Summary: "Goodbye and good luck, little maelstrom," the shinobi whispered quietly, voice lost in the eerie night breeze. He creased the small tuft of hair on the baby's head, the color painfully reminiscent of his best friend's. "I hope you find the happiness and peace your parents longed for you to have." Note: AU with canon elements.
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Disclaimer: I don't Naruto. And I can, but will not, list all the greedy (and perverted) things I would do if I did.
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Rated: T (may/will change for language and future stuff. I'm paranoid too)
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Inspired by (I recommend these),
-The Mouse of Konoha by obsidian dreamer
-Escape Artist by Fiorea(kinda)
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"Regular Talking"
"Thoughts/Emphasis/General"
"Jutsu"
"Demon/Anything else"
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A/N: PLEASE READ! Okay, so I'm not the best speller and I may be iffy on grammar… All I ask is that you notify me either through a PM or Review that there are mistakes – I will try to rectify them immediately. Thank you for your cooperation.
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Chapter 1
He should have been fine.
Nii-san... I think I'm in love with a habanero...
He should have been fine when his two most precious people kicked the metaphorical bucket of life. He should have been fine when he watched Minato - friend, brother, comrade, leader - sacrifice himself to seal the Kyuubi into his own flesh and blood. He should have been fine when he watched Kushina, the sweet and stubborn idiot, stand her ground right next to the love of her life against a force of nature that had already claimed so many lives. He should have been fucking finewhen he saw the only semblance of family he had left, fall lifeless to the earth below them from fifty feet in air.
Truth? That's such a cool name! Wanna be friends? Name's Uzumaki Kushina!
But he wasn't. He wasn't fine when he barely caught the both of them; felt the growing cold of their bodies, saw the glassy and doll-like stares in their once warm eyes. And he couldn't be, when he heard the tell-tale cry of a living baby from a bundle in Minato's arms, held protectively in what could only be a father's grip. Kushina's arms were wrapped around them both – a sad, resigned smile etched on her face that should have never been there. Ever.
When this war's done, Kushina and I are planning on making a family - and I want you to be with us. You're our family and family sticks together… despite what you think…
Minoru kneeled down next to them and closed their unseeing eyes; it hurt too much to see them this way. Carefully removing his best friend's arms, he took the bundle with numb hands. Looking down at the whimpering baby, Minoru's heart clenched and he vaguely realized that he wasn't breathing.
The baby was the perfect blend of them: a tuft of soft and radiant blonde hair that could (and would) someday rival the sun, standard blue eyes of a baby that would very likely become a kind of beautiful blue that would inevitably remind you of the ocean or the sky, and a predator-like face that would, without a doubt, be able to pull off the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero smirk that promised pain and/or mischief. In all, he had the obvious features of Minato, but everything else was Kushina's - and that only made it worse.
Oh my Kami-sama *laughter*! NO! Minoru~ I didn't mean to upset you; please come back! I just thought being in the T&I department suited you so well! Awww, I'm sorry. I'm not laughing anymore, see?
He didn't know how long he stayed there, but he was brought out of his shock when he felt several exhausted chakra signatures head towards his way. He couldn't stay here; T&I staff weren't even stationed near here - it would look incredibly suspicious if a nin that hadn't known them came from across the village just to see them.
Still in a daze, he was only somewhat aware of putting little Naruto between his parents - both looking as if they were only sleeping - and stood up to walk away, only to stupidly stop and look back. Maybe he was a masochist, but in that moment, Minoru wished that he could keep staring at the family he would never have.
He turned his back to them abruptly, destroying that train of thought in the most gruesome means he could think of at the moment, and left. Unfortunately, he never saw the note Minato had in his hand.
I know that you don't want to be his godfather because of your job, but Minoru? Take care of my unborn son. You're the one I trust the most, and I have a feeling that Kushina and I… won't be able to see him grow up.
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It took only three fucking days. Three days until the identity of the container of the Kyuubi reached every ear in the village and Konoha's civilians started actively trying to assassinate Naruto. Never had Minoru been more disgusted by his village - one of which was saved by the man who wanted the little jinchuriki to be seen as a hero! Minato would have been so disappointed (as he beats the shit out of all of them) and Kushina would have leveled the whole village (and possibly the Hokage Mountain and surrounding forests too).
However, it wasn't just the civilian sheep that pissed him off - it was that damn Sandaime Hokage. Minoru knew all too well that the old man meant well; wanting to respect a dying leader's wish, but seriously?! A law?! What will that do against fucking grieving civilians and their fucking hypocritical emotions? Sometimes (actually a lot in the past few days), Minoru really hated his life.
"Kill the demon!"
"The demon has no right to live!"
"Death to the Kyuubi!"
Minoru shook his head in an irritated manner as similar (and unoriginal) phrases were shouted out by a large crowd of civilian protestors stationed at front of the Hokage Tower. They're too far gone, he mused silently. They won't be satisfied until the jinchuriki's dead. His eyes glazed over slightly in deep thought as the train went down similar vein until, of course, that train derailed, went over a steep cliff, hit the unforgiving ground, and blew up in a display of pretty little explosions. In other words, the realization had hit him like a group of Mist-nin cannon fodder.
They won't be satisfied until Naruto's death.
But before he could let himself fall into hysteria, Minoru pulled the reins on his emotions and chakra so that he would not notify the other shinobi to his emotional distress. He took deep breaths and, after a few moments, was able to get his mind to clear. Panicking gets everyone killed.
Currently, the village was, for lack of a better word, a total mess. The population for the nins was at an all-time low (excluding the times during the beginnings of the village a.k.a. the revolutionary era), parts of the village were leveled - most on the west side - and they were still in wartime. Everyone was paranoid; you didn't trust anyone outside your village (and even then it's still tricky). Moral was low too – the war looked like it would never end. In hindsight, Minoru had to grudgingly admit that these protests weren't all that surprising, what with the Kyuubi attack drowning the village's wounds in salt. But that was beside the point.
Minato and Kushina were his family; the only family he had had. But now... now he had one more added to that list and he'd be damned if anything bad happened to him.
He looked back to the crowd with hard eyes and a mind that got him his position as Commanding Officer of the T&I department* running wildly through dozens of different scenarios. A cruel smirk fell on his lips as he vanished into the shadows, leaving behind nothing of his presence. It really did pay to be devious.
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Later that night...
"Captain! The container has been stolen!"
An ANBU with a hawk mask swung around to find a sweaty and panicking rookie ANBU agent with a bull mask. She stared at Bull for a fraction of a moment before shouting out incredulously (reputation be damned when your ass on the line)," What the hell happened?!"
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Meanwhile...
The ominous full moon was at its peak when an intimidating shadow jumped through the large, dark forest surrounding Konoha. The shadow had a purpose, and wasn't about to fail until he was forcefully dragged into Hell by the devil himself. There was a bundle wrapped in blankets in its arms, quiet and asleep from the sleeping jutsu applied to it earlier in the Konoha Nursery. The shadow took great care in not jostling the bundle, shielding it from the cold October air that beat against them. Unfortunately, a random breeze managed to pull the top of the bundle's blanket off, showcasing a small tuft of blonde hair. The shadow gave an inward sigh and pulled the blanket back up to its original position, also pulling its trench coat closer to its muscular body to ward off the biting cold.
Minoru was tired; the emotional roller coasters (yes, with an "s") he had been through in the past few days (or years, depending on how pessimistic he wanted to be) had taken an incredibly large toll on him. His somewhat recent promotion, the extra paperwork that came with it (dear god, MAKE IT STOP! They're breeding like fucking bunnies!), the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen (Third Shinobi World War), the Kyuubi attack (a painful stab in his heart almost made him collapse then and there) - not to mention the other "things" he dug up recently.
With that thought, his eyesight went red. He had never thought the village, his village - a place he loved, fought for, and bleed gallons of blood (both his and others) for – had such, disgusting secrets that it made Kirigakure look like a kindergarten school! The man stopped on a branch in mid-step when he finally processed that thought, his mind suddenly being invaded by chibi versions of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. After entertaining the, uh, daydream, he then promptly smothered a laugh (but let out a quiet snort despite himself) and went on his way to a clearing fifteen miles away from Konoha.
He landed in the grassy clearing gracefully, without a sound, and immediately surveyed his surroundings, opening up his trained senses. It was fairly large and was covered in a species of long grass he had forgotten the name of, with a few large rocks dotting it here and there. The clearing itself was surrounded by imposing forests where the shadows of the trees danced in time with Fujin's whims**. Above him was a beautiful, clear night sky that held billions of stars and a yellow moon that took up a sizable portion of the infinite blackness. Winds creased Minoru's form and weaved through the foliage, creating an atmosphere of foreboding (for whom he didn't know). No one was near.
He then snorted inwardly, it was as if he had stepped into a scene of a movie Minato and Kushina would drag him to. Dutifully ignoring the stabs of pain in his heart that were becoming frighteningly familiar, he focused back onto the task at hand and took several deep breathes, eyes closed in concentration.
When he opened his wintery green eyes, his gaze went immediately to the sleeping baby that reminded him of the family little Naruto could have had - resting without a care in the world in his arms. His eyes grew sad and empty as he thought of what he was going to do. He hoped that Minato and Kushina would forgive him.
Hardening his heart (cause angst was for "prodigies"), he bit his finger and let it bleed a bit before he molded his chakra without hand seals. Then, as he finished the last "seal," a soft voice whispered in his mind,"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
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Several hours later...
"What do you mean you can't find him!" shouted an enraged Sandaime, the whole building practically shaking from his volume. The ANBU in the meeting room flinched minutely; not enough for an average nin to pick up on, but enough for the Hokage to see. The aged leader was pacing like an angry lion in front of his desk, knuckles white and shaking in anger, but he forced himself to stop and turn away from them. Oh how he wanted to snarl and rave and destroy- but he couldn't so he settled on taking deep breathes and controlling his emotions. He was a leader; he couldn't lose his cool no matter what.
Turning back to the idiots they called ANBU, he stared at the operatives with an unforgiving gaze and whispered to them in a voice that couldn't have been louder even if he had shouted it, "Keep looking."
The masked nins bowed lowly, submissively even, and vanished from his office without a further sound. As soon as the operatives left, he leaned back onto his desk and sighed tiredly. He began to rub his temples to stave off the headache he was currently having and mused at how he had lost his successor's one and only son(even with a full ANBU guard). A few minutes passed with the Hokage lost in thought before he called out to seemingly no one, "Bring me Hiaki Minoru."
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So, this is the moment of truth, Minoru thought bitterly. He looked at the imposing building with a quiet and stubborn kind of determination. He knew he would not get caught; he made sure of it, but that didn't ease all of the (admittedly sizable) apprehension he felt when he entered the Hokage Tower. In his mind, a chibi of himself ran around hysterically, banged his head hard and continuously on a wall, and sulked in one of the dark corners of his mind. He really hated nerves.
Passing the secretary without a glance, he walked into the Hokage's office and closed the door with his foot, all the while ignoring the indignant splutters coming from the offended woman. He gave a lazy wave to the tense Hokage who was, at that moment, standing behind his desk to look out of the window and into the village.
"You called 'Kage-jiji?" he drawled sleepily, but the Hokage could hear an uncharacteristic undertone of concern in Minoru's voice. The aged ninja gave a quiet sigh and turned to face the Commanding Officer of the T&I department and the best interrogator in Konoha, ignoring the blatant informality of the nin (Minoru was a grand master at psychological warfare after all).
"The container of the Kyuubi is missing," Hiruzen noted the slight widening of the younger's eyes. So he didn't know, he noted to himself. "I want you to find anything and everything that you can."
"Hai, hai 'Kage-jiji," Minoru gave a small bow of formality, but did not make a move to leave. Instead he asked the Hokage with the bluntness of a kanabo***,"Why didn't you call me earlier?"
The Hokage looked at him for a moment before falling gracelessly into his incredibly comfortable chair (oh Minoru knew; he had tried the chair when Minato was in office and damn did it feel nice) and heaved an exhausted sigh. Minoru felt a minuscule twitch of guilt for the world-weary leader that looked older than his years before it was smashed into little bits by his conscious (surprisingly) with the same cruelty of the kunoichi towards peeping perverts (Jiriaya: *sneezes and rubs nose, then lets out perverted giggle* Hehe, a pretty lady must be talking about me. Random woman: Oh my Kami-sama! PERVERT!). As he waited for his answer, his eyes gave nothing away as his mind wandered to the events hours before.
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There was no smoke, no dramatic entrance - only the sudden appearance of a large blue jay on a nearby rock signaled the arrival of his summons. The bird had a beautiful plumage made up of numerous shades of blue, a solid white, and bits of black. Though it was a bit eye-catching in the Fire Country, it would blend in nicely when it got near its destination. Minoru stroked the side of its head gently and the bird leaned into his tender touch. They looked into each other's eyes and aerial creature knew that its next task was probably going to be its most important yet
Minoru gazed solemnly at the large bird.
The blue jays had been with him since he was a genin and had saved his life several dozen times since then. So it was only logical that he trusted no one but them to do such an important task.
Minoru gave the bird a sign, ordering it to turn around. It nodded and turned, showing a leather knapsack tied on its back; this particular bird was used to transport heavy packages that needed to be at its destination before the nin was. Carefully, the man placed the sleeping baby, taking great care in making him comfortable - it was going to a long ride after all. Once done, Minoru stared at the baby for a long while, memories long forgotten traveling to the forefront of his mind. His lack of family, his discovery of another; all the times he wished he could bury for eternity and those he wished he could live in forever…
Minoru gave a shaky sigh and blinked the "dust" out of his eyes. He had to do this now before it was too late. It wouldn't do to chicken out now, not when he had come so far and experienced so much.
"Goodbye and good luck, little maelstrom," the shinobi whispered quietly, voice lost in the eerie night breeze. He creased the small tuft of hair on the baby's head, the color painfully reminiscent of his best friend's. "I hope you find the happiness and peace your parents longed for you to have."
The blue jay gave a soft, sad chirp to signal its summoner that the night-morning was half through; there was no more time. He glanced at the creature and nodded minutely, then turned back to Naruto with tortured eyes. He knew that the jinchuriki could not stay here (he would only grow up alone, hated, and scorned) - Konoha was too far gone in their grief.
So with an emotion-filled sigh, he creased the baby's soft hair one last time, kissed the newborn's forehead with as much love as he could give to his almost-godson, attached a small scroll to the bundle, and backed away from the bird. The blue jay then turned away from its summoner to look straight ahead, towards the south-east, and started to flap its wings.
The wind created from its actions lashed around him, making the temperature further decrease. He took no notice however; his attention was solely focused on the flight-ready bird. And he kept it there until the bird took off and disappeared into the distance, leaving behind a village of lies and a broken soul.
Minoru stayed there for what seemed like an eternity before gathering up before gathering what was left of him. Then, like the stars of dawn, vanished without a trace.
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"I didn't call you because I had believed that I wouldn't need you."
The sudden sound of the Hokage's tobacco-damaged voice drop-kicked him violently into reality. Mentally shaking his head, he took a moment to process the statement. Well, he could see that point, but…
"I may not have been needed, but I do have the right to know when something as important as the demon container (oh how he despised that title) goes missing 'Kage-jiji," he drawled, also giving the Hokage a raised eyebrow to (hopefully) irritate the aged shinobi. The village leader glared at him.
Hah!
Come on, admit it. I know you want to. Minoru loved his evil conscious; it gave him so many good interrogation and irritation techniques.
"Fine dammit! I didn't call you because I was panicking!" the Hokage grounded out with no small amount of shame. Dear Kami, he was almost sixty and he still panicked (though it had been a long time...); now Minoru would never let him live this down.
Said ninja gave him an evil smile and made a gesture with his hands to (mockingly) sooth the Sandaime's now bruised ego, "Maa, maa. See~! That wasn't so hard."
"Fuck off Hiaki!" the Hokage spat out. He hated how the interrogator could wind him up so easily. Sooner or later he was going to strangle the incredibly irritating and manipulative man; best interrogator be damned! Though, he mused in the back of his mind as he attempted to restrain his rage, there would probably be many others that would help him in that endeavor. The man could piss off anybody!
"Regardless, I want you to use all your resources to help us find the container," commanded the glaring Hokage. "I want that boy found soon!"
Minoru smirked and gave a lazy two-finger salute, "Got it boss-monkey."
The Sandaime gave an irritated sigh and grumble as the mind-boggling man left his office through the window. The Hokage gave another, but more heavy and irritated sigh.
"Doors were made for a reason, y'know."
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Hundreds of miles and a day away...
An abnormally large blue jay landed gracefully in the snow-covered backyard of a small house situated in an island village a few dozen miles from the Snow Country. Giving several loud chirps to signal its arrival, the bird shifted from side to side as it waited.
"I see you made it safely Shou-chan," said a kind voice behind the creature.
The bird turned to look at the speaker, letting out few happy chirps. There, walking up to the great bird was a small old woman who only reached its chest. She wore a faded pink winter yukata and had her gray-almost-white hair in a tight bun. On her face was a kind smile that was accented by deep laugh lines. She wore warm, fur coated boots on her feet to keep from getting frostbite.
The old lady reached up to the blue jay, who lowered its head obediently, and petted the summon's head, "Has my magomusuko**** treated you kindly?"
The bird replied with a gleeful chirp, and then turned around to show its delivery. The old woman hummed questioningly before chuckling, "Now I understand what little Mi-kun meant when he said that I would be getting a little bundle of joy."
She carefully removed the bundle (also taking the scroll her grandson said would be with him for when he was older) and studied the baby. Sunshine blonde hair, six cute little whisker markings (three on each side), a baby's round face - he looked a lot like her little Mi-kun's friends (maybe it was their son). Her gaze became sad when she thought about the reason why he was here (well, she just suspected, but it was a strong suspection!) before smiling at the sleeping newborn baby.
"You're very different from the other villagers, but I think you'll fit right in," she murmured as she rocked the baby. Soon he would wake up and be hungry; she had to start preparing. Turning away from the bird, she walked away and towards the village. Vaguely hearing the small tell-tale pop of a dispelling summons, she wondered with a conniving gleam in her eyes if Airi-chan would order her some milk formula – and paying for it, of course.
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Author's Notes:
* - Morino Ibiki hasn't become the Head of T&I yet; right now he's still learning the ropes and in ANBU, but he's getting there.
** - Fujin is the Japanese god of wind (Google it if you don't believe me).
*** - A kanabo is a spiked/knobbed club used in feudal Japan that can be made with both wood and iron.
**** - Magomusukois Japanese for grandson.
^^^Minoru's view on family is kind of confusing, so don't worry about the oddness when he describes his opinions. If you want, I can make an oneshot with/on just Minoru - I just need at least a dozen requests to get my lazy ass to do it.
Please review! Questions, flames, praises, criticism, etc. are welcome!