"Gin-san!" The happy shriek pierced through the air, and floated on the spring breeze.
Daibuki Gin was a tall man of thirty years, with shaggy brown hair and dark brown eyes, a fairly average looking man of no special importance. He had appeared about a year and a half ago during a cold and harsh winter, seeking a place to stay. He had been a travelling merchant, but upon spending the winter in Konoha decided to settle down and work from the village. Anyone who had met him a few times would leave with the impression of a genial, mannerly man with a sort of emotional distance to him.
Of course, if asked further, said people would have some trouble of thinking what to say. He didn't have any close friends . . . not adults anyway.
The closest person to him, it was very well known, was Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto. It wasn't too surprising, as Naruto was a very friendly and open child who desired as many friends as suited his fancy. Not to mention the ball of sunshine was a persistent and stubborn little thing.
Gin looked down as Naruto raced toward him, a blur of yellow and laughter that collided with his legs. "Hello Naruto . . ." Gin chuckled, reaching down to ruffle spiky yellow locks. Big blue eyes looked up at him from under the yellow bangs and blinked.
"Gin-san! What did you find in your travels?" Naruto asked cheerily.
"Hmm, well . . . I've got fabrics and toys . . . statues and stories . . . all sorts of things really. The Spring Market will be really great this year, with all the things I've gotten." Gin assures, tapping Naruto once on the back to signal the boy to walk with him. "What are you doing by yourself?"
Naruto puffed his chest out in pride. "Kaa-chan says I'm old enough now to do some errands by myself. She sent me to give Mikoto-san a basket of stuff, and I was just going back when I saw you!"
"Well now aren't you responsible!" Gin smiled, and patted Naruto's head again. "Have you eaten?"
"I had breakfast this morning." Naruto nodded.
"Then how about some lunch? I'm sure you've done enough to work up on appetite, and it's already the afternoon." Gin proposed.
"Ramen?!" Naruto bounced around Gin, the mere mention of the broth and noodles treat enough to send him into a tizzy.
"Fine, ramen." Gin agreed.
Naruto cheered loudly, drawing some amused and exasperated looks from those around him, who had since become accustomed to the loud and bright child of their Hokage. Gin guided Naruto— or rather, Naruto dragged Gin to the Ichiraku Ramen shop. Teuchi and his daughter Ayame greeted Naruto with customary warmth, and gave more restrained and polite greetings to Gin who they weren't as familiar with.
"What will it be Naruto? The usual?" Ayame asked.
"Mm . . . no! This time I'll try the shrimp ramen please Ayame-chan." Naruto asked politely, earning an interested glance from Gin.
"Have I been gone for four months or four years? Uzumaki Naruto, is breaking ramen tradition?" Gin asked in faux astonishment.
Naruto harrumphed, sticking his nose in the air. "I'm never predictable, what are you talking about?"
"That much is certainly true . . . but it's also true that you always get miso ramen first, followed by fifty bowls of whatever strikes you at the time." Gin joked.
"Not fifty!" Naruto denied sourly. Gin laughed, and as penance he answered every single question loudly directed at him by his lunch companion for as long as Naruto had steam. By the end of it, he'd had two bowls of ramen while Naruto had five. Gin allowed himself only a brief tensing of his hands around his chopsticks before settling back down in the normal civilian ignorance.
"Naruto-kun." ANBU codename Inu was standing right behind them, and it was only Naruto who whipped around in excitement and expectancy. Gin looked over his shoulder with a surprised expression.
"Hi . . . Inu!" Naruto barely stopped himself from slipping and crying out 'Kashi.'
"Your mother and father are lonely eating lunch in the Hokage's office. Perhaps Gin-san can let you go a little early this time?" Though Inu phrased it as a question, it really wasn't. His hand was already reaching for Naruto. Though Inu wore a mask, Gin was still fairly sure he was looking at him, and a fake smile crossed his lips. There was no affection lost between the two.
Naruto however didn't notice the tension between the two and jumped right into Dog's arms. Turning around he waved at Gin. "Bye Gin-san! See you later."
Gin shifted his attention to Naruto and the smile became more natural. "See you later Naruto."
Naruto and Inu left the ramen stand in a swirl of leaves, reappearing in the Hokage's office. Naruto jumped down and trotted to the Hokage's desk which his father sat behind, his mother sitting in front with a bento in between them.
"Hi kaa-chan, tou-chan!" Naruto greeted happily, letting his mother lift him up to sit on her lap.
"Ooh, you're getting heavy." Kushina grunted in fake struggle, tickling his sides. Naruto giggled and squirmed, before Kushina relented and leaned back into her seat.
"I hear you got sidetracked on your errand Naruto," Minato smiled curiously. "Who'd you find to grab your attention so?"
"Oh, Gin-san came back to the village." Naruto answered glibly, more focused on grabbing an onigiri from the bento than noticing the look his parents shared. "He was telling me all sorts of things, and we were eating ramen . . ."
"Oh? I hope you thanked him." Kushina offered in a distracted manner as she glared at Minato, but Naruto was too busy nearly gagging over the pickled plum in his onigiri to care about how distant she sounded.
"I did!" Naruto insisted. "Mm, I love onigiri! It's my second favorite after ramen." He informed Kakashi, turning around in his mother's lap.
"Ah? I'll remember that." Kakashi took off his mask and smiled at Naruto, though once the boy had turned back he shared a significant look with his Hokage.
"Naruto . . . do you like Gin-san? Is he a good friend?" Minato asked.
"Mm!" Naruto agreed, licking up a stray grain of rice form the corner of his mouth. "He kind of reminds me of you tou-chan."
"How?" Minato enquired, a slim blonde brow raising in skepticism. Not that Naruto could pick up such particular nuances quite yet, and so thinking his father was interested in Gin-san Naruto was very eager to lay out his reasoning.
"Well . . . he's quiet, and really really nice like you tou-chan. And Gin-san never gets annoyed at all the questions I ask, and answers them all even if I talk too fast and they get sort of blurred. Oh! And he buys me ramen, and he lets me look at all the stuff he gets from his travels, and tells me stories of these places." Naruto babbled happily, relaxing under his mother's touch as she cards slim fingers through his hair.
"He sounds like a nice friend. You know, Gin-san is kind of like me . . . from how you tell it." Which gives Minato all the more reason not to trust him. "Say, where is Gin-san from?"
"You don't know?" Naruto asks, half smug and half curious.
Minato shakes his head. "No . . . is it some big secret Naruto?" he teases.
Naruto laughs at the reminder. "No tou-chan. I don't think so at least . . . I guess no one ever bothered to ask, so he just doesn't tell! Gin-san said he's from . . . huh. You now, he never answered?" Naruto laughs it off though and assures his father, "But you know I bet he's from some big town with lots of merchants!"
"Maybe so." Kushina grins to appease her only child. "Naruto . . . how about we go to the park tomorrow and you can play with your friends?"
"Cool!" Naruto chirps.
(line break)
"Can you keep a secret?" Sasuke whispers to Naruto. Black meets blue as Naruto solemnly nods, knowing by Sasuke's super serious face that this is very important.
Naruto looks around for a place where they can talk in private. His room will have to do. "Kaa-chan me and Sasuke are going up to my room ok?" Naruto calls into the kitchen.
"Sure honey, just no horse play!" Kushina answers back, tone stern.
"Yes kaa-chan." Naruto replies. As soon as the all clear is given Naruto and Sasuke race up the stairs and into the former's room, closing the door quickly and quietly.
"Ok, what?" Naruto asks, plunking down on the rug in the middle of the room. Sasuke follows suit in a more restrained manner, folding his legs.
"Well . . . remember when we were playing at the park a couple of weeks ago?" Sasuke asks.
"Uh-huh."
"Well Nii-san was there too, right?" Sasuke continues.
"Yeah, he was talking with tou-chan and Kashi, why?" Naruto asks in confusion, head cocked to the side.
"Well when Kiba kicked the ball really far, it landed by them. I went to go get it, and I only heard a little of what they were saying." Sasuke stopped, and looked around as if he really wasn't sure they were quite alone. Understandable, and quite smart— it wouldn't be a surprise if there were ANBU guarding around the room outside.
Naruto leaned closer, until yellow bangs brushed and mixed with black ones. "What?" he whispered.
Sasuke leaned forward even more, until their cheeks brushed together and his mouth was by Naruto's ear. "I heard a name . . . Gin. Don't you know someone named Gin?"
They leant back from each other, and Naruto regarded Sasuke strangely. "Gin-san? Why would they be talking about him?"
Sasuke shrugged. "I don't know. I just heard 'Gin' and 'watch.' Does that mean anything to you?"
Naruto's nose crinkled as he thought about it, eyes squinting in concentration. "Well, it doesn't make sense if they were talking about watching Gin-san. I've seen Gin-san around and he seems fine."
Naruto was by no means stupid, but Sasuke was aware of how dense his friend could be, particularly in regards to matters concerning himself. He could start to see where this was going. "Well how long has it been since you've spoken with Gin-san?"
"I said hi to him yesterday." Naruto responded promptly.
"I mean more than just hello! You know, like how he told you stories sometimes?" Sasuke pressed.
"Oh! Oh, um . . . a couple of weeks." Naruto's brow crinkled and his mouth dropped as soon as he understood where Sasuke was going. "You think . . . I'm being watched?" Naruto asked uncertainly.
Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe."
Naruto nodded slowly, looking over to a corner of his room piled high with soft toys and journals filled with scraps and bits that floated through his head. "If I'm being watched . . . because of Gin-san. That means they think he's strange. And they're watching me . . . to make sure I don't go near him?"
"But why would they think Gin-san is suspicious?" This mystery greatly intrigued Sasuke. Years of growing up around shinobi and police officers had instilled in him a healthy appreciation for puzzles and mysteries, and because this one involved his best friend it was all the more attractive to him. "This bears some investigating!"
And so, Naruto and Sasuke acted as amateur sleuths for the next week. Every day, they would meet up and stalk the town, or try to at any rate. Though Kushina didn't mind hosting Sasuke for as long as the child wanted, she still dragged them both on errands with her, and set them about on activities to occupy their time. The boys had no chance to see or speak to Gin-san. That doesn't mean they gave up though.
"Kaa-chan?" Naruto asked innocently one morning as Kushina stormed through the shops.
"Yes Naruto?"
"If it's a new dress you want, why not just buy some of the fabrics form Gin-san's store? You could take them to the seams lady right?"
"Seamstress Naruto, and . . ." Kushina only hesitated for a second, but it might as well have been blood in the water for the two play detectives. "I just want a dress from this store, is that alright with you?" the bite in her tone let them know more queries wouldn't be appreciated. Naruto and Sasuke were nothing if not accommodating, after all.
At the end of the week they pooled their collected observations and tried to put together a clear picture.
"So . . . the kaa-chan knows exactly what's going on, and she's the one who is distracting me." Naruto muttered.
"Kakashi and nii-san haven't been around as much, but at night I see nii-san come home in his ANBU outfit. He's coming home every night which means it's not a mission it's guard duty. I guess he and Kakashi are guarding you." Sasuke added.
"And tou-chan has been coming later. Last night I was listening to him and kaa-chan, and they were talking about Iwa. Something about waiting for a move from them." Naruto frowned.
"So this brings up a new question!" Sasuke declared. "What does Gin-san have to do with Iwa? He's not a shinobi, so why is he being connected to Iwa?"
"If they are connecting him with Iwa." Naruto interjected, before closing his mouth at the withering look sent to him by Sasuke.
"Whatever this is," Sasuke frowned. "It's bigger than us, more than our limited experience can handle."
"Limited experience?" Naruto snorted. "Sasuke playing detective is not limited experience, it's no experience. It's pretend!"
"You are not helping!"
Naruto sighed. "I just wonder what Iwa has to do with Gin-san."
"Well we'll have to find it out eventually." Sasuke shrugged.
Naruto groaned. "Ugh, trying to find out secrets is so freaking hard! Anko-san and Ibiki-san are crazy for taking a job that requires finding secrets."
Nothing would happen for the next three days. Naruto settled down and stopped asking for Gin-san so much, much to his family's relief. He and Sasuke also quieted down their attempts to find out what exactly was going on, though they were much more vigilant of their surroundings nonetheless.
In the morning of the fourth day, Naruto found himself alone. He knew his father had gone off to work, but where was his mother?
A note in the kitchen provided an explanation. It read that his mother had gone to tend to Mikoto, who had come down with a cold— which was weird because he had seen Sasuke's mother yesterday, and she looked perfectly healthy? Maybe it was a ninja thing? And taking care of him would be . . .
"Yo." Naruto turned around, grinning widely at Kakashi who slouched against the doorway. Kakashi rose up and sauntered over to the counter, opening cabinets as he took out the things he needed.
"Hi Kakashi, why aren't you with tou-chan today?" Naruto asked, moving to sit at the kitchen table. Kakashi put a box of cereal, a bowl and spoon in front of him for breakfast. Grabbing his own bowl and spoon Kakashi dished out some cereal and drenched it in milk.
"Well . . . your tou-chan gives me a mission and I must see to it. The mission today is . . . make sure Naruto doesn't destroy anything." Kakashi deadpanned with an eye-smile.
Naruto pouted but just shoveled a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. Kakashi ruffled his hair and smiled, eating his mask and entertaining Naruto— which was not his intention. The little blonde ball of energy just found it incredibly fascinating that food was disappearing, presumably into the older man's mouth, but that mask never moved.
Kakashi gave Naruto books to read, pages to draw on, and even gave him some instruction with kunai. The real and sharp ones, much to Naruto's delight, not the blunted ones given to children as young as him for their safety. Kakashi figured that if he had all his fingers, having used real ones since he was four, then Naruto would be just fine.
After lunch Kakashi decided to let Naruto have a bit of a break before he continued his mission to exhaust Naruto. Naruto was on his belly, on the living room floor, feet kicked up behind him and waving idly. He flipped through a book before him, but he wasn't absorbing anything about it. With a sigh he closed it, and flipped onto his back. Now that he was on break, he had time to think about Gin-san. He had agreed with Sasuke to just let things lie, but he still thought about the nice Gin-san who gave him ramen and told him many wonderful stories. What would tou-chan do to Gin-san if he did have some sort of connection with Iwa? Even he understood that between Iwa and his tou-chan . . . there was no love lost.
And he couldn't help but feel like something big was happening today. Ero-senning had once called it his animal instinct. Well his instinct was stirring at the very mention of Gin-san. What did that mean?
Naruto popped up from his flat lying position. "This is gonna drive me crazy." He grumbled. He looked around, and remembered that Kakashi was in the kitchen, probably sitting and reading that weird little book of his, the ones Ero-sennin wrote.
This would be his only chance.
Jumping up Naruto, with all the stealth he acquired from his pranks, moved to the door. It opened with a small click, and that was enough to alert Kakashi.
"Naruto? Did you want to go to the park or something?" Kakashi's voice drifted from the kitchen. Naruto didn't answer, and instead threw the door open as he sprinted out, legs and lungs pumping.
"Naruto!" he heard the shout behind him, but he didn't dare look back. It'd be just his luck to turn and then trip over something in the road— like a pebble!— and then blow his face out. Naruto wasn't even sure where to run. To Gin-san's shop? To Ichiraku's? Gah, he should have thought this through a little bit more!
He turns a corner, and he catches only a glimpse of pant-covered leg before he crashes right into it and sends both himself and his poor victim tumbling down.
"Ow . . ." Naruto groaned. "I'm sorry, really sorry."
"Naruto," a familiar voice sighed. "What have I told you about running so fast? You're eyes haven't caught up to your legs, nor have your reflexes."
"Gin-san!" Joyously, Naruto threw himself onto the man's abdomen and hugged him fiercely. Gin's breath flew out of him with a heavy woosh, but he wrapped his arms around Naruto anyway. Pushing them both up, he put Naruto down on the ground and straightened up with a groan.
"I'm too old to be knocked down so abruptly." Gin sighed. "What are you running for?"
"I . . . uh." Naruto suddenly found himself lost for words. How to tell Gin-san that he had come to see him, to make sure he was still here. "Well, we haven't seen each other in such a long time Gin-san! That other thing doesn't matter now, how are you?" he changes the subject abruptly.
"Your attempts at a subtle change in subject are atrocious." Gin laughs. "Come on, let's walk." He pushes Naruto gently, to follow him. The small boy trots alongside Gin to keep up with his long stride, and Gin was moving rather quickly too. Naruto's brow furrows. Gin was usually a slow and methodical man, who never really saw the need to rush anywhere.
"Gin-san? Is there somewhere you have to be? Am I keeping you from it?" Naruto asks curiously.
Gin looks down at Naruto with surprise. "Why do you ask?"
"You're walking . . . fast. And you're talking fast too!" Naruto realized, then grinned wickedly. "Ooh, are you in trou-ble Gin-san?"
Gin laughed, the sound a little troubled but there was also a tinge of relief in it as well. "Well Naruto . . . can I tell you a secret?"
No, Naruto wanted to say. Because I'm not sure which is worse— finding secrets or keeping them. Instead he smiled and said graciously, "Sure!"
"I'm in trouble . . . and it's entirely my own fault. Well, it's Iwa's fault too. And there's some blame for you as well." Gin confessed.
"Me?" Naruto's voice rose in affront. "What did I do?"
"You were annoyingly persistent in wanting to be my friend. And now . . . I question things. Things I shouldn't question. I'm kidding by the way," Gin added with a smirk at the look on Naruto's face. "You aren't at fault for anything. This stuff was way out of your control."
"So you are connected to Iwa!" Naruto breathed softly. Seeing Gin's confused face he explained. "Sasuke and I have been wondering why we couldn't see you at all these past couple weeks. For some reason we've been . . . sidetracked or distracted and we've been hearing things . . ."
"Should you really be telling me this?" Gin asks with a smirk.
"If I have to keep a secret, so do you." Naruto counters. Gin laughs.
"True, it's only fair after all . . . but what if I wasn't fair? What if I'm not who you think I am?" Gin asks with a cruel edge to his smirk.
Naruto felt a shiver go down his spine, but he bolstered his courage and looked up at Gin, meeting eye for eye. "No matter what you do, who you are shouldn't change to me. You're the nice Gin-san with the cool stories who buys me ramen. You remind me of tou-chan a little, that's why I trust you, dattebayo."
Gin balks, stopping in his tracks. Naruto follows suit and takes this time to see where they are. He balks now too, as he has no idea. He figures they must be around the shinobi training areas, where he's never been because it's dangerous when the shinobi are training. All too easy, his parents told him, for little children to be hurt by stray weapons or jutsu. Did Gin-san do this on purpose? No, Naruto shakes his head. He musn't think like that!
"You know . . ." Gin speaks and Naruto returns his attention to the man. Gin is running a hand through his hair and looks faintly stressed, yet he is smiling ruefully. "I should be absolutely disgusted to hear such a thing, but I honestly don't care anymore. And that answers a lot of questions I have about myself."
"Why would it disgust you to be like tou-chan?" Naruto demanded. Nice or not, nobody insulted his father, not even Gin-san! "Tou-chan is awesome!"
"I know," Gin relented, patting Naruto's head soothingly. "But it's just a cultural thing I guess? You know, he isn't very popular with Iwa ninja after all."
"Iwa ninja? What do you have to do with Iwa ninja? You might live in Iwa, but you're a merchant right?" Naruto asked.
"Nope!" Gin denied, popping the 'p.'
"You're an Iwa ninja?!" Naruto gaped. Then, as if they weren't already alone, he swiveled his head from side to side and leaned forward to whisper. "Are you . . ." he gulped. "Are you a spy?"
Gin smiled slyly. "What's your heart telling you?"
"I don't know, it's stuttering." Naruto answered back.
Gin snorted, and threw his head back as he laughed. His laughter danced up to the sky and bounced off surrounding trees. Gin dropped into a crouch, rocking back on his heels.
"Naruto, you're really something else. Here we are, you knowing that I'm a spy, and you make a joke." Gin sniggered. He sighed, and tilted his head back, looking over his shoulder.
"Gin-san?" Naruto prompted. ". . . if that even is your real name."
"How long have you been waiting to use that line?" Gin snorted. "You are right, it's not. And usually it'd be a show of trust and friendship for the spy to admit his true name to his one friend before being defeated but trust me when I say that you're better off not knowing. Seriously. I'm still just Gin. Even if I gave you my real name, in your heart I'd still be Gin right?"
"You're right." Naruto admitted. "What were you looking at Gin-san?"
"Oh," Gin shrugged. "I feel your father and some of his friends coming. I guess those clones wouldn't be enough to fool them . . . such a shame. So I got to make this quick."
"Will I ever see you again?" Naruto asked sadly, but he was pretty sure the answer would be 'no.' He didn't know exactly what happened to spies and enemy ninjas in his village, but he knew Gin-san would be punished.
"I hope not for a very long time." Gin answered firmly. He had a far better idea of what his fate would be, but wouldn't burden Naruto with such a knowledge. He snorts again. "To think, my mission would be compromised all because I made friends with the Hokage's son. The fact that I made fun with my village's worst enemy's son is, in itself, mind boggling."
"Did you make friends with me just because of who my tou-chan was?" Naruto asked, aghast.
Gin blinked in surprise, before snorting and gently cuffing Naruto on the side of the head. "As I recall brat, you were the one who insisted we be friends. I just couldn't shake you. Now, are you going to accept my goodbye gift or shall we practice some more interrogation tactics?"
"Gift?" Of course Naruto would perk up at this. "Hey . . . don't distract me during such a dramatic event!"
"This isn't a distraction— ugh, they're going to be here any second . . . here." Gin lifts something from around his neck— a black leather necklace, on which a pendant of a brass sun with a face dangled from it. It glinted in the light of the afternoon sun, and Gin carefully pulled it over Naruto's head. It dangled to Naruto's chest, whereas with Gin it had rested just under the hollow of his throat.
"You'll be able to grow into it." Gin grinned.
"Why . . . why are you doing this?" Naruto asked, eyes wide and hurt beginning to creep in as he realized with a certain dreadful finality that he was permanently losing a friend. Even if that friend had been a spy.
Gin shrugged as ANBU surrounded them, their masks cold and stark as they stared down at the two. Gin could detect the lines of tension in each body, particularly the body of Inu. They were itching to riddle his body with every available weapon, whichever their hands touched first.
Minato walked through this ring, cold and imposing. Naruto was not able to fully suppress his recoil, and his right foot shuffled closer to Gin. Gin placed his hand on Naruto's back, nearly spanning the entire thing as he gave Naruto a comforting glance.
That seemed to anger Minato, and a cold feeling seeped into everyone as his intent— they couldn't even call it killer intent at this point, that didn't seem certain enough to accurately describe this— swirled around him and dug into the souls of those around with a clammy coldness.
"Remove your hands from my son." He commanded quietly. Gin didn't listen, because Naruto moved first. Anything not to put Gin-san in too much trouble. He quickly stepped forward away from Gin's hand, wide eyed as he stared up at his suddenly terrifying father.
"Naruto." Mintao hissed. "Come here— get away from Gin-san."
"Okay, tou-chan." Naruto whispered. He quickly turned to Gin. "I guess this is goodbye. If you see Anko or Ibiki, tell them I said to please go easy on you." He whispered this as low as he cold, but perhaps they still heard as Minato glared furiously at Gin-san. As if it was the man's fault for making his son care so much.
Naruto scurries over to his father's side, taking a tentative hold on the cloak that drapes his father. Minato does not look down at his son, never looks away from Daibuki Gin.
"Karasu, take Naruto home." Minato commanded. Karasu kneeled by Naruto's side in an instant, arms sweeping the boy up.
"Yes Hokage-sama." Karasu's monotone, low voice answered without hesitation, and Naruto was only afforded one last look to a smiling Gin before the shunshin swept him away.
Naruto was returned to his house, where he was immediately ripped from the ANBU's arms by Kushina.
"You have no idea how worried I was!" Kushina cried, walking in to the house.
"What's to be worried about?" Naruto asked dully. "It was just Gin-san."
Kushina pauses, leaning back to look at Naruto's face. Whatever she saw there, it sealed the decision for her to not let Naruto from her arms. Trooping up the stairs, she figures he won't protest to an early bath, and she'll relent and let him have ramen for dinner tonight.
All afternoon into the night she babies her son. She coos and hugs, cuddles and pats, and will catch herself humming the lullabies that he had fallen asleep to as a babe. Naruto is gravely quiet, and she isn't quite scared but it is most alarming. She tries to talk to Naruto about it.
"Naruto . . . I know you liked Gin-san. And it's never easy to lose a friend, but . . . Gin-san had loyalties to another. Despite his caring for you, he might have done something to hurt Konoha." Kushina tried to explain.
Naruto, nestled on her lap, stayed silent for a time. "You think so? I thought he was happy here in Konoha. He really liked it here."
Kushina hesitated, biting her lip. Thouh he had no idea, Naruto was talking about the possibility of Gin having gone native. Rare, but it happened. Would that change anything though? "Maybe he did. Naruto, I'm sorry, but it's likely—"
"I know." Naruto interrupted. "I know . . . I already said goodbye."
Kushina just nodded, pressing a kiss to the top of his spiky head. They sat in the armchair in her and Minato's room, curled up together. They heard the door open an hour later, and footsteps below. A few minutes later those same footsteps trooped upstairs. Kushina wondered if Minato was trying to alert Naruto to his coming, by purposely making his tread heavier.
Minato entered the room, his eyes immediately zeroing in on his two most precious people. Kushina sat curled in the armchair in the corner, curled around Naruto as if she were his security blanket. He watches them for a few moments by the door. After, he stirs and closes the door behind him as he walks into the room. He moves toward them, and slowly gets to his knees to see eye to eye with Naruto. He moves forward, leaning down a little and resting his head on Kushina's folded leg. He has to look up at Naruto now.
Naruto looks down— a first— at his father. The combination of dramatically widened blue eyes peeking up from shaggy blonde bangs is oddly amusing to him. He giggles, and smiles when Minato breaks into a charming grin.
Minato's grin shrinks a little, into a melancholy smile. "Do you understand why I did what I did?"
"Gin-san was a spy from Iwa. He told me." Naruto added upon seeing the surprised look on Minato's face.
"Are you upset with me?" Minato asked.
"No." Naruto hesitates. "Did you kill Gin-san?"
Minato stares at Naruto for a long moment, gives him a hard stare. "He isn't dead . . . but his fate is not your concern Naruto." The words were gentled by the soft tone.
Naruto nodded, a miserable look on his face for a brief moment before being smoothed out. "I guess." He sighed.
"Naruto," Minato waited for Naruto to give him his full attention. "I saw Gin put something around your neck—"
"It's not bad!" Naruto cut in quickly, eyes wide as he clutched at the thing under his shirt. Most likely a necklace. "He said it was a gift. It's not bad . . . you aren't going to take it are you?"
Minato repressed the flash of irritation— not at Naruto, but at Gin. He was seeing clearer than ever how much Naruto had liked the other man, and he remembered the reasons why. Naruto had said Gin reminded him of Minato, hadn't he? "No, Naruto I won't take it. I was just curious. Can I see it?" And, yes, take it if I find anything off about it?
The hesitation was clear in Naruto's eyes but his body moved as if on autopilot. He pulled up the necklace from under his night shirt, where he had tucked it after his bath, and pulled it out as far as the leather strap would go for Minato to see.
Minato held the little pendant between his fingers as he flipped it over and back. His sharp eyes searched for any seals, anything to indicate harm to his child. He could find none.
"Gin-san was wearing it. He took it right off his neck and gave it to me." Naruto sighed. "Even with all those secrets, I still trust him . . . is that bad?"
Minato thought of a good answer to give his son, something that was neither too bleak for the young boy nor too optimistic to disillusion him. "In this case, I would have to go with no. But it won't always be that way, Naruto, you have to be careful with who you open up to. You can be friendly to anyone, but you mustn't make it too easy for them to win your affection. Do you understand?"
"Not really, but I'll figure it out." Naruto snorted. Minato chuckled and lifted his head up to kiss Naruto's forehead.
"Naruto . . . you and Sasuke figured out some things you shouldn't have huh?" Kushina broke into the conversation.
"Oh . . . that, um . . ." Naruto stuttered.
"Oh, you didn't think we knew what you kids were doing? You're good, but not good enough to best us." Minato teased, lightly pinching Naruto's whiskered cheek.
"Well you don't have to worry about me snooping around anymore." Naruto grumbled, pushing the hand away.
"Yeah? Why's that." Minato drawled.
"I've had it up to here with secrets. I really have." Naruto huffed.
"Oh?" Kushina giggled, leaning Naruto's head back to look into his eyes.
"Yes." Naruto affirmed. "Keeping them, finding them, and even having them yourself! It's way too complicated, and exhausting!"
"Well, that's an interesting declaration my son." Minato mused, rubbing his hair. "But you know, it gets easier the older you get."
"Not likely." Naruto sighed, and Minato had to laugh at the old man expression on his baby boy's face, and kissed his cheeks.