Back to the Beginning (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 45

Remembering that he let that tiny detail slip, Naruto had the sense to look embarrassed as he replied to Minato. "Uh...yeah...I'm still technically a genin."

Minato had a hard time believing what he was hearing. "But you have the jonin vest?"

"Oh, yeah. Well it isn't exactly mine. It was given to me."

Minato was getting more and more confused. He needed Naruto to give him some actual answers for once, instead of just beating around the bush. "Why was it given to you if you are still a genin? And more importantly; how are you still a genin?" You could practically see the gears turning in his head as he tried to figure everything out.

"Well first off, I never passed genin because I never got the chance to finish the chunin exams. Too many things happened and I just never got the chance. I guess I just forgot about it after a while." As he was talking, Naruto pulled a small scroll out of his pocket. Minato recognized it as the same one with the blood seal on it, and his curiosity peaked. "As for being given the vest, it was a special occasion."

Minato waited patiently as he watched Naruto undo the seal with a solemn air around him. As he opened it he saw that it was a summoning scroll. "What's in the scroll?"

Naruto was still silent as he stared at the scroll. Then laying a shaky hand on the scroll he carefully began to speak, his voice laden with emotion. "These are all items I was given during the Fourth Great Ninja War by close friends just before they died. The vest you saw me wearing is one of them."

"I'm sorry, Naruto. You don't have to tell me." Minato was shocked by what Naruto had said and he didn't want to push any unhappy memories back onto him.

"No, it's okay." Naruto gave a small smile as he looked up at his dad. "I want to tell you, and I think I'm finally okay to see everything again."

Minato watched and listened in silence as Naruto summoned each piece and explained who they were from.

"The jonin vest was given to me by someone who I saw as a father figure to me. His name was Iruka, he was the first person to ever have faith in me and treat me like a normal person. My friend Shikamaru gave me this lighter. Lee gave me this green suit..."

Naruto began to explain each item he had and their significance. A weapon scroll from Tenten, headband from Neji, BBQ coupon from Chogi, earrings from Ino, a dog whistle from Kiba and a bottle of bugs from Shino. But he got quiet as he looked at the last few items from the scroll, and the one unsummoned item. "These ones are even more special to me than the others."

"Who were they from?" This was the first time Minato had spoken up since Naruto began showing each item, and you could hear how careful he was being with what he said so he didn't hurt Naruto's feelings.

"This vial of sand was from Gaara. We grew up in similar situations, but he had it harder than I did. This is some of his special sand that he always carried with him. Kakashi-sensei gave me this first-aid kit. I didn't realize the importance of it until I saw how that is the same thing Rin gave him for becoming a jonin. Hinata didn't give me anything physical; the last thing she gave me was a kiss and those three very precious words that I still hold close to my heart. Haha, Tsunade told me I was Hokage. She put all of her faith in me..."

Minato could see the silent tears running down Naruto's cheeks and could hear the slight crack in his voice, even as he tried to cover it up. "You don't have to keep going if you don't want to, that last one and the unsummoned one seem pretty important."

"The last two..." Naruto choked on his words and had to take a few breaths to control his emotions. "These last two are from the other members of my team. They were my closest friends. Sakura, she gave me the photo of our team. I didn't know that she even had it with her. Sasuke...Sasuke was an interesting person. He was smarter than anyone else our age. He didn't give me something that was sentimental in any way. He gave me something he knew could help me fight, but I refused to use it." Naruto's hand was hovering over the unsummoned object.