Day 5 Morning

[Minato Namikaze]

Well, that was that. The last of the guardians had been defeated, and the last of Teucer's armor had been retrieved. The battle was over, and his time on this island was coming to an end.

Minato lay, face up, on the ground at the cave's entrance. The blast from his weapon was powerful and, with the stunt he pulled, he didn't exactly give himself time to brace for the recoil. But he had finally been able to do something for the trapped spirit, he'd finally made some sort of headway towards his promise.

Kakashi slid to a sop next to his blonde companion, a somewhat worried, yet unsurprised look, on his face. 'You okay, Minato-sensei?' The silver haired man asked.

'Hey, I was impaled by the Nine Tails. I think I can survive a couple of cuts and bruises.' The blonde shinobi replied, making light of his situation. Kakash let out a short laugh

'So… What do we do now?' Kakashi asked, sincerity in his words and, to be honest, Minato hadn't given it much thought past the conversation they had the other day. He had duties in the ninja village of Mokugakure. He'd promised Tsunade that he'd stick around, but he couldn't say the same for his companion. By some stroke of luck, he and Kakashi had been reunited for the first time in years, probably, but he knew that Kakashi probably had other things to take care of.

'I…' He began, gathering his words as he sat up. 'I have to go back to Mokugakure.' Kakashi looked at him, Minato was never quite sure of the facial expressions that his apprentice made, but this time he could only imagine a smile sitting under the mask.

'Good. We'll go back there together then.' Kakashi replied. 'Besides, I'd like to meet this Kito that you speak so fondly of.'

Minato nodded as he noticed a group of four people approaching the cavern's opening, and the two ninja that sat beside it. A girl with red hair was wearing the tattered and torn robes of their previous enemy, a small anthropomorphic mouse, what appeared to be some sort of man with robotic parts, and a boy that was clad in green clothing. The latter was also wearing what appeared to be a metal breast plate.

The group looked at the two injured men, almost taking no notice of the two. It was a harsh response, but the war hardened shinobi understood their situation. After days on this island, after dozens of potential fights, the primes here would have grown weary of anyone that wasn't a part of their own group.

'Hey.' Minato spoke up, halting them as they passed by them. They gave the two men a cautious look. 'Are you guys headed back to the Temple?' Minato smiled, the warmth returning to his face. They took a moment to look at each other, speaking yet not making a sound as they decided on an answer.

'Yes, we are.' The small mouse-like creature spoke kindly as he stepped forward. Minato sighed, relief in his breath, but pain in the wound on his back.

'We'd like to come along.' He uttered, unsure if they would accept the two, as he pushed himself up and onto his feet. He stumbled for a second, the recoil from his weapon had caused a slight numbness in his limbs, but it would pass soon. Kakashi stood next to him, backing up his proposal.

The group took another second to think about it, before the mouse stepped forward again. 'Sure, we could use some more allies.' He spoke with an accepting voice, relieving Minato of the worry that he held. He knew they would not betray the two ninja.

'Let's go!' The small mouse half exclaimed as the new group trudged out of the cave.

'Is it just me, or did we forget to introduce ourselves?' Kakashi whispered as he leaned towards Minato.

'We'll do that later.' Minato whispered back.

It had been a long morning.