Starting from the End

11. 'Read Me'...

And there was a lot of scrolls, books and... another book with 'Read Me'. Naruto picked the book and opened it.

"Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this then we, Kushina and me, didn't make it for some reason and we are ashamed... "

.

.

.

A hand reached out for the table to find support. Naruto took the only chair, most probably the one his dad used, and placed himself before he lost his strength. His grip on the book tightened.

" ... for not being there with you. There are a lot of things we want to tell you personally. But, as you can see, we failed you miserable. We don't know where to start... "

Naruto could practically see his father's flushed face while his mother was grinning.

" ... So we will start from the beginning. I'm Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Yellow Flash, Yondaime Hokage, your father. 

I'm Kushina Uzumaki, dattebane. I'm called Red Hot-Blooded Habanero of Konoha and second jinchūriki of the nine-tailed beast fox.

We didn't have any idea whether you will be a boy or girl. But we liked the name Naruto because it means Maelstrom and represents a great character. Both of us know it is a boyish name.  It is also a homage to the Uzushiogakure, a hidden village in Whirlpool from where your mother came from and Uzu means whirlpool. In Namikaze, Kaze means Wind. We want you to live like an unstoppable maelstrom, uncontrollable wind. So, don't let them tell otherwise.

Both of us were orphans due to the second shinobi war. And Namikaze was not a clan and neither it belonged to Konoha. But your mother's clan history can be on the same level of the Uchiha or the Senju clan. You will find out pretty soon.

Naruto, let us clear one thing, we love you more than anything in this world. Maybe our decisions will tell you the opposite but we have faith in you. We may have failed by the way things seemed, but always remember we didn't have any choice. 

This was our misfortune that we missed being with you, unable to be there to help you when you needed us most. 

Naruto, we didn't have any family of our own but there are people out there who can help you to understand us, know us. Hiruzen Sarutobi, Third Hokage; toad sanin Jiraiya, dad's sensei; slug sanin Tsunade Senju; Asuka Nohara, librarian; jonin Kakashi Hatake, my student; Mikoto Uchiha, mom's best friend; Shikaku Nara, dad's friend, and head strategist. In the future when you want to know about us, they can tell you.

As for reason behind this book, I assume that you are already a registered shinobi. If not, then I'm happy that I'll be able to perform a father's duty today.

Shinobi are those people who can endure. Our shinobi nation is in a constant war before establishing any hidden village. Reasons are infinite. But I do believe it's the series of irreplaceable hatred, which causes the war most. As a shinobi, when we set for outside missions and we don't know whether we will return or not. The life of Shinobi is at constant risk. 

Being jinchūriki and Hokage of a hidden village elevated these risks by thousands of time. But Kushina and I are quite content with the life of Shinobi. So, when your mother informed me that we are expecting you, I was happy infinitely but also concerned about the unknown future. With a lot of discussions both of us decided to be prepared for the worse. It's true, we have immense power and unique jutsu, but we are not invincible. And this writing is proving it.