At the entrance of the Hokage’s office, Kamizuki Hikari took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
*Knock! Knock! Knock!*
A warm and powerful male voice answered. Hearing that voice, Hikari instinctively frowned.
’Strange... somehow, I feel like there should be a woman inside.’
’No way, that’s impossible. I must be overthinking it. This is Minato-senpai’s office—how could it be a woman?’
He pushed open the door, and what greeted him was a head of dazzling blond hair, along with a gentle smile, as warm as the morning sun.
"Fourth Hokage-sama!" Official source ıs 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Calling out that title, Hikari unconsciously reached up to the corner of his eye—only to find tears had unknowingly spilled down his face.
"Hikari, you’re finally here!"
The Fourth Hokage looked genuinely happy at his arrival.
"Why are you crying? Is it because today is a special day, and you’re just too happy for me?" Minato chuckled warmly, handing Hikari a tissue. "Wipe them away. A man can bleed, but he shouldn’t cry."
"Yes!" Hikari nodded, quickly wiping away his tears.
But he was confused. Why was he crying just from seeing the Fourth Hokage?
Was he really that fragile...?
"Oh, by the way, congratulations on your fifteen-year reign as Hokage! I prepared this for you!" Hikari reached into his tool pouch and pulled out a book.
"Heh, Hikari, you never cease to surprise me. If I weren’t the Hokage, I might never have found out. The famous Holy Light-sensei of the shinobi world—truly impressive!"
Minato casually accepted the gift, placing it into his private drawer.
In a world with so few sources of entertainment, only such ’wholesome’ novels brought him a sense of beauty.
"You’re still that scared of Kushina-nee, huh!"
"Scared? No, no, this is genuine respect!" Minato defended himself, then glanced around nervously. "But you’d better be careful too. If Kushina finds out you’re writing books like Jiraiya-sensei, she might really come after you."
"Ahem, it won’t be that bad—" Hikari’s words trailed off when the office window opened. A red-haired woman stood there, smiling sweetly at Minato.
"Darling, it sounds like you two are hiding something from me!"
"Kushina, you’re here!"
Minato, unfazed by her suspicion, skillfully diverted the subject. He walked over and gently helped her inside.
"Hmph. Don’t think I don’t know you’re picking up bad habits. I’ll forgive you just this once today. But if you dare read things like that again, you’ll be sleeping on the couch!" Kushina threatened in a low voice, though she didn’t press him too harshly.
"And you!" She turned, pointing an accusatory finger at Hikari. "I asked you to keep an eye on Minato for me, not lead him astray!"
’Even when angry, Kushina is... so nostalgic.’
’Wait... nostalgic? Why would I think that?’
"What’s wrong, why are you crying?!"
Kushina reached out, gently wiping Hikari’s tears, then turned to glare at Minato. "Did you bully Hikari again? Let me tell you, he’s like my younger brother. If you dare pick on him, I won’t forgive you!"
"No, I didn’t! I swear I didn’t bully him!" Minato hadn’t expected the fire to suddenly turn on him.
"Hmph, as if you’d dare."
Satisfied with Minato’s meekness, Kushina turned back to Hikari. "From now on, if anyone bullies you, just use my name. I don’t believe anyone in the shinobi world would dare disrespect me!"
"Yes, yes. Anyone who disrespects Kushina is disrespecting me, Namikaze Minato, and also disrespecting Konoha. They’ll get a taste of my Flying Thunder God: Flash Super Wheel Dance Howl Triple Combo!" Minato chimed in quickly.
Watching the two of them together, Hikari couldn’t help but smile.
’This... this really is nice.’
"Thank you, Kushina-nee. Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hikari said gratefully.
"Alright, that’s enough. Naruto’s been so rebellious lately that I finally gave him a good scolding. Can you believe he actually talked back to me?" Kushina suddenly explained why she had come alone. "All I said was that Sakura isn’t the right girl for him, and he had the nerve to yell at me!"
"You’re right, you’re right. He was wrong for that. I’ll make sure to talk to him about it tomorrow." Minato expertly soothed his wife.
"I just think Hinata from the Hyūga clan is perfect. She’s gentle, capable, reminds me of myself when I was young. But that Sakura girl... she’s useless at everything, nothing more than a pretty face. How could a girl like that be worthy of our Naruto?"
"Absolutely! I completely agree!" Minato nodded along, not daring to voice any disagreement.
"And what about Kakashi and Obito? Why haven’t they sorted things out with Rin yet? She’s almost thirty, still unmarried! Those two are hopeless, it makes me so mad!"
Minato, Hikari: "..."
As expected of Naruto’s mother... wasn’t that change of subject way too fast?
Catching off guard, Hikari could only smile silently in the end.
This side of Kushina-nee... was what made her so lovable.
"They’ll be here soon. Minato, make sure you talk to Kakashi and Obito. If they really want to marry Rin, they need to make an effort. Otherwise, I’ll introduce her to other handsome men!"
"Anyway, I’m off to find Naruto. You two—behave! No mischief, understood?"
With that, Kushina leapt out the window. Judging from how smoothly she did it, this was clearly not the first time.
"Sorry about that, Hikari. I hope she didn’t startle you."
Minato was used to his wife’s behavior, but he looked slightly embarrassed in front of Hikari.
"Not at all. It’s refreshing, honestly. And the fact that you and her are still so in love after so many years of marriage... I really admire that!"
"Relax, you’re married to Yakumo yourself, aren’t you?" Minato patted Hikari on the shoulder, then, after confirming Kushina was truly gone, leaned in and whispered.
"Since you’re a married man now, you need to be more discreet outside. I’ll turn a blind eye to Tenten, Ayame, and Kurenai—after all, they’re around your age or younger. But with Tsunade-sama... can’t you exercise a little more self-control? If word about you two gets out, how am I, as Hokage, supposed to address you?!"
Hikari stared blankly at Minato.
Only one thought crossed his mind:
’So I’m actually a scumbag? And it seems like the entire village knows about it.’
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