Premise: Okay, so the Uzumaki name wasn't just something that came up as a name for orphans, like Oliver Twist's name. They were an actual clan. That's his heritage. And no one... ever... mentions it until shippuden?

Like, an actual clan? Like, with a specialty?

Like, a specialty in sealing, which no other clan in the world that has been mentioned... seems to have?

Like, can someone do something about this please? And then I was like, ah hell, I'm going to do it aren't I?

I'm aware of Naruto Fuujinroku. But I mean, something specifically about the Uzumaki Clan.

And like... I couldn't help it. I tried to resist but I ended up writing it. That said, it would probably be for the best if I could find someone else who has written this subject extensively and well, and sate my sudden desire for this plot point that way. I have enough issues with current obligations - I've pretty much abandoned Shippuden Complaint even. If I do it, you're not going to get transitions, or proper research, or polish, or consistency.

But it must be done.

Chapter 1

Pilot Chapter.

At the time of the confrontation, nothing said so very much about the Yondaime's godlike ability than his capacity to instantly recognize Madara as a threat, recognize the infamous red and black style of the mangekyo sharingan, and warp back to headquarters to give a warning to the people there in a single description of: "mangekyo" before returning to Madara's side before the mystery man even moved.

The Yondaime had long since learned to ignore actual spacial limitations.

After that fateful night, it hadn't been hard for the shinobi forces, frustrated and furious as they were, to put the pieces together. The Kyuubi attack was a historic event, and the blame fell at Uchiha Madara's feet.

In this way, hatred was heaped on Madara and Kyuubi both. But on the topic of Naruto, opinion was somewhat split. The shinobi of the villiage knew how jinchuuriki worked. They knew how sealing worked, too, if only on a conceptual basis. And they knew that they had to defend the last Uzumaki of the villiage, for their bloodline was the only thing Konoha held capable of keeping the mighty kyuubi in check. Doubly so if the mangekyo lurked outside of Konoha's control.

Sadly, protection by visible and invisible bodyguards didn't do much to aid in Naruto's social life, or his need for care. Or love.

Neither did the misconceptions of misguided and ignorant civilians. They wanted to hate.

There were two people to blame. Madara and Kyuubi. And one was on hand. Who cared that it may not hear, and that a boy would have to take the message instead?

They had lost so much. They were entitled to grieve in any way they wished.

Naruto had to say, on the topic of the hate of the civilians, that he was quite empathetic.

One day, a civilian had exploded in anger. That day, one of his protectors exploded in defence. "Do you have any idea what this kid means to our villiage? His existance protects us in it's own way. Don't you get that the Kyuubi doesn't die? That he can only be sealed in a jinchuuriki? What do you think would happen if we loose the last Uzumaki? The Kyuubi would be released, and who'll seal him? And what is going to hold him, when there are no more Uzumaki to handle it? Do you think it's anything like the other bijuu? It's not! You have no idea. It's not your job to have any idea. So stop it. Leave it to us professionals to explain to you what will keep you safe. That's our job."

"No." Naruto said. "He has a point. The Kyuubi should die. It ruined his family. Mine too." It was then that Naruto raised his eyes, hooded and bitter as they were, and the man saw himself there. The man saw his comrade's eyes there. "The Kyuubi, stupid fox, and that Madara. They ruined my life. They took everything from me. My mother. My father. And they even took my place amongst you all!" Young Naruto indicated the man and everyone behind him on the street. "So OKAY! Let's HATE them TOGETHER! And if you ever find a good way to kill either one, then I want to be the first to know."

The man said nothing for a few seconds, taken aback.

And then, he saw his own visage reflected in the child's iris. He saw hiimself and he knew he was not afraid of the child's outburst. He was in complete agreement. He nodded. They would be together in this. That had been his mistake. They should hate Kyuubi together.

His clan's presence in Konohagakure hadn't been particularly rich, as clans went, nor was their membership many. The clan had mainly been in Uzushiogakure, after all, before it and they had been destroyed by war. But still a few had lived in Konoha (his mother included) and their collective resources had no where else to go than Naruto's own bank account.

It was a poor consolation.

He hadn't a family.

But… at least he had a heritage. He had a heritage and a set of instructional scrolls meant to be passed down and preserve the knowledge of those before him.

He clung to that.

Seals. They said. Seals and seals and seals. The language of the gods? Not quite, they said. Sort of, but there are important differences, they said.

Naruto heard them. He tried to do his best. It was hard to get over looking at thier faces: happy or kind, or stern, but there shone in their eyes a kind of light. A kind of pride.

Naruto liked to think the pride was for him. For the next generation.

He would not let the pictures down.

The written word is an inferior medium the people in the scrolls said. Respectable, but unnecessary for something this important. We will seal an image itself, and a voice itself, and you will have a running movie of lessons made for the cost of ink and paper, and a little of our time.

This is our thing, they said. This is what we do. This is what causes the world to respect and fear us. This is why these scrolls are so important. This is why we must preserve our culture and our knowledge this way. Seals will probably bring the world down on us, to scatter us to the winds, but it is not the art's fault. We cannot give up on the art. Seals are what we are. What we all are. Our clan is doomed but we're happy. We're happy to be able to look at the world and truly understand the forces that make it work. Compared to that - to being truly aware of the world and ourselves, the ability to twist those forces are secondary at best. That is why we cannot give up.

It's beautiful, child, don't you see? Do you see yet?

Hurry up and see. It's a gift from our generation to yours. It's worth it.

Naruto tried to see. He played the lessons again and again. He heard the words, but his thoughts were on the pictures. In terms of beauty, he thought Aunty Haruka was beautiful. He thought that she seemed kind. And it was nice that she always seemed to have cookies baking in the background of her lessons. He would have liked to try those cookies too.

But the world? He couldn't see yet.

One day he did see. He was practicing writing 'gather' in the language of seals on the ground. He was using leaves as the target, since this seemed to be the best way to clean up his courtyard. It was a big courtyard and he was rather small in comparison.

His problem, though, was that it was hard to keep in mind what the seal meant while he charged it. 'Gather' wasn't the simplest one. The simplest one was 'warm'. But Naruto liked 'gather'. It had big, flowing lines and it was easier to draw without messing up. But it was hard to charge.

To charge a seal, it had to either have a 'guide' portion to make the chakra flow right through the lines, or the charger had to understand what the seal meant. In the case of 'gather', Naruto had to remember that the first stroke represented the whole of everything, and that was why it was outside the rest. And the second stroke represented 'identity' and that was why it was where the leaf was placed. And the third stroke approached the second, but not quite touching, and represented that tenancy for things to move towards each other. But it wasn't gravity, exactly, he had to remember. It was like water that clung together to make a bigger bubble. It was like birds choosing to sit together on a line on his roof.

And the order was important. The world comes first, and then stuff, and then rules for stuff.

And there were reasons for why it was like that this time in particular. And Naruto had to keep those reasons in mind, too, or the seal wouldn't charge.

It was hard to do it.

One day though, he did. And the leaves started to gather. It was slow, of course. At first he thought it was just the wind playing with the foliage, but eventually the leaves of his courtyard collected obediently in his circle and Naruto was overcome.

Overcome that he had done some kind of amazing magic.

He lifted a leaf from the pile and dropped it a distance away. In amazement, he saw it slide slowly towards the others. It seemed alive. It was mystical. And with a start, he realized that he trully understood how that magic worked. That understanding was what was needed in order to charge the seal so he must understand. And he found that knowing how it worked didn't make it any less special.

And then he considered that seals were manipulation of laws that were already there. And he looked to the edges of his compound. He took a walk. He saw many trees outside, and many more leaves. And he knew that somewhere in each and every one of them was a piece of that magic that he'd seen.

And every rock. Every person. Every bird in the sky. Every single little speck of dust.

The whole world was one big jutsu. Doing a million things all at once. All in a purpose. All in gentleness. In uniformity. In beautiful complexity when you looked from afar, and true simplicity when you looked just close enough.

It was... it was amazing.

And at that moment he looked to his feet and felt humble.

And at that moment he looked at the world and felt special. Part of a whole. He had a place, and the place was right where it was in this beautiful thing.

And Naruto was grateful. "That's... an awesome present." He whispered through tears of emotion. "S-Sorry it took so long to unwrap."

A/N: If anyone wants to take anything from this story, do it. Make it so. Seal theory, OCs (If I make OCs), plot, small sections of text, whatever. Cite me please, but even if you don't I probably won't care. I really just want the Uzumaki!Naruto fic to take off. It has to happen.

I was like, 'do I really need to post this? Do I want to start another side project officially? Can't I just hold it on my computer?' And then I was like, 'screw it. I have enough of that kind of thing on my laptop, of which will never likely see the light of day. Someone may be inspired to do this plot point if I post it. I may end up going far with it. Whatever. Just do it.'

I started a poll on my author's page about pairings for this fic. I can't promise to stick to the results but I might try.

Expect this done at my leisure. Which honestly may be fast or slow. I can't say. Unless someone review a song campaigns it. If anyone does review a song campaign it, you'll need to include in the review that you're using your update credit on this story and not Tsunade's Heir, or I'll just assume the other. And no, I'm not even going to explain the review a song campaign here.