Dislcaimer: Just like (nearly) everyone on this site, I'm just an amateur writer that's borrowing someone else's characters for a while.
Note: Edited 9/1/07. From now on, Kazama Arashi is going to now be the recently revieled true name, Namikaze Minato.
Key:
thoughts
'Kakashi speaking'
'Naruto speaking'
'Kyuubi speaking'
'Two or all speaking at the same time.' (depends on who's speaking)
Chapter 4: Explanations
It would've been a complete lie to say that Narashi wasn't shocked, but also ecstatic at the sight of Minato standing in the doorway. He had been planning on telling the Yondaime about the attack coming up in a year, but had been worried about when he'd get the chance. And here the man was, standing right in front of him.
The sound of Minato speaking brought Narashi out of his thoughts. "Ah. I see you've finally woken up. You've been unconscious for two weeks. Considering the condition you were in when my team and I found you, it's amazing that you're still breathing, let alone wide awake now."
'What? Two weeks...but that means that...'
'Didn't that mission-gone-wrong that you told me about earlier happen two weeks ago? If we have the date right at least.'
'Yeah, it did. Although, did they find us before or after the fight?'
While Narashi had been thinking about that, Minato had sat down in one of the chairs in the room, and now held out his hand, a smile on his face. "I suppose introductions are in orders. Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure."
Returning the smile and handshake, Narashi replied, "Hazaki Narashi. Pleasure to meet you, Hokage-sama."
Seeing the other man's slight grimace, Naruto, for one, started feeling a little confused, whereas Kakashi just got amused, feelings that increased from what Minato said. "Please, just Minato is fine. I've only recently become Hokage, and I'm still not used to the title."
'He doesn't like being called "Hokage-sama?"'
'Nope. Said it made him feel as old as the Sandaime. There were only three exceptions for him; when he was in a meeting with council members, leaders and/or ninjas from other villages, or complete strangers. Even then, he makes it perfectly clear which name he preferred. Those closest to him, myself included, got a lot of entertainment by calling him Hokage, especially since he couldn't really do anything about it.It was just too much fun to mess with him like that.
So, of course, knowing that, Narashi just had to take the opportunity to do the same. "As you wish, Hokage-sama," he said, a smirk twitching on his lips. Which immediately turned into a laugh when he saw the look on Minato's face.
"Sorry, sorry," Narashi said, not meaning a single word. "But, joking aside, what did you mean when you said that it was amazing that I was still alive? How did I get here, exactly?"
Minato nodded, obviously expecting the questions, before starting. Listening to Minato's explanation and when they were found, Narashi couldn't stop the feeling of pain that shot through his heart.
'So close. Obito hadn't even been dead for a full day before we showed up.'
'Yeah, we were close. But there's no use worrying about 'what ifs.' Honestly, Kakashi-sensei, by the sound of it, even if we had shown up earlier, we wouldn't have been able to do anything anyway. For that matter, I'm surprised we've been unconscious for so long. Usually, with the Kyuubi's healing ability, it only takes one good night's nest and I'm good to go. Why would it take so long to heal?'
'Hmm...You know, you raise a good point. When you fought Sasuke a few years ago, you nearly died. Multiple times, by the sounds of the medical report. And yet, you were out of the hospital and leaving for your training trip with Jiraiya after a few days. And even though we were doing some pretty intense sparring before being sent back, with us using some of our more powerful jutsus, even combined the damage we had would've only kept us in the hospital for a few hours tops, even without Kyuubi's healing power. There's no explanation for why we had the injuries Minato-sensei says we had or for us to be unconscious for two whole weeks.'
'BAKAS! Must I explain everything?'
Narashi barely managed to keep himself from jumping three feet into the air, or showing any other outward sign of surprise, not wanting Minato to think something was wrong. Though that didn't stop him from mentally expressing his shock and anger. It was so easy sometimes to forget that Kyuubi could speak to them anytime as well.
'Stupid Fox/Kyuubi! Don't do that!'
'I'll do whatever the hell I want! You have no right to tell me, the strongest of the biju, greatest of the nine, demo-HEY, are you listening to me?!'
'Tch. To that self-gratifying spiel of yours? Of course not! Now tell us what you want. You obviously know what we want to know, so spill.'
'Grrr...fine! But it will have to wait until the brat of a Hokage leaves. It'll take a while to explain the complex theory in a way that even your simple, human minds can understand it.' Kyuubi ignored the feeling of furious indignation rising from the other two. 'Anyway, until then, focus on what the Yondaime is saying now. Otherwise, he really will think something is wrong with you. Then again,' Kyuubi added sadistically. 'Isn't talking to yourself a sign of craziness amongst you humans? Considering that, one has to wonder just how crazy you are.' Kyuubi ended with a laugh, heading back to the depths of his cage.
'SHUT UP!'
Scowling slightly, Narashi turned his full attention back to Minato just in time to catch his question. "-mind me asking, how did you get in that state in the first place? What happened?"
The annoyed scowl immediately turned into a serious frown as Narashi thought about how to answer that question. After staring at his bed sheets in silence for a few minutes, Narashi looked up and stared at Minato's face, which had quickly dropped all previous friendliness, instead becoming what Kakashi had long ago dubbed his "mission face." Minato now looked every bit the Hokage he was said to have been.
"If it alright with you, Yondaime-sama," Narashi started, using the title to show Minato just how serious he was right now. "But I would prefer to save my answer until later, when we're somewhere no one can overhear us, preferably your office. What I have to tell you is for your ears only. I will answer any question you have that I can, but not here. The hospital is too open to risk someone listening in who shouldn't."
Minato stared back at Narashi for a moment, before nodding. "Very well. You're right, the hospital is too open for what you apparently want to discuss. In fact," he stood up. "I should probably got tell the medics that you're awake. If you're feeling well enough, we can head to the Hokage Tower after getting you checked over and cleared."
He smiled, some of the seriousness leaving his face. "Your clothes are in the closet there. Despite your injuries, they weren't that damaged, so they were cleaned and repaired for when you finally woke up. There's also an extra roll of bandages in there, since I noticed that you seemed use them to cover the scars on your cheeks in a kind of half mask."
Narashi blinked, surprised at the information. "T-thanks, Minato," he finally managed to get out. Minato grinned, before leaving with a quick "See you in a bit."
After the door closed with a soft "snap," Narashi let out a quick burst of air, releasing the tension from a few minutes ago. Curious, he looked toward the wardrobe against the opposite wall, wondering what he new outfit looked like.
'It makes sense that if our bodies merged, then so did our clothes.'
'Yeah.'
'Though I have to admit, I'm a little worried. I do not want to wear any of that "kill-me-orange" that you're so fond of.'
'What's that mean?'
'You know exactly what I mean. I've told you often enough. Orange is not a good color for a ninja. Kami only knows how many times I wanted to burn that old jumpsuit of yours.'
'Hmph! Yeah, well, no sense in arguing over it. If it's orange, you'll just have to deal with it.' With that, Narashi got out of bed and walked over to the closet, throwing open the door.
Admittedly, it wasn't as bad as either thought it would be. To Kakashi's immense relief, it wasn't completely orange. On the floor of the closet were a pair of standard shinobi sandals with a roll of bandages next to them, apparently to be wrapped about the shins in the way most shinobi preferred. Folded next to them was a pair of navy blue sweat pants. Hanging from one of the hangers was a black sleeveless shirt similar to what Naruto wore. Next to that was a jacket identical to Naruto's own in design, but with the orange replaced by navy blue, with the spirals on the sleeves and back being orange. On the shelf overhead was the extra roll of bandages that Arashi had said would be there. (A/N: A link to a picture of Narashi is in my profile.)
Satisfied with the alterations, Narashi started changing our of the hospital pajamas and into his new/old clothes.
'Alright, Kyuubi. Yondaime's gone now, so talk. What do you know? In fact, now that I think about it you kicked us out of the seal before we could ask some questions we wanted to know the answers to.'
'I figured you already had enough to think about without trying to understand the complexities of time travel. And talking about changes to the timeline of events seemed more important than wondering how we were sent back.'
'Well, now's as good a time to talk about that as any. Why were we so injured? Why would it take so long to heal? Despite the seal being stronger than ever, I doubt it would affect how your healing abilities work. More importantly, how were we sent back in the first place?'
'Well for you last question, you know as much as I do (as much as I hate to admit it). The two of you were fighting, a large ball of concentrated chakra fell from the sky, engulfing you both before you could do anything, and then you wake up here. I don't know who, why, or how it was possible. Considering the amount of techniques in the world, I'm sure there's at least one out there that could bring a person through time, theoretically, even though I don't know any (believe me, if I did, I'd have used it years ago).
'Even if someone knew one of these techniques, it would take an extremely large amount of chakra and hours of preparation to travel just a few minutes through time, never mind years. The amount to accomplish that would have been so large that civilians halfway around the world would've been able to feel it building up. And yet nobody noticed until it was too late to react.
'Ignoring the sheer amount of chakra necessary and saying that the user survived the drain, the trip going through the timestream would literally tear apart anything going through. That's why you were so injured and why it took so long. I had to use practically all my chakra and yours as well to keep you alive. By the time we left that dimension, I was so exhausted, I wouldn't have been able to heal a papercut. I may have a near infinite well of chakra, but I have my limits.
'So, is there anything else you want to know now, or can I go back to sleep? Two weeks may have been enough for you to regain most of your chakra, but I"m still missing about half of my full power.'
There was a moment of silence as Narashi paused in binding his right leg with the bandages, pondering all that Kyuubi had told him and his question.
'Nah, we're good. You pretty much answered any questions we had right now.'
'If we come up with any more, we'll either answer them ourselves or wait until you're more willing to answer.'
'Fine, then I'm going back to sleep.' There was a slight pause, as if Kyuubi was thinking about saying anything else. 'But, before I do and end up forgetting, there's one more thing I need to say. When you're finished talking with the Yondaime, head towards one of the more isolated training grounds and relearn how to control your chakra. You now have twice the amount of power than before, resulting in a loss of control, most likely. The same thing for your taijutsu. The two of you have very different styles, so you need to practice whatever style you have now. Otherwise, you'll just end up tripping over you won feet.'
'You didn't have to tell us that. We could've figured it out on our own.' There was no reply from Kyuubi, who apparently left the instant he stopped talking. Narashi sighted in irritation, tying off the leg bandages before grabbing the extra roll and standing in front of the mirror in order to figure out how he want to do his 'mask.''I don't want it as a full face mask like how that mist-nin, Zabuza did. It'd be a pain to have to fix it every time we eat. For that matter, is the mask even necessary?'
'Yes, it is. It wouldn't be good if everyone knew that we have the exact same whisker marks that your younger counterpart will end up having. Besides, that being said, only the whiskers need to be covered. The mouth doesn't have to be covered as well to do that.'
'Yeah, I guess you have a point there. Though, honestly, I just think you don't like showing people your face, that's why you're insisting that we wear one.'
After some experimentation, Narashi finally decided on looping the bandages over the brigde of his nose three times, masking his cheeks, as well as twice around his neck to make sure they didn't slip off. Satisfied with the result, Narashi grabbed his jacket from off the bed and put it one. Just as he was zipping up the collar, there was a quick knock on the door before it opened, showing that Minato was back with a female medic in tow.
Minato grinned when he saw that Narashi was up and ready. "Ah, great! Just in time. Now you just need to be checked over and then we can leave immediately."
"That's only if Narashi-san is well enough to leave, Hokage-sama," the medic said, motioning for Narashi to sit on the bed while moving forward. Minato made a slight face behind her back at the title, causing a smirk to grow on Narashi's face. "After being in a coma for two weeks, it's a bit much to expect him to be well enough to leave after just waking up. Considering that, how exactly do you feel, Narashi-san?"
Narashi smiled at the medic, eyes closed. "I feel fine. I don't feel any stiffness, and while I had a bit of a headache when I woke up, it's gone now. I doubt I'd be of much help if a fight were to suddenly break out in the village, but I can definitely walk to the Hokage's office without collapsing."
"Hmm. Well you certainly seem fine," she said with a frown on her face. "Considering you condition just last night, I'm surprised just how healthy you are now."
"So does that mean I can leave?" Narashi asked hopefully. Neither of his halves liked hospitals, at all, and usually left as soon as possible, if not avoiding them completely. Even if they don't let me out officially, I can just jump out the window and be on my merry way.
The medic sighed. "Well, there really is no real reason to keep you here. You're healthy enough. Although I'd prefer that you stay another night, for observation. You did just wake up from a coma after all, Narashi-san. However," she sent a small glare over her shoulder toward Minato, who grinned back sheepishly. "Hokage-sama has made it clear that he wants to speak with you in his office as soon as possible. So, I'll let you leave, so long as you remember to rest and eat some actual food. Also, I want you to come in sometime tomorrow for another check-up. Or if you feel any dizziness or if that headache comes back, got it?"
After getting Narashi's promise that he would be careful and come in tomorrow, the medic signed the proper release forms and sent the two men on they way. Stepping out of the hospital doors, Narashi couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him.
"Don't like hospitals?" Minato asked, chuckling, getting an emphatic "NO!" and violent head shaking in response. "Yeah, well, I don't blame you. Hospitals aren't my favorite places either.
"By the way," he continued as they started down the street. "If what you have to say can wait, do you want to get something to eat first? You haven't eaten anything solid for weeks and that medic did say you needed to start eating again soon." A loud growl, one that could give even Kyuubi's loudest a run for its money, emanated from Narashi's stomach. This immediately caused Minato to burst out in laughter while Narashi clutched his stomach, blushing a little in embarrassment. To make it even worse, some of the people in the immediate vicinity heard it and were trying (and failing) to hide their own amusement.
"Oh, shut up." Narashi said to the still laughing Hokage, even though he could feel his own laughter starting to bubble in his chest. "It's like you and the medic said, I haven't eaten anything in two weeks. Give me a break."
"Sorry." Minato said, finally getting his laughter under control. "But I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that was a 'yes,' right?" Narashi nodded. "Come on then, I know this really great place. Oh, um...you do like ramen, right?" As he said this, Minato had a look on his face that said "There's no way you couldn't" as well as "if you don't, I'll make you learn to like it." He needn't have worried, though.
"Of course I like ramen! Who doesn't? Ramen is the best. I could literally live off ramen if I had to."
'Which we won't, if I have anything to say about it."
'What do you mean by that? There is no way I'm going to stop eating ramen just because you don't want to.'
'That's not what I'm saying. I just meant that there needs to be something other than ramen in our diet. Kami only knows how many times I've told you that.'
'Hmph. Whatever, so long as it's not nasty like those things you gave me a few years ago.'
Kakashi simply sighed in response. '...You're hopeless.'
"By the way, Minato?" The man in question looked towards Narashi. "Hmm? What?" "Where are we going, anyway?"
Minato grinned. "Oh, just a ramen stand called 'Ichiraku Ramen.' Easily the best ramen in all of Fire Country, in my opinion." Narashi couldn't stop the grin growing on his face.
'Yatta! Ichiraku Ramen!'
This mental cheer brought another sigh from Kakashi, while thinking to himself, Of all the people to be sent back in time and fused with, it just had to be with Konoha's number one hyperactive, Ramen King ninja, Uzumaki Naruto.Sigh. Well, at least it's not Gai, or his mini-clone, Lee (and thank Kami for that). I don't think I'd be able to keep my sanity if that had happened.
OOOOOOOOOO
After satisfying their stomachs with about half a dozen bowls each, the two men now sat across from each other in the Hokage's office, the large, oak desk between them. Minato had already activated the seals that made it impossible for anyone but the room's occupants to hear what was being discussed. He'd already told the ANBU guards outside the door that they weren't to be disturbed unless it was either a) an emergency, or b) the visitors were his two students, Kakashi and Rin, or his wife, Kushina (the three of which he had an open door policy with unless he was in a top-secret meeting). With these security measures in place, the two were finally willing to talk.
"So, Narashi," Yondaime started, all business now. "Now that we're here, and safe from prying ears, can you answer my questions now? I've given you my side of the story, now I want to know yours. What happened to you, and how did you get there?" Narashi stayed silent for several minutes. While he wasn't physically saying a word, inside he was debating with himself again on what to say and how to say it.
'Well, Kakashi-sensei? What are we gonna say?'
'For now, we'll just tell him about Kyuubi's attack on the village in a year. Also, maybe a brief explanation of how we got here in the first place, at least what we know. And while it may be useless to try, we've go to keep our identities a secret for as long as possible. Again, Minato-sensei is smart enough to figure it out on his own, but the longer he doesn't know, the better.'
'Right. Well, we might as well start somewhere.' Narashi took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before he started.
"What I'm about to tell you, Minato, may sound completely unbelievable, but I assure you, it's all true. It is also very important that what I tell you remains between the two of us. If you have to tell someone, please notify me beforehand. There are very few people I'm willing to know about this. When I'm finished, I tink you'll understand why." Narashi looked toward the Hokage in front of him, face completely serious. "Can I have you word, first, that you will tell no one what I'm going to say?"
Minato looked every bit the serious Hokage that he's portrayed as on the monument when he spoke. "I may have only become Hokage recently, but I don't activate the privacy seals on this room lightly, Narashi. I promise, whatever is said in this room while they're active, stays in this room."
Narashi nodded, satisfied. "Okay. It's a long story, so save any questions you have until I'm done, okay?" Getting a nod of agreement, he continued. "Well, there's no point in beating around the bush with this, so I'm just going to say it bluntly. I'm from the future. Seventeen years in the future to be exact." Seeing the suddenly dumbfounded look on Minato's face, he grinned. "I told you it would be unbelievable. But like I said, this is all true. To my knowledge, at least. And you've probably already guessed that 'Hazaki Narashi' isn't my real name. For obvious reason, I'd like to keep my actual identity a secret." For as long as possible, at least. "Though, I suppose in one wants to get technical, I should've said identities instead."
This time, Narashi laughed slightly when he saw the confused look on Minato's face, as well as the visible effort he was making not to ask the numerous questions that were no doubt zooming through his mind. "You see, I'm actually two people in one. We were sparring in one of the training fields when we felt a sudden increase in chakra around the area, chakra that wasn't any that we recognized. We look up to see this giant ball of chakra headed straight for us. Next thing we know, I'm waking up in the hospital. I don't know how or why, but somewhere (or rather, when) between then and now, the two of us became the one you see before you." Narashi finished his brief explanation, gesturing towards himself with both hands. "Okay, you can ask some questions now. It's obvious you aren't going to be able to hold back much longer. Just try to keep them quick. There's something else I need to talk to you about but it can wait for now." Narashi leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, waiting expectantly for Minato to start.
Minato stayed silent for a moment, trying to absorb what he'd been told while wondering what questions he wanted to ask. There were so many going through his head, that it was difficult just keeping track of them all. Admittedly, a large part of him just wanted to believe that Narashi was just a Rock spy that was terrible when coming up with cover stories. But spies are only sent if they can come up with believable background explanations, with proof.
So, in an ironic twist of fate, it was the craziness of what Narashi told him that made it seem more likely that he was telling the truth. Realizing this, the part of Minato that wanted to believe otherwise started cursing whatever good that seemed to hate him and took great pleasure in making his growing migraine increase. He knew how to deal with spies, even if he didn't like to, but timetravelers were an entirely different story.
Wanting to get his mind away from that topic, Minato asked one of the first questions that had come to mind. "Okay, so let me get this straight. You came her from seventeen years in the future?" A nod. "You don't know who did this or why?" Another nod, accompanying the statement "Not a clue." "You're two shinobi, Konoha by the sounds of it, who were sparring before you ended up here." Once again, Narashi nodded. "But that doesn't quite explain how you looked like you just fought you're worst enemy and lost when my team and I found you. Even if you combined the injuries you might've sustained while fighting each other, I doubt it would've equaled that, unless you were aiming to kill each other, which I doubt. So how did you get so injured?"
"I'm not completely sure." Narashi answered immediately. "But I do have a theory. You know how some people consider black holes to be gateways between dimensions or the key to time travel?" Minato nodded, a spark of understanding starting to shine in his eyes as he realized where Narashi was going with this. "But this is virtually impossible to test, since anything that enters a black is almost instantly destroyed. I don't know if that's true or now, but I think that's essentially what happened; that whatever time stream I was traveling through was tearing my body apart. I can't really explain how I survived relatively intact, I'm just counting myself lucky that I did." That's not exactly true, but I"d rather not mention Kyuubi if I don't have to. "So, anything else you want to know? Surely that can't be all."
Minato propped his head up in his hand, staring thoughtfully at the desk surface. "I suppose, what I really want to know," he started, bringing his sapphire eyes up to meet Narahi's mismatched ones, "is why are you telling me this? Normally, one would think that you'd try to keep your presence a secret as much as possible. And yet, almost the very instant you wake up and realize what time you're in, you tell someone. Why?"
"Simple, really." Narashi replied. "I may not have had a choice in coming here, but I'm not passing up the chance to change things, hopefully for the better. There's a lot that happened over the past seventeen years that I wished I could change, but couldn't. Now I can, so I'm taking it."
"And if history only turns out worse? What then?" Minato asked softly, his voice worried.
"I can't guarantee that won't happen," Narashi answered, shrugging. "Heck, for all I know, I may be inadvertently causing the destruction of Konoha. But like they always say, you never know until you try."
Minato stared at him silently for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah, you're right." He smirked slightly. "Besides, if events go to hell like that, you'll be paying the price along side the rest of us, most likely. Well, anyway," he ignored Narashi's scoff at what he said. "What do you plan to change? I'm guessing that another reason you're telling me all this was so I could help, instead of you just changing time from the shadows. So, tell me, what are you changing and why?"
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you everything? That's practically begging the gods to send us all to hell by messing up the timeline. Besides, I'm focusing on one thing at a time. But now that we're on the subject, I will tell you what I'd planned on earlier. So just sit quietly and listen to me right now, cause this is very important." He ignored Minato's glare and muttered "Don't boss the Hokage around like that," and kept speaking.
"What I'm telling you now, Minato, is a major event in Konoha's history, and one of the main ones that I want to change. The main reason I'm telling you is because you play a large role in this." Narashi paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "In one year, on October tenth, the Nine-Tailed, Demon Fox is going to attack Konoha." Minato gasped, shocked, but otherwise kept silent. "No one knows why," Yeah, and note to self, ask Kyuubi later, "so I can't stop the attack itself, even though I wish I could. You managed to create a jutsu just in time that would seal the Kyuubi away into a newborn child, whose chakra coils were the only ones undeveloped enough that they could grow used to the demonic chakra. However, the jutsu had a price..." Narashi swallowed hard, averting his eyes away from the Yondaime's, towards the floor. He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. It didn't matter though. Minato understood what wasn't said just as clearly as what had been spoken.
"I died, didn't I? The cost of the sealing jutsu is the user's life." Narashi's silence spoke more clearly than words ever could. Minato stood up, sighing, and looked out the windows behind his chair that overlooked the village. The room was silent for a few minutes, the occupants each pondering over what had been said since they entered and the implications of what they would mean for the future.
'Should we have told him that much?'
'I'm not really sure. But...consequences or not, the more Minato-sensei knows about the sealing jutsu, the greater chance he has creating something better.'
'Yeah, you have a point there. But, considering that, should we tell him who-'
Kakashi cut Naruto off. 'No. Not unless he asks specifically. And that won't come for at least another three or four months, hopefully longer. For that matter, it'd be best if we don't mention you at all until Minato-sensei finds out himself. Besides, Kushina-neesan would hurt us if she isn't the one to break to the news to him first. Considering how she talked about his reaction to anyone and everyone for days afterwards, she enjoyed it immensely. I couldn't, in good conscience, take that chance away from her.'
'Why? How did he react exactly?' Naruto knew that now probably wasn't the time to be talking about this, but he'd so little about his parents during his life that he jumped at the chance to hear something about them (though, he realized now that he'd technically been hearing about his father for years and just never knew). Also, he wanted to think about something else right now other than the Kyuubi's attack right now, or anything to do with it. So instead he listened to what Kakashi was telling him.
'The classic husband/lovers reaction, of course. He fainted.'
'...You're joking, right? Please tell me you're joking.'
'I'm not.' It was obvious that Kakashi was probably grinning behind his mask, enjoying the chance to humiliate his sensei, if only indirectly. 'When she told him the good news, he fainted almost instantly. He woke up about five minutes later, wondering why he was on the floor, remembered, and fainted again. Rin and I saw the second faint with our own eyes.' Kakashi had long since started laughing at this point, with Naruto soon following once he got over the shock that his life-long idol and hero had actually fainted. This, of course, only made it more difficult to keep a straight face, and made Narashi very grateful that the man who he was silently laughing at had his back turned.
Kakashi managed to get his laughter under control long enough to continue. 'Kushina-neesan, Rin, and I got a lot of entertainment out of telling the rest of Konoha about it every chance we had, and I will be very upset if anything happens to keep me from experiencing it again.'
Narashi probably would've kept up his mental conversation at the "great" Yondaime Hokage's expense when he was interrupted by a loud "ACHOO!" that came from the man himself, who was turning back around now.
He instantly wiped his face of all emotion, adopting an "I'm innocent" look, nearly perfect with only the halo above his head missing. Guess it's true what they say about sneezing when someone talks about you behind your back. Of course, Minato instantly saw through the innocent act, eyes narrowing suspiciously. Just as he was going to say something, there was a sudden knocking on the door, which opened before either shinobi could react.
And stepping through the door were none other than a thirteen year old Takahasi Rin and Hatake Kakashi.
"Sensei!" Rin said the instant she walked in. "Kakashi and I were just at the hospital and the medics there said that-oh!" Apparently she had just noticed Narashi sitting there, who had turned statue-still when the two walked in, completely shocked.
'Okay, I know we're in the past and I knew that we were bound to run into your younger self sooner or later; but knowing and seeing are two entirely different things! It's really weird seeing you looking younger than me!'
'If you think it's weird now, just wait until Kushina-neesan starts showing her pregnancy in about half a year. Then you'll know how I feel right now.' Narashi was brought back to the real world by Rin, who was smiling brightly at him. "It's true. You really have woken up. That's great!"
Narashi smiled back, albeit a little shakily. "You must be Minato's students that he told me about earlier. Rin and Kakashi, right?" The two teenagers nodded. "Thank you for your help before. Probably wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. My name's Hazaki Narashi, by the way."
After Rin said the usual "you're welcome, we were glad to help" response, Kakashi asked, "What happened to you anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is." Despite his relatively light, curious tone, it was still apparent that Kakashi was suffering a bad case of depression at the moment, if the pallor of his skin (or what was visible of it at least) and the bags under his visible eye were anything to go by. Rin was in a similar condition, though not as bad. Naruto probably would've said something about it, but Kakashi had quickly told him to keep his mouth shut.
"Ah, sorry Kakashi, but I don't really remember much." Narashi said in response to his question. "I was just scouting the area when I felt a sudden chakra spike to the side. Next thing I know, I'm waking up in the hospital, only to find out I've been asleep for two weeks."
Kakashi's eyebrow raised at the explanation, not believing a word of it. "Really?" He looked towards Minato questioningly, as if asking "do you really believe that?" The older man simply smiled reassuringly. A silent conversation passed between them, the contents of which Narashi didn't understand, but it apparently ended in his favor as Kakashi relaxed slightly. 'Probably realizes that the Hokage knows the full story and that it has to remain a secret.'
Minato then addressed both of his students. "We were just about to discuss what Narashi was going to do now that he's awake and out of the hospital. On that topic, could the two of you do me a favor?"
"What is it?" Rin asked.
"Could you find Kushina-chan for me and ask her if she could come here later today. There's something important I need to talk to her about that can't really wait until tonight." Narashi shot a quick look towards him, wondering what this "something important" was, only receiving a quick smile in return, reassuring him that it didn't pertain to what they had talked about.
The look wasn't lost on either of the younger ninjas, but they decided not to comment on it. Instead, Rin said, "Sure, we can tell her." She turned toward Narashi. "It's good to see you doing well, Narashi-san." He nodded to her, smiling again in thanks. "Come on, Kakashi, Kushina-neechan is probably at training ground five right now." Waving good-bye to the other two, both of them left.
Narashi released a relieved sigh. "Well that went better than I though it would. Could've done with a bit more warning though," he muttered softly to himself. Louder, he asked, "Hey, Minato, why was Rin so happy that I was ok?"
Minato frowned sadly, thinking about the answer. "During the mission where we found you, one of their teammates didn't survive. Making sure you survived was something that they could focus on, something that could got right, for once." Minato then smirked, as if he knew something that Narashi didn't. "But, then again, you probably already knew that. Right, Kakashi?"
A/N: Is it just me, or are my chapters getting longer? I'd originally planned to end this chapter a little further than this, in fact, but I was really tired finishing this last night and figured, since you guys had already waited 3 weeks for an update, that here was a good place to stop.
IMPORTANT
I think I speak for everyone who's read chapter 367 of the manga (and if you haven't, go read it NOW) when I say "YES!! FINALLY!!" does a victory dance It's about time Kishimoto confirmed it. And we all finally have names! Yay!
EDIT: The poll I had up is now closed. The majority was in favor of the change, so I've done so. I apologize to anyone who would've preferred to keep it with Arashi.
Oh, and just to let you know, I start my senior year next week, so updates might become a little slower. I'll update at least once a month, hopefully twice, but I can't make any promises on the latter.
