Not Alone

Chapter 17

     Naruto groaned as he felt himself being shaken awake.

     "No, not today, Kurama~ Stopp," he said, turning over. The shaking stopped for a moment and then continued.

     "Kurama! Let me- wait, Kurama?" Naruto said, sitting up immediately.

     "No, I'm not Kurama, sorry, Naruto. Now come one, go get ready; what is it with you being late to training all the time now?" Sakura said, looking at him with concerned eyes. Naruto's eyes widened, and he scrambled up from bed, grabbing his orange jumpsuit.

    "DAMNIT, I'M LATE AGAIN?" Naruto screamed, rushing to the bathroom to get himself ready, brushing his teeth while putting his legs through the pant legs and his arms through the jacket.

     Sakura giggled as she heard him scramble to get ready. Once she calmed down, she looked around at Naruto's room. It was... small and dirty, to say the least. Then again, so was the rest of his house. She couldn't help feeling a bit bad for Naruto.

     For both of her teammates, actually. Sakura knows what happened to both of them and their parents. Sasukes parents were killed in the Uchiha Massacre, and Naruto's parents... were both killed the day he was born. The day of the Kyuubi attack. She couldn't imagine how that felt.

     She always said stupid things about her parents, but in reality, she couldn't live without them. They put food on the table for her and allowed her to go to school and love her unconditionally. Sure they tease her sometimes, but all parents do, don't they? To have your parents ripped away from you in front of your eyes and never even knowing them, she felt horrible every time she thought about it. But Naruto's situation was different from Sasukes; everyone hated him. She's seen it with her own eyes.

     But she never understood why; she never wanted to understand. She feels it would hurt her more if she did. She snapped out of it when Naruto went stumbling out of the bathroom in a rush to get out the door. He grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards the door, scrambling to get his shoes on. She pulled her boots on, and they both ran out the door, Sakura laughing at Naruto's disgruntled face.

     Naruto pulled Sakura towards the bridge, and the two started running across Konoha to meet Sasuke and Kakashi at the bridge. Sasuke looked at the two with their linked hands and scoffed before looking away. Kakashi smiled, looking at his two students in awe.

"Alright! Let's get started for today's training-" Kakashi started before Naruto cut him off.

"Can I leave training a bit earlier today? I have to do something really important today!" Naruto said, practically vibrating where he stood. Kakashi looked at him in confusion.

"Okay, I guess? I'm going to trust you on this because you never want to skip training, so go whenever you need to, okay?" Kakashi said.

"Got it! Thanks, bye!" Naruto said before running off.

"No! Wait! I didn't mean right now- ugh, never mind. Why bother waking him up in the first place?" Kakashi mumbled before the three of them started for today's training.

•At the Hokages Office•

Naruto felt kind of bad for running off the way he did, but he needed to talk to the Third Hokage. Leaping through the window and into the third Hokage office, he looked around.

"The one time I need to see him?" Naruto sighed before going to look down the hallway. Once he opened the door, he saw the third Hokage staring right at him; hand outstretched to grab the door handle.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?" He asked before going to sit down at his desk. Naruto stood across from him, a sudden feeling of anxiety creeping up his spine.

"I-I want to see my birth certificate. Right now." He demanded, stating the Hokage straight in the eyes. The third Hokage looked stunned before he composed himself.

"And why is that?" He questioned, a bit confused. Naruto slipped the piece of paper towards him.

"Because I want to know who my parents are, and you're gonna tell me." He said, making dead eye contact, despite the feeling in his gut that made him want to throw up. Sarutobi was shocked, his eyes widened, and he felt his words die in his throat.

"I already told you, your parents are dead, you don't need to-," He started before being cut off.

"Look at the paper. You're going to look at that paper and tell me I don't need to know who my parents are? Look at the last name of one of those people; look familiar? Oh, and that birthday? Looks familiar to me." Naruto said, leaning over the table to point at the slip of paper.

     "Naruto, where did you get this paper?" Sarutobi said, an empty feeling making its way to his gut.

     "Are you in the position to be asking me questions right now? Old man, who are my parents?" Naruto said, willing himself not to break eye contact.

     "Naruto, you're ridiculous. The Uzumaki clan has had many different people from that clan; you happen to be one of them. Do you think that because you see one person with that last name means they're your mother?" He said, leaning back in his chair, sounding annoyed.

     "I'll believe it when I see it. I want to see my birth certificate right now. All the records on me from when I was born to right now." He demanded, crossing his arms. Sarutobi sighed before getting up. Naruto felt hope form in his chest, thinking that he would find out who his parents are.

     "You are ridiculous. But I understand your curiosity. Meet me here tomorrow; I'll have everything ready for you then. But everything that went on over here and everything that will go on tomorrow will stay in this room, understand?" He said, Naruto frantically shaking his head yes.

     "Good. Now go run along; I'll see you tomorrow." He said, watching the boy jump out of his window and jump from building to building.

'Naruto, just what are you planning to do?'