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They were both busy people who liked to move around during the day, but they had to adjust so that their new lump of flesh could have a satisfying stay at Konoha.
Yumi usually resided in her room for most of the day, rarely coming out unless it was time to eat. She sulked on her bed missing the confines of her own home. Sometimes at night she would convince herself that she was right at home with her family, letting herself comfortably fall asleep. Other nights she would have a hard time grasping her desired reality and would find herself quietly crying her way to sleep.
Nightmares had taken over her head at night. The smell of smoke would drag her back to the burning flames as her airflow would be stopped by a large vine emitting from the murder and her sinister smile. Nari's scream would wake her up, but by then it was already daylight and there would be no point in going back to sleep.
Still, she never complained. She never let the other's see her tears anymore. Not after that first night. She was quiet, only speaking when spoken to, helping out even without asking, then she would scurry away into her room.
Kushina had taken her out a few times, not liking the idea of her being locked away all the day. The two of them would go shopping for new clothes that Yumi was in dire need of. She wouldn't point anything out, not wanting to overwhelm Kushina's walet, but she would see the sparkle in the young girl's eyes and pick it out for her anyway.
Yumi had more than enough clothes to last her through all four seasons.
When Minato was left to take care of Yumi, he would do more practical things with her. If she was interested enough, he would go into extravagant details of his battles out of the village. She always fell for the exaggerated stories, leaving her to think that Minato was some type of god. She would then go out into their backyard and recreate the scene that she was just told. Minato watched from above, with a pride that was practically overflowing.
"You gotta teach me that big, whoosy, ball, thingy!" Her eyes sparkled with amazement and wonder after Minato finished showing off his best trick in the book. "I like how it glows!"
He scratched the back of his head and with a teasing tone responded, "I don't know, Yumi. Seems a little hard for a young girl like you."
"It's not, I swear! I can handle it! Just you wait, Minato!"
When the two of them weren't able to watch Yumi, they would, reluctantly, leave her with Minato's sensei Jiraiya. She had no interest in the older man even as he tried to tell her how he was much cooler than her two caretakers. He wasn't thrilled about watching her, just as much as she wasn't thrilled to stay with him. He wanted to run away and do some research but he was stuck with a little brat.
She wasn't allowed to be left alone in public. She had to have someone watching her at all times.
So she was stuck with the tree adults. She showed no interest in making friends which worried Minato and Kushina.
Kushina was the first to realize this. She had taken Yumi out for lunch one day and as they were walking she noticed that the young girl's eyes were locked on the park. Kids ran around in circles doing whatever they deemed as fun. She could see the longing and the loneliness that resided in her eyes, pulling at the heartstrings inside her.
"Yumi," Her voice was quiet, soft, but loud enough to grab her attention, "why don't you go over there and play for a bit? I'll be right here if you need me."
She thought for sure that would be enough to get the younger girl to have some fun, but it didn't work out that way. Yumi wanted nothing more than to go over there and make some friends in this village, but she was scared. What if they didn't like her? What would she do then? She was just going to wait until she had returned to her actual village before thinking about making any new friends.
Her small hand reached up and snagged one of Kushina's fingers. Her soft, little eyes peered up at her as a small smile tugged her lips, "I'm okay. I'd much rather hang out with you."
Kushina felt her heart burst at that moment. She wasn't aware that a cute comment such as that one would send her into overdrive. When Minato returned home, it was the first thing she told him. He felt a little twinge of jealousy, causing him to try and create his own cute scene.
After the lunch, the two of them were walking back to his home, his mind flooding with ideas to make Kushina jealous of their interactions. Then the perfect idea fought its way to the top and presented himself beautifully to the court. He immediately picked that one thinking that Yumi would be ecstatic about it.
"If you'd like, I could carry you on my back the rest of the way home," His tone was much more excitable than Kushina's was.
Yet it didn't work on her, "No thank you."
That's when a slow competition began between Minato and Kushina. They tried competing over who would become Yumi's favorite. They cooked her favorite foods, bought her nice items for her room, told her bedtime stories, helped her train, if you can think of it they probably did it.
Yumi had no idea about what they were doing. She didn't really care for it. She appreciated it, sure, but she knew she'd be returning home soon anyway so none of it mattered. She just had fun with it all while she could.
Then one month passed, and another, and finally they were coming up on three months together. Yumi still had hope that she was going to go home, but seeing as how her room was practically decorated just for her while being intended for guests, and her closet was full she had a strange feeling that she was going to be here longer than intended.
The competition came to a close on a particular stormy night. Yumi wasn't a stranger to storms, but that didn't mean she still didn't get scared. She tried her hardest to ignore all the signs of it, but they were hard to cancel out. Her eyes were squeezed shut hoping to blind herself from the lightning, while her tiny fingers plugged her ears trying to block out any sound of thunder.
When a storm like this would swoop by at home, she would hide away into her parent's bed until the storm had passed the next day. She felt safe in their bed, warm under their blanket, protected by them being so close. She no longer had that, causing her to feel unsafe.
She could always hide away in Minato and Kushina's bed, but would they find that weird? She didn't want to be left shaking alone, but she also didn't want to intrude. Surely they wouldn't mind, they had already been together for three months.
When a roll of thunder came in leaving the whole house shaking, Yumi knew what her decision was.
Meanwhile from across the hall, Minato and Kushina were wide awake, discussing a future with Yumi.
"Maybe we should get a cat," Kushina was filled with worries about the depressed girl that lived in their house like a ghost. "Or some kind of companion that would keep her distracted."
"And then that companion would die in six years and she'd be left the way she is now," Minato kept it real. "It would be nice to have a cat, sure, but she could easily lose it and go back to being depressed."
"What about a coloring book or something? We haven't really gotten her anything fun yet. Eight year olds aren't really interested in shopping."
"You know," Minato rolled onto his side coming to an epiphany that he hadn't realized before, "I could introduce her to my student. They're practically the same right now, both really quiet and repressed."
"Or, I could just enroll herπ"
"Excuse me."
Yumi's quiet, anxious voice pulled them both away from the conversation and over to the girl. Her eyes were darting around the room, her hands playing nervously with her fingers.
Kushina sat up, curious as to what the girl wanted, "Is everything okay, Yumi?"
"Um..." Each second that passed the more anxious she got about asking the question. "Can I... sleep with you guys tonight?"
They gave each other a quick side glance before looking back at her. Hearing the thunder outside made them realize why she would want to do that in the first place.
Minato lifted up the blanket that laid in the empty space between them for Yumi. She carefully climbed over him before securing herself in the nice, warm spot that was ready for her comfort. Now that she was surrounded by warmth and protection, the storm didn't seem so bad. She knew that being between the two of them would be enough to keep her safe.
Minato and Kushina gave each other another look while Yumi slowly fell asleep. From then on the competition was discontinued seeing that she enjoyed the presence of both of them.
-
Another month sped by. Fall was creeping up on everyone, especially Yumi since she was not used to the cold temperatures of Konoha. The idea of going home wasn't something that she occupied herself with anymore. If she were to go home, then she wasn't sure just how long that would take. It had already been four months, she thought that by now they would know who the killer was and she'd be hanging out with her living relatives again.
Instead she was stuck in Konoha hanging out with Minato and Kushina. Which wasn't too bad.
The three of them sat at the dinner table eating away another wonderful cooked meal, as they all talked about their thoughts for the day and for the upcoming days. The two of them seemed chiper about something that night so Yumi was left waiting for some kind of big announcement.
"So," Kushina set down her silverware, eagerly turning towards Yumi, "Minato and I decided that it was finally time to enroll you into the academy here in Konoha!"
She kept her golden eyes glued to the wooden table out in front of her. She wasn't sure how to respond. While the idea of finally leaving the house and doing something out of their normal routine sounded exciting, it just wasn't what she was expecting. Enrolling into an academy meant that she would practically be saying that she was a secured citizen of Konoha, she would even eventually graduate from there, becoming a certified ninja for Konoha as well.
"Oh..." Was all that she managed to say.
They both shifted in their seat surprised by her lack of response, "Do you not like that? It's a chance for you to actually get out there and make friends. Minato and I metπ"
"Am I not going back home?"
Her eyes were now on Minato knowing that he would know the answer to the question that was tugging at her heart.
He hung his head down knowing that his answer would break her heart and shed any last bit of hope she had, "No, or at least not for a while. It was your uncle's decision to do this. He thought that since there has been no progress on your family's murder that it would be best for you to just stay here."
Stay here? She didn't hate Konoha but the idea of going back home was the only thing keeping her going. Everyone and everything here was a stranger. Minato, Kushina, Jiraiya, the city, the weather, the kids at the park. She didn't belong here, but now she was stuck here. Forever.