Father-Son Spar!

As he gazed upon the field where his ninja career began, Naruto couldn't help but feel a little nostalgic. This was the second practice round in which he had no idea what to expect. The first time had been with Kakashi and with the Bell Test, which had been a disaster. Across from him, his father stood, grinning from ear to ear.

For the moment, father and son stared each other down, imagining the others abilities.

"Ready, Dad," asked Naruto, confidently.

"Anytime you're ready, kiddo."

Naruto felt a twinge of annoyance there, but he could see the playful look on his dad's face. "Sure pops," he countered. "I hope you're not too disappointed when I beat you into the ground."

Minato let out a chuckle. "Oh, don't count your old man out just yet. Speaking of which, I'm not that old."

Naruto smirked, "Hmph!" He dashed forward just as a breeze blew its way onto the field. Intending to test his father's defense, Naruto let loose a single jab, watching as his father used a single hand to knock it gently to the side.

Following up, Naruto placed a hand on the ground, before kicking out with both feet towards Minato's face. Minato in return ducked under the kick, before dashing in and giving Naruto a palm straight to the stomach, knocking him back.

As Naruto stood again, Minato carefully observed his fighting stance. There was none, as Naruto took the charging method again. Minato's fighting style was unlike all the clans of Leaf Village. He understood that each and every style had its own weaknesses. Therefore, his fighting style was an adaptive one to counter the one his opponent used. From what he could tell Naruto didn't have a real fighting style either. Instead, he just charged forward and used raw power to exploit his opponent's defense.

Minato frowned, 'Weak attacks like this can't possibly beat me. What's he trying to do? This can't be all he's got.'

Deciding to see the extent of Naruto's abilities, Minato charged forward as well, drawing a kunai. He blocked an incoming punch, before flicking his wrist with such speed that Naruto did not catch it. Luckily, a moment later, Naruto side stepped to avoid the kunai, watching it sail past his ear. His eyes widened just a bit, 'Shit! Where'd that come from? Oh, right, his other hand. Sneaky bastard! He's fast. I didn't even see his hand move.'

Naruto stepped back a pace or two, intending to change his approach. Instead, he had to defend against a flurry of punches, as his father took the offensive. The punches felt like metal knuckles pounding on his defense, and while a single one would have been manageable, a couple of dozen were quite painful.

Groaning, Naruto focused chakra into his foot, before kicking the ground and launching himself into the air. He used a quick wind jutsu to direct the wind down towards the ground. Aided by both the wind and gravity, he slammed into the ground with his shoulder, with such speed, that Minato could barely get out of the way.

"Wow…that was fast," complimented Minato, as he stared at the small hole his son had created. "That would have hurt if it hit me."

"Damn, that did hurt," laughed Naruto, as he rubbed his aching shoulder. "I don't think I'll be trying that again." He smiled. His father had so far avoided taking any serious hits. The straightforward method was a failure, although Naruto never really expected it to work. Therefore, he changed his stance. 'First was power,' he thought. 'Now, let's add some speed into the mix.'

At this new stance, Minato had to rethink. 'That stance! That's the Taijutsu stance Might Guy uses. So, he was just playing with me, eh? Finally starting to take it serious. Don't tell me, he's a Taijutsu specialist. My own son…specializes in Taijutsu.'

And the thought made Minato shiver. There was just no way. 'Hopefully,' thought Minato.

He let out a breath, closing his eyes for a moment. When he looked up, Naruto was gone, leaving only a trail of dust to show the direction he had moved in. Because of this, Minato had just enough time to duck under Naruto's roundhouse kick. "Bad move," said Naruto, who vanished yet again.

'Damn,' cursed Minato, glancing down as Naruto kicked up, 'that's the Leaf Hurricane technique.' As he sailed up into the air, his jaw aching from the kick, he could feel Naruto's presence behind him. 'And that's Shadow of the Dancing Leaf! Which means…'

Almost as if Naruto could read his father's thoughts, he said, "That's right! Primary Lotus time!" Tightly, he wrapped his arms around his father's chest, only to blink, and then frown.

Not bothering to do the technique, Naruto drew a kunai and stabbed the body, watching as it was replaced by a log. 'Replacement? How careless of me.' Landing softly, he glanced up, where his father waited smirking.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Growling furiously, Sakura looked back from the direction they had come from. "Where did that idiot go? We were supposed to go out for ramen."

Kakashi smiled, "He probably stuck around the fourth's house. After all, they are his family."

"Hm, I didn't detect his presence on the way here. I don't even think he followed us from the house."

Sakura sighed. "When he gets back," she said softly, "he is so dead." And she punched her hand for good measure.

Kakashi flinched at the sound. When Sakura punched her hand, it was never a good sign, especially for the target of her frustrations. 'Good luck, Naruto,' he thought, in prayer. 'You're going to need it.'

The group was currently heading for the practice ground where Naruto and Minato were sparring, though they were unaware of that fact. They had been beaten because Kakashi had refused to run. Because of this, they were only just nearing the field now. A burst of chakra made them stop in their tracks.

"Well," said Kakashi, "I think I know where Naruto went."

"We were supposed to train," growled Sakura, tightening her gloves. "When I reach him, grrr…" And she stomped forward, shaking her fists.

Minato and Naruto

Minato smiled, "Well, that could have been dangerous for you and me both." He was, of course, referring to the Lotus technique.

"Yeah," said Naruto, "well, more dangerous for you, I think."

Minato nodded, "Can't argue with that…assuming I took the full hit. So, anyway, what's next?"

Naruto's reply was a dash forward. The blonde circled Minato once, before leaping towards his target. Minato glanced to his left at an incoming kick. 'I see. Leaf Whirlwind, eh? It's a two kick-combo that would take down any regular man easily. Too bad!' Minato pushed chakra into his hand, before he easily stopped Naruto's first kick dead. This in itself was pretty impressive, but Naruto had no time to admire this as he felt a punch land in his gut, backed by the power of raw chakra. He coughed up a bit of blood, before sailing backwards and landing on his ass.

"Won't work, son," said Minato. "You can charge at me all day and you'll never touch me."

Naruto growled, but he conceded this point with a nod. "Alright, pops. So I can't beat you with Taijutsu. How about some good ol' fashioned Ninjutsu."

Minato smirked, "Sure, kiddo. Whatever floats your boat." Secretly, he was glad. 'Now this is what I really wanted see.'

If Minato though his hand signs were fast, he was greatly mistaken. Ahead of him, Naruto flashed through some series with a speed that made his hands nearly invisible. And before Minato knew it, a large stream of fire was headed right for him.

'Fireball Jutsu? Not bad!'

Jumping up to avoid the fire, Minato quickly spotted Naruto. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Naruto had quickly reacted to the sudden development, and stopped his fire attack. As tiny fireballs rained down on him, he imagined himself as a drop of water; fluid and very hard to hit. To Minato, it appeared his son was doing some kind of dance; his body undulating like a wave, weaving through the rain of fire coming down on him.

When Minato landed, his son was waiting. "Wind Style: Air Bullet!" Minato could almost feel the chakra building in his son's mouth and next thing he knew, an enormous ball made of fierce wind shot towards him. At the range Naruto shot from, it was impossible to dodge, considering the size of the attack. Luckily for Minato, he knew a few tricks.

From Naruto's point of view, his attack hit Minato dead on. Something in his head, however, warned him it wasn't over. 'Below me!' Naruto quickly jumped out of the way, as a hand shot out of the ground. 'He knows earth style too?'

As Minato emerged, he was already performing hand signs. As he finished, he slammed the ground, "Earth Style: Dark Swamp!" Naruto's eyes widened, as the ground beneath his feet suddenly turned to a muddy lake. With a splash he fell through. It wasn't deep and he managed to keep his head above the water. Unfortunately the point of the jutsu was to bog down opponents. Moving in it was almost impossible.

Minato solidified a portion of the swamp in front of Naruto and carefully jumped onto it. He folded his arms and then looked down triumphantly. "Haha, Naruto, looks like I win. All that tough talk you did on the way here didn't pay off did it? And you know what they say. The nail that sticks up gets hammered down, hehehe…whoa!"

A moment later, Minato found himself stuck in the mud as well, the patch of ground he was standing on gone. Naruto grinned at him, "You're right…the nail that sticks up gets hammered down."

Minato scowled, "Argh, I should have expected you would know Earth Jutsu as well. Just how many elements can you use?"

"Just the three. While we're on the subject," Naruto continued, "Sakura can use two. But that doesn't really matter because her punches can kill a guy. Like, seriously. Sai…well, I've never seen him use anything except fire, but I'm sure he knows more. And Kakashi…I think he can use four, maybe five."

Minato blinked, "Five?! No way, that's not possible."

Naruto pointed to his eyes, which were now in Sharingan form. "Copycat Ninja remember? He's copied Fire, Water, Earth, and he has Lightning. I'm not sure, but I think he can use a few wind Jutsu as well. But he'll never copy all my wind jutsu, because I kick his ass before he can even try, Hehehe."

Minato shook his head, "Damn, I wish I could use five elements." He suddenly looked down at the mud surrounding his body. Groaning, he tried to struggle out. Then he looked up, "By the way; why are we still here?"

Naruto blinked and looked down at the muddy water that had him trapped. He realized he had just been sitting in there having a friendly chat. He looked up, "I don't know."

And simultaneously, both used their chakra to break through the swamp, landing on the edge. Touching the ground again, Minato dispelled his own jutsu. Unfortunately, this still left both men dirty and smelly. "Shall we continue," asked Minato.

Naruto shrugged, "Why not?"

Minato took the lead this time, dashing forward, elbowing Naruto in the gut. The blow wasn't too bad, but it knocked Naruto away into a tree. He started as his father threw out a kunai, but quickly stopped. He almost laughed at the aim, which, in Naruto's opinion, was terrible…considering the fact it was about a foot away from him. Still, the smirk on Minato's face was slightly suspicious. By the time Naruto figured out it was a trap; he was already bound by tight steel wires.

And at the end, Minato held the wires in his mouth. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" A thin stream of fire began to creep its way down the wire from Minato's mouth, quickly gaining speed.

Naruto grunted as he struggled against his bonds, trying to move his hands. After a moment, he managed some chakra into his hand, letting it engulf it like an aura. "Wind Blades!"

A gust of wind exploded from Naruto's hand, easily severing the steel wires. Unfortunately, the flame was a little too close and the wind quickly spread it, sending it flying everywhere. Naruto just managed to raise an arm, before a stray burst of fire shot blasted him.

The burning sensation he felt made Naruto tremble, but he stubbornly contained the yell that was dying to come out. After all, in Naruto's point of view, nothing was more embarrassing than showing weakness in front of your father.

As Naruto rubbed his arm, and leapt away, he watched as the tree he was tied to get burnt to a crisp. He turned over to his father, who watched amused. Glaring at him, he threw his arms up in frustration, despite the pain from the burns. Luckily, the burns were healing quite rapidly, thanks to the Nine-Tail Fox.

"Are we trying to kill each other?"

Minato smiled, "Nah, I figured you would escape."

Naruto growled, "Pfft, well thanks for the vote of confidence. Maybe I should take this sparring a little more seriously; you pulling stunts like that. That actually hurt."

Minato nodded, "Exactly! I want you to show me more. I know you can do better. Kakashi says your abilities surpass even me. So far, neither of us has broken a sweat. I hate to say it, but I'm a little bored."

This seemed to get Naruto's attention. 'Oh that does it! No one calls me boring and gets away with it.' Naruto smirked, "More, huh? Alright, I'll give you more. Don't say I didn't warn you though." And he placed his hands into the proper hand sign. Minato instantly recognized it and his eyes narrowed.

'That sign! He's using Shadow Clones? But that's a forbidden technique. Why would he throw away his chakra on those? Oh well, I guess I'll use it too.'

Simultaneously with his son, Minato shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

-POOF-

Minato had to bite his lip to keep from cursing, but it didn't stop his eyes from widening. Surrounding him and his two clones was an army of Naruto clones. There were so many, Minato couldn't even count them. "A-amazing…that's the Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!" And compared to them, his two clones were nothing.

"Well," said Minato, through clenched teeth, "there are certainly more of you. But quantity isn't everything. Besides, you'd have to have split your chakra between them all. Big mistake." To prove his point, Minato and his clones rushed forward into a crowd of Narutos.

"Not very smart," said one of the Narutos before it jumped up, along with hundreds of its counterparts.

The next moment went by very quickly and very painfully as Minato recalled later that day, when he was covered in bruises. His clones had taken out three, maybe four clones when they were destroyed. Next, Minato remembered five clones appearing underneath him, kicking him upwards like the Leaf Hurricane technique.

And then, he recalled how the remaining Narutos; the whole army of them had blotted out the sun. He clearly remembered the next few words. "Here we go," shouted one of the Narutos. "Naruto Ninja Chronicles! Two-Thousand Punch Chapter! Let's fly!"

Minato grimaced as the first wave of clones pummeled him into the ground. Rolling, he avoided a second wave, only to find himself surrounded. Leaping up, he flashed a series of signs, before thrusting his hands into the ground. As the clones advanced, spikes shot up from the ground, protectively around him, destroying the clones closest to him. "Earth Style," said Minato leaping behind the wave of Naruto clones, "Acrolith Beating." Raising his palm to the heavens, he began concentrating dirt and earth to a single spot. As it began to collect, a large rock of earth was formed. Thrusting this hand down, he obliterated a good chunk of the remaining clones.

The remaining clones were then dispelled as Naruto stopped his own technique. "Hey, that's a cool move. I've never seen that one before."

Minato smiled, "Why thank you. I learned that one during the War you know. Ah, those were bad days. Whew."

"But enough about my technique. Yours was something else. How do you have the chakra still to even stand after creating so many of them?"

Naruto laughed, "I have the nine-tails in me, remember? Because of him, I'm blessed with incredible stores of chakra. Kakashi-Sensei says the amount I possess could very well be infinite. Never really tested that out though. It gets very tiring after awhile. We can still go at it, if you'd like?"

Minato smirked, "Of course! And I'm beginning to see what Kakashi meant when he says your abilities surpass my own. Although no more of those crazy clones, eh? A little too much for this old man."

Naruto shared a laugh, before he narrowly ducked under his father's quick round house kick. "What?" He was stopped short, as Minato suddenly appeared behind him. Using the Body-Flicker Technique, Naruto leapt away, only to find himself right in front of his father yet again. And this time, he felt the sharp jab hit his spine, knocking him forward.

'Dang, he just got like three times faster. What's going on?'

As Naruto slowly stood, Minato smirked and vanished yet again. It wasn't until he felt a heel plant itself in his back that Naruto finally understood. 'Ah, his special. That cursed Flying Thunder God Technique! No wonder I can't keep track.'

But knowing the technique did not help Naruto much, as his father swung around behind him yet again. The pain of the kicks and punches didn't bother so much as the fact that memories of his Genin training days were surfacing.

Specifically, during the Bell Test, when Kakashi had embarrassed the hell out of him with the butt poke. He had learned the lesson there well. Never let your opponent get behind you.

Grunting, he quickly twisted and blocked a series of punches, before leaping away as Minato got behind him. 'Damnit! He must have placed his seal right on the back of my shirt or something when we were talking. No wonder he keeps getting behind me.

"Oof," the blonde groaned as he was sent flying into a rock by a sharp kick to the back. As he hit the rock, Minato appeared on top of him, stomping him towards the ground. The clone as it turned out to be vanished, and Minato laughed at his own carelessness. "Trust him to pull a fast one like that. So…he went hiding into the woods huh?

Covered by trees, Naruto waited for Minato to approach. The Hokage stopped just short of the tree line. Raising his hands, he said, "I hope you didn't forget that I marked you." And then he vanished.

When he appeared, Minato was surprised to find the shirt that he had marked the seal for his technique on lying on a rock. A sudden surge of chakra warned him of impending attack, and he quickly jumped away, catching the glimpse of a bright blue ball; a mass of visible chakra swirling like wind. The orb smashed into the rock, shattering it into dozens of pieces.

"Rasengan," shouted Naruto, again, forming the blue chakra sphere in his right palm.

Minato blinked, "Hey…that's my technique."

Naruto smirked, "Yeah, that old Pervy sage Jiriaya taught it to me."

Minato inwardly laughed at the name. And then, "Jiriaya taught you the Rasengan?"

Naruto nodded, "And guess what. I mastered the third stage in only one week. Impressive, no?"

Minato gaped in wonder at his son. 'No way! It took me years to perfect that jutsu. And he passed the third stage in only one week. How is that possible?'

"That's…that's," began Minato, trying to process what he just heard, "pretty amazing…What about my Flying Thunder God Technique? Do you know that one?"

Naruto's face fell and he looked away, "Sadly, no. But only because Jiriaya said I wasn't ready…and..." He stopped and a shadow fell over his face. "He died before I could reach the level he wanted me too."

"Jiriaya died too? Was he killed?"

Naruto slowly nodded, "Yeah, but…that's behind me. I'd…rather not talk about that stuff right now. So, are you going to show me you're Rasengan," he asked trying to change the subject.

It worked as Minato nodded, deciding it was best not to press the past with Naruto. He could tell his son had been extremely close to his Sensei. Raising his arm, Minato too, formed the bright blue Rasengan sphere.

For a moment, both sized up each other's attack, wondering what would happen when two Rasengan clashed. And then both charged at the same time, thrusting simultaneously. The clash of the two Rasengan sent chakra bolts flying everywhere. Both fighters tried to overpower the other, but their strength was equal and both attacks cancelled out.

Raising his free hand, Naruto formed a second Rasengan, this one bigger than the first. "Great Ball Rasengan!" Minato's eyes widened.

'Impossible!'

"And that's not the half of it," said Naruto. With a sudden focus, Naruto began to gather a different type of energy. Minato's eyes widened at first and then he stepped back in confusion and then fear.

"No," he said, watching the blades of a shuriken form on Naruto's now greenish looking Rasengan. "Don't tell me that you did it? You added…whoaaa."

As Naruto's attack completed, a gush of wind slammed into Minato, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"How do you like it father? I call this the RasenShuriken. They told me that you were never able to add elemental composition to the Rasengan. It took me a few days, but I did it.

Minato was speechless. "It took me many years to perfect that technique. How…how did you do it?"

Naruto smiled, "You know those clones dad? Most people can't summon two thousand clones like me. Because I could, I could train with two thousand clones at once. You know that once you dispel them, everything the clones did or learned is brought back to the original."

Minato's eyes widened, "Of course. With your infinite chakra supply and this training method, it would have been possible to do years worth of training in just a few days." Minato gave a soft chuckle, "My…I'm jealous…jealous and at the same time proud. Surpassed by my own son. I'm…" Minato sat down, "let's see it in action."

He activated his own Rasengan, but Naruto shook his head, "Oh no. No no no, I can't do that. Sakura would never forgive me if I used it on you. You get hit with this thing and I promise you you're out of action for awhile," said Naruto, dispelling the jutsu.

Minato sighed, "Ah well, I guess. I could feel the force of the chakra from here. That's…that's quite a move. Well, that wasn't a bad spar," said Minato laughing, "I got quite a workout. You're a tough little bugger."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks dad. You're just as impressive as they say. It almost gives me a rush to imagine what fighting you for real would be like."

Confused, Minato tilted his head, "What do you mean?"

"I mean with our full strengths," said Naruto. "I can tell you held back a lot, and it's no lie when I say I only showed you a portion of what I can do. I haven't even gone into my Super Naruto mode."

And then, he felt the wind knocked out of him as he flew head first into a tree, landing next to his father. He groaned, as he rubbed his stomach where the punch had hit him, while Minato laughed when he saw who the attacker was.

"Damnit," groaned Naruto, clutching his stomach, "only one person hits that hard." She had pink hair and was his wife. "Damn, that hurt." As he said this, Naruto was trying to stand, but he failed miserably and collapsed to the ground.

In front of him, Sakura stood, growling, "That's right, dear. And don't you forget it. That's what you get for ditching our date."

Naruto groaned, "Shit! I forgot. Sorry Sakura...I..."

"I don't want to hear your excuses," she snarled.

As she reached down to help him up, she stopped and sniffed. An ugly look passed her face and she backed up. "By the way, sweety, you stink." Naruto glanced down at the mud on his shirt. He glared at his father, who was smirking.

"You stink too, Sensei," said Kakashi, holding his nose.

This time, Minato growled as well, "Watch it Kakashi! I might be dead in the future, but right now, I'm your Hokage."

Kakashi laughed, "I felt an abnormal chakra surge in the area as we approached. Don't tell me he used his RasenShuriken technique?" Minato nodded.

Kakashi laughed, "Aw, you look kind of pale. Don't worry, none of us would ever want to get hit by it. We've all seen just exactly how bad it can be."

Minato nodded, as he watched Naruto interact with his friends. "He's remarkable. He said he once studied under Jiriaya. And then he mentioned a super form. Does that mean he's achieved Sage Mode?"

"Not just achieved," replied Kakashi, "he's mastered it. And with his clones, he's managed to come up with a neat little trick for battle. His power is incredible…"

Kakashi shook his head, "It's more than just that. Naruto's strength lies in his determination and his dedication to his friends. He'll do anything to keep his friends safe and he will never give up even in the most life threatening situations. And despite all his stubbornness and all the ridicule he's taken in his life, he has never truly been defeated by anyone. He truly carried on your legacy."

Minato smiled, "I think…I think I just found a new best friend….my son from the future." He laughed.

And together, they made their way back to the Uzumaki residence where, upon their arrival, they met a very aggravated mother-to-be. "You two," she said to Minato and Naruto, "need a bath." Both ran. But that's another story.