Falling Down
Part III

Minato sat on the front steps of his uncle's house and sighed. Four days of stewing on what he'd learned hadn't cleared his head any. If anything, he was more upset and confused. He just looked outwardly calmer.

He'd tried calling her a few times each day, but all he got was her answering machine. Once she knew where Naruto was, she'd probably called the hospital and found out all that she needed to know. She had no need to talk to him anymore, and was probably ignoring him.

For the millionth time he reviewed their break-up…which he hadn't realized was a break-up at the time. She'd seemed off for weeks beforehand, always cranky and fighting off some kind of virus. And then, that night, she'd gotten all nasty about a girl that had flirted with him and passed him a love note with her phone number. It was stupid, he hadn't been the least bit interested in the girl, but Kushina kept snapping at him and pushing his buttons until it flared up into a full-blown argument. With a few nasty parting shots, she stormed off and he went to bed in their hotel room.

They had argued before, and sometimes she would get mad enough to leave. But once she cooled down, she always came back. She rarely ever apologized when it was her fault, but she would act apologetic and that would be enough. Once or twice she'd been gone for days before turning up again.

So he hadn't thought that anything was unusual until she didn't turn up when he'd made his challenge to Fire Country's reigning League Champion, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He couldn't imagine that she'd still be mad enough to have missed out on that fight. But all throughout the celebrations of his victory he never once caught a glimpse of her fiery red hair anywhere.

He started making quiet inquires around to see if anyone had seen her or knew where she was. He waited for a letter or postcard; even though she was no longer on speaking terms with her family she would still write to them every now and then. But weeks turned into months and months turned into years and there was never anything at all.

Minato had feared that she was dead, then. Kushina was stubborn and hard-headed, but surely she would've gotten over whatever had set her off and contacted him by then. She would've come back to him if she could…she always came back.

But she was okay, he brooded, picking at some blades of grass that were growing between the stones of the front walkway. She ran away from me, had a baby, and never said a word to me or anyone about it. And all over a stupid, flirty waitress that hit on me?!

It didn't make sense. Sure, Kushina could get a little insecure when he was around pretty girls. But her reaction to that one-sided flirtation was completely out of proportion and irrational. There had to be some other reason that she'd abandoned him…

…I should've told her that I loved her.

They'd never really defined what their relationship was. He never knew when it changed until long after it had. At first she was just some unwanted tag-along that he couldn't shake. Then somewhere along the way she became a trusted friend and companion. And then somehow, for a short while, she was a lover.

Maybe if she knew…she wouldn't have run away. Or she would've come back. He ran out of blades of grass in easy reach and sighed. Or maybe she would've run off sooner…

A shadow fell over him.

"Where's the hospital?"

He started at the voice and jerked his head up to find—

"Kushina?!" She came here?!

She looked pale and tired. Her red hair, which was even longer than he thought it had been, was pulled in a loose ponytail and the barrette that keep her bangs out of her face was almost falling out of her hair. There were shadows under her eyes, like she'd barely slept. A duffel bag hung haphazardly from her shoulder. To have arrived so quickly, she must've left right after getting his phone call.

"Where is the hospital?" she demanded, her face stony.

His brain was too frazzled to respond. She was actually here, not behind a screen and miles away. He could touch her if he wanted to. All he had to do was—

She grabbed him by the hair and pulled. "Where. Is. The. Hospital?"

"Ow! Ow! Okay, okay, I'll-I'll take you," he yelped.

"Do it then," she growled and released her painful grip.

"Okay," he gulped and, after taking her bag and tossing it inside the house, he headed for the hospital.

They walked side by side in silence towards the hospital on the opposite side of the resort town. Normally he wouldn't mind, but she would be bothered by the quiet and find something to talk about. Now the roles were reversed—she didn't seem to have anything to say, but he couldn't stand the silence.

"Why did you leave?" he asked quietly.

Her eyes were fixed straight ahead. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Well when are we going to talk about it?" he demanded.

She didn't answer.

Minato clenched his teeth and grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop with him. "When are we going to talk about it?"

"Not right now," she ground out. "Now take me to the hospital, or I'll find someone else who will."

He glared at her, but let go of her arm and continued on to the hospital building. "Why didn't you get in touch with me?"

She didn't respond.

"Why didn't you tell me about Naruto?"

Still nothing.

"You could've called me anytime, or just written a letter. I know that's all you do to keep in touch with your family, why not write me? Do I really mean so little to you?"

He was venting his frustrations now, but still she said nothing.

"Did anything that we did together mean anything to you? Was I just some adventure that you were done with? Did you ever think of me at all after you left?"

She still had no reaction and he wondered if she was hearing anything that he was saying.

He threw all sorts of sharp questions and bitter comments at her, trying to get a response as well as releasing everything that he'd bottled up. He tried to get her talking with meaningless questions, like why had she decided to grow out her hair after keeping it so short for so long. But she just followed his lead in uncharacteristic stoic silence.

"…I waited for you," he sighed as the hospital building came into sight at last. "I didn't know that anything was wrong, so I just waited for you to come back. And when you didn't come back, I started looking for you…but I never found you. I waited for phone calls or letters that didn't come." His chest felt uncomfortably tight. "I missed you. Did you miss me at all?"

"Please," she said softly, her voice wavering and watery. "Shut up. I just want to see him and then go to sleep. I haven't slept since…I don't know."

Minato bit his lip, then tentatively looped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side. "He'll be okay. If you hadn't hung up on me, or called the hospital, you'd know that. He didn't break anything, just a lot of bruises, a sprain, and a concussion. He'll be okay."

She buried her face into his shoulder and cried. He stood frozen for a moment before carefully embracing her. It felt awkward; it had just been so long since they'd had any sort of physical contact with each other.

He found it all very unnerving as Kushina rarely cried. Usually if she did cry, it would only be a few tears that managed to escape her eyes and then she would pull herself together. She was a tough girl and refused to be a sissy cry-baby. It was beyond bizarre to have her weeping and vulnerable like this.

"Kushina…" he mumbled into her hair.

"I'm sorry," she choked out. "I'm sorry…that I'm so s-stupid…and cowardly…and stubborn…"

"Shh," he soothed. "You're just tired. Let's go see Naruto and then get you to bed."

"Okay," she sniffed, pulling away to rub at her eyes with shaking hands. "Okay, let's go."

The visit to the hospital was brief. The boy was sleeping and she didn't wake him. Once she was able to see him and run her hand over his cheek, it was easy to persuade her to leave.

Now that the worry that had been driving her was removed, she seemed asleep on her feet. He had to keep one hand on her arm to make sure that when she tripped or stumbled that she didn't fall. When he brought her to his bedroom in his uncle's house, he was sure that she was asleep before she was completely on the bed.

Minato sighed and pulled her shoes off.

"What am I going to do with you?"

Being asleep, she didn't answer him.

But the question still remained. Should he forgive her? Or should he just walk away?

She'd run off with no warning and left him to worry for years. She had never told him about Naruto and he had to wonder if she ever was going to tell him. And so he'd missed everything—the boy's birth, his first smile, first words, first steps, first everything—and not even known that he'd had anything to miss.

And yet…he was so relieved to see her again; to see that she was alright and not hurt or dead somewhere. She was with him again, if only for a little while, and the sense that he was missing something (or, in this case, someone) important that had been nagging at him for forever was gone. Now that she was here, he could get answers.

He really should wash his hands of her, but the idea made him squirm and he simply couldn't decide what really wanted.

I need to clear my head. Sighing, he tucked her in and left the house for the pokémon center. I need to swap out Kyuubi for Kirin. A good ride should help me…

When Kushina woke up, it took her a while to realize where she was. Sleep had been all but impossible on the way to Myouboku Town. Every time she tried to close her eyes her imagination would through horrible images at her—Naruto hurt, broken, bleeding—and she would be forced awake to escape them. Almost four straight days with no sleep left her brain fuzzy, her thoughts clouded, and her recollections of her trip hazy at best. But now that sleep had refreshed her brain, she could figure out where she was and review all that she'd done on her way to "here".

She was obviously in Minato's old room in Jiraiya's house. It was still a little boy's room with sun-faded posters taped to the walls, a small bed with pokéball-patterned sheets, and shelves lined with dusty books and kiddie collectables. Once Minato left to train pokémon, he wasn't living in this room anymore and evolving it with him as he grew up. And Jiraiya was no interior decorator—not that he was around enough to bother with the room anyway—so the room was left as Minato had left it when he started on his journey.

What she'd done to land herself here made her cringe.

I'm mean to him. I give him the silent treatment. Then I cry all over him. And then there's all the stuff I didn't tell him, not to mention ditching him in the first place…

She buried her face in her hands and groaned.

I guess I'm lucky that Minato's so nice. If I were him, I would've made me sleep in a hotel…or outside. She shivered and hugged herself. But he's definitely mad at me… I woke up alone.

Shaking her head, she skulked out of his room. She'd slept all day and all night, making it early the next morning. Neither Minato nor Jiraiya seemed to be awake or around, and that made her relax a little as she stole into the shower. Of course, in her haste to pack and get to Myouboku, she hadn't packed any toiletries so she was stuck using Jiraiya's supplies.

At least with his long hair, he has good shampoo and conditioner. She smirked slightly as she washed. I'm sure that his hair is still longer than mine…

Clean, and in fresh clothes, she headed down the stairs to face the music…or whatever he was going to make her face.

Minato was passed out on the living room couch. It looked like he'd spent the whole night there instead of sleeping with her, or in Jiraiya's room. When she crept up to him, she found that he smelled like smoke.

He hasn't picked up smoking, has he? She frowned at that thought. I'll kick his butt if he has, because then Naruto will want to, too.

A faint orange glow that had nothing to do with the rising sun brought her attention to the front window. Peeking outside, she found Kirin the rapidash placidly grazing on the front lawn, a bridle and reins still fastened to her head. She wore no saddle as Minato always rode her bareback. A saddle was just too big and bulky to carry on the road, and a pain to remove for using her in battle, so he'd never used one.

Oh, he just went riding.

Pontya and rapidash seemed impossible to ride because of their flaming manes and tails, but if the fire horses trusted you their fires wouldn't cause burns. It was an eerie experience to ride one and have the fire blow in your face, but only feel warm instead of searing hot. But long rides still left the human rider smelling like smoke.

Kushina took a minute to finger Minato's hair before slipping into the kitchen. It was filled with bachelor food—frozen dinners and anything that was "instant". But she did find some milk that was still good, non-moldy bread, eggs, and bacon. So she started making breakfast for two. If Jiraiya was around, he'd have to make his own breakfast.

Halfway through cooking, Minato shuffled into the room, rubbing the gritty sleep from his eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, her eyes fixed firmly on her cooking. "I'm making breakfast."

"You…really don't have to do that."

She took a moment to rein in her temper (because she really had no business getting mad at him) before responding. "I've learned how to cook. I swear that I won't kill you with food poisoning this time."

He didn't say anything and eventually she heard the scraping sound of him pulling out a chair to sit down. "…So, did you sleep well?"

"I slept like the dead," she answered. "But what about you? I'm sure that your uncle wouldn't care if you stole his bed for the night instead of using the couch."

"I'll never sleep in his bed," Minato swore. "Who knows how many 'dates' he's had there?"

Kushina shuddered at that. Jiraiya, being a man, probably didn't wash his sheets half as much as he should. And well…it was Jiraiya. She'd rather not know what he did in his own room, and who he might do it with.

"Point," she agreed and dished up the cooked eggs and bacon on two plates. "Very good point." The bread popped out of the toaster and she added it to the plates before bringing it to the kitchen table. "You know, you could've made me sleep on the floor and kept the bed for yourself."

"You don't make guests sleep on the floor," he shrugged and eyed his plate suspiciously.

"You're too polite, Sunshine," she muttered as she sprinkled some salt and pepper on her scrambled eggs. "You know I don't deserve it."

A tense silence fell over the table. Kushina was the first to eat. When Minato saw that the food wasn't toxic, he tentatively consumed his own food. It was only when they'd finished and Kushina started washing the dishes in the sink that they started talking again.

"Speak already," she muttered as she scrubbed angrily at the egg skillet. "You had a million questions yesterday."

"Alright," he sighed. "Why did you leave?"

"I got scared," she mumbled. "You were close to achieving your dream, and getting famous. I was barely twenty and that morning I'd just found out that…that I was pregnant. I was a basket case and I just used that argument as an excuse to run. Of course I couldn't outrun this problem; it just went with me wherever I ran."

"…You thought of him as a problem?"

"At the time, yes I did," she nodded slowly. "A baby was the last thing that I wanted, or was ready for. I didn't know anything about babies. I was scared out of my mind."

"You didn't have to keep him."

She shot him a glare. "I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that."

The blonde man flinched at her look. "Yeah… Were you ever going to tell me about him?"

"I…I really don't know," she said, dropping her eyes into the soapy sink.

"What sort of answer is that?" he demanded sharply.

"It's my answer," she shot back. "When Naruto was born, all I could think about was how to take care of him and not royally screw it up. He was three years old when I finally had enough time to myself to think about other things. I was afraid that I'd waited too long, that you would be angry with me for not letting you know what was going on right away." She turned completely away from him, unable to look him in the face. "I could never make up my mind on what I should do. So I did nothing. …I was afraid that you'd hate me."

He stayed silent for what felt like forever. "…Does he know anything about me?"

"Nothing beyond what he's seen on TV," she replied quietly. "I could never think of any way to explain myself. I could never decide what to tell him. So I never gave any details about my old adventures or any of the people that I used to run with. And…I just didn't want to remember."

"…I see." His voice was cold, and she shivered. "I'm going to go take a shower. You go do what you want. That's what you always do."

Kushina didn't dare move until he'd vanished upstairs to take his shower. When she heard the faint sound of the bathroom door closing, she hurried out of Jiraiya's house. She paused only long enough to pet Kirin before she hurried off to the hospital and Naruto.

He hates me. She rubbed at her stinging eyes. And I have only myself to blame.

Not even an icy blast of water in the shower helped cool Minato's raging emotions. He was feeling so much it was hard to sort out all the different emotions. He didn't know if he wanted to scream or cry or just curse until he lost his voice.

He needed another ride.

Hair still wet from the shower, and his shirt sticking to his damp torso, he jogged out to his rapidash who was still staring down the street into town. Kushina had probably headed to the hospital to see Naruto. He clenched his jaw and approached the horned fire-horse.

"Kirin, I need another ride."

The horse pokémon eyed him for a moment before turning so that he could climb aboard easier.

Minato vaulted onto her back and immediately urged her beyond the fringes of town at high speed. Soon they were racing through the trees and down the mountain at a blistering pace. Kirin's blazing mane practically blinded him, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he was going fast.

It was no secret that he loved speed. It was probably the only reckless thing about him. He'd always loved to run, or ride something fast. Jiraiya-oji-san started jokingly referred to him as Kiroi Senkou—the Yellow Flash. As soon as Kushina had heard about it, she added it to her long list of nicknames for him. And it just spread from there. Now it was something of an unofficial title tacked on to his name, as many of his battles were over quickly and decisively.

She never told me… She never told him… And all because she was afraid and indecisive?!

Kirin tossed her head and leapt over a ravine, but the thrill of the jump was lost on him.

I was right about her the first day that I ever met her, he thought bitterly. I'm cursed with the memory of her forever and ever… If only I could forget.

Naruto thought that he was dreaming when he opened his eyes and found his mother sitting at his bedside. But no matter how many times he blinked, she didn't disappear. She just sat there staring out the window and looking upset.

"Mom?"

She turned to him and smiled, although it didn't seem a completely happy smile. "Good morning. How are you feeling?"

"Okay." Naruto carefully sat up to avoid making his ribs hurt. "What are you doing here?"

She raised a red eyebrow at him. "What, you don't want to see your mother anymore?"

"No, no, of course I want to see you, Mom!" Naruto yelped. "But…you came all the way out here to see me?"

"Of course!" She leaned over and gently hugged him. "Why wouldn't I? I got a phone call that you were hurt and I came right over."

"You didn't have to," Naruto muttered in embarrassment, picking at his sheets. "I'm okay."

"Well I just had to see that for myself," she said and ruffled his spiky yellow hair. "Now tell me, are the nurses and doctors here nice?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Hey Mom? Do you know where my stuff is? And my pokémon?"

"I'm sure that the hospital staff is hanging on to your things until they release you," she answered. "And your pokémon should be waiting for you at the center. We'll go get them as soon as you get out of here. I want to meet all your little beasties in person."

"Okay." Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "Mom…how long will you stay?"

"As long as you need me to," she smiled. "Maybe I'll even stick around to see your gym challenge. It's been a while since I've seen one of those."

Naruto gulped nervously at that. "Really?"

"Relax! I'm not that scary, am I? Besides," she leaned over and kissed his scarred cheek, "your poor, lonely mother needs something to do."

"Mom!" Naruto groaned and rubbed at the spot that she'd kissed. "…Fine. You can watch if you want."

She grinned. "Aw, thank you!"

Naruto half-grinned back and rubbed at his bandaged wrist.

I just hope she doesn't embarrass me in front of the gym leader…