Author's note: I'm so glad that this story is getting such positive feedback. I'm so sorry for the late update. Thank you for all the reviews and all the new favourites, follows and advice. I hope I can keep you all happy.

Guest: What type of MinatoxNarutoxKushina story would you like? And no, I do not have an ao3 account, sorry.

Aikhazuna117: Thank you again for your kind words. The chapters will definitely get much longer from here on out.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 2: The Kyubi Problem

Naruto laid in bed with his eyes closed, his despair eating him from the inside. He had woken up an hour ago, but hadn't moved a muscle. He didn't want to be here. In fact, he didn't even want to be alive. He was alone and would remain alone for the rest of his life; and when his friends and comrades were born, they would only serve as a reminder of what he had lost.

He tried taking a deep breath, but he only let out a silent sob, his entire body shaking from his heartache. He had made the wrong decision. He should have died with his precious people. Another sob broke loose, tears collecting in his eyes as he pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them afraid that he would fall apart if he let go.

His pain echoed in every corner of his being, his heart feeling as if it were shattering into a million pieces. He was supposed to have met up with the Hokage as soon as he had woken up, but he didn't have the energy or the will to get out of bed.

He just finished fighting a war and now he had to help plan for another one. What if he messed up again? Or worse, what if more people died because of his advice or his decisions? What if he couldn't accomplish what he came here to do? What if everything just turned out the same?

A knock on his door brought him out of his thoughts, and even though he knew he no longer had a choice in the role he had to play, he still debated whether he should open the door or not.

Letting out a soft sigh, he fore-fitted himself to his fate as he threw his blanket off of his body and swung his legs over the side of the bed. In all of his years of training, nothing had taken more effort than standing up, shuffling over to the door and smiling at his father's worried expression. "You're chakra feels like it's going to tear something apart."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Naruto laughs, offering a sheepish smile as he scratched the back of his head. "Was just a nightmare."

Minato smiles understandingly, not believing a single word that came out of the other man's mouth. Those working in the ANBU very often had nightmares about their missions and their lost ones, but never before had Minato felt this much despair and agony resonate from one man or woman. Whatever had happened to Naruto must have been a traumatising experience.

He surveyed Naruto's appearance, noting the slightly slumped posture, the dark circles under his eyes and the complete fakeness of his smile. Naruto was tired; tired to his very soul. Minato made up his mind, he would be there for the other blonde, even if Naruto didn't want it. Minato would not allow the rest of the other man's light to fade away and so he offered, "I was just about to head down for some breakfast, would you like to join me?"

"Ah, thanks, but I have a meeting with the Hokage now. Maybe next time?" Naruto replied politely, glad that he had a legitimate excuse to avoid his father. He no longer held a grudge he had once harboured against his parents when he was younger, but he refused to get close to anyone of this time. He couldn't lose any more people.

"Sure." Minato said as he waved before turning around. He could see the apprehension the other blonde felt around him, but he was not going to let that stop him. He was going to befriend Naruto if it was the last thing he did.

Naruto watched his father's retreating form for a moment before closing the door with a sigh. He had seen the determination in his father's eyes and had immediately wished that someone else had found him. He was going to have to go out of his way to avoid his father. Naruto snorted at the irony. He finally got the chance to get to know his father, but Minato wasn't actually his father, since he wasn't even born yet in this time. He was going to have to be careful or he might end up calling Minato 'dad'.

Lips twitching upwards at the awkward situation that would cause, he decided it was time to get ready. He couldn't avoid the Hokage for the whole day. Performing the necessary hygienic activities to start his day, Naruto contemplated how he would go about informing the Hokage about everything. He wasn't the smartest person in the world and he had never been very good with words. He, also, wasn't very sure of the specifics of this war, considering that he didn't really pay all that much attention in class.

Now he would never get to apologise to Iruka-sensei for giving him so much trouble. Frowning as he looked down at the ANBU symbol on his left shoulder, he pushed those thoughts to the side and locked his room before leaving. The jinchuriki had thought it best to avoid the other ANBU members, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him. None of them stared or whispered when he walked past. In fact, they didn't even spare him a second glance, which was something he certainly appreciated.

Naruto stuck to the shadows as he travelled through the village toward the Hokage Tower. It was so strange to see the Hokage Mountain without the face of the Fourth and Lady Tsunade. He barely recognised anyone walking around the village and when he did, it was usually the younger versions of the adults who had been so rude to him when he was younger. However, the strangest thing had to be seeing a younger version of Old Man Teuchi making ramen at Ichiraku.

Arriving at the Hokage's office, Naruto knocked twice, suddenly nervous as he waited for permission to enter, all his previous fears making themselves known once more. Luckily, he did not have to spend any time mulling them over in his mind again as permission to enter had been given quite swiftly.

Naruto opened the door and walked inside in time to see someone bow and leave, closing the door behind herself. Hiruzen watched the young man as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, not really knowing what to do with himself as if he were unsure about this entire situation. The Third could see that if this meeting was to go anywhere, then he-himself would have to direct it and he knew exactly where to start. Motioning to the chair that had been specifically brought into the office for the young man, Hiruzen said, "Take a seat, Naruto. We have a long day ahead of us."

Naruto did as he was told and took a deep breath to calm his anxieties. He could do this. The tailed-beasts would not have given him this chance if they didn't believe in him. For his friends, for his village and for the future, he would do this. With new determination boiling in his veins, he sat up straighter and cleared his mind, giving the Hokage his full and undivided attention.

"I was prepared to give you a pep-talk, but it seems that my concerns were unneeded." Hiruzen confessed as he leaned his elbows onto the desk, lacing his fingers together. "Naruto, I know that not one shinobi has gone through what you have endured and, for that, your pain and loneliness must be great, but now is the time to set your feelings aside and do what any great shinobi must do – protect your village and comrades."

"I know, and I'm ready." He replied without hesitation, lifting his legs to sit cross-legged on the chair.

"Very well, but before we begin, you should know that I have received a complaint from Kushina. It seems that the nine-tails has been restless since you arrived in the village." The Third stated, already considering possible solutions to having two nine-tails in this time, however, he was not a sealing expert and so he had no idea how to fix this problem.

"Kurama thinks that it's because my seal is stronger than Kushina's." Naruto scratched the back of his head, forgetting that the Third Hokage didn't know that the nine-tails had a name. It felt weird to speak about his mother as if she were just another person, even if he hadn't grown up with her.

"Who is Kurama?" Hiruzen asked carefully. If Naruto shared his intel with someone outside of the village then there was a chance that the other villages could get a hold of this information; and that would be detrimental to the safety of the village.

"Kurama is the nine-tails. It's his name." Naruto explained with an awkward chuckle, knowing that he was going to get an earful from Kurama later, for telling someone else his name.

"Does the nine-tails have a solution?" Hiruzen questioned with a serious expression.

"He suggested sealing Kushina's nine-tails in me, but then she would die." Naruto said, ending the sentence in a murmur. He didn't know how he felt about his mother dying since it would mean he would never be born.

"This is a tricky situation." The Hokage sighed. "I'm not well-versed enough in sealing-jutsu to even attempt to tamper with your seals, which means we will need to consult somebody. However, I don't think it is a good idea for someone else to know that you have your own nine-tails."

The Pervy Sage knew a lot about sealing-jutsu, but he had said that he learnt it from the Fourth Hokage and his father had learnt from his mother. Naruto frowned in deep thought. So if his mother knew about sealing-jutsu and she already was a jinchuriki, then they could just ask her since she would have to know eventually. Nodding at his own thoughts, Naruto offered his opinion. "Why don't we just ask Kushina, since we have to tell her anyway?"

"I'll send for her." Hiruzen agreed with a nod and opened his drawer for a scroll. He quickly wrote an urgent summons before performing a few hand signs. A heartbeat later an ANBU emerged from the floor, took the offered scroll and disappeared again. Leaning forward once more, the Hokage inquired, "In the meantime, why don't we discuss the upcoming war? Do you know how it starts?"

"Well the Second Shinobi World War left a lot of the smaller nations broken, since those nations don't have their own ninja villages." Naruto started, his face pensive as he held his chin to think. "They're constantly fighting at their borders to keep their territory, so I guess it just spreads from there."

"Naruto." Hiruzen said, after a long moment of thought filled with silence. "Do you believe it is wise to stop this war from happening?"

"No, Old Man." Naruto shook his head. "A lot of treaties and alliance are made because of this war. There's, also, a bunch of people who grow and learn from this war."

"I see." Hiruzen nodded in understanding. It was unfortunate that they lived in a world where bad things had to happen in order for good changes to occur; and even if it was his heart's desire to stop the death and chaos from happening, the Third knew that the reality of life would not allow this wish to come true. Preparations had to be made though. "How do you suggest we prepare?"

"Well, what did you do for the Second Shinobi World War?" Naruto asked, scratching the back of his head, doubtful of his ability to be of any use for coming up with strategies.

"The Second Shinobi World War was when Tsunade Senju made a request to have a medical ninja on each team. The request was granted and stricture training regiments was put into place." The Third answered, thinking back to the period of the second war.

"That's awesome! So we should have tons of medical ninja in the village." Naruto smiled brightly, already feeling better about the situation.

"Hold on, Narutuo." Hiruzen frowned, searching through his documents for the file containing the data of all the medical ninja in the village. "The Second Shinobi War was a difficult time for all the Hidden Villages."

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, sobering up immediately at the Third's serious tone. It seemed that there was a problem for every solution.

"Here." Hiruzen handed the file to Naruto. "This is a list of all Medical ninja in the village."

"But this says we only have 20 medical ninja and 11 of them work in the hospital, so we only have 9 medical ninja that can go on missions and be sent onto the battle field." Naruto exclaimed, eyes widening in shock. What was Grandma Tsunade thinking? After all the times Sakura had bragged about medical ninja being the most important part of the team, he thought that more shinobi would have been trained to be medical ninja. This left only one option. "Then we'll just have to get Lady Tsunade to train more people."

"Tsunade left the village about 10 years ago and she was adamant about not coming back." Hiruzen sighed in frustration; all his students had left the village quite some time ago and now was the time the village needed the Sannin the most.

"So is there someone else who can teach people?" Naruto asked hopefully. They needed more medical ninja. The more people they saved during battle, the better off the village would be.

"Naruto, it's not that simple. In order to use medical ninjutsu, your chakra control has to be above average. Not a lot of shinobi have that specific skill set." The Third explained as a knock on the door sounded through the room. "We will continue this discussion after this."

Naruto nodded, taking a silent deep breath. He recognised the chakra signature that was waiting outside the door waiting for permission to enter to be given. When his mother walked into the room, he couldn't give her any reason to think that he knew her. Opening his drawer, Hiruzen took out the personalised Hunter-nin mask he had ordered for Naruto and handed it to the blonde before giving his permission for Kushina to enter.

Kushina opened the door with a neutral expression, trying her best to keep her pain hidden. The closer she had come to the Hokage Tower, the more severe the pain had gotten and now standing in the Hokage's office, her pain had sky-rocketed. She felt like she was in hell. She really hoped this meeting would not be long. "You summoned me, Lord Hokage?"

"Yes, Kushina. Please come in and close the door." The Hokage said, leaning forward onto his desk once more, feeling immense sympathy for the woman. He had noticed her pained sweat the moment she had opened the door. It seemed the closer the two jinchuriki were to one another, the more intense the pull from Naruto's seal became. "This is Kyubi."

Kushina looked at the ANBU with red swirls and whorls on his mask and nodded in greeting; the mask truly did imitate the tails of the nine-tails.

"Kyubi had been experimenting with various seals when he stumbled on a combination that worked well with one another." Hiruzen explained, motioning to Kyubi as the Hunter-nin lifted his shirt to show his seal. "And it seems that the strength of his seal is the cause of the nine-tails' missing chakra."

"Would you like to transfer his seal to me, Lord Hokage?" Kushina inquired, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. This man was the cause of her pain for the past week.

"On the contrary, Kushina, we would like to transfer the nine-tails into Kyubi as he is better suited to contain the demon." Hiruzen said seriously, carefully watched her for any physical signs to indicate what she was thinking.

"Lord Hokage!" The redhead exclaimed in shock. So they find a new candidate for the demon and now they were going to throw her aside like trash? Even if the cost was going to be her life?

"Of course, we are aware that if we were to extract the demon from you, you would not survive." Hiruzen continued, standing up from his seat and clasping his hands behind his back. "Which is why I summoned you. We are wondering if you would be able to tamper with the seals so that you do not die during the extraction?"

"Of course, ya know!" Kushina said in relief, even though she was still flustered. She was disappointed in herself. The Hokage would never throw away an innocent life for some silly experiment. However, putting that aside, this was a huge responsibility and she wasn't sure she would be able to accomplish it on her own. "Lord Hokage, may I request to have some assistance?"

"Who do you have in mind?" The Third asked warily, his gaze subtly shifting to Naruto and back to Kushina, once the blonde gave a slight shrug. Both he and Naruto knew that this information had to be contained to as few people as possible, but if Kushina was of the opinion she would need help, then they could not deny her request. They just hoped whoever she chose could be trusted.

"Minato Namikaze." The redhead replied almost immediately, having no doubt in her mind that Minato was the perfect person for the job.

"Of course. Minato is very well on his way to becoming a seal master." Hiruzen agreed with a fond smile, noticing the slight stiffening of Naruto's posture. "This is an S-rank mission. The three of you will start tomorrow at your home. Make sure your home is well prepared for your research. Dismissed."

Kushina bowed towards the Hokage and nodded at Kyubi before leaving, heading straight to the library to checkout everything she could find on seals.

Hiruzen took his seat once more, leaning back in his chair as he analysed Naruto's reactions to this meeting and what had been discussed. The blonde sighed as he took off his mask. Of course, his mother would want to have his father help her. He had been hoping to avoid being in the same room with them. It was unfair that he now had the chance to get to know his parents, when it would be best to stay away from them. Fate was cruel.

"Do you have a problem with Minato Namikaze?" The Third asked with a raised eyebrow, snapping Naruto from his thoughts.

"No, Old Man, it's just that…" Naruto trailed off with a sigh before launching into the story of who his parents were, what happened to them and the one wish he often whispered on lonely nights. "But it's okay. I mean, they're not really my parents, you know. So back to this medical ninja thing."

"The shinobi in our village who have the most precise chakra control are those from the Hyuga clan." Hiruzen said, relaxing at the change of topic. Even though he would have to be informed about certain things, he did not wish to know all the dealings of the future.

"But does all medical ninja stuff need chakra control? What about bandaging wounds and CPR? Cant everyone learn those types of things?" The blonde asked, holding his chin as he thought about all the times Sakura had wrapped him in bandages.

"Alright, those skills will be taught to those in the academy. I will even get Lady Furofuki to teach the students about herbs that can be used to treat wounds and illnesses. As for the chunin, jonin and ANBU, I will have my wife, Biwako, and those already trained in medical ninjutsu offer lesson to shinobi who are interested in medical ninjutsu." Hiruzen said, making a note of everything he was telling Naruto.

One by one the academy teachers were called in to explain the additional material that would be added to the course. The teachers were then asked to compile a list of all the students who wanted to be a medical ninja and those who had the potential to become medical ninja. Hiruzen then made a list of all the prodigies whose training level could be increased. By the end of it, Naruto felt like he knew the training program off by heart.

Just when he thought it was over, the Third called in all the jonin leaders who weren't on a mission with their team and asked them to teach their genin the basics of medical training. Two documents – requests – were drafted and sent to the Hyuga clan and the Uchiha clan, offering medical ninjutsu training to all those who were interested. It was only when the Third was about to call in members of the ANBU that they noticed the time and called it a day.

Naruto was exhausted as he left the Hokage Tower, not even bothering to keep to the dark alleys as he made his way back to the ANBU headquarters. With his mask in place, he looked like any other shinobi, the villagers not even sparing him a second glace. It was nice to see how peacefully and happily the families and friends interacted with one another; parents walking their children home and friends eating at various restaurants or drinking at the only place that sold alcohol.

He remembered how Granny Tsunade had complained that there wasn't a single bar in the village when he and Pervy Sage had brought her back. It was when Rock Lee had needed that surgery because of the preliminaries during the Chunin Exam. Which reminded him, he would need to visit the Hidden Sand Village when Gaara was born. He didn't want his friend to suffer like he did; that meant he should probably do something about the Uchiha clan as well, but that could wait until tomorrow. The blonde just wanted to sleep.

Naruto had never thought that preparing for war would be so much work. Everything had sounded so simple when he and the old man had been discussing it, but actually talking to everyone and explaining things had been so difficult. Naruto smiled sadly as he entered the ANBU building. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about all those problems since he would never get a chance to become Hokage. He planned on making sure Minato lived a very long life.

As the thought came to an end, Naruto rounded a corner, almost bumping into Minato, their ninja reflexes the only thing stopping them from colliding. Minato smiled brightly when he saw that it was Naruto who almost knocked him off his feet. He had just finished reading a mission scroll which had been delivered to his room by one of the Hokage's personal ANBU guards. It seemed that he and Naruto would be working together.

"I'm so sorry." Naruto apologized immediately, a light blush covering his cheeks when he recognised his father. Out of all the times he could make a clumsy mistake, of course it would have to be in front of Minato.

"It's okay." Minato chuckled lightly, reaching out to pat Naruto on the shoulder. "I was actually looking for you."

"You were?" Naruto asks with a raised eyebrow, tilting his head to the side.

"We'll be working together on a mission, so I was wondering if you wanted to join me for dinner in the dining hall?" Minato explained, motioning to the area behind him.

"I've had a really long day..." Naruto started off with the truth as an excuse, but trailed off when the other blonde's eyes lost a little of their light. "And I don't really feel like being around people, but if you brought some food up to my room then you could join me."

"Sure." Minato smiled brightly and disappeared with a puff of smoke. Naruto shook his head with a small smile as he continued his journey to his bedroom. It seemed that every time he thought of the other blonde, he showed up, almost like he could read his mind. Enjoying the silence of the hallways, Naruto stopped in front of his door and unlocked it, closing it behind him as he started un-clipping his chest armor. Next his arm guards came off and there was a knock on the door as he placed his weapon pouch on the bedside table.

"Come in." Naruto called, taking a seat on his bed with crossed legs. Minato opened the door without much struggle and smiled at Naruto as he closed the door with his elbow, carrying a plate of food in each hand. He offered the one plate to the other blonde, looking around the room as he stood awkwardly, not sure if it would be okay to sit on Naruto's bed.

"You can sit, you know." Naruto smiled before taking a bit of his food, moaning at the rich taste. Minato did as he was told and sat down next to the other blonde in the same position, ignoring the flip-flop his stomach did at the other man's reaction to his food. He took a bite of his food, wracking his brain for a topic to talk about to cut the awkward atmosphere. "How does it feel being back after such a long mission?"

"It's actually kind of strange, so much has changed." Naruto said with complete honesty. Everything has changed from what he was used to.

"How long were you on your mission for?" Minato asked after another bit of his food.

"Three or four years. I sort of lost track of time." Naruto laughed, scratching the back of his head nervously, hoping that Minato hadn't been part of the ANBU yet.

"Well, that explains why I've never seen you around. I only joined the ANBU two years ago." Minato said with a smile, halfway through his meal. "I'm actually thinking of leaving the ANBU."

"Why?" Naruto asked in shock, but then remembered that his father had become a Jonin Leader after leaving the ANBU, which meant that history was still on the right track.

"I just think I could be more useful helping the genin realise their potential." Minato shrugged with a smile, placing his empty plate next to him.

"So do you think this will be your last mission as an ANBU?" Naruto questioned, trying not to seem suspicious.

"Yes, I've already spoken to Lord Hokage and he was excited about my decision." Minato smiled, looking over at the other man as Naruto finished his meal with a nod. Both men sat in silence, not really knowing what else to say. Minato didn't want to push the other man away with too many questions; people usually joined the ANBU when something dark happened in their past and some memories were best left in the past. Standing up, Minato took his plate and offered to take Naruto's plate, to which the other blonde smiled gratefully.

"Naruto?" Minato said as he stopped in the doorway.

"Yeah?" Naruto replied, looking up from checking all his weapons.

"Thanks for eating with me tonight. I could see you really wanted to be alone." Minato smiled and left before the other blonde could reply. Naruto smiled at the closed door and took off his shirt, pulling his blanket back to get into bed. Laying his head on the pillow, Naruto continued to smile at the ceiling. Maybe spending time with the other man wouldn't be so bad after all.

Author's note: Sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The romance will start from the next chapter. Reviews, favourites and follows are welcomed and appreciated!