Hey. I have no self control. Sorry.

This fic I've been working on for a couple years. I think it kicks ass. I had multiple betas looking over the starting chapters, so here we go

Ika-Sophie, Bonecrestdragon, Halcyon Efflorescence, Renoa-hime, and ink . ception - THANK YOU!

That's how serious I am about this fic.

BTW. I update weekly.

Here we are.

Chapter 1: The Seal

The blond he held wiggled furiously within his grasp and the snake-sannin turned towards him with an interested gleam in his eyes. Those features were so similar, it made him nauseous. He shivered unpleasantly and a wicked smile of delight spread over his face. He would relish every moment of this. Ruining that man's precious son would be a wonderful treat on his stop through Konoha. Amusingly enough, whatever he might do would probably be kinder than what the aforementioned man had done by generously throwing his own flesh and blood to the carnivorous wolves within the village of Konoha.

The fact that the blasted blond had already practically cursed his son to a miserable fate almost made Orochimaru ignore the container and move on to the main course. There would be time for the jinchuuriki later. Ah, but alas, it was the damn blond hair and blue eyes that would not let him part without leaving a little gift with the boy. After all, he didn't want to be second to the blond man in any way— ruining his son's life included.

Clearly Minato had set the bar very high.

Orochimaru grinned and gathered his chakra into small dancing characters on the tips of his fingers. Surely the beloved Fourth wouldn't mind if he fiddled around with his seal, would he? He pushed his entire weight into a sole, five-fingered strike. A tight gasp of air escaped bruised lungs in a single painful exhale. The body under duress crumpled forward, boneless and blessedly unconscious. From above, the cruel man gave a lick of the lips. His work was nearly done. Only one last loose end to tie up. Mmm, so many people were receiving presents of all kinds from the ever so magnanimous Orochimaru-sama.

When he spied the furious and heated glares he was under, the snake-sannin could only sigh. This younger generation had no sense of appreciation. Soon they would see— most particularly, soon Sasuke would see. That beautiful thought brought a smile to the gold-eyed man's face once more.

"I will be back for you one day." His creepy laugh sent chills running over everyone's spines. "However, at the moment, I have more pressing matters to deal with." Without another word, Orochimaru let the form slip from his grip and free-fall to the earth, gathering fatal speed as it fell. A kunai halted the blond's descent to the afterlife.

Slowly, the golden gaze flickered back to his ultimate prize.

A twisted smile filled his face and he licked his lips as he felt the burning force of those red eyes.

Yes, he was ravenous for the main course and it was far overdue.

". . . –shina- . . . –orgive m- . . . Shiki Fuuin—"

The muted throbbing of his head is what woke the blond from his slumber. For a few moments he stared blearily at the brown interior of the cave. The smell of fresh grass and the oppressively hot, muggy air, assaulted his senses, leaving him bewildered. For a moment, the blond was confused as to why he was bewildered by this information. After a seemingly immeasurable amount of time of blankly staring at the ceiling, his mind slowly returned, and the impossible implications of his situation finally sunk in.

"Naruto!"

His head twitched to the side and he sat up slowly. Light green eyes bubbling with tears met his own cerulean ones, and before he knew it he was embraced.

"Naruto, I'm so scared!" She blubbered, "S-Sasuke-kun got hit by the snake guy and h-he hasn't woken up, a-and I don't know what to do! I tried to make sure you two were safe but Sasuke-kun hasn't woken up and what'll we do if someone attacks and they h-hurt him? What'll we do?" Sakura repeated herself unintelligibly as her crying almost reached hysterical heights. She'd kept together as best as she could. Now that Naruto was awake though, a huge part of her burden had fallen from her shoulders and the pent up emotions were finally flooding out in her great relief.

Surprisingly, Naruto hadn't hugged her back like she'd expected, instead he lay somewhat unresponsively in her arms. A waver of guilt filled her eyes. "He must really be hurt."

"Are you alright Naruto?" she asked as she finally pulled back from her hug. The look in his eyes was dazed and he was surveying the surrounding area with such intensity it was as though he'd never seen anything like it before. It was disconcerting to say the least. By far, however, the most unnerving thing was his lack of volume.

"Naruto?" Sakura hesitantly tried to get his attention. Fear that the enemy put him under a genjutsu or that he had sustained head-trauma began to build up in her heart. Finally those blue eyes landed on her. She was taken slightly aback. There was something strange. Certainly those were his eyes. Only Naruto possessed those deep blue eyes. Even the Yamanaka's pale, baby-blue shade paled in comparison to the deep royal blue her blond teammate possessed. Despite the singularity of the feature, somehow she had the strangest notion that they weren't Naruto's.

She shook her head to rid herself of the silly idea. The forest had made her paranoid. Sakura was startled as he slowly stood while she was still deep in thought. He walked slowly to their other teammate, and the feeling of distrust welled up again.

"H-hey, what're you doing?" She moved to stand in the way of Naruto and her crush. Before she could make it all the way, she was cut off as he turned to face her and her breath froze in her throat under the pressure of those eyes.

Reassurance radiated off of those familiar orbs in waves and she subconsciously moved towards the safe feeling. The steadiness of his gaze settled her heart and mind. For the first time since the start of the Chunin exams, she felt calm and peaceful. The placidity of his eyes emptied her body of distrust, and in its place, and immense sense of serenity invaded her. Underneath those watchful blues, she felt that everything would be alright.

"What happened?" He asked her lowly.

She blinked, breaking from her trance. "Uh, he was fighting the snake guy." Her eyebrows pulled together in a stressed line, "That grass-nin did something to Sasuke-kun. He hasn't woken up since then. Do you think he's going to be alright?" For whatever the reason, the fact she was seeking assurance from Naruto didn't strike her as odd in the moment.

He nodded absently. "Is there anything else?"

Sakura moved to shake her head but stopped half-way. "Well, there's the strangest bruise on his neck. I think the snake-nin did it."

A small stream of malevolent chakra was steadily leaking from the Uchiha's neck and Sakura shivered under the unpleasant sensation. Naruto remained unruffled and slowly maneuvered himself so that he was kneeling beside their unconscious comrade. Sakura watched curiously as her teammate carefully examined the strange markings on Sasuke's neck. The nervousness in her body had disappeared with Naruto's soothing look. All she could feel was content and warmth. Somewhere in a distant place in her mind, it registered that it was odd that she was so calm despite the fact they were in the forest of death, there were countless, unseen enemy ninja out there ready to strike, and that her crush, (and the strongest member of their team,) was currently incapacitated. All those things seemed so unimportant at the current time . . .

She watched the blond prod the bruise a few times before taking a kunai to the raised neckline of the shirt and shredding it down for easier access. He sat there for a few minutes, a pensive look on his face. All the while, the black and purple energy swirled unpleasantly in the air. Naruto batted it away from his face every once and a while, seeming entirely unbothered by it. After some time, it appeared to Sakura that Naruto had reached a decision because he sat back and pulled his hand to the bridge of his nose in irritation. He rested there for a minute, all while mumbling several explicative statements all revolving around a certain reptile. The unusual motion for dealing with stress looked odd on his face and it stuck out in Sakura's mind. 'Naruto's never pinched his nose before.' It was odd. The more she tried to concentrate on that thought, the harder it became and the more unimportant the matter seemed. The fact Naruto was looking at her now was certainly more pressing than her silly wandering thoughts.

"Sakura, will you help me?"

The missing '-chan' at the end of her name set off a short and dull alarm in her mind that something wasn't right, but it was soon swallowed by the sea of comfort she found emanating from his entire being. "What do you need?"

"I require some of your blood." His expression never changed, not even for a second.

She frowned. There were very strict codes about allowing anyone to handle your blood if you could help it. In fact, she remembered all the rules and stipulations for the matter, having memorized them for a test. Naruto should know better than to ask. Belatedly, she recognized that she had no idea why he needed it.

He noticed her expression, and tacked on another thought with a serious and determined intent embedded in his voice. "Sasuke-kun needs your help right now. You're the only one he can rely on. Are you willing to do what needs to be done to save him?"

Any and all of the slight shadows of doubt that had been flickering in and out of her mind were blown away by the bright burst of light his words inspired. She was entirely giddy with joy. Sasuke needed her. Sakura was helping save his life, only her. Ino would be blown out of the water. She could practically hear his cool voice thanking her persistently. After having a conversation with her he would realize what a beautiful and intelligent kunoichi she really was and it would be inevitable for them to get together. In fact, marriage might be in her near future if Sakura played her cards right.

She knew what she had to do now. Holding out a kunai eagerly, she put forth her forearm for him to use as he so desired. "Take as much as you need."

He gave her an idyllic smile as he drew a short, careful line along her skin. Crimson liquid poured out in little rivulets that crawled down her arms and dripped slowly to the dirt below. Her heart never sped up in the slightest, and there was still a faint smile on her face. Naruto was quick to hold out one of his hands to catch the flow in the shallow cup he made in his palm. "Put some pressure on that," he said idly.

Without another glance in her direction he began to draw on Sasuke's neck with her blood, in quick, efficient strokes which could only be achieved by years of practice and application. Taking the same kunai from before, he sliced his own index finger and carried on in a similar fashion. The kunai was gripped in his teeth, and a few times Naruto leaned in so closely that he would have nicked Sasuke's ear if he moved his head at all. Finally he stopped and leaned away from his comrade. As he took the kunai from his mouth, he examined his work with trained eyes. Naruto flicked his pinky to clear up some slightly smudged characters. After he ran over it with a fine-tooth comb and found nothing wrong, he was ready.

"Sakura, when I say so, I want you to channel your chakra to your hands and put them on Sasuke. Do you understand?" With bloody hands he began to form a long string of complex seals.

She nodded complacently and moved close as well. With a great palm-thrust, Naruto slammed his hand into the three black dots. Dark chakra flared out furiously like a raging fire. The Kyuubi container grit his teeth and bore the brunt of it determinedly, saving Sakura from its wrath. Red lines skirted the floor, dashing over the area and covering a large radius. Upon close inspection, Sakura noticed that the red lines were actually columns of small, detailed characters. There must have been thousands.

"Now Sakura! Put your hands on mine!" Nodding steadfastly, Sakura complied. She dredged up the entirety of her small stores and gathered it in her palms before joining Naruto's efforts. Her meager supply was barely a drop compared to the rippling visible energy that twisted furiously around Naruto's hand. Despite that, she pushed herself to her limit, determined to do whatever she could. Beads of sweat were rolling down Naruto's forehead from the sheer exertion he was putting into the seal. A dry grin finally spread over his face as the lines of characters slowly began to crawl towards the point of origin. The labor intensive activity was slow going, but he felt a glimmer of satisfaction nonetheless.

When only a few inches remained of the red characters, suddenly there was a massive outpouring of chakra from the black marks Orochimaru left. It was a last-ditch effort, but Naruto refused to back down. He channeled enough chakra to level a mountain, drowning the purple force and bleeding it out like poison from a wound. With a final push, the lines completely congregated in a red, circular shape over the three black dots. The intensity of the dark color had been lost, and the three commas were looking fainter and greyer than before.

Sitting back and wiping a sleeve over his sweat-soaked forehead, Naruto took a moment to bask in the afterglow of his success. The red circle covered the curse mark, surrounding it with innumerable interlocking characters. He'd like to see someone try and undo this. Not even the snake-sannin would be able to even comprehend the structure, let alone attempt to circumvent or undo the seal. He allowed himself a grin of satisfaction and exhaled heavily in relief.

Sakura also surveyed the product of their hard work. She didn't quite understand what had happened, and she found that the idea of finding out was very unattractive at the moment. What she did know though, was that the oppressive and harsh purple chakra from before had gone. That was enough to sate her curiosity and stop her questioning.

"C'mere, let me see your arm," Naruto said, shaking Sakura from her thoughts. The blond ninja proceeded to rip off a small section from the bandages on his thigh that held his kunai pouch in place. With practiced hands, he wrapped her forearm tightly. He made sure to cover the small black ink that had just appeared and begun seeping into her bloodstream. He didn't have time to deal with it now. He'd just impress upon her mind that she wasn't to remove it. After he finished with that and told her repeatedly not to touch it, he pulled out one of his explosive tags. After pricking another finger, for the other slice seemed to have healed up, he began to modify the tag with his own blood. He made use to use his right hand because, like Sakura, his left now had a matching black ink in its tip. It would be gone soon, well, Naruto hoped. He shook his head to clear his mind and focused back on the task before him.

"You were excellent Sakura," he complimented her as he worked on the tag, "It's only because of you that we succeeded."

A pink flush of pleasure surrounded her at the acknowledgement. She really had saved Sasuke, didn't she? A deep sense of pride welled up and she couldn't resist a happy smile.

Naruto stood and began to scan the area for an appropriate place to put his finished work. He finally settled on a narrow opening on the ceiling of the cave. No one would know it was there unless they were looking for it. Satisfied with his choice, he channeled some chakra through it before a flash of dark pink blew out from every angle before vanishing from sight.

"What did you do?" Sakura asked. There was some dull discontent hovering in the back of her mind. Though now that she thought about it, why should she care what Naruto was doing? It wasn't like it could be important or anything. It was so irrelevant that she decided she might as well put this in the very back of her mind.

Naruto gave a small laugh, so unlike his normal boisterous tone, and indulged her question. "That was a barrier-seal. It will protect this area from any outside attacks. No one will be able to get in, and there is a mild deterrent that naturally pushes people away from it. We'll be safe for a while." His promise was soft.

"Really? That's a relief," the pink-haired ninja exhaled, feeling her mind further ease. At least they wouldn't have to worry about other ninja.

"Yes, it will remain open for us three because we were in it when I activated it, and the barrier won't push us away or affect us in any capacity, ahh . . ." He scratched his head a little. "I don't know why I'm taking the time to explain this to you. It's not like you'll remember." He mumbled it mostly to himself as he walked out of the cave and into the clearing. The blond stood in silence for a few treasured moments, simply taking in the fresh air and sunlight. "It's been a long time since I've been out," he spoke softly.

Sakura's brow was furrowed. "What do you mean?" She kept trying to compose her thoughts but the more she tried, the more tangled they became.

He ignored her and took the deepest breath he could. "It's time to go back already," he hummed to himself. Eventually, Naruto began to walk back to the cave, but he took his time with every step. He knew it needed to happen, and he perfectly accepted it. Despite that, he wasn't exactly eager to go back in. He hadn't quite realized exactly how much he missed the simple feel of nature until this point. With one final look to the vast world beyond, he went back into the cave.

"Naruto wha—"

He cut her off cleanly, "Sakura, thank you so much for all your help. I couldn't have done it without you," Naruto said with an honest smile. It wasn't as wide as his normal one, —not as jam packed and absolutely bursting with glee— but it was equally as genuine and earnest with emotion.

"It was nice to meet you," Naruto said.

Before she could voice her confusion he made a few hand-signs and she collapsed like a limp puppet into his hands. He laid her down gently and quickly dissolved the first genjutsu he cast. The memories of this incident would be buried deep within her mind, shoved away by her own subconscious. It truly was a beautiful jutsu. In a matter of minutes, she would wake from the second, which caused the receiver to fall into light a sleep. When she awoke, she would be none the wiser about the events that had just occurred. He felt the tugging, dragging himself back under. Naruto lowered himself to the ground quickly and shakily so he wouldn't fall down and hurt himself. Just in time too, because dark spots were already dancing before his eyes.

Namikaze Minato exhaled one last breath before falling away from the physical world and into the spiritual one.

Naruto woke up in an unknown location.

Where was he?

The area he found himself in was bright, almost blindingly so. The strangest part of it was that the soft waves of light were an odd assortment of sherbet hues. (Not that it wasn't pleasant, because in fact the sunny waves oozed warmth and comfort, but it was certainly a bizarre sight to awaken to.) The thirteen-year-old ninja scratched his head and surveyed the area again, but discovered nothing but miles and miles of shimmering space.

What was he doing before this? He thought on it for a moment before slowly the memories rose to the surface and he shot up. "Wait! I was fighting that snake creep!" Where were Sasuke and Sakura? Agitation invaded his body quickly and he began trying to figure a way out of the room. He ran and ran, expecting to run into a wall somewhere but after several minutes, all he discovered was more empty space. Seeing as the floor beneath him was only one thing he could actually feel, he'd have to start there.

Punching the floor did absolutely nothing, and none of his weapons had any effect in the slightest. There wasn't a dent or a scratch on the smooth surface. The floor was clear and just as transparent as the rest of the room. He couldn't make out a single bump or ridge that set it apart; he might as well have been standing in air. That thought coupled with the optical mindfuck that the wall-less ceiling-less 'room' was giving him, was more than enough to make Naruto nauseous. The teen shook the feeling off desperately.

He needed to find Sakura and Sasuke! What if that grass-nin was still attacking them? And here Naruto was, standing around and wasting time. Just as he was about to whip out the exploding tags, a gentle hand stopped him.

"It's alright, calm down," a voice said placidly.

Naruto whipped around sharply to face his new enemy. Before he could even think to strike, every thought vanished from his mind.

Blue met blue and the younger's mouth fell open. He knew that face. Hell, anyone in Konoha could tell you who this guy was. His face was on the mountain for God's sake! "Y-you're the Yondaime!"

A slight smile appeared on his face. "That's me."

Silence filled the area as Naruto tried to reconcile this information with what he already knew. Minato waited patiently for him to gather his wit. The Yondaime knew it was probably quite a shock and couldn't blame the younger blond for feeling at such a loss. Though when the minutes dragged on, Minato found himself scratching his head.

"You're dead!" Naruto finally exclaimed. The accusatory note in his voice had Minato sweatdropping.

"Uh, yes. Technically I am."

There was suspicion in Naruto's gaze. "Technically?"

Minato waved it off for the moment. "It's complicated."

"Well, why are you here?" The blond boy hesitated, "Why am I here? Wait, where is here?!"

"This is a part of your mind."

There was a short pause, and the only movement was the soft shimmering of the pastel colors. "It's kind of girly," Naruto said finally.

Whatever reaction Minato had expected it wasn't that. The fact that the teen had decided to comment on that of all things, instead of marveling at the fact of being in his mind, or meeting the Yondaime who was for all purposes dead, made a grin appear on the older man's face, and the sheer surprise made him laugh. His hand rose to smother it when he saw the disgruntled look Naruto was shooting him. "Ah, I think it's great. I thought you would like it though. There's a lot of orange."

Naruto fidgeted, "I didn't say I didn't like it. Orange is the best color ever!" After he spoke, he seemed to realize that he'd gotten off track. "Don't distract me! I don't trust you."

Minato held up his hands as a sign to show that he meant no harm. In his mind, he couldn't help but see Kushina in his indignant reply. A warm, yet sad smile fell over his face. Naruto was too preoccupied to notice it.

"Why are you here?" Naruto asked, "And how come you're not dead?"

The Yondaime exhaled. That would take several hours to explain. "It's a very long story, but I don't have a lot of time. You'll have to accept the abridged version for now. One day I'll tell you the whole story, okay?" he promised.

"Alright," the teen agreed somewhat reluctantly.

"As you know, I am the one who sealed the fox into you," Minato began, trying to settle the figurative butterflies in his chest that were nervously gnawing at his innards. He didn't know how Naruto would react to this news . . . If the complex and tumultuous look on his son's face as he talked about the Kyuubi was anything to go by, he was rightly worried. The Yondaime swallowed and moved on. "What you probably didn't know was that I also sealed some of my chakra in there as well."

Naruto stared at him with blatant curiosity. "Why did you do that?"

"Because I wanted to meet with you, Naruto."

"H-how do you know my name? Why would you want to meet me? I was just some kid! I was just some orphan! Why do you know my name?!" The teen's emotions were building with confusion that fueled Naruto's anger and fear. "You don't even know me!" Naruto shouted defensively, angered at what he didn't understand.

"I should know your name. After all, I am the one who named you."

The statement echoed in the wall-less space for what seemed to be an eternity.

"It can't be . . ." The teen's blue eyes widened incomprehensibly. "You're my f-father?"

The Yondaime nodded. "Yes, and Naruto, you're my son." It felt good to say those words aloud for the first time. The feeling was tainted by the fact he was putting his son through so much pain and distress. All he could do was watch the battle of emotions play across his son's face with bated breath.

The Kyuubi container couldn't understand. He smiled and then frowned and tried repeatedly to assemble his thoughts into a sentence. "I don't— why— It doesn't—" Naruto gave a loud growl of frustration and the next thing Minato knew he was doubled over. Naruto had thrown every ounce of his strength into a single punch, trying vainly to express the millions of conflicting emotions running through his mind.

"Why the hell did you seal the fox into your own son?! Don't you know how hard it was for me?!" He exclaimed. "I had no friends growing up! People always ignored me! No one cared about me except for oyaji! "Naruto was trembling violently. "I can't—" Tears were falling like fierce rivers down his whiskered cheeks. "I don't know if I'm happy or sad!" He finished finally.

The Fourth didn't believe he had any right to act like a father after everything he'd done to his son, but looking to the thirteen-year-old, he thought that perhaps that was what his son needed right now. Naruto was still shaking and Minato did the only thing he could. The teen was still close from his punch, and Minato wrapped his arms around the trembling form of his son. He held the boy tightly, trying to let him feel the warmth and love Minato felt so fiercely for Naruto. Always, he'd never stopped loving this boy.

"I'm sorry Naruto," he spoke softly, "I'm so sorry."

They remained there, in silence, simply trying to hold onto to each other and cope with the new realities before them.

Their peaceful moment was ruined by the upheaval of their environment.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked as they were jolted out of their embrace. The ground was shaking below them and he skidded a few steps to the side as he tried to keep himself steady. The strangest tugging feeling began to overtake his body and he could feel himself start to slip away. There was a sad smile on Minato's face and Naruto felt panic overtake him. He was losing his chance to talk to his father and he knew in his heart it was unlikely he would ever see the man again.

"You're waking up, Naruto." Minato's voice was gentle.

And none of it was fair. Because Naruto wanted to hear him say his name again, and again. The teen wanted him to say 'Naruto' until the sound no longer registered as a surprise. He wanted to hear him say it every day, three hundred times, until it made Naruto absolutely sick. He wanted to hear that voice calling his name to wake up in the morning, and to eat breakfast, and take his shoes off when he came back, and telling him 'welcome home,' every day he came back from his missions. He wished so badly that that kind of reality was an option. The fact it wasn't only made him cry harder.

This would be the last time he would ever hear his father say his name. The thought was almost too much for him to handle.

"Dad . . ." He said finally, feeling tears of a different kind build up. His words made a wide grin split over the Yondaime's face. Naruto was startled by how similar the smile was to his own.

He ran back into his father's arms. "Will I see you again?" Naruto asked, doing his best to resist the tugging. He was desperately trying to prolong their limited time. In his heart, he already knew the answer, but it didn't stop the slivers of hope that also resided there.

"Honestly, I don't know," Minato said truthfully, but he made sure to catch his son's eyes. "But no matter what the case is, know that I'm proud of you and who you've become."

The teen's eyes flickered uncertainly. These were words he was so desperate to receive, but upon hearing them, he found himself shying away and looking towards the ground. He was suddenly doubting the veracity of his father's words. It just didn't seem that they could be true . . .

The Yondaime placed a hand over his son's head and ruffled those familiar blond locks. "I am proud to be your father, Naruto." Minato did his absolute best to relay how much he truly meant those words.

"R-really?" Naruto was still hesitant, but he raised his eyes. Minato cursed every single person who had shunned his child and led to his sadly jaded outlook. Though he knew it all led back to him and his choice to seal the fox in Naruto. He would carry that guilt with him for the rest of his existence. If only the fallout of his decision could have landed solely on his shoulders, instead spreading onto Naruto's. But such was not the case. All that he could do now was try and show Naruto that he was loved. Because he was; he dearly, dearly, was.

Minato gave him an honest smile. "Yes."

Heartfelt joy started to build in the teen's chest. The tugging grew fiercer and he found his image of the scene slowly disappearing piece by piece like an unraveling jigsaw puzzle. "No!" He wasn't ready to say goodbye! "Dad!" The image of the Yondaime became distant and disjointed. The last image he saw was his father mouthing those last and most precious words to him. It wasn't fair! He wanted to hear them! He'd always wanted to hear them . . .

The glowing, warm place, filled with pastels and acceptance, faded into black.

.

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The end of chapter one. More next week :D

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