Coming Together for him

Chapter 4

Tsunade had been doing her rounds, when she saw the blonde haired man slip out of Naruto's room. She wasn't sure but she had a sinking feeling that Naruto's condition was somehow going to be worse. She studied the retreating man for a moment wondering if she had seen him before, there was something about him that was familiar. Shaking her head, Tsuande entered Naruto's room, to see the child's mouth open gasping in pain as he writhed.

Rushing over, Tsuande grabbed a syringe that was filled with clot busting agents. It was supposed to be for her other heart attack patient but right now she decided that Naruto needed it more. Inserting the needle in the crook of his arm. She prayed silently that the medication would work.

Naruto cried out, his filling with tears. He didn't understand why his chest hurt so bad. He thought he heard someone say they were sorry for doing this, that a child shouldn't have to pay for the mistakes of their father, but then Naruto thought he had been dreaming after everything his father and him had talked about.

"Hang on Naruto, this medicine is going to help it stop hurting so much." Tsunade murmured as she silently counted the seconds until the medicine kicked in.

Turning Tsuande called out of the room asking for assistance. She needed to find out if any kind of damage had been done to Naruto's heart.

"Hey, Naruto" Tsuande said softly and the kids pain filled eyes met hers.

"I'm going to insert a catheter and check your heart to see if you have any more blockages and to see if any damage was done to your heart." Naruto nodded weakly, the pain was gone but he was still sore and he really just wanted to close his eyes and go to sleep.

Twenty minutes later Tsuande had inserted a balloon looking catheter into Naruto's upper thigh. As she made her way towards his heart. She noticed a foreign looking substance in his blood stream. Whatever it was had been broken into tiny particles making it hard to see what they were. The closer Tsuande got to Naruto's heart the more particles there were, leaving no doubt that this substance had somehow gotten inserted into his bloodstream and once there it had made his way to Naruto's heart, where it had grown firm and blocked Naruto's heart from getting the blood that it needed. Tsuande scowled, she would have to find a way to draw this substance out of him, she couldn't take the risk that it would get firm again and cause another blockage.

Twenty minutes later the procedure was finished and Naruto was lying barely awake. He knew whatever Tsuande had found wasn't good, because she saw the sadness in her eyes.

"I'm going to go talk to your father kid, he deserves to know what happened." Tsuande said.

"Don't want to be alone." Naruto struggled to say "what if he comes back?"

"I'm not leaving you" Tsuande told the boy "I'm not taking that risk again, but your father does need to know about this attack. Maybe we can get some security in here." Naruto nodded, all his energy seeming to have left all at once. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.

Tsuande watched him for a few minutes, hoping that she would be able to protect the kid. She didn't want to see him die before his time.

Thirty minutes later, Minato arrived in a rush. Tsuande hated the fear that she saw in his eyes, hated that the fear was there to begin with.

"What happened?" he demanded as he walked over to Naruto's bed, and looked him over.

"We suspect someone slipped in after you left. I got a glimpse of the guy and the police are trying to find him."

"I should have known this would happen." Minato groaned. "Someone wants me to stop the work I'm doing and they will do anything to do it."

"Keep doing working on it, they are going to make a mistake eventually and the police will catch him." Tsunade said.

"Before or after Naruto is killed?" Minato asked "This deal isn't worth my son losing his life over. He's the only thing I have left from my wife, and I would like to see him grow up and start a family of his own." Minato reached out and touched Naruto's cheek. He wished that his son was awake so that he could reassure himself that Naruto was going to pull through.

"How serious is the damage to his heart?" Minato asked.

"Serious enough that he will need a transplant sometime in the near future. We have him stabilized for now though, so he will pull through tonight." Tsunade assured Minato. "When I checked his heart with the catheter, I noticed a foreign substance in his blood stream. The closer I got to his heart the more there was. So I believe the substance gets firms and forms a blockage in Naruto's heart. Now, I am going to remove it in hopes that it doesn't get firm and bring on a more fatal heart attack."

Minato closed his eyes, this was the first time in his years as Mayor that he regretted taking the job. Never before had his son's life been placed on the line because of his work. Minato wasn't sure he even wanted to do this job anymore especially if Naruto didn't make it. Minato's life would be over if Naruto didn't find the strength to pull through.

"How long will it take to remove that substance?" Minato asked.

"A few hours, but the process isn't pain free." Tsunade replied "It would be much like being on dialysis for kidney failure."

"Do what you have to" Minato replied "I don't want to risk Naruto having another heart attack." Tsunade nodded and turned and left the room to get the supplies she would need.

Once she was gone, Minato looked over at Naruto. Reaching out, he grabbed Naruto's hand.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't hear when you needed me to protect you." Minato started "Once again I put my job before you thinking foolishly that you would be okay in the hospital. How wrong my thinking was. It almost cost you your life yet again." Minato felt tears in his eyes. He didn't want to even think about life without Naruto. "I don't ever tell you enough that I love you, but I do so much. If you pull through this, I promise I will take more time to spend with you." Minato closed his eyes, he hated thinking about all the times he had neglected Naruto because there was something that had to be done at work. Starting now, Minato was done doing that. He would be around to protect Naruto, even if he had to give up his job.

"I'm sorry, kid, so damn sorry." Minato cried, and lowered his head on the mattress next to Naruto's head. "All the pain you're going through is because of me. I wish I could take your place, but I can't. I can only try and promise that it doesn't happen again. I feel like a crappy father for not being able to protect you. You don't even know how much I love you."

"It's okay, Minato" Tsunade said as she reentered the room. "Naruto has the best caregivers around, we will make sure he pulls through. I promise you, you won't be burying him anytime soon!"

"I wish I knew that was the truth, if we don't find these guys responsible, I fear for all of our sanity." Minato said softly "I can't bear to think about what Naruto's going to be like emotionally after all this is over."

"He'll probably be scared for a little while and he won't want you too far away from him because he'll be unsure of his own safety. But I know that you love him and you will give him the help that he needs to pull through, you and his friends will see him through this."

"What friend's?" Minato asked "I haven't seen a single kid visit him. No one from school." Tsuande sighed she didn't know what to say to that. Kids were cruel that she knew, but why none of his friends bothered to even call in and check on him, it bothered her more than she was willing to admit. If it were Sakura or Rock Lee or someone Naruto would have been here from the time school was out until visiting hours were over. Naruto had the biggest heart of anyone that she knew. The fact that his love wasn't reciprocated made her wonder about his so called friends.

"He'll always have a friend in me." Tsunade said softly leaning over and brushing Naruto's hair out of his eyes. "He's a special kid with a big heart. One day he will find someone who appreciates the size of his heart."

Minato sighed thinking for a moment about the person that he had hired to sit with Naruto when he wasn't available. Itachi Uchiha would be starting security for Naruto starting tomorrow. He just hoped that Itachi was as good at guard duty as he was at being an undercover cop. Whatever the cost, Minato would find out who had done this to Naruto. And he would prevent it from happening to someone else's son or daughter. No parent deserved to spend their time wondering if their child was strong enough to pull through when the odds were against them surviving.

"I have someone coming to sit with Naruto tomorrow. Someone who is very good at their job. He's going to help me find out what's going on and put an end to it." Minato said "I'm done playing with Naruto's life. This situation will end and it will end with the people responsible in prison paying for their crimes."

"Good" Tsuande said "I don't think it would be a good idea to leave Naruto alone anymore. Someone must really hate what you're doing." Minato sighed and looked down at Naruto's peaceful looking face. He looked so much like his late wife, it was like almost having her there in the room with him.

"I never meant for this to happen" Minato spoke to Naruto "If I had known that those people would take things this far, maybe I wouldn't have continued doing what I was doing. I would have given up my work to keep you safe. Naruto, my son, I only ever wanted what was best for you. I know with me being Mayor it put a lot of pressure on your shoulders, pressure you shouldn't have had to carry alone. But I was too busy thinking about Konoha citizens and not enough time thinking about you. But I promise things are going to change, if you just pull through I will cut back on my hours, I will do anything for you." tears filled Minato's eyes as he thought about what would happen if Naruto didn't pull through. Minato would have to plan a funeral and he would have to bury Naruto. Minato wasn't ready for that, he didn't think he would ever be ready for it. What parent wanted to bury their child? Children were supposed to outlive the parents.

Minato closed his eyes and rested his head on the mattress. Drifting to sleep quickly from being so exhausted after a day of trying to find the people who had put his son in the hospital.

Minato opened his eyes, looked around him, he was sitting in a church, a casket sat at the front of a church, as he stood and walked towards the front, he found his son's lifeless face lying in the coffin. Minato reaches out and places his hand on Naruto's chest, longing to feel his son's heartbeat, but Naruto's chest was still, his lungs no longer drawing in air. Tears filled Minato's eyes, this was his fault. He hadn't been able to find those who had attacked his son, and they had somehow found a way past Minato's defenses and gotten to Naruto. This time they had placed a pillow over Naruto's face and held it until the kid had stopped breathing. Minato remembered waking up the next morning, needing to get Naruto up for school. It had been a trial getting Naruto to go back to school after everything that he had been through, but Minato had finally succeeded.

Getting out of bed, Minato had stumbled into Naruto's bedroom, only to find Naruto staring up at the ceiling, his lips blue and his face drained of color. Minato had rushed to Naruto's side, crying out for his son not to leave him. Tears had spilled down Minato's face and onto Naruto's lifeless face. Minato remembered holding Naruto close to him as he sobbed. He couldn't believe they had managed to get to his son after everything Minato had done to try and protect him. Nothing Minato had done worked, and it left him feeling heartbroken as he realized he would now have to bury his only child.

"Please come back to me Naruto" Minato had pleaded bending down and pressing his forehead to Naruto's. "You can't leave me like this. You still have to graduate from high school and college and you have to get married and start your own family. You can't do that if you leave me behind!" it was at that point that Minato felt Itachi's eyes on him, as he approached and kneeled down beside the two Namikaze's. Minato clutched Naruto to him, afraid that if he let him go his body would disappear leaving Minato with nothing but memories. He felt Itachi reach out and place two fingers on Naruto's wrist.

"He's gone." Itachi spoke softly confirming Minato's worst fears.

"I don't want him to be gone" Minato said his voice sounding strange to his own ears. He knew he was in shock but he couldn't bring himself to care. The only living thing he had left from his wife was now gone. How was Minato supposed to move on from this? How did a parent survive the lose of a child? That wasn't a question that Minato wanted the answer to. He just wanted his son to be alive.

Closing his eyes, Minato opened them again after a moment and the memory of finding Naruto so still in his bed was gone, replaced by the image of Naruto lying in a coffin. Minato wasn't ready for this, he had never thought that he would have to bury his child.

"Naruto, I'm so sorry." Minato cried, reaching out and placing his hand over Naruto's still heart. His child who had the biggest heart of anyone he knew, was now gone. Minato bent his head and pressed a kiss to Naruto's forehead. He was nowhere near ready to let his son go, but Naruto deserved to be laid to rest. He deserved to rest easy in the arms of his mother once again.

"Kushina, please tell me you were there to greet our boy." Minato said looking up at the ceiling. "He didn't deserve to die, but since he's gone, I hope he is with you. I know that I will see you once again when my time on earth is through."

Don't kill me! Thanks for reading and reviewing. Liz.