The universe is mutable should one know where to look

by Deeambles

Summary:

“Or maybe,” Gamamaru says slowly, “Maybe it’s the gods finally realizing putting prophecies in the hands of children never ends well. For a child sculpted by destiny is no child at all, yet a child left to their devices sculpts a niche for themselves and builds an ecosystem for us all.” 

Notes:

Hi and welcome to my ~self indulgence~ fic.

Chapter 1: Prologue: The world until yesterday

Fukasaku sits diligently on his small rock throne as he watches his ever pragmatically challenged summoner walk back into the brush of Mount Moyoboku. Gamamaru has since closed his eyes again but not in the way that says he’s sleeping but more says he’s thinking on a matter that he hasn’t quite come to a consensus on. 

Fukasaku knows better than to disturb him, but—

“Speak your mind, Fukasaku.” Gamamaru says slowly, deeply, and unconditionally listening even though his eyes remain wrinkled shut. 

Fukasaku wishes for Shima for they are only the two great sage toads together, but at last, she’s on a small reconvene mission that they in fact did not tell Jiraiya was happening. 

That entails the root of the problem. 

“Was it wise to not mention to the boy about the changes in the prophecy?” Fukasaku asks bluntly. Trying to lie to a millennia old toad with powers to see highly accurate prophecies never got a man, much less a frog, anywhere after all. 

“Maybe” Gamamaru answers, “or maybe not, for I have received a dozen prophecies that never saw the light of day and yet a dozen more that changed somewhere along the way.” 

“Ah” Fukasaku says, “but if the boy that Jiraiya is supposed to teach is not to come about, shouldn’t he know?” 

Gamamaru chuckles then, “You’ve misheard me. Jiraiya will still teach a boy, but whether the boy will save the world or destroy it is no longer in question. He still has the power of course, and Jiraiya’s actions will still be necessary, but maybe there just won’t be any saving to be done, not to be confused with, a world that needs to be saved” 

Fukasaku can feel himself sweat then, does that mean the boy is now a guaranteed ally? Or does it mean there will be no world to save or destroy by the time it comes to matter. Either way it sounds ominous indeed. But then again, these prophecies always make his head hurt. He has no doubt that there was 10 ways to interpret that one sentence and he wishes he only had the brain capacity for the one. His migraines at the very least, would be down by half. 

A small rustle from the mouth of the cave diverts his attention however as Shima returns looking as untouched as she always does. Fukasaku smiles at her in earnest but before he can call out a greeting, Gamamaru shifts and rumbles out another sentence that ultimately just makes every toad in the vicinity wince. 

“Or maybe,” Gamamaru says slowly, “maybe it’s the gods finally realizing putting prophecies in the hands of children never ends well. For a child sculpted by destiny is no child at all, yet a child left to their devices sculpts a niche for themselves and builds an ecosystem for us all.” 

“Gamamaru?” Shima asks wearily where she’s approached Fukasaku on his small rock throne. His tone was surprisingly dark for the usually joyful old toad, and not one amphibian missed it. 

“Hm? What was I saying?”, Gamamaru yawns, “never mind that, do excuse me, for I believe it’s time for my nap.” 

The two great sage toads bow out and leave him to it, words of wisdom echoing in their heads, and affectionate words of senile old sage on their lips. 

It does not make them any less anxious. 

“Do you think this one will come to fruition?” Shima asks once they clear the vicinity of the cave. She had not been present for the most recent reiterations of the prophecy and her worry over the geezer’s words ring true. 

Fukasaku hesitates as he leaps over a lily pad or another, and pulls his wife to an adjoining rock on one of the many ponds laid about Mount Moyoboku 

He thinks of the wise toad’s words and the conviction he had against the sage’s choices. Against two particular reanimations that meet time and time again. Against those who live in the heaven above and refuse to do anything but watch and hope for the best.

He thinks it must be something indeed if he didn’t want to share it with Jiraiya lest he jinx it. With that in mind he leans close and tells Shima what he didn’t even believe he would say after any prophecy but now he’s sure this one will come to be, “Undoubtedly”, he says confidently yet quietly.

Shima pauses and looks him up and down, “and what does that mean?” she asks.

“For better or for worse,” Fukasaku murmurs, “we’ll find out.”

Notes:

ill update the tags as i know them but i put the relationship one in now so nobody gets curb sided later lol

Chapter 2: Red-spotted-purples

Minato stares down his reflection across his bathroom sink. Jiraiya, his beloved sensei and mentor has returned from his latest venture and he’s told Minato to show his ass up at training ground three later so he can properly beat him into the ground like a good sensei should.

Minato would believe this better if he hadn’t said that many a times before and then proceeded to get distracted with the Hokage, a certain kunoichi’s breast’s, and/or a very popular bathhouse.

Not to say Minato thinks his sensei will today, for he has only the upmost respect and trust in his old teacher, but right now, at this very moment, Minato doesn’t want to go.

Just this once, he wishes his bathroom mirror would show him to be green in the face, or maybe purple eye bags the size of golf balls, or sage, he’ll even take a sword to the side again if it means he doesn’t have to leave his house.

His mirror however, shows nothing but golden blonde hair, baby blue eyes and a perfectly acceptable baby face— according to Kushina, at least— staring back at him.

He looks fine, healthy even, and Minato’s never been more disappointed.

Allowing himself one moment of true sadness, he watches his reflection furrow his eyebrows and poke out his bottom lip, before letting out a sigh and schooling his face back to normal. He lets his gaze drop, before finishing washing his face and teeth and moving back to his room to find some appropriate about-to-get-my-ass-kicked clothes.

He practically drags his feet past his bed where the hefty book covering logistics and subsequent theories on how different modes of travel affect the body lays closed and marked carefully with a bookmark on page 576, where Senju Tobirama was just starting to introduce the different theories to be discussed. He was nearly there, only another few pages and he could finally start trying to figure out different ways he could improve the hirashin now that he’s no longer ramming into trees or sending himself flying a hundred meters from the marked kunai. He’s sure the theories could lead him somewhere, since he’s already managed to think up some of his own. He just needs a comparison. Just needs to see how the Niidaime thought the body moved through space and maybe applying that would help him be faster. Maybe.

Or maybe it would just tell him because of the effects of space-time compression every time he jumps with hirashin, his face de-ages and he’ll be stuck baby-faced forever. He would suspect it since Tobirama never seemed to age much, but Hashirama was the same way, and he never had any written record of being interested in seals. It must just be a Senju thing.

Not that Minato knows for sure, because he’s now dressed in an old pair of black joggers and a tunic that’s been sacrificed and consequently scorched while sparring with Mikoto and her version of evasion training.

At least he gets to surprise Jiraiya with the hirashin, Minato thinks dourly as he pulls on a sandal with a stretched-out strap. Maybe it’ll even send his old, immovable sensei on his ass for once.

After countless self-reassurances that he can simply return to the text he dug from the deepest part of the Hokage-approved-personal-only section of the library, Minato carefully picks up the old book and places it in a seal warded drop drawer in his dresser. It’s not a book he could leave out and about, but he thinks the Hokage won’t mind if he leaves it here instead of carrying it back to the library between uses. Kushina approves of the seal on his hidden drawer after all, and that just guaranteed it to be nasty even if Minato hadn’t made sure it was himself.

After swiping a quick shinobi grade granola bar that really should be blocked from the market due to its very potent nature that would energize even the dead (not that Minato’s complaining) he sets out the house with a water bottle in hand and a freshly filled kunai pouch strapped to his hip.

The sun is out reflecting off his head of golden hair, the sky is blue making his eyes look bright as new, and he hasn’t even made it a block before he’s dodging too-friendly smiles and down turning too-friendly requests before ducking down a side street that should hopefully let him out closer to the training grounds.

He usually doesn’t mind the attention, really, but today— today it just feels like it’s dragging him down, further from the couple decades old book sitting in his room waiting to be dissected.

Minato sighs as he reaches the end of the alley, mentally preparing himself to step out by the food district and then only a couple building hops over where—

A body flies in front of him and the only thing that stops him from stabbing the automatic kunai that fell into his hand is that he’s momentarily blinded by brilliant blood red hair and a deafening “HEY!”

A moment to palm the kunai away, another to regain his balance and a full 5 seconds of detangling himself from Kushina’s hair later and he finally can look into calculating amethyst eyes.

“Wow, pretty boy, you look like utter shit.” Kushina says candidly after a moment of full body glance over.

“Thank you” Minato responds diplomatically. He hasn’t slept all night, he’s wearing rags, and he probably has the metaphorical rain cloud over his head yet somehow it still takes running into Kushina for somebody to call him out on it.

Or maybe it’s just cause she’s his best friend and that’s how it is. At this point any in depth analyzation on anything even remotely concerning Uzumaki Kushina would make his head hurt and he routinely reads through heavy scrolls filled with theoretical seal gibberish.

Kushina gives him a once over again, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow at his worn joggers and singed tunic before dragging her eyes up back to Minato’s surely failing neutral expression.

“So, walking off to your death? Do I need to come with, dattebayo? Mikoto won’t really kill you, ya know.”

“No.” Minato sighs, if it had been Mikoto he could have rescheduled and she would have just rolled her eyes at his reasoning, “I have a training session with Jiraiya.”

Kushina’s other eyebrow raises up to join the first one as Minato picks at edge of his fraying sleeve.

“With Jiraiya? I didn’t know he was back in town. Aren’t ya normally happy to get your ass kicked, pretty boy?”

Minato shrugs dismissively, mood souring at the reminder of his impending doom via his teachers fist, or leg, or arm, or if he’s really unlucky, his hair.

“Well, have fun, I guess. What time were you supposed to be there?” Kushina drills. He’s not sure why she cares, or even why she jumped down on top of him in the ally and maybe he should ask but...

“Oh, probably like a half hour ago now.”

Kushina stares him down, not so unlike his reflection in the bathroom mirror, before snorting and brushing her pony tail over her shoulder with a wave of the hand.

“Well, you should probably go do that then, wouldn’t wanna keep your ole sensei waiting and all that. I’m off to see the Witch so come by and save me like a good Prince Charming when you’re done, yeah?”

Kushina doesn’t let him reply but bonds off in a streak of red hair and green and white clothes. Minato blinks once, because the Witch is really code for Biwako who also thinks he and Kushina are still dating.

Actually she’s really the only one, which means she does in fact know they are not, but is hinting that she does not care, sage help him.

Minato just wishes that she would make up her mind on if she approves of Kushina wanting children or not; the indecision is grating really.

Or maybe it’s her hinting Minato should have children, and since Kushina is the only thing Minato has ever had an interest in beyond a set of particularly dusty books...

Well, that’s not his problem, since Biwako is choosing to come at him through Kushina.

Besides he’s has a sensei to meet.

Minato sweeps out of the ally and up to the roof tops where he makes quick work of the northern districts before landing at the edge of the training grounds and hurries his way to training ground three. He doesn’t actually like being late, nor does he have the reputation for it, but of course the one day he is he sees a long head of white hair leaning against a fence scribbling away into a notebook.

He lets his normally silent feet crunch the grass a little louder than necessary to watch his sensei snap his head up and around towards Minato.

“Minato!” Jiraiya yells out, before pausing to do a double take on his appearance.

Minato sighs internally, that makes two he supposes.

“Wow that’s a glum face you got there, one would think you’d be happy to see your old sensei.” Jiraiya says, clearly fishing for information. He’s even temporarily closed the tiny notebook he was scribbling away into, giving his student his full undivided attention.

Since Minato is honestly a shit liar outside of mission parameters and trying it on his sensei wouldn’t work even if he was good, he lets out a small smile and replies, “Well sensei, I found this book...”

“Ah-Ha!” Jiraiya yells, “Attaboy! A good book is one you should never put down! No wonder the old man likes you so much. Have you started my series yet?”

“No sensei, this was one written by Senju Tobirama about—“

“Woah woah woah, stop right there.” Jiraiya interrupts, arm coming around Minato’s shoulder and dragging him to a nearby log and plopping him down on it, “While I’m sure our esteemed Niidaime wrote something interesting, it’s a good thing I dragged you out otherwise your brain would be squash— and don’t even deny you’d read those eye sores all the way through.”

“Sensei, you just said a good book should never be put down.”

“Yeah and I didn’t know you were reading a thousand page text on theoretical seals that’s probably co-signed by the Uzuamki queen herself.”

“This one isn’t” Minato answers truthfully. Although he has read those too.

“No? Well guess who peer edited Senju’s books. They all are, whether it says so or not.” Jiraiya drills, nodding his head wisely.

“I’m just doing you a favor really, saving your brain from knowledge overload. Really is no surprise sensei likes you so much...”

Minato sighs, as he carefully transports a wondering green and brown lumpy caterpillar off the log they’ve made their seat, and onto the neighboring bush.

“My mind is fine, Jiraiya-sensei” shooting a judgmental look where Jiraiya gives the ugly caterpillar a disgusted glance.

“Ah, don’t sass me Minato, your mind might be okay but your brain is leaking out your ears. You’re lucky your poor old sensei has taken pity on you and dragged you out to spar.”

“You’re not even old” Minato mumbles before realizing, “if we’re going to spar sensei, why did you drag me to sit down?” The caterpillar at least benefitted if the now holey leaf is anything to go by.

“Can’t get anything past you can I, Minato. Even brain dead as you are, that’s impressive.” Jiraiya drawls, pulling a scroll out of his inner jacket pocket.

“Sensei” Minato says exasperated, before perking up at the sight of the scroll, “what’s that?”

“Ha. Don’t get too excited. This ought to take you away from that previous dust collector you were reading.”

Jiraiya laughs at the wave of depression that washes over his student.

“Here blondie, take it. It’s from the Hokage and personally recommended by me.”

Minato straightens up then and takes the scroll with only a raised eyebrow at Jiraiya who waves him off the implied question and a gesture to open it up.

Minato does, and a quick scan shows a mission to Hot water country that screams diplomatic even if it didn’t say it right at the bottom.

Minato drags his eyes up to Jiraiya’s carefully watching gaze.

“Sensei?”

“Yeah kid?”

“What’s the mission really for?”

Jiraiya breaks out a grin, “That’s my favorite student—“

“Sensei” Minato says a little negativity, even if the inside of him still preens at the compliment. He’s Jiraiyas only living student, kids in rain country notwithstanding.

“Right, sorry. I’ll never forget your teammates but really, I told sensei that farce wouldn’t fool you. Not that you aren’t not going to do that mission but we got something else you should look into as well.”

Minato waits patiently as Jiraiya scratches a silencing seal into the wood log their sitting on. He’s aware that relations with boarding countries need to stay good, but Hot Water is mostly a tourist trap, not a village that requires spies.

The seal activates with a glow, effectively making their conversation in a public area— albeit a deserted one—private.

“You’re really going to Hot Water, Minato. Check in with them, do whatever they ask but when it’s over, and you leave we got something else me and the Hokage want you to do.”

Minato nods. So the mission gives him parameters to still be in Hot Water country even after he’s done, which means whatever mission track it is will take him down the coast toward the eddies or up the coast toward Snow country. Maybe something with Kumo? Check out Yukigakure in the Land of Snow for any intel? Sage knows those relations never recovered after the first shinobi war and Senju Tobirama’s death, ex-Kumo shinobi the gold and silver brothers may be, or not.

“We need you to go down the coast towards the islands and check some stuff out, okay? The mission will give you parameters to still be in Hot Water if you get pulled over by shinobi, but not many people head towards the eddies anyways after Uzushio’s fall.”

Minato blinks once, twice, “Down coast?”

“Oh yeah.” Jiraiya says, grinning, “Down coast. Your little red headed girlfriend can’t go though so don’t even think about it.”

Oh, Minato realizes, maybe Biwako isn’t the last to find out after all.

“Actually sensei, Kushina and I aren’t dating anymore.”

“What?!” Jiraiya yelps, nearly bouncing out of his spot on the log, “You let that vixen get away?!”

Minato rolls his eyes in amusement, “We’re still best friends, sensei, besides, she was more interested in—“

“Minato! Not only did you let her get away, you let her run into someone else’s arms?!”

Jiraiya shakes his head, white hair fluttering around him dramatically, “I thought I taught you better. Well? Who’s the lucky guy? He might not take well to you and Kushina still being buddy buddy.”

Minato laughs then, previous gloom all but forgotten and Jiraiya’s eyes twinkle with accomplishment.

“I wouldn’t say Kushina ran into Mikoto’s arms, but more scooped her up and darted over the walls of the Uchiha district as fast as she could. I wouldn’t call Mikoto a man either, sensei” Minato replies easily, still giggling. It’s not like he didn’t know of Kushina’s girl-crush before they started dating, so really he wasn’t too mad about it.

Jiraiya blinks confused, “Mikoto? Like Uchiha Princess? Married to Fugaku, the current heir-about-to-be-clan-head Fugaku?”

Minato smiles devilishly, “That’s the one. It’s a secret sensei, you can keep one of those right?” Not to mention Fugaku and Hiashi have their own ever-dramatic romance happening as well, but Minato doesn’t mention that as he watches Jiraiya roll his eyes at the implication that he— Konoha’s best spy master— couldn’t keep a secret.

“Keeping the elders out of the loop then? My favorite. Count me in squirt. Uzumaki and Uchiha-Himes secret is safe with me, you, and the now fat caterpillar.”

Minato spares a glance for the ugly little caterpillar munching away on the deer berry bush, “Don’t be mean sensei, I’m sure he transforms into a beautiful butterfly.”

“That or an ugly moth. Actually I think that’s one of those pipevine swallowtails. Poisonous them suckers are, will kill a bird if one try’s to eat it.”

Minato raises an eyebrow, he’s sure there’s an interesting story there. He thought the only time of animal watching he did was the bird type. And not those birds.

“Red-spotted-purples mimic the pipevine swallows and are actually very pretty, sensei.” Minato says instead.

“Oh look, you’re even diplomatically polite for the butterflies, no wonder you’re getting sent on a diplomatic mission.” Jiraiya mocks, “Your other mission parameters will be dropped off to you while you’re in Hot Water. Also sensei knows you’ve got one of his sensei’s books and said you’re not allowed to bring it with, so don’t ask.”

Minato pouts, rude

“Don’t give me that face, get up, I got an ass to kick, Ha!” Jiraiya laughs, standing abruptly from the log.

Minato follows him dutifully out into the field proper, discretely scratching off the silence seal on the wood as he goes.

Jiraiya whips back around to face Minato with a smile of gold and tear drops of red down his face.

“Got anything new for me kid?”

Minato smiles, keeping the secret he has at bay, “Oh, I think I might have something.”

Chapter 3: Hansel and Gretel

Minato politely knocks on the door of the Main House of the Sarutobi district. The curling framework and near storybook trimmings show the past relationship between the Sarutobi clan and the Senju. The wood work is not quite as elegant as the intricate designs that are still standing in the now completely empty Senju district, but the little cottage out in the woods feeling is still present anyways. 

However, knowing who’s house this is and who’s about to answer the door, the cozy storybook cabin feeling morphs into the fairy tale where the grandmother is really a hungry witch who set her sights on little kids to eat. 

Minato may have a baby face but he also has a very nasty page in the bingo books courtesy of every public A and S rank mission he’s took. Not to mention the non-public ones. 

The door whispers open a crack, the smell of good food, surely there to tempt hungry blonde boys that just finished sparring with an overzealous sensei into doom, wafting out between the gap. 

The occupant on the other side pauses only a moment before pulling the door open the rest of a way and raises an eyebrow at Minato’s now truly disgusting appearance. 

“Namikaze, can I help you with something?” Biwako asks sternly, a hand on her hip and another on the door as if she’s ever ready to slam it back in his face. 

“Biwako-san” Minato responds easily, putting on his best smile under three layers of dirt, “I was wondering if Kushina was still with you.” 

Biwako looks him up and down like a pig ready for slaughter. This witch is apparently picky when it comes to choosing her meals. 

“Kushina is—“ 

“Right here, dattebayo!” Kushina interrupts, bonding up behind Biwako in a flurry of red. She looks annoyed beyond her foxlike grin, and Minato mentally cringes in sympathy. Biwako isn’t mean per say, but her no nonsense attitude can be grating in long exposures and if Kushina has been here as long as Minato’s been sparring with Jiraiya— which was the better part of all afternoon— then he knows she’s reached the end of her patience. 

Minato smiles giving her a small wave before turning back to Biwako. 

“Is it any trouble if I steal her away, Biwako-san?” He asks 

Biwako stares at Minato and then to Kushina before shaking her head, grey pony tail swinging slightly and gestures for Kushina to leave. 

“Do not be late again, Kushina.” Biwako warns. 

“Of course not, I’ll be right on time, ya know!” Kushina happily supplies before jumping off the steps and grabbing Minato into a shunshin that nearly puts them a whole block away. 

He thinks he hears the echoes of Biwako yelling but between the stars dancing all over his vision and the taste of Kushina’s chakra on his tongue he ignores it in favor of regaining his balance. 

“Ya know, talking like that will just make her think we’re still together right?” Kushina says, breaking the silence. 

“Even Jiraiya knows we aren’t together anymore, it’s not my fault if she interprets it the wrong way.” Minato counters. 

Kushina raises an eyebrow but links her arm around his elbow and pulls him off towards the food district. 

“You’re looking worse for wear there, pretty boy, you get your ass handed to you or did you just roll in the dirt to piss off Biwako when you came to the door?” 

Minato laughs, “I got my ass handed to me but only after sensei decided we were doing taijutsu only.” 

Kushina snickers, “Any reason why?” 

Minato gives her a sneaky grin back, “He was very frustrated with trying to combat the hiraishin.” 

Kushina full on laughs before pulling them into Ichiraku’s yelling out a greeting to Teuchi before sitting down. 

“That surprised, huh?” Kushina says as they wait for the cook to come back around. 

“Yeah.” Minato responds, mood lightning as he thinks to when he surprised Jiraiya with his new skill, “sensei didn’t even see it coming. He’s convinced I do it faster than second himself.” 

Kushina rolls her eyes, “don’t get too cocky, blondie, you haven’t modified anything yet.” 

Minato laughs, “And I’ll tell you when I do!” 

Kushina shoves at his shoulder playfully, “oh, you won’t have to tell me, I’ll just see you lodge yourself in a tree again, Ha!” 

Minato flushes a little with embarrassment but takes the jab as Teuchi comes back around. 

“My favorite costumers!” The ramen cook announces. 

“Teuchi-san! Didn’t bring your daughter to work today?” Kushina chimes back, standing up from her stool, with Minato waving at her side. 

“Oh, Ayame? She’s at home with her ma, so not tonight, but enough about that, What can I get ya to eat?” 

Kushina smiles and yells out for several bowls of pork ramen with the nartumaki and Minato dutifully offers the same. After all, if he has extras he has the living garbage disposal not a seat away. 

Teuchi laughs and goes to the back to start preparing as Kushina plops back down into her seat. 

“Hey, Minato, what’s that?” She asks, pointing to the scroll he shoved into his waist band. 

“Hm? Oh. I got a mission. Diplomatic in Hot water.” Minato replies, reaching over to the cup of chopsticks to grab a set for each of them. 

“Diplomatic? Sounds boorinnng.” Kushina whines, accepting the chopsticks easily enough. 

Minato smiles at her, since he privately agrees, and he still has no idea what the side mission is. “Yeah, but they’re necessary.” 

Kushina rolls her eyes, “ya ya I know. When do you leave? You better not be missing the upcoming festivals, dattebayo.” 

Minato blinks. That’s right, the spring cherry blossom festival is coming up. He’d hardly noticed all the budding flowers everywhere until he was getting his face shoved into the ground earlier. 

“I leave the day after tomorrow.” Minato answers truthfully, before pausing thoughtfully. Technically the mission only lasts two weeks, but with the side project that’s taking place after... 

“One of those, huh.” Kushina says flatly, interrupting his train of thought. 

Minato smiles apologetically, “One of those, but the festival doesn’t start for another month, and the diplomatic mission only lasts 2 weeks.” 

The implied part of the sentence is that if he’s not back two weeks after the original mission end date, consider him good as dead. 

The conversation lulls as Teuchi brings out the ramen and Kushina and her infamous appetite chow down. Minato even keeps pace for a bit, since he just come back from sparring. 

“Bah! I’m stuffed! Teuchi, your ramen is still the best!” Kushina says after an extended silence filled only with the slurping of noodles. 

Teuchi just laughs and hands them the bill before sweeping the empty bowels away. 

Kushina fiddles with the paper before turning seriously to Minato. 

“The festival is in three weeks, Minato.” 

Minato blinks confusedly. So he was little off time wise, but he doubts the mission will take that long. Especially if he’s using the half bitten excuse of being a visiting diplomat as his cover. 

“Okay, I should still be back.” Again, if not, he’s dead. 

“Alright.” Kushina says, her regal confidence coming back, “you’re hanging out with me and Mikoto tomorrow though, I know you don’t have any warm clothes without holes in them. Oh! And we’ll get you a new festive outfit then too since you’ll be tired when you get back, and don’t even try to get out of it, pretty boy!” 

Minato rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling at Kushina’s affectionate way of caring, “I wouldn’t dare.” 

“Good.” Kushina answers curtly, “now about this bill...” 

Minato snorts, reaching into his kunai pouch and pulls out a coin purse not belonging to him. 

Kushina eyes the little bag and the looks up at Minato with a curious expression on her face. 

“Don’t worry about it.” Minato says easily, a grin creeping onto his face, “It’s on sensei.” 

——------

 

“Jiraiya?” Hiruzen asks, decades worth of Hokage experience keeping the mirth out of his voice, “I didn’t think to see you back so soon.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Jiraiya huffs, pointedly ignoring the fact that he also ended up in a layer of dirt, normally white hair falling out of his pony tail. “Laugh all you want sensei, I just came to ask you a question real quick.” 

“Of course, Jiraiya, what is it.” Hiruzen responds easily, gesturing to the empty seat in front of his desk. 

Jiraiya eyes the seat before decidedly waving it off, “not here for long old man, just wanted to know if you knew that Minato had figured out the legendary hiraishin.” 

Hiruzen blinks. What? 

“Did he.” The Sandaime says, intrigued. 

Jiraiya just huffs, a quick smile betraying his clear pride in the young blonde crossing his face for a moment. 

“Yeah, sensei. Not many other things teleport with a marked kunai, although clearly he got Uzumaki to help him with how he’s flying around using a three-pronged kunai now.” 

Three-pronged huh? Kushina must have had more made, since those were traditionally from Uzushio. 

“I see” Hiruzen says, “The boy continues to surprise us every day. Maybe it’s time we stick him with somebody to train himself. By the way, the mission?” 

Jiraiya huffs before taking up the previously ignored seat in front of the giant wooden desk. 

“Taken and accepted. No need to worry about it any longer. You wanna give me the full details now that there’s somebody officially on it and I can’t scoop it up myself?” 

Hiruzen smiles before flashing a quick hand sign to dismiss the ANBU and activate the privacy seals. 

Jiraiya’s eyes widen in surprise before straightening in his seat to lean his arms in his knees. 

“That serious, sensei?” 

“Just some speculation on my part, that’s all.” Hiruzen says slowly, shoving tobacco into his pipe and lighting it up. 

“The night Minato officially completes his mission, he will be visited by Yamanaka Inoichi who will be coming back from an intel gathering mission in Yukigakure.” 

Jiraiya grunts, “Kumo?” 

“We think it’s Iwa, actually, but Kumo is a never-ending problem as it is.” Hiruzen sighs, tapping his pipe on the desk, “if that turns out to be anything, it’s still some odd number of years off, if we’re lucky.” 

Jiraiya nods, speaking of war only brings it into existence and he knows his sensei hates it. 

“The scroll will contain instructions to go down the coast toward the islands of Eddies where most of the coastal towns have been abandoned there. After, he’s been instructed to find any sign of illicit set ups.” 

“Set ups?” Jiraiya asks curiously. If there was any gathering of suspicious figures, he’d be the one telling Hiruzen, not the other way around. 

“Not people, Jiraiya, places.” Hiruzen corrects. 

Jiraiya frowns, “of what sort?” 

The Sandaime smiles ruthfully, taking a drag of his pipe, “The laboratory sorts.” 

Jiraiya stares hard at his old teacher, “You don’t mean...” 

“I mean I check your teammates labs routinely and he no longer tests war enemies anymore on my order. That does not convince me he’s stopped.” 

Jiraiya scrubs a hand over his face.  dammit  Orochimaru. 

“Do you have any proof?” Jiraiya asks desperately. He doesn’t want to think his teammate is off committing treason and experimenting on people but—

It’s been a long time since animal test subjects kept his interest. 

“Circumstantial, at best. Convicting, at worst.” Hiruzen says grimly, “I have a feeling Danzo is involved too, but then again, it may have just been my failing as a teacher.” 

Jiraiya shakes his head, not willing to sit and listen to his old teacher pity himself, before standing up out of his chair. 

“Don’t get my favorite student killed, sensei.” 

“It’s only an intel gathering mission, Jiraiya.” 

Jiraiya nods, before excusing himself. 

“I smell like shit sensei, I think I’ll bathe and hit the sack.” 

Hiruzen chuckles before waving him off, “Goodnight then, Jiraiya.” 

“You too, sensei” he responds before leaving through the window. 

The night is young, and normally Jiraiya is all for staying out late with the ladies, but just this once he thinks he’ll go to bed early. 

He swings by one of the shops that are still open though to grab a drink, thanking whatever sage is looking down on him that they haven’t yet closed. 

The owner brings around a bottle and Jiraiya goes to grab his money and— 

Nothing. Not in the front pocket, not in the back, and not in any of the hidden pockets. 

Jiraiya rapidly tries to think of where he might have put it or dropped it and he didn’t think it fell out when he was sparring but—

Before Minato left he said he was going to get food, he invited Jiraiya and...

 

 “I’m getting food sensei, want to come?” 

“Nah kid, I got something to run to the Hokage, and an apartment to air out. I’ll buy for you another time, yeah?” 

Minato had laughed then before jogging off in the other direction. 

“Don’t worry about it sensei!” He called over his shoulder, “You don’t have to be there after all!” 

 

“You don’t have to be there after all” Jiraiya mumbles, eyes squinted and brain fuming. 

“Sir?” The shop owner asks politely 

“THAT LITTLE SHIT!”

Notes:

I hope everyones having a wonderful holiday season. a nearby Ice Rink is doing an event tn so im rushing that thing called editing so i can post this and leave to go to that,,,, sorry for any mistakes!!!

Chapter 4: Pre-mission (One) shenanigans!

Summary:

Mikoto and Kushina take resident pretty boy shopping. A potential problem is identified.

“Aweee you look so pretty Minato! Hey hey Mikoto! Look at Minato! Doesn’t he look so pretty?”

Minato stands patiently as the shop owner takes measurement notes and pins his festive yukata in various places. 

Kushina is very excited about all of this and if he moves, he will be stabbed. If he stabs himself, he’ll bleed. If he starts bleeding he’ll ruin the outfit and if he does that Kushina will ruin him. 

So Minato smiles at the compliment and doesn’t move and inch, lest he stab himself. 

“He looks dashing, Kushina. A little plastic though, do you have any other facial expressions beyond neutral and smiling, Minato?” Mikoto teases. 

Minato aims the most fake smile he has at her, “Kushina says I have a murder face too.”

The shop owner adjusting his seams snorts before moving away to help Mikoto out of her own outfit. Ah, so she is a retired kunoichi like Minato thought she was. The shinobi grade material and dozen hidden pockets make much more sense now. 

Mikoto rolls her eyes carefully shrugging off her new custom kimono sporting the most intricate thread work Minato has ever seen into the seamstress hands, “Of course you do.” 

“He does” Kushina agrees, “It’s like he figured out how to make his blood run cold on command. Real helpful on missions and stuff.” 

“Thanks, Kushina.” Minato says demurely. He is after all going to be the trophy wife at this festival, since Mikoto has to go with Fugaku and Kushina apparently has a point to prove to the “puffer fish faced bastard.” 

“No problem cutie.” Kushina teases, sending a wink in his direction. 

“Careful Kushina, somebody might get the wrong idea, with you talking like that.” Minato jokes. Mikoto snorts, relaxed as she is away from family and in the presence of friends. 

“Ha!” Kushina laughs shrugging out her own goldfished patterned yukata, “don’t play my own words, pretty boy. I’m out showing Fugaku, you need to look your best.” 

“Are you saying Minato is prettier than me, Kushina?” Mikoto asks, a little too dismissive, where she took a seat in one of the waiting chairs. 

Kushina grins, big and fox-like, before practically prancing over and hopping into her girlfriend’s lap. “Of course not, but he still needs to outshine Hiashi, doesn’t he?” 

Mikoto looks up at her girlfriend under her bangs before wrapping her arms around her waist and grinning. 

“Oh, I see, in that case we should find a baby blue obi to match his eyes. If we trim it in pearl, I think it would really pop.” She says wickedly. 

Minato swallows nervously. He wants to be able to breathe at the festival, not spend it wondering when he gets to leave. 

The seamstress takes pity on him it seems because she speaks up with, “That would have to be custom, but if you were looking for less custom things we do have a pearl one already here.” 

Mikoto hums in vindictive glee, “can you bring it out?” Kushina pouts but Mikoto, ever the Uchiha Princess simply placates her by saying, “not to worry dear, we can just give him blue eyeliner instead. Maybe give him a blue lip too.” 

Minato rolls his eyes then, “I’m not trying to look like an ice prince, Mikoto. Isn’t the blue swirl patterns on my outfit enough?” 

“Nope!” Both girls chime, bursting out into giggles. 

Minato sighs as they go back to discussing all the ways they can take advantage of his blonde hair and blue eyes, and the shop owner helps him out of his precariously pinned outfit. 

At the very least, he’ll be pretty. He wonders what his dad, probably drunk off his ass even though it’s midday, would think and then determinedly doesn’t think about that. 

“Minato?” Mikoto asks curiously. Her and Kushina are standing and waiting for him to step off the raised platform. 

“Ah sorry, got lost in thought” Minato lies. 

It appeases Mikoto though, “I see, snagged a new book at the library?” 

Minato smiles genuinely this time, “Yes! I’m hoping to find a way to improve the hiraishin.” 

Mikoto laughs, “I heard you’d managed that, congratulations. I suppose the book your digging through is one by Senju Tobirama himself?” 

“Yup.” Minato chirps, always happy to talk about his projects and his books. 

“Mito is better.” Kushina mumbles where she’s hanging off Mikoto’s arm. 

Mikoto and Minato Ignore her. 

“By the way, Minato, don’t worry about paying, it’s on Fugaku.” 

The retired kunoichi swiftly checks them out and hands Mikoto a slip of paper with a pick-up date for the items and Minato lets out a sigh of relief as they head out the shop. He’s been mentally going over the list of things he needs for a semi long-term mission to Hot water. He packed most of his weapon supplies— albeit discreetly, since this is a diplomatic mission first and only an unauthorized reconvene mission after— and he has several pairs of warmer clothing for when he starts going north. The North hasn’t started summer and their “spring” would still freeze a southern shinobi if they weren’t careful. His normal clothes will suffice when he goes down the coast on his way back. 

“Earth to pretty boy!” Kushina says loudly, waving a hand in front of his face. 

“Huh? Oh sorry Kushina, I was just thinking—“

“Oh that’s dangerous, dattebane, we wouldn’t want you to overthink now—“ 

“Kushina” Mikoto scolds lightly. 

“What? He can take it.” Kushina defends, throwing an arm around Minato’s shoulder before taking up a more serious tone. 

“Worried about the mission?” She asks. 

Minato blinks at her. He’s never worried about his missions per say but more worried about what happens if he doesn’t complete it. What happens if he fails— than what happens if— 

“Minato” Kushina says flatly, interrupting his thoughts, “I’m not sure how you go from this to the competent terrifying shinobi on the battlefield but I’m assuming it’s because you haven’t been sleeping. If you don’t sleep tonight before you leave, I’ll make sure you sleep, ya know.” 

Minato smiles warily, feeling the ghost ache in his head where she made good on that threat once, “Ah, not to worry Kushina, I had to return the book I borrowed back to the restricted section. No distractions, I promise.” 

Mikoto snorts in disbelief but chimes in with Kushina all the same, “ good. ” 

Minato is about to tease them on harassing their fellow comrades but suddenly they step down a different street and every hair on Minato’s neck and arm raise in alarm, goosebumps erupting, and Minato is breaking Kushina’s grip and spinning around. 

But there’s nothing— not even an unfortunate passerby that happened to be walking behind them. Just an empty street corner with no whisper of sandals or chakra that Minato’s sensing— albeit his average range— can pick up. 

“What is it.” Kushina asks sharply. Her bruise purple eyes nearly outlined in red as she scans the street. “I don’t feel anything.”

Minato shakes his head, relaxing his body posture to something unarmed and relaxed before facing the kunoichi again. 

“I’m sorry.” He admits, “I just thought I felt—“

Something dark enough to make his hair rise and swift enough to disappear completely. Minato is quickly becoming a bigger figure in the village and those things he worries about more and more.

“Well. Something, I guess.” He finishes lamely. 

Mikoto nods her head, doing one last glance over with her Sharingan before deactivating it. 

“I believe you.” She says before gesturing to his face, “I suppose you do have a murder face.” 

Kushina huffs an I told you so halfheartedly, but even she’s only half into it as her eyes still double check corners. They walk in silence, slowly scoping the surroundings but ultimately stop again at Minato’s street where he’ll part ways. 

“It was probably one of them.” Mikoto says quietly, as if she’s afraid of being overheard. 

Minato and Kushina trade a look but don’t have to ask for clarification.  They, are the villages newest assets that have most definitely been around longer than authorized. 

The clan heads are most certainly vetoing ROOT and it’s sure to be dismantled by the Hokage. Probably. At least formally. Whether Shimura Danzo will really let them go still remains to be seen. 

“Be safe on that mission of yours, Minato.” Kushina says instead. 

Minato smiles, “As safe as I can.” 

“Festivals three weeks, don’t be late.” Mikoto reminds. 

“Three weeks—got it.” He says flashing a bright thumbs up that has civilians (and some shinobi) blushing. Mikoto rolls her eyes and bats his hand away, trading goodbyes as they part ways. 

As Minato walks up the stairs to his apartment he pauses with his hand on the doorknob, and lets himself look over his shoulder one last time to the buildings and trees around him. 

The trees sway in the night time winds and he spares a glance for a neighbor’s light flicking off, plunging the vegetation into more deep shadows then before. 

He shakes off the shivers and goes inside his house. 

Whatever is was, it doesn’t matter, Minato thinks, as long as it stays outside. 

Notes:

Happy new year! May 2020 bring y'all nothing but happiness.

Chapter 5: Mission One: Start!

Summary:

Welcome to Hot Water! Would you like a square pastry served on a square platter brought to you by a square man in a square yukata?

Minato, under the influence of a whopping 8 and a half hours of sleep, meanders his way up to the village gates just as the layers of false dawn are fading away to the sun peaking over the horizon. 

He feels like he should be surprised to see his sensei waiting at the gates but he knows Jiraiya will do it no matter what if he’s in village at the time, spontaneous ANBU S-ranks excluded, of course. It might have something to with residual guilt from not seeing away Minato’s genin teammates on the mission that got the both killed in the end, but with as energized as Minato is and generally happy to go outside the walls of Konoha, he doesn’t let himself ponder on it for long. 

He gives Jiraiya a small smile and his old sensei huffs and waves him off to go sign out with the chunin manning the gate. 

Well, the chunin and Maito Dai, but Dai has long sense been the exception to the rule. 

“Good morning Dai-san!” Minato chirps before giving a smile and wave to the other shinobi he can’t place, who’s scribbling his name down on the exit list. 

“Yosh! Minato-san! I see your packed for a mission! I hope it brings you nothing but success and youthful adventure!” Dai exclaims, flipping right side up from his handstand to give Minato a blinding thumbs up. 

Minato smiles back and judges Jiraiya’s got another minute of patience in him before inquiring, “Thank you for your well wishes, Dai, I assume your son is well?” 

“Ah HA! Gai is but a youthful 5 years of age but already shows his persistence in the academy despite just beginning!” Dai announces, even happier than before at the mention of his son. 

Minato laughs a little because he’s sure any son of Dais is youthful indeed before sending his regards and waving goodbye. 

He strolls up to Jiraiya who’s poorly covering a yawn in one hand, and bumps shoulders with him as he comes to a stop. 

“Heya Kid, thought I’d see you off like the good ole days, yeah?” Jiraiya says, nudging him back. 

“Thanks sensei.” Minato says genuinely, giving the older man a smile. 

Jiraiya huffs in embarrassment but scrubs his hand through Minato’s hair before slapping him on the back and loudly proclaiming that he should try not to pull out his hair in frustration, lest he end up bald at the diplomatic table. Then what would the ladies think? 

Minato snorts and bats his sensei’s hand away after regaining his balance. 

“I think, sensei, that I’d look good with any hairstyle— or lack of it.” 

Jiraiya looks him up and down before rolling his eyes, “I forgot your vain under all that cheerfulness, and no—“ he cuts off Minato’s protests with, “You can’t convince me otherwise. Just like you can’t convince me you weren’t born to the wrong generation for all that your sexual orientation is mostly aligned to shit-your-pants-scary and unfair-amounts-of-chakra.” 

“And just think” Jiraiya says dramatically, shaking his head, “Of all the pretty birds your missing.” 

Minato takes that time to start walking away, he really really doesn’t want his sensei in his love life. Ever. So what if his preferences lay along the lines of badassery? So what if that usually means their scary as hell? Minato was attracted to Kushina for a reason. 

“Goodbye, sensei!” He yells over his shoulder, waving mostly for show. 

”Don’t die kid! I’ll be forced to do horrible things if you do!” Jiraiya yells back. 

Minato just shakes his head before throwing a hiraishin marker kunai dozens of yards ahead of him and sets off in a flash. 

He ignores the echoes of Jiraiya’s laughter and focuses on the wind in his face, the wind in his ears, and lets himself smile as he flashes away from Konoha’s walls. 

 

The first time Minato gets pulled over to talk to someone or another, he smiles, lets it happen and mentally catalogs the extra time he’ll have to spend running to make it to snow country in time. 

The third, fourth, and fifth time it happens, Minato’s smile is strained and he wonders if these people have ever seen a bingo book in their lives. He knows he’s being silently laughed at by every passing shinobi but this old grandmother in her bakery said his golden locks and blue eyes reminded him of her deceased son, and the grandson just doesn’t visit, and oh, won’t you buy a muffin? 

He wonders if he just has sucker written across his forehead sometimes but ends up buying the damn muffin, before making the final sprint across the little villages roof tops and through the last valley to Hot Waters village 

Hot Waters is delightfully easier to approach then its neighbor Yukigakure and Minato is secretly glad he doesn’t have to do recon there. 

There’s no official border around Hot waters and the only sign that he’s expected is the two armored shinobi and a nervous looking diplomat standing between them, waiting at front “entrance”.  

Minato strolls up the main path and gives a slight nod to the two shinobi (which one returns and the other ignores) and then a smile for the diplomat. 

The diplomat nervously glances from his face to his headband to his yellow hair before stuttering out, “Ah, Namikaze-san?” 

“Yes?” Minato lightly teases. If the diplomat didn’t know he was, the shinobi behind him sure do. 

“Ah, yes, Welcome to Hot Waters, Namikaze-san, I’ll see you to your housing, if you don’t mind?” He asks, voice wavering unsurely. 

Minato gives his sympathy to the shinobi tasked to watch this man even if the dark blue haired fellow seems determined to ignore his presence. 

“That sounds agreeable...Mr.?” 

“Oh! It’s Shiro... Namikaze-San.” 

“Well, then that sounds agreeable, Shiro-san, lead the way?” 

“Yes!” Shiro chirps before turning around in a flurry of robes and embarrassment, “follow me, please.” 

Minato lets his face fall into something pleasantly neutral as he’s lead across Hot Waters. He lets himself scan his surroundings and wonder briefly where Shiro is from with his mixed accent. Predictably, there’s an assortment of hot springs and he smiles for the children at least as the little group of theirs approaches a housing district, and a building shaped like a children’s drawling of what a house would look like. 

It’s got a completely square base with a triangular shaped top and it has all square windows and square doors, perfectly symmetrical in placement. 

Minato raises an eyebrow at the kunoichi who at least returned his nod earlier but she simply raises one back. Either that means she doesn’t see the problem with it or she’s simply daring him to make a comment. 

Minato says nothing but he figures for a tourist trap, they have to be different somehow. 

The inside of the building is dressed as a traditional hotel for this region with darkly stained furniture and small oriental designs lining the edges. 

Minato carefully does not let himself smirk at the square chandelier, square reception desk, with a desk receptionist dressed in a kimono that has square patterns, as he sits in a perfectly square chair. 

He wishes he had a camera to take a picture with, Kushina at the very least would find this as funny as he. 

“Being in Snow country, I assumed you would have gone with Circles, Shiro-san.” Minato says as flatly as he can manage. 

“Ah... what?” Shiro asks politely confused. 

The shinobi with blue hair scoffs but even he’s glaring at the building’s interior. Or maybe that’s just his face, Minato wonders silently. 

“Snowflakes aren’t circles, Namikaze.” The kunoichi inflects dully. 

“Maybe not, but they aren’t quite squares either.” Minato fires back.

A pointedly cleared throat has him looking back around to Shiro collecting a key from the desk receptionist and a tall man with a short bob of hair standing in front of him. 

“Hello.” Minato says politely 

“Sir.” The man returns, “Here is the schedule for your stay, we hope you enjoy, and are in well enough health to join us for dinner tonight with the Headman of Hot Waters.” 

“Of course.” Minato replies, like he could actually say no, before taking the scroll from the other mans outstretched hand. “I’d be honored.” 

The short man with a bob nods in acceptance before walking off, collecting Minato’s two guards as he passes. Shiro then guides him to his room and bows out with quickI’ll pick you up later, before scurrying away, glancing over his shoulders as he goes. 

Minato ignores the blatant signs of someone being up to something, in exchange for a long soak in the private diplomatic rooms set up for him. 

He has a feeling it’s going to be a long week, and if the other shinobi don’t care about Shiro’s skittishness then neither does Minato. He’s got a diplomatic mission to worry about after all, and several days of sleeping on an actual bed to look forward to. 

 

Danzo stares off the long ramp into the darkness below, allowing himself to wonder, just this once, what his old sensei would think of ROOT and her functions. What he would think of Konoha as she stands now, what he would think of Danzo and Hiruzen. Hiruzen, the ever benevolent Hokage, and Danzo his ever-present shadow. 

He thinks Tobirama would have understood, as he stood as Hashirama-sama’s right hand longer than anyone else. He knew just what it meant to have a dreamer for a leader and he knew that there would always have to be someone in the shadows cleaning up the mess behind the scenes. 

Yes, Danzo muses, looking out upon the busy bodies of the ROOT agents moving about like well-oiled machine, he would have understood. 

Maybe never attempt himself, or even approved, but understood, yes. 

The slight displacement of air has him turning around to the crouched figure of one of his agents. 

“Beetle.” Danzo acknowledges. 

“Danzo-sama” Beetle returns, “The target has arrived at his location.” 

Danzo thinks of Namikaze Minato and the fact that he was able to remaster Tobirama’s hiraishin. How he’s being brought to the table as a Hokage candidate should he prove competence in his ability to lead others, and maybe even steer a genin team. 

Danzo knows he’ll never be elected as Hokage as things stand now. No, not at his age and at the rate that Hiruzen just keeps bloody living, but that doesn’t mean he can’t provide himself as a decent backup plan should Hiruzen fall. 

It doesn’t mean he will sit idly while idealistic boys are handed a hat with too much weight for their heads. 

No, Minato is not first in line for it, but he is still in front of Danzo, and he will not stand to see Konoha fall into anymore weak leadership. 

Not so long as Danzo lives. He needs a way in front of the boy without suspicion. He needs the favor for idealistic, outgoing shinobi as leaders to crumble before he can truly step up. He needs the clan heads to focus on something else just in case Hiruzen really does follow up on disbanding ROOT.

He’s got just the thing. 

“Proceed with the mission, Beetle.”

Notes:

oh hey danzo

Chapter 6: Mission One: Enter Inoichi!

Summary:

a warning from the headmaster, and some more hot water shenanigans.

Notes:

aka the chapter where i fly through the first mission because we have bigger and better things to do.

The headmaster of Hot Waters has been nearly over polite in the days Minato had been here. In fact, Minato is surprised at how much he’s seen him instead of a high ranking jonin that would be equal to Minato’s station.

It’s kind of strange, although Minato supposes that they didn’t just up and call some diplomatic visit to restore already perfectly fine relations with Konoha. It’s not until the day before he’s scheduled to leave that the Headmaster waves nearly everyone in the room away, that Minato internally gives a sigh of relief that they can finally stop tip toeing around niceties and get to the point. It’s no wonder that the Saindaime assigns other people to these sorts of missions when he’s able to, it’s exhausting.

The two guards from the day he first arrived remain and Minato must have misjudged their rank if they’re allowed to stay. Shiro, however looks nervous as he shifts from one foot to another. He’s got something about him too, that Minato can’t put his finger on, and he glances from Shiro back to the Headmaster, and raises a slight eyebrow.

The headmaster waves off his concerns though, “Shiro is my young ward, an aspiring diplomat if you may. He has much to learn but he is welcome here.”

“I meant no offense.” Minato replies, feeling at least a little abashed. Shiro is just so... flakey.

The headmaster simply hums and then slouches slightly over the table, crossing his hands over one another. The tenseness of the room doubles and Minato finds his back straightening automatically.

“Namikaze-san.” The old man says wearily, “While I have enjoyed your company over the last many days, I have to admit there is something I need you to tell the old Hokage for me...”

Minato smiles, “Of course, Headmaster, what is it?”

“This is no smiling matter, young man, this is serious.”

Minato’s smile falls from his face into something terrifyingly neutral.

“Ah, there is the face of someone who’s made the pages of the bingo book. Never mind that though, Iwa is pushing our borders.”

Minato frowns slightly, that shouldn’t be right. Iwa would have several countries spanning across the top of Fire to get through before reaching Snow. Even if they didn’t, Kumo would never allow them so close for no good reason… unless....

“Iwa and Kumo?” Minato asks severely.

“Smart man.” The headmaster praises, “We don’t know what their up to but we do know they’ve been passing through a lot more than they ought to. Iwa has no business over on this side of the continent, and they’re not just here for our springs, that much is obvious.”

Minato nods, people, including himself now that he has a moment to self-reflect, often write off tourist traps like Hot Water, but really they’re the perfect sources of information. People can meet here without worry, since their shinobi population tends to be smaller. They can also pass through without much suspicion since they get a lot of people who simply stop in for the night and leave by morning.

For the shinobi to even start noticing Iwa nin using the village as a meeting place, means it’s happening frequently and that means something.

“Thank you for telling me, Headmaster.” Minato says, mulling over the implications of Iwa and Kumo getting along again, “is there anything else I should bring back?”

The village leader shakes his head, “That is all, Namikaze, I assume you leave in the morning?”

Minato nods his head, idly wondering who’s dropping off his separate mission parameters before standing up as the Headmaster does.

“I don’t want to keep you, then. For everyone’s sake, please don’t let that old Hokage of yours brush off our concerns. Otherwise, please enjoy our village on your last night whether that be our springs or our other entertainment options before trekking back across the country tomorrow.”

Minato bows, “Thank you for your hospitality, Headmaster.”

“Oh shoo boy, I’m too old for that. Ha!” He laughs collecting the guards as he strolls out in front of Minato. He notes he must be officially guard free and mentally thanks the sage he doesn’t have to be monitored anymore. Minato can only take so many suspicious glances before he’s tempted to fire them back.

Minato walks out the room and heads back towards the inn. He figures if he’s staying another night he might as well have one last soak in the spring before he does whatever he has to do tomorrow in the name of a super-secret side mission.

It’s not bothering him that he doesn’t have any mission parameters besides “south” and “Kushina can’t go”, really, it’s not.

It doesn’t bother him at all when he’s in the water of some secluded spring that he has all to himself.

It doesn’t even bother him when Yamanaka Inoichi of all people is dropping down on top of him from the tree and desperately shushing Minato before diving under the water further in.

Two hot water ninja appear over the privacy fence then, freezing as they notice Minato who has jumped onto one of the surrounding rocks (in surprise, dammit!) naked as the day he was born.

Kushina is laughing somewhere, he knows it.

The guard with the dark blue hair that Minato may have spitefully not remembered his name (he was a dick!) at least as the manners to look abashed as Minato awkwardly lowers himself back into the water.

He supposes he could pass this off as him just getting back in if one doesn’t look too close at the strange dark shaped blob in the middle of the springs.

Inoichi is lucky he’s blonde.

“Ah, Namikaze-san, I’m so sorry to disturb you, but a nuisance came through this way not a moment ago, did you see him?”

“Oh sure.” Minato lies easily, slowing using the waves he’s casting with his body to further hide his friend, “he took off to the roofs not a second before you jumped the fence.”

“Direction.” The blue haired guys comrade demands

Minato give him his best murder smile and only when the guy flinches does he point west toward the very busy nightlife sector of Hot Water, “That way.”

The other two shinobi grimace, but take off with a nod of thanks leaving Minato alone in the spring once more with Inoichi self-drowning himself not three feet away.

Ever used to nudity and being around perverts (thanks sensei) he wades back into the water and yanks Inoichi up by his pony tail.

“Hey.” Minato says flatly as his comrade takes dramatic gasps of breaths.

“Mina... Minato!” He exclaims, “I didn’t know— well actually I did— but man am I glad to see you!”

“I wish I could say the same.” Minato teases.

“Minatooo.” Inoichi whines dramatically. Minato rolls his eyes and fondly wishes he has the Sharingan for photographic memory. Inoichi is soaking wet, face completely red much like Kushina’s hair— heat burns probably— and he’s being dragged down back into the burning water by the heavy looking pack and metal ANBU armor he’s wearing.

At the very least, the other man’s ANBU mask is nowhere in sight and he’s in long sleeves so his shoulder is covered. That doesn’t mean he won’t tell Inoichi’s wife about this the second he gets back to Konoha.

Minato ignores the whining and instead asks the obvious, “you’re here for me?”

Inoichi blinks, half dragged up on the rock as he is, and responds, “oh. I mean yeah but I thought I’d have to cut you off far south of here. Nobody told me you’d be in Hot Water.”

Minato grins as he shoves Inoichi over the rock and down onto the ground below. He ignores the wails of betrayal from the water-logged man, instead grabbing a towel and shaking his head as his soak comes to an end.

At least he gets to find out his mission, he thinks wirily as he sets off to smuggle Inoichi into his diplomatic room.

It’s Hokage orders, he reminds himself. For Konoha.

Inoichi takes advantage of Minato’s private shower as he looks over the scroll with the distinct handwriting of Sarutobi Hiruzen.

The scrolls not signed but Minato recognizes it anyways as he leans back against the headboard.

Mission to an illegally set up facility not too far off the abandoned stretch of coast that use to see the most activity from whirlpool.

Actually, Minato remembers, it was really the only large activity they saw as precariously placed as they were. When Uzushio fell, so did they.

The facility should resemble something of a laboratory and will be hidden behind some seals. Said seals should be abandoned however and be easy to detect and destroy.

Alright, Minato thinks, not too bad. More than likely something he needs to check for any left over evidence of people being there. Notes, intact bottles, anything of the illegal sort.

He feels his stomach drop when it says to check for living people.

He knows it should come with the job, human traffickers, but anytime he sees people and laboratory together he feels sick. The idea makes him want to vomit and it makes him think to Orochimaru and how the Hokage supposedly used to let him experiment on enemies of war or captured spies.

It’s not like he doesn’t understand. Testing new medicines on your own people is always a fright especially if it doesn’t work and if you test it on other people....

Well, Minato may understand and not hesitate to make the decision himself but that doesn’t mean it won’t make him feel like shit.

A bleeding heart, Kushina calls him.

And that might be so but he’ll gladly be called that versus the alternative. Not to mention he won’t feel a bit guilty if the whole things a bust, selfish or not, but he prays he doesn’t find anyone still living. The thought of someone still in a cell while he sits in a comfy bed with the finest hot springs on this side of the continent just outside makes him feel as if he should leave now. What if their scared or hurt? What if they are bleeding out slowly now and die before he even leaves tomorrow?

He hears the shower turn off and uses a small katon jutsu to light the scroll on fire. By the time Inoichi comes back out the scrolls a pile of dust in the spare ash stray and Minato’s nose is in his spare notebook that he uses to write down notes about jutsu ideas on his missions.

The notebook has a timer on it he can set remotely if he’s injured or his bag gets stolen.
It releases a heavy water solution to all the pages effectively ruining them, but it does mean that nobody gets their hands on it. Minato’s honestly kind of proud of it.

Inoichi gets dressed silently and falls onto the couch across the room before reorganizing what’s dried out from his pack.

“Can I crash here, Minato? I can leave now, technically I’m supposed to be back in like two days and I’m losing time...”

Minato smiles, “purposely elongating your mission Inoichi? Do you need the extra cash for something?”

Inoichi snorts as he shakes out his kunai pouch, “Only for Kikue. I swear that women takes all my cash when I’m not looking. She’s still on mission roster too, even if she’s noncombatant, she gets paid more than me sometimes!” He complains

Minato laughs, and dutifully offers the couch to his fellow blonde.

“Still on mission rooster?” He asks curiously.

“Don’t” Inoichi warns rolling his eyes, “she wants children but you know we got to wait for Nara and Akimichi too. It will be a while yet.”

Minato chuckles and raises his hands in surrender but Inoichi waves him off.

“Didn’t Kushina want kids?” Inoichi asks hesitantly.

Minato nods as he scribbled a theoretical matrix into his notes.

“She still does— at least one, but you know how she has to fight for permission and all that.”

Inoichi, co-head of T&I, knows well.

“She’ll win if she wants it though.” Minato says confidently, “I’m pretty sure she’d hunt down Tsunade herself to find a way to use Mikoto’s eggs and turn it into sperm for artificial insemination, but you know how that would go.”

“The Uchiha have strong and noticeable genes.” Inoichi agrees before grinning, “that mean you still number one option? You sly dog!” He laughs

Minato shakes his head, face gone as red as Inoichi’s was earlier, but he doesn’t deny it.

Kushina isn’t the only one who wants to be a parent and they’re best friends. It would work as a cover for Kushina and Mikoto. Their child would be the most loved, that he’s sure of.

Minato’s thinks of his own father. Drunk at all hours and bottles thrown over Minato’s head at any interval. Not to mention he’s more than likely the reason Minato feels such guilt at having anything nice, the bastard.

(The academy called him a prodigy from the get go. Maybe they turned out right in the end, for all that he’s got the analytical brain for seals, but the first hands on lesson they teach you in the academy is dodging.

Minato hasn’t ever needed that instruction. That, and to know when to run.)

He grins again as Inoichi finishes chuckling, oblivious to his thoughts and they share some final words before turning the lights off.

Minato doesn’t fall asleep till long past midnight and when he does the image of broken glass and worn out tennis shoes follow him to his dreams.

Notes:

Kikue is the name i gave Inos mother because kishi couldn't ever be bothered to name her. She's a shionbi but a noncombatant and i hc she comes from a noble family in the capital and hers and inoichis was a political marriage. Don't tell Inoichi but she's Shikaku's favorite shogi partner ;)

also idk why minato's dad keeps being brought up like its not at all important but i keep sticking it in there so thats cool ig. The headcanon for his dad being that way is from SilverShines story, "a girl from Whirlpool" on ff.net and is like one of my favs ever so credit to that!!

Chapter 7: Miami Blue

Summary:

Enter Sakumo

Minato straps on the last of his armor and slips on one of his looser black long sleeves with the signature Konoha flak jacket over it.

He’ll strip out of it after he reaches Hot Waters border and becomes Owl, but for now he’s still Minato, and he should at least be seen leaving the village.

Inoichi has already snuck out sometime around pre-dawn and it just leaves Minato to go down the coast by himself. He wishes he had a natural tracker with him-- an Inuzuka, Hyūga, or Aburame to at least meet up with-- but alas Minato’s technically supposed to be able to do this all himself, and the nature of the mission means it would of been solo regardless who got it.

Minato thinks of the festival in a week and a half and thinks he’ll even have a few days to spare if he can find the lab in good time.

It’s a straight shot south from there.

Thankfully, he doesn’t run into any enemy nin (thank the sage for Jiraiya and his stealth training) but he does in fact somehow get off track and end up in the abandoned port town instead of the outskirts of it.

It’s like ghost town, and he’s never been to Uzushio, but it’s what he imagines it might look like.

The town has been gutted by anybody willing to pass through. Windows are broken in some places, and the wood frames of the shops have gone dull and cracked.

The green life has thrived though as vines cover roof tops and support posts while the road has been fully covered in grass again without any carts nor ox to wear it down.

Towards the shore, the salty ocean has eroded away at a lot of the sea barrier leaving only the biggest rocks behind, shiny and smooth. The docks are still standing, however, and it hasn’t been quite long enough for them to be swept away but it is clear walking on them would be a hazard and not just because of the climbing barnacles that stubbornly stick to the sides, showing as they are in low tide.

Minato stares from the safety of the road out into the open ocean. The water crashes against the rocks and he can ever so often feel the spray of mist on his face. It’s not the nearly choking feeling that one gets when they visit Kiri but it’s almost like a kiss. Soft, salty, and doesn’t ever last long enough.

He can’t see Uzushio over the vast stretch of water but he’s sure if Kushina had come she’d insist they find some warn down dingy and try to go out and see it past the sandbar and the consequential drop that eventually leads to underground caves. The ones Kiri used to get past the whirlpools and onto the island.

Kushina hasn’t been allowed to Uzushio since she came to Konoha, and it’s always pissed off Minato a little in her defense. On one side, he understands. She’s his friend, his best friend, but she’s also the villages greatest asset, their weapon, their deterrence, the last villager of their greatest and strongest ally. On the other hand, he doesn’t at all. It was Kushina’s home, and nobody, not even Kiri goes towards the old village. She wouldn’t be at danger any more than she is every time she takes a mission.

It’s no wonder they emphasized he couldn’t bring Kushina with him on this mission, Minato thinks after a long self-reflection, if she had insisted they look, he wouldn’t have said no.

He wonders if they can ask Tsunade to take her whenever the Sannin shows up again. Jiraiya said Kushina doesn’t know the layout well enough to go by herself, Minato’s never been, and nobody asked Orochimaru, but he feels like the medic could do it.

She used to visit regularly with her grandmother after all. Kushina would be fine going with someone who also knows how to look for stray seals, knows the lay lines of the seals around the island and, maybe most importantly, could curb Kushina’s Kushinaness.

A tiny blue butterfly flies past his face and breaks him out of his thoughts.

He watches it fly down to some beachside scrub and if Minato hadn’t been watching it, he’d nearly miss the little white body fold the sapphire blue wings together and nearly disappear into the brown background.

How clever, Minato muses. He hasn’t seen a lot of those butterflies, but maybe their native to the coast, only coming back now that people are gone.

Natures smart like that.

He turns on his heel then, with the ocean at his back and salt in his blonde hair and takes off toward where he thought he saw an old bed and breakfast. At the very least if he can’t find a trail today he’ll have somewhere to crash.

 

Minato stares down at trail. Unfortunately, it means the bed and breakfast is the starting point and he won’t be able to crash there, which is annoying, as they had beds still in tack, even if they were a little… dusty.

Moldy, whatever, it’s a bed in Minato’s opinion.

A quick glance out the window gives him about an hour till dark, which means if he leaves now he might be able to find it sometime tonight.

Probably. Although anyone willing to start experimenting on people probably covers their tracks well, and its only chance Minato found some unsubstantial track when he went to flip over a bed by the window.

Convenient Minato thinks mournfully, shifting his mask back into place, at this rate he’ll be back before Kushina can even wonder he’s dead.

And he sets off.

 

Duck, swing left, roll Dammit,

“DUCK!” He yells, firing off another exploding tag.

His teammates react accordingly, but they're slowing down.

Damnit, Sakumo thinks, mentally cursing every shitty intelligence officer in T&I. How did they miss this?

Kumo and Iwa are joining forces, their mission has been compromised beyond recognition, and two of his comrades are already dead.

How does he even fix this, Think, old dog, Think!

He doesn’t get a chance, because a man with black and white hair walks up and the seal that’s sprawled across his stomach is blatant proof of his status, even if Sakumo wasn’t Kushina’s sensei, even if the other man wasn’t front row in every bingo book.

He waves his comrades back, and jumps to the trees.

His summons follow, and he gratefully lays a hand on Kiara’s back as she crouches beside him.

The Iwa nin are like vibrating wasps, as they scan the area. The Kumo nin stands still.

8-tails, Sakumo thinks, he’s got the 8-tails.

“Captain” the Uchiha on his left whispers.

And he knows. One of the other teammates was an Uchiha, and they absolutely cannot leave the body for Kumo to dissect. This mission will already cause unrest but that on top? No, Sakumo can’t allow Kumo and Iwa to get their hands on any Konoha bodies.

“Follow my lead.” He says. He can trust the other Uchiha to either grab the body or set the whole place on fire. Sakumo can distract and the others can be backup.

Kiara huffs, practically reading his mind as she digs her claws into the tree, legs prepping to leap.

He glances back to his comrades and after an affirmative he leaps.

It goes well at first, the affronted shouts of Iwa say the Uchiha is managing well. The Kumo nin is simply dodging but that’s fine, there not need to be an overpowered bastard in this fight, Sakumo supposes.

The thought nearly stings his pride, he’s a worthy opponent against just about anybody.That thought dissipates as the nin erupts long, thick tentacles from his back that writhe and grab at him.

He wishes the gods weren’t reading his mind. He prefers easy clean missions versus whatever… challenges he’s been having of late. Sakumo has a son and no wife can’t they see that?

Kiara snarls, breaking him out of his thoughts, and jumps back but the Kumo nin cries out in pain when a Sarutobi throws a fire ball and it hits.

It shouldn’t have done anything, but it did, and Sakumo realizes it’s not just the fire but the way he clutches his stomach... it's the seal he’s crying out in pain from.

Reinforcements arrive then. Reinforcements from Kumo. The two-tails... when did they get that?

Sakumo has an opening, and opening to take out another villages bijuu, the 8-tails that lays on the ground immobile and he—

He turns around and shoves his teammates out of the way of the fury of sharp claws and blue flames and signals retreat.

They do... but Iwa and Kumo… they know. They know their exchanges aren’t a secret, and technically Konoha wasn’t supposed to be there but intelligence said—

No, it doesn’t matter, Sakumo realizes. It doesn’t matter what intelligence says.

They know Konoha knows and that’s enough.

Notes:

Animal crossing New horizons has my whole heart and also one(1) tragic wolf dad. He will have a happier end in this story :,)

Chapter 8: Mission One: Side Quest: Orcohimaru's lab.

Summary:

labs, toads, & children. also: #letminatocurse2kforever

Notes:

here is your warning for gore, aftermath of experimentation, body parts, and all that nasty stuff that comes with Orochimaru. This is not a fix-it it for him, sorry. tags were bumped up to mature just in case, but the particular scene is brief anyways

Minato doesn’t find the lab that night and instead spends the last hours before dawn up a tree with the distant smell of the ocean drifting over him.

He does however, find the lab on his way back to the port town the next morning. Originally, he was heading back in an attempt to reorient himself and follow the trail anew. He hadn’t been upset about doubling back, but he wasn’t exactly thrilled. He may have made some unintentional grumbling about his luck and gods not paying him any attention.

Minato wishes he had kept his mouth shut. He finds the lab on his way back to the port town yes, but more specifically, the lab finds him.

“Fuck!” Minato curses, falling through some hidden entrance and down a tunnel. He’s ignores the panic about yelling out his location and focuses instead on the fact that he definitely just sprained his ankle.

He can just hear Kushina and Inoichi gasping in horror at his language, the traitors.

Minato’s too good a shinobi to let it affect him though, and instead he limps down a hallway, crouching just out of a sight of a door. A convenient door, which makes him all the more suspicious. Minato was specifically warned of seals so he takes the moment to try and scope out any areas where they’ve been laid.

None, he realizes, almost curious, and he hears no voices either. There might be the flow of water? He hides a hiraishin seal on the lowest part of the wall just in case before throwing himself through the doorway, sword drawn and body ready for a fight.

He’s not sure what he expects, but honestly it wasn’t this.

It looks like the stereotypical lab that one might see in the academy. Except this one looks like somebody left said children unattended. It’s got broken breakers, discarded papers, and a fire smothering in the corner from whoever was here. They left in a rush, he categorizes, eyes drifting across the debris, and wanted the evidence gone of... whatever it was they were doing.

Minato slowly combs his way through the left side of the room, towards another door. Seals have been detached recently, maybe without their caster nearby, and he makes his way without too much extra harm on his ankle.

He’ll have to go through the papers that didn’t burn all the way in the fire, but for now, he needs to clear the place. As long as he doesn’t get turned to vapor from some trip wire, he thinks he’ll be fine to let them sit there.

Making sure his owl mask is firmly in place, he braces his knees and his sword and he flings the next door open.

A couple kunai sail in his direction, and he deflects them easily. As it turns out, not all of the traps have been disarmed and Minato makes quick work of them. It’s discerning really, how easy all this is. Several more rooms, nothing out of the ordinary, and Minato wonders why the person even bothered with so many rooms when then all stand unused.

That is, the only room that’s shown there was someone there at all was the front room.

Sage guide me, Minato thinks, increasingly confused, what am I supposed to find here?

The next set of rooms are down a shallow walkway, and have been sterilized clean with an impressive amount of precision. No trace contact, no evidence, discard it then, Minato internalizes. It leaves him with nothing else to do but make his way back to the center with half a pair of crutches he found in one of the closets.

He discards them despite his ankles best wishes when he reaches the center, or, well, the room he’s been working around as his center point. The basics of infiltration: It doesn’t matter where you land, treat it as your center and move out. Don’t linger until everything else is clear, and don’t forget to double check it when you’re done.

Despite the warnings blaring in his head, the room with the papers is silent. Unmoved. Untouched but the last mostly smoldered flames.

He keeps his guard up but shifts his mask to the side as he bends down to the small fireplace. It looks more like an incinerator, if he’s honest, but some of the papers are still partly intact, so he takes a moment to sift through them.

They're charts mostly, of what, Minato has no clue. While some look like fuinjutsu notes, they are unfortunately too burnt for Minato to decipher. The rest are ink smudges disasters where they aren’t destroyed all together.

He doesn’t curse his luck quite yet, and quietly makes sure his gloves are secured before sticking his hand under the pile of ash and hoping just one managed to live under all the others.

Sure enough, under a pile of ash lays a mostly intact paper of a diagram, no, blue print of the entire facility.

As it turns out, Minato may have missed a few rooms. He doesn’t sweat it, but out of necessity slips his mask back right, and turns to go check them.

(He'll curse this moment later to Kushina, and she'll just laugh at him and his struggles while Mikoto will ask if they should head down to training field. He hates his friends, really.)

Motherfucker, Minato mentally curses, dodging another set of kunai and a stream of fire. Whoever set up this place put all the traps in the single hallway, and Minato can’t even get to the seemingly harmless door on the other end. Sparing another second to thank Mikoto and her evasion training, Minato does what he’s been trying to avoid, and leaps off his feet and sticks to the ceiling. His ankle burns, but the traps on the ceiling were the first to disburse, giving him room to avoid the rest wired to the floor as he makes his way down the hallway.

All in all, it takes 15 minutes of Minato straight dodging traps and some particularly vicious seals to reach the end.

Well, more like dive in through the door and slam it shut as a another burst of water slams hard against the frame. It rattles threateningly against his forearms, but stay closed as Minato presses against it, wondering, not for the first time, if Sarutobi secretly wants him dead.

Minato lets out a rough breath before yanking his mask off all the way and running a hand through his hair. Sage above and below he’s out of shape, he thinks, before turning around towards the room.

He barely gets to look around before being hit in the face with the overwhelming stench of death. It hits so hard he gags, and its only sheer willpower that keeps him both on his feet and from throwing up.

He quickly shoves the mask back over his face, only to gag again from the stagnant air before shoving the thing to his belt and pulling his turtle neck up to his nose.

Sage lend me strength, Minato thinks, horrified.

Lined in buckets on the walls are body parts organized by name. They seem to have no particular gender as Minato eyes both long dainty fingers with painted nails and tough builder hands poking out.

Others have heads, or legs or torsos, and they all lead up to two twin incinerators (larger and stronger than the measly fireplace sized one in the front room) framing the back wall. The middle of the room has lab benches that are still covered in blood, and tables that are stretched along side them with chains and cuffs sitting innocently on top.

Minato lets his disgust fuel him as he strides right though the room, past the unmoving limbs, and to the one last door sitting in the corner away from the incinerators. There are cells with unmoving bodies, and Minato refuses to consider how long they’ve been there, dead, forgotten by the master of this place and the world outside it.

The door on the end opens easily, no traps or seals, and when he walks through he’s met with probably the exact opposite of the special hell he just walked through. Sterilization hits his nose hard, but for once he welcomes the chemicals if it gets rid of the stench of rotting people.

This room instead has overwhelming amounts of technology, with pipes and wires coming out of every corner. Minato lets his eyes wonder up the wires to their sources, trailing along yards of jumbled electronics.

Messy, but compared to the pervious room, a different kind of messy Minato might actually prefer.

He follows the cords for some sort of outlet, but instead watches the wires connect to a cylinder tank, lined not 3 meters away from him.

(It dawns on him then, what he’s looking at.)

Rows and rows of tanks. Green, lit up tanks, filled to the brim with some liquid, while the pipes shoot air through them.

Tanks with children floating in them.

Minato rips down his turtle neck and runs up to the first tank, wiping away condensation and knocking on it with as much force as he can without breaking it.

There’s no response though, and the first child floats there as if he’s asleep.

No, dead, Minato mentally corrects, the child isn’t breathing, the illusion is just the (probably?) water moving around him.

Minato chocks back on his feelings and moves on, tank by tank, and silently pleads with whoever is listening that not all of them are dead.

Despite how many wires they’re hooked up to, despite they don’t even looked harmed, not a single one responds to his knocking and Minato shudders each time he can’t see the chest rising or feel any chakra movement.

There’s a dawning realization that he’s going to have to summon someone for help. He bites his thumb and slams a hand down, and with barely a thought channels the barest amount of chakra through his palm and blood.

Kōsuke appears in a small puff of smoke, googles sitting around his neck, per normal.

“Hiya boss.” The toad croaks before his mouth snaps shut and the red and purple toad surveys the room.

His bubble eyes look Minato up and down in his ANBU uniform and stay a little longer on Minato’s ankle that’s no doubt swelling inside his sandal.

“...Boss.” The toad says gravely, quietly, “What can I do?”

Minato lets out a small, shuddering breath, “Go back through the front rooms and collect any intact information you see. After, check with me, and then I’ll send you to the Hokage. I have to... keep checking these tanks.”

“Boss.” Kōsuke acknowledged before hopping off.

“Oh, and mind for traps,” Minato tacks on, “I think I set them all of earlier but...”

“Yeah.” Kōsuke says quietly, easily, “No problem boss. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Minato doesn’t respond, but instead turns back to the tanks, placing a hand on each of them to feel for any sort of life inside. He recognizes a few small faces from the missing children’s list, and silently wonders how he’s going to get them all back home.

He’s so caught up in his thoughts that he nearly misses the small rise of a chest and the flickering of forest green chakra.

He doesn’t though, and he’s breaking the tank before he can even think about it, bracing himself to the floor as water rushes out all around him. He catches the tiny body before it can float past him and makes quick work of untangling the little boy from the wires.

He’s small, malnourished, and his brown hair is matted to his little face but he’s breathing.

Out of all these children, out of all those adults, one child is breathing.

If Minato wasn’t so concerned for his safety he would cry.

Minato cradles the boy to his chest and quickly scans him with the most basic diagnostic jutsu he knows.

Physically he’s fine. Not a scratch except a needle mark on his arm that makes Minato see red for a moment. He focuses though on the boy’s chakra instead, which is, weird.

On the surface it’s green like a tree top, but the more Minato senses, the more he realizes it has a strange feeling to it. Like it’s foggy, or better yet, like it’s trying very hard to be something it’s not.

He’s not sure how someone’s chakra can feel has strong as the trees that surround Konoha but also as light and intangible as a breeze, but it does.

Minato scoops up the boy, deciding that whatever it is it’s not a current problem, and turns toward the door as Kōsuke skids back in, water sloshing around his webbed feet.

“Boss! You—“ for the second time that evening, the toads mouth shuts as he sees Minato.

The toad silently joins him as they check the rest of the tanks and only when they’re done, does he bother to talk to again.

“Boss, how bout you get that kid to the surface. I’ll finish up down here.”

“Yeah.” Minato whispers in agreement and sets off towards the tunnel. His ankle is killing him but the boy is so small that the extra weight barely makes a difference. On the surface he can wrap his ankle, and hopefully wait for the boy to wake up.

It’s maybe a half hour later before Kōsuke, and another toad, Gamaden return.

“Minato.” Gamaden says, relief in his eyes at the tiny child curled up on Minato’s cloak.

“Gamaden.” Minato acknowledges with a nod of the head, “I’m assuming a plan’s been made?”

The toads share a look before Gamaden steps forward.

“There’s no way to recover all these bodies, Minato.” He says seriously, “not alone at least. Kōsuke will send word ahead to Jiraiya and the Hokage and inform them what you found. I’ll stay here for when the back-up squad arrives and you’ll make your way home with the little one there. I heard you can teleport now, Mianto, but don’t even try with him and the distance between you and the village.”

Minato frowns at the reprimand. He doesn’t think he’s done anything to deserve that.

“I wouldn’t.” He says instead of arguing.

Gamaden nods his head before taking back off into the brush, more than likely to guard the entrance they found.

Kōsuke sighs next to him, “don’t mind him boss, he’s just upset like the rest of us. See you later, alright?”

Minato gives Kōsuke a small smile, “Of course, I understand. Thank you for your help.”

Kōsuke nods and disappears in a puff of smoke, but apparently Gamaden was just waiting for the smaller toad to leave to talk because he comes back out of the bushes then.

“Minato.” He says seriously, to which Minato raises an eyebrow in response.

“He was experimenting with Mokuton.” Gamaden whispers, hopping up to his side.

Minato sucks in a breath, what. That’s—that couldn’t be—the only way to get that DNA means--

“How” he whispers, but Gamaden just shakes his head.

“It doesn’t matter, but some of the papers indicated it. Not to mention there was also indications of more laboratories up north somewhere. I’ve sent them all with Kōsuke, but you should be prepared when you return with him.”

Minato lets himself think of ROOT for a moment and Danzo, before shaking his head.

“He won’t be touched.”

Gamaden eyes him a moment and then the boy.

“Leave when you’re able. Put as much distance as possible.”

“Wait.” Minato calls out after a second.

When he has the toad’s attention he asks, “He?”

 

“He was experimenting with Mokuton.”

 

Gamaden's eyes narrow, “yes, He. I’ve found some notes. The handwriting nearly looks like Orochimaru’s. This seems to be his flavor anyways. I doubt he worked alone Minato, so keep your guard up.”

The toad leaves without waiting a response and Minato sighs, covering his anger, checks the wraps on his ankle, and slowly picks the boy and himself off the ground.

He doesn’t even want to consider Orochimaru, a Sanin and well respected jonin as being responsible when he’s got an abused, malnourished child in his arms. A child that has suffered, is suffering, would have died in a tank had he not found the blueprint.

He might as well start making tracks now, he supposes, as long has he doesn’t have to think about that.

Notes:

lets play: guess that child. This is easy mode, also congrats minato, you're now a dad. Happy Father’s Day

in other new and exciting news, i tried to fix this chapter to be more concurrent with my current writing style but tbh i think i failed so we'll just deal with that until we get pass all these prewritten chapters.

Chapter 9: Knock knock (who's there?)

Summary:

or, the chapter where Hiruzen wishes some people would just drop dead without his involvement.

He’s thinking about it.

Orochimaru, all the children, the notes he couldn’t read, how his sensei is probably reacting right now.

The Sanin was in village when he left, but who knows now. Will Minato run into him? Has he just stuck himself and his loved ones by proxy in danger? And the child he has now, what will happen to him?

Minato watches the boy slowly walk in circles around one of the nearby oak trees; his feet bare and the little rags he has for pants rolled up to his knees. He’s got large black eyes that would have Mikoto cooing over him, and shaggy brown hair that desperately needs a brush.

Despite his more than deplorable conditions, he’s awake, and walking, and when he comes back into view, he gives Minato a shy smile before stopping to wiggle his toes in the grass again. The first time that the boy can remember ever feeling grass beneath his feet.

Minato smiles back and gives a little wave where he’s icing his ankle. It’s been a couple days since they left the vicinity of the hidden lab and Minato should have been home already, but the boy is... scared. Of everything.

And Minato is pushover.

Need to stop because the trees are leaning weird and now we have to go and check behind every one? Sure, double checking your surroundings is a valuable skill and can save lives.

Need to take a break because the shadows are too deep with the sun at this angle and it’s scary? Yeah, Minato understands. He’s seen shadows do weird things after all.

Need to stop because food rations are disgusting and Minato will not give that to a boy previously starving? Well, they make food stops three times a day even if the boy doesn’t want to eat, but getting in the habit is a good thing, and he’ll will drink water if Minato asks.

Not to mention Minato’s ankle which they’re stopped for now. As soon as the boy found out he was all over that, insisting they break so he can regularly ice it. When Minato asked how he knew so much about health, the kid shook his head and said he just knows it’s bad if your ankles don’t match.

So, Minato regularly stops and adjusts his splint and ices his ankle. Because the kid asked.

Damn large puppy eyes.

“Tenzo.” The boy says looking up into the trees.

“Huh?” Minato asks.

“No.” The boy says, dragging his eyes down to Minato, “that’s what I want to be called.”

Oh, Minato thinks, he did tell the boy that he should think about names he wants to be called, didn’t he?

“Tenzo, Huh?” Minato smiles, “that sounds nice, have you heard it before?”

The boy, now Tenzo, slowly blinks before raising his head to look at the tree again. They sway slightly in the breeze but when he looks down again, he says, “Maybe”

Then he smiles and starts making his way around the tree again, his gaze firmly on his toes and the way they look and feel between the grass.

Minato mentally puts that interaction into things he’s not going to overthink and leaves it at that.

They’ve got at least several more days of travel at the pace their going, and Minato idly wonders if Kushina thinks him dead or if the Hokage had the time to tell her otherwise.

 

The gates loom large as the pair approaches, with its large swinging gates opened wide. They’ve stayed open since the end of the last war, and have become no less awe inspiring since

Today is the festival, and rightfully, the entrance is swarmed with traders and marketers coming in to hopefully get a good stall if they haven’t already paid ahead of time. Minato convinced Tenzo to leave before sunrise and they’ve made good time for the last leg of the trip. The festival hasn’t started, which means Minato will not be accused of missing it, and maybe, Tenzo will get to see some of it too.

Tenzo clings to his neck as they approach, hiding his face into Minato’s flak jacket as they slip around oxen and carts alike. Minato is careful to not draw attention as he excuses himself around the crowds before making sure to give a halfhearted wave to the chunin manning the gate as they passes.

He gets an exasperated wave for not checking in like he should, but the shinobi in charge eyes the boy Minato should not be carring and waves off her comrades before anyone can raise a fuss. Despite his good luck there, Konoha is brimming with people, so Minato politely squeezes Tenzo’s leg to let him know to hold on, before jumping to the roof tops and heading towards the Hokage tower as quickly as he can.

There’s a little gasp on his shoulder when the Hokage mountain comes fully into view and Minato slows his pace just a tad to let his passenger get a good look at the place. He’s sure it’s as amazing as it is overwhelming, so he doesn’t pause to stop, and instead lands at the front of the tower and ushers Tenzo down and onto his feet.

Tenzo clings to his hand like a lifeline as they go inside the Hokage tower, but with Minato’s careful maneuvering, they easily make their way through the busy shinobi. A couple stare and a few more openly gape at him but he ignores that with practice, urging Tenzo to keep following him down winding hallway and up to the Hokage’s office.

Hiruzen’s secretary is nowhere in sight so Minato takes it as he came during a good time and knocks on the door.

When the Sandaime’s voice rings out for them to come in Minato gives a reassuring smile to Tenzo and does just that.

Inside, the Hokage has left his hat on his desk, giving him the cheery sweet older man look that makes children flock to him without issue.

Tenzo lessens his grip on his hand, and Minato idly wonders how a hat can make such a difference. Though with consideration, it is a hideously ugly hat. (What were the founders thinking?)

“Ah, Minato-kun, welcome back.” Hiruzen says, gesturing to a seat in front of his desk. Minato takes the offer and plops Tenzo in it, and sits himself on the arm rest, sending a wink towards the bewildered child.

“And this must be...”

“Ah, this is Tenzo, Hokage-sama.” Minato says.

“Tenzo, hm?” Hiruzen responds kindly, “Well it’s very nice to meet you. My name is Sarutobi Hiruzen and I’m the third Hokage of Konohagakure.”

Tenzo nods, eyes blown very wide at someone he must realize is very important. Funny, how a title can do that even for a boy who surely doesn’t know what it means.

The Sandaime at least seems amused by the response and says, “I’ve heard about your situation Tenzo, and I’m so sorry we couldn’t get to you sooner. I promise you Konoha will take good care of you here.”

Tenzo nods again before asking quietly, “What about the people?”

“The people?” Hiruzen asks, his hands laying calmly on the desk in front him.

“The ones from the lab.” Tenzo clarifies, “the adults... and the other kids like me.”

Hiruzen frowns, no doubt wondering how he should address it, “Well,” he says, “I think you know what happened to the other children.”

Minato frowns but before he can step in with something even a fraction kinder, Tenzo nods his head.

“They died.”

Hiruzen nods gravely, “As for the adults, I promise they won’t ever lay a hand on you again, Tenzo-kun.”

“In fact,” he adds, leaning back some into his chair, “Minato here is one of our best shinobi, and he’ll make sure personally that you remain safe.”

What, Minato thinks.

Tenzo buys it immediately though, his little head whipping towards Minato and dark eyes lighting up in hopefulness

“You’ll make sure?” He asks

“Of course!” Minato says earnestly, reflexively.

Tenzo smiles, small and delicate, and before Minato can even mentally tell himself he’s an idiot for walking into the Hokage’s trap like that, someone new enters the room. A click of a cane, and a long drag of a robe as three sets of eyes turning to whoever couldn’t even be bothered to knock.

Only due to Minato’s vicinity to the Hokage, does he hear the slight sigh of disappointment.

“While I’m sure Jonin Namikaze will do everything in his ability to keep young Tenzo from harm, I’m positive that we can come to better living arrangements for the young ward than that.” Danzo says, voice dripping in reprimand. Somehow, he just misses the mark of kind grandfather for cranky old man.

“I didn’t suggest Tenzo live with Minato, simply that Minato would watch over him.” Hiruzen deflects, his face becoming colder by the second.

“And in turn the boy would need somewhere to stay.” Danzo says without delay

“He will not stay with you.” Hiruzen states flatly

The tiny hand around Minato’s squeezes

“I can provide for him just fine, Hiruzen. I have the ability to train him to the best of his ability, as we would not want them to go to waste.” Danzo says slowly, visible eye narrowing a smidge, “Namikaze is barely out of his teens himself, he has no business caring for a child.”

Minato wishes that the one person that saw reason on the insistence for Jonin having children young, was anybody but Danzo. Really, Anybody.

But then again, he can’t let Tenzo fall into the elder’s hands nor can he actually care for a child full time, nor are they going to be able to dance around the fact the Tenzo has the first Hokage’s DNA and probably Mokuton because of it.

Minato isn’t qualified, with that Danzo’s right but...

“I can take Tenzo for a couple days, Hokage-sama.” Minato says calmly. When Danzo goes to open his mouth again he interrupts with, “but like Shimura-sama said, I’m probably not qualified to have him full time. I’m sure Tsunade-sama would be thrilled to have a relative alive and healthy though. She would be the most qualified to take care of him in the long run.”

“Not to mention,” a new voice says, entering the room again without a knock, “that Konoha would get its best medic back.”

Jiraiya comes to stand by Minato’s side, all tan skin and long white hair tamed back. Clearly defensive of Minato’s half assed idea.

“Tsunade hasn’t been seen for years.” Danzo says sternly.

“I have been too lax with her, indeed.” Hiruzen interjects smoothly with, “I’m sure Jiraiya can make sure she returns safely, however lest she find herself a missing nin.”

Jiraiya sucks in a breath, but Danzo at the very least looks somewhat approving. It must be because he thinks Tsunade won’t return even with that hanging over her head.

“Very well, Hokage-sama.” Danzo murmurs, understanding a loss when he hears one, leaving the room as silently as he arrives. Though, Minato despairs, it might not even be a loss yet.

“Well!” Jiraiya laughs once the veteran has left the room, “that was exciting. Nice save there Minato, now we just gotta figure out a way to get Tsunade back, ha!”

“I have family?” Tenzo asks quietly, quieting the office into a heavy silence that only breaks when Hiruzen clears his throat and walks around the desk to kneel at Tenzo’s seat.

“Tenzo, there’s a lot that happened at the place you just came from and not a lot of it was good. I know this may be confusing for you, but I promise I’ll do my best to help you through it. Can you trust me with this?”

Tenzo eyes him warily before looking to Minato who quickly gives him a thumbs up and a wink.

“Okay...” Tenzo says quietly, “only if I get to stay with Minato.”

Jiraiya grins but the Hokage just smiles and says, “We can make arrangements. For now, why doesn’t Jiraiya here escort you to the clinic for a checkup? Later you can meet up with Minato and spend the night with him. Is that acceptable?”

Tenzo looks over to where Jiraiya is being swatted away by Minato for something or another before turning back to Hokage.

“He’s strong?”

The Hokage laughs over Jiraiya’s hey! and confirms that yes, Jiraiya is capable.

Tenzo agrees then without much else to say and Jiraiya escorts him out the room with a cheery wave back to Hiruzen and Minato.

When the duo leaves Hiruzen makes his way back to his seat and gestures for Minato to do the same.

“Hokage-sama—“ Minato starts but stops when Hiruzen raises his hand and puts his hat back on.

“Minato-kun I understand you probably have more questions than I can feasibly answer so let me catch you up with what happened.”

Minato nods, as if he’s ones to argue such a thing.

“I sent an Anbu squad to clean up the laboratory and any information you may have missed in leaving with the boy. The blueprint you found of the place was helpful, by the way.”

“Ah, of course, Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen clears his throat, “yes well, I’ll allow you access to the full report later but you need to know it was determined to be Orochimaru behind it. I admit I knew before hand it might have been him, but I let my sentimentality as a teacher get in my way. For your future reference, don’t let this affect you, Minato.”

“I’ll remember that, sir.” Minato says. Privately he thinks he’ll probably ignore that advice completely, but doesn’t voice that opinion out loud.

“Indeed,” Hiruzen agrees, as if he knows exactly what Minato is thinking, “I plan on confronting Orochimaru tonight so don’t get any ideas of justice. Additionally, Tenzo is your responsibility if he’s not with Jiraiya until Tsunade returns, and then maybe even for some point after. I have considered giving you children to teach but until we have more information on Tenzo, I’d like you to keep your teaching to a minimum.”

“You mean until we find out if he has Mokuton.” Minato clarifies, before back tracking, “Wait, orochimaru is still in the village?”

Hiruzen sighs, “Yes, I mean to see if he has Mokuton, and yes Orochimaru is in the village. Until we know if the experiment was a success and he can in fact use Mokuton, I want this entire situation under wraps, am I understood? As for Orochimaru, I have a feeling he already may know, but I have allowed him to keep his own labs and access to my old sensei’s labs. I imagine the urge to save as much as his research as possible is too great for him.”

“Sir.” Minato says. He doesn’t voice his disbelief that the Sandaime would let Orochimaru go and raid his labs. Hiruzen probably wants him to take the information so he doesn’t have to go through it. Instead, he back tracks, “ah sir if I may ask one more thing?”

“Of course.” Hiruzen responds

“Gamaden said there was proof of more labs and other people’s involvement. I’d like to be on the follow up mission for it if I can.”

Hiruzen shakes his head, “The information we found is currently leading to dead ends. Until we have other information, I have nothing more for you.” Minato frowns, that’s not right, if they can track Orochimaru some half-baked lab assistant shouldn’t be a problem. Unless, of course, the lab assistant has really something to hide.

“However,” Hiruzen continues before Minato can ask more questions, “I believe you have a diplomatic mission to report, Jonin Namikaze.”

Minato straightens in his seat, accepting sometimes you just can’t win these things, and gives his oral report about the mission and what the headmaster told him. The Hokage’s faces deepens as he speaks and by the time he delivers the message Hiruzen has an outright frown in his face.

“I see,” he says, “thank you for telling me. Please do not let this information weigh on you in the coming days until it needs too. For now, you are dismissed Minato-kun, and do go enjoy yourself at the festival.”

“Sir, do you think it’s war?” Minato asks as he stands.

“If it is, we have time.” Hiruzen dismisses, “do not worry yourself with such things.”

“Sir.” Minato says, and takes the get out, message loud and clear.

It’s only a few minutes of roof hopping to get to his apartment where he can shower and Minato takes a moment to relax under the hot water. He’s got no idea what he’s going to with a child but he doesn’t even have time to contemplate opening up the spare bedroom before his door is being knocked down with a loud thud.

Minato, still wrapped up in a towel, shrieks as Kushina flies in in her festive yukata and red hair wrapped up in a high pony tail. Her eyes narrow on his appearance, wet and bruised with a swollen ankle that he maybe should get checked at some point.

All of her anger seems to let out in a swoosh as she sees him.

“Shouldn’t be that long huh?” She asks instead of reprimanding him.

“Yeah, my bad.” Minato laughs nervously, “I found a kid...”

Kushina clenches her fist tightly, “yeah, that got out by the way. Not everything but that you found some kid. He good?”

Minato sighs, he didn’t even walk through the market place, how much did the toads let fly before he walked in the gate? “Yeah, should be. I’m responsible for a couple of days, he’s with Jiraiya at the clinic right now though.”

Kushina raises an eyebrow at him,” really.”

Minato sighs, still awkwardly standing in the hallway, “I figured if I do anything horrible Mikoto will materialize and hit me for it.”

Kushina snorts but Minato continues, “besides it’s really just to keep him out of Danzo’s hands until someone more capable comes.”

“Alright.” Kushina agrees, accepting the points he makes without asking for more information he can’t give yet. That’s why he loves her.

“This isn’t getting you out of the festival, pretty boy, suit up!”

Well loves her most of the time anyways.

“Going!” He yelps, diving for his room, after she chucks his own festive yukata at him.

Minato’s tired but complains little on the eyeliner Mikoto makes him put on later. Kushina says he outshines Hiashi by a mile even if he didn’t have some fancy shmansy kimono to wear.

Later, after they’ve eaten enough fried food to make them sick will they find out in hushed whispers among the shinobi that Orochimaru has defected and the third let him leave. Whispers of uneasiness all hidden under candy apples and the thuds of dart games.

When Minato makes it back to his apartment, Jiraiya’s writing away on his couch, Tenzo apparently tucked away into his guest bedroom.

“The Sandaime must have had your fridge stocked and your apartment cleaned to the nines between when you were last here and when we came in. Poor kids tired out, so keep an eye on him yeah?”

“Of course, sensei” Minato murmurs and then asks, “Orochimaru?”

“Gone.” Jiraiya said flatly, “and worse he didn’t even deny it. His in-village labs are being raided as we speak. I’m off to get Tsunade kid, so stay out of trouble till I return yeah?”

“Yes, sensei.” Minato says, taking the hair ruffle with as much patience as he can manage.

When Jiraiya leaves, and Minato makes it to his room he pauses at the sight of a book on his bed.

More specifically, the book he had to return pre-mission.

Senju Tobirama’s hefty book covering logistics and subsequent theories on how different modes of travel affect the body.

Minato smiles a little and thinks he’ll take the peace offering for what it’s worth tonight.

If anything, maybe he’ll finally get to read it tomorrow.

Notes:

i decided as i was editing this i wanted Yamato to actually go by Tenzo so if i missed changing the name somewhere just let me know ALSO This technically ends the first arc of the fic, yay for accelerated fics!!

Chapter 10: Pre-Mission Two Shenanigans

Summary:

Minato has a breakthrough, Kushina laments about old people, Hiruzen calls a meeting for jonin that nobodies happy about, and I shove two chapters together because it mostly works and I wanna get places. Also there's croissants.

“Minato?” Kushina’s voice calls out from somewhere. Though with the interesting text in front of Minato’s nose, it takes him a moment to understand where it’s coming from.

“Minato, so help me if you don’t look up—“ she warns

Minato’s head snaps up and zeros in on red hair and perfectly muscled arms where they’re holding a canteen of water and pastries bearing a logo from a bakery down the street.

“Sorry.” Minato says quickly, smiling a bit under all the weight of theoretical sciences swimming in his head, “I found an interesting subvert.”

“The entire book is an interesting paragraph to you.” Kushina says rolling her eyes. “I brought you food though, so you better eat dattebane.”

“An angel.” Minato breaths out roughly.

“Careful now, I’ve got fangs.” She says sweetly

Minato just rolls his eyes, shoving a croissant fully into his mouth, focusing more on not getting any crumbs on the old text in his lap.

“If you choke, I won’t save you.” Kushina says mercilessly, watching him balance food and books, “what are you reading anyways?”

It takes Minato a minute to swallow down his food but eventually he manages to croak out, “The universe and mutability. Did you know there’s theories about different timelines caused by people decisions or deaths?”

Kushina raises an eyebrow, “Sure, it’s theoretical but, who knows, one mission could prevent us from self-sacrificing ourselves on an enemy blade for the greater good.”

“I mean it’s changeable.” Minato stresses around another pastry, hoping she’ll pick up what he’s so obsessed over, what he’s been obsessed about since the Third left his own sensei’s books on Minato’s bed again, just a week ago now.

“... Right.” She starts slowly before backtracking, “just because somethings liable to change, doesn’t mean you have the ability to change it.”

“Well everyone—“

“Everyone?” She nails

“Okay, Jiraiya-sensei and Hokage-sama treat the last missions’ findings like it’s something horrible—which it is, but I’m trying to point out that we’re gaining a lot from it. They’re already calling back Tsunade, did you know that? Jiraiya went himself.”

“Tsunade?” Kushina says, shock only evident in her the purple shadows of her eyes. “I guess after who they found still alive it makes sense... wait, where’s the squirt you’re supposed to be watching?”

“Tenzo? He says he likes the Hokage tower for whatever reason, so the Hokage has him running minor errands between him and the desk shinobi. Who have all been informed of the situation...” he ends quietly. He doesn’t mention that Tenzo can’t mysteriously disappear there either. Minato hasn’t seen Danzo since the… confrontation with the Hokage, but he has felt the presences of the ROOT shinobi more in the last week.

“Everyone knows about the situation now,” Kushina sighs, “Still, I thought you came here to work on the hiraishin? I know you were excited about improving it before...”

She trails off awkwardly and Minato quickly swallows what’s left of his food to quickly squashing her uncertainty.

“No, Kushina, that’s just it! I’ve been looking at hiraishin all wrong. If I want to get faster, I have to change the base Kushina! Change it! It’s mutable by itself, I mean it has to be in order to streamline, but I can change it purposefully! Tobirama built it to get around physical barriers and therefore used the summoning theory to do it but if I—“

“Change around the base to streamline at a more efficient rate instead of focusing solely on getting around obstacles— something there’s already updated seals for—“ Kushina excitedly interrupts

“Then the hirashin can effectively go at a faster rate with the same biomechanics as before!” The finish together.

Kushina laughs gripping Minato into a death hug, “I knew you could do it, dattebane!”

Minato laughs hugging her back, “Not without you!”

She snorts before releasing him to help pick up the scattered books while he jots down some last minute notes from the book he was reading.

Kushina hums as she works but as she finishes tiding up she comes to sit down next to Minato with a somewhat perplexed look on her face.

“Ya know.” She starts with, “when you first mentioned the universe being changeable and all that I really thought you were getting it into your head that you could play god with time or something.”

At Minato’s incredulous look, Kushina raises her hands in surrender before clarifying, “Listen blondie, people use to barge up into Uzushio asking for seals that could save loved ones all the times. Undo time and all that.”

Minato huffs though he believes it, “I was just thinking how strange it is to wonder about how one wrong move could change the course of history. Not going back in time or anything. It’s just… interesting to think about the different possibilities, you know?”

“I know.” Kushina says. Her hands on her stomach; she’s looking off into the books like maybe she could recreate the thought process that Mito had when she sealed the Kyuubi inside herself.

A lost effort. What people do for love isn’t explainable in any straightforward manner— just look at the Uchiha.

In an effort to take her thoughts away about what isn’t Minato asks, “if you could revive anyone and ask them anything, who would you bring back?”

Her answer will never be Mito, he knows. Mito never gave a straightforward answer when she was alive, ready to pass on the Bijuu to Kushina. Death won’t be any different, it’s all in all the same reason why she would never revive her dead Island leaders of Uzushio to ask what went wrong.

Kushina blinks before looking away from the bookshelf and hums thoughtfully as she thinks to herself.

“Madara.”

“Madara?”

“Uchiha Madara.” She says assuredly

Minato stares but her firm expression never changes so he dare asks...

“Why?”

“His entire death sounds fishy. Who builds a village just to abandon it? Why make a contract with the kyuubi and not even summon it within the village borders? Why was he so hellbent on killing Hashirama, when it was Tobirama he hated?”

“I’ve got questions, dattebane.” She finishes seriously, nodding her head.

“Maybe he just broke? From grief?” Minato offers carefully.

“Maybe,” Kushina concedes, “in that case I want to know if he’d won against Hashirama what he would have done. Seppuku?”

“Maybe.” Minato says doubtfully. He’s never asked Mikoto about her clans estranged leader, but then again, it’s Kushina who is always interested in the down and dirty stories.

“Well, blondie? What about you?” She asks, “is it Tobirama?”

It’s Minato’s turn to hum thoughtfully as he traces a finger over the printed name Senju Tobirama that’s grooved into the book cover.

He wonders....

“Mū.” He says

“Who?”

“Mū.” He repeats, “The Second Tsuchikage.”

Kushina blinks long and slow. “Why?”

“He could fly, for one.” Minato says, “make himself go invisible, for seconds. He could leave without a chakra trace and apparently even without a physical form.”

“What’s that even mean?” Kushina asks

“No idea,” He says honestly, “sounds cool though.”

“Huh” Kushina says thoughtfully, staring back into the lining bookshelves, “he used to wear bandages head to toe right?”

“That’s the one.” Minato agrees

“So you’d choose a mummy versus someone who looks like the sage took time out of his schedule to shape him personally?”

“Kushina!” Minato yelps, totally scandalized.

“Whaat,” Kushina defends, “Konoha has good taste in leaders. All the other villages choose people who turn out as grizzly old men, and Uzushio was all women minus the grizzly old shodai.”

Minato stops sputtering to stare at his best friend long and hard, but she just gives him a Fox like grin as she flops down on her back.

They sit in silence for a few minutes, enough then for Kushina probably to think up a few pranks and for Minato to start doing a mental comparison of every village leader he’s seen. This isn’t his fault, he assures himself after remembering the portraits of Hot Waters leaders he saw not too long ago. It’s not his fault other village leaders aged bad, it’s not.

“Hey Minato?”

“Yeah?” He says, thankfully for the interruption from traitorous brain.

“You think Orochimaru is going to pull an Uchiha Madara?”

“Doubt it, the Hokage’s sending kill squads after him.” Not to mention, Minato doesn’t say, Orochimaru hasn’t suffered any breaks in sanity, he’s just obsessed with things like human experimentation for science.

“Despite letting him go himself?” Kushina fires back critically

“I guess.” Minato shrugs.

The thoughts can’t be finished though because a messenger bird flies into the library through an open window, lands next to the two seated shinobi and pecks at both of their hands before flying back out the window.

A summons from the Hokage. Immediately.

Kushina and Minato share a glance before picking up their stuff, setting it back in record pace and taking to the roofs towards the Hokage tower.

Hopefully this time it’s for something good.

Minato honestly doubts it.

---

 

Minato politely returns smiles and pats to the shoulder as he makes his way to Hokage office. His last mission was considered a huge success despite him quite literally defaming a Sanin and finding hundreds of bodies of missing children.

Out of all of them only one lived. He gives Tenzo a cheeky wave when they pass him twirling in a chair with one of the desk shinobi. Tenzo smiles back, a little more confident in himself before getting distracted again.

That’s honestly why when Kushina drags him into the office behind her he’s quite surprised to become a sardine in a tin can, crammed shoulder to shoulder with what seems to be every available jonin. He honestly thought this would be an update on the Orochimaru situation, not whatever this actually is.

Hatake Sakumo, of all people, is standing at the front of the room surrounded by a weary looking squad. Hiruzen looks older than ever as he scans over a scroll and Kushina whispers, damn, in his ear under the murmur of people whispering.

When Hiruzen finally lifts his head and clears his throat, Minato is sure that if somebody dripped water onto the floor they would all hear it clearly, for how quick the room went deadly silent.

“I apologize for the abrupt calling of all of you, but I want to clarify everything now, before rumors fly out of control.”

Minato really really hopes this is still something about Orochimaru.

“As I’m sure your aware, Kumo has been threatening war with us nearly since the last war with them ended. Iwa, likewise, has never been our friend. Recently, we acquired information that they’ve been meeting more frequently, and now after going after one of our squads, have made it clear that our presence is not tolerated in their affairs.”

War, Minato’s thinks, he’s announcing the third shinobi war and Konoha has no allies.

“That being said, we are not at war, and I’d prefer to keep it that way. However, with the increased tensions patrols will increase and jonin will be required to man them regularly for the foreseeable future. This brokers no arguments, and I want no rumors spread among the general population. Understood?”

At the collective Sir!, that rings out the room Hiruzen nods before reaching for a paper among the piles on his desk.

“If I call your name, stay. If not, you’re dismissed immediately to go downstairs and meet with the desk shinobi for the newly updated patrol schedules.”

“Shirnaui Ichika, Nara Shikaku, Inuzuka Tsume, and Namikaze Minato.” Hiruzen finishes.

“Yikes,” Kushina whispers in his ear, “Have fun with the big league.”

Minato goes to remind her that just because their classmates are clan heads now does not mean they are “big league” but before he can she’s gone with the other jonin. The Hokage carefully folds up a letter in front of him, gesturing for one of Sakumo’s squad mates, an Uchiha, to take a letter.

“Uchiha-san, please give this to your newly instated clan head and tell him that we need to have a meeting immediately.” Hiruzen says gravely; Minato slowly moves up to line himself at least somewhat closer to the others.

“Sakumo, you and the rest of your squad is dismissed.”

“Sir, please let me at least—“ Sakumo starts.

“Sakumo.” The Hokage warns, “I understand you feel the need to help, given the circumstance of your last mission, however I believe it is unnecessary as your mission will not be public knowledge. I have kept that disastrous thing under wraps, and the only people to know will be the follow up mission—“ he says gesturing to 4 of them,”— and my close council. You are dismissed.”

There’s a ringing pause after Hiruzen’s order but Sakumo ultimately says, “Sir,” before turning to leave with the rest of his squad.

The office is silent in the aftermath. Big league or not, nobody likes to see somebody as decorated and infamous as Hatake Sakumo scolded by the Hokage.

Not to mention the supposed disastrous mission.... even loud and outspoken Tsume and her ninken, are keeping to themselves by the window.

The Hokage gives his attention to the five of them then before zeroing in on Minato.

“Minato, it’s with my gravest apologies that I have to send you out so soon after your last mission. However, pending that mission, you were right to assume that there might be more laboratories than just the one you recovered.”

Minato carefully mitigates his breathing and does not think of the tiny boy suspended in a tank too big for him. Doesn’t want to think of other children in the same situation.

“Since you were just in the area, I would normally be hesitant to send you back in, but I no longer have any better options. You were not as close as Inoichi which makes you better suited.” He tells him before addressing the room at whole, “I want an in and out mission, so listen carefully.”

Hiruzen briefly passes around a small packs of mission papers to the four of them and gives a brief summary as they all scan the documents.

They’re going to lightning country, no, they’re going to Kumo. Illegally. Not to be caught under any circumstances.

“Hokage-sama.” Shikaku starts, “I was made aware of the findings of Minato’s mission, but I thought that the information was unprovable for the time being.”

Hiruzen grimaces, “if there was one good thing to come from Sakumo’s mission, it was the confirmation that they do in fact, have something to lord over our heads. We’ve always assumed they had a second bijuu, but now we have definite proof.”

Hiruzen sighs, shoving tobacco into his pipe, “I want to know what else their hiding, and just how far their battle plans go. I don’t expect any explicit labs, or war bunkers to be easy to find.” He finishes, nodding to Tsume and her dog; he places the pipe aside again, courteous of their noses.

“I don’t mean to doubt your decision, Hokage-sama, but wouldn’t a Hyuuga be a better choice?” Tsume asks, breaking her silence, “Kumo enjoys seals, and they get heavy snowfall this time of year.”

“We cannot spare any jonin Hyuuga at this time, especially not to Kumo. I trust with your other team members at your disposal, you’ll be able to make up the difference.” Hiruzen responds.

“Sir.” She says, though her body language screams displeased. Minato mentally grimaces at that brewing storm. Just thinking about trying to find a hideout in the middle of the mountains is giving him altitude sickness already, and on that note...

“You think Kumo has been aiding Orochimaru?” Minato asks wearily. Looking for information on war and information on the type of stuff Orochimaru does is two different things, Minato has come to learn.

“I think,” Hiruzen sighs, “that Kumo’s much too proud to experiment on children. That doesn’t mean they aren’t known for scooping up strays or letting go of prisoners for that matter. If any of our MIA shinobi have ended up in Kumo in the last couple months I want to know. ”

“I mean it, when I say don’t get caught.” Hiruzen adds on seriously, “not just because Konoha will undoubtably feel the repercussions, but I probably won’t be able to bargain you back. Two of you are clan heads,” he says gesturing to Shikaku and Tsume, “and you two are jonin with friends and family. Do Not leave them to suffer the blow, even if Konoha gains nothing from this mission. Shikaku, you’ll lead.”

“Sir!” The four of them affirm. The options are don’t get caught, Minato realizes grimly. Don’t get caught or die.

Shikaku nods and as they all pass back the mission parameters to the Hokage, Ichika asks, “Sir, if you don’t mind, could we hear the full extent of Sakumo’s mission?”

The Hokage and Shikaku grimace in unison. The upcoming jonin commander, and co-head of T&I, likely already aware of more of the situation than was written in mission briefing.

“Sakumo was on a scroll retrieval mission straight north of here. That went off without a hitch, however it was mostly a cover mission as the real thing was to get intel from the meeting happening between Iwa and Kumo. They ran into trouble, of course, our intel about the situation was wrong, and they were quickly found out and outnumbered. Sakumo managed to get the majority of his teammates out but only at the cost of Iwa and Kumo realizing it was Konoha sneaking in on their business. Not to mention he apparently spared one of their Jinchūriki’s life to save one of ours. That of course, isn’t something to concern yourselves with.”

Sage above, Minato thinks, they’re going to Kumo right after Hatake Sakumo’s squadron just got caught snooping into Kumo’s and Iwa’s business. Jinchūriki business where Sakumo demonstrated something that would be perceived as weakness in front of the enemy, regardless of Konoh’as reputation for teamwork.

Hiruzen sighs and rubs a hand across his brow, knocking his hat loose, “I’ve said it twice, and I’ll say it again, Kumo’s on high alert, especially to any Konoha shinobi getting anywhere close to them. Be careful, I probably can’t pull you back out of this.”

The atmosphere is grave and discerning as Hiruzen looks to Minato, “Konoha has already lost one hiraishin user, not to mention a clan head and Hokage to Kumo, do not make it two.”

“Sir!”

Leaving the office has Minato mentally tallying hiraishin kunai and seal packages he can stuff into his pouches. They’ll be in Anbu uniforms and he keeps an ear on Shikaku’s mumbling, as he arranges for Tsume to get Anbu standard armor and calls out a time for them to meet at the west gate.

As they part ways, and Minato flashes into his apartment, he thinks of all the things that’s led them to this mission. His own intel gathering, Orochimaru’s lab, the children, Kumo, Iwa, and Sakumo’s mission.

He thinks of Tenzo with the shodaimes DNA, thinks how Kumo doesn’t experiment on children, always preoccupied with their seals for the Bijuu (that have always been sketchy). Kumo are collectors, if anything, and Orochimaru doesn’t seem like the person to want to be tied down to another village after leaving one.

He wonders if they’re really going to find anything done by the Sanin or maybe they’re really just are looking for battle information.

Minato sighs, it feels like he’s missing a piece of the puzzle but no matter how hard he searches he can’t find it. Frustrating, but he supposes this is just one of those instances that the shinobi are just supposed to trust the Hokage.

Minato thinks of the poison user on their team, of Shikaku and Tsume, of his own rising standing in the village and allows himself to wonder for the second mission in a row just exactly what the Sandaime expects them to find.

Notes:

---I've finally reached the end of pre-written chapters, is this a good thing or a bad thing we just don't know.

---So why that team and not actual anbu?

Tsume for tracking, a poison user to theoretically slow down a bijuu (this wouldn’t work on an actual bijuu but it would work on slowing down the host before the bijuu can’t burn through it), Shikaku for strategy (also bc shadows are discreet which they need) and Minato for speed. Hiruzens thought process Is if they get caught, they are high profile enough to possibly be bargained back. If they were ANBU Kumo wouldn’t bother bargaining unless it’s someone known outside the mask (like Minato or canon Kakashi), so if they aren't that’s like instant KO for them.

Hiruzen is gambling on his good shinobi to come back basically, instead of an expendable shinobi in their place. The struggle lmao.

 

---- Headcanon that Tenzo enjoys the Hokage tower the most because it’s one of the largest and oldest structures that hasn’t been rebuilt so it’s still Hashirama's original Mokuton holding it up. Tenzo can feel it and even if he doesn’t understand what he’s feeling yet, the building likes him and favors him so he feels safe there. :)

Chapter 11: Interlude: Kakashi Hatake

Summary:

The night before Kumo, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a... wait.

It’s a work of a moment to grab his pre-made seals along with some blank ones. He doesn’t need too many marked kunai— hopefully he won’t need them at all, but in an emergency he’d rather be safe than sorry. 

Not to mention he hasn’t tested them. If he dies via an untested modified version of hirashin, he’s certain Kushina will break into the Hokage’s forbidden jutsu scroll to revive him and kill him all over again. 

He’s not sure he wouldn’t deserve it… he’s bringing them anyways. 

“So, those your new and shiny seals?” A voice asks, breaking his concentration. 

Minato throws the kunai before he even thinks about it, spinning around to see a cackling red head cartwheeling across his living room.  

“Kushina,” Minato breaths out roughly, “must you?” 

She grins, big and foxish, “Of course, have to keep you on your toes, yeah?” 

“No, you really don’t.” He counters. Despite his words, a small smile graces his face as Kushina tosses him a half-packed travel bag. 

“You angel,” Minato says surprised, “how did you know?” 

Kushina just shrugs her shoulders, flopping down onto the carpet where extra seal supplies lay neat and orderly. 

“Was it really that far a guess?” 

Minato considers this. Probably not, if he’s honest. He’s high profile which means he travels with other high profile people if he’s not solo. Sometimes you just need to go with other ninja that can keep up. 

He braces himself, “It’s to Kumo.” 

“Holy shit, Kumogakure?” Kushina says, sitting straight up. Her eyes pin him where he is, leaving no thought left for how she feels about that. 

Kushina has particularly nasty feelings about the place. He can relate to the way her face is crinkling like she bit into a lemon. 

“I know,” Minato sighs dejectedly, grabbing a roll of ninja wire out of his cabinet and into his travel bag, “If I die, you’re my next of kin.” 

Kushina pauses, fiddling with a three prong kunai she’s taken the initiative to premark for him. Minato looks up curiously when she doesn’t follow up. He thought she’d already known, but her face is doing something funny.

“Kushina?” He asks hesitantly. He reaches over and slowly slips the kunai from her fingers, letting his hand brush her knuckles.  

“What about your dad?” She asks finally asks softly. 

“Oh” Minato flounders. His dad. “Right. Um, he’s around still but, well, you know.” 

Kushina hums, looking away. One of the first things Kushina ever asked Minato was if he was also a refugee too.  His name all but shouts islander apparently and Minato had to stutter through an explanation that his mother was a trade merchant to and from Uzushio and Konoha. His father, a ninja, never took her death well, and Minato, in name and looks, is a stark and painful reminder. 

Not that that’s a reason for the drunken abuse but well... an excuse is just that he supposes. 

“Well!” Kushina says, her hands clapping together, breaking the tension, “Don’t mutilate yourself with these new seals you haven’t tried out and don’t become a hostage and you might just make it back, ya know.” 

Minato laughs, “I wouldn’t on purpose!” 

Kushina rolls her eyes, a mumbled I mean it about those seals, but a sounding knock at the door makes them go quiet. 

Minato rises from the carpet, silent as he walks across. It shouldn’t be anyone from his team, considering they should be doing their own packing so who could it—

The knock sounds again, and voices carry through the door this time, a young one standing out among them, as they question if anybody’s home. 

Minato opens the door. 

Sakumo Hatake looks up from his crouch. Minato looks down. 

Two sets of tiny dark eyes meet baby blue. 

“Minato-san,” Tenzo says quietly, contentment on his face. Kakashi Hatake, Minato realizes now, standing mulishly on the other side of Sakumo’s legs is definitely sizing him up. 

“Hatake-san, how can I help.” Minato smiles, as the older nin rises. His game winning face making an appearance, though he’s not sure he’s convincing anyone. 

Sakumo stares flatly at him. Well shoot. “We’re here to pick up Tenzo-kun’s things. He’s staying with me while you go on your... mission.” 

Minato doesn’t miss the way Sakumo pauses. He desperately hopes that’s not about to lead to something. 

If so... well thank the sage he gets to run away to Kumo in a minute doesn’t he? 

“Ah,” he says, “you know where your stuff is then, Tenzo-kun?” He steps aside, gesturing to let them in. 

Tenzo smiles shyly, practically a beam from him, before leading the two Hatakes inside. 

Kushina whoops at the sight of the two boys, scooping the little Hatake up. Minato wonders about that relationship but trusts she has them in hand. She likes kids, even if her chaotic energy might suggest otherwise. 

Sakumo of course stands pointedly at his side, surveying the packing supplies laid out. 

Minato debates on subtly changing the subject or sitting in awkward silence. Sages balls, could this be a worse position? Sakumo have mercy. 

“So,” the Hatake clan head hums, “If I were you I’d pack more kunai.” 

“Oh?” Minato inquires. They’re still standing there. Side by side just on the edge of the foyer. The living room might as well be a a museum exhibit, and Minato, the unwilling patron. 

“Oh.” Sakumo parrots. There’s a mocking tone under the seriousness. “They are armed for war, shinobi. You’d best be too.” 

Minato blinks, straightening at the untold reprimand. Clan head or not this is Minato’s tiny apartment and —

Sakumo clears his throat, looking out the window. The faces of the Hokage show clear from the apartment’s vantage point. 

“That being said, I escalated the conflict there. The Hokage seems to think we still have time, but it would take a great fault or offense on Kumo’s part to make them step back. I know what I saw, and I know Kumo is ready whether we are or not.” 

A big offense, Minato ponders somberly, backing down himself. This close to war, it would have to be an old offense too. The last time a war was stopped in its track like that must’ve been before Konoha was founded. A Damiyo had been directly involved in another’s assassination… not to mention the human trafficking ring behind it. Stolen bodies, missing people, similar to what Orochimaru is being accused of now, now that Minato thinks about it. 

Minato wonders if Kumo has anything like that. If Orochimaru had one lab out of country could he have another? Does the Hokage suspect that, sending a team out so close after a high ranking jonin defects? 

“I don’t want my son in a war.” Sakumo admits quietly. Over the hush of his words Kushina’s boisterous laugh echoes through the apartment. Minato listens for Tenzo’s soft voice and Kakashi’s stubborn refusal. 

He doesn’t want them growing up in a war either. He remembers Uzushio’s refugees joining Konoha one by one, meager as the number was. The ninja who came back defeated. Their sister land: gone. 

“If another war starts,” Minato promises, “it won’t be because of us.” 

Blue eyes meet steal grey. They hold for a heartbeat, then two. 

“Your resolve is frightening. Remember to use it when you’re in the mountains, they don’t sway like trees do.” 

Sakumo turns then, walking away towards the sounds of his son’s voice, leaving Minato to the foyer. 

He throws in an extra pack of three pronged kunai into his bag. Is it petty to use Uzushio’s kunai against Kumo? Maybe. But Minato loves his village more than anything and Kumo will learn that too, should it come to it. 

For now he packs his bag, one more focused towards stealth than war. He smiles when his guests come out; he sees them to the door, waving goodbye to Tenzo and the Hatakes, Kushina by his side. The somber atmosphere leaves much to be desired. 

Of course that’s when Kakashi, half way down the steps heading toward the street, turns around. 

“Tenzo and Kushina say you're strong. If you come back from Kumo, I guess you can teach me.” 

Minato pauses, hand in the air, mouth agape. 

If he comes back from…. Wait. Teach him? 

“What-“ 

Sakumo clears his throat pointedly. Loudly. 

“Right. Hokage’s… recommendation. For my health…” he says quickly, throwing a half hearted wave over the shoulder, herding the boys away. 

Kushina and Minato stand quietly, frozen on the staircase. Sakumo’s health… is that how the Hokage wants to go about this? Posing Sakumo’s pull back from commander position to focus on his heath? His work-family life balance? And Minato is to… what? Mentor the kid? Why would that—

Oh… reputation… because if the focus goes onto Minato, young genius jonin, mentoring young prestigious Kakashi, Sakumo’s impending fuck up might be resolved before anyone can even—

Kushina gasps, and then bursts into laughter. 

Minato wants to die. 

“BAHAHAH YOU A TEACHER! HAHA—-“ 

A teacher? There’s a million better options than him. He’s not well rounded or has good habits to pass on— 

“HAHA OH MY GOD— YOU’RE GONNA HAVE A LITTLE DUCKLING FOLLOWING YOU MINATO HAHA THATS SO CUTE—“ 

Holy shit what if he gets hurt on Minato’s watch? Then he’s failed the Hokage and Sakumo. The white fucking fang will be on his ass and to hell, his teacher was Jiriaya, he has no good reference for mentoring—

“OH MY GOD IM GONNA TELL MIKOTO—-“ 

She deserved to be tackled, Minato will reason later, upside down in his neighbors bushes, idly watching the once resting butterflies shoot up into the sky. Kushina would’ve disturbed the neighbors if he didn’t body slam her off the staircase. 

She deserved it. 

Kushina’s laughter can be heard for the rest of the night, following him into the early hours of the morning.  

Mianto relishes the sunrise without her, watching it bloom over Konoha’s gate. He lets the peace it brings wash over him one more time before him and his team head out. 

They depart silently. 

Notes:

I burned out hard in 2020, and my writing was not an exception to it. I wrote some blurbs, wrote a few short fics but didn't feel happy with any of them. Not to mention writing a hundred words felt like climbing through mud. This chapter has been complete for a while but it's not until recently I started rereading stuff I wrote a year/ two years ago and seeing it's not that bad. I'm hoping to get back into the swing of writing soon.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 7 of Pool noodles and other assorted floaties