Chapter 11
He was trying to get the size down. He wanted his to be as big as his father's but couldn't seem to pump enough in without making it go haywire. Naruto Namikaze's Rasengan was finally complete but not one hundred percent mastered. 'It could always be bigger,' he told himself as his father and him walked up to the gates of Konoha.
"You should be happy Naruto. You've gotten the technique down quicker than Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Axel all did. Why are you frustrated?" Minato couldn't for the life of him figure it out. His son was simply better than himself at that age, why didn't it seem like enough?
"I just still feel insignificant regardless. You began developing jutsu at the age of sixteen and perfecting and improving jutsu at the age of eighteen. I haven't started any of that no matter how talented you all tell me I am. I don't feel like a prodigy or genius is what I'm saying."
"I see. Well, then. How about instead of living up to our words and expectations, you live up to your own pace and see where that gets you? I have no problem if you take being a shinobi at your own speed. I'd rather you turn out like Kushina than Kakashi. Hint, hint, one of them isn't emotionally stunted," he answered with a wink.
"You know what? Maybe I took all of my uncle's praise to mean I was supposed to be some kind of shinobi god or something of sorts. I should try and slow down. Your right dad. Thanks," the boy beamed as they walked through the gates. The guards didn't even stop them because anyone would be fools to try and impersonate these two. Due to the particularly large reserves of both father and son anyone, even non-sensors could feel when both of them are nearby, as long as it was both of them at the same time of course.
"Do you think everyone is back from their missions by now dad?"
"Should be. We took an entire week to get back. If at least Ax isn't back then he sucks at meetings. Which he doesn't. But first I say we take a page from Kakashi's book and keep everyone waiting. Let's get some ramen. My treat."
"Awesome!" Naruto yelled as he pumped his fist in the air.
They found themselves in Ichiraku's having a ramen eating competition. Naruto almost looked like he was going to be sick at the tenth bowl. "Alright, I concede. You can eat more than me dad."
"It's just because I'm bigger than you right now Naruto. When you get as tall and muscular as me you'll probably be eating twice as much as me," Minato replied with a small laugh.
"You two are such an awesome and wholesome duo you know," Old man Teuchi, the owner of the ramen stand said and Minato couldn't help but agree. He could see how from the outside they would be a very wholesome duo but a small part of Minato felt like he still wasn't doing enough for Naruto. Call him critical of himself even though Naruto seemed to always be grateful and having the time of his life but Minato just wasn't convinced for some reason. He'd have a private conversation with Axel and Jiraiya later about this. He MIGHT bring it up with Kushina but he wasn't sure about putting any worries on her shoulders.
They EVENTUALLY made it to the Hokage Tower and walked right on in. Perks of being a previous Hokage? No one could stop you from entering what was once your own office.
"Lord Fifth," Minato stated with a bow and a teasing smirk. He could see the hangover on Axel's face. Axel was once an alcoholic but he never thought the habit would come back. Whatever new developments in the village prosperity must have really hit him all at once. Hell, Minato even noticed an energy drink labeled 'Chakra Juice' on his desk. When he looked a little closer he saw five cans in the trash. He decided to dismiss any formalities and grab the can and read it. "Five hundred milligrams of caffeine!? Do you understand how much that is Axel!?" he practically screamed.
"I know no normal civilian can survive one of those. The problem is that Kurama apparently filters caffeine as well as poisons, venoms, and other such things. This time he swears its not his fault but still I have to buy four times as much as the most stressed jonin in terms of caffeine. I really don't want to continue this conversation. Do you have Mukade's head or not?"
"Actually Naruto has it. We have probably the most bizarre report you will ever get as a Hokage but apparently my younger self claims that we've seen weirder as a team," Minato responded as the boy stepped forward and handed the kage the scroll with Mukade's head.
"What?"
"We went back in the past. We took like maybe two seconds at most in your life to complete OUR mission. The rest of the week was spent making sure Naruto had the Rasengan down as well as making sure his taijutsu is up to snuff compared to his own kenjutsu which by the way he can throw hands like no one's business."
"I'm happy to hear that. I should let Naruto know though that Satsumei is in the hospital currently. She both awakened the Sharingan as well as put herself into chakra exhaustion for what I can only assume is the first time in her life. She should be good by the end of the night but I'm assuming for Romeo here that's not good enough. Go to the hospital and take this note. Anyone stops you? Ignore them. I'm the clan head and what I say goes," Axel stated as he wrote something down and handed it to Naruto.
"I have a question for the both of you," Naruto said suddenly. He had a concern that involved both men and he wouldn't drop it without some kind of answer. "Shoot for it," Minato responded.
"Why haven't you two gone blind yet? I see your eyes bleed EVERYTIME you use your Mangekyou but you haven't gone blind yet. I thought the bleeding was supposed to represent the damage to the eyes."
"That's… a tough question to answer but I can assure you that we have not switched eyes if that's what your expecting although in hindsight I probably should have had Minato's eyes implanted when he died," Axel answered realizing how stupid he was especially since he uses his own Mangekyou abilities so much. "To answer in Minato's case he attained his Mangekyou after Obito was claimed to have been crushed under the rock during the third war. He to my knowledge never used them after that till his death. Then when he was resurrected he's used it quite sparingly as compared to me who generally abuses them."
"Okay, that explains dad, now what about you?"
"If I'm being completely honest I've been seeing spots. I AM going blind. I don't have too much longer. The answer as to why I haven't lies in a combination of our heritage from your grandmother and my sage mode. You see my sage mode gives me a certain type of regeneration that can even hold off and to some extent repair things such as chakra diseases and failing organs and such. While it can't stop the blindness entirely it can prolong it. I WILL be blind soon. I just hope it's not during battle that I go blind," he said looking every bit the stressed Hokage he SHOULD look like. He puts every emotion and bit of his will into the job and it was finally showing.
Naruto and Minato caught on to something else though. There was something he was hiding but it wouldn't happen with them. First Naruto looked to the cracked open window. "Pervy-sage you can come in! I know your there and listening!" He heard the sigh and the lumbering figure jumped in closing the window immediately. "Your sensing skills are too good for your age ya brat."
"Not true, for a moment I thought I sensed Kakashi-sensei but I was wrong," Naruto replied crossing his arms over his chest. "Spill it you two, if I'm going to be the future Hokage what fallout am I going to be dealing with. Your hiding something and it has nothing to do with the Akatsuki," that was the piercing gaze of Minato that sent armies running. They looked to Minato and saw the exact same eyes. It was surreal to see the Namikaze duo so focused on this and ready to fight if they didn't get their answers. With a heavy sigh Axel pulled a folder from under his desk and Jiraiya sat down criss-cross clearly ready for a long conversation.
"What I'm about to tell you cannot get out right now," Axel gave them Madara's stare to get the point across and they nodded. He knew he could trust them both so he relented. "We're heading for war. Iwa is mobilizing, the Mizukage has put down the rebellion with some unknown help and the Sand is collapsing. The only ally we have is Kumo as well as this Doomwraith figure as long as its for what he calls 'the greater good', whatever that means. Reports show that we've spotted both Iwa shinobi as well as Kiri shinobi in our borders, it looks like as always we will be the targets."
They took that in for a moment. The Sand was COLLAPSING? How? Hadn't they found someone to take the position of Kazekage to fix it? On top of that Axel had offered a peace treaty to them as well as foreign aid to help them recover from their recent financial problems. How did this happen?
"There's more. On our way to the summit to meet with Lord Ay we were attacked by an individual who looked no older than Naruto. She challenged me to a mere spar and while I didn't outright lose, if the battle continued it was easily the closest I've been to being defeated in combat. I had to activate sage mode to drive her off. She also had what looked to be a commanding officer who she obeyed. It was clear the way they interacted he was definitely stronger than her."
"How? How could you have lost?" Naruto asked completely flabbergasted. This was a man who took on roughly forty percent of Hashirama, Tobirama, Madara, and one hundred percent of Minato, all four at the same time. Here he was saying he almost lost to a little girl.
"Kurama and I have come to the conclusion that her Kekkai Tōta was robbing me of my stamina every time we clashed or made contact as well as in certain proximity to her light rays."
"Look, I've heard of crazy things before. After all we descend from the Sage of Six Paths but light rays? Also, she has a Kekkai Tōta? Like what the Tsuchikage has," Minato chimed in incredulously and with good reason. Kekkai Tōtas weren't just rare they were considered damn near impossible on paper. The only proof that they exist is the Particle Style, a combination of fire, wind, and earth styles. While these aren't hereditary the amount of chakra control and knowledge on chakra natures is considered so high no one has been able to create one since the first tsuchikage created the Particle Style. He was a veritable genius and really the only reason Madara threatened the village behind Hashirama's back. The Particle Style was something that did indeed unnerve their father so anyone who can create a Kekkai Tōta should be concerning.
"Yes, she called it Laser Style. I was able to figure it out rather quickly, fire, lightning, and Yin chakras. Not only does it seem to burn on a level similar to my sage mode flames but apparently it can rob the foe of their stamina. Either that or the stamina drain is something else of hers. Either way it's excessively dangerous as she can create not only blasts of light but constructs like walls and shields. It was frighteningly similar to both the Susanoo and the Adamantine Chains. She even used it to create two scythes."
"So, what about the other individual?" Minato asked not actually wanting the answer.
"I couldn't get a very good read on him but the fact that the tree he was standing on was frosting over at least tells me he possesses ice style though to what extent I don't know. I will say both of their chakra signatures were similar to Doomwraith. They were flowing with life energy. Their chakra signature could be felt by a barely trained genin that's how high they were."
"Did you tell all of this to the Raikage?" Naruto quipped surprisingly. "Yes, well the majority of it. I told him about how strong they felt but I didn't tell him about the Kekkei Tōta. I wasn't sure about putting that much more stress on him. We have more important things to discuss though. I would like to help the Sand but I have no idea how. Even after I send Mukade's head something tells me they still won't want to listen to reason. I would like to request another escort mission. I will be heading over to the Sand myself and make a pit stop on the way there. I would like for you two to accompany me there. Jiraiya will stay in the village and take leadership with Shikaku to keep things running smoothly as well as help with some of the training I have planned."
"What training?" he'd completely forgot that Naruto was out of the village at the time everything was decided. "My bad, of course you would be out of the loop. It all happened after you two left."
"What did you do brother?"
"I decided to put Naruto's peers into a training program essentially that should bring them all up o a point where they will be his 'equals'," he put equals in quotations for very obvious reasons. "This has never been done before. Are you sure there isn't going to be any backlash from this? It's blatant favoritism," Minato reasoned and it was well founded. "You see, I did think about that however the fact is that it can only aid the village. Every decision I make is for the village. I want quality shinobi not quantity. We've seen in previous wars how quality works better. Satake Hakumo the White Fang is a great example. The three Sannin all destroyed entire victory points for our foes. YOU defeated a thousand Iwa shinobi and sent the rest packing and I won't mention myself. I want better than average shinobi and I will do what it takes. This is what must be done to properly protect the Leaf and her people," Axel explained as he leaned forward head resting on his now folded hands gaining a sigh from Minato.
"You are right of course. What does this training entail?"
"Every single one of Naruto's peers shall have a mastered shinobi that they are apprenticed to and some shall have a second depending on what I see fit. I will even be aiding in the training of both Satsumei as well as Shikamaru's training myself."
That was a bit shocking, Satsumei they could understand because of the phoenix contract but Shikamaru was definitely a surprise. "I have plans with Shikaku on ideas for the Shadow Possession jutsu. We've had a small talk since we got back and he's given the go ahead. He's even interested in the implications I've given for himself."
"Do you plan on making Satsumei a sage?" Naruto asked still getting over his surprise. "That is indeed the plan but I'm not sure if she'll have it down within the time frame of the program which will only last about five months. You should hear the plans for Sasuke. It's completely left field."
Jiraiya stood up and stepped forward a bit at this point. "I will be the one training Sasuke actually. I'm the best person to keep an eye on his curse mark and I'd like to see if it's at all possible to control and use it. I also want to make him a toad summoner as well as sage. I believe this is the perfect way to pull him from his previous path of hatred. The toads can impart much wisdom upon him and they also can be great partners for both his fire as well as lightning affinities. He is a veritable prodigy and I want to take every advantage of that."
"I approve Pervy-sage. If there is anyone who can get through to him other than me, that's you. Satsumei being trained by Uncle Axel is understandable but who else?"
"Her mother will finish as the main master. She still has some things to teach her including her newly awakened Sharingan. Mikoto is more than capable of that."
"Cool, what's going to happen to me?"
"In the meantime you shall be going on whatever missions I need of you with your father as well as myself on occasion. Think of it as your father being your master. I will also attempt to train you when I can get the time. Are these conditions acceptable?"
"Yes indeed. However, as I'm a newly minted special jonin I would like to know why I'm going at such a fast rate that is abnormal?"
"Hmmm… I've decided your at a place that mere training can no longer help you. You must be sent into either dangerous situations or even life and death situations as hesitant as I am to say that. I don't want to put you in unnecessary situations but I also don't want to stunt you by coddling you Naruto, ya get me?" the boy noticed the concern but also the faith. Axel believed he could do it so he would. "It's fine, I didn't enter this profession thinking that it would be safe. I entered it to protect my precious people as well as the village so I'll take anything you throw at me and throw it right back twice as hard," it was declared with so much determination that the three older men in the room had no choice but to believe him. He knew nothing would stop him and if anything or anyone would try to they would be proven wrong and then annihilated.
"Well then, I think that wraps just about everything up. We shall leave the house sometime tomorrow and head off to the Sand and deliver our peace offering. If they still don't accept then they're fools and deserve anything that comes to them. Again we will be making a stop somewhere so be prepared for about a week's worth of mission."
"Yes Lord Fifth!" Naruto and Minato saluted and then exited the room. "Your going to see Satsumei I'm assuming?"
"Yeah, I'll probably try and stay with her for the night. Being away from her for another week will be tough. She'll be lonely and I just hope the brooder will be enough."
"You got a good head on your shoulders and you got your priorities straight. Just don't go doing anything funny Naruto," Minato teased with a grin and a ruffling of the hair. He walked away to a destination he hadn't decided yet.
He looked at what once was the village he ran. It was rebuilding beautifully under Axel's rule. It almost didn't look like there was an invasion at all now. He attributed that to a combination of how decent at Wood Style Yamato was as well as the number of shadow clones that Axel had been putting out during the reconstruction. It must have been baffling to the citizens to see that many Axels running around but to him it was kind of funny.
He'd been walking so long in random directions that he ran into the Rookie Thirteen other than Sasuke and Satsumei. They looked to be going somewhere. "Ah, Naruto's peers. How is the shinobi life treating you?"
They were taken aback for a minute. They'd just gotten to personally know the current hokage previously in the week and now here was his predecessor talking to them. "You're the Fourth Hokage!" Ino squealed without much decorum gaining a sweat drop from Minato and her own team.
"Well, that is what I'm most known for but I'm more importantly Naruto's father. I'd rather go down in the history books as that than the hokage. I'm also the brother of Axel."
Shikamaru got a strange feeling when he heard the tone with which Minato said Naruto's name. "You really do believe in him, don't you?" Was the not quite accusing but definitely suspicious question.
"Of course I do. One hundred percent after all, he's my son. It's a parent's job to believe in and trust their child. But I can tell your Nara mind is kicking into overdrive and your suspicious. I've known your father long enough I know the particular ticks. Let's find a better place to talk," Minato stated as he walked away to one of the training fields.
It was empty and one of the ones no one came around to so it was perfect to talk about secrets and what not but he made a few hand signs and slammed his hand down erecting a privacy barrier.
"Just for assurance. What I'm about to tell you is one of the village's best kept secrets. You cannot tell any of this to anyone. It's an execution sentence and Axel himself will probably be the one to do it," he fixed them all with a pointed stare. He continued once he was satisfied he got the point across. Truth was that he wasn't even sure why he was about to tell them this but maybe as long as they could keep this secret and he was sure they could, maybe they'd understand the pressure that Naruto has on his shoulders. Maybe they'd also see another reason as to why he has such faith in the boy.
"My father is Madara Uchiha," pin drop silence. They were completely floored as part of the academy's curriculum had an entire section dedicated to the lives of Madara, Hashirama, and Tobirama. "And of course that makes Axel his son and Naruto his grandson. Unfortunately being related to the man one cannot get away from greatness unless they were to live a civilian life. This of course is not possible as if word about relation to him were to get out one would have all his enemies after them even if they weren't a shinobi."
"Is this why Naruto is so far ahead of us?" Ino asked. "No, well yes and no. It certainly helps, I've definitely seen once or twice where he seemed to act exactly like his grandfather. Axel and I do it all the time too. But there's more. His grandmother was held in extremely high regard by father. He said she was stronger than him by quite a gap. In fact my dad told me that that was how she stole his heart. She beat him in combat. I don't know how or why they ended up in a fight but they did and she won."
The kunoichi wanted to know more about this mystery woman. She sounded like an absolute baddass of a woman if she could defeat Madara Uchiha of all people. He could see the fire in the aspiring kunoichi's eyes, he supposed hearing of his mother was good motivation, he'd take advantage of it. "We told Naruto that she was capable of with a mere flick of her blade launching a dozen blades of wind at her foes. That was a lie. It was more like three dozen in her prime. By the time she died it was down to a dozen."
"If you don't mind me asking, how did she die?" Hinata questioned timidly. His eyes took on a bit of sadness but he schooled his features so quick that only the Hyugas caught it. "It was essentially a chakra disease. She had such an absurd amount of chakra in her that it was poisoning her," he answered with a downcast tone. Their eyes widened, that didn't even sound possible. How could someone die from having too much chakra?
"Moving on, Naruto has a lot of pressure from his heritage and feels he has to be the best. No one has told him to be the best but he feels it's the only way to protect everyone, not just in his family but also in the village, including you all," that hit them. He wasn't just doing it for his family but also them and they hadn't even thought he cared all that much considering how little he paid attention to them in the academy. He'd once in awhile had a conversation or played a game of shogi with Shikamaru but other than that Hinata was the only one he hung out with. Who knew he actually cared? Now that they thought about it he acted so much like his father as well as uncle as they both had the job of maintaining as well as protecting the village as a whole.
"Just don't go treating him like some sort of messiah. I got to see a certain side of him today that I don't think he shows to anyone. He puts too much pressure on himself and he just needs you all to be there for him. Do that for me, will you?" he received nods of confirmation and a few grins. "Now I have to go see my wife, it's been a whole week and I miss her. Just remember what I said about not letting this information slip out," he was gone in a flash. They stared for a moment and then headed for their original destination of the Hokage's office.
Axel
'Where the hell are they? They should have been here by now. I may as well send some ANBU,' Axel thought as he impatiently tapped on his desk. He was about to call one of his ANBU when the door opened and in walked the group he was waiting for. "Ah, the genin and chunin I was waiting for. What took you so long to get here?"
"We ran into Lord Fourth on the way here and he wanted to chat," was the brief reply from Neji. "That makes sense. He can be a talker when he wants to be."
"He told us about your heritage Lord Fifth," was the comment from Sakura making his eyes widen ever so slightly but they caught it. "I see, and what do you think of my family now?" he wasn't asking for himself really, he couldn't care less what others thought about him. It was more for Naruto's sake.
"The sins of the father should not dictate what one thinks of the sons or the grandson, so on and so forth. Why? Because they are different people and have different ideals and goals. You have served your village loyally since being a genin and have only ever done what was for the best as a Hokage," surprisingly all that came out of the Aburame. Axel's eyebrows rose for a number of reasons. One was the amount of words an ABURAME just spoke, he'd never heard Shibi talk that much before, that was certain. The second reason was because he wasn't expecting a bunch of kids to be this mature. The final reason was that he realized maybe at this point it didn't have to be a secret anymore. Maybe enough time has passed that there was no reason for anyone to care about them being the progeny of Madara.
"I have to say, you kids have given me some things to think about. Your maturity is quite impressive and I think even Naruto could learn something from all of you. But enough about that, I have your training programs here in these folders," he stated as a clone popped up and picked up a stack of folders and handed them out to them. Each one got a folder that had information specifically tailored to them.
"Permission to speak freely Lord Axel?" Shikamaru stated as he looked through the information barely noticing the clone popping. "Go ahead."
"Why these particular placements? I understand me being put with my father but you want to personally train me? What do either one of us have to gain from it?"
"Let me run through the placements. Shikamaru, you will be placed with me because of a theory that your father and I are working on regarding your clan's shadow possession jutsu. I saw no reason to change anything about the training that Kiba, Shino or Choji can receive from their respective parents except they need focused tutelage. Sakura shall be with primarily Kakashi to help her with a combination of a few skills which I will leave up to him to explain. Satsumei shall be trained by her mother as well as myself for sage mode training. Sasuke is going to be taught by Jiraiya-sensei for reasons. Tenten can receive kenjutsu training from a combination of Yugao as well as Asuma as they are my foremost masters in weapons skills. Ino will be working with both Inoichi as well as Anko for taijutsu and her flexibility that suits the snake style. The training from Hiashi is more than suitable for Neji with a few slight tweaks which I'm already working on. Hinata with Kushina means that while she can't necessarily focus on the base gentle fist which relies on earth affinity in its rugged stances, she can make a version all her own with her high water affinity and flexibility. Lee does well enough with Guy already, I just want to have Asuma teach him a fisted weapon. Finally there is Naruto. Technically he shall not be under an apprenticeship. Mostly I will be assigning him with his father from now on as I believe Minato and myself to be the only ones who could even teach the boy. I had other plans but I've scrapped them."
"Some of those were non-answers but I can also tell you have a plan with which you want your shinobi forces to meld to. Is there anything else you need us to know?" Shikamaru was being surprisingly vocal lately. He'd take it, a Nara that actually does something? Awesome was all Axel could think.
"I don't believe so, I will say that your senseis will more than likely not give you the time to take missions so expect those to be few and far in between. I will say that at the end of this program that I will be holding a minor chunin test and allowing for promotions for all of you. For Shikamaru and Shino this means they will have the chance at special Jonin."
Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and had Axel on edge. The gears were turning in his head. "Is there something happening that we need to be aware of Lord Fifth?" he all but accused gaining a heavy sigh from the older man.
"Not yet. In time I will tell you everything but I assure you it's nothing you need to worry yourself with for now. I'm going to warn you that I will be out of the village for a little bit. I'm hoping only a few days but I can't promise anything. If there is anything that needs to be communicated to me then talk to Kushina, Jiraiya-sensei, Satsumei, or Shikaku and they will be able to contact me."
He let them think on that for a moment and then continued. "If there are no other concerns then you are all dismissed," he declared as he looked down at the paperwork that apparently appeared out of nowhere. 'Nice try paperwork god. I've beaten you every time and I'll beat you again, hahaha!'
'I worry about you from time to time.'
'I worry about myself.'
Even Shikamaru didn't seem to have anything else to ask and so they all left though Shikamaru was still suspicious.
Within five minutes through the help of shadow clones he had the rest of his paperwork done and stood up. "Time to try and get a date. What do you guys think? You think she'll say yes?"
"More than likely. We've been dancing around our feelings since being genin. The only reason it didn't happen sooner was that we never took the shot. We focused more on keeping the village safe than our own happiness which continues to be a trend," clone one stated.
"True but also Hiruzen and even Minato didn't exactly give us time to date and even once we became Hokage we never took time for ourselves," clone two replied. At this point Axel's very small compared to other Hokage ANBU detail were sweat dropping at their leader's antics. He looked at one of them and pointed. "I'm not crazy, your crazy!"
'You understand they definitely think your crazy now because you were talking to CLONES?'
'Yeah, I know that. I'd rather everyone think I'm unhinged so they don't fuck with me. It's worked so far.'
'You're a complete idiot.'
The hokage couldn't help the small snicker at that. He truly enjoyed the little back and forths he had with the chakra titan. Kurama was intelligent enough to bicker with him but also wise enough to know when something could go too far and thus could stop at an appropriate time. He also noticed a slight snickering on Kurama's end so apparently he also enjoyed their conversation just now.
It didn't matter now as he had to go try and woo a certain raven haired beauty. He dispelled his shadow clones and looked over the memories of the paperwork seemingly satisfied, and then left the office. His ANBU detail would follow him to the estate and stay outside until the next shift. That had hardly any time to happen as he walked out with Mikoto looping her arm through his.
She wore a form fitting kimono that he seemed to remember from a political meeting they all attended with Hiruzen back in the day. Her hair was tied up in a high pony tail that exposed her neck but left her fang like bangs to drop.
He wore a gold kimono with red flame patterns all along it. He didn't do anything else special, he knew he didn't need to, not that she did either. She was ravishing no matter what she wore in his eyes.
"I'm glad you took me up on my offer of a date. Tomorrow I'm heading off on a mission with Minato and the brat to try and form an alliance with the Sand. I won't be around for a few days probably."
"I wouldn't miss this for the world. Where are we headed to tonight?" she asked sweetly with a serene smile on her face as she leaned into him.
"Well, I at first wanted to do a fancy dinner but realized that neither one of us really like sitting still for long periods of time so I figured it would be more memorable to take advantage of that sampler event going on in the commercial district. The food stands are all giving free samples as a way to drive in costumers as well as a way to celebrate successfully driving off an invasion."
"That sounds lovely. I always like trying new food. And you're a glutton, it's a win-win," she had to sneak that last part in with a smirk but he decided to let it go. He really had an incredible appetite and it only got worse after combat. After the fight with the reanimations when he finally got to eat he had more than twice as much food as he would normally have. He could scarf down fifteen bowls of ramen from Ichiraku's on average. He chalked it up to a combination of Kurama and his excessively high fire affinity. Some people theorize that fire wielders as well as lightning users to some extent tend to eat more where as water wielders drink more liquids. Earth wielders liked to be out in nature more and wind users tended to take deeper breaths on average. They were all theories but who really knew? He did remember that his father said his mom could both out eat and drink anyone he'd ever met and she apparently had a very high fire affinity.
"I was thinking afterward we could hit some of the game stalls afterwards. It's festival style games and what not so it sounds kind of fun," he stated slightly nervously but she either didn't notice or didn't pay it any mind which he was glad for. The stars were out so they also had a beautiful view of the sky.
They'd tasted plenty of different foods; takoyaki, fried chicken, shrimp, and even pork. There was dango, different types of cake, potato snacks, and even apple desserts. Mikoto's favorite thing of the night was a combination of the takoyaki and the dango while Axel devoured anything BBQ without prejudice and surprising to her strawberry cheesecake. She had no idea that he had such an obsession with it, if it wasn't for her stopping him, he was trying to buyout the whole stand. Who flashes money around like that just for some cake!?
The next stop for them was festival style gaming. They'd started with a kunai throwing contest and while normally this wouldn't be a problem for trained shinobi she noticed he was slightly nervous. "Ax, why are you so anxious? You're a shinobi, this should be easy."
"I… am horrible with kunai as well as shuriken. I don't practice with them at all as my style is mostly up close and personal with my gunbai and sword. The only reason I practiced them back at the academy was to pass the exam, even then I got the surprisingly lowest scores in those tests of all who did get a pass," he stated with a defeated sigh as his shoulders slumped.
She thought about it and even though she never did recall him even practicing it back in the academy, she couldn't remember a time after they became Jiraiya-sensei's team that he had ever used a kunai or thrown a shuriken. Holy crap, a hokage who can hardly throw a shuriken and his brother was the complete opposite. Minato's style of combat practically revolved around his kunai.
"I'd still like to see you try. I want that bunny plushy over there," she pointed to one of the prizes and low and behold it was a cute little lop-eared black bunny with a smiley face. It was a simple game, you get three kunai and you have to hit a moving target. And so he paid for a shot at it and fired off the first kunai. He wasn't lying to her, he missed by a few inches. He then took the second shot and missed by a wider margin. He took a deep breath. He wouldn't be beaten by some stupid carnival game. What he was about to do would only be noticeable by Mikoto herself but he wanted to get that plush for her and didn't want to just pay for it. That would make him feel cheap and like he hadn't earned any affection she might give him.
He activated his Sharingan and seal-lessly put a transformation on himself so fast that no one but Mikoto's eyes caught the red before it was back to blue. His eyes were also recording everything much quicker so they were moving slower now and of course only the Uchiha matriarch knew this tell tale sign of a Sharingan's use. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly but let it go anyway. It was just good shinobi skills to use whatever you could without getting caught. After all, this was the point of the first stage of the chunin exams.
She watched as he recorded everything, the speed at which the target moved and where it was at any particular time. He pulled his arm back with the last kunai in hand and launched it to where he predicted it would be next. It hit dead center and the man behind the stall congratulated them asking which prize they wanted. Axel merely motioned for her to pick it and she did receiving the reward with a smile so bright it would light up his world in even the darkest of times. Yeah, that's a smile he would protect with his everything.
They walked around a bit more, with her playing various games such as fishing for goldfish and what not but noticed it was starting to get late. The stars were still out so it was perfect for his plan. He walked her back to the estate and told her to give him a second. Minato walked out with him and flashed her a grin. "Now don't go doing anything I wouldn't do you lovebirds," he stated in a teasing tone as he placed his hands on their shoulders and they were instantly flashed away.
Mikoto had to close her eyes to stave off the disorienting wave of dizziness from the teleportation jutsu. When she opened them she was amazed. It was a small cottage only big enough for about four people in a large clearing with a perfect view above them of the stars. Before she could say anything he picked her up bridal style and jumped onto the roof and placed her down.
He sat down and patted the spot next to her and she sat and leaned into him. This really was what they both wanted even going back as far as their academy days. She savored his warmth as she held onto that bunny plush tightly, it would become one of her most precious keepsakes whenever he wasn't around. "I think I'll name him Madara, what do you thnik?" she asked. "I think that anyone who wants to name something of theirs in honor of my father gains a few brownie points," he truly did appreciate the gesture, it was very heartwarming that the main people in his life didn't spit on his father.
She watched as he brought a hand up pointing to the sky and a small blast of flame came out. He moved his hand around as if writing and she saw a heart with the letters M and A and an arrow going through the heart. It would be extremely cheesy to anyone else but she appreciated the gesture nonetheless. It was so typical Axel to do something like this that she couldn't help but love it. That was how their night went, they'd spend the rest of it there at his father's cottage and in the morning he would pulse chakra into a kunai that Minato gave him to get transportation back. What neither one realized is that there seemed to have been an image of a Madara and a blonde woman at the edge of the clearing looking on with smiles holding hands.
Naruto that very same night
"Hey."
"Hey yourself sunshine," Satsumei replied with a grin even though she was stuck in a hospital bed. "It's been a bit since we saw each other. How have you been?" he asked.
"Well, other than being chakra exhausted I feel pretty accomplished. Got to drop an avalanche on a train, chakra punched numerous people numerous times and found a new way to use my chains and chakra scalpel in conjunction with each other," she answered gaining a smile from him.
"I'm proud of you. You've gotten so strong even without my help and so has Sasuke. You two have recovered from the massacre so well that I don't think you need me around all the time anymore," he stated but instead of getting a smile of appreciation he received a grimace of sadness.
"Your going to be away a lot aren't you?" was her simple question. He gave her a sad smile and a nod. "Yeah, I will. Uncle Axel says that I can't get much stronger unless I'm put into dangerous missions or possibly life or death situations. I don't know how I feel about the prospect of that second part but I do agree with his reasoning. I'll be doing my best to make time for you and even Sasuke but I don't know what my routine will be like."
"I see. Can you stay here with me tonight?"
"I planned on it. I highly doubt the nurses are going to say anything to the godson of the fifth hokage. In the meantime, tell me more about your mission."
"We were originally assigned to guard an actress but she actually turned out to be the princess of the Land of Snow. We more or less went on to help her take back her land," she stated and went on to recall the events that transpired. It took about three minutes but he was entranced the whole time. Just hearing her voice was enough to gain his attention but hearing her tell a tale was mesmerizing to him. "Kirin huh?"
"Yeah, it was quite spectacular to see in action and it was genius to use natural lightning to bypass the armor. I'm so happy to see how far along my brother has come," it was a lovely smile, one so fond that he could see the love in her heart plain as day. For a moment the intrusive thought of what kind of hell would she bring on one who caused her to awaken the Mangkyou entered his mind. He squashed it faster than it came, he was determined to never let that happen.
"What about your mission?"
"Well, dad and I went back in time and worked together with him, Aunt Mikoto, and Uncle Axel when they were younger to help protect a queen as well as capture a missing nin. We even made a new jutsu," he took less time to tell his tale but she gave him her full attention nonetheless. "Supreme Ultimate Inferno Storm Rasenshuriken?" she asked with a giggle that turned into laughter. Wow how he missed that laugh while he was away, it was music to his ears. "Look, neither my father nor myself are good at coming up with names. Apparently instead of Rasengan he wanted to call his original technique Halo Frozen Dessert Hair Whorl Jiraiya Twin Formula Sphere," he stated with a defeated sigh.
"And what happened?"
"Mom shot it down and suggested Rasengan. Pervy sage agreed and that's what dad went with.. I'm glad too, I'd hate that other name. I'm not sure if I'd want to even learn something like that," he said with a chuckle.
"Come sit with me," she said rather suddenly as she patted what little space there was in her hospital bed and he complied. She leaned her back against his chest and they sat there like that all through the night with his presence soothing her. Eventually they fell asleep and would be found the next day by Minato who flashed to where he sensed Naruto. They would take the teasing in stride mostly because Minato himself was not as aggressive as Kushina is about it.
Minato that same night
He had no idea how he did it but he found himself playing a game of shogi with Sasuke. Scratch that, he knew how, he happened to be looking at the game box which happened to be some kind of special edition set. Sasuke happened upon him and asked what he was doing and got the answer that the man was just reminiscing. He used to play the game with Axel all the time and even Shikaku, Asuma and Hiruzen growing up. He'd played it a few times with Kushina but she just wasn't quite meant for the game. A brilliant kunoichi she was but she didn't have the attention span for making so many moves in advance. She was more like Naruto, an on the fly thinker and frankly, he'd rather they keep it that way because they were both so damn good at it.
Minato stated he currently had no one to play it with but liked the memories it brought regardless. Sasuke offered to play a few matches against him and he was surprised. He thought that the boy would never be interested in something like this but he didn't mind. Sasuke was considered the problem child according to Kakashi so something like this meant progress. A lot of it at that.
They played a total of fifteen matches and that was only because the first five matches went extremely quick, fifteen minutes a piece maybe with Minato downright dominating the game. Sasuke did improve each time after that though, and significantly too. His determination was quite incredible and while the skill improvement wasn't enough to overcome Minato's brilliant analytical mind that he passed down to Naruto it was enough to bring his survival time up to about an hour for a single game. Minato was quite impressed.
Kushina had brought them snacks and drinks multiple times throughout and got thanks from surprisingly both of them. She eventually ended up watching them and was quite enthralled. She would never admit that she was secretly hoping Sasuke won at least one game. She liked the fiery determination he had, it reminded her of Obito back in the day and that was endearing to her.
Eventually they ended up in the backyard after Minato asked if the boy wanted a spar or two. He gladly said yes and ended up going up against both of them swapping between the two. The two adults ended up even sparring against each other to give the boy a break which he was grateful for. Even though Minato didn't use the Flying Raijin, Sharingan or Sage Mode he was still one of the most dangerous shinobi to ever enter a battlefield and Kushina was no joke either. She was damn near even on Minato's level. All in all the three of them enjoyed their time together and had a greater appreciation for one another. Kushina treated Sasuke almost the same as Naruto, like a son and saw him like one to be honest. She would never let the boy be lonely even if something should happen to Mikoto no matter how much she hated that thought. The night ended when he fell asleep and she placed his head on her lap gently stroking his hair like she would with Naruto. Minato looked on with a serene smile and then sat next to her an they let the peace linger for about an hour.
"You know, I see similarities to both Naruto and Obito before the incident. I see a little of Kakashi and even Itachi. I truly believe that Sasuke will go on to do great things alongside his sister and Naruto. I have a lot of faith in their whole generation. I think they're determined and capable of beating our generation," he commented as he watched her peacefully stroking Sasuke's hair and looking down at him with a smile. She had so much love for those around her, this was why she was originally chosen to be Kurama's second jinchuuriki. She could combat his hatred with her love.
"I believe you. They'll be better than us. They have to be considering what's on the horizon."
His eyes widened, did she know? "Don't look at me all stupefied. Do you think I really don't know when Axel is hiding something from me? That man is wrapped around my finger. He has been since you died. I've known him all my life and I know damn near every tick of his and every sign. I can read him like a book just like with you. War is coming, isn't it?"
"Yeah, I won't hide it from you. Axel told me and Naruto not to tell but I can trust you. I just don't know if we can trust the currently not sleeping boy in your lap," he said as he raised his voice slightly at the last part. It was true, Sasuke was caught, no doubt if Minato knew that Kushina knew. He sat up, damn, he was enjoying the attention even if he wouldn't admit it. He woke up only about a minute ago so it wasn't long that he was awake. They must have noticed the difference in his breathing.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have been faking like that."
"Your just a young boy. Of course you want affection. However I have suspicions your trying not to put stress on your mother, is that correct Sasuke?" she asked with a very warm and motherly tone. "I… yeah. Your really good at reading people. You know that?" he responded while scratching the back of his head. It wasn't a gesture they thought they'd ever see him doing but it seems Naruto was rubbing off on him.
"I've been told that a few times. You don't have to hide your feelings from us just so you know. Your only human and that's fine. I understand you've gone through plenty of trauma but you have people you can rely on. Try not to become a hermit, please Sasuke?" she pleaded and for some reason he couldn't deny her request so he gave her an unsure nod. He'd try and that's all she wanted.
"Now, I think it's time I cook us a small meal and we all head in for bed. How's that sound?" she suggested as she stood up offering a hand to him and he took it allowing her to pull him up. He didn't realize how comfortable he was with Naruto's parents until just now. Must be why Naruto thinks the world of his mother and basically idolized his father even though he's only known him for about a month. After awhile he was told what happened in the shared mindscape between Naruto and Kushina back in the Land of Waves so he was aware that Naruto met his father back then.
"Actually, would it be okay to get one more spar in?" he asked uncharacteristically timidly while looking away in an almost bashful manner.
"That's fine. You and Minato can stay out here and work up an appetite while I work on dinner," she stated but was interrupted as Minato stood up. "Actually, do you mind if I cook tonight? I wanna see if my skills have dulled since Axel and I moved out of that apartment. "I forgot you used to cook for the two of you. Yeah, that sounds nice. I'll spar with Sasuke then," she answered with a smile. She would not pass up the opportunity to have a home-cooked meal from her husband. He cooked a meal back when he proposed to her but that was the last time she could remember. He walked away as Sasuke got into his taijutsu stance and she did as well.
Small cooking scene- skip five paragraphs if you don't want to read Minato cooking
When Minato arrived to the kitchen he looked through the refrigerator and noticed it was well stocked. He was sure that Axel made sure Kushina always had as much money as she needed to keep it fully stocked. He looked through the pantry and noticed the same thing. He also noticed there was a lot of different types of pasta noodles. He remembered that other than BBQ Axel's favorite thing to eat were all different types of pasta… and strawberry cheesecake. He had an unhealthy obsession with the stuff. He'd come to a conclusion that he'd make a pasta dish for the three of them. He grabbed an onion, a box of elbow noodles and assorted seasonings and spices from the pantry he turned his attention to the refrigerator and grabbed a pack of chicken thighs, pre-minced garlic as well as some fresh herbs and mushrooms, and finally heavy whipping cream. He vaguely remembered making this same meal for an important event in his life but couldn't put his finger on it.
Minato pulled a large pot and a large saucepan out. He filled the pot with water, a sprinkle of salt and a bit of oil and started boiling it. He waited for the saucepan to heat up a good amount and seasoned up the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. He placed a bit of oil in it and the chicken thighs. While he was letting them sear he cut and then diced the onion as well as cutting the mushrooms down a bit. Flipping the chicken he continued to wait until some of the flavor was left over on the pan and pulled it. He placed the diced onions in and a bit of white vinegar to de-glaze the pan and keep p the chicken flavor in the onions. He let them caramelize a bit and placed the mushrooms in and began cutting the chicken pieces. He noticed they weren't FULLY cooked with a tad bit of pink but that was fine as they'd cook the rest of the way in the sauce he planned on making. By now the water was boiling and he put the elbows in.
Minato turned his attention back to the now cooking mushrooms and notice they weren't steaming as much. 'That means most of the water has been cooked out, good.' He poured roughly two cups of heavy cream in and began stirring it around then placed a HEAVY amount of garlic in. One thing not many people knew about him and Axel was their obsession with garlic stemming form their mother. She'd literally eat spoonfuls of just garlic sometimes because she loved the stuff. It was essentially her guilty pleasure. He had to sweat drop at the thought of that with a chuckle. 'Good times, good times.'
With some more salt and pepper added he looked to his assorted seasonings. Parsley, basil, oregano, and rosemary. It all went in, in a gracious amount at that. He loved herbs and seasoning so thus was normal for him if he ever cooked. Axel sure as hell never complained, that's for sure. He noticed that the sauce was coming together nicely, tasting it he confirmed it had a nice mushroom flavor with a creaminess that would be tough to beat but he wasn't done yet. He checked the noodles and noticed they were ready so he strained them and added them in. 'What am I forgetting? Parmeson!' it didn't take long for a handful of parmesan cheese to end up in the mixture as well as the chicken chunks and he let it all simmer for about five minutes after stirring it around. He just barely noticed the two other inhabitants of the kitchen/dining room patiently waiting at the table and just watching him. To Sasuke and Kushina it was quite mesmerizing to see the Yellow Flash who killed a thousand shinobi in almost an instant glide around a kitchen with the grace he was. He wasn't dancing or anything like that but he was definitely in the zone.
The last thing for his recipe was to add a but of fresh spinach leaves which he grabbed real quick out of the refrigerator. It was a good handful but it was a nice amount he noted. He took the time to stir them in and then put away all the rest of the ingredients he had out letting the dish simmer just a bit longer in the meantime and pulled out three bowls and forks.
"You ready to eat?" he asked them as he served them each a generous helping. "Of course! I'm starving!" Kushina excitedly stated. "What are we having?" Sasuke inquired as he'd never seen this particular meal. "It's a mushroom chicken pasta. It's known for its creamy and earthy mushroom flavor of course," he answered as he placed any remaining dishes that were unnecessary in the sink and sat down noticing they already started eating while his back was turned. At least they seemed to like it?
"I remember now! This was the meal you proposed to me with!" she said slamming a fist into a palm out of enlightenment. "Yeah, it's a special one to me as it's the only one mom could teach me before she passed," Minato explained with a certain fondness in his eyes. The meal was cooked the exact same way she would cook it, he never once changed the recipe for he feared if he did he wouldn't even like it. It was one of the special things that he always had to remember her by. "That makes your proposal that much more special then, ya know?"
"Indeed, how is it Sasuke?"
"Would it be selfish to ask that you make this more often?" he asked a little embarrassed. Minato reached across the table and gave his hair a tussle. "Not at all. I'll start making it from time to time. Now that I think of it, Naruto's probably never had it and I'm sure Axel would love to have mom's cooking again. Satsumei and Mikoto will probably enjoy it too," he responded and they talked well into the night before Kushina eventually pushed both of them up the stairs saying she could deal with a few dishes. Minato would not argue and of course Sasuke was not willing to I cur her wrath by fighting her on it.
The next morning
The Namikaze trio were gathered at the village gates with an entourage of Jiraiya, Kushina, Mikoto, Kakashi, and the Uchiha siblings. "You all be good while I'm gone. If anything happens that you feel you can't handle send me a message, alright? I'll be back in a flash," Axel got smacked upside the head by Minato. "That's my thing."
"But I'm with you, you can flash us back."
Both Jiraiya and Mikoto noticed something different about Axel. He was no longer wearing the flame cloak he started wearing in honor of Minato. He was now wearing his father's armor once again. What this change entailed was a mystery to them but it definitely meant Axel was trying to send a message of some kind while he was out. It once again reminded them that he was the spitting image of his father except with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Before they could take off they noticed him clutch his face, specifically around where his eyes were. "Ax!" Minato shouted as he placed a hand on his shoulder and Mikoto rushed over to him placing her hands over his eyes, palms glowing with a green aura. "Ax, when were you going to tell the rest of us that you were going blind?" she asked almost feeling slightly betrayed. This was huge for an Uchiha and needed to be addressed.
"I've told Naruto, Minato and Jiraiya-sensei. I didn't want to worry you."
"Ax, you know the procedure for fixing this. You need a transplant. I'm good enough at medical ninjutsu to implant Minato's old eyes back into HIS body but I'm not sure about implanting someone else's eyes, its slightly different."
"Don't worry, I've taken care of that," was his cryptic answer. She glared at him to continue no matter how cute it made her seem in his eyes.
"All will be revealed in time. Just know the princess will be back," he stayed on his cryptic path and only Jiraiya and Minato's eyes widened in realization.
"I'm fine now. It's time we go," he said as he turned away. She was about to fight him over it when Jiraiya placed his hand on her shoulder and gave her a shake of the head. "But Jiraiya-sensei, he can't go out if he's going blind."
"He still has Sage Mode. Even if he does go blind he'll still be able to sense his foes and he's got Minato and Naruto as back up. He'll be fine," the Sannin assured her. She relented and let them walk out the village gates before anyone could change their minds. The only difference now was that both Minato and Naruto were taking special care to keep an eye on their Hokage. Naruto even went so far as to summon a small platoon of shadow clones to surround them.
They'd dashed through the Land of Fire at a very quick pace finally reaching the border to the Land of Rain. They would have to run through Rain in order to get to the Sand. They tried to stay away from it but they did pass by the Hidden Rain Village.
The two older men stopped when they realized that Naruto stopped while staring toward the village's direction.
"What's wrong Naruto? Why'd you stop?" Minato asked. "I sense multiple powerful chakra signatures in that direction including one that feels very familiar."
"Well that is a shinobi village, although you've never been to the Land of Rain so I'm not sure why anyone would be familiar. In what way?" Axel replied.
"Well you know how I've been a sensor from a young age, right?"
"Yes of course. Since before even the Uchiha massacre. Why?"
"It feels like someone from back then, I just can't put my finger on it. But they are very powerful. I'm not even sure if Pervy-sage could take them on. There's also five other signatures that are similar."
"Six chakra readings that are all on Jiraiya-sensei's level? That's concerning," Minato was correct, the Toad Sage was considered one of the greatest warriors to come out of the Leaf especially in his older age. He's only become stronger since his fight with Hanzo the Salamander so anyone who could contend with him was worrying.
"Well, this isn't part of our mission so maybe at another time we'll deal with this. As concerning as this is we have prior dealings so let's go," although Axel did want to check it out he was right and so they left for the border of Wind.
They arrived and noticed almost the instant transition in weather. "Where are we going anyways?" Naruto asked.
"Believe it or not there is a shrine that is connected to your grandmother. She had told us at one time she was the shrine maiden there and while we never did go to visit it she did give us its rough location. It could apparently shed some light on our own heritage if nothing else. At the very least tell us why she was so powerful and why her blood running through our veins makes us such prodigies," Axel explained as the brothers surveyed their surroundings and barely caught sight of it. A mirage in the dessert. It was really a genjutsu meant to fool anyone without connection to the shrine. It was such an absurdly high technique that it was unreal. Axel knew the Kurama clan though so he just rolled with it. In the world of shinobi very often things that are considered impossible are very well possible with some ingenuity. This was easily explained by a combination of a genjutsu and fuinjutsu. He wasn't sure if he or even Minato were capable of reproducing it but he knew his mother was more than capable of such feats.
They'd walked toward the mirage and noticed that it seemed to be clearing up and revealed an average size wooden shrine that was just big enough for someone to live in. It was well tended and preserved with a bit of gold and silver ornaments hanging from the roof.
They all entered and while it was cramped they could see scrolls all around. It looked more like a tiny storage house for scrolls. Axel picked the first one he saw up and merely yelled "What the fuck!?"