NOTE: Well, I guess this is my last foray into Naruto fanfic. I wish you all a very good life and best of luck on everything you do. B-bye! ^^

When she woke, she was alone. The room she had been placed in was a pristine green color, and the bed she laid in was soft. Neither the calming color of the room nor the comfort of the bed registered very well to her dulled senses.

Am I under anaesthesia? The thought swam across her mind like through a body of thick, soupy water.

The door at the far end of the room suddenly burst open as if in response to her awakening.

"She's bleeding again!" A gruff voice cried in alarm as it approached.

"Damn." A rough female voice swore. "She wasn't supposed to wake up."

The voices were uncomfortably close.

Konan's vision swam as the sources of the voices came into clarity. The gruff voice belonged to a short, aquiline man with a hawk-like nose, no one she knew. The owner of the rough female voice, however, was easy to identify. It was the legendary medic, the Slug Sage Tsunade herself.

"Oh goddamnit I just hate blood." Tsunade griped. "Get Shizune."

"Eh?" The short man questioned. "Didn't she just go home?"

"Well you better get moving before she gets too far then."

The man bowed. "Yes Tsunade-sama."

The man left immediately, and Tsunade looked back at her patient. The patient's eyes were glassy and dark. "We just managed to fix up the worst of your wounds too. Ugh." Tsunade grunted in disgust. She'd placed her hands on her patient's abdomen, but her eyes were on the ceiling, unwilling to look down as she slipped a diagnostic hand into the reopened wound. "Don't move."

Konan laid very still and her vision, which had been going in and out of focus, diminished once more. "Why?" She raved deliriously. "Why couldn't you just let me die?"

"Calm down." Tsunade commanded as gently as she could. "Trust me. If wasn't pestering me about saving you and keeping you alive, there was no way I would have gone anywhere near you." To her relief, the patient relaxed. "That's it." Tsunade encouraged. "Let me just reseal your internal organs and someone else can come and clean up this- this mess." Tsunade began to feel nauseous at the mention of what she knew must be a gory muck beneath her and decided to talk about something else. "I'm a busy woman you know. I don't have the leisure to do these private jobs. Being Hokage really does a number on your free time."

Tsunade waited, but the patient didn't seem to be listening. Her mind had wandered, and her sightless eyes wandered with it. "You saved me." She mumbled.

Tsunade continued to stare up at the ceiling to avoid seeing blood that she knew would be there if she looked down. She operated on feel alone. "You're damned right I did. You're lucky that there are people who prefer you alive than dead. Some don't even have that luxury."

If she had bothered to look down, Tsunade would have seen the slight smile accompanied by a peaceful expression which didn't match the pain and delirium that her patient must be suffering.

"Stay." Konan said in a voice barely above a whisper as she spoke to a phantom who wasn't there. "Stay with me."

It was at this point that Tsunade realized her patient was delirious, not that it distracted her much. Her stomach fought off another wave of nausea as she heard something squelch under her fingers.

"Oh damn all this to hell! Damn you, Namikaze-!"

Another squelch and Tsunade gagged. It just had to be an internal wound. Whoever had provided the initial emergency care had done a sloppy job and was going to be fired the moment she found out who it was. Tsunade gagged again, sloppily sewed the wound shut, withdrew her hands, and ran out the room to vomit and maybe have a fainting spell or two.

Fortunately, the man who had been sent to retrieve Shizune returned at the same time that Tsunade left the room with Shizune in tow. The newly arrived medic rushed to the patient and held her down as she convulsed. "Oh this is bad. This is very bad."

Shizune panicked, repeated her comment on how bad the situation was, and then went to work.

"Shizune." A voice called softly.

Shizune opened her eyes and looked up tiredly at Minato who had appeared out of nowhere. There was probably a Flying Thunder God mark somewhere in the room, but she was too exhausted to even guess where it might be. "What do you want?" Shizune grumbled irritably.

"I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused you." Minato apologized.

Shizune smiled, trying to ignore her irritation and her urge to lash out at the man responsible for her sleepless all-nighter. They should've had someone else do it, but few medic-nin had the skills or guts necessary to immediately respond properly to such a serious case, and Tsunade had been adamant in having her stay to tell off Minato when he inevitably came. And she had wanted to. Too tired to even move after the exhaustive healing session, Shizune had set herself down on the visitor's chair and fallen asleep thinking of the night of rest she had just lost and of letting Minato know what trouble he had caused.

That irritation lasted about as long as it took for her to meet the eyes of that despicable man with no sense of a medic's long, unreasonable hours and difficult, intense work.

"Shizune?" Minato asked into the silence that had been between them, and Shizune shook herself out of her trance. He had such sharp, intelligent eyes it was hard not to admire them.

"No trouble at all. Just doing my job." Shizune replied in an even voice. She yawned. "I'm a little tired though. I was supposed to be home and in bed about six hours ago."

Minato winced guiltily. "Sorry.. and thank you." He paused to make a glance down at the patient's bed. "She's fine now, isn't she? What's her condition?"

Shizune frowned and followed Minato's gaze. "She'll live." She said and then lifted her eyes back at the man who she remembered she hated.

"Take me home." Shizune demanded. "You have a marker in my apartment room don't you?"

"I don't." Minato answered, the concerned expression on his face that he'd worn earlier had relaxed. A small hint of a relieved smile pulled at his eyes as he continued to gaze upon the unconscious patient that Shizune had sacrificed a night to care for. "Why would I?" He asked distractedly.

Shizune felt her temper rise at the way she was being talked to so indirectly. She felt angry and then she felt confused. Why was she angry? She was almost never angry. That was more Tsunade's territory than hers. If Shizune had been prone to anger, she would have left Tsunade long ago for having treated her as little more than a servant to clean up after her many mistakes from gambling, drinking and generally acting like a slob since Nawaki's death. If she had been an angry person, Tsunade would not have been able to keep Shizune with her all those years.

Shizune calmed her foreign anger. "I don't know. I just thought you'd have put those things everywhere. You know, convenience"

Minato laughed. "That would be too much to maintain. I think you're overestimating the Flying Thunder God."

"And I think I've only had about twenty minutes of sleep in the past thirty hours." Shizune snapped. "I live near the Hokage's tower. Surely you have a marker there."

That got his attention. Shizune's irritated tone brought Minato's eyes back on her and away from the Akatsuki woman who Shizune decided she disliked. "Of course." Minato answered light-heartedly, the smile still in his eyes. "I owe you for what you've done today, Shizune. Perhaps I can treat you to a meal sometime. We can talk about what it was like to be an apprentice of one of the three Sages of the Leaf. You can tell me what it's like to learn from a gambling drunk and I can tell you what it was like to train under an unrepentant, sex-craving demon. What do you think?"

"I think I want to go home." Shizune answered. A feeling of hope kindled in her heart, a hope which she did not dare trust. She wasn't blind. She'd seen the way Minato had stared at the traitorous Akatsuki woman. Still. She hoped.

Minato took her to the Academy and walked her home. Walking next to him was like tip-toeing across and electrified tightrope. The lack of sleep and the physical exhaustion stood no chance.

"Here it is." Shizune said when they reached her door.

"Wow. I see this place everyday." Minato commented. "I'll be sure to remember next time. Thank you again, and get some rest."

"I will." Shizune said. She hesitated in front of her door, not reaching to open it just yet. "Wait."

Shizune glanced around to make sure Minato was still there, and sure enough, he was.

"I've always wanted dinner at the Honmei establishment. The one at the western entrance of the market. Treat me there and we can call us even."

The Honmei establishment was considered the most expensive, and Shizune could see that Minato recognized that by the way his beautiful blue eyes lit up with understanding. "When?" he asked simply, tacitly agreeing to the setting.

"Tonight at seven?"

"Seven will do. See you then." Minato said in farewell.

Shizune could not but feel her hands shake when she replied, trying to keep calm. "See you then."

And then he was gone.

Turning away hurriedly, Shizune bounced lightly on the balls of her feet and stepped into her home. She washed herself clean from her night's work at the hospital, brushed her teeth and thudded onto her bed like a felled tree. She lay there and expected to fall asleep as soon as she shut her eyes. The moment she shut her eyes, her mind became filled with the image of a certain man, and every time she saw him, her nerves would go, afire with nervous excitement and anticipation.

"I need sleep. I'm tired and I've been up all night." She said to herself.

But her excitement could not be assuaged, and she would lay awake for a good five minutes before her body finally dragged her into a land of pleasant dreams.

The first thing that she became aware of were the sounds of an overhead fan whirling repetitively into her ears. Her head swam and she was sleepy. Everything felt like one giant pillow had been smothered over her body.

It was nice. Either she couldn't move or she didn't want to move. She couldn't tell, and before she could really figure it out, her consciousness lapsed back into the darkness from which it came - a sweet, blissful darkness, where nary a thought could bother her.

-Intermission-

"Our country's still crying… still enduring all this pain. I used to hate it so much… but now I want to save it from the bottom of my heart. It's a big crybaby, like I used to be… I can't just leave it.. Konan."

"Konan."

She groaned. Her arms felt sore and she had an ache on her left side.

"We've taken you off the drugs so you might be hurting for a while.. you'll just have to endure it."

Like always. She ignored the voice and let her eyes remain closed.

"There is one thing I want to know, Konan." The voice paused as if unsure of whether or not the person it was speaking to was awake. It continued. "I want to know if.." The source of the voice paused as if thinking carefully over its choice of words. "..if you were the one responsible.."

Konan furrowed her brows. "For what?"

"For killing Nagato."

All the memories came flooding back. Kabuto speaking to the undead Uzumaki Kushina, Nagato's eyes floating in a jar, his corpse laying blind on a table. "I-" Her voice clogged up as she choked back tears. She couldn't even understand why she cared so much. Shinobi died all the time, but Nagato.. Nagato was all she had left.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. What you did was necessary, Konan. Many would have died if you hadn't. For now, just rest."

"Forgive me." The words came out unbidden and heartfelt. Kidnapping his son was the worst crime she could've committed. She'd made an irremediable mistake, one which he would probably never forgive her for.

A hand smoothed over her forehead - making her forget her thoughts. It was comforting. "You still have a fever.. I'll leave you in peace."

Konan reached up to snag the retreating hand. A realization had dawned on her. She wanted this soothing presence to be with her forever.

It also appears she'd misspoken earlier. Nagato wasn't all she had left. There was something else for her to live for, and she'd never been more glad to have found it.

Despite the sluggish pain in her damaged arm, Konan raised her other hand up to hold his lightly callused hand in her own. "Stay."

-Intermission-

"Stay."

Minato stared at the hands which held his own. "Konan.."

"Stay with me. Please."

"I have a mission." He detached his hand from her grasping hands.

Trying not to feel disappointed, Konan let her arms fall back to her side. "Where are you going? When will you be back?"

"The Hidden Rain has elected a new leader who has apparently decided to follow the agenda of the previous one, and we will make an attempt at peace talks, but as of right now, war seems to remain upon us. I've been assigned as an emissary to try for a peaceful settlement before things take a turn for the worst."

"The war is still happening?" Konan tried to sit up but was held down by firm hands, hands which now felt cold and uncaring in their touch.

"You can't sit up yet. Your injuries.."

The woman breathed with disbelief. "But Nagato-"

"Konan," Minato took a silent breath. "The Rain needs a new leader. One who will push for peace. If it can find such a leader, the Leaf would be willing to forgive all past transgressions and will aid the Rain in its recovery from its loss."

"This leader you speak of.. you want that to be me.."

Minato nodded.

"No." Konan turned her head away. "It's impossible. Nagato had me publicly exiled. The people will never take me back."

"How do you know?"

"Nagato was their God. They worshipped him. He decreed that I was an enemy, and so I am. I will be an enemy until Nagato repeals that decree."

Minato shook his head. "When was the last time you've spoken to any of your citizens?"

"Last time.. before I was sent away I helped train them."

"And how many of them were actually happy to follow this 'God'?"

Konan narrowed her eyes. "All of them. God provided for them and gave them happiness."

"Konan. Your society ran on propaganda and fear. That is not a formula for happiness. Most people don't want to be killed. They want to stay alive, and when you threaten their lives for any sign of dissent, they will do their utmost to put on a front to keep up appearances - even if they were suffering.. even if their lives were miserable."

"You're not the one who lived in the Rain for thirty years. You don't know how we've suffered. You don't know anything!"

"Konan." Minato furrowed his eyes. "I may not have lived in the Hidden Rain for the past thirty years but I have been in your village several times these past few weeks. Your inner-city is indeed splendid - wealthy in its development and resources. Most if not all your Shinobi live by very reasonable standards."

Konan's spirits lightened slightly at the unexpected words. "So-"

"Let me finish." Minato requested gently. "Please." Konan nodded and Minato continued. "If I had to make a rough estimate, I'd say roughly half your citizens are not Shinobi."

Konan narrowed her eyes and she began to formulate a retort which died halfway in her throat.

"Militarization requires a concentration of resources into developing and aiding those who contribute to the military." Minato closed his eyes sadly as he pictured the people he'd seen, huddled under slight overhangs in the rain. "But sometimes.. sometimes a village needs more than just a military.. Konan. Those who do not work for the military - where do they earn their money? Where do they get their food? How do they make their living?"

"We have farmers.." Konan suggested.

"Konan. Only one percent of the civilians need to be farmers. What about the rest?"

"We give charity to those in need."

"Then why do I see so many poor on the outskirts of your village? What charity do you give them?"

"They get a pension. We give to them from our leftover funds."

"And how much is leftover funds are we talking about? What are these civilians getting, as individuals?"

"They.." Konan bit her tongue weakly. "They get enough."

"You and I both know that is not true." Minato stared intently at the woman with whom he had shared so much. Konan looked away, unable to meet his gaze. She was fighting a losing battle and she knew it. Most of the charity she'd done had been in specialized or specific areas. After all there was only so much to give. It eased her conscience to see a starving family be able to finally eat a good meal. What they were to eat the day or the week after she didn't dare give thought to. Resources were scarce - especially in a land where it rained so much that the arable land were swamped in water. In return, Nagato had been able to increase surveillance. Nagato had deemed it necessary and she'd never questioned it.

"Konan."

Realizing her silence, Konan turned her head back around to look into her visitor's familiar eyes to show that she was paying attention.

"The Leaf will help you to solicit the support from your citizenry.. with minimum casualties. You're not completely wrong. There are some who truly believe the previous leader to be God. We will do our best to quell their thirst for battle, but if worst comes to worst, they will be eliminated - for the good of all others involved and for the sake of a lasting peace."

The two lapsed into silence, and Minato waited.

"I will be merely a puppet on a throne," Konan finally said. "A puppet installed by the Hidden Leaf. That stigma will remain with me. No matter what you say, there will always be those who will be unhappy if I became leader of the Rain."

"As long as you are genuinely doing good and as long as their dissatisfaction doesn't turn to violence or become a real threat to your authority, it will pass."

"And if it does turn to violence?"

"Such an event will be dealt with in the way that it is usually dealt with.. and with tact."

Konan let the words sink in. He was probably right. She was just making excuses for herself.. excuses to let herself wallow in self-pity. Maybe that wasn't too far from the truth. A part of her wanted Minato to see her state of poor health and to pity her. She wanted him to feel for her, to want to make her feel better. And then she remembered that there was something she wanted, a bargain to be struck on what was clearly turning out to be a negotiation. "I have one simple condition."

"What condition?"

"I will let you make me the Leaf's puppet-ruler if.." She paused to stare lovingly at the former leader. His face was the picture of beauty, and the way his sharp, blue eyes gazed inquisitively upon her sent shivers down her back. "If you promise to stay by my side."

This time it was Minato who was silent. The fact that he hadn't immediately agreed sent Konan's heart into a frenzy of fear.

She smiled weakly. "If you can be there to help me-"

"That's.. Not- I don't know."

The shock of the rejection sent her into silence for a few moments before she spoke again, her heart hammering painfully within her chest. "Why?"

"What you tried to do.. I don't think I can give you that level of trust again."

"Then how can you trust me to do what you want me to do when you make me the leader of my village, my nation?! If you can't trust me, then why are you even asking me?! How dare you treat me like this?!"

Minato shook his head. "You tried to kidnap my son. You tried to have him killed."

"I know… but-"

"Ask for anything else, anything within reason. Assistance in funds, in supplies to rebuilding. Ask for help with labor and with security. We can offer those, but this… this isn't… I can't."

Konan felt bitter. Bitter and desperate as she looked upon the one thing she wanted, the one thing that was left for her in the world. Her desperation crippled her righteous anger, turning into pleading, into ingratiating need. To beg would be to throw away the leverage she had. She could feel it, but when she opened her mouth, it refused to do speak as she knew she should. Instead, she spoke words of pleading, her emotions carrying into her every word and thought. "I know I made a mistake, but I promise you, you can learn to trust me again. Minato.. please." She pleaded. "If you don't accept the condition, I.. I'm refusing your offer."

Minato stood from his seat.

"Don't leave me!" She reached for his arm, anything to hold him back.

A pained expression fell upon his face, making it all the more beautiful. Konan trembled as she felt a physical pain in her chest. "Goodbye, Konan."

"So that's it?" Tears trailed down her cheeks. "Why not? I thought-... I thought you loved me."

Minato turned away, his back to the patient's bed. "Let me ask you this. Could you love the man who murdered Yahiko?"

"That's different." Konan countered weakly.

"Answer the question."

"I love you!" Konan cried hoarsely, her vision clouded over by the tears that pooled in her eyes. "Minato. Please. I-"

"Let me ask you another question then." Minato said in a bland tone. "Would you rather the Leaf fought a war of acquisition where thousands of Hidden Rain Shinobi could die or would you rather be instated as its leader and prevent that war."

"Are you threatening to war on my people?!" Konan stared with disbelief.

"I am telling what is being considered by those in power." Minato turned with a look that made Konan want to shrink back. He couldn't look at her like that. He just couldn't. Konan swallowed a sob as several tears rapidly blinked down her face in succession. "Minato..."

"I'll be leaving now. Think on the proposal. I'll return tomorrow to hear your answer after you've thought about it with a clear head."

Watching his back move toward the exit, Konan released a short breath as a realization hit her. "Oh." Her voice dropped venomously even as her tears continued to fall. "You had a mission didn't you?"

Minato stopped at the door and gave the woman a sad look. "This was my mission."

Before she could make a reply, he was gone. Konan stared for a long while at the hospital doorway, ignoring the medic who came in to run diagnostics, and continued to stare long after the medic had gone. After several more episodes of barely contained sobbing, she put her head into her pillow and promptly fell asleep.

-Intermission-

"Wow, you look nicer than usual."

The night was cool and the surrounding forest was as homely as ever. A near-complete gibbous moon floated in a starry sky half-filled with thin, transparent clouds. Shizune could tell that she was working into a blush by the cool air glancing off her cheeks. "I do?" She said awkwardly. "Oh. Uh. Thank you? Y-you look as nice as usual."

"Glad I haven't made a mess of myself. Shall we go?"

Shizune nodded, not trusting herself to say anything more.

Minato extended a hand and she took it. One moment she was looking out the veranda in front of her door. The next moment, she found herself standing at the entrance of the Honmei restaurant establishment. A man who had been standing only a foot away jumped back and uttered a short scream of surprise.

"What in the-?!" The man gasped. "It's you!"

"Hi." Minato smiled at the man. "Excuse us." He quickly turned away, ignored the other onlookers and, still holding Shizune's hand, he led her into the establishment with several more excuse us's.

"You came here ahead of time." Shizune said breathlessly, referring to the marker that Minato had to have placed where they stood. "I came just before I went to retrieve you." Minato replied. A middle aged woman wearing Honmei's traditional red uniform walked up to them with a large smile on her wide face.

"Lord Fourth!" She beamed. "Table for two, correct?"

"That's correct, Mrs. Yuki."

"Right this way." The woman bubbled excitedly as she led them inside. "Oooh I remember when Kushina dragged you in here fourteen years ago! That was quite a night!"

"Yes. It was." Minato said with a neutral tone. The smile he had been wearing fell away. "She proposed to me that night."

"Oh I know!" The woman exclaimed. "Everyone saw. She made sure of it. You should've seen your face. It was as red as this uniform I'm wearing right now!"

"Really?" Shizune asked, breaking her long silence.

"Oh yes!" The woman answered and stopped in front of a small table. She clapped her hands together. "It was the most romantic thing I've ever seen. She hardly even gave him a choice. What a woman she was, that Uzumaki Kushina. I don't think I'll ever see another like her. Well have a seat." The woman said, gesturing to the table she had been standing in front of.

They sat and the woman left to bring them their order.

Shizune didn't recall having ordered, but apparently the chef could read minds and craft the perfect dish for the establishment's customers without having to take any orders. Probably some specialized member of the Yamanaka clan.

"Yamanaka Kazuto." Minato explained out of nowhere. "He and Jiraiya got along like toads in a pond. They shared many.. Ah. Interests. I was surprised when I found out that he was still working here as Honmei's head chef."

"Why do you think they got along?" Shizune asked, thankful for the conversational distraction.

"He admired Jiraiya's visions." Minato replied.

"The ones about world peace or-?"

Minato shrugged. "I'm afraid to ask and he seems to enjoy not telling me. I'm pretty sure it's both."

"Typical." Shizune chuckled. "If only Tsunade could have lived the same way that Jiraiya had. I mean, not like when he's, you know..."

"Chasing women?"

"Yes. Chasing women." Shizune confirmed. "I just wish she could have let herself just live her life. I hate how she threw away all those years to drinking and gambling."

"And you stayed with her all that time?"

Shizune nodded and looked down at the steaming cup of tea in front of her. "I did. But if I hadn't been there for her, I know she would have... would have found a more permanent solution to her grief."

Minato shook his head."Those were your years too." He said, feeling a touch unhappy.

"Well I did learn a lot from her." Shizune offered. "When we were on the road running from debtors and she isn't too busy drinking or being drunk, she spends her time teaching me. There are people who would have spent fortunes to be able to learn from her."

"She's the greatest medic alive." Minato said.

Shizune nodded. "Right."

It was in this way that they talked. Shizune would tell of her years taking care of and training under Tsunade who was the Sage of Slugs, and Minato would relate with some of his own experiences with the Sage of Toads. The topic made Shizune curious as to what it would have been like if Orochimaru had had a star pupil or someone who learned from him as they had learned from their own respective mentors.

As far as they were aware, the three great sages of the Leaf and only two of them had left living legacies who took after them. Neither of them knew much of Kabuto of course. Kabuto had died long before he had ever had the chance to use the Impure World Ressurection to devastating effect during the Fourth Shinobi War that no longer would happen.

The subject of their conversation eventually fell upon family, and it inevitably fell upon Minato's own family. It began with Shizune asking how exactly Uzumaki Kushina had proposed (Tsunade had left the village by then, taking Shizune with her on a trip that would last nearly a decade and a half.)

Minato, although reluctant to discuss a subject that still struck close to his heart, managed to tell the story without showing his discomfort. Inside he felt dirty. How could he talk about Kushina so casually when she was dead, dead dead? His heart felt like the filthy waste that rotted in the bottom of a refuse container. She was dead and he was talking about her and suddenly that wonderful awful night when he'd agreed to marry her became a vivid reality right in front of his eyes. She had been been standing on the platform at the far end, her hair as illustrious and bright as ever, and she had sung him a song. The lyrics had him cringing for weeks, and he had never felt so embarrassed, so happy, so horrified and so loved at the same time.

He'd said yes of course. He remembered singing to her with her own melody with an improvised response of his own, remembered seeing a selection of people who had paid good money to eat at Honmei leave as fast as their feets could take them. He couldn't blame them, but at that moment he hadn't been able to care. Kushina had been mortified, which, in hindsight, was completely unfair of her since she had been the one who had first gotten up on that stage and began singing those awful, wonderful words in the first place.

And now Kushina was dead. There was no Kushina. Only emptiness in a place where she had been. The world was devoid of its brightest, most colorful feature.

The more vividly Minato remembered that night, the more shattered he felt. His mouth kept talking, his mind supplying it with words, and, for all the world, he was perfectly engaged in a normal conversation. He wasn't sure whether or not Shizune noticed. He was beginning to remember now. Those first nights after he'd been brought back to life, when he'd first realized that he had been gone twelve years. Kushina had been everywhere he'd looked, and he'd felt so guilty and hurt and lost. He didn't know what he would have done if Jiraiya hadn't been waiting for him in his own home or if he hadn't been able to meet his son who he regretted leaving behind.

They'd given him a new purpose to his life beyond death, and for a while, he'd been able to cope. At least until it became dark and he was alone with his thoughts or when someone or something gave him a reason to remember.

There were many reminders of what he'd had: their home, where they had lived together, slept together, talked long into the night together; times when they'd sit on the bed in each other's arms, feeling every sensation, feeling so very loved; places like Honmei, where he had become engaged to her; Naruto's eyes, which were large and doey like hers; Jiraiya, who he remembered Kushina disapproved of most of the time; and Konan, whose hair was as eye-catching in its shocking blue color as Kushina's had been with its brilliant red locks.

Konan who had always remembered Jiraiya fondly, who wanted nothing more than peace in a country ridden by war. Konan who had lost her heart's greatest love to the conniving schemes of political men. Konan who had been driven by raging hormones and emotion, who was nothing like the calm, heartless and mechanical woman he had gathered her to be. She'd finally found someone who'd understood her, and Minato had finally found someone who had suffered as he was suffering, had learned to live and find happiness. Only Konan hadn't really found happiness in all those years. Not at all, and Minato had seen himself becoming just like her, and he'd hated it. Without Naruto, Minato would have no longer known what to think or feel, an empty shell to be led by the desires and goals of others. That was what Konan had been for decades. Pain had comprised of sixth puppets, six paths, but Nagato had had a seventh which he controlled through his strong will and temper.

And so Minato had pitied her. He'd been willing to do anything he could to save her from her fate, to show to himself that he could be salvaged. He would do what he could to give her what she wanted and to help her, and when she'd wanted for his love (outrageous! Impossible!), he'd given it to her.

It was here that Minato's mind came back into focus. He had been drinking, he realized. He hadn't wanted a fancy dinner or the finest of ingredients. He'd wanted wine, and Yamanaka Kazuto had given it to him piecemeal, tricking him into thinking he had only been drinking to pass the time until the main course came to the table. It never came.

And now he was probably drunk. Probably.

And rambling. Probably.

And Shizune was probably staring at him. With anger? With concern? With happiness? With sadness? He couldn't tell.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his mind feeling sluggish.

"I guess you and I never had a chance." Shizune said.

"What do you mean?" Minato asked, confused. He reached for the next bottle that had been put before him and began working the cork only to find that it had been done for him. How nice of the establishment to do that. How nice.

"You love her." Shizune stated.

Minato shrugged. "She's my wife. Of course."

"That's not who I mean."

"Impossible!" Minato half-laughed, half-shouted. "Are you meaning to accuse me of cheating on my wife?!"

At this, Shizune laughed, and Minato thought she looked very pretty when she laughed. "No one is accusing you of cheating on your wife. You're drunk. Let's get you home."

Minato paused to consider that assertion that he was drunk and nodded. "I suppose you're right."

Shizune helped him, took his hand, and carefully led him out of Honmei, feeling embarrassed at the many eyes that watched them as they moved.

"D'you think she's a gold-digger?" One voice whispered.

Another replied, "She has to be. Look at how drunk she has him. Should we intervene?"

"There should be a lot of ANBU watching. I think he's safe."

"Gold-digger. I hope nothing happens to the Lord Fourth. I heard he was being awfully put out about his wife."

"You could hear him across the room. And that woman." Here, Shizune's sharp, trained eyes noticed a woman of about her age pointing with a delicate finger. "Shameless."

"Whore."

Shizune couldn't have left the establishment quickly enough with Minato stumbling in tow.

By the time they'd reached Minato's apartment, Shizune had worked up a temper. "Look, if you wanted to drink yourself stupid, you could've done that in your own home. No need to drag me out with you! Did you know-?" Here Shizune began to cry. "Do you know what the rumor mill will be saying about me for the next few months at least?! Do you know how I felt when you talked about Uzumaki Kushina and drank and drank and drank and started acting like you were the only one in the world with troubles? Did you know- did you know that you're the first man I ever went out on a real, serious date with? That I really, seriously considered you. That I even thought I liked you?!"

Shizune released the hold she had on the drunken man and he careened into the wall to the left of his door, managing to not completely slide to the ground. He held his balance using that wall and breathed loudly and breathlessly.

"And then when you started talking about that other woman-" Shizune said and then stopped. "I don't want to talk to you again."

The next moment, she was gone, leaving Minato to cope with what might be alcohol poisoning or what might be just typical slur-minded drunkenness. Shizune. He would have to apologize to her and say that he was sorry so that she didn't feel bad about him having so horribly mistreating her. He hadn't even paid the bills. He had been to drunk to do that. Or had he done that and was simply too drunk to remember?

Minato knocked loudly on the door. Once, twice.

Pause for good measure.

A third time. "Narutoooooo." he cried. "OOpen ze door! Your father is home! Narutoo!"

No one answered the door. And then, Naruto's voice came muffled from the other side.

"Go away you stinking drunk!"

"What?!" Minato exclaimed. "How dare you?!"

"You're just another bum trying to pretend to be my dad so you can get in here and mess with me." Naruto said with a knowing air in his tone. "The last time that worked was when I was four. I'll have you know I'm not four anymore. I can literally beat the shit out of you, especially now that my real dad has come back and begun teaching me things. I'll give you to the count of three! You'd better have gotten the hell out of here by then! ONE!"

Minato was about to break the door down and show his son who was boss in the family when he realized that he could just teleport to the flying thunder-god seal in his bedroom. Well of course Naruto didn't believe him. The real Minato never used the door. Stupid!

"Look," Minato started to explain his epiphany then stopped as he had another one. What was he doing? He had just thought about physically attacking Naruto! That was child abuse! That was horrible, what only the worst of fathers that you only heard about in fiction would do. Only this wasn't fiction.

"TWO!" Naruto shouted. "I'm warning you!"

Too embarrassed at himself and too ashamed to let himself be seen in his present state, Minato quickly vanished from the doorway. He appeared at Kushina's grave. A second later, Naruto counted three and threw open the door. "Alright, you've had your chance! I won't hurt you, but… Hey. He's gone." Naruto looked around. "Stupid drunk." He shut the door and went back to pretending to be asleep. He was, after all, only a clone.

The real Naruto had snuck out hours ago.

Intermission

Minato woke to cold air seeping into the skin and to a breeze giving the cold a bit of extra teeth. It was still dark, and the moon had gone way across the sky from here he last remembered it. It's almost morning, he thought. It seemed he was in the east cemetery, and to add on top of the discomfort of cold, he had a terrible headache.

"I'll never drink again." Minato swore to himself. He stumbled away from the plaque on the grassy floor, the one that belonged to his dead wife, and stood to his feet. He had been lying asleep on Kushina's grave. "Kushina." He said. But Kushina was dead and he was speaking to a phantom. "I'm sorry. Thank you. I'm sorry."

In a flash, he was back home, sitting on his bed feeling like the lowliest of scum. He went into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Wah! Dad! What are you doing?! Good morning! Hi!"

Minato gaped at the sight of his son just coming in from outside. He cast his sensory range out a short distance and sensed another Naruto lying in his room under the covers. They were both Naruto.

Minato narrowed his eyes. "Naruto, where did you go?"

The boy quickly shut the door and grimaced in the murky darkness (the lights were turned off, and Ninja-eyes adjusted quickly) "Nowhere, dad," Naruto started to say and then added. "Just out for a walk to think about things."

The clone in Naruto's room disappeared, and Minato became more even more suspicious when his son inched toward the room. "I couldn't sleep dad. I'll just be going to bed now. Good night, er, I mean morning."

Naruto yawned loudly, and Minato sighed. "You're telling me the truth when you wake up, ok?"

"Uuh." Was Naruto's reply. "I'm sleepy."

"You're telling me the truth." Minato asserted in a voice which brook no arguments.

"Ok." Naruto said. "Have you been drinking dad… I could almost swear-"

"Wait. You could swear what?" Minato clammed up. "I mean... Yes. A little bit. Go to sleep, Naruto."

Naruto gave his father a curious look and then turned around, bouncing away to his room.

Minato went to the bathroom to clean himself up. "I'll never drink again." He swore for the third time since he'd woken. "Never."

Intermission

She'd spent the entire morning preparing her answer, preparing to tell him yes. She would do whatever it is he wanted her to do. She would become the Hidden Rain's leader, and re-establish good relations with the Hidden Leaf. She would fix the problem of poverty and economic insolvency. She would prevent a war and save lives. She would prove herself a strong, intelligent and trustworthy leader, a trustworthy person. It would be the first step she would take to regain the trust that she had lost. Maybe if she could show how dedicated she was, then he could learn to trust her again.

Konan thought on what she would say, tailoring her words to greatest compliance. She even practiced her response to whatever he would say, imagining their conversation for when he would inevitably come and ask her again what he had asked the day before.

A medic came in to check on her at seven. She was technically completely healed, but they needed to collect more data, and she was forced to wait. When she sat up to show that she was ok, the medic had become distraught and forced her to lay back down.

At nine, another medic came to ask her questions and give her an overview of her condition based on the information collected two hours before. And then the medic was gone, and Konan was left on her own to lay very still and to think. She would not be allowed to leave until given the OK by the head medic, who turned out to be the Hokage herself. Konan wouldn't be surprised if she were being kept here intentionally, detained until she agreed or disagreed to the proposal that Minato brought her yesterday. There was really no other reasonable explanation as to why they were keeping her in here despite her being largely recovered.

So she laid in her bed and waited, passing her time by thinking about what she would say to Minato when he arrived. When he came, she pretended to sleep.

"You're not asleep." Minato stated.

Konan's eyes shot open. "Minato."

"Hi."

"I'll do it." Konan said with as much conviction as she could muster. "I'll do whatever it is you need me to do and take command of the Hidden Rain. I'll stop the wars, I'll fix the country."

"I know." said Minato in a subdued manner. Konan was about to say more and stopped.

"So what now?" She asked instead.

Minato did not reply, and there was a moment of strange silence. Konan began to feel uncomfortable and a little scared at the sight of him watching her like she were something he wanted to see nothing more of.

"What do you want?" She asked, tearing at the silence.

He shook his head and vanished, leaving Konan to be alone again, and she couldn't help but feel angry at herself for how horribly she'd messed up.

When Minato returned, minutes later, it was with more composure and less strangeness. "I'm taking you to the Hokage." He said stiffly.

"Minato wait." Konan said, deflecting the hand that had been about to reach her shoulder. "Can I ask you a question before we go?"

Minato stayed his hand and nodded. "Ask."

Konan sat up and made sure to look Minato straight in the eyes. "Was there- was there ever anything between us?"

"Of course." Minato said without inflection. "We had sex."

Konan shook her head helplessly. "That's not what I mean?"

"Then what do you mean?"

Konan felt almost angry. She was certain that he knew what she was asking. Namikaze Minato was far from stupid. She also knew that he was being intentionally obtuse, and that angered her. "I really did love you, but it seems I was only a diversion to you. Well I hope I helped you deal with your heartbreak. That was all you needed me for, right? Temporary relief?" Konan spluttered and found that she was crying again. The years of emotion that she had withheld were surging and surging and it was all for this man who didn't love her. "You used me." Konan cried, her voice hoarse with tears.

"No, that's not true." Minato said and sat onto the bed next to her. "Konan-"

"Then why? Why did you save me? I have nothing. I'm nothing. I'm useless. All your plans for taking over the Hidden Rain, you could do those without me. You don't need me."

"I do need you." Minato said.

"No you don't." And then Konan did something unexpected. She tilted forward and kissed him. Minato didn't move, letting her do as she pleased. It was like kissing a statue. He was unmoving, unresponsive, and without a heart.

Konan stopped what she was doing and turned away. "Don't come to me ever again. Every time I see you, I feel like my heart is being stuck through with a knife. Just leave. Send someone else to be the Hokage's messenger."

"Konan-"

"You are scum!" Konan choked on her tears, her lower lips trembling as she yelled. "You're a selfish, greedy, heartless, lowliest of men on this planet! Scum! Leave! Get out!"

Minato stood, his eyes suddenly alight with a burning fire. "Well you know what I think?! I think you're a needy bitch! I used you? No. You used me. And-" Minato stopped, his voice falling low. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say any of that."

Konan didn't look at him. She didn't want to. The man she'd loved had become nothing more than a beast.

"Konan?"

Konan did not respond. Her breath jerked repeatedly as she tried to calm it, tried to stop the tears from making her more pitiful than she already was.

"I'm sorry."

Konan stared at her pillow. She wanted to leave. Get as far away as possible. She wasn't sure where she would go, but she wanted to be anywhere but here where she could see him. If she could just find a place where she didn't have to think or feel or suffer the lies and the hurt, maybe she'd survive.

"I don't understand." Minato said, still not going away. "I can't give you what you want because I still love my wife. Why can't you understand that? I would be betraying her. I can't do that."

"But you already have." Konan managed. "And why are you still here? Why are you explaining to me? Why did you save me? Why can't you just leave me alone?!"

"Because I love you." Minato said, admitting it as much to himself as to her. Konan felt her heart race as the words echoed across her mind.

"You love me?" She asked dumbly.

"I love you." He repeated. "And I need to think. I don't know what's happening. I-?"

"Minato." Konan interrupted. "You love me."

"I do." Minato replied. "I'm sorry." He shook his head. "I need to go. You're right. I'll send someone else. Goodbye, Konan."

Konan saw Minato's eyes became distant as he was already beginning to leave. She saw and she leapt at him and grabbed him. She was immediately transported into the Hokage's office, and Tsunade looked on with surprise at the man and woman embracing in a way that made her sick. Shizune, for her part, could not stop staring at Minato. She could see that it was the Akatsuki girl doing most of the embracing. Minato, on the other hand, stood like a living monument. It made her feel hopeful.

Tsunade cleared her throat. "Well, miss Konan. Have you agreed to the pact? The Leaf will provide you as much aid as it can give you. Military assistance, espionage units, propaganda, etc. All covert of course. You'll have to rally support on your own and show them that you are capable to lead before the people will accept you. Of that I am completely certain."

Tsunade narrowed her eyes at Konan who was still embracing Minato with a contented smile in her every feature.

The Hokage lost her temper and slammed her desk loudly. "Minato!"

Minato gently put his hand around Konan's shoulders and pushed her away. "We can talk about this later when this meeting is done."

Konan looked into Minato's eyes and felt herself beginning to spiral madly into happiness.

"You're wasting my time." Tsunade said sternly. "If you'd like to come back later-"

Konan tore her eyes away to turn toward the Hokage and the woman who had saved her life. "I apologize. I lost myself there for a moment."

Tsunade blinked and Shizune rolled her eyes.

"Well let's hope you don't lose yourself when you're putting the Hidden Rain back together." Tsunade said dryly.

Konan stepped forward confidently. "I won't. The Hidden Rain will come back together and there will be peace. I'll make sure of it."

Tsunade nodded and smiled. "That's good to hear. Let's do this officially then. Everything needs to be set on paper. Since this is a political contract involving two parties, you may discuss and input any stipulations or points that we have here." Tsunade took a large scroll into her hand from seemingly nowhere, rolled it open onto her desk, and began to read.

Intermission

The discussion had lasted longer than anticipated. Every point, from Konan's drawing up her own coalition of forces to the problem of the ruined agriculture of the country were discussed down to every detail. Solutions were proposed and discarded, disagreements hashed out. And then there was what would happen afterward. Minato's presence hadn't been needed, but he'd stayed. Neither Tsunade or Konan disputed his presence. When the meeting was done, Minato escorted Konan to his apartment where he had agreed to let her stay the night before she was to leave for the Rain.

"That went well." Minato commented the moment he and Konan appeared on the Flying Thunder God marker in his room. "When you get to Rain tomorrow, the first thing-"

Konan put a hand up. "Stop. We've been talking about that for eight hours straight. What needs to be said has already been said. Let it rest for now. At least until tomorrow."

"You want dinner then?"

Konan gazed upon the bed thoughtfully. "Where to?"

"Ichiraku's. It's Naruto's favorite..." Minato followed her gaze. "Unless you have something else in mind?"

"Hmm. I'm not very hungry."

Minato licked his lips and moved closer. "It is pretty early. We could wait a bit."

"And do what?"

Minato grinned ferally. "I know what you want."

Konan looked away from the bed, her heart racing. "That's your fault for being beautiful." The words were out her mouth before she could stop them and she blushed deeply. "Ah, I mean-" She stammered awkwardly before her words were cut off by hungry lips.

"Who needs food anyway?" Minato breathed into her mouth.

Konan smiled her agreement, savoring his breath and his taste. "I love you." She whispered against his cheeks and his upper lips.

Minato responded by pressing onto the bed. So enraptured they were by each other that neither noticed when the bedroom door flew open.

"Hey dad! Let's go to Ichiraku's!"

Naruto's voice died in his throat as he saw the most horrible spectacle he had ever seen. Realizing that he somehow hadn't been noticed (Minato had put soundproof seals around the room so as not to alarm Naruto - a safeguard that was meaningless now with Naruto standing at the doorway), Naruto slowly pushed the door shut and went to Ichiraku's by himself.

Author's note: And that's why the genre to this story is horror.