After the heart warming 'father-daughter' moment, the two separated with a hearty laugh. Though Naruto did ask why she had asked such a thing from him, even as a joke, it seemed off.
"Well, you gave off that like, really mature feeling, and sure, Shibuki-san also gave off that feeling, but nowhere near as reassuring as you, y'know?" Fu grinned
"Kinda like a dad, a figure you can rely on, no?" Fu's innocent eyes reflected no lies, her cheerful smile seemingly made Naruto smile back
"Haha, I see, though it still seems weird to ask someone you only knew for so long to be your dad" He replied
"Yeah, but who cares, am I right?" She laughed
"True, true"
[This is getting weird, kid] Kurama spoke
'I mean, it's whatever, what haven't I done at this point? I'm working with a notorious criminal, I'm harboring notorious criminal(s), plural, I kidnapped a kid and threw him to Orochimaru for experimentation, reanimated a man as my slave, plenty more, like, what have I not done yet?' Naruto responded
[...] Facing this question, Kurama indeed had an answer, but chose not to speak.
What was his answer? Naruto has yet to do anything upright...
Meanwhile, Fu seems to be having a conversation with Chomei at this moment as well, and when she finished, she leaned over
"Say, Chomei says that it sounded fun when I called you dad, so it wanted to ask...can Chomei call Kurama dad now? Since you're Kurama's jinchuriki, it wants to do the same" She asked with with a gleeful smile
[NO! ABOSLUTELY NOT!] Kurama roared
Meanwhile, Naruto gave her a thumbs up and grinned
"He said no...problem! He also said Absolutely, not a problem" He lied without even batting an eye, leaving Kurama fuming
[YOU BRAT! I WILL FIGHT IT OUT WITH YOU! TO THE DEATH]
"Really?" Fu asked with bright eyes
"Of course, he said if anyone bullies Chomei, he'd fight it out with them, to the death" Naruto continued, repeating what Kurama said, whilst adding a few words of his choice...
Chomei was overjoyed
"Chomei says it's really happy, hehe, it asks if it should call Kurama dad, or daddy, maybe papa?" Fu asked
"Papa or daddy" Naruto replied
"Okay, I'll inform Chomei right away" Fu grinned
[Skin you like a f**king animal, and wear your face as a mask! I will gut you! I WILL DANCE ON YOUR ANCESTRAL GRAVES] Kurama roared in Naruto's head, so loud that Naruto quickly cut off their connection for a brief period as it was starting to hurt his head.
'Jeez, why are you so against it?' Naruto grumbled
[This messes up the seniority completely! If I become Chomei's dad, what will everyone else call us? What of our creator? What will I call him then? Hah!] Kurama screamed
Naruto had to admit, he has never seen Kurama this distressed...it was hilarious
"Haha, since we're family now, ask away, anything you want or want to know, go ahead an speak" Naruto said with a warm smile
"A tail of Kurama" Fu replied with a smile, yet her eyes looked so serious it was a little scary
"...hey Kurama, can your tail can regro-"
[F**K OFF!]
"He said no" Naruto coughed
"Hahaha, to be expected, he said no last time as well" Fu laughed
Her lips curled
"In all seriousness, I don't really know why I wanted you to do this either...I think I just finally found someone who was able to understand me, and stand up for it" Fu said
"So I'll be calling you dad from now on, I have no idea why, but it feels right"
"You do realise you're probably older than me by a few months, right?" Naruto asked
"Yep, but does it matter?"
"Apparently not" Naruto chuckled
The two laughed together, if anyone else saw this, they might just assume it's two friends laughing together. But the one who saw this was none other than Tsunade, who was just outside the room, about to check in on Fu when she heard Fu cry.
As she waited, the conversations began to derail, dn she completely froze up when she heard Fu ask Naruto to be her dad. At first she was about to laugh at him, but then he went and said yes as long as she joined the village???
Tsunade was stupefied, completely and utterly stupefied.
But as the conversations went on, she made a decision as she opened the door.
"Yo sis, you're here?" Naruto waved
"Mn" She nodded
"So, how long have you been here?" He asked
"Since the start" She replied
"So that means..."
"I heard everything, yes" She nodded again
A pink hue appeared on Fu's cheeks, she wasn't expecting anyone else to hear it, and now, she felt a tad embarrassed.
As she was about to speak, Tsunade's hands reached out and started to pinch her cheeks.
"Fufufu, look at you, my dear niece, she's actually quite cute, you've got yourself a cute daughter, bro" Tsunade said with a wide grin
"Aw, thanks sis~" Naruto laughed
Fu was stumped
"W-wait, huh? Th-This, so easily? You just? Uh..."
"Who do you take me for, if I'm willing to drink till I drop with him, why wouldn't I accept this?" Tsunade laughed
"..."
It seems Fu still had a lot to learn about her new family...
"Right, how will you explain this to Ino and her family?" Tsunade asked
Naruto winked
"Don't worry, I've got a great idea" he said confidently
"Really now? Tsunade gave him a suspicious look, as if she wasn't looking at a konoha shinobi, but a vile criminal.
"What's the plan?" Fu asked, wanting to know as well, after all, how are you supposed to explain it to your girlfriend and her family that you suddenly have a daughter that's older than you are?
"The plan is..."
-A moment later-
"So yeah, this is my new daughter, Fu, Fu, this is Ino, Inoichi-san, and Kiku-san"
'Plan my a*s! He just teleported me here without warning!' Fu cursed up a storm in her heart as she forced out a smile in front of the family members who were just sitting around...
"..."
"Hahaha, man, your jokes never get old, Na-kun" Ino patted Naruto's back as she laughed with a cheerful grin.
She then waved at Fu
"So does that make me your mum, hehe~" She stuck out her tongue as she shot Fu a cheeky grin
"It actually does" Fu replied
"...hahaha, you're also getting into the act? I don't know how Na-kun dragged you into doing this, but it's great that you're fitting in" Ino said
Seeing Ino laugh so much, Fu began sweating, she quickly turned to Naruto, who waved his hand with a smile
"It's actually real, here are the legal documents I got from sis-uh, I mean, Hokage-sama, truth be told, Fu is now a part of Konoha, marking our second Jinchuriki, of course, it's confidential at the moment, otherwise, she is my newly adopted daughter" Naruto said calmly as he slipped the various documents Tsunade had him sign to legalise the process, whilst also creating a new identity for Fu so that the rest of the Shinobi world will believe that this is not the jinchuriki of the seven tails, rather, just another girl affiliated to Konoha.
At first they all thought he was joking, and was really into the act, but as they read the documents, their smiles faded. Well, Inoichi never had a smile, but his frown deepened.
"N-Na-kun, did you perhaps go out of your way to kidnap a jinchuriki, tie her to our village, and adopt her as your daughter" Ino questioned
"Skipping a few details, but yeah, that's the gist of it" He nodded
'Where's the f**king plan!' Fu cried in her heart
"Hah...hahaha...I get it now, this is all a dream~, I didn't become a Chunin, the exam hasn't started yet, I'm just dreaming, hahaha"
"Aw, how cute, she thinks it's a dream" Naruto said with a loving smile
"..."
"Naruto, one moment" Kiku stood up and said
She pulled Ino back and pushed her to Inoichi, in hopes he can calm her down a little as she faced Naruto. Her usual smile was gone, replaced with a dark expression that Naruto has only ever seen when she faces Inoichi.
She is serious...
"Naruto, I always knew that you were playful, but I thought I could at least act more mature when it comes to matters about your relationship with Ino" She said
"I am very serious" Naruto replied
"Then what is this all about" Her brows furrowed as she asked in a low voice
"Honest truth" He responded
"Truth?"
"Of course, the reason why I am so open about this is that I promised Ino that I will not hide anything from her, if I wished to hide this, it would only hurt our relationship if it were revealed further down in the future" Naruto said calmly
Kiku's gaze darkened
"So you knew that doing this would hurt your relationship with Ino"
"Of course, I understand how confusing and distressing it may feel, that I brought a girl around our age, and said she is my daughter, this is something I should have discussed with you all before doing, but beyond that, I do not regret my actions"
"And you still did it" Kiku stood her ground, stepping closer towards him
The tension within the room was high, and Fu was sweating buckets as she sat at the table, sipping water nervously.
"It seems you missed what I said before, she is a jinchuriki" Naruto said
"She can be whatever she wants, but when it comes to-...roll it back, she's a what?"
Naruto sighed
"She is a jinchuriki, jinchuriki of the seven tails, like me" He said
Naruto clenched his hands tightly
"How was I treated within Konoha because everyone thought I was the incarnation of the nine tails?" He continued
"That..."
"When I saw Fu, I realised she was in the same situation I was in, her village believed she is better off dead, she isn't even a human in their eyes, even worse than a stranger" He slammed both hands onto the table
"If I can change the fate of someone who is in the same situation as I am, I will! She can live as a normal person in Konoha, under another name, under a different status, she won't receive the same hate that Konoha held for me, nor the treatment her village showed her"
He bit the bottom of his lips tightly as blood seeped out
"I am sorry that I did this, but did you know, before I brought her back to Konoha, she was being chased down with her life hanging by a thread, the elders of her village abandoned her without hesitation, had I not been there, she would be dead"
His words were heavy, and even Inoichi, who wanted to say something, found it hard to voice anything.
"I...understand" Kiku muttered
"Thank you, Kiku-san" Naruto revealed a faint gentle smile
"But I just want to ask one last thing" Kiku sighed
"Go ahead"
"Why did you end up adopting her? Wouldn't becoming siblings be a better alternative?" She asked with a perplexed expression
"..."
It was at that moment that Naruto's flawless acting showed a crack, his lips twitched, and without hesitation, he pointed at Fu.
"She asked me for that, ask her" He said
'HEY!' Fu almost cried, he threw her under the bus without hesitation!
Immediately, eyes were all on her, making her nervousness rise significantly. Though their gaze has softened considerably compared to before, having learned of her experiences thus far from Naruto. Even her current nervousness was simply assumed to be a post traumatic aftershock due to a recent near death experience.
"I-I...I" Tears began to swell on her eyes as she found it hard to voice anything out
Naruto patted her back gently
"I guess asking you to explain is still a bit too much...sorry, Fu" Naruto said apologetically
'Boo, you mean b*stard of a father, quickly explain it for me' Fu cried in her heart
Naruto sighed
"Unlike me, Fu wasn't quite able to accept her parents' deaths...she needs a parental figure, someone she can rely on, someone she can follow, and someone who understands her, as an orphan myself, I understand the loneliness and pain" He muttered
Fu looked down
'Damn...his acting is good' She thought as her hands clenched
'But he's not entirely wrong either'
Naruto looked up at the three of them with a sincere expression. He bowed his head down.
"Please forgive me for doing this on my own, but Fu truly needs someone to stand by her side, not just a friend, but a figure that can guide her, I cannot leave her be" He said solemnly
[You humans and your trickery] Kurama scoffed
Kiku and Ino were the first to melt from his words, their hardened hearts began to thaw as they slowly saw Fu in new light. A strong urge to protect her rose in their hearts, and even the feeling of seeing her as their own child.
Even Inoichi was moved, though angered by Naruto's inability to ask them beforehand, his intentions made it impossible to truly be angry. He was a boy who had suffered greatly, and they knew it too, so to see someone who shares his pain, they felt it was within his nature to help such a person.
Ino stood up
"I-I still can't completely accept this situation...but I'll do my best to do so, if you believe what you have done is the right choice, then I am willing to believe in you, your care for those around you is one of the reasons I fell for you in the first place" Ino smiled
Naruto's eyes widened, he then ran up and pulled Ino into his embrace
"Thank you, Ino" He said with a shaky voice
Ino smiled gently
"Just...don't expect me to call her my daughter, nor have her call me mum, I can't take it" She added
"That's fair" Naruto nodded
He then turned to Kiku and Inoichi
"Kiku-san, Inoichi-san, I won't ask you to accept Fu as a family immediately, but at the very least, please don't reject her outright" He said sincerely
At this point, the two had already accepted this matter. From Naruto's pure hearted intention to Fu's heartbreaking experiences, they found it hard to even fault the child.
"We'll try our best" Kiku replied
Naruto grinned as he pulled Fu up
"Fu, don't forget to say thank you" He said
"Th-Th-tang gyou-ack"
'She bit her tongue' The group smiled, she was truly innocent
To fumble over just a few words, they found themselves slowly liking her innocent attitude.
"Once again, you have my gratitude, I'm sure Fu will live a more enjoyable life here in Konoha" Naruto said
"Don't say thank you, we're family" Kiku said
Naruto's smile brightened up
"Yeah" He nodded
"I'll settle her down first, if there are anything else you'd want to talk about, I'm always free to speak" He said
"Take care" Ino waved
"Mn" Naruto nodded
He grabbed Fu's arm, and the two teleported away
Upon leaving, Fu stared at him in awe
"Dad...your acting is frickin amazing" She said
"Hehe, your dad has experience with these things" He replied proudly
"Ooh, teach me" Fu said eagerly
"Of course, I can't leave you clueless about scam-ahem, about lessons of life after all, acting is essential to understanding the difficulties of life" Naruto said with an urpight expression
*Clap*
Fu clapped her hands as her head bobbed up and down
"Alright, let's get you a room first" Naruto said as he stepped in front of the front door of his house.
*Bang*
Before entering, the door slammed open as a figure dashed out
"I said I didn't eat your frickin pudding! Buzz off!" Tayuya yelled as she ran through, and went around to the courtyard
Haku followed closely behind with a cold expression
"I asked Naruto to plant recording seals around the kitchen for me, did you think I'd chase you down without evidence?" Haku sneered as ice formed on his palm.
"Why the f**k do you need security for some damn food!" If one took a close look at Tayuya, her hand was frozen solid, and within her hand...was a flute...
With the flute frozen, well...
"Get back here!"
"F**k off!"
She could only run as a result
As the two ran past Naruto and Fu, Naruto simply sighed as he continued to walk forward
"This is a normal occurrence here, just ignore it" He said
"Th-That's normal? Who even are they?" Fu asked
"A slave and my nii-san" Naruto replied
"...a what and your nii-san?" Fu felt that she misheard
"A slave, a guineapig, an experimental test subject, call her whatever you want" He replied
"...hold on, you said nii-san, but I only saw two cute girls" Fu added as she followed Naruto into the house
"The one chasing the slave is my nii-san, he's a guy" Naruto said as he closed the door behind them
"...that's a guy??? Any proof?" She asked
"You can ask him yourself, or check, just be sure not to get frozen when you do" He replied
"Noted, I'll ask with extreme care" Fu said with a grin
After walking in, Naruto brought Fu upstairs.
"You can use this room here, it used to be a storage so it can be a bit dusty, I'll have someone clean it later" Naruto said
"Kay~" Fu didn't really care too much about this
After that, Naruto went around introducing Fu to the people in the house
"This is Kimimaro, another test subject, but unlike the red haired bimbo, he's quite a nice guy" He said
"Ooh...what tests do you run on them? Any dissections?" Fu asked curiously with her eyes shining brightly
"Nah...not yet" He replied
'Yet???' Kimimaro stiffened
"Right, this is my daughter, Fu, say hello to her" Naruto said
"Uh, hello miss Fu, I-...daughter???"
"That's enough for introductions, you two can get to know each other better in the future, next is..."
Naruto brought her over to Zabuza
"This is my sensei, Zabuza, he's also my nii-san's dad" Naruto said
"Zabuza, this is my daughter, Fu"
Zabuza stared at Fu, reached out one hand and gave her the best smile he could give, which still came off as intimidating. At least to the average person, to Fu however, she wore a bright smile as she shook his hands.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Fu, why do you share the same name as the hidden mist swordsman that's also a missing nin? Your blade looks massive, is it heavy? Is that pretty boy earlier really your son? You two look nothing alike" Fu, like usual, blasted a wave of questions at Zabuza, making him a little flustered.
"Uh...y-yeah?" She spoke so fast he hardly heard the questions, so he just nodded, but he didn't seem too surprised when Naruto introduced her as his daughter, as if it was simply an ordinary occurance.
"Cool!" Fu grinned
"Let's go find the last two then" Naruto said
Though, when he said find, it meant something else. He simply snapped his fingers, and golden chains shot out from one of the walls of the house, shooting out the courtyard door.
*Whoosh*
Mere seconds after it shot out, it began retracting, and bound by the chains were none other than Haku and Tayuya...
"Ack, why'd you do this crap again, it's frickin annoying" Tayuya gnashed her teeth and cursed
Naruto simply knocked on her head
"As I mentioned before, this is my test subject, if she bothers, just tell me, I'll kill her" He said in a low voice as his cold eyes swept over Tayuya, who shuddered when their eyes met.
"Wow...you do not look like a Konoha Shinobi right now" Fu pointed at him and said with a grin
"Hahaha, how can you say that? I'm a very upright person, upstanding and kind, gentle and warm" Naruto said with a wink
Tayuya on the other hand was sweating buckets, when Naruto said he'd do something, he is almost never joking. Silently, she noted down Fu's face, noting her as someone she should not annoy.
She may not know who she is, but if Naruto is covering for her, don't mess with her!
Naruto undid the chains around the two
"This is Haku, my nii-san, you can ask your questions now" Naruto said as he pointed at Haku
Fu's eyes lit up
"Hi Haku, I'm Fu, I heard you were a guy, is that true? How do you look so pretty? Do you have 'that' below? How about preferences? Do you prefer guys or girls? Maybe both?" Fu asked, shooting questions after questions at him
Haku stared back in a daze, how many questions did she just ask in that short span of a few seconds? It went by so quickly he could hardly keep up.
"Wh-Who is she?" He asked in confusion
"My daughter" Naruto replied
"...hah, of course it is" Haku muttered, not looking surprised either
He patted Fu's shoulders
"Treat me with more respect then, by seniority, I'm your uncle" Haku said
"Eh? You're not surprised?" Fu asked with a blank gaze
"Why should I be? It's easier to count the things Naruto hasn't done yet compared to what he has done, so I'm really not surprised by anything he does anymore" Haku replied
Fu turned around
"Wow...I can't tell if that's a complement or an insult to you, but it sounds pretty cool" She said
"I see it as a complement" Naruto rubbed his nose and said proudly
"Awesome!"
'I can see why he adopted her, they click well' Haku thought
Having introduced everyone, Naruto left Fu to interact with them on her own. She was seriously too curious as to why they had so little reaction when they heard Naruto adopted her, so she gave it her all when asking questions, resulting in most of them getting burned out in a matter of minutes.
"Well, I guess that sums everything up, Fu, remember, from now on, you are Fu of Konoha, you have no relation to Takigakure, just a rogue shinobi the Uzumaki clan took in due to your talent, also, publicly, you will be adopted under a different person" Naruto explained
"Eh? Who? Don't tell me it's some old guy from the village I don't know" She gasped
"Nah, it's still me, just a different identity the public knows me for" He replied
"Ooh, like a secret identity? So cool! Who is it? What's your secret identity" Fu asked
"You'll come to know it when it's officially announced, until then, just go around the village and familiarise yourself"
"Kay~ I'll do that tomorrow" Fu grinned
"Mn, rest well, you just finished treatment, so I'm not expecting you to move too much" Naruto nodded
Fu, who was still clueless about Naruto's second identity, will have no idea how big of a fuss the official declaration will become...
While Fu went to rest, Naruto actually returned to Ino's place, in which he brought some gifts as a form of apology.
"Heyo, dropped by to apologise again, I knew you all put on a better front since Fu was there earlier"
"Damn right!" Inoichi stood up and knocked on his head without hesitation
Tss
Naruto held his head in pain as he looked up
"Hah, it was my bad, and I actually came to apologise for another matter as well" He said as he placed the basket of food on the table
"What other things? Don't tell me you have another secret that you've been hiding?" Ino asked
"Yeah" Naruto replied
"Well, how shocking can it be at this point, you already got yourself a daughter, what can be more surprising than tha-"
"I'm the Black Flash, Menma" Naruto interjected
Pfft
Immediately, Ino choked on her words and stared at him in shock
"..."
Silence suddenly enshrouded the room as everyone stared at him in stupor. The Black Flash, the new pillar of Konoha that is said to be a secretly trained specialist to show the world that Konoha still stood strong.
The very man who drove Kumogakure into declaring automatic retreats upon meeting him, the second coming of the fourth Hokage!
How can they not know this person? But to think...
"H-Hahaha, y-your jokes are g-getting better and better" Ino held a cup in hand, but she was shaking so much that the tea almost spilled out.
"Ri-Right, haha, to think you also made me chuckle" Inoichi said, his hand shaking just as much
"My...oh my..." Kiku simply repeated the same words over and over again
Naruto smiled wryly
"Is it that hard to believe? I mean, Menma uses the flying raijin with immense proficiency, and showcased swordsmanship of high levels that matches the mist swordsmen, if you think about the training I've been doing, it isn't hard to put two and two together, right?" Naruto asked
"W-Well..."
"It's the personality, isn't it" Naruto asked
"...yeah"
Naruto clapped his hands
"So yeah, do expect a major celebration happening later when Fu is announced to be the daughter of Menma" Naruto said
"...yeah..."
The silence was deafening, so Naruto took this chance to stand up
"Anyway...cya" He waved his hand and dipped
!!!!
That punk! He came and dropped a bomb, then left without a moment's notice!? It left them fuming!
"Dad, did you not know this either?" Ino asked
"I-I had no idea, I mean, how would I know? Wouldn't you know it better? You've seen him fight more often than I have"
"But Menma doesn't use seals, he spams them! And I haven't seen Naruto use his swordsmanship skills almost ever in battles" Ino stomped her feet and said
It then clicked for Inoichi when Ino mentioned the vast differences in the fighting styles displayed by Naruto and Menma.
"I see...no one is to mention this matter, ever, got it?" He said sternly
"Eh? Why are you so serious all of a sudden?" Ino asked
Inoichi's expression was a little solemn
"This matter is best kept confidential, he must have revealed it to keep his promise with you, but even then, I now actually wished he wasn't that honest with you" Inoichi sighed
"Wait, why? Dad, what's going on, seriously?"
Inoichi stared at her silently
"Just know, enemy forces must never know that Menma and the Jinchuriki are two different people, do not mention Naruto's fighting styles to anyone, especially the fact that he is proficient in kenjutsu" He said
"This...alright"
Inoichi patted her shoulders gently
"Ino, with his personality, he will reveal it to you sooner or later, so don't feel the need to pry" He said with a smile
His words lifted her mood a bit more as a smile appeared on her face
"Yeah, alright"
Smiling, Inoichi ruffled her hair
"That's my girl, smile more"