3 Chapter 3: A Broken Heart

The sun slowly rised in the sky and brightened the atmosphere with its warmth. The darkness of the night faded with the shiny rays of the sun which spread quickly in all the directions.

The sun is a symbol of hope, a symbol of light.

It marked the end of despair and the beginning of happiness.

In a small room, a blonde haired boy slept peacefully in his comfortable bed. He had a peaceful smile on his face.

He was none other than Naruto Namikaze Uchiha.

The son of the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze and Mikoto Uchiha. Life had been quite beautiful for this little boy.

The 5 year old little boy heard small footsteps coming towards his way, even in his half asleep state he could feel the presence of this person. He didn't know why, but he could always recognize other people near him, even if they were not visible.

The person then slowly climbed on his bed and was inching closer to him.

Naruto could feel the happiness that this person was radiating.

"Here it comes" thought Naruto with a cute smile.

"NII-CHAN!"

Naruto's ears cringed a bit on hearing this loud voice, one of these days he would give the person a good lesson on manners.

"Then again I can't do that to my ototo" thought Naruto happily

He slowly opened his innocent black eyes and saw the person who had disturbed his peaceful sleep.

It was his younger brother Itachi Namikaze Uchiha.

Itachi was a small 3 year old boy, he had black spiky hair and blue eyes. His face was very similar to their father, though he looked like a chibi.

"How many times have I told you not to shout?" asked Naruto kindly

He loved Itachi more than anyone in his family, even more than his mother. Itachi was his younger brother and was the joy of Naruto's life.

Itachi pouted and crossed his arms over his small chest. Naruto smiled a little on the antics of his younger brother, he was always very cute.

"You..angry..." mumbled Itachi with a pout. The 3 year old was finding it difficult to speak more than a few words.

Naruto chuckled and brought his little hand forward and poked Itachi on his forehead.

"Sorry about that" said Naruto with a warm smile

"Hn" said Itachi with a proud look.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Itachi's unique behavior, both of them stared at each other for a few minutes but then started laughing loudly.

Naruto embraced Itachi in a warm brotherly hug, this was the way his day usually started.

"Niichan...Kaa-chan" said Itachi trying to convey the message.

Naruto understood what his younger brother was trying to say. Mikoto must have sent Itachi to wake him up while she prepared breakfast for the family. Their father would usually be reading the newspaper of the village.

"Alright, let me get ready." said Naruto and slowly got up from the bed.

Itachi followed him as quickly as his little legs could take him. Naruto was a little intrigued, usually after waking him up Itachi would run back to their mother, but today he was following him instead.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at Itachi, he definitely needed something from him.

"Alright what do you need, and don't lie." said Naruto strictly

Itachi just gave him a small sheepish smile and looked at him innocently.

"Niichan...I..want...foxychan" requested Itachi and pointed his small finger at Naruto's shelf, there were a lot of toys there.

A smile came on his face when he saw that fox.

(Flashback)

A 3 year old Naruto was right now in a toy shop of Konoha. Mikoto was holding him in her arms, it was his birthday and as such he wanted something. She was very eager to give her son a gift.

Mikoto was having a radiant smile on her face, she was quite happy when she saw the most biggest smile on her son's face while he was looking at the toys.

Naruto was her life, she loved him the most in the world. It had been a few months since she had given birth to her younger son Itachi. As a result she was not able to spend as much time with Naruto like before.

It did pain her but she knew Itachi needed her more right now.

Surprisingly Naruto was quite thoughtful and smart, he accepted Itachi happily. Mikoto knew many children would be jealous of their younger sibling at this age. But Naruto was different.

He always tried to help her, he would always be beside Itachi. He would always be the first to run to Itachi, if he heard him crying.

In a way, Mikoto knew Naruto loved Itachi more than her. She was really proud of her elder son.

"Kaa-chan...I.." said Naruto with a dreamy look in his eyes.

"You can have anything you want my Naru-chan. After all today is my precious Sochi's birthday." said Mikoto warmly and kissed Naruto on his cheek.

"You will grow up to be a fine man Naruto-sama." said the owner of the store.

He was an old man, who had a flat wrinkled face. His hair were white but his eyes showed a lot more kindness.

Naruto looked around the store, he was feeling a lot happy. He was spending time with his mother and he loved it. His eyes then settled on a toy.

It was a small fox, it had black eyes and small ears. His body was brown skinned.

Naruto immediately loved the toy and quickly pointed his finger at the toy with an eager smile on his face.

"You want that?" asked Mikoto kindly

"Hm..Hm" said Naruto enthusiastically

"Then you will have to do something for Kaa-chan too." said Mikoto with a smirk

"But..." said Naruto innocently

"No buts Naru-chan.." said Mikoto playfully

Naruto pouted a little, Mikoto and the owner of the store exchanged a knowing look. Naruto contemplated his choices, he really wanted that toy.

After a few moments of thinking, he nodded. Mikoto was giggling when she saw how thoughtful Naruto was.

"Alright, give Kaa-chan a kiss and that toy is yours." said Mikoto and laughed softy

A wide smile came on Naruto's face as he understood Mikoto's message. He happily kissed his lovely mother on her cheek earning a soft smile from her.

Naruto loved her smile, it was one of the most beautiful things in the world for him.

"Okay, now you can have it." said Mikoto and paid the owner.

The man gave a kind smile in return and handed the toy to Naruto. Words couldn't describe how happy the boy felt.

"Kaa-chan.." said Naruto happily and hugged her lovingly

Mikoto kindly patted her son's back, her eyes were a little moist. She embraced her son lovingly.

"I love you, my Naru-chan"

(Flashback end)

A warm smile came on Naruto's face as he remembered that memory. His mother was truly something else, she loved him and Itachi so much. Naruto couldn't understand how could she love them so much.

Naruto then looked at Itachi, he was looking at him with such hopeful eyes.

Itachi adored his big brother, he always was so kind and gentle to him, even though he put him in trouble sometimes.

"Nii-chan...I...want...foxy-chan" requested Itachi with an innocent smile

Naruto ruffled Itachi's hair lovingly and gave him a kind smile.

"Why not? Whatever I have is yours as well." said Naruto warmly with a smile

"NII-CHAN" yelled Itachi happily and hugged his big brother.

"No matter what happens I'll always love you." thought Naruto and hugged him back.

"Now then let me get ready." said Naruto calmly

"Ok" said Itachi and went to pick up his new toy.

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Minato Namikaze was sitting casually on his chair. It was just a regular morning like always. A lot of things were running through his mind.

In these past 5 years a lot had changed. He had faced a lot of difficulty during his rule as a Hokage. Since Kushina's disappearance Danzo, and the councilors had started doubting him. They even went as far as to question his ability in front of the entire council.

Minato still remembered that day.

(Flashback)

In a small room sat several people. The atmosphere was so much tensed that practically everyone was nervous.

They had a reason to be, these people were various clan heads and important military personnel of Konoha. On one side sat Danzo Shimura and his associates Homura and Koharu.

On the other side of the room sat several important clan heads like Hiashi Hyuga, Kagami Uchiha, Tsume Inuzuka, Shibi Aburame, Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka and Shikaku Nara.

In the center of the room sat Minato with the third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi by his side. The Anbu commander was on his left flank with his mask on.

"Is it true Hokage-sama?" asked Shikaku neutrally

"Hokage, have we truly lost our Jinchuriki?" asked Danzo distastefully, his voice was almost filled with venom.

"This youngster has jeopardized the village, I should have eliminated him long time ago.'' thought Danzo bitterly

"Yes, it is true and Danzo you will address me as Hokage-sama or Hokage-dono or I would cut your head off this instant and feed it to the dogs." said Minato and leaked so much KI that almost everyone couldn't breathe.

The only one who were able to withstand such KI was Hiruzen, even Danzo couldn't breathe properly.

"My apologies Hokage-sama." said Danzo without any emotion in his voice.

"It won't be enough, since we are in a crisis right now I'm enforcing military rule and overriding the council." ordered Minato

Everyone in the room was quite shocked to hear this, Minato was the most strict Hokage after Tobirama Senju. After becoming Hokage he had already removed the civilian council from all shinobi affairs, he had totally taken control over them.

He next stripped Danzo of his Root command, the shinobi of that blackops were then formerly integrated with the regular Anbu forces.

Danzo had been furious and had even tried to gather support but Minato had publicly cut off his right arm for trying to defy his order. But Danzo was an important man and since he publicly apologized for his crimes, he was spared and given a seat on the council as an adviser. However everyone knew Danzo practically had no power now. This made the man furious but he would wait to take further actions.

Minato didn't also believe in the Third Hokage's pacifist tendencies, he wanted peace in the shinobi world but not at the cost of Konoha.

Minato changed the entire shinobi system of Konoha.

He formed various divisions of special forces, like the Barrier Teams which were tasked with protecting the village and borders of fire country.

The Anbu forces were almost doubled after the third shinobi war because of integration of Root Anbu forces. Almost every Anbu was specialized in one art like infiltration, recon, espionage, assassination, tactical and guerrilla warfare.

Konoha suffered great causalities in the third great ninja war, as a result Minato started the medical corps under the supervision of his wife Mikoto. She was tasked with training young Kunoichi and shinobi in medical ninjutsu.

Minato also created various commands like Communication Unit, Intel Unit, Supply Unit and the Decipher Unit.

The academy was also totally changed, all the kids were properly trained from the age of 6, their skills would be recognized and they would be given advanced training in their specific arts.

Every genin team was properly balanced with a ninjutsu specialist, medic and a Genjutsu/Taijutsu specialist.

Genin teams were graduated early at the age of 8 and sent to Boot camp for war training.

Konoha had the largest and the most lethal military force in the entire shinobi world. All of this was possible was due to Minato's efforts.

However such achievements didn't come at a cost, Minato never spent time with his elder son Naruto, he wanted to be there for his son but his duties as Hokage always got in the way.

It was as if Naruto was born with a bad luck, because Minato was able to spend time with Itachi as he was born few years later and the village had stabilized and become powerful back again.

Due to Kushina's loss, Minato had to make sure the other villages didn't get the information that Konoha didn't possess a Jinchuriki. He had practically made Jiraya do all the work.

He had tried to hide Kushina's disappearance for 4 years but now he couldn't anymore.

"How long has she been missing?" asked Hiashi Hyuga seriously

Minato looked at that man, the Hyuga clan had started acting a lot more suspicious since he married Mikoto. They had even offered one of their finest brides to marry Minato, but Minato had curtly refused it.

The Hyuga clan saw it as an insult as the Uchiha had now more power in the council, Minato knew something was wrong and they were already on thin ice. The Hyuga was a very proud clan, one would say they had a stick up their ass. The Hyuga and The Uchiha always were bitter towards each other and when Minato married Mikoto they thought that the Uchiha's had more power but that was not true.

Minato's main reason for marrying Mikoto was because he loved her. Also due to this marriage, the isolation of the Uchiha clan which had begun since the rule of Tobirama Senju ended. Minato now allowed the Uchiha's to join every forces of Konoha and gave them very good positions.

By doing this, he earned the trust of the Uchiha clan. They now fully supported Minato, he had indeed stopped the Uchiha's from doing something reckless, but the Hyuga were not taking it kindly.

The Uchiha still handled the Police force of Konoha but now also worked for the village. Due to this Konoha's strength increased as the world's most powerful clan was back in their forces instead of maintaining just internal affairs.

However Minato didn't do any injustice to any other clan, all of them were equally important for the village but the Hyuga wanted him to marry someone from their clan too, so that they could also gain some status but Minato didn't want to marry someone whom he didn't love.

He had explained it to Hiashi and he had begrudgingly agreed, however Minato had assigned few squads of Anbu to watch the Hyuga clan, just in case.

"She has been missing for some time. The details are classified with only the Anbu commander and me, I have made every efforts to find her but so far we have achieved no success." explained Minato briefly

"What were her last whereabouts?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka curiously

"She was assigned patrol duty in the norther sector of the village, she was to report at Anbu HQ after her patrol but she never showed up." said Minato seriously

"And the Anbu squad guarding her?" asked Tsume suspiciously

"They are all MIA, there is no trace of them. Its as if they have been wiped away from the face of the earth." said Minato irritatingly

"Its must have been Kumo, they had tried to abduct her in the past." said Choza angrily.

"We have not confirmed it yet, Jiraya-sensei has been searching for her all over the nations and so far he has not found involvement of any hidden village in this incident." explained Minato briefly

"What should we do now Hokage-sama, without our Jinchuriki we would be pretty vulnerable, despite Kushina-san's boisterous behavior, she was one of the most strongest kunouichi of our village rivaled only by Mikoto-sama and Tsunade-sama. It could be she left the village on her own choice." said Shibi logically

Many council members shivered in fear, Kushina was not someone you would like as an enemy. She was the last Uzumaki and was powerful enough to keep the kyubi in control. Her ninja skills were Kage-level, if she had turned against Konoha, then they would be in deep trouble as she was the Jinchuriki of the strongest and the most fearsome Biju of the world.

If the Kyubi was unleashed then...

Minato sensed the fear in the people and it was justifiable. He was also highly tensed, Jiraya had reported that there were some fishy talks going between Iwa and Kumo too.

He knew Iwa detested Konoha for their humiliating defeat in the third great ninja war, Kumo definitely wanted the Byakugan and the Sandaime Raikage would try to get it at any cost.

Suna was recovering from their losses, right now they were Konoha's allies, but Minato knew there was no such thing as alliance between hidden villages during the war.

Kiri was in a civil war right now, a rebellion had been started against the Yondaime Mizukage, he was eliminating all the bloodline clans. Reports were saying he had gone mad, and was receiving support from Kumo on the condition that they would give them a bunch of the bloodline shinobi for their research.

All in all, the world was in chaos,

And was heading towards the Fourth Great Ninja war, even though no one could see it right now. Minato knew that within a year or two war would be at Konoha's doorsteps.

Plus there had been news of a new organization called the Akatsuki, right now they were being hired by Iwa and were small timers, but it only takes one spark to light a deadly fire that would burn down everything.

Minato looked at all the members of the council, only Shikaku, Hiruzen, Koharu, Homura, and Shibi had the same look as him on their faces. They must atleast have come to the conclusion that things were going to get worse from now on.

But still Minato knew he had to be strong, he knew his people needed him. Even though Kushina was his best friend, he would do what was right as the fourth Hokage of the leaf village.

"Kushina Uzumaki is now labelled an S-rank missing nin, if any of you are to encounter her she must be brought back to the village alive. We cannot lose the Kyubi." instructed Minato strictly

"Hai" said all the members in unison

"This information will not be put in the bingo book, only you people are entitled with such sensitive information. If I find any of you have broken this rule.." said Minato and leaked so much KI that almost all the wooden desks in the room cracked, the elders were already on the verge of fainting, all the clan heads were sweating badly, even Hiruzen, Danzo and the Anbu's commander's heartbeat had increased a lot.

"I WILL KILL YOU AS WELL AS YOUR ENTIRE CLAN." said Minato dangerously with his fierce blue eyes sending a clear message to everyone in the room.

No one messes with the Fourth Hokage of Konoha.

(Flashback end)

A tired sigh escaped from Minato's lips, his intuition was true, things had indeed gone worse. Iwa and Kumo had formed an alliance a few months back, with the aim of increasing border trades which will benefit both the villages.

"Border trade, my ass." thought Minato with a frown

They were strengthening their military, and were preparing for a war. What they wanted from such a futile war was pointless, but there was going to be a lot of bloodshed soon.

Minato's azure eyes went up to a photo frame. A small smile came on his face, it was their family photo. He was standing in his Hokage robes, one of his arms was around Mikoto's waist. She was wearing her Jounin vest and black pants, she was holding Itachi in her arms. There was a wide smile on Itachi's small face, while Naruto stood between him and Mikoto with a very faint smile on his face. Minato and Mikoto both had one of their hands on his shoulders.

Naruto was a very unique child, and Minato had known this from the very beginning.

Naruto was a sensitive child, his sense of thinking was clearly more advanced than anyone his age. At the age of 4 his sense of thinking was on par with a teenager.

Minato was very sad as he couldn't spend much time with him and he had started noticing the change in Naruto's behavior.

When he was of Itachi's age he would always try to get Minato's attention, at times he would also demand to spend time with him. But due to Kushina's disappearance and the rising tension between the villages, Minato used to spend almost all the time at the office and increasing Konoha's military force in order to protect the village.

Mikoto did try to fill in his role but nothing could overcome the lack of a father in Naruto's life.

Naruto gradually became very silent and started to talk less with him with each passing day. He was never disrespectful or showed any hatred towards Minato, he just was indifferent.

It was as if he didn't care about Minato anymore.

Minato was very proud of Naruto, he never blamed Itachi for Minato's mistakes, he cared about his mother and family. He was always the first to wish him on his birthday, though he only just said "Happy Birthday" and went off but that was enough for Minato.

It showed that there was still hope and he could still get his elder son back.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he felt a pair of soft hands encircle him from his back. He knew who this person was.

"If you worry so much, you'll grow old soon." said Mikoto softly

"Nah, I'll never grow old. I'm still the most handsome man in this village." said Minato jovially

"Getting cocky are we?" asked Mikoto with an amused tone.

Minato just gave another tired sigh, he gave Mikoto a signal to sit. She slowly came around and sat in a chair beside him and put her hands on his hands.

"What's troubling you?" asked Mikoto worriedly

"Naruto" said Minato sadly

"Did he do something?" asked Mikoto curiously

"No, he didn't do anything. You know what I mean..." said Minato tiredly

Mikoto gave a nod, she understood what he was thinking. The relationship between her husband and elder son was strained to say in the least.

Both of them were right in their own perspective. Minato couldn't spend time with Naruto as many things were happening and he had to look after the village more. She was heartbroken when Kushina had gone missing, a part of her blamed herself for Kushina's fate but another part of her wanted her to be strong for her two lovely sons.

Naruto was disheartened all these years as Minato was never there, Minato couldn't even spend more time with her too. But since the village had become stable again and things were looking good in the shinobi world for a while, Minato was now spending more time with the family and Itachi.

She knew Naruto didn't hate his father, it was far from it. He was just disappointed in Minato.

Most of all her elder son had a very mysterious personality. He didn't care much about making friends, he just liked to spend more time with his family. He was usually very quite and only spoke when necessary.

"As his father, you think I would understand him but I clearly don't know how I can get him back. He probably hates me." said Minato sadly

"That's not true Minato-kun, he just isn't sure about his feelings. Even though he is smart, he is still a kid. Kids are like that at this age." explained Mikoto with a smile

"I am really proud of him Mikoto-chan, I'm really happy that Naruto and Itachi get along with each other." said Minato proudly

"He loves his younger brother more than us." said Mikoto warmly

"I am not going to give up, I will help my son in every way possible and make up for my lack of presence in his life for all these years." said Minato with determination

"Now that's my Minato. I'll help you too." said Mikoto with a smile

Minato leaned forward and kissed Mikoto softly on her lips. She kissed him back more lovingly.

"What would I ever do without you?" asked Minato softly

They were interrupted from their little romance when they heard two voices.

"I told you not to jump Baka. Now you're hurt." came Naruto's irritated voice

Mikoto immediately got worried and got up to rush to the stairs from where the voice was coming. However Minato stopped her, she looked at him harshly but he just told her to sit down and watch.

"But Niichan, I wanted you to see how much high I can jump on your bed." came Itachi's cute voice

"(sigh) You were lucky you just fell on the bed, what would have happened if you fell on the ground?" asked Naruto sternly

"Sorry" said Itachi silently.

Both Naruto and Itachi entered the kitchen and were quite surprised when they saw both of their parents were sitting together and were watching them.

Itachi was sitting on Naruto's back and had his legs wrapped around Naruto's waist. Minato gave a smile in return to his sons, while Mikoto was a little worried and immediately came towards them.

"What happened?" asked Mikoto worriedly and knelt in front of her sons.

Naruto put Itachi down and Mikoto noticed he had a sore ankle, she gave him a very stern glare.

"Itachi-kun, what have I told you?" asked Mikoto strictly

"To not jump." said Itachi sheepishly

Mikoto just sighed on her younger son's antics. He really was a handful and always got himself in trouble, he was the exact opposite of his older brother.

"Let's get you healed." said Mikoto softly and picked up Itachi and went towards the medicine shelf.

Naruto just had an amused smile on his face, he then noticed Minato looking at him.

"Naruto, come here. Spend some time with me." said Minato happily

Naruto's eyebrows twitched a bit when he heard those words. All those times he asked his father to spend time with him and he had refused saying he was busy.

And now after 3 years his father finally got some time for him.

But still this was his father and he just decided to obey him and be done with it. He didn't hate his father, but still it pained him every time he remembered the past.

He silently went and sat beside Minato, moments passed but he didn't utter a word, it was as if there was nothing to say.

Minato noticed his son's feelings, Naruto now just called him "Tou-sama" and not "Tou-chan".

"I will not back down." thought Minato firmly

"Naruto..." said Minato hesitantly

Both father and son rarely talked with each other, and this was a rare time when they both were alone. Either Itachi or Mikoto were always around whenever they were near each other.

"Yes, Tou-sama." said Naruto neutrally

Minato's heart broke a little when he heard his voice and those words. He really had pushed away his elder son, the village was safe for now but things had went downhill with him and Naruto.

He wanted to know his son, his likes, his dislikes, his dreams and ambitions.

"What is your dream Naruto?" asked Minato kindly with a smile

Naruto just wanted to say he didn't have one and end the talk, but somehow a part of him wanted to say something. He looked at his father briefly for a few moments.

The man definitely wanted to talk with him.

"Damn my kind heart." thought Naruto frustratingly

"I only want to protect my brother, that's all." said Naruto silently, his voice had a little doubt in it. It was as if he didn't consider himself strong enough.

"That's a noble dream you have there son. I'm really proud of you." said Minato proudly

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when he heard his father was proud of him. A part of his heart was jumping in joy, his father was proud of him!

Minato sensed Naruto's surprise, he gave him a kind smile and patted his head.

"Naruto, I know I was not there for you for quite sometime but I really love you. You are my first child, my duties as a Hokage got in the way but I really want to spend time with you. Can you atleast give me one chance?" requested Minato kindly with a smile

Naruto looked at his father sadly, he didn't know how much Minato had hurted him. A part of him just wanted to say fuck off and be done with it but he really wanted to spend time with his father.

"I can't just treat him like this. Maybe he really wants to spend time with me? Maybe he does love me too like Itachi? Maybe I'm not just a disappointment to him?" thought Naruto curiously

He then immediately disposed off such thoughts, he knew his father must be doing this out of pity and Naruto never wanted anyone's pity.

"You don't have to do this Tou-sama, I know you must have more important work to do rather than spend time with me." said Naruto sadly

Minato looked at his son sadly, he knew he had to let his son speak freely.

"You probably hate me huh?" asked Minato calmly, his voice had an understanding tone in it.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise, he didn't mean it that way.

"I don't hate you Tou-sama...but..." said Naruto hesitantly

Minato put a hand on his son's shoulders in order to give him some comfort, Naruto looked at him for a moment. He had to tell his father the truth, telling lies wouldn't do good for any of them.

"Speak freely" said Minato kindly with a smile

"Its just I cannot forget the past. You were never there for me, I wanted to spend time with you so many times but you always said you were busy. I know you are the Hokage...I don't hate you...but.." said Naruto hesitantly

Minato understood what his son was feeling, he didn't blame Naruto for a bit. He knew what he might hear now would break his heart but he had to endure this as he had caused his son so much pain.

"I just don't care about you anymore." said Naruto sadly

Naruto then got up from the table and silently walked away from the room, leaving behind a broken and wide eyed Minato.

A lone tear slipped from Minato's eyes, he really was feeling very sorry for causing his son so much pain. He knew Naruto wouldn't say such a thing if someone had not pushed him up to his limit.

"What am I supposed to do?"