Back to the Beginning (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 12

Minato was worried that he had crossed a line. He watched as Naruto's face dropped its smile and became sad. His eyes became glossy and unfocused, and Minato noticed a small tear fall down his face. It had been a while since he had asked about this mysterious girl and Naruto was still staring out into nothing. Minato was about to tell him not to worry about it when Naruto finally spoke up.

"She was one of my teammates, and a dear friend." Naruto's voice was barely above a whisper when he spoke.

"What happened to her?" Minato thought that he could help Naruto more if he just got him to talk about what he was feeling rather than keeping it to himself.

"She exhausted all of her chakra saving me..."

"What do you mean?" Minato spoke softly so he didn't startle Naruto. He just didn't want him to stop talking.

Naruto took a deep breath before he started talking, "I made a stupid choice to rush into a fight half cocked. I didn't know who the enemy was, but I went anyway and ended up getting hurt enough that I almost died...S-Sakura, she...she used up every ounce of her chakra to heal me. She saved my life, but lost hers because of it." Naruto turned away from Minato after that, trying to wipe at his now wet eyes.

Minato could almost feel the regret that was rolling off of Naruto at that moment. So he feels responsible for her death then? That's a heavy burden to place on anyone. "Naruto." Minato noted how even though Naruto didn't turn around, he did tilt his head so he knew he was listening. "It's okay for you to feel sad, you know. Though I think, if given the chance, she would have done the exact same thing again. I am so sorry you had to go through that though."

Naruto was shocked when he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. He turned and found himself face-to-face with his dad. He knew he was crying, but at this point, he was just glad that his dad was there to talk to.

Minato was close to Naruto now, and could see how much pain he was in. His eyes were bloodshot and sad, he had tears running non-stop down his face. When he looked at him, there was almost a desperate plea for help. "Naruto, I have seen how strong you are. I believe in you. I know you will make it through this."

Naruto's eyes shot wide open. "You believe in me?"

"Well of course I do." Minato smiled at Naruto. Good, maybe if he realizes that he isn't alone, those wounds will heal.

"Thank you da...Minato." Naruto caught his slip up before anything happened. He gave a small smile to Minato, he hadn't felt this much at peace for a while. "Hey, are you okay if I go lay down a little longer?"

Minato was overjoyed. Yes! He feels good enough to get some more sleep! Minato was jumping for joy in his head. "Of course, Naruto. Go and get some rest." Minato just smiled at him and he watched Naruto walk back to his sleeping pad and lay down, almost instantly falling asleep. I'll watch over you.

When Naruto opened his eyes again, it was already light outside. Did I sleep for the rest of the night?

"It looks like I was right."

"Kurama? What are you talking about?" Naruto was a little confused at Kurama's sudden input.

"I told you that talking to Minato would be a good thing." Now Kurama was more than a little smug.

"Yeah, yeah... shut up." Naruto knew Kurama was right. After talking to his dad last night he did feel a lot better.

"Naruto, how did you sleep?" Rin was looking at Naruto as he sat up.

"Oh...well, pretty good ya know!" Naruto was scratching the back of his head. A nervous gesture he did all the time. He spared a glance towards his dad only to find Minato already looking at him. "Thank you" He quietly mouthed to his dad.