Sakura took a second to register what the future Yondaime said, and flinched. She had hoped Inoichi would volunteer, but as she eyed the man, his father was glaring daggers at him, and she knew that she would not get any help there, for Shou was still the head of the Clan, and she was out of luck. Unsurprisingly, no one else volunteered, mistrust clear on their faces. Something clenched in the pit of her stomach, and at the Hokage's cue, she stood, and walked as slowly, and none-threateningly as she could to the Yellow Flash.
That didn't stop most of the Shinobi from watching her every move. She licked her lips as he looked at her, smiling, looking so much like his future son that she nearly tackled him in a hug, instead, she gave him a tentative smile, and got a soft touch to her head in response, before ruffling her short hair lightly.
She blinked at the action, one Kakashi had done so often when she had been younger, and peered at the man that had died for his son's sake, and gave him a larger smile. She wondered if the action was one that Kakashi had learned... With a few parting words, the whole of force of Shinobi was dismissed, and Sakura diligently followed the twenty or so year old man to outside the tower.
"Neh, Sakura-chan, is it alright if I call you that?"he asked, and he sounded so much like his son, if with a deeper voice that she froze. She nodded slowly, and eyed him as he crouched down, opening his arms.
"Namikaze-san, thank you for volunteering."she said, and watched as his brows furrowed, no doubt at her more mature form of speech. She had promised the Hokage that she would play her part as a child, but she had never said she had to be a idiotic child, and settled for being a quiet, mature one.
"None of that Sakura-chan, call me Minato, now come on, you have to go back to the hospital to be looked over, and then you can meet my Genin team, they helped bring you to Konoha."he spoke with a calm, but pleasant demeanor.
He wasn't as hyperactive as his son, she noted with a wiry sense of relief. He was far more... Subdued, low key in his speech and mannerisms, not to mention far more refined than her coarse Naruto. She could deal with his face readily enough, as long as he didn't act exactly like her best friend, because while his face was near identical, the hint of roundness was lost in the sharper features of the father, a certain sparkle so commonplace in Naruto's eyes was lackluster in comparison. She eyed his arms warily for a second, already been subject to his famous 'yellow flash' form of transportation justu, but stepped into his arms readily enough, knowing that there was no way around it.
"That's the spirit."he said it cheerfully, warmly, before they disappeared in a yellow flash once again.
