Hello! How are you all? I have a headache, yet I write this 'cause of you guys, so you better appreciate it! xD Anyways, sorry about taking so long for this chapter. I don't really get the time to go onto the computer, so I try my best to write whenever I can. And about that new story I'm writing. I'm half-way through it, so maybe I'll be able to publish it today, maybe not. Depends on my head. And sorry for any mistakes, too. %)
Anyways, (again, xD) Onward with the story!
~Recap~
He looked around at the crowd until he spotted Naruto. He smirked, sending chills down the backs of villagers.
"It looks like you survived, Naruto."
~End Recap~
Naruto looked at his ex-teammate in shock, dread, and hatred. His eyes narrowed, and he glared at him. But that was when he noticed something strange. Sasuke's body was wavering. His eyes narrowed even more so. 'Wavering? Is it a genjutsu?' He thought to himself as he pushed a little of Kyuubi's chakra to his eyes. The kenjutsu dissolved for him immediately, and who he saw was quite unexpected.
"What the hell?" He asked aloud. Minato turned and gave him a scolding glare, though soon noticed that it was no good, seeing that his son was focused on the newcomer, rather than him.
Naruto surveyed his surroundings, keeping one eye on the newcomer the whole time. By now, the shinobi had evacuated the civilians far enough from them so they wouldn't get injured. There were only a couple handfuls of ninja there.
Bringing his full attention back, he cautiously stepped toward the newcomer. Now standing only a few feet away from the newcomer, Naruto spoke.
"Who are you, and what are you doing with the fire-bird?" He asked. If he was who Naruto thought he really was, the answer would be one of the strangest, if not weirdest, things the other shinobi would hear in their careers.
"I am who I am, and I have the fire bird to do as I see fit, as it never burns." The newcomer replied, smoothly. The shinobi had no idea what they were talking about, and were going to attack, but Naruto had already moved.
He launched himself at the man with his arms open wide, an incredible happy look on his face. The man held out his arms and caught Naruto with ease, as if he had done this multiple times before.
If they weren't confused before, the shinobi in that group were now. Why was Naruto hugging the man in an intimate way? And who was that man?
"You still haven't really answered the question." Kushina said, walking towards the front of the group. "Who are you? And what are you doing here?"
Her demanding voice brought the other shinobi out of their confusion, and they brought out their weapons, on guard.
Not letting go of Naruto, the newcomer turned Naruto toward Kushina, and released his genjutsu. What they saw surprised them all.
There stood a man, in his late teens, (17-20, people), who was about 5' 11", and had the attire for a Konoha jounin. His black hair was into a ponytail created at the nape of his neck, and went about half-way down his back. He had pale skin, and black eyes, just as the genjutsu had showed, as well as hollow cheeks.
"My name is Itachi," Itachi explained in his emotionless voice, the smirk on his face leaving long ago, though his eyes danced in a mixture of amusement and mirth. "And my reason for being here," He continued, placing one of his hands on Naruto's head, who pouted at the action. "Is to take care of him."
"What are you talking about?" Minato asked, suspicion layering his voice. Though Naruto was too old to be his son, Minato had treated him like one, and thus, was not too pleased at how Itachi was holding Naruto.
"Yeah, and how are you alive?" Naruto asked, his eyes looking up at Itachi, who was behind him. "I, of all people, was pretty sure that you were dead. I saw your body."
A flicker of a smile passed Itachi's face as he looked towards Naruto. "Do you really want to know?" He asked in a voice that said that he would tell you, though it was something that you wouldn't want to hear.
"I think I'll pass he he he…" Naruto paled slightly, thinking of ways that Itachi could have survived, or better yet, been brought back to life.
"I'm here for a reason, a reason you know very well." Itachi's eyes hardened. "He's coming."
At those two words, all the color drained Naruto's face, and he sagged into Itachi.
Noticing that this was something important to discuss, Minato dismissed the shinobi, and gave them the order to return the civilians back to their houses, and to resume everyday procedures..
"Let's go to my estates and discuss there," Minato said in a tone that couldn't be refused. Itachi nodded, and half carried, half-dragged Naruto with him as they went back to the Namikaze estates. Upon entering, Kushina went to the kitchen to make some tea, and Minato led Itachi to the living room. He activated privacy seals, which were of his own creation.
Itachi, still holding on to Naruto sat onto the couch, with his feet spread apart slightly, and laid Naruto in his lap. Naruto leaned against his chest, still pale from the news that he had received.
The whole time, Minato was staring with eyebrows raised, wondering what sort of connection those two had.
When Kushina came in, she wasn't even phased at what she saw. She set the cups of tea on the table, and sat down. She looked to Minato, who nodded.
"So, who exactly are you, why are you here, and who is this person that you mentioned?" Minato demanded, his authority as a Hokage spreading throughout his demeanor.
"As I said before," Itachi said. "My name is Itachi. I am a jounin ninja. I am here to take care of Naruto." He paused, looking down at Naruto, who was starting to fall asleep, as he had done so in the past.
"What do you mean, take care of him?" Kushina asked. She was observing the way Itachi held Naruto, and knew they held a special bond together, one that was not easily broken.
"It is exactly as I said," Itachi explained, looking up from Naruto. "There is someone coming here, soon, who has the power destroy Konoha." Minato looked a bit shocked, not exactly expecting to here what he just had.
"He is very dangerous," Itachi continued. "Though Naruto has always been able to have a some-what even match with him. He's obsessed with killing him, though I shall not tell you why. That is something for Naruto, and only him, to tell you." The two unknowing parents looked to Naruto who, by now, was fast asleep on Itachi's chest.
"So, what you're saying is," Minato began. "You're someone we don't know anything about, coming here to take care of Naruto, who will soon be facing a psychotic man who wants to kill him?" Itachi nodded, and Minato frowned.
"Well, that's rather messed up now, isn't it?" Minato asked, scratching the back of his head. The earlier mix of amusement and mirth came back to Itachi's eyes.
"You're the same as you were before, Yondaime-sama," Itachi murmured to himself, so that only Naruto, who was asleep, would be able to hear it.
"I see," Kushina said, a thoughtful look on her face. "And how do you plan to 'take care of him', if I might ask?" Kushina asked, looking straight into Itachi's eyes.
"I will be training him every day in such ways where he will be able to beat him." Itachi responded, confidence slipping through his emotionless mask.
"And do you, by any chance, know who this person is?" Kushina asked.
Itachi looked at them in their eyes, his gaze unwavering. "He's the one who put a hole through Naruto's chest. Twice." Itachi's voice was hard, and very cold.
Kushina and Minato's blood ran cold. This boy that was coming, he was the one who put a hole into their pretty much -everything-except-in-paper- son?
"Then please, so train him, Itachi-san," Minato agreed, his voice having a hardness that was usually unheard of.
There was silence as the three were lost in thoughts, taking a sip of tea every now and then. At one point, though he (surprisingly) didn't realize it, he started running his fingers through Naruto's hair. When Kushina glanced over to Itachi and Naruto, the question resurfaces.
"By the way," she asked. "How are you and Naruto connected?" Minato looked at Itachi, breaking loose from his thoughts to hear the answer to this question.
Itachi smirked. "Naruto and I are lovers."
And cut! Ha! You people actually thought that Sasuke would be in this early? Pft! The story would be over within the next two chapters! Anyways, how'd you like it? There isn't going to be any lemons in this story, though the two will get intimate in this story. This story, after all, is a Naruto/Minato-Kushina family fic. So it'll be concentrated in the family, not on the son and his boyfriend. xD Please review!