Rattled

A/N I ended up changing Minato's mask to Cheetah. Panther just didn't fit; it was a random pick out of my ass – something that wasn't one of those generic animals. Cheetah kinda makes sense, right?

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The man running in front of Minato had puzzled him from the very moment they met. The Hunter-nin had stormed out of Hokage-sama's office, looking as if he wanted to destroy something – anything – with those tightly clenched fists. The ANBU Captain under the Cheetah mask had wisely said nothing to the fuming figure in the dark grey Hunter-nin cloak, opting to give a simple nod in greeting before allowing the man to lead the way. As they approached the gate, he had visibly forced himself to halt and gruffly introduced himself as Akashiori, but then told Minato to not call him as such.

Even more puzzling was that Akashiori didn't seem like a new recruit.

First of all, Minato realized immediately after the Hunter-nin calmed that he hadn't felt the man's chakra at all. Not once did he detect even a leak between the transitions of fury to irritation to resignation to indifference. Even the best of new recruits slipped during times of such anger. Secondly, the way the man moved was that of a seasoned shinobi. Though the cloak hid his body, he could practically feel the control and lack of recoil in his movements from tree to tree. He wouldn't call it grace, but there was a fluidity which vaguely reminded him of an untamed animal. Thirdly, he was an extremely skilled tracker. Akashiori barely paused to identify new clues to the target's path. Sometimes he would curiously tip his head back as if to sniff the air from under his mask or tilt his head to the side as if to listen for something inaudible. Once he caught a 'scent,' Akashiori would cover miles without stopping until he found it sensible to take another quick sniff. Minato also caught how the man's sharp violet eyes never stopped flitting around, searching for visual clues to the target's movements.

These attributes all pointed towards an excellent shinobi with great potential as a Hunter-nin, but the puzzling thing was that Akashiori was too seasoned to be a new recruit. When the speed, stamina, control, and survival expertise were combined, the final product was an exceptional, veteran agent. Perhaps somewhat animalistic, but that only added to his efficiency.

"Cheetah-san, let us take a short break here to eat and rest before resuming the chase. I will not be stopping again until sunset. It is best now if we distance ourselves so the food does not taint the trail," Akashiori told him in a detached voice before heading off to the side.

Minato nodded approvingly. Many trackers forgot that food, no matter how bland and odorless, still left traces which could mix with the trail, possibly sending them off-course.

They said nothing as they ate ration bars. Minato reviewed the information he had gathered, which all seemed to contradict the fact that Akashiori was supposed to be green. The Hunter-nin in front of him knew what he was doing as if he had done it a hundred times before.

There was also one comment he had made that piqued Minato's interest. "Excuse me, why do you not want your name spoken?"

Minato could somehow tell the man was smiling behind his mask, and amusement in the baritone voice confirmed it.

"Old habit of mine. Until my targets are about to die, they knew me by my false name Akamaki, which people mistake my mask for. I correct their knowledge only moments before I exact the final blow. It makes the game more interesting, does it not?"

The ANBU Captain was both intrigued and disturbed. His eyebrows lifted unseen. "I mean no offense, but isn't it pointless if your opponent dies anyway?"

Akamaki nodded but explained. "It was a test for myself on spatial awareness. Can I accurately analyze my opponent's status? It was a form of…training for emotional control and attentiveness during a battle where the mind often becomes clouded. Bloodlust, exhilaration, and frustration often cast a veil over judgment." He shrugged. "This challenge was an effective method to keep myself focused and aware. I was hotheaded and regularly needed the reminder."

Minato felt like a student rather than a superior; he may be superior in rank, but in comparison, he felt like there was a significant gap in maturity. He suddenly had a strong urge to know how old the man was and why he was considered a new recruit.

"However, the occasional prey does escape after learning my name. Those failures show where I was careless or hasty. It helps with post-mission analysis."

"Then, should I address you as Akamaki?"

The Hunter-nin let out a resigned sigh. "I am giving up the practice. There is no point in it now. Just call me Akashiori."

There was an awkward pause.

"If I may ask, what caused you to be so angry this morning?"

Akashiori chuckled. "Hokage-sama can be a sadistic man. Beneath that kind exterior is a cunning dog who likes to meddle in the worst ways, and he decided to mess with me even after I warned him not to."

Another puzzle presented itself. The new recruit spoke of the Hokage as if they were equals. Could they perhaps be related? Or teacher and student? Long-time friends?

They resumed their run in silence, but it was much more pleasant than the first half of their journey. Though Minato wasn't sure how he knew, Akashiori didn't seem as uncomfortable with him anymore. He couldn't see any difference in his movements, but the man appeared lighter in an indescribable way. Maybe it was just his imagination.

Abruptly, the Hunter-nin stopped. Now there was an urgency to his movements in evaluating his surrounding environment.

"Cheetah, we must increase our speed. It seems our target has acquired another pursuer – Kirigakure if my senses are correct. They are wary of kekkai Genkai and have good reason to pursue the Uchiha."

The pace Akashiori set was incredible; it was close to rivaling his speed on a chase, but Minato was one of the fastest shinobi in Konoha. The trees were blurred, and the two men seemed to almost rocket through the air without taking any steps. The ANBU Captain wondered how long the Hunter-nin would be able to keep up the same pace before suffering from exhaustion.

But two hours later, the man didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon; he wasn't even winded and increased the pace a little more. He had stamina that rivaled the elite of the elite.

"We're closing in on the Kiri-nin, but they have almost caught up with the Uchiha as well. We mustn't allow the Sharingan to fall into their hands. We recently discovered that Kiri has been researching counters for kekkai Genkai." Only towards the end of Akashiori's rushed explanation did Minato notice. The Hunter-nin's breaths had shuddered before he continued talking smoothly. He's feeling it, Minato realized. The man was feeling the strain – though it didn't seem like much – of their last two hours of full-out sprinting but was doing an excellent job of hiding it. He wondered how the Hunter-nin would fare in the fight to come.

"There," Akashiori whispered and adjusted his path onto higher branches. When they were almost on top of the three Kiri-nin, the Hunter-nin silently dropped down behind them and slammed a senbon deep into one of the men's neck, right through the jugular vein with impeccable accuracy. Only when the Kiri-nin gurgled and dropped dead did his companions notice Akamaki's deadly presence.

Minato stood back and watched him work.

"Who are you?" As they came to a halt, the two shinobi turned sharply to the man in the dark grey cloak.

"Guess." In that single word, Minato heard the playful smirk behind the red swirled mask.

"What are you after?" One Kiri-nin snarled.

The Hunter-nin gave an exaggerated sigh. "No more guessing? Fine. I'm Akashiori, and I'm after you–" The last word was accentuated with the blur of his body lunging forward.

Kaze no Yaiba (Blade of Wind)!

Akamaki formed a barely visible chakra sword on two fingers and slashed at the man to his right. The man cried out in pain as a precise gust of wind sliced across his chest, but then exploded into water. Water clone. His senses detected the man on a branch above and began to let fly another wind slice but were interrupted.

Suiton: Teppoudama (Gunshot)!

Condensed balls of water flew at Akamaki from the Kiri-nin positioned to his back left. He dodged the balls but watched in fascination as they drilled into tree trunks like bullets.

"Not too shabby. Nice teamwork there," Akamaki complimented. With pure speed, he appeared behind the Kiri-nin who had performed the Jutsu and jabbed his spine with a chakra enhanced elbow. The man screamed at the backbreaking impact but yelled out to his fellow Kiri-nin before dropping paralyzed to the ground, "Wide range! Speed! Trap!"

The remaining Kiri-nin seemed to understand immediately

Suiton: Mizuame Nabara (Starch Syrup Capturing Field)!

He dropped down from the tree to form hand seals and shoot out a sticky liquid which splashed over the area of battle, trying to capture Akamaki's feet and inhibit his mobility. Akamaki leaped out of the way as the liquid sloshed over the paralyzed Kiri-nin.

"Sorry, that might have worked if we weren't in a forest." At the end of the leap, he stuck to a tree with chakra and observed the liquid gunk on the ground. "Hmh! You Kiri-nin are so fond of your Suiton jutsus…" the Hunter-nin grumbled before Minato saw a glint of defiance in his eyes. "Well, I can do water too!"

Suiton: Suihachi (Water Wave Palm)!

A powerful jet of water shot out of his arm towards the ground, sweeping away the sticky slime and knocking into the Kiri-nin who smashed into a tree. "My code name is Akashiori, and I learned that move during my last mission," the Hunter-nin spat at the memory of Kanzai. Then he flew at the dazed man in a blur too fast to be tracked and shoved his katana through the heart with a squelch.

Heavy, post-battle silence engulfed the forest.

Akashiori slid his sword out of flesh and fired a jolt of chakra through the blade to dispel the blood instantly. With a snap of his fingers, he set the man on black Hunter-nin fire. Prowling over to the Kiri-nin who was still half-conscious, he snapped again, ignoring the strangled scream as the man was burned alive. Finally, he backtracked to the first ninja he'd killed and snapped a third time.

"Cheetah, let us continue," was all he said as he calmly picked up the trail and sprinted away from the liquid remains.

It took a moment for Minato to draw himself out of the shock of seeing Akashiori burn a man alive. This was exactly why the ANBU were at odds with the Hunter-nin Corps; their ruthlessness set them apart. Even the cruelest within ANBU would have killed the downed man before destroying the body, a practice of humanity the organization valued. How could he have forgotten?

He'd forgotten because of Naruto. Although he knew Uzuhara Naruto was a Hunter-nin, his new friend was kind and seemed to emit light even when plunged into emotional darkness. He didn't appear capable of such brutality – a shinobi who would coldly burn an incapacitated man outside of battle! Still, Naruto's occupation was a Hunter-nin, had been for a year, and was even praised by Hokage-sama for his work and efficiency.

Minato wondered what Naruto was like during missions.

The Uchiha's head had been retrieved and body burned. Before heading back to Konoha, they stopped for the night. It was now Minato's turn to be uncomfortable with his temporary partner.

"Cheetah, each of us is in our respective line of work because we are suited for it." Naruto cut the silence with his falsely gruff voice, knowing exactly what Minato was debating. "This is how we operate, and this is why we are Hunter-nin, not ANBU."

The ANBU captain didn't seem mollified by the meager comment, but he nodded and remained deep in thought. Naruto reexamined the mission from the start to the present. At the beginning when he had stormed out of Sandaime-Jijii's office, his true personality had mixed with his Akashiori persona, projecting his fury as Uzumaki would have; it was fortunate that he had instinctively stabilized his chakra. It had taken a while for Akashiori to overcome the unwelcome rage and frustration, and through it all, Minato had been professional and courteous.

Naruto had been beyond impressed by Minato's speed. Ero-Sannin had boasted that Namikaze Minato had been one of the most gifted shinobi who ever lived and the fastest shinobi of his time, and Naruto was now starting to see for himself why.

During his combat assessment, they had been testing each other and playing around. But now in a mission, Minato was the epitome of a perfect shinobi. His speed was phenomenal, his movements were clean and disciplined, and Naruto could feel the keen eyes studying his every move action, nothing escaping his notice.

When Naruto had increased their pace, Minato hadn't batted an eye and followed as if nothing had changed. Hours later, the Hunter-nin had begun to tire but Minato looked unruffled, like he'd just started the mission. Naruto, even with Akashiori's serious disposition, almost pouted at that; he was so jealous! Then he'd sighed inwardly at Kyuubi's snickering and wished he had made time to continue training with Gai and Lee even after joining the Hunter-nin Corps. Naruto was now paying for the neglect.

After the fight with the Kiri-nin, Naruto had carried out the routine corpse processing and didn't notice anything wrong until after the Uchiha had been taken care of. Minato had been slightly aloof and edgy, and only when they stopped to rest did Naruto understand why. What gave the hint was Minato's animal mask, different from the Hunter-nin masks which had no constraints in design as long as it wasn't an animal.

ANBU and Hunter-nin were rivals and enemies, all because the ANBU disliked Hunter methods. On the other hand, Hunter-nin couldn't care less.

Naruto snorted to Kurama, 'It's like the relationship between me and Sasuke. The funny thing is, Sasuke ended up as ANBU while I joined Corps.'

'Oh, the irony.' The fox chuckled dryly.

'Hmm, this could work in our favor,' Naruto pondered. 'Kyuu, do you think he'll stop following me around if Uzuhara Naruto shows his the cold, cruel Hunter-nin side?'

'The idea has merit, but Namikaze seems to be an open-minded man.' The fox paused. 'However, the real question is, kit, do you truly want to lose his friendship?'

'…'

'He is a good man.' He sent Naruto a warm smile of encouragement. 'He can help you recover from this predicament you have landed yourself in with your botched time jutsu.'

Naruto sighed aloud and ignored Minato's questioning tilt. "I'll take first watch."

Naruto walked aimlessly through ANBU Headquarters, following the halls and occasionally turning right or left. This was the first time since he arrived twenty-four years in the past that he had nothing to do and no urge to do anything. He was bored…

The debriefing had barely taken any time, at least for him. Minato had been held back to report his evaluation and opinion on Akashiori's performance. Naruto could only speculate what he'd say about his Hunter-nin cold-bloodedness. Minato was definitely ANBU through and through, and one of the best at that. On top of being an excellent teammate and disciplined shinobi, he was righteous and benevolent even while killing. Unlike Hunter-nin…

It seemed like the Hunter-nin Corps was filled with screwed up people like him. Of course, there were traumatized shinobi in ANBU, but none were severe because those who were critically damaged left ANBU for less traumatizing missions. On the other hand, people who became Hunter-nin tended to be victims of horror stories, the ones who had experienced the worst but somehow stayed sane, and because of that they could handle the dirty work of eliminating the worst of criminals. To avoid snapping, Hunter-nin preferred to keep their on-duty and off-duty lives completely separate.

Using personas like his.

They shied away from teamwork and all that camaraderie stuff the ANBU prized so much, at most sharing twisted banter which only they found funny and comforting silence between people truly empathetic when they passed through the Hunter-nin lounge. Very few gave away their true identities. As a result of solitary missions and the lack of judgment from others, Hunter-nin fighting styles reflected their inner selves.

Ruthless.

Naruto had become a model Hunter-nin. Even during his Tokubetsu Jounin infiltration missions, he usually worked as the lone infiltrator, passing information to teammates posted as lookouts. That was why it was strange to see all these shinobi gathered in one place. The ANBU lived together, ate together, trained together, and played together. After that, they worked together. Years ago, Naruto would have loved it and thought it a dream come true, but now none of his shinobi personas trusted crowds, not even as Hokage in training. There were just too many opportunities for hidden attacks.

Hah, his 'charming' Hunter-nin persona liked to play with missing-nin though, Naruto thought as a bit of immaturity slipped to the surface. Now that he was taking missions again, he could get back to testing new jutsu on his mission targets. How exciting!

'Please refrain from creating anything idiotic like your last,' Kyuubi warned, ominously flailing his tails.

'I know, I know. I've learned my lesson. Maybe I'll just review the time jutsu. Then, I might be able to figure out what happened to my own time.'

'No,' the fox growled. 'You are a magnet for trouble. You will probably throw us further into the past just by looking at it. I have no desire to merge with another me in the past.'

Naruto sighed. 'I know, I know.' He didn't really feel like doing anything at the moment anyway.

By this time, he had already toured the entire building, looking curiously into lounges and extracurricular rooms like soundproof piano rooms and art studios. Despite entering Headquarters multiple times in the past, Naruto had only been allowed access to the ANBU Library and nothing else – he'd thrown a mini-tantrum at that. There was one particular building he was very curious about; the massive training facility right outside his window held so much promise.

The large double doors were inviting, and Naruto entered eagerly like an Academy student would a weapons shop. Inside, he found everything anyone would ever want for training. He couldn't fathom how Hunter-nin were able to stay on par in skill with ANBU since the Corps didn't have headquarters, much less a training facility. For secrecy's sake, they didn't even have their own training ground.

This was just awesome.

For now, it was enough to stroll through at a leisurely pace and create a mental list of things to try out. There were so many training equipments in the ninjutsu section, and the kenjutsu section had an enormous armory. And that target practice room had–.

"Uzuhara," a familiar voice from behind distracted him. His heart sank as he recognized the canine masked man from two nights ago.

Cautiously, he turned to face the tall man and groaned inwardly. "Yes? How can I help you?"

"What are you doing here?" The man asked acidly. "I thought I told you to stay out of our way."

"I'm just looking around, sir." Naruto replied with forced politeness, hoping he wouldn't do anything to set the man off. "This is an extraordinary facility."

"You don't have the right to be here, rookie." The man ignored the blonde's respectful manner. "You might have passed Hokage-sama's ANBU test, but you have to get through our own induction tests before you're one of us."

"I'm really only looking around," Naruto repeated warily. "I think I should be going now."

The ANBU looked piercingly through the eyeholes. "I'll lead you out."

"Uhh, I can find my way…" the Hunter-nin tensed. Something wasn't right.

"Show respect to your superiors!" The man barked. "Come." He grabbed Naruto's upper arm and dragged him down a hall.

"Where are we going, sir…?" He tried to twist out of the hand, knowing this wasn't the path to an exit.

The man tightened his bruising grip to prevent escape. "You're all Namikaze-san's been talking about. Uzuhara this, Uzuhara that. I'm going to show everyone you're not worth anyone's time."

He's jealous, Naruto realized, dangerously jealous. He was pulled through a set of double doors to the center of a large, open gymnasium. When the man gestured with his hands, five large men gathered around them. The shinobi who were training around the room stopped to watch the scene unfold.

"Listen up," the canine-masked man shouted to the bystanders. "We've got a treat for everyone tonight! This rookie here, Uzuhara's been bragging about how he's good enough to take Namikaze-san down. We're going to test this little twerp to see if he's really as good as he says! Who wants to see him fight?"

"I haven't been…!" Naruto protested frantically, still tugging at his arm, but his voice was barely heard as whispers erupted around them.

"Let's show him what happens when anyone slanders Cheetah's name!" Scattered cheers of approval filled the room as six shinobi attacked him simultaneously.

The fight was mean and dirty. Six full-fledged ANBU against one supposed rookie. They attacked him at once without holding back. Ninjutsu, taijutsu, kenjutsu, genjutsu. They threw them all as one cohesive unit. While the ANBU were in full gear, he was in loose pants and shirt with no weapons or protection. Unprepared and tired from the mission just hours ago, Naruto was having difficulty suppressing his urge to utilize Hunter-nin assassination techniques. All he allowed himself was to attack to incapacitate, defend, and throw what ninjutsu he could form before the next attack hit him.

Naruto snatched the kunai thrown at his head and jammed its ringed end into one attacker's temple. He ducked under the long blade of an ANBU issued sword before forming a string of one-handed seals. As he let loose a massive wind attack to knock out two men, another aggressor launched a fireball which he only noticed and dodged because of the incoming heat, but it was a trap which placed him in position for a kick to the ribs. He could feel something crack, and with its breaking his mind began to crumble.

Suppressed feelings began to boil. He was so angry and frustrated at everything. His stupid broken masks and time jutsu and this stupid new world, and now there were these ANBU assholes who had decided their poor Namikaze-sama needed his honor defended. Naruto didn't want to be here, among these strangers. Why should this Sandaime force interaction with people who weren't his. He didn't want ties with anyone here. They would just distract him from his duty. He just wanted to do his job and go back home to his precious people!

Control over his emotions was slipping quickly, and the urge to kill was growing stronger by the second. I mustn't kill, I mustn't kill, Naruto reminded himself over and over within his deteriorating sanity. As injuries on his body increased, his own attacks increased in brutality. Four eliminated. Two hostiles remaining. Hostile No. 1: broken arm, shattered kneecap, sprained ankle, bleeding stomach. Hostile No. 2: shredded leg, dislocated shoulder, burnt side. Akashiori: fractured rib, incapacitated arm, concussion, kunai to the thigh, broken fingers, deep slice to his side, mental breakdown.

Despite the lack of his physical mask, Naruto was now in full Akashiori mode but missing his usual control. I mustn't kill, I mustn't kill, he insisted, but the voice was losing strength, and need for vengeance was slowly gaining ground. His ruthless Hunter-nin techniques were surfacing, and he was so close to snapping his unbroken fingers to burn the downed bodies, alive or not.

The two remaining men caught him off guard, slamming him to the ground. His shadow clones were now so weak that they were only useful for kawarimi and decoys. He barely had enough energy to create a weak wind barrier to buy time to calm himself, but a blast of fire blown at the barrier mixed with the wind and created a flaming cyclone, trapping him within a burning oven.

That was the final straw.

Red, malicious chakra began to seep out of his body, reaching out and tearing down the twister. His senses were suddenly overtaken by a sharp awareness of his surroundings and the blood pumping through his body. One hostile had woken up, making it a total of three capable of fighting. There were thirty humans in the room. He could smell fear beginning to leak from the three men in front of him.

Kyuubi's angry chakra burned better than ever. So, so delicious that he was getting high off of it!

I'm going to kill them.

Disregarding the pain of his broken body forcefully knitting back together, Naruto leapt at them wildly, starting to form a Rasengan in each hand to slam through their pitiful human chests.

BANG!

"What the hell is going on here!" Someone roared.

The gunshot slam of the doors flying open followed by the enraged, piercing voice and chakra from one he recognized as a trusted ally reached him in the red, rampant haze. He dredged up the will to salvage what sanity he had remaining to stop the attack and force the red back down. Naruto collapsed in a heap, barely having the strength move from the physical and emotional deterioration.

"Naruto! Naruto!" A panicked voice reached his ears. It felt like Minato. All he could do was grunt in response and curl into a ball, but when a hand touched his shoulder, he jumped violently and backed away like an abused animal, emitting frightened whimpers as he rocked himself forward and backward. "Don't touch me, leave me alone!"

"Fuck!" The presence that felt like Minato swore. He felt arms wrap around him and flinched as a wave of dizziness hit him, but before he could react, he was on something soft and the dizziness evaporated.

"Naruto? Hey, can you hear me?"

He moaned in acknowledgement. He felt gentle fingers running through his hair. The motion allowed him to collect enough pieces of his mind to focus. Sweet healing chakra spread around his body. Naruto guardedly cracked open his eyes and saw concerned blue.

"Naruto?" Minato spoke gently, kneeling beside the bed.

As the physical pain faded to a dull ache, his awareness returned. "Mi…na…to?"

"That's right," the ANBU Captain said in a soft, soothing voice. "You're in my room. You're safe."

Naruto gave a small nod but moaned from the pain in his head.

"I'm sorry, Naruto…I couldn't take you to the infirmary. It would be bad if they found you're Hunter-nin."

"…find 'm Hunter?" Naruto mumbled in muddled confusion.

"Yes, we're in ANBU HQ." Minato answered apologetically, placing a comforting hand on Naruto's upper arm. "I doubt you'd apprec–"

Naruto's breath hitched. ANBU!

"Don't touch me!" Naruto snarled and sharply pulled away. "I hate you!"

Naruto felt Minato's chakra spike in alarm. "Naruto? What's wrong?"

"I hate you ANBU!" He's eyes glazed in anger, and he began to hyperventilate. "You bastards didn't show up!" He gasped shallowly. "Two weeks of torture in that dungeon. I escaped. Turns out your retrieval team felt I had lowest priority because I'm a demon. Because I would heal up just fine." Naruto suddenly curled a bloody hand around Minato's neck, gently but threateningly stroking the soft skin over his jugular vein.

"Do you still want to be my friend, Minato? Me. Demon Hunter-nin with a fucked up past and a fucked up job that lets me do whatever I want with my targets as long as they're obliterated?" He let out a dark, strangled laugh, releasing the neck after a tight squeeze. "I have a 'flee on sight' order in the Bingo Books, and I love it! It makes the chase even sweeter!"

Although Minato's eyes widened in shock, he reached up to cup the shuddering scarred cheeks in warm, steady palms. Tears began to fill the Hunter-nin's eyes, but he blinked furiously to stop them from escaping. Naruto growled in irritation.

"Look at me, Naruto. Breathe and look at me." Minato tilted the distraught blond's face to meet his unwavering eyes. "It's…if it's the job you feel most comfortable with, then I have nothing against that. I also have nothing at all against your past. I still want to be your friend."

"W-what…?" Naruto's angry eyes narrowed. "You're lying," he hissed. "You ANBU fuckers hate us."

"No, I thought about it a lot over my mission," Minato said, not letting go of Naruto's disbelieving face. "The ANBU are hypocrites to criticize Hunter-nin methods. Hunter-nin methods are like…ANBU Torture & Interrogation except in the field."

"You're lying," Naruto stated firmly even as tears leaked from his eyes and down his cheeks. "You hate us, and I hate you…"

"I don't hate you," Minato insisted, brushing his thumb across a wet cheek. "I don't hate you."

"B-but, you're lying. You don't know…" Naruto's voice cracked as he tried to push him away weakly. "…if you knew… you'd hate me."

Minato removed his hands and wrapped his arms around slumped shoulders, pulling the distraught blond's form closer. "I'm not lying," he said clearly into Naruto's ear.

"…but I hate you…" he shook his head against the solid warmth around him and whispered again as if to hold on to what remained of his failing conviction. "…hate you…"

"You can hate me, but I'll never hate you." Minato ran his fingers through Naruto's soft hair again.

Shaking hands slowly reached to latch onto Minato's shirt, but the rest of Naruto remained stiff and unmoving. This time, the only evidence of his overwhelming anguish was the wetness seeping into the cloth over Minato's shoulder.

"Soooo…" Naruto began awkwardly, flushing again from embarrassment. "I'm really sorry…"

"Hmm?"

Naruto had eventually calmed down and shot out of Minato's arms, looking mortified that he had broken down in front of him yet again. While the dazed Hunter-nin sat on the bed, leaning against the wall with absent eyes to piece together the last loose fragments of his mind, Minato had plopped himself down next to him to study a scroll until Naruto woke up from whatever he was thnking.

"I'm really, really sorry…" Naruto apologized again.

"Mmhmm."

Naruto huffed at Minato's lack of attention and leaned over to see what scroll he was studying, giving the preoccupied blonde's arm a nudge.

The time traveler choked. "The Four Symbols Seal…"

"Hmm, yeah." Minato mumbled, busy scribbling down some notes.

"Minato, what're you studying that for?" Naruto asked discreetly but urgently. Did Minato start studying this seal so early in time?

Minato finally lifted his eyes to the blond head peering over his arm. "Have you heard of it before?" Naruto nodded nervously.

"You know how it's still incomplete, right?" Naruto repeated the nod, though he didn't actually know since it had already been completed in his time. "I'm trying to find the right runes to stabilize it and keep it from drifting so the cage will be grounded."

"I see…" Naruto trailed off, having no idea what to do or say in this situation. He didn't think 'Hey, Minato, you already perfected it around…two decades ago!' or 'Look here, I have three of them on my stomach.' would go over well with anyone so he chose the smart option of fishing for information, a skill he'd learned only recently.

"How did you learn about this seal?" Naruto asked, innocently curious.

"I have a friend from Uzushiogakure. She's the one who got me interested in Sealing Arts." Minato smiled softly in remembrance. "She told me about it a few years ago."

"Wow, you've been studying it that long?" Naruto probed with faked surprise.

"What? No, I just got a copy of the scroll last week."

Last week…crap, it's definitely because of me and Kyuu, Naruto fidgeted at the thought. "Are you planning on using it?"

"Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether there's a spirit that needs to be sealed." Minato shrugged casually.

In exaggerated anxiety, Naruto nudged Minato's arm again and stuttered, "I-is there a threat of one any time soon?" Naruto hoped this question would bring forth some concrete information.

Minato looked grimly down at him. "To tell you the truth, there might be. I can't say much since it's an S-class secret, but I've been told by a well-informed source to stay alert."

He raised distressed eyes to Minato's troubled ones. "S-Sandaime-Jijii?" He might be laying the fear on a bit thick.

"Well…no. Hokage-sama said everything is fine, but my source isn't convinced." At Naruto's skeptical frown, Minato elaborated. "I believe this source because of their precarious position in this delicate situation."

That confirmed it. Now that his mother was digging into the issue herself, this could only end disastrously, especially since Minato was deeply involved. If Naruto ever met her, there was a very good chance of his own S-class Kyuubi secret would be revealed and both his Uzuhara Naruto Hunter-nin and Tokubetsu Jounin personas irreparably damaged. This was certainly a 'delicate situation' for which he and the Hokage needed to fabricate a convincing cover before Minato discovered anything or any information leaked out. If Tobi found out and started digging as well…

Naruto fought the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. These days, everything happening around him seemed to require damage control. In this case, he needed to work from both the inside and out to manipulate a positive, or at least neutral, outcome. First, he would start out by infiltr…integrating himself into the circle of his mother's most trusted friends as someone who had the expertise to help and therefore could be included in their secrets.

"What do you have so far?" Naruto shifted closer to study the seal in development.

"Oh, that's right, you're a Seal Master. Take a look; you might see something I'm missing," Minato said, tilting the scroll in the smaller blonde's direction.

Naruto noticed with great relief that there was still a significant amount of work to be done before its completion. He would just need to prolong the estimated time required by subtly throwing them off course.

"This stroke to the right. It might detract from the structure's balance." Naruto made an attempt to disrupt a well-hidden but critical portion of the seal.

"Hmm, that's true, but the mark below evens it out."

The problem was, Minato was too good of a Seal Master, no doubt better than himself who had little guidance and learned through trial and error. However, because he developed his skills through experimentation and practical application, he was confident about having a better understanding of the intricacies of Fuuinjutsu application. He could win this game.

"But you have to consider the clashing of the spirit's chakra against the cage. See here…" They continued to trade suggestions back and forth but in the end reached no conclusion.

Minato furrowed his brow, nodding pensively. "I guess we'll have to look for another combination of runes."

Naruto hid his grin in the pretense of bending down for a closer look. This should set them back at least two weeks. He knew every single scroll and jutsu on Sealing in the ANBU Library; Minato would be led astray by the many false leads for this particular problem, only to find that the original runes were the best.

Maaaaybe he felt a bit guilty, but it was Konoha's survival on the line.

"Naruto, how are you feeling?" The sudden change in topic shook him out of his scheming thoughts.

After a moment he answered, "I'm better. Mostly healed." Naruto smiled gratefully up at Minato before looking down at his hands still covered in specks of dried blood. "Minato, thanks, really. I lost it for a few seconds back there, but somehow your voice and chakra were…mmm, how do I describe it? They were…soothing and calmed me down right away. That's surprising since, usually, someone has to knock me unconscious." Too busy studying his healed fingers which had been broken earlier, Naruto missed the pleased blush lightly staining the ANBU Captain's cheeks.

A question popped into Naruto's head. "How did you know to go there?"

Minato frowned and curled his hands into fists. "I heard people talking about Jackal bullying a rookie again, and you're the first new agent here in two months. Then your chakra spiked from the training facility. It felt more destructive than when I channeled it last week so I knew I had to hurry." Minato's expression turned to one of rage. "They always do this under my name. I'm sick of people getting hurt because of it!"

"Minato…I was about to kill them…" Naruto hung his head. "I'm already so angry with life in general, but they just had to push. I was about to shove my hands through their chests." He raised haunted eyes to look at the man beside him. "And I would have enjoyed every bit of it. I probably would have laughed afterwards. There were points during the fight that I almost snapped my fingers and set them on black fire."

Minato hooked a comforting arm over Naruto's shoulders. "We all have limits, and what happened was a self-defense mechanism. We are shinobi; those who taunt fellow shinobi should know and expect the consequences." The ANBU Captain gave a small reassuring squeeze. "They asked for it. You did nothing wrong."

Naruto nodded sullenly, but his anxiety didn't disappear. Minato didn't know about his Kyuubi. If he found out, there was no doubt he would be considered too dangerous to even walk on the streets, especially with his psychological issues. Minato might fully accept his mother's Kyuubi, but she wasn't a jaded killing machine who would wipe out masses of people if ordered. He would probably find out eventually, and Naruto didn't know how badly he would react if Minato began to avoid him.

"Er, Naruto… Do you hate me?" Minato asked apprehensively.

Naruto's eyebrows rose and after a moment of silence, he broke into laughter, and then he laughed even harder at his friend's glare. What timing… "I'm sorry I said that. If I really hated you, I would have already beaten you up, completely ignored you, or pranked you viciously." He snickered at several of his legendary pranks. "I don't hate all of ANBU. I've had really good friends here. I'm just holding a huge, deeply ingrained, malicious grudge against a minority. And I certainly don't hate you."

The larger blonde sighed in relief. "Does your Bingo Book entry really have a 'flee-on-site' order?"

"Well~, I used to, before my last mission." Naruto smiled fondly at how proud he had been. He remembered bouncing around in Tsunade-babaa's office for an entire day, and then being horrified that he couldn't shove it in Sasuke's face whose ANBU name had yet to make it into the Bingo Books. "I bet you do too." He said, already knowing.

Minato turned to face the other away as his cheeks dusted pink again. "Yes, just recently. But they're exaggerating…there are countless shinobi much better and deadlier who should be mentioned instead."

Naruto hummed in appreciation. "I think modesty makes for a better shinobi," he grinned, "something I definitely lack." Minato's down-to-earth attitude was incredibly refreshing. The only experiences he'd had with prodigies were Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei, Neji, Itachi, Orochimaru, and all those stuck-up, eccentric idiots who made him want to tear their hair out. Maybe it was their genius combined with bad childhoods that made them senseless and socially awkward. But Minato had thrown those solid beliefs about prodigies out the window.

Naruto leaned back against Minato's arm and thought, for the first time, that this timeline might not be so bad.