Naruto: Chaos Theory 1/?
Title: Chaos Theory
Author: ofphenwa
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Violence, Language and Crack
Summary: Namikaze Minato never expected that he would actually have a son and that his son, Uzumaki Naruto, was already an adult. Neither did he expect that his son would end up bringing so much chaos and trouble into his life like his namesake.
Notes: Jump on the crack boat! This is a modern!AU and was inspired by Kaitou Kid, D.N Angel and “Catch Me If You Can”.
Master Post 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Chapter 1
It was noisy and crowded at the arrival terminal of the Konoha Airport, the largest airport centre in Hi no Kuni that saw at least a couple of millions travellers passing through its gates per day. The nineteen-year-old Uzumaki Naruto was one of them. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes and stifling a sleepy yawn, Naruto pulled his luggage along as he left the baggage claim section via automatic doors to face the crowd of people eagerly waiting for their relatives/ friends to emerge. As he futilely tried to comb his messy blond hair in some semblance of order and smooth out the wrinkles in the orange hoodie over his black jeans, his tired blue eyes scanned the crowd trying to find his father, whom he had never seen before in his entire life.
Naruto couldn't see anyone who might be his father - according to his late mother Kushina, he looked a lot like him. But in this crowd, there was no one with blond hair and blue eyes. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. Sighing to himself, he wandered over to the empty seats nearby and plopped himself down, prepared to wait. Having no other living relatives in Uzu no Kuni, Naruto had been quite surprised to receive an envelope containing a one-way ticket to Konoha and a handwritten letter simply saying,
Naruto,
I'm sorry for your loss. Please come and stay with me in Konoha. I will be very glad to have you.
Your father
It was so rare to receive a handwritten letter these days and the paper looked expensive. The penmanship was exquisite, suggesting that his father was a very rich and well-learned man. The ticket was for a first class seat on a direct flight from Uzu no Kuni to Konoha. After some deliberation, Naruto leapt at the opportunity - there was nothing left in Uzu no Kuni for him and he wanted to see Konoha anyway, even if he had never met his father before.
Besides, it was a good chance for him to enrol into the prestigious Konoha University to study law as well as following in his late mother's footsteps who had taught him everything he knew. Naruto waited and tried to stay awake but his jet-lag soon won out and he dozed off. A hand gently shook his shoulder, rousing him from his nap and a lazy voice drawled, "Are you Uzumaki Naruto? If you aren't, I'll eat my book. You look way too much like your father."
Naruto jolted awake at hearing that, and stared at the man who had come to pick him up. The man was wearing a well-tailored suit that screamed of money. He was tall, had weird gravity-defying grey hair and wore a medical mask on his lower face, obscuring his mouth and nose. He was also reading a very well-known bright orange book that made Naruto blush and screech indignantly, "Who the hell are you and why are you reading that porno book in public, masked pervert?! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO LATE?!? I've been waiting for-"
A quick glance at his watch told him the time, and Naruto's eyes widened in disbelief.
"THREE FUCKING HOURS! THREE HOURS!"
The masked man waved his hand in a dismissive manner.
"Maa, maa. I just got lost on the road of life, Naruto. Come on, I'll take you to see your father. He wanted to come and pick you up himself but the meeting dragged on longer than he expected. He looks forward to seeing you very much. I'm Hatake Kakashi, by the way. And this book? It's art."
Kakashi easily lifted Naruto's suitcase and began walking off to the car-park. Naruto shook his head in bewilderment and followed Kakashi. Just then his stomach growled long and loudly, prompting Kakashi to stop and glance at him. Naruto blushed in embarrassment. Kakashi's eyes crinkled into a smile and he said, "I'll take you somewhere nice to eat before you meet your father. It won't do for you to faint from hunger."
"Hey, I'm not that weak! Masked pervert…"
X
Later after a very good meal of the best ramen he'd ever tasted at Ichiraku's and making Kakashi pay for every single minute he was forced to wait at the airport with his wallet ("Kami, I'm never taking you out to eat again." "It's your punishment, you bastard. And stop reading that perverted book in public!" "It's art.") , Naruto found himself walking behind Kakashi into a rather swanky and posh lobby of a five-star hotel - "Fire Lotus". The receptionist blinked in surprise at seeing Naruto before she gave him a rather warm smile that confused him. Why was he receiving such a warm welcome? Her smile seemed too friendly to be just mere polite service.
Kakashi didn't seem to notice, and just walked right into the open elevator with the suitcase in tow. Naruto nodded to the receptionist and gave her a polite smile in return, before hurrying after him. After swiping a key-card in the card-reader, Kakashi pressed the button for the top floor of the building, and as the elevator rumbled around them, Naruto finally posed the question he had been waiting to ask, "Who's my father? I didn't even know that he was still alive. My mother never told me much about him before she died."
Kakashi peered at him over his book and he replied, "You'll find out soon enough, Naruto. There must be a good reason for why your mother didn't tell you. Apparently, she also never told your father about you because I'd never seen him look so shocked when he learnt that Kushina-san had left behind a nineteen-year-old child that was his son when she passed on. Your father is very anxious to meet you."
"Oh… I guess that explains why I've never seen my father then. My mom could be a very secretive person. Kakashi, how do you know my father? Are you working for him?"
Kakashi's eyes crinkled again in a smile and he answered, "All in due time, Naruto."
The elevator smoothly slid to a stop and the doors slid open to reveal a lavish penthouse suite with a panoramic view of the entire city of Konoha. In the distance, the tallest building Hokage Tower gleamed like a jewel and the kanji for Fire was proudly emblazoned at the top for the entire world to see. Naruto gasped in awe as he put his palms against the thick glass windows. He had never seen such an amazing sight.
"Wow…"
After depositing Naruto's luggage in a bedroom with a king-sized bed and checking that everything was in order, Kakashi bade him farewell, "Take care of yourself, Naruto. I have to return to work or Rin and Obito are going to bitch at me… Your father will be coming in a short while. In the meantime, enjoy yourself and don’t watch too much porn."
"I should be saying that to you, pervert! But… thanks. I really appreciate it. Will I be seeing you around?"
Kakashi glanced back at him and his answer was a vague, "We'll see, Naruto."
Then he was gone. Naruto sighed and flopped down on the large sofa before the large plasma TV screen - he suspected that it was probably one of those ultra expensive cutting-edge 3D televisions. He muttered, "What a weirdo Kakashi is…I wonder when I'll see my father? He must be super rich to afford all this!"
After a short moment of gazing out of the large windows, Naruto jumped to his feet and began looking for the bathroom. He needed a long hot bath to refresh him before taking a nap to sleep off the jet-lag, stat! He easily found it was adjacent to the bedroom and he had to stop and stare for a moment at the bath-tub. That was not a bath-tub! It was more like a mini-swimming pool that was also a Jacuzzi. The rest of the bathroom itself was just as tastefully designed as the suite, with minimalist, clean lines in soothing shades of pale blue, white and dove-grey.
Shaking his head at the sheer luxury, Naruto turned on the taps and chucked in some of the bubble soap on the counter. When the bath was ready, he stripped and dropped the clothes carelessly on the floor, sliding into the bath with a satisfied sigh. This was bliss! It was almost like soaking in the hot-springs near to his child-hood home in Uzu no Kuni. Naruto could feel his tension and aches melt out of his body as the Jacuzzi jets pummelled his stiff muscles. Despite the first class seat on the plane, it hadn't been the same as sleeping in a real bed especially with all that noise of the plane's engines that made him unable to nap. His mind hazy with sleepy bliss, Naruto couldn't help but doze off, forgetting that it wasn't a good idea to sleep in a bath-tub.
X
Thunderous gunshots cracked through the air as bullets flew wild, all aimed at the blond man running for his life. He had just left the tediously long meeting with Fire Daimyo and Konoha's Ruling Council in a foul mood, only to be ambushed in the car-park. Stormy blue eyes flashing with annoyance, the man growled to himself, "God. Can't anyone just give me some peace and time?!"
As the fourth director of LEAF, which was Hi no Kuni's federal investigations agency, Namikaze Minato had plenty of enemies gunning for his head. He was an especially popular target for agents from Iwa no Kuni, thanks to his exploits as "Yellow Flash" before he assumed the director seat. Crouching behind a pillar to shelter from the bullets peppering his car, Minato whipped out a stiletto and an automatic pistol from under his coat.
How the hell had that assassin gotten past his bodyguards? Where the hell were his men? Shoving those questions aside for later, Minato waited out the barrage of bullets. When they finally stopped, Minato stayed low as he dashed forward to where the assassin was, having calculated his position from the trajectory of the bullets. The assassin was still in the middle of reloading his rifle when Minato threw his stiletto into his hand, pinning it to the floor.
As if in slow motion, he could see the assassin pulling out another pistol and aiming it at him. In a blur, Minato fired off four shots, knocking the pistol out of his grasp and crippling his hands and legs. The assassin screamed in pain and fell backwards, clutching at his bleeding hands. The sounds of feet running towards them indicated that his men had finally arrived on scene, alerted by his distress signal. Rin, the sole medic of the team asked in concern, "Minato! Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. Take this guy in for questioning by Morino Ibiki and Mitarashi Anko. I want to know who sent him and who's responsible for the security breach. What happened to my bodyguards?'"
"They're dead, sir. It appears that the assassin took them out earlier."
"All the more need to crack this guy and find things out. Dismissed."
"Right away, sir!"
Minato rubbed his forehead as he turned around. His car was ruined. How was he going to meet his son now? Not to mention that he had been forced to send Kakashi (forgetting that he should never ever, send Kakashi to run important errands, because of his notorious tendency to be late - it was even rumoured within the agency that Kakashi would be late to his own funeral) to pick up his son, instead of going himself, due to the last-minute meeting. Minato's day just sucked. Seeing his distress, Rin laid her hand on his arm and cheerfully offered, "I'll give you a ride, sensei. I heard from Kakashi that your son arrived this morning. You must be looking forward to seeing him."
Looking down at Rin, Minato smiled gratefully.
"I appreciate your offer, Rin."
"Aww, shucks. It's the least I can do for you, sensei."
A few quick minutes later, Minato was finally in the hotel where his son was; and he gave a nod of acknowledgement to the undercover LEAF agent at the reception before he went into the elevator with Rin. Rin had pestered him into letting her see Naruto since Kakashi had already met Naruto first. Minato was happy to let her come along as she had very kindly gone out of her way to give him a lift.
Despite being the director of LEAF and having faced many assassination attempts, Minato felt very nervous about meeting his son, whom he hadn't known about until after Kushina died. He was touched that Kushina had named his son Naruto, after his favourite character from Jiraiya-sensei's book, even though Kushina had left him all those years ago. What was Naruto like? Did he look like Kushina? What were his hobbies and dislikes? What did he want to do with his life? Minato's mind was awhirl with questions as he watched the lift's number ascend. Rin patted his shoulder and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, sensei. Everything'll be fine."
"Ah… thanks."
Despite Rin's reassurances, Minato's stomach was still filled with butterflies when the lift came to stop and admitted them to the penthouse. Minato couldn't see his son anywhere. An ominous feeling settled over him when he found that the suitcase in the bedroom had been left unopened and the bathroom door was slightly open, the fragrance of soap hanging in the air. Minato dashed into the bathroom and saw through the steam to his horror that someone was lying in the bathtub in a disturbingly limp manner, his head almost underwater.
"Shit! Naruto!"
Throwing his dignity to the wind, Minato pulled his naked son out of the bathtub, dimly noticing the faint marks on his face as he tried to perform CPR on him. In the end, though, his worry was unwarranted as his son had snapped awake; and before he was even fully conscious, he reflexively punched him so fast that Minato was unable to respond. Rin was laughing like a hyena as she caught Minato when he stumbled backwards, cupping his jaw. Naruto's eyes, shaped like Kushina's but blue like Minato's eyes, were sparking with irritation.
"Who the hell woke me up?! I was having a really good dream, damn it!"
Naruto finally noticed them. Realising his state of undress and seeing that one of his unexpected guests was a woman who was also staring at him unabashedly, Naruto turned so red that he looked like a cooked lobster. Quickly wrapping a towel around his hips, Naruto asked, "… Oh… you're my dad?"
Minato winced as he rubbed his chin - damn, his son sure hit hard for a civilian. He grimaced ruefully at Naruto and answered, "Yes, I am your father, Namikaze Minato. It's a great pleasure to finally meet you."
Rin cheerfully greeted him from beside Minato.
"Hi, I'm Inuzuka Rin. You shouldn't be ashamed of your body. Flaunt it when you've got it, hottie!"
She flashed Naruto a thumbs up and a cheeky wink. Naruto blushed again, and feeling decidedly protective of his son, Minato sternly warned his subordinate, "Rin… "
Rin bit her lips and immediately tried to school her face into a professional expression; she wasn't very successful, not being one of the infiltrating specialists in LEAF after all. Raising his bemused eyebrows at the byplay between his father and Rin, Naruto hesitantly asked them, "Er, if you would excuse me… I need to get dressed. So, can you please wait outside?"
"Of course, Naruto! It was rather rude of us to barge in without asking. I'm very sorry about what happened."
Minato dragged Rin outside to the living room with him, his cheeks pink with embarrassment. What a great first impression. He hoped that Naruto hadn't taken offense.
X
Dressed in a clean set of clothes consisting of a blue-and-white-striped shirt and khaki pants, Naruto soon joined the two in the living room. There was a long, awkward silence as father and son stared at each other, wondering what to say. Rin watched them act this way for a few minutes before she got fed up and nudged her boss roughly with her bony elbow, making him wince. She hissed into his ear, "Sensei…didn't you just say earlier how much you wanted to meet your son? He is right in front of you. Say something, anything!"
"…What can I say? I can't think of anything at all."
"…I can't believe you, Sensei! Fine, I'll handle it."
Naruto watched his father and the lady who seemed to be his secretary furiously whisper to each other in front of him, feeling a bit left out. Naruto observed that his father wore a crisp black tailored suit with a navy blue tie, while Rin wore a flattering pencil skirt with a jacket, light make-up that accentuated her lips and simple pearl earrings. Nice.
"So Naruto, how was your flight?"
Rin smiled a sunny grin at him. Naruto glanced over to his father who looked really nervous. Naruto found it funny. How ironic; he should be the one who's nervous, not his father! Going with the flow, he grinned back and answered, "It was a good flight. But I didn't appreciate having to wait for three hours for Hatake-san to show up. Were you busy, Father?"
"WHAT. Kakashi was late! AGAIN," Rin exclaimed indignantly.
Minato blinked in surprise at being spoken to directly by his son. Naruto was smiling at him, an open expression on his face that made him finally relax for the first time since he found out he had a son at all. Naruto didn't seem to resent him… Meanwhile, Rin was muttering darkly to herself about confiscating Kakashi's books and burning them as punishment. Naruto grew quite nervous about the dark aura that sweet-looking lady was emitting but his father didn't seem to be particularly concerned. Minato nodded his head and asked Naruto to, "Just call me Minato. I wasn't around to be your father so I don't think I have the right to be addressed in such a way. I'm really sorry about not being able to pick you up myself. There were… unexpected complications."
Now it was Naruto's turn to be pleasantly surprised by Minato. He hadn't expected his mysterious father to be such a laid-back person in reality, despite obviously being a person of high-status from the way he dressed and behaved. How had his mom met this guy while she was doing her gig in Konoha? Kushina had been very tight-lipped about the whole thing. Naruto smiled and stretched out his hand to his father, "It's nice to meet you, Minato. I'll like to get to know you better. And er, is Rin your secretary?"
Minato too smiled and shook hands with Naruto, answering for Rin, "Not exactly. Rin works in a similar job to Kakashi."
Seeing that they were now speaking comfortably and her job was done, Rin got up and said regretfully, "Ok, I gotta go, guys. Enjoy yourself. It was very nice to meet you, Naruto."
She winked and made to leave, but not before Minato told her, "Thanks, Rin. You've been a great help today."
She smiled at him and bowed slightly, "It was no problem, sir."
Naruto waved good-bye to her and commented to Minato, "Rin seems quite a nice lady."
"She is. If not for her, I probably wouldn't be here." Aside from the free lift, Rin was a literal lifesaver. How many times would he have died if not for her quick work?
Minato smiled and changed the topic, "Just now, I couldn't help but notice that your hand is unusually calloused. Do you do martial arts?"
Naruto was startled by the question and his father's keen observation. Crap, he hadn't expected that! Was his father some sort of martial arts exponent? Naruto hesitantly answered, "Sort of. I do MMA as a hobby but I'm not that good yet." As well as some others like Parkour but you don't need to know that. I'm actually very good at it too…
Minato grinned and suggested, "That's great. We can spar some time if you like. I practice a little myself."
Naruto eyed him once more, noticing that beneath the nice suit his father was actually quite fit and well-built. Naruto recalled that his father's hand had calluses on the fingertips and his palm during the handshake, indicating that Minato did practice some sort of martial arts, and had been doing it for a long time. Naruto had the feeling that if he ever sparred with his father; Minato would wipe the floor with him in seconds. Interesting. Naruto didn't meet many people who could challenge him back in Uzu no Kuni. He finally answered with a chuckle, "Yeah, that'll be fun. I get the feeling you're pretty skilled yourself."
Minato turned his head towards the bedroom door and asked, "So, Naruto, do you want to move your things over to my place now? I'll call a cab."
Naruto joked, "What, you mean this is not your home? I'm disappointed."
Minato laughed as he went into the bedroom to retrieve Naruto's luggage, "Unfortunately, no. I don't have the kind of money to afford staying in such an expensive place myself. But my home isn't too shabby either. I just wanted to make your stay as comfortable as possible before I could come along and pick you up. I'm sorry about not being able to meet you at the airport myself."
"It's alright, Minato. No harm done."
Naruto grinned, liking the man. Namikaze Minato didn't seem to have any pretentious airs and was very considerate - a pretty decent guy. Why hadn't his mother told him about Minato again? Why had his mother left him? When they were finally in the lift, Naruto asked, "So, my mother didn't tell you that she was pregnant before she left? How did you find out about me?"
Minato looked pained for a brief second. Clearly flustered, he raked a hand through his hair and answered, "We had only been together for about six months before she disappeared without a word. I was quite shocked to receive a letter from her a few days ago from Whirlpool, with a photo of you and certified blood-tests that proved you were my son. Well, the blood-tests weren't really necessary, because even from the photo, I could see straight away that you were 100% my son. I really, truly had no idea that Uzumaki Kushina had gone to Whirlpool. It was as if she had disappeared without a trace."
Naruto bit his lips, feeling bad for his father.
"Oh, that must have sucked. I'm sorry, Minato, for what my mother did."
Minato smiled and squeezed his shoulder, "It's alright. You don't have to apologise for something that wasn't your fault. It's all in the past, and I'm quite glad to have you here now."
Naruto nodded, relief and happiness surging through him; then he asked the question that had really been bugging him, "What's your job? It must be quite well-paid if you could afford to book that room."
"I work for the government, and that's all I'm allowed to say, Naruto."
Minato winked at Naruto, amused by his put-out expression. Naruto crossed his arms and answered dryly, "Oh, right. You're trying to make me think you're actually some super secret agent like James Bond with your mysterious answer. Please, I'm not five years old. I'm already almost twenty."
Minato laughed at the irony of Naruto's reply, while mentally slapping himself for almost revealing more than necessary. Disguising his unease, he cheerfully replied, "Well, feel free to believe whatever you like."
"Riiight…"
Naruto drawled sarcastically, raising one eyebrow in such a familiar way that Minato thought he saw the ghost of Kushina imposed over his son. As much as Naruto resembled him, he was very much Kushina's son in his personality and behaviour. Minato smiled secretly to himself and on a whim, swiftly ruffled Naruto's hair much to Naruto's disgruntlement.
"HEY!"
Yeah, life was looking good.
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