Well this has happened before, Naruto thought. He wondered why it was Kakashi he would be fighting. Naruto was jounin and to his knowledge at this point in time Kakashi was still a chuunin. It would make more sense if he would have been made to fight Minato, but he was glad that wasn't the case. He didn't want to fight his father. Then he thought, maybe it was just as much to test Kakashi as it was Naruto? Kakashi was very capable. He could probably hold his own against some jounin. The blonde teen mentally shrugged.
"Alright." he agreed. Minato seemed vaguely surprised. "Let's do this Little Man." Naruto grinned as he ruffled Kakashi's silver locks. Kakashi swatted at his hands and tried to fix his hair though it was always messy so it's not like he really changed anything.
Naruto and Kakashi took their places across from eachother in the middle of the clearing. "On my mark!" shouted Minato. Both slipped into defensive stances.
"Don't go easy on me." demanded Kakashi. Naruto shrugged in answer.
"Start!"
Despite the match starting neither one moved, they just stared at eachother daring the other to attack first. Both blue and onyx eyes held intensity and challenge.
"Uhhh, he said start you know." reminded Obito after about two minutes of stillness. Kakashi sighed at his teammate before running in. He delivered a kick which was easily blocked, he went low and tried for his legs but Naruto jumped out of the way. Kakashi jumped high and tried to get him from above but the Uzumaki was too fast. This continued as all of the boy's attacks were either blocked or dodged and the blonde never went on offense.
Kakashi grew increasingly frustrated. Why wasn't he attacking? What did he think he was some kind of joke? Was he trying to show off? He got his answer when he noticed how Naruto's eyes were taking in his movement. He's observing my fighting style, Kakashi realised and immediately stopped his assault, though he knew it was too late. He should have noticed earlier.
Once again they stood still as they watched eachother closely. After another couple of minutes ticked by Naruto concluded that the chuunin wouldn't make another attack attempt so he decided that it was his turn. Naruto rushed in and delivered an onslaught of punches and kicks, some were dodged, some hit home but after the first few times Kakashi noticed that trying to block the jounin was useless because once he noticed he always found a way around his defenses. He was simply too fast and yet Kakashi still got the impression that the blonde was holding back.
As Naruto fought Kakashi he pushed at the weaknesses the boy had in his taijutsu. He was a little rougher than what was necassary, but he knew Little Kakashi was pretty arrogant about his skills and was hoping to take him down a notch. After several blows to his left side the Hatake finally caught on to what Naruto was trying to show him. He was irked at first that the blonde wasn't fighting him full out but that didn't last long. Even Minato never pushed him the way Naruto was doing now, and from what he could feel, Naruto wasn't afraid to give him a few bruises.
After Kakashi was thrown into a tree for like the fifth time he finally collapsed, his breathing was heavy and he seemed exhausted. They had been at it for close to an hour, Rin and Obito were a little ways clear of their fight while they each worked on their own skills, but Minato was watching Naruto with great interest.
"Why don't you take a small rest Kakashi." Minato suggested with a smile.
"Hai." the boy responded with a voice shaking from exhaustion. He just stayed on the ground where he had fallen and ignoring the pain he felt from the multiple rough blows, he fell asleep just like that.
Minato walked up to Naruto with the smile still on his face. "That was impressive, it's been awhile since he was pushed that hard, and only with taijutsu. Who did you say your sensei was? Or did you develop it on you own?" Minato asked.
Naruto shook his head. "I didn't learn my taijutsu from my sensei. Actually my friend was a taijutsu specialist and he taught me, his name was Rock Lee."
Minato was quick to pick up the past tense in the statement. "Was?" he asked in a soft voice. Naruto looked away.
"You should know more than most that war kills." he responded sadly. But then he looked back to meet the Namikaze's eyes and smiled. "But even though they are gone, I still hold their memories with me. I will live for them since it was them who made me who I am today, ya know." he said with a clenched fist raised in determination as if that would better solidify his claim.
Minato didn't miss the plural that he used when he spoke. He wanted to ask, to know more about the mysterious boy he found in the woods, the one he felt connected to, but let it go for now. However he couldn't help but wonder how many precious people the teen had lost from this war. Perhaps if he knew he could have helped.
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They spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon training. Minato had Naruto go against Rin and Obito as well and, like Kakashi, he literally pushed them until they dropped, showing them their weak spots. By time he was finished with all of them Naruto was starving.
"Raaammeen." he moaned and Minato laughed.
"Why don't you all come over to my place for dinner. Kushina makes a good pot of ramen. It's her favorite as well." he offered while sending Naruto a wink. Instead of perking up like Minato had expected, Naruto froze.
What would happen if the past Kurama and the future Kurama met? And his mother. . . how could he look her in the eyes and pretend to not know her? How could face both her and his father and the man he once considered like a brother and the man who killed every one of them, and still keep his composure. It was very difficult to keep from breaking a few of Obito's bones when they were sparing, so how could he face all those memories and not lose it at the one responsible for their demise, for his pain?
A hand plopped on his shoulder. "Are you alright Naruto?" Minato asked. His father asked. Naruto had tried not to think of it while they were training but now it's like he could think of nothing else. And Kakashi-Sensei being right there looking straight at him didn't help either. He remembered watching him die. He could remember it so clearly, his bloodied body and whispered words.
Naruto's breath became rushed and heavy. "Naruto?" Minato called, confused as to what had set him off, or what was happening for that matter.
"U-uh yeah - I mean n-no I can't today. Sorry maybe another time." Naruto stuttered out before rushing away in a blur of yellow and leaving four very confused people in his path.
"What's wrong? What happened to him?" asked Obito in a concerned manner.
Minato didn't take his eyes off the place where the blonde had left. "I don't know. I actually have to talk to someone, I just remembered so maybe another time okay?" and then he left in the same flash of yellow.
Obito stared for awhile longer before he gave a shrug. "Well I'm still up for ramen if you guys want." but Kakashi was already walking away. He turned to Rin with hopeful eyes.
"Sorry Obito but I think I'm going to practice my chakra control a little more." she gave the dejected boy a bright smile. Obito sulked on the way home.
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Minato arrived at Inoichi's office only moments later. He knocked on the wooden door and waited impatiently for him to open it. Ten seconds later when the door still wasn't opened he knocked again. The door was hauled open to reveal a man with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and strange blue eyes.
"Minato, how can I help you?" Minato had never come to his office unannounced before but Inoichi didn't appear surprised to see him there.
"I have a feeling that you already know." Minato said almost coldly. The Yamanaka sighed and moved to let the man in.
"This is about the new addition to you team I presume." it wasn't really a question. Minato nodded.
"Why don't you take a seat and tell me about it." he gestured to a couch that was against the opposite wall. Minato sat.
He was quiet for a while while he considered where to start. He decided to begin with their introductions, then walked him through there training, and finally concluded with Naruto's abrupt mental breakdown.
Inoichi nodded, suddenly very serious. "Can you explain exactly what was happening during this 'break down'?"
"Uh well. . ." Minato dragged the details of the events to the front of his mind while trying to push back the worry that clouded it. "He was breathing heavily and sweating a little. He was really pale and looked sort of panicked?" the blonde man sounded unsure.
"Okay, and what were the events leading up to that?" Inoichi asked in a very serious manner, his eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his mouth pulled down.
Minato thought for a moment. "Well they were training and then Naruto was hungry so I invited them all over for some ramen. Kushina had been wanting to meet him and she's a great cook so I thought it was a win-win you know."
Realization dawned on Inoichi's features. "You invited him and your team to your place for dinner with Kushina and yourself?" he confirmed. Minato nodded slowly, had he done something wrong?
Inoichi sighed and rubbed his face. "It may not be my place to tell you this, but since you're on a team with him maybe you should know. Naruto has a. . . troubled past to say the least. As a result he may have developed what is called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD. It's actually quite common in shinobi, but everyone displays it differently. You didn't do anything wrong but something at that moment may have triggered it, though it's hard to say exactly what." Inoichi knew exactly what it was but he couldn't say because the Hokage ordered him that he not tell anyone about what he saw in Naruto's mind. He wasn't surprised that Naruto had this, all things considered. In fact, it would be more surprising if he didn't.
Minato looked really worried. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked desperately.
"Just be there for him. That's all you can do."
Never in his life could Minato Namikaze remember feeling as helpless as he did then.