Chapter 2 - Resurface

"Regular Speaking."
'Thinking.'

"Kanashi/Demonic speaking."

'Demonic Thinking.'

A special thanks to Snipern0Sniping for beta-ing this for me and helping me form new ideas!

And thus, the installment of chapter 2! Shall we see what happens next?


When the world stabilized once more, Minato could see brightness behind his eyelids, grimacing at the slight pain it caused from his stay in darkness as he regains his footing. Slowly, he lets them slide open once the pain dulled, blinking a few times, before allowing his eyes to widen.

'Blue…'

Water surrounded him, Minato watching his hair float softly in front of him, along with his torn clothing; the world stretches on and only in a never-ending sequence and bright and dark blues and subtle hints of green that remind him of his beloved Kushina. He could feel each caress of the element as his body moves only slightly with the soft current, his being cradled in a way he's never known. The distant question of how seem to matter very little in this place, his eyes drooping in soft contentment. He felt...weightless...Free..

"...You are not afraid."

His mind and body snapped to attention, tensing as he turned sharply, his hand going to his thigh for weapons he no longer held, instinct guiding his body. His eyes were sharp and clear, shaking away the last of the peace in favor of readiness to protect himself in case of danger.

The sight that greeted him was not one he had expected, his eyes widening only slightly before a calm mask caged his shock and trepidation. This was something he'd never been trained to handle..

"...No.."

A single eye, silver with the slightest hue of lavender, regarded him cooly; the woman's skin was as pale as moonlight and her deeply violet hair swaying gently in the water surrounding them, floating five inches passed her feet and wild in its disarray. Her right eye lay hidden beneath a wild wave of hair, her bangs extended to the middle of her chest and the rest gathered back in a high ponytail held by a purple sash pulled into a bow with the excess floating to her shoulders as ribbons. Behind her bangs, he spots her ears; pointed and definitely not human.

She wore a sleeveless black top with a high, tight neck that stops at the middle of her ribs with a ring of orange as tight trimming and black pants tucked into violet boots at the knee. A skirt of lavender fur floats above her pants around her hips, a purple sash tied criss-crossed over her chest and wrapped around her hips on top of the skirt, her hands covered from second finger-joint to shoulder in black fingerless gloves also with orange trim. He's never seen the style, nor does he recognize the material, and his gaze is sharply drawn back to the being when he sees her begin to move.

The woman tilted her head, her gaze never leaving him. Raising her hand, she slowly let's it flow to the side and then upwards towards him, before her hand twitched sharply towards herself.

Suddenly, Minato is standing in front of her, her face a mere inch from his and her eye scorching in its scrutiny in a speed even he, the Yellow Flash, can't track. His body wants to throw itself to the side in response to her action but his blood freezes at the look she gives him. Keeping his body still so that he won't give in to the temptation to squirm. He felt like prey beneath eyes of a much larger predator, and he didn't like it! His hand sits frozen on his thigh where his pouch should be, Minato cursing the lack of a weapon as he wonders what she'll do.

Something in her gaze changes, causing him to tense as he prepares to flee…

Only to freeze as she smiles.

'..What..?'

"..You humans...always have the most amusing reaction." She murmured, slowly leaning away and allowing Minato to relax just the slightest bit, watching her smile so sadly as her eyes gain a wistful tint.

"...I am Kanashi Yasei, the Last." She states, and oh does her name fit perfectly with that look in her eyes and the pain in her smile, a name meaning 'sorrow', one arm in front and curled to the side as she bows at the waist slightly, straightening and watching him. "I have been awake for a mere century, and yet so many things have changed."

Minato tensed as she drifted closer, bringing up two hands to cradle his face, his eyes wide with shock at the sheer maternal feeling the gesture inspires, instead of the flirtatious way he's so used to.

"...You've lost much, little one. Sacrificed much as well. Tell me," She tilts her head, regarding him with that sad gaze. "..If you had a chance to return to him, would you take it?"

The question snaps in his mind so sharply that it hurts, though the flinch of his hands is the only response as he stares, his mind whirling with thousands of thoughts and responses and questions.

"..If..? If I could...return...What would it cost me..?" He eventually asks after several long moments of silence, logic kick-starting at the fact that nothing ever comes freely. 'My son,' the desire to see him burns so painfully within him but what does she want in exchange?

The smile she gives is proud, strangely, and wistful. "..You keep your lessons well." She compliments softly, her fingers slipping into his side-bangs in a mother's caress. Her actions disturbed Minato, her gaze had froze him like prey but her actions were gentle, a contradiction. It disorientated him slightly, though he kept calm to hide that fact.

"..I have been locked here, by well-meaning people who designed a way out that would require me to reach for another." She explained softly, her voice tinged with honestly though Minato could here the slightest hint of withdrawn information. "All I ask is that you release me."

"..Why were you locked away?" He asked, his eyes sharp and focused; why would she be 'locked away' by 'well-meaning people?' It only added to the contradiction. But that did not distract him from the question he'd asked, his eyes studying her face intently for any ill intent. He would not be tricked into freeing something that would harm his son.

Her hands paused in their attention, and Minato almost regrets asking when he sees the anguish that twists her features, the faintest tremble to her hands noticed only because they rested so near to his skin.

"..Because I was in pain." She murmured, her voice steady, even if he can detect a slight hitch in her breath. Her eye appeared lost, her gaze drifting far from then and now into someplace he doesn't know. If possible, the anguish in her gaze threatens to increase, barely held-back tears in her eye.

"...I'm sorry."

She snaps back into focus at the unexpected apology, turning her questioning gaze to him. "...You've no reason to be. The question should have been expected, since I doubt you would be the type to trust another so easily. My pain means little, when compared to that child's."

'Naruto.' The name crosses Minato's mind with a sharp pang before he shakes it away, "Pain is pain. It's measured differently by standards set by another, but we all feel it. That pain means something even if it's small; no matter what anyone states. Suffering isn't a competition to see who hurts more. It's a state of being where the only thing you can do is hope it fades or lowers to a manageable level where you won't be forced to bend and break every time it passes." He states sharply, shifting his arms."Your pain matters just as much as anyone else's."

His hands raise to cover hers, pressing them to his face as the smallest means of comfort to make up for causing her to remember the anguish in her past. The flash of surprise crossing her face doesn't escape his notice, before a softer, less sad smile crosses her lips, her hands cupping his face in a way he's never known and isn't sure what it means, though he knows there is nothing romantic in the gesture. It's a jolt in his mind that reminds him that this is what a mother's touch is suppose to be like, though he isn't sure how he knows such a thing, being an orphan from a young age. Still, his gaze is steady and sure.

"...You always did surprise me, Minato Namikaze." She murmured, letting her head fall to press her forehead against his, her eye closed. Her mind flashes with memories: the anguish she'd endured centuries ago, the years spent in confusion and hurt, memories that have brought her to this moment. Kanashi draws in a soft breath to steady herself and quiet her heart, before she leans away while opening her eye and gazes at him seriously. "Will you release me?" She asks.

At the question, Minato takes a moment to really look at her, to see more than just the surface. And she allows him to. Her eyes are open, showing pain and anguish, but also hope and determination. But, it's the flash of a memory that makes up his mind.

"Tell me what I need to do."

She smiles, before slowly slipping her hands away. "The Hokage monument. There is a small silver oval with a swirled 'Y' inside located in the left eye of the Nidaime. Carve the 'Y', and use the wind. Then I will be free." She murmured, before letting go of him entirely.

"..'Use the wind'? He asks, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion, though his mind immediately started supplying him with theories.

She smiles, and Minato has to blink because that smile is so different from the rest. It tells of love and joy, with only the slightest twinge of sorrow.

"I can sense it, that freedom. You have the fire in your blood and lightning in your limbs, but the wind reigns in your mind. To free me, you have to focus on the wind, instead of using the other two."

'Could she be talking about chakra affinities?' Minato thought, before a sudden jolt of sharp pain catches his immediate attention, his body jerking sharply in response for a few seconds before beginning to float upwards. Turning his gaze upwards in surprise, Minato turned his gaze back to Kanashi as he moved further once his focus returned, his eyes widening at the sight that greeted him.

Instead her form floating calmly in the increasing distance, a towering beast now occupies the space, several times bigger than even the Hokage Tower and darkly colored. With a start, Minato recognizes the creature by what he's seen from books of his childhood, the few small fairy tales he'd read before turning his aspirations to Hokage and being a Shinobi. The tales of damsels and knights and dragons.

Its body appeared pitch black, though he could see a darkly violet hue when light hits the scales, a flowing mane of soft lavender and black flowing from head to tail in an elegant mess. The slim head with four horns that curve upwards and then back atop a slender neck raises, two eyes opening to greet him; the left the same strange silver he'd first been greeted with, and the right a gleaming gold resembling amber with flecks of honey yellow.

Studying the dragon, he saw the body was long and thin, but packed with wiry muscles, dangerously sharp talons on the feet, with strange protrusions that appeared to be blades curving from the elbows of the front legs and the heels of the back legs. His eyes caught the gleam that spoke of hidden blades sliding down the length inside the hair of the creature as well, making for a dangerous hidden weapon.

Feeling more like prey than ever, Minato kept still as the dragon watched him, before its maw opened slowly, making him tense further.

"This is the form that will replace the symbol once you unlock the seal, just so you'll know and won't be surprised." His eyes widened at the sound of Kanashi's voice, his body slowly relaxing as he watched her with caution, his eyebrow twitching lightly at the hint of amusement he detected in her tone.

"...That...is..rather amazing.." He stated softly as his fear began to melt away, his eyes taking the time to study this new form with interest.

The corners of her maw quirked upwards in show of a strange smile, though it didn't look friendly when one focused on the shape and number of teeth lining her jaw. "Thank you. Now, I believe it is time you returned to the living, Minato Namikaze. There is a little boy who needs you." She murmured, leaning forward while closing her mouth to nudge him with her nose.

The action made him give a surprised chuckle, his hands settling gently on her snout and his expression bright at the thought of seeing his son once more, before dimming as he recalled what he'd done.

"..How..How w-will I make it..up to him…?" He asked softly, his voice fighting passed the tightness in his throat.

"By being what you are," was her answer, a soft look of understanding and pain in her eyes that made him question if she had children, and a pang jolted in his heart when he wondered if she had lost her children; if that was why she held so much pain...

In response, he gave a sad and curious smile. "And..what am I?"

She nudged him again, before pushing his body upwards until he began floating higher and higher. The higher he floated the more his lungs began to burn and his eyes went wide at the feeling and realization, his limbs instinctively working to take him up for air. Turning his gaze away, he heard her answer as the water around him turned dark, just before he broke the surface to inhale a sharp and gasping gulp of air, his heart beating hard against his ribcage with life once more.

"A father."


And thus, onto chapter 3! Please review if you have any thoughts or ideas you wish to impart, or to offer even just your opinion! I'll be sure to credit any who offer wisdom I use.

Also, I ask that you check the poll on my profile for if Minato should be Hokage again or not!
Ja-ne~!