Chapter 7: Corrections and Slaps of Reality

"And if such malignity is hidden for a time, it proceeds from the unknown reason that would not be known because the experience of the contrary had not been seen, but time, which is said to be the father of every truth, will cause it to be discovered." ~Machiavelli, Niccolò. Discourses on Livy. 1517

The days went by and Naruto got better and better. His friends visited him every single day as well as the jounins, chuunins and ANBU he knew. They would tell him what was happening outside, a few details of a mission (that was not a secret for the ANBU), and Tora.

Naruto chuckled at the looks his friends had when describing the nightmare that was catching Tora for the wife of the Daimyo.

"Well, I am glad that Ibiki-sensei didn't let me go through it." He commented but the other scowled.

"No, he didn't. But he gave you something equally worse, if not, more." Sasuke muttered and another chuckle came from Naruto.

Aside from his friends, Minato and Kushina had been there every day as well. After Kushina made Nuriko's breakfast and watch her daughter leave the house, she would pack up the obento she readied for Naruto and left to head to the hospital for most of the day. Minato would spend lunch at the hospital with his wife and Naruto but returned to his office to do his paperwork, this time reading through them himself.

"You do know that you can use Kage Bushin and let them do your work for you. The more you make, the faster your paperwork will be done." Naruto commented one day after hearing the man whine about traitorous papers stacking against him.

Kushina laughed while Naruto smirked when the Yondaime sat on his seat with the look of shock and disbelief.

"How do you think the Sandaime was able to keep up with his workload and watch over Konohamaru when his parents had died? But I'm surprised the old man didn't tell you about that trick." Naruto commented again.

"Well, I didn't think I would have needed to tell him since he was said to be a genius and all, Naruto-kun." Said a voice from the door and all turned to see the Sandaime standing there with his grandson.

"Jiji… Konohamaru." Naruto greeted as the boy ran into the room and to the other side of the bed and showed Naruto his drawing.

"Look what I made Boss!" Konohamaru cried excitedly as showed Naruto his drawing of Konoha from the Hokage Mountain's view point.

The picture was not so bad. A bit crude but it was better than most of Konohamaru's age group could make.

"Wow… you're getting better and better, Ko. Keep it up and before you reach graduate from the Academy you'll be a Master of painting." Naruto praised the boy who blushed and nodded.

The old man told him about his trip to the Daimyo's palace and how Konohamaru behaved well when Naruto had told him before they had left.

An hour later, the adults left and went to Minato's office where Jiraiya and Tsunade were waiting with Orochimaru of all people.

"What brings the Legendary Sannins to my office this afternoon?" Minato asked with shock yet still respectful.

Orochimaru was indeed a bit bitter that the Sandaime had not chosen him as his successor but it opened to more opportunities of travelling and discovering new things all over the world. After a year of travelling, Orochimaru had been ever so glad to not have become Hokage and missed all the things he had seen and learned.

"Tsunade sent me a message concerning Naruto's health case. After Jiraiya's stupidity, Naruto's organs nearly ripped themselves apart. Luckily, Tsunade healed them to the best of her capabilities. But she made a point to keep an eye on Naruto. And as she briefed me the moment I stepped foot into the village, Naruto's body had begun to shift and something stirred in his chakra system." The Snake Sannin explained and Minato was stunned while his wife was trembling in fear.

"Are you saying that something is wrong with my son?" Minato asked with a warning tone but Orochimaru raised his hands.

"Nothing is wrong with him. However, Tsunade says that his chakra system has changed. Which is why I will be looking at him later this evening after I read a few more of his lab results that Tsunade thinks might help us in figuring out what is wrong with your son, Minato." The Sannin answered back without a threat in his voice even if he had the right to.

"Anyway, how is your attempts in fixing your relationship with Naruto?" Tsunade asked, shifting the subject to the couple who sighed deeply.

"He is still wary of us, and I do not blame him. We mostly just ask him about his achievements, his hobbies, likes, and dislikes, dreams and goals too." Minato asked first before turning to Kushina who smiled sadly.

"We asked him about his favorites too, food, color, and drink. His allergic to seafood like Minato, he doesn't like ramen like I do but he likes dango, sushi, onigiri, and chicken tempura. He doesn't like bitter foods, he occasionally likes to eat spicy food when he feels likes it, and on some days, he eats everything with wasabi." Kushina told them and Tsunade smiled as well as Orochimaru and the Sandaime.

"He hates it when people hover over him and correct him when he knows his right. He doesn't like it when people judge him by how he looks instead of getting to know him. And…" Minato continued but stopped and looked a bit disappointed.

He turned to Kushina who sighed as well, knowing what her husband was about to say.

"And what?" Jiraiya asked, which made Minato an Kushina feel a bit more worse.

"And he hates you Jiraiya." Kushina said and all eyes turned to the white haired Sannin.

"Let me guess, Jiraiya said something stupid in the mids of Naruto's anger?" Hiruzen guessed and got nods from Tsunade and the couple.

"Well, I suggest you stay away from him Jiraiya. When Naruto dislikes a person… accidents tend to happen whenever they cross paths. And trust me, I know Naruto. With his skills, he can catch you off guard and give a deadly blow. If he really wants something, he can kill you if he wants. Whatever you did must have really angered him to say that he 'hates' you instead of disliking you." Hiruzen explained to the group and they understood.

"What did you do, Jiraiya? I know that it was stupid but care to shed some light?" Orochimaru inquired stoically but his eyes were dancing in amusement.

Jiraiya pouted and shrugged.

"What the big buffoon did was he barged into the hospital and slammed the door so loud that Naruto fell on the floor when he had just come out of an operation from a mission he had gone out to with Ibiki and Genma that ran into complications. It's no secret that Naruto and Nuriko hate each other but he came in and said that he rushed to the hospital when he heard Minato and Kushina were there and thought that Nuriko was the one that was checked in as a patient. And when he saw it wasn't the female twin, he shrugged it off and apologized like he didn't care at all." Tsunade explained and both Orochimaru and the Sandaime nodded in understanding.

"I knew you could be a bit stupid but really Jiraiya? That was just low… even for you." Orochimaru commented as he shook his head and turned to Minato.

"By the way, the Snake Elders wanted me to send you a message: Before your time is up, See what needs to be Seen… The Sands of Time has begun to fall for the Wheel of Fate has been spun and is now taking its toll… The world as we know it will hang in a balance between Life and Death… Your Time is running and the world will run out of breath… You believed in prophecies and allowed it to rule… Now watched as the flames burn for you have played the biggest fool…'"

The whole room was quiet and all eyes were on Minato now.

"Minato… what does it mean?" Hiruzen asked, his voice solid and a bit guarded.

"The Toads… before the twins were born gave a prophecy that one of my children will fulfill its roll. "Gifted by the Highest of Host, your child will bring forth the power that has never before seen by mortal eyes… The one loved by the gods and feared by demons shall bear power that may bring about a new age or the end of the world when the time comes for the decision to be made…Only then will the world's fate hang in a balance for the first and last time." Then when I was told that I would have a boy and a girl, I knew it had to be Nuriko cause as far as I knew, girls were rare in my family." He said but Orochimaru looked worried.

"I have to disagree, Minato. As I travelled the lands, I have come across information about your origins… and the line of the Namikaze family had always been girls. Your mother's genes must have been strong to birth a son but every little thing about the Namikaze line has been about a female. When a son is born, it takes the name of the family as most of the offspring are females. Every Namikaze are lawed to produce at least one male Namikaze before taking the name of the husband." Orochimaru said as he pulled out scrolls from his bag and handed it to Minato.

The whole room was dead silent for ten minutes before the Yondaime dropped the scroll on the table.

"Meaning all this time… Naruto was the one meant by the Toads and not Nuriko?" Jiraiya broke the silence as he regained his balance.

However, the Sandaime, Tsunade, and Orochimaru didn't like what they were understanding.

"Let me get this straight, all these years of abandonment and favoring Nuriko were because you thought she was the prophesied child of the Toads?" Tsunade asked with anger rising in her stomach.

"I did not think you would have turned out this way Minato. I expected more from you and Kushina." Hiruzen commented with utter disgust that made the couple shrink in shame.

"And to think that you were chosen as Hokage because of your fairness and just choices." Orochimaru added his own which made Minato shrink just a bit more.

"And I'm guessing that Jiraiya had a hand in this as well?" Tsunade inquired as she turned to her old teammate.

"No need to guess. It has his name written all over it." Orochimaru said and got a nod from the Sandaime.

"It seems that the two of you have a great deal of making it up to Naruto. Jiraiya, I can honestly say that your hopeless. He will never forgive you and nothing you say will make him do so. I can say that speaking to him about the prophesy and how the decision was made would make it worse and he will come after your life and that of Minato and Kushina's as well. It would be best to not mention it to him at all less we face the world's destruction sooner than it was foretold." Hiruzen commanded with a tone as he stood up, followed by Tsunade and Orochimaru.

"Jiraiya, I will remind you to stay away from Naruto. And never mention Nuriko in his presence or he might just take away your chances Minato… Kushina." Tsunade added before the three left the office.

The couple looked horrified and felt disgusted with themselves while Jiraiya didn't know what to feel. He had favored Nuriko the whole time because they had assume it was her, totally ignoring Naruto who was the real gifted one. If the ANBU and shinobis were not exaggerating with their praised of the boy then old man Sandaime would have been right with his warning: Naruto would be able to kill him.