Cold Feet
Title: Cold Feet
Author: gingeringfigs/ofphenwa
Rating: PG13
Summary: Minato gets cold feet on his big day.
Cold Feet
"Where is Namikaze Minato?! He's going to be late for his inauguration speech!" Koharu shrilled angrily as she stood with her arms akimbo. Her former two teammates shiftily looked at each other, wary of her temper. Sarutobi was especially worried, no longer having the Hokage mantle to shield him from her righteous wrath. Koharu had spent hours going over the plans for the Yondaime Hokage's inauguration speech and she was not going to let it all go to waste for nothing!
Currently, they were waiting in the Hokage Office for Namikaze Minato, the new Hokage, to show at least an hour ago. Sarutobi coughed and tried to placate Koharu, "Er, I'm sure that he'll show up soon enough."
"He'd better!" Koharu roared. She drew a deep breath, ready to verbally express her deep displeasure at the situation. Luckily for her companions, a knock on the door interrupted her. Drawing upright, she called out, "Come in!"
As the door opened, Sarutobi's former student Jiraiya's boisterous voice rang out cheerfully, "Heya, Minato, congrats on becoming Hokage…?"
Standing in front of the three elders, Jiraiya realised that his ex-student Namikaze Minato was nowhere to be seen. He also quickly realised that he had just blundered into a very dangerous situation, judging from the blackening look on Koharu's face and the resigned looks on Sarutobi's and Homura's faces. He muttered, "Oh shit," before rapidly fleeing with a shunshin. No way in hell was Jiraiya going to stay and get verbally reamed out by the old bitch!
Sarutobi wistfully looked at the remnants of chakra smoke, wishing that he also had the luxury of doing the same. Koharu huffed, her cheeks red with fury. Homura wisely got up and made a fresh pot of tea and quickly poured her a cup, knowing that it was the best way to get her to calm down. He said soothingly, "Relax. There is still time before the speech. We can order some of the Anbu to look for him."
"Thank you." Koharu sipped the hot green tea and replied less waspishly, "I would have already done that but you know very well that Namikaze will not be found unless he wants to be found. He's not the new Hokage for nothing, much to my chagrin."
"Well, well, what about me? I can find him easily for you, if you want." A new voice casually said from the window. Koharu's anger cooled and she turned to greet the newcomer with a small smile, "Thank you, Kazama-san. Your help would be very much appreciated. Please find Namikaze Minato and bring him to the office post-haste!"
Kazama Naruto was perched on the tiled roof jutting out below the windows of the office. For the special occasion, he was dressed in full traditional regalia, wearing a vivid red cape that marked his Sage status over his outfit consisting of a traditional-styled black top and pants with mesh armour peeking out from under the collar and the three-quarter long sleeves. His leaf hitaiate was slung around his neck, leaving his wild hair unrestrained. His eyes were golden with the energies of nature and lined with red. He had also accentuated his signature whisker marks with red paint, lending him a wild and exotic air befitting of the Fox Sage. All in all, he looked rather dashing in his humble opinion.
"Of course, madam. Can't have the golden boy missing out on his special day, can we? When's the speech supposed to start?" Naruto asked politely, not wanting to upset Koharu further. Behind her, Sarutobi and Homura hid a sigh of relief much to Naruto's amusement.
"At noon sharp."
"An hour and half left, huh?" Naruto said thoughtfully as he stood up, bracing to jump off the roof. With a wink, he reassured Koharu, "No worries, I'll find him with time to spare!"
Thanks to the Sage mode Naruto was now in, finding the errant Namikaze Minato was a piece of cake. In fact, within ten minutes of his departure from the Hokage Tower, he easily located him in the outskirts of Konoha. When he finally arrived at his destination, he found Minato pensively staring at the Memorial Stone. Minato was wearing the white Hokage coat over his jounin uniform, instead of wearing the red ceremonial robes, finding them too cumbersome. Releasing his Sage mode, Naruto's eyes reverted back to his normal blue as he quietly made his way to Minato's side from the edge of the clearing. Naruto asked, "You've been here all morning?"
"I'm actually Hokage now, right?" Minato replied without looking at him. He was still staring at the stone, his hand reaching out to trace the worn characters of Uzumaki Kushina's name. Naruto smiled and replied, "Not quite. You still have to do the inauguration speech before you're officially Hokage."
"That's just technicalities. I'm really Hokage now. I never thought that it would actually come true…" Minato brusquely replied. Then realising that he had been too sharp with Naruto, he apologetically glanced at him and said, "I'm sorry, I'm kind of...agitated at the moment."
"No offense taken. Why did you think you wouldn't become Hokage?" Naruto already knew the answer, or at the very least, made a very well educated guess but he wanted to hear it from Minato himself. Minato needed to release his feelings and thoughts more often instead of bottling it all up. He had been positively terrible in the beginning when Naruto first got to know him. Now, thankfully, he was much more open with his feelings and didn't need as much prodding.
Minato sighed and answered him, "You already know about Uzumaki Kushina. She was my rival…in seeking the position of Hokage back when we were Academy students and genin. Kushina was so determined, so eager to become the first female Hokage."
Pausing for a long moment, Minato carefully searched for his next words before speaking, "When she died, I lost all motivation to become Hokage. How could I become Hokage if I couldn't even protect one person? That was what I used to think for a very long time… At one stage, I was even on the verge of resigning from the force."
Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise, not knowing that Minato had actually contemplated becoming a civilian - that was new. He remained silent, offering him his ear. Minato looked at him and smiled ruefully, "Then you came crashing into my life like a force of nature. Unlike anyone else, you roused so much feeling in me, even if it was hate at first. It was the first time in years I felt alive."
Minato continued, "But…one way or other, you wormed your way under my skin and into my heart. You gave me back my dream and my reason for living."
Naruto could feel a blush rising in his cheeks at the impassioned words, not used to hearing them directed at him. Minato smiled and said sincerely, "Without you, I would have never become Hokage."
"I love you too, Minato." Naruto quipped half in jest and half in sincerity. Minato chuckled and he returned his gaze to the stone, tracing Kushina's name once more. He asked, "Do you think that I will be a good Hokage? I'm…afraid that I won't do a good job."
There was no hesitation as Naruto replied confidently, "Yes, you will. I believe that you will become one of the best Kages in history."
"Heh. You're not just saying that because I'm your partner?" Minato wryly replied as he turned his head to look at Naruto. Naruto rolled his eyes, "Don't go fishing for compliments. It doesn't suit you." Looking to the side as he crossed his arms, he reaffirmed, "But yeah, you'll do a great job. You're smart, strong and compassionate. You're popular with the people and you'll also protect Konoha with all you have. You have all the qualities required of the Hokage, so there's no need to worry. I believe in you."
Minato relaxed, feeling less anxious now. He replied gratefully, "Thank you."
"No problem." Naruto smiled back before informing him, "Come on, we have to get going. Koharu was practically spitting fire when I was at the office earlier. The old man actually looked scared. Besides, you can't be late for your big day!"
"So we shall. Let's go rescue Sarutobi-san from the dragon lady." Minato joked as he extended his hand to Naruto and held up his other hand in a seal. Laughing at Koharu's apt nickname, Naruto took his hand and they were gone in a blink.
Fin.
(and then they proceeded to have wild celebratory sex after the ceremony.)