A repetitive thudding noise roused Chiyoko to consciousness. She blinked herself slowly awake, drawing away from the warmth of the comforter and the tiny body curled up next to her. She rolled her neck, grimacing at the uncomfortable pull of her muscles as they protested the hours she'd spent sleeping in an awkward position.
Stuffed animals tumbled to the floor as she pulled herself away from her daughter and stumbled out of the child's room, rubbing her eyes as she tried to remember where the front door was in this new apartment.
She and Katsumi had been shown to their new home yesterday. It was generously furnished—presumably Jiraiya had done so, although he hadn't claimed the honor. She'd been shown some security features he had created (more seals) which he claimed would help keep the place safe. And then he and Minato-san had walked the girls to the market area, only a few streets away, to get some groceries. Afterward, Chiyoko and Katsumi returned to the apartment and had been left alone to unpack their lives.
Everything in the apartment was new and modern. The chairs were firm and polished; the appliances so shiny she could see her reflection in them. The oven wouldn't need to be kicked to get it to start. Chiyoko wouldn't open the microwave and see burn marks from when Katsumi had tried to cook popcorn in a metal pot. The hard floors of the living room weren't covered by fraying tatami mats from when Katsumi had meticulously pulled apart the edges as soon as she'd learned to crawl.
Chiyoko had done her best to smile and cheerfully bustle around the place, setting up familiar family photos in visible places and instructing Katsumi to unpack her own belongings in her room. Katsumi had seemed thrilled with all the toys-apparently a gift from her new godmother, that blonde Tsunade-woman and her fiancé, a man named Dan that they'd yet to meet. Jiraiya's appointment of godparents without consulting Chiyoko left a somewhat bitter taste in her mouth, but it's not like Chiyoko knew anyone in Konoha to recommend in their stead. And it did seem like the two Jiraiya had chosen would be influential resources for Katsumi in the future, able to provide assistance that Chiyoko couldn't.
She still couldn't bring herself to be completely happy about the matter.
However, eventually Chiyoko had been startled from her dazed staring contest with old photographs by her daughter's tears.
Katsumi couldn't decide if her new stuffed animals should be arranged by color or species or height and had a meltdown about how she missed her old toys. All of her old ones had carefully chosen names and very detailed histories. Katsumi treated them like animate beings instead of artfully pieced together piles of fabric and cotton stuffing. The new toys weren't replacements for her old friends, and the new furniture was cold comfort for the fact that Chiyoko had traded in her child's future for her child's safety.
The most logical choice wasn't always the most desirable one.
Or the correct one, at that.
Chiyoko sat on her daughter's pink bed—Jiraiya had clearly been trying to cater to her, his, daughter's tastes—and cried. Which made Katsumi cry harder, clutching her rabbit and an outrageously orange porpoise, and they'd both fallen asleep feeling stressed and tired and homesick.
Until this knocking had woken her. Chiyoko stumbled to the door, fumbling fingers struggling to undo the locks and staring at them in puzzlement when the door refused to budge. She slapped a hand to her forehead with a sigh. Seals.
"I'm so sorry," she yelled through the door, hoping whoever was on the other side could hear her. "Give me one moment."
"Katsumi?" She called out, turning back to the bedroom. "Katsumi-chan, sweetheart, I'm sorry but I need you to wake up and help me open the door because your father's paranoia won out over his practicality. "If he even had any to begin with," she muttered under her breath.
After she'd woken her grumpy toddler and managed to get the girl coherent enough to put some chakra into the seal closing the door and deactivate it, as Jiraiya had taught her to do the night before, Chiyoko found an impatiently shifting man with a Konoha hitai-ate on the other side.
"Hokage-sama asked me to deliver this to you," said the young man with a bow, disappearing in a blur of leaves the moment the paper he was holding touched Chiyoko's outstretched hand. Chiyoko watched the leaf-litter scatter about the hardwood planks and idly wondered if sweeping her entryway was going to become part of her daily routine. She balanced a sleepily mumbling Katsumi on one hip and unfolded the paper with her free hand.
"Kinoshita-san, please see Nakano-sensei about a teaching position at the civilian school located near…" her voice trailed off as she finished reading the note and her eyes wandered around the room, searching for something that would tell her the time. "But I'd need to be there in—" her eyes landed on the clock in the kitchen. "One hour!"
Chiyoko dropped her daughter on a pile of quilts, ignoring the resulting squawk of indignation as she hurried to turn her disheveled appearance into something more appropriate.
"Ten more minutes," Jiraiya grumbled into his pillow, only fully coming to when he realized his comment was not being followed with the bed being overturned or the feeling of a cold reptile curling around an ankle.
He didn't recognize the insistent pounding on his door, not the pattern of knocks or the weight being given to them, but, well, it was insistent. He grunted and rolled out of bed.
"Yes, yes, I—" Jiraiya opened the door and his impatient tone transitioned to confusion. "Chiyoko-san?" He ran a hand over his face tiredly, rubbing at his eyes.
"I have an interview in fifteen minutes and you said you'd watch her if needed." The woman spit out the words in a hurry, braiding her hair and trying to twist it up into a bun at the same time, nudging her daughter forward with a knee.
"Hi Daddy," chirped the child, patting his leg briefly before turning to her mother with her arms held expectantly in the air. "Goodbye, Mommy. I love you."
"Oh, yes." Chiyoko quickly secured the pins in her hair and ducked down to let her daughter give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She returned the gesture. "Bye, sweetheart. Be good for Jiraiya-san. I love you too."
With her mother's blessing, Katsumi slipped past her father's legs and into his apartment.
"Katsumi-chan wait," Jiraiya called after her, still blinking at this unexpected twist to what should have been a lazy morning. He couldn't decide who to confront first, but the responsible adult in this equation was leaving. "You wait too, I know I said I could watch her, but I can't—"
"Yes, you can." Chiyoko was rummaging through her purse impatiently. "That was why you pointed out where you lived last night, right? Who else am I supposed to ask?" Her eyes brightened as she found what she was looking for. "Here is the spare key to the apartment if you need to take her back for anything. I should only be gone on an hour or so. Unless the position starts immediately—"
"Immediately?" Jiraiya squeaked his distress and lurched forward to catch Chiyoko's arm but she slipped out of his grip with alarming ease for a civilian.
"I'll come pick her up at the end of the day if that's the case, but I have to go now!" She called back over her shoulder as she headed to the stairwell.
"What am I supposed to do with her!?" Jiraiya gaped after her retreating back. His loud exclamations were beginning to cause a few of his neighbors to poke their heads out of their own doors with disapproving frowns. He ignored them.
"You'll figure it out, she's really no trouble!"
And with that sage advice the woman disappeared from his line of sight.
Jiraiya looked beseechingly up at the ceiling.
Mori-san from 342A was still staring at him in consternation when he brought his eyes back down.
The grizzled, older man scowled, scratching at the scruff on his chin. "I know your lifestyle is a little chaotic, but could you please keep your domestic disputes to yourse—"
Jiraiya slammed the door shut and took a deep breath, leaning his back against the wooden frame.
The noise of the rarely used television blaring to life caught Jiraiya's attention. "Katsumi-chan, what are you doing?" Jiraiya was already dreading the answer as his gaze wandered over the room: empty food cartons, piles of unwashed clothing, kunai scattered about the table where he'd been meaning to polish them when he'd found a moment.
He kicked a scroll graphically depicting the effects of electricity applied to various muscle groups under a moldy towel. He rubbed the back of his neck; maybe he should have let Chiyoko know where he lived after he'd cleaned up the place a bit.
He could put the girl in the spare room, right? Convince her to nap for a bit so he could get another hour of sleep? He crossed the kitchen and peeked into the room he'd originally set up as a room for writing. Somehow over the years it became a study dedicated to fuinjutsu / guestroom that was occasionally used by a recuperating Minato —scrolls everywhere, stacks of adult magazines, torn pants, bloodstained bandages, various bottles of ink-was that a bra?
Ok, maybe not there either. He shut the door firmly and swallowed. This was harder than it looked and he hadn't even said hello to the kid yet. He peered into the living room, where Katsumi was flipping the controller in her hands and thoughtfully examining it. She'd wrapped herself in a bright blanket—thankfully a clean one she'd brought from her own home. The worn rabbit he'd seen her carrying yesterday was tucked under one of her arms.
He shoved his mostly empty mission pack off the couch and sank down next to her as she decided on a show and then curled up against his side. Come to think of it, he hadn't turned on this thing since that one woman was over who wanted to watch—
His gaze slid down to the four year old. He doubted she'd be watching anything like that. Certainly not for the next decade or so, at least.
"What's this?" Jiraiya asked. The bright colors and noises bursting across the screen weren't doing anything for his headache.
"I don't know." He felt the girl shrug, her small shoulders digging into his side. "Shinji-nii-san said it was a girly show and never let me watch it."
"Oh?" There was an awful lot of pink and glitter. Were those horses?
"He always got to pick the shows 'cuz he's bigger than me." Her grip tightened on the controller possessively.
Fortunately, Jiraiya had no interest in battling a toddler to determine what cartoons were being watched.
The horses started singing. Jiraiya closed his eyes and tilted his head back. He'd heard worse. At least it seemed to be keeping the kid quiet.
"Daddy."
"What?" His head dipped as he tried to blink himself more awake.
Katsumi was still staring ahead at the brightly colored ponies, unmoving against his side.
"Daddy, you smell."
That was probably from the sake that waitress had spilled on him last night when he'd gone to dinner with Minato.
"Daddy you smell." Katsumi repeated the words forcefully, although she remained focused on the show.
"Yeah, ok." Jiraiya mumbled and rubbed his face. "Imma going to take a shower." He stood and stretched, Katsumi falling further into the couch without protest.
"You uh," he eyed the girl, racking his brain for memories about child development. "You need to use the restroom or anything?"
Katsumi's green eyes glanced at him, flat and unamused.
"Right." Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head and looked around. How child-proof was this room? He didn't see anything imminently dangerous about, but—"You just stay there, ok?" He pointed to the couch, determinedly not thinking about the smoke bombs under the cushions or those senbon he'd stuck in the armrest.
Katsumi made a noncommittal noise, but seemed content enough to watch the television with her rabbit.
"Right." Jiraiya nodded and went to shower.
Kakashi was already in the Academy at her age. She'd be fine, surely she was smart enough to know better than to play with weaponry. That she probably saw Sakumo's kid and Minato's other two brats play with all the time without a care in the world.
He'd shower quickly.
Chiyoko sat primly in the wooden chair, fingers laced tightly in her lap as she worked hard to keep her anxiety off her face. She needed this job.
Nakano Akina adjusted her glasses as she reviewed the notes from their interview, tapping a pencil idly against her large wooden desk. The older woman pursed her lips. "Normally we don't do this Kinoshita-san, but it puts me in a difficult position to turn down a request from the Hokage."
Chiyoko bowed her head. She was slightly embarrassed, but as a foreigner from an area with a declining reputation, she knew she'd need the man's recommendation to secure employment.
"You do understand that the position is essentially that of an emergency assistant? You wouldn't have a classroom of your own, or a set group of students. You'd be filling in for teachers who are absent, and then you'd be working after school as a tutor for students who need extra assistance?"
"I understand," replied Chiyoko.
"It's not exactly a high demand position," said Nakano-sensei, somewhat apologetically. "The hours are strange and the pay is at a lower rate than a standard teacher. But, if you impress us with your work you will be one of the first ones considered should a regular position open up."
"I would greatly appreciate the opportunity," Chiyko said firmly. "I'll work hard to make sure you don't regret it."
"You said you have a young child?" Nakano tilted her head with carefully practiced polite interest. "Will childcare be a problem? I'm afraid this position requires your prompt attendance, since you will be covering for others' emergencies."
Chiyoko shook her head, "I have adequate arrangements."
Nakano-sensei sank back in her chair with a sigh. "Well then, you'll start today by substituting for Ibiki-san, she teaches an older class, which means it's larger than the younger classes. As a civilian school in a shinobi village, you'll find that the population of our classes increases as the students age-they drop out of the shinobi Academy and transfer to this school in its stead. She teaches mathematics and her classes go until four in the afternoon—"
Chiyoko set aside her concern for Katsumi; surely Jiraiya could handle her for one day. She was sorry to drop her on him like this, but he had made the offer, and she was going to have start trusting him to care for his child at some point in time. He's already done so much more than I thought he would. She stilled her hands as she caught herself nervously plucking at her mother's bracelet.
The sooner she could support herself without Jiraiya's help, the sooner she had the freedom to tell him to take a hike if he did anything with her child that she didn't like. She shoved the doubt that she'd be allowed to make that decision in a military village to the farthest recesses of her mind. She swallowed and tried to smile as she accepted the folder from Nakano-sensei, quickly skimming over the notes for the lessons she'd cover that day.
Jiraiya sneezed suddenly as he finished towel-drying his hair and hastily pulled it back. He could still hear sounds from the television, and he hadn't heard any screams or suspicious noises, so he imagined his offspring hadn't gotten into too much trouble. Maybe Minato had exaggerated about her being inclined to mischief? He tugged on a (relatively) clean shirt. Then again, Minato had said that he had trouble pinning things on the girl—
"Daddy there's a clown at the window!"
Jiraiya finished adjusting his clothes and swiftly went to greet the Anbu.
"Hello Duck," greeted Jiraiya gruffly, scratching his nose as he took the scrap of paper with Sensei's familiar writing. Of course Sensei wanted to talk right now—
Duck was still at the window. "Yes?" Jiraiya asked the man, surprised he hadn't vanished.
"Jiraiya-sama…," Duck trailed off, porcelain mask obscuring his features but unable to hide the hesitance in his tone.
"Well, what?" The sannin asked, setting his shoulders back in exasperation.
"Perhaps you should provide the child better reading material." Duck offered delicately.
Jiraiya turned around slowly, to see that Katsumi apparently hadn't been watching the television and instead had decided to examine the nearest pile of magazines.
"Why do all these women have to go swimming?" Katsumi sounded genuinely puzzled. "Why don't they ever actually get in the water?"
Jiraiya felt his cheeks heat up-though, there were certainly worse things around here she could have found.
Still, he took the magazines away. "It's, umm…" for lack of better ideas, he gave his oldest excuse: "Research."
He heard Duck's smothered chuckle-cough behind him. He blindly reached back and slammed the window shut. From the pained hiss, it sounded like he caught a few of Duck's fingers in the process.
Good.
Screw Duck anyway.
"Here," he reached around for any alternative reading material. He snatched up the first two magazines he found and rolled them up—those were a little bit more scandalous than swimsuit editions. The next scroll was full of indecipherable fuinjutsu notes. "Read that."
"It's just pictures." Katsumi's brow scrunched in confusion, but she found the sealing patterns interesting enough to trace with her fingers.
Jiraiya swept up the abandoned swimsuit magazines and tossed them in the spare room. There. First crisis averted. He had what, 30 or 40 minutes before Chiyoko showed back up? Surely?
"Daddy, the tv is boring," Katsumi chirped. She discarded the scroll of fuinjutsu notes and slid to the floor, reaching for something under the couch-nope. Jiraiya swiped the body scroll—at least he could finally tell T & I where that had gotten to—from the kid and gave her a notepad full of sketches of toads.
Katsumi silently considered the offering for three seconds and then tucked it under her arm and headed toward his kitchen. "What's for breakfast?"
Jiraiya froze. Oh hell no.
Twenty minutes later, both Jiraiya and Katsumi were sitting at the kitchen table, solemnly staring at the soggy mess that was Jiraiya's attempt at making breakfast.
Somber green eyes met Jiraiya's gaze. "Mommy's coming back, right?"
"God, I hope so," moaned Jiraiya earnestly, letting his chin hit the tabletop.
"We are so late, so late, so late—" Jiraiya chanted as he darted out of the conibi, Katsumi balanced on one hip and happily munching on a riceball. "Why hello, ladies," he couldn't help but add as he held open the door for the two giggling women who were walking into the shop.
"Hi," echoed Katsumi around a mouthful of rice, hugging her rabbit close with the hand not holding her breakfast.
The shorter brunette hid her laugh behind the long sleeve of her kimono, but the taller woman smiled warmly up at him.
This is new. Jiraiya smiled back and lingered at the door, opening his mouth to say –
"Bye," interrupted Katsumi, awkwardly waving farewell around her stuffed toy.
"Hey now." Jiraiya furrowed his brow and frowned at his offspring. "Why are you in such a hurry, huh?"
"We're late." Katsumi beamed up at him cheerfully.
"She's cute," said the tall woman with the great smile, who had yet to go inside and was lingering in the doorway.
Jiraiya perked up. "Most of the time."
"She's yours?" asked the woman, brown eyes curious.
"I'm babysitting." Jiraiya leaned forward, "but only for a few hours; I'll be free this evening."
Another giggle. "Your babysitter is a flirt," the woman cooed as she addressed Katsumi .
Katsumi lowered her riceball and gazed solemnly at the woman. "He keeps dead bodies under the couch."
The woman paused, startled, brown eyes wide. She retracted the hand that had been reaching forward to pat Katsumi on the head.
"And that's our cue to leave. Have a good day!" The white haired sannin waved at the woman as he briskly backed away.
He scowled at his child as soon as they turned the corner. "Why'd you say that?"
Katsumi patted his cheek in sympathy. "Honesty is the best policy."
"How'd you even know what that scroll was anyways?" Muttered the toad sannin, eyes scanning the crowd for his quarry.
Katsumi huffed impatiently in his ear, twisting around so she could peer curiously behind him as they walked. "The scroll described a person, and a country, and then said 'date of death.' It's not like it was hard."
"You said you were still learning to read," grumbled Jiraiya.
"Oh, Daddy," Katsumi sighed dramatically and dropped her chin on his shoulder. "That was weeks ago."
"Who told you about body scrolls anyways?" Jiraiya scratched at the back of his neck in irritation.
"I read about it in the dictionary," quipped Katsumi.
"You did not," snorted Jiraiya. "Your Mom told me about that. I'm not going to take the book away from you if you admit where you learned it."
Katsumi shrugged. "Kashi-kun."
"The Hatake brat?"
"Uh-huh," Katsumi nodded. "He kept saying that's how I was going to get to Konoha if I didn't stop talking."
"Ummm…" that was somewhat concerning. "I don't think he actually knows how to do that yet, but maybe you should stop doing whatever it is you do that aggravates him that much." Surely no one had taught the kid fuinjutsu yet, no matter how prodigious he was. Minato would have mentioned it by now. "Besides, you should be nice to him. Hatake-kun could use some friends right now."
He could feel Katsumi curling up in a rebellious sulk at his words and he patted her back absently. It was hard to imagine Sakumo's son saying such a thing to a client. That one was all about following the rules and being professional. Certainly threatening the client went against what the kids were being taught in the Academy's client counselling classes. But the boy did graduate early, maybe Sakumo's kid didn't take that course? Surely Minato would have reprimanded the kid—speak of the devil.
"Oy, blond brat!" Jiraiya's yell was loud enough for everyone on the street to turn their heads toward the father and daughter pair.
Katsumi clapped her hands to her ears with a pout. "Too loud!" She pulled his hair in retaliation.
"Ouch, hey stop that!" Jiraiya bent his head toward his daughter to lessen the tension on his hair.
"I'm afraid you are fighting a losing battle, Katsumi-chan," said the aforementioned blond in amiable agreement. "The only volume at which Sensei can speak is the '5 mile bellow.'"
"Hey," said Jiraiya indignantly. "I can speak—" He winced at the pull of small fingers wound tightly in his hair and softened his voice petulantly. "I can speak quieter."
Minato chuckled with good humor. "And they say you can't teach old dogs new tricks."
Jiraiya huffed. "Who are you calling old, brat?" He lashed out quickly with his free hand and twisted Minato's ear. "I'm not old!"
"You're not old, you're not old!" Agreed Minato with a piteous whimper.
Katsumi giggled.
"Oh, you think that's funny do you?" Jiraiya let go of his older brat to tickle the younger one, who accordingly laughed louder at his actions. "That's the treatment hair-pullers can expect around here!"
Minato took the opportunity to back up out of Jiraiya's reach and massage his abused ear lobe. "You've got to stop doing that. 'Shina-chan is starting to do it too now and between the both of you I'll be lucky to have any ears left."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Catch."
Minato blurred as he caught the squealing toddler tossed in his direction, clutching Katsumi to his chest as soon as he'd rescued her and her bunny rabbit from a rude collision with the dirt path.
Neither man responded to the concerned gasp of an elderly woman watching them as she passed by on her morning walk.
Jiraiya checked his nonexistent watch. "Sensei ordered me to his office about an hour ago, so I have to split."
Minato blinked in mild alarm. "Wait, what? Where's Chiyoko-san?"
Jiraiya shrugged. "Working, I suppose. Just get her back to her mom after the schools let out if I'm not back by then."
"But I'm not even—"
The toad sannin disappeared in a flurry of hand signs and leaves.
"On duty today," finished Minato with a slump of his shoulders. He let his head hang forlornly for a moment and then straightened with a sigh, adjusting the girl's weight in his arms. He softened his hold and looked down at her inquiringly when he realized she was stiff with tension. "What's wrong, Katsumi-chan?"
Katsumi's eyes were impossibly wide; her breath coming in quick huffs, fingers gripping her toy so tightly he could see the seams beginning to tear.
"Katsumi-chan?" Minato knelt so he could place the girl on her feet and look her directly in the face.
"I didn't say goodbye," she eventually muttered, trembling. "I didn't say goodbye."
"Katsumi-chan, it'll be fine. You'll see him soon. He just went to talk with Hokage-sama." Minato hadn't seen an anxiety attack in a child this young before, but he had enough dealings with stricken shinobi to recognize the symptoms he was seeing, even if he didn't know what had triggered it. Perhaps it was just the cumulative stress of recent events?
"Breathe Katsumi, slowly. Breath deep and slow, match your breath to the rhythm of my voice." He pushed the girl into a sitting position, falling back onto the medical lessons given to all shinobi of chūnin rank and above on how to handle panicking comrades. Surely some of it was applicable to small children?
"Remember that game you like? The song?" He continued talking, doing his best to keep his voice soothing and calm. "Let's count back from 100; you just focus on breathing slowly and counting with me when you can. Focus on the numbers: 100, 99, 98, 97—"
Katsumi's breathing began to even out in the 70s and her small voice eventually began to pipe up along with him. "63, 62, 61, 60..."
"There, now." He rubbed her arms reassuringly as he ended the counting at 55. Her breathing evened out and the tremors he could feel under his hands subsided. He waited patiently for her to talk to him, but she only buried her face in her rabbit and then pressed close to him.
Awkwardly, he wrapped his arms around her in the hug she was seeking, like how he'd seen Kushina-chan tend to Kakashi when the boy occasionally let his guard down.
"He didn't say goodbye," came Katsumi's chant, muffled against his vest. "He didn't say goodbye."
Minato bit his lip. "It will be fine Katsumi-chan. He'll be back before you know it."
Katsumi said nothing, but her breathing was normal and she seemed to be observing their surroundings and able to interact once more. He picked her up in his arms, deciding it was best to get back to establishing her new routine. Maybe that would help her nerves settle—or something.
He kept his tone light. "Well, it's my day off, but my team should still be meeting up for training today. I'll take you over to them." Minato smiled charmingly down at the four year old, only to notice that her big green eyes were taking on a teary tremble.
"Katsumi-chan," Minato prompted, hoping to get her to talk before she had another anxiety attack.
She hiccupped. "Nobody wants me today!"
"Oh geeze." Minato gulped. "No, no. That's not it at all! Everyone is just busy—"
Katsumi burst into tears.
"Great." Minato said dryly, awkwardly jostling the crying child. He smiled uncertainly at the grey haired couple giving him the stink eye across the road. "She's fine, really!"
XXX
Rin worried her lip as she watched Kakashi push Obito about the clearing during their 'spar.' Kakashi was just too fast for the older boy, continually managing to side swipe any punches or kicks and flash around to hit the Uchiha in his blind spots. She lowered her eyes to the medical notes in her lap. She was supposed to finish reading them before she reported in for her internship at the hospital this afternoon. She still had another five pages to memorize about the tendons and ligaments of the foot but—
Obito's chin hit the ground again with a painful sounding 'thwack.'
"Kakashi-kun, switch with me?" Rin stood and dusted bits of grass and dirt off the back of her skirt.
"Fine." The silver-haired six year old gave an aggravated huff, but pulled away from his opponent. "This wasn't going anywhere anyway."
"I was just about to turn the tables on you, you brat!" Obito rolled over and chucked a wad of dirt in Kakashi's direction.
The tiny chūnin dodged.
Rin couldn't help but smile as she helped pull Obito to his feet. Obito was the most resilient friend she had. She knew Kakashi's words got to him, but he hid it well and always bounced back.
"We just need to get your speed up, Obito-kun," she agreed cheerfully, falling into the starting position for her preferred fighting style. She preferred 'Crane' over Academy Basic. It really wasn't a clan secret or anything, most clans in Konoha had a shinobi or two proficient in this style. However, 'Crane' was the style her Aunt Honami had taken the time to teach her, promising Rin would grow into it even more with time. It allowed Rin to use her height and build to her advantage. She didn't, and would never have, the muscle mass to make an effective use of Academy Basic.
Obito grimaced. "I'm working on it. I've started joining my cousin Masaru on his morning runs. I'll ask him for tips on speed training too, tomorrow."
"I'm surprised you can wake up on time," retorted Kakashi.
Rin looked out the corner of her eye, watching as the younger boy dug through his pack, looking for kunai for target practice, most likely.
"You could ask Sensei," she suggested, blocking Obito's forward thrust and dancing out of his reach.
Obito puffed out his cheeks.
"No chipmunk face." Rin smiled as Obito's cheeks puffed out even further at the reminder. Rin's favored style was faster than his too. Eventually, Obito's taijutsu would likely outstrip both of his teammates. The Uchiha's taijutsu form was made to complement the Sharingan, which Obito didn't have yet. But the Uchiha clan still insisted that its young members use the clan style rather than Academy Basic, so no bad habits carried over once their bloodline was awakened. Once he awoke his Sharingan, muscle memory for Academy Basic would do more harm than good.
This meant that Obito was stuck practicing with a taijutsu form that he couldn't fully utilize and which left him open to certain hits which he couldn't currently protect from. Sadly, the bottom line was that It would take her friend a few years and an awoken dōjutsu to really come into his own and have any hope of matching Kakashi. When he did though, he'd likely have the muscles to put more power in his hits than either she or Kakashi could hope to match.
Obito managed a solid grab on Rin's wrists and pulled her into a throw over his shoulder. He always softened his tosses though, and Rin wound up laughing as she rolled onto her back in the grass.
"Like that's going to suffice against opponents." Their little storm-cloud observer grumbled moodily as he spun a kunai around a finger.
Kakashi, of course, had mastered Academy Basic and Crane and two other styles already. He switched freely between them, which just served to confuse his partners even more. It was an excellent asset for him—even if it wasn't so good for his teammates' egos.
Obito kept trying to convince her that Kakashi earned his promotion solely because all of his opponent's traps and blows had been aimed for someone two feet taller, but Rin would admit that Kakashi was skilled enough to have earned the promotion. He was still only six though, and hadn't yet grasped the concept that time spent helping Obito improve would eventually increase the quality of Kakashi's own training.
"Take it easy, Brat," Obito flicked a rock his way. "It's our day off anyway."
Rin leaned up on her elbows and watched the boy. It was their day off. But Kakashi never took a day off, and Sensei had asked them to keep an eye on him considering recent events. So, she and Obito found themselves at the training grounds rain or shine, watching their youngest member trying to beat his anger and grief into the earth.
"Iwa's not taking the day off," Kakashi snapped back, tossing his kunai at Obito.
Obito yelped and skipped back a few steps, dodging the continued barrage of projectiles.
"Mrgghh," Obito groaned as he jumped. "Can't you be politically ignorant like a normal child?" Obito squeaked as senbon were introduced to the 'game.' "It's not like they're going to be sending us to the frontlines to fight Iwa-nin!"
Rin rose to her feet and sighed as she chased after them, grabbing her med pack on the way. Weaponry practice always turned messy when Sensei wasn't around. She wished she was as confident as Obito was about the future. She remembered the statistics courses from the Academy and the manpower estimates of the various hidden villages. If war really broke out in earnest, then the only things keeping them from being sent to the frontlines would be Obito's dormant bloodline and Kakashi's youth. Neither of those would last forever.
The Village expected great things from this team. She could only hope that they had enough time to grow to meet those expectations. Still—"It's not going to do anyone any good if you train yourself to exhaustion Kakashi-kun," she hollered up at them both as Obito took to the trees.
Great. Obito hadn't mastered tree-walking yet like Kakashi-kun. He was going to fall on top of his damn head. She rubbed her forehead fretfully as she tracked their fight from the ground.
"You're supposed to rest on days off and do light training, so that you're fully prepared for missions!" She knew her efforts were wasted, but at least it felt like she was doing something when she screamed advice at them.
She spun about when she heard the crash of a body falling and roughly jostling foliage. She ran to Obito, who was flailing, trying to regain his balance in an unforgivingly thorny berry bush.
"Calm down," she grabbed his arms. "Be careful or you'll just get tangled up worse." She cautiously began to maneuver the boy out of the bush's grasp. In her peripheral vision, she saw Obito's dark eyes widen in alarm. Suddenly she was roughly pushed down as Obito threw himself over her, the thunk of a kunai embedding into the tree trunk where their heads had been only moments before ringing sharply in her ears.
Rin twisted, enraged. "Stop it, Kakashi!" She yelled out at the tree, glaring as the boy sulked into her line of sight. "I was a medic assisting the injured; you've got to learn to respect the end of a spar. If you keep going too far like this I'll tell Sensei!"
Rin's eyes and cheeks were heated as she attempted to stare down the younger boy. Kakashi avoided eye contact mulishly, not appearing to be sorry in the slightest.
"We're your teammates you dumb-ass," hissed Obito, his own temper flaring. "We're supposed to support you on missions but we can't do that if you take our heads off in practice because you're careless!"
Rin tightened her fists in Obito's jacket, heart sinking as Kakashi sniffed dismissively, opening his mouth to most likely retort that he'd be better without them anyway—
"Is everything alright?" A familiar voice asked, cutting through the tension.
Kakashi's mouth shut with a click—or it would have, if the click hadn't been muffled by his mask. He crossed his hands behind his head and looked away from Sensei, who was suddenly perched above them in a tree limb.
Rin swallowed, counted to ten in her head, and took a step away from Obito. She looked up at Sensei briefly, and then down at her hands.
"Everything's fine," Obito finally muttered in the strained quiet. He looked away as Rin untangled her apron from the thorn bush.
Rin nodded her agreement and busied herself with getting Obito's jacket free from the enemy foliage.
"Really?" Sensei's question was light. "Because it looks like you're all pretty upset to me."
Rin only became aware that Sensei was expecting her to answer when the two boys remained silent. She pulled out the bandages from her med-pack, along with some anti-septic. "It's fine," she agreed, treating a particularly long (but shallow) gash on Obito's arm, where a kunai had managed to slice through the fabric. "Kakashi-kun just got a little carried away at the end of a spar, that's all." Kakashi was six. Surely she and Obito could figure out how to reach him without having Sensei intervene on every occasion. As disturbing as Kakashi acted sometimes, he was still a little kid with a lot to learn. She pursed her lips and tied off the bandage, moving to dab some of the antiseptic onto Obito's wincing face.
Sensei hummed low in his throat, the noise he made when he wasn't buying what they were saying but wasn't going to challenge them on it at the moment. "I suppose it's a good time for the spar to end then, because I need you to start on that mission we talked about yesterday."
"What mission?"
She heard Kakashi's suspicious grumble at the same time Obito yanked his head up and out of her hands, eyes narrowing as he examined their Sensei more closely.
"Oh, hey Katsumi-chan!" Obito greeted their guest with his usual boisterous enthusiasm, bounding forward. "Why are you hiding over there?"
Rin twisted her jar of anti-septic cream shut and packed up her supplies before joining the group.
"Why is she here?" Kakashi stayed behind his teammates, glaring darkly at the youngest person in the clearing.
Sensei jumped down from the tree, swinging Katsumi away from where she was hiding in his shadow and setting her on her feet in front of them.
"Hi," Katsumi said softly, muffling her face in the large rabbit they'd become accustomed to her carrying around.
Obito laughed and bent down to try and coax the girl out of her sudden shyness.
Rin pasted on a smile for the girl. It wasn't her fault she'd come across them during a rather tense moment. Although, certainly news of this mission wasn't going to help Kakashi's temper any.
"Minato-Sensei," insisted Kakashi impatiently. "Why is she here?"
Minato stood, leaving Katsumi to Obito's soft cajoling.
"You're going to be watching Katsumi-chan from now on, whenever her parents are unable to do so." The blond jōnin gestured toward the small girl.
"What?" Kakashi's voice was flat, silver eyes hard.
"Katsumi's parents are both busy working and can't watch her all the time," Sensei repeated. "Hokage-sama has asked our team to watch her when needed, at least until she's old enough to officially start the Academy."
Kakashi turned his glare upon their teacher. "She's four, she can start now. I graduated at five."
"You're from a shinobi family, Kakashi." Sensei's explanation carried a tinge of amusement. "Katsumi-chan has a little more adjusting to do. And her mother would like her to wait until the new school year starts and she can enroll with all the other children her age."
"No, no, no." Kakashi shook his head, unkempt mop of gray hair swinging to and fro, not unlike one of his shaggy ninken. "We don't want this mission, take it back."
Obito snorted. "I'm fine with this mission. Aren't you Rin-chan?"
Rin blinked at the question, took a breath to agree—
"Take her back." Kakashi emphasized his words by pointing rudely at the girl.
Rin's eyes widened as Katsumi wilted, curling against Obito dejectedly.
"That's enough Kakashi." Minato's rebuke was sharp, and cut the chūnin's tantrum off abruptly.
Rin cleared her throat. "How long will be watching her today Sensei? Is someone coming to pick her up, or are we taking her home?"
Sensei stared hard at Kakashi until the boy looked away in submission. The blond leaned back and ran a weary hand across the back of his head. "I don't know really. Chiyoko-san went in for a job interview this morning at a school and we think she was asked to start immediately. She should be back around the time the civilian schools let out. Why not have her home in the late afternoon—but don't leave her until Chiyoko-san comes home."
Rin nodded at the instructions, taking a notepad out of her med pack to scribble down the address that Sensei gave them. After a quick glance between Obito and Kakashi, Sensei handed her Katsumi's spare apartment key for safe-keeping too.
Rin giggled at Obito's pout.
"That's fine," sniffed Obito, picking up Katsumi and resting the girl on his hip. "I'm the fun one anyway. Can't be fun and responsible." He winked at their charge.
Rin narrowed her eyes at him. She resisted the urge to stick out her tongue. She was on a mission, that wouldn't be professional.
"We're getting paid for this right?" Kakashi scuffed his foot against the ground bitterly.
"Yes, you're getting D-rank pay," drawled Sensei. "And because this mission is intermittent and long-term, you're allowed to continue any training or take other missions which wouldn't interfere with this mission's objective."
Kakashi perked up at that and Rin carefully hid her wince. That might not be such a good idea.
Minato smiled cheerfully at them. "As long as Katsumi is being taken care of you can do what you want." Something made him jerk with a start, and he looked over his shoulder with a guilty expression.
Rin turned, but couldn't tell what had distracted him.
Sensei clapped his hands and gave a slight bow. "I'm very, very late for a meeting, though, soIreallyneedtogo—"
Sensei vanished.
Rin blinked.
"Huh." Obito let Katsumi-chan slide to the ground so he could scratch at his head. "That was weird."
Kakashi looked blankly in the direction their teacher had fled. "I believe he's late for lunch with Uzumaki-san," the boy finally revealed.
Obito barked a laugh. "Better him than us."
Rin felt her lips twitch. "Was Kushina-san supposed to cook?"
"No."
Kakashi sounded understandably relieved. Kushina-san usually passed on any left-overs to her boyfriend's students. And then she eagerly badgered them for reports on how they liked the meals with cheery, wide-eyed anticipation and a slightly manic twitch in her right hand which promised retribution should the answer be one she did not want to hear.
"Well, Katsumi-chan," Obito grinned down at the child. "What do you want to do today?"
"Who cares," Kakashi interrupted snidely, not giving the smaller girl a chance to speak. "We can do whatever we want as long as we keep an eye on her." He marched away, heading back to the clearing in which they'd left the bulk of their equipment.
Rin met Obito's glance and shrugged helplessly, grabbing her medical bag and hurrying to catch up with the younger boy.
Obito frowned. "I don't think that's what Sensei meant." He called from behind them, moving slowly so Katsumi might match his pace.
"He said we could train and watch her," Kakashi jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the girl's direction. "I'm going to train. You and Rin watch her."
Rin scowled. "It's a team assignment Kakashi, we're supposed to watch her as a team. You can't just dump that on Obito and I, we have to train and watch her together if that's the plan."
"Whatever," Kakashi shrugged. He knelt down to pack up his kunai. "I'm going to work on chakra control, are you coming Loser?"
Obito hesitated, looking down at Katsumi and then frowning at Rin.
Rin rubbed her temples, trying to relieve the building pressure. Inviting Obito to train was as close as Kakashi ever came to apologizing for his behavior. "Fine." She held out her hand and beckoned for Katsumi to come toward her. "You both stay here though, don't leave the clearing. Katsumi and I will stay with the packs and watch you."
She heard the boys start up their usual quarrel as she took Katsumi's small hand in her own and walked them over to the packs. She peeked at the younger girl out of the corner of her eyes as she retrieved her medical notes and sank to the ground.
"You're awfully quiet today, Katsumi-chan, is everything ok?" Rin tugged at the girl's bunny teasingly, but the smaller girl didn't respond. Her unusually serious green eyes were studying the boys as Kakashi once again tried to explain the tree-walking exercise to an agitated Obito.
Rin left her alone to her observations, turning to her own assignment and finding the spot where she'd left off—
"Can we learn that?"
Katsumi's small voice commandeered Rin's attention and she let her gaze follow Katsumi's pointing fingers, to where Obito was slowly making his way up the tree as Kakashi ran circles around him.
"No, not until you're a genin, Katsumi-chan."
The four year old curled up in sulk at her words, fingers clenching the fur of her rabbit tightly.
Rin sighed. "I know it's kind of boring today, but I promise it won't always be like this. I have to study for a quiz tonight, but I'll start bringing things for you to do from now on, ok?"
"Ok," Katsumi muttered reluctantly, sounding slightly rebellious.
Rin smiled at her. "Thank you, I really appreciate you being so good today. It's very helpful, and I promise to be more entertaining next time you come."
Katsumi pursed her lips, but settled back down next to her, resuming her quiet watchfulness.
Rin hid her grin and looked back at her notes. She didn't know what Kakashi's problem was with the girl. Katsumi was very logical, and had an appreciation for negotiations. As long as she understood that there would be a reward for her cooperation she was easy enough to mind. Kastumi also enjoyed getting a rise out of people, however. And Kakashi seemed unable to grasp that any visible reaction was a point in some type of game that Katsumi had set up between the two.
Katsumi didn't seem to be concerned that Kakashi was unaware of the game.
Or the score.
Rin turned her attention back to memorizing the arrangement of the 26 bones, 33 joints, and 100 or so tendons and muscles and ligaments which made up a human foot.
Rin didn't stop reading until her stomach audibly grumbled in protest, distracting her from learning about how to treat stress fractures with bone grafting and causing her to look up at the sun.
It's way past lunch. She felt a bit guilty. Katsumi was probably really hungry. She'd been studying for over an hour, but she'd meant to interrupt the boys after thirty minutes so that they could all eat together. She put aside her notes and ruffled through her pack for the bento boxes she'd made that morning. She'd only made three, but Katsumi didn't eat much.
She frowned when she realized a lid of one of the boxes was ajar. All the food was still there, but, "Katsumi, were you in my bag?" She twisted to look over her shoulder—
Katsumi was gone.
Rin felt her stomach fall to the soles of her sandals. She dropped her pack, all thoughts of lunch forgotten.
She licked her lips nervously, fingers reflexively grasping for her weapons. Katsumi had been sitting right next to her. They were deep in Konoha, surrounded by training fields where other, more highly ranked and attentive ninja were on high alert doing training exercised. It was highly unlikely Katsumi was kidnapped. She'd been watching the boys; she'd probably just followed them when their training took them farther from the clearing.
She swallowed and scrambled the hundred feet to where Kakashi and Obito's spar had devolved into a mud bath.
"Take that you little monster—" Obito stopped short. "Oh, hi Rin." He shoved the hand holding the ball of mud behind him, only for Kakashi to sweep his feet out from under him and send the Uchiha boy sprawling on his back.
"Where's Katsumi-chan!" Rin stared intensely at the pair.
"With you." Kakashi rose to his feet grudgingly, taking in his teammate's near hysteria.
"No, she's not there anymore!" Rin fretted. "I thought she followed you over here."
"Not again." Obito groaned, sitting up and slapping an exasperated hand to his face.
Kakashi's fingers were already flying through his summoning sequence.
"Don't worry," Obito attempted to reassure her, holding out placating hands. "She can't have gone far; she doesn't have any idea where she is."
"That's not a good thing!" She snapped at the boy. Why does it feel like I'm the only one with a brain on this team sometimes!? "No one is keeping an eye out for misplaced four year olds wandering the training grounds!"
"Ok, yeah, that's a fair point." Obito adjusted his goggles.
Rin swallowed her temper and tore after Kakashi and Pakkun.
"Are you sure nothing exciting happened on your last mission?" Kushina swirled her chopsticks through her food with a pout.
Minato laughed. "I'm afraid not. It was terribly, terribly boring."
Kushina made a face as she finished up her companion's ramen. "I was so hoping you had at least something interesting to talk about." Ughh, he was lucky he was so pretty.
"Hey!" Minato smiled gently. "I have plenty of interesting things to talk about."
"Nu-uh," contested Kushina, frowning as Minato signaled for the bill. "You're such a goody-two-shoes, everything you do is exactly by the book. You could just tell me what type of mission you did and I bet I could tell you exactly what happened on it, dattebane."
"That's how missions are supposed to go, you know." Minato waved his finger at her, grinning brightly. "Not every mission is supposed to be an exciting adventure filled with heroes and villains and stories—"
"Of course every mission is a grand adventure," Kushina scoffed in disbelief. "You're not doing it right if you don't come back with a stor—"
"Excuse me?"
"Eh?" Kushina stopped berating her boyfriend and looked over her shoulder at the man interrupting them.
A dark-haired jōnin stared back at them impassively. Well, stared at Minato impassively. She wasn't being paid any attention to at all. Too pretty by far. She stabbed a piece of pork viciously.
"Ren-san," greeted Minato with a friendly nod.
"I'm sorry Namikaze-san, she says she's yours." The strange jōnin continued, drawing Kushina's attention once more as he pointed down to his feet.
Correction. To a little girl standing next his feet, looking adorable in a pink summer yukata as she clutched a large, purple stuffed rabbit. Kushina's eyes widened with curiosity at the same time Minato's narrowed.
"Katsumi-chan?" Minato frowned down at the girl. "I don't understand, she's supposed to be with my team."
"Hi, hi!" The little girl chirped brightly up at the three jōnin as Kushina leaned forward in interest.
"We found her wandering around Training Ground 8." Ren-san's voice was stiff, the faintest hint of disapproval coloring his professional demeanor. "If your team was supposed to be watching her, I'd suggest you have them review the fundamentals of babysitting. Like the one that says don't lose the baby."
"Right." Minato's usually easy grin was forced and the twitch of his hands told her how badly he wanted to grab his students by the back of their shirts and knock their heads together.
Minato hated being thought of as unprofessional.
Kushina mentally chortled to herself in amusement as she observed the chipper toddler, who was peering curiously back at her as if she'd never seen a kunoichi before.
She tuned back in to hear the tail-end of Minato's strained babble of promises about making sure this didn't happen again and yes he knew how dangerous it was for unaccompanied children to be wandering around shinobi training grounds and of course he'd speak to his students—
"Hey, Mina-kun," she nudged his shoulder companionably; voice a loud stage-whisper. "When were you going to introduce me to your secret love-child?" She pointed to the girl.
"What!?" Minato blinked in wide-eyed alarm. "No! She's not, I mean—" he stammered, hands flapping ineffectively as they always did when he was flustered. "She's not mine like that!"
Ren-san rolled his eyes and walked away, apparently uninterested in the juiciest part of this gossip.
"It's perfectly ok, dattebane." Kushina patted his shoulder consolingly. "Accidents happen, and she's a pretty cute one as far as accidents go."
"She's not mine!" Minato squawked, voice high and feminine.
"Nii-san, nii-san, I want lunch!"
Kushina looked down at the girl who was now tugging on her boyfriend for attention. "Oh no you don't, you little thief!" She pulled the girl onto her lap. "That's my boyfriend; he buys my lunch, not yours!" She tapped the girl's nose in reprimand.
Green eyes focused on her face briefly, before sliding to her hair. "I like your hair; it's so long and bright!" The girl's hands followed her eyes and soon she was examining a long strand of Kushina's hair with the fascination and lack of appreciation for physical boundaries that only a child could have. Or an Uzumaki. Huh, Cutie fit right in.
"Ok," Kushina gave an exaggerated sigh, hoisting the girl up a bit so she could reach the countertop easily. "Maybe I can share my lunch with a cutie like you." She winked at Teuchi-san and waved for another bowl.
Minato was still spluttering, probably trying to decide which issue to address first—his team's failure to corral one small child or his girlfriend's accusations of paternity.
"What's your rabbit's name, huh?" Kushina tugged the soft ears of the toy, flicking them up in the girl's face.
"Usagi-nee-chan," replied the kid, face serious as Teuchi-san set a small bowl down before her.
"I bet she makes a good sister, huh? Can't steal any of your clothes?" Kushina tugged one of the girl's loose curls.
"Mom said I can't have a real sister, so I have Usagi instead." Katsumi struggled to hold her chopsticks and Kushina gently corrected her grip. "Usagi-chan goes everywhere with me."
"That. Is adorable." The red-head turned pleading eyes on her boyfriend, who'd finally managed to pull himself together. "I can keep her, right?"
Minato ignored her. "Katsumi-chan, " he dropped his elbows on the counter. "What are you doing here, hmm?"
"I'm hungry!" The little girl beamed up at him as she swallowed a mouthful of noodles.
"Yeah, Mina-kun!" Kushina snorted. "It's lunchtime, 'ttebane. Way to ask such obvious questions! Where else would she go but the BEST RAMEN STAND IN THE COUNTRY!" That last part was a bit louder than was probably considered appropriate. Or polite. Her heart squirmed in glee when the girl looked up at her without a flinch and continued munching on her food.
"But why aren't you getting lunch with Obito and Rin and Kakashi-kun?" Minato's smile grew thin. "They were supposed to be watching you so I could have my meeting with Kushina-san."
Kushina's grin broadened. It was precious how possessive he could get of their 'date' time—once she eventually got him to show up, that was.
"I got lost." Katsumi-chan shrugged, apparently unconcerned with that fact. "And then I got hungry."
Minato rested his head on his palm. "And you didn't ask to be returned to the team or tell the ninja where they were training because…?"
Katsumi peered innocently up at him, chewing on her chopsticks for a minute before answering. "But nii-san, Daddy left me with you."
Minato groaned, bottom lip beginning to dip in a pout.
"This lunch is better anyway," she added as an afterthought.
Kushina squealed and tugged the girl closer to her, wrapping her arms around her and rubbing her cheek against her head. "She's so adorable! I want one! I'm keeping her!"
"You can't keep her, Kushina, she's got two perfectly capable parents." Minato's voice was dry and resigned as he forked out the extra cash for Katsumi's bowl. "And I don't think she can breathe like that."
Kushina relaxed her grip on the girl, who wheezed a bit, but still didn't run away. She ran her hand through the girl's brown curls reassuringly. "She likes my hair and ramen, dattebane!
"I like your hair," grumbled Minato.
"Nii-san's supposed to watch me while my Daddy's gone." Katsumi piped up, turning in Kushina's lap so she faced both jōnin now that her meal was finished.
"Oh? How long is that then?" Kushina asked, continuing to pet the girl as if she were one of Kakashi-kun's ninken. She noticed Minato perking up in alarm at the same time the girl's eyes started watering.
"I don't know, he didn't say goodbye—"
"Today, Katsumi-chan," Minato hastily interrupted, cutting off what he seemed to know would be an upsetting topic. "I'm sure you'll see him tonight. He just went to talk to the Hokage; I'm sure he'd come say goodbye if he was leaving for a mission."
Kushina narrowed her eyes at the man. She knew him well enough to know when he was lying through his teeth.
"You promise?" Katsumi's voice was wobbly, green eyes ever so sad.
Minato hesitated.
Katsumi hiccupped.
"I promise!" Minato scrambled, hands fluttering. "I'll make sure he says goodbye before he goes on a mission. I'll bring him back myself if he doesn't!"
"Ok!" Katsumi chirped brightly, demeanor doing a complete 180 degree turn.
"Oh ho ho, you little scammer." Kushina tickled the girl's sides lightly, eliciting squeaky giggles. "That was quite good. You and I, we need to talk later."
"No." Minato contradicted flatly. "No you don't. The last thing I need is you two conspiring against me—
"Sensei! Sensei have you seen—"
Kushina watched in amusement as Minato's three students skid to a halt in front of them. All were out of breath and pink-cheeked from running.
"Your charge?" drawled Minato.
"Found her," barked Pakkun. Belatedly.
"Puppy!" Katsumi cheered and Kushina let the wiggly thing down to run and pet the dog.
"Would you like to explain why it seems like a chūnin and two perfectly capable genin have failed a D rank babysitting mission?" Minato didn't sound as amused as his question was phrased.
"No!" Snapped Kakashi, leaning forward to bat at Katsumi's hands. "Don't pet him!"
"Ohlordjustletherpetthedog," cried Obito in defeated exasperation.
"Kakashi!" Minato snapped. "Listen when I address you!"
"Katsumi, we had an agreement!" There was a sad hint of betrayal in Rin's voice and the dismayed droop of her shoulders.
Katsumi continued to pet the dog. "No meeting of the minds. Failure of consideration. No contract."
Kushina paused, as did her boyfriend.
Minato shook his head. "I have no idea what that means Katsumi, but you do have to behave for the team."
"Why?" Katsumi continued to play with the dog, giving what appeared to be a much appreciated ear rub.
"Because," Minato floundered, slid his dark blue gaze over to Kushina in desperation.
Kushina sucked through the straw of her empty drink. Loudly.
"Because I said so!" Minato finally settled on saying. "That's just how it works."
Oh my poor darling pretty boy. You have so much to learn.
Katsumi's hum was not promising. The dog rolled over for a belly rub.
"Stop it." Hissed Kakashi at the ninken, arms clenched at his side in an 'at-attention' posture.
"You stop it," snapped Obito, adjusting his goggles. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd just let her play with the dog in the first place."
"My ninken aren't pets!"
"Can't you stop fighting for two seconds," moaned Rin, in uncharacteristic frustration.
"Now this," Kushina nodded, catching Minato's put upon gaze. "This is totally a story, dattebane."
"Nope." Minato shook his head. "Not a story. Nothing here to talk about at all."
"Nii-san," interrupted Katsumi loudly, still petting a content Pakkun, whose left leg was kicking uselessly in the air. "Did you know Daddy keeps dead bodies under the couch?"
All three of the brats-in-training looked at the youngest child in alarm.
"Myghrrr." Minato moaned inarticulately and rested his head on the counter.
"You," Kushina raised her empty glass to the youngest girl in a toast. "You may call me nee-san, my minion."
"Oy," Obito perked up. "She's our minion, not yours."
"You can have her," assured Kakashi, at the same time.
"Oh, Mina-kun, " Kushina gushed, spinning Katsumi around as if holding out an exhibit of joy. "This is the best birthday present ever!"
"It is not your birthday," corrected Minato. "And that is not a present."
"She's so adorable and she's gonna follow me around—"
"That is a small child." Minato gestured at the pair. "A very willful small child."
"My own little fluffy adorable duckling—" Kushina cooed and cuddled the bewildered girl.
"This will not go well," Minato warned.
"Shut up," Kushina snapped, hair frizzing out in anger. "You have Kakashi. This one's mine." She resumed babbling joyful nonsense at her newest toy.
Minato made a small squeaky noise but wisely refrained from anymore verbal commentary.
"Ok," Rin piped up, voice uncertain. "But she has to be home by five."
Minato rolled his head and rubbed the base of his neck in weary resignation.
"Thank you for letting us watch her today, she was such a joy!" Kushina gave a blinding, beatific grin at their hostess as she perched on the sofa with her tea.
"A joy," Minato echoed next to her, the twitch of his eye unnoticeable to the civilian woman across from them.
"I'm glad it went well," replied Chiyoko-san, smiling back. "And I'm really glad to hear you'll be helping watch her from now on Kushina-san. Minato-san seems so busy and his students, well, Katsumi-chan and Kakashi-kun seem to rub each other the wrong way, so to speak." She paused, taking a dainty sip from her own ceramic cup. "Anyway, I'm glad to know there's someone else looking out for her. Especially another woman."
Minato made a noise of protest, which Kushina cut off by stepping on his foot.
"I just really don't know anything about being a kunoichi, and I want her to have someone older who she can go to if she has any questions that I can't answer." Chiyoko ran her hand through her daughter's hair.
Katsumi sat next to her mother, content to draw with colored pencils while the adults talked. She kept all her pencils in a neat, particular order, picking up one at a time and setting it back in the same position from which she retrieved it.
"I know she has that medic-nin for a godmother, but she seemed so intimidating," Chiyoko's brows furrowed in thought, as if trying to recall a name.
"Medic nin?" Kushina prompted politely. How disappointing. She didn't want to step on someone's toes, some kunoichi could be awfully possessive about family members, even when it came to simple things like babysitting once a week or so—
Minato choked on his drink. Kushina helpfully whacked him on the back a few times.
The blond glared at her a bit, almost losing his grip on his tea.
She rolled her eyes. Ungrateful pretty bastard.
"She's talking about Tsunade-sama," added Minato dryly, leaning forward to gently set down his cup on the tray.
"Tsunade-sama!" Kushina's eyes lit up and she leaned forward, scooting to the very edge of the couch. "She's my cousin, 'ttebane!"
"Really?" Chiyoko looked amused by the redhead's enthusiasm.
"Well, like a zillion times removed or something, but that means we're practically related!" Kushina squealed and jumped forward to throw her arms around the civilian woman, babbling excitedly about how much fun they were going to have now that they were in Konoha. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Minato making a gesture that was either meant to reassure Chiyoko that Kushina's behavior was normal or indicated that yes, he knew Kushina was crazy and he was refusing to help.
She was going to be a good girlfriend and give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Nee-san, Mommy can't breathe!"
Kushina retreated at the insistent tugging on her skirt and traded her grasp on the older Kinoshita for the younger one, pulling the child into her lap.
"Sorry, sorry." Kushina waved an embarrassed hand at the woman when she realized how winded she looked. "I forget my own strength sometimes!"
"It's fine," Chiyoko graciously accepted the apology, smoothing out some wrinkles in her dress.
"Anyway," Kushina cleared her throat. "That's so great to hear about your job, dattebane. It sounds like your first day here was pretty awesome. How'd you meet Tsunade-sama? I didn't know she had relations in Grass County. I'm glad you got out before things got bad, though."
Chiyoko's face took on a pained expression. "We're glad to be here, thank you."
Kushina internally grimaced. Looks like she'd hit on a painful topic by accident. She hoped the other woman would forgive her.
"I'm afraid you misunderstand though," the school-teacher pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "We're not related to Tsunade-sama, Katsumi's father chose her as godmother."
"Katsumi-chan's father?" Kushina carefully didn't look at the few photographs that were placed around the sparsely decorated apartment. She'd already noted that none of them contained a shinobi who could be the missing parent. And Katsumi must have one shinobi parent, she noticed the seals on the door and a fast-tracked genin team was a bit overkill for civilian babysitting duty. She would have assumed the man was dead—but Minato had talked as if Katsumi had two living parents.
Chiyoko's green eyes slid uncertainly to Minato, as if requesting permission to talk more on the subject.
"Don't tell me," Kushina turned her own suspicious gaze on the blond jōnin. "She really is yours!"
"No!" Minato's face turned red and Chiyoko mirrored the man's protests.
"Katsumi's father is classified, Kushina-chan." Minato sounded exasperated and he took a moment to take a deep breath and return to his default mask of serenity. "I brought you here so you could learn about him safely since you're insisting on getting to know her and would certainly find out sooner or later and yes, Chiyoko-san, you can share this information with Kushina-san or anyone else we bring to meet you in your home. The seals here protect us from simple eavesdropping, so you can talk freely in your house."
"Oh," Chiyoko's shoulders sank in relief. "I didn't know that, thank you."
Minato nodded, composed and professional once more.
"What's with all the secrecy?" Kushina gave a dramatic sigh and rested her chin on top of Katsumi-chan's head. She was joking; of course, nothing was as entertaining as a good soap opera. "You'd think Hokage-sama was sneaking in an illicit daughter, with the way you two are acting."
Minato glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Jiraiya," he finally offered.
Kushina blinked at him.
"Not the Hokage's," he clarified, gesturing to the girl in her lap. "She's Jiraiya's."
Kushina looked down at the girl, who tilted her head back to peer up at the red-headed kunoichi with her mother's green eyes.
"And mine," added Chiyoko firmly.
"Of course," Minato acknowledged with a tilt of his head.
Huh.
"You," Kushina tapped the girl on her nose. "You are so lucky you take after your Mother, 'ttebane."
Katsumi grinned up at her and Chiyoko gave one borderline hysterical laugh before downing the rest of her tea in one gulp.
"You know what this means?" She addressed the room at large with a conspiratorial whisper.
"What?" Katsumi asked curiously.
"I really am your nee-san!" Kushina's squeal was loud and high as she clutched Katsumi tightly. "We're going to have so much fun!"
Minato tensed. "Not too much fun."
"We'll get to gang up on the boys and—"
"Wait? Why?" Minato straightened in alarm. "We've done nothing—"
"bake together, I've got so many recipes to try, dattebane, and—"
"Chiyoko-san is perfectly capable of feeding her own child." Minato looked to the girl's mother for help. "In fact, she might have some new recipes for you to learn—"
Chiyoko looked at the pair, clearly torn between a desire to retrieve her offspring and fear of interfering in matters she didn't understand.
"Ah," Minato opened his mouth. Closed it. Blew out of a large puff of air and gave Kushina up as a lost cause, turning to address their hostess with an apologetic bow. "I'm so sorry, she gets carried away when she's excited."
"Should I be worried?" Chiyoko held out her hand as if considering separating the pair.
"Not at all." Minato shook his head; waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry, she'll calm down in a minute and we'll leave you be. Ninja tend to have their eccentricities. Kushina's is a tendency to be dramatically enthusiastic."
"Oh good," Chiyoko gave a weak smile. "I'd hate for her to be kidnapped again."
"Again?" Kushina snapped to attention at the word, narrowing her eyes at her boyfriend. "What does she mean kidnapped again?"
"Nii-san let the bad ninja take me away." Katsumi played with the edge of Kushina's sleeve.
"What?" Kushina's voice was flat, lavender eyes hard.
"Let is…" Minato shook his head, still not making eye contact. "Not the word I'd use. A bit strong of a—"
"The bad ninja gave me something to sleep and it made me sick and then I got away and I hid until Obito-kun and 'Kashi-kun found me." Katsumi blinked up at her innocently. "And then nii-san showed up."
"Nii-san would appreciate if Katsumi-chan remembered that extra dessert she asked for." Minato rubbed the back of his head and looked at the kitchen clock. "And look at the time—"
"Nii-san should remember that extra dessert was only for Mommy," Katsumi-retorted cheerfully.
"Nii-san thinks that's a very broad interpretation—"
"Wow, it is getting late, look at that time." Kushina set Katsumi down gently and patted her on the head. "Nii-san and nee-san need to be leaving because clearly they need to have a TALK about how traumatizing kidnapping can be—" she grabbed a wincing Minato by the arm and hauled him out of the apartment, barely remembering to give a strained thank you to their bewildered hostess.
Rev. 5/8/16
A/N:
1. What type of story is this?
Well, considering that I'm experimenting with many things in this story, it's easier to tell you what this is not. It's not a fix-it fic. It's more of a 'ripple effect' fic. The focus isn't on Katsumi and you won't see things from her pov. This is not an quick fic. This is not an action heavy or plot heavy fic. This is not a super-power fic. This is not a 'let's religiously stick to canon fic.' This is not a fic where the author tries to make the story perfect because she's practicing to be a professional author fic.
This fic will focus on interpersonal relationships and character development and psychology. It may seem slow to people who want action heavy fics or fast-paced fics. This fic will not have pairings for Katsumi or be romance oriented. I'm aiming to end it around the end of the third war. If I finish it, and a sequel starts, then I might put pairings in a sequel. This fic treats canon Naruto as 'more like guidelines, really.' This fic will have occasional spelling/grammar mistakes because I don't care enough to go back and fix it.
If any of this bothers you, I suggest you find another story to read. There are plenty of wonderful other SI fictions out there.
2. What's up with your SI character?
Katsumi is a four year old child with memories of a past life. However, I'm writing her from a slightly different theory than most self-inserts. Katsumi is limited by the biological development of her current body, including brain development. She's reacting to things as a four year old with extra memories about what should be the proper way of developing. Thus, she interprets her 'memories' more along the lines of dreams. She's just beginning to get to the point where she realizes that her 'dreams' can't actually be 'dreams.'
As she physically cannot process/react to her past memories as an adult would, the audience will see her act with childish immaturity. She will get frustrated when she can't learn something as quickly as she expects to and she will lash out like a four year old (with a better vocabulary). Thus, the unnecessary trolling of Kakashi. Adult Katsumi would be horrified at her merciless teasing of a boy who recently lost his father. Child Katsumi knows that Kakashi's dad is gone, but it doesn't really connect in her mind that she should be nice to him because of it and she's not yet questioning how she knows Kakashi's father is gone. Because she's had this 'extra' knowledge all her life, it doesn't seem unusual to her and she's never questioned how she knows certain things, before now.
So, when is Katsumi acting like a child and when is she actually being a child? I suppose that's a bit of the mystery then, isn't it?
3. Why doesn't Katsumi confide in an adult?
Katsumi keeps secrets. She lies. She's manipulative. And at the same time, she is very loving and fiercely loyal to those close to her. Katsumi sees information as a type of currency. If she doesn't understand something—that's a lack of knowledge. It is the opposite of being valuable; it is a weakness and a liability.
Katsumi is not a horrible person for not wanting to be called a liar, or crazy, or for taking her time to understand what is going on, or finding foreign memories in her head confusing. And loving someone doesn't equate to sharing every detail of your innermost secret thoughts, you can love someone without requiring that of them.
4. Your SI is a bit of a brat.
Yup. She's four, and an only child used to getting the majority of a devoted mother's attention. She also had good parents in her past life too. She fully expects Jiraiya to fall in line with the doting parent pattern, it doesn't dawn on her that he might be different. Also, she's got to have room to grow somehow, doesn't she?
If the SI's behavior bothers you, stop for a moment and think. You have no base to critique her for not being 'in character.' I'm the only one who gets to decide what's 'in character' or 'appropriate behavior' for Katsumi. She's bothering you because she doesn't conform to your expectations of a SI. I suggest you either go write your own story where the characters act the way you want them to or go find another story to read. Don't harass me because you don't like my SI. I will post your review on my tumblr and take it apart, quite publicly. You've been warned.
5. Gosh you're grouchy, do you even want reviews?
If you liked the fic, I'd love for you to take a moment and tell me so. Why did you like it? Who are your favorite characters? Did something make you laugh? Did I tug at your heartstrings somewhere? Do you want more of certain characters (have I not done someone's pov in a while)? Those reviews I find useful and refreshing, and I re-read those reviews to find the energy to keep writing. Have a question about why I did x or why a character decided to do something? Feel free to ask, I'll either respond or try to make the answer clear in later chapters.
However, this is fanfic. If you don't like my interpretation of a character, go read something else. Too slow? Go read something else. You don't like OCs? Go read something else. Have an idea for a story kind of like this one? Go write it yourself.
6. Update Schedule?
Expect slow updates, with large chapters. LOG chapters are averaging about to be 10k words per chapter. I try to write 1k words per week, and then it takes 1-2 weeks for review and edits prior to posting. That's approx. 2 months between chapters. The longer breaks in the past were due to me working on a prior fic that was wrapping up. That fic is done, I don't plan on starting anything new, so now LOG has my complete attention—fic writing wise. If you want to know where I am in writing a new chapter, or want a preview of the next chapter you should check my tumblr for such updates.
Why don't I write more? I'm an adult in a single person household. I have a high stress job and a mortgage. I write fic because it's fun and it exercises a different part of my brain. FYI—reading a dozen reviews that just whine for updates is not fun.
Content? Fic Discussions? Previews?
Go search my tumblr, 'crownsoflaurels1020'.