Chapter 6

He heard a gasp of disbelief and looked up at the blond, who's face portrayed shock and confusion. Then, horror as he took in the face of the young boy he had smashed into a rock. The jounin's grip on his throat loosened and he could see the sadness in his eyes as he lifted a hand and reached for his injured face.

He wasn't paying attention and Lynx immediately took advantage of that fact. It was only Minato's finely honed instincts that allowed him to notice the kunai heading straight for his heart. However, he noticed it too late. With his jumbled emotions as well as Reiji's hand coming up to grasp his arm in a white-knuckled grip, he was only able to make a clumsy side-step as the kunai whizzed past him, gouging out a deep part of his side, but avoiding the lethal blow to his heart.

Minato hissed in pain and shot his hand out, pressing a pressure point in Reiji's wrist, making the boy's grip loosen. The blonde jumped back, keeping all three Uzumaki in sight, a hand held to his wound in an attempt to stem the bleeding.

"Minato-kun!" a voice shouted, drawing the attention of all four of the shinobi in the clearing. A redhead landed next to Minato, worried eyes examining the deep wound in his side. She turned to glare at his assailants before her eyes widened in shock.

All three had now discarded their masks, letting the wind run freely through their fiery-red hair. A boy knelt next to their fallen comrade, concern glowing in his hazel-brown eyes. Their leader stood protectively in front of them, ice-blue eyes glaring at the duo in front of him, chakra coiled up and ready for use.

Minato stepped forward, a blank mask once again adorning his features, "Who are you?" he asked, "Are you part of the Uzumaki clan?"

"I said it once, I'll say it again! It's none of your concern!" the leader snarled, his KI flared, but it barely affected the powerful nin standing in front of him.

"Then is it my concern?" the redhead stepped forward, violet eyes narrowed, "The name's Kushina, Uzumaki Kushina."

At this time, Daiki spoke up, "Kiyoshi-sama, Reiji's hurt, not that serious, but if it's not treated, it'll activate the seal and notify the others of his injuries. Tatsuo'll probably freak, he's been really protective ever since..." he grimaced as his mind flashed back to the incident that had taken the lives of two of their kin.

Kiyoshi nodded, mouth opening to respond, but another voice cut him off, "K-Kiyoshi? My n-nephew Kiyoshi?" Kushina stuttered, eyes wide with disbelief and a sliver of hope.

At her words, they both stilled, Daiki throwing his captain a questioning look which Kiyoshi ignored. "I'm afraid I cannot confirm nor deny that," Kiyoshi spoke up calmly, flaring his chakra slightly, which went unnoticed by the distraught redhead and the blonde working to calm her. "However, I don't remember having an aunt," his eyes narrowed, "then again, I was pretty young when Uzushiogakure was destroyed."

"I had a younger sister, Uzumaki Akira," Kushina said, though it seemed she had already made up her mind about who he was. She was analyzing everything about him, though she only spared his messy-red hair a brief glance, before she stopped at his ice-blue eyes, and frowned.

He stiffened, eyes going wide with shock and disbelief, followed by uncertainty. She was too busy scrutinizing his features that she didn't notice his reaction to her words. Unfortunately, the blonde wasn't that distracted. He tensed, gaze taking in the boy's body language for any sign of a fight-or-flight response.

Kiyoshi shifted uncomfortably before glancing at his downed teammate and the effort it took for the other to support him. "We should get going," he murmured, taking an almost imperceptible step towards his family, "wouldn't want to worry the others," he laughed nervously, eyes swiveling around to take in any threats.

Minato's ocean-blue eyes hardened at that and he stepped forward, raising a kunai, "You're not going anywhere," he hissed, muscles tense, "You're coming back to Konoha with us."

"I'm afraid not Namikaze," Kiyoshi said, settling defensively in front of his team, "you're not fast enough to make me."

"Oh really," he murmured, eyes narrowed, before he disappeared. Kiyoshi's eyes widened as he spun quickly, watching helplessly as Daiki instinctively pushed away from the blonde jounin, who was now holding Reiji's limp body.

"Let him go," Kiyoshi snarled, drawing out a sword and channeling his chakra into the blade, making it light up in a brilliant burst of flames.

Minato watched him expressionlessly before slowly rising his tri-pronged kunai to Reiji's throat, making a small cut, "come with us back to Konoha."

When he saw the cut, Kiyoshi lost it, blood-red chakra erupted from his skin and encased his body, chakra wings sprouted from his back and fingernails elongated into razor-sharp claws. His canines lengthened and red scales surrounded his eyes. Kiyoshi let out a roar of pain as his chakra seeped into his eyes, making the contacts he was wearing shatter into multiple pieces. He shook his head roughly, scattering the tiny fragments, before looking back up at the duo.

Kushina gasped, seeing the color of his eyes. They were violet with specks of molten-gold littered around. But as they watched, the gold slowly grew, consuming the violet parts until all that was left was the glowing golden irises glaring at them.

"You will pay!" the creature bellowed, launching itself at the two nin, who quickly readied themselves. But before he could make contact with them, Kiyoshi faintly heard a voice breaking through the fog that clouded his mind.

'Forgive me, summoner.' Confusion seeped into him before he realized what those words meant. A roar filled with rage, fury and frustration erupted from the power-enhanced boy as a green blur landed on top of them, wings wrapping around to cocoon the two Uzumaki, before the dragon reverse-summoned them to the dragon realm, leaving Uzumaki Reiji in the hands of Konoha.