Naruto woke up that morning to a ceiling he hadn't seen in nearly two years and let a goofy smile creep up his face. He was back in his village. While traveling and training with that pervy sage had been fun it was good to be home. It didn't matter to him one bit that it was a tiny whole in the wall apartment, it was all his, every inch of it. He took in a deep breath of morning air and immediately regretted it as he began to cough violently. There was still a lot of dust floating around that an entire night of open windows hadn't cured yet.
Naruto sat up in his bed and looked at his out of date calendar out of habit. He was momentarily amazed that he had so quickly gotten back into his old routine so quickly before shaking his head and jumping out of bed. Ah, boundless energy was a great thing in the morning. First things first though he would take a shower, get dressed and pay a visit to grandma-Tsunade. He made his way to the bathroom, made a face at the gross amount of spider webs, returned to the kitchen for a broom and eliminated said spider webs. Maybe he could hire a cleaning crew, well that is if he had any money. He hadn't even had enough to take Sakura out on a date last night.
He finished his shower and dried off, wrapping the towel around his waist before going back to his bedroom. He stood in front of the mirror attached to his dresser and raked a hand through his long shaggy hair. He really needed to get it cut; he had never had it the long before. Naruto was kind of amused at the fact that no matter how long his hair got that it never got in his eyes but seemed to grow up and out. He turned his head side to side trying to decide if he really wanted to get it cut or just leave it be, it did make him look older. Maybe it would better his chances with Sakura if he looked more mature.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of his pictures of the first through fourth Hokages, his hero's. They all wore stoic faces, as though they were ready to give their lives for the village at a moment's notice, which they all did eventually. His eyes traveled from the First, with his long black hair to his brother the Second, next to the Third who Naruto affectionately remembered as old man, and finally to the Fourth, the savior. The more Naruto stared at the Fourths picture the more he frowned.
He glanced to his own reflection in the mirror and then back to the Fourth's picture. Was it just his imagination or was there a resemblance there? Naruto reached out and plucked the picture off the wall and brought it closer to his face. He studied the features of the great man before him and compared them to his own. They both had the same spiky blonde hair that grew everywhere but down into their faces. They had the same bright blue eyes that had a dark blue rim around the outer edges. The shape of their eyes and faces were different though. But then he saw that they had the same shape of the mouth. How odd.
Could the Fourth really be a long lost family member of his? The similarities were just too great to be coincidence, he even recalled that pervy sage and Kakashi-sensei had both compared him to the Fourth in the looks department. Was it so farfetched that he might be related to the Fourth? Maybe he was Naruto's brother, but that didn't sound quiet right. He tried to remember back to when Iruka-sensei had been giving them a lesson on the Hokages. He couldn't remember a thing about the Fourth's age, he had probably skipped that day.
He looked closer at the picture in his hand and decided the man must have been around thirty something, way too old for a brother, so maybe… father? Naruto felt his heart beat a little faster at that. Father. The Fourth could have possibly been his father. Naruto took a moment to let that sink in, he could have a father, who cared if it was the same man who sealed a demon into his new born body and was the Fourth Hokage, he might have a real father. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the man in the picture, he was afraid to let the picture go because if he did so would the possibility of family.
After a few more minutes of just staring at the man he heard a banging on his door. He ripped himself away from dreamland and placed the picture down before racing to his front door. He flung it open, forgetting he was still only in a towel to see Sakura and Hinata standing before him, both with very large eyes and red faces.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" he asked putting a hand to both their foreheads.
Hinata promptly fainted while Sakura jerked away and raised a threatening fist to him. Naruto felt the blood drain from his face and backed away. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" she screeched. "Why are you just in a towel?"
He was still in a towel! "What!" he tried to unsuccessfully cover himself and backed into his apartment, slamming the door in the pink haired beasts face.
He quickly scrambled back to his bedroom and pulled on his cloths, his thoughts from before completely forgotten in the embarrassment of being caught half naked by the two girls. He rushed back out of his apartment to see that Sakura had sat Hinata up against the wall, who was still passed out.
He gave a nervous laugh when Sakura fixed him with a scathing glare. "Sorry, I had just gotten out of the shower and then I got distracted!" he explained quickly.
She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Hinata who had started to come to. Naruto went over and crouched down in front of her putting on a big smile for her. "Hey Hinata, sorry about that I had just got out of the shower."
"Naruto." Hinata squeaked before turning red again.
Naruto was about to lift his hand to her forehead again and was about to suggest that she go see a medical ninja when he was pushed forcefully away by Sakura. "Just go on to Lady Tsunade's and we'll meet you there." She said.
Out of fear for his life he complied but was still worried about Hinata. Every time he saw her she was red in the face and passed out, he would talk to grandma-Tsunade about it when he saw her. As he walked down the streets to the Hokage Tower he looked up and saw the monument and he remembered what he had been thinking about before he had exposed himself to Hinata and Sakura.
He was so busy staring at the Hokage monument that he didn't notice someone was in his path till he collided with them and fell to his butt.
"Watch where you're going squirt." Came the all too familiar voice of the pervy sage, his sensei for the last two years.
"Oh sorry." He mumbled out as he stood back up.
He looked the tall white haired man up and down before a thought stuck him. "Hey pervy sage!" he said earning a glare from the man in question.
"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that, kid?" he asked a routine the two had developed over the years.
And like always Naruto ignored the question and continued on with his train of thought. "You said you used to be the Fourth Hokage's sensei, right?"
Jiraiya lifted his chin and looked down at Naruto who was still a foot and a half shorter than him. "Yeah?" He said casually.
"Did he have any family?" Naruto asked almost hesitantly.
"His parents died when he was young and he didn't have any siblings." Naruto didn't know that his sensei was being evasive.
Naruto looked down at his feet for a moment, "Did," Naruto paused while he worked up the courage to ask the next question. "Did he have any kids?"
"Why so interested in the Fourth Hokage all of a sudden?" he asked.
"Well I was just thinking that we kinda look a lot alike." He said nervously. "You even said once that I look like him and so did Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto finished quickly.
"Hmmm." Jiraiya hummed. "When the Fourth died sealing the nine-tails in you all information about his personal life were sealed as well to protect those who could be considered close to him. Any discussion on the matter was forbidden by the Third Hokage."
Naruto looked back down at his feet and kicked the dirt with his sandal. "Can't I know though, I mean he did seal the Fox in me."
The Sannin sighed. "Maybe, but that's a story for another time." He said ruffling the boy's hair affectionately. "Anyway, aren't you late for your mission debriefing with Tsunade?"
Realization dawned on him and he felt the blood drain from his face, he was already on her bad list for continuing to call her grandma-Tsunade. He tore off down the street without another word.
Naruto never knew how relieved Jiraiya was that he was so easily distracted. And he would never know, at least for now, that he was born of The Yellow Flash and The Red-Hot Habanero, two of the greatest shinobi to ever come from the Hidden Leaf Village. Jiraiya smiled as he thought that only those two would be able to produce Naruto, The Number One Unpredictable Knuckleheaded Ninja. He hoped that one day he would be able to tell his young pupil of his heritage, just not today.