Title: Take a Coat
Rating: Rated: K+
Genre: Tragedy/Humor
Disclaimer: Naruto is owned and was created by a man called Kishimoto. I hereby disavow any need to profit, gain, or otherwise benefit from this piece of fan fiction other then for the sheer amusement of being bored.
Take a Coat
She was so full of life even as the breath left her body and her hands began to chill. Cradling their son to his chest, Minato fired off a smile to his dying beloved as her lips formed the last words he would ever get to hear her speak. The roars of the Kyuubi seemed to fall into silence as she whispered to him. It was a final way of saying to him,
"Look after yourself. You're far too reckless for your own good."
Just not quite in those words. Only she, the life of the fire that burned in his soul, could possibly make those same words mean so much more in their simplicity. In the end, she has simply ordered him around as she always did, ignoring the need to care for herself first. She was like that.
That was what made him fall in love with the rough and tumble tomboy in the very beginning no matter how it had looked to others at the start. At the very last breath, she had whispered that damned order to him and he smiled for her. Despite the burning ache of knowing they were falling apart, they had never been more of a family then at that very moment.
Until the end, her words whispered repeatedly in his mind. His heart beat jumped in pace with the screams the Kyuubi held over his people, his village, and his family. Stiffening his spine, he began to create the final set of seals. Eyes focused solemnly at the end of his life. His soul jerked in response of the Shinigami's pressure, the flap of fabric striking the back of his knees as his life force crumpled beneath the weight of duty.
In the end, he could only remember the smile on her face as she whispered a word of warning to him.
"Take a coat, its cold out there, Minato," she had said. Not a final moment of I love you or goodbye, but a damned warning to keep himself warm. Darkness lingered on the edges of his vision as he felt a good-natured laugh leave his chest.
Even in death, his heart would always belong with Kushina. His will would find a way to keep them together. He had placed the last of his hope in an infant that would never know them. A son he would never get to hold again, just like his mother.
"Keep your coat on, Naruto," he whispered to his son just as the last of his existence began to fade. Settling the sleeping infant amongst the scrolls and books on the Sandaime's scrying pillow, Minato smiled. A poof of smoke soon took his place as his chakra finally gave out and the child was left alone, to whatever the fates might have in store for him.
In the end, they could only believe in him.
Just like his mother, no matter how much he resembled his father.
For that, Minato was grateful.