Title: My Triumph lasted till the Drums

Chapter 7: But internal difference–

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

AN: Sorry about the odd text mess up. Thank you to Demona Evernight for pointing it out. Hopefully this new upload fixes any problems.

"Are you sure you have time to hang out with me today?" Nanami asked the blond man walking next to her.

"I always have time to spend with my daughter Nanami-chan," Minato said. "What do you want to do today?"

The girl contemplated what she wanted to do, it was likely the last day they would spend alone with each other before Nanami left for her training with Tsunade.

"Why don't we do what we always do?" Nanami looked up at him, questioning.

"Don't you want to do something special? It may be our last day together for a while. I need you to remember me while you're gone."

"I'll never forget you tou-san. I just want to do what we always do. Go to the tea shop, order some dango, wander over to the bookstore and get a new book. Then, we'll finish off the day with training. I've been getting much faster after our last session tou-san," Nanami said, proudly. "I don't want anything special to distract my time with you."

Minato smiled at the young girl, she was so mature for her age. He would give the world to his child, but he loved that she humbly wanted nothing but him.

"Then that's what we'll do!" Minato said, taking the young girl's hand in his own and walking toward their favorite tea shop.

When they arrived, the two shinobi took a seat in the back of the tea house. All eyes were on the pair; it wasn't every day that the civilians got to see the Hokage of Konoha. Nanami, oblivious to or ignoring the attention, took the seat across from her father. She ordered a simple green tea and some strawberry dango when the shy waitress took their orders. Minato ordered green tea as well.

"Oh no! I forgot to order some extra dango to go!" Nanami exclaimed, violently pulling her arms to her head.

"Calm down Nana-chan, you can ask her when she gets back," the man said with a sweat drop. Nanami rarely lost her cool like that, and to do so over dango amused the man. "Why do you want extra anyway? It'll spoiler dinner and your kaa-san will kill me," Minato joked, a bit of fear laced his tone.

Nanami looked up at her father, taking her hands off her head. "It's not for me. This is Itachi's favorite dango shop. I want to bring him some when I visit tomorrow," Nanami explained looking down at her fidgeting hands. Tomorrow would be the last day the two would spend time together before she left for her training.

"I get it," Minato said, "I still don't like that you hang out with that kid so much Nana-chan. You shouldn't hang out with boys until you're at least 30."

"Sorry tou-san, but I've already decided. I'm going to marry Itachi when we're old enough," Nanami explained with a smile.

Minato froze at her word, "…marry?" he said in horror. The thought of his daughter getting married, it was too much, "Marry?"

"Careful Minato-san, we wouldn't want anyone to know the Hokage's weakness," a man said walking up to the pair.

"Ah, Shikaku-san. You'll understand when you have a daughter," the blond said.

"You know I don't plan on having a daughter. They're way too much work," Shikaku said, still standing next to their table.

"You would say that Shikaku-san," Minato smiled. "Nanami, this is Shikaku Nara. He is a very close friend of mine. When you become a medical ninja, you'll most likely be working with him closely. His family created very detailed medical books and procedures and they grow medical ingredients in their deer herds."

Nanami looked up at the man in awe, "That's so cool Nara-san," she said. She was mostly happy the man had distracted her father from their previous conversation. She didn't mean for her plans to slip out. Nanami's mind was more mature that most at her age, and she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life at Itachi's side. To her, that meant marriage. Somehow, she got the feeling that the man interfered on purpose.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow Minato-san. My wife will kill me if I'm not home with her on my day off," Shikaku said. "It was nice to meet you, Nanami-chan."

The pair smiled at the man and waved has he exited the tea shop. The two finished their tea and dango and left the shop after Nanami picked up some sweets to go for Itachi.

After the two finished up at the bookstore, new books in hand, they walked to the training field. Minato had been coaching Nanami on her speed. It is what she asked for. She explained that when she was a medical ninja, she was the most likely to be targeted on the battlefield, and therefore, she had to be able to dodge all attacks and outrun all her opponents. So, in the last year, Minato had spent time physically coaching his daughter, as well as began teaching her the basic sealing techniques for his flying thunder god. He wanted her to be able to master it someday.

While the two trained with the physical part, Kushina had been training Nanami in the spiritual side of things. They practiced their chakra control every day. Kushina had taught Nanami the tree climbing technique as well as the water walking technique, and now she was trying to teach Nanami the basics of creating adamantine chains with her chakra for sealing and combat.

Today, Nanami was given weights by her tou-san. He explained that they were to train her body to grow stronger and faster while she was training. Nanami found this helpful, but also annoying as she had to figure out how to readjust her movement, throwing and speed. Luckily, her tou-san was a genius and coached her through the process. By the end of their session, Nanami felt she had a good handle on the new weight. The two began walking home as the sun began to set.

"You did a great job today, Nana-chan," her father said.

"I am pleased with my progress, but I'm so tired now," the girl said, still breathing heavily.

"Remember while you out training, all you have to do is add more chakra to the weights to make them heavier after your body adjusts to the added weight," he said.

"Yes," she said.

The two walked in silence for a while. Nanami wanted to asked her father a question, but every time she was about to ask, she lost her confidence and looked down at her feet. Minato noticed this, "Is there something you wanted to ask me, Nana-chan?" he said.

Nanami's face grew red in embarrassment at being caught. She looked over at her father to see him smiling at her.

"You won't forget me while I'm gone with you tou-san?" she asked sheepishly.

Minato became surprised at the question. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"I heard you and kaa-san talking about having a baby," she said look back on the road ahead of them, "once you have your own baby, I'm worried I won't have a place anymore."

Minato tore his eyes away from the nervous girl, and looked forward examining the village in front of him. "Nanami-chan," he began, "you will always be my first child. Blood isn't what makes you family, it's the bond you share with others. I will always love you and be there to protect you no matter what."

"Promise?" she asked, tears gathering in her eyes.

"I promise."