Chapter 105. Lost trust and broken bonds

"What do you mean, 'you had no choice'!?" Minato's voice shook with rage. "You left my son at the mercy of grieving villagers and shinobi! He could have died!"

The room was heavy with the weight of Minato's accusation.

"I assure you, Naruto's life was never in danger," Hiruzen said in a futile attempt to calm his successor.

After it became apparent Minato had some grievances, the three moved to the Hokage's suite to talk. Hiruzen was thankful to Jiraiya for setting up privacy seals. The other villages need not know the going ons of Konoha.

"You!" Minato moved to grab his neck in a rare show of rage. The last time he felt this angry was when his son was born and the nine tail escaped. He had to hold back considerably so he didn't hurt Sakura, but he didn't need his true strength to beat this old man to death.

"Now, now, Minato," Jiraiya stepped between them. "I know you're a little confused, coming back from the dead and all, but I assure you, whatever Hiruzen did, it was for the village's sake."

"Of course, it was for the sake of the village," Minato spoke darkly.

"I sacrificed my son for the sake of the village, for the sake of balance! I knew the burden he would face, but I still did it. I was confident, so sure my son wouldn't suffer like Kushina. I was sure the village would see him as a hero for his sacrifice!"

Minato clenched his fist, his eyes heating with tears.

"So why did you prove me wrong? Why was my son isolated and hated, like an Outsider?"

"It wasn't like that, Minato. I'm not sure what Sakura told you, but Naruto wasn't neglected," Hiruzen said. "I was sure to give him his own apartment and an allowance-"

"You call that disgusting place a suitable living space!" Minato's rage spiked, and the wind lashed out at the walls.

"How is a child, never taught the value of money, supposed to spend it? The villagers hated him; what makes you think they would even treat him fairly? You'd be lucky if they only gave him damaged goods!"

Hiruzen frowned. He didn't want to think his village would do something like that; after all, Naruto was just a child.

He knew there was tension in the village, but it was resolved without much issue.

"I'm not sure what you heard, but while there was tension in the village, it eventually dissolved. The villagers warmed up to Naruto."

"No," Minato objected. "They didn't 'warm up' to my son; they feared the person beside him."

Hiruzen flinched at his words, much to Jiraiya's confusion.

"A child did what you couldn't," Minato scoffed. "Without fear of retribution, Sakura stood by his side and did what you should have done!"

Hiruzen's stomach was in knots. Minato was right. It was around the time Sakura appeared that the problem mostly resolved itself. Suddenly, noble clans took Naruto in and treated him well; for fear of retribution, the villagers stopped antagonizing him outright. There was also Sakura's killing intent, which was very potent for a child.

The Third Hokage fell silent. He had" nothing to say in his defence.

"Sakura," Jiraiya said in the silence. "That's the pink hair demon, right?"

Hiruzen looked at his student in shock, and Minato's eyes grew cold as he focused on his sensei.

"And where the hell were you?"

"Huh?"

"I named you Naruto's Godfather, yet no matter where I look, I can't find a trace of you. Naruto doesn't even know who you are." Minato's voice was low and cold, something he reserved for his mortal enemies.

"Now, now, don't be like that, Minato," Jiraiya chuckled nervously. "I was on the move, ya know, no environment to raise a child."

"He doesn't even know who you are," Minato repeated.

"There was an incident, the Uchihas were massacred, and the Akatsuki-"

"She taught him about life," Minato interrupted him. "She told him how to live healthy, cooked for him, loved him like a mother would! A child was caring for my son!"

Jiraiya was speechless.

"And yet, his own guardian never once visited him, never once spared him a glance! What the hell was all this for!" Chakra exploded from Minato as he grabbed his head in frustration. "What was the point of me dying? What was my life even for? I gave everything for the village, and they don't even care about my son!"

"Minato!" Hiruzen called out. "They didn't know! Naruto's heritage was kept a secret from everyone, even Naruto," he yelled above the roaring winds. "If the other nations knew who he was, they would stop at nothing to kill the child of the Yellow Flash!"

The winds stopped abruptly.

The room went still as Minato stood to his full height.

"A village that can't even protect my child is no village of mine," Minato said coldly. Hiruzen and Jiraiya stilled.

"Are you?" Jiraiya started.

"I have no Master, I have no Kage," with cold eyes of indifference, Minato announced. "I don't know you."

With that, he turned and disappeared in a flash of gold.

Jiraiya stood stunned. Hiruzen fell to his knees, his legs giving out.

"Sensei!" Jiraiya rushed over to Hiruzen and helped him up. Hiruzen collapsed on the bed, his face pale with fright.

"What's the matter," Jiraiya asked, worried.

"Minato defected," He said weakly. "The yellow flash denounced his village."

Jiraiya's eyes widened with horror, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips.

"But, isn't he a ghost now?"

Hiruzen became even paler.

"Sakura!"

Minato sat atop a tall building, looking out at the village with hollow eyes. He needed to return to Sakura to help with the seal; he needed to get up.

So why was he still here?

"Are you sure you won't regret it?"

Minato looked up at the Uchiha approaching him.

"Itachi," He greeted, giving the Uchiha pause.

"Sakura told you about me?" He asked.

"No, It was Naruto, actually," Minato explained.

Itachi's eyes softened, and Minato saw his fondness for Naruto.

How could Fugaku's son care more about Naruto than the people Minato entrusts his son to?

"What makes you believe I have anything to regret?" Minato asked.

"You look as though you lost everything," Itachi explained. "I've seen shinobi with that look before they go rogue." Minato chuckled; he knew the look.

A look of despair mixed with anger and fear. A complicated expression that reflected the shinobi's inner turmoil.

"I'm a ghost," Minato told him. "Who would care if I go rogue?"

"I think the shinobi world would be turned upside down if it was known," Itachi sat beside him. "When Madara went rogue, no one understood the implications."

Minato flinched at the name of his cellmate. The man wasn't what he imagined. He heard horror stories of the ghost of the Uchiha; as the Hokage, he knew more than most. When that masked man said he was Madara Uchiha, Minato was ready to die there.

Now he knew better. Madara was more frightening than a masked man using his name. He was a calamity-level threat, even in the body of a child.

"I'm only a ghost trapped in the body of a child," Minato said solemnly. "Unless it's her will, I won't harm the village."

Itachi chuckled. "I will always be amazed at Sakura's patience. I'm not sure I would be able to endure what she has. Ever since we met, I knew there was something wrong with her. Aside from her crush on my brother, anyway. She fought against Jonin-level shinobi for Naruto's sake. She's always protecting others with no regard to herself. Sasuke's going to go bald from stress."

Minato laughed, his hot-headed wife flashing in his mind. Kushina was also very reckless when it came to protecting her own. She would have been a fantastic mother.

"I'm not sure if she'll be able to overcome it this time," Itachi admitted. Minato looked at him with question.

"She fought a dragon!" he raked his hand through his hair. "And won! Everyone thinks she's now more powerful than ever, but I know the cost of power." He covered his eyes. "That power isn't something a child can handle. She isn't even from a clan."

Minato sympathised with the boy. And he was right. Sakura isn't handling it well. Her seal is broken, and her body can't hold the power.

Minato sighed. Here he was, feeling sorry for himself, and Sakura was barely hanging on after sacrificing herself.

Minato stood, his eyes regaining life.

"Don't worry," he told Itachi as the boy looked up. "Sakura isn't alone anymore." Minato smiled at the young Uchiha. "I'll protect her for sure!"

Itachi stared in awe before smiling sadly.

"I suppose she won't be able to say no to your help since you're now a part of her, huh?"

The two shared a laugh and took off toward the hotel.

Minato was lacking as a father, but he would ensure he repaid Sakura for her kindness.

Sakura wasn't at the hotel, no one was.

Minato returned to an empty room in the same state he left it.

"Where are they?" he wondered aloud as Itachi moved around the space, taking up the scroll with seal plans.

"Did I miss something?" He asked, waving the scroll.

"The seal Sakura used to seal us is coming undone and will kill her if we don't fix it," Minato explained.

"Ah," Itachi accepted. "Sounds like Sakura."

He looked at the messy scribbles on the scroll before turning to Minato. "Do you have the original sealing scroll?" Itachi asked. Minato shook his head.

"I don't have the scroll but," he took up an empty scroll and channelled chakra into it before presenting it to the Uchiha. "I can give you a copy."

Itachi took the offered scroll and read through it frowning.

"She used the five-element wheel to balance out the chakra?" his sharingan activated as he read. "This seal seems complicated, why didn't it work?"

"A seal like that is made for balance," a voice came from the window. The two turned to the white hair man who smiled sheepishly at them. "Of course, if one element is stronger than the others, balance is impossible. Am I right?"

"Jiraiya?" Itachi said in wonder.

Minato growled. "This is none of your concern!"

Jiraiya flinched but adopted a brave face, "I'm here to help," He defended himself. "If a bright kunoichi were to die like this, it would be Konoha's loss."

"You mourn the loss of a stranger, yet dare to ignore your godson!"

Itachi looked between the two, worried they would start fighting any moment.

Suddenly Yamato rose from the ground like a growing plant and stood between the two.

"Lord Fourth, Sakura's condition has worsened," He informed Minato. "We need to get going."

Minato didn't need to be told twice. He collected several empty scrolls and grabbed Itachi's wrist.

Jiraiya hurried to speak, "I can help!"

Minato paused.

"When it comes to seals I'm also quite versed in them!"

"We have the God of shinobi, Hashirama and Tobirama working with us," Minato said coldly. "What can a simple toad sage do?"

Jiraiya recoiled at the dismissal as the two teleported away. Yamato looked back at the legendary Sannin with sympathy.

"I'm sure, he'll come around once the situation is resolved," Yamato offered assurance before sinking back into the ground.

Jiraiya slumped in defeat.

"'What was it even for,' huh?"

Hashirama's frustration grew as another seal failed. Nothing he did could contain Madara's ever-growing chakra. Even as they spoke, his chakra pool continued to grow; devouring Sakura further. If things continued, Sakura would die, and Madara would live again. He looked back at the pale girl, surrounded by melting ice. Her temperature suddenly spiked on their way to the hotel, and they were forced to take her to a cold place to cool her temperature.

Hashirama witnessed something similar with his wife during childbirth. Kurama's chakra leaked out of her and burned her and those around her like molten lava.

It wasn't until their second child that he realized childbirth weakened the seal and took precautions. None of those precautions were working on Sakura. Her body seemed to burn through all the seals he tried on her. He couldn't contain Madara's chakra!

Madara was a Uchiha who specialised in Fire, and his chakra was unreasonably hot. Sakura was an earth and water nature, if not for her incredible healing ability, her skin would peel off from the heat.

Tobirama, as a powerful water nature user, was doing his part to keep her from burning. Working alongside Kakashi, they froze the melting ice to keep Sakura at a reasonable temperature and support the seal. The other genins rushed around, gathering more ice to add to Sakura's frozen throne. Everyone was working hard.

"Ugh!" Naruto groaned as another seal burned.

"I really thought that one would work," Shikamaru commented, crossing out the failed seal from his scroll. The more knowledgeable members of Konoha 12 sat together to create a new seal since Sakura was unavailable.

"At this point, we're really just trying to stop that ghost from killing Sakura," Neji commented.

"If the seal breaks, she won't survive the extraction," Kurama confirmed.

"Can't we use the seal she had before?" Shino asked.

"The situation has changed," Hashirama explained. "Ma- Ghost is more powerful than us, so balance is impossible. If we used it, it would break again immediately."

"Just who is that guy?" Naruto groaned, starting another seal from the list. "Sakura said there was no one more powerful than you, so how can that guy beat you?"

Hashirama blushed despite himself. "I wouldn't say I'm the most powerful."

"Ah! Lord Fourth is back!" Hinata announced, seeing beyond the ice walls with her Byakugan.

"Do you think he'll be able to help?" Sasuke asked, worried. "We've been at this for a while now. How did Sakura create such a seal on her own?"

"Sorry I'm late," Minato announced, walking in with Itachi on his heel.

"Nii-san?" Sasuke called in surprise.

"Dad!" Naruto cheered, relieved.

Minato wasted no time. He walked over to Sakura and checked her condition. Her seal strained to contain Madara's chakra. The sight reminded him of the night of Naruto's birth and the struggle he faced holding Kushina's seal. He gathered Madara wasn't actively trying to leave, so the seal remained intact.

Minato took Sakura from her sitting position and placed her on the cold floor for better access to her seal. Placing a hand over her chest, he began to suppress Madara, groaning as the seal burned him.

Tobirama and Kakashi moved with the Fourth, finding it easier to maintain Sakura's temperature.

Itachi joined the Fuinjutsu team and looked over the scroll of seals. Tobirama combined his knowledge with Hashirama, producing plausible seals to hold Madara back. With time, trial and error, Tobirama was confident he could create a seal that surpassed Sakura's Five God seal, but time was the one thing they didn't have.

"It's no longer about balance but suppressing the raging chakra, right?" Itachi asked, taking a brush and drawing out a seal he and Minato designed on their way over.

"We'll use the Kage's chakra and elemental affinity to contain the flames," He explained, showing a diagram of… the Rinnegan?

No, it was a six-layer circle with a fire in the middle.

Tobirama hummed as he glanced at the diagram. "You're thinking of using my water to suppress the flames and the others to support me?"

"Right!" Itachi confirmed. "We'll use your chakra as the first layer of defence, since fire is weak to water."

Tobirama made a face. "I don't believe that for a second," He muttered. Memories of battles against Uchihas, unaffected by his water, flashed in his mind.

Naruto tilted his head in confusion, and Itachi explained further. He drew the kanji for each element and connected them with arrows to form a circle. Naruto recognised it as Sakura's previous seal.

"Before, Sakura used the relationship between each element to maintain balance between the Kages, since everyone was on the same level. Since 'Fire' is now stronger than the others, they must work together to suppress it using their relationship and ability to empower the other element.

Sakura groaned and Minato grunted as the seal spread further on her body. Tobirama clicked his tongue and placed his hands above Minato's, helping maintain the seal and leaving Kakashi to maintain her temperature alone.

"Hurry!" Tobirama hissed. "We can't keep this up for long!"

"Right!"

There was a flurry of movement. Such a complicated seal would require rolls of scrolls, or lots of walls and ground surfaces. The group opted for both. Placing Sakura in the center of the room they wrote around her.

When they ran out of ink, they used blood, and when they had no more wall space, more was dug out; the scrolls were filled with text and the walls were not spared. Tobirama was trembling with pain by the time they finished decorating the space.

The ice cave looked like a cluttered mess with a sleeping girl in the center but there was a method to this madness.

Since they were a part of the seal, the Kages couldn't cast it, leaving Itachi, Yamato, Naruto, Sasuke, Neji and Shikamaru to do it. Since it was the first time casting a seal for some they were more chakra reserves than casters. Itachi took the leading role, Ino connecting all of them to ensure their movements were in sync.

With the hand seals to mould the chakra they chorused.

"Rings of Samsara!" they clapped their hands, activating the seal.

My inner world was burning.

An unforgiving flame that made it hard to breathe. Madara sat with me, brushing my hair softly. His eyes were filled with guilt as I smiled up at him.

"Don't give up yet," I told him, my voice was weaker than I intended. "Don't you know the power of friendship can solve anything?"

I reached up and patted his cheek, he held my hand before it could fall.

"And if they fail?" he asked; speaking for the first time in a while.

"There's always plan B," I said with a chuckle.

"And what's plan B?" I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped when the Kages returned. They fell from the sky like meteors landing some distance away from us; each further than the last.

"I don't think they returned to say goodbye," I said as Madara's eyes narrowed.

I heard a shout and chakra rushed into me, pushing Madara away. He hissed and moved to return but was held in place by a seal.

I smirked at him before he disappeared from view.

Power of friendship.

A fortress formed around me, a six-storey palace, each floor sporting the kanji of an element and yin and yang. The first ring.

Flames roared to life around the fortress, forming a ring of fire, Madara. Water appeared around the raging flames, a natural moat keeping the fire in check, Tobirama. A forest grew around the moat, thick with trees and foliage and with no clear path through, Hashirama. A storm formed around the forest, blocking it from the world with strong winds that cut flesh, Minato. Nine tails rose from the ground like a mountain, encaging the storm, forest, moat, flames, and fortress, Kurama.

A dome formed around us, decorated with glowing seals resembling stars on a moonless night. The dome shrouded us in darkness before bleeding into a blue sky. The whole process took seconds, and I could breathe again.

The seal took a new form.

No longer the Uzumaki spiral, but more akin to the Rinne Sharingan, tomoes and all.

I blinked sleepily at the scenery. Gentle hands combed through my hair as I rested my head on Madara's lab.

"How do you feel?" he asked, his face filled with worry.

"Pretty good," I confessed.

The scene was better than the mansion of many doors I locked myself in before. The others soon joined us atop the fortress, all sporting new outfits.

"What are you wearing?" I asked. They were in white robes reminiscent of the sage's robes.

"Shouldn't we be asking you that, Princess?" Minato teased. I made a point of ignoring the glamorous dress I found myself in. I usually had control of my outfits in my mindscape, but this thing refused to change.

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean," I said flatly.

Minato fell to his knees, prostrating himself, his forehead on the ground. We stared at him in confusion.

"I didn't get to say it before," he started. "Thank you for protecting my son!"

My eyes widened. I wasn't expecting him to thank me like this.

I sat up quickly, waving my hands frantically.

"No need!" I protested.

"I was naive and left my son in a hostile environment. It shouldn't have been you who stood up for him. Thank you for all you've done for him!"

I sighed. He wasn't going to get up, was he?

I took a breath and stood, not a fan of this formal act.

"Stand up, Minato," I said softly. He raised his head to look at me, and I smiled.

"You need not feel guilty for your choices. You weren't wrong in thinking they would protect him," I offered a hand. "What's done is done; all we can do is move towards tomorrow with the lessons of yesterday."

Minato's eyes overflowed with tears. "Sakura..."

After sobbing for a while, he reached up and took my hand, offering a charming smile with tear-stained cheeks. "I'll do my best to repay you."

There was really no need!

"Let's protect them together," I said, concealing my true thoughts.

"Right!"

"Can we not have another episode of you dying next time," Tobirama grumbled as I pulled Minato to his feet.

"Yes!" Hashirama agreed. "I would rather not go through this kind of stress again." He looked on the brink of tears.

"I'll do my best," I lied.

What I planned wasn't something without risk.

Madara sighed.

"You really can't rely on anyone, can you?"

I chuckled.

"Don't worry," I assured him. "When the time comes, I'll have no choice but to rely on you," I confessed. This wasn't something I could do alone, after all.

Hey My sweet readers, sorry I've been MIA. Berly was merciless, ya know. My pole, it broke my concrete pole! I had no lights for two weeks! And I still don't have internet! I got a little hotspot so I'm posting this quickly!

I'll try to write and post whenever I get internet, until everything goes back to normal.

Thanks for your continued support!

Until next time

Night song~