Chapter 39

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When Naruto woke up, he noticed that he was in a dark cell, and when he tried to move, he found out that his arms were bound. Well that's just great. He looked around him to see if he could see anything, but everything around him was dark.

"If you're looking for a way to escape, you won't find one." Suddenly Danzo stepped close enough that Naruto could see him. "We've completely sealed off your chakra, and have sealed this room. Only those permitted can get in."

Naruto glared at Danzo. "I am going to make you pay for this!"

"It's too bad that you won't remember anything about me being involved."

Suddenly another man, wearing an ANBU mask, stepped up from behind Danzo, putting his hand to the ground. "Suppress."

Danzo watched as the jutsu was finished and Naruto once again fell unconscious. "There, now my plans will continue to stay a secret." A sly smile appeared on Danzo's face, but disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, so when he and the ANBU member turned to leave, his face showed no emotion.

Minato was almost to the prison when he noticed Danzo walking away. He had an uneasy feeling and decided that before going and seeing Naruto, he wanted to see what Danzo was up to. Naruto can wait for a moment.

Minato started following Danzo through the streets of the village. He thought he knew of everything that was in and around the village, but he didn't recognize where they were going. By the time that they stopped, they were well into the forest on the west side of the village. What are you up to Danzo? He decided to get closer so that he could see more of what Danzo was doing. It was a slow process, but he needed to make sure he wouldn't get caught.

Suddenly he noticed Danzo walking up to a large boulder that was nestled in between some trees. He couldn't see what Danzo had done, but suddenly he was walking through a door that had appeared in the boulder. So, it was a sealing jutsu. Minato followed Danzo through the door before it could close. He had to know what Danzo was up to.

Danzo was deep into the hideout before he suddenly spoke up. "How are the preparations going?"

"They are going well, Lord Danzo." A man in an ANBU mask was speaking to Danzo.

What are they talking about? The uneasy feeling Minato had was only getting worse.

"Very good. I don't want any more delays. I handled our little complication so he won't remember that we are involved, which gives us some more time." Danzo spoke blandly. "I want everything to be perfect before we begin."

"Of course, Lord Danzo." The same ANBU answered. "Just tell us what needs to be done, and we will do it. We all wish to see the Leaf Village return to its full glory."

Minato was livid by what he was hearing. He wasn't able to get any closer, and he couldn't hear any more of what they were discussing but he couldn't believe that Danzo was plotting something, and that he even went as far as to erase bits of Naruto's memory. Does that mean he had a hand in what happened with Naruto, Madara and the attack on the village? I'm going to have to keep a close eye on his movements from now on.

Minato knew that he had to get out of there before he was discovered. When he noticed Danzo and the ANBU members that were there had all gone farther into the hideout, he decided that it was the best time to leave. He wasn't going to risk staying longer and getting caught.

Getting out of the hideout didn't take as long as Minato thought it would, since he could move faster now that he wasn't trying to stay hidden from Danzo, but he didn't relax until he was fully out of the cave he was in. When he finally stepped back out into the fresh air, he took a long breath in order to calm and gather his thoughts. Alright, first things first; I need to talk to Naruto.

"How long are you going to sleep for Kit?"

Naruto woke up in his mindscape to the moaning voice of Kurama. "Oh man...my head feels all fuzzy." He looked up to Kurama as he rubbed his temples. "What the hell happened?"

Kurama just laughed at Naruto. "You got your butt kicked by a girl, that's what happened."

"WHAT?!" Naruto clenched his fists as he yelled at Kurama. "You know very well who that girl was! How could I--" Naruto's voice cracked as he thought back to the Hinata double that Madara had used against him.

Kurama's laughter died down as he looked at the distraught look on Naruto's face. "Kit, you know that it wasn't really her. Madara did it to trick you." He shrunk in size until he was just as tall as Naruto, and he laid down on the ground next to him. "You helped me a long time ago. What can I do to help you now?"

Naruto leaned against Kurama's soft fur. "I don't know, Kura." He wiped a stray tear away from his eye. "Everything is so mixed up right now."

"We both knew that changing the past was going to be difficult."

"It's not just about that though Kurama! If it was just that, it would be easy! The only problem is that every time we change something, another different problem pops up! It's that stupid butterfly effect that is messing everything up, and we are running out of time!"

"Just calm down, Kit. We have enough time, and we will fix things."

Naruto's face twisted in pain as he grabbed at his hair. "I can't go through that again. I can't let Madara win."

"Then you need to stop holding back."

Naruto turned to look at Kurama quizzically. "What are you talking about?"

"You know full well what I'm talking about you brat." Kurama rolled his eyes at Naruto before turning back with a serious tone in his voice. "You have barely been fighting using your full strength, afraid that you'll scare everyone off."

"Kura--"

"NO, NARUTO!" Kurama yelled at Naruto, cutting off anything he was about to say. "You let yourself be mortally wounded at Kannabi Bridge! You let Madara get a hold of you, manipulate you, and let both of us be mind controlled by him! And you spend most of your time sulking and feeling sorry for yourself!"

Naruto sat quietly as he stared at Kurama. He was surprised by Kurama's sudden outburst and didn't know what to say. He also knew that what Kurama said held some truth to it. "I just...I..."

"Naruto." Kurama's voice had lowered, so his voice had a more solemn tone to it. "I'm sorry Naruto. I know this whole situation is hard."

"It's fine, Kura. You said what needed to be said, ya know. I don't blame you for that." Naruto scratched behind Kurama's ear so that he knew he didn't hold any hard feelings towards him.

"Kurama is right, you know."

"Gyūki?" Naruto was surprised to see the eight-tails. "What are you doing here?"

"The rest of us all agree with Kurama. If you want to fix things, you are going to need to stop hiding your power. That's all I came to say." Gyūki disappeared in a puff of smoke just after he finished talking. Leaving Naruto standing in surprise.

"Thanks you guys." Naruto didn't stay in the mindscape much longer. He decided that it was best if he woke up.

When Naruto woke up, he noticed that he was still in the same dark cell as before. Wait? I feel like I'm forgetting something... Wasn't I talking to someone? He got the strange feeling that he was forgetting something important, but couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.

He started thinking about what Kurama had said to him. Maybe I have been a bit scared of people being afraid of me. And not wanting to be alone again. But all I did was end up hurting everyone instead. Naruto bowed his head as tears started falling down his face. I'm so sorry. I messed everything up.

As Minato stepped into the prison he was greeted with the sight of ANBU members from Danzo's foundation guarding the door that went to the lower levels. "Hello gentlemen."

"Lord Hokage." The three ANBU members bowed their heads slightly in respect for his title. "What can we do for you?"

"I'm going down to see Naruto. Please let me pass."

They all looked at one another, not knowing if they should let him pass, but since Danzo didn't tell them otherwise, they figured it was okay. "Very well."

After Minato was let through the barrier seal, he made his way down to the cell that Naruto was being kept in. As he got closer he could hear something coming from Naruto's cell, but couldn't tell what it was. It wasn't until he got close enough to see Naruto that he saw him crying, his eyes closed and his head bowed. "Naruto? Are you awake?"

Naruto's eyes shot open as he heard his dad's voice. "Dad?"

"Hey Naruto. I'm glad to see that you're awake now." Minato could see the hurt on Naruto's face. "You wanna talk?"

Again, Naruto thought about what Kurama had said to him about holding back, and he thought back farther to when Itachi told him not to forget those around him. He remembered how many times his friends helped him, and then how much spending time with his parents and the team has helped. His mind raced through so many memories as he thought of the question Minato asked, and his answer just came to him. "Yeah, that would be nice."

Minato wiped the tears from Naruto's face as he spoke. "How are you feeling?" He knew it would seem like a stupid question, but he wanted to know for sure.

"I'm okay." Naruto gave Minato a small smile. "What did I do? I don't remember anything after Madara killed Hinata."

Minato's eyes went wide as he heard Naruto say that Madara killed the person who looked like Hinata, but he decided it was best not to open that wound. He started to explain to Naruto all he knew about the attacks on all of the villages, and about the attack on the Leaf.

"Did I kill anyone?" Naruto had a worried expression on his face.

Minato smiled at Naruto as he reassured him. "Don't worry, Naruto. I think the unconscious part of you was fighting against the mind control. You didn't end up killing anyone."

"Oh thank goodness." Naruto let out a breath that he had been holding, relieved that no one died. "Thank mom for me, okay?"

Minato's eyes widened in surprise at Naruto. "You know, you're calling us mom and dad more than you used to." A smile slowly crept its way onto his face. "Though I'm not complaining at all."

Naruto chuckled a little before speaking. "Yeah, I guess I have." Naruto was deep in thought when Minato once again broke the silence that was lingering between the two of them.

"Naruto?"

"Yeah?"

Minato took a deep breath before speaking up. "What happened after I left that hideout? How did he control you like that?" He knew that he was asking a lot, and he felt bad for making Naruto relive it, but he needed to know in order to truly figure out everything that was going on.

Naruto broke eye contact as he thought back to what had happened. He didn't want to talk about it, but a small part of him knew that he had to. Steadying his resolve and looking back to Minato, he began to tell Minato all that had happened. He told him about Madara's plan and the genjutsu that he wanted to place everyone in. As he started to talk about the genjutsu that he was placed in, in order to weaken his mind, tears once again started falling down his face.

Looking at the pain on Naruto's face, Minato tried to tell Naruto that he could skip the part about the war. "You don't have to--"

"No, it's okay. I can't keep it to myself anymore."

By the time that Naruto was done talking about the war, and all that had happened, along with the fact that he was made to watch it over and over again, Minato was awestruck. He couldn't believe that after all of that, Madara still couldn't control his mind. "So after that? That's when Hinata?" He didn't have to say anything else for Naruto to know what he was asking.

"Yeah. Seeing that again for a second time was just...just too much. That's where my memory stops. I remember briefly seeing you, but then after that, the next thing I remember is seeing mom."

"I'm sorry that you're in here Naruto. My hands were tied on the matter. But I promise I'll get you out soon." Minato once again thought back to Danzo. He wanted to tell Naruto what he had heard, but he knew that it would have to wait until there weren't foundation members so close by.

Naruto chuckled at Minato. "Don't worry, dad. I'm okay here for a little while. I'd like to be absolutely sure that Madara's control is completely gone." He smiled at Minato's distraught face. "Plus I know that you'll keep your promise. I trust you."

Minato smiled at Naruto. "Thank you." He walked back to the door of the cell before turning back towards Naruto. "I won't let you down."

Naruto watched as Minato left the cell and disappeared from view. He felt lighter than he had in a very long time, and was grateful that he was able to fully tell him what had happened. He didn't feel as alone now. "I know you won't."


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