Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI - Chapter 75 - Advice from Mito.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
Third Person POV
Konoha, Year 36.
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Minato looked on with some pleasure and returned to his companions with a small smile. "It seems we've made it," he said.

"Yes," Mikoto commented, satisfied.

"..." Hanabi just nodded with a sigh.

Jiraiya, still trying to move his arm, returned to the three children, "Well, since you've passed, how about we go celebrate? Your new sensei will pay for everything." Jiraiya said, and the three exchanged looks before nodding.

Leaving the devastated training field behind, the curious ninjas nearby also began to withdraw. Minato, Hanabi, and Mikoto left with Jiraiya for the village, some of their clothes dirty, but no one minded after the test.

Heading to Ramen Ichiraku, they sat at a table, eating their ramen satisfactorily.

"You really knew how to handle me, I haven't even regained movement in my arm yet..." Jiraiya commented while eating his ramen with just his right hand.

"We were lucky," Minato commented as he picked up another bunch of noodles and put it in his mouth.

"Even so, you really did very well, much better than I thought, I'm happy to have this team made of prodigies," he said, laughing.

"Will we have missions to do, sensei?" Hanabi asked.

"That..." Jiraiya scratched his head. "We will have some tomorrow..." he said.

"Because I think these missions might be something like catching runaway cats and cutting grass," Minato murmured.

"That can't be serious..." Mikoto spoke up.

"Hahahaha. We'll see tomorrow..." He said, a bit nervous, as he didn't want to disappoint his students on the first day, however, Minato knew it seemed like a rite of passage, doing D-rank missions.

Some time later, they all finished and said goodbye to the young Teuchi. Minato returned to his apartment and saw Kushina waiting for him.

"Minato!" She was outside the building waiting for him. As soon as she saw him, she greeted him quickly.

"Kushina," he greeted her.

"How was it? You said you had a test, did you pass?" she asked, and Minato nodded.

"Yes, we managed to deal with the sensei, we'll start our first missions tomorrow," he said and looked at a basket she was holding in her hands. "What's this?"

Kushina seemed a bit embarrassed. "I brought some sandwiches... for us to eat," she commented, avoiding his gaze.

"I see... Let's go inside then," he said and started heading inside with Kushina following him.

Minato found Kushina's behavior strange, but not bad, they entered, and she placed the basket on the table. Minato had already eaten ramen before coming here, yet, he picked up the sandwiches Kushina had placed on the table.

They ate quietly while Minato shared some details about the test. "Is it true that you managed to numb your teacher's arm?" she commented, laughing.

"It wasn't easy, I had to use all my chakra to do something like that, but we succeeded," he said, laughing.

"So you'll be going to war soon?" she asked, a bit sad.

"Maybe, however, we'll stay in Konoha for a while before we head to the borders, you know we have to do some D-rank missions..." he said, trying to cheer her up.

"D rank, like cleaning roofs and gutters of the village?" she asked, a bit more cheerful.

"Catching cats and other things..." he also laughed.

"That seems fun, Dattebane," she commented, and a silence took over the place.

"How's your training going?" Minato asked.

"I'm learning the mastery of fuinjutsu now... but it will take years to master," she said regarding her current training with Mito-Sama.

"I understand... I'm sure you will be the best user in the art of seals after Mito that Konoha could have," Minato said with a small smile.

"I'll try..." Kushina became a bit sadder, remembering that Mito's time was running out.

Seeing Kushina's sadness once again, Minato tried to change the subject. "Anyway, that headband looks really good on you," he said.

"Are you sure I can keep it? You won't have any problems with that?" Kushina asked.

"I asked for it from my new teacher, Jiraiya-sensei will give me a new one tomorrow," he said, and Kushina nodded.

They continued talking about more mundane things while Minato enjoyed eating the sandwiches Kushina had prepared. After a while, Kushina had to go back home, and Minato was also quite exhausted.

She said goodbye to him, and he quickly took a shower and jumped into his bed, intending to regain all his strength by the next day.

Meanwhile, Kushina was walking home alone, until she finally arrived at the Senju complex without any trouble. "Welcome back, Kushina-sama." Some servants greeted her, and Kushina, never getting used to it, just nodded and continued to the main building.

"More strength!" She heard a stern voice.

"I'm trying, but it's hard... mother..." Another young voice responded.

"You're too rebellious to dye your hair, don't act weak!" Tsunade complained in a stern tone.

Kushina saw Tsunade and her daughter training in the courtyard, while Tsuna tried her best in a chakra control and seals exercise, her mother was quite stern.

"You're finally back." On the balcony of the house, Mito was watching the mother and daughter training while leaning on her cane. Kushina nodded, it was late afternoon and the sunset had started on the horizon.

"I'm here," she commented.

"Come, little one. Let's leave the two to train and talk for a bit," Mito spoke, and Kushina nodded. They didn't go directly inside the house, but Mito took Kushina to another place on the Senju grounds.

"You've never been here, have you?" Mito asked.

"No..." Kushina looked curiously at the tower in front of her, which stretched tens of meters off the ground.

"Then let's go inside," Mito said, and Kushina followed inside.

The first thing Kushina noticed inside was the spiral design on the floor.

"This is our symbol," she commented, looking at the engraved design.

"It's true, this is the symbol of our clan..." Mito commented. "However, it can't be more than paint stuck on the floor," she added.

Kushina just looked at her, saying nothing, but her gaze was questioning what the elder had said.

Mito noticed her look and understood, as her gaze went above them.

"Tell me, child," she pointed upwards. "What do you see above us?"

Kushina raised her head and saw a staircase circling all the way to the top of the tower.

"A whirlpool as well," she exclaimed, but with that, Mito just smiled and said, "You are wrong, child. This is a spiral."

"A spiral?" Kushina asked curiously.

"Come with me," she said to the little girl, and they went to the start of the stairs. "Yes, a spiral. Unlike the whirlpool that was on the ground, like a 2D drawing. A spiral is a three-dimensional form," Mito spoke as she began climbing the stairs with Kushina looking curiously, wanting more answers about what she was hearing or why Mito had taken her here.

"You see, in the spiral as it is, at each window we have a different landscape. The higher we climb," Mito commented and pointed to a window. Kushina looked surprised, seeing that they were climbing higher and could see the Village expanding below them, but nothing compared to what she had seen on the Hokage's head, with Minato.

"You know, Kushina," Mito started again, "you will take my place one day," she spoke.

Kushina became saddened at this moment, looking down and murmuring, "Do you think I will be able to master the Nine-Tails? Will I be okay with it?"

"All humans are vessels, Kushina. We, more than others, since we are jinchuurikis, but all are filled with other things. And for us, there is one thing more important than anything else we must have. With it, we can survive any challenge we face in our lives," Mito spoke calmly, as they continued climbing the stairs.

"Something we need," Kushina looked at Mito, curious, while looking at more and more stairs as they climbed.

"Yes, and for me, that thing I find above this spiral," she commented, as more windows appeared for Kushina.

"I have faith that when you climb your own spiral, you will find the same thing that I did..." She said as they reached the last part, reaching the top. Mito approached a door and opened it.  

The first thing Kushina saw was the rocks of the Hokages, carved on one side, and behind her was the village. "Incredible, I've never seen this before," she commented, surprised by this place, as Mito walked forward and Kushina enjoyed the new landscape.  

But her gaze returned to Mito, still curious about everything she had talked about. "But I don't understand what you mean, when there's something up here that fills you?" She asked.  

Mito gave a small smile and looked ahead, where the statue of Hashirama was. "As a Jinchuuriki, little Kushina, we need to be filled with the strongest feeling in this world, love. When I see Hashirama, I remember everything we went through together, that is what strengthens me and keeps me here until my last breath, before I meet him again in the other world," she commented with a nostalgic look in her eyes, longing to see the man she loved again.  

"Love," Kushina also looked at the statue, trying to understand these words.  

"You know my time is ending and you will take my place, but remember that you must also be filled with this feeling. And you're lucky to find it so early, aren't you?" Mito smiled as she turned her gaze back to the young one.  

Kushina became embarrassed as her face turned red, but she didn't say anything, just looked down, trying to avoid Mito's gaze.  

"No matter what happens, Kushina. If you are filled with love, even with the Kyuubi inside you, you can still have a happy life. And I wish that for you, you and that boy.” She said, leaving Kushina even more embarrassed.  

“Don't be so embarrassed, I know the boy loves you too, even though I think you're not the only one. Even so, I'm sure you will be happy," Mito spoke calmly.  

Kushina, despite having heard these words, still nodded and looked at the stones of the Hokages again, but didn't stop until she passed by Hashirama, Tobirama, Hiruzen, stopping at the part of the stone where a face had not yet been built, imagining them climbing this tower again one day, finding the image of Minato in that place, as her own spiral as Mito had hers.

Raccoon here:

I tried to convey the same feeling that Mito passed on to Kushina in Minato's manga, did it come out coherently? I need some opinions.