Minato Namikaze saw his newborn son in the delivery room. When he noticed the blood-red markings on the baby's face, he was briefly startled, but quickly regained his composure.
"Minato, the baby..." Kushina lay on the bed, tears in her eyes as she softly called to her husband. After seeing her son's face covered in birthmarks, she had felt terribly guilty. As a mother, she had given him a rather unfortunate start in life.
Kushina could already imagine her younger son being pointed at and whispered about as he grew up. Those birthmarks would probably become a lifelong shadow over the boy. Kushina Uzumaki had experienced bullying at school herself. Though she had gone from being bullied to bullying others, the memory of being ostracized remained painfully vivid.
"Kushina, you've worked hard."
"The baby's healthy and adorable!"
Minato came to Kushina's bedside. A sharp-eyed nurse quickly brought over a chair, and he sat beside his wife, gently reassuring her. He knew what Kushina was worried about, and he didn't want her feeling guilty over something so minor.
As the couple spoke, the newborn seemed to have tired himself out crying. He now lay quietly in his swaddling clothes, fast asleep.
"Mm."
Kushina gave a slight nod at her husband's reassuring words and turned to look at their younger son. In her first hurried glance, she hadn't paid much attention, but the birthmarks on her son's face weren't actually that ugly. The flame-shaped markings gave him a rather mysterious look. It was only because newborns had such wrinkled faces that he'd seemed unattractive.
"Minato, what should we name the baby?"
"Did Jiraiya-sensei have any suggestions?"
When it came to naming their child, Jiraiya had to be mentioned. He had helped Minato and Kushina name their first child, Naruto Uzumaki.
Minato had