I don't own Naruto.

Stargazing

Eighteen-year-old Naruto laid sprawled out on the ground, happily exhausted in the grasses of one of Konoha's many training grounds. Darkness had come five or six hours ago, marking the time late in the summer season. The day had been hot, and Naruto had been sweating heavily, even after the sun had set, due to all the training he had done. As his body finally began to calm down, he appreciated the feel of the cool, wet grass beneath him as well as the night air that kissed and teased his warm face.

Blinking his eyes, Naruto's eyesight long since adjusted to the darkness, Naruto squinted at the stars that twinkled down at him. They seemed to smile upon him as though they favored him and him alone upon this summer night, late in August. Naruto couldn't resist winking back at them, and he felt himself feeling lazily happy, content, and perfectly at peace as the crickets chirped late into the night.

Exhaustion finally began to take effect on the blonde shinobi, his eyes beginning to droop. Naruto sighed, utterly at peace, still gazing up at the endless abyss of sky, his eyes near slits as he felt himself nodding off to sleep, but not before a shooting star passed by his gaze as Naruto idly thought to himself:

'I wish I had someone special to share this peaceful feeling with.'

Naruto was asleep mere seconds later.

"You're missing a good shower," a calm, but deep voice spoke, rousing Naruto from his nap. Naruto's eyes fluttered open, and he turned his head to see the silhouetted figure of a man with spiky hair lying next to him. He looked vaguely familiar, but Naruto couldn't place where he knew him.

"Shower?" Naruto asked, his body still utterly at peace, finding no threat at all from the man that was lying next to him in the dewy grass.

"Take a look," the man said, pointing his finger to the skies. Naruto refocused his gaze at the stars to note the blurs of light that flew across the night's sky.

"Wow!" Naruto said happily, watching as two of the shooting stars crisscrossed and passed each other.

"Did you see those two? They looked like two shuriken colliding and flying off in opposite directions," The man said.

"Yeah, they did," Naruto said, amused because he had been thinking the same thing.

"Did you see those two bright ones?" the man asked, pointing off to his left.

"Aww, no, I was looking over here," Naruto said as he pointed his finger to the spot he had been looking at.

"Cool."

"Look at that one!"

"Those three looked parallel to each other."

"That group looked like they were the sparks from Tsunade-baa-chan's eyes when she gets angry."

"Wow, they did look like the sparks she gets when she's mad..."

Naruto and the unknown man lapsed into a more or less comfortable silence, only broken as a particularly good bout of stars shot past, their exclamations of excitement at seeing the burst of stars the only sound beside the crickets.

"You know, I wished that someone would be able to share this moment with me," Naruto confessed as he turned again to look at the stranger.

"Yes, I know. That's why I'm here," the man said happily. Naruto propped himself up on his elbow, looking at the man curiously.

"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Naruto murmured.

"Why do you say that?" the man asked.

"It's hard to explain but, you see, I know you're my father," Naruto said, the words tumbling out before he could stop them, "I don't know how I know, I just do. I always get those kinds of feelings in my dreams. I dream, and there are certain things that I just know, even though I've never been told. And right now, I know you're my Dad, even though he's been dead for years," Naruto said, confidently. The man chuckled softly.

"I think I know what you mean, and that is a feeling hard to put into words. The dream world and the world of reality are separated by mystical means, by something that no one can explain."

"So, does that mean you are my Dad?" Naruto asked. The man chuckled again.

"Why are you asking? I thought you just said that you 'knew,'" the man smiled, and Naruto grinned back at him, rubbing the back of his head.

"You've been watching me from up there?" Naruto asked, pointing at the sky as more stars zoomed passed.

"Something like that," the man said. They lapsed into silence again. As the shooting stars became less and less frequent, Naruto felt his eyelids drooping again.

"Thanks for coming to visit me Dad," Naruto said sleepily. "I'm glad I got this one chance to see you, to meet you. I feel like I've done something that normal families might do," Naruto said, his eyes completely closed.

"Don't worry Naruto, you're never alone. I'm not here with you, but that doesn't mean you don't still have a family here to take care of you..."

The wind blew across the grassy training field where the now sleeping Naruto along with the other man laid. The stars twinkled and winked down at the ground where they were. A yellow light flashed, and the man lying beside Naruto vanished.

"Naruto! Wake-up! Staying out late training all night again isn't good for you!" Sakura's voice awoke Naruto from his slumber where he'd been dreaming of a father with blue eyes, and spiky blonde hair like his. Naruto opened his eyes, only to recoil as the sun blared down into them.

"Hn. You're going to crick your neck if you keep repeatedly lying on such uneven ground, dobe," Sasuke said leaning over him, his shadow now blocking the sun from Naruto's eyes.

"Ho? And how do you know Sasuke? Naruto's getting stronger. I think you're just jealous Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei's amused voice floated from somewhere off towards Naruto's right. Naruto grinned as Sasuke reached out a hand to help him up, though Sasuke's face was turned towards Kakashi, a deep scowl across his features. Naruto grasped Sasuke's hand as he helped pull Naruto to his feet.

"Really Naruto, we were worried about you. You didn't meet us at the bridge, and even Kakashi was there before you," Sakura said, a mixture of annoyance and worry on her face. Naruto grinned sheepishly.

"Gomen. I just had a really good training session yesterday," Naruto replied sheepishly.

"Maa-maa, if you're up now, we should get going to find out what our latest mission is," Kakashi said as he walked away. Naruto began to follow.

"Oi, Naruto. You forgot something." Sasuke pointed to something lying on the ground, exactly in the spot where he had dreamed his father had lain last night. There was a glint of something lying half way in the ground as though it had just been unearthed.

"That's not mine," Naruto said.

"It looks rather old, actually," Sakura mused, coming over to look at it.

"Hmm, it does look like an old charm. Those were pretty popular about eighteen or so years ago. Parents used to give them to their newborns. The fad fell out of popularity when too many of the babies swallowed the charms. This one looks like it's been here for a while though. Must be one that somebody lost years ago," Kakashi said, as he too came over to look at the object. Naruto frowned as he looked down at the slightly muddy charm, noting that it was a yellow star bursting open. He reached down and picked it up, turning it over in his hand. Naruto saw that there was writing across the gold backing of the star-bursting jewel. He gasped as he read the inscription.

To Naruto, my son, born October 10, year 2 under Yondaime Hokage's protection.

Naruto felt tears prickle at the edges of his eyes as he looked at the jewel. He handed it to his teammates, as though hoping they could confirm what he thought he was seeing.

"Wow Naruto. It looks like this charm has been here for years. I bet it was lost the night you were born," Sakura said, the underlying meaning, the night the Kyuubi had been sealed inside him left unsaid.

"Well, bring it with you Naruto. We do need to get our mission assignment or Tsunade will have our heads," Kakashi forewarned. Naruto merely nodded, looking down at the charm. He then looked back up at Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi, the three who had come to find him. The three who had come to make sure he was okay.

The three that were his family.

Naruto smiled, clutching the charm, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays beating down on him knowing that even before last night, he knew what it was like to be part of a family.

Drabble inspired by me and my Dad stargazing last night/early this morning. Hope you liked it. - JessWithNails