New Dawn [Naruto Fan-fiction]

The Nightmare is Back

第十章

悪夢が帰ってきた

Tenth Chapter: The Nightmare is Back

+Parallel World+

It was around midnight that Minato had had enough. The lights were already out, and his wife had long since gone into a pit of slumber, yet he could not follow after the said wife. The Hokage had been woiiirrying over his eldest son ever since he had realized the blonde boy would not come back home any sooner. The man had tried to recompose and recollect in order to relax, but as each second ticked by his worry had only grown to the point where he could feel his heart beat more than one hundred and ten times per minute and some would skip one every thirty seconds. He knew it did not bode well as there was a big possibility that a heart with erratic beats could stop beating altogether than a slower pace.

Since he could not last any longer with his back on bed while he was short of breath, Minato slowly sat and stood, mindful not to wake his wife before he use the window and disappeared through it into the night to search for his missing son.

Minato crouched down upon his landing on an inch-tall grass, and straigthened up. His cornflower blue eyes gazed up at the dark fortress of woods; a part of his village that he had yet to check and was not expecting his son to be hiding in after looking around for almost an hour. The panting of his was not of fatigue, but rather of anxiety that seemed to be twice as much as before he arrived at the place he was currently in. Gulping, Minato took a few steps forward, allowing the moon's beam on his person in his light blue pyjamas.

As the Hokage ventured in the woods, dried leaves and small twigs crunched under his feet, yet he seemed to not hear nor mind it. He was more focused on the sensation that he could have sworn whoever it was must be on the verge on dying. It only made him more anxious when he recognized the chakra signature of his son, Naruto, who he was certain to be twenty-five to thirty minutes away from his location.

Minato had to hurry, or Naruto would die.

If only he could only used his Hiraishin, he could be by Naruto's side in a flash.

+Main World+

"Naruto..." the raven haired teen whispered, hardly believing what his eyes were seeing.

Silence and stillness was prominent in the chamber as Sasuke, along with Sakura and Iruka that flanked his sides, stared with wide eyes on the blonde teen. However, Iruka broke it by saying, "I'm going to get Lady Hokage." before he run off.

Sakura did not know when tears started leaking out of her eyes. She choke a little, and covered her lips with both hands. "Naruto...you're awake." she quivered.

Despite the smile Naruto gave Sakura, Sasuke can tell how the blonde was struggling to stay conscious.

"...where..." Naruto tried to ask in complete sentence.

Knowing what the question would be, Sasuke calmly answered. "You're in the secret chamber beneath the Hokage tower. And, in a casket apparently."

Had Sasuke be anyone else, Sakura would have chuckled a little at how the former tried to lighten up the mood.

"Why...? I'm not...dead...am I?" Naruto furrowed his brows.

"You're not, Naruto. It's for good measure actually. Someone had tried to kidnap you, so Master Tsunade thought it best to hide you here." Sakura explained.

Just then, Iruka came back with Tsunade in tow.

The newly arrived ones rushed inside, and Tsunade checked on Naruto with her chakra-glowing hands. "Naruto, how are you feeling?" she asked.