AN: Okay, here's the epilogue. I was gone for a few weeks to work so I couldn't do this. Excuse me if I have to put in some funny things. I wanna laugh now and I'm tired and bored. xD

Crying Out: Epilogue

When a heart fails in a hospital, there is always some nurse or doctor to try and revive them with electric paddles. When someone breaks a bone, there is always a nurse or doctor or nurse to mend and wrap the wound. When someone hemorrhages, well, for a while, the doctors will check every so often and make sure you're 'comfortable' as heck.

It was a while before blue orbs opened up to see white-washed walls that could only belong to a hospital. He wasn't in much pain, no, Kyuubi had healed him for the most part. He was just mentally exhausted from Itachi's sharingan.

"Naruto,"

He turned his head to see Shizune.

"Shizune-nee-chan…"

"Jiraiya came back this morning at around 1:00AM. There were no signs of the Yondaime or Orochimaru. The Chief Elders are furious. Tsunade is worn out from healing you and Jiraiya."

Naruto looked down.

"He…was my father…wasn't he…?"

Shizune sighed slightly and held her forehead, as if trying to hold in her emotions.

"Yes…he was…"

She laid his clothes on his bed.

"You're stay here is only for one more night. It's best if you rest at home now. The hospital sees you fit enough to take care of yourself."

"Yeah, I understand…Shizune-nee-chan, which way did they head towards?"

She looked around and then gave him a hard stare.

"Northeast."

She knew what he was planning. She knew what kind of danger he could be getting himself in.

"Naruto…not yet. Wait a bit."

She opened the door and left the room. His heart tugged in every direction as his throat swelled up.

Naruto went home the next day…the home he used to share with Minato…that home that he was meant to live in since he was a child. He clutched his shirt hiding his seal.

"I'm really closer to my father than I thought…."

He smiled slightly at the thought. A slight pang rang through his head as the after effects of Itachi's jutsu hadn't worn off completely.

He opened the shining gate and unlocked the door. Slowly, he walked in and heard the faint buzzing of the lights left open. Everything was untouched since they had left.

Naruto passed through the kitchen and towards his room, only to find himself stop at his fathers.

He couldn't help himself to open the unlocked door.

Minato's room was in a tidy mess. Books were off the shelves but in a neat stack on the floor. There were letters on one side of the desk and their envelopes on the other side, all in a pile, yet again. There were a few pictures of his mother hanging on the walls and on shelves. There was a picture of him with Jiraiya as well. There was a book that was clearly thrown across from the bed to the floor. He went over to retrieve it, beginning to read. It was a page long, but the text was still there.

'It with great pain and misery that I have not yet told him…I miss him so. Would he ever bring himself to call me dad? Well, what can I do? He has no clue…no slight hint…I seem more like a bother to him than anything else. How can he live the way he does now…? No, I will correct that. I will be there for him whenever he comes back from a mission. I will be the one to make sure he doesn't use that foul mouth of his. He's a good kid…he grew up wonderfully without me or his mother…still, all the events on which I have gone with him have all been a failure to get closer to him…only telling him personal information seemed to really get him to like me…or was it something else…? I just wish I could come out and tell him, but if he's anything like me, he wouldn't take it too kindly.

How often was I close to tell you? Kyuubi almost told you as well…Naruto, I love him so much…I want to never leave his side and be with him forever but I know that all the events that have been happening were no mere coincidence. I'm sorry that I could never help him…I must sound like the lamest Hokage ever…I always got hurt. He's more like his mother than me. Maybe she'd think he's more like me than her…I miss her so much…Naruto would have loved her. I had this perfect family figured out when I found out she was pregnant. I nearly fell over when she told me! Naruto…my son…why do I have to hide it? I'm a coward…I don't deserve to be his father. I should have told him…I have to tell him soon…he's still in the hospital…it hurts too much to have to be beside and he call me Hokage-baka…I want him to call me dad or something of recognition. It angers me to always have to be so close yet so far away from him. I want to hug him without him trying to pry free…without him trying to break away…I know that he's Crying Out in pain…he's crying out for love, acceptance…everything a family is supposed to give him—I'm supposed to give him. The pain in his heart heals so slowly, that I don't know who's been healing him if anyone at all. His friends take good care of him, but like all friends, they drift away at a young age. His friends will drift away, I know it. Even if they are his teammates, the same thing happened with Kakashi and Rin. I have to ensure his future in the world, but how can I so when I can't even tell him who I am!?

Naruto is young but determined. He is my son, and I love him. I don't care about his mouth, his stupidity, or how fast he can get mad or sad, I love him. It's not fair for him to have a father like me…I keep repeating the same things over and over in here, but it's true and I'm trying to remind myself at how horrible I am. I shouldn't be his father, Iruka should be. He ran to see Naruto in the hospital. He rejected me every time I tried to get close to him. I tried to bond with him, teaching him a new jutsu, him living with me, and protecting him from the Elders. I've done that out of love, and he only started to like me. It's not enough. I should get him to be so close to me, that one day, when I tell him, nothing too bad will happen. I know that in his heart, he'll never fully accept me as his father for sealing Kyuubi in him, but I had to protect the village. I had to, no matter what. I wanted him to be a hero, not shunned. The people are too harsh on him, I can't stand it. I want to beat each and every one of them up. They don't know a hero when they stand right in front of him. No one will ever see him that way, though, I'm afraid. It would be a bad thing if he would be totally opposite of his personality. If he were a killer, an insane lunatic…I can't even imagine his eyes being that cold. I can't imagine it at all…I could barely imagine him using Kyuubi's powers and looking like that until I saw him. It sickens me. It sickens me to see that the Elders have his life planned out for him. They're not afraid to use his powers against a defenseless boy who can't have his own say in anything.

I don't want to die or turn to dust before Naruto knows. I refuse to die by the hands of even Orochimaru. I came from his jutsu, but I'll die in a grave.

Naruto didn't realize until after he re-read the letter that his tears were making the page run.

"You're alive…I know it…"

He sobbed in between breaths. He crawled into his father's bed and brought the covers close to his chest, inhaling his father's scent as it enveloped his very being. There wasn't a doubt in his mind that his father was alive. He knew it.

Everything in the room seemed to spin, as if he just woke up from a dream. Minato's smile flooded his mind. His every gesture of love, and now that he thought about it, there were many hints that he dropped. Everything he did was a hint. The way he tried to discipline him…the hospitals…protection….everything that he did was a sign, Naruto was just too blind to see it.

"I'm sorry, Dad…"

He curled into a tighter ball, holding the journal close to his chest, his tears refusing to stop.

"I'll find you, dad…"

…I love you, Naruto…

AN: OMG! I HAVE DONE IT! IT IS FINISHED! YATTA! I almost cried myself at the end. Man, do I feel like an emotional person right now. I love writing notes like that but also hate it because I ALWAYS cry or feel like to but pride gets in the way. Read and Review! Oh, and I will use the time skip to my advantage after this. Please bear with me with the sequel of this story and try to think of it as a Naruto movie because if you think of it as a filler, it will NOT make any sense.

Hoped you enjoyed my story, Crying Out! Catch my next story which does not have a title yet! Hehe …-insert sweatdrop-.