Hokage Doujin - Spring Water Ding Dong

Ever since she got Minato's permission, Chenai has been diligently coming to Hokage's office early every day.Maybe it's simply cleaning the office, sweeping the dust, or it may be watering the flowers and plants, and pruning the branches.

On this day, Chennai came to Hokage's office early in the morning again. After a simple cleaning, he took out a book and read it seriously while sitting on the sofa.

"What are you looking at?" As soon as he entered the room, Quanzhu saw that Chenai was flipping through the book quietly, with three parts amused and seven parts curiosity, he stepped forward to look, "What is this?"

"Introduction to various plants." Chenai raised her head and answered Quan Zhu, "I'm learning flower arrangement now! It's self-study!"

"Oh?" Quanzhu couldn't help laughing when he heard the words, "Okay, let's learn it hard... But when it comes to learning flower arrangement, it is very important to understand the meanings of various flowers! Do you know it?"

"Yeah!" Chennai nodded, "It will be a little bit."

"Then tell me the flower language of all the plants in this room!" Quanzhu pursed his lips and smiled, wanting to test Chenai.

"Okay!" Chenai nodded, and began to say one by one: "Let's start with the narcissus on the easternmost side, and then turn counterclockwise in turn. The flower language of narcissus is 'only love yourself'; cactus means 'be strong. '; lily of the valley is 'happiness is coming'; asparagus is 'eternity'; bird of paradise is... huh?! What is it?"

"The bird of paradise symbolizes freedom, happiness and auspiciousness." It was Minato's voice, coming from the office door, "Good morning, both of you!"

"Morning." Chenai nodded to Minato and smiled brightly.

"Ah, good morning." Quanzhu raised his head and waved his hand at Mizumon who was walking into the house, "You are late today."

"Yeah, hehe." Minato smiled and didn't care too much, "I went out for a while, so it's a little later than usual."

"Well, it doesn't matter." Quanzhu stood up and shrugged, "If everyone is here, let's eat!"

"Okay." Minato smiled lightly, walked quickly behind the desk, opened the locked drawer on the left, quickly threw something in, and then locked the drawer.

"Does Minato-kun know the language of flowers?" Chenai leaned forward and asked curiously.

"It's okay." Minato smiled gently at Chenai, and sat down. "I was a little interested in flower language before, so I bought a book to read—here, here it is." Said, Minato took it out of the drawer A booklet waved before Chenai's eyes.

"Oh." When Quanzhu saw it, he stretched out his hand and snatched the flower language booklet from Minato's hand without seeing himself as an outsider at all. He didn't look at Minato's helpless but tolerant expression, and flipped through it casually, flipping through it while flipping through it. He muttered: "It's quite accurate, and it's quite complete. I can lend this to Chennai, she is currently teaching flower arrangement by herself."

"Oh? Is that so." Minato smiled when he heard this, "Okay."

"Heh." Quanzhu heard the words, and directly handed the booklet to Chennai, "Study hard! Here is the blessing of Minato...Hey, why are you pinching me?!"

"You deserve it!" Chenai blushed and glared at Quanzhu, but still took the Minato flower language booklet in Quanzhu's hand, and carefully put it away.

"Hehe..." Quanzhu smiled, turned around and took out the bento——Since Chennai joined, Quanzhu has started preparing bento for three people, "But if you really want to learn, I can introduce you personally , take you to her place."

"Who?"

"Jiacai, the future hostess of the Yamanaka family." Quan Zhu raised his eyebrows, and replied with a smile: "Well, of course you don't know Chennai... but I believe that you two will get to know each other immediately after meeting—do you want to go?" ?”

"Yes!" Chennai replied simply.

Konoha especially bears Ninja Yamanaka Kaiichi is working hard at his fiancée's house, and he obeys his fiancée's words. Once there is a sign of dispute, he immediately takes a step back and admits his mistake, for fear that his fiancée, who is like a living treasure, will be upset and kick him.

"Ah, Haiyi, you're being courteous to your lovely fiancée again?!" When Quanzhu arrived with the 'studying' Chenai, he saw a happy and 'warm' picture, "Good morning! Haiyi , and...'The Lady of the Mountain'!"

"...Uh, early...Master Xiaoyemu..." Hearing what Quanzhu called her, Jiacai was stunned, and the little red cloud that came from nowhere just happened to stop in front of her face, her shy and cute appearance made her feel ashamed. Haiyi on the side deepened his desire to marry Jiacai back home.

"Huh?" Haiyi paused when he heard the sound, then turned around and saw Quanzhu standing at the door with his hips crossed, "It turned out to be you, teacher's wife."

"Ah la... I told you that you can call me 'Xiao Zhu'." Quan Zhu was taken aback when he heard Hai pair address himself.

"But you are already engaged to Teacher Shuo Mao." Hai Yi shrugged and replied: "Since you are engaged, it means that you are Teacher Shuo Mao's wife! This fact cannot be pushed away!"

Quanzhu noticed that when Haiyi said this, his eyes kept glancing at Jiacai, as if the words were also meant for Jiacai.Seeing this scene, Quan Zhu could only nod his head dumbfoundingly, and cooperated with Hai Yi.

"Well, let's stop talking nonsense." Quanzhu said again: "Let me introduce someone to you first. This is Uzumaki Chenai——Haiyi should know it?!"

"I know." Hai nodded and replied, "It's the princess of the country of vortex!"

"Hey?! Princess?!" Jiacai leaned forward to take a look when she heard it, "This is the princess...she looks so cute!"

"Thank you!" Who doesn't like to hear good things, and Chennai is no exception.With a bright smile on her face, Chenai stretched out her hand friendly to Jiacai, "It's the first time we meet, I'm Uzumaki Chenai. You are the Jiacai that Zhuzi said! Please give me more advice!"

"Huh?!" Surprised that although Chennai is a princess, Jiacai behaves like an ordinary person in an approachable manner. After hesitating, she reached out and held Chennai's hand. The dishes are right...Please give me more advice."

"Hehe." Quanzhu smiled, feeling that with such an eclectic personality, Chenai would soon get to know other village names in Muye Village, and if he was lucky, he might be able to get along very well.

"But...Master, what did you bring Princess Uzumaki here for?!" Haiyi scratched his head, unable to figure it out, so he had to ask Quan Zhu for advice.

"Kina wants to learn flower arranging, so I want to recommend her to Kanai—I remember Kana is very good at flowers and plants!—But I hope Chennai won't become a light bulb between the two of you. "Quanzhu answered Haiyi with a smile, and then turned to Chennai, "So, Chenai, you must say more good things about Haiyi in front of Jiacai, so that the two of them will get married as soon as possible, so that the family may still consider reducing the amount of money. Lose your tuition fees!"

"Yes! Bamboo." Chenai replied with a very cooperative smile.

"Ah? There is no tuition fee." Jiacai waved her hand and said hastily—well, as an ordinary person, Jiacai still has some respect for Quanzhu.Although she didn't think Quanzhu was very difficult to get in touch with, she still needed to give some face.

"Then that's great!" Quanzhu grinned, and then turned to Haiyi, "Haiyi, I have a new task for you! This time, you, Lu Jiu, Ding Zuo and I will carry out together... ...Please go find them now! I will wait for you at Konoha's east gate."

"Yeah, there's a new mission." Hearing this, Hai Yi lowered his head helplessly, "Speaking of which, Master, when can Ding Zuo and I be promoted to Shinobi?! That guy Lu Jiu is in our I have been proud of myself for several days..."

"This question... When you come back from the mission, you can ask the water... Hokage-sama is ready!" Quanzhu was happy when he heard it, "Now, you should kiss Jiacai goodbye first! I will take a step first. Chenai, you have to work hard! When I come back, I will give you an inspection."

"No problem!" Chenai saluted, then waved to Quanzhu, "Zhuzi, take care all the way!"

"Ah."

"Then, my lord princess." Watching Haiyi leave with reluctance, Jiacai turned to face Chennai, "Shall we start now?!"

"Miss Jiacai can just call me Chena or Nana!" Chena replied, "Where should I start?"

"Then Nana can call me Jiacai." Jiacai nodded and led Chenai into the house, "I have never taught anyone how to arrange flowers, so I can only say that I will try my best... Let's get familiar with all kinds of flowers first. Let me start with what it represents, and then I will demonstrate it to you, and then you can try it yourself, and ask me again if you don’t understand!”

"Okay, let's do it!"

"Come in." In Hokage's office, which was quite quiet because of Izumitake and Chenai's departure, Minato was concentrating on flipping through the documents on the desk when he heard the door knock, so he spoke.

"Hokage-sama." The door opened, and a clump of white hairs—more precisely, Kakashi with silver-white hairs—came in.

"Ah, it seems that you are on duty today." Hearing a familiar voice, Minato raised his head and smiled at the former student, today the youngest Anbu elite in history, "Here is your new mission, take it .”

"Yes." Kakashi, who was unable to wear a mask to face Minato due to work, nodded, stepped forward and picked up the scroll that Minato handed over, because there is an express rule not to read the mission without permission, so Kakashi did not Without saying anything, and without opening the scroll, he put it away directly, "Is there anything else Hokage-sama needs to do?"

"Ah... that's gone." Unaccustomed to being addressed by the other party's familiar voice, Minato laughed a few times and replied, "You can leave now."

"Then... I have something to say to the teacher." Kakashi suddenly slowed down, raised his hand to take off the mask, and at the same time changed back to Minato.

"What's the matter?" Xin said, as expected, such a title sounded pleasant to the ear, Minato looked at Kakashi's face after taking off the mask, and his smile became brighter, "Tell me!"

"I heard from a senior from Anbu that..." Kakashi paused, and after sorting out his words, he said, "Teacher, you went to a jewelry store in the village a few days ago—is that so?!"

"Huh?!" Minato was a little dazed when he heard that, "Since when did Anbu start following me?!"

"No, that senior just happened to pass by." Kakashi smiled and replied, "It doesn't matter. I just want to ask, why did you go to the jewelry store, and why did you stay at the counter selling wedding rings for so long?" ?”

"Is Anbu going to sort out Hokage's whereabouts now?!" Minato heard that, but did not answer Kakashi, but smiled lightly, and asked calmly, "Is it the elders or the fire country daimyo?"

"Hehe...Of course——No." Kakashi smiled again, his left eye with scars and his right eye, which was no different from ordinary people, narrowed into two crescent moons, cute and kind—— Most importantly, this smile is exactly the same as that of Kakashi's father, Sakumo Hatake, who passed away more than a year ago.

I only heard Kakashi speak again: "Also, teacher, what is in the small box you brought back from the same jewelry store this morning...?"

"Kakashi..." Minato has some black lines, but he still doesn't seem to want to answer, "It seems that you have made a lot of progress since you arrived in Anbe...So it turned out that you were the one who followed me this morning...You can already do it Hiding Chakra?!"

"Hehe, I'm sorry." Kakashi scratched the back of his head insincerely, smiled, and began to fire sugar-coated bullets at Minato while laughing, "It seems that I tried so hard to hide myself, but I was discovered by the teacher! This is really... as expected of Hokage-sama!"

"Stinky boy, where did you learn this from?!" Minato gasped when he heard it.

"Well, people are drifting in the rivers and lakes, so it's good to learn this stuff." Kakashi shrugged and replied casually.

"...Kakashi, you've changed." Seeing this, Minato sighed, stunned.

"It's okay." Kakashi was also taken aback when he heard that, and then smiled indifferently, "Besides, if I remain the same as before, Sensei, you and Xiaozhu will bother you!"

"Maybe I will." Minato nodded without hesitation, "but Xiaozhu probably won't—no matter what you are, as long as you are safe—Xiaozhu will stand by your side unconditionally...you should know, she is very concerned You—so you must take care of yourself and not let her worry."

"Hehe, of course!" Kakashi smiled lightly, nodded, and then put on the mask uniformly distributed by Anbu, "Then, I should go back after staying for so long, otherwise I will be approved by the minister." .”

"Yes, it's time to go back." Minato lowered his eyes and murmured to himself, then waved to Kakashi, "Go quickly! There are still tasks ahead."

"Hmm... that's right." Kakashi turned around and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped before pushing the door open.

"What?" Seeing this, Minato raised his eyes to look at Kakashi, but he could only see Kakashi's stubbornly erected silver hair, and his shoulders and back, which were getting taller and stronger day by day... It seems that he has grown a lot too. few.

"Teacher, I've never called Kotake 'mother' before." Kakashi said, leaving Minato in place.

"Kakashi, you—" Minato widened his eyes in shock, "How did you..." (Know?)

"Do you think you can hide it from everyone?" Kakashi smiled slightly, and said, "When my father was alive, he always taught me to have good enough observation skills... Didn't the teacher also praise me? Is your observation skills good?!"

"... Sakumoya..." Minato was shocked again.

"Hehe." Kakashi smiled, and pushed open the office door without looking back, "Then, I'm leaving... Hokage-sama."

Kakashi left, leaving Minato alone in the office.

After being dazed for a while, Minato raised his head and looked sideways at the quiet and elegant white gardenia in front of the table, his blue eyes could not help but be gentle like water.

The corner of his mouth was raised slightly, and Minato looked down at the drawer on the left, then raised his hand and took out a key from his pocket...

"I'm back!" After the day's flower arrangement class, Chennai was in a great mood because he met a new friend in Konoha, so when he pushed open the door of Hokage's office, he spoke with a playful tone.

"You're back." Minato raised his head after hearing this, and smiled gently at Chennai, "Thank you for your hard work. You're in a good mood?!"

"Huh?! Why is Minato-kun here alone?!" Qinai scanned the room with her eyes, and was stunned, "Where's Xiaozhu?"

"She's gone on a mission." Minato smiled lightly, knowing that Chenai must be confused again, "Did you forget?!"

"Ah..." Chenai was stunned, it was really embarrassing to make an embarrassment in front of her sweetheart, so her little face was flushed, and she stood at the door helplessly, not knowing what to say.

"Hehe." Seeing this, Minato just smiled, and said honestly, "Uzumaki Princess, have you had dinner yet?"

"Not yet." Chennai shook her head.

"That's right, I ordered two takeaway lunches for me." Minato said standing up, picked up a bag from the corner of the table, and handed it to Chennai, "I've already eaten my portion, This is yours—it’s getting dark outside now, and most restaurants are closed—you can eat it while it’s hot... just don’t know if it’s to your liking.”

"...Thank you." Feeling the tenderness of the other party, Chenai felt warm in her heart, and she generously took the takeaway lunch box from Minato.

"You're welcome." Seeing that Chennai took it, Minato turned around and returned to the desk, and sat down to continue working for a while, "After eating, I'll take you back—the sky is dark, and now it's war time again." Finally, you are not safe on the road alone."

"Hey?! No need! No need!" Chenai was taken aback, and quickly waved her hand to refuse, "I'll just go back by myself... I won't waste your time... I know you're very busy..."

"Huh? Hehe." Minato smiled gently when he heard the words, full of 'electricity', "I'm just dropping by - I'm going to do something nearby."

"Okay then..." Chennai nodded obediently, in front of the water gate, she was as obedient as a cute kitten.

"Uzumaki Princess." After the meal, Minato and Chenai walked together in the night, the moonlight was quiet, and the shadows under their feet moved due to the movement of their bodies, and they became bigger and smaller.

"Minato-kun can call me by my name." The red face could not be seen in the dark night, and Chenai's voice was thin and soft because of shyness.

"Okay." Minato smiled, and changed his words: "Qina."

"Yeah." Chennai nodded and said, "What's the matter?"

"From your own perspective, Chenai, what kind of person do you think Xiaozhu is?" Minato asked.

"Bamboo?!" Qinai was taken aback for a moment, never expecting that the first time he had a private conversation with Minato, he would mention Izumi Bamboo.Sometimes ambiguity is really an advantage—when Minato mentioned Izumitake, Chennai simply didn’t think about it—but obediently thought about it, and gave an answer: "Zhuzi...is really handsome. Already!"

"...Huh?!" Unexpectedly getting such an answer, Minato was stunned.

"Isn't it?!" Chenai looked up at Minato with a natural expression, "She is a woman like me, but her strength is not inferior to a man at all—come in a hurry, go in a hurry—seems like something I can't stop her way! How I wish I could be like her..."

"Ah, that's right..." Minato was a little ashamed, "Then, what else?"

"Well...Actually, what I said just now was just how I felt about her when I saw her for the first time." Chenai lowered her head and thought about it seriously, "However, she seems to have changed now: she seems to have Not so comfortable, I always feel that she seems to have a lot of concerns, a lot of sadness... Is it because of 'Konoha White Fang'?"

"Xuan... Didn't Chenai really notice it?" Minato lowered his eyes, stared at the shadow on the ground, and asked.

"What?" Chenai looked up at Minato suspiciously.

"Sakumo...ah, that's what you call 'Konoha White Fang'..." Minato said slowly, "Since he left, Xiaozhu has been living in deep loneliness and sadness every day—especially in the period just now. At the beginning, I saw her tears more than once—but in front of outsiders, she still acted as if nothing had happened...why does such a fragile person keep pretending to be strong?! The answer is simple, because There are other people who care about him. For example, Kakashi—you should know him?! He is actually the son of 'Konoha White Fang'—Xiaozhu has always cared about him."

"Kakashi is actually the son of 'White Fang'?!" Kina was dumbfounded, "But Bamboo seems to be working really hard..."

"Besides, after Chennai came to Muye Village, except for food and lodging, other expenses were paid by Xiaozhu, so that you would not be wronged, and I hope you can quickly integrate into Muye Village. "The corner of Minato's mouth was always raised in an arc, and the pair of blue eyes hidden in the night showed a touch of melancholy and pity, "Because considering that Chennai might be lonely, coldly treated, and wronged in Konoha alone, Xiaozhu thought I tried my best to let you get in touch with many people in Konoha, the Jiacai you met today is one of them... I think Chennai must think that Jiacai is a very nice person! And he will be very easy to talk to?!— —Because these are all people who were chosen by Quanzhu Quanzhu.”

"Bamboo, she..." Chenai was a little dazed, deeply moved.

"Well, in short, Xiaozhu is also very gentle...and very careful." Minato suddenly stopped, turned to look at Chennai, and said, "So if Xiaozhu feels sorry for you in the future, or if there is any misunderstanding, I will I hope you can forgive her - she has her own grief and stress that she doesn't know about. Also, I implore you to spend more time with her - you know? When she is with you, she smiles twice as much as usual .”

"Of course there is no problem with this!" Chenai grinned, baring her teeth, and the smile froze for a moment, and she suddenly remembered that it was only two years ago, when a cute 'elf' treated her like this in the moonlight smiling like this.

"Then, I thank you on her behalf." Minato smiled slightly and said, "It's here."

"Huh?! It's already here?!" Chenai looked up and found that she had returned to her residence in Konoha, "It's so fast..." Obviously, the little girl is still thinking about being able to spend time with the person she likes under the moon just now. Take a walk without getting enough.

"Qinai go back and wash up and go to sleep!" Seeing Chenai's little confusion, Minato pursed his lips and smiled without breaking the news.

"Oh." No matter how reluctant, Chennai still nodded, "Okay... goodbye, Minato-kun."

"See you tomorrow." Minato waved his hand, watched Chennai go upstairs, then turned and left.

What Minato said to Chennai about "dropping in" was not only an excuse, but in some respects, it can also be said to be the truth... It's just that the direction where Minato is going is completely different from where Chenai lives. up...

Minato's real destination is the small mound with wooden crosses in the woods on the outskirts of Konoha—the tomb of Sakumo, who was accompanied by Izumitake at the beginning and buried by Minato himself.

"Suo Mao, good night." The moonlight shone on the open space in the middle of the forest, and sprinkled a layer of 'silver powder' on the cross, which was exactly like the unique silver-white hair color of the Hatake people.

Of course, there was no response, Minato just paused, and then continued: "I'm sorry, I've been busy recently, and I didn't think of coming to see you until now... But I think, even so, you won't be too lonely Right?! Because Xiaozhu comes here almost every day—isn’t she?”

……

"Suo Mao, in fact, I came today because I have something to tell you... I hope you haven't fallen asleep yet." After a long silence, it seemed that I had finally sorted out what I was going to talk about, or maybe I had finally got up. Gathering courage and making a decision, Minato said, "Hey, I want to take care of Xiaozhu...take your place and take care of her...is that okay?"

"From what Kakashi said, it seems that I accidentally let you see my intentions... I like Xiaozhu, you know it?!" Minato continued: "I have to say, you are still better than me. That's amazing—up to now, I still haven't been able to surpass you—I tried my best to hide my thoughts, but I didn't realize that you had already discovered it...you are worthy of being the leader of the 'Eight Colors of Konoha'!"

"Am I a bit unkind?! Knowing that 'friends' wives should not be bullied'...but I still have 'evil intentions'." As he spoke, Minato smiled self-deprecatingly, "You know? Just today, you Kakashi, the son of Kakashi, forgave me...as if—maybe I'm being self-indulgent—as if he was still supporting me...Can I fool myself into thinking that you can forgive me too? Perhaps, you can even approve of me? !"

"……is it okay?"

"Morning!" Early in the morning, just as Minato opened the office door, he heard Chenai's cheerful greeting from inside the room.

"Morning." Minato smiled at Chenai who was watering the flowers and plants in the office, and walked into the room, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"I've eaten it!" Chenai nodded, leaning over to pick up a paper bag from the side, and handing it to Minato. "Here! This is yours!"

"...you did it?" Minato looked down, and immediately vetoed his guess just now, "Xiaozhu is back?!"

"Bingo!" Chennai replied with a smile, "It seems that he just came back this morning."

"That's right." Minato nodded to show his understanding, and asked again: "What about her?"

"I don't know." Chenai shook her head, "Put down the bento and go out."

Hearing this, Minato pursed her lips, took out the bento from the paper bag, and walked behind the desk to prepare for dinner.

At this time, Chennai also happened to walk to the desk, temporarily put down the watering pot in his hand, and stretched out his hand, so as not to wet the table or affect the breakfast while watering the gardenias on the desk. Minato, and carefully moved the pot of gardenias to the ground.

"Wait." Seeing this, Minato immediately stood up and shouted to stop.

"Huh?!" Chenai raised her head when she heard the sound, watched Mizumon move from behind the desk to her side in doubt, and squatted down like herself.

"Excuse me, I want to water this pot of gardenia myself." Minato smiled and answered Chenai's questioning look.

"Why?" Chennai asked curiously.

"Well, because..." Minato pursed her lips and thought for a while, then said, "Actually, this pot of gardenia is mine... Occasionally, I also want to do some things of my own besides what I have to do as Hokage. "

"..." Looking at Minato's handsome profile and the inadvertent tenderness when he spoke, Chennai froze.

"So, let me water it myself!" Minato looked sideways at Chennai and suggested with a smile.

"Hey?!" Chenai, who was in a daze, woke up suddenly, but saw the face close at hand, and immediately stood up blushing and took a few steps back, "Of course! Since it is Minato-kun's own flower, then let Minato-kun water it himself!"

"Thank you." Minato smiled warmly, picked up the water bottle, and began to water the pot of gardenias carefully.

Crystal drops of water stick to the flowers and leaves.The big ones gather and fall on the top of the petals; the small water droplets stick to it, motionless, as if they have been waiting there ever since.

"The flower language of gardenias is..." Seeing that Minato was watering the lovely flowers seriously and tenderly, Chennai hurriedly diverted her attention to prevent herself from being stunned again.

"Joy." Minato replied, "Xiaozhu told me."

"No!" Chenai squatted opposite the water gate, shook her finger, and denied the answer of the water gate, "It's not just this one!"

"Anything else?!" Minato was slightly startled, and raised his head to ask Chennai.

"Yeah!" Chennai nodded, smiling a little cutely.

"What is it?" Minato looked at Chenai's appearance with some amusement, and asked curiously at the same time.

"The flower language of gardenia..." Qinai pursed her lips mysteriously and smiled mysteriously, "In addition to 'joy', there is also: 'lifetime waiting'! Haha, it seems that bamboo is worse than me Time! This time I know one more than her!"

"Hehe." Minato smiled slightly when he heard the words.

"Come on!" Laughing, Chennai suddenly stood up, Minato was a little surprised that she didn't get dizzy, "It's getting late! I should report to Jiacai! Now, I'm leaving first, bye!"

After finishing speaking, Chenai ran out of the office in a hurry, leaving a speechless Shuimen on the spot and moved the gardenia that had been watered on the ground to the desk again.

Looking at the blooming gardenias on the table, Minato suddenly smiled, and her heart beat faster.

Biting his lips, as if he had made a decision, Minato picked up the lunch box and quickly settled it, then took out a key from his pocket, opened the locked drawer on the left side of the desk, and took out a small box inside. , opened the box, and after confirming that the ring he carefully selected and engraved with Quan Zhu's name was inside, he quickly ran out of the office.

As a result, the Hokage office was empty during the day for the first time—naturally, this is a digression.

From Hokage's office all the way to Sakumo's tomb, where Izumitake is most likely to exist, Minato didn't find anyone; considering that Izumitake might have gone to buy ingredients, Minato searched for a few more times at Konoha's morning market, but still found no one. can't find anyone...

Next, Minato went to a ninja shop, a kimono shop, a ball shop, a flower shop, a pharmacy, which Izumitake was unlikely to go to... and saw the iron-blooded father and son, Asma and red, red beans and Itachi, and the Yamanaka couple. He and Chenai, Yueguang and his son... even went to Konoha's bathing pool - of course they didn't go in, but just asked at the counter.

Perhaps in the eyes of everyone, Minato's behavior was reckless, but Minato himself could not control this much, and only cared about looking for it.

Finally, Minato came to the Konoha Memorial Monument, and finally found...Kakashi? !

Minato was a little depressed. Why did the plan that he had originally planned become a mess all of a sudden.In the end, he had to summon the psychic dog with the help of Kakashi, and then he found the place where Quanzhu was.

It's just that neither Minato nor Kakashi expected Izumitake to return to Hatake's old house.

After arriving at Hatake House, Minato Kakashi looked at each other, and after exchanging doubts in their eyes, Minato spoke first.

"Xiaozhu?!" Stepped forward a few steps, reached out and pressed Izumitake's shoulder, who was standing with his back to him standing in the middle of the courtyard facing the standard Japanese-style ancient building in the Hatake House, and asked without moving or saying a word. road.

"Ah." Quanzhu responded aloud, but did not turn back, but continued to turn his back to the two of them, just lowered his head, did not look at the building, but looked at the weedy garden that had not been rested for a long time ground.

"...Is something wrong?" Hearing Quanzhu's voice, although it was only a brief response, Minato immediately sensed the disharmony, so he immediately frowned and asked with concern.

"No, nothing." Quan Zhu shook his head, raised his hands to cover his face, "It's just a dream."

"That's right." Minato's tone was very light, and he couldn't tell whether he believed it or not.

"Yeah." With his face still buried in his hands, Quanzhu nodded.

"You...don't tell me you dreamed about your father." Kakashi suddenly opened his mouth to guess, and after seeing Izumitake's trembling shoulders, Kakashi suddenly had the idea of ​​looking up at the sky.

"..." Seeing this, Minato just closed his eyes lightly, then raised his hand and waved to Kakashi.Kakashi understood, put away the psychic dog and evacuated the people.In the huge old house, only the youngest Hokage Namikaze Minato and the oldest (...) Hokage assistant in Konoha's history remained in place.

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Minato sighed silently, and suddenly sighed with some self-mocking: the most helpless thing in the world is that you have something to say but can't find anyone; and the most helpless thing in the world is Found someone, but can't speak.

Raising one hand, Minato exerted a little force on his hand, and took away Izumi Zhu's hand covering his face, as expected, he saw Izumi Zhu's wet face, and a tear was slowly flowing from the corner of his eye.

"Why are you crying?" With a soft voice and a soft tone, Minato quietly put the box in his hand into his pocket at the same time, as if he would bury it all in the deepest place, "Aren't you still waiting for him?" ?!"

Minato not only wanted to say this to Quanzhu, but also to himself.

It was only then that Minato remembered the mistake that Chenai had corrected for herself not long ago: "The flower language of gardenia, besides joy, also means 'to wait for a lifetime'!" '

"I don't know...I miss him..." Quanzhu's voice was trembling, and even Minato's lost heart was trembling slightly.

Speechless, Minato stretched out his hands to wrap his arms around Quanzhu's slender body, put his face on his black hair, and did not make any further movements.

That's it.

After that, everything went back to the way it was.

The box containing Minato's last love was moved from the pocket back to the drawer, and together with an anonymous letter, it was locked in the drawer, out of sight.

After dinner, Minato drove Izumitake, who was about to send Chennai back to her residence, back into the house, and gently but ordered her to go back to the house to rest immediately.

On the way from Hokage's office to Kina's residence, in the spring moonlight when gardenias were blooming, Minato asked Kina if she wanted to date her.Faced with Chennai's question, Minato smiled and said nothing, and ignored the woman's blushing face from the sudden confession, and kissed Chenai's soft cheek domineeringly but tenderly.

It was also in the moonlight, and it was autumn when the gardenias were in bloom. Minato proposed to Chennai who had been in love for only a few months. Naturally, she used a ring different from the one stored in the drawer.