I'm back with another chapter. I hope you like it. I'm finally done with my first semester of med school and I think I'm finally getting into the swing of things. I had to sacrifice writing for a few weeks but the results were worth it. I'm going to be off in India for a good while during the winter break but I'll try to get some writing in to make up for all of my long absences. I won't be giving up this story for a long while.

I'm kind of surprised at the number of death threats Daichi received in all of the reviews. I thought for sure that they would be directed towards me. Ah well, he deserves it, for now. No worries, things will be remedied.

DragonFire Princess: You don't need to worry. It may be a little more difficult for me to update as much as I would like but I'm going to sticking to this story no matter what. I have too much fun with it to just let it go.

LovePsycho: You can have Daichi, if you like. I'm half tempted to see what everybody would like to see happen to him during the Chuunin Exam finals. It would be amusing, ne?

Disclaimer: I'm tired of this drill… I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 31: Investigations

"What did you do?" the Shinigami confronted Fate as they observed the break-up scene.

"I evened the score," the goddess answered, a cruel smile on her face. "If you want father and son to be together, fine, but he can't have his lover at the same time."

"That's bullshit, and you know that. His father is his strength and the Nara is his love. He needs both!" the Shinigami argued.

"Tough luck… he had to choose and he chose strength over love. There's nothing that you can do about it," Fate simply responded.

The Shinigami could only growl in frustration. 'Just you wait, Fate, you'll face the consequences of messing with Destiny,' he thought.

"So how did the date go?" Ino asked Naruto brightly the next day, only to frown in confusion when Naruto didn't give her any response. She shot Minato a curious look but he looked as clueless as she did, albeit he appeared more worried than confused.

That, in itself, alerted Ino that something had gone terribly wrong in the time that Naruto had been away from them. The fact that Minato didn't seem to know what was going on was another cause for concern. Naruto told the Yondaime Hokage everything.

"What happened, Naruto?" she asked with a much more sober tone.

"Nothing to concern yourself with," Naruto responded emotionlessly, focusing on studying seals.

"Of course I'm going to be concerned!" Ino argued. "You're not acting like yourself. Something is bothering you!"

"I can deal with it myself. You don't need to get involved," Naruto responded simply, silently pleading with Ino to drop the subject. It almost felt like she was rubbing salt in a fresh wound by bringing extra attention to the source of his pain.

He had tried to act like nothing was wrong but he couldn't manage it, not this time. His ability to put his happy façade on had been worn out during the time of his father's absence during the first part of the Chuunin Exams.

Now, he just wanted to handle the situation the only way he knew how: by himself.

Seeing that he wasn't going to tell her anything and that she couldn't approach Minato with Naruto in this state, Ino quickly retreated, deciding to find her information from another source: Kyuubi.

'What happened?' she asked the Bijuu mentally.

'I'm not too sure, Naruto blocked both of us out for a bit, but I know it has something to do with Daichi's visit last night… why else would Naruto break up with Shikamaru?' Kyuubi responded.

Ino's eyes widened. That had been the last thing she had expected to happen. 'They broke up? But why? Naruto really cares for Shikamaru… there's no way he would just break things off for no reason,' the blonde female frowned.

'That's exactly what I think. Minato has been trying to get an answer from Naruto this entire time but the boy definitely inherited his mother's stubborn nature. He won't say anything. Daichi has to have said or done something to lead up to this. I have never felt such conflicted emotions coursing through Naruto before. He's never pushed us away either. Not like this, anyways,' Kyuubi remarked, not sounding pleased.

'Maybe he believes this is something he needs to deal with himself,' Ino mused.

'He shouldn't have to,' the fox demon answered, worried for her kit.

"What happened? You two were doing so well yesterday! Now you're doing worse than you were in the beginning!" Jiraiya had been forced to stop teaching Gaara Taijutsu when noticed Naruto and Minato's constant failures when it came to synchronization.

Both blondes merely averted their eyes in opposite directions. Jiraiya frowned.

"Are you two fighting again? You know that is what led to your problems in the beginning of the Chuunin Exams, right?" the Sannin commented.

"We're not fighting," Minato was quick to say as Naruto didn't seem inclined to answer.

"Then what's the problem? You're completely out of synch!" Jiraiya exclaimed.

"I wish there was something I could tell you, Sensei," Minato answered. He couldn't explain anything because he didn't understand what was going on either.

Jiraiya sighed in frustration. Something told him that he wouldn't get anywhere by pushing the situation.

He knelt before Naruto, placing a hand on his head. "I don't know what's eating you, kid, and I can't force you to tell me – not in good conscience, anyways – but I just want you to know… I'm here if you need me."

Naruto again didn't say anything but the grateful look on his face was all that Jiraiya needed.

He ruffled the boy's hair. "Take a break for the day. Sort things out with your father. It doesn't look like you're in the right state for training today. Your heart isn't in it," he instructed.

Naruto looked like he wanted to protest but he realized the truth in Jiraiya's words. He had no other choice but to agree.

When Naruto left, Jiraiya turned to Ino and Gaara. "There's been a change in our plans. I have a mission for the two of you. I want you to discover what happened last night to put Naruto in this state. Report back to me afterward so that we can try to remedy the situation," he ordered.

"Hai!" the two Genin acquiesced, eager to discover the truth and help their friend be happy again.

Once they left, Jiraiya made his own decision. It was time to meet Shikamaru.

Asuma and Chouji watched Shikamaru train in concern. The lazy genius wasn't acting much like himself at all.

Chouji had tried to get Shikamaru to talk to them but had failed. Shikamaru remained stubbornly silent.

"He's acting like his heart was ripped out of his chest," Asuma commented, recognizing the heartbroken look on Shikamaru's face.

"Do you think things went badly last night?" Chouji pondered.

"What else could have happened?" Asuma rationalized. "Although I don't understand how it could have gone bad. those two are so enamored with each other, they could have done the most boring thing in the world during their date and still be happy. What could have gone wrong?"

"That's what I intend to find out," a voice stated from behind them and the two onlookers saw Jiraiya approaching them.

Asuma cursed Jiraiya's timing. This was the worst time for Jiraiya to come for his interrogation.

"Can't you do this another time, Jiraiya-sama? This isn't a good time," Asuma tried to delay the inevitable.

"I'm afraid not, Asuma… this happens now," the white-haired shinobi declared resolutely. Asuma sighed. He'd tried…

"There's no point to holding this conversation," Shikamaru's voice broke through the silence, turning all attention on him.

"What do you mean by that, boy?" Jiraiya frowned, eyes narrowing.

"You don't need to test me anymore… Naruto broke up with me. There's no reason for this anymore…" Shikamaru said gruffly, shocking the lot of them.

"But that doesn't make any sense. Naruto showed no indication of wanting to break things off with you. He was happy!" Jiraiya tried to understand the situation.

"Well something clearly changed," Shikamaru snorted. "He says we're too different and that he doesn't want to be with me."

"And you believed him?" Chouji declared. "Naruto wears his heart on his sleeve. He really cared for you. He was happy to be with you."

"The honeymoon phase is over," Shikamaru replied simply. "Things change."

"So you're giving up, just like that?" Jiraiya asked, sounding displeased. "I thought the one Naruto chose for himself would be better than that."

"Sorry to disappoint you," Shikamaru snapped before stalking off. As he did so, nobody saw the calculating look in his eyes as he started trying to reason out the previous night's occurrence on his own. He would figure out what had coerced Naruto to make such a decision. He wouldn't accept things the way they were now.

Chouji could see that his friend was only lashing out due to his hurt. When that dimmed, he would seek out the answers behind Naruto's sudden decision with a vengeance. He told the Sannin as much.

"We'll have to see about that," Jiraiya said. "For now, it's time to seek the truth about what happened."

"Are you going to talk to me?" Minato asked Naruto from where they were perched in front of the Shinobi Academy. Naruto was sitting on the swing he used to play on and Minato was pushing him in an absent minded manner.

When Naruto didn't respond, Minato tried another tactic.

"Do you remember how things were, back when you first entered the Academy? You loved this swing. You would come here every day without fail. It was here that you made your first friends."

Naruto's eyes sparked with life as the memory came back to him.

(Flashback****)

Six-year old Naruto sat on the swing, observing all of the children playing together with envy. He wanted to play with them too…

"Then why don't you?" Minato asked as he materialized behind the boy, starting to push him gently as had become their routine.

"You've seen what happens. Their parents got mad at them and no one talks to me anymore," Naruto pouted, not noticing the sad look on his companion's face.

"I'm sorry," the spirit apologized.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," Naruto answered, causing Minato to flinch with guilt.

"Still… I'm sorry. No child should be alone," Minato stated.

"But I'm not alone… I have you, Ten-chan," Naruto said brightly.

"Who's Ten-chan?" a voice rang out. Naruto and Minato looked to see two boys, easily recognizable as a Nara and an Akimichi, standing in front of the swing, staring at the blonde.

"A friend," Naruto answered, not able to say 'nobody.' He felt that would be an insult to his angel.

"But nobody's here," the chubby boy frowned, scanning the area for the person Naruto was talking to. The young Jinchuuriki felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment.

"It's okay to have an imaginary friend if you're lonely," the Nara stated. "But you don't need to be lonely anymore."

"What do you mean?" Naruto frowned in confusion, wondering what the other kid was talking about.

"You don't need to be alone anymore. We'll be your friends," the spiky ponytail-wearing pre-Genin told Naruto, gesturing to himself and Chouji.

"Won't your parents not like that?" Naruto wondered. Any kid who used to show interest in him avoided him now after being scolded by their parents.

The two boys looked at each other and then back at their watchful fathers.

"Why do you think they wouldn't let us play with you?" the Akimichi inquired.

"All of the other parents take their kids away when they see their kids with me," Naruto answered in a surly manner.

"Our parents don't seem to mind so much," the Nara drawled. "In fact, they insisted we come meet you."

"Does that mean you're here only because you were told to?" Naruto asked, sounding a little hurt.

The brunette in front of him only sighed in annoyance. "Troublesome blonde. I wouldn't be here if that was the case. I don't do anything just because I was told to. I do it because I want to. It's too troublesome, otherwise. Chouji is the same way."

'He's just like his father,' Minato mused, glancing over at Shikaku. He felt grateful that his old friend had complied with his wishes for Naruto to be seen as a hero and not as Kyuubi.

"So you really want to be friends?" Naruto realized, finally letting himself feel hopeful.

"Didn't I already say so? Of course I want to be friends!" the exasperated Nara replied and Chouji nodded sweetly.

Beaming, Naruto tackled the two down with a delighted laugh, earning a groan from Shikamaru and an amused snicker from Chouji.

When Naruto got off them, he gave them a brilliant smile. "Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome," Chouji answered while Shikamaru merely flushed in the background silently, wondering why the blonde's smile made his stomach squirm in interesting ways.

It was around then that Naruto remembered Minato. Feeling guilty for having so quickly forgotten his first friend, he glanced over at him for approval.

Smiling encouragingly, Minato simply nodded. "Have fun," he smiled and Naruto nodded happily.

"What did Ten-chan say?" Shikamaru asked, humoring what he thought was a conversation with a figment of Naruto's imagination. Nevertheless, Naruto appreciated the gesture.

"He said 'have fun'," he said happily and they went off to play.

(End Flashback****)

Naruto's eyes had turned misty at remembering how he had come to be friends with Shikamaru and Chouji. It was fond memory… but at the moment, it only hurt him.

Minato floundered as he saw Naruto's grief threaten to overcome him again.

He wrapped his arms around his son. "Please tell me what happened, Naruto," he pleaded. He hated to see the boy like this. "Why did you break up with Shikamaru?"

"I thought you would be happy. You didn't want us to be together in the first place," Naruto remarked.

"I was just being overprotective… you've always been mine, you know? I didn't think I would have to share you so soon," Minato declared. "I have nothing against Shikamaru. I just didn't want to let you go… I was selfish and I'm sorry."

"Don't be… you're not the one who made me break up with him," Naruto sniffed and Minato's gaze sharpened.

"You were forced to break things off…" Minato's suspicions were conformed. "What is Daichi holding against you?"

"The revelation of my heritage and Jinchuuriki status in addition to killing Shikamaru," Naruto admitted. "I can't let that happen."

"Oh, Naruto… you know we won't let that happen," Minato stated in sympathy. "We could stop Daichi easily. You didn't need to comply with his desires."

"I know that," Naruto admitted. "But he opened my eyes. As long as Shikamaru is with me, our enemies will use him to get to me. I can't put him danger, knowing that."

"Don't you think Shikamaru has a right to make that choice for himself?" Minato rationalized.

"It's too late, now," Naruto responded.

"It's never too late," Minato answered. "Not if he cares for you as much as I believe he does."

An unseen wave of chakra pulsed between them as father and son bonded together more deeply on an emotional and mental level, bringing their chances of synchronization up to a much more favorable level.

"What do you want?" Daichi asked Ino and Gaara, when they approached him.

"What did you do to Naruto?" Ino demanded right off the bat, glaring at him viciously.

"Who said I did anything?" Daichi drawled with a shrug.

"Don't play innocent with us, you bastard. I know you went to see him last night!" Ino exclaimed.

"How do you know that?" the Iwa nin countered. "Surely Naruto didn't tell you anything."

"He didn't," Ino admitted. "But who other than you could hate Naruto so much as to make him do something that would make him so utterly miserable!" It was a weak argument but Ino couldn't really share her own connection to Kyuubi, who was her source.

Daichi snorted. "There are many people out there that seek to make Naruto miserable for simply being born," he declared with conviction.

"That may be true," Gaara agreed gravely, sharing the same fate as Naruto as both a Jinchuuriki and a Kage's son. "Nevertheless, you're the one threat that is here now. You are the most logical choice. You've made it no secret that you wish to destroy Naruto in any way that you can."

Daichi rolled his eyes. "I don't honestly see why you two care so much. At the beginning of the Chuunin Exams, neither of you cared that much about the blonde in the first place. You became his best friends overnight. What's so special about him that you bound yourselves to him so completely?"

"Something tells me you've already seen it," Gaara answered. "Your blind hatred merely keeps you from succumbing to it."

"It's not blind!" Daichi defended his reasons for disliking Naruto.

"Naruto hasn't done anything to warrant your anger," Ino commented. "He can't help who he was born to."

Daichi didn't grace that with a response.

"You could have chosen several ways to enact your 'revenge' on Naruto, more honorable ways. Going after his heart is cowardly," Gaara announced.

Daichi glared. "I don't just want to kill Naruto… I want to break him. I'll do anything to do that, even force him to break up with that pathetic boyfriend of his," he said coldly.

"…What?" the two heard someone say and they looked to see a shocked Shikamaru standing there.

Anger quickly filled the Nara's eyes. "I should have known that you were the reason Naruto broke things off," he scowled. A part of him had always known but the sting of Naruto's cold words had affected him more than he thought it would.

"So what if I was?" Daichi sneered. "Will you kick my ass?"

"I'll do more than that," Shikamaru promised, fire burning in his eyes.

Daichi smirked. "I'll look forward to our fight," he stated before walking off.

Shikamaru turned and started to leave as well.

"Where are you going?" Ino called out to her teammate.

"I'm going to train," Shikamaru answered. "I'll prove to Naruto that we can be together. Regardless of what obstacle comes our way."

Ino smiled. She was glad that Shikamaru was going to fight against Daichi's interference. "Good luck," she called out.

"Thanks," he responded as he planned to seek out his father. He had an entirely new reason to fight and he aimed to win.

Jiraiya glanced up as he saw Ino and Gaara approach him at the Training Grounds. "So what did you find out?" he asked them calmly.

"Tanaka Daichi, the Iwa nin we talked about before, is responsible for Naruto's current situation. He blackmailed Naruto somehow to get him to break up with Shikamaru, knowing how much it would hurt him to do so," Ino told Jiraiya.

The Sannin sighed tiredly. Would the hatred never end? "I was afraid it would be something like that," he murmured. "Whatever that boy told Naruto, it has got to have been something major if Naruto gave in."

"What should we do?" Gaara wondered.

"Be there for Naruto. This is a challenge he'll have to overcome one way or another. Show him that he doesn't need to do that alone. You're his teammates, aren't you?" Jiraiya commented.

Ino and Gaara nodded. They would help Naruto in any way they could. They stared curiously as their sensei started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Ino inquired.

"There is somebody I need to talk to," Jiraiya told them. "You're free for the rest of the day. How about you go hang out with your other friends?"

"I don't have any…" Gaara whispered sadly before blinking in surprise as Ino took his hand.

"What are you talking about, Gaara? You have your siblings, Naruto, Namikaze-sama, Jiraiya-sensei and I," Ino pointed out. "Now come on… I'll introduce you to my friends!"

Gaara could do nothing more than let Ino drag him off.

Jin smirked as he bid Iruka farewell. Their 'friendship' was progressing quite nicely. With Kakashi busy training Sasuke and Naruto caught up with his own problems, Iruka was left nice and vulnerable to the Iwa nin's plans.

He was about to walk away when he came face to face with a stormy looking Sannin.

"Ah, what a pleasant surprise. What could a lowly Jounin like I do for a Sannin?" Jin drawled, giving Jiraiya a mocking bow.

"Don't test me, Kyougyoku. I'm in no mood for your nonsense," Jiraiya scowled.

"Such hostility… what have I ever done to you?" Jin feigned innocence.

Eyes darkening as his minimal patience began to wear thin, Jiraiya grabbed Jin by the collar and lifted him up. "You will stop trying to mess with my godson, or so help me, I'll make you," Jiraiya growled.

"I haven't done anything to your godson," Jin stated. "I've kept clear of him, I can promise you that."

"That doesn't mean that you haven't been responsible for the torment he's been going through at the hands of your student. Don't think for a second that I don't know the truth about Tanaka Daichi and what happened to his father…" Jiraiya stated.

"It seems like you've done your research," Jin drawled, a malevolent gleam appearing in his eyes. "But that still doesn't prove anything about me and the cursed Namikaze child. I have had nothing to do with him, I can assure you that. You have no proof and you won't find Daichi to be so forthcoming if you choose to interrogate him about any of his actions."

"…We'll see about that," Jiraiya retorted, releasing Jin. "If you try anything more against my family, I will kill you."

Jin just smirked and walked away, knowing that without the right proof, Jiraiya couldn't do anything to him.