Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 220 - 6 months later.

[Chapter Size: 1900 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 42.
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...

"You are already here..."
The feminine voice came from behind as Minato gave a small smile.

He saw Kushina approaching him as she stopped by his side with a bouquet of flowers.

Both of them stood still, looking at the grave in front of them, which belonged to none other than Mito Senju. Today marked the anniversary of Mito’s death, which had occurred a few years ago.

"I wanted to see her a little more..."
Minato turned his attention back to the grave. It wasn’t in a public area but within the Senju property, like all the deceased members of the clan. Despite being a private area, Minato was free to enter.

"She is missed, isn’t she?"
Kushina murmured as she approached the grave, starting to place fresh flowers while removing the old ones. She had been maintaining the graves frequently, something she had gotten used to over the years, especially when she was alone during the war.

"Of course."
Minato replied. Mito had been part of his childhood in the village. Even though he had focused solely on training during his early years, she had certainly helped him ever since he first met her when Tsuna invited him over for dinner with her family. She had a unique sense of humor and enjoyed teasing everyone.

Minato had never openly shown it, but he loved her—loved her like the grandmother he never had. Someone he had hoped to see again after the war, waiting for him and the others. But that wasn’t possible, as she had passed away during the war. Only the Senju clan had been able to spend her final days with her.

"She always talked about you in her last months..."
Kushina noticed Minato’s quick words, something that happened when he was deep in thought, making him look at her in surprise.
"She always asked for the village to be taken care of, for everyone to be protected, and..."
Kushina seemed too embarrassed at the last part to continue.

Minato smiled. She had always seen him as the future of the village, someone who would one day take the place her husband once occupied when he founded it. She had imagined him wearing the Hokage's hat. Minato, from the moment he first met her, had the impression that she saw him as Hokage. It was strange, but he simply missed her. He was sure she would have dismantled Hanabi’s seal completely within a few months.

"It’s a shame she’s not here... but she’s certainly in a better place..."
Minato commented at the end, while beside her grave was that of the First Hokage. They were probably together again in death.

"Yes..."
Kushina moved closer to him and stood by his side for a while, just contemplating the grave in silence as she leaned her shoulder against him.

They remained like that for a moment until Minato sighed.

"I should go now."
He spoke—after all, he had his shift as the Hokage’s bodyguard.

"Alright... just make sure to show up for dinner. I’ll prepare something for you."
Kushina said as Minato nodded.

"Yes, I’ll come here tonight."
He said as Kushina approached and gave him a kiss. Minato put on his mask and disappeared after that.

Six months had passed since the Hyuuga clan’s turmoil and his and his companions’ entry into an Anbu squad.

Several things had happened during this time. The Hyuuga clan had even tried to do something to Hanabi again, but once more, a group of elders ended up back in the hospital, making them fear the girl without knowing exactly what had happened.

After all, with the ability to activate the seal on her forehead at close range, they were always met with a counterattack. Minato had altered something in the seal with his knowledge—he couldn’t destroy it yet, as neither he, Kushina, nor Tsuna had found the key to it. However, he had linked the seal with his Raijin. When someone tried to activate it to harm Hanabi, he would immediately know and teleport to her, acting before anyone could react.

After all, he used his light-speed abilities to kick and punch anyone who attempted anything.

He was truly fast—so much so that many reported seeing a flash of light when it happened. But in reality, no one there could actually see the speed of light.

Even those who tried to examine the seal on her forehead couldn’t, as Minato didn’t allow it. Not even Hanabi knew exactly how it worked. He simply beat up anyone who tried.

After that, Hanabi was no longer bothered.

As for Mikoto, no one else from the Uchiha clan bothered them. Although they looked at Minato and Mikoto with cold eyes, no one dared to say anything to either of them. The Uchiha clan was now focused on training its new heir. Fugaku was undergoing intense training, according to what the village was saying, but as long as they didn’t interfere in Minato’s life or his fiancées', he didn’t care.

Besides Minato, Hanabi, and Mikoto being in the Anbu squad, Tsuna was working at the village hospital, putting into practice everything she had learned from the war and from her mother. After all, Tsunade was off duty, spending her time drinking and even gambling.

But unlike her older sister, Nawaki seemed much better than he had six months ago. After undergoing intense training with Might Duy, he had even started wearing a green outfit for training, developing his taijutsu more than ever, surprising Might Duy with his Senju genetics.

Kushina was further specializing in fuuinjutsu and, with Minato's encouragement, developing her Adamantine Chains even more. The seal on her stomach was still very powerful since it had only been created a few years ago, but Minato felt that it was beginning to weaken.

Kurama, who was not yet a problem for Kushina, could become one at any moment. That’s why he wanted her to be strong enough to handle the Tailed Beast by herself. Minato hoped to have an honest conversation with Kurama without actually having to fight. After all, he recognized that, thanks to Madara and, in a way, Hashirama, her freedom had been stolen. Minato understood that any creature would feel immense hatred in such a situation.

Jiraiya-sensei still hadn’t returned to the village, even after almost three years. Soon, that time would be complete. Minato knew he would be back soon.

All of Minato’s other acquaintances were living their usual lives without much change. But the sixteen-year-old blond always visited them, maintaining a steady routine whenever he wasn’t on Anbu duty.

Working in Anbu was truly a different type of mission compared to the traditional ones. Not that Minato could talk much about it—he had only ever done a single S-rank mission in the normal ranking system. Of course, this didn’t count war missions, since he had remained in the village, though that mission was still connected to the war.

Compared to the missions that Konoha’s regular teams usually did, Anbu had one singular purpose: protecting the village. Whether by dealing with traitors, selecting targets with potential threats, protecting the Hokage, or investigating treason and suspected rogue ninjas within the village, their objectives were clear.

He and his companions had completed more than thirty different missions in these six months. Most of them ended up being B-rank, with many A-rank ones, but no S-rank missions, as there had been no major threats. C-rank or lower missions weren’t something Anbu handled, so there were none of those for them.

This post-war period was calm, so the missions weren’t difficult. However, the war had not officially ended yet. The meeting between the Kages and the feudal lords of the countries had not taken place, but it was scheduled for next week, where the leaders would finally define the terms of the war’s conclusion.

In short, life was peaceful, and the Anbu salary was very good as well—not that Minato needed the money. Besides, he had received a shop from the Senju clan in the past few months. Tsunade had realized that there were too many properties for the clan to manage alongside Nawaki, and they initially thought of selling some.

But in the end, they offered it to Minato as something like a wedding gift and a way for him to ensure a prosperous future for Tsuna, Kushina, and their descendants. Minato couldn’t have asked for more, especially since the shops were located in the best area of the village.

He produced a lot of things, and Kushina helped him with that, but they also bought items from third parties.

Minato was never a great businessman, despite knowing how to make money easily, but he was taking good care of the properties, earning even more money for the construction of his personal estate in a corner of the village.

His house had already begun construction. While the workers were building the large area and the surrounding wall, he felt excited about how things were progressing. Soon, he would have a place to live with his future family.

He had shocked many people as rumors spread about him having multiple fiancées. Only Hanabi was not included in this, although there were rumors about her too, since she was always with him and the other girls. However, nothing was official, mainly to avoid further problems with the Hyuuga clan—at least until he could remove her seal.

Returning to the present, Minato appeared in front of the Hokage’s building before finally advancing to his shift.

He greeted all the hidden Anbu members and took his position in the Hokage’s office, concealed on the ceiling, invisible to everyone who entered.

There were at least twelve Anbu ninjas with Minato, and none of them spoke. They simply waited for the Hokage’s orders or prepared to act at any sign of danger to his life.

In the end, they stayed there for hours while the Hokage spent most of his time reading and signing documents, smoking his pipe, while many people came to speak with him. Minato and his comrades listened to various conversations on a wide range of topics.

He had to admit he was often surprised by what he heard in recent months, especially by the demands that some ninjas made of the Hokage.

At one point, even a Chuunin came in, demanding an S-rank jutsu as a reward for his contribution to a war mission—which wasn’t even that important. His justification was that learning an S-rank technique would make him stronger and allow him to help the village more. But judging by the amount of chakra in his body, Minato doubted he could even perform an S-rank jutsu.

Today, everything seemed ordinary, nothing too exaggerated. The only notable complaint came from a merchant arguing about the village taxes.

At one moment, the Hokage paused and decided to summon a specific Anbu member.

"Lumem."

Minato immediately disappeared and reappeared in front of the Hokage, kneeling on the ground—not as a sign of reverence, but simply because that was the Anbu norm.

"You’re dismissed. There is a special mission I’ve assigned to your team. Your leader should be calling a meeting soon with everyone, so you may go."

Minato nodded behind his mask.

"Understood."

With that, Minato vanished, advancing through the village toward the team’s secret location before using the Raijin technique to instantly teleport there.

Author’s note: Just a summary of events and a bit of Minato’s work as Anbu. I wanted to highlight this role a little since I aim to explore Naruto’s world in different ways and take advantage of its depth.