"Sooner or later, you have to wake up."
Chapter 4: Waking Up
After beginning the daily morning ritual of coming back to his senses after waking up, Naruto laid uncharacteristically still. He knew that the dream was over, but a faint smile forced its way onto his lips. It has been something he would never forget, something he would always cherish. A dream of what could have been, of all of his most important wishes answered. When everything went wrong, when he was struggling to stay afloat against a sea of depressing thoughts, he could at least fall back on that memory—that dream—as his shelter. Of a time when he was truly happy. Of a time when he received that which he wanted most, and received even more.
But now it was back to the cold, hard reality. Slowly rising out of bed, he continued his usual routine of brushing, dressing, and preparing breakfa—what? No longer half-asleep, Naruto noticed that his apartment was much cleaner than he last remembered it. In the dream, he and his 'parents' had cleaned it all up, just like it was now…
Uncertainty plaguing his mind, he quickly searched every nook and cranny of his surroundings. It can't be. He had never cleaned up his apartment like this except for in that dream. Unless someone had cleaned it for him while he was asleep or away—no, who would do something like that for me? Staring blankly at the wall ahead of him, he wracked his mind for an explanation. It can't be real. It can't be. It's too good to be true because it is. It always is. While his mind raged in its internal battle, he suddenly took notice of the object he had been staring at.
A picture. The picture. The only one he had—Team 7's group photo, the one he always kept on his dresser next to his bed. His eyes now told him, however, that the picture was standing neatly on the kitchen counter.
He never did that. It was the kind of place he wouldn't even consider putting that particular prized possession. Images flashed to his mind's eye, recalling how his 'mother' had casually placed it there to clean the dresser it usually sat on. And then…she…she moved my kunai holster into the drawer underneath the picture. He ran over to it, his mind fixated only on the brown, wooden handle that would reveal the answer. With frantic fury, he shoved open the drawer…
…to find his kunai holster, right where she had left it. He didn't put it there, and he never would…but he distinctly remembered his 'mother' placing it exactly where he found it. Naruto's mind locked up as he felt his knees weakening. As if frightened by the holster and all it represented, he unevenly paced backward until he knee gave out entirely, causing him to fall backwards, straight into the corner of the wooden dining table. Cursing through the pain and throbbing, Naruto rubbed the back of his head furiously, not caring that he covered his hands in blood as he did so. Moments later, when the pain was dull enough to be a mere afterthought, he began trying to reconcile two realities that clashed in every way possible.
For someone who had never had much in the way of fortune, the 'dream' was indeed far too good to be true in his mind. When his trust had been broken time and again, he was very cynical when it came to good things happening to him. But this…was there any other way to explain it? He never did these things…no one else ever would…and he remembered his 'parents' doing it. So…was there anything that proved it wasn't real?
The Fourth is dead, his mind retorted. How could he be your father and help you clean your apartment if he's dead? His brows furrowed in concentration, he decided that one thing would prove that it was real. I have to see the Fourth, alive and kic—
A knock resounded from the door. Not used to entertaining guests in his home (as if such a thing would ever happen, he mused), let alone when confronted with paradoxes, he simply stared dumbly at the white, simple entrance to his humble abode. When the door swung open, his thumping heart was the loudest sound in his ears.
The familiar woman with calf-length red hair strolled into his home, two bags of groceries tucked into her arms. Behind her came a spiky-haired blond, dressed in a casual dark blue uniform. The Fourth…
"Naruto?" Kushina cheerfully called, her steps twisty and playful. When she saw him sitting on the floor, his hands red with blood, she rushed over with widened eyes as she set the grocery bags down beside him. "Naruto? Are you okay?" she asked, her tone laced with worry.
Minato was at his other side almost immediately after her. A quick check on his hands and body revealed that the wound was a head injury. "Naruto?" Minato asked, more firmly than his wife. If the head injury was serious, he needed to keep his son focused and awake.
Naruto switched his blank gaze from his mother to his father, attempting to form words. "This…this is…real?"
For a second, Minato thought that the head injury must have been very serious and needed to be dealt with at the hospital immediately…but a different conclusion reached his mind soon after. The Fox has healed injuries far worse than this…and he's looking me straight in the eye, clearly and soberly. So he—Minato reactively gasped as he finally realized what was going on. He doesn't…he doesn't think this is real?
Kushina was similarly taken aback, but Naruto continued to clarify his question. "You guys…are really…my parents?"
Feeling as if she had been pushed off of a cliff she didn't even know existed, Kushina desperately tried to make sense of the apparent impossibility. Did…didn't we go over this yesterday? Wait, 'this is real?' How could he possibly think something like that? It's not like he thinks it's…all…a…a dream. Of course. So many unlikely miracles plopped into the lap of someone who never got what he deserved…how could I have been so stupid? "Naruto, we really are your parents. This is real. This is not a dream."
Catching her thought process and conclusion, Minato's expression briefly grew more shocked before settling into a calm understanding. "I know this is a lot to take in, Naruto," he said, placing a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder, "but we're here to stay. I promise you that."
Naruto's face remained expressionless as he continued to stare at his father. Several seconds later, the boy's gaze slowly drifted to the floor, and what seemed like an awkward eternity later, he began to smile. It was like a wall that had formed in his mind had weakened.; he had accepted his situation—his reality—as the lonely struggle that it was, and his parents were kept out by that barrier. Only now had it begun to truly crack, but it would not be broken so easily.
An entire life of psychological and emotional pain could not be so simply erased.
He could smile, though, because they were real. They weren't going to leave him; they weren't going to disappear or lie to him. All of the happy moments that he had experienced in his 'day of heaven' were just the beginning. He could see the way forward, riddled with many more moments like those…and it made him relieved…relieved that it was not, in fact, all a dream.
As tears formed, Naruto looked up at father with eyes that said everything. Minato locked his son into a warm embrace, desperately trying to pour out all of the love he had been unable to give for his son's entire life. Tears rolled down their cheeks silently for nearly a minute, for there was no need for words or sounds to convey each other's meaning. Naruto, unwilling to keep his feelings bottled up, eventually released short sobs into his father's shoulder. "W-Why?" the boy asked. "…why did you seal the Fox into me? Why did you leave me alone? Why didn't I know about you?"
Kushina joined in the hug as Minato held his son even tighter. "If people knew you were my son, and I wasn't there to protect you…there would be trouble. I have made some enemies in my life, and they'd try to hurt you to get back at me. The Third probably thought that you'd figure out that you were my son if you knew who your mother was. And we never wanted to leave you…we wanted to raise you, to help you grow up, to share our love with you each and every day…but a disaster happened."
Treating the embrace as an emotional lifeline, Naruto spoke into his father's chest. "W-What disaster?"
Minato's voice cracked as he continued, the pain from that night still fresh in his mind. "You know that your mother was the previous Nine-Tails host, right? Well, on the night you were born…an evil man attacked us by surprise. He managed to separate your mother and I…and he…" His hands shaking, Minato tried to stifle the deep pain in his heart as he recalled the agonizing, mortal wound that had befallen his wife. "…he forced the Nine-Tails out of her, and used it to attack Konoha. I fought him, and pushed him back…but that man was far from defeated. I knew that he had more plans to use, more ways to hurt Konoha. I forced the Fox away from the village, to where your mother—and you—were. She held the fox down, and offered to drag it back into her and die with it. But the Fox can't really die…and if that evil man were to resurrect it, there would be a disaster. So I did what I thought was the only way to save everyone…I sealed half of the Fox's chakra into you, while I sealed the other half into the Shinigami, and the technique cost me my life. Your mother…" He swallowed painfully, not caring about the tears strolling down his cheeks. "…she was already dying ever since the Fox had been forced out of her…and she died that night, too. We never wanted to leave you alone, Naruto…we're so sorry." Unable to keep his mind from reliving the final moments of his life coupled with the knowledge of his son's life, Minato quietly sobbed as he squeezed his son tighter. "…I'm so sorry…"
Naruto didn't say anything for several minutes, much to his parent's concern. If he was mad at them, if he didn't forgive them…they didn't want to think about it. "I…" His voice was weak and cut off abruptly by the lump in his throat. After swallowing to clear it, he continued in a voice filled with sadness and confusion. "I…I don't…I hate that…why did he have to do it? Why did it happen…to me? Why…?"
Kushina understood his frustration; she too had had her life destroyed from out of nowhere by events out of her control. It was beyond frustrating. You were overwhelmed with pain that seemed too much to be real; you refuse to accept it, and start taking out that anger on whatever you can find to blame for your pain. "Because that man was a true monster, and we were in his way. Sometimes…sometimes there's no good reason why; sometimes things just happen. I know it sucks…but the best thing to do is to use that anger to drive you to make sure it never happens again."
After taking a minute to process her words, Naruto finally eased himself out of the hug. Wiping away the tears sheepishly, he looked up at his parents. For the first time, he felt that he could look at them and acknowledge who they really were, and what they meant. At the sight of his smiling parents, Naruto's old self returned. "So…what are we going to do today?"
Their smiles grew even wider. "First," began his father, "we have to make sure your head is okay."
Kushina, however, knew better. "Love, trust me. If he's lucid and not covered in blood, he's fine. He just needs to wash up."
Suddenly remembering that he had hit his head, Naruto looked down at his hands, with the dried blood still covering them. "Oh…yeah, I should go wash my hands…"
As he did that, Kushina brought up a topic she and her husband had been talking about all night. "Naruto, I'm sorry for leaving you last night. I wish there was enough room for me to stay in here, but there isn't, which is why I think we should consider moving into a house together." While the Uzumaki family once did own a house, it had been sold after their deaths, with no apparent heir to the property. Since the Hokage Manor was occupied by Hiruzen (who currently owned it by law), the family had to look into other options.
Naruto's brows furrowed in concentration. A house? Living with his parents…it was a weird thought for someone who never really lived in any way but alone. No longer being alone, even when he came home…the very thought brought a smile to his face. Still, his apartment was something he was familiar with; it was his shelter and a big part of his sense of identity. Leaving it behind would be difficult. Finished washing his hands, Naruto's gaze fell back onto the assuring faces of his parents. The answer became obvious in seconds. They were his sense of self. They were his shelter, his home. "Yeah…I'd like that."
Deciding to go look for a suitable house later, Naruto requested that he introduce his parents to his team, which they were all too eager to comply with. Hiruzen had given Minato free reign to take as much time as he needed with his family, only calling him for emergencies. To Minato's relief, the Third had also given a vague explanation to many of his subordinates about how the Uzumaki's were alive once again, purposefully leaving out the specifics. After all, he didn't want anyone to get any ideas of resurrection by human sacrifice. He already had enough emotional baggage from his awry student.
00.000.00
Naruto's absence, Kakashi noticed, was actually having a profound effect on Team 7. Sasuke was more confused than ever without a competitive, brotherly figure bothering him every step of the way, and Sakura felt out of place without the noisy blond providing a humorous spin on every situation.
Without him, Kakashi thought it best to avoid anything but D-rank missions, and since they had done at least a dozen of those in the past two days, they were currently focused on training.
As he soon found out, his team really needed some work in this area. Sasuke was strong, he didn't doubt that, but Sakura was severely lacking in terms of combat ability. She was a natural illusionist, but knew no illusion techniques at all. Since Sasuke was accustomed to training alone, he had no complaints about spending most of his time training Sakura.
When his sensei and student came walking onto his team's training grounds, Kakashi couldn't be happier. He called Sasuke and Sakura over for a break as they all met near the wooden stumps. "Sensei, Naruto, Kushina…it's great to see you."
"Likewise, Kakashi," said Minato. "Naruto begged us to let him introduce us to his team."
Amused at the wide-eyes of his teammates, Naruto jumped straight into the introductions. "Mom, Dad, this is Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme!"
"Watch your language, Naruto!" yelled Kushina. "Besides, I don't know why you're so rude to Sasuke; he seems to be a fine young man." The Uchiha in question hid his slight blush at the compliment as Kushina continued. "And it's very nice to meet you Sakura-san."
Minato just shook his head, smiling at his wife's outburst. "Is your team training right now, Kakashi?"
"Yup. Though unfortunately, I can't focus on both Sakura and Sasuke at once."
The Fourth saw through his student's comment immediately. Would you mind training Sasuke for me?
"I'm not too worried, though," continued Kakashi, "because Sasuke is one of Konoha's top genin right now. It's a shame the Chunin Exams were interrupted, he stood a good chance of passing."
Sasuke's expression immediately softened at the praise as he looked up to his sensei in surprise. Normally, Kakashi commented on his progress with a simple "good" and left it at that. To have his progress, which he had been brooding over ever since his defeat at the hands of Gaara and Naruto's subsequent victory, acknowledged in such a way was relieving to the boy.
"Once the crisis with Suna is resolved, I think we could even be able to resume the final tournament where we left off." Both of the chunin hopefuls looked up in surprise. Another chance at promotion instantly relit their fiery motivation, which Minato noticed with a smirk. Indeed, the diplomatic situation with Suna was proving to be quite hopeful, with Suna actually pledging full support to Konoha as a way to apologize for the attack. "Why don't we join you? I've wanted to train my son for a long time."
Kushina walked up to Sasuke, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I think it's both my responsibility and honor to train you in your mother's place, if you are okay with that."
Sasuke looked up at her smiling face in confused gratitude, the pieces of his puzzle all coming together. Now he understood: she was acting like the family he had lost years ago, trying to give him what they used to—attention, acknowledgement, and true affection. "S-Sure."
A minute later, each pair had gone their separate ways, taking up position several dozen meters away from each other.
"So, what exactly is your fighting style?" Minato asked his son.
Naruto, never having given it any real thought, tried to process each of his fights. "I guess…I outnumber my enemy and attack them with everything at once, and try to trick them when that doesn't work. I dunno, really."
Outnumber them? thought Minato. "Why don't you show me? Let's see what you've got!" he yelled, giddy with anticipation. During the months of Kushina's pregnancy, he had really looked forward to the day when he could train and spar with his son.
"Yosh! Here we go, Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A huge puff of smoke later, and Minato realized that he was completely surrounded by copies of his son.
Shadow clones? There's…dozens of them! Before he could consider all of the possibilities and benefits of such an ability, his son and the copies quickly swarmed him. While he was actually a tad worried at first, he quickly discovered that his son's taijutsu—his martial arts—was awful. Dealing with them, even when outnumbered 50 to one and surrounded, was a rather easy task. I'll need to work on that with him…
Seeing that the current tactic was failing, Naruto decided to mix things up. Forming another hand seal, he created another hundred clones. Instead of simply swarming him again, many of them jumped in groups of three into the air. Two of each group grabbed the third and launched him down towards Minato, who looked upon the tactic in shock. He's using the shadow clones as human projectiles! he thought in amused horror. With his legendary reflexes and speed, dodging them wasn't a problem, but what came next was.
Using his surprise and distraction, Naruto had the remaining 50 clones hurl several shuriken each at their target, who managed to dodge with a skilled replacement technique. Damn, he can make a LOT of clones! Minato mused. I wonder what else he can do with them. Singling out the original, Minato flickered behind his son from seemingly out of nowhere and delivered a soft kick to his side. To his surprise, his 'son' turned into a puff of smoke. Not a replacement; I would have detected that. He…He had one of the clones create the next batch of clones!
Once again, he was attacked from all sides by shuriken. Using another replacement, Minato flanked a group of clones and began whittling down their number one by one with taijutsu.
Frustrated that he couldn't land a hit on his father, Naruto desperately tried to think of a new tactic to do so. He was, however, on cloud nine despite his lack of success; he was sparring with the Fourth Hokage, who was also his father! 'Happy' was too mundane a word to describe how he felt.
Minato finished off all but the last few of the clones and stood in a defensive stance, waiting to see what his son would do next. He, too, could not wipe the smile off of his face or hide his joy. Naruto created another batch of clones, once again surrounding him. What came next, however, caught him completely off guard. Looking back at that moment, 'off guard' did not even come close to an accurate description.
"HAREM JUTSU!"
Wha— Before he could process that proclamation, he was quickly surrounded by a dozens of nearly naked, blond women. His mind feebly tried to come up with a response to this surreal situation, but it was a wasted effort once they slowly swaggered towards him. While he was not thrown off by their beauty (as far as he was concerned, anything short of Kushina was not really worth paying attention to), he couldn't quite bring himself to fight against such…opponents.
Big mistake, he soon realized. They tackled him to the ground, transforming back into their original form, and started delivering light punches all over his body. He curled up into a defensive position, laughing as he yelled, "Mercy! I give up! I give up!" The clones dispersed, revealing a hysterical Naruto holding onto his legs. Minato quickly joined in the laughter. While the technique was nothing short of terrifying from a parental perspective, he couldn't deny that it was effective; after all, it had worked against him.
Recalling that Jiraiya had allowed Naruto to sign the toad contract, he surmised that his sensei had been training Naruto. Of course. He was going to have a serious talk with the man when he got the chance. For now, though…he was more than content with sharing a good laugh with his son.
00.000.00
"I may not have the Sharingan, but I can teach you some of the fire techniques I know," stated Kushina.
Sasuke nodded, but his mind barely processed her words. Instead, a different thought surfaced in his mind. "How…how exactly did you know my mother?"
Softening at the question and memories of Mikoto, she gazed absently into the distance. "Your mother and I were sent on a lot of missions together, and eventually we became close. Especially during our pregnancies; having already been through one herself, she helped me out a lot during those months." After closing her eyes for a few moments in reminiscence, she lowered her warm smile to Sasuke. "You know, you're always welcome to come to me if you need anything. Whether you need someone to train you, or spar with you, or even just to talk…my door is always open. You're at the very least a family friend, Sasuke, though I think of you as more than that."
Having no one to talk to or anyone who truly cared about you as an individual was one of the first bitter realities that Sasuke had to cope with in the days following the massacre. Even though he had found a teacher in Kakashi, he never found another person he could talk to openly. Though he didn't consciously realize it at the time, Sasuke was quickly opening up to her by the minute. "What…what do you think of me as, then?"
Her smile grew as she answered. "It's not really my right to do so, but I'm not sure your mother ever got the chance, so I guess I view you as my godson, 'ttebane." While her connection with Sasuke wasn't particularly strong in the general sense, she greatly sympathized with both him and Mikoto. As the mother of a child whom she never got to see grow up, she felt more than inclined to do as much as she could for a child who had suffered a similar fate.
Sasuke didn't even notice that his mouth was wide open. This woman was the first person he ever talked to about his family since the massacre, which was indicative of a strong relationship, at least as far as Sasuke went. She had a significant connection with his mother…and thought of him as family. Unable to think of what to say or do, he simply continued to stare at her.
"Why don't we get started?" she asked, breaking the silence. A hesitant nod later, and she took a stance a short distance away. "This one is called the Dragon Napalm technique. Watch closely, and make sure to activate your Sharingan!"
00.000.00
"You've almost got it. Again." Sakura weaved the series of hand seals as instructed, casting an illusion on the silver haired jonin. From his perspective, he was suddenly held taught by chains that had erupted from underneath his feet. A quick examination told Kakashi that the technique was successful; he could not move enough through the chains to break free. Obviously, a ninja decently versed in illusions could dispel it without much of a problem, but it was a good start. When used in a team setting, the few moments her opponent took to dispel the illusion would be all her team needed to finish off the target.
Of course, he wasn't about to stop there. The past couple days had been something of a wakeup call to him in many ways. He had been neglecting his duty to his team, especially in the month before the Chunin Exam finals. He'd left Sakura with no one to train her when she could have used that month to grow stronger. For too long he'd been negligent of her apathy when it came to training. Now, he was going to work her to the bone, if that was what it took.
With Kushina and Minato around, he mused, he could afford to give more attention to her individual training—one of the many tremendous advantages to having his favorite family around again.
00.000.00
A couple minutes of laughter later, Minato and Naruto sat side by side against a tree, resting in the shade. "I'm very impressed with you, Naruto." He couldn't help but feel pride and elation at his son's smile. "You definitely seem to fight and think in ways that are so unique that even I get surprised. How many shadow clones can you make, anyway?"
Naruto answered after only a moment of thought. "About a thousand, I think."
A…a THOUSAND? Holy sh… "Wow…you must have insane amounts of chakra…I guess the seal really did work out as intended, then. Before I go teaching you the big stuff, though, you do need a lot of work on the basics."
"Huh? The basics?"
"Yeah, starting with your taijutsu. Your fighting style is pretty reliant on it, so if you improve that, then your ability as a whole will be much greater." Minato could not stop smiling at his son; on top of loving him more than anything (well, on equal ground with Kushina, he mentally clarified), he was finally getting to spend time with this son. He had not had even a moment with Naruto before his life was destroyed by that man twelve years ago. "Come on, show me your preferred stance and we'll work from there."
00.000.00
Constant wind blew across the dry plains of sand, creating a haze of yellowish-brown as far as the eye could see. He'd seen this sight many, many times before.
But he'd never seen this sight with someone else. Gaara had truly taken Naruto's words to heart; if friends could acknowledge his existence, then he would seek them out relentlessly. He had taken care not to do or say anything to his siblings that had bothered them before, and they had responded to that. While he could not recall how to act nicely to people, he at least knew how to act neutrally towards them. When Temari or Kankuro had brought him a meal, he accepted it with a blank expression and a nod. After a few days of behavior like this, they no longer felt threatened to merely be around him. Earlier today, they had asked if he wanted to train with them, and he had accepted. The session had gone well, and he had realized that was a major step. If they were comfortable being around him when he used his sand in combat, then there was little they were truly threatened by in regards to him.
He tried to observe how others interacted with each other positively. One phrase which he continually picked up was 'thank you'. He'd heard it many times before, but paid such interaction no mind, accepting it as something he could never experience.
Now, however, he was willing to try anything. The looks on his siblings' faces when he thanked them for buying him a meal was heartening. At first, they were shocked, but the shock was quickly replaced by smiles. "You're welcome," they said.
It was the first time someone had smiled at him since Yashamaru had tried to kill him. Gaara instantly knew that Naruto was right; he had felt acknowledged, and all he did was say two simple words.
00.000.00
After the training, the Uzumaki family treated the whole team to lunch at a BBQ restaurant downtown. Figuring that the Chunin Exams were the best place to start the conversation, Minato didn't realize just how wild a tale it was. Almost immediately, he had to politely advise Naruto to speak slower for the benefit of everyone else. Since the boy looked up to his father almost reverently, he obeyed startlingly well.
"Well, the first part of the Exam was this stupid written test where the questions were so hard! It was crazy! I don't know how we were supposed to know that stuff!"
"You mean you didn't get the point of the test?" asked a stunned Sasuke.
"Point?"
Sasuke facepalmed. "You were supposed to cheat to get the answers, idiot. The catch is that you weren't supposed to get caught doing it."
Wide eyes confirmed that the blond had no idea that was the case. "Oooooh. So that's how you were supposed to do it…"
"Wait a second," interjected Sakura, "if you didn't figure out the answers and you didn't cheat to get them, how did you do it?"
"Eh? I just left them blank."
"WHAT?" yelled a startled Sasuke. "You left them BLANK? And yet you decided to take the tenth question anyway?"
"Well yeah! Cuz if I got the tenth question right, then we wouldn't have failed!"
Kakashi chuckled at the situation. Of course, Naruto would think like that. Any logical ninja wouldn't have risked remaining a genin forever when they hadn't been able to answer a single question beforehand. Only Naruto's bass ackwards thought process would have someone who was hopeless in the first exam actually pass it.
"The tenth question," Kakashi clarified for the sake of his sensei and Kushina, "was a psychological gambit. Ibiki said that if they chose not to take it, they all failed, but if they chose to take it and got it wrong, they would remain genin forever."
Minato smiled at his son. "So you chose to take the question?"
"Oh, he more than chose to take it," commented Sasuke. "He slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and yelled that he would become Hokage even if he was stuck as a genin forever."
Naruto's parents beamed at their son in pride. It was such a Kushina thing to do; they could not help but feel joy at their son's actions.
Kakashi had another laughing fit. "Ah…and I wished so much at the time that you and Kushina could see how similar you two are." Seeing mother and son share another moment brought happiness to his injured heart. "Well, what happened for the second part of the Exam?" He explained the rules of that test to Naruto's parents before allowing the genin to continue.
"Well," said Sakura, "we got a Heaven scroll, and headed into the forest. After a while, Sasuke-kun set up a long password so that we could identify each other. And at one point, Naruto went off to go…erm, pee, and when he came back, Sasuke demanded that he say the password, and he got it right, so Sasuke-kun attacked him."
"Wait, what?" asked Minato. "If he got it right then why…?"
Sasuke smirked. "Because I knew that there was no way he'd remember it, so it must have been an imposter." Naruto pouted in response, much to the amusement of his parents. "We fought off the imposter, but…things went downhill from there, fast. Naruto was nowhere to be found—"
"Hey! It's not my fault I was eaten by a giant snake from out of nowhere!"
Everyone at the table looked at Naruto in shock. "Eaten by a giant snake?" asked an incredulous Minato.
"Well yeah! It was disgusting! I had to make a ton of shadow clones to make it explode from the inside to escape!"
It took several seconds for everyone to imagine that.
"Anyway," continued Sasuke, "we were attacked by this freakish woman. She delivered such strong killing intent that we saw ourselves being killed…I could barely move. I managed to stab myself to erase the fear with pain, and retreated with Sakura. But that woman kept attacking us; she was freakishly strong. Then Naruto showed up…he told me not to give up our scroll. Now that I look back on it, I really have to thank you, Naruto…if I had surrendered the scroll, I think he might have killed me instead…"
"Wait, he?" asked Kushina.
Sasuke looked her dead in the eye. "We learned a little bit later that 'she' was actually Orochimaru of the Sannin."
Minato and Kushina gasped, thinking back to the day of their resurrection. Their son had faced him? It was a shuddering thought.
"He continued to fight us. At one point, he summoned this giant snake to attack us. Naruto…he managed to stop it dead in its tracks though…his...his eyes were red though. Wait, how were your eyes red? You can't possibly have the Sharingan!" Sasuke looked at his teammate, now very curious and confused.
Naruto immediately stiffened at the mention of his 'red' eyes, right along with all of the adults present. Minato and Kushina knew exactly what their son was talking about; Kushina had been in that same state many times before. Minato wracked his mind for a way out of the situation, but Sasuke was clearly observant and intelligent. However…now that Minato was present and had claimed Naruto as his son, Kushina mused, surely his teammates wouldn't take it poorly?
"Naruto," Kushina said softly, "are you comfortable with telling them right now?" Her son glanced nervously between his teammates and his parents, but gave a shaky nod. Since his parents already knew, and they still loved him, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad…. "I could tell the story if you don't want to…"
"No," Naruto interrupted. "I should be the one to tell them." Sakura and Sasuke looked at their teammate, now intensely interested. "Erm…when my dad fought the Nine-Tailed Fox twelve years ago, he didn't kill it…he sealed it away…into…me…."
Two gasps and wide eyes resulted. Naruto squirmed at their reactions, worried. Sasuke, however, quickly understood. It explained a lot of things, from how Naruto had so much chakra to the way the villagers looked at him in the past. And if the Fourth himself was comfortable with it, he saw no reason to him to be afraid. "I see. That explains a lot. And…huh. Those whisker marks…is that why?" Naruto nodded, his eyes still on the table in front of him.
Sakura was unsure at first, but never really held any true fear. After all, no one else at the table—from the Fourth to Kakashi-sensei—seemed to make a big deal out of it. Since Sasuke seemed nonchalant about it, her worry faded away. "That's…really interesting, Naruto. How does it work, exactly?"
The blond boy looked up at his teammates, surprised that they didn't seem to be afraid of him or anything of the kind.
Seeing that Naruto himself likely didn't understand, Minato stepped in. "The seal keep the Nine-Tails contained, but it is designed to allow Naruto limited use of its chakra. It…also has a failsafe designed into it, which reminds me…"
Kakashi looked at his sensei with a raised eyebrow. "Reminds you of what, sensei?"
"Well, Kushina and I placed the last of our chakra into the seal so that we could meet you, one day, Naruto…" The bitter pain associated with that memory surfaced, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as before; he was having too many good experiences with his son to feel saddened by that. "…and, well, since we're alive, we can strengthen those failsafes. And place a Hiraishin seal into it."
Naruto smiled at the news. Though he was beyond glad that the seal's maker could improve on the seal which his life depended on, he was both extremely relieved and happy that his parents had somehow designed the seal so that he would one day meet them. The thought that he could have met them even if they weren't revived was comforting.
"Why don't you continue with the story, Sasuke?" asked the Fourth.
"Right…well, Naruto stopped the snake, but Orochimaru hit him with something that knocked him out for the rest of the fight. I then fought Orochimaru with everything I had, and thought I had actually won a couple times…but that man was just…impossible to beat. He told me his name, and then bit me, placing some sort of seal onto me…"
"It was Orochimaru's cursed seal," Kakashi explained to the confused parents. "It can grant the user power, but it comes at a great risk; the process of adapting to the seal after it is first placed only has a one in ten survival rate. I've placed a containment seal around it, but removing it is beyond anyone's expertise…except perhaps you and Jiraiya-sama."
"I'll have to look into it," replied Minato. "Orochimaru is now dead, so the seal may be easier to remove now."
The food arrived a few moments later, causing a break in the story. Kushina was quick to correct Naruto's many bad eating habits, and to her pleasure, he was at an acceptable level of manners towards the end of the meal. Once Sakura had finished, she continued the story.
"After Orochimaru bit Sasuke-kun, he fell unconscious and that man fled. I collected them and tried to hide them until they woke up. I set traps around the place, but a team from Oto came to attack us. They said they were ordered to kill Sasuke-kun, and I tried to fight them off…but I didn't stand a chance. And then Lee-san showed up and saved us. He was strong…but that Oto guy had strange powers and defeated him. And then Ino's team showed up and helped us out, but things still weren't going well. But that all changed when Sasuke-kun woke up. He was really powerful, and he easily beat the Oto team…but he was really scary, too. He had these weird markings all over his body at the time."
Sasuke hid his face at the memory. While the cursed seal had indeed made him feel very powerful, it was a huge hindrance later on. Even if it helped him a little in his fight against Gaara, it was embarrassing to hear about it being discussed in front of so many people. It made the seal seem…like something to be ashamed of.
"I calmed Sasuke-kun down, and he went back to normal…and we got a scroll from the Oto team before they retreated. From there, we spend some time recuperating until we met up with Kabuto…"
Kakashi's head jerked towards his student. "Kabuto? Didn't he attack you? He was an Oto spy!"
"No," said Sakura, "he actually helped us out. Actually, if he hadn't shown up when he did, we would have failed the test. He helped us fight off another team and get their scroll. That's how we passed that test, though by the end of it we were totally exhausted."
"Strange…." remarked Kakashi. "Well, I can take it from here, I guess. Because so many of the applicants made it, there was a preliminary round, which was a series of one on one fights, with the winner advancing to the finals. Sasuke had trouble because of his cursed seal, but managed to use Lee's taijutsu style to win. Sakura fought Ino blow for blow, ending in a double elimination tie, so neither advanced. Naruto faced Kiba, an Inuzuka. It was actually rather interesting; he surprised us all there."
"How?" asked an eager Minato. Even Sasuke was very interested; he'd missed both of his teammate's fights.
"Well, he took a big hit right from the start, and everyone thought he was finished right then and there…but he got right back up, of course. He managed to trick Kiba at one point. Kiba had used a beast transformation with his hound, thus making them both look identical. Since Kiba used a smokescreen to make the most out of his sensory advantage, Naruto transformed into a copy of Kiba when the smoke cleared. They all looked identical, so Kiba couldn't tell who was who at first, but his smell told him the answer, and Kiba hit Naruto right in the face. However, Naruto transformed right into Kiba's hound, tricking Kiba into thinking he had actually hit his companion, and turned around and slugged the other Kiba clone. Naturally, this took Kiba's hound out of the fight, while Naruto got back onto his feet.
"Then…well, things got rather…interesting. Kiba still held the advantage in speed and taijutsu, since Naruto was too chakra exhausted to use clones en masse like usual, and he didn't seem to stand a chance…until Naruto farted at point blank range, right into Kiba's nose."
Kushina broke into hysterical laughter while Minato just gaped at his son. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow at his teammate.
"That gave Naruto the opening he needed, and he made four shadow clones, and hit Kiba with an impromptu taijutsu combo, winning the match."
Minato smiled at his son, growing familiar with his son's tactics quite fast. "Wow…nice job, Naruto!"
The blond shied under the praise, but smiled. Sasuke felt a little sour by the exchange, recalling the total lack of praise and acknowledgement from the people he cared about the most. Sensing this, Kushina tried to alleviate his bitter thoughts. "You copied Lee-san's taijutsu, didn't you, Sasuke?"
A small nod was all she got for a response. "The fact that you managed to win despite exhausted and hampered by Orochimaru's cursed seal is a feat in and of itself. It seems that the will to never give up is something you and Naruto share, Sasuke."
He finally met her eyes, his expression noticeably softer. Kushina mentally sighed in relief, happy that she was able to cheer him up.
"Indeed," added Kakashi. "These two have a knack for not stopping until their body gives out on them first. Though I must give credit to Sakura, as well; she really gave it her all in her match with Ino."
Sakura blushed, happy to have a little acknowledgement for her efforts. She was no fool, though, and knew that she was nowhere near the level her teammates were on.
"After that, Lee-san fought against Gaara, the One-Tails jinchuuriki."
"Jinchuuriki?" asked Sakura.
"A host of a tailed beast. There are nine tailed beasts; the more tails, the more powerful it is. Gaara's tailed beast was the One-Tailed Shukaku, while Naruto holds the most powerful one of them all, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Of course, we didn't know that Gaara was a jinchuuriki at the time. Gaara controls sand that he keeps in a gourd. It's able to form a strong, omnidirectional defense. Lee, who is only able to use taijutsu due to a defect in his chakra coils, lacked the tools to win. That said, he fought on an incredible level, using nothing but taijutsu to push Gaara around and wound him. He even used up to five of the celestial gates, and almost defeated Gaara, but the damage done to his own body was too great. Gaara crushed his leg and arm…and Lee-san won't be able to recover enough from his injuries to resume his ninja career."
Minato and Kushina frowned at the news. "Is there any way to heal his injuries?" he asked.
Kakashi sighed. "No one in Konoha has the ability to heal something like that…he'd need the best there is to even have a chance. And Tsunade-sama left the village a long time ago."
Minato made a mental note to consider the possibility later before asking his student to continue.
"Well, everyone was given a month after that to prepare for the final matches. I assigned Ebisu-san, a special jonin instructor, to teach Naruto while I taught Sasuke, who shares a similar fighting style to me. Though how you managed to get Jiraiya-sama to help you, I have no idea."
"Jiraiya-sensei is his godfather," answered Minato.
"Really?" Naruto asked. "Wow…he's a weird guy. On my first day with Ebisu, we were training at the hot springs. He was teaching me how to walk on water, which was really hard. Then he sees this guy peeping through the fence, and goes over to yell at him, but Pervy-sage knocks him out without even trying!"
"Pervy-sage?" Minato repeated incredulously. A moment later, he burst into laughter. "That fits him, all right. I'm gonna have to remember that one."
"Anyway, I told him that since he knocked out my teacher, he'd have to teach me. And I followed him around, begging him, until he finally said he would. I got the water walking right on the first day, and he had me sign the toad contract after that. That's what I worked on for most of the month, and he tried to get me to use…the Nine-Tails' chakra."
"And that's how you summoned Gamabunta?" asked Minato.
He nodded. "Well, kinda. I wasn't getting it right at all, until only a couple days were left. It wasn't until he pushed me off a cliff that I—"
"HE WHAT?" yelled everyone at the table, some louder than others. Minato scowled. He was going to have a serious talk with his sensei the next time he saw him.
"He pushed me off a cliff into a ravine, and I entered…this weird place. It was dark and creepy…it was like a leaky sewer or something. And then I walked into a room, and there was this huge cage with a seal on it…" Kushina realized what her son was talking about; the giant cage was where the Nine-Tails was jailed, but the sewer…her thoughts took a depressing turn. That was his mindscape, she realized. It was a damn sewer…she could hardly imagine what could have caused that. "…and then the Fox appeared. And I said that if it was staying in my body, it had to give me some chakra as rent, and—"
"You what?" asked Minato. Kushina, however, understood better than anyone. While she had been rather disrespectful towards the Fox herself, that was after she was able to chain it down with her chakra. She was growing more impressed by her son's antics by the minute.
"And it gave me some chakra, and I used that to summon Gamabunta in the ravine, and it stopped my fall. And then we climbed out."
Understanding flooded Minato and Kushina's minds. So he was trying to force him to use the Fox's chakra? Still, that was beyond reckless, he could have died. "Has he done anything like that before?" asked Minato.
"Huh? No. I never met him before he started training me."
Minato discretely tightened his fists until they turned white. He's got a LOT of explaining to do… Kushina didn't even bother to hide the bulging vein in her forehead or frown on her face.
Confused by his parent's actions, Naruto decided to continue. "Anyway, the day of the finals came, and I had the first match against Neji Hyuga." Naruto then went on to describe his fight, including Neji's 'destiny' mentality. When Naruto described Neji's anguish over his caged bird seal and his father's death, Minato cringed. The Hyuga matter was something he always hated, and planned to eventually change as Hokage.
He was especially impressed at his son's tenacity, who kept on fighting despite having his chakra completely sealed off. He drew on the Nine-Tails chakra without transforming, earning praise from Kushina, who didn't manage such a feat until she was 16. Kushina wanted to cheer when he told how he slugged Neji from underground, winning the match. "He said that he should have expected me to use another shadow clone, because it was my best technique. I told him that I failed the Academy Graduation Exam three times, and my worst technique was the clone technique…which I still can't do."
Slightly put off at the remark that his son had failed the graduation exam three times, his mind switched to a more confusing matter. "You can't do the clone technique?"
"No, it would always turn out funny. Dunno why."
Filing that information for later, Minato motioned for Naruto to continue.
"After that, there was a match between Shikamaru and some crazy lady with a huge fan. Shikamaru did some cool thing with his shadow and looked like he won, but at the end he just gave up 'cuz he was too lazy."
"And then we showed up," said Kakashi. "For Sasuke's match against Gaara."
Kushina turned to look at the Uchiha with wide eyes. "You had to fight a jinchuuriki?"
"Yeah," replied the copy ninja. "And Gaara…well, he was insane, there's no other way to put it. He had a fascination with killing people, and seems to be bipolar, likely due to his tailed beast's influence."
Hearing about the awful treatment of her kind, Kushina cringed. Her husband noticed this, and put and arm around her for comfort.
"Sasuke fought well. He used Lee's copied taijutsu and his improved speed to slip past Gaara's automatic defenses, and Gaara formed his and into a solid sphere to protect himself. Sasuke then used the technique I had focused the month on training him: the Chidori."
Minato raised an eyebrow at that. "You taught him your signature, original technique?"
Kakashi nodded. "He has the Sharingan and a lightning affinity, so it makes perfect sense. He is my student, after all. Anyway, Sasuke used the technique successfully, injuring Gaara. After that, though, all hell broke loose as the invasion began. From there…well, I guess you know the rest."
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.
Uncertain, Kakashi glanced between his student and his sensei. "I'll tell them," said Minato. "During the invasion, Orochimaru attacked the Third. During the fight, he used a forbidden, dark technique to summon the dead to fight; that's how your mother and I are alive now. However, the technique has several problems, which is why it is forbidden. First, it requires a second technique to actually restore the original form of those summoned. Second, the technique itself requires a human sacrifice—a life for a life—and third, the one sacrificed has to willingly go along with it for it to work. And it can't work if the sacrifice is mortally wounded; there has to be equivalent life energy. Orochimaru implanted seals into two of his summons to turn them into mindless killing machines. He nearly succeeded in doing the same with me and your mother…"
Naruto gaped at his parents, fearfully. Kushina noticed that he was not the only one; Kakashi and his team joined in.
Sighing, the Fourth continued. "But we managed to resist, and since we were returned to our original forms…well, we were alive at that point. And we killed Orochimaru." An idea suddenly sparked into Minato's head, though he felt that it was neither the time nor place to voice it. "Though there is something I don't know. How exactly did you manage to defeat Gaara, Naruto?"
The fight, as they found out through Naruto's storytelling, was incredible, especially for genin. But when he talked about Naruto and Gaara's shared experience of total loneliness, Minato and Kushina could not keep their eyes and lips from drooping in depression and guilt. The shimmer of hope came, however, when Gaara seemed to respond to Naruto's advice. The parents could take consolation in the fact that they were finally reunited with their son that day.
00.000.00
"What do you think, Kushina?"
The redhead looked around the living room once more. "I love it! How about you, Naruto? What do you think?"
Naruto didn't really understand how anyone could be so picky. These homes were huge! Just the living room of each one, which was a type of room he never even had at all, was bigger than his whole apartment! "It's awesome!"
"Then I think we have a winner," said Minato. The house was the third one they had looked at, and this one was closest to the Hokage Tower of the three. While the Hokage Manor was strategically placed near the Tower, such proximity was pointless for the Yellow Flash. He also wanted a more homely environment instead of the huge excess of space of the Manor. Though they could afford the house easily through the money they had saved up over the years, Hiruzen stated that any house they chose would be free since their old home had been sold off; regardless, he said, they could have had the Hokage Manor if they chose, so it was only fair. "Well then, Kushina, Naruto," Minato said as he pulled them into an embrace. "This will be our new home."
Naruto smiled at the thought. "Home…"
A/N: Thoughts?
Questions for you guys:
1) Did you notice any improvement in this chapter from the last few ones? If so, what? (Be specific, please)
2) How realistic are the interactions between Naruto, his parents, and Team 7? How good are they?
3) What were your favorite parts about the chapter?
4) What were your least favorite parts about the chapter?
5) Any advice, criticism, ideas?
6) This one is just for fun. Try and predict what will happen next. I may tell you if you're right!
Seriously, PLEASE review. I spend hours writing these chapters, I'd appreciate it if you guys took the time to at least give one sentence answers to these 5 questions. Though really, I'm trying to improve constantly. Just saying "it's good" or "I liked it" is nice to hear, but it doesn't help me and isn't the best motivation.
Until next time!
