In the afternoon, sitting on the ground in front of a tranquil lake, Mikoto was holding Itachi and Sasuke in her arms, while Fugaku remained by her side. Shortly after, Kushina and Minato arrived carrying a basket. They spread a cloth over the grass, sat down, and began to eat what they had brought.
Kushina offered a pie she had made to Itachi, but he refused, saying he had already eaten. She laughed and replied that there was no problem, that he could eat just a little more. Even so, Itachi insisted on refusing, until Kushina ended up gently "forcing" him, drawing a smile from him. Then she asked if it was good.
Meanwhile, Fugaku leaned in and lightly kissed Mikoto, beginning to talk about the past. Mikoto joined the conversation, commenting on an old nickname of Kushina. Upon hearing "Red Hot-Blooded Habanero," Kushina immediately became furious and embarrassed at the same time.
"I hated that nickname," she complained. "Whenever they wanted to make fun of me, that's what they called me."
Mikoto smiled, amused, and then asked:
"Do you still have that dream?"
Kushina fell silent for a few seconds. The pause caught Minato's attention, and he looked at her carefully.
"Did you give it up?" he asked. "You don't want it anymore?"
Kushina shook her head.
"No," she answered sincerely. "Now I have other priorities. But that dream still exists. I didn't forget it… it's just no longer my biggest dream."
As she spoke, Minato didn't take his eyes off her. That made Kushina blush.
"What is it?" she asked, touching her own face. "Is there something on me?"
"Nothing," Minato replied quickly, immediately looking away. "I was just… looking."
Kushina stared at him for another moment, suspicious, before turning her attention back to Naruto.
Minato, for his part, brought a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat intensely, almost uncontrollably. It surprised him. That feeling wasn't new. He had experienced it before awakening in that body, but it had been so many years since he had felt something like that that he had almost forgotten what it was like.
It was already night. Kushina and Minato were saying goodbye to Fugaku and Mikoto, while Itachi held firmly to his mother's hand.
"Bye, Kushina. Bye, Minato," Mikoto said with a gentle smile. She leaned slightly and lightly pinched Naruto's cheek, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms. "Bye to you too."
"Hey!" Kushina complained, pretending indignation. "Only I can pinch the children's cheeks!"
Mikoto laughed softly, while Fugaku approached and said in his usual tone:
"Have a good night."
Before turning away, he cast a lingering look at Minato. It wasn't an ordinary look; there was something there, as if it said much more than words could express. Minato held his gaze for a few seconds, then nodded his head.
"Good night. Sleep well… and be careful."
The way Minato spoke made Mikoto slightly furrow her brow, finding it strange. Kushina noticed it too, but didn't comment. She simply said goodbye to the Uchiha family, and soon it was just her, Naruto in her arms, and Minato.
The two walked in silence through the quiet streets. The night was cold, and Minato noticed when Kushina shivered slightly. Without saying anything, he took off the white coat he was wearing, similar to the one he had when he was younger, and placed it over her shoulders, completely taking her by surprise.
Kushina opened her mouth, ready to refuse.
Minato, for his part, tensed up. The fear of rejection arose unexpectedly, something he wouldn't have felt even a day earlier. He couldn't explain exactly why, but he was certain that everything had changed that afternoon, when he saw her talk about her dream of becoming Hokage. Her eyes were firm, full of tenderness, even when she said she hadn't forgotten it, she just now had other priorities. That had moved him in a profound way.
Until then, Minato had seen Kushina as his wife out of duty. As a responsibility he needed to honor for being in that body, for that life. He didn't believe he felt love for her, not in a true sense.
But now, he was no longer so sure. And it was precisely that which made that simple gesture so frightening.
Kushina was about to return the coat, but upon recognizing it, an old memory surfaced: the day she had been saved by Minato when she was still a child. In silence, she pressed the fabric against her body, holding it tightly, and did not take it off.
"What happened to you?" Kushina asked, her voice heavy with concern. "You really…?"
Minato stopped walking. He turned slowly and looked at her before answering, as if carefully choosing each word. Kushina held his gaze for a few seconds, then took a deep breath and spoke again:
"You had a life before coming here, didn't you?" she said in a low tone. "What was it like?"
Minato hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll tell you," he replied. "But first I want to know one thing. How did you find out that I'm not Minato? I want you to tell me."
Kushina swallowed hard.
"Yes… I'll tell you."
Minato took a deep breath before beginning.
"I was twenty-two years old. My world, so to speak, was more technologically advanced than this one. There was nothing extraordinary beyond that. My life was normal… ordinary. I had a simple job, a simple routine, I did the things of an ordinary person."
Kushina remained silent for a few seconds, absorbing every word, until she asked:
"Were you married? Did you have relatives?"
"No," Minato replied. "I was single. I never married. I only had my mother."
Kushina pressed her lips together slightly before asking:
"Do you miss her?"
"I do," he said honestly. "I miss her… but I don't regret it."
There was more behind that answer, things Minato didn't say. It wasn't as if he had chosen to occupy that body. It simply happened. He died and woke up in Minato's body on the day of Naruto's birth. But he didn't tell Kushina that. He couldn't say it to her.
After a brief silence, Minato returned to the question that troubled him.
"Now tell me… how did you know I wasn't Minato?"
Kushina looked away for a moment. When she looked at him again, there was clear pain in her eyes.
"He spoke to me," she said, her voice trembling. "In a dream."
Minato felt his body stiffen.
"He said that one of us needed to die so that the other could live… or else both would die, as destiny intended." Kushina clenched her own hand, struggling to hold back tears. "He didn't want that. He wanted me to be happy… even if, for that, he had to die."
The words came out with effort, heavy with suffering. Kushina closed her eyes for a moment, holding back her sobs.
Minato was in shock. He hadn't expected that. He hadn't imagined that the real Minato had appeared in Kushina's dreams, much less that he had made such a cruel and altruistic choice at the same time.
The weight of that revelation fell on him with force, making his heart beat heavily in his chest.