However, he didn't smile for long as he saw that the bubbles were starting to get closer to the duo. He turned to Naruto and said, "You've been given a great gift Naruto, but you can't let it get the better of you. We're in the eye of a memory storm, but the eye of a storm is supposed to be a peaceful place. Please focus on having the memories circle around you just like the clouds do for the eye of a storm. If you don't, the bad memories will overwhelm you again."

Naruto nodded his head and tried to will it to be so with a great deal of stress on his face. Inoichi kept on encouraging the boy and slowly the wall of memories moved away from the barrier that the mindwalker created. After a few minutes, Inoichi allowed the barrier he had created to slowly weaken. Soon the barrier was allowed to drop by the memories did not rush at the duo. At the same time, Naruto's face slowly lost the stress tension. The little boy started to cheer as the last bit of stress left him. "Yes! Did you see that Mr. Jonin? I got those memories to leave us alone!"

Inoichi nodded his head and replied, "I see that Naruto." On the inside, the ninja was deeply concerned about what he had learned about Naruto's Kekkei Genkai. The basic nature of the boy's bloodline had become clear to Inoichi although he wasn't sure on many points of the Kekkei Genkai given his limited experience with it. However, what he had seen filled the experience Jonin with a sense of worry and dread about what this would bloodline meant for the future and especially for the safety of Konoha.

Author's note: here's the start of a new story that has been brewing in the back of my brain for the past couple of months. For fans of Hero of Heaven, don't worry as I still have that muse cooperating with me. I just wanted to start a new Naruto fanfiction focused on the Naruto series. I will be introducing a few changes here and there to the Naruto setting. Don't worry, I've already written them down and I will introduce these changes in a logical manner. Naruto's treatment in this story wasn't one of those changes since in the manga Naruto was only ostracized by most people. Terrible treatment for anyone, but it is a lot better than the 'off the demon' raiding parties that have become so popular in fanon. The Shinobi Orphan's Care Complex is my own creation, but a logical one to explain out why a young orphan would be living 'alone' in their own apartment.

Also, please do not bug me with pairing suggestions. I've already figured out who Naruto will eventually be paired with and I'm keeping that a secret for now. I will let you know that Naruto's final pairing is probably not going to be his first pairing in this story or at least the first person he goes out with. With that said, sit back and enjoy this story as it unfolds.