"I wish I was there to celebrate his birthday with him this year...", a red-haired woman sighed sadly. She had her head propped up in one of her hands, staring at a television that had a teenage blond haired boy in it. He was lying down on his bed, sleeping.

"Kushina, we weren't there for his birthday last year. Or the year before that. Or the year before that--"

"Which is exactly my point!"

'Ugh...' her husband sighed in his head. 'Another one of her lectures...'

"Listen, Minato, we've been dead for sixteen years! That's sixteen years of alone time for Naruto! No birthday gifts at all! Got it? Nothing!" Kushina ranted. "Ever since you sealed that damn Kyuubi in him, he's been neglected, and mistreated and everything!"

"Listen, Kushina, even if we wanted to celebrate his birthday with him," Minato said, "we're dead, okay? There's nothing we can do."

Kushina sighed and turned back to the television. Naruto was now just waking up. He stirred slightly, before rolling out of the bed with a crash. Kushina winced, and uttered a quiet 'Naruto, be careful, baby…'. Naruto stayed on the floor for a moment, before untangling himself and heaving off the floor. He slowly took some clothes out of his dresser, and then walked to the bathroom.

The TV screen flickered so that Kushina now had to look at the Hokage faces. She mumbled something around the lines of 'It's my son's body, he probably looks just like Minato, don't know why I can't see him…'

It seemed like forever until he finally staggered out of his bathroom. He didn't even bother to eat breakfast, slowly getting the keys to his small house, and leaving. The TV was promptly turned off by Kushina, whom also slammed her fist on the table.

"Dammit!", she yelled. She turned quickly to her husband. "Minato, go to that damn Shinigami and demand that he let us go there today! NOW!"

"There is no need, Uzumaki Kushina, as I am already here.", she heard. She gulped and turned to look at the death god. He had the knife in his mouth, his sharp teeth looking twice as sharp, his purple face illuminating, his devil horns polished and his spiky white hair cascading down his silky white ghostly form. He chuckled.

"Why so frightened? Are you afraid I'm going to eat your soul, Uzumaki?", he laughed.

"Ah, Shinigami-sama, I believe you came at just the right time! You see-"

"Namikaze, shut it. I know what she wants. What you both want.", Shinigami replied, looking at Minato. "You're lucky I let you go to where you are now instead of battling in my stomach for eternity. I think that you should not ask for more. Uzumaki needed you to be with her."

Even Shinigamis have hearts.

"But that boy needs you also. He needs you both. I will, from this day forth, allow you both passage to the world of the living very year on October 10. You will arrive at four in morning and leave at ten that night."

They both bowed deeply. "Words cannot express how grateful we are, Shinigami-sama.", Minato spoke.

"You rock!", Kushina gave him a thumbs up.

"You're very welcome. Take good care of that son of yours."

--

It was lunchtime. Naruto, of course, was on his way to Ichiraku. He had stayed up late last night, knowing what the next day was.

October 10. His birthday.

Of course, nowadays, only a few people gave him glares. Naruto had proven himself to the village much more lately. Between saving his friend, Garra, the Sand Kazekage, from Akatsuki, to meeting up with his friend, Sasuke, whom, again, disappeared. He had also went to the Summons World, to train in the sage arts. He had been given about two and a half weeks of rest for working so hard.

And, he couldn't seem to stomach any food there anymore.

And he had been there for about a month, more or less.

Of course, Naruto wanted to continue his training. Pa said that he was doing better than Jiraiya was. Naruto's heart sort of wilted, then grew back again when he heard that comment. He became sad because Jiraiya was gone. But he was happy because he was sort of following in his footsteps.

He had woken up this morning, late. It was already ten o'clock by the time he was able to get out of bed. He even accidentally fell off, because he was being careless. He had gotten a shower slowly, dressed even slower, and didn't even bother to eat breakfast. He had headed to Ichiraku very sluggishly. He was tired still. Very tired.

When Naruto finally got there, he ordered just one bowl of miso ramen (to start off with) and ate it fast. Then, we he was about to order another one, something interrupted him.

"Minato! Look! It's Ichiraku! Let's eat here!", he heard.

"Alright, Kushina.", said another voice, chuckling.

Naruto turned to the right to see two people. A woman with long red hair, reaching past the back of her knees and a man with blond hair, that looked surprisingly familiar. They both had smiles on their faces, the woman grinning her face off and the man with his eyes closed, smiling at her antics.

The woman, Kushina, pushed the small curtain back and sat on the stool next to him, while the man, Minato, took the one next to her.

Old man Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku came out of the back. His mouth curved into a smile.

"Kushina, Minato! It's been so long!"

"It's just been a few years.", Minato said breezily, his smile unfaltering.

"Aw, you missed us that much, didn't ya? Oh, we're so flattered!", Kushina laughed. Then Teuchi turned to Naruto, whom had been looking at them during the entire time.

"Oh, Kushina, Minato, I would like to introduce you to my best costumer, Uzumaki Naruto! He's been coming here since he was just a little kid. Isn't that, right Naruto?", Teuchi asked.

Naruto woke from his trance at staring at the two new arrivers. Why did they seem so familiar? He felt like he'd heard both of their voices before...

"O-Oh, hehe, that's me! Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha! Nice to meet ya!", he held out his hand and Kushina took it eagerly.

"It's always so nice to meet a fellow fan of ramen. Especially of this old man's stuff! It's like food from the heavens!", Kushina spoke.

"Finally, someone that understands!", Naruto said. They laughed. And then Naruto shook hands with Minato. They were a bit rougher than Kushina's, a bit lighter, too, but still tanned. Kushina had dark tan skin. Her hands were soft. Minato's were bigger, of course, and a bit more rough and dry, like he had used them most of his life. They reminded Naruto of his own hands.

"It's a pleasure to meet someone who can keep up with my Kushina. Kami-sama knows even I have a hard time.", Minato laughed. Naruto couldn't seem to get over how familiar that smile looked.

"Are you two married?", Naruto asked.

"Yep, have been for seventeen years.", Kushina smiled, showing him her left hand where a thick gold band lay on her ring finger. She took it off for a moment to show him the engraving on the inside.

'Make sure to be safe always. Love, M.'

"Oh, that's nice.", Naruto smiled.

"So, what do you two want?", Teuchi asked them.

"Naruto ramen.", they both replied at the same time. Teuchi wrote it down, and Naruto just considered the whole thing odd. They ordered naruto ramen. His name.

"Oh, Naruto, want another bowl?"

"Yes, please! This time make it beef!", Naruto said.

"Of course, all of your orders will be out in a moment.", Teuchi said to all three of his customers.

"So, Naruto, you want to be Hokage?", Minato asked.

"Yep! All my life, I've wanted to prove myself to the village. Hokage was always something that seemed so hard to reach, so I decided that I wanted to be Hokage. And not only do I want to prove myself, but I want to protect all off my precious people. And gain the respect I never had.", Naruto said. Then his eyes became sad. "A few months ago, I lost my sensei, Jiraiya, one of the legendary sannin. He and I traveled together for two and a half years. Then he went to battle someone that was after me and ended up dead. I don't want any more of my precious people to die because of me."

"I think that that's a beautiful dream.", Kushina said. "Did you know, Naruto? Me and Minato here knew the Fourth Hokage, Yondiame."

"You did?", Naruto swallowed. He clenched his hands under the table. That man...The man that sealed Kyuubi in him.

Naruto had always secretly wondered about who the Fourth Hokage was. He always seemed to want to prove himself just to show the Yondiame (whoever he was) that Naruto was using what he cursed him with. But, Kyuubi also seemed to be gift that only Naruto could handle. He didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt like he was chosen for a reason, whatever that was.

"Yep. He was a great person.", Minato said. He had his head looking down at the counter. He looked like he was reminiscing on the past.

Naruto said nothing.

"Naruto, I bet all he wanted for you to know was that he did what he did for a reason. You were…", Minato paused. "…very precious to him. He didn't just choose you randomly."

"If he did it for a reason, what reason do you think that would be, Minato-san?", Naruto spoke quietly. "Since it seems like you know so much."

"Um…"

"Alright, here's your ramen!", Teuchi said and her sat on their bowls of ramen on the counter. Naruto and Kushina slurped theirs up fast, declaring for more. By the time they were both on their sixth bowl, Minato was just starting his second. He smiled at them both, laughing lightly as he watched them.

"Hey, Naruto, since we're both so good at eating ramen…", Kushina began.

"…how 'bout we have a ramen eating contest?", Naruto finished. "First one to eat their tenth bowl wins!"

So it began. They both seemed to slurp up their noodles at lightning speed. Minato sweat-dropped. Watching them eat was…a funny thing to watch.

Kushina stopped at her ninth bowl, declaring she was done for. Naruto finished his tenth just in time. They both turned around and sat with their backs leaning against the counter, their stomachs bulged out.

"I think it's time we get going.", Minato said.

"Oh, can't you stay a little longer?", Naruto begged. "Please! You see…", Naruto scratched the back of his head in embarrassment."…it's actually my birthday today. Because of what I have inside me, I don't exactly have the birthday of my dreams. Do you think you could stay longer? Hang out with me for a while?"

"Of course!", Kushina yelled. She brought Naruto in for a hug, which her was completely surprised about. "Happy Birthday, sweetheart!"

"Happy Birthday.", Minato said, his closed-eye smile was bright.

Naruto then realized at that point, one question he realized her should have asked earlier.

"Did you two, perhaps, know anyone that looked like me? Anyone you think could have been my parents?", Naruto asked uncertainly. Kushina pulled out of their hug and looked at her husband. He shook his head.

"We need to tell him.", Minato said. "If we don't, someone else will tell him, and everything will be worse than it is now."

"Tell me what?"

"Naruto, please follow us.", Kushina said quietly. She looked a bit sad, nervous and excited all at one time.

So Naruto followed. They walked for a while, until they finally stopped at the top of the Hokage Mountain , where they Hokage's faces were carved into the side of the mountain.

"Naruto…", Minato spoke. "When I was your age, I used to stand on these mountains, and dream about becoming Hokage. This village meant everything to me. I was a prodigy. People in this village referred to me as Namikaze Minato, also known as Konoha's Yellow Flash. I graduated from the Academy at seven, became Chunnin at nine, and a Jounin when I was fifteen. I got my first genin team when I was nineteen. My genin team consisted of Hatake Kakashi; I'm sure you know him. Uchiha Obito, who got killed during a mission. He was smashed under a boulder and had his Sharingan activated. Our medic, Rin, transplanted Obito's left eye into Kakashi's eye socket. Earlier in that mission, Kakashi had his eye permanently injured. He could no longer see out of his left eye. With Rin's medical training, she successfully finished the transplant. But because of that mission, Kakashi could not turn his Sharingan off. So, I thought of the idea to make his headband slanted, to cover his left eye. It cut of some of the chakra flow, which was good because if he kept it activated any longer than that, he would have passed out, possibly even died from exhaustion."

Minato sighed. "Well, after I came how from that mission, I met her." He looked at Kushina and she grabbed his hand, and smiled. "Uzumaki Kushina, the last survivor of the Hidden Whirlpool Village. She as beautiful, with tan skin darker than my own, red hair, bright blue eyes and a wide smile. We got married when we were twenty one a year later, I became Hokage." Minato couldn't seem to finish. He couldn't bear to look at Naruto.

"Then, I got pregnant with you, Naruto. When we found out, we were both so happy. You may not know this, but we got your name from Jiraiya's first book. His book was called 'The Tale of the Gutsy Ninja'. It was about a man that never gave up. We decided that that was the kind of person we wanted you to be. And that was exactly the kind of person you turned out to be." Kushina let go of Minato's hand, and walked over to Naruto. She cradled his head with the palm of her hand. He had tears in his eyes that were threatening to spill over. "Then, Kyuubi attacked. I died giving birth to you and your father died sealing Kyuubi inside of you."

"B-But if you're dead, why are you now?", Naruto asked, wiping the tears out of his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket.

"We asked Shinigami-sama if we could visit you every year for your birthday. He said yes, and here we are.", Minato spoke. He put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, patting it gently. "We just asked recently."

"Naruto, we never wanted you to be treated like you were. I never even got to see your face before I died. The first time I saw your face, I was dead. I was looking at a projection screen in this big room. It was full of the dead shinobi that had died fighting Kyuubi. They seemed to look at you with understanding as your father sealed the Kyuubi in you. Every time someone looked at you meanly, I could feel all the shinobi in heaven scowl because they were ashamed of how they're family was acting. They didn't want that to happen to you. They, unlike their family, were proud of what you did, Naruto. You sacrificed yourself for something you didn't ask for.", Kushina said. She smiled at him.

"Naruto, we love you more than anything. We never wanted to leave you. We wanted you to grow up happy and have younger siblings and become a ninja. I wanted to teach you jutsus.", Minato said.

"I wanted to teach you about Whirlpool and our ancient traditions. I wanted to tuck you in at night and say that I loved you—", Kushina spread her arms out as far as she could. "—this much! I love you this much, Naru-chan! Night, night. Momma loves you." She sighed. "I could just see it in my mind. So clearly."

"You could do it right now.", Naruto whispered. He pointed to the sun, which was setting. "It's getting late, and I don't think I've ever been tucked in before."

"Alright then."

They all went to Naruto's small apartment. When they got there, Naruto changed into his pajamas, while his parents cleaned up around his small house. Then, as his parents promised, they tucked Naruto in.

He yawned deeply and stretched his arms. Kushina tucked the cover around both his sides and even by his legs. She kissed him on the forehead, as did his father. They both hugged him.

"Will you back next year?", Naruto asked.

"Of course. But, Naruto, please don't tell anyone we were here, okay?", Minato said.

"Sure. I won't tell, Dad." Minato beamed when he was called dad. He loved it.

"Naru-chan…"Kushina spread her arms out as far as they would go. "…we love you this much! We always will."

"Forever?", Naruto asked.

His parents smiled, "Forever."

They stayed until it was ten o'clock at night, when they had to leave. Then they left without a sound, except for a small beam of light.

Naruto had a smile on his face all night long. He dreamt of Whirlpool ninjas and the Konoha's Yellow Flash.

Naruto knew that this was definitely the best birthday ever.

So far.