A/N: It's weird how watching recent filler episodes of the anime has given me some inspiration. Honestly, a lot of the minor characters in Naruto have so much potential (both power-wise and storytelling-wise) that I have to remind myself exactly who are the focus of this story =P

I know I have to go back and change some minor things; I've just been lazy and been going through a lot in my life recently. As for this chapter, I hope you guys enjoy it; it was pretty hard to write...I was rarely both in the mood and able to think of what to write.

Chapter 7: The Calm after the Storm

Ten minutes after Minato reported back to Hiruzen (and VIDD, consequently), the village was taken off high alert. To Minato's dismay, Itachi had evaded patrols and hunter-nins, though Hiruzen put it differently.

"You managed to kill one of the most dangerous missing-nins we know of, in a situation in which we were lucky to have caught up to them at all. And, partly thanks to you, no one on our side was killed."

It helped, but Minato wasn't satisfied with that. "They're after my son, Hiruzen." His voice was as hard as his expression, with the blue of his eyes resembling ice rather than the sky. "And I know that Madara Uchiha is the one behind them all."

Hiruzen had heard Minato's version of events that fateful October night, but had been slightly hesitant to identify the mysterious nin as Madara. "Or, he is at least influencing them," he added. He sighed, resting his weary body into the chair of his office. "You can't live in constant paranoia, Minato. It will weaken you and cause mistakes. Besides, we've made Konoha impenetrable against space-time techniques ever since that night."

Except mine, the blonde noted. Only because I was specifically keyed into the village defense system, he added for self-reassurance. "I know," Minato said, sagging his shoulders and head as he closed his eyes, breathing out some of the built-up stress. "But does that mean Naruto can't leave the village until Madara is dead?"

Hiruzen chewed on his unlit pipe, mulling the possibility over. Biwako had yelled at him so sternly every time he smoked inside, her scorn kept him in line from beyond the grave...

"We need to make eliminating him a priority," the aging Hokage decided. "However we do it, everyone is better off if we succeed sooner rather than later. The issue is finding him, and preventing him from escaping once found."

"I think I may have an answer for that," Minato replied, suddenly energetic. "If I found a way to create an area where space-time jutsu of any kind can't work, then I just have to make sure he's in that area when I move in for the kill..."

Hiruzen recognized that absent, far-off expression on his successor's face. Minato was working through the options, but it was clear that he wasn't considering the most obvious one. "We could use Naruto as bait," Hiruzen suggested.

"No."

Minato was furious at the very thought of it, and the Third recognized the withering glare that rarely appeared on the Fourth's face. It was exactly what he'd expected.

"It's risky, I know. But it's a reliable way to make him appear where you want him to. Assuming your trap works as planned, Madara would have to defeat everyone guarding Naruto to get a shot at him. The more likely scenario is Madara trying to flee once the trap is sprung...in which case, Naruto is still not in danger."

The slight easing of tension on Minato's face along with the softer tone relaxed Hiruzen. The logic had gotten through, at least somewhat. "If it works. I have no idea what that technique is, nor do I have a way of testing it before putting my son on the line."

"Either way," Hiruzen conceded, knowing he had made as much progress as he was going to at the moment, "we'll need to develop that trap technique to take him down. In the meantime, Naruto will stay in the village, under ANBU protection."

Minato accepted that with relief. So long as they stayed in Konoha, Naruto would be completely safe from Madara. Speaking of which... "Wait. Itachi said that we should already have known about their organization. What did he mean by that?"

"Ah," the elderly kage said, leaning back in his chair. "Jiraiya passed on some very interesting information recently. Itachi's organization is called 'Akatsuki'. Obviously, any organization that has a name meaning 'dawn' certainly has ambitious goals. And they don't disappoint: they're after the bijuu. All of them."

Hearing the name of Naruto's absentee godfather muddled Minato's thoughts. At the moment, Akatsuki and its goals were a distant concern. "Jiraiya..."

Hiruzen recognized the look on his face. "You're wondering where he's been all these years." It wasn't a question, and the confirmation was written all over Minato's features. "He's been trying to keep Naruto and Konoha safe. Assassination and kidnapping attempts were stopped before they went anywhere. Kumo's been much more protective of its jinchuuriki, thanks to Jiraiya's warning. In fact, Jiraiya's done quite a lot to keep things peaceful between the nations."

As much as Hiruzen could tell those accomplishments meant to Minato, they still danced around the real issue. He bowed his head, acknowledging their shortcomings. All of their shortcomings. "He was beside himself after...that night. He was in no condition to look after Naruto, and later on, he felt he could do more for Naruto by ensuring that he would never have a war hanging over his head than by living with him. I imagine that, after a time, his guilt and hesitance to suddenly become a figure in Naurto's life compounded until it was an impossibility."

Silence reigned following that. After what seemed to be far too long, it was broken by another sigh. "All right. Where are we going to stay until we get things sorted out?"

Hiruzen understood. Minato had intellectually accepted it, but it would take time for him to emotionally come to terms with. In the meantime... "I have an idea..."

"Here we are," Kushina announced, as much to herself as to her family. The Hokage Manor was Hiruzen's residence through and through; she and Minato hadn't ever lived there.

She had always felt it was too large for a true home, and Minato had agreed. But with the three of them and Hiruzen as residents, perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

Naruto was quite familiar with the place, and since they needed somewhere to stay for the time being, it was the best fit. With ANBU guarding it around the clock, it was also one of the more secure places in the village.

Unless you're Naruto, she added with a mental snicker. Those ANBU probably thought it was just another one of Naruto's pranks that night he snuck in and took the Forbidden Scroll; since he and Hiruzen had a distant grandfather-grandson relationship, they probably just let him waltz right in.

Naruto walked in with a smile, still uncharacteristically subdued. He was more expressive now than before, but it was obvious the kid still needed time to adjust. Kushina hoped a familiar setting would help things along.

From seeing his memories, Kushina knew this place fascinated Naruto, with its various shinobi artifacts, paintings of famous battles, and seals that were often works-in-progress. The warm, wooden feel of the building was soft and inviting; the only thing it really lacked was people.

Well, that wasn't the case now. "Hasn't changed all that much," Minato commented. His attention was only briefly on his surroundings; Naruto was far more important.

"We're really staying here?" the boy asked, enthusiasm present in his voice in a small-but-comforting degree.

It was a slightly childish thing to ask (at least in the way he asked it, Minato mentally clarified), but he found it comforting. It was still so hard to equate his tiny infant son with this hyperactive pre-teen, but he was trying. "Yeah. We're going to sleep in the same room, at least for a little while. Is that okay, Naruto?"

His son looked up at him with a childish openness in his features. Hesitance, and...longing, perhaps? Minato couldn't tell what the boy was thinking, but he took the small, slow nod as an answer.

Acting on a subconscious urge, he knelt down to Naruto's level, softly placing his hand on his son's spiky blonde hair. Behind Minato's genuine smile, he had to fight back tears of guilt. Naruto wasn't just at a loss for how to respond to his parents, he was at a loss for how to respond to this level of affection.

The way Naruto acted in public, you wouldn't realize how much he was hurting on the inside. You wouldn't understand why the attention-seeking loudmouth couldn't intuitively comprehend love.

Minato was thankful he knew exactly what was behind that mask, now. He deserved to know, almost like it was his punishment for his choices. To watch his son's suffering and be helpless to stop it.

Until now, he reluctantly admitted. "You don't have to hide anything from us," he said, his voice unsteady. "We love you no matter what. We will always love you, and we always have. You're not going to be alone ever again." Naruto's expression hardly changed, but somehow Minato could see something moving behind his eyes.

It was Naruto who initiated the hug this time. So much for holding back the tears, his snarky side mentally blurted. Neither of them were trying that anymore, he realized. This embrace wasn't like the one in the hospital. It was more familiar. Warmer, if he had to put a word to it. Last time it had been between two strangers that were supposed to have a deep connection.

This time, they did. Something felt different, like he wasn't looking at his son through a plane of glass anymore.

When Naruto started sobbing, Minato was momentarily surprised—Naruto was someone who rarely let his emotional guard down in front of others. It was almost unnerving—he had no idea how to be a father, let alone a father of an emotionally-distressed, pre-teen jinchuuriki. He tightened his arms around his son, hoping his reassurance would somehow get through to him.

Kushina smiled wanly at the two, intent on letting the two have their moment (she had, after all, had one of her own already). Naruto was small for his age, but he was still far larger than the infant she had once held. As much as she was convinced she just needed time to adjust, she instinctually felt like something was missing from her arms.

She doubted he'd let her hold him in that way...ever, but she doubted that Naruto would refuse a hug any time soon. I have that, at least.

But as she looked at her two favorite people, she felt a lot more grateful for what she had than what she didn't. For a time in her life, she thought she'd never have a family of her own.

Her smile grew slightly, and she finally responded to the urge to join in when Naruto stopped crying.

They didn't need to speak; their touch conveyed more than any words she could think of at the moment. Besides, words weren't something Naruto understood nearly as well as actions...kind of like herself, she had to admit. "Come on, you two. Let's find a comfortable place to sit."

"Heh," Naruto said, smiling as he made a vain effort at clearing his face of the obvious tear tracts.

It was some kind of turning point in their relationship, she thought. Kushina couldn't really identify what changed specifically, but they headed to a room down the hall without the heavy awkwardness from before.

It made each of them rather giddy.

"You know, I took the Chunin Exams when I was 13," Kushina remarked as she lay on the large bed, heads interwoven under her head. "I didn't really think I was ready, but since my rival was participating, I couldn't back down 'ttebane."

Minato snorted, knowing just how characteristic of an action that was for Kushina. And Naruto, he added, who was situated in between the two parents in a similar position.

"Who was your rival?" Naruto asked. "Was it...dad?"

Kushina could tell that the hesitation was about saying the word rather than finding it, but she had adapted to not letting it get to her too deeply. "Yeah, actually." She turned her head to smile at her husband, sharing their joke. "Not that he would have admitted it, though." She used to hate how he was so good at shinobi skills even when he acted like such a goody-two-shoes.

"Well, you did just keep the whole one-sided rivalry a complete secret for years..."

"It was not one-sided!" Even after the kidnapping incident (and her subsequent growing affection for Minato), she still kept up her half-hearted rivalry for the challenge.

"What makes you think I reciprocated if I didn't even know about it?"

"Rivalries are inherently understood 'ttebane!"

"Says who?"

"It's a well-known fact dattebane!"

"According to you."

"According to everyone!"

"Uh huh."

She settled for mock-glaring at him, but his smug smile didn't even flinch. Naruto just shifted his gaze back and forth confusedly. Her glare dissolved into a smile, and his smugness shifted into affection.

Not that they'd do the usual with Naruto in the room, though.

"You say dattebane a lot?"

Minato snickered at Kushina's visible embarrassment. "I, uh, hoped you wouldn't inherit that particular trait of mine dattebane," Kushina admitted.

"Ha! You said it again dattebayo!" Naruto, surprised and elated that he had something in common with his mother, couldn't help but laugh as Kushina's face turned a shade of red.

"Why – are – we – running – so – much?" Sakura heaved, perplexed at her sensei's behavior. He was a lot less...lackadaisical lately.

"You remember what I said about growing your chakra pool?" Kakashi asked, not even slightly winded.

Sakura mentally groaned. Of course she remembered...but now that she thought about it, she understood; they were building their physical energy, which was one of two 'ingredients' of chakra. She also guessed why they were focusing on that aspect instead of spiritual/mental energy: she and Sasuke had low physical endurance, but sharp minds. Naruto was mostly the opposite.

Mostly, because he did display some utterly brilliant tactics and insights occasionally.

Sasuke didn't complain or question Kakashi's directive to follow him—without the use of chakra—once, though he didn't last that much longer than Sakura, physically. At that point, they were glad to have done it, even if it was painfully exhausting.

But when Kakashi told them that they were only getting started for a daily routine, Sakura voiced exactly what her less talkative teammate was thinking: "Fuck."

As Minato knew from experience, the serene, grassy yard behind the manor was perfect for a little sparring.

There was something about good training that made Naruto happy without fail. Minato, recalling the memories of his seal-imprint, guessed that training meant acceptance, acknowledgement, progression, and motivation to Naruto.

Kushina understood that, beyond those reasons, Naruto just loved the physical and mental challenge.

Minato knew that if he wanted to improve the area in which Naruto had the most trouble, he would have given the boy appropriately-difficult puzzles to solve. But since this was more about bonding (and since Naruto really bonded with the people he fought, sparring or otherwise), they stuck to taijutsu drills.

However, they encouraged him to use his shadow clones in conjunction with it, for several reasons. He'd gain more experience via the dispelled clones, he would eventually develop a unique clone-based fighting style that even a jounin would have trouble against, and so that both Kushina and Minato could participate at the same time.

The popping sound of dispelling shadow clones became music to their ears, as did the quieter and subtler sound of shadow clones forming.

Naruto's taijutsu was rough and undisciplined, like a brawler, but he was also unpredictable. Most of his unexpected moves weren't good, though, which was the main reason why fighting styles existed in the first place: moves were logical and effective, even when they were hard to see coming.

Naruto needed an established taijutsu style, Kushina decided, even if he chose to adopt a different one later on. It would at least give him an effective baseline for fighting without clones—which he sorely needed.

His skill with shadow clones covered up some of his taijutsu weaknesses, though; he was very good at capitalizing on the advantage of numbers, at least for someone his age. Attacks came from many directions in many ways. Having employed a somewhat similar style since becoming proficient with shadow clones herself, she knew that the difficulty in opposing it lied in not getting overwhelmed by the multitude of attacks.

And if you had to use ninjutsu to defend yourself, make sure the cost of doing so is less than the opponent's cost of using the shadow clones. Given her enormous chakra reserves, she loved this kind of style. She even thought she could beat Minato with it, back when she turned 14.

Minato being Minato, he figured out its workings after a mere three waves of it, the bastard. At least she had defeated him the first three times.

"You're off-balance when you recover from most of your attacks," Minato advised after a few minutes. "That's because you don't connect your actions. You are unpredictable, but half of that is because you move worse than you could in those situations."

Naruto crossed his arms, giving an annoyed, impatient sigh. "But, but the style I learned in the Academy didn't work for me at all! And I beat Neji and Gaara with taijutsu!"

Minato winced as he recalled why that was the case. "The Academy style didn't work for you because...it was...taught improperly." Sabotaged was the word he wanted to use, but getting into all of that right now wouldn't help anyone. "And you beat Neji and Gaara mostly with ninjutsu, not taijutsu. After all, when you sent a dozen clones at Neji, he defeated them with ease, didn't he?"

"Hmmph." Naruto didn't want to recall that particular part of the fight, but he grudgingly admitted his father's point.

"I know you have quite a talent for ninjutsu," Minato conceded, causing the boy to perk up in an instant 180 from his previous appearance. "But, improving your taijutsu will not only increase your chakra reserves, it will make you a much stronger shinobi."

Minato was rather perplexed at how Naruto found the idea of increasing his already-incredible chakra reserves so desirable, but he let the matter drop. "I'm going to teach you Konoha's Strong Fist style to take advantage of your stamina and strength. From there, you can change it up to something you like. Okay?"

"YEAH!" Naruto yelled, pumping his fist into the air to indicate just how impossibly enthusiastic he was about training.

Kushina had an idea, though... "Naruto, make a shadow clone and have him follow me, okay?"

"Eh? Okay!" Naruto obviously didn't care for deep thinking when he didn't have to, and given how casual he was with using shadow clones, it was probably like asking him to pass the salt.

As Minato began teaching the basic stances (something that Naruto only managed to stay patient through because of who was teaching him), she pulled a scroll out of her pocket once they were far enough away. "This scroll was written by Hiruzen-sama, and it's locked with a seal. See?"

Naruto moved closer, looking at the seal with mild interest. That stuff went over his head; it even looked complicated. "What's inside it?"

She smiled, knowing the reaction that was about to come. "Instructions on how to do the Shadow Clone Shuriken jutsu."

Naruto lit up like a firework; Kushina was surprised he was only standing on the tips of his toes instead of jumping. "Well open it, open it!"

"I can't," she said, holding back giggles at his animated distress.

"But—but why? That's—!"

"But you can." She cut his protest off unexpectedly; now he was caught somewhere between confusion and hope.

"Eh? How?"

"Hiruzen-sama wrote this scroll specifically for you," she explained. "He locked it with a seal that requires your blood to open, so that no one else could steal it and learn the secrets of the technique."

Naruto understood, but he didn't care nearly as much about that part. With practiced precision, he bit into his thumb to draw a small amount of blood. Applying it to the seal, he was rewarded with a bluish glow before the seal changed.

"There we go." She opened the scroll, laying it out in front of them both. The instructions were written in detail at first, then simplified and broken down. He obviously understands Naruto's learning style...

As she waited for Naruto to catch up, she subtly looked at her son. His adorable expression, cute mannerisms, both Minato's hair and eyes—she felt extremely blessed to be with him right now, even if she had missed the first twelve years of his life. Her love for him began since before he was even a bulge in her womb, and it had only since grown.

"Hmmm...I think I get it," Naruto announced, standing up and drawing a shuriken from his holster. The first step was to channel his chakra into the shuriken itself. He took two of the ends into his hands, concentrated on his target, and...

Nothing happened.

Not deterred in the slightest, he tried again. And again. Several tries later, he settled for pushing as much chakra as he could out his fingertips and was rewarded with a visible aura of blue chakra around his hands.

But it wasn't flowing into the actual shuriken, to his frustration.

"You have to control its flow after it leaves your body," Kushina suggested.

He turned around to look at his mother, who was smiling at him. Embarrassed by such unabashed affection, he blushed and rubbed the back of his neck to ease the tension. "Uhh...how?"

"Just like with your shadow clone jutsu," Kushina offered.

Oh. He never really thought of it that way, but now that he did... He pushed chakra out of his hands again, but this time he pictured what he wanted his chakra to do and willed it into the shuriken. With great concentration, he managed to direct its flow into the weapon. "Yes!" he yelled, jumping in the air with his fists raised.

She wondered how he never realized how similar his enthusiasm for training was to Rock Lee's...

After that, he had to make shadow clones of the shuriken from the chakra the shuriken contained. As explained in the scroll, the more chakra imbued into the shuriken, the more shadow clones of it one could form.

Naruto's chakra control was far from excellent, but techniques where the amount of chakra used was mostly irrelevant were ideal for him. And with his extensive experience with shadow clones...

A hundred shuriken lay at Naruto's feet, cloned from the original they laid next to. His celebration with less enthusiastic this time only because he wanted to test out the technique in full, right away.

Three tries later, most of the hundred shuriken stuck into the wooden fence bordering the yard. He was literally jumping with joy; Kushina didn't bother to stifle her giggle at his antics. He was so adorable...

When he finally calmed down, she told him to practice it a few more times to make sure he had it down. Thankfully, the cloned shuriken dispelled a short time after impact, allowing the incoming ones to strike their targets with ease. She was rather impressed at how quickly he learned the technique, though she mused that Hiruzen had likely selected the technique based on how well-suited Naruto was for it.

Naruto turned to smile at his mom, hands interlocked behind his head. She etched his satisfied grin into her mind and then told the clone to dissipate. "Huh?" he replied, suddenly confused. "But don't I have to teach it to the real me?"

Now she was confused. Had he really not understood that the experiences (and exhaustion) of shadow clones transferred to the original when dispelled? Recalling how he learned the technique, she supposed it might have been plausible... "What you experience will be transferred to the original when you dissipate."

"Transfered?" he asked, forgetting the meaning of that word. Iruka-sensei had said it in class a few times, now that he thought about it...

"Moved to," she answered. "Now, time to dispel."

"Yup!" Naruto whipped his hand up in mock salute before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

Kushina enjoyed a moment of satisfaction before something else grabbed her attention.

"Gah!"

She looked across the yard to see Naruto flat on his face. Minato looked at his son perplexedly, then at her. Suddenly understanding, Minato chuckled at her timing.

Kushina was caught between the urge to playfully hit him and to feel embarrassed for making Naruto trip.

A/N: I know I've been avoiding Naruto's perspective for a while. While part of that is simply the need to focus on Minato and Kushina, the other part is that I don't think I can really do his perspective justice during that time period. Chalk it up to my shortcomings as a writer.

Hiruzen gave Naruto that scroll as part of his recognition for Naruto's actions during the Chunin Exams and invasion. I might mention this in the story, too, but the reason Minato doesn't use it all the time is because his special kunai are complex, individually created devices-using the technique would require far more chakra for far less shadow clones of the kunai. And until recently, his chakra reserves weren't exceptionally high.

And yes, Naruto using this technique in conjunction with a dozen clones will mean unfathomable weapon spam. I wonder why no one ever taught this technique to Naruto...THINK OF THE POTENTIAL! :D

Not that it will make Tenten's abilities irrelevant...wait and see.

I also wonder how muscular 12-year-old Naruto is; obviously, he's not going to have much before even entering puberty, but for his age? He's gotta be above average, given how we are literally treated to flashbacks of him working out and doing pushups by himself in his Academy days.

Whoops, forgot to mention: The half-hearted rivalry between Minato and Kushina; don't take that too seriously. It was one-sided and nothing like Naruto and Sasuke's rivalry in Part 1. Also, creative freedom. Please.

Now, some questions for those who want to answer them:

1) How was the Uzumaki-family interaction (before the training), and how was it during the training?

2) How was the Team 7 scene?

3) Favorite part(s)?

4) Criticism?

Please review! Sharing this experience with you guys is my biggest motivation for writing it! And it saves kittens. Can't forget the kittens.