Chapter X: When I'm Gone
"Nngh..."
"Hold still, Yumi-chan..." Minato murmured reassuringly. Yumi just continued to clutch tightly onto the sleeves of his dusty shirt, squeezing one eye shut with pain while Tamura applied some anesthetic to the gash on her arm. The girl cringed more, curling up into a ball but still held out her arm for Tamura to tend to. Minato placed a hand on her head and stroked her dirty brown hair to soothe her. Kushina sat a few feet away, pinching her nose shut while Hiroshi slept in her lap, leaning against her shoulder. Tamura straightened himself with a light sigh, before he smiled warily.
"The medicine in Konoha is just amazing..." Tamura murmured as he capped the bottle again, pulling the small, soaked cotton ball away from Yumi's wound. The clear liquid in the bottle was still more than full, looking as if Tamura barely even used it at all. Yumi opened her eyes and turned to look over at Tamura, whom went digging through his small medicine bag once more. Minato exhaled a soft sigh, causing Yumi to look up at him. She returned her gaze back to Tamura when she no longer heard the rummaging. Tamura looked a bit disappointed at how small the roll of bandages were, but he pulled some out and carefully wrapped it around Yumi's arm, causing her to flinch. Tamura murmured for her to bear it just a bit longer, making sure that the bandage was wrapped securely around her wound before he pulled back, dropping the remaining roll of bandages back into his bag and closing it.
"Phew..." The client wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, before he smiled warily. "More than half of my supplies gone due to today..."
"We're sorry." Minato murmured, looking down when Yumi's grip on his shirt lightened. The girl was beginning to look drowsy, her eyelids drooping and her head slowly tilting down wards. "If we had known the rogues were going to ambush the village, maybe less people would have been hurt..." Minato took Yumi from underneath the arms and lifted her off the ground with a small grunt, carrying her across the small hut and onto the bundle of hay at the back.
"That may be so... but all of you stopped the rogues from completely destroying the village."
"Tamura-san-" Minato turned around, but blinked when he saw that Tamura was lowered onto the floor in a deep, formal bow.
"I can't thank you all enough...!"
Kushina turned her head to look over at Minato to see his reaction. The blond Chuunin blinked, but he calmed and smiled weakly.
"You're the one who requested the mission, Tamura-san... We're only doing our job as ninja." Minato kept smiling, but glimpsed back out the window and realized that the last of the sunlight was beginning to die out. "It's been a long day... You should go get some sleep, Tamura-san..."
"You're right..." Tamura had already sat up, then took his medicine bag and slowly got to his feet. He exhaled a light sigh, and how tired he was clearly evident on his face. Tamura slowly loped over to the exit of the hut, looking over his shoulder to cast another grateful smile at the two ninja before he slipped out into the darkening streets. Minato sighed softly as well, but his smile soon returned when he turned to look at Kushina. The kunoichi just returned the look, before she grinned back. Minato stiffened slightly, but soon recovered and continued to smile.
Minato's blue gaze shifted back over to the window, a sudden thought suddenly coming back to him.
"Namikaze, you take the first shift tonight."
"Ah..." Minato shifted a bit and looked at Kushina. "I gotta watch guard for a bit..."
Kushina snorted a bit. "Are you sure? The rogues are pretty much gone now.."
Minato shook his head. "Who knows? A couple of them could be hanging around... And I don't really want to be kicked awake by Fugaku-taichou or anything." He laughed nervously at the thought. Kushina grunted as she recalled when she was kicked in the stomach by her bunshin during her previous mission.
"Yeah... Fugaku-taichou said I take the second shift, right, 'tebayo?" She grumbled softly, suddenly reminded to keep her voice level down when Hiroshi shifted where he slept in her lap. Minato stifled a nod.
"I can take over your watch if you want..."
Kushina snorted again. "And let you stay up? Forget it. Wake me up when it's my turn, datte'sa..."
As if to end the discussion, Kushina shifted to pick Hiroshi up and put him into the haystack beside his sister. Minato just continued to stare as the kunoichi made way to the wall next to the makeshift bed, lowering to the floor and leaning against the wall. Kushina paused when the wall creaked a bit, but relaxed when it was able to support most of her weight.
"G'night, blondy."
"Good night, Kushina-san.." Minato smiled, before he slung his weight sword across his back and left the hut.
Minato took a few moments to glimpse around, getting a good look of his surroundings before the streets turned completely dark. A soft sigh escaped the Chuunin, his gaze flitting up wards. There were a bunch of clouds hanging overhead, blocking out the moonlight most of the time. Minato shook his head and turned to trail around the village, being sure to keep his senses sharp as he walked around. Of course, to him it was rather difficult to do so. As usual, Kushina plagued his mind. As well as thoughts of this afternoon. Another sigh slipped past his mouth.
More than ever did he want to rewind back a few hours previously, when he had his arms around Kushina's waist to shield her from the small explosive the rogue leader had thrown. Minato turned red at the thought and shook his head, trying to focus on keeping watch around the dark village.
His sense managed to kick in when Minato felt someone shifting through the village. Shoulders tensing, Minato darted forward with his footsteps barely audible, his hand already reaching for his sword. As he approached the person, he hoped it wasn't some random villager he was about to assault. Though the silhouette of a club raised over the large man's head proved him other wise, and the Chuunin drew his own weapon.
Minato silently cursed the blocked moonlight. He still wasn't attuned to fighting in the darkness, so he only hoped that he could actually attack and dodge correctly out of sound and sense alone.
The rogue grinned snidely, though Minato couldn't see it, and brought down his club on the boy. Minato could hear the large whoosh the wooden weapon made, and spun to his right to evade the attack. While he spun, Minato reached out with his sword to cut into the man's stomach. The Chuunin then shifted and appeared on the rogue's shoulders, tightly clasping his hands over the rogue's mouth to muffle the yell. The rogue writhed as if Minato wasn't there, before he stiffened and fell to the ground. Minato jumped back before the bulky man could hit the dirt, exhaling a deep sigh. The Chuunin remained where he was for atleast half a minute, before he cautiously approached the silhouette of the fallen rogue.
There was a small splash when Minato approached the rogue's side, and it made him stiffen as the blood's scent finally wafted up to his nose. Minato hesitantly withdrew his sword back into its sheath on his back, before he lowered to reach out and touch the man's back. He shivered when the rogue's skin was already deathly cold against his fingertips.
Did I just kill him?
Minato's hand unconscious reached up to cover his mouth, feeling his stomach threatening to spew out the food he barely had eaten.
This fear was starting to get ridiculous. He was a ninja, practically a tool used for death nearly everyday. The man was only a rogue and yet Minato was there feeling as though he had to throw up. The blond mentally punched himself in the stomach when he felt himself beginning to shiver.
Stop. stop stop stop stop stop. Minato repeated in his head, squeezing his blue eyes shut to force himself to stop shaking. This is just one man I don't know... Be lucky that it wasn't someone close to me...
Minato's shivering seemed to halt at that sudden thought, and he slowly opened his eyes to stare into the dark street. The night air was still, and he could only hear his own heartbeat as well as his shaken breathing. As the minutes passed, Minato's breathing was calmed as well, keeping the previous thought in mind.
He exhaled a wary, dragging sigh and hung his head a bit, before he straightened himself and got up. Minato rubbed his temples a bit, shaking his head before he turned to look down at the rogue's silhouette. The corner of his mouth twitched but then he sighed and lowered to haul the man off the ground, then dragged him out of the street. Of course, Minato didn't have a shovel, nor did he have any knowledge of Doton jutsus. He shook his head and continued to drag the bulky man to the edge of the village, dumping him into some foliage and sighing a bit.
The blond Chuunin shook his head and turned around to head back into the village, kicking some dirt to cover up the small puddle of blood. Minato dozed for several moments, but remembered that he was on guard duty and started walking silently around the village.
It was quiet for the rest of his shift, no signs of other rogues in hiding other than the first one.. Minato truly was tempted to take over Kushina's shift, but he shook his head when he recalled that she would take her own turn. He turned to look around, thanking the cold wind when it pushed some of the clouds from the moon's path to give him some lighting. The blond wandered the village for another half a minute, before he finally found Yumi and Hiroshi's home and entered.
Instead of Kushina sitting up, she had fallen asleep on her side, curled up slightly to retain warmth against the cold air.
Minato couldn't stop himself from smiling at the sight. He stepped forward to approached her, lowering down and reaching out to shake her awake. He paused a couple of inches away from her shoulder, another sudden thought hitting him. Something that both his sensei and Kuromaru had said.
"This mission's a good chance to tell her."
Hesitantly, Minato drew his hand back to clutch the part of his shirt above his heart, turning his head to look away from Kushina. "..."
He exhaled a soft sigh and turned to look out the window, managing to catch a glimpse of the white moon before it disappeared behind the clouds once more.
... Sensei... Kuromaru... you might think I can just tell her... but it's easier said than done... He shook his head and closed his eyes, lowering his head slightly. The reality is that I'm still too scared... I can't just tell her... not yet...
Minato opened his eyes, staring at Kushina's relaxed, slumbering expression.
When I'm ready... I'll tell her...
Minato reached out and gently took Kushina by the shoulder to wake her.
"Kushina-san..."
"Geeehhhhh that was great!! Gosousama!" Daylian grinned widely after he set the pair of chopsticks back on the small dish before him, leaning back with a satisfied sigh. Tsume and Kuromaru were beginning to wolf down on the last of their food, devouring every little specks in the bowls. Kushina took a long drink from the tea Tamura provided, exhaling a large sigh before placing the cup down. Fugaku sat with his arms folded, already done with his meal and looking rather unimpressed by the quality of it. Minato gingerly picked at the last pieces of his food, feeling guilty that Yumi and Hiroshi weren't able to eat as much as the ninja just did. Tamura smiled from where he sat across the Chuunin.
"Just some of the ways you can repay you for driving the rogues away..."
"It wasn't that hard!!" Tsume barked with her mouth full of rice, spitting out a couple of pieces when she spoke. Kuromaru didn't hesitate to lick up those pieces. "Most of them were like mentally retarded or something! I mean it's like they were freaking cavemen or something!"
Tamura laughed nervously. "Still... we cannot thank you enough... When will you be leaving, though?"
"Within the hour." Fugaku replied almost immediately. "It's nearly been a week... It's about time to return to our village, if we're done here."
Kushina frowned at the Uchiha's last sentence, before she plopped the last bit of rice into her mouth and chewed. Jerk...
"Oh.. I see." Tamura mumbled, clearly not wanting to see them off so soon. Fugaku only regarded this, looking over at Daylian. The black-haired Uzu-nin's expression dropped at this. "..."
"Will you be returning with us to Konoha?" Fugaku questioned, his voice giving off no emotion. Daylian snorted.
"Would you rather I crawled in a ditch and joined the rest of my family?" Daylian retorted with another smirk. Kushina could feel herself freeze, but she forced herself to swallow her food. She turned to look over at the Uchiha, and anger replaced sadness when she saw that Fugaku had a brow risen. Though it was hard to tell, there was a small message in his eyes that said 'Go ahead, then.'
Daylian must have caught that look as well, since he threatened to get up and punch the daylights out of Fugaku. Minato frowned and got up, placing a hand on Daylian's shoulder to stop him from doing so.
"Calm down, please, Daylian-san..." Minato murmured, managing to slowly push Daylian back onto the floor. The Uzu nin still seemed to be angry, since he glared past Minato and at Fugaku while he gritted his teeth. Minato turned to look back at Fugaku, but the Uchiha's face was smoothed over, eyes no longer displaying any emotion.
Fugaku only regarded the small scene by getting to his feet. He ran his hand over his clothing to rid it of the dust. "Get ready, all of you... We're leaving soon..."
With that, the Uchiha turned around and left the large hut, the woven mat falling back into his place. Daylian growled and crossed his arms.
"Dammit, that guy..."
Tsume groaned and rubbed her temples. "We can survive another three days..." She muttered, creating small circles in her temple using her fingers. Kuromaru shook his head. He stretched, stifled a yawn, and got to his paws.
"You heard the leader... We gotta go and pack the stuff. Or you, anyway." The black and gray ninken's shoulder blades shifted in a shrug. Tsume rolled her eyes but got to her feet.
"Thanks for the food, Tamura-yatsu." She murmured, raising a hand in a wave before she left as well. Kuromaru trotted after her in silence.
Minato, Kushina, and Daylian all glanced at each other when none of them made a move to leave. Minato sat back down and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I never really unpacked..."
"I'm still carrying everything, datte'sa." Kushina deadpanned a bit and patted her weapon pouch. Daylian snorted and flopped onto his back, folding his arms beneath his head in a simple makeshift pillow.
"Never carried anything to begin with." He stated simply with a light shrug. Tamura shook his head from where he was, getting to his feet and trailing to the other side of the hut.
"Well you're about to carry some stuff... If you're going to be traveling back, then I have to give you some medicine..."
Daylian groaned at this. Though he remained silent. There was no point in arguing with Tamura in a situation like this. For all he knew, if he tried to protest, Tamura could just lodge a bunch of medicine down his throat to knock him out for the next three days. And if that happened, then Fugaku would probably try and throw him in a ditch or something. Then Kushina would get all angry... Daylian deadpanned as he train of thoughts continued onto more random topics.
Kushina waved a hand in front of his violet eyes a few times. Tamura trailed back over with a small parcel, staring down at Daylian.
"Is he alright?"
"He thinks alot. Just one of his moments." Kushina shrugged a bit, giving up on trying to snap him out of his thoughts.
"How long do they normally last?" Minato questioned, staring at Daylian's dozing eyes. Kushina shrugged once more.
"Depends on if he's imaginative at the moment or not, 'tebayo."
Minato laughed nervously at this response, but got to his feet when Tamura handed the small parcel to Kushina. He brushed the dust off his clothing, turning to look over at the other three in the hut.
"I'll go get my stuff... and say goodbye to Yumi-chan and Hiroshi-kun.." His expression dropped a bit at this, before he turned around to leave the hut. Kushina blinked a bit and jumped to her feet.
"Hey, I'm coming too!" She called, before spinning around on her heels to speak to Tamura next. "When Da-nii comes back, tell him we'll be back soon."
Tamura nodded at this, tilting his head to look down at the dozing Uzu nin. Kushina grinned a bit, before she spun on her heels and strode forward to catch up to Minato. The blond smiled lightly when Kushina caught up, before holding the mat aside for her to pass through. She just mumbled a quick thanks to him and walked out onto the street to walk in the direction of the small children's' hut. Minato caught up to her moments after, sighing softly as he thought about how the two orphans would react to their leaving. Well, they would find out in a bit, but Minato could probably guess what the scene would be like. He glimpsed over at Kushina, wondering she was thinking. Her expression was blank and unreadable, making the blond sigh inwardly.
As the two approached the hut, the two said children stepped outside to greet them. Minato inwardly flinched. Yumi looked as though she were about to break down crying, while Hiroshi... well, Hiroshi was still sucking his thumb with a blank expression. Usual. Minato could feel Kushina flinch from beside him as well.
"You guys are going to leave already?" Yumi questioned as soon as they were within earshot, not whispering this time while she fought the tears from falling. Minato forced himself to smile, though it was weak.
"We have to return to our village..." He explained. Yumi winced and lowered her eyes. "..."
Kushina managed to crack a small smile as well. "Hey... don't be like that..." She trailed off, unable to think of anything reassuring to say. It's not like they would come back... so there wasn't much to say.
Yumi hesitantly nodded though. Hiroshi shuffled silently into the hut, returning moments later holding Minato's bag with some difficulty. Minato's eyes widened a bit, but he smiled and took the bag from the small boy.
"Arigatou..."
"I packed some apples for you guys..."
Kushina and Minato both stared at Hiroshi, amazed that he spoke at all. Yumi just looked at her brother, before looking back at the older ninja. Clearly she had heard her younger brother's voice before, so she only regarded it. The ninja, however, were still staring at the boy. Hiroshi started to grow uncomfortable at this, squirming before he scurried back to cower behind his sister. Yumi lowered her gaze once more, raising her finger to touch her lip. "..."
"Come on, Yumi-chan..." Minato murmured. He slung his bag onto one shoulder and soon felt the pressure of his sword on his back, but regarded this. He stepped forward and lowered onto one knee before the orphan girl. Yumi slowly turned her gaze to look into his blue ones. "...?"
"We'll still be friends, no matter how far apart we are..."
"...!" Yumi looked up when Minato got back up to his feet, before she stepped back and took her brother's hand. "Okay..."
Minato managed to smile, for real this time, at the girl, before he turned to look over at Kushina. The kunoichi shrugged a bit, but bit her lip when she looked back over at the little kids. Hiroshi was now standing besides Yumi, a couple of tears already straying past his eyes and down his dirty cheeks. Yumi was holding his hand carefully, her free hand up by her lip again. Minato smiled weakly again, raising his hand in a wave.
"Good bye..." He murmured. Kushina pursed her lips, but slowly turned around. Minato took another look at the two kids, before he turned around as well.
"Minato-kun... Kushina-chan..."
The two halted when Yumi spoke their names, both of them looking over their shoulders in unison. Yumi took a couple of steps forward, pulling Hiroshi along with her. "Can... can you help save villages like ours?" She asked, loudly enough so that the two could hear. Minato could hear Kushina draw in a sharp breath. Minato turned his head to stare at Kushina. Her eyes were widened slightly, and she slowly turned her own head to look at him as well. Minato nodded a bit and looked back over at the two children.
"I... we promise... We won't let any more villages fall so long as we can help them."
"A promise of a lifetime, datte'sa." Kushina added. Minato looked back over at her, only to see that her expression was serious. As the kunoichi turned around to leave, she didn't look back at him. Minato's gaze shifted back over to Yumi, whom was nodding and allowing the tears to fall while she waved. Hiroshi was waving his own hand weakly up and down in simple motions. Minato smiled lightly before he raised his own hand in a wave, turning to follow Kushina.
"What a promise..." Was the first thing Kushina murmured once Minato got in pace with her. Her voice cracked a bit when she spoke. Kushina wiped her eyes. "I'm not sure if I can actually keep that promise or not..."
"..." Minato was hesitant in doing so, but he placed a hand on Kushina's shoulder. He could feel Kushina stiffen a bit from beneath his hand, but her shoulder dropped as she slowly calmed.
"We'll just do the best we can... alright?"
Kushina stared blankly at the ground before her, before she slowly grinned and looked back over at Minato. The blond saw the sudden change in her expression and, as always, he could feel the blood rising up to his cheeks in a blush once more. Though he just grinned back in response, motioning to the front and hoped that she wouldn't take notice of his red face.
"Come on... we should catch up with the others. It's about time we headed back home..."
The kunoichi paused at his words then stared at him for several moments, as if thinking. She pursed her lips for a moment. Home... But soon enough, the grin returned and Kushina punched the air. "Alright! Back to Konoha it is, dattebayo!!"
"I have hated the last three days!!" Daylian yelled out on the final day of the trip, his voice echoing slightly against some of the larger trees of the Hi no Kuni's giant forest. To try to get himself to focus on something else, Daylian took a large swig of the bottled medicine he held in his hand and then crumbled the paper bag with his other. The black hair Uzu nin grimaced in disgust when he lowered the emptied bottle, also hating the fact that he didn't have anything to wash away the taste of the medicine. Tsume grumbled and unplugged her ears, muttering about Daylian being a bit loud. Kuromaru only shook his head.
"We're almost there, though." The Ninken pointed out. Daylian couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes, before he forced himself to calm down and look down at Kushina.
"How big is the place, anyway?"
"You've been asking that question for the past few days." Kushina only grumbled back in response, looking up at him from the corners of her eyes. Daylian stifled a shrug.
"I don't want to get lost..." He mumbled. Snickers escaped Minato at the thought. Clearly he was able to remember when Kushina first arrived to Konoha, lost and confused as to where to go. Just about everything they talked about was still crystal clear to him, right down to him catching her when she fell... Minato's face dropped a bit at the sudden remembrance. He raised his hand and faked a cough, giving him an excuse to cover a bit of his face with his mouth. Blue eyes trailed over to the others to see if they would notice.
Thankfully, Kushina pointed ahead to divert their attention to something else.
"There's the gates!!" She cried.
Minato followed her gaze with the rest of the group. Indeed, the large walls that surrounded Konohagakure were barely visible over the line of trees before them. The opened gates were within sight on the cleared path before them, as well.
"Damn!! I knew Konoha was huge, but...!" Daylian scratched his head, continuing to stare in awe at the slowly-approaching village. Kushina grinned as well.
"That's what I thought, exactly..."
Fugaku cleared his throat from where he was leading the group, turning his head to look over his shoulder. "Of course Konoha is naturally large... We are one of the five principle shinobi countries... Unlike Uzu was." He added snidely. Kushina's eyes narrowed angrily at this, before she stepped forward and took the Uchiha by the shoulder to spin him around. She gathered a fistful of his shirt, yanking him down to her eye level.
"That was uncalled for, bastard!!" She snarled into his face. Fugaku just remained calm, his emotionless facade unwavering.
"I believe Sandaime Hokage-sama is waiting for us to report back from the mission." Fugaku just stated. Kushina breathed heavily in anger, red-brown eyes still narrowed into a dangerous glare. Slowly, with her hand quivering, she released Fugaku's clothing to allow him to straight. The Uchiha smoothed out his clothes, staring at Kushina for longer moments before he turned around. He raised his hand and caught the punch that was thrown his way, taking Daylian's arm and flipping him. Daylian landed roughly on his back, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to cringe from the pain as well.
"Daylian-nii!!" Kushina cried as she rushed over to her brother's side. Minato, Tsume and Kuromaru were instantly on guard, frowning deeply while their feet parted slightly, preparing for any worst-case scenarios. Fugaku just glared down at Daylian.
Daylian grimaced and coughed a bit, scowling when he could taste blood in his mouth. He opened his eyes, and stiffened a bit when he found himself looking up at a pair of glaring Sharingan eyes.
"I am the leader of this platoon, whether you like me or not." Fugaku growled. "It is a shinobi's job to obey by that leader's orders. It doesn't matter if you hate me, I'm leader either way." With that, Fugaku turned and continued down the path, as if he was never attacked or even said a word. Daylian bit back a growl and struggled to sit up, Kushina helping him. "Dammit..."
Minato exhaled a sigh and dropped his shoulders, moving forward and looking down at Daylian, Tsume and Kuromaru right behind him.
"Are you alright, Daylian-san?" He questioned, helping Kushina pull the Uzu nin to his feet. Daylian slowly nodded.
"I think I'm fine... Just that my back hurts like hell right now..." He hissed through his teeth. Kushina sighed in relief at this, but continued to support him. Tsume sighed and walked past them then halted a couple of steps to look back at them.
"C'mon... let's go report to Hokage-sama, like Uchiha said." The Inuzuka kunoichi growled. "Before he decides to wail on Daylian-yatsu or one of us." Kuromaru nodded in agreement to this, shifting to follow his human partner. Minato sighed and shot a glance at Daylian, then Kushina.
"Right..."
Kushina sighed softly as she trailed down the stairs to her apartment. Things were just tiring when they arrived back in Konoha. They went straight to the Hokage Tower and reported the mission, though Tsume and Kuromaru stayed behind for a few minutes since Fugaku left out alot of details that the Inuzuka pair felt that Sarutobi needed to know. After that, Minato showed her and Daylian to the hospital, since Sarutobi pointed out that it would be best if Daylian got his injuries looked at. (Of course, Daylian didn't really want to go, but since Sarutobi insisted that he did, he went.) Minato had gone home to tell his parents that he was back, while Kushina went to her home as well. She ate one of the last cups of ramen that Minato had bought her, and left soon after, feeling too anxious about Daylian to stay boxed inside of her apartment. Air was what she needed at the moment.
She jumped the last two steps and walked into the dirt streets. Maybe I'll go visit Sae... how long has it been since I've last seen her, anyway, datte'sa? Kushina thought for a few moments, then nodded and decided that it was time she visited one of her friends. Hopefully Sae wasn't angry that Kushina had been away for more than two weeks.
The Yamanaka wasn't.
"It's been so long, Kushina-chan!!" Sae immediately bounced around the counter, her footsteps silent against the floor, and gave Kushina a big hug. Kushina couldn't stop herself from smiling, but made no move since her arms were pinned by her sides.
"Yeah... Sorry."
"Oh, it's alright!" Sae smiled and released Kushina. She straightened herself, before motioning over to the counter so that they weren't loitering in the doorway. Sae returned onto the other side of the counter, leaning over it while she rested her head in her palm.
"Were your missions fun?" She questioned as soon as Kushina approached the counter. The kunoichi nodded a bit. She turned and leaned against the counter, being sure to allow Sae to see the doorway, and looked over her shoulder back at the Yamanaka.
"Well... The first one was boring. All I had to do was go to Ame to deliver a scroll... of course they were being paranoid, so they attacked the courier bird I was with, 'tebayo." Kushina rolled her eyes as she recalled the memory. Sae blinked her light-blue eyes.
"I see..."
Kushina stifled a shrug and took that as a hint to go on to the next mission.
"The next mission we had was a group mission-"
"Ooh! Who'd you go with?" Sae questioned immediately. Kushina stopped herself before she could sigh.
"Uh. Fugaku, Tsume, Kuromaru, and blondy." Kushina murmured. Sae blinked once more, before her mouth dropped open a bit.
"You went on a mission with Namikaze-kun?" She questioned. Her expression soon changed to a smug smile, before she leaned across the counter to move closer to Kushina. "Did you two do anything?"
Kushina rose a brow, looking over her shoulder and down at the half-crouching Yamanaka. "... Uhm... Can I keep telling what happened on the mission?"
Sae obviously took this the wrong way, since she squealed a bit and leaned back. "Tell me!!"
The red-haired kunoichi scratched her head a bit. "Well... The mission was that we had to escort the client guy back to his village and kill the rogues that've been attacking his town, 'tebayo..." She started. "But when we got there, it turns out my brother managed to hold off the rogues." Kushina turned to look back at Sae's reaction. Sae's mouth had dropped open again, eyes wide with clear shock.
"Your brother?! Is he okay?!"
"Yeah... He's in the hospital now, datte'sa." Kushina smiled and sighed with relief. "Just getting his injuries properly looked at..."
Sae straightened herself, closing her eyes and sighing as well. "That's good... atleast you're not alone anymore..." Sae smiled softly as she opened her eyes again. Kushina nodded a bit, before turning her head when a woman trailed into the shop. Sae noticed this as well, making her smile a tad larger.
"Welcome! Do you need any assistance?" Sae greeted. The woman looked up, then shook her head timidly. "I'm fine... just looking around..."
"Alright. I'll be right over here if you need anything." Sae nodded. She turned her gaze back to Kushina. "What else happened?"
"Well... I passed out... Blondy took care of me for a bit... Daylian-nii woke up and we talked about the rogues... We scouted around, but the village was being ambushed... we beat up the rogues. And the leader of the group of rogues blew himself up." Kushina dozed for a bit. "I think that about sums it up, dattebayo..."
Sae groaned a bit. "C'monnnn Kushina-channn! Details!"
Kushina sighed. "Okay okay... The battle, then... Geez... Uhhh. So I beat up a couple of rogues, one of them managed to kill my bunshin, though.. Anyways, Fugaku told us to follow him to the edge of the village, where Tsume and Kuromaru rounded them up... Uh. They had Tamura, the client, as a hostage... But blondy got 'im back, and the battle started..." Kushina dozed a bit as she fought to remember the battle that occurred a few days ago. "Uhhh... I think I got kicked in the stomach by a rogue, and one of them was about to stab me... Though Fugaku kinda saved me." She grumbled a bit. "I guess I kinda like him for that, but-"
"You like Fugaku?!" Sae obviously took the word 'like' the wrong way.
A pace or two outside the shop entrance, Minato froze. He was on his way to find his sensei, but had overheard the conversation right when Kushina was speaking the last couple of sentences. And he definitely heard what Sae just blurted out. Kushina liked Fugaku? Minato was too shocked to think clearly. He forced himself to breathe, before he spun around and disappeared in a high-speed shunshin.
He didn't want to hear the rest of the conversation.
Author(ess)'s notes:
Kilala: You say gosousama after you eat your meals. c: And before the meals you commonly say 'itadaki masu'. xP Just in case any of you didn't know.
And ohhhhhhhh I am so evil. But don't worry, you guys. C; All shall be explained in the next chapter...! Or two. xP
Gyehhh. I'm definitely evil. I'm being so mean to Minato-sama the day before Valentine's day. x.x (speaking of which, I hope you all have a good one! ;3)
(Oh, man. This chapter's a bit shorter than the others. Sorry about that, guys. x.x)
Edit: Whoops! xD Fixed an odd typo. Thanks to Ellenlome to pointing it out! -hands cookies-