AN: Trigger Warning for a bit of strong language, one or two more graphic fight scenes and some unpleasant enemy insinuations.
"What… What are you doing here?" she managed, doing her best to still her racing heart. It had lodged somewhere up in her throat, what with the passing threat and Minato's absurd presence in the middle of nowhere in an enemy base.
He raised an eyebrow, his look somehow expertly mixing worry and incredulity in one.
"I was just about to ask the same." he murmured and his eyes swept her quickly, inspecting for injuries, as he pressed a hand to the column behind him. "We can't stay here. People in the corridors."
She hesitated, glancing up ahead before deciding on the tunnel she had come from and indicating for him to follow. He did so without question, soundlessly, a near shadow by her side.
It took her less than a minute to locate one of the many storage rooms she had passed by and they quickly slipped inside. She heard the silent creak of the door behind her, followed by the whisper of a Fūinjutsu being activated. The briefest flare of chakra and the lock clicked as Minato set a seal she thought she had seen him use as a part of his own home's defences.
She was already moving through the dimly-lit room, inspecting it just in case – he was a sensor, but it never hurt to check. It wasn't a large space, feeling even more cramped, stack full as it was with jars, boxes and baskets of canned goods. They were all pushed against the walls, haphazardly shoved on make-shift shelves, threatening to topple over with the slightest adjustment. A lone table with a chair stood in the middle, covered in what appeared to be half-completed sealing scrolls and writing utensils. There was a layered scent to the stuffy air, mixing the smell of mould and smoke from the torches outside with that of spices, dried herbs and ink.
"Clear." she said, throwing one last cursory glance at a small alcove, turned pantry in the corner, which, save for some brooms, was thankfully as empty as the rest of the storage room.
Minato had moved from the door as well, following her in the room and glancing about with the clinical curiosity of one trained in gathering intel. Even as she thought it, his fingers brushed against a scroll on the table before he picked it up, unzipping his jōnin vest and tucking it in an inside pocket.
A sound from the corridor made him pause, both of them tensing up briefly as a set of footsteps dashed past, disappearing again.
"Why are they even patrolling the corridors of a secret sealed-off base, ya know?" she mumbled, eyebrows mashing in annoyance, and the ghost of a smile ran across his lips.
"It would be silly expecting intruders, wouldn't it?" he said as he turned to face her and she huffed, suddenly finding herself suppressing startled laughter.
The whole situation was absurd.
"Silly." she allowed, the hint of amusement on her tongue, and was rewarded with a brief smile in his own turn.
An oil-lamp was flickering in an iron stand on the wall beside them, making shadows dance across his face and bringing out the blues of his eyes, and she felt an imperceptible shiver run across her skin as he held her look.
"Kushina…" he murmured and she did her best to suppress the thrill at hearing his hushed voice curl around her name, "I can't even begin to guess… What… Why are you here?"
"It was an honest accident, ya know." she started through an exasperated sigh, as if unable to quite believe how she had ended up there herself.
Her quick recap of her mission and the events of the morning only made Minato's eyebrows shoot up higher and higher in surprise with every word.
"And you think there's a Konoha shinobi captive here?"
"Possibly. Hopefully. The alternative…"
He nodded, needing no further clarification on what the alternative would be.
"Well, this changes things."
"And what are these "things" exactly, ya know?"
He sighed, running a hand through his hair in habit. Somehow, even in the bleakest of circumstances, it never stopped being endearing to see him do that.
"Of all the coincidences… An infiltrator was caught in the village."
"I knew it, ya know!" She exclaimed and then, upon noticing his surprise – "the barriers were up at the gates."
Another small smile was tugging at the corners of his lips, as if he was fighting his own amusement at Kushina's quick conclusions, despite the seriousness of the situation.
"He was a plant from Iwagakure; had been gathering intel from low-level clearance positions in the past few months, but got captured the night of the festival. By the time Inoichi managed to break through his defences we had had him in captivity for two days. And he had missed a report that he apparently made regularly through summons."
Her eyes went wide as realisation dawned on her.
"He was to report here. It's an Iwa base."
He nodded once again.
"Judging by the size of it, I'd guess it's older, probably from the second or first shinobi world war… We don't know how many such they have turned operational and we expected they would try to move to a new one if they thought their plant was captured. So I left in a rush, along with Shikaku; transported us here with Hiraishin. He stayed outside to keep watch as I went in. I was feeling ahead for enemies when I sensed my marker on you. I guess in hindsight, it was the easier way in."
She snorted, propping a hand on her hip.
"Glad I could be of help, ya know."
His answering smile was instantaneous, warming her on the inside and she suddenly felt a spark of relief as she realised that they had accidentally gotten the much-needed back-up she had tried to send for before entering the base. Even if half of said back-up looked like he hadn't slept in a while. Again.
"Speaking of help, what are your mission parameters?"
"Gather as much intel as possible…" he said, hesitating for the briefest moment before pressing on, "Assassinate if necessary."
She nodded clinically. She had expected as much. They needed to find out how much Iwa knew, but not at the cost of losing track of them.
"We can add a search and rescue to that list. And it sounds like we're probably on the clock with it, ya know." she said and he hummed his assent.
"We did our best but… we weren't fast enough."
And there was weariness in his voice, her friend once again shouldering all the responsibility for not cracking this sooner.
"Minato… Have you even slept since Yozakura?" she whispered critically, without thinking, realising a beat too late what she had ventured into.
He stilled, his eyes flashing to hers as he held his breath and Kushina felt warmth spilling over her face, unable to look away. His eyes were impossibly blue even in the semi-darkness about, the lamp's light flickering in the molten intensity of his look.
"Not much." He whispered quietly, gulping as a tremor ran through his hand. "I was summoned the following evening and we worked with little break."
"I… I know." she said and then, in a feat of reckless honesty, "I looked for you, but you weren't home."
His eyes widened, the following silence turning charged as the very air suddenly felt heavy, palpable in its sharp scents. His throat worked, once, twice, as he paused, Konoha's eloquent prodigy at a loss for words for once.
"Kushina… That night-" he started and then cut himself off, eyes narrowing as his whole body tensed in alarm.
His arm flashed out, lightning-quick, brushing a hand against the nearby wall. And then his fingers were wrapping around her wrist before she could even process what was happening, pulling her back with a firm grasp as the door handle turned, sealed lock clicking thunderously in the static silence; within a fraction of a second he had pulled her to the back of the room, and she was moving brooms soundlessly as her adrenaline-fuelled brain caught up with what was happening, both of them diving behind the narrow wall of the tiny alcove, turned pantry, now turned one and only hiding spot.
A quiet groan escaped her as she felt the uncomfortable bite of the edge of a shelf between her shoulder blades and she shifted sideways, levelling with him in the cramped corner, just as Minato waved a one-handed Rat seal, releasing the Fūinjutsu he had set.
"-stuck, the damn thing." A coarse male voice was saying as Kushina heard the door fling open forcefully. "Finally. This whole base is falling apart, I'm telling you. It's older than my pa would have been if he had survived the war."
Kushina pulled her chakra in tight, squashing it, not giving any potential sensors the pleasure of an easy find… unless they checked the room like she had, just moments prior. Her eyes sought his out, looking up as she did so, realising instantly how awkward of a position they had crammed themselves into in their rush.
She had ended up pressed against him in a tangle of limbs, one of his legs resting between hers, his back glued to the wall separating the alcove from the room as he faced her. Her one arm had gone up in instinct, palm resting against his chest, serving as the only barrier between them in the ridiculously tight squeeze.
He was looking sideways, fingers pressed against the wall behind him as he appeared to be tracking the newcomers and gauging the level of threat. Steps reached them when someone walked further in the room. The rustle of scrolls being moved and wooden furniture creaking and the person apparently leaned against the table, blissfully disinclined to check the room thoroughly.
She could tell Minato's posture eased up slightly and he looked down at her too, eyes widening as he finally took in their current predicament.
"Hiraishin?" Kushina mouthed inaudibly and she could see his look fix her lips as he read the soundless word there.
He shook his head infinitesimally.
Outside base he signed quickly with one hand and she frowned. They could teleport there if needed… but then they'd have to break in again. And how lucky could one get to not be spotted twice?
"What's going on, Hanotsuchi?" a woman said, apparently the one near the table, and Kushina could just picture her looking about curiously on the other side of the wall.
Two of them then?
"Hattori failed to report. It's been more than five hours now, they suspect he's been captured."
The woman clicked her tongue.
"He'd never talk."
"You know those Konoha scum have ways to interrogate without making you talk at all." The man was saying now, disgust lacing his words. "We're preparing to clear out."
So they weren't patrolling the corridors then - they were simply organising their move.
"So… what then?" came the woman's hesitant voice.
"I don't know. But we don't have much time." A scraping noise reached them, someone apparently dragging the sole chair across the room. A thump against the door and Kushina could tell that they too had "locked", albeit in a more old-fashioned way. "We might get stationed in different locations again."
"Don't tell me you'll miss me now."
"You minx."
His words were followed by footsteps again, this time more rushed, and then the sound of a scuffle reached her. Minato stiffened by her side, jaw squaring as he gritted his teeth, fixing the wall above her head with a resolute look.
And then it dawned on her. They weren't fighting at all.
Her eyes widened, jaw quite literally dropping when she finally recognised the muffled impassioned sounds. Her breath left her in a quiet huff, fingers twitching against his chest. If Minato noticed, he didn't react one bit.
This can't be happening.
In any other situation she would have laughed. The urge to do so was still there, buried somewhere beneath the layers of shock and agitation, but she wasn't sure whether it wouldn't come out as a pained groan instead.
It just can't be happening.
She shut her eyes, doing her best to block out the sounds, mortified, but her senses had heightened with adrenaline, painting a reluctant picture in her mindscape with each desperate sigh across the room. The rustle of clothing, a grunt and the table creaked again with weight put on it. The scrolls and writing utensils clattered loudly as they hit the floor.
If she had thought the room stuffy before, it had turned stifling now, and she suddenly felt herself breathless. A strangled moan reached her from the other side of the wall, and the table creaked again, scraping against the floor. The man's hands would be urgent now, as they slid under the girl's clothes, his lips claiming hers…
Her eyes flashed open again, fixing her own hand with a look, feeling her heart pick up despite herself. Her face was aflame. Minato was still as a statue across from her, but pressed so close for comfort as they were, she could feel it affecting him too; his jōnin vest was still unzipped and through the thin fabric of his shinobi blues she could feel his heartbeat quicken below her fingers, body tensing up. She could hear his quickened breaths as they tickled the top of her hair, ghosting against her temple and sending gooseflesh down her spine. Her face had ended up somewhat level with his lips and neck and she could see him swallow thickly as he threw his head back, staring resolutely at anything but her.
She tried occupying her attention elsewhere too, with the patterns on the floor, following the broken tile swirls with a look before moving on to the wall near them, counting the cracks in the stone – one, two, three, fourfivesixseven…
"No, don't. Someone can walk in-" the girl was saying breathlessly on the other side, before her words were drowned out in a kiss, morphing in a whimper and a muffled moan.
Kushina gulped, resisting the urge to plant her forehead against Minato's chest. The heat of his body was making her head spin; tension coursed through her like a living, squirming thing, like fire down her veins, and she felt the now familiar delicious ache in the pit of her stomach, legs growing weak. She tried to silence her own shallow breaths, feeling herself grow lightheaded, and she shifted ever so slightly, trying to press herself back against the wall and away from him, to no avail. There was nowhere to retreat to.
Her movement drew a startled huff from him, her hips grinding against his thigh in her clumsy attempt to draw back, and she threw a quick apologetic glance up at his face. His look found hers and she sucked in a breath. His eyes were widened, taking her in with a feverish look. She could almost feel the static thrum in the very air between them. Something had changed since the night of the festival, some pretence of disinterest that had slipped and shattered for good.
She bit her lip against her ragged breaths, fearing they'd be heard; but it had been a mistake. His eyes jumped to her lips, a pained grimace spilling on his face. His heart was drumming against her hand now, to match her own, as he swayed forward ever so slightly, finding her eyes with a blazing look once again.
Her fingers twitched, nails scraping at his chest through the fabric as she clutched at his sweater without thinking, and a shuddering breath escaped him at her touch, ghosting against her lips in their proximity.
If ever there was torture, this had to be it.
And then he sucked in a shocked breath, quickly throwing a look at the alcove entrance where the oil-lamp was spilling its flickering light, just as the sound of the door handle turning reached their ears.
"Fuck." The Iwa man groaned, his breathing coming out in hard pants, hand slamming against the table.
"Sade-san?" came the muffled voice on the other side while the person tried the door again, chair creaking, barring entrance. "Sade-san, I know you're in there!"
"Darn it, Koichi! What- What now?" the girl was saying, clearing a dry throat as the rustle of fabric indicated she was fixing her dishevelled clothes.
"An intruder was spotted at base! They engaged him, but he slipped away, search party is combing through the place, everyone's recalled at HQ. We have to go. Now."
Kushina froze, addled mind trying to wrap itself around the information presented and aiming for a shot at clarity.
"Ryota-san." she breathed and could see Minato's eyes narrow at that.
"For fuck's sake, an intruder? Now?" the Iwa man barked, and they could hear two pair of footsteps heading for the door.
A rough scrape and they had moved the chair, exiting the room in a rush, slamming the door behind them as they went. The shocked silence lasted for a few seconds more as Minato brushed a finger against the wall to confirm that they were alone.
And then he exhaled a pent-up breath, quickly extracting himself from the corner, leaving the shock of cold air in place of his blazing proximity. Kushina stayed glued where she was, eyes fluttering closed as she bent forward, trying to catch her breath. She could feel Minato lean against the wall beside her, carefully avoiding contact, his own laboured breathing giving him pause as he gulped.
"We… we need to talk." he managed and she couldn't help a quick startled laugh in between huffs.
"Yes." she said finally, straightening up and finding his eyes once more. "Maybe now's not the best time though."
"After the mission." He allowed and she nodded slowly, running a hand through her ponytail, fingers most definitely not trembling still.
"Let's find Ryota-san, ya know."
He finished inspecting the tag and got back to his feet with a laboured huff. His knees were not as good as they once were, not since that damned Doton technique some Konoha whelp had slammed into him, not that Taji would ever admit to having had a Firelander best him with an earth technique.
He cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders back and ticking off mentally – he had four more tags to check in this quadrant, but they had all been good and operational so far and he expected the rest would be as well – his team had planted them in the first place after all. He should be done in less than half an hour – plenty of time to spare before they evacuated and activated them all, erasing all traces of ever being here.
He had just pushed the shelf back in its place when he felt it – a soundless air current, a whiff of smoke from the corridor, and then the cold edge of a blade at his throat.
Taji froze, eyes widening in shock – last he'd heard they had isolated the intruder in another quadrant – damn this ridiculously vast base – so how was the man here now? He gulped, a trickle of sweat rolling down his neck.
"Not a sound." came a quiet voice behind him.
He nodded, eyebrows furrowing as he realised the voice had been female; they had said they spotted a man. Were there two of them? Blasted Leaf spawn. They were everywhere, like aphids. He had to hand it to them at least, they acted quickly.
"A Konoha shinobi, a girl, was intercepted at one of the entrances to this base less than an hour ago. What happened to her?" came the hushed voice behind him, quickly, urgently.
There was someone else, he realised, another soundless presence in the room, someone moving about and Taji realised they were gathering intel. He gritted his teeth, reluctantly realising what had to be done and wanting none of it.
"I won't ask twice." The woman hissed, kunai pressing at his skin, drawing blood. "Your friends down the corridor would confirm. If they could."
The tags would respond to him and his two teammates, the people they had been created by and for – jokingly referred to as the "demo" team, the description fit them to a tee. And if one of them was, for some reason, not around, then the others could finish it off just as well. Precautions had been taken precisely for a time like this, and yet he had always thought them hypothetical – when he worked he would always picture himself well away from any job he and his teammates ever had to do.
Then again, he had also not pictured himself dying in vain, slaughtered like a pig. Perhaps there was some poetic justice in dying by your life's work.
He couldn't set them all off, not yet, but one wouldn't hurt.
…only that it would, because he was right next to it. But so were they.
"You'll kill me all the same, bitch." He growled, bringing two hands before his chest with his words.
Cold steel bit through flesh and cartridge and the last thing he felt was the sharp sting, his ears registering the terrible gurgle that his own throat made, along with the distant melodic sizzle of the explosive tag behind the shelf. He thought he heard a shout, somewhere far away, as if at the end of a winded tunnel, and he was falling, darkness descending in a whoosh.
And then the blast wave picked him up.
They had made their way down a number of rooms, most of which deserted. The few enemies they had encountered had been questioned with little success – they either truly didn't know anything, or they valued their life very little. Or they were recklessly brave.
And with one, potentially two, captives in their hands, Konoha had no time to lose on lengthy interrogations.
The latest person they had come across in an emptied storage room hadn't even felt them coming until it was too late. Kushina had put a kunai to his throat in less than a minute.
He had proven as unhelpful as the rest.
Something was wrong this time however, she could tell as soon as she pulled the blade across his skin. He tried to speak, probably to name a technique, but the words got drowned in a gush of blood.
Yet his chakra surged forth nonetheless.
"Kushina!" Minato shouted from the other end of the room, just as she heard the sizzle of an explosive tag go off.
She dropped the man she had been holding, activating her barrier in instinct, chains shooting ahead of her and expanding between her and the emptied shelves-
-and Minato appeared by her side, arms wrapping about her-
-and the wall exploded thunderously, shaking the room and the ceiling, blast wave slamming into them and sending them flying, barrier and all-
-and she felt the squeeze of a space-time technique just before they got slammed in the wall opposite, Minato teleporting them in the corridor outside instead, the last place he had left a tag before they entered.
A gust of smoke and debris had flown out through the open door of the room that had just exploded and she felt her throat constrict against it as she tried to get her bearings. She was lying on her back, ears ringing from the blast, something heavy on her chest.
A shift above her and she realised Minato had ended up over her in an attempt to shield her from the blast. A sprinkling of gravel rained over him, falling off the cracked ceiling.
They really needed to have a talk about his reckless daring rescues.
A muffled hiss escaped him as he propped himself up, rolling off her, eyes fixing her with a worried look. His sun-kissed hair appeared almost white with the fine dust all about.
"Are- are you okay?" he said through a cough.
"Never better..." she managed waving the dust away from her face too before pushing herself up in a sitting position. "You?"
And despite the commotion, despite just being nearly blown to smithereens, Minato still met her sarcasm with a lopsided smile.
"Ditto." he said, getting up to his feet in a quick move. "About to get somewhat worse. We need to move."
Within a heartbeat she had joined him, ignoring the stab of dull pain that shot down her side – that would probably bruise badly – just as Minato crouched and planted a hand on the floor, throwing a narrow-eyed look down both sides of the corridor. She could only guess what he felt there – after all the ruckus, they were sure to be cornered – before he motioned to the room that had just been mercilessly blown up.
"This way."
If she had been with anyone else, she might have questioned the logic in meeting their enemies in a half-smouldering room thick with ash. But it wasn't someone else that she was with – it was Minato and she realised she had somehow, at some point, made the decision she would trust him always, unconditionally, unquestionably. So she held her breath, squinting as they dived through the billows of acrid smoke and dashed through the room.
The shelf she had been near had been all but pulverised, remaining debris crackling in flames, sections of the wall and ceiling thrown across the room, and Kushina quickly realised what Minato had been aiming for – a large beam of dimmed light was cutting through the darkened air, coming from the missing segment of the wall behind said shelf. Minato dove through it in one smooth move and she followed right behind.
The cavern on the other side was open and spacious, the largest one she had seen since entering the base, its ceiling extending far up high and disappearing from view; it was probably a natural cave, converted to use. The rough walls were unadorned, save for the torches lining the stone, broken only by the occasional tunnel, one on three of the cavern walls each, branching off in darkness.
They didn't pause, making for the nearest exit, but they hadn't even crossed half of the room when Minato stopped, rooting himself in place and signalling for her to do the same, eyes narrowed in a determined look, dashing between the corridors on either side.
"Incoming." He muttered and she quickly palmed a kunai from her pouch.
"As good a place as any. Perhaps better than most, ya know." she said turning to face one of the tunnels and feeling Minato do the same behind her, back turned to hers.
A quick move and she realised he had whipped out a number of his three-pronged kunai in both hands. There was a surge in his chakra behind her and he threw the blades about them, sharp edges embedding effortlessly through the stone floor and walls around as if they were made of butter, and Kushina grinned. Wind-chakra-coated weapons were just unfair sometimes, honestly.
She couldn't hear footsteps nearing – shinobi were too good for that – but she could somehow feel them approaching, a sharp static edge to the cavern all about. A terrible thrill was snaking down her figure, adrenaline zinging on the inside, filling her with restless energy and she could almost feel her chakra sharpening, bleeding out in its surges – she did have quite a bit of it after all.
It happened within an instant – one moment the mouth of the tunnel was empty and then there were five of them – still unmarked, not proclaiming any affiliation, varied clothes showing no pattern or uniform, probably as instructed. If it hadn't been for Minato, she would have hardly guessed they were Iwa. But the glares they had adopted left little doubt about their hatred for any shinobi bearing Konoha forehead protectors.
Minato had positioned himself so that he would face both corridors on the left and the right behind her and she threw a quick look back to see that more shinobi had appeared there as well – four on one side and seven on the other.
Killing intent surged in the hall, heavy and thick, making the hairs on her arms stand on end. Their pause was brief, interspersed with whispered words.
"Is that…?"
"Can't be. Hattori said he's in Konoha."
Kushina felt the tug of a smirk pulling on her lips. Oh it was him all right. And she would make sure they regretted not having recognised her also.
"Well, well, some Leaf vermin did make their way down. You just don't stop providing us with sources of intel." a large man on her side was saying through a rasp, leering at her over a set of yellowing teeth. She thought he might be the leader, seeing as they made way for him easily, "You're outnumbered, as you can see. I'll give you this one chance to lay down your weapons before we dispose of you. We hardly need more hostages, but I can be persuaded, pretty girl."
Kushina gritted her teeth – more hostages - so they did have Kaede. Or Ryota. Or both. Regardless, it wasn't ideal.
"How about you lay down your weapons and we'll think about sparing you. If you hand over our teammates I'll even try to arrange for a cell with a straw bed back in Konoha, ya know." her voice rang out, echoing off the walls all about.
The man's grin turned menacing before raspy laughter broke through his lips. There was something unsettling about his shrunk pupils, an unhinged energy about him, chakra pouring out chaotically with his palpable bloodlust.
Kushina thought she would love to personally drive her fist through his rotting teeth.
The hush lasted but a second longer and then she felt the surge of chakra from up ahead as the man flew through handseals, slamming his palms on the ground. Before the floor rose up from under her she was already in the air, same as Minato, both of them jumping away and skidding to a side.
Chaos erupted all about, enemy nin jumping forward, pressing the advantage of numbers in a coordinated attack and Kushina found herself dodging elemental attacks as she dashed up one of the walls, same as an Iwa kunoichi who met her halfway through in a clash of kunai and well-measured punches. In no time Kushina had the upper hand, the other girl clearly not well-prepared for a tai fight, balking under her chakra-coated kicks.
With a rumble the wall before her feet liquefied, sliding forward in a sludge with someone's precise technique and the redhead felt the thick mud grasp at her ankles, trying to root her. She pumped chakra in a measured shunshin, throwing herself across the hall. Her own hands were a blur of handseals as soon as her feet touched ground and she unleashed a fireball in the direction of her assailants just as the high keening sound of a wind technique reached her from somewhere off to her left and she cast a glance at Minato while her assailants scattered momentarily with her flames.
He was moving effortlessly between enemies, a near blur, his moves sure and swift, his eyes molten steel, and Kushina realised she had never seen him before, not quite, not in this way. She had never really seen Konoha's Yellow Flash. She had had glimpses at the Pass, but her wounds had overwhelmed her before the actual fight broke out; and while he had been a sight to behold during their spar, it had been nothing compared to Minato on the battlefield, determination burning at his core, unyielding power wielded at his hands.
The talk hadn't done him justice – nothing really could.
The thrill that ran through her then was nothing but primal as she felt herself in awe, gooseflesh running down her arms, the glorious sight of him imprinted in her mindscape as if at a standstill.
And then the moment was over, enemies closing in around her and her attention snapped back to the matter at hand. They came at her confidently, recklessly and she found herself grinning as chakra crackled at her fingertips, surging through her muscles, propelling her forward in a fiery whirlwind of kicks, irregular punches and bold slashes. In between it all she had brought her hands up in a familiar seal, chakra splitting evenly between a number of clones and she had evened out the battlefield, pushing them back in defence, kunai coming out bloodied as she felled yet another enemy nin. Within minutes they had dwindled down to two.
More had poured out through the blasted gap she and Minato had come from, regrouping along with the remaining Iwa nin. A powerful water whip lashed forward, wiping out two of her clones, followed by a Raiton technique. The lightning zinged forward, cracking fissures in the floor and Kushina found herself dodging sideways, the technique passing dangerously close, her hair frizzling with the charge of it.
Somewhere beside her a whole section of the wall rose, slamming against the floor, crushing a number of Minato's kunai.
"Tsch" was the sound that made its way past her lips as she realised they would try to switch to ranged attacks.
Tough luck for them.
The handsigns for releasing a technique took her a fraction of a second to from as she ran at them, skidding below a boulder thrown her way and ending up not too far off in a crouch. Her fingers tapped the storage seal inked in her wrist, releasing the scroll she needed and she threw it open at her feet in a swift move, slamming her palm against it.
The web of kanji expanded across the stone floor, upturned boulders and all, stretching below their feet as planned. Two were quick enough to jump away in alarm, instincts kicking in, but the rest weren't as lucky. Within an instant the ink shot up, wrapping about their ankles and holding them in place. Her clones were already lunging forward, making quick work of the rooted foes.
But casting the seal had exposed her, marking her apart from the clones, showing she was the real one; she felt rather than see the blade coming at her from the side, imbued with lightning, air crackling with the charge of it, and she threw herself sideways just as something stirred beside her in a familiar manner and the clang of kunai clashing reached her ears. She threw a quick look at Minato, now beside her, locked in a standstill with the Raiton-user just before pushing him back, his wind-coated blade winning out against the lightning one, cracking the steel.
"You've been holding out on me." She said as she made to her feet, whipping another kunai out of her pouch.
"Right back at you." He said, eyes sweeping the complex seal she had just cast and she grinned.
Their brief moment of respite didn't last as the remaining Iwa nin descended on them again.
But their numbers had dwindled, their confidence cracking along with their mounting losses. Somehow, at some point, Iwa had realised they were losing even before they had had to face both their enemies together.
It didn't last long after.
Their spar that night had been brief, but it had been enough for both of them to familiarise themselves with each other's style. Minato side-stepped her stances perfectly, adapting to her moves just as she did with his, allowing for his light-stepped dashes beside her fiery kicks. Coupled with his Hiraishin, they had dwindled their numbers to two in no time. One of them, Kushina realised with annoyance, was their cocky commander who had somehow survived this long.
She was quite willing to personally rectify the mistake.
The man stood his ground with a crazed look to him, mouth split in a furious grimace, and Kushina thought he would tear his own throat out before he surrendered a fight. His companion wasn't as bold – the young nin turned, making a run for a tunnel, fear turning him blind to his mistake. The Hiraishin kunai was embedded in the floor before the corridor. Kushina knew it before it even happened; saw Minato's eyes narrow, saw his body tense, fingers closing around the hilt of his own weapon and within an instant he was across the room just as she lunged at their leader-
"STOP OR SHE DIES." A female voice rang out, like a whip, echoing across the cavern all about.
Kushina halted, sandals skidding against the floor, a mere meter from her target, heart lodging in her throat as she whipped about. A thud came across from her, the younger man's body falling heavily at Minato's feet. Her friend had frozen also, following the newcomer through narrowed eyes.
The woman was standing at the mouth of a corridor, throat working nervously as she supported the unconscious form of a girl against her, kunai at her throat. The captive was a sorry sight – her face was swollen and bruised, caked with blood, clothes dishevelled and, judging by the bloodied sight of her hands, she was missing more than one finger. But the dark hair was unmistakable – at least Kaede was still alive. For now.
"Drop them." The Iwa kunoichi said and when Kushina and Minato both deliberated she pressed the blade at Kaede's throat more insistently, fresh blood oozing to mix with the darkened streaks already marring her skin.
Kushina cursed mentally, throwing her own kunai to the ground and hearing the clank of Minato's blade as well across from her. This was precisely why you rescued the hostages first, ideally.
The newcomer gulped, trembling hand twitching dangerously against her captive's skin.
"Don't you try anything or she's dead. I swear it."
"Good work, Ren." The large man behind her said and Kushina heard his heavy footsteps as he neared her.
A sharp kick to the back of her knees and she found herself falling forward, palms scraping against the stone when she cushioned her fall.
"Don't you dare!" the woman's voice hitched from ahead and Kushina somehow knew Minato had made to step forward.
A kunai appeared at her own throat as a rough hand grabbed at her ponytail, pulling her up to her feet by her hair. She gritted her teeth against the sharp sting in her scalp, refusing to give him the pleasure.
Across from her Minato was glaring at the man with contempt, hands closing and opening in fists. His jaw was clenched, eyes narrowed dangerously, a shadow passing across his face as the killing intent layered thick in the air. The man behind her seemed to notice it and she could feel his filthy breath on her neck as he grinned. There was a sour smell to him, making her wrinkle her nose in disgust.
"Oh? This one is it? Did we find a weakness for Konoha's Yellow Flash?" he rasped out and she heard him lick his lips by her ear. "I can tell why. She's pretty, this one. Feral. Needs a firm hand. Ah, careful now, no sudden moves."
His one hand sneaked down to her leg, fingers slipping in her kunai pouch and quickly coming up with Minato's three-pronged one. "This how you get around? Won't be needing it more. In fact, you won't need any of it, girl." He said and slashed roughly at her leg, cutting the strap of her pouch before flinging it away along with Minato's blade. They clattered dully, far off.
A trickle of blood was coming down her leg, his careless move having dug shallowly in her skin also, but she barely noticed it as the man brought his hand up once more, grabbing at her hair again and twisting, wrapping her ponytail around his fingers and yanking her head back, exposing her throat and forcing her eyes high up to the rough stones ahead.
"So much hair, makes for a good grip… in a fight… or otherwise. Don't worry, Yellow Flash, I won't kill you. I know people who will pay dearly to do the deed themselves. And I might just keep her too. Make you watch."
She could no longer see Minato's expression, the murderous look in his eyes hidden from view, even if she could feel the sharp edge to his surging chakra, the repressed power waiting to burst. She was somehow certain that if ever he enjoyed a kill, it would be for this man's life.
But she would have to deny him the joy. This man was hers.
Believing Minato's technique neutralised, the Iwa man clicked his tongue at the kunoichi who had brought Kaede.
"Ren, leave her, she's half-dead anyway. Go tie him up."
"M-me?" she stammered out.
"Do you see anyone else around?" he rasped, blade twitching nervously against Kushina's throat.
She heard the girl gulp, heard her draw a breath, heard the swish of clothes and the thump of Kaede's unconscious form falling to the floor. She heard the Iwa girl shift forward and take a step and then another, their hostage left safely behind, and then Kushina's eyes narrowed dangerously as she gritted her teeth. Her chakra surged forward, burning hot as it flashed ahead on command after building up for so long with her rage.
The first Adamantium chain wrapped around the man's wrist, pinning his hand in place just in time. His muscles worked, trying to drive the blade down to no avail. The second chain pierced his left wrist mercilessly, blood gushing out and coating her hair as his fingers spasmed loose, releasing his iron grip. A howl of pain erupted by her ear just as the third chain shot through his stomach, coming out clean the other end.
"You bitch-" the man started, coughing out blood as she extracted herself out of his hands.
She hadn't used her shield chains quite so before, but at this point she was seething and fury could make her most creative.
With a rattling sound the chains retreated, the man stumbling ahead as he grabbed at his perforated stomach, blood gushing out between his fingers, to match that at his chin. And then he toppled over.
With a sharp kick she rolled him over, splaying him on his back, disgusted with him and with herself for enjoying the choked wet coughs coming from his throat. In a swift move she was crouched beside him, sharp point of his own discarded kunai pointed at his neck.
"You haven't even seen feral, ya know." She said and her hand flashed down.
A few leg twitches and he was still.
She took a deep breath, pushing to her feet and turning to find Minato a few steps back, already having neutralised the Iwa kunoichi, as she trusted him to have done. The anger hadn't quite left him yet, mixing with a look of worry as he took a step towards her, a tremor running through his hand.
"I'm fine." she said.
He swallowed slowly, nodding, his eyes never leaving her.
"Really, Minato. I was waiting for her to let go of Kaede. You shouldn't let trash like him rile you up so, ya know." she said, making her way to the unconscious girl, scooping her form in her arms and brushing two fingers against her neck, sighing in relief at the faint pulse.
He was just about to speak up when a distant rumble from down one corridor reached them, a tremor running through the floor and walls, making gravel rain once more, over the felled bodies around. Her eyes briefly fell on the blue scarf tied about the waist of one such body – that of a girl. Her name was woven in the cloth, uneven stitches betraying hasty handiwork.
Sade
She gulped, wondering if it had been her work or Minato's, ending this girl's life. This girl who had, until just now, breathed, lived, laughed, loved. Just like her.
And then Minato was by her side, kneeling in front of her with a determined look.
"They've probably rigged the whole base. They mean to erase their tracks. I'm getting you and Kaede-san out of here and I'll come back to look for Ryota-kun." his words tumbled out in a rush and Kushina found herself shaking her head in protest before he was even done. He didn't know Ryota's chakra signature, he had never even met the man; finding him alone was madness, work against the clock.
"I can help, Minato-"
There was something desperate in his eyes now, an agitation that ran deep and had a hold of him as he spoke, "She's unconscious, someone has to watch over her. We don't know how many of them slipped out. And if I'm not near you when this place goes off…"
She frowned, biting her tongue against her protests. There was truth to his words, she knew, but she couldn't help disliking it still – she was notoriously bad at sitting things out. But out here, in the field, he was a jōnin and she a chūnin – he held rank on her and could easily command if she kept pushing it. For a second she wondered if he would.
She cast the thought aside and nodded instead, giving him a hasty description of the man. And then his hand was reaching forward tentatively and wrapping about her forearm.
Within a heartbeat he had activated Hiraishin; space squeezed about her briefly and then relented, fresh air filling her nostrils along with the overpowering scent of pines. They had ended up in a different section of the forest, near another entrance, at the mouth of a cave. The forest floor was steeper here, terrain hillier, uneven below her feet.
Her eyes shot open just in time to see Shikaku throw a lazy look behind.
"Yo. What took you so lon-" he started, cutting himself off as he beheld her, eyes widening in alarm. "Ku-Kushina?! What- what on Earth-"
"It's a long story. I'm leaving them with you, Shikaku. There's another Konoha nin down there and the place is rigged."
She could see the Nara heir frown, jaw squaring as he nodded and Minato was gone in an instant, returning to one of the many kunai discarded in their fight. Only then did Kushina notice the three Iwa nin Shikaku had casually rooted in his shadows, all of them mimicking his awkward half-turn.
"Troublesome" Shikaku sighed, eyes drooping closed. "What's her status? And yours?"
"I'm fine, but she's unconscious. Sustained a lot of damage, probably when interrogated. I assume she lost a lot of blood. She needs a medic asap."
"We have a back-up team approaching, should be here soon-"
A blur of motion beside them and Kushina froze, sensing that same overwhelming chakra she had felt earlier when Minato first appeared, the sheer stock of it hanging in the air, choking them. For a split second the world seemed to stand still as a figure shot out of the tunnel beside them, rushing mere inches from her, her locks twirling in the wake of the motion. In her peripheral vision she could see Shikaku tense up, turning to face the large shinobi who stopped a good few meters ahead of them and turned to peer back with a disinterested look.
The sheer size of him would have been imposing, even without the overwhelming chakra. His face had a fish-like quality to it, small beaded eyes regarding them calmly. His long orange hair was partially pinned up at the top, spilling over the massive bandaged sword at his back, skull-topped grip visible over one shoulder. And there, over his forehead, was nestled the first affiliation proclamation they had seen – a Kirigakure forehead protector glistened brightly in the sun.
A leaden feeling shot down her frame, sinking in her stomach. Kirigakure? Working with Iwa? was her first thought, and then He must have been there, the day that Uzu fell.
The strength of the blinding anger took her by surprise, igniting in her chest like a wildfire, like an all-consuming storm, and she felt her mouth pull back in a grimace, hand balling in a trembling fist.
The swordsman's small eyes fixed on her, probably registering the sudden flare of killing intent.
And then he yawned.
"Kage Mane no jutsu – complete." Shikaku said from beside her as his shadow finally latched on to the man's thick form.
Almost instantly she knew something was wrong. Shikaku grunted, beads of sweat breaking out over his forehead and he hissed, dropping down to one knee, mimicked by his previous captives in his moves. With a swish the latest tendril of his shadows disappeared, cutting him off from the Kiri man.
"I've heard of your clan, Konoha mongrel. My Samehada likes to feast on the chakra in your shadows, since you offer it so freely. But I have no time to spare on the likes of you now."
And with these words the heavy-set man turned. And leaped away.
She near-snarled, lunging to her feet, Kaede all but forgotten. The cut in her leg thumped in dull protest, but she ignored it.
"Kushina, no, don't engage-" she heard Shikaku's words from behind her, but she had already jumped after him, diving in the thick foliage and giving chase.
He was surprisingly quick for a man of his stature, already having gained some distance ahead and she pumped chakra in her legs, pushing unreasonable quantities in a quick burst, shooting forward. Her one hand dived to her kunai pouch only to discover it missing, cursing inwardly as she remembered the Iwa nin cutting it off.
Darn them all.
Two leaps, three, and they cleared the trees, jumping out in the open over jagged rocks lining a stream. Her hands were already flying through seals, picking up the water ahead and flinging it at him as a whip in the distance. He side-stepped it with little effort.
But he stopped. And turned.
"You are… annoying." he said airily. "And foolish, to think you can best a Kiri nin with Water techniques."
"And you're a coward, ya know." She spat out, feeling the fury coil in her voice, blistering rage making her hands shake as she stood.
"You don't interest me, girl. The information I carry is much more valuable."
The rage clashed at her like tidal waves, hot and cold, sharpening her senses like a kunai's edge. She felt it seep in her belly, ebb at the seal there, chakra crackling about her as it went, making the very tips of her hair dance about as if static. Her lips drew back over bared teeth as her muscles clenched, preparing for a lunge-
And then the deep rumble reached her, building up. For a moment everything was perfectly still, as if poised on the tip of a kunai blade. And then the ground lunged under her feet, throwing her sideways. The thunderous boom followed a second later, joined by others in the distance just as the rocks below her feet shifted, crumbling inwards and she jumped back in instinct, moving through boulders and shifting trees as she went, the terrible cracking of a whole section of the forest sliding sideways and sinking in around itself.
With a sickening feeling she realised that Iwa had done it. The base was no more.
And then the crippling horror registered as well. His name left her lips in a startled shout as her feet finally found a solid branch, fear rooting her momentarily. Without thinking her hand shot down to her leg yet again, looking for an origami blossom in a pouch that was no longer there.
Somewhere far up ahead, across a field of upturned rocks and collapsed trees, the Kiri nin had made his retreat in the commotion.
To her credit she hesitated only for a second.
And then she turned back, dashing towards Shikaku; towards Minato's Hiraishin marker; towards Minato. He had to be there.
He had to.
AN: Well here we go, next one in a week, as promised. I'm sorry for taking a bit longer, but this one was actually quite hard to write at times. But it was a joy! And it is also decently longer so I hope that makes up for it :)
I loved all of your ideas about what the base or mission might be! No, it's not Sakumo-related, although you are right, I fear his days are numbered… And no, it's not really one of Orochimaru's bases as he hasn't started using them yet, he's still in the village – but you were sort of on the right track, for the future. He will be mentioned also, soon :)
Anyway, boy was it a beast to go through these fights. But I do love writing badass Kushina and badass Minato, so yay for that. Oh and with the murderous look I described on him, yes, I was absolutely going for the glare he threw "Madara" after rescuing Kushina right after the Kyuubi was extracted from her – you know the one – on top of the tree, when he looked back and his eyes just spelled out murder :D I hope I gave it justice well.
Kushina's fighting style is a bit of my own creative will here – not much is known of her techniques so I'm improvising. Do let me know how it goes for you.
In any case, thank you for your patience once again and for your wonderfully kind comments, they always, always, without fail, make my day! You guys keep me wanting to write tons more! I'm always happy to reply to comments, but I just want to mention that I can't do so if the comment is left through a Guest account – the system won't let me message you. But I would love to otherwise! To answer one such comment – I'm terribly sorry, I would love to try and post on a specific date, but my schedule is somewhat shifting and I don't always manage. I'll do my best to keep to my own deadlines, however, roughly – for example keep to the week mentioned for upload. And speaking of, I have to announce real quick that next week I'll be on holiday until the following weekend. I'll take my laptop with me, but we will be hiking most the time so I don't know if I will get the chance to write as much. So next chapter coming, most likely, in two weeks' time (at the latest).
Ja ne~
Glossary:
Doton: Earth Release
Shunshin: Body Flicker Technique
Raiton: Lightning Release
Kage Mane no jutsu: Shadow Possession Technique