Time Flows Like Ink
Summary: After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.
Chapter 6
The villagers weren't stupid. Minato had been seen multiple times at this point, most notably with each of his students on two different occasions. His hair was a dead giveaway, as was his Thunder God technique that he may or may not have slightly overused, flashing through the village with a giggling Naruto on his back.
(He'd had no choice. How could he have declined with those puppy eyes pleading him?)
People were starting to put two and two together. There were no worse gossipers than shinobi, and since Sarutobi hadn't declared Minato an S-rank secret, the rumors soon started to become uncomfortably close to the truth. It had only been a matter of time until the Sarutobi decided to make an announcement to the villagers, laying the rumors to rest and making Minato's presence in the village public knowledge.
Minato didn't particularly care either way. Several incidents with the villagers had made it increasingly more nerve wracking to leave the house with Naruto by his side. It made it his blood boil, the way people kept trying to warn him.
"Namikaze-san! It's really you, isn't it?" The stares, up to this point at least making the attempt to stay discreet, zoomed in on them. "Listen, that boy… he's nothing but trouble. Don't you know who he is?"
Minato wanted to laugh at the irony. Here they were, trying to get him to avoid his own son because he was a jinchūriki. It hadn't been the first time someone had tried to 'help' him. Minato was amazed at how little the villagers actually knew about him. He had married a jinchūriki, for goodness sake.
"You should talk to Hokage-sama, Namikaze-san. If only you knew…"
Minato stole a worried glance at Naruto. He frowned and stared dejectedly at the ground. Did that woman think he couldn't hear her? He was right next to Minato!
"Excuse me, Ma'am." It made her halt in her tracks. Minato hadn't tried to keep the ice out of his voice. "I know perfectly well who he is. Seeing as you clearly don't, I would appreciate it if you avoided talking to or about my son from now on."
Gasps could be heard all around at the word 'son'. Minato grabbed for Naruto's hand to lead him away, satisfaction burning in his gut.
"Don't listen to them," he said once they had left the crowd behind. It worried him that Naruto hadn't made an attempt to speak up. "I'm sorry that they're treating you this way. But they're wrong. And as long as you're with me, I won't accept that kind of behavior."
Naruto hummed, indiscernible, not raising his gaze.
"Naruto. Please look at me." He waited until Naruto obeyed. "They're wrong. And I don't care what they say. Alright?"
"Whatever. It's not like I care." Naruto didn't sound convincing. That was alright. Minato was there to remind him as many times as he needed it.
Gathering intel hadn't been any more successful since the day he'd spent going over the documents with Rin and Kakashi. Minato had pushed his negative feelings aside in order to talk to various other high-ranked shinobi – Sarutobi, the elders and Shikaku right at the top of his list – but none of them had had anything new to tell him. Whether that was because they genuinely didn't have the information or because they didn't want to give it to him, Minato couldn't quite say.
For lack of a better idea, he decided to consult his old teacher.
"Jiraiya, huh?" Shikaku had said after Minato had brought up the topic. "I'm afraid I can't tell you where he is. Not because it's classified," he hurried on before Minato could protest, "but because I don't know. He doesn't send reports that often."
Luckily, Minato could think of another way to contact him.
"Why do you need blood for that?" Naruto asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him.
"That's the sacrifice needed to make the summoning successful. It doesn't work with chakra alone, and only those who signed the contract are able to use the technique."
Naruto frowned, contemplating. "So I could choose what contract I want to sign? I could have any kind of animal?"
"Summon," Minato corrected, "and yes, in theory. You do need someone who has already signed the contract to offer it to you. There's other ways, but those tend to be more… complicated."
"Can you do it? Come on, show me!"
Minato happily obliged. "Just remember, leave the talking to me, alright? The toads can be a bit, well. You'll see." He formed the required hand-seals, bit his thumb and planted his palm on the floor. Symbols spread out where his hand touched the ground and a toad materialized in a puff of smoke.
"Of course, we only need to deliver a message for now," Minato continued. "For battle, there's summons larger than buildings!"
"Eh? What's that supposed to mean?" The toad, Minato recognized him as Gamaden, sounded more than a little offended. Minato immediately realized his mistake.
"N-Nothing! I was just–"
"Are you trying to say my size makes me less of a summon?"
"That's not what I meant at all–"
"I guess I'll just leave. Why don't you summon one of my brothers instead, if they're so much better–"
"Gamaden, please!" Minato had nearly forgotten how sensitive some of the toads could be. Behind him, Naruto was badly hiding his snickering. "I have a very important message for Jiraiya-sensei. For his eyes only. There's no toad I'd rather trust with it than you."
Gamaden was as proud as he was sensible. "Only me, huh? … Fine." The toad hesitated, looking at Minato closer. "Aren't you that Minato brat? Jiraiya's student? Haven't seen you in a while."
"Right," Minato said, smiling sheepishly. "I was… occupied. For a while." He pulled out the message he had prepared and passed it on to Gamaden. He hoped that it was proof enough for Jiraiya that Minato had been able to summon the toads, but just in case he reached for one of his special kunai as well. "Tell him to send a message back if he wants to be picked up. If not, I'll expect him in a few days."
"Sure thing. Consider it done." Gamaden straightened up proudly before disappearing in a puff of smoke. Minato sighed in relief, glad that that was taken care of.
As soon as the toad was gone, Naruto leaped to his feet eagerly. "Are you gonna teach me that? Come on, you promised!"
"I promised to teach you the basics," Minato reminded him gently. "I think it's still a bit early for a technique like this. At least until you graduate from the academy."
"But I can handle it, I swear! Come on old man, how am I supposed to become a great ninja if I don't learn any cool techniques?"
Minato had to smile at Naruto's antics, he couldn't help himself. "Do you remember what I told you about your mother?"
"About that one time she flooded T&I?"
Minato suppressed a snort at the memory. He was the Hokage. He was above such things. "Not quite what I meant. Do you know what her specialty is?"
"Huh? Oh!" Naruto's eyes widened in a beaming expression. "Sealing! You said she was a sealmaster."
"The very best." Minato might have gotten carried away bragging the day before. Who could blame him? His wife was awesome.
"Do you mean you'll teach me sealing? That's so awesome!"
"The basics," Minato reminded him, but couldn't keep the smile off his face. "And I'm being honest with you. If you genuinely want to learn, it won't be easy. Fuinjutsu is different from other shinobi techniques you can learn. There's a reason you're not taught much about it at the academy."
He fetched the stack of beginner's scrolls and books he had picked up from the library earlier, and Naruto's face fell. "Do I have to read those?"
"I'm afraid so. You need to get a good grip on the theory before you can try practical exercises. If you do it wrong, fuinjutsu can be quite destructive." He didn't say that it could be destructive when done right, too. In fact, sometimes its sole purpose was to be as destructive as possible. But there was no need to have him strive after Kushina quite so early on.
Naruto looked at the stack of books with a pout. Apparently the prospect of learning his mother's favored technique was stronger, because he reached for the first one.
"Feel free to ask if you have any questions." Minato settled down opposite of him with his notes, using the opportunity to study his seal some more. He knew that Kushina was doing the same in the past, and between the two of them he was optimistic to find a solution to stabilize it.
Fuinjutsu came as easily as breathing and soon Minato lost himself in his studies. The seal was a tangled mess, but it was fascinating. It was only after he'd filled two sheets of paper that he noticed how quiet it was. Too quiet, considering Naruto was in the same room.
He glanced up and saw Naruto frown at his book, his lips moving quietly. He hadn't reached further than the first few pages. "How's it going?"
Naruto didn't answer immediately, the corner of his mouth tugging downwards. He threw the book one last scowl before leaning back, crossing his arms. "I don't get it," he admitted.
"What don't you get?"
"Just," Naruto gesticulated helplessly. "Everything. That book is far too complicated! How's anyone supposed to get that?"
"Okay," Minato said, picking up the book with a frown. He had chosen this particular one because it explained the fuinjutsu basics in the most simple terms possible. An academy student in his last year should have no problem understanding it. "Perhaps try a different one?"
It was the same with the others. In the end Minato decided to take it into his own hands. If Naruto couldn't learn what he needed to know from the books, Minato would just have to do it himself. If he wasn't able to teach his son – an Uzumaki – the fuinjutsu basics, what kind of sealmaster would he be?
Minato tried. Over the next few days he kept taking time out of his day to try and explain to Naruto the basics of fuinjutsu, again and again in a different way each time. He could tell that Naruto was making an effort, that he was trying to understand. But no matter what they did, they didn't get a step further.
Naruto was getting frustrated.
"I can't do it." He tossed away the notes Minato had drawn him as demonstration, crossing his arms and scowling. His fists were clenched tightly enough to tremble. "This is useless. I don't get it."
Minato sighed, sitting back with a thoughtful frown. Naruto was right. At the pace they were going, it would be weeks until there was real progress. He didn't know what else to try: Minato had done his best to keep his explanations as simple as possible, and yet Naruto had trouble to grasp what looked so easy to Minato.
When Minato had been Naruto's age, he'd already memorized half the library's fuinjutsu material. He was a perfectionist: he'd only started experimenting once he'd studied the basics from books and scrolls.
Kushina on the other hand–
Minato paused. He resisted the urge to smack himself on the forehead. He was so stupid. "I'm sorry, Naruto."
"What for? I'm the one who's not getting it." The frustration in Naruto's voice made Minato feel even worse than he already did.
"It's not your fault," he said, "I got carried away. I tried to teach you the way I learned it. Studying and memorizing."
Naruto stole a glance at the books. He wrinkled his nose in distaste and made Minato laugh.
"Yeah, I noticed you're not a fan." He took a moment to collect his thoughts, then grabbed for another piece of paper. "Alright. Let's try something else. Can you tell me examples of what you can use fuinjutsu for?"
Naruto straightened up and furrowed his brows. "It's how you make explosive tags, right?"
Minato winced. One thought of Kushina cemented the decision that he would not trust his son with anything even remotely explosive. "True. That's one option. Do you know another?"
He waited patiently while Naruto thought.
"Oh! How about storage seals?"
"Yes! Good one, Naruto." Harmless and as simple as seals could be. Perfect. Minato sketched out the most basic storage seal after making sure that Naruto was watching. "Each component serves a different purpose," he explained, "and the way the seal functions changes with the smallest variation."
He laid the pen at the seal's center. "You activate it with chakra, and if you didn't make any mistakes…" The pen disappeared in a puff of smoke, safely stored. "Now you try."
Naruto looked at him rather alarmed. "To make a storage seal? I was supposed to remember how you drew it?!"
Minato laughed. "No, no. Don't worry. I meant to use your chakra and activate the seal."
"Ohh. Okay." Naruto did as he was told and managed to get the pen back easily. "There. Now what?"
Minato dug through his mountain of notes and pulled out a sheet of paper he'd prepared earlier. It was a list of base components.
Naruto caught sight of it and groaned, recognizing it. "I thought we were done with the memorizing."
"We are," Minato said, "we're trying something different. See this component?" He pointed it out on the list and proceeded to alter the storage seal. "Now watch."
This time when the pen disappeared, the puff of smoke was dark red. "I want you to take the seal and experiment for a bit. Just add or leave out certain things, and see what happens."
Trial and error. It was closer to Kushina's style than his own and would, hopefully, fit Naruto better. He should have known that Naruto wasn't booksmart or naturally inclined the way Minato was, but damn him if that was going to stop him.
Ten minutes later, when Naruto had caused his first (minor) explosion, Minato was having second thoughts. (He didn't even know how Naruto had managed it. He definitely took after his mother.)
The seal in his palm gave an angry twitch, reminding him that the stasis seal he had slapped on top of it wouldn't hold forever. He hadn't dared to alter the seal itself. Even using a basic stasis seal had been a risk, but one Minato had been willing to accept.
He watched Naruto play around with the storage seal – perhaps a bit too enthusiastically – and couldn't keep a frown off his face. Time was running out, and he'd have to tell Naruto the truth soon. Minato closed his eyes, clenching his fist helplessly. He had only just gotten to meet his son. He didn't want to leave.
A/N: My betas are Igornerd, To Mockingbird and PyrothTenka! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!
Please take the time to leave a review!
~Gwen