"This..."
"Please." Kushina spoke almost begging.
"Alright, I'm not him." Minato drew strength from his chest before speaking. He felt relieved for some reason.
Kushina remained silent. Deep down, even knowing that the Minato before her wasn't hers, it would be a lie to say she didn't wish, even for an instant, that he was. She took a deep breath, trying to convey calm, but her hands resting on the counter trembled, following the shaking of her body.
She tried to hold back the tears once again, but she couldn't. The crying came in sobs, and the drops fell heavily onto the table.
"Kushina..." Minato murmured, feeling a pain tighten in his chest. He took a step forward, trying to approach to comfort her.
"Don't come closer! Don't touch me!" she roared, her voice filled with pain, like that of a wounded animal.
Kushina's gaze lifted to him — anger, sorrow, and so many other emotions mixed in her eyes, and that was enough to make him stop, hesitant.
"I'm just trying to help!" he replied, his voice breaking, almost in supplication. "It's not my fault what happened... Why am I in this body?!" The frustration escaped in words full of anger.
Inside, Minato felt the weight of love. He couldn't tell if these were his own feelings or echoes of the real Minato's, but they were there — intense — making him question whether what he felt for her was genuine. In any case, it wasn't as if he had chosen to lose everything just to occupy that body. So why did she treat him that way?
"Please... leave. Now!" Kushina's voice wavered as her head slowly lowered.
She knew, from the real Minato's memories, that the blame didn't fall on the man who now inhabited her husband's body. The choice had been Minato's — and his alone. Even so, all Kushina wanted at that moment... was to be alone.
"I..." Minato opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He felt that he would only make things worse.
"I'll be back as soon as possible," Minato said, leaving the house. He could have sent a clone to go in his place as Hokage, but she wouldn't like that.
He would give her time. Waiting for her to decide what she wanted.
Kushina lifted her head before going to the bedroom. Naruto had started to cry; Kushina wiped her tears.
"Shh, it's alright, mommy's here. Here." Kushina comforted Naruto, she held him in her arms while pulling out her breast and placing it in Naruto's mouth, who began to nurse.
"Everything is alright..." Kushina murmured, running her hand through Naruto's hair.
Her hands began to tremble as she ran them through Naruto's hair, silent tears falling down her cheeks.
"You couldn't have talked to me before making your decision?" Kushina spoke to Minato, who was no longer in this world. He possibly couldn't hear, but it was her way of finding comfort.
Kushina was deeply hurt, truly. She held Naruto tightly — if it weren't for her little one, maybe she would have left this world.
But was that the only reason? In Kushina's mind passed the image of Minato defending her, even if it was another person in her husband's body.
He had defended her as a wife. Yet there was something Kushina hadn't realized — that she liked the new "personality," even if she hadn't noticed it herself.
---
Minato was sitting in his office, holding a paper that had just arrived, authorizing the construction of a new bridge in one of the regions of the Land of Fire.
"Done," he murmured, signing the document and placing it on the desk. Then, he fell silent. He clenched his own hand. He didn't want to admit it, but he was afraid of what Kushina might do — or say.
"Man... so much is going to happen. But how did she find out I'm not Minato? Am I really that different from him?" he muttered anxiously, running a hand through his hair. "Damn, of course I am..."
"Lord Hokage!" a voice suddenly sounded. An ANBU appeared before him, making Minato open his eyes.
"Yes."
"The head of the Uchiha clan is coming for an audience," the ANBU informed before disappearing.
Minato raised an eyebrow, a look of frustration appearing on his face.
"Could more problems be coming...?" he thought.
Fugaku Uchiha walked through the streets of Konoha toward the Hokage's office. He felt watched — he knew very well it was by the ANBU. At that moment, Minato probably already knew he was coming.
He continued his way through the silent streets until reaching the main building. Halfway there, he stopped. His black eyes shone red, revealing the Sharingan with three tomoe spinning slowly. He looked toward the top of one of the houses, where, seconds before, someone might have been. Now, there was nothing. In silence, he deactivated the Sharingan and kept walking.
A few minutes later, Minato was still sitting, his gaze lost on the ceiling, not thinking about anything in particular. The sound of knocks on the door pulled him out of his daydreams.
"Come in," he said calmly.
The door opened and Fugaku entered, closing it right after.
"I see you're well. The Kyuubi doesn't seem to have been a challenge for you," commented Fugaku, with an impassive face and his usual stern expression.
"It was harder than I thought," Minato replied, showing a faint smile. "But I doubt you came just to see if I'm well."
He knew the real Minato had a friendship with Fugaku, but without his memories, he didn't know exactly how to deal with the Uchiha clan leader. He decided, then, to act as himself.
"Indeed, I didn't come for that," replied Fugaku, sitting in front of him. "As head of the Uchiha clan and responsible for Konoha's security, I failed. I allowed an intruder to enter the village. That's why I came to apologize."
Upon saying that, Fugaku leaned slightly forward toward Minato — a rare gesture of respect.
Minato was taken aback. He didn't know what to do, but he couldn't leave Fugaku there, bowing before him.
"It's over now. But... why didn't you show up with Konoha's security forces?" Minato asked, genuinely curious. After all, if he hadn't managed to save Kushina, the outcome could have been the same as the original.
"I was about to intervene," Fugaku explained. "As soon as I felt the Kyuubi's chakra, I mobilized the clan's forces. However... I was stopped. By Danzō."
Fugaku kept his gaze fixed on Minato, carefully observing his reaction. The Hokage only nodded, absorbing those words in silence.