Naruto: Naruto's Uchiha girlfriend is too arrogant

Chapter 436 Acceptance

The air was so heavy you could almost hear dust settling on the ground. Kushina's roar seared Minato's nerves.

After a long while, Minato slowly raised his head. He did not try to explain.

"...I know. I'm not a good father. I'm sorry to Naruto...I'm sorry for everything he lost."

"Then why do you have to die with me?!"

Kushina's tears welled up again. "It's just a fox! Why didn't you choose to live?! You had so many other options! Why did you choose the stupidest one?!"

She stood up abruptly, glaring down at Shuimen, who was still sitting there.

"You can't feel anything in that godforsaken place, Pure Land! It's so cold! What's the point of you following me to your death?! What good will it do you, except make sure I can't escape you even in the afterlife, you idiot?!"

"What kind of Hokage is this?! Why dump all the responsibility on a newborn baby who can't even speak yet?!"

This is the core issue she finds most incomprehensible and unforgivable. Her husband's choice is tantamount to cruelly and overwhelming their responsibilities as parents, along with the expectations and future burdens of the entire village, onto the tender shoulders of their child.

"I'm sorry..." Minato repeated, "I can say that as many times as I want. But..."

He took a deep breath and looked directly into Kushina's eyes, which were burning with anger and tears.

"I can't do it."

"What?!"

"I am your husband. I... cannot watch you leave alone. To watch you disappear before my eyes, and I am left behind alone... I cannot do that."

His reason struck at the deepest, most vulnerable part of Kushina's heart. It wasn't the Hokage's weighing of options, nor the choices of a ninja; it was simply that of a husband who couldn't bear the pain of losing his beloved and chose to fall into darkness with her.

"You...you..."

Kushina's anger deflated instantly, like a punctured balloon, replaced by a complex mix of heartache, rage, helplessness, and a deeper sorrow, which culminated in a weak, tearful curse: "...You smooth-talking bastard!"

She slumped back onto the sofa, her shoulders trembling slightly. The most intense outburst seemed to have passed.

Silence fell over the living room once again.

Minato remained in that waiting posture, his tension unabated. He was prepared—if Kushina got angry and decided to beat him up, he wouldn't back down.

He only asked that, after venting his anger, she wouldn't completely kick him out of the house, or out of her and Naruto's world.

"I..." Kushina's muffled voice came from between her fingers, "I really want to drag you there right now and apologize to Naruto... let him scold you, hit you... but..."

She lowered her hand, revealing her bloodshot eyes, which looked blank.

"If it was Naruto... who revived you with his own hands..."

If Naruto chose to revive Minato, it certainly wasn't to make his father bear the blame. That child's heart is too big, and too soft.

"Yes..." Minato gave a bitter smile. "I also hoped... that kid would beat me up, yell at me... that would make me feel a little better. But he just... forgave me. He even comforted me..."

"Damn it..." Kushina slammed her fist on the sofa armrest, gritting her teeth, "Who... raised that child to be so kind...?"

Her words were less of a question and more of a sigh mixed with pride and bitterness.

"Yeah..." Minato echoed softly, "I haven't forgiven myself... Naruto... he's exactly like me."

They are all used to taking responsibility upon themselves, used to prioritizing others, used to... swallowing their pain and forcing a smile.

"..."

"..."

A stifling silence descended once more. This time, it was Minato who broke the silence.

"Kushina..." he called softly, his voice filled with determination, "I know it all. Naruto's... childhood memories, the loneliness, the cold stares, the bullying... Thanks to Kurama, I 'saw' it..."

"...I do...have a little regret."

"That's exactly what I mean!" Kushina's tears flowed again. "Our child! He was clearly the child of a hero! The son of the Hokage who sacrificed himself to protect the village! I... I want to beat up everyone who bullied him and neglected him!"

"But I hate myself even more! I hate these two parents! They couldn't give him anything! They couldn't even give him a normal childhood with his mom and dad!!"

"You're right... This is my sin. As Hokage, I may have made the 'right' choice at the time. But as a father... I chose to protect the village's 'future,' but I completely betrayed my son's 'present.'"

"As a father... I lost everything."

Seeing him like this, Kushina felt her anger and sorrow recede somewhat like the tide. She wiped away her tears and asked in a hoarse voice.

"Are you... saying all this now in hopes that I will forgive you right now?"

"No, no, no! Absolutely not!"

Minato waved his hands repeatedly, "I dare not ask for forgiveness now! I know that takes time, and it requires me to put in a thousand times the effort to make amends!"

"Please give me this chance! I will use the rest of my time to slowly make it up to you and Naruto! I've already met with Jiraiya-sensei, and I made it clear to him that I will not return as Hokage!"

"Right now, Minato Namikaze is just an ordinary Jonin in the village who needs to relearn how to be a husband and father!"

He looked at Kushina almost pleadingly.

"Please... Kushina. Give me... this chance to make amends!"

"..."

Kushina looked into his eyes and saw the genuine regret, pain, and that cautious, fearful expectation of rejection.

If she truly hated him to the core and wished he would disappear forever, she would probably use the Adamantine Lock to bind him like a dumpling and throw him out of the Uchiha clan's territory the moment she opened the door and saw him, or punch him back to the Pure Land with one punch.

But she didn't.

She let him in, listened to him say so much, and vented so much herself.

The silence lasted for a long time, so long that Minato's heart sank little by little, and he was almost in despair.

Kushina finally spoke, her voice still stiff and unnatural.

"...You'll sleep in the living room."

"Huh?" Minato didn't react at first.

"Huh?!" Kushina glared at him, her tone turning fierce again. "I'm warning you! Minato Namikaze! I don't want to forgive you yet! This isn't over! So! You're not allowed in the bedroom!"

She pointed to the other side of the living room, "Sofa it is, sleep on the floor it is! You're sleeping here tonight! If you dare to sneak into the room in the middle of the night... I'll use a sealing spell to hang you from the roof beam and beat you! Understand?!"

Minato was stunned for two seconds, and then joy surged through his body like an electric current!

"Oh! Of course! Of course!" He nodded quickly. "I'll do my best! I'll definitely do my best! Kushina! Thank you!"

Seeing his delighted expression, Kushina suddenly turned around, her back to Minato.

She didn't want him to see the overwhelming, unconcealable joy in her eyes, as well as the longing buried deep within her for so many years, so she simply left him with a curt remark.

"Um."

Then, she walked quickly toward the bedroom, intending to hide away alone and process the tumultuous, emotionally rollercoaster-like morning.

Minato watched her retreating figure, which seemed somewhat hasty, until the bedroom door closed gently. Only then did he let out a long, long sigh of relief, and lean against the back of the sofa, feeling utterly exhausted.

Great……

Although the road ahead is long, although his wife has not yet forgiven him, and although the guilt he feels towards Naruto still weighs heavily on his heart...

But at least he went home. He wasn't kicked out. He wasn't completely rejected.

That's enough. He can spend the rest of his life making up for it and striving for it.

As his tense nerves relaxed slightly, he realized that there seemed to be another gaze upon him in the living room.

He turned his head and met a pair of calm, vertical pupils.

A large blue dog raised its head and quietly looked at this "uninvited guest" who had caused his owner's mother to cry and yell as soon as he arrived.

Minato paused for a moment, then put on a somewhat awkward but trying-to-be-friendly smile.

"……Hello?"