Chapter Nine
A thin, misty rain fell on the cold, late-February evening as Minato stood with Kakashi, Tsunade, and Jiraiya at the north gate. This is what it is like year-round in Amekagure. The damp cold seeped into old injuries, making themselves known again. Despite having said good-bye at this gate many times, something felt off about this time. As Minato watched his master exchange a few private words with Tsunade, the weight of the Hokage's jacket intensified in the dour rain. He should be the one wearing this; you and Kakashi should be the ones going out there, risking your lives for the village.
A final kiss and a smile, and the two lovers parted. Tsunade handed Jiraiya something from around her neck and began walking back toward the village. Her gait was sullen, despite her best effort to hide it. "You sure you're up for this?" Minato asked his stepfather.
"Minato," Jiraiya crossed his arms and gave his head a shake. "If you ask me that one more time," he didn't finish; he just began laughing.
"Old man, I worry about you, that's all."
"Worry no more, Minato," Jiraiya grinned. "But tell me, is there an age limit on getting your instructor's license for the Academy?"
"Teaching license?" Minato asked, curious as to what mischief he was getting into.
"I'm done after this one, son," Jiraiya hooked his hands behind his head with a shark grin, "cost of admission to the wedding," he laughed.
"You realized you both have the money to travel the world and never work again, right?" Kakashi broke in.
"I've already traveled the world," Jiraiya responded, "besides, you wouldn't want me to get bored! Maybe I could do some real good for a change, teach the next generation."
"You already have," Kakashi remined, "Naruto and Hinata, remember?"
"Just come home safely, old man," Minato commanded, "and we'll see to it."
"By the way, I think this would be better suited for Naruto on his mission," Jiraiya held out a familiar necklace with an aquamarine slivered gem in the center.
"Lord Senju's necklace!" Minato's mouth dropped open, even stoic Kakashi froze in shock.
"She wanted me to take it for luck; I think what Naruto is involved in will be plenty more dangerous; besides, he's the future. Oh yes," Jiriaya extracted two small packages, "Kakashi one for you," he handed the small rectangle wrapped in brown paper, "and Minato, give this to Naruto. Tell him to make good use of the knowledge inside." Jiraiya painted a crocodile grin again, "Tell him it will change his life."
"This is a copy of Make Out Tactics, isn't it?!" Minato balked. The book was releasing next week.
"Son, I know you and your wife don't need help, but Kakashi and Naruto will need guidance, especially that rascal grandson of mine! How the hell is he still a virgin?! If I was sixteen again and…"
"And you would be a creeper!" Minato raised a finger to cut him off. "You want me to give my son your manual on relationships?!"
"Some things need to be learned, reading is one way to learn them, son." Jiraiya turned to Kakashi, placing a hand to shield his words from Minato "And don't let the indignant, and morally upright act fool you; this guy and Kushina have done some truly obscene things! There was this one time…"
"Utter one more syllable, and I'll have you killed!" Minato huffed. The three men stood silent for several moments, and soon they broke out into hearty laughter.
"I think, it's time to go!" Jiraiya winked as he handed the offending items to Minato and Kakashi. "Good-bye, you two!" he said as he stepped out of the gate.
"You come back safe, old man!" Minato shouted after, eliciting a wave. Something about watching Dad walk away into the rainy night left Minato's gut unsettled. "Kakashi, I wasn't a bad father figure to you or the others, was I?"
"Minato," Kakashi sighed, "You did the best you could. That iss more than I can say for Obito's parents, or…" Kakashi stopped with a deep pain in his voice.
"Your old man tried his best, too. He was my idol, the Shinobi I wanted to be when I grew up, not that he was much older than me."
"Yeah," Kakashi shook his head, "Walk you back to the house, chief?"
"Kakashi," Minato stared deeply into the eyes of the man who had been like his son. Now is the time to let him be on his own path, as much as he can be. "Go home, spend time with Shizune." A smile cracked at the corner of Minato's mouth, "That's an order."
"Travel safely," Kakashi patted him on the arm, "I'll see you in the morning."
As Kakashi walked away, the rain began to increase from a mist to steady droplets. Minato pitied the gate guards and the night patrol out tonight. As he continued down the street toward home, he hoped Naruto and his team were safe, and Minato wished he was out there with Naruto in the field and not riding a desk.
A curious sight greeted Minato at the gate to the front yard – a short figure dressed in a dark, soaked bundle of canvas stood at the gate. "Konohamaru?" Despite the heavy olive-green rain poncho he wore, water streamed down the boy's hair and face, and Konohamaru shivered as he rocked back leg to leg. "Son, what are you doing here!"
"Pr-protection detail, sir!" the boy's teeth chattered.
"Konohamaru, protection detail is only when she's in public; you don't have to protect her if she's home!"
"B-but Lord H-Hokage, you were not home to protect her!" he hopped foot to foot.
Minato opened his mouth to scold the boy for acting foolhardy, but he stopped. He saw a young, earnest boy wanting to live up to his family's name, wanting to someday wear the Hokage's jacket. Sound familiar? Would you scold Naruto if he'd done this? Would you have praised Obito if he'd shown such initiative? "Konohamaru, does Kushina know you're out here? Did she ask you to come inside?"
"S-s-she knows, and s-she d-d-d-did," he nodded, causing rain from the poncho to spill down his face. "I… I told her… I would remain at my post until relieved by you or N-Naruto! I-I guess I'll be on my w-w-way home, now." Konohamaru bowed and prepared to step away.
"No, you're coming inside and drying off," Minato took the boy by the arm. "Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"I-I had a ration bar earlier," his arm shook involuntarily as a guard against the cold.
"You can join us, Kushina and I always have dinner together when I get home, kind of a tradition. She won't mind you joining us."
"Sir, you don't have to!" Konohamaru protested.
"What kind of Hokage would I be if I let you freeze out here and starve, kiddo?" Minato shook his head, "I can make it an order if you insist."
"That won't be necessary, Lord Fourth!"
"Minato, call me Uncle Minato if you need a formal title, Konohamaru."
"But, sir, that's improper…"
"I've relieved you of duty, and you're a guest in my home," Minato cut him off, "Now, let's get inside before we both freeze to death."
Entering the house felt heavenly as the rain began driving in intensity. "I see you got my little bodyguard to come inside, finally." Kushina greeted them. She wore her usual green housedress meant for lounging.
"How long has he been out there?"
"Hours, I tried dismissing him, but he refused to leave until you came home," she shook her head, "Ever since the training exercise a few weeks back, he's been relentless."
Minato nodded. "Kushina, could you set another place setting at the dining table," he turned to look at the shivering Konohmaru, "and put on a kettle if you haven't already. I'll be right down." Minato removed his soaked footwear, mounted the stairs to the second floor, hung up his Hokage's jacket, and retrieved a towel and a throw blanket before heading back downstairs. Without a word, he threw the towel over the boy's shoulders and wrapped the blanket around Konohamaru.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage… I mean, Uncle Minato!" Konohamaru's shivering finally began to slow. The warm curry dish and hot tea Kushina had prepared soothed aching joints and empty stomachs. Briefly, Minato saw himself sitting with Jiraiya, enjoying dinner together during the Rinne Festival the year after Dad died. He blinked, and soon, he saw himself and Kushina enjoying their first dinner together at their dining table, having just bought the house after the war. He saw Naruto and Hinata, both five years old, as Kushina and he explained to them what being a jinchuriki meant when Hinata lost control of Kurama the first time.
When he blinked again, a soothed, but still miserable-looking Konohmarua sat before him. The boy's skin was ghostly white, and his nose dripped. By now, the rain was driving, singing a stead drone against the house. It would be criminal to send him out like this. "When you're done Konohamaru, why don't you go to Naruto's room and lay down; you look like hell."
"Lord Fourth," Konohamaru reverted to being honorific, "are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure Naruto wouldn't mind," he nodded.
"I'll call the Sarutobi house and let Asuma know you won't be back tonight," Kushina said.
"Don't bother," Konohamaru shook his head, "Uncle Asuma and Aunt Kurenai are both on assignment, as are my parents."
"Then that settles it, you are staying," Minato said.
"I don't want to impose…"
"Son," Kushina said, "this isn't about imposition. You might be old enough to be on your own according to Shinobi standards, but those standards are horribly out of date. You're too young to be apart from family as much as you are." Kushina chewed her lip, "It would be irresponsible of us to send you home to an empty house, much less walk home in the rain."
The haunting ghosts of Rin, Obito, and young Kakashi sat beside Konohamaru. When Minato had been a jonin-sensei, he'd been trained to avoid familial attachments with his students – they would grow stronger if they learned to live with their own issues. After Rin's death, Minato stopped believing the comforting lie other jonin told themselves. Just five minutes with Obito, five fucking minutes, and maybe you wouldn't be worrying about him striking from the shadows every time you close your eyes. Maybe Kakashi wouldn't be as badly damaged. "Konohamaru, I can't replace your father, or your grandpa, any more than Kushina can replace your mom." A lump began building in his throat, "Please, I've seen two apprentices die and a third struggle endlessly because I was taught to keep them at arm's length for their own sake."
"Let them learn, let them impress you," Konohmaru shook his head as he quoted his grandfather. "Was he really such a failure?"
"Konohamaru," Minato came back a bit firmer, "he carried the weight of the village for over thirty years. I won't say he was flawless, and sometimes he could have stood to be more hands on, but he did his best, just like any shinobi should."
"I'm sorry…" tears began leaking from the boy's eyes, "I just… I miss him!" Konohamaru buried his face his hands. Kushina rose from her seat, putting her arms around the boy. For a long moment, Minato sat stone-still, feeling the weight of being Hokage on his shoulders. You're not wearing the jacket right now, so quit kidding yourself! You can't erase your past mistakes, but you can stop making new ones. He got up from the chair and embraced his second son.
Temari checked her now altered appearance in the mirror as she prepared to go out for the night. Her normal mission gear was plenty revealing, and she tended to use it as a distraction – boys and men rarely could keep their eyes off her shapely legs. Even if they batted for the home team, men tended to find a well-formed pair of legs almost entrancing. Tonight, her outfits was even more revealing than anything she'd work in public. She wore a black leather mini-skirt with fishnet stockings, a black and white striped tube top, and she would be wearing a long, black trench-coat as her only guard against the cold damp of the February evening. The outfit was to tease the eyes and draw attention from her face.
Other changes were meant to trick the eye rather than distract. Her normal hair-tails were down, and her flowing golden blonde hair now bordered on silver thanks to a quick dye job. Temari put in a pair of brown contacts to conceal her signature teal eyes. To complete the look, she put on a thick layer of makeup, brightening her cheeks and lips to a deep raspberry shade – she might as well have stuck her face in mud and let it dry on. How the hell do other women wear this shit?
"Hey, your worshipfulness, you almost done in there?" Shikamaru complained.
"What's your hurry, crybaby" she touched up her blush, "Don't tell me this is the first time you've had to wait on a lady to put on her face!"
"Ugh, what a pain! If there were any ladies in this apartment, they'd move faster than you!"
Irked, Temari growled, "The only reason I don't come out and beat your ass is that I'd have to touch this shit up, and that would take even longer!"
"Ugh!" she heard him flop down on the bed as she began putting on eyeshadow for a smokey look. Her mind wandered to Shikamaru and his face. I wonder how long it would take for him to notice if I gave him a makeover in his sleep. Temari giggled at her naughty thought. She came out from behind the privacy screen. Shikamaru's costume consisted of black jeans with a series of areas worn away around the knees and thighs, revealing that he was wearing red boxers. A shiny metallic chain stretched from a belt loop to his back pocket, he work a studded black leather jacket, and completed the look with a tight leather collar with spikes protruding throughout. His normal straight and tailed hair now hung down like a mop over his shoulders.
"Yo! Off your ass and on your feet, move it!" she boomed as she pulled on her loose-fitting trench-coat and grabbed a small, impractical purse. Why does my heart play such cruel tricks on me? There were dozens of other men out there barking up her tree. This year alone, she'd turned down almost a dozen marriage proposals from Suna nobles of upstanding breeding. Each and every one of them had everything – looks, wealth, power. Except they aren't him. Temari sighed as she walked out into the cold, rainy night arm in arm with the one guy she actually liked in the world – he didn't even try. Isn't that why you like him? He doesn't try to be something that he isn't. He is always himself around you when everyone else is trying to impress you.
The conflict in her heart only got worse as they reached their destination. The red-light district of Konoha and its establishments ranged from upscale pleasure dens and casinos with bright lights to seedy, barely legal, brothels and smokey gambling parlors. Scattered among the vice businesses were nightclubs, piano lounges, bars, and theaters that advertised for everything from cabaret to complete striptease shows. There were also love hotels – paid for by the hour or day. For the right price, you, too, can have a torrid love affair with anyone and go back to your humdrum life like it never happened.
While she scoffed, Temari observed the casual, carnival-like atmosphere here despite the presence of uniformed police. In Konoha, none of this was illegal, at least in the red-light district. On the contrary, they were legal businesses that paid taxes and were tightly regulated by the authorities. The uniformed police keeping order among the crowds weren't turning a blind eye to the groups of sex workers soliciting business; they were making sure only licensed workers were out in force. Not exactly Suna. Back home, much of this was not legal, and father had been reluctant to make changes. Now that he was dead, some things were changing. Temari couldn't help but wonder if that was why Suna was the first place to be struck by Fatal Lust. Suna had a thriving black market for vice activities because they were so restrictive – because they were so slow to change to the world around them until Gaara became Kazekage.
"Hey, you awake?" Shikamaru asked, shaking her back to the present.
"Huh, oh, sorry," she replied quickly as they arrived at the main entrance to The Red Kitsune. Ironic choice of name, considering Nine-Tails is more or less the protector of this village. Temari was one of a handful of shinobi aware of Naruto little secret. During Operation Leafcutter, her role during part II of the Chunin exams, the Sand Siblings were privately tasked with eliminating Naruto if possible. Gaara had found the assignment distasteful, as had she, and circumstances led to them to betraying the operation. Ultimately, they learned their orders were being issued by the criminal Orochimaru impersonating their dead father. If I ever see that snake, I'll cut his balls off and feed them to him.
"You cool with this?" he asked as they waited in line to enter the club.
"Totally," she replied, trying to sound like a ditz looking for a good time and not a secret agent out for blood.
"You got cred, kid?" the bouncer, a three hundred pound mass of muscle asked as they approached the door." Temari's heart beat against her throat; she felt nauseous.
"This is all the cred I need," Shikamaru smoothly pulled down his collar, revealing the top of a black anaconda tattoo circling his neck to his stomach.
The bouncer nodded, "And the broad?"
"Watch your mouth, big boy," Temari felt fire return to her cheeks at the derisive term, pulling open the trench coat to reveal the red poppy tattooed below her left collarbone, "or your fairy-fucking godmother is going pay you a visit one night. And I guarantee I'll be taking all your teeth, but you won't have any ryo left under your pillow in the end!" Remember crime lord, not secret agent!
"Crazy bitch!" The larger man smacked her with his forearm, hitting her breasts.
The impact was a mild annoyance, but to a crime-lord like the Queen of Poppies, it was the ultimate insult. It's on, asshole! Shikamaru moved to react, but Temari got to the man first, constricting her hand around his manhood. The man's response was choked by his constricting throat as her vice-grip on his balls continued to tighten. "All steroids and no balls," she giggled, "no surprise there."
"Fuck off," he choked.
"Dear me," she tightened and began to twist, "Your mother never taught you how to properly address royalty, did she?" Temari grinned like a crocodile as the man's face contorted in pain. "Now, be a big boy, and apologize," she laid in thick with condescension as well as continued pressure.
"I'm… sorry…" the man whimpered with tears in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, your highness," she corrected like her mother had corrected her once.
"I'm sorry, your highness!" the man's eyes almost rolled back into his head.
"Good boy, sit, stay!" she released him, and he fell flat on his ass, careful to guard his damaged goods. Temari turned to a frightened Shikamaru, looking him up and down, "Coming, Anaconda?" she winked.
"Yes ma'am" his voice squeaked, and his legs remained tightly clamped to prevent her from repeating the performance. Poor Shikamaru, you worry too much. The entry to the night club went from cold and misty to thunderous, warm, and humid. Pink, purple, and blue lighting shaded the massive room with alternating shadows that moved with the deafening drone of the DJ's beat. The room reeked of cheap perfume and the heat of dozens of human bodies grinding upon one another.
"Interesting approach, whatever happened to a smile?" Shikamaru hollered into her ear over the music.
"You can get more with a smile and a kunai to someone's throat than you can get with either by themselves," she teased. The beat in the music suddenly shifted. Ah crap! "Shikamaru," she contorted her face, "please tell me you can dance."
"Uh, yeah, sure!" he began an amusing style of club dance. Clearly, he hasn't had ever danced with someone of the opposite gender. He had the moves, but they were mechanical, puppet-like. He also is leaving about three feet of space between you and him, totally not acceptable for this setting. Temari snatched him by a fistful of leather jacket, yanking him body to body her. She began moving her body along his tight, shaped body to the beat, grinding her hips to his. "Temari!" he yelped at the unexpected intimate contact.
"That's your highness," she snapped, correcting him, "Don't ever use my real name, we have eyes on us." Shikamaru nodded, taking note of the handful of enforcers observing discretely from the shadow. She gripped him by a length of hair, bringing his ear to her lips, "I'm supposed to be a crime-lord," she flicked the outer rim of his ear with her tongue, "and you're supposed to be my underling," she grinned and blew playfully into his ear, "and lover."
"You're enjoying being a criminal way too much," Shikamaru's discomfort was palpable, and Temari enjoyed every second of it.
"You're damn right I am, are you not?" she teased as he found the rhythm.
"Look, your worshipfulness," he chided in a shaky voice, "you're making it damn hard to concentrate!"
"Exactly, your eyes should be on me…" before she could say anything more, Shikamaru thrust her back into one of the room's support pillars and covered her mouth with his. His kiss was penetrating, and his hands kneaded up along her sides, causing a tidal wave of goosebumps to scatter over every inch of her body. Temari brought her left leg up and around him as she clutched him to her. So, he is only a geek on the street. How interesting… Temari huffed and heaved as he separated from her. He too, was panting like he was building something more than just a kissing. "So," she whispered, "what the hell was that?"
"Had to be convincing," he heaved with a slight giggle, sounding almost pained from the effort it took to hold back, "they're coming for us."
"Anaconda, your highness," Temari spied at a group of gang enforces sharply dressed in black suits from around Shikamaru's mass of hair, "you'll be following us, please." Temari brough her leg off him and slid her hand across his chest and abs one more time. Impeccable timing as always.
Author's notes: Hello everyone, and thank you as always for reading. I must apologize, I was hoping for this scene to include at least one more POV, but I ran out of time to keep to might deadline. As usual, anything not posted this week will roll over into next week's chapter when Naruto and the crew have their first real run-in with the Venom Scorpions. I'll see you all next week! Stay healthy, stay safe!
-Adam