Long time no see.

So the manga's over. Anyone else feel like they have to read everything over again just to understand what the fuck actually happened? I mean, the ending was pretty self-explanatory, but not all the other magic shit.

But that's part of the reason why I haven't written anything lately. I started on this chapter ages ago, but I couldn't complete it, not with so much information going in the background. As long as Naruto was still on-going, I completely lost track of my own story.

But here I am.

By the way, jerz'nimea19: You wrote such a long review, and I want to reply! But unfortunately, I can't reply to your reviews! Anything you can do about that?

- Ramin Djawadi: "What is Dead May Never Die", "Warrior of Light" (Game of Thrones)

62. The Real and the Fake

Minato hastily opened the letter from the Hokage and skimmed it. His chest loosened up as he read, and even though he was dreading whatever lay ahead of him, he felt that finally, they could have some answers.

"What did he say?" Kushina asked. They were sitting on the algae-stained bench on the beach, making sure no enemy tried to sneak inside the camp, and Kushina was waiting half-patiently for him to tell her what the Hokage had replied.

"He agrees with me," Minato said. "He says he's never had reason to suspect Kiri for the kidnapping, not until now, so he never sent anyone to inspect. He wants me to go and see if I can find anything."

"When do we leave?"

Kushina was clearly ready to close the case as well, but Minato had to collect a small squad before they could leave. He had a few in mind.

"I need six more to go with us," he said and rolled up the letter, getting ready to hunt for soldiers.

"Six more? Why so many?"

"For one, I don't want to engage you in battle," Minato said, and upon seeing her lifted eyebrow, he hastily added, "Not because I'm worried, but because I need your expertise."

"Fair enough," Kushina shrugged.

"And I need two teams in case we have to split up," Minato continued. "One who deals with the enemies, one who deals with the children."

"Where does that leave you?"

"Likely searching for the children, so I can get them out quickly."

Minato found his teams eventually. Kakashi joined in before Minato was done explaining; Minato didn't ask why Kakashi seemed so eager to go back to Kiri so soon, but had his suspicions. Shira agreed to take responsibility for any incoming enemies, and recommended two skilled chuunin to come with them. As soon as Minato had found a jounin with tracking skills and a very small chuunin Kushina told him was good at sneaking around, they met up by the bench to make a plan of attack.

"All right," Minato said, seven faces focusing on him. "We have to be effective, we don't have much time. You know better than me that it doesn't take many hours to cross the ocean, but as soon as we enter Kiri, we have very little clues to follow. All we know, is that at some point on the road Kakashi and Rin went from the headquarters up North, Rin was kidnapped and taken somewhere else. We need to find this place and take it from there."

"I'll lead the way," Kakashi said at once.

"You should," Minato nodded. "Based on the fact that Kiri was weakened after the last battle, they can't afford to charge head first, so if we're noticed, they'll most likely try an ambush. Shira, Hajimura, Yoko, you should take the rear in case that happens. Kakashi will be in the lead, followed by Kushina, who knows a lot more about this country than we do. I'll be right behind her, and Riku, Shinobu, you're in the middle."

Once everyone had nodded in agreement, they set off. Minato was getting rather sick of travelling across the ocean; the road was long and uneventful, and besides quite wet. He thought one of these trips really was one too much, but there was no other way. They could easily be spotted, but thanks to Kakashi's experience on that exact route and his sense of smell, they found a way where they could sneak past the leftover guards on the coast.

The trip turned out to be uneventful. Kakashi was so careful when he selected his paths that there were few enemies to overrun; besides, Minato had been right about Kiri being tired. Very few were at the look-out. They had let their guard down drastically, and Minato was beginning to feel a lot more hopeful.

Once they found a good spot within a depressing, grey forest, hours after their departure, they could sit down and refill their energy. It was so far the most frustrating part of the journey. Minato was impatient; a lump had settled in his throat, and even though he knew there was little he could do for Rin now, there was something very painful about being so close to where the tragic event had happened.

Had he only been there with them.

He kept close to Kushina. She was probably impatient, vengeful and angry herself, but her eyes didn't reveal the loss of sensibility and stability he felt inside himself. He feared he would become unstable, and for now, she was the single most stable person he could rely on. He barely knew the people behind him, and Kakashi was in position to do something very stupid if he wanted.

Minato was beginning to realise just how much of a bad idea this mission was.

But he kept the mission going. For Rin. She deserved it.

Kakashi led them further into the depressing forest, which became darker in such a slow manner that they didn't even notice. Kushina had raised her guard; this was definitely a part of Kiri with less to offer them, and possibly a part of Kiri she didn't know very much about. Minato couldn't recall learning about such a place, at least.

But as they passed a small cliff, the hope that had begun to sink, jumped right back up to his chest again.

A cave. A cave so remote, so dark and so small that it could only be there to hide something. With his eyes firmly set on the small opening, Minato barely registered giving his companions orders, before he was on his way to the entrance.

"Minato, wait!" Kushina shouted behind him.

"This could be it," he shouted back. "We have no time to waste."

And with that, he disappeared within the cave, hearing a pair of running feet behind him.

The cave consisted of a long, dark corridor, with tiny specks of blue light showing the way. He was immediately grasped by it; someone used to walk here, regularly, considering the lights seemed to shine endlessly, and besides, so beautifully; he could barely see the rocky path ahead of him, but the blue light was all he needed. The running behind him came closer; it was probably Kushina trying to catch up with him, which was just as well. In case he found any children – and he felt really sure about it – he needed her help.

But the corridor suddenly ended. There was a small room, caved inside the mountain, with a pillar placed in the middle. On top of the pillar lay something of the most inexplicably beautiful Minato had ever seen.

It was so simple. It was a crystal – no, a rock, it was far too complex – and it glowed in that same, blue light that felt so comforting, so soothing … He felt his fears leaving him, something inside his head telling him that everything was going to be fine, and he felt a need to pick up this stone and feel its warmth -

A hand grabbed his arm and started pulling him backwards, away from the stone.

"No," he said. "Let go -"

"Minato, we have to get out of here."

It was Kushina, as he had expected; but she wasn't helping him, she was just removing him from everything he had been looking for his whole life, even though he didn't know he had until now -

"What the hell are you doing?" he snapped and tried to rip himself out her grip. "We have to stay here -"

"Listen to me!" Kushina said through gritted teeth, and held him back with all her might. Kakashi came running and grabbed his other arm, and Minato was beginning to get angry -

"Sensei, come on," Kakashi said. "It's a curse -"

"I don't care," Minato said furiously when Kushina locked him with her chains and began to drag him out. "Don't you see that this is -"

"It's not whatever you think it is," she said and set up the speed. Minato growled at her, and cursed when they stepped across the cave's doorstep. Kushina forced him to sit, and crouched next to him. "Minato, listen to me. You brought me here for a reason, right?"

"Yes," Minato said reluctantly.

"You brought me here for my expertise."

"Yes."

"And what does that mean?"

Minato glared. "That you know much more about this country than we do, but that -"

"Exactly!" she said, and grabbed his face. "And that means that I know better than you that that thing you saw inside the cave cursed you."

"Why would it -"

"It cursed you because you willingly entered the cave and because you're vulnerable."

"I'm not vulnerable," Minato said, and felt anger rising inside him again.

"Yes, you are, and you shouldn't just run off on your own to places you have no clue what is!"

"I'm trying to solve this shit, and you want to prevent me from -"

Kushina had done a series of complicated hand seals and placed her palm on his forehead. Black symbols ran across his body and left him, and he cowered in pain -

"Ouch! What was that for?"

Kushina glared a little bemused at him. "I was trying to remove the curse you were under."

"Think that's gonna do much to help?" Minato asked bitterly. Kushina blinked a little. "I could've searched that cave for more clues, and instead you have to interrupt and ruin the whole search?"

"Can you at least act a little more grateful? I knew what that cave was, I knew you were going to be cursed, and instead of listening to me you just run off! You have no idea what could have happened to you!"

"No, and I couldn't have expected something like that either, could I?" Minato replied, his patience running low.

"Then why don't you trust me to know my shit and allow me to fucking help you out?"

"And since you knew, maybe you should have given us a heads up instead of acting up like a little bitch!"

Of all the punches Minato had received from Kushina, that was by far the hardest, most dedicatedly painful. It felt as though his neck was on the verge of breaking, and he was pretty sure his cheek had cracked up. He turned slowly, finding her staring intensely at him, breathing heavily.

"Was that the curse speaking or have you actually become a sick ass?" she asked. Her voice was toned down, but it was shaking.

Minato couldn't answer at once. For some reason, the anger he had lashed out at her had felt so relieving, like everything he had blamed himself for had been shifted on to her instead. But the moment she punched him, he had felt something unnaturally cold leave him, and he was filled with remorse. He became so lost for words that he only opened his mouth, but couldn't speak a single word, not even apologise.

"Good," Kushina mumbled and reached out for her backpack. The chains holding Minato down fell and disappeared. "You're just as dumb as ever." She took out a tube of healing cream, rubbed some on his aching cheek and began healing it slowly with her palm. Meanwhile, Minato was beginning to realise how desperate he must have looked, and opened his mouth again.

"Shut up," Kushina said. "Please. Just shut up."

Her voice was shaking even more. Minato had been so careless, and she was hurt. He felt a fist clenching around his lungs, and became nauseous; never in his life had he ever dreamed of hurting her. They had had their arguments, but they had been harmless; this was much worse. He had said things he didn't mean. He was supposed to be grateful for what she had done – he could be dead without her – yet he had been so easily controlled by anger that he couldn't even stop himself from lashing out at the one he loved.

He couldn't keep his mouth shut, not now.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled quietly. "I'm so, so sorry -"

"I know," Kushina said, quickly rubbing her cheek so he wouldn't notice the tear falling from her eye. "I know that it's hard when you're affected by something. But please, don't say anything."

Minato looked in her eyes; she was focused on healing his cheek – maybe a little too focused – until he reached up and dried another tear from her cheek. She shifted her gaze to him.

"This is nothing against what I've done to you in the past," she said.

"I could've controlled myself," Minato insisted.

"No," Kushina said, shaking her head. "You could have listened to me from the beginning. But you couldn't have done anything against that curse."

It was true that curses were especially powerful for a person who didn't have a particularly powerful mentality, but there was still a difference between Kushina and him; Kushina was completely overruled by the Kyuubi and wouldn't even remember what had happened. Minato, on the other hand, had felt how delightful it was to blame someone else for his mistakes, and would probably not have regretted it if she hadn't punched the curse out of him. It made him feel filthy, because he had enjoyed it for that short moment it lasted.

He tried to deny it, but he couldn't shake off the feeling that it had only felt so good because he didn't lash out on just anyone, but on her.

The grass was still green. The leaves rustled in the wind, just like they always had. Minato glanced down, quiet, and his eyes fell on the enemy he had just taken down. His kunai still stuck up from the enemy's back, and for once, he had been clean about it.

There hadn't been a single sign of the children, nor of Rin. Not even the tiniest clue. Minato was running out of ideas as to where to look, who to look for. For a moment, the mission had seemed like such a certain victory, yet there hadn't been anything that told them that Kiri was somehow involved in the case of the missing children. The only thing Minato had achieved so far, was his first major fight with his girlfriend, a bruised cheek and a clean murder at the exact same location as Rin had died.

"Clear," Shinobu said and dropped down from a tree next to him.

"We should leave," Minato said, and Kakashi glanced up at him. Even though he was a boy of few expressions, disappointment shined clearly in his eyes. "We're getting nowhere with this. The longer we stay, the worse."

"I agree," Shira nodded. "We're just becoming more and more vulnerable."

Thus, they had no choice but to head back to the Fire country. They were walking in a new formation Minato had set up within half a minute, and he was walking silently next to Kushina, holding her hand.

"You have to stop doing this, Minato."

He glanced down at her. She was speaking with a hushed voice so none of the others would hear.

"I know."

The war was getting to him. He was more vulnerable than he had ever been in his entire life; even as an orphaned child had he been independent, hard-working and stable. He still worked as hard as ever, but he seemed to lack the other treats people so often associated him with. But he was losing people, one after the other, he had been away from his own home for so long; it wasn't that he hadn't been to Konoha during the years of war.

He just hadn't been close to her.

It had affected him far more than he thought. She had become the one who kept him up, motivated him and pushed him to really do the things he wanted in his life. Without her, he had been an uncertain, unstable wreck, and he wondered how on earth he had managed to survive the war without her.

"You'll be all right."

It was like Kushina could read his mind. She looked at him with that determination in her eyes, and it grasped at him the same way the blue stone had enchanted him.

Of course he would be fine. He wasn't becoming Hokage for nothing.

"Yeah," he smiled. "Yeah, I will."

Minato turned off the sink and reached for a towel to wipe his face dry. He felt refreshed, and for the first time in ages, he felt his own mentality getting back to normal. Despite the failure of the mission, Minato had begun thinking that there was no use trying to fix things that were completely out of his aid, no matter how much he wanted to. Besides, when Kushina had punched the curse out of him, he couldn't help but feel like she had punched his general self back to normal, and it was a huge relief.

Kakashi was preparing to leave Rin for good as well. He forced himself to eat, took a deep breath when they had packed and were about to head back, and only looked over his shoulder once when they left. Kushina was staying to clean up, keep watch and eventually, go home.

Minato had received a letter from general Morikawa, and had hastily sent out birds to everyone he needed for his assignment.

'Kumo is on the move. I need you as soon as possible. Bring your company.'

To this day, he was the only one who had met the Raikage – as an enemy – and left without a scratch. If they stumbled into each other again, he was sure he would make it out alive – he was prepared – but he wasn't alone this time. This time, he had a small company of eighty Konoha-nin to take care of, and he was determined to get everyone out of the Lightning country. Alive.

Yet he felt a sting of curiosity. Because there was still one man out there rumoured to be the fastest man alive. Possibly faster than Minato. And even though Minato had every reason to be worried, even though he should be well aware of his tiny chances to get out unharmed if they ever clashed, he was reluctantly intrigued by it.

He wasn't particularly worried, despite everything. And he wanted to make sure that out of all the assigned teams within his company, if any of them should clash with this man, it should be him.

"Ready, sensei?"

Minato picked up his bag and glanced one more time at the beach. Kushina stood far away by the algae-stained bench, and looked at him over her shoulder. A smile spread across his face.

He turned back to Kakashi.

"Yeah. Let's go."