Chapter 9
Minato stood before his hokage with the assertiveness that came with having fought in a war. He would take responsibility for not having told his leader the truth, however by the looks of it someone had already informed him of what had transpired at Jiraiya's home.
Minato was not cruel, in the short time he had known Naruto for he had loved her. He had loved her from the moment he had heard he had a sister. When he met her it was as if he could breathe easily. He had never known he was alone yet as he first gazed at his sister, he realised how lonely he truly was.
She was his sister, his family, his blood yet she had this stubbornness that would surely be the end of her one day.
He had to make sure that she lived, no matter if it meant betraying her trust forever. He'd rather be hated for being himself than to be loved whilst living a lie.
He also had a duty he had not completed by withholding information from his leader about her. He had been blinded at first yet this episode had been the final straw. He would not allow the beast within her to be the cause of her death. He would sacrifice himself before he ever allowed his only family to die.
When he had seen the bright chakra form around his sister, his initial reaction was shock. However when she fell to the ground, gasping in pain, skin burnt and rapidly healing he had known he made a mistake. He could have stopped her pain before it had ever happened.
He had allowed Jiraiya sensei to delude him into a false sense of safety, yet could not hold much blame to him.
This was where his emotions clashed; on one part he was angered that his sensei would put his own kin at risk but the other part understood why he had done so. To take the bijuu out of her would surely sign her death certificate however that didn't mean he couldn't fix her seal.
"Minato. I just sent a messenger to get you." He raised his hands to place silencing seals around the room as he dismissed the ANBU in the room.
"The previous week Naruto let it slip she was a jinchuriki so the next night I had confronted Jiraiya sensei about it and he confirmed she was indeed a jinchuriki. He told me I had no right to judge her or make her feel like a monster that constantly needed watching. He reminded me of the life Kushina had lived when she arrived as a foreigner, and had anyone been informed of what she held, her treatment would have been much worse.
"I didn't want that life for her. However, that is no excuse for my negligence of informing you. Neither of them had said what she was jinchuriki to, however today I caught a glimpse of seven tails protruding from Naruto. She subconsciously released a sudden burst of its chakra and it covered her whole body when a kunai came her way. The chakra was very corrosive and burnt her skin. She healed moments later and got into an argument with me, saying the bijuu were misunderstood and no different from people. She gave examples.
"She also knew Kushina held a bijuu, though she didn't specifically say which one, I figure she knows. She seemed to be defending all nine of them…" he was unsure what else he had to say.
Minato had always been on point when telling the sandaime anything he needed to be debriefed on, however this went into his personal life and was not a mission report. It was his informing his leader that his sister contained a demon inside of her.
"I understand that this isn't very easy for you, Minato. However, you and Jiraiya will have to face the consequences of keeping such vital information from me. As she is family to the both of you I will be lenient, however should this occur again, a more severe punishment will have to done. As Jiraiya and yourself will be needed outside of Konoha often, both of you will rotate shifts on night guard duty. For now that is all. I will have the same talk with Jiraiya. You are dismissed."
As Minato left, a rock fell into his stomach, metaphorically. His throat clogged and he felt as if he had committed a sin instead of relieving himself of one.
Telling the truth should have made things better, little did he know it would do the opposite.
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Naruto watched as the two rivals sparred, it was sight to be held. Obito fought with everything he had yet Kakashi was making quick work of any attack coming his way. She expected nothing less of the boy who made chunin at six.
Both of their fighting styles were very different to the styles they used in the future so she watched the two spar religiously. If she ever had to go against them in either a friendly spar or battle she shouldn't expect the attack future them would dish out but the one they were capable of.
It was ultimately a different type of spar compared to the ones they would fight during the fourth war, when both had been in their prime and had mastered the art of the styles they used. She felt her heart ache at the thought of what pain Kakashi-sensei must had gone through with the thought that they were no longer sparring- but fighting to the death.
Kakashi moved his hair out of his eye causing hers to twitch. Future Kakashi had the common sense to place that hair out of his headband and not under it. She would have to rectify her child sensei's hair do as well as his mannerism and attitude to his teammates.
Her list seemed to be growing and growing yet she wasn't getting anywhere. As it was she could barely summon her chakra on her free will. Her only consolation was she could tree jump with chakra but tree walking was out of the question. She had tried and ended up blowing the tree up as well as hurt her feet to a degree- yet she somehow managed to water walk.
Shisui was practicing shuriken throwing and granted she should take in his footsteps yet instead decided to meditate and focus on her chakra.
Crossing her legs, she closed her eyes and placed her fingers back to back. Breathing slowly she felt for her chakra. It wasn't easy, in this form her chakra was hidden so at first all she could feel was natures energy, but decided against going anywhere near it before she could handle her own. She could somehow feel Kakashi's and Jiraiya's chakra which irritated her, yet she forced herself to try again.
One would think with her large chakra reserves she would find it easier to locate, but for some reason she had been struggling to do so. She had borrowed a book from Jiraiya about chakra locating and found a chapter on how different people found their chakra in different ways.
He had asked why she didn't already know this and gave him a bland look, her teachers hadn't been the most informative when it came to teaching the kyuubi brat, minus Iruka sensei and Kakashi sensei, the latter was simply lazy but he had taught her the things she would never forget; 'those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum.'
After the war she had learnt Obito had been the one to say that to him, yet she had a hard time believing it. However now she could easily believe him.
She focused back on her chakra, thinking of the colour, scent or taste of it. Thinking of the colour made a large difference as she located Kurama's chakra surrounding her own as if protecting it, or caging, it could go either way with him.
Kurama's orange chakra had taken the form of nine tails encompassing hers. She didn't like how her chakra was blue, she much preferred when it came out to be orange or yellow. Deciding there was nothing much she could do about it she focused on reaching it yet was abruptly shaken out of her meditation.
Literally.
Kakashi, Obito and Shisui seemed to be shaking her, hitting her head and poking her. Glaring at all of them she waved her hands to fend them off her.
"What was all that for?!" she stood up, wiping her mud off her trousers as she continued to glare at them.
Obito pointed to where she was sitting, the grass had grown considerably whereas Kakashi pointed to the trees which had grown leaves, in the middle of autumn and Shisui pointed to some plants that were a few meters from them which had also grown.
Looking around she saw no sign of Jiraiya so she spoke, "Um yeah… where's ero-tousan?"
"Lord Jiraiya was summoned to the hokage. He told us to get your attention when he was leaving and we became more frantic about it when everything started growing. What were you doing to cause all that?" asked Kakashi as he folded his arms, eyes scrutinizing all of her.
"I was trying to reach my chakra…" she didn't know what else to say. It was all she had been doing, she hadn't even touched the power the sage of six paths had granted her, discreetly she checked her right hand but it was covered meaning she couldn't check the sun mark on it.
He looked sceptically at her yet decided against asking any further questions. "I need to take you home… Obito will take Shisui to his house and you're coming to mine…" he seemed reluctant to take her. Not very surprised, Kakashi, even future him, had been reluctant to allow anyone in his home.
She had only seen his home when he invited her over, or when she followed him. However each time he had known she was there, welcoming her with open arms.
There had been a short duration of time she had been his lover, between when she returned to Konoha and when Sasuke came home. No one had known and it hadn't lasted very long. However, even after he had confided in her.
In hurt that this Kakashi was so closed off to her yet she knew it was just how he was.
Bidding the Uchiha's farewell they slowly made their way to Kakashi's home. Once there she had been surprised to see it was the same building as he had lo
lived in before Pain's attack.
She had chuckled and he glared at her lightly, "What's so funny?"
"Honestly, nothing. Your apartment building just reminded me of something back home."
"Konoha is your home now. You should get used to it." She smiled at him, and she felt his chakra jump. Deciding to tease him slightly she latched onto his arm, dragging him to where she knew was his apartment.
She ignored his protests as she gripped his wrist and dragged him up the stairs, ignoring the looks and glare they were receiving. At first she had thought they were to her but then realised they were to Kakashi.
Gritting her teeth she stopped at his door, gesturing for him to open it. Doing so he welcomed her in, somewhat reluctantly.
Removing their shoes for sandals they made their way into the living room. She spied three photos on the mantle-piece, the first was facing downwards yet she knew what it was. It was of Kakashi and his father, Sakumo. The second photo was of his and Minato when he had been made his apprentice. And the third was his team photo.
She sat awkwardly, trying not to look around the place as it was make Kakashi feel out of place. One thing about thing apartment bugged her, Kakashi didn't have any ninken in it. It felt so bare and cold without them.
He made tea and sat on the armchair opposite her. There was a simple three seater sofa and one armchair next to a small desk and lamp. There was two bookshelves filled with books and scrolls and Naruto knew in his bedroom there was a large desk and another bookshelf. Both filled with scrolls and books. They were all categorised in some sort of system Kakashi deemed to be the most understandable.
When she had tried to find something in her own time, she had tried and given up after five minutes then Kakashi had emerged and taken out the book she was looking for. His system never made any sense to her.
"Do you mind if I take a look at your reading materials?" she asked after ten minutes of awkward silence. He gave her a reluctant nod, and in return she gave a bright smile as she browsed the shelves.
After five minutes she still couldn't make sense of his wacky system so she spoke with her back turned to him, not wanting to see his face as she spoke. "I didn't mean offence the other day when I mentioned your father Kakashi. I… Sakumo Hatake did what he thought best, and the village shunned him for it. No matter how much good he had done, nothing bought him out of the darkness the village had put around him. No matter what people say, no matter how much they glare at you and whisper about your father, he did what he thought would take away the pain… in that you are so different you hide your pain through following the rules."
"I hide nothing. The rules are made to be followed. It's why we have them' my father chose his comrades over the mission and in the end they and the rest of the village hated him for it. Instead of facing the consequences he took the selfish way out." She turned around and looked at him, a sad smile on her face as she gazed at him.
"I won't try and change your mind. I know you won't change it yet. But know this, I will always try and make you see the worth of your comrades. No one is dispensable. We are not weapons, we are people who deserved to be loved."
She hadn't realised she had moved towards him till she was in front of him. Her head only reached the middle of his chest, which annoyed her. She hated being short. His shoulders were rigid as she hugged around his torso, his arms frozen at his sides. "You deserve to be loved and not glared at. No matter what the villager's say, no matter how much they glare and whisper, their opinion doesn't matter. They don't know you, they didn't know your father… they have no right to judge so don't let what they say get to you…"
Kakashi felt warm despite his cold exterior. His warmth wrapped around her and as she closed her eyes, his warmth encompassed her into a peaceful slumber.
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Naruto began to fall, which was when Kakashi instinctively grabbed her to him. She had fallen asleep, shocking him as to how she could sleep that quickly.
He looked to the clock and cursed, Minato sensei or Lord Jiraiya would be there at any given moment, and here the girl slept. He raised her slight figure, shocked at how little she weighed as she debated where to put her.
He could put her on the sofa where he would get yelled at for not being very hospitable, and if he put her on his bed Minato would go ballistic and not listen to reason.
He felt it was safer to put her on his bed and stay in a different room to her, this way he wouldn't get told off by the sennin and his sensei combined.
Placing her on his bed, he wrapped his sheets around her and watched as she burrowed into them, curling her body around the sheets as she grasped them tightly. He looked around and found is extra pillow and placed it where her arm was, a small smile making its way on his face as he watched her hug it close.
Once he noticed he was basically being a peeping tom he left the room, door ajar, and sat on his armchair.
He thought about what about what Naruto had said, about his father and the villagers. She was right on one thing, he wouldn't change his mind. No matter how determined the hyperactive blonde was, he was just as stubborn.
At some point he must have fallen asleep because he jostled up, shocked by the banging going on at his door. He saw Naruto rub her eyes as she sat up on the bed, quickly he checked the time and saw it had been just a half hour since she had fallen asleep.
He went to the door quickly. The only people who came here were Lord Jiraiya, Kushina and Minato sensei. To his surprise, Minato and Jiraiya both were at his door, Minato having been the one to abuse his door causing him to glare at his sensei.
"Were you trying to break my door, sensei?"
He gestured for them to enter, walking behind them after they did so. "You didn't answer when I first knocked… where is Naruto?"
He pointed to his bedroom door as the blonde emerged, smile bright yet tired eyed. She ran past Minato and straight into Jiraiyas arms. The sennin raised her high, smile wide as she laughed and jumped in his arms.
"Daaad! Where'd you go?" she pouted and folded her arms in front of her. This behaviour caused him to take a step back. Whenever he had seen the girl she had been nothing less than a mature child yet now she's acting like an actual child.
She completely ignored her brother who was standing not far from Jiraiya, a distant sadness clouding his eyes.
Jiraiya chuckled, "Sensei called me into his office, that's all."
She titled her head to the side as she let her arms wrap around his neck, "Do you have to go on another mission?"
"No, brat. He just wanted me to answer some questions, that's all." He ruffled her hair, and looked to Minato. The smile on his face vanished as he regarded his student, "Don't you want to say bye to your brother, Naru?"
She pouted before looked at his sensei, the light in her eye dimmed slightly as did her smile yet she maintained her large smile, "Bye, aniki!" she gave a wave and then looked to Kakashi who was now very short compared to her, "See ya' senpai" he raised a brow at the endearment but waved back at her nonetheless when they left.
Once again an awkward silence fell into his home. He looked to his sensei who had sat down, hands dragging across his face, "Sensei?"
"I think I just screwed things up with Naruto royally. And I don't know how to fix it."
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"What do you mean he wants to tell the people?!" yelled a very shocked Naruto. Jiraiya and her had just gotten home when he had told her what had happened at the office.
"He won't be telling everyone. But he will be telling your sensei and whoever ends up as your jonin instructor, teammates as well as whoever looks after you. The ANBU will all be informed, at least the ones who watch over you. You will also be watched more closely whilst in the village. He also wished to talk to you soon." He reluctantly replied, worried what her reaction would be.
"You mean to tell me… the sandaime intends to make my life a misery a second time and doesn't even know it?."
"At least this time they won't be blaming you for the deaths of their loved ones…" offered Jiraiya, unsure what else he could say in consolation.
When the ANBU had come to escort him to the office he knew what it would be about, yet had hoped beyond hope that he was wrong. He had thought Minato valued his sister's love more than he showed, yet clearly he had been mistaken.
He didn't hold blame to his student, after this incident there was no way for the sandaime not to be informed since the ANBU were watching Naruto closely. That didn't stop him from feeling he distrust towards his student. He said he hadn't wished this for Naruto and here they were.
History was repeating itself.
Sort of.
"I'm sure with the limited amount of people being informed, things should work out a lot better." He gave her a smile and got off the sofa, broadly claiming he was going to cook dinner, which in turn caused her to look thoroughly repulsed.