Down The Slope

Chapter 3

Okay! Here it is! The third installment of 'Down The Slope'.

Minato sat on the makeshift swing the hung from the only tree in his uncle's house's front yard and sighed. Four days of stewing on what he had learned had not cleared his head any. If anything, he was more upset and confused. Though he was in turmoil on the inside, he just looked outwardly calmer.

He had tried calling her again a few times each day, but all he got was her answering machine. On she knew where Naruko and Naruto were, she had probably called the hospital and found out all that she needed to know. She had no need to speak with him anymore, and was probably ignoring him.

For the millionth time he reviewed their break-up… which he had not realized was a break-up at the time. She had seemed off for weeks beforehand, always cranky and fighting off some kind of virus. Then, that night, she had gotten all nasty about a girl that had flirted with him and passed him a love note with her phone number. It was stupid, he had not been the least bit interested in the girl, but Kushina kept snapping at him and pushing his buttons until it flared up into a full-blown argument. With a few nasty parting shots, she stormed off and he went to bed in their hotel room.

They had argued before, and sometimes she would get mad enough to leave. However, once she cooled down, she always came back. She rarely ever apologized when it was her fault, but she would act apologetic and that would be enough. Once or twice, she had been gone for days before turning up again.

Therefore, he had not thought that anything was unusual until she didn't show up when he had made his challenge to the Star Region' reigning League Champion, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He could not imagine that she would still be mad to have missed out on the battle. But all throughout the celebrations of his victory over Sarutobi, he never caught a glimpse of her fiery red hair anywhere.

He started making inquiries around to see if anybody had seen her. Or probably know where she was. He waited to a letter or a postcard. But weeks turned into months and months turned into years, and there was never anything at all.

Minato had feared that she was dead, then. Kushina was stubborn and hardheaded, but surely, she would have gotten over whatever had set her off and contacted him by then. She would have come back to him if she could…she always came back.

'But she was okay,' he brooded, running his hands through his hair. 'She ran away from me, had a pair of twins, and never said a word to me or anybody about it. And all over a stupid waitress that decided to get flirty with me?!'

It did not make sense. Sure, Kushina would get a little insecure whenever he was around attractive girls. But her reaction to that one-sided flirtation was completely out of proportion, irrational and uncalled for. There should had been some other reason that she had abandoned him…

'…I should have told her that I loved her.'

They had never really defined what their relationship was. He never knew when it changed until long after it had. At first, she was just some unwanted tag-along that he could not shake. Then somewhere along the way, she became a trusted friend and companion. And then somehow, for a short while, she was a lover.

'Maybe if she knew… she would not have run away. Or she would have come back.' He ran out of blades of grass in easy reach and sighed. 'Or maybe she would have run off sooner…'

A shadow fell over him.

"Where's the hospital?"

He started at the voice and jerked his head up to find—

"Kushina?!" 'She came here?!'

She looked tired and paler than before. Her red hair, which was longer than he had originally thought it had been, was pulled into a loose ponytail and the barrette that kept her bangs out of her face was almost falling out of her hair. There were shadows under here eyes, like if she had barely slept. A blue duffel bag hung haphazardly from her left shoulder. To have arrived so quickly, she must have left right after receiving his phone call.

"Where is the hospital?!" she demanded, stone-faced.

His brain had gone into overdrive and got too jumbled to respond. She was actually here, not behind some screen and miles away. He could touch her if he wanted to. All he had to do was—

She grabbed him by his long, blond locks and pulled. "Where. The. Hell. Is. The. Hospital?!"

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, okay! I'll take you there!" he yelped.

"Then do it," she growled, releasing her painful iron grip.

"Okay," he gulped and, after taking her bag and tossing it inside the house, he led her to the hospital.

They walked in silence, side-by-side, towards the hospital on the opposite side of the hot spring resort town. Normally, he would not mind, but she would be bothered by the quiet and find something to talk about. Now the roles were reversed—she did not seem to have anything to say, but he could not stand the silence.

"Why'd you leave?" he quietly asked.

Her eyes were fixed on the path ahead of her. "I don't wanna talk about it right now."

"When are we gonna talk about it?" he demanded, grabbing her arm, forcing her to stop with him.

"Not right now," she ground out. "Now take me to the hospital, or I'll find someone who will."

He glared at her, but let go of her arm and continued on to the hospital. "Why didn't get in touch with me? Why didn't you tell me about Naruko and Naruto?"

When she didn't respond, he started venting out his frustration.

"Why didn't you write? I know that that's how you keep in touch with your family, so why not write to me? Do I mean so little to you?"

Still nothing.

No matter what he asked, she still had no reaction, so he wondered if she was hearing that he had said. He threw all sorts of sharp questions and bitter comments at her, trying to get a response as well as releasing everything that he'd bottled up. He tried to get her talking with meaningless questions, like why had she decided to grow out her hair after keeping it so short for so long. But she just followed his lead in uncharacteristic stoic silence.

"…I missed you. Did you miss me at all?"

"Please," she said softly, her voice wavering and watery. "Shut up. I just want to see them and then go to sleep. I haven't slept since…I don't know."

Minato bit his bottom lip and tentatively looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "They'll be okay. If hadn't hung up on me, or called the hospital, you'd know that already. Naruko only suffered a sprained leg, and Naruto got a concussion and a few fractured ribs by trying to protect his sister and the other girl during their fall. They'll be okay."

She buried her face into his shoulder and cried wholeheartedly. He stood frozen in place for a moment before he carefully embraced her. It felt awkward. It had just been so long since they had had any sort of physical contact with each other.

He found it all extremely unnerving, since Kushina rarely cried. Usually when she did cry, it would be only a few tears that had managed to escape her eyes and then she would pull herself together. Kushina was a tough girl and refused to turn into a sissy crybaby. It was way beyond bizarre to have her weeping and vulnerable like this.

"Kushina…" he mumbled into her hair with eyes closed, just happy to have her in his arms again.

"…I'm sorry…" she choked out through her crying. "…I'm sorry… that I-I-I'm so stupid… and c-c-cowardly… and s-stubborn…"

"Shhh… there, there Kushina," Minato soothed her. "You're just tired. Let's go see Naruko and Naruto, and get you to bed."

"Okay," she sniffed, pulling away to wipe her eyes with shaking hand. "Okay, let's go."

The rest of the way, they walked with little conversation as he held her. It took them a few minute to reach the hospital. Before Kushina could ask for directions, Minato told her where to go.

"You stay here," she commanded him. "Since they don't know that you're their father, I don't want them to get any worse by telling them the truth about us right now. I'd rather wait 'til they're out of here."

"I understand," he nodded with a calm demeanor. "Go comfort them. I'll watch from here."

With a simple kiss on the forehead from him, she headed for the room's door, which was only a few feet way. Once she entered, Kushina saw her kids and Hinata sitting around a table playing a board game. And it appeared that Naruto was winning.

"Is this a private party or can anybody join?" she asked, getting their attention.

"Mom!" Naruto and Naruko said together before rushing to hug her.

"Miss Uzumaki!" Hinata yelped before she also rushed the woman.

Kushina felt that she should have been surprised by Hinata's hug, but she wasn't. She then released them from the hug. Outside the room, Minato sat in a chair next to the door and listened to their conversation, but not before grabbing a bag of chips, a pastry and a soda from the vending machines that were nearby.

"I was so worried about you guys," she mentioned, then faced the indigo-haired girl. "I was also worried about you too, Hinata."

"You didn't tell my parents about this?" Hinata wondered worryingly. "If they found out about this, they would make me end my journey."

"Don't worry, Hinata," Kushina replied, rubbed the Hyuga's head, calming the girl down. "I didn't say anything about this to them."

All three trainers gave a sigh of relief. Just being with her babies reenergized her.

"Don't bother telling me about the accident, because I don't wanna know," the woman informed. "Just tell me how your journey has been."

They told her about their journey, the Pokemon they've caught, which ones evolved, their victories, their losses, and their hardships. Hinata even told her about her Registeel, since Kushina never really followed contests, which surprised both Kushina and Minato, causing him to almost choked on a handful of chips. Minato enjoyed listening about his children's adventures through the Star Region. He kind of frowned when Naruto explained his troubles with his Vulpix, Cherry, though he praised the rest of his Pokemon team. Naruko was now telling her mother about their stay with Icecap Town gym leader and how Zabuza taught them how snowboard and ski.

"…and after our snowboarding lesson, and some of Haku's delicious hot chocolate with unlimited marshmallows, I over heard Naruto ask Hinata to be his girlfriend, to which she said yes."

Both said trainers' faces turned beet red upon the revealing of that information. Kushina didn't mind though, since she knew about Hinata's crush on Naruto. 'It's about frickin' time he answered her feelings.'

In the hallway, Minato was struggling to keep himself from bursting into a fit of incontrollable laughter. All he could manage was a low snickering. 'So young, and he already has a girlfriend. I just hope he doesn't make the same mistake I did.' Then he heard Kushina say something that really shocked him into complete silence.

"Well, Hinata, I really don't mind having you as my future daughter-in-law." The redheaded woman gave the bluenette a sincere smile. "And I'm sure that Naruko doesn't being your sister-in-law."

"Nah, I wouldn't mind," Naruko agreed with her mother.

After another hour of idle chitchat, a nurse came in pushing a cart with food.

"Excuse me ma'am," the green-haired woman interrupted the happy group. "Visiting hours are over for today, and these three patients need to have their supper."

At the mention of the food, all three kids groaned, not wanting to eat the hospital food. This caused Kushina to giggle and Minato to snicker. Understanding that it was time for her to go, she turned to face her kids and their friend.

"Now, you three behave, eat your food, do as the doctors and nurses say and I'll be back tomorrow," she said, promisingly.

With a synced nod from them, she left the room, meeting Minato outside. The trip back to his uncle's was quiet again. She did seem to be happy to have seen her… their children again. He had to hold on to her to keep her from tripping herself. Once they made it to the two-story house, Minato guided her towards his bedroom, and she immediately collapsed onto the bed, already deep asleep

Minato sighed before slipping her shoes off and pulling the covers over her.

"What am I gonna do with you?"

Being that she was asleep, she didn't answer him.

But the question still remained. Should he forgive her? Or should he keep walking?

She had run off with no warning and left him to worry for a little over a decade. She had never told him about Naruto and Naruko, and he had to wonder if she was going to tell him. And so he missed everything—the twins' births, their smile, their first words, their first steps, their first everything—and not even known that he would had anything to miss.

And yet… he was so relieved to see her again. To see that was alright and not hurt of dead somewhere. She was with him once more, if only for a little while. And the sense that he was missing something, or in this case, someone, important that had been nagging at him forever was gone. Now that she was here, he could get the answers he needed.

He really should wash his hand of her. But the idea made him squirm and shiver, and he couldn't simply decide what he really wanted.

'I really need to clear my head right now.' Sighing, he brushed her bangs from her face and left the house heading for the Pokemon Center. 'I need to swap out Kyuubi for Blair, and maybe check how their Pokemon are doing. A good ride should help me…'

When Kushina woke up, it took her a minute to realize where she was. Sleep had been all but impossible on the way to Onsen Town. Everytime she closed her eyes her imagination would throw horrible images at her—Naruto and Naruko, hurt, broken, bleeding—and she would be forced awake to escape them. Almost four straight days with no sleep left her mind fuzzy, her thought clouded, and her recollections of the trip hazy at best.

She was obviously in Minato's room from his childhood in Jiraiya's house. It was still a little boy's room with faded posters taped on the wall, a small bed with Pokeball-print sheets and shelves lined with dusty books and toys. Jiraiya didn't bother with fixing the room, and left it as it was when Minato started his journey.

What she had done to land herself here made her cringe.

'I'm mean to him. I give him the silent treatment, and then I cry all over his shoulder. And then there all the stuff I didn't tell him, not to mention ditching him all those years ago…'

She buried her face in her hand and groaned.

'I guess I'm lucky that he's so nice. If I were him, I would've made me sleep in a hotel… or outside.' She shivered and hugged herself. 'But he's definitely mad at me… I woke up alone.'

Shaking her head, she skulked out his room. She had slept for whatever was left of the day yesterday and all night, making it early morning. Neither Minato, nor Jiraiya seemed to be awake, or around, and that made her relax as she slipped into the shower. Of course, in her rush to pack and get to Onsen Town, she had forgotten to pack any toiletries, so she was stuck using Jiraiya's supplies.

'At least with his long hair, he has good shampoo and conditioner.' She smirked slightly as she washed. 'I'm sure that his hair is longer than mine. Now that I think about it, I think Naruko's hair is also longer than mine…'

Clean, and in a fresh change of clothes, she headed down the stairs to face Minato.

Minato was passed out on the swamp-themed living room couch. It looked like he had spent whole night there instead of sleeping with her, or in his uncle's room. When she crept up to him, she noticed that he smelled like smoke.

'He hasn't picked up smoking, has he?' She frowned at the thought. 'I'll kick his ass if he did, because then Naruto and Naruko will want to, too.'

A faint orange glow that had nothing to do with the sunrise brought her attention to one of the front windows. Picking outside, she found Blair the Rapidash placidly grazing on the front lawn, a bridle and reins still fastened to her head. She wore no saddle as Minato always rode her bareback. A saddle was just too big and bulky to carry on the road, and a pain to remove for using her in battle, so Minato had never used one.

'Oh, he was just out riding.'

Kushina took a minute to run her fingers through Minato's hair before slipping into the kitchen. The fridge and cupboards were filled with bachelor food—frozen TV dinners and anything that was "instant". However, she did find some still-good milk, non-moldy bread, eggs, and bacon. So she started making breakfast for two. If Jiraiya was here, he would have to make his own breakfast.

Halfway through her cooking, Minato shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing the gritty sleep from his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, eyes fixed on the frying pan. "I'm making breakfast."

"You… really don't have to do that."

She took a moment to take control of her temper, because she really had no business getting mad at him, before responding. "Learning how to cook is one of the benefits of becoming a mom. I swear that you won't suffer from food poisoning this time."

He didn't say anything, and eventually, she heard the scraping sound of him pulling a chair out. "So… did you sleep well?"

"I slept like a corpse," she answered humorously. "What about you? You could've taken your uncle's bed instead of sleeping on the couch."

'I will never sleep in his bed," Minato swore. "Who knows how many of his 'dates' had ended the day there?"

Kushina shuddered at that. She did not want to know what Jiraiya did in there.

"Point," she agreed and dished up the cooked bacon and eggs on two plastic plates. "Very good point." The bread popped out of the toaster and she added the slices to the plates before bringing them to the table. "You know, you could've made me sleep on the floor while you kept the bed to yourself."

"You don't make guests sleep on the floor," Minato shrugged and eyed his plate suspiciously.

"You're too polite, Sunshine," she muttered as she sprinkled some salt and pepper onto her scrambled eggs "You know that I don't deserve it."

Kushina clapped her hands together and said grace. She was the first to eat. When Minato saw that the food was not toxic, he tentatively consumed his own food. It was only when they had finished and Kushina started doing the dishes that they started talking again.

"Speak already," she muttered as she scrubbed madly at the skillet. "You had like a ton of questions yesterday."

"Alright," he sighed. "Why'd you leave?"

"I was afraid," she mumbled. "You were close to achieving your dream, and getting famous. I was barely seventeen and that morning I'd just found out that… that I was pregnant. I was a basket case and I used that argument as an excuse to run. Of course, I couldn't outrun this problem. It just went with me wherever I ran to."

"…You thought of them as a problem?"

"At the time, yes I did," she nodded slowly. "A baby was the last thing that I wanted, or was ready for, let alone two. I didn't know anything about babies. I was scared out of my mind."

"You didn't have to keep them."

Kushina shot him a glare. "I'm gonna pretend that I didn't hear you say that."

The blonde man flinched at her look. "Yeah… Were you ever going to tell me about them?"

"I… I really don't know," she said, dropping her eyes into the sudsy sink.

"What kind of answer is that?" Minato demanded sharply.

"It's my answer!" she shot back. "When Naruto and Naruko were born, all I could think of was how to take care of them and not royally screw it up. They were three years old when I finally had time to myself and think about other things. I was scared that I'd waited too long, that you'd be angry with me for not telling you what was going on right away." She turned completely away from him, unable to look at his face. "I could never make up my mind on what I should do. So I did nothing. I was afraid that you'd hate me."

He stayed silent for what felt like forever. "…Do they know anything about me?"

"Nothing beyond what they'd seen on TV," she replied silently. "I could never think of any way to explain myself. I could never decide what to tell them. So I never gave them any details about my old adventures, or any of the people I used to run with. And… I just didn't want to remember."

"… I see…" His voice cold, causing her to shiver. "I'm going to go take a shower. You go do what you want. That's what you always do."

Kushina didn't dare move until he had vanished upstairs to take his shower. When she heard the bathroom door slam close, she hurried out of Jiraiya's house. She paused only long enough to pet Blair before she hurried off to the hospital and her twins.

Not even the icy blast of the cold water in the shower helped cool Minato's raging emotions. He was feeling so many different emotions at the same time that it was difficult sorting them out. He didn't know if he wanted to curse, or cry, or just scream until he lost his voice.

'I need another ride.'

Hair still wet from the shower, and his shirt sticking to his damp torso, he jogged out to his Rapidash, who was still staring down the street. Kushina had probably headed to go see Naruto and Naruko. He clenched his jaw and approached the fiery unicorn.

"Blair, I need another ride."

The horse Pokemon eyed him for a moment and turned so that he could climb aboard easier.

Minato vaulted onto her back and immediately urged her into a full gallop. Soon, they were racing through the forest and down the mountain at a blistering pace. Blair's blazing mane practically blinded him, but he could care less. All that mattered was that he was going fast.

The only thing that made him reckless was probably his love for speed. He had always loved to run, or ride something fast. His uncle started jokingly calling him the Yellow Flash. As soon as Kushina had heard about it, she added it to her long list of nicknames for him. And it just spread from there. Now it was something of an unofficial title glued on to his name. As many of his battles were over quickly and decisively.

'She never told me… She never told me… And all because she was afraid and indecisive?!'

Blair tossed her head and leapt over a ravine, but the thrill of the jump was lost to him.

'I was right about her since the day I've first met her,' he thought bitterly. 'I'm cursed with her memory forever and ever… If only I could forget.'

Kushina walked into the hospital room and saw Naruto, Naruko and Hinata eating what looked like plain oatmeal for breakfast. She could tell that they did not like the blandness of their morning meal. They didn't seem to notice her when she walked in there, since they were too busy watching a football game, the Gyarados at the Golems. It was obvious on who they were rooting for, since Naruko was a die-hard Gyarados fan. It was the last quarter and the Gyarados were winning, 52-12, getting a touchdown with an interception for the current score.

Naruto was the first one to notice her.

"Mom!" he yelped, almost jumping out of the bed.

Naruko and Hinata turned to face the red-haired woman.

Kushina smiled at them. "Good morning. How are you three feeling?"

"Okay," Naruto shrugged.

"By the way, mom, how did you find out we were here?" Naruko wondered since the day before.

"I got a phone call that you were hurt, so I came right over," she explained, taking a seat between the twins.

"You didn't have to," Naruto said, emptying his bowl. "We're okay."

"Well, I just had to see for myself," Kushina said and ruffled her son's hair. "Now tell me, have you been behaving yourselves?"

"Yeah," all three kids said at once.

Then Naruko remembered something. "Hey mom? Do you know where our stuff is? And our Pokemon?"

"I'm sure that the hospital staff is holding on to your things until they release you," her mother answered. "And your Pokemon should be waiting for you at the Pokemon Center. We'll go get them as soon as you get out of here. I want to meet all your little Pokemon in person."

"Okay," Hinata scratched the back of her head. "Miss Uzumaki… how long will you stay?"

"ALRIGHT! THE GYARADOS WIN ANOTHER!" Naruko let out when the game was over with.

"As long as you three need me to," she smiled. "Maybe I'll even stick around to see Naruto's gym challenge. It's been a while since I've seen one of those."

Naruto gulped nervously at that. "Really?"

"Calm down! I'm not that scary, am I? Besides," Kushina got up and leaned in to kiss his bandaged forehead, "your poor lonely mother needs something to do."

"Mom!" Naruto groaned and wiped the spot where his mother had kissed. "…Fine. You can watch."

This caused Naruko and Hinata to burst out laughing, getting the attention of a nurse that was passing by the open door.

Kushina grinned. "Aw, thank you!"

Naruto half-grinned as he scratched his bandaged left wrist.

'I just hope that she doesn't embarrass me in front of the gym leader…'

Done! I'm finished with the third installment of 'Down The Slope'.

Sorry if Kushina's first visit to the hospital seemed a little cheesy and weak. And the football reference (American Football, The NFL. Not the round, black and white ball), well, who doesn't like football. I love the blitz plays and seeing a quarterback be sacked. Though I live in California, I wholeheartedly root for the Indianapolis Colts. WOO! GO COLTS! Anyway… I think I've been watching too much 'Teen Mom' and I just can't stop. And no, I don't a have a problem.

Just leave your reviews please and shout-out to your favorite NFL team. I am not a hater, unless it comes down to the Oakland Raiders, the San Francisco 49ers, the Dallas Cowboys, and the New England Patriots.

Oops, sorry for the babbling.

So… SEE YA! (no personal flames please)