Father and Son

Summary: Six years after the fox attack, Minato has been given a second chance at life. He wanted to go find where Jiraiya and his son were living, but when he found that Naruto's godfather hasn't been seen in the village since the attack, he makes a search for Naruto. What he finds does not make him happy. Not one bit.

Chapter One: Daddy

Minato was standing in front of the Shinigami, the very beast that he had used to defeat the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and suffice to say, he was a bit nervous as to the reason he was here.

"Minato." The being of death spoke. "When you summoned me I was furious with your audacity to use me as your own tool, and for such crimes you should remain in the eternal torment of my stomach for the rest of eternity."

"Should?" Thought Minato.

"Yes, Minato. Should." Minato had forgotten about the being's ability to hear thoughts. "However, I have been going over your life, and one thing occured to me. You always put other's wellbeing before your own. You were never selfish, always wanting to help those that need help. Even at the the end, when you knew I would take your soul to be forever consumed, you did not hesitate to protect those which you cared for, and for that, I suppose six years will suffice for using me in such a manner."

Minato didn't entirely understand what the Shinigami meant by that. "Do you mean I'm going to move on to whatever awaits me after death?" What that would even be Minato didn't know. Sure he believed in heaven and hell, like a lot of people, but when talking to the god of death itself, one has his doubts.

"If you want, I can allow that. I'm also giving the option of returning to your former life."

Minato stood still, unsure of what he had just heard. He could go back? See all his comrades, his friends… his son?

"I see that you're a good man, Minato, whether you want to go back or not is your choice, and before you ask, no I do not mean as a ghost. Your body will be fully restored to what it was directly before you died."

"I could see my son." He whispered to himself.

The Shinigami smiled. "I guess it's obvious you want to go back. Fine. See you later, hopefully in your case, much later." And with that, the Shinigami left with a raucous laughter. Minato had all of two seconds before he was forcefully grabbed and practically thrown back to the Earth. Everything was black but when he woke up, he could not believe it.

He was outside the village, somewhere in the forest, and as the Shinigami had said, he had his body back. He even had on his signature battle attire he was wearing when he died.

"I'm back." He said to himself. "I'm really back." Even after six years and with the changes that have occurred, Minato still knew exactly which way the village was. "I can't wait to see Jiraiya-sensei, he'll be so surprised that the Shinigami allowed me to come back." He looked up at the sky as the wind blew towards him. "Naruto too. I'll actually get to see my son!" He jumped in excitement and quickly started making his way to the village.

About when he was half a mile from the gates he realized something very important. He slapped himself for not thinking about this earlier, it was so glaringly obvious.

He had been dead for six years.

He wouldn't be able to just waltz in through the front door. He needed an idea, and thought for the better part of ten minutes and, "Got it." He put his hands together in a familiar fashion. "Henge." When the smoke cleared there stood a man that was slightly shorter than himself, with a full ANBU uniform sporting a dark yellow fox mask. He took out a scroll and wrote something onto it, then made his way to the gate and was greeted by the guards. The guard on the left looked towrds him.

"I don't recall having any ANBU that were supposed to come here today, state your business." Minato kept his hands beside him, to keep them visible and show he was not hostile, and told them his story.

"I was put undercover eight years ago into Kirigakure. I have a letter from the Fourth Hokage stating it." He pulled out the scroll and held it out for them. One of them took it and begun to read.

"Keaton-san has been stationed in Kirigakure and is expected to report back eight years from when I date my signature at the bottom."

Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage

And there it was. The very signature of the Fourth Hokage himself in all it's faded glory. "All right, it checks out. Go report to the Third immediately." Minato nodded and made his way into the village. "Wow, he hasn't been here since before the Fourth died. Long time." His co-worker nodded in agreement.

Minato couldn't be any happier as he made his way down the street. The village was so full of life! Everyone making their way to their destination as some haggled with the business owners for goods, while others were sitting in the park just enjoying the day. Minato was smiling very broadly under his mask.

The fact that without him this place would be just a crater made him very proud to have been it's Hokage. He wanted to just walk through the village and see how things have changed, but he had priorities. Seeing his son was first and foremost. To find him, he would need to find Jiraiya. Being the boy's godfather he would definitely have Naruto staying with him where ever it was he lived.

The thought of Jiraiya shirking his duty never even came close to entering his mind.

He figured the best way was to ask someone. Everyone knew Jiraiya, so they should know where he lived at. He saw a bookstore that had an ad for one of his sensei's books on the front window. "Where better to ask?" He thought.

He made his way through the door and was welcomed by the owner. "Good afternoon sir, is there anything I can help you with? A certain title you're trying to find perhaps?" Minato held up his hand showing no interest.

"No thanks, I was actually wanting to ask you for the whereabouts of one of the authors, Jiraiya of the Sannin, do you know where his place of residence is?" The man looked very confused at the question.

"Jiraiya-sama? I'm not sure where he is, the books he sends always come from a different location. The newest ones came from the country of fang if that helps."

"The country of fang? Wouldn't he just send them from the local publisher?"

"Oh, I see now, you think Jiraiya is somewhere in the village. I'm sorry, but he hasn't been here since six years ago when… well you know." Minato was shocked, that would mean that Naruto…

Wasn't raised in Konoha. This would make finding his son much more difficult. He would have to go to the Third and ask him.

"Well thank you anyway sir, I'll be taking my leave." He made his way out with a frown. "He's never even seen Konoha, as far as he can remember. Well at least he's getting to see the world I guess." As he made his way to the Hokage tower he noticed that the village has changed quite a bit since he had last seen it. A lot more than he would have expected in just six years anyway. "Well Fang country is a good bit away, I might as well look around here before I get going. So much is different."

He went almost everywhere he could think of. From the parks, to the training grounds, to the many districts in town. One thing he noticed that put a smile on his face was that everywhere there were people, everyone was so full of life and spirit. That's why when he was walking through a market district and the whole place became deathly quiet he knew something had to have been wrong.

He saw people whispering to each other seemingly pointing to someone in the mass of the crowd. Minato couldn't see past the crowd but what he was able to hear didn't make him feel like everything was quite right.

"Freak"

"Monster"

"Damn thing needs to go off and die"

"Why does the Hokage allow this scum in the village"

"Demon"

Nope, definitely not right. He pushed his way through the crowd to try and see who it was that caught everyone's attention. Who could it be that had so many bad things said about them? Minato froze when he saw the target of so much hatred.

Ruffled blond hair to match his own, blue eyes, three small marks that resembled whiskers on each side of his face. No question about it.

This was his son. His precious Naruto.

An hour passed by as he continued to watch his son walk through the streets, being treated the same way Minato saw in the marketplace. Not one person seemed to regard him as a human being. "They really think he's a monster." Naruto himself seemed unaware of these stares, or rather, he seemed used to them. The boy tried to hide it but Minato could see what the boy was truly thinking. He felt left out, like he didn't belong… like he wasn't human. Minato wanted nothing more than to go hug him and say that everything would be ok from now on.

But he was a ninja, and a good one at that. The villagers tried to act like they were ignoring him, but Minato could plainly see that his son was the center of attention. Going to Naruto around all these people would only draw attention to himself, which was not needed. It wouldn't be very good if the Ninja in the crowd noticed he was not an actual ANBU unit.

So he followed and waited for Naruto to go somewhere where he could talk to him alone. He kept walking though the village until he got to what Minato recognized as his old apartment, the one he lived in before he made Jounin. He had forgotten he had kept the deed to it. Sarutobi must have given it to Naruto.

Naruto walked inside, and since Minato knew where the room was he decided to jump to the balcony and wait for his son. When he heard the door open and close he decided to take off his henge and walk in. He took note that the place was not the cleanest, when a thought occurred to him. "Does he live here alone?" Minato walked into the bedroom and waited for Naruto to walk in, hardly believing he was actually about to talk to his son. And outside of the seal as well... he'll have to work out that little detail later. But for now…

"Who are you?" The boy seemed very afraid of Minato, looking like he was ready to run at a moment's notice."Look, whatever you think I did, I swear I didn't-" Naruto stopped as the man rushed in front of him and enveloped him in a hug. He didn't get hugs often, only from old man Hokage when he came to see him on his birthday. "Hey, what are you doing?" Naruto heard the man begin to cry. "What-"

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so very sorry." The man sobbed even more. Every bit of emotion Minato had been holding back was let loose at once. Naruto was, suffice to say, very confused. Some random guy is waiting on him at his apartment, hugs him, and starts crying about how he's sorry.

"What are you sorry for? I don't even know you."

"For placing such a terrible burden on you. For leaving you in the hands of these people. I'm so sorry Naruto, I'm sorry my son." Naruto froze.

"Your… son?" Minato pulled himself back so he could look Naruto in the eyes.

"Yes Naruto, I'm your father. Your terrible, terrible, father." Naruto looked at the man, not saying anything, mind still trying to work out what he just heard.

"You're my daddy?" The young six year old asked. "You really are?" Minato took him into another hug.

"Yes, Naruto, I really am. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to be here for you, to raise you, to spend time with you. I can't even imagine what you must have went through when they told you about the fox." Ok, if Naruto was confused before, he was sure as hell confused now.

"What do you mean by the fox?" His father looked at him once more.

"They didn't tell you?" When the boy shook his head Minato felt even more anger flow through him. They had let him go through this kind of life without even telling him why people treat him that way? "Just another thing to be mad about, but not now, this is a happy time." "I'll tell you later, first what do you want to know of me?"

"I, well." The boy looked down to the floor. "I mean, are you really my daddy?"

"Yes Naruto, I am." Minato could tell that he definitely didn't believe what was going on. With all the boy has been put through, he may not ever believe him. "It looks like the emotional damage he's gone through is-" Naruto hugged Minato so tight he had trouble breathing.

"You're my daddy, you really, really are! I have a daddy!" Minato was a bit startled, but smiled and hugged back.

"Yes son, yes you do. I promise I'll never leave you again." They stayed like this for a while, when Naruto asked the question that Minato knew was coming.

"Where were you? How come I've never seen you before now? Do I have a mommy?"

Minato stood and went to go sit on the bed. He pointed at the spot next to him. "Come sit down, this is a long story." Naruto went over and hopped on the bed awaiting what his dad was about to say. "First off, I'm very sorry to say that your mother has been gone for quite some time, and won't be coming back."

"She's dead?" Minato was a bit surprised a six year old could handle the concept of death so easily. Then again this was a ninja village.

"Yes Naruto. Unfortunately she is. She died after giving birth to you." Naruto looked down in shame. "Hey, it's not your fault it happened, don't go blaming yourself."

"Is that why you left me? Because I killed mommy?" Why was Naruto speaking like this, Minato wondered. Then it hit him. This village had been calling him a killer his entire life. Thinking he had done so wouldn't be hard for the boy.

"Naruto, you did not kill your mother. We knew the risks when we decided to have you." "Kushina was not in the best of health, and was expected to get worse. She wanted a child so bad that she didn't care about the complications it would cause her." Minato had been unaware of this at the time of conception, and only found out four months into Kushina's pregnancy.

"So why did you leave? Why leave me all alone?"

"Naruto I'm about to tell you two things that may upset you. Do you recall what happened on the day you were born?" Naruto nodded.

"The Kyuubi attacked the village, and was killed by the Fourth Hokage." Minato sighed.

"Well, not exactly. You see, as strong as the Fourth Hokage was, he couldn't kill the beast. The only way to stop it was to seal it up… Inside a newborn child." Minato saw Naruto's eyes bulge. "Yes, Naruto. You were the child." Naruto made a choking sound, muttering something about a monster. "You are not a monster, Naruto. Whatever these damned villagers say, you are not some demon. Your Naruto Uzumaki, my son." Minato gave Naruto another hug as he began to sob, telling the boy it was alright.

"And now the other thing I need to tell you." He gave Naruto some time to stop crying for a moment. "Do you know who I am, Naruto. My name?" Naruto shook his head. "My name is Minato Namikaze. The Fourth Hokage." Naruto gripped Minato's shirt and started shaking, his breathing became erratic.

"You're the Fourth Hokage? But the Fourth died."

"Yes, Naruto. Yes I did. But I've been given a second chance. I was allowed to come back." Naruto sat silently for what felt like hours, his mind processing what he heard. Minato knew what was coming. He didn't know if he could face it, but he had to.

"You did this to me." And there it was. "You're the reason everyone hates me."

"Naruto, I'm so sorry, I never intended for this to happen." He began to tear up again. "If I had known they would treat you like this, I'd never have done it! If I knew they would treat my son this way… I'm so sorry Naruto, I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. I know you must hate me right now."

"How could you do this to your own son?"

"It was my duty as Hokage. I couldn't ask anyone else to sacrifice their child if I wasn't willing to do the same." Naruto could understand. He wasn't happy about it, but he wasn't going to blame his dad. "If I had known this would be what happens, I'd have just taken you and left." Minaot stood up. "Which is what I would like to do now." Naruto looked up to his father to make sure he had heard right.

"We're going to leave?"

"If you want to Naruto, yes we will." Minato could see the hope in his son's eyes appear and then be taken away by sadness.

"I've tried leaving before. Plenty of times. Those people with the scary masks always bring me back though, and then old man Hokage tells me how that was a bad thing to do, and how he's so disappointed in me." He looked away

"Naruto." Minato had gained some confidence in knowing his son had accepted him and smiled as his eyes became focused on him once more. "I'm the Fourth Hokage. You think those guys can stop me?"

"So we can really leave." Minato nodded. "Thank you so much daddy, I wanted to leave for a long time!"

"Well don't worry son, you'll never have to come here again." He looked around with uncertainty on his face. "Do you have anything to pack?"

"Just a few clothes." Minato was once again furious. The only thing his son had that were even important enough to keep were his clothes. And judging from the ones he was wearing, not very good ones.

"Well alright, you get those together, I need to go into town." Minato saw the look on his son's face. "Now, now. I'll be right back, don't worry." His son nodded and he made his way out putting his henge back on.

Minato was making his way to Konoha's bank. His old account was left to Sarutobi, Jiraiya could not be trusted with money, so he should still have what he left, plus some interest. As long as he gave them the code to his account, and didn't take out too much, he shouldn't be asked too many questions.

Konoha Bank had not changed much since he was here last. Still the same, with the large columns in the front, and the gray marble floors. He went up to one of the employees. "Excuse me, I would like to make a withdrawal." She smiled to him.

"Certainly, sir. What is the account under?"

"Minato Namikaze." The teller seemed confused but checked for the account anyway.

"Ah yes, here we are. If you would just give me the code to access the account." He told her the code.

"All right sir, if you would just fill out this transaction sheet…"

When Minato got back he decided to actually use the door, instead of the window, alluring as it may have been. As soon as he got through the door, Naruto practically tackled him while grabbing him in a hug.

"Your back!" Minato looked at his son and smiled.

"All the stuff this village has put him through and he can still show so much affection, you're tougher than I, Naruto." "So are you all packed up and ready to get out of this place?" He noticed that Naruto had a small bag lying on his bed. His son let go of his father and grabbed said bag.

"I sure am, but…" Naruto seemed a bit anxious about something.

"But what?"

"Can I go say good bye to old man Hokage?" Minato had not thought Naruto would have anyone to say goodbye to. "And the two nice people at the ramen shop?" Minato sighed, as he bent down to see his son eye to eye.

"Sorry, Naruto. If you told anyone, they may try and have you stopped from leaving. Especially the Hokage."

"But you're the Fourth Hokage. You can tell him to let me go with you, right daddy?"

"Son, I've been dead for six years. It would be very troublesome to explain what's happening to him, and I want to leave as soon as possible." Naruto was a bit sad at hearing this. "If you want, you can leave a note, so that when they notice you're gone they can read it and your goodbyes. Just make sure not to write anything about me. Can you write?"

"Yeah, old man Hokage taught me how." Naruto got a pencil and a piece of paper. Once he was done writing he placed the note and walked to his father, to leave the place that was once both their home.

Three days later.

"Dear Old man, I'm really sorry I can't see you anymore, but I'm leaving. I hate this village so much, so many people don't even think I'm human here, I can't take it. Don't try and find me, this won't be like any of those other times I tried to run away. I'm gone, and I don't plan on ever coming back. Tell Old man Ichiraku and Ayame that I won't be eating their good ramen anymore. You three are the only ones in this village that ever treated me like a human being, but I just can't stay in a place filled with so much hatred. I don't know why you always hid the truth from me, I know you must have had your reasons. But I still don't think those reasons were good enough to lie to my face every time I asked you about either one of those things. I know about the fox and who my parents were. I love you a lot Old man, and I will miss you."

Sarutobi had read the note for the umpteenth time, after finding it in Naruto's apartment. In past experiences Naruto was always found as soon as he tried to climb the wall, or sneak out the gate. There was no warning of Naruto's departure this time around, he was gone without a trace. Naruto was last seen three days ago, and the note was found the day after. He had sent his best tracking teams to find the boy, but all had come up empty handed.

He should have beaten those damned guards on the spot. They saw him leave, but did not report it. Naruto had apparently left with an ANBU that had entered the village earlier that day. Keaton was the name the guards had been given. He was apparently undercover in the Mist for the past eight years. Sarutobi had checked all files Minato had left behind, but found nothing of this ANBU in question. And yet…

The note the guards had been given definitely had Minato's signature on it. It was a perfect match. Yet, why could Sarutobi find nothing about this Keaton. He sent out a messenger to Jiraiya to have him immediately recalled to the village. That could take up to a week or more. The reason he sent for Jiraiya was because that whoever this "Keaton" is must have been a very close friend of Minato's.

He walked in with Minato's signature, took money out of Minato's account (the bank teller had alerted him to the withdrawal), was able to gain Naruto's trust, obviously by telling him about the fox and his parents, and had left with Naruto straight out the front damn door by giving them Sarutobi's forged signature, which upon closer examination seemed to match Minato's handwriting.

All very peculiar.

"I can only hope for Naruto's safety." "And that Jiraiya will know whom this mysterious person is."

Meanwhile in a random forest…

Minato was sitting by the campfire, while the moon illuminated the sky overhead, thinking about where he and Naruto should go. He had spent the last three days making sure no one was able to track them. It's quite the laborious chore of covering your tracks effectively. Naruto had fallen asleep about an hour ago and was inside the tent Minato had gotten before their departure. The past few days have been some of the best he's ever had. He had spent time with his son, something he once thought to never be possible. Minato was very proud of the way Naruto had grown up. Even under the circumstances he was in Naruto turned out to be a fine young lad. Minato knows many a man that would have gone either suicidal, or homicidal under that kind of constant hatred.

Not surprisingly though, Naruto had an intense resentment for the Hidden Leaf, more so now than ever. Reason for that was since he's experienced just three days of being with someone who actually cares about you, and takes the time to do so, he now understands just how bad he had it. He had always thought of his treatment to be normal, after all, he had never experienced anything else. But now after spending time with his father, Naruto fully realized just how much he was missing out on. He was not happy at all at how the man who was supposed to have been the father figure in his life seemingly just ran off, even after promising to be his godfather. And if there was one thing Naruto hated, it was breaking a promise.

Minato had never been the one to hold a grudge. However, no one had ever brought so much pain to someone he cared so much for. So now, he had no problem with Naruto resenting the hidden leaf so passionately. The kid could give Orochimaru a run for his money on the subject, though Minato was even more hateful than Naruto. Speaking of his son.

Minato thought that with the lack of attention Naruto had been given, he would be very attached to his "daddy". However, it seemed the boy dealt with being away from his father very well. Probably something he had picked up from his relationship with the Hokage, who was always busy with various work and simply had no time for the boy. Minato held no grudge against Sarutobi. He knew from experience that the village always comes first to the Hokage, personal preferences meant nothing to the position. It was a difficult job that Minato was surprised to find out the Third took back. That was a bad thing. Being the container of the Kyuubi, Naruto would be hunted for. He had to make absolutely sure that his tracks were gone.

The past three days have been very troublesome indeed, but now he could finally rest easy. If he was correct in remembering, he should be in the Land of Rice. Outside Konoha's jurisdiction. He supposed a nice small town would be best. An out of the way place where they would be hardly noticed. Nodding to himself, he put out the fire and went to the tent to sleep.

Meanwhile, in the country of Fang…

Jiraiya was perched up on a ledge with his ever so trusty telescope, doing his oh so important research. The beauties he was spying on were definitely what he would call "Perfect tens" and there were three of them having a splash fight in the Onsen. Oh how lucky a man he was. He was getting plenty of material for his next book. He almost had a heart attack when he felt something land on his shoulder. He was certain someone had found him out and awaited the usual beating. When none came he looked to his right and saw a bird perched on his shoulder, a note tied to it's leg. He quickly took the note, unrolled it, and began to read.

"Dear Jiraiya, I have some very important and urgent news. Naruto Uzumaki has been kidnapped. We know nothing of his captor other than a probably fake name. It is supposedly an ANBU named Keaton. Only identifying feature is dull yellow fox mask. He arrived in the village with a note signed by Minato, yes I verified the signature, stating that he had been stationed in Kiri for the past eight years. I am to assume he was a close friend of Minato's because he not only knew about the Kyuubi and Naruto's heritage, he also had access to Minato's old bank account, as well as having a forgery of my signature written in Minato's handwriting. I have found no information whatsoever on this Keaton and would like you to report to the village as soon as you can so that we may think of what to do about this problem."

Jiraiya's eyes hardened into one of his most serious glares. "This is a big problem." He took off as fast as he could toward Konoha while dramatic music seemingly came from nowhere. "I need to get this solved as quickly as possible." He leapt across a river, using his chakra to run across the water. "After all…" Jiraiya's head dropped as his shoulders shook with grief. "I can't do any research till this is taken care of!" He screamed the whole way there.