Without a better idea, I charge towards the rocky spire.
Chapter 21: The Unknown
I clap my hands together in the 'Snake' seal, and I find myself lifting off the ground, rising up towards the man. The object I had unsealed, a kunai, tucked into a my right sleeve. I was almost level with the man and he had showed no signs of noticing my presence. Success!
I celebrated my victory too soon. His hand struck fast, like a snake. His fingers wrapped around my neck. I shock, I drop the earth release: earth pillar jutsu, and am left dangling by my throat. I get my first good look at the man. He wears a victorious smile, as if he was accomplishing his life goal. His hatred of me flared, full of killing intent.
The worst part of it was that I recognized the person who was choking me, while stealing Kushina's chakra.
"Ryū-san?"
"Silence, you fool." My assailant hisses, as he squeezes tighter. My free hand comes up, and grabs his wrist.
"Wh-y?
"I am only claiming what is rightfully mine. Your family was weak and unworthy of it. Don't worry. Their dishonor will die with you."
A new and unpleasant emotion runs through me. It was an anger and hate. Burning passionately like a wild fire. Rage unlike anything I had ever felt before coursed through my veins. Many who were their would note that they had never, and would never again, feel killer intent from one so young. It was not a feeling I particularly enjoyed, but the change in my attacker's eyes told me that he felt my fury.
"Don't you ever.. touch... my...family...again!" I choke out, attempting to yell, but not succeeding with my limited supply of oxygen.
I swing my kunai at the inside of his elbow, forcing him to bend it or get stabbed. My wrist in pinned between his forearm and chest. My face buried in the fabric of his brown cloak. I brace my legs, with bended knees, on the spire, and grab his shirt with both hands.
I push off, pulling him, using gravity to aid me. Clearly, this was unexpected, as he follows me in tumbling down, off the rocking outcropping. His finger tips separated from Kushina as we fall. His fingers loosen on my neck, and I close my eyes.
I never hit the ground.
A few seconds pass, and I open my eyes. I am cradled against Minato's chest. He stands on the side of the pillar.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah." I croak. The barrier must have fallen...
"Good." He turns to face the toad sage. "Jiraiya, take Aimisouma away from here," and just like that, he passes me off to his sensei. The last thing I see is Minato gripping a three-pronged kunai. His knuckles were white, his eyes deadly, and his intentions clear.
Unable to bring myself to watch, I bury my face in Jiraiya's shoulder. He carries me, jumping from tree to tree, away from the scene.
Time seems to blur, and before I know it, I am in the apartment. Bookshelves have been toppled, chairs overturned, beds flipped, and kitchen dishes thrown across every room.
"Oh. Maybe we should go-" Jiraiya says, looking at the disaster zone in front of him. But before he can finish, I go to the small closet that holds the cleaning supplies. I pull out the broom, and begin sweeping up bits of broken glass.
"I'm sure Minato would want you to go get some rest."
"I- I don't want to. Not yet."
"You want to talk about it?" He asks, concern in his eyes.
"Not really." I croaked out.
"Are you sure? You sound like one of my toad summons."
"..." I glare at him, and he is clearly unimpressed with the maiming intent of a five year-old.
"Ok then, lets get this place back in order."
"Hm."
We work dutifully for two hours. Jiraiya insisted on being the one to clean the shards of broken china. He righted all of the tipped furniture, swept, and chatted lightly the whole time. Part of me was glad for his presence, but the majority of me just wanted him to shut up. I carefully made the beds, and returned the couch cushions to where the belonged. It took quite a long time to return the books to their shelves.
Once the apartment was cleaned, and (mostly) returned to it's former glory, Jiraiya and I sat on the couch. He continued to tell me stories about his days training with the sannin. Five hours passed like this. Him filling the silence with odd tales of (mis)adventures.
The clock ticked onwards, nearing ten o'clock.
"Jiraiya-san..." I interrupt him mid sentence.
"Yes, Aimi-chan?"
"Are Minato-niisan and Kushina-san alright?"
"Of course they are! Why do you ask such a silly question?"
"B-because they aren't back yet."
"Mah! Nothing can keep either of those two down for long. Why do you think they are not going to be ok?"
"'Cause when Hana-neesan, Daddy, and Mama were gone for so long, they never came back." Tears well in my eyes, but I resist the urge to cry. A shinobi must never show their tears.
"Oh." He looks a little taken aback. "Well, don't you worry. Minato is probably just doing paperwork, and Kushina is probably sleeping off the knock-out juice they used on her."
"You really think so?" A hopeful note creeping into my ragged voice.
"I know so." He says, puffing up his chest. He pauses, inspecting my face. Contemplating something. "Did you know any of the attackers?"
I nod, tears threatening me again.
"Who was it?"
"Ryū-san. He's my cousin."
"Your cousin? On your father's side or your mother's side?"
"My mother's."
"Is he related to the 'bad' uncle of yours?"
I nod again.
"His son?"
"Yeah."
"Do you know his full name?"
"Shïringu Ryū"
"Interesting. Why would your cousin break into Konoha to attack you?"
"I dunno. He said something about taking something that was his...and that my family being weak."
"Well, from what I saw, you are anything but weak."
This time, I couldn't hold back the tears. They started flooding down my cheeks. "I'm sorry!" I say, rubbing at the salty water violently.
"It's okay to cry. You've had a rough day."
"Rule number 25! A shinobi must never show their tears."
"That rule only applies when you are in public."
"Huh?"
"Your teacher won't tell you this, but that rule only counts when you are with other people."
"Why not?"
"We shinobi try to be strong, but we are only human. But we can discipline ourselves to only let out our emotions in helpful ways or when we are alone."
I fling myself at the man, wrapping him in a hug. "You were right."
"I usually am, but about what in particular this time?"
"Old people give great advice."
"Hey, I'm not that old!" He protests.
"Could've fooled me." I retort sassily. I clap my hands over my mouth. "I'm sorry, Jiraiya-san. I sho-"
I can't finish my apology, because Jiraiya has fallen off the sofa from laughing. But he is snapped from his mirth by a knock on the door.
The sannin makes his way to the door, one hand inching towards his weapons pouch. He looks through the peep hole, and then immediately relaxes.
"It's just Minato's students." He informs me, swinging the door open.
"HELLO!" I hear Obito yell out.
"Obito-kun, quiet. You'll wake sensei's neighbors."
"Oh, sorry."
"Jiraiya-san. Hokage-sama wishes to see you, so we were sent here to watch Aimisouma-san." Kakashi says formally.
"Right. See-ya squirt! He says to me, gathering his stuff. He shuffles around for a minute, and the three make their way inside.
"Hi there!" Obito says cheerfully. Since he was released from the hospital, he had stopped wearing the goggles. Instead, he wore his forehead protector crooked, like Kakashi. His hair had grown since I first met him. It flopped over the headband and covered his ears. Several scars ran diagonally across the right side of his face.
"Hello, Obito-san." I say quietly, my voice still hoarse.
"How are you feeling?" Rin asks, kindness in her eyes.
"I'm okay, I guess."
"Have you eaten anything?"
I shook my head. "I'm not hungry. But thank you, Rin-san"
"She hasn't eaten since we got here. Make sure she does." Jiraiya says as he walks out the door. I scowl at the retreating old man.
Kakashi locks both the knob, deadbolt, and chain after he goes.
"Aimi-chan! Why aren't you hungry? Its been like- seven hours!" Obito asks, in his boisterous way.
"I'm just not hungry. Do you guys know how Kushina-san is doing?" My voice getting rougher the longer I speak.
An understanding look crosses Rin's face. "Kushina is fine. She is at the hospital. She woke up several hours ago, but the doctors are going to make her stay overnight."
"Why?"
"They say she needs to rest, and that they want to keep an eye on her. They don't know what was used to render all three of them unconscious, so they are just erring on the side of caution."
"Oh."
"Yeah! We were their earlier, and she was yelling at the doctor. Said something about them ruining her shopping day." Obito chirps.
I laugh, then stop abruptly. I place one hand on my aching throat.
"Here, Aimi-chan." Rin sits down next to me on the couch. "Hold still and let me look at that."
I don't resist as she pushes aside the high, mandarin collar of my tunic. Her brows knit together with worry as she examines the deep purple bruises that have formed.
She does two hand signs, an ox and a tiger, before her hands glow green. "You are really lucky, ya know." She says, as she heals my injury.
"Hm?" I ask, while trying to hold still.
"It could have been a lot worse. It's not good to hide your wounds."
"Mm-hm." I hum in affirmation. I still remember the pain from... I forcibly stop myself from reentering those bad memories.
"For what it's worth, I am glad that you are alright." She says, smiling at me.
"Yeah, me too!" Obito yells, and Rin swats at him.
"Shh!" She hisses, glaringly. Obito looking properly chastised, hangs his head.
Kakashi inclines his head, as if agreeing but not wanting to say anything.
"There, all better." Rin says, sweetly.
"Thank you, Rin-san."
You are very welcome, Aimisouma-chan." She says, ruffling my hair. "Let's get you something to eat."
"Ok..." I say. Still not hungry, but too tired protest.
She ends up boiling water and making several bowls of instant ramen. The four of us end up sitting around the table, happily eating the noodles. Obito tells us a story about him being all brave and heroic. Us girls are laughing, and Kakashi just rolls his eyes.
Thwump! I hear a faint, familiar sound outside the door and smile. I jump up, and run to the door.
"Wait!" I hear Kakashi say, but I ignore him. My brother is home!