Lessons Part 2
(~MINATO)
When Biwako's sleep jutsu wore off, Minato found himself feeling like a glorified pillow as someone lay sprawled over him, clinging to the mesh shirt he wore underneath his jacket. In the dying candlelight, Minato recognized Kushina's bright red hair.
He frowned as he tried to figure out a way to disentangle himself from her grip without waking her up. Before he could try anything, the door opened and someone entered carrying a fresh candle. Minato quickly feigned sleep, slowing his heartbeat and breathing.
"How did she get in here?" The man asked himself softly. Minato recognized the Hokage's voice. He blew out the dying candle and replaced it with the new one. He gently opened Kushina's grasp and lifted her off Minato's chest, laying her a few inches away and draping a blanket over her curled frame. The Hokage pressed two fingers against Minato's neck, checking his pulse. "For your age, you're pretty impressive at faking sleep, but not good enough to fool me."
Minato's eyes blinked open to see the Hokage crouching beside him wearing a dressing gown over the loose black outfit most shinobi slept in. The Hokage's hand moved towards Minato's head and the boy jerked away.
"I'm not going to make you go back to sleep," he soothed and laid his hand over Minato's forehead, "I'm just going to do a quick diagnostic jutsu, nothing more, I promise." His other hand formed a quick hand seal. Minato flinched at the rush of unfamiliar chakra through his body. "Looks like you're all good. Come on; let's get you something to eat." The Hokage helped Minato to his feet and guided him into the kitchen with a firm hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Why is Uzumaki-san's chakra different than before?" Minato asked suddenly. The Hokage spun around in surprise.
Before answering, the Hokage walked over to the door and closed it before activating the privacy seal above the handle. Minato straightened, sensing he trod on serious ground. "Why do you think Kushina's chakra is different?"
"She has a lot more chakra. Like if her chakra was a little candle before, it's now a giant bonfire. I'm only asking because if hers is a like—like giant forest fire, then yours and Jiraiya sensei's and Sakumo-san's would be little campfires."
"When did you notice the difference?" The Hokage asked warily.
"I don't want to get her into trouble," Minato looked up, wide-eyed.
"You won't, I promise, but she could get hurt if you don't tell me exactly what you know," the Hokage pressed him and sat down opposite of Minato, abandoning the tea he was preparing. "When did you notice the difference?"
"It was a few days after I brought her back from those kidnappers. She told me she would be out of the hospital in three days, but she wasn't so I got worried and went to visit her. She had a lot of chakra but looked really sick and it didn't make sense because sick people don't have very much chakra. She asked if I thought she was a monster but I told her that was a silly question because she isn't. She was all sad afterwards so I didn't want to ask her about it."
"Just because she has a lot of chakra doesn't mean it's different."
"But when she grabbed my hand yesterday, I noticed that she didn't just have a lot of chakra, it was like she had another person's chakra inside of her too."
The Hokage choked in surprise.
Minato looked at him curiously.
"Have you talked to anyone about this?"
"No."
"Are you absolutely sure you haven't mentioned this to anyone, even by accident?"
"I'm sure."
The Hokage sighed in relief.
"But why is her chakra different?"
The Hokage hesitated. "That's not my secret to give out. Ask Kushina-chan about it. No matter how she answers, do not tell anyone about any of this under any circumstances, okay? If they ask you about anything that sounds remotely close to any of what you told me, tell me about them immediately, no matter what. Do you understand?"
Minato nodded quickly, closing his eyes and tuning away from the Hokage's intensity. "Understood, Hokage-sama."
"Go knock on the door to wake Biwako up." Minato nodded and stood to leave. "On your way back, wake Kushina-chan up too. She sleeps heavily."
Minato broke the privacy seal as he left the room, and the boy could hear him release a pent-up breath in relief. Walking quickly and confidently through the house, Minato followed Biwako's chakra signature through the house and knocked on the door.
"What do you need, child?" She asked softly, barely loud enough for Minato to hear.
"Hokage-sama asked me to wake you up."
"I'll be out in a minute. Could you wake up Kushina-chan also, please?"
"Yes, Biwako-sama," Minato hurried towards Kushina's chakra signature, unconsciously memorizing the layout of the house.
He knocked as he opened the door, but Kushina barely flinched in her sleep. He approached the bed warily and gently shook her shoulder before taking a quick step back as if he expected her to bite his arm off. Kushina rubbed her face and pulled the blanket up over her ears. Minato shook her shoulder again and her eyes blinked open. "You're alive!" She squealed and leapt toward him. Minato shouted in surprise and tried to stumble out of the way but she wrapped her arms around his neck, sending him crashing to the ground.
"But I didn't die!" Minato wheezed as she straddled his chest.
"I suppose that's true." Kushina conceded after a thoughtful second. "You make a warm pillow."
"I'm not a pillow!" Minato blushed.
"Yes you are."
"No I'm not."
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes you are!"
"No I'm not!"
"No you're not."
"Thank you."
"Hey! You're supposed to say you are!"
"But you agreed with me! Why would I change sides?"
"I dunno, it's just what people do. Even Jiji does and he's supposed to be the smartest in the whole village!" Kushina rolled over Minato's head so she lay mirroring him, arms spread on either side.
"Your hair doesn't taste as pretty as it looks," Minato commented as he spat out the red strands covering his face.
"Hey!" Kushina protested then tasted her hair. "Ew, you're right, it tastes like soap."
He rolled onto his stomach and rested his chin on his arms. "I have a question for you."
"What is it?" She asked, mirroring him then scooting back a few inches so they did not have to look at each other cross-eyed.
"Why does your chakra have two people in it?"
Kushina broke eye contact and picked at a crack in the wooden floor. "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm just curious. It's different and I feel like I've seen it before but I don't know where. Why else would I ask?"
"So you can be mean to me."
"What?" Minato answered, not expecting her response. "But Uzumaki-san, why would I be mean to you? You're nice to me and you have pretty hair and you listen to what I say. You're being silly and hurtful by saying I'd do something like that."
"But if I tell you, you will be mean to me!"
"No I won't! I pinky promise!" Minato held out his little finger.
Kushina linked her little finger with his. "Cross your heart?"
"Cross my heart," Minato stood up and slammed a fist over his heart, raising his right hand solemnly, "And hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, wait a moment, I spoke a lie, I never really wanted to die. I won't break my word to you. But if by chance I somehow slip, careless words tumbling from my lips, if this solemn vow I break, then no more breaths shall I take. Thus you know I do not lie, for I am not prepared to die." **
Kushina smiled and a small chuckle escaped her throat as Minato laid back down across from her. She stared intently at the crack on the floor, picking at the small, non-existent particles of dirt. "Remember how I told you those mean ninjas kidnapped me because I had special chakra?"
Minato nodded.
"Well, my chakra is special because it's really good at holding back the tailed beasts."
Minato nodded again, slightly confused, but Kushina refused to look at him.
"I used to live in Uzushiogakure, a part of the former Uzu no Kuni. The Uzumaki clan was really powerful, especially in sealing. We also live a really long time and the village was nicknamed 'The Village of Longevity' because of it. The land and most of my clan was destroyed shortly after I came to Konoha. Since I'm one of the few people left I have to carry on a tradition Grandma Mito started. She's wasn't really my grandma but since I don't remember my real grandma I call her that."
Minato's mouth twitched into a brief smile as he noticed her rambling.
"Do you know who Uzumaki Mito was?" She asked, glancing up to see Minato shake his head before refocusing on the crack. "She was really nice to me and taught me a lot of stuff especially about sealing. A really long time ago, she was married to Senju Hashirama, the first Hokage but he died during the first giant war after Konoha was founded. Grandma Mito was really, really old and she told lots of funny and awesome stories about Grandpa Hashirama. Before the giant war, Grandpa Hashirama fought this guy called Uchiha Madara. He could summon the most powerful of the tailed beasts, the Kyuubi. In order to make sure Grandpa Hashirama would win, Grandma Mito used an epic seal to put the Kyuubi inside of herself so Madara couldn't use it to destroy the village."
"Didn't Uchiha Madara help found the village? Why would he want to destroy it?"
"I don't know; she didn't tell me that part of the story. Anyways, Grandma Mito sealed the Kyuubi inside of herself and Grandpa Hashirama won the battle. A long, long time later Grandma Mito got really old and they had to find someone else to keep the Kyuubi sealed. That's me now," Kushina finished simply.
Minato studied her, unsure of how to react to her story.
She looked up, worry and fear etched across her face. "You think I'm a monster, don't you?"
"No! That's not true and you know it!" Minato shouted, slapping his hand against the floor.
Kushina jumped, and mirrored Minato as he sat up and crossed his legs. "Yeah, but how do you know it?"
"Do you act like the Kyuubi?"
"No, but—"
"Do you look like the Kyuubi?"
"Of course not, but—"
"Do you think like the Kyuubi?"
"No, but—"
"Are you anything like the Kyuubi?"
"No, but—"
"Then you're not a monster!" Minato reasoned.
"But the Kyuubi is inside of me!" Kushina choked, rubbing away the tears burning in her eyes.
Minato leaned forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. Kushina stopped crying in surprise. Her hands trembled on either side of her face as Minato murmured in her ear. "You're not the Kyuubi. You're not anything like it. You're Uzumaki Kushina, remember? You're the girl who's going to be the first female Hokage."
Kushina let her head drop onto Minato's shoulder, her fingers holding tight to Minato's jacket, pulling him closer. Minato's strong grasp helped steady her ragged gasps. After a long second, she nodded.
"See? I'm not gonna be mean to you or think you're anyone but the Uzumaki Kushina. I'll make up a new and even better promise if that's what it takes!"
Her stomach growled, interrupting the comfortable silence. Minato pulled away with a wide smile. Kushina held tight to him for an instant longer before allowing him to pull away.
"Come on, I'm sure they'll be something for you to eat in the kitchen." Minato held out a hand to pull her to her feet. She frowned and accepted it, while Minato's attention turned towards the door. He pulled her out of the door, running, though not as recklessly as she dragged him along the day before.
Kushina's eyes widened as the Hokage stepped into their path again and Minato did not see him, crashing full-on into the man and dragging Kushina along behind him. They both collided with him, forcing the man to step back in surprise, but with enough wits to catch them both by the collar.
"That's it! I'm not going to have little heads running into me every time I try and walk through my own house," the Hokage wheezed, the wind knocked out of him. "No running inside from now on." He ordered, carrying the two into the kitchen like poorly behaved puppies. In the same moment, the two Genin tucked their hands under their chins, pulled their knees to the chests, and looked up at the Hokage with wide, pleading eyes. Kushina completed the act by whimpering slightly. While their expressions quickly melted the Hokage's hard demeanor, Biwako rapped the two over the head, tapped Hiruzen on the forehead, and pointed sharply towards the table where the four breakfasts lay. The Hokage dutifully dropped them in the two in chairs beside each other and Biwako sat down opposite of them, watching them sternly.
"Now, eat you two." Biwako watched them shovel food down their throats in fear. The two adults exchanged a worried glance as the noticed Minato tipping his food onto Kushina's plate. Biwako looked towards Hiruzen, opening her mouth to say something but he shook his head sharply. When both children's plates cleared, the two stood up and started to hurry out the door, balancing on the thin line between walking and running. In a quick shunshin, Hiruzen caught Minato by the collar. Kushina took two steps before stopping abruptly.
"Go wait outside, Kushina-chan. I have to talk to Minato-kun for a minute." Hiruzen's tone ordered her out of the room, but she took one look at Minato's worried and confused face and marched into the Hokage's face.
"No!" She stamped her foot. "You let him go!"
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose, annoyed by her insolence. "He's not in trouble, Kushina-chan." Hiruzen responded, allowing his impatience to color his voice.
The girl's lip trembled slightly before she obeyed, stomping her way out of the room and slamming the door.
Marching Minato back to the table, Hiruzen replaced the food Minato pushed off his plate and onto Kushina's setting it down in front of the boy. "I saw you pushing food onto Kushina's plate. You may leave when you finish that. Kushina is going to come in here shortly, so you better hurry."
Minato ate quickly under Biwako's careful eye, slamming down his chopsticks and racing from the table. Hiruzen caught the tail of his jacket again and turned him away from the door.
"Go get your shoes." Minato refused to meet Hiruzen's eye as he raced down the hallway, grabbed his shoes and raced out the front door before slipping them on.
"Why didn't he eat?" Biwako asked softly as the two children raced away from the house, laughing.
"I don't know why, but I didn't think the problem was so bad he'd resort to subterfuge. Sakumo's been lucky to force one meal down the boy's throat every day."
"How long has that been going on?"
"As far as I can tell: his entire life. His parents could get him to do anything with a few words, but if anyone else tries to do the same, it's useless. He knows exactly how far he can push the line when it comes to his wellbeing and he walks it."
"That doesn't make sense, no child is capable of doing something like that to themselves. Most trained shinobi can't even do that."
"I'm not sure if it's conscious."
"Except for the total disregard for his health, he isn't showing any other signs of an underlying problem."
"I'll talk to Sakumo again. He knows the boy best."
"And if you can't figure out the problem?"
"I don't know. Hopefully, the two just need each other."
**adapted from a post on by Kristen Burns-Darling and the early 1900s religious oath. Words were cut/changed to shorten and properly apply to context and character. The citation is below.
Burns-Darling, Kristen. "Re: Finish off the Poem... I Cross My Heart and Hope to Die Stick a Needle in My Eye..." Web log comment. Hubpages. com. Erica Sanchez (bellawritter23), 2011. Web. 25 May 2015.