"N-Naruto... how on earth?" Iruka stumbled over to the real blonde, wading through the sea of Naruto clones.

"Naruto." Hitoshi called to the blonde, making all of the clones turn to him. "Make them disappear."

"How?" The boy called back, along with all his clones.

"Stop holding them together. Release the chakra." Hitoshi advised. Naruto concentrated for a moment, before all of the clones popped out of existence. Hitoshi gave the boy a small, proud smile. "Good job, Naruto!"

The blonde grinned back. "I can't believe it, dattebayo!" The blonde cheered, jumping around energetically. "I did it!"

Iruka finally made it to Naruto. "N-Naruto! You did it!" The sensei beamed at his favorite student. "And there were so many!"

"Yeah, yeah! Hitoshi taught me how! Isn't he awesome, Iruka-sensei?"

"Yeah, he is!" Iruka grinned, glancing at the ginger. The golden-eyed boy was watching on with a faint smile on his face. The entire rest of the class couldn't speak, it was so shocking. Iruka cleared his throat. "Alright everyone! Back to the classroom!"

::

It was the end of the last class, and Naruto was itching to keep training with Hitoshi. If he learned how to do that within minutes of being taught by the ginger, then he wondered what he could learn with more time.

Sasuke was getting a bit jealous of how much time Hitoshi and Naruto spent together. The Uchiha had gotten ensnared by the ginger's air of mystery, and wanted to know more. Not to mention that Hitoshi deterred the fangirls slightly.

Shikamaru hadn't gotten to spend anytime with his cousin, as Sasuke and Naruto were fighting over him constantly. Clearly, the ginger was oblivious to this, but it was obvious to everyone else. Sasuke had actually invited Hitoshi to sit with him during lunch. That was new to everyone, especially the ravenette Uchiha's fangirls, who threw little tantrum fits.

"Okay everyone! Remember, tomorrow is the exam! Come prepared!" Iruka shouted over the classroom, as everyone was getting ready to leave. Shikamaru walked over to his cousin.

"Hitoshi, you're gonna come with me, okay?" Shikamaru told his cousin. Hitoshi nodded. The ginger's kimono was still stained with blood, making him kind of terrifying to approach, but Shikamaru managed. The pair began to walk out the door, before Hitoshi turned back momentarily.

"I'll see you later, Naruto, Sasuke." The ginger called, making the two mentioned glance up. Before they could respond, the golden-eyed boy was swept out the door by his cousin.

The two started walking towards the Nara Compound. "So, a friend of my dad's wants to talk to you." Shikamaru started. "I don't know why, but he was very insistent."

Hitoshi tilted his head. "Who?" The ginger inquired curiously.

"Tou-san's teammate, Inoichi-san." Shikamaru revealed, as the two entered the compound. "Oh, and, since you're new, I thought I'd give you a warning."

Hitoshi glanced at his cousin warily. "...What?"

"You're going to be challenged to fifty or so shogi matches within the first week. No one's played you, so everyone is gonna want to."

"Well. Isn't that just great." Hitoshi deadpanned.

"Yeah, yeah, anyways, you're playing me first, so that should keep them at bay." Shikamaru smirked, as Hitoshi processed the sentence.

"Well played, Shika. Well played." Hitoshi snorted.

"Now c'mon, I have to take you to Inoichi-san before we can play." Shikamaru said, dragging the ginger to a house. "Inoichi-san!" The brunette called out. "Tou-san!"

Almost instantly, two men appeared in front of them. Shikaku and Inoichi. The blonde-haired jonin studied the ginger closely. "I'll take him now, Shikamaru." Inoichi spoke in a serious manner.

"Jeez, no need to make it sound like your gonna kill the kid." Shikaku muttered, making Inoichi laugh.

"I'm not, don't worry. I just want to talk to him, that's all." The Yamanaka defended. Inoichi then gently grabbed the ginger by the shoulder and steered him into a small room. The two sat down in chairs, before Inoichi started again. "I suppose you're wondering why I want to talk to you, Hitoshi." The ginger nodded in response. "Well, the Hokage has asked me to check your mental health."

"My mental health?" The ginger questioned. Inoichi nodded. "That... That's not a good idea." The ginger told the blonde quietly.

"And why not?" Inoichi asked, concern filling his voice. Hitoshi's whole family was murdered, which probably meant that his mental health was bad, but Inoichi could handle it.

"It means you're gonna look in my head, I know." The ginger sighed quietly. "I wanted to keep everyone from knowing. I didn't want everyone to suffer..."

Inoichi was extremely worried by the ginger's words. "What do you mean?"

"Go ahead. Look. You'll see." The ginger sighed resignedly.

Inoichi was disturbed by his words, but he did as the ginger asked. He entered Hitoshi's mind.

::

It was dark in that child's mind.

So dark.

It was so dark, that Inoichi couldn't see anything. There wasn't anything. No memories, or thoughts, or emotions.

It was just... a void.

"What did I tell you?" Hitoshi's voice rang out inside the darkness. A young child stepped forth, with bright, fiery orange hair and golden eyes. The child was covered in lacerations and blood, several bruises on his thin limbs.

"H-Hitoshi?" Inoichi asked, stepping forwards into the murky darkness. The child nodded, looking around.

"I don't want people to know. It would hurt them."

"You need help." Inoichi told Hitoshi, making the kid roll his eyes.

"You haven't seen anything. This is the quiet space. This is where I sent you, to give you one last chance before I show you what happened." The child told him, crimson streams of blood dripping off of the thin fingers and into the abyss. "Would you like to turn back, Inoichi-san?" Hitoshi asked.

"No. I need to help you, kid." Inoichi insisted, making the ginger sigh wearily.

"If you insist." The child waved his arm and some of the darkness cleared away, leading towards a faded memory. Hitoshi grabbed Inoichi's hand and led him towards it.

'Kaa-san?'

'Yes?'

'Why don't I look like you and Tou-san?' It was a tinier Hitoshi, none of the wounds and sadness in his eyes.

'Well...' It was Yamiko Senju. Her beautiful pale blonde hair cascaded down her back, as she picked up the tiny Hitoshi. 'We adopted you.' At this statement, the blonde jonin sucked in a surprised breath.

Tiny Hitoshi took a moment to process this. 'Adopted?' The toddler asked. 'What's that mean?'

'It means that we found you when you were really little, and took you in.' Yamiko told him.

'Did you get Onee-san like that too?' The child asked, making Yamiko laugh.

'No. She's our biological child.'

The younger Hitoshi froze. 'Does that mean you love her more than me?' The tiny ginger asked.

Yamiko smiled, and Inoichi was expecting a sweet reply to put the child's fears at rest. Boy was he wrong. 'Of course, you brat.' Yamiko replied in a sweet tone. Inoichi was taken aback. This was nothing like the kind Yamiko he had known back when she was still in Konoha.'The only reason we haven't given you to the wolves is because we were asked to keep you. By someone extremely important.' Baby Hitoshi's eyes widened, and Inoichi was livid. How dare someone say that to a child! He glanced at the Hitoshi next to him, only to find resigned misery.

"Let's continue... Inoichi-san." The ginger sighed, dragging the blonde man away from the memory and towards a different area. This area was bright and had flowers and butterflies, and happy things. This is what Inoichi would expect from a child's mind.

'Nii-san!'

'Kyro! Aren't you supposed to be napping?' An older Hitoshi asked, closer in age to the one Inoichi was with.

'Well... yes... but I wanted to play with you!' A blonde haired girl grinned, her brown eyes shining.

'She kept escaping.' A brunette girl with blue eyes walked into the field, ruffling the blonde's hair.

'You two shouldn't be here.' Hitoshi protested. 'Tou-san will be back any minute.'

'What's wrong with Tou-san, Nii-san?' The young blonde asked her older brother, making him jolt.

The boy's eyes widened in shock and fear. 'N-nothing! Nothing Kyro!'

'...You're hiding something, otouto.' The brunette girl sighed, staring down her younger brother.

'Maybe I am, but that doesn't change the fact that you are supposed to be practicing the harp, Jira.'

Jira rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. 'Ass.'

'What does ass mean?' Kyro repeated, making Jira freeze. Inoichi snorted.

'D-don't say that!'

'Ass, ass, ass ,ass- mphf' Kyro was cut off after Jira covered her mouth.

'You two should get going.' Hitoshi noted.

'Yeah, yeah. We'll see you later.' Jira sighed, picking up Kyro. The two started to walk away.

'Bye, bye, nii-san!' The little girl waved to him.

Inoichi notice the Hitoshi's face as he watched the memory. Pain and longing filled the ginger's golden eyes, until there wasn't anything but the drowning misery. "Alright, Inoichi-san. This way."

The ginger led him through a forest of memories, each one more brutal than the last. Training sessions with Shikage and Yamiko, long sleepless nights, years of pain and cold. Inoichi was horrified by how much hardship the boy had been put through. He was beaten and starved, trained unto death, and constantly verbally abused by his parents. The only form of goodness the boy was exposed to was his sisters.

It all manifested into one question that wouldn't stop burning in the adopted boy's mind.

"Why didn't they want me?"

It was everywhere, anytime the child's biological parents were brought up. That's all he wanted to know, he wanted to know so desperately. It was too overwhelming. The blood, the pain, the cold. The only form of light in the child's mind was from his sisters, Jira and Kyro.

Until they arrived back in that black void.

"This is the last thing, Inoichi-san." The ginger said. "The last thing you need to know."

"I'm ready, Hitoshi." Inoichi insisted, bracing for the memory he'd been dreading. The death of Hitoshi's family.

But, that wasn't exactly what happened.