Chapter Three
"By the way," Minato shifted nervously on the wooden bench as he turned to face her. "Why were those men trying to kidnap you last night?" A slender finger reached up to tuck a wayward strand of fiery red hair behind her small ear, long elegant lashes falling as her violet gaze dropped to her lap.
"I have…I don't know…" The lie hung awkwardly in the space between them as Kushina Uzumaki slowly rose to leave.
"Don't go." Minato said quietly as he grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She turned to face him with tear-stained eyes as he gave her a reassuring smile. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"Arigatou….Minato-kun"
"Minato! No!" Mikoto's nails dug into the skin of his forearm as she planted her feet into the frozen hard earth. He lunged forward, trying to rip away her fingers as his screams pierced the howling December blizzard.
"No one could have survived that fall, and with a tree on top of her, no way forget it." Hizashi Hyuga reasoned as he joined the raven-haired kunoichi's feeble attempts to contain the distraught blond.
"Be quiet!" Minato snapped, falling forward as Mikoto's grip on his forearm slipped.
Six of them had been fleeing along a rope bridge overlooking a massive ravine, Kirigakure's elite hunter nin hot on their tails. As the fastest, Minato had been entrusted with the stolen scrolls leaving the other five to hold off the pursuing hostiles. Against his better judgment, Minato had stopped to observe his comrades' battle on the bridge at the exact moment the bridge snapped with a deafening roar plunging four unfortunate souls into the snowy abyss.
He had arrived in time to see Mikoto help Hizashi up. When Kushina didn't emerge, his heart had sunk to the pit of his stomach as his teammates wrestled him to the ground.
Without thinking Minato leapt off the ravine flying through a series of hand seals that produced a light current of air. Minato rode the wave of chakra-laden air until he reached the bottom of the abyss where he noticed a glowing blood-red flame beneath the battered bark of a once mighty tree.
"Kushina!" Minato cried out when he noticed his lover's flyaway red hair strewn on the ground around her. The crimson flames intensified as a malevolent wave of chakra knocked him off his feet. The bark of the tree exploded into a million pieces as the crushed figure beneath it gingerly fought its way back to life.
"K-Kushina?!" Although Minato's voice came out in a barely audible gasp, the smothering bloodlust intensified as the petite kunoichi noticed him. In an instant she had gripped his neck with one hand, effortlessly lifting him off his feet before slamming him against the jagged wall. Minato's vision blurred as he instinctively started weaving a series of seals he had forgotten he memorized long ago.
The steaming red chakra cloaking his lover's form receded as soon as his seal touched her neck. He collapsed to the floor coughing and wheezing as his vision slowly regained focus.
"I'm so sorry." Kushina said tears streaming down her face as she rained feathery kisses on his flushed features.
"H-how long?"Minato rasped as she helped him to his feet.
"I wanted to tell you, I was going to tell you I just…I didn't want to frighten you."
"That night…" His eyes narrowed as he remembered the night of her near-abduction. "Those men…"
"No. It was sealed afterwards."
"But why you?" Minato asked suddenly beside himself. "Of all the people in the Hidden Leaf Village, why did they have to seal it inside you?!"
"Because…" Her gaze fell as she released him. "I'm an Uzumaki. My clan possesses an unnaturally resilient life-force that helps us endure things that would kill most people. It's why my body is suited to contain the demon fox inside me. I didn't tell you—or anyone for that matter because if more people knew they would shun me and want nothing to do with me."
"I would never have shunned you." Minato said not bothering to hide the sadness from his voice as he turned away.
"I know but…something inside me doubted…I'm not sure why I didn't know better but deep down inside—you don't know what it's been like for me and my people. Until now, everyone who had ever learned my secret either shunned me or hunted me down. Don't you understand? I couldn't risk losing this—I wasn't sure if you would turn on me. I'm so sorry, Minato-kun."
"No more," Minato had said taking her by the shoulder and forcing her to meet his eyes. "Do you understand me? No more secrets. That ends here. I can't have you holding back while I bare my soul to you." Kushina's eyes filled with unshed tears as he pulled her into a crushing embrace. "It's our secret now. Yours and mine."
"Sensei?" Rin's voice roused Minato from his thoughts as he turned to watch her. "Sorry, it's just that your eyes glazed over just now and your grip around him slumped somewhat." He turned and gave her an apologetic smile as she adjusted the redhead slumped on his back. Rin stopped to examine the unconscious form draped across her sensei's back.
"I'm sorry. Is he alright?" Minato asked when she was done attending to the poisoned youth. She nodded with a grim expression as they continued walking.
On the horizon they noticed the outline of a tiny civilian village along the Land of Wind's eastern border. Minato's eyes narrowed as he observed the progress of the ominous cloud of dust gathering along the horizon. There was no way they would reach the village before the sandstorm reached them.
"Let's wait out the storm in this cave." Minato said turning towards a nearby cave. Rin followed him. He gently set the redhead down as she secured the entrance of the cave with a large boulder and lit a fire.
"You're both shinobi…aren't you?" The redhead's voice was weak and raspy from disuse as his dull violet eyes turned to meet Minato's striking blue. A grim frown creased Minato's eyebrows as his gaze fell on the sickly purple veins lining the redhead's frail arm.
"Save your strength." Rin said gently propping the youth's head with a stack of clothes she had bundled together. She unfurled a thick blanket which she wrapped around his feverish form as he studied them intently.
"You saved my life." The youth said with a grateful smile as he feebly extended his hand. Long spiderlike fingers hung expectantly as he watched Minato with a gentle smile. "My name is Daisuke."
"Minato." The blue-eyed jounin said as he accepted his hand with a small smile.
"Rin." His student offered with a kind smile as she shook his hand in turn.
"Thank you, Minato…Rin." The redhead said as he lowered his hand to his side. Minato's eyes fell to the needle marks littered across the pale flesh. Judging by the scars and markings along his arm, some of those needle marks were several years old. "Until now, I had lived in fear of shinobi—convinced that they only exist to wreck destruction upon all who cross their paths."
"A notion one can hardly fault you for believing." Minato stated grimly. Daisuke reached out once more, gently brushing his calloused knuckles with the tips of his own slightly calloused fingers.
"You both have convinced me that there are good shinobi in this world." Daisuke murmured gratefully.
"How long were you their prisoner?" Rin tugged the sleeve of his tracksuit catching his eye and giving him a meaningful look. "I'm sorry." Minato's words hung in the hollow vastness of the cavern as the dust storm howled beyond. They watched quietly as Daisuke's violet gaze grew weak with sleep as he drifted off easily, his small chest rising and falling gently beneath his pale palm.
"Sensei? Where are you going?" Rin wondered as Minato abruptly rose to his feet. She watched as her sensei's lanky form rummage through their supplies, digging out a large cloak along with an old pair of Obito's goggles which he hastily threw on. When he turned to face her, his features were largely obscured by the goggles and the cloak's high collar. "You can't be seriously thinking about going out there in that storm sensei?"When Minato turned without responding, she rose and scrambled to block his path with her small frame.
"Rin," his icy blue eyes met hers as a stern frown thinned his lips. "Move." She felt her body move as if spurred by some foreign force and promptly found herself watching her sensei's lithe frame roll over the massive boulder she had used to block the entrance. He slipped out through a thin gap he had created before motioning for her to roll the rock back into place behind him.
"Water! Bring some water quickly!" Minato heard someone cry out as a sudden weightlessness overcame him. He heard the rushed patter of feet accompanied by the loud sloshing sound of water. He weakly lifted up his arm as he cracked an eyelid to take in his surroundings. A shiver ran down his spine as cold water was unceremoniously dumped on his head soaking him through. He reached out, desperately grasping for anything to steady himself with as a second and third wave of water descended upon his shivering form.
"What's that pooling at his feet?" Someone asked with a curious cry. Minato wiped the stream of water blinding him as he glanced down at his feet. He bit his lower lip, silently cursing his bad luck when he noticed the orange-tinted water there.
"Do you think he's bleeding?" A third voice chimed in horrified.
"Baka! Since when is blood orange?"The first voice scolded.
"P-please…I mean you no harm. I'm look—" Minato's sentence was abruptly cut off as a blunt object collided with the back of his head knocking him out cold.
When he awoke moments later he was hanging in a damp dimly lit dungeon not unlike the one he had rescued Daisuke from. The metallic stench of blood clung to the musty air around him as a pained howl rang out in the distance. As he moved his limbs experimentally, he suddenly became aware of his naked flesh completely exposed to the elements. His damp blond mane hung loosely around his shoulders, the last drops of orange dye oozing down his naked frame as he quietly took in his surroundings.
"He's up, milady!" A young girl's voice called out from behind him. Minato craned his neck around in time to see a petite blonde march inside the dungeon beside a burly man with an austere frown.
"—a shinobi, you can torture him all you want and he will not yield." The blonde stated bluntly as they walked around to face him.
"It's probably best if I just kill him then." The man said menacingly, reaching towards the sword strapped to his hip. The blonde grabbed his arm and gave him a cautious frown which he completely ignored as he shrugged her off. "I won't have him putting my people in danger. He could be a spy for all we know!" As he lowered his arm to slash Minato, his weapon was knocked out of his arm with one deft kick that sent him stumbling several feet back.
"Don't get the wrong idea," Minato said calmly as he casually wrapped the chains holding his shackles around his forearm. "I'm looking for someone that can heal a dying comrade of mine." They watched as his palm closed around the chain as he pulled down on it with all his might.
"Use your chakra." The blonde ordered, striking hazel eyes meeting his. Minato chuckled awkwardly as his attempts to rip the chains faltered.
"If I could I would." He muttered meekly as he lowered his gaze.
"And why can't you?" She asked eyes narrowing suspiciously. "You're a shinobi, aren't you?"
"Please, my comrade is badly poisoned." His sky blue eyes met hers once more as he lifted his head. "If you don't help him, he'll die." Hazel-brown eyes hardened at his entreaty as the buxom medic turned away unmoved.
"Everyone dies." She said coldly.
"Eleven years ago you fought Amegakure's Hanzo of the Salamander." Minato's hope flickered as he watched Tsunade's frame freeze in her tracks. "Although you were one of three to survive this encounter, you were the one who devised an antidote to his venom."
"Tsunade-hime!" The burly man cried out as the petite kunoichi sliced the chains binding Minato with a chakra-laden palm.
"Take me to your comrade." She said ripping the shackles on his wrists. He bent down to retrieve his clothes from a nearby bench and settled down to put them on.
"Please my lady I don't understand!" The muscular man said not bothering to hide his exasperation. "It's clear that he's a shinobi and a dangerous one at that. How can you trust him so completely?"
"No one desperate enough to crawl through that sandstorm is a threat to you and your people." Tsunade shot back impatiently. "Ichigo, relax. I know what I'm doing." She turned just as Minato was done dressing. "This way."
She led him out of the dungeon following a labyrinth of corridors and dimly lit staircases until they reached the entrance at the top. Stars littered the moonless sky as a cool breeze drifted around them.
"Can you manage?" Tsunade asked hazel eyes watching his lanky form with measured optimism. Minato nodded with a determined purse of his lips as they prepared to take off.
"My lady!" A small girl with short black hair and dark eyes stumbled out of the dungeon behind them, running around until she was blocking their path with outstretched hands. Minato's lips tugged into a small smile as he was overcome with a feeling of déjà vu.
"My apprentice, Shizune." Tsunade said introducing the small kunoichi with an amused chuckle. "You'll have to forgive her, she's fiercely protective of me."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Minato." He extended his arm towards the girl with a warm smile. Shizune lowered her senbon but did not accept his handshake.
"I should have known." Tsunade scoffed. "Only Jiraiya would train a student gutsy enough to seal away his chakra for a mission."
"You-you've heard of me?" Minato asked taken aback.
"Heard of you?!" Tsunade said with a hearty chuckle. "You're all that pervert can talk about for days on end. You'd think he had discovered the Sage of Six Paths second coming." Minato turned away rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly with an embarrassed smile.
"Gomen." He muttered softly before remembering why he had sought her out in the first place. "Shall we?" She nodded before turning to address her apprentice.
"Wait here, I'll be right back."
"No, milady. I'm coming with you." Shizune insisted as she cast Minato a distrustful look. Tsunade wordlessly turned to follow Minato as he sprinted towards the entrance of the tiny village. Their footsteps echoed through the sleepy town as the hard paved ground soon gave way to soft, uneven terrain of the desert.
"That seal on your chakra," Tsunade said as they neared their destination. "How long has it been there?"
"Over a fortnight now." Minato replied casually. Although he felt Tsunade's gaze trailing him, he didn't acknowledge or respond to her concerns.
"Are you planning on undoing it anytime soon?" She wondered not bothering to hide her annoyance. "You know how devastating prolonged chakra suppression can be?"
"It's a risk I'm willing to take." Minato replied tersely as they reached the cave entrance.
"At what cost?" She asked grabbing his arm. "Is any mission truly worth losing your ability to weave chakra?"
"Yes." Minato stated quietly as he turned to roll the rock away. He groaned and grunted as he pushed and dug his shoulders into the rock willing it to move with every muscle in his lithe frame. The rock remained unmoving.
"Your muscles are not used to the exertions of shinobi life." Tsunade observed as he leaned against the wall to catch his breath. "Tasks we shinobi often take for granted—running, lifting, fighting—all rely on small amounts of chakra. It is what separates us shinobi from common folk. The longer your body goes without weaving chakra the harder it will become to reverse the seal." As she spoke, Tsunade moved towards the rock. Deceptively small fingers wrapped around the massive boulder before rolling it away with one easy flick of her elbow.
Rin was crouched protectively in front of Daisuke's limp form, brown eyes wide and attentive, tiny fist clenched around a large hunting knife. She relaxed her stance when she noticed her sensei's form slumped against the wall and hurried to greet him.
"I was so worried sensei." The brown-eyed kunoichi said tearfully as she helped her teacher inside. "I thought something bad had happened to you."
"Were you the one who sealed off his chakra?" Tsunade asked as she threw off her bulky cloak with a flourish of her hand. Rin nodded as she gently lowered her sensei to the floor.
"I'm fine, Rin." Minato groaned with a weak smile. "See if she needs any help."
"Stay with him." Tsunade barked when Rin moved to obey her sensei. "Shizune will assist me. Once we're done here you're going to show us how to undo that seal."
Minato's hand found his student's as she watched the Senju heiress and her apprentice tend to Daisuke's fading form. He gave her a reassuring squeeze as she turned to face him with a surprised gasp.
"It's alright, Rin." Minato offered calmly. "He'll be fine now. You did wonderfully. They're going to take it from here."
"Take it easy sensei, please save your strength."
Minutes bled into hours as Minato drifted in and out of an uneasy slumber. When he finally awoke for the last time, he noticed the familiar tingle of healing chakra coursing through his veins and lifted his eyelids. Sunlight stung his eyes as he groggily hoisted himself up, resting his weight on his elbows.
"I hope you realize how lucky you were to have survived the ordeal you put your body through." The soft timbre of the blonde medic's voice lessened the bite of her scolding as she leaned backwards allowing him to move. Minato muttered a word of thanks as he slowly sat up, taking in the empty cave around him.
"Where are the others?" He wondered straining his senses for any sign of his student and the redhead prisoner they had rescued.
"Please relax and don't move around so I can heal you." The Senju heiress scolded gently coaxing him back unto his pillow with a chakra-laden hand. "How's it looking down there?" Minato blinked as he suddenly became aware of a slimy mass slithering out from between his thighs. His eyes widened as a white slug with blue streaks running down its sides emerged from the covers strategically placed around his waist. He watched as the slug's sensors turned towards Tsunade and gave what could only have been described as a grim shake of its head before disappearing into a cloud of smoke. Tsunade grit her teeth angrily as she retracted her chakra-laden palm from his form.
"What were you thinking pushing your body like that when your chakra was sealed away?" Tsunade barked turning on him with an annoyed glare. "What were you even thinking sealing your chakra away behind enemy lines?!"
"Gomen. I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble." Minato said with an apologetic look as he reached for his mesh under armor which was hanging from a crate of produce nearby. "I'm fine really. It's Daisuke you should be worried about."
"He's fine." Tsunade said with a dismissive scoff as she appraised his torso with a critical eye. "It's you who you should be worrying about. Honestly, do you have a death wish or something?"
"You were able to neutralize the poison then?" Minato asked ignoring her question. His blue eyes gleaming with hope as he twisted in his bed to steal a glimpse of his red-haired charge. The empty cave greeted him as the distant echo of children's laughter reached him. "Is that—? Is he playing outside?"
"Yes." Tsunade replied with an annoyed growl as she slowly handed him a dark haori bearing the kanji characters for the phrase "lucky strike" on the back. Minato slowly slipped his heavy limbs through the sleeves, hugging it close to his chest as he gently hoisted himself up. "Although you must know, I was only able to temporarily neutralize the poison for the time being. I'll need to take him back to Konoha to study and treat him properly. I've never seen a toxin this lethal and sophisticated—makes Hanzo's toxin look like child's play."
"How long do you think it will take you to create an antidote?"Minato wondered with a concerned frown. The blonde kunoichi shrugged, crossing her arms over her ample bosom as she leaned against the jagged cave wall.
"I'm not sure. It could take several weeks or even months…if it's as sophisticated as I think it is." She replied after a contemplative frown. "Rin told me about how you found him and what they had been doing to him. Did you manage to find out the one responsible for this by chance?"
"Someone by the name of Lady Chiyo." Minato replied with a tired sigh. Tsunade's body shifted at the sound of the name causing the blue-eyed jounin to arch an inquisitive eyebrow. "Someone you know?"
"Vaguely." Tsunade replied biting her lower lip angrily. "We never met but I know enough about her to fear any poison of her creation. During the Second Great Shinobi War she singlehandedly ended the fifty-day Siege of Fort Rokoku by poisoning its water supply, causing its commander to surrender and ally with Sunagakure. I'd heard that she had been killed soon after the war but that's clearly not true if she's developing toxins again. If she is really behind this, she cannot be allowed to finish her work."
"What makes you so sure she hasn't perfected her toxin already?" Minato wondered.
"Simple. Because if she had," Tsunade said pausing to place a hand on her hip as she pointed towards the cave entrance with the other. "Then that boy would be dead already."
"Of course," Minato said his hand dropping from his jaw as the harrowing realization suddenly hit him. "If even members of the famous Uzumaki clan can succumb to her toxins, what chance do we ordinary shinobi stand? I counted at least six Uzumaki corpses in the dungeon when I rescued him so her toxin must be nearing its completion."
"Have you reported any of this to Sandaime-sama?" Tsunade wondered. Minato shook his head. "I suggest you do so as quickly as possible. With any luck he'll send you proper reinforcements—no offense but I'm a little surprised he didn't send Orochimaru on this mission."
"Really? I'm not." Minato replied with a nonchalant shrug.
"How do you figure?" Tsunade asked crossing her arms with a smirk as she watched him.
"Given Orochimaru's…macabre inclinations…well…one can hardly fault Sandaime-sama for not wanting to tempt him." Minato stated matter-of-factly. "We all know he's very close to experimenting on human subjects…if he hasn't already."
"I see." Something seemed to shift in the air surrounding the petite kunoichi as she turned to walk away. Her foot froze mid-stride as she turned slightly to address him over her shoulder. "Well maybe Orochimaru would have had the common sense to not seal away his chakra!" The inexplicable harshness of her tone caught Minato completely off guard.
"Excuse me?"
"Seriously, Rin explained it to me but I'm still having a hard time understanding why sealing away your chakra was necessary for a rescue mission in the first place." Tsunade scoffed. "I get wanting to remain incognito but don't you know how to mask your chakra or something?"
"This didn't start out as a rescue mission." Minato said bluntly. "We were sent to destroy an underground laboratory on the outskirts of Sunagakure. We had received intelligence that a dangerous weapon was being manufactured there, who knew it was really Lady Chiyo's base of operations."
"Are you really this dim or are you trying to piss me off?" Tsunade's voice trembled with a fiery rage as she clenched her fists menacingly. "You're still harping on and on about the stupid mission ignoring the fact that you might have jeopardized your career as a shinobi for the sake of this wretched mission!"
"That bad huh?" Minato said quietly. Tsunade's eyes widened as she took in his calm demeanor.
"You knew the risks, didn't you?" Her honey-colored eyes narrowed as she watched him slip into his tracksuit and mesh under armor. "You're a fool if you think your little sacrifice will prevent war from breaking out. It doesn't matter whether Sunagakure discovers Konoha's involvement or not! At this rate, war is inevitable!"
"No it is not." Minato said with a determined frown. "If Sandaime-sama hasn't given up yet, we owe it to him to do everything in our power to support him."
"Even at the expense of your ninjutsu?" Tsunade wondered jaw trembling with barely-contained anger. He nodded grimly as he turned away.
"You're a naïve fool!" Tsunade barked poking her finger at his chest angrily. "How dare you do that to that poor little girl?! She'll be devastated if she ever finds out that she's responsible for her sensei's disability."
"Rin is a shinobi!" Minato stated firmly. "She's going to be forced to do horrific things and to make callous choices in the future. That is inevitable. While it is important to value human life as a medic-nin, it is also important for her to never value a single life above all reason—even if it is my own."
Just then, Minato's senses perked up as he detected a figure quietly watching them from the shadows. His fingers were halfway to the dagger at his feet when he noticed the hint of red hair.
"Is that you Daisuke?" Minato said kicking the dagger behind him as he slowly approached the shadow with an outstretched hand. The redhead's trembling form shied away from his touch retreating further into the shadows.
"I didn't mean to eavesdrop," the youth said his voice soft and apologetic. "I was just—"
"No need to hide." Minato said his cheeks spreading into a kind smile. "You're amongst friends now."
"Sensei, sensei!" Rin's voice echoed throughout the cave as she and Shizune sprinted towards them. "Look his eyes! His eyes! Show them Daisuke! Go on! Look! They changed color." Sure enough when Minato turned towards the shadows to inspect the redhead's once-purple irises rusty-brown eyes peeped meekly up at him.
"Interesting." Minato mused as the redhead slowly walked around him to stand behind Shizune. "Could the purple irises have been a side effect of the poison?"
"It's possible." Tsunade agreed with a distracted sigh. "It's not uncommon for heavy doses of certain chemicals to affect our body's physiological makeup—even if it is only temporary."
"Daisuke, you're trembling." Shizune observed with a worried frown as the redhead ducked further behind her. She traced the source of his distress to the spiky-haired jounin and her expression hardened. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing." Minato said throwing his hands up with a nervous chuckle.
"He probably just feels guilty because we caught him eavesdropping that's all." Tsunade stated nonchalantly as she turned to walk out. "You should report to the Hokage and see how he'd like us to proceed. If she's responsible, we'll have to move quickly before they catch on."
"I don't understand." Rin said blinking slowly. "If who's responsible?" Minato turned to give his student a pointed look but noticed the redhead's white-knuckled grip on Shizune's shoulder slip. Minato caught him before his frame could hit the ground and steadied him before coaxing him into sitting position.
"Daisuke! Are you alright? Are you hurt?" Shizune asked, her voice thick with concern as she examined her frail charge.
"I don't understand sensei," Rin said quietly as they stepped back to give Tsunade and Shizune enough room to work on the trembling redhead. "He was jumping around and playing with us a few minutes ago."
"His mind is broken…just like his body." Minato explained with a somber frown. "Even the hardy Uzumaki are not immune to the rigors of psychological trauma."
"The horrors he must have endured…to fall to pieces at the mere hint of his tormentor's name." Tsunade grit her teeth as she rose from the redhead's unconscious form. "I don't care what anyone says—that witch is going to pay!"
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