Sealing Jutsu?

Kakashi and the others were all waiting for him, waiting for an explanation.

"Ahem, Kakashi-sensei, would you believe me if I said I just saved a romance?"

"Cut the nonsense. How do you know Flying Thunder God?"

"Well, Kakashi-sensei, do you want the truth?"

"Talk."

"I taught myself."

"Hmm?"

"Ahem, fine. My dad actually taught me. Kakashi, you know I'm a Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails too."

"Dad? Onii-chan, what are you talking about? Where's Dad? Don't we not have a mom or dad?" Naruto grew agitated at Meihui's words.

But Kakashi wasn't particularly keen on letting Naruto know about this.

"Sigh. Naruto, Meihui, don't say any more about this."

"All right, Kakashi-sensei. I know you didn't have a choice either."

"Naruto, it's not that we never had parents. They sacrificed their lives."

Hearing that he did have parents, Naruto couldn't help getting excited, but he soon calmed down. If they hadn't told him, there had to be a reason.

But neither Kakashi nor Meihui wanted to explain, and Naruto felt awkward asking.

He could only change the subject.

"Oh, right. Where are Haku and Zabuza?"

"Those two? They've already left to live happily together without a shred of shame."

"What? Haku and Zabuza are together? Wait, why?" Naruto had just been basking in joy, only to plunge into misery again.

Seeing his little brother like this, Meihui hurried to comfort him.

"Little bro, don't be sad. Don't get hung up on one tree when there are whole forests out there in the Shinobi World. Cheer up. Sooner or later, you'll find someone blind enough to want you."

Hearing his big brother comfort him like that only made Naruto cry harder.

"Sasuke, come here. Let me borrow your shoulder."

For some reason, Naruto no longer liked Sakura. Why did he seem like such a playboy now?

Sasuke ignored Naruto too.

"Oh, and don't tell anyone what happened today. Don't let anything about Meihui slip."

They nodded to show they understood.

Time passed quickly, and soon Team 7 was ready to head home.

Nothing else happened, and they returned to Konoha.

Meihui took Naruto and Sasuke to Ichiraku for ramen, while Kakashi went to report the events of the mission to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

After revising the mission's difficulty rating and briefly asking about the three youngsters, Hiruzen Sarutobi sent Kakashi home to rest.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smoked as he gazed toward the horizon, lost in thoughts no one could guess.

At Ichiraku, the three ate in silence.

Eventually, Naruto couldn't resist breaking the quiet.

"Onii-chan, did we really have parents?"

Meihui nodded without saying anything else.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Naruto was delighted. That alone was enough to make him happy. Then he polished off another two big bowls of noodles.

After all, young master Meihui was picking up everyone's tab tonight.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, they each went home.

"Ah, finally home. I'm exhausted. Little bro, wash up and get some sleep." Meihui took a quick shower and returned to his room.

"System, claim rewards."

[Ding! Story check-in successful. Congratulations, host! You have received: Complete Sealing Jutsu, sealing jutsu talent (max level), sealing jutsu user's heart, sealing jutsu user's soul.]

"Sealing Jutsu? Are you kidding me? That's pretty useless. Even a dog wouldn't want Sealing Jutsu."

[Complete Sealing Jutsu: Contains every Sealing Jutsu and allows you to develop your own.]

[Sealing jutsu talent (max level): Learning and developing Sealing Jutsu both come effortlessly.]

[Sealing jutsu user's heart: Increases the success rate of each Sealing Jutsu cast by fifty percent and its power by sixty percent.]

[Sealing jutsu user's soul: Every Sealing Jutsu cast increases your proficiency in all your Sealing Jutsu, improving your strength.]

Meihui was a little dumbfounded as he looked over the rewards.

"Uh... I wanted to be a warrior who landed bone-crunching punches. How did I end up a spell-slinging turret?"

"Still, this looks pretty strong. If I could incorporate Sealing Jutsu into my ninjutsu, that'd be ridiculously powerful. Looks like I actually can, too. In the future, I could just seal an enemy's chakra with a single Sealing Jutsu. Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Woof, woof, woof! Sealing Jutsu is amazing!"

Excited, Meihui stayed up all night practicing Sealing Jutsu.

Some time later, a legend began circulating through the Shinobi World: there was a complete maniac roaming around, sealing people for fun. Of course, that was a story for another day. Meihui wasn't that strong yet.