"What in the world happened?"
Naruto sighed heavily and flipped over onto his stomach. He grabbed his pillow and buried his face before letting out a long sigh again.
Naruto opened his eyes and looked around in caution. He was lying in the middle of a long dark hallway. There were no lights but the edges of the hallway glowed with a strange whitish light.
Naruto slowly pushed himself up and dusted off his pants.
"Where am I?" he muttered to himself and looked around at his surroundings.
Now that he was standing up, the hallway seemed to have lightened up.
He could make out a long hallway with no end in sight. Several doors littered the length of the hallway on either side. Naruto walked through the hallway for a small length before his curiosity got the better of him.
He cautiously stepped up to a nearby door and opened it a crack. A cold draft blew through the crack and past Naruto.
Naruto let out a scream into his pillow, trusting it to muffle the sound so that he wouldn't disturb any of his neighbors.
He twisted his body and flipped his body onto his back. Resting his forearm on his forehead, he searched his mind for excuses for what happened earlier.
"Maybe…it was just a hallucination. Or a dream! I could have fallen asleep…" Naruto frowned. "No way. I couldn't have just suddenly dropped off in the middle of the fight. But…there was that strange sucking sound before…"
Naruto squinted his eyes shut and screamed in frustration. "It's definitely time for a trip to Hokage-jii's." He sighed and jumped off his bed. Without bothering to lock the door, he hurried over to the Hokage Tower.
Naruto fidgeted under the Hokage's stare. After retelling what had happened earlier, both sides had descended into silence.
"So, Hokage-jii, is this another side-effect of puberty?"
The Hokage sighed and lowered his face but Naruto could catch a smile flickering on the Hokage's face. Sandaime coughed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I suppose this would have happened sooner or later."
"So are you saying this is another side-effect of puberty? There's really nothing wrong with me? But I don't remember Sasuke ever going through this…" Naruto commented.
Sandaime stood up and made his way around his desk towards Naruto.
"There's nothing wrong with you Naruto." Sandaime reassured. "But this has nothing to do with puberty. I'm sure at your age, puberty has already run its course right?"
Naruto reddened in embarrassment. His 'conversation' about puberty with the Hokage suddenly surfaced in his mind. After looking up at the Hokage, he could tell that Sandaime was probably also thinking about that from the redness of his face.
Sandaime coughed and continued. "What you're experiencing does not happen to everyone."
"So there is something wrong with me. Why am I always different from others?"
"Naruto, you should be proud actually. You're actually developing your clan's kekkai genkai."
Naruto was confused. "What's a keki – keke-."
"Kekkai genkai." Sandaime corrected. "They are a bloodline limit, a special ability, that belongs only to a specific clan or family."
"Really?" Naruto asked excitedly. He scooted forward to the edge of his chair and leaned towards the Hokage with anticipation on his face.
"Yes. Like Uchiha Sasuke has his kekkai genkai, Sharingan, and Hyuuga Hinata has her kekkai genkai, Byakugan, you have your own ability."
"Seriously? Really? What's my power?"
"You experienced it today with Kakashi."
"Cool! I used my kekkai genkai for the first time today! Without even knowing!"
"Actually, it wasn't your first time you used your kekkai genkai." The Hokage corrected. "I believe this is actually your second time using it."
"When was my first time?" Naruto questioned.
"When you were only two years old. You frightened your guardians." Sandaime circled back around his desk and took a seat.
"What does my kekkai genkai do?" Naruto asked.
"Your bloodline enables you to enter your opponent's mind and call up certain memories for whatever your intentions might be. For example, you could use the memories to find a weakness in the enemy or to gather information for your mission."
Naruto looked downtrodden. "That's all my bloodline can do?"
Sandaime was taken aback. "Your bloodline is very powerful. You shouldn't underestimate it."
"Well, I was expecting something more…cool, flashy…"
"Well, your bloodline can also steal jutsus and information about jutsus from memories."
Naruto brightened up. "Really? Cool!! Take that Sasuke-teme!"
"But I recommend that you don't go advertising your bloodline to everyone."
"Yea you're right." Naruto agreed. "If no one knows, then they wouldn't expect it. That way I could have the upper hand in fights."
Suddenly, Naruto remembered something. "Hokage-jii, were my guardians ninjas by any chance?"
"Yes they were, Naruto. Why do you ask?"
"Because you said that I used my bloodline when I was only two. At that time, I could have copied some jutsus from my guardian." Naruto explained. "Because when I stole the Scroll of Seals, I didn't just learn Kage Bunshin but a lot of others. They didn't take too much practice and I immediately performed the jutsus successfully. But when I got to one of the jutsus, it took so much more time and effort than any of the jutsus before it."
"That could be a possibility. But Naruto, you have to be careful with your bloodline. It's extremely helpful but also extremely harmful. It places an enormous amount of pressure on your mind."
"What do you mean?" Naruto questioned.
"Your bloodline enables you to copy memories. This places pressure on your mind to hold all of the memories. Many of your ancestors have died young because the amount of pressure that was put on their minds was too much for a human mind to handle."
Naruto was silent. He smiled. "Don't worry Hokage-jii. I'll be careful." He reassured the Sandaime.
The Hokage smiled warmly at Naruto and reached over to ruffle his hair. "I know you'll be careful. You've shouldered many responsibilities before. You're too mature for your age Naruto."
Naruto jumped off his chair and ran over to the Hokage. He circled his arms around Sandaime and gave him a hug. After a moment, he let go and skipped over to the door.
"See ya tomorrow, Hokage-ojiisama!" Naruto shouted happily and opened the door.
Suddenly, he froze and turned back.
"Oh yea I forgot to asks something."
"What is it Naruto?"
"What's my kekkai genkai called?"
"Nagori-Hokousha, the memory walkers, rank A bloodline of the Nagori clan." Sandaime informed him.
"Wait, so does that mean that my family name isn't really Uzumaki?"
"That's right but the Fourth changed your last name for a reason so I advise you to not advertise that either."
Naruto nodded, a wide smile on his face. "No problem. Goodnight Hokage-ojiisama!" Naruto gently closed the door and skipped out of the Hokage Tower happily.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND FOR THOSE WHO DO NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!