Minato makes bad decisions part 2
Minato really regretted going to the park. Stuffy rich clan people were glaring at him like he was dirt. Damn, he had cleaned up and everything too. Granted he had washed himself in a river and finger combed his only mildly! Dirty blond hair but it's the thought that counts right?
The whispers got louder and disapproving looks got aimed hard at the back of his head. The clan kids were looking at him oddly and not in a good way. The stares directed at him were the same kind of look if you found gum on the bottle of your shoe. Vaguely disgusted and mildly grossed out.
Minato squared his shoulders. It was fine, everything was fine. He deserved to be here as much as anyone else. Of course that train of thought didn’t last very long when a kid rammed into him and then “accidentally” spat at him and the adults tittered behind him hiding smiles in their hands.
Shame rolled hot in his stomach and he grit his teeth.
He can’t back down, not this time. If he retreats chances of survival for him go down. If he manages to gain a friendship with a clan kid his chances of survival and a better life go skyrocketing up. He would have more opportunities and a buffer to other clans to further his fame so he can’t just disappear easily. He can’t–he doesn’t–he doesn’t want to die.
“Sup”
At first he thinks the voice is a physical manifestation of his hopes and wildest dreams. It takes a few seconds for him to realize that someone had actually spoken to him. To him!
He glances down where the voice came from and sees a Nara boy with another Akimichi kid at his side. Both are lounging on the grass soaking up the sun. Just to make sure he glance quickly around him to make sure they were actually talking to him. He’s a little tempted to point to himself but the Nara’s unimpressed expression seemed judgemental.
“Hi”
Wow, eloquent Minato, really eloquent. Truly you are the pinnacle of intelligence. How wonderfully smart you are.
The Nara boy stared at him and he stared back, the Akimichi looked between them and seemed a little bemused.
What do rich kids like to talk about? Should he start a conversation about their clans to subtly show off his intellect? The Nara would probably see through it though. Should he start a conversation about the ninja academy? Was he supposed to propose a game to play? What did clan kids even do? Play cards with money? Minato is literally broke as fuck. No like literally. He doesn’t even have coins in his fish purse anymore. He had spent his last few coins to buy a muffin for a meal yesterday. He–he should probably introduce himself and implement his plan.
“Hi, I’m Namikaze Minato. I want to be hokage someday. What's your name?”
Minato is cursing every kami that he knows. He sounded like a actual idiot and now he’s silently offering up prayers that they don’t tell him to fuck off. He might literally cry and then crawl into a hole and die. Nara and Akimichi were the chill ones right? He’s definitely heard some stuff about the Uchiha and Hyuuga and their feud over the Byakugan and Sharingan. Like shit he would just be happy to even have a dojutsu or as Mikumo from the orphanage had put it. “Magic fucking eyeballs.”
The Nara isn’t responding, just looking at him judgmentally. Why isn’t the Nara responding? Minato is gonna die. His organs are going to be carved out and he might actually let it happen because of how embarrassed he is. He wouldn’t be surprised if he caught on fire.
“This is Nara Shikaku and I’m Akimichi Chouza. It’s nice to meet you Minato, do you want to sit down with us?”
Thank Kami for Akimichi. Minato silently upgrades Akimichi to his favorite clan and he–wait. Did he say Shikaku and Chouza? Holy shit he might actually be having heart palpitations. These were the clan heirs. Like future clan heads. The Nara is going to be Jonin commander when he comes of age. Holy– the Nara’s father is the current Jonin commander. This is two thirds of InoShikaCho. This was–he hadn’t even dreamed of this. These two people are going to future clan heads. Once they come of age they're going to be one of the most influential people of Konoha, the Nara especially. He was–this was–this was an unprecedented amount of luck. If he managed to befriend them, hell even make a good lasting impression then he was in. If clan heirs of clans like Nara and Akimichi were his friends his life would improve by so much. They were friendly and generally liked by the rest of the clans and civilian population thanks to the Akimichi’s demeanor and restaurants. He–he couldn’t waste this chance.
Minato plopped himself down and tried to make his expression as open and friendly as possible. The Akimichi er– Chouza offered a chip to him. Was this a silent offer of friendship? Was the chip a test to see if he would try and leech off of them? What if he offended them by saying it wasn’t good? What if he discovered an allergy to the chip and had an allergic reaction and had to be rushed to the hospital? He couldn’t afford a hospital.
“Stop thinking so much, just take the chip.” The Nara—Shikaku drawled.
He startled again–! (he should really work on that) and robotically reached out and took the chip and shoved it into his mouth.
This–this was the best thing he had ever eaten. The flavors holy– this singular chip even beat out his beloved cup noodles. Nothing was ever beating Ichiraku's Ramen though.
“Thanks, it's really good.”
Minato did not feel that was adequate praise for the chip.
“Lie down and watch the clouds.”
Minato had important things to do. He even had a list and needed to go muster up the courage to ask someone important if he could enlist in the academy early. He needed to complete these steps to stop his probable kidnapping and death.
He lay down next to the Akimichi and watched the clouds.