Naruto:

The Pride of the Leaf

Chapter 14

A/N: So I'm feeling a bit better now. Thanks everyone for the support. So as of right now I'm good. I've got a buddy who drew the cover picture of the story. I know him as iKickZombies. Great guy. And I know you're reading this man! Thanks for the pic and te suport!

Right now I'm watching Adventure Time, I've got a Coca-Cola, my laptop's fixed, and I've quit smoking. A lot of good going on. Also I've done a lot of work with my impressions and will be uploading a video to YouTube.

Also, last time I'm addressing this. Rin and Naruto will not be a pairing in this story. She is in her 20's. He is 12. Not doing it. Just, no. Maybe another story where they're the same age, but not this one. Just, no.

So with that said, let's get this chapter going.

DiscLAMEr

I don't own Naruto.

Minato was sitting behind his desk as the sun was begining to set. He had stayed at his office later than usual tonight. If there were no hicups, his family would be home today.

I sure hope they're okay. He thought to himself as her stared out the window. He looked down t the seal on his arm for the hundreth time that day, hoping he would feel the slight burn of someone pouring chakra into one of his seals. Again, like all the other times though, he felt nothing. Please, be okay.

He turned in his chair to turn back to his desk. He began sorting through the paperwork regarding his son's team. Just as he was opeing the folder to look at the contents a sudden crash filled the office accompanied by a cloud of dust.

Minato was in shock, caught completely off guard. He pulled out a kunai and launched it at the sourch of the crash. He heard the kunai hit its mark as the kunai bore its way into flesh.

As the smoke cleared he was horrified by what he saw. Naruto and the entire team were sitting in the center of the room. He looked around frantically to find where the kunai had struck. He didn't have to look very hard.

Naruto was laying face down in the center of the room, the kunai jutting from his side. Everyone else in the room had taken notice to it as well.

Kushina's face twisted in agony as she saw the kunai protruding from her son's side.

"NARUTO!" She cried as she lept to her son, holding him in her arms, as tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"I'll get him to the hospital!" Minato said in a shaky voice.

"Havn't you done enough!?" Kushina shouted, enraged at her husband.

Lee steped forward and slung the boy onto his back. "I will take him." And with that he began leaping through the village, trying to get his friend to the hospital as quickly as he could.

Kushina, Minato and company followed as quickly as they could, but none of them could match Lee's speed. The village was dark now. Only a few street lamps lit the village's streets.

At the hospital, Lee was met at the door by Rin.

"What happened?!" She exclaimed as she took the boy off Lee's back and loaded him onto a gurney.

Lee scratched the back of his head and looked down at the floor. "I do not know how to explain that."

Rin just shook her head before focusing on Naruto's wound and the kunai that caused it.

"Wait a second," She said as she got a closer look at the handle of the weapon still stuck in the blonde's side, "Isn't this one of Minato-sensei's kunai?" She was in shock. What had happened? How did his father's blade get stuck in his side? But nevermind that for now. Naruto's life was in danger.

She began pushing the gurney into the ICU of the hospital. As she pushed, several doctors came along side her to rovide aid during the surgery.

Once in the operating room, the nurses began giving Naruto controlled doses of sedatives. Based off of Kushina's pregnancy they knew to give him double the normal dosage. She looked at the wound and began trying to thing of the safest way to remove it. It was hilt deep in his left side, narrowly avoing his lungs, ribs, and kidney.

So I don't think it hit anything vital. She thought as she began to slowly remove the kunai. I'm sorry about this Naruto. And with one quick, controlled tug she pulled the kunai the rest of the way out. She knew Naruto felt that, even if he was heavily sedated. Mostly due to the grimace and grunting afterwards.

Blood poured from the wound and she quickly applied pressure to it while using medical ninjutsu to heal the wound. As she did so, she noticed a strange reddish color emmiting from Naruto. The wound was reduced to a small cut right in front of her eyes.

Kyuubi... Rin thought to herself, for once thankful for the creature. I mean, Karuma. She then began stitching up Naruto's side, hoping the boy wouldn't be too mad at her for the way she got the blade out of him.

Once she was done, Naruto was wheeled to a near-by room to rest. Knowing him I'll be pulling those out in the morning.

She stepped into the waiting room, where everyone was well... waiting. Kushina was crying on Minato's shoulder while he looked completely distraught. Everyone else was standing around and as soon as she stepped int the room, all eyes went on her.

It'd be nice if this happened while I wasnt here... Rin thought with a sigh. "He's going to be fine. Karuma healed the wound as soon as I removed the kunai. He needed a few stitches but that's it. He got lucky nothing vital was hit." She paused for a second, knowing that this next part wasn't going to be easy to answer. She turned to her sensei. "So what happened?"

Minato looked down at the ground, saddened by the accident. He tried to find the words to describe what happend but he couldn't find them. He found himself with a lump in his throat just by even thinking about how he had almost taken his son's life.

As he spoke, the words caught in his throat. "I was sitting in my office... I w-was wondering why they were taking so long to get home... I zoned out... There was a-a crash... I threw the kunai out of re-reflex and i-it h-hit N-Naruto." He broke down in tears as he finished. Kakashi placed his hand on his sensei's shoulder in an attemt to console him. Kushina hugged her husband as he wept, tears begining to stream down her cheeks as well. She was just happy her son was safe. She knew Minato had only reacted. He had no way of knowing who was in his office through all that smoke, she knew that.

Rin sighed. She'd never known her sensei to be the jumpy type. Normally he was lways so calm and collected. It was probably just stress. That mission had a lot riding on it for him.

"Everyone just go home and get some rest. Naruto will be just fine in the morning. I'd evn wager he'll be ready to meet his team." Rin said. Kushina started to speak but was cut off by the brunette "I'll stay with him, just go."

Everyone filed out of the room while Rin made her way back to Naruto's room. He stirred a bit as she walked in, a sign the sedatives were wearing off. She took a seat beside his bed and soon fell asleep with the moon peakng in through the window.

She awoke a few hours later to something poking her cheek repetatively. She tried to smack it away for a few more minutes of sleep, but whatever it was wasn't having it.

She opened her eyes a bit to see what exactly was jabbing her while she slept to see a pair of blue eyes staring back at her.

"Yo, Rin-chan." Naruto said as he poked her cheek once again.

She opened her eyes all the way to realize she was resting her head on the side of his bed and a large puddle of drool was under he chin. Her face turned bright red as she wipped the drool from her chin and immediately began appologizing to the blonde.

"It's fine." Naruto said with a laugh. She'd never heard him laugh like that before. Normally Naruto was too busy trying to immitate Kakashi to laugh. She knew the boy looked up to her friend but it was almost wierd to the extent that the boy copied him.

Maybe this made him realize its best to be himself. Rin thought with a smile as she enjoyed hearing the boy's luaghter.

"But, hey Rin." Naruto said, as he suddenly stopped laughing. "Do you mind taking these stitches out? I kinda need to go do something." He was flashing her this big toothy grin. She couldn't help but smile back as she nodded in agreement.

As soon as the stitches were out Naruto lept off of the bed and bega stretching. She heard several of his joints pop and every time one did, you would hear him grunt in relief. Once he was finished stretching he put on a fresh change of clothes someone had dropped off for him.

It was his usual black hitai-ate, a black short sleeved shirt, grey hoodie and black pants. Once he had the clothes on Rin handed him his tool pack and Naruto lept from the window.

"Wait!" She called out after him. "You have to check out first!"

"You can take care of that!" Naruto said with a smile as he landed on the roof of the building across the street. "I gotta go! Later Rin-chan!" And with that he was gone. No doubt using his and his father's justu to leave.

He could've done that from the begining. He wanted me to watch him leave just to piss me off... Rin thought to herself as her hands clenched into fists. "NARUTO! GET BACK HERE!"

She could've sworn she heard him laughing in the distance. So she just shook her head, closed the window, and went to go fill out the boy's check out papers.

Naruto made his way throught the village to his dad's office. The sun hadn't been up long and dew was still on the ground. He stopped on a rooftop when he realized he was about to pass Ichiraku. No better time than the present. He thought to himself, and with that he lept down from the roof and onto the street.

He pulled back the familiar curtain and a flurry of emotions hit him all at once. He was happy, sad, confused, excited, scared, and a little angry. The source of all this was the face of a familar brown haired girl who was standing beside her father in the ramen stand. To him it felt like looking in a mirror. It was as if she was feeling the exact same flurry of emotions.

"N-Naruto." Ayame said, startled by his sudden appearance.

"Hey Ayame." Naruto said with a slightly awkward grin while scratching the back of his head. "Mind if I get my usual order?"

"S-sure." She replied, turning to her father.

Naruto sat in silence while his food was being made. He wanted to make things right between him and Ayame but he didn't know what to say. Luckily for him, the old man knew how to get him started.

"So Naruto, how was your training with Jiraiya? Learn any new techniques?" Teuchi asked with a grin. He knew Naruto still held a candle for his daughter, but he honestly didn't know how she felt. She hadn't talked about him since he left, well aside from the phase where she had thrown kunai at a photo of the boy.

She looked at Naruto, all he could read on her face was curiousity. He smiled at the old man before answering him. "Yeah, Jiraiya taught me a lot! And more than one new technique!"

Teuchi smiled wide at the boy. "I'd love to see them sometime but, the shop keeps me busy. Ayame, why don't you have him show you and then you tell me about it?"

"I'd rather not, dad." Ayame said, adverting her gaze to the ground. "I don't think Sasuke would like that."

A/N: So muh more I want to write but I'm gonna let that fester a bit. Thanks for reading guys. Next chapter will pick up at this exact moment! Anyways! Take it easy and as always FAVORITE/REVIEW/FOLLOW. Next chapter very soon to follow so stay tuned!

-SurrealCereal-