I Read It In A Book

Chapter 3

Rubbing his forehead in frustration, Minato signed yet another document. He had almost forgotten of this hell over the three year break. It was the one thing he didn't miss about his duty which is ironic as it is most of the job. The past two weeks were anything other than easy for him. The forms continued coming and coming. Document after document was placed before him as soon as he retook office. It was like the workload just grew during his time away.

Of course, it was expected and he did it with a smile. Well, as much of a smile as he could give with the exhaustion from everything that had been happening. Over the two week period, the kids were becoming absolutely unbearable. They wanted to spend time with him every day when he got home. It seemed they became reliant on his presence during their training so losing that constant connection threw their world for a loop. It pained him to tell them no, but he had no choice. One can only take so much stress before they give. Luckily he had Kushina back to her normal self after a week of the revealing day.

That first week after Naruto's departure, Kushina was far from her usual self. A smile on the woman was near nonexistent and for a while, it seemed like it was gone for good. Mito and Menma noticed the change in their mother as well. A week later, they asked Minato if they were getting a divorce, apparently having the same thought as Naruto. At that point, Minato knew he had to speak with her about the way she was effecting the kids. He sat her down and listened to her rant on and on about how worthless she was as a mother and how she shouldn't have been allowed to have children in the first place. He let her pour all that negativity out to him in private as she cried on his shoulder. When she was finished, he told her of his conversation with Naruto. He explained that Naruto was truly not mad about the whole ordeal. When she couldn't accept that, he explained to her the plan he had of organizing a family vacation in a few months. They'd integrate the blonde back into their everyday routine as often as they could. Doing things like inviting him to dinner, asking him for help with the kids training or just spending time with them.

Kushina still wasn't back to her true self, but she had started to cheer up a bit more. She began spending more and more time with her friends she had been so out of touch with. A few days after Minato's plan reveal, she felt it necessary to ask them for advice. To do so, she had to open up to them and run the risk of being judged or possibly ostracized. To her surprise, they were very supportive. Of course disappointed in her, they understood the situation and could tell her regret was real and not just an attempt to save face.

That in itself took a huge load off of Minato's shoulders. Now he was sure his wife was speaking with someone about the ordeal and was getting help. It reassured him it would be alright in the long run. Now, all he was doing was awaiting his son's return which was still stressing him out. He read through the mission parameters and saw that there was more than a small chance they'd run into a few S rank ninja. Their scheduled ETA was two days ago, but underestimating mission completion times was common, even for ANBU commanders.

This was the first time he has known of one of his children actually being out on a mission. When Naruto was born, he had always imagined seeing him off on his first venture out of the village. Having missed that chance, he was giddy to see the boy return from the first one he would see. Still a strange concept that it would be from an ANBU mission, but nevertheless it would be something he'd remember forever. His anxiety only increased as the hours passed by and the day neared its end as the previous one had. He knew not every day was promised and with ANBU, no matter how strong you are, your chances of making it back are still slim.

Watching the footage of their Chunin exams battle is what put his mind at ease. Itachi and Naruto were absolutely amazing. He had never been filled with such pride in his life. Not only seeing his son using his technique, but representing his family name with pride regardless of his mistreatment. He was amazed completely, so much so that he watched it every single day. If that was their strength from just a year ago, he actually feared what they were now, adding to fact their ANBU training. They were possibly nearing the strongest pair in Konoha. That film reassured him that they would be absolutely fine, no matter who the opponent was.
Well, there were a few exceptions.