Updated: May 24 2014

3. Departure

"How many?" Kushina insisted.

"I don't know," Minato replied honestly. "The Hokage seemed troubled when I came to his office. He said the rumours about war is far from what he fears is going to happen. To keep the Rain out of the Fire country isn't going to keep the conflicts at hold for very long."

"So to keep them out of the country isn't your only mission," Kushina said. It wasn't a question.

Minato shook his head. "It's my first mission, but I won't be answering to the Hokage's orders, I'll be under the command of the squad leader of the border post. They say that if a war breaks out, which is likely … it'll last a few years. Three of four."

They were quiet for a while.

"Not that it probably matters, but which border post is it?" Kushina asked, staring at the ground. She sounded like she was asking just to say something.

"Number eighteen," Minato said quietly. He felt like he had so much more to say, but his voice had dropped to the floor. Only when Kushina gave the tiniest of sighs did he pick it up again. "Look, Kushina, I -"

"Hey, I get it," she interrupted. She wasn't smiling, but she didn't look angry either. "It's your duty as a soldier, I know that. I've been waiting for something like this to happen. And -" she grabbed Minato's shoulder to turn him towards her, "- don't worry about me. I'll be fine."

"I know," Minato said with a small smile. "I'll miss you, though."

Kushina's reply was a snort. It was the closest to a 'thank you' he'd ever get, so he took it gratefully.

He left the day after, accompanied by several other chuunin and Jiraiya, who was heading the same direction. He was gathering information in the Rain, a dangerous and demanding job. A few came to see him off, as he hadn't told many about his departure; but then again, there were barely any left to tell. Since the ANBU and the jounin had been close to thrown out of the village on a mission frenzy, the chuunin had been sent off to help or take on smaller, yet still dangerous missions. The only reason why Minato hadn't been sent out until now, was because Jiraiya had insisted on completing his Kuchiyose training, which would better armour him. The only reason why Kushina was not being sent out at all, was because of the Kyuubi. As long as the secret of the Kyuubi remained, indeed, a secret, she was staying to train so she wouldn't lose control of its powers in battle.

It was a dull and grey morning. A mist was slowly drifting away from the village, and small rain drops fell here and there, making the air humid in the otherwise warm and dry village. Autumn was on its way. Minato wished it had been like summer; he didn't want to remember his home as grey and depressed, but sunny and carefree.

When the last chuunin of the departure arrived, they picked up their bags to leave. Minato turned to Kushina, but didn't get the chance to speak first.

"Give me your arm," she said. Her face was hard while Minato curiously reached out his left arm. Kushina dug something up from her pocket, and fastened it around his wrist. It was a dark brown leather bracelet, whirled thrice around his wrist and carefully locked with a small copper piece. Minato could only smile warmly.

"Don't forget me," Kushina warned.

"Promise," Minato said, stepped forward and kissed her on the forehead.

For the first time in ages, he left Kushina speechless. It was a beautiful morning.

After keeping watch restlessly, fighting enemies at the smallest alert and spending the little spare time he got sleeping, Minato was surprised to be reminded he had been at border post number eighteen for three months. The Rain, hungry for more land to gain, tried stubbornly to find out what kinds of weapons Konoha held, what their secret plans were and what their weaknesses were, which meant more work for the squads at the border. The squad Minato was part of was led by Yuuhi Hiromu, a young and skilled jounin who was officially general, but so far, there were no large field armies for him to lead. They were thirteen who were staying permanently, along with the chuunin and jounin who came from Konoha on missions every now and then, all with different tasks and ranks, and Minato was the youngest. His main task was to keep watch, but he was also engaged in battle whenever they were short on back-up. Everything had intensified quickly, so everyone knew that it was only a matter of time before war knocked on the door, and Minato was aware that he would have to do a lot more than keeping watch in the future.

He was sitting at his usual watch post with Nara Kiraku, a three year older chuunin who had been sent out at the same time. Despite Kiraku being pessimistic and silent, they got along well, and with time Minato had managed to open him up so they could talk freely. The whole process had felt rather familiar with a certain red-haired girl, and Minato had to smile at the thought of her.

"Isn't your birthday soon?" Minato asked Kiraku.

"So you remembered?" Kiraku replied. "It's next week."

Kiraku was turning sixteen, but the age difference between the two of them seemed bigger. Minato hadn't grown the past three months either.

"So when are you leaving childhood?" Kiraku asked.

"Shut your mouth," Minato said and led a pair of binoculars to his eyes to check out the rustling of a tree in the horizon. The only thing he could reveal was a bird hopping on a branch.

Kiraku grinned. "No offence, Minato. You'll grow soon enough."

Minato hoped so. As soon as the squad had realised he wouldn't hurt a fly unless it threatened to kill him, they had picked up the same attitude as Kiraku; but no one meant any harm, and Minato got back at them several times with inspiration from Kushina's earlier pranks.

"Any action here?"

General Hiromu had come for the nightly report. Both Minato and Kiraku shook their heads.

"Not much," Kiraku said. "We discovered two persons walking down the Eastern path earlier, but they didn't seem to come any closer. They left soon enough."

"Keep your eyes open," Hiromu said, sat down next to Kiraku and handed out two extra large rations. "Before you came here we had a lady with a basket of flowers for sale crossing the border. She killed four of our men."

They nodded, used to warnings like this and having already experienced something similar themselves. The last time Minato had a conflict with disguised enemy, the man had pretended to be a grandfather forgetting his way home.

"There's also news from the Rain," Hiromu continued. "Akimichi Shiho met Jiraiya on the way home from a mission. Hanzou is planning on leading the Rain against the Fire, and has begun training experts. Jiraiya discovered a genjutsu master, who's apparently still young and training, but his skills are supposedly extraordinary. Anyway, he warned us about him. He was sure we'll meet him one day."

"Did he mention when?" Kiraku asked.

Hiromu shook his head. "He wasn't sure. But he saw him training a few days, and it seemed that his progress was rather slow."

"Could mean anything," Minato shot in while he stirred his porridge-like meal. "How long is he keeping track on him?"

"Not much longer, I'm afraid. Jiraiya can't keep an eye on him forever, it's too dangerous. Besides, he's got other jobs."

He got up and left shortly after without much else to say.

After being released from their watch, Minato headed off to clean his weapons. He hadn't had time since the past few battles to wash them; it was either straight to bed, straight to the emergency tent or straight to the watch post when he came back from a mission. So when he finally sat down and grabbed the first weapon, it was with a little smile and a hint of pride that he could rub blood stains off his Hiraishin kunai. The enemy had noticed it, and even though Minato could only use it a few times a day and still needed lots of training before he could use it for all it was worth, it still meant the death of some. Word had gone around about the weird, three-pronged kunai, which was something one should avoid if it ever appeared. That meant two things: one, it was harder for Minato to use it against the enemy, so he had to work out different strategies and was improving a lot faster. Two, the enemy showed fear. This made him feel stronger than he looked.

He couldn't wait to see what the enemy would say in a few years.