A/N: Well, here's the second chapter! Hope you guys enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Naruto characters.

Warning: Yaoi (gay love), crude language, explicit sexual content,

Rated: NC-17

Pairing: Minato Namikaze &Naruto Uzumaki

Summary: Missions with his pubescent father were always a disaster. Who would have thought it was all because of jealousy and hormonal confusion?

Rumor Has It

II/V

All throughout the completion of the mission not a word was uttered by either shinobi.

They had successfully dropped off the scroll to their intended client and, upon much persuasion from the client's wife, had decided to stay at their estate for one night before continuing on with the mission. They said absolutely nothing as they went to their respective rooms, not even when they met up for dinner that same night.

The tension between them wasn't as palpable to third parties, but it was suffocating the both of them, yet neither made a move to talk about what had transpired between them.

What had happened between them? Naruto pondered to himself as he lay in his room with only a white towel around his waist, glaring at the ceiling and a scowl seemingly permanently etched on his face.

Minato and he had kissed, so what?

It'd been an accident. Much like the two times Sasuke and he had locked lips on those separate occasions. Gagging at the remembrance of clammy lips and brute collision of teeth he let his thoughts wander even further.

The fucking clumsy ass hawk from above had made Minato lean in those extra few centimeters, but a part of him knew that he couldn't necessarily blame the dumb bird for Minato's actions before the kiss.

It had seemed as though the older male had been coming onto him, but Naruto didn't really believe it to be…well, genuine. Minato had probably just been messing with him from the beginning, except things had taken a turn for the worst and now they weren't on speaking terms. Sure, they never really got off on the right foot but that didn't mean Naruto didn't want to lose contact with Minato.

They're banters and head-to-head collisions strangely enough reminded him of his weird yet functioning friendship with Sasuke before he'd left the village and it brought a sense of comfort to his restless heart.

And not forgetting the fact that they were fucking related for Kami's sake!

Slapping a hand to his face coupled with a rather loud, frustrated groan, Naruto got up from his bed and slowly made his way to the bathhouse, which the owners had so nicely pointed out to him after dinner. Maybe a hot soak would rid his mind of any more stressing thoughts. There was no use in thinking if Minato didn't want to approach him on the matter. Things would blow over soon enough.

Yet, despite his own reassurances, Naruto still couldn't help but feel an acute sense of emptiness in his heart where there hadn't been before. Everyone mattered to him; even the ones who acted the most bastardly, and the mere thought of Minato hating him…well, it irked him to no end.

Sighing for the umpteenth time that day Naruto let the towel slip from his hips and padded over to the steaming water, slowly sliding his body into the onsen. Almost instantaneously, his body relaxed into the warm caresses of the water and gave a small moan of appreciation.

The bathhouse was empty and the only sound in the room was the occasional trickle of water. He'd relaxed a total of three minutes before his mind strayed toward Minato again.

"I wonder what he's doing…" he pondered to himself, eyes wide and staring ahead blankly.

Everything was quiet once again for a few more minutes, until the sliding of a door followed by the familiar padding of footsteps alerted Naruto that he wasn't the only one in the bathhouse anymore. The noises were coming from the other side of the onsen, seeing as how there were many entrances leading there located in various other rooms.

There was a splash and Naruto, having positioned himself beside a looming boulder, peeked over to see who it was. He bit his lip to keep from gasping in surprise, a blush deeply reddening his face. The only head of blond hair he knew could only belong to one other person.

Fuck!

Remaining stalk-still, he stiffly settled back into the water, slouching his body until he was nose-deep. This situation left him with two options, he concluded. Either slowly (very slowly, at that) and quietly slip out of the water to retreat back into his room, or stay where he was until Minato decided he had soaked enough.

The latter would probably cause his supple skin to appear like that of the Sandaime. A shiver ran down Naruto's spine at the mental image and, without giving it further thought he sunk further into the water. The top of his spikey, sunshine locks peeked over the surface of the steaming bathwater as he trailed blindly to the edge where the door to his room was located.

The quiet trickle of water was the only thing he heard when he reemerged, the droplets sloping down his hair and dropping from the tips of his golden spikes. Blue eyes peered over the edge, silently cursing when he realized that he somehow managed to steer in the opposite direction of his room.

Turning around, sweat formed at the nape of his neck upon realizing he was in plain sight of Minato's visage if the older male decided to turn around at any point in time.

Shitshitshitshitshit- quickly, he dunked down again, crawling furiously toward where he'd last seen his place of safe haven.

Only to bump against something smooth and hard, crushing his nose against the hard planes of whatever was blocking his way that certainly hadn't been before. Without thinking, he shot up, hand clutching his throbbing nose and icy glare ready to shoot daggers.

"What gives-"

There was a resounding clank of his teeth as Naruto promptly shut his mouth, the blazing anger in his darkened blue eyes vanishing as fast as it had appeared. There, bare-chested and wet and staring into the very depths of his soul, was the man he'd been trying so desperately to avoid. Minato was peering down at him curiously, one slender eyebrow raised while his lips were set in a thin line of displeasure.

Involuntarily, Naruto's gaze lowered and he felt a full out blush spread all over his face as he realized the man's utter nakedness, the only thing hardly doing anything to block his sight was the thin and humid steam rising from the water.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Brain still not fully connected to his mouth, Naruto spoke as best as he could.

"I uh…uh me dirty…a-and so…the p-people…Ineedtogetoutexcuseme!" Without another poorly vocalized word, Naruto scrambled to the edge of the onsen and clambered over the ledge, knees scraping along the wall roughly but he ignored it in favor of getting the fuck out of there.

In his fervid haste added with his always-present-during-dire-times shit luck, his foot slipped on a puddle of water and, with a permanent look of horror etching across his face, Naruto felt himself sailing backward.

"Ack!" Jeez, this is something out of those damn gay novels Sakura used to read!

And, as predicted, strong arms wrapped around his body as he cursplashed! into the water.

The ripples of water surged over the edge and other than the light wading of the bathwater, everything was tensely quiet.

"M-Minato…?" his voice sounded meek and Naruto winced in distaste at how non-manly he sounded, but the arms that were still wrapped firmly around his abdomen wouldn't let him keep calm no matter how much he wanted to. The hard and wet body flush against his back was breathing evenly, heavily, every hard plane and every fleshly contour causing all the fibers in his being to ignite in a fiery but foreign sensation. It rippled along his equally wet skin, goose bumps sprouting along his arms and tiny hairs standing on end at the base of his neck when husky breath fanned against his ear.

His body stiffened on its own accord, not even attempting to spring free from the comforting confines of his father's arms.

"You clumsy idiot."

The insult was unexpected, but somewhere deep in the recesses of Naruto's mind, it triggered a part of him that was comforted in the normality, it welcomed such customary mockery much more than the awkward but exhilarating physical contact. The thrumming sensations were causing his heart to beat loudly and wildly in his chest and vaguely, Naruto wondered if it was loud enough to where Minato could hear it too.

He hoped not.

Pulling away from the pseudo-embrace, Naruto turned to face his teammate, head lowered slightly in a furtive attempt to keep his tomato-red blush hidden.

"Ah, uh, sorry about that, Minato," he began, his usually courageously boisterous personality paling in comparison to the sudden nervousness frying all the nerves in his body. "S-Sorry about earlier. We can just forget that it happened, neh? I-…I…It was a mistake! So, no hard feelings, right?"

Mustering the courage to look up again, Naruto gulped at the impenetrable gaze and inscrutable countenance Minato was giving him. Had he said something wrong? Panic suddenly gripped him by the throat and he couldn't speak for the life of him, if only to call out to his father and rid of the empty look in the man's eyes.

He had definitely said something wrong.

Before he could even utter a sound, Minato looked away, face still holding its impassiveness and Naruto wanted to scream, to keep that look from ever crossing his father's face again because he was shutting him off when all he wanted was the exact opposite. Had been yearning for it since the very beginning but Minato had hated his guts from the very start and it killed him inside to know that apart from the villagers back in his time, his father didn't even like him either.

Was this why Sasuke had left too? Had tried to obliterate his very existence from the world because he was just so incapable of being loved?

Silently, he watched as Minato gracefully climbed from out of the onsen, the wet padding of his footsteps echoing and Naruto could only watch his father's back as he walked away from him without even a backwards glance.

The rampant questions barraged his grief-stricken mind and all at once, anger surged throughout Naruto's entire being. Angry for being brought into a world where no one could ever love him and stuck in an era where his the same man who'd sealed his fate from the moment he was born couldn't even stand to look at him. Ironically enough or because he knew whatever god above must have it out for him, the man was most definitely his father.

Deep, crescent-shaped welts where his nails dug deeper into the skin of his palm broke upon added pressure. The warmness of his blood dribbled down his knuckles and his teeth were grinding so fiercely that, with time, he was sure they would only be reduced to his gums. With thoughts ablaze and heart pumping and swelling in a whirlwind of emotions, he did what his brash mind and always-passionate spirit urged him to do.

He lunged at the slowly retreating figure, water messily splashing around him as chakra pumped through his veins.

Minato only had seconds to turn away from wrapping a towel around his waist when a ferocious energy ignited behind him without warning. Blazing, cerulean eyes flashed crimson for the briefest of moments and before he knew it, Minato's back connected harshly on the ground and a heavy weight settled across his lap.

The strong punch he received along his jaw caused his neck to snap to the side, his vision having gone blank for a fraction of a second as delirium shook his scattered mind.

"Don't you turn your back on me!" a voice that was oddly deeper than Naruto's normal deadpan or occasional chipper growled above him. Minato blinked away the blurred dizziness from his vision, head turning to meet blue eyes that did not hold the vibrant cerulean he'd known them to be. They were wild and crazed, a coloration of emotions swirling in ultramarine depths that took his breath away.

"You're such a jerk! I haven't done anything to you yet you treat me like I'm some sort of…lost cause!" he took a shuddering breath, his reddened face unconsciously leaning forward as if the close proximity would further his point across. "I didn't ask to be here! I didn't ask for any of this!"

Clear liquid gathered at the bottom ridge of pink skin, overflowing the thin expanse to trail along ashen lashes. Tan eyelids shut closed like impending curtains, sprinkling crystalline tears onto Minato's face like acid rain. They remained shut out of pure aggravation and pearly-white teeth were tightly clenched shut, jawline tensed and locked. Naruto shook his head in frustration, a deep growl emitting from his chest. Tiny droplets of water were freed from their hold on golden spikes, landing anywhere and everywhere.

"Goddammit," he cursed under his breath and Minato simply watched, entranced as the naked man above him tried desperately to reel in every whirlwind of emotion swirling in the very depths of his mind.

Those words right then…words full of anger and sadness and frustration…had he caused them? Surely his teasing insults didn't deserve such a passionate reaction.

But then again, Naruto was a very passionate person. He was someone who never lacked emotions in a world where laughter was limited and happiness was a priced luxury given the amount of loss one had to endure beforehand.

Although…those words had seemed to be spoken with far deeper intentions than even he could imagine. Something he couldn't really quite grasp but still have an inkling of understanding. His heart unconsciously felt the loss whether he chose to ignore it.

The emptiness that had appeared the day Naruto had been discovered. Almost as if he'd lost a piece of himself from out of the blue, as if with any other object he'd misplaced or even dropped along the way, and somehow he knew – had always somewhat known – that it all came back to the man sitting on top of him with those broken fragments of clear summer skies for eyes shedding those heartbreaking tears that made his own heart hurt in a way it had never hurt before.

Because honestly, how else could he describe the sheer emptiness inside his very soul every time he was away from the exuberant blond, or even the swell of joy that accompanied Naruto's every smile, accidental brushes of skin, or even teasing insults.

When he was around Naruto, Minato felt…whole. Complete.

"All I want…all I want is for you to acknowledge me…"

The broken whisper tugged at Minato's heartstrings and he swallowed thickly, not understanding what he was feeling and why he was feeling them. Jeez, he was known for being perceptive and tactful and Naruto…Naruto completely eradicated that idea of him. Caused him to feel things that he could never begin to comprehend without getting a throbbing headache from the vastness of his swirling thoughts. Turned him into a blubbering and confused fool that didn't possess even an ounce of poise.

And it angered him with its exhilaration of free-will and spontaneity. Traits of which described Naruto's persona perfectly and managed to perplex him even more.

So much so that Minato wasn't even aware he'd brought a hand up to cup the warm skin of the younger man's cheek, thumb sliding over to gently pull the plump lower lip worried between two rows of straight teeth. Eyelids opened to reveal the dazzling azure he'd secretly cherished, only the slightest bit of watery tears sheening over the wide irises.

God, why did he feel like he was freefalling in a bottomless pit of anguish? Was this what guilt felt like? This feeling of regret was something he'd never experienced, even during those times he'd insensitively hurt Kushina's feelings with his logical conceptions that held no sympathy whatsoever.

"Naruto…I…" where was his deeply confident voice? Why was he hesitating now when it mattered the most? But why did it matter so much? Naruto wasn't a friend, just a mere boy he'd unfortunately gotten acquainted with by means of upchucked ramen across his front that pooled around his feet.

So why the hell was Naruto so important to him when they had only really shared a handful of exchanged insults that could barely be classified as decent conversations? And why was Naruto, being the person that he was who didn't give a flying fuck of other people's opinions of him, so eager to gain his acknowledgement when Minato was the last person he should be seeking it from?

Everything was so utterly mindboggling and it rendered him lightheaded and sorely muddled. The why why why whys were circulating in his head with no hope of being answered any time soon.

But their connection tingled the skin on his palm, electrified his nerves and sent shocks of…something throughout his system, as if urging him to touch more and get the answers to the questions he yearned for.

However, Minato was getting angry. Not being able to grasp what the hell was going on around him and being rendered completely helpless in such an…odd and intimate situation was easily flaring up his unusually hypersensitive emotions.

So, it came as a complete shock to Naruto when the hand that had so tenderly cupped his cheek slowly lowered, fingertips wispily grazing the flushed skin of his tanned column, to suddenly wrap tightly around his neck in a vice-like grip.

His back connected harshly with the ground, the back of his head slamming against the hard surface with a momentum that left him dazed and his vision flashing with bright stars. Futilely, he clawed at Minato's wrist, his legs flailing momentarily until something settled in between his naked thighs.

Naruto blinked rapidly, biting his lip in an attempt to let out the pain he was experiencing because the hand around his neck was blocking his windpipe from saying anything, let alone breathe without pain.

Indigo eyes that once held the serene calmness of an untouched oasis were now glaring down at him with such a glacial frost it chilled him to his very bones. The elegantly sculpted face that held such an uncanny resemblance to his held a twisted expression of malevolence it made Naruto's blood freeze.

"What is it with you?" Minato hissed through clenched teeth, his body unconditionally leaning closer and Naruto winced when the hand pressed down against his Adam's apple.

The ferocity in those chilling blue eyes were boring into Naruto's very soul and he felt vulnerable. He felt…more naked inside despite him being stark nude physically. This man…this man hated him to his very core. Despised him like Sasuke had when he chose revenge over the unconditional love he had offered by the barrel-full till it flooded over.

This man who was supposed to be his father in due time couldn't even stand the sight of him and it broke Naruto's heart. Shattered it into pieces as if it hadn't already been cracked by Sasuke's betrayal.

What kind of person was he if his father couldn't even love him?

He wondered…maybe Minato had always hated him. For being the reason his mother had been vulnerable enough to be weakened and resulted in both their deaths.

He'd stolen their lives as much as Minato had stolen his.

Bile surged up his throat but his airway was still securely clamped and so he wheezed, his naturally tan complexion turning a faint shade of purple and he wanted to leave. He wanted to runaway and never look back. Naruto wanted to return to Iruka, the only man who had ever acknowledged him for the scared child that he was and remain oblivious to the fact that he had been unwanted.

But no matter how much he wished it and no matter how much the edges around his vision blurred, he was still rooted to the same spot with the man who had handed him his shit fate.

The hand suddenly loosened and Naruto selfishly gasped for breath, a raucous cough surging forth and an unpleasant rasping sounded from his throat.

This was too much…too much for him to handle. For him to accept and it was overwhelming him. So he rolled and weakly flailed against the bigger body rooted between his legs. It didn't matter how pathetic he must have looked, feebly crawling away from the other man because it was the only thing his throbbing heart and muddled mind would allow him to do.

Every ounce of energy he possessed went into his shaking limbs, trying desperately to escape those frigid eyes. The tiles felt cold against his heated flesh, the only sound prominent to him being the pounding of his heart. Undeserving air filled his greedy lungs, his mind wanting life but his heart calling for an end. An end to the unbearable pain running its course through his veins and Naruto felt like a lost child again, withstanding those numerous, malice-filled glares from every direction all by himself.

There was a rustle and then a hard, warm body was aligned flush against his back and weighing him down onto the tiled floor once more.

"Fuck, Naruto…" a husky breath whispered into his ear and Naruto whimpered, his arms shaking under the pressure of trying futilely to escape the strong arms encircling his body.

He felt cold even in such a humid setting and the shivering wouldn't cease.

Minato hadn't meant to react the way he had. But, as usual, Naruto made him lose any sense of calm rationality he ever possessed. And when he saw those scared blue eyes reflecting his own seething abhorrence and saw his own hand clamped around an angry red throat, he'd recoiled almost automatically as if he'd been slapped.

How did things come to this?

Everything had been absolutely fine and dandy up until that morning when they had shared that godforsaken kiss.

A kiss that had, indescribably and without a shred repentance, caused a pleasant tingle to thrum from his lips to the very tips of his toes in slow wave of euphoria. In that instant, Minato knew.

Naruto was the reason for that stubborn ache in his chest.

And if the prominent void had any hope of subsiding, Minato knew what needed to be done. He'd be damned if he let that bastard Fugaku steal it right under his nose.

Naruto gasped, all movements ceasing upon feeling the hardness poking the small of his back.

Somehow, it was so much simpler just fighting with his teme of a father.

At least then, he wouldn't have to deal with the man's hot and bare erection digging into his skin as if they weren't related.

This…

This had turned into all types of fucked up.

Unbeta'd

A/N: Yeaaaah. This wasn't my original intent for the story, but it kinda had a mind of its own. And before you guys start busting my balls about the time-travel rules and what should be happening, let me remind you that it's FANFICITON. Just read and enjoy, jeez.

An Explanation: The emptiness Minato feels strictly has to do with Naruto's arrival and the tingling he feels when they touch intimately is confusing him. That is happening because it is one of Naruto's time-travel symptoms. Even though Minato doesn't have any idea Naruto is his future son, he knows that in Naruto there lies a deep connection that he can't ignore. Not now that he realizes Naruto can fix his emptiness.