Saying he was mad would be an understatement. Minato was furious at himself. How had a shinobi managed to elude his senses? He had thought he was keeping track of everything, but still he had missed an enemy, and Obito had paid the price. Minato didn't understand medical jutsu's like Rin, but he was sure that it would be impossible for Obito to heal before the chuunin exams. Naruto had said something about permanent damage, but Minato refused to dwell on that. It was hard enough knowing that he had allowed someone to get close enough to his team to hurt them. And what had he been doing while Obito was attacked? Sleeping.
Sighing, Minato looked back at his somber team. He had volunteered for the night shift because he knew he wasn't getting any sleep that night. How could he when he would constantly be worrying about his students. While he was supposed to be their teacher and them his students, he had started to view them as family. And the thought of someone hurting his family made his blood boil. Forcing himself to calm down, Minato thought back to Obito's account of the attack. Obito said he saw a shape, but didn't see the persons face or their hitai-ate. Their enemy could be anyone from any of the hidden villages. And since they only used a kunai they didn't even know what his elemental affinity was. What they did know was that he was a master at stealth. He had trailed them for miles, maybe since they left Konoha, and none of them had picked up a trace. This shinobi was a professional.
What enemies did their client have that a professional shinobi would be sent after him? And why hadn't the shinobi attacked Keiji? He had caught all of them off guard, so why didn't he finish the job? Minato knew he wouldn't have been able to stop anything, his guard had been completely down. Only a few more hours left and the mission would be over. His job was to make sure his team didn't get into any more trouble in that time frame.
Behind him his team was quiet. The unusual silence made the miles before them seem never ending. It wasn't that their silence was uncalled for, it was just unnerving. Yesterday Obito and Kakashi had been insulting each other every few minutes, today neither had said a word. As wrong as it seemed, Minato couldn't help wishing for something to come up that would lead to Obito and Kakashi arguing again. At least that he could deal with. With the silence he was left to his own thoughts, and he knew that wasn't a good thing. He often found himself dwelling on the 'what if' and the 'could've been'. He was already blaming himself, he didn't need to think of what he could have done to change things. It was better to just let it go.
Minato put his focus into sweeping the surrounding miles for anything unusual. Nothing felt unusual, but nothing had the night before either. And the closer they got to the village the harder it would be to track someone following them. A shinobi staying in the village would feel the same as a shinobi from another country. It was a good thing they would arrive at the village by midafternoon. Minato didn't think his team could stand another night on this mission.
If Minato hadn't been putting so much focus into his surroundings he probably wouldn't have noticed it. He sensed Naruto stiffen behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Naruto's eyes were alert and looking around. Had he sensed something Minato hadn't? Holding up his right hand, Minato stopped his team from advancing. Looking straight into Naruto's eyes, Minato knew. Somehow the kid had picked up something he was missing. The slightest trembling of the earth was the only warning Minato had before a fist with metal blades attaching was coming toward him. Instinct propelled him backward. The shinobi didn't wait a second before coming at him again, this time with a well-aimed roundhouse. Minato twisted to the right, drawing a kunai. Squatting and thrusting the kunai upwards, Minato aimed for the man's chest.
The shinobi blocked the attack with the blades attached to his fists. Minato took the chance to look at the hitai-ate the man wore. Iwa. The Iwa shinobi used his grip on Minato's kunai to pull Minato forward into his knee. Grunting from the pain, Minato used the contact to weave the seals necessary to put a marking on the shinobi. Minato used his hand to grip the back of the shinobi's knees and then put his weight onto the shinobi. They both tumbled to the ground, Minato on top. He reached into his poach to draw another kunai. Looks like I didn't need to mark him after all.
oOoOo
Despite looking for the assassins all morning, it had surprised Naruto when they suddenly attacked. In a matter of seconds he had sensed them and then they attacked. It appeared they had been following them underground. That would make sense of the fact that neither he nor Minato had been able to find a trace of them in their search the previous night. It also meant they had probably been withing yards of them the entire trip.
He and Rin were currently engaged in a battle with one of the three assassins. Minato was fighting another and Kakashi and Obito were with the remaining. Naruto wasn't worried about Minato, but Kakashi and Obito. Right now Obito was in no condition to fight, which left Kakashi to take on one of the assassins on his own. A shuriken thrown by his left ear brought Naruto's attention to the current fight. They had started with taijutsu, but the shinobi had distanced himself when he realized Naruto would have the upper hand there. Rin threw a shuriken toward the Iwa shinobi, but he dodged easily. These guys were on the same level as Anbu, meaning Rin didn't have a chance against them.
Behind Rin was Keiji, who looked like mighty confident for a man whose hired guard was under attack. "Rin, you take Keiji-san and hide, I'll fight him." Rin didn't waste time arguing. He knew that she must be thinking he was crazy: a genin versus an Iwa assassin? He was grateful that she remained quiet on the matter and did as he said. Engaging in close contact once again in an attempt to give Rin a chance to escape, Naruto allowed himself to get a scrape along his arm. It was worth it when he jabbed his own kunai into the shinobi's stomach.
Distancing himself again, Naruto waited to see what the shinobi's next move was. The shinobi weaved a hand sign and disappeared. Not taking the time to wonder where he was, Naruto went to join Kakashi in his fight. Kakashi already had several cuts and bruises, but nothing that would last. Naruto hurried as fast as he could, but he wasn't fast enough to stop the shuriken that hit Kakashi in the shoulder. A second shuriken hit Kakashi's hand. Naruto saw as he collapsed to the ground in pain. The shinobi's must've been out of shuriken because instead of throwing another weapon he started forming hand seals. Seeing the tiger seal most common in fire jutsu's, Naruto started weaving the signs for the water wall he had been working on with Minato.
Giving the assassin had a head start in his seals, Naruto allowed himself to use his full speed on his own. Finishing a step ahead, Naruto's wall sprung up just in time to block the oncoming assault. Pain flared up his right arm. Not now! Losing control of the jutsu, Naruto turned his head as some of the remaining flames came toward him. He felt the heat for a second before he found himself sopping wet. Looking up, he watched as Minato's water jutsu hit the shinobi. Knowing Minato had control of the fight, he turned to Kakashi. Obito had already pulled the shuriken out of Kakashi's hand and shoulder and was using both hands to put pressure on the wounds.
Naruto crawled over to help, ignoring the sharp pain that remained in his arm. Sitting next to Kakashi, took over putting pressure on Kakashi's shoulder. Out the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Minato was finished with the shinobi and was looking for Rin and Keiji. Minato formed a sign and disappeared. He had probably marked his students after Obito was attacked. It took a few minutes for them to get back, but Rin was at Kakashi's side as soon as possible.
After looking over the wounds she spoke. "The wounds are shallow, but there was poison on the blades. It's actually a good thing that Kakashi bleed for a few seconds before you guys started putting pressure on the wound. The poison has pretty much cleared itself out of his body." Rin wrapped his hand and shoulder. "Did anyone else get cut with one of their blades?" Minato and Obito shook their heads. Obito helped Kakashi to his feet and the two plus Minato went to where Keiji stood several yards away.
Naruto looked at his own arm. The cut was almost healed and he was sure the Kyuubi could handle the bit of poison. Rin must've noticed him looking at his arm. "Roll up your sleeve." His first instinct was to refuse, afraid she would find more than just a cut along his arm, but if he refused he would appear even more suspicious. Rolling up his sleeve he reasoned that all she was looking for were hints of poison. She wouldn't be looking at his chakra points, just his blood stream. Since Rin started healing the cut without reopening the wound, Naruto figured she hadn't found traces of poison and would be done soon.
It was Rin's sudden frown that alerted him that she had examined his chakra points. Resisting the urge to pull his arm away, he tried to act normal, like he didn't think anything was wrong. Rin examined more along his arm before finally releasing him. She stared at him for a second before speaking. "Did you know that the chakra circulatory system in your arm is damaged?" Naruto decided playing dumb would be the best way to get out of an explanation. He shook his head. Rin looked at him with unbelief. "The damage is so bad that I can't believe you are able to control chakra at all. You don't have any idea what could've caused this damage?" Again Naruto shook his head. Rin sighed. "If you had an affinity for any other element, this would be slightly less troublesome. Using water element is all about having the water flow, which uses more of the chakra control in your hands than any of the other elements."
That would be why it hadn't bothered him much until now. He had only started learning water jutsu's in the past few months, and the jutsu he had just used was the only water jutsu he could actually do. The damage was probably responsible for his loss of control back in his own time as well. He knew as soon as he was injured that the damage was bad, but he also knew there was nothing that could be done about it. He hadn't even bothered mentioning it to Tsunade. All she would do was worry and there was no point in that.
Rin continued to stare at him, probably doubting his claim that he didn't know the source of his injury. He shrugged and walked passed her. "We need to finish the mission."
As the two of them joined the rest of Team Minato, Naruto spoke to Minato. "The one I was fighting before got away, but he was injured. I don't see him being a threat anymore; my kunai went into one of his lung, so he won't make it long."
Minato nodded then turned to address the entire team. "We should be at the village in about an hour. Keep your guard up at all times."
Before any of them could agree, Keiji spoke up. "The team sent after me is dead, so I will be safe for the rest of my journey. There is no need for you to travel with me any further."
They stared at Keiji. He had hired them to escort him to his village when there was seemingly no threat and then after it was revealed that there was a threat, he released them? Minato challenged Keiji's statement. "We were hired to protect you until you reached the village. You don't know if another group was sent after you, so it would be best if we finished the mission we were assigned."
"I am almost at my village. In a few miles my personal guard will join me and escort me the rest of the way." There was more to Keiji's desire to go on alone than what he was saying, but Naruto couldn't name the reason.
"If that's the case then let us travel with you until we reach your guard. No harm can come from us joining you nor will it cost you more money." Minato reasoned, but Keiji shook his head.
Naruto couldn't understand why Keiji was so determined to go the last bit alone. He had hired them to take him to his village, yet he was releasing them from their mission several miles early. He should know how close he had been to danger. One look at Obito or Kakashi would tell Keiji just how lucky he was to be alive. If he had been alone then he would probably be dead, not standing here without any scratches. Which is odd. Naruto thought. Three professional assassins had been sent after Keiji, yet he was the only one that hadn't been attacked. That only made sense if Keiji wasn't the one targeted, which meant that…"This is all a trap!" Naruto shouted.
The three kids jumped at his sudden shout, while Minato and Keiji stared at him. Keiji widened his eyes. "What do you mean?" Minato was the first to ask.
"We're supposedly here to protect him, but we seem to be the ones actually in danger. Those shinobi were after us, not Keiji-san." Naruto pointed a finger at Keiji. "And I think he's in on it. From the start he's been nothing but confident, which is strange for someone who's being threatened. And now he's trying to get us to leave instead of escorting him to the village. It's probably because no one in the village will recognize him."
Keiji snorted. "That theory is preposterous. I just see no point in wasting your time when the danger is over. I'm merely being practical."
"And how do you know the danger's gone?" Minato questioned. "What makes you so certain that those were the only shinobi sent after you? For all you know another squad could be right behind them." From his tone, it was clear Minato doubted Keiji's innocence. Naruto was relieved that Minato believed him, more relieved than he would've expected.
Keiji and Minato glared at each other. Keiji looked away first. "You have no proof of this."
He was right. They had nothing that tied Keiji to the attacks on them, only theories. Minato was still glaring at Keiji. "You said we were released from the mission, which means you are no longer our client." He took a step toward Keiji, his special kunai drawn. "We are in war with Iwa and a theory is all that we need to stop anyone who may be associated with Iwa."
"And if the theory is wrong, then you're going to be killing a Fire Country village leader." Keiji's voice cracked. He wasn't denying his connection to Iwa.
Minato took another step. "But the theory's not wrong. Is it?" For the first time since leaving Konoha there was fear in Keiji's eyes. He turned to run, but in a yellow flash he was dead.
oOoOo
Minato had started suspecting something strange when he saw that Keiji was unharmed. Then Keiji had argued against them continuing with him, and that had caused his suspicions to grow. It wasn't until Naruto said that it was a trap that he had connected all of the dots. This entire mission had been a trap arranged to take out a Konoha team. Which Konoha team didn't matter; each team was guaranteed to have at least a jonin or a chuunin. Minato knew the Iwa shinobi feared him, which explained why they didn't attack him the night Obito was hurt. He was lucky they didn't know how unaware he had been at that moment.
He faced his team, who were looking at him with anticipation. "What?"
Obito looked at Rin and Naruto before speaking. "Can we still participate in the chuunin exams?"
He hadn't expected that question. He had thought they all knew that Obito's injury was too bad for him to compete. "Not this time, but I'll make sure you're at the one that'll take place in six months."
The three genin frowned." Minato-san, we're a team, which means that we'll be there as back up for Obito. I know the exam is going to be dangerous, but you need to give us a chance." Naruto argued.
"Minato-sensei, you have to let us! I can still fight taijutsu with my right arm and both of my legs, so I won't be completely useless. PPlleeaassee." Obito begged. Minato knew he shouldn't have, but he needed to stop being so overprotective of his team. They were shinobi, not children, and if they thought they were ready for the exams he should allow them to participate. Reluctantly he agreed. If they managed to get to the final round, then Obito had a month to heal before he had to fight in the finals. Obito jumped up and down and hugged him with one arm, then went and high fived Naruto. Rin was unusually quiet, but still seemed happy at the chance to become chuunin. Kakashi just looked like he was ready to go home and get away from everyone.
On the journey home Minato had chosen to be in the back, giving himself a chance to watch his students. Obito was chattering again, this time about how cool Naruto had been, figuring everything out and all. Occasionally Kakashi would offer Obito an insult or tell him to shut up. Minato chuckled. Maybe he shouldn't have wished for the two of them to get back to normal. Looking at Rin, he noticed she was unusually quiet. When she looked at him, he motioned for her to slow down and walk with him. "The boys are back to normal, but you still seem to be dwelling on something. What's wrong?"
Rin hesitated before she looked over at the boys in front of them. Minato followed her eyes and saw she was looking at Naruto. "Naruto-kun had been scratched by one of the Iwa shinobi's kunai, so I examined his arm." She drew in a breath. "During the examination, I saw that his chakra circulatory system was damaged. Damaged isn't even the right word, it was more like it had shattered. It's amazing that he was able to form a little of the water shield, let alone do it perfectly a few days ago. The damage should make it nearly impossible for him to control chakra with that arm. I asked him if he knew what caused it, but he said he didn't. He didn't seem to even know his arm was damaged."
The kids arm was that bad? Maybe that was way he was still a genin at his age. "It's possible that he had his memory wiped or the attack was so traumatic to him that he blocked it out." He looked down at Rin. "Is there any way you can fix his arm?"
She shook her head. "The damage is on a cellular level, which means that no amount of medical jutsu's could reconstruct it." Minato sighed. So the kid was stuck with a bad arm. He didn't know why that bothered him so much, but he couldn't stand the thought of the kid suffering. "There was one more thing, Sensei." Rin looked uncertain. "An attack on his arm would make the damage inward, Naruto's damage is outward." Now he was confused. Rin continued. "If the damage is outward that would mean the jutsu that damaged Naruto's arm came from the inside, not the outside like an attack would. Whatever happened, I think it was self-inflicted."
Even after reporting to the Hokage and returning home, Minato still couldn't get Rin's words out of his head. Self-inflicted? Why would Naruto injure his own arm? And what kind of jutsu could damage someone's arm like that? A jutsu with that ability would be at least A-rank. Had Naruto attempted to master a jutsu that was too difficult for him, the end result being the damage to his arm? Rin said Naruto claimed he didn't know anything about the injury, but was that really the truth? And what of the chuunin exams? Though Naruto had performed the water shield once there was no guarantee he could do it again. Was it right to allow them to enter into such a dangerous exam when the only one who could use jutsu's were Rin?
Minato rolled over in bed. He agreed to nominate them, and he wouldn't go back on his word. He just hoped he didn't live to regret it.
A/N: I've been getting reviews that are telling me I am giving Minato and Naruto the wrong elemental affinity, so I just want to clear that up. In this story, Naruto's affinity is for Wind, but he has also mastered Fire. When he was sent to the past he was attempting to learn Water, so he lied to everyone by saying his affinity is for Water. This allows him to practice Water without people wondering why a genin knows more than one element. As for Minato, I have never found anything that says Minato's element, so I took the liberty to give him one. The same will go for Rin when she uses jutsu's.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I ask that you please review.