- Placebo: "Running Up That Hill" (Sleeping with Ghosts)
28. A Door is a Weapon Too
Minato's heart was hammering. Fear and anger mixed and he felt his hand shaking.
"An Uzumaki, huh?" Mujin said. "Well, question her. She might know where he is."
"All right."
The man turned and walked out of the room.
Minato swallowed. She was still alive, and she would be for a while if they needed her.
"Taki," Mujin said.
"Yeah?" the man, Taki, replied, stopping on the other side of the open door.
"Good work. You know what to do; if you can't get anything out of her, just get rid of her."
Minato reacted before he thought. In a moment of pure anger he slammed the door in the man's face, who fell backwards of the impact and lay unconscious on the floor.
"What the -!" Mujin exclaimed.
"Minato, I forbid you -" the general began on the earphone, but Minato had already transported himself to the inside of the room, where he had left the mark. He landed on top of the wide sill with a soft thump, making Mujin turn; the man turned at the sound and his eyes widened at the sight of the man they had been so eager to catch, and who was now standing right before his eyes.
The sword in his hand cut the air like a razor, sending a blow so sharp a long, vertical line of blood appeared on Mujin, and he fell backwards, landing behind the table of iron chains and handcuffs.
"Minato," the general said, clearly this time. "Minato, I know what you're thinking. Don't head out."
Minato jumped down from the sill and stood there, breathing heavily, fury shaking him. Something so dear to him had just been taken away from him.
"This is serious, Minato," the general continued when he didn't get an answer. "She'll be alive, but listen – listen, Minato! This is bigger than just a girl being kidnapped, you know it is. This is a matter of international conflict between two countries, we have to consult the Hokage and his councillors, and besides, it's you they're after -"
"I don't care about that," Minato hissed as he transported himself to the office on the second floor and rummaged for a map he had seen earlier. "General, I know her better than anyone else. I know how the chakra inside her works – if she loses her temper in a wrong way it can take the better of her -"
"It hasn't happened before – once, all right – but she was young and had no control of the chakra in general, she is more responsible now than back then -"
"You don't understand," Minato said, tearing through papers and finally finding a large map. "She won't lose control if she's simply angry, but if she's in danger and someone else is in danger -"
"Minato, you can't run out there."
"And when they find out what she is, then what?" Minato said furiously and measured the distance between the place marked 'radio factory' and the place marked 'HQ'. "They'll take the Kyuubi, they'll kill her!"
"Until they find out what she is, we will have come up with a decent plan! And even if she should transform, one person can't hold her down, not even you."
"I can, general. I have a way of turning her back and closing her chakra."
"Even so, Minato; this is no mission for a single person. As your general both formerly and of higher rank, I forbid you to go after her and order you to retreat. Is that clear?"
Minato closed his eyes, letting out a frustrated sigh. He went quiet. He could hear the breathing of the general as he waited for Minato's answer, but Minato already knew that no matter how insistent the general tried to be, he couldn't go back. He couldn't leave her. Not for his sake, and not in the danger she was in.
The Earth had no idea who they had captured. It was only a matter of time until they figured it out.
"I'm sorry, general," Minato said calmly, and heard a groan on the earphone. "I'm making my own mission of this."
"Minato -"
"Report me a missing-nin if you have to." Minato collected the map and transported himself to the grounds outside the factory. "I'll do whatever I can to bring her back, alive and with the Kyuubi inside her. I'll leave the speaking device on. Over and out."
He ripped the earphone off and could distantly hear shouting coming from the little speaker, but stuffed it quickly in his pocket and set off.
This couldn't go wrong.
Forgive me, but I don't really have a clue about how walkie-talkie language is like. So if they were supposed to say anything in particular after every line or something, I had no idea.
