Hello again everyone! I must say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone for all the support! I read every single review and I must say that some of you had some really interesting ideas about where this would go. Please keep reading and reviewing. I love reading your reviews.

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Chapter 2: Father First, Hokage Second

The softly spoken words were bittersweet to Naruto. On one hand, he now knew who his parents were, something he always wanted. On the other hand, he was slowly becoming enraged at his father's actions 12 years ago that left him entangled in this web of lies.

"Why?" he asked, his voice just loud enough for his father to hear.

"Hm?"

"Why did you do it? Why did you seal Kurama in me and abandon me? Why did you leave me alone when I needed you the most? WHY?!"

The voice that started as a soft rumble, had ended in a booming explosion that Minato could not have predicted. Had his instructions not been followed? Did his master not look after his son like he had asked?

"Are you not going to answer the kit, Minato? Or has that genius brain of yours finally given out?" Kurama growled, jolting Minato out of his thoughts.

Minato released his son, getting a better look at him. What he saw lit his paternal rage. He had to ask. He had to know.

"Naruto, please tell me. Did your godfather take care of you? Did Jiraya train you and protect you like I asked him too?"

The room chilled as Naruto began to laugh. It was a laugh completely void of all feeling and emotion.

"Did he protect me? If by that, you mean stunt my growth and hand me over to a bastard Uchiha to be killed in 4 years, then yes, he did a damn good job."

Minato's eyes widened. His master… no… that traitor had done what?

"Oh and did I mention that he and Hiruzen-teme placed extra seals on me to make sure that it would be an easy job?"

There was a slight tremble in Minato's frame as the words crashed over him. Two of the people he trusted the most had not only lied to him, but also had plotted to undo his entire sacrifice and that of his son.

"And did I forget…"

"ENOUGH!"

Minato held his son's face in his hands, placing their foreheads together.

"Forgive me, Naruto. Had I known this would happen, I would have taken the fox with me instead of sealing it within you. I would have done anything else if I had the choice."

"Did you two love me at all?"

"More than you can ever imagine. Don't ever doubt that we loved you with every fibre of our being. Now, let me fix the seal so that…"

"No."

"What?"

"You can't fix the seal yet."

Minato was stunned. The whole reason he left his imprint was because he knew that the fox would try and break out. From the sound of things, he had missed something.

"Ningen, what your son is telling you is that he needs to destroy part of the seal so that I can remove the other seals holding him back."

The sharp look aimed at Kurama caused him to huff impatiently.

"Listen, you pint-sized flesh bag! Your imprint is the key to getting this done! We only have just under 5 hours before the memory seal activates and we are back at square one! I know we had a less than desirable first meeting, but for the sake of the kit, work with us and loosen the seal."

Minato groused, walking up and grabbing the seal.

"I don't trust you fox. But, those who I did have forced my hand. I also owe you for looking after my boy for the past 12 years. But do not cross me!"

With that, Minato ripped a third of the seal off, causing an explosion of red chakra to burst forth and race down the corridors.

Naruto screamed as he felt his pathways fill with molten lava. The pain began to concentrate on the pack of his neck, causing his already piercing cries to become deafening as Minato cradled his son to his chest, attempting to soothe him with gentle words and soft caresses to his scalp.

Kurama did his best to ignore the agony mere feet in front of him, focusing on the task at hand. He hated when Naruto was in pain. Unfortunately, this was necessary to find out what they were dealing with.

"Hold on, kit. I've almost finished analysing the seals."

As he spoke, he noticed something that caused him to growl dangerously. The implications of this discovery would be kept secret until his kit was freed.

After what seemed like hours, the tidal wave of pain stopped and Naruto quietened down, barely holding on to consciousness.

His son's strength both saddened and gave extreme pride to Minato. He was amazed at his son's will to survive, but distraught that he had to have such a high tolerance for pain and torture.

"Did you find them?" Came the pain-ridden question.

"I did kit. It is more complex than we thought."

"How much more?" Minato rumbled, this rage beginning to quake again.

"The seals are linked together. For us to remove them, we need to section them off from the outside. There is also the matter of the master monitor switch that rests on the memory seal, which is located near the base of his skull, with the other seals underneath that linearly. We need to remove all the seals before the memory seal activates. Once we begin, we will have a window of 60 seconds, as each one has an inner kill switch that will activate if it is disconnected from the memory seal.

Normally, all that you would need to do is remove the seals yourself, Yondaime. But, it seems that your traitorous master noticed your imprint seal and made an instant kill switch should you try. He also linked those seals to mine, and since some of my chakra powers the seal, it also keeps these seals active. I cannot burn them off with my power embedded in them."

"Then what do we do? I don't have enough chakra left to get outside?"

"You don't. But your son does. Thanks to the meddling of those hairless monkeys, the kit was forced to learn the Shadow Clone Jutsu since the regression seal shot his control to all hell. I will provide you with enough chakra to survive the process and direct your remaining chakra to the clone. All Naruto had to do is make the clone."

Minato looked at his half-dead son, tears in his eyes.

"My son, will you be able to do it?"

Naruto did not answer. Instead he looked back at his father with a look of determination before vanishing, knowing that his father would understand.

"Seems like he has his mother's stubborn streak."

"So it seems, ningen."

"Hey, fox."

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

"Ha! Don't you start getting soft on me human. That's your son's job." Kurama replied, tapping him with a tail.

Naruto awoke to a clearing surrounded by dense forest. The sun was already setting.

"Kit. Make the clone."

Naruto shook his head before forming the ever-familiar hand sign.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

The tell-tale puff of smoke appeared and a voice was heard.

"Well, son? Did it work?"

And CUT! I am having so much fun with this one. How will they remove the seals? And what was the secret Kurama kept from them? Find out next time.