Chapter 4: A Meeting Between Legends (Minato)
"Minato?"
"Minato, are you listening?"
"Minato!"
A punch on his shoulder startled him back to the present. Minato turned to look at his exasperated wife.
"Sorry, I was lost in my head."
"No shit," Kushina said with arms crossed. "Are you alright? Ever since the end of the ceremony, you've been acting weird. You've been on edge, in your head."
Minato sighed and pulled his wife into a hug. With her close, he rested his chin on the top of her head. He breathed in and savored the rose-scented shampoo she always used.
"Yeah sorry, I've just had a lot on my mind. Lots of information is flowing across my desk. Reports from the eastern border, costs of the repairs, our active ninja count. I'm finding it hard to break away from it."
Kushina hugged him tighter and pulled her head out from under his chin. She placed her own chin on his blue shirt and gazed up into his eyes.
"I know, I know. I can only imagine what you're dealing with in the office right now. I've been on edge as well. Every leaf rustling, every creak of the floorboards, I jump. I think of the masked man."
He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.
"I severely injured him before he teleported away. He's not coming back for a while. I've also increased the seals around the house. Even if he teleports in, he will set off every alarm instantly. We are safe Kushina."
"I know Minato. Thank you." She said as she opened her eyes and looked up at him again, "I guess we're both on edge. Not how we expected to be on our maternity and paternity leave, huh?"
He smiled and chuckled. "No, I expected to be under a mound of diapers and baby vomit."
Kushina gasped and playfully hit his side. Right in his sore, broken ribs, causing him to wince in pain.
"You deserved that. Now go change Naruto's diaper." She said over her shoulder as she walked back into the kitchen to adjust the heat on the ramen broth.
Minato huffed in fake exasperation and walked into Naruto's room to check on him. Sure enough, the blonde boy was fussy and needed a change.
After dinner and an hour of helping Kushina get Naruto to fall asleep, Minato retreated to his study. His wife had retired to bed trying to get what sleep she could while Naruto was quiet. He sat down and pushed scrolls off the top of his cluttered desk. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the actual source of his distracted demeanor.
Unrolling the tiny scroll the mysterious hawk summons had delivered, he read it again.
Minato,
The Masked man will come back. But I can help you find him. I can help you fight him.
Meet me tonight at 9 PM in training ground three. Come alone.
- Your new friend
Minato sighed tiredly and rested his head in his hands. Only a handful of people knew the truth about what happened that night. His wife, the three council members, his Anbu Commander, and Shikaku, his Jonin Commander. That was it. And while he didn't trust Danzo's morals, he trusted his intentions to protect the leaf village. He was confident none of these people would leak the information.
He was also sure no one else was around during his fight with the man. Everyone else that had seen him was dead.
Minato sighed again. This was not the complication he wanted to deal with right now. There was already too much on his plate. But this was too important to ignore. He had to pursue this lead. Whether it prove fruitful or a trap, he had to investigate.
With his mind made up, he stood and grabbed the flak jacket handing on the back of his hair. Slipping it on, he zipped up the front zipper and checked his kunai pouch to ensure he had plenty of his signature three-pronged kunai.
Signaling with his hand, he summoned Anbu Dog to his side. Immediately, his white hared apprentice appeared by his side in a small gust of chakra depositing leaves all over his study.
"Dog, watch over Kushina and Naruto while I'm out."
"Of course, but please allow me to call a squad to follow you."
Minato walked over to the door and grabbed his cloak from the hangar.
"Not needed. I will be doing this alone. Just watch Kushina and Naruto and signal me through the kunai if anything happens."
"Yes sir." Dog said reluctantly and disappeared back into the shadows surrounding his home.
He has been working Kakashi into the ground the past couple of days, relying heavily on his young student to lead patrols and guard his family. He'd have to remember to give him a much-deserved break soon.
Slipping his arms into his white cloak, Minato closed his eyes and homed in on a seal near training ground three. Feeling the familiar signature of his seal, he threaded his chakra through the pathways on the matching seal on his body and linked the two seals.
With a flash, Minato traversed the distance instantaneously and without a sound, appeared on a branch about fifty yards from the training ground clearing. He dropped silently to the ground and pressed his index finger to the dirt. Closing his eyes and focusing, he reached out with his chakra. If anyone was nearby, he would feel the ripples and movement of their chakra even if they weren't channeling it. But this technique would also open him up to detection if there was another sensor. No matter, he could always teleport to safety and call for backup if needed.
Shit.
Immediately he sensed something and the hairs on his arms raised in alarm. There was a powerful presence in the middle of the training ground. Emanating out of the source felt like a sphere of chakra blanketing the air. It extended past Minato, covering a large area around its epicenter. It was extremely faint, but Minato's own sensing ability allowed him to feel the almost undetectable increase in chakra density all around him.
He stood up and pulled out a three-pronged kunai. There wasn't any use in stealth anymore. They both knew of the other's presence.
As he approached the edge of the tree line, he got his first glimpse of the person in the clearing. The stranger was leaning against a tree, covered in the shadows. As Minato continued to approach, the stranger finally acknowledged his presence and pushed off from the tree and walked out into the moonlight.
As both of them closed the distance, he could make out more details. The man was around the same height as himself, with navy-blue hair a bit shorter than his own blond hair but had a similar spiky appearance. Bright amber eyes glowing from the shadows cast over his face.
The stranger's stride appeared effortless over the ground, with no sign of tightness or nerves in his muscles.
Minato tightened the grip on his kunai. The way he moved, the calmness in his chakra. Every bit of intuition and experience he had built up from years of life and death situations told him this man was dangerous. This man was a killer.
Once twenty feet apart, Minato halted and raised his hand.
"That's enough."
The man did as instructed and stopped where he was.
"I'm glad you came Minato and alone at that. I was worried with all the things going on, you might have decided against coming. But I figured any reference to the Masked Man would be too important to ignore."
Minato's muscles unconsciously flexed at the reference of the man who caused so much destruction.
"You have ten seconds to tell me how you know about that man. If not, I'll cut you down right here."
A smooth euphonic laugh came from the man.
"Understood. If I was in your situation, I'd probably have said the same thing." After a short pause, the stranger continued, "I know about the Masked Man because I've also crossed swords with him. I've fought him and witnessed his terrifying abilities."
"When did you fight him, and why?"
"I fought him seven days ago on October 10th. I imagine the reason was the same as yours. To protect my wife, child, and village. To release the Nine-Trails from his control."
His instincts screamed. How did this man know? He could count the number of people who knew about Kushina's condition on one hand.
He needed to capture this man immediately and interrogate him.
Minato dropped a kunai on the ground behind him and then sprung towards the man, throwing a second kunai at the stranger. As the kunai flew, he readied his right hand, collecting the needed chakra to apply his permanent seal. Just before he teleported, he saw the man bend his knees in reaction.
In a flash, Minato teleported to his kunai. Catching it in his left hand, his legs swung up parallel to the ground as he rotated his body, ready to slam his palm into the man's side and apply the seal.
But all his hand passed through were wispy trails of wind chakra. Minato quickly followed the trails with his gaze to see a mass of wind chakra with a humanoid form cloaked in the center speeding away from him. Not waiting to hit the ground, he flung the kunai he just caught in the man's direction.
One. Two. Now!
Minato activated the seal and teleported again, hand extending outward to plant the seal. As his vision adjusted and now directly in front of the man, he saw a glow of chakra in the stranger's hand.
Minato immediately ducked and pulled his hand out of the way, just barely dodging a powerful outburst of wind chakra exploding outward. From the power he felt rushing past him, the attack would have seriously injured him, probably breaking his arm.
Minato spun while crouched and swung his leg out, trying to sweep the man's legs from underneath him. However, the man jumped, dodging his leg by millimeters.
Got you!
Minato coated his hand in chakra to protect himself from whatever damage the wind cloaking the man would cause and thrust his hand forward. With his legs off the ground, he wouldn't be unable to maneuver.
Just as his hand was about to enter the cloak, he saw the stranger shift down, small wind tendrils extending upward from the cloak, signaling the increasing speed of his descent towards the ground. It should have been impossible to change direction like that without pushing off something. His hand shot over the man's right shoulder, narrowly missing his tilted head. He then heard gravel underfoot and knew his opponent was back on the ground.
Not hesitating, Minato teleported back to the kunai he dropped at the beginning of the engagement. Turning to face the man, he saw his leg extended through his previous position coated in wind. A burst of powerful chakra shot out from his foot, kicking up dust from the ground and shaking the branches of the tree downwind of the strike. If that had landed, there's no doubt it would have added more broken ribs to his medical report.
The man slowly returned to a normal standing position and released the wind technique, a gust of wind expanding outward, blowing leaves off the ground and sending them careening into the air.
Minato pulled out another kunai and readied for a second engagement, but halted when the man's arms came up in a pleading gesture.
"Hey hey, relax. I mean you or Kushina no harm. I realized after I said it that it would set you off, but you've got to believe me. I mean you no harm."
"How do you know about Kushina's condition?" Minato said back, venom and the threat of death seeping into every word.
The man opened his palms towards Minato again, trying to get him to calm down.
"What I'm about to say you will not believe, but you've got to promise you won't try to take my head off. Let me explain, but it will take time."
"No promises. Start talking." Minato said back, pointing his kunai threateningly at the man.
"My name is Kaito Furukawa. Seven days ago, I woke up here in a clearing outside the village. A clearing with a sealing altar and widespread damage. I'm assuming it's the clearing you fought the Nine-Tails in. Right?"
Minato nodded back.
"I know this because the last thing I remember before waking up there was fighting the Nine-Tails in a deathmatch and sealing it away into my son with the help of my wife." The man paused, a sudden wave of emotion seemed to ripple through him. "And then, I died."
Minato frowned in confusion. None of this made any sense. The man must be insane.
"I know, I know it sounds crazy, but hear me out. I think…no I'm sure I come from a different Leaf Village. A village where I was the Fourth Hokage, not you. A different reality where Kushina was my wife, not yours."
"Impossible. You must be insane or caught in a genjutsu of your own making."
"No, let me show you. It won't explain everything, but it's a start. I'm going to pull a Leaf headband out of my jacket. On the inside is a seal with a picture in it. Let me unseal it and I'll show you."
Kaito reached slowly into his jacket and pulled out the headband. The familiar insignia glinting in the moonlight. Kaito then raised his thumb and bit it, drawing blood. A small puff of smoke was released from the headband, signaling the activation of the storage seal.
"I'm going to set it on the ground and back away. Just please be gentle with it. It's all I have left."
Kaito leaned over and placed the headband with care onto the ground and backed away. Once about 15 feet away, Minato moved forward and carefully approached the headband. Looking for any signs of traps or chakra traces. Finding none, he leaned over and picked up the headband, and looked at the picture placed on the back. What he saw shocked him to his core.
A small photograph showing Kaito hugging Kushina from behind. Both of their hands were on her stomach. Minato had an almost identical photo sealed away behind his own headband.
"Flip it over."
Minato did just that, twisting it in his fingers to view the back.
Happy birthday Kaito! Keep this on you so that if you're on some faraway mission saving the world, you'll know I've got your back! I'll always be by your side, now and forever.
-Love Kushina January 25th
The handwriting was identical to Kushina's. The same twirls at the end of the S's and F's, a carryover Minato had noticed long ago from her sealing training in the Uzumaki style.
"She gave that photo to me on my 23rd birthday. The photo is the day we found out we were expecting a child." Kaito said, his voice breaking with emotion.
Minato removed his own headband and activated the seal. He placed his own picture next to Kaito's.
They were virtually identical except for decorations in the home's background and the location of Kushina's hair clip.
Minato looked up towards Kaito to catch a tear falling from his face.
"She gave you one too. Isn't she just perfect?"
"There's no one like her," Minato said back before he caught himself.
"Listen, I know this isn't enough proof for my ridiculous claims. So, I'll let you put your seal on me and take me to the cells in T&I. Call Inoichi in and you can poke around my head all you want. It's impossible to lie in the subconscious, so that should be the conclusive proof needed."
"Fine, but I'm keeping this picture for now. At least until I'm satisfied with what I see in your head."
"Fine by me," Kaito said as he knelt on the ground and placed his hands behind his head in submission.
Minato swiftly walked up and placed his seal on Kaito's back. Then he grabbed his arm and teleported them to one of the many cells in the torture and investigation ward.
Once inside, he moved towards the door, careful to monitor his captive.
"Hey, I need an Anbu here now!"
Several seconds passed by until Anbu Rabbit body flickered to his side.
"Yes, Lord Fourth?"
"Head to the Yamanaka clan compound and notify Inoichi that he is to report to this cell immediately."
"Yes sir!" Rabbit said back before body flickering away.
Minato stepped back into the room and closed the door behind him. Looking he noticed Kaito was still kneeling on the floor. The room was a standard T&I affair. There was a table in the center of the room with several chairs around it. The walls were all a dark grey stone with privacy seals embedded in the rock throughout the room. A dampness filled the air. The T&I department was under the Hokage Monument, so it often collected moisture that seeped down through the cracks of the mountain. With all the rain they've gotten recently, the place was particularly dank, small puddles of water collecting in the floors' low points.
"You can sit in the chair, Kaito."
Kaito nodded and ambled to the chair, using his hand to pull it away from the table and sit down.
Silence ensued as Minato leaned against the wall and observed Kaito twiddle his thumbs in idleness.
"So, what's your kid's name? Is it a boy or girl?"
Minato raised an eyebrow at the question.
"You first."
Kaito smirked at this. "Still don't trust me, huh? I don't blame you. If I was in your shoes, I may have killed you out in that field."
Minato tilted his head in mild amusement. "So, you think you could defeat me?"
Kaito shrugged, "Maybe. Your teleportation technique is the same as the Seconds, right? Certainly troublesome, but weak at a distance. I'm pretty sure I've got some things in my back pocket that could help."
Minato suppressed a laugh. The man was in a T&I cell with his life in Minato's hands and he was goading him on. If the situation wasn't crazy, he would have probably invited the man out for a drink to discuss tactics.
"We named him after a character in Jiraiya's book. Naruto." Kaito said, catching Minato off guard.
The breath caught in Minato's throat before he could hide it from Kaito's watchful gaze.
"So, you have a son and you named him Naruto as well."
Kaito laughed and shook his head in astonishment. "This is some cruel joke. It's like we inhabited the same role." Pausing to brush a stray hair from his face, he finished solemnly, "Except you lived and I died."
Thankfully, Inoichi chose that time to arrive and stop the awkward questioning.
Minato opened the door and let his longtime friend in.
"Lord Fourth, how can I help?"
"Sorry for the sudden summons, but this was too important to wait."
Minato closed the door and activated the privacy seals in the room. The carved symbols in the stone walls glowed bright blue for a moment as his chakra flowed through their linked pathways.
"What is discussed or discovered in this room cannot leave. It is above S-ranked and will never be discussed again. Understood?"
Inoichi's face paled. No doubt this was not what he wanted to deal with this night, but it couldn't be helped.
"Understood Lord Fourth."
Minato gestured with his hand towards Kaito.
"This man, Kaito, has claimed he is from another reality. A reality where he was the Fourth Hokage and died fighting the Nine-Tailed Fox."
"What!?" Inoichi responded, completely confused.
Minato raised his hand to stop the Yamanaka's further questioning.
"I know. But he has shown me evidence to at least warrant verification. That's where you come in. I need you to pull us into his subconscious, where we can review his memories and verify his claim. Thus, the need for secrecy. If he is proven to be lying, then I will deal with him. But if it is proven true, this information cannot leave this room."
Inoichi glanced over to Kaito who was sitting with his hands on the table calmly inspecting his fingernails. He looked up and winked at Inoichi. Further unsettling the Yamanaka.
"Ok, Minato. Let's get started then. Sit down directly across the table from him and I'll activate the Jutsu."
Minato did as instructed and sat down, relaxing his shoulders to ready himself for whatever he was about to see in Kaito's head.
"You ready?" Kaito asked, staring into his eyes.
"You are the one that best be ready. If you are lying, the consequences will be dire."
"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not."
To their left Inoichi started forming the hand seals and then reached out with both hands. Touching the two men on their foreheads, he activated the jutsu.
Immediately, the inside of the T&I cell disappeared into darkness. Then suddenly, an ornate door appeared in front of them. Rays of light pierced through the decorative glass in the center of the door.
Minato looked to Inoichi for guidance but abandoned the thought as he saw Kaito walk forward, open the door and walk in. Inoichi just shrugged at him and followed Kaito inside.
Not wanting to be left outside, Minato followed them in and passed through the illuminated entry. As his eyes adjusted to the increased light, he began to make out details of their new environment.
They appeared to be in a study of some kind. The room was large, longer than it was wide, maybe twenty-five by fifteen feet. The walls of the room were covered in bookshelves spanning from floor to ceiling. Wooden ladders on rails leaned against each wall, allowing access to the books on the higher shelves.
Throughout the room, there were large desks and tables covered in scrolls, books, and trinkets of all kinds. On the floor was the largest runner he had ever seen. Its intricate and symmetric design, Minato found oddly satisfying.
Kushina would love a runner like that in our hallway.
Shaking his head to get the distracting thoughts out of his mind, something at the opposite end of the room captured his attention. At the far end appeared to be the main desk. It was built from dark stained wood and had intricate carvings on its side.
To the left was a mannequin that had a standard-issue green flak jacket with a Leaf headband sewed into the chest where the wearer's heart would be. On the mannequin's head was a pair of ski goggles red in tint. They were of a sleek new design. Unlike the ones his late student used to wear. Minato had seen a similar design recently when he had visited the Fire Daimyo's yearly meeting in the central mountain range. The nobles and their families were wearing them when skiing down the slopes. On the back of the mannequin, a black cape with a hood hung. Its length reached down to the mannequin's feet.
As they got closer to the large desk at the end, Kaito stopped them to point out a couple of trinkets and their origins.
"Oh, also all the books have memories in them. Feel free to pick any and take a look. But the important ones will all be on the desk at the end." Kaito turned and continued to the desk.
Minato walked up to a random stack of books and pulled one off the top. As he opened the front cover, he was instantly transported to another setting.
He was in the body of young Kaito not over five years old, fishing in the Naka River with some friends. A tug on the fishing rod warns him he's caught something, and he reels in. A medium-sized trout flops onto the riverbank. Minato looks down at the book. The first page reads:
My First Fish.
Minato closes the book and is instantly back in the study room with the others. He shakes his head to clear his mind and looks around the room, seeing Inoichi picking up a book.
"Inoichi no."
The man pauses and turns to Minato.
"The less you know, the better. If his claims are indeed true, there will be information you should not be privy to. You may be in some of these memories."
Inoichi nods in understanding and continues down the hall to join Kaito at the desk.
Minato turned back to the walls and grabbed another random book off the shelf.
This time he found himself in the academy ninja academy room. The class is reviewing years' scores. Kaito looks at the board and sees his name at the very top. The score is slightly less than the score Minato received.
The Highest Score! Is written on the page as Minato closes it and returns it to its place. He turns and smiles at Kaito down the room, who is smirking at him.
"Pretty impressive, isn't it?"
"I got a 98.4." Minato smugly replies and is rewarded with Kaito almost tipping over in his chair.
"Bull shit. When we get out, I want to see proof of your score."
Minato shrugs and moves on down the shelf. A book with a red spine catches his eye and he grabs it. Just as he was about to open it, a cough from Kaito grabbed his attention. Kaito was waving his hands back and forth, making a cross. Obviously telling him to stop.
"What's wrong with this one?"
"That's a memory with Kushina. I don't think you want to see that one. It's quite intimate."
Minato raised his eyebrow in question but opened it anyway.
Kushina. Bed. No clothes.
Minato slams the book shut and turns accusingly towards Kaito. Heat rushes to his face as he holds the book delicately. Kaito is shaking his head in his hands, smothering an embarrassed laugh.
"You aren't allowed to have this memory." As he moves to slip the book into the weapons' pouches on his hip.
"Wait just a minute. Hold up. That's my memory. You can't just decide I can't have it anymore."
"Fine then, ill burn it."
"Fuck that. It's mine!" Kaito yells and snaps his fingers. The book jumps from Minato's hand and flies towards Kaito who, upon catching it, immediately puts it in one of the drawers in his desk.
Only three lesser memories and he's already seen signs that the man isn't lying. He just wished the last one he could wipe from his own memory.
After several smaller memories, Minato had his fill and walked over to join the other two at the desk. On top of the desk were 4 large books with intricate covers.
"From left to right, we have the memories I think you need to see to prove my claims. They are in chronological order. If these aren't enough, you're free to dig into more memories, of course, but I don't think it will be necessary after these."
"A warning Minato. From my understanding, the pain felt by the originator will also be felt by the watcher, right?"
Inoichi nodded. "Yes, that is correct. Powerful emotions, pain, intent, these will all be felt by you Minato. You aren't just watching them you are reliving his memories from his point of view. Of course, damage and injuries won't be transferred, but you will definitely feel them."
"That's what I thought. Then be prepared for the last one." Kaito said, gesturing toward the book at the end of the line.
"I understand. Let's get started." Minato said as he picked up the first book and opened the front page.
Minato found himself flying through the air. Through Kaito's eyes, he saw the sea far below them as he sat behind Kushina on top of a large hawk summons. His arms were wrapped around Kushina, his head resting on her right shoulder. His nose tingled when the occasional strand of her hair brushed against it.
"Kaito, this is amazing! Everything looks so beautiful from up here!" Kushina yelled in front of him.
He watched as she took her hands off the saddle pommel and raised her arms up, dragging her fingers through a passing cloud.
He felt Kaito's arms tightening around Kushina's midriff, ensuring she was safe now that she had released her grip on the saddle.
Joyous laughter erupted from Kushina as she touched the clouds, her hands growing damp from the condensation.
"I can't believe we're flying! I've dreamt this so many times, but never thought I'd actually do it."
Minato felt Kaito smile. Pure joy welled up inside him as he watched the girl he had a crush on have so much fun.
"This is nothing. You want to see what Tachi can really do?"
"Hell yea!" Kushina exclaimed vividly in front of him.
"Alright, hold on!"
Kushina dropped her hands back to the saddle and gripped tight. Kaito squeezed his legs, signaling to Tachi.
Suddenly the Tachi inverted and now they were upside down using chakra to stick to the saddle. Kushina's beautiful red hair hung in front of his face. The hawk then pulled its wings close to its body and tilted forward. Quickly, their view changed from looking out on the horizon to the ground below. The sound of wind rushed past them as they picked up speed. Minato wasn't sure if the butterflies in Kaito's stomach were due to the feeling of freefall or the feeling of pulling Kushina closer to his chest to secure her tightly in the saddle.
Kaito looked to the left and saw little vortices form and spin-off the tips of Tachi's wings. This formed a trail of turbulent wind in their wake that spun away above them as they plummeted towards the sea below.
As they got closer to the sea, Kaito gave a signal to Tachi, and the bird responded immediately, extending its wings out slowly. This had the effect of reducing their decent angle and leveling them out.
"Kushina, flex the muscles in your legs and abdomen! This will help keep the blood in your head instead of the bottom of your feet as we change acceleration! If not, you'll pass out!" He yelled over the gushing noise of wind flying past them.
"Ok!" Kushina yelled back between excited laughter.
Minato felt Kaito tap Tachi again, and the bird increased the rate it extended its wings. Suddenly Minato felt the weight hit Kaito. Like gravity had suddenly multiplied and pulled every bone, every organ, every inch of his skin down. He felt Kaito flex his legs and stomach just as he had instructed Kushina to do."
Condensed shock waves formed and blew over the hawk's wings emitting little pops that buffeted his ears. Quickly, they leveled out about ten feet above the surface of the water. It wasn't until then that Minato realized just how fast they were going. The coastline slid past them in a blur as they weaved their way through large rocks extruding out from the ocean's surface, ocean spray from waves threatening to knock them out of the air.
"Look behind us, Kushina!"
Minato watched as Kushina's gaze turned, Kaito's own following shortly after. Behind them, water flung up high above their heads. It was getting sucked up in the void created by the large bird punching a hole in the air as it traveled. The effect behind them resembled a rooster's tail, a sort of arched spray of water.
"Haha! Amazing!" Kushina giggled in front of him.
The scene faded, and Minato was brought back to the study. Looking down, he read the title of the memory.
The Moment I knew, I Loved Her.
Minato set the book down and released the smile he didn't know he had on his face. Moving over to the next one, he lifted it and peeled back the cover.
Immediately, he appeared in the Hokage office in Kaito's body. He watched through Kaito's eyes as he faced Hiruzen.
"Lord Third I'm not ready! I'm too young and too inexperienced."
"And that right there is why I'm sure you are the right choice. Despite your incredible skills, despite your genius, despite all your victories on the battlefield, you display humility."
Hiruzen took a long inhale of his pipe and then exhaled in a satisfying sigh.
"No one is truly ready for the role of Hokage Kaito. Hell, from what Tobirama told me of Hashirama's first couple of years, it sounded like the man was just winging it. The village needs a new leader. I've served my time. The village needs new life thrust into its veins. It needs new ideas, new ways of thinking that I just can't provide anymore."
Taking another puff of tobacco, he continued.
"The future of this village has moved far past my generation. It's your generation, Kaito. You're the one they fought beside on the battlefield. You're the one who they go to for advice. All the future clan heads sing your praise. No, you are not ready. But no one ever is."
The setting quickly changed to inside what Minato presumed was Kaito's and Kushina's home. Kushina had a large bottle of sake in one hand and was swaying to the record player's tunes in the background. In the other hand, she had the Hokage hat and was twirling it on top of her finger.
Minato felt Kaito failing to surpass his laughter as Kushina drunkenly danced to the music. A very uncomfortable Kakashi trapped under her arm and sake occasionally sloshing out of the bottle onto his head.
A snore to his left attracts Kaito's attention. Minato watches as his gaze passes over a passed-out Jiraiya on the floor near the fireplace. Two bottles of empty sake lying next to his head. A small toad and a young hawk standing on top of his prone body arguing over who would win in a fight.
The scene changed again. Kaito is standing on top of the Hokage building. He is wearing the red diamond hat and is slightly hungover from the previous night's events. Hiruzen, the three council members, the clan heads are off to his right. To his left, an obviously very hungover Jiraiya clutched the railing, trying to steady himself. Next to him Kushina, somehow completely fine despite drinking double the alcohol, gave him a thumbs up and a goofy smile. No doubt making light of how ridiculous he looked with the Hokage hat on.
Minato remembered his Kushina giving him grief over the hat as well.
Kaito then turned and addressed the crowd. Cheers rose up from the thousands of people in attendance. The phrase Wind Walker emanates from the crowd's chorus.
Everything fades to black as Minato closes the book's cover.
I Think I Look Sexy in this Hat.
What a ridiculous name for a memory, Minato thought, but couldn't suppress a smile forming on his lips.
Minato moved further down the desk and grabbed the third book. Shaking his head to rid the last remnant echoes from the previous memories, he opened the third book.
"Can you feel his little heartbeat, Kaito?"
Minato finds himself back in the pair's cozy home. The fireplace is lit casting a warm orange glow across the room.
Beat...beat….beat.
Kaito is laying down on the sofa. His head resting on Kushina's bulging stomach, ear pressed softly against her skin.
Minato feels a smile spread across Kaito's face as an almost unimaginable feeling of love and affection washes over him from simply hearing the heartbeat of his future son.
"Yes, I can."
Minato feels Kushina's fingers brush through Kaito's hair affectionately.
"What are we going to name him? Now that we know it will be a boy." Kaito asks softly.
"I've been giving it a lot of thought. And I think the name of the hero from Jiraiya's book would be a perfect name."
Kaito's head lifts, and he eyes his wife suspiciously.
"Wait really? I thought you haven't even read the book yet."
"I hadn't back then, but now that you're fully integrated into your new role as Hokage, I have a lot more time alone at home. I finished it last week. And I think the name Naruto is perfect."
"Then it's settled. Naruto it is." Kaito said softly, poking his finger softly onto Kushina's belly, almost as if he was telling the baby directly that was its name.
Kushina giggled at the contact.
"You know Jiraiya will try to act all tough and cool when we tell him. But on the inside, he will be so emotional and proud. I wouldn't be surprised if we catch a glimpse of the man shedding a tear." Kaito amusingly said.
"Wanna make a bet? I bet he won't cry."
"I'll take you up on that bet."
The scene changes to the kitchen. Jiraiya is sitting across the table from them. His arms are crossed, his chin turned up smugly. He is desperately trying to hide sniffles. A stray tear rolls down his cheek.
Kushina passes a bag of coins to Kaito under the table.
Minato opens his eyes to find himself back in the study. He looks down at the book in his hand.
My Son Gets his Name! Kaito JR was a close Second.
Minato laughed wholeheartedly, startling the others at the desk. He remembered his first couple of name ideas. All of them were as crazy as his jutsu names. Kushina, however, was not amused.
Minato reaches the end of the table where the final book lay. As he reaches down to grab it and begin the memory, he takes a large breath. This was the final one, and he already had a feeling of what it would contain. As he opened the cover, the familiar room of the study swirled away.
Minato found himself with his hands, or Kaito's hands to be exact on Kushina's stomach. Kaito is pumping chakra into the seal as Kushina struggles with the labor. He can feel the might of the Nine-Tails thrashing against the weekend seal.
Suddenly, the thrashing behind the seal lets up, and a cry is heard from the end of the table. Kaito looks to see Biwako holding a little boy with Navy-blue hair. The boy is wailing at the top of his lungs. A good sign of a healthy child.
"Kaito, is he alright?" Kushina's quivering voice asks from the table.
Kaito takes his eyes off the child for a moment to comfort his wife when a scream emanated from where Naruto is. Kaito's head swirls around, his chakra flaring in panic to see Biwako's body fall to the ground. A kunai protruding from the back of her neck. Standing over her crumpled body, a man in a cloak. His face was covered with a grotesque mask with one eyehole.
Minato's blood boils at the sight of the man. He looked identical to the one who attacked him.
The man pulls another kunai from the sleeve of his cloak and holds it threateningly to Naruto.
"Get away from the Nine-Tails host or the child will die."
Minato felt unbridled rage well up inside Kaito. Chakra racing through his body unconsciously. But he doesn't move. He controls his rage and analyzes the moment.
Unfortunately, the masked man had no desire to let Kaito plan. He tossed the child up into the forcing Kaito into action.
Minato feels wind chakra burst from Kaito's core and out his feat launching him at an incredible speed towards Naruto. He catches the boy and sticks to the ceiling. But he doesn't have time to plan. A sizzling sound alerts him of the explosive tags attached to the boy's blanket.
Kaito quickly unwraps the newborn and launches himself out the window, covering Naruto protectively with his arms to ensure no shards of glass injure the child. Before he hits the ground outside, the explosive tags detonate, destroying the building and reducing it to rubble.
Skidding to a halt with a view of the destroyed building, instead of sinking into despair, Minato sees scenarios play out in Kaito's mind. Respect grows inside Minato. Despite the situation, Kaito doesn't panic. He realizes the masked man's goal was Kushina, so her death with the Fox still sealed inside of her would defeat the purpose.
Kaito stood up and immediately sprinted away from the building. Upon seeing the scenery outside, Minato makes the connection that they are on the plateau above the Hokage Monument and the ledge in front of Kaito was the vertical drop above the Hokage heads.
Kaito pulses his chakra. "Sorry Naruto. This is going to be scary, but bear with me." Kaito then leaps over the edge.
Twisting in mid freefall with Naruto crying in his arms, Kaito's gaze catches the same hawk summons from the previous memory hurdling down through the clouds. Small rings of condensed air formed around the bird and expanded out in shock waves as it accelerated towards them.
With his one free hand, Kaito makes the Wind Walker hand seals and envelopes both of them in wind chakra. As the hawk nears, Minato feels Kaito shift the chakra within himself and expel it out his feat, pushing them away from the hawk and changing their trajectory in midair. This reduced the speed difference between him and the incoming hawk as well as aligned their trajectories. Without this effort, when Kaito reached out and grabbed the saddle of the hawk flying by no doubt it would have torn Kaito's arm from its socket.
Pulling them into the saddle, Kaito looked down to check on Naruto. The boy was not happy, crying and waving his arms around in panic. But at least he didn't appear to be injured.
"Tachi, take us home immediately."
"Understood," the Hawk below them responded.
Soon they arrived and landed softly on the ground. Kaito jumped off and sprinted inside, depositing the quieting baby in its crib.
"I'll be right back with your mother." Kaito soothingly told the child, and then turned and rushed back out of their home.
The next couple of moments flashed quickly before Minato's eyes. He saw Kaito narrowly rescue Kushina from the now extracted Fox.
He experienced Kaito's engagement with the masked man and the two huge hawk summons crash down onto the fox carrying it away from the village.
The world around Minato swirled again, and they came to in a clearing. He watched through Kaito's eyes as he and Kushina jointly performed the Reaper Death Seal, splitting the Fox's chakra and sealing half into Naruto.
Minato watched in sorrowful horror as the Fox broke free from the two Hawks and pierced Kaito through his stomach as he moved to halt the Fox's attack. Minato gasped in pain as he felt the same pain Kaito did.
And as Kaito struggled to breathe laying against Kushina's side, Minato felt all the emotions running through the man's head in his last moments of life. But the one that rose above all the rest was of deep despair.
The world reverted to the study and Minato dropped the fourth book onto the ground as he struggled for breath. The book tumbled across the floor, landing with its front-page open to Minato, the memory's name clear to see.
I've Failed Them.
As Minato gasped for air, he signaled frantically to Inoichi to end the technique. With a snap of Inoichi's fingers, the study full of books disappeared and the dank reality of the T&I cell returned.
Minato collapsed onto the table in ragged gasps. A searing pain in his stomach where the Fox had pierced Kaito pulsed with each heartbeat.
Minato heard Inoichi's chair slide back as the man rushed to his side.
"Minato, are you alright? Should I call the medical team?"
"No, I'm fine. It will pass." Minato managed between gasps.
After a minute, Minato raised his head and wiped the tears he hadn't known he shed from his face.
"Inoichi, you can go. But remember, there can be absolutely no mention of this to anyone. Understood?"
"Yes sir." The man hesitantly said as he bowed and retreated from the room.
Now that they were alone, Minato turned his gaze to the impossibility before him. A man he thought insane minutes ago. But now Minato felt a mix of respect, sorrow, and pity for the man known as the Wind Walker in his previous reality.
"I don't know how it's possible that you're here, but I believe you. Everything I've seen in your memories validates your claims." Minato said with a raspy voice, still trying to get his heartbeat under control. "The question now is what next?"
"You've seen parts of my life. You've felt the love I had for my village, for Kushina, and for Naruto. And you've witnessed firsthand my ultimate failure."
"Kaito. I don't think there was anything you could have done. It was impossible to predi.."
Kaito raised his hand, cutting him off mid-sentence.
"You know as well as I there is always another path. A different strategy. But I couldn't find it in time, and I failed them. But now I have a second chance."
Minato raised his eyes to match Kaito's. "What do you mean?"
"For some reason, the Reaper put me here. Perhaps as punishment, or maybe a cruel joke. But I'm here, in a different version of the Leaf I knew. But at its core is still the same village I loved. And in this new reality, Naruto still has both his parents. I know they aren't my Kushina and Naruto, but I won't let the same fate they experienced in my world happen again."
"Kaito, I can't ask you to do this. You've already gone through so much."
"You're not asking, I'm volunteering."
"But.."
"He's still out there. Recovering from his wounds. It may be awhile, but he'll be back, and your family will be in danger. As Hokage, you'll be stuck behind your desk buried in paperwork instead of chasing leads. Let me be your spear so I can hunt down the enemies of the leaf. Let me be your shadow. I can go where you can't. When you're stuck in clan meetings, I can hunt. When you're dealing with budgets, I can kill. This world doesn't know I exist. So, use me."
Minato leaned his heavy head into his hands. He couldn't dismiss Kaito's argument. The Masked Man was still out there and who knew what he was planning. All the while, Minato would be in the office, weighed down by clan politics and the rebuilding efforts. But did he have the right to use Kaito after he'd already given up everything once?
One look into Kaito's amber eyes and the resolve swimming deep within convinced Minato. Kaito was going to do it either way. With or without Minato's support or blessing.
"Ok. But we share everything between us. Every bit of information we review, every operation we plan together. And I have the final say. I am the Fourth Hokage and that is my family. Understood?"
Kaito nodded.
"Good. Now we have to come up with a backstory for you."
Kaito smiled. "Just throw me into anbu for now. That will do eighty percent of the work. For the more inquisitive, tell them I'm a student of Jiraiya. He found me during his travels and trained me. And now I'm returning the favor by helping his village in a time of need."
Minato nodded. While not airtight, it would do. It was well known Jiraiya traveled a lot and had trained some non-leaf students during that time.
"He's sure going to like this when he gets back. But I've got a feeling you and Jiraiya have history."
Kaito laughed, "Yea, I helped him gather material for those damn books of his. We go way back"
Minato reached out, Kaito's picture cupped in his hand and extending a handshake to his new ally. Kaito smiled and grabbed his hand in a firm shake. Upon seeing the picture Kaito looked up with emotion swimming in his eyes and nodded in thanks.
"One more thing Minato. I'm sure I don't have to say this, but You, Inoichi, and Jiraiya are the only ones who can know."
"Of course." Minato nodded in agreement.
"Under no circumstances can Kushina or Naruto know who I am."
"Not now, but perhaps in the future?"
"No. They can never know."
Authors Note 2/2/2022:
Hi everyone! I hope everyone is having a good day.
Chapter 4 was really fun to write. The first meeting between the two Fourth Hokages. We get to see the differences and similarities in their fighting styles. Typical Minato, with his teleportation and fast reflexes. And Kaito with his focus on ninjutsu and mastery over wind style. He is capable of other nature types, but wind is definitely his primary and the one he can cast the fastest, thus his heavy use of it against Minato. Both are similar in their maneuverability, though.
The Wind Walker jutsu is hard to describe, but I imagine it looks similar to the Fourth Raikage's Lightning Release Chakra mode except with wind. And when Kaito moves, it looks like Ciri's Blink ability in Witcher 3 with tails of the wind chakra extending out from his previous position to the new one. One note, when using the ability, he is still physical. So, weapons and strikes can still hit him. But he takes on the attributes of wind so he is much more maneuverable and harder to hit. To many, he almost seems to dance or sway out of the way. Imagine trying to punch a falling leaf. The wind from your fist will push the leaf before you hit it and it will sway out of the way.
The memories sequences were fun too! Minato and Kaito share a lot of critical memories, especially close to the Nine-Tails attack. But their lives are not copies of each other, as seen with Kaito's memories of Kushina on the hawk.
I hope everyone likes the story! Please leave reviews with your thoughts and PM me if you have questions. I love interacting with you all!
I have another story called The Last Wind. Wow, I must really like wind lol. It is a story I started writing before this one and one I am actively still working on. CH 10 is almost ready! I think I've improved a lot since the early chapters of that story, so if you notice quality differences, that's why! Feel free to check it out.