Something Precious

Chapter Fourty Five

"I - um. . ." Naruto took a deep breath to prepare himself before looking Minato in the eyes, the teens intense blue orbs held purpose and determination. "I'm sorry Minato." he said. "But I have to go." he offered no explanation but the Yellow Flash nodded. He didn't ask why but he knew it had something to do with the blonde being so withdrawn during their travels, he trusted the Uzumaki enough to believe he really had good reason to abandon his assigned mission.

Naruto gave him a light-hearted grin that could light someones day like the sun would light the sky. "Besides, you don't even need me, those Stone ninja won't know what hit them. I won't be long, I'll meet you there before the real fighting starts."

Minato couldn't keep a small smile of his own from gracing his lips. "Alright, I'll hold you to it."

In a sudden action he couldn't explain, Naruto embraced his father. All the feelings he had been suppressing in regards to his father, came forth in a daunting wave, making it hard to speak in a steady voice. "Stay alive for me would ya? I won't lose you too." his voice wobbled, heart break saturated his every word.

Minato - who had been completely immobile - unfroze and wrapped his arms around the teen in an unspoken promise that he would never leave him like that. "You too."

Naruto pulled back reluctantly and before he could change his mind, he was gone.

As he watched the blonde Uzumaki leave, Minato Namikaze felt. . . well the best way he could explain it was when he was a child he had a dog who ran away and he couldn't sleep at night, being sick with worry until she had come back,  - except this was like, times infinity. He took one more moment to watch after him before he went on to complete their mission.

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He didn't exactly know where he was he going. He need to reach them where ever they were, but he couldn't do that if he couldn't find them, and he couldn't find them in this state with his sensory range uncomfortably limited.

He took a moment to go still. He felt nature's energy flow through the air around him and drew it in to be balanced with his own. In record time his eyes gave up their beautiful blue in favor of a golden yellow. He reached out as far as he could, he strained to reach further and further still, but they remained out of the reach of his enhanced senses. He frowned and deepened his concentration but the chakras he searched for alluded him still.

He growled in frustration, he hardly had time for this. He didn't have any options left.

"Kurama!" he called urgently. "I need your chakra!" The tailed beast required no prompting as he gladly gave all he had to his jinchuuriki host and friend.

Like fire, the yellow chakra licked up his body and consumed him until he was glowing yellow with it's power, tendrils of the chakra flicking off of him like flames and affected the shrubs around him, making them grow thicker and greener.

It was no sweat to find the little shinobi now, and since he was in this state he could push his body to go even faster than before. During his war, there was no one - not even Madara - who could match his speed in Tailed Beast Mode.

He was going to save him. Obito Uchiha wasn't going to 'die', and Kakashi wasn't going to suffer the pain is loosing his comrade and - though Kakashi would never admit it - his friend. This was the right thing to do, Naruto was had no doubt of that now.

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"Obito, don't go after them!" Kakashi shouted at the chunnin who was about to pursue the Stone shinobi that had just kidnapped Rin not moments ago. He had of course, assumed that Kakashi would be right on his heels, but the fact that the new jounin called him to stop made him freeze in shock. He turned to his teammate with betrayal evident in his obsidian eyes.