Blonding

Chapter 45 : Story telling and The Akatsuki

Naruto pulled the curtain back from the window frame and smiled.

Minato looked up from his book, eyebrow raised. "They still going at it down there?"

"Yeah," Naruto said with a quiet laugh. "It's pretty funny how well they get along."

Minato smiled. "Well, if there was any doubt that they were related before..."

The curtain fell back into place, and the room was dropped back into comfortable darkness as Naruto made his way back towards the pile of books and notes that was somehow Minato's desk. He let out a long sigh as he dropped himself back into his chair, and rubbed at his eyes with his hand, yawning.

"So, what exactly is the story with your hand?" Minato said as though the question had been eating away at his mind far longer than he was letting on, and when Naruto looked up, the man was looking him dead in the eye.

Naruto smiled. "Now that is a long story," he said, chuckling.

Minato leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. "Try me," he said with a smirk.

"Well, I... blew it off trying to save someone," Naruto said, wincing. He rubbed at his shoulder, as though to sooth some sort of phantom pain. "But he lost his arm too, so I consider it an even trade."

"Who was it?" Minato said, no longer quite as interested in his book on seal theory. "Who did you try and save?"

Naruto sighed. He was silent a moment, chewing on his lip, before he shrugged once and raised an eyebrow. "Well, since this is technically a different timeline, it won't hurt to tell you... will it?"

"Any chances of this world following the same path as yours went out the window as soon as you showed up," Minato agreed.

Naruto shrugged. "Alright. Do you know who Itachi Uchiha is?"

Minato blinked. "Fugaku's son? That's who you had to rescue?"

"No. It was his younger brother."

Minato leaned forward in thought, his eyes lighting up when realization struck. "Ahh, we learned just last week that Mikoto and Fugaku were expecting again." He smiled up at Naruto. "I suppose that makes sense. He would be the same age as you, correct? You must have been good friends."

Naruto paused. His smile strained. "Yeah. Great friends."

Minato folded his hands over one another, watching. "I take it that you had a... strange relationship with him, then."

Naruto nodded, eyes unfocused, drifting across the surface of the desk. "Yeah. That was... a tough time. Tough for everyone, really." He sighed, closing his eyes. "I had a rough childhood. Although I'm sure you can see that just by looking at me." He shook his stumped arm a bit for emphasis, the empty sleeve of his borrowed blue shirt waving in the air.

He looked up: a fire in his eyes, and a small, prideful smile on his lips. "But I made friends. Challenged myself. Looked up to..."

He paused - smiling, thinking.

Minato blinked. "Looked up to who?"