"Happy birthday," Naruto whispered.
The boy now eight years old was once again alone in his apartment on the 10th of October; unofficially barred from going outside. It was unofficial because no one had actually told him not to go outside on the October 10th, but an attempt to leave his apartment made when he was six had taught him that staying within its four walls was 'for the best'.
October 10th, as well as being Naruto's birthday, was when the defeat of bijou Kyuubi no Kitsune was celebrated. The fact that Kyuubi had been defeated by sealing him in Naruto only exacerbated the situation as the civilians of Konoha, instead of thanking Naruto for holding back the fox demon for all these years, treated him as if he was the demon himself and didn't bother to disguise their anger and hatred towards him like they would on any other day.
Naruto sighed as he peered through his curtains to look upon Konoha on an unusually bright and sunny October day. The streets of the hidden village were crowded as people celebrated; the main roads clogged with stalls selling a multi-colored array of sweets, slabs of mouth-watering chocolate the size of bricks, brightly painted balloons and many other wondrous things. Naruto stared down in envy before dropping the curtain back in place and collapsing on the bed. He folded his arms behind him to cushion his head and he stared with boredom at the ceiling. He then proceeded to count the cracks on the ceiling.
Happy birthday indeed.
'Everything looks exactly the same.'
Namikaze Minato, known to the majority as the Yondaime Hokage, pushed through the bustling streets of Konoha. His assumption, at least concerning the current street he was on, was true. Other than the decorations and stalls set up specifically for the festivities nothing had changed in the eight years since he'd last walked down the largest street in the shopping district – it had been one of only sixteen streets to escape completely unharmed from the Kyuubi's attack.
Minato knew it was a dangerous risk walking so casually through Konoha. If he was recognized, even for a split second, there would most likely be a riot. After all he was supposed to be dead.
Anticipating this possibility Minato had cast an illusion jutsu around him so, instead of seeing the tall blue-eyed blonde haired man, people saw a small rather fat middle-aged man with beady black eyes permanently fixed in a squint. He had based the illusion around the typical greedy merchant; while stall owners might look upon him with suspicion, shinobi on patrol would dismiss him as one of many merchants hoping to get a bargain in the chaos of the Kyuubi festival.
After half an hour of aimless walking he rested on a bench and groaned quietly. Just where was Naruto? Minato had expected his son to be at the centre of the celebrations; if it wasn't for Naruto the village would no longer exist. But he had up and down the main thoroughfare of Konoha and couldn't find the boy. Frowning he stood up and ducked into a nearby alley.
Once he'd ensured that no one was watching he quickly did a summoning jutsu. When the smoke had cleared standing at the ninja's feet were half a dozen white mice with bright green eyes while perched on his shoulders were two bluebirds with the same bright green eyes as the mice. Minato pictured Naruto, an image of the last time he'd seen him floating to mind, and touched each animal in turn. As he did so the creature's eyes turned from green to purple.
"Find him," Minato said. Within seconds Minato was once again alone in the alley.
As he waited he pondered exactly why he was in Konoha. The most obvious excuse was to visit his son on his birthday, but he couldn't help but question his actions – after all, he had never visited his son before.
The Yondaime's thoughts were interrupted the rustling of a stack of abandoned boxes in a shadowy corner of the alley. He relaxed the fighting stance he'd automatically taken when saw the source of the noise was one of the summoned mice. Its eyes had turned back to green. The mouse had found Naruto.
Naruto was throwing balls of wet toilet paper at the ceiling, trying to make them stick, when he heard the knock at the door. Understandably cautious he padded towards the door and glanced through the peer-hole, expecting to see a kid with eggs ready to pelt him with eggs. Instead he saw an unfamiliar fat old man with weird beady eyes, like a huge bug. Frowning he slid back the bolts and opened the door a notch so the man could just make out a single blue eye and half a head of spiky blonde hair.
When Minato saw the familiar face of Naruto he had to resist the urge to force open the door and embrace him. When he had last met the boy he'd been foolish and had failed to realize he was his son until it was too late to do anything about it. Now he found himself only inches from the child it took all his willpower not to grab the boy and never let go.
"What do you want?" Naruto asked. Minato was unsurprised to see the suspicion that lingered in the only cerulean eye he could see.
"Can I come in?" he answered with a question.
"What for?" Naruto said sharply. Even the civilians must know he wasn't foolish enough to just let anyone enter his home.
"I have something for you," Minato said, suddenly aware how intimidating his illusions voice was. Oh why hadn't he picked a better illusion jutsu?
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to let anyone in," Naruto retorted, having a fair idea that whatever the man wanted to give him wouldn't be anything good. The man would probably attack as soon as he was inside.
When Naruto began to close the door Minato grabbed the edge, preventing him from moving it. Before he scared the boy to death Minato quickly released his illusion jutsu and said in his normal voice "Hey kid it's me!"
Naruto's suspicion instantly transformed into delight and he swung open the door, grabbed the man's hand and pulled him into the apartment.
"What are you doing here?" he questioned, practically shaking with excitement and surprise at seeing the man who had helped him nearly a year ago. Naruto had never forgotten about him. The man's oddly familiar appearance and remarkable selflessness had made him unforgettable.
"Well kid, I remembered you said it was your birthday October 10th and I had nothing better to do so here I am," Minato partly lied. In reality he'd been quite busy following a potential lead when he'd realized it was Naruto's birthday in less than a week. Now he had seen the boy he had been unable to treat the day as any other and had practically sprinted all the way to Konoha to make it in time.
"My name is Naruto, not kid," Naruto corrected the man.
"I know. Happy birthday Naruto," Minato said, swallowing as he tried to hide his delight at saying his son's name.
Naruto blinked slowly, as if confused, then grinned. Then, before Minato even realized Naruto had moved the boy was hugging him, clinging to waist with an iron grip. When he heard the boy quietly sobbing a fatherly instinct he didn't even know he had kicked in. He grabbed Naruto's shoulders and gently pushed him back so Minato could see his tear stained face. Bending down so he was at his son's level he wiped away the tears and ruffled the boy's hair affectionately.
"Why are you crying Naruto?" he enquired, praying it wasn't his fault.
"I don't know," Naruto replied, "I'm just really happy." He stared at the floor self-consciously.
At this Minato just laughed and exclaimed, in mock outrage, "But I haven't even given you your present yet!"
"Present?" Naruto said. He looked up with an excited gleam in his sky blue eyes.
"Of course," Minato said as he pulled a small green parcel from his robe. Although Naruto had the maturity of someone older than himself at heart he was still an eight year old so it was no surprise to Minato when the boy eagerly snatched the gift from his hands.
Naruto, determined to be polite even if he was longing to tear open the paper, read the card attached before opening it:
To Naruto Happy Birthday, Minato
"Minato? Is that your name?" Naruto questioned, curious.
"Yeah my name's Minato, but don't tell anyone that, okay Naruto?" Minato said, suddenly worried. No one in Konoha could learn he was alive. If they did the repercussions would be dreadful.
"Are we secret friends?" Naruto said, grinning cheekily at the thought of not only having a friend beyond the old man and the ramen chef and his daughter, but having a secret to keep with that friend too.
"That's right. Now open your present."
Naruto gladly obeyed and ripped open the present revealing a small box. Inside he discovered an expensive-looking gold disc on a golden chain. Carved on the disc were his initials.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Naruto silently fitted the chain around his neck then embraced the man opposite him once more.
"Thank you," he murmured into the man's robe.
"It's okay really, cost next to nothing," he tried but failed to cover his embarrassment.
"Thank you anyway."
"What, have you never got a present before?"
"The old man gets me board games, but I like yours best," Naruto said honestly, fingering the golden pendant around his neck.
"Oh" Minato said, gleeful at the thought that his son loved his present. He had no idea who the 'old man' might be, but felt that interrogating his son wasn't exactly appropriate when celebrating said sons birthday.
"So Naruto…what shall we do?" Minato said after several seconds of comfortable silence.
"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, frowning with bemusement.
"Well it's your birthday so we should do something, you know? Let's go out and join the celebrations. You know I'm sure I saw a stall just down the road selling sweets," Minato explained.
Naruto frowned and shaking his head said "I really don't want to go outside. Not today"
"Why not?"
"I don't like going out on," Naruto paused for a second, "my birthday. I prefer to stay in."
Minato easily caught the hesitation in his son's voice. He quickly put two and two together. Naruto obviously felt uncomfortable outside among the celebrations and surrounded by civilians. This thought led to another, more depressing realization. If his son thought he was unwelcome in his own village on what should have been his favorite day of the year there could only be one explanation; that Minato's last request that his son be treated as a hero had been ignored and he was instead treated like every other Jinchuuriki in existence – with hatred.
With these new realizations he had the sudden urge to grab his son and take him from the ignorant villagers. He hurriedly filed away this thought and, to distract himself, proceeded to explore the small apartment his son was living in. Naruto watched him nervously, awaiting the man's verdict on his home.
The apartment was quite small, consisting of only one room with a bathroom attached. It was simple and open plan, with one portion of the room serving as a kitchen with a refrigerator, a microwave and matching table and chairs while the other half was a bedroom with a single bed positioned next to the only window and a bedside cabinet. Above the bed was a framed picture depicting the sign of Konoha, the same sign that graced the headbands of Konohagakure's shinobi and kunouchi. The walls were painted a pale yellow and the floor was bare wood with a small rug beside the bed that matched the walls. It was surprisingly clean for a boy so young, though the bed was unmade.
Minato walked forward and made the bed, purely out of instinct. He had always been a 'clean freak' as Naruto's mother had kindly put it. Naruto watched dumbstruck as the man ensued to examine his home. Minato seemed to forget completely about him as he opened drawers and cupboards in the kitchen area, exploring every crevice like he was searching for something.
Eventually Naruto swallowed his nervousness and said shyly "Are you looking for something?" Minato jumped at his son's voice; he had, like Naruto suspected, got lost in the moment and forgotten the boy was there.
"Oh yes, I mean no. No, I'm not searching for anything, just looking," Minato said, shrugging his shoulders and blushing slightly as he realized how nosy he was being. He had no right to just invite himself in Naruto's home and scrutinize every last thing, even if he was his father. Though his nosiness couldn't be excused by him being Naruto's father since Naruto didn't know. Naruto probably thought him some meddlesome stranger lacking any manners at all.
Minato was about to apologize when there was a quiet knock on the door. His eyes shot open in panic at the thought of being discovered and he quickly redid his illusion jutsu. Naruto was confused at first at Minato's sudden change in appearance, and then remembered the man was supposed to be his 'secret friend'. Grinning mischievously Naruto winked at Minato's illusion jutsu, strode towards the door and pulled it open.
On the doorstep, looking as serene and friendly as always, stood the Third Hokage. Naruto smiled up at the old man and led him into the apartment where Minato was sat awkwardly at the kitchen table, Naruto all the while chatting merrily away about it being his birthday and he was already 8 years old, nearly fully grown-up.
The Third Hokage frowned suspiciously at the stranger sat at Naruto's table and said in a voice tight with mistrust "I see you already have a visitor Naruto. Please, introduce us."
"I'm just a friend of Naruto's," Minato answered before Naruto could then stood up. "I really ought to be going now Naruto."
"Going? Already?" Naruto said, obviously upset that the man was leaving so soon.
"Sorry kid. Got things to do," Minato said hurriedly. He had to get away from the Third Hokage as soon as possible. If anyone could guess he was the Yondaime it would be the man who had appointed him.
"Okay. Will you come back next year for my birthday?" Naruto asked hopefully.
"Sure," Minato lied. He knew now it had been a mistake to visit Naruto. It was just too risky. What if the Sandaime hadn't knocked and come straight in? He would have seen a man who was supposed to be dead and years of clever concealment would have been wasted. Though it pained him to admit it he had priorities more important than his son.
"Bye Naruto," he said, instinctively ruffling the child's blonde hair so like his own.
"Bye," Naruto whimpered sadly. Minato looked his son up and down, fixing the image permanently in his head, before he stumbled out the door and into the crowded streets.
