Mentioning the Pervy Sage made sixteen-year-old Naruto Uzumaki think of his death again, and his mood sank once more.
"Alright, cheer up." Minato patted the boy beside him on the shoulder. "Now's not the time to get stuck in it. Do you remember the code Jiraiya-sensei left behind? That message was meant just for you. Only you can figure out how to decode it."
"Only me…" Naruto repeated quietly.
Minato nodded. "Yeah. I think Jiraiya-sensei truly cherished you. He treated you like the descendant of his late son, like his own grandson. He loved you and trusted you that much."
"Grandson?"
"Yes." Minato said gently. "Wait here for a moment. Just count to ten."
"Count to—"
Before Naruto could finish speaking, the blond guy wearing the fox mask was already gone.
"Four…"
"Three…"
"Tch, why am I even listening to him, dattebayo…"
"Did I make it back in time?"
The blond ninja reappeared beside him.
Naruto noticed he was holding a blue twin-stick ice pop, still releasing a faint chill.
"Hey! The nearest convenience store is—"
Snap.
The blond ANBU snapped the ice pop in half and handed one stick to Naruto.
Naruto hesitated for a moment, then took it.
"Why'd you suddenly treat me to an ice pop?"
"Because yours already melted." Minato laughed, pointing at the puddle of melted ice on the ground.
Naruto said quietly, "The first time I ever shared one of these… was because I saw a father and kid sharing theirs. I was so jealous that I begged the Pervy Sage to buy me one…"
Minato thought of how he'd shared ice pops with Naruto and Sasuke a few days earlier. He lifted the one in his hand slightly.
"Besides fathers and sons, brothers can share too."
"Brothers…"
Thinking of Sasuke made Naruto feel even more down.
"I wonder how Sasuke's doing. After killing Itachi, he should've come back to Konoha by now."
Minato's heart jolted.
If Sasuke really had killed Itachi, and then learned the truth from Obito…
He turned to look at the sixteen-year-old Naruto. Those still-slender shoulders carried so much already. Minato's gaze softened, filled with both pride and pain at this Naruto's strength.
"But you'll bring Sasuke back," he said calmly. "No matter what's in your way. Right?"
"Yeah, of course." Naruto took a bite of the ice pop. After talking with this guy, his chest felt noticeably lighter. The conversation itself was simple, but it felt like a heavy stone had finally been moved aside.
Even so, he still couldn't come to terms with the Pervy Sage's death just yet.
"You could also think of it this way," Minato said. "Your father, your mother, and Jiraiya-sensei are all watching you from another world. They're waiting to see you grow, and to see you fulfill both your dream and theirs."
"Their dream?" Naruto asked.
"They hoped you'd become Hokage and lead the ninja world toward peace." Minato continued, "Don't forget. From the moment you were born, they trusted you completely and protected you all the way."
Naruto stared at him in shock. For some reason, this person had a way of making him believe every word.
"…Alright. I should go now."
Naruto watched as the blond guy stood up.
"Hey, big bro!"
"Hm?" Minato turned back after taking a few steps.
"Your ice pop's melting."
With the mask on, Minato couldn't really eat it anyway. And unlike Kakashi, he didn't have the skill of finishing one at lightning speed.
In the quiet Konoha park at night, the sound of insects made everything feel even more still.
The streetlamp near the bench wasn't very bright, lighting only a small patch of ground.
From Naruto's point of view, the mysterious guy who had suddenly appeared turned back against the light…
His golden hair seemed to glow faintly under the lamp, making Naruto stare without realizing it.
Slowly, the man lifted his mask.
Most of his face was hidden in shadow, the features unclear. Yet somehow, indistinct and fleeting, Naruto caught traces of something strangely familiar.
Minato took a bite of the ice pop and put the mask back on.
"Don't forget. Your master, and your father and mother, will always protect you."
"Hey… who exactly are you…?"
But by then, the other man had already vanished using the Body Flicker Technique. Naruto replayed the half of a face he had vaguely seen. That strangely familiar silhouette made him murmur under his breath,
"Fourth… Hokage…"
Iruka Umino brushed past a blond jōnin wearing a mask.
"Please do me a favor and treat him to a bowl of ramen."
At the moment they passed each other, Iruka clearly heard those words.
He turned around sharply, only to find that the blond ninja who had just passed him was already gone without a trace.
All that remained in his sight was the dim night, streetlights flickering on and off, two moths repeatedly tapping against the bulb.
A cold wind blew, and Iruka Umino instinctively hunched his shoulders.
It wasn't until more than ten years later, waking suddenly from a dream in the dead of night, that Iruka finally realized who that "ghost" he had encountered back then truly was—and what those words, "please do it for me," had really meant.
...
When Minato Namikaze returned to the original inn, he was still holding that ice pop in his hand. Judging by the time, it was already close to dawn. Yet the light in his room was still on, with Team Minato, Team Kakashi, and Jiraiya all present.
The moment he appeared, everyone snapped their heads toward him.
"Minato-sama!"
"Minato-sensei!"
"Minato!"
Voices rang out in shock. Only Naruto remained silent, his gaze slightly evasive.
Minato reached out and ruffled his son's hair, setting aside the thoughts crowding his mind for the moment.
Because of what he had learned, his eyes paused briefly on Jiraiya.
Adult Kakashi spoke first. "Sensei, what exactly…?"
Minato sighed softly. "I was forced to travel to the future."
"The future?!"
Everyone reacted at once. Sasuke frowned. "We've had people from the future come to our time, but this is the first time one of us has gone to the future."
Young Kakashi shook his head. "From our perspective, coming to your time was already a form of traveling to the future."
Jiraiya glanced at the ice pop in Minato's hand. "You sure looked relaxed out there."
He jerked his thumb toward Naruto. "These brats have been worried sick."
Not just Naruto—young Obito, young Kakashi, and Rin from Team Minato were all visibly anxious as well.
"Sorry about that," Minato said. "Some things came up, so I was delayed."
"What happened?" Sasuke asked. "Was it serious?"
"Yes. The situation was… unusual." Minato continued, "It was roughly two or three years in the future. A parallel world unaffected by mission scrolls, and one we've never visited before."
Naruto frowned. "What kind of world was it? If I didn't see Dad, does that mean the me in that world still wouldn't know who my parents are by then?"
Minato nodded. "However, it seems something happened during the Chūnin Exams. You followed Jiraiya-sensei and trained for a full three years."
"The Pervy Sage?" Naruto sat on the floor of the inn, staring at Jiraiya with a look that suggested his entire worldview was shaking.
"Hey, brat, what's with that look?" Jiraiya snapped. "You weren't acting like this when you were pestering me earlier about where Minato went."
"Tch."
"What about us?" Sasuke asked.
Minato replied, "Sakura trained under Tsunade-sama. As for you…"
"I followed Orochimaru?" Sasuke guessed.
Naruto looked unhappy, while Sakura stared in shock.
"The information I gathered through Shadow Clones is limited to what Konoha knows," Minato said. "And that future is already very different from ours. I'll tell you what I can. If it's possible to avoid it… then try to avoid it."
"Go on," Jiraiya said.
"First, Sasuke did leave Konoha to follow Orochimaru. It was an unauthorized departure, but due to the Fifth Hokage's arrangements, you were not labeled a Missing-nin."
"Second, Konoha recently received two pieces of news about that world's Sasuke."
Sasuke's expression remained calm. "Which two?"
"First, you killed Orochimaru and freed the experimental subjects he had imprisoned."
At the mention of Orochimaru's death, Jiraiya's expression shifted subtly.
"Sasuke killed Orochimaru?" Naruto blurted out. "So was he following him as an undercover agent?"
That explanation was easier for Naruto and Obito to accept.
But Minato shook his head slightly. "It seems someone staked their life on bringing Sasuke back, promising that regardless of whether he became a traitor or not, he would never turn against Konoha."
"What?!"
Sasuke's eyes widened. He instantly knew exactly which idiot would dare make such a promise for him.
"Then what?" he asked quietly.
"There are rumors that Sasuke Uchiha killed Itachi Uchiha."
…!
Sasuke's pupils shrank sharply.
"…Then… would the me in that world know the truth?"
The one who answered was not Minato, but young Obito Uchiha.
"The masked man in that world will definitely tell Sasuke."
The rest didn't need to be said.
"You mentioned the Fifth Hokage earlier. It looks like the Third Hokage in that world really did meet with an accident. Was it Orochimaru?"
"Yes." Minato nodded. "It was Orochimaru. And the one who succeeded him as the Fifth Hokage was Tsunade-sama."
"Just as we expected. It basically matches the course we predicted."
Minato continued, "So whether all of this can be changed depends on whether we can stop Orochimaru."
Hearing that, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and the others silently steeled themselves.
"None of this sounds very encouraging," Jiraiya said. "Do you have any good news at all?"
Good news…
How was Minato supposed to answer that?
"Alright, I can tell from your face there's more information, just not the uplifting kind. Go on, say it," Jiraiya added casually, thinking it couldn't be that bad.
Minato swallowed. "Jiraiya-sensei… maybe you really shouldn't go after Pain alone…"
He phrased it too gently. At first, Jiraiya didn't catch the meaning, only responding with his usual line about danger being unavoidable and some things needing personal verification.
"I mean… not just the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and me all dying at the hands of our own disciples. Jiraiya-sensei, you too…"
"..."
A long silence followed.
What kind of karmic curse was this?!
Why did everyone in this line end up dying at the hands of their own students?!
At that moment, Obito Uchiha felt like he really shouldn't be sitting there. He should probably go outside and run a few laps with Sasuke instead.
Sure enough…
Before he could even stand up, Jiraiya turned to glare at him and Sasuke. "What's wrong with you two little Uchiha brats? Killing your teacher is absolutely unacceptable, got it?! Where did all that respect for one's master go? Especially you, Sasuke. You don't even call him 'sensei.'"
Obito nodded for dear life.
Sasuke snorted. "Killing Orochimaru was the right thing to do! And I don't call Kakashi 'sensei' because he's not that much older than us." But thinking about how his counterpart in that world lost the chance to learn the truth about Itachi—or even earlier—filled him with regret.
"I'm fourteen years older than you, three years older than Iruka," Kakashi shot back. "So why do you call him Iruka-sensei but not me Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yeah, yeah, exactly," Obito chimed in.
"When it comes to disrespecting teachers, you've got no right to lecture me," Sasuke snapped back.
Seeing the argument about to explode again, Minato quickly cut in.
"Alright, that's enough. It's already past midnight. If you want to wake up early tomorrow and stop all this from happening, you should all go to sleep right now."
With that, Minato ushered the junior chūnin and jōnin of Team Minato, along with the genin of Team Kakashi, back to their rooms.
Tomorrow would be a brutal fight. Genin crossing ranks to challenge opponents at Kage or near-Kage level. Minato, Tsunade, and Jiraiya would naturally take the lead, but because of the mission scrolls, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had also been entrusted with major roles.
Compared to the night before, Naruto slept deeply.
Sasuke and Sakura, though carrying some pre-battle nerves, also fell asleep quickly.
The only one lying awake, unable to calm his thoughts, was Minato Namikaze—the one who had just returned from a journey through time.