Chapter 3

Next morning, Minato was preparing breakfast but was seemingly deep in thought only to be interrupted. " Hey what's for breakfast "asked his disheveled looking brother.

Minato smiled , amused 'Some things never change' but regardless answered him" Miso soup and Steamed rice." " My favorite " beamed Asahi.

"Yes, but you are not getting it before being dressed, now hush and move."

Asahi sighed and said dramatically " Can't believe it even after all this time you are no fun , Kami knows how Kushina nee-chan handled you."

Both men froze, their smiles leaving their faces. Asahi felt like kicking himself ' You idiot. When you know that it has been just hours for nii-san and how painful it is for him' remembering last night when he told Minato that Kushina did not survive that night. His brother looked so broken before he burst into tears on his shoulder like he would on Minato's shoulder when sad.

"Umm nii-san - " tried the idiot brother before being cut off. " Go get dressed Asahi " came the gruff order.

Minato has already turned his back on him . But he was reluctant to leave and tried again " Nii-san" , that's as far as he got before Minato's sharp command " Asahi. Now. "

Asahi sighed and left but not before saying " You and I both know that had it been me you would not have accepted that I am bottling it up. And - " here he hesitated " Kushina nee-chan would have wanted you to move on." Asahi left reluctantly.

Minato clenched and unclenched his fist before getting started on chopping the vegetables. 'I know Asahi, I need to move on. For Naruto and for you. Today is Naruto chan's birthday and I am going to make it his best , his life is going to change'. thought Minato with a determined glint in his eyes.

Thirty minutes later both the brothers were having their breakfast silently when Asahi finally gained the courage to ask " Umm nii-san when are you going to remove my binding. I mean , I couldn't wait to finally meet Naruto and I could just see everyone's face when they learned of his heritage and when they saw you alive. " cheered Asahi.

"No," said Minato.

Asahi blinked " No , What do you mean no? I have waited 12 years. You can't just not remove my bindings " shouted while jumping off his seat.

This caused Minato to raise his eyebrow irritatedly "Firstly sit down you know I don't like you jumping off on the dining table. Secondly I was not talking about your binding that could be done after breakfast. "

"Huh" was the eloquent answer.

Minato only pinched the bridge of his nose to try and control his annoyance before giving his younger brother the look.

Asahi settled down immediately without any further protests while blushing profusely when Minato lifted his finger " Secondly, " with great emphasis " We are not revealing myself to be alive right now. We are gonna protect Naruto kun to the fullest and for that to happen the Namikaze clan has to come out of hiding, not Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure. "

Asahi blinked before an understanding dawned on his face " You want to come out as Namikaze head till the time is right "

"Yes I have been dead for 12 years. If I return as myself then no one would believe me and it would take a lot of time to make them plus they would want me to take my mantle again. And Naruto does not need that right now, he needs his family.

We are gonna train and till he is ready I am not gonna reveal myself. "

"But nii-san Naruto needs his father"

"I know and I am gonna be there just not to the public eye. We could tell Naruto the truth when the time is right. "

"Okay but for that to happen we would need help. Since I am guessing this is about settling Konoha down with their prejudice and protecting it too. "

"Yes but first Naruto. And as we move on we could tell Sandaime sama and Kakashi I guess. "

With this both brothers began their planning for the upcoming action but it didn't take too long after all both are geniuses in their own right.

—

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the ninja academy Naruto was hiding in the corridor when he heard a shout " Naruto! " which caused him to flinch and hide ' Oh man why does Sakura chan care about that teme so much, I just gave him what he deserves. ' thought Naruto before remembering his latest prank on one Uchiha Sasuke which caused him to snicker.

Unfortunately he was heard and Sakura made a beeline for him "Naruto" came the voice behind him that caused him to turn very slowly almost praying 'Please don't see me. Please don't see me. Please don't see - Uh oh'

"H- hey Sakura-chan how are you? " laughed Naruto nervously .

"Naruto , " said Sakura menacingly, " how dare you do that to Sasuke kun." The rest is history…

—

Few hours later a sad Naruto was walking out of the academy ignoring all the mean looks and insults as usual remembering Sakura's words when she said that he is as he is because he doesn't have any parents.

Naruto does not want to admit it but that hurts.

Just then he saw Sandaime hokage coming " Hey Naruto Happy birthday sorry I am late. "

His presence only erupted all his sadness in the matter of seconds "Jiji" cheered.

This caused the God of shinobi to laugh " Haha I missed you too and happy birthday what's to say ramen. My treat. "

"Yay " cheered Naruto which caused the Hokage to laugh more " I would take that as a yes . Although I was meaning to ask you about something" drawled Lord third.

"Huh" Naruto cocked his head in confusion.

Lord Third's lips twitched at this but he regained his composure fairly quickly before " Yeah care to explain why my hokage rock was sporting a good amount of wrinkles yesterday along with few additions to other hokages" asked while raising his eyebrow.

Naruto blinked before rubbing his neck sheepishly " Umm sorry "

Lord third just shaked his head fondly and said "Let's go you little menace".

" Yup. "cheered the child.

They were about to go to ichiraku when Sandaime noticed iruka coming. "Ahh Iruka "

"Lord third" greeted Iruka. " I was just going to ask Naruto for a birthday special ramen but I guess you are taking him already so I'll just go. "

" There is no need for that Iruka. Let's go together. I am sure Naruto would appreciate it. "

"Yeah Iruka sensei lets go." cheered Naruto.

Iruka just chuckled and said "Okay" before the three of them went to Ichiraku for some ramen to celebrate Naruto's birthday since they can't do anything more as much as they want to.

—

Thirty minutes later Naruto had already eaten almost five bowls of ramen while his companions were long done when an Anbu arrived on the spot and said something in Sandaime's ear that got him to turn serious and he left abruptly with a " Sorry Naruto-kun, Iruka but I need to go urgently. Ohh and Naruto " while passing his hand packed birthday present " Happy birthday "

"Thank you jiji" Naruto thanked Lord Third while giving a genuine smile.

—

The moment Sandaime entered his office he was still shocked.

He was looking at the back of the man that looked so much like… . " Minato, " he whispered.

Said man turned around " Not Minato Lord Third but Asahi… Asahi Namikaze. Although I guess I do look like my nii-san. "

"Nii-san" The God of shinobi was fairly shocked.

"Yes my nii-san Namikaze Minato. " answered Asahi seriously " Who we have learnt recently

left an heir to our clan. "

"Heir" Lord Third was paling now.

"That's right Namikaze Naruto is the heir to the clan Namikaze. It was my nii-san's dream to revive our clan to its full glory and Naruto is his heir who our standing clan head has learnt has been wronged too much. " continued Asahi just as seriously.

With this both Lord Third and Asahi Namikaze goes into a big heated discussion and negotiations.

—