An: So after Five Chapters of this story, I gained 71 reviews, and 4 822 hits! To think that I only have about two flames! I can only hope that I continue to entertain at the rate I am now. Anyway, thank you for the support.

Responses to Reviews

Narutokurosaki- Hah, if you enjoy watching Naruto going to Konoha HighSchool and possibly being inducted into the life of ninja by his principal Hiruzen Sarutobi, to revenge the death of his father the former principal, Minato, this is movie is for you! He's an outcast in the entire school, and is the unknown leader of the street gang, Kyuubi, one of the nine Bijuu gangs. He is in love with Hinata Hyuuga, who doesn't like him and works with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha against a new street gang known as Akatsuki, who wants to take over the nine Bijuu territories, and rule all of the Elemental City. I'll be happy to send you a ticket.

Yapook- Shhhh… glad you noticed. Don't tell anyone.

ChronoMitsurugi- Sorry to disappoint you, to be truly honest I didn't really like the last chapter either. It took forever to write and I went through like five different incarnation before getting there. I also appreciate you being honest, and not just stating that Kishimoto or Oda would be moving the story on faster.

One Piece Fan- Are you trying to say fan? Also have you not read the last few chapters of One Piece, if that don't explain the background and childhood of the characters I don't know what it is.

Anttolas- Don't worry about it, you didn't flame me. It was an honest question (one I admitted that I overlooked). I'm happy to answer any question to make the story easier to read.

Disclaimer: In all honesty, this work is a poorly written fanfiction of the Kyushiki Naruto, by NamelessEpitaph (Great author, wish he updates). Since that itself is a fanfiction, you could assume that I don't own Naruto or One Piece.

Origin of Rokushiki

Chapter 6- Aftermath, Adoption, and Academy Daze Part 1

The sound of water dripping filled his ears as Naruto began to open his eyes. The image that came to him was that of a huge corridor with several pipes adorning the wall. The floor had water on it, but there were only a few thin puddles, almost like someone left the tap on and water was beginning to spill on the floor. The blonde quickly got up and fully examined where he was; the best word to describe where he was would be a sewer.

"Now how the hell did I manage to get into a sewer," he thought as he looked around. "Last thing I remember was jumping in front of Fu before that creep could kill her.

His thoughts came to a screeching halt when Fu's name came to mind, "Oh kami, is she alright, what did that bastard do to me? Did he throw me into the sewers after he was finished with me? Did he finish her off?"

"One thing is for sure, I need to get out of here, and fast." Naruto looked around tried to find an exit, taking a guess, Naruto began to walk. After a few minutes of walking, the boy came upon a crossroad. There were two paths, and Naruto had no idea which way to go. However, a feeling told the blonde to go down the left corridor. After a few more minutes of walking, Naruto was considering turning around when he heard a voice or rather an echo from further down the hall.

" Please come here, I need help…" a faint voice called, Naruto's eyes widened. "Fu, Fu-chan, is that you? He called out. When the voice didn't reply, Naruto panicked and began to run as fast he could in the direction of the voice. From the sound of it, whoever it is, this person was in trouble and if it was Fu, it doesn't look like she had much time. Naruto ran as fast he could until he reached what appeared to be a large gate to some kind of cage; it was larger than the Hokage monument and almost three times as wide. The inside of the cage was pitch black, but the soothing voice rang from the insides of the cage.

"Please, help me, come here come closer…" the voice was louder, but it was still pretty hard to hear. "Don't worry! I'm coming!" Naruto ran to the door of the cage where he saw a small paper tag with the kanji for "seal" was hanging firmly to the g. The blonde took a quick glance at the paper tag, before venturing closer to the gate.

"Yes, come closer to the gate, I don't wanna be alone…" the voice said, her sobs slowly beginning to die down.

"Who are you, where are we, how did you get into that cage?" The boy asked, he ran towards the gate trying to alert to catch a glimpse of whoever is behind the gate. Inside the cage was nothing but darkness, but two crimson eyes peered out from the darkness followed by a large Cheshire smile. The figure began to make a low deep yipping noise that seemed like a sick mixture between a giggle and a bark. Naruto gave a surprised shout when a claw suddenly reached out from behind the gate; the boy was shocked and instinctively jumped back in fright. This action proved to save the blonde as the claw came just short of piercing his skull.

"Hmm, I suppose it is a good thing you dodged that boy," the creature said calmly, almost like it was talking about accidently throwing a ball at someone rather than killing his host. "Having an idiot for a host is only slightly better than having a brain dead one." The lights of the sewer brightened and the monster that almost killed Naruto slowly came into view. The creature was in the image of a fox, although it's upper half looked vaguely humanoid. It's eyes, red with bloodlust and cunning, gleamed like a star at the whimpering creature on the other side of the cage. There was a small moment of silence between the two figures before the mosterous fox spoke.

"Well, since you aren't going to talk, I suppose it's my turn to talk. As you can clearly see, unless you're more pathetic than I thought, I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune." The biju told it's host, a flash of pride running through it's eyes.

"What's wrong boy, am I that impressive that I leave you speechless?" The Kyuubi asked, something similar to a smirk running down his face. Naruto was still gaping about the fact that he was nearly killed by the monster that he had found out that was sealed inside him only shortly before.

"Again you forfeit your turn to speak, so I shall continue. I've been waiting a long time for this moment boy, some seven years in fact. And to my happiness, you've discovered my existence inside your body." It was obvious even to Naruto in his fear stricken mind that the fox was extremely sarcastic about the happiness part. "My happiness about finally having a means to escape this dreary dump you call a mind and breathing fresh clean air once again…"

"w-what do y-you mean b-by that?" Naruto stuttered, the boy was slowly getting over his fear of the creature in front of him. When the Kyuubi's massive claw came down to strike him, he almost wetted himself over the idea that the fox could (and tried) to kill him. However, he could clearly see that the Kyuubi was trapped behind that gate with no way to harm him, so some of his confidence was returning.

"Since this is our first contact, I will explain it to you simply. In my millenniums of life, this was not the first time that I had been sealed into a human. Granted, this is the first time I ever been sealed into three human consecutively," The Kyuubi added this last part with overwhelming distaste and reminiscence, almost like recalling a particular bad memory (give you a few guess on what that means). "Anyway, I've made it my goal to make sure that the host doesn't die with me still contained in them."

"So what does that mean?" Naruto asked, his tone hinting annoyance, the Kyuubi gave a small bark of laughter before responding, "I in my infinite generosity, decided to give you one of my abilities, one of the more … nasty ones." The monster finished this statement with a deep barking laugh, while Naruto stared at the kitsune with a confused look.

However, confusion slowly changed into anger as the boy began to get annoyed with the laughing figure in front of him. "Oi, what are you laughing at! What do you mean give me one of your abilities?" the boy asked in anger.

The Kyuubi dropped down to eye level, to the point where Naruto could see his reflection in the beast's monstrous red eyes. "You, ningen-chan, will be blessed with one of the powers that made the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a feared monstrosity to your people, this is to make sure that you don't die before the time is right. You should be grateful, gaki ; I've given you a means to protect yourself from those who want to hurt you."

"Grateful, Grateful? It's your entire fault that the villagers hate me in the first place. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't even need protection, I probably would have been adopted! I would've had friends who like me and fight for me! So what makes you think that I would use anything that you give me, when everything that you ever did made my life hell?" The blonde shouted at the bijuu, anger flashing through his eyes, tears beginning to fall from his face.

"It doesn't matter whether you want to use it or not, eventually you will have no choice but to use my power and once you sample it, it will become like a drug and you will crave it…" The Kyuubi gave a final evil grin before it began to glow red. The energy that was coming from the fox was foul, it leaked from the cage like and creped against the ground towards Naruto like a cloud of bloody smog. "You will crave it and like any addict you will want more. So much more that you will do anything for the taste…" The cloud of demonic chakra grew taller and taller in front of cage almost like a wall shielding the Kyuubi from sight; Naruto shivered at the sight but couldn't force himself away. "When that day comes, you will come back… till then Uzumaki Naruto accept my gift!"

The wall of dark red chakra reached the ceiling of the cage and then like a tidal wave, came crashing down with the force of a small hurricane. Naruto was caught in the waves of what looked like blood and was pushed away from the cage and out of his mindscape.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune stared at the space where Naruto once and gave an evil smile. 'It was still much early to give that boy my gift. It has severely weakened me to force that much energy through the seal with it as strong as it still is. I will need rest after this to regain my strength for when the boy comes back,' With that thought the most powerful bijuu closed its eyes and began to enter slumber patiently awaiting for his container to return and bring it's freedom that much closer.

"I bid you farewell, Hokage-sama, and thank you for kindness over the situation." Shigeru took a very deep bow, his face conveying the fear, happiness, sadness, anger, and regret he had over the situation all at the same time. "Once again, Takigakure is willing to make concessions to prevent the dissolution of any agreements."

Sarutobi stared Shigeru directly in his eyes, his brown eyes searching through the soul of his counterpart from Gekiryu no Kuni (Land of Raging Streams). The Hokage knew that the he should be angry and that he should enact some kind of punishment for Takigakure, however he knew that the reason for said punishment wouldn't go through most people of the village.

"Despite the tragedy of one of Konoha's citizens being hurt, we see no reason to force Takigakure to suffer more than it already has because of this incident." The Hokage said with a solemn face, while he was angered that Naruto was hurt, the culprit was clearly acting alone seeing as he was willing to kill his master's beloved niece to finish his mission and knew the secret of the Kyuubi. That added to the Fu's testimony of the incident implied heavily that there was a third party involved in this. A third party who had a stake in ruining either ruining Takigakure's or Konohagakure's reputation.

"Thank you Hokage-sama, thank you for your understanding our deep distress and regret over this incident. Fu and I wish to express our condolences over Naruto's condition and will pay for any medical expenditure." Shigeru told Sarutobi, before leaving the room. The Hokage stood alone in the empty meeting room for a few minutes before calling Itachi to tell Itachi to arrive in his office within the next two hours.

Rin Higurashi was standing by the side of her sensei's only legacy, her eyes looking at the blonde with a mixture of regret and relief. It was a few hours since the boy was admitted into the hospital, and his recovery has been described as nothing short of miraculous. Although she managed to stop the bleeding and heal his injury, it's been years since she actually applied her knowledge of medicine outside of healing a sore bruise or cut. The doctors did a check up of the boy and concluded that the boy was already beginning to heal and only need help much to Rin's happiness.

"It's good to see your first month back in Konoha was full of surprises Rin-chan," a voice said from the door behind her. Rin turned around quickly, and her brown eyes met the aged eyes of the Sandaime Hokage. He walked in, closing the door behind him, and stood next to her facing Naruto.

"I assume the move into your family's old shop went smoothly, I heard that you managed to get Naruto and his little friend to help you," the old man spoke with a conversational tone although his attention was thoroughly focused on the boy.

.Rin replied with the same tone of voice that she used around Naruto and her children earlier today, "Yep, the two were pretty good workers, better than that lazy good-for-nothing son of mine that's for sure!"

The Hokage chuckled, the discussion between the two moved away from the obvious issue and to a lighter one "So what do you plan for the boy, Hokage-sama?" Rin asked, her voice was serious, the Hokage's eyes appeared to be slightly down trodden as he gave a deep sigh.

"… The boy has suffered immense mental trauma, I never intend for the boy to learn of his burden; at least, not at this moment anyway…," The Hokage trailed off, his soft brown eyes staring at Naruto. Rin was slightly annoyed that the man hadn't answered her question, but decided to ask another question that had been on her mind since he avoid the last one.

"Why didn't you tell Naruto about the Kyuubi before, doesn't he have the right to know about why people treat him the way he does?" Rin asked, her eyes demanding.

"From what I know about the seal that Minato used, the bijuu can only make contact with their host only if the host is aware of them." The Hokage told the former kunochi, after seeing the look of confusion briefly pass through Rin's eyes, he elaborated, "Essentially, the seal takes the idea of out of sight, out of mind to a whole new level. As long as Naruto wasn't aware of the Kyuubi, then he didn't have to risk the monster affecting his mind at all."

"So that's why you made that law against informing him about the Kyuubi, ." Rin questioned, the Hokage gave a small smile and nodded.

"Many thought that the law was for Naruto to have a normal childhood, and in truth that was only part of the reason. Its main purpose was to prevent his tenant from having any influence on the boy. If a jinrichiriki is aware of its inmate, than the bijuu can affect both the mind and the body of the container. Since Naruto had the Kyuubi since birth, he was only subconsciously aware of the beast. The best influence the Kyuubi could have on him was passive at best, such as slightly faster recovery for injuries, and higher chakra than normal, the typical advantages that all jinrichiriki possesses with no negative effect on his mind, except for a few fox like qualities." The Sandaime explained, "However, now the beast can exert influence on the boy himself, even runs the possibility of possessing the boy if he was to draw upon the Kyuubi's chakra."

Rin's eyes widened, she admitted this was a very valid reason not to allow the boy to know that the beast was inside of him. However, that didn't excuse other things that the man did to the boy. "In that case then, why alert the village of the Naruto's status as the container? If no one knew then the chances of someone accidently slipping him the secret would be nil and the boy could have that normal childhood he deserves."

The Hokage took a drag from his pipe and said in remorsefully, "Sadly, it wouldn't have matter. Many ANBU and ninja were on the scene when the Kyuubi was sealed into the boy. We all saw how the sacrifice both Kushina and Minato made. The news would have spread due to the drunken haze that affected most of the shinobi after the attack, after all, adrenaline was high and tension was at a fever pitch. We all need some relief before we began morning the dead, and if I'm not wrong, you yourself were caught mingling with a certain shinobi that night," The Hokage's eyes changed from reminiscent look to a slightly perverted gleam, as Rin's face blushed slightly.

"The point is that those people where probably going to blurt out the information anyway. Not only that, people would begin to wonder about the true death of the Fox. I felt that it would have been better if the people were to know the truth, than for rumors to spread. My enforcement of the law was very strict however. Anyone who told someone from the post Kyuubi attack generation about the Kyuubi was dealt with accordingly,"

"Why didn't you just tell the village that he was Minato-sensei's son? That surely would have treated the boy like the hero he was supposed to be, there wouldn't have been any need for that law," Rin asked angrily. This was one thing about Naruto's situation that always bothered her even when she left Konoha.

"You know, I find it rather interesting to hear that from you, Rin Higurashi," the Hokage replied cooly, causing Rin to flinch, "I tend to remember both you and Kakashi's reactions to your late sensei's son. He drowned himself into work, not even bothering to check on the son of whom he claimed was a father figure, and you left the village to become a merchant, because you told me that you just couldn't handle the stress anymore! Kushina was forced to leave her home, become the second jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi, deal with the destruction of her original home and clan, and loss both of her original teammates; yet was strong enough to take you under her wing at your time of need. You abandoned her son when he was forced into the horrors of being a human sacrifice, a life of distrust, hatred and violence. How do you think your sensei or Kushina would react to you and Kakashi's betrayal?" Rin had the decency to look ashamed, it was true that she left the village simply to escape from reality of her sensei's and his wife's death. Both, especially Kushina, were there for her during the deaths of her parents, the falling out she had with her brother, and the death of Obito. A few tears involuntarily fell out of her eyes as she turned away from the Hokage to hide her shame.

Sarutobi noticed the saddened expression on her face and his voice softened a bit, "The villagers were willing to ignore Minato's final wish because they were in pain and they were suffering, do you honestly believe that if we were going to treat the boy any different. If anything, they would use it as justification to harm the boy by claiming that the demon possesses the body of the Yondaime's son or believing that it was an attempt to stop any harm from the boy. The people were set in their beliefs the moment I announced the result of the Kyuubi attack; Naruto's going to have to be the one that changes their beliefs, his heritage won't help him." Sarutobi gave a deep sigh and ran a hand through paper thin hair as he walked over to the window on the far side of the room.

Rin whipped the tears from her face and followed the Hokage to the window her eyes took in the sight. Naruto's room had a picturesque view of the entire village, the Hokage Monument and all the individual buildings of the village stood sliently under the moonlight. Rin's trained eye could track a few ninja running across rooftops either returning from a mission or simply patrolling the village. Some drunken villagers could be seen walking around struggling to stumble into their homes.

"Do you think that Minato-sensei would have sacrificed himself if he would see he would've known that this would have happened?" Sarutobi gave another deep sigh at Rin's question, his eyes scanned the village that he was born and raised in ,and if fate will have it, die in. "I don't know Rin-chan, only time will tell if Minato took the right action

Takigakure was a rather small hidden village, with a ninja population of a little under a thousand. As the leader of a small shinobi village, Shigeru knew almost every ninja that wore a Takigakure headband much better than the Kages of larger villages knew their shinobi. Therefore, when Fu told him of the attack that one of his elite guards, who were actually a good friend of his, attacked both his niece and the surrogate grandson of the Hokage, he knew something was entirely wrong with the situation.

"Fu-chan," he told his niece, the girl had been quiet during their entire walk home not saying a word to Shigeru, her orange eyes stared at the ground, " I know that you were scared when you saw Mizurio attack Naruto, please don't let your mind continue to dwell on that moment, it's over and I want you know that he has been taken care of. Naruto has arrived at the hospital and is in good condition thanks to you."

Seeing that Fu wasn't responding to him, he gave a small sigh and sent the small girl of to bed. As soon as he was sure that she was asleep, Shigeru's anger collided across the room. While Shigeru wasn't a official Kage he did posses the strength of one or at least a high Jonin in terms of power. He quickly appeared across the room in front of one of his guards.

"Senji, you were with Mizurio the longest during this trip, now answere me honestly did you have any idea of what he was planning?" Shigeru's voice lacked a tone in fact the best way to describe it was analytical, like he was attempting to solve a puzzle.

Senji jumped in panic and gave his lord his standing attention, "No sir, Jonin Mizurio showed no sign of false play nor did he meet with any clients during his time here in Konoha, sir!"

"Interesting, and I have no for a fact that Mizurio couldn't have talked with a client while we were in Takigakure, or on the trip here. That means one of two things; both of these involve genjutsu…" Shigeru thought as he studied Senji, in case his guard was lying to him. After not detecting a lie, Shigeru gave the order for his men to rest for tonight. He had some thinking to do…"

The Hokage was sitting at his desk calmly smoking from his pipe when he detected a familiar chakra signature shunshining into his office. He calmly watches as a ninja dressed in full ANBU attire materialized in front of him. The man crouched down and stood waiting for the Hokage to acknowledge him.

"Weasel-san, please tell me the events of what happened earlier today. " The Hokage said rather calmly, the ninja in front of him gave a nod, stood and began to speak.

"Sir, at the time I was off duty when a young girl with green hair ran into me. She was panicking and I offered to go into the forest to search for the boy. I went out into the forest to search for the boy and was having difficulty finding him. Naruto as you know hasn't had his chakra unlocked and due to the boy focusing on hiding from the enemy ninja, he unconsciously lowered his chakra, making finding him difficult." The Hokage nodded, when the boy occasionally pulled pranks or was running from irate villagers and ninja he had a talent for hiding himself. "Eventually, I was able to pick up on their location when the Taki-nin used a jutsu, but I was too late to stop the boy from being injured and told the girl to take him away from the battle ground. Afterwards, I was able to dispatch the the enemy but not before he said something that caught my attention." Weasel paused to take a short breath and ask for permission to continue onwards.

After seeing the Hokage nodded his approval to continue, he spoke again, " The ninja by the name of Mizurio called me Uchiha-sama, and seemed to be implied that my clan had something to do with the attack. At the same time, the large commotion that was going through, and there should have been some kind of patrol of the Konoha Police going by the woods. Instead there was a large absent of any ninja anywhere near the area and after closer examination of Mizurio's body, I discovered that there was an almost unnoticeable genjutsu on the man. I only noticed it because of my Sharingan and my familiarity with the foreign chakra that induced the genjutsu"

"So that means the Uchiha clan had something to do with this?" Sarutobi sighed, his hands reached into his desk and pulled out his trusty pipe. After putting a bit of tobacco into it, he turned to the ANBU officer, and asked, " I assume that you know the one who casted the genjutsu correct?"

"Hai, I can almost gurantee that it was Shisui Uchiha who casted the genjustu, under the direct order of Fugaku Uchiha if I might add."

" I was afraid of this, it appears that the Uchiha are beginning to make their move, far sooner than I thought they would. Tell me, Weasal-san, have the Uchiha discussed with you any plans or timetables for their coup d'etat," the Sandaime asked.

"Hokage-sama I can confirm that the main family of the Uchiha are almost unanimous in their support of a village takeover; however, the outcast family are harder to get an true idea on. They support the idea that the Uchiha clan shouldn't be treated like second class citizens and deserve the respect that all clans possess but shows little support at the aspect of seizing control of the village and are generally against the main family of the Uchiha. I can't however give you a timetable for when the clan plans on conquering the village, the only thing I know for sure is that they will attempt the plan in the coming year. "

The Hokage said nothing for a moment as he finally lit his pipe and took a drag from it, after a few moments the ANBU in front of him and said quietly, "If the village was to make concessions to the Uchiha, would they be willing to call off their takeover?"

The Weasel masked ninja thought for a moment before responding, "The Outcasts would be willing to accept the concessions but the Madara's line has already marked its course for total conquest. Even if the outcast chose not to participate in the coup d'état, they would be forced to chose sides and would more than likely support the Uchiha due to the connection of family and the threats of the main family."

The Sandaime took another drag of his pipe and bored his eyes through the porclain mask and into the eyes of the ninja in front of him, "Very well then, I'm sorry Weasel-san; it appears Operation: Dying Embers must be launched."

The shinobi showed no signs of reacting to the news, his posterior remain stiff and upright, ready to act at any moment. With a perfectly monotone voice he responds to his leader, "Yes, Hokage-sama it will be done." With those words, the Sandaime Hokage dismissed the ANBU; the moonlight from the window casted a long shadow against the aged man as he continued to smoke his pipe.

Naruto's eyes began to flicker, and slowly his bright blue eyes began to adjust to the light of the hospital room. The boy started to sit up but was stopped when a sharp pain ran throughout his body; the blonde looked down to see that his chest was covered in bandages. Confusion ran across his face before it was replaced with the memory of him being stabbed protecting Fu. "I got to the hospital that means someone must of saved me, was it Fu-chan?" The blonde thought before he gave a second attempt to sit up. He was surprised to feel no pain when he attempted it a second time and decided to get up and walk.

However it was a familiar voice that stopped him in his tracks, " Glad to see you up, Naruto-kun you gave us all a scare for awhile." Naruto's face turned towards the door and saw the Sandaime Hokage with a grandfatherly smile on his face. However, to the Sandaime's surprise, Naruto didn't greet him with a smile of his own but a neutral face, his head was looking down with his hair covering his face, so that the Sarutobi couldn't see his eyes.

"Are you okay, Naruto-kun?" he tried to get closer to the boy and lay a comforting hand on his shoulder but the boy shrugged it off.

"Y-you lied to me Hokage-ojii-san," Naruto said in a quiet voice. The Hokage's eyes widened at the tone of the boy's voice. Unlike the normal high pitched, sunny, happy tone of voice the blonde usually had it was empty of any warmth. It was almost like the sun was being covered by clouds.

"Naruto, I want you to know that what that man said to you before doesn't change anything, that you still are Naruto Uzumaki not the Kyuubi no Kitsune." "I know that, but why did you lie to me all those times when you told me that you didn't know why people didn't like me! You knew why everyone keeps glaring at me; you knew why everyone keeps trying to hurt me! How do I know that you weren't lying to me about other things?"

The Hokage flinched at his words and the boy's suspicious tone. "Naruto, I want you know that I wasn't trying to hurt you…" Sarutobi started before Naruto responded angrily, "But I did get hurt! I remember getting hurt when they were they attacked me, I was hurt when those villagers were pulling those kids away from me!" Naruto showed him his eyes, his bright sky blue orbs were filled to the brim with tears. "I was hurt that everyone knew why people hated me, that the person I want to be like lied to me! So tell me, what else are you lying to me about?" This last part was almost a scream; tears were running down his face as he glared at the old man who seemed to age even more.

For a second, Sarutobi debated about telling Naruto his family, about his father and mother, but decided against it. Even if Naruto hated him, he couldn't risk the boy's family name coming out. He also couldn't risk the idea of Naruto developing a hatred for the 4th Hokage, or a hatred for the village. "Naruto, there is nothing else that I am hiding from, I promise on my word as the Hokage that is the only thing I kept from you,"

The blonde looked into the eyes of the Hokage attempting to read him. However, Sarutobi has had over 50 plus years in telling bold faced lies and open handed deception, a seven year old couldn't possibly read him. The boy was no exception when he gave a small nod, his eyes turning away from the Hokage, looking out the window. "Why didn't you tell me?" his voice was quiet again, although a bit shaky.

"I didn't tell you because I didn't want to burden you at such a young age with such a great burden." The Hokage started, sitting on the bed next to the boy. "I wanted you to have a normal childhood, grow up and make friends. I wanted you to be seen as a hero for containing the Kyuubi and keeping it from hurting anyone else. Sadly, the village didn't see it my way. However, Naruto one day they will view you as a hero, someone to admire and respect."

Seeing that the boy wasn't responding, the Hokage sighed, "I just want you to know Naruto, that you aren't the Kyuubi and that there are people who care about you no matter what."

Naruto didn't respond as he continued to look out the window, his face blank of emotions. "By the way, Naruto. Fu-chan has been very worried about you, I'll tell her that you have woken up and that you will be able to visit her tomorrow before she goes. She quite determined to talk to you Naruto, in fact if I didn't know any better I figured something happened yesterday," Naruto spluttered for a moment, causing the Sandaime laugh at the boy and his almost cute attempt at a glare. It looks like the boy would get over the trauma in due time.

After the Hokage left, Naruto was forced to stay at the hospital for another day to properly heal and to treat any prevailing injuries. The doctors and nurses treated the boy like he was a normal patient although there were a few complaints when they thought the boy was out of ear shot. Regardless, the boy was released the next day and was now in front of the village gates with the Hokage and the Taki-nin.

Shigeru was wearing the same outfit that he had arrived in Konoha in, his conical hat covering his eyes as he walked over to the blonde and bent down. The man gave the boy a wry smile and said, "Thank you, Naruto-kun, for showing Fu-chan a good time while we were here. I also want to thank you for protecting Fu-chan. In fact, isn't there something you want to tell him, Fu-chan"

The celadon haired girl walked up and approached Naruto her face was entirely neutral. Before Naruto could, the girl punched him directly in the face. "What the hell is you problem! Is this how you talk to people who save your life, marimo?" the blonde shouted holding his nose.

"What the hell is the matter with you? Why did you jump in front of me, I could have saved myself! You almost got yourself killed, Hige-baka!"

Naruto paused for a split moment; he was surprised that someone actually cared enough to be concerned, although he wasn't going to allow someone especially someone he saved, to yell at him. "The only reason I tried to save you was because I didn't want my friend to be killed in front of me, Marimo-mushi!" Fu was also taken back, but quickly responded with an insult of her own.

The insults would have continued to fly if the Hokage hadn't instantly diffused the situation by saying "Ah young love, hmmh, Shigeru-san?"

"Yes, you can tell that they love each other through their quarreling. Maybe we should make a marriage contract between the two…" the man punctuated this statement with a hand on his chin giving off a thoughtful look, causing the two jinchuuriki to blush.

"Ignoring the two love bugs here, may we you have a safe journey back to Takigakure, Shigeru-san. The arrangements of our agreement will be provided by my own elite ninja in the near future." The Hokage told the still giggling man who nodded.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama for your hospitality and for your kindness. I promise that as long as I live Takigakure will be Konoha's ally. And as for you Naruto-kun, thank you," the man turned to the blonde and gave a deep bow "Without you, Fu-chan would have died, and I would have lost the last piece of my brother I have left. Thank you,"

"Um, arigato Shigeru-san," Naruto said sheepishly, his hand instinctively going to the back of his head as a smile grew on his face. A similar smile formed on Shigeru's face as he turned around. "You'll be a great man on day, Naruto-kun. I wish you and Konoha good fortunes,"

Shigeru gave a final bow before turning around and leaving the village, his guards were following behind him closely. Naruto was then surprised when he felt something wrap around him and something soft and warm touch his cheeks. Fu pulled back, and turned away hiding her blush, "Thanks, Naruto-kun. I hope we see each other again one day," she murmured before running to catch up with her uncle and the guards. Naruto stood there in shock, a bright pink flush running along his face, as he watched Fu and company pull away into the distance. The Hokage gave a chuckle as he watched the shell shocked blonde stare blankly in the direction of the Taki-nin. He turned around and began to walk away, but not before giving a subtle gesture.

"Looks like this is my chance,"

"Wow, only seven years old, and already stealing kisses, I might have to keep Souten away from you." Naruto turned around to see Higurashi walking towards him with a smile on her face. She was wearing a green bandana over hear long brown hair. She was wearing a tan long sleeved shirt with brown pants. "Higurashi-san! What are you doing here?" the blonde asked the approaching woman.

"Well, I heard that your little girlfriend was about to leave the village and I wanted to say goodbye. Looks like I came a bit too late for that unfortunately." She said as she looked out towards the distance. "I also wanted to have a few words with you, Hige-kun." She got closer to the blonde, who backed away causing her smile to dim a bit.

Naruto gained a confused look, and asked the brunette, "What do you mean, Higurashi-san?" The memory of the attack was still fresh in his mind, and the knowledge of why people hated him didn't make him feel any more comfortable around people. However, the woman had defended him against the genin who were giving Fu and him a hard time and from what he heard, healed him when he was injured.

"Remember the shop that you and your girlfriend were helping me work on. Well, there is something that I want to show you. "Higurashi said calmly, her tone remained motherly and soothing, attempting to dissuade any negative thoughts.

Naruto thought for a moment before saying, "Fine, let's go… wait no SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

The blonde had to admit, that in a few days, Higurashi's shop changed from it's worn out state to an actual shop. Although, it didn't look like any shop that Naruto had seen before. There were several racks to the far corner of the shop with several varities of clothes on them. Aisles had a large assortment of weapons from Kunai to Katanas, any weapon in between. Behind the counter, Souten was reading a book. "Welcome to our store, please don't steal anything," she drawled not even bothering to lift her face from the book.

"Souten, that's not how you greet guest! And where is your brother, he was supposed to be sweeping up the store!"

"Nii-san, left with Tenten-chan to go train with staffs again, he told me not to tell you" the brown haired girl answered, turning the page of her book nonchalantly, oblivious to her mother's growing anger.

"The nerve of these children, they both are turning out like those damned teammates of mine…" Higurashi muttered under her breath. "Anyway, what do you think of the store, Hige-kun?"

"Wow this store looks so much different than before. Where did all this stuff come from?" Naruto asked Higurashi who puffed up in pride.

"Due to my superior skills as a merchant over the last few years, I was able to gain vital contacts over the land. With this, I was able to get clothes and foreign goods from all over the Elemental Nations. As you know, I was a medic-nin; so I am able to produce medical goods and provided it cheaper than my competition. Finally, my brother, Kane (rin means bell so does kane), is a blacksmith and provides me some of his wears to sell. That combined with my family's old store means that I have the world's first all purpose one stop shop ninja mart!"

" Um…, I just wanted to know where the stuff came from." Naruto said quietly, causing Higurashi to deflate and getting a giggle from Souten.

"Damn brats, I try to be a nice person, allow hige-gaki to get shinobi supplies from here for free, yet a brat has to say something like that…" Higurashi muttered angrily yet loud enough for the blonde to hear him.

After seeing Naruto's surprised look, Higurashi gained a smug look. "What, I don't see the point of owning a one stop shop for cheap ninja equipment, clothing, and medicine and not taking advantage of it, don't you think," Higurashi grinned, as Naruto looked around the store.

"So I can get any thing I want from here?" Naruto asked his eyes wide with the option of buying whatever he wanted for Academy.

"Hah, no," Higurashi grinned at Naruto's shocked expression. "You can get anything you want within reason, and I expect you to work here every weekend." She studied Naruto's shocked expression and decided that now was the chance to give the news and see how he'd react. "Hey, brat don't look at me like that; I'll be giving you free room and board from now on, that is the very least you could do for me,"

The blonde adapted a confused look and asked, "What do you mean free room and board?" Higurashi gave a big smile and replied, "Well, the Hokage-sama felt that you shouldn't be living along anymore with some one that would treat you right, after finding out about your burden and since I'm such a nice person, I decide to adopt you."

Naruto was at a loss for words, and all he could mutter was "What?"

"Yeah, I decide that you shouldn't be living by yourself at your age and since you still technically an orphan and a ward of the state, the Hokage can allow you to join my little family if you wish." Higurashi said this without her more upbeat tone and with a more subtle almost motherly tone.

"But why would you want to be with me, you know what I have in me don't you?" the blonde's voice was beginning to rise as his emotions were bubbling to the surface. He almost didn't want to believe her, especially after what he learned not only two days ago.

Higurashi heard the sound of the backroom door shutting after Naruto's outburst and gave a small sigh. She couldn't help but be happy that her daughter at least possessed enough tact to leave the room when a sensitive situation came up. Her brother would have only gotten in the middle of the situation, "Naruto what makes you think … that would stop me from wanting you?"

"That is why everyone hates me and treats me like a monster, what makes you think I'm going to believe you, huh?" Naruto's eyes glared into Higurashi daring her. Rin knew that she had to be careful how she worded her statement otherwise Naruto would storm out with more hatred than ever.

"Naruto… when you were injured Fu had brought you hear and begged me to heal you. At that moment, I had your life in my hands and if I wanted to I could have just let you died or made your injuries even worse. Instead, I healed to the best conditions I could. When you were on the counter bleeding, I didn't see a demon or a monster, all I saw was an injured boy. I heard about the way you lived and how people treated you, I believe that no one should have to go through that kind of thing." She drew closer to Naruto who was beginning to sob and said quietly, "Besides I said that you and I are friends, I didn't just say that to make you do free work, I did mean it."

There was a moment of silence as Naruto dealt with the feelings that were dwelling in his chest. He honestly didn't know how to react or what to say to Higurashi, "Will I have to change my name to Higurashi?" Naruto mumbled, forcing tears not to rise in his eyes.

"No, you spent your entire life as Naruto Uzumaki, I won't force you to become Naruto Higurashi if you don't want to be." The woman said with a kind smile. Naruto forced tears to stop from forming in his eyes, it was always the dream of every orphan to be adopted, to be accepted into some kind of family. He sobbed silently as he felt warm arms slowly but softly envelope him into a gentle hug, he attempted to fight it for a second but gave in to the warmth. Higurashi keep a small smile on her face as she embraced the blonde. She will make sure that she lives up to her sensei and her role model's expectation and raise Naruto like one of her own children.

An: Chapter 6 is now complete. Okay anyway, it's been awhile, but I've busy with the new job. Anyway this is part one of a three part plan I have that detail the time between now and Academy Grauation. In case my Chapter 5 rant suggested otherwise, there will be an Uchiha Massacre. I hope that my angst wasn't to lackluster but I hope to improve later. Hopefully, I can get second part out of the Academy Years Arc , which is techinqincally the beginning, out of the way before the end of the month.

Apologizes are in order, there will be no rant because I want this chapter out, I'm tired of looking at it. So please review it's free and easy, just click the review this chapter button! And remember every time you review the likelihood that Fu will break free of the Edo Tenshi return back to life and help Naruto defeat Madara increase!