Chapter Twenty-six
I was released from the hospital two days later with instructions to rest. I didn't bother with the instructions and went straight to Mito's house. I hadn't seen her since I told her of Tobirama's death, nearly thirty years ago. I stood there at her door when Kiyoko answered the door. She looked old but a near splitting image of her father. It pulled at my heart but it never showed on the outside.
"May I see Mito-san?" I asked the woman.
"What is your name? I do not recognise you." She demanded, crossing her arms.
"I met you when you were five Kiyoko. My name is Sonea Storm Shadow." I said after seeing her impatience.
"Please wait here." She said closing the door. I heard her walk up stairs, knock on a door, open it and talking to Mito about me. She returned down stairs and I regained my bored composure as she opened the door again.
"You have ten minutes." She said sadly as she led me to a room with a bed and a grey haired Mito sitting in it.
"It's good to see you Sonea sensei." Mito said as she turned her head in my direction. I moved over to her bed and sat down on the stool that was there and took her small and wrinkled hand.
"It's good to see you to. I'm so sorry I haven't come to visit since… You know but the wars took up my time as well as being Raven and I was so confused at your reaction to…" I said cringing every time I brought it up. Mito smiled weakly at me and squeezed my hand a little.
"It's okay I really understand. I didn't expect to react that way either but I did and I had been meaning to come and visit you at your club but Hiruzen had been visiting me and telling me about your accomplishments and I'm glad to see that you haven't been spending all of your time on ANBU missions. We had our own lives to lead and I have almost finished mine. And so I would like you to promise me something." She asked.
"Sure, go ahead." I urged.
"Please help Kushina through the trials of being a jinchuuriki. She will need a friend but not a protector. And find her a good man so that her happiness can combat against the Kyuubi's tempting offers. I will give her as much advice as I can but she will need someone there for her. Now go and get her and do not be sad. I have lived a prosperous life. Good luck Sensei." She said as she released my hand and urged me to go.
I left after saying good-bye to Kiyoko and left for the ANBU head quarters. I placed my uniform on but I left my mask in my pouch for now and would put it on when I get to Uzushio.
I shimmered to outside the Hokage's office and knocked.
"Come in Sonea." Hiruzen called.
"I have come for my mission sir." I said as I closed the door behind me and faced him.
"Are you clear for duty?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Would it matter if I was clear or not?" I shot back with a smart-assed question.
"Well then are you feeling 100% then?" He asked raising both brows now.
"Yes, I feel fine Hiruzen." I said with seriousness.
"Okay then, where is your mask?" He asked.
"I decided to put it on when I reach Uzushio. Is that a problem?" I asked hoping that it wasn't.
"No that is a good idea. Here are your scrolls. The blue one is your details, you must travel to Uzushio by boat, both ways. And the gold scrolls for the guardians of Kushina." He said handing over the respective scrolls.
"When can I leave?" I asked anxiously.
"You may leave when you like, however, your boat only leaves in three weeks, thinking you would need more time to recover. You may do what you like until then. Dismissed." He finished. I bowed and left the Tower normally. I returned back to the club and up to my residence.
I gathered some protein bars, some money, that I had a huge amount of now and sharpened my katanas and left for the docks in my ten-tailed smaller wolf form and took a nice striding pace.
Half way there, I took a break, one day had passed and I decided that I would stop at a hot spring for a few days. I stayed for four days. Two weeks and two days until my boat leaves.
I decided to jump through the trees for two solid days in my human form before I reached the docks. There was a surprising amount of ninjas there and the tension felt thick. Something was up.
'Is someone close to the Hokage right now?' I asked my circle through my connection.
'I am, what do you need?' Fall replied almost immediately.
'I need you to ask him about what's happening at the docks.'
'Sure, no problem, I shall give you an answer soon.'
I sat down at the edge of a dock and watched a few fishermen at work when I noticed a blonde-hair, blue-eyed boy who struck my curiosity. And by the look of the amount of fish he had andhow he was fishing to get the desired result. He gazed up at me and grinned. He seemed so angelic…
'I have your answer Sonea.' Fall thought and got my attention, I began to stare at the water in concentration
'Go ahead Fall'
'Missing-nin have been sighted there and a team had been sent to investigate. Sandaime asks that you keep a look out to since you have two weeks to spare.'
'Sure, tell him no problem.' I ended, cutting off the connection.
"Hi, is there something bothering you miss?" The blonde haired boy asked, now standing next to me.
"Oh, no nothing don't worry about it." I said smiling at him with my eyes closed.
"Whoa, are you a ninja?" He asked with excitement bubbling from him.
"Yes I am. You must be happy with a few around if you're that excited about meeting one." I said as I sat down with my feet dangling over the edge.
"No, not really. I know that they are looking for something and by the way you're acting, you are here for a different reason and a lot easier to approach." He said sitting next to me and looking at the water with a little bit of sadness. I was surprised that he had seen this and got a little curious about him.
"You are very intelligent. What is your name?" I asked. He looked at me with his piercing blue eyes and smiled.
"I am Namikaze Minato and you?" He asked me.
"I'm Sonea Storm Shadow, it's nice to meet you Minato. How old are you, if I may ask?"
"I'm five and you must be in your late teens?" He said a little unsure. I smiled and nodded and he looked back at the water. We sat in a comfortable silence for a while.
The sun began to set and Minato stood up with his fish.
"Will I see you around? I'll be here for the next two weeks." I said with a little sadness.
"Yeah, this is my home and I fish here every day so I will see you around." He said turning and walking away before he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Oh, Stay away from the northern woods, there are some bad people there." He said and ran off. He couldn't help but stare after him with a smile.
I got up and found the leader of the hunter squad.
"Check the woods north of here, you'll probably find a trace." I told the man as I smiled and looked for a hotel for the time being.
The next morning I woke up, had a shower and got dressed for the day by the docks. On my way, I was stopped by the same captain and he thanked me for the lead that I gave him and asked me about how I knew this.
"Oh, a little birdy told me yesterday. I'll keep you posted if it tells me anymore interesting information." I said with a wink, making him blush as I walked away and took this as a sign of a good day.
I sat with the boy, everyday as he fished and I failed terribly when he tried to teach me how to do it. At least we both had a good laugh from it. It had been a week since I met the boy and every day he would give me information on the people that were being tracked down.
I learned that the boy's parents had been killed by them a few months ago and now brought in income by fishing like his father use to do. It was sad but I was glad that he was a strong person and knew exactly who their killers were and it made him happier when I told him that the other ninja were actually looking for them to arrest or kill them.
It was two days before my boat left and I was having a sleepless night. I kept tossing and turning, knowing that something was wrong. I got up and had a cold shower and noticed it was midnight and that tonight was the night they were planning to catch the missing nin.
I got dressed and headed outside. The sound of kunai clashing caught my attention and I sped off, because that was the direction that Minato walked off every night.
Not feeling like I was moving fast enough, I transformed into my over sized wolf form and flew over the forest, getting closer by the sound and… Blood?
I slowed to just outside the battle and waited and watched. Minato was tied up and gagged and was unconscious on the floor. Looking closely with my demon eyes, he had bruises and cuts, looking like he had been tortured.
My blood was boiling as I flew into battle. Catching one of the Missing nins by surprise, I grabbed his head in my mouth and ripped it off. I dropped it, knowing they needed that as proof. I changed into my human form and nodded at the Konoha ninja as he took off towards the rest of the battle.
I walked over to Minato whose eyes were open now and looking at me with tears welling up in his eyes. I carefully untied the ropes and gag and I pulled him into my arms gently.
He hugged me back and I radiated healing energy from all over by body and began to heal him. I checked him completely as well as for sexual assault but he was fine. And I was glad. I pulled him back once he had stopped shaking and I smiled at him as I wiped away the remaining tears with my thumbs.
"I'm sorry this happened to you. But, I'm also very proud of you. You were very brave and stayed strong and you are okay because of it." He stared at me and tried to give me a small smile but tears started to fall again so I held him again.
The Konoha ninjas had come back to me and told me that their mission was now complete. I asked them to wait for another day so they could take the boy back to Konoha for an evaluation under my orders. They asked about his parents and I told them about them being killed by the missing-nins and how he was the one feeding me the information. They seemed to smile at this and said that they would alert the Sandiame about this.
We went our separate ways after planning to meet the next day. Minato had fallen asleep in my arms and I took him back to my room to rest.
I cleaned him up with a warm wash cloth and put my sleeping shirt on him and went to the laundry room in the hotel to was off the dirt and blood on his clothes. I came back to see him sleeping peacefully underneath the covers on my bed. I crawled up next to him and watched and I was soon a sleep too.
I woke up at four, big surprise, and Minato was still fast asleep. I returned to the laundry room and retrieved his clean and dry clothes. I returned to find the boy, sitting up in the bed and clutching the blanket to his chest with a scared expression.
"It's okay Minato. You're safe and in my hotel room. Are you okay?" I asked standing very still by the door so I don't send the boy running.
"I think so. I'm sorry, I just didn't realise where I was." He said relaxing a little. I moved into the room and placed his clothes next to him on the bed.
"Will you mind going with the ninja that saved you last night back to Konoha for a mental evaluation?" I asked as he slid his clothes back on. He looked at me with hundreds of things running through his eyes. Excitement, shock, fear and so many other things.
"What about my living to pay for my house and…" He began panicked before I stopped him.
"I will personally pay for everything you need until you can return or better yet, you could always stay in Konoha." I suggested.
"You mean become a ninja like you and the others?" He asked with excitement.
"You're not put off from last night?" I asked with amusement.
"No, never! It actually made me desire it more." He replied with excitement. I started to laugh at this odd boy.
"Alright then. Let's go and get your belongings and meet the ninja who will be going back with you. Don't worry, they are very nice now that they have finished their mission." I said with amusement as I followed the boy.
We went to his house and he packed a few bags before he was ready. We met the ninja and I said that he was excited about being a ninja for Konoha but to let him have an evaluation first and then present him to the Hokage.
I hugged him good-bye and watched as they took a few of his bags and put him on one of their backs. I waved with a smile as they left.
I returned to my task at hand and back to my room to check out and wait for the boat. The captain introduced himself and the crew to me and I prepared myself for the four days of sailing because of the time of the year.
I finally reached port after a five-day sail because of stormy seas. I jumped off of the boat after saying good-bye and slid my mask as well as turned into Raven with the black hair, wings and tail and red eyes and started my way through the thick forest to the other side of the island.
The running even in wolf form took me a week to slip through the thick brush of trees and shrubs, taking note that there were very few ninja on this island anymore.
I finally came upon a small and cosy house that reminded me of Kenjins old house that was perfectly camouflaged into the surrounds. Checking my map and information again, it was definitely the right place. I walked up to the door and knocked.
"Konoha ANBU? What may we do for you?" A woman with red hair and black eyes opened up and was drying her hands in a cloth.
"Uzumaki Shiro, I have come under orders of Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen as well as the Shodaime Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Mito." I was on one knee as I spoke.
"Come in and take off your mask. I will get my husband. Please wait in the living room." She said rushing off once I was inside.
I slid my mask and placed it onto my belt and slipped off my shoes. I then made my way to the living room and waited. A man with brown hair came in with his wife and gestured for me to sit down with them.
"ANBU-san, why are you here?" The man asked defensively.
"I am here under orders of the Sandaime Hokage as well as Uzumaki Mito. I was ordered to bring this scroll to you and escort you back to Konoha." I said taking the gold scroll out and handing it over to them.
They looked at me as they opened the scroll and started to read. Their eyes began to widen with shock and worry. They put the scroll down carefully and the man put his head in his hands while his wife rubbed his back.
"Kushina will be heartbroken." The man said sadly as he lifted his head.
"We will need to talk to her first." Shiro said to me and I nodded in understanding.
"May I be there when you do, Uzumaki Kei and Shiro?" I asked in my emotionless voice.
"It won't make it any easier on her." Kei said.
"Maybe not but I am a jinchuuriki myself and she may find comfort in that." I said as the couples' eyes widened at me.
"I will go and find her quickly." Shiro said getting up. I sat in silence with the man as we waited.
"Mom, can't this wait I was almost finished, dattebane." I heard a young girls voice as she rounded the corner into the living room. I stood up and caught her attention and I bowed to her.
"I have been waiting for you Uzumaki Kushina." I said as I straightened up and saw that she had a cheeky smile and a slight blush on her cheeks. She had crimson hair and violet eyes that complemented each other beautifully. She turned back to her mom.
"She's not here to abduct me, is she?" She said to here mom.
"What do you mean abduct?" I questioned playfully at her.
"Well it is something an alien would say, dattebane." She said as she sat down next to her dad and her mom followed. I sat down on the chair across from the family and waited as her parents turned to her.
"Kushina, listen. We have been given a generous offer by the Hokage and Uzumaki Mito who is part of the Head of the clan. But we will need to move to Konoha permanently. This is not a discussion but it does involve you." Her dad said to her gently as her eyes began to widen
"Do you know what a jinchuuriki is?" Her mother asked her as she shook her head in a 'no' gesture.
"It means in a literal sense 'human sacrifice' and you have been chosen to become a jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi." Her father finished as tears began to fall down her face
"No, no! I don't want to!" Kushina screamed at her parents and ran outside.
They both began to cry into each others arms.
"I will go and find her and calm her down." I alerted her parents before taking off in the direction Kushina ran off into.