Okay, take two! I like this version a lot better, and I think that most of you will as well. The changes start when Kakashi asks "Kyuubi no Kitsune is nicer?"

Chapter 14

"See? I told you he was alive."

The wind died down and silence reigned in the room. For those who had known the Fourth, it was like a ghost come back to life. For those who had lived after his death, it was a stone face and scowling picture animated in front of them.

Namikaze Minato slowly turned around, eyeing the gaping faces warily. There were a few that seemed familiar to him, but he only relaxed when he saw Naruto sprawled in the bed. He moved toward the bed.

"Oh, no you don't," Kakashi growled. In an instant he was between Minato and Naruto.

Naruto frowned at his sensei's back. "Kakashi-sensei—"

"Kakashi?!" Minato goggled. "You-you're so tall!"

The killer intent jacked up in the room as Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "I don't know who you are, or why you are impersonating the Fourth, but if you take one more step, I'll kill you where you stand."

To prove his point, Kakashi lifted his headband. The Sharingan blazed angrily at Minato, who stared blankly. "Wha—but Kakashi. I don't—Naruto—"

"Wait—what's going on?" Chouji wondered. There was a confused blond man standing in Naruto's hospital room being threatened by Kakashi. The man's confusion was apparently turning to anger.

Minato frowned. He saw the coming combat and didn't like it. And someone was between him and Naruto. This person was dangerous, Minato could recognize that—he didn't want anything like that near his son.

"Kakashi—" Tsunade started, stepping forward.

"Move," Minato commanded.

The elite Jounin's response was to pull a kunai out and level it at the resurrected Hokage. "Make me, sensei."

Kurenai stood up and held up her hands. "Okay, I think—"

"Do not come between me and my son!" Minato roared.

Kurenai and Yamato cringed, and Sakura and Chouji's jaws dropped. Naruto sat up straight. They all began yelling at once.

"Naruto, you didn't know because—"

"Keep control of your anger, we don't want Kyuubi—"



"The Fourth was Naruto's dad—"

"Wait! I thought Naruto was an orphan—"

"Listen up, Yondaime! I don't need you or anyone—"

Sai watched the scene with detached interest. Kurenai, Yamato, Sakura, Chouji and Naruto were all yelling and Kakashi and Minato looked about ready to have at each other. He looked to the only sane ones and saw the look exchanged between them. Understanding the look, he slipped out of the door and waited outside as Tsunade punched a hole in the wall.

The hospital shuddered and everyone in the room froze. After the dust settled, Tsunade raised her head and spoke.

"All of you, sit down and shut up!"

Five people sat down and shut up instantly. Kakashi and Minato were still in stand-off position, but their shadows were connected to Shikamaru. Sweat was beading on Minato's forehead as he strained to escape the hold, and his breath was fast and uneven.

Tsunade lowered her fist and stepped forward slowly. She gently laid a hand on Minato's shoulder. "Minato, look at me."

The blue eyes—so similar to his son's—had been darting around but landed on her face. "Blink if you remember me."

He blinked once.

"Shikamaru is going to release the shadow hold," she told him. Tsunade ran a hand through Minato's hair and her fist came down with several strands of hair, roots included. Minato didn't notice. "So just stay calm, alright?"

He blinked again and she nodded once to Shikamaru. The unnatural shadows stretched across the floor shivered and then retreated, sliding back to their original. Minato and Kakashi both flexed their muscles and shifted slightly.

Sai, who had come back into the room when it had gotten quiet, snickered. "A Hokage frozen by a sixteen year old Chuunin. I can see where Naruto gets his small penis from."

Sakura clocked him on the back of the head and he shut up.

"Okay, now we are all just going to calm down," Tsunade commanded, waving the ANBU to attention, rather than battle-ready. "Sakura, Chouji, Sai, Shikamaru and Kurenai, step outside. Yamato, fix the wall. Kakashi, scan the area and make sure there's no one here that can eavesdrop."

Sakura tried to protest, but a look from Tsunade silenced her and pressed the strands of hair into her hand. Getting the message, she filed out with the others as Yamato's trees shot up and covered up the 

giant hole in the wall. Tsunade was tempted to have Minato taken away, but figured that a Hokage, an elite Jounin and an ANBU could handle him even if he decided to attack them all. Besides, she would be watching him closely during Naruto's tale.

At a nod from Kakashi, she turned to Naruto. "Well, brat, this seems to all revolve around you. Care to explain?"

The blond scratched the back of his head. "Well, I don't know exactly where to begin."

"What happened in the woods?" Tsunade demanded. "When you passed out."

Naruto looked confused for a moment, but then his face cleared. "Ooooh. Wow, that was a long time ago. Well, I dumped water on Sasuke—hey, how's he doing?"

"If you finish your story, I'll tell you," Tsunade answered. She had the tone of a parent promising a reluctant child some candy.

Naruto frowned, but scratched his head. "Anyway, I was running through the woods when I tripped over this invisible box. Sasuke and I investigated it, but then it grabbed hold of my chakra—or something—and then I passed out."

"So, he was telling the truth, then," Tsunade muttered. "What happened between when you passed out and when you woke up just now?"

With a deep breath, Naruto spilled the entire story. He told the occupants of the room all about the alternate universe, his family, everyone else's problems, the Areah Broah, the destruction of the box, and the conversation in the gods' chamber. The other occupants of the room had been silent until this point, but when Naruto got to the part about the chains around Kyuubi that Amarante had pulled off, there was a bit of a reaction.

Kakashi's regular eye widened and he pulled out his Sharingan, focusing on the blond in the bed. Tsunade shoved Naruto back onto the bed and hiked his shirt up, while Yamato stepped forward and started poking at his seal.

"Were the chains the seal?" Tsunade demanded. "Did this goddess take Kyuubi out of you?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, it was something with the Mangekyo Sharingan symbol on it. I think it had something to do with Madara."

All movement in the room ceased with that name. Naruto nodded and tried not to squirm. Yamato's poking had started to tickle him and the last thing he wanted was to start giggling and writhing on the bed.

"Yeah, Kyuubi said it had something to do with why he attacked Konoha, but he didn't explain it," Naruto added.

"Kyuubi isn't going to come out and kill us all?" Tsunade asked.



Naruto shook his head, sending blond spikes flying. "Naw, even if he did get out, he seems . . . nicer."

Dead silence reigned in the room.

"Kyuubi no Kitsune is nicer?" Kakashi wondered. "He's a malevolent, ancient demon—"

"No, he's not," Minato interrupted. "Ancient, yes. Malevolent, not so much."

"We'll get to that later," Tsunade said. "So, Kyuubi was freed from those chain things."

Naruto's eyes went distant for a minute, then he said, "Kyuubi says they were a genjutsu put on him by Madara."

"Just finish your story," Tsunade ordered. "What happened in the gods' chamber after that Amarante woman pulled the chains off Kyuubi?"

"Well, Kyuubi and I went into the Shinigami's stomach. We fought a bunch of monsters, and found all four Hokages—Blondie, the Old Man, and the first two. I used Shadow Clones to bring them all out. Once we were back in the chamber place, Samuru said that if they wanted to, all four Hokages could come back out. Obviously, the Fourth did, but the other three said they wanted to move on."

Tsunade sighed inwardly. When Naruto had said that Sarutobi had come out, she had thought for an instant that she would have her teacher and mentor back. Kami knew that she could use some help right now.

"Then what happened?" Yamato asked. "How did the two of you get back here?"

"Then, Samuru told us that it was about time for us to get back home, but I still had some questions," Naruto answered. "I was kinda confused."

"At least that hasn't changed," Tsunade smirked.

Naruto puffed his cheeks out at her. "That's not funny, you mean old hag!"

Tsunade made to smack him on the head, but felt Minato's killer intent spike. She folded her arms and shot him a glare instead. "Don't call me that, brat!"

"Anyway, Minowa, the one really stupid god, said that he'd had enough of me, so he kicked me through the door thing. Since our souls are still connected, or something, Kyuubi was pulled through, too," Naruto finished. "I guess the Fourth just followed us through, or something."

"I have to protect you," Minato said.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed slowly. "And then I woke up here. A few minutes later, he appeared and here we are."

Silence reigned in the room after Naruto finished. Minato was frowning. He had noticed that Kakashi, Tsunade, and Naruto all seemed distant. He couldn't quite figure out why, though. He reasoned that 

part of it was because he had died a long time ago and was now alive, but that didn't explain Naruto. Why was he so . . . cold? Minato knew he was out of it, but he had noticed that his son hadn't called him 'Dad.' Some part of him knew it was because he'd been absent for so long, but still, it hurt.

"How, exactly, can we verify this story?" Kakashi wondered.

"He's standing right there!" Naruto shouted, pointing at Minato.

The three senior ninjas turned to stare at Minato, who just met their eyes and raised an eyebrow. Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Naruto, it is entirely possible that you were put under and exceptional genjutsu and this is an imposter."

Naruto stared at her for a minute and she could all but see the denial forming in his mind. That meant it would be coming out of his mouth soon. Naruto wasn't too good with the brain-mouth filtering process.

"That's not true!" he shouted.

"Naruto, I know that you want your father to be alive, but you have to think about the fact that it might not all be real," Kakashi insisted.

The Chuunin shook his head vigorously, blond hair flying. "No, it all happened, it was all real!"

"As annoying as the cycloptic human is, he's right, kit," Kyuubi growled in Naruto's head. "You must accept the fact that the family you knew wasn't real."

They were real to me, you stupid furball! Naruto shot back. How many times do I have to tell you that?

"Fine! They were real to you. You developed emotional connections to them and for a short time, those 'people' were your family, but they are gone now. That is something you must come to terms with."

How? Naruto demanded, tears forming at the back of his eyes. I lost my whole family, the only family I ever knew! How do I deal with that?

"And you wonder why the Uchiha brat is messed up."

"Naruto!"

The blond brought his head back up and his mind to the present. The four adults were staring at him in worry. "What?"

"You spaced out for a minute, there, kiddo," Minato said, stepping closer.

Tsunade frowned at him. "Just stay back, okay? If you really are the Fourth, you'll understand why."

Minato frowned, but didn't advance farther. He folded his arms and bit down hard on his lip. He clearly wanted to go closer to Naruto, to see what was wrong, but respected Tsunade.

"It's nothing," Naruto dismissed. "I was just talking to Kyuubi."



" . . . we'll deal with Kyuubi later. He's not an imminent threat," Tsunade snapped, desperately trying to stay on target. "Right now, we need to figure out what to do about him."

"Ask me questions," Minato supplied. "It's obvious—I know, I know, very obvious, but it should give you some idea."

Tsunade and Kakashi exchanged a glance—both of them knew him very well, but this would only take them so far. Even if this person had Minato's memories, they could have somehow been implanted. Also, verification of his memories didn't indicate he had good intentions as well. But it was a starting point.

"Alright, we'll start with something simple," Tsunade agreed. "What did I call you when you were a child?"

"Mina-chan," he answered. A small smile appeared on his face. "Jiraiya would take us out for training or missions and we'd get all banged up. He'd take us to you because the hospital would put marks on his record if we kept showing up there injured."

Tsunade nodded. "Alright. At what age did your appointment to the Hokage go through the financial department?"

"It didn't," Minato said slowly. "I was appointed during the war and Konoha was deep in debt because of that. I was already making enough on my Jounin salary, so I had the raise go to rebuilding the hospital."

"Eh?" Naruto demanded. "You gave away money? What if you needed it?"

" . . . I didn't." Minato frowned.

"Geez, how much money did you have?" Naruto pouted, putting his hands behind his head. "Were you like Ero-Sennin rich or something?"

Minato stared at Naruto, a look of blank confusion covering his face. "Who is Ero-Sennin?"

"That's what the brat calls Jiraiya," Tsunade answered. Minato's lips twitched.

"What did you say to me when I woke after Obito's death?" Kakashi asked after a moment, meeting the man's eyes dead on. He raised his hitae-ate to expose his Sharingan.

The amusement that had been brought up by the mention of Ero-Sennin drained from Minato's face and his eyes took on a sad cast that seemed to dampen the entire room. "I apologized that I hadn't gotten there in time and told you that Rin had told me everything."

Kakashi nodded slowly. "That's right. Do you have another question, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes," Tsunade said. "Another question: how did you get the scar on your inner thigh?"



A blush dusted Minato's cheek and he scratched the back of his head. "Kushina attacked me between bouts of morning sickness when I brought flowers over. She said she was thrilled we were going to have a baby, but she'd never go through it again."

"Huh." Tsunade grunted. "You certainly seem to have Minato's memories."

A small smile appeared on Minato's face. "I should."

"Wait a minute!" Naruto shouted. "I have a question!"

Tsunade, Kakashi and Yamato barely suppressed their weary sighs. Barely an hour awake and Naruto was already his usual self. It was both heartwarming and infuriating. Couldn't he be conscious and quiet at the same time?

"What happened to my mom?"

Tsunade frowned. She had hoped that this wouldn't come up just yet. It was enough that Naruto would have to deal with his dad alive, but his mother's death on top of it? And she really didn't want to deal with Minato's reaction.

"What about her?" Minato demanded. "Why are you asking? Why don't you know? Has she gone somewhere? Where is she?"

Kakashi frowned as Minato's tone got increasingly frantic. He had been stable for the past few minutes, but the calm was apparently only as long as nothing was wrong.

"Samuru said she was alive," Naruto said. "When I asked if I would be allowed to bring her back to life, he said it wouldn't be necessary because she wasn't dead."

"You didn't know? Wait, why would you think she was dead? Didn't you live with her?"

Naruto raised his eyes and met Minato's. "No."

The elder blond's brow furrowed deeply. His chest began to heave shallowly and rapidly and his hands were clenching and unclenching. "What? But then—who? Where? Is she, is she dead?"

"Minato!" Tsunade snapped, bringing him back to reality. "Why would you think Kushina was alive? When was the last time you saw her?"

"When Naruto was born," Minato answered. "I was up in the valley, in the mountains, waiting. He was brought out to me and I left immediately and returned to the battlefield and—uh . . ."

"Sealed the furball in me," Naruto supplied, giving the Yondaime his brightest, widest smile.

"Yes," Minato said softly. "I did."

His eyes went distant for a moment, and he was almost lost to memories and guilt, but Tsunade's next question brought him back. "There was no damage to the tribe?"



The Fourth shook his head. "No. None at all. Who told you there was?"

Tsunade frowned and asked Kakashi, saying she hadn't been there. He answered, "Orochimaru. He was one of the few to have access to the entrance, so Sarutobi sent him. He returned, saying that the village had been destroyed and Kushina was dead."

Tsunade, Kakashi and Yamato explained to the again frantic Minato that there was a good chance Orochimaru was lying and that he had become a missing nin just a year after the Kyuubi attack. Slowly, he calmed down and became rational again.

Why are they all calling her Kushina? Naruto thought, listening to the conversation. Her name is Meara.

Kyuubi sighed in the recesses of Naruto's mind. "As I recall, she always preferred the name Kushina over Meara. She and Minato felt it would be better to protect you if she hid her identity, remember?"

Naruto scowled and made sure the fox could feel his anger. Hey, if you were such a good friend to my parents, why'd you go an attack the village?

The demon chuckled. "That's a long story, kit. Do you wanna hear it?"

I wouldn't have asked if it didn't, dumbass.

"Settle in then, and listen close, because you'll have to tell your Hokage and senseis when I'm done."