Minato and Kushina take the now fatherless son of two of Kurama's Guards to the Konoha Hospital to see his mother. Once the pair is together, they head up to the quarantine wing where the children of the Order of Joe were being kept. Only two of the children are left: the twins. They have not recovered from their operation.
When they arrive in the ward, one twin is walking slowly and painstakingly around the room, while the other sits on his bed and cries.
"Oh shut up, Yatsude," says the active twin, leaning on the end of one of the other beds.
"But you're so far awaaaaaay…!" laments the twin sitting on the bed. Then he sees Minato and Kushina. "GO AWAY!" he cries. "IT'S YOUR FAULT!"
Sazanka turns to see Minato and Kushina. His whole face lights up and he lets go of the bed to try and run towards them. After a few steps, the kid falls. In a flash, Minato catches him before he hits the ground.
"I like having my own space!" says Sazanka, grinning and hugging Minato. "And I can't wait to go and live with Uncle Madara and the others!"
"I haaate it!" wails Yatsude. "I wish you'd never come!" he throws his pillow at Minato.
"He'll get over it," says Sazanka. "He just doesn't like being separated." The boy lets go of Minato and staggers over to Kushina. He wraps his arms around her and says, "Uncle Madara acts like he doesn't even want us, but Tachi and Sekitei like him, so he must be alright. And Ajisai cries whenever he leaves her alone, so I bet he just pretends to not want us. Your boobies are soft," he adds, nestling into Kushina's chest.
"Really," says Kushina, pushing the boy's face out of her chest. "Well you kids seem to be doing just fine, 'tebane."
"We had better head home now," sasy Minato, who is starting to feel guilty about his part in orphaning these kids and upheaving their entire world.
"Aw, don't go!" whines Sazanka, clinging to Kushina.
"Sorry little guy," says Kushina, pushing him away. "We have to go. We'll come and visit you another day."
Minato and Kushina leave the hospital room.
"DON'T COME BACK!" Yatsude screams after them.
Minato flinches and closes the door behind him. He and Kushina don't say a word until they are out of the hospital. Once outside, Minato says, "Did we do the right thing? Sazanka seems happy enough, but he also said Madara doesn't want them…"
"You're giving it too much thought," says Kushina firmly. "Madara's probably just annoyed about being lumped with them. If it makes you feel any better, we'll go and visit Madara later and see how he is with the other three."
"We orphaned those kids," sighs Minato, feeling a stab of regret. "Perhaps we should suck it up and look after them ourselves."
Kushina smacks him over the back of the head. "Don't be stupid. How would you feel if two of the people who committed a mass killing in front of you raised you? These two didn't seem upset about being orphaned at all."
"Yatsude was upset about being separated from his brother," points out Minato. "Would they have been happy if they stayed joined?"
Kushina laughs outright. "You're an idiot! The boy is just shocked by the operation. Once he's calmed down and seen the benefits of separation, he'll get used to it. Stop worrying so much, Minato."
Minato sighs, and they continue on home in silence. When they arrive home, they head right inside. Kushina puts a finger to her lips, grinning. Minato gets the hint, and they sneak into the kitchen as quietly as they can, hoping to surprise everyone.
However, when they arrive in the kitchen, Everyone turns to look at them.
"Welcome home," says Minato's mother, holding up a plate of muffins. "Would you like a muffin?"
Minato stares at Madara. "What are you doing here?"
"Eating muffins," says Madara smoothly. He takes a bite of the muffin in his left hand. With his right hand, he is holding a bottle of milk in Ajisai's mouth. The baby is gulping her milk down hungrily, with her little hands wrapped around Madara's fingers. Sitting at the table on either side of Madara are Sekitei and Tachibana. Sekitei is staring at Kushina and Minato with her mouth open and a half-eaten muffin in her hand. Her foot is in a cast, and a pair of crutches is sitting on the floor beside her.
Tachibana puts his muffin down and stands up. Then, to Minato's surprise, Tachibana runs up to him, throws his arms around Minato and hugs him tight. "Thanks for saving us," he says, his voice muffled by Minato's shirt. "And thanks for the cookies." Then he lets go of Minato and throws his arms around Kushina. He doesn't say anything, he just holds on tightly.
Then Madara says, "Tachi, I think you've hugged her long enough. Come and finish your muffin."
"Yes Uncle Madara," says Tachibana, releasing Kushina and heading back to his seat, which he bumps into.
"Sekitei, stop staring. Staring at people is rude," says Madara.
"Yes Uncle Madara," says Sekitei, and stuffs the rest of her muffin into her mouth.
"Are you two going to stand there staring at us, or are you going to join us?" demands Minato's Dad, who has Burifu on his lap.
Minato and Kushina find chairs and sit down. Kurama and Naruto are grinning at each other sideways, as if they are up to something. They probably are, Minato reasons.
Kushina is eyeing Burifu critically. Then she turns to Minato's mother and asks, "Has Burifu been taking regular baths while I've been gone?"
"Oh yes," says Kazama, smiling. "The first few days she put up a fight, but after I gave her ear a yank she went along quietly. But then Tachi and that boy, Jyuugo, came over to play in the pool and I sent Burifu and Kimiko upstairs for a bath to wash off the pool water after they left. Burifu didn't argue at all. She thought about it for a second then went without any resistance. She hasn't argued or resisted since."
"You know," says Arashi thoughtfully. "Pantsu did tell me that he thought Burifu would start taking baths willingly someday. He never managed to convince her to."
"I hate baths," says Burifu, sulkily. "Grandpa tricked me into taking a bath once. He gave me a bar of soap and told me it would be fun for me to make bubbles all over myself when I went swimming. And I did! It smelled horrible. Then someone told me it was soap!" She frowns angrily. "I threw it at Grandpa!" Then her face crumples and she starts crying. "I miss him," she sniffs.
"I know, sweetie," says Arashi rubbing Burifu's back comfortingly.
Sakumo Hatake finds Kakashi sitting in a tree beside his house, watching Aki kick a ball around. Sakumo jumps up into the tree and sits down on a branch close to Kakashi. "You seem very content with your life," Sakumo comments.
"I am," agrees Kakashi, smiling.
"Will you tell me about your life from when I died?" asks Sakumo, wanting to know - needing to know - how Kakashi responded to his death, and how he came to be so laid back and content?
"Oh, of course," says Kakashi, as a sad expression crosses his face. And so he tells Sakumo everything. He begins by telling Sakumo how he stuck religiously to the shinobi laws, and how he graduated at age five, only to become a chunin less than a year later at age six. Kakashi talks about his time with Minato, Obito and Rin, and his rivalry with Might Gai. And then he tells his side of the tale Obito told Madara.
Kakashi's side is much sadder, Sakumo thinks. For Obito everything worked out very quickly, but Kakashi faced years of trauma.
Kakashi goes on to explain how Minato put him in the ANBU and made him guard Kushina while she was pregnant with Naruto. He tells Sakumo about Minato and Kushina's death, and the melancholy months Kakashi spent wondering what his purpose was going to be with his sensei dead.
As Kakashi is telling Sakumo how he met Tenzou and her sister, Yukimi, while on a mission for Lord Third, a young woman with freckles on her cheeks arrives in the garden.
"Auntie Yukimi!" Aki shouts, running up to the newcomer and hugging her.
Kakashi smiles and tells Sakumo how he rescued Tenzou from Danzo, with a little help from Lord Third. He tells about the years following, when he and Tenzou started dating, and eventually got married and started a family. Kakashi finishes by telling Sakumo about his time as a jounin sensei, and how the First and Second Hokages helped Tenzou overcome trauma from a mission that made her remember her time as a human experiment.
"I am glad everything worked out for you in the end, Kakashi," says Sakumo, smiling. But there is one more thing he needs to know. "But I wonder: will you ever be able to forgive me for leaving you alone?"
Kakashi smiles and says, "I forgave you a long time ago, Dad."
A curious sense of peace washes over Sakumo. He smiles and says, "Thank you. Now I know I can rest in peace." Sakumo notices his body begin to glow, and feels the jutsu unravel. "Goodbye, Kakashi."