A short notice up here before the next chapter, just to annoy=P I am terrible sorry for the time it took me to update the last chapter, and if anyone paid attention you might, or might not, have noticed that it was jotted down in a hurry. Neither of these two chapter has been read over by a beta, so please bear with the mistakes. my shedule became extremely filled when I was allowed to move again, especially since I had to catch up on everything I missed when immobile. That said, this chapter isn't overly exciting but a sort of rounding up the last part of this part of the story.

Ah, and someone (sorry, I accidentally deleted that PM) asked me what my favorite song is. I don't know why that should matter at all, but I don't really have one, but many including Behind Blue Eyes by the Who, Wishmaster by Nightwish and Six Feet from the Edge by... I think it is Creed. For whatever reason you asked, I hope that satisfied your curiosity.

14

A day in life

Minato signed the last paper releasing him from the hospital and pushed it silently over the desk to the nice lady smiling at him.

"Take care and remember not to do anything too strenuous for the next twenty – four hours!" she reminded him as he left. He shook his head. He had no intentions of doing anything strenuous at all. He had a funeral to look forward to and that isn't the sort of thing that makes anyone run wild with excitement. He was in half a mind to visit Akane and Obito, but remembered that it was already late and they were most likely preparing for the funeral. While he was sure Akane and Shion would be happy to see him he wouldn't like to impose on them at the moment. They needed some time for themselves before the funeral after all. They would hear enough variations of the question 'how are you doing?' tomorrow and what could he possible achieve by going there at this time of the day? Nothing much, and to add to that he wasn't sure what he would say or do when he got there, so he walked home.

He stopped at outside his apartment to listen to the apartment next door, but it sounded as if the Uzumaki cousins were out, based on the fact that he couldn't hear anything from their apartment at all. Usually he would hear Kushina yell at Kaero for something he had pulled off, usually pissing her off intentionally, and Kinuto, if he wasn't sleeping after a mission, would be trying in vain to settle them before he swore up a storm and separated the physically. Minato quirked his lips and shook his head. Their differences aside, the cousins loved each other unconditionally and he knew they considered him part of their family as well. He would have to spend some time with them soon; he hadn't had much time to do that lately what whit the training Yashino had put him through before the exam.

The apartment needed to be dusted he decided with a frown. It was a thin layer of dust covering the floor and the furniture and the windowsills and even his plants, which looked slightly under the weather. He gathered them up and placed them in the sink before filling it with water and watching the bubbles from the pots as the water soaked the dry earth. The silence of the evening made him wander around restlessly and occasionally he would swipe his hands over a surface to get rid of the dust. With nothing else to do he started to methodically clean it and finally settled himself cross – legged in a chair. The only sound in the apartment was the ticking of a clock and the faint sounds he could hear from the village. It was dusk and he expected the cousins to be back any time now.

Sometimes Kinuto would take his two young relatives and train them, or just spend time with them. Minato had joined them on occasion and it was fun. Kaero was smart and surprisingly sadistic if it was something he wanted to achieve while Kushina was obnoxious at times but still fun – loving, strangely oblivious to many things and always had a comment to brighten the day. Kinuto was the calm element to ground them and remind them not to get into too much trouble, at least he would until he lost his patience and knocked them both down a peg or two. Whenever they had their little excursions they would usually leave at dawn and not be back before dusk; dirty, tired and happy. For some reason Minato wished he could have joined them more than he usually did.

He hated waiting. It was annoying and while he could understand waiting was important sometimes, especially in certain kinds of missions, he didn't like it. It made him want to wander around, find something else to do with his time and just… fill the spare time. Rising from his position he smiled widely when he remembered where his stash of sweats was and quickly went to get it. It felt like forever since he had a decent amount to snack on.

He chewed it slowly staring at the sky and waiting for it to lose its blue hue and become a mixture of orange, pink and red. He had always found it to be beautiful and remembered Yashino asking him to watch the stars with him back in the Mist. He smiled faintly. As if it was any chance of seeing the stars through that dense mist. Even a child could see through that excuse, but… He sighed and suddenly he didn't fell like eating sweats and instead went to get some water for tea.

While waiting for the water to boil he mentally went over all the things he had to get in the morning. He would need to bring some flowers; some for the grave and some for Akane and Shion. He would need to go over his black funeral clothes. It was expected that he wore them at any funeral he attended for a fellow Leaf ninja. Unless he was ANBU. ANBU didn't officially show up at a funeral. They would hide in the shadows if it was one of theirs and wait visiting the grave until they were alone. Then they would pay their respects and leave, as if never being there in the first place. No one was to know who served in ANBU so it made a twisted kind of sense. Twisted in the way that usually people did know, well, those close to the person in question would know, and some fellow comrades, but it was never talked about. Never discussed. Not officially. Unofficially… that was another story. He promised himself to keep an eye out for them at the funeral. He was quite sure they would be there, invited or not.

The tea didn't help his restlessness either and made him want to do something even more. Ironing his black clothes for the funeral wasn't necessary, but it occupied him and it was a mindless job. He didn't have to think about it and it suited him just fine. He had other things to worry about, like what was in the scroll Yashino had given him. He had been close to opening it several times, but he didn't want to. Not yet. Not until after the funeral. He wanted… he wasn't sure what he wanted but it felt right to wait until after the funeral. Then he would have said good bye and it would be easier.

Just as he folded up the pants he heard the sound of fast footsteps in the stairs leading up to the two apartments. A quick glance at the sky outside revealed that he had been correct in assuming they would be back at dusk and he wondered if they would be coming by now that he was back. A part of him wanted them to, while another part desperately told him the hospital staff had told him not to do anything strenuous and dealing with the two younger Uzumaki cousins could be verystrenuous. The amount of exuberant energy they had combined by far outstripped anything he had ever managed to produce in his childhood as Naruto.

Just as he started to weigh the pros and cons by having them over against each other the solution was handed to him in form of a knock on his door. It seemed as if he wouldn't have a choice in the matter. Looking around to make sure he didn't have anything they could find overly interesting laying about he went to open the door. Three red heads smiled back at him, with various amounts of bruises and dirt smudged over their clothes and faces.

"Welcome back, Minato. How's it going?" Kinuto asked kindly, gaining a disbelieving look from Kushina and Kaero.

"Who cares about that? Did you pass or not?" Kushina asked eagerly. Kaero nodded his agreement and Minato smiled. Yes, they were always the ones to have the priorities right.

"I passed. Would you like to come in, or stay out here?"

Kaero gave him a calculating look.

"Will you make us supper if we come in?" he asked hopefully and was promptly knocked on the head by Kinuto.

"I see I'm not teaching you enough manners," he mumbled almost resigned.

"Congratulations on passing, and don't mind Kaero. I think he'll be… doing the laundry for a week by himself as punishment," he continued sternly. The boy winced and gave his cousin an affronted glare. Kushina beamed and Minato shook his head, too used to their antics to care.

"Well, thanks and I can make supper. I haven't eaten yet either, so feel free to join me."

He stepped back to let them through, and Kushina and Kaero headed straight for the bathroom to wash off the worst of the muck they had accumulated during the day. Kinuto stopped just inside the door and put a hand on Minato's shoulder. His eyes were on the black, folded clothes he'd been ironing earlier.

"I'm sorry to hear about your sensei… I didn't know him, but I heard he was a great person," he said hesitantly, clearly not sure how Minato would take it. The blonde only nodded and smiled softly.

"Yeah, he was. I'll miss him…"

Kinuto had a nostalgic look in his eyes when he answered.

"That's true. I still miss my sensei, even after all these years, but that's how it is. I am grateful for what he thought me and one day I may teach a trio of brats what he thought me. It's a cycle, you know."

Minato raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you were teaching Kushina and Kaero?" he half asked a he moved towards the kitchen to prepare the food. Behind him Kinuto chuckled.

"I am… but not that sort of thing. There is something you can only learn from a sensei while in the field. The first kill… dealing with the rush of adrenaline… fear, exhaustion, things like that. Just to deal, really. It isn't something I can teach them before they experience it, and by then it will be their sensei's responsibility."

Minato understood. It wasn't techniques or strategy, it was more than that. He knew if he thought about it, that Kinuto had a point and silently accepted it with a nod. The teen smiled at him and went to join his younger cousins in the bathroom and to break up a fight over the soap.

They had an enjoyable supper together and Kinuto didn't bring up the death of Yashino again. Minato knew he wouldn't ever do it unless it somehow became a part of a discussion. Apparently Kushina and Kaero hadn't heard yet or they would be all over him, and he wasn't in the mood to be smothered by them. He liked them and enjoyed their company but to him they were still children who didn't understand. They did understand the pain of losing someone dear to him, but they compared it to losing their parents, since that was the only reference they had. It was different, losing a sensei and a comrade in battle. They would learn, in time, and it would make them or break them.

Kushina was going on about the upcoming team placements with excitement. Minato hummed at the appropriate places but didn't say anything until he could tell Kaero and Kinuto were about to tell her to shut up. He didn't want to know how many times they had been given the same animated speech, so he interrupted.

"You will need to bring something to read during the team placement," he said and effectively made her pause. He smirked mirthfully.

"Or bring a deck of cards… the teacher will have a long and winding speech about the virtues you are supposed to possess as Konoha ninja and it takes forever to get done with."

"Did you bring something?" she asked suspiciously. She had learned not to believe everything he told her, and some of it she didn't want to believe, like the truth of D - ranked missions. She never asked too much about the missions, though, probably from all the times Kinuto told her the missions of others were off limits. Sometimes they would talk about it, if it wasn't classified, but it was frowned upon to ask.

"I was never warned," he said blandly. Oh, he'd known, but had forgotten until it was too late. It was a good thing he'd by then learned how to tune out sounds he didn't want to hear. It also brought him back to the time he'd first met Yashino and the shock it'd given him. He still hadn't seen hide or hair of either Jiraiya or Tsunade. He hadn't seen the third member of their famous team either, but that didn't worry him in the least. He was actually perfectly ready to go through this life without seeing Orochimaru a single time. The less he saw of the pale, freaky and plain disturbing sannin the better.

At first he had been keenly aware of the lack of their presence and what it might mean. He knew by know that he would never have Jiraiya as a sensei, but it didn't mean he wouldn't be his mentor. He had to take up studying seals sometime after all, and Jiraiya was the only seal master in Konoha. He pondered that for moment. He didn't haveto, naturally he didn't have to do anything, but if he wanted to at least try to recreate the famous Flying Thunder God technique he would have to have some pretty amazing insights in the workings of seals. It had been the signature move of the Fourth Hokage from his time and he had promised to try to live up to him so he had to give it a try. He couldn't imagine how it would be to have history lessons about the Fourth Hokage and not have the nickname Yellow Flash mentioned in the same sentence. It would be incredibly disappointing.

"Is it true?" Kushina asked Kinuto, who shrugged.

"I wouldn't know. I passed in Whirlpool, remember? But I think it is. They had the same speech there when we graduated so I guess it is pretty much the same in every hidden village."

"And then we'll be placed in teams," she said before she turned to Minato who was still thinking of the lack of legendary ninja in his life. He wasn't overly worried. Just a little.

"You weren't," she accused Minato, who blinked in response.

"Uh, no, I weren't. I was a special case, though. I am the youngest graduate they've ever had so they weren't sure of how to deal with me. They handed me over to the only ones who train their children heavily at such an age and I got an Uchiha for a sensei."

"That's so unfair. It isn't natural, I tell you," Kushina sighed and Minato would never tell her how right she was. Instead he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you suggesting I am some sort of alien being?" he asked in mock seriousness. She grinned at him.

"You never know. Perhaps. I might become a great medic one day and conduct experiments to find out," she joked and Minato chuckled. If she ever became a medic she would most likely invoke an irrational fear of hospitals in every patient unlucky enough to encounter her. Interrogation with medical equipment though was something he could picture perfectly with her love for anything sharp and shiny.

"I'll make a point to avoid the hospital," he bantered light heartily. For now they could enjoy the happy idle chatter and peace, even if he knew the troubles stirring elsewhere. The Mizukage's words rang in his ears, even know. Tomorrow the day. He had never paid any attention to history, especially if it was the history they thought at the Academy which was all dates and boring, flat facts. Stories from said wars were something else, but right now he wished he knew. Or maybe it was better not to know for sure. It made it easier to endure the waiting.

They talked while the evening slowly crept over in night before Kearo asked something Minato hadn't expected him to ask. Kaero was still eight years old and had at least two years left at the Academy, but he still asked the most insightful question of them all.

"Hey, Minato… when you become a ninja… you'll have to kill, right?"

It silenced them momentarily.

"Not at once," Minato said after a moment to collect his thoughts. Kaero frowned.

"Have you killed someone?" he asked and stared intently at him. Minato leaned back in the chair a little as Kushina too stared at him with large eyes. The idea of him killing someone had never struck her and he could tell she was curious and mildly alarmed. Kinuto didn't say anything, but his face had gone strangely serious. Nearly blank.

"Yes. Many times," Minato said slowly. Kaero narrowed his eyes and looked at him closely as if trying to see if there was some difference between him now and before. When he didn't find any he looked confused.

"But… I can't tell," he said and Minato wondered what on earth he was on about.

"…I hope not. Why would you want to tell anyway?"

"I heard someone talking, and they said killing someone can change you," he said wisely. Minato smiled a half smile.

"I can and it will but it isn't that kind of change. You'll understand someday… if you become a ninja."

"Of course I'll be a ninja! What else would I be?" the younger boy asked.

"Carpenter? Woodchopper?" Minato suggested loftily making Kushina snicker at the images.

"You would make a great farmer with all the potted plants you insist on keeping," Kinuto teased and stood up to stretch.

"Okay you two. I think it is time to go home and go to bed. I'm sure Minato would like to be able to go to bed as well."

From the tone he used they knew it wasn't any use arguing and they left promising to meet up soon. Minato was left cleaning up and wandered around waiting for the restlessness to settle. When the morning came he'd slept a few hours, but spent most of the time watching the dark sky through his bedroom window. When he did sleep he was troubled with the images of funerals long past, or maybe they would never happen as it was. Most of the people in them weren't even born yet. When the time came to get up he was anxious to get the day over with so he could move on.

The street in front of the Yamanaka's flower shop had never looked emptier as he stepped in front of it. He knew Inoichi would be heading to the Academy soon and he was about to open the door when he recognized another friend he hadn't seen for quite some time.

"Shikaku! What are you doing here?" he asked and the boy shrugged. He had both his hands deep in his pockets and slouched slightly. Sometimes the similarities between him and Shikamaru were eerie. It wasn't as much in the way he looked as in the way he acted. Shikamary had had quite a few features of his mother's as well, but the mannerisms were all from his father.

"Waiting for Inoichi… if someone didn't bring him he'd be late every single day and that would be annoying. Didn't Kushina come with you?"

Minato shook his head lightly. He had contemplated to walk with her, but he found it best not to interrupt the morning routine next door. It sounded chaotic enough without him there to disturb it. Shikaku eyed his black attire somberly.

"Are you here for flowers?" he asked and opened the door to let them in.

"Yes. I thought it would be the best place since I know Mrs. Yamanaka a little. She's a good person and won't ask too many questions."

"She's married to a ninja even if she's a civilian herself. She knows better than to ask," Shikaku agreed dismissively. He was right too. As soon as Mrs. Yamanaka spotted him her eyes widened minutely, but apart from that one couldn't tell she was affected by the black clothes. She smiled and greeted him as she usually did and waited for him to look around.

Minato discovered that he had minimal understanding of flowers. He did know some. He had read the book Kushina used for her Kunoichi classes, but it didn't cover nearly as many flowers and plants as the Yamanaka flower shop had. They had any color, shape and meaning. He knew white lilies were funeral flowers, and carnation but he didn't want any normal flowers. Somehow he didn't think Yashino and white lilies was the best combination. His sensei would've stared strangely at him if anyone tried to give him white lilies while he was alive, so he didn't think it was fitting. Mrs. Yamanaka watched him for a while before she approached him.

"Are you looking for flowers for Yashino?" she asked him quietly. She didn't need to ask, but it was the polite thing to do, so when he nodded she gave him a soft smile in return.

"What about the flowers from a butterfly bush with some white carnations?" she asked but didn't wait for an answer as she started to gather several thin branches with blue flowers at the tip and place them with the white flowers. Minato watch her work, and saw her frown several times before she narrowed her eyes in annoyance and went to get a dark, almost black rose.

"That's better," she said with some satisfaction and started to make another arrangement seemingly without thinking. Minato looked at her.

"You would want one for Akane and Shion too, right?" she asked him when she noted his questioning expression.

"Uhm," he mumbled under her sharp eyes and nodded. He'd just seen Inoichi stumble down the stairs from the apartment above the shop and watched as Shikaku, who had been waiting patiently by the door, gave him a baleful look. They would have to run if they were to be at the Academy in time. Outside Kushina and Kaero had just made it before the two boys exited. After so many years it seemed as if Inoichi and Kushina had worked out a perfect synchrony were both of them were late. Shikaku would try to get them there on time, but always ended up having to run for it, which he disliked. Thus his annoyance. Inoichi waved at Minato before he more or less ran out the door and Shikaku made some sort of half wave gesture that could be a wave with some goodwill.

"Boys! Always late," Mrs. Yamanaka huffed and shook her head then looked at Minato.

"Oh, not you dear, but those two are hopeless. Sometimes I really wish I'd gotten a girl instead… Perhaps Inoichi will have a girl…" she started to ring up the cost while muttering about a granddaughter and all the fun they could have, from dressing up to shopping and doing flower arrangements. Minato almost ran from the shop. When she started she was unrelenting and he felt for his friend if his mother had tried to do all those things with him. It was a universal fact that boys and girls almost always had some fundamental differences in interests and as pretty as Inoichi was he still was a boy.

Minato had been in the Uchiha compound too many times to keep track of, but this was the first time he really understood how many they were. Of course, they had to be many to fill up a compound of their own. He had never given it any thought before, but seeing them all together and lining up was interesting.

He left the flowers for Akane and Shion with a frazzled and stressed girl who thanked him on behalf of Shion and disappeared somewhere with them. It was a mess indoors he decided and quietly made his way to the garden. He had spent several hours here with Yashino and Akane, and sometimes little Obito. The baby was soon a year old toddler who found crawling around increasingly exciting and made the days of the household unnecessary interesting. He wasn't surprised to find Akane in the garden with Obito on her lap.

The small child was already dressed in black clothes with the Uchiha fan on the front of his t – shirt. He looked disgruntled as his mother refused to let go of him and didn't understand why so many people were visiting today and why he wasn't allowed to do what he wanted. Minato smiled briefly as he walked towards them.

"Hello Akane, Obito," he said and sat down beside them. The woman glanced at him and smiled. She looked more thoughtful than sad, so he guessed she had accepted what had happened to her brother.

"Minato. I am glad you came. Are the flowers for Yashino?" she asked him when he didn't say anything else.

"Yes. I had some for your mother too, but a girl said she'd take care of them. She chuckled when she recognized the flowers.

"From the butterfly bush. I wonder if anyone else will remember his fondness for butterflies. It is nice of you to do so. I guess he made you watch them for hours on end. If it was me I wouldn't have wanted to see another butterfly in my life."

"In hindsight I'll say it was a nice time," Minato mumbled and accepted Obito into his lap as the toddler crawled from his mother to him. Black eyes peered at him from behind spikes of equally dark hair. Minato bit his lip uncertainly and glanced at Akane. She was still looking at the blue flowers in the arrangement.

"May I still come visit you, sometimes?" he asked carefully. He was afraid of her answer, since he didn't want to be rejected but he would accept whatever decision she made. Akane looked surprised at the enquiry.

"Of course you may! I wouldn't want you to stop coming by, and I am sure Obito would be happy to someone else to play with from time to time. I know my mother want you to visit as often as possible. She said she was so proud when she heard you had passed the chunin exam, it was almost as if you were a grandchild of hers."

"Oh… thank you." he smiled genuinely at her and lifted the crawling toddler to place him back in his lap. The pout he received was more of a cute frown than pouting, so he snorted in amusement. Akane quirked her lips as well.

"He's got a long way to go before he get's that trademark Uchiha scowl down," Minato remarked jokingly. Akane raised her eyebrows and nodded sagely.

"We don't start the children on that before they are able to stand in front of a mirror without breaking it," she joked and rose as they heard a small bell chime.

"Have you attended a funeral before?" she asked him and took Obito, who had spotted the flowers and clearly thought them worthy of his attention since he had tried to lean over to get a bite of them.

"Not a private one…" and not an Uchiha one, but he didn't say that.

"Ah… our funerals are a little bit different. We don't burry our dead," she explained. As they walked Minato could see people nodding to her and silently expressing their condolences. He wondered where Shion was but what Akane just said made him look at her dumbly.

"You don't?"

"We cremate them."

Ah… that figures. For a clan were fire was the main element it made a lot of sense. Especially when a dead boy possibly could give away secrets about their bloodline. Better to burn it to ashes and make sure no one committed grave robbery. On the other hand, what on earth was he supposed to do with the flowers now?

He stood back as they gathered on a large open field. He could see a small shrine close by and in the middle a large pyre with a figure wrapped in white clothing on it. He kept to back and caught snitches of the speeches. A lot of glorified words that would be forgotten soon enough. Who did really remember what anyone said at a funeral? They always only focused on making the deceased look good, not real. He never did get that bit.

It quickly became warm and uncomfortable as the sun rose higher on the sky and bathed the field in bright, dazzling sunlight. Minato found it oddly strange that they were still not putting fire to the pyre, and didn't understand until the sun rose to its highest point and every shadow seemed to shrink in on itself. At that moment the pyre burst into flames, even as he tried to find out how they done it. One by one they started to throw their flowers at the flames, which engulfed the body and the wood greedily.

Minato stood in front of the fire for only a moment before he threw the flowers at it. He smiled briefly over his shoulder when he left. A soft, knowing smile.

"Farewell, sensei. I'll look for you among the butterflies, so you better keep your promise of watching over me."

He hung around some more to see if Shion or Akane and Obito would have moment where he could talk to them, but it seemed as if they were swamped by the rest of their clan and most of the other invited guests left shortly after the fire started to die down. To alleviate time and boredom he randomly wandered through Konoha while trying to come up with things to do. He was glad when he saw a familiar red head at a small stand where they served dango. It fit very nicely, as he wanted something sweet anyway. He smirked and silently started to sneak closer to his friend. When he stood so close that he could touch her if he reached out he met the eyes of two boy, possibly her team mates and winked at them.

"Kushina, I didn't know you shared my vice concerning sweets?" he said cheerfully. The girl jumped in her seat and abruptly turned to glare at him.

"What the hell Minato?! What was the point of that? You scared the life out of me! I swear my heart stopped for a moment!"

Minato laughed.

"It was too good of an opportunity to let go of. What are you doing here?"

"Eating dango with my new team," she said, sounding partly satisfied and partly disconcerted. Minato looked at them. He didn't know either of them by looks and he couldn't remember them from the small amount of time he'd spent in the same time as Kushina years ago.

"Sounds fun. Do you mind if I join you? I haven't had anything to eat since breakfast."

"Knowing you that was like before the sun rose," Kushina said grumpily but she did move aside to make space for him. She eyed him almost carefully.

"So… how was the funeral with the Uchiha clan?" she asked nonchalantly, making the two boys look at him with curiosity. He wondered if he should ask for their names, but Kushina would tell him in time, or they would give him their names if the chance presented itself.

"Hmm… sort of different I guess… it was okay. It was a funeral. Lots of people and speeches and socializing."

"For some reason I have problems imaging you socializing. You either train or, well, hang out with me and Inoichi."

Minato almost automatically corrected her.

"Inoichi and I, and I do spend time with Tsume and Shikaku as well as Kaero and Kinuto, and Akane, Obito and Shion…"

"I get it, I get it. Jeez, you don't have any sense of humor, do you know that?" she questioned as Minato tilted his head to the side and ignored her.

"I am sorry I haven't presented myself. I'm Namikaze Minato. I have the dubious honor of calling Kushina here a friend," he said and ducked as said friend aimed a hit at his head. She huffed at him and motioned at the two smirking boys. The one to the left had dark hair tied back in a ponytail and mismatched eyes. One was green and one was blue. Beside him said a round faced boy with blonde hair a few shades darker then Minato's and honey colored eyes.

"The one to the left is Isamu," Kushina said and the boy she indicated smiled at Minato.

"Pleasure to meet you," he intoned, in a voice a little deeper than Minato had expected from the thin frame and build he had. His hands weren't as calloused as the others' were and he didn't wear any obvious ninja equipment. Instead he had a larger pouch at his hip and what Minato assumed were senbon needles up his sleeves.

"Are you going to be a medical ninja?" he asked and the boy suddenly looked defensive.

"Something wrong with that? I know it is kind of girly, but I am good at it," he stated firmly.

"That's not what I meant. I was just curious. You don't look like the normal combat type, and I know for a fact that some of the most dangerous ninja out there are medics. No one knows as many creative ways of killing a victim as someone who has intimate understanding of the human anatomy."

It was something he'd heard plenty of times. If you understood what made something work, it was also easier to put it apart. A small touch from a medic nin could spell death if it was on the right spot. In that regard they were as deadly as the Hyuuga. He had his own experiences with Kabuto to go on, so he could testimony to the truth of that.

"My sister is a medic and she's awesome," the honey eyed boy said with a wide smile mingled with pride. Kushina rolled her eyes.

"Yeah yeah, you know you've been talking about her all day," she snapped at him, and the boy bashfully ducked his head. Minato wasn't sure what to make of him, but he couldn't say he disliked him. He was oddly familiar even when he was absolutely sure he'd never met him. Not in this life and not as Naruto. Kushina sighed deeply.

"I should never have said I wanted to become like them," she announced mournfully.

"Like who?" Minato asked with a nagging feeling that he was missing something here. An important fact he would like to have since his friend would be going on missions with this team.

"Like the sannin of course! Sensei is a pervert and annoying and late and dumb! And Tsunade has the most livid fan in her brother! So far the only normal one is Orochimaru!"

Minato choked on the water he'd just gotten and stared at her. It was the first time ever he'd heard Orochimaru and normal placed in the same sentence in all seriousness. Kushina ignored his shocked look and sadly shook her head.

"I am disappointed. I thought they were actually cool," she said with an air of depression around her. Minato stared at her in disbelief.

"Wait… do you mean that Jiriaya of the sannin is your sensei and you're disappointed?" he asked to avoid any suspicion of why he looked as if a ton of bricks had been dumped on his head.

"Yeah, and to top it that nitwit over there is Tsunade's brother, Nawaki. Whenever she comes over to see him, that stupid perverted sensei will forget we're there and only be interested in her, and Isamu and I will be completely left out!"

"It only happened once today. She came to see what team Nawaki was placed on, I don't think she'll be shadowing us. She is a busy person," Isamu intoned gravely. Minato smiled at the blond boy across the table from him. So this was the old lady's brother. How interesting that her perverted team mate would be the one to teach him… perhaps he would live this time around… He let Kushina continue her pity party and hid a smirk. He was sure, just as his team had done, that given some time they would come to accept and care for each other.

Later, when he looked at the setting sun he watched from the Hokage monument as the sky bled red. He wondered if it was a bad omen for times to come.

Hurray! Part genin of the story is over! Now I just have another three to go! The next chapter should be out in... oh, fourteen days, I think. By then I should have managed to work out some of the chinks in the coming chapters. At least I managed to move the story forwards... yeah, something like that;D