Disclaimer: I don't own any Naruto characters, or even the idea of Naruto. I'll let you know if I ever do.

Chapter 19: Like Father Like Son

The current Hokage was staring down the pile of paperwork on her desk, daring it to become larger. Not taking her eyes off of her sworn nemesis, she chugged down a few more gulps of sake. The door to her office swung open, creating a small draft of wind. That draft of wind managed to pick up and carry the first two papers to the floor. "Hah!" Tsunade laughed, declaring victory. Then it occurred to her to look up. Standing in the open doorway was a rushed Sakura.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura yelled to her teacher, obviously distressed.

"Whadya want?" Sakura sighed out when she heard the slurred words. Already Tsunade had drunk too much. "I'm—" Tsunade paused to hiccup, "busy." Gesturing towards the stack of papers, she accidentally knocked half of them off her desk. "Oopsie!"

"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked gently. Knowing Tsunade, if she was drunk you didn't want to get on her bad side. "Are you drunk?" She was being cautious. Shizune would've been able to handle this much easier, although it would still be difficult.

"Maaaaaaybe!" Sakura sighed, yet again, at her drunken teacher.

"Did you give Konohamaru a mission?"

"You mean the Naruto clone?" Sakura tried not to laugh at the description of Konohamaru. "Mmmm, yeah. Some little D-rank mission," Tsunade recalled, going back to her staring contest of death with the remainder of the stack of papers. Sakura shook her head and decided this was a bad idea. She was getting nowhere.

The two blondes had set themselves down on a few stray rocks. They were located a least a quarter of a mile from the mountain. "Why're we resting? We can go through the last two challenges and get out of here!" Naruto was restless. After that last encounter, he really didn't want to think too much about what the next challenge would be.

"We got out relatively easy, don't you think?" Minato replied, settling himself into a relaxed position on a conveniently couch-shaped rock. "No doubt, as clichéd as this whole thing is, the next two challenges will be even harder. We'll face life and death decisions!" he said, mimicking drama. Naruto watched with amusement as Minato waved his hands around, yet again mimicking drama.

"I've got a question," Naruto piped in. Minato stopped his small rant and glanced over at his son, a questioning look on his face.

"What is it?" Minato asked, propping himself up on one elbow. He rested his head in one hand.

"What were you staring at in there?" he asked, motioning back to the mountain. "You didn't wake up until I fell over," Naruto said, gladly leaving out how he had desperately tried to wake Minato up himself.

Minato slumped back down, accidentally bumping his head on the rock. "I don't know, actually. I was in a trance. Good thing you woke me up, though. Now then, I've got a question for you."

"Go for it," Naruto muttered, absently noticing how the father son relationship had been gradually getting better.

"What were you running from?" Minato asked, staring up. He still couldn't see anything, but he was pretty sure that they were making their way to the world of the living. But he still wasn't one hundred percent certain.

"Some sort of… thing… that looked like me. I think. The only thing I could really see were the eyes, and they were crimson colored. I could see its outline, but not much else." Naruto shrugged. "But I got away from it, and that's all the matters." Minato nodded, brooding in the silence that ensued. Neither of the two was exhausted, but they weren't exactly at their best either. "Hey," Naruto started after a few minutes, "what do you think we'll have to do next?"

"Who knows? I'm sure it'll be harder. Seeing as the Shinigami isn't just going to let me out of here," Minato supplied. He rather liked those few minutes of silence. Unfortunately, his son had some of his own more annoying traits. Minato heard a shuffling noise and glanced over at Naruto, who was currently busy climbing up more rocks. Doesn't this kid ever sit still? Shaking his head, Minato watched. Knowing Naruto, he'd probably slip and fall fifteen feet to hit his head on another rock. "What are you doing?!"

"Trying to see better! Maybe I'll be able to see the next challenge thing if I get up high enough!" Naruto shouted back. Minato shrugged and settled himself back into his conveniently shaped boulder. Just a few moments later, he could hear an indistinct shout that sounded like it had come from Naruto.

"What now?" he asked himself, getting up. The need to stretch was overbearing.

"Yondaime! YONDAIME!" Naruto shouted several more times, bouncing on his feet. Minato looked up and scoped the area out until he found his son.

"What?" he asked, feeling lazy.

"Come up here!" Minato groaned in protest but proceeded to climb the rocks regardless. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming! Geez. Hyperactive kid," Minato muttered, although he had to admit he used to be just like that. How did Kushina put up with me?

"Come on! Comeoncomeoncomeoncomeon!" Naruto yelled, speaking fast enough that his words became blurs.

"Calm down for one minute and I'll be up there, okay?" Naruto did as he was told. Sitting precariously on the edge of the rock, Naruto let his legs dangle. When Minato reached Naruto's position only moments later, he shrugged. "I don't get it. Why'd I have to come up here? All I see are more rocks."

"Look over there," Naruto suggested, pointing at an odd angle.

"I still don't see what's so important."

"There are waves," Naruto pointed out. "It's some sort of sea of something. I think."

Minato shrugged. "I guess so. My theory is that we're gradually getting closer to the world of the living, so it's slowly starting to appear here. I'm guessing this is a bridge between the two dimensions, so to speak." Naruto nodded, although he truthfully didn't understand. "We might just end up walking right into the plane of the living. I really don't know what's going to happen then."

"Let's go!" Naruto shouted.

"W-what? Where?"

Naruto pointed to the body of water. "Over there! We need to investigate!" Minato shook his head in disbelief.

"How do you have so much energy?" Naruto shrugged and jumped up, nearly slipping off of the boulder. Minato grabbed the back of his collar, stopping him. "Don't do that again, please," he stated, emphasizing the please. Naruto nodded and carefully made his way back down. Minato, fuming silently, headed down after his son.

"I really don't see what the point of this is," Minato stated, crossing his arms defiantly.

"We're scoping out the area! Maybe there's a boat or something," Naruto replied hopefully.

"You and I both know that we're the only people here. And even if we weren't, why would there be a boat?" the father asked skeptically.

"Well, somebody might want to get across this body of water. And what're they gonna do? They need a boat!"

"Or they could swim," Minato stated smartly, more than likely starting yet another father son argument.

"But then they'd get wet. And obviously nobody can swim the length of this thing!" he retorted, pointing across the water for emphasis. At least a mile or two out, a person could catch sight of something. Minato had been staring at it, trying to figure out what exactly it was.

"You know, this probably isn't the best idea," Minato said somewhat sternly. His tone of voice is what would soon become known as his 'father tone'. Minato began to realize that his new behavior was quite odd. Normally, he would have been carefree and agreed with his son. But that was the thing. He had to take care of his son now. Being carefree wouldn't keep them both safe.

"You," Naruto said, glancing over at Minato, "are ruining my fun." Minato stifled a laugh and looked around. "I," he gestured to himself, "am going to find a boat and get out of this place."

"Fine, fine," Minato sighed in defeat, putting his hands up. "Meet up back here in ten minutes," he said sternly. "You go that way and I'll go this way. Stay close to the shore line."

Naruto grinned mischievously and nodded. "Ten minutes. Got it!"

Minato looked after his son, fearing the worst. He shook his head to clear it of those thoughts and went to the task at hand. "A freakin' boat. Why would there be a boat here? And even if there was, it'd more than likely be a trap," he observed, taking time to state the last few words. He glanced over his shoulder, a worried expression on his face. "No, no. My son isn't that stupid. Is he?" he asked himself before turning and walking in the direction he said he would. "I sure hope not," he muttered quietly.

"Boat. Boat. Boat." Naruto repeated the mantra he had come up with. He started to say it in different pitches and voices, trying them all out. He briefly wondered why it was that the Yondaime was treating him like a child. He was sixteen, after all. Besides, he told himself, he barely looks over eighteen! How old was he when he died? Naruto stuck that question into the back of his head, remembering it for later. "Boat boat boat!" he exclaimed merrily. Another brief thought passed through Naruto's mind, stopping him in his tracks. "I wonder," he speculated, sticking a finger in the air. He calmly walked over to the water, bending over and sticking his finger in.

"Did that kid get himself lost or something?" Minato asked himself, sitting down on the rocky beach. Minato wasn't positive of the time that had passed, but it felt pretty close to ten minutes. Feeling paternal worry, he stood up, brushed himself off, and walked in the direction his son had been sent. Minato found his son, some time later, with a finger dipped into the water. "What are you doing?" Minato demanded, looking at his son sternly.

"Hm?" Naruto asked, looking over at Minato. "It's warm."

"Well, yes, that's great and all, but it's been longer than ten minutes."

Naruto smirked. "You were worried about me, weren't you?" He stood up, reading his father's features.

"No, I wasn't," Minato said sheepishly. "I thought you had found a boat and left me behind," he lied. Naruto shrugged and sat down. "What are you doing?" Minato asked with a rising eyebrow.

"Well, you obviously didn't find a boat, and neither did I."

"Yes, but why did you sit down? You've been full of energy ever since we left that mountain," Minato pointed out.

"Well… yeah, but that was earlier." Minato had no reason to answer that, so he sat down next to his son. Albeit leaving a few feet between them. "I've got a question for you," Naruto remembered after a few moments.

Minato looked over at his son, placing his hands down behind him and leaving most of his weight onto them. "What is it?"

"How old were you when you died?" Silence met his answer.

"I forgot," Minato replied after a while. Naruto looked over at him with an incredulous look on his face. However, Minato was busy staring up, as if searching the area above him for the answer. He just shrugged and moved to stare at the water. "It just never came up, I suppose. After sixteen years of not thinking about it, I don't suppose you'd remember, would you?" Naruto shook his head.

"I wouldn't remember, that's for sure." Another silence settled itself into the conversation. Although, it was not in any way the kind of silence that makes one feel uncomfortable and unwanted, but rather a satisfying silence. The small waves washing up and receding against the beach was a comforting noise.

Minato's small chuckle interrupted the comfortable silence. "You know, that old pervert was right. I was too rash to live long." Naruto shrugged, realizing that Minato was engulfed in old memories, probably not even talking to him. "Wonder if he's still alive," he mumbled.

"If it's Ero-sennin, I don't know if he's ever going to die. He's too stubborn," Naruto replied. Jiraiya had told him about teaching the Yondaime, hadn't he?

"Ero-sennin?" Minato asked. "You mean Jiraiya?" Naruto nodded, a smile identical to the one growing on Minato's face already plastered on his own. "I'm surprised, really. He's about as headstrong as I am," Minato recalled, letting out a bark of laughter. "Is he still working on those perverted books?"

"Yeah. He even put my training off to write them more than once," Naruto admitted. Minato laughed again, this time it was lighter.

"I'm not surprised. He always did that, you know. Said something about growing up each time I complained." Naruto laughed and nodded, wondering briefly why the Yondaime was telling him this. Minato shook his head slowly, a grin still plastered on his face. "We should probably get moving."

Naruto nodded, although he had been enjoying the moment between them. Minato got up first. Before Naruto knew why, he was having his hair ruffled reassuringly. "Don't get all sentimental on me now, kid. It'll have to wait until we're out of here," Minato laughed.

"Hey," Naruto replied, jumping up, "you were getting sentimental first!"

"Nah, that's all in your head. I was just lost in old memories, nothing else," Minato answered, heading off further down the beach. Minato remembered that he used to act exactly like Naruto as a sixteen year old. Like father like son, I suppose, he thought with a wry smile on his lips.

AN: I realize that in that first scene, Tsunade's a litle OOC, but that's done purposefully. I wanted this chapter to center more on the father/son relationship than anything else. Hope I did okay with that. Alert me of any misspelling or otherwise, and please R&R!

00Midnight Siren00: Thanks for reviewing again! Feel free to leave as many reviews as you like. :)

Nebula1701: lol, I do agree with you. Those books and Kakashi. Thanks for the review!

Till next week, Elizabet639.