Minato Namikaze Leaves Konoha

Konoha.

Hokage's Office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi asked calmly, "Have you really made up your mind, Minato?"

Holding Kushina gently, Minato Namikaze answered with conviction, "I'm very sorry, Third, but I've made my decision."

"Seeing that future made me realize I wasn't a good father."

"Or a good husband."

Hiruzen Sarutobi gazed out the window and said slowly, "I'm sorry, Minato. If you need someone to blame, blame me."

"My future self broke his promise."

Minato Namikaze looked down at Kushina in his arms, shook his head gently, and replied, "No, Third."

"I'm the one who should apologize."

"As the Fourth Hokage,"

"I understand better than anyone how much the village needs me right now."

"Yet I've chosen to leave at a time like this. I'm the one who should have been apologizing all along."

With his back to Minato Namikaze and Kushina, Hiruzen Sarutobi quietly gazed at Hokage Rock in the distance.

As he remembered the First and Second Hokage, tears slipped down Hiruzen Sarutobi's cheeks. As though a weight had lifted from him, he said calmly, "This isn't your fault, Minato. I have to admit I've grown old."

"And more muddleheaded by the day. Whatever choices you make from here on,"

"You'll always be heroes of Konoha. That will never change."

Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly turned to face Kushina and Minato. "Take care of yourselves once you leave the village, wherever you go."

"You will always be Konoha's Fourth Hokage and one of its finest Ninja."

Remembering what he himself had done, Hiruzen Sarutobi choked out, "You'll always be my pride."

"When the time comes, bring little Naruto back and let him see how Konoha has changed."

"Konoha's gates will always be open to your family."

Minato Namikaze looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who seemed both familiar and strange.

He recalled all the times Hiruzen Sarutobi had taught him.

A tear ran down Minato Namikaze's cheek as he said, his voice thick with emotion, "Wherever I go, I'll always be Konoha's Fourth Hokage."

"If the village is ever in danger, I'll step forward without hesitation."

"When Kushina's and my son grows up, I'll bring little Naruto back."

"Please take care of yourself, Third. Teacher."

Hiruzen Sarutobi burst into hearty laughter.

"Ha ha..."

It had been so long since he had heard Minato call him teacher.

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned away, unable to keep looking at Minato Namikaze.

He was afraid he truly wouldn't be able to let Minato and Kushina leave.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Konoha had failed Minato. In the end, all he could do was urge him solemnly, "Take care, Minato. Protect Kushina and little Naruto."

"And when you return, let this grandfather make it up to his little grandson."

"Remember!"

"Take care out there. If you miss home, come back."

"This old man will be waiting for you in Konoha."

Minato Namikaze nodded, carefully lifted Kushina into his arms, and used the Flying Thunder God.

Whoosh...

Outside Konoha, Minato Namikaze gazed tenderly at Kushina in his arms. "Kushina, from now on, I'm no longer Konoha's Fourth Hokage."

"From now on, I'm your husband and Naruto's father."

"I'll stay by your side and protect you both."

"From this day forward, I, Minato Namikaze, will see every mountain and river with you."

Holding Kushina, Minato Namikaze slowly walked into the forest.

Beyond the borders of the Land of Fire, Minato Namikaze looked lovingly at Kushina, still unconscious in his arms.

He had long since sensed the enemy Ninja other villages had sent into the quiet forest.

But he paid them no mind. He simply carried Kushina with care.

As he walked, he warned them in a low voice, "Today, I don't want my wife splashed with blood."

Minato Namikaze fixed a murderous gaze on the distance. "But!"

"If your footsteps disturb my wife, I'll be very displeased."

"So I, Minato Namikaze, have one thing to say to anyone who dares take another step forward."

"Die!"

The dozen or so Jonin hidden nearby heard his warning.

Once they recognized the yellow-haired figure as Minato Namikaze, Konoha's Fourth Hokage,

They trembled. Not one of them dared take another step.

Minato Namikaze calmly carried Kushina away.

Iwagakure.

Tsuchikage's Office.

Floating before his desk, Ōnoki muttered irritably, "So he chose to leave after all?"

Ōnoki let out a weary sigh. "Ah..."

Then he gave Akiba, the Jonin before him, a stern order. "Akiba, pass down my command. If anyone encounters Minato and his wife outside the village, they must not fight them."

"Treat them as friends, never enemies. Anyone who makes an enemy of them will be expelled from Iwagakure."

Akiba, an Iwagakure Jonin, answered respectfully, "Yes, Tsuchikage!"

Whoosh...

Akiba hurried out the window to deliver the order.

Watching Akiba leave, Ōnoki's eyes filled with exhaustion. He murmured to himself, "Kurotsuchi, Kitsuchi, have you reached Konoha?"

"The Shinobi World will soon be thrown into chaos."

"I don't know whether choosing Konoha was right or wrong."

"Our future enemy makes me feel utterly powerless, and now Konoha has lost Minato Namikaze."

"And most important of all is that child from the future, Naruto Uzumaki."

"Oh, never mind."

Ōnoki shook his head in frustration and said with a wry smile, "The children of the future are more monstrous than the last."

"What could even my younger self have done?"

"And I really am old now."

"Kurotsuchi, Kitsuchi, whether Iwagakure survives is up to you."

"I may be an old man,"

"But these old bones can still put up a fight against the Mystery Masked Man."

If the Mystery Masked Man dared attack Iwagakure now,

Ōnoki's gaze sharpened, and he declared, "Even if I can't defeat the Mystery Masked Man,"

"I won't let him have his way, even if it costs me my life!"

"Even if I die, I'll make the Mystery Masked Man understand one thing!"

"There are no cowards in Iwagakure."

"Only Iwagakure Ninja who die fighting."

"Not a single Iwagakure Ninja who fears death."

Ōnoki calmed down, but his thoughts raced and he remained on guard.

Ōnoki looked out the window, filled with longing for his granddaughter. "Kurotsuchi, ever since your grandfather saw those scenes of the future..."

"I don't know why,"

"But I keep feeling as though I can see a future where you and Konoha live in peace."

"Ha ha ha..."

Ōnoki suddenly chuckled to himself.

"If you were here beside your grandfather right now, Kurotsuchi,"

"You'd probably think I was beyond help."

"Kurotsuchi, the future of Iwagakure really will rest in your hands."

"Grow strong in Konoha, in this Shinobi World that's about to fall into chaos."

"Grow as strong as you can."

Note: Thank you to Drunk in the Mortal World Courtyard for the little bouquet of flowers.

Note: Little Dudu, I got your razor blades. I've posted two chapters since four this morning.

Satisfied now?

Don't be mad anymore, okay?

Hehe, love you all~