Hitoshi watched as the moon rose above the forested walls of Konoha. He was back in the Nara compound after celebrating graduation with his new friends. It was kind of insane what had happened in such a short span of time, or that's what it seemed like to Hitoshi. Maybe that's how everyone's lives were, and he just didn't know because he lived in a basement for pratically his entire life.

A sudden flash of movement surprised him, startling the ginger back a few steps. It was Naruto.

"Naruto, d-don't scare me like that." Hitoshi stuttered, trying to not die of a heart attack.

"S-Sorry, dattebayo." The blonde laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"So, what are you doing here?" The ginger inquired after he recovered, and Naruto grinned.

"Mizuki-sensei wanted to meet us both in the woods! He said it was for some kind of special training." Naruto explained. Hitoshi was instantly suspicious of this arrangement.

"He didn't say anything about that to me." Hitoshi told Naruto, who laughed.

"I know. He told me he forgot to tell you." The blonde explained. Hitoshi was still suspicious of Mizuki, mostly from the look he was given earlier in the day. But he also didn't want Naruto to go into the forest by himself, for that exact reason.

After a few moments of hesitation, the ginger spoke. "Well then, lead the way." Hitoshi decided. Naruto grinned, and they took off across the rooftops, the blonde leading Hitoshi towards the gates. Instead of going through the gates, like a normal person, the pair leapt over the walls and into the forest.

"He told me to meet him at this abandoned house." Naruto told Hitoshi, as they arrived at said abandoned house. It was in the middle of a very dense part of the forest. You could barely see anything through the sheer amount of trees surrounding them. The stars were covered by the canopy of leaves and the house was run down and broken.

"Ah, Naruto." The white-haired sensei called out to them, and leapt down from a tree at the edge of the clearing. "And I see you brought Hitoshi with you as well. Good, good." Hitoshi was trusting this guy less and less as time went on. Just the way he looked between the two of them was making the ginger very uncomfortable.

"So, Mizuki-sensei, what's this special training about?" Hitoshi inquired.

"Oh it's very special." Mizuki commented, avoiding answering Hitoshi's question. "But I need to tell you something first."

Hitoshi was getting strange vibes from Mizuki. Sinister, sleazy vibes that were making him very uncomfortable. "Really?" Naruto inquired. "And what's that?"

"Something about you that Konoha never wanted you to find out." Mizuki answered, turning to the blonde.

"W-what? About me?" Naruto questioned.

"Yes." Mizuki answered, a dark aura surrounding him as began to explain. "You've been taught about the Kyuubi no Kitsune attack that occurred twelve years ago, correct?"

"Well, yeah." Naruto nods. Hitoshi was mildly confused, as he had no clue what they were talking about.

'A Kyuubi no Kitsune? What the fuck is that?' The ginger thought in confusion. 'Obviously a Kitsune is a fox demon, and Kyuu is nine...'

"The Yondaime didn't defeat it in the way you've been told, Naruto." Mizuki continued, oblivious to Hitoshi's internal conflict. "He didn't kill the beast, but he sealed it inside a newborn child."

"He sealed it into a kid?!" Naruto exclaimed, as 'bright' as ever.

"Yes. And that kid was you."

Hitoshi snapped out of his trance to hear that. '...Naruto's a fox child?'

"W-wha- ...I don't understand-" Naruto was horrified and frozen, standing stock still as Mizuki continued.

"The reason everyone has ignored you and hurt you for so long is because you are the Kyuubi no Kitsune!" Mizuki screeched, and Naruto fell backwards in surprise, his eyes widening in hurt and rage. "But no more! I will kill you and save the village!"

"...Is that all?" Hitoshi inquired, stepping in front of Naruto, who was still in shock. "It seems pretty dumb to invite someone to watch you commit murder. Or are you going to kill me too?"

Mizuki laughed. "No, you're here for quite a different reason. I was told to kidnap you."

Hitoshi sweatdropped. "You... You're an idiot."

"An idiot?! I am here to save the village from that monster, and to take you to my master." Mizuki rebutted stubbornly.

"You're an idiot on so many levels. First off," Hitoshi turned so Mizuki could see Naruto, "that's a boy. Not a fox. Obviously." Hitoshi moved back in front of Naruto, who was now looking up at Hitoshi in surprise. "Second, you fucking told me that you were going to kidnap me. Don't you think telling me exactly what you plan to do is a bad move?" At this statement Mizuki started to look nervous. "And clearly, you're an idiot because you've been surrounded by Konoha nin for the past five minutes and haven't noticed." The ginger gave a slightly mocking grin to the white-haired man.

"W-What?!" Mizuki cried out, and several ANBU stepped out of the forest. "B-But how?!" The silver-haired man spat at him.

"You were so suspicious that I sent a kage bunshin to alert the Hokage, and he's been spying on us ever since." Hitoshi answered. Upon this revelation, Mizuki fainted and was taken into custody by the ANBU. One ANBU took Naruto and Hitoshi to the Hokage's office to discuss what had been revealed to them.

Naruto went in first, by himself. Hitoshi felt that the blonde deserved this, because apparently the Kyuubi was a big deal. The ginger sat alone in the waiting room for about thirty minutes before being called in. Naruto had puffy eyes from crying, and there were a few broken things in the room. The ginger patted Naruto on the head in comfort, and the blonde looked up in surprise.

After Hitoshi had closed the door, he turned to the Sandaime. "What's a Kyuubi no Kitsune?", inquired Hitoshi awkwardly.

The Sandaime and Naruto stared at him with wide eyes. "How do you not know what the Kyuubi is?" Sarutobi questioned. "Even if you were too young to remember the actual attack, surely you've heard of it."

Hitoshi shook his head. "I've lived in a basement for my entire life." The ginger reminded the Kage, who winced.

"You... what?" Naruto asked in concern.

"It's a long story." Hitoshi said dismissively. "But what is a Kyuubi?"

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune is a giant fox demon that attacked Konoha twelve years ago and killed many people." Sarutobi explained. "It was sealed by the Yondaime into Naruto."

Hitoshi glanced at Naruto who was looking down at his feet, avoiding eye contact with the golden-eyed teen. Hitoshi walked over to Naruto. "That doesn't change you."

"Yes it does." The blonde answered quietly, staring at his hands.

"I'm sure it feels like it does." Hitoshi replied. "Something similar happened with me. Not with a giant fox, but I discovered I had something dark within me too. It was kinda scary at first, definitely. But I realized that I didn't have to use it if I didn't want to." Of course, the ginger didn't mention that he had no clue how to use it either.

"But... the Kyuubi... it could take over me at any minute-" The Uzumaki protested, and Hitoshi laid a hand on the blonde's head.

"Naruto." Hitoshi said quietly. "If that was the case then it would've taken over you a long time ago, right?"

Naruto contemplated this. "...I guess."

"Besides, who says that there weren't extenuating circumstances? It sounds very weird that a giant fox showed up out of nowhere to attack Konoha. And why Konoha?" Hitoshi started murmuring to himself. "Seems strange that the Kyuubi would just start attacking randomly. Also, why the hell did the Yondaime seal it into you? Wouldn't an adult be a better option? They have more self-control and more training. What seal did the Yondaime use? It would've had to be a strong one..."

The pair watched on as Hitoshi started rambling to himself at just a low enough volume for them to not understand. The ramblings went on for a few minutes, before Hitoshi snapped his fingers. "The Kyuubi was forced."

"What do you mean?" Sarutobi questioned.

"That's the only logical explanation. Through process of elimination, I've determined that the previous holder of the Kyuubi was someone who the Yondaime knew very well, therefore sacrificing his life to seal it away. Because, as I'm assuming, that whoever it was died and he didn't want the death to be in vain." Hitoshi then pointed at one of the portraits hanging on the wall. "Given the order those pictures go in, I can only assume that the blonde one is the Yondaime."

Sarutobi nodded. "Yes. Namikaze Minato."

Hitoshi tilted his head. "Then Naruto must have gotten his last name from his mother, correct?"

The Hokage froze in shock. Naruto tilted his head. "What do you mean?" The blonde inquired.

"Oh god." Hitoshi shook his head. "Naruto, it's quite clear that the Yondaime is your father."

"NANI?!"

"Look at that damn picture! Are you seriously telling me that no one noticed?!" Hitoshi shouted, gesturing towards the picture. Naruto froze as he realized Hitoshi was telling the truth.

"Why doesn't anyone tell me anything?!" Naruto cried, collapsing to his knees melodramatically.

"So, the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into his kid, most likely because his wife was the previous holder."

"You're just figuring out all of our secrets, aren't you?" The Hokage sighed. "Naras."

"I'm adopted, so not sure how that works out." Hitoshi said, making Sarutobi wince.

"What?" Naruto inquired, bewildered.

"Sorry." The Hokage apologized.

"It's fine." Hitoshi turned back to the picture. "I'd figured that much out, but the reason the Kyuubi attacked was so random. How did the seal loosen?"

"The seal was weakest at the moment Naruto was born. We had her hidden away, but..." Sarutobi began to think about it.

"Clearly someone broke the seal while it was weakened to purposefully release the Kyuubi."

Naruto and Sarutobi considered it for a second. "That makes sense." Sarutobi admitted.

"So, who would have the power to control a Kyuubi?" Hitoshi gave them all a moment to think before he answered for them. "An Uchiha with a Mangekyō Sharingan is the only thing I can think of."

"All the Uchihas were massacred five years ago." The Hokage told them. "Except for two. We already came to a similar conclusion."

"I'm assuming you mean 'All the Uchihas in the village'." Hitoshi corrected. "There very well might've been a rogue Uchiha that decided to take revenge on Konoha for some reason."

They all took a moment of silence to contemplate Hitoshi's theory. "...That is a very logical theory." Sarutobi admitted. "I'll look into it. You two need to go to sleep."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight. Trust me." Hitoshi said. "After everything with Inoichi, going to sleep is the worst possible thing I could do."

Sarutobi winced again. "I apologize for making you relive that."

Hitoshi waved it off. "It's fine. I've been reliving it every night since it happened."

Naruto sat silently as he took in the depth of Hitoshi's situation. Clearly, his newfound friend had been through a lot. The blonde silently promised to himself that he would make Hitoshi happy, no matter what.

And because of the revelation of that night, he decided to try and talk to the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

Of course, after he was back at home in his pajamas.