The Heritage (Patreon)

Tea Country was beautiful, just as Naruto had imagined. The sweet aroma of dried tea leaves hung pleasantly in the air. Jiraiya informed him their stay in the country would be for two weeks, after which they would move north, bordering the Fire Country.

Naruto sighed contentedly as he submerged himself halfway into the hot spring, the town they were in being famous for its natural springs. A giggle sounded to his left, and he looked irritably at his master, who was shamelessly peeping through a hole into the women's side. Sometimes, Naruto was truly surprised the man had ever taught the Fourth Hokage; how the other man had managed his perverted nature, Naruto knew not.

Despite Jiraiya's antics, he had given Naruto a new restriction seal, as the last one had been burned off in Naruto's haste to get faster. He was now able to practice the Odama Rasengan and also focus on elemental seals. His explosive seals were already exceptional, but he was getting the hang of using other elemental variations.

He had also discovered a new technique in his father's journal: Doton: Twin Head Toad Attack, which he had shortened to Doton: Twin Toads. It was proving difficult to grasp, but the work was ongoing. He also found a whole array of seals, a mix of his father's and Kushina's styles.

His month was going to be busy, and he was about to start on Wind manipulation. Yes, his month was definitely going to be busy.

Another giggle disturbed his thoughts. That old pervert was still at it.

Without a second thought, he elbowed the partition hard. Jiraiya fell to the ladies' side amidst screams of anger and shock. Naruto smirked; it served that old pervert right. He wrapped a towel around himself and walked out of the spring, whistling a familiar tune. He had enough of the hot spring; he had serious work to do.

He dressed himself and returned to the clearing he had been practicing in, a secluded area specially chosen for its distance from the main town, ensuring he wouldn't be questioned no matter what he attempted.

"Rasengan!" he yelled, forming a blue ball of destruction in his left hand. The need for a clone was now non-existent, thanks to his deeper understanding of the jutsu's theory.

He focused intently, bringing his right hand to add more power while his left hand struggled to contain it. With a surge, he pushed the ball into a tree, drilling a hole straight through it. The tree exploded in a rain of shrapnel as the jutsu reached its destructive peak.

Naruto huffed; this was going to be hard. He wasn't going to master it easily, and with renewed determination, he bounced back. Forming another Rasengan with a shout, this time he allowed his right hand to control the jutsu while his left hand gradually added more chakra every five seconds or so.

It increased in size, the stability maintained until it reached the size of a football. Naruto stopped, breathed out, and continued the process. It doubled in size, and chakra began coalescing outwards. He panicked and applied pressure through his right hand; after five seconds of continuous pressure, it regained stability.

He was sweating now, profusely. With one final push, he added more chakra, and soon it reached the size he wanted. He laughed in excitement, but as soon as his right hand came off, the chakra exploded outwards. His ears rang as he was flung back several feet. His eyes closed, and he was greeted by a familiar scene: the tunnel with pipes running along the walls.

Naruto sighed as he walked forward, knowing the way by heart. He'd visited the fox when he needed its chakra to summon Gamabunta, and it had been a terrifying experience.

Soon, he stood in the chamber facing the cage that held the fox, a paper seal stuck to its bars. Now, with his growing understanding of Fuinjutsu, it was easier to recognize some of the seals. He was no master, but he could make out bits and pieces—nowhere near deciphering it completely, but enough to understand it was holding something back.

"You dare to come here to disturb my sleep, fleshbag!" A menacing voice echoed in the chamber.

Two large eyes, red with vertical black slits, appeared. Then the being moved, and Naruto got his first look at the monster that must have terrified the residents of the Leaf Village for years.

The torches in the chamber highlighted its fiery orange fur. A long vulpine snout opened to reveal dagger-like teeth, easily the size of a human. It sat on its hind legs, and behind the creature were nine swirling tails, advocating for its immense power. Black swirling patterns framed its eyes and extended to its ears.

"You lumps of flesh are all the same. I curse the day you were born!" The nine-tailed fox snarled, and Naruto felt his bones run cold.

"You're the one residing in my body," Naruto replied, his voice small.

"Not by choice," the fox argued back, its voice booming.

"I didn't ask for you to be sealed inside of me," Naruto said, finding a flicker of bravery.

The fox roared, a deafening sound, and Naruto felt himself abruptly flung back to the Tea Country.

He looked to his left; his sleeve was burnt beyond repair. The scrapes, burns, and cuts on his arm were healing at a rapid pace, but they still stung.

He sat up from his prone position, knowing he was going to be stiff for a few days. He was also in dire need of a new outfit. Maybe it was time to pester Ero-sennin for some new clothes.

Jiraiya looked on in wonder. The beach-ball sized Rasengan in Naruto's hand was exactly like the one Minato had tried to teach him years ago. The concentration needed to form and hold such a technique at bay was truly astonishing, yet Naruto was doing it just fine, with a smug grin on his face, no less.

"You see, Ero-sennin? I've refined the Rasengan, increased its size!" Naruto boasted.

"Yeah, I can see it. I had to buy you a new outfit for this, though it suits you better than your last one." Indeed, Naruto's new jacket was black with his signature orange as lining and trim. His trousers were black too, but the orange accents remained. It seemed Naruto would never truly outgrow his love for the color orange.

"We should move on. The border isn't that far, and you've got a mission from Tsunade," Jiraiya said, looking pointedly at the scroll in his pocket.

"Yeah, the mission seems over my level. An infiltration and extraction? That doesn't sound like my type. I should be the hero; capture should be my mission!" Naruto grumbled.

"A shinobi is versatile, Naruto. You need to understand that missions are important to the village. The documents you're sent to retrieve aren't wanted by a client, but by Tsunade herself."

Naruto nodded with a frown. "You should wait for me beyond the borders, Ero-sennin. I'll come as soon as I get the documents."

Jiraiya nodded before retrieving an appearance-changing seal and applying it, growing a fake beard and turning his hair black. He gave Naruto a final nod before speeding off.

Naruto changed his outfit and applied a low-level appearance-changing seal, turning his hair brown. The village he was sent to was strictly guarded, which made sense as it was a major hub for the tea business between Tea Country and Water Country. The coast wasn't far off anyway.

He moved through the bushes, then climbed the ruins of a broken tower. It was high enough to give him a mental map of the village streets but still below the treeline to hide his silhouette.

He sat there for a minute, committing the street layout to memory, before jumping down. He hid in the bushes, noting the time between guard patrols. As soon as the guard in front of him moved, Naruto began to follow. The guard turned right, while Naruto turned left, then another left, and a right, only to find another guard in his way.

He eyed the guard's movements before sneaking past him, throwing a kunai to the other side to create a distraction. He climbed a pole and jumped onto the roof of a warehouse. He ran for a few meters before diving into the lake. Fortunately, the water wasn't cold.

The office on the other side of the lake held the documents Naruto needed. He swam underwater to avoid making any sound, reaching the opposite bank in ten minutes.

This bank, however, was teeming with guards. Could he pass them without alerting anyone? He wasn't sure, but he knew his capabilities well enough to start formulating a plan.

The guard patrols had very short gaps between them, and he spotted two archers on the roof. What was in these documents anyway that warranted such heavy security?

Fortunately, his accuracy with shuriken-jutsu was more than sufficient. Hiding behind a broken warehouse, he pulled out the jar of paralytic poison that Shima had provided him. He removed the cover and dipped the tips of two kunai into it, then replaced the jar in his utility pouch.

He aimed at the archers. The duo went down quickly, but one of them fell to the ground, alerting four nearby guards.

Two of them rushed to check on the downed archer. Naruto saw another guard standing near a rock. A quick throw of ninja wire wrapped around the guard's leg, and a swift pull solved that problem.

This was his chance. He ran up the office building and jumped in through a window. The office was empty, which made his search for the documents surprisingly easy.

Naruto found the documents in the third drawer of the work table. Securing them in a storage seal, he jumped out, only to find his movements hadn't been as subtle as he'd intended. Four guards stood before him, their swords drawn.

Naruto formed a single hand sign and vanished in a shunshin to create distance. He looked back to see the guards following him. With a curse, he jumped into the lake.

Naruto watched as the hawk carried his mission reports and the document toward Konoha. They were now safely at the Fire Country border.

"You did great, actually. This mission was easily low jonin level. You completed this single-handedly," Jiraiya praised.

"They were alerted, I wasn't able to remain hidden," Naruto retorted. "And why would Baa-chan give me such hard missions? I'm sure Kakashi-sensei or Asuma-sensei could do this without alerting anyone."

"I don't know, I just receive the mission requests from her." Jiraiya did know, however; Tsunade was gauging him. Nearly all of Naruto's batch-mates were already at chunin level; the Nara and Hyuga were even being considered for jonin promotion.

Tsunade had indeed seen the Bingo Book entry, which had prompted her to assign Naruto high-level missions. Her aim was primarily to test his capabilities and versatility. So far, she was satisfied with his caliber and planned to assign him more.

Jiraiya wasn't entirely thrilled by this prospect, even though Naruto had been improving greatly. His taijutsu training was nearing completion. The restriction seal and his natural healing factor helped him immensely. If only he could learn and use Hirashin as efficiently as Minato did.

"You know, we wouldn't be able to go into Tea Country for a while," Naruto remarked.

"You were disguised, weren't you? Although, it would still put us under suspicion that we left the country at the same time as the documents were stolen," Jiraiya replied, making long strides to reach the nearest village.

"But it wouldn't put a direct target on our back?" Naruto asked. It wasn't that he particularly wanted to revisit Tea Country, but he just needed to know if this would significantly increase his notoriety. He had seen his own Bingo Book entry, updated only slightly with his recent missions.

"No, I hope not. We'll need to return to Tea Country eventually to enjoy those baths, plus the chicks there were fine," Jiraiya said with a lecherous smile.

Naruto glared at him before shaking his head. He wasn't going to dignify that with a reply; his godfather liked to bait him a lot.

The village they reached was a developing trading hub. This part of the Fire Country shared a border with both Tea Country and Noodles Country. Naruto planned to stay there for a week before moving on to the latter.

Jiraiya booked the nearest inn, and Naruto let him roam around. Naruto was far more interested in the seals that were tattooed on body parts. His father knew little of it because, as it was said, this was a technique practiced by the Uzumaki in their village that didn't survive its fall.

It was Kushina who had written about it, though only a few paragraphs. He flipped the page to reach the part where his father taught about using seals on different materials: inscribing them on wood, carving them on metal, or drawing them on the walls of homes.

He talked about the pros and cons and the risks associated with such ventures. He was also excited to try some of his father's wind jutsu.

The week was spent with him buying slabs of these materials, except concrete, and working through them. By no means was it easy, but it helped him understand how to channel chakra to activate seals when using such material for Fuinjutsu.

By the end of the week, Jiraiya led them toward the village nearest to the Noodles Country border. Naruto was grateful that Tsunade hadn't sent him any new missions; he was already busy with Wind manipulation and Fuinjutsu and didn't need additional baggage.

Their trip was silent as they reached the Noodles Country border. Jiraiya was oddly quiet throughout the journey, seemingly preoccupied.

At last, they made camp near the Noodles Country border. Jiraiya allowed Naruto to apply scent-masking seals and a seal to stop sensors from detecting their location. Instead of paper seals, Naruto used the trunk of a tree to carve these seals.

Jiraiya was impressed with Naruto. He had seen Naruto develop through Fuinjutsu, and at this level, he could easily break down some complex seals; that should be his next chapter.

Jiraiya was now planning to travel to the Wave country and then move toward Uzushio. The fallen village was sealed off to anyone but descendants of the Uzumaki clan. He didn't foresee great treasure or mountains of knowledge in the ruins of Uzushio; no, the villages that had invaded the country made sure to steal all of it.

What Naruto would find there was closure. The village was proof of his once-thriving clan. Jiraiya felt guilty for not doing the same with Kushina; Hiruzen-sensei would have allowed her to travel if he had tagged along.

It would take them a month, and almost two years had passed since they had left the village. They had a year left, and Jiraiya was confident that giving Naruto the journal had been the right decision.

Not only had it given him the free time to coordinate with his spy network, but news regarding Orochimaru and Akatsuki reached him in time. This allowed him to avoid their movements. Plus, the journal had improved Naruto's skills by leaps and bounds.

He always knew Naruto was hardworking, practice was his forte. The journal had given him the necessary motivation to apply himself, and now he was something Jiraiya was truly proud of.

He also wanted Naruto to learn his father's signature jutsu. If Naruto could learn Hirashin, then he would truly be a monster with his chakra level. But that could wait; he knew it would be a long-term endeavor. Hirashin required a special signature in its formula, tough enough to crack that nobody except Tobirama and Minato had ever done it.

The ferry to Uzushio was stocking goods, preparing to drop them off before continuing to the Lightning Country. Naruto eyed the ship with apprehension; his previous sea travel hadn't been comfortable. Jiraiya was off somewhere, so Naruto's attention was primarily on Inari's antics.

As soon as he'd reached the country, he'd visited Tazuna and his family, all of whom were delighted to see him. Inari had tagged along, and they'd roamed the village, which had seen economic prosperity after Gato's rule ended, a boom only accelerated by its trade partnership with Konoha.

"Ready to move, gaki?" Jiraiya asked.

"Do we have to travel by ship?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer. Inari giggled beside him.

"I know the ship doesn't love you, gaki, but to reach the Uzu Islands, the ship is the only option," Jiraiya replied, climbing the stairs to the ship.

"See you again, Inari!" Naruto waved him goodbye, appearing on deck through a shunshin.

The ship blew off steam as it moved forward; it was going to be a long journey.

Two weeks passed, and Naruto was unable to focus on anything. The constant sea sickness held him back. He truly didn't understand how his ancestors had traveled these waters without getting sick.

During this time, he was more focused on the thoughts his father had put into the journal. He seemed to be someone high-up; he wrote about treaties, diplomacy, war, and love. Strangely, the last part was rarely mentioned, but when it was, Minato always said he liked the "Habanero" due to her fierce nature.

Naruto didn't know who this "Habanero" lady was; it should be his mother. But who would name their kid "Habanero"? It seemed strange to him. He needed to find out more, maybe the archives would give him something, but that was for when he returned to the village.

"Gaki, come over! Look, we've reached our destination!" Jiraiya yelled from the deck.

Naruto sighed, relieved to finally set foot on land. He sealed his supplies and climbed to the deck, but he couldn't see any land.

"Huh? Are you kidding, Ero-sennin? There's no land around here," Naruto said with narrowed eyes.

"You wouldn't see one anyway. The Uzushio village is hidden behind whirlpools and seals. Only a true Uzumaki can find it," Jiraiya explained, jumping off the ship.

"Are you sure about that?" Naruto yelled.

"Mind who you're doubting, gaki! I am Jiraiya the Gallant! Have I ever led you astray?"

"Well, that last week in Noodles Country..."

"Okay, that wasn't me, the farmer told us to go right!"

"What about the south-west..."

"Okay, okay, now shut up and jump! I know about this!" Jiraiya yelled.

The captain waved them goodbye, with a promise to return a week later to pick them up.

They ran on water, Naruto more focused on the whirlpools that surrounded them. It was the only reason these waters were safe enough to traverse on foot; otherwise, the sharks and whales he'd seen during their voyage would have made it impossible.

It took them an hour to reach a location where Naruto felt something hooking onto his consciousness. He looked around but found nothing.

Jiraiya, on the other hand, was unable to move forward; he felt a barrier restricting his movement.

"It seems we've breached the barriers, gaki," Jiraiya said, impressed. Even after so many years since its fall, the village barrier was still in place.

Naruto nodded before cutting his hand with a kunai—a thought that had suddenly crossed his mind. He let the blood drip onto the water beneath, then pushed out a little bit of chakra, just like he did when forming a Rasengan.

The barrier shimmered and disappeared. The scene that greeted Naruto would haunt him for ages.

The ruins of Uzushio stood as a stark testament to a forgotten age. Broken buildings, skeletal husks of what once were homes and shops, now towered over a dense, encroaching coastal and mangrove forest, nature slowly reclaiming what was lost.

A high, red tower, once a beacon, was snapped cleanly in the middle, its top section missing, a silent monument to a devastating blow. To its left, a destroyed lighthouse leaned precariously, its light long extinguished.

The coastline was littered with broken boats, shattered remnants of a once-thriving maritime community. A shipyard lay in ruins, clearly ravaged by immense force, every blackened building coated in thick algae, a grim mixture of age and violent explosions.

And everywhere, skeletons.

They lay strewn across the beach, within the lighthouse, under shattered boats, and even far off on the cliffs, silent witnesses to the cataclysm that consumed Uzushio. The air itself seemed to hum with the ghosts of a prosperous past, now just a whisper in the wind.

Jiraiya gulped, the devastation before them a stark reminder of Konoha's failure to aid its sister village. He was profoundly thankful that Kushina hadn't lived to see this; she wouldn't have recovered.

He had seen Uzushio in its prime, having Tsunade as a teammate had certainly offered its perks.

Tsunade herself would be lost now, the village as it stood, utterly unrecognizable.

He eyed Naruto, who appeared utterly devastated.

"Why did they do this, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked in a small voice.

"Fear, and a hunger for power. The might of Uzushiogakure frightened them, gaki," Jiraiya replied solemnly.

"Did Konoha ever help them?" Naruto pressed.

"We tried, gaki. The surprise attack inflicted unprecedented damage before we could even reach them. When the battalion from Konoha arrived, the village had already fallen and was sealed behind these barriers," Jiraiya replied, flexing his hand as he felt the barrier recede.

"Why didn't Kushina try to reach here?" Naruto walked forward, his voice barely a whisper.

"She wanted to, but she wasn't allowed," Jiraiya said, looking around the parts of the coast where the sand had turned black due to explosions.

"Why? Who stopped her?" Naruto asked, a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

Jiraiya looked back at him.

"Your Hokage did, fleshbag," a voice suddenly echoed from somewhere.

"Did you hear that, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, looking around wildly.

"Hear what?" Jiraiya asked, confused.

"He can't. Only you will. Don't speak loudly; I can hear your thoughts. Being sealed inside you gives me that advantage," the same voice snarled.

Naruto's eyes widened. 'Kyubi?' he thought.

"Yes," the voice of the Nine-Tailed Fox confirmed.

'How would you know that?' Naruto asked, filled with confusion and suspicion.

The voice laughed sinisterly. "You still haven't got it, have you? You're quite dumb for being so good with seals."

'Shut up! Tell me what you know. Why would Jiji stop her from coming here?' he demanded in his mind.

He felt a surge of glee from the demonic being. "Because she was a Jinchuriki, just like you—a weapon to be used by your saintly village leader."

'Jiji wouldn't do that! I'm also a Jinchuriki; he never did something like that to me!' Naruto retorted, clenching his fist tightly.

"Your mother was an Uzumaki, a trueborn. What she felt for this village, you don't. You are a cheap imitation of her," the creature whispered cruelly.

Naruto's eyes widened. Kushina was his mother? It couldn't be true; Ero-sennin would have told him if she was, right?

'And why should I trust you?' Naruto asked stubbornly, but in his mind, everything suddenly fell into place. Kushina was the only Uzumaki in his village. There were no records of her, and she was the previous Jinchuriki. After the fall of Uzushio, it would be nearly impossible to find another Uzumaki, so the next best option was him: Kushina's son.

"I don't care if you do or not, your mother was a prisoner. It was due to your precious village that this land fell," Kyubi whispered with certainty.

'Konoha didn't destroy it, it was Kiri, Iwa, and Kumo,' Naruto thought, but the Kyubi had already gone silent.

He looked up toward Jiraiya. "Was she my mother, Ero-sennin?"

Jiraiya stopped mid-walk, his expression unreadable. He looked over his shoulder before his shoulders dropped and he nodded.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Naruto asked, a bit hurt by the secrecy.

"I wasn't allowed to. Only the Hokage was permitted to reveal your parentage. I wanted to, but I never could," Jiraiya explained.

"Now you could," Naruto pressed.

"No, even after the death of Sarutobi-sensei, the order wasn't rescinded," Jiraiya admitted.

"So, I might never know who my father was," Naruto said, his voice laced with anger.

Jiraiya looked down, no answer forthcoming. He couldn't tell Naruto, but if the boy was smart, he would figure it out. The journal he carried held the biggest clue. Jiraiya was still confused why the Odama Rasengan section hadn't triggered that realization.

After all, the Rasengan was Minato's famous jutsu, and he remembered telling Naruto that the Rasengan was the Yondaime's technique.

Naruto glanced back at the island, his voice laced with sorrow. "They don't deserve this. I'll bury them."

"Cremate them, it's the Uzumaki way," Jiraiya interjected. "The Uzumaki burnt their dead and released the ashes in the Uzu Sea." Naruto looked at him with a frown, processing the new information.

"Okay," he conceded, "I'll collect the skeletons and burn them on a funeral pyre." With two swift hand-signs, a sea of Narutos appeared, chanting, "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

It took them hours to collect the skeletons from the beach. Burning each one separately would have been favorable but highly inefficient. Instead, they gathered wood and bodies, starting the pyre with Naruto's Ash Release jutsu.

By the time the last of the ashes were released into the sea, the sun was nearly setting. Naruto was exhausted, both mentally and physically.

The revelation of his mother's identity, the somber task of giving his ancestors a proper funeral, and his lingering anger toward Jiji and Ero-sennin had all taken their toll. As soon as he was in his sleeping bag, it took him less than a minute to fall into a deep slumber.

It had been two days since the funerals, and Naruto was still giving Jiraiya the silent treatment. They'd roamed through the village, Naruto clearing rubble as they moved closer to the Uzukage Tower. The sheer chakra reserves Naruto possessed dwarfed Jiraiya's, and not by a small margin. It took them full days for the clones to clear out just one section of the village; by tomorrow, they should be able to reach the tower.

"Listen up, brat," Jiraiya grumbled, trying to catch Naruto's eye. "Giving me the silent treatment ain't gonna work here. Believe it or not, I didn't hide your folks' names just for kicks. Even a Sannin like me can't tell the Hokage what to do, ya know?" Naruto, however, just kept his back turned, not uttering a word.

Jiraiya sighed, not saying anything else as he continued to plow through the fallen debris. The enemy shinobi must have thoroughly destroyed the village while retreating.

Naruto worked for a few more hours, entirely ignoring Jiraiya's attempts at conversation.

At last, fed up with the blonde's antics, Jiraiya jumped down and went through a series of hand signs. The area around them became a swamp, swallowing up leaning, destroyed buildings and debris.

Naruto looked up at him with wide eyes, then frowned. "You could have done that previously."

"Yeah, and you could have asked me for help," Jiraiya retorted.

"You could have told me about them! I can keep secrets. I never told anyone about you getting in the bath with disappearing jutsu to peek at Baa-chan," Naruto said, still holding his ground.

"Tsunade still found out, and gave me a beating of my lifetime," Jiraiya retorted.

"It was not my fault that you couldn't keep silent. You giggled and got punished for that. I never told anyone," Naruto replied, his voice rising.

"Sensei trusted me to keep the secret. I couldn't break his trust," Jiraiya said heatedly.

"I trusted you too, Ero-sennin! More than anyone, even Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, chakra rolling around him in waves, the ground beneath his feet beginning to crack.

Jiraiya's mind raced. Was the Nine-Tails influencing Naruto? This was a really bad time and place for his apprentice to lose control. But before Naruto could take another step, a high-pitched hissing sound filled the area. Their attention snapped to the Uzukage Tower, from which a vast sealing array extended, glowing faintly as it spread across the ravaged ground, directly toward Naruto.

It seemed Naruto's chakra outburst had activated some kind of dormant sealing array.

The leaning Uzukage tower finally went down, a loud crash echoing as dust and debris flew. Jiraiya instantly grasped Naruto and shunshined them to a safe distance. Master and apprentice watched in apprehension as the debris flew away as if a cyclone had erupted from nowhere.

The ground beneath the tower opened into a staircase. It seemed only an Uzumaki's chakra could activate this, suggesting it hadn't been breached by the invaders.

Naruto jumped down from their vantage point and entered the staircase, with Jiraiya right behind him. They descended a long flight of stairs, the torches on each side flickering to life as chakra flowed into them.

At the bottom level was a stone door, sealed shut. The intricate seal on the wall was familiar to Naruto; his father had an entire section dedicated to blood-activated seals. Though he hadn't tried them yet, he knew the basic formula.

A swift cut with a kunai, and his blood smeared on the door. It creaked and groaned before opening quickly with a thud.

Inside was another hall. The torches on the wall flickered alive, and Naruto found himself amazed. Adorned on the right wall was a shelf full of ominous-looking masks, while on the left was a tapestry displaying images of his ancestors and their achievements.

Beneath that was a table with three weapons: a red naginata with a golden blade atop it, a black-sheathed katana with red embroidery and a dark-blue hilt peaking from it, and lastly, twin tantos with yellow leather hilts and black blades, not a speck of rust on them.

They opened another door at the far end of the hall and stepped through. This new hall was even wider than the previous one, its roof upheld by thick green stone pillars.

These pillars were intricately carved with images of the sea, including whales, sharks, dolphins, and other aquatic creatures. In the center of the hall, a round pond glowed with green water, bathing the entire space in a verdant hue.

The pond was encircled by uneven rocks, each with a seal carved into it. In front of each pillar stood a pedestal. The three pedestals on Naruto's right held scrolls.

The first pedestal on his left had a black box with golden embroidery, tied with a red ribbon. The second held a mask, a stone mask to be precise. The last pedestal bore only a distinct mark, suggesting something had once been placed there but was now gone.

He walked toward the pond, peering into its depths. The source of the green light seemed to emanate directly from the floor itself.

Naruto moved to the left. On the pedestal holding the stone mask, there was a template that read: "The last breath the child of sea and blood take, the stone face would fall. The legacy of whirlpool forgotten."

"The Uzumaki were a terrifying bunch, gaki," Jiraiya said from behind him, his voice serious. "Looks like they tied this mask to their blood. As soon as the last Uzumaki kicks the bucket, this thing's gonna self-destruct."

They moved to the empty pedestal, where another template lay. It read: "The breach, the invasion, the destruction. Never trust a sunk ship."

"That means a ship was here, a miniature one," Jiraiya mused, scratching his chin. "Sunk faster than a rock when Uzushio's defenses fell. It probably helped some of the survivors get out. The shinobi, though... they must've stayed to fight."

They walked back to the first pillar. There was no template here, just the box. Naruto picked it up, pulled the red string, and opened the box. A compass sat on a plush red cushion, with a note beside it.

"Seek them, if they are forgotten. Bring them, secure them. You shall be rewarded," it read.

Jiraiya frowned. The compass was pointing to the west, a seemingly random direction.

Naruto placed the compass back in its box, then took out a storage seal from his belt and carefully sealed it inside.

He walked to the right of the hall, reaching the first pedestal with scrolls. "Son of wind and water, the storm is yours to control," the template beside it read. He opened the scroll, revealing two techniques.

"The infamous storm jutsu of the Second Uzukage," Jiraiya said from beside him, his voice laced with awe. "With their chakra reserve, Uzumaki could summon literal cyclones and whirlpools to do their bidding." Naruto sealed the scroll in the same scroll as the box.

He moved to the next pedestal. "Our art, our forte. If you're born of whirlpool, become one," the template beside it declared. There were two more scrolls: fuinjutsu scrolls, detailing the art of the Uzumaki and Uzushio. He placed them in the sealing scrolls gently.

This was his heritage. He could be the last of his clan. He didn't desire that, though; he wanted a family, but life had denied him at every step. It was his right to collect this now. If he ever found another Uzumaki, he would share what they desired, but the safekeeping of these heirlooms was now his responsibility.

He reached the third and last pedestal. The template here was gold instead of silver like the others, and the writing was in red instead of black.

"Summon them to bring calamity, bring them to destroy your enemies. The foxes live beneath here, never rouse them without a motive. They bring destruction, give them respect and they shall be companion."

"A fox summoning?" Jiraiya asked, his face pale.

"What's so special about them?" Naruto asked, placing the summoning scroll and two small scrolls into his sealing scroll.

"The First Uzukage used 'em," Jiraiya said, a rare note of reverence in his voice. "They're supposed to be lost to time, never seen again. Hanzo of the Salamander, Yoshi of the Bull, Sarutobi-sensei, Onoki the Fence-Sitter... lots of Shinobi searched for 'em. But none ever found 'em."

"Oh," Naruto replied, a note of sadness in his voice. "Let's go back to the outer chamber. There's nothing more for us here."

Naruto walked to the weapon pedestal. There were four columns for weapons, but the topmost one was empty. "Hmm, it seems the Uzukage and their family deposited their weapons after their death," Jiraiya mused, rubbing his goatee.

"The naginata of the First Uzukage's wife, I've heard of it but nothing else. Then this is the Black Bolt, the Second Uzukage used it, don't know how though," Jiraiya said, pointing to the black katana.

"And the infamous Tiger Claws of the Third Uzukage. He was infamous for his fury. Tsunade met him, but I never did. He was said to be a friend of Sarutobi-sensei back in the day," Jiraiya added with a frown.

Naruto sealed the three weapons in a separate scroll. On the other side of the room was a tapestry. Surprisingly, Naruto sat down and read through it. The clans, the Uzukage, and the legendary shinobi the island had been home to were all listed there.

When they walked out of the staircase, it was dark.

Instead of navigating in the dark to reach their camp, they decided to return to the staircase. The first hall became their temporary abode as they laid out their sleeping bags. Naruto walked around, inspecting different carvings, but found nothing of note. He then returned to his sleeping bag and joined Jiraiya.

The next day, they roamed the now cleared Uzushio, their focus on uncovering any other secrets. However, it didn't seem possible. Jiraiya was sure there was only one such hidden vault; the Uzumaki were too direct for anything else. They needed to leave; Naruto was getting attached to the island, and it didn't bode well for the kid. He would find nothing but ghosts and pain here.

Day turned to evening, and the duo returned to the beach. They set up camp and lit a fire to roast the crabs they had caught. Naruto returned to his journal, flipping through pages, glancing every so often toward Jiraiya.

It took him an hour to finally gather enough courage and ask, "Do you know anything about my father that you can tell?"

Jiraiya sighed. This conversation had been a long time coming. It seemed, at this moment, the best thing to do was to reveal what he knew. But what about the Hokage's decree? What precedent would he set for his subordinates if he didn't heed it? What would Sensei desire of him? Would Minato be angry that he refused the truth to his son? He surely would be.

Jiraiya let out a broken laugh, a pained smile on his face as he spoke. "Yes, I can."

Naruto looked attentive, the crab in his lap forgotten.

"Your father was considered one of the best the Leaf ever birthed. His name produced fear and respect in equal measures. There was a reason Sensei forbade you your parentage, to safeguard you," Jiraiya said proudly.

"Your father is the only shinobi to reach an SS-rank, 'flee on sight' order in the depth of war. He single-handedly forced Iwa to surrender in the Third War," he continued, looking intently at Naruto.

"You mean—but, I mean..." Naruto stammered, his eyes wide. He might not be book smart like Sakura-chan. He might not be a historian, but he had researched his hero.

"Yeah, Minato Namikaze, the Fourth, was your father," Jiraiya said.

Naruto looked at his journal; it seemed like a dream. He never thought—he always believed that his father was someone not dear to the populace for them to ignore him.

He never saw his hero being his father. Even more than a decade after his demise, the Fourth Hokage was still seen as one of the brightest the Leaf had produced.

"Your father collected enemies like flies, gaki. They just swarmed to him, and he swatted 'em down," Jiraiya said. "Until he was no more. The theory has been that one of his enemies got wind of Kushina's pregnancy; it was compromised. He tried his best, but the Kyubi wasn't easy to control. The only Uzumaki he could find to seal it into was you."

Naruto listened silently, his fists clenched.

"This journal—" Naruto began, looking at the familiar pages.

"It's his. I'm surprised you didn't connect the dots when I told you Rasengan was the Fourth's jutsu, and then you found its upgraded version in there," Jiraiya admitted, eyeing him.

"I considered it, but it felt too good to be true. The son of the Leaf's hero treated like a pest," Naruto said bitterly.

"Your father never wanted that for you. He wanted you to be seen as a hero," Jiraiya replied.

"Then why wasn't I treated as such? They ignored me," Naruto said, his voice raw. Jiraiya eyed him with shock.

"You never showed it bothered you," Jiraiya responded.

"Show whom? There was no one. I was left on my own, with some meager currency notes and an empty apartment," Naruto said, his voice heavy. He hadn't cried after he realized nobody would come for him.

"Someone leaked your status as a Jinchuriki to the villagers. You have to understand, they feared what happened that cursed night," Jiraiya tried to reason, knowing deep down that Naruto's anger toward the villagers was justified.

What was he to do? Send him on a path of revenge? That wouldn't do; it would be a disrespect to Minato and Kushina's legacy.

"Who did it?" Naruto demanded, his voice tight.

"Nobody knew. Sensei tried to find out. Kakashi too, he was your father's student, the last one alive," Jiraiya answered, standing up.

"He never told me," Naruto said with a frown.

"He was forbidden to. The council restricted him," Jiraiya explained, walking to a nearby bush to take a leak.

"The council, what council?" Naruto asked, confused. To his knowledge, the village system was more like a monarchy.

"The advisors council, there's a clan council too. Never found the reason for either one," Jiraiya admitted, sitting back down.

"Advisors council?" Naruto repeated.

"There are five members currently: Tsunade as Hokage, and Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane as advisors. Also, Nara Shikaku as Jonin Commander and the Anbu Commander, whose identity is secret," Jiraiya explained. "They hold the same respect as the Hokage, but the Hokage's decision is final, even if they have to go against their counsel."

"Why would they restrict Kakashi-sensei though?" Naruto asked.

"You have the same shade of blond hair and blue eyes as Minato. It would've been suspicious for Kakashi to be seen around such a child, considering his closeness to your father," Jiraiya replied easily.

Naruto nodded, deep in thought. "I think I need some time to digest it all."

He walked off, taking a stroll along the beach to relieve the headache the constant questioning had caused. Contrary to Jiraiya's opinion, he did blame the villagers. There was no reason to ostracize a child simply because they feared the Kyubi escaping him, but when he worded it like that, it actually seemed quite viable.

He shook his head as he climbed a rock, sitting down to gaze at the ocean, the crashing waves helping to clear his mind.

The next morning found them packing, as Jiraiya had spotted a ship on the horizon. It wasn't the same one that had dropped them off, but a few coins would solve that issue. He didn't want to linger here a moment longer.

Naruto looked glum, his anxiety clear to see. The week had been eventful, with the revelation of his parents' identities and his Uzumaki heritage, among other things. The island was a constant reminder of his ancestors' brutal demise.

So, they packed their bags and rushed off, the barrier making the island invisible once more.

The ship's captain demanded more than a few coins, but soon they were off towards the shore. Fortunately, this vessel was docking at a port in the Land of Fire, not Wave. The trip was as awful as any other he had taken, though at least he didn't puke the entire way back.

Two days later, he touched land and wanted to kiss the ground. He did miss the island that had felt like home, but his true home was Konoha. He never particularly liked its general population, but there was a small group of people who made it tolerable.

After a day of hopping through trees, they reached a holiday town. Jiraiya seemed tired of their constant movement and wanted to spend a month here. He aimed to complete his latest book and then meet his publishers, a process that would take him three months in total.

With only a year left in his training trip, Naruto was far more focused on his journal now. He had big shoes to fill if he wanted to be like his father. He had found his father's famed jutsu in the journal the other day: Hirashin, the technique that earned his father the moniker of Yellow Flash.

His current mastery over fuinjutsu was enough to understand the basic formula, but the unique signature proved to be a significant hurdle.

It seemed he needed to go through the fuinjutsu scrolls of his lost clan. It would take him a long time to truly reach the level of his father. A year wasn't enough, but he would try his best.

The next day, he sat down, opening both the fuinjutsu scrolls of his ancestors and his father's journal. To his surprise, he understood the Uzumaki seals better than his father's.

And he was already half done; while the sealing styles might be different, at their base, they shared the same foundation.

Three days of continuous translation later, he was able to go through the scrolls with ease. The practical side, however, was another issue entirely. He could understand the seals easily enough, but copying them was nearly impossible. The style Shima taught him was more inclined toward Minato's style.

He had two options: learn a new style and dedicate a few years to it, or develop a new style. The latter would also consume his time, but it was much more efficient than learning an entirely new one from scratch.

Jiraiya was truly shocked by Naruto's innovation. He wouldn't have believed it if someone had told him that the "blockhead blonde" would be able to improvise his own style of Fuinjutsu, just like Minato. He would've scoffed and cuffed him over the head.

But here he was, witnessing what could be the rise of another legendary shinobi like Minato. Or perhaps not; Naruto could easily move toward barrier Fuinjutsu like his mother. A few years in, and he would be a master. What truly made him a beast, however, was his use of the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu.

Naruto had asked for a personal room, and Jiraiya had allowed it. Inside it, six Narutos were diligently working: practicing seals, reading them, copying them, and one clone was activating them. This last clone sat far off, occasionally poofing out due to the disastrous results the seals sometimes produced. Another clone took his place pretty quick though.

Jiraiya had only wanted Naruto to use shadow clones to both edit his novel and complete his training, but it seemed the revelation of the jutsu's full capabilities had given Naruto a significant edge.

If he continued working like this, and with the number of clones he could summon, he would master most of the seals within a year. In two years, he could reach Jiraiya's level and perhaps even surpass him in Fuinjutsu.

Jiraiya smiled. Maybe it wasn't such a bad decision to reveal Naruto's parentage after all. If he had known it would motivate him this much, he might have done it earlier. Or maybe not, but he was feeling less and less guilty as time went on.

Disclaimer: All Rights reserved to Kishimoto.