Chapter 3

AN: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed, and thanks to those who have added this story to their favorites. And a special thanks to MrsHellman who kindly helped me. Check out her story, it's fantastic! Please review and as always don't own Naruto. If I did, Minato would still be alive!

After taking Naruto home, and making sure he was settled in, Kakashi had some ANBU watch over Naruto outside the house. Then he went to talk to Minato. He was sure that Naruto was up to something. Kakashi wasn't too sure he would tell Minato the truth.

As Kakashi jumped from roof to roof, he thought about how he should tell Minato what was going on with Naruto. He knew the little blonde was plotting something, or else why wouldn't he have wanted to go to his father's office? Kakashi very much doubted that it was because Naruto wanted to 'think' things over. More likely, it was because Naruto wanted to hide this latest incident.

Minato was busy with more paperwork, when he saw Kakashi come in through the open window. I don't think he uses the door much, Minato thought. He noticed immediately that Naruto wasn't with him. "Kakashi? Where's Naruto?" Minato asked the jounin, giving him a worried look.

"Don't worry, he's safe your house. I have ANBU watching him for now. There's something about Naruto that I want to talk to you about…" Kakashi began.

Minato began to feel worried. Has something happened? Is Naruto all right? He wondered. On the outside, though, he remained calm.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about him also. His recent behavior has been strange. Is it related to him being at the academy?" Minato asked him. Maybe it was too soon to send Naruto to the academy, maybe he isn't ready yet.

Kakashi looked away for a brief moment. "Yes," he said. Naruto was going to kill him when he found out, but that didn't matter. "You see there are some bigger kids that are picking fights with Naruto-" Kakashi started to explain.

"Fights!?" Minato interrupted, very concerned for Naruto. "Why? Don't these kids know who he is? Oh gosh, I should go see him right away!" He said very quickly.

Kakashi laughed a nervous laugh at the Hokage's behavior. "Woah, calm down sensei, well… the thing of it is… it's like this. He hasn't told them of his parentage. Said he wants to establish his own identity." Kakashi answered. Minato looked confused. Kakashi continued. "I haven't yet figured out why they are picking on him. He won't tell me. Wants to solve it himself. I have stepped in twice, once before things got bad, but this last time, Naruto got hurt," Kakashi finished nervously, waiting for his sensei's reaction.

"WHAT!? Hurt?" Minato repeated frantically. "Why didn't you say so in the first place? How bad is it? Is he all right?

"He has a black eye, sensei, nothing more, but he also hurt one of the other kids in the fight, though not very significantly," Kakashi added and braced himself for Minato's response.

Minato frowned. Why hasn't Naruto told me any of this? "Why did you wait until he got hurt before you stepped in?"

"Well, this last time, I was waiting to see if I could learn more about what was going on before intervening. I also wanted to give Naruto a chance to deal with it to be fair to him. Then when I told Naruto that he needed to have his eye looked at, he panicked. He seemed like he didn't want you to know. He fears you won't let him go back to academy. Something about being too overprotective?" Kakashi finished carefully, so as not to upset his sensei too much.

Minato blushed and smiled sheepishly, putting his hand behind his head. "Well, it's true that I may be a little overprotective of him," he said with a nervous laugh. "But it's for a good reason. I mean, he's my son, after all."

"Hai, I do understand sensei, but it sounds like you two need to talk this out. I don't think he's going to tell you about it. He wanted me to take him straight home, instead of coming here, because he didn't want you to find out what happened," Kakashi explained.

Minato looked deep in thought for a moment before answering. "I see. Sounds like I do need to have a talk with him, about quite a few things. Thank you for telling me all of this Kakashi."

"Not a problem, sensei. I care about Naruto as much as you do." Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"I know. That's why I selected you to be his bodyguard," Minato said, smiling at him. "Well, I'm going to go home and talk to Naruto. See you later," he said as he got up and made his way to the door.

"Ja ne," Kakashi said as he jumped out the window. And good luck, sensei he thought.

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As Minato walked to the house, his thoughts were in turmoil. I don't understand why Naruto couldn't tell me any of this. That he would go to such lengths to keep me from finding out. Am I that protective of him?

When Minato got to his house, he talked to an ANBU that was stationed nearby. "Is everything alright with Naruto?" he asked him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Naruto-sama is currently in his room," he answered, bowing.

"Good. Thank you, you can resume your usual post," Minato told him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" he answered just before he disappeared.

Minato walked into the house and took off his outer white cloak with the red flames and hung it up on the wall. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, as he looked up the stairs towards Naruto's room. How do I approach this? Maybe the best thing to do is to see if he tells me the truth…he thought as he made his way up the stairs.

He stopped in front of Naruto's door and paused for a moment. This isn't so bad, I'm just going to talk with my own son. He knocked on Naruto's door. "Naruto? It's me, Tousan. May I come in?" he asked.

Naruto had been lying on his bed, thinking about how to hide his black eye from his father. He was very surprised when he knocked at the door. Shoot! I thought I'd have more time! He panicked and scrambled around the room for something to hide his black eye with.

Minato heard some strange noises coming from the room. "Naruto? Are you okay in there?" he asked worriedly.

"Um, yes, Tousan. Just a minute!" Naruto called. He found a pair of goggles under his bed that were slightly tinted. These will have to do, he thought. He quickly put them on. "Come in," he called again.

Minato opened the door and saw Naruto sitting on his bed…wearing goggles? Hmm…looks like he really is trying to hide this from me… Minato thought. I'll play along for a while…

"Naruto? Why are you wearing those goggles inside the house?" Minato asked as he walked over to Naruto, whose gaze was on his father the entire time as he sat next to him on the bed.

"Hmm? Oh, these? Well, you know, it's the latest thing. Everyone's doing it," Naruto lied, lamely, smiling, but Minato saw right through it.

"I see," Minato said skeptically. "How was the academy today?" Minato decided to change the subject. He was trying to draw Naruto out to tell him the truth.

"Fine," Naruto answered quickly. A little too quickly, cursing himself for doing so.

"Really? Nothing particular happened today?" Minato asked him.

"No. We're just learning the basic stuff, you know," Naruto answered nervously. What's with all the questions?

"You know, Naruto, you've been acting a bit strange ever since you started at the academy. Are you sure there's nothing going on that you want to talk to me about?" Minato probed him as he crossed his arms.

Naruto laughed nervously, putting his hand behind his head. "No, Tousan! Everything's fine, really. But thanks for asking, though. Can I be alone now?"

"Sure. But first, I want you to take off your goggles," Minato told him.

"What?" Naruto asked, taken aback. "Why?" Oh my gosh! Maybe he knows something. What'll I do?

"Because, I asked you to. I don't care if it's the latest thing or not. Besides, I want to see your baby blue eyes," Minato continued as he looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Do I have to?" Naruto whined and held his hands on either side of the goggles, as if to protect them.

"Yes. Why is that a problem?" Minato questioned him.

"Um, no reason, really. I just don't want to…" Naruto trailed off.

"There shouldn't be a problem with taking them off, Naruto. Unless… you're trying to hide something…" Minato said, casually.

Naruto laughed nervously. "What makes you say that, Tousan?" he sweat dropped.

"Oh, maybe because you're stalling. What are you hiding, Naruto?" Minato's tone turned suddenly serious.

Naruto panicked. Does he know? How could he…unless…Kakashi! I bet he squealed on me when he went to talk to Tousan. Traitor! I'm going to kill him next time I see him! He thought. Now what do I do? Make something up just in case he doesn't know?

"I'll give you a choice, Naruto. Either you take off those goggles and tell me what's going on, or I will find out…the hard way…" Minato told him sternly.

Naruto swallowed nervously again and started to remove the goggles with shaky hands. He braced himself for Minato's reaction.

Minato saw the black and blue mark around Naruto's eye and cheek. It looked painful and swollen, but it looked like it would be okay ...but still… "How did you get that black eye, Naruto?" Minato asked, with concern in his voice.

Naruto looked down. "At school…" he began.

"That tells me 'where' it happened. I asked 'how' it happened," Minato told him.

"I…um…well…I…tripped and fell down at school and hit my face on a rock," Naruto lied again, but Minato didn't buy it.

"Really? Must have been a pretty big rock to blacken your eye like that," Minato said playing along.

"Oh, it was," Naruto answered, unknowingly playing into Minato's hands.

"I see. And you somehow didn't see this rock to avoid it?" Minato asked, skeptically.

"Ah, no. It all happened so fast," Naruto said quickly.

Minato sighed. He had given Naruto every opportunity he could think of to tell him the truth. He really must have been scared that he might pull him out of academy, which, if Minato was honest with himself, he had thought of doing. But maybe he had been too protective…but still…Naruto had lied to him and that had to be dealt with.

"Naruto," Minato started. "I know what really happened today. You didn't fall and hit your eye," he said as Naruto stiffened visibly.

Stupid Kakashi! He did squeal on me! Naruto thought angrily.

"Um, what do you mean?" he asked, though he was afraid he already knew.

"Kakashi told me everything that happened. I wanted to give you the chance to tell me the truth. I'm very disappointed that you lied to me," Minato said as Naruto gulped.

Naruto looked down again. "Gomen nasai, Tousan. I was so afraid. I just want to prove to you that I can be a good ninja. I wanted to handle the situation myself," Naruto explained looking everywhere else but Minato. "I…was…afraid that if you found out…you might…pull me…out the academy," he finished hesitantly. He was afraid of what his father would do now. Would he really pull him out of the academy?

"In all fairness, Naruto, I do struggle with being protective of you. You're my only son, and if anything ever happened to you, I don't know what I'd do," Minato confessed. Naruto looked up at Minato in surprise. Minato continued. "I'm going to work on that. I won't pull you out of the academy." Naruto sighed in relief, but it was short lived. "However, you did lie to me, and that I cannot tolerate. You will have to be punished for that," Minato told him firmly as Naruto looked sadly at him, when he saw Minato's worried and angry gaze he turned away again.

"Hai, Tousan. I understand," Naruto answered and he was more upset that his father was disappointed in him rather than being punished by him.

"I want you to know that you can come to me and tell me anything, all right?" Minato told him, putting his hand under Naruto's chin to look at him.

"Okay, Tousan," Naruto answered.

Minato really wanted to know why these kids had been picking on Naruto, and why he was afraid to tell them who he really was. But he decided to give him a chance to work that out first before stepping in.

"Very well. Now about your punishment… I think I'm going to take some time to think over an appropriate punishment for you," Minato said rubbing Naruto's cheek before letting it go.

"Um…okay…that sounds fair," Naruto said, wondering what kind of punishment he would get.

"Now, I think we should put some ice on that eye to help with the swelling," Minato suggested. He gingerly touched Naruto's eye. Naruto flinched in response. "Hmmm…it's painful, huh? After you ice it for a while, we'll get some dinner. How about ramen?" Minato asked, smiling at him, making Naruto's eyes brighten a bit.

"That would be great…but…Tousan?" Naruto asked, hesitantly.

"Yes? What is it, Naruto?" Minato looked at Naruto with concern.

Naruto fidgeted with his the buttons on his shirt before continuing.

"I'm…kind of…afraid to go to back to school," Naruto said so quietly that Minato almost didn't hear him.

"Why is that, Naruto?" Minato asked.

"Well, it's just that…everyone will see my black eye and…they'll….they'll…" Naruto couldn't finish. He just hung his head. This was embarrassing and hard to admit.

Minato put his hand under Naruto's chin again, lifting his head up to face him. "They'll what, Naruto?" Minato asked him gently.

"They'll…laugh at me," Naruto finished. Would Minato think Naruto was a baby now?

"Naruto, have kids at school been teasing you over this bully?" Minato asked him, frowning a bit and letting go of Naruto's chin.

"Y-yes. They've been laughing at me, and making fun of my 'bodyguard'," Naruto answered. "When they see this," Naruto said, pointing to his eye, "it will just get worse. And I'm sure that bully will tell everyone what happened today."

Minato thought for a bit before answering. "Do you want me to help you solve this?" he asked Naruto. "Because I can speak to the kids who are bothering you."

Naruto looked down. "I…I…really want to handle this myself, Tousan. It's hard to get teased...but...I…just…want…you to be proud of me," he finished with a slight blush on his cheeks.

Minato smiled at his son. "Naruto, look at me." Naruto looked up. "I will always be proud of you no matter what, alright?" Naruto nodded his head. Minato continued. "As far as the bullies go, I will respect your feelings about it. However, I do want you to tell me if anything else happens to you, understand?"

Naruto fought back tears as he suddenly glomped his father. "Arigatou, tousan!" he said loudly as Minato laughed at how quickly his son could change moods.

Minato hugged him back, rubbing the top of his head. "Now, let's get that eye taken care of and then we can get that ramen!"

"Hai!" Naruto chirped, happily.

TBC

AN: Sorry, just one more thing. A couple of people have pointed out that this story is similar to "Finding Nemo." This is NOT a re-make of that. Read the AN notes in chapter 1. I give full disclaimer and credit to the movie from which I got my inspiration and did borrow some from it, so please stop pointing that out to me. From now on, it will be ignored. I wanted to update with this chapter, since I had it done, but the next may take some time. I'm getting some help with it, and I'm struggling with some writer's block, so please bear with me! It will get finished! Now, kindly hit that submit button and tell me what you think!