Twelve years of loneliness isn't something that can be erased overnight.
Team 7 had become a refuge for Naruto, a place where he forged life-or-death bonds with his friends, but even that couldn't fill the void left by a father's love.
Kakashi watched Naruto's retreating figure, his brow furrowed in concern. "That kid… he won't end up hating Lord Minato, will he?"
The Jonin's mind drifted back to his own childhood. He remembered coming home at the age of five to find his father, who had taken his own life. It became a shadow he could never escape. But at least he'd had a father's love, even for a little while. Naruto didn't even know his parents' names.
"Don't worry, Naruto will figure it out," Jiraiya sighed. "Let him be. After I get back from hunting down Orochimaru, we can talk about getting him to sign the Mount Myoboku contract."
Some things had to be sorted out alone. Neither Jiraiya nor Kakashi were the types to give lectures, and neither could truly understand what Naruto was feeling.
Sasuke, in contrast, stood thinking for a long moment. Without a word, he shouldered his sword and walked away.
On the other side, inside the seal.
The giant fox yawned, bored. It glanced at the small figure sitting cross-legged outside its cage. "Minato Namikaze… was not a good father."
In fact, he was terrible. Badmouthing Minato was something the Nine-Tails did often. Even knowing its other half, the Yin-Nine-Tails, was communicating with Minato didn't stop it from trashing the man in front of his son.
After all, Minato had given his life to split the Nine-Tails in two. Of course, the fox hadn't exactly lost the exchange; a single claw had sent the couple to their graves.
Naruto Uzumaki said softly, "Kurama, have you seen him?"
"I have." The giant fox nodded its head and began to subtly plant seeds of doubt. "Don't become like him, Naruto. He's not a good person…"
Naruto was silent. No matter what, Minato Namikaze was supposed to be his father. He was also Konoha's Fourth Hokage. Looked at from any angle, he couldn't have been a bad person, right?
The Nine-Tails looked at the confused boy and continued to push its agenda. "He never considered your future, Naruto. He never thought about how you would have to live.
"When you were hated by those idiots in Konoha, when you were bullied every day, when you faced life-or-death crises, he wasn't there for you.
"Now that you've grown up on your own, do you really need to mourn someone who was never there in the first place?"
"..."
Naruto's head drooped. His own experiences didn't lie.
In the past, when he saw other kids with their parents, he longed for a large hand to stroke his hair. When he came home every day, he fantasized about someone having dinner ready, kindly asking about his day. While the other children in the village played without a care, he had to worry about his daily survival, all while hoping to be recognized by the villagers.
The corners of the Nine-Tails' mouth curled into a sly grin as it pressed its advantage. "On the day you were born, Naruto, Minato Namikaze chose to seal me inside your body. He knew perfectly well that it would bring you disaster, but to ensure Konoha kept my power, he did it anyway."
"There must have been a good reason…" Naruto rubbed his cheeks, as if trying to make excuses for him. "He's my dad, he wouldn't…"
"Hmph, you really think he wouldn't harm you?" The Nine-Tails was a little annoyed by Naruto's subconscious defense, but this game of driving a wedge between father and son was fun. It would be especially interesting if Minato were ever resurrected by the Impure World Reincarnation.
Just as they were about to continue, the Nine-Tails suddenly smiled. "Naruto, remember that brat from the Sand Village, Gaara? His father is the Fourth Kazekage. You two have a lot in common on that point…"
"What?"
"Because his father also sealed that idiot One-Tail inside his body!" Kurama's smile was pure malice. It slowly raised its head to look directly at the surprised blond genin before it. "If Minato Namikaze were still alive, your situation would be no different from Gaara's..."
"What do you mean…"
"Because that idiot Fourth Kazekage decided Gaara wasn't strong enough to control the One-Tail, so he started sending assassins after his own son…" In a single sentence, the Nine-Tails managed to insult two people and a Tailed Beast, all while delivering another dose of poison to Naruto. A true old fox.
Most importantly, what it said was a fact. That was how the Fourth Kazekage's mind worked, and it had turned his own young son into a neurotic wreck.
"How is that possible!" Naruto looked up, his expression lost. "How could a father do that? They're family…"
"Minato Namikaze is your father, too…" the Nine-Tails said softly, tapping its claws on the watery floor. "If he were still alive, you would definitely hate him."
This wasn't a lie. In the world of the Limited Tsukuyomi, hadn't that boy Menma been a rebellious child? The family lives of Konoha's Hokage were almost never peaceful.
Naruto couldn't believe it. He pulled at his hair, overwhelmed. Everything that had happened today was too much of a shock.
His father was Minato Namikaze.
His father was the Fourth Hokage.
His father sealed the Nine-Tails inside him.
His father might be an enemy who saw him as a foe.
"Don't trouble yourself over someone like that, Naruto." The Nine-Tails sighed with a hint of helplessness, comforting its landlord. "Perhaps it's because of his actions that, by a strange twist of fate, we can be like this now…"
Naruto was silent. That didn't sound like comfort at all.
It had to be said, perhaps because it had the memories of a hundred years as a Hokage, the Nine-Tails' schemes were becoming more and more mature. Tricking a child was now a piece of cake.
Unfortunately for Kurama, even without those memories, it was as if Naruto's mind had suddenly sharpened, influenced by his subconscious. This kind of situation is often called a "power-up." Sometimes, it's also called "turning to the dark side."
Naruto wasn't going to just take one side of the story, but he couldn't completely disbelieve it, either. The Nine-Tails had taught him a lot of ninjutsu recently, including Sage Mode, and had even chatted with him when he was down. Their relationship was improving, becoming friendlier.
"Maybe you're right, Kurama…" Naruto pressed his temples, rubbing his reddened eyes. "My father… he never thought about me, did he?"
Making your own son a jinchuriki… that wasn't something a father should do.
Just then, a translucent figure of chakra flickered into existence before Naruto. It was a young man with a head full of blond hair. Minato Namikaze's face was conflicted and hesitant as he looked down at the stunned boy. "It's not like that, Naruto!" he explained softly.
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Bonus:
Minato Namikaze: Are you badmouthing me?
Nine-Tails: I'm not!
Minato Namikaze: I'm right next to you, I heard everything!
Nine-Tails: Heh, I only spoke the truth.
Minato Namikaze: …
Nine-Tails: You only get to come out once…
Minato Namikaze: Don't worry, I'll set Naruto straight.
Nine-Tails: Don't bother. You won't be able to—because I know exactly how the Fourth Hokage and his son get along…