A/N: Rewritten as of April 2nd 2024
I'm so sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but I'm back! If you don't follow ID, then I'll say this about my long absence: Work is brutal. What was supposed to be 2 weeks on, 2 off, wasn't, and sometimes I barely got 4 days off. But that's calmed down, and I should be done with that job completely after the new year. So, I'm back to stay this time, and baring family events or something equally important, I will be updating this story every Tuesday. There will also be at least 8 Thursday updates in the next 4 months, including this Thursday~
So I hope you all enjoy the this long awaited chapter~
Chapter IV: Brother
So that was the end of Namikaze Haruka. Not at all a pleasant end. And there were far too many questions left unanswered. Mysteries that her corpse could perhaps help to solve. A possibility it just might be able to prove, or disprove.
It was with this thought in mind that the Jōnin pulled a scroll out from his vest, followed by ink and brush, before he lowered himself down to one knee in front of the body. Minato had closed his eyes, his round face pale, reminding the man that he was indeed just a boy of ten. Poor kid shouldn't have had to see his mother like this… shouldn't have had the first loved one he watched die so early in his shinobi career. It was true that Minato's father had died years ago… but that was something the boy had not had to witness. It was… different to be faced with the exact moments of a loved one's death. And more so when it was because of violence.
But to his credit, he hadn't broken down in tears like many other kids would have. His two teammates were just as ashen faced, and he had noted the glint of tears in the corner of Inoru's eyes.
Minato was a child, but he was also already a fine Shinobi.
Still, he figured it was best to remove the body from the boy's sight quickly. He considered removing the one Kunai that was still lodged in one of the woman's back injuries… but ultimately decided not to, as he wished to bring it back anyway, on the chance that there was a way to track it back to the shinobi group who had attacked Haruka. It was a slim chance, but not one worth disregarding. And as there may be poison involved… The best thing to do would be to seal it away along with the body.
Ink went onto the brush, and from there onto the scroll, before more was applied to the body, followed by a few quick hand-signs. Then the body was gone, now sealed within the scroll. The sunshine blonde's eyes snapped open at the sound the sealing made, and fixed upon the scroll in his hands. As he straightened, the boy's gaze naturally followed the item, causing a frown of concern to slide over the jōnin's face. Poor kid.
And then Inoru's hand landed on Minato's shoulder, and the emotionally high-strung boy nearly attacked his teammate. He could see it in the way the genin tensed. However, he was able to stop himself, turning instead to see what Inoru wanted. The white haired shinobi took this opportunity to slide the scroll into his pouch.
And then Minato was on the move.
It took him a precious second to realize what had just happened. Inoru's hand was pointing towards the great stone figure of Uchiha Madara. The two toddlers were there?
"Shit," the man cursed softly, before biting down on his thumb and performing the hand-seals to summon a toad. He didn't even properly greet the toad who appeared. "Gama, stay with Inoru and Kenta," was all he said to the toad before he leaped after his wayward student.
"Minato!" He admonished harshly as he caught up to the boy when he landed by the foot of the stone figure, his hand firmly taking hold of the boy's to keep him rooted in place.
Minato, not at all unexpectedly, swatted the man's large hand away. The glower he sent at him though was a bit unexpected. Thankfully though, the boy remained standing where he was. He fixed him with a stern, disapproving stare, but the boy would not back down. Finally, he let out a soft sigh. "Alright… they are your siblings," He muttered softly. "If that is who Inoru sensed. Stay behind me until I've verified who's really up there."
Minato continued to hold his gaze unblinkingly, before he finally nodded with a low "Fine."
Then the two of them pushed chakra into their legs, and began to jump their way up the statue.
She had to stay awake.
Masato had lost consciousness not long after they'd squeezed into their hiding place. Worriedly she glanced over at him, and then once more debated if she should shuffle out to see if the people she'd spotted down below were gone or not. But if they weren't she could end up getting them caught, when those people might not have found them otherwise. If she didn't check they could be stuck here, sandwiched in by cold stone, for the remainder of the night, when the coast was already clear. There was no way to know if it was safe to come out or not without crawling up to look.
A part of her knew it hadn't been long enough for it to be safe to peek yet. But she was growing impatient with not being able to see what was going on. She hated it. Absolutely. It made her feel more helpless than she already did by being trapped in such a young, awkward body.
And her hands and feet stung. Her head throbbed, and her knees and elbows burned. She hurt all over and she felt helpless and afraid. Afraid like the child she appeared to be. And she couldn't do anything about any of it, which made it that much worse.
Her breathing sounded thunderous to her own ears.
Like the child she now was, she found herself attempting to hold her breath. Until her thoughts caught up with the action and she realized that it was absolutely foolish. She couldn't hold her breath for hours as an adult. No one could. It was simply impossible and illogical to attempt the feat with a child's much smaller lung capacity.
Glancing over at Masato, she squinted to try and make out his face in the dark. She couldn't really see much aside from that his eyes were closed. Squirming so her arm was no longer pressed between her body and the stone, she reached towards the boy.
His skin was hot and clammy.
Alarmed she jerked her hand back, biting her lip at what that likely meant. His chakra exhaustion had driven him into a feverish state. Pressed between cold stone was only going to exasperate it.
Her autumnal blue eyes moved back to the sliver of starry sky she could see, and then returned to the ill boy as she tried to decide what to do. And then with much squirming and muffled grunts, she maneuvered herself off of her side and onto her stomach, so she could start pulling herself out. The stone chafed against her knees and exposed forearms as she pulled herself along.
And then she was holding her breath once again, as two pairs of feet in dark coloured sandals came into view at the opening of their hiding place. She was staring at the back of someone's heels, barely two feet away from her little face. She didn't dare move a muscle even as the feet slowly moved away several feet before coming to a stop.
"Masato…?" a man's voice rang out.
Her eyes widened.
"Makiko?" This time the voice sounded like a child's… perhaps a boy?
Despite herself a small gasp pushed past her lips. She immediately covered her treacherous mouth with one of her hands, and attempted to shrink back downwards.
How do they know our names?
They'd just gotten them! The only way this person could know them was if he'd overheard their mother giving them their names, or he'd gotten it from the woman after the fact. She couldn't see their pursuers having even thought about them having names… So someone the woman had told willingly?
It wasn't safe to simply assume that was so however.
The feet turned, moving back towards them. Obviously they had heard her. And then she was looking at one of the man's knees, and his hand, before the silhouette of his face came into view. It was nearly impossible to make out any detail in the dark, however no darkness could hide white hair. But it was something else entirely that really caught her attention.
The glint of metal on his forehead.
This man wore a Hitai-ate. Something that had been absent on those who had pursued them before. Not that that meant this person wasn't a threat. At all. She couldn't see the symbol on that headband. And even if she could, she leaked any information on who her mother's allies might be.
"It's okay," the man spoke softly, trying to soothe whom he thought to be a very small child. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help." The more he spoke, the more she thought the voice sounded familiar… and yet…
Someone trying to lure a pair of children into a false sense of security would say that. The gentle concern in his voice meant nothing. She shrank back further.
In response the man straightened, and took a few steps back, before lowering himself to sit upon the rock. "Alright, We'll wait right here until you're ready to come out," he said just as softly. A moment later she watched as the owner of the smaller set of feet sat beside him. They were too far away from her to be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl.
Surely they would lose patience after a while and try to grab them, she thought. Then at least she'd know that they were the 'bad guys'. So she shuffled backwards until she could no longer see either of them, and she was close enough she could reach her brother with a little careful maneuvering.
Ten minutes passed.
Neither had moved. At least… not that she could hear… and she didn't see them at the gap above her either.
Fifteen minutes passed.
"-ato," she could hear the voice of the man, but he was speaking too softly for her to decipher all of what he was saying. That sounded like the tail end of a name perhaps? "We ca- … border patro- … mission." Where the other words she was able to pick out. All she was able to glean from this was that they were on a mission, which either involved avoiding a border patrol, or being on border patrol.
"I'm waiting," the child replied calmly, making a point of speaking so his voice carried to her.
"Minato.." the man's voice hissed out.
Minato?
It couldn't be… could it?
Her brow knitted into a frown, Makiko pulled herself upward again, slowly. Until she could just see a bit of the two, leaning against the hair of Madara. Eyes flicking back and forth between the two shinobi, she tried to find anything to identify them. Her mind was fixed on mainly two things. The child seemed to be named Minato. And the last name their mother had dropped on them before she shunshin'd away.
Namikaze.
She hadn't had much time to think of the implications of that specific last name. About how they could be related to the one that in their own respective worlds was their father. She hadn't even had time to consider what age he might be, if he was alive in whatever time they got tossed into.
She had to get a better look at him. Had to see if this was really him.
Cool air hit her face as she pulled her torso up over the curve of the shoulder. And out from under the shadow of the sode. She scrambled a bit, until she could get her knees under her, and crawl just a bit closer for a better look.
Both shinobi were now looking right at her.
Her eyes were fixed on the blonde haired youth who sat nearer to her. She couldn't tell the colour of his eyes exactly. Just that they were a darker colour than her own, yet somewhat light as well. It was his hairstyle that really drew her attention. It was exactly like his as an adult. And the more she looked, the more certain she was that the messy locks were sunshine blonde
And that gentle smile was genuine as far as she could make out.
Tears came unbidden to the corner of her eyes.
Minato frowned, though he didn't move, likely wary of frightening her.
She stared at him for a moment more, before she found her eyes trailing over to the other shinobi, now curious as to who he could be. White hair, she noted again. White, bushy, long hair, and dark eyes. And accompanying her young once father who was probably only a genin, given how young he looked.
Holy hell…. Jiraiya! Before her was not only her father as a child, but the man she had considered closest to being a father in her own world. Aside from Iruka. The man who had really been her godfather.
She trusted them.
Without any more thought she pushed herself back down, straining her neck so she could fix her gaze on Masato. She reached out a hand as she slid downward, seeking out his, and when she found it she grasped it tightly, before trying to shake him awake.
He gave no reaction.
Shit. His fever was worse than she thought. She tugged on his arm as she tried to pull him up. He barely budged. She pulled again. No use. Her little body simply did not have the strength.
So she did the only other thing she could think of that could get the ill boy out. She cried.
"Help!" her little voice rang out tearfully. She could make out movement, and Minato was back on his feet, which were carrying him towards her. Moments later she could blurrily make out his face, as he knelt down at the top of the Sode. "Masa-nii sick!" she pushed the words out past a sob. She hadn't intended to cry so hard, but once she'd let it go, she couldn't stop. Like she really was a child.
"Sick?" the child Minato repeated with obvious concern. His frame shifted again, and it looked like he was glancing over his shoulder, probably at the other shinobi. "Jiraiya-sensei."
She barely made out what sounded like a sigh from the other young male, before she could see his face as well, next to Minato's. And then Minato's hand was reaching out towards her. "Come out Makiko," he was telling her softly. "So we can get your brother out."
She looked at his hand, which next to hers seemed massive, but she couldn't help but think it was small and delicate for a shinobi. Then she looked back over at Masato for a moment, before looking back at Minato. She gave a small nod, even though the action would probably be nearly impossible to distinguish. Then she placed her little hand on top of Minato's.
The next thing she knew she was in a pair of warm, comforting arms.
She cried harder.
It was evident that he had somehow managed to win the little girl's full trust soon after he'd pulled her out from between the stone of the Sode and the shoulder, and into his arms. When he tried to put her back down again, she clung to him fiercely as she cried into his chest. Attempting to hand her off to Jiraiya had earned him and the other shinobi a baleful glare before she had reburied her face. Jiriaya solved the potential problem by using some sort of variance of a combative jutsu with his hair that he had seen one time before. The white locks moved under direction of chakra, and allowed the jōnin to reach into a space that was too tight for him to fit, to grab Masato and pull him out.
Makiko had lifted her head at this, turning her eyes back onto the white haired Jōnin in what was unmistakably a measuring look. Like she was trying to find something in the man's appearance that told her whether or not he could be trusted with her brother.
"Makiko-chan… Jiraiya-sensei just want's to help Masato-kun," he tried reasoning with the girl finally. To his surprise the little girl gave a small nod, before her little face was once more hidden in his tracksuit. , and although she didn't look at him again, he felt the movement in her head that signified a second nod. He nearly let out a relieved sigh, arms instinctively tightening around her slight body.
And then he felt warm blood on his hand. His eyes moved immediately to his sensei's own, and he saw that the man was looking at the girl's feet. Since he couldn't see them himself, he turned his own attention to Masato's feet. They were bare, bloody and raw.
A concerned frown marred his young face, and he shifted the girl's weight in his arms, so he was supporting her with just his left, leaving his right free to gently take one of her hands. Her nails were cracked, lifting and bloody. Her palms scraped and nearly as raw looking as her feet. An impossible thought came to mind.
Did they climb up here?
But that would have been impossible for such small children. Even children twice their age wouldn't have been able to do it… or at least, not without having extremely exceptional chakra control for their age.
And yet a closer inspection of her hand made him reconsider the impossibility. That looked suspiciously like chakra burns. And… of course there was the simple fact of where they had hidden, and that Makiko had climbed up the shoulder to look at them earlier. He had dismissed it before, subconsciously believing there must be some sort of hand and foot holds on the stone… but now he had to acknowledge that no. there was no such thing.
"Masa-nii!" the girl said insistently, turning her hand over to wrap her little fingers around one of his so she could tug just as insistently at him. Her head was back up, blue eyes fixed on him in another glare.
He pushed a smile onto his face, and very gently pulled his hand away, patting her gently on the top of her matted hair. "Hang on Makiko-Chan, we're going down," he told the girl softly, before his eyes met the onyx ones of Jiraiya once more. The man's expression was grim.
The look spoke volumes.
Jiraiya didn't think taking the two was exactly smart, but he also didn't seem to want to leave them out here on their own. Of course, Minato didn't care if it was smart or not. These two were his family, right?
The very last of his family.
Without a word the two Shinobi leapt from the stone shoulder of the famous Uchiha, back across the border into Hi no Kuni.
As his feet touched back down on the rocky shore once more, Jiraiya ignored the curious and concerned stares of his two other students. The boy in his arms was quite ill, and despite his reservations in taking the two toddlers along with him, they would surely die if they were left alone. A fact that he couldn't ignore. Considering it for a moment told him he would regret it.
Not that he was a stranger to regret.
Masato would probably be gone to his fever before tomorrow night. To make it worse they were far too underweight for children their age… he could tell that, even though he didn't have any reliable knowledge on what was a healthy weight for children to be.
There was also the possibility there could be answers to be had from these two, if their mother's body didn't provide.
If he didn't get the boy proper care soon, he would die anyway. The girl's prospects were better, but what were the chances she wouldn't succumb to a fever of her own? Her hands and feet were just as banged up, and those were definitely chakra burns he spied. The Chakra fatigue could easily be fatal for both toddlers.
"Thanks Gama," he dismissed his summons a bit absently, and the toad disappeared in a puff. Shifting the boy's weight to one arm he dug out two small scrolls and ink… but he was going to need both his hands. His gaze immediately turned back to Minato. After all, given the girl's reactions earlier, he doubted she would be alright with him handing the boy off to Inoru or Kenta.
Minato seemed to understand, and once more shifted Makiko's weight to his left arm, before he extended his right to accept Masato. At any other time, Jiraiya might have thought it a comical sight to see the boy balancing two toddlers. Now was no time to be amused however.
As quickly as he could he scrawled out a message to Konoha, and then one meant for the patrol that was on its way to relieve them, before he summoned two messenger toads. He gave them the scrolls and sent them on their way, before finally turning his gaze to Inoru and Kenta, who had wisely kept quiet the whole time. "Get as much fresh water as you can," he instructed the two boys, who immediately jumped to attention, and Kenta pulled out his bamboo canteen before accepting Jiraiya's.
Jiraiya took the boy back from Minato, who immediately dug out his own Canteen and handed it to Inoru. The lighter blonde moved over to the waters edge after Kenta, and the two boys quickly filled the water containers. As he waited for them to finish, Jiraiya's gaze flicked about, his senses on high alert. Haruka's wounds had been fresh enough that the ones who caused it couldn't have been that far away. It was dangerous to assume that she had killed them.
Given the way Minato was shifting from foot to foot, the boy was clearly thinking along the same lines as himself. And clearly the other two boys could sense as much, as they filled the canteens with haste before returning.
He'd already decided what they were going to do in order to open up as much distance between themselves and this location as possible, while still giving the sick boy enough care that he should (hopefully) make it through to proper medical aid. However he didn't bother to explain it to the trio of genin, simply signaling them to follow before he leapt back into the trees, heading for the point in their patrol route that was closest to Konoha as this was where their relief was supposed to meet them.
He didn't need to look to know that Minato followed directly behind him, Inoru and Kenta at the rear. Nor did he need to see their faces to know that the lot of them were gritting their teeth at the pace he had set. But he knew his genin. They could maintain the pace just as long as he needed them to.
She really hadn't meant to fall asleep. Tried so hard to stay awake. But after being told by Minato to hold on, the world around her had continued to drift out of focus. She was aware of motion for a time, and then nothing at all.
And then there was a pain like she had never felt.
She could see nothing. Hear nothing. Feel nothing but this all consuming pain that seemed to tear through her very soul. She tried to scream, but no sound ever came. The agony continued relentlessly, until the only thing her mind could register beyond it was the desperate desire for it to stop.
And then the excruciating monotony was broken by a faint, gentle light, fading in and out. It seemed so far away, but where the light touched she felt slight relief. She reached for it. Strained to get to it and the end it promised. With a start she realized she was reaching, but the hands that did so were not that of the toddler she had become. They were the ruined hands of the woman she had once been, transparent and seemingly crumbling. She immediately pulled back from the light, though she couldn't figure out why.
The agony intensified.
But with that came a soundless voice. Beckoning her away from relief. She turned her head, seeking the source of the call, but her attention kept going back to the promise of the light. The plea grew fainter. She reached for what she saw as salvation. Naruko was so tired. So very tired. Surely it was alright to just let it all end and rest?
Makiko
The word whispered on her skin, sending a pain through her that impossibly trumped the one she'd been feeling so far. The light before her grew brighter, and yet somehow colder. She flinched away, again casting about for the soundless call that left her feeling so unsure about her desire to end this terrible torment.
And there, in the inky black behind her, stretched out a bandaged, mutilated hand. She reached her own maimed hand out towards it, stepping away from the glow now at her back. Their fingers touched, and the light flickered.
Before her, holding her hand tightly was Masato. And then all was black, the light completely gone.
The pain went with it.
"Get some sleep Minato," Jiraiya's stern voice met his ears, as the man placed a hand on his shoulder. He didn't spare his sensei a glance, though he shook his head slightly, eyes still carefully scanning their surroundings. "Kenta is taking over," his mentor went on firmly. The boy resisted the urge to bite his lip, but still refused to look at the man. It wasn't that he was upset with Jiraiya… not at all. There was just so much on his young mind though.
When the man gave his shoulder a slight squeeze, and then a push in order to steer him into the center of their 'camp' (it was little more than their sleeping rolls and the already extinguished and scattered remnants of the fire they'd had to light out of necessity), he reached up to push the man's hand away. His gaze moved to the two small bodies resting in his sleeping bag, and he moved unerringly towards them.
A pair of vibrant blue, measuring eyes caused him to stop dead in his tracks. He almost felt as if they were trying to look right through him and into his thoughts. It was not unlike the look that he'd witnessed Makiko give Jiraiya earlier… but these eyes belonged to Masato. He expected the child to panic, having woken up to find himself with strangers, while he was in the grip of fever. However his gaze was clear, lacking any signs of fevered delirium.
And then Masato broke their staring contest, his attention moving to the girl beside him, who's hand he was currently holding. His face became filled with concern, and then moments later determination.
Minato's feet automatically started moving again, and within a moment he was kneeling beside the two children, his hand reaching out to touch Masato's brow to check if the child was still feverish. But to his surprise his hand was caught in the boy's other hand, and instead pushed insistently towards Makiko. His deeper blue eyes immediately moved towards the girl, and he saw her brow was slick with sweat. Her skin was hot and clammy, her mouth slightly agape as she gave fevered gasps for air.
Pursing his lip, Minato looked back at his younger brother, and found himself staring into a clearly expectant face. It was almost unnerving, as the boy shouldn't have any idea of who he was, and yet was clearly expecting him to take care of his little sister. Did the boy have no sense of 'stranger danger'… or could he somehow sense that Minato was 'a friend'?
Makiko's trust in him was strange as well. Though not as strange as this. She had not trusted him the moment she had seen him… rather it seemed to be the moment she had taken his hand that her trust stemmed from. But now wasn't the time to try and figure out why either of his small siblings decided to trust him.
He retrieved a wash cloth from his pack, and gently wiped the sweat off of the girl's face, before he grabbed a clean cloth and wet it with cool water (as cool as they had available anyway) and placed that on the girl's brow. They didn't have any medicine that they could give her, so this was all that he could do, aside from tucking the sleeping bag more tightly around her. As he bent to do this, the boy released her hand, and scrambled out of the bag, tucking it closer to her body on the side he'd just vacated.
Frowning at the child's action, Minato reached out to try to pull the bag open again and tuck the child back into its warmth. "It's cold out," he told the boy, but only had his hand smacked aside, before Masato re-tucked the sleeping bag tightly around his sister.
"I fine," the child insisted simply, as his hand once more found Makiko's, holding it securely. His eyes however were now intently fixed on Minato once again. "What yur name?" the smaller boy asked him.
"Minato," he responded softly, taking in the boy's demeanor carefully. The child seemed relaxed. Completely at ease in his presence, and seemingly no longer concerned about his sister's condition. As if he knew the girl would get better. And there was absolutely no sign that he could see that Masato had been suffering from an even greater fever not an hour before this.
"Minato," the small child repeated his name slowly, and then went on to ask "Minato who?"
Minato who? Whatever prompted the toddler to ask him that? More importantly, how exactly did he answer? He wasn't sure. Did he come right out and say he was their elder brother? He hadn't even come fully to terms with that fact (although it was unmistakable that he already felt very protective of the two small children).
As he tried to come to a decision on how to respond, Masato shifted onto his knees, leaning slightly over his sister to have a closer look at him. The next words that left the toddler's mouth were very unexpected.
"Same eyes as Ka-san."
The way this child version of his father gave a little jolt after he told him his eyes were the same as Haruka's (they weren't really, just the same colour. They didn't hold the same emotions at all) made Masato regret he'd said it. He'd been trying to figure out just how the boy was related to him in this new world, but as Minato had remained silent, the man-child felt the need to say something. He should have thought a bit more about what that something should be, rather than blurting out the first family resemblance to Haruka he could see in his former father, now some other relative.
After crawling into their hiding place with Makiko, The last thing he'd expected to wake up to was Minato Namikaze as a child, and a much more youthful looking Jiraiya. He'd honestly thought he was having some sort of strange delusion following that agonizing eternity he'd fallen into, only managing to pull himself out of it when he'd felt the presence of Makiko… no, Naruko, had fallen into the torture after him. It had taken what felt like another eternity to pull her out of it with him, and then he had woken with a start, meeting the gaze of said Namikaze.
He still had trouble believing this… but pinching his leg inside of the sleeping bag had been met with a jolt of pain. This was not a dream, and along with that realization came the burning need to know. It was dampened by concern for Makiko, but after the girl was tended to, he'd turned his full attention back to the older Namikaze. How old was this Minato anyway? It seemed to him like he was still a genin, seeing as he was with Jiraiya and two other boys (who he'd barely even noticed). He wished he'd asked Kakashi if he'd known when his father had become a Chunin.
But more than that he just really wanted to know their relation now. And waiting for some sort of response after he'd shocked the other blonde was purely torture. But what else could he say? Minato wasn't even looking at him anymore. But… what was with this reaction? It seemed to him that this pointed towards Minato knowing who his mother was. And perhaps something worse. Knew what fate had become of her. Which… would perhaps explain why they were now in the company of the future Yondaime and his teacher.
"Ka-san is gone now, isn't she?" He found himself asking, again without thinking. He immediately bit his lip… but the damage had already been done of course. Minato's eyes snapped back to him in shock, and he saw a multitude of emotions there. Anger, sorrow, hurt, confusion, and a hint of wariness. All he could do was unwaveringly meet the other boy's eyes.
"Yes," was the older boy's eventual, low response. Masato honestly hadn't been expecting the verbal confirmation. And he definitely hadn't expected the confirmation of what he'd already known was going to happen to hurt so much. But tears were streaming down his cheeks, and the only acknowledgement he could give without sobbing piteously was a shaky nod.
Minato's eyes that were fixed on him seemed to soften, and he watched with tear clouded eyes as the older Namikaze moved closer, before he found himself lifted from the sleeping bag and into the genin's lap, held comfortingly in his arms. "I'm sorry, Masato-kun" the older blonde was murmuring, a hand rubbing his back soothingly. "But you and Makiko-chan are safe now. I promise."
The use of his name made him stiffen, before pushing on Minato's chest so he could look at the other male's face. "Did… Ka-san tell names?" Minato had a sad smile on his face, but he gently wiped away the tear stains on Masato's cheeks.
"Yes," was the genin's simple response. "She wanted me to find you two and take you home." Masato wondered if Haruka had really said as much to Minato, but he figured the part about her telling him their names at least had to be true. How else could he know?
"Why?" He questioned, hoping it came off as something a toddler would normally ask in such a situation.
Minato patted his head lightly, but was frowning thoughtfully, clearly trying to decide how he wanted to answer the question. "Well," he began slowly. "We're family," he continued, hesitance lacing his voice.
"Fam-ily?"
He had to continue to probe. Get the full truth out of the boy. Minato perhaps realized what he was doing, as rather than answering he fell silent for some time. After several minutes, Masato tiredly leaned back into the other Namikaze. He felt absolutely drained, to be honest. And his hands and feet (which must have been bandaged by the shinobi at some point) ached slightly. He knew his little body desperately needed rest to recover.
And then Minato was shifting him, and he found himself once more laid in the sleeping bag, next to his sister. His eyes snapped to the other boy, and he sat up in protest. He needed rest, but he wanted his answers first!
Minato pushed him back down, pulling the sleeping bag up to the toddler's chin.
Then Minato sat back down, one leg up, his arm draped over his knee as he locked eyes with him. "You're Ka-san… was mine too," Minato spoke softly, so low that Masato was unsure if he'd even heard it. "Do you know what that means, Masato?"
Haruka Namikaze was Minato's mother… Oh yes, he knew exactly what that meant. He nodded, and then turned on his side, hand grabbing Makiko's again. Reassuring himself that it was still warm (still too warm actually) and not cold in death. "G'night, Minato-Nii," he murmured.
Then he allowed his eyes to close, falling into a dreamless slumber.
Jiraiya stayed off to the side as he watched the exchange between Minato and his little brother. His mind was racing with the information he'd gleaned from their interactions. First was the strange mystery that was the boy's seemingly un-fevered state when he'd woken up. And then there had been the intelligence he'd caught in the toddlers eyes. It was only for a moment, but it was significantly more than a toddler should have.
There was also the way it seemed like the toddler was trying to direct the conversation. As if the boy had already made the connection that he was somehow related to Minato, just not exactly how. Nor was it normal that the toddler clearly had a good understanding of death, even if he didn't have the right word for it. The tears clearly showed that he knew Minato's answer to his question about his mother meant he would never see the woman again.
There was something very un-toddler about Masato. And Minato clearly saw it himself, as he continued to hesitate on how to respond to the boy. Certainly a part of it was Minato genuinely being confused on how he should feel in this situation (it was easy for the sage to spot this in the boy's tense shoulders), but his eyes showed wariness when he caught a glimpse of them. Masato had kept probing however, and finally the older Namikaze had all but said he was the twin's older brother.
Masato calling him 'Nii' had clearly not been expected by his genin pupil. Minato still sat beside his sleeping bag, eyes wide in surprise, not really seeing the curled up boy.
The white haired Jōnin made his way over to his student, stopping beside the boy and clearing his throat to snap him out of his daze. Minato started, but his eyes moved to hold his own gaze. "Get some sleep. We're leaving as soon as the sun finishes rising," he told the boy. Minato needed to get what rest he could so they could continue on their way. Even with Masato recovering from his fever, for now, Makiko was now ill. Given their condition, it seemed reasonable to be concerned that Masato could fall ill again. They really did need to proceed to Konoha as quickly as possible, which started with rendezvousing with their relief.
Finally Minato looked away, nodding slightly. However, rather than going to borrow Kenta's sleeping bag, he pulled out his cloak, and laid on his side next to his two little siblings.
Jiraiya almost sighed. But he knew the boy would get enough sleep even like this, so long as he didn't keep himself up with his thoughts. A sleeping bag would not help with that particular issue… but being able to gaze upon the two sleeping toddlers might.
With a single word, Masato had made Minato whole-heartedly accept being the older brother of these two, and the responsibilities that came with it. Responsibilities Jiraiya knew Minato didn't fully understand the weight of. But he also knew the Namikaze would rise to the occasion. He could be quite stubborn.
There was an unmistakable tenderness in the child's eyes as he reached out to lightly push Makiko's hair out of her face.
Watching the scene, Jiriaya found himself hit with the desire to keep this little family together. And so, he decided to file his observations of Masato away. If he spoke of them to the wrong people, Minato would find his little brother and sister taken away from him.
"Sensei?" Minato's voice reached him, though the boy didn't roll over to look at him.
"What?" The Konoha shinobi asked, though he really just wanted the boy to sleep.
"What happens when we get back to Konoha?"
Jiraiya exhaled sharply at the unexpected question, which caused the boy's shoulders to tense, before Minato sat up again, blue eyes seeking out his black ones. After a moment, he put on a smile for the boy.
"Just be their brother."
Word Count: 6734
To the Reviewers:
KaixDecayx : As I've said before, I'm so happy to hear that my writing moves you. I do apologize for the long wait for more, especially after you're wonderful review. I hope you enjoy this new chapter, as it's reviews like yours that make me want to keep writing~
Skylark Sky : I'm so glad to hear you feel drawn in by my writing! I do hope I don't actually send you to the emergency room though ;) I hope you continue to enjoy the story even though it's been such a long wait for this next chapter.
Thanks for the reviews~
