"Your baby blues, so full of wonder..." Kushina sang to her crying baby boy, rocking him gently in her arms. His little face was flush and his tiny hands clenched into fists. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut, tears cascading down his cheeks, his little body trembling. "There, there, Naruto sweetheart, don't cry." She soothed him, her vivid red hair swaying behind her as she walked slowly around the living room, trying to calm him. Until now, he hadn't been nearly this bad, he was such a well behaved little boy, and Kushina could not for the life of her figure out what was wrong with him.

"Baby troubles?" A voice asked and Kushina sighed loudly with a heavy nod, turning to face her husband'd former sensei. Jiraiya stood in her doorway, his arms crossed lazily over his chest, legs crossed at the ankles, a light smirk on his lips. He wore his usual attire and his long, white hair, danced in the summer breeze.

"Yes, I just can't figure it out. He won't...stop." Kushina answered, slightly frustrated, as she blew her bangs from her cerulean blue eyes. Frowning, she shushed Naruto again, rocking him steadily, but the baby boy continued to cry. Jiraiya laughed lightly and walked inside, gazing idly around the woman's living room, smiling at the pictures that hung on the wall. Faded pictures of his best student, Minato, hung in their wooden frames, accompanied by proud pictures of him as the Yondaime.

"Have you fed him? I bet he eats like Minato." Jiraiya commented, earning a slightly annoyed glare from Kushina. She bounced Naruto lightly as she changed him into a different position, holding him against her shoulder.

"Of course I have!" She replied, an almost frustrated groan escaping her lips. "I've changed him too. I even gave him a bath, but nothing seems to work." She added, casting a glance at the baby on her shoulder, his wild blonde hair tickling her nose and cheeks. His tears had already soaked her shirt, leaving a giant wet spot, but they just kept falling. Kushina could almost feel tears pricking at her own eyes.

"Perhaps he is missing him?" The older Sannin suggested and Kushina turned back to face him, her eyebrows knitted in curiousity. She...hadn't thought about that. Could Naruto be upset because...he missed Minato, his father?

"I...didn't think of that, Jiraiya-sama." She whispered, wrapping her arms around her baby so she could hold him out enough to see his face. She eyed him curiously and he stared back through tear-drenched eyes.

"It's only a suggestion, something to think about." The Sannin replied off-handly, his voice calm and almost uninterested. He was studying a picture from Minato's youth, taken by himself, with Kushina sitting triumphantly on the blonde's back, beaming up at the camera. The younger Minato's face was contored in anger and annoyance, having lost the little spat to the girl. "But I must be leaving now, the village is in a bit of an uproar." The older man shrugged and took his leave, smiling at the mother and son in the middle of the room. If only you could see them...

"Is that why you're so upset? Do you miss your Daddy?" Kushina asked her little boy, her features gentle in motherly tenderness, lips pursed lightly in thought. The baby boy stared at her, tears still flowing down his cheeks, but made little noise, aside from a few hiccups. He turned his little upwards, then down, then too the side, his lips pushed into a pout.

"Da." He cooed, wrapping a hand around a lock of Kushina's hair, tugging it lightly. She smiled and walked over to the window, looking out over the city, rocking Naruto in her arms.

"Daddy loved you, very much and it's okay to miss him." Naruto looked up at her with curious blue eyes, his little face scrunched up in confusion, tugging her hair again. "Mommy misses him too." She whispered, feeling tears spring to her eyes. They spilt from the bright cerulean orbs, rolling down her cheeks. With innocent sincerity, Naruto reached out and put both his hands on his mother's cheeks, trying to stop the tears.

"Da." He said again, pushing on her cheeks with all his might, thinking he could force the tears back into her eyes and keep them away. Kushina laughed and kissed his palms. Naruto giggled and Kushina felt a smile overtake her lips.

Jiraya-sama was right. He was just missing Minato-kun, she thought, kissing the tip of his nose as he giggled again. Naruto's bright laughs rang through the house and Kushina felt a swell of happiness in her stomach, banishing the horrible pain she felt of losing Minato. She still her her son, her Naruto, her future ahead of her.

Naruto rubbed his eyes angrily with his fist, glaring at the ground below him, the tears spilling past his hands. He growled in frustration and forced them back, not wanting to be caught crying again by his frie-classmates. Naruto slid down the wall of the Academy, slamming his fists against the ground, dirt coating his hands. He clenched his eyes shut, but still felt tears on his cheeks.

Look at little Uzumaki, crying like a baby again!

He's such a loser! Crying like a little girl! Probably wants his mommy!

Too bad he doesn't have one! No one to comfort the little baby!

Go cry, little baby, go cry all alone!

Naruto forced the voice away, slamming his head back against the stone wall. Hissing in pain, he sourly rubbed his now throbbing cranium, more tears threatening to fall from his already red, swollen, eyes. He sniffed loudly and glanced up at the sky, vaguely wondering if anyone was looking down at him. Surely if no one cared about him down here, some one up there had too.

"I hate school. Who wants to be here anyway?" He asked the wind, sniffing back more tears and clenching his shaking hands into fists. "I bet my mother wouldn't make me come to this stupid place, so why does Iruka-sensei ?" He continued, talking to the sky, crying as he thought of the parents he dreamed about.

"There he is! Told you he'd be crying up here!" A voice shouted from behind him, the mocking tone clear as day. Naruto stood and turned his body to face the older boys, sniffing loudly, his eyes narrowing.

"What do you want?" He asked in his bravest voice, hands clenched into fists. The oldest boy, obviously the wing-leader, stepped foreward and feigned suprise.

"We just wanted to see if little baby Narukins was okay. Figure we'd offer some comfort since you can't go to your mommy." The boy sneered, his gleaming eyes filled with laughter and almost sadist pleasure. Naruto felt a growl rise in his throat as his fists shook with anger.

"Shut up! I'm not a baby and I don't need a mommy because I can take care of myself!" He shouted back, crossing his arms over his chest with apparent triumph, thinking he'd stopped the teasing once and for all. If they thought he didn't need parents, then they couldn't tease him. Naruto smirked at the boys, his baby blues shimmering.

"Is that so? Then how come Iruka-sensei has to watch you all the time? And buy you food? Did you know he had to beg the elders to let you be in his class?" The boy asked, crossing his own arms and smiling widely. "And do you know why, Naruto?"

"No I don't because that's not true." Naruto replied, his face faultering slightly, but he kept up his facade, glaring at the other boy.

"It's because you're a killer. A murderer who killed his own parents." The boy said, in a simple casual way. "That's why they didn't want you in our class. Because you're a monster." Naruto felt the tears returned and could think of nothing to say. It was true, that's what everyone told him, so he ran. He ran in full sprint as far away from the boys as he could get. He stumbled, crying heavily, into the little place he called home. It was dark and quiet as Naruto curled up into a ball on the floor, his eyes burning with tears. He felt so cold, so lost...so alone. No one in the village cared for him and everyone said Iruka-sensei only did out of pity. He was a monster and monster's didn't deserve people to care for them. Monster's didn't get families.

As he felt himself drift into an uneasy sleep, a voice reached his ears and, to this day, he still could swore he felt arms around his shoulders. A gentle kiss tickled his cheek as the woman sang...

"Castles they might crumble and dreams may not come true

but you are never all alone

for I will always, always

love you."

"Run Hinata! Run! I'll hold them off! Get back to the village and get help!" Naruto heard these words replay over and over in his mind as he clutched the gaping wound in his stomach. Blood spilled through his fingers and pooled on the ground around his body. The 19-year-old Jounin groaned in pain as he pushed himself into a higher sitting position, trying to stop his rapid loss of blood. His blonde hair was matted to his forehead, thick with dirt and blood, and his body was drenched in sweat and more of his blood.

"Any minute now, I know she's coming." He told no one, coughing up a mouth-full of blood and bile, his throat burning. Naruto leaned his head back against the tree and closed his eyes, trying to ease his pain, swallowing hard as he looked up at the sky. The beautiful blue sky, clouds swimming lazily by, the sun illuminated the vivid color. He grunted in pain as he brought his leg up, a scream almost passing his lips, as the pain shot up through his body.

"Hinata-chan." He whispered, the lavender-eyed beauty's picture clear in his mind. He fumbled around in his pocket, pulling out a little black box wrapped in rich velvet. His blood coated the surface now, gleaming in the sunlight, as Naruto flipped it open, gazing at the glimmering ring inside. "Too late..." He murmered, his arms becoming to heavy to hold up. It fell with a thud to the ground, the little box rolling away, his head flopping to the side. It hurt so much. The bleeding wounds, his aching heart, his missed chance.

The sun was started to fade now and Naruto cracked his eyes open, seeing as he couldn't rest his mind long enough to fall asleep and die peacefully, only to be staring into a pair of eyes identical to his own. These eyes were bright, but held a deep sadness Naruto himself could understand. Mustering his strenght, he studied this person, images of her flashing across his mind. The long, rich orange hair. Vivid baby blues. Kind, loving smile.

"Mother...?" He heard his own voice whisper, though he couldn't remember saying the word, and the woman smiled softly. She leaned foreward and took him into her arms, wrapping him into her loving embrace. Naruto smiled and felt his cheek against hers, the warmth of tears filling his eyes. "Mom."

"Cloud will rage and storms will race in, but you will be safe in my arms." He couldn't see her lips move, he wasn't even sure her mouth was open, but her voice was strong and clear in his ears. A beautiful sound, like wind-chimes. A voice he could recall from when he was younger, still just a baby, all the nights she sang to him.

"I'm gonna die, Mom. I-" He stopped, his voice cracking. "I don't wanna die." He whispered and his mother smiled, rocking him gently in her arms.

"Rains will pour downs, waves will crash around, but you will be safe in my arms." She continued singing and Naruto felt his body relax and the pain slowly edge away. He listened to her voice and felt his eyes grow heavy.

The last thing he would remember was her face suddenly changing into Hinata's before he promptly passed out.

Clouds will rage and storms will race in

but you will be safe in my arms

Rains will pour down and waves will crash around

but you will be safe in my arms.

"Daddy!" The little 6-year-old girl threw herself into her father's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, 'Shina." Naruto laughed, twirling his little girl around in the air before setting her down. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him again. "Did you wait up all this time to see me?" He asked, ruffling her dark blonde hair.

"Uh-huh! Kai fell asleep, but I stayed up, just like a big girl!" Kushina exclaimed, pointing her thumb proudly at her chest. "And I'm not the least bit tired!" She added, bouncing around the living room. Naruto chuckled, his deep voice strong with amusement. He picked up his daughter and set her on his shoulders.

"Not a bit, eh? You must be one tough big girl! To have stayed up all the way until 11! And just to wait on your daddy. How am I ever going to thank you?" He asked and Kushina laughed happily and shrugged her shoulders, bending over his head to look in his eyes.

"You can take me to play in the park tomorrow?" She suggested, a innocent pleading look in her eyes. Naruto laughed and nodded.

"If that's what you wish, then it shall be done!" He proclaimed in his best Hokage voice and Kushina laughed, waving to her mother who was peeking out of the bedroom door.

"I see you made it back alright." Hinata told Naruto, rising up on tip-toe to kiss her husband lightly on the lips. Naruto grinned his infamous crooked-grin and nodded, bouncing Kushina on his shoulder.

"Of course I did! I'm the Hokage!" He declared and Kushina nodded enthusiatically. Hinata laughed and patted his chest.

"Well, don't stay up too late, Hokage. You have work early tomorrow." With that, she kissed him again and blew Kushina a kiss before slipping back into their room.

"Do you ahve time to tuck me in, Daddy?" Kushina asked her father and Naruto nodded, continuing on his way down the hall.

"Of course I do, 'Shina." He told her, smiling up at her. Kushina nodded happily and propped her chin down on the top of his head, a big yawn escaping her lips. Naruto chuckled and opened the door to her room. He walked in and set her down on her bed, waiting as she slipped under the covers and snuggled in to get comfortable. He removed his Hokage jacket and sat on the edge of her bed, brushing a strand of hair from her eyes. "All comfy?" He asked and she nodded sleepily.

"Uh-huh." He smiled and kissed her forehead, wrapping his arms around her tiny form as she gave him a kiss goodnight on the cheek. "Sing me a song, Daddy." She whispered, her eyes heavy with sleep as she looked up at him. Naruto nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear as he started to sing,

"Your baby blues, so full of wonder..."