Sweet, another family Naru fic, I am on a ROLL, people! So what happens when Naruto has to learn the murky truth about secrets? Well, let's find out!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, Misashi Kishimoto does.
Minato and Kushina smile at each other in amusement when the giggles of their young son drift into the kitchen on the breeze. Minato, having enough time to take a lunch break, had quickly dashed home to spend time with his beloved family.
"I can't stand this," Kushina finally broke. "I have to know what he's laughing about."
"I win." Minato sings smugly. Mock scowling, Kushina flips the kitchen towel at him, before walking over to the door and tugging it open.
"Naruto!" She calls. "Come here sweetie, just for a minute."
"Okay kaa-chan!" Naruto trills, and he comes running up to the door from his far spot by a tree and the bushes, eyes as bright as his white shirt used to be, before dirt and adventure hit it.
Clucking her tongue at the mess, Kushina looks down at Naruto sternly. "What did I tell you about playing in the dirt?"
"To not do it in your garden." Naruto promptly replies. Kushina splutters for a few moments before the snort of laughter from her husband makes her collect herself.
"True," She concedes, and then just sighs. "That's not what I wanted to ask you though . . . sweetie, just what is so funny?"
"I don't know, what is funny?" Naruto asks, blinking big blue eyes up at her in honest confusion.
"No honey, I mean you were laughing a lot earlier. Won't you let okaa-chan in on the secret? And otou-chan too?" Kushina wheedles with a smile, crouching down to bump her nose with Naruto's. Giggling at the action, Naruto rubs his nose for a second afterwards.
"Oh, that . . ." he trails off, a smile playing at his lips as he rocks back and forth on his heels. His eyes roll over to the far side of the yard where he played, then rolls back to his mother. "'S a secret!" He chirps in a low tone, almost whispering.
Kushina plays up a pout, crossing her arms on her knees as she balances on the balls of her feet. "But . . . but I can keep a secret. I'll only tell your tou-chan and he's a pro at keeping secrets."
"Mm," Minato agrees, stepping up behind his wife and then crouching beside her. "Hokage's have to be very good at keeping secrets."
"Really?" Naruto asks delightedly, big eyes sparkling as he files this information away for his future stint as Hokage.
Minato nods in a very important manner, a solemn and serious look on his face. "Oh yes, it's very important you see."
Naruto is still not convinced, and they know it by the almost imperceptible downturn at the corners of his lips, and the sudden loss of the glint in his eyes. "But, I thought," he mumbles. "Ninja were supposed to keep secrets."
Minato and Kushina exchange looks. "Generally, yes." Minato agrees. "However, it's best not to keep too many secrets from the Hokage. As a matter of fact, you are only allowed to keep one— at most two— secrets from me, since I'm Hokage. And, as your parents, it is generally better to not keep any secrets from us."
Naruto purses his lips in a comical fashion, but he agrees anyway. "Well, I was just laughing because I was playing with some foxes."
Kushina blinks. "And why would you keep that a secret?"
"Kaa-chan and tou-chan don't like foxes, right?" Naruto mumbles, looking away.
"No, honey of course we like foxes. So long as they like you, and don't try to hurt you." She amended quickly, and seeks a topic change from what has already become a thorny road for them. "Now come on, won't you eat lunch with us, before your tou-chan has to go to work—"
Minato's groan startles her a little, and she looks up quickly to see him standing up and walking back into the house.
"A hawk," he explains quickly as he grabs his cloak. "I have to go back to the office for something; you guys have lunch without me."
"Well we'll just bring you your lunch then, even if you haven't finished whatever business you have until then, it'll at least be there for you." Kushina solves the problem, and earns a very grateful kiss from her husband that warms her cheeks.
"Thanks, see you later then." Minato murmurs, and then he is gone with a flash.
"Aww." Naruto whined, sadness brimming once the promised lunch with his tou-chan was declared canceled.
Kushina immediately scoops up her sunny baby boy and shushed him with coos and warm hugs. "Hush baby, tou-chan had to work. But we can eat our food together— you like me too, right?" she tilts her head to look at Naruto fully, eyes widening to a full puppy dog pout.
"I love you." Naruto yipped, forehead bumping Kushina's cheek. Grinning, Kushina kissed him on both cheeks with loud smacking sounds.
"Then, after we eat, we'll go visit tou-chan and bring him lunch. It'll be just like we're eating with him!" Kushina enthused, smile bright and happy. Naruto immediately perked up and shouted his assent to the plan joyfully.
The two settled down once Kushina doled out two plates, and eat, Kushina sitting next to Naruto so she could help him if he absolutely needed it. The little blonde was a stubborn thing, so she often had to keep herself from choking on her food in laughter as she watched the little boy glare fire at the vegetables that refused to sit complacently on his fork, when he didn't even want to eat them anyway.
Cleaning up the kitchen, Kushina made a bento of the leftovers for Minato, wrapping it up and putting it in a small bag. Glancing over at Naruto, she frowned.
"Naruto, we have to give you a bath before you go, ok?" Kushina asked, but she was already putting the bento bag back on the counter and taking hold of Naruto's hand.
"Aww, man!" Naruto squealed, head hanging down as he reluctantly fell into step beside his mother, hopping up each step of the stairs. Though there was some struggle when Naruto insisted heatedly he could take off his own clothes, the bath went quickly and efficiently. He was toweled and dressed, laundered and pressed— Naruto giggled at the thought, a rhyme an old maid at Sasuke's house always hummed after cleansing the two boys from their energetic romps.
Now they were ready to go, Kushina decided firmly as she once again picked up the bento. Opening the door, she let Naruto walk out first then closed the door behind herself.
"Okay, let's go!" Kushina declared, smiling down at Naruto. "Now, I won't hold your hand since you're a big boy, but don't run off from me okay?" she warned, giving him a stern look. "Kaa-chan will be upset if she can't find you."
"Okay, kaa-cha'!" Naruto affirmed, all but bouncing on his toes.
They walk from their lovely home into town. Kushina greets and is greeted by people, both due to her status as the wife of the illustrious Yondaime Hokage, and more personally by her once-colleagues in the field, as a comrade.
"Kushina-sama!" Said redhead turns at the sound of her name, grinning wickedly when she sees little Kurenai walking up to her.
"Kurenai-chan, I haven't seen you in a while. Working hard to become Konoha's Genjutsu master?" Kushina snickers at the flare of temper in the normally calm red eyes.
"Not funny Kushina-sama, I really am working towards it!" Kurenai insists.
"I know, I know . . ." Kushina placated with a giggle. "So how is . . ."
The two women chat, and Naruto only barely recognizes the other woman with the cool red eyes and wild black hair as someone who babysat him once during a day at work with his father, when the man was rushed into a council meeting. Uncaring of what they were talking about, Naruto looked around at his surroundings.
". . . can't wait to crack open his skull— literally and figuratively." A saucy voice laughs.
Naruto perks. Hello, interesting. Who would want to crack someone's skull open, and how do you do it literally and figera . . . firgir . . . whatever that word is?
"You can't break him like the others Anko, otherwise we'll never find out what he knows. This one is tough." Another, male voice speaks in something almost like a monotone, except it is deep and very dark, almost like he's . . . angry? Or one of those bad guys on his cartoons! The thought brings even more excitement, and Naruto cranes his neck and stands on tiptoes to find this person.
"Who cares if he breaks as long as we get his secrets?" The saucy voice, he knows it to be female know, retorts with something of a lazy air.
Aha! He found them— the woman with the big voice had purple hair in a sort of ponytail, with a trench coat and a skirt on. Naruto furrowed his brows— it was a very short skirt, and didn't kaa-chan disapprove of things like that? At least, she did with the secretary before the nice Shiranui-san. The other voice, the man, was as big and dark as his voice. A bandana covered his head, a large man that wore all black and had on a very scary expression.
Naruto raised his eyebrows. Cool!
Then he registered what the woman said, and his eyebrows shot back down in confusion. Why would they need to get secrets? Wasn't it okay to keep secrets, just a few?
Glancing up at his mother, he sees her still engaged with the other lady. She wouldn't notice if he was gone for a moment or two, surely. He darts away, racing to catch up to the pair who is now starting to walk away.
"Excuse me!" he calls. "Bear-san!"
Anko snorts, automatically pausing as she hears the high-pitched voice coming closer to them. "Bear-san?" she snorts, glancing up at Ibiki. Well, it surely fit, she thinks with amusement.
Ibiki turns with a neutral expression, looking down expecting a genin . . .and seeing nothing. He turns to look at Anko, who snorts and claps a hand over her mouth.
"Lower please, Bear-san!" the voice comes again, and Ibiki has to look down down to see the little human who has called him. He blinks in surprise— it's a three-foot miniature Yondaime. Ah, no . . . he glances at the whiskers. It is Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, the Hokage's only son.
The child blinks up at him, no fear or hesitance in his face or posture. A child, not scared of him? A first. Apparently Anko thinks so too, because she gives the little boy no flak and instead asks in a nice (for her) manner what he wants.
"What do you want brat?" Anko asks, squatting down to his level.
"Ano, miss . . ." Naruto hesitated.
"Call me Anko," Anko grins then waves a hand up to Ibiki. "And Bear-san here is Ibiki."
"Well, Anko, Ibiki . . . I overheard you talking about getting someone's secrets. Are you trying to get secrets from a ninja?" Naruto asks.
"Does it matter if we are?" Ibiki rumbles, his question seeming like a statement with his neutral voice and face.
Naruto nods. "Yes, because then I'm confused. I thought ninja were supposed to keep secrets— least that's what tou-chan said. But he said that ninjas can't keep secrets from their Hokage too."
Anko and Ibiki look at each other with interest. How to explain this . . . ?
"Naruto," Naruto glances way up to look at Ibiki. "Sometimes other ninja have secrets that we need to find out in order to help us."
Naruto just looked even more confused. "But how if it's not our secret?"
How indeed.
"Well . . ." Anko rolled the word around on her tongue.
"Naruto, what did I say about running off?!" The frazzled voice of Kushina comes from behind a group of people, and then the Uzumaki princess appears with an angry look on her face as she looks down at her son.
"Sorry, kaa-chan, I didn't think you'd mind since you were talking to the lady." Naruto pleads.
"That's no excuse." Kushina glances up at the two who kept Naruto company and narrows her eyes. "And why are you bothering Mitarashi-san and Morino-san?"
"Who? Ibiki and Anko?" Naruto clarifies, confused.
"I'm Mitarashi kid, and up there is Morino." Anko explains. "Not to worry Kushina-sama, Naruto here was just asking us some pertinent questions."
"Oh? Pertinent how?" Kushina asks with a raised eyebrow.
"I'll leave it to Ibiki to explain, I've got people to tort— er," she amends herseld quickly at Kushina's flinty eyes. "Talk to. Yes. People to give a very stern talking to. Later brat!" and then with a grin and a peace sign she's gone in a puff of shunshin smoke.
"So, Ibiki? Will you explain it to me?" Naruto prompted with an adorable smile, shuffling a little closer to the scarred man.
Ibiki let no emotion cross his face, but internally he had to admit to some discomfort. Children. Talking. Combine them and he was like a bull in a china shop.
"This is probably left to your father to explain, he can do it much easier than I, I'm sure." Ibiki tried to excuse himself.
Naruto pouted. "But if tou-chan was the one who confused me in the first place, why would he be able to explain it better?" To cement his point he shuffled even closer, now toe to toe with the man.
"Naruto enough," Kushina says sharply. "Don't bother Morino-san."
Naruto flicks on the sad puppy eyes, and Morino breaks like one of Anko's interrogation prey. Completely.
". . . Perhaps if we both explain it." He mutters. "Kushina-sama, would you allow me to take Naruto to the Hokage?"
Kushina blinks. She knows Ibiki— or at least knows of his reputation— and such easy givings are not in his style. Then again, she thinks slyly, he never had to deal with children, much less a child quite like Naruto.
If Ibiki feels anything about the sly smirk that curls Kushina's lips, he neither speaks about it nor identifies the feelings for it. Instead, he waits calmly for the reply.
"Sure, in fact we were taking him lunch weren't we Naruto?"
"Yep!" Naruto nods. Knowing Ibiki would follow them, he laughs and climbs up the man like a little monkey, dodging his mother's hands. He settles on Ibiki's shoulders, sandal clad feet slapping against the man's chest like flies on a horse.
"Naruto!" Kushina hisses, embarrassed.
"It's . . . fine, Kushina-sama." Ibiki says stiffly. Well, it wasn't bad, at least. He just didn't have prolonged contact, not even with grown people much less little children. Kushina stares at him directly, nodding when she sees he's telling the truth.
"Then, let's go." Kushina smiles and walks alongside Ibiki and Naruto.
They certainly make a strange picture, one that villagers and shinobi alike stop to gawk at. The slim form of Kushina seems even more delicate and daresay even fragile in comparison to the larger body of Ibiki that dwarfs her. Like if he even moves wrong whatever wind he creates from the movement will buffet her. Add to that the little ball of color and sunshine fluff that covers Ibiki's head like a sloth?
Ibiki grimaced. He could feel his reputation taking hits with each giggle from the little excitedly shivering human above him. He'd have to pull double duty and play some rounds of poker at the bar to regain it.
If this trio was strange to the rest of the village, imagine how Minato felt when the bizarre group walked into his offce?
Minato blinks in confusion, his wife and Ibiki . . . what was that yellow and orange thing on his head . . . ? The ball of color suddenly sniffled and uncurled itself just a little from around Ibiki's head. Oh. Minato blinked twice. Naruto.
Eyes roving over the weird picture they made, he let a sardonic grin quirk the right side of his mouth. "Ibiki, are you trying to steal my family?"
"Of course not, Hokage-sama." Ibiki maintained stoically.
Kushina sighed in annoyance, trooping up to the desk and going around to stand beside Minato. "We brought lunch, and Naruto has a question you and Ibiki might be able to answer collaboratively."
Minato raises an eyebrow, turning to Ibiki to confirm this.
"That is correct Hokage-sama, Naruto—" he seems to remember said child is on his head, and so plucks him with one hand, which quite amazes the young child, and depsoits him oh so very carefully onto the floor.
"Thank you!" Naruto burbles sweetly, running up to his tou-san's desk and clambering up the chair in front of it.
"So, musuko," Minato's warm voice pauses Naruto's curious hands. "What was your question."
Naruto nods, as if Minato has just brought up an important point. "Ah! Tou-chan I heard Ibiki and Anko talking about something . . . they said they were going to get someone's secrets— and something about breaking skulls but," Naruto waves the words away. "That's not very important."
Judging by the heavy-lidded stare given to him by his unreasonably intimidating Hokage, Ibiki would like to contest Naruto's claim of it not being very important.
"But hey, tou-chan, didn't you say that a ninja should have secrets? So why are they trying to get their secrets, if they don't have anything to do with us?" Naruto asks, head cocked to the side in adorable curiosity.
Minato mulls over the question. "Well . . . Naruto, do you like when people keep secrets from you?"
"No, but only if I know them. I mean, if everybody keeps secrets I can't care about them all." Naruto shoots down that argument quickly.
Child: 1; Adults: 0, Minato snorts to himself. Ignoring his wife's snickers, he tries a different tactic.
"Ah . . . well. Ibiki," the man straightens up. "Why is it important we know other people's secrets? Just out of your own experience."
Ibiki nods curtly. "The difference between life and death sometimes, all depends on knowing enough of your enemy's secrets, or knowing that you have more secrets than he does. When other ninja have secrets, Naruto, that means they know things we don't. Ninjas should always walk into missions with enough information to keep them alive and the mission successful." In a perfect world, he tacks on mentally. He can see Kushina and Minato do the same.
Naruto tries to assimilate this. "So . . . if we know their secrets . . . we win?"
"Essentially." Minato nodded. "Now I think we've taken up enough of Ibiki's time. Ibiki, at your leisure."
Ibiki bows. "Sir."
Naruto waves enthusiastically. "Bye Ibiki!" he trills happily.
Ibiki nods his head, a small smirk on his face. Without a word, he leaves the office and heads back to T&I. It is very likely that Anko will have blabbed about this, and so he must school his expression and bring out his A-game, to scare everyone stupid again.
"Tou-chan," Minato looks at Naruto, who is now climbing onto his lap. "I still kind of don't understand . . . why does knowing someone's secrets mean we win?"
"Good question." Minato murmurs. Picking up Naruto and his lunch, he moves with Kushina to the couch. "Remember how Kakashi always says to look underneath the underneath?"
"Yeah?" Naruto nods.
"Well," Kushina picks it up this time, allowing Minato to situate his lunch. "It's like that, see? You have to really look deep into someone, to know as much as you can about them, so you can beat them. Like how you and me know that if we make our eyes all big and sparkly, tou-chan will do anything for us right?" Kushina giggles at Naruto's enthusiastic nods and Minato's disgruntled face.
"Don't teach him that, he's too good naturally." Minato chides, lightly pinching Kushina's cheek. "And you do way more than just pout at me, to get me to do anything."
"Like what?" Naruto asks, barging into the conversation.
"Cook my favorite foods." Minato lies smoothly, winking at Kushina. While he sets Naruto to play with his chopsticks, he leans closer to Kushina.
"You'll tell me everything when we get home right?" he whispers.
"You're going to laugh." She replies, nodding in guarantee.
"Tou-san!" Naruto calls, and Minato turns his head to see little hands holding his chopsticks, a lump of rice balanced precariously between.
Minato smiles and eats the proffered rice, moving forward to kiss Naruto's soft and chubby cheeks.
Reviews are always welcome treats in my inbox. They're sugar candies, all addicting.
Love,
Bloody Mad~3