Naruto misbegotten
Chapter 12
Minato
Minato floated in darkness. He had arrived here after sealing the nine tails. Minato felt himself falling, the first sensation he felt since arriving, and he hit something hard. Opening his eyes, Minato saw the sky and felt a breeze blow past his cheek. Sitting up Minato filled his lungs with air. Standing, he saw he was wearing the cloths he was in when he sealed the demon, the uniform vest of a Jonin with the Hokage robe over it. Minato took off the robe and cast it away as it would only hinder his movements, and set off at full speed in the direction he was facing, reveling in the feel of the earth under his feet and the wind through his hair. Minato jumped into a tree and really took of as only a fully trained ninja could. Naruto woke to the smell of something tasty and remembered it was Yakumos' turn to cook breakfast and she always made something good. It had been two years since they had recruited Gaara from sand and truth be told they weren't doing to bad. It had been Sasukes idea to settle down in some out of the way place to train and get stronger. His plan was to gain a reputation by taking on missions as ninja in order to draw out his brother. Naruto didn't mind as long as he could train and get stronger. Hinata didn't mind as long as she could stay with Naruto, and her adoptive family was better than her own anyway, the same with Gaara who saw Naruto as an older brother despite Naruto being younger, and he found a measure of peace from his own "demons" in the friends that weren't afraid of his power. It was Yakumo in fact that was able to use her genjutsu to suppress the one tailed shukaku in order for Gaara to sleep at night, and Gaara had started to value her as a sister/slash mother figure for it. Yakumo as the oldest became a sort of caretaker for the others, making sure all of them, especially Naruto, never over did it. over the years the traveling and companionship had made her frailty all but vanish. She would never be as hearty as Naruto or the others, but she could travel a full day at top speed without tiring. She had also perfected the genjutsu she had been taught by Kurenai-sensei and what she had learned from the scroll, but with no formal teacher she and everyone else were reaching their limits.
"That smells good Nee-chan." Naruto said with his usual squint eyed grin. The boy had really grown on her over the past two years. His bright personality and exuberant energy always brightened the day, even if he had knack for getting into and making trouble.
"You'd better eat quickly or you'll miss your work." She told him, and he began to scarf his meal and ran off to his job of picking herbs for the day. He passed Gaara as he ran out the door.
"Morning he said as he passed." Gaara only grunted as Naruto passed by.
"Hello Gaara, how was your night?" Yakumo asked the boy as he sat down at the table.
"Boring." He said shortly. Gaara had become more outgoing thanks to his friends, but he was still a stoic for the most part, saying very little if he could, and thanks to the shukaku Gaara excelled at night work. Yakumo had developed a jutsu for sealing the shukaku so Gaara could sleep that she had been able to teach him, but Gaara had spent most of his childhood with insomnia so he could easily go a full week without sleep if he needed to. He just didn't like it.
"Go get a few hours sleep. I'll wake you if I need you." Yakumo said and shooed the boy into the bedroom he shared with Naruto and Sasuke.
"Good morning Yakumo-kun." Hinatas' shy voice was punctuated with a yawn.
"Good morning to you Hinata-chan." Yakumo said as the pale eyed girl sat down. Yakumo placed a plate of food in front of the girl and sat down to her own breakfast.
"So what do you have to do today?" Yakumo asked.
"Nothing much" Hinata answered.
"Then we can continue your genjutsu training." Yakumo said earning a sigh from Hinata.
"I'm no good at genjutsu." she said as she finished her meal.
"Yes you are, you just need practice." Yakumo said as she picked up the plates. Hinata got up from her own seat and dried the dishes . Yakumo had been teaching Hinata genjutsu with mixed results. Hinata didn't like the lessons because even after two years she had made little progress. Hinata thought she was just lousy at the art, but Yakumo believed it was because she was a horrible teacher.
"Were all reaching our limits. We need a Jonin sensei if we are to progress any further." This had been an unspoken thought among them for the past half year. Only Sasuke still firmly believed that they could progress all on their own.
"Hinata, lets skip the lesson for today. I just remembered I have a number of chores to do." Yakumo said.
"All right, I wanted to train on my own today anyway." Hinata said and ran out the door.
Minato took in the sights and sounds of the town as he made his way down the street. He never thought he would be alive again.
"First things first, I need to buy supplies and get back to Konoha. Maybe I shouldn't have thrown away my coat"He thought as he looked a the food stalls. Checking his belt he found he still had his money pouch. Minato was about to walk up to the nearest vendor when he noticed a young girl in a gray coat run past him. In the brief glimpse Minato had of her he saw her eyes.
"A Hyuga." Minato thought as she rounded a corner. Minato followed the girl at a safe distance until she stopped at a field and began practicing the jyuken style. However it wasn't a style he had ever seen before. Instead of the opened palm strikes common to the style this girl was creating chakra blades that looked quit formidable. Minato observed the girl until she lie exhausted on the ground.
"That was pretty impressive" A voice said from one of the trees. Hinata sat up startled and looked at the man in the tree.
"who are you?" Hinata asked the man.
"First of all you need to be more observant with your bloodline." The man said as he jumped out of the tree and landed in front of her.
" And second of all, it's impolite to ask someones name without giving your own young Hyuga"
At this comment Hinata activated her bloodline and an took a fighting stance. "Did the village send you?!" She demanded.
" Hey, wait a second, the last thing a want to do is fight. I was just wandering what a Hyuga was doing in a place like this. Your not on a mission are you.?" Minato asked her, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. Hinata deactivated her bloodline and really look at the man. He was tall, wearing a Chunin vest. What really caught her gaze was the mans face. He was extremely handsome with blond hair and blue eyes, and on his head was a Konoha forehead protector.
"He looks like Naruto-kun" she thought as the man walked forward and placed a hand on her head.
"Ok. For one reason or another you've run away from Konoha. I swear I'm not her to take you back." Minatos stomach chose that moment to growl.
"Wow I don't know how long it's been since I've eaten. How about I treat you to a meal and you can explain why you ran away from the village." Minato placed his hand on her back to nudge her forward when she jerked away.
"How do I know I can trust you. You could be some pervert." She accused.
"Pervert? Listen kid I have a wife and child, and I used to be a Hokage so you should show some respect." At the mention of the word Hokage a switch flicked in Hinatas mind. "Your the fourth Hokage." She said, merging the face on the monument with the face before her in her mind.
"How about that meal?" Minato asked and the two walked back into the town.
New chapter. Sorry for the wait. Life can be such a nusiance. What will happen during the meal between Hinata and Minato. Find out next time on Naruto Missbegotten.
