Chapter Text
Naruto’s POV
Naruto felt tired as he pulled off stones from the rubble. The remnants of the once-great ninja village of the Land of Whirlpools amazed him.
“So, this is where my ancestors came from, I guess” Naruto mused to himself as he picked up a piece of stone that bore an all too familiar symbol.
Naruto narrowed his eyes as he recognized the whirlpool-like symbol. How could he forget it after all. He had seen many shinobi, often ones among his tormentors as well, with this symbol on the back of their flak jackets. A thought that made Naruto fume with rage as he pieced together that the symbol was likely taken from here.
However, Naruto also couldn’t help but recall his early days in the Academy while gazing upon the symbol. The countless days of him listening to Iruka-sensei drone on about this or that, with the symbol proudly showcased on his back as he wrote on the board. How Iruka fought against Mizuki to protect Naruto.
Naruto felt his disdain lessen as the nostalgia clouded his mind. Before the ultimate and unjust betrayal, he suffered through occurred.
“They aren’t all bad people. I’d be no better than them to think that.” Naruto thought half-heartedly, as he knew he still resented almost everybody in that village, save for a very select few who showed him humanity in his early years.
“How DARE they take my clan’s homeland’s crest and watch while Uzushio fell” Naruto again thought as he began to figure out what likely happened, causing the fire of hate in him to reignite. No matter what, Naruto still felt a unbridled rage for his home village no matter how few there were there who didn’t deserve it.
“-RUTO” Naruto suddenly heard, as he snapped his head in the direction, instinctively going for the hilt of his sword.
“Calm down Naruto, it’s me, Han” the red clad man spoke.
“O-oh hey Han. Sorry, I was thinking about some stuff.” Naruto said flustered, as he dropped the piece of stone with the whirlpool symbol.
“It’s fine. I just cleared out the area of rubble by where we landed and wanted to come check up on you. You looked antsy as we approached the shore” Han told Naruto
“Oh, I’m fine. This is just surreal for me. Thanks, though Han.” Naruto answered honestly, as he took another look around his immediate area.
It was true that Naruto probably did look antsy. As Han and Naruto approached the shore in the boat, Naruto felt as if he was about to explode. The familiar feeling that Naruto had felt prior to leaving the Land of Fire had been ever present throughout the trip but Naruto was able to ignore it, until returned in full force upon seeing the ruins of Uzushio from sea.
Naruto felt like his body was thrilled as they got closer. As if half of his blood screamed in pure ecstasy and joy. He could only guess that it was due to him approaching what could be said to be the ancestral site of his Uzumaki roots.
He just wished he could pinpoint why it felt like there was something swishing around in his body as he approached.
Han merely nodded, content with that response.
Kurama’s POV
Kurama wearily watched the rubble through his host’s eyes. The overwhelming feelings within the boy troubled Kurama. Naruto was flush with negative emotions, ranging from confusion, regret, pained curiosity, and rage. It was so abnormal, it kept Kurama from being able to soundly rest.
Not that Kurama really felt like sleeping. He had recalled Han’s proclamation at during the boat ride.
“I will try my best to help you learn how to be a proper jinchuriki, at least one that can utilize the early stages of Kyuubi’s chakra.”
Kurama huffed to himself at the thought.
“The brat thinks he is ready or even able to control my chakra….” Kurama thoughts trailed off as he realized someone was talking to him.
“KURAMA” Naruto huffed again, annoyed, standing in front of the cage in the sewer like mindscape that Kurama had become all to familiar with over the past decade. “Why are you so lost in thought? I have a question for you.”
“What do you want kid?” Kurama asked, annoyance evident in his voice. The idea of letting any human control his power seemed too much to even him, even if Naruto seemed different. The displeasure he felt at the prospect shone in his voice, unknown to Naruto.
“Also, when did you even get in here?”
Naruto seemingly ignored the annoyance the fox had. “I just wanted to ask you something face to face is all. Do you know anything about this land?”
“…and why would I know anything?” Kurama asked in response.
“Because you’re old! And apparently wise!” Naruto angrily shouted at his companion before lowering his head and whispering. “Because I don’t have anybody else to ask, ya know…” Naruto trailed off, turning his head away from the cage.
Kurama’s anger faltered as he watched the blonde look away, his face a mix of frustration and a hint of sadness.
“Oh kami” Kurama thought to himself. “He is still just a kid who doesn’t know everything, despite his strong feelings towards Konoha. Maybe I should just try to placate him if he isn’t asking for control over my charka…”
“You see Naruto…” Kurama started, shifting his position to where he could lay down and still face Naruto on his side. “I don’t know anything about this place. I have dwelled in the area of what is now the Leaf for almost my entire life until the first Hokage had me sealed away.”
Naruto’s body stiffened and drooped. It was slight, but there. Kurama felt bad for his host, and decided he would throw in a small tidbit of information.
“However,” Kurama continued “My last two captors were actually from Uzushiogakure.”
Naruto snapped his head back towards the large fox spirit.
“WAIT REALLY?” Naruto yelled in shock.
“Yes…and stop shouting. It’s hard enough to sleep right now.” Kurama half joked.”
“Unfortunately, neither of them really tried to ever get to know me. So, I don’t have much to share other than that they were both strong women of great lifeforce”.
Naruto nodded lightly.
“Good, he seems alright with that answer.” Kurama thought as he drifted off to sleep.
For the first time in a little bit, he felt Naruto’s negative emotions retract just a bit, enough that he could rest without feeling a constant influx of negative emotions from his host. Kurama closed his eyes, and drifted off for yet another nap.
Naruto’s POV
Naruto’s eyes snapped open, and with the surrounding and familiar rubble around him, he slowly got up and dusted himself off.
“Any luck with Kurama?” Han asked, curiosity leaking from his voice. It seemed to Naruto even Han was curious about this land he had not heard much about.
“No. He said that he was never here, and that he only knew of two women from this place. His two former hosts” Naruto said matter-of-factly.
“Two women, huh? They’d both have to have been Uzumaki then if they were from here.” Han said, stating the obvious casually, as he returned to his task of searching the immediate area for threats.
“Uzumaki women…” Naruto thought to himself, feeling dazed at the idea of there being other Uzumaki.
“Maybe I’m related to one of them. I should remember to ask about Kurama’s last host to somebody when I get the chance”.
Naruto began to help Han, and the two made there way inland. Naruto didn’t really know what he was looking for regarding Orochimaru’s request, but he thought he’d figure it out as he looked. He did hope to find what he wanted however, and with any luck, that would also help him find what Orochimaru was looking for.
Passing by the numerous buildings in various states of disarray, Naruto took in his surroundings, hardly paying attention to his surroundings, much to the chagrin of Han who doubled his efforts to stay cautious. The empty and abandoned streets was enough to put the war hardened veteran on edge.
Naruto didn’t pay any mind to the former jinchuriki however, as he looked at multiple buildings
“So, Naruto” Han started, as he turned back from peering over their shoulder. “What are you looking for, it’s obvious you have something in mind.”
Naruto remained silent, as he turned a corner. Then suddenly, Naruto felt his eyes widen with excitement as he saw it.
“THAT!” Naruto said, reaching out a hand to point at a decrepit looking building with a large smile.
Han followed the former leaf shinobi’s finger, to a building that seemed oddly untouched, despite the obvious wear and tear of age and having nobody to keep it up. It looked almost like it had been protected while the immediate surroundings were abandoned.
Naruto watched as Han’s usually stoic face and figure gawked at what he saw. A grand building that bore the symbol of the Whirlpool proudly standing on top. There were two smaller buildings attached.
Connected immediately to the left was a smaller building with the word “library” barely visible, and to the right seemed to be a sign that was illegible save for the part of a word saying “ES-D”.
“What is this place” Han asked breathlessly.
Naruto was amused at the sight of his new ally staring in amazement. Sure, it wasn’t anything on the level of the hidden villages, but this building was large and did not fit in with the rest of nearly destroyed remnants of the village.
That out of place-ness of a somewhat prestigious looking building was probably what made Han so impressed after living in caves and on the road since he had been reanimated.
“I am guessing this was Uzu’s leader office building” Naruto hypothesized. “I just was looking for a place that was similar to the Hokage’s office in Konoha”
Naruto let out a hearty laugh at the situation before he spoke again.
“I thought this place might have what I am looking for ya know!” Naruto jumped up, suddenly feeling reinvigorated despite the trek he had just taken to get here. For a moment, his feelings of hatred for his old village felt like they were a lifetime away.
Naruto approached the library cautiously. He knew what he was looking for was far too important to have just been left anywhere. No, he needed information on something so dangerous, that only the highest-level shinobi of the village were likely to have had anything to do with it.
As Naruto approached the building and pushed open the door, he was met with a sight of rocks thrown about the room. The room looked very compact, and like this was not a place for much leisurely reading. It felt more like a storage of scrolls not to be read or even mentioned.
He quickly scanned the small room, and pictured how organized it must have been when the village was still up and running. There was a lot of reading material compared to the size of the room.
A couple boxes with large pieces of rock that must been stacked on a bookshelf before the village’s destruction caught the blonde’s eye. The scrolls and books there were completely irrecoverable due to the rocks having crushed them to bits.
Naruto felt his face dropped as he realized the fragility of some of these documents.
“Let’s hope what I need wasn’t in there.” Naruto sheepishly thought to himself, as he reached for the box closest to him that wasn’t covered in rubble.
“I wonder why nobody came in here before when the other villages were destroying the place…” Naruto thought aloud, feeling nothing but jubilation. He began to let his guard down due to being excited to learn about his ancestor’s homeland.
In his impatience, he also ignored the sensation of what felt like large sharp needles beginning to bubble up from under his skin…
Han’s POV
Han followed Naruto as he went into the library. Han still could not believe this stone building he laid his eyes on. It was a work of art, even for a shinobi of the Hidden Stone village. The fact it had survived and only seemed a bit decrepit in comparison to everywhere else amazed him.
Based off Han’s impression of the building in relation to the others and its central location, this would likely have been a more private location for the upper echelons of the village. Only political leaders and high-ranking ninja would have had access to here at worst.
He shuddered as he thought of all the information that could have been sitting here untapped, despite the other village’s razing the entire place. For a clan like the Uzumaki and their rumored strength, who knew what could be sitting in here.
“Hey Han looks at this! It’s like a blood seal…” Naruto shouted gleefully at him. “I read about this kind of thing. It kind of reminds me of what the pervy sage taught me about summoning toads! I know the Uzumaki were a clan of fuinjutsu masters, so maybe they just locked these important scrolls so that only those with Uzumaki blood could open them and...”
“Blood seal” Han thought to himself without registering the implications as Naruto talked excitedly. Han was too focused looking through scrolls that he himself had grabbed but couldn’t look at due to the seals.
“Wait…” Han found himself wondering why these scrolls had been practically untouched by the other villages despite being located right here. “Oh no…”
Unfortunately, Han did not have to wait long to find the answer to his question.
“…the snake Orochimaru made me cancel my summoning contract with the toads so that the pervy sage couldn’t reverse summon me or find me while I was at Orochimaru’s current hideout, but the bastard didn’t let me make one with the snakes. So maybe this is a Uzumaki summoning contract! Only one way to find out…” Naruto spoke naively, obviously not thinking due to his heightened state of emotion.
“NARUTO WAIT-” Han began to exclaim as he turned around as fast as he could.
He had just pieced together the real reason why these scrolls were still here and not taken but was cut off as he watched Naruto quickly bit his finger to draw blood and place it onto the seal.
A moment later, a blood curdling scream loud enough to be heard where the duo had docked their boat, echoed out from Naruto.