Chapter 17: All is Fair


Namikaze Minato


I have never been more relieved then when I watched the projectiles disappear.

A familiar chakra signature washes over me.

"Where did they go?" A chūnin wondered aloud.

The nearest Hyūga turns from focusing on the battlefield to focus on the city. "The chakra is coming from the town square. A little girl with a big sword being guarded by Uchiha Shisui? Namikaze-san, I think your sister did that..."

"The chakra felt like hers, but... wow." Kushina gapes.

The chūnin mutters something along the lines of 'if she is this powerful now...'

I couldn't help the feeling of pride that was teeming within me.

"Look!" Someone shouted, "We can still pass through the barrier!"

We all had returned to the mission, and had made relatively quick work of clearing the lines of enemy shinobi. The attempted invasion would have been completely thwarted, except two teams made it past the chūnin on the wall, and hid within the city.

However, hiding can only do so well against the Byakugan. Routine sweeps are being made of the city, and only one person more should be in the city.

The siren alarm system chirps three times in quick succession. An all clear notice. All of the ninja who got past the wall have been captured.

Now I can find Kushina and Aimisouma. We can go get some good food, and get some real rest. It's been a really long day.


Namikaze Aimisouma


I hear the crackling of a loud speaker. "All-clear. I repeat, All-clear. It is now safe to exit the bunkers and proceed back to your homes. Please gather all of your possessions and-"

The sound of thousand starting to move around drowns out the instructions of the man. I look around, confused. I was barely conscious when brought in here. Where do I go?

People slowly file out of the bunkers, creating large amounts of congestion on stairs and doorways. I slowly make my way through the crowd. People tend to give me a extra room because of the long curved blade that is not even a foot shorter than I am.

Where is Minato-nii? What about Kushina-nee?

I don't see them. Slowly making my way through the crowd, and end up back at the village center. I can see my scroll laying on the ground still. Someone set up road block signs around it to stop it from being walked on. I hop lightly into the air, but can't find either Minato or Kushina in the crowd.

A fountain sits in the middle of the city center, about ten feet from my current location. I make my way over to the fountain, and climb up onto the narrow edge. Even with all of the extra height from the fountain, I barely make shoulder height on the adults passing by me.

"Looking for somebody?"

At the unexpected voice, I turn rapidly, and start to loose my footing. A hand catches me gently from behind, steadying myself.

I look into the man's face and he looks very familiar, but I can't seem to put my finger on it.

"Yes, sir."

"Ya know, you look exactly like this one guy I know." He stares at me for a minute, while stroking a non-existent beard. "It's almost creepy. Who are you looking for?" He asks, while walking on the water in the middle of the fountain.

"Namikaze Minato."

"Huh?" The old man exclaimed. "Why are you looking for him?"

"He is my older brother." Wow, I guess this guy hasn't heard all of the rumors floating around about me.

"What? Minato doesn't have any siblings!"

"How do you know that?"

"'Cause I was his sensei, and he tells me everything."

"Are you...Jiraiya of the Sannin?" It finally clicks. There is a picture of Minato and his team hanging on the wall in the living room. It's just up high, so I don't really look at it often.

"I am! I am Jiraiya, the mighty Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, Best of the Sannin, Stealer of Ladies Hearts, and Author Extraordinaire!"

"Don't go filling her head with lies!"

I turn again, and almost fall into the fountain again, only to have my hand caught by the newcomer.

"Seriously, I don't want her looking to you as a good idea of who to date, ttebane!"

"Kushina-san!" I cheer happily, as she pulls me into an oxygen depriving hug.

"Kush- Can't- Breathe-" She instantly releases me,

"Ah-ha! So you don't deny the other traits I listed?" Something about Jiraiya seems eerily familiar, and not just from the picture

"Oh, you are certainly a toad sage and your first book was really good." The way she said sage made it sound as if it could have been dropped out of the sentence.

Jiraiya seems rather anxious to change the subject. "So, who's the kid?" He says, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

"This is Minato's half-sister, Aimisouma-chan." Kushina introduces me.

"Where do I know that name from?" He looks me up and down, and shrugs noncommittally.

"Have I met you before?" I ask the toad sage.

"Dunno."

"Well! Minato saw the Teuchi's shop opening back up today! They have a bunch of produce they want to use up before it goes bad, so do you guys want to get lunch?"

"We can have ramen?" I ask excitedly.

"Yes, we can have some Ramen. Silly-head." She ruffles my wavy hair as she speaks.

"Ramen...head?" The sannin gasps aloud, "RAMEN-HEAD?!"

I flush angrily, then stare at the old man. "SATO TAIGA?!" I demand in return. He has red stripes on his cheeks now, his hair is no longer ash grey, or pulled into a calm ponytail. It seems to explode out in all directions like a porcupine. But his eyes, they are exactly the same shape and color.

"YOU!" He yells.

"YOU!" I reply.

"No, YOU!" He retorts.

"What are you two yelling about?" Another familiar voice questions.

"Her!" "Him!" We both turn and yell in unison. Minato stands there, looking throughly unimpressed.

"Yes, that definitely explains why you two are yelling."

"I met her in four days civilian walk from Kusa, four months ago! Mind you, her hair was black then. But not her eyebrows! I thought that was weird!" Part way through the statement, Minato gets a confused look on his face, but he appears to push whatever thought came to him aside.

"I know I forgot about them. That, and other things, got me caught. I had a meal with you! You gave me directions!"

"Wait, so MINATO was the last of your family you were heading east to find?"

"Yeah."

"Huh. Small world." The sage said.

"It always seems so big though. You hungry?"

"Yup."

"Ramen?" I ask.

"Ramen." He agrees.


Namikaze Minato


I can't shake something Jiraiya said from my head.

He met Aimisouma in Kusa four months ago, while she was traveling to get to me. It's only about 5 days civilian walk/pony ride from Kusagakure to the Kannabi Bridge. Yet, my students only met her their two and a half months ago. Where did that month-and-a-half go? Was Aimi-chan a captive that whole time? I find that thought very unsettling. She has never said anything about it before. Did they keep her under a genjutsu that WHOLE time? Was she awake? Misou has many injuries that she doesn't remember getting. Did she repress the memories?

Do I need to talk to Hokage-sama about this?

"THAT IS SO COOL!" Her high pitch voice rings out.

Jiraiya is thrilling Aimisouma with the tale of how he reverse summoned himself to Mount Myōboku. Please don't give her any ideas. I don't think I could handle her doing something like that.

"No it's not!" I reply, attempting to nip that idea in the butt.

Aimisouma glances over at me, and our eyes meet. The same shade of blue. I smile, and she grins and giggles.

I force myself not to think of what could have happened during those months.


? ? ?


"Everythin' is in place, sir."

"Good. Be ready to proceed on my command."

"We will await the order."


A/N: I got valentines off! (IDK WHY...)

Work probably thought I should have a life or something...?

But I don't!

So I got you guys a bunch of stuff written up for you guys!

~~AA~~