It was silent. The room was eerily quiet. Quiet enough for soft breathing to be heard. Suddenly a roar of applause and cheer erupted. Fugaku stood up spontaneously, praying in relief. Mikoto gasped, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes as she hugged Naruto to her side. Itachi closed his eyes and smirked, knowing finally this gruelling lawsuit was done. Sasuke... he sighed in alleviation, turning to look at his blonde.

Naruto, he was shocked. The blonde was stuck speechless. It was... It was over. Finally over. After months of being in constant agony, continual anxiety...

He felt his hear being lifted from worry and he gasped in happiness as he tried to dry away the tears of relief with the sleeve of his suit jacket. Turning to Sasuke, he saw the raven giving him a small smile, mouthing the words 'I told you so'. Naruto pouted and then grinned in happiness. A scraping noise made him look in that direction. The judge had walked out. Naruto smiled to himself, feeling relaxed for the first time in a long time.

Curiosity wormed his way into his brain and Naruto turned around to see Minato, his father...

Identical electric blue eyes clashed. Naruto felt the burning gaze bore right through his soul as he stared back at Minato. Instantaneously, older blue eyes contorted in anger as he stared at Naruto and the small blonde knew something was going to happen.

Suddenly, a scream of anger tore right through the applause as Minato struggled against the two people restraining him. Kicking one of them and punching the other, he rushed his way towards Naruto, complete hatred swirling through him.

Everything was so sudden, like someone had fast-forward reality. Before Naruto could even react, Minato's hands were around his neck, screaming at Naruto.

"You fucking shit! I hope you rot in hell where you belong! I hate you! I hate you! I HATE YOU!" Minato screamed. Rage surged through Sasuke as he punched Minato in the face, trying to save Naruto. Fugaku and Itachi immediately sprang into action, removing the hysteric blonde of him. After much struggle, Five police officers seized Minato by his arms and restrained him. Minato was panting and gasping, his head bowed down. Sasuke rushed to take Naruto into his arms, cradling the blonde head into his chest.

Naruto was breathless, breathing heavily to get air into his lungs. Tears sprang into his eyes as he felt a burning feeling around his throat. He looked up to look at Minato again. Minato was looking right back at him. The older blonde stared at him, dead in the eyes and whispered...

"Just so you know, even Kushina never loved you. No one did. Why would anyone love such a monster?"

"Shut the fuck up! The only monster here is you!" Sasuke screamed, looking down at Naruto and consoling him.

Mikoto glared in anger. "Kushina would be so disappointed in Minato. Naruto is 'her' child and she loves him like every mother loves their child."

A deep voice resonated through. "Minato". Minato turned his head to look at Fugaku. The ebony-haired man looked at him in disappointment.

"I hope you regret what you did to Naruto. Take him away." Fugaku sternly said. They gripped Minato strongly and left. Naruto stared at the diminishing figure of his father as his words rang through his mind.

'Kushina never loved you...'

'Why would anyone-'

'Love such a monster.'

Back home

The house was quiet. No one said anything, recalling what had happened at the court-room. When they arrived home, Mikoto immediately took Naruto to the washroom to look at the bruise around his neck. After checking on that, she made Naruto go to sleep knowing the physical and emotional exhaustion Naruto went through was bad for him while he was recovering. Walking down, she went to the living room, seeing everyone sitting down solemnly.

"I'm going to the station. Probably got stacks up cases to resolve." Itachi said standing up. Fugaku nodded. Itachi passed by his brother and looked down at him. Seeing Sasuke so distraught made Itachi's heart break. He sat by him and whispered, "Tell me what's wrong?"

Sasuke looked at Itachi, his face showing all the emotions he was feeling.

"I promised Naruto that Minato couldn't hurt him anymore. That people would be there to protect him from that bastard and know what Naruto predicted, exactly happened." Sasuke said.

"I should have predicted the possibilities that could have happened and reacted faster. It's not your fault. You did what you had to do and that was be there for Naruto. I'm proud of you." Itachi said sincerely.

Sasuke smiled a bit and said, "I love Naruto and I never want to see him cry like that." Itachi petted his brother's hair and said a quick goodbye and left. Sasuke sat down in silence before getting up and going to his room. Quietly opening the door, he went in and settled into his chair as he did some work while Naruto was sleeping.

Naruto's mind

It was dark. Pitch black everywhere. He felt his senses heighten as he heard soft voices resonating from everywhere. Naruto ran forward, running and running until he could find an exit from this darkness. Every step he took, the voices got louder and louder.

Loud enough to recognise that it was Minato's.

'Monster'

'Murderer'

'She never loved you'

'I HATE YOU'

Those echoing words broke his resolve as he crashed down to the ground, crying and screaming. Every memory of his childhood morphed into the darkness, swirling around him, making him remember all those painful moments.

'No... No! Please no! I can't!' Naruto screamed, tears streaming down like small rivulets down his face. Curling into a ball, he sobbed, trying to will away the memories. Suddenly, the darkness faded into bright yellow light and his surroundings shone brilliantly with tiny specks of sparkles floating around. A glowing white image burned brightly in front of the sobbing child and Naruto looked in awe wondering what was happening. A figure of a lady came into view, her long crimson hair flowing around. Her beautiful grey eyes looking down at him with so much love and pain. Naruto gasped as he recognised her. He remember vaguely, seeing her in photos in his old house. Somehow he knew, that she..

"M-mom?"

Kushina looked down at her son, small tears flowing down her face as she crouched down to take her child into her arms.

"Naruto. Oh N-naruto... My baby boy." She whispered. "How I dreamed I would be able to see you again one day." She rocked them both gently as Naruto hands came to clasp around her.

"Mom... It's really you?" He asked, his hearts filled with so much emotion. Kushina laughed gently and stroked his blonde head.

"Yes it me. Oh how you've grown! My handsome little man." She cooed as the red-head looked at Naruto.

He blushed brightly, "Mom!"

Kushina laughed heartily and Naruto joined her, both of them smiling at each other. After everything quietened down, her eyes dropped into sadness and she stroked the bruises around Naruto's neck.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry at what Minato did to you. Everything he said... Don't even think for a second that any of that is true. When you were born, you and Minato became my whole world. I'm sorry that I wasn't there to give you that love." She said sadly.

Naruto shook his head, "It's not your fault mom. Even after it all, I finally found happiness in my life."

Kushina smiled. " Yeah, I know."

The yellow sparkling surroundings began to fade and Naruto knew his mom would be leaving now. He tried to grab on tighter, so she wouldn't leave but her apparition was beginning to fade.

"Don't go." Naruto looked up at her, pleading her to stay. Kushina smiled sadly and hugged him tightly before whispering,

"I love you Naruto. You were the best thing that happened in my life." She said.

"Goodbye, Naruto." Her echoing voice faded and so did her image and Naruto was left in blinding white.

Naruto's eyes opened.

'Did I dream about... mom?' He said in his mind.

'Was it really her?' He thought. He felt a fading warmness embracing around him and it reminding him about their parting hug. Naruto smiled as he remembered those loving words. The blonde closed his eyes, his heart finally healing as those words soothed his damaged soul.