In which we direct others to the wrong direction.
Chapter 08: The Wrong Way
"You're an idiot, Minato," Toushiro said bluntly as he watches Minato clean and stitch his thin but deep cuts on his arm. "That skill can allow you to kill those arrancars with ease, but your arm could handle so much reiatsu at once. You're just lucky that those wounds don't appear all at once, or they'll think you're weak."
"You worry too much, Toushiro," Minato pointed out the obvious. "What they don't know won't hurt them. Besides, you should thank the color of our uniform. Crimson red blends in with the black rather well…most of the time." He paused, listening to himself for a moment and mentally cursed at Byakko's influence again.
Toushiro sat down on a chair, which his gigai and Minato's teamed up to cleaned when they were fighting the arrancars, leaning back with his arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Have Byakko said anything to you yet?" Toushiro asked. Minato paused midway on a stitch, concentrating for a moment and then frowned.
"He asked me to tell you so kindly quote 'Midget, shut the hell up. I'm doing the job as fast as I can.' Unquote," Minato said with amusement as a tick mark appears on the older shinigami's forehead. "His words, not mine…other than that, so are no other signs of villages being attacked, saved for a few hollows here and there. Byakko took care of them."
"Looks like Aizen want to figure out how to get through your barrier." Minato rolled his eyes.
"Jiraiya and I are the two most accomplished seal masters," Minato stated. "Orochimaru is a decent master but if Jiraiya can't figure out the mechanisms for my Hiraishin, then there's no way Orochimaru could counter my protection seals." Toushiro could feel his lips twitched to a smirk.
"Until then, I believe that your seals will hold on," Toushiro said.
"Damn right you will," Minato said while adding the final stitch for his wound. "We can relax for a while before asking Tsunade to look at past reports regarding Orochimaru and look for Naruto later on."
"And have cold feet when you meet up with him again?" Toushiro asked, causing Minato to stop and glare at the other half-heartily before looking away.
"I won't back down next time."
"We'll see when we meet them again," Toushiro replied and added. "Without the huge crowd and all."
"…"
"I should ought to freeze you for being an idiot earlier, but I'll hold it for next time."
"Tch, figures you'll say that," Minato said, and then made a face at the needles he threw away. "I really hate needles…knew I should have transferred to the fourth division to learn some healing kidou. That way, I don't have to worry about stitching much." Toushiro raised a questioning eyebrow.
"You should of, seeing you spend a lot of time in that division."
"Whatever, maybe I can figure out how to heal through the medics here," Minato began. "I mean it looks similar so I could just ask Tsunade for some medic theories to study with."
"Hn." Toushiro didn't have much to say seeing that he is still a bit unfamiliar with the various types of jutsu in this world.
"I'll ask her when I see her," Minato said. "Maybe tomorrow. I don't want to do anything for the rest of the day seeing that
"Good because I need you to do this," Toushiro said, tossing Minato an empty scroll.
"…What's this for?" Minato asked, catching the scroll midair.
"Paperwork for Soul Society," Toushiro replied. "By the time we get back, we'll probably have a large amount of paperwork to do other than our detail report for your world. Might as well get started or cry yourself a river and let this bite you on the ass when we get back." Minato cringed at the thought. The paperwork the fifth division left unattended for almost a year took him what felt like a lifetime to do. It was a miracle itself when he finished it all the day before the attack.
"Can I copy yours?" Minato asked innocently, his eyes have a childish glint in them making the blond look younger than normal.
"You're not a real child, Minato. Write it in your own damn words!" Toushiro reprimanded, causing the blond to cringe.
"Well, it was a wishful thinking," Minato sighed, sitting down on the nearest chair to start on his report.
/-------------------/
For once in his life, Naruto couldn't concentrate on the conversation with Sakura and Sai as they headed towards the training ground with Yamato strolling not to far behind. The event with the hollows yesterday was still being processed in his mind and Toushiro's words still rang sharply in his mind.
'Your former student is not the man you remembered long ago.'
'...You were right about one thing, it's my entire fault.'
Minato was one of Ero-sennin's student, but the only student was the Yondaime himself. He has seen a photo of the Yondaime and the man looks way older than his look-alike. He even admitted changing Naruto into a Jinchuuriki was his fault, but that can't be right. Humans can't become gods…can they? Not only that, don't people look the same when they die? The man that sealed the Kyuubi in him…
"Naruto, are you all right?" Sakura's voice finally reaches him. She eyed him worriedly while Sai looks at him with an expressionless face.
"What was that?" Naruto asked.
"We've been calling you for the past three minutes," Sakura stated with a hint of annoyance, and then her eyes soften. "Were…you thinking about what Hitsugaya said?"
"Whose words are you talking about?" Toushiro asked, standing a couple feet behind Yamato, Minato stood next to the other shinigami, and each of them wielding a wooden sword. Sakura and Naruto tensed up just listening to Toushiro's voice. "For one thing, little children, I don't like having others talk behind my back."
"Everybody in Seireitei knows that he has enough of that," Minato added.
"Shut up, Namikaze," Toushiro ordered. "Or I'll freeze you in a block of ice."
'He's so cruel,' Sakura thought grimly. Minato chuckled as if nothing's wrong.
"Hai, Hitsugaya-taicho," Minato said with sarcasm evident in his tone.
"Umm…exactly what are you two doing here?" Yamato asked, slightly weary of the two.
"Well, Tsunade-san gave us permission to wander around the village with the ANBU watching us, so they can be sure that we're not a menace towards society," Minato said, rolling his eyes. "And usually in the morning, Toushiro and I would have a morning spar before we go along with our daily duties and occasional missions. "
"Spar?" Sakura repeated.
"Shinigami and shinobi are alike in some ways," Toushiro replied. "We train to perfect our abilities, and we try to surpass our processors." He paused; Minato looked as if he just took a bite on a sour lemon but said nothing. The living was just confused with the blond's sudden change of mood, and Toushiro continued on with his statement, "The difference is that we don't die as fast as the living does so I guess we can say we weren't fighting at the height of our powers yesterday."
"But…you two seem strong already," Sakura said, frowning.
"The evaluation of powers between the living and the dead is completely different," Minato replied. "I don't want to explain the specifics since we have some really rude company listening in to our conversation." He turned to the right and glared at a single tree. "Either you come out or I'll drag you out and use you as a target for my zanpakuto."
'I take it back, Minato is much crueler,' Sakura thought as she watch first hand to see the blond switch his mood in a blink of an eye.
From the shadows, an ANBU shinobi jumped down from the tree and stood in front of Toushiro and Minato. The masked figure handed Minato a scroll.
"You have been summoned by the council officially," the ANBU said. "Don't be late." Without another word, the shinobi disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
"…Hmph. How annoying," Minato said, twirling the scroll in his hand. "I would prefer taking the summon for the Council 46 than the village's council." He turned back to Naruto and the others. "So I guess Toushiro and I have to hold the spar for today." He paused. "Hey, wanna spar later…when you're not busy, of course." It was like a bombshell dropping as the shinobi and Toushiro's eyes widen like saucers(Save for Sai, but the pale shinobi does look surprise).
"Are you out of your freaking mind!?" they chorused, hurting Minato's painfully sensitive ears.
"Hey, hey easy on the volume," Minato complained. "Without a doubt, I'll lose my hearing before the year's over."
"Then don't say such nonsense things," Toushiro ordered.
"But aren't you curious?" Minato asked ever so innocently, then he turned to Yamato and smiled brightly. "It's beneficial for both groups, especially for the senior taicho here. You guys get to learn a bit of our fighting style and Toushiro here gets to see a thing or two from you guys. If you agree, of course; see ya later! Don't freeze them to death, Toushiro." Minato disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving Toushiro with the living. Seeing the blond talking like an excited child, Toushiro was torn between striking Minato with the wooden sword or call forth Hyourinmaru to encase the idiot in ice.
Either one, both ideas sound very tempting right about now.
"That idiotic brat," Toushiro muttered before turning to back to the group. "Shall we continue on to the training ground?"
/-------------------/
Minato entered the council with silence. The first thing Minato acknowledged was the seething anger radiating from the Godaime towards the council members. Behind her is Jiraiya; the usually fatherly sage has his serious mask on so Minato was sure that whatever the council is planning, he wouldn't like at all.
Minato spoke out first, seeing the council doesn't really know how to address the child version of their former Hokage.
"I believe Toushiro and I are holding our end of the bargain," he said. "Why are I here this time?"
"The council is here to confirm who you say you are," Koharu replied.
"The hollows attack the village wasn't enough proof that you are targeted," Minato asked, he dropped his lenient self and wore the same serious mask as Jiraiya's. "You still want authentic proof that I am who I say I am." Byakko was already stirring from his mind and tuning onto the meeting.
'You eavesdropper.'
'I'm you, so I'm not eavesdropping in any way.' Byakko replied smugly.
'Go back to sleep,' Minato ordered, knowing full well that his zanpakuto won't, and turned his attention back to the meeting.
"…- We want to know where your loyalty lies," Danzou finished.
"With Soul Society, of course," Minato replied without skipping beat. The civilian side suddenly jumped out of their seat, point fingers at him almost immediately.
"See! We told you he was a fake!" Minato glared darkly at that half of the council, causing them to pause and obediently sat back down on their seat.
'Should have let me out and sic on them instead.'
"I am not a fake," Minato insisted, feeling insulted from the accusation. "The village I loved is nothing but a memory to me now. Until my mission ends, I answer only to Tsunade-sama and nobody else. Don't argue with me, I'm a different man and I've been prone to lashing out these last few years."
'Nice bluff.' Byakko snickered slightly. 'You were more of a fool than a mini-Toushiro.'
'…Isn't that the other way around?'
"…If that's the case, we'll put your loyalties on hold," Danzou said. "We'll move onto a different topic."
"What are you going to do about that demon?" Homura asked. Minato flinched before he glared at the elder. How dare they call his son a demon after all this time?
"I'm sorry, but I have no idea what are you talking about." Byakko snarled in the back of his mind. Minato knows what exactly they're talking about, he wants to make sure if he's on the same page as them. Just to be sure. He knows that Byakko is just itching to rip the council to shreds. It was Koharu who replied.
"We are talking about what plans do you have of in disposing the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, Namikaze."
'I'm going to kill them,' Minato thought darkly, his hands curled to a fist. This time, he didn't blame Byakko for the influence.
/---------------------/
Sasuke eyes narrowed at Orochimaru's old 'friend' as the said 'friend' looks back at him with cold brown eyes. Something about that man seemed really off. A couple days ago when that newcomer arrived with a group of white uniformed figures, Orochimaru was gazing the man with same gaze he would give to Sasuke: the gaze of obtaining whatever kind of power the target has.
"What do you want?" Sasuke demanded. Orochimaru's 'friend' looked down at the teenager with amusement.
"Forgive me, my name is Aizen Sousuke and I was not expecting my friend was housing such a powerful shinobi just as yourself. You show a lot of potential," Aizen said, his cold eyes never leaving Sasuke. "Black coal eyes…might I ask, you are one of the Uchiha member, a wielder of the Sharingan." The gaze intensifies; if Sasuke didn't train himself in masking his emotions, he would have shuddered.
"Orochimaru is not 'housing' me," Sasuke replied, glaring at the man. "And I am Uchiha Sasuke, the last of the Uchiha. Leave me be, or I'll kill you." Sasuke is thirsty for power, Aizen concluded. He could already tell the amount of power the boy has shimmering under the surface, and the things he do to make the boy bend under his will…
Aizen has no intention of letting his new lab rat escape.
"Sasuke-kun, how would you like to obtain powers no shinobi has before?"
The boy paused mid stride, causing Aizen to smile.
He loves the fact how easy it is for him to manipulate humans.
/-------------------/
Author's Rant: I didn't know how should I steer this chapter so I'm writing this with whatever that comes to my mind. I want to thank everybody for leaving me a review in the last chapter, that's bad. I was so not expecting that many and I've been proven wrong by all of you. An important announcement before I leave you to review: I'm going to China and I won't be back till the beginning of September. So yeah. -_-* I'm sorry! Expect no update in August. Sorry to leave you hanging!
One more question: who here has play this game Hotel 626 online? The level with the kid and the lullaby, wasn't it creepy? It reminded me of one of the Pirates of the Caribbean trailer where there was a little girl's tone singing the pirate song in a really creepy way. . .