Minato and Kushina followed the group from a distance. A week has passed since their arrival. Their feet being kept warmed only due to the level of chakra control they'd acquired over their lifetime. Vern seemed like a good man, if not a welcoming man, but Minato could tell instantly they were in over their heads. That old man was the only who knew actually how to fight, but with age came a multitude of disadvantages in trade of wisdom. His body was slow, his muscles ached, and the way he hobbled made the former Hokage elect realize that Vern nursed a multitude of injuries from battle's past.
Kushina noted that a girl with green hair, and fox tail kept a close eye on the man. She couldn't believe that some of these people, while looking human, were definitely not human! The fact girl seemed to care for the old man made her believe that they were related in some way. Although the green hair was a stark contrast to what the man's might have been, one good look at her eyes was all it took. Pure topaz blue, both of them.
The last hours had been treacherous, Minato knew that they were people on the run. No one in their right mind packs up everything at hand, even children, to walk out in this bitter cold. Even migratory clans back on his world hunkered down in temporary structures in most parts of the world during the winter months. To walk in this cold, for any long length of time, was to invite the possibility of death.
However, their boon was running into them. If these creatures, Grimm, as Vern called them, came back Minato and Kushina would stand ready. This may not be their world, and these people weren't their people, but the right thing is not so difficult to reason. It would be easy for them to simply abandon their self-governed charges, and indeed life would be much easier. Then they'd have to live with the guilt, because it was an assured death sentence for all of them. Men, women, and children!
"Minato," Kushina called to him in their native language with her voice nearly a whisper. "How do we start learning to speak their language, because it's going to be awkward for us moving forward if they start questioning. We've only picked up a few phrases and words over the last few days."
"I know, perhaps when we get to their camp we observe from a distance," He suggested while moving with her, they huddled closer together. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, just tired, I didn't sleep a lot before that mishap. I hope we're near the camp." She sniffed the air before smiling, "I think we're here actually."
The tree line opened up to a very large clearing. Dozens of people moved about, some working on clothing, and some maintaining a small stock of firearms. Minato recognized what appeared to be a rifle of sorts, although clearly much more advanced than anything in his world. Guns weren't all that effective, save if you had a lot of people putting volley fire down range, and even then, that was if you were dealing prisoners and run of the mill bandits.
It was here he started to get an inkling on what technological advantage some of these people have. He saw pistols, with bricks of ammo lying next to them, nothing like the single shot cartages back home near the prison. The rifles seemed to have bricks too, shiny metal placed in near the top. The only thing similar was that a shotgun was visible, and that was because the ammo lying next to it had beads. However, unlike the stone beads in his world, these beads were fully metal.
The tents were made of a fabric Minato didn't recognize but came learn as Kevlar, but it seemed very tough despite what it was used for simply because of the number of rambunctious children running about. Some adults in the area stopped, looking at them as they followed behind their group. Vern watches as his group dispersed, walking toward various tents. He turns to them, walking over.
"It ain't much, but it's ours for the time being. If you need anything, I'll be over there." Vern said while pointing toward a large open wall tent. "Food, water, perhaps if ol' Ginger is working her magic some deserts."
Minato and Kushina just stared blankly at him, watching as he sighed and walked away. Minato felt horrible, but he was slowly picking up on some social cues. He saw people waving their hands at each other in greetings. The words, they used to seem phonically similar, and judging by his wife's observations she was also picking up on it. She then looked at him, noting that there was a schoolteacher leading a small group of younger children. She nods her head, ducking behind cover before walking out of the cover as a much younger version of herself from using the transformation jutsu. Minato had almost forgotten how adorable she had looked at such an age, which made her glare at him.
Minato feared no man, but Kushina was not a man, she was his wife, and she gave him reason to sleep with one eye open sometimes. Her death glare sent a chill up his spine, but she quickly trotted off toward the group of students. It was a brilliantly played move on her part, since it meant that no one would question her for sitting on a lecture. It was a much more direct way of picking up on social cues.
He walked over to the tent where Vern had gone. Looking at the food, he noted very similar dietary choices. Rabbits, squirrels, if he squinted it looked like venison too! Minato watched as someone opened a pot, using a ladle to pour hot contents into a bowl. He got a small bowl, made with some sort of soft material, and did the same. Inside the stew he noted there was a mixture of carrots, peas, and some sort of beans. He looked for chopsticks, finding none, but noted a man eating with a white miniature ladle. He located them, picking one up, and walked over to Vern.
He sat down, blowing hot steam away off his stew, Minato looked up at the man. Smiling a little and waving his hand. "Hello," he greeted Vern a little awkwardly, "Minato."
"Minato…" Vern eyed him for a moment, "Interesting name for a Huntsman."
Minato nods, noting Vern's smile. He watched the old man scoop up contents of the stew into his mouth with the spoon. The blonde man did the same, his eyes slightly widening at the taste. It was simple ingredients, but the taste of different spices hit him, and it wasn't in a bad way. The unique flavors washed his tastebuds, lighting them up with new sensations.
The old man hums, "Where's your partner?"
Minato thought for a moment, remembering words people had used on the journey here, "Away."
"Heh, probably scouting," Vern reasoned before resuming his meal. Two more bites in, he took a deep breath before sighing, "Listen…I know you're not Huntsmen. You also have a crap time communicating with me, but please just please tell me you aren't here to hurt any of us."
The pleading in the man's face moved the blonde man. He saw that the eyes of old man were filled with stress, tiredness, and anxiety. Whatever they were running from had made them go into these dangerous woods, where demonic creatures prowled. Minato took a small breath, trying to think of the word's others have used and intrepid their means through action.
"I…want to…help." Minato communicated in their language. "I want to help."
Vern smiles as he looked the young man in the eyes, "I don't usually say this, son. However, I like the cut of your jib. If you want to help us, please at least protect us for a little longer."
"I'll try," Minato replied while smiling, getting a small grasp on the language.
"That's all we can hope for," Vern acquiesced before getting up and pointing toward another large tent. "If you and your partner need some sleep."
Minato understanding a little, nodded before watching the old man walk away. He finished his chili, grabbing a cup with some sort of lid and pouring a fresh serving into it. That's when he saw the child version of his wife walk by, behind a tent, and then emerge back into her full adult self with a small puff of smoke. She was holding a book in her hands, a children's book. Minato figured that it would be back to basics for just a brief period of time, and he walked over to her.
"This is some type of venison stew," Minato told her in their language while making sure no one was around. "I think the old man is on to us a little bit. However, I don't think his first guess would us being outworlders or anything like that."
Kushina nods before taking the cup, downing some of the stew with a drink. She gave content sigh, steam rising from her mouth, "It's pretty good."
"I know," he agreed before she walked over to him giving him a peck on the lips. "We'll try to read the book later on."
days later, the couple find themselves huddled in a tent. Various other people laying down for the night. Vern was slightly surprised when Kushina and Minato climbed into a bed together days ago but figured that they were more than just partners after watching them for a little while.
Everyone was either fast asleep, or letting sleep claim them slowly. The former Hokage elect took a deep breath, watching as Kushina turned over with the book. Both of them using the words they attached with meaning over the days to the words written. It wasn't a perfect system, because there was no direct one-to-one method to make sure each word was correct. Better to be able to speak, they suppose, than be forever stoic mutes.
Eventually after about an hour of this, Kushina just cuddled into his chest. Her soft snoring brought him some measure of peace, and tranquility. The blonde man lowered his chin onto her head, bending to kiss the top of her hair softly. Her arms clutched tightly around him, too soft to be a vice, but solid enough for when if they had to run, she'd be holding onto him.
He took a deep breath himself, sensing the area around him. The people had some type of energy to them, no different really than most civilians back in his world. It felt like chakra, just slightly heavier, with much more spiritual energy in the mix. If he had to guess, the mix would be more than sixty-five percent spiritual energy vs. physical carrying the lower burden. Those two types of energy generally created chakra, but of course some jutsu used varying degrees of each.
That's when his brain began to ever so slowly tinker with ideals. A dangerous thing, especially since it made them wind up here. However, sudden it may have been, Minato had always been the one to teach others. He had a gift, if not fascination for doing so. Teaching Kakashi the rasengan resulted in that little guy creating an incomplete nature transformation of it called Chidori. Jiraiya, his master, learned to make the ball of energy huge and nature energy into it!
His thoughts fell onto Obito, and then to Ren, two of his students that weren't so fortunate to make it out of the last war. That damned war, over nothing but a few scraps of land, killed thousands. He may have been the hero, but looking back at it, if people just communicated and reasoned with each other more there wouldn't have been so much broken!
The Shinobi world was flawed, this world seemed from what gathered as the way some of these people acted about the mentioning of the word 'Grimm' perhaps this world had its flaws too. Flaws in a way that could prove beneficial if someone, with a strong sense of guidance, brought people together. He saw at the camp, one of these strange folks with animal traits getting excluded from a group. That very same strange person was now currently guarding them with a rifle right outside their tent.
On one hand Minato found the people weird, but on the other hand they didn't do him any harm. All that it mattered, despite what happened, that person outside the tent chose to fulfill duty rather take easy revenge. Not engaging, in of itself was a retort, and he saw how his wife went through it. She wasn't like him, she was a Jinchuuriki, and she suffered for it because she was chosen to be a vessel.
People often fear what they cannot understand. It is easy to assume fact, but harder to disregard personal opinion. Minato got up, letting Kushina sleep while stepping out of the tent. His eyes gazed at the shattered moon, noting the shattered pieces were actually from behind it. Meaning whatever happened here, it began on the world.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" He turned to the man talking to him, the same strange one from earlier. His horns on top of his head, resembling those of a goat's. "I didn't mean to interrupt your view sir, my name's Tanza, Tanza Knight."
Minato thought about it, extending his hand out, "Minato."
"Oh, good to meet ya, you're that hero I heard about from the returning party." Tanza replied with a smile, his light blue eyes sparkling in the moonlight. "Sure, good to meet some good folk, bad folk came a few weeks ago…kicked us out of her home."
"Home?" The blonde Shinobi inquired while voicing the word, "What is your home?"
"Um…well if you meant where, it was a week's travel from here. Between Grimm, bandits, I've reckoned we've lost a few poor souls along the way. Good ol' Vern tries to keep our heads up, but the man's been in a pickle lately. Not enough food to last us a few more days," Tanza moved his brown hair back. "One of the little ones, Tori, such a kind little soul…he keeps refusing food saying that he isn't hungry."
Tanza's face scrounges up, a small tear comes down his eyes, "And I caught him eating grass eating leftovers out of a trashcan."
The shinobi listens to the man's words, noting the hint of despair in them. He felt his heart being moved, biting his lip. Minato knew the man was trying to convey a case to him, something, but he didn't know what. The man's finger pointed over to a small child, who had small wings on his back. The child was digging into a trash can, picking out half bitten bread, molded.
Minato walked over to him, Tanza watching him. The child was about to take another bite, but found the bread wrenched from his hands. The guarding strange folk, about to protest, suddenly watched as Minato took a heavy bite from it. He dragged Tori, almost forcefully, toward the meal tent. A man was about to protest, but whatever words were lost as Minato got a cup. He filled it to the brim with the stew, placing it in the child's hands.
The child was confused but looked up to see Minato standing there with a hard look on his face. As the child took a bite, he failed to notice the lone tear leave Minato's eye as he faced away. Eating the molded bread, which tasted unconditionally disgusting. His face met Tanza's, who lowered his rifle with a mouth agape. Several guards noted it as well, watching as the young boy huddled close to him while eating the stew.
He looked up at Minato, "Thank you sir."
The man just gave the boy a hard look, "No more trash."
It was simple, but Tori knew what he meant, nodding. He walked toward a tent with children in it, eating the stew. Minato noted that a girl was looking at Tori, who he handed the cup. She took a drink from the broth, slightly coughing. These people never chose this, who would, these people were refugees on the run. He now understood what Tanza tried to say to him, it made him scrounge his fists up.
The chef walks up to Minato, tapping his shoulder, "Oi you there. Yeah, why would you give that thing an extra serving? This stuff is meant for the adults, the rice and bread are for the kids, you can't just give him extras because he skips dinner. He's a Faunus, you're a human, worry about yourself!" The chef yelled in Minato's face, who took a deep breath.
"Fool…" Minato uttered the word while glaring into the man's eye. Both squaring up with each other, if the chef was foolish enough, then he'd become a new course for the camp.
"Ursa Major, Ursa Major!" Tanza screamed from a distance before an absolutely gigantic bear smacked him across the camp!
The young man smacks into a nearby tent, getting his leg impaled on a piece of broken wood. The bear demon roared, its bony armor scarped against itself, creating a racket of scratching noises. Several people fired guns at it, only for the bullets to bounce off the thick armor. It roars out once more, running toward the hurt man. Minato didn't waste any time, throwing a kunai toward him. It made in time to where he appeared in a yellow flash, holding a ball of spiraling blue energy. It screeched into the air while he draws back his fist before slamming it forward into the beast's face.
The Ursa Major, a demonic bear the size of a small house, was sent skidding across the snow-covered field and into a group of small trees. Minato stood tall, the injured man below him looking up, almost in reverence. The shinobi watches the bear get up, shaking off the damage which surprised him. Normally people didn't just walk away from the technique. It roared out, bony spikes protruding from its back.
Minato barely grabbed the man in time to jump with him as one of them shot out. The bony javelin impacting where Tanza had just been. The man was firing his pistol as Minato leapt up to avoid another bone spear. Placing Tanza down, Minato suddenly turned around and grabbed the next one out of the air. Everyone stopped as the man's grip snapped it in half!
Vern had come running out of his tent, seeing this all go down. His old eyes observing Minato as he walked toward the beast. Another bone spear shot out, which he caught midair again. He noted the man's partner run from inside the tent, but instead of joining the other women she was running toward him. That's when he saw two more Ursa Majors charging through the trees. Their despair possibly attracting them, like moths to a flame. One of these things would've been trouble for their town, and it had walls, here in the open clearing it was easy pickings.
"Midori, no!" Vern suddenly screamed as his daughter came running out of a tent near one of the creatures. It lunged at her and reached for a cylinder on his side that held his cane! "I'm not going to make it!"
Suddenly a loud burst of power flooded the area, that Ursa Major reaching for his daughter was kicked away from the redheaded woman accompanying Minato. Her red hair flowed out in nine endings, with red aura sparking around her to life. Her hands had grown claws, and her eyes turning a fierce red! Minato stood next to her while holding two strange kunai in his hands. Glowing seals, written in a language Vern couldn't decipher, like strange chicken scratching.
Chains emerged for Kushina's hands, she twirled them around, red streaks flowing from it. She moves first, sending the chains around the fallen Ursa Major. She slung her arms up, making the beast launch into the air. Minato stepped off her back, throwing the two kunai into the air. He appeared, two blue orbs in his hands as he slammed down, flowing the orbs in opposite directions. The camp ran with both terror and fright, until they one of the beasts getting ripped in half.
Kushina's chains came back to her, she somersaulted up into the air. Avoiding the swipe from of the massive beasts. She landed next to Midori, easily grabbing the beast's maw as it charged at it her. Her roar filled the air before she punched it back into a group of large trees, which tumbled onto it.
Landing into the decaying dust cloud, Minato suddenly emerged, dodging a bone spear before grabbing it midair. He launched himself, slamming the spear into the roof the snout of the other beast. It couldn't roar, its mouth sealed as Kushina wraps her chains around its neck. She pulls hard while dodging a bone spear from the trapped Ursa Major, twirling midair before landing, and yanking hard. The chains beheaded the second Ursa Major while she roared out.
Vern stood there in utter amazement. His eyes filled with something he hadn't seen in a while, hope. Both of them stood tall, standing next to each other. The trapped Ursa Major thrashed in the trees, trying to get out. Holding her hand out, Minato took it. A suddenly blue light filled the area as large ball of energy gathered above their heads. Inside the center, the normal swirled in the center amongst a typhoon of red energy. It grew to the size of a beach ball, both him and her charged forwards!
Anything it had launched to defend itself proved useless. The resounding crash echoed throughout the forest, with the light illuminating the night. As trees broke, tumbled, and disappeared under the sphere's directed explosion. Minato stood there, his blue eyes shining in the dark while Kushina's violet eyes slowly came back to her.
Several people were murmuring, Minato cursed to himself as he looked behind him and Kushina. They stood there, all of the guards, pointing rifles at them. Vern was quick to act, charging out in front of them. "Stand down!" He screamed while holding his arms up, "For the love of the Gods, stand down!"
The guards, all of them, lowered their weapons. Tanza, looked on in true reverence. He clutched pendant in his hands, he hurdled himself out in front, falling to his knees. He bowed before Minato, and Kushina. Shocking them both as held the pendant up.
"The Nature Goddess has answered our pleas, delivering onto us, these angels!" He cried out while bowing to them, bawling his eyes out. "Thank you, oh forest mother…thank you…"
Some people, mainly those with animal traits gathered toward her. Humans, regular ones at least, were split even between looking at them wearily and reverently. Vern himself even had the hint of reverence that Tanza was currently displaying, Minato couldn't find his words, but he backed away from Tanza.
The man was bawling praises, bowing repeatedly!
Kushina found herself nervously looking at all the people they've wondered with for a week. They stood there, some eyeing them with reverence, and others with fear. Tanza kept proclaiming something to the people, holding a talisman up. Gods, God, they weren't those things! She found the right words and screamed them out.
"We are no Gods!" She screamed catching their attention, "We are human!"
All of the talking, praises, murmurs, and talk stopped. Kushina stood there, red face, while Tanza continued bowing. This time not rising back up, probably too afraid to do so. Vern walked up to the wherewithal to calm the Faunus guard. He helped him rise to his feet, but Vern looked at the two, eyeing them.
He gave them a smile, a small one, but still just as comforting. "You heard the woman! They say their humans! I don't care for what they are, I care for what they have done for us! So quit your praises, the lot of you!"
"But sir, look at what they did, those three Ursa Majors would've killed our village! Even before Moby came in with his goons! What are they, if not Gods, they can't be human! From what I read, Huntsmen only have one ability, and they're using multiple things! That one behind transformed into a Faunus," He pointed at Kushina while imploring Vern to look at her. "She's an angel to me, I'll not hear any other answer!"
"Listen…" Minato finally got everyone's attention before slowly getting a kunai out. "We don't speak your language good, no, we don't."
"This is the only way, I hope I can convey what I mean…" He suddenly stabbed it into his left hand, drawing some blood, "Gods do not bleed!"
The crowds once again stopped, seeing the fresh blood drip to the ground. Shocked at the fact that he wounded himself, even more so for the fact he bled like any other being. Kushina tore a piece of her skirt off, wrapping it around his hand. He held the kunai up, letting everyone see the blood staining it. People murmured still, but Tanza just knelt down still.
He held his arms out, with the pendant extended toward them, "Madame, if you're not any divine being, please tell us what owe ye."
"Nothing," Kushina replied softly before looking at the crowds. "You owe nothing."
"They speak crudely, obviously they spent time learning our language the best they could while amongst us." Vern announced to his people, he stood in front of them. "Without them tonight, we would all be food for the Grimm! Mistral, a country we've dedicated ourselves too, never sent us any help…yet these beings…these people owed us nothing and still chose to help us."
"Be they of the natural or magical nature, they have been nothing short of a boon to us all!" Vern continued while looking at his people, all of them, the children were mesmerized by Kushina and Minato. "Please, let us show favor to them like they have to us, with kindness and openness. They must speak differently than us if they are picking words, perhaps we can teach them our language."
"What's to say they aren't demons?!" The chef from earlier declared, gaining some support from some of the more cautious people. "If they are human, then how can do these magical things like generate balls of energy from their hand, manifest super strength and that man's speed is like seeing light dance before my very own eyes!"
"Clearly they're lying in one way or another," He continued while pointing toward Minato. "That one there values Faunus more than us humans!"
"That's not true!" Tori screamed out while running forward, "He gave me food as a fair exchange, like you adults do all the time!"
The bird Faunus walked up to the man, "You watched him take that moldy bread from me, you git! He ate that in front of me, he shed a tear for me! If they are monsters, then I am as well!"
Such strong words emerged from the young boy, tears flooding down his eyes. "Momma and papa died trying to fight Moby's crew, I have just been trying to keep my sis alive all this time. No one here traded me for the moldy bread I dug through in the bins!" He shouted with sobs rocking his body.
"Then he came, he saw me, and he demanded I eat! If a monster demands I eat, then surely you knights see us starve! If a monster shows compassion, you knights show us distain! I'll teach them, I may a child, but I'll help them speak plainly! I don't want to just eat moldy bread anymore! I don't want to live in fear anymore! I want my life, I want my sister to live healthy, I want our home back!" Tori screamed at the end as he continued toward the heroes.
Vern watched as the young child knelt down besides Tanza, "I know say we owe nothing, perhaps you understand that word. But please, please! If you can, just please help us not live in fear no more! Please, I can't stand this no more, I can't watch my sister grow sicker no more! I can't go hungry no more!"
"I don't want to be afraid anymore!" He wailed as he held out his arms, his wings extending with them a little. "If you cannot do anything else, I beg thee free me from fear!"
Minato looks into the eyes of the young boy, finding a fire he once saw in another. He looked toward Kushina, who bit her lip a little. Slowly, Minato reaches down, lightly helping Tanza up followed by Tori. They looked at him, waiting on answer.
"Free…you teach me, and I teach you." He replied to Tori's speech, still trying to speak the words correctly. "Thank you, Tori-san."
"San?" Tori questioned while craning his neck.
Minato chuckles at the boy's confusion, "Teach me…and I teach you."
Tori nods, hugging him, and finally with this the tension broke. With people wondering up to them, minus the chef and few of the more untrustworthy people. Minato looked at them, watching as they began to ask questions, some he could only nod too, while others he spoke brokenly in their language. Kushina was in the same situation, but she was smiling when the children came to her first, and slowly the awe inspired villagers gave into just talking amongst each other.
Excited murmurs filling the nightly air, and with it, the possibility of a new hope!
Those Who Endure!
Minato was dragging several deer back toward the camp. There he saw Kushina hurling by a tree in the morning sun. She had a canteen in her hand, obviously to help was the bile out of her mouth. She had just recently had these issues. Among the hunters in the forest, some came back with fish, others some smaller critters. With his help, surely, they could turn this camp around for the winter. It had been weeks since the wayward villagers tried to form a cult around them, after The Night of Three Ursa, as it became known to them.
He sees Vern, who nods at him, while Midori his daughter ran around with a clipboard. She was cataloging the new intake of fresh meat, tallying it up, preparing the chef and cronies to divide it up. The man hadn't come around, probably never would, too stuck in his ways. Minato and Kushina had begun to learn the language a bit more, and Tori was the teacher he promised to be. His little sister, who had a fever, had begun to recover as Minato pushed more plates to them. Some people saw it a favoritism, and it was to an extent, but only because he felt that Tori was owed equal which he hadn't received in the weeks before he arrived on the world with his wife.
She hurled onto the ground once more, leaning against the tree, "Oh damn this hurts…"
He wondered over to her, noting that Tori was at a tree. He was pulling several regular kunai from it, having gotten better at throwing them since he first started. Some of the other children had joined in, hell even a couple of the adults like Tanza. Eventually, however, one of those thoughts of his popped into his head. The one he had prior to the demon bears attacking the camp, where their energy felt similar to chakra.
Maybe, just maybe, if he could get Tori or some other student prospects to unlock this energy…perhaps he could truly teach them something spectacular. In doing so, Minato smiled, walking his wife over to a medical tent. She felt sick, watching as Vern walked over to them.
"Is everything okay, Minato?" He inquired while looking at Kushina.
He nods while stroking her hair, "My wife is sick."
"Ahh, interesting, I know the medic isn't here. However, can you tell me the symptoms?" Vern asked while sitting on a chair. "I got some basic first aid during my time as guard."
"I am sick every morning, it tapers off," she said before listing off the others. "I get nauseated in the evenings, my body feels different, almost like I'm about to be on…you know…the womanly times."
"Yet, you aren't…hmm…" Vern observed the blotches on her skin, her blood pressure obviously was high. "Madame Kushina, have you and your husband consummated recently?"
"Smaller words, please, remember we're still learning…" Minato politely requested before smiling while holding her hands.
The man laughs, blushing slightly, "Have you two…done it?"
"Oh that," Kushina giggled while blushing mad red. "Could be the whole reason why we ended up here…honestly."
The Old Man just rolls his eyes, "You two are just young kids to me then, cursed with the needs."
The man got up, reaching into a desk. He saw the doctor coming, shrugging before pulling a out a stick of some sort. He handed it to her, nervously chuckling before looking right into her eyes. He slowly spoke to her, "From this old man to you young lovers, may this answer your health problem. Just when you go to the bathroom, you pee on this end here…and that either gets a blue plus sign or not."
She looks at it, noticing a similarity to her world's tests, asking Minato in their own language. "Is this what I think it is?"
Minato smiles, and then looked over to a patch of bushes, "You got to go?"
"Actually," Kushina laughs before getting up, "I do…"
She ran over to the bushes, much to Minato's giggling. Vern simply chose to flick the young man in the head, the blonde rubbed his head.
"It's not nice to make fun of a woman, who might be carrying your child, good sir." Vern said with a smile before bowing his head. "Have you read the map?"
"Yes," he switched to their language, "I have read your maps. Moby, in Wind Run, you need him gone."
"We do…but I feel dirty to ask this of you, considering that you have helped us already." The Old man sighed while crossing his legs. "It'll be a bloody slug fest if we come in force."
Minato took a deep breath, "That's why I shall go alone, tonight…I'll make my way to Wind Run you just get your people ready to move."
"Minato," the blonde turned to Vern who smiled. "I don't think they're just my people anymore…especially the young lad Tori."
Tori surprised Minato by doing the kunai trick shots he had recently showed him. Some of the kids wanted to try it, obviously the kunai were blunted all around. However, that boy was progressing fast, and he smiles when Tori let the kids have a turn at throwing the kunai before walking over to piece of paper Minato had written for him.
He began to practice hand seals, of course they wouldn't activate anything, but just knowing what seal what was would prove helpful…if they could use their energy in a similar fashion, it would prove almost vital to any meaningful lessons he could teach. Some of the kids walked over to him, doing the same, and him correcting them.
Then he noted Midori, who was standing at a distance, doing the same thing.
"Can I really…call this people my people as well?"