Revision Mood Music: Carnival of Rust by Poets of the Fall
Live or Let Die
Naruto hated being carried. It almost always made him feel helpless, and he hated the thought that things were no longer in his control. But things had never been more out of his control Naruto reflected as he felt the wind rush past his whiskered cheeks while the Fourth sped through the forest. They were moving at a break-neck speed, but one thing Naruto remembered hearing about Yondaime bothered him. He was sure he could move much faster than this. He voiced his thought.
"Aren't you supposed to be able to move way faster than this? They didn't call you the Yellow Flash just for kicks did they?" The Fourth barely made out what his son said even though his mouth was right next to his right ear. Minato paused on a particularly thick branch and smiled.
"No they didn't just call me that for kicks, as you call it. I would use that technique except the pressure combined with your already injured body would most likely kill you, and as my objective is to save your life, that doesn't seem like the best of things to do." Naruto grunted in pain when Minato pushed off, propelling then toward Naruto's salvation at high speeds.
Most of the journey passed in a painful daze for Naruto, lost as he was in the calm breathing of his father, the whistling of the wind past his ears and his own labored breathing. He was jerked from his daze when Yondaime abruptly stopped and dropped to the forest floor below. Naruto groaned and pressed his face in the soft yellow orange hair that grew on Yondaime's neck. Though he was tired and hurt everywhere and his injuries throbbed with every movement despite how gently Yondaime had been pushing off and landing, Naruto was coherent enough to realize the Fourth's Henge was not as good as it had been before.
Naruto just barely heard his father's deep voice through the fog of hurt he was in.
"We're about a mile away from Konoha's gates. Before we go any closer, I need to reinforce my Henge. I'm going to need both hands, so I'm going to let you legs go. Hold on to my neck and shoulders, kid."
Naruto nodded wearily, not bothering to say anything since he knew the Fourth could feel his nod. Yondaime grunted and released his legs from his death grip. Naruto hissed painfully and to distract himself from the pain watched intently as the burnt orange hair seemed to ripple with energy before shifting smoothly to the dark golden blonde color Naruto was used to. Yondaime retrieved Naruto's legs, and Naruto noticed that the nose piercings, tattoos and beard had been successfully hidden. Gone now was the orange-haired stranger with the demon eyes and in his place was his golden counter-part looking for all the world like the honest warrior he'd once been.
Minato glanced briefly at his wounded son, looking so pitiful on his back, and smiled sympathetically at him before hefting him up to a more comfortable position on his back.
"Go to sleep, Naruto. When you next wake up, You'll be home again."
Naruto nodded again and allowed himself to drift into peaceful slumber with the soothing sound of his father's deep voice humming, the vibrations going through his abused body more relaxing than a massage.
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--- I know, another short chapter, but at least I'm updating more frequently.
