Apprentice Part 3

That night

(MINATO)

"You know you have your own room here, Kushina. You don't have to smother me with your hair every night."

"Are you trying to kick me out?"

"Yes."

"It's not going to work."

"I know."

"Then why do you try?"

"I don't know."

"Why do you sleep on these hard mats anyways?"

"I like them."

"You can get a mattress."

"I don't want one."

"Why not?"

"You've already taken over my house, what more do you want?"

"A mattress."

"You have a mattress at your house. Sleep there."

"It's cold there!"

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Someone's knocking."

"Let them knock, it's late."

"I think Kakashi's at the door."

"He's always poking around here, let him be and go to sleep. Its pitch dark and I'm tired."

"I don't need light to see."

"You and your creepy senses."

"Keep insulting me and I actually might kick you out."

Kushina quieted as she heard him pulling out a kunai from his weapons in a chest of drawers by the door.

He padded down the hall and opened the door a crack to see Kakashi pressed against wall to the immediate right of the door, the only place on his porch which was marginally out of sight of the road.

Minato reached out and pulled him in sharply, pressing a hand over the boy's mouth and wrapping his other arm around his chest to stop him from fighting back until he settled down. "It's the middle of the night, Kakashi, what are you doing here? You shouldn't even be outside! It's past the village curfew for non-active personnel. Do you have your Academy ID with you?"

Kakashi shook his head. "I was training on the clan grounds and I didn't notice how late it was, To-san left on a mission at dusk. When I got back home, there were some strange seals glowing on the door. They aren't the normal security seals."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure! To-san doesn't put a seal on the living room window, he puts it on the door to the rest of the house, but there was a seal there. I don't know what it means!"

"Sakumo-san's mission, how long has it been scheduled?"

"It was sudden, less than ten minutes before he left."

"Did you trip the 'Do Not Enter' seal before you came here?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Good. You can sleep here for tonight and I'll check on everything in the morning. I can't do anything about a seal when it's too dark to see."

"I can't sleep."

"Then I'll sit with you, Kushina took my bed anyways." Minato tossed the younger boy over his shoulder and spun quickly, before falling onto the couch. "Everything will be fine," Minato assured him confidently as Kakashi scrambled off his pseudo-older brother and curled on the other side of the couch

"How did someone put seals all over my house?"

"It's not hard, Kakashi. If you really want to know, I'll show you, but not until after you graduate from the Academy. There's no reason for you to know dangerous stuff like that until then."

A half-hour later of sitting in silence, Kakashi fell into a deep sleep. As soon as Minato was sure, he allowed himself to doze off on the opposite end of the couch, his foot against Kakashi's so any movement on the boy's part would awaken him.