Kushina's Guard Dog
Kushina had long accepted that as a jinchuriki, people were always going to try to protect her. That didn't mean she didn't get annoyed when she had to be followed around by some brat, even if he was a member of the Anbu. An expansion of the events of Shipudden episode 350.
It was another lazy winter day in Konoha. A layer of gray clouds had blocked off the weak, winter sun, which made Kushina feel lethargic and listless. Even the snow seemed to be taking its sweet time as it drifted down. Of course, for Kushina every day was a lazy one nowadays. If she had known going three weeks without a mission would be so boring she might have crammed a few more in before telling Minato the big news. That was the downside of being married to the Hokage; if he didn't think you should go on a mission, you didn't. Sure, kunoichi were always suspended from active service for maternity leave if the village wasn't being actively invaded, but that didn't make her any less bored out of her mind. The remaining nine months of her pregnancy promised to be just as dull, though she had a forlorn hope that she would get used to the leisurely lifestyle of a house wife. So far, that hadn't been going well.
The problem was that there was just nothing to do around the village. She'd caught up with old friends and gotten the latest gossip but that had already worn thin. Trying to find other ways to pass the time, she had taken to reading stuff about being pregnant, to see what she was in for. Last night she had read that expectant mothers began to have cravings for strange food, which was why she had been standing in the chilly January air, listening to the owner of a vegetable stand in the village market extoll the virtues of the produce from his native island, one of those little ones south of the Land of Waves. They certainly looked weird, and not in an appetizing way, but maybe the cravings hadn't started yet and it might be a good idea to keep something weird to eat on hand for when they did.
She had just decided to leave them for now and just send Minato out if she did end up wanting something weird (there were definite perks to being married to the fastest ninja in the world), when she saw a flicker of motion out of the corner of her eye. Kushina wasn't what most people would call particularly observant. She had always been a 'leap first, assess later' kind of person, a trait that would have gotten most ninja without her outright exceptional stamina and chakra reserves killed. So, on the rare occasions that she did catch something, it had her full attention. Her head snapped over, her eyes roving for what she had seen. There was nothing there but some falling snow and a now confused stallowner, wondering why his customer just starting whiping her head around.
If Kushina had been an ordinary person, she would have likely dismissed it as her imagination. However, she was a ninja; ninja who didn't trust their own senses didn't tend to survive many battles. If she couldn't see what had been moving, it was because whatever it was didn't want to be seen. There's someone sneaking around the village. It might just be some genin trying to skip out on a boring assignment, but still…
She tried to make it look as though she was absent mindedly removing her gloves as she moved on down the street. They would only slow down her making hand seals very slightly, but she had survived too many battlefields to not appreciate the difference even one second could make and too many kidnapping attempts to be at ease when someone was sneaking around near her. And so, when Ayame, the owner of her favorite ramen shop, called out to her, Kushina stopped for a chat but the bulk of her attention was on her surroundings. Thankfully, she was able to catch a quick glimpse of a figure slipping down off a rooftop that put her mind at ease. He had vanished into the shadows of an alley, but not before she saw under the hood of the black mantle he was wearing and spied a gray mask with the stylized features of a dog's face. That was an Anbu mask.
That made sense. Despite the Third Shinobi World War ending at the same time as Minato's elevation to Hokage, tensions between the villages were still rather high. And since the village market was where most foreigners worked, it made sense that the often overly cautious Minato would have some Anbu around to make sure none of them were anything more than simple shopkeepers. The mystery solved, she devoted her attention to the latest (mis)adventure of Ayame's young granddaughter, also named Ayame, convinced the Anbu's presence was nothing out of the ordinary.
She was less convinced of that as the weeks went by and she continued to see the same Anbu, or at least the same mask, all over the village. He was hidden in a tree near the Uchiha compound when she went to visit Mikoto to talk about names for her incoming baby, trying to get inspiration for what to call her own. (Currently she was defaulting to Ramen, which Minato had jokingly suggested during an argument over what to have for dinner one night.) The dog-masked Anbu was lurking in an alley when she went to Ichiraku Ramen, and behind a dumpster when she left. Kushina even thought she had seen him slinking around the outside of their apartment some nights.
Kushina didn't want to be suspicious or anything, but she couldn't help but notice whenever the Dog Anbu was around, he was in a position to be watching her. And that his frame was smaller than most men's. And that the one time she saw him without his hood up, he had gray hair. She had a pretty good idea who was behind that mask, and why he was following her. And so, about a month after she first began seeing the Anbu around, she brought up the topic at dinner.
"So, I've been seeing this one Anbu around the village a lot." She said, not missing the way Minato's spoon briefly paused on its way to his mouth. "It's starting to feel like he's following me around or something, ya know?"
Minato took his time removing the spoon from his mouth. "After I became Hokage, I was surprised at exactly how many missions the Anbu do without ever leaving the village." He responded evasively.
"Really." Kushina said, not willing to let him off the hook just yet. "Because it seems as though there's only been the one. And he only ever is where I am."
"Well… It's not like you would know if he was somewhere you weren't." Minato reasoned.
Kushina narrowed her eyes at him. "The weird thing is, this guy's got gray hair, just like that genius protégé of yours. That's not a very common hair color, ya know?"
Minato opened his mouth to make some dismissive comment before he saw the look on her face. He sighed and folded his hands together. "Alright, fine, I admit it. I asked Kakashi to keep an eye on you while you're pregnant."
"I knew it!" Kushina pumped her fist in the air. She glared at her husband. "Why exactly do you think that I need protection?"
"I thought that it would be wise, given your current… condition." He actually blushed a little. What never ceased to amaze Kushina was how a man half the village wanted to sleep with could be so awkward when it came to things related to sex. "With your seal weakened, you're more vulnerable to having the Kyuubi removed from you, and you're less capable of fighting off enemies now."
"It's not like the minute I got a baby in me I magically turned into a glass figurine, ya know? I can take care of myself just fine, thank you." She huffed.
Minato folded his arms and tilted his head quizzically. "And what if your fighting hurts the baby? What if someone lands a lucky blow, or takes you by surprise?"
Kushina hadn't thought of that. "I… Well, you could have at least told me you were going to have me followed."
Minato's face fell at that. "I know. I won't apologize for trying to keep you and our child safe, but I am sorry I kept you in the dark about it. I just didn't want to have this conversation." He laughed nervously and scratched at the back of his head.
"Yes you should have." Kushina's anger was already fading. She had a hard time staying mad at Minato, and he did have a point about keeping the baby safe. "Just promise me that next time I get a say in who's going to be guarding me. I wouldn't have picked that brat, that's for sure, ya know?" She had never liked Minato's star pupil, who always had a high opinion of his skills and made sure that everyone else knew it. Sure, she realized he had probably had it rough after his father had gotten dozens of ninja killed (and nearly her and Minato too, though she told herself she had gotten over that) and killed himself to escape the shame, but lots of people lose their parents. Kushina had lost her entire family and she hadn't turned into an arrogant prick. She was just naturally outspoken and confident.
Minato's face fell. "To be honest, this assignment is almost more for his sake than yours. After everything that's happened, with Obito and Rin, he's gotten colder and colder, more vicious. Lord Third suggested I put him in charge of your security to help him work through it, but I'm not certain…" He trailed off, his concern easy to see. Kushina rested one of her hands on his.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Minato. Lord Third's probably dealt with this sort of thing a bunch of times, ya know? And there's no point in worrying about it now when Kakashi might get his head on straight during the next few months, right?"
Minato gave a weak smile. "I suppose. I just feel like I could be doing more for him." He left the rest unsaid. He could mask his emotions better than she could (which wasn't saying much) but she knew how much the deaths of his other two students had affected him. It didn't seem to matter how many times she told him that there was nothing he could had done to save Rin, or that he had to have sent them to destroy the bridge alone because the frontline would've buckled under Iwa's push without him, Minato would probably carry the weight of those two dead teens on his shoulders until the day he died. And that wasn't entirely bad; they had made him more cautious and less willing to throw children onto the battlefield. For someone who had witnessed war in the form of her village's fall first hand as a little girl, that was definitely a good thing.
Still, Kushina knew full well that his failures as a jonin instructor plagued Minato. He kept quiet about it, like he did everything that bothered him, but with their son on the way those feelings had gotten a bit closer to home. Now he was worried that since he had been a bad mentor to those kids, he would be an awful father to their child. Kushina didn't know how to reassure him that he was going to be just fine as a dad but figured that if Kakashi went nuts or something, it wouldn't help Minato's insecurity. So, if Lord Third thought that having Kakashi be her bodyguard would be good for his state of mind, she'd suck it up and deal for a few months. Minato, on the other hand, could suck up having to do the dishes as punishment for his deception.
After their talk, Kushina stopped seeing her 'guard dog' around. She assumed their conversation had led Minato to tell him to stay out of sight more, which she appreciated. It seemed that when Kakashi actually put in the effort, he could hide like the best of them. For her part, Kushina was perfectly willing to pretend he wasn't there and go on with her life. It wasn't until mid-March that she began to acknowledge there were advantages to having him around.
She had gone out for groceries and had slipped into Ichiraku for a bite to eat (and maybe to get out of the brisk March wind for a bit). After she had eaten and finished the walk home, she realized that she had left her purchases behind. Just as she finished kicking herself and was pulling her coat back on, there was a knock on the door. There was no one there when she opened it, but there were some bags filled with food on the doorstep. Kushina looked left and right, still seeing nothing.
"Thanks, ya know?" She called out into the empty air, feeling a bit sheepish. She brought everything inside and started to stow it away, pausing as she grabbed a cup of instant ramen. She mulled it over for a few seconds before throwing it into the microwave. When it was ready she slid open a window and placed the steamy cup of noodles on the sill before sliding the window shut again. Her conscience assuaged, she packed everything away and decided to settle in with some warm tea and a good book (Definitely not the one about pregnancies, which was starting to resemble a horror story.) When the kettle came to boil, she couldn't help but notice the sill was empty.
Since that day, every so often Kushina would leave some food outside, usually something warm. The worst part of being on guard duty and stakeouts for her was always the hunger. You ate what you could when you could find time for it and all too often your meal had to be suspended because your target starting moving again. The Anbu didn't even bother with food at all, instead meeting their nutritional needs with soldier pills. It was bad enough when you had to make do like that for a week or so, doing it for months on end was brutal. So Kushina made sure that Kakashi got some actual food to eat at least once every few days. She still didn't see him around anymore, but any meals she would lay out on the window sill would disappear. So long as he continued to return the dishes and cutlery Kushina didn't really mind making an extra serving for dinner.
As weeks turned into months, a routine began to develop around the Namikaze/Uzumaki household. Minato would teleport to work, (he said it saved time, she said he was showing off) and Kushina would either do something around the house or do some errands around the village. Come evening, she would start making three servings of whatever was for dinner, one going out onto the window sill. Sometime after they finished eating a knock on the window would herald the return of the dishware, which Kushina was still making Minato clean (Now that she was cooking all the time, it seemed only fair). The two of them would wind down and get ready for bed; Kakashi would hand over the night shift to a rotating group of Anbu operatives. Minato had given her a list of the names, but since there were like 20 names she didn't bother trying to remember them.
One night after a hearty meal of ramen, that Minato only ate half of, Kushina had yet another crack at coming up with a name for their son. With the signs of her pregnancy becoming more pronounced every day, there was a growing sense of urgency. Minato's obvious distraction was not helping.
"What was your dad's name again?" She called from the living room as he bustled around the kitchen.
"Toshiyuki." He called back, over the sounds of opening and closing cupboards.
"That's a bit of a mouthful, ya know?"
"That's what you said the first time I told you." Minato said as he passed through the living room heading down the hall to their bedroom.
Kushina made a face. "Fine, do you have any ideas?"
"What about Sasuke? Like Lord Third's father?" Minato's voice echoed down the hall.
"Mikoto already named her son that." Kushina reminded him.
"Right, right." Minato had wandered back into the living room by then. He ran a hand through his hair. "Have you seen my Gutsy Ninja book anywhere?"
Kushina made a face. "The one written by that perv?"
"Jiraiya Sensei isn't…" Minato trailed off at the look on her face and changed tacks. "He spent most of his life writing that book; it'd just be rude not to read it."
"Either way, I haven't seen it." Kushina said. She had mixed feelings about Minato's sensei. On the one hand, he was one of the greatest ninja of his generation, respected by the village and feared by its enemies. On the other hand, he was a massive pervert.
Minato was looking around the room when a knocking sound came from the kitchen. He frowned. "Weird, he already brought back the bowl." He crossed into the kitchen. There was a pause, then an "Ah ha!" Minato walked back in holding a tan novel. "Looks like someone's been reading on the job."
"I can't blame him." Kushina shrugged. "If I were on guard duty for what, seven months now, without even a single threat I'd be finding ways to pass the time too."
"I'll have to have a word with him." Minato said as he thumbed through the pages. He stopped, looked up at her. "Hey. What about Naruto?"
"What, like the ramen topping?"
"No, it's the name of the main character of Jiraiya sensei's book. What do you think, is it a good name?" Kushina almost wanted to laugh at the earnest expression he had, it was clear what he thought of it. Kushina hmmed, rolling the name over in her mind. It wasn't a bad name, but the thought of letting Jiraiya name their son, albeit indirectly, rankled a bit. "If we let Jiraiya name him, then he'll be our son's godfather, ya know?"
Minato shrugged. "Even if we didn't, I was thinking of making Jiraiya sensei the godfather anyway. I've only ever met a handful of better ninja, and no better man than him."
"But he'd raise our son to be a pervert, ya know?" Kushina tried to appeal to reason. Minato laughed weakly at that.
"Only if we weren't raising Naruto ourselves, and why wouldn't we?" Minato countered. "Be honest now, ignoring Jiraiya sensei, what do you think about the name?"
He's really set on this. "I'll think about it." Kushina allowed. "Give Kakashi an earful from me about wasting time reading when he should be guarding." She added vehemently, which Minato smiled at.
"Thank you for protecting Kushina." The hokage said, as if the mission was over. Given that Lady Kushina had yet to give birth, Kakashi didn't think it was. In fact, Minato had told him that the seal would be at its weakest during the birth, meaning it was more important than ever that she be guarded.
"But…" He began, not sure how to tactfully point out his sensei's mistake. Minato, realizing what he meant, explained. "It's standard for the Anbu directly under Lord Third to take over the guard during the birthing period."
"Then I'll be returning to my duties in Anbu." Kakashi was thankful that his mask hid his disappointment. After having spent ten months guarding Lady Kushina (who was no lady, as he'd found out), he felt a little cheated that he wouldn't get to be there for the main event. He supposed it was for the best, though. The Anbu under Lord Third were better trained in sealing techniques than him, and more seasoned ninja. And it would be nice to return to active duty.
"There's no need to be so hasty." His sensei replied. He smiled a little. "Why don't you take a break for a while?"
Kakashi groaned a little at the thought of forced downtime, but it had been a while since he had visited the graves. Rin's tombstone was overdue for a sprucing up and she would've been ecstatic at the thought of their sensei's son being born. Obito would have been just as excited, though he'd have probably tried to play it off.
So he brought a bucket and washcloth to the graveyard and scrubbed clean Rin's headstone as the sun set. He replaced the long dead flowers with some fresh cuttings too. As he knelt there, he was surprised to not feel the usual deep pangs of sorrow and guilt he usually felt when he visited. There was still a leaden weight in his stomach, but it was nowhere near as bad.
"I'm sorry I haven't been by. It's not that I've forgotten…" He explained to the headstone, wondering like he always did if Rin could hear him. Minato had told him that he liked to believe their loved ones were watching over them from beyond the grave, but Kakashi thought that Rin, who had never wanted to fight in the first place, would have liked not having to watch the carnage that his life in the Anbu had become.
"I've been… sworn to secrecy…" Kakashi knew that the impending birth was top secret, but he felt he owed Rin the full story. "but Minato Sensei is going to be a father. This generation won't know war." His voice wavered, the only sign of the regrets that flooded over him. "If only we had been born a little later…"
"I should tell Obito too." He said in a rush. "So I'll be going, Rin." He picked up the bucket and left the graveyard, trying to ignore the unpleasant feeling in his gut, which he thought was grief.
In the days, months, and years after that night, Kakashi often wondered what would have happened if he had been there. He liked to believe that he would have stopped the seal from breaking, but despite what Danzo said he knew that if Konoha's Yellow Flash and Anbu handpicked by Lord Third couldn't have done anything, then he wouldn't have done any better. He threw himself into his Anbu duties, doing everything he could to protect the village like Minato Sensei would have wanted. He put the fate of young Naruto out of his mind, certain that Lord Third would provide for the boy. With Kakashi's track record, going near the boy would just get him killed like all the others. It would be better for him if Kakashi stayed away.
A/N: Well this was a fun one to write. I've always liked the chemistry between Kushina and Minato, even though it wasn't the focus of the fic. Like I mentioned above, this is a look into Shippuden's episode 350 which if you haven't seen it is just a montage of Kakashi hanging around near Kushina. At first I went with the original Dattebane for Kushina's tic, but it started to feel somewhat forced so I switched to the anime's translation of it, ya know?
Fun fact: the name Toshiyuki is a reference to Minato's Japanese VA, Toshiyuki Morikawa.
Please leave a review with any criticism you have, I'm always eager to hear it.