As time went by, the bruises began to fade. The cobalt blue and violet hues vanished to reveal the healthy golden tan of the blonde. The scars inflicted healed to form faint pink ones running down Naruto's chest. Naruto was healthier, his earlier thin frame filling up making him stronger. The blonde walked to the mirror to look at himself. The inflictions of his past, now disappearing. He was still skinny, with his protruding collar bones and slight ridges of his chest indicating is ribs.

It had been two months since Naruto had gone to school. A part of him longed to escape the boredom of being held up in his new home but the reminders of the bullying he had to endure made him cringe in slight fear.

'Dog-breath probably misses me' Naruto said with a hollow laugh. He hated the fear and anxiety inside him. He hated always being scared of those assholes and most of all he loathed the feelings of self-hatred they caused every time they hurled their insults. Naruto wasn't usually one to be hurt by just mere words but hell, there is only so much a person can take. The blonde became hollow to their remarks. Hearing the same thing over and over didn't affect him as much.

But it still stung to a degree.

The blonde sighed as he made his way to his bed, the earlier conversation running through his head.

Naruto sat on the counter of the washroom while Mikoto brought in the creams. She smiled sympathetically at her adopted son as she removed the old bandages off his torso. She gently applied the cream as Naruto squirmed due to the coolness of it. Mikoto laughed.

"It's not that bad dear. Moving will just get cream all over you." She said before going to the sink to wash off the residue on her hands. Naruto smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. Mikoto turned around to face the blonde as she looked at him in happiness.

"The scars are faint now and you've grown healthy. Maybe it's time you go to school. It's been two months and you have a lot of work to catch up on. Sasuke has all your missed work I assume." She told Naruto, turning away to wipe her hands, missing the look of fear across Naruto's face.

"Ohh... When do I start?" Naruto slowly asked.

"You can choose to go tomorrow." The raven-haired woman said as she gently helped Naruto to get off the counter. She ruffled Naruto's blonde crown and walked out of the bathroom and Naruto stood still wishing he didn't have to face every one at in school.

At school

The bell had rung, signalling the end of the final class. Students rushed out of the hallways and into the school car park.

"You know, the loser has been gone for like... 8 weeks." Kiba said as he walked with his group of friends consisting of Gaara, Sakura, Ino and Neji.

"Why... you miss him?" Gaara smirked, seeing the angry look on Kiba's face.

"FUCK NO! I miss punching that piece of shit." Kiba shouted defensively. Sakura and Ino laughed from behind.

"Wonder if you scared Naruto off." Sakura said with praise in her voice. "You know... Sasuke-kun has been acting weird lately. He doesn't hang out with us anymore and he defended the blonde idiot and chose HIM over me!" The pinkette whined.

Kiba snorted, "Probably busy or going through some emo phase and about defending the loser, just some act to lower the his guard down. As if he likes Naruto in any way." Neji gave a sideways glance, looking towards Sasuke as he made his way over to his car. Deciding to not tell anything, he went along with the group's conversation, all the while in his head...

'Wonder how this is going to play out.'

Teacher's lounge

Kakashi sat on the couch, stacks of papers next to him. In his hands, were a red pen and a test paper. Sipping some coffee, he dived his concentration into grading his papers but his thoughts wandered off.

'Damn, Naruto has been gone for 2 months now. Is he actually scared of coming to school now?' Kakashi worriedly thought as he remembered the bullying Naruto had gone through.

'No. Naruto isn't a person to back down and run away.' Kakashi analysed, the ticking of the clock now being the only sound he heard. Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Uh... Come in." Kakashi said slowly. The door opened to reveal Sarutobi , the head of Konoha High School (I know, so original)

"Kakashi-san, I'm sorry for disturbing you." Sarutobi said as he walked into the room. Kakashi looked at him warily.

"It's fine Sarutobi-sama. Is there something I can do for you?" The silver-haired man asked.

Sarutobi looked down at his shoes, his voice stopping short. He looked at Kakashi with a serious expression and he quietly explained,

"I don't think you have been informed about why Naruto Uzumaki has been absent for so long. It is a sensitive topic and none of this should be revealed to anyone, okay?" Sarutobi stated sternly. Kakashi raised his eyebrow but nodded in affirmation.

"Why are you telling me in the first place?" Kakashi inquired.

"Because I feel you would be able to help him, since that it was you who informed me about Naruto's unfortunate situations in school." The old man said.

"Oh."

"Fugaku-san revealed to me that Naruto had been going through may years on abuse by Minato." Sarutobi' voice softened in remorse. Hearing this Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Naruto was then adopted into the Uchiha family and took two months for recovery. I want you to keep an eye on Naruto and make sure he is all right. I don't want the boy to go to the hospital again." Sarutobi said sternly.

Kakashi tried to process everything that was being said but his mind was still in shock. He voiced a soft whisper agreeing to Sarutobi.

Knowing that this information would shock Kakashi, Sarutobi left the room saying thank you, leaving the silver-haired man to be.

Kakashi collapsed on the couch in shock.

'All those tiny things I noticed... It was done by Minato?! His own father?!'

He clutched his head with his hands.

'I should have realised. Minato... was never himself after Kushina died and Naruto was the sufferer from it.'

"I'm so sorry Naruto."