Disclaimer: Naruto and every character of the Naruto universe belongs to Kishimoto Masashi and companies, I don't know.
Applause goes for my precious beta readers: ImaginationJunkie1412, Ano-Hitori-Chichi,
Original upload date: 17th of December (in CET) ;)
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Chance for a Prophecy
Chapter 23. – Precious moments
Naruto silently watched the silhouettes of the delegations together with his father in the shadows of the giant gate, until their forms disappeared in the distance. The blond time traveler let out a relieved sigh and a satisfied smile spread across his face in the next moment. A warm breeze ruffled his golden locks in a playful manner, tugging but also stroking his crown. A moan kicked him out from his small world. He glanced towards his stretching leader and his smile widened.
"It went better than any of us would have thought." Minato stated, waiting for his shoulder to pop back into its place. When it did so, another satisfied moan rushed out from his soft lips. The young leader rolled his head once more before he turned toward his grinning relative.
"Yagura is really interested in the alliance, Ohnoki stopped sulking and accepted the new trading route and even the Raikage didn't close up against it." Minato made a wandering face. "Well at least I hope, based on his "I'll think about it" statement. I guess it is a good start."
Naruto nodded in agreement and turned around to head inside the heart of the city, his slow steps were shadowed by his father. A crowd started to gather on the streets of Konoha for the upcoming festival. The last rays of the burning sun painted long shadows along their path. Lampions lit up all over the streets, painting everything with their soft yellowish light, replacing the slowly disappearing sunlight. A group of children passed them, playing tag and avoided knocking their respected leader to the ground only by mere centimeters.
They casually strolled in the crowd, neither of them speaking a word. Naruto watched the people of his beloved village as they were enjoying the festival. Children tugging their parents' clothes for some sweets, or playing games for silly and useless prizes under the proud eyes of their parents and friends. His lips almost instantly turned up in a small smile, but only for a second, before it was gone as he spotted something from the edge of his vision. Something familiar. Something which sent a shiver down his spine and the feeling was soon followed by a droplet of cold sweet.
Minato walked with his hands held behind his back, the same soft smile fixed on his lips. The leader suddenly blinked when the warm feeling disappeared from his side and he realized that he had lost his brother. The Hokage blinked once more and turned around only to realize that his brother had fallen behind a few steps, his azure pools fixed on something in a shop, stand unblinking. A frown crawled up on Minato's face when he stepped next to his frozen relative and traced back his sight to see an orange mask plastered on the wall.
Only one eyehole glared back at them. Even without a mouth, Minato couldn't shake off the feeling that the mask was mockingly grinning at him. The spiraling pattern was motionless, however after some time Minato had to blink to stop the sensation that indeed, it was moving, slowly whirling around it's center viciously. The leader shook his head and slowly tapped his brother's shoulder, making him flinch and blink back to reality with a confused expression on his face.
"This...is familiar." Minato stated slowly, watching every emotion on his brother's face. "You drew something like this in the book I had given you to test your intelligence. It's something important isn't it?" Naruto looked back at the mask, his expression betraying none of his emotions. Minato was sure, that if his eyes weren't so shrouded by his blond locks he would be able to see everything that was going on inside his relative's thick skull. All emotions would be there, bare and naked. After a short pause, Naruto shook his head and walked away from the stand without a word. Minato wasn't able to hear Naruto's soft whisper. "It is an important reminder..." Naruto inhaled and the tension instantly disappeared from his muscles.
Minato's frown turned into a scowl as he watched his relative slowly walk away. The moment he passed by Naruto he almost lost his self control. He was about to grab his brother's shoulder and shake him while asking "Why don't you trust me? Why did you feed me the same crap about Orochimaru you fed the council?" But in the end none of that happened. The young leader shrugged off his disappointment and jogged after his brother.
With a small slide on the soft dust of the road, Minato arrived next to his relative, gaining the attention of the nearby villagers and earning a raised eyebrow from Naruto. They walked side by side, enjoying the sight of the joyfull villagers, the happy families and the laughing children. Naruto's feet unconsciously lead them into the direction of a thin path, the one he trailed countless times during his childhood. Minato took notice of their way, but he said nothing. He instead chose to shadow his relative as they followed the path leading toward the top of the Hokage monument.
Naruto didn't even bother himself to look back, he knew perfectly well Minato was following him. They reached the edge of the cliff soundlessly, the two blond shinobi gracefully hopped down to finally settle down on Minato's own stone statue.
Naruto let out a long sigh and glanced up to the dark sky. He couldn't spot any clouds on the ink black canvas. Only the stars had been sparkling on the sky unperturbedly.
"Hey, Toroku?" The named blond slowly turned toward his father, who also locked his azure gaze on the countless number of shining spots above them. "Two days ago, when you were talking about getting your hands on my hat... Were you serious? You really want to be Hokage one day?"
Minato was lucky he couldn't see the wince of his brother, nor the shadows of guilt currently dulling his gaze as his eyes drifted toward the village at their feet. Nor could he actually know the fact that he was actually speaking to someone who had been named as the Rokudaime Hokage. A young man who had seen the very same living and pulsing village as it was reduced to nothing else than dust and debris. Twice. Even if he actually declined the position back then, Uzumaki Naruto still bore the weight and the guilt of a real Kage for letting his village fall.
Gaara's soft, almost murmuring voice trailed inside his mind. "When you think your time has come, when you think you are ready to wear the hat, you can replace your hitai-ate with your old one. Until that time, you are a shinobi of the Allied Forces."
Naruto's hands unconsciously moved toward his hitai-ate to trace over the fine lines of Konoha's symbol on his forehead. His fingers carefully following the swirl in the middle and when the trail finally ended his hand dropped inside his lap.
"Konoha is my home. I held her people as close to my heart as I could. I'm clumsy, I can be an idiot sometimes and I'm also irresponsible. I always just rush bullheaded into the battle without thinking. I'm not even sure I know what the real duties of being the Hokage are. But still. Every time I see you inside the office, I'm jealous."
The Fourth finally averted his azure pools from the night sky to watch his brother for a long minute, before he answered. "You would be a great leader. I already told you that and I don't want to repeat myself. You've got everything in you that you'll need to one day become a great leader. If you're still unsure in yourself, look at the Raikage. He is as hot headed as you, rude and also punches before he thinks. But he had his brother next to him. I've got Kushina next to me to direct me and guide me through the hindrances I have to face. When your time comes, I will be there by your side to guide you."
Naruto stared back with wide and surprised eyes. He hesitantly opened than closed his lips to respond with something but he couldn't squeeze anything out from his suddenly dry mouth. So instead of desperately trying to push out something coherent, his lips just turned up with the softest smile Minato had ever seen on his face. Real happiness rushed over his form and somehow his chakra shifted into something which reminded Minato of the first real warm sunshine after a long and dark storm. It was sunny and full of life. Even the nature around them somehow seemed to respond.
Minato curiously glanced around and noted as the flora somehow rushed to life in the first week of May. A small wildflower next to Naruto, which was strong enough to hold onto a small crack in the stone, flinched and it's until now closed bud slowly opened, revealing the soft, orange blossom.
Then slowly Naruto's chakra shifted back to it's original form. It was still warm as always, it was still full of life and it was still as wild as always. The faint sound of approaching footsteps interrupted his thoughts. He glanced up to the edge of the cliff and noted the brilliantly shining crimson hair in the dim light of the stars. Kushina gracefully walked down to them, and more figures followed her silent footsteps. Kakashi trailed after her with a stoic expression on his face, while Rin slowly and carefully took each chakra infused step on the cliff. Finally Jiraiya landed beside them with the loud thud of his wooden sandals, a wide grin on his face.
Before any of them could greet each other, a loud squealing sound echoed over the village and when it ended with a louder bang, millions of dancing sparkles filled the until now ink black sky. The faint sound of cheering people reached their battle hardened ear. The newcomers hastily hopped down next to the two blonds to silently watch the billions of dancing sparkles as they were shimmering down toward the village. The fireworks painted everything soft warm orange, vibrant yellow, vicious red and hundreds of other shades.
A harsh string of swearing kicked Naruto out from his reading. He was studying a large and unfortunately very boring, very long and old scroll about space time ninjutsu he had found in Minato's private library. A weary sigh left his soft lips and he slowly dragged himself toward the next room where his mother's voice came from.
He found her next to the wall, desperately trying to remove a picture from a broken frame without tearing it. Naruto crouched next to her, carefully avoiding the shards of the broken glass.
"What happened?"
"It just fell from the wall. I didn't even touch it." Experienced and lean fingers finally slowly pulled out the picture without damaging it. Kushina's green eyes examined the picture with a sentimental glint in her eyes, her soft lips turned up in a warm smile. Naruto curiously peeked at the picture. It was heartbreakingly familiar.
The grinning Minato in the middle, surrounded by his genin team. The smiling Rin and the two sulking boys, currently glaring daggers at each other. It was nostalgic and almost the perfect match to his own team picture. The one which was sealed inside his scroll for a long time. His gaze traveled toward the sulking Uchiha and he soon found himself trying to pair the small boy on the picture with the grown, possessed and insane man of his own time.
"They are reminding you of someone, aren't they?" Naruto flung his head toward his mother's soft voice, before he carefully averted his gaze back to the picture. Kushina's soft smile never left her soft features. "You can trust me you know." Naruto slowly nodded, his eyes still carefully avoiding Kushina's own. The kunoichi watched him and in the next second Naruto found himself in her sweet embrace. He could feel her warmth wrapping around him like a soft blanket and he unconsciously leaned into the contact. He didn't answer for a long minute, just enjoying the warm feeling around him. Eagerly swallowing up all the feelings he couldn't have during his childhood. He couldn't even feel or hear as his lips moved and the words slipped out from his mouth uncontrolled.
"They are like my old team." Naruto winced when Kurama's furious snort echoed inside his mindscape.
"What the hell are you doing you moron!" But Naruto didn't answer. Instead he tried to burrow himself into the feeling of a soft blanket Kushina offered to him with her arms.
"What happened to them?" Kushina asked curiously, but she didn't miss as Naruto bit down on his lower lip and averted his gaze once again. His mother let out a soft breath and squeezed him a little bit more.
"I see." Kushina murmured into his ears. "I know you've had a harsh past. But if you ever want to talk about it with someone, I'll wait for you." Naruto shook off his frozen state and curiously glanced up at his mother, not really sure what she was referring to. "We don't have many precious people. Losing them is the deepest pain someone like us could bear."
The blond furrowed his brow in confusion, but by the next sentence his eyes instantly widened. "After all, only jinchuuriki can fully understand each other's pain."
Naruto hesitantly opened his mouth, then closed it, while Kushina just giggled at his attempt to squeeze out something coherent. Naruto found himself unable to speak for the second time in a week. The only thing he could do was stare and gape like a fish.
"Jinchuuriki can sometimes feel each other. Didn't you know it? I wasn't aware what the nudging feeling I got every time we were together was, but when you were fighting in the arena I heard you yelling at the small girl. To not give up. To stay strong. To not let the bijuu take control over her body. And..." Kushina slowly brushed a small tuft of blond hair out from his forehead which escaped under his hitai-ate. "...And Minato told me a lot of things. That you know a lot about bijuu and jinchuuriki. That you could heard the one tailed in Suna. That you recognized the bijuu in Fū. And you also know the name of the eight tail. You know things that only a jinchuuriki should know. It wasn't hard to put one and one together. At least not for another jinchuuriki."
"I…" Naruto hesitantly started. "...I don't know how to react."
"You don't have to say anything."
"Does...Does Minato know about it?"
Kushina slowly removed her arms around him and slowly lead him away from the shining shards and settled him down on the bed to sit next to him. Azure eyes scanned emerald ones warily. "Do you want him to know about it?" Naruto hesitated to answer. But in the end, he shook his head. "Then this will be our little secret."
"Thank you."
It was that moment when Naruto felt another presence step into the house. He felt the small wave that rushed through the uncountable amount of security seals as the familiar man passed the doorstep.
"What are you two doing?" Half a minute later Minato's messy blond head peeked into the room, ruining the precious moment in an instant. Kushina slowly got up from the bed to place a small kiss on his cheek.
"Just chatting."
"About what?" The Hokage asked curiously hopping down next to his brother. The redhead glanced toward the pleading eyes of Naruto and let out a small sigh. There was no way she could avert Minato's questions now. Once he found something interesting there was no way to avert his mind from the topic. The only way was if he received something more interesting to think about. Kushina made one last glance toward the nervously fidgeting young blond boy before she made her decision.
"Guess it is actually time to tell you something."
Naruto's eyes grew wider and wider, but after Kushina's reassuring glance he finally settled down. However his previous restless movements were mimicked by none other than Kushina as she nervously started to fidget, shifting her weight from leg to leg, restlessly chewing on her lower lip while she gathered her thoughts on how to actually tell them. Then in the next second a wide grin spread across her face as, instead of beating around the bush, she just blurted out everything with one breath.
"I'm going to be a mother, dattebane!"
Minato's eyes widened, his mouth had fallen while Naruto's mouth moved into the widest grin he could manage without threatening his face to split in two. He made a side glance to his father next to him, noting the paler and paler features of the fearless Hokage.
Minato stared into the empty space in front of him, while his mouth opened and closed continuously, mimicking a fish on dry land. Both of his companions watched him warily as his face slowly got a slight blue tint as he simply forgot how to breath. Naruto soon started to fear that his father will simply faint next to him.
But thankfully the village leader slowly regained some colour in his face and some of his composure as he gathered himself at a snail's pace, his mouth opened once again and finally found some words to express his thoughts. However he failed pitifully.
"You...But...How...Then I-Then I'll..." When no coherent words came out from his mouth he just gave up, his mouth closed and a goofy smile spread across his face.
It was his brother's laughter which kicked him out from his utter ecstasy and his hard hand which was now tapping his back continuously. "How? You really want to ask Jiraiya to tell you the story of where babies come from?"
A disgusted grimace spread across Kushina's face, but she still made a small hesitant step toward her fiancé, who just sat there silently.
"Minato?" she asked hesitantly. But when the goofy smile spread across his face for the second time, she just mimicked it.
"I will be a father..."
"And I'm going to be a mother!"
"I will be a father!"
Then in the next second both of them rushed toward each other to meet in the middle of the room in a sweet embrace. Their hands desperately tried to hug each other as much as possible as they seemed to melt into each other's body to be even closer. Even Naruto could feel the overwhelming love they were currently emitting toward each other. Our time traveler watched with a soft smile on his face as kushina buried herself even deeper into Minato's chest. He could feel as even the almighty demon fox inside the remains of his seal smiled.
He noticed a small soft movement from the corner of his eyes and it kicked him out from his musing. He stared at Minato's gently inviting hand. He slowly raised from the bed, not actually sure that he should disturb their moment. He hesitantly stepped further and further and when he was just an arm distance, Minato grabbed him and pulled him into the embrace to join them in one of the happiest moments of their lives. They stood like that for long seconds, maybe minutes. But for Naruto, it felt like an eternity. And he hoped that it would never end. He eagerly tried to carve this sweet feeling into the deepest parts of his mind so he could remember this moment forever. A lonely tear slowly slid down his face, painting a thin wet line all the way until it reached his chin. It hesitantly stopped for a second before it dropped down to land on Kushina's arms around him.
"You will be the best parents a kid could ever wish for." Naruto softly murmured and he immediately felt as Minato's arms squeezed him a little more, while Kushina's soft voice traveled toward him in a shooting way.
"And you will be the best uncle Naruto could wish for."
Naruto restrained a flinch and closed his eyes for a second. Could he really do this? Could he really drop his real name for the sake of an unborn child? Jealousy raised inside him almost instantly. It glared at him with his glowing green eyes like a monster under a child's bed in the night. This kid, he will get everything he couldn't get in his childhood. This child will have parents. He will have a warm home to return to after school. There will be people to greet him as soon he steps inside.
While what did he receive? Pointed glares. A cold and empty apartment. He never had anyone to greet him when he returned after a mission. But suddenly the jealousy was gone as fast as it came. What was he thinking? This boy was him. He slowly shook his head to ease away the last bit of his previous thoughts.
A small smile spread across his face, while his eyes sparkled with determination. Yes. He will do everything to make this boy happy. He will do everything to see this Naruto smile carefree and not because he is wearing a mask of happiness. He will be there, holding his small hand when he takes his his first steps. He will be there to give him a shoulder when he needs it. He will be there when Sasuke beats him in one of the academy spars and he will be there in the front row when he graduates from the academy. He will be there for him as the best uncle or as the best brother a child could wish for. It doesn't matter how, but he will be there for him.
Naruto wasn't aware that during these dark and jealous thoughts, all of Kurama's attention was glued on a spot in his mindscape. Naruto wasn't aware that his companion had been intensively watching with a deep frown on his face as a foggy replica of the loud mouthed blond slowly materialized inside the remains of the seal. The transparent figure slowly became solid, only the edge of his form remained blurry.
Kurama narrowed his eyes even more, his muscles tensing as the edge of Naruto's once pure white eyes slowly became grey. Nor was the blond teen aware that as his jealousy slowly grew, so did the gray slowly overwhelm the whiteness of his eyes and the edges were slowly becoming ink black as it moved further and further until it almost touched the edge of his once azure blue pools which were now also slowly morphing into a crimson tint. The air around him slowly became colder and colder and Naruto's soft breath soon became visible.
Naruto's form suddenly flinched. Kurama finally released his eyes from Naruto's projection for the first time to glanced up toward the until now slowly darkening mindscape. There, a small and warm beam stabbed through the dark clouds above their heads. The beam slowly started to grow until the place was once again sunny and warm, Naruto's until now visible breaths faded away as the temperature also rose.
Kurama returned his crimson eyes to the transparent boy in front of him. His irises were once again the sparkling blue, shining with the familiar mirth, while the darkness from his sclera retreated and disappeared. Kurama let out a relieved sigh and allowed his muscles to relax.
The deep frown was once again on his furry face as he eyed his companion. The fox slowly shook his head to ease away his growing worry.
"Maybe Itachi was right. I shouldn't have force him to handle this alone." Kurama softly murmured while he retreated behind one of the giant ossier trees, after one last glance at the slowly disappearing mirage.
Naruto's muscles tensed until the breaking point. He took one more step, careful not to make any noise. His eyes twitched when, despite how his own movements were flawless, the ancient old floor faintly squeaked under his weight. It wasn't actually loud, it was not even louder than a soft breath, but it was still enough for Naruto to pause.
One more step toward his destination and the mission will be accomplished. A minute later, he finally reached his peacefully sleeping target. He ran his azur pools over the smooth face once more, before he reached down and grabbed the cold handle of his ninja tool from his weapon pouch. His other hand soundlessly opened a small vial and dipped the nib into the ink black liquid.
Naruto let out a long breath, careful to not disturb his victim's sleep. He raised his now armed hand and tensed his muscles, slowly calculating where he would attack first. When he found the perfect spot, a vicious grin spread across his face. Then he striked.
A long, thin line appeared on his victims face after each of the perfect movements. When Naruto finally finished the last stroke, the soft brush and the sealing ink returned to his weapon pouch. Minato was still sleeping and softly snoring, while his head rested on his folded arms, slightly dipped to the side in the middle of the Hokage's office.
A wide grin spread across Naruto's face as he examined the perfection of his handiwork. His father was now snoring with three whisker marks on each of his cheeks. Naruto turned his head toward the puzzled and nervously fidgeting ANBU in the darkness of the corner and sent them a beaming smile. Then he slowly raised his index finger toward his mouth indicating complete silence from his audience.
However the professionals weren't as professional as he thought, as the youngest ANBU couldn't keep up his calm façade. A muffled snicker escaped behind his squeezed lips, disturbing the complete silence of the office in an instant. Naruto just rolled his eyes and sent an annoyed glare toward the lurking green horned soldier and shook his head in disapproval.
His eyes turned toward his father, who slowly blinked, straightened himself and stretched the aching muscles of his back. Minato let out a loud yawn and rubbed his eyes, before he turned toward his brother.
"What are you doing here, Toroku?"
Naruto sent a wide grin in response and shrugged. "Nothing. Just fooling around. I'm bored to death. We still got a lot of time before night hits."
One of the ANBU cleared his throat, but after one warning glare from his brother, the hokage's private soldier stilled. In the end the ANBU shrugged. No harm was done actually and they also deserves some fun.
Minato suspiciously narrowed his eyes after he ran his azure pools over the lurking shinobi. Naruto just stood in the middle of the office while trying to look as innocent as he could.
"If you are thinking of pulling a prank on me, you should get it out of your head right now."
"Nah, you got up too early. But the temptation was strong." Naruto answered with the most innocent eyes he could pull. However this unnerved the Hokage even more. An innocent looking Toroku just screams for trouble.
A minute later, Toroku was gone and Minato started sweeping through his office for any hidden taps. But he had found no paint bucket above the door, nor above the window. So after wasting half an hour exploring the place for anything suspicious, he just settled down behind his desk. Visitors come and went for a long hour, chuunin and jounin left after they received their newest mission. However all of them gave him an odd look before they left.
At the end of the day, Minato felt himself squeezed dry. He was paranoid for the last hour, seeing traps and pranks in every corner. And the behaviour of every man and woman who stepped inside his office just raised his paranoia. Thankfully the streets were almost empty until the time he stepped out from the office. He thought for a moment to just use his seals and teleport to his house, but the sweet scent of the night was inviting. So he decided to slowly walk home to enjoy the early May weather.
Before he could make any further steps, one of his ANBU appeared next to him, her head carefully bowed. "Hokage-sama. Before you go any further I wish to tell you something." Minato furrowed his brow and nodded toward the shinobi, who instead of answering, warily handed over a small mirror.
Minato made a confused expression, glancing from the mirror toward the woman in the mask for a hesitant minute. He felt his cheeks slowly turn bright red as somewhere deep in his mind he realized that he was actually pranked by none other than his brother.
The Hokage slowly opened the small pocket mirror and glanced toward his reflection. He dimly noted the three identical whisker marks on each of his cheeks. He slowly closed the pocket mirror and the ANBU immediately retreated into the shadows, fearing that her leader would take out some of his frustration on her. But she had to admit, it was fun. It was utterly wrong, and shameful for them to let the Hokage be pranked, but still.
However, to her surprise, instead of bursting out in anger, Namikaze Minato started to laugh. There was nothing that could ruin his mood. Tomorrow will be a special day after all. Tomorrow, he will officially be a married man. But before that happens, he has to face a bunch of excited males. And he feared what his perverted sensei had in store for him. Hopefully Kushina won't castrate him for any of it.
Muffled laughs and loud yells could be heard behind a thick wooden door. A rusty, metal sign hung lazily above it, shouting away the name of the place. The Rusty Shuriken was a popular place for shinobi to rest after a long mission or to just come along and pour down some sake to oil their sore throats.
The place was always crowded, however this time there were only a bunch of males sitting around a table in the middle of the bar. The board slumped under the massive amount of sturdy empty cups and bottles the small bunch had already inhaled down their throats. Two ANBU had been lurking under the shadows of the corners, but their always stoic faces were now curled up in a small smile under the ice cold surface of the porcelain mask.
Jiraiya raised from his chair and cleared his throat, while raising his cup of sake high into the air. His cheeks were already much redder than usual and his words slurred by the amount of alcohol he already poured down his throat.
"To the end of freedom of our fearless blond Hokage! Hopefully you'll enjoy this sweet captivity for a long, long time!" And Jiraiya emptied his cup in one swig, and slumped down into his chair with a goofy, but altogether satisfied smile on his face.
A soft smile spread across the named blond leader's flushed face and Minato carefully sipped from his own glass. Even if he had been careful to not drink as much as his teacher, he could already feel the slight effects of the alcohol. His words faltered from time to time, and an invisible power also started to tug his head from the side, not in an irritating way, but a pleasant one.
The widely grinning sage suddenly found a new target for entertainment. Jiraiya lumberly stood up to sway to the other end of the table and drop himself between Naruto and Kakashi.
"You seem too normal. Are you drinking correctly? You know, it's a day when everything is allowed."
"Hey! Kakashi is still underaged. He can't drink!"Jiraiya waved a hand to the displeased Minato and continued with the same grin plastered on his features, his face only centimetres from Naruto. The blond's face scrunched up in a displeased expression as the toad summoner's sour breath hit him harder than an actual kick. However he didn't have time to voice it, as Jiraiya flung an arm around the blond's shoulder.
"I know, extreme healing and all, but I bet I can win a drinking competition against any of you!"
The blond lazily raised his brow and a smug smile spread across his face. "You want a drinking competition? You picked the wrong guy you know. I can drink sake all day and I won't even sway." Naruto sent a cheeky smirk.
"Wanna bet?" The smug smile on Naruto's face widened into a foxy and cunning grin. The next second Naruto blinked, he found a cup of sake in his hand and Jiraiya already raised his own.
"I don't think that is a good idea." Minato shook his head in his displeasure, eyeing his own cup of sake with an askance look on his fine features. "Kushina is going to skin me for this."
"Than the deal is up!" Jiraiya hopped to his feet and the competition started. The foxy grin never left Naruto's face, however he wasn't aware that his never missing fluffy companion had the same cunning expression on his own furry face.
"I'm going to enjoy this soo much. Lets see how you'll handle this by yourself."
An hour later, Minato's voice stumbled from time to time as his tongue couldn't really follow his attempts at speech. Jiraiya carefully pushed a thick notebook into Kakashi's hands with a proud expression and with a loud "It's finished!" and somehow the teen disappeared to the back of the bar after he had finished reading the first page. The blond time traveler let out a barking laugh as soon as he spotted the flaming red skin on his soon-to-be sensei's ears.
Naruto felt funny. He was carefree, his head slightly swayed more and more with each passing minute and with each cup of sake, the dam that had been restraining his actions was becoming weaker and weaker. His own voice faltered from time to time and the always fine and clear line between reality and the now dreamlike world slowly started to smudge for Naruto.
The world suddenly dangerously tilted and he even grasped hard the edge of the thick wooden table; Naruto soundlessly slipped down from his chair, to land with a loud thud on the hard floor.
He laid there in an awkward position, too weary to even try to untie his rumpled limbs. But somehow his embarrassing position wasn't bothering him at all, since the cold floor felt really good against his temple. Warm hands slipped under his armpits to carefully lift him. However when he finally got the power to station his limbs under him, Jiraiya's arms weren't there to give him any more support. So he almost slumped once more. Though thankfully he didn't hit the ground this time. His father caught him just in time.
"Come on, otouto. I think you've drank enough."
"Yo'r mean. Jus' five mor minutes."
"Come, the bed is more comfortable."
"Stupid Kakashi-sensei…"
Minato's lips curved up into a wide grin. "Sensei, huh?"
An unrecognizable sound escaped from Naruto's soft lips, but it still sounded like a cheeky retort. Minato shook his head and quickly left before Jiraiya could protest or any more idiotic ideas could pop into his head, dragging his half conscious relative toward their house. He had no doubt that he would mess up the whole house if he used his Hiraishin with him in this state.
It was a long way home, with his brother's continuous incoherent mumbling. A lurking ANBU hopped down from the roof when he spotted his leader slightly swaying home with his brother on his back. "Hokage-sama."
"Ero-sannin, I don' wanna train!" Naruto mumbled softly into Minato's neck and snorted before his eyelids were closed again and started to loudly snore.
Minato shot his soldier a beaming smile, his cheeks were still flushed from the amount of alcohol he tucked down his throat, then he stumbled to the side. Only the wall of the building next to him kept him from falling face down with his brother on his back. After ten more minutes, desperately trying to get into the house, he finally laid down his snoring brother to his bed. He was about to leave the room, when his brother started to fidget under his blanket.
"Ne... I'em glad yo'r here….an'...I lov you guys soo mush."
"I'm glad you're here too. And I know that already you idiot." Minato answered softly, however his brother was already asleep. Again.
'I hate you.' Naruto growled, and grimace at his image in the mirror inside the bathroom, while he was desperately trying to force his mess of sun kissed hair into a decent form. His temples were throbbing and his stomach was still whirling with the vehemence of his own name. His throat was dryer than the deserts of Suna, while his white eyeballs were red all over.
Kurama was obviously on strike and not letting even a droplet of his chakra into Naruto's system to wash out his terrible hangover.
'Why did you do this to me?'
"For fun, what else?" Kurama yawned and fidgeted to get a better place to lay down for a nap. However, his furious jinchuuriki appeared inside his mindscape, with hands on his hips and leaning inside Kurama's private space; which was quite the feat, doing this to a giant demon fox.
"Like you do anything without reason!" Azure eyes sent another set of imaginary daggers through Kurama's orbs, but Naruto's attempt to look threatening miserably failed as his headache returned with a force he could feel even in his mindscape.
His face scrunched up in pain and a pitiful groan escaped from his lips as he grabbed his temple to try and shoot away his throbbing headache.
"Pretty please! I'll do whatever you want, but I can't live through this day like this."
Kurama eyed his company with a raised eyebrow for a never ending second before he shrugged. "Guess I can take care of that. You would be a pain in the ass if you started whining like a five year old girl."
The fox wanted to tease him more, but another blond crow sneaked a peak inside the slightly opened bathroom door and Naruto immediately retreated back to reality. With one last sigh, Kurama let down the dam and healing chakra started to flow slowly inside the blond's chakra coils. Not enough to be detected, but it was still enough to shake back his jailer into a decent form.
"Are you ready, otouto? It's time to go."
Naruto let out a pleased sigh as soon as his headache retreated and nodded. In the next blink, they were gone with the speed of the hiraishin, to reappear at the other side of the village for a very special ceremony.
Minato's long black haori ruffled in the soft breeze, his azure eyes peered into emerald ones. His always messy blond hair freely danced in the soft wind. He left his hitai-ate and his Hokage hat to rest in the office. He was just an ordinary man in this moment and not the feared village leader. And it was a moment he would remember for the rest of his life.
He gently reached for Kushina's hand and squeezed it a little. She looked beautiful. Not even Kushina's slightly rounding tummy ruined her perfection; it just made her more beautiful than ever. Her vibrant red hair freely flowed over the pure white kimono, a single small white kanzashi restraining her hair. The jewelry tinkled from time to time as she moved her face to look over the gathered people.
It was their wedding day and not even the weather seemed to interfere in it. Would mother nature dare to ruin it, she'd have to face Kushina's wrath. Even if the hot-blooded kunoichi couldn't do anything against mother nature, there was a bet going on in the lines of the attendees that she would at least try to go against her if she sent a rainstorm on this precious day.
The ceremony was short and simple, nothing fancy. What actually mattered is the happiness on their faces, brightening them up from head to toe as the newest official couple of Konoha were stealing quick glances and kisses every time they got the opportunity for it.
Naruto watched Jiraiya form the corner of his eyes as he was staring at the two lovebirds. His hands had been clinging around the same cup of sake for the last half hour, his eyes were hazy and foggy like he saw something or someone else instead of Minato and Kushina for a long time. Then his vision cleared again and locked on the laughing happy pair.
The blond couldn't help himself. He let out a small chuckle when a small tear slid down the toad summoner's face. His godfather grunted in his annoyance and immediately wiped away the small droplet before it could leave his chin.
"Shut up, Gaki. You're crying too." Jiraiya mumbled, but his face moved into a soft smile as he watched as his student finally slowly lead away his wife to get some privacy.
Naruto hesitantly raised his hand to wipe away the sweat tears of happiness from his face. But he couldn't. They just continued to flow and he eventually give up the fight against them. So he just let them flow freely while he laughed. He laughed as real happiness flushed him from head to toe.
Naruto softly hummed the rhythm he still remembered from the wedding. The blond sat under a giant tree, his back firmly resting against his temporary teacher, enjoying the first warm beams of the early summer, which promised a real hot wave in weeks. Jiraiya turned a page in his notes, his experienced fingers already scribbling down the fine and precise kanji. Naruto suddenly stopped humming.
"You should speak to her."
Jiraiya didn't stop writing and raised an eyebrow. "To whom?"
"To the girl you were thinking about during the wedding."
Jiraiya let out a snort and shook his head. "Let me say something to you gaki. My lovelife is private. And it's platonic. There is no way she would-" Jiraiya suddenly stopped and bit down on his lips, not aware of Naruto's searching blue eyes behind him.
"You should tell her, or you may never have a chance. People don't live forever."
"Why? You didn't get the chance to declare your love to your own woman or something?"
Jiraiya could feel as the boy's muscles tense in his back. Then he could feel as his muscles slowly relaxed and the boy leaned a little more backward, maybe to seek some comfort or encouragement.
"No. My...It was my shishou." Naruto hesitantly stated. And somehow, this time Kurama only narrowed his eyes inside his mindscape. Jiraiya moved his eyes to the side, to at least catch a glimpse of the teen, eagerly waiting for the blond to continue. But after a long wait, he didn't continue and soon the toad sage started to lose hope that he will actually know something more from his past. So the toad summoner let out a long sigh before he opened his mouth.
"I see. Well I won't be dying anytime soon, so I guess I've got a lot of time."
Naruto opened his mouth to answer, but he immediately closed it. He just stared at him, silently waiting for Jiraiya's next step. And surprisingly Kurama was still silent inside him. There was no shouting, no swearing, nothing at all. The ancient old giant demon fox silently observed his jailor's every move.
Some weight disappeared from his shoulder as soon as the words slipped from his lips. He felt relieved, when Jiraiya didn't start to dig deeper and he was thankful for it. Especially since he knew that the old sage could be like a small child when something interesting happened. Almost jumping up and down in excitement.
But the toad summoner just stayed in silence. Enjoying the warm sun, and the dancing shadows of the leaves as they were painting abstract forms on them.
If Minato and Kushina weren't there next to him, Naruto would have jumped up and down in excitement. They casually strolled toward their destination on the streets of Konoha. They had been heading to the Uchiha compound. A wide grin had been plastered on Naruto's face ever since Minato told them that the whole Namikaze family had been invited for dinner.
Naruto casually waved his greeting to the guards at the thick wooden gates of the compound and the stunned shinobi hesitantly mimicked the hail with a small nod toward the blond and with a low bow to Minato. A merchandise cart left by their side and it made Naruto send a beaming smile towards the civilian.
The clan had been slowly opening up toward the village. He never thought it would be successful, but it was. The walls were still around the compound, you can't just bulldoze down decades of tradition. But at least the gates weren't closed anymore. Even the people were more open toward the others. First the merchants came to sell their goods and then with small steps, more and more citizens of Konoha ventured to take a look around the place.
Children started to create bonds with other clans as they were able to move more freely within the field of the clan and with the children. The families also started to seek for other people's company other than the clan members. It will be a long way until he will be able to spot mixed lovebirds, but he could feel that the time was not as far off as he first imagined.
They casually walked on the wide and tidy streets until they reached a small wooden fence. But it wasn't closed as Naruto could remember during his childhood especially when he once or twice sneaked inside the compound. It was wide open, so this time he could see the tidy garden at the other side of the fence.
Naruto hesitantly stepped over the doorstep only to find himself facing a small child. He unconsciously made a gulp as he immediately recognized the small boy in front of him. The boy made a deep bow.
"Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-sama. My parents are waiting for you inside the house."
Naruto winced at the formal tone of the small child, but his concern was shoved to the side when the obsidian orbs finally turned toward him. Eyes far too intelligent for a five year old child observed him carefully. Kushina made a curious glance to her frozen brother-in-law and gently push him further.
"Come on, he's just a child. He won't bite off your head."
Naruto made a sour grimace, but after a second it was replaced with a wide toothy grin. He held out a hand toward the child. "Hi! My name is Namikaze Toroku. Glad to meet you."
The child curiously observed the offered hand for a long moment then he slowly grabbed it to shake it. "Uchiha Itachi. Glad to meet you, Namikaze-sama."
Naruto scrunched his nose in displeasure and leaned closer to the child. "Can I ask you a favor?"
Itachi raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Stop calling me Namikaze-sama. It makes me feel old. I'm Toroku. So call me that please. Just Toroku."
Itachi nodded again. "Toroku-sam-" But he couldn't finish it when Naruto grunted. "...Toroku-san," Itachi slowly amended. Obsidian eyes bored into sunny blue ones, until a smile spread across Itachi's face making the two lines under his eyes a little deeper.
"My parents are inside." Itachi tugged the hand he was still holding and the five year old child simply lead him further into the house like that.
Kushina silently watched from the background as Itachi lead away her relative. She let out a disappointed sigh. "I wish that I'll be able to handle kids as good as him. But I'm still happy to see Itachi-kun smile. The last time I saw him..." Kushina slowly shook her head. "He's seen too much for a child to see."
Minato reached out and gently grabbed her hand. "You will be a great mother. Come. Let's not make Fugaku and Mikoto wait." Kushina sent back a beaming smile and they silently strolled after Itachi and the still grinning Naruto, watching as the two boys chatted. One too old for his age, and one too childish for his own.
Naruto was the first one to step into the traditional Japanese house. Itachi led him further into the dining room where the clan head was waiting. Fugaku's dark eyes observed him, a little longer than was actually well mannered, before he finally greeted the teen.
"Toroku-kun. I don't think you've ever met my wife before."
Naruto turned his head toward the door where a lean, dark haired woman stepped further into the dining room. Naruto restrained the urge to immediately look toward her obviously round tummy. Mikoto stepped closer with a soft smile on her face and after the introductions and finally Minato and Kushina also arrived, Naruto couldn't endure the urge.
He glanced down to Mikoto's round tummy and an unconscious smile spread across his face. However that moment didn't last too long. Kushina rushed next to her and his mother immediately started talking and asking a long chain of questions.
Naruto slowly shook his head and settled down next to his grinning father at the table.
Minato sent one last smirk toward the kitchen where he could still hear Kushina's muffled voice. "Leave them alone. I have a feeling that Mikoto won't be free for some time."
And he was right. Kushina released Mikoto after fifteen minutes had passed, and only because the woman protested that she had to prepare the lunch. However Kushina was more than eager to help her out while still shooting random questions at her about pregnancy while they were busy taking in the plates filled with delicious looking food.
Thankfully, when Kushina finally received answers for all of her question, the table was made so Mikoto could finally take a seat next to her husband with bright red cheeks. Surely Kushina embarrassed her to death with all of her blunt and shameless questions about her pregnancy.
Minato just softly smiled at the scene. However Mikoto was really far from from being Kushina's best friend or altogether far from even calling her a friend. But Kushina in some manners was the same as his brother, she also had the ability to influence people around her. Even if only on a much smaller level, the ability was still there. Fifteen minutes ago Mikoto acted like a stranger around the redhead, but after she was under her charm, the distance between them slowly shrunk until there was only a thin, almost invisible line between them.
The dinner, thankfully, went in a normal way. Well at least normal in the norms of Minato. Living together with the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero and his brother was actually very far from normal. Two lively, hot tempered people under one roof was just screaming for trouble, but also for fun.
Naruto stretched his arms and let out a loud yawn, much to Fugaku's displeasure. The obsidian eyes flashed for a second and the clan head scrunched up his nose when the blond boy scratched his round tummy.
"Mikoto-san, that was just fantastic!"
The woman hid her satisfied smile with one of her graceful hands, but the small blush on her cheeks still said a thousand words. Naruto soon became restless as his hands and mouth weren't occupied any more. The teen first started to fidget restlessly in the peaceful silence while Mikoto disappeared with the dishes, Kushina on her heels.
Minato enjoyed the silence even as he was aware of his brother's continuous fidgeting. He leisurely cupped his steaming tea and only drank small sips from the sour liquid. The house was strangely quiet, only the fauna made their appearance known as a lonely ciada found its place on the wooden sill under the open window. It was an early bloomer, most likely the first of its kind, but it still shouted out to the whole world that summer is coming. The Hokage and his brother silently listened together with Fugaku and Itachi as the summer's first prophet started to sing it's sonata.
However the sweet sonata was soon disturbed by Toroku. "Hey Itachi-kun. Do you think you could show me around? I've never been here before."
A sarcastic snort echoed inside his mindscape. "Yeah. And I'm a cute little kit."
'You want a hug or something?'
Kurama scrunched up his nose in displeasure. "Now way in hell I'll let you hug me."
'A shame. You must be all soft and fluffy.'
"Toroku-san, are you a shinobi?" Itachi's question came from thin air, immediately kicking out Naruto from his starting bickering with Kurama.
The blonde blinked and scratched the back of his head. "Well, yeah. And I'm a strong one."
"That was the understatement of the year brat." Naruto ignored the fox and instead glanced down at the curiously shining black eyes with a smirk on his face.
"Hey Itachi-kun, do you want to play ninja?"
A smile spread across Minato's face, while Fugaku slowly raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. Midnight black eyes observed the grinning teen at the other side of the table, trying to figure out what' was happening inside that thick head. However he couldn't find any answer.
"So? You wanna play?" Naruto quirked a questioning eyebrow. The small child reconsidered it for a second, before he slowly nodded. The duo departed from the room without any further comments, or even a glance backwards. However they were followed by a pair of black eyes. Fugaku slowly shook his head and glanced toward the grinning Hokage.
"Why would a grown up ninja want to play ninja with a child?"
Minato shrugged and sip from his tea. However, in the next moment his grin was nowhere to be seen. His face became serious, but his eyes still sparkled with curiosity. "So how is our little project doing?" Minato asked, his hands still cupped around a steaming mug of tea watching as the steam slowly contorted into abstract form in the motionless air.
Fugaku glanced back immediately, his form straightened in his seat. "I have to say, it went better than I first thought. The elders are pleased with the new advisory body and the murmurs about the coup are at ease. They weren't too pleased with the new entries in the police force, but seeing the positive progress they came to terms with it."
"How many new recruits joined your side?"
"Ten," Fugaku answered, casually sipping from his seat. "Five are from the other clans. I even got a Yamanaka. He's quite helpful during interrogations."
"That's good." Minato smiled as he looked inside his mug.
"And I also got a green horned civilian now, thanks to you." Fugaku made a sour grimace and refilled his empty mug.
"A civilian?" Minato raised an eyebrow and gestured towards the clan head, requesting a fill up.
"I gave him some administration duties. He will be ok. He was jumpy during the first week, but he's adapting quite quickly."
Minato raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the open window where Naruto's soft laugh twisted inside. However his attention was glued on another slowly approaching presence. They didn't have to wait for long as a familiar mop of untidy black hair stuck his head inside the room.
"Fugaku-sama I-." There was a pause before the newcomer collected himself. "Hokage-sama...I'm sorry. I didn't know you had guests."
"Itachi is outside." Fugaku gestured towards the back entrance. The teen made a bow to each man and quickly retreated from the piercing azure blue eyes and the questioning frown on Minato's face.
"He and my son have a long history together." Fugaku answered the unasked question. "Shisui was his first babysitter when he was a toddler and now he's tutoring Itachi almost every second night. Itachi is more grown up than you would think."
Minato didn't answer, he just made one hesitant nod, before they continued with their chat.
Naruto unconsciously tensed as a new presence stepped inside the backyard. The soft footsteps made no noise for a normal shinobi, but the blond could still hear crystal clear, the soft noise of the sole as it connected with the soft dust, and he could also hear as restrained shinobi clothes rustled slightly by each and every movement the ninja made.
He glanced over his shoulder to sneak a peek at the newcomer, who suddenly stopped in his pace as he also spotted the blond head next to Itachi, who was busy burying his shuriken into a training buddy.
"Hey, did you see that?!" Naruto glanced down at the smiling boy and patted his head when he noted the shuriken in the middle of the bull's eye.
"That was a nice throw, Itachi-kun." The newcomer stated with a soft smile on his face and the small child immediately lit up and ran towards the man.
"Shisui-sensei!"
Naruto's eyes widened, while the man, no, the boy slowly approached the frozen blond. 'Shisui? This boy is Uchiha Shisui?! I thought he was supposed to be about Itachi's age!'
The young teen made a polite bow as soon as they reached him. "I don't think we've met before. My name is Uchiha Shisui."
Naruto hesitantly made a bow. "Namikaze Toroku."
The two boys stared at each other, or most likely Naruto just stared and Shisui furrowed his brow under the weight of the azure eyes, while the young Itachi slowly started to fidget from foot to foot under the sudden tension in the air. However it was washed away in the next blink as a wide grin spread across Naruto's face.
"Ne, we were playing ninja. Do you want to join us?"
A dark figure occupied his seat behind a wooden desk, under the roots of Konoha, deep under the city's pulsing surface, deeper than the sewers or the hidden and already forgotten catacombs of the ancient old city. The man was tense beyond words, tense because he was making a decision. His eyes were narrowed and locked onto the darkness of a corner in front of him, while the gears in his brain were moving and calculating. Then suddenly he found his answer.
With one flick of his hand, an ANBU appeared from somewhere in the shadows in front of the desk to land in a crouch.
"Danzou-sama."
"Tell Crow that I have a new mission for him." The soldier nodded and disappeared in an instant. The room was silent, only the man's soft breathing left behind some noise. However, he wasn't alone as another voice filled the room in the next second.
"You've made the right decision. I'll seek you out again soon."
A candle flickered and for a short moment, no longer than a heartbeat, the light revealed another form in the dark corner. A mismatched face. One emerald eye on perfect smooth white skin. While the other part of the face looked like carved wood, or the roots of an ancient old tree. But not the living and pulsing wood, it was pale and looked more like death than an actual corpse. A satisfied smirk flickered on the face of the being, revealing a set of razor sharp shark-like teeth for a brief moment, before the thing simply sank back into the wall behind him.
Author's Note:
The progress of all upcoming chapters is on my profile. So if you're interested in it, just click on my name.
A little lighter chapter, but still busy as always. A prank, a wedding, and good ol' confession. Even if just a little one. A lot of long-seen characters. I always liked dark Naruto even if his appearance was short. And the Aloe Vera guy. He is as creepy as Orochimaru with his mismatched face and personality. So prepare for the next chapters, because I'm going to close some loose ends.
No, Naruto won't confess. At least not everything. Why? Because I still don't want to. But slipping sometimes is acceptable. At least for me. And for Naruto. Because he is Naruto and there is no way Naruto would do a perfect job in a situation like this. :) And I like him as he is. :)
I have to admit that I was dealing with serious writer's block for the last three months. I knew what I want to write, I had know what will be the next step and scene of this story, but every time I sat down to actually wrote something, the words weren't came. My slowly built up puffer with the finished chapters are gone, but thankfully the block is over. :) Just for you to know. ;) You were lucky that there was five finished chapter's or else you would have waited for long, long months until the next update.
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