Naruto was walking through the hospital with Kushina, Menma, and Naruko behind him. Naruto was leaving the hospital for the first time since he got here. His arm was still in that cast, but it was covered in drawings that Naruko and Kushina put on it. It had pictures of ramen, fishcakes, the Hokage Monument, and hearts. He loved the thought, but what he really wanted was to get back to training with Garou. Granted, that day would be a month away, but he was anxious. Walking up to the front desk, he waited next to his mother as she checked him out, "Take care, Kushina-sama," the nurse said as she looked over the counter, "take care, Naruto-san,"

"You too," Naruto replied

"Come on! Let's go get some ramen! I'm hungry and I know you're tired of the hospital food!" Naruko said as she pulled on Naruto's shirt

"H-hey! D-don't drag me!"

"Naruko, let go of your brother," Kushina ordered as Naruko let go of her brother. She pouted as Menma whispered to Naruto: "Be careful around her, bro. She's been acting weird since you were put in the hospital,"

"Really? How?" Naruto asked

"She's been cleaning your room, helping mom with the dishes, helping dad with paperwork, it's like she's lost her mind," Menma replied as he crossed his eyes and made a 'cock-coo' noise. This made Naruto snicker a bit until he realized that Naruko had been in his room, "Wait, she's been in my room?!" Naruto asked

"Yeah, it's actually pretty bare. It's almost sad. That's why she had taken the liberty of... 'fixing it'," Menma said, using air-quotes around the words 'fixing' and 'it'. Naruto could only imagine what his sister had done to his room. But that would wait for later as his hand was suddenly grabbed by Kushina, "Stay close to me, Naruto," Kushina said

"I'm not 4!" Naruto retorted as he tried to escape his mother's grasp, but Kushina's grip got tighter to the point that Naruto thought he'd have to go back to the hospital for a broken hand. So, he gave-up and 'allowed' Kushina to hold his hand. They walked out of the building and onto the street. Naruko and Menma walked behind Kushina and Naruto on the street, making their way to Ramen Ichiraku. They passed by people who, to Naruto's surprise, were silent. Naruto didn't hear a single insult on their way to lunch and it was nice for Naruto to be able to think for once.

Naruto was having some trouble getting onto the stool in front of the counter for Ichiraku's. Naruko got down from her stool and helped her brother, wrapping her arms around his legs and lifting him into the air. Naruto used his good hand to push on the counter to pull himself up and looked down at Naruko, "You can let go of my legs now," Naruto said as Naruko let go

"You're welcome!" Naruko replied

"Thank you," Naruto said as Kushina sat next to him and Naruko sat next to her, with Menma sitting on Naruto's left. Kushina reached out for a menu and placed it in front of her, "Alright, what do we want?" Kushina asked

"Miso!" Naruko answered

"Beef Miso!" Menma said

"I'll have... pork," Naruto said as Kushina nodded. She placed the menu back as a man came over to them. He had a white hat and wore a white gi of all things. He smiled as he saw Kushina, "Kushina! What brings you here? I haven't seen you in over 2 months!" he said

"Sorry, Teuchi-san, I've just been busy lately, you know?" Kushina replied with a nervous smile

"I understand. I heard the news, how's the brat anyway?" Teuchi asked as Kushina pointed at Naruto

"Ask him yourself," Kushina said as Teuchi looked at Naruto. Teuchi's smile turned into a smirk as he leaned on the counter, "My, my, you've grown! Last time I saw you, you were learning to walk!" Teuchi said, "How's that arm treating ya?"

"Feels fine," Naruto replied

"That's good to know. Hey! How about you all get half-off! What do ya say?" Teuchi said

"R-really?! A-are you sure?" Kushina asked

"Why not? Today's Naruto's first day out of the hospital, isn't it? Why not celebrate?!"

"Thank-you, Teuchi! This means so much!" Kushina said, "Half-off of our order! This means we can get double what we usually get!"

'What have I done?' Teuchi thought as he looked at Naruto. Naruto didn't seem all that excited to Teuchi. This caused him to raise an eyebrow as he proceeded to take their orders and start cooking.

Naruto was walking through the front door of his home with a take-out bowl. He only ate about 2 bowls before he stopped half-way through his third. Naruko, Menma, and Kushina each ate about 20 bowls each. This made Naruto both cheap to feed and the most beneficial for Teuchi, having not lost much money thanks to him. Naruto walked down the hall to the kitchen and put his bowl in the fridge. Closing the fridge door, he turned around to see his father walking into the kitchen, "Hey, Naruto, how was the trip back home?" Minato asked

"I-It was... fine," Naruto replied

"Just 'fine'? Are you sure?" Minato questioned as he sniffed the air. Squatting down, he looked at Naruto and moved his head around, "Judging by the way you smell... and the left-over broth on your face, I'd say it was more than just a 'fine' day," Minato said with a smirk as Naruto pulled his father's hand off his face

"Can you please not do that?" Naruto asked

"Do what? This?" Minato asked as he placed his other hand on Naruto's face, "Or this? Or this?" Minato repeated as he placed his other hand on Naruto's face and started to move both hands all over Naruto's face. Naruto tried to remove both hands from his face as he saw Minato smile. After a few seconds, Naruto started to smile, and then he started to laugh. Minato joined in on the laughter as he brought his son in for a hug, "Naruto... I just wanted to say... I love you. Okay?" Minato said

"I... me too, Tou-san. I love you," Naruto replied as Minato ruffled Naruto's hair. Minato then let go of his son and pulled out something from his bag. It was a three-pronged kunai with strange writing on the front, "Naruto, I want you to have this," Minato said

"What is it?" Naruto asked

"It's a special kunai. Made just for you," Minato explained as he handed it to Naruto, "if you're ever in need of help, just throw it at something, and something special will happen. Alright?"

"Okay, Tou-san," Naruto replied as he put the kunai in his pocket. Minato ruffled his son's hair for the final time before Naruto said his good-byes and went up-stairs to his room. When Naruto was out of ear-shot, Minato snapped his fingers as an ANBU appeared. He wore a dog mask and had spiky silver hair oriented to his left-side. He had a Tantō on his back as he bowed to Minato.

"You called, sensei?" the ANBU asked

"Kakashi, I'm ordering you to watch over Naruto for the next few weeks. I want a daily report of what he drinks. Where he sleeps. What he eats. Everything!" Minato said as he turned around and looked at the ANBU

"But sensei, isn't that a bit much?" Kakashi asked

"This is gonna be the first and final time Naruto is ever gonna have to go to the hospital. Should anyone harm him in any way, bring them to Ibiki," Minato said. Kakashi bowed as he nodded his head, "Yes, sensei," Kakashi replied

"Speaking of, have you found any information about the person who saved Naruto's life?" Minato questioned

"No, we haven't. The only description we found was from Neko. she said that the person had blood-red hair, similar to that of Kushina-sama, along with a single red eye. We've found no one matching this description within the village. And last I checked, Uchiha's don't have red hair... nor should they care enough to help," Kakashi explained. Minato nodded as he bit his thumb. He thought and thought about what to do next. The supposed 'coup' of the Uchiha's is going to happen within the next month and he still needs more information to work with. Snapping his fingers again and another ANBU appeared. He wore an ANBU mask and had black hair.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" the ANBU asked

"Itachi, I'm sure you know about my problem?" Minato asked

"Hai. Naruto-sama has been attacked and both the assailant and rescuer are nowhere to be found. The Uchiha Coup is also happening within the next month or two, from what my father speaks of anyways," Itachi replied

"I see... we'll continue this conversation in my office," Minato said as he grabbed both Kakashi and Itachi's shoulders and vanished in a flicker of yellow.

Naruto woke up late in the night. He looked at his clock and saw that it read '11:30'. He huffed as he struggled to sit up. After a few painful moments, Naruto was able to sit up and he looked over to the side of his bed. Hopping off, he made sure not to make too much noise as he snuck through the house and down to the door. He struggled to put on his shoes as he tried to make sure he didn't wake-up his family. He was planning on going to see Garou, as a surprise. Granted, Garou would visit him once a week for the last two months, but he wanted to go visit Garou for a change. But as he reached for the door, he felt someone tap on his shoulder, "Where do you think you're going, young man?" as a voice asked as Naruto turned around to see Kakashi, crossing his arms

"W-what?! W-where did yo-"

"Shhh! Keep quiet, people are sleeping," Kakashi said as he placed a finger against Naruto's lips. Naruto frowned as Kakashi pulled away his finger from Naruto's lips and bent down, "So, what are you doing up this late?" Kakashi asked

"I was going to see someone," Naruto replied

"Really? See who?" Kakashi asked. Naruto glared at Kakashi as Naruto shook his head, "Not telling," Naruto said

"Ahh, come on. Don't do that. How about this, I tell you my name and you tell me your friend's name. Deal?" Kakashi asked. Naruto thought about it for a few seconds. It would be cool to learn an ANBU's name. But at the same time, he'd have to give away Garou's name. And Naruto wanted to keep his training a secret. So, Naruto came to a decision... he said: "No, no deal," and this made Kakashi face-fault

'That usually works,' Kakashi thought as he sighed and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "listen, Naruto, it's late. How about I get you a glass of water and take you back to bed?"

"A-alright," Naruto said as Kakashi smiled under his mask and took Naruto to the kitchen for a glass of water. He then took Naruto up to bed and tucked him in. He then vanished and continued to watch Naruto, making sure to put down a small note about tonight's events for Minato to look over.