Chapter 10: Family Dinner
Is she Minato's wife? I forgot her name... was it Karina? No…That's not it…. I don't want to insult her. Maybe if I don't say anything...
"Awww, Minato-kun! You look so cute! But what is with the Transformation Jutsu? I know you want kids, but we decided to wait a bit... Erg! Not fair... STOP MESSING WITH MY HORMONES, DATTEBANE! But you are so cute though..."
Why does she think I am Minato? What's a transformation jutsu?
"Welcome home!" Minato enters the room from the my bedroom.
"Wait... what?" Kushina stares at me, then at Minato, then back at me.
Finding my voice, I get up the courage to say something. "Hi..." Is this lady crazy?
"Hello there, what is your name?" The red-head asks.
"... I'm Aimisouma... but people call me Misou..." My voice is still timid.
"Miso? Like the ramen?"
"No...Mi-sou." Even though it is said pretty much the same way, I don't want to be called Ramen-head by anyone again.
Kushina looks at me for a minute, then looks at Minato. Her eyebrows raise at him; a bead of sweat appears running down the side of his face.
"Misou is my half sister. She just got here from Kusagakure." I can tell he wants to tell her everything, but doesn't want to upset me. A small smile tugs at the corners of Kushina's mouth.
"What brings you all the way out here, chickadee?" She asks me sweetly.
"The rest of my family is dead..." I answer, my face carefully void of emotion.
She blinks a few times, her mouth opens to make a little 'o,' Kushina then looks at Minato, who nods in affirmation.
Before I can think of anything else to say, her arms are wrapping around me. Not knowing what else to do, I hug her back. We stand, embracing for a few minutes. I can feel her and Minato having a silent conversation over my shoulder.
When Kushina releases me, she pushes a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "Are you hungry?"
"Mhm. Minato-niisan says your food if his favorite."
"He did, did he? I bet he ate instant ramen the entire time I was gone."
"I did not... I ate out a bunch, too..." Minato says indignantly. As Kushina laughs and the whole room seems brighter.
Less than an hour later the three of us gathered around the table. Kushina made some fried rice and some yakitori. It was quite good. I can understand why Minato likes her cooking so much. While we eat, the married couple asks me a lot of questions about my life.
"Uma-y? You named your horse 'HORSE-Y'?" Kushina asks.
"I WAS four..." Minato seems to find this hilarious.
"Oh? And how old are you now?" She teased.
"I'm almost six." I defend myself, crossing my arms over my chest.
"What do six year olds like to do these days?"
"I like to draw. I used to play with the kids back home. After the war started most of them moved into the city though..."
"What did you like to do in your free time?" Minato questions.
"I dunno. I used to go on walks with daddy, and help mama in the garden. My sister loved to teach me what she was learning at the academy. I read a lot of books..."
Minato and Kushina share a concerned glances.
"I guess I'll just have to find something new to do." I say, smiling at them. I don't want them to worry about me.
KUSHINA
On the way back to the apartment, I had heard rumors of Minato having a child. I completely disregarded them. I figured it was just nonsense the rumor-mill was spewing out. According to some, Minato and I have four children, and have been divorced twice.
I'm used to being a subject of gossip. I've been a popular topic for old ladies to talk about since I came to Konohagakure as a child. It only got worse as I became the jinchūriki, got into fights at school, and last but not least married Minato.
I can't help relating to this poor girl. I once had a large family, and I have lost them all. I came here as a young child, mostly alone in the world. Only to be the subject of so much gossip.
From the quick mouthed conversation I had with Minato, she had a rough time on her way here. He promised to tell me everything he knew after she had gone to bed.
As we ate, I tried to talk to her about light subjects, and avoiding anything too dark.
I don't know the first thing about being a parent… Let alone to a five year old…Can she go to the bathroom on her own yet? Wait… She came out of the bathroom on her own earlier. Scratch that. She can feed herself… Maybe we skipped the hard part of diapers and toilet training, and skipped to the fun part.
But at what cost to her?
After dinner, we sat in the living room talking for a while. Misou's eyes started to droop, and she let out a long yawn.
"Ya' know, you can go to bed whenever you are ready. Don't wear yourself out on our account." I say, smiling at the child. She nods sleepily, and gets to her feet.
"Good night, Minato-niisan and Kushina-san. See you tomorrow."
"Good night, sweetie." I ruffle her hair with my hand. She smiles, gives us both a hug, and retreats to her new room.
Once she is in bed, Minato and I go to our room. The walls are thin and we don't want to keep her up. "Tell me everything."
Minato does. As he tells me everything that the little child had gone through, I can't help my jaw as it hangs open. As he concludes with what happened at the ramen stand, and her teaching him her scroll jutsu.
He pauses for a minute, as if not sure what to say next. "Can she stay?"
"Of course, you don't need to ask, ttebane. She is family." He sighs in relief. "What? You think I'd kick her out?"
"No, its just that… I have a sister…"
"I know."
"We have a kid to take care of."
"We do, ttebane."
"How do we do that?"
"I have no idea."
A/N: Hey Everybody!
I just wanted to thank everyone for the positive feed back and reviews that I have received. With this as the first bit of fan fiction I have gotten up the guts to share, it truly means the world to me.
Someone messaged me asking how far I intend to go with the plot. I have up through Naruto's 17th birthday planned. IDK about after that. I have through chapter 25 written already. So, I'll be around for a while.
Feel free to PM me if you see any spelling mistakes.
You are all amazing!
~~Aurelia Azyton
