Minato was sitting in his chair, his arms resting on his desk and his gaze fixed on the afternoon sky through his office window.
Distant eyes, thoughts just as distant. He could barely concentrate on his work, where he needed, for the first time in a long time, the help of his own clones.
The anxiety in his chest did not allow him to think rationally, and he often found himself trapped in his thoughts.
Argh, he would leave his office late that day.
His heart beat faster as he felt the chakra of Tsunade and Jiraya approaching his office, both, like himself, apparently anxious, surprised, incredulous... hm, he didn't even have words to properly describe that hurricane of feelings.
Tsunade didn't even bother to knock, she opened the door and walked in with a rather serious expression, causing the two men to stare at her a bit.
- Ahm... good afternoon, Tsunade-san.
- You have a lot of explaining to do.
She threw a folder on the table with not the least bit of politeness, just in front of Minato and crossing her arms soon after.
Jiraya approached her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders, although calmer, he also looked somewhat serious at Minato. Precisely because he had no idea what was going on, he just followed Tsunade after seeing her furious and was curious.
Minato sighed and picked up the folder, clutching the papers as he saw the information he wanted.
- The blood you brought for me... why?
She asked coldly, Jiraya arched an eyebrow but remained quiet, and Minato just put the folder back on the table.
-... It's... recently I... left the village...
He was looking for the right words to say, which didn't come. He could barely formulate a sentence properly. That was the confirmation he needed and his mind was a mess.
- Yes, something to do with the Hyugas, right?
Jiraya asked, and Minato clicked his tongue.
- On paper, yes... but I went another way.
He stood up, lightly clutching the folder in his hand.
- I went to that forest - Jiraya's expression darkened - Recently, Hiruzen received some information regarding Hiashi's daughter and, well, in short, everything indicates that Naruto is alive.
- What?! - The senin exclaimed, surprised, while Tsunade just kept quiet.
- Somehow, he survived... he was the one who helped Hinata get out of there, she herself confirmed... I went there to look for him, but...
- Whoa, whoa, whoa, Minato... your son is alive...? Why didn't you tell us before? - Jiraya asked, walking a few steps towards Minato.
- Because I had no way of knowing for sure, I didn't want to just get my hopes up to see them die again.
He sighed, and Jiraya was silent for a while.
-... Okay, all things considered, you didn't find him. - Tsunade said.
- Argh... no... a behemoth was on the scene.
- A what?! - She widened her eyes, almost screaming in surprise.
- I didn't believe it either when I heard it, but, I saw it. We found the lair, but, there was nothing there, only blood... but I have reasons to believe that Naruto managed to escape from the Behemoth through a portal inside a cave... the blood was on the portal mechanism.
- Wait, wait a minute... Minato, you said yourself that you didn't want to get your hopes up in vain, you-
- I am sure, sensei. And the proof I needed is right here.
He lifted the folder slightly. Jiraya stared at it for a while, until he sighed.
- Any idea where he went?
Tsunade asked, stepping closer, now a little calmer.
-... No, none. But he came out of that forest... he must have.
- Ok, fine, this is wonderful news, Minato... gee, I don't even know how to explain how I feel, and I'm not even Naruto's father. But have you thought about how he is?
Minato looked at Jiraya with an arched eyebrow.
- You've been in the forest, haven't you? From the rumors, it's almost impossible for a child to have survived, but Naruto somehow managed. Aren't you at least intrigued by that? He must have been through much more than we can imagine.
Minato was silent for a while, clenching his fist somewhat tightly.
-... Of course... but Naruto is a strong boy, maybe that will cause changes in him, but... argh.
He ran his hand through his hair.
Tsunade bit her lower lip and leaned on her desk with a somewhat worried expression.
-Look, there's more, when the blood test came out, it showed that only 80% was Naruto's.
The two men stared at her in confusion.
- What?
- I don't know what happened, but... Naruto's blood changed... 20% of the blood composition changed, and I couldn't do any more tests, for some reason, the machine corroded inside.
- Corroded? But the machine is new, it hasn't been long since new equipment arrived at the hospital.
Minato said.
- I know, which is weird - Tsunade said, crossing her arms again.
-... Right... what do you plan to do, Minato? It's not like you can mobilize Anbus groups without a reason, especially with Danzou watching your every move, just waiting for a loophole. What if he knows Naruto is alive - Jiraya was interrupted.
- I know... well, I don't even know where Naruto went, going back to the outskirts of that forest is no good, and to be honest... I don't know. Most of me wants to get out of here now and look for him, but...
- What about Kushina? - Tsunade asked, and Minato's expression twitched.
-... It took her so long to accept it... I don't know what she'll do when she finds out.
- Hm, sure, we all saw it. But you have to tell her. - Jiraya said.
- Yeah... I'll take that folder to her tonight... hm, look for a replacement for me if I don't come back tomorrow.
- You have a lot on your mind... it would be nice if you took the day off - Tsunade said.
- Nah, I've been off for too long already, besides, Hiruzen would kill me - He sat back in his chair, putting his briefcase to the side.
-... You know that if you need anything, Tsunade and I are more than willing to help, right?
- Hah, yes, sensei, I know, and I thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart.
- And stop calling me sensei, you are the Hokage.
- Will you stop fooling around with Tsunade?
The senin's face turned red and he widened his eyes.
- I agree - The woman said, looking at him with narrowed eyes.
- What the hell does this have to do with anything? Ah, I'm leaving, forget it, bye!
Minato laughed slightly as he saw Tsunade run after Jiraya, and when she closed the door, his smile died almost immediately.
Kushina suffered the most from the whole thing, it was incredibly difficult to get her to at least eat of her own will again. Or even talk to him more than just a few words.
And now with Naomy there... that would be complicated.
The redhead was unpredictable, he didn't doubt it at all, but he hoped Naomy would stop her from leaving the village and looking for Naruto right after finding out he's alive.
"Argh, this is going to be hard."
The hours passed slowly for Minato, who had to struggle to pay attention to what he was reading, and when it got too late at night, he just decided to leave some clones there to finish up and review that day's work.
His heart beat fast the whole way. From closing the door of his office, leaving the Hokage building, walking through the village to opening the door of his house, he felt his heart want to go out of his throat.
And it only got worse when he saw Kushina sitting on the sofa ahead, waiting for him.
- Minato, you are late... Hiruzen left you this much work? It's been a long time since you've been this late.
She asked in a sweet tone, approaching him in silent, barefoot steps and giving him a lingering kiss.
Minato closed the door behind him as he returned the kiss, feeling Kushina lightly pull his hair and pull him closer.
He encircled his wife's waist and pulled her closer, lifting her into the air and carrying her back to the couch without interrupting the kiss.
Kushina entwined Minato's waist with her legs as he gently laid her down on the couch and squeezed the side of her abdomen.
A snap echoed in Minato's mind, and he broke away from the kiss calmly, and Kushina began kissing his neck while running her hand down his back.
- Kushina... we need to talk.
The serious tone along with Minato's somewhat frustrated sigh caused the woman to stop the kissing trail and stare at him confused, and even a little worried, since it was rare that he was like that.
- What is it? Something wrong at work?
She sat down on the couch, straightening the sweater she was wearing and propping her back on the pillow.
Minato squeezed the folder in his hand, forcing himself to look his wife in the eye.
-Well... Look... I know... it's been a while, and it's taken us a long time to move on... I've received some information from reliable sources, and... recently I went after someone.
He propped his elbows on his thighs, feeling Kushina's intense gaze on him.
- I followed trails, faced several creatures... one of them being extremely dangerous in a hostile place... I found a lair with several bodies, blood everywhere.
- Minato, what do you mean? What are you talking about?
- I followed a huge trail of destruction, until I reached a place stained with blood, on the floor, on the wall... the trail of blood led to a destroyed portal... the person who was fleeing from the creature escaped.
He handed her the folder, and confused, Kushina opened it.
- Kakashi collected the blood... Tsunade analyzed it... and these are the results.
He closed his eyes. He didn't need to look at his wife to know what expression she was making, how she was feeling. If he concentrated hard enough, maybe he could even hear his wife's heart beating fast.
He could feel her body locking up, her eyes wide open, the shock coursing through her body.
The silence lasted for some time.
Minato clenching his fist tightly, and Kushina alternating her gaze between him and those papers.
-The hostile place I mentioned was that forest... and the person running away from that creature was Naruto...
He plucked up courage and looked deep into Kushina's wide-open eyes, gritting his teeth as he saw her expression, the heavy tears streaming down her face.
-... He is alive, Kushina... Naruto is alive...
(Five years later)
Ducking, Naruto dodges a slashing attack made by his clone covered in a red chakra cloak with some gold pigmentation.
Throwing his body to the side, he dodges once more the extremely fast attack of his clone, and a sequence of blows started, too fast for him to counter.
Clenching his eye, he looks for a gap as he dodges, even expelling chakra out of his body, he forces the clone to defend himself as he was pushed back, and moves forward.
Kicking the air, the force of the vacuum gust he caused caused the sword to be thrown heavily from the clone's hands, but when he tried to strike again, the clone dodged and countered with a punch to his abdomen, followed by a kick to the chin that threw him upwards.
But before Naruto could "fly" too high, the clone grabbed one of his feet and threw him violently against the ground.
Gritting his teeth, Naruto sank his arm into the ground and spun his body around, kicking the clone in the neck, hard enough to throw it aside, and stood up quickly.
Advancing again against the clone, he dodges a punch and counters with a punch to the stomach, followed by a sequence of a few more punches and finishing with a kick to the chin, launching the clone upwards.
However, still in the air, the clone recovers and creates a chakra hand, which grabs Naruto and throws him violently against the ground.
Chakra claws dig into the ground, and the clone stomps on Naruto's chest.
Kurama (clone)- Still too weak.
I said with a certain debauchery, and Naruto snorted.
- Talking is easy when you can use chakra, how long do I still have to use this seal?
He asked, getting up when the fox (clone) got off his chest.
- Until you are strong enough to beat me while controlling your clone without using chakra.
- Damn, that's tough. Just when I think I'm getting close you throw me to the ground. Can I even use my sword?
- No, and stop complaining. Do you think Akatsuki will take it easy? We don't know what they have, so we'll train you for everything.
- But-
- Shut the fuck up.
-... Damn...
He picked up the sword the fox had thrown into the air, and watched Kurama stretch out in his clone.
- Aaah, look I'll tell you, your body is great... a little small for my taste, but it's great... seriously, how do you still manage to get beaten by those guys?
- I don't know, maybe because I'm not a fox with millions of years on my back?
- Hah, just wait until you reach your first century, your eyes will open to another world... oops, I mean your one eye, hahahahahaha.
- Oh you motherf-
The conversation of both was interrupted by the footsteps, still a little apart, of the approaching girl.
Kurama sighed and undid the clone, going back inside Naruto, who scratched his head as he put the sword back into the ring.
Tayuya appeared through the trees, throwing an apple towards Naruto, who caught it still in mid-air.
- It took time, I had time to finish my training.
He said, taking a generous bite of the apple.
- I know, you must have gotten beaten by your own clone once again.
She scoffed, and he rolled his eyes.
In that time Tayuya had really changed, her red hair was longer, she was bigger, and much more of a "woman" than before. Which bothered the boy with the blond a little, since, although he was seven years younger, he was a little shorter than she was.
And this was a major headache for him because he was constantly teased by her.
- And I beat you up, you have no right to make fun of me.
- That may be, but I don't have a being capable of destroying humanity in my pocket, do I?
-... Fair enough... argh!
Naruto took off his shirt and walked along a small dirt path beside Tayuya, focusing his gaze on a lake ahead.
Bending down, he splashed some water on his face, and admired his reflection for a while.
The more he trained, the stronger he and Kurama became, and the more they blended together. More and more their characteristics came together.
It got to the point where those three little markings appeared even in his "normal" form, and he had to admit that it matched that look... for some reason.
Though he was still able to hide them when he concentrated.
Kurama, on the other hand, began to acquire golden lines lowered from the blue pigmentations, the bond between them was quite strong.
As the fox had said, something much more than just sharing the same blood.
- Have you finished admiring yourself?
he sighed.
- How about not pissing me off and telling me the bad news?
- Why do you think it's bad news?
- Have we ever had good news?
-... Good point.
She crouched down beside him, washing her hands.
- Well, the passage is blocked. In these last years Orochimaru has moved several times, and apparently this area was one of the places he used as a hiding place.
- Ah, great - he said in irony.
- Great indeed... who is on our tail now is our dear friend Juugo.
He leaned his arms on his thighs, looking at Tayuya.
-... Really?
- And he's not alone... Zabuza, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist... although I have the slight impression that he doesn't get along well with Juugo.
- But how great... who the hell is their tracker?
- I don't know... but he seems to have an eye similar to the Byakugan.
The boy was silent for a while, until he sighed and stood up.
- Your invocations are quite useful.
- Spirits can't be detected... and who would suspect a spirit inside a squirrel?
- I don't know, the squirrel?
- Ha, ha.
They stood up, and Naruto put his shirt back on, slightly annoyed that it was a little tight... well, really tight.
- Hahaha, you look like a faggot in that tight shirt.
"Hahahahaha true."
- Shut up, it's not my fault if "someone" burned my bag!
"You shut up too."
- Hey, hey, I said I was sorry, and you're not as thin as you used to be. You can borrow some of mine if you want.
- Then I'll really look like a fag. Come on, let's get out of here before things get worse for me.
He ignored Tayuya's laughter and walked back down the path.