Chapter 89 : Three, Four, Five ( 3)
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"You promised." Kurama's voice called out in his head after they felt it. While syncing, they felt each other on a level that defied the mortal world. They were no longer a powerful human and a powerful Bijuu; they were one entity, something not human or Bijuu. They were transcended.
"I know, Kurama." Naruto replied to his partner, his brother. "And I never go back on my word." The entity that was Naruto and Kurama smirked, reaching into the great gut of the Shinigami, secretly pulling out a legend.
Suddenly, there was silence, the kind that stung the ears. Suddenly, there was no Shinigami, no world-shaking battle of wills, nothing.
And then, from the silence, a whisper of a voice spoke.
"N-Naruto?"
They smiled.
...
The door to the council chambers slowly opened, and Naruto smirked. Yes, Uzumaki Naruto was adept at producing the impossible.
The moment he walked into the room, Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya of the Sannin on each side of him, the council lost their breath. Their eyes went wide, and their hearts stopped. The shock in the room was almost palpable, and even the stoic Shimura Danzo was not capable of hiding his surprise. This was impossible, even for someone like the Kamikage.
"Council of Konoha, I, Uzumaki Naruto, hereby step down from the Hokage position, and move to reinstate this man, this legend, as Hokage once more." He smiled, looking at the sun-kissed hair and azure orbs of the man before them. "The fastest man alive, my father, Namikaze Minato."
Standing in the middle of two of the world's current most famous shinobi was the shinobi, the most famous man to have lived. He was the greatest shinobi from Konohagakure no Sato and his name still struck fear into the men and women who even had the pleasure of glimpsing at his skill, his ability.
He was faster, stronger, smarter, better than all other shinobi before, and after for the matter, him. He would have gone unopposed if it weren't for his son, a shinobi that had joined his father as a truly fearful monster. He was Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konoha. He was back.
"H-how?" Homura asked.
The Yondaime Hokage smiled. "Well," he began, "It's kind of a strange story." He replied with his right hand scratching the back of his head with a sheepish expression.
...
"Hey, tou-san." Naruto smiled a monstrous, terrifying smile that made the great Yondaime gulp a little.
"W-what's going on?" He asked, pushing past his small shiver of fear, before pushing it off, knowing that this person was his son no matter what. "Why are you here?" He was fearful still of this, though. "Were you sealed within the Shinigami?!" His voice was even a little shaky.
No matter how powerful a man was, no matter how battle-hardened, a father was terrified when it came to their children's safety – a good man, anyways.
Naruto – or was he Kurama, he still couldn't tell – smiled again, revealing their sharpened teeth. It was truly a sinister smile for a monster. "Nah," they began, "I'm here to save Hiruzen-jiji." Minato had felt the Sandaime's presence a few minutes ago, but even that was being drowned out by the overwhelming feeling of raw, godlike chakra that was all around him, like it was engulfing him in its light.
How a presence could be so warm and bright also feel so cold and dark was beyond him. Again, a terrifying smile marred his son's face. "And I promised a friend that I would return something that belonged to him." Naruto's gilded arm – Minato just realized that his son looked like he was on fire with orange and yellow – reached out and touched his chest.
Kurama, the Kyuubi no Kitsune, a "force of nature", or more appropriately, a "destroyer of nature", closed his eyes. He had waited for so long, thirteen years to be exact, for this moment. He considered himself Naruto's friend, his partner. But now, as Naruto fulfilled his promise to him, he swore his loyalty, his everything to the human.
He took another few moments to let it all sink in, and when he was sure everything was finished, his eyes shot open, the bloody crimson slits greeting the world, a world he would burn to ashes if Naruto asked.
Kurama then did something he hadn't done – not like this at least – in years. He slammed his powerful arms on the ground, his powerful legs following, and raised his proud head. He opened his giant maw, and sucked in as hard and long as he could, and then…
He roared.
Kurama roared at the world, the Shinigami, Iwa, any enemy of Naruto's. He roared at the heavens, demanding they obey Naruto, demanding that the world listened.
Naruto's chakra peeked.
The mortals had to have at least turned their heads toward him, they demanded it.
Kurama was whole again.
"Tou-san," Naruto's voice called out, snapping the hypnotizing feeling he was put under. "I'm not a very selfish person…" He could tell that his son's voice sounded desperate. "But… May I be a little? Just this once?"
Minato, a man who loved the idea of fatherhood, swallowed hard, holding back the tears. His son, his child was asking him if he could have something. He wished Kushina was here. "Hai, Naruto," he said, "You can."
Naruto's gilded, slit eyes met his father's blue ones, and kept them for few seconds, before Minato felt pain, the likes of which he'd never felt before.
But… he was a soul; he didn't have a physical body to feel pain…
His eyes opened – when had he closed them? – And he saw black.
...
He could feel the shock, the almost religious emotions coming from the council. Konoha was, and this was not arrogance but fact, invincible with two yellow flashes. One was enough to end entire wars in the blink of an eye, but two…
"I then told Jiraiya-sensei and Kakashi-nii to help tou-san. I knew that the Hokage's body is always preserved, and if I concentrated on the healing factor, I could make his body operational again when I sent his soul." Naruto explained.
"It took a few hours to get him up and going again, but it worked." He looked at his father.
"I brought him back."
Naruto knew that if he used the healing factor twice, he'd undoubtedly die, so he could only use it on his father, knowing that his body was in worse condition than his jiji's. But now, they had to figure out how they could heal the Sandaime, who was still in critical condition, only holding on by the strength of his will.
Minato smiled at his son. This was still confusing to him, but he was just so happy to be with his child that he couldn't really care. Jiraiya cleared his throat before speaking.
"Minato knows nothing of the shinobi world now, and even though I don't doubt his skill, we need someone who can fulfill the needs of the village as of now." He started, getting "the look" from his godson.
"Sorry kid, but you know it's true." He turned back to the council.
"And Naruto is needed in the field, especially with the Akatsuki getting so active." He shook his head.
"None of us, even Kakashi, are able to commit to the title. We need someone who can dedicate everything to the job."
Koharu frowned. She, and just about everyone on the council, in the village, the country even, would love to have any of these four legends as the Hokage, but Jiraiya was right. If there was an organization out there that even someone like Jiraiya was wary of, then it wasn't something they could ignore.
The four men before them needed the freedom to move around, to hunt, and the Hokage title would make that impossible. So, the aged woman asked the question on everyone's mind. "And who are you suggesting?"
Jiraiya smirked. In his mind, it was so simple, so obvious that there was only one person out there that was perfect for the Hokage position at this time.
There was many wounded, the Sandaime being one of them, and they desperately needed a healer. Naruto, while able to at least control when his subconscious incorporated healing energies when he brought the dead back to life, was not yet able to tap into the actual method his will used.
He was no medical-nin, by no means. It was definitely something he'd be training in in the future, but they needed something, someone, now.
Since the Shodai, since Senju Hashirama, there has only been one medical-nin whose name still makes enemies of Konoha flinch. There was only one ninja that could take the title of Hokage and lead the village in the way it needed at this point in time.
She was perfect, so that's why her name left Jiraiya's tongue.
"Tsunade."
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