A Parent's Love

When Chen Feng saw the world again, he realized he had become a newborn infant. At this moment, he was being held by a middle-aged woman in a ponytail, who was walking toward a young man with blond hair and blue eyes.

The man walked over quickly, calling out, "Naruto," and reached out to hold him. Just then, the woman holding him said, "The child's mother should see him first," and walked past him.

The man froze in place for a moment. Meanwhile, Chen Feng was completely bewildered. A cold wind seemed to blow through his heart as he cursed inwardly, Damn it, I've become Naruto Uzumaki. After living two lifetimes as an orphan, I never expected to become one again. Am I destined to never possess the love of parents?

It was true; Chen Feng had been an orphan for two lifetimes. He had been one since birth in his first life, and in his second, his parents had died in a car accident, using their bodies to shield him.

Because of this, Chen Feng yearned for parental love more than anything. He watched as he was carried and placed beside a young woman with red hair. Naruto (from here on, referred to as Naruto) looked at the woman gazing at him with such affection and knew this was his mother in this life, Kushina.

He saw her call out "Naruto" softly, reaching out to stroke him gently as she said, "I've finally met you, Naruto." Naruto felt this was the happiest moment in the world.

At this moment, Minato also walked over and whispered to Kushina, "Are you alright? And, thank you." After Minato gently stroked his wife and son, he steeled himself and said, "Even though the birth just finished, there is still work to be done. I must calm the Nine-Tails immediately."

After speaking, his hands were already pressed onto the Nine-Tails' sealing formula, and Naruto was carried away by Biwako, who had delivered him. Naruto desperately wanted to stay, because if he remained by his father's side, no one could use him to threaten his parents.

Unfortunately, he was now just a newborn infant. As soon as Biwako carried Naruto out the door, she encountered the Masked Man, was instantly struck down, and Naruto was snatched away.

Minato had just prepared to reinforce the Nine-Tails' seal when he saw the two of them fly back into the room. Minato shouted nervously, "Lady Biwako! Taji!"

Just then, the voice of the Masked Man came: "Fourth Hokage Minato, stay away from the Jinchuriki, or this child's life will only last one minute." Minato and Kushina were both incredibly tense upon seeing Naruto held by the Masked Man. Kushina cried out "Naruto" in alarm, while Minato wondered how this person had bypassed the barrier.

Kushina's seal loosened, the markings appearing on her skin as the Nine-Tails struggled to break free. The Masked Man then said, "It seems you don't care whether this child lives or dies." Minato said nervously, "Wait, calm down." The Masked Man threw a Kunai into the air with his right hand, caught it, and said, "You should say that to yourself. I am very calm right now."

With that, he tossed Naruto into the air and jumped up, thrusting the Kunai toward him. Just as the blade was about to pierce Naruto's body, Minato used the Body Flicker Technique to save him. The Masked Man praised him, "As expected of the Yellow Flash, but what will you do now?"

While saving Naruto, Minato discovered an Explosive Tag attached to his back. He quickly tore off the cloth wrapping Naruto, threw it aside, and jumped out of the house with the baby just as the building exploded behind them.

Minato used the Flying Thunder God Technique to bring Naruto home. After placing him on the bed, he said, "You're safe here. I will save your mother." With that, he used the Flying Thunder God Technique again to leave the room and rescue Kushina.

Left alone in the room, Naruto felt immense hatred for his own helplessness. His parents' actions made him feel the greatness of paternal and maternal love, but also the pain of being unable to protect them and becoming a burden. His heart was filled with agony and hatred toward the Masked Man.

His intense emotional fluctuations deeply affected the White Eye on his forehead; the tightly closed eye was absorbing his emotions and was on the verge of awakening.

Time slipped away amidst Naruto's pain and self-reproach. Suddenly, the space in the room fluctuated, and Minato appeared before Naruto, carrying Kushina. After placing her beside Naruto, Minato said, "Don't worry about anything else; just stay by Naruto's side."

Kushina held Naruto and wept softly. Minato looked at his crying wife, his anger reaching its limit. He opened the wardrobe in the room and took out his Fourth Hokage Hokage Cloak. Kushina said, "You must be careful."

After putting on the cloak, Minato whispered, "I'll be back soon," and vanished. Kushina held Naruto, her eyes filled with reluctance and tenderness, without a shred of hatred.

This moved Naruto deeply. He knew that Kushina had already had the Nine-Tails extracted, and a Jinchuriki would die once their Tailed Beast was removed, because a Jinchuriki's chakra and spirit—their soul—were bound together. Once separated, the human body and soul could not withstand it.

In other words, even though Kushina knew her life was coming to an end, she wasn't thinking of revenge, but of her newborn son. Naruto's heart felt warm, filled to the brim with maternal love.

Minato returned not long after he had left. He appeared before the Nine-Tails with Naruto and Kushina. By now, Minato was exhausted from the continuous battles, his chakra nearly depleted.

Minato said with difficulty, "I must set up a barrier quickly; my chakra is almost gone." After setting the barrier, Kushina said, "I will use my remaining chakra to bind the Nine-Tails for you."

She then pressed her hands to the ground, releasing large chains that bound the Nine-Tails, rendering it unable to move. She continued, "This is the only thing I can do to help you, and it will allow me to face death. But at least it can delay the Nine-Tails' resurrection. Thank you for always loving me." Minato looked sadly at the smiling Kushina and said, "Kushina, I am the one who should be saying thank you. You are the one who made me Hokage, made me your husband, and made me this child's father, yet I..."

Kushina said affectionately, "Minato, you don't have to be like this. I am very happy to have been loved by you all this time. Besides, today is this child's birthday. Most importantly, I had nothing else in life but the dream of our family of three living happily together. But I have one wish: I really want to see Naruto after he grows up."

Minato then said, "Kushina, you don't actually have to die with the Nine-Tails. I will use the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style to seal your remaining chakra and the Nine-Tails into Naruto's body, so you will be able to see Naruto when he grows up. But since I am not a Jinchuriki, I can only use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal half of the Nine-Tails into myself." Hearing that Minato intended to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Kushina hurriedly said, "But if you use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, you will..."

Before Kushina could finish, Minato had already completed the hand seals and invoked the Dead Demon Consuming Seal. Seeing that Minato had already used the technique, Kushina said sadly, "Just to let me see Naruto grown up, just for this brief reunion... I wanted you to accompany Naruto as he grew up, but you... you know the hardships of being a Jinchuriki, so why?"

Minato looked at Kushina affectionately and said, "Making Naruto a Jinchuriki is to maintain the balance of Tailed Beasts among the Five Great Nations. Also, that Masked Man will bring chaos and bloodshed to this world, and Naruto will have to be the one to protect this hard-won peace."

Kushina could not accept this and questioned Minato, "For the balance of the Five Great Nations, for the country, for the village—can you just use Naruto as a sacrifice?"

Minato looked at Kushina and said, "You should know better than anyone what would happen if there were no country, no village, and no peace. And one more thing: our whole family are ninjas."

After hearing the last sentence, Kushina looked at Minato for a moment, seeing the resolve of a Hokage in his eyes.

Afterward, Minato added, "Besides, even if I lived, I could never surpass you. There are some things only a mother can teach him, even though you have only just become a mother. So this isn't entirely for you; it's also for Naruto. Being willing to die for one's son is also a form of paternal love."

Having said that, Minato activated the technique, pulling out half of the Nine-Tails and sealing it within his own body. He immediately felt an incredibly heavy chakra. He then summoned the sealing altar and placed Naruto upon it.

The Nine-Tails saw the altar and realized Minato intended to seal it into a brat. It flew into a rage and tried to kill Naruto. Just as its claw was about to harm the child, Minato and Kushina blocked the path, shielding Naruto, though they allowed the Nine-Tails' claw to pierce through their bodies.

Minato smiled at Kushina and said, "Is there anything you want to say to Naruto? There isn't much time left."

Kushina looked at Naruto, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Naruto, don't be a picky eater. Eat plenty and grow up fast. Remember to bathe on time every day, and don't stay up late; make sure you get enough sleep. Make friends—it doesn't matter if you don't have many, just a few you can trust is enough. Also, although Mom isn't very good at it, you must study your lessons and ninjutsu well. But everyone has things they are good at and things they aren't, so don't be too discouraged if you have trouble with your studies. Respect your teachers and seniors at school."

"You can only drink alcohol when you turn 20, but be sure to drink in moderation. When you grow up, you'll become interested in women. Mom is a woman herself, so I don't know much about that, but there are only men and women in this world. So, just find someone like your mother; don't go looking for bad women."

"Also, be careful of Master Jiraiya. You will encounter many painful and bitter things in the future, but you must remain firm and stay true to yourself. You must have dreams, and have the confidence to make those dreams come true. There's more, and more, and more... actually, there are so many more things I want to teach you, and I want to stay by your side forever. I love you."

Kushina turned her head toward Minato and said, "I'm sorry, I did all the talking."

Minato smiled and said, "It's alright. Naruto, what your mother said is exactly what I wanted to say to you, too. Now, I am going to seal my chakra into Naruto's body as well. Eight Trigrams Sealing Style!" After Minato finished the seals, he sealed the Nine-Tails and both of their chakras into Naruto's body.