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Chapter: It's All in Your Head
Minato paced on the orange-ish pink room he occupied in his son's mind. He walked for several minutes one way before heading back. He never knew if he was pacing evenly because there were no markers in this place, just never ending sherbet in every direction. He had a very poor concept of time as well. It used to be easier to keep track of when he caught glimpses of Naruto's life, but since Orochimaru had placed the seal, he hadn't seen a single glimpse of the outside world. Having his son here with him was an excellent tradeoff. But that was the whole reason behind why he was pacing to begin with.
After much thought, many concerns, and recurring second guessing, he had arrived at several conclusions in regards to the seal. He stopped for a moment before he turned and began walking back the way he'd come.
It was utterly vital to Naruto's future that he regain control of his chakra. He had been lucky that there hadn't been more fighting after the preliminaries. On the surface, it might have seemed like the difference in Naruto's control was negligible, but looking deeper, Minato saw a gaping whole. The constant fluxuation was incredibly inconvenient when his son was trying to do a jutsu. Sometimes it gather too little, but more often it than not it gathered far too much. His son's colossal chakra reserve helped cover the problematic situation, but if he wanted to go against heavy-hitting ninja like Neji and Gaara, he would need every advantage and resource to beat them.
Minato knew that he had to undo the seal. He sighted before he turned around and began pacing the other direction.
The safest thing for him to do would be to remove the entire seal. Logically, it would undo all of the basic blocks Orochimaru had placed in his son's chakra system that changed the flow. Doing so would unquestionably end their all-too-short reunion. The thought made Minato's heart hurt, but the thought of impeding Naruto as he chased after his dreams made it hurt more. He certainly needed to do something.
He bit his lip and turned back.
Minato knew that he helped his son. He'd felt the loneliness from years of solidarity, and felt the joy Naruto felt from finally having someone to rely on. Already he'd helped Naruto figure things out and given him tools to improve himself. He believed that if he were able to help him further Naruto would only bloom more—towards his dream. Leaving his son again wouldn't just hurt Minato though, Naruto would be the one who would suffer most. His son would be alone . . . again.
But were his desires clouding his judgment? Minato ran a hand through his hair. He had no clue he realized as he slowed. He decided to walk back. Therein lay the struggle; on one hand, he could remove the five point seal, ensuring Naruto would have a better go at his dreams, and yet make him lose a parent, again. On the other hand, Minato could try a completely experimental seal, designed to create more blocks that theoretically would straighten his circulatory system again, but reverse the flow of chakra. Minato wondered if there would be any negative side effects . . . Theoretically, the difference in flow shouldn't have been terribly different, but he doubted anything like this had been done before . . .
He shook the thoughts from his mind. That was relatively irrelevant when it came to other matters. The largest problem with the second option was that it was all theoretical. He was operating in unknown territory. What if the seal he tried failed to correct Naruto's chakra flow, and merely cut Minato off from the supply? Not only would Naruto lose on both fronts, but if Minato no longer had access, he couldn't take action to repair it.
Letting out a frustrated cry, Minato plopped on the floor, sick of pacing and pacing and never getting anywhere.
He figured that he didn't have much more time until Naruto arrived. That meant he needed to make up his mind. Did the value of a stable relationship in his son's life outweigh the value of a necessary part of a ninja's toolbox? Minato had mulled this over from the very beginning. Naruto had made other relationships in his life, some that were solid. The Sandaime he viewed as a Grandfather, and Iruka was his first truly precious person. He also had his two teammates and Kakashi of course. None of the relationships were tremendously close, but few started out that way. They needed to grow. Perhaps Minato was a replaceable variable in his son's life . . . but at this very moment, he so badly wanted for his son to have a stable base, and for him to be that stable base. Someone who remained a constant in his universe as his son explored his identity and began to assemble his future. Perhaps it was selfish of him to wish that he could be that base, but he couldn't help but want to be the rock in his son's life. That's what parents were for, weren't they? He was an orphan, so he was acting mostly on instinct. It served him well so far. All he ever wanted to do was ensure Naruto's happiness, and with that in mind, he'd been able to make the right choices so far.
The one before him was just much tougher than usual.
"Dad!" Minato looked over to find the figure of his son heading his way. Apparently he'd wandered off the invisible center of the room.
"Dad, I totally got the first kata down. I'm getting really good at it, and the weights don't bother me much anymore at all!"
"Naruto . . ." Minato began.
His son's smile faded in the face of his father's serious demeanor.
"What is it?"
"I need to make a decision about the seal," he spoke weightily.
Naruto swallowed, finding his words had left him again. He'd known it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier to accept. He wished he could keep putting it off. It was so easy to carry on like they did, ignoring the problem in front of them. Secretly, the blond genin had hoped that maybe his father would forget . . . Naruto supposed he should have known it could have lasted.
"I need to choose whether we try the experimental seal I made, or the regular five prong seal to cancel out the preexisting one," Minato said.
"So you did make another one?" Naruto asked, hope glimmered in his eyes.
"I drafted one, but I really don't know if it will work or not." His tone was stern.
"But there's a chance?" Naruto wasn't dissuaded.
"Yes," Minato sighed, "but the risk of it backfiring might be too much."
"Huh?"
"If I do it and it doesn't fix your problem with control, but still redirects the chakra away from me, I won't be able to fix it," he spoke solemnly.
Naruto's face dropped to the floor as he thought long and hard about his father's words.
"Well, you said Kakashi-sensei and Oyaji knew stuff about seals, couldn't they fix it then?"
Minato hadn't considered the possibility before. His work was infamous for being hard to figure out and even harder to reverse. Perhaps he was underestimating his student though. The Sandaime knowledge of fuuinjutsu was very dated, so he doubted that he could help, but at the very least the Third would know how to contact Jiraiya if Kakashi didn't know. Then again, his sensei might have died sometime in the last twelve years. It would explain the conspicuous absence in his godson's life.
"Maybe . . ." he said at length. Could he take that chance?
"Well, it's my body so I get a say in it, don't I?" Naruto demanded.
Minato was taken aback by his son's brash words before he smiled. He had gotten so wrapped up in making a decision he forgot the most important place to get input.
"Yes, yes you do," Minato acknowledged.
"I say that we try the other seal."
Minato's brow furrowed. He wasn't sure if he could go along with this despite how much his heart wanted him too. He felt guilty for wanting to use the experimental one when it might be a risk his son, but being able to spend time with him was so beyond what he'd expected. He hoped that he wasn't influencing the choice Naruto made subconsciously.
"Alright Naruto, we'll try the other seal," he said wearily.
"Yes!"
"Just I case it doesn't work," Minto said, loathing the sudden misery on his son's face, "I want you to continue your training. Tell Kakashi that you want to learn my style. He'll help you learn the rest. Train hard, and promise me that you won't be bound by anything." Minato received an odd look for his words. "If you want to quit the style, then do it. I want you to be free to make your own decisions without my input."
Naruto's expression had somehow worsened.
The Yondaime pushed forward anyway. "Are you ready?"
"No," Naruto uttered honestly.
"Me neither," Minato replied with a sad smile. "But we have to do something."
"Can't we put it off?" Naruto asked, a desperate tone in his voice.
"Until when?" Minato asked rhetorically. "Until the eve of the third round? Until your first mission as chunin?" He rubbed his head. "I don't think I'll ever be ready to say goodbye Naruto, but it's something we have to do."
"Don't say that!" Naruto reacted suddenly, "I don't wanna hear you talking about saying goodbye. You can't think like that!" His face was frustrated and upset.
"I know." Minato sighed before he walked over to his son and pulled him into a hug. Faint trembles ran over his son's body and Minato wished he could stop them by his presence alone. He had a feeling though that the shaking wouldn't stop until the entire thing was over.
It was Naruto who pulled away first, looking weary and resigned. "How does this work?" Naruto asked.
"Close your eyes," Minato instructed. Naruto obeyed. "I want you to imagine yourself falling through the air. Falling into a deep part of your mind . . ."
Naruto's brow furrowed as he tried to do as his father directed.
"Well, that worked out rather quickly," his father remarked. Naruto opened his eyes and found himself standing in a dark sewer. Water came up to his mid-calf, though oddly, he didn't feel wet at all.
"How'd I do that?" Naruto asked, his mouth open as he stared at the strange concrete room.
"Your mind follows you commands; you just have to think it."
Naruto nodded, and the two blonds began walking down the large halls.
"So I can do anything here?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Essentially, yes." Minato smiled.
Naruto returned it for a brief few seconds before he spied a room ahead. The only room he'd seen in the entire sewer. He wandered closer curiously.
His father placed a hand on his shoulder, halting his progress. He then moved ahead of Naruto, walking boldly into the room. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a large cage, bars brown with rust. The only thing that could hold was—
"Namikaze," a deep voice rumbled, "I never expected to see you again."
"That goes for me as well."
His father's voice was harder than Naruto had ever heard before. He fought the urge to step back as killing intent began to fill the room.
"Though I hate seeing you, I'm here because I have a job to do." Minato's voice was impeccably calm.
"Are you talking about the dismal state of the brat's chakra system?" the demon queried
"Yes."
"Fix it. It makes things difficult for me. I don't get as much energy," the Kyuubi said aloofly. Naruto froze as the demon stepped out of the shadows slowly and into the dim flickering light. When the fox came fully in the light, his snout shot forward, hitting against the cage loudly. "And I need as much as I can to eat your little child." Harsh barking laughter filled the corridor.
Naruto shivered violently, but his father placed a hand on his shoulder, all the while never breaking eye contact with the Kyuubi.
"You will never get that opportunity," Minato promised. It belatedly struck Naruto that his father's voice never wavered from the strong, though calm tone, never showing a reaction to the Kyuubi's words. Naruto wondered how it was possible for any human to do so in the face of such a powerful creature.
"Naruto, please try and imagine a brush and an ink pot in your hands." His father's eyes didn't turn from the Kyuubi's a single second. With a bit of concentration, Naruto managed to do so. He felt momentarily surprised how easily it came to him before he passed it to his father. Minato gave his child a long, complex look that Naruto couldn't decipher. Before he could ask, the Yondaime began to walk up the bars of the cage towards the center which Naruto belatedly realized had a large piece of paper on it. The kanji said, 'seal,' if he was reading it right.
Minato crouched near the paper, ignoring the Kyuubi's tongue that ran up and down the bars beside him. He placed a hand over the seal and sent chakra into the paper. All of a sudden, the kanji shifted into a familiar set of swirls that were found on Naruto's stomach. The blond teen blinked with surprise. Though as he squinted, he realized that it wasn't exactly right. On the outer edges, there were five additional spirals that Naruto had never seen before.
Minato carefully placed the jar on ink on his leg before dipping his brush and beginning.
Naruto watched in amazement, craning his neck to get a better look, as his father quickly began adding to the seal. He drew five additional seals in the gaps between the other five Orochimaru had added. He dipped in the ink again before he carefully began tracing around it, connecting the ends of the five spirals the sannin had added to his own five spirals in a counterclockwise direction. At the end, he drew a strange shape Naruto had never seen before above his work.
"Naruto . . ." Minato trailed off. There was so much he wanted to say, but his mind was empty.
"Why don't you get what you want?" Naruto asked suddenly, "Why can't you stay here with me? You like it don't you?" He hoped he was right about that.
"Naruto, you don't know what I would give to be able to see you and talk to you every day. But I can't do that at your risk. I can't get in the way of your dreams." His voice was resolute but his face softened into a smile. "Besides, helping you achieve your dreams is my dream."
Naruto's lip wobbled at the words. No one ever felt that way about him before.
Since meeting his father, he'd struggled figuring out what having a dad actually meant. He'd enjoyed running over new corners and edges of it and getting to know this strange new adult who was going to teach him how to be Hokage, this funny man who laughed and cared so completely about him. But other adults were nice too. The Third was kind to him, even when he messed up. Iruka treated him like a little brother, teasing, but caring. Though Kakashi hadn't been around as long, he still taught Naruto ninja skills. But at that moment, he finally understood what set his father so far apart from every other adult, every teacher, every other kind person. Because Minato put Naruto first in every way.
This was the love of a parent, he realized. And in that moment it just made it so much harder to accept what was going on.
"Dad . . ."
"Besides, it should work," Minato said, trying to keep his voice firm.
"So much drama." A deep growl drawled from behind the cage. Both blonds ignored it.
"It's just—" Naruto stared at the water covered floor "I don't wanna have to say goodbye! So don't! Don't say goodbye okay?"
"Don't worry Naruto, I won't say goodbye." Naruto looked up towards his father with shock, who merely smiled and continued. "I love you, son."
Naruto opened his mouth, but before he could reply, Minato slammed his hand over the augmented seal, and light filled the room. The brightness covered Naruto's sight as the light slowly faded back into black.
"Dad?!" Naruto cried out into the sewer, hearing his voice echo back. The place where his father previously knelt was empty. He looked around desperately, hoping to find something, anything.
A low laugh grew in the room. "Well, I think that went well. Chakra's returned and that nuisance is gone. And you, are all alone." Kyuubi's smile was toothy.
Dread filled his stomach as Naruto realized the truth in the words. Again he was alone. Alone, alone, alone, alone, splash, alone.
Wait, splash?
"Naruto?!" a voice called out from the dark, splashes echoing closer and closer.
"Dad!" Naruto scrambled as he turned all the way around searchingly. All he saw was the fox with a disgusted expression on its face before it moved away from the front of the cage back into the shadows.
A figure appeared at the entrance of the room, slowing from a run, and smiling lightly when he spied his son.
"Naruto," he said, in that firm and loving way he always did.
"D-dad!' Naruto threw himself at his father, clutching his robe like a child. He didn't care how it looked, all he knew was that he wasn't alone. No, he had a father. He had a father and he had a family. Knowing for the first time what that actually meant transformed his entire view.
"Oh Naruto," Minato spoke into is son's blond hair. He hadn't realized just how badly he wanted their plan to work until the moment when he saw his son again.
"I thought you were gone!"
"I . . . I thought so too," Minato admitted. "After we activated the seal, I appeared back in the orange room. I had to find my way back here. I'm sorry I left you alone. I'm here now though. I'm here."
That last sentence made Naruto finally give in and cry. It was going to be alright. He wasn't going to be left alone, and he wasn't going to go back to being the unclaimed orphan everyone else saw him as. Naruto didn't care what they thought though, because right now he knew so much better.
After some time of Minato whispering soft comforting things to his son, Naruto calmed down enough to go back to the room.
His father tried to get him to talk a little bit about what he done that day. Naruto's heart wasn't in it. His fear was still there, it hadn't dissipated. If anything he was almost tenser, afraid to let his dad leave his sights because if he closed his eyes, that he might be gone again. Inevitably, the walls began to fill with bright light.
"Dad," Naruto felt an echo from the first time they met. The same concern about leaving. 'Will you be here when I come back?' He thought worriedly to himself
"Don't worry," Minato said, smiling.
Naruto bit his lip but nodded, putting on a brave face as his vision was swallowed in the sea of white.
Naruto opened his eyes for a few moments, noticing the familiar sheets around him and the bright sunlight. He groaned as he rolled out of bed, tiredly rubbing his eyes. He glanced towards the bed resisting the urge to go back to sleep just to make sure his father was still there. Naruto felt like he was getting pretty clingy. These were kind of extenuating circumstances though . . . maybe he'd take a nap during the day.
"Huh, that's weird."
The blond ninja jumped two feet into the air as his head whipped around frantically. Where the hell did that come from?
"I didn't think the reversed flow would mean I'd be able to view the outside world. Not a bad surprise at all."
What the hell . . . ? Was there someone in his room?
"That is if Naruto's flow is corrected. Hopefully he'll attempt water-walking today so I can find out. Ah, I have to explain to him that I can see everything now. It's kind of weird, I feel like I'm stalking him or something."
Naruto listened dumbfounded at the rambling sentences. His eyes grew wider and wider. That voice sounded familiar, a lot like—
"D-dad!?"
"What is he—? I hope he isn't worried that I'm gone, I'm still here of course. Hmm, I wish there was a way to let him know sooner rather than later. I don't want him to worry. Maybe he'll take a nap sometime today. I shouldn't be so clingy tho—"
"I know you're still with me! I can hear you!" Naruto exclaimed.
There was a brief moment of silence.
". . . Is he talking to me?"
"Yes I'm talking to you!"
"Naruto?"
"Dad?"
"Can he— are you hearing me right now Naruto?!"
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "What the hell is going on?!"
Naruto could practically hear his father pacing as he thought. It was perhaps the strangest sensation Naruto had felt in his thirteen years of life.
"The seal's purpose was to repair your circulatory system so that all the chakra flowed one direction."
"Right . . ." Naruto didn't understand where any of this was going.
"Instead of removing the blocks that redirected the flow in all directions, I attempted to instead build on them." He stopped suddenly for a moment. "Naruto, can you try to walk on the walls?"
The situation was getting weirder by the second, but Naruto agreed. He swallowed a little as he carefully channeled chakra to his feet, and placed his left foot on the wall. He exhaled as he was able to move up and around the wall perfectly.
"So the flow HAS been corrected . . ." Minato trailed off. "So at least it worked." Relief flooded the Yondaime. Correcting Naruto's system had been the top priority. "But why are things like this? Perhaps it has to do with the frontal lobe because he is interacting— then again, the temporal lobe registers speech if he's hearing me then— Of course the chakra gates that run through those are all—But the chance of that affecting the part of his brain that controls—"
Hypotheses swirled in the air, making Naruto dizzy. The speed his father's mind moved at was ridiculous. Possibilities were created, reshaped and then discarded in seconds as his father looked for answers.
"Ahh! You're making me dizzy!" Naruto exclaimed, clutching his head. Trying to follow even one of the trains of thoughts was impossible!
There was a pause in the flow.
"Can Naruto hear all my thoughts?"
"Yes, I can!"
Minato concentrated for a few moments.
"Did you hear that?"
"What?"
Naruto could feel his father smile. "Never mind, I found a way to keep my thoughts separate. Sorry about that."
"Urk, well I guess it's fine, you know?" Naruto fumbled with his words. What the hell was going on? Was he still dreaming or something. Everything was silent though, instead of the constant stream of theoretical chatter that occupied his mind so suddenly which was a relief. It just wasn't natural for anyone to think that fast!
"I've just been around a long time, Naruto." He felt like his father was scratching his head. "Besides it helps when your essence is pure chakra mixed with subconscious."
"H—hey! Don't listen to my thoughts!"
"Gomen, gomen, it wasn't on purpose, honestly."
"Well, just don't do it." Naruto pouted.
"Let me see if I can move to a different area of your . . ."
Naruto waited for the end of that sentence, but was disappointed. He sniffed.
"Geez, at least let me know what you're gonna do since you're running around in my mind!" Naruto said with a disgruntled expression.
There was no reply.
"Dad?" he asked, waiting for a response. The silence persisted and he found the sudden and conspicuous absence of his father unsettling.
"Dad?!" his voice took on a nervous edge. Why wasn't he replying?
"Dad!" He screamed, hoping for a sign, for anything to prove he was still there.
"Yes, yes, I'm here," Minato said, coming back into Naruto's awareness.
Naruto though he was going to pass out from relief. "I thought you like died or something," he sighed. "I mean, again, like forever." Naruto clarified. His father laughed at his interpretation.
"No I'm alive and kicking, relatively speaking." He smiled.
"What happened?" Naruto asked, "Where'd you go?"
"Well, I was checking to see if I could move my conscious to a different part of your mind. I don't want to be sitting on your thoughts all the time!"
It suddenly struck Naruto how awful and terrible that would be especially if he was thinking of awkward and embarrassing things like porn or Sakura or his sexy-no-jutsu or that time he kissed Sasuke or . . . Damnit! Naruto's brain fizzled. He was thinking about all those things now!
"You aren't listening now, are you?!" Naruto asked, in a panicked voice.
"No," Minato chuckled, "I moved to a different place in your mind. I mean I could grab your train of thoughts as it passes, I mean, but I would rather you have your privacy."
Naruto breathed out in relief. "Me too." He paused. "What do you mean by grabbing my thoughts?"
"Uhh, it's hard to explain . . ." He turned thoughtful, "I wonder if I'll be able to show you sometime . . ."
"Did you figure out what's going on then?"
"Well I have a working theory by this point."
"What is it?"
"Well, in order to repair your system while keeping Orochimaru's seals in place, I created five more and then connected them. They run in the opposite of your natural direction. The purpose was to use those ten blocks in the seal as new markers where your chakra would center. Then it was a matter of connecting them all to start moving your chakra in one direction. Thus creating a new chakra system," Minato finished.
"Huh?" Naruto uttered in complete confusion.
"I essentially reversed the flow of your chakra while preserving the flow to where I reside." The Yondaime frowned. "If I'm guessing right, instead of pulling your chakra down towards me like before, it's inverted so that my chakra is moving up."
"What does that mean?"
"Instead of your subconscious being brought down to me, I'm being brought to yours instead," Minato simplified.
"You're kidding?!"
"I don't think so . . ." Minato sighed. "I don't know if it'll hold, but logically it seems to make sense. I need to work on this theory more . . ." He paused suddenly.
"Hey, Naruto . . ."
"What's wrong?" the genin asked, apprehensively. Whenever he heard that tone from his father, it generally wasn't for a good reason.
"I don't know how to stop the connection without undoing the whole thing, or at least eliminating myself from the loop."
"What!? Eliminate yourself?" Naruto echoed incredulously.
"I could just remove all ten parts of the seal and make everything the way it was before Orochimaru hit him . . ." He thought, accidently forgetting to keep the stream from Naruto's consciousness.
"Stop that, seriously!" Naruto cried. "Just— just stop, okay?"
Minato paused in his thoughts while he waited for Naruto to compose his own.
"So you're saying that you're in my mind and stuff?"
"Yes."
"You can hear and see everything?"
"Essentially."
"And talk to me?"
"What do you think?" Minato's tone was slightly amused.
"So you can like work with me while I'm training and stuff, right?!"
" I . . . Yes, I suppose I can." Minato mused aloud thoughtfully.
"That's awesome!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "So cool! We're gonna get so much stuff done! I dunno why you have to undo it. This seems pretty neat to me."
"Well . . ." Minato trailed off. He didn't have a solution to the problem that didn't involve removing himself. The largest problem— the disjointed chakra flow— had been repaired. In addition, his son did make a point; this would be a huge step up in Naruto's training. This obviously wasn't an ideal situation, but he needed to brainstorm before he tried something else.
Minato couldn't let this be permanent, he knew that. This wasn't healthy. But for the moment . . .
"I'd love to help, Naruto."
"What are we waiting for?! Let's go!" Naruto shouted as he scrambled to get his clothes on over his boxers. The weights went on next and his hands kept fumbling over the straps in his haste. Finally all put together, he stood and left his bedroom.
"Don't forget breakfast!" Minato urged.
"Yeah, yeah!" Naruto replied impatiently, grabbing an apple and eating it in four large bites. He wanted to get out of here as fast as he could so they could get training. Ah he needed to go to the bathroom before he left.
His hand froze on the knob of the door to go to the bathroom.
"Dad?"
"Yes?"
"I have to go to the bathroom."
"Ahh," Minato thought to himself, realizing why his child sounded so uncomfortable. This was a weird situation. Aloud, he said, "I'll just go to another part of your mind alright?"
"You promise you won't peek?" Naruto asked petulantly.
"N-N-Naruto!" His father sputtered, utterly mortified. "That's—"
"Okay, okay," Naruto said squirming, "just go already!"
Minato immediately turned away before using his new found mobility to move away from the front of his son's mind and back into his regular orange and pink room.
"Honestly, that kid!" He murmured, shaking his head. To distract himself, Minato brought forth the seal in his mind to mull over. Was it even possible that consciousness could be carried along a chakra flow? When Naruto first arrived here it seemed like a complete and total trick of fate. Minato didn't look too heavily into the possibility, but faced with another proof, it seemed more and more plausible. The Yamanaka's jutsu worked in a similar way, he supposed. The ability to do so was supposed to be a blood-trait singular to their clan and only passed down by the male. Naruto wasn't a part of the clan though. There was also the question as to why Naruto only arrived when he was sleeping and Minato seemed to have full range. Then again, as he had told Naruto before, being only chakra and a manifestation of consciousness, it might explain why he suddenly had total access. By changing the entrance points of his chakra and placing one where he resided, it mean he could more or less move through Naruto's entire chakra system.
How . . . neat.
Minato had to admit that the entire matter was rather fascinating. Knowledge was always something he'd sought. Even after he technically died, he still enjoyed finding out new things.
"Dad? Dad?! DAD?!"
Minato peeked at his son's subconscious and saw him standing impatiently.
"Yes?" He asked as he moved back towards the front of his son's mind.
"There you are!" Naruto said. Minato laughed as he realized son was waiting for him by the door, as though Naruto had to wait for him before leaving. "C'mon, let's go!" Without another word he stepped into the streets, closing the door loudly behind him.
Naruto was jumping quickly through the village, trying to get to the training area as fast as he could. His mind was already running through countless of awesome jutsu his father could teach him. Minato on the other hand, was relishing the view, eagerly taking in every detail of his beloved village.
"Ah, the village has changed a lot since I died," Minato thought mostly to himself
"They had to rebuild a lot after the fox." Naruto repeated the rote answer as he leapt off of a red rooftop. The Yondaime realized he needed practice keeping his inner monologue different from his outer. It was harder than he thought, but considering he had no mouth, he could probably cut himself some slack.
"That makes sense. I know the fox got the middle part of the village quite badly, but some things are still here though. I wonder if they rebuilt in the same place."
"Really? Like what?"
"Well, the Yamanaka flower shop. The Inoichi's have been horticulturists since the founding of the clan."
"Horutickultrurists?" He repeated, stumbling over the unusual word.
"Horticulturists. They study flowers."
"Eh? Why would the Yamanakas do that?" Naruto asked curiously as he avoided a flock of pigeons.
"Inoichi once told me that it was because when they went mind-walking into people's psyches, personality traits generally manifest as flowers."
"What? How come?"
"No one really knows," Minato replied, "Though some have theorized that it has more to do with how we perceive people."
"What?"
"Ah, nevermind, maybe I'll explain it to you later." Minato figured this was an explanation for later. As in a few years in the future when his son understood a little more about psychology and perception. It was a little heavy for a thirteen-year-old
"Is that why Ino knows so much stuff about flowers?"
"Ino? Ah, his daughter, I remember now. Well, it's something all Yamanaka's must learn. Not all have flower shops though. Inoichi just found a way to capitalize on his knowledge."
"That's smart," Naruto said nodding to himself.
"Maybe you should ask his daughter about the flowers sometime."
"Eh?" Naruto was so surprised by the strange suggestion that he almost lost his footing on the telephone wire. He straightened himself quickly to avoid electrocution.
"A Hokage should know a little of everything."
"Is that so?" Naruto murmured to himself as he stood on the wire.
"Is what so?" a voice asked, startling Naruto so badly he almost fell off the wire a second time.
"Aw, geez Shikamaru, don't scare me like that." Naruto said before jumping down. Shikamaru and Ino were standing behind him in the dirt street. Ino raised a brow whereas Shikamaru just eyed him uninterestedly.
"Why are you talking to yourself?" Ino asked.
"Uhh . . . I just say stuff aloud sometimes," Naruto said weakly.
"Ooops," Minato hmmed, "We should do something about that."
"Seriously," Naruto muttered quietly.
"What?" Ino asked, staring at him pointedly.
Minato decided to stay silent and save his son some trouble.
"Uh, nothing."
"God, you're so weird Naruto!" Ino exclaimed. "I don't know how forehead puts up with you!"
"What are you doing Naruto?" Shikamaru asked, shifting the conversation.
"I'm heading out to train," he answered with a cocky smile. "Is that where you're going too?"
"Nah, we're going to visit Choji in the hospital," Shikamaru replied.
"Is he still in there?" Naruto asked in surprise, "I know Sakura got him, but I didn't know it was that bad!"
"He's already out," Ino said scoffing, "No way Forehead could get him so bad they'd have to lay him up in a hospital for a week."
"Then why—"
"The explosive tags Sakura used gave him some burns." Shikamaru explained. "They're bandaged and healing, they just wanted to follow up. We're meeting him there so then we can all find Asuma."
"And train Shikamaru!" Ino informed him. "You better be prepared for him! He's going to blow all the competition away," she said in a superior tone. Ino then turned on her heel and began walking away, ponytail swishing in the air.
Naruto didn't understand a bit. She didn't make it through the prelims, so why was she bragging?
"Man, such a drag . . ." Shikamaru sighed before following after his steaming teammate. "I'll see you later Naruto."
"Bye Shikamaru!"
"So that's Shikaku's son and Inoichi's daughter huh?"
Naruto opened his mouth to reply but his father cut him off.
"Not here."
Naruto nodded before leaping back on the telephone. After a few minutes, he reached the training ground. He checked around the surrounding forests to see if he could find anyone around, but saw to his relief, he found no one else there.
"Phew, that coulda been bad."
"We need to figure out a way to talk mentally," Minato paused as he thought about it.
"She probably thinks I'm crazy," Naruto sighed unhappily while his father thought.
"Think a sentence,"
"Well okay," Naruto said, before furrowing his brow and thinking. "I really want ramen for breakfast."
"Mmm, no don't treat it like a normal thought," Minato said. He'd seen the thought passing by in the stream before him, but it was no different than the other trains of thoughts that surrounded it. Digging through piles of his son's thoughts would take too long, and besides that, he told his son he wouldn't read his mind (he honestly didn't want to).
"You want me to think thought that isn't a normal thought?" Naruto asked dubiously.
"Try thinking at me," Minato suggested. "You can sort of sense me, can't you?"
Naruto paused as he thought about it. When his father made those weird little sensations that echoed real life motions like nodding and smiling, they did seem to come from somewhere . . .
"Smile so I can find you," Naruto said before sitting on the grass and closing his eyes.
"Okay."
A flash of warmth that felt like pure 'smile' spread from a part of his mind. He quickly tried to follow it. Sorting out different parts of his mind was a little strange, but Naruto pushed himself forward anyways. Finally he felt like he found the location.
"I think you're here," Minato put in.
"Now what?" Naruto asked, concentrating hard so as not to lose what he found.
"Try thinking towards that direction,"
"Does he mean like this?" Naruto wondered
"Ah, I heard that!" Minato exclaimed.
"Did you really?"
"Yeah." The Yondaime smiled even wider, "Nice job Naruto."
"THIS REALLY WORKS?" Naruto pushed in amazement.
He felt the odd sensation of wincing. "Ah, yes Naruto, though think a little softer."
"Sorry."
"This will make things a lot easier."
"But if we aren't by anybody I'm just gonna talk out loud." Naruto rubbed his head. He found out where to talk at and how to do it, but it still took more concentration than felt comfortable.
"Don't worry Naruto, it'll get easier over time." Minato assured.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna read my mind?" Naruto thought back indignantly.
"I didn't, but it was pretty easy to figure out what you were thinking." Minato replied, smiling lightly at his child's outrage. "Weren't you going to try water walking?" The Yondaime reminded before Naruto could respond.
"Oh right! I almost forgot!" Naruto jumped to his feet. The stream ran along the entire village, and the training grounds were arranged accordingly. Every training ground had a portion of the river to practice jutsu or water-combat. Naruto picked the very last training ground, training ground 14 because it was less likely to be used. When he arrived at the water he stopped. Cracking his neck, he placed both his hands together in a handsign and began gathering chakra.
"Mou, Naruto, you're gathering way too much."
"Eh, am I?"
"Yes, lower it a little— right there is perfect. Try taking a step."
Naruto nodded and tentatively placed his foot on the water, mindful to adjust according to the currents . . . And found himself standing on the water stably.
"I did it!" he exclaimed in delight, jumping up and down just because he could.
"Well done!" Minato smiled as Naruto ran around the water jumping and skipping.
"This is so awesome!" the blond genin grinned widely at his success. It quickly shifted into a sly expression.
"You know what this means, don't you dad?"
"Yes, yes, I will teach you a new jutsu," Minato said, chuckling a little.
"Alright! New jutsu!" Naruto quickly ran back onto the solid ground. "What is it? Oooh what rank is it?"
"It's a C-rank."
"Ehh?!" Naruto's disappointment was palpable. Minato sighed inwardly. His son was still too young to understand the true capacity of a jutsu, but this was a good place to start teaching it.
"Naruto, you do know that Kage Bushin is only a B-rank, don't you?" Minato asked.
"No way! It's gotta be an A-rank, it's so powerful!" Naruto said incredulously. The Yondaime grinned at the expected response.
"Nope. It's B-rank. But you're right, it is powerful, especially if someone imaginative like you is using it. An A-rank jutsu can be more like a C-rank if one doesn't use it to its full potential. Knowing the jutsu is only half the battle, how you use it is the other half."
"Well, that's a good point I guess," Naruto acknowledged with a wide grin, pleased by the compliment. "What are the handsigns?"
"Ah, there are no handsigns," his father informed him
"That's cool!"
"It should save you some time." Minato especially liked techniques that could be done at an instance's notice. A lot of the jutsu in his repertoire were ones that didn't require handsigns. He did anything he could in an effort to increase his speed.
"So what do I do then?" Naruto asked, shaking Minato from his thoughts.
"The name is Fūton: Reppūshō. It's also called, Gale Palm, and it is a wind ninjustu." The Yondaime explained.
"Wind?" Naruto furrowed his brow. He'd never heard of jutsu that had wind in it.
"Yes, there are five types of elemental styles that can be applied to jutsu to increase their strength."
"Those sound so cool!" Naruto lit up.
"Ah, well, we don't have the means to check your type right now, so the jutsu I chose is a more basic one. Most people can use this jutsu even if they don't have the wind type." He smiled, "Though I have a feeling you take after me and are a wind type."
"Really?" Naruto didn't know exactly what that meant but if it was after his dad, then it must be cool!
"Yes, your chakra feels like wind type, but I can't say anything more without checking."
"Can't I know now!?" He crossed his arms petulantly.
"Maybe eventually, but right now you're preparing for the exam, aren't you? There isn't enough time to train you in a type properly. Let's focus on what we can do, ne?"
"Yeah." Naruto exhaled. It gave him something to look forward to at least. "So if there aren't handsigns then how do I mold chakra?"
"The title of the ninjustu tells you everything. You gather chakra between your palms until it creates a small squall and then release it toward an enemy when it's large enough. It's a very basic type of chakra manipulation," Minato explained. "In this jutsu, the more chakra you can gather, the better you tend to do, which I think is good for someone like you—"
Naruto immediately gathered as much chakra as he could into his palms and was promptly blown off his feet.
"Agh!" he exclaimed as he hit the ground.
"I wasn't quite done explaining," Minato said, smiling at the sulky expression his son's face. "Generally good for someone like you, by which I mean, the amount of chakra you naturally apply to things is very high, and this is a jutsu that requires a lot of chakra. It's good for you because you have chakra to spare."
"You shoulda said that before," Naruto murmured.
Minato ignored it. "Your hands should be lightly clasped, okay?"
"Like this?" Naruto asked, his hands placed lightly in each other.
"Exactly. Now when you apply the chakra, try to build it up. Let the amount in your hands grow gradually."
Naruto furrowed his brow and attempted to replicate what his father told him.
A blast of chakra knocked him down again before dispersing.
"This is hard!" He exclaimed.
Minato opened his mouth to give him encouragement, but before he could say anything, Naruto was standing again.
He clasped his hands and poured chakra in his hand. His eyebrows were tense with focus as he stared down at his hands, willing the jutsu to appear.
Minato smiled softly. Naruto never gave up, even when it was hard; with or without encouragement.
"Why don't you create some clones?" Minato suggested.
"Oh yeah!" His son's eyes lit up, "I almost forgot."
His hands created a familiar handsign and soon there were thirty Naruto clones around the area. "You know what to do!" he shouted.
"Yosh!" the group shouted back.
Minato smiled as he watched Naruto struggle. If he got this down, then it would be much easier to teach him the rasengan. That was a long ways off though.
The work was tedious, and especially lengthy since failed attempts managed to destroy many surrounding replicas as well as the one attempting it. After a while, one clone exclaimed in delight, and was promptly popped. The knowledge spread through the clones and several 'oh's filled the air as the orange assembly understood a little more. The process repeated several times, though neither the clones nor the original fully succeeded.
Minato tracked the progress of the sun, and before it got to low, he called a things to a stop.
"Let's leave it here for today, Naruto."
"Do I have to?" His tone a little whiny. He was so close to getting it! He could feel it. "I still have tons of energy!"
"It isn't all to do with chakra, your mind needs time to adjust and rest. You shouldn't push so hard when learning a jutsu or anything new, really, it makes your growth slower. Tomorrow, when you're fresh and your mind is clearer, you'll make much more progress," Minato said, "And besides, don't you want to work on your kata?"
"Of course!"
"Why don't you try a mock spar against a clone, using what you know so far? Seeing it in real-time will probably make it easier for you to understand how it's applied in real life."
"That'll be awesome." He spun around quickly before pointing to a random clone. "You! Get over here. We're going to spar."
"Alright!" The rest of the clones crowed, moving to the side so they could watch the battle.
The two identical boys stared each other down sizing up the competition in what Minato thought was an incredibly cute way. Eventually, it was the clone that attacked first.
Minato examined the match closely, making mental notes of what needed improvement. A reoccurring problem was that both Narutos were getting frustrated at how awkward it felt to use the new kata. Several times they fell back into his brawler style, but both recovered quickly with determined expressions.
The Yondaime smiled. That stubbornness was so reminiscent of Kushina.
"Alright you two, take a break from hand to hand."
Both Naruto's nodded, panting from the exertion. Few people had the stamina to keep up with him. The clone of himself was one of them.
"It might be good to try some of them with a kunai, just to get used to using it with a weapon." He'd designed his style to be elastic enough to be operable with either only fists or a small weapon, like a kunai. This was mainly so he could use his own unique kunai whenever he wanted. It made activating them much more convenient if he didn't have to pull them out of his pouch. And every second counted on the battlefield.
Naruto nodded and dispersed the clone. The remaining replicas all assumed thoughtful poses as they assimilated the new knowledge into what they already knew.
"Let's all do it this time," Naruto announced.
"Yosh!"
The crowd of Naruto's reflexively pulled kunai out of their pouches before they all frowned. Then, in perfect synchronization, they switched the kunai to the other hand.
Minato blinked. "Naruto, I know you're fairly ambidextrous, but isn't your right hand the dominant one?"
"Eh? Uh I think so." It was one of those things he didn't really bother thinking about.
"Why did you switch hands?"
"It felt more . . . right." He answered, shrugging.
Minato's mind was racing.
"Why did I do that?" The original Naruto asked, feeling the confusion too.
"I think it's from the reversed flow," Minato spoke slowly. "It reversed your dominant hand too."
"That's . . . really weird." The Naruto congregation echoed.
"How interesting," the Yondaime murmured to himself, already filing the information away for further examination.
"You're kind of creepy when you do that," Naruto said bluntly while the other replicas nodded in agreement.
"Do what?"
"Get all excited about weird stuff."
"It's new information Naruto, of course it's exciting."
"Weirdo," he repeated.
"One day, I'm sure you'll understand."
"Geh!" He made a disgusted face.
Minato grinned. It was only a matter of time . . .
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Maybe I just ruined the story. I dunno. Let me know. I was hesitant about posting, but at the end of the day, I just said fuck it.
Naruto and Minato's connection will not be permanent. In fact Minato will go to great lengths to make things better, you'll soon see. . .
On the poll~
So, I should clarify a few things.
OT3= Naruto and Sasuke and Sakura in a relationship.'
Why are you trying to ruin the story = no pairings.
I hope you all know how absolutely surprised and happy I am to see that gen is the winner at the moment. Y'all should keep voting on my profile page. I am good with any choice y'all make. :)
Thanks for reading!