Chūnin Exam Arena --- Konoha
The reward beam had faded.
The card was in Tobirama's hands.
And for a brief moment---
The ninja world exhaled.
Then the scroll glowed again.
The footage hadn't stopped.
[The scroll continued its evaluation of the Second Hokage's legacy. But the final segment took an unexpected turn---]
[Because the footage didn't end with Tobirama.]
[It ended with Minato Namikaze.]
[And a secret that Konoha had buried for twelve years.]
Everyone straightened up.
Bai Yan, sitting in the audience with Ayame, quietly put down his bowl of roasted chestnuts.
He knew what was coming.
He'd always known.
But knowing something and watching it happen in front of an arena full of people were two very different things.
Ayame tugged his sleeve.
"Honey... why do you look like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like you already know what's about to happen."
Bai Yan smiled.
"Just a hunch."
She squinted at him.
"You always say that."
The footage began.
[Twelve years ago. The night of the Nine-Tails attack on Konoha.]
[In the chaos, one shinobi moved faster than anyone else.]
[The Yellow Flash.]
[Konoha's Fourth Hokage. Minato Namikaze.]
[The footage showed something no one outside Konoha's inner circle had ever seen:]
[Minato Namikaze---arriving at the barrier with a newborn child in his arms.]
The arena went dead quiet.
[The child was wrapped in a blanket.
Orange.
Loud, even then---crying at the top of his lungs.
And on his stomach, freshly drawn sealing marks.]
Group Chat:
[Kushina Uzumaki: ...Minato. Minato. They're going to see. They're all going to see---]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: ...Yes.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Our Naruto---]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Our Naruto.]
Konoha --- Chūnin Exam Arena
Nobody spoke.
Sakura was the first to find her voice---barely.
"That... that baby..."
Shikamaru had stopped breathing.
His brain had already connected the dots.
Three seconds ago.
But he was waiting.
Because if he was wrong---
The footage wasn't done.
[Minato Namikaze looked down at the child.]
[The footage had no sound---but everyone watching could read his lips.]
["Naruto."]
NARUTO.
The name hit the arena like a physical force.
Hidden Cloud Village
A's hand---which had been reaching for his tea---froze midair.
He stared at the screen.
Then at Mabui.
Then back at the screen.
"...The Nine-Tails jinchūriki."
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
"The loud blond kid who was here a few minutes ago in the footage."
"Yes, Lord Raikage."
"...Is the Yellow Flash's son."
"...It appears so, Lord Raikage."
A set down his tea very carefully.
Then he stood up.
Then sat back down.
"Mabui. Reassess our intelligence files on Konoha immediately."
"Already underway, Lord Raikage."
Hidden Stone Village
Ōnoki's pipe had gone out.
He hadn't noticed.
"...The Yellow Flash." He said it very quietly.
Kurotsuchi: "Grandpa?"
"Do you know what the Yellow Flash did to this village?"
She'd heard the stories.
Everyone had heard the stories.
The man who single-handedly turned the tide of the Third Great Ninja War. The man who moved so fast that Iwagakure issued a flee-on-sight order. The man who killed an entire squad of Stone shinobi before they could blink.
Kurotsuchi said, carefully, "...His son is currently in Konoha."
Ōnoki stared at the screen where Naruto's grinning face had appeared in the earlier footage.
That boy.
That loud, reckless, knucklehead boy who had eaten ramen in three seconds and yelled "BELIEVE IT" at nothing in particular.
That was the Yellow Flash's heir.
Ōnoki put his pipe down slowly.
"...Increase border security."
Hidden Sand Village
The Fourth Kazekage---the real one, dead---watched from the Pure Land in silence.
Beside him, Chiyo exhaled through her nose.
"So that's who the boy is."
Group Chat:
[Chiyo: I'll be honest---the boy's personality doesn't show much of the Yellow Flash. But those eyes... those are Kushina's eyes.]
[Kushina Uzumaki: ...Lady Chiyo. You can see him?]
[Chiyo: I can see the footage, same as everyone. That child is unmistakably yours.]
Pure Land
Kushina pressed both hands over her mouth.
She hadn't cried yet.
She'd promised herself she wouldn't.
Not in front of the whole ninja world.
But when Chiyo---sharp, unsentimental, war-hardened old Chiyo---looked at Naruto and said "that child is unmistakably yours"---
Her eyes filled anyway.
Minato's hand found hers.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't need to.
Back in the Chūnin Exam Arena
Naruto hadn't moved.
He was staring at the screen.
His mouth was slightly open.
That was---
That man was---
He'd called the baby---
"...That's me," he said.
Not to anyone.
Just to himself.
Like he was still checking.
Still making sure.
"That's me."
Hinata, who had been watching him the entire time, felt something tighten in her chest.
Naruto-kun...
Iruka had his hands over his face.
He'd known.
He'd always known, the same as everyone in Konoha who was allowed to know.
But watching Naruto stand there, twelve years old, staring at the image of his father holding him as a newborn---
That boy, Iruka thought.
That lonely, impossible, wonderful boy.
Sakura had completely forgotten about the Chūnin Exams.
"Naruto's dad was the Fourth Hokage?!"
Kiba: "WHAT?!"
Choji, mid-chip: "SERIOUSLY?!"
Even Lee had stopped doing push-ups.
Neji's eyes had gone to Naruto.
And stayed there.
Unusually quiet for once.
Group Chat:
[Naruto Uzumaki: ...]
[Naruto Uzumaki: ...The Fourth Hokage is...]
[Kushina Uzumaki: Naruto.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: ...Mom?]
The chat exploded.
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: !!!]
[Jiraiya: Kid---]
[Kakashi Hatake: ...]
[Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi @Naruto Uzumaki: Naruto...]
[Tsunade: ...You really didn't know? All this time?]
[Naruto Uzumaki: I---I grew up alone. The old man Hokage never said anything. Nobody ever said anything. I just thought---I thought my parents died when the Nine-Tails attacked. I didn't know who they were. I didn't even know their names.]
The arena went very, very still.
Not the excited hush from before.
A different kind of quiet.
The kind that settles when something too large to immediately process has just landed.
[Kushina Uzumaki: Naruto. My Naruto. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry we couldn't be there for you. I'm so sorry you grew up not knowing---]
[Naruto Uzumaki: Mom. Mom, stop, you're going to make me---stop---]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: Naruto. Son.]
[Naruto Uzumaki: ...Dad.]
[Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze: I'm proud of you. More than you know. More than the scroll could ever show.]
In the arena, Naruto had stopped talking.
He was standing completely still.
One hand had come up to his face.
Covering his eyes.
His shoulders shook once---
then he bit down hard on the inside of his cheek and forced them still.
He was twelve years old.
He had grown up alone in an apartment that nobody decorated.
Eaten birthday ramen by himself.
Gone to sleep every night without anyone to say goodnight to.
And now he was standing in the middle of a public arena with an entire world watching---
Trying very hard not to cry.
Sakura, for once in her life, said nothing.
She just stood closer to him.
So did Kiba.
And Choji.
And Lee.
Quietly.
Without being asked.
Shikamaru turned away and looked very hard at the sky above the arena.
...Troublesome, he thought.
This is really, really troublesome.
He meant that in the kindest way possible.
Hidden Mist Village
Mei Terumi had completely forgotten about Tsunade.
She was watching Naruto's face on the screen.
Her expression had gone soft in a way she would later blame on dust.
"...That poor kid."
Chōjūrō, quietly: "He has a good heart. Even the scroll said so."
"Obviously." She straightened up and cleared her throat. "I knew that. I was just---noting it."
"Of course, Lady Mizukage."
Konoha --- Ichiraku Ramen
Teuchi had stepped out of the shop when the footage started.
He was watching the screen projected into the arena sky like everyone else.
He'd known about Naruto's parents.
He wasn't among the village's inner circle---not officially.
But he'd fed that boy ramen for years.
He'd watched him grow up.
He'd always quietly suspected.
Now, watching Naruto stand in the arena trying to keep himself together, Teuchi reached back into the shop and grabbed a ladle.
He wasn't sure why.
Old habit.
Whenever Naruto was hurting, Teuchi's instinct was to make something warm.
Group Chat:
[Uchiha Madara: ...]
[Uchiha Madara: Hashirama.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Yeah.]
[Uchiha Madara: Don't say anything.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: I wasn't going to.]
[Uchiha Madara: Good.]
A pause.
[Uchiha Madara: ...The Yellow Flash's son. Raised alone. Twelve years of that.]
[First Hokage Hashirama Senju: Yeah.]
[Uchiha Madara: ...]
[Uchiha Madara: What a stupid waste.]
It was the closest Madara had ever come to saying something kind without immediately insulting someone afterward.
No one commented on it.
The scroll continued to glow.
The next section was already beginning to fill.
[???]
Whatever was ranked next---
It was going to be something big.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789