Fugaku wasn't one to ask questions, so when Minato asked him to do this, he did it like any normal mission he takes.
Fugaku leaves the office, and the moment he leaves, Kushina enters the room with Minato alone, who has been thinking about the information he learned today.
"Minato, how is this possible?" Kushina asks, voice tinted with disbelief.
"I don't know." Minato slightly shakes his head. "Clearly Naruto has been keeping secrets. Let's go home for now. We'll have to ask him about everything."
Minato is unable to understand how Naruto became so much stronger, but what really worries him is why his son would hide his strength.
Minato is proud to learn about Naruto's capabilities but unable to understand the reason why Naruto would hide it and be recognized as dead last. He'll find out the reason soon enough.
Minato gets out of his chair and walks over to his wife. He wraps his arms around her.
"Speaking of Naruto," Kushina said with a sickly sweet tone and a deadly smile on her face, "do you mind explaining to me why he wasn't on my team like I asked?"
Minato unconsciously takes a gulp. "Um... Kushina, we agreed that training Menma, Mito, and Yayoi on how to use more of the Nine Tails chakra took priority, and I can't have five people on one squad. Besides, I trust Fugaku, and you trust him as well, don't you?" he said, unable to hide the nervousness he felt.
"Alright," Kushina takes a small nod, "But you're definitely sleeping on the sofa and at the same time not getting any sex for a while."
Minato's eyes widened like a dinner plate.
"Now let's go home and celebrate."
Uzumaki Namikaze Estate
Mito, Menma, and Yayoi are currently in the living room waiting for their parents to return back home. Kushina had informed them after the test was finished that they were going to celebrate the three of them becoming official ninja of the Hidden Leaf.
Just as the three were bored out of their minds waiting for their parents, Minato and Kushina appear at the center of the living room, much to the three siblings' surprise as well as excitement.
However, Kushina's eyes didn't look at the three siblings but searched for someone else instead, yet after a quick and thorough search, she was unable to find the person she was looking for.
"Where's Naruto?" Kushina asked.
Menma frowned after hearing Naruto's name from his mother's mouth.
"Why are you asking about him?" Menma said in an angry voice. "He's probably doing something stupid."
"I don't know; I haven't seen him after returning home," Mito responds flatly.
"I didn't see Naruto either, Mom," Yayoi responds with confusion on her face.
While she was happy that her parents were trying to invite Naruto to their celebration, the expression they had right now was completely different from what she expected, and she couldn't put a finger on the problem her parents were currently facing.
Kushina's brows frowned, and an uneasy feeling started to appear in her heart. Without speaking another word, Kushina headed upstairs towards Naruto's room as fast as she could.
Kushina stopped in front of Naruto's room and opened the door.
The first thing she noticed after touching the door handle was the fact it wasn't locked, unlike her other three children, who were already locking their own rooms for privacy.
The moment the door was fully open, what greeted her was a room almost empty.
A neatly made bed rested against the wall, a few cabinets standing nearby. There were no decorations, no posters, no personal belongings—nothing that suggested someone had been living there for years.
No signs of Naruto.
What was even more problematic was the fact that the room was full of dust, as if the room itself hadn't been cleaned for quite some time now.
Kushina's worry deepened as she searched the room thoroughly for any signs of someone living in the room but found no traces.
Minato is already in the doorway, staring at Kushina, who thoroughly searches the room with a worried expression plastered on her face.
"He's not here," Kushina said quietly as she turned her head to her husband.
Minato sees the redness at the corner of Kushina's eyes and sighs softly. Minato knows that there is some big problem going on, but he can't let his wife have some breakdown here, especially after what she promised with their three other children.
"We don't know where he is currently, but he will definitely return after the sun falls beyond the horizon. When that time comes, we can ask him about our question," Minato calmly said while giving his wife a tight hug.
With no way to find Naruto at the moment, Kushina and Minato decide to resume their original plan of celebration for Menma, Mito, and Yayoi for officially becoming ninja of the Hidden Leaf.
Yet despite the joyful atmosphere, there is unspoken tension lingering around Minato and Kushina.
Meanwhile, Naruto is currently at his apartment, which is located at the top of an apartment building.
It was a small apartment he bought using his money, which he receives after killing some cursed spirits. Naruto can even buy some luxurious house using the money he has, but he prefers to have a small apartment rather than a huge house.
Currently all the windows in the apartment were open, letting the cool air flow throughout the room.
Naruto is currently in the kitchen area of the apartment as he currently focuses on cooking for his dinner. On the counter beside him there were a few shrimps, which he dipped each piece into the light batter, coating them evenly before carefully lowering them into the hot oil.
The oil bubbled gently as the tempura fried.
Naruto watches each piece turning to a light golden color, and when they were done, he lifted them out and placed them on a plate lined with paper to absorb excess oil.
The smell of tempura filled the small apartment, and a small smile appeared on Naruto's face as he finished cooking his dinner despite the sun not having fallen beyond the horizon just yet.
This night Naruto had to once again leave the village, as he was informed about a cursed spirit attacking people in the Land of Water.
Usually other jujutsu sorcerers will be the ones who dispatch to that area due to the incident he caused 9 years ago in the Land of Water.
That incident meant that Naruto had to be careful of his actions, especially if they affected people who didn't know anything about the world of the Jujutsu Society hidden in the Elemental Continent.
Also, due to this incident, Naruto wasn't sent to eliminate cursed spirits who were spotted in the Land of Water.
The only reason why the higher-ups decide to dispatch Naruto despite knowing what happened in the past is due to the fact that they don't have available people to finish the mission aside from Naruto, which is going to be a piece of cake.
It definitely pained Naruto to sneakily leave the village, but this wasn't the first time he would do it, and neither would it be his last.
Naruto carried the plate of tempura to the small table. A steaming bowl of rice waited beside it. He sat down and picked up a piece of shrimp tempura, dipping it lightly into soy sauce.
He took a bite of the tempura and felt the crispiness and warmth as well as the amazing flavor. He then ate some rice along the way, and the combination of hot tempura and rice was really something Naruto enjoyed.
While eating his dinner, Naruto's mind couldn't help but think about the situation of his 'family.'
Naruto is sure that Minato and Kushina learn about his strength through Fugaku reporting the test. It was without a doubt in Naruto's mind that Minato and Kushina were eager to question him due to the power he displayed.
Naruto, though, didn't want to entertain the two; that's why he felt it was a good choice to secretly buy the apartment and move without their knowledge.
Even if they were determined to question him, he can just decline answering their question, as they don't have the power to do so anyway.
They can't even force him to answer their question, as it would definitely set a bad precedent, which Minato definitely wouldn't want.
While Minato can use Fugaku to learn about his capabilities, it doesn't really matter to Naruto since it's not like he will go all out against the enemy he will probably face in the future when taking missions.
Naruto even doubts the mission they take after officially becoming genin will be dangerous in the first place.
Naruto quickly finishes eating his dinner and immediately washes his dishes. Naruto didn't start any preparation since it would just take a few minutes at best to finish the mission he was given.
The only thing that took a large amount of time was traveling toward the destination and returning back to the village before the sun rose on the horizon.
Naruto and his teammates were clearly informed by Fugaku that they need to arrive early at the training ground.