MINAKO'S POINT OF VIEW

I scowled as, yet again, my blue ball of chakra energy burst in midair. Minato shook his head and sighed.

"No no no Mina, you have to control the spinning equally or else it'll disperse." I was learning a new technique from Minato that was next to impossible! He invented it himself so it was an incomplete jutsu and because of that, even he doesn't know all the shortcuts to it. I was having a hard time concentrating chakra into one hand while spinning it in the other. If I had two hands to do both then I'd be set. Obito, Rin, and Kakashi were eating their lunches near the memorial stone. The weather was warm which was nice and we were all a little sweaty from training today. Minato set some time aside for me so that he could teach me my cool new move...if I could ever do it. I thought back to my idea from earlier about needing an extra hand... If only there could be two of me! Wait...there can be! I quickly created a shadow clone and summoned up my chakra once again. Minato looked confused.

"Mina...what are you doing?"

"If I-...can't have another... set of hands... I'm gonna make them, ya know!" I wearily grinned. Minato looked surprised. I moved the chakra into my hands and had my clone control the shaping part. It wasn't long before that I had a bright blue ball of chakra in my hand. I grinned at Minato.

"Look! I did it ya know!" Minato looked breathless.

"You.. You.. Did it! I'm impressed Mina! Well done!" My team was listening and looked at me stunned as I ran with the ball towards a wooden log.

"RASENGAN!"

The core of the wood exploded into millions of little splinters and sawdust. I took in deep breaths, panting heavily before sitting on the ground and letting the sweat from my forehead drip onto the grass. Obito and Rin cheered and clapped for me. I grinned at them before moving over to sit with the rest of the team to eat lunch. Kushina came earlier and dropped off a small bento box for me. I immediately dug in and ate like a maniac. I looked down at my wrists to see a slight scar from when the chains held me when I was kidnapped. I shivered remembering the whole encounter.

They kept calling me a jinchuriki, something I never heard of before. It wasn't until Kushina explained to me what it was and why they took me that I finally understood.  My sister had the nine-tails put inside her a few years ago and didn't tell me because she was scared how I would react. I was more upset that she didn't tell me rather than the fact she's the bearer of the nine tails. I love my sister too much to ever view her as anything less than family.

~~

I walked casually with Obito down the streets of Konoha while chatting. He was so carefree and cheerful that I never ceased to have a smile when I was around him. 

“So Obito, are you coming over tonight? Kushina is making the team a family dinner ya know, remember?” I asked him. My red hair was falling over my shoulders and I used my ninja headband to hold it back. He grinned at me.

“Uh yeah! I’ll never miss out on Kushina’s cooking!” I smiled back and butterflies in my stomach fluttered a bit at the thought of Obito having dinner with me but I held back the internal squeal. Obito and I did our daily ritual of helping some old ladies and running errands for the people which usually made us late for whatever we had to do. Kakashi always lectured us on rules and shinobi rules…blah blah blah…

It was starting to get dark outside which was our clock to tell us it was time to head over to my house. Obito and I were cracking jokes and laughing the whole way there, but I couldn’t get it out of my head wanting to tell him how I feel. It hurts, keeping things in like that. I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything and have him hopefully feel the same…but I know it’d never happen…and because of that…I don’t know if I could ever tell him. We walked into my house and a mouthwatering scent of cooking beef and broth overwhelmed my senses. Obito and I were slightly drooling before Minato came and closed our mouths.

“Hey guys, glad you could make it on time for once.” Kushina came in to give us a smile before having a vein pop on her forehead.

“Minako! Obito! You both are sweaty and dirty! Get some clean clothes and wash up! Jeez why can’t you guys be good like Rin is ya know?!” We both turned and looked at Rin who was wearing a lavender blouse and a long black skirt. Her cheeks were pink that Kushina called her out and Obito had heart eyes.

“You look so pretty Rin!” Obito complemented. She blushed a little more before saying thank you. I felt so defeated and immediately my upbeat mood turned sour. I dragged Obito upstairs in the bathroom where he could wash his face and I went into my room to change clothes. I put on a light blue thin-strapped dress with some black flowers on the bottom. The dress ended at my knee so it didn’t hinder my leg movement at all which was nice. I walked downstairs to see Kushina finishing up her cooking while Minato, Rin, and Obito all set the table. I looked around and saw only five sets of shoes by the door.

“Um where’s Kakashi?” I asked my team. Everyone looked around before shrugging. 

“I don’t know, maybe that dummy forgot!” Obito joked. I sighed and slumped slightly. I kinda wanted to see him…for friendship purposes!...Obviously! I sat down in the chair and waited another couple of minutes, watching the door to see if the silver haired boy would come strutting through…but he never came. I was starting to get anxious so I quickly put on my ninja sandals and stood at the doorway.

“I’m going to get Kakashi.” I stated. Kushina yelled from the kitchen.

“Hurry up! Dinner is almost ready ya know!” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me and ran towards Kakashi’s home. When I got there, I noticed all of the lights were off and the front door was wide open. The sky began to thunder a bit, foreshadowing a cast of rain. I became worried and pulled out a small kunai that I keep on me for emergency purposes. I slowly entered the home only to be greeted by darkness and the beginning sounds of pattering rain.

“Kakashi? Are you in here?” I called out to him. The sound of feint crying in the corner of the room could be heard and I immediately moved there. I saw a boy curled up into a ball sniffling slightly, hiding his face.

“Kakashi…?” He looked up at me and wiped his face, glaring at me, almost looking embarrassed.

“You shouldn’t be here.” He hissed. I was taken aback, never has he used this tone with me before. I was hurt by it.

“Kakashi, I-“ 

“GET AWAY FROM HERE!” He yelled before running out of the house and into the pouring rain. My hand was half extended and my heart broke slightly. It wasn’t until I looked on the ground that I saw what caused Kakashi to fall apart so bad. 

There lay his father, fallen by his own hand. I covered my mouth with my palm before running out of the house to find Kakashi.

“KAKASHI!” I called out for him but the heavy rain drowned out the sound of my voice. I ran everywhere, trying to find him and it was only until I went to the memorial stone that I found the silver haired boy. I ran towards him and knelt to his level; he was sitting on the ground against the stone, crying into the rain.

“Kakashi.” I called out. He didn’t look at me, he only clenched his fists tightly.

“He broke the shinobi rules and was seen as a traitor. He abandoned his mission to save a comrade. He wasn’t a true ninja. One must always follow the rules of the shinobi way! He betrayed the village…he betrayed me. And then he took himself away out of guilt. Good riddance.” Kakashi cried. I knew that Kakashi’s heart ached badly, whether I agreed with him or not. I did the only thing I could do and hugged him tightly. He seemed startled at first before burrowing his face into the crook of my neck and wrapping his arms around my waist, holding me tightly. I let him cry and cry…until it seemed he was devoid of all tears.

“Why…did he have to leave me…alone?” Kakashi whispered in my ear. I felt my heart pain to see Kakashi this way and to know how badly broken he felt.

“Mina…” He whispered to me. I ran my fingers through his soaking hair to try and soothe him.

“Yes?” He then started to slump from exhaustion.

“Never…leave me…please…” I froze before feeling my chest burst into a million fluttering butterflies. My heart was pounding and I felt my cheeks tint pink. Kakashi…

“I won’t. I’ll always be here for you.” For some reason, my verbal tic didn’t come out when I spoke this softly to Kakashi. It was like my mind wasn’t in a rush when it came to him. Kakashi seemed to relax slightly when he heard that. He put all of his weight on me and I knew he was falling asleep from exhaustion. I put him on my back and carried him back to my house. It was very late and way past dinner time, I knew Kushina would be furious. I walked through the heavy rain while carrying Kakashi. He was growing heavier by the moment but that didn’t…no, it wouldn’t stop me. I don’t care if I get struck by lightning, I will bring Kakashi back. The living room lights were still on, meaning Kushina and Minato were still awake. I opened the door after shifting Kakashi slightly and carried our soaking wet bodies into the house.

“WHERE WERE YOU?! WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG-“ She stopped speaking when she saw Kakashi on my back. Minato and Kushina stood up from the couch at the same time and looked at him in concern.

“Mina?! What happened?!” Minato asked. Minato took Kakashi for me and I took off his and my shoes before placing them by the door to dry. Obito and Rin must have left since their shoes were missing.

“Kakashi’s father committed suicide.” Both of their mouths dropped before Minato carried him upstairs to change him into spare and dry clothes. Kushina looked at me with pity and guilt in her eyes.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, ya know.” Kushina spoke. I nodded before quickly running into my room to get some dry clothes. Kushina started up a warm bath for me and I quickly removed my clothes, stepping into the hot, soapy water. I closed the shower curtain and yelled through the door to Kushina so she could come in. She sat on the sink counter top as she began talking to me about what happened.

As I bathed, I explained to her that I found Kakashi crying at his house when he found his father’s body. That he ran to the memorial stone and yelled about his father. Kushina explained to me what happened on the White Fang’s mission and I could see why Kakashi was upset with him, although I disagreed. We, as ninjas, are trained that the mission is the most important thing, that it must be completed no matter the cost. Kakashi has always been by the book and lived by the rules. Although I’m guessing the guilt of all of the pressure around him got to the White Fang. Talking to Kushina was something that helped me relax. She was my only family in the world, and without her, I wouldn’t have anyone. I always could use her voice of reason.

I was dry, clean, and dressed while eating some reheated dinner. I finished quickly and headed up to my room where I found Kakashi lying on my bed. He was wearing one of Minato's spare shirts and shorts that hung loosely around him. Kakashi was shivering, not from crying, but from the cold. I sighed and quietly adjusted the blanket so I could get under. I slipped in next to Kakashi and hugged him tightly, heating his frozen body. He stopped shivering and sighed in content from my heat. I shook my head to adjust my hair and then rested it on the crook of his neck, using my body to heat him. 

I'm so sorry Kakashi... I thought to myself.