Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and if you try to say that I go I will lock in a room with Sasuke's fangirls and tell them that you are keeping them from seeing their Sasuke-kun.
Iruka and Naruto were currently sitting in Iruka's kitchen both having a cup of tea. When Naruto had come to class that morning he had been quieter and more subdued than the boy usually was. Since he had spent so much time with Naruto it wasn't hard for Iruka to figure out that Naruto's attitude change was because of the boy finding out about the Uzumaki Clan. Worried about his little brother, Iruka calmly said, "Naruto, how are you holding up after what you found out yesterday?"
Naruto let out a small sigh before he smiled and said, "I'm doing reasonably well Iruka. The Uzumaki Clan Codex has a lot, and I mean a lot, of information on my clan and the Ranseigan." Seeing Iruka's curious face Naruto continued to talk. "Did you know that the Uzumaki, the Uchiha, and Hyuga are all descended from three different brothers who trained under the Six Realms Sage? I bet you never imagined something like that before. Or the fact that the Uchiha are descended from the youngest of the three brothers, while my clan on the other hand, is in fact descended from the oldest of the three." Naruto cracked a slightly wider smile as he looked at Iruka's shocked face.
That little revelation of Naruto's had completely shocked the scarred Chunin. The origins of the Uchiha and the Hyuga clans had always been a complete mystery to Iruka or any other person that Iruka had talked to about those clans. Both the Uchiha and the Hyuga were notoriously tight lipped when it came to the origins of their clans. In fact it had been whispered by some people that the Uchiha and Hyugas themselves didn't know of the origin of their clans and their bloodlines. The most popular and widely accepted theory among the Konoha ninjas was that the Sharingan and thus the Uchiha clan was an offshoot of the Hyuga clan. Personally Iruka had never believed this theory as it had too many variables and inconsistencies for his tastes. To have that particular mystery solved greatly pleased Iruka who was a closet detective novel fanatic.
Although he was pleased with having that mystery solved Iruka became very worried for Naruto. The political ramifications for Konoha if the origin of the Ranseigan, Sharingan, and Byakogan became common knowledge were immense. While some of the nastier parts of Konoha would be enraged that 'the demon brat' was connected to two noble clans; that was not what worried Iruka. By the laws of Fire Country and thus Konoha clans could only separate under certain rare circumstances. Unless the Uzumaki Clan Codex had a written account of one of these very limited circumstances happening then there were in fact no Hyuga or Uchiha clans. At least, the Hyuga or Uchiha clans wouldn't exist in a legal sense. From a legal standpoint the Hyuga and Uchihas were in fact Uzumakis with Naruto as their clan head. If Naruto chose to reveal this fact he would automatically become a chieftain and would, despite any protests that people would be sure to throw, have all of the political power that the Uchiha and Hyuga clans had accumulated.
Looking over at Naruto, Iruka could see that Naruto was well aware of this fact. If this had been the Naruto of a year ago Iruka was sure that the boy would have been yelling this fact out as loud as he could. However for Iruka's peace of mind, Naruto had greatly matured since the two of them had started to have their private lessons. The Naruto sitting calmly in front of Iruka was able to accept what the facts he had revealed meant and their potential consequences if they ever got widespread. Given Naruto's dislike for Sasuke and how a majority of the Hyuga clan acted; Iruka was sure that Kakashi would sooner step into a gay bar with Guy then Naruto would admit in his connection to those two clans in public. A small part of Iruka was however disappointed that Naruto wouldn't likely admit of his real position. Iruka would have done a year's worth of D-ranked missions without pay just to see the looks on Hiashi's face when the old stiff was told that he wasn't in fact a clan leader but had to obey Naruto.
Brushing that amusing thought away from his mind, Iruka locked eyes with Naruto and said, "So Naruto, What does the Ranseigan do? Given the powers that the Byakogan and the Sharingan hold I'm sure that the Ranseigan is nothing to laugh at. If there is anything that I can do to help you train in your bloodline's abilities I would be glad to help." Figuring that if anyone besides Grandpa Sarutobi to know what the Ranseigan could it would be Iruka, Naruto started to explain it. At first Iruka was a bit confused at the remote viewing capacity of the Ranseigan. Naruto then explained that it was supposed to be somewhat similar to a ventriloquist throwing their voice except in this case Naruto was 'throwing' his eyesight. Privately, after the remote viewing abilities were explained to him, Iruka thought that the Ranseigan was better for spying purposes then either of its 'brother' dojutsus.
While the remote viewing ability amazing to Iruka; he had been completely shocked when Naruto revealed the Ranseigan's ability to actually see into the future. For a second Iruka thought that Naruto was pulling his leg. After all, how could someone 'see' the future when their own actions would have an effect on what they were seeing? Naruto explained that from what he had read the Ranseigan actually saw all of the possible futures and that it was this constant exponential growth of possible futures that had created the biological limit of 60 seconds on how far into the future could be seen. The Uzumaki Clan Codex had gone on, or so Naruto told Iruka, to state that there were unique changes in the part of the Uzumaki brain where the senses were processed. These unique adaptations where what allowed the Uzumaki to locate the 'true' path of the future and would automatically adjust the 'path' of the future that was seen as conditions changed.
Once the explanations were over, the two almost-brothers sat in silence for a few minutes. The silence was ended when Naruto looked up from his tea and said in a somber tone, "Iruka when I die, destroy my eyes." Seeing the shocked and horrified look on Iruka's face Naruto continued. "Listen to me bro; the Ranseigan CAN'T be used by a non-Uzumaki. This isn't a matter of pride; it's a biological fact. In the history of the Uzumaki Clan there were three attempts to transplant the Ranseigan from a fallen clan member to a non-clan member who deemed worthy of our bloodline. Each and every attempt ended with poor recipient going mad and quickly dying afterwards of severe brain hemorrhaging. After the third attempt it was declared that no more attempts were to ever be made. Only a fellow blood Uzumaki can receive a transplanted Ranseigan without suffering ill effects. Please Iruka, you and I know what would happen if I die without heirs."
Iruka thought long and hard over Naruto's grim request. As much as Iruka didn't want to admit it, he knew exactly what Konoha's council would do if Naruto died. They would promptly order Naruto's eyes to be removed from his cooling corpse and immediately given to 'deserving' ninjas. The greedy members on the council had tried to do the same thing immediately after the Uchiha Massacre. Most of the ninja, including Kakashi to the surprise of some non-shinobi, of Konoha had been completely disgusted with the proposal. They all, although they would never admit it to the civilians, had offered thanks to the kami that Itachi had coated his blades with a special chemical that sped up the decay rate in his fellow Uchiha's eyes so that the eyes were useless. It was one thing to study a corpse to learn what medications were used on it or even what techniques the person favored; but it was an entirely different thing to use a corpse as spare parts.
Finally Iruka came to a decision; he would honor and fulfill his little brother's wish if it ever came to that. It would, after all, be the best Iruka could do to help make Naruto's passing into the next world a comforting as such a thing ever possibly happened to the boy. Naruto was the kind of person who never wanted to hurt someone if he didn't have to and the thought that he could potentially hurt two innocent people after death must not have sat well with the boy. Taking Naruto's hand into his, Iruka firmly said, "Have no fear Naruto. I-if that even ever comes up I will destroy your eyes." As Iruka expected, Naruto cheered up immensely once he had made the promise to the boy. Wanting to completely erase the somber air that was hanging around in the room Iruka said, "Let's go out and train Naruto, you need to learn how to use the Ranseigan after all."
Tenten was currently taking an early morning walk through the wooded outskirts of Konoha. Her team had completed yet another C-ranked mission a few days ago and had been given some down time by Sarutobi. Normally during her down time Tenten would get to spend hours playing her favorite game of 'try and skewer the green Guy Clone'. Sadly Lee was stuck at home sick with the flu. Usually when she didn't have Lee around to help train with Tenten could count of Neji being around to train with. However Tenten's luck failed her again today because Neji had to stay home to take care of some private clan matter. Since she didn't have any training partners Tenten had decided to just relax and take a walk for an hour or so.
As Tenten was enjoying the comforting sounds of the forest she faintly heard the sound of a fight going on. Curious as to what was going on, Tenten followed the sounds of the fight. Her ears led Tenten strait to the edge of a small meadow and Tenten was surprised at what she saw happening in that field. Right there in the field was Iruka her old teacher and a blond boy that she couldn't quiet place sparing. While the spar was happening in front of her, Tenten was reminded of what Guy had once said regarding Iruka. Her annoyingly lovable Jonin sensei had told Team Guy once that Iruka was generalist specialist. It had taken some work but Tenten had been able to get Guy to explain that oxymoron. Guy had been trying to tell them that Iruka, even though he was only a Chunin, was able to defeat the average Jonin because of the fact that he had well rounded skills. Apparently a lot of Jonin in Konoha respected Iruka because of the fact that the man had made a point to not specialize in one or two fields but to equally increase all of his ninja abilities.
If Tenten had been surprised to hear that about her friendly old teacher; she was astonished to see the proof of it happening right in front of her. As Iruka fought against his currently unknown to her opponent Tenten could see that all of that praise was very much deserved. Her Aunt and Uncle had at one time mentioned that Iruka had been hand-picked by the Hokage himself to be an academy teacher. Given how he handled his class when she was at the academy and the skill that Iruka was showing here Tenten could believe that rumor. Iruka's taijutsu form and abilities weren't as good as Guy's, but Iruka easily mixed up his physical attacks with weapons use and a good helping of ninjutsu. Unlike other Chunin that Tenten had been able to watch sparing; Iruka seemed to stick to only C, D, and even E rank jutsus.
At first Tenten thought that Iruka was limiting himself because of the fact that his partner could only be a genin at most. However as she watched the spar progress Tenten quickly discarded that idea. Whoever Iruka's opponent was, it was obvious to Tenten that he was good. The unknown blond seemed to know exactly what Iruka was going to do before her old teacher did something. Iruka's opponent used a strange taijutsu style that could best be described in Tenten's mind as the strength and ferociousness of the Iron Fist mixed in with the flexibility and grace of the Gentle Fist. Over all it was a very good show for Tenten as she liked how both teacher and student were using a great variety of moves, most of them relatively 'low level' jutsus, and using them in extremely creative ways. Although she was a weapon's specialist, Tenten had tried not to over specialize and go after one or two flashy techniques like most genin nowadays seemed to like to do.
Suddenly to Tenten's surprise Iruka suddenly called out, "Alright Naruto. You're defiantly able to handle fighting at 10 seconds. I want you to go up to 12 seconds now and come at me with everything you've got." This statement of Iruka's greatly confused Tenten. What on earth did Iruka mean that his opponent, Naruto she silently corrected herself now having a name for the boy, was able to handle fighting at 10 seconds? Iruka and Naruto's spar suddenly became even more confusing to Tenten as she observed that Naruto suddenly wasn't performing like he was earlier in the fight. Oh the boy's skill was still there but it seemed that his timing and reflexes had been thrown off. Completely confused by this, Tenten quietly slipped away to go tell Guy about this. Hopefully, Tenten was praying, Guy would be able to explain what she had just seen without ranting too much about the power of youth.
Forty minutes after Tenten left the meadow Iruka and Naruto, neither of whom knew that their private training time had been observed, were sitting down on a log sharing a bottle of water. Iruka had been taking Naruto to this out of the way meadow as often as he could for the past month to help Naruto train with the Ranseigan. Sarutobi himself had actually recommended this area as it was well out of the usual paths of people who went into the forest. Neither Iruka nor Naruto complained about the location as was perfect for Iruka to help Naruto. Specifically Iruka was helping Naruto learn how to use what the two had privately dubbed the 'seer sight' aspect of the Ranseigan. Naruto was more than able to train himself in his apartment on how to look into the future or to use the remote viewing abilities of the Ranseigan.
However just seeing the future was not enough to ensure Naruto's control of the Ranseigan; especially in a combat situation where due to the increased number of variables it was harder to see further into the future. In the quiet of his apartment Naruto could look out his window and gaze a full minute into the future, but when Naruto use the prescience abilities of the Ranseigan to watch a spar he could barely see 20 seconds into the future. One time a week ago Iruka took Naruto over to observe two Chunin teams practicing in a mock battle. After the Chunin's practice was over Naruto had privately told Iruka that he had only been able to see 5 seconds into the future during the fight.
At first Iruka had been confused at the decreasing time in Naruto's sight that Naruto was describing. Oh Iruka could easily grasp the fact that in each instance that the reduction in Naruto's sight was caused by the increasing amount of variables that Naruto's Ranseigan had to observe. It was confusing Iruka was the fact that the Ranseigan had that 60 second ceiling maximum. 60 seconds on the battlefield held infinitely more variables then 60 seconds spent peacefully at home. So why was it that if you could see 60 seconds into the future on the battlefield you couldn't beyond 60 seconds while at home? Naruto had told Iruka when he asked that question that the Uzumaki clan had been stumped by that question and had given up trying to solve the answer. The 60 second limit was just a fact of life with the Ranseigan. Besides, since when did looking into the future follow any laws of logic?
Naruto, who had just finished off the water bottle, turned to Iruka and said with a big smile, "So Iruka how did I do? What do you think of my reconstruction of the Uzu Sen Ken (Thousand Fists of the Whirlpool) style?" At the back of the Uzumaki Clan Codex there had been several storage seals that were set to open only to Naruto or a descendent of his if the boy had had one. Inside the storage seals Naruto had discovered a small library of books. Among the books was a book containing the Uzumaki Clan taijutsu style with step by step instructions to take someone new to taijutsu all the way up to a grandmaster level.
Iruka turned to look down at his younger brother and gave Naruto a big smile before starting to go into an in depth analysis. "Over all Naruto I would have to say that your doing great in the Uzu Sen Ken and that over all your taijutsu level right now is mid to high genin bordering on low Chunin level. As for using your Ranseigan I must say that I'm impressed with your control and ability. Just remember to not go past 10 seconds for now if you're in a fight for real. Given your consistent performances in both in class and privately with me I know that you have the Genin test in the bag."
Guy, the great beautiful green beast of Konoha as he would describe himself, was walking into the Hokage Tower with a surprisingly serious look on his face. As Guy walked through the corridors every ninja that could scurried away from him. They weren't running from killing intent, of which Guy was producing none, but from the instinctive knowledge that they didn't want to get in his way. Something in the back of their brains was telling them that if they got in Guy's way now; they would wish that they had been forced to watch that infernal sunset of Guy's for 10 hours strait.
Ignoring the protests of the Hokage's secretary Guy walked into Sarutobi's office and slammed his hands on the old leader's desk. Sarutobi looked up from the paperwork that he was previously doing to stare at Guy's frowning face. In his usual dignified voice Sarutobi calmly said, "Yes Guy, is there something that I can do for you?"
Guy stared down into Sarutobi's eyes and said in a surprisingly harsh tone for Guy, "Yes there is something you can do Lord Hokage; explain." There was a slight confusion in Sarutobi's eyes as the old leader couldn't quite figure out what Guy wanted an explanation of. Before Sarutobi could voice his confusion Guy clarified his demand. "I've just and an interesting conversation with my student Tenten. She was walking through the woods today and stumbled upon Iruka and a certain boy named Naruto sparing. As she watched their spar she heard Iruka say and I quote: 'You're defiantly able to handle fighting at 10 seconds. I want you to go up to 12 seconds now'. Why, why Lord Hokage did you not inform me that Lady Kushina sensei's child had survived!"
Sarutobi took a deep breath as he had known that this conversation would have to eventually happen. Inwardly Sarutobi was cursing his luck that it was Guy and not Kakashi that he was having the conversation with first; now he had to pay off HALF of Tsuande's gambling debt. It just wasn't fair; Tsunade was the legendary sucker and almost never won.
Shoving all thoughts of how he was going to avoid the poor house to the back of his mind for the moment; Sarutobi collected his thoughts and prepared to answer Guy. "Thanks to the Kyuubi attack, all of the people that Naruto's parents had requested in their wills to take care of the boy were dead. If I had told either you or Kakashi that Naruto had lived you both would have demanded custody. Both of you were only 14 years old at the time and totally incapable of raising a child even you two had decided to team up. The courts would have ruled that Naruto be placed into state custody. Thus Naruto would be right where he technically is now except that he would have to deal with Iwa assassins all the time and would be a bone of contention among the greedier of the council members. Only I, Jiraiya, Tsuande, the head doctor of the hospital, and the Fire Daimyo know Naruto's full heritage. Naruto and Iruka only know of Naruto's maternal heritage and that's because Naruto has activated his bloodline limit."
Guy silently listened to Sarutobi's reasons for keep Naruto's survival a secret and had to admit that they were good ones. As much as he wanted deny it, Guy knew that Sarutobi had made the best call that the old man could. Taking a deep breath, Guy said, "Does Naruto know of the burden he carries?" Sarutobi shook his head and Guy figured that Sarutobi would reveal that fact and Naruto's full heritage to the boy when it was best for the boy. Before Guy left the Hokage's office he called out over his shoulder, "I have Lady Kushina sensei's twin kodachi set at my house. They'll be at Naruto's doorsteps by sundown or I'll do ten thousand laps around Konoha on my hands."
Naruto approached Grandpa Sarutobi's office and wondered why he had been summoned. Iruka had privately whispered into Naruto's ear as Naruto was getting his forehead protector that gramps wanted to see him privately after class was over. Currently Naruto was wearing baggy black pants, his forehead protector, and a black t-shirt that covered by his black with orange patches jacket. At Naruto's sides attached to his belt were Gideon and Joshua; his mother's kodachi that had mysteriously appeared at his apartment a month ago. All Naruto knew about how they had come to him was a note that said that someone had been keeping them safe and that it was time for them to be returned to their rightful owner. Gramps' secretary politely nodded her old head and motioned for Naruto to go on into the Hokage's office.
Sarutobi had a smile on his face as he watched Naruto enter into his office. His unofficial grandson always managed to bring a smile to Sarutobi's face and that was a gift that Sarutobi found quite precious in his old age. This was the first time that Sarutobi was seeing Naruto with his forehead protector proudly marking the young man as one of Konoha's shinobi. At that moment Sarutobi was reminded of a moment years ago when Jiraiya had proudly introduced his own genin team to Sarutobi. That thought pained Sarutobi as he thought about how it was supposed to be Minato here proud at Naruto's accomplishments.
With a wave of his hand Sarutobi motioned for Naruto to sit down in the seat available. Once Naruto was comfortable, Sarutobi started to talk. "I can't tell you how proud your parents would have been to have seen you as you currently are Naruto. Your growth this past year at the Ninja Academy, once certain problem areas were pointed out to you, has been tremendous. In fact, your personal and professional growth has impressed several teachers at the academy who I am told had previously given up on you calling you a 'lost cause'. Coming for such obstinate mules as these people who said this to me is, in my opinion, a bigger title of distinction than the over-hyped title of 'Rookie of the Year'."
Seeing the sparkle in Naruto's eyes when he had told the boy these things brought a good deal of mirth to the old Hokage. In his old age Sarutobi had long ago realize that it was the small things like this that made life worth living. He felt terrible for what he was about to tell Naruto but Sarutobi knew that Naruto needed to know about this fact. Better by far for the boy to learn about this secrete from a friendly person now then latter in a worse situation from someone who might have a grudge against Naruto.
Taking a deep breath Sarutobi felt a sad smile cross his lips and he looked into Naruto's eyes and began to speak. "Naruto, there is something that I need to talk to you about. Sadly this isn't something joyful like telling you about your mother was or tell you who your father was will be. You see Naruto things didn't go exactly like we teach in school with regards to the defeat of the Kyuubi. While it is true that the Yondaime did defeat the Kyuubi; it wasn't as clear-cut a victory as things are portrayed. The Yondaime didn't kill the demon, but rather locked Kyuubi away forever at the cost of the Yondaime's soul. To make sure that the Kyuubi's soul could never escape from the seal he had lock the demon in, the Yondaime was forced to seal the demon into your body shortly after you were born."
"Never think for a moment Naruto that you are the demon you keep locked away. Despite what some ignorant criminals might try to claim you are your own person and the son of two people who were very dear to me. It has been my eternal shame that there are a lot of people in Konoha who are hostile towards you solely for what you have been forced to carry. The Yondaime as his final wish had requested that people respect you as the hero who continuously keeps the Kyuubi from harming us. Your generation does not know about the part you have played in their safety because I wanted you to grow up as normal you possibly could."
Naruto sat where he was in silence for a moment as he thought about what he had just been told. For a second Naruto had been shocked and angered that the Yondaime had done this to him. However, Naruto's mental training allowed him to see that the Yondaime had done what was necessary to save the village and that for some reason the Yondaime had picked him to carry the Kyuubi. Letting out a small sigh, Naruto shook his head before he said, "Thank you for telling me this Grandpa Sarutobi. I guess that explains the emergence of my second bloodline."
At this point Sarutobi was completely shocked at what he had just heard Naruto say. Second bloodline, how was such a thing possible! Looking wide-eyed at Naruto, Sarutobi said, "Naruto what are you talking about. People can't have two bloodlines, its impossible. Every attempt in Konoha's medical history of trying to join two bloodlines together has always resulted in a still-born or a child who died after only a few years of agony."
Giving Sarutobi his trade-mark fox grin, Naruto said, "Gramps, all of those attempts that you've mention were doomed the moment they were foolishly concocted. If you look closely you will see that all the clans involved in that mess had bloodlines of the same type." There was a confused look on Sarutobi's face so Naruto continued to explain. "As you know, the Uzumaki Clan has over its history been very deeply connected with bloodline formation. Due to this my ancestors have made many, and I mean many, very meticulous notes on bloodlines and everything that has to do with them. While I have no doubt that the doctors at Konoha's hospital tried very hard help those poor individuals involved, the just don't have the knowledge that the Uzumaki have in that department."
"My ancestors long ago broke bloodlines up into three distinct classifications: body bloodlines, chakra bloodlines, and finally sense bloodlines. Dojutsus like the Ranseigan or the Byakogan are an example of a sense bloodline. Elemental manipulation like the Shodai Hokage's wood release and the Hatake white chakra are both prime examples of chakra bloodlines. Finally you have the believed to be extinct Dead Bone Pulse as an example of a body bloodline. It has been noted that a fertile person can have up to three different bloodlines and live a long healthy life. However, there can only be one bloodline in a person from each separate class that I have mentioned."
Sarutobi just sat there in his chair with his mouth hanging wide open. In two minutes Naruto had completely thrown out over 100 years of medical study and wisdom and the boy was acting like he was talking about the weather. What made the whole situation so painful was the fact that what Naruto's ancestors had figured out was so blaringly obvious. The only reason that Sarutobi could figure that someone hadn't pointed this out already was the fact that the people involved were mostly trying to find a way to create a new bloodline drawing on the power of parents' bloodlines. Inside his mind Sarutobi grumbled that only the Uzumaki could figure out a way to pull off something that the rest of the world had labeled impossible.
Naruto got up from his chair and started walking towards the door to leave. After he passed Sarutobi's desk, Naruto stopped and said, "Just so you know, my second bloodline is a body bloodline. It grants me the ability to rapidly regenerate the cells in my body by pouring chakra into my cells. While I am by no stretch of the imagination immortal, this bloodline of mine does make me extremely harder to kill. I probably developed it in response to the Kyuubi and the seal that was place on me to keep it from escaping. Well I've got to go. Have fun figuring out which teams I and my classmates are going to be on Grandpa Sarutobi!"