Naruto: A Second Chance

Chapter IX

The atmosphere grew quiet. Rain pattered against the unfinished bridge, mist gathering in the air. And the silence stretched on, unbroken, for an indefinite amount of time. The bridge-builder and Kakashi and his other students, regardless of their injuries and inquiries, were forgotten.

Abruptly, the quiet was shattered by a guttural cry that shook the ground. Alert, Minato turned swiftly around. His forlorn gaze found an army of thugs on the finished end of the bridge, cutting off their exit. He stood in front of his son immediately as second nature; he may not have spent long by Naruto's side, but he had always protected his child.

A pair of matching kunai sliding into his grip, Minato clenched his fists anxiously as he eyed the short and stout man at the front of the herd. Was this Gato? It didn't matter. Minato wasn't listening to the man talk, he was too busy pressing his leg against Naruto's side to keep him in place. His cerulean blue eyes analyzed his foes as Gato's phlegmy voice carried on in the background, faded and insignificant.

Then there was a cackle, the shot of a gun, and the second most intense bloodlust Minato had ever felt.

Minutes passed in split-seconds. The hunter-nin boy was dead. The stout crook had retreated behind his army of thugs. Zabuza Momochi was seething. And all at once, the forces at the end of the bridge charged them. The bridge shook with their weight. Minato grit his teeth, his stance lowering as he prepared to fight.

He blinked to clear his eyelashes of rain and, for a punishing second, remembered the night he was unable to protect Naruto.

For that punishing second, Minato feared he would not be enough.

"DIE!!"

Minato blinked again. He stood shocked to see Zabuza head straight for the oncoming horde with both of his arms incapacitated and nothing to fight them with but a kunai in his mouth. Zabuza's useless arms flailed limply behind him as he went with incautious speed.

Everyone watched, horrified, entranced. Nothing like that. . . no one had seen anything like it. But Momochi's reputation hadn't preceded him for no reason; clearly, the man was capable of having so much bloodlust that the impossible became moot and nothing but the satisfaction of victory could stop him.

Minato understood the concept of revenge. He also understood that getting in Zabuza's way was not a good idea. When it became clear that Zabuza would take out every enemy with no hands, no arms, and no back-up, Minato turned to get a look at his son and make sure he was okay. From what he understood, Naruto had yet to see anything like this-- the horror of war, a true bloodbath.

Naruto looked a little sad, his gaze trained on the hunter-nin boy limp on the ground, but his shoulders were firm and his mouth was set in a grim line, his hands balled into fists at his sides as if he wanted to lash out again. It prided Minato to see Naruto already learning to control Kurama's hatred. Still, if only to appease his parental paranoia, Minato reached out to his son.

"Naruto," he called, his voice gentle despite recent events.

Naruto turned his matching cerulean eyes to his father. He stood a little straighter as he did, his chest puffing up as if he were trying to look formidable. There was a silent glimmer of admiration in his eye that Minato adored.

"Are you alright?" he asked with clear concern.

Naruto's lips curved up at the ends in a small smile. "Just fine, dattebayo."

With the final cry of Gato as he fell to the ground in blood, the world grew quiet. Everyone stared, a mix of emotions swirling in the thick air. Zabuza trudged back over to Haku on what seemed like willpower alone; he'd been exposed at nearly every side, nothing but a kunai in his mouth, and had sustained immense, irreversible damage. Minato could tell immediately that Zabuza would not survive his vengeful raid. And slowly, pitifully, everyone watched in silence as the swordmaster laid down and died next to his student.