#03: The Dad

Naruto knew he was having a dream.

But it was such a good dream and he'd be damned if he let it end. At first it started off as a nightmare about Sakura and Sasuke showing up at his school and kidnapping him from said school's premises, but then his dream took a 180 and now he was in Ramen Land, stuffing himself silly with as many bowls of ramen as he possibly could. His dream only turned better when the Ramen Goddess showed up to bestow upon him a coupon for a Lifetime's Supply of Ichiraku Ramen, Ichiraku's being his favorite place to get ramen from back in his hometown. After the Ramen Goddess disappeared and Naruto pocketed his coupon, he couldn't help but muse how the Goddess looked like Sakura.

He was snapped out of his musings when Sasuke-with-rabbit ears walked by, looking disdainfully at his wristwatch and scowling.

"I'm late," he drawled out in a monotone voice. He paused to give a side-long glance at Naruto who was currently gaping at him. "What?" Sasuke-Rabbit snapped. "Just 'cause I'm dressed like a rabbit doesn't mean I'm gonna act all fucking cute so stop gaping at me like an idiot, dobe."

He was about to give a retort when there was a mighty ROAR and a Val with lion ears and claws and tail went chasing after Sasuke-rabbit. Naruto blinked in befuddlement but in the end, decided to kick back and relax, finding entertainment in Sasuke-rabbit being chased by Val-lion.

"Kekekeke… Sasuke-rabbit…"

Back in reality, Naruto shifted in his sleep, spread eagle out on the car's backseat with a hand scratching a tanned belly. Drool dribbled from the corner of his open mouth.

Regular Sasuke, the Sasuke Without Rabbit Ears, twitched. What the hell was Dobe going on about? Him? Rabbit ears? What the --?

"Aaaha…" Naruto snorted in his sleep and rolled on to his side, his drool dribbling on to the car's leather interior. Sasuke's expression darkened. "Val…s'at tickles…"

Val--? A vein pulsed in Sasuke's temple as he raised a fist, said fist shaking in righteous outrage. That was where he drew the line. There was no way he was going to stand back and let idiot blond dobes drool on his car's leather interior while dreaming of that guy. Sasuke reached out with a snarl and grabbed the front of Naruto's shirt, dragging the sleeping blond out of the car and tossing him on to the concrete sidewalk. A disgruntled 'oomf' came from the lump before said lump shifted and rolled over on to their back.

Naruto groggily opened his eyes and squinted, wondering why everything was so bright. The first thing he noticed was that he was staring up at a very blue sky. Secondly, he noticed he was lying on something hard. Thirdly, his body hurt, like he had been tossed on to concrete or something. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, still half awake, and scratched halfheartedly at the small of his back where tiny rocks had dug into his skin. Naruto attempted to stifle a yawn when he finally realized there was a pair of feet right in front of him.

Blinking, Naruto tilted his head back and had to squint a bit due to the sun glaring down at him and shadowing the person's features.

"Oi, mind moving a bit to the right?"

"…"

"Oi, oi, are ya deaf or somethin'?"

"…"

Naruto scowled impatiently, raising his voice a bit, "I said to move."

"I heard you, idiot," the shadow-that-Narut-didn't-know-was-Sasuke drawled out.

"Then why aren't you moving?!"

Sasuke snorted.

Before Naruto could say anything, someone walked over next to Sasuke, effectively blocking away the sun and putting light on the two bodies. Naruto blinked in confusion. "Sakura-chan? Eh? Sasuke-teme? What are you two…doing… here…" Somewhere a record skidded to a halt. Naruto buried his face in his hands and whined pitifully. "So it wasn't just some horrible nightmare?"

Sakura heaved a sigh. "No, Naruto, it wasn't 'just some horrible nightmare.'"

"So you really didn't give me a coupon for a lifetime's supply of Ichiraku's ramen?"

"No, Naruto."

"Oh." The blond deflated. "That sucks." He scratched his head and looked side to side. "Hey, where are we anyway?"

Sakura rubbed her temples. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Attention Deficit Disorder much?

"Look behind you." Sakura pointed.

He did as he was instructed and nearly fainted when he twisted around to see what Sakura was pointing at. It was a large mansion – an extremely large mansion. It took up so much land that the mansion/area was given its own name. It was known as the Plaza, not just to the occupants of the large building, but also to the people of the town. Naruto loosened his tie. He suddenly felt like he was suffocating. Blue eyes glanced about nervously before glancing over his shoulder. They had already passed through the front gate. It was a five mile dash from where he sat and to the front gate – five miles down the lawn, through trees and down a hill and passed a fountain to freedom.

"You're a fast runner and all, Naruto, but you wouldn't make it very far," Sakura said, as if reading his mind. Naruto deflated. The pink-haired female always had a scary talent for reading his mind. Sakura snorted. "You're just predictable."

He started to protest when he was grabbed roughly by his shirt and hauled to his feet. Sasuke gave him a look but proceeded to ignore Naruto as he dragged him towards the mansion's front doors. Sakura walked ahead of them and pressed the buzzer. There was a tiny camera above the door that moved and zoomed in on them before the doors finally opened. Two men in suits stood there waiting. They moved aside to allow the three teens entrance into the front lobby, bowing as they passed them by.

"God, asshole, I can walk on my own," Naruto glowered and pulled himself free of Sasuke's grasp. He fixed his school uniform, all the while muttering curses underneath his breath. He heard the two men in suits close the door before sighing, as if resigned to his fate. Oh well. Might as well go down like a man. He lifted his head up high and squared his shoulders before marching after Sakura who had walked on ahead. Sasuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and casually took up the rear.

The lobby itself was wide and spacious, the ceiling reaching three stories high where a painting of samurais fighting demons could be seen circling a chandelier. It was a large, circular area with a lion statue at the very center. A dark red carpet made up the floor that muffled their footsteps as they wandered across the lobby and towards a staircase. They ascended up to the second level where a silver-haired man waited for them at the top. His hair was spiked at a certain angle, and like the others, was wearing a black suit. But rather than wearing a white collared shirt, he was wearing a pink one and his left eye was covered with an eye patch. A mask covered his face nose down, so the only thing visible was a single, lazy eye.

The man saluted them. "Yo."

"Kakashi," Sakura nodded in greeting once they were up the steps.

The man's good eye wandered over to a sulking blond who was currently avoiding any and all eye contact. Kakashi's eye curved, and if it wasn't for his mask, it would be evident that he was smiling in amusement.

"Welcome home, Naruto!" he sang out good-humoredly.

Naruto didn't mind looking at Kakashi then to send him a withering glare.

The glare didn't have any effect on the man because he continued on cheerily, "Your father's currently in a meeting, so if you wouldn't mind just sitting around I'm sure your father will be with you shortly."

Naruto let out an explosive sigh but nodded despairingly. He was dreading his encounter with his father, not because he was a cruel man that he'd pulverize Naruto for running away, but because he'd no doubt guilt him to death for running away in the first place. But he had a perfectly good reason that he figured running away was the only way to get his father to understand…

Again he sighed and treaded on, following Sakura and Sasuke down the hall. As they moved further down, the corridor became dimmer and less lit. They made several turns that, if it were anyone else who didn't know how to maneuver through the Plaza, would have gotten lost. Once they reached a hall with a Buddha statue at the end, they turned to the tapestry on the wall next to it – a velvet red tapestry with a golden lion embodied on it. Sakura brushed aside the tapestry and pressed her hand against a certain spot on the wall where a symbol was engraved. The area she touched lit and then the wall slid open. They entered the new room and the wall resumed its previous position.

It was a waiting room of sorts with shelves full of books, potteries and vases for display, two couches, and paintings for the viewing pleasure. There was another door at the opposite side of the room, but they didn't bother heading for it. Naruto slumped down on a couch and spread his arms across its back. Sakura sat down on a desk and crossed her legs, busying herself reading the newspaper that had been left on the table. Sasuke simply stood by the window and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and eyes closed.

It was only a minute letter that Naruto threw himself down on the couch so he was laying down on his back, an arm strewn across his eyes.

"Gah! I'm so bored!"

Sakura rolled her eyes and set down the newspaper. She drummed perfectly manicured nails against the desk's surface before uncrossing her legs and crossing them again, this time shifting her legs' positions. "How about you tell us why you ran away there."

"I don't know. That'd be like me running to America and you asking me why I ran away 'there.'"

Sakura gave a derisive snort. "Not really. Do you not realize the danger you were in staying where you were at?"

Naruto moved his head to the side so he could look at her with a quirked eyebrow. "I didn't see anything dangerous about it…" He looked away so he was staring at the ceiling, moving his hands so his fingers were splayed across his belly. "I didn't think it mattered where I ran away to. And I liked it there. I had fun. It was a great experience. You guys should understand more than anyone why I left."

Sakura sighed and gave her friend a sympathetic look. "We do, Naruto. It's just, where you went –"

The door across the room suddenly opened. Naruto sat up and Sasuke opened his eyes, each teen looking at the door as men, and some women, came filing out. They were all intimidating figures, each one wearing a suit. It seemed as if the tiny waiting room was filled and cramped by the time they emptied themselves out. Naruto frowned when a hand suddenly descended on his head, and his frown turned into a full blown scowl when that same hand ruffled his hair.

"So you're finally home, eh, brat."

He glared at the violet-haired woman who was grinning down at him viciously. She was wearing a long, black trench coat and a short, tight skirt and a white-collared top that was buttoned low enough for her cleavage to hang out. She was crouching down in front of him that Naruto had a great view down her shirt. He could practically see her black bra. Hey, it was perfectly alright for a man to appreciate the female's anatomy, especially when they were practically shoving it in your face.

But the hand ruffling his hair turned into a harsh noogie, so Naruto didn't have any qualms of shoving her away. "Bah! Anko! Stop that!"

Mitarashi Anko laughed and sat down next to him, crossing her legs so her skirt hitched up. She draped an arm around Naruto's shoulders and tugged the younger boy close. "It was so boring without you, kid. And your dad was practically pissing himself in his pants everyday you were gone."

"You were just bored because you didn't have anyone to harass!" Naruto accused.

"So what of it?"

"Pedophile!"

Anko grinned devilishly. "Can't a woman appreciate a good piece of meat?"

He returned the grin. "Well… can't blame you there then, I guess."

"I always wondered what you'd look like in a school girl's uniform."

Sakura glanced questioningly at the white haired man who stood next to her. His hair was long and spiky, his frame large and built. He was staring at her oddly serious before leering at her unabashedly. Sakura growled and punched him so hard he went flying towards Naruto and Anko. People stepped aside as not to have the man go flying into them.

"Idiot pervert," Sakura grumbled, crossing her arms and looking indignant.

"Oh, hey Ero-sennin," Naruto said as he leaned over to look at the man who had landed in front of the couch. The man grinned and waved.

"Yo, brat."

"What'd you do to make Sakura-chan mad?"

"Nothing," the white-haired man said as he sat up and adjusted his clothes. A dreamy expression crossed his face momentarily as he sighed, "She gets like Tsunade more and more…"

Naruto rolled his eyes and was about to say something when the chattering in the room died down. All eyes turned to the opened door when a man stepped out, and Naruto found himself gulping. It sounded so loud to his ears he wondered if everyone else heard. But no one seemed to be looking at him so he figured they hadn't heard. Bodies moved aside to allow the man to walk further into the room, each step muffled by the carpet as he neared Naruto.

Was it him or did the room get colder?

Naruto kept his gaze glued firmly to the ground, and he still refused to look up even when the man's shoes came into his line of vision. The footsteps stopped and Naruto resisted all temptation to look up.

"Naruto," the man spoke, his voce bringing the temperature in the room below negative zero.

Naruto still didn't look.

There was silence before he spoke again, this time addressing everyone else in the room. Naruto could still feel his gaze on him. "Everyone. Leave. My son and Ihave some things to talk about."

It didn't take long for everyone to empty themselves out. Anko patted Naruto sympathetically on the back. "Well, nice knowin' ya, kid!"

When it seemed like everyone had left, Naruto heard some more shuffling and he looked to the side to see Sakura and Sasuke tip-toeing out as quietly as possible. He flailed indignantly. "Traitors! Don't leave me here alone!"

Sakura paused, making Sasuke bump into her. He scowled but she ignored him and instead laughed nervously at Naruto. "Eh-heh-heh… We'll… talk later, Naruto. Bye!" She dashed out of the room. Sasuke blinked slowly and looked over at Naruto, who was giving him his most pitiful expression.

Sasuke walked out calmly. The door closed behind him, insuring Naruto's doom.

"That bastard," Naruto seethed, looking ready to get up and stalk after Sasuke, but the sound of someone clearing their throat made him abruptly freeze.

He turned guiltily to the man and gulped loudly as he raised his head, eyes trailing from the black slacks, to the white buttoned shirt, along a sky blue tie with 'World's Best Dad' imprinted down the length of the front, to a firm jaw, before meeting identical blues. It was almost like staring into a mirror, except the man before him was older, and the length of his blond locks reached his shoulders and trailed down the back of his neck. And while Naruto had scars on his cheeks, this man did not. And while Naruto looked guilty, this man looked…tired, and disappointed. Naruto winced.

"Um, heh-heh, hey Pops," Naruto said in a way to lighten the tense atmosphere. But it didn't work because the man didn't even bat an eyelash. The teen laughed awkwardly before silencing himself when the man spoke up sharply:

"Naruto. You have a lot of explaining to do."

"Er, I kno—"

"After I'm done talking," he interrupted. Naruto snapped his mouth closed. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? Six months, Naruto! Six. Months. Six months and no phone call, no letters, no nothing!"

"I'm SOR—"

"I am talking." The blond man started pacing as he ranted away, "Do you realize what trouble we've gone through to find you? To get you back? Do you realize what could have happened to you? No, of course not. If it wasn't bad enough that you ran away and was gone for six months, it turns out you were staying in enemy territory!"

"I—what?" Naruto looked positively confused. "I was?"

"And you didn't even know!" Namikaze Minato rounded on him. Naruto pressed himself up against the couch reflexively. "What were you thinking?!"

"I was…thinking they had a really good ramen place?" Naruto said meekly.

"Do you feel bad for abandoning your father?"

Naruto bowed his head. "Yes…"

"Do you feel bad for making your father worry?"

"Yes…"

"Are you sorry for your actions?"

"Ye--… wait! No, no, no, no, NO!" Naruto abruptly stood up and pointed at Minato. "I knew you were going to do this! You! Always trying to make me feel guilty! I'm not going to let you win!"

"…So you're not sorry for breaking my poor heart?" Minato asked, holding a hand over his heart and looking at his son pitifully.

"Ye – ARGH! Stop doing that!" If Naruto looked like anything at that moment, it was that he looked like a five year old throwing a tantrum. He even looked ready to stomp a foot in agitation, but held himself back from doing so. "Do you want to know why I left?"

"Why?" Minato asked, blinking innocently.

"Because you never let me go out! I'm always stuck in here!"

"I do to let you go out!" Minato started to protest, but Naruto interrupted.

"You let me go out, but only within the vicinities of the Plaza," Naruto deadpanned. "You never let me go outside of the gates. And I've been home schooled since I was five! When I was gone, I attended school like the other kids! And you know what? I. LIKED. IT!"

Minato turned somber instantly. "I understand…It's just… Can you blame a pitiful man such as myself for not wanting his Naru-chan to get hurt? Wanting to protect him forever?"

Naruto faltered when Minato took his hands and stared at him sadly.

"Am I really that bad of a father that you'd want to go run away? Am I bad for wanting to protect you?"

"No, no," Naruto amended with a sigh. He patted his father's shoulder. "I'm…sorry for getting mad at you, and for running away. I really didn't mean to be gone for so long…"

The man's expression instantly brightened when hearing Naruto's apology. "You're forgiven." He embraced Naruto suddenly who blinked and started to protest. "Now tell your Papa how much you missed him!"

"H-hey! Stop! This is embarrassing!"

"It's okay, Naru-chan. It's just you and me, no one else will hear you declare how much you missed your Papa!"

"N-no!"

The teen's head practically spun when he was suddenly pulled back at arm's length so Minato could look at him intently.

"It would make me feel even better to know that you missed your Papa."

Naruto twitched.

Minato's voice turned serious as he said after noting Naruto's hesitation: "You know, I do have those pictures of you doing a Tom Cruise imitation in your socks and underwear while singing."

Naruto gaped at him incredulously as he spluttered. "Y-you…!! You're so evil!"

"I'm sure Sakura-chan and Sasuke-kun will enjoy seeing those," Minato continued as if he hadn't heard Naruto.

The teen bowed his head, blond locks shadowing his eyes before he suddenly latched himself to his father in an exaggerated embrace. "Oh father! I missed you!"

Minato smiled gleefully and patted Naruto on the head. "There, there, son. I missed you, too." They withdrew from the hug. "I have to go talk with some of my men and then we can have dinner."

"Alright. 'Cause I'm starving." Naruto patted his grumbling stomach to emphasize his point. Minato chuckled as he maneuvered to the door and opened it, but both blond men found themselves blinking as several bodies came tumbling in, each one looking just as guilty as the last.

"Were you… eavesdropping?" Naruto asked them indignantly.

Sakura giggled nervously from somewhere underneath Anko, Hatake Kakashi, a brunette male around Naruto's age, and… "Teme?! You were eavesdropping too?!"

The raven-haired male extracted himself from the top of the bodily pile and dusted his clothes off, looking as dignified as he possibly could. The others started to pick themselves up, untangling limbs and what-not. "As if I would eavesdrop, dobe."

"Then what the hell--?!"

"I was merely trying to stop them and got caught in the fall."

Naruto snorted disbelievingly. "Liar!"

"Tch. Whatever."

"We were just worried and wanted to make sure you were still alive, kid," Anko said with a wink. Minato shook his head amusedly.

"You give me little credit. Well, come, Anko. There's some things we still need to finish discussing with the others." Anko nodded and walked off with Minato. The man paused to look at Kakashi. "Will you be joining us?"

Kakashi nodded. He departed with the other two adults – after ruffling Naruto's hair and making the boy scowl.

Once the adults were gone, Naruto rounded an accusatory glare to Sakura, the brunette male, and to Sasuke who was currently looking off in another direction.

"Well don't give me that look! I heard you were back and I wanted to see if the rumors were true!" the brunette said with a defensive wave of his hands. He was a rowdy-looking boy, his brunette hair a spiky mane, the style and the red, triangular tattoos on either cheeks giving him a roguish appearance. He grinned at Naruto, baring unnaturally sharp canines. "Where have you been anyway?!"

"Oh, in Osaka," Naruto said thoughtfully, thinking back to when his father said he had been staying in enemy territory. "In the Miyakojima ward."

The brunette stared at him skeptically. "Are you serious?"

"Well, yeah." Naruto shrugged. "I don't see what the big deal is."

"Dude, Osaka's like, land of our enemies, you know? If anyone had found out who you were –"

He rolled his eyes. "And how was I supposed to know this?"

"Maybe because you were only drilled about it several times by Iruka-sensei," Sakura chided.

"…Well nothing happened, okay?!" Naruto crossed his arms childishly. "You guys are blowing this way out of proportion." When Sakura was about to voice her protest, Naruto held up a hand and continued, a vein twitching in his temple, "And you know what I just realized? I was manipulated by my dad. Again. Always making me the guilty one…"

Silence.

And then:

"So what's this about a Tom Cruise imitation anyway?"

"…Shut up, Kiba."

Ramblings: Just to answer Mink's question, I got the idea for this fic from a Naruto!fanart… I don't remember who drew it for the life of me, but it was of Sakura, Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto and they were wearing suits and Sakura had a bazooka and Sasuke or Naruto had a grenade… and… uh yeah and I was like HOW COOL I WANT TO WRITE A YAKUZA FIC. And bam this is born. If anyone knows who drew the fanart that'd be AWESOME. I just remember seeing it on DevArt, and that's about it, aha.

And I am so glad to see all the positive responses to Val. xD I was so not sure about him. But thanks guys. And thanks for the constant positive feedback for this fic. And a reviewer mentioned Naruto seemed weak-ish but, that's just 'cuz Sakura and Sasuke are intimidating people, lol. Believe me, he's not a pushover. He's only a pushover when Sakura's around.

And more about the Plaza and characters will be explained further in the next chapter. :)