Once he was inside Minato gazed around the small room he was in and he frowned, it was very messy and plain. He saw a tiny figure laying down on a small bed, a thin blanket laid over him.

His heart fluttered. "Naruto" He whispered, smiling as he walked closer to the boy and almost cooed at the sight of him, his blonde locks were covering his eyes and the whisker marks on his cheeks made him look so adorable.

Minato carefully neared the bed, his smile instantly vanishing once he saw tear stains on the boy's cheeks.

Who made him cry?

He watched as a frown settled on Naruto's beautiful face and the boy let out a pained whimper in his sleep.

He was having a nightmare.

Minato's heart clenched painfully at the sound of the whimper. He quickly took the Henge off before shaking his son gently to wake him.

Naruto was running toward his house, a wide grin on his face. He had just got out of school, he was hungry and his mother almost always made his favorite food after school. His stomach rumbled at the thought of food and his mouth watered. He couldn't wait to get home.

As he got to their front door he pulled the house key from his pocket and opened the door.

"I'm home!" He announced, grinning happily as he smelled the delicious food, he ran to the kitchen and saw his parents sitting at the table, already waiting for him.

"Hey Naruto. Good timing" His dad winked at him and motioned toward the food. His mom looked up from the table and smiled lovingly at him.

"I made your favorite, Naruto."

Naruto laughed and just as he was about to sit down on the table with his parents, everything disappeared. He blinked and when he opened his eyes again, he was at the village streets, the civilians surrounded him. They were glaring at him, eyes cold.

"Get away from here, you brat!"

"Get lost!"

"Demon!"

"Nuisance!"

Naruto covered his ears with his hands in a feeble attempt to block out the shouts from everyone. He started sobbing in the middle of the street, fat, heavy tears streamed down his face as he begged for them to stop shouting at him.

"Naruto." There was a gentle whisper but it got drowned amongst the shouts, the boy couldn't hear it.

"Naruto." Again.

"Naruto."

"Naruto!" Someone shouted and Naruto gasped.

Naruto's eyes flew open and he shot up on his bed, his hands were clutching the thin blanket so hard that his knuckles turned white and he was breathing heavily.

"Naruto" He heard a gentle whisper, his head turned toward the sound so fast that he felt dizzy and screamed when he saw a blonde haired man standing near his bed.

"W-Who are you, what are you doing in my apartment?!" He tried to sound threatening but it came out as a whimper. The stranger held his hands up in a placating manner as he tried to come closer but Naruto stopped him with a shout,

"Stop! Please l-leave me alone, I haven't done anything wrong" Minato heard the boy plead, he was looking up at him eyes wide with fear. Minato's throat tightened and he held back tears as he saw the boy's expression.

"Naruto.." His voice came out small, broken. Minato couldn't comprehend what was happening, Naruto- his son was living alone in a small crappy, messy apartment, all alone, having a nightmare and was looking up at him, eyes full of fear, like Minato was going to strike him.

His son. He looked so small. His shaggy blond hair looked exactly like Minato's, and his beautiful blue eyes were so similar to his. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around the boy, but he didn't want to scare him even further.

Minato felt his heart break. Where was Jiraya, where was Kakashi, where was the boy's caretaker? Why was Naruto living all alone in this small apartment, looking broken and miserable.

Why was his son living alone?

Minato kneeled so that he was at the same level as Naruto and tried his best to smile as he spoke,

"Naruto do you live here alone?" He asked, making sure to keep his voice low, as to not to scare the boy.

Naruto didn't answer for a moment and instead looked at Minato in disbelief. Why was this strange man talking and looking at him so.. gently? He took a better look at the man and noticed that he had long blonde hair the same shade of blonde as his, his kind eyes were blue, the same blue as his own. The man looked really familiar and for some reason Naruto felt safe in the presence of this person which was crazy since this man- this stranger broke into his house.

"Y-Yeah" He finally answered, head lowered and voice quiet. That one word felt like a stab to Minato, tearing on the inside. He couldn't stand it anymore, he swooped down and enveloped Naruto in a tight hug. He felt Naruto tense and freeze in his arms like he was scared of him and It hurt Minato. Seeing his son like this- scared and alone was so painful.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I'm so sorry." Minato spoke, his voice cracking as he held his son in his arms for the first time since he was a baby.

Naruto was shocked- no, shocked was an understatement, he was flabbergasted. This was the first time anyone's ever hugged him like this. At first he froze and his muscles tensed but as he felt the man's warm, comforting embrace he relaxed and leaned into him subconsciously.

He was so confused, who was this man and why was he treating him so kindly, He felt really confused, but he still didn't want to pull away from the warm embrace, this was the first time he has ever been hugged and it felt really good, was this how it felt like to receive a hug from someone.

Minato pulled back from the embrace to look at Naruto more closely. Naruto peeked at him through the blonde locks covering his big blue eyes.

"You look so much like me. Who are you and why are you so nice to me. I don't understand" Naruto mumbled, his voice so low Minato barely heard him.

"Why do you care?" He continued, looking up at Minato, eyes wide.

"I care because you are my son, Naruto." He said, voice firm yet kind.

Naruto's head snapped up and he took a step back in shock. "How do you know my name?"

"I know your name, because I named you" Minato explained, smiling gently. He was really nervous but he managed to mask his nerves with a smile.

Naruto stood frozen in place and was staring at Minato, mouth dropped open.

"You're my dad?" He exclaimed in shock and awe as he took a closer look at Minato, his eyes going up and down the man's form.

Minato nodded and was looking at him with a soft gaze.

"B-But how?! You're supposed to be dead, old man Hokage said you died!" Naruto shook his head rapidly. "I thought you were gone!" Naruto screamed and took more steps back until his back hit the wall of his room.

Minato sighed and ran a hand through his long floppy hair. "I'm not sure what happened exactly, I-I thought I had died too but somehow I managed to survive. I was unconsious for several years and I just recently regained conciousness." He paused, eyebrows furrowed. It was all really confusing. How could he explain it to Naruto, when he himself didn't completely understand what was going on. He quickly shook his head once he realized that he got lost into his thoughts and had been quiet for too long, Naruto was staring at him wide-eyed.

He cleared his throat and continued, "I don't know exactly what happened but It doesn't matter." He stood up and walked closer to Naruto. "I'm here now, and I'm so happy to see you again Naruto. You have grown so much, you don't remember, but I held you in my arms when you were born." He smiled sadly. "You were so small then compared to now, Naruto, but I love you just as much as I did back then and I want to be there for you now and get to know you, if you would allow me" Minato finished. He was looking at Naruto hopefully and held his breath as he waited for his answer.

Naruto stared at Minato, eyes watering. "R-Really? You love m-me?" he stuttered, lips trembling.

"Of course I do Naruto - you are my son." Minato confirmed, voice soothing and eyes crinkled in a smile.

As soon as Minato finished, Naruto threw himself at him and wrapped his small arms around him.

"Dad! Why does everyone hate me, Why am I so different from everyone else?!" Naruto screamed and buried his face in Minato's vest. He was gripping Minato's cloak tightly, violent sobs racking his body.

Minato tightened his arms around the boy when he felt Naruto's small body shaking in his arms. Guilt and heartache tightened his chest to the point that it became hard to breathe. He whispered comforting words to the boy's ear and rocked him back and forth gently to calm him down.

He needed to tell Naruto everything. The boy deserved to know, especially after everything he's been through.

Minato opened his mouth but before he could say or do anything he felt Naruto's body go limp in his arms. He panicked for a second until he heard Naruto's even breathing. He let out a breath, a smile tugging at his lips when he saw the serene expression on the boy's face. He was so adorable. Minato couldn't understand how anyone could ever hate this kid.

He ran a hand through Naruto's shaggy hair in a soothing manner, before getting up to carry him to his bed. He placed him down gently and tucked him in.

Once he was done he was about to get up and leave to announce his return to the Hokage, when Naruto's hand shot out from under the covers and gripped his cloak tightly. "Stay, please." he pleaded.

So Minato did, because how could he ever say no to this kid.

He ruffled Naruto's hair and kissed his forehead. "I will. I promise." He whispered, sitting down on Naruto's bed and holding his hand.