บท 162: Chapter 162 - Getting to Know Sakumo Hatake.
[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Land of Fire, Year 39.
...
...
In the north, at the site where the central camp was located, a group of ninjas along with Minato and Kushina finally arrived at the location, quickly passing on information to Sakumo, the camp leader, shortly afterward.
"What did you say?" Sakumo quickly rose from his desk upon receiving the news from a ninja, who reported Minato and Kushina's arrival to him.
"They're out there, my lord," the ninja said as Sakumo understood.
"I'll check immediately," Sakumo said, leaving his things behind as he exited the tent.
He quickly went to the front of his tent, where there was a couple surrounded by some ninjas. It was Minato, whom he had seen a few times before, and Kushina, the jinchuuriki who had received orders to block the entire border on this side to find her.
He received the village's desperation, knowing full well what her leaving could mean—after all, she was Konoha's greatest weapon. However, he was both surprised and relieved to find that the great name from the west had come here to fetch the girl.
He approached as the girl clearly did not want to leave his side. She was injured, while the boy had a firm posture, ready to protect her from anything, even from the ninjas surrounding them.
Sakumo was compelled to give a small smile at this—after all, it reminded him a lot of his youth with his late wife.
"Minato Namikaze... the ninjas told me what happened..." He began calmly and looked at Kushina. "The girl needs medical attention..." he said. "I need the medical team!" he called, and two women quickly appeared.
His gaze fell on the Kumo prisoners. "Take the prisoners to the holding cells and make sure they don't escape. I first need information on what happened..." Sakumo said before returning his gaze to the teenagers.
"..." Kushina looked at them and then at Minato, not wanting to leave him.
"Go, you're with Konoha ninjas now. I'll be there as soon as I finish here," he said, and Kushina, with a reluctant move, started to leave Minato's arms and went towards the kunoichis, who caught her, as the girl was clearly scared and trembling. They then took her to the camp's medical wing.
"Can you accompany me?" he asked as Minato nodded, following him into the tent, with an additional ninja present—Sakumo's assistant.
"Ekyr, could you leave us?" Sakumo requested, and he quickly nodded before looking at Minato with a measuring, slightly nervous gaze.
Sakumo sat back down in his chair, sighing, turning his attention to Minato. "I received a message from the Leaf elders regarding the jinchuuriki... I had to issue a mission, omitting her identity as per their orders, to ensure nothing would cross the border. I bet that happened, or will happen, at the other borders as well. But in the end, you're here, and you've rescued her," he began. "How did you manage to get to her before everyone else?" he asked curiously.
"She has a seal on her body—one I placed with Mito-sama's help... She was able to activate it only seconds before appearing... if I had known earlier, they wouldn't have even gotten past the village," Minato spoke in a frustrated tone. He didn't hide this from Sakumo; after all, there was no malice in the man, nor any way he could be harmed by this information.
"Well... that certainly is unexpected... but we were lucky you were there to protect her. She must be important to you..." Sakumo commented.
"More than you could imagine..." Minato murmured, as if the thought came automatically.
"Anyway, she'll be fine soon. Since you're here, I don't see a problem with you staying... I just hope it won't be an issue for your absence in the west..." Sakumo commented.
"I warned my sensei a few seconds beforehand, and even without a response, he knows I went after Kushina. He'll understand once he receives the rescue mission report, and he'll know we're okay," Minato said.
"That's good... then you can stay until the village sends an escort for the girl," Sakumo said.
"About that..." Minato interrupted as soon as he finished. "I need the Hokage to be in the village to take Kushina back. I'll take her myself... I can do it more safely than anyone else," Minato spoke.
"Is it true that the Hokage is leaving the eastern border... Do you not trust the two elders who are in Konoha?" Sakumo asked curiously, and Minato shook his head.
"No... I'd prefer to take Kushina to the Sandaime... I also want to speak with him about a few things, and this would be an opportunity for that. Otherwise, I'd just have to wait for him to accept my request while I'm on the western border..." Minato said.
"..." Sakumo remained silent, thinking about Minato's words. He was essentially asking him to refuse an order from the village, and the two elders would certainly not be happy about it, but...
"You were the one who rescued the girl, not anyone else... so I believe you have that right. Besides, I don't think she's in the right psychological state to return to the village with a stranger and leave her friend behind again..." Sakumo said in the end.
"Thank you for this," Minato thanked, his tone serious but with a hint of relief showing.
"You can leave now. I'll take care of the paperwork and inform the village about the situation and that you will be the jinchuuriki's bodyguard from today on. The Hokage should arrive in the village in three or four days, so be prepared. I'll arrange a tent for you two, and I'd like to talk with you a bit tonight if possible," Sakumo said as Minato nodded.
"All right," Minato nodded. "About something else, I'm looking for someone named Might Duy... Is there a place here where I can check records of where he is at the moment?" Minato asked, having a chance to see another companion he hadn't seen in years.
"Of course... You can ask anyone in the camp where the records tent is, and they'll point you there," Sakumo informed as Minato nodded and began to leave.
Once again, he found the camp as busy as when he'd arrived, with the guards staring at him as he sensed which tent Kushina was in and headed there immediately.
Naturally, he would draw attention—after all, people had started spreading rumors about him being Minato Namikaze, someone already known here, sparked by the ninjas who had escorted him, and by Sakumo asking about him in front of everyone there.
The number of eyes on Minato kept increasing as he made his way to his destination, with everyone clearly seeing a thirteen-year-old boy wearing a jonin vest, which was surprising.
"Excuse me." Minato approached the white tent, starting to open it, with two women dressed entirely in white tending to Kushina's wounds with medical ninjutsu.
"Sorry, you'll have to wait outside," a medic-nin said upon seeing Minato, although she seemed respectful towards him.
"Wait... please... let him stay..." Kushina murmured in a tearful tone.
"Tsk. Fine, just don't get in the way," she said in the end, as she had heard Kushina asking about Minato in the last few minutes out of fear that he had left.
Minato didn't mind staying there, and he approached, kneeling beside Kushina and touching her forehead. "We'll stay here for a few days and rest. You'll go back to Konoha with me," Minato said with a small smile.
"All right... but you're leaving afterward, aren't you?" Kushina said, knowing the answer but not wanting it to be true. It seemed selfish of her, but it was her wish.
"Yes... but we'll talk about it later. Just get better, and we'll have plenty of time for that. I'm sure you'll want to eat something I'm going to prepare tonight," Minato spoke calmly, and Kushina's lips curved involuntarily at hearing Minato's final words.
"Yes... I'd love to eat your cooking," she said. It had been years since she'd had that privilege, but today would be different.
Minato stayed there, then, gently touching her face as the medics continued cleaning the dead tissue on Kushina's arms, silently allowing them to converse, as no one wanted to disturb the two.
Kushina was being bandaged a moment later while her arms were fine; with Kurama inside her and being a jinchuuriki, she wouldn't be far off from Naruto in terms of self-healing.
"You are free to go, just don't overexert yourself or use jutsu with hand seals. Your arms still need to recover the chakra flow passing through them," one of the medics said as Minato helped Kushina out, starting to leave the tent.
"Minato Namikaze!" A ninja landed in front of them as soon as they exited.
"Yes...?" Minato asked.
"The tent that was requested is ready. It's over there." He pointed to the tent Sakumo had arranged for them, and Minato nodded.
"That's great... we're heading there now," Minato said, leading Kushina, who was feeling a bit better.
They ended up heading to the tent. Minato entered first to check the place and put away some scrolls.
"Wait! Minato, do we have a tent for both of us?!" Kushina murmured, blushing, barely able to look at Minato.
"It's not like we're going to sleep together. There are two beds here, Kushina," Minato said inside the tent, and Kushina eventually entered.
"I see..." She seemed a little disappointed.
Minato didn't notice and quickly took out his scrolls, storing them in some places for use over the next few days, while he watched Kushina looking at one of the beds.
"You know... I still can't believe you're here..." she murmured.
"I'm here, Kushina, and nothing will happen to you as long as I'm here..." Minato said in a serious tone.
"I know... I'm just happy... I thought they would take me, and all I could think about was you. Then you finally appeared..." she murmured, looking at Minato while hugging him.
Minato returned the girl's hug, telling himself that he would do everything to protect her.
"You talked about how it was difficult to reach my seal... let's move it somewhere else," Minato said, at least intending to place a new seal, to have two—one hidden and another in an easily accessible spot.
"You... why didn't you send me any news from the war..." she asked while still hugging him.
"It's complicated... I had no one to send letters... you know the only way was to ask someone to take them to you, like I did with Tsuna the last time she went to Konoha," Minato said.
"But that was a year ago!" Kushina complained, reverting to her normal personality now, as she loosened up again with Minato there, feeling safe.
"Yes... but I didn't have anyone else to do that for me," Minato said.
"All right... I understand... anyway, Tsuna seemed strange when she talked about you. Did something happen between you two?!" Kushina immediately wanted to know, eyeing Minato like a hawk.
"That was over a year ago, but there are some things I need to discuss. Anyway... let's prepare something to eat. After all, I also want to know how you've been... you know, since Mito passed away..." Minato said in a serious tone, and Kushina nodded with a slightly sadder expression.
Then they went outside the tent, with Minato grabbing one of the scrolls to prepare food and sending a clone to gather information on Duy.
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