Chapter 12: Minato Namikaze"I'm sorry, Naruto."Kushina's voice turned serious. She stepped forward, reached out her arms, and gently pulled Naruto into her embrace.Her hug was tight, carrying the scent of a quilt that had been dried in the sun, along with a very faint trace of the unique Chakra aura characteristic of Sealing Jutsu."Mom is hot-tempered, and I couldn't help but hit you.""That's right, I am your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and you are my, Uzumaki Kushina's, son, Uzumaki Naruto."Naruto stiffened for a moment.It wasn't because he wasn't used to it, but because a strong, uncontrollable wave of emotion surged up within him.This was a mother's embrace, something Narutohad never had the chance to experience.In the orphanage apartment in Konoha Village, he had lain on his cold bed countless times, imagining what this embrace would feel like and what his mother would be like.Now he knew. This was exactly what it was like: red hair, a hot temper, fists that hurt, but an embrace that was warm—warm right down to his bones.He raised his hand and gently patted Kushina's back."Alright, Mom, I know.""You should let go of me first..."Naruto's tone feigned ease, but he still couldn't hide a trace of nasality.He gently broke free from Kushina's embrace, stood up straight, sniffled, and forcibly suppressed the moisture at the corners of his eyes.He was a thirty-year-old man, only just learning what it felt like to have a mother. (Don't ask, if you ask, the answer is orphan!)Kushina took half a step back, looking at Naruto, her own eyes reddening.She reached out to touch Naruto's face, but her hand paused in mid-air. The light in her eyes dimmed slightly, and her smile was laced with a deep layer of guilt and sadness."Naruto, these years... you've suffered.""Leaving you alone in that environment, making you carry the identity of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki since childhood, and letting you be treated like that by so many people...""I'm sorry. Mom didn't fulfill her responsibilities as a mother. I'm truly sorry."Naruto shook his head: "This isn't Mom's fault."He knew who to settle this score with.Sandaime, Danzo, and the Konoha higher-ups.He would settle these debts one by one in the future; not a single one would be missed.But unlike his previous life, in this life, he would not resort to lynching, nor would he use the identity of some dark vigilante to pass judgment.He would use Konoha's own rules, his own identity as Hokage, and the most upright way possible to make those who should be responsible pay the price.This was a lesson he had learned in his previous life at the cost of thirty years of his life."Oh, right, Mom..."Naruto changed the subject, his eyes brightening: "Let me introduce you to someone."Before Kushina could react, Naruto had already raised his right hand and snapped his fingers crisply in the air.Snap.The next moment, the light in the golden space rippled slightly.Not far in front of Kushina, a ball of warm yellow light condensed out of thin air, slowly outlining a tall figure.Blond hair, blue eyes, wearing a white Hokage haori, with a young and handsome face, and a gentle, slightly shy smile on the corners of his mouth.The moment he appeared, the entire golden space seemed to sense the return of its master. The light within the space danced gently, becoming brighter and warmer than it had been a moment ago.Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha, the Yellow Flash of the Ninja World."How... how am I here?"Minato blinked, his face full of confusion.According to the settings within the Chakra seal, he should only be automatically activated and appear when Naruto drew on Nine-Tails Chakra or when the seal was damaged to a certain extent. Yet, the seal was currently intact, and the cage of the Nine-Tailed was standing perfectly well in the sewer area.He had been sleeping soundly within the Chakraseal when he suddenly felt a gentle yet irresistible force lift his entire existence from the depths of the flame seal's patterns and move him here.Minato lowered his head, and the first thing he saw was Kushina, who was covering her mouth in front of him.Then, he saw the boy standing next to Kushina, a head shorter than him, with blond hair, blue eyes, and three whisker-like marks on his face."You are..."Minato Namikaze's pupils dilated slightly.He opened his mouth, but the name hadn't been spoken yet."Bang!""Ugh..."A fist slammed solidly into his abdomen.To be precise, Naruto had punched him in the stomach.This punch used a clever technique.The gap between the abdominal muscles and the internal organs was precisely penetrated, dispersing the force throughout the entire abdominal cavity rather than concentrating it on any specific organ. It wouldn't cause substantial injury, but it would be painful enough to make someone double over and recover for half a day.This was something Naruto had analyzed using Absolute Control: how heavy the punch should be, where to hit, and what force and angle to use to ensure it didn't hurt the person but was painful to the bone.He had thought about it long ago.Although he understood Minato's hidden reasons for sealing the Nine-Tailed inside his body, understanding was one thing, but this debt couldn't just be settled like that.Some things needed understanding, while others needed to be settled.Only by settling the accounts clearly could everything truly begin anew.Minato Namikaze clutched his abdomen, his whole body curled up like a shrimp, a fine layer of cold sweat seeping from his forehead.He subconsciously tried to call upon Chakra to defend himself, but he discovered that he was now just a Chakra entity; the flow of Chakra was completely beyond his own will.He could only take the punch head-on, his knees softening to the point where he almost fell to one knee."Naruto?"Minato struggled to lift his head, his blue eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment."This punch is to put an end to these past ten-plus years."Naruto withdrew his fist and stood up straight.He didn't say, "This is what you owe me," nor did he say, "Why didn't you think of another way for me?" He didn't mention the grievances, resentment, loneliness, and exclusion that surged up from the depths of his memory.Naruto didn't want to recount those things.When the original Naruto was hit with rotten vegetables by a vegetable vendor for the first time at the age of three, he didn't quite understand why no one stopped that behavior.When he was pressed into an alley and beaten by a group of older kids for the first time at the age of five, he didn't understand why the Konoha Ninjapassing by all pretended not to see.When he was kicked out of his apartment by his landlord for the first time at the age of seven, holding only a thin quilt and an Ichiraku Ramencoupon, spending the night on a swing, he still couldn't figure it out.It wasn't until much later that he learned to stop thinking about it, because he couldn't figure it out.Every winter in Konoha, his hands and feet would get frostbite, because no one taught him what kind of thick gloves to buy to keep warm during the winter.But Naruto wouldn't say these things again.He knew these things, but Minato didn't need to know.Once this punch was thrown, it was all over.Whatever happened from here on out, it would happen; they would owe each other nothing.Minato Namikaze slowly straightened up, clutching his abdomen, which was still aching faintly.He wasn't angry, and he didn't offer any excuses. He just looked at Naruto's slightly reddened knuckles as he withdrew his fist, and then revealed a smile mixed with deep guilt and heartache."I'm sorry, Naruto."
