Naruto : Minato back to the past

In Minato's courtyard, a little boy with golden hair was taking his first steps.

Kushina followed Naruto carefully.

Swish!

Suddenly, Minato appeared in front of the main gate of the courtyard.

Kushina immediately glanced at him, chuckled, and said, "You're back. It seems that you're not very busy today."

Little Naruto turned around upon hearing the sound, and Minato was already standing in front of him.

Naruto raised his sapphire-bright eyes, his mouth forming a little arc, opened his hands excitedly, and said with awkward joy: "Dad!"

"I'm back."

Minato smiled gently, squatted down and held Naruto in his arms.

He placed his hand on Naruto's belly and pulled it back after a moment.

The seal in Naruto's body was quite stable. As the boy grew older, although the power of the seal weakened, Minato did not repair it.

This was exactly what he wanted to see. Through the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, the Nine-Tails' chakra was subtly integrating into Naruto's body.

So although Naruto hadn't really developed his own chakra yet, he had inherited Kushina's bloodline, and his physique was much stronger than children of the same age.

Generally, children could only successfully develop chakra when they were about three years old and their meridian systems were tough enough.

But now Naruto, who was only one year old, had already reached this level.

Minato still remembered seeing Kakashi trying to practice on his own at about the same age.

Part of the reason, of course, was the influence of Hatake Sakumo and Watanabe Jun.

However, Minato and Kushina did not deliberately guide Naruto, preferring to let things develop naturally.

"I'll be responsible for dinner today."

After holding Naruto for a while, Minato put him down and turned to Kushina.

"Okay."

Kushina glanced at Naruto and immediately agreed.

It was hard to explain why, but although Kushina's cooking was much better than Minato's, Naruto preferred his father's cooking.

"One more thing, I've already filed your promotion to Jonin."

"If you want to carry out a mission, I can assign you one immediately."

Minato looked at Kushina. Naruto was now over one year old. For this child, Kushina had been reluctant to resume her ninja duties.

However, observations over the past few days had confirmed that the Nine-Tails in Naruto was quite stable.

"Well, to be honest, I really feel a little bored. I haven't left the village for a long time."

Kushina said. In fact, since Minato became a guiding Jonin five or six years ago, she had almost no chance to go out of the village to carry out missions.

Because previously, she had to be protected by Minato when she was on missions.

"Naruto, tomorrow mom will send you to Aunt Mikoto's house to play with Sasuke, okay?"

Kushina squatted down and looked at Naruto.

When Sasuke was mentioned, Naruto's eyes suddenly lit up, but the next moment, he seemed to lose all his energy, his arms drooped, and his face fell.

The relationship between Naruto and Sasuke, two little boys who were considered playmates, had always been complicated like that.

Minato and Kushina both twitched their lips when they saw this.

Minato regained his composure and said to Kushina, "Then you'll go on a mission with Kakashi tomorrow, but he'll be the captain."

In the two years since Kakashi became a jonin, every mission he performed was perfect.

Now, at the age of fourteen, he had become an elite among the jonin in the village.

Similarly, in the Anbu, Shisui was also doing well, and his abilities had long surpassed those of ordinary Anbu.

Recently, Uchiha Yoruki had wanted him to be the captain of an Anbu team, but since Shisui was younger than Kakashi, this had to be temporarily postponed.

"I understand."

Although Kushina's mission experience wasn't as extensive as other ninjas of the same age, she had actually completed quite a few missions.

So she understood Minato's arrangement very well. She had never been a captain, so she could not take the position of command for the time being.

But this really didn't matter to Kushina; she didn't care at all, even if Kakashi was Minato's student.

The next day, early in the morning.

Kushina got up even earlier than Minato, and she changed into a ninja outfit that she hadn't worn for a long time.

Her long red hair was tied into a single ponytail.

After breakfast, Minato instantly transported Kushina and Naruto away.

"Sorry, I have to trouble you again," Kushina said to Mikoto.

"What are you talking about? It's been a long time since we last met. I miss Naruto too."

Mikoto walked up to Naruto, squatted down, and ruffled his hair.

"Naruto's eyes are getting brighter and brighter, even brighter than yours and Minato's."

Seeing Mikoto, Naruto smiled happily.

His personality was exactly like Kushina's. He expressed his emotions directly. Whether he was happy, angry, sad, or excited, it was written on his face.

But now Naruto had just learned to speak and could only call his father and mother.

"Itachi, Sasuke, good morning."

At that moment, Sasuke, who seemed to have just woken up, was led out of the room by Itachi.

"Good morning, Uncle Minato, Aunt Kushina."

Itachi greeted them very politely. Sasuke, standing behind him, even followed his example and nodded politely to the two.

"You got up so early to train."

Minato had actually heard the sounds of training when he entered Mikoto's courtyard.

Since Itachi entered the Ninja Academy more than a year ago, his grades had always been at the top without question.

Some young teachers at the Academy even commented that he was a genius unlike any seen since the establishment of the Academy.

Although this evaluation was a little exaggerated, it also showed how strong Itachi's talent was.

Minato had paid special attention to him. With Itachi's current level, he had reached the point where he could graduate and become a Genin.

It's just that now was a peaceful time, and becoming a ninja too early might not be a good thing.

Just like some of the flaws in Kakashi's character were formed by becoming a ninja at too young an age.

Itachi nodded, then observed Naruto, smiled gently, and said: "Naruto is here too."

"I can't stay here for too long now. Naruto is in your care," Minato said to Mikoto.

"Don't worry."

Mikoto smiled softly, and Minato and Kushina both said a few words to Naruto before leaving instantly.

In the Hokage's office, when Kakashi learned that Kushina was one of the members of his team, his normally indifferent expression changed slightly.

"Captain Kakashi, please take care of me!"

Kushina walked to Kakashi's side and patted his shoulder with a smile.

"Yeah."

Kakashi responded, and then looked at Minato.

Minato nodded at him seriously.

"I wish you a smooth mission," Minato said with a smile.

"Let's go!"

Kakashi and several Konoha ninjas behind him nodded to the Hokage.

Kushina glanced at Minato, and then followed Kakashi and the other team members out of the Hokage's office.

"Next, it will be hard for you."

After Kushina left, Minato stood there and said softly.

"Yeah."

Outside the window, a figure suddenly appeared.

It was Uchiha Yoruki.

The masked man and his associates had once tried to destroy Konoha, and Kushina might be targeted by them after leaving the village.

However, Minato expected that they would not attack Kushina for the time being, because their attack on Konoha more than a year ago had failed.

For more than a year, Konoha had not detected any sign of the masked man and his group.

Although the possibility of Kushina being in danger was not great, Minato had to remain vigilant.

In fact, the safest approach would be for Kushina to stay in the village.

But although she was a Jinchūriki, she should also have freedom. The village could not be turned into a prison that would confine her for the rest of her life.

As Minato expected, Kushina did not encounter any danger when she left the village to carry out the mission.

Uchiha Yoruki also did not find any trace of the masked man and his companions.

The mission was completed perfectly.

In this way, another year passed quickly.