Naruto was snoring very happily.
Hey, it can't be helped that the bed in his newly-acquired Namikaze Estate was astoundingly comfortable. The bed in his old apartment was no match for this heaven.
And for how he acquired it... Pfft, Naruto might be a little bit slow, but he definitely isn't a fool. He already knew who his parents were, damn it! So it's just a matter of asking the old man, and this comfy little house was his.
Sure, it's not a huge luxury mansion, or a whole clan ground like the Uchiha's, but hey, it's still his house, his inheritance! It's much better than the trash called his old apartment.
"Hey, Naruto, wake up."
So it was natural that the voice of the man standing at the end of the bed didn't even seem to reach his ears.
"On the count of three, if you don't wake up, there will be trouble."
Naruto just mumbled sleepily.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
And a bucket of very cold water was dumped unceremoniously on his head.
"#!$% &^*$! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR YOU BASTARD!" Naruto bolted right up, a barrage of profanities shot out of his mouth, making Matatabi blushed, Shukaku giggling like mad and Kokuoh clapping his hands around Saikyo's ears, making the girl puff her cheeks angrily.
Then he looked out of the window.
"WHAT THE #%^$#%#! THE SUN ISN'T EVEN UP!"
Shukaku, Isobu, Goku, Kokuoh and Chomei just grinned cheekily.
"Nature manipulation training coming up! Now get your ass out of that bed, unless you want to take a bath again!"
Naruto groaned. That was the price for having all five nature chakra affinities, and a bunch of drill sergeants in the form of the Tailed Beasts living together with you.
(Flashback)
Naruto approached Kakashi at Training Ground 7. Kokuoh had told him to ask Kakashi to check his nature affinity.
'But why do I have to do that? I have wind as my nature,' Naruto asked in confusion.
'Well, I just want to check if my suspicion was right,'the horse answered. 'Come on, it won't hurt to know.'
'Well... but asking that out of the blue may make Kakashi-sensei suspicious... Oh, I know!'
"Hey Kakashi-sensei! Can you teach me how to use Fire jutsu like Sasuke, please?"
Kakashi lifted his eye off his book. "Nature manipulation is an advanced skill, Naruto. Why do you want to learn it so soon?"
"Well, I cannot do anything else except for taijutsu and shadow clones spamming," Naruto shrugged. That was the truth though; the more destructive techniques of him were all unavailable at the moment. "So I would like to, you know, improve my arsenal a bit. After all, Sasuke can do it, and he is a genin just like me."
"I guess that's true," Kakashi admitted. He rummaged through his shuriken pouch and pulled out a piece of chakra paper. "But first we have to check what your affinity is. Channel your chakra into this piece of paper and we will know."
Naruto received the paper, and channeled his chakra into it.
The paper was shredded into exactly one hundred little square pieces. Twenty five of them were burnt into ash, twenty five crumbled to dust, twenty five turned into small balls of paper, and twenty five were soaking wet.
Kakashi dropped his book.
"So... what kind of affinity do I have, sensei?"
(End flashback)
Three hours later, the five Tailed Beasts returned, dragging behind them an unconscious Naruto.
"Let me guess," Kurama sighed, rubbing her temples. "He overloaded his mind with shadow clones again?"
"Yeah," Kokuoh admitted. "I've warned him that using too many shadow clones in training would be dangerous, but noooooo, he just didn't listen."
"So... how many clones did he use?"
"Over nine thousand," sighed Kokuoh.
Gyuki, who was in the middle of drinking, spat all the water in his mouth at Goku's face, who was, unfortunately, sitting in front of him.
"What? Nine thousand? There's no way that can be right..."
Then he saw Kurama's face. "...can it?"
Kurama shook her head. "He is Naruto, you know."
"But... but that doesn't even make sense!" the oxtopus man sputtered. "I know his signature jutsu is the Shadow Clone, but how in the world did his brain survive after all those memory backlashes? And there is no way the backyard of this house could hold such an absurd number of people at the same time! It's just like, the whole population of Kumogakure!"
Kurama rubbed her temples again. "Behind the house was a forest. And remember, with Naruto, there is no such thing called 'making sense' in his dictionary."
In front of them, the mess which was Naruto started to twitch.
"Ugh... what hit me?" Naruto groaned, pushing himself up from the ground.
"Ah, he's awake." Isobu noted. "That was quite fast. I thought he would have been in a coma for at least a week."
"Naruto," Kokuoh looked at his eyes and said in a serious tone. "Training is good, but overexerting yourself like that is intolerable. From now on, I will only allow you to use one hundred clones at most during training."
"What?" Naruto protested. "But that is not fair! I can create even more than I did today! Why should I restrain myself like that?"
"Remember Naruto, when a clone is dispelled, its memories and experiences will be transferred back to the original," the horse man lectured. "If it was just one or two clones, or even ten, it would be fine, but the memory backlash of thousands of clones is not something to joke about. You saw what happen when you dispelled all those clones at the same time. To a normal person, it might cause a shock to the whole nervous system, his body might stop functioning properly, and in the worst case, he dies. That is the reason why the Second Hokage declared that jutsu a forbidden one right after he invented it, and only the small-scale version of it is common among shinobi."
"But that will take too long for me to learn things!" Naruto pouted.
Now you're being hypocritical there, Naruto.
"Don't worry Naruto-kun. Training in nature manipulation is not something you can do in just a few hours," Matatabi said, while putting a huge pot of potato soup on the table. "I still remember when Yugito trained her fire element, she needed half a month before she could create a proper fireball."
"Actually, I was able to do it."
Matatabi stopped dead on her path. "Eh?"
"Yeah, already got the wind element done; it is just a matter of memory. I also managed to wet half a leaf, and made another one breaking apart," Naruto mumbled. "But when I tried burning a leaf, it just dried up a bit before returning to normal. And I can't seem to get lightning at all. It just doesn't feel... right."
Gyuki and Matatabi were appalled. During their almost eternal life, they had never heard of anyone who could do nature manipulation in just a few hours.
"That's also our impressions when we first saw it," Shukaku said dryly. Goku, Chomei and Isobu nodded in agreement. "Either this boy was a genius, or a complete idiot. Only someone without anything in his head could absorb knowledge that fast."
"Hey!"
"I'm not surprised," Kurama commented. "After all, you're my jinchuriki." A hint of pride could be heard in her voice.
"You like him~! How cute!" Chomei cooed.
Kurama's face became beet red. "I-I'm not!"
"Someone's in denial~" Chomei said in a sing-song voice while running away from her sister, laughing like mad. Kurama snarled and leaped, intending to choke the breath out of the beetle girl's lung.
"You'll never catch me!"
"Don't push your luck, bug!"
Two black spheres appeared on Kurama's hands. Naruto was startled; if she used that attack inside the house...
Two tentacles made of plants suddenly burst into the room, wrapping around the two girls' bodies and tying them up.
"Sis, how many times do I have to tell you not to fight inside the house?"
It was Saikyo who had just arrived from the kitchen, holding ten bowls on her hands. Massive killing intent was leaking furiously from her, and the air in the room suddenly felt like freezing.
And she was smiling. Sweetly. Too sweetly. To the point of disturbing.
"Let's cool your head down a little, shall we?"
Kurama and Chomei shook their head frantically, their body quivered, and for the first time, Naruto could see an expression he never thought he would see on the two Tailed Beast girls' faces.
Fear.
Saikyo put the bowls she was holding on the table, and walked out of the house through the backdoor. The two wicked tentacles pulled the two struggling girls out of the room, and a minute later, wailing screams filled the air.
"No way," Naruto muttered in his breath. "Since when has Saikyo-chan been so scary?"
"Trust me, you haven't seen everything yet," Gyuki mumbled in the same tone, his face paled in utter horror. Naruto gulped.
After a few minutes, Kurama and Chomei dragged themselves into the house. Their faces were full of bruises, and lumps could be seen on their heads.
"S-so, let's get to breakfast, okay everyone? The food is getting cold," Matatabi said, trying to break the awkward moment. Everyone nodded, still a little bit shaken, and got in the table.
"Wow, this is so delicious!" Naruto tasted a spoon of his soup, and his eyes widened. "Did you make this, Matatabi?"
"Actually, it's Saikyo who made it," the cat girl answered. "Honestly, I don't know where she learnt how to cook; Tailed Beasts usually do not need to eat."
"Um... Utakata-nii-chan was an awesome cook..." the slug girl said with a shy smile. "He taught me how to cook in our free time, so... Mine can't even compare to what he could do..."
"Are you kidding me?" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. "This is the best food I've ever had, besides Ichiraku Ramen! You're so awesome, Saikyo-chan!"
The white haired girl blushed hard.
Seriously, what's with girls and changing attitude like flipping a book?
Naruto's second bowl was devoured as quickly as the first one.
'Do you really think that will work, Naruto?' Kurama asked anxiously.
'I've thought about it for a while,' Naruto answered. 'He will have to know about it, sooner or later. And I think it's better if he knows about it right now, when he is still sane and thoughtful, rather than later when Orochimaru messes his mind up with the curse mark, or when Obito pumps into his head his load of bias images.'
'Wow. I can't believe you, of all people, could think as a strategist.'
Naruto pouted. 'Hey, I'm not that bad!'
The blond jinchuriki had arrived at the Hokage Tower. He knocked at the door of the Hokage's room, and a 'Come in' was heard from inside.
"Ah, Naruto," the old Hokage greeted him with a smile. "How do you like your new house?"
"Awesome, jiji!" Naruto smiled back. "I've never slept in anything so comfortable before!" Then his smile disappeared, replaced by a serious expression. "Hey jiji, I want to talk to you about something. It is very important."
"Oh?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "And what could that be?"
"The Uchiha massacre," Naruto said shortly.
The old Hokage stiffened. Then he looked at the corners of the room.
"Neko, Inu, Hitsuji, you're dismissed."
The air in the corners shimmered a bit, then became quiet and still again. Sarutobi weaved through hand seals, activating the privacy barrier of the room again. Then he turned back to Naruto.
"I trust you know what really happened during the Massacre in your timeline, right Naruto?"
Naruto nodded.
"Of course I did," he stated. "But I think there is no way Itachi could do that alone. I suspect that there must at least be someone else who helped him at that night."
The Hokage's eyes narrowed. "And why do you think that?"
"Chakra, of course," Naruto shrugged. "I've faced Itachi some times before, and even in his prime, he didn't have enough chakra to use his Mangekyo Sharingan techniques too much. Hell, as far as I remember, a clone with a third of his chakra couldn't use the Mangekyo at all. So how in the world did Itachi murder a whole clan with hundreds of people, all equipped with the Sharingan, and some were jonin, ANBU or even Hokage candidate alone when he was just, well, fifteen or something like that?"
Sarutobi sighed. The Naruto of the future was incredibly sharp.
"All right Naruto. The truth is..."
After hearing the story from the Hokage, Naruto's body trembled like crazy.
Not from fear, but from rage.
It was nothing like the story Obito, or even Itachi, told him in his timeline.
"So that means you have known about this for three years..." Naruto gritted his teeth, "...and didn't bother to tell Sasuke a word?"
Sarutobi nodded solemnly. "The council was against it. Besides, I fear that if Sasuke knew, he would go mad from the revelation..."
"You fear?" Naruto's voice was now full of anger and disbelief. "And you prefer other people planting lies into his head and making him even crazier? During my time, he was mind-fucked by Itachi twice, then marked with a cursed seal by Orochimaru, making his head even more of a mess, and was finally told a version of the story without all the important facts, which made him an even more deranged person who tried to destroy the village to 'purify the name of the Uchiha clan'! All because there was no one who told him the whole truth about that incident! And you think that is better for him?"
Sarutobi sat there, horror-struck. He hadn't even thought that his hiding the truth could affect the mind of the Uchiha loner that much.
Naruto stood up. "I'm leaving, jiji. I hope you understand what you have to do right now. If you don't do it, I will, because I don't want to lose one of my friends to madness and hatred. Not this time. Release the barrier."
That was a command. The old man complied dumbly, while staring at the back of the blond boy who was retreating from his office.
Never before had he felt so old and weak.
And something inside the man snapped.
"ANBU!" He barked, and an ANBU member flicked into the room.
"Go find Jiraiya," Sarutobi gritted his teeth, "and bring him to my office immediately without delay."
He would not allow this to prolong any further. The Will of Fire shall burn once more.
Sasuke was surprised to see the Hokage, together with a white-haired old man he didn't know, standing at his door.
"What do you want?" he scowled.
The Hokage didn't smile. "Sasuke, we want to talk to you about the Uchiha Massacre."
"I don't want to talk about it," snarled Sasuke, trying to slam his door closed, but Sarutobi stopped his hand.
"Trust me, the information I bring here might completely change your view about the whole incident, and even about Itachi, your brother."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed upon hearing the name. Then, after a few seconds, he said.
"Come in."
"So what is the information you want me to hear?" Sasuke snapped rudely.
Sarutobi and Jiraiya sat down at the table. "First, I want to introduce you to Jiraiya. He's one of the Legendary Sannin, and is the head of Hidden Leaf's spy network."
Sasuke just glared at the white-haired man, and nodded.
"Now, before we start, I want to ask you," the Hokage continued. "Do you know about the Kyuubi's attack on Konoha ten years ago?"
Sasuke was confused. What was of that story related to his clan's massacre?
"I don't see any-"
"Just tell me, Sasuke," the Hokage cut him short with a sharp glare. Sasuke gulped, and answered.
"Yes, I do. The Kyuubi suddenly appeared in the outskirt of the village in October 10 and started attacking the village for no reason. The Fourth Hokage killed it, and lost his life in the process."
"That is the story you've learnt at the Academy," Sarutobi nodded. "But the truth is, there actually was a reason for the attack. During that night, there was one person who sneaked into the village, released the Kyuubi from its jinchuriki, and used it to attack the village."
"What is a jinchuriki?" Sasuke questioned.
"The container of the beast," Jiraiya answered. "The Kyuubi has been sealed inside jinchurikis of Konoha for three generations."
"As I was saying," the old Hokage continued, "at that night, a person sneaked into the house of the jinchuriki, attacked her while she was giving birth and killed her midwife, as well as my wife Biwako Sarutobi, before breaking the seal, unleashing the Kyuubi and taking control of it to attack Konoha. There were evidences of usage of the Sharingan on the beast that night."
The old man placed a few photos on the table. In the photos were the image of a nine-tailed fox, and its eyes were in the familiar three-tomoe shape of a fully matured Sharingan.
Sasuke was stunned.
"Do you know who the first person taking control of the Kyuubi in history was, Sasuke?" Jiraiya suddenly asked. Sasuke nodded.
"Yes. From what I know, the first person who gained complete control over the Kyuubi was Madara... Uchiha..."
Then his eyes widened in realization. "So that's it, huh?" he snarled. "You destroyed the Uchiha clan to prevent the Kyuubi incident from happening again?"
Sarutobi raised his hand. "Please let us finish before you raise your idea."
That was just a simple request, but the power and authority hidden inside was the most incredible thing Sasuke had ever felt. He gritted his teeth, but complied.
"The problem here was not the fact that the attacker that night was an Uchiha with the Sharingan, but was that the Uchiha clan didn't do anything to help defending the village during the attack. One of the greatest clan in Konohagakure, with over two hundred potential shinobi still in rotation, and none of them showed up to report during the night of the attack. It's just like they had wanted the Kyuubi to weaken the village's defense. Connecting all the evidences, we couldn't help suspecting that there was something fishy going on within the Uchiha clan. Therefore, I had established a secret investigation on the clan, and this is the result."
The Toad Sage pulled out a scroll from his shuriken pouch and put it on the table in front of Sasuke. Quietly, the boy opened the scroll, and his eyes widened.
"No way... My clan planned to overthrow the Hokage, and taking over the village?" he muttered in shock.
"I'm afraid they did, Sasuke. And it seems they had planned and prepared for this since the night the Kyuubi attacked the village, during which the Uchiha clan members were absent from the Uchiha clan ground," the Hokage nodded gravely. "And the night of the massacre is the estimated date of breakout of the coup. According to the Constitution of Konohagakure, attempting coup d'état is an action that might cause wars and thus shall be executed for treason against the village."
"But why did you use Itachi for your dirty work?! Why Itachi? Because of you, Itachi had been forced to murder the whole clan! His own clan! Do you know what it feels to have your own family murdered right in front of you? Not to mention he had to do it himself! Do you understand how that hurts?" Sasuke screamed in rage.
"I understand what you want to say, Sasuke, but I haven't finished yet," Sarutobi shook his head. "It's true that Itachi accepted the mission voluntarily, but that was where everything went wrong. The true mission of Itachi was not killing the entire Uchiha clan."
"What do you mean?" Sasuke gritted his teeth. The old Hokage pulled out another scroll.
"See it for yourself, Sasuke."
Sasuke snatched the scroll from the old man's hand and ripped it open. Then he almost dropped it because of his shaken hand.
Mission: Assassination
Rank: S
Reason: Attempting coup d'état on Konohagakure's government
Target:
Fugaku Uchiha
Hikaku Uchiha
Inabi Uchiha
Yashiro Uchiha
Tekka Uchiha
Tadama Uchiha
Sayuri Uchiha
...
Many names were written in the scroll, but not the name of every member of the clan, as far as Sasuke knew. The date in the scroll was the day of the massacre, and the signature at the bottom of the scroll was written, very clearly, in the familiar and unmistakable handwriting of Itachi Uchiha, with a fingerprint of him next to it.
Sasuke's lips were cold and numb.
"But... but this is..." he stammered in shock.
"It is, Sasuke," the Hokage nodded. "This is the official documentation of that mission, signed by Itachi himself. That mission was issued for secret execution of only the ringleaders of the coup."
"Then... when he told me that he murdered my clan to measure his capacity..."
"He was lying," the Hokage nodded. "He must have thought the betrayal of the Uchiha clan would be too much of a shock for a boy who was proud of the clan like you, Sasuke."
"Then WHY DID HE KILL EVEN MY MOTHER!? SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! SHE IS NOT EVEN ON THE LIST! AND HOW COULD YOU KNOW THAT ITACHI DIDN'T GO MAD AND KILLED OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CLAN?!" Sasuke screamed, tears started to form at the corner of his eyes. Sarutobi shook his head.
"I'm afraid I don't know anything about your mother, Sasuke. But I'm sure that the one who killed all the other members of the clan was not Itachi. Take a look at these pictures."
He tossed some more photos on the table. "This is the photos captured from the forensic investigation on the corpses of some members of the Uchiha clan. You have learnt about weapons at the Academy, so you can see that the wounds are too big and shallow for a tanto or a kunai, and the cuts were very clean. Therefore, the murder weapon was not Itachi's tanto, but a very sharp kama enhanced with wind element chakra to broaden and sharpen the blade. Itachi cannot use neither a kama nor wind element, so we can conclude that it wasn't him who committed the massacre of the Uchiha clan. At least, not the whole clan."
Sasuke's mind was on the verge of breaking. "But... then why did Itachi run away from home and become a missing-nin...?"
"That is not something which can be discussed at the moment," Jiraiya interrupted when Sarutobi started speaking. "However, I can assure you that the decision of leaving the village is of Itachi himself. He came to the Hokage and requested banishment right after the massacre. I think it was to protect you, Sasuke, because together with that, Itachi also requested absolute protection of you from those who want to use you as a breeding stock, and those who want to use you as a weapon of Konoha."
The weight of the truth finally became too much for Sasuke's brain to handle. With an ear-piercing scream, he collapsed on his chair and started to sob uncontrollably, the world seemingly collapsed in his eyes.
Jiraiya started to rise from his chair, but Sarutobi put one hand on his shoulder to stop him. The old man looked into Sasuke's empty eyes, and said.
"Sasuke, I don't know if you understand this, but Itachi is a person who cherishes peace more than most things in the world. If the coup d'état had broken out, not only Konohagakure would have been put in grave danger, but the whole world might also have fallen into another Shinobi World War, and many innocent lives should have been wasted on meaningless battles. Itachi understood that, and he didn't want you or your friends, or any other citizen of Konohagakure to suffer that horrible fate, so he chose the best thing he could do to protect you and many other people."
He paused a bit, and continued.
"This might feel like an insult to you, Sasuke, but I have to say that one of the Uchiha clan's fatal flaws is their superiority complex. Madara, one of the founders of the village, has always dreamt of gaining control over the village since he and his clan joined force with the First Hokage, just because he believed that he had the power of the ultimate Sharingan. Even before the village was established, people in the Uchiha family had always waged war with other clans just to prove that they are the most powerful, and that they have the right to dominate everyone. Just think of what their nonstop boasting of power had made them into. Remember that, and choose your own way carefully, Sasuke. Now if you excuse me, I must leave."
With those last words, the Hokage stood up, glanced at Jiraiya, and the two men left the house, leaving Sasuke alone with his own thoughts.
When they were outside of the Uchiha clan estates, Jiraiya asked. "Do you really think that is okay, sensei?"
Sarutobi answered solemnly. "I don't know Jiraiya, I really don't know."
I hope you are right about this, Naruto...
Sasuke sat, alone, in the darkness.
He thought about what the Third Hokage and Jiraiya had said to him. He didn't want to believe it. His clan, the Uchiha clan, had been the pride of Konohagakure since the village was born. How could they suddenly decide to betray the village just like that? But all those decisive evidences all pointed out towards that only possibility... Despite how much he tried to deny it, the truth was still there, clear and conclusive.
He thought about his father. He had always wanted the man to tell him that he was his son, and to tell him to improve himself to soar to great heights. He had always wanted to be like his father, to become a powerful and talented shinobi like him, to follow his footstep...
But did he want to be like him anymore?
He thought about Itachi. For so long had he thought of the man as a mass murderer, and he had sworn on his life to become an avenger to make him pay for what he had done to the clan. And suddenly, Itachi turned out to be a peace-loving man who sacrificed himself and his family to prevent a war from breaking out.
Memories of that fateful night rushed back to him. He remembered a figure on top of the power pole, watching him as he ran back home from the academy. He remembered Itachi standing over the corpses of his parents, his tanto dripping with blood. He remembered facing the man on the street, his eyes morphing into the Mangekyo Sharingan...
And he remembered in that night, Itachi's face had been full of tears.
Blinded by revenge, he had never even stop to consider thinking what that meant.
Sasuke stood up. The sun was already half down the mountains afar, and the sky was turning red.
"Just wait for me Itachi," he mouthed quietly. "Someday I will find you, and you will tell me the whole truth. With your own mouth."