Twin1: Hey all! This has been on my hard drive forever, so I thought I'd put it up for you guys. Set waaay in the future. :)

Drabble 10: Father

Sixteen years old

Naruto gasped as strong arms wrapped around him and yanked him backwards, away from the Kyuubi.

"Dad," he said. Then he realised that he was in his own mindscape and Dad couldn't be here, and struggled away from the person holding him to look up.

Blonde hair, tall, tanned skin, and very familiar blue eyes. Throw in a few marks on his cheeks and Naruto could be looking at his own future.

"You recognise me, huh?" the man said, looking pleased.

"Yondaime-sama," said Naruto carefully. The Yondaime's face froze for the tiniest fraction of a second, then he nodded.

"I set it up so that if it ever got to the point where the eighth tail appeared, I would be here to stop the seal from being released," he said. An explanation. "I hoped you would never be pushed to this point, but - I am glad to see the man my son grew into."

Fury rose up in Naruto at the sight of this man, who had dared to seal a literal demon inside him. Who dared to force a shard of himself into Naruto's very soul to stop him from ridding himself of that awful burden.

But he was also weirdly glad, relieved. If Yondaime-sama hadn't sealed the fox, he wouldn't have died. If he hadn't died, Kakashi wouldn't be his dad.

"Yondaime! Come over here, I'll rip you to shreds!" Kyuubi howled. The Yondaime's face didn't change.

"Tempting invitation, but i think I'll stay out of reach," he said, eyes never wavering from Naruto. "Wouldn't you agree, Naruto?"

A hundred things flashed through Naruto's mind. A thousand things he could say. Why did you do it. Why did you leave me. Who was my mother. Did you ever love me, even a little bit.

Instead, he chose the most burning, most pressing thing. The one thing he absolutely had to clear up with this person, this shadowy face from a mountainside made flesh.

"You," he said clearly, "are not my father."

Finally, a change in expression from the man Naruto could tell had been perpetually reserved in life. He looked briefly surprised, then calmed again.

"It is the truth," he said. "It's how I know your name, I gave it to you. Like I said before, you are my son."

"You're not my dad!" Naruto shouted. Then, like that broke the dam, he was screaming. "You're not! You gave me up sixteen years ago and I don't care if it was for the village you still did it! You can't take it back now! It wasn't you who sat up all night with me when I was sick or strapped my sandals every day or taught me how to throw kunai! You don't get to call yourself my dad!"

The Yondaime looked a little taken aback by the outburst, if not altogether surprised. He opened his mouth as if to answer - but Naruto had yet to do more than pause for breath.

"And I hate how everyone just dismisses what he did because they know about you and you're more famous than him and granddad had some problems. My dear, sainted, dead father," Naruto spat. "And it kills him but he never says anything and do you know how long he thought I'd leave him after I found out you bastard? He spent years thinking that I'd throw him away when I learnt that the famous Yellow Flash spawned me, and he still did all that stuff! He loves me, which is more than I can say for you!"

Naruto broke off and glared. He wasn't done, not by a long shot, but he'd officially reached the point of 'too angry to form coherent sentences'.

There was a moment of silence. Then, the Yondaime spoke. "You said you're sixteen?" he said, his tone still steady but almost tentative. Naruto nodded, breathing heavily.

"You've grown up to be a fine man," the Yondaime said. "I - suppose it would be pointless now, but I still want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you, Naruto. I'm sorry for what you must have gone through."

The anger drained out of Naruto's frame. He was left feeling cold and spent, and a bit foolish. "It wasn't bad. Not like Sasuke-bastard or anything," he said. "I've been happy. I have friends, and everyone in the village looks out for me and Dad. Dad takes real good care of me. It's just been the two of us, for as long as I can remember." Naruto shrugged and looked down at his feet. "Well, except for Tsume-san and Hiashi-san, they kinda adopted Dad because they think he's really young and kinda stupid even if he's a genius."

"Tsume and Hiashi are a - a thing?" The Yondaime sounded baffled. "But they're... both married."

"Not anymore, and I have no idea if they're together - ew that's gross old people love." Naruto wrinkled his nose. "I'm pretty sure Hiashi-san's wife died and Kiba told me that his dad ran off."

There was a moment when the Yondaime seemed to consider pursuing that absolutely bizarre bit of news, but he selected his priorities and said, "You said you have a - do I know your... dad?"

Naruto nodded. "His name is Hatake Kakashi," he said. "I think he was your student for a bit?"

"What?" Yondaime sounded absolutely shocked. He couldn't have been more stunned if Naruto had turned into a pink elephant and doused him in paint thinner.

"Hatake Kakashi is my dad. I'm Hatake Naruto," Naruto repeated readily. It was important to him that this was driven home. "I was adopted by Hatake Kakashi."

"Kakashi's only fourteen," the Yondaime said dumbly. "Or - he was, when you were born. And he's..."

"Dad was seventeen when he took me," Naruto replied. He crossed his arms. "I was small, and raised by ANBU, so he told everyone that I was like eighteen months old and that I was a mission baby from Kumo."

"Kakashi," the Yondaime repeated. Naruto scowled at the doubt in his voice.

"Are you gonna be like Doctor Rin and make a big deal about how there's no way Dad could possibly be a good parent? He was awesome! He looked after me and played with me and always made sure I brushed my teeth and ate right. And when I was abducted he came to rescue me - both times!"

"You were abducted twice?" the Yondaime blurted, then again seemed to recalculate priorities. "I can see that Kakashi grew up well. I'm glad. I certainly wouldn't like to take his place, if he's been a good parent to you. Perhaps - you could call me Minato, and we can go from there?"

Naruto considered that. He didn't really want to make even that much of a concession, but it was a good compromise between "Yondaime-sama" and "Dad".

"Okay. Minato."