Chapter Twenty Five: Itchy Blood
Betad by Carrie2sky
Minato was sitting up in his bed, breathing very heavily. He was thinking about the deal that Kyūbi and Kaikou had made.
Damn it! he thought and hit the bed with his clenched fist. What now? What could he do to stop them? It wouldn't do any good if he just approached them and tried to stop them on his own, he had to have a plan and people that could help him.
Jiraiya was gone now, and he might have been the only person to do it, but . . . maybe Kakashi, or why not Tsunade? She was the Hokage and one of the legendary Sannin, but . . .then again . . .Minato sighed. This was so frustrating! He looked at the clock; it was only 5am.
Yep, this sure is frustrating, he thought as he ran a hand through his hair. He then grabbed the pendant around his neck and sighed.
Minato had to tear himself out of his thoughts when a knock was heard on the door.
He frowned, who could it be this late at night . . .or . . . rather . . .early in the morning?
"Come in," he called. The door opened and in stepped the Godaime Hokage, Tsunade.
"Tsunade-san?" Minato asked and looked at Tsunade with an even deeper frown. "What brings you here at this hour?"
"I've been at the Hokage tower the whole night and decided to stop by the hospital to check your condition on my way home," Tsunade answered as Minato nodded. She wanted to see if Naruto and Minato were okay.
"Oh . . .that makes sense," Minato answered as Tsunade smiled and closed the door behind her. She sat down on one of the chairs next to Minato's bed.
"I heard you breathing pretty heavily through the door just now, so I guessed that you were having a nightmare," Tsunade continued as Minato looked away with a shy smile while Tsunade's smile widened. "Even big boys can have nightmares, you know that, don't you?" She teased.
"Actually . . . yes . . ." Minato smiled again but there was no happiness in that smile, and Tsunade noticed this.
"What's wrong Minato?" Tsunade asked as Minato bit his lip.
"I'm worried . . ." he began after a few minutes of silence. "Because . . .well . . .I didn't have a nightmare . . ."
"Huh? What are you talking about you brat? Even if you're living through a memory again it's still just a nightmare and-"
"It wasn't a memory either, okay!" Minato suddenly shouted and Tsunade's eyes widened. Minato rarely lost his control so easily. He took a deep breath. "You know that Kyūbi and Naruto can talk to each other, right?" he asked as Tsunade frowned but nodded in understanding.
"Well, Kyūbi has caused trouble for Naruto from time to time and we don't know why, right?" Minato asked as Tsunade nodded again, confused. What was Minato's point? "Anyway . . . my point is that I do now . . ."
"Nani?" Tsunade asked, as Minato looked her straight in the eyes.
"Since the fight between Hebi and Tsuwamono I've . . .I've had this weird guy . . .in my head . . ." Minato said hesitantly as Tsunade's eyes were about to pop out of her head anytime now.
"What. Are. You. Talking. About?" Tsunade asked between clenched teeth, she was really pissed.
"I'm talking about an un-dead," Minato said as Tsunade's face stiffened.
"One of the un-dead . . .?" Tsunade whispered and Minato nodded. "But . . .if this guy is one of the un-dead, it means that . . .well . . .the un-deadis a name, a collective name, for beings that are deceased yet behave as if alive, so . . .what the bloody hell are you talking about Minato?"
"I know what he is and well . . .he himself says that he's a helping hand to the Shinigami," Minato said and swallowed nervoulsy, while Tsunade closed her eyes and bowed her head. "He says that he has a mission to complete and that mission is to bring me back to the Shinigami . . ."
"Kuso . . ." Tsunade cursed and looked up at Minato before burying her face in her hands. "How long has it been since he showed himself in your mind?"
"I'm not quite sure actually . . .maybe a month ago. He may have been in my mind since I came back here to Konoha alive again . . .I don't know . . ." Minato answered.
"But why didn't you tell someone earlier about this? We could have helped you," Tsunade asked as Minato sighed. "Okay . . .I get it . . .you're just like Naruto," Tsunade stated as Minato looked up at her with a bemused frown. "He doesn't want to bother people with his own problems, he just want to solve problems that actually . . .don't concern him."
"Maybe you're right about that part," Minato said and smiled, as did Tsunade.
"Anyway, I wanna know more about this guy . . .what's his name? Er . . .does he even have a name?" Tsunade asked. Minato looked a bit troubled but Tsunade didn't care, she just wanted to help Minato and Naruto so she needed to know what was going on.
"His name's Kaikou. He looks exactly like me but . . .he's more of a shadow imitating me so I don't know if that's his real appearance," Minato explained, without looking at Tsunade this time.
"Hm . . .he looks like you, you say?" Tsunade asked as Minato nodded. "Kuso . . . this isn't good."
"What are you talking about?" Minato asked and now it was Tsunade's turn to look troubled.
"Well, there's a reason why he looks like you, right? Normally, if someone or something is following or hunting you, they don't look like you. They've got their own personality but this guy . . .he looks just like you!" Tsunade exclaimed as Minato frowned.
"But what's so bad about that?" Minato asked again because he didn't quite understand what Tsunade was getting at.
"It's worse than bad, you got that?" She asked as Minato nodded. "Well . . .since he looks just like you . . .just . . .let's say that his position could be the Shinigami's right hand, okay? It's very hard to explain all of this, but you have to know that this guy is more than just one of the un-dead," Tsunade explained as Minato was even more confused. "He is an un-dead okay, but . . .he's an un-dead with benefits-"
"You only confusing me even more Tsunade-san," Minato interrupted.
"It's so hard to explain Minato, but you have to understand, don't mess with this guy, he's more powerful than you think," Tsunade said, causing a chill to run down Minato's spine, even though he didn't feel scared.
"Okay . . ." Minato said feeling a little unnerved by what Tsunade said.
Tsunade looked sad. "Tell me if anything else happens between you and . . .Kaikou, promise me that," she asked.
"I will," Minato said as Tsunade smiled again.
"So tell me what happened this time. You said that you had a nightmare, but it wasn't quite a nightmare," Tsunade inquired as Minato swallowed again.
"Well . . .I saw Kaikou," Minato started as Tsunade's eyes went wide just like they did before.
"W-what?" Tsunade stuttered.
"I said that I saw Kaikou," Minato repeated.
"Yes, I heard that, but you know what I mean," Tsunade growled a bit pissed but Minato could hear very clearly that she was more worried than pissed or angry.
"Kaikou was in my head talking to . . .Kyūbi-" began Minato but got interrupted.
"What the bloody hell!?" Tsunade shouted while Minato had to cover his ears in an attempt to escape getting a hearing impairment.
"Shh! You don't want to wake Naruto up, do you?" Minato chided her as he uncovered his ears.
Tsunade was standing up now, looking really pissed. "What the bloody hell are you talking about Minato?" she asked, shaking out of anger.
"Kyūbi got into my mind so he could talk with Kaikou," Minato explained.
"And why is that?" Tsunade asked impatiently.
"They formed a plot," Minato explained as Tsunade bit her lower lip. "They were talking about this deal and I got to overhear what it all was about and well . . .I told you about the part of Kaikou getting . . .my soul back to the Shinigami . . .and the other part of it is to free Kyūbi," Minato finished as he looked at his hands.
"You're kidding, right?" Tsunade asked as Minato shook his head; she sat down in the chair again with a loud thump. "Shit . . ."
"Hey . . .just because you're the Hokage doesn't mean that you can speak like that," Minato muttered under his breath. Tsunade sent him a death glare that could put the Uchiha glare to shame.
"Shut up brat . . ." she muttered back as Minato snorted.
"I'm dead serious about this . . .I can't let this happen. If Kyūbi breaks free, Naruto will die and if Kaikou gets my soul, I'll die too . . .and leave Naruto . . .even if he is already dead . . ." Minato spoke quietly. Tsunade understood how much Naruto meant to Minato. Naruto was the only thing left for him and if Naruto died Minato would also die.
"But what can we do?" asked Tsunade and sighed. "About Kyūbi, I don't know so much about that demon but if we could seal him away so that he wouldn't be able to give Naruto his chakra, maybe we'll have a better chance in saving you both," she suggested.
"Maybe . . .I only sealed away a portion of Kyūbi's chakra, giving Naruto access to the rest so that he could use it if needed," Minato explained as Tsunade nodded. "But . . .remember that black kunai? I left it as a key to Jiraiya that could either strengthen or weaken Kyūbi's seal. The seal naturally becomes weaker as the years pass, and in the event that it is broken Kyūbi will be released. So by using the key I should be able to seal away all of its chakra," Minato finished as Tsunade thought about it for a moment. Minato unconsciously touched the pendant around his neck again.
Jiraiya's death had hit her hard, so the mere mention of his name made her heart scream out of pain. She hadn't loved him as a lover; she had loved him as a very close brother.
"That may work but there must be a catch," Tsunade finally answered as Minato frowned.
"I don't really know about that, but I do know that Kyūbi respects me since I can seal him away for good in either Naruto or me and I guess that he respects Naruto a bit as well. Something else that I know is that while Kyūbi initially complies with Naruto's requests out of curiosity, it later does so in an attempt to further its influence over Naruto and weaken the seal. It also acts in order to preserve its own well-being, as Naruto's death would also result in its own," Minato explained.
Tsunade nodded again. "Yeah . . ." she mumbled and then sighed again. "But how are you going to seal the chakra away then?" she asked.
"Well . . .when I sealed Kyūbi's chakra I split it into two parts as Yin and Yang chakra. I sealed the Yang chakra into myself before I died and the Yin chakra into Naruto . . .so . . .if I can take the Yin chakra from Naruto and seal it into myself, he won't be bothered anymore by Kyūbi, but . . .I don't know how Naruto will feel about that . . ." Minato trailed off, as Tsunade smiled.
"Good point, but-" Tsunade stopped as Minato noticed that she just came to think of something.
"Tsunade-san?" Minato tried, but Tsunade just stared blankly in front of her. "Tsunade, please tell me. What are you thinking about? Is something wrong?"
Tsunade seemed to shake herself from her thoughts. "No, nothing's wrong but . . . you mentioned that you sealed the Yang chakra into your body and the Yin chakra into Naruto's, right?" Tsunade asked as Minato frowned but nodded. "Well . . .we still don't know how you ended up in Naruto's mind and stayed there for fifteen years, but I think that I understand it now . . .when you sealed away the two chakras, maybe it didn't work quite as you planned . . ." Tsunade explained as Minato understood where this was going.
"You mean instead of splitting up the two chakras, Yin into Naruto, and Yang into myself, that instead, they both accidentally got sealed into him, with me ending up in Naruto's mind?" Minato asked as Tsunade nodded. "But how did that happen? That would mean that technically all Kyūbi's chakra was sealed into one body but two minds?" he asked again.
"That's the way it seems. You ended up sealing away both chakras into each of you but, I believe that the two chakras didn't want to be split like that so, instead, they had to be close to each other with the end result being that you ended up in Naruto's mind," Tsunade explained and shrugged..
"That actually makes sense, but we're not supposed to talk about how I ended up there-" Minato began but Tsunade interrupted him.
"It's just as important to keep you and Naruto alive, you got that?" Tsunade said sternly and Minato could hear that there was a threat behind it.
"Fine," Minato answered as Tsunade gave him an angry look.
"Don't act like it's nothing," she warned him again as Minato looked away.
"But back to the black kunai and everything," Tsunade asked again as Minato looked up at her again.
"Well, if I seal away both chakras I'm sure that Kyūbi won't break free, but . . .then I'll have all of Kyūbi's chakra inside me together with Kaikou . . .that can't be good," Minato said as Tsunade nodded in agreement.
"True, but there doesn't seem to be another way," Tsunade pointed out as Minato thought about it.
"I don't know. I . . ." Minato stopped and had a frown on his face. Something had just hit him, and it had hit him hard.
"I just got an idea," he said slowly and now it was Tsunade's turn to frown.
"Huh? Nani?" She asked and actually smiled.
"It may be risky but I think that it may work, you see, Kaikou wants my soul, Kyūbi wants his freedom, they are always talking to each other so-"
"AAH!"
A scream interrupted Minato. Minato and Tsunade looked at each other and then Minato understood; it was Naruto's scream.
"Shit!" Minato shouted and tossed the bed sheets away and hurried towards Naruto's room. Tsunade swore that he had used a jutsu to be that fast.
When Minato opened the door to Naruto's room, he saw that Naruto was crying and screaming as he scratched himself as if his whole body was itching.
"Make it stop!" Naruto screamed. At first Minato didn't know what to do, he just stood there in the doorway, seemingly frozen.
"Naruto!" his senses came back to him as he hurried over to Naruto's bed and tried to calm him down by calling his name as he tried to stop him from scratching himself. He was already bleeding.
"Naruto! Please! You've got to stop! Please Naruto!" Minato yelled over Naruto's screams. When that didn't work he ended up hugging Naruto tightly. Naruto couldn't scratch himself anymore since his arms were pinned to his sides, but it didn't keep him from crying and screaming.
"Make it stop . . .it hurts . . ." Naruto sobbed as Minato held him tighter; he knew that this was Kyūbi's work. Kaikou had told Kyūbi to make Naruto suffer.
"Shh . . .it's okay Naruto . . .everything will be fine . . .I'm here now," he said and tried his best to comfort Naruto.
Tsunade had also entered the room, but when she saw the condition Naruto was in, she gasped. She hurried to another room and if Minato didn't know her better he would have guessed that she ran away disgusted by the mere sight of Naruto.
After some more time had passed with Naruto still crying and screaming and comforting words from Minato, Tsunade came back with a little bottle in her hand.
"Make him take this and hopefully the itching will stop," she said as Minato looked at the bottle with the liquid in it. "It looks like he has itchy blood," she continued.
"Itchy blood?" Minato asked and frowned as he tried to keep Naruto still. "I've heard of that. You can get that when you try to get clean from heroin, right?" he asked as Tsunade nodded, Minato's frown deepened.
"This isn't heroin, this is something that Kyūbi has done," Minato said angrily as his body followed Naruto movements as Naruto struggled to get free so he could scratch the itch away.
"Make it go away! I don't like this! Make it go away!" Naruto screamed as Minato was gripped with fear. What the bloody hell had Kyūbi done!?
Minato held Naruto with both arms as Tsunade got a syringe ready so they could give Naruto an injection with the calming medicine. It wasn't just calming though; it would hopefully stop the itchy feeling Naruto had. She got herself a pair of gloves and then she took a clean syringe, a piece of paper and a plaster.
"Hold him as still as you can, if I don't hit a vein it'll take longer until if finally takes affect," Tsunade said, while Minato tried his best to keep Naruto still, but in the process, he was hurting Naruto because he had to hold onto him so tightly.
Tsunade quickly swiped and injected the liquid in Naruto's neck causing him to scream. His skin was very sensitive to any kind of contact and the needle really stung. Then she quickly put the plaster on so that he wouldn't bleed.
"AAH! It hurts! It burns! Make it go away!" Naruto cried, causing Minato's eyes to water just by watching Naruto's painful face. "It hurts . . ." Naruto sobbed. Finally the medicine began to kick in.
"Shh . . .it's okay Naruto, I'm here and I'll help you, okay?" Minato asked as he laid his head on top of Naruto's to comfort him.
"It hurts . . ." Naruto continued to sob, "It hurts so bad . . ."
Minato rubbed Naruto's back with calming circles. Naruto had stopped screaming but he was still crying and it seemed like he wouldn't stop for some time either. He had his fists clenched on Minato's chest and one of his fists was touching his own forehead.
"I'm scared," Naruto said with a hoarse voice as Minato sighed.
"I know and I'm very sorry," Minato said gently as Naruto blinked so that more tears streamed down his cheeks. "But I don't know what happened, can you tell me?" Minato asked as nice as he could, as he didn't want to push Naruto too much, but at the same time, he really had to know what had happened to make him cry this much.
"I don't know . . .exactly . . .but a big fury thing that looked like a fox said that someone close to me was going to die and . . ." Naruto sobbed again as Minato held him tighter with his free arm. "I don't w-want that t-to h-happen . . ."
"Shh . . .I won't let that happen, not as long as I'm around, okay?" Minato told Naruto as Tsunade looked at the scene in front of her. She got a déjà vu feeling, and then smiled a bit. Minato and Naruto were very close and Naruto could always seek protection with Minato.
"I'm going to my house to get some sleep, you should too," Tsunade said in a mothering way, as she walked out the door, closing it behind her with a small click.
Minato and Naruto sat together, with Minato continuing to hold his son for a half hour. Finally, Naruto spoke again.
"I made you something," Naruto said quietly, as he listened to Minato's rhythmical heartbeat.
"You did? And what would that be?" Minato asked as he tried his best to cheer Naruto up.
"When you told me those jokes not too long ago, I wanted to come up with something myself so this girl, Shizune . . .something . . .was very kind and helped me to come up with something and she wrote it down on a paper," Naruto explained as Minato cocked an eyebrow.
"Do you have the paper here?" Minato asked as Naruto barely nodded.
"It's over there," Naruto said and pointed at the bedside table with a shaky finger. Actually, Naruto's whole body was shaking pretty bad.
"Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Minato asked as Naruto shook his head. Minato picked it up with the hand that was rubbing Naruto's back.
"Do you want me to read it out loud for you?" he asked as Naruto nodded and looked up at the paper in Minato's hand.
"Okay . . .The first thing Kami created was the donkey," Minato began reading.
"You're a donkey," Kami says. "You'll work hard all day long and be called dense. You'll live twenty years," Kami finished.
"Aww . . ." the donkey answered, "It doesn't sound like a good life. Can't we make it five years instead of twenty?" the donkey asked. After a moment of thinking, Kami accepted it with a nod.
The second thing Kami created was the dog.
"You'll be called a dog," Kami said to the fury thing in front of him. "You'll live your life in submission, eat leftovers from the table and guard the house for your masters. You'll live thirty five years," Kami said as the dog sighed.
"Ouch, that doesn't sound that much fun. Can't I live fifteen years instead of thirty five?" The dog asked as Kami thought about it for a moment and then he accepted it with a smirk.
The third thing Kami created was the parrot.
"You'll be called a parrot. You'll sit in a corner and repeat everything and anything that other people say and you'll be a huge irritation for them. You'll live for seventy five years," Kami said to the parrot.
"That sounds pretty tedious, can't we say fifty years instead of seventy five?" The parrot asked Kami as Kami thought about it for a moment and then he accepted it with a nod again.
And finally Kami created man.
"You're human, a man," Kami said to the thing in front of him that stood up on two legs. "You'll have a great life. You're clever and intelligent, so you'll live twenty years," Kami said, but the man disagreed.
"It really does sounds like a great life, but can't you make it a little bit longer?" The man asked as Kami thought that. For the first time, the man showed his intelligence.
"Can I have the fifteen years the donkey didn't want, the twenty years the dog said no to, and the twenty five years that the parrot wouldn't take?" The man asked with a frown and Kami grinned wide as he accepted it, he liked this creation.
So, that's why man lives with joy and freedom for twenty years until he gets married and has to work hard and be called dense for fifteen years. After that he has to live in submission, eat leftovers from the table and guard the house for twenty years. The last twenty five years of his life he'll sit in a corner and repeat everything and anything that people say to him, and of course he'll be a huge irritation to everyone."
Minato finished reading and saw that Naruto smiled again.
"Hope you liked it . . .dad," Naruto said as Minato actually dropped the paper.
"Uh . . .otou-san?" Naruto asked as Minato felt something stick in his throat. He still wasn't used to the fact that Naruto knew about their relationship with each other; he was just so happy every time he heard Naruto call him otou-san or dad.
"H-hai?" Minato asked, as he blinked and looked at Naruto.
"Are you alright? Didn't you like it?" Naruto asked. Minato saw the frown on Naruto face and that Naruto looked like he was about to cry.
"Why do you think that? I loved it Naru-chan!" Minato answered enthusiastically as he grinned. Naruto smiled again.
"Good! I'm glad! It took me a lot of time to finish it," Naruto said as Minato chuckled.
"You're pretty good at making stuff that people will like," Minato said, causing Naruto to frown at first, but then smile. "So it doesn't surprise me that this was good as well."
"Yay!" Naruto chirped as Minato couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's way of acting.
Minato suddenly hugged Naruto tight and Naruto was a bit confused by it at first and frowned, but after some time he hugged Minato back.
"Otou-san . . .is something wrong . . .?" Naruto asked. Then he felt something wet on his cheek, so he looked up and his eyes widened. Minato was crying.
"Otou-san!?" Naruto exclaimed and stiffened in Minato's grip. "Otou-san!?" Naruto yelled again.
"It's okay Naruto, it's okay . . ." Minato said between sobs.
"No! Otou-san is crying! It's not okay!" Naruto screamed as Minato hugged him even tighter.
"Naruto, I'm just so happy . . ." Minato answered as Naruto frowned again.
"No!" he screamed and tried to get free from Minato's hug. "You're not okay! You don't cry when you're happy! You cry when you're sad!" Naruto continued to scream as Minato tried to hold onto him.
"No Naruto! Listen to me!" Minato cried out, causing Naruto to stiffen at the harsh tone Minato used. "I'm okay, really, but I am happy. I'm happy that you're alive and well . . ." Minato explained. Naruto was confused. Why wouldn't he be well? What was wrong? Was there something wrong with him or was there something wrong with someone else?
"Iie . . .something is wrong, Otou-san . . ." Naruto said as the tears were once again streaming down his face, "Something is wrong . . ."
Minato looked at Naruto through the mist that only he could see because of his tears.
"Naruto, really, I'm fine . . ." Minato lied. Naruto was right, he wasn't okay, but at the same, he really was happy.
Naruto was alive and had accepted Minato as his father, but still . . .Kyūbi and Kaikou had made a deal that worried Minato very much. It was probably Kyūbi who made Naruto scratch himself like he had, and Minato really felt bad about that. As if the word scratch was the trigger, Naruto started scratching his right arm again and Minato noticed immediately.
"Stop that, Naruto," Minato said, firmly as Naruto began scratching himself even more.
"But it's itchy," Naruto complained and scratched harder. Minato saw blood dripping from Naruto fingers.
"That's enough Naruto," Minato said in a hard voice when Naruto began scratching himself so much that even Minato's clothes became bloody. "Naruto!"
Naruto was scratching himself too hard and too much and Minato had to stop him. He tried to hold Naruto's arms against his body and succeeded, but then Naruto began screaming.
"Let go! It's itchy!" he screamed as Minato shut his eyes tightly even as Naruto's screams became louder and more tears streamed down his scarred cheeks.
"Naruto! You have to calm down!" Minato yelled over Naruto's screaming, but Naruto wouldn't listen.
Minato was a bit glad that Naruto couldn't move his legs just now because if he could this would have been much more complicated and violent.
Kuso . . . Tsunade isn't here anymore and these walls are so thick that people three rooms from here can't hear us if the door is closed, Minato thought as he tried to hold on to a struggling Naruto.
"Please Naru-chan! Just try not to scratch yourself! Please!" Minato cried out again. He could see that Naruto was trying hard not scratch, but it was easier said than done.
After nearly twenty minutes of struggling, Naruto finally calmed down. His skin was still itchy, but his throat was sore and his muscles in his upper body hurt pretty badly since he had moved so much.
"It's okay Naruto . . .just please try to resist scratching yourself, okay?" Minato asked as he stroked Naruto's hair with one hand.
"But it hurts and it's itchy," Naruto sobbed again. Minato really didn't know what to do. Maybe he could use the liquid that Tsunade had used?
"Please don't scratch yourself. I'm going to get something for you that will make the itching go away," Minato said as he laid Naruto down on the bed again.
Naruto whimpered and tried really hard not to scratch himself anymore while Minato got up from the bed and tried to find that liquid Tsunade had used on Naruto earlier. Where could it be? She had used a syringe and she had filled it with a liquid that was in a blue-ish green bottle. Minato looked at the desk that was in the room and saw that there were more than just a couple of bottles there.
He was lucky; there were only one bottle that looked like the one that Tsunade had used. He soon found a clean syringe, so that he could inject it into Naruto's system. He got a plaster too.
"This is going to sting a little," Minato said as he turned towards Naruto who lay stiff in the bed, trying not to scratch himself. Tears still poured down his face like rain poured outside a very cloudy day.
Naruto looked at the syringe in Minato's hand as Minato cleant the area at the crook at Naruto's arm. He injected the liquid as Naruto hissed at the slight pain, but as soon as the drug made contact with his blood, the itching disappeared.
"It's gone . . ." Naruto said and Minato breathed out in relief.
"Good," Minato answered and watched as Naruto closed his eyes for a moment. "That's good . . ."
Naruto opened his eyes again and looked at Minato with a slight frown on his pale face. Minato noticed how much better Naruto looked than just a few days ago. He was eating a bit more now and soon he would be able to learn how to walk again.
"What was that feeling you had otou-san?" Naruto asked as Minato flinched at Naruto's choice of words, but he masked his shock quickly.
"I don't know Naruto, I don't know . . ." he lied as held Naruto's tiny hand in his own.
Naruto was soon asleep again and Minato smiled at his son's peaceful face. He should have left Naruto by now to go to bed himself, but he didn't want to leave Naruto when Kyūbi was messing with him. He thought more than twice about it then came to a conclusion.
It was very dark outside and nothing could be heard outside except for the wind playing with leaves up in the trees. However, if you listened very carefully, you could also hear two heartbeats and two people breathing next to each other. And if you turned your gaze towards Konoha's hospital you would see two blondes, one boy and one man, cuddled up close to each other on one bed in the same room.