I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 22 | The Sixth Hokage

Everyone was looking at Obito. He was still staring disbelievingly at Minato.

"Who recommended me? Why?"

Minato shook his head. "I don't know. All Sandaime-sama said was that someone in the Uchiha clan submitted the form. That means it has a good chance of passing. Any higher-ranking Uchiha will have reputation and influence. You didn't ask anyone to consider it?"

"I—no. No way in hell," Obito said. "Everyone in the clan hates me except for—I guess some of the retired geezers might still have influence, but it has to be someone active, right? Plus, I never heard anything about it."

"We can find out the details when we get home." Minato seemed troubled. "To be honest, your foundational skills still need work to be at that level. Your kamui has the potential to be an S-class jutsu, but that alone would qualify you for tokubetsu jounin, at best."

"Of course," Kakashi said with a shrug. "It's probably a case of miscommunication."

Minato gave Kakashi a look. "Regardless, I will agree with whatever the Sandaime decides."

"Someone might have found out what you can do," Naruto said to Obito. "You were always practicing at home, right?"

"Yeah," Obito said uneasily.

Minato glanced from Obito to Naruto. "In any case, everything with the negotiations is resolved. I managed to tag some of the rogues, so we can track them later. I'm expected back this evening to make my report in person. We still have a lot of work to do."

"Has there been any word about..." Rin started. Minato must have known what she meant, because he shook his head.

"Unfortunately, it does not seem like Kiri will follow Iwa in surrender. They have one less enemy now, too. So, we all have to go home for now." Minato turned his eyes back to Naruto.

"But... I could help somehow, couldn't I? Whatever you guys end up doing. I can help."

"You can't come to the village with us right now," Minato said gently. Naruto was amazed Kakashi didn't interrupt with a protest, but he kept silent. "It would be much safer to visit us with Sandaime-sama's permission, and he has too much on his mind right now. If you really want to go, I promise I will come up with a way. But if you show up the way you did last time, I would not be able to help."

Naruto felt his heart sink until it pooled somewhere near his feet. The corners of his eyes suddenly stung. He knew Minato was probably right, but he wished the soon-to-be Hokage would forget about his duty enough for them be together a little longer.

"I'm sorry." Minato hesitated. "Would you mind coming with me for a few moments? I would like to have a quick word with him, then we can go." He said the last part to the group as a whole.

"Alright," Naruto said.

Minato extended his hand, and Naruto was so used to traveling like this that he took it right away. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were gone.

They arrived on a rocky outcropping that overlooked a valley full of trees below. They were still in the Fire Country, he was pretty sure of that, but he didn't know exactly where. There were no signs of people from where he could see.

"This is along a route I take to go southwest," Minato explained. "It's nearly at the edge of my range from where we were."

"Range?"

"Of course. I can't go halfway across the world in one jump. Maybe Obito can, though, if he can leave the world entirely. And he isn't restricted to landing at markers." Minato shook his head in disbelief.