Authors' Note; Sorry for the late update! I lost my laptop charger and it took me all weekend to find it in the black hole called the bedroom! Well, any who, here's the update you've all been promised.

Naruto; You made me into such a wuss! And why in the hell is my father such an ass?

Me: Because, that's part of the story, this is just fan fiction. I love your father! Really! It's just for the story! I swear!

Sasuke; It looks to me like you've got a vendetta against the man, but whatever.

Me; Cold hearted bastard -mumbles-

Naruto; He's not the one that's making my father an ass you cold hearted -

Me; -clamps a hand over Naruto's mouth- on with the story -insert smile here!-

Author's Note 2; This is a re-upload. I did some editing because I didn't realize I somehow switched from first to third in one of my paragraphs. I still don't know how that happened ... But any who, here's the edited chapter!

Chapter 3

Naruto

The next morning, when I woke up, the house was quiet. I don't remember if I heard Dad come home at all, I was asleep by nine from mental exhaustion thanks to my homework. But I managed to get it all done, even the summary I needed to turn in was done. Lucky me, I guess.

But considering last nights events, it hurt just to move my arms, hell, my whole body hurt! I had to bite my tongue from crying out in pain when I forced myself up into a sitting position.

"God damn it." I hissed when I tried to stretch and stand up.

When I looked at my alarm clock, I was running half an hour behind. Great, just my damn luck.

"Hey, Naruto, I hope you're up because I'm coming in." My Dad's voice rang through the door before it opened. I didn't have enough time to put on a facade before he looked at me with concern. "Is everything okay?"

"Yea, just sore." I said, then smiling all though it was fake, and I think he knew it.

"Naruto, I'm the one that started the fake smile routine, and you seemed to have gotten it from me." Dad said as he crossed his arms. That's when I got a good look at him, he was sober and had a shower already. I guess Tsunade talked more sense into the man last night.

"It's nothing a good stretch won't cure, besides, I have school and I'm probably going to be late." I said. Hoping he'd believe me this time. Hell, I hoped I believed myself at least.

"Alright, well go take a hot shower. That might help your muscles relax." Dad suggested.

I only nodded and forced myself up to my feet and limped my way to the bathroom and turned the shower water on. I hoped this would work, because if it didn't, my day was screwed. Hell, I don't even know how I can carry my back pack today without it hurting so much.

"Naruto, I'm calling the school, you're going to be late today. Tsunade's on her way over." Dad's voice said through the bathroom door, and I wanted to whine and pout, but then when I looked in the mirror, I saw that I had slept with no shirt on and Dad must have seen my back. But, it couldn't have been that bad, could it?

"Why is she coming over?" I asked, confused until I looked at my back in the mirror. And to my shock, I had a triangular indent in the middle of my back that seemed to have broken skin, it was black in the middle, with blue on the outside and a yellow outside that. Damn, I hit my desk that hard?

"She's looking at your back." He said, and I didn't have to doubt him. My back looked nasty, and so did my shoulder. You could see the outline of the crow bar I was hit with two nights ago still.

"Okay, I'll be done with my shower in a few." I told him and took the rest of my clothes off and climbed into the shower. Granted, the warm water felt great, but once it hit my back all I wanted to do was scream. But I forced myself to ignore the pain as I washed myself up, forgetting about washing my back on purpose and stood facing the water to wash my hair while bent over. I didn't want the shampoo getting into the sore on my back. That'd hurt more than the wound being inflicted. I learned that the hard way as well.

Anyway, with my shower done, I decided to stand in the water and let it wash away a little bit more of my pain before I decided it was time to get out and I gently dried myself off everywhere. With the fact that I walked home yesterday … seven miles … my legs were more sore than I thought they would be.

"Hey, Naruto, Tsunade's here. I put some boxers and a pair of night pants out by the door for you." Dad's voice said through the door.

"Thanks Dad." I said, and I sounded tired. Hell, I sounded like I didn't sleep at all last night. But whatever, as soon as Tsunade was done I was going to get dressed and have Dad drive me to school. I don't think I'd be able to walk and be there on time.

"Hurry up gaki! I'm late to the school myself." Tsunade's voice boomed through the house, making me hurry up faster than my body wanted him to because it sent painful spasms through my whole body when I stopped in the living room with my night pants on and no shirt. "Damn gaki, what happened to you?"

"Tsunade … it's all my fault." Dad said before I could answer, and I regretted not talking faster.

"No it isn't Dad." I said, hoping he would drop it. "I fell in my room and landed on the corner of my dresser. I failed at a back flip in the air." I hoped my lie was believable.

"Let me look at your back." Tsunade sighed, not knowing who to believe at the moment. I don't blame her either, but as I turned around to show her my back, I could hear her gasp so loud that I could have sworn she couldn't breathe afterwords.

"What the hell Minato!" She swore, and she never swears.

"I told her last night Naruto … so stop lying for me starting today." My Dad sighed heavily. Fuck, if I knew he told her already, I wouldn't have lied in the first place.

Curses running through my mind, Tsunade immediately had me lay on my stomach on the couch while she had Dad grab a chair from the kitchen. That's when I realized how clean that house looked. Yea, I did keep the house moderately clean, but it looked cleaner than I had it the last time I cleaned thoroughly. Dad must have cleaned when he got home last night.

"Gaki, is this the exercise wound you told me about yesterday?" Tsunade asked as she prodded my left shoulder, making me wince and hold back a groan of discomfort. "Minato, you did this one too?"

"Yea …" Dad sighed heavily.

"Goddamn it Dad, no you didn't." I protested.

"I hope you know, Minato, that I can call children services and have him taken away from you." Tsunade said under her breath. "This is child abuse."

"I know, and I'm trying to make it right. Believe me when I say Naruto and I were crying on each others' shoulders for hours last night." Dad said.

"You did most of the crying otoo-san." I laughed, then wish I hadn't.

"Well, either way Naruto, it might be best if you weren't here until your father got his act together." Tsunade sighed.

"That's where you're wrong!" I almost yelled. "What good will healing do if someone isn't there to give you support?"

"I know you want to be here with your dad, Naruto, but just maybe not full time." Tsunade suggested.

"No, that's the same as not being here at all. Please don't call them Tsunade-baa-chan." I begged, and I sounded pathetic. "Please."

"Fine." Tsunade hissed. "Minato, if I see this child hurt by your hand again, I'm calling children services. And that's not a threat, that's a damn promise." She added, at least she listened to me.

"I'm grateful to you Tsunade." My Dad mumbled. I could tell he felt troubled by her promise, but somehow I knew he meant what he said.

"I think you should go to the hospital for a couple x-rays, Naruto. It looks like something might have fractured from how it's swollen and bruised. And I don't like how this lesion looks." Tsunade said, and I frowned in disapproval.

"I can't miss school Tsunade-baa-chan." I argued.

"None of that now, you could have been seriously hurt." Tsunade yelled.

"I'll take him, you have to get to school." Dad said, and I wanted nothing more than to just stay home. I hated going to the hospital, the smell in those buildings was nauseating.

"Alright, I'll be by after school to see how he is doing. Call the school before two if you're still there." Tsunade sighed as she got up and took my Dad aside. Probably to talk about something so I wouldn't hear them, because they went into the kitchen and were doing a pretty good job making sure I couldn't hear them.

Sighing, I forced myself up and into a sitting position on the couch. It hurt like hell just sitting here like this at all.

"Okay, Naruto, I'm going to go on ahead and leave. Your father is going to be reporting to me your situation when you get your x-rays done. I hope nothing damaging was done." She said, sighing at the end, and I was right along with her. I hope nothing damaging was done either.

"Okay, Tsunade-baa-chan." I nodded, which seemed to make me hurt even more, but I could bare with it a little longer.

"Alright, if nothing is totally wrong, have him come to school. I'll have it ready so he won't have to carry anything today." Tsunade said when Dad came back into the room.

"Sure, Tsunade." He nodded, and Tsunade said her good byes and left without saying anything else. Hell, I think she's completely pissed off at my Dad, I wouldn't blame her either.

"Okay, I'll go get your shirt and we can go." Dad said with a heavy sigh.

"I need my book, the library book that's on the night stand by my bed." I told him as I tried to get up, but only fell back onto the couch shivering with pain all over.

"I'll get it, and you're wearing sandals today." He said before he went to my room to get the things we talked about, coming back to the living room with a black t-shirt and helped me put it on after putting the book on the arm of the couch.

"What class is this book for?" Dad asked with a confused look on his face.

"It's my book report that's due in two weeks. I got a lot of reading to do. Oh, I need my notebook and pen. He wants us to write two to three paragraph summaries every five stupid chapters." I said, completely forgetting that until the last second.

"I'll go get the notebook, it was sitting underneath this book right?" Dad asked.

"Yea, and I'll have my shoes on by the time you come back out here." I nodded as he helped me stand up. I grabbed the book off the arm of the chair before he could and he could only sigh as he went to my room as I walked to the front door and slid my feet into my sandals. That got me thinking … how in the hell am I going to ride twenty minutes to an hour in a car?

"Okay, I got your homework, now lets go, go, go." Dad said, and he had an unusual skip to his step, it was a little creepy because I've never seen him this happy. But I have to get used to it, because this is what I've been asking for, for my entire life.