I do not own Naruto.
Kumogakure no Sato….
Yugito sat in her bed staring out the window. It has been almost a week since she had stepped out of her apartment. The village that she was born in and has grown up to be one of the strongest kunoichi, the village has ever seen, was now just a constant reminder of the one person that helped her get to the point she was at right now.
He was the first person to acknowledge her existence. He was the one who saw her for who she was and not for what she holds inside of her. He was the one who helped her get through every trial of her life and come out at the other end with a victorious smirk on her face. He held her hands and stood by her side whenever she needed him. Someone was there for her; someone who cared enough to come running to her aid whenever she was facing any kind of danger.
But now he was gone.
He left her without saying any words. Had he asked her to come with him, she would have done that in a heartbeat. He was the center of her universe. He was the one who she lived for, and yet he left her behind and went into the very hell hole he wanted to escape from when he first came to her village.
She could not understand why he even wanted to go to that damned village, where he received nothing but hatred. He was beaten there, scorned by every single person and cursed for something he had no control over. She was worried for him; afraid that once again he would have to go through the same hell, he was once subjected to when he was a kid.
The very thought of someone trying to hurt him made the blood in her vessels boil. She could not bear the thought of everyone trying to call him with names that he, not in the least, deserved. She would not let anyone even dare to look at him with eyes filled with hatred. She would rather turn someone blind than let them glare him, and maybe even rip them apart if those fools tried to lift a finger at him.
The anger she felt when she imagined him being looked down upon was something she could not describe. It sort of amazed her that she cared for him so deeply that she could very well kill for him, and this fact was clear to him even more than it was to her. Maybe that is the reason why he decided to leave her behind, but the realization did not make it easy for her to accept the truth that he was not by her side anymore. He has left for a journey she did not know he would return from safely, but other than praying that he would be okay and she would be able to somehow help him in achieving the goals of his life she could do nothing.
As memories of the time she spent with him talking, sparring, going on missions together and taking care of him after the soul crushing training he went through every day came back to her she felt tears welling up in her eyes, and a few moments later the barrier, she tried so desperately to uphold, gave away and out came tears that flooded her eyes as they trailed down her cheeks. Yugito had lost count of the hours she had spent crying since the moment she received the news of him leaving the village.
Why did you leave?
She thought as she rubbed the back of her hand against her face to dry her moist cheeks despite knowing that they would be wet again in no time. It was a futile effort and yet she could not keep herself from making that pointless effort over and over again. She did not like to cry. It made her look so weak, and she despised appearing weak, especially when she was not with him. But alas this was not her day indeed. For no matter how much she tried her tears glands would just not hold up.
She let out an exhausted sigh, something that she has been doing a lot lately, and was about to let her back hit the soft mattress of her bed when she heard a knock on her door.
Instead of responding to the knock, she just sat there motionlessly, glaring at the doorway. She did not want anyone to see her in the state she was in right now.
But perhaps the person on the door had some other intentions. After waiting for a couple of minutes and not getting any response for his knock, he banged on the door once again.
"Who is it?" Came the angry growl of the blonde woman, who resided in the apartment.
"It's me C. Open the door, Yugito. I have got message from Raikage-sama." The man now identified as C made the purpose of his visit known to Yugito.
"Tell him that I don't want to go on any missions." She responded in a voice that seemed to be devoid of any kind of emotion.
Man, she is receding to her old self. You really should not have left her.
C thought before he gathered himself to deliver the news that the Raikage had sent him for. "It has got to do with him."
The moment those words left his mouth, his head was slammed against the wall opposite to the door, and he was held a foot above the floor by an utterly pissed Yugito. She was glaring daggers at him.
"Is he back?"
C just sighed before he began again.
"No." He said, and in an instant he felt Yugito's grip tighten around his neck.
"B-But he has sent a letter." He said trying to get out of the suffocating hold she had on his neck.
Yugito withdrew her hand, and let him slide down the wall and stand on his feet again. No sooner did the soles of the ninja sandal, he was wearing, touched the floor than she held her right arm, with her palm outstretched, in front of him.
"Give it to me."
"It's with Raikage-sama." He said rubbing the side of his neck.
"Let's go then." She dashed down the stairs and out on the streets. Once under the clear, blue sky, she took to the roof and ran towards the Raikage Building at a pace, C was barely able to keep up with.
The Raikage was sitting behind his desk working on the pile of papers in front of him frantically while glancing at the blue envelope that sat at the corner of his desk every now and then.
All of a sudden his senses spiked, and he felt someone approaching towards the building at a praise-worthy speed. He closed his eyes and let his senses float as farther as possible to grasp the identity of the one, who was so desperate to get inside his office. A small smile grazed his lips as he opened his eyes and they once again fell upon the blue envelope resting on his desk.
She has finally left her apartment. He thought as he picked up the envelope and ran the tip of his right thumb on the seal that covered half of the envelope's front face.
It glowed blue for a second before the seal receded to its original state, and the Raikage felt a burning sensation on the tip of his thumb. He placed the envelope back on the desk and rubbed his thumb to soothe the pain. His eyes lit up, and a smile grazed the wrinkled features of his face once again.
So, it is meant only for her.
He was brought out of his musing when Yugito landed in front of him.
"Where is it?" She asked in a desperate tone.
Knowing what she meant, the Raikage took the letter off his desk and gave it to her. Her hands were shaking as she held the letter in her hands. More than two weeks had passed since he left this place, and this was the first contact he had made with them. She was going to savor every word that was written on the paper held within the confinement of the blue envelope.
She ran the tip of her right index finger on the seal. Like before the seal began to glow blue. Only this time the black letters that constituted the seal began to move apart and made their way to the four corners of the envelope. Then the glow turned to red as the letters in the corner of the rectangular wrapper started burning away, indicating that the seal had accepted the touch of Yugito's index finger. Soon the letters disappeared completely and there was a puff of smoke. When it cleared a scroll landed in Yugito's hands.
She opened it, and began running her eyes through the words imprinted on the scroll.
Hey Yu-chan! How are you….I guess it's a wrong way to start this. So, let me apologize first. I am sorry for leaving without informing you. I know that you had every right to know that I was not going to stay in the village anymore, and believe me I was going to tell you about it. But, on the night before I was about to leave, when I was on my way to your place to tell you what I was going to do, your face popped in my head all of a sudden, and before I could even comprehend what I was doing, I had turned around and was walking away from your apartment. Every step I took was like placing my bare feet on burning lava. A part of me was screaming to me - 'What the hell are you doing? Just turn around and go tell her.' And I was about to do just that, but every time I gathered the strength to come to you, I was stopped by this tiny part of me, who was trying to keep me away from you. I stood motionless for countless minutes contemplating what to do. Unimaginable number of thoughts ran through my mind, and when I have explored every possibility, in the end, I decided not to tell you. I knew that I would regret the decision, but compared to the pain that I would feel to tell you that I was leaving while looking at you, it was nothing. So, I took the coward's way out, and left without even saying goodbye.
I know we will meet in the future, but I don't know if things will remain the same, for I am afraid that what lies ahead of us will test the strength of the bond we share. Though I know that what we have between us is not fragile enough to break because of a few strains, I cannot help but feel restless. So, I want you to train yourself. Become stronger than you are now, Yu-chan, and I will do the same so that when time comes I will be able to stand in front of you as your shield and protect you from any harm.
Please forgive me, Yu-chan, for not bringing you with me. We have our own paths to follow, and I am sure that no matter what path we take, we both are destined to be united. So, goodbye till the day we meet again.
Your friend,
Naruto
Tears rolled down her eyes once again. She rolled the scroll, and bringing it close to her chest, hugged it tightly as if it was her life line. The Raikage got off his seat and walked towards Yugito. He placed his arm on her shoulder and pressed it gently as if trying to convey that everything was going to be alright.
"Don't worry Yugito, you will meet him soon." He said with a reassuring smile on his face.
She simply nodded in response, while thinking about the day when she will meet her blonde friend once again.
Training Ground 12, Konohagakure….
Kakashi stood a few feet away from the blonde enigma, whose return he had been waiting for anxiously. His eyes were looking into the eyes of the blonde. They were a mystery to him. No matter how much he tried he could never comprehend how those deep cerulean blue eyes could hold so much mirth and happiness after going through unimaginable amount of pain at such a tender age. And his personality was just as much of a mystery to him as his eyes. Even after being beaten and cursed by the villagers, he did not even think twice before proclaiming that he was going to protect them with all the strength in his body. He was willing to give away his life for the very people who continue to scorn him even after twelve years has elapsed since the nightmare.
How could he be so kind hearted even after being subjected to so much hatred?
This question has given him enough headache for the past fifteen days, and he was absolutely sure that it will continue to pester him for the rest of his life.
Perhaps the fact that he was his sensei's son was the answer to this question. However, he could not help but think that was the answer this simple. However, this was not the time to ponder upon the conflicts that have been arising in his mind lately, for the blonde in front of him was his opponent right now, and if even half of the things he had heard about him for the past couple of years were true, he was going to have a very difficult time dealing with him.
"Are you ready Naruto?" He asked.
"I think so." He answered scratching his right cheek with his index finger.
"Very well." Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate that covered his right eye to reveal his fully matured sharingan, and slipped himself into his taijutsu from.
The moment his right foot landed on the ground and he firmed his stance, Naruto was in front of him with his fist cocked back. Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise. He was sure that the blonde would be fast, but this? This was beyond his imagination. If it were not for the sharingan he would not have even register his form landing in front of him. Even then he was only able to see him when he was right in front of him, and it was already too late to dodge the punch. So, he crossed his arms in front of him and dug his feet into the ground to firm his defensive form. Naruto's fist made impact, and the bones in his fore-arms almost gave away. As the impact of the punch subsided, he jumped a few feet back. His hands were numb and his mind was busy comprehending what just happened right now.
"What the hel….."
The words died down in his mouth when he saw Naruto in front of him once again. This time his right foot was flying towards him, and even though his sharingan could register the movement of his leg, he knew that he would not be able to dodge it again. So, he did the next best thing he could. He brought his right arm to his side and placed his left arm behind his right to provide a support for his defensive from. Naruto's foot made contact, and Kakashi was sent flying back. His flight continued for a couple of meters before he bent his from a little and brought his left palm in contact with the ground to provide some resistance.
The moment he stopped his head shot towards the right and out of habit he jumped away. As he jumped he saw Naruto's kick make contact with the ground, and a crater formed instantly. His eyes went wide at the impact, and the realization that if he took this even a little less seriously he would be crushed dawned upon him. However, the way things were right now, it seemed that in the end the result was going to be the same no matter what he did.
Shaking his head to get rid of the unwanted thoughts, he landed on a nearby tree. No sooner did he land than his hands were running through a set of hand seals.
Horse, tiger, serpent, ram, monkey, boar, horse and tiger.
'Katon: Gokyaku no Jutsu' Kakashi thought before inhaling an insane amount of air and blowing it out at an impressive speed.
As the air, welling up inside of Kakashi's lungs, began to pour out it took the form of a giant ball of fire and rolled towards Naruto at a neck-break speed.
Seeing Kakashi's fire ball inching closer every second, he began going through his own set of hand seals.
Bird, boar, dog, dragon, rabbit, horse, ox, monkey, ram, rat, snake and tiger.
After completing the hand seals, he spat mud from his mouth on the ground in front of him while holding the tiger seal.
"Doton: Doryuheki!" He pronounced the name of his jutsu, and a brown earth rose in Naruto's defend.
Kakashi's Katon Jutsu collided with Naruto's Doton Jutsu, and in a matter of second the entire area was engulfed in a huge explosion.
Kakashi concentrated his sharingan on the area filled with smoke in an effort to decipher Naruto's movement, but so far he could see nothing. Then all of a sudden he felt a chakra spike from behind and he turned around instantly to come in face with Naruto, whose hands were blurring through another set of hand seals.
'When did he get there?' Kakashi thought as the three tomoe of his sharingan began spinning in order to recognize the jutsu that Naruto was about to use.
His left eye widened when he realized what jutsu Naruto was about to use.
'He has two different chakra affinities?' Kakashi thought, but soon his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 'But there is no water source within a diameter of one mile. Wait a sec…. Don't tell me…'
Kakashi jumped off the tree branch and landed on the ground before running his hands through the seals for Doton: Doryuheki.
…Dragon, ram, rat, ox, monkey, bird, rat, ram and bird. Naruto finished the hand seals for the jutsu he was about to use.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Naruto stated the name of his jutsu.
Soon, the temperature of the training ground 12 started rising as the molecules of hydrogen and oxygen from the air began to combine to provide the water required for the jutsu. In a fraction of second, water was encircling around Naruto, and from it rose the head of a dragon to a height of ten feet before it glared at Kakashi, who was at the last hand seal for the Doryuheki jutsu, and made its way towards him.
Kakashi stared at the water dragon coming for him at a speed he could only wish for. He slammed his hand on the ground beneath him and earth wall rose from it. The dragon's head collided with the wall and penetrated a couple of feet before deforming. Water splashed everywhere, and before Kakashi could breathe a sigh of relief, his left eye perceived movement towards his left. As he turned his head, he saw Naruto running towards him with an unsheathed katana in his hand.
He drew a kunai from the pouch on the back of his belt, and brought it in front of him to counter Naruto's attack. Within a second Naruto was upon Kakashi slashing his katana towards his mid-section. Kakashi lifted his left hand a little with the kunai held in it in reverse direction, and grabbing the wrist of his left arm with his right hand, he waited for the strike to come.
Naruto's bladed made contact, and sparks lightened the area around it as it slid along the length of Kakashi's kunai. He then let go of the hilt of his katana, and spun on the heel of his sandals. While spinning he grabbed the katana's hilt with his left hand and brought it down upon Kakashi from his right.
Kakashi's sharingan was working in an overdrive. Naruto's movements were too fast to predict even with his left eye. One moment he was trying to slash him and the other moment he was spinning around. Even the hand in which he was holding his blade has switched. He was unimaginably fast. Fighting with him in close quarters was out of question.
So, once he had dealt with the slash of Naruto's blade that came down upon him from his right, he jumped back into the woods.
However, the moment his feet touched the branch of the tree, he chose to jump on, Naruto was right beside him going for his head this time. His sword was inching closer. His left eye could see that, but the kunai was in his opposite hand and he knew that if he went for blocking the attack of Naruto's katana this time, he would not be able to come out of it unscathed. So, reluctantly, he lifted his right hand to his chest level and directed his lightning chakra to his palm.
Lightning started dancing around his palm, and the area surrounding them was engulfed with a sound of thousand birds' chirping.
"Chidori!" Kakashi voiced the name of his patent jutsu.
Naruto's eyes widened when he realized what Kakashi was about to do. His own movement was too fast to stop the attack he was about to deliver to Kakashi, and if he did not stop then his chest would be impaled with Kakashi's Chidori, and most likely his blade would behead Kakashi.
Running out of options to deal with the situation in front of him, Naruto immediately dug his left hand into the pouch on his right thigh. He brought out a kunai, and threw it towards his right. It sailed through the air, and dug itself into the trunk of the tree it made contact with.
Kakashi failed to register what it was exactly that Naruto had thrown, but he knew that if he took his eye off Naruto, he could very well kiss his life a goodbye. So, he fixed his stare at Naruto, and waited for his Chidori and Naruto's blade to make impact. However, the moment his Chidori was about to touch Naruto, he disappeared in a flash.
His eye widened once again, and his headed jerked to his left. There he was holding the very kunai that his sensei used to disappear and appear on a battlefield. He could not believe what he has just witnessed. His face was pale, and the memories of the time he spent with his opponent's father and his team-mates were flashing in front of his eyes.
"You can use that jutsu?" He asked in a whisper.
But Naruto did not answer; instead he threw the tri-pronged kunai towards Kakashi at a speed, his three-tomoe sharingan could barely keep up with. However, the angle of the kunai was such that he would not have got hurt even if he did not move. But he knew better than to be so arrogant to think that Naruto has missed him. So, without even a second thought, he jumped off the tree branch.
As Kakashi's feet left the branch Naruto appeared by the tri-pronged kunai and catching it, he threw it in the direction he saw Kakashi took off, and disappeared in a flash once again.
Kakashi saw Naruto's kunai flying in his direction, so he raised his kunai to counter any attack. When it was a couple of feet away from him, Naruto appeared in front of him. He caught the kunai with his left hand, and swung the blade, he held in his right, towards his mid-section.
Kakashi countered the attack with his left hand, and when the blades made contact he channeled his lighting chakra into his kunai. The lightning travelled down his kunai and Naruto's blade, and towards his hand that grip the hilt of the katana.
Naruto threw the tri-pronged kunai towards his left, and it embedded into a tree's truck. Then he placed his left palm over his right bicep. Seals began spreading down the point of contact, and soon his entire fore-arm was covered in black seal letters.
Kakashi's lightning made its way towards the hilt of his blade, and when it made contact with Naruto's hand, it started getting absorbed into the seal that was wrapping Naruto's fore-arm. When Kakashi realized what was exactly going on, he quickly withdrew his chakra, and taking another kunai from his pouch, he hurled it towards Naruto's mid-section.
As his left arm was occupied maintaining the composure of his seal, Naruto knew that he would not be able to stop the kunai. So, he activated his Hiraishin jutsu and flashed to the tree into which the tri-pronged kunai was embedded.
"It's about time that we finished this Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said as he stood up.
"Yeah, I am running out of chakra. So, it would be better to get done with this." Kakashi said as he gripped the wrist of his right hand with his left, and lightning started engulfing his right hand.
Naruto too gripped the wrist of his right hand, and the seals that were spread around his fore-arm started moving towards his palm. Once all the black letters were concentrated on his palm, it began to glow brightly, and soon his right hand was engulfed with lightning chakra, just like Kakashi.
"How can you do this?!"
Kakashi cannot keep the bewilderment that he was feeling within his stomach anymore. At every single step of the spar between them the blonde has amazed him. First his speed, then his two chakra affinities followed by his use of an A-class water jutsu without any source of water nearby. Then he witnessed the use of his sensei's jutsu. Now, the blonde was using the very jutsu that he had created, and had never thought anyone yet.
How could Naruto do a jutsu that only he was capable of doing? How could Naruto use Chidori?
These questions were racking his brain, but before he could ponder any further he heard footsteps approaching him. He brought himself out of his stupor, and ran towards Naruto.
"Chidori!" Kakashi voiced the name of his jutsu.
"Chidori!" Naruto mimicked Kakashi.
Their jutsus collided, and began fighting for dominance. Kakashi knew that he would not be able to keep up the jutsu for a long time, so he poured the last bit of chakra he could afford into his Chidori to overwhelm Naruto. But unfortunately for him, Naruto was chakra freak. Thanks to his immense chakra pool, he could go on fighting for hours before feeling the exhaustion take over him. So, there was no way Kakashi could win a battle of chakra against Naruto.
Naruto too increased the amount of chakra for his jutsu, and within a matter of second overwhelmed Kakashi's Chidori. There was a huge explosion as a result. The gust of wind flowing out of the epicenter of the explosion uprooted a few trees in the vicinity.
As the dust engulfing the area cleared, Kakashi could be seen on his right knee panting while he held his right arm with his left. Naruto, on the other hand, stood in front of Kakashi looking down on the exhausted form of Kakashi. He offered his hand for help.
"Here, let me help you."
Kakashi took Naruto's hand, and using it as a support stood on his feet. He let out an exhausted sigh of relief, and ran his mind through the spar once again. When he was done with summarizing what has happened in the past half an hour, he fixed his gaze on Naruto and voiced the question that has been eating him for a couple of minutes.
"How could you use my jutsu? I am pretty sure that I have never thought anyone. From whom could you have possibly learned it?"
"Err… How about we head to old man's office first?" He said scratching the back of his head.
Kakashi simply nodded, and Naruto flashed them to the Hokage's office.
Hokage Tower, Konohagakure…
Sarutobi was sitting behind his desk with a gapping mouth. He had witnessed the spar between Kakashi and Naruto through his all-seeing crystal ball, and saying that he was surprised would be an understatement of the century.
Naruto had at least two chakra affinities, and that too the same as the Shodaime's. He could even use seals, and has learnt the most popular signature jutsu of the Yondaime's. Besides, how he could use Kakashi's Chidori was another big question. He glanced at Yugao, who was standing beside him and has witnessed the entire battle too, with a raised eyebrow. In return, she just smiled, and turned her head in the direction she felt Naruto's chakra.
Soon, Naruto appeared with Kakashi leaning against him for support.
"Hey Yugao, old man!" He greeted them as he helped Kakashi to a chair in front of the Hokage's desk.
"So, did you two enjoy the show?" He asked Sarutobi taking notice of the crystal ball on his desk in front of him.
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, before he puffed a cloud smoke from his pipe, and sorted the questions that he had in his mind.
"Very much. The look on Kakashi-senpai's was priceless." Yugao chirped.
"I am glad to have pleased you."
"You do realize that every time you enjoyed the stupid look on my face this Blondie beside me was actually coming after me with an intent to kill." Kakashi said with a dumb-founded look on his face.
"I know, but to watch the great Sharingan no Kakashi run from hither to thither for his life, and that too at the hands of a twelve year old kid is so exhilarating. I cannot help but smirk at that." She said in a cheery tone.
"Well, what can I say? I really got my ass handed to myself this time. But rather than taking about me I would like to know how he used Chidori." He turned his gaze towards Naruto.
Naruto slid the black cloth, covering the bottom half of his face, down and turning towards Kakashi, he began his explanation.
"You noticed the seals on my right arm, right?" He asked.
Kakashi nodded.
"Well, the job of that seal is to absorb the chakra that touches it, and to store it in the array associated with the seal. As you know, chakra together with our spiritual energy constitute our life force. So, whenever we use chakra we are extracting a part of our life force from ourselves and pouring it into the jutsus we use. As the chakra replenishes the magnitude of the life force is restored in our body."
Naruto paused for a moment.
"Another characteristic of the seal is to absorb the essence of life force from the chakra it has captured, and store it into another variable. So, when you used the lightning chakra to wrap around your kunai and attempted to shock me, I used my seal to absorb the chakra and separate the life force within the chakra I absorbed. Since, the technique you used against me was a suppressed form of Chidori, the life force that flowed through your chakra had the fingerprints of Chidori written all over it. Now, having separated your fingerprint of Chidori from the chakra I absorbed, all I had to do was use that to shape the form of the absorbed chakra to produce something similar to Chidori."
He completed his explanation.
The Shinobi no Kami, who was seated on the other side of the desk was listening to Naruto's explanation with widened eyes. He could not believe that someone so young could design such an intricate seal. Fuinjustu is considered as the most complex ninja art for a reason. What Naruto had just told them would take even a seal master years to accomplice, and he has done it at such a young age. He could not even begin to comprehend the blonde's ingeniousness in the art.
The working of the seal was just like Sharingan. Those eyes could copy any move just by glancing at them. The only difference was that the seal had to come in contact with the jutsu-user's chakra. The possibilities that the seal could open are unimaginable.
"What about the Hiraishin jutsu? How did you learn that?" Sarutobi asked.
"Ah that jutsu! Well, it is thanks to Ero-sennin that I have that famed jutsu in my arsenal. He was the one who gave me the Yondaime's notes on that jutsu. Ero-sennin told me that he tried to decipher it, but the seal was too complex for him." Naruto answered.
"Ero-sennin?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh sorry! I forgot that you two don't know that nickname. Well, I like to call Jiraiya-sensei that."
At this Sarutobi's face lit up in amazement and he could not help but smile. Naruto's words brought back the memory of a certain red-headed.
You would be so proud of him if you were here right now.
"And what about the Suiton jutsu you used? There was no water source nearby." Kakashi voiced his second question.
"You could say that I am gifted when it comes to water jutsus. My suiton chakra affinity has advanced to the point that I do not need a water source to do jutsus. I flare my chakra, and the molecules of hydrogen and oxygen start combining to form water. You must have noticed the increase in the surrounding temperature?"
Kakashi nodded in affirmation.
"It was a result of the reaction between the two elements. Since I can make water from the molecules of the two elements suspended in air, I have no problem using the water jutsus anytime." He finished his explanation.
"Just like Nidaime-sama!" Sarutobi exclaimed.
"Is that so?" Naruto asked with a hint of surprise on his face.
"Yeah, he too did not need water source to perform the jutsus." Sarutobi said.
"Anyway, I am a bit tired. Do you mind if I hit home? I have to prepare for tomorrow's mock test at the academy." Naruto asked his grandfather standing up from his seat.
"Yeah, go and rest." Sarutobi said.
"Let's go Yugao-chan. Goodbye Kakashi-sensei, old man." He said walking out of the office with Yugao by his side.
"Minato-sensei would be so proud of him." Kakashi said to his Hokage once Naruto had left.
"Yes, he would be, and Kushina too." Sarutobi nodded.