CHAPTER II
RECOVERY AND PROMISES
Naruto, despite his very large reserves of chakra, had used way too much of it. He was rewarded with a three-day coma, which he spent in the hospital, under the supervision of doctors as well as ANBU. The Leaf Village had been weakened severely. An attack from another Great Village was probable.
Naruto awoke on the fourth morning after the Nine-Tails had attacked. His eyes immediately quailed at the bright rays coming through the window and onto his face. After a few minutes of wincing and squinting, Naruto was able to see. He sat up on his white bed, which matched the white floor, white walls, and white roof. His body was moving slower than he willed it to, causing him to take a few minutes to stand up properly.
He checked the door and found it to be locked. Naruto frowned and turned around, noticing something under his bed. It was a plain brown cardboard box covered with a white cloth. On the cloth was written: For Naruto Namikaze.
Naruto tried to bend down and slide it out, but his bodily functions hadn't quite gotten back into order. He ended up falling to his knees in front of the parcel.
He picked it up and found it to be quite hefty. With considerable effort, he put he thing on the bed, which was almost as tall as him. He proceeded to jump onto the bed, landing on his belly, and slowly shifted into a cross-legged position.
He tore the cloth unceremoniously and tossed it to the side, eager to get to the contents of the box. Inside, he found a glass bottle full of milk, a bento box, a pair of chopsticks, a small lollipop, and a fresh set of clothes. Naruto wasted no time in stripping himself of the hospital gown, which felt like paper, and donning the black t-shirt, white underwear, white shorts, white socks, and black sandals. All the cloth items were brand new and freshly washed, which gave him a slight boost of spirit.
He sat with his legs, dangling off the hospital bed, munching on the contents of the bento box with a pair of chopsticks. He then chugged all of the milk down in one go, and put the lollipop in his mouth. He had not sucked it for five minutes before the door to his room opened.
In stepped his father, who was immediately pushed aside by his worried mother. Her red hair became a blur as she shot across what little space that separated them and scooped Naruto into her arms effortlessly. Minato joined in after closing the door behind him.
The room went silent as the family took a moment to show some love.
Soon, that silence was broken by Kushina, who showered Naruto with motherly kisses and worried questions, all of which seemed to revolve around "Are you okay?".
"I'm fine, Kaa-san. How are the babies?" Both Minato and Kushina smiled at Naruto's concern for his siblings.
"They're doing fine, under Tsunade's supervision," Minato answered.
Naruto's eyes brightened a bit. "What are their names?"
"Mito and Nanami Namikaze."
Naruto smiled with pure joy. "Those are beautiful names."
Minato and Kushina smiled at the very thought of their children. However, they were also happy that their eldest approved of the name.
Naruto's eyes hardened in a way that chilled his parents to the bone. Naruto may have been young, but he had the mindset of a veteran. This both pleased and worried them.
"How many Konoha shinobi died during the attack?"
Both of them looked seriously at their son, and relayed the information in a steely tone.
"About 1200 shinobi were killed, not to mention more than 2000 civilians. The force of its chakra killed most of the children below five years of age. Same thing happened with the senior citizens. The Hokage Tower fell and killed about 300 more."
Naruto felt his anger multiply at each sentence. The little blond-haired boy released his chakra consciously, and caused small waves of blue chakra to be emitted from his core. Kushina shared his feelings.
Minato quickly grabbed them both and disappeared in a bright yellow flash. They reappeared in a room in the Namikaze household, right beside a large crib.
Shizune, the apprentice of Tsunade the Sannin, was gently wiping the face of one of the twin babies. Their violet eyes were open and alert, and immediately latched on to their mommy's face hovering above them. Kushina and Naruto took one look into their eyes and felt every single negative emotion evaporate.
With Shizune's help, Kushina took both babies into her arms. She cooed at them and made cute faces, which brought about a round of delightful giggles. The two girls laughed with joy as their mother encompassed their vision, becoming the only thing that was there.
Minato and Naruto's heads popped in alongside Kushina's. The babies recognized their father instantly, but were weary of Naruto. They stopped giggling and quietly observed his healthy skin, his blue eyes, his blond hair.
Just when Naruto was going to back away in fear of making them cry, the two babies smiled and waved at him, trying to grab his face.
Naruto smiled back.
In his mind, he thought, "This is something to fight for." A blazing fire appeared in his heart. Before this, all of his precious people were very strong and did not need to be protected. They were so strong that he could not do anything significant to help them. Finally, he found people to love, to cherish, and to protect.
Minato and Kushina sensed the change the moment they looked into his tear-filled eyes. They directed him to a chair and gently put the babies into his arms.
Naruto Namikaze brought his face close to theirs and closed his eyes. He then made a promise that would end up making history for centuries to come.
"I promise to protect you with my will, my skill, and my life." He whispered to the two babies. Both Minato and Kushina had tears in their eyes, seeing how grown up their son was.
The babies seemed to understand. They looked at Naruto with a newfound sense of knowing, and were reluctant to be taken out of his arms. Mito seemed to smirk, while Nanami just stared with a very slight smile.
Eventually, the babies were put back into their crib and Shizune took a seat next to the crib.
The teenaged medic-nin had taken up residence in the Namikaze household and would remain until both Mito and Nanami were six. She was being paid the equivalent of a long term A-rank mission at the end of every month. Meaning she got paid an A-rank salary every month. Minato and Kushina had both accepted the young, cheerful medic, who was very skilled for her age. Tsunade had chosen her student well.
Naruto's tired mind, still not fully recovered, blurred through all the events of the day.
However, at dinnertime, where Shizune had joined them along with the babies, Naruto's mind gained the sharpness that it always had. He looked at his father and his mother, contemplating his next words.
"Tou-san, Kaa-san," Minato and Kushina looked at him, "I want to become strong, to protect Mito and Nanami. I want to become a shinobi. Please, train me."
Minato smiled lightly. "That is a very honorable wish, Naruto-chan. We will train you, but you have to promise to do whatever we say. No complaining, OK?"
Naruto nodded vigorously.
Kushina took over. "In fact, I think we can start the training from tomorrow morning."
Naruto smiled widely. Despite his maturity, he was so happy he wanted to shout. But he kept all of the childishness inside and put on a serious, mature face for his parents.
"Thank you, Tou-san and Kaa-san." Both of them smiled at this.
Shizune spoke up. "Minato-sama, Kushina-sama, I have just remembered something. Tsunade-sama had an idea for Naruto's strange ability, so be sure to ask her about it later on." Minato nodded and said, "I will meet her after I sign out Naruto from the hospital register tomorrow morning."
Kushina grinned and clapped her hands together.
"Oh, we are going to have so much fun together, Naruto-chan. Dattebane!"
CHAPTER END. 1424 Words
Thank you for reading this chapter.
I thank you all for all of the suggestions and ideas that you have given me, as well as for pointing out some flaws in the logic.
Look forward to the next chapter.
