Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Escape Artist
By : sanlashix
Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male
Views: 4980 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; not making any money from this.
Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Summary: Seal master Uzumaki Naruto finally perfected a battle-use seal to rewind time for short moments. What the idiot forgot was that he tended to overdo things when in a pinch. MinaNaru. Time travel.

Chapter 4: Psyche
Minato shunshin-ed to the safety of a cleared area of the training ground to prepare his next move.
But as soon as he touched down, the ground under his feet exploded.
Minato was thrown upward along with rocks and debris, only avoiding the full explosive impact because he had been able to ride the momentum of the tail end of his shunshin. He landed gracelessly several feet away only for the ground to explode again. And again. And again, each time he landed. What had Naruto done? Minato’s mind flashed through the events of the past few minutes.
Bunshin!
In the chaos of Naruto’s two hundred bunshin, the Hunter-nin had set up traps throughout the training ground. Wait no, the shadow clones had set up the traps! He wasn’t sure how though, since it wasn’t possible for anyone to carry that many easily-accessible explosion tags on their person. The explosive tags couldn’t come from the bunshin either, since once the clone expelled, its tools also expelled.
Luck was finally on Minato’s side as he landed safely on the next patch of dirt. He studied the ground around him to look for hints on Naruto’s trick. Huh? Are those bugs on all those rocks? Minato gingerly lifted one around the size of a coin to examine. Symbols! The black dots weren’t bugs, they were seals!
“Doton: Dosekiryuu (Mudslide)!”
Minato punched the ground, causing the hard earth around him to rise in a wave flying outward. It looked like the entire field went up in smoke as a hundred explosive seals detonated simultaneously, causing the earth to quake violently and a gigantic dust cloud to cast a shadow over the space. As dust settled, Minato glimpsed Naruto’s form lying face down on the ground. He stepped cautiously toward the lifeless body but reared back when another bunch of clones materialized around the ANBU Captain, lining up in a circle before sinking into the mud.
Minato was about to send a shockwave through the loose earth to dispel the clones underground, when the ground lit up in a circle around him. He suddenly collapsed as if weighed down by an invisible force. The clones resurfaced beyond the circle which was now made up of black squiggles.
“Didn’t you know?” Naruto taunted as he sat up gingerly from where he had fallen, the right side of his face and body suffered from serious burns and his leg looking mangled. Minato was about to question his well-being when Naruto exclaimed, “I’m a Seal Master and a master of deception!” He suddenly leapt fluidly into a beautiful flip and stuck his tongue out before dispelling with a puff of cloud. A clone? It looked so real!
“Seal Mas…” Even under the heavy pressure, Minato’s expression transformed into a playful smirk. “Well, that makes this fight even more exciting,” he said while compressing chakra on the tip of his index finger, “Because I’m also a Seal Master!” In his crouched position, he carved symbols onto the ground and pushed chakra into his seal, causing black lines to stretch outward and smudge Naruto’s Gravity Seal which the shadow clones had drawn from underground.
Minato bit his thumb and drew another seal.
Shit! Naruto cursed as he recognized the new squiggles speeding towards the clones around the circle. They all tried to escape with identical jumps backwards, but before their feet fully lifted off, the lines caught each of them and spread up their lithe bodies. All of the Narutos dispelled except one – the real Naruto who had again hidden perfectly among his clones. The seal Minato used was a simpler version of the Chakra Transfer Seal, and for the next three minutes, every bit of chakra that he used would be sourced from Naruto.
The Hunter-nin barely had enough time to appreciate Minato’s seal expertise before he felt a powerful suction in his chakra coils as the taller blond formed hand seals to activate a summon.
“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”
With a gigantic puff, Gamabunta materialized in the clearing. Minato gaped, shocked that Naruto had enough chakra to summon the Chief.
“Kid, what do you want?” The toad asked grumpily.
“I…I was going to summon Gamachuu with Lower Chakra Transfer to fight Naruto but somehow he had enough chakra to summon you…” Minato stared intently at the Hunter-nin. He felt the pulsating power and fever of Naruto’s blue chakra now running through his body, making him quiver from its passion and melt from its warmth. There was an underlying heavy red chakra which seemed to act as reinforcement for the blue. Whenever the wild blue spilled out of the chakra current of the coils, the red would reach out to nudge it back onto its proper path.
Both were so warm. It felt like Minato’s body was on an intense high, the pleasant heat clouding his mind.
So this was the essence of Uzuhara Naruto.
“Who’s Naruto?” Gamabunta swept his eyes over the training ground before catching sight of a small dark figure tensed to attack. “You’re it?” The chief toad asked disdainfully. “Hmm…boy, have we met before?” His eyes narrowed. “You feel familiar.”
Naruto sucked in a sharp breath. “Familiar? What do you mean by familiar?”
“Like I should know your chakra.” Gamabunta bent down to peer closely at the boy. “Like I should know you.”
Naruto’s jaw dropped and eyes popped. Looking at the toad almost hungrily, he leapt onto the enormous head and whispered something only heard by the two of them. Suddenly, the chief toad released a deafening laugh, almost dislodging the Hunter-nin. “Kid! I’m impressed by your skill and recklessness!” His voice boomed mirthfully, and the ground shook from the force of his large arm slamming down onto the ground, forming large indentations of his webbed hand. “Hey, don’t glare at me like that. Bring sake and snacks next time and we’ll talk.” He shifted his attention at Minato. “Sorry Minato, I won’t fight him, but I’ll send over Gamachuu.” Gamabunta puffed away only to be replaced by a human-sized toad brandishing a sword.
The ANBU Captain stood frozen and baffled and overwhelmed, unsure of what had just happened. Who exactly was Uzuhara Naruto?
“Oi Minato. Minato! What’s wrong with you? Pay attention. Ya’ want me to fight the little kid over there?”
Minato nodded dumbly.
“Alright! Get ready kid, Chief might like ya’ but I’m not so nice.” He charged at Naruto who was still grinning ear to ear. Minato’s seal had expired and his skin was once again spotless.
‘Kyuu, am I still under your contract?’
‘Of course, kit. Shiro has been itching to play. Let him out for a bit.’
Naruto jumped back from Gamachuu and slammed his hand on the ground.
“Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”
Another puff sounded through the clearing. When the cloud wisped away, they saw a beautiful white fox preening his coat. “Naru-chan, finally! I thought you would never call for me,” the slender fox, about the height of an above average human, nuzzled Naruto’s face lovingly. “Would you like for me to toy with Warty stomping towards us?”
“Yup, Shiro, that would be really helpful. I’ll treat you to sashimi later – the fresh, expedited ones from Seaport Village – with extra orders of white tuna.” Naruto replied cheerfully.
The fox suddenly shapeshifted into a tall, elegant man with long white hair, dressed in a loose snow-white yukata. “Anything for you, Naru.” He dropped into a fighting stance and gave Gamachuu a foxy smile. “Fox Claw Style,” Shiro announced softly and slashed the incoming toad with sharpened nails. Gamachuu retaliated with his sword in powerful strokes.
As the toad and fox fought, Naruto turned his attention to Minato whose mind had finally returned to the present and was speeding through hand seals next to the pond: Monkey, Rat, Tiger, Dragon, Horse, Dragon.
“Suiton: Ja no Kuchi (Mouth of the Serpent)!”
A huge column of water rose from the pond and launched at Naruto, opening its gaping jaw to swallow the Hunter-nin. He tried to dodge to the right but the torrent struck his side, slamming him into a boulder on the other end of the training ground. His right arm snapped violently, now bent at an unnatural angle and bone piercing the skin. Coughing up blood, he created a clone to support his nearly useless arm and painfully, carefully, forcefully formed seals.
“Perfect time for this jutsu.” Boar, Ram, Snake…Horse……Dragon…… Naruto whimpered.
“Raiton: Jibashi (Electromagnetic Murder)!”
A wave of electricity followed the path of water the serpent had created back to Minato who was engulfed in the surge of lightning and screamed. Naruto cut off the attack to shunshin across the clearing, drawing his katana with his left to aim for Minato’s shaking body. As he was about to exact the mock slash to the neck, Minato extended a compressed chakra blade formed from the fingertips of his trembling left hand to point straight at Naruto’s heart.
They both froze, millimeters from piercing each other.
Distant sounds of clapping reached their ears, snapping them out of the adrenaline induced buzz.
“That was a spectacular fight, but it seems you have reached an impasse.”
The medic-nin rushed over to the two men to heal their severe injuries as they collapsed side by side on the ground.
“Bu…but! What about my ramen?” Naruto panted frantically from behind the man jerking at his crushed arm. A marvelous idea formed in his mind. “Hey, Sandaime-Jijii! I’ll make a deal with you! If I beat you in one jutsu, will you treat me? Please? If I can do it in one hit?”
Sarutobi laughed. “For your excellent performance, I had already planned to reward you both. But you have piqued my interest. You seem confident in your ability to defeat me, and you say with merely one jutsu.”
Naruto grinned and extracted himself from the medic. “I have an ace up my sleeve, and I’m sure it won’t fail to take you – and everyone else – down.”
“Is that so, Naruto?” Sarutobi chuckled, obviously not taking him seriously. “Then go ahead and try.”
Naruto’s face twisted into a wicked smirk.
“Oiroke no Jutsu!”
In place of Naruto appeared a naked, busty woman who leaned her chest forward to blow a sultry kiss at the Hokage. Immediately, blood gushed from Sarutobi’s and the two examiners’ noses and all three dropped to the ground at once.
He gave Minato a puzzled look. Why wasn’t he affected?
The last standing examiner, the kunoichi, began scolding the Hunter-nin with an appalled expression. Naruto scowled at the lecture, then smirked again.
“Oiroke no Jutsu: Sexy Man!”
She never stood a chance against the gorgeous, very naked man with smoldering, lustful eyes prowling toward her like a predator toying with prey. She followed the men into unconsciousness, blood spraying from her nose.
Naruto cancelled his jutsu and stared disbelievingly at Minato who looked amused and unruffled. “Hey Uzuhara-san, who’s going to heal my injuries now?”
…What the hell? Is my father asexual?

When the three examiners and the Hokage regained consciousness, they woke to a peculiar scene of two humans and a fox-man.
Shiro, still in his human form, was sitting against a boulder with his master wrapped tightly within the safety of his strong arms. Shiro was glaring at Minato, who was chuckling at Naruto, who was pouting at Minato. Obviously, something had happened while they were out cold.
“Eh hem,” Sarutobi cleared his throat to interrupt the three way staring contest. “Well, Naruto, that attack was very…effective,” he commented with a bright red face. “I believe we should move forward to the physical and medical evaluations.”
In the ANBU Headquarters’ medical facility, the medic-nin nudged and prodded while Naruto fidgeted on the stool. He had been ordered to strip down to his underwear, exposing his slim form for everyone to see. For some strange reason he felt most uncomfortable in front of Minato, which was puzzling since he remembered both Kiba and Konohamaru telling him that they used to bathe with their fathers. However, in his case, Naruto had flushed and spun his back to them as he was subjected to more prodding.
“Well, Uzuhara-san, you seem to be in perfect health. Your rate of healing is faster than anything I’ve ever seen and somehow your body resists scarring. However, I need to question you on your one and only scar, located on your chest. What caused this injury and how long ago did you acquire it?”
Naruto’s eyes hardened and stared straight ahead. He clenched his jaw against the memories, both good and bad, resurfacing and almost throwing him back into emotional turmoil. This was not the time to lose control! Having an audience was bad enough, but these people were especially dangerous. Yamanaka Inokazu wouldn’t even have to enter his mind to see that he was screwed up, and Minato would probably freak out and mother him to death if he showed any weaknesses.
‘Kyuu, I need your help.’ Naruto whimpered in his mind.
‘I will take over until you compose yourself.’ Kyuubi reached a tail between two columns of his ‘cage’ and touched the doorway out of Naruto’s mind. Naruto’s grieving consciousness gratefully sank behind the columns as Kyuubi’s surfaced. They took advantage from the discovery from years before that Kyuubi could guide Naruto’s body as long as he had permission, but Naruto could take back control at any time. It was useful in times such as this when Naruto was close to breaking down.
“It’s from five years ago. I really don’t want to talk about it,” the fox spoke through Naruto’s lips, imitating his kit’s mannerisms and speech perfectly, “But I promise I’m not suffering any physical complications.”
Minato scowled at the answer. He stamped down the urge to whirl Naruto around and take a close look at what they were talking about. A scar over the chest of a body which heals too quickly to scar...an injury which almost killed. The scowl deepened as he tried not to imagine Naruto’s dying form with a gaping chest wound. The thought made him almost possessively livid, irrationally so since they were still mere acquaintances. But like he had stated before, he had the right to worry, especially now that he was sure he wanted this enigmatic man to be a part of his life.
“It’s really fine,” Kyuubi insisted. “Can we move on now? I want my clothes back…” He shifted uncomfortably at the stares from his audience which he could practically feel burning into his back. “Umm…please?” He asked in a timid voice.
With the clothes back on, the group headed to the written exam.
‘Thanks Kyuu, I think I’m alright now.’
‘Be safe, kit.’ Kyuubi gently relinquished his control.
Naruto was handed a large packet of paper, filled with questions on theory, strategy, and all ninja arts.
‘Uhhh, actually, Kyuu, I’m feeling really, really sick again. Could you take over?’
The demon fox chuckled. ‘No, I refuse to help you with this. I dislike tests as much as you do.’
‘Party-pooper,’ Naruto grumbled.
“You have four hours to complete this exam.” The proctor explained. “Your time starts now.”
The test was grueling, with question after question on everything in a shinobi’s life. An hour into the exam, Naruto looked up to see Minato playing poker with Yamanaka and the medic; the Hokage was nowhere to be found. Minato looked up cheerfully and gave a little wave to which Naruto responded with a withering glare.
When the examiner announced thirty minutes remaining, Naruto almost wept with joy. It was almost over; thirty minutes until he could bash Minato’s head and Katon his body for eating ramen take-out in the room an hour ago, the sadistic bastard.
The last minutes crawled by.
20 minutes.
10 minutes.
3 minutes.
15 seconds….
“Please put down your pencil. This marks the end of your written examination,” the kunoichi announced. “Congrats, kid. You made it.”
“Yes! I survived! Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique)!”
A massive orb of flame shot towards Minato who only barely dodged the angry attack. It smashed into the wall behind him and blew a huge hole through the wood. Everyone in ANBU Headquarters felt the third quake of the day. Must be a Shinobi Assessment, they all thought simultaneously.
“Hey, hey. That wasn’t very nice.” Minato said, still grinning.
Naruto glowered and formed seals for another Katon jutsu.
“Is that any way to thank the kind person who brought you three bowls of Ichiraku’s ramen.”
The smaller blond froze. “Ramen?”
“Yup, ramen, but if you don’t want it, I’m sure I can find someone here who’d be happy to ea–.”
“No! Namikaze-sama! Please let me have the ramen.”
“You said you’d do anything for your ramen, right?”
Naruto eyed Minato warily. “…Right…”
“Great! If I give you these, you’ll promise fulfill one of my requests, no matter what.” Minato flaunted the ramen in front of Naruto.
The Hunter-nin’s eyes followed the take-out box, weighing the pros and cons. “Okay, deal.”
The ANBU Captain almost cackled as he handed over the box. “I’ll let you know what I want later.”
Naruto nodded absently, mind numb from the tortu…exam and only managed the effort to slurp his noodles. Ahhhhh, it was heaven and tasted so heavenly after braving four hours of hell.
As Naruto patted his stomach happily, the Yamanaka announced the mental evaluation. The demon vessel had prepared thoroughly for this examination. The night before, he and Kyuubi had reinforced his mind, disassembling and patching together memories so nothing would expose his real identity and past. He couldn’t change much of his psyche, but by curbing the impact of his excruciating memories, the mind walker would find no evidence to back suspicions on the true extent of damage. He needed to look stable if he wanted to remain on the active roster.
“Uzuhara Naruto. My name is Yamanaka Inokazu, and my role is to examine whether your mind is fit for mission duty. I will enter your mind for the evaluation. Your mind does not lie.”
Naruto knew this fact very well, and it was what made this test so risky. In response to any questions asked, his mindscape would automatically transform to express his true feelings. He and Kyuubi had tried to control the reactions through determination and will, but they were barely successful. If anything disrupted his concentration, he would only have one feeble protection left: the false memories which couldn’t always be glued together seamlessly.
Then there was the ‘large’ problem of Kyuubi…
Fortunately, he’d had experience with mindwalkers from his time – Yamanaka Inoichi and Ino – so he knew what to expect.
Without warning, Inokazu entered Naruto’s mind. He appeared in a detailed derelict hall (evidence of more personality than most minds but also neglect) leading to a charming door adorned with gold and blue (perhaps a representation of his hair and eyes). He tried to turn the handle only to find it locked (a warning for the inhabitant).
“Yamanaka-jijii, it’s not nice to enter without knocking, ya’ know,” a childlike voice beside him piped. Inokazu jumped and turned to the speaker, a little put out by being called an old man. He looked upon a tiny Naruto, around six or seven years-old, wearing a wrinkled orange jumpsuit. The mind walker didn’t reply but followed the advice and knocked (proper etiquette). Strange, he’d never had to do that before.
The door reluctantly tugged free from the frame with loud creak (a sign of malnutrition and wariness), inviting him into a space unlit. “Have fun Yamanaka-jijii. Can’t follow you in there but heard it’s real nice. I wish my apartment was like that.” The boy pouted longingly as he swept his eyes around the hall. Inokazu wondered what he meant and filed the comment for later consideration.
He stepped through the doorway into the dark unknown, but suddenly the space was no longer dark. He saw a blue sky and land covered in grass. A clear river and magnificent white columns.
This mind was beautiful.
Dynamic.
His eyes roamed around, absorbing the breathtaking view. Was this even possible for a mind?
“Welcome to my mindscape, Yamanaka-jijii. Like what you see?” A deeper voice spoke beside him. Inokazu jumped again. “Calm down old man, you’ll have a heart attack if you keep shocking yourself.”
You’re the cause, Naruto…, the mind walker grumbled inwardly.
This Naruto appeared to be his present age, grinning mischievously up at him (playfulness). “Go on, you aren’t scared are you, old man?” He taunted (perhaps a prankster?).
Inokazu harrumphed and walked through the mindscape, in awe at the structure of this mind. No other mind had ever been this elaborate or beautiful. He peered into the clear stream (purity), smiling at its freshness (innocence), until he saw the fish. The fish were black, composed of Naruto’s darkness and suffering (pain mingling with innocence).
Then he took another closer look at his surroundings. He didn’t notice before (Naruto had previously mentioned he was a Master of Deception), but he could now see little flaws scattered throughout. Some leaves on trees were burnt to a crisp. Some patches of grass were not grass but weeds. Among all the species of vibrant flowers, there were black blossoms speckled in between (hidden from direct view). Furthermore, the Marigold flower (representing pain and grief) and the Cypress (representing death, mourning, despair, and sorrow) were completely black. Pitch black (beyond extreme).
Next he examined the memories flowing down the waterfall.
He saw happy memories. Ramen at Ichiraku was the most frequent but there were others. Cloud watching, training, traveling, Sealing Arts, the Hokage Tower, Konoha in sunset.
He saw the neutral memories. Sitting in a cramped apartment, failing to learn a new jutsu, D-rank missions, waiting for someone.
Then he saw the bad memories. They were horrifying memories. Beatings as a child, angry accusations of ‘demon’ and ‘monster’, being shunned and ignored, a hand shoving a spherical attack into his chest (so that’s what caused the scar), bloody figures of dead comrades, torture and rape in a dank cave, the overwhelming collision of loss and despair.
There was so much more bad than good (pain cuts deeper). Inokazu realized only the bad memories showed other people, though unrecognizable; meaning good memories were foundations upon which happiness was built, while the bad were individual, stabbing, piercing events which created incisions that rarely healed. Just like the beautiful mindscape with objects of darkness spotting the space but never bleeding out to mix with the good.
But he looked around the mindscape again. It was still beautiful. Peaceful.
“Uzuhara-san, what do you fear most?” Inokazu asked the boy watching glumly.
The sky bled red and smell of blood permeated the air. “Losing my precious people.” Naruto answered, eyes shadowed by blond hair. Images of corpses flickered on the landscape which had become bare (empty). “Being alone.”
“What do you consider most important?”
The sky turned grey and cloudy, rain began to pelt down at them in the empty space. “My precious people.” Naruto answered with a face twisted in anguish and pain (perhaps betrayal or loss?).
“What happened in your last mission?” Inokazu asked urgently.
The rain stopped and a crisp, fresh breeze circled the two (it started well). But then the clouds became thicker and the temperature dropped. Rain, thunder, and lightening ripped the sky before the winds formed a hurricane. Trees toppled, the waterfall crashed violently, and the ground flooded in torrents (devastating failure). Slowly, the weather calmed back to drizzling rain from turbulent black clouds, but the damage remained (mourning). “I was doing so well, but I messed up. I messed up really badly. And I lost everything. Everything but one. Now I have to rebuild my life and protect the new…but I don’t know if I can do it right.” Naruto sobbed.
“What is that one remaining?”
The flood receded behind the large columns and the damage began to knit back together through the warm red haze which now wrapped around them. “My eternal companion.” His shoulders lost their tension and a tiny smile graced his exhausted face.
“Who is this eternal companion?”
“My dear friend, brother, father, partner, protector, and mentor.”
“I thought you said one.” Inokazu furrowed his brow in confusion.
“He is only one.” Naruto insisted.
Inokazu decided to let it go. “How do you deal with stress?
The red haze curled tighter around Naruto like a warm blanket. The damage to the surroundings had been fully restored, and the red mist dissipated as the mindscape returned to its peaceful state (so, with help from his ‘eternal companion’).
“What makes you happy?”
Naruto gave a dazzling smile but offered no words.
Inokazu knew he would receive no further answers and nodded. He walked towards the tall white columns.
“You can’t go in here.” A line of many Narutos blocked his way.
“Why not?”
“This is my room. Don’t you see the ‘No Adults Allowed’ sign?” He said defiantly as a rebellious teen would to his parent. He only now noticed the large red sign with the words written in a messy scrawl. “Geez, adults these days. Always snooping around my stuff.” A fuzzy image of Minato taking his Hunter uniform from the laundry room appeared to the side. It wasn’t a memory but a conjured idea of what Minato must have done.
“Your room?” Inokazu asked with an amused smile.
“That’s right. My room.” The Narutos all echoed as one possessive voice.
“Uzuhara-san, I need to examine what lies behind it.”
“But you already saw me.” They all frowned. “You don’t need to see anything else.”
“It’s important that I see all of you.”
“I bet you just want to see my embarrassing moments and show them to Namikaze.” Their frowns turned into glares. “Why should I hand you blackmail material? They’ll all laugh at me forever.”
“They wouldn’t do th–”
“Yes they would! Why would you need to see me get turned down by a girl or tripping into mud or masturbating?” One Naruto said indignantly.
Inokazu shifted uncomfortably. “Well…”
Another Naruto replied. “So it’s like that? You want to see me suffer through hearing about the Birds and the Bees? Four times! You really want to know?” Naruto didn’t give the embarrassed man any chance to interject. “I’ll tell you what happened, but you can’t tell Namikaze or the old man. Promise? Good. I fainted twice! Then I couldn’t look at girls for months. For a few weeks I thought I’d turned gay!”
From the look on the Yamanaka’s red face, Naruto knew it would take just one more push. “If you get to see mine, you have to show me yours,” a third Naruto said gravely.
The mindwalker sputtered. “No, no. That’s quite alright. I believe we are finished here. Thank you for your cooperation.” He hurried back out of the door and phased out of Naruto’s mind.
The line of Narutos burst out laughing.
‘Well done, kit. You successfully came out appearing sane and probably scarred the man. He will never be able to give his teenage son The Talk now.’ Kyuubi materialized behind him.
‘I can’t believe it worked. Isn’t he supposed to be part of the Torture & Interrogation team?’ Only one Naruto remained. ‘I based that whole act off of Kiba’s stories about his mom. Do all kids really put up stupid signs like that?’
‘I cannot give you an answer. I know less about human children than you.’
‘I also didn’t know I could change your shape by will.’ He eyed Kyuubi’s large shape with mischief. ‘You should have told me before.’
‘You know now, but do refrain from using it without my permission. It was ghastly being a mouse.’ Kyuubi’s mouth drew back in a snarl.
Naruto snorted a laugh. “I get it, I get it. Remember? I’ve Henged into one before.”
Kyuubi gently brushed Naruto with a tail. ‘It is time to wake. Your humans are waiting.’
He opened his eyes to three pairs of concerned eyes. “Uhh, hi?”
“Finally awake?” Minato grinned in relief. “Are you alright?”
“Well, now that you have regained consciousness, we shall discuss the findings,” the Hokage announced.
“Wait, what?” Naruto turned confused eyes to Sarutobi. “What do you mean by ‘discuss’.”
“It is the immediate analysis of your mind for the most thorough evaluation of your psyche.”
“But…we never had to do that before!” Naruto exclaimed in dismay.
“It is a required part of this assessment since it is your first.” Sarutobi stated with finality. “This is not up for debate.”
“You…this…I…” Naruto’s head dropped to his chest. After several deep breaths, he looked back at them with hardened eyes. “I accept, but only between Yamanaka-san and Sandaime-Jijii.”
“I am sorry, Naruto, but you require at least three witnesses. Minato-kun will join us.”
He blanched. “Why does it have to be him?”
“We wish to keep knowledge of you between as few people as possible, especially results of your mental examination.”
The distraught blond snarled. “Fine! Let’s get started then!”
The three of them began with Inokazu describing the setting. The other two were shocked at his report and comparison between Naruto’s mindscape and all other minds. They were again shocked at Naruto’s terrible experiences.
The Hunter-nin looked away, unable to stomach their reactions.
Sarutobi worried about the darkness integrated into his neutral mind but was relieved to find that overall, he was stable. When they reached the results of the questioning, Sarutobi’s worries returned even stronger than before, but he understood the cause and couldn’t blame Naruto for feeling as such. Insanity was different from mourning, and Naruto was just mourning.
He would be fine.

Minato sat against a boulder in ANBU Training Ground 4, staring blankly at the damage he and Naruto done to the field. He had barely spoken since Naruto’s mental evaluation.
He had known the Hunter-nin was traumatized; it was obvious from the first night. But he didn’t expect it to be this bad. To suffer to save those he cared for, and then to lose them anyway.
Life was cruel.
The entire day had been one shock after another. So much for getting to know the guy; now he had even more questions than before. Uzuhara Naruto was a never-ending mystery. He popped into his life merely one week ago, disrupting his sleep and turning him into a stalker. He had never before lost this much sleep in between missions. There was too much stuff cycling around in his head, and today just added more.
Minato wondered where Naruto went. He had disappeared again, looking exhausted and empty. There was a resigned air about him as the kid listened to the mindwalker expose his secrets, like he had given up caring after having them dredged up one too many times.
Minato studied the evidence of their battle. That was where he first got blown up. Over there was where he trapped Naruto and felt the ferocity of his chakra. And that huge indentation was where Gamabunta shook with laughter. What was up with that? He was as clueless now as before.
The ANBU Captain sighed.
Uzuhara Naruto.
Naruto.
He sighed again. Thinking was doing him no good. He wanted to help. He’d wanted to help since the first moment he felt the grieving chakra. But here he was, thinking and doing nothing. What had Naruto said?
“I believe hard work trumps innate genius.”
Naruto was right. He needed to act if he wanted to get anything done. Minato stood up tall, filled with renewed determination. He gathered what he knew about the elusive Hunter-nin and headed off to the Forest of Death.

Minato arrived at a wide clearing. From the scorch marks and freshly bulldozed trees, it looked like a recent renovation. Naruto.
His target was lying in the very center, alone as Yamanaka-san had described him to be. He looked so small and frail, on his back, arms placed haphazardly, and staring expressionlessly up at nothing. Was this really the man who had matched him blow for blow? That Naruto seemed to have sunk somewhere into his mind while leaving this soul-weary boy in his place.
“Namikaze.” Naruto made no attempt at politeness. “What do you want?”
“I wanted to see if you’re alright.” Minato approached carefully. He didn’t want the him to bolt like he had done before. If Naruto escaped now, there would be no way to find him again. His chakra control now was just that good.
“I’m fine.” A flat answer from a flat voice. “Go away.”
Minato ignored the request to sit next to him. After several minutes of silence, he imitated Naruto and lied on his back, facing up at what Naruto was looking at.
“What do you see?” Minato whispered.
“I don’t know.” An even quieter response. “Am I supposed to see something?”
“I guess I don’t know either.”
Silence blanketed them again. It was silence in nature, surrounded by rustling leaves, chirping insects, the hoot of an owl; but it was silence in their bones.
After what seemed like hours, Minato turned his head towards the other. He didn’t comment on what he saw.
Tears as silent as their surroundings trickled from the corner of Naruto’s eye and into his hair.
Minato didn’t move his eyes away from the heartbreaking but ethereal vision before him. He couldn’t describe why, but Naruto looked like someone from beyond this world. Even without learning of his past, something about him hinted that Naruto had seen it all and done it all. Maybe it was the wisdom which occasionally flashed through those eyes. Or perhaps it was the wrinkles on his forehead. Maybe it was the way his eyes flickered around him wherever he was, as if expecting to find something suspicious.
Minato moved his hand to brush against Naruto’s, offering silent support and acceptance.
“I should be admitted to a mental asylum.” Naruto whispered gloomly. “I think there was one near my old apartment.”
Minato didn’t answer, sensing there were more words to come.
“I used to think I was supposed to be alone. Why else would people be angry when they saw me?” Naruto was silent for another few minutes. “But then someone told me I didn’t have to. I think I was nine.”
Minato’s heart clenched.
“And then I met more people that said the same thing. So I started believing them.”
Naruto turned his head to stare hauntingly into Minato’s eyes.
“But I hurt them just by being alive.”
More tears escaped those blue eyes filled with self-hatred and regret.
“Then the hell ended and those of us who survived found happiness in each other.”
An almost unnoticeable smile appeared and the pain in those eyes was replaced by a dreamy glaze. He was remembering.
Minato replied with a kind smile of his own.
“Did you know? It takes around a month to forge a quality sword.”
Minato shifted his head to signal a ‘no’, unconcerned by the abrupt change in topic.
“My second teacher taught me how to make one.” His eyes cleared and stared again, this time sharply, into Minato’s. “He walked me through each step.”
Naruto grimaced, but the eyes filled with more tears and even more regret. “I still have the katana, but I lost my wakizashi.” He took a deep, shuddering breath. “It was so precious…”
Minato waited patiently and unmoving through the pause.
“He helped me carve the sheath.” He let out a long, shuddering breath. “But now it will be forever empty, and my katana forever alone.”
A sob tore through the clearing. Minato knew Naruto was talking about more than just the pair of swords. He grasped the smaller hand next to his own.
“I want it back, but it’s long gone.” A strangled choke squeezed between two sobs.
Minato turned on his side and spoke for the first time since the heartbroken boy began his story.
“Can you teach me to forge my own sword?”
Naruto’s breath hitched and another wave of tears filled his eyes.
He didn’t answer.
But finally after a long, long silence, Naruto averted his eyes back towards the star-filled sky and gave Minato’s warm hand a tiny squeeze.
Naruto didn’t see the blinding smile, but he felt Minato’s gratitude by an answering squeeze. This time the warmth didn’t loosen its hold.
Another sob slipped out of Naruto’s lips, followed by another, and another until he was unable to hold back the shudders racking his body.
Minato tugged gently on the connecting arm.
Naruto responded immediately by shifting towards the other man and curling up against the warm body, seeking another’s heat to ease his loneliness.
Carefully, Minato wrapped his arms around the sobbing, trembling body and held him close, tightening his arms whenever an especially violent sob escaped.
Minato didn’t notice before, but now with Naruto tucked under his chin, he could clearly feel how much narrower his frame was compared to his own, though Naruto would never be described as delicate. Instead, his wiry body held incredible strength, enough to counter in a fight the power from his own body, half a head taller than Naruto’s average height.
No, definitely not delicate, neither in body nor mind.
Eventually, the sobs died down and the trembling faded. Naruto’s gasping calmed to slow, steady breaths. The boy’s hands remained clenching his light grey ANBU vest, grip tightening even more each time Minato shifted from discomfort.
Naruto nuzzled into the crook of the man’s neck and mumbled softly, “…thanks, Mi…na…to…”
Joyful wonder swelled from within as Minato smiled serenely into the night.

A/N: Er…well, the shadow clones didn’t have much of a showing…sorry Narutos! But very unexpectedly, Gamabunta made a surprise visit and may be staying for a while. I wonder how he’ll fit (pun intended).
It didn’t turn out as I had planned, but that happens from time to time, or always…
Next chapter: hopefully we’ll start Naruto’s – and Akashiori’s – life for real this time, and maybe some political unrest?
May 18, 2012
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Escape Artist	By : sanlashix Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 4980 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto; not making any money from this.

Escape Artist