Chapter 60

Last Time:

'I promise you Naruto, we will not fail you.' Minato and Kushina silently pledged to themselves.

That Night:

Minato and Kushina were in the Namikaze Estate, sitting at the dinner table and eating a quiet dinner. Neither had anything to say, as both were immersed in their thoughts and feelings about the afternoon's events, particularly their encounter with their estranged eldest son. It was when they had arrived home a couple of hours ago that the currently somber atmosphere began to hang over them.

~ Flashback ~

They entered their home tiredly, wanting to do little more than lay down and rest. When they passed through the living room, however, Kushina gasped as a tear fell from her eye, a long-buried memory coming back to her. "What is it, honey?" Minato asked in concern. Kushina pointed to a corner in the living room, "That spot right there…" she began, "…that's the last place I remember seeing Naruto standing inside this house." Minato flinched at her response. He looked at the spot she was pointing at while she walked up to it. She knelt beside the area she was referring to and rubbed the carpeting with her hand. Keeping her hand there, she began to weep once more.

As Minato moved towards her to try to comfort her, she sprung up and ran up the stairs, Minato following her in an attempt to calm her down. When she got to the door of the storage room, she opened it up and entered. By the time Minato caught up with her, Kushina was clawing the walls, scratching white paint off of the walls to reveal orange paint underneath it. "This was Naruto's room!" she lamented as she stopped clawing, collapsed to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably once more. Minato ran to her and knelt beside her, wrapping his arms around her in an effort to comfort her."Oh, Kami, Hiruzen was right! I am a monster!" she wailed through her sobs.

"We both were, Kushi-chan…" Minato offered as tears of his own began to fall, "…but he's given us a chance to be part of his life now, and he's willing to be part of ours, too. He's a much better man than you or I; let's just…try to be thankful for his generous spirit, okay?"Kushina simply nodded as she continued to weep, until finally she had gotten it all out of her system. Minato had decided to take it upon himself to prepare dinner for the two of them.

(Flashback End)

"Kushi-chan?" Minato spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over the house. Kushina looked up at him to show him he had her attention. "I've been thinking…" Minato began, "…there's still a lot more for us to say to Naruto, and we need to do it before he leaves the village." "What do you mean?" Kushina asked somewhat nervously. "I think you know what I mean, honey," he answered evenly, "I mean that…we still haven't really taken full ownership for everything we've done." Minato admitted. "But he said he'd give us a chance…" Kushina began.

"…and I don't want to blow that chance by holding anything back from him," Minato finished, effectively interrupting her. "Well…alright…" Kushina said, "…so what do we need to do, then?" Minato looked directly at her, "We need to start by really apologizing to him, regardless of his reactions, and we need to be specific about it." Minato said."But we already have…" Kushina began again, only to be interrupted once more. "Kushina, you didn't actually apologize to him for anything. You admitted that you did some things, but that was it, and even then, he had to pretty much force it out of you. You didn't even acknowledge that those things were wrong, and you certainly didn't apologize to him for it."

Kushina grew silent. After a few moments, she brought her hands up to her arms and began to shiver. In a quivering voice, she spoke up, "I…don't know if I can…". "KUSHINA!" Minato yelled out in indignation. "I'm scared that telling him the whole truth will be what makes him never want to see us again!" Kushina immediately fired back, "And I can't bear that!"Minato sighed and responded, his voice noticeably more calm, "Kushina, he already knows the truth. You know that. But I think that at the very least, he deserves to know that we understand and realize the sheer magnitude of just what it was we did to him." Kushina continued to stare at him with fearful eyes, "I'm scared, Minato."

"Kushina, this isn't about you," Minato told her firmly, "This is about Naruto AND Hiruzen. This is about doing what's right…by them!" He stated."I know…" Kushina responded softly, "…I know." Minato sighed. "Kushina, do you want to build a relationship with Naruto?" Minato asked. Of course, I do!" Kushina quickly responded. "What are you willing to do in order to do that?" Minato asked. "I already told him that I'd do whatever I had to, even defy the heavens and kill the gods themselves if that's what it took!" she fired right back. "Are you willing to stop living in denial to do it?" Minato asked, causing Kushina to pause and gasp. He continued, "Are you willing to take stock of everything we've done to him, and show enough humility to really apologize to him without making excuses or telling him lies?"

Kushina teared up once more before Minato asked his final question, "Are you willing to come out of your own protective little world and face the reality of what you've done?" The tears began to flow freely at the last question. Kushina's thoughts went back to Minato's office where Naruto had verbally lambasted both of them. She tried to remember when she had apologized to him for something she did, and the only time she had she was sorry was then she realized she couldn't justify her own claims. Minato was right – she had taken no responsibility for her wrongdoings."Yes…" Kushina answered softly, "…yes I am. No more excuses. No more lying to him. You're right, Minato-kun."Kushina finally admitted."Okay, then," Minato began, "Here's what I think we need to do…"

The following day:

Naruto and Hiruzen were enjoying lunch together at Hiruzen's favorite restaurant in the entire village: The Ichiraku Ramen Stand. He was pleasantly surprised when he met the father/daughter duo who ran the stand, as they had both remembered him from when he was much younger. They also treated Hiruzen like family, and extended the same warmth and courtesy to Naruto as well. He found both of them to be very likeable people, and he seemed to blend in to their little "family" rather seamlessly. Hiruzen was currently regaling his older brother with tales of his antics and misadventures while he was in the Academy.

"So after Iruka managed to catch me, he thought I was going to have to respond to what I did to the monument. When he turned to see, it had already started raining and the paint was running off." Hiruzen finished halfway through a bite of noodles, then laughed. Naruto smirked at the few exploits his little brother. "Oh, I got a good one. Have you heard of what I did in Wave?" Naruto asked his little brother, only to get a nod in return. "Are you kidding me? That was the first time I had heard anything about you! Of course, I know what happened," Hiruzen replied with a foxy smile on his face.

"Damn, you seem to know every little detail of what I've done." Naruto mused as he took a bite of the pork cutlet in his ramen. " Well of course! I did promise I was going to find you and bring you back to the village." Hiruzen replied. "You do realize I'm not going to be staying here, right?" Naruto asked in an amused tone. "Yeah, I know…" he began sadly before perking back up, "…but hey, I already did my part. I found my big bro and I got him back home. Whether he stays or goes at this point is up to him!" Naruto grew a large smirk as he turned to Hiruzen, "So tell me little brother, what's the deal between you and the Hyuuga girl?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

Hiruzen's face quickly lit up like a Christmas tree and he began sputtering nonsense. "What, Hinata-chan? She's just a friend from the academy." Hiruzen replied as he tried to sink into his bowl of noodles. The flaps behind them quietly parted and two figures walked in. "Oh, so it's Hinata-chan?" Naruto teased, making his brother stutter more. "It's not like that!" Hiruzen tried to argue. "'It's not like that'? Is that a Namikaze catchphrase or something, because I hear all three of you saying that a lot?" he fired back with a chuckle. "Come on Naruto-kun, you shouldn't tease your little brother." A soft voice said next to his ear as a pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist. He turned to see Yugito holding him and Samui ordering a bowl of Miso Ramen.

"Yeah, Naruto-kun. You have no grounds to tease," Samui chipped in happily while wrapping her own arms around Hiruzen's front from the back, causing him to stiffen and blush. Naruto raised a curious eyebrow at Samui, who answered the unspoken question, "What? He's your little brother, and seeing as we're likely going to be married to you one day, that makes him our little brother, too! So why can't I love up on my adorable little brother?" as she finished, she kissed Hiruzen on the cheek and tightened her hug on him. Hiruzen, to Naruto's surprise and amusement, smirked at him.

Naruto turned and looked at his brother, raising his eyebrow even further. Hiruzen was now trying hard not to laugh his ass off. "Yeah, yeah, just get it out of your system," Naruto muttered. Hiruzen let loose a loud laugh and made hissing noises, followed by noises of a whip striking against a surface. "I am NOT whipped!" Naruto told him. "Naruto-kun, try this." Samui said as she let go of Hiruzen and offered Naruto a piece of…something wrapped in noodles. "Not now, Samui-chan." Naruto turned and told her. "If you don't try this, you have to give me a back rub later tonight." Samui said in a sing-song voice. Naruto sighed and turned to take a bite off her fork.

"Hmm…" he responded as he chewed the strange piece of food and let the flavor roll around in his mouth, "that's actually pretty good." He mused, then turned to Hiruzen again. "You still owe me that back rub…" Samui said as she went back to her noodles, making Naruto deflate. Hiruzen snickered at his big brother's expense, causing Naruto to perk up and look at Hiruzen, exclaiming victoriously, "I might be whipped, but I've got two!" Hiruzen laughed even harder as he exclaimed, "Which just means you're twice as WHIPPED!" Even Teuchi and Ayame fell to the floor laughing. Samui just smiled knowingly at Hiruzen, while Yugito walked up to him and hugged him from behind the same way Samui had, "And that's why we love our little brother!" and kissed him on his other cheek.

They heard the entrance flap ruffle as someone new entered the stand. "We've been looking for you guys." A voice said behind them. They turned to see Karui and Omoi entering the stand, followed by A. "What's up?" Naruto asked as he finished what was left of his bowl and ordered some Sushi for Yugito. "It's time for us to head back to Kumo. We've been away from the village for long enough, and Konoha seems to have finally gotten settled." A informed him. Naruto nodded and turned to his brother. "Looks like my time here is up." He mused and turned to Karui. "Karui, can you please go to the warehouse and pump a bit of chakra into the front door? That should seal it permanently." Naruto informed her.

She nodded and left. He turned to his girls and saw Samui was finished with her bowl of ramen while Yugito had her sushi in a to go box. "We better maker our way to the village gates." Naruto finished as he pulled out his wallet and turned to Ayame. "How much do I owe you, Ayame-chan?" Naruto asked. "I got this one." Hiruzen said behind him as he pulled out his frog wallet. Naruto nodded and headed out.

~ North Village Gate ~

Naruto and everyone else were walking down the village gates as a bunch of kids playing quickly ran through. Various of them were throwing small wooden kunai towards one with a scarf around his neck. Said kid had a small wooden shield he used to block the attacks. Naruto smiled and took a picture of it with the camera from his infiltration scroll. "It seems the Avengers are making a big impact." He mused to himself as he walked towards the gates. Standing at the gates waiting for them were Minato and Kushina. "Hey. What are you two doing here?" He asked curiously.

"Well, we're here for a couple of things…" Minato began, "…ermm…we know that yesterday's conversation was…difficult, to put it mildly, and we realized after the fact that…we left a lot of things unsaid that shouldn't have been. A, can you delay your departure for just a few more minutes, and Naruto, will you give us a few minutes to hear us out?" Naruto looked to A, who said, "I'm fine with it if you are." Naruto looked back at Minato and Kushina, who both looked even more desperate to talk to him then they were yesterday and answered, "Alright." The two of them led him off about twenty yards away from the Kumo delegation. When they stopped, they both turned to Naruto, who began, "Okay, so…" only to stop and gape as he saw Minato drop to his knees and lean forward with his hands on the ground, bowing in prostration to him.

Minato began in a quivering voice, "Naruto Romanov, I have wronged you in more ways than either of us will ever be able to enumerate. I am so sorry that I wrote you off as a lost cause with no potential after your accident, instead of believing in you the way a father should believe in his son. I'm sorry that I stopped being a father to you. I'm sorry for placing the importance of a clan that doesn't exist except on paper over my son, who needed his mom and dad. I'm sorry I stopped loving you when you were still here. I'm sorry I kept you from educating yourself in the shinobi arts. I'm sorry I didn't actually teach you anything else, either…" his voice began to break as it was clear he was beginning to cry, but he swallowed and continued.

"…I'm sorry that I disowned you, and wanted you out of my home. I'm sorry that it was with such a pitiful excuse as believing that Hiruzen had more potential, and for using that to justify casting out my son. I'm sorry that I didn't even care about what you did once you were out of the house. I'm sorry that I looked at you as nothing more than a means to an end as far as getting Hiruzen's love back. I'm sorry I covered up what I'd done and wrongly named you a criminal. I'm sorry for all of the scheming and treachery that I ordered to get you in for questioning…"

Minato sniffled and took a few breaths before continuing, "…But on top of that, I'm sorry for all of the lies I told you, and for all of the excuses I fed you, in an attempt to rationalize my sins against you. I'm sorry for being so cruel to you throughout all of this! I'm sorry for being so cowardly in trying to point fingers and shift blame! I'm sorry for being so arrogant in getting angry with you when you called me out on my hypocrisy, when I had absolutely no right to be! I'm sorry for not facing the truth of this sooner, and using the pain I felt for facing the truth as an excuse for that, because I know that any pain I felt couldn't begin to compare to the pain you must have felt over our betrayal of you when you did nothing to deserve it! I'm sorry, Naruto…for not appreciating what it was we did to you," and as he finished, he stood up and clasped Naruto in an embrace, while speaking quietly into Naruto's ear.

"I'm sorry". Naruto was too stunned to return it, so he just stood there until Minato let go and stepped back. Naruto, with a dumbfounded frown, could do naught but watch as Kushina then fell prostrate before him in much the same way Minato had. Naruto noticed that her fingertips were wrapped in bandages. Kushina began, her voice already having broken, "Naruto Romanov, like my husband, I've also committed too many grievous acts against you to count. I'm truly sorry for not caring for you the way a mother should. I'm sorry that I stopped loving you. I'm sorry that I kept denying it. I'm sorry that I disowned you as well. I'm so sorry that I didn't even leave room for you in my thoughts, and that I was just content to act as though you didn't exist, both before and after that night. I'm sorry that I deliberately stopped you from learning things, and I'm sorry for being so cold-hearted about it, because the true reason behind it was that I thought it would be too much trouble to try teaching you anything, and I didn't want to take time away from Hiruzen for you. I'm sorry that I didn't want you anymore, and I'm sorry…for being such a monster."

Kushina took a few moments to sob some more and sniffle as she continue her tearful apology, "I'm truly sorry for trying to get you to feel sorry for me because of my pain, when the pain I caused you was so much worse, especially when I brought mine on myself and you did no such thing. I'm sorry for having the gall to get angry with you for your accusations about whether I'd be willing to train Hiruzen to kill you if that's what he wanted. I understand that because I taught you nothing at all about anything, and I even stopped you from learning on your own, and then casting you out of my family and out of my home with no knowledge of how to live on your own…I can see how you would have thought that I might want you to die! And as much as it hurts to admit this, I didn't care at the time whether you did or not…and I'm so sorry for that. I'm so sorry for…having the sheer audacity to claim that I never stopped loving you, despite everything I've done! I'm sorry for not truly being sorry until now!"

Kushina continued to weep for several moments before leaping to her own feet and flinging herself into Naruto. Naruto, this time prepared for such a reaction, gently placed his hands on the woman's back, but didn't hold her to himself in an embrace. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" Kushina repeated gently into his ear over and over again as she continued sobbing. After several minutes of this, Kushina gently pulled away from Naruto and stepped back towards her husband, never taking her tear-stained eyes off of her former son. Naruto, in his confusion, simply stared at them and asked, "Why are you…telling me all of this, now?"

Minato, having regained control of his faculties, answered his question in a patient, contrite tone, "Because we want you to know that we…we understand and we realize just how horribly we wronged you. We want you to know how much we appreciate your generosity of spirit in giving us the chance that we so do not deserve to…build some kind of relationship with you, and we wanted to show you that we value the chance you've given us by…holding nothing back from you and coming as clean as we possibly could. We wanted to let you know all of this without making any more excuses or putting up any more facades."

Naruto continued to stare at the pair of them for a few more moments before Kushina continued, her voice still quite tear-filled, "Naruto, we're not asking for forgiveness now, either. And we came to give you more than our apologies, which I know really don't amount to much, considering…but we also made some decisions. I…" she looked at her bandaged fingers, "…I spent a good part of yesterday…scratching the paint off the walls in your old bedroom, so that we could get the orange back. We're going to refurnish the room so that…if you ever want to see Hiruzen, or if you just want to come to Konoha for a visit…that room will always be yours. Even if you'll never live here, again…you have a place in our home to call your own…and you'll always, always be welcome, there, along with anyone else you want to bring with you. Even if you can't see us as family…we're going to treat you like family whenever you're in our home the way we always should have. We don't expect you to let us be your parents again; we'll never deserve that honor…but we will love you with all we have when you're with us…and when you're not."

Minato took back over, "And if you don't wish to stay in our home, we'll gladly put you and anyone else up in the best hotel in the village; we'll pay for it all. And any time we find ourselves in Kumo, we'll bring Hiruzen with us if he's available and not out on a mission or anything. We're not after anything from you, I want you to know that. We…just want to do as right as we can by you from here forward. Is…that okay with you?" Naruto just continued to stare before regaining control of himself and answering, "Err…yeah, I suppose. Umm…thank you."

Kushina smiled sadly, "You shouldn't be thanking us, Naruto; you deserve so much more from us than this." Minato nodded in complete agreement with Kushina before adding, "But thank you…for the chance you've given us – the chance we never did give you. Naruto Romanov, you're a far better man than I, and I'm…honestly very humbled to stand before you right now." Naruto nodded in acknowledgment before Minato continued, "And aside from that, we're also here to see you off. Please remember that our home is your home whenever you're here if you want to stay with us. You'll always be welcome." Minato said. Kushina had a sad smile on her face as she approached him. She hugged him and laid a lingering kiss on his forehead.

"Please take care, Naruto…and…please don't be a stranger," she whispered, then let him go. Naruto nodded and returned to his companions. He bit his thumb and went through the hand seals for the summoning jutsu. "Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he slammed his hand into the ground. A large cloud of smoke covered him. As soon as the smoke cleared, a large bat stood beside him. "Hey. Um, who are you?" Naruto asked. "My name is Eptesicus. Orfeo-sama sent me in his stead. I am a flying bat. While I am nowhere near the strength of he, I can hold my own in an aerial fight and I make excellent transport." Eptesicus replied.

"Well, my name is Naruto, Naruto Romanov. Good to meet you!" He said in a happy tone. "Mind taking me and my friends to Kumo?" He asked slightly nervous. "Sure. You just have to ask." Eptesicus replied with a toothy smile. It had been a long time since someone treated him like a summon instead of a vehicle. It was a nice change of pace. Naruto smiled and turned to A and the rest of his team. "You guys ready to go?" He asked as he jumped up to Eptesicus' back. Everyone nodded and jumped onto his back. "Everyone, hold on!" Eptesicus said as he prepared to take off. "WAIT!" A voice resounded through the gates. Everyone turned to see a girl with long brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and twin red marks on her cheeks was running towards them.

Three large dogs followed her closely, panting as they kept up with her. "Yea?" Naruto asked the newcomer. "Are you Naruto Romanov, the Shinobi who took down the Inuzuka Matriarch and now holds the Inuzuka Twin Fangs?" she asked. "Yes, who's asking?" Naruto asked warily. The girl looked to him and spoke "My name is Hana Inuzuka, the heiress of the Inuzuka clan. I am here to retrieve the Inuzuka Twin Fangs from you." Hana said and looked at him. "Sorry, but these are mine now." Naruto replied, making her look at him with a downcast expression. She then looked at him. "Then I want to ask for your hand in marriage!" She replied, making everyone present turn to Naruto in shock. "NO I refuse ?!" Naruto said, not interested in her whatsoever.

"Please The Inuzuka Twin Fangs need to remain in the clan. It's obvious that you're leagues above my power level, so beating them out of you is out. If you aren't willing to give them up, then the only way is for me to marry you!" Hana said. Naruto turned to see Yugito and Samui staring at the Inuzuka heiress with dark looks. "Well…" Naruto began, but was quickly cut off by Samui and Yugito, "Oh no, you don't! Naruto-kun is ours!" Yugito said with a fierce glare and venom dripping from her words. "You want him, you're going to have to drag him from our cold, dead hands!" Samui added. "If anyone is going marry him, it will be us!" They both yelled in unison. "Then I'll take the both of you down!" Hana said as she and her ninja dogs got into an attack position.

"Nonsense, let's go!" Naruto yelled to Eptesicus. He quickly made a shadow clone and they both grabbed Yugito and Samui. The large bat summon quickly took off, and with a few flaps of his wings, gained enough distance from Konoha so Naruto could let go of the girls. Naruto was about to let go, but was elbowed in the face by Samui. Yugito had already dispelled the clone holding her by head butting it with the back of her head. "What did you do that for?!" She yelled at him. Samui then turned and glared at him. "Now girls, let's not be hasty…" Naruto said as he slowly stepped back. "Why didn't you let us teach her a lesson!" Samui demanded.

"What, you actually thought I was going to say yes to her? Why would I when I have you two?" Naruto asked in a serious tone. Both girls stopped their threatening approach. Despite the fact they had furious scowls etched across their faces, they couldn't stop large blushes from spreading across them. "Do you really mean that?" Samui asked curiously. Yugito stayed quiet, wanting to hear his answer to the question. "Of course, I do. I have two beautiful girls that love me for who I am and care about me. What else could I want?" Naruto asked as he hugged both girls close to him. "Good answer…" Yugito muttered as she gave him a kiss on her cheek. Samui agreed and hugged him close to her.

~ Back in Konoha ~

After Naruto and the girls had left, Hana Inuzuka followed suit, leaving Minato, Kushina, and Hiruzen at the gates. Minato and Kushina turned to Hiruzen, who was still standing there. "Hiruzen-kun…" Minato said carefully before Kushina finished for him, "…we were hoping you might want to join us for dinner?" Hiruzen looked to the black point in the sky flying away from Konoha holding his brother and friends. 'If he's able to give them a chance, then maybe I should too…' Hiruzen mused as he turned to them.

"Sure, why not? What time?" Hiruzen asked, brightening up both of their days. Kushina smiled as she looked to Hiruzen. He may not have forgiven them either, but he had given them a chance just like Naruto had. That was more than they deserved, and they were well aware of it. 'Thank you Naruto. Thank you Hiruzen,'she thought as she and Minato headed towards the Namikaze home, "6:30, and don't be late," she replied and left.

~ Time Skip – Kumo ~

Naruto smiled as he got off Eptesicus and looked around. If there was anything in Kumo better than his home, family, or friends, it would have to be the view. He then turned to see Samui getting off the large bat summon, red underwear showing due to her skirt. "Oh yea, the view's the best." He decided with a pervy grin on his face. He was then smacked by Yugito as she jumped off the summon. "Pervert." She muttered. 'Maybe I should wear skirts..' She inwardly mused, then shook those thoughts. Naruto was at Eptesicus' side talking to the large summon. "Thanks for the ride, Eptesicus!" He said to the large summon in a playful tone.

"No problem kid. It was good to get out of the summoning realm and stretch the old wings for a while." The old bat said dismissingly. Naruto smiled and patted the wings head. "Thanks. Next time, I'll have your favorite snack ready." Naruto said. "Mango nectar. Till then." The ancient bat said and dispelled himself. Naruto turned to his team and A. "It's late. You guys should just head home. I'll debrief you all tomorrow." A said, dismissing the team. Karui and Omoi quickly left to their homes, leaving Naruto, Yugito, and Samui on the roof. Naruto turned to see Yugito and Samui looking at him expectantly.

"I'm guessing you guys want to meet those people I said you would?" Naruto asked, getting strict nods in response. 'Great, how am I going to explain this one?' Naruto wondered with a sigh. "Well, let's go." He said as he took off towards the base of Mt Mayinashi.

A/N: Alright you guys, next chapter is when the girls find out about the bunker! I know, I've been spoiling you guys with excessively long chapters. But alas, I am too good for my own good.