Konohamaru was up bright and early to stop by his aunt and uncle's to check on how the children were doing. He knocked and entered, surprised to see everyone was already awake and Minka was there, too. She looked quite different - her black hair was wavy and silky, worn down long except some on the top which was wrapped in a bun. She'd been given some clothes so she was wearing gray shorts and a loose blue shirt. She had hazel eyes that were bright this morning, as she was laughing with Aunty and Uncle Sarutobi while watching the kids cause havoc. They were playing ninja with the two guards while the adults drank tea and coffee and munched on breakfast.
"Konohamaru, good morning!" Aunty Sarutobi said, getting up to give him a hug and a kiss. They beckoned him in and sat him down, shoving a plate of food in front of him.
"Good morning," Minka smiled happily.
"Good morning. You are looking energetic," Konohamaru chuckled.
"It's amazing what a good night's sleep and a warm shower can do," she sighed happily. "I cannot repay your family enough. Especially for keeping the kids safe - they're so happy this morning!"
A squeal of delight came from Lin as he was grasping onto the back of one guard, pretending to stab him with a kunai that was actually a popsicle stick. His sisters laughed, sitting on the floor with the other guard.
"It definitely looks like everyone is settling in, and quick," Konohamaru admired.
"We had to adapt quickly. Instead of choosing to never get comfortable or happy, we learned to get comfortable quickly and be happy when we could," Minka smiled. "I want to see the kids off to daycare. Was there anything needed of me today?" she asked.
Konohamaru shook his head. "Not that I've been told of. And today I'm on guard duty for you," he smiled.
Minka shrugged. "Sounds good."
Minka walked with the kids and Aunty and Uncle Sarutobi to the daycare down the street, Konohamaru and one other guard following. She saw the kids off after checking out the play areas and they immediately ran off, able to spend time with kids around their ages, and then headed out with Konohamaru.
She awkwardly stood there. "So… what now?" she asked.
Konohamaru hummed. "Whatever you want, really," he considered. "Want to go to the training grounds?"
"Do I want to take the first day I've had in months to relax to train?" she deflated. Minka stood up straight again and smiled. "Sure, why not."
At the training grounds, Minka looked around. Everything looked both vaguely familiar and very foreign. Sparring rings and dummies were pretty universal, as well as some weapons, but she was used to the outdoor rings at the Land of Snow to be universally covered in ice and snow, making training more difficult and helping ninja develop better coordination, acrobatics, and reaction skills. Functioning on top of ice required very different skills.
"Want to spar?" Konohamaru offered.
"Sure!" Minka chirped.
Konohamaru removed his bulky vest and prepared for their session. Minka was across the way from him, smirking. He was immediately suspicious. "Why do you look like that?" he asked.
"Like what?" Minka teased. Then, "Ice style, icy ground jutsu!" Smooth ice spread out from under her feet to cover the ground.
Konohamaru immediately began slipping around. "Hey, what is this?!" he gasped.
Minka laughed and began moving forward. "This is how we train in the Land of Snow," she chuckled. Her weight was more on the balls of her feet and the way she stepped changed, allowing her an easier time to move around. She integrated the natural slipping into her gait, adapting to the environment to move easier.
She ran and slid up to Konohamaru, stopping short of him and offering a hand. "Want me to show you?"
He managed to get up with her help on wobbly legs but got the gist of how to move on the ice. "You can also supplement your movements with chakra in your feet, but even that allows some slippage. The most fun thing is how to steer!" She ran forward and pulled out a kunai, squatting down and digging it into the ice. Now her turns were sharper and more controlled. She made her way back over to Konohamaru, a big smile on her face. "What do you think?"
He was laughing and trying not to slip again. "This is one of the weirdest training methods I've ever seen," he said. "How long does it take to learn this?"
She shrugged. "It depends. Almost all of us learned from childhood so we don't know any difference!"
"And you learned from a young age?" he asked.
Minka nodded. "Yeah. I knew from a really young age that I wanted to… protect people," she said, starting to get solemn. "My mom needed a lot of help and I tried my best to help her and keep her safe."
"Safe from what?" Konohamaru asked gently.
"From something that can be talked about at a later time," she whispered. Her eyes looked darker, her skin flat, as her body language shifted into an odd mix of uncomfortable and angry.
He let the topic drop. "Yeah, of course. Um… are you keeping the ice, or what?"
She smirked. "I don't know, I'm fond of it. What about you?"
"I can work with it!" he smiled. "Fire style, fire breath jutsu!" He spun, directing the flames to melt the ice, Minka jumping out of the way.
"You're lucky I'm not stubborn enough to keep the ice around - melted ice makes water, which can make more ice you know," she said. "In fact… Ice style, ice forest jutsu!" The water that had been created from the melting ice but that hadn't evaporated yet began climbing upwards, turning into super hard icicles, all aiming to trap Konohamaru.
He stayed where he was, waiting for the ice to form closer, before acting. "Wind style, slicing gale jutsu!" Blades of air ran through the ice plumes and resulted in shards of sharp ice scattering everywhere.
"Ice style, water release," Minka signed, and the ice all immediately returned to liquid, spattering her with water. The grounds were now muddy and Minka decided to have some fun with this new terrain. "Earth style, mud sludge jutsu!" The mud began moving on its own, gripping onto Konohamaru and climbing upwards. It wasn't trying to hold him down, but instead all of the mud in the area was gravitating to him and climbing upwards to his head.
Konohamaru tried wiping some off but when he realized it was aimed for him, he switched gears. "Wind style, gust jutsu!" Wind pushed away from him in a circle, pushing all of the mud off of his body and out of the area. "Lightning style, static freeze jutsu!" Short bursts of electricity shot through the air and hit Minka, causing her to freeze and twitch in place.
She hated the feeling of small prickles all over her body and focused her energy on getting out of this jutsu. "Earth style… earth coffin jutsu!" She was swallowed into the ground, disappearing rapidly before Konohamaru's eyes.
Wow. She buried herself. That's pretty smart, he admired. He crouched and waited to see when she'd rise back up out of the ground. At the feeling of rumbling, he prepared himself for her to rise from the earth, but instead was greeted by steam erupting. Geysers?
Minka jumped out at Konohamaru, her fist covered in stone, preparing to knock him down. Konohamaru managed to turn and developed a small, weak rasengan, hitting the stone fist with it, shattering the armor.
Between the force of the geysers and the force of the rasengan, they both ended up being blown aside. The steam and the ground settled and both shinobi were on the ground, rolling with laughter. They both were now covered in sweat and dust and the air smelled like humidity and lightning, as if it had stormed in the middle of a perfectly sunny and calm day.
"That was pretty good," Konohamaru said, propping himself up on his elbows.
"It was, wasn't it?" Minka said.
Some clapping started up from the edge of the training area. The kids of Team 7 had been watching and were giving a round of applause.
"How did you stay underground so long?" Sarada asked Minka.
"What was that static lightning thing, could you teach me that next?" Boruto asked Konohamaru.
"That was fun to watch," Mitsuki stated.
With the team swarming them, Konohamaru recommended that the teens try their hands at the Land of Snow-style training and Minka coated the ground in the area with ice once again. The two adults helped the three teens get their footing and learn to adapt to the strange environment. By the end of their session, Minka was happy to report that all of them could travel on the ice faster than a walking pace, and Sarada and Konohamaru were even beginning to pick up speed and use a blade to steer.
"Can we get hot chocolate or something? I'm actually cold!" Boruto shivered.
Mitsuki looked bluer than normal and agreed. "A warm drink would be nice."
"Let's head back to the Sarutobi Clan, I can make us some drinks there," Konohamaru said, waving for everyone to follow.
"Um, Konohamaru?" Minka asked, walking up to him. "Can we swing by to see the kids?" she whispered.
He nodded. "Definitely. I'll kick these three ahead to help themselves while we stop, if you want?"
They proceeded with that plan, Minka happy to be able to see her own trio enjoying life. Lin had met a group of boys he was happily rough housing with and Kya was playing with a group of girls, all of them doing each others' hair. Amuri was on the higher end of the age range and was able to spend time in the day school instead. Kids her age would choose, in the next year or so, to either pursue education at the ninja academy or at a general educational facility.
Minka couldn't go in during hours to say hi, but said hello through the windows to the kids, each in their own areas of the facility. "I'm glad they can have a break from each other. Be themselves, you know?" Minka sighed to Konohamaru happily.
"How did you meet them?" he asked gently.
She waited many seconds before responding. "They were in the same village I was from. I met them when I was back visiting one day and saw how bad off they were. From then on out, I couldn't not help them."
Konohamaru nodded. "So… what did you do back there? For work?"
"Well, I'm a shinobi… I'm not sure if that should be "was" a shinobi yet or not…" she chuckled melancholically.
He nodded again, feeling like there was more information to be uncovered, but having the patience to wait before prodding further. They soon arrived back at the Sarutobi Clan compound and went to Konohamaru's home, where the windows were open and Team 7 were happily chattering while making tea and hot chocolate.
"Boruto, don't!" Sarada was squealing when the adults walked in.
They walked in on Boruto double-fisting whipped cream bottles, shooting one at Mitsuki and one at Sarada. Mitsuki seemed to have attempted to catch some in his mouth from afar while Sarada was just covered in it. "Heh, hi Konohamaru sensei," Boruto grimaced.
"Boruto!" Konohamaru fumed. "I'll make you hand whip more cream all day tomorrow, I swear, that is so wasteful!" As their sensei scolded Boruto, Minka found some rags to help Sarada and Mitsuki clean up, all three of them chuckling at Boruto's expense.
Regardless, the group was able to sit down and enjoy some warm drinks, helping the Fire ninja defrost from their brief encounter with ice. The teenagers began asking Minka a number of questions, most relating to training and life in the Land of Snow.
"Well, it's usually cold," she smiled. "But we do have springtime for part of the year. But we have a lot of technology and development all the time. Because of that, our academies have doubled down on ensuring students still learn the shinobi way, and stay true to what a shinobi is."
"How does your village do that?" Boruto inquired.
"From the ages of about 10 through 15, kids who want to be ninja only have electronics as tools, none for entertainment. They must show restraint," she began. "When you get older at the academy and are done with most general education courses, there is an emphasis on survival training and on problem solving."
"What do you mean by problem solving?" Sarada asked. "That's just something you develop with training, right?"
"That's one way to do it," Minka began. "Instead of us teaching kids jutsus and how to use them, we introduce situations and encourage them to think of what they should do. This means they could encounter or learn even higher level jutsu at earlier times, because they are motivated to solve a singular task, rather than achieve an abstract goal." She was smiling happily. "So many of our ninja know many nature forms. This all comes in handy in such a tough environment too. When it's that cold for that long, learning how to adapt and survive is the most important way."
"What is your shinobi way?" Mitsuki asked her suddenly.
She seemed to sigh contentedly, before turning a bit somber. "That I can always protect those who need protecting, and that I can prevent as many injustices as I can. I think that's my shinobi way. But it's always going to be more than you can just put into words."
Not long after, Konohamaru managed to shoo the kids away. They had a minor mission for the afternoon and needed to get to it. "Sorry if they're a bit much," Konohamaru chuckled, sitting down across the table from Minka.
"Don't worry - they're just being human," she grinned.
The house had two bedrooms and a clear divide between the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. A TV and game set were in the living room with very comfortable-looking couches. The dining room table was large but simple, while the kitchen seemed to have a lot of food and cooking utensils. Minka assumed Konohamaru probably had people over a lot - whether it was friends, pupils, or family, it didn't matter; she was happy he seemed to share food and good times with good people.
"Do you think they'll send the kids back?" she whispered, her voice gravelly.
Konohamaru was taken aback. "I… I mean, I honestly don't know, Minka," he started. "I want to say they won't but I don't know."
"I need to make sure I'm not cut out of the decision," she stated. "I know I'm a criminal and not from here, but they can't return to that household. I don't think even returning to the country would be safe while they are still free."
"Minka, I want to help you the best I can… I need to know at least a little more about what happened," he urged.
"I know, it's just messy…" she sighed, closing her eyes and putting her face in her hands. "I guess it started when I was visiting my home village. It is pretty rural so I was stopping by to see if they needed anything. It was standard for us to do, to stop by all of the villages that had a harder time communicating with the cities. And I saw Amuri in town. She was bundled up like she should have been but had this awful bruise on her face, near her temple. I asked her about it and she just avoided the question."
Konohamaru nodded. "I see… Did you meet the others that visit?"
"Not quite. I monitored where she went after that," Minka said. "And I was surprised to see… someone I knew. Someone I knew was very violent was in that house," she spat. "It turns out he was their father. And the mother seemed pretty shoddy too - I watched her push Lin out into the snow and slam the door, no cold weather gear on. She left him out there until he started crying, then opened the door to yell at him. I was about to go grab him at that point but then she picked him up roughly and dragged him back in."
He continued listening silently, trying to make sure he was understanding everything the best he could. He looked up at her when she sighed and sat up a bit more. "Long story short, I was able to get a comrade to help me obtain enough evidence to bring up the matter in court. The trial went through but the parents were sentenced to anger management classes and kept full custody of the kids. I had to leave the village to continue my work but kept tabs on them for the next year or so. The abuse didn't stop, and got worse as they were getting older. The whole time I worked to bring them back to trial, but I had to be patient - if you accuse someone more than three times and they're found not guilty, they can't be tried for that same crime for a certain amount of time."
"And what happened after that year?" Konohamaru asked.
"I was able to return to that village. Some law enforcement in the town was found guilty of bribery and some other crimes, so I was able to bring them to trial at the national level instead. I was really hopeful that the kids would be given to someone else and the parents would be jailed," she said. "At that point there was so much disgusting evidence against them, I could barely contain myself. But, the court slapped the parents with some minor punishments and made them take parenting courses or something. Nothing else."
She was picking at her fingernails, staring in the distance with an angry look on her face. "After that trial, my eyes in that village said they practically didn't see the kids anymore. For months. I ended up sneaking back and found them jailed in their own home. It was disgusting. They had open wounds, infections, they were malnourished… And since my work behind the scenes had still yielded no results, I just took them. We hid in the city until they were well enough to travel and then we got out of the Land of Snow. A few months later, and here we are."
Konohamaru nodded. "Do you still have the evidence? Or the people who helped you?"
Minka nodded. "Yes. I have a USB drive with the evidence used in past trials, and should be able to communicate with my friends back home who helped."
"What is the punishment if you get sent back to the Land of Snow for this?" he inquired.
"Probably being stripped of my rank," she sighed. "But what is that when compared to the lives of three children?"
Konohamaru's phone pinged and he pulled it out to look. "Perfect timing. Lord Seventh is summoning us to his office for a chat."
The duo made their way there, greeted by Shikamaru and a few guards. Minka was escorted in by the guards, held by her arms, eventually appearing in front of Naruto and a screen displaying the Land of Snow's daimyō, Koyuki.
"Welcome in, Minka," Naruto began warmly. "Lady Koyuki and I have been able to speak some today and wanted to meet with you."
Minka nodded her head towards the screen with Koyuki displayed and the camera near it that was surely displaying her own face. "Lady Koyuki."
Koyuki sighed. "Minka, did you really have to do this?"
Minka immediately bristled. "You know I did, Koyuki! You didn't have the guts to do something about those kids and let the law sweep them under the rug!" she chastised.
"Whoa, hold on -" Naruto began to interrupt.
"It's fine, Naruto. Minka was my unofficial advisor," Koyuki began. "She was probably going to be the Land of Snow's first Kage. The Harunokage."
"What?" Konohamaru sighed. He and everyone else in the room looked at the shinobi in their presence, stunned with surprise.
"I have no desire to be the land's first Kage if the land is unjust and cowardly," Minka shot back. "Koyuki, I wish you would hold what is right above all else."
"You just have too romantic a notion of the world, Minka," Koyuki sighed. "Not everything is as easy or as dramatic as a ninja battle."
"I don't know, I think the kids don't have a romantic notion of the world. I wouldn't if I was still getting the shit beat out of me everyday," Minka scoffed.
Still getting the shit beat out of her? Konohamaru thought. The more she says, the more confused I get.
"Okay, could we stop, and maybe fill me in a bit more?" Naruto chuckled nervously. "And we haven't even given you any updates, Minka!"
"Here's what's happening," Koyuki began, sitting back in her chair. "Minka was upset at how the law was doing its job and decided she was the law. She kidnapped three innocent children and decided to 'save' them because she was abused as a kid too." She sat up straighter, in a more formal position. "While I am allowing a new trial to be had for the children and their well being, a decision has already been made regarding you, Minka. You're stripped of your status in our land and are not welcomed back as a citizen."
"Fine by me," Minka spat at her. "Did you have anything else you wanted to belittle while I was here?"
Koyuki rolled her eyes slightly. "No, that's it. I'll be working with the Hokage on the details about the kids. Buh-bye." With a small wave, the daimyō disappeared when the screen turned black.
Naruto held up his hand and Minka was released. He looked grim now. "Minka, I'm sorry about how this is going so far. But I wanted to let you know that we have some mutual friends," he grinned.
"What does that have to do with anything?" she asked. "All we need to focus on now is what we need to do to keep the kids from being returned to the Land of Snow. They're only able to stay here because you accepted them under refugee status, right?"
"Right," Shikamaru said. "And that was only possible because they were kidnapped… I take it you planned that?" he asked.
Minka gave a curt nod. "Regardless, what are we doing next?"
Naruto nodded firmly. "One of the ninja who helped you keep tabs on these kids helped me way back when I was a visitor in the Land of Snow," he said. "So I've already gotten all the details from a first-hand witness. I'm on your side!"
"If you all need more for the trial, I have more information," she pushed.
"And we'll get to that," Shikamaru said. "But I have a question first. I understand you want the kids to be safe so you removed them from their dangerous situation, but why aren't you working on getting rid of the dangerous people by jailing the parents?"
She met his eyes with a dead stare. "Because they're practically invincible at this point. I don't know how, but I promise. There is no way that I know of to get them put in jail."
"How are you so sure? You were working on this for, what, two years max? I don't think that's enough time to determine something so finite," Shikamaru pushed back, leaning forward on the Kage's desk.
"Because I tried for many years to get him in jail before these kids were even born," she said. She was shaking a bit, looking mad - if she was mad at Shikamaru or the situation, no one could really tell, but she was acting odd.
"You knew him before you saw him with these kids?" Naruto asked. "But that's important to know for the trial."
"Oh, that's what's great about this Lord Seventh - in the trials they knew my history with him!" she laughed unsteadily, seeming to shake a bit harder. Konohamaru stepped closer to her very slowly, worrying she'd act out. "He's my dad, too, which is why I know how awful he is. He almost killed me so many times! He killed my mother! And was never put away!" she half laughed, half yelled, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "He will kill those kids!"
Shikamaru and Naruto looked at each other, clearly looking surprised. "Is… Any of that in your information?" Shikamaru asked.
Minka reached into her pocket and threw a USB stick towards them. "Can I go?" she asked, starting to crumble inside. She had never had to tell so many people at once about these details, and the daimyō antagonizing her beforehand put her in an extra vulnerable place. The familiar sensation of panic - the prickles on her skin, feeling cold, the tightness in her chest - was setting in, and she needed to go now.
"Yes, you're free -" Naruto began.
Once the word "free" was said, Minka immediately darted for the door, rushing outside. Konohamaru stared at the two men in the office who looked to be a mix of dismayed and disturbed. He decided to run after Minka, to make sure she didn't do anything to hurt herself.
He was able to hear her footsteps through the office halls and followed. She was going up the stairs of the building and eventually he heard the door to the roof slam open. He followed behind soon to see Minka run to the short wall at the edge of the roof. He was about to yell for her, worried she was trying to jump, but she instead fell to her knees and let herself collapse on the ground, curling up with her head in her arms. She was shaking and when Konohamaru got closer he heard her gasping for breath.
"Minka, what's wrong, can-"
"Don't… touch me!" she screamed. "Don't… don't! Just go!" she was panting between her cries and her gasps for air.
He was concerned she had been poisoned somehow - she was shaking, sweaty, her words made little sense, and she was just acting crazy. "I'm not leaving," Konohamaru stated softly. "I'm going to make sure you're okay." He crouched down a little ways from her, monitoring her to make sure nothing went wrong.
She just burrowed her head further into her arms and groaned angrily. He waited patiently while he heard Minka switch from cries and gasps for air to hyperventilating. When this change happened she was able to pull herself up onto her hands and knees, where she tried to get deeper breaths. After a few minutes of this she had settled herself enough to breathe deeper, although it was still shaky. She soon sat back on her feet, still crying, but clearly more in control of her body than before.
"Minka. Are you okay?" Konohamaru asked gently, finally approaching her. He put a hand on her shoulder very gently, pausing for her response.
"I am," she sniffled. "When that stuff comes back to me, it… I can't get out of my head. I'm back where it happened," she cried. "It hurts all over. It hurts in my head. I can't help it."
He nodded, squeezing her shoulder a bit. "Do you need more time?" he whispered.
She took a deep breath, looking up at the sky. Her face wrinkled up again as she began crying again and she nodded. Konohamaru was about to step back to give her more peace but she reached out to him. He accepted her into his arms, hugging her, as she squeezed him so tightly he had trouble breathing at first. She cried into his chest for a while, him scratching her back gently.
"I'm sorry," she eventually muttered. "I can't remember the last time I was able to cry. And I don't think I've ever been able to cry with an adult around," she hiccuped. She finally leaned back from him and rubbed her eyes. Her light skin was puffy and blotchy from the crying, her hair messed up, and her eyes looked vividly gold, giving her the overall appearance of a bedraggled cat.
"Don't be sorry," Konohamaru told her. He gave her a gentle squeeze but continued holding her. This feels nice, he couldn't help but think. She fits against me perfectly.
She had her face still leaning against his chest, her sniffles slowing with each passing moment. After a sigh and a gentle squeeze back at him, she stepped back slightly. "I should probably just get back to my room. Um… if I'm okay to still stay there. I didn't wait to hear if I'm free to stay in this land or not."
Konohamaru shook his head. "You're welcome to stay with us. We can check on the rest later."
Minka chuckled briefly. "We can just… check on my status as a criminal at a later time? Alright, if you say so."
He blushed. "Well, if you were in trouble, why'd they let you go?!" he defended. "Whatever, let's go."
Once they were back at the Sarutobi Clan complex, they stopped outside of her room. It wasn't late enough in the day for the kids to be back from daycare so Minka was going to nap and recover from earlier. Konohamaru paused at her doorway, tugging the hem of her shirt gently before she turned to enter her room, and pulling her back in for a hug. "I'm just right there if you need anything," he assured her.
She let him envelop her in a big hug, enjoying the sensation. "Thanks, Konohamaru. I'll see you later." After letting go of each other, she happily snuggled up in her bed, very briefly forgetting her worries. Konohamaru's scent lingered until she fell asleep, smelling crisp and bright, and she was able to drift to sleep.