The God War Part 7
Six hours later
(-)
Minato jerked awake in his arms seconds before an ANBU appeared in the center of the room. A moment later, Kotone entered the room unalarmed.
"Who speaks for your clan?" The ANBU asked, monotone.
Fingers pointed towards Masao. "I guess that would be me," Masao noted.
"To-san?"
"Yes, Mina-chan?" Masao responded, recognizing the boy's serious tone.
"That's one of the evil shadows, not Hokage-san's shadows," the boy pressed himself closer to his father while the wary tension in the room increased.
"Sakumo-san?" Masao asked the Hatake, who stood stiffly in the doorway. "Is Minato correct?"
The tense silence dragged on. "I don't know," Sakumo answered finally.
"Understood." Masao stood swiftly and slung Minato over his back. "How can I help you, ANBU-san?"
"Your presence is requested."
"Very well, lead the way." Masao motioned towards the door, not making any motion to leave Minato behind.
The ANBU refused to move.
"Is there a problem?" Masao asked.
"You chose no guard."
"Do I need one?"
The ANBU did not answer.
"I see no reason to appoint one," Masao responded when the ANBU would not.
"The child?"
"Is my son; do you have a problem?"
The ANBU shrugged and led the way out of the room. Masao followed, easily keeping up with the pace.
To-san, why are you bringing me? I'm little. Minato signed to his father.
Masao sighed and swung Minato onto his hip, not answering the question.
Minato hid his face in Masao's shoulder. After a second, Masao tapped the boy's head to get his attention.
You can sleep if you get bored, Masao promised.
Minato turned back against his father's shoulder. Masao smiled lightly and quickened his pace to draw even with the ANBU.
"Are you allowed to disclose where we are going?" Masao asked curiously.
"You are to meet Danzo-sama," The ANBU responded, leading the father and son into a large building.
They wound through the halls; a pattern to deliberately confuse anyone led through.
Masao's brow furrowed with distaste for the secrecy. The ANBU pushed open a seemingly random door and stood aside as Masao entered. A large desk faced the door and a black-robed man sat comfortably behind it.
"Namikaze-san, I assume," the man spoke with authority.
"And you are?" Masao prompted, acutely aware of the dozen individuals hidden along the walls, the click of the door's lock, and the distinct lack of escape routes. After a few seconds of silence, Masao found it difficult to remain calm. Intellectually, he knew the man intended to unsettle him on an instinctual level. After a slow breath, Masao calmed his racing heart and blocked out the massive amount of killer intent coming from the individuals hidden against the walls. Minato possessed none of Masao's ability to defend himself from the psychological attacks.
"I am Shimura Danzo," the man began, but Masao paid him no attention. Instead, he watched in surprise as Minato successfully blocked out the intimidation. Masao winced as he noted exactly how Minato responded, but did nothing to interfere as his son sent a burst of chakra into the temples of each of the ninja hidden along the walls. A stronger burst could have killed, but with his chakra split so many ways, Minato only mustered enough chakra to knock them out and leave them with an awful headache. The ninja fell out of their hiding places. Masao winced again as he noticed each of them appeared no larger than a teenager.
"Why am I here, Danzo-san?" Masao asked coldly.
"You and your clan seek shelter in Konoha, correct?"
Masao nodded sharply, holding Minato painfully tight against his chest.
"Let me make this perfectly clear. My dear Hokage expressed you are welcome in this village. I, on the other hand, want you far away from this village. I am not allowed to go against my former teammate's orders, but I can circumvent them. The Hokage can make you an official shinobi clan of Konoha; however, your admittance to the village as a citizen relies on the village council, of which I am the head. Before I allow your clan to be considered a true part of this village, I need to be absolutely sure this would be a beneficial decision."
"I do not take kindly to threats," Masao responded. "What do you want?"
"You will submit yourself to a complete mind scan by one of our clans to discover your true intentions."
"Why does such a request require this show?"
"There is more. You will not be granted any money or supplies for your transition."
"We never expected any."
"You will be required to fill positions in the shinobi force, under strict observation."
"I see no reason for your attempt to terrify me and mine if you are only going to reiterate information I am already aware of," Masao noted, patience thinning.
"You understand your transition here is going to be a problem on many levels. Our people do not take kindly to outsiders; especially outsiders who bring in trouble."
"I fully understand this fact. My clan will not allow our problems to fall on this village. Unless our efforts to join this village are sabotaged, in time, the people will come to see us for who we are."
"You overestimate the common man's ability to rationally interpret a situation."
"I overestimate no one."
"While you seem willing to endure the struggles of acclimation into a new village, are you willing to put the same struggles on the two surviving children of your group?"
Masao's eyes narrowed. "You have a lot of gall to say something like that to me."
Minato squirmed and Masao swung him to the ground. The boy hid his face in the back of Masao's knee and his little fingers clung tightly to his pant leg.
"Are you willing to place the same problems you will face on your son and another's child?"
"No, I am not willing, but there is little other choice."
"I have an option for you. I have created a new program which is already proven successful."
"And you want my clan's children to be a part of it."
"Not only will they be separated from discrimination you will face for a time, but they will be learning to be powerful shinobi far ahead of their peers."
Masao closed his eyes and leaned down to put a hand on the boy's head. "If I say no, you plan on doing everything in your power to hinder my clan from joining this village. If I agree, you plan to smooth our way into the village. This sounds like nothing more than blackmail."
"I care not what you think."
"In Konoha, you begin your children's shinobi training at six. My clan traditionally begin training nearly a decade later. While I am willing to enroll my son in your Academy at that age, I am not willing to turn him into a shinobi prematurely. The temporary feeling of alienation will pass, but I will not have my son learn to kill before he understands what death is, nor will I condone such a thing be done to any child, whether they be part of my clan or not."
"You have an interesting interpretation of the situation."
"Is that all?" Masao asked, fingers tangled in Minato's overlong hair.
"You are making a mistake."
"Mistakes must be made in order to learn and grow." Silence struck the end of his sentence. When the quiet turned awkward, Masao took Minato's hand and left the room with nothing more than a polite farewell.
With unsurprising ease, Masao guided Minato out of the building and back to the hospital. Halfway back, Minato let out an excited cry and raced towards a group of people in blue shirts and an uchiha on their backs. He singled one out and started to pull at his hand.
"Uchiha-san! I p'mised my name, but you meet To-san first." Minato managed to pull the Uchiha off-balance and drag him towards Masao. "To-san, this—" Minato began speaking too fast to be understood.
"Speak correctly, Mina-chan," Masao admonished.
"I'm Namikaze Minato! That's my To-san! He's a shinobi just like you!"
"You are not a Konoha shinobi." The Uchiha grabbed Minato's forearm and pulled him backwards. "This boy is under Hatake and Uchiha protection, who are you and why are you here?"
Minato froze at the abrupt change in tone.
Displaying his hands in clear view, Masao responded, "I am Namikaze Masao. My clan is currently applying for refuge in Konoha. My son was ward of Hatake Sakumo-san while I defended my clan from the events warranting our request for refuge here."
The Uchiha's Sharringan briefly swirled to life then faded. "I apologize for the hostility, Namikaze-san. I am Uchiha Isamu."
"Nice to meet you, Uchiha-san. The hostility is expected, though I hope such it will fade with time."
The Uchiha relaxed. "I'll escort you back to the hospital where you are supposed to be." He glanced down at Minato, only to find himself holding only the boy's jacket.
"He went that way," Masao pointed down the street.
"And you're not worried?"
"I attached a chakra string to him. If there's a problem, I will know immediately."
"I did not mean—"
"No harm done." Masao held out his hand as the Uchiha handed him Minato's jacket.
Masao led the Uchiha through the street and faster than most Jōnin could see, Masao caught the back of Minato's shirt, pulling him backwards. "I wanna talk to Jiraiya-san!" Minato protested.
Masao suddenly flattened himself over Minato as a kunai flew over their heads and stuck in the street behind him. The Uchiha looked in the direction the kunai originated and saw a blond man who appeared almost identical to Masao standing on the rooftop.
Masao jumped to his feet, shoving Minato behind him. Civilians scattered, more irritated than frightened.
"Hand over the boy." he demanded.
"Go to the hospital and make sure this gets to my wife. Her name is Kotone. Ask what color shirt Minato is wearing to verify identity." Masao pressed a scrap of blue paper into the Uchiha's hand.
"Afterwards—" At that second, Osamu attacked, separating the two as Masao prepared to hand the boy to the Uchiha. Masao swung Minato onto his back and let the boy cling to him while he faced off against Osamu.
"You desert your clan, your village, and have the gall to take children with you!"
"You were the one who betrayed everything this clan stands for and we have not stolen anyone's children! Unlike you."
"That means nothing."
"It means everything. With power comes arrogance. With arrogance comes greed."
"You preach the same spiel each time. I have yet to see your words come to fruition."
"You hear but do not understand."
"You are the one who fails to understand. The power you hold in your hands can level the largest of mountains. The power you have left over could crush the greatest of Kages. If you would allow it, you could cower an entire country with reputation alone. You could wield the power of a god over the shinobi world. You could shape this world exactly the way you've always dreamed."
"I've dreamed that shinobi would become people, that the weak would no longer be dominated, but live in peace and justice. Controlling a world is not the culmination of that dream, it's the opposite."
"Your ridiculous ideals are what keeps you from accomplishing everything. You could have led the clan, you could have led the village. You could have done your duty," Osamu shouted.
"What is this all about, Osamu? What do you want with my son?"
"That boy has the potential to do what you can't. You've lost. Now hand him over and he might be able to meet his father again someday."
"I'm a medic, not a warrior. Even after all you've done, I don't want to fight you."
"If you don't want to fight, then come back. This is your last chance."
"I will not follow you or return to a village that condones your schemes to upset every balance this world has been able to find."
"Not upset the balance, but to create it—"
"Assassinating Kages is not the way to create balance!"
"Sometimes sacrifices are necessary."
"Creating a massive power vacuum is not a sacrifice. It does nothing but create chaos."
Masao's legs sunk into the roof. As he fell, Masao's hands flashed through a long string of hand seals before leaping high into the air. Osamu took one look at Masao's leap before racing towards the edge of the village. Masao followed, appearing to run on thin air.
"You won't succeed, Osamu! No one has to die."
In response, Osamu spun around, held his hands out flat in front of him, forming a triangle with his thumbs and forefingers. Masao jerked to the side to avoid the iron bars, which nearly wrapped around his body. Responding with the same hand shape, Masao summoned a wall of vines from the ground, blocking Osamu's path and entangling his legs. A scythe appeared in Osamu's hand and he cut the branches off himself, leaping into the air to be level with Masao, who dropped into a low crouch, pressing his hand against the invisible platform they stood on.
Swearing under his breath, Osamu spun around and thrust both hands to collide with an invisible wall and create a concussion louder than thunder. He moved one hand to face Masao. A spear appeared hurtling towards Masao and he jerked to the side, not fast enough to avoid earning a deep gash in both his and Minato's right sides.
The boy gasped with pain and tightened his grip, but otherwise did not react. Masao pressed his hand to his side then Minato's to slow the bleeding. At the same time, Osamu rushed forward throwing three more spears. At the last second, Masao turned the spears away and retaliated with a handful of shuriken. Osamu deflected them easily but was forced to turn around to stop his own spears from punching through his back. Masao rushed in behind him and prepared to strike only to defend himself from a blindingly fast series of Taijutsu. When the two disengaged, Masao stood between Osamu and his original destination.
"The Kage here has done nothing against either of us. I will not allow you to murder him."
"Are you concerned for my conscience now?"
"No, this village and these people are under my protection. I will not allow you to harm any of them."
Snarling, Osamu attempted to dodge past Masao, only for his throat to meet the end of a staff held by a giant monkey. While the summon attacked, Masao retreated and dropped onto the roof beside the Sandaime.
"Unless you can copy Sakumo-san's fighting style, you don't stand a chance in this fight. Osamu is after you. Eighty-two Takigakure shinobi somehow infiltrated the village. By the time you deal with them, this fight will be over."
"I'll take Minato-kun," The Sandaime offered.
"You need to direct your people out of the way and will probably need to fight. You can't do that with a child you barely know. Disperse your summon before he dies and get everyone out of the way before there are casualties." Masao turned his back on the Hokage and leapt towards the fight, keeping the summon between him and Osamu.
The summon vanished in a puff of smoke and Masao zipped through it, swinging a three-foot-long blade at Osamu's head. Ducking quickly so the blade only brushed his hair, Osamu threw three kunai at Masao's chest. The kunai stopped and fell without any damage as Osamu grabbed the front of Masao's shirt and attempted to stab a fourth kunai into his still-bleeding side. Masao jerked forward so the weapon slipped between himself and Minato. As Masao felt Osamu's wrist strike his side, one of Minato's arms loosened. In a brief second of panic, Masao recoiled, fearing he misjudged and the kunai struck Minato. When Osamu yelped and jerked his hand away without the kunai, Masao relaxed, noticing how Minato shifted his weight to help him balance and move quicker, all while staying silent even though the boy should be crying with pain from the cut soaking his clothes with blood.
Slightly more confident, Masao set his feet to fight back instead of focusing all of his energy into defending Minato.
Making the triangle with his hands, Masao covered Osamu with an inch-thick layer of rock. As he broke free, Masao blasted him with a shredding wind, ducking when Osamu countered with a more powerful version of the jutsu.
Masao began to throw handfuls of kunai and other sharp weapons, which appeared in his hands with nothing more than a thought.
Osamu dodged and deflected, slowly stepping closer. Breaking rhythm, Masao threw a block of bricks towards Osamu. He crossed his arms over his face and set his feet, staggering backwards as Masao attacked with a flurry of Taijutsu mixed with wind blades.
As Osamu regained his balance, Osamu's advantage surfaced as he forced Masao back over lost ground.
Blood ran down Masao's face, impairing his vision and a deep cut on his shoulder made his left arm almost useless. Masao bent over backwards and Minato lost his grip on his father's back, falling through the invisible platform, barely conscious from pain and blood loss.
No longer encumbered by Minato's weight, Masao's speed increased exponentially. With an unexpected Shunshin, Masao appeared behind Osamu and stabbed him through a kidney. The moment dragged by as Osamu took a step forward; the kunai fell to the ground below. The two men stumbled away from each other. With a glance over his shoulder, Osamu fled, holding one hand over his wound. The platform vanished and both fell to the rooftops. Immediately, Masao rushed to where Minato fell, pushing through the group of civilians gathering around the unconscious boy.
"Don't touch him!" Masao cried, hastily healing the cut on his shoulder. The civilians scattered when Masao released a wave of killing intent to clear a path. Crashing to his knees, Masao cradled Minato's head, carefully straightening the boy's spine and healing the crack in his skull, the fractures in numerous vertebrae, and the rest of the possibly life-threatening breaks. The strike that disabled Masao's left arm went straight through Minato's shoulder. Masao stopped the bleeding, feeling sick at the blood soaking into the street.
Pressing his fingers to either side of Minato's temple, Masao forced the boy back into consciousness.
Minato moaned and tried to move but fell back, crying.
"Mina-chan, can you open your eyes and look at me? It To-san."
Minato's eyes blinked open briefly before he squeezed them closed and bit his lip to stop crying.
"I'm sorry you're hurting, but I have to make sure nothing is wrong before I can help you, understood?"
Minato coughed once and blood flew from his lips.
Pressing a hand coated in healing chakra against Minato's side, Masao began to heal the damage to Minato's lung while he used chakra to force his injured arm into use and grasp Minato's little hand. "It's okay to cry, Mina-chan, you don't have to be tough anymore. Squeeze my hand if you understand what I'm saying."
Minato did as asked after a long second, still trying to choke back sobs.
"Good job," Masao responded and squeezed back. "Now wiggle your toes a little bit." Masao breathed a loud sigh of relief when he saw Minato's bare toes curl. "Someone get me a first aid kit!" He demanded.
"Why aren't you still healing him with chakra?" Someone demanded. Masao turned to see who spoke.
"He's too young to safely handle any more adult chakra. For now, he's limited to civilian medicine. May I have a first aid kit, please?"
Another person shoved the requested item into Masao's hands and he turned back to Minato, wrapping the bandages around Minato's side and shoulder.
"Does it hurt anywhere else?" Masao asked.
Minato squeezed his eyes closed and shook his head slightly, biting his lip hard enough to make it bleed.
Masao lifted him gently off the ground, laying the boy's head on his shoulder and standing up stiffly.
"Can somebody take me to the hospital?"
"This way, Masao-san," Sakumo pushed his way through the crowd. Whispers of 'The White Fang' spread through the crowd. The Hatake pressed a scroll into a random person's hand. "Take this to the Hokage tower and tell them my mission is complete. I'll stop by later to figure the rest out." Guiding Masao out of the crowd, Sakumo could not contain his amazement at the fight. "Most of our Jōnin can't even follow a fight like that, and you're just an Iryo-nin!"
Ignoring Sakumo, Masao plodded forward, pressing his forehead against Minato's, he spoke softly to distract the child and himself.
"Masao! What happened?" Kotone's panicked voice cried as they stepped within sight of the hospital. White tents filled the streets outside where a steady stream of civilians and shinobi.
Minato clung tighter to Masao's shirt as Kotone shrieked in horror at the blood soaking her family.
"Never mind what happened, get in here quickly." Pushing Sakumo out of the way, she pushed Masao into a tent where three Konoha ninja teams sat lined on two of the three cots in the room. The uninjured tended to the wounded with the first aid supplies laid out on a small table in the center of the room. One woman pushed a more severely injured teammate down onto the cot and rushed to help the newcomers.
"Minato needs—a blood transfusion. The chakra supplement—isn't—going to last—" Masao protested as the two women guided him towards one of the cots.
"I'll get it!" One of the shinobi volunteered.
"Both of them need a transfusion and quick! They're both type B positive," Kotone ordered.
The shinobi raced out as Masao laid Minato on the cot. As soon as Masao's arms left him, Minato screamed. No one could do anything to quiet him as Masao pitched backwards, weak from blood loss. One of the less-injured teammates dragged the cot closer and helped lift Masao onto it. Kotone pressed a pad of bandages against Masao's side.
"Why aren't you healing?" She asked, beginning to panic as blood soaked through the bandages.
"Too—weak—" Masao forced out, trying to focus on the people moving around above him. "Take care—of Minato—"
"He'll survive. I can't stop your bleeding!" Kotone pressed harder against Masao's side as the shinobi rushed in with a clear bin of the needed equipment for the blood transfusion. The shinobi took Kotone's place pressing down on the multiple freely bleeding wounds. Kotone hung the bag from an IV stand in the corner of the tent and pushed the needle into a vein in Masao's right arm, strapping the arm to the edge of the cot with a strip of cloth dangling from the cot's metal frame but not tight enough that Masao could not escape it if he needed to. Turning around in a swirl of hair, Kotone did the same for Minato, but tying him down more securely, since she could not afford any more attention for him than was strictly necessary. While the spear managed to puncture Minato's lung, Masao's stronger bones prevented him from incurring the same extensive injury.
Cutting off the shoulder of Masao's shirt with a kunai, Kotone probed the wound on his shoulder. Masao hissed in pain when she began to reconnect the severed tendons manually.
"Relax!" She snapped as she began stitching him back together, knowing he no longer could understand her. "I'm a warrior, Masao, not a doctor, that's your job! Now, relax before I make a mistake. I've only ever watched you do this!"
Kotone cut the rest of his shirt off as she cleaned and stitched together the cut on his side while the other woman bandaged his shoulder. Handing the bandaging off to one of the idle shinobi watching, Kotone moved to begin stitching another cut, which nearly severed the tendons in his leg.
"Why aren't you using Ninjutsu to heal him?" someone demanded.
"Because I don't have enough chakra for him and Minato. He can deal with a few scars," Kotone rushed to the next wound, smacking the kunoichi on the head when she noticed the woman ogling her husband. "Stare when the work is done!"
The kunoichi refocused on her task of bandaging while Kotone moved on to settle Minato's cries.
"You!" Kotone grabbed Sakumo's sleeve. "Go find one of the Academy students who can mold chakra and has an above-average amount. The younger the better, no matter what their skill level is."
In a swirl of leaves, Sakumo vanished.
"Mina-chan, its Ka-san. Can you open your eyes for me?" Kotone's tender, but firm voice cut through Minato's screams. He quieted as Kotone placed a hand on his forehead and stomach, drawing out Masao's lingering chakra. The boy quieted as Sakumo led a child into the tent. Kotone looked over and assessed the child standing stiffly. Meeting his white, pupil-less eyes, Kotone waved him forward and sat down on a small stool. Ignoring how the boy tensed at the contact, Kotone lifted him onto her lap and guided his hands to the bandage on Minato's shoulder. "I need your help to heal my son. It can be very dangerous for him if you don't do exactly what I say, understood?" Kotone said.
The Hyuuga child nodded, apprehensive.
"I'm Namikaze Kotone, what's your name?"
"Hyuuga Hiashi," the boy answered emotionlessly.
"I'm going to direct your chakra in healing him. It's going to feel very strange and a little scary, but won't take very long and you can't fight me for any reason, understood?"
Hiashi nodded.
Kotone carefully described everything Hiashi needed to do before beginning. Wincing, Hiashi endured the odd experience of someone else manipulating his chakra. After a few minutes, Kotone reassured him, "You're doing very well, Hiashi-san. One more minute and I'll be done. Sakumo-san, please go and find some kind of powerful sedative."
Less than a minute later, Kotone finished.
"All done, how are you feeling?"
"I am fine," Hiashi answered simply. "That should not be possible," he commented when Kotone unwrapped the bloody bandages to reveal Minato's mostly-healed shoulder while the blond whimpered and tossed his head back and forth, eyes closed.
"It's very dangerous. Only someone with absolute perfect chakra control should attempt to control another's chakra. It can be deadly if something went wrong."
"You risked my life to heal a non-life-threatening injury?"
"First, infection somehow already set into his shoulder, which could not be treated otherwise. Second, he was already dying from chakra poisoning, both of which are now fixed," Kotone continued to tend to Minato as she spoke, ignoring his whimpers. "Third, your life was never at risk, only mine and Minato's. I placed a lot of trust in you that you wouldn't lash out at me, intentionally or not." She finished re-bandaging Minato's shoulder and looked directly at Hiashi. "Finally, I will willingly risk my own life, I will only risk the life of a shinobi under my command, my son or spouse's life if there is no other choice, but I will never risk the life of a child." She turned away from him to take the sedative Sakumo handed her, ignoring the others in the room gaping at her, and read the label on the vial.
"You do not talk to me like I am a little kid," Hiashi commented crossing his arms.
"Do you want me to?" Kotone asked, measuring a millimeter of the vial into a needle.
"No, I want to know why."
Kotone pushed the needle into Minato's thigh and injected the fluid, waiting for the boy to fall into unconsciousness before answering. "I see no reason to gentle my tone or simplify my words as long as you understand me."
"Can you teach at the Academy instead of my teacher?"
The entire room turned toward him in surprise at the request. Kotone looked over her measurements to give a dose to Masao. "If the Hokage decides that will be my job, then I will, but otherwise that decision is out of my hands." Kotone pushed a much larger dose of the sedative into Masao's arm, which settled his pain, though it did not force him into unconsciousness.
"You will be my class's teacher," Hiashi stamped his foot.
"I cannot commit to such an action in the current state of affairs." Kotone responded coolly, unimpressed by the boy's impetuousness.
Turning on his heel, Hiashi marched out of the tent.
"You just made a spectacular ally or dangerous enemy," Sakumo responded, sounding impressed.
"What do you mean?" Kotone asked, returning to Minato, who already passed gently into unconsciousness and beginning to stitch closed the cut on his side oozing blood.
"That boy's father is the head of the Hyuuga clan."
"Konoha has over a dozen clans, Sakumo-san. I don't know anything about their politics but I don't fear any military."
"The Hyuuga clan is one of the most influential clans of the village because it possesses the Byakugan Dōjutsu."
"I can't do anything about it now," Kotone sat down on the stool, rubbing her temples.
"You're a medic also," Sakumo stated.
"No, I'm not. Everything I just did was a blind throw, not something I will try again. I break people, not put them back together."
The teams originally in the tent filed out, patched up and ready to resume their respective tasks.
"Is it some sort of family trait for you three not to give yourselves any credit?" Sakumo asked when the last of them left.
"If you'd seen what we've seen, you'd feel the same."
"Enlighten me," Sakumo suggested.
Kotone looked up at him, determining if he wanted the answer. Noting the too-stiff set of his shoulders and his hand still holding a kunai, she decided to comply. "Have you ever dreamed for peace, for the end of the constant wars, and a time where you don't have to look over your shoulder in your own home?"
"Of course," Sakumo replied immediately.
"And what have you actually done towards that dream?"
Sakumo contemplated the question, "Now that I think about it, not much more than talk."
"We met someone who pointed out that fact to us in a way we could never forget. Minato shouldn't have been able to remember it, he was too young, but he remembers enough."
"You've given me a lot to think about. Do you understand that I report everything to the Hokage?"
"I expected nothing less." She turned away from him in clear dismissal.
"How do you do it?" He asked suddenly before his feet could carry him over the tent's threshold.
"Do what?" Kotone responded without turning around.
"Trust us. How could Masao trust me to take care of his defenseless son so soon after meeting me in battle which he was captured and consequently tortured for information? How can you turn your back on anyone from Konoha when your husband and son are unconscious? How could your people rest, much less sleep, when foreign shinobi were alone with their incapacitated leader?"
"Are you saying you should not be trusted?"
"What have we done to earn that trust?"
"Have you ever heard the concept of trust being earned and not given, reciprocal but not always equal?"
"It's a foolish policy."
"But is it? Take Minato as an example. In the materialistic sense, he is entirely dependent on me, Masao, and even you in order to survive. He has to trust us to give him what he needs, to not turn a hand against him. For all he knows, we could turn him out on the streets tonight and he'll die with no one to keep out the cold, give him food, or defend him. He's spent the night outside alone and lost before and he knows exactly what it's like to have nothing, to be able to do nothing. What's stopping him from living in terror that we would turn him out deliberately? What's stopping us from turning him out in fear he would cause more trouble than he's worth?"
"You're his parents. Of course you wouldn't do anything like that."
"But how can he know that? He's done nothing to earn a place with us."
Sakumo's brow furrowed trying to find an answer.
"He just trusts us. We owe him nothing, yet he still has that blind trust in us."
"Then what does this have to do with my original question?"
"You and the village don't owe us anything. That leaves us a choice: trust you to help us or live here in terror of you. We chose to trust. It may be more complicated in practice, but the ultimate choice is trust or fear. I could ask you, why aren't we locked in your prison? Why do you leave us unguarded? The answer is that you chose to trust us rather than fear us. Think about it." Not once had Kotone turned to glance his way.
Sakumo left in a daze, his feet automatically carrying him towards the Hokage tower. The ANBU disguised as an unremarkable Chuunin jerked him out of his trance. "—take-san? Hatake-san, are you well?"
Shaking his head to clear it, Sakumo jerked the blank report out of the small office-style mailbox with his Shinobi registration number on it, "I'm fine; I was just caught up in my thoughts. You were saying?"
"Hokage-sama is currently in a meeting with the Head Jōnin and his former teammates. He asked that you be sent up immediately to answer a few questions before writing your report."
"Thank you shinobi-san. I can find my way there."
"Hatake-san?"
"Yes?"
"You have another mission to be picked up as soon as you are done. Hokage-sama is in the council room."
"Thank you," Sakumo shoved the report back into his box and hurried up the stairs.
When he raised his hand to knock on the door, it jerked open to reveal the newly appointed Head Jōnin.
"Hyuuga-san," Sakumo greeted politely.
"There are quite a few questions we need answered, Hatake," the Hyuuga dismissed the formalities and placed a hand on his shoulder, guiding him into the room to stand at one end of the table before falling into the chair directly to his right, clearly exhausted. The oval table had four others sitting around it, the Hokage on the opposite end of the table, Homura and Koharu to his right and Danzo directly on his left. Sakumo felt his spine unconsciously stiffen as the black-robed man with his arm covered in bandages and both eyes holding more malice than Sakumo expected.
"You are not in any sort of trouble, Hatake-san," the Hokage assured him. "But your answers in this interrogation have significant weight in the decisions that are about to be made. Please answer as honestly as you are able."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
"First, what is the condition of Namikaze Masao?"
"Stable. I suspect Chakra exhaustion. He had possible life-threatening injuries which have been treated and as far as I know, he will recover."
"What about Namikaze Kotone?"
"Tired, but otherwise unharmed."
"And their son?"
"Stable, but with multiple life-threatening injuries I believe have been mostly healed. One injury was confirmed as infected, though it is no longer and it was mentioned that he nearly died from Chakra poisoning."
"What is Chakra poisoning?"
"I am unaware of the specifics, but too much adult chakra was used to heal him. In order to combat the problem, Kotone-san requested a child to assist in healing him. The Hyuuga scion was found and she somehow controlled his chakra to perform a healing."
"I was told only the only Namikaze medic was Masao-san. Explain."
"Kotone-san was adamant in the fact she was not a medic; however, she has an extensive understanding of Iryo-Ninjutsu and appears to be more competent in the field than many of our own medics."
"Is she capable of the Chakra control necessary for Iryo-Ninjutsu?"
"From what I have gathered, it is reasonable to conclude the entire clan has above-average chakra control, including Minato-kun."
"On what level would you place the boy's chakra control?"
"I cannot be certain, but he successfully circulated the chakra in the room, including my own, without harm and when he lost control, thus destabilizing my entire Chakra network, he successfully stabilized it before it could cause any damage. His Chakra control has to be on par with low-level medic-nins at the very least."
"What level would you place his parents at?"
"Unknown. Both have demonstrated the capability to control the Chakra of others at close range with the finesse required to perform medical Ninjutsu."
"Is the Namikaze a specialized clan? Do they have any Kekkei Genkai?"
"No to both."
"Explain."
"None of their techniques appear to be impossible to replicate, but there is a key piece hidden that makes replication impossible. In my opinion, it is secret techniques in learning, training, and application, no a genetic advantage. It can also be logically attributed to their unique usage of Chakra."
"How do they use their Chakra differently?"
"I do not understand it well enough to explain, though I received the impression that their chakra is not a weapon, but fundamentally different. Their explanation seemed to allude to an old myth I vaguely remember from the traders, but I'll have to research further before I can confirm anything."
"What is the status of the rest of the clan?"
"I only saw from a distance, but I suspect a majority are at the very least tired, possibly some mild injuries."
"The status of our own?" The Hokage abruptly asked the Hyuuga.
"Minimal injuries, no casualties and a few mildly damaged roofs which can be repaired by the end of the day. Eighty-two Takigakure shinobi have been confirmed dead, but less than a dozen can be attributed to the village's standing defense force. The rest were slaughtered by the Namikaze. Whether they be part of the village or not, I request that the entire clan undergo psychological evaluations after fighting and killing former comrades in such a—graphic manner. I also submit the request that they be accepted as a Konoha Shinobi clan. Their ability to react to the situation and isolate fighting to minimalize the overall damage can make them a powerful village defense."
"Your clan leader's son wouldn't happen to have any influence in your request, would it?" Koharu asked politely.
"What would Hiashi-sama have to do with the Namikaze?" the Hyuuga asked, genuinely confused.
"He was reported to be especially enamored with one Namikaze Kotone," the Hokage explained.
The Hyuuga still appeared confused, but did not press the issue.
"Hatake-san, in your opinion, do the Namikaze pose a threat to this village?" Danzo asked.
"Unless we harm them first, I am certain they will not intentionally harm the village."
"Are there any specific weaknesses we should be made aware of?"
"They have nothing to lose; that is both their greatest weakness and greatest strength."
"Thank you, Hatake-san, be sure to include a record of all events in your report. You are dismissed," the Hokage gestured towards the door. Sakumo left quickly, and barely paused to pick up his mission and paperwork before rushing home.