Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Ghost Guardian ❯ Explanations ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

CrimsonCat101: Well here's the update.

RoseOfSand: Well, here's the update enjoy!

Snowecat: That last question of yours gave me an idea, so thanks! I'm not the one for spoilers, so you'll just have to watch and see!

Spiritwolf30: For my other stories I know I haven't been updating, but I can tell you now, don't expect many updates for DBNS. ADR will be the next one I'll update for sure!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does…if I did, Sasuke would have never worn Orochimaru's clothing (The purple bow outfit) XDDD

REPLACED: 8/29/07 I changed the Fourth's name to his real name Minato

Ghost Guardian

-Explanations-

The Shinigami chuckled nervously as he backed away slowly. “Let's not get so mad now…”

The figure to which the Death God was backing away from was a woman who appeared to be in her twenties. She was dressed in white, with black decorative designs that ran across the exterior of the silk kimono. Her body was slender and sleek, and her face too fair to be human. Golden locks fell a little above her waist.

The woman was an icon of female beauty, but as of now her features signified the anger that could burn hell a thousand times over.

“You did it again, didn't you?” She sneered, an unimaginable amount of killing intent directed at the Death God before her.

“Um…hai?”

The woman glared at the being, “Why do change my plans this time?”

The Shinigami looked at her, his impassive countenance back in place, “Entertainment, why else?”

The woman sighed and rubbed her temples in frustration, “You always meddle with my designs for the future…”

“Hai, but I haven't changed any of your designs since the Uchiha Massacre. I'm bored, what can I say?”

The woman looked at him, “I have to say the Uchiha Massacre was defiantly a good tragedy…As long as you don't do anything like that to the Hyuuga clan, maybe…”

“Why are you so fond of the Hyuuga clan?” The Shinigami questioned.

Fate smiled, “Most of them worship me.”

Shinigami rolled his eyes, “I wouldn't call it worshipping…”

Fate glared at the Death God, but relaxed in seconds, regaining her calm composure once more.

“So can my change stay?” The Shinigami questioned.

“Hai, as long as you don't meddle anymore then you have.” The woman warned.

“Alright, but no spoilers this time. I know your Fate in all, but I want the fate of at least those two to be surprise, the rest I don't care for.”

Fate sighed, “No spoilers at all? That will be difficult when you start asking me “What happens next?” You're the reason I tell you everyone's destiny after all.

Shinigami ignored her and opened a small wormhole to watch from.

`This kid…was his…son.'

Minato was shocked.

The kid he was helping was actually his son!

His ten-year old son!

How did this happen? How did he end up walking Konoha's streets as a ghost, AND meeting his son? That's when he remembered…

Flashback

“I will give you and your child a gift in ten years time.” The Shinigami stated impassively.

“What gift?” Minato questioned.

“The gift of a guardian.”

End Flashback

He wondered what the Shinigami meant by guardian, but he said in ten years time, so obviously it was the Shinigami's doing.

Minato couldn't help but wonder, `Why would he help someone like me?'

If only he knew it was simply because the Shinigami was bored…

No matter the reason, the Yondaime was glad.

Glad he could spend time with his son, Naruto.

Naruto watched as the guy, who was now named Minato, went into a state of shock when he heard his name.

`Why does everyone do that when I tell them my name? It's always the same…First comes shock, then comes fear, and then finally hate. Along with that comes the names of `demon', `killer', and worst of all…'monster'.' Naruto thought sadly, watching as the man looked at him in shock.

But that same shock surprisingly turned into…something Naruto could not define.

It wasn't anger, hate, or fear…was it affection? Care? Happiness? No. There is no way a stranger could care for him, but why did he look the way he did, Naruto wondered.

“Hey, are you alright?” The Naruto asked curiously. Minato jumped in surprise seemingly cut from his thoughts.

“Uh, I think so.” Minato responded, smiling at the boy.

`Why is he looking at me like that?' Naruto wondered, before spinning on his heel and walking quickly in the direction they were heading to previously. Before Minato could question him he spoke, “I want to get to my apartment soon, it's getting late.”

Minato cocked an eyebrow and looked at the position of the sun. “It only looks like its only 6:00PM, why the rush?”

Naruto continued walking quickly as he spoke, Minato walked not too much farther behind him with ease. “I'll explain what I can when we get to my apartment, okay Driftwood?”

Minato's eyes narrowed, “Driftwood!? Why do you keep calling me that?” he whined.

Naruto grinned, “Cause your mind wanders too often. When it does, trying to get your attention is like trying to get a rock to speak.”

Minato sighed, hoping that nickname wouldn't stick. He dreamed of the day that he would be called Dad or Father, by Naruto. That thought brought many other thoughts along with it.

How would he break the news to Naruto? It's not like he would say…Hi! I'm a ghost who happens to be the Yondaime that sealed a demon in you. And Oh! I also happen to be your father.

Does he even know of the Kyuubi? What about his wife Kushina? Naruto said he has no parents, so what had happened to Kushina? He must also have a guardian with him if he living alone as well, otherwise he would still be in the orphanage.

So many questions, but so few answers. Maybe he should wait a little while before he says anything. Although he would probably have to tell Naruto soon that he's a ghost. It shouldn't take him much longer to figure it out, even as dense and unobservant as he is.

Minato followed Naruto to his apartment, soon realizing that he was walking to the bad side of Konohagakure. There was no way his son lived here…right?

“Are we near your apartment?” Minato asked the child.

“Yeah, it's not too much farther.” Naruto replied, still walking quickly to his destination.

Naruto began wondering if he was making the right decision. I mean, he was inviting a stranger to his apartment, and on this particular day of the year. He couldn't trust people easily. Many of which he trusted had betrayed him, so why was he giving this guy a chance? Minato seemed different from the others though, he didn't know why. It just made him feel at ease when he was around him, almost…

Safe.

He didn't know how to explain it, he just felt it. He would give Minato the benefit of the doubt. He just hoped his mind was wrong, and his heart right…

“Here we are.” Naruto said as he entered the complex. Minato wondered why Naruto was living in such a rundown place. He observed the cracks in the walls…the bad paint job, the dust, the bugs…the list never seemed to end. Minato looked at Naruto who was grinning, as he seemed to do most of the time.

Minato looked at him in concern, `Something is off about that grin…'

“Hey Izumi-san, I have the rent for my apartment.” He said to an old woman behind a desk. The old woman had gray hair, pulled up in a ponytail. She wore a simple civilian-like kimono wear, that showed that she had a thing for modesty. Slapping a bunch a ryo on the wooden desk for pay.

“Well it's about time, demon! Next time you better pay on time, otherwise you'll be on the streets!” The old woman snarled.

Naruto looked at her in surprise. She never had acted like that when he had company.

Minato looked at the woman with anger. Pure rage coursing through his veins, while he shook with controlled fury.

How dare she say that to his son! Even it wasn't his son, what she said should never be said to a child! He also saw the unbelievable amount Naruto had handed her for rent. The money he had handed to her was enough for a nice two-bedroom apartment. Minato knew by the way the complex looked this was probably not the case, and she was probably ripping him off. Then there was the word the woman had called Naruto…

Demon…

Was Naruto not being treated like the hero he had thought he would? Was his last wish not fulfilled?

Minato ran a hand through his hair as a massive headache seemed to surface. He really hated having so many questions, with so few answers. The questions seemed to keep increasing to, but his answers were so limited it was driving him nuts! He learned as Hokage that patience was the best way sometimes, and it seemed like this was one of those times…

Naruto wondered why Izumi acted that way with someone else's presence. He however shrugged it off and walked to the stairs that led to his room. Minato followed him in a trance-like state, seemingly caught in his own thoughts.

Naruto walked to his door, and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. He fiddled with his keys for a moment until the right key was found and then pressed into the door. A click sounded before the door was swung open, revealing a small living space.

The kitchen/living room was nothing short of small. A ragged couch was placed against the wall with a small fridge near it's left side. A round table was positioned across from the couch with two wooden chairs on each side. There was a petite counter on the fridge's left side, nothing special. The walls were painted white poorly, and there seemed to be cracks in the walls. He looked around by the doorway while Naruto made his way to the window and snapped it shut.

Naruto then turned to Minato, “You can come in you know.”

Naruto turned to his bedroom, after he had spoken and began picking up his clothing that had lazily been tossed to the floor.

His bedroom, was also small. A bed sat on the right side of the room. The bed's spring mattress was old and beat, seeing that the springs were sticking out of it, making it uncomfortable for anyone that slept in it. A small wooden side desk was placed beside the bed, where his alarm clock was set. A closet was across from the bed on the left side of the room. A few precious hangers were hung inside the closet, where Naruto had begun hanging his clothes from.

Meanwhile Minato stepped in and went to shut the door. However he found that he could not grasp the handle. He desperately tried grabbing the doorknob, but his hand continuously slid right through it. He sighed heavily, knowing that he would have to explain his `condition' to Naruto. He wondered how Naruto would take to the fact that he was spending the day with a ghost of all things! If he was anything like himself, he would be safe. If he was anything like his wife, well…he wouldn't try to even think about that.

Naruto walked back to the living room, only to find the door still left wide open.

“Hey, shut the door will you?”

“I can't.” Minato said sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders in the process.

“What do you mean you can't?” Naruto asked confusingly.

“Well I mean that…um…just watch.” Minato said as he reached for the door, only for his hand to turn ethereal before sliding right through the door handle.

Naruto watched the man's demonstration with widening eyes. “Whoa! How'd you do that!?” Naruto cried out, incredulously pointing a finger at the bizarre phenomenon.

“What this?” Minato grinned, as he brought his arm up towards the door, and stuck his arm through. His hand appeared on the other side, to which Naruto seemed at a loss of words to.

His son's reaction made Minato grin. He was defiantly like himself, and thankfully not like his wife.

His wife was more violent, and usually jumped to very irrational conclusions. Naruto seemed to be more like himself, where he would be astonished before asking a bunch a questions to no end.

Although he wondered what it is going to be like to be on the other end of the multitude of questions…

“Whoa, that is so cool!” Naruto shouted with glee, as Minato withdrew his hand back from the door. “How'd you do that? Was it some type of jutsu? Is this some kind of majic trick? “Are you a ninja? Can you do that with other parts of your body or other objects? Can you do that all the time? Was tha-“

Minato's eye twitched, `Am I really that annoying when I do that? No wonder Jiraiya always hit me over the head when I started asking questions. My God, just make it stop already!' Minato cried in thought, as Naruto continued on with his barrage of questions.

Minato was about to slap a hand over his son's mouth to silence the onslaught of words, but he remembered how he would just pass right through him, and that might make Naruto question him even more!

“Naruto.”

“Could you help me with pranks? Is that a Kek-“

“Naruto!”

“-kei Genkai? Can I learn how to-“

“NARUTO!!!”

“…”

“Thank you. Now I can already assure you this isn't a jutsu, or Kekkai Genkai. Or even a prank or majic trick for that matter.” Minato explained.

“Then what is it?” Naruto interrupted with a questioning glance.

“Not what is it, but what am I, is the real question here.”

“Okay, then what are you?” Naruto questioned.

Minato grinned, “A ghost.”

Naruto looked at him in complete shock. He was standing and talking with a freaking ghost. “Okay, um then how come I can see you?” Naruto questioned, after recomposing himself.

“Not only see me, but hear me also. That I am not quite sure yet, but I do have a theory. You'd have to listen to a long story though to understand.” Minato explained.

“I don't mind.” Naruto said as he sat on his couch. Minato however continued to stand, wondering how Naruto would take this. I mean, he was about to flip Naruto's world upside down. He guessed by the end of the story, that Naruto would be angry at him.

“Okay, where to begin…”

Naruto interrupted his thoughts, “Hey, before you start I have one more question.”

Minato looked at him, as he was snapped abruptly out of his thoughts, “Go ahead.”

“Can anyone else, but me, see or hear you?” Naruto questioned.

“Not that I know of.” Minato answered, “Okay I guess to begin the story is to first know who I am.”

“Huh?” Naruto looked at him in confusion, question marks appearing over his head. “What do you mean by that? I know your name already.”

“Yes, but Konoha knows me by another name.” Minato elaborated, raising a finger.

“I still don't get it…” Naruto replied.

“Take a look out your window.” Minato said pointing a finger to the window Naruto had previously shut.

Naruto looked at him oddly, before standing up and walking over to his apartment window. He slid it open with ease and looked outside. “So what am I looking for exactly?”

Minato walked up next to him as he spoke. “On the mountainside there are faces. One of which is mine.”

Naruto looked at the stone faces carved in the mountain. The faces were of the village's Hokages. Leaders of the Leaf. There were four stone faces currently. The Third was the old man who now held office. The Sandaime was very kind to Naruto, and was the only one who seemed to care about him.

“So you're saying you're a Hokage!?” Naruto said in awe as he looked at the man.

Minato nodded and smirked, “Hai. Now tell me which one.” Minato was proud of his rank as a ninja. He worked hard during the time he was living, to become a Hokage, which everyone respected.

“Okay…umm…” Naruto gazed the faces, the Shodaime was on the left side so he started there.

`Okay, he looks nothing like the Shodaime, because Minato has spiky hair. He doesn't look like the Nidaime either…hmmm…the Sandaime is the ojisan, so can't be him. That only leaves the Yondaime…THE YONDAIME!?!?!?!'

“Yondaime…” Naruto breathed, turning to look at the man before him in a new light.

“The one and only!” The Yondaime grinned, before walking back to the room. He couldn't hide the grin that had spread across his face as he watched Naruto's dumbfounded expression. “Alright now that you know who I am, let's continue.”

Naruto nodded dumbly, as he shut the window and sat on his couch. Naruto couldn't believe that a ghost of the Yondaime was standing in front of him of all people. He was even talking to him, and it wasn't in disgust! If this was a dream, he hoped he wouldn't wake up.

Now came the part the Yondaime feared, a serious expression quickly replaced his grinning one. “Okay my story takes place ten years ago, on October tenth when the Kyuubi attacked. You see I was warned about the Kyuubi no Kitsune a day prior to the attack. I immediately began working on a seal that would save us all.”

“A seal?”

“Let me finish,” The Yondaime said. “As I was saying, I began working on a seal to stop the Kyuubi from destroying the village. However after extensive research and studying, I found one cannot kill a Bijuu. The only way to kill a Bijuu was to seal it, using a self-sacrificing jutsu.”

Naruto looked down remembering, the fact that the Yondaime did indeed die when he defeated the Kyuubi. As the Yondaime's words replayed through his mind, he wondered what the Yondaime meant by sealing Kyuubi and not killing it. Does that mean the Kyuubi was still alive? Naruto waited patiently for his answers…

The Yondaime continued, “The worst part was that the Kyuubi could only be sealed within a newborn child. This is due to the fact that a newborn's chakra coil system can adapt to a new presence more easily then an adult's. For you see, if it were sealed in anything other then a newborn, the Kyuubi's chakra would be rejected and thus kill the host and freeing the Kyuubi once more. So I had to seal it in a newborn, one that saved the village from certain destruction, and became a hero to the people of Konoha. That newborn was you, Naruto.”

Naruto looked down as he spoke in a voice somewhat akin to sadness, “So you're saying that…I'm the Kyuubi…”

Naruto remembered how he was treated by the villagers…the glares, the anger, the hate…All of it was always directed at him. And now he knew why…

The Yondaime's look was calm as he spoke, “Naruto, I can already tell you I don't like what I've seen so far of Konoha.”

Naruto looked up abruptly, wondering what the Yondaime was getting at.

“I've seen a taste of how the village treats you, and to say the least, I'm disappointed. Not by you Naruto, but by this village…” The Yondaime's faraway look then turned to one that was firm and strong, as he looked upon Naruto, “Naruto remember this…you are not the Kyuubi, but it's jailor, while it is your prisoner. You and Kyuubi are two separate entities, locked in one body. You are the vessel of Kyuubi, not the beast itself. The village is unable to see this, and even if they did, when they see you, they see a scapegoat of their pain. You are an icon of their pain, but you aren't the pain itself. My final wish was for you to be seen as the village's hero, but I see that this was not fulfilled, as I believed it would. They see you simply as the beast itself, but you are not. Understand?”

The Yondaime was angry with the villagers for what they had put his son through. He didn't know exactly what they did, but seeing where he was living, and how the woman at the desk had treated Naruto…He could only guess what they had put Naruto through. The village was very lucky he was dead. If he was alive, he would've made a bunch of Kage Bunshins, before making them blow the village to smithereens with rasengans…so if his son wanted to destroy the village or help it, Minato would help him regardless of his choice.

Naruto nodded, before looking at the Yondaime, “So you're saying the reason they hate me is because you sealed a demon in me?”

The Yondaime's eyes filled with sadness knowing what was coming next, “Hai.” His muscles tensed knowing Naruto would surely explode in full-blown anger towards him. His anger was not without reason, knowing that he was responsible for ruining his son's life.

Naruto's face was hidden by his blonde hair, unreadable to Minato. When he lifted his head up it revealed a smile.

Minato was shocked to say the least, but he became even more shocked when Naruto started laughing. LAUGHING!

Naruto laughed loudly, as tears streaked down his whisker-marked cheeks, in what appeared to be…happiness?

As Naruto's laughing began to die down, Minato asked the question he had wanted to ask. “Why were you laughing?”

Naruto smiled as his laughs died down completely. “Because I just found out that the reason everybody hates me is due to something I had no control of. They don't hate me! Just the stupid furball in my stomach!” Naruto exclaimed as his tears of joy began to dry up. “I thought it was something I did. To find out the reason everyone hates me, takes a huge weight off my shoulders. Although I have to ask why you put it in someone like me, instead of someone with parents who could watch over them?”

The Yondaime knew the answer, but he would only give half of the answer for now. “Do you know anyone else born on October Tenth?”

“Um, no.”

“Well then, there you go.”

Naruto sighed and sunk deep into his couch, “Wow, what a weird day…”

“You and me both.” Minato commented.

“Oh yeah, you never told me your theory as to why you're a ghost and why only I can only see or hear you.”

Minato looked at him in confusion, before it clicked. “Oh right! I guess I got sidetracked during the story huh? Let's see…when I used the jutsu to perform the sealing I summoned the Shinigami, but you see something happened…”

“What?” Naruto questioned curiously.

“The Shinigami spoke to me, and told me that in ten years, he would give me and you a gift,” The Yondaime explained, his eyes peering at the floor below him in deep thought, “A gift of a guardian, is what he called it, but I don't know exactly what he meant by that. After that I woke up here, and met you.”

Naruto nodded, with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his eyes closed. “This day just keeps getting weirder huh?”

Minato nodded in agreement, his arms also crossed and eyes closed. “Most defiantly.”

They sat in silence digesting all that happened until Minato spoke, “So do you have a guardian to look after you?”

Naruto shook his head sorrowfully, “No, I lived alone since I was six. The Sandaime used to check up on me every so often, until about a year ago. I guess things started getting busier…He still visits me, just not so often. He visits at least once every month or so. He visited me yesterday to make sure I was prepared.”

The Yondaime looked at him in confusion, “What do you mean by prepared?”

Sadness filled Naruto's features, “Prepared for my birthday.”