Super Awesome Beta: Blaizekit
Chapter 15: What's This? Actually Being a Ninja? O.o
Naruto couldn't help but frown as he lay prone panting for breath next to Sasuke. They were taking one of their 'just-give-me-a-minute' breaks between tree climbing attempts. He hadn't made much progress past the halfway point, and Sasuke was still ahead of him. At this rate he'd never catch up!
Suppressing a snarl, he tried to get back up again for another try. Not to be outdone, the Uchiha beside him did the same, but they both fell limply back to the ground before they'd even gotten halfway. Naruto shot the dark-haired boy a glare that was returned in full. Looked like they needed more than just a minute to rest this time.
Breaking the mini-staring contest, the light-haired teen turned to regard the other blonde in the clearing, seemingly lost in a meditative trance. His dad had been like that all day, just... sitting. He'd said he was training chakra control, but Naruto had yet to see it. Maybe he was lazy like Shikamaru and using 'meditation' as an excuse to sleep?
Except just about everyone kept saying the man was supposed to be really strong. Enough so his mother had even said Zabuza might run away at the sight of him. Zabuza! The guy who'd fought Kakashi-sensei toe to toe! Just how powerful was his father?
"Oi, Teme," he spoke aloud, trying to keep his voice low as he turned to face his rival. "Do you know why people keep treating my dad like he's famous?"
"Hn," the Uchiha grunted negatively with an underlying tone of 'I-couldn't-care-less'.
Naruto forged on obliviously anyway. "What was it Sakura-chan called him? Yellow Flash? Does that ring any bells?"
In spite of himself, Sasuke's brain couldn't help but latch onto the puzzle. The name did sound vaguely familiar. Like he should know it. Like something he'd learned long enough to pass a test, then promptly forgot in the face of more important matters. Like training; and planning fratricide.
He shifted his gaze to the elder blonde critically, but it didn't help much other than to reinforce the nagging feeling that he ought to know already.
"He said he and mom had sealed away the kyuubi, but didn't the Yondaime do that?" Naruto continued, mostly to himself. "Oh, I know, I bet they helped him!"
Right as his teammate spoke, the man in question opened his eyes to turn and see why he was being stared at. For a split second, right before his face softened into the familiar friendly curiosity, Sasuke saw it. The harsh calculating expression that made you feel sorry for anyone who called this man an enemy. A brilliant strategist, ruthless killer and unhesitant leader rolled up into one package. That brief look combined with Naruto's words and the vague memories...
Just like that the pieces fell into place and Sasuke knew.
No way. No frickin' way.
He tore his eyes away from the man when he blinked in surprise at the Uchiha's sudden change of expression. The teen stared up at the slowly darkening sky and tried to deny what his logic insisted was true. Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yellow Flash and... the Yondaime hokage.
"Did you figure it out?" he heard Naruto ask excitedly.
Oh, yes. He had figured it out. Not that he was about to let the dobe know just how exactly famous his father was. Honestly, Sasuke was ashamed at how long it had taken himself to recognize the man. His face was on carved in stone above their heads for everyone to look up and see!
Grunting non-committally, the dark-haired teen leapt to his feet, ignoring the burning protests of his overused muscles. Naruto was right behind him with a yelp of surprise as they charged their respective trees. The idiot could puzzle it out on his own. Sasuke had training to do.
It was cold, Minato noted, flaring his chakra just a bit to keep from shivering. Night so close to the coast where the moisture from the ocean clung to you and sucked out every bit of heat was like that. Not that he was complaining, exactly, it was actually kind of refreshing to be this cold for the first time in twelve years. He just took note of it in case it factored into any of his plans.
He shifted his weight to distribute it more equally amongst the three limbs he was using to stick to the surface of the wall. He scanned the premises spread out below him, carefully taking note of all visible security measures surrounding his current target. It wasn't much. These people were obviously hired and organized by a civilian. Konoha's dumping grounds had better security than this, and Minato sincerely wondered how this 'Gatou' person had never been assassinated before now.
Oh well, as far as the Yondaime was concerned, the greedy business man had signed his death certificate the moment his minions had threatened the ex-hokage's son. He was a dead man, he just didn't know it yet.
He had brought the idea of killing Gatou to Kakashi's attention right after they'd dragged the kids inside and Kushina had practically tied them to their beds. They'd foolishly believed they'd be allowed to train all night. The redhead had been quick to dispel them of that idea. They could be attacked at any moment, they didn't have the luxury of being able to run themselves ragged. They had to be ready, or as ready as they could be, at all times.
Kakashi had thought about the idea and agreed. The jounin hadn't been in any condition to sneak into an unknown enemy stronghold and kill their leader, but Minato was; and he'd do anything to keep his son safe. He didn't plan on doing all of his son's missions for him, but this C-turned-A-rank mission was something the Yondaime had no qualms about nipping in the bud.
Though, now that he'd actually seen the place, Kakashi was probably more than a match for this place, injured or not. That just meant that Minato could finish this all the quicker and be back with his family.
He smiled as he felt the Hiraishin seal he'd left behind at the back of his mind. It was placed on one of the clones Naruto had made for learning fuinjutsu and sitting next to a no-doubt fuming Kushina. She had not been pleased to be left behind. Still, somebody had to stay behind to watch over the kids, and Kakashi needed his rest. So he was acting solo tonight, which was alright by him.
The guard patrol disappeared around a bend and Minato dropped down to dart through the opening. He was henge'd into a non-descript brown-haired, brown-eyed man wearing all dark clothing. He was careful to remove anything that might have identified him. He was doing this for personal reasons, after all, no need to associate the village with it. Even though this was technically part of a village mission.
He paused behind some poorly positioned decorative shrubbery to take a quick chakra sense of his surroundings. Find the place with the most guards, that's where his target would be...
What he found shocked him. There was a... hole -that was the only word he could think of to describe it- in the image he got back. Everything had chakra in it, the air, the rocks... everything. An empty space like that shouldn't have been possible. Disturbed by the implications of such a thing, Minato headed towards it. It also happened to be located in the place with the most guards, so he could spy on it and his target at the same time.
He quickly scaled the wall and positioned himself beside the third-story window that looked in at the room. He didn't peek through it, that risked too much chance of being discovered, he just enhanced his hearing with chakra and kept up a sense of his All Seeing Eye technique. It wasn't quite the same as 'seeing' the room, especially with that giant hole in the middle of everything, but it was good enough for his purposes. Hearing was more important than seeing, at the moment.
"... the man you want me to kill?" a rough voice was saying.
"Yes, his name is Tazuna, and he's be-" another, more arrogant voice tried to reply but was cut off.
"Is he a shinobi?"
"No, but-"
"Is he a samurai?"
"No-"
"Some sort of other combat specialist?"
"N-"
The void shifted slightly and a loud bang of something colliding with and tearing through tough wood interrupted him. "Why the hell are you hiring me to kill this fat old civilian?!"
"M-My desk! How dare you-"
"Get over it. If you have the assets to afford me then you can afford a new desk."
"You-! I am the client, and you work for me! That's coming out of your pay!"
The other man snorted. "Yeah, good luck with that. I'm sure stitch-face would just love to hear your excuses for short-changing us."
"You insolent-!"
"Shut up. Your voice is annoying, and it'll be my head if I kill a client. The deal was half payment up front. Hand over the money and your bridgebuilder is as good as dead. I'll collect the other half after."
Minato used the pause in conversation to think. So Gatou was hiring another mercenary? He probably had to after Zabuza had been beaten so soundly by Kushina. Thing were getting complicated, and he had no idea how strong this new enemy was. He was going to try to dart in there and kill Gatou before anyone could react but... that hole. It set off warning bells in his mind. It was dangerous, and not to be underestimated.
"Good," the rough voice started, getting the Yondaime's attention again. "Consider me hired. I'll start by dealing with that pesky fly on your wall."
Minato's eyes widened in surprise as the void shot towards him.
A/N - The AU... it begins...
Technically it's been AU since chapter two, but whatevs. Now we're actually beginning to see it! Hopefully things will get better and not worse because of it. XS
I bet you guys can guess who that is, I don't think I'm very good at hiding it. Not that I really tried much. Eheh...
OH! OH! OH! AAAAND! Blaizekit made a super awesome audio fic of the first chapter! She's so awesome and you guys should definitely google: Minato's: The Art of Being Dead audio fic. It's not like my chapters are long so it shouldn't take very much of your time... -_-;;
Story Recs:
The Girl from Whirlpool by SilverShine - If there's one story I could say I got most of my inspiration from for M:TABD, it would be this one. Best "How Minato met Kushina" story ever. You've probably already read it, but if not, go read it! It's awesome!
Naruto Great Clan Days by Kenchi618 - A nice little AU story with lots of humor, adventure, and a Tenten that likes to blow stuff up. Gadgeteer Tenten, babysitter from hell Kakashi, and Kushina raised Naruto. It's a recipe for awesome times.
-Py