Chapter 10
"Naruto, Kakashi! Come here, I think this is it."
Both shinobi quickly moved over towards where Darui was standing, brushing his hand across a wall.
"What is it?" Naruto was waving his hand in front of his face in an effort to keep from breathing in so much dust. They were in one of the ruined buildings of Uzushiogakure, looking for something. They weren't sure what, but the Tsuchikage had mentioned they pillaged an incomplete scroll that looked like a very powerful teleportation or transmission jutsu of some sort back during the second war. The three of them had come to what was left of the old village in hopes of finding some clues.
"Yeah, look. Kakashi, open the scroll. I think the script on it matches the same script on the wall."
Kakashi pulled the scroll out of the holder on his back, and opened it up. Moving it up against the wall, the trio compared the script, looking at both of them to see if it was a match. The scroll itself told them that the technique was in fact a method of transportation, and that it required a lot of power. But exactly what it did was what they were trying to find out.
Naruto started to move down to examine the rest of the wall. The pictures on the wall were drawn in a series, and in each series there was one person standing in the middle. He wasn't completely sure, but it looked like they drew that person at different ages, because as the pictures continued the person in the middle would get taller, and then eventually started using what he guessed was a cane.
It was the first three and last three pictures that made him curious, because they were exactly the same. Well, there was one single difference... the person in the middle of the first three was no longer in the middle of the last three, he was off to the side. But the person in the middle of the first three was the same as the person in the last three.
There was something else that was nagging at him though...
"Hey Kakashi!" Naruto shouted in the direction where Kakashi was, it seemed he and Darui had moved off to examine something else down the long hallway.
"Yeah?"
"What kind of technique did you think this was?"
"A space and time one, from a couple of the script runes I saw... including the ones you recognized. That style is normally how you transport things anyway. Why?"
"Because I see part of the Hiraishin seal on the wall here."
It only took a moment for Kakashi and Darui to arrive next to him, and he pointed out where the seal was on the painting. It was right under where the person in the middle was standing the whole time. He was too busy paying attention to the person, and not the script under him.
"Something I don't understand," Naruto began to comment, "Is that I only recognize the movement part of the seal because all Hiraishin does is move me forward in time to my destination, and then barely a second back in time so it seems like I'm moving instantly. But there is a lot more to this one."
He further explained what he had noticed about the images, especially regarding the person in the middle and how that changes in the last three pictures. Based on his explanation, it only took Darui another moment to piece it all together.
"It's time travel. But it looks like the purpose is to take a large leap back in time. The person in the middle stays the same the whole time... it's just that the first person in the middle moves off to the side as he observes a younger self in the past." Darui's hand traced the lines of the seal under the person in the middle before he stepped backwards, observing the whole thing again.
"Kakashi, look... didn't we see a pattern like this in the other room back there?"
"Yes." The silver haired man nodded as he examined the images with his original uncovered eye. "Each of the people is standing in one of those circles we saw on the floor in the other room."
"Why do they have to stand there?" Naruto inquired.
"I'm not certain, but the only thing I can suggest is that they are powering the seal in the middle. I don't know if you feel the pull, Naruto, but Minato-sensei always said that the larger the distance he had to travel, the bigger the drain he felt on his chakra." Kakashi reached out and brushed some dust away from the painting. "It seems to me that the further back you want to travel, the more power it would take."
Naruto idly scratched at his stomach as he continued looking at the figure standing in the middle, and the seal under it. He stood completely still for a second as his eyes appeared to glaze over, before turning his head to look at the other two.
"Hey, Kurama wants to know how far back you think we can go if we were to use the chakra of a bijuu?"
Kakashi and Darui looked at each other in shock before looking back at Naruto. It was Kakashi who answered, though.
"Probably quite a few years..."
The remaining three days of their assignment were uneventful, at least if the moment they found the group of nukenin wasn't counted. The only real excitement that happened was when two of Naruto's clones began to do a collaboration technique of wind and water in order to quickly eliminate a bandit camp they happened to pass. It gathered Mikoto's interest, making her request to do an experiment with her affinity – fire. The two of them quickly learned that the Great Breakthrough and Phoenix Flower techniques, when mixed, make for quite the impressive display. Most of the remainder of their other days were spent doing the actual searching for their objective, though each consecutive day Mikoto asked that they return to the inn earlier and earlier.
He wasn't complaining about it one bit either, Mikoto was a very interesting woman and had plenty of stories to share that revolved around her and Kushina or her genin team and the things they did to get Jiraiya to stop being a pervert. Naruto desperately wanted to share some of his stories with her, but pretty much everything he wanted to tell her was considered 'classified' at the moment.
As it was he was conflicted about telling her certain things about himself. Not because they may sound absurd - even if they would - but more or less because he didn't want Mikoto to like or dislike him for the wrong reasons at this point in their friendship. At one point he finally used Sage Mode to pinpoint the location of the nukenin, and explaining that was a stretch without giving too much away. He had to chalk it up to simply being a special sensory technique, though Mikoto didn't look terribly convinced. He managed to escape too many more questions by promising to explain it in a little more detail once they were no longer on a mission. With everything that was likely to happen upon their return to Konoha, he was counting on her forgetting about it until he was legitimately able to tell her everything.
He considered himself lucky that she didn't have her Sharingan active when he was using it, or she would have noticed something different about his chakra. He'd heard plenty of stories about how the Uchiha used to be, and was relieved that his beliefs about Mikoto were true. She was one of the more polite ones that didn't activate her Sharingan on allies.
Their second night in the same room was nearly a repeat of the first, though Mikoto simply stared at him until he climbed onto the bed. She had started up the conversation this time, asking how he felt about clan life. Being honest, he had no real opinion because when he was made aware of what clan actually meant, the Uzumaki clan was already gone. She pretty much informed him that she'd teach him everything he needed to know if he was willing to learn. He somewhat jokingly asked if that was a sort of proposal, to which she didn't say or respond to anything else that night, but simply held tightly onto his hand until she fell asleep.
The third night was her asking him about some of the missions he had when he was working for the Hokage. He stressed that there wasn't much he could talk about, but ventured back to some missions that he hoped she wouldn't know didn't happen. Well – they did for himin the future, but not in her past. Once again he had to skirt the full truth until he was free to tell her everything – assuming they got to that point - but for now she seemed to accept what she heard, even with the ooh's and aah's in all the appropriate places.
Naruto stopped musing about the past couple of days as he finished with his shower, thinking that they had gotten closer, but not thatmuch closer. Relationships don't form out of a vacuum, though they had both definitely made large strides in getting to know each other. He chuckled to himself as he shut off the water. It was still hard to not think of the woman in the other room as Sasuke's and Itachi's mother. At least as the days had been passing, that thought popped into his head less and less.
After getting dried off and dressed, he pondered what they would discuss during their last night here, alone. They had found their targets yesterday, and Naruto had several clones keeping watch just in case they moved. Their plan was to take them out on the way back home tomorrow. Thinking of home - the blond had no idea what kind of work was waiting for him back in Konoha, not to mention thoughts of how people would react once word of Mikoto's broken engagement spread through the hidden village. Hopefully it wouldn't get blown all out of proportion, but knowing what he knew of the village from his time... it was highly unlikely. There were too many gossip-mongers.
His thoughts ceased abruptly upon his exit of the restroom, however, when he noticed that Mikoto was standing right outside the door, obviously waiting for him. Not only that, but she had changed out of the shinobi clothes she had worn for the past nights, and had actually changed into something resembling sleepwear. It was very reserved sleepwear, granted, with dark cloth long pants and a button down shirt, but it wasn't nearly as loosely worn as her shinobi gear. The thought 'female' was very firmly etched into his mind as he stared at her.
All in all it painted a very pretty picture. The fact that she was standing there, looking very demure wasn't helping Naruto's brain to restart any faster, either.
Sasuke who?
"H-How does it look?"
The blond's mouth opened and closed a few times before he shook his head and grinned. Reboot successful.
"Very nice. I'm... flattered that you'll let me see you wearing that."
Mikoto blushed, looking away and fidgeting ever so slightly, but didn't say anything further. Naruto watched as she grabbed at the lower hem of the shirt and twisted it about. Any potential thoughts of arousal from seeing her before were completely banished from his mind as he suddenly realized that she had probably no idea what to expect, obviously having never been in a relationship. In a short, painful twinge he was also reminded of Hinata, who he found out had liked him for a very long time but had no sympathetic figure to tell her what to do about it. Then she almost had to get herself killed in order to work up the nerve to tell him. Definitely not one of his better memories about the girl.
In a strange twist, a part of him wanted to blame his mother for having found his father so early, and being too happy with her own life to pay attention to her friend, but that would be very unfair. By the time she was likely old enough to understand that Mikoto wasn't happy, it would have been too late. Besides that, she had already been dealt a huge blow by the loss of Uzushiogakure, a rough childhood, and an attempted kidnapping. Add being a jinchuuriki on top of that, and it was highly likely that she was trying to only focus on the good things in life right now.
Sighing, Naruto stepped forward, apparently startling Mikoto as she went rigid and looked up at him sharply. He tried to keep his expression sympathetic and passive as he offered his hand to her.
"Mikoto-chan."
"H-huh?" She looked in confusion between his face and the hand that he was offering. One of her hands had already lifted a bit as if to take his, but had stopped halfway.
"Take my hand. Come sit with me. Let's talk for a bit." He tried to sound confident, and in his opinion he managed to pull it off. Never mind the fact that his heartbeat was rapidly starting to increase when he thought about how much the future may potentially change in these next few minutes.
Looking down and nodding once, Mikoto had immediately latched onto his offered hand, which he quickly noted felt a little cold and clammy. She probably thought he was going to pull her over to the bed, but once they walked past it and headed for the only chair in the room, he almost felt like he was pulling her along instead of her following willingly.
Trying to ignore it, he sat down in the only chair in the room. Luckily it was a larger one and was plenty comfortable, if a bit low to the ground. He carefully pulled Mikoto down onto his lap to sit sideways, only for her to let out a brief startled yelp and become stiff as a board - looking anywhere and everywhere but at him. She had released his hand, but Naruto responded by wrapping his arms around her waist as she tried to literally scramble away.
"Mikoto-chan! Mikoto-chan, calm down, please!"
His protests didn't do much at first, though when she probably realized he wasn't just going to let go, but at least not do anything further with her, she finally began to settle down. She didn't relax, though, and he could feel her trembling slightly under his hold. Guilt was starting to creep into his mind, he was sincerely hoping that she was a little more comfortable with him by this point. Even if they had only gotten to know each other much more closely over these past few days, they had known each other and been at least acquaintances – if not distant friends and sparring partners - for a few months.
Even when he tried to look at her, she made sure she was looking away. Biting back a sigh, he settled for looking at the back of her head with a frown on his face. "What's wrong? You're acting nothing like the woman I remember, the one I went hunting for nukenin with, or the one I spar with. I didn't want to startle you, but I wanted our talk to have some meaning. I'm sorry if I scared you.
Naruto resisted the urge to release her so that he could run one of his hands back through his hair. "If you want to get up, we can go talk some other time."
She stopped moving, and didn't seem to be as stiff, but was still trembling. "I'm just not... used to this."
Her voice came out so soft, he barely heard it. But it was there, and that was all he needed.
"Being this close to a man?"
She shook her head, slowly.
"Being this close to anyone?"
Another shake, faster this time.
"Intimacy?"
Mikoto stilled again, and didn't breathe either, as if she was seriously contemplating the word. Slowly she inhaled again, relaxed a bit more. "Yes, intimacy. I've never been intimate with anyone. Like this. I'm..." She gestured at the air with her hand for a second, searching for the right word, "I don't think scared is the right word. I'm not scared of being close to you. Nervous, maybe? Other than my parents and Kushina, I never really get close to anyone."
Naruto was still frowning. Just what kind of environment was it like growing up with the Uchiha? To be scared to get close to anyone, physically and emotionally? That must suck. She always spoke like she was close to her father, though perhaps it was more respect than genuine affection? Maybe he was a comfortable closeness, whereas he was someone she was interested in and she didn't know how to express that. As for Kushina, it was likely something that Mikoto had simply adjusted to because he could tell early on that his future mother was one of those 'touchy-feely' types. The fact that Kushina was female probably kept Mikoto from having issues as well.
The blond relaxed his grip on his partner, silently hoping that she wouldn't bolt from his lap. He nearly sighed in relief when she didn't, so he let one arm go slack while his other moved up to slowly rub her arm. "We can just stay like this, until you're comfortable then?"
Mikoto nodded slowly, and they sat there in silence with him slowly rubbing her arm for a few minutes. Gradually her trembling stopped, and she was no longer completely stiff either. Eventually she even leaned her shoulder against his chest, slightly. Naruto was a little surprised, but chose not to comment, as he didn't want to completely ruin her comfort level with any jokes.
It wasn't until he felt that she was completely calm that he decided to ask how she was doing. "What I had planned to talk about might be... difficult for you to talk about if you're uncomfortable. Did you just want to call it a night? We can try to wake up early tomorrow, unless you want to call off the whole thing we had planned on."
Mikoto stiffened for barely a moment before faintly shaking her head. "No, we need... I want... to talk. To you. About anything. Everything."
"Okay. I guess I'll start then. Does Fugaku treat you well?" He knew it was a bit of a bomb to drop, but it was better to start off big then worry about the small things in discussions like this. It let him know where the conversational boundaries would lie. Doing that often came in handy dealing with shinobi from other nations who didn't enjoy taking orders from him. He would always be thankful for Shikaku teaching him the things he did.
Mikoto had stilled for several seconds before turning to look at him, though she looked more confused more than anything else. "I don't understand what you mean. He treats me as one should treat the heir to the clan."
Naruto shook his head, frowning. "Do you wantto be treated like the heir, or do you want to be treated like a woman, as Uchiha Mikoto? Not as an object or title, but an actual human being with her own wants and desires?"
When Mikoto looked away but didn't reply, Naruto decided to continue, "The first time I saw you with him, it was right before I called you to go with us for the Kiri mission. He looked bored, and you looked... sad. I was about to ask you to go do something right then, after I gave you the mission, but I knew it wouldn't be proper. It wasn't my place.
"Though I guess if I knew then what I know now, perhaps I should have taken that chance, huh?" Naruto only meant it as a half-hearted joke, but the small smile he got to see on her face was definitely worth it.
"I don't think it would have changed anything, honestly. At least, not then." Mikoto pursed her lips, thinking carefully. "But I would have appreciated the offer, I'm sure."
Naruto couldn't help but smile at that, and finally decided it was time for him to release his hold around her waist with his other arm and lean back. Mikoto was briefly startled by this adjustment, but then seemed to muster her courage – or whatever it was she needed – and leaned to her side, against his chest again. Then, surprising him, she leaned her head forward so that her forehead rested very lightly against his jaw.
He grabbed one of her hands with his, and wrapped his other arm around the back of her waist. She didn't stiffen, this time, and even returned the grip his hand had on hers.
"So, Mikoto-chan... what is it you are looking for?"
Naruto listened as she inhaled deeply, then exhaled. "What do you mean?"
"What are you looking for in the person who you want to marry?"
She was quiet for a moment, then slowly asked, "Does that really matter?"
"Of course it matters. How else do you expect to be happy?"
There was another quiet pause, where he could only hear the sound of her breathing.
"I've never really thought about it before. I always grew up knowing what I might have to expect. Had my... mother lived longer, I might have had a sibling who could take up the leadership position of the clan. But since she didn't, the responsibility fell to me to find someone worthwhile to wed. I can say now that it wasn't exactly what I wanted, but in a clan like the Uchiha, certain responsibilities must be upheld."
Naruto felt horrible listening to that. Not only because of what she said, but because that was the most he'd gotten her to say at one time since they left on this mission.
"Okay, well... just forget about all that. I'm sure when you were a young girl you had dreams, right?"
Mikoto sighed. "I hardly think those matter, now."
"I think they are important. Right now, that should matter to you. Tell me... did you ever have those dreams about a prince coming to rescue you?"
Naruto's tone had a teasing lilt, which Mikoto immediately picked up on. He heard her chuckle, and a moment later her free hand whacked lightly against the center of his chest.
"No, there was never a prince. Or anyone really. I didn't need rescuing. I would be happy with someone who didn't treat me like a trophy, and who wanted children. I didn't know what having children meant at first, but even after I learned I realized I wanted my own."
Well, at least there was something Fugaku did right in his time.
"How many?"
He felt Mikoto shift against him before she answered, as if she was trying to get more comfortable. "Three. Two boys and a girl."
"Any particular order?"
He felt her head shift slightly against his in a small nod. "The boys first. They could lead the clan together." She hummed for a moment. "Then the girl. So I could dote on her and she wouldn't... have to grow up, like I did."
It sounded close to what really happened from his time, and Naruto wondered for a second why there was no third child in his time. Maybe Kurama's appearance and the blame placed on the Uchiha clan tempered that desire?
Nodding his head slightly, Naruto murmured, "That's a nice dream. I was an orphan, so I always wanted a big family."
"Oh?" She sounded intrigued and surprised, and though he couldn't see her face at the moment, Naruto wanted to imagine that she was at least grinning. "How many for you?"
"At first, I always thought two was a good number. A boy that I could teach all my killer techniques to, and a girl so that I could threaten boyfriends."
Mikoto burst out into giggles at that, and Naruto found himself loving the sound.
"Only two? That's not very big, even though you said that was what you wanted at first." She pulled her head back, probably so she could look at his face. He turned his own head slightly to look at her as she continued, "What about now?"
"Now?" Naruto broke out into a big grin. "Definitely nine."
"Nine!" Mikoto was obviously startled for a brief moment before she burst into laughter at this one. "What could possibly make you want nine?" she asked in between chuckles.
Here's to you, Kurama. "Oh, I don't know. I always thought it was a nice number. Eight just seemed like a strange place to stop and ten seemed like a little too much to handle, but nine seemed juuuust right."
Mikoto continued laughing, and Naruto found himself chuckling along with her. In a surprising move, he felt one of her arms snake over his shoulders, behind his neck. He turned his head to look at her, obviously surprised at this action, only to see her head resting against his shoulder as she looked... content.
"I'm surprised." He gestured at her arm. "You seemed like a nervous wreck barely a few minutes ago."
She shrugged her shoulder that wasn't resting against him. "I'm comfortable. I've never done this myself, but I've seen other people do things similar. It wasn't too hard to copy."
He grinned. "Didn't need to use the Sharingan for it?"
"No, no Sharingan needed," she said between more laughs. Thinking of her laugh, he realized it was showing up more and more, and he was grateful for it. She had laughed more today than he had ever heard her laugh in the months he had known her. That was a scary thought, because he thought Kushina and Taichi were both pretty funny. Minato wasn't a slouch either, but he didn't tryto make people laugh like the other two did.
They were quiet for several moments as what they were talking about settled in their minds. Or at least, that was the case for Naruto. He had barely faced forward again when Mikoto spoke quietly in his ear.
"I'll give you five."
His head snapped back around, giving her a surprised look. "Five? You mean, five..."
When he didn't continue and his expression seemed to glaze over, she chuckled and grinned, apparently pleased with his reaction. "Yes. I've been in pain before, but I've heard childbirth is on an entirely different level. Assuming my health holds up, I'll promise you five. If I can handle it, then perhaps..."
Her voice trailed off, and for a moment she offered him a teasing smile which he would literally killto see again.
"Perhaps I can manage nine."
Naruto was flabbergasted for barely a second before giving her a shallow smile and shaking his head. "I just like the number nine. That seems like too much to put you through, and I wouldn't expect you to go through with that. Nor even five, really."
Mikoto released the hold she had on his other hand and brought her other hand up, now clasping them both behind his neck. "Naruto, how many do you really want. Be serious, please."
While part of him felt that a talk like this was all a bit premature... they were talking about children but hadn't even kissed yet. Somewhere along the line they got the order in which things were supposed to be done all wrong. He knew he was often considered unpredictable, but this was just getting ridiculous. Grumbling to himself in his mind, he remembered that she was still waiting for an answer. It was the same answer he was prepared to tell Sakura once upon a time when he was still an optimist about the war, and perhaps even tease Kurotsuchi with one day if that had ever gotten anywhere beyond looking at each other with smoldering eyes.
Pushing the past out of his mind, he stared at Mikoto and clearly said, "As many as you'd be willing to give me."
The moment he said that, he couldn't tell for sure but something just seemed to clickin Mikoto's eyes, and her entire demeanor changed. He felt her hands move from holding each other to literally grabbing the hair on the back of his head. Her entire body pressed firmly into his, and her hands held his head steady so that she could look directly into his eyes.
"Naruto. Help me break the contract."
The blond was quiet for a moment, staring into Mikoto's dark eyes. Moving his hand up, he rested it against her cheek, and wasn't surprised at all when her head tilted against it ever so slightly. But still she kept her eyes locked on his.
"Are you completely sure about this. I'm going to warn you again... I have a lot of secrets."
Her responding question was immediate, "Will any of them harm Konoha or the Uchiha Clan?"
Naruto's reply was almost as fast, "Not in the slightest. But other than that, I also can't promise I'd be the best father material. I mean, I didn't exactly have any parents to raise me. Having Kushina as a little sister hasn't been easy these past couple months either, I mean, can you imagine her as an aunt? I can barely handle her now. Oh, and on top of that, there is always-"
"Naruto."
He blinked for a moment after being suddenly cut off, looking like a Nara deer that was just caught in a flashy jutsu. "U-Uh, yes, Mikoto-chan?"
"Shut up and kiss me."
The rest of that night had ended pleasantly enough, and the pleasantness had continued into the morning and a large portion of their journey back to Konoha. While she was obviously not experienced in any way at all when it came to doing anything of a romantic or sexual nature with the opposite gender, he was greatly enjoying her expressions and attitude as it changed into what many would consider a 'giggling schoolgirl'.
She was full of laughs and smiles the entire journey back, only putting on the 'business' face once they got closer to the gate. The hardest thing for her to handle upon their arrival was finding out that he was summoned immediately to go talk to the Hokage, but a quick hug and a few whispered words of encouragement must have helped, because she couldn't hide the small smile on her face as he disappeared.
The visit to the Hokage's office was a quick one, he simply reported that he had returned and that apparently both of his missions were successful. There was a nod, followed by a comment that the skirmishes were picking up in intensity and he should make sure he was in peak condition. That done, he quickly ventured to his office to find that there wasn't nearly as much paperwork to take care of as he had been thinking there would be. Either someone helped him out a bit or there really wasn't a lot that happened while he was gone.
By the time he had nearly eliminated the pile on his desk, Naruto wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it must have been a lot since the sun was almost setting when there was a quick rapping noise on his door. It was the first time he had been 'disturbed' all day, much to his surprise.
"Come in."
The door opened and Naruto looked up, raising an eyebrow when he saw his future father, Minato, enter the room. After exchanging greetings, the two of them simply stared at each other before the corner of Naruto's mouth started to twitch upwards.
"Is there something you wanted?"
Minato seemed hesitant to speak for some reason, but eventually shrugged and then rubbed the back of his neck as he chuckled, though it sounded half-hearted at best. "Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering...do you know what's up with Mikoto?"
Naruto immediately dropped the scroll in his hands onto his desk and stood up. "What? What happened to her?"
The other blond shook his head, now frowning outright, if not looking a little panicked. "I don't know! I was hoping you did! Kushina and I were just getting ready to go get dinner as she showed up at Kushina's apartment. She looked like she was both furious and about to burst into tears, but wouldn't tell me anything so I still don't know what happened! I'm just glad to see that you don't seem to be the cause."
Naruto wasted no time in grabbing his vest from the back of his chair. The rest of the work he needed to do could wait until tomorrow. "Well, I'm just as curious as you to find out what the cause is. Do you know where they are now?"
Minato looked to be ready to jump into action as much as Naruto did, but was quickly shaking his head to the negative. "No idea. They have their spots where they go that I don't really bother looking for them."
"Eh, come on Minato! Haven't you been curious? Where's your sense of adventure?"
"I'm curious but not stupid." Minato's voice was dripping with sarcasm. "You haven't seen what Kushina does to those who piss her off."
Naruto could only agree to that, it was likely from the stories he had heard and from what his mother told him briefly when he encountered her in Kurama's seal that anyone who crossed her would likely never be the same again.
"Fine, but as her friends, we should be worried for her, right? I think we can use that excuse in case Kushina starts waving her fist at us. I mean, I'd go ask Kagami-san, but I'd rather use him as a last resort. Besides, he may not know either."
Minato actually stopped fidgeting and appeared to consider this for a moment before slowly agreeing. "Fine. But if we get in any trouble, I'm blaming you."
Naruto just shrugged and waved it off. If Kushina did get overly protective, hopefully Mikoto would call her off. Whatever was going on, he didn't think hewas the cause of it. He hoped not, anyway. Otherwise he might be visiting his grave earlier than expected.
"So have you plastered your seals all around the village yet?"
"Only in the main places of the village. My usual training grounds, this building, my apartment, Kushina's place, the-"
"Oho, Kushina gets one, but I don't? I see how it is."
Minato just gave Naruto a dead stare, though the other blond just chuckled and waved it off. "Sheesh, can't take a joke? Come on, dattebayo!"
"I can appreciate jokes, I just don't think now is the time." Minato's lips were twitching upwards at the verbal tic, however. It was rather amusing for him how Kushina had become a lot more aware of her '-ttebane' tic ever since Naruto showed up.
Letting out a sigh, Naruto shook his head and held out his hand. "You're right, sorry. It's just a defense mechanism for handling my worries. Pick a place and we'll start from there."
"I understand." Grabbing Naruto's forearm, Minato made a seal with his free hand, and faster than he could blink they were both transported to a spot just behind the check-in booth at the main gate. Releasing his arm, Minato looked around as Naruto stared at the entrance to the village. Construction traffic had slowed significantly by this time of the day.
"You think they went outside the village proper?" Naruto gestured towards the entrance with his thumb.
"It's possible if they went to one of the training areas. How do you want to do this, anyway? Split up and meet back here in a half an hour?"
Naruto thought about that for barely a moment before shaking his head. "I'll send out some Shadow Clones. They'll explore for a bit and report back to me. If they have no luck then we'll go."
Minato gave him a skeptical look. "Shadow Clones? You know how much chakra they use, right?"
"Of course I do. They're one of my main techniques. I haven't really had to use them much at all lately, though."
Barely a second later nearly twenty clones appeared in a semicircle behind Naruto. He'd gotten so much practice using them that he didn't really even need to make the molding sign to create them anymore, nor did he have to announce his intentions to them. Without a word, they all immediately took off in different directions.
Naruto simply stared at a speechless Minato, who was watching the clones with wonder. He'd purposefully avoided using them in spars with his future father so that he could get some good one on one combat experience. "We'll give them about fifteen minutes. If one of them dispels, I get the memories. If I get nothing from any of them, we'll use your plan. If we take too long they may just return to Kushina's or Mikoto's place anyway."
What Naruto didn't say was that some of the clones would use Sage Mode to pinpoint their locations. Searching for Kurama - who was still sealed within Kushina - would be a walk in the park. He still had some of the bijuu's chakra sealed within him, and he figured that he could use that to resonate with the same chakra sealed in Kushina. He'd never used this particular method of searching before since this was a rather unique situation, so he hoped that she would just chalk it up to being a quirk of his sensor ability when searching for someone... at least before thinking it was weird and deserved to be looked into. Considering he didn't know what was wrong with Mikoto, however... he was willing to risk Kushina finding out.
He only heard Minato mumble something about 'that many clones' before the other teen nodded and leaned back against the pole where he had placed the seal for his technique. Naruto had prepared for them to sit in silence for a bit, but was surprised when Minato asked him a question he had not been expecting.
"Can you teach me that? I'll teach you this other technique I'm working on."
Naruto had to bite his tongue, immediately wanting to brag that he already knew Hiraishin and Rasengan, but forcefully pushed it down and away. Sometimes he still had trouble separating the man who was his father from the eighteen year-old in front of him.
"We'll have to ask the old man about it. Since it's in the Forbidden Scroll I can't teach you anything in there without permission." There was a certain allure to making his father even more of a badass with Shadow Clones, though they didn't hold up too well using the Hiraishin. He knew from experience.
"Oh. Alright, that's fair."
Naruto idly wondered if Minato was always so agreeable. If they hadn't died the day he was born, his mother probably would have worn the pants in their family. Or rather, she would, because he was making sure they both stuck around this time.
The two of them stood around in silence for the rest of the time they waited, both agreeing not to jump to any conclusions regarding Mikoto until they had a better understanding of the situation. Barely a few minutes later, his clones had managed to isolate Kurama's suppressed signature, and moved in closer to verify where Kushina and Mikoto were, by extension. They were at one of the more secluded training areas, sitting by a tree that was at the top of a decently sized hill.
"Found them. They're at one of the training grounds... sixteen, I think? It's outside the village behind the monument, near a few trees at the edge of a big hill."
Minato looked surprised at first, then completely shocked as Naruto was able to pinpoint it so precisely. He opened his mouth but Naruto continued talking and cut off anything he was going to say.
"I know you want me to tell you how I found them so quickly... all I can say is that it's classified right now. Other than being able to confirm that I am a type of sensor, I may be able to tell you more soon. If not, you'll definitely find out the day you put on the big hat."
The two just stared at each other for a few seconds, one incredulous, the other as if he was just speaking simple truths. Once again Minato managed to shake himself out of whatever stupor he was in, and gestured for Naruto to lead the way. Nodding quickly, he took off to the rooftops, Minato right on his heels.
Jumping quickly from rooftop to rooftop, then running up the side of the rock wall where the monument was, it didn't take long for them to arrive. As soon as they landed nearby, both Kushina and Mikoto jumped to their feet, getting ready for potential combat. Mikoto's stance was aggressively wary, while Kushina's arms relaxed the moment she laid eyes on both of them. Her posture still screamed 'stay back', however, so neither of the two males made any further steps towards the women.
"Minato! Naruto-aniki! What... how did you find us?"
Naruto could see Minato pointing at him out of his peripheral, but resisted rolling his eyes and instead pointed at his own head and said, "Sensor."
Mikoto still hadn't moved, but Kushina relaxed a little more. "I didn't know sensors could pick out two specific chakra signatures amongst a densely populated village, Aniki."
"Kushina-chan, I've already told you that both of your chakras feel different from everyone else."
The redhead grimaced a bit, but nodded in acceptance. Kurama alone made her like a beacon to him when he used Sage Mode, even when he was sealed away like now. Her own individual chakra, however, was unique as well... it was hard to describe the difference, but it felt warmer... more vibrant. He claimed it was what Uzumaki chakra felt like, but since he had no way to sense other Uzumaki, he had no idea how much truth there was to it. She seemed to accept it without complaint, though, so he let it stay that way. He vaguely recalled Karin mentioning something like that to him back when she was being interrogated in his time, but didn't really pay much attention to it back then.
"As for why we're here," Naruto jabbed his finger at Minato this time, "This guy came and dragged me out of my office, worried about Mikoto-chan."
Naruto listened with half an ear as Minato mumbled something about 'I don't drag' but tried to ignore it and continued speaking, "So naturally I was worried as well, having just come back from a mission with a Mikoto-chan who seemed to be in fairly good spirits. Part of me was genuinely worried while another part of me was wondering if I did something, and if I did, how much I would need to protect myself in the event I was to be struck by feminine vengeance."
Kushina hid her mouth behind one of her hands, likely to keep from smiling outright as she looked back at Mikoto. The raven-haired woman, meanwhile, had been watching Naruto talk, and appeared amused as she looked down towards the grass and shook her head. If anyone was going to say anything further, they held off as they watched Mikoto walk towards Naruto at a casual pace, and stop shortly in front of him.
"I was just getting ready to talk to Kushina about the contract, actually." Mikoto closed her eyes and took a deep breath before reopening them and continuing.
"It's broken," she declared.
Her words brought out an quiet 'huh?' from Kushina, while Minato simply remained silent and looked back and forth between the other two.
"Did it all end okay?"
Mikoto looked down at the ground again, and sighed, "Yes, though for a little while it was... difficult."
Naruto hummed for a moment, watching the woman in front of him. She seemed to be opening up a little, though he had no idea what she and Kushina had discussed so far. From the way the redhead was looking, she had no idea what Mikoto was talking about, but wasn't quite sure how to ask about it. So she was settling for watching them like a hawk instead. Minato was still standing there too, with his arms crossed over his chest. It was getting pretty dark out, but Minato's ice blue eyes seemed to be able to reflect what little light there was to the point they appeared to be glowing.
He idly wondered if his own eyes did that. There were more important things to worry about right now though.
"Did you want to talk about it?"
Mikoto looked into his eyes again, and a small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. That was a good sign.
"Yes, but I'd like a hug first."
Naruto pretended to be affronted, placing a hand on his chest. "What?You want a hug before you'll tell me anything? Blasphemy!"
His teasing was a good idea, as the twitching of her lips lifted into a full smile Naruto acted as though that helped him to make up his mind quickly. "Look at that smile. Tch, fine. You win. Get over here."
As he opened his arms and grinned, Mikoto nearly launched herself against him, though not nearly at the full speed she was capable of. He did have to take a slight step backwards to brace himself, but quickly recovered. As he felt her arms wrap around his waist, he mumbled into her ear, asking if she really was alright.
"Mmm. I'm fine now."
Anything else that may have been said between them was cut off as a squeal sounded behind Mikoto, right about where Kushina was standing.
"Mikoto-nee! Naruto-aniki!" In a flash - a red one, not yellow - she appeared next to them, her eyes wide. "Both of you! Spill. Now."
Mikoto released Naruto first, stepping back slightly, and turned to look at her longtime friend. "Naruto helped me break the contract I was in."
Kushina raised a hand to her mouth again as she gasped, while Minato moved over a bit and continued the pseudo-interrogation.
"How did that happen? I mean, I knew you weren't into contracts and all that, but... I didn't think an Uchiha contract could be broken."
Mikoto strongly shook her head negatively, her long ponytail whipping back and forth. "There are ways it can be broken, but most of them revolve around death or something else bad happening. The easiest way was for me to have someone else's chakra residue in mine when I went to place my chakra in the seal I told you about. If it was an enemy's that would be one thing, but as it is the chakra of a fellow Leaf nin who isn't a medic..."
As Mikoto's voice trailed off, Minato's eyes widened, immediately understanding. Kushina, on the other hand, didn't look as though she quite understood. Apparently Mikoto was used to explaining things of this manner, as she didn't even wait for the question to come before she started answering it.
"It means that we had to do a lot of... um... kissing... so that his chakra would be absorbed into mine. Apparently Naruto has very strong chakra, because it gave a reading like if we had... uhh... you know. His chakra had completely melded with mine, pretty much over ninety percent of my body." She turned a curious eye to the blond, who merely grinned and shrugged.
Kushina was standing there, starry-eyed now as she looked between the two of them, while Minato was smiling in a more resigned way and rubbing at his forehead. Naruto was pretty sure that Mikoto was likely blushing crimson by now, but it was dark enough that he couldn't really tell.
He chuckled, and tried to get some of the attention off of her. "Sorry, it must have made it awkward for you."
The strained smile that Mikoto gave him immediately silenced any further laughter that would have escaped him, and nearly made him regret his attempt.
"It was... difficult, for a little while. Fugaku said some things that I did not appreciate. I almost attacked him before my father stopped me and sent me to Kushina, saying he would take care of things."
Naruto winced at that, but before he could say anything, Mikoto grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. "We can talk about it later. I don't want to dwell on it right now. I just want to spend time with my friends."
"Well, we can do that. Right guys?"
Kushina quickly nodded, and moved up to grab Mikoto's other hand, sending questions about how it all happened at a mile a minute. Minato, on the other hand, moved over closer to Naruto's side, while eying where Naruto and Mikoto's hands were still connected.
"You do realize that I've known Mikoto since I was nine, right?"
Naruto nodded, slowly.
"So she's like a sister to me in every way but blood. I don't know what's going on, but if you hurt her..."
Minato wasn't trying to look menacing, but he didn't have to. His voice conveyed enough. Before Naruto could agree or disagree – not that he ever would – Mikoto's voice cut in.
"While I appreciate it, I can handle myself Minato. If there is anyone that I would rather you beat up, it is Fugaku."
"Just point me in the right direction," Kushina growled. She made a motion of rolling up imaginary sleeves and looking ready to kill.
Mikoto offered an unladylike snort and rolled her eyes, gave Naruto's hand another squeeze, and immediately turned her focus back to Kushina. "None of us will be doing anything. My father will be handling it. If necessary, I will think up a suitable revenge later."
Kushina didn't look happy at that announcement, if the pout on her face was any indication. However, she did grudgingly nod, accepting what Mikoto said. Minato, on the other hand, simply looked relieved that Kushina wasn't going to go on a rampage.
"Now... I'm sorry I interrupted both of you earlier. You can go back to what you were doing. Thank you for coming with me, Kushina, even if we didn't talk for long."
A small smile flickered across the redhead's face, but it didn't last long before concern took over. "Are you sure you're going to be okay? I'm sure Minato wouldn't mind if you came to dinner with us tonight."
Naruto glanced at Minato, curious to see what kind of response he would have to this, but the other blond's face showed he was nothing but concerned for Mikoto. Which made sense, considering they were genin teammates.
"It's fine, thank you. I need to talk to Naruto about a few things anyway."
"Fine, fine." Kushina waved one hand about, acting exasperated. "I know when I'm not needed. But I will be hunting you down for details tomorrow, Mikoto-nee. Count on it."
Mikoto simply nodded, offering her best friend a little smile. Kushina grinned back, then grabbed Minato's arm and started forcefully dragging him away. He nearly stumbled, but quickly regained his balance and waved over his shoulder at the other two as he tried to keep pace with Kushina.
Naruto waited until they were out of sight before saying anything.
"So... do you want to talk about it, or would you rather go get dinner?"
"We should probably talk first, so this way I can stop you without having to jump over a table," Mikoto sighed.
"That bad, huh?"
He felt as Mikoto squeezed his hand that she was still holding. "Honestly, it wasn't that bad at all, at least not until the very end. Fugaku didn't seem surprised that I had broken the contract, which just made me sad and believe he was only interested in me for my position anyway. I gather that many of the clan in the same room were thinking the same thing."
"I'm guessing your council wasn't that pleased?"
Mikoto snorted, a wry grin on her face. "I would hardly call them a council, they're more like a bunch of old men that have nothing better to do now that they are retired. But no, they weren't pleased. Especially because my father did something similar when he wanted to marry my mother a little over twenty years ago."
"The grocery lady, right? He mentioned her."
"Yes, the grocery lady," Mikoto chuckled slightly, and moved closer to Naruto, wrapping her arm around his and pressing their sides together. "Thanks to that most of them immediately blamed my father for it, and are afraid that it has now started a precedent."
Naruto hummed out a response, thinking it best to just let her talk for now. She must have appreciated it, because as Mikoto continued to speak she moved to grab one of his arms, pinning his bicep against her chest as they stood nearly shoulder to shoulder while looking at each other. They were just about the same height, so when Naruto had turned his head to look at her, he found himself staring right into her dark eyes.
"Fugaku was one of the first to leave. As he passed me, he said he felt shame for our clan, that the heir was so desperate she had to whore herself out to one of the Hokage's stooges."
Naruto's first instinct was to storm off and go show Fugaku a thing or two about being a gentleman through the use of several pointy objects, but when trying to move it quickly became apparent that he wouldn't be going anywhere – at least not without Mikoto, or if he was willing to lose an arm. She was holding onto his arm from before rather fiercely now and the way she was just staring at him led him to believe he wasn't going to be going anywhere. She already knewthat what she said would set him off. It didn't take long for him to calm down after that.
"Are you sure you don't have the Sharingan already?" Mikoto's voice was a whisper.
"Certain. Why?"
"Your eyes flashed red for a moment there. It just made me wonder."
As if he was trying to hide it after the fact, he closed his eyes and looked down. "It's... one of my special abilities. I'll tell you soon. I promise."
Mikoto didn't look too happy at first, but then slowly nodded. She still didn't release his arm, though. "I'm guessing you were planning on doing something about Fugaku?"
His eyes opened again, looking at her. "Yes."
"Don't," Mikoto sighed. "My father and his advisers will take care of him for saying what he shouldn't."
Naruto couldn't help but frown. "I don't like it... but if that's what you want..."
"It is. Thank you for coming to my defense, though." The grip on his arm eased slightly, but not by much.
The blond felt his anger start to ebb away as he tried to put it out of his mind. He wouldn't forget, but he could ignore it. For now.
Feeling a twinge in his stomach, he placed his free hand over it. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. I was stuck in my office all day and I wanted to get everything done before I ate."
His current companion nodded slightly, giving him a small smile. "I am too, now that you mention it."
"Want to stop by a restaurant?"
Mikoto hummed for a second, then shook her head. "No, just something simple and filling would suffice. It's been a long day and I don't feel like going home to get changed."
"Sounds good." A grin began to crawl over Naruto's face. "Hey, I know Kushina might have already dragged you there before, but there is this up and coming stand which serves ramen that is to die for..."
A/N: Not nearly as long a wait this time, Netinho! Really!
This and next chapter are the last two of the second arc, which focuses on Naruto and Mikoto's budding relationship. This chapter and part of next is essentially the climax of the arc, followed immediately by the aftermath. Chapter 12 starts arc three.
On another note, I'm thinking of making a blog to post some random stuff, as well as put review responses there instead of junking up fic chapters. But I don't know if it would be worth it because people may or may not (more likely) bother looking in the first place. Meh. With all the changes they are doing here, I wonder if they'd consider adding Author Journals or somesuch.
Also, I am once again completely blown away by the responses to this fic. Thank you all SO much for your comments, encouragements, and constructive criticisms. 113 this time, beating my previous 'record', which was... last chapter. Heh. I don't know why but I just can't help but count them.
In other news, the next chapter of Experiments will be posted in the next day or so, as soon as my betas finish with it.
Review responses:
Sasuke, Itachi, et al - Needless to say, there won't be anyone unaffected by the changes. I won't spoil anything, but even if people from his generation are given the same name, there is no way in hell they will be the same person Naruto used to know.
Minato's Team - Will definitely be appearing eventually. Any more info, you'll have to wait and see.
Orochimaru - Not going to spoil it! I know folks are going to get so tired of reading that, but I want to let you know I'm reading the reviews but I REALLY don't want to spoil how things are going to go down. Sorry. I can tell you that Orochimaru's 'moment' is in Chapter 13, so you can look forward to it.
Weekly - Yes, I really update this weekly. This is chapter 10, so there are 8 weeks left of chapters. Unless I decide to add another chapter or two, which is always a possibility. So for some of you (like Mini-Mi) I don't need to stop writing anything else... because this is already done. I'm spacing out the postings by a week so that just in case I need to edit or change something based on feedback, my chance to do so isn't closed off. Besides, I think posting a chapter every week gives those who follow something to look forward to. I don't know about others, but to me it feels like I've been scraping the bottom of the barrel to find good things to read on this website lately, and even updates don't arrive like they used to.
Sealing Mikoto - Naruto knows that Danzo hasn't started ROOT yet, and is not about to give the man ideas if he can avoid it.
Zabuza/Mei's BF - Nope, just someone random. Zabuza doesn't have a bloodline, and is still in Kiri. Zabuza always struck me as being younger than Mei, just in general. Not that there is a problem with that, but she's in her late 30's in Shippuuden where I place Zabuza at closer to Kakashi's age, late 20's to early 30's. The age difference now would just be uncomfortable. She's 17, Zabuza is probably about 7 to10.
Fugaku - (This is mostly a short-ish response to one huge review that I couldn't reply to personally as it was a guest review) I took some liberties with him, obviously, as this is a fanfic. He may have been a loving father, even if he didn't know how to show it properly. As a reminder/notice - I had most of this fic already typed and done by the time Fugaku's updated execution scene was shown in canon, and I didn't really feel the need to go and change anything. The Fugaku of right now is quickly approaching his prime and is definitely interested in prestige and power. There is roughly 16 years between now and the Uchiha Massacre - the man would have had plenty of time to change and become the Fugaku everyone knows. Don't worry, he's not going to disappear from the story completely. That's not to say he'll have any large parts, either. (btw, draconus... wow, great minds think alike)
Tsunade - Naruto calls her 'old hag' just like he calls Jiraiya 'pervy sage' because it's habit. Ever had something you say habitually and may not even realize it? Naruto has the same issue. That's not to say he won't get trounced if he keeps it up. Tsunade might be a bit more lenient since she isn't as concerned about her age right now like she was in his future. Still, she won't appreciate it.
Tragedy - While I can't say that there will necessarily be 'tragedy', at least not the way I'm thinking about it - the first 'hiccup' appears next chapter. The next true issue/roadblock will be during the third arc of this story, and Tobi starts to appear. Naruto is strong, certainly - but Tobi is a very unpredictable opponent. An opponent that will be very, very curious about someone who is countering his every move.
'til next week for those of you who only follow this.
For those who follow Experiments, I will likely be seeing you again in a couple days.