Who Were My Parents?

The clatter of wooden clogs from the Konoha Military Police Force stopped at the entrance to the backstreet.

The Uchiha ninja leading them was Uchiha Tekka. In his twenties, he had black hair tied behind his head and a short sword at his waist. His Sharingan was inactive, but his face was tenser than those of the officers behind him.

He had only been responding to a report of a Chakra disturbance in the civilian district.

But when he entered the street, he found no ordinary rampage.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki stood before the Third Hokage, with an ANBU operative lying at his feet and an ANBU surveillance log in his hand.

Worse, Naruto had asked a question no one dared answer.

Who were my parents?

Tekka instinctively looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The Third Hokage did not look at him. His gaze remained on Naruto.

"Naruto, we can't discuss this here."

"Why?"

Naruto's answer came at once.

Some of the composure expected of a Hokage returned to the Third Hokage's face.

"Your background involves village secrets. Revealing them carelessly would put you in danger."

Naruto gave a short laugh.

"The whole village knows I'm the Demon Fox, and that isn't dangerous."

"But asking who my parents were is?"

Muffled gasps came from behind doors on both sides of the street.

The question cut too deep.

Uchiha Tekka stood still, fingers resting on his sword hilt. He said nothing.

As a member of the Konoha Military Police Force, he was supposed to maintain order. But this was no longer a street dispute.

This was between Lord Hokage and the Jinchūriki.

The Third Hokage lowered his voice. "You're upset right now. Come back to the Hokage Building with me, and I'll tell you everything in time."

Naruto did not move.

He pointed to the ANBU scroll on the ground.

"You record what I eat every day, who I meet, who curses at me, who hits me. You even wrote down which stone cracked my head open."

He raised his eyes to the Third Hokage.

"And you expect me to believe you have no record of who my parents were?"

An ANBU operative behind the Third Hokage took half a step forward.

Naruto's Chakra tail swept across the ground, splitting a paving stone.

The operative stopped at once.

Naruto turned to Uchiha Tekka.

"Can the Konoha Military Police Force check household records?"

Tekka's mouth tightened.

"We can check ordinary household records."

"What about secrets held directly by the Hokage?"

"We can't."

Naruto nodded.

"Then check whose name is on the deed to the place I live, where my living allowance comes from, and who signed my guardianship records."

Tekka's expression changed.

Those were records he could check.

And under Konoha's administrative rules, even if the Jinchūriki's identity was classified, there still had to be accounts for his upkeep and guardianship.

Hiruzen Sarutobi finally turned to Tekka.

"Tekka, the Hokage Office will handle this."

With one sentence, the pressure fell on him.

The village already kept the Konoha Military Police Force at arm's length. If the Uchiha opposed the Third Hokage here, the fallout would be difficult to contain.

Anger flashed in the eyes of a young officer behind Tekka, but Tekka raised a hand to hold him back.

Naruto watched, and he understood.

It was not that Konoha kept no records.

The records were held by those with the power to silence others.

[Core reckoning triggered: parentage and inheritance.]

[Quest issued: discover your parents' identities and reclaim your sealed inheritance.]

[Stage reward: Uzumaki Sealing Technique fundamentals at maximum level.]

As the system's voice faded, intricate formulas appeared on Naruto's palm.

They gave off no harsh glow, but moved between his knuckles as though alive.

The Nine-Tails spoke inside him.

"Brat, that old man is stalling."

Naruto did not answer the Nine-Tails.

He looked at the Third Hokage.

"I'll give you one last chance."

"Tell me who my parents were. Here, in front of everyone."

The Third Hokage's gaze darkened.

He knew he could not let Naruto keep asking.

Naruto's Nine-Tails Chakra was unusually stable, and the ANBU could not subdue him quickly. If the people on this street spread word of what had been said today, Konoha would be thrown into turmoil.

He had to take Naruto away first.

"Seal off the area."

The Third Hokage gave the order.

Four ANBU operatives formed Hand Seals at once.

Black sealing formulas rose from the four corners of the street, forming a translucent dome over the entire backstreet.

The villagers behind the doors finally panicked.

Uchiha Tekka's face turned cold.

"Third Hokage, the Konoha Military Police Force is still inside."

"This is an order from the Hokage." The Third Hokage did not look at him. "No one leaves."

Naruto watched the barrier rise, his eyes growing colder.

"Is that your answer?"

The Third Hokage removed his Hokage robe, revealing the battle uniform underneath.

"Naruto, I won't hurt you."

"I only need you to calm down."

The moment he finished speaking, an ANBU operative appeared behind Naruto, a Sealing Tag pressed to his palm as he reached for the back of Naruto's neck.

Naruto did not turn around.

A Chakra arm sprang from his back, seized the operative's head, and slammed it into the paving stones with a bang.

Fragments of stone flew.

The Third Hokage's pupils contracted.

Naruto was too fast.

He moved like neither a six-year-old child nor an ordinary Jinchūriki in the throes of a rampage.

Naruto turned sideways to evade a second operative's chain and pressed the formula in his hand against its end.

Reverse Sealing.

The Chakra flowing through the chain was severed instantly.

The operative's wrist went numb. Naruto punched him in the stomach, sending him flying into the barrier.

"Your Sealing Jutsu..."

Naruto raised his palm. Golden formulas turned across his skin.

"Too crude."

Uchiha Tekka's eyes twitched.

Uzumaki Clan sealing techniques?

How could six-year-old Naruto know anything like that?

The Third Hokage recognized them too.

The composure vanished from his face.

This was the one thing that should never have happened.

The Nine-Tails was stable. Sealing techniques had awakened in Naruto. Doubts about his parentage were out in the open. And the Konoha Military Police Force was there to witness it.

Every part of it was slipping beyond his control.

Naruto walked to the edge of the barrier and pressed his hand against it.

Spiderweb cracks spread through the Sealing Barrier the ANBU had erected.

The Third Hokage immediately formed Hand Seals.

"Earth Release—"

Before he could complete the jutsu, Naruto vanished.

An instant later, he appeared before the Third Hokage and touched a finger to his chest.

It was not Flying Thunder God.

It was a High-Speed Body Flicker powered by Nine-Tails Chakra.

The Third Hokage froze.

Naruto did not strike to kill. He simply drove a sealing formula into the Third Hokage's clothing.

It traveled along his Chakra pathways like a cold needle.

"Don't rush."

Naruto looked up at him.

"I'm not going to kill you today."

"First, I'm going to dig up the accounts."

The barrier shattered with a crash.

More people gathered outside the street.

A middle-aged man in an administrative ninja's uniform pushed his way to the edge of the crowd. When he saw the formulas in Naruto's hand, his face went deathly pale, and he turned to run.

Uchiha Tekka spotted him and drew his sword to block his path.

"Stop."

The document pouch in the man's arms fell to the ground, exposing part of a file label.

Several words were written on it.

"Naruto Uzumaki Living Allowance Disbursements."

The money had been there all along. It had just never reached him.