Chapter 3
Minato was disturbed by how the boy had changed within the last few days. He had completely shut down since the first time he saw him. He thought that the boy was amazing. The way he had moved in the forest with the unconscious Kakashi, a naturally hidden cave, and then that ingenious Genjutsu-like skill. He could be very useful.
But now. Seeing as he was completely numb, just like Kakashi had been after his father had died, and Obito. It hadn't been as bad with Obito, but this… this was worse than he had seen anyone before. It was like his whole world had collapsed, and he had lost everyone. That’s how deep his sorrow feels. He couldn’t even look at the boy long enough not to feel a glimpse of it.
He took the boy to the house, and Kakashi gave him a set of six kunai. He frowned at the action until he saw what he began to do with them. He lost sight of two kunai almost immediately.
“He made it up himself,” Kakashi said, looking at the boy.
“He what?”
“I just showed him how to throw a kunai once with both hands. He didn’t ask anything and began trying. But since we were moving most of that time, he began to fiddle with the two he had and come up with that. He lost one, and I brought back a few more for him.”
“Lost one? That doesn’t look like he would have lost one.” He questioned, as the boy’s control over the blades was getting scary good.
Kakashi indicated to the other room, they went, and he explained what happened.
“You saw Iwa-nin escaped, and one followed you?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t detect him; it was just that Hari had sent a kunai flying, and it looked random. I think he practised throwing while I rested. But he hadn’t done that before, not while moving. I didn’t expect anything, just a lost kunai, but then there was a sound, and I went to check. It was the one who found our cave, but the moment he saw me, he let go of his injury, bleeding out quickly. I took a few of his kunai and gave them to Hari to see what he would do with them. He hadn’t even followed me, just sat down. I don’t think he registered what he did or that he did something at all.” Minato took his time digesting all of it. Still, he couldn’t think long and needed to know more about the boy.
“Now that we have some time, tell me what else you learned about him and why he shut down.”
“He was fine when you left, and he woke up. He hadn’t actually wanted to come at first but then followed. He knew what was safe to eat in the forest… but the night watch, he left the area and kept staring at the stars and crying. He didn’t make a sound or anything. He woke me at the right time, slept three hours and probably woke from a nightmare. That’s when I noticed that his eyes were dead, and I showed him how to throw a kunai.”
“What about that wooden stick?” that was the part he was most curious about.
“I only caught him once. He uses it to cast his Genjutsu, but he also doesn’t know what a Genjutsu is.”
“Alright, see if Guy is in the village and if he can pull out a reaction.”
“Do you want to kill him?” Kakashi blinked up at him, really looking like he would rather do anything else than bring Guy out to bully the boy.
Minato wondered about that. Kakashi had been strangely protective of the boy and the boy seemed of the same mind. He kept an eye on Kakashi even when he knew nothing about him.
“No, given that you gave him something to play with, he should do some exercises. Besides, he isn’t in bad shape if he can keep up with your pace.” Kakashi didn’t seem to like it but did as told and left.
Minato returned to the living room where they had left the boy, who by now had managed to vanish all but two of the six kunai. He kept watching and finally noticed what he was doing and how he was constantly switching the blades. For a kid who was not a ninja, this was impressive.
The kid hadn’t moved much, and suddenly, he vanished all his blades.
“Can I use the bathroom?” his tone lacked the usual need for someone who had to use the bathroom.
“Of course,” Minato said and pointed to the right door.
The boy left and closed the door behind him. He was silent in his steps like a ninja, but not entirely like it’s a learned behaviour for something.
After locating the boys, Minato returned to the location and looked around the bodies in a circle. He quickly located the one with two missing kunai and looked around the area. He noticed the boy's tracks as he moved and where he had come from.
There were no tracks where he came from. It actually looked like he had dropped from the sky or appeared just in this location. It couldn’t be right. He had searched around the area but couldn’t find anything. The simple conclusion was that he had indeed just dropped from the sky. He thought some seals could probably do that, but no… even that would leave a trace.
The boy’s entire existence was a mystery.
He pulled out some of his work and began to work through them, as today was one of his more relaxed days. He was still wrapping his head around everything he had done in this war. It wasn’t easy to accept them.
He didn’t notice when the boy came out or that he began to look around the place. He just kept working on his own things. It was hours later when he finally remembered him. Seeing as he wasn’t in the main room, he looked around and found him in the back, where Kakashi and Guy showed him katas.
The following days continued about the same, but Hari slowly began to emerge as he scowled at Guy and his relentless positivity. But he didn’t complain and continued on the physical work.
Minato had wanted to warn Kushina that they had an extra guest in the house when she returned from her mission and didn’t think much about the boy, but he was wrong. He should have warned the boys, especially Hari.
He had been in the back with Kakashi and Hari. Guy was apparently sent on a mission, and they were doing some target practice. Hari was getting rather good at it, while now he had around ten kunai on him at all times, hidden somewhere.
“Hey there… where you assigned a new student? Where is Rin?”
He didn’t know why, but his eyes were clued to Hari instead of turning to Kushina. The boy turned slowly at the new voice. He reacted to every new person differently. Maybe he wanted to see how he would respond to her… what he saw didn’t go with anything logical.
The boy froze. His eyes locked on Kushina, and tears threatened to fall. He blinked several times, looked away, located the garden gate, and walked out.
“Who was that? He seems familiar. Is he someone from the village?”
“Familiar? Why do you say familiar?” he finally turned to her.
He could feel Kakashi going after him. But right now, he needed to know why she would feel like Hari was familiar.
“The eyes, I feel like I should know them… who is he?”
“He said his name is Hari. He hasn’t shared anything else yet. But Inoichi said he is grieving.”
“I could feel that. The pain he feels is nothing I have felt. It’s a wonder he is still standing. It rivals the Kyubi.”
He sighed. “I should see what it was all about. Do you mind?”
“No, is he staying with us?” Minato hummed in response. “It’s dinner time; I’ll make something besides Ramen.”
“Oh, that’s surprising. It’s good that you are back.” He went over and kissed her before seeing where the two had gone.
Minato looked for the two boys and found them chatting—probably their first conversation since the first day. He listened but didn’t interrupt…
He returned to the house, thinking.
“You are back sooner than I expected.” She observed him and frowned, “What did you find out?”
“He said you look like his mother.”
The silence stretched between them. “Anything else?” she finally said.
“The eyes. Everyone around apparently told him he had her eyes.”
“So, wait… you mean… he might be Uzumaki.” He had no clue how she reached this conclusion from what he said, but he couldn’t fault her for wanting and hoping some of her family might still be around and surviving somehow.
“No, not that…” Minato began to explain what happened and how Hari got to be with them.
“He could still be an Uzumaki. Can we do a test?” she was eager to find out. Even if the possibility of that was near zero, she still hoped that other Uzumaki were around.
He didn’t promise her anything. Let them first try to get past dinner. Kakashi brought him back sometime later. The boy just ate silently and went out back with Kakashi.
Kushina watched the two in shock as both of them talked. He wasn’t much better. Kakashi didn’t usually share things, but now he did. Both were slowly braiding ninja wire… which was weird, but it seemed to help the two of them stay calm even as they talked of complicated things.
He didn’t listen this time, but Kushina sat close by and sniffed behind the book she was fake reading.