Chapter 5: Rebuilding the Broken
Naruto woke up feeling emotionally drained. All he could remember was balling his eyes out as his father comforted him. Tears threatened to spill again as he noticed the customary growled greeting was missing. That meant it was not a dream. Kurama was really gone.
He sat up and shook his head.
"No. No more crying. You cried enough yesterday. Kurama didn't give you all this power just so you could waste time crying. You have to get stronger so that he'll be proud of you when he sees you again."
"Well then, I guess we should get started, eh?" Minato called from the beside the campfire, smiling at his son as he roasted the wild rabbit that he caught earlier that morning. "But first, come over here and grab some food."
Naruto nodded, unaccustomed to the feeling of someone caring for him. He tried not to hesitate as he began to eat the meat from the fire, but he could not help it.
"It's ok, Naru. It's instinctual for you to doubt people caring for you. I'm not offended." Minato assured, ruffling his hair.
As they ate, Naruto told his father about Kurama's last gift. The pair discussed the many possibilities for his affinities before deciding on three: wind, his natural affinity, water, his mother's affinity, and medical.
After breakfast, the pair got down to business, making full use of Naruto's kage bushnin to accelerate the process.
With all the potential time saved using this method of training, Naruto began delving into the world of fuinjutsu. If there was ever and area that he excelled in, sealing was it. His prankster history, although cause for slight embarrassment as of late, gave him a keen awareness and perspective when it came to new ways of applying the principles he was now learning. Instead of applying a seal to a kunai and risk it being deflected, he was learning how to transfer seals by contact. This way he could lay a trap without alerting the enemy of his knowledge of their presence.
As the days became weeks, Minato beamed at the rapid progress his son was making. He knew he would not be able to teach him everything, for Kurama's gifted chakra would only last so long. In the time he had left, he vowed to do everything possible to give his son the foundation he was sorely lacking and deprived of as a child.
There was one thing, however, Minato could not teach, the art of healing. He knew Naruto wanted to be self-sufficient given his upbringing or lack thereof. So, he decided to take a very big risk.
As a precaution, Minato had placed some kage bushnin in strategic places in the village, allowing him to analyze the rotations of the patrolling ANBU guarding the Hokage's Tower. Imagine his surprise upon seeing Tsunade's image on the mountain!
He also noticed the lack of ANBU whenever his wayward student was around.
The thought of Kakashi ignoring his promise caused his hackles to rise. But something was amiss.
In one of the many late-night father-son conversations they had when the nightmares became to much for Naruto, he revealed that he knew the ANBU he could trust and those he could not. Kakashi, in his persona as Dog, would always make sure he had fresh food, would fix anything that broke in the apartment, and make sure that he had heat in the winter and aircon in the summer.
It was during one of these chats that his son also revealed that he always knew where the ANBU were. It was the reason why he could elude them for so long. Minato filed all this information away and made sure to train his son's sensor ability to be even better than the legend that was his own.
So why had Kakashi shirked his responsibilities and ignored him?
He would find out tonight.
After making sure Naruto was asleep with a clone standing guard, he snuck into the village, narrowly missing the ever-alert Nara deer, who tended to roam the boarder between the Forest of Death and the Nara Forest.
Once inside, he made a beeline for the Tower, only entering when he was sure that only Kakashi was in the office with Tsunade.
Using one of the secret tunnels under the Tower, Minato slipped into the passages within the walls, using his memories to quickly approach the Hokage's chambers.
Once there, he flared his chakra in a specific pattern known only to Kakashi. His plan worked, as Kakashi stiffened and fell silent.
At Tsunade's questioning glance, Kakashi cast a quick and narrowed gaze in Minato's direction.
This was the moment. Minato dropped from the ceiling to the middle of the room, his cloak and hood remaining in place, hiding his signature blond locks.
He felt sharpened metal against his neck as a voice much older than he remembered barked at him.
"Stand slowly and state your business!"
Minato smirked.
"Glad to see that you haven't lose all of your senses, Kashi." He said as he rose, his hood falling away.
It felt as if the air had been sucked from the room. The Yondaime was standing in the room, alive and well, looking quite angry.
"S-sensei?" Kakashi stammered.
"Don't. I still have a bone to pick with you. But that's not the only reason I'm here." Minato snapped sharply, turning to Tsunade. "What do you know of the plot regarding my son?"
The sadness that enveloped the room answered his question. He noticed Kakashi's demeanor plummet, as the crackle of the beginnings of a Chidori started to sound softly in the room.
"Kakashi and I are still looking for a way to protect him. But we don't have much time. If Hiruzen's notes are accurate, Naruto has tracker seals on him that are attached to those stunting him. Jiraiya may already have him."
"That's not happening. The seals have been disposed of thanks to the Kyuubi."
"Has it escaped?"
"No. He sacrificed himself to rid Naruto of the seals. He cared more than some people in this village."
The silence that followed that statement only fueled Minato's rage.
"Just how far does this actually go, Tsunade?"
"Minato… you know that…"
"I don't care. HOW. FAR?!"
Tsunade gave an exasperated sigh. Her reply was interrupted by Kakashi.
"The Civilian Counsel has been nipping away at the balance of power gradually for the last 12 years. They gained control of the Academy and had influence over how the teams were set up. They only used this power when Naruto graduated. They used Sarutobi's grief over Biwako's death to manipulate him into hating Naruto. Jiraiya is another matter entirely. He came to me with the notion that he would handle Naruto's training. The Counsel was already pressuring me to neglect him and Sakura in favour of Sasuke, so I thought this was the perfect solution. Jiraiya also relieved me of my duties in taking care of Naruto. That included making sure his living conditions were cared for. I only realized the deception when I went to water his plants."
Kakashi paused, drawing a shaky breath.
"It wasn't until Naruto was in that traitor's hands that the plan was discovered. I would have never let him leave with that monster if I had known."
If Minato was angry before, he was livid now. Tsunade spoke quickly.
"We discovered the Counsel has been bribing instructors in the Academy to sabotage him. They wanted him to be an easy target for enemy nin to pick off since Hiruzen forbid them from killing him inside the village. If he was killed during a mission, it would be written off as a mission gone bad."
"Did they realize that their actions turned Naruto into a living chakra bomb? Had he been killed in the field, everything in a 10-mile radius would have been decimated, including their precious Uchiha?" Minato growled, ready to skin the Counsel alive.
The ghastly looks he received confirmed the negative. Minato took several calming breaths before addressing the pair.
"Due to the Kyuubi's sacrifice, Naruto has been recreating himself. He has made astronomical strides in learning what this village should have been teaching him. I have a limited time left and cannot teach him everything. He is currently working on his Wind and Water affinities as well as sealing. But he has another that I can't train him in." Minato paused, staring Tsunade in the eye.
"He wants to learn how to heal. As of this moment, he cannot afford to trust any team he is placed on to take care of him. His list of trust is slim. The only reason I'm telling you both is because you are on that list."
The relief that engulfed the room was tangible. Minato continued.
"I have a plan to deal with this village. Unfortunately, I will not be around to see it. But I will start it."
Minato handed Tsunade a scroll.
"These are the people tasked with his teaching. He is not Jiraiya's apprentice yet, so that should not be a problem. Thankfully that pervert hasn't done an apprentice ritual with him. I have also revised my Last Will and Testament. Naruto will receive everything his mother and I owned the second he sets foot in this village, including my diplomatic immunity."
Tsunade's eyes widened at the information she was given as she read the scroll.
A wicked grin soon crossed her features.
"Kakashi!"
Kakashi's back straitened at the sharp tone.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Fetch me the ninjas on this list. I don't care if they are balls deep in their lovers; they are to be here in 5 minutes or risk demotion to genin for the next five years! Dismissed!"
Kakashi vanished in a leaf shunshin.
"You are a wicked man, Minato."
Minato smirked.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a father protecting his son. Goodbye, Tsunade."
As Minato vanished, Tsunade turned to the window overlooking the village, a sly smile on her face.
"Shizune! My special sake! And be quick about it!"