Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 3

The Test

After Naruto had gotten over the shock of having his father as an opponent, he had begun to get excited. Finding his father's location would be a snap, especially with the newly-formed bonds the Hokage wasn't aware of yet. Getting the bell would be harder, but not impossible. If he had to, he could rely on his kekkei genkai for that. Although he wasn't entirely certain he could use it against the Hokage, even with the command allowing deadly force. The key words had been 'if necessary' and he wasn't sure the seals embedded in his soul would consider its usage necessary to get the bell. Well, he'd have to try it and find out.

After his father had shunshined away, he had stood, letting the excitement of battle overtake him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He wouldn't be able to find his father by his chakra signature; he was too good at hiding it for that. But his father's scent was easy to trace, even though he had moved in a direction downwind of where Naruto stood. He could also hear the movements the Hokage made, the soft swish of fabric as he brought his hands up into a seal. Suddenly, his father's scent was magnified and his sound was multiplied. Naruto let out a breathy laugh. Shadow clones! The Yondaime had made five shadow clones and was sending them out in all directions from the clearing. Only five? That was easy enough to match.

He leapt away into the trees in the wrong direction from where his father was. It would not do to let him know so early in the game that he couldn't hide from Naruto. He felt Jiraiya's eyes on him as he left the clearing. His sensei would watch the action from some secure spot. He wouldn't want to miss this battle between his students.

Naruto bounded through the trees, coming close to one of his father's clones, but not too close. He didn't want his father to know his trick had been discovered so soon. He found a particularly dense patch of leaves and slipped in among the branches. He made the same seal the Hokage had and whispered the jutsu's name.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" With a quiet puff and a few wisps of smoke, ten shadow clones appeared among the leaves. He wasn't dumb enough to think that his clones would be a match for the Hokage's in a one-on-one fight. But, two of his for every one of his father's should be enough to be a distraction at least. His clones would keep his father's out of his hair while he went for the original. The ten split up at his gesture, sliding silently among the leaves and disappearing towards their targets.

He stayed in his leafy shelter. He breathed deeply again, letting his senses expand. His father's clones were really good copies, down to the scent and the sound. Just what he would expect from the Yondaime Hokage, who was said to surpass all the Hokages before him. However, there were subtle differences. The sounds the clones made lacked the depth of the original, as if they were standing in an echoless room. The scent was slightly off too, as if it was missing a small but vital component. And it was. Any normal tracker, even a ninja dog, probably wouldn't notice it, but Naruto was no ordinary tracker. He knew exactly what was missing in the sound and scent of his father's clones. If he touched one, or saw one, he knew the feeling and looks of it would be off too, for the same reason. Clones didn't have real blood. What flowed in them didn't call to him. The subtle scent of it was missing from them, and they had no heartbeat, no whisper of blood moving through veins to enrich the sounds they made. They would have no real warmth emanating from their skin and they would lack the subtle glow it imparted to the skin of the original. These were all things he would notice for any person, but it was made many times easier by the connections he had made with his father earlier.

So he ignored the signals coming from the clones and left them up to his own. He concentrated on the original.

The Hokage had moved from his first spot, leaving a clone in his place and moving around the clearing in the opposite direction from where Naruto was. Now he was almost directly across from his son, but moving away. Naruto began following. He circled the clearing, and paused again. His father was still moving away.

The Hokage was challenging to track. He left no trail at all to follow, not one leaf out of place or one mark on the bark of the branches he landed on. He was almost silent in his movements, too. If Naruto didn't have the bond with him, even he would find him hard to hear. As it was, he had to concentrate more than usual. Naruto knew he couldn't hide his approach from his father. He was stealthy enough, but it had never been his strong suit, and he certainly couldn't hide his chakra well enough to keep it from a ninja as experienced as the Yondaime. He had always relied on his speed and his cunning when he was hunting. His father, though, was fast, faster than he was, so he couldn't rely on that this time. It would have to be cunning, then. He'd have to draw his father into a trap. But how to do that?

He stopped suddenly. His father had disappeared. Damn! Naruto closed his eyes and cast around. His father had somehow managed to get behind him. Double damn! Had he been really following a clone? Naruto dismissed that. He trusted his senses. He knew it had been the original. It must be that jutsu.

Jiraiya had told him many stories about his father, although he hadn't known he was his father at the time. Included in those stories were ones about the jutsus the Yondaime had developed and his exploits against Iwa in the last Great Shinobi War. So Naruto knew all about the Hiraishin no Jutsu, the Flying Thunder God Technique, although Jiraiya couldn't teach it to him. Naruto hadn't noticed the seal required for the jutsu, but he hadn't been looking either. It was a safe bet the Yondaime had seals littered all around the grounds, and the village for that matter, so he would be able to move in an instant almost anywhere. And there was no way for Naruto to know exactly how many seals there were, so he couldn't very well watch them all. Naruto figured he would use the jutsu eventually, but didn't think it would be so soon. Damn damn damn!

He leapt off into the trees again, resuming his chase once more, thinking hard. He couldn't stand around all day. Or could he? The answer came to him so suddenly, and it was so simple, he almost laughed out loud.

Minato was impressed. His son hadn't been fooled by any of the tricks he had employed to shake him off the trail. He hadn't caught up to him, but he was never far behind. He was giving Minato no opportunity to actually hide. At first, he had thought the shadow clones had fooled him because he took off in the total wrong direction, but that had been misdirection on Naruto's part. He had formed ten—ten!—of his own shadow clones and sent them off after the Hokage's clones, although they hadn't attacked. He had quite easily picked up the real Minato's trail after that and had followed it unerringly. He was gaining too, although Minato hadn't left a visible trail to follow. There was something else going on and he couldn't wait to find out what. He had resorted to the Hiraishin much earlier than he thought he would have to. Even that hadn't done much good. His son had stopped almost immediately, then had resumed his pursuit, coming straight for Minato. He had employed it a couple more times after that, and still Naruto kept coming. The boy was obviously an excellent tracker. Probably the best Minato had ever seen, and that was saying something, considering the clans renowned for their tracking skills that resided in Konoha.

Only one odd thing had happened, just a little while ago. One of Naruto's clones had moved towards the edge of the main clearing and then dispersed. Minato couldn't figure out quite why it had done that. He supposed it might have laid a trap for him, but didn't think the clone had been there long enough to do something like that. He shook his head. He couldn't figure it out. He would just have to be on his toes.

Since he had gleaned the information he wanted out of this exercise, maybe it was time to let the boy catch him and see what he would do to get the bell. He paused in his tree-hopping. He supposed he should head back to the main clearing, so they would have room to maneuver. His son was still following him; he had even sped up, somehow sensing Minato had stopped. He smiled a little and took off in the direction of the clearing, abandoning stealth for speed. He wanted to make it a little ahead of his son.

Minato reached the clearing. It was empty, although he could see Jiraiya sitting up in a tree not far from him. He walked over to his sensei and sat down on a stump underneath him. His son was approaching, but he had a few minutes. Oddly enough, the boy hadn't sped up or tried to intercept Minato. Maybe he realized Minato had given up the chase and was ready for the next part of the test.

Jiraiya was grinning at him. A really, really big grin. Minato didn't like it.

"What?" he asked. Jiraiya said nothing, but his grin widened, if that was at all possible. "Fine, don't tell me," Minato muttered, a little put out.

"He's a great tracker, isn't he?" Jiraiya said, but Minato didn't think that was why he was grinning like an idiot.

"Yes," Minato said. "Do you know how he does it?"

Jiraiya nodded. "He has exceptional senses. He'll explain it to you, I'm sure."

That really didn't tell Minato much, but he let it go. He'd find out eventually.

His son was getting close, but he was angling around the clearing, trying to approach Minato from behind. Minato nodded to himself. It was a good strategy. Or at least it would be if he couldn't sense his son coming. Really, the boy's chakra was like a flaming beacon.

He stood up from the stump and stretched. "Well, time to see what else he can do," he said and started walking to the center of the clearing.

His son appeared in a tree near where he had been sitting a moment later. He took one glance into the clearing and attacked. Minato had to hand it to him—he didn't waste time. He started with a blast of wind that Minato countered with his own wind jutsu. The two met and canceled each other out with a roar that shook the treetops around them.

He was proud for one second at the power contained in the jutsu and that his son had wind affinity like he did. It was rare in Konoha. He was only proud for one second though, because after that he had to dodge the flurry of shuriken his son had hidden behind the wind blast. It was a tricky thing to do.

Minato loved it.

Naruto followed in the wake of the shuriken and leapt at Minato, a kunai in his hand. Minato countered with his own kunai and they exchanged a flurry of blows. His son had excellent taijutsu skills for a fifteen-year old. He didn't recognize the style, but then, he was no expert. He'd have Gai watch him sometime soon.

Naruto was grinning like a madman. It reminded Minato of Jiraiya's grin and it was starting to make him uneasy.

"What the hell?" he muttered through clenched teeth. What did they know that he didn't? He was having fun sparring with his son, but he wanted to know what was going on. He upped his speed. His son kept up for a little bit, but couldn't block the blows for long. Minato landed three with his fist in quick succession, but noticed the grin never left Naruto's face.

Then he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Minato froze. A shadow clone? Minato was utterly dumbfounded. That had been a shadow clone?! Then where was the real Naruto? He glanced behind him, back towards Jiraiya. The stump wasn't there anymore.

WHAT?!

A slight tremor in the ground was all the warning he had. He leapt straight up, and he almost wasn't fast enough. His son exploded out of the ground right behind where he had been standing, one hand extended, the other clutching a kunai. His fingers brushed his father's foot.

Minato flipped in the air to land behind his son, but Naruto had spun on his heel to face him as soon as he landed and had started forming hand seals. He wasn't going to give his father a chance to catch his breath. This time it was a water jutsu. A swarm of water bullets flew at Minato. He had seen the familiar signs his son was making and had a defense, although he'd had to speed really quickly though the seals to be ready in time. The moment he touched the ground he slammed his palm down and called up an earth wall to block the water. He left it up a moment in case his son had prepared another jutsu. When he didn't feel anything, he lowered it enough to see Naruto, but not so much he couldn't raise it again in a moment if needed. His son was standing in a defensive posture, kunai in hand, watching him. It seemed to be a bit of a break, although Minato wasn't sure why. Naruto wasn't even breathing hard, even after chasing him around for half the afternoon and firing off a couple powerful jutsus.

He was proud of his son. So proud. He was fighting at a high level, especially for his age. And he had the same elemental affinities as Minato. Wind and water. His name was Namikaze after all. He wondered if he could use a third yet and what it was. And the thing he did with the shadow clone!

"How did you do that?" he called.

There was a pause while his son looked at him warily. "Do what?" he asked.

"That thing with the shadow clone. I could have sworn it was you. I didn't realize you had exchanged places with one. Nor did I sense you come into the clearing."

His son's smile was almost too bright to look at. "Oh, that," he said. "I knew you would come back here eventually. All I had to do was wait. But you couldn't know I was waiting. So, the next time you used the Hiraishin, I timed it to create a shadow clone just when you disappeared. You wouldn't notice the jutsu during the heartbeat it takes you to reappear. The instant I created the clone I suppressed my chakra and held still while the clone searched for your new position and took off after you. Suppressing my chakra is hard for me, though, and I couldn't be sure you wouldn't still sense me. So, I made my way to my nearest shadow clone. I had it walk with me to the edge of the clearing to mask any chakra I might be leaking. Once here I transformed myself, using the dispersal of the clone to cover the jutsu. Then I waited."

"What did you disguise yourself as? I didn't sense you at all when I got here."

"The stump," his son replied.

"The stump?" He blinked. "That stump? Under the tree Jiraiya was sitting in?" It had disappeared…but…

The younger blonde nodded.

"But that's impossible! I sat on that stump! It wasn't an illusion!"

Naruto laughed. It was the first time Minato had heard the sound and he loved it. It was beautiful--loud, rich, and absolutely contagious. Minato found himself smiling, even though he was still confused.

"It wasn't an illusion," his son finally agreed, his laughter dying but mirth still evident in his voice. "When I transform, I physically change into the thing. To normal senses, I am the thing I have transformed into, so I am close to impossible to detect."

Minato stared at his son. The plan he had come up with was incredibly simple, but crafty and damn near impossible to pull off. Yet he had done it. How could Naruto possibly know when he was going to use the Hiraishin? And then to time the kage bunshin jutsu so perfectly to coincide with the instant Minato was jumping and unable to sense the world around him. He knew maybe a handful of ninja that could do it. And none of them were fifteen. Most ninja wouldn't even recognize that weakness in the Hiraishin to exploit. The information about the nature of his transformations was icing on the cake. Minato had never heard of a ninja physically changing using the henge jutsu. It shouldn't be possible. And yet, his son had most definitely done it. He would have to explore that ability later. Right now, he still had an opponent to face. He decided to take it up a notch.

"That is….most impressive, Naruto. Be careful what jutsus you use, or they might be used against you, huh? No wonder you two were grinning at me like that," he said, making discreet hand seals behind the wall while talking. "How did you know when I would use the Hiraishin?" He kept his eyes on his son. He didn't seem to notice what Minato was doing.

"I heard you."

Minato almost lost control of the jutsu. Heard me? Jiraiya had said Naruto had incredible senses, but still. "What do you mean, heard me?" It wasn't hard to sound incredulous.

"Well—" but the rest of Naruto's explanation was lost as Minato released the jutsu, another wind attack, but this one more powerful and in the form of a whirlwind. If it hit, Naruto would have some serious gashes. Minato watched his son's eyes widen, then narrow, and his free hand moved up to his lips. It looked like a fireball jutsu, but he hadn't had time to make any hand seals. Then the whirlwind got in the way and the Hokage couldn't see him properly anymore. Damn it, Minato thought.

Then the world exploded in raging fire.

His son had managed a fireball, even without hand seals, although it wasn't very big. That didn't really matter as the wind attack fueled it, causing it to expand like mad and engulf the entire area. Minato dropped behind the wall while simultaneously raising it up. The flames licked around the edges and streamed past overhead. The heat was intense.

Well, that answered his earlier question. His son did indeed have a third affinity he could use and it was fire. But how did he manage it without seals? It was possible to use jutsu without the seals that helped mold chakra, but usually fifteen-year-olds didn't have the control necessary to do it. Most ninja in general didn't, no matter how old they were.

The flames were dying and Minato straightened up. Suddenly, Naruto appeared at the top of the wall, katana in hand. Before Minato could react, he leapt off the wall, twisting in the air to land behind the Hokage. The older blonde barely had time to turn and raise his kunai before his son was on him.

Naruto was a good swordsman, too, and he definitely had the advantage against a kunai. Only Minato's greater speed and experience kept him from getting sliced up. He couldn't understand how Naruto had gotten to the wall so fast. The flames hadn't even totally died out! He must've come through them, but he didn't even look singed. Minato was confused again. It was a state he was getting all too used to in this fight. His son had a knack for doing the unexpected. Not a bad trait in a ninja.

The Hokage was being pushed back against the wall by Naruto's greater reach, which was obviously what his son intended. If he trapped him there, it would be all over. Luckily, he could do something about that. Minato released the jutsu and the wall disappeared. There, now he could…

There was someone behind him. He half turned, trying to keep his son in his line of sight. The boy was pressing the attack, using Minato's distraction. He blocked a flurry of blows while trying to process the new threat.

His son was lunging forward holding a swirling ball of orange chakra in his hand, grinning like mad.

Shadow clone! Rasengan?! Minato couldn't believe it, but he didn't have time to ponder. He also didn't have time to dodge, so he did the only thing he could in the situation—he used Hiraishin to transport himself to the other side of the clearing. Just before he disappeared, he felt a sharp burn low down on his side, below his vest. His son had nicked him.

He reappeared, immediately dropped into a fighting stance and drew in a deep breath. His gaze was on his son and his son's clone. The one that had formed the Rasengan was still grinning, and holding something up, but not a ball of chakra. It was the bell. Minato looked down to his waist, but there was nothing there except the gash the katana-wielding Naruto had given him. He had sliced the bell away with that last attack.

The Yondaime laughed aloud. His son was amazing. His strategy was excellent—sending the shadow clone for distraction while he hid behind the wall to form the Rasengan. Again, using his opponent's jutsu against him. His shadow clones were impeccable and his control of them was superb; definitely better than Minato's. And he knew the Rasengan! He'd have to grill Jiraiya about that later. Right now, he wanted to test it out against his own.

"Very good, Naruto! I am thoroughly impressed," he began, putting the kunai away, but stopped.

His son was no longer looking at him and grinning. Instead, both Narutos were staring at the katana with unreadable expressions and clenched fists, breathing in short, shallow gasps. Blood was smeared across the blade. His blood. Well, Naruto had cut him when he severed the cord of the bell, but it wasn't a serious wound—just a scratch really. He'd certainly had worse. Was that why his son was looking like that?

"Naruto—" the older blond began, wanting to reassure the young ninja, but stopped again when his son, the real one, the one that had been holding the bell, looked over at him.

His face was blank, but there was something moving in his eyes, literally. Minato had never seen anything like it. It was like something stirring the water of a pool just under the surface. You couldn't see exactly what it was, but you knew it was there. And you thought it was big. Minato didn't like it. He felt the first stirrings of fear in his gut.

"Naruto," he breathed again, this time a whisper. But a movement next to the young man drew his son's attention.

The clone had started moving the katana so the edge was near his face. Minato had no idea what he was doing, but Naruto seemed to. The original instantly shot out a hand to grab the clone's wrist, stopping the motion. The clone looked at the original and growled, a low, quiet sound that still easily reached Minato's ears. The original growled right back, his face hard. The Hokage blinked. Clones weren't aggressive towards their creators. What the hell was going on?

The original was moving the hand grasping his clone's wrist, bringing the sword towards his own face now. The clone had stopped growling, but he looked angry. The real Naruto placed his other hand along the flat of the blade, steadying it. He brought it right up next to his mouth and licked the blood from the blade, staring at his clone the whole time.

Minato was shocked. He stared at his son, who had dropped his hands to his sides. His eyes were closed and he had a dreamy expression on his face, his clone seemingly forgotten. A great shudder wracked his body, then another, and he moaned softly, but his expression never changed. What the hell is he doing? What's wrong? He took a step forward, intending to go to his son, but he stopped again. He found he couldn't move.

Fear had flooded the clearing. It was the only way Minato knew how to describe it, although it wasn't quite right. The feeling that surrounded him, that made his skin crawl, that choked the breath from his lungs and made the air press down on his shoulders like a weight certainly inspired fear, but it wasn't exactly fear itself. It was like the killing intent from a high-level ninja, but again it wasn't exactly the same. He had only ever felt this kind of feeling once, almost sixteen years ago…

His thoughts froze and refused to move any further. That's not possible… Panic was starting to creep into the edges of his brain. Please don't let that be possible…

Every instinct in his body was screaming at him to run. To get as far away from here as possible, as fast as possible. But he still couldn't move. He could only watch his son. The feeling was coming from him.

The clone was growling again, but Naruto dispersed the jutsu with a wave, still without opening his eyes. Minato's gaze was drawn to the young man's hands. The nails had sharpened and lengthened. Now they looked like claws. The whisker marks on his face had deepened and thickened until they were harsh slashes marring his cheeks instead of thin lines. His eyes opened and he looked directly at his father. Minato could not suppress the gasp that escaped his lips. His son's eyes were no longer a beautiful blue, but crimson red. The pupils were slits. Minato had seen eyes like that before. Oh, kami, he'd seen them.

NO! his mind shrieked. How is this possible?

Naruto was grinning again, but this grin was more like a snarl. It stretched his now-black lips over his teeth, exposing the fangs his canines had become. Minato couldn't breathe and he thought he might drown in the fear and despair that washed over him. Please let this be a dream, please let me wake up, even if it means I don't have a son…

That thought stopped him cold and the fear receded somewhat under his disgust with himself. Did I really just think that? I don't mean that…do I?

His reverie was interrupted by a burning in his side. He glanced down and his eyes widened. Blood was flowing freely from the cut Naruto had given him. Way too much blood for such a small wound. He pressed his hand against it, trying to staunch the flow. He glanced back up and saw his son pointing a clawed finger at him. Was he doing this?

Naruto made a slight movement, like he was taking a step forward, and he disappeared. He reappeared a moment later right in front of Minato. The older ninja hadn't seen him coming. He involuntarily took a step back. At least he tried to, but he couldn't move. He wasn't just frozen with fear and shock this time; he was literally unable to move. The clawed hand was no longer pointing at him, but was held up with the palm facing him, fingers splayed. His son was controlling him somehow. With his other hand, Naruto reached forward and grabbed the wrist of the hand Minato had pressed to his side. His claws dug into Minato's skin. The Hokage would have flinched if he had been able to. Naruto brought his father's hand up to his mouth and began licking the blood off his fingers.

Naruto was breathing hard and had a look akin to ecstasy on his face. He was moving slowly, seeming to savor every taste. Under the fear and shock, Minato had to admit he was somewhat fascinated, although a little disgusted too. What was this power? He was also starting to feel annoyed. He was tired of being shocked and confused.

Naruto was almost finished licking the blood off his hand. The palm that was facing Minato had started to sag a little and Minato wondered if he could move now. He tested it out, starting small. He could move his eyes, could move his lips. Could he speak? "Naruto…" he breathed. It was barely even a whisper of sound, but it was enough.

His son rolled his eyes up in their sockets to look at him without moving his head. Their gazes locked. For a moment, Minato berated himself. His son was dangerous, a predator, and he had just drawn his attention. Why had he done that? But then, Naruto's head jerked up and he stared at his father. The red in his eyes started to recede. It was fascinating to watch. His pupils compressed back into a round shape and the crimson color seemed to drain away into them, leaving crystal blue in its wake. The pressure on Minato's wrist disappeared as Naruto's claws shrank back into nails and the dark lines on his face returned to their normal size. The choking feeling in the clearing disappeared like it had never been. Minato found himself staring into the perfectly normal face of his son again. A face that was very quickly filling up with horror and shame.

Naruto took a deep, shuddering breath and let it out with what sounded like a strangled sob. He dropped his father's wrist and made a quick swiping motion with his hand, then a flicking motion. He dropped his other hand, the one that had been holding his father still, and he leapt backward, away from the blonde in front of him. In one bound, he cleared about 30 feet. Never once did he take his eyes from his father. Minato watched him go, making no move, even though he was free again. The look on his son's face never wavered and he had tears pouring from his eyes. The instant Naruto touched down he dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead into the ground in front of him in the same bow he had used earlier in Minato's office. He was shaking violently.

"Y-Yondaime H-Hokage-ue," he said, his voice shaking almost as badly as his body. "I-I-I am-m so very sorry. I-I kn-know my actions are un-unforgivable, b-but p-p-please, please—" he didn't seem to be able to finish. His breaths were sobs and it took a few moments before he could speak again. "I-I willingly s-submit to any p-punishment y-you see fit."

Minato simply looked at him. He had no idea what to do, so he just stood, watching this boy, his son, a dangerous creature, cowering on the ground.

Author's Note

I told at least one reviewer that this chapter would have explanations, but...the chapter break worked best here. And I didn't want this chapter to be as long as the last one. However, I don't want to keep everyone in suspense for too long either, so I posted the next chapter too. The answers to your questions will be revealed (hopefully). Feel free to ask me if you still have questions after reading it.

Thanks so much to all my reviewers, and all of you who added this story to your favorites or alerts. I am glad you like it.