Chapter 4
this chapter is reedited
One week later,
Namikaze compound,
It's been over a week since the Namikaze family celebrated with the Hidden Leaf for their child Natsumi and the defeat of the Nine-Tails. Kushina hummed happily as she prepared breakfast for her family. However, she couldn't help but feel…incomplete somehow. She quickly forgot it when she saw a photo of her and Minato hugging Natsumi with smiles that outshone the sun.
When Kushina had finished preparing the food, she called her family down. Minato come down and saw Natsumi already there.
"Good morning, Father." Natsumi greeted sweetly.
"Good morning, my little princess." He kissed his daughter on her nose, causing her to giggle, and then looked towards his wife.
"Good morning, sunshine." Kushina giggled.
"Good morning, darling." He wrapped his arms around her and gave her a sweet kiss on her lips. When the husband and wife sat down, the family gave thanks and began their meal.
Now, like her brother Naruto, Natsumi Namikaze knew quite a lot. In fact, she placed in the top percentile of her class. She had an enormous amount of chakra; so enormous, in fact, that she could feel the chakra of other people from beyond the village. Naruto had no chakra, a fact she would constantly tease him about, but somehow she could always sense his presence. However, at the beginning of the week, she couldn't feel him. She believed he'd come back within a day or two, maybe three, but after a whole week had gone by, Natsumi felt that a key piece of her life, of her family, had just left her.
"Mother, Father."
"What is it, my dear?" Minato responded with a smile.
"Where is my brother? I haven't seen him since my birthday, and usually I always see him twice or thrice a week, but now it's been over a week and I haven't seen him. Is he okay?"
"Your brother? I don't..." Minato trailed off before his and Kushina's eyes and mouths opened in horrified shock.
By his name, Natsumi did have a brother. They did have a son!
"NARUTO!"
"He's probably in his room, sweetie. Why don't you go get him?" Natsumi nodded and left towards her brother's room.
Minato grabbed his head and nearly fell to his knees. His son! How could he have forgotten his son? All this time Minato felt satisfied, but he kept asking himself: "Have I forgotten something or someone?" He never knew the answer until just now. He cursed himself for his failing Naruto as a father as well as his blatant favoritism to Natsumi. He wouldn't ignore Naruto any longer. He would make it his business to give his son the love, support and affection he so richly deserved.
Minato looked at his wife, Kushina, who had fallen to her knees, crying and cursing herself. How could she neglect her own child when he needed her most? So he can't use chakra, that didn't make him any less her son! They had ignored their son and in time, even forgot about his existence. Well, that would no longer happen. Kushina would make sure that her son received the love only a mother, a loving, caring mother, could give.
With newfound determination, they went to his room as well, but saw Natsumi standing in front of the door.
"Sweetheart, why are you outside his room?"
"Father, he is not opening the door and I haven't gone into his room ever, so I think he might get angry."
Both parents hung their head in shame. In truth, since his birth, neither of them had ever seen the inside of their son's room. Other than his biological stats and the fact that he couldn't use chakra, just how little did they know about their son?
"Natsumi, we should open the door and see if he is there."
Natsumi nodded. Bracing themselves, they all entered inside his room.
The word hollow did not do the justice of describing the former room of the mistreated child.
They saw a very simple room without decorations, a plain bed, and some books in a bookshelf; then they saw drawings and a picture book.
Minato looked at a simple drawing of three people hanging in a park with happy faces and a child looking at them with a sad expression. Minato instantly knew the meaning of this drawing and let out a shuddering sigh of shame.
Kushina looked at the picture book, first she saw four people, standing together and holding hands. Kushina smiled, thinking Naruto still considered them family but as she flipped through the pages, she saw less and less of her little dandelion and then at the final page, only three people stood, holding hands happily. Kushina openly wept and Minato wrapped her arms around her.
Suddenly Natsumi screamed, they looked to see what had happened. They saw many of Naruto clothes, bloody and strewn across the floor. They also saw many bloody bandages and some hospital reports. Minato and Kushina looked at the ground in horrific confusion. How could an 8-year-old kid's room have so many bandages with blood?
When Kushina saw the hospital reports, she put a hand to her mouth to prevent herself from emptying the contents of her stomach. She almost collapsed but Minato caught her and grabbed the papers. Minato commenced a new string of curses against himself for his favoritism and neglect. How could they never have noticed that their son almost died twice because of someone stabbing his chest and cutting his throat?
The guilt and shame threatened to consume them from the inside out. The paternal anger of Minato Namikaze would cast itself upon everyone who dare harm his son. Then, he would fall on his knees in front of Naruto and beg for his forgiveness.
First, though, he needed to find him. He then flashed to the Hokage tower and called upon the ANBU Black Ops to find his son.
Minato flashed back to his estate to find his wife and daughter on their knees, wailing for their son and brother. He immediately wrapped them in his arms and they grabbed onto him desperately.
"I abandoned him. He needed me...and I abandoned him. Minato…what kind of mother am I?"
"Kushina, this is all my fault. It's me who is to blame because I never looked at him like a son. I'm a truly useless father."
Natsumi always thought about how she teased her big brother about their parents only loving her, but he never once complained to them. Oh, how she wished she could take back everything she said.
Then they left to look for Naruto, all of them sprinting from clan to clan. An hour later, Kushina stood in front of the Uchiha compound when she saw her best friend Mikoto, she started crying. Mikoto looked at her and let her come inside the compound.
"M-Mikoto, p-please tell me where Naruto is. I want to apologize to him; I failed him as a mother. I am really sorry but Mikoto please, if you know where he is, please tell me. I want to make it up to him."
Unfortunately for her, Mikoto had grown angry. Ever since Sasuke and Naruto met, they did almost everything together. In fact, Naruto would often sleepover at the Uchiha compound, considering his "family" had forgotten his existence. The Uchiha clan had treated Naruto like family. In fact, she wanted to adopt Naruto, to raise him as her own son, but such an action would remind the Namikaze family of his existence, something he pleaded with them not to do.
"Sorry, Ms. Uzumaki-Namikaze. I haven't seen Naruto. Now then, if you're done, you may leave."
Kushina wanted to fall apart after hearing that her best friend wouldn't support her when she had a missing child, but in the end, she left.
Hokage office,
Minato sat in his office, impatiently waiting to get any news about Naruto. He had reviewed every file in the hospital about Naruto and it floored him to learn that his son really had stayed more times in the hospital than his home. He wanted to make a clone to beat himself up, but he needed to stay strong if he wanted to get his boy back.
He heard knocking on the door and saw a few ANBU soldiers. He looked at them with hopeful eyes but they shook their heads. Desperate, the Fourth Hokage called for a very urgent council meeting.
Council meeting hall,
The civilian council, as well as the village elders, waited inside the huge hall for Minato. Why had their Hokage called for a meeting so early in the morning? Minato finally came inside his office, earning greetings from everyone.
"This meeting is very important, thanks for coming in on such short notice…Councilmen, elders; I've called you here to talk about my son." Minato would have spoken more, however a councilman decided to make his feelings about Naruto verbally clear.
"Oh for-what has that miserable demon done this time? I'll rid us of that brat, just wait." The moment he spoke, a punch knocked him unconscious. Everyone reeled in their seats, shocked that their leader would hit someone right in front of them. Before the civilian council could speak, their Hokage released an enormous amount of killer intent and everyone froze.
"Minato! What are you doing?" Homura yelled.
"He tried to kill my son! He should be thanking Kami that I didn't kill him right now!"
"But, lord Hokage, he is the reincarnation of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon. Why are you calling him your son?" Minato went to attack the audacious civilian council member, but Hiashi and Fangaku stopped him before he could advance any further.
"Who told you he is that demon's reincarnation?" Hiashi asked his voice cold from disdain.
"No one told us, its common knowledge. He's every bit the demon that attacked us 12 years ago!"
"If no one told you, then how do you know whether or not he's a demon?" Fangaku asked, increasingly irritated with the attitude towards an innocent, abused, and neglected child.
"You're pretty stupid, aren't you? The whisker marks are all we need to know that the brat, whom the Fourth strangely calls his son, is none other than the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon in human flesh!" The civilian council member finished. All of the shinobi council looked at him in disbelief for his sheer stupidity. Hiashi and Fangaku nodded to each other and released Minato. The moment they released him, the Yellow Flash attacked every council member who called his son a demon. After some time, Minato regained control of himself and an ANBU carried the unconscious civilian council members to the hospital.
"Do you honestly believe that he is the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon reincarnated? The Third Hokage sealed it inside Natsumi and Kushina, and the day Naruto was born his chakra coils was destroyed. How could you come to the conclusion that he's the Nine Tails reborn?"
"But Lord Forth, what about those whisker marks?" A council member asked, desperate to justify their treatment of Naruto. When the Fourth turned an angry glare on him, he classified his argument as obsolete.
"Those are birth marks, Naruto can't use chakra, and the Nine Tails wasn't sealed inside him. Those who have hurt him will get proper punishment and, until further notice, the civilian council will no longer be part of the Hidden Leaf council meetings, is that clear?"
Several council members wanted to protest this decision, but the KI leaking from Minato shut them up good.
"Everyone is now dismissed." When Minato finally had the space to think by himself, he turned to the window in sadness.
"Oh Naruto, where are you, my son? I really miss you. I don't deserve your forgiveness, but please come home so I can be the father to you that I should have been so many years ago."
Minato ordered all ANBU and as many Jonin as he could to find his son and he labeled it an S class mission. Minato sensed his master so he turned towards Jiraiya.
"Minato, I was summoned by the elder toads. It's about the prophecy I told you of all those years ago."Jiraiya suddenly felt a strong punch in his gut, knocking him a few feet back.
"You bastard! I followed that damn prophecy and because of it, Naruto left us! I lost my son because of you, old man!"
Jiraiya would've retaliated physically, but he controlled himself.
"Minato, I indeed told you about the prophecy but it's not all my fault. Tell me, did I tell you to ignore or abandon him? I made the mistake of not supporting Naruto, but that doesn't make his absence my fault. You ignored him for your other child who possessed power, so it's you who should be guiltier than me." He started to leave then he stopped at the window to turn his head. "Before I leave, the prophecy has changed. The chosen child is not Natsumi."
With that, Jiraiya left a crying Minato in his office.
One week later,
When Minato announced his son had gone missing; all of Naruto's friends stood in shock. Their friend, who always stood beside them, had left. They didn't need to know why, because they heard the announcement at the party.
"Naruto…he's gone?"
"How did he leave the village?"
"How would he survive?"
This news hurt Sasuke badly enough, but Hinata...she felt darkness overcome her life.
Hinata almost stopped breathing and collapsed. She woke up in the I. C. U. of the Hidden Leaf Hospital. Hiashi didn't know his daughter cared for the boy that much. Thankfully, the doctors saved her from her shock, but from that day on, Hinata never showed emotions. Her eyes froze solid, just as the Hyuga elders wanted; Hiashi, however, didn't like this change. He wanted her to become strong; he never wanted her cold and emotionless.
Kushina and Natsumi's conditions also deteriorated. They refused to stop looking for the second dandelion in their family. Both of them looked for any clue on Naruto so they could find him. They got nothing, Kushina hadn't eaten any food from the day when she found out Naruto ran away. She wanted to know everything about Naruto, so she went to the Hyuga compound and Uchiha compound.
They always slammed the door on her face.
Naruto's friends all started to avoid the Namikaze family, especially Natsumi.
One day, Kushina walked through the village towards the Uchiha compound when suddenly, she collapsed in the middle of the road. Mikoto happened to come passing through the market and saw a crowd. Curiosity getting the better of her, she went closer and saw her friend lying almost unconscious.
"Naruto, please come home, baby. Please come home to Mommy. I'm a horrible mother, but please, please forgive me."
Mikoto then grabbed her and dashed towards the hospital. She told the nearest Chunin to inform the Hokage. When Minato came in the hospital, he saw his wife sleeping on the bed then he turned to Tsunade.
"What happen to Kushina? Is she ok?"
It took every ounce of Tsunade's willpower not to slap Minato so hard that his neck would snap.
"Minato, there's an idiot and then there's just plain stupid. You're falling right in the middle. Your wife hasn't eaten in a week. She was looking for any information on the Naruto and thank Kami above that Mikoto was there in time, because if she was even a minute late, it would have been very hard for me to save her and the child." Minato stood in shock, happiness, and sadness at the same time. Happiness, because his wife had another child on the way, they would have a third child together. Unfortunately, it also served to remind them of how they failed their first child.
Unknown to them, Mikoto heard everything. She suddenly felt compelled to forgive them but they didn't need her forgiveness, they needed Naruto's.
"Naruto, wherever you are, I pray that you're safe."
Mikoto left the hospital and then she returned to the Uchiha compound where she told her family what happened from the market to the hospital. Despite everything, they congratulated the Namikaze family for having another child but they hoped that they would treat their new child very well, and not make the same mistake they made with Naruto.
They all agreed that they would help the Namikaze family find Naruto and ask him to give them a second chance. After a while, the Hyuga clan agreed to help as well. All except Hinata, who angrily refused to help or forgive the Namikaze family. She locked herself inside her room, crying for her crush. She could only hope that one day; he would come back for her.
With Kushina,
When she got the news that she would have another child, joy coursed through her body, but her thoughts went back to Naruto, and she fell back into her grieving. She had yet to find her son and all these questions kept coursing through her head.
Where had her baby boy gone? Had he had anything to eat? How was he physically?
All these questions ran through Kushina's mind and when she started thinking about a malnourished Naruto trying to survive without the proper equipment, she became emotional and let out a mournful wail that commenced a new string of sobbing. Thankfully for her, Tsunade had come to care for her.
Tsunade never knew Naruto that well, and Minato had asked them to fill the role of godparents to their children, and she did…with the child that had chakra. She had no idea that Naruto had nearly died; she never knew whether or not he was in good health, let alone not dead. She felt horrible, knowing that she had failed her grandparents and her sensei by failing Naruto.
"Kushina, I know that you're happy and sad at the same time, but you have to take care of yourself because you are holding another life in your womb. You have to understand how important this is, not only for your soon to be third child, but for you and your family as well."
Kushina nodded her head and gave a weak but small smile.
"I know, Tsunade. I will take care of myself and my child." placing her hand on her womb "This time; I won't dare to play favorites. This child will know a mother's care, support, and love…just as I should have given…my…son."
Kushina began to cry yet again.
"Kushina, it's not all your fault. I also ignored him in favor of Natsumi. We really messed up things but we will change it for a better future." Kushina sniffed and nodded.
'And perhaps the next time we encounter Naruto; we can beg him for his forgiveness.'
Many people in the village wanted to disappear for what they did to Naruto. They felt an enormous weight of shame and guilt from their actions towards the neglected child. They didn't understand why the Fourth didn't just kill the brat, but now that they did, they promised to fall at Naruto's feet and beg for his forgiveness the next time they saw him.
No one would find, or hear word of him for the next three years.
Land of water,
With Naruto,
While everyone in the village suffered the pins and needles of regret and shame for what they did to Naruto, said boy sat next to his new teacher, eating his favorite food of all time; ramen. He had already devoured ten straight bowls, but when he looked towards Ryu, his eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.
100 or so more bowls of ramen still remained to ingest.
The chef had worked himself to exhaustion and collapsed, so when they ate their fill, Ryu paid the bill and signaled to Naruto for them to go.
When they were walking, Naruto noticed a few kids playing with their friends. He felt sad, for not too long ago, he had known such happiness. Naruto's dampened mood did not escape his master's eye.
"Hey Naruto, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, Master Ryu."
"You know, kiddo, you really suck at hiding your emotions."
Naruto then hung his head and stopped walking.
"I just…remember my friends, Master Ryu. I just want to be with them; they were there for me even when my parents weren't. I have no chakra; my coils were destroyed when I was born. Despite that, they expected nothing from me in return when they helped me. I probably wouldn't have a reason to live without my friends. I just feel sad because I left without telling them."
"Naruto, I know you love your friends, but remember why you wanted to grow stronger, why you wanted power in the first place. You told me you wanted to power to protect your friends. I can understand that you think you're betraying their trust because of not telling them but if they're as good to you as you say they are, then they'll understand and support you 100 percent. That's what friends are for, right?"
Naruto, tears rolling down his face, only nodded his head. Ryu gave his student a bright smile and ruffled his pupil's hair softly.
"Friends can understand each other, even if they don't speak to each other, right?"
"That's right! I understand them and they understand me because they're not just my friends, they're my family!"
"I'm glad you understand that. You know, Naruto, your friends not only care for and love each other, but they care for and love you. As long as you want to get stronger for them, you can do anything."
"Master Ryu, can I know where we're going?" Naruto asked. A small glint in Ryu's eyes sent shivers down his spine.
"Why do I think I'm going to regret this decision?"
"We're going to an island where we can start your training so you can become strong."
Ryu then grabbed Naruto and vanished from the Land of Water without a trace. The next thing, Naruto knew, he and Ryu stood on a snow-capped island. Naruto stood in shock as he just stared at Ryu.
"Well Naruto, this is where we're going to train for a few months. Your training will start tomorrow."
Naruto began to dread the physical labor and how loud his body would scream at him, but the prospective reaction of his friends and parents to his strength made him exuberant.
"I'll become strong enough to protect everyone!"
Thanks for reading,
Special thanks to MODdenial