Chapter 10

Naruto picked at the sling on his arm, unhappy.

"So," Minato began. "Akamaru mentioned you had some new technique that you used against him in the spar." The man was sitting in Naruto's room, fiddling his thumbs.

"Yeah," Naruto responded slowly. He's acting weird. After that fight yesterday, I expected him to blow up and yell at me. Instead he's asking me about the technique and twitching like Shino's bugs are in his pants.

Well, if Shino had bugs in this world, that is.

Minato gave a strained smile. "Well, what was it?"

Naruto shifted. "I sent out a chakra wave, sort of, and it was like radar, I guess," he said, waving his left hand; his right arm was in a sling. "I could sense the other person's chakra points and just matched up the image in my head with the person in front of me. Then, I just pushed all the chakra into my fingers and attacked."

The Hokage nodded. "Interesting. It's almost like a sensory Byakugan."

The Chuunin considered this. "I guess so."

"And that's how you killed Mizuki," Minato said.

Naruto nodded. "I just targeted the chakra point connected to his heart."

"Good work."

Naruto watched his father carefully. "Thanks." He's too calm. It's like the calm before an earthquake. Just a little twitchy.

I don't like it.

"You said in your report Mizuki implied he was part of a group, that there might have been others who felt the same way he did," Minato said.

Naruto warily nodded again. "Yeah. I didn't get a chance to ask him who else, sorry."

Minato nodded. He didn't say anything for a few minutes. Just as Naruto was about to break the silence, he spoke. "Did it ever occur to you that the others might be hanging back, waiting to kill you?"

Naruto blinked. "No."

"What?"

"I assumed if there were others, they'd go after Mom, or one of the other kids."

Minato nodded again. "So, you decided to fight him instead of do the logical thing and get help."

Naruto frowned. "I sent my shadow clones."

Minato shook his head. "No, I—I—"

"I held him back, to give the shadow clones and my teammates a chance to get away. What else was I supposed to do?" Naruto demanded.

Minato shook his head. "Nothing. That was the right choice."

Naruto scowled. "Then why are you acting like you're angry?"

His father stood up and began pacing around Naruto's room. At least he wasn't in the hospital, they'd sent him home with his mother, who the medic-nins trusted to take care of him.

Naruto pushed himself up. "Well?"

"You could have been killed!"

The teen frowned. "What?"

Minato ran a hand through his messy hair. "You. Could. Have. Been. Killed. That's what they wanted. This wasn't some ninja who you stumbled upon. This man had a grudge against me! He wanted you dead with everything in him!"

Naruto frowned.

"You should have left! You should have made the better tactical decision and left!"

"And run away, you mean!"

"Call it what you want! You shouldn't have fought Mizuki!"

Naruto sat straight up and snarled. "You wanted me to run away!"

"I wanted you to be safe!"

"I'm a ninja! I'm never safe! And I don't run away!"

"But—"

"What would you have done? If you'd been me? If you'd found out someone was after the people that you loved? Would you have run away or removed the threat?"

"You're not me!"

Naruto stood up and faced his father. "That's not the point! Any ninja would have done the same as me, but are you yelling at them?! NO! You're trying to give me special treatment because I'm your son! But DON'T!"

"Don't?"

"NO! DON'T! I can handle myself just as well as any Chuunin, better than some! I'm not some stupid little Gennin who doesn't know how to hold a kunai! Stop treating me like one!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes! You are! You're acting like I couldn't handle the fight with Mizuki!"

"You couldn't!"

"WHY? Because I'm your son?"

"YES!"

Naruto pulled back as though he'd been slapped. He narrowed his eyes. "Bull."

Minato closed his eyes. "Naru—"

"Get out."

Naruto turned around and laid back down on his bed, back facing Minato.

The Hokage stood and stared at Naruto's back for a while, then walked out, closing the door behind him.

Naruto bit his lip and rolled onto his back.

God, I'm tired now.

Fights with Iruka or the Pervy Sage never tired me out then.

Of course, I was never this depleted before.

After that fight with Mizuki, I was totally out of chakra.

I rely too much on Kyuubi's chakra in the real world. Without his to supplement mine, its not that great.

I'll need to work on that when I get home.

Someone knocked at the door.

"It's just me, Naruto," Tama called.

"Come on in."

Sighing, she sat down on the edge of Naruto's bed.

"You were right, but give him a break, big brother," Tama advised. "He was the one to find you, bleeding, unconscious, cold, lying under a dead missing-nin. You gave him the scare of a lifetime. He wouldn't leave the hospital until they let him see you, alive and well, if sleeping. So, go easy on him."

Naruto sighed and flopped back against the pillows, a little bit of guilt worming its way in. "Alright."

"Promise?"

He smiled. "Promise."

----------------------------------------

Mizuki stood before him, a maniacal grin on his face. The stench of blood permeated the air, soaked into the ground. The air was stagnant and stale. There was no sound except for the beating of hearts. Until—

"Choose."

Raidon appeared, his big green eyes swimming with tears. "Naruto! Help me!"

"Choose."

Kenji showed up next to him. He screwed his eyes shut and bit his lip hard, trying to be brave.

"Choose."

Tama was next, her jaw set, her eyes blazing, a single tear tracking down her face.

"Choose."

Meara materialized. Her hands were folded in front of her, her eyes were filled with that unnameable emotion. "Naruto . . ."

"Choose."

Naruto's eyes snapped back to Mizuki. The sadistic grin split his face.

"Well, boy, what's it going to be?"

Mizuki's sword traveled from neck to neck.

"Choose."

Naruto froze.

Mizuki laughed.

"Very well. All."

Mizuki raised his sword.

Naruto screamed.

-----------------

The sun was shining brilliantly.

The birds were chirping incessantly.

The wind was blowing gently.

All in all, it was a perfectly beautiful day.

Gods! Make it stop!

Naruto moaned loudly and tried to roll over, but there was something warm and firm preventing him. He would have thrown an arm over his eyes, but his left was occupied and his right one was still injured. Something tickled his nose and pressed down on his chest. Trying to shift his legs, he encountered something else warm and soft.

Conceding to the necessity, Naruto cracked open one eye and nearly cried as the sunlight hit it full blast. He forced his eyeball to adjust, then scanned his impediments. His mom was sleeping on his right side, why he couldn't roll over. Tama was snuggled into his other side and happened to be lying on his left arm, which was why he couldn't move it. Kenji was curled up by his legs and half on them. Raidon was sprawled across his chest, explaining the nose-tickling and chest-pressing sensation.

"You were having nightmares."

Naruto snapped his eye to his father, who was sitting on the floor right by his bed.

"Huh?"

Minato smiled wearily. "Last night, you kept having nightmares. You would start screaming, so one of us would come in and calm you down. A few minutes after we'd leave, though, the nightmares would start back up. Each time, they'd get worse, until all of us had to be here for you to stop screaming."

Naruto looked over his family, sleeping around him, protecting him, warding against nightmares. "Huh."

"What were they about?" Minato asked.

Flashes of blood and Mizuki sprinted through his mind. He shuddered instinctively.

"It was about Mizuki killing all of you."

Minato nodded. "That makes sense."

"Why now?" Naruto wondered. "Why not the night right after the fight?"

"You were too doped up on drugs to really dream," Minato explained.

"Oh." Naruto shifted, which only resulted in his four human pillows snuggling closer. He made a noise of exasperation and tried again, with the same result. Frustrated, Naruto flopped back down on the pillow.

"Problem?" Minato wondered, amusement in his blue eyes.

Naruto snarled at him. "Shouldn't you be in the Hokage tower?"

He smirked. "Took the day off. You ain't gettin' rid of me that easy, kiddo. Now, what's wrong?"

Naruto sighed. "I have to go to the bathroom."

-------------------------------------

"Be careful, Naruto. The doctor says you have to take it easy, so that means no training or no fighting, so just be careful and don't do anything stupid, okay? Cause, if you do, you might have to go back into the hospital again and then when you have nightmares, we won't be there to chase them away, like we were last night. So, don't wear yourself out because I don't like it when you have nightmares, and I'd have to chase them away and that means I'd have to sneak into the hospital and then Mom would get mad at me—"

"Raidon."

The little blond boy stopped talking and turned to his older brother. "Yeah?"

"I think Naruto gets the picture," Kenji advised.

Naruto nodded when Raidon turned to him. "I understand, I'll be super careful."

Raidon gave one sharp bob of his head. "Good." He reached up and clutched Naruto's good hand.

"So," Kenji said. "Why exactly are we doing this?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't know. Mom just told me to."

"Hn."

Geez.Who'd've thought a relative of mine would end up having the same catchphrase as Sasuke and Neji?

Naruto shot a glance to Kenji.

Well, at least he doesn't give off the stick-up-my-butt attitude.

He's just quiet.

The three brothers stopped walking in front of a very nice building.

"I still don't understand," Kenji muttered.

"Me, neither," Raidon agreed, trying to use Naruto's arm as a rope swing.

Naruto locked his elbow and swung his arm back and forth as Raidon wrapped his limbs around it. "I don't either," Naruto admitted. "But Mom told us to do it, so we're gonna do it."

They sighed in unison, then walked through the door.

Raidon crinkled his nose. "Man, it smells in here."

Naruto sniffed. "Well, I suppose they would have to clean a lot."

Raidon buried his face in Naruto's pant leg and wrapped himself around his leg. Naruto sighed, but let him be. It really does smell like cleaner in here. HehIts worse than the hospital.

The eldest blonde limped over to the counter, grabbing Kenji's hand and dragging him along. The girl looked up and gave her most charming smile.

"Can I help you?" She batted her eyelashes.

Naruto frowned at her. "Do you have something in your eye?"

"What?"

Naruto leaned forward. "You were blinking your eyes, is something wrong?"

At his side, Kenji rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot."

The girl blushed at Naruto's proximity. "No, I'm fine. Thanks. What can I do for you?"

"We need an animal," Naruto explained.

Raidon pulled his nose out of Naruto's thigh long enough to say, "That's why we came here."

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Kenji's eyebrow twitch a bit.

"Okay," the girl chirped. "What kind of animal?"

The three brothers remained silent.

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Well?"

"We don't exactly know," Naruto admitted. "Our mom handed us a bunch of cash and told us to come here."

"Oooookay," the girl said. "Why don't we take a look around, see what catches your eye?"

"Nuh-uh!" Raidon shook his head.

The girl frowned. "Why not?"

"It smells in here," the boy mumbled into his brother's leg.

"What?"

"The cleaner," Naruto clarified. "He doesn't like the smell."

The girl raised her eyebrows. "Uh, well, there's nothing I can really do about that."

Naruto bent down and tugged Raidon's nose out of his lower limb. "Hey, why don't you and Kenji wait outside until I come out, 'kay?"

Raidon grinned up at him. "'Kay!"

Before Kenji could escape, Naruto grabbed his arm. "Stay near the street and keep an eye on him." People from Mizuki's group could still be around.

"You mean don't let him do anything."

Naruto considered this. "I mean, don't let him get caught." By anyone.

Kenji rolled his eyes again and walked out after Raidon, who was currently breathing on the cold, air-conditioned window and then drawing in the cloud he left behind.

Naruto turned back to the girl. "Okay, whatcha got?"

"Follow me," she chirped. The girl led him back behind the counter.

Holy sh—

"As you can see, we have all kinds of animals for you to choose from," the girl explained.

Naruto gulped. "No kidding." There were multiple cages, set into the wall, with all kinds of animals housed in them. The cages were clean, and fairly spacious, and all the hopeful pets were clearly well fed and cared for.

Not one of them made a sound.

Naruto eyed the animals carefully. As the door had opened, each one had snapped into what could only be called "The Perfect Position." Back straight, eyes forward, if it had a tail, it was wrapped around the animal's legs.

Woah, they're like little perfect clones.

Creepy.

"So, what kind of pet are you looking for?" the girl asked again.

A real one, instead of a Plastic Pod Pet.

"Uh, I don't know," Naruto chuckled, scratching the back of his head with his good hand.

"Well, we have dogs, cats, birds, turtles, snakes, frogs, hedgehogs—"

Hedgehogs? Who wants a hedgehog?

The blonde tuned out the rest of the girl's list until she finished and asked. "Well, anything catch your eye?"

Naruto frowned. "I think, I'll need to talk to my mom."

The girl gave a strained smile. "Are you sure?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I'm not sure what she wants." Besides, these are creepy animals. Are they animals, or something . . . else?

"Come back soon," the girl chirped as Naruto exited the building.

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. Naruto stepped out into the busy street. He looked left and right and left again, but saw no sign of the younger blonds. "Idiots."

Scanning the street once more, Naruto couldn't find them again. Taking a deep breath, he bellowed, "Kenji! Raidon!"

Several people stopped and looked at him, but Naruto ignored them. He shouted again. "Kenji! RAIDON! If you don't get back here now, I'll—" Naruto faltered, unable to decide on a severe enough punishment. "I'll rip out all your nose and ear hairs one-by-one!"

This got more stares, but Naruto was more than used to unfriendly gazes. When neither boy appeared, Naruto upped the stakes. "I'll make you guys do dishes for a week!" he screamed.

Still nothing. Naruto scowled, the his heart beginning to pound. "Get back here RIGHT NOW or I'LL TELL MOM!"

If anything gets them, it'll be that.

Naruto waited for all of ten seconds, but didn't see or hear them coming. The fist around his heart tightened and his palms began to sweat. The ANBU.He thought frantically. Dad assigned ANBU to follow all of us. Naruto scanned the rooftops, and the streets, but there was no sign of the guards, either. They would tell me, they would tell me where Kenji and Raidon had gone.

Images of Raidon's lifeless face and Kenji's severed head flashed before Naruto's eyes. Now truly panicked, not seeing his brothers or the ANBU, Naruto closed his eyes and sent out his chakra again.

Come on, come on, Kenji, where are you? Gimme a hint, I need to find you! Where are you? Kenji! Oh, screw it! I don't have time for this!

Naruto forced his right hand up and made a familiar sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Instantly, the street was filled with over a hundred Narutos. The shopkeepers and pedestrians protested for half a moment, but before any real protests could be made, all but one Naruto sprinted off in a rush.

The real Naruto staggered back and slumped against the outside wall of the shop he'd just been in. I overdid it with the clones. I can't mass produce them like I can with Kyuubi's chakra.

Through his telepathic link to all of them, Naruto knew so far not even a trace had been picked up. Gods. Where are they?

Naruto tried closing his eyes and searching for Kenji's chakra one more time. He focused every ounce of chakra and concentration he had into it, even going so far as to connecting several of his clones to him and creating a chakra net.

There's got to be something, anything! Please, Kenji! No one could hide chakra that well. . . . . . . Wait!

Wait!

Ah-ha!

There! Found you!

Jumping up and taking a moment to steady himself, Naruto sprinted off in the direction of the extremely faint signature. As he ran through the streets, slightly off balance because of his right arm, Naruto could sense the chakra getting stronger. People muttered and shouted stuff as he blazed past them, but he ignored them.

I'm coming. Just hold on, I'm coming.

"Naruto!"

The Chuunin's heart slammed hard against his chest as Kenji called out to him.

"Kenji!"

A strange look passed across the boy's face as Naruto reached him and grabbed his arm. He dragged Kenji against the wall and scanned the street. "What happened? Are you alright? Where's Raidon? Was it a missing-nin? Where are the ANBU?"

Questions poured out of Naruto's mouth until Kenji stopped him. "Woah, woah, what are you talking about?"

Naruto ignored this question. "Where's Raidon?"

Silently, Kenji pointed down the alley, where Raidon was sitting, holding a little kitten and petting it happily.

"Raidon!"

At Naruto's bellow, the kitten yowled and jumped, giving the boy several scratches on his arm. Eyes wide at his brother's wrath, Raidon leapt up, holding the squirming kitten and ran to Naruto's side.

Kenji and Raidon stood side-by-side as Naruto looked them over. Seeing no severe wounds or obvious signs of trauma, Naruto's rage increased tenfold.

"Naruto—"

He cut Kenji off with a growl. Unable to find words enough to convey his anger, Naruto settled for glaring fiercely at them. Apparently, this was enough, as both jeweled sets of eyes widened considerably in terror. His left hand was clenching and unclenching repeatedly.

"If you ever do something like that again—"

Raidon pouted. "But the kitten—"

"Screw the kitten!"

Both boys shrank back into the wall.

"If you ever scare me like that again, I will saw off your legs with a spoon!"

Silence reigned.

"Understood?"

They nodded. Naruto sighed and blew out half of the anger. "Let's go home."

The trio of brothers walked for a while, and after some time, Kenji asked, "Why a spoon?"

Naruto twitched. "Because it's dull you twit, it'll hurt more!"