A/N: I'll say this now, because I don't want there to be as much confusion, and certainly not unintentional at that. You've all probably noticed a few discrepancies with how the timeline seems to be, and that is because I've changed a few things to try and fit it into a more cohesive timeline because the original one was mind-boggling. Sorry to rant, but it's just the original one didn't make much sense and seemed to contradict itself.
9. Shards Of Memories
"So, where are we going?"
Jiraiya groaned, and Kira's nose wrinkled. "We've only been out of the village for an hour, you really gonna start the whole 'are we there yet' spiel?"
"No," Kira huffed, but he looked up at the man suspiciously, "and how do you know how long we've been gone for?"
"By the direction of the sun." Jiraiya replied. "And right now I'd guess we got about a few hours before the sun goes down. So you'd better keep up, pipsqueak, 'cause I'm not sleeping outside."
Kira narrowed his eyes. "You travel everywhere-aren't you used to camping?"
"Don't change the subject, kid." Jiraiya retorted. "Point is, I'd rather spend tomorrow getting as much training in as possible before we head back to Konoha."
Kira's stomach twisted in knots. Right, the real reason they were out here. It was never far behind in his thoughts, but he wanted to have at least pretended Kyuubi wasn't why his 'uncle' actually wanted to spend time with him. "What if I can't control Kyuubi's chakra?"
"That's why your dad-er, Kushina that is-made your original seal." Jiraiya explained, and Kira reached to touch the spot on his back where the two seals were located. There weren't even any foggy memories of Kushina putting the first seal on him, so Kira wasn't surprised it was likely before he started to retain things.
"She was worried about how your demonic chakra could affect you, so she researched on how to modify the Shishō Fūin to keep it suppressed, but not to disconnect it from your chakra pathways completely. That way, you were supposed to be able to call on it when you concentrated-like a backup system, but with Kyuubi and the other modifications she did to your seal-I won't lie, it's going to be hard." Jiraiya's voice lowered to a mutter. "No telling what's going on with Minato's chakra control either."
Kira flinched, guilt gnawing at him. Minato said getting captured by Sen wasn't his fault, but even now he couldn't bring himself to believe it. Sen was after him. Kira shook his head, grimacing. "How do I know if I called the Kyuubi's chakra? When I called my chakra the first time after the sealing, I still felt-well, me."
"Hate to say it, kid, but that's not really surprising." Jiraiya replied. "I can't say for sure what the Kyuubi might have done to you before you were born, but it left an imprint of itself on you for sure."
"So..." Kira bit his lip. "It...really is a part of me." he whispered.
"Don't start on that," Jiraiya cut in sharply, and Kira looked up surprised, "the only fathers you have are named Kushina and Minato. And don't forget, thanks to Kushina, your chakra systems are seperate-first and foremost your chakra is human."
Kira nodded, as he could remember Minato telling him to call on his human chakra- "Wait, how am I supposed to tell the difference?"
Jiraiya stopped, and he rubbed his chin before shrugging. "Beats me."
Kira halted, his jaw dropping in disbelief. "What? I thought you were supposed to help me, 'ttebaro!"
"Well as long as I can tell the difference when you call the chakra, we'll be just fine." Jiraiya said confidently.
Kira glowered. "And just how am I supposed to get this chakra?"
"The quickest way would be to get you into a fight or flight response-pushing you off a cliff could do the trick," Jiraiya mused, and Kira's eyes widened in terror, "but even out here Minato would probably sense it and try to murder me-although,with Kyuubi enhancements he could get in a few good shots. Well that settles it. Pipsqueak, you can try meditation first."
Kira's head spun, because he could barely follow what the man said, and when it finally settled in, he glowered at him. "Why'd you scare me like that if you were just going to say I'd be meditating anyway?"
"It amused me." Jiraiya grinned, ruffling the boy's hair and it widened when Kira petulantly shoved his hand away. "Plus it was to get back at you for calling me a pervert in public all the time."
"But you are one," Kira retorted, "you wrote that dirty book Kakashi-san reads."
"I am not! I'm a sup-wait, when did you start calling that kid '-san'?"
Kira bit his lip. "He always wanted me to stop calling him 'nii-san.'" It's not like I'm lying, he thought, but it still made him uncomfortable. He wondered if Jiraiya actually bought it, but even if he didn't Kira suspected he wasn't going to dig due to having to talk about what Kakashi said that night.
Which no one seemed to be in a hurry to bring up any time soon.
A rustling drew his attention, and Kira saw the branches on a bush from the side of the path move, breaking apart as a reddish-orange fox stepped out, head tilting and it yipped, light blue eyes focused on him, almost unnerving with the intellience in them. Kira grimaced. Out of any animal, of course a fox wouldn't mind my smell.
"Do you think it smells the aburage in my backpack?" Kira questioned.
Jiraiya looked down at him incredulously. "Why do you-never mind. All I know is that a fox coming towards humans isn't normal behavior-even if it does smell you." he reached down and lifted Kira under his arm. "Besides, you're too slow anyway to keep up."
Kira scowled as he was sullenly carried along the path. Really, he was gonna be big enough one day so no one could carry him anymore.
As the two of them continued on their way, neither noticed when the fox's light blue eyes faded back to brown and lost what intelliegence had been present.
The fox shook its head, but when it caught the scent of not only humans, but the fox, it yelped and turned tail in fear, disappearing back into the forest.
On the day of November 6, here Minato's chest tightened. That was only a day after he'd went on his recovery mission, but he stopped himself from going off and made himself keep reading the document, the following are accounts from remedial genin Hatake Kakashi, genin Nohara Rin, and genin Uchiha Obito, on the disappearance of asset Uzumaki-Nohara Kira.
Minato closed his eyes, and in the back of his mind, he wondered if this was the reason Kakashi hadn't been more upset with being kept in the dark about Kyuubi. Was it because he kept this from me? "Am I going to find out from these papers how my own students didn't tell me something so awful happened? With my son?"
"We were going to tell you-or rather, Rin and Obito wanted to." Kakashi replied. "I think Sandaime-sama was going to allow it, but then Kira-kun was retrieved before you returned, and Kushina-san's nerves were already dangerously frayed...Sandaime-sama rendered Kira's retrieval mission S-rank and said we were not allowed to disclose what happened, and ordered to pretend that nothing had been amiss."
Minato breathed in deeply, calmly, despite how his insides were twisting. His knuckle ached, dust clinging to his fist. There was no doubt anymore that Kira's abduction had taken place during the month he had been on his recovery mission. His chest tightened further, because in his mind he could still see Kushina's pale, too clean face and her washed hair, but it was her twitchy, nervous expression that stayed with him, with them both as she couldn't sleep for almost two months without waking up every hour of the night.
Minato's fist clenched tighter. I couldn't protect Kushina or Kira. He didn't know what was worse, the mission he'd been on and the horror he'd witnessed, or the mission he didn't know about and had no idea what occured on it. His eyes gazed down at the papers in his hands. Well, he thought morosely, I'm about to find out about the latter.
Perhaps appropriate, or just ironic, the first account recorded was Kakashi's...
He hadn't wanted to watch the brat. He didn't view Sensei's sudden departure as an implicit reason to slack off like that moron always did. He was the one who was supposed to watch the brat, but yet again the moron didn't show up on time, and Rin-san couldn't put off going to see her grandparents-he wasn't sure about the situation they had, nor did he really care-but she couldn't take the brat with her. Kakashi still tried to insist she take the brat anyway, but she said 'Obito will be here soon', and he grudgingly thought it wouldn't take the moron long to get Sensei's house since for some reason he liked the brat.
Like always though, the moron took forever and Kakashi couldn't stand the brat bugging him to 'play'. As if he had time to waste on such a brat by throwing a rubber ball back and forth. His patience wore thin, and Kakashi dragged the brat to the back door of Sensei's home, and shoved the brat outside, throwing the ball onto the grass.
"There, go fetch." he said coldly. He frowned behind his mask as the brat sniffled, innert two-year-old form sprawled on the grass. Kakashi used the tip of his sandal to push the brat onto his back. "What do you have to cry about, brat?"
The brat mewled, like some pathetic kitten begging for attention. Or some baby fox calling its parent. Well, Kakashi wasn't any of that. The brat looked at him with watery eyes. "You push Kira. It hurt."
"Quit your whining. I didn't break anything." Kakashi retorted.
The brat wiped his eyes. "Kaka-nii mean."
Something cold and furious ran down his spine, reflecting in his icy gaze and tone. "I told you not to call me that, brat."
The brat flinched, leaning down to curl into a ball. Kakashi scoffed at the display and made his way back inside the house. The moron was supposed to feed the brat, but he doubted the idiot would get there in time for lunch anyway.
Kakashi paid no attention to the sniffling out in the backyard that faded away, because like most spoiled brats, this one likely forgot all about his useless crying and went after his rubber ball. As soon as the water began boiling for the instant ramen, because the brat liked it and Kakashi had no patience to be nice to him further, there was a knocking at the door.
"Hey, anyone here? Rin-chan, Kira-tan?"
It was about time that idiot arrived. Kakashi turned the stove's burner down before opening the door. "Rin-san is visiting her grandparents. What's your excuse this time for being late?"
The moron scowled at him. "It's not an excuse! An old woman was having trouble carrying her grocery bags home so I helped her. It's called being nice, maybe you should try it sometime!"
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "I stayed here with the brat instead of leaving."
The moron scoffed. "Yeah, 'cause that just screams 'I'm so nice'." he muscled past him, heading straight for the backyard. "Kira-tan? Your awesome big brother has come to save you from Bakashi!"
There was no reply.
Kakashi frowned as he turned the stove off alltogether. He made his way to the backyard, and spotted the moron just standing there. "What did-" he sidestepped when the moron whirled around and lunged for him, crashing into the grass. "And what was that for?"
The moron spat out the grass, and glared up at him. "You weren't watching him."
Kakashi's frown deepened, but that's when he saw it. The gate that locked from the inside, and lead out into the village, was wide open. And the brat was gone.
Minato's heart sank, because he honestly didn't know whether to be surprised or not. He knew Kakashi was a different person at ten, but he didn't realize how stark the change in his student now was. "Do you still think so badly of Kira?"
Kakashi was silent for a long time. "It's...complicated. I did not like much of anyone back then, and I found it insulting Sandaime-sama thought I needed to re-learn the meaning of teamwork." he paused. "He was right, but I still resented being made into a genin again."
Minato nodded, but found Kakashi hadn't answered his question. He evaded it, and the blond wondered if his student's callous remark against Kira that night was a slip of the tongue, or his filter was off. Either way, now wasn't the time to think about it.
His attention turned to the next record, which happened to be Obito's...
How could Bakashi have the nerve to still call him an idiot after this? Even Obito knew you didn't leave small children by themselves. They could hurt themselves, or eat something they're not supposed too-or-or-or this! Bakashi took his eyes off Kira-tan for a minute and he goes missing! Kushina-nee was going to murder them and Sensei-kun probably wouldn't stop her.
Stupid Bakashi. And Rin-chan was going to be so upset if Kira-tan wasn't found soon.
Obito hadn't wasted time in scouring the village looking for Kira-tan, while Bakashi stayed at Rin-chan's thinking Kira-tan would come wandering back. Didn't Bakashi know anything? If Kira-tan left on his own, then he wouldn't go back willingly. It was like how when things went south between Sachiko-nee and her parents, Rin-chan left to live with her, Kushina-nee and Sensei-kun.
Honestly, it wouldn't have surprised him if Kira-tan got out on his own just to get away from Bakashi.
Despite his best efforts, Obito's search kept getting blocked by everyone he talked to being as unhelpful as possible.
"Have you seen a small toddler, brown hair, orange eyes, and three whisker marks on his face?"
"Why I-wait, the demon is loose?"
That honestly should have been a warning sign, but with each mounting attempt to disuade him of his search ("If the demon is out, maybe someone will finally get rid of it", "Just let the spawn go, it'll die eventually", "Why are you looking for it? Don't worry, it's bewitchment will wear off and you won't care about it") he felt the pressure of it getting to him.
And after what must have been hours of searching, because the sun was high in the sky at the start of it, and now it moved several degrees to the west, he wondered if he was going to find Kira-tan. The village was so big after all.
But then he saw several stray dogs growling at a trashcan, their ears pinned in the strangely angry/scared way whenever Kira-tan was near.
He swallowed thickly. 'If I pull off the lid, what am I going to find?' Nothing good, but maybe it wouldn't be a tiny corpse at least. He wanted his Sharingan to activate, but not if it meant finding something so horrible.
After shooing the dogs away, Obito lifted his shaky fingers to the trash lid, and in some morbid way was relieved to find only clothes. Then it struck him-these were Kira-tan's clothes, because underneath the collar of the orange shirt, was his name stamped into a tag. His stomach dropped as a bottle of black hair dye tumbled out of from under the shirt and clattered at his feet, because it meant this wasn't just a little boy getting lost.
Someone kidnapped him.
...and that's when Kakashi and Obito went to Sandaime-sama, Minato thought, his still chest uncomfortably tight. Even if it was just Obito being recorded, it hurt after almost three years to imagine him speaking the words written down. "At least you and Obito-kun agreed this needed to be reported." The blond said dryly, because what else could he say right now?
"...we still argued all the way there though." Kakashi admitted quietly.
"I can imagine." Minato replied, but his fingers almost slipped as he finally came to Rin's account.
She'd been apprehensive and a little bit excited at seeing her grandparents. Rin didn't like choosing between them or Sachiko-oba, but she couldn't help but find they were being unfair to her aunt just because she wanted to have Kushina-nee's baby. Her grandparents had taken Rin in when her father died and her mother left, but Sachiko-oba had did most of the work in taking care of her.
It was why when even though Rin arrived at her grandparents' home, she was a little disappointed Ojii-san wasn't home, but didn't let it show as Obaa-san led her into the tea room.
"It's so good to see you, Rin-chan. You've grown so much." Obaa-san said warmly.
Rin rubbed her arm bashfully. "I haven't changed that much. Maybe got a little taller." she glanced around, but at the time didn't think to question the pictures of Sachiko on the cabinet. It wasn't that they were there, but Rin could distinctly remember in each photo Kushina would be standing beside her, but it was like the pictures were cropped so only Sachiko was present.
But before she hadn't thought to notice it. All she did was sit across from her Obaa-san and enjoy having tea with her, and chatting about how things were going.
And then Rin slipped up. "And Kira-tan is just so cute, he looks a lot like Sachiko-oba-"
"Don't mention that boy to me." Obaa-san set her cup down with a firm 'clack' on the table, tea spilling over the edge. Her previously kind expression was like steel now. "He and that woman took the only child I had left from me."
Rin shrank in her chair, torn between the urge to defend Kushina-nee and Kira-tan, but to not ruin such a rare meeting. She tried to think of a compromise, but found herself unable to let the insult slide. "Respectfully, Obaa-san, you're wrong." she clenched her fingers around her cup harder, so hard she thought it would break when her Obaa-san turned a cold glare on her.
"Kira didn't kill Sachiko-oba," Rin continued firmly, despite how much she wavered inside, "she died from chakra poisoning, from the Kyuubi's chakra, not Kushina-nee's. She and Kira had nothing to do with it."
Obaa-san looked bitter, and she took a long, hard sip from her tea cup. Perhaps, in hindsight, she'd been about to tell Rin to get out, but the sound of the front door opening cut her off.
"Etsuko?" Her Ojii-san called, and he stopped short in the archway, tucked under his arm a lumpy sack. "Oh, Rin-chan, sorry I wasn't here."
"It's okay, dear, she was just leaving." Obaa-san said sweetly, and like the previous conversation never happened, she began ushering Rin to the door, but she looked at the sack.
"What's in there?"
Ojii-san shrugged, jostling the sack as a part hanging under his arm waved. "Just potatoes."
Rin didn't question it, but when Kakashi-kun and Obito-kun came looking for her, and explained what happened to Kira-tan, she wished she'd remembered the sack.
She wished she questioned a lot of things.
Minato's chest ached, his throat constricting as he realized these were the only things he had of his two lost students. I said I'd protect my loved ones and still failed. It wasn't the first time he realized it, but it was the only time he felt the crushing weight settle over him. And the worst part was knowing they had both taken to the grave a secret that must have weighed heavily upon them. They were only ten, his eyes glanced over to Kakashi, who was kneeling and utterly still, he was only ten. But the harsh truth was that there was a war happening, and Minato knew the Sandaime had his reasons for keeping this a secret.
It didn't mean he was happy about it.
"Go home Kakashi-kun." Minato said quietly.
The teen-the fifteen-year-old, the blond thought morosely-looked at him, expression concealed behind his animal mask, but the tone was almost unnerved when he spoke, "Hokage-sama?"
"I'm not mad," Minato said softly, but wondered if that were even true. He was still having trouble processing everything, "I'm just very tired. I know you must be too, from having to keep this from me, so go home and rest-I'll be fine for the rest of the day."
For once, Kakashi bowed his head, not trying to insist on staying with him. "Yes, sir."
Minato was about to tell him formality wasn't necessary, but Kakashi was gone by then. The blond sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, and picked up the rest of the documents. It was going to take a long time to find the energy to finish these.
His eyes hardened. But I will get the truth. About this, and about everything else too. This was one step towards closure, he just needed to keep reminding himself of that.
And hope it would be enough for what else was going to be thrown at him.
Kira grimaced, but as discomforting as going bathroom in the woods was, walking was a nice reprieve from being carried around. He washed his hands with the sanitizer Minato packed him, and looked around for where he'd last seen Jiraiya. There was nothing but trees and bushes though.
Kira sighed, and took a whiff of the air, but immediately covered his nose. He could still smell his urine. Ick! Grimacing, Kira edged away until he couldn't smell it anymore. That led him further into the forest, and he halted when in the distance he spotted a log cabin.
Even from his perspective it didn't look very big, and he could only spy a front door and a window on the side. Does someone live out here? We're in the middle of nowhere and Konoha's just a little over an hour from here.
"What are you looking at?"
Kira shrieked, bolting forward and spun around, his heart racing as he glared up at the grinning white-haired man. "Don't do that, dattebaro!" he shouted, expression twisted as he tried to calm his heart.
"I'd say sorry, but it was just too easy." Jiraiya replied, and his eyes turned to the cabin. "Well, looks like it's our lucky day. If it's abandoned, we don't have to reach Tonika Village until tomorrow and we get a roof over our heads tonight."
Kira eyed him critically. "And if it's not?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "We keep moving or I can charm my way into letting us stay."
Kira scoffed and crossed his arms. "Yeah right." he muttered, but still followed after the man to the front door. His brow furrowed once they got close enough to make out details; the wooden door was chipped, the bark on the side of the house peeling and the window looked dusty. "I...I don't think someone lives here."
"Good for us then, but appearances can be deceiving. Let's check inside." Jiraiya said, the door opening with only a creak. "Watch your step, and call me if you find something."
Kira seriously wondered what he would find in this dusty place. But as the man left, the boy looked around. A layer of dust and grime covered everything, from the table and two chairs in the small kitchen, to the sink above the side window and the pot hanging over the fireplace with only ashes left. The room was also rather bare, no signs someone lived here for a while.
Though strangely, there were odd discrepancies around the floor and pot, like one coat of dust was newer because of how little there was of it. This is weird. Does someone live here or not? Maybe they had the idea Jiraiya did about camping in an abandoned building?
The brunet walked down the hall, seeing the trail of footsteps Jiraiya left behind and more odd dust displacements, and took a detour into the bedroom on the left while he looked at the one on the right. Kira slid the paper blind aside, and his nose immediately itched. Kira held his sleeve over his face, and his eyes found salt littering the ground on the side.
His stomach rolled-it was in a circle. Beneath the salt, there was something else, the nauseating metallic and copper smell, no matter how faded it was. The room was bigger than the kitchen, and at the end of the space laid a bunch of leaves strewn about and covered in dirt with a large dark brown stain beneath it-blood. Someone tried to cover up the blood.
A whimper built up in Kira's throat, his arms coming to rest around himself as he slowly began to realize where he was. Is this really happening? Is this where- An image flashed in his mind, of Minato lying on a mat and bleeding, and he collapsed to his knees. A wail ripped itself from his throat, eyes tearing as he realized this was it-this was it-
"Kira!" Jiraiya shook his shoulder, and Kira clung to the man's arm, even as Jiraiya awkwardly carried him out of the room. "What's wrong? Is this about getting me back for earlier?"
Kira shook his head virgorously. "This is the place we were taken."
Jiraiya's expression darkened. "Are you sure?"
Kira hiccuped. "I got a flash of Otou-san lying on the ground, he was giving birth." His voice lowered, and he pointed a shaky finger to the room he was previously in. "It happened in there."
The white-haired man sighed heavily. "Out of all the places, I can't believe we just stumbled in on a crime scene. Okay, I'll send a message to Minato and have him get a squad in here to investigate. Wait in there," he pointed to the other room, "and try not to touch anything, got it?"
Kira wiped his eyes. "Okay." He walked into the other room, finding it was even more bare than the previous room somehow. The whole house was surprisingly empty of personal belongings. He listened to the frenetic scribbling outside, and the 'poof' of a summons being called before his attention was drawn to a singed spot on the floorboards by the closet.
His curiosity got the better of him, and he pulled aside the wooden blinds to find a small cramped space devoid of items. Except for the piece of paper sticking just barely through two floor planks. Kira carefully picked it up, pulling with it one of the planks, but his eyes widened when he saw the photograph.
"Okay, Minato-kun should be getting the message about now-what did I say about touching anything?" Jiraiya asked annoyed as he entered the room. Kira only held up the picture, and the man narrowed his eyes. "You were lonely so you brought pictures from home?"
Kira blinked. "No, I found it in there." he pointed to the floorboards, but now only realized what it meant. "They..." his hands shook, "they were after Otou-san, weren't they?"
"Don't talk like that, these psychos probably didn't know what they wanted. It could have all just been done for sh-er, fun." Jiraiya replied, but he still took the photo from him.
Kira didn't care, it was better than looking at a picture of a younger Minato smiling at the camera, one arm held out of view but the rest of the photo burned off and the edges left singed. "Why would they want him?"
"We don't know what happened that night." Jiraiya said, but there was an edge to his voice, like he wasn't sure what to make of it either. He unzipped a pocket in Kira's bag and slid the photo inside. "We'll leave a note for the ANBU that show up we found a photo and we're keeping it for evidence. I doubt this is the only one, so I'll tell them to scour the house for more just to get a sense of what this is." he patted the pocket. "You keep that safe until we get back to Konoha."
Kira blinked. "We're still training?"
Jiraiya scoffed. "If the ANBU are so good, they'll find us at Tonika and we can give them the picture then." he ruffled the boy's hair. "Come on, we're wasting even more daylight just standing around."
Kira nodded, and as they exited the house, deep down the brunet was relieved to be out of there.
Deep within a cavernous room, dim lights lit up a giant statue with many hands, and before it a figure stood gazing up at it. They wore a black cloak and an orange mask with a flame pattern, a mask that had been pulled out to replace the broken white one.
The figure turned, and a single hole in the mask showed an emotionless dark eye which stared at the ground as another figure slowly emerged, one side of it white and the other black, with green appendages sprouting from its sides in the shape of a venus flytrap.
The plant-like figure spoke first, it's white half stating, "The Kyuubi Jinchuuriki isn't in Konoha anymore," and the black half finished in a much harsher voice, "so do you want us to snatch him and get the sealing over with?"
The Masked Man didn't reply for a long moment, and despite his concealed face, his eye narrowed as he frowned behind it. "No, it's too early." The statement held more significance than a simple statement of fact, which the plant man picked up on.
It's darker half retorted with, "Even if the Kyuubi can't be sealed until the other eight are gathered, the Jinchuuriki can still be held captive. He's a child, and easily cowed by what we've observed; frightening him into co-operating wouldn't take much effort."
"I said it's too early." The Masked Man replied, his fist clenching, but he reprimanded himself for the show of weakness. "Have you told Pain any of this?" As the man mentioned wasn't present, the masked figure didn't bother hiding the derisive tone when he spoke his moniker.
"No," the white half said, "because after observing the Jinchuuriki and the Toad Sannin, they...well, they found the house. "
The Masked Man stared at him for a moment. He did not ask to elaborate about which house, because there was only that house, but there was something that took more precedent. "Why is there still a house to find?" his dark eye narrowed. "Why didn't you burn it down after Minato-kun escaped?"
"Half-plant, remember?" The white half said, and it's other side continued tersely, "And we still took out anything that could arouse suspicion like the shrine, the bloody clothes, and that three-pronged kunai he nearly took our head off with that night. The only thing we couldn't get rid of was the blood on the floor and the photo we missed-"
The Masked Man stiffened. "You missed a photograph?" he breathed in deeply. "Now there will be Konoha shinobi swarming over it with a fine-toothed comb for anything else you might have missed." He shook his head roughly. "Get that picture back and I'll deal with the house myself." And as the air distorted around him, he was gone.
Alone, the white half of the plant man said quietly, "Do you think we should have told him about what we sensed while in Konoha?"
The black half sneered. "That the boy only has half the Kyuubi while the Yondaime has the other? No, Madara wants the Namikaze, so we're going to keep our mouth shut about it."
And with that, the plant man left as well.
Staggering, Kira's stomach did flips after he climbed down from the summon's back He didn't quite fall to his knees and kiss the ground in relief, but he was tempted too. His fingers ached from holding the harness, and his eyes stung from being squeezed shut. All that hopping for only a thirty-minute trip, was the only coherent thought he had, disbelief setting in at the fact the house was so close to Tonika in the first place.
After thanking the summon and dispelling it, Jiraiya patted the brunet on the head, who immediately held a hand over his mouth. "What's the matter? I thought you liked the toads?"
"I do," Kira said weakly, "just not actually travelling on them." It didn't help that he'd been terrified by how high up he'd been. The toad hadn't been very tall, perhaps around mid-tree height, but to him it was like being hundreds of feet off the ground. Only salt made him feel this bad.
"Well if you still want to sign the contract you're gonna have to toughen up, kiddo." Jiraiya retorted, and gave Kira a push on the back to make him start walking.
Kira groaned as he held his stomach, and was more than relieved when they stopped at a small shop, taking a booth next to a window as his nerves finally settled. "So what am I going to be learning first?"
"I'll show you the handseals for a water technique, since I'm guessing with Kushina-chan's genes it'd be an affinity you got." Jiraiya replied, and Kira nodded in affirmative, but he paused and frowed slowly.
"Sensei didn't want me learning ninjutsu though until I could make the leaf stay on my forehead for twenty minutes."
"Well, right now I'm your teacher and as your teacher I say you can get a head start." Jiraiya retorted. "You'll practice the handseals until you get it down, and then you'll talk to the fox and get it's chakra boost. With me so far?"
Kira bit his lip, but nodded hesitantly. "I am." Except the 'talk to the fox' made him anxious-the last time didn't go so well.
Their talk was interrupted by an old woman walking up to the booth, smiling as she held a notepad. "Welcome, what would you like to drink?"
"Two mugichas and we'll take a plate of inarizushi." Jiraiya said, and he grinned as he caught Kira's scowl. "And could you make sure it's non-salted?"
The old woman nodded, her pleasant smiling widening. "Of course; it's so sweet to see a grandfather and grandson spending time together." she missed the way Jiraiya's eye twitched as Kira snickered quietly. "And don't worry, sir, we make sure our aburage is made without salt to ensure our older cliente don't have high blood pressure."
Once she was gone, Kira yipped as a foot gently kicked him in the shin and he glared at Jiraiya. "She's the one who thinks you're old, I didn't say anything."
"You call me old man all the time." Jiraiya retorted.
"No I don't, I call you uncle, but if you want I can change it to that." Kira said just as snippily.
The white-haired man rubbed his forehead. "Damn Minato-kun murdering me for drinking in front of you, I should have just ordered a sake for myself."
"I thought shinobi weren't suppose to drink?" Kira asked. "Isn't that one of rules?"
"Listen pipsqueak, there's a lot of ninja rules out there, but pretty much no one follows them to a T. We're still just human no matter how much the job demands we hide it." Jiraiya explained.
Kira's expression turned contemplative and thoughtful. "Then...is that why you're so weird?"
Jiraiya's eyes twitched again as he tensed. "I'm giving you useful advice and you can ask that?"
Kira blinked. "Oh, but I still wanna know why." he pouted when the older man only rolled his eyes and remained silent on the topic.
Soon enough though, their meal arrived and Kira popped one roll after another into his mouth, munching on the tofu inside. Something warm and happy resonated inside of him, and he wondered if it had anything to do with the fact he could eat in peace or no one was glaring at him. Otou-san was right, I do feel more at peace.
And with that happy feeling inside, once they were done eating, Kira dragged a reluctant Jiraiya to a photo booth and grinned at the camera. The man looked put-upon, but the brunet noticed him crack a smile as he ruffled his hair.
Despite his reservations, Kira couldn't wait for tomorrow.
Minato hadn't been uneasy when he arrived back home and until a stab of anguish filled him that faded just as quickly. He'd been ready to go out and find Jiraiya and Kira, but reminded himself the man was a Sannin. The brief flash of anxiey was likely nerves.
Then a messenger toad showed up on his kitchen table, almost causing Taji to skewer it with a kunai and Naruto squealed in delight as he reached for it. Minato though had focused on the message it gave him, and he'd let out a deep sigh before sending out an ANBU squad.
It made his gut wrench to think Kira had been in the place where they were kept, and a miracle that no one had been skulking around just in case. The urge to find his son and bring him home was strong, but Minato tempered it with taking over the supper Taji was making.
He wouldn't let it show, but the fact the house had likely been found shook him deeply. Some morbid part of him wanted to go there too and see the place where he not only was stashed away, but where he'd given birth to Naruto.
More than that, Minato just wanted answers about what happened that night. Though another more logical side knew that it was unlikely evidence would still be in that house, just because of how long it was and from the state described, it wasn't in good condition. Even the blood they found could be contaminated from the elements, he thought, but the discovery of the possible crime scene made him revisit what he knew of his and Kira's abduction.
How had the kidnapper been able to transport them both not only out the village but so far into the woods? A body flicker could explain the distance being easy enough to close, but there was also the factors of Minato's labour to consider and the hassle of carrying them both. It didn't make any sense, and it frustrated him to find even with every new clue there was alway something else missing.
Which was why, as Minato's emotions felt as though they were going to boil over, he was relieved to hear the knock on the front door. He turned the burner off and moved the pan of stir fry to the side. "I'll get that." he said before Taji could stand, and rushed over to the door, a smile coming over his lips as he saw Mikoto outside with Sasuke in her arms and Itachi trailing behind her with a bag in hand. "What brings you out here?"
"I thought we could try and let Sasuke and Naruto have another playdate, hopefully this time they won't try to claw at each other." Mikoto replied dryly.
Minato stepped aside to allow them in, and glanced at the bag the boy was holding. "What do you got there, Itachi-kun?"
The child clutched the bag tighter. "Okaa-san wanted to show you this," he glanced at the woman, likely seeking approval as she nodded and Itachi held the bag out to the blond, "here."
Minato accepted the bag with a bemused look on his face. "Thank you." he replied. He led them into the kitchen, and smiled sheepishly. "I wasn't expecting company, so I didn't make much food-would you like some chicken stir fry?"
"No thank you, we already ate dinner." Mikoto said politely. She stepped over to Naruto's high chair, where the infant was blinking up at her with large blue eyes. "Hello again, Naruto-chan." she cooed, and the blond baby gurgled. "Would you like to play with Sasuke-chan?"
Naruto tilted his head, but began babbling incoherently as he lifted his arms out to Taji. The brunette chuckled as she picked Naruto up. "That'll be a yes." she nodded to the living room. "I'll set up some toys in there."
Mikoto nodded and handed Sasuke to Itachi, where the dark-haired infant squirmed against his shoulder. "Go watch your brother, I have to talk with Minato-kun."
Itachi nodded, but glanced at Minato. "Where's Kira-sama?
"Hmm? Oh, he's with Jiraiya-sensei." Minato answered as he took a seat at the table, and noticed the raised brow Mikoto sent his way. "What?"
"This is a turn-around. Before you would hardly let Kira-kun out of your sight, and now you're letting him roam around with Sensei?"
Minato shrugged. "Believe me, it wasn't an easy decision, but I felt given...everything, I needed to stop being so clingy." Which was a massive lie, because even now Minato wanted nothing more than to storm out and bring Kira home. But with each impulse, he only reminded himself with a simple reassurance, one he repeated aloud, "Jiraiya-sensei can protect him, and he's only going to be out of the village for two days."
Mikoto stared at him. "Out of the village? Why would he-oh," her features went flat for a moment, "he needs to start so soon?"
"Sensei thinks it's for the best, just so he doesn't...freak out." Minato had a bad taste in his mouth every time he had to lie about Kira taking the blame for his mistakes.
"Minato-sama," Itachi spoke up, "with all due respect, you did a stupid thing."
Mikoto's eyes widened. "Itachi! No matter how informal we are with Minato-kun, he is still the Hokage. You shouldn't say such things." her eyes narrowed. "Now apologize to him."
Minato held up his hands in placation. "It's alright, I've pretty much been telling myself that anyway."
"Still..." Mikoto gave the boy a stern glance. "Go into the living room, and we will discuss this at home."
Itachi bowed his head. "Hai, Okaa-san." he replied quietly before disappearing into the living room.
"It's really not a big deal." Minato said as Mikoto took a seat. "Frankly, it kind of worried me that he was always so formal."
"Perhaps that's true, but his bluntness is getting to a point where it's going to rub some people the wrong way, and I just don't want him to get in trouble because of it." Mikoto explained. She waved it away though with a smile. "Now about why I came over; it took a bit of time, but I finally found what you were looking for. I got what I could on Namikaze Junichi."
Minato set the bag on the table and was a bit surprised there was only a handful of documents. Then again, if his ancestor was obscure, he should be lucky there was even this much given how far back the Uchiha and Namikaze clans could go. "Thank you, this will be helpful." he found a copy of the photograph that Junichi kept in his journal, but this was bigger, and he was genuinely surprised to find instead of just names on the back, it was a family tree.
A line connecting from Madara and Izuna stated them to be brothers, no surprise there, but while Madara had no other lines, Izuna had two of them. One linked to a 'Kotone' who was likely woman in the picture, where the line connecting her to Izuna said 'wife', and descending from both were the names of their two children. The other line however which connected Junichi to Izuna said 'companion' and Minato's eyes widened when he saw the line from both trailed down to the names of their two...children.
"Is this right?" Minato asked faintly, both surprised and shocked. "Or am I hallucinating?"
Mikoto glanced at the names, and she gave the blond an amused look. "Are you really so surprised the Seahorse Seal was in use back then? The life expectancy in the Warring States Era was thirty; people were likely popping kids out just to make up for the death toll alone." she explained, but her eyes gained a sly glint. "Or is it because Izuna was getting it on with two people? That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"
Minato blushed. "It's not that. It's just the shock I might actually be related to Izuna and Madara."
Mikoto shrugged. "The Uchiha and Namikaze clans travelled together, so it's not a stretch to imagine we're all related in some way. The tricky part is figuring how closely we're related to avoid severe inbreeding; rule of thumb-second cousins are fair game, first and siblings are not."
Minato's face was almost completely red by the time Mikoto finished. Sensei lamented none of us picking up his habits too soon, he thought, because his former teammate's rather blunt description contrasted with how composed she normally was. "I'd say good to know, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only Namikaze left."
"In Konoha perhaps, but there could be more out there." Mikoto replied, and smiled at him. "Just make sure they're not a first cousin."
Minato groaned quietly. "For the last time, I'm not looking for a relationship. I have too much on my plate right now to be thinking about that." And speaking of which, the blond got up from his seat to grab himself a plate of stiry fry before sitting back down again. "If you're this bad in trying to get me to move on, I feel sorry for your kids when you try to set them up on dates."
Mikoto snorted indelicately. "And I feel sorry for your kids because you won't want them dating." she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Perhaps though I should feel sorry for whoever they decide to get a crush on."
"Then please direct your concern toward Shisui-kun." Minato muttered, because as petty as it was to be mad at a ten-year-old, Kira was too young to have a crush on anyone.
To his surprise, Mikoto smiled. "Kira has a crush on Shisui-kun? That's so cute. It's like when we were younger and you'd always try to get Kushina-chan's attention," her smile dimmed a bit, but it still held, "looks like he's taking after you in that department."
On the one hand, a surge of pride flowed through Minato, but on the other it was soured by the fact he didn't want to think about if one day Kira looked at Shisui, the latter would look back. "Kira's only seven."
"Weren't you the same age when Kushina-chan was put into your class at the Academy?" Mikoto retorted, but her expression softened as she saw Minato's uneasy expression. "I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, just that Shisui's been through so much and he's still a polite, good kid. Reminds me of someone else I know." she gave him a pointed look, and Minato sighed deeply.
"Can't deny that." he replied, because despite his obvious unpleasantness towards him, Shisui had been nothing but respectful when talking to him. If admittedly a bit fearful as well. "Though can we just drop it? I'd like to have some years to delude myself Kira only has a crush on Shisui-kun before I'm forced to recognize whether it may or may not be just that."
Mikoto chuckled as she shook her head. "Keep telling yourself that." she said before rising from her seat and heading into the living room.
Minato glanced at his plate, but found his appetite lacking at the moment. He gathered the documents on his ancestor up back into the bag and made his way to his room. He left them on his bed, but his eyes landed on the reports of Kira's kidnapping. His gut twisted; he hadn't been able to read anymore when he got home and left them on his nightstand.
Sighing, Minato opened the drawer to slid them in, but blinked as several photographs slipped out from the pile and clattered in the drawer. He frowned as he saw on the back of each were time and dates for when they were taken. Likely it was for surveilance given the distance between the camera and the subjects. He read through them in order, the first making him bite his lip.
Kira's hair was dyed black and his whisker marks were covered up, likely with powder, but he'd recongize those orange eyes anywhere. His son was being carried around on the shoulders of an orange-haired man with brown eyes that had a small smile on his face as his head was tilted back to look at Kira. They appeared to be in a civilian populated village, as the people milling around in the background all wore simple clothes and were too relaxed.
Is this the kidnapper? Minato wondered, but was frustrated to find that he couldn't spot a Tanigakure hitai-ate on the man. The rest of the photos showed they were still in the same location due to the same shop being in several of the shots, but even as the man in the pictures talked to people-the more promenent ones being a pale, red-haired man with his bangs covering his eyes and an amber-eyed woman with blue hair tied into a bun that had a flower nestled in it-Minato couldn't stop looking at Kira's face.
His son looked happy, and in each subsequent picture his gut churned. Kira was smiling, laughing, being so content as the orange-haired man carried him around. It didn't make him feel any less ill-at-ease since the man would look just as fondly back at Kira. It reminded Minato of the way Kushina would look at Kira. The kidnapper had to be trying to get Kira to have Stockholm syndrome; that has to be it.
The last photo stopped him cold. The orange-haired man was showing Kira an Ame headband, but the alarming thing was the man glaring straight at the camera. The photographer had been made, which perhaps was why there were no more pictures afterwards.
Minato frowned. What the hell is going on? Was Tani behind this or was it Ame?
Despite the days being warm and hot, mornings were often chilly. Which was why Kira put on his sweater as he grumpily followed Jiraiya out of the hotel. He glowered up at the man; the sun wasn't even rising yet, but the sky showed the faint shades of pink and orange chasing the inky blue away. Kira wiped the sleep from his eyes, noting the few people also awake were likely shopkeepers. He honestly couldn't see anyone getting up early because they wanted too.
"Where are we going?" Kira asked.
"There's a river nearby we can use to start your training." Jiraiya replied. "Now pay attention, because I'm gonna only show you the handseals for the Suiton: Suijinheki once, got it?"
Kira nodded, forcing himself to memorize the way Jiraiya's hands and fingers curled around each other. Tiger, Snake, Rat, Snake, Tiger... and he repeated the seals in his mind. "Okay."
"Good, now practice those handseals until we get to the river. Then you're gonna actually use it and we'll divide the difference between that 'before' and the 'after' with Kyuubi's chakra." The man explained.
Kira sighed, butterflies appearing in his stomach that managed to chase away his tiredness. He focused on carefully making the handseals he saw, wincing each time he got one of them mixed up or the sequence wrong. He'd only ever done the seals for the summoning technique, and had been a bit nervous after the disaster it caused.
When they walked into the forest and came across the slowly drifting river, Jiraiya gave Kira a push towards it. The boy sighed again as he kicked off his sandals and set his backpack down, carefully stepping into the water and was more than relieved the shallow end only came up to his ankles. The river itself wasn't very big, with the distance perhaps only fifteen feet wide, but he wasn't about to test how deep it was.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" Kira cried out as he did the tiger sign, but his eye twitched as the water around him only gave the barest ripple against the current to show it worked. "I don't get it, water's my affinity, even with my poor chakra control shouldn't it be easier?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "Kid, even with that it's not going to be easy. Well, let me rephrase that; having a water affinity helps, but it won't make you an instant expert. The fact you got the water to move at all with your poor control is something I wasn't expecting at all."
Kira scowled. "You thought I would fail?"
"Yeah, because you're a kid with massive chakra reserves and that makes it harder." Jiraiya retorted. "Now get out of there and sit down-it's time to try for an 'after'."
Kira grumbled to himself as he sat on the grass, crossing his legs as he closed his eyes. Nerves made him stiffen up, but he concentrated on getting the jutsu right. He listened to the sounds of the water currents, of the trees leaves rustleling and not on the distinct lack of animal sounds around them.
His gut twisted, and Kira tentatively opened one eye, it causing both to fly wide open as he found himself sitting once more before several bars and the word 'seal' inscribed on a piece of paper over the front. Kira swallowed thickly when two red eyes peered down at him, lips pulled back into a terrifying grin that revealed rows of sharp teeth. The boy scurried back, and the fox sneered at him.
"So my disappointment has come to see me. Why don't you come closer so I can get a better look at you?"
Kira got to his feet, trembling as he hugged himself. "I-I-I'll stay where I am."
The red eyes narrowed. "Look at you, shaking like a newborn fawn." It snorted derisively. "Pathetic, just like your attempt to learn ninjutsu." It's eyes gained a sly glint when Kira stiffened. "That's right, I saw your so-called 'water wall'." It growled low in its throat. "And I know why you're here. The answer is no, I'm not giving you my chakra."
Kira bit his lip, but he gathered what little resolve that hadn't turned into fear and glared up at the fox. "I'm your host, s-so you have to do what I say."
It sneered again. "I don't have to do anything. I'm not going to coddle you like that blond moron does."
Kira stiffened up, muscles tense as his fists clenched. "Otou-san isn't a moron! And if you hate him so much why did your other half give him it's chakra when he came to save me from Sen?"
"It was a fluke, that idiot got lucky." It said dismissively before giving him a narrow-eyed glare. "There won't be any of that here with you though. You can barely handle your own chakra-the chakra that I so graciously gifted you with-and you dare to come here and demand more from me?"
Kira began to get riled up, as every word Kyuubi said made him angrier. "The only thing you gave me were the marks for people who saw me to hate me! My chakra came from Chichi-ue, you're just the-the-the parasite that ruined everything, 'ttebaro!"
The fox stared down at him, it's form stiff before it explosively shot forward, head smashing against the bars as its long forearms tried to claw out at Kira, who screamed and backpedaled until his back hit the wall. The fox snarled at him, tails waving furiously behind it. "Parasite? Parasite? You ungrateful brat! Do you have any idea who you're talking too?! I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune, the strongest bijuu alive and the living embodiment of hatred and malice; I gave you life, you should be thanking me for without me you wouldn't exist! And if this damn cage weren't in my way I'd show you just how easily I'd take it back!"
Kira choked as the air was thick with the oppressive intent of hatred and anger, and he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face. He covered himself with his arms and sobbed. I can't do this. I can't do this-I wanna wake up!
"Quit your sniveling!" It roared. "Every little time things get hard you start to sob and wail like a kit. Why were my siblings and I cursed to have children who are our opposite in every way?"
Kira's chest tightened as the hate was almost suffocating. His breaths became shallow as he gasped for air, hands gripping his hair tightly. I don't want to be scared, I wanna be brave like-like- an image of Kushina flashed in his eyes, and his gaze teared up further. Thinking of her hurt, like a wound that had been re-opened, but with it came the rush of love and affection he knew she always held for him, and it brought to mind Jiraiya's words from yesterday.
It's what gave Kira the courage to find his voice. "Shut up!" he shouted, and the fox glared at him. "I don't know why Chichi-ue would seal you inside of me, but even then I know she cared about me more than you ever could!"
The mindscape became unnerving quiet as the fox's voice became a menacing whisper, "What did you just say? I gave you-"
"That doesn't mean anything." Kira cut it off boldly, fists clenched tightly. "Otou-san didn't give me life and he loves me more than you could. So you know what? Call yourself my father all you want, but nothing you say will ever make it true-you didn't raise me, you don't take care of me, and you don't love me! You said it yourself; you're hate, so how could you ever love someone?"
The tail end of his shout echoed around the room, trailing off as things were blanketed in silence.
Kira's heart beat frantically as the fox only continued to glare coldly at him, and his breath hitched as it abruptly turned, lying on its front and looked away from him.
"Get out, I'm through talking to you."
Kira was about to retort, but froze as in an instant he found himself shoved forcibly back into the real world. It spun and he fell onto his back, eyes squinting against the sunlight peeking over the horizon that lit up the sky. His gaze slid to Jiraiya, who looked more anxious than he'd probably admit. "What happened?"
"I should be asking you that." Jiraiya retorted. "I thought for a second something went wrong when I could feel the fox's chakra begin bubbling around you before it just stopped. I take it things didn't go so well?"
"Very not well." Kira replied morosely. "I don't think I can use it's chakra just yet."
"Well get up then, you've still got your own." Jiraiya stated, and Kira blinked. "What, you think we're just throwing in the towel? That's quitter talk! When you fall down, you get back up and figure out a way to get it right. We're shinobi, and shinobi are meant to endure."
Kira smiled faintly, and he stumbled to his feet. "Tha-that's right, you're right."
Even if the fox wouldn't give up its chakra, Kira still had his own. And if nothing else, he wasn't going to make this trip be a waste.