Author's Note: Well, after another couple of days of extremely hard work, I managed to finish chapter 12 and have lovingly posted it for your amusement. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
It seemed like a cloud of relief hung over Konoha; its merciful opacity blocking out some of the UV rays the harmful sun emitted. Despite the freezing weather outside, something Konoha had not experience for years, birds chirped happily, flying about the remote village.
Kakashi woke groggily to their chirps and felt around his mattress for the alarm clock, automatically assuming that it was what had produced this noise. When he'd finally managed to grab hold of the purple clock and hit the snooze button, he realized all too angrily that it was not the cause of the sound. He stood up, grumbling, walked to the window and threw it open, calling out a "shuddup" to the birds outside. Of course they didn't shut up, their chirps only growing louder in volume. Kakashi rubbed his temples and sighed. Why couldn't they just let him sleep? Didn't they know how tired he was? It was rude to keep him awake when he was so fatigued.
Another week on the border had drained Kakashi of the energy to function. The enemies that managed to slip past the cracks of the frontlines and make their way to the border were possibly the most skilled of all, and therefore, the most dangerous. It had been a constant struggle for him the entire week, and he'd needed to use the Sharingan quite a few times. He was thankful for the gift Obito had given him for it helped greatly when seeing the enemy's movements, but since he was not an Uchiha, it depleted his chakra reserve at an incredible rate, leaving him nearly immobile after a week's worth of use.
It hadn't helped that one of the juniors at the border had accidentally let an enemy nin through, and Kakashi, being the only one even close to finishing his week's shift, was sent to chase after him and take him out. The enemy had been a female with the most extraordinary Taijutsu and Ninjutsu abilities he'd come across, and his Sharingan was used for most of the battle. In the end, he'd managed to take her out nearly right outside of Konoha gates, and after making sure that she was indeed dead – setting her corpse on fire with a Katon – he'd proceeded home, where he'd collapsed in the door way from exhaustion due to overuse of the Sharingan and a week's worth of malnourishment.
The birds outside still seemed oblivious to his problems and went on chirping happily, keeping him awake. Groaning, he headed back to the windowsill and uttered a few more curses at the birds outside, before shuffling slowly to the washroom. After he'd finished cleaning himself up – Rin had been so tired herself from her long shift and having to drag his unconscious body to the mattress that she'd nearly passed out too – he made himself some of the potent, revitalizing tea that Gai had given him for his last birthday and downed it in shots, receiving a sudden invigorating burst of energy. The tea had woken him up enough so that he was able to set to work on cleaning his own wounds with the dreaded antiseptic and wrapping gauze bandages – something that there was an endless supply of in the bottom washroom cupboards – around the scar tissue.
Once he was finished, Kakashi exited the washroom and was met with the sight of Rin standing, arms crossed over her chest, glaring at the window behind her. "Stupid birds," she muttered under her breath, pushing past him. Kakashi would have erupted in cachinnation if not for the fact that it was uncharacteristic of his personality and the fact that he was slightly worried that Rin may be mad at him. Since living with her, he'd discovered all about her dislike towards being woken up, but never once had she been hostile towards him or completely ignorant of his presence. He wondered what she was angry with him for and was unable to come up with an answer.
As Rin came out of the washroom just moments later, she greeted him cordially, seemingly in a more chipper mood. Kakashi asked if she'd like some tea – knowing that it would wake her up immediately – and she'd responded, "Yes, thank you," before taking her seat at the table.
He poured the tea into one of the smaller cups in the house, and handed it to her. She raised an eyebrow at the miniscule amount of tea, but drank it down nevertheless. Moments later, once it settled into her system, she experienced a burst of vibrant energy course through her veins and she was immediately awake. "Oh snap! I totally forgot; we have something important to do today!" She exclaimed, the words flowing from her lips so rapidly that Kakashi needed a few minutes to decipher what she'd said. "Oh boy! Oh boy!" She continued, rising from her seat and bouncing up and down. "I totally forgot! I totally forgot!"
Kakashi's good eye followed her form, looking up then down repeatedly and rapidly; finally, the beginnings of a migraine began to form in his head. "Rin," he tried to put his hand out as a stop sign and catch her wrist, "Rin, stop bouncing like that. You're making me dizzy."
Much to his comfort, she listened to him and moved back to sitting in her seat. "Now," he said, "what did you forget?"
"It's a big day today!"
He sighed; this was like talking to a little kid. "Ok. Why is it a big day?"
"It's sensei's birthday party day! He invited you and me back up to the Hokage tower apartment for his birthday today!"
"I'm never giving you this tea again; it makes you way too hyper."
"Nope!" she told him, "I'm not hyper at all actually! I'm just masking the fact that I really don't want to talk to you right now!" Her face changed from the excited expression back to the vexed one she'd had this morning.
"I knew it," he sighed, "you're mad at me. Ok, ok, I'll bite. What did I do this time?"
"You didn't do anything, and I'm not mad." She ignored the sceptical look on his face. "I just wish you'd be more careful. You nearly gave me a heart attack when I saw you passed out in front of the door like that."
"Sorry," he apologized.
"Don't apologize for that," she said, rubbing her shoulder, "apologize for the fact that one of my arms is nearly immobile from dragging you. Geez, you're heavy; you look a lot lighter than you are."
"Muscle weighs more than fat."
"Muscle?! What muscle? You're skin and bones!" She threw her arms up, and then brought her right shoulder back down when it stung. "Or at least I thought you were," she added, wincing.
"What happened to the Rin who didn't complain? Who did things from the goodness of her heart?" he teased.
Ok, she knew that he was reckless, but now he was just playing with fire. She'd grown a lot tougher since Obito's death and her moods were very human; he shouldn't have teased her for that. "Do things from the goodness of my heart?! I did do this from the goodness of my heart! You know what? Maybe I'll just kick you awake next time and you can drag yourself to bed; how's that sound?"
He held his hands up in defence at her aggressive hands-on-hips stature. "Point taken. You're a very thoughtful person."
She grinned triumphantly at him, sticking out her tongue. "Of course I am! Now hurry up and get ready; we don't want to be late!"
When they reached the Hokage tower, gifts in tow the same young ANBU boys who had been guarding the door the first time greeted Rin politely.
"Hello there miss," the one on the left greeted, bowing.
She returned the gesture, smiling at him. "You can call me Rin, no need for the whole 'miss' thing."
The one on the right now turned towards her, bowing, and taking her hand gently. "Very well. I will call you Rin, and you can all me anytime."
Rin giggled good-naturedly at the young man's attempts to be sweet while Kakashi commented from behind her, "How did they ever let you two losers into ANBU?"
"Watch it Hatake," the one on the left warned. "We just may not be able to resist the urge to kick your ass."
Kakashi snorted. "As if you could."
"There's no need to quarrel boys," Rin smiled at both parties, hoping to avoid a confrontation.
"We'll forget it ever happened if you go out on a date with us," the one on the right, who still had hold of her hand suggested.
Rin's face remained polite, but she wrenched her hand out from his. "I know you did not mean this to offend me, but I feel that you as a gentleman should not pressure me into a situation. I believe that I have earned the right to make my own decisions. Now, if you were to ask me out properly, I might say yes, but I dare say that you need to have a bit more propriety in this matter."
"We apologize, Rin-san," they chorused, bowing once more. "Will you go out with us? It would be the greatest honour."
She paused thoughtfully, and heard Kakashi's voice growl from behind her, "It's ok, you don't have to go anywhere with these scumbags."
"You better watch yourself Hatake, or that mouth of yours is really going to get you into trouble."
"What do you know about trouble? I'm out there risking my life while you cowards are safely positioned here, guarding a door that no one even goes in except for us."
Rin seemed to have come back down to the situation at hand. "I will you out with you," she began, hearing the ANBU boys cheer, "on the condition that you become more mature with respects to your work and life. I understand that you're still young; how old are you guys anyway?"
"Sixteen," the one on the right supplied.
"Right, sixteen. So you're young, but you really shouldn't let your guard down so easily. As ANBU, you are considered elites, and thus are put into situations that require maturity and responsibility; I shouldn't be able to get past you just by smiling prettily once. You may want to think about your position or resign from it altogether."
The two ANBU in uniform straightened up immediately. "Please hand over your citizenship and state your business."
Rin complied with their requests, as did Kakashi, and after going through a thorough check, the ANBU guards nodded at the pair. "You may proceed." Kakashi and Rin were handed back their citizenships and the doors to the tower opened.
"Good job boys," Rin remarked, smiling, "I'm proud of you."
She and Kakashi then headed inside the tower, walking in the direction of the Hokage apartment. Just as the entrance doors were about to shut once more, one of the ANBU called after her, "Wait! What about our date?!"
Rin giggled lightly under her breath, and walked on as if she didn't hear them. Kakashi, still frustrated with them, complained to Minato the first second he got in the door. Minato grinned and asked, "What? Did Rin get past them again?"
"To say they let me in easily would be an understatement!" she told her sensei. "They all but shoved me through the door! I set them right though; you can thank me later."
Minato grinned at her. "Aw, look at you Rin!" He teased merrily. "All grown up and attracting all the boys' attention!"
Rin turned her embarrassed gaze to the floor, blushing. "Here are your presents," she mumbled softly, holding out her left hand, which still carried the bags of presents.
He took them from her hand, and thanked her before setting them down along with massive amounts of others that had formed a small mountain in the corner of the living room. "So," Minato looked back at the two young teens, "how are you guys?"
"Kind of tired," Rin admitted, "but ok, I guess. I can't wait until I get seniority at the hospital next spring, so that I can choose my shifts."
"Kakashi?" Minato turned to him. "How are you?"
"How do I look?"
"Like hell," Minato joked, grinning.
"Eh," Kakashi shrugged, "that's roughly how I feel."
"That's how my shoulder still feels," Rin spoke, glancing at Kakashi.
"I apologized for that already. Do you need to bring that up here too?" Kakashi groaned.
Minato arched a thin blond eyebrow at the pair. "Do I want to know?"
"No," Kakashi informed.
"Rin, don't attract the boys that much," Minato warned light-heartedly.
"It's nothing like whatever you're thinking!" Rin almost shrieked, her face turning tomato red. "Honestly sensei! You've been spending too much time around Jiraiya-sama!"
"No need to get so defensive," Minato grinned once more at her blushing face.
"Oh Minato, leave the poor girl alone," Kushina's voice came uncharacteristically softly from the doorframe between the living room and kitchen.
In a second Minato had dropped the jesting façade and appeared by her side, a small frown on his face. "You really should be resting," he whispered, while she waved at Kakashi and Rin.
Kushina smiled at her boyfriend, responding, "And miss the party? Not a chance."
Knowing that she wasn't going to listen to him no matter how much he believed that rest was a better option for her now than partaking in a party, Minato sighed resignedly and guided her over to the couch.
After the group had discussed their share of current events, Minato began opening the pile of gifts, pausing every so often to gaze worriedly at Kushina, who kept excusing herself for variable periods of time. One of the first presents he had opened was from a child at the academy who had recently lost his parents; the gift was a handmade pin the tail on the Hokage game, complete with a full-length, roughly drawn picture of Minato and a red tail to match the fire cloak. Greatly amused by his gift, Minato insisted that they stop opening gifts for a while in order to play the lovely handmade game; Kakashi ended up becoming so disoriented from being spun around before playing, that he had ended up pinning the tail on the actual Hokage's head. Rin and Kushina had laughed at him, but when it was Kushina's turn, she hadn't fared much better; she ended up pinning it onto his actual cloak. Rin was the only one who managed to actually get it on the picture, and not the person, but even her attempt was way off; she had pinned the tail onto his leg.
Minato had nearly started crying from laughing so hard at their pathetic attempts, and, deciding to spare them from more humiliation, went back to opening the gifts. It had taken him roughly an hour, and the gifts ranged greatly, but he finally managed to get down to Rin and Kakashi's gifts. He took a shiny dark blue bag and opened it, finding inside a packet of tea whose brand he'd never come across, and a framed photo of the entire team – Minato, Kakashi, Rin and Obito – that was taken on their first day out from the academy. Minato smiled appreciatively at the gift, nostalgia taking over him for a moment, before he returned to reality and asked from who the gift was.
Kakashi said nothing, not having known anything of this gift, but Rin spoke for him. "It's from Kakashi."
"It is?" Minato and Kakashi chorused unintentionally. Minato was merely surprised because he hadn't expected something this sentimental from Kakashi. Kakashi, on the other hand, was surprised because he hadn't really picked out a gift; the ANBU work had made him completely forget about his sensei's birthday altogether.
"Yeah, you helped pick it out, remember?" Rin smiled at Kakashi.
"Sure," he complied.
"Well, thanks Kakashi!" Minato thanked. "That was really thoughtful; what's up with the tea though?"
"It gives you energy."
Minato thanked him once more and then picked up a large, bright red bag. "I'm assuming this is from you, Rin?"
The girl sitting next to Kakashi nodded. "Don't get too excited though; the gift isn't as big as the bag."
Minato reached his hand into the red bag, pulling out a huge white construction paper card with flame designs running along the bottom. Rin's neat calligraphic writing printed, "Happy Birthday Hokage-sama!" across the front page, but Minato noticed some other things written in a different style all over the page.
"It'll make more sense if you fish around for the next thing," Rin suggested.
Minato reached once more into the bag, this time pulling out a white t-shirt with some green script on it. It had the sign of the Inside Ride and then a bunch of handprints in coloured paint and various signatures/messages written on it.
"The kids at the hospital just wanted you to know how grateful they are for what you did," Rin told him. "Some of them have been able to go home because we've managed to develop cures for a few of the cancers through the funds raised at this event. The children realize that as Hokage, you have a bunch of responsibilities and they just wanted to thank you properly for taking the time away from your duties to come out and meet them and give support."
"I need to go visit those kids again soon," Minato noted to himself, smiling while he went back to read the card with their signatures on it.
"There are more."
"What do you mean Rin?"
"Look in the bag; there are more gifts."
Minato went back to fishing around and pulled out a prettily wrapped package. Tearing off the wrapping paper like a little kid, he took out the gift, discovering that it was an exact replica of the fire cloak he had on now. On it was attached a sticky note, saying, 'Just in case something happens to the other one! Love Rin.'
"Thanks Rin, really, they're all great."
"Keep going, sensei. There's still more."
"Still more? Rin, you've already given me too much!"
"Just open them, sensei."
He obeyed her command, pulling out yet another rectangular parcel, this one covered in shiny gold wrapping paper. Just like before, Minato threw the wrapping paper aside, and flipped the gift over in his hands, this time trying to figure out what it was. It looked like a rectangular book, the covers draped in red satin, the spine of the book draped in gold satin.
"Uh…thanks Rin," Minato said, unsure of what to make of this gift.
She rolled her eyes at him. "Open the book sensei."
He did as he was told and found inside that it was a handmade scrapbook. Various images, leading up from the days when Minato was a small baby to the present day, were meticulously placed and framed, different quotations and descriptions of moments under them. Minato skimmed through the pages, awed at the handiwork and thoughtfulness that had gone into this gift, and stared with even more wonder at the last page. It was an autographed page that all three former members of his team had signed, their picture on the top of their signature. "But how?" Minato wondered out loud as he ran his fingertips along his dead student's autograph.
Rin still smiled at him, albeit a little more sadly. "I had originally planned to give you this album for your birthday last year, but then that happened" – the subject was still too touchy to phrase exactly – "and I got a little selfish. I wanted to keep the only physical evidence I had that he'd existed."
"Rin, you can still keep it," her sensei told her.
"No, it's ok. I think I can let it go now."
A slightly uncomfortable silence overtook them, altering ever so slightly their merry demeanours, until Kakashi finally found his voice.
"I think that you've still got one more gift in that bag, sensei," he told the older man, remembering the stamp that Rin had bought.
"Still? Rin, you spoil me!"
She grinned. "It's ok sensei; you deserve to be spoiled."
For the final time, Minato fished around in the large red bag and pulled out a small red bag. Reaching inside the smaller bag, he retrieved the 'Yondaime Approved' stamp, his eyes lighting up as soon as he realized what it was.
Rin let out a laugh as he stamped himself, and then began to stamp everything in sight. "I thought it would take away from the dullness of paperwork," she confessed.
"Rin, you are my favourite student! Come here!"
She stood up obediently and walked over to her sensei, embracing the man that was more like a father than a sensei to her. There was just something about him that made him feel comfortable to be around and kids in general loved him. Perhaps it was a sense of security that he emitted, or the ability to closely relate with even the youngest of children. Whatever it was, it had always made her look up to him and respect him. When she had first gone to him with her problem, he had been the adult who had signed her first apartment's lease agreement – hence the surprise at finding her staying with Kakashi. She was disconnected from her thoughts when she felt a light pressure on her cheek; it had taken her a while to ascertain that it was her sensei stamping her on the face. Rin laughed at his actions, and then took her seat.
"Kakashi, thank you for the photo! Come here!"
Just as Rin had done, Kakashi walked obediently over, albeit a bit more warily, eyeing his sensei's outstretched arms with suspicion. "A handshake would suffice."
"Kakashi, why are you such a killjoy?" Minato muttered, rolling his eyes teasingly, but nevertheless gave into his student's demand and simply shook his hand. Once Minato had clasped Kakashi's palm in his own, he abruptly pulled his student forward towards him and stamped the young boy's forehead. Caught completely off guard, Kakashi had no chance to fight back, and thus, was stamped just as Rin had been.
Minato let go of a glaring Kakashi, ignoring the boy's murderous looks entirely, and headed towards a stack of papers he needed to sign. He began stamping nearly each and every single paper, exclaiming, "This is the best birthday ever!"
His stamping was only stopped when Kushina dimmed the lights and lit the candles on his birthday cake, entering the room singing with one arm preventing the candles from extinguishing. "Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dear Minato, Happy birthday to you!" Kushina continued singing all the way to the coffee table, and Rin and Minato joined in with her – Kakashi would only mumble the words – singing and clearing the table so that Kushina was able to set the cake down.
As soon as the cake was set, they all cheered for Minato, waiting for him to think up a wish. It had taken a while – in fact, it had taken just long enough for Kushina to remember to get the camera and take a picture – so the candle blowing was postponed for another minute. Kushina gathered them to the loveseat sofa they owned, trying to squish them all in to the camera's range. Once the timer was set to 30 seconds, she hurried back to the couch and found them all places to sit. In the end, Minato had convinced Kushina to sit on his knees, one arm around her waist, while Kakashi took up the other seat of the sofa, leaving Rin to perch herself on the armrest; Rin also crossed her arms, lay her head on them, and set them atop of Kakashi's right shoulder. All four smiled at the camera – though with Kakashi you couldn't really tell – and broke apart from their spots the minute the camera flash had disappeared.
Minato, who had thought up his wish, set himself closer to the lit up cake, and prepared to blow out all his candles. Just as he was about to extinguish their light, and began enjoying his delectable dessert, there came a knock at the door. Not wanting to stand up, Minato simply called, "Come in!"
An ANBU official materialized in the room, his/her face hidden behind a boar mask. "Hokage-sama," the person said with a female voice, bowing to Minato. "I have urgent news from the frontlines."
Minato and Kakashi sat up straighter. "Go on," urged Minato.
"We have reason to believe that Konoha is now close to victory. Since a couple of days ago, Earth's advances on our frontlines have stopped and it is rumoured that the Tsuchikage is seeking a cease fire with Konoha."
"Hmm, I don't know what to make of this. It doesn't seem right though; Iwagakure is one of the toughest villages out there, it doesn't make sense for them to just draw back."
"Yeah," Kakashi agreed, adding on, "when I was at the border, it seemed like there was no end to them trying to come in."
"Nevertheless, a peace treaty or even just a cease fire is definitely ideal for now," Minato said hopefully. "Commander."
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"I'll accept this information and if it turns out to be true, then all the better. Still…don't let your shinobi get their guard down and prepare yourselves for the worst. It's probable that they're just laying low to plan a surprise ambush. We can't let that happen; let your men and women know that the war is still on until the Tsuchikage or I declare otherwise."
"Yes Hokage-sama," the woman bowed again and disappeared.
"Who was she?" Rin asked.
"She is our leading commander. Her name is Shizuoka Akane; she used to be the one who recruited shinobi for ANBU, but as soon as the war started, she was the first to lead a group of ANBU's finest to the frontlines."
"Girl power! But sensei, are only ANBU allowed on the frontlines?"
Minato grimaced. "No, any shinobi can volunteer to be transferred there if they are of suited age or rank. It increases our numbers, but it doesn't really help us win. Because there is a flee-on-sight order implemented now, many have just foolishly gone up to the frontlines and then fled for the furthest place possible when danger arose."
"We've never had a flee-on-sight order before."
"That's because I wasn't Hokage before. I believe each and every shinobi should have the right to decide whether they want to die for their country or not. This war changes nothing."
"What if the cease fire is real?" Kakashi questioned.
"If the cease fire is real, then all the ANBU and shinobi from the border and frontlines can start heading back home," Minato replied, running a hand through his blond hair, "and I can truly say then that this was the best birthday ever."
Kushina smiled at all of them. "Let's just forget about all this war and ANBU stuff for now, ok? Your candles are about to go out."
"Yeah," Minato grinned back, moving his head towards the cake again.
"Don't forget to make a wish sensei!" Rin reminded him.
Minato paused for a moment, thinking about what he should wish for, after which he took a big gulp of air and blew out all his candles in one breath. The rest of them cheered as the candles went out and Kushina made a move to turn the lights back on. Handing out plates to each of them, she cut the cake into pieces and put one piece on their plates. The cake was of vanilla and chocolate mousse with strawberries and cherries on top.
It was not only the cake's good looks that earned it high ratings with Minato, Kakashi and Rin, but also its sweet, rich, delicious taste. All three asked for seconds, and Minato and Kakashi even had the stomach for thirds. Kushina was more than delighted to see that everyone was pleased with her cooking abilities, and even more so that Kakashi ate up everything she made. She'd given the teen boy a friendly slap on the shoulder, labelling him a good guy based on his eating habits.
Minato laughed at both Kakashi and Kushina during that time, until Kushina's face changed expressions from a jovial one to an infirm one. She politely excused herself, appearing as though she was going to be sick to her stomach, and Minato quickly withdrew his hold on her waist, gazing after her worriedly.
"Is she ok?" Rin inquired, noticing the change in expression. Being a medic made you able to tell when something was seriously wrong, and though Rin didn't want to frighten Minato, she was sure that there was something seriously wrong with Kushina.
"I don't know," Minato admitted. "She's been feeling sick to her stomach for a couple of days now. It's seems to be worse earlier in the day though. I think she may have come down with a stomach flu or something."
"Would you like me to check and find out for you?" Rin offered.
"That would be so great if you could," Minato sighed with relief, never happier that he had a young, talented medic as a student and friend.
Rin nodded and smiled reassuringly at her sensei before taking off to the washroom. There, she found Kushina emptying the contents of her cake into the toilet bowl. Rin looked at the older woman sympathetically, joining her down on the washroom floor and holding her hair back while she retched incessantly for nearly five minutes. Once her nausea seemed to have cleared, Rin deemed it the right time to perform a medical check up.
"How long has this been going on?"
"A few days," Kushina replied meekly, still panting.
"Have you experienced any other symptoms?"
"Nothing that out of the ordinary. I don't think this is just a stomach flu though; I've had those before and the nausea's never been this bad."
"Yeah, I don't think you have a stomach flu either." Rin stood up, dusting herself off, and held out a hand to Kushina who took it gratefully. Rin pulled the other woman up, and led her to her bedroom, making her lie down.
"Wait!" Kushina exclaimed. "Where are you going?"
"I have a hunch, I'll be right back."
Rin exited the apartment, ignoring Kakashi and Minato's questions on her way out and headed toward the main entrance. She didn't want to enter through the back doors again in case the ANBU guards were still there, waiting for her answer.
Moving as swiftly as she could, she headed to the drugstore and began her search for the blue package she desired. Upon finding it, she raced to the cash, skidding to a halt in front of an old cashier lady who looked up at her, back down at what she was purchasing, and shook her head disapprovingly. Paying for the item, Rin took off again, determined to make it back to Minato's Hokage apartment in record time. To save all the poor pedestrians below, Rin propelled herself from rooftop to rooftop using her chakra and avoiding all traffic. Within ten minutes, she was in front of the back doors again. Once she noticed that she had reached the back doors and not the front, and that the guards were still there, she cursed herself mentally.
Silently, she walked up the stairs to the doors, ignoring the gazes of the two young ANBU who had asked her out earlier that day. She was about to pass through the door when one of them put his hand out. "Sorry, we can't let you pass until you've given us a straight answer."
Rin glared, feeling a low growl build itself in her chest cavity. "To what?"
"To the date of course!"
They were still going on about that? Something so trivial? They were interrupting her urgent doctoring for something so idiotic? That was it; they were getting it. Normally Rin was a patient female, but right now when she had an urgent task to perform, she was completely someone else. "You know what? Screw you two and your dates! I need to get in there because I have something urgent for the Hokage!"
"Sorry sweetheart," the one with his arm in front of her apologized, "we still can't let you through."
"You will let me in this minute!" she demanded, shrieking at them, her face livid. "You will if you know what's good for you! I may not have the strength to knock you out myself, but you will be dealing with one very angry Kakashi and one very upset Minato-sensei if you don't let me in right this minute! To mess with me right now is to be asking for it from both of them! Now let me through before I have you fired and beaten!"
Although Rin could not see either of the boys' faces, she was almost certain that their expressions were shocked and they were wincing. Not only had she managed to reach such a high pitch with her screaming, but also she knew that they understood that she told the truth when she threatened them. Stepping aside, they let her through, this making her demeanour change back to a polite one. "Thank you two gentlemen for understanding," she bowed to each of them then sprinted through the halls to the apartment.
She threw the door open, panting heavily from her run, and roughly pushed past her two very surprised male friends. Making sure that they weren't following her, she went back into Kushina's bedroom where the woman was still seated on the bed, and took out her purchased item from the bag.
Removing the blue packaged item from the plastic drugstore bag, Rin held it up in front of Kushina. "You know what this is, don't you?"
Kushina took one look at it and blanched. "Oh god," she whispered, sounding mildly horrified and confused, "you're not serious, are you?"
"It's a possibility that you need to consider," Rin told her.
Just then a knock was heard at the door, and Minato's voice came from the other side. "Rin? Kushina? Everything ok in there?"
"Yeah, everything's fine," Kushina croaked, still glancing horrifiedly at the package in Rin's hands.
Minato heard the break in his girlfriend's voice though and decided that everything was indeed not all right. "Can I come in?" he asked.
Rin threw the package at Kushina, mouthing a 'hide it' and opened the door just a crack. "Sorry sensei, you're not allowed in yet; I haven't completed my diagnosis. You can however, fetch me three bottles of water to make yourself useful and then wait patiently in the living room until I come out."
A pause of silence was heard and then, "Yeah sure."
Once Minato had brought the bottles of water, Rin set Kushina to drink them immediately. In a time frame of a half hour, Kushina had managed to drink three whole water bottles, and half an hour after that, her bowels gave in. Quick as lightning, Rin opened the blue package expertly and handed Kushina the contents, shoving the older woman into the washroom. Rin then waited patiently outside the door for Kushina to finish, giving the woman some extra time to also settle her emotions.
"Rin?" she heard Kushina call her from inside the washroom.
"Yes?"
"Can you come in here please?"
"Sure."
Upon entering the washroom, Rin noticed that Kushina's face was in her hands and she appeared upset. "Well, what does it say?" Rin asked, motioning to the device in Kushina's hand.
"It's just as you thought."
"My hunches don't tend to be wrong. So, what do you plan on telling sensei? It's not my place to let him know of these findings."
"I don't know how or even when to tell him."
"Tell him when you're ready, but don't wait too long to let him know. At the rate he's going, he'll either send himself into insanity from worry or he'll have a cardiac arrest; personally, I can't heal either." Rin smiled jokingly at Kushina.
This seemed to do the trick as Kushina found her optimism again and managed to smile back. "Ok, I'll tell him today." Kushina didn't know how she'd managed to smile, but there was something about Rin that just brought happiness. It was as though the young girl was able to manipulate the emotions in the atmosphere, and relieve all tension from a situation. "Hey Rin? How did you even know to have that as a hunch?" Kushina wondered out loud.
"I don't know; Minato-sensei said that you were feeling sick to your stomach and it happened in early day, thus, I put two and two together to get morning sickness."
"You're a smart girl."
"Thank you. Now, I'm going to drag Kakashi off and leave you to tell Minato-sensei ok?"
"No, not just yet! At least let him enjoy his birthday a little longer!"
"Honestly Kushina, he's so distraught with worry, I doubt he'd enjoy it if we stayed. Just keep calm about this; he's not going to freak like you think. Sensei's a pretty calm person."
Kushina sighed, standing up. "Fine."
She and Rin made their way back to the living room, Rin clearing her throat when they reached it. "I think Kakashi and I will be going now," Rin smiled nervously at her sensei.
"But what about Kushina? You still haven't let me know what's wrong with her!"
"She'll let you know herself. Now come on Kakashi, we need to get home." Rin then proceeded to drag her confused friend out the door, smiling and waving at the remaining two adults in the room.
As the two teens exited through the back, both noticed the wary body language of the ANBU guards. "Oh calm down, no one's coming after you," Rin notified them.
"What did you tell them to make them so scared?" Kakashi asked once they were back on the streets.
"I may have mentioned something about you and sensei pummelling them into the ground."
"That's not like you."
"I was in a hurry and they wouldn't let me through because they still wanted an answer for that date. Death threats seemed to be the only effective form of persuasive communication."
"I see. And why were you in such a hurry?"
"I had to get some test to Kushina."
"What do you mean? You figured out what's wrong with her?"
"Yeah, and there's nothing wrong with her per se but…well it's complicated and it really isn't my place to say; I wouldn't want this news leaking out."
"Because of course I am the source of all gossip," Kakashi remarked sarcastically.
"Promise not to go ballistic or anything?"
"Promise."
"She's pregnant."
"I can see now how it wasn't your place to let sensei know and how you wouldn't want this news spreading."
"I just hope she tells him," Rin sighed.
"Why wouldn't she?"
"I think she's scared to."
Meanwhile, Minato was having a difficult time coaxing out the diagnosis from Kushina.
"Kushina," he pleaded for the umpteenth time, "tell me please."
"No," she persisted stubbornly.
"You have to tell me what's wrong! If not, I'm going to be the Hokage known best for dying at an early age; you're increasing my blood pressure here!"
"Calm down Minato, it's not something that will kill me."
"Thank god," he sighed, stopping his incessant pacing to sit down on the couch next to her. Minato took her hand in his. "Why can't you tell me then?"
She tugged her hand free, looking in the other direction. "It's just…this is going to sound stupid, but you may not like me anymore."
"Not like you anymore? You're right; that does sound stupid. What does this have to do with me liking you anyway?"
"Promise me you won't hate me?" She asked, looking up at him with sad eyes.
Minato stared back at her, torn between feeling guilty and feeling angry. Hate her? How could she even think of such a thing? Didn't she already know how much he loved her; how it was impossible for him to even think of hating her for one second? Apparently she didn't, otherwise she wouldn't have feared his reaction. As he saw her unusually sad eyes, he felt so guilty, so helpless. It seemed that no matter how strong he was there was nothing his strength could do to get rid of that sadness. Except maybe… "I promise. I could never hate you."
"You better keep your promise," Kushina answered shakily. After a few moments in silence, she shook her head and stood up. "Ok, I'm going to tell you."
Minato nodded, still staring at her, watching every fluid motion she made as she paced the length of the floorboards like he previously had. He saw as she bit her lip hard, a habit he'd learned helped her to concentrate in difficult situations, and then he let his shoulders sink down a little as he noticed the fire come back in her eyes. Her royal blue orbs never seemed complete without that determination, that drive, that passion behind them.
"Minato," she declared, "I'm pregnant."
"You're what?" he asked incredulously.
"I'm pregnant."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, Rin went out and got me a test; it came out positive." She confirmed for him, and then tentatively added in another tone of voice, "You don't hate me right? You can't; you promised."
At this point, Minato couldn't take her sadness any longer so he lifted himself from the couch, strode toward her, and captured her in a tight embrace. "No, of course I don't hate you. Hate you? Hate you? Woman, you're crazy! How could I ever hate you?"
She laughed lightly yet still shakily at his words. "I'm not crazy! I don't know; with all your duties as Hokage and everything, I feared that this was just going to be a burden to you."
"A burden? Now you're really talking crazy!" He removed his arms from around her, taking his hands and placing them on her face. "Look at me," he commanded, and she complied. "If you don't already know this, get it through your head now. I will never, ever, hate you. You bring me too much happiness for me to ever even think of hating you. I love you; there is nothing in my life right now that matters as much to me as your safety and happiness. Not the village's safety, not this war, not even my duties matter as much, though it may sometimes seem like I'm siding with someone else. Trust me though; there is nothing that matters to me as much as you. Without you, I'd probably still be that hot genius kid with no soul."
By the time he was finished with his uncharacteristically mushy declaration, Kushina was glad that he was holding her upright; otherwise she would have fallen to the floor laughing. It wasn't that she didn't find his declaration incredibly sweet and adorable, but rather the fact that he was saying anything like this at all was so unlike him that it was nearly laughable. "Oh Minato!" She punched him in the gut and then embraced him back. "You're such a sap! Haha, it's hilarious! 'Hot genius kid with no soul'? Haha!"
She lifted her chin off his shoulder to face him again. "So, you sure you're ok with me being pregnant?"
"Ok with it? I think it's great!"
"Well, even if you don't think it's great, you can't get out of it now," she teased.
Minato kissed the top of her head. "I wouldn't even dare try." He then beamed down at her. "Let's just hope that, boy or girl, the kid has your hair and not mine!"
She ran her hand through his blond mess of hair, getting her hand caught. As she tried to retract it from his hair in vain, she laughed, "Yes, let's at least hope for that! The kid can have one eye or three hands, but please don't let it have your hair!"
Author's Note: That's all for this time ladies and gentlemen; I hope that you enjoyed this 7,000+ word piece of work! Thank you to all those who reviewed chapter 11 (won't list you by penname because there may be more reviews coming)!
As for the chapterly challenge: I will not divulge the previous chapter's answer because, as I said, this update has come fairly quickly and thus, it would be unfair to leave out the chance for those other people who actually had things to do this past weekend. I will however, provide you with this week's challenge, and those reviewing chapter 11 will just have to answer two challenges! Alright, this week's challenge has almost nothing to do with your vocabulary; it has to do with Latin! Inspired from an idea mentioned in this chapter, your chapterly challenge is to – without the use of the internet – translate this famous phrase into English: Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori. Hint: You may want to use your lovely English teacher's help for this one; they will probably know it! ;) Especially if you've done any poetry!
Also, standings will be updated and posted in chapter 13. Since I have updated so quickly this week, I cannot guarantee that I will update this weekend! (i.e., I have no idea what I'm doing for chapter 13.) It may be later on next week that I provide you with chapter 13.