9A/N: Umm… I was playing Naruto Ultimate Ninja 3 with Minato (in the game he's called The Yellow Flash) and Naruto, and this came to mind. There are hints of NaruSaku, so if you dislike the pairing but love father/son moments, I suggest you grin and bear it and keep your objections to yourself.
Naruto went to his normal training ground one beautiful morning in Konoha. He had just failed yet again to bring his brother back to his home and was currently frustrated.
Why wouldn't Sasuke come back? Did he even care about his friends anymore? His brother was now dead, but he still stayed and joined with the Akatsuki. He just didn't make any sense.
And if that weren't enough, he just found out that his sensei Jiraiya died at the hands of the Akatsuki leader. Normally he would pin up a mask, but all of this at once was just too much for one person to bear. This couldn't equal up with his childhood of beatings and scorn; no, this was far worse.
Once he was at the training ground, he fired up a Rasengan and blasted a tree into splinters. He kept repeating the same motion for about two hours and leaned against a tree he hadn't yet blown to pieces. And that's when he broke down.
Tears spilled out of his sapphire eyes and he punched the ground in frustration and sorrow. Why him? What did he do to deserve a life where no matter how great things may seem, they always turned upside down? Why didn't the poor boy deserve parents?
As he let his thoughts take over, his tears continued to overflow like tiny waterfalls. He was slowly losing his family, the family he had worked so hard to gain. He never got to meet one family, and he was now losing another, and he couldn't stop it. Was he just too weak?
He looked up when someone called his name. The owner of the voice was a man with blond hair and big sapphire eyes just like his own. He was wearing a regular jonin outfit, and if Naruto wasn't in the right mind, he would've thought he was staring into the future.
"W-who are you?" Naruto asked in such a small voice that it was not becoming of his normal behavior. He knew he had seen this man's face before, but where?
The man bent down to see the boy eye to eye. "Don't tell me they still haven't told you," he said.
"Told me what?" the boy asked, clearly confused.
The man sighed. "So I guess they haven't. I see you've been training," he said as he took in his surroundings. The training area now had several trees blown to pieces thanks to Naruto's Rasengan.
"Wait wait wait," Naruto said quickly, "who exactly are you?"
"I'm your father, the Yondaime Hokage," the man stated simply.
Naruto's eyes widened and his tanned skin went ghostly pale. If what this man just stated were true, then how was he here? He was supposed to be dead.
"H-How are you here? Aren't you dead? And why did you seal the Kyuubi in your own son?" The questions just started spilling from his mouth.
"Calm down, Naruto," he said soothingly and laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "I thought you deserved to see me at least once in your life, so the…er…higher ups let me see you. I sealed the Kyuubi inside you not only because it didn't feel right to burden someone else's family, but I knew you would be strong enough to handle that burden. I told the villagers to honor you as a hero and not scorn you as a monster, and they obviously didn't listen. Am I right?"
"H-hai," Naruto said and found the ground so interesting all of a sudden. Shouldn't he be excited that his father was the legendary Fourth Hokage?
"You probably hate me for doing that to you and putting you through all of that, but I wanna know something. Would you have done the same if you were in my place if it were to protect the village?"
Naruto was taken aback by his father's question. He really needed to think about this one. If he was Hokage, and it was his duty to his village to protect it, would he seal the Kyuubi in a human being at the expense of his life?
Of course he would.
He faced his father and nodded solemnly. "I would've done the same thing."
"That's what I thought," his father said with his own signature grin. Naruto grinned back.
After a few minute's silence, Naruto's voice filled the air. "How long will you be here?" he asked.
"I've got at least an hour left," he said, "which is just enough time to see how strong you've gotten." He stood up and stuck out his hand to help Naruto up. He gratefully took it and pulled himself up.
Naruto saw his father walking backwards slowly with a smirk on his face. Once he was a certain distance, Naruto saw a small ball of blue charka forming in his dad's hand. He smirked as well.
'I never thought I would ever fight my own father... the Yondaime…'
After their battle was over, it was time to say their goodbyes. Naruto went over to his father and hugged him, surprising him in the process. After hesitating for a few seconds, he hugged his son back with a smile.
"Goodbye, Naruto," he said with a small smile.
"Bye, Dad," Naruto replied with a sad smile of his own, tears welling up in his eyes.
"You'll make a great Hokage one day," was all Naruto heard as he slowly faded away.
Naruto slowly and tiredly walked back to his empty apartment. Today had been a great day. He got to meet his father, and discover that he was the fourth Hokage and that he had great faith in him. But then he realized something.
'I never found out his name! Dammit!' he thought as he slowly began to quicken his pace until it was an all out run.
As soon as he got into his apartment, he saw a few things lying on the table. Raising one eyebrow, he picked up the piece of paper laying there.
Naruto,
My dream for you was to see you grow up into a great ninja, and it thrills me to see my dream for you to be realized. You are a great ninja, and you will definitely go far.
I regret that I didn't get to see you grow up first hand and that I couldn't save you from your hardships. But it turns out they've had a positive effect on you. You never give up, you almost always have a smile on your face, and you care deeply for others. Kushina and I couldn't have asked for a better son.
I'm very proud of you and your accomplishments. But there's one thing you must do, and I know it'll be hard on you. But please, give up on Sasuke. He's just like Orochimaru, just as you are just like Jiraiya (aside from his pervertedness, thankfully). All he will bring you is pain, so cherish the memories you've had with him in your genin days.
I see that I've left you in very good hands, even if one of your mentors has died. Jiraiya-sensei was actually the one who helped your mother and I name you. He was your god-father, after all.
Continue to grow and prosper and I know that one day soon, you'll even surpass me and become a great Hokage.
Your father,
Minato Namikaze
Naruto held back the tears that threatened to flow. His father was proud of him, but wanted him to give up on bringing Sasuke back. If he knew that much, he would know that it was a promise made to Sakura. Should he go through with it?
He decided to put that in the back of his mind for now, and picked up something wrapped in a white cloak with red flames at the bottom. Inside was a three-tipped kunai knife, and the cloak used to wrap it was Minato's signature cloak. He put on the cloak with a proud smile.
He decided he would tell Sakura the news, so he then headed to the hospital.
"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran towards the pink haired kunoichi.
She turned around and forced a smile. "Naruto, what are you doing here?" she asked in a sickenly sweet voice.
"I got big news!" he said like a child.
Sakura went up and growled in his ear, "Well can it wait until I'm done with work? Or at least until my lunch break?"
"Fine, Sakura-chan," he said, "You know where to find me." And with that, he was gone.
Naruto went up to the Hokage Mountain and sat atop Minato's stone head. He finally understood what had originally drawn him to sit on this particular spot to think or just relax.
He looked over the village, his home, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He always loved this village no matter what. Even when he was being beaten by villagers as a child, he couldn't help but want to protect and be noticed by them. And that's what spawned his dream to be Hokage.
He couldn't believe his father, the Fourth himself, thought he would make a great Hokage. The simple statement he said boosted his confidence level more so than it already was.
He was brought out of his thoughts by a certain rosette's voice. "Naruto, what'd you want to tell me?"
He turned around and gestured for her to sit next to him, and she gracefully accepted the invitation. "I met my father today," he said as he looked out over the horizon.
Sakura became ecstatic. "Really?! Naruto, that's great! So he's still alive? Why hasn't he said anything until now?"
This caused Naruto to sigh. "No, Sakura-chan, he's not alive. He was the Yondaime Hokage…"
Sakura nearly fell over in shock. "Are you serious? Then how did he—"
"He said something about me deserving to see him at least once in my life. I'm wearing his cloak right now," he said and that's when Sakura noticed it. She touched it in awe as if it would suddenly disappear into thin air. Then Naruto continued, "He even left me his special kunai and a note."
"Can I see the note?" Sakura asked. Naruto handed it to her wordlessly and her eyes widened as she read it. "H-he seriously wants you to give up on Sasuke? Doesn't he know you never give up?"
"Yeah, he does," then he turned to face her, "but he's my dad and he obviously knows what's best for me. But the only way I'll give up is if…is if you're okay with it."
"Why does my opinion matter?"
"Because…" his voice trailed as he looked back over the village again, "it was a promise to you, and you know I never go back on my word."
'He does so much for me… Naruto…'
"It's alright," she said with a sincere smile, "I've been thinking about it lately, and I've realized something. He's already killed his brother, and he didn't come back. So, what if, just maybe he doesn't want to come back?"
She had a point. If Sasuke wanted to come back, he would've after he killed Itachi. And yet, he wasn't here. He turned to her again. "So…you're okay with it?"
"Yeah. I'm one hundred percent positive. I can live without him; I mean, I have for two and a half years, right?"
Naruto chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"
Sakura then leaned her head on his shoulder. 'And I definitely know something else Naruto… while I can live without Sasuke, I know I can't live without you.'
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed it. Again, only slight NaruSaku…be glad I didn't put an all out make out scene in there. P: I just love that pairing so I made sure I tied them in there somewhere.
Anyway, please review! I love feedback!
By the way, don't you think if Minato went to heaven, he would know what was going on? So yeah, don't ask about that. :3 And from now on I'll be submitting one-shots here that are Naruto related, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Until next time!