Chapter 2

-Two months later-

It's been a month since Naruto Namikaze's twelfth birthday, not that anyone aside for his teammates knew that. He got a few things from each of them, a new jacket from Yugao, an all-black sword from Hayate, and a new book from Itachi. And he even got a cake and congratulations from the Uchiha clan as a whole which he was very grateful for. Since that day, he has been undergoing solo missions like a mad man. He took two every week the first month and even went for three if his time allowed it. With the pay he received, he upgraded to a nicer apartment in the wealthier side of Konoha. It was a fully furnished Condo fit with everything he needed. Two bedrooms, a bathroom with actual hot water! His old place didn't have that so that was a big plus. Then, there was his study. It was like a mini library with books stacked from the floor to the ceiling with barely enough room to walk.

He was dressed in his street clothes which consisted of a plain black t-shirt, black baggy ANBU style pants, black ninja sandals and black wrap around his mid-calf. Over that, he wore the hoodless white jacket Yugao had gotten him with the Namikaze symbol proudly displayed on his back and he left the front unzipped. The jacket went down to the bottom of his back and was long sleeved. (Like young Minato's) His headband hung loosely around his neck.

Walking to his mirror, he looked at himself, his hair was as shaggy as it usually is except for the right side of his head which was shaven down for some reason. A while back in training, he narrowly dodged one of Itachi's kunai, but it nicked the side of his head deep enough for him to need stiches. His hair just never fully grew back, because of it, it looked as if it slouched over towards the left. His face had shed itself of its rounded shape and instead resembled his father more than ever. His eyes had heavy bags beneath them as it had been a few days since he had last slept. With a yawn, he stepped out of his bathroom and headed for the front door, ready to start the day.

Red hair strewn across her bed, drool slipping out the side of her face and a screeching sound from her nightstand. Mito's eyes creaked open slowly. Her bright blue eyes wincing at the sun in her face. "Urgh" she groaned sitting up in her bed stretching out her sore body. Today was going to be great. She just knew it. This was the first birthday they were going to be celebrating since they started training. Before, there was just no time for it. The most they got was one gift each year from their parents. Today would be different.

Her door swung open with her brother charging in. "Mito!" he yelled. "Hurry up and get up! Kaa-san said come down stairs!"

She rolled her eyes throwing a pillow at him for being so loud. "I'm up you idiot!" Menma snatched it out of the air and threw it back.

"Looks like you're laying down you dummy." He said jogging out and down the hall. Mito just shook her head as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes still trying to find her bearings. When she finally did, she rolled out of bed and headed downstairs.

Rounding the corner from the living room, she was greeted to the expected big breakfast with the entire family in attendance. By entire family she meant her, Menma, Minato, Kushina, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, and Kakashi. Everyone else was at the long table already serving themselves, there was a space to Menma's right reserved for her. Taking her seat she was greeted by everyone when their individual conversations allowed it.

"Morning Mito-chan!" Kushina said happily. "Happy birthday!" she said passing her a plate.

Mito gave her a quick thank you as she took it and filled it with various breakfast goodies that were prepared on the table.

"So, how's it feel?" Minato asked taking a sip of his juice. "Ya know, being eight years old at last?" Mito gave him a bashful smile shrugging her shoulder in reply.

"Well to me it feels great!" Menma said. "I finally get to go to the academy!" he said excitement pouring from his mouth in the form of his noodles.

"Yeah you say that now." Kakashi informed him. "I was only there for a year but man was it a lot of homework."

"Yup, lots and lots of books and studying. Something you haven't been too great at as of now soo…" said Jiraiya.

"Oh, you shut up Baka Ero-sennin." Menma replied in haste.

"He is right ya' know." Kushina added. "Ninja studies probably should've been added to the list when planning. There's still another year. Maybe we can fit that in." She said.

"Yeah maybe. Then they'd have had a chance at the advanced placement test. They're already miles ahead in everything else." Kakashi said peaking their interest.

"The advanced placement test?" Mito asked.

"Ah, yeah I almost forgot about that." Minato said. "It's a test given to the first year students that decides if they are liable for early promotion to the third year class or not. But, it's incredibly hard to do and not many are able to do so. In fact I believe Kakashi was the last one ever."

"Uh, actually I heard there were two of them just about three years ago." Jiraiya said.

Minato was shocked by that. To think he hadn't heard of it. "Really?"

"Yeah, I think it was Fugaku's brat, Itachi. Yeah he was definitely one of em'." Jiraiya replied looking up in thought.

"Oh, Itachi-kun? Wow, how talented is he? We haven't seen them in a while. " Kushina said.

Minato raised an eyebrow in thought. He hadn't really thought about that. It's been like what two, three years? 'Man, Menma and Mito's training ate up most of our time. We haven't seen a lot of people in a while… I haven't even checked up on Shikaku. Well, that's definitely on the to-do list.' He said picking at his food. For now, he had to enjoy the day since this is the first time they were actually celebrating the joyous occasion.

"Regardless, I think we'll hold off on the academics and all that. I want you guys to learn with your friends. I don't want you rushing out of your childhood so fast, lest you'll end up like Kakashi." She said inciting a round of laughter from the table at the man's misfortune.

The table then broke up into their own individual conversation with Mito and Menma discussing who they wanted to invite to the party later on, Tsunade and Jiraiya were reminiscing old times, Kakashi and Shizune were just discussing previous missions they've been on and Kushina was watching Minato in wonder. He seemed troubled.

Reaching over, she put her hand on his forearm rubbing her thumb across his skin. "You ok?" she asked sincerely.

Snapping out of his daze, he smiled back to her. "Yeah, yeah I'm great. Just… thinking is all." He said. "We've got to get back in the swing of things within the village." He said confusing her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we've been here at the house since we began their training. The only time we've left has been when we went out to the Hokage training grounds, but when's the last time you've seen any of your friends?"

At that, Kushina really had to think. It has been a very long time. She couldn't even remember the last time they've left the house. "Oh… I guess you're right." She said.

"Yeah. I mean, we haven't been to Ichiraku's in ages." He joked.

"Ugh, don't remind me. I'm dying to get my hands on a few bowls." She said with a smile. "But, really. Have we been so caught up with their training that we've just negated going out?" she asked getting back on topic.

"Well, that's gonna change today." He remarked wiping his face as he stood up, getting everyone's attention. "Everyone, when we finish our meal, we're gonna go for a walk through the village. We've been away for far too long. We must reconnect with the people. So, once you finish, I implore you to go and reconnect with friends and what not." He said as they all agreed.

Walking through the streets of Konoha with his prized Icha Icha book proudly plastered in his face, Kakashi made his way towards the ANBU HQ to catch up with a few of his old teammates. He found it strange that he too had been away from the swing of the village for a while. If he wasn't on a mission he was with the Namikaze's assisting in their training. As he walked, he noticed a kid walking quite a ways ahead of him. He noticed he too was reading a book. He looked awfully familiar from the back too.

Kakashi noticed the Namikaze symbol on his back, 'Naruto? Where's he been?' He noticed Naruto seemed to be heading in the same direction as him so he decided to catch up.

"Hello there Naruto." He said not looking up from his book.

Naruto had momentarily looked away to see who was there, "Oh, Kakashi-nii. How are you?" he asked hollowly.

"I'm fine. And yourself?"

"I am well. It is strange to see you out and about. What would be the occasion?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, "Well, it's Menma and Mito's birthday." He replied.

Naruto's steps faltered slightly. "So it is." He said looking ahead from his book seeing the ANBU HQ in sight. "Would you happen to know if they are having a birthday party by chance?" he asked.

At this Kakashi truly seemed confused. They had been talking about it all week. Had he not heard? "Uh… Yeah. Yeah, they are." He answered.

Naruto nodded with his eyes on his book. "I suppose I should stop by then. I'll sign in first." He said whispering that last part to himself. Kakashi heard however and watched as the blonde turned to enter the building he had just been heading towards. Confusion and curiosity prodded him into following him in. Naruto noticed, but didn't find it weird as Kakashi had been ANBU captain at one point.

Walking in, Naruto was greeted by the head receptionist. "Welcome Tora-sama." She said passing him the forms for check in.

"Good morning Hebi-san." He replied formally. "I am signing in. Please inform Weasel I will return shortly."

"Of course, Tora-sama." She replied writing it down on a spare piece of paper so she remembered. Naruto nodded and turned to leave giving Kakashi a brief head nod before walking out. "Welcome Kakashi-sama." She said seeing him standing there. His eyes however followed Naruto all the way out the door, not paying her any mind. Confusion still wrapping his brain in a tight grip.

The Namikaze family strolled through the village streets for the first time in three years. Greeting every person that approached them. The people's admiration of the family gladly did not dwindle with their absence. They were all still adored and loved. Children passing by viewed them with wonder and awe. When they made it to the park, they had to stop and address the crowd of young fans before leaving Menma and Mito to greet their peers who were playing a game of Ninja.

Kushina stayed behind to watch as Mikoto had just arrived with her youngest son Sasuke. They decided to stay and chat for a bit so Minato decided now was as good a time as any to drop in on Shikaku to check up on things. He was returning tomorrow, but he wanted to make sure there wasn't anything major to worry about. On the way, he greeted everyone individually as a Hokage should. He shook every hand and hugged everyone who offered. The exhausting journey reminded him why it was they didn't have time to walk around the village much before. Even so, he loved it.

Finally making it to his office, he sighed as he stepped in. Shikaku was signing a document and seemed to release the breath he had been holding. "Oh man. Finally. I thought I was gonna be doin' this forever." He said sitting back in the chair with a sigh.

Minato chuckled at the lazy man. "Yeah sorry. Not back yet. You've got one more day of it all. I just came by to check up on things."

Shikaku looked at him in thought. A perplexing look on his face that didn't fully believe him. "Really?" he asked incredulously. "After three years…"

"Uh, yeah. Well, we all got a bit… preoccupied by the training and all that so…" he said dying off.

Shikaku just nodded his head as if assuring him he was listening. "How was that by the way?" he said giving up on whatever slew of curse words rested on his tongue.

Minato sighed at that, running a hand through his hair. "As good as it's gonna get for the moment. I mean, they excel at everything mostly. Their taijutsu is good, Ninjutsu is fairly well, can break out of most any Genjutsu they are subjected to and their teamwork together is good enough to land a blow on Kakashi so that's pretty good. At everything else though, they're pitiful. Horrible at fuinjutsu, lack the proper chakra control necessary for medical jutsu and god, their book smarts are awful." He said finishing his assessment. "I'm really disappointed by their fuinjutsu more than anything though. The way it's looking, neither of them will ever be good enough to get the Hiraishin down. I know it's a complex seal, but I was hoping at least one of my kids could learn it."

Shikaku wanted to palm his face. They have literally been living in a cave. As nice a cave it was, it still hid them from the world outside of their compound. The way he said that statement though gave a pang of hurt through Shikaku's heart though. It was as if he wasn't even thinking about teaching it to his oldest. As if he didn't even remember he had another child. His first thought was to ignore it and just let it blow up in his friends face when the time was right, but he figured he should at least give him a little nudge. "Well, what about Naruto?"

Minato froze completely for a second. "Naruto? Yeah, he should be graduating this year huh? Maybe he'll show an aptitude for it."

Shikaku wanted to palm Minato's face! Was he that unaware of his other son's accomplishments? If he didn't even know he was no longer in the academy, then he couldn't know about his son being one of the few to pass the advanced placement test. He couldn't know about his son's alias amongst the other villages which was based off of his own. He couldn't know of his son's unblemished mission record or the various monuments popping up around the nations with his son's name on them. He couldn't know of his son's entry into the ANBU black ops at the ripe age of eleven! He couldn't know any of that!

"Where is Naruto by the way? Have you seen him today?" Shikaku asked prodding him further into the trap he had set himself.

"Uh yeah he's uh… Well, he was…" Minato was drawing a blank. He couldn't remember if he saw his son today or not. Or if he saw him last week. Or in the last year! "He was…" he tried. Shikaku watched the confusion play out across his face in wonder. It was as if he truly didn't understand the question he had been asked. "He…" Minato looked out the window truly confused by his inability to picture his own son within the past two to three years. It broke his heart that he couldn't. Completely shattered his soul.

Sitting on the park bench, Kushina and Mikoto laughed as Kushina was telling stories of the events that happened during their three year training period. They watched the kids playing a strange game they had never seen before involving cardboard ninja tools and a flag. It was apparent to Mikoto that Menma and Mito were well trained by the advanced tactics they were using, but she was filled with pride as she watched Sasuke, on the opposing team, holding his own.

Kushina noticed as well. "I see Sasuke has a bit of training as well huh?" she inquired.

"Ah, well. That's all his brother. Always wanting to imitate him and what not." She said with a grin watching him run around and laugh with the others.

Kushina smiled and nodded understanding completely. "How is Itachi doing anyways?" She asked. "I heard he was one of the boys able to pass the advanced placement exam huh?"

Mikoto looked at her in confusion as she said it as if she didn't know already. I mean, with her son being the other, she'd figure she'd know. "y-Yeah… Yes he did." She replied brushing it off for the moment.

"What is he a chunin now?" she continued further confusing her friend.

"He's ANBU…" she said now truly looking at the woman as if she were an enemy in disguise.

Kushina didn't notice the gaze as her eyes were still on the children. "ANBU? Wow, that's amazing…" she said lowly.

Mikoto kept her gaze on Kushina wondering what it was that seemed so wrong. It was like… she had no idea her own son was the other boy whom rose through the ranks alongside Itachi. They're only twelve years old and they are already ANBU agents. Surely Naruto would've told her. Through their conversations, Mikoto knew they weren't exactly close, but still. When Itachi returned home with the news of his acceptance into ANBU, Fugaku and she threw a party for him. The entire clan was in attendance to witness the great feat. Yet, it didn't seem as if Naruto had told her anything.

Deciding to test her theory, she adjusted her positioning on the seat so that she was looking more towards Kushina than the kids in the playground. "Hey, Kushi?" she called out. Kushina tore her smiling gaze away from the children at play and looked to her friend who seemed to have something to say. "I was uh wondering. How is Naruto doing?"

For a second, a look of confusion crossed her face hearing the name. Then a mix of many more.

Walking down the street in thought, Naruto searched for his family. He had gone to the compound after signing in, but they were nowhere to be found. He searched for a bit until he decided to head back to HQ. On the way, he ran into Itachi which the two boys then decided to continue the search as they now had a better chance.

"So, now that they are eight, I assume they will be entering the Academy along with Sasuke and the other clan children next year?" Itachi asked as he walked along the path with his best friend who still had his nose buried into his new book.

"Yeah. I suppose so." Naruto replied casually.

"Is there a reason they ended their training a year before they head for the academy?" he asked.

Naruto brought the book down in thought. "I believe they said so they have a little time to be kids again before shinobi duties become a reality."

Nodding in understanding, he continued. "Since their training is over, that would mean Hokage-sama will be retaking office sometime soon." He said receiving nothing more than a 'mhm' from the blonde. "Does he know of your rank?"

At this he pulled the book down away from his face. "I am not sure… I would assume not as they have not left the compound in such a long time." He replied.

"What about Kakashi-san? He has taken missions outside of the village a few times since our… foreign exploits. He possibly could've told him." Itachi suggested.

Naruto nodded. "Indeed. However, he seemed surprised when I signed in today. I am sure he was unaware of my status within in the ANBU black ops." He said.

Itachi nodded again. "… What of Jiraiya-sama? I'm sure his spy networks have been buzzing with your name."

"Possibly. However, I do believe I overheard Shikaku-sama explaining in frustration to someone that having both Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-sama on leave as well was in a way crippling Konoha's defense." He said still reading. "If that is to mean he has not been out of the village, receiving the information from his contacts would have been relatively impossible, as Konoha accepts no foreign carrier birds unless marked by the other Kage themselves." He explained.

"So, Hokage-sama has no idea his neglected son is an actual prodigy?" he asked in a joking manner.

Naruto snickered. "I'm not a prodigy. And I was not neglected. My parents took the steps necessary to ensure that my younger siblings were well taken care of. If I had to be set to the side for the time being, then so be it." He explained.

Itachi sported a small grin. "You are humble. That is good. But, if you were not neglected, then who taught you everything you know?" he asked.

Naruto thought about it for only a second. "Everyone has." He said looking at the ravenette. "Through the books they have written or left about, I have learned everything I've needed to know to become an adequate ninja on the battle field. From Jiraiya's book The Tale of a Gutsy Ninja, I've learned to remain true to myself and to the people I love. From my father's notes, I have learned fuinjutsu to a high enough degree that I am able to perform his signature jutsu the Hiraishin."

Itachi stared ahead in complete amazement at the love his friend held for those around him even when they didn't deserve it.

"And it is thanks to my mother's spare key that I had access to the Namikaze library. She gave it to me on my sixth birthday. I've learned to 'always look underneath the underneath' from watching Kakashi-nii spar with Might Gai-san. I've learned a decent level of medical jutsu from the book Tsunade left at my house, and I've learned of the Uzumaki clan and some of their sealing techniques because of the books brought from my mother's homeland." He finished with a soft smile as he stared ahead.

"Everyone in my life has done more than I could have asked for." He said. "If I must endure a few years of lonesomeness, then I will do so while carrying my family name with pride."

Itachi looked at the blonde teen with a shake of his head. "There is no man more noble than you Naruto."

"Nobility is a trait we all share. As human beings compassion shapes our existence. Sadly so does malice. When we find ourselves, we find which of these traits suits us best." He said in a poetic way that Itachi found to be completely true. He smiled at him before looking up at the sky.

"Are you still looking?" Itachi asked. The sounds of the street and the nearby park seemed much more noticeable as he found himself in a moment of profound amusement with the world around him.

"Are you?" he asked him looking away from his book. Itachi smiled a bit, perking his lips to give a reply until they tightened when they both felt a buildup of chakra. As ANBU of Konoha, they were obligated to handle any disturbance within their path involving ninja. They shunshinned to the disturbance cutting off both of the attacks before they collided. To their surprise and amusement, they were holding onto their own respective brothers.