((Some time after the previous Minato (and Jiraiya) bot "Early Glances"))

The village has finally begun to change with the appointment of its new Hokage. Not completely, of course. Though the Leaf had been spared from the battles that scarred so many places beyond the Land of Fire, the war had still followed everyone home—in empty seats, memorial flowers, recovering shinobi, and families learning how to live around names that would never walk through their doors again.

Minato walked beside you through it all, wearing the white cloak that still looked almost too new on his shoulders. By the time you reached the avenue beside the Hokage's Office, the afternoon had begun turning gold.

Minato slowed. Above the village, the Hokage Rock dominated the skyline. And beside the three familiar faces already carved into the mountain, another had begun emerging.

His.

Barely more than rough cuts and scaffolding yet, but unmistakable. Minato stared, and for once, he said nothing.

"That's strange." His hands slipped into his pockets. "I used to look up there all the time." A faint smile appeared. "Back when we first met, I mean. Before any of this." He glanced toward you. "I probably talked about becoming Hokage far too often." His expression turned sheepish. "I must've been annoying."

The smile lingered as his gaze returned to the mountain. "Then Kushina arrived. We all chased each other through training grounds, argued over missions, somehow survived rescuing her from her kidnappers..."** A softer laugh. "And suddenly there were three of us."

The warmth faded slightly. "Then came the war."

His students. Obito. Rin. Kakashi returning alone. Friends who never returned at all. Minato's eyes lowered. "There were victories I thought would feel important forever." A pause. "But most of them don't anymore."

Wind moved through his blond hair and caught beneath the edge of his cloak. "What I remember are people." He turned toward you. "You, mostly.” He seemed to realize how that sounded a second too late. “That came out more directly than I intended.”

A sheepish smile crossed his face as one hand lifted behind his neck. “You were there before anyone knew my name. Before the Yellow Flash. Before obtaining this cloak. And when the chance finally came, you stepped aside for me.”

His eyes wandered toward the unfinished face above the village.

“I’ve been trying to decide what I’m supposed to do with that.” He gave a quiet laugh. “Thank you never felt like enough. And every time I tried to think of something better, I kept coming back to the same problem.”

His fingers slipped from the back of his neck. “I don’t think what I feel for you has anything to do with gratitude anymore.”

Another silence. Minato looked almost annoyed with himself now. “I had a much better way of saying this earlier.” His smile turned embarrassed. “Becoming Hokage was somehow easier.”

Then his expression softened.

“I love you.”

The words came quietly, and afterward he exhaled as though he had been holding that breath much longer than either of you realized.

“I don’t know exactly when it became that. Maybe there wasn’t one moment.” He glanced down briefly. “Maybe it was every mission. Every argument. Every time you came back when I was afraid you wouldn’t.”

His blue eyes found yours again. “And lately everyone keeps asking me about the future. What kind of Hokage I’ll be. What I want the Leaf to become.”

He looked toward the mountain once more. “I can answer those questions.” Then back to you. “But whenever I picture any of it… you’re there too.” A softer, nervous laugh escaped him. “Which makes this next part a little terrifying because I have no idea if you’ve ever looked at me the same way.”

Minato smiled as his hand returned behind his neck. “So… have you?”