It's been a while since I've last dabble in Fanfiction and it's the first time I've tried a Naruto fic, but lately I've been into the stories about his parents being alive and the moments they have with each other when he's just a little kid so I thought I try my hand.
I don't own any manga or anime franchise. (At least not yet.)
With a hazy mindset, Naruto took notice of a light being shined in one of his eyes by a medical ninja.
"He seems to be coming around. Besides the shot from the tranquilizer, I can't seem to find anything wrong with him that would cause concern. A trip to the hospital isn't necessary. You can just take him home." Naruto could hear the voice of an adult woman speaking but it sounded so distorted, and he couldn't make out a face because his vision was so fuzzy for some reason that he couldn't understand.
"Oh thank God!" He recognized that voice even if he couldn't make out her face. It was his mother, but something was wrong. Why did she sound so scared and sad like she had been crying, but grown-ups don't cry, do they?
"Mmmunn-mmmy?" His voice came out funny sounding too. His whole body felt weird. It was oddly relaxed but not in a good way. Thinking was almost difficult and his head felt woozy. He tried to reach his hands out to what he saw as her blurry form but his arms just felt too heavy and lethargic to move. Thankfully she reached out for him instead and he felt her strong yet gentle arms envelope him into a tight embrace as well as leaving a trail of kisses over every inch of his tiny face.
"Minato!" She called out. "He's alright!"
The boy gazed blearily into the direction she was calling to and saw what he thought was his father, but something was off. He had splatters of red all over him, and he was standing over what looked like four other men that also had splatters of red all over them. They lay at his feet still and unmoving.
Before Naruto could contemplate it, he felt his face gently being turned to look into another direction. It was his father who arrived at his side after only a mere instant to inspect the glassy eyed child. He gently forced the small boy to look away from the lifeless men and into his eyes.
"Naruto?" His voice was laced with concern as he cooed. "Can you hear me? Daddy's here. It's okay, shh, it's all right. Tell me you're okay."
Slowly, very slowly the cobwebs were starting to clear. His father's face began to come into focus. "…Hi Dah-yy…." He managed to slur.
Minato sighed in relief. He took off his jacket which had much less stains on it than first glance and draped it around his disoriented child in hopes that it might both comfort him and keep the cold night breeze out. Then he turned to address the medical ninjas. "I want you to fill out a full report at once, understood? And take care of them. I will be escorting my wife and son home."
"Yes, hokage." They replied simultaneously just before vanishing into the night.
Naruto still in his mother's arms could feel the air around them wiz by as they took off into the direction of home. His mother held to him tighter than usual, practically squishing his body into her. He could hear her heart beat erratically with his ear pressed up against her chest
He took notice of his unfamiliar surroundings. At first he thought it was just his hazy mind. He couldn't recognize a lot of things at first, until he noticed Konoha's front gate as they entered the village. 'Wait they were outside the village the whole time?' He thought. 'What were they doing out there? He was never taken outside the village before. What was going on?'
When they arrived home Minato put up more seals around the premise than he normally did and Kushina took her son strait up to their bathroom and set him on the counter. She grabbed a wet washcloth and began to clean off Naruto's face with it.
"Naruto, are you all right?" She asked. "Will you tell me what happened?"
That's what he wanted to know. He thought back to earlier that day and came up with nothing all that out of the ordinary. He remembered his parents taking him to the park. He went to go play on the monkey bars because his mommy and daddy seemed too busy talking to their grown up friends to push him on the swings. Then he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck like something had stung him and then…. Nothing. He was hit with a very strong and sudden wave of dizziness and then he was just falling into blackness. The next thing he knew after that was waking up with that medical ninja in his face.
Minato entered the bathroom stating that the house was sealed up tight. Then with sad and tired eyes he approached his son, not looking him in the eyes but instead at his tiny wrists.
The boy hadn't noticed until now but they had burn marks on them. Like they had been roughly rubbed up against rope or something. Minato, taking his child's hand into his much larger one traced the markings with his thumb tenderly. The look in the hokage's eyes portrayed that of a man lost in thought.
Finished with what she was doing, Kushina Picked up her boy and began her trek towards her and her husband's bedroom. Minato lingered on in the bathroom staring at them as they walked away.
"Honey its time to get ready for bed. I want you to sleep in here with mommy and daddy tonight, okay?" She told him as she set him on the large bed to remove the boy's clothing and replace them with a pair of PJ's.
"How come?" He asked.
"Well…" Kushina tried to explain. "You know how you sometimes ask to sleep with us whenever you have a bad dream? Well tonight mommy went through something kind of scary and she wants you nearby so she doesn't have any bad dreams."
"I didn't know Ninjas could still get scared." Naruto responded with a curious tilt of his head.
"Kushina smiled at that. "It doesn't happen a lot, but when it does, I need a brave little man to help me though it. Will you help, mommy Naruto?"
Naruto grinned back. He liked being called brave. "Yes! I'm brave! I protect you mommy!"
Within a few minutes they were both underneath the covers and sound asleep. Kushina had fallen asleep with her arm draped around her little boy. Cuddling him as though she was still protecting him while she slumbered.
Only a mere hour later, Naruto shot up into a sitting position, wide awake with a cold sweat and panting hard. He had had a bad dream but it had just slipped away. He was unable to recall the nightmare.
When he calmed down a bit he noticed that his daddy was nowhere to be found. It was pretty late. Shouldn't he be in bed too? Getting up carefully as to not wake his mother, he crawled out of bed in hopes of finding his daddy.
He trudged downstairs and found the man staring intently out the window like a guard dog, just waiting for anything to happen.
"Daddy?" Naruto squeaked out.
He startled Minato from his thoughts, causing the ninja to whip out his kunai from his pouch on instinct. Naruto gasped. It was the first time he had ever seen his father like this. His normally warm and gentle features now almost looked as though they were lusting for action. It nearly terrified the little boy.
It only lasted for a second and then the hokage was able to register that it was only his tiny son standing before him. He lowered his kunai knife, grateful that he caught himself before he charged at the already scared looking boy.
"Naruto, what are you doing up?" It's late. You need to get your rest." The father asked.
"Daddy, are you mad at me? Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked innocently.
"What? No. Of course not." Minato's feature's softened in concern.
The child gazed down at his feet. "Cause you look so upset to see me. Ever since I woke up feeling funny."
Minato immediately walked over to his son and got down on his knees to be at his level. "I'm not angry with you Naruto. Not at all. I just…. Seeing you like that… Seeing you like THAT… What I mean is… I got mad at some…. Uh, bullies I met today….. I took care of them but I still…. I…. I mean…."
The man continued to stumble over his words, not know exactly how to phrase what he was feeling in away that wouldn't frighten the poor boy who had been though enough that day. Naruto was very confused. Not understanding a word of what was being said.
"S'okay daddy. Mommy said if you get sacred. We can all be brave for each other tonight."
"….. Yeah." Minato replied after giving it some thought. He just wanted to leave it at that. He scooped the boy into his strong arms and stood up. "If your mommy wakes up and sees you're not there beside her it'll make her really upset. Let's go to bed."
As they walked up the stairs Naruto squirmed in his dad's hold. His father only responded by holding him closer. He didn't know why his parents were carrying him everywhere tonight. He wasn't a baby anymore. He was four years old. A big kid, almost a whole hand's worth of fingers old. He told his daddy this and the man only chuckled, laying his tired head upon his child's soft Downey hair, taking in his warmth as he held him tight and close to his chest.
"Yeah. I know."
He laid the boy down right in between him and his wife and they all slept peacefully for the rest of the night protecting each other.
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