Disclaimer: still don't own it, still don't want it. I'm happy to play around with them, though.

Here we go again for a new chapter! I don't know what you'll think about it, but I hope you'll like it.

Enjoy the treat!

Jagged Pieces

The second time Minato woke up, he felt tremendously better. He still couldn't move without pain flashing through his body, but sitting up against his fluffed up pillows was manageable. Despite not trusting her entirely – what kind of ninja would he be otherwise? – Naruto proved to be a great help.

"Can you lift your arms for me?" she asked as she probed at his ribs and he winced, executing her demand.

It burnt his arms to keep them up – not unlike after being caught in a Katon jutsu, or being grazed by Kakashi's Chidori. Unfortunately, he quickly learnt that the blond kunoichi had no skill whatsoever in healing jutsu, so they had to make do with what, in his opinion, were frankly archaic methods – namely flimsy bandages soaked in a so called 'miraculous potion' that just stung like bleach would when poured on raw flesh. At this rhythm, his body would take weeks, if not months to be in good enough condition to travel back to Konoha.

Naruto hissed as she peeled back a soggy bandage, bits of skin sticking to the smelly, reddish gauze. Chakra burns were never pretty to look at, and Kyuubi-enhanced chakra burns were the stuff of nightmares. Minato wasn't as wrecked as the dead missing-nin were – it seemed they took the brunt of the blast – and it looked like his body was doing a good enough job patching itself up, all things considered. The ointments she found at a local shop, imported from Kusa, was a nice help too.

She looked up when Minato grunted, and grimaced a sheepish apology, trying to be gentler while applying the medicine before wrapping the new pristine bandages.

"T's okay," he said between gritted teeth, "it's just a bit tight."

What a wuss, the woman thought with a snort, consciously ignoring the fact that she wasn't known for her caring skills and might have been a bit too rough with the injured man.

"Then suck it up, champ," Naruto shrugged, tying up the bandages and tapping a finger against Minato's left arm, signalling that he could finally relax.

He didn't wait any longer to carefully lower his aching arms, heaving a big sigh and slouching a bit further in his pillows, feeling cold sweat on the hollow of his throat. Never again would he bitch about the callous medic-nin in the hospital. Never. "Do you happen to know how far away we are from Konoha?"

Maybe if the village was close, he could send a missive to be retrieved under the guise of a C-rank mission, the variable that was Naruto be damned. Minato just wanted to be home and forget about this awful turn his simple mission took. Plus, he reasoned that she wouldn't have done her best to keep him alive if she wanted to harm him.

The kunoichi bit her lip. While the blond shinobi was out like a light, she had made some inquiries in town, and was shocked to find out they were at the outskirts of the Land of Lightning. Either she had ran farther – and way longer – than she'd first thought, or she had been propelled fairly far from her starting point thanks to her faulty jutsu. She should really take a look at these damn 'time' and 'space' stamps…

Minato saw her expression through lidded eyes and frowned. His mission had been near the Land of Rice Fields, and surely Naruto didn't drag his dead weight that far in the forest she found him.

He couldn't be more wrong.

"We're on a patch of unclaimed land managed by civilians at the borders of the Land of Lightning."

At that, a glint appeared in the man's eyes, and Naruto shuddered. It wasn't the kind of sparkle that hinted towards positive emotions – it was something darker, and dared she say almost homicidal. Apparently, Minato wasn't too glad about this new piece of information.

"I see. Does it mean you're a Kumo ninja?" he asked in a downright chilly voice, a placid smile on his face, muscles visibly clenching under the sheets.

Scratch that. Minato obviously loathed the country if the way his eyebrow twitched when he said 'Kumo' was any indication.

"I'm not affiliated to any shinobi forces," she hurriedly said, even though it was a long shot as she never tried to deny his earlier claims when he called her 'kunoichi-san'.

"Really now? You're awfully skilled for someone with no formal attachments."

Okay, Minato was way too curious for his own good, Naruto decided. She wasn't good at mind games, it was Shikamaru's hobby, not hers. He busted her out before she could even start on her lie of being some kind of wanderer who'd been bestowed the help of some passing ninja. Never mind the fact that no sane ninja would teach an outsider about the shinobi arts – except for Jiraiya, and look where that went.

Minato saw the flash of panic in her eyes, and had he been healthier, he would've jumped at her throat, a kunai ready to slay her for trying to so openly lie to his face. He wasn't used to such blatant disrespect, especially from those younger than him. But he'd suck it up – at least until he'd be able to walk on his own two feet.

"Perhaps I'm just a defector," she said in an annoyed tone before smacking a hand against her mouth, berating herself for her stupidity that apparently knew no boundary. Way to go, girl, keep antagonising him and making him suspicious. That's a sure way to win his trust, you idiot! Well, at least it provided for a cover, as unsavoury as it was.

To her surprise, Minato just arched an eyebrow before snorting. "You don't want to share your secrets, I can respect that. I would however appreciate that you don't lie to me."

It was her turn to snort, but much more less elegantly than the man. "We're ninja, of course we lie. And who says I'm lying about betraying my country?" Damn, she really didn't know when to shut up.

"Indeed, but you're way too kind for the likes of the missing-nin," Minato replied with a hint of amusement. She's not a very good ninja, he thought. She never tries to conceal her expressions, and is too impulsive. "Besides, I've never seen your face in a Bingo Book," he added as an afterthought.

Naruto frowned. "Maybe I'm not strong enough to be worthy of a notice."

The blond shinobi smirked, and the time traveller felt a cold shiver ran down her back. "True. However, someone who can completely conceal their chakra while being two feet away from an excellent sensor is, in my book, considered as highly dangerous."

Shit. Her face quickly turned pale – she completely forgot about her suppressing seals. It became second nature to her, during the war, and Naruto never thought about the fact that constantly masking her chakra while in the presence of an S-ranking ninja – who still didn't view her as an ally – was suicidal. She was lucky Minato was incapacitated, otherwise, he might have struck her down before even thinking about asking questions.

She plastered a bland smile on her face, and Minato felt sick pleasure at seeing the brash kunoichi so ill-at-ease. It was always good to know he wasn't losing his touch. Maybe he should've taken Inoichi's offer to join the IT division.

"Forgive me if you thought I was being deceitful. I'm not used to be around people anymore, and I tend to forget about my suppressing seals."

That said, Naruto held up her index, the tip shining a dull blue, before passing it across her forearms where her seals slowly appeared, glowed once, and then vanished again, as if absorbed by the flesh. She didn't miss the gleam of interest in Minato's eyes when she evoked her seals, nor did she miss the slight widening of his eyes when he extended his senses to feel her chakra.

"I've never seen seals quite like yours… To be honest, I didn't think it possible to conceal such a huge amount of chakra," he whispered thoughtfully, eyes raking up and down her body, trying to find and analyse some data he was missing.

"I had help in developing them," she admitted with a shrug.

Back in her time, most people thought it was Shikamaru who helped her with the seals, but it was in fact Neji who lent her his brain and knowledge. He wasn't near as brilliant as the Nara, but he'd tinkered with seals long enough to understand them, in the thin hope of one day being able to free himself of the Cage. He died beforehand though, and Naruto never gave up on trying to crack the cursed seal, in homage to her fallen friend.

Thinking about him, though, wasn't as painful as thinking about Sakura – she saw his body, she was able to say her goodbyes. Naruto gingerly rubbed at her arms, where the seals should be, and it felt like carrying a bit of the Hyuuga's legacy with her.

Seeing the melancholic look on Naruto's face, Minato refrained from asking a barrage of questions, even though it burnt his tongue – many of his friends back home told him that he could be an insensitive asshole when he was lost in one of his project, trying to create a new technique or meddling with Fuuinjutsu. So instead, he turned away, giving Naruto a semblance of intimacy as she collected herself and poked at his legs, silently asking for him to let her tend to his other bandages.

Teeth gritted and muscles tightening, Minato let her change them without complaining. The flesh was less torn, his ANBU garb thicker there, but the limbs were stiff from disuse, which concerned him. A ninja was no good if crippled.

"How many days was I out?" he asked.

He knew his body well, and even without the help of a medic-nin, he should still be able to move freely after a hard mission or a bout of chakra exhaustion.

"Well, it's been almost a week since the last time you woke up, and before that, it took you three days to show a sign of life. I was starting to think about digging a grave, you know – in case," Naruto smiled with mischief.

"Or you could've just asked for the nearest medic to tend to me and see what was wrong," Minato hissed as she jabbed a finger in a ragged wound, testing to see if blood would come out.

Satisfied when her finger came back barely stained, the blond woman finished her wrapping. "Told you already, we're in a civilian village, there's no medic-nin for miles and the only doctor in town is an old grandpa who can't really come out this far in the forest."

Minato looked at the bandages with a critical eye. She might not be the best medic, but at least, she did know how to dress a wound. He thanked her demurely and slouched back against his pillows. He didn't feel as weak as the first time he joined back the world of the living, and he wished he could go outside to stretch a bit, though he knew it wasn't the best idea.

"Do you have an idea of how long I'll be stuck like that?"

Naruto hummed a bit, a finger at her chin and brows furrowed. It was difficult to say. Minato didn't have the longevity of the Uzumaki clan, like her, and no demon in his belly to help with his wounds. A standard ninja would take months before being able to walk again after being so close to a Kurama-enhanced chakra blast… But Minato was no ordinary ninja.

"I'd say maybe a month before you can stand by your own, and two before being able to walk properly and perhaps do some ninja stuff. I wouldn't hold my breath, though!"

He mulled over it. Technically, he still had a good week before the Hokage started wondering what happened to one of his top shinobi. He could try and summon a toad – at that, he flexed his fingers, feeling for his chakra. It was still unstable, but fairly manageable if he focused long enough. He hummed, and suddenly sat up, ignoring the flash of pain in his midsection.

"That won't do," he muttered. "Come on, help me up, I need to start getting back my strength now," he exclaimed, trying to untangle the sheets from his legs with no success.

Naruto frowned, unimpressed, but said nothing. It wasn't her place to tell the grown-up man what to do with his exhausted body – that would be highly hypocritical of her. Besides, he was a capable ninja and only he could really judge his situation. With a sigh, she stood up and helped Minato out of the bed, tempted to let him drop to the floor when his knees shook, just to teach him a lesson. He leant heavily on her at first, an arm slung over her shoulders, the other braced against the wall behind Naruto. After a minute of slow breathing, sweat gathering at his brow, the man finally straightened and nodded his head, signalling that she could start moving.

It was a slow process, Naruto keeping quiet as Minato hissed and bit back curses when his feet refused to obey his command, but when they finally stood in the open air, the shinobi couldn't help the small smile gracing his tired face. The young kunoichi carefully lowered him on a wooden bench, and he took his first fresh breath since waking up. The air was cold against his sweaty, pale skin, and it burnt his lungs and throat, but it felt good because it meant that his body was still alive.

After a long while spent enjoying the forest's sounds similar to those of Konoha's (but it wasn't home, it could never be home), Minato opened his eyes and automatically tracked the kunoichi's trail. She was like a beacon to his senses, her chakra burning bright and hot – no wonder she had to suppress it, otherwise, any good sensor would be able to tell her position from a mile away. Naruto was standing a few feet away, her baggy civilian clothes gently swaying in the wind as she hummed a little song absentmindedly.

She puzzled him, to be honest. He didn't know what to make of this slip of a girl whose chakra system was as developed as a Kage's, but seemed as naïve and inoffensive as a fresh Genin. He wished she didn't try to save him, so that he could just eliminate her and be done with all the self-questioning. But even though Minato was a top-notch ninja, ANBU captain, and exemplary Jounin, it didn't mean he was heartless and a dumb tool.

His eyes narrowed as Naruto held a hand to her stomach before letting it fall away, fully turning to face him. She smirked. "I can hear you thinking. What got your panties in a twist, Namikaze-san?"

"I'm wondering whether to kill you or to keep you alive," he said bluntly, hands crossed on his knees.

Strangely enough, he wasn't shocked to see her unsurprised – he almost expected it. Instead, she shrugged and shoved her hands in her tunic's pockets.

"Well, if you think you're good enough, be my guest. In the state you're in, even a Suna Academy student could kick your ass," she taunted, and ouch, that was nasty. Suna had never been famous for their skilled young shinobi…

He smiled crookedly. "Aah, I suppose you're right, Naruto-san. It seems I'll have to wait for my body to catch up with my intentions."

A boisterous laugh answered him as she leisurely walked back into the house, yelling over her shoulder, "Yeah, you do just that. I guess that you'll be able to drag your sorry ass back to bed on your own, then. Have fun!"

With that, the door closed behind her and Minato was left alone with his thoughts and unresponsive body. He sighed, a wry smile tugging at his lips. "Who knew foreign kunoichi could be this fun to rile up…"

He had been serious, though. As soon as his body was healed, he won't be the vulnerable one anymore. And deep down, his gut instincts told him that this blond kunoichi wasn't joking either about kicking his ass.

The wind blew, and with it came a few leaves. He picked one and began to gather his chakra by small touches, ready to start exercising his control.

This forced stay was sure becoming interesting.

To be continued…

A/N: Advancing slowly, but surely… You may have noticed that Minato seems darker than in canon. Well, you'll have deal with it, sorry! But hey, I like him that way, and you'll soon see why there's this change of personality between the happy go lucky Minato we all know, and the harsher one I propose here.

Questions? Thoughts? Praises? (hey, one can dream, no?) Then comment below! For the eventual Guests, know that I'll answer on my tumblr, you can find the link on my profile.

See ya around :)