The following morning was brisk. Winter doubled down on the snow, and as I stepped into the dojo, I had to avoid the slush that lined the engawa. Waiting for me was Minato. He, thankfully, took winter seriously and wore a thicker uniform, a scarf, gloves, and silk-like socks.

⠀⠀"Good morning, Hikigaeru-kun."

⠀⠀"Good morning, Minato-san. Are we starting training today?"

⠀⠀"Yes, but first: how difficult do you want your training to be?"

⠀⠀"Yes."

⠀⠀"I'm being serious," he pressed with a smirk.

⠀⠀"Honestly, Minato-san? So was I. Considering I have natural energy, I'll need to push myself to become a sage. I don't want to turn to wood or live with this handicap." I pointed a thumb at the seal. "So training will need to be as difficult as-"

⠀⠀Minato blurred into motion without warning, and my reaction was to listen. I didn't hear an 'itch' that told me to move, even as I saw him go from sitting to a spinning sweep. Instead, I felt the odd way he twisted his core to move and the lack of friction against his socks. I then felt the impact of the bridge of his foot against my heel, but the pain was mild.

⠀⠀It, and everything else, did not distract me from the haunting whisper in the back of my mind. There was only a vague hint to it. A warning to move, far off in the fog, past the seal. Something noticed but almost unheard. It was all I could fixate on as I hit the ground and lay there, eyes glued to the ceiling.

⠀⠀"You okay, Hikigaeru?" Minato asked.

⠀⠀"Yeah. Just lamenting this damn seal," I groaned. "I, ah, guess we're starting now, huh?"

⠀⠀"No. That was an example," Minato stated as he looked down at me. "Without nature energy, you're slower. Slower than when you practiced with Sensei. From what he told me, you were as fast as a Chunin. That attack was something a Genin should be able to handle."

⠀⠀"Well, I felt 'a' warning. There but quiet. When you moved, I tried to listen, and I don't think I would have heard it if you weren't in front of me," I added. "I braced myself to hear it. To feel everything and to know how to dodge. Didn't really work, though."

⠀⠀"That's concerning. If you sensed a warning, it means nature energys' getting to your chakra." He raised his hand to his chin. "We knew the seal wouldn't be perfect." He shook his head. "I'll look into this later."

⠀⠀ "Well, thank you for the perspective," I remarked. Then I pushed myself up and asked, "You're going to, at random, probably, test my reflexes, aren't you?"

⠀⠀"No. You need to know you can feel safe around me. That you can trust me. The sweep was for you. So you'll understand how the seal may change your perception," Minato reassured me.

⠀⠀"It's sure as hell doing that," I huffed. "Sorry, I know, language, but — thank you. It does help, and I'm probably going to get knocked down a lot today, aren't I?" He gave an affirmative nod. "Well, at least the floor's heated."

⠀⠀"They're even cooled in the summer."

⠀⠀"Even better. I'll be fine getting my ass kicked all year round..."

⠀⠀"Language, Hikigaeru-kun," Minato chuckled with a roll of his eyes. "And it's Minato-sensei from now on."

⠀⠀I snorted at that. "Of course it is."

⠀⠀"Don't act like that, Hikigaeru-kun. I'm not going anywhere until you become a sage. This includes when you become a Genin." The thought made me smile. "Perhaps even a Chunin and Jonin."

⠀⠀"Understood, Minato-sensei."

⠀⠀With an appreciative nod, a hardened fire boiled Minato's chakra in a way I hadn't sensed before. "Today, I'll get a sense of your capabilities," he began, his tone stoic and commanding. "Reflexes, physical strength, endurance, so on. Once I have a baseline, you can rest. Until then, you will do as I say. You will push yourself farther than you can imagine, and you will neither cry nor complain. Your life — desperately — depends on it. Do I make myself clear?"

⠀⠀"Yes, Minato-sensei," I stated with a bow.

⠀⠀Minato then stepped past me and closed the dojo's sliding door. It gave the room a gloomy, mat atmosphere with little light piercing through the shojis. It was almost too dark to see. Minato's chakra then gave and twisted into a coil. A joyous bounce followed like a jumping spring and boiled in rhythm to a slowly building anticipation.

⠀⠀"What's so funny, Sensei?"

⠀⠀His answer was to weave several signs faster than I could see, then place his hand on the door. His chakra boomed like a snapping beartrap, enveloping the walls in scrips of writing. It cut off the world outside, blocking the villages' chakra, leaving only his own. The ambiance wasn't unwelcome as the creeping cold finally snapped away.

⠀⠀"You have no idea how many questions I have now that we can talk-" he cut himself off as I faceplanted the floor. "Hikigaeru, are you alright?!"

⠀⠀"It's so warm!" I cried into the wood with childish glee. "The cold, it's finally gone! I don't feel it anymore!"

⠀⠀"Oh."

⠀⠀"This is nice! This is so nice! Yes! Oh, yes!"

⠀⠀"Was it really that bad?"

⠀⠀"Of course it was! I told you, I feel what others feel now! Everyone's cold from winter, and I feel all that! Your cold, Kushina's cold, neighborhood's cold! Now I don't! Oh, I could kiss you if I didn't have to get up, Minato-san! Oh, uh, Sensei!"

⠀⠀"I'd rather you didn't. I don't think Kushina will like it if Im being kissed by older woman," he joked.

⠀⠀"Older? I don't look a day over five," I cooed as I sprawled out, almost as if the floor was melting me.

⠀⠀"Technically, you're still my elder," he added.

⠀⠀"I know," I sang. "But you don't talk about a lady's age. Even if it comes with experience. Besides, you have me beat on ninja stuff," I countered again. "Working the saying backward should count, too."

⠀⠀"Jokes aside," Minato shrugged with a smile, "this barrier will let us talk in peace. No one outside the barrier can get in, listen, or watch. We can't get out unless you release the seal. I'll show you how later."

⠀⠀"Please and thank you," I hummed happily. "I'm going to use this to sleep in!"

⠀⠀"I wouldn't recommend it," he chuckled. "I'm still... I'm still trying to understand everything. It's hard to put into words how I suddenly have a grasp of so many things. Not just the future but everything you knew in your first life. Applied mathematics, the science of spacetime, theoretical nonsense, and even how you sense chakra applies. It's all — an eye-opening experience."

⠀⠀"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Ask your questions, Sensei."

⠀⠀"Do you suspect your reincarnation to be random chance or an act of divine intervention? While I saw some of your memories, I didn't get much of your thoughts."

⠀⠀"I don't know," I divulged. "I don't really think it matters, either way."

⠀⠀"It should," he disagreed. "Given you once thought we were a manga, it's not unlikely other forms of media were 'real.'" With a hand on his chin again, Minato began to pace around the dojo. "In fact, for lack of better words, what 'things' do you think we can implement? Beyond Naruto's Rasenshuriken training, what techniques, ways of training, ideas, or — media do you think we can exploit?"

⠀⠀"That depends on what outcome you want, Sensei."

⠀⠀"I — want us to do good. To make the world a better place. Hindsight is a luxury. It's not something we ninjas are often given. I want peace. Not through the use of the Bijū or through force," he explained.

⠀⠀"Minato-san, I'm going to tell you the same thing I told my students when they complained about how pathetic the world was," I scowled. "Minds are not easily won with words. People are dumb. People are stubborn. If you want change, fight for it with everything you are, tooth and nail."

⠀⠀"That's not what you did."

⠀⠀I internally slumped, then rolled onto my side and propped my head with an arm. "No. It's not."

⠀⠀"Why did you become a teacher?"

⠀⠀"It's easier to build a child's perspective than changing an adult's mind."

⠀⠀"Then let's do both. I can fight; I'll have to in the next war. You can do what you're used to: work the minds of others. Help build the next generation. This time, alongside them."

⠀⠀"I was going to do that anyways, Sensei, and even then, it's not going to help bring peace to the world. Konoha is just 'one' village. Helping, what? Twenty kids won't do much. Not when this whole damn world is twisted with people murdering each other for less-than-good reasons."

⠀⠀"I was thinking more. What about those stories you grew up with? Could those be used to build a child's perspective to want peace?"

⠀⠀"I don't think the Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid will help much when children are trained to kill," I scoffed.

⠀⠀"They could. If changed to portray the right message with the right setting. I believe, oh damn, which was it?" He tapped his chin only to snap his fingers. "Encanto can help relate to children whose homes are built on expectation. Clans, for example. Lion King can teach children responsibility. And then there was one with hair..."

⠀⠀"Tangled?"

⠀⠀"Yes, it can be altered to send a message about kekkei genkai. How love is more important, and obsession over power is cruel," Minato explained.

⠀⠀"How much of my memories did you really see?" I put in.

⠀⠀"I don't know. It's hard to recall everything. You lived a very full life. Every day looked chaotic," he groaned. "I actually can't eat steam buns because of you."

⠀⠀"You mean because of Mama," I corrected, and Minato nodded with a soured frown.

⠀⠀I pushed myself into a sitting position. "Let's figure this out later, Minato-Sensei. Please? I've got enough to deal with learning to become a ninja, and we've not even started. Once I get into a routine, I'll figure out whatever you need me to work on. And you," I paused, trying to find the proper phrasing, "work on you. Even if you might not get what you want."

⠀⠀"What do you mean?" he asked after a drawn-out pause.

⠀⠀"Naruto. He might not be born." Minato's chakra solidified into ice cream as tension rose in his back. "I'm sorry."

⠀⠀"Is there a possibility Naruto won't be born?" he asked. "How critical is the butterfly theory? Could his birth be a fixed point in time or a variable? Or will that Genjutsu Timeline be an example of what my son could end up as? Will Naruto even be a 'son?' Could I have a daughter instead? Will there be complications during childbirth that ensure he receives Kurama?" Minato continued to walk, yet none of his questions felt pointed at me.

⠀⠀"I saw how you looked in the hospital. You had questions too. I know you're worried. Knowing what 'could be' doesn't mean it 'will be,' and I've asked myself over and over, how could things go wrong?" Alongside the tension, a worry, like an uneven heartbeat, pumped through him. "Seeing yourself die to a Jutsu the one you love is studying right now isn't reassuring."

⠀⠀He trailed off and sighed, and I let go of the joy of heat and focused on him. "Minato-sensei, the chances of him being born are greater than zero. Nothing is impossible. I used to believe that things were, but look where I am now," I decided to say. As I had in the hospital, I stood up and walked over to him. With outstretched arms, I hugged his leg.

⠀⠀"I forgot that you're the one who's a kid. You're, what, sixteen?"

⠀⠀"Fifteen."

⠀⠀"And here I am, forty-five in the body of a five-year-old," I murmured. "Minato," I addressed, dropping the formality, "you're still a kid. A smart kid who is responsible and brave, but still a kid. Every decision will change things, even if it's as small as how you breathe. Then there's diet, sperm count, injuries, and training. They'll all affect your body in some way. Stress too, and while you're used to so much more, it's still not good for you.

⠀⠀"The changes are so small I can't fathom the possibilities they'll lead to. If a deck of cards is fifty-two factorial, then your life and who you bring into this world is beyond worry. For your sake, temper your expectations. Hope for whatever you need to get out of bed, but be ready to be disappointed. It's all you can do when you can't change something but still need to face it."

⠀⠀"But I still have to try," he said in a stone-like tone.

⠀⠀"And you're still going to worry," I agreed. "I'm like that too. I even said so to Papa, and it's easy to worry when you have no one to talk to. You do, and thanks to this village's lack of privacy, now so do I. We'll work this out, no matter how steep the hill is. Okay?"

⠀⠀With a slow inhale, Minato placed his hand on my head while his chakra relaxed. "Thank you. We'll — plan later, then."

⠀⠀"Training time?" He gave a short nod, and I let him go and stepped back to look him in the eye.

⠀⠀"Do everything you can to try and kill me, Hikigaeru-kun. Don't hold back. Don't worry about hurting me. Begin when you're ready."

⠀⠀"I understand, Sensei."

⠀⠀⠀⠀To Mama

⠀⠀Minato-san asked me to be polite. With everything I've sensed, know that I am.

⠀⠀I know you love me. I can feel your emotions. Everything from the pain to the way saki fails to take it away. It's hard to love you back, knowing everything that goes on in your heart. I am sorry I made you worry. I know you lost people. You couldn't live if you lost me too, but I couldn't live if I stayed with you.

⠀⠀I left because your chakra's taste became too strong. I get lost in it, and I relive your pain. In my head, I can feel the rain, his blood on my hands, and the pit in your heart. It never stops, and it's gotten worse since I've seen people die.

⠀⠀I know you're trying, but I don't think I can love you. Not like others love their family. Not until we both master ourselves. That's why I left. To try; so I could face the pain I felt in you, so I don't become like you. I hope to meet the kunoichi that Papa fell in love with, that Dan fell in love with, and that Nawaki looked up to. I hope, one day, you become a person I can love.

⠀⠀Your daughter, Senju Hikigaeru~

Author's Note

⠀⠀I hope you enjoyed this. Follow and favorite if you did, and leave a review.