I was sure summer would mean more time to write.

(I was wrong.)

33. One Layer Only

Minato glanced at the palm of his healthy hand. An idea had planted itself so deep inside his head he felt obsessed with it. First of all, he had only one hand to fight with if he had to, momentarily. Up til now he was depending on both hands if he needed to make any techniques; he had his weapons as well, but they were often less powerful and effective as a blast of chakra, especially if he had to use his only hand to block. This had made him realise he should look up one-handed techniques. The problem was, though: few techniques required only one hand, and a limited number of people was able to use a wider variety due to genes. Minato had no such genes. But his main obsession was something bigger.

It was true it would become a handy technique if he ever figured out how to make it. No seals, one hand. Or, as in the case he had seen it being used: out of the mouth of a monster.

After the accident in Earth, Minato had barely had time to take a look at the details of the scene he had witnessed. He had been occupied getting Kushina out of the ruins, trying to get back on Konoha's good side (which, in the end, proved to be quite easy) and contemplating what on earth he was going to tell Kakashi once he saw him again. But now, locked up in a hospital room, it was too early in the morning to be worrying about ten year old boys and people he was still on friendly terms with. Instead, the picture of the large, swirling mass of deadly chakra had floated before him ever since he woke up.

It wasn't hard to get the basics. It was just a massive amount of chakra focused at one point at the same time, controlled to form the shape of a ball. It was doing it that was the problem, and by the time the medic-nin came by with his breakfast, he had already spent half his chakra trying to shape the mass pouring out of his hand.

He was so focused as the sun rose higher on the sky that he didn't even notice the girl who entered the room.

"What's that?" Kushina asked as the chakra mass again made a small explosive sound and disappeared.

"Oh, hey," Minato said. "I'm trying out a new idea."

"Is it working?" she asked conversationally.

"No."

Kushina, who had been busy taking her jacket off and hanging it over the back of a chair, turned in surprise. She had grown used to watching Minato succeed every technique and style he had come across and tried.

"No?" she repeated.

"Nope."

Minato tried to collect the mass of chakra in his palm again, which at first poured out as a glowing, blue light, but grew into a miniature hurricane as he lost control of the circulation.

He turned to Kushina, who actually looked worried; but despite having never failed in finishing a technique or idea before, he didn't feel as let down as she had the impression he would, he felt that he had finally found something of a challenge.

"I just have to work on it," he smiled and sat up.

"What sort of idea is it?" Kushina asked, worry blown away the moment he had smiled.

"You really wanna know?" Minato asked back; it was, after all, the monster she contained who had performed the destructive power which had given him the idea.

Kushina looked at him for a moment, but seemed to know what he was thinking.

"You saw the Tailed Beast Bomb, didn't you?" she eventually asked.

"So that's what it's called?"

"And you're trying to recreate it?"

"Basically," Minato said nervously.

"Well, be careful," Kushina sighed. "That building didn't collapse of nothing."

She gave him a reassuring smile, but Minato had the impression she only thought he would never be able to recreate such a massive form of chakra.

It made him even more eager.

Kushina had gone off on a short mission, and Minato was soon to be released from the hospital room. It was a relief to know he was able to go back to Jiraiya's place by the end of the day, but Minato hadn't seen it coming that the general was visiting with news.

Minato had been leaning against the window sill, fresh air coming through the window and hitting him lightly in the face, when the door knocked and the general paced in before he got an answer. He sat down on the same chair Kushina had been in a few hours earlier, and motioned for Minato to sit down on the bedside. So he did.

"I found out about the woman who had ordered the attack on you," the general said, handing Minato a file on a sour-looking, dark-haired woman. "She was in charge of the protection of the factory you were searching, though it was mainly to get her hands on the people she needed for a job like this. Of course, she was blown in pieces, so we couldn't really get anything out of her ..."

Minato looked at the woman's name. Heihachi Akane.

"I've seen that surname somewhere ..." Minato said.

"You have," the general said and handed him another file. "Remember this guy?"

The man on the picture was young, with light hair and an arrogant posture. It hit Minato that he had indeed fought against someone who came out as a small brat, and he realised who it was as soon as he noticed the golden, glowing necklace around the neck.

"That's the Genjutsu Master," Minato said. "Toru. That time Ame sent one hell of an ambush on me, right?"

"That's the one," the general said. "He's Akane's brother. Originally they were both from Earth, but he moved to Ame to join Hanzou while he was still young. Brilliant mind."

"Brat ..." Minato said, more to himself. The general snorted.

"Apparently, Akane was furious when she found out both he and their father were dead. She also found out you were responsible."

Minato blinked. "Their father?"

"Hanzou's bodyguard."

It dawned on Minato that the bodyguard had actually looked very similar to Toru, with the light hair and the grey eyes.

"She made a plan of attack to get revenge," the general finished. "And hired a bunch of shinobi from Iwagakure to help. She was going to do the honours of delivering your head to Hanzou." The general snorted and got up. "As if … It wasn't exactly she who got you into this state."

Minato handed back the files, and as the general said his goodbyes and closed the door, he let out a sigh.

Minato was sitting propped up against some large cushions on the porch on the backside of the house when Kushina came home, tired and content. Normally, with a new idea fresh in his mind, he would be practising, looking up anything that could help and spending every last piece of chakra he could spare in the attempt to finish it. But something had halted him, something that wouldn't stop troubling his head.

"How's the idea going?" Kushina asked as she slid open the door and stepped out onto the lamp lit porch. She had changed from her normal attire to one of his T-shirts (which was rather large for her) and a pair of cotton shorts.

Minato only shrugged, not sure how he was supposed to explain what troubled him. Kushina crouched next to him, but when he continued to stare out in the distance with a thoughtful mind, she waved a hand in front of his face.

"You in there?"

"I'm here," Minato said, shifting his gaze from a highly uninteresting branch on a tree to her bemused face.

"What's the matter? I thought you'd be lying half dead on the ground of exhaustion by now."

Minato thought for a moment.

"You know, that woman who had you kidnapped," he started. "She was trying to get revenge on me. Looks like I killed both her brother and her father. And this," he said, raising his hand and filling it with an uncontrolled stream of chakra. "Is supposed to be for destruction." The chakra exploded, sending a wave of warm air to their faces. Minato was beginning to become frustrated. "It doesn't do anything helpful. It doesn't save anyone, heal anyone or stop anyone from killing and spreading hate against each other. Just the fact that I killed someone's father and brother without the intention of hurting anyone else resulted in you being kidnapped and almost killed and the Kyuubi being exposed and almost taken, which could have resulted in war. If I manage to finish this technique, it'll only kill more people and start more conflicts -"

Kushina had suddenly grabbed his face, her hands warm and soft yet firm against his cheeks.

"And what good will you be as a Hokage if you only have techniques that heal people?" she asked.

Minato blinked. "What?"

"Isn't that your dream? To become Hokage and save the world and all that?"

"Well, yeah, but -"

"I'm telling you this; you alone won't be able to keep conflicts at hold, not when thousands of other people keep using destructive techniques. Sometimes killing is inevitable, and I know that you know this already – but there will always be some nut-head out there who'll never be affected by peace talk, and you'll need something to keep that guy away when it's your time to protect this village. You understand this, right?"

She looked intensely into his eyes, but Minato had only one question he needed answered - images of a small, round-cheeked, red-haired girl shouting out her bold ambitions with her fist in the air popped up in his mind.

"I thought you were going to become Hokage?" he said, unable to keep the smile off his face.

Kushina raised an eyebrow.

"With you as my contestant?" she replied. "Really, I think it's clear who beats who in this race. Besides, you need someone to keep you on track, and I'll happily be that person."

Minato smiled.

"So," Kushina said sternly, leaning in so close that he could no longer see the trees behind her. "No more whining, you've got a job to do."

"Right," Minato grinned, and with an arm sneaking around her back he pulled her as close to him as was possible. She had one knee on the wooden ground and was forced to shift the other one halfway across his lap for support, but had no time to think about how she was supposed to sit before he had closed the space between their faces. Another arm sneaked around her back when she responded to the kiss, and eventually, when none of them seemed to want to stop, Kushina shifted slowly until she was sitting on top of him, arms around his neck. They had never been this physically close to each other before, and Minato had difficulties trying to keep out of his head exactly where she was sitting; though he thought it safe to slide one hand underneath her shirt, seeing the same had happened the last time, only she had been the one to make the move then. He would have happily slid the other one further down, but was far too afraid of her reaction to do so; he found it safer to find out how far she was willing to go before he took thoughts into action. But he allowed himself the tiniest delight of her bare legs brushing against his and the fact that with her body more and more pressed up against his as the kissing intensified, he could feel that there were no more layers hiding her underneath the thin, grey T-shirt.

Toru: mentioned in chapter 3, appeared later in chapter 7.

Hanzou's bodyguard was only mentioned in chapter 4.