Something Precious

Chapter Fifty Five

Naruto fell into the familiar pattern of missions and training after that. He was no longer too depressed to move, but how else was he supposed to cope with the guilt of what happened to Obito? After that night with Minato in the graveyard, Naruto had gone to the Hokage to ask for a mission, and when he completed it he asked for another one and another after that, and - well you get it.

His name and face were quickly spread throughout the nations; a foe supposedly more formidable than any jounin or ANBU. Bounty hunters came after him like lambs to the slaughter. The warnings on his name - though not updated in any book - quickly spread as well. He usually didn't kill, but his ferocity in battle earned him the name of 'Yokai of the Hidden Leaf', he may not kill you but you still didn't want to cross him if you fancied keeping all your limbs.

He always took solo missions, or paired up with Captain Kaito if he absolutely had to, but never with Minato unless he had no other option, and even then he never talked much; and never about his past. He seemed to be avoiding his father more and more as the weeks quickly passed and turned to months. How could Naruto look him in the eyes knowing it was his hesitation that had practically cost the life of one of Minato's beloved students? What if he couldn't get him back?

But Minato did have his Super Ninja skills so it was only a matter of time, and that time came after one entire month of successful avoidance.

It was a trap. Naruto should have known. But because of his ignorance, he now sat in a booth across from his father who watched him with a look that both said, 'I'm-concerned' and 'I'm-pissed-how-dare-you-avoid-me-for-an-entire-month-after-revealing-that-you're-my-future-son?'.

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Earlier that day:

Naruto felt a drop of sweat run down between his eyebrows as he bent all his focus on the small slip of paper. He had been working on a seal for the past twelve hours, but without the collection of books he had inherited from Jiraiya, it was taking a lot more time than it should have.

Being very careful and precise, Naruto dragged the ink loaded brush along a small section of the paper leaving a short, neat stroke. He sat straight and admired his work proudly.

The seal was supposed to mimic a genjutsu in a way. It took control of one of the senses and blocked it out. This seal in particular targeted an enemies sight, so they would be blind once it was applied. Naruto had actually been trying to develop a seal like this since he first got Jiraiya's sealing scrolls, but he hadn't really had time to work on it after he had been. . . promoted.

A harsh knocking startled Naruto out of his concentrated state, making him jump and nearly spill the bottle of ink all over his beautiful seal. 

He used his quick reflexes to grab the bottle before even a drop of the ink could dirty his masterpiece. He clutched the bottle tightly in his fist as he stared at the paper, quadruple checking that it was perfect. He gingerly set down the ink bottle and put the stopper on, then carefully lifting the paper and setting it on top of his bookshelf with four others that were almost identical.

As he was turning to answer the door, his eye caught the bloodied copy of Kakashi-Sensei's erotic novel. Naruto couldn't help but smile a little, sad smile. It was the one Naruto had given him when he returned to the Leaf after training with Jiraiya for two long years. 

'Knock knock knock'

The person at the door persisted. Naruto sighed and the smile dropped from his face. He quickly crossed the creaky floors and, after looking through the peephole to make sure it wasn't Minato - an escape route already in mind if it was - Naruto pulled the heavy front door open. He was slightly surprised to find Rin on the other side.