Author's note: Wow! Three reviews on the last chapter! You guys are awesome! Huge thank you to those who favorited, followed, and reviewed! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review!
IMPORTANT: Please read the author's note at the end which contains information about future updates about this story!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Emiko is my character.
Chapter Three
Sarutobi Hiruzen had long accepted death as a companion in his life. Afterall, he had watched many of his precious people die, had grieved along with families and friends. However, there were three incidents that he was sure would haunt him long after he departed from the living world.
The first was when his sensei, the second Hokage, chose to sacrifice himself so their escort unit could escape. It was also the day when he was named Hokage and everything changed.
The second still brought pain to his heart whenever he thought about it. Perhaps that morning when he looked outside and saw the ominous dark clouds, he should have foresaw a tragedy happen. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for what he saw later that day when he was called to the village gates.
There was a crowd surrounding someone, and when he saw the head of pale blonde hair, his heart stopped. Tsunade, who had always remained so strong and dedicated to her village, even after her little brother died, looked like a ghost. Hiruzen knew he would never forget the empty, lost look in his student's hazel eyes, a look that told him she would never be the same. Her normally fair skin looked sickly with flecks of dried blood on her face, and her lip trembled in an effort to stop from crying.
The crowd parted as he approached, and when he saw what was in her arms, he understood.
Though in his current state, Hiruzen could hardly make out who the shinobi was, but it still wasn't hard. He had spent four shinobi out on a mission and three returned with a corpse. Kato Dan was barely recongizedbale, his skin looks translucent, and his normally pale blue hair was coated in blood which smeared onto Tsunade's uniform, it didn't look like she noticed.
"Tsunade." He spoke, looking at his former student.
Empty hazel eyes turned to look at them and at that moment, Hiruzen would have given his life to end her pain, but he knew it was a fool's wish.
When members of the medical core approached ready to take Dan's body away, Tsunade broke. She stretched and yelled, "No! Stay away! Stay away from me! You can't take him! You can't take him from me!" She screamed causing many to lower their heads in sorrow as the village's princess broke down in front of them.
The medical ninja backed away, giving him a glance and he understood. He approached his former student the way one would approach an injured animal. Tsunade was gripping tightly onto Dan like it would bring him back, her tears falling onto his face, when Hiruzen placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Tsunade, please." He whispered.
She looked at him with eyes had held the all the pain in the world, and slowly released her hold on her lover. When the medical ninja approached her, she gently placed him on the stretched like he was a newborn baby who needed protection from the world, rather than a dead man who met his end fighting to protect his home.
When his body disappeared from view, Tsunade collapsed in her sensei's arms.
And then, there was the third incident. Hiruzen sighed when he thought back to that dreadful day two months ago.
It was a nightmare, however unlike the stormy day when Tsunade had returned with the body of Kato Dan in her arms, it was a perfectly clear day when Minato had arrived with the dead body of Emiko tenderly pressed to his chest. From a distance, it looked like she was sleeping and he was just carrying her home. It wasn't until they got closer did they see the long, deep cut starting from Emiko's chest and ending at her lower stomach.
Minato had not protested when the medical core took her away, instead he looked like man who he had just lost the light in his life, and knew he would never get it back. Afterwards, Minato didn't talk, eat, or sleep for days, not even with Kushina and Jiraiya's combined efforts could get a reaction out of him.
It wasn't until after Emiko was buried that Minato seemed to snap out of his stupor and requested a mission. Immediately, Hiruzen knew what was happened and tried to convince Minato to take some time off, but no matter what, Minato was adamant that he would return to the battlefield, one way or another and Hiruzen had no choice but agree.
Hiruzen knew people dealt with death in different ways, Tsunade ran from her ghosts while Minato had thrown himself into work, taking mission after mission without any breaks, in order to distract himself from his grief.
"Well done, Minato. We have received reports that the enemy has suffered great losses and are beginning to retreat." The third Hokage spoke, each word releasing a small puff of smoke into the air.
Minato nodded and mumbled a quiet, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage sighed as he looked at Konoha's famous Yellow Flash. Namikaze Minato was a hollow shell of who he once was. The bloodstains on his hands sharply contrasted his pale skin, while his blue eyes were dull and empty. His hair was dull and limp and the scent of metal and blood clung to him like second skin.
Tragedy plagues every generation, Hiruzen thinks somberly.
"Minato, I know you want to be out there, but the war is almost over. You have done your part. Stay in the village for awhile, your team has been missing you." Hiruzen states and Minato reluctantly nods before disappearing.
Minato feels a pang of guilt, he has missed his team as well. He hasn't seen them in a little over two months and knows they have grown a lot. Rin, Obito, and Kakashi are chunin, each with different interests and were off going their own thing.
In his absence, Kakashi most likely has taken the role of captain and Minato feels the ghost of smile form when he thinks about Obito loudly complaining about Kakashi's harsh methods and Rin trying to pacify both boys.
When the three were not together, Minato was sure that Kakashi would go on solo missions, Obito would be training somewhere, and Rin would be working at the hospital where help was always in high demand due to the war.
Minato knew her patients would be in good hands because Rin was an amazing medical ninja. She had saved Obito and Kakashi from death more than once and even helped heal Minato whenever he was injured.
Minato was proud of how skilled Rin had become and he knew that Emiko would be too.
"If you're so interested in the girl, why don't you just do back to the hospital and talk to her, you know? It's not like you don't know her name!" Kushina had exclaimed, one day when the two of them were sitting outside. Minato had been strangely silent and Kushina immediately knew he was thinking about the medical ninja they had met at the hospital two weeks ago.
"I wasn't thinking about Emiko, Kushina." Minato lied, he had been thinking about her, in fact she rarely left his mind but he wasn't about to tell Kushina that. She would tease him endlessly.
"Emiko huh? On a first name basis I see." Kushina teased and Minato was about to comment that he didn't know her last name when he saw the look on her face and knew he was about to either embarrass himself or she would embarrass him.
"That settles it!" Kushina exclaimed jumping to her feet excitedly, "We're going to find her, you know!"
Some civilians turned and looked at them weirdly, forcing Minato to give them an apologetic smile. Minato placed a gentle hand on Kushina's shoulder, "Kushina please keep your voice down." Which caused the Uzumaki to roll her eyes but sat back down.
"Anyways," Kushina continued, "Let's go to the hospital and find her. Then I can tell her all how you can't stop thinking about her, you know!" She teased.
Minato mentally groaned, racking his brain on ways to get out of this when the Hokage's messenger hawk appeared. Minato quickly slipped the note off its leg and breathed a sigh of relief, his team had been summoned for a mission.
"Looks like you'll have to find her yourself, Kushina. I have a mission." Minato said, not bothering to hide the relief in his voice.
Kushina growled, "This isn't over, Minato!" But her friend was already off in search for the members of his team.
Luckily, the first member of his team wasn't far away.
"Not bad Obito," Minato commented as he walked towards his student, who was standing on the edge of a pier practicing his fireball jutsu.
The young Uchiha had startled at the noise and whipped around too quickly, nearly falling into the lake if it wasn't for Minato's quick reflexes that allowed him to grab the boy just before he hit the water.
"Obito! Are you okay?" Minato asked his student.
"What? Oh don't worry! I'm fine sensei, you just caught me off guard!" Obito responded laughing and rubbing the back of his head with a faint blush on his cheeks.
Minato smile fondly at his student before motioning Obito to follow him. Obito didn't miss a beat and quickly got to his feet, "Do we have a mission sensei?" The Uchiha asked excitedly.
"Yes, we do. I'll fill you in on the details once we have to whole team together. You go find Kakashi and I'll go look for Rin. We'll meet up at the training field."
Obito frowned slightly at the mention of the Hatake but nodded nonetheless, stalking off to find the grey haired boy.
It didn't take long for Minato to find Rin, she had mentioned some time ago that she was starting to work at the hospital and that was the first place he looked. After asking the receptopinst if Rin was there, he was directed outside towards a place near the hospital where the herbs were grown. Minato thanked her and left, slightly unnerved by how intensely she was staring at him.
True to word, he found his student picking some herbs and placing them in wooden baskets. Minato made his way over to her just as she looked up.
"Minato-sensei! Do we have a mission?" Rin asked, smiling when she saw him approach.
"Yes, we should go join Obito and Kakashi before they kill each other." Minato joked as he watched Rin place the herbs in one of the baskets before rising. Rin carried two of the baskets while Minato grabbed the other two.
As the pair made their way out of the forest Minato curiously asked, "What special medical properties does this herb have?"
"They bring down fever and are commonly used in medicine. However, they also are great just for everyday purposes, like in tea to keep the immune system in good condition, sensei." Rin responded and he could tell how much she was interested in medicine.
"That's quite amazing." Minato commented and Rin nodded in agreement as the two entered the hospital.
Rin lead him up to the level where the herbs would be stored and later used, when Minato suddenly felt something was off. It was at the same moment that he heard a voice that had enraptured him since their first meeting.
"Are those the herbs for the medicine, Rin-chan?"
Both teacher and student turned to see the owner of the voice standing behind a desk, looking like she had been there for sometime.
I didn't even sense her, Minato thought both in shock and awe.
However, nothing in the world could have prepared him for what came out of Rin's mouth, and Minato almost lost his grip on the baskets.
"Nee-san!"
Author's note: First of all, I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming support I've received for Sky Blue Sadness! I truly didn't imagine this many people would read this story! I'm starting my second year of college soon which means updates will be a bit slow. Unfortunately, I've also been experiencing some writer's block as well. Please be patient, and thank you for reading.