A/N: Thank you everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story. I find it extremely humbling when I read that many of you find this story emotionally pulling. It's a great self achievement to hear that you, the readers, choke on the words. Truly, thank you all for your encouraging words and I hope not to disappoint you as this story progresses!

Key:

"Speech"
'
Thoughts'
Demon/Deity
Demon/Deity thoughts
"Sign Language/ANBU coded signing"


Chapter 4: To Say Hello Again

Like the day before, Minato woke bright and early at 5a.m. It was the perfect time to wake up as his first day of training with Gai was in an hour at Training Ground 14. Not wanting to waste any time, he scrambled out of his futon, leaving a mess of blankets strewn over it before heading to his dresser and changing into proper training clothes.

He donned simple black pants that had a number of pockets that could be used to store both shuriken and kunai, a form fitting dark blue shirt that stretched well with his movements and comfortable shoes that were fit for running and anything else the Taijutsu specialist would demand of him. After wards, he didn't bother brushing his hair, he was going to work out, not go on a date or some important meeting. He did, however, brush his teeth and put on a heavy amount of deodorant. He most certainly did not want to smell! That was simply one of the many things Minato would always value; self hygiene. Which was probably why he had such trouble talking and being close to the Inuzuka's as they always had a small lingering smell of wet dog.

Once done with that, he went and made himself a simple small breakfast, not wanting to eat too much and cause him to hurl later on during the training. A simple plate of scrambled eggs, toast, and a healthy cup of milk later, Minato was more than prepared for anything Gai had in store for him. Looking at the clock hung on the far wall of his living room area, he noticed he had fifteen minutes before 6. With a small stretch of his arms, Minato exited his apartment, locking the doors many locks, and headed out with himself, and a small bag filled with a bottle of water, bandages (just in case) and his house keys. At his top speed, he would make it to the training ground with more than enough time to spare, so he decided to take his time and let the food settle more in his stomach, leaving him to arrive just on time.

As he entered the heart of Training Ground 14, Minato saw that Lee was already waiting and doing the basic Academy stretches in preparation.

"Ah, Naruto! So you have arrived!" Lee exclaimed, stopping his stretching and walked over to his new friend. Minato greeted him with a wide grin, his hands resting at the back of his head.

"Hey, Lee! See you're here early!"

"Yes! I simply could not wait to begin our training!" the boy said with vigor. Shaking his head amused, Minato said,

"You know, as a shinobi, we should always strive to be on time." Once he knew that Lee's focus was solely on what he was saying, he continued, "If we're early, then we could be caught in an ambush. If we're late, we could be too late to do anything to help."

His after thoughts lingered on the small Uchiha boy that he had taught once upon a time. Obito Uchiha was by far the most un-Uchiha he had ever met. Rather than his face being in a permanent superior expression, the boy wore his emotions clearly on his face, and was never one to shy away from crying in public. The boy who was always late to their training sessions with the most outrageous excuses, Minato couldn't help but laugh as they got more and more ridiculous. Honestly, who would believe, 'A black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around and then I got lost on the road of life'? The memory of his past student brought a small frown to his face, before he wiped it clean off when he realized he didn't have the time to be thinking about his past, and turned his entire focus back to reality with one small promise to visit the Memorial Stone.

Before Lee could comment on that, Maito Gai made his, "Dramatic Entrance!" with a swirl of smoke and leaves leaving Lee practically star-struck at the sight. Standing in what he deemed his, "Good Guy Pose," Gai looked at his youngest new student with a slightly calculating gleam in his eyes before exclaiming in a much too loud voice for the morning,

"Young Naruto is correct! We must always be prepared for anything! Being too early or too late could be detrimental to any mission!" While the calculating look was masked in his eyes now, Minato mentally groaned. He really needed to be more careful from now on.

"HAI Gai-sensei!" Lee exclaimed with a small salute, "I shall always be on time from now on!"

"That is good my most youthful students!" Gai more than happily exclaimed. "Now, onto the training! First, we stretch!"

"HAI!" Both the boys exclaimed. They spent a fair amount of time stretching their muscles in preparation for what was to come. While he wasn't expecting it to be scarcely close to how harshly he trained during his prime, but with Gai (even with the the Hokage's order) would be very strenuous on his small seven year old body.

Boy was he horribly, horribly right.

The moment they were done, Gai handed them their very own training weights. Four each, two each arm, and the other two for each leg. While each weight held a mere two pounds, the extra eight pounds actually made a difference. At first it felt like nothing, but as Gai made them continue to run around the training ground, Minato and Lee found it harder and harder to maintain the same pace they began, and started to slow down. It was the moment they felt as though their legs were going to turn to putty, that Gai had them stop. Of course that was after twenty-some laps. Without waiting much time for them to rest their small bodies, as Gai believed they lost momentum that way, he had them do three sets of pushups, situps, and squats that had his body absolutely burning.

He honestly couldn't remember the last time he had sweat so much, or felt so much pain rippling through his muscles.

Looking to Lee, it was obvious he felt the same way. Regardless, both boys never uttered a word of complaint. He knew that he couldn't do any actual techniques until he built up his body strength and agility. At least out in the open; however desperately he wanted to show off and be deemed a prodigy. He still could be deemed a prodigy of course, and the Hokage would accept it without much doubt. During his life, he was Rookie of the Year, and surpassed the older, and his own generation in strength, intelligence, and skill. He was deemed a prodigy because of his near photographic memory and his ability at absorbing information and techniques like a dry sponge. If not from him, then from Kushina. She was one of the best, if not the best Kunoichi in the Leaf during their life.

But, that would have to wait a bit longer. At least he could show his potential in this training and then much more during the Academy. He would do everything possible to skip at least a single grade. The first few years of the Academy were torture the first time. He did not need to relearn basic reading, writing, and history from the school all over again, or in this case, "the first time." He most certainly wouldn't mind the possibility of being put on Lee's Genin team. By the time they should be graduating, the two would have unmatchable teamwork because of their training and friendship.

It was at the near end of their training session with Gai that Minato saw the heartwarming familiar face of his past masked student. 'Kakashi.' he thought as he looked at the older version of his student he left behind seven years ago. He was twenty-one now, if his math was correct. He had missed out on his twenty-first birthday... he had missed his first legal drink. By the gods, he had missed so much.

Doing everything to keep his face as passive as he could, Minato stared with sweat dripping from his face freely as Gai greeted him.

"AH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" he screamed, pointing a finger dramatically at Kakashi, "You have finally chosen to make an appearance!"

Kakashi on the other hand, had his face nose deep in an oh so familiar orange book.

'Damnit!' he mentally cursed, 'When did Jiraiya corrupt my student!? I'll strangle that man!' Minato thought furiously frustrated at the man while keeping a natural looking confused expression on his face. He couldn't have an ounce of recognition in his face, it wasn't as if Kakashi had ever introduced himself as the Inu ANBU before, or any time before.

"Hmm?" Kakashi said with a bored expression in his visible eye, "You say something?"

Gai, on the other hand, simple shook his head before exclaiming, "Ah, Kakashi! You and your hip attitude! Enough of that, you are very late!"

"A shinobi should always be on time!" Lee proclaimed with a raised fist. It was obvious he had taken what both Gai and he had said to heart.

"Sorry, there was an old lady who dropped her groceries, so I had to help. Then she kept me for tea and I couldn't just say no." he said in a deadpanned voice while his eye crinkled into a familiar eye-smile. While both Gai and Lee looked at him with mirrored disbelieving expressions, Minato could scarcely contain the sorrow he felt for his student.

'Is this how you grieve for your friend, Kakashi?' he thought to himself, 'Is this how you remember him?'

One look in Kakashi's slightly narrowed eyes, Minato wiped the look to keep an innocently confused expression.

"Let me introduce you to my most youthful students!" his part-time teacher said to his eternal rival, "This is Rock Lee, and Naruto Uzumaki! Boys, this is Kakashi Hatake! "

"Hello, Kakashi-sensei!" Lee said exclaimed with a small bow.

"Hello Kakasi-senpai." Minato was able to make out without any hesitation. It was way to weird to even consider Kakashi his teacher when it was him who had taught the boy when he was younger. Near the end of his life, he was happy to admit there their relationship was similar to that of an older brother, or another father type figure. He could imagine how badly Minato had hurt him when he willingly left him and the rest of the realm of the living.

"Yo." he replied with a small wave of his hand, his other still grasping the damned orange book.

"I have asked Kakashi here to help oversee your training!" Gai said happily with his bleached smile. Lee looked upon both their teachers with a new fire burning in his eyes, while Minato simply couldn't help the surprised expression fall upon his face.

Oh the irony. His student was going to teach him. Well...at least soon. He doubted Kakashi's role as 'overseer' would last very long with the way Lee and Gai got along so fantastically. It wouldn't be a surprise if Lee became Gai's apprentice, and he would be ecstatic for his friend should that happen.

Even so, it took everything in Minato's power not to fall to the ground and laugh hysterically.

Doing everything in order to keep his voice calm and even, Minato finally said, "Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." 'That's just too weird.' he thought to himself while keeping eye contact with his old student.

"Hai! Thank you very much Kakashi-sensei!" Lee exclaimed in a loud voice.

"Hn, you've done to much to do anything today else. Next time I'll let you know how you're doing." Kakashi said while reading his book, letting out a small perverted giggle escape his lips as he turned the page.

Oh he was definitely going to strangle Jiraiya!

"Yes! You both did wonderfully today! We shall train again like we did this morning in four days! For now, rest, and prepare, for it will only get harder! I also ask that you keep your weights on at all time, it will help you greatly." Gai said to the two.

"Hai!" both Minato and Lee agreed in unison before watching both Kakashi and Gai disappear in a swirl of leaves and smoke.

Wanting to look like the child he was supposed to be, Minato mumbled loudly enough for Lee to hear, "I so have to learn that."

"YOSH! Today was most wonderful! I shall train like today before we train with them again!" Lee proclaimed with visible fires burning in his eyes. 'Weird...' he thought to himself, 'I would say that's a genjutsu...but that's not possible.'

Brushing the thought aside, Minato took a few slightly shaky breaths before turning to his friend, "I'll join you, Lee, but right now I think it'd be best if we both got something to eat."

"You're right, Naruto! We should eat to regain our strength and rest for training tomorrow."

"Yeah, let's go to that BBQ House." Minato sugggested with a smile.

"YOSH! A good idea! Let us go!"


"So what do you think?" Maito Gai asked his long time friend and rival seriously.

Taking an unusual pensive face, Kakashi thought back on the time he watched the two boys, more specifically, Naruto Uzumaki, during their training. Anyone with even the slightest shinobi training would be able to see that Naruto walked with grace only experienced shinobi had. Additionally, the bonde, who was nearly killed a few days prior, had took everything that Gai was telling them with a knowing look in his eyes. As though Gai were only restating something he already had drilled into him. What caught his eye most of all, however, was when he had first shown himself to the boys. In Naruto's sky-blue eyes were an unmistakeable look of deep sorrow directed at him. It didn't make sense for him to have such an expression, especially not one directed at him since he had never openly met the child before this.

Kakashi didn't know exactly what to make of his late Sensei's son. A few days ago, he would have said that the boy was like any other; loud, happy, and full of childish innocence. Now, it was as though he were a completely different person. His eyes practically glowed with experience and... and pain no child should ever know.

He knew that Naruto was never dealt a fair hand at life. From the moment he was born, Naruto was chosen as the villages scapegoat, it's pariah. The boy never knew the love of a parent, nor the comfort and warmth of a home. The orphan boy knew no comforts that of any other children born into the village knew.

As ANBU, Kakashi had seen the worst of it all. He had come across the boy surrounded by shinobi and civilian alike kicking and punching the boy mercilessly. He had seen with his own eyes as the boy stabbed repeatedly and nailed to an alley wall. He had nearly watched a drunken civilian burn Naruto alive. Each time, he was just shy from preventing the attacks from happening. Every time, Kakashi had barely made it in time to save him from death. Each time, Kakashi knew he failed his teacher, and father-figure. It killed him to know that the ANBU Commander was forcing Kakashi to have the later shifts for when he was asked to protect the Yondaime's legacy, making him disregard the fact that he was Captain. He knew that masked bastard enjoyed watching Kakashi struggle harder and harder each time to save Naruto from the attacks. He was getting closer and closer to simply killing the man.

Yet, even so, the small boy, who lived his own personal hell on earth, still continued to smile. The small boy still continued to laugh as though the world could do no wrong. The small boy still continued to dream, and run, and play as though he hadn't been scorned, thrown out of shops, or starved all his life. He was, simply put, an amazing and pure child.

Today had shown that, that child was now gone. He still showed some of the same childish antics, but they seemed more forced than genuine.

Looking to his friend, Kakashi said, "I'm not sure what to think. But something isn't right, he moves as though he's been training for years."

"I thought the same." Gai admitted, "Do you think it has to do with his...tenant?" he asked, not wanting to believe the demon was influencing the boy.

Kakashi had thought it was a possibility as well, but the very thought that the demon took control over Naruto was something he couldn't think about without pain eloping his heart. Even so, he couldn't deny it was plausible. "We cannot know anything know anything for certain, yet." Kakashi said, "But we need to report to the Hokage, and see what he believes is the best course of action."

Nodding seriously, Gai and Kakashi shushin'ed to the Hokage's Office.


After having lunch with Lee, the two went their separate ways. Lee went off to go home to rest before he began training again, while Minato left to walk around the streets of Konoha, knowing full well of the ANBU that was trailing him. Minato thought he might go see if he could catch a glimpse of his old friends. He knew that the only one he had a chance of seeing casually was Inoichi, as he always made it a point to work in his clan shop personally, along with his wife, and if memory serves, his daughter as well.

He remembered when little Ino was born, a few months shy from Naruto's own. She was a perfect mix of both Inoichi and his wife, taking his blonde hair and her mothers eyes. When Inoichi's wife was going into labor, they, meaning Minato, Chouza, Hiashi and Hizashi, were all out drinking, talking about their wives, and simply having a good time. They had been in a drunken stupor when Inoichi's clan member came rushing in, babbling up a storm about his wife being in the hospital. Even though the boy continued to repeat that his wife was in labor, it took over five minutes before he finally got what he was trying to say and rushed to the hospital. The sight of a red faced panicked Inoichi would forever be engraved into his mind; it was simply a priceless moment in his life. That, and the look of sheer and utter love in his friends eyes when he presented his daughter Ino to him.

'I wish I could tell you all I am here...' he thought to himself sadly as he walked toward the Yamanaka's Flower Shop. 'I wish I could tell you all I was sorry. Tell you all I'm sorry for not saying goodbye.'

As soon as he made it to the front of the store, the scent of freshly cut flowers assaulted his senses, leaving him feeling calmer, and serene. Taking in a deep breath, Minato walked into the shop, immediately greeted by none other than Inoichi himself.

"How can I help you today?" he asked in a polite voice. Minato knew that he was one of the few in the village that actually knew Naruto was his son. While he was disappointed none of his friends ever took Naruto in, he knew that they would have fought tooth and nail to adopt the son of their late friend. He was sure, when the Hokage decided he was old enough to know his true lineage, he would discover why they hadn't adopted him, and why they hadn't done much, if anything, to help him throughout his life.

Looking up at his friend shyly, Minato said, "I wanted to get some flowers... for... umm... a memorial."

Inoichi looked at the small boy in front of him and couldn't hide his surprise. For one, he was surprised that his best friends son was in his shop, but shocked that he was asking for flowers specifically for a memorial.

"May I ask why you want flowers for a memorial?" he asked, unable to hold the question back.

A bit startled that his friend, who was a certified therapist, would ask such a personal question so bluntly, he decided to answer honestly. "I.. Hokage-jiji told me that my parents died protecting the village from the Kyuubi... I never...um...thanked them for saving me and the village...so I thought I could do it now..." he said not looking at his friend and rather found a certain spot on the floor to be far more interesting.

Taking a deep breath, Inoichi had to stop himself from telling Naruto that his father was the sole reason the Village wasn't burnt to the ground. The reason that everyone was still alive and well. That his father was the hero among heroes. That his mother was the best kunoichi in the Village. That his parents loved him with all their heart. That he wasn't a demon, just the jailor, and should be treated as a hero for the burden he had to bear. But in doing so, he would break the damned SS-rank Village secret and Law the Sandaime Hokage placed shortly after Naruto's birth and personally sign his death certificate.

"I see," he finally said with a sorrowful glint in his eyes, "I have the perfect thing for that." leaving the small blonde-haired whiskered child for a moment, Inoichi picked up a small bundle of flowers, the combination of flowers that meant remembrance, thanks and love. "Here you are." he said kneeling down to the boy's height and handed him the small bundle.

"Thank you." Minato said with a small bow, "How much do I owe you?"

With a kind smile, Inoichi merely shook his head, "Just keep them, and pay respect to your parents for me."

"Thank you very much!" Minato said with a genuine grin. He knew he could count on his friend to show kindness to his son, even though he couldn't openly. Had he lived, he would have protected Naruto from anything and everything, for Inoichi, openly protecting Naruto or having his family show him any kindness, would bring the villages wrath upon his family and that was something he could not do, no matter how hard it was to see his friend's son suffer. At least in the confines of his shop, he could show the boy a small kindness.

With a happy smile, Minato left the shop and continued on his way home. He couldn't go specifically to the Memorial Stone, as the ANBU was still trailing him, but he could place them on his apartment windowsill and pray that his son and wife were happy with Kami. That his son was finally feeling the comfort and love from the embrace of his mother. That Naruto was feeling truly safe for the first time in his life. That his Naruto was finally truly happy.

When he made it home, it was mid-afternoon. The sun glazing his back with a warmth that Kushina's smile always brought him. Bounding into his apartment, Minato placed the bundle of flowers in a small vase and placed it on the windowsill. With a smile of his own, Minato turned to leave his apartment once more, deciding to spend the rest of his day in the library reading up on the history of Konoha. Soon, he would be starting the Academy; the start of the year was a mere couple of weeks away. Minato had every intention on making his son considered a prodigy, and to his friend, a "genius of hard work."

'Watch me, Naruto. Watch me as your dreams become a reality.'


A/N: I don't like this...sorry.
Reviews are loved!