[Chapter Size: 2200 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
...
...
"A scroll?" Duy looked surprised.
"It's actually a letter... but there's something for you there, that's what Minato told me when he placed the letters in my hand." Nawaki said, while moving forward along the clan.
"Now, come with me." Nawaki requested, while the father and son duo followed him, not entering through the main door of the house where he and his sister lived.
They entered through the side, finding a little boy in lotus position, concentrated, sitting on the floor, training, while Tsunade stared at him the whole time at his side, supervising his training.
Her gaze shifted to the newcomers, seeing Guy and his father Duy. The little boy opened his eyes as he felt their presence approaching and completely lost his concentration, as he stared at the newcomers. Before a fist came down toward him from above, startling him.
"AH! Why did you hit me?!" Shouted the boy, no more than 9 years old.
"You have to pay attention to your training, brat! Focus first! Use your chakra to release it!" Tsunade spoke in a scolding tone, making the little boy shrink back and nod.
Nawaki just shook his head at his sister being harsh with the child, while Guy seemed more cheerful at seeing someone his own age there.
"Who is this boy? Is he training with Miss Tsunade?!" Guy shouted excitedly, seeing the boy training, even if it wasn't physical training.
"This is Yamato, he came to the clan a day ago, Tsunade has become his legal guardian now. And my sister is supervising his training." Nawaki explained, while Guy ran up to the boy. Before he got close, he also received a knock on the head from Tsunade.
"AH!"
"Don't disturb the training!" She said in an angry tone, while Guy touched his forehead with a small bump forming after the blow, trying not to cry.
"Tsunade is scary..." He murmured, while the red mark stood out on his forehead.
"What did you dare say about me, boy?!" Tsunade scolded, ready to hit him again, while Yamato tried to behave without opening his eyes even if the world was ending, all to avoid irritating Tsunade again.
"Well, let's leave my sister training young Yamato. I'm sure you can become friends later. Now come." Nawaki said, asking the two to follow him again.
He entered the clan through a side door and picked up some letters, handing one to Duy.
"Was this done by Minato?" Duy asked, carefully taking the letter.
"Yes, Minato left this for you and a few others." Nawaki replied, while Duy nodded and opened the letter right there, with his very curious son at his side. He sat on the edge of the house and Guy joined him.
As soon as he opened it, Minato's words were there.
I know this is unexpected, Duy, and I know I may be seen as a traitor within this village, but I don't care about that. This is my choice and I decided to save the Uzumakis, with or without the village.
Anyway, I hope you are not disappointed with me for my somewhat reckless attitude, but this is my choice and I would like you to respect it.
Anyway, now I am no longer in the village, which means Konoha has weakened a little, but still it does not lose to any other village. There are still shinobi like you, Duy, one of the most powerful ninjas today.
I just wanted to say that you were a great friend, someone I met when I was still just a young boy being mocked, training alone in that vacant lot, back in academy days. I knew you had great potential from the start and that you would shut the mouths of everyone who mocked you as an eternal genin... And seeing you become the powerful ninja who can use the 8 gates, to the point of having the respect of the entire village, is something I greatly admire.
I know this is all your merit, but it still fills me with pride to see your evolution, to see how strong you were becoming.
Back at the northern border, when you began to open the first gates, that was already a path of no return for you. I am sure you will protect the Village in my absence, regardless of what consequences this battle brings to Konoha.
At the same time, I will not stand still. I also know that things will be complicated for me regarding the Village, but I would never let it reach the brink of destruction. When that happens, I will be back.
Now I must leave the Village in your hands and in the hands of others I trust. Please, protect Konoha, fight for your comrades.
Remember: Konoha is just a name, what truly makes it what it is is not the name, nor the land where Konoha stands, but the people. That is the most important thing. Help protect them, Duy. You can do it.
Here are some techniques that may help improve your body and Taijutsu. I don't think you will be able to perform them the way I do, but they can clearly help you develop something similar or close to my techniques. These are the six styles of the Navy, as I call them. Don't ask what Navy is.
Always have the power of youth, Duy.
With confidence, your friend, Minato.
Duy finished the letter and began to cry. "You never mocked me, Minato! Even back then, you were always there training with me without judging my reputation and you helped me a lot in developing the 8 gates! If it weren't for you, I would still be training to develop them as an invisible genin in the village! You also saved my wife and helped welcome my son, you will always be a good friend, Minato!" Duy began to cry as he answered the letter at the same time.
At the end of the message there was a seal.
Duy stopped crying and took a breath. He thought for a moment before applying a little chakra. Minato usually made seals that required nothing more than chakra to be activated when it was for Duy, and even though Duy was not proficient in jutsus, that did not mean he did not know how to manipulate chakra. After all, the very use of the gates was the uncontrolled manifestation of chakra in his body. As soon as he touched it, the seal exploded, revealing a scroll.
Duy quickly grabbed it before it fell to the ground. He looked at the scroll curiously.
"What is that, father?" Guy asked beside him.
"A scroll of techniques... Minato left this for me to train." Duy said, surprised. Nawaki, who was nearby, looked on curiously.
"Why did he leave techniques for you?" Nawaki asked.
Duy pressed his lips together before replying: "So that I can protect the Village." That was all he said.
Nawaki bid them farewell after that, since he still had other letters to deliver to people Minato had asked him to.
"Hey, you!" Guy saw Yamato finally resting from training and approached him.
Nawaki passed by them at that moment.
"Hi..." Yamato said in a shy tone.
"I'm Guy! So you're training with Tsunade? You must be really powerful! You know, at my age I only have one rival... I believe you'll be one too!" The boy said excitedly, approaching Yamato, who was a little bewildered by the approach of that green-dressed boy with funny hair and eyebrows.
But soon Yamato's expression was filled with embarrassment.
"I'm not that good..." He said. He could barely manipulate chakra properly, he hadn't even released it yet. He wasn't like the academy boys.
"Hey, don't be silly! If you're receiving training from Lady Tsunade, it means you're really strong!" Guy said in his youthful innocence. "Just don't give up. That's the secret, understand? So... have you ever heard of the power of youth?" He continued, seeing Yamato shrink a little upon hearing that.
Nawaki had already left the clan at that moment and advanced to one of the corners of the village, arriving at the orphanage. As he passed by the children playing, he called for the headmistress.
"Are you a member of the Senju clan?" The woman said when she saw him, immediately placing her hands on both his shoulders with a conflicted look, she seemed to have been crying, as Nawaki noticed. "Tell me... did Minato really leave the village?" She asked, knowing very well of his connection with the Senju, since she had also seen Minato with this man a few times.
"I must say yes." Nawaki replied.
The woman seemed on the verge of tears again. She hadn't believed it when she heard from the very ninjas she had raised in the orphanage — and who today were Chuunin and Jounin — who came earlier to warn her of what had happened, knowing of her connection with Minato.
The first thing Gorete did was cry. She hadn't even said goodbye... Minato had simply left the village. After everything he had done. But she soon also understood that things weren't that simple. It was easy to realize that Minato had left Konoha to protect the clan the village itself had refused to protect. He would do what Konoha hadn't done.
"Madam Gorete... I know Minato didn't say goodbye, but he couldn't do anything. He couldn't draw too much attention. So he gave me some letters, for me to place them in the right hands. This one is for you." He said, handing her one of the letters.
"Thank you for this, Lord Senju." The woman said, taking it immediately. In the end, she went into her room while Nawaki left the orphanage.
She had a simple room, but filled with photos of groups of children she had raised. In one of them was a young Minato with other children from that time. It was there that she cast her gaze, sighed, sat on the bed, and opened the letter, beginning to read it.
I apologize for leaving like this. I should have said goodbye to you, I know... But it was better for me to leave as soon as possible and leave only a message. Do not think that I will be gone forever. I need to protect the Uzumaki clan, even if everyone says otherwise. I still want to do that. That is why I left. Becoming a rogue ninja was not what I had planned... But it was necessary.
I just want to say that I will never forget you, no matter what happens. And you, mother... if I may say so, since you were the closest woman I ever had to one, I will always consider you as such.
I just want to thank you for everything you did for me. Your advice, your encouragement, and even your scoldings were gifts in my first years at the academy, until I managed to move to the apartment in the village.
However, I always saw you as this woman, this motherly figure. I just wanted to say that I am sorry, but I will never forget you, mother, nor all the other children or important people to me in the village. Regardless of what happens, this will not be the last time we meet.
The village is in good hands, and for me that is enough. As long as I protect those who are out there, beyond the village gates, there will be those who protect the people inside. You and everyone will be safe. But I want you to know that I love you, mother.
Madam Gorete could not stop the tears from wetting the letter.
"Minato, you idiot... my little one... I will scold you as soon as I see you again!" She said amid her crying.
Nawaki, in turn, had arrived at a bar in the village, where a group of people was gathered. He approached, drawing their attention, and they all raised their eyebrows, wondering what the leader of the Senju was doing there. Nawaki simply placed a letter on the table.
"It's from Minato." That was all he said.
Everyone opened their eyes in surprise.
This group was none other than the legendary Ghost Squad, those who had survived the Second World War. There had been no further casualties since then, but the group was quite reduced.
They had gathered precisely to discuss Minato — not only surprised by what he had done in recent days, but also remembering when some of their own comrades had attacked him, trying to kill him in the Land of Wind at the orders of the Hokage and the elders. Now, upon hearing that he had deserted the village to join the Uzumakis in their fight, they were even more astonished.
Alpha approached the letter and, carefully, began to open it to read it to the others. Nawaki had already left the place, returning to the clan