Chapter 12: Who Am I?
Naruto wasn't sure how long he knelt in that room, petting Kakashi's hair and sniffling, but the boy allowed it while looking bored as ever except for his sharp eyes. When he composed enough of himself to stand, his stiff knees almost gave out on him.
"You should fix your face, Neechan. Now it's splotchy on top of being girly," Kakashi suggested helpfully. Naruto's face flushed, from embarrassment or outrage he wasn't sure, and launched himself at the kid.
"You brat… Take that back." He made an attempt to pinch the little chuunin's cheek. Naruto knew Kakashi was trying to distract him from his issues and huffed as he manhandled the small body under his arm. He was surrounded by perceptive, tactful people; why could he never figure out how to be one too?
He dragged a squirming boy out of the room with him in a tight chokehold but froze mid-step in the doorway. Minato sat cross-legged to the side of the door in deep sleep. That he didn't wake up through the racket they were making was a testament to his exhaustion. Escaping from slackened arms, Kakashi walked over and poked Minato's cheek with a small finger before Naruto could stop him.
Minato's right hand was instantly wrapped around a thin wrist as his left rubbed his abused cheek. "You know, Kakashi-kun, there are a number of more polite ways to wake someone. Why do you always choose the painful ones?" Kakashi smirked in response.
Naruto watched, frozen in place. If Minato was waiting out here, it meant he had heard him bawling his eyes out. Again. Dismayed, he watched Kakashi taunt the older man as a tick formed above the ANBU Captain's eyebrow. At the rate he was embarrassing himself, he was never going to get Minato's respect…
"Sakumo-senpai sent me to tell you dinner will be ready soon," Minato told them.
"Naruto-neechan! You have to try dad's cooking. He's the best chef in the world."
"When did I go back to been your sister?" Naruto protested half-heartedly, listening to Kakashi's feet patter down the hall but weary eyes not leaving Minato's face. However, the taller blonde merely walked over and gave Naruto's hand a light but firm squeeze.
"Sakumo-senpai really is an amazing cook." He smiled, letting go and following Kakashi. "You'll want to get there before Kakashi-kun eats it all," Minato's smile transformed into a grin, "Naru-chan."
Naruto's jaw dropped halfway at the name. "Hey, I'm not a girl! Why don't people understand? I'm the most masculine person in this entire world." He jogged after them as he smiled gratefully at Minato's back.
"Right. Just keep telling yourself that, Naru-chan," he managed to say before letting out an 'omph' when Naruto tackled him from behind.
"Did you say something, Minato-kun?" Naruto growled and towed them down the hall with Minato trapped in the same chokehold Kakashi had been in earlier. "Or should I call you Mina-kun? Mina-chan? Or Nato-chan? …No, I have an awesome idea. You'll be Nattō-chan!"
Minato squawked indignantly as he pulled his head out from under the arm and lightly punched Naruto's shoulder.
"Nattō? Fermented soy beans? Really?"
"If I have to be a girl, you're going to be fermented beans. I think it's a fair tradeoff." The smaller blonde elbowed him in the ribs. "I'll be sure to share my thoughts with Kakashi-kun."
"Oh, no way. Get back here!"
Naruto dashed away laughing, chased by a frantic Minato.
When they finally reached the hall outside the kitchen, they were a mess of dust and bruises.
"I'm glad you children made it," Kakashi said blandly. "I hope you two didn't knock out any walls on your way down."
Minato looked away with a light pink dusting his cheeks while Naruto grinned triumphantly
"You see, Kakashi-kun, I had an amazing idea. I think we should call Mina–mmphh!"
"There's no idea," Minato amended quickly, hand stuck firmly over Naruto's mouth with chakra. "He's just being an idiot."
Skeptical, Kakashi opened his mouth to comment but was interrupted by Sakumo's head peering around the doorway. He was about to speak but stopped when he saw the state of the two young men and Naruto struggling against Minato's hand.
Sakumo coughed. "Well, I'm glad you made it… I hope you two didn't hurt yourself on your way down."
Both father and son arched identical eyebrows.
Naruto snorted a laugh behind the hand as Sakumo Number One popped back into the kitchen after telling them dinner was ready and Sakumo Number Two rolled his eyes before following. Oh god, they're practically the same, Naruto thought as he struggled some more.
"Mmmphh!"
"Not until you promise not to tell anyone."
"Nmmwyy." Minato understood the gist of his distorted reply.
"Then I'm not removing my hand."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. He began pushing his own chakra over Minato's hand, down his sides, and wriggled. Nothing happened.
"Mmrrhh?"
Minato laughed at the disgruntled expression. "I'm not ticklish, Naru-chan."
Naruto fumed. He didn't want to lick the hand, and he didn't think it would be smart to attack with a jutsu. He even considered kneeing the crotch, but that was fighting too dirty this situation even for shinobi. So he fell back on releasing killing intent until Minato jerked back.
"Ow!" Naruto clapped his hand over his mouth. "You're supposed to release the chakra before you rip away the hand."
"Stop being a baby. That barely stung." Minato steered them into the kitchen.
The food smelled heavenly.
It tasted just as heavenly.
The man could cook.
And the reason for his skill made Naruto choke.
"My jounin sensei told me girls were more attracted to boys who could cook, so I took secret lessons from the Hyuuga clan for a year," Sakumo told them shamelessly – almost proudly.
"Uhh…did it work?" Naruto asked
Sakumo's charming grin was back. "Oh, it did. And it still does. Every time."
Naruto suppressed the urge to gag. Sakumo's answer was as disturbing as it was fascinating. It almost sounded like the beginnings of a con. Naruto imagined the man could probably be an outstanding con artist with that face and personality.
But no wonder Kakashi-sensei disliked eating out. It wasn't because of his mask or awkwardness in public. It was because his home-cooked food – or memories of his home-cooked food – had always been many times better than any restaurants'.
"Kakashi-kun," Naruto spoke up between bites of simmered mackerel, "can you cook like this too?" He better not, Naruto thought darkly as he recalled his teacher making the team eat crappy take-out whenever they visited his apartment.
The boy looked up from his beef and potato stew. "A little. I'll make grilled eel for you. It's my best."
Kakashi-sensei, you asshole! And to think you were so cute when you were little.
"Can you make karaage?"
"I'm learning that next," Kakashi answered and started on his ebi tempura.
Minato looked at Kakashi oddly. "How come you won't cook for me, but you would for Naruto? You even offered."
"Naruto-neechan is special. I'm going to teach her how to cook, too."
The Hunter-nin seethed. "I told you before, I'm not a girl. Minato is girlier than me."
"Not in your life." "Yeah right." "I beg to differ."
Naruto glared at Sakumo Number One for his whispered comment and then at the other two for theirs.
"I'll prove it to you then!" Naruto growled. He made to rise from his chair but Minato's harsh grip on his shoulder shoved him back down.
"Naruto, if you're about to do what I think you are, I will castrate you."
The smaller blonde's eyes swept from his friend's pink cheeks to Sakumo's smirk to Kakashi's raised eyebrows, and the realization of what exactly he had been about to do hit him hard. He completely snapped out of his indignation towards the three when Sakumo chuckled.
"Maybe you could wait until after dinner," he said and winked.
Naruto flushed bright red. He felt Akashiori's persona smack him upside the head in his mindscape and groaned inwardly at his undisciplined hotheadedness.
"Oh, god…" He dropped his face into his hands. "Can you all forget what just happened?"
"Not this time, Naruto-kun." Sakumo took a languid sip of his tea. "Not this time."
It was late when the two guests decided it was time to leave.
Kakashi was nodding off on the sofa, and Naruto was teasing the boy mercilessly. The young chuunin had insisted on staying with the adults, arguing that staying awake through the night was a necessary shinobi skill. So the Hunter-nin thought it would be fun to help him out and get back at him for the many 'girly' comments.
As the group stood to say their goodbyes, Sakumo approached Naruto.
"Naruto-kun, I hope you enjoyed yourself tonight," he said, settling his large hand on the blonde's shoulder. He inwardly winced when he felt Naruto flinch but kept his hand firmly in place. He was determined to have the adorable Hunter-nin accept him; if Minato could get through to him, there was no reason he couldn't.
"Y-yeah, I had a great time. Thanks for cooking the awesome food," Naruto replied with false cheer as he tried to discreetly slip his shoulder out from under the heavy weight.
"You are welcome here at any time. Kakashi is quite taken with you, as well."
Naruto smiled even as his fingers started to twitch for a kunai. "He's really a great kid." They looked over at the boy who was probably inadvertently insulting the ANBU.
As if sensing the eyes, their faces turned to the other two. Minato almost growled when he saw a distressed Naruto trying to escape Sakumo's solid grip. He could tell that in less than a minute the Hunter-nin would launch an attack in instinctive self-defense.
Minato stalked over, eyes glinting dangerously. "Sakumo-senpai, thank you for having us," he said, voice smooth and low.
The hairs on the back of Sakumo's neck began to rise at the glint and the animalistic vibes coming from the man next to him. Even Kakashi standing several meters away felt the tension and took a step back.
"The food was superb. You've outdone yourself again," Minato continued pleasantly. "We had a wonderful time, though it seems like Naruto is worn out by the last several days of travel. I should take him home now." Minato extended a chakra-covered hand to Naruto whose eyes were now looking frantically for escape. His eyes snapped to Minato's face at mention of his name, and he immediately grabbed the offered hand.
At the warm contact, the panicking blonde exhaled slowly, and at a gentle tug from Minato, he pulled himself free from Sakumo. His urge to bolt dissipated when a protective arm curled around his shoulders.
"Sakumo-senpai, Kakashi-kun. Goodnight." With a chilly smile from the ANBU-nin, they disappeared in a flash of yellow.
Kakashi snorted and walked out of the room.
"Great job, dad. We'll be lucky if they ever talk to us again."
Several days later, a beautiful scene was unfolding:
On one fine February afternoon, a pretty, dark-haired girl in her early twenties decorated a road in Konoha. She sat daintily on a bench outside Uchiha Senbei enjoying a box of freshly baked rice crackers. Despite being bundled in the warmest of winter clothing, her cheeks were stained a lovely rosy red and each breath puffed gently into the crisp air. As always, she took pleasure in mingling with the wonders of nature and its charming variety of weather.
Not.
Kimiko was freezing, grumpy, impatient, and just wanted to return to home for a mug of hot chocolate, before curling up in toasty blankets for a nap. Instead, she was freezing her ass off and eating enough rice crackers to last a lifetime at the famous senbei shop while glaring into the bookstore on the other side of the road. No matter how much chakra she layered onto her skin, the cold still somehow seeped in; chakra was always more effective for cooling than heating.
What person in their right mind goes shopping in this awful weather?
And how did Namikaze Minato stand shopping for an entire hour with that person, who was pointing out what seemed like every single book and scroll in that stupid store?
Kimiko's admiration for his incredible patience rose to new heights.
So the situation: Minato had been dragged out by Uzumaki Kushina for a birthday shopping excursion, and because his hobby was reading, she took him to a bookstore. Naruto, needing to figure out what to do with his and his mother's Kyuubi situation, called up Kimiko to study Uzumaki's behavior and habits.
But this was getting ridiculous. She just wanted to storm in there and shunshin Minato to safety from the crazy woman's clutches. And why did she keep touching him? Was this what it would have been like to be raised by her? Scary.
Kimiko scowled at another touch to Minato's wrist.
"Naruto-niichan, why are you pouting?"
"Excuse me?" Kimiko looked up in surprise to see a cute little boy with silver hair. "I think you have the wrong person, dear."
"Niichan, I know it's you."
"I'm sorry, but I'm a girl…" she pointed out the obvious, not sure whether to feel offended or apologetic, "but would you like a senbei?"
"Idiot, cut it out."
Kimiko's brow furrowed disapprovingly. "You shouldn't call anyone an idiot. It's not very nice," she chastised as if he was a toddler.
"But you insult people all the time."
"You're mistaken." She cupped the pitiful, confused boy's cheek with an elegant hand. "Oh, dear! You're freezing! Where are your parents? Here, let me warm you up."
"Naruko-neechan, you messed up your henge on the neck. You forgot to transform the adam's apple."
"What?" Kimiko raised her hand reflexively to feel her throat. "No I didn't…"
Kakashi smirked.
"Shit…" Her throat was covered by a scarf.
Naruto-turned-Naruko-turned-Kimiko frowned. "How did you know? My Oiroke and acting are perfect. Especially my Kimiko-chan."
Kakashi snickered. "Because you almost walked into the men's bathroom earlier."
Oh...right…must have been when I was in shock from seeing mom punch that store clerk…
"And that was enough to give me away?" Kimiko asked incredulously.
"No, you also glared at the owner of that grocery store like always."
Annoying little genius… Kimiko's incredulity jumped a notch higher. "You've been spying on me?"
Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "You're doing the same to Kushina-san."
"This is different," Kimiko defended. "Wait, how come I didn't sense you?"
"Because you're incompetent."
"No I'm not," Kimiko reached to pinch his nose. "I have one of the best, if not the best chakra control in Konoha! And you're eight; you have years to go before you reach my level."
"I was much smarter than you from birth." He jumped away to evade the hand.
"Psh, maybe. But I'm eleven years older than you, meaning I have eleven more years of mental development."
"If you can't figure out how you couldn't sense me, your eleven years didn't help very much."
"You little…! What happened to all that talk about being humble and nice?"
"That doesn't apply to you," Kakashi grinned. "Oh, look at the time… I have a mission now. See you next week, Neechan. You better come over to play again." He paused, then smirked. "Dad misses you."
"Wait, Kakashi! Tell me!" Kimiko demanded. Kakashi couldn't help thinking s/he looked and acted like a spoiled little princess.
He turned back around with his hands on his hips and arched an eyebrow (Again, Kimiko sniffed in dainty irritation.) "It's because I only study you in passing. You stick out like a sore thumb because you're full-out stalking her. Idiot. Bye!"
"…"
'…'
Kyuubi burst out laughing.
Kimiko palmed her face. '…but I have to stalk her…' she lamented.
'I like that boy better than your sensei,' Kyuubi said.
'That's because mini-Kakashi is almost as rude as you,' Kimiko complained as she examined her perfectly trimmed and painted nails. She dug around in her bag for her hand-held mirror and lipstick.
The fox grimaced. 'Kit, you are beginning to take on characteristics of the female gender.'
'My dear Kyuu,' Kimiko giggled, "This is why I excel at infiltration.'
Kyuubi snorted loudly. 'This is also why you require over a week to return to your true self after those missions. It only indicates your ineptitude.'
Kimiko sighed delicately. 'Such a typical male. Uncouth and insensitive. Fine, I'll change back into a man.'
She left and several minutes later, a tall, dark-haired man ran hastily to the shop from down the street. "Excuse me, owner-san," Naruto-turned-Takumi panted, out of breath and heaving large gulps of air into his lungs. "I'm looking for my sister. Did you see a girl with dark hair?"
The shop owner looked at the man disapprovingly. "She just left, young man. She waited here for an hour."
"Is it alright if a wait here?" He bought several senbei, then plopped down on the bench at the woman's sharp nod. He heard her mutter a "Men!" under her breath, accompanied by a shake of her head.
'Kyuu, I'm a guy again. What do we do now?'
'You will think of a way to stalk Kushina without her realizing the discomfort has any relation to her seal.'
'And how do we do that?'
'Think of it for yourself.'
Takumi mentally flicked his middle finger at the fox.
An idea popped into his mind.
'Kyuu, you know how Sakura used to be extra grumpy sometimes, and she kept complaining about cramps… Do you remember when my mom had her…um…girl stuff?'
Kyuubi howled in unrefined laughter which he normally would never have allowed anyone to see. ''Girl stuff,' kit?'
Takumi growled, 'Stop laughing at me! I'm being serious here.'
'Girl stuff!' the demon fox repeated between shallow breaths. 'I have never heard it called that. But then again, I have never been sealed inside an idiotic male vessel.'
'Fine, then…the monthly things, for babies…'
Kyuubi laughed even harder.
The man groaned. 'Kyuu! If you know what I'm talking about, just tell me!'
The laughs slowed down to gasps, but he still couldn't gather enough air to answer.
'You could…um…tell when she had them, right?' Takumi turned slightly green.
The fox forced back another round of laughter with the control he had honed after centuries of existence.
'Kit, it's called menstruation, and they are not always regular. There is no way for me to know her exact dates.'
'Oh…' Takumi looked dumbfounded for a moment. 'Then what do we do?'
'Well, you could track her bathroom breaks.' Kyuubi teased.
He turned green once again.
'C-could we ask Minato about when she goes to the bathroom? Like if she looks grumpy or something.'
Kyuubi couldn't help but laugh again. 'Idiot, you come up with the most outrageous ideas. What makes you think he would notice?'
'Duh, because he's really perceptive. He notices everything.'
'But not anything related to the female gender,' the giant fox snorted. 'Do you truly believe he is noticing anything aside from the books in that store right now?'
'He can't miss that mom's been assaulting him for an hour.'
'Kit…that isn't assaulting. That is what humans call flirting.'
Takumi's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. 'Ehhh? Flirting? That? No way… We would have recognized flirting right away.'
'Which shows how dense you both are about women.' Kyuubi shook his head. 'He has not yet realized that Kushina has loved him for years. Similarly, you never noticed Hyuuga Hinata's advances either.'
"What?" The man yelped out loud. "You're lying."
He shrunk down when the shop owner gave him an odd look.
'For real? When?' He furrowed his brow to recall any hint of Kyuubi's claim but couldn't remember Hinata ever acting out of the ordinary.
Kyuubi watched the boy completely overlook every single obvious sign and Namikaze shake off Kushina's hand for the nth time in favor of reaching for a scroll.
Like father like son, he thought to himself with a sigh. Idiots, the both of them.
Takumi slouched on the bench for another twenty minutes, thinking hard about how to fix his problem.
'Kit, just…stop. You are going to overheat your little brain if you continue thinking. We will just follow her every so often until the connection is broken.'
'Perhaps immediately after she finishes eating at Ichiraku,' Kyuubi chuckled evilly, his latent malice rising to the forefront of his mind.
'Kyuu, no! You can't do that to her,' Takumi looked at him in horror. 'You'll ruin the Food of Gods!'
Kyuubi snarled. 'Do you know how much I suffer from your 'Food of Gods'? Every single time you guzzle that disgusting thing, your mindscape becomes saturated with its stink. I have put up with it for over thirty years,' the fox exclaimed. 'Do it…or else I will ruin ramen for you.'
'What about just sometimes?' Takumi haggled.
At Kyuubi's glare of imminent doom, he amended his offer meekly. 'How about every other time…?'
'That is an excellent offer. Perhaps your brain isn't so miniscule after all,' the demon fox said contentedly. 'I accept.'
"Sooo, how was shopping?" Naruto asked casually.
Minato groaned. "It took us two hours. I can stand one hour, but two is over the top."
The two elite Black Ops shinobi were huddled against Konoha's West Gate in the freezing night, their blanket doing little to ward off the cold. It was their fourth horrid night of gate duty. Naruto wanted to strangle Sandaime-Jijii so badly that his hands had almost closed around his tempting neck during their Kage Kaigi the day before.
"But Kushina got me two incredibly rare ninjutsu scrolls. One is on a lightning jutsu and the other is on a water jutsu. I want to show you when we manage to wake up tomorrow."
"Awesome, thanks!" Naruto wasn't sure why, but he had the urge to rip those scrolls into shreds.
"Oh, you haven't met Kushina yet," Minato said a bit awkwardly, remembering what happened before. "You should meet her…she's a great person."
Naruto blanched.
"Uhh…I'm really not good with girls. You see, I have severe girl phobia. I also radiate anti-girl pheromones that make them plot my demise." Naruto quickly fabricated an excuse. "Maybe sometime later…um…when I reach the end of puberty…and my bad hormones calm down…"
"Naruto…I really doubt that." Minato looked at strangely but wrote it off as one of Uzuhara Naruto's eccentric quirks. "I'll take you to meet her tomorrow."
"No! The last three times I hung out with girls, they punched my face into a wall. I also got a paperweight and a chair thrown at me." Naruto rubbed the phantom pain in his cheek where both Tsunade-Babaa and Sakura-chan's fists had broken his jaw.
Minato burst into laughter and mentally cringed at how Kushina had punched someone just earlier that day. Naruto jabbed his elbow into Minato's side. "This isn't a laughing matter! The only reason my nose isn't crooked and my jaw isn't hanging is because of my abnormal healing."
"Alright, alright," the older blonde shook his head. "Some other time then."
They fell silent, being much more interested in huddling closer to retain as much heat between them as possible. Their bodies touched from shoulder to knee, and Naruto had relinquished his pride just this once to tuck the lower half of his legs under Minato's.
Time seemed to crawl.
Naruto took a deep breath.
"Minato…" He began hesitantly. "I have something I want to tell you."
The ANBU-nin jerked his head towards the other blonde, almost brushing his nose against a cheek.
"You see…well, I…I think of you as a really great friend, and…" Naruto trailed off nervously. Warmth filled Minato at those words, surprised that the previously skittish blonde admitted it out loud after denying it for so long. He had only called him his precious person once during insanity in Rain. His curiosity peeked as Naruto shifted closer as if to hide from the trepidation which he could imagine was saturating his mindscape.
"I want to tell you before I regret not telling you what I want to tell you…" The Hunter-nin's speech was jumbled, evidence that his internal anxiety was stronger than his outward appearance and actions which already showed more discomfort than Minato had ever seen from the smaller blonde. It was actually quite endearing, Minato thought fondly, pressing Naruto lightly through the shoulder with a bit of his chakra which always helped to calm him.
It must have worked because Naruto turned his face, determination burning brightly in his azure eyes, clearly visible even under the dim lamp. Minato stiffened, then relaxed when he felt Naruto's chakra spread around the air to cocoon them in a one-way soundproof barrier, an impressive feat only possible for masters of chakra control. He wasn't sure if even the Hokage could create one.
"Minato, I want to tell you a bit about myself and my work."
Minato's eyes widened in surprise. "You don't have to–"
"No, I want to. I trust you. I also got Sandaime-Jijii's permission, so don't stop me," Naruto said firmly.
"You know how Aka told you our work has something to do with international relations?" He waited for the ANBU-nin's small nod of acknowledgement. "It runs a little deeper than just that. I'm working on building solid alliances between nations and villages to protect Konoha for at least the next five years – hopefully longer. The reason for my job is a war that's approaching quickly." Minato sucked in a sharp breath.
"You know the increase in skirmishes right? That's going to lead up to war in a few years. Probably two. I've been trying to reduce the frequency along Fire borders and a few of the nations that have allied with us. My hope is to reduce the casualties and collateral damage. It's working, but it's slow. That's what my long-term mission was for. We have all of Waterfall, minor shinobi villages scattered around the west, and the upper half of River."
Naruto waited for Minato to digest the information. "I can see it now," Minato said slowly. "It's Earth Country, isn't it?"
Naruto nodded. "We pretty much have Sand as an ally as long as the Sandaime Kazekage stays in office. Sakumo-senpai is mostly in charge of maintaining that now." Minato frowned slightly.
"Will Konoha be ready for this war?"
"Have you noticed anything different in the training and education programs for the regular shinobi force? We've advanced the curriculum and restructured the training for chuunin and jounin. First and foremost is defense; we want our shinobi to have the skills to protect themselves and the village."
Respect for the Hunter-nin grew – for his inner strength, for his competence, for his leadership, for his devotion.
"Minato…I want to ask for your assistance," Naruto's confidence dipped. "You're one of the most capable and trusted shinobi in Konoha. Your mind and your skills set you above everyone in this village. And your leadership and loyalty are second to none. Well, except maybe the Hokage. Anyway, you'd be a valuable addition to the team."
Minato stared in shock at the younger blonde who was staring back apprehensively, biting his lower lip while waiting for the ANBU-nin's reaction. When Naruto had asked him to listen, he hadn't foreseen a war looming on the horizon or an invitation to join the team leading the pre-war effort. Perhaps he had known something major was happening amongst the shinobi countries but not to this degree.
He stared for several more moments until he noticed red staining Naruto's lip. Blood. The Hunter-nin had unknowingly punctured the skin and was continuing to deepen the wound even now. Taking pity on his friend, Minato raised a finger to gently nudge the abused lip from between the pointed teeth, releasing a low hum of disapproval as he did so.
"Naruto, you're bleeding," Minato explained softly when he saw the surprised daze on the other's face. He wiped away the liquid crimson with his thumb before pulling away his hand.
"O-Oh," Naruto stuttered, a blush blooming on his cheeks. "Thanks."
Minato chuckled.
"Thank you for the invitation. I'm flattered you think so highly of me. It would be an honor to lend whatever abilities and strengths I have to protect Konoha."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief.
"Did you really expect me to refuse?"
"There was a tiny, tiny possibility," the younger blonde replied guiltily and laid his cheek on his knee.
"Dummy, of course I wouldn't refuse. Erase all your doubts about me alright, Naru-chan?"
He nodded, lifting remorseful eyes to Minato. "Sorry. I will," he whispered.
When March rolled in, the frequency of skirmishes along various borders had increased again. Haikage was both frustrated and perplexed by the catalysts for the conflict because he couldn't pinpoint any specific source; each incident raised more questions on who was pulling the strings in the shadows. It was an unseen battle between him and those hidden players, both parties moving in the dark but his enemies were on the offensive while he could only defend blindly.
The peculiar financial movements in Kusa were too irregular to track, and any solid trail he picked up always led to a dead end where it either disappeared or split off in too many directions at once. He had shadow clones mingling in Kusa, Earth Country and Ame borders, and scattered throughout Earth Country. He also had several acting as lookouts at the Kannabi Bridge which had been a vital point in Iwa's strength in the Past. So far, the traffic had been consistent, but he needed to get his hands on Iwa's financial history sometime soon, especially their expense records.
Haikage leaned back in the Hokage lounge's cushy sofa, tempted to fall asleep right there. Alone in the lounge, he had taken off his pitch black mask which sat on the table across the room, empty eyeholes staring hauntingly up at the ceiling. Akashiori's spiral mask sat next to it and beside that was Aka's – Uzuhara Naruto's – blood red mask.
As the Kage Kaigi grew in size, it became necessary for all of his personas to attend the meetings. When it was just him and the Sandaime, Haikage was enough. When Sakumo had been recruited as the Ambassador to Suna, Akashiori's participation became necessary as the Hokage's secret Second-in-Command. Then with the addition of Nara Shikaku for Strategy, Aka joined to fill the position for Espionage. Finally, Uzuhara Naruto's unmasked identity became partially involved when Yamanaka Inokazu joined for Intelligence and Minato for ANBU Representative and Military Strategy.
Much of the team was young. Shikaku and all of Naruto's personas were only nineteen years of age, and Minato had turned twenty just several weeks ago, but they made up an effective team of people that the Narutos knew how to work with. Inokazu and he had met on several occasions since his arrival in this time, he had worked with Shikaku during the Fourth Shinobi World War, he had seen Sakumo at work in Suna, and Minato was Minato.
However, having different personas related to different people made his work more difficult. He had two clones during each meeting which he couldn't confer with until afterwards when he dispelled them. Both clones thought and acted exactly like the original, yet they were independent of each other, able to make their own deductions from their position and form ideas with a different perspective in mind. Having three of him making decisions together with three interpretations of the meetings would be incredibly useful, but he first had to determine whether revealing himself would disrupt the dynamics of the team or cause his teammates to lose their trust in him.
Regardless of whatever he did, his secrets were piling on, and Haikage knew the end would be worse the longer he held back. It wouldn't be long before everything exploded in his face, and his personas were afraid of losing Minato's trust above all.
That aside, he needed to decide whether to be Haikage or Akashiori or Aka for the meeting in twenty minutes.
"Haikage-kun, what is troubling you?"
Haikage slowly turned his head to the Sandaime who walked in without revealing his chakra signature. "Am I so obvious?"
"To me, yes, and perhaps to Minato-kun, but not to others."
"Sandaime-sama, I am wondering what to do with myself," Haikage rubbed his temples with the tips of his fingers.
"First of all, you are to call me Hiruzen. As I have said many times before, we are on equal footing while you are Haikage. Should I threaten you to call me by my given name?" Sarutobi joked lightly.
"Ugh. Yes, yes. Very well," Haikage sighed a chuckle. "Hiruzen, I am in need of your wisdom. What am I to do with my various personas during the Kaigi? The situation will become increasingly precarious as I wait longer, but I dread the consequences of revealing myself after gaining their trust."
"Has your tenant offered his thoughts?"
Haikage tilted his head to the side, smiling in black humor.
"Although he is now mostly a protective and amiable partner, Kyuubi will never stop being cynical and callous. He advised me to eliminate 'the minions' if any problems arise. His charming words were, 'There is an endless supply of ants in the world. One or two squashed will not matter in the long run.'"
Sarutobi smiled almost fondly at the unexpectedly charismatic demon fox. "Yes…quite the friendly fellow, I imagine."
Haikage tossed his head back for a loud laugh. "Friendly is pushing it."
Once they quieted, Sarutobi continued. "Haikage-kun, perhaps you should place more faith in your teammates and advisors. You chose them personally out of all Konoha shinobi because you trust their sound judgment and open-minded approach."
"…Perhaps," Haikage echoed.
"You have already made your decision, Haikage-kun, but you have hidden it behind worries and fears. Bring it forth. I am certain you are capable of making the best of any situation."
Haikage sighed, rising to his feet to take even steps to his masks. "Hiruzen, I will be Akashiori for this meeting. Prepare yourself for possible discord; two will become one tonight."
The Kage Kaigi was progressing smoothly as usual. Each member reported his findings, followed by proposals and discussions on the conceivable chain of events to any action taken.
While Minato listened to the Haikage presenting his views on the mysterious lack of paper trails in Kusa, he watched Aka and Akashiori curiously.
Walking into his first Kage Kaigi, he had been surprised to see Akashiori sitting to the Hokage's left, flipping through a stack of papers, occasionally pulling out a sheet to set haphazardly in front of the leader of Konoha. He was surprised again when Sakumo-senpai, Yamanaka-san, and Shikaku stepped into the room and immediately welcomed the ANBU into the team. Next, a masked Aka stepped in and set his hand lightly on his shoulder in another warm welcome.
The five had joined the Hokage and Akashiori in chairs prepared around the circular table, but oddly the meeting didn't start; one chair remained empty.
When the door opened, he had found himself surprised a third time at seeing Haikage-sama stride in. As his imposing presence filled the room, Minato noticed the rest of the men like himself had straightened their backs unconsciously.
The man in black stood behind his chair to the Hokage's right, sweeping his shadowed eyes around the table.
"Team." His low but powerful voice had washed over them, easily commandeering the room. Although the Haikage still seemed to leak killing intent as he did when they met in the forest many months ago, the Haikage now was less ominous and more forthcoming. He had received the men with obvious pride, then addressed Minato with gratitude. Somehow, the tone by itself had elevated their confidence in their abilities and the success of their mission.
This was his fifth meeting, and half of his mind drifted to the two Hunter-nin. Aka sat next to him while Akashiori sat several seats away. Even with their faces covered by masks, Minato felt like something was bothering both of them. Maybe problems with the Hunter-nin Corps?
No one else seemed to notice the tension in their shoulders.
As the meeting neared its end, he noticed Aka's fist clenched tightly under the table. Minato could clearly see that he was nervous. If they hadn't been in the current setting, he would have reached out to the Hunter-nin to offer his support.
"There is one last order of business before we adjourn this session of Kage Kaigi," the Haikage looked to the two masked men.
Akashiori and Aka stood from their seats.
"Team, we have come to a decision to entrust you with a piece of information known to very few," Akashiori began gruffly.
"It was kept secret for purposes of strategic maneuvering through the shinobi countries, but we feel there is no reason to hide in this room," Aka continued.
"We apologize for the ruse and sincerely hope you will not think less of us," Akashiori finished.
Then, Aka disappeared in a silent wisp of cloud.
Three pairs of eyes widened simultaneously as they understood the message.
"As you see, Aka and I are one," Akashiori said, his voice no longer gruff. "Please forgive me."
The Hunter-nin raised his hands slowly to remove his spiral mask and cloth hiding his hair. Who the team saw was a young man with bright blond hair and unwavering, sky-blue eyes.
Naruto.
"Uzuhara-kun?" Inokazu said softly in shock. "You are Akashiori…Hokage-sama's Second-in-Command?"
Naruto dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I am."
"Troublesome," Shikaku huffed and leaned back. "I don't care; be whomever you want. You're still the same person, right?"
"Yes." Naruto smiled gratefully.
The youngest blonde looked over at Minato, eyes pleading for forgiveness at the deceit.
At first, Minato formed a small smile, but his eyes narrowed when he noticed Sakumo's lack of surprise. Sakumo-senpai knew this entire time. He lips twitched downwards.
He felt betrayal leak little by little into his mind and heart. It was irrational and unreasonable and there were no doubt valid reasons – Suna – for Sakumo knowing. Minato understood, but he couldn't help but feel the negative emotions bubbling up. Naruto and he had been close since the Hunter-nin appeared in the village eight months ago. Regardless of the many mysteries of Naruto still unrevealed, they had opened up to each other, building what he thought was unshakable trust.
But now, he found there was someone else in the village Naruto trusted more than him. And from Sakumo-senpai's expression, the man knew it. Minato recognized that it was stupid to feel this way.
Maybe it was the older man's expression that was affecting him. The rational part of his mind saw reason, but…
It stung. A lot.
He wanted so badly to violently swipe off that little, almost-smug smile dancing on Hatake's face.
Minato couldn't understand. Why am I thinking so irrationally? And angrily?
Naruto's heart sank at Minato's displeased expression. No! The one person he didn't want to lose was looking at him like an enemy. That was undeniably betrayal on his friend's face, and it was himself that had placed it there. There was no one to blame but himself; he was the one who had messed up…
Falling into depression is a waste of energy, he told himself firmly.
Naruto instantly wiped all expression from his face; he was back to the true Akashiori.
"In future meetings, I will still be appearing as both Akashiori and Aka," he said briskly, wanting to escape the room. "My shadow clones are independent of each other with different duties, functions, and minds. I hope you will treat them as individuals rather than two of me. Again, I sincerely apologize and hope you will still accept me as a colleague."
Akashiori bowed deeply before winking out of the room.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone