He Sees Darkness, But Smiles Like The Light

By The Un-wanted Angel and Beta'd by Morgan Yukimari

Ha, Ha! I see a lot of you are confused by why our dear, lovable, yellow-flash fell off the roof of his own house, well, I have the answer to all of your concerns:

Fanfiction. That's you're answer XP But thank you all for the advice, but I really wanted to make Minato fall and nearly kill himself for a specific reason and you'll find that reason, in this chapter :D

Minato, you big dope. He tried "protecting" his child and fell straight on his back. Well with this, how is everyone going to react? More or less, how will Naruto feel? It's all here in the brand-new chapter Morgan and Myself have conjured up. Also, the Chuunin exams are coming up really soon! Like...in this chapter! So, Please sit back, and enjoy to story.

*smiles*

We do not own Naruto

CHAPTER 16

"So, while trying to check on your son, which you stupidly did by climbing on the house without using Chakra, to spy on him you fall and land on your back. You now have ten stitches in your head, I saved your ribcage but it's badly bruised and you can't walk for a week...How does it feel, Blondaime?!" Tsunade spat.

Currently Minato was laying in his bed, bandaged torso and told to rest while Tsunade and Naruto glared at him.

"...Naruto, are you okay?" Minato asked, he smiled making his face to look innocent and pure.

"I'm fine." Naruto growled.

"See? My job's done, Naruto's okay." Minato grinned.

"...Why, Tou-san?" Naruto's glum voice asked. "I told you, I wanted to be left alone and you do this, you could have killed yourself! For someone who's supposed to be the most smartest man in the village, you sure did pull a retard-move!"

That was a sting to the heart. "Naruto...I was just worried-"

"When aren't you?!" Naruto stood up and left the room, slamming the door.

Tsunade sighed. "That's just what the kid needed on his birthday."

Minato ignored her comment and looked at the door Naruto slammed. He felt guilty, he pretty much ruined Naruto's birthday (not like he did 12 years ago, but still he messed it up pretty good), probably embarrassed him, nearly broke his back and now his son was majorly pissed at him. That week hadn't been a good one. Minato had asked Hiruzen watch the village for the week until he had recovered.

Naruto, no matter how mad he was at his father, had took the job of caring for him. Currently he was pouring soup in a bowl for his father. Taking the bowl he set it on a tray, carrying it to his father's room.

"Naruto." Naruto stopped, turing around to see Kakashi.

"Oh, Hey, Sensei."

"Who's that for?" He asked, curiously.

"It's for my retarded Tou-san." Naruto hissed. "I still hate him for what he did to me on my birthday!"

Kakashi smiled sadly. "I know you do, but can you really blame the guy? I mean, he lost his wife and almost his child. Yeah, he does take things out of proportion, but you are his only son. You need to listen and do as you're told from your father."

Naruto nodded. "I know, I know. But I'm a ninja now. Ninja's don't need parents." He slightly stomped off with the soup and Kakashi shook his head, smiling.

"...Where have I heard that before?"

Knock, knock.

"Oh, come in"

Naruto opened the double doors, entering the room and Minato set down his book he was reading. He graciously smiled at Naruto as Naruto came closer to him with the tray of soup and crackers.

"Oh, thank you so much Naruto, you're so kind to do this for your old man." Minato joked.

Naruto shrugged. "My old man can't do it. Someone has to." He set the tray down across his father's lap, mentally smacking himself as he forgot a spoon.

"I'll be right back, I forgot a spoon." Naruto said. As Naruto left Minato kept reading his book. It was: 1O Ways To Becoming A Perfect Parent: Ninja Addition.

"I don't understand." He mumbled. "I've done everything!" He shifted through pages and pages in the book and still continued to search even as Naruto came back with the spoon. Naruto caught a glimpse of the title and groaned, taking the book out of his father's hands.

"Don't read this, I wouldn't be surprised that it's because of this book that you're in this situation." Naruto commanded.

Minato raised his hands. "You're the boss."

Naruto bit his lip. "Yeah...I guess."

Minato sighed. "Naruto...really, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just like there was nothing wrong with me a week ago."

"You're depressed." Minato stated worried. "I can see it, it's in your eyes"

Naruto blinked a few times. "I'm not...depressed. Just tired. That's all. I mean the Chunin Exams are coming up in about three weeks and I haven't had much sleep. I've been training my butt off. That's all. I'm not depressed."

"...Why are you so quiet then?" Minato hadn't got his answer and he would pester Naruto until the boy told him everything and truthfully.

"I'm not quiet, I'm just tired!"

"Then why are you-"

"WHY ARE YOU SO ANNOYING?!"

Minato narrowed his eyes. "Do not talk to me like that!"

Naruto kept his mouth shut.

"Whatever, here's your spoon." He threw the spoon on the bed and started to walk away. Minato couldn't take it anymore. When Sasuke returned home he went to check on Minato. Ever since he was taken in (accept that first day) he had looked up to Minato more than he did his real father when he was alive, and almost as much as he used to, to Itachi. He even called him 'Tou-san' a few times.

"Minato-kun. How are you feeling?" Sasuke asked, kneeling on both knees. Minato smiled.

"Oh, I've been better, Sasuke-chan." He grinned, ruffling Sasuke's hair.

"Do you need your should massaged or anything, Tou-san?" Sasuke asked.

Minato shook his head. "No, Sasuke, I'm fine. My muscles aren't sore...not as bad as my heart at least."

Sasuke grew worried and slightly confused. "Your heart? Do I need to call Tsunade?"

"No, no. It's an expression Sasuke. I'm worried about Naruto. He seemed sad and depressed ever since we came back from his mother's grave and he wont admit it to me, which is sort of why I'm in this condition." Minato looked around the room, almost looking for someone to be spying on them.

"I need you to stalk Naruto."

"What?!"

"I need to know why my little boy is upset, please Sasuke." Minato nearly begged. "I can't have ANBU officers follow him, they're preparing for the matches and Kakashi can't do it, he's training you for the exams." Sasuke nodded.

"I won't stalk him, how about I ask him questions. I mean, we tell each other everything." He offered.

"Everything?"

"Everything."

"...EVERYTHING?!"

"Yes, Everything. Want my help or not?"

"You have a deal." Minato smiled.

Sasuke left the room and Minato nearly weeped. "He...tells him...everything."

Sasuke felt horrible. He didn't want to do this to Naruto. He and Naruto were so close, more than friends they were brothers now. Sasuke thought about what Minato said to him while he walked over to the training grounds to see Naruto tossing stars at targets. Sasuke sighed, though, he didn't want to see Naruto and Minato's relationship crumble. The paranoid father was a better dad to him than his real father. He'd do anything for him.

"Hay, Naru-kun" Sasuke smiled. Naruto turned around and smiled.

"Hi, Sasuke!" He waved.

"Uh...Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

"...I'm over here" Sasuke nervously smiled back and Naruto turned around and smiled back.

"What's up Sasuke?" He offered a ninja star and Sasuke decined. "Is Tou-san okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine. He's resting now. By the way Naruto, I wanna' ask you somthing." Sasuke started getting Naruto's full attention. "Your mother...what was she like?" Sasuke asked the question in a curious and innocently. Naruto shrugged, picking up a stick and started slicing the grass with it.

"Well, I've never met her, that's for starters. And Tou-san says that before me, she was the Kyuubi's host." Naruto became quiet then. Naruto and Sasuke had walked as far as into the woods to reach the small brook. It wasn't big or deep, if an adult were to stand in the water it would reach their thighs, but still the two sat on the little red bridge, dipping their feet in, letting goldfish nibble their toes.

"And...My mother, Tou-san says, had such long red hair." He smiled at that. "I saw a picture of her once, she was beautiful. Tou-san says-"

Naruto became quiet.

Sasuke waited.

"Tou-san says...that she was a little nervous at first about being pregnant with me. But over time she came to love and accept me, then he said that somthing went wrong with the birth and it ended up being an emergency C-cesion." Naruto had tears falling form his eyes now, damaging his bandages. "And there was so much blood that...that...Not even she could survive that much loss."

Naruto sniffed, Sasuke rested his arm around Naruto shoulders.

"Sometimes..." Naruto cried. "And you can't tell Tou-san this, but sometimes..."

Sasuke listened cloasly.

"Sometimes...I wish I wasn't born, so that she could live!" Naruto began to bawl now. He felt so guilty. It was all his fault his mother died. If he hadn't been made than maybe she'd be alive and his father wouldn't be in such pain. The Kyuubi wouldn't be annoyed by him and half of this drama wouldn't happen. Sasuke sighed.

"Naruto...Don't blame yourself. Your mother loved you, and what would she say if she heard you talk like this?"

Naruto sobbed some more.

"Naruto...I would be sad if you died, I know that Kiba, Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Shino, Garra, Lee, Ino, TenTen, Sakura and Hinata would all be upset. But the person would be crushed the most would be your father." Sasuke soothingly spoke.

Naruto sniffed. "I don't want him to be upset, that's why I've been...cold to him. I don't want him to be upset when I die, he doesn't need to cry anymore."

"Naruto...it doesn't matter if you push him away or not. He's still going to be upset, if and when you die. And pushing him away is only upsetting him more" Sasuke reminded him. Naruto looked up.

Sasuke smiled sweetly. "Maybe it's time to apologize..."

Naruto had apologized, and right away. After pleads of forgivness and lots of tears it didn't really take much for Minato to forgive Naruto for his antics.

"I'm really sorry, Tou-san." Naruto sniffed.

Minato smiled, hugging Naruto's body. "It's alright my Naru-chan. Don't blame yourself for her death, she didn't die in vain. Not all at." Naruto didn't smile, but silent tears ran down his face and he closed his eyes.

She...Didn't die in vain...Good.

Training (hard-core, blistering, sweating like a pig, THAT training), lack of sleep and food are common for twelve year olds around this time. They're so busy with new jutsus, performances and training that there's no time for anything else. Why, you may ask, would anyone want to train that hard? Well, one word:

"Chuunin exams" The perverted-toad Sage smiled.

"You said One word, that's two you dummy!" Naruto hollered.

"Shut up! Who's the teacher in this?" Jiariya shouted back, annoyed that even though he himself was a talented writer, was caught in his mistake by a "brat". Naruto huffed.

"Now, since your father can't train you because of his back, I will be teaching you in his absence" He grinned. Naruto gave a disgusted face and Jiraiya scowled back.

"I'm going to show you a secret technique that I've been saving just for you, Naruto," He grinned. Naruto grew excited until he found himself playing "look-out" for his god-father while his godfather smiled, his tounge sticking out in concentration as he jotted down notes on a notebook while peeping threw the girl's bath house.

"I thought you were going to teach me a justu!" Naruto pouted. "Not peep on naked girls!"

"Aw, come on, it's perfectly normal-"

"It's illegal!"

"for a boy your age to be curious in the sex of a female." He continued to take notes while Naruto groaned. He knew his Tou-san would kill him if he knew what he was doing for his god-father. Come to think of it, his godfather was slightly right. He was...curious.

Naruto heard a splash and then a high-pitched giggle.

"Sakura! This way"

"Sakura?" He asked himself, he jumped on Jiraiya's back, hearing a complaint from the old man, but he ignored him, trying to look over the fence top. There he saw her! He gave the biggest grin he could have formed on his face. Pink hearts replaced his eyes as he lovingly watched Sakura wash her semi-long pink hair. She giggled again, she was in the bath with a few other girls Naruto didn't recognize, but he wasn't focused on them; his eyes were set for Sakura. she giggled louder when another girl tickled her, surprising her.

"I'm in heaven~" Naruto smiled.

Jiraiya nodded, then his eyes popped seeing Tsunade!

"Tsunade!" He grinned, taking out some bronoculars and peeping threw the hole.

"Hi, Tsunade-san!" Sakura smiled.

"Hello, Sakura-chan? Enjoying the water?"

"Yup! I've been training really hard and my back hurts really bad" She sadly smiled. Tsunade took off the towel that was wrapped around her body and Jiraiya's eyes went wide and blood seeped from his nose. He tried to get a better look at her large breasts, but he couldn't see anything, so, being the dumbass he is he tried to lean forward to get a better look but Naruto lost his balance, he fell over the top of the fence, taking the fence with him as if was caught in his foot, falling into the warm bubbly water.

"Uh...oh..." Naruto gasped.

"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed, covering her chest. Tsunade wanted to scream, but she turned seeing Jiraiya wave meekly.

"YOU BASTARD!" She screamed.

After a ton of punches and kicks and knocks to the next town thirty miles away, Jiraiya stumbled back to Konoha.

"Alright...maybe now...we can start training." He moaned in pain.

"Good" Naruto smiled.

"Wait-how did you get off scott free?!" Jiraiya demanded to know.

"I played blind." Naruto smirked. Jiraiya glared at him but sighed. "Alright, now, back to business. I want to teach you: It's called Kuchiyose no Jutsu, the summoning justu." He smiled. Naruto grinned, he was very excited.

"You can make contracts with animals using your blood and then you can call them up anytime you want." Jiraiya continued. "Before we can start, we need to do an exercise that will help you to control your chakra better,"

"Excercise?" Naruto asked. "I thought my chakra was already stable. You told me that last month."

His godfather nodded, remembering the two-weeks Naruto got to spend with his godfather over summer break just before he turned twelve. "Right, but that was basic training. This is the hardcore stuff."

"O...Okay? But what?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya smiled. "Walking on Water" He announced. After two seconds of silence and Jiraiya standing in front of Naruto grinning like a pedophile, Naruto rasberried his godfather.

"Sounds as lame as tree-walking" He placed his hands on his hips.

"Wha-the-what?!" Jiraiya tampered "Alright, brat! You try it for the first time!" Jiraiya pointed to the small lake and Naruto stomped over to the lake, taking a tiny step into the water, he went plunging into the lake, making Jiraiya laugh loudly, tears coming out of his eyes, as Naruto hauled himself out of the water, muttering curses.

"Did you even try?!" Jiraiya howled.

Naruto grumbled once more, trying to walk again, but the same result came back, he fell in.

Minato sighed, it was too quiet in the house. He missed the patter of children running on the floors and the occasional accidental chakra blasts Sasuke and Naruto would create if they came to be too excited. He missed a lot of things, like the way Naruto would want to kiss, hug and cuddle with him. He missed carrying a sleepy baby to bed. Most of all, he missed spending any amount of time with Naruto. His job kept him on his feet and Naruto was a ninja now. The only time they saw each other was either Minato giving him a mission, going to Tsunade to have Naruto's eyes checked every month, or on rare occasions: lunch time.

Minato had to come to his senses though, he had to realize that Naruto wasn't a little baby or a small child that needed protection anymore. He would be a full-fledged ninja of Konoha, that is if he passed the Cunnin Exams-

"The exams." Minato gasped, smiling. Then he found an evil side to himself. Well, it wasn't evil, it was more along the lines of: "Over-protective"

"Can't be a ninja without doing the exams." He smirked.

Uh-oh...what's Minato gonna' do?!

Review please, sorry this wasn't beta'ed

-The Un-Wanted Angel.