49. An Unforeseen Event

Minato read carefully through the documents he had been given by the Hokage. He had yet to hand them to Obito and Rin; they were elsewhere, probably walking around in anticipation, while he sat on his couch with his feet on the table and smiled for himself. Kushina was sleeping on his lap after a short, demanding mission that had nearly cost Rabi his life (out of stupidity, their sensei had told him, yet Kushina didn't seem so keen on insulting Rabi's idiocy this time), while he himself had spent the time he got waiting for Obito and Rin to get through their exams by reading through new concepts he could try out, the latest being chakra extension.

The smile on his face mostly came from imagining Obito and Rin's faces once they learned that they had been promoted.

Uchiha Obito, age 11, has successfully undergone the Chuunin Exams, and will therefore be promoted Chuunin with immediate effect after the 29th of January. His promotion is based on his selflessness, his individual skills and the ability to use suitable strategies and techniques based on opponent and team. His instinct and ability for survival has been marked as above average.

Nohara Rin, age 11, has successfully undergone the Chuunin Exams, and will therefore be promoted Chuunin with immediate effect after the 29th of January. Her promotion is based on her independence, her ability to act cold and think quickly and her skills within the subject of medical techniques. Her instinct and ability for survival has been marked as very good.

The papers had been signed by the three censors and the third himself. Obito and Rin were chuunin, but they didn't know yet. Minato wondered where they were at, and was eager to get up and find them, but found himself prevented from it as he was currently being used as a pillow.

"Kushina," he mumbled, stroking a hand through her hair. "I have to go."

Kushina mumbled something unclear in return before she opened her eyes and looked at him with slight disappointment.

"But you were so comfortable to lie on."

"Are you calling me fat?"

Kushina sat up and kissed him quickly on the corner of his mouth.

"Yep."

She got up, stretched and headed for the bedroom to get some more sleep while Minato found his usual black shoes. It was a breezy night with small, white specks covering the dark sky, and it was somewhat calming to walk down the empty streets, looking for two anxious kids who would soon end up with large smiles on their faces. It was also quite chilly, which reminded Minato he should've brought a jacket. These were all traits he had learned to appreciate again ever since he returned from the war.

He decided to check their apartments first in case they were home, and turned down a road leading to the area that had over the years been occupied by Uchihas. He met a few of them on the way, some of whom nodded politely, others who merely glanced at him with either mild interest or complete carelessness, and as he passed Mikoto's house, he wondered why Kushina hadn't seen her so much lately. Finally, he arrived at Obito's small apartment door and knocked.

There was no answer, but Minato hadn't expected him to be home either; living alone as a young boy was something Minato, too, had experienced, and he had only seen his apartment as a place where he kept his bed and food. He continued down the road to take a short-cut to the centre of the village, and walked down a narrow gravel road that lacked street lamps. Rin lived in a far more cheerful part of the village, but as Minato neared the lit village centre, he thought the streets were unusually quiet. Without access to any clock, Minato wondered if he had spent too much time at home than initially planned, so perhaps Obito had been asleep and not heard him knocking.

Though before he could leave the dark gravel road, a figure had jumped down on the path behind him. For a moment, several scenarios went through his head, and his immediate analysis skills were kicked off – who was he, how could he defend himself from him, was it a man at all – but as he turned, he could barely see that it was only Kousuke.

"There you are, Minato," Kousuke said. "I've been looking for you." Minato's suspicions were erased as soon as he recognised his companion; being alerted by the simplest things was a trait he had gained from the war, but had only become an annoying habit.

"What's going on?" Minato asked.

"There's an intruder," Kousuke replied. "ANBU are out looking for him, and I bumped into Zichu from the communication unit who told me what happened and asked if I could keep an eye up."

Minato folded the exam result papers and placed them neatly in his pocket. "What information have you got?"

"Not much," Kousuke admitted as he nodded in the direction Minato had come from and they begun walking away from the centre. Exam results would have to wait, apparently. "He showed up half an hour ago and broke through every detection barrier. We've no idea where he is now or what he's up to, and we don't really know if it's a man or a woman, either."

"So you don't really know anything," Minato concluded, and Kousuke nodded.

"We'll have to search the areas not being covered," Kousuke continued. "ANBU are covering the centre and the walls, so I suggest we start with the training fields."

"That's not a likely hiding area, though, is it?" Minato said and frowned. "People tend to train at night, too, and besides, most of them are open areas."

"Well, sure," Kousuke said and turned down a path leading to the training fields. "But maybe he tries to hide somewhere people wouldn't expect him to be? You know, thinking outside the box and stuff."

It seemed a bit strange, but Minato followed. He had passed the training fields two hours ago after experimenting with chakra extensions, and had seen a team on field three starting up a session. Surely, they would still be working if the purpose of the training was the dark. Kousuke led the way past a few of the fields and entered one of those that weren't occupied. Training field nine had recently been upgraded with a thicker forest and a quite tall cliff, and Minato had to agree that such a place seemed ideal for hiding, had it not been for the occasional team stopping by. Field nine was also not meant for easy training, which meant that the shinobi who used it, were usually quite skilled.

"I can't sense anyone immediately," Minato said as he focused and looked inside the thick forest, but decided to clear the area more thoroughly. He crouched and placed his finger on the ground.

"What're you doing?" Kousuke asked.

Minato looked up at him. "What d'you think?" he said a little bemused. "I'm checking for any hidden chakras nearby." He inserted chakra in his finger, wondering how Kousuke could've forgotten about this trick when he had seen it way more than once before.

"There's no one around," Minato concluded and straightened up. "Let's clear the other fields."

"All right," Kousuke said, and Minato turned to leave.

He had foreseen it. The noise of a weapon being drawn, even barely audible, had been so predicted that before Minato had even heard it, he had grabbed a kunai from his pocket and turned in time to see Kousuke strike at him. He blocked.

"Who the hell are you?" Minato said as his opponent jumped backwards.

"Wouldn't you like to know." The man impersonating Kousuke sounded sour. "Doesn't matter, I've got you where I wanted."

"And what do you want from me?"

"I want a lot of things in exchange for your head," the impersonator said. Minato frowned.

"Like what?"

"You'll find out once I've captured you."

The man shot forwards again to attack, but Minato knew he was not his only worry.

"Who else is here?" he asked as he blocked again and attacked. He couldn't manage a hit, but was able to place his palm on the man's shoulder and make a mark.

The impersonator ducked and tried to get around him instead. "When did I say anything about anyone else?"

"Cut the crap," Minato hissed. "You could've easily gained things without my help. What is your goal?"

The man made a frustrated noise when he couldn't get around Minato without risking a beheading, and made distance between them again.

"Not gonna tell you, am I?" he said. "You're really just a bonus."

It made sense that the impersonator had showed up behind him if he had recently checked if Minato was home, and if he tried to keep Minato away from home, it might be because they were after Kushina again – but then again, they would've been better off if Minato had walked down to the calm centre of the village, completely oblivious of any intruders. The fact that he now knew that Konoha was not as safe as initially thought, only raised his guard and lowered the enemy's chance of getting what they came for. Besides, it should be clear to them that if Minato busted the impersonator (which was easy with a technique that could detect chakra), who was trying to keep him away from civilisation and home, his first worry would be his own girlfriend.

The impersonator had to be quite serious about getting his hands on Minato if he was willing to risk their whole plan failing just to get a 'bonus'.

Minato made a shadow clone and sent it directly to the Hokage tower; he probably already knew about the intruders, at least if the impersonator spoke the truth and they had broken every barrier, but it wouldn't hurt to let him know that Minato was currently dealing with one of them, and that several others were on the look-out for the actual goal.

The impersonator made a stance and prepared to attack.

"So now you can just appear next to me whenever you want?"

"No, whenever you need me."

Minato swallowed. She'll be fine, he tried to convince himself. If it wasn't likely that Kushina was their goal, it wasn't necessary for him to make her first priority, either.

But then again, he had promised to protect her.

The impersonator attacked, this time with a water technique. Minato, who had Kushina as his regular sparring partner, was used to techniques of this nature and knew both their deadly sides and weaknesses. Water had always been a sign of strength due to its' ability to find another way if it was blocked, but it didn't mean the new route would be in the carrier's favour. Using his wind techniques, Minato put up strong barriers and blocks, forcing the water back to the impersonator. His opponent had control of the water's strength and could, naturally, release the technique or make it weaker so it wouldn't harm himself, but it seemed to frustrate him enough that his techniques never hit.

On the positive side, Minato wasn't cold any more.

Something enlightened his head, and something appeared above the impersonator – his clone had vanished, and he instantly recalled talking to the Hokage as someone entered the office – the real Kousuke, this time, with his dog trotting alongside him – and after a short set of orders given by the third, Minato's clone had grabbed Kousuke and transported them -

A familiar, characteristic roar and a loud woof was heard as the impersonator was knocked to the ground by a clawed Kousuke.

"Thanks for that," Minato said.

"Who the hell is that?" the real Kousuke asked when he saw himself (so to speak), lying on the ground and slowly changing into someone completely different.

"Kumo," Minato said in mild surprise as the symbol of the forehead protector appeared clearly before them. "What're Kumo-nin doing in Konoha?"

"That's weird," Kousuke agreed. "Haven't seen a Kumo-nin in my life."

Minato crouched to lift the Kumo-nin. "We should take him to the interrogation unit," he said.

"Yep," Kousuke said. "And report to the third, because there are still a few more around here somewhere."

Nodding, Minato held out his arm for Kousuke to grab, and transported them into a dimly lit corridor with a small desk in a corner. The woman behind it jumped at their sudden appearance.

"Goodness," she said. "What do we have here?"

"One of the Kumo-nin who've been roaming our village," Kousuke said and helped Minato get the man off the floor. "Could you take over for us? We've got to see the Hokage."

The woman nodded shortly and pressed a button. "The other four were delivered moments ago," she said. "Hokage-sama will be pleased to hear everyone's captured." Two men came down the corridor to help her get the stranger locked up, and Minato and Kousuke headed towards the front door. To get inside was no problem, but the barriers didn't allow for him to transport them out of there by any other means than foot. He wanted to make sure Kushina was fine, but since he hadn't heard anything explode for the past ten minutes (because Kushina's defensive and offensive techniques were just that loud), he figured he'd have to make her second priority for now.

"I wonder what they were after," Kousuke said as they walked down the long corridor. "My first guess would be the Kyuubi, actually, since Kushina was busted last year and all that, but since Kumo is way behind when it comes to international business and they already have a tailed beast, I don't think that's their goal, really."

Minato nodded. He doubted someone had walked up to Kumo and told them that the current jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi was currently residing in number five Oak Street, Konoha. Kumo had been locked up for years, never taking interest in international matters, and although they heard news from that country now and then, the news were rarely extensive. The Lightning country was extremely isolated.

They walked out in fresh air, and it was indeed very silent. No sounds of a house being teared down. So far, so good.

Kousuke grabbed his arm again, and they appeared before the Hokage tower. A minute later, they stood in front of the office door, knocking.

"Come in," they heard. They went in. "Ah, you two. How did it go?"

"We left the impersonator with the interrogation unit," Minato informed.

"Good," the third said. "My ANBU found the remaining party. There were five in total, currently being questioned, as far as I know. But seeing as this was a completely unpredicted event by shinobi from a country we've barely heard from the past few decades, I want to gather my jounin to an emergency meeting. This is usually the ANBU's job, but seeing as you can easily access Kushina's whereabouts, I don't suppose you could help them out and find her?"

The third was addressing Minato, who nodded; he had waited for an opportunity to go home and see if Kushina was fine. The Hokage gave him a final nod, and with that, he could do his beloved hand seal, and appeared, as he had hoped, in the middle of a dark, completely intact bedroom.

Everything was fine, except that Kushina woke with a start of his sudden appearance.

"Jeez, Minato, don't do that!" she said and sat up. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't do that when I'm asleep!"

She glared at him angrily, but Minato calmly held up his hands in defence. "Had to see if you were okay," he said.

The angry glare turned suspicious and slightly confused.

"Besides," he continued. "The Hokage is calling the jounin in for an emergency meeting."

"Emergency meeting?" Kushina repeated and got out of bed. "What for?"

"Five Kumo-nin infiltrating the village just now," Minato said and watched her pull clothes out of the closet. "They're captured, but we don't know why they're here."

"Kumo?" Kushina said in surprise, at which Minato nodded in agreement.

After Kushina had rushed downstairs to find out where she had tossed her shoes, they appeared before the Hokage tower once more and found their way inside a meeting room. As the chairs were filled and the door was closed, the third sat down.

"A strange event found place in Konoha tonight," he began, gaze shifting seriously across the table. "Five shinobi from Kumo broke through our detection barriers and headed in different directions. They're being interrogated as we speak, but so far, a few of their intentions are clear; one, to find some of our forbidden scrolls, two, to sabotage our communication system, and three, to get their hands on Minato."

Minato felt several eyes on him, but the third spoke again.

"Exactly why they needed Minato, we're not sure, except that he was to be used as a trading object. Seeing as that is the wish of many of our enemies, I hardly find it surprising to hear that. The most important now is to make sure we can count ourselves safe from Kumo, and see if this was just a small plan in a bigger context." He leaned back in his chair, smoke escaping his mouth as he sighed. "I'll have to work out a plan of attack. We'll have to observe, interrogate, collect information ... If this is just the beginning of a series of events, we'll have to keep our guards up. I'll call each of you once I have the plans sorted out, so expect to be summoned within the next few days."

He ended the meeting with that, and the jounin left the meeting room (slowly, as there were quite a few of them).

"So Kumo is after you as well, now?" Kushina said as they eventually walked down the corridor.

"Apparently," Minato sighed, but wasn't immediately troubled by it.

"The bastard was playing dirty as well," Kousuke said. Apparently, he found himself being impersonated rather an insult.

As they left the Hokage tower and walked in the direction of their houses, someone else were making an attempt in stopping Minato again.

"Sensei!" he heard behind him, and turned to see Obito and Rin running towards him.

"Oh, you two!" he said. "I completely forgot -"

"Did you get the results?" Obito interrupted. "We heard Genma and Ebisu got their just an hour ago -"

"Yeah, I got them," Minato said with the best poker face he could pull off, pulled out the papers from his pocket and unfolded them. "Let's see ... this ... is for you -" he handed Obito one of the sheets, "- and this is for you." Rin was given the second.

A moment passed, in which the eyes of the two newly promoted chuunin scanned the pages with their mouths slightly open.

"Anyone hungry?" Minato asked. "I guess we'll have to celebrate."