"You called me a human being."
Minato and Kushina sat side by side on the isolated dock. Kushina had her head hidden in Minato's chest. It wasn't a sign of a affection, but of deep humiliation. She didn't want anyone to see her watery eyes, not even the person who defended her. She made no sound or movement, the only sign of her feelings were the hot heavy breath's that hit his chest irregularly.
Minato had put her head there, he didn't like her sitting detached from everything around her. He had put her there and she hadn't moved for a long time. In an effort to console her he stroked her hair around her head and neck. Deciding it was time to pry open her defences, he broke the dense silence.
"Kushina" He dropped the 'san' suffix off her name and spoke softly. He had an idea of what earlier was about but thought he should confirm it with her and tell her what he knew.
"Are you the Kyuubi no Kitsune jinchuuriki?" He asked gently with no hint of apprehension. Kushina froze as soon as those words came out of his mouth. Minato couldn't even feel her breath anymore. Eventually her breathing came back shallow and half-heartedly controlled but her body remained rigid. Minato didn't think she would talk so he talked instead, answering any questions that might have come up in her head.
"Before I came here I was told about Mito Uzumaki. How she was a demon host and lived to a hundred and thirty years old. I learnt that your people live very long lives, they all have red hair and that the Kyuubi has been in your family since Mito acquired it." He spoke slowly so she could take it in calmly. His hand stroking down the length of her colourful hair.
Kushina had settled down slightly as she listened to him talk. "Mito died recently, two years ago, when the Kyuubi was extracted from her and placed into a new host." Minato had been told by the hokage about all the tailed beasts before his journey and mainly about the Kyuubi.
"The Kyuubi attack two year's ago, it didn't last long and it's happening is highly confidential. Most villager's didn't even know of it, only that their kin had died in a bloody battle. Word got around that it was the Kyuubi who had killed Mito, taken the form of a beautiful Uzumaki woman and murdered many Uzushiogakure ninja on the night of the Lunar Festival." It came out hard and unforgiving. But his tone was not at her, but at the people who had spread the lie around.
Sure they had reason to be upset but they were pinning the blame arrogantly without proof onto Kushina. He knew it was Kushina. She was a fuinjutsu master and extremely talented, yet she lived with the branch family. They didn't respect her and everyone outside of her family didn't like her. The events earlier only reinforced the truth.
"I know who you are but most importantly, I know whatyou are." Something most people don't know. Kushina at that moment lashed out and tore away from him.
"What am I then?" She spat ferociously with her lips pulling back to show sharp canines. Her nails had turned to claws and her ocean spray eye's tinted with red. A noise from the back of her throat was emitting a low growl. Minato didn't let on that he had noticed her change, he just stared into her eyes looking deep into the pain and fear inside the scarlet orbs.
Minato brought his hand to her face, pushing her red hair out of her feral looking face. "Your Kushina." He said dead seriously. Putting his forehead to hers, he looked into her eyes. They refused to show any emotion at what he had said. Finally they shut, when they re-opened they were the familiar ocean colour he had come to know.
She couldn't stare into his darker blue eyes any longer or she would get teary-eyed. She pulled away from his face only to rest it on his shoulder and stare out at the violent tides of Whirlpool. Minato put his head on top of her's gently so that they were supporting each other.
When I'm with him, some one who knows, my troubles feel lighter. They feel halved. Kushina at that moment wanted to tell him the rest. That the villager's were right about her being a monster. Not only did she have one inside her, she was one. Would he look at her in the same light? He had seen her lose control of the Kyuubi ever so slightly and he didn't so much as flinch. But being a monster was very different than hosting one.
Minato could feel her uneasiness, that there was something weighing on her mind. "What else is there?" He asked knowingly. He had no clue, he was just guessing. But if there was something, the only way he would get it out of her was if he acted like he already knew and was fine with it. He just hoped he would be.
"You called me a human being." She said painfully and apprehensive at his reaction. There was a long pause as if he was gauging out what she could mean or be hinting at.
"Yeah?" Minato said with his eyebrows knotted together. He looked downward at her scalp from the odd position. She could feel him move and stare at the top of her head.
"I haven't got a drop of human blood in me." Her voice broke a little at the statement. Kushina had never felt much dread before but she felt the foreign emotion strongly right now. She never cared what people thought of her, what they might think if they really knew her. She just accepted they would never understand, never even try to understand. There was no worry as whatever there was to lose, was lost before they even met her.
Right now she felt there was a world to lose, if Minato didn't take it well she wouldn't trust anyone with the knowledge. If he couldn't understand her then surely no one would. She would never tell anyone and then she would be forever alone in this god forsaken world. She waited on edge for his reaction, apprehension racing through her veins.
"You're always going to be Kushina, nothing you can say or do can change that." He recited, clearly confused as to what she was getting at. Did she mean that metaphorically, or that she truly wasn't born a human with human blood?
"I may be 'Kushina' but I'm not like you... I'm not like any of you, my closest kin are the Uzumaki's but even they have human blood running through them." She said more relaxed albeit still on edge.
Minato smirked and Kushina could feel it on her head. What was he smirking at?
"Is this when you tell me you a disgusting sea monster, who disguises herself as a gorgeous woman then eats mortal men to keep her immortality?" He said it quite fast as though he had figured it all out earlier. Kushina was quiet, thinking over what he had said. While Minato gulped as he thought that perhaps his answer was correct.
"Yes." She stated coldly. Minato lifted his head from hers instantly but didn't let go of her altogether.
"Really?" He said genuinely interested and not at all frightened, well maybe a little.
"Not exactly... My origin is more humbled."
"Explain." He said simply, he wanted to hear her story. She elbowed him from her position and he wiggled a bit. "Please" He added. Kushina sighed. She could tell him but he wouldn't understand without a history lesson. That particular one was not allowed to be passed through her lips and into a foreigners ears.
"Whatever you hear must never pass your lips to another soul. I was told that by Oba-san Fukurou when she told me." She whispered.
Minato snorted. "That didn't last too long did it?"
"Do you want me to tell you or not?" She seethed.
"Please, go on." Minato said seriously then was silent for her to continue.