Chapter Two
Minato huffed and heaved as he carried the heavy buckets of water over his shoulders as he ran along the trail to Training Ground Three. The exercise was all about balance – balancing speed with stability, balancing motions so as not to spill the water. "Come on son, you're falling behind!" Jiraiya Sensei called out from the finish line.
The mere thought of falling behind timewise shot adrenaline into exhausted limbs, and Minato turned up his tempo again. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time! He ground his teeth as he closed the distance, setting the buckets down at Jiraiya's feet. "How—how did I do?!" he huffed.
"Heh," Jiraiya grinned the same way he did when he had a voluptuous woman in his sights, "Six seconds faster than last time!" he laughed.
"Six seconds!" Minato nearly fell over at the realization, "You told me I was falling behind!"
"Ha!" Jiraiya laughed, "I couldn't let it go to your head that you just beat Might Duy's speed record over the same course!" Jiraiya held out Minato's bento lunch box, "You've earned it, I'd say!"
"Thanks, dad!" Minato let the words slip. Jiraiya was not his father, not even related distantly. In the past five years, Jiraiya had been the only person to fill the gap when dad died on a mission. While tragic, Minato knew his circumstances were all too common. Thankfully, between Jiraiya's guardianship, Dad's life insurance, and Minato's maturity at a young age; Minato had been allowed to live alone versus in an orphanage.
"You're welcome, son," Jiraiya said reluctantly, still not comfortable with familiar term.
As they ate in silence for a few moments, but the butterflies in Minato's stomach forced him to find words. "Sensei?"
"Yeah?" Jiraiya took a sip from his water bottle.
"What… can you tell me about… girls…" Minato's words were choked as he thought about one girl particularly.
"What was that?" Jiraiya paused, pouring water down the front of his shirt as he froze, staring at Minato.
"What can you tell me…" he strained. Gods, just say it! "… about girls?!"
Jiraiya continued to pour water over himself for a moment before capping the bottle. He cocked up an eyebrow, "You… finally are into something other that being a shinobi?!" Jiraiya grinned, "So tell me, who is the lucky lady?"
"Umm…" Minato fidgeted, thinking of her red hair, her violet eyes, and her smooth athletic features. "… ah… nobody! I was just curious!" he lied.
"Son, please, you are a terrible liar!" Jiraiya scrutinized him, "Let me guess, a thorny rose with long red petals!"
"Dad, Kushina is not thorny!"
"I didn't say Kushina, did I?" Jiraiya grinned again in victory. "So, you are hot for the red-hot habanero girl that beats boys half to death!"
"She's not a bad person, Sensei!" Minato protested.
"You're right," Jiraiya shrugged, "she just has baggage."
"Like your lady?" Minato hoped he hadn't hit back too hard.
"Heh! They're distant cousins." Jiraiya rubbed his chin, "Although I guess that would explain the attitude in both of them. I hear Uzumaki women are ornery!"
"So, you think it's a bad idea?" Minato's heart began dropping to his feet.
"I didn't say it was a bad idea," Jiraiya raised a finger, "Just be prepared to be wrong all the time and get your happy little ass beat in the process!"
"How does that make things not a bad idea?" Minato furrowed his eyebrow in confusion.
"Son," Jiraiya raised his palms in surrender, "when dealing with the opposite gender, it's a lot like mixing drinks. Sometimes you create a symphony, other times, you create something akin to drinking kerosene. In the end," he shrugged, "you never know until you try!"
"I don't know," Minato sighed, "to think she could like someone like me!"
"Hey, don't sell yourself short," Jiraiya crossed his arms, "You're becoming a man, and a damn handsome one!" Jiraiya scanned their surroundings, then shielded his mouth with a hand, "In fact, I saw a couple of kunoichi checking out your buns on the way here this morning!"
"DAD!" Minato protested.
"Hey, when you get to much age, getting checked out at all is a compliment. Enjoy it while you got it!"
"That's all well and good," Minato groaned, "but that still doesn't help me with my problem!"
"Did she tell you to get out of her life and not come back?"
"No." Minato replied
"Did she say, 'Don't touch me there, asshole! Go to hell!'" Jiraiya mimicked what Minato assumed was Tsunade's voice.
"No, can't say that she did," Minato suppressed a laugh. "Dare I ask where that came from?"
"It's a long story," Jiraiya explained. "Listen, if you want to know if she's interested, go over this evening and ask her about herself."
"About herself?" Minato asked.
"More often than not," Jiraiya spoke, "a young lady appreciates someone who listens. If you need to break the ice, bring up the mission."
"The mission?"
"Use mission prep as an excuse to see her; it worked once, didn't it?"
"You're absolutely right!" Minato shouted in triumph.
"Good," Jiraiya resumed picking at his lunch, "now eat up; we've got work to do!"
"I'm home!" Kushina called as she walked the hallways of the apartment building that she shared with her security detail. Due to the risks involved with her holding Nine-Tails and her general unpopularity with the village, the apartment that acted as her safehouse was actually slightly outside the main barrier that protected the village from intrusion.
"Hello?" Kushina set down her shopping bag – provisions for the mission tomorrow – and walked toward the suite of rooms she shared with the grown-ups. While far from being friends with any of them, Kushina at least respected them as shinobi, and they knew to give her personal space. "Hello?" she walked away from the entryway and skulked away from the front door. Someone should be here.
"Is anyone here?" Kushina walked past the common kitchen and noticed the door to the dining room was ajar. She stared through the cracked door, seeing no one. Despite every instinct screaming for her to run, Kushina slid the door open. Ridiculous! You've been watching too many late night horror movies! They're probably out on a smoke break or getting tea.
Her calm thoughts gave way when she noticed the window to the room was unlatched, letting in cool autumn breeze. Kushina stared into the long shadows cast by the orange of the evening autumn sun. At first, she thought it was a figment of her imagination, but one of the shadows moved, taking the form of a man. OH CRAP! she bolted backwards out of the door toward the entryway, seeing more shadows moving in her wake. The sound of boots on the wood floor suggested at least a half dozen pursuers as she slipped out of the suite into the main hallway. "SOMEBODY HELP!"
Cold panic gripped Kushina as she ran down the corridor toward the building entrance, the sound of boots on her heels. She came to an abrupt, stumbling stop as a set of gloved hands clamped on her left shoulder. Kushina's legs tried to keep moving as she desperately shook to loosen her shoulder from her attacker's clutches. However, she barely got two steps before a gloved hand smacked into her mouth and nose; the hand soon clamped firmly of Kushina's screams. The faint acrid odor hit her almost immediately – Black Sleeper!
The narcotic flower's sap was potent as her parents had warned her it would be. Being the child of a high-ranking member of the Uzumaki Clan instantly made her a target of kidnapping attempts, and her parents trained her as a toddler to recognize the distinct smell. Now, she'd have it forever burned into her memory. If I survive! The hand suddenly leg go and her rubbery limbs collapsed beneath her. The hallway began spinning, and Kushina's synapses began firing slower and slower. Must… get… away… m… ust… She didn't even register hitting the floor or losing consciousness.
Minato fidgeted with his fingers as he walked up to the apartment building in the early evening. While the sun had not yet dipped below the horizon, the veil holding back the night from falling was now paper-thin. Relax, it's not like she's going to bite your head off… I hope! Just knock politely, offer to review the map, make some small talk, and who knows?
Before he even entered, Minato had a bad feeling. No lights were on, even in the entryway. Minato slowed his stroll to the building, trying to gleam details without giving away that he was on alert. He scanned the windows of the upper level – none were lit, but he could see one of the larger windows was propped ajar.
Minato scurried to the side of the entryway door, taking himself out of the doorframe. Reaching into his pocket, he extracted the kunai he kept with him for emergencies. With his left hand, Minato waved the blade in front of the window on the entryway door – no response. Minato pressed the back of his hand to the door handle then the metal of the door proper. No heat, no vibration. He sniffed, not able to detect smoke or other odor hinting anything dangerous on the other side.
Delicately he gripped the handle and tested the door for resistance, remembering well the possibility of boobytraps. "Kid, I've seen more shinobi die breaching a doorway because of carelessness. Doors are a mundane thing, and no one expects to open one and have their legs blown off." Jiraiya's warning resounded in his head. Nevertheless, the door glided free and quiet as if the hinges had been freshly greased.
Minato sprung through the thin portal, rolled low, then sprung off the wall, and finally latched himself to the ceiling where it met the opposite wall. Someone had greased the door that had squeaked the night before. The doorman's desk was vacant, and the stairs going up were also not illuminated. Minato extracted his penlight, wound up, and flicked it on as he threw it up to the top landing.
Straining to hear, nothing followed the clatter of the small penlight. Minato leaped to the stairs and again up high to the ceiling of the hallway above. All the lights were out, although Minato now suspected the building had its power cut. He scanned the stairwell and the hallway in the thin bubble of light cast by his light. Scuff marks on the wall, what looks like a shoe print, easily a child or young adult's print. His eye flitted in the direction of Kushina's door. The door was sitting open.
Minato dropped from the ceiling, cutting off the light, and he scurried low but fast toward the open door. Some light from the exterior windows provided enough light to make out shapes, but the sun was now down enough to where the corridor and room were deep shade of gray. Minato again tossed his penlight, illuminating the entry to the apartment. The door showed no sign of forced entry, but an overturned grocery bag and its spilled and crushed contents suggested something of a struggle.
By now, he was satisfied he was the only person alive in the building. Minato ran into the room and snatched his light, scanning his surroundings. The door to the dining room had several scratch marks along its face, and the pocket door had been dislodged from its rail. He muscled the door aside to see the open window he'd seen from the outside. Splinters of wood and clear toolmarks hinted at forced entry.
"Kushina!" Minato risked giving himself away to a potential intruder as he shouted; he didn't care. "Kushina!" He searched for any place she might be hiding as he ran out into her room. The room was messy as any teenager's, but it showed no sign of anyone having flipped the room. "Kushina!" He threw open the close and checked under the bed to no avail. Minato raced back to the dining room, looking for any clue as to who might have broken in.
He had his clue as he moved to the window – a muddy boot print. At the heel of the print, a symbol too familiar cast into the wooden floor. "Hidden Cloud Shinobi!"
Minato leapt out the window and landed on the ground below, seeing the origin of the muddy print. There has to be some sign of where they went! He raced back to the entryway, looking for similar prints' he'd almost given up when he eyed the trail heading east – toward Kumo. Multiple smudged prints and drag marks carved into the ground. This is fresh, maybe a few hours old.
Shit! If he ran to get help now; the trail could easily go cold or be wiped away. If he ran to pursue the kidnappers now, he was armed only with a Kunai and only had a ration bar for provisions if the pursuit took longer than tonight. Dammit, are you going to wuss out now of all times and prove her right! Minato took off running down the trail.
"Danzo, I sympathize with your concerns," Lord Sarutobi spoke to his longtime friend and confidant.
"Sir, there has to be another option, the girl is a lit explosive tag and a security risk," Danzo replied.
"We've been through this, Danzo," Lord Third retorted, "We owe it to Mito to try…"
"And we have tried; the girl is too unstable!"
"And what is your alternative?" Sakumo Hatake, the room's other occupant spoke. "The very act of extracting Nine-Tails now would kill the girl, and we don't have a suitable vessel to hold it."
"Maybe Orochimaru could come up with some alternative," Danzo said.
"Danzo!" Lord Third rebuked harshly, "We've heard more than a few rumors of unaccountable actions on his part lately," he lit his pipe and sucked in the bittersweet smoke at the mention of his apprentice. "Even if they are unfounded, I question his moral judgement at present."
"Lord Third, Lord Jiraiya is here; he says it is urgent!" His intercom buzzed.
Urgent, this hour of the night? "Send him in!" he said as he pressed the reply button. Jiraiya ran through the door and bowed in haste. "Yes?"
"Sensei!" Jiraiya's voice sounded panicked and breathless in a way he'd never heard in their near twenty years as master and apprentice.
"Jiraiya!"
"Sensei, Minato is missing, and so is Kushina!" the Legendary Sannin's screeched.
"Missing?" Sakumo exchanged a look with Lord Third and then Danzo.
"He didn't show up to pack up his gear after he went over to Kushina's place," he heaved to catch his breath, "When I went over, Kushina was missing, too!"
"How likely is it that she just ran away and Minato took off after her?" Danzo scoffed.
"And her bodyguard had all been slaughtered!" Jiraiya said, "Down to the last man!"
Concern and fear chiseled itself in to both Danzo and Sakumo's faces. Even Lord Sarutobi felt his ass clench at the realization the Jinchuriki of Nine-Tails was missing, possibly abducted. The unfathomable amount of damage Nine-Tails could do if released on accident or on purpose froze his blood. Despite a shaking hand, he picked up his pipe, lit it, and began to puff. "Sakumo…"
"I'm already on it, boss!" The man ran out of the room.
"Danzo, get a forensics team to the apartment building, and keep it damn quiet!" Hiruzen sucked his pipe nervously.
"Sir, with all due respect, the trail could go cold at any moment," he protested.
"That is why I need you there now!" Lord Third exclaimed. "If Sakumo can't pick up the trail, we need to know who might have taken her!"
"What about Minato?!" Jiraiya interrupted.
"Jiraiya, I need you to go home and wait for him!"
"But…"
"NO buts!" Lord Third growled. "Either he was taken or he went in pursuit!" He prayed it was the later and not the former. "In any case, we won't find him without finding her. If he wanders back, he may have a clue as to where she is!"
"Lord Third, he's like my son!"
"I understand, Jiraiya," Lord Third turned to look out the window to Konoha as he again dragged off the pipe. He exhaled the acrid smoke. "And right now, I hope your faith in him is well-deserved." He stared out to the black of night. Right now, that kid has the fate of the village in his hands.
Kushina woke to the harsh sensation of being pulled apart as she was dragged over something abrasive. She blinked, but realized she was blindfolded, gagged, and bagged. Judging by the sensation of her arms being ripped from their sockets, she was also bound and being dragged. Gotta get away, fast!
She struggled to get her legs beneath her, only managing to skin her knees impossibly worse than before. "MUUAAAHHHH!" she moaned against the gag tied around her mouth.
"Boss man, she's awake, finally!" The tension on her arms slacked off. "I'm so over dragging this sack of shit."
The bag was roughly tugged off from over her head, as was the blindfold. Kushina lay sprawled out, taking stock of her situation. She was still gagged, her arms and legs were covered in scratches and scrapes, and she could count at least eight hulking shinobi standing over her. She looked for any opening, seeing none. "Come on, get up!" one of the men kicked her in the side.
"RAWR!" she growled through her muffle as she sprang to her feet and rammed her elbow into the man's jewels.
"AAAHHH!" the man clasped his assaulted testicles. Now's your chance, go!
Kushina sprinted over the man when she felt her body jerk back and her legs go out from underneath her. Her body flopped painfully on the dirt as she looked up to see her arms above her, still bound and tied. No time for safety! Kushina reached for the deep, forbidden chakra reserve, only to feel a conspicuous absence. NO WAY!
Her eyes darted down to her chest and stomach. Over her abdomen was a seal paper. The pieces seemed to fall in place like a puzzle most terrible. Whatever seal they'd put on her was strong enough to suppress Nine-Tails, and it was suppressing her normally vibrant chakra. Kushina struggled to move rubbery limbs to claw away the seal, but the rope binding her pulled taught, dragging her painfully across the dirt.
As the painful dragging ended, there was a solid impact across Kushina's face, and stars exploded in her eyes. As she recovered, she felt her bindings get cut. For a fleeting second, there was the vain hope they'd let her go. Then there was another backhand slap across the face, and Kushina could taste the unmistakable coppery flavor of blood in her mouth.
Someone began tugging her hair as someone else began tying her hands behind her back. Towering over her was a Hidden Cloud Shinobi with close-cropped jet black hair. "Listen, kid," he spoke with a stentorian voice that shook Kushina to her core. "Try any of the shit again," he pulled a switchblade and flicked it open, "and we'll bleed you, real quiet." The man caressed her cheek with the point of the blade back and forth, cutting off the gag from her mouth.
"SOMEBODY HELP!" Kushina screamed loud enough to be heard all the way back in Konoha. However, the night remained still and impassive.
"Little girl," he traced the point of the knife across her cheek with enough force to begin parting skin, "go ahead and scream and cry! No one is looking for you! And no one out here can hear you!" The man laughed with a sinister glare as Kushina felt herself being hoisted upright from behind. "Now then, we have a saying, and that is, 'March or die!' You got it!"
Overwhelming helplessness set itself on her shoulders. She was god knows how far from Konoha; her chakra was essentially non-existent; and she had no one who knew where she was. Like anyone would care if I disappeared? I'm just an outsider! There was a prodding in her back and she began walking, her hair falling forward in her face. One foot moved in front of the other moving to the tempo of despair. A ninja never gives up! Someone has to be looking for me by now! I'd take anyone, even goldilocks right now!
Minato had to resist the urge to run along the trail as he scoured for any sign of Kushina or her captors. While the trail had been clear initially, the dark of night and the passage or time made the trail harder and harder to read the further way he got from Konoha.
He checked his watch – just after 0300 – he'd been at this since late last night. His head ached from lack of sleep and his stomach growled from lack of nourishment. Boot prints were becoming harder to make out as the battery in his penlight began slowly burning out. He'd switched it off a few clicks back to save what battery it had. If it weren't for the nearly full moon, he'd be totally blind in the middle of nowhere.
This is ridiculous! If you were going to find her you would have found her by now! You could have an army backing you up on this search had you just been a good boy and run to the Hokage's office first! But no! You had to run off and play a hero! Now she'll be lucky if her corpse is ever found! Minato took a knee as he inspected what little he could discern of the track. There were at least a half dozen people dragging someone.
The drag marks stopped, and for a panicked moment, he'd lost the trail. SHIT! He bit down on his lip, reminding himself that he was tired, reminding himself what was at stake here. If you lose it, she dies most likely. Take a deep breath, watch, listen, observe! Minato latched onto his chiding as he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
When he reopened his eyes, he read the situation, lips making a slight smile. She was being dragged, likely unconscious. She woke up and fought back. He smirked as he read the odd mix of footprints and drag marks. She made a break for it, but she was restrained! Minato's eyes spied a faint glimmer in the moonlight, and he pulled out his penlight. The faint glow revealed a strand of brilliant red hair. His eyes traced its orientation toward a trail heading northeast.
Minato pulled out his map for the mission and smirked in triumph. They're using the same path I was planning on using – only isolated outposts and hamlets easily avoided, isolated but direct! He forced his legs to move again. He would have to stop soon and rest; he was well aware of it. However, he couldn't give up now. If I'm having this much trouble reading this path, a large group would be stumbling around in a circle! A ninja never gives up! He'd follow the trail for another thirty minutes. If he didn't find them before then, he'd crash for the night and pick up the trail in the morning.
Author's notes: Hello everyone, and thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed. This will likely be the last update to this story before I release Critical Moments Volume 3. Rest assured, this collection will be completed over time. Until then, stay healthy, stay safe, and I'll see you all next chapter!