Koharu was pacing up and down the Hokage's office. Hiruzen couldn't blame her; he understood her worry well.
"When did it happen?" Homura asked pointedly.
"Sakumo's team managed to send the missive last night, but to my knowledge it happened about two days prior. They needed time to make it out of Iwa territory safely and reach an outpost with messenger hawks."
"And we don't know what Iwa learned?"
"No. The man had access to sensitive information, that's all we know. Sakumo's team was unsuccessful in containing it. By now we can assume the information has reached their commanders."
Danzō's mouth twisted.
"Konoha's White Fang." he said and the moniker somehow sounded mocking, coming from his lips. "Unable to defeat a single enemy nin?"
"I'm not aware of the particulars, Danzō."
The bandaged man snorted.
"So what now?" Homura continued, ignoring the exchange. "We can't well respond, seeing as we don't know what they've learned. They could attack anywhere; they could know much of anything about our formations and rotations."
Hiruzen sighed, lifting a hand to rub at his temples.
"We have just sent out missives, informing all front lines that an attack might be imminent… and we can hope they delay until better prepared. We'll do well to issue warnings to whatever civilians are left in the area too. We can also rotate squads, reinforce the western fronts."
"What good would it do if they're spread thin when we don't know exactly where to send them?" Koharu said testily and much as Hiruzen disliked it, he knew she was right.
"I'm afraid we can't do much more pre-emptively."
"Isn't Namikaze in the village still?" Homura interjected and Koharu stopped her pacing for once.
"Is he? You must send him, Hiruzen!" she said sharply, nearing him.
Sandaime folded a hand behind his back.
"We don't know where an attack might come from, you said so yourself. Where would you have me send him?"
"Anywhere!" she said heatedly, clearly determined to convince, "You must know the effect he'll have on our men and on the enemy if he's seen at the front! They'll think twice about attacking. If luck's on our side they might give it up all together."
"I wish it worked that way, my friend… If it were so, the war would have been won already. No, I need Minato in the village for now." Hiruzen said and could almost feel Koharu's ire rising.
"Whatever for?!"
"I've tasked him with finishing the barrier project that he and Hyōjin Uzumaki had started working on. I believe it imperative to have it completed before we're faced with more infiltration attempts… or worse – right out attacks."
A scuffling sound reached him from the corner of the room, Danzō tapping a bandaged finger against his cane. When Hiruzen met his look, he thought he saw a calculating glint in the man's eyes as he chewed on the information presented and the Hokage had to wonder whether he had taken slight about not being informed of Minato's appointment earlier.
"I suppose he can move between locations quickly… He could intercept if anything arises…" Koharu continued ahead blindly, not having noticed any of the silent exchange.
"So you'll have us wait." Homura said quietly and Hiruzen could only sigh again.
"We'll prepare. Messengers have already been sent out. But until further notice… yes, we'll wait."
Minato was just turning the stove off when she walked downstairs, stifling a yawn.
"Morning." he called back merrily, transferring the contents of the frying pan into two plates on the counter. "Right on time, breakfast's ready."
The delicious aroma of scrambled eggs filled the air and she felt her mouth water even if she hadn't quite woken up proper yet.
"Do you ever get up at decent times, ya know, after the sun rises?" she asked, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes and she could see him smile almost apologetically as he turned to face her.
"I'm sorry if I woke you."
Kushina couldn't help the mischievous tint to her smile. As if he could wake her, when he simply Hiraishin-ed out of the room as she was sure he did.
But she did so like teasing him.
"Ah well, maybe Konoha's Yellow Flash isn't that good a stealth after all, ya know."
His lips drew up, smile turning ever-so-slightly crooked as he cocked his head to the side.
And then he vanished, chakra signature and all.
She blinked, body tensing up for a split second, in instinct.
"No?" came his calm voice from right behind her, a near-whisper by her ear and she felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck rise as if in static.
"Nope." she said quietly, throat moving silently when she gulped, feeling his sudden proximity even without turning, his scent lingering at the back of her throat, mixing with the aroma of his shampoo and of the ink about, and of the spices of his kitchen.
How wonderfully alluring he was, at all times.
The lightest brush of his touch against her shoulder and she felt her locks trail away as he gently pulled her hair to one side. She sighed, eyes fluttering closed, head tilting to one side without realising it as she felt the tickle of his breath against her neck.
"Not even a little bit?"
"Nah. Felt you coming from a mile away." she mumbled, pulse quickening in her throat.
"Hmm… I'll have to practise more often."
His nose brushed against her hair, lips a whisper away from her skin and she couldn't help the breathless sound that escaped her. And then his one arm was at her waist as he pulled her against him, his other burying in her locks and he was kissing her neck, and she had brought a hand up, weaving fingers through his hair as she leaned back into him and-
The knock was abrupt, and, if she had to be honest right then, just plain rude.
Minato paused briefly, exhaling a shaky breath right beside her ear.
"Maybe they'll go away, ya know." she said breathlessly, just as the person knocked again, and she groaned, her impatience drawing an amused huff from him.
His hand disappeared as he took a breath to compose himself, running fingers through his hair and finally going for the door.
The boy on his threshold was unfamiliar, and she did her best to squash the irrational annoyance she was feeling towards a kid she had never met. He was carrying a large bag slung over one shoulder, full of scrolls and letters.
"Minato Namikaze?" he asked and the jōnin nodded, a flicker of recognition entering his eyes as the boy passed a note before turning to go in a rush.
His eyes scanned over the words briefly and then he was smiling, merry eyes meeting her own curious ones.
"Care to go for a trip today?"
The attack had been swift, unexpected, well-planned.
Well-informed.
Iwa had acted with unnatural precision, targeting weak points, utilising gaps and rotation times that they shouldn't know about… and yet Sugoya was certain that they must.
Two squads had been overwhelmed, their lines breaking below the shadow valleys to the southwest of the Disputed Lands. Missives had been sent, requesting back-up which could take hours to arrive – precious time that the people living close to the border regions simply didn't have. Her team had pulled back, now doing their best to evacuate whoever was left in the villages.
The resounding blast of an explosion reached her from the forest behind, much too near for her liking, and Sugoya's arms wrapped tightly about the toddler she was carrying. She had found him hidden in a barn, mute with terror, unmoving, and she had wasted no time in picking him up and heading to the village proper where the rendezvous with her team was.
The shinobi who had volunteered to fight a doomed battle were few already, trying to slow down the advance of numerous enemies; of course they had already been pushed back.
They were running out of time.
"Sugoya-san!" Mariko shouted as soon as she rounded a corner, skidding to a stop. "They're approaching, we have to go-"
"The civilians-"
"Most have started down the main road, we're escorting them, but-"
Another blast sounded just then, dangerously near, probably just at the outskirts of the village, and she whipped about instantaneously. Her one hand had already dug for a kunai, the other securing the toddler against her hip, eyes scanning the empty streets for immediate danger. The barest trail of chakra signatures had appeared on the edge of her senses, signalling multiple enemies, closing in. She gritted her teeth.
"Take him, I'll slow them down-" she started, just as Koichi landed beside them, swirling the dust in the dirt road.
"Reinforcements." he said breathlessly.
Her eyes widened, confusion running through her.
"Already?"
"A missive reached them, from Konoha, they must have known-" he started just as another figure landed soundlessly ahead of them, travel cloak swirling behind.
She blinked. She hadn't felt the man at all. She still couldn't, even though he was right there.
He must have felt her staring, because he looked back slowly, almost as if bored. His eyes registered her for a split second, an air of absolute disinterest about him, before jumping to the kid in her arms. And then he looked away. Sugoya somehow found herself surprised he hadn't yawned.
A feeling of dread gripped her. Was that it? They'd sent one man?
"Mariko-san, get the kid to the others, Koichi and I can assist-"
"No need." the newcomer said, and she thought she could almost hear amusement in the raspy voice, as if the very idea of her helping was a joke worth a laugh. "Take the kid and go."
He stepped forward, casually, leisurely, as if going on a walk down any normal street in any normal village. As if death didn't await straight ahead.
Absurd.
"What? Are you mad, Iwa are invading in force-" she started after him, just as Mariko's hand wrapped about her wrist.
"Sugoya-san! Have you lost it? Open your damn eyes!" her teammate whispered frantically, pulling her back and she threw a bewildered look at the man's retreating form.
The rising sun had bathed him in a glow, making his long dark hair contrast sharply to the white of his skin and of his cloak. The feintest trail of recognition was worming its way in her mind when Mariko gave her hand another impatient tug.
"As if you can hold grounds with one of the Sannin! Just go!"
Kushina took in a deep breath through her nose, eyes shut resolutely, one hand holding onto his sleeve. The ground still felt somewhat wobbly beneath her feet, as if it might shift any second in a grasp of weightlessness.
"You okay?" came his quiet voice, now laced with concern.
She resisted the urge to swat away at him. This whole thing was his fault anyway.
"I don't know how you don't suffer from severe motion sickness at all times, ya know." she groaned and he chuckled.
"It does take some getting used to I suppose."
She had gotten used to his Hiraishin, mostly, in small doses. But they must have jumped more than a dozen times now, consecutively, until she had lost her bearings completely, world spinning when they finally stood still for long enough. How he did this in battle without fighting off nausea was beyond her.
"Better?" he asked when she straightened and she nodded, finally looking about.
They were standing in a canyon, stone rising in peculiar forms on both sides of a small road, lined with plum trees. The rush of a nearby river was audible, echoing off the rocks, and she thought she could see the foaming white of a mild rapid in between the foliage.
"Any guesses?" he asked jovially and she grumbled.
"You're still not gonna tell me, ya know?"
Minato's smile was lopsided as he shook his head.
"You didn't tell me where you were taking me until we were there last time." he reminded her merrily.
"At least you had a general direction to go off of! You could have taken me to Kumo for all I know."
"Try warmer." he said as he started down the road and she fell into step with him, pulling her hair over one shoulder as she did so.
It was warm, the trees already green, plums no longer covered in blossoms. An azalea bush had bloomed further down the road. Spring had unfolded here, more so than in Konoha. Somewhere south then?
"Land of Waves?"
"Close." he allowed and she grinned.
"Land of Rivers then."
When Minato nodded she whooped, much to his amusement apparently, because he laughed, his look lingering as he glanced her way in his mirth.
"Land of Rivers it is." he confirmed and paused besides the azaleas, reaching out for them casually, carefully plucking one.
And there was such warmth in his look and his smile as he reached forward and tucked the flower behind her ear, that she felt her breath catch in her throat. It brought back a memory, of a sunny boy fastening an origami blossom behind her ear, intent eyes sparkling in the glow of the fire in the night. He had been nervous then, unsure if his proximity was welcome, making a hesitant step towards something more than friendship that had hovered unclaimed and unspoken for much too long.
There was no hesitation now, his fingers tender but steady, his look spelling out a certainty that she didn't think she could capture in words. Such a small gesture and yet it left her tongue-tied, face warming up, much the same as all those years ago, eyes caught in his gaze.
"Spring becomes you." he said quietly and she couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips even as she frowned, turning away from him, starting down the road once again.
"You sap." she chided, even if her cheeks were burning, heart drumming in her chest. "Did you want to get to your mystery place today, ya know?"
He chuckled, catching up with her effortlessly.
"Today it is. But we'll have to make a stop first. It's just around the corner. I'd have placed a marker nearer, but the village is mostly civilian and I didn't think a shinobi appearing out of nowhere in their streets would be welcomed well." he explained calmly and she felt curiosity ebbing away at her.
"And we're stopping by a civilian village, because…?"
He grinned.
"You'll see."
The village really was around a bend in the canyon, as he had promised. One moment they had been surrounded by dull-coloured vertical rocks and the soft green of plum trees, and then they had turned, the canyon widening to accommodate a shock of small traditional houses, huddled between the greenery, perching against the stones. The river had been split here, rushing springs running amongst the houses, spinning a number of watermills and wheels.
It dawned on her then, eyes fixing on the garbs dying in a stone basin beside one house, red and green dye streaming in the river canal behind it, just as another home sported piles of wood in the yard, each a different type, to better aid carpentry. One garden had various clay pots drying on racks; another – piles of yarn, in the midst of tempering before being braided into ropes. Those were the nearest ones, easy to make out at a glance, but she was certain they'd also easily find stonemasons, tailors and blacksmiths if they were to look.
She had heard of an artisan village in the Land of Rivers before, but she had always thought it much larger, a centre of commerce. This place had a feeling of timelessness to it instead, tucked away in the mountainous canyon, as if untouched by time.
"Takumi village?" she asked, the name resurfacing now back from her academy days.
To her surprise Minato shook his head.
"No, though Takumi's not far from here either. It's much larger, prosperous, ran by the artisan guilds." he explained and she nodded. So she had recalled right. "This is Hinanshō… home to the independent artisans who disagreed with the guilds. And some of the most skilled craftsmen I've ever met."
He hadn't been back to Hinanshō in quite a few months now, but the village looked much the same as he remembered it, not having changed a whit since the first time Jiraya had brought him along. It had been one of their first stops after they had departed Konoha all those years ago, Jiraya insisting that it marked an important spot on the map for any wanderer.
His claim had turned out to be quite metaphorical, as many a map had simply neglected to even note Hinanshō's existence and Minato had wondered at first, how a tiny civilian village could be so monumental for a shinobi of rank.
The lesson had soon found home.
While Takumi welcomed clans and the elite of shinobi villages in the merchants' halls of its artisan guilds, Hinanshō boasted no such grandeur, catering to those who didn't need or want any of it. It provided silently, unquestionably, aiding travellers, wanderers and outcasts… and it provided well. Minato had lost count of the many times they had made stops here, acquiring much needed weapons, tools and equipment, preparing for life on the road. Jiraya still made regular stops, he was certain, much as he did.
They made their way up the winding streets slowly, Kushina taking everything in with curious eyes, drinking it all with a look, and he was quickly reminded of how very elated she had been at the prospect of travelling more. It hadn't been his initial plan for their day off, but he was glad of the note he'd received now, thrilling at the chance to share it all with her. His lips quirked up, eyes constantly seeking her out and fixing on her easy smiles, selfishly basking in the chance to give her this happiness.
Before long they had reached the top of the hill, a familiar house nestled ahead. Kushina lifted an eyebrow at the sight.
"Is it… a forge? With a watermill?" she asked dubiously, eyeing the large chimneys of the furnaces, and he grinned.
"Master Osai likes innovation. He uses water wheels to power the bellows that provide air for his forges."
"Master Osai?" she asked just as said man made his way out of his shop, carrying a large cauldron of water, dipping it over the grass to one side.
He was much the same as ever, stout and broad of shoulder, same merry twinkle in his eye, even if there was now salt in his bushy beard, marking the years.
"Ak, Minato, my boy! I was wondering when you'd get my note, ah?" the man called out as he spotted them, laying the cauldron to one side. "Oho, and what's this? You've brought a guest?"
An irrational feeling of pride shot through him as he gestured towards Kushina beside him, making the introductions.
"It's a pleasure to see you after all these months, Master Osai. This is Kushina Uzumaki, a teammate I would trust with my life. And this is Tetsu Osai, Master Bladesmith of Hinanshō."
He could see her eyes widen fractionally as it finally clicked into place, the reason to visit the cheery man – it was needed.
"Pleased to meet you." she said happily, smile blossoming on her face and Minato thought she could probably steal a man's breath just with a look.
"Pleasure's all mine, Uzumaki-san. Minato, you rascal, you didn't tell me you'll be bringing beautiful women around, I would have combed my hair, ah?" the bladesmith said through a toothy grin, clearly having noticed the same.
Kushina laughed.
"Fret not, most kunoichi like their men wild and covered in soot, ya know." she shot back at once and Master Osai barked laughter too.
"Well that excludes you boy, sorry to say." he rasped out, hooking a grizzly arm over Minato's shoulders and the blonde couldn't help the dejected look that crossed his face as he glanced at Kushina.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Looks are of no consequence though, ah? A man's worth is in his deeds and a smith's one is in his blades. And mine are as fine as they get, the steel sings in the air, ah? But you must have seen them, Uzumaki-san, ah? If you hang out with this one." the bladesmith said, gesturing to Minato.
"They're ready?" he asked and the older man grinned.
"A hundred and two scrolls, all packed tight, as promised. They were a hundred and one when I sent that note, but I've been working hard, ah? Come, see."
The man beckoned them back inside his forge, hot air wafting out of the open door.
"So this is where you get your fancy blades from, ya know. I was wondering which bladesmith in Konoha you've bribed into smithing away for you privately." she said, wry smile dancing in the corners of her lips.
Minato huffed, sound between exasperation and amusement.
"I've withdrawn my name from the lists for the standard-issued kunai in Konoha. I get the subsidiary instead and spend it here." he explained, following after the smith. "And I've done very little bribing, I'll have you know."
"Shamelessly little bribing, in fact!" Master Osai called back, stopping by a scroll-filled cabinet.
A familiar three-pronged kunai had been laid on the shelf in front, parchment already tightly wrapped around its handle, and Minato thought the lack of Hiraishin glyphs on it almost seemed unnatural now.
He'd remedy that soon.
"But when that rascal Jiraya comes with a challenge, claiming I can't make a weapon finer than Konoha's toothpick of a standard kunai… well." the man said, a glint of pride crossing his face. "I couldn't let it stand."
The bladesmith picked said weapon up, twirling it between large fingers before tossing it haphazardly and Minato's fingers wrapped around its hilt in instinct.
"Besides. What would Konoha's Yellow Flash be without a Master Bladesmith, ah?"
He smiled, chakra picking up momentarily as the Hiraishin seal slid from his hand, nestling over the hilt.
He was sitting in his office, fingers drumming methodically against the smooth surface of the polished wooden desk, thoughts locked on more pressing matters. His lips had twisted in a sour grimace, eyebrows furrowed over narrowed eyes.
He tried to fight off the annoyance, sifting through memories of everything and anything he had managed to learn about Minato Namikaze's barrier project the first time around. The information had been under wraps, in its early stages of development, and having Hyōjin Uzumaki's name attached to it had also given little leeway. He couldn't have well pushed to know in advance.
It wasn't that Danzō was generally against the idea – if anything, it would boost Konoha's defences considerably.
But.
The project had come from elsewhere, outside of his control. And knowing little of something as fundamental as a massive barrier around his home rankled him deeply. Root had always made good use of their extensive knowledge of the current system… and the many ways to bypass it, slipping in and out unnoticed by the sentries whenever missions necessitated it. And they almost always did.
He needed to find out more. Root needed to know; it was vital to learn how to move undetected through the new barrier as well. But analysing every aspect of it would surely take time. The sooner they found out, the better. They needed to know now.
A flurry of documents had been scattered over the desk before him, noting everything that his men had found when searching through the Uzumaki home after their… unfortunate… demise. He hadn't wanted them gone, per say, but the wealth of information Root had copied off the works of both Hyōjin and Ryūmi Uzumaki was a treasure throve indeed. Not to mention the unlikely surprise of also finding notes about all of Minato Namikaze's Fūinjutsu work, which had for some reason found their way to Ryūmi Uzumaki's study as well.
All in all, their deaths hadn't been nearly as dreadful a loss as people thought, as far as he was concerned.
But in none of the copied scrolls and documents had they found anything on the barrier now being completed. Danzō hadn't thought much of it then, thinking the matter settled with the older man's death. Apparently not so, Hiruzen now finding old ways to vex him.
There must have been a hidden compartment, documents sealed from sight that his men had failed to find, if Kushina Uzumaki had truly fetched her father's work from the man's very office. And that merited another search.
A flick of his wrist and a Root shinobi materialised before his desk, taking a knee before him, head bowed, awaiting orders.
"I need the Uzumaki home searched again, discreetly. Leave no stone unturned. Anything the man had to hide, I want it known."
"Yes, Danzō-sama."
The rush of the waterfall echoed off the rocks all around them, the river tumbling down in a wide smooth curtain, foaming at the rocks below. The clear blue of the small lake at its base shone almost azure, threaded with gold, bathed in the light of the sunset. It was as serene as he remembered it, perhaps even better for the season, spring flowers nodding gently around the water edge, dancing with the fine waterfall sprays.
"It's beautiful, ya know." Kushina said, look sweeping over it all, spelling out mild fascination. "Is this the place you wanted to show me?"
"Yes and no."
He stepped forward, measured leap carrying him over the water surface as he coated his soles with chakra to stay on top, and he turned back to her expectantly, arms tucked in his pockets. A smile bubbled to her lips and within second she had joined him. The sound of her merriment reached him even over the surge of the waterfall as she giggled, eyes shining with excitement, and she took a few steps forward, stopping right before the water rush. She swayed on her soles, like a dancer on a stage, glancing up and down the height of it.
Her smile had acquired a girlish tint, almost child-like in her excitement, and for a moment he was reminded of all the times when she'd marvelled at something in their youth, her fascination infecting him at once and lifting him, thrilling him as well. Even as he thought it, she stretched her arms out, eyes gliding closed, delighting in the fine mist and water drops dancing across her face. They collected on her eyelids and in her hair, dew-like, refracting the sunset beams like drops of light.
Such beauty, in such small things.
"Minato!" she shouted over the water boom. "Look! It's like molten gold!"
He grinned. The sun would soon descend below the mountain, but for the few brief minutes in which it touched the water curtain, it shone. He'd grown to love the falls above Hinanshō for it.
But not for that alone.
He went to join her, eyes taking her in silently before his fingers laced through her own.
"Trust me?" he asked, unable to keep the crook from his lips and she quirked an eyebrow questioningly before nodding.
His hand tightened about hers and then he was stepping forward, pulling her in a firm grasp. He heard her surprised yelp behind him right before the water curtain hit him, icy in its embrace, drowning out all other sound for a split second. And then he was through to the other side, clothing plastered to his body, water dripping off of him in rivulets. Kushina was standing next to him, equally drenched, face still spelling out incredulity. And then she laughed, a sound of surprised delight.
Her eyes swept the small alcove, so perfectly hidden behind the falls – not quite a cave and more of a spacious opening in the rock where the water had steadily chipped away with the years. There was nothing quite remarkable about it, just wet stone and moss, but…
His hand wrapped about her shoulder, gently turning her around and he could feel her still beside him, face shifting in surprise, lips forming a silent "o".
While the light of the setting sun had lit the waterfall as if ablaze from the outside, on this side the water caught the beams in fractions, mixing them with the scarlet glow of the sunset-lit sky. It lent the cascading falls a mixture of hues, dancing across its churning surface, flowing from crimson, through honey orange, to warm pink, all weaved with gold.
Kushina was taking it all in with a sense of enchantment as she lifted a hand, fingers brushing against the churning water, almost as if to prove it was real, and he couldn't help the sweeping feeling of joy at having delighted her so.
"I said I'd like to take you to some beautiful places I've been to… So here we are." he said mildly from beside her and she finally looked up at him, eyes spelling out surprise at first and then gratitude, and something… else, an emotion that melted through his chest, warmth thrumming in him, all the way to the tips of his fingers.
And that just from a look. How she bewitched him, this woman he loved.
"Thank you." she said and her brilliant smile shone so bright that he thought it put the sunset to shame. "That's some place to show me first, you've set quite the bar."
He grinned.
"Challenge accepted."
"How did you even find this place, ya know?" she asked, curiosity sneaking in her amused voice and he laughed.
"By virtue of signing a contract with amphibian summons." he answered merrily, "I ended up spending plenty of time around lakes and ponds as we trained. The downside was prune skin 80% of the time, but in return sometimes… I stumbled upon places like this."
She laughed too then, pulling her wet hair over a shoulder and squeezing the water out of it with a twist.
"The many merits of signing summoning contracts." she said in an almost sing-song voice. "You complain now, but you know, ancient accounts even say my clan learned their first Fūinjutsu from summons. They've been quite invaluable."
He nodded as he leaned against the rough stone, watching the sun finally begin to dip below the mountains. A shadow had started creeping up their ankles, last sunrays slanting upwards. They had been just on time.
"They did help me with seals quite a bit. I do believe that most of what Jiraya knows, he owes to them as well."
"Jiraya-sensei, huh… My mom always said he was an odd case. Great at seals without having learned any formally… It makes sense it was the frogs, ya know." she said, leaning at the rock besides him, eyes still glued to the colourful display against the rushing water.
"Worth the prune fingers I would say." he allowed lightly and she chuckled.
"I'll say. In fact, I'd wager there are still elements to Fūinjutsu they know better than we ever did. If it weren't for summons Mito-sama might not have been able to…" she started before her voice trailed off, lost in the rush of the falls, just as her one hand moved subconsciously to her stomach.
His eyes caught the movement before jumping back up to her face, but she had looked away, chewing at her bottom lip. He could almost see her withdraw, the beauty of the moment scattering as her thoughts lingered elsewhere and Minato was almost certain he could guess at her worries now that he knew what had frightened her all this time.
He reached forward without thinking, fingers wrapping about hers against her naval and her eyes snapped back to his quickly, widened at the gentle touch.
He swallowed once, the words slipping out before he could consider them.
"May I…?"
He hadn't asked before, not wanting to intrude on her privacy and on the gravity of the burden she carried. But she had to know… she had to understand that he knew, and saw, and understood. That he faced it all without a shred of doubt. That he didn't love her despite it, but for it, amongst everything else. Because her strength defined her and distinguished her - an incorporeal sense of beauty, quite intangible, and all the more breath-taking for it.
He could see the hesitation in her look and the way in which her eyebrows furrowed before she finally nodded, her whole body taut.
"Only if you wish it." he added quietly and she nodded again, this time more firmly.
Her fingers were trembling ever-so-slightly as she slowly lifted her tunic, exposing the bare slip of skin at her stomach and closing her eyes. He could feel her chakra picking up momentarily as she channelled enough to make the seal markings appear on her skin. He knelt before her wordlessly, eyes trailing over the slowly-appearing symbols, eyebrows lifting at the growing complexity of what he saw.
Within a mere second it had all materialised, sweeping in the scope of it, and he held his breath, trying to make sense of all the symbols that he saw.
So this was a Bijū seal.
A sense of solemnity settled over him, along with the knowledge he had been entrusted with something infinitely precious. But there was something else niggling at the back of his mind too, the oddest flicker of recognition as if he had seen something similar before, even though he knew it was quite impossible, as he had never seen a Jinchūriki seal, in any of its variations. Not even her mother had taught-
And then it hit him, suddenly, strikingly, and his eyes widened, air rushing out of him with a soundless gasp.
Kushina must have seen his bewilderment, because he could feel her watching him, her fingers clutching tightly at the slip of her tunic. He could only guess at what she saw – him frozen before her, staring ahead in dawning recognition.
"M-Minato?" she asked, hesitantly, barely heard over the falls. "Don't tell me you thought I lied about-"
He shook his head mutely, still trying to wrap his head about it all. His hand was a near blur as he rolled up one sleeve, fingers tapping at his wrist to release the storage seal there, finding the precise notebook that he needed, and he flipped through the pages in a rush. He found it almost instantly, the painfully familiar kanji that he had scribbled hastily so long ago, on a stormy day, kneeling uninvited in the study of a deceased man.
The formula had haunted his nightmares along with everything else - he had tried breaking it so many times, but he had never found a way to do so without risking its contents… not without a key.
And now, glaringly, astonishingly, a near-enough replica of it seemed to be before his eyes, pulsing gently with her chakra, etched against her stomach. He lifted a hand without thinking, brushing fingers against her skin just as he looked up, wide eyes meeting her confused look.
"What…?" she started, stealing glances at the notebook he had taken out.
He gulped.
"Your father. This… is his key."
The sun had long set, forest growing pitch black under the heavy grey clouds above. The rain was relentless, beating against his face as he rushed ahead, leaping from branch to branch. They had attacked in multiple locations and while it had been little to no effort to hold them back near the strip of land he had taken a mission in… he knew that other places hadn't fared as well. Oh, the enemy had been pushed back alright, having faced the misfortune of launching an attack on regions in which two of the Sannin had taken missions, but… he had heard they'd lost a lot of men.
There were only two of them, after all, and they couldn't very well man every front at a moment's notice.
Well, mostly. Katsuyu excluded.
He'd tried to find Tsunade after the battle, only to find out her platoon had rushed out to assist another squad. They'd given him coordinates, more or less accurate, but he hadn't found them yet. The question chased itself through his mind, against better reason. Where are they?
Such weakness, this gut-wrenching concern. He realised it, but felt it still.
She was his teammate.
Where's Tsunade's platoon?
Lightning cracked ahead, illuminating the trees in stark light, right before the clap of thunder came and for a second, he thought he might be hearing things, a thin wail reaching him after the boom, from somewhere far off.
He stopped, listening intently.
There, again. It sounded like a voice. He quickly changed course, heading in its direction. Before long he was close enough to make out words.
"Stop!"
And the wisps of panic were so evident in her desperate shout that he felt his blood run cold, her words cutting through him, as if stabbing through his gut. Without knowing he had clenched his teeth, rushing ahead, killing intent swirling through the air as the bloodlust choked his throat.
Three more leaps, two, one and he came to a jerking halt in the branches of a tree, just on the edge of an opening. He paused, feeling his anger bleed away at the sight before him, fingers twitching helplessly against the bark of the tree.
There were no enemies. Not anymore. Tsunade was unhurt.
Two shinobi were crouching beside the still form of a third one, who was lying in a pool of red. His shinobi vest was unzipped, his chest a mess of stark dark red, blood gushing forward uncontrollably from a fatal wound. It was too dark to make him out in perfect clarity, but Orochimaru didn't need the light; even in the blackness he could tell that his long, dirtied hair had been light blue before being stained crimson.
He knew the man. Or he had known him, at least, when Dan Kato had been alive.
Tsunade was kneeling beside him, hands emanating green chakra, her shrill voice rising in urgency. And it wasn't at enemies she had been shouting… but at him. And at the blood.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! I said stop!" she wailed blindly, choking on her words.
And then one of the other two shinobi had approached her silently, voice firm even if morose, announcing what Orochimaru had already known.
"It's too late. He's dead."
She lifted two shaking hands helplessly before her, covered in blood, as if trying to comprehend the impossible gravity of the man's words.
And then she screamed.
It went on and on, her terror piercing the night. Piercing through him.
People are such fragile beings, he thought, eyes shutting resolutely as the raindrops rolled down his face.
He hadn't been back to her old home since before his deployment. The place didn't seem to have changed much; it stood much the same, huddled amidst the scores of cherry trees, as if untouched by time. And yet a feeling of dread gripped him as they stood at the threshold of the front door, wind flurrying the cherry blossom petals all about. It trailed about him, tossing his hair, still damp from the waterfall even after the Hiraishin jumps, chilling him.
Last time he had been here, he had been faced with the chasm of her grief… and with his own inadequacy. It all came crashing back now, when faced with her desolate home, and he gulped, willingly stilling the tremor in his hand. Kushina, on the other hand, was thrumming with agitation by his side.
She reached forward, fingers wrapping about the handle, and he could feel the hum of the sealing defences in place as they activated, shimmering imperceptibly ahead. She waved a few one-handed seals with her other hand and the barriers fell, permitting entry as they stepped inside.
He was just about to slip out of his sandals when the faintest trail of something not quite right brushed against his senses, a wisp of a presence, as if concealed-
His eyes narrowed at once, arm shooting out, freezing Kushina in place just as she made to step forward. His other hand quickly found the wall, his senses diving in the natural energy about him, sweeping the house and its surroundings.
Nothing.
Kushina was alternating alarmed glances between him and the corridor ahead, her one hand hovering over her kunai pouch. The silence stretched, interrupted only by the song of the crickets outside and the gentle rustle of the leaves.
Minato finally straightened, arm dropping from where he had instinctively gone to protect her, but his one hand remained firmly planted on the wall beside him, muscles still tense.
"What is it?" came her quiet whisper and he shook his head.
"I'm… not sure." I could have sworn… "I don't feel anything, but… Who else has a key to the barriers around your house?"
"The Hokage." she mouthed back at once, "The village assumed protection of it when I moved, until I came of age."
The Hokage… and therefore ANBU. It would explain a lot. But assuming protection of property was not the same as owning it. Kushina still held authority; they shouldn't be trespassing without her permission, unless there was an emergency. And if there truly was one… why flee?
Or… was there something else at play? Who else had access to the Hokage's scrollwork?
Many people, potentially, depending on the level of protection that private documentation warranted. Konoha shinobi? Or… infiltrators? Of ANBU level?
Or had he imagined it all?
His mind whirled ahead, calculating, assessing, steely edge not quite leaving his look.
"It might be nothing. But we should alter the barrier key before we leave, just in case."
She nodded once, alarm clearly still not having left her.
"I'll check if anything has been taken or misplaced."
The sweep took them the better part of half an hour, but it didn't yield anything out of the ordinary. Nothing seemed to be missing, at least according to what Kushina remembered, even if she worried that her memory might be misleading her. In the end there was nothing else to do for it.
Still, as soon as they entered her father's study, Minato quickly set up an additional temporary barrier around the room, just in case, weaving in it some of the defences that he used for his own home.
Kushina had moved to stand besides the man's desk meanwhile, quickly lighting an oil lamp to give the room some light. Her fingers brushed against the back of it, finding a corner on one side.
"Here." she said, pouring chakra in her touch, and the glyphs of a Fūin lock took contour at her ministrations. "I knew of this safety lock. He kept most of his current work there. The important ones anyway. He showed it to me once, when I was younger… It's how I knew to find the scrolls for the barrier project. But… I didn't know of another."
He gulped as he shook his head slowly, fingers twitching when his eyes instinctively sought out the tatami he knew held a secret… and a man's unknown dying wish. He moved to it slowly, highly aware of his limbs as if he had just realised he had control over the simple machination of walking instead of doing it subconsciously, and his legs would somehow falter for it.
The tatami lifted as easily as it had the first time and Kushina joined him quietly, kneeling by his side, face taking a look of wordless surprise and… apprehension?
He channelled chakra in his touch, much as she had done just now, and the seal that had encumbered him so appeared before their eyes once more. He could feel the redhead holding her breath beside him, her eyes widening as she ran her fingers over its surface too.
"He never said…" she trailed off quietly. "Why… Why didn't you tell me, ya know?"
He paused, lost for words, feeling the conflicted emotions wedge in his throat. He couldn't quite explain it coherently, the mixture of confusion and misplaced duty, the sense of failure… and of shame. Because her father had tasked him with opening it; had thought him capable. And he had failed.
"Forgive me, I should have. At the time there was so much… else… going on. And when I left... I tried so many times to come up with a way to undo it, to open it… but I could never manage, without the key. With time I put it to the back of my mind."
It was the truth, to a fashion. She nodded once, no accusation in her look, even if he deserved it – this was her father's legacy after all. She had every right to it. But her capacity for compassion seemed to trump even this vice of his.
Shame flared in him anew, for once not because of this particular failure, but for the self-indulgent selfishness that had stayed his tongue as he subconsciously sought the pride of unlocking the seal himself… As if that would somehow prove him worthy before a man long gone.
"It… it really imitates the Jinchūriki seal they used." she said quietly, studying the markings with an intent look. "But a part of the formula is missing. He's altered it… Here, see? If you complete it, the locking mechanism would recognise it and…"
She had already rolled her sleeve up, taking out the brush clasped in her armband and unstopping the vile with ink beside it. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she bent over the seal – she clearly knew the symbols by heart, but she didn't quite own it as the one who had created it; she couldn't apply it at a touch.
But in this case, she didn't need to either.
It took her no more than a minute to complete the formula in confident strokes. As soon as she applied the last dash, finishing off a broken continuity link, it shimmered in blue, activating the locks beneath with a barely audible click.
The compartment slid open at once.
Minato could only stare, whole body taut with suffocating nervousness, as Kushina slowly reached inside, running a hand over scrolls and notes. She gulped, withdrawing the bound pile on top, spreading it over a knee beneath the flicker of the oil lamp. The moments it took her to flip through the pages felt like an eternity, trickling by agonisingly slowly as if the whole room seemed to be holding its breath with him. He stood quite still opposite her, doing his best to keep the agitation at bay, even if in his mind he was pacing back and forth restlessly.
It happened slowly, the look of curiosity and confusion gradually giving way to bafflement and incredulity as her eyebrows rose higher and higher the more she read, eyes growing wide. And then she gasped, tumultuous look meeting his.
"He- He-" she started, stumbling over words as her fingers tightened about the documents, hands shaking.
"What is it?"
She passed him the papers mutely and he set about reading them.
The truth, finally, in his hands.
He sucked in a breath, realisation coming with each following page, and he looked back up at her in surprise. Her lower lip was quivering.
"He said… He said I should accept my fate. He said the impossibility of my situation would hurt us both… and yet he…"
Hyōjin Uzumaki… had tried to fix it.
In his hands he held the man's unfinished work – calculation after calculation, ideas, formulas, ways in which it could be secured… ways in which to strengthen her seal. To allow her something so simple – the right to a choice.
A family, if she wished it. The right to happiness, in any shape she chose.
It hadn't been completed, he could see, but the crude basis was there… and Minato could recognise some of his own ideas in the man's work, the five-elemental formula he had created for the barrier, influencing her father's ideas too.
And with a jolt he realised that Hyōjin Uzumaki's work hadn't been meant for him… but for her... and for them both. It was a father's gift for the daughter he had loved more than life itself… and Minato could help. In his arrogance he had assumed that he had had to do it all alone.
What was it the man had said? You'll know when to open it.
Not break it, but open it… with the knowledge of the Bijū seal she bore. Open it with her, together.
His throat clamped up, the rush of emotion coursing through him, heart beating faster as his mind tried to wrap itself around the information presented – Hyōjin Uzumaki had entrusted him with his daughter's happiness.
All this time… he had thought…
Her hands were trembling, a choked sob making its way past her quivering lips, and then her whole face scrunched up, the emotion overwhelming her, tears spilling forth.
Before he knew it he had knelt before her, drawing her in his arms, holding her tightly against his chest as she curled into him, hands clutching at his clothes, sobs rocking her whole frame. And he could only hold her, brushing his lips against her hair, trailing light soothing touches against her temple with the edge of his thumb as they kneeled over the scattered pages of her father's unfinished work.
AN: Alriight, I'm afraid it might be last sweet moments for a while, before the hurt, but hey, we all knew it was coming.
1. I have finally come back to that little part with the locked compartment. You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you? Hah, I've had it all planned! (No really, I have… though you probably forgot, by the time I got round to it...).
2. Did I absolutely have to include world-building bits to answer a question as stupid as "How does Minato even get the hundreds of kunai he uses and how come no one else has kunai like that?" No, I didn't have to~ But heck if I won't :D I happen to love world building and I think Kishi does shamelessly little of it, considering the cool world he's created. So, forgive me for indulging in little tidbits that simply paint the workings of this world as I think they might work. I promise I'll try not to overdo it! Oh and by the way, Takumi the artisan village in the Land of Rivers is cannon, as per Naruto wiki and my scarce memories of it. I promise I'm trying to ground it in reason!
3. Also, hey, this marks the first time I've described a scene from the anime – I've officially dipped my toe in hard canon, horay! (Orochimaru witnessing Tsunade trying to save Dan, if you hadn't recognised it). Speaking of… Dan's death being an indirect result of Sakumo's botched mission? Heck, why not, there's so very little information about it anyway that I figured it might be plausible… and make a terrible kind of sense, if his decision had such wide-reaching repercussions that it led to people dying, indirectly… and one of the Sannin even left Konoha half-catatonic.
In any case, powering on! I've been looking forward to diving into this particular arch with Danzō's schemes. It's aaall coming together, back from like Chapter 7, blessed be. You'll see what I mean when I get to it.
In any case, thank you for reading and as always, your comments and ideas are much appreciated! Thank you for taking the time to always write and let me know what you think, your words really mean the world to me!
Ja ne~
Glossary:
Hinanshō - haven