Author's Notes:

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Pain throbbed throughout Minato's body, blood dripped past his lips as Kushina gave her final words to Naruto. They were bittersweet. The thought of having a whole family, safe and sound, and watching his son grow up, seemed to taunt the father. Minato's blue eyes went from his son, to Kushina, and back to his son again. Time was running out, but he let Kushina talk, it was her son anyways. Her words were like what any mother wants for their child; to live well. Almost too soon, Kushina finished telling Naruto what she wanted to say. Only a sliver of time for Minato, but that really didn't matter.

The Grim Reaper was about ready to start. So he had to make this quick. "Naruto, my message to you is; I guess the same as your motor mouthed mother." Minato chuckled slightly. He took one last, long look at his baby son, and hoped, that he grew up loved and cared for. The father let out is remaining breath. "Eight signed seal" Having used up all of his chakra The Fourth Hokage finally gave in to death. It was another flash of pain, grief and sorrow, before everything went white, then the pain faded, and the numbness subsided.

A few shouts, that sounded panicked, whoever they are, they can continue yelling. It wasn't going to bring Minato back. He placed all of his trust into the Third, and his villagers. The shouting became closer and clearer, yet not enough to bring meaning into the words. Feelings seeped into Minato. Good things, like the sensation of the breeze, the sun shining brightly through the dappled shade of the trees, the fresh air that flowed into his lungs. The potent Chakra of the Kyuubi was no longer seemingly over whelming. But, the bad thing of feeling again washed over him like a tsunami. Well, for one, the gaping hole in his body, and the fear. The fear of leaving Naruto in a lonely place. Was Naruto and Kushina alright? 'Kushina is strong.' He scolded himself. 'I know she'll be fine.' But of course there was that lingering doubt that kept on forming within the deep depts of his mind.

The shouts again. "He is barely alive! Come over here Sakura-sepi!" A female's voice shouted. He could barely feel the ninja was next to his body, reading his pulse. Footsteps sounded from the other side of Minato. Suddenly, the pulsing pain numbed down, so it throbbed lightly. The hole healed soon, and a bandage wrapped around his midsection where the hole was.

Up until the moment the other people got to their feet to look over their handiwork, Minato hadn't considered opening his eyes. It wasn't like he didn't want to, he wanted to, but his eye lids seemed too heavy. He started dozing again, not because of death, but because of sheer sleepiness. As he drifted off again, he felt himself start to be carried into the air, and into where ever these people came from. Minato hadn't been paying attention much, still out of it. Where they take him is where they take him. Nothing more, nothing less.

The sun made its way through the blinds, and touched Minato's face as he rested in a hospital room. A wet rag was draped over his forehead, and a blanket resting over his body. Footsteps came and went past the door. Dull with confusion and pain, he brought himself to look out the window, and what he found was quite a surprise.

It was spring, and the cherry blossoms were blooming. Their pink petals danced around in the wind, that doesn't seem to want to make it into the room. The sun was partly hidden by a small fluffy cloud, which soon lazily drifted away from the sun. His eyes drifted toward the rock faces. It was different. Another Hokage's face looked over the village. A face ,Minato, would never believe to be chosen to become Hokage.'Tsunade-sama' Just then footsteps neared his door, and Minato slowly, and slightly painfully, turned his head towards the door. The entrance to his room slid open, and the same face he had just seen on the mountain stepped in. Her face almost as serious as her expression on the stone face.

"Who are you?"She asked, taking a seat at the other side of the room. Her amber eyes looked him over. Minato slowly blinked. She hadn't recognized him? He looked down at himself. He was rather messy. Scrapes of dirt and blood coved his hands and face. A lock of his hair caught his attention at the corner of his eye. It was brown with grime and dirt. He might have fallen into a puddle when he 'died'.

"Namikaze Minato." He answered slowly. If she was named Hokage…that meant the Third had died. He frowned slightly and met the current Hokage's eyes.

"You can't be him. Minato-san is dead. Besides your hair is brown." Her scowl deepened at his answer. Slowly reaching up for a lock of his messy, and unrulely hair, Minato smeared the mud and grime off. Revealing the blonde color underneath. Tsunade's eyes narrowed. 'Does she know now?' Minato thought warily. He didn't have the energy to argue at the moment."I am going to ask something only The Fourth would know. If you answer wrong, I will kill you on the spot." He nodded in agreement and waited for her question. It better not be a trick question, otherwise he would put up a fight if she came to kill him. Stupid trick questions. The Fifth pondered her question for a moment. "Do you have a child, and if so, what is his or her name?"

"Yes, I do have a child." Minato managed a smile. "His name is Naruto."

Tsunade's face brightened slightly and stood up. "It really is you, isn't it?" Receiving a nod at her comment, she turned for the door and said; "Once you are all washed up and able to move around, come to my office and I'll fill you in on everything that has happened since you disappeared." Without another word, she left the room, slowly closing the door behind her.

Minato exhaled loudly. It seemed like everything was alright. Though worries kept prodding him. Was Naruto raised right? Was Kushina here? How in the world did he get here? How old was his son now? Has he learned any jutsu of his yet? Those questions sent him onto his feet and to the washroom, where he cleaned the dirt from his hear, leaving it blonde once again. A nurse had left out some clothing for him, mostly because the other ones where destroyed. His coat. Ugh. It was his favorite one too.

Silently hoping is seals were still intact in the Hokage's tower; he channeled his chakra and flashed just outside of the Hokage's office, and right in front of the door. Looking around, he found the hallway empty. Though he could hear footsteps coming closer, he ducked into the room. Tsuade was having a heated conversation with her apprentice Shinzunde. Who was flinching at her master's words. They hadn't seen him yet. He hadn't heard the first part of the conversation

"-we should?"

"No other choice."

"I think-"

"NO."

Minato felt slightly out of place, so he let out a slight cough to announce is presence to the present Hokage and her pupil. They both clamped their mouths shut and spun around to face the past blonde Hokage, who narrowed his eyes. "You know if you try to keep secrets from me, I'll find out one way or another."

Tsunade sighed and put her chin on her intertwined fingers. "We were debating if we should tell Naruto about you being is father." Minato stiffened with anger.

"Wait, no one ever told him?" There was grief that shone through Minato's words.

"We were talking about that, I am sure we all know the dangers of him learning about you. If the words fall into the wrong hands…" Her voice trailed off, and unwillingly worry was obvious in her voice. "Let me explain to you what has happened so far in Naruto's life, and you can decide if he is strong enough to be told his heritage."

So the rest of the hour, Tsunade told Naruto's father the happenings of the village, and Naruto's life. Minato's reactions were what anyone would have expected. When Tsunade told Minato how the villages acted around Naruto, he was sure the whole world could hear his heart break. That wasn't what Minato had wanted for Naruto. But he couldn't help but smile when Tsunade retold Naruto's accomplishments. Including his Rasengan.

Once she finished, silence filled the office. There was so much more that Minato wanted to know. Though, it could wait, he needed to know what to do next. "Do you have a plan? I don't really have a place to return to."

"Yes, you will return to duty after you are fully healed. But as an ANBU, so the other shinobi won't know." This earned a nod from Minato, who voiced his opinion on the earlier part of the conversation.

"Naruto should know; especially if I am alive."

Tsunade glanced at her apprentice, then back at her predecessor. Suddenly, a rather loud knock interrupted the conversation.

"Sh! Naruto! She might be talking to someone!"

"That is why I knocked!"

"Rather loudly!"

Tsunade gave Minato an apologetic look. Though, Minato hadn't seen it. He was staring at the door. The father had heard his son's name. His heart pounded, and his eyes waited for the moment his son; whom he had gave everything for, to step through the door. Minato couldn't decide if he was happy, nervous, or afraid. Perhaps even all three. Tsunade looked away from Minato, and back at the door. "Come in."

The door opened, and stepped in was a teenage girl, who had short hair the color of cherry blossoms. Her gaze swept across the room, and landed on The Fourth Hokage, who looked her over, then glanced back to the door, where someone else was already coming in.

The cherry haired girl stood frozen in shock in front of the door. Her eyes widening at the sight of the blonde man. "Y-y-you're th-" She was cut off by an exasperated sigh.

"Sakura-chan, why are you frozen all of a sudden?"

Sakura slowly shuffled her feet to the other side of the room, letting the other make their way in. Another smaller blonde followed her in, not taking the time to look over the room. He hadn't seen Minato yet. Not yet. Soon, Sai, Kakashi, and Jiraiya. Who, blinked with confusion. Kakashi just stared at his sensei with complete disbelief. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, but waited calmly for an explanation.

Naruto on the other hand, reacted in a totally different way. He finally scanned the room, with a short bickering with Sakura. Receiving a bop to the head, that ended the argument abruptly. At first, Naruto paid no mind to the man, thinking he was one of the ANBU. He turned to Tsunade, "Granny-bachan, why are we all gathered here?" This earned Naruto an elbow to the gut. The girl pointed to Minato, and with a hushed voice, she quickly added to the blonde who clutched his stomach in over exaggeration. "It is the Fourth!"

Naruto looked up from his mid section, then up at the presumed to be ANBU. He'd seen the face every time he had looked up at the rock face. The Fourth Hokage. Standing in the office, was his childhood idol. The very one, he had declared he would surpass when he was younger. "Eh? H-how did?" The younger blonde stammered.

'Naruto looks so grown up. Kushina, take a good look at our son!' Minato smiled awkwardly and rubbed to back of his head. "Honestly, I haven't the slightest idea either." He glanced at Tsunade to continue on.

She nodded and turned to the group, but mainly facing Naruto. "I gathered you today for a multiple of reasons." She paused looking at Sai. Hidden in her eyes was a deep distrust. The boy was sent from Danzo to keep an eye on Naruto. The current Hokage was on her toes about anything involving Danzo.

"Before I say anything more, I need you all to swear, you will never talk about what is said here, unless, I, or the Fourth agree to it." Her steely gaze swept over the group of ninja, who stood before her. Once they all swore never to speak about it, Tsunade visually relaxed, leaning back on her chair.

"Though, this is mainly about Naruto. I have brought you here because all of you deserve to know. Each of you has your own reasons." The blonde female decided not to go into detail about why, because they already knew the reason why. Naruto blinked, and tore his gaze to 'Granny-bachan'.

"We don't know how he got here, but Sakura and some other medics found him on the ground. A huge hole in his mid section. He was close to dying."

"Actually, I should have died when I sealed the Kuubi into Naruto, but I guess that isn't the case."

"W-what?" Naruto blurted, Sakura 'shhhed' him, and he fell silent once more.

"I used the Reaper Death Seal, which takes the soul of the caster. I am guessing something went wrong, or the grim reaper wanted me here. Whichever the case, I don't have any where to go, but stay here."

Kakashi looked up, relived that his sensei was actually alive. The silver haired ninja had believed he was the remaining survivor of Team Minato. It wasn't a great title for him. It just seemed to weigh him down. Now it felt like the weight was thrown off, and he was able to move again.

"We had to keep another secret from you, and from everyone else, excluding a few certain people." To Kakashi, and Jiraiya, who each looked down, lost in thought.

Naruto's teammates looked at each other in confusion. What was so important, they had to swear not to talk about it, and had to have kept it a secret from Naruto?

"One of the reasons was if other had found out, they'd be after you, Naruto." She paused and glanced at Minato. Who was searching for the words to tell him. "Come over here, Naruto." Tsunade commanded, pointing to front of the desk. Without an objection, Naruto numbly made his way to the desk. His blue eyes staring at Minato's. It was the same color eyes as every time he looked into the mirror. Slowly, the boy put the pieces together. His eyes widened, and the younger blonde's throat tightened. No. This man couldn't possibly be… Was he?

"T-Tell me." Naruto said "A-Are you my father?" Minato smiled and said the boy's name with as much love and care as a father should. "Naruto."

The boy honestly didn't know how to react. Disbelief, shock…Hurt. But at the same time, glad, excited. Without more words, Minato's features softened into a fatherly look. "Naruto…" He reached down and pulled is son into a hug. The boy didn't object, and fell into his father's arms. Letting lose a quiet sob, he'd been alone all along; villagers had hated, despised, and rejected him. But, now, he was safe, wrapped in his father's strong embrace, protecting him from the world that is all too cruel.

Sakura covered her mouth with her hands, eyes watering, she watched as Naruto let himself be developed into his father's arms. Putting her hands down, she smiled for Naruto. He must be so happy. The girl made a mental note to give her parents a hug later that night.

Kakashi let lose a sigh and turned for the door. If he knew his sensei, he would get his fair share of cries and tears later. Besides, the two needed their time to talk.

Jiraiya followed shortly after Kakashi, obviously shocked, and lost in thought. Something was…off.

The silence seemed to last forever. Minato and Naruto sat on a tree's branch, near the monument to the fallen heroes. Both of them looked to the stars that loomed silently over head and they seemed to glitter without worry. It was like you could see every star in the galaxy.

"Were you mad at me?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"I was never mad at you."

"What were you?"

Pause.

"Hurt."

The word seemed to stab Minato in the heart.

"Why?" He managed to croak out.

"You left me alone."

Now his words twisted and churned, causing the father's heart to crack. Had Jiraiya taught Naruto to talk like that? Minato thought for a while, letting his son's words echo though his head.

No. His son was speaking from his heart.

Author's Notes:

So that was my first chapter of my first Fanfic. ^^;

I would really appreciate a review to tell me how I did and if I got anything wrong. Thank you for reading!