Naruto never knew his parents. For all he can remember, he's been passed down from one caretaker to another until he was seven when he started to attend the academy.
The first day of school was memorable to him because it was also his most painful memory. He remembered sitting by the swing watching the kids around him giddy with excitement. He remembered the doting parents that tended to their kids, vibrant faces beaming at the expectant smiles and laughters from their kids. From the school swing, he could see parents and child exchanged kisses and hugs. He never received any of those. He wondered what it felt like to have someone love you that much.
He once asked old man Sandaime if he even had parents. Of course he had one the old man said. Naruto asked where were they but this time, Sandaime merely looked away and avoided his gaze.
That gave Naruto hope.
The old man never answered the whereabouts of his parents. For all he knew, they could be dead. But it also meant that his parents could also be alive. Naruto chose to cling on the latter. For whatever reasons his parents decided to abandon him, Naruto was willing to understand them. He already forgave them even before they themselves could ask for it. It never occurred to him that they might wanted him dead. He wanted to have family of his own that he would overlook any damned reasons for his abandonment. He believed they could work it out.
He again pestered the Sandaime to tell him the feeling of having a parent. How would he know if he already found them, he asked the old man. Sandaime still would not look at him but this time he answered his question. You'll just know, the Sandaime said. Obviously, Naruto was confused. He harassed the old man until the Sandaime finally elaborated his answer.
When you're with your parent, everything fades away. Your heart skips with joy and yet, it also remains calm. There is peace. There is love. In their eyes, you'll find comfort. To be with them means to be protected from harm.
So it's almost with great irony that he remembered that answer this fateful day. Wounded, bleeding and dying, Naruto at last understood why the old man said he'll just know he found his parents. Naruto smiled at the man staring at him in shocked. The Kusanagi was still pierced at his heart but Naruto made no move to remove it.
He found his parent at this carnage. Sandaime was right. He never felt more oddly at peace in his life than at this moment of his inevitable death.
As Naruto slowly fell to the ground, he saw the man ran after him to catch his body. Reptilian eyes were welling with tears as the man caught him. The bloodied hand tried to stop Naruto from bleeding, all the while saying I didn't know, I didn't know, forgive me, forgive me. Except that Naruto did not need his apology because the man was forgiven a long time ago.
As Naruto's vision blurred, the last word he would say was the single word this man wanted to hear for a long time.
"Father…"
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I purposely left out the name of one of the characters in this story. But I think I gave a vital clue(s) on the identity of this person. This is such a weird story. I really have to get this out of my system.