I'll try to make the next chapter longer, but I'm off for a vacation in a few days, so there's little time!

- Ramin Djawadi: "You Know Nothing" (Game of Thrones)

31. Words of an Idiot

Minato had dreamed about her. It had been so real that when he opened his eyes and looked directly into her so familiar ones, he had needed a moment to realise he was not still dreaming.

"How did you get in?" he mumbled, voice unable to get much of a volume, but his mouth unable to keep away the smile of seeing her.

Kushina placed a finger on his lips to keep him quiet and placed a cold towel on his forehead.

"You should sleep," she whispered.

He only shook his head and kept his gaze at her. He needed to know she was all right.

"All right, I'll tell you," Kushina said, sitting down on the bedside. "The guards are on break, and the two outside were stupid enough to mistake me for a medic."

She pointed towards a white cloak hung over the back of a chair.

"Now sleep," she commanded.

The look he had given her must have been full of worry; she looked him deep in the eyes, saying, "I'm fine, Minato. Worry about yourself, you're the complete mess here."

"I know, but -"

Minato had been in such a hurry to sit up he had completely forgotten his injuries, despite just being reminded of them. A sharp pain shot from his arm and leg to his head, and clutching his arm only made him so dizzy he almost fell forwards again hadn't he been held up by Kushina.

"Have I ever called you an idiot?" she asked dejectedly and picked up the towel that had dropped to his lap.

"More than once," Minato said through gritted teeth, watching how the dark, stained blood from a few hours ago were mixed with a freshly red colour on his white bandages.

"Yet you never seem to take it seriously," Kushina sighed, removing the quilt and starting to remove the white, blood-stained bandage from his leg. Minato had never been treated for wounds by her before, but knew she had the experience from the war; after being stuck in the village, she had helped at the hospital, learning enough control to be able to treat injuries like these. Minato had never known how well she had done, though he felt perfectly safe. The familiar chakra had a reassuring effect on him, and it was as though it merged with his wound, closing it and stopping the bleeding; maybe the years of being so close to Kushina had given it a special effect, or maybe she was just that confident with her medical skills. She was mixing her chakra methods with traditional ones, not being able to control her chakra well enough to use chakra only, but it seemed to work.

"The general told me what happened," Kushina said, turning more serious. "He told me what you did. And what I did. He's trying to figure out why those people were after you, too. You know you could have been killed, right?"

"Yes," Minato said. The answer was so straight-forward and quick that Kushina shot him an incredulous look.

"I wasn't going to leave you there," Minato continued when Kushina didn't say anything.

"Minato," Kushina said clearly, pointing at his arm. "I did this. I did. All right, maybe it wasn't me, but if I hadn't been the jinchuuriki, if I hadn't been the one who lived in the same house as you because I got kicked out of my own apartment, none of this would have happened – you do know that, right? You do know what I am?"

"Of course I do," Minato said with a small frown. "That's why I set out for you. I know the mission was to retrieve the Kyuubi to Konoha, but it made it worse that it will kill you if they steal the Kyuubi from you -"

"Of course it will, Minato," Kushina said, now looking sad. She continued healing the wound underneath his knee. "And it's likely to happen again, and I don't want you to risk your life just because you're my boyfriend – I'm not good for you, Minato -"

Minato realised he was hearing words he didn't want to hear.

"Kushina," he said clearly, cutting her off. "I know what you are. I've been aware of that for years, and I haven't forgotten. I know what it means to be with you, I know there are risks being with someone who has a monster concealed inside her, but you're nothing like it, you're so much better and you deserve to be something else than a host -"

"I can't, Minato," Kushina said, sadness still visible on her face. "I can't be something else than a host, it's too late for that."

"Still," Minato said insistingly. "It doesn't change the fact that I love you."

It wasn't the first time he had meant those words, he just hadn't said them out loud until now. Kushina stared in his eyes, the words sinking in, something looking a lot like tears threatening to fall, torn between staying away from him for his own good or speaking the words back, continuing to be a danger to him. Minato knew he much preferred the latter.

"You don't have to leave," Minato said. "I'd come after you even if we weren't friends."

"I know," Kushina said, and she now smiled despite the tears welling up in her eyes. "You already did that."

Minato smiled back with relief.

"Just promise me one thing," Kushina said, her tone a bit more serious again, but still milder. "I know the Kyuubi best, and I know what he's capable of. If I tell you to run, you run. If you know it's useless, you run. Is that clear?"

Minato felt like he had no choice but to nod; her glare was piercing, daring him to disagree.

Perfectly happy with his response, Kushina wiped the tears away and continued to tend to his wound. Minato suddenly realised something.

"I put you in danger too."

"I know," Kushina sighed and started covering his leg with new, white bandage. "I was waiting for something like this to happen, eventually."

Minato frowned. "You did?"

"Oh, come on, Minato," Kushina said with a raised eyebrow. "Have you seen the prices on your head recently? You're not exactly on spring sale."

Minato couldn't help it. He laughed.

While Kushina placed his injured arm on her lap and began unrolling the blood-stained bandage, Minato observed her with a mild smile on his face. The smile eventually faded.

"You do know your secret's been exposed, right?" he asked quietly.

Kushina looked at him for a moment, and then, while continuing to cool down his burn mark with her chakra, she sighed.

"No one's told me, no," she said. "But I figured … It was only a matter of time, wasn't it."

Minato reached out for the kunai pockets on the table next to the bed and grabbed a Hiraishin kunai from it. He then held it in front of Kushina.

"I know I've asked a million times before," he said.

"I've been thinking about it," Kushina admitted. "And actually, I came up with something better."

Minato withdrew the kunai and looked questioningly at her while she gently placed his arm on the bed. She then lifted her top up to expose her stomach, and activated her chakra so the black seal was visible.

"You could draw it in, couldn't you?" she asked.

Minato nodded.

"But," Kushina said sternly and held up a forefinger. "No creeping. I know who trained you."

He gave her the most innocent look he owned, but she didn't seem convinced.