Hello everyone! I'm back after three whole months!

…

Okay, I know I could have written sooner, but I had a personal life to attend to. I had finals coming up and I wanted to explore poetry, which I have a lot of fun doing. Also I got a job as a stablehand and we have pregnant animals and all that, so I was quite busy. But I really wanted to do this again for some reason, so here I am!

Last time I said I was going to do a touchy-feely moment between Minato and Naruto about the events of Episode 1 of the anime. If you do not know what the present state of the universe is then please look at the previous author's notes in my other chapters/one-shots. Let's get on with this then, shall we? :)

(Tailed Beasts & Summons)

(Thoughts)

(Normal Speech)

Minato let out a small, resigned sigh as he pondered his thoughts. He sat on the couch within his home, waiting for his son to return. Ever since the incident with Mizuki the other day, Naruto had been avoiding everyone like the plague. Kakashi said that he needed to come to accept everything in his own time, something Minato understood, but still it did not stop him from worrying. He was a father after all.

Minato was so engrossed on his thoughts that he was caught off guard when the door suddenly opened, letting unwarranted light into the currently darkened house. Naruto looked around the room as he stood in the doorway, with a far away look on his face. He turned back to the door and closed it with a satisfying click.

"Naruto." Minato called.

Ignoring his father, Naruto began to walk further into the building. He hadn't even taken three steps before a large hand clasped his shoulder, bringing his movements to a halt.

"Naruto." Minato tried again. Naruto turned his head slightly so that he could see his father over his shoulder.

"I think we need to talk." Minato said, but to his dismay Naruto just shook his head before removing his hand from his shoulder and turning away again. Minato stared after him, guilt and sadness weighing so heavily on him that it was hard to breathe.

"But I need to." Minato said softly. Naruto stopped and looked back. "Please."

Both father and son sat on the couch in the living room, two bowls of steaming ramen sitting on the table in front of them. Minato cast a worried glance at Naruto, noticing the absence of his son's usual appetite. Naruto had his hands in his lap,and was staring down at his food with no particular interest. His father shifted so that his hands were woven together in front of his face.

Naruto turned to face him. "What did you want to talk about?" Minato mentally grimaced at his blunt tone.

"I wanted…" Minato started, but trailed off. Where should he begin? How should he begin? One wrong word and he could change his son's entire outlook on the world. He might side with the Nine-Tails, become susceptible to his honeyed words. Minato shook his head and locked his eyes with his son's, flinching internally at the pain hidden behind them.

"I wanted to answer your question Naruto." he stated.

Naruto looked briefly confused for a moment before shaking his head slightly. As he moved to get up he said, "I don't have-" Minato grabbed his wrist before he straightened up. Naruto looked back, mild surprise the only emotion he allowed himself to convey, before stopping when he met his father's gaze. It held so many emotions, so many that it hurt. There was guilt; sadness; fear; but most of all, there was grief. Minato pulled Naruto back down to the couch, never breaking eye contact with the boy.

"Your question is the most widely known in all of history, Naruto." The former Hokage stated. "Your question, is 'why?'" Naruto's eyes widened some and he nodded in confirmation. Minato smiled ruefully at the genin's response. "It's a fair question, and can only truly have one answer, no matter what it is applied to. The answer is cruel, cold, and almost always unfair." Minato turned his eyes hard, and stared intently into his son's. "The answer is my son, why not?"

Naruto looked up at his father in shock, before bowing his head, his form trembling slightly. Minato's expression turned sorrowful, yet he pressed on.

"The Nine-Tails attacked our home. Why not?" A cringe.

"The Nine-Tails killed people. Why not?" A flinch.

"He was sealed into you. Why not?" A watery sniffle.

He lifted the younger blonde's head, looking at the now tear-stained face. Look at what I have done to you, my precious son… He took a deep breath.

"Your mother died for you. Why not?"

The entire world seemed to freeze at those words. Nothing moved. Nothing even breathed. Both father and son sat, side-by-side. The son's head bowed as if in shame, and the father, staring expectantly at the child in front of him.

Finally, Naruto broke. He began to sob. His body heaved and his breath came in rushed, uneven gulps. Tears followed steadily like rain down his race. he braced himself on the couch, his arms shaking under the weight of his upper body. All Naruto saw was a blurred image of the couch and his hands.

A warm presence wrapped itself around him pulled him forward gently. Naruto all but collapsed into his father's arms. He gripped onto the man's thick blue sleeve, and pressed his head into his chest. His father held him tighter in response.

Minato looked down at his broken child with immense sadness. Tears began to pour out of his eyes as well, falling onto his son's golden hair. He put one arm around his son's shoulders and another on top of his head. He quickly kissed the top of his forehead, muttering the phrase 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry' over and over again.

The two held on to each other tightly, crying out their sorrows to the other. For the first time, their grief was not separate, but shared,their pain eased. The pair fell asleep together on the couch, neither having relinquished their hold.

I hadn't planned on stopping it there, but I feel like it ended so much better this way than what I had originally planned! A little short I know, but it was good, right?

Also, did anyone get my reference with 'honeyed words'? I have a love-hate relationship with those guards...

I feel like I made it very emotional there, but I believe that if Naruto had someone who was there that was willing to talk about it, it wouldn't have been all that different, and I want to clarify, the reason that Naruto broke down when Minato said that about Kushina, was because what Kushina made him practically shaped his entire childhood of score and neglect by his own people. Kushina was made him that, and by this point he knows that she was the one who made the seal, so hearing that she did it for him got to him, you see? You've got to admit that that plucked something in your heart, right? Right?

Anyway I think my next one-shot will be about Naruto meeting Jiraiya. Until then, please R&R! :)