"Friends!" Minato Namikaze and Kushina suddenly exchanged smiles, their eyes filled with teasing.
"Right, right! This is Sasuke — Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san's son. He's been my best friend since I was a kid!" Naruto ran over next to Sasuke to introduce him.
"Hello," Sasuke greeted softly before falling silent again, though a flicker of sadness passed through his eyes.
"Huh? You're Mikoto's kid?" Kushina wore an expression of shock. "How is she doing now? It's been so many years since I last saw her. Back then, we were really close friends — we even talked about your genders and made a pact: if you turned out to be a boy and a girl, we'd arrange a marriage!"
Minato couldn't help twitching at the corner of his mouth. What do you mean by 'so many years'? If you had actually seen her lately, that would've been strange. People like her wouldn't survive such a meeting!
"My mother is already gone."
A bitter smile tugged at Sasuke's lips. At one time, he too had a warm and happy family — the strict yet loving father, the gentle and caring mother, and his older brother!
"What happened?! She hadn't been a ninja for years already, how could something happen to her?" Kushina exclaimed in disbelief. After getting married, Mikoto Uchiha gradually stopped working as a ninja, devoting herself to managing household affairs. How could she just... disappear?
"Erm, erm, maybe we should talk about this later. Let's first introduce Kakashi-sensei."
Sakura gave an awkward cough twice, trying to steer the conversation elsewhere. If they kept talking like this, she was afraid these people might get overly shocked when they saw the perfectly alive Mikoto Uchiha. But just as she tried steering the topic toward Kakashi, her face immediately turned dark.
"Sensei, Kushina Onee-san, forgive me please — I know I haven't visited your graves often enough in recent years; most of my time has been spent mourning at Obito's grave. Please don't take offense!"
Kakashi knelt on both knees, palms pressed together, murmuring with a terrified expression. Seeing those he personally witnessed being buried rise back up before his eyes — did they rise from the grave or something?!
"Kakashi-sensei, that's enough already!" Sakura frowned heavily, watching Kakashi's actions and observing the frozen smiles on the Fourth's couple's faces. Unable to bear it anymore, she silently sent up a prayer for Kakashi. Knowing Kushina's temper well, Kakashi surely wouldn't escape a beating.
"Kakashi, you little brat, what exactly are you trying to say with that expression? Don't you want to see us?"
Kushina yanked Kakashi's ear, fire in her eyes — just like she used to. He almost teared up.
"Onee-san, have mercy already! I'm not a little kid anymore. Show me some respect!" Kakashi pleaded with a bitter smile. Back then, because of Kushina's fiery personality, aside from Rin who called her Sister Kushina, everyone else — including himself and Obito — was forced to call her "Onee-san." And every time they messed up, their ears got twisted. Years had passed, but now here he was, reliving the experience.
Chapter 107: A Puffed-Up Sasuke [Part 1]
"Hmph!"
Kushina let out a cold snort and finally loosened her grip.
"Heh, Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki—you two went through all the trouble of sealing me inside your son's body just to make him a great hero. Now it turns out, you were just plain stupid!"
The Nine-Tails crouched there when suddenly he felt much of his anger dissipating. He'd always hated Minato for dragging him down with him in death, but thinking back, Minato had only wanted his son to grow into a hero and live a good life. Yet in the end, the boy had been treated so poorly by Konoha. This made the Nine-Tails feel strangely better—it was poetic justice.
"We can't stay by Naruto's side forever, so we left him a birthday gift in advance. And even though the Konoha villagers disliked Naruto so much, in the end, he still managed to make some good friends!" Minato Namikaze didn't look angry at all. Instead, he smiled.
"Our time is almost up too. Originally, we saved this bit of chakra hoping to help you when you tried to take the Nine-Tails' chakra, but now it seems that won't work out anymore!" Kushina sounded very down. It was such a precious chance to see Naruto having grown up, and now they had to part ways again.
"Uncle Minato, Aunt Kushina, you don't need to be so sad. I've already made plans for you! From now on, you'll be able to stay by Naruto's side without any worries!"
Sakura was well aware of the Fourth Hokage couple's situation, so naturally she wouldn't just bring them out for a meeting with Naruto and then call it a day. What she was about to do next was the real plan.
"Eh? But Minato and I only sealed a small portion of our chakra into Naruto's body. After just a short while, that chakra will dissipate!"
Kushina said helplessly. If they had a choice, they'd definitely stay by Naruto's side forever. But back then, after the Nine-Tails was extracted from her, she knew her fate was sealed. And Minato refused to live on without her, using the [Dead Demon Consuming Seal] to take the Yin half of the Nine-Tails with him. In the end, all they could do was seal away what little chakra they had left, longing for the day they could finally meet their adult son face-to-face.
"I have an Inner Space. Later, I'll summon your souls from the Pure Land and connect Naruto's seal to my Inner Space. Before completely reviving you, Uncle Minato and Aunt Kushina can temporarily stay in my Inner Space where you won't have to worry about your souls being recalled to the Pure Land. There, you can freely bond with Naruto to your heart's content!"
Sakura openly revealed her plan. In her Inner Space, there was also Mikoto Uchiha, Kushina's dearest friend. By the time they arrived, the two wouldn't need to worry about getting bored. Whether chatting or fighting, everything would be just fine.
"Summoning souls from the Pure Land? Is that really possible?" Kushina became excited. If this were actually feasible, wouldn't it mean they could stay by Naruto's side for a long time?
"Um, Sakura, right? My soul probably can't be brought back," Minato's eyes briefly flickered with a traceable hint of sadness. "Before I died, I used the [Dead Demon Consuming Seal]. My soul was already taken by the Shinigami along with the Yin half of the Nine-Tails. It would probably be impossible to retrieve my soul."
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