Coming Together for him

Chapter 3

The next time Naruto regained consciousness, he found that the tube had been removed from his throat, leaving an aching throat. Naruto raised his uninjured hand and rubbed at his throat.

"Dad" Naruto croaked, his throat dry and hurting.

"Hey, kiddo" Minato said softly raising his eyes from the book that he had been reading. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got ran over" Naruto muttered "what happened? How did I end up hear?"

"You got beat up at a school." Minato said frowning. "You've been here for a week now."

"What did they do to me? Most beatings don't result in a week long stay in the hospital." Naruto said.

"They broke four of your ribs, one of which punctured your lung and caused it to collapse. That's the reason why your throat hurts, you have a tube down your throat helping you breathe. There for a while the doctors weren't sure you were going to make it." Minato told him.

"Just a little bit excessive for a beating isn't it?" Naruto asked.

"That's just it, I think it was an attempt on your life disguised as a beating. If you're teacher hadn't found you when he did, those boys probably would have killed you." Minato explained.

"They done because they think I'm gay." Naruto muttered bitterly.

"I don't think so" Minato disagreed. "I don't think it had anything to do with that issue at all. I think it's because your my son and someone saw an opportunity and took advantage of it. By trying to use the 'I don't tolerate gay kids' excuse they are hiding their real motives. Motives that will be found out and dealt with!"

"Why would someone want me dead because of you?" Naruto asked even though speaking hurt his throat even more.

"Because of a deal that I am working on" Minato said "I am trying to clean up the corruption that's trying hard to get its claws into the Konoha government."

"And they felt that killing me would stop you?" Naruto wondered.

"That's usually how those mob types work. If they can't stop me they will go after my family and sense my wife is dead. That leaves you, which means that you're going to have to be extra careful when you go back to school." Minato said thoughtfully.

"I don't want to go back." Naruto said "all my friends seemed to have left me to join that prick Sasuke's side."

"You don't really have to worry about him right now," Minato informed Naruto "He's been suspended for the time being."

"That's just awesome because when he gets back he's going to have even more reason to hate me." Naruto grumbled as he shuffled a little in the bed, moaning when he hit his sore ribs.

"Maybe not, I don't think he had anything to do with you getting beaten up." Minato told him.

"Of course he did, those guys were accusing me of being gay, and Sasuke was the one who started that rumor." Naruto protested.

"No, he wasn't" Minato said "he overheard someone talking about it in the office when he got registered for school. I'm just wondered if he can recognize who they were." Naruto sighed.

"if he overheard someone talking about me and he just started school. How did he know who I was. I'm pretty sure new kids don't know anyone on their first day."

"Maybe he saw you when you're friends were with you." Minato suggested. Naruto frowned, it really sounded like his father wanted to believe Sasuke despite what the evidence was saying in the contrary.

"Sasuke is an angry kid, that doesn't mean he's a homicidal maniac." Minato pointed out. "he didn't want to move here, in the first place."

"So that gives him the right to be a bully?" Naruto asks. He couldn't believe this, Naruto was recovering from an attack that had nearly killed him. And the one person that could have been responsible for ordering the attack, his father didn't believe that it could be him.

"No, there is no excuse for calling you out for your lifestyle." Minato said "how you chose to live is your business."

"Oh, for crying out loud, I'm not gay!" Naruto cried out.

"I've never seen you with a girlfriend." Minato pointed out

"You've seen me hanging out with Sakura" Naruto muttered "that doesn't mean that I prefer males."

"When can I get out of here?" Naruto asked changing the subject.

"In a couple days if you continue to do well." Minato said. "you'll probably have another week off from school though." Naruto groaned school had just started and he was already behind. At this point he would be lucky if he didn't spend the rest of his life doing make up work.

"Be thankful you're still alive." Minato said softly "I could be getting ready to bury you." Naruto eyes softened he knew that his current position was easy for his father. He also knew he would be putting up with some crazy safety measures for the foreseeable future.

"I love you Dad." Naruto burst out suddenly, he didn't ever tell his father that much, but knowing that Minato had just spent the past week sitting beside his hospital bed, unsure of whether or not his only son would live, had to have been painful.

"I love you too" Minato said "so much. This past week has been the worst kind of hell, but I can promise that I won't allow something like this to happen again." Naruto gave him a weak smile, it wouldn't always be possible to prevent an attack from happening but Naruto would be more than happy if his dad could prevent it.

"I need to go to the house for a little bit, but I promise I will be back sometime tonight."

"Do what you have to." Naruto murmured "I'm starting to get tired again."

"It's going to take time for you to get your strength back." Minato replied and stayed until Naruto's eyes had dropped closed.

Twenty minutes after Minato left, a slim blonde haired figure slid into the room. He had a syringe in his left hand. He watched the kid sleep for a few minutes, not liking that the fact that it was a child that he had been ordered to kill. If he didn't do it however, his boss would put an end to him and his family.

Shaking his head the man, raised the hand with the syringe and stuck it into Naruto's uninjured arm. The poison within would bring on an unexpected heart attack the man didn't believe that in Naruto's current condition he would be able to survive.

The man waited while the effects of the poison started almost immediately, Naruto's eyes popped open and the man could see pure agony in them. Naruto brought his free hand to his chest, clutching at it, even as he started to lose consciousness.

"I'm sorry it had to be this way, kid, you shouldn't have to pay for your father's mistakes." that being said the man turned and walked out of the room, knowing that at any moment that the alarms in Naruto's room would be going off.

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Enjoy reading Liz