Tenebroso
Tenebroso 11
Title: Tenebroso 11
Author: ofphenwa
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Having obtained what he desires, Minato keeps a stranglehold of his most precious treasure, Naruto. Should Naruto be taken away from him, Minato will gladly burn the world down in his dark madness. Is there an end to the nightmare?
A/N: I’m pretty busy nowadays with my uni studies so expect less frequent updates from now on. I’m sorry if it disappoints you but that’s life. Anyway, here’s chapter 11 of Tenebroso.
Tenebroso 11
As the wife of Uchiha Clan Head and its matriarch, Uchiha Mikoto was the epitome of a refined and dignified lady. Before she became the matriarch and retired from shinobi life, she had been a special jounin highly skilled in kenjutsu but even as a kunoichi, she had always been composed and graceful – which her elder son Itachi had evidently inherited. But right now, she looked completely undignified with her mouth open and her eyes wide in shock. An observer would have noted that she looked like a stunned fish, an unflattering comparison which she would not have appreciated. Opening and closing her mouth as she struggled to comprehend what she was seeing, Mikoto finally shrieked, “YOUR HAIR!”
“Oh boy…” Kushina sheepishly fiddled with her hair, making it even more of a mess. Mikoto stared at her best friend with a blank expression as she took in her new appearance. Kushina had dressed like a civilian today in a pair of beige capri pants and a blue sleeveless blouse with a mandarin collar. But her hair…!
Instead of being a magnificent long mane of crimson (Mikoto sometimes wished in the secret depths of her heart that her hair wasn’t such a common pitch-black but a glorious red like hers), it was now a short scraggly nest that looked like it was on fire. It looked as though someone had simply taken a knife and haphazardly slashed away at Kushina’s hair (which had happened by Kushina’s hand). It was a very queer sight and probably the first time ever in the years she had known Kushina that she saw her friend with short hair. Even back in Academy, she’d always had long hair. In a disbelieving tone, Mikoto repeated herself at a more reasonable volume, “Your hair.”
“Yeah, I felt like I needed a change…” Kushina nonchalantly replied as she sat down opposite Mikoto. Mikoto blinked a few times, frozen like a statue before she exploded to life. She vehemently ranted, “This will not do! I’ll bet my wakizashi that you simply took a kunai and just cut your hair off without even looking into a mirror! Your hair is a COMPLETE MESS! Come, I’ll give you a proper haircut!”
Before Kushina could react, Mikoto had grabbed her wrist and rapidly pulled her along the familiar path to the Uchiha compound and to her home. Her grip was surprisingly strong. Startled and bemused, Kushina looked at her friend’s manic expression and decided that discretion was the better part of valour for now. When Mikoto got into her rare passionate moods, not even the stodgy Uchiha Elders could stand up to her for fear of getting a few important bits cut off. She should have expected this to happen...
“There, isn’t this better?” Mikoto smiled in satisfaction as she held up a mirror for Kushina to see her hair. Kushina’s hand automatically went up to touch her hair but she refrained at the last moment, afraid to mess up her friend’s hard work. She couldn’t help but smile in pleasure at how good she looked now with her hair no longer an untidy and jagged mess. Instead, Mikoto had combed and trimmed her hair into a fetching chin-length bob that was long in the front and short at the back. It accentuated the heart-shape of her face and showed off her large eyes rather nicely. It also felt good and light, the heavy weight of her long hair now diminished. Kushina finally turned to her friend and grinned, “This is awesome! Thanks, Mikoto-chan.”
Demurely smiling, Mikoto laid down the mirror on the table beside her along with the comb and scissors. Flicking off stray hairs off Kushina’s shoulders, she explained at the same time, “Knowing you, I thought that this would suit you well. It’s low-maintenance and fuss-free. It also doesn’t get in the way of your eyes overly much – if need be, you could always use hair-clips like you usually do. It also shows off your pretty features well.
“Yeah, thanks for that.” Kushina smiled and questioned, “I didn’t know you were such a good hair-dresser! Putting your kenjutsu skills to good use in unorthodox ways, huh? Do you cut your family’s hair?”
“Well, Fugaku doesn’t allow me near his hair, unfortunately. He says that he’s afraid that my hand might…slip. Silly him, why would I ever be so careless?” Mikoto sighed in mock dismay, putting her hand to her cheek. Seeing through her friend’s act, Kushina cackled like a witch, “Ooooh, nasty. You’re still the same old Kenjutsu Demon!”
In answer, Mikoto smiled back with a devilish glint in her eyes that would have made her husband very nervous if he saw it despite being the Uchiha Clan Head. Then she became serious once more and said softly, “Well, I’m not going to ask why you cut your hair but I can guess pretty well…”
Kushina only shrugged her shoulders as she said, “Like I said earlier, I needed a change.”
When Naruto finally saw Kushina for the first time in days at the Hokage Tower, he almost didn’t recognise her at first. But when he did, he couldn’t help but gape. He had never seen or imagined his future mother with such short hair! Sneaking a glance around him, he realised that Kushina’s new hairstyle must have already been old news and he was the last one to know. Not that surprising considering his tendency to avoid Kushina as much as he could. Kushina still hadn’t noticed him, too engrossed in chatting with another kunoichi beside her as they waited in the queue in front of the Missions Office. Naruto took the time to secretly observe her, feeling an odd twinge of melancholic pain.
While Kushina still was very attractive with her new hairdo, it only drove in the fact that she wasn’t the same person he knew as his mother, the phantom with long red hair who had helped him defeat Kyuubi so long ago. The absence of an engagement ring on her finger was also salient. Naruto contained a regretful sigh, knowing that it was futile and a waste of energy to feel upset by the inevitable and irreversible changes he had wrought on this reality with his paradoxical existence. Really, he should have gotten over it the moment his supposed birth did not come to pass – in fact, he should have realised that he had probably changed the course of history from the very moment he violently arrived into this reality.
“Hey, Naruto! You came to collect a mission too?” Kushina cheerfully waved to him, having finally spotted him at the back of the room thanks to his distinctive bright yellow hair. Naruto summoned a friendly smile to his face as he wandered over to join her, jumping queue in the process. The other shinobi grumbled in faint discontent but did not dare to confront him. Giving a lazy salute much like Kakashi-sensei would do in the future (Maybe. Who knew if the young Kakashi here would grow up to be exactly like his cool and laid-back jounin teacher?), he simply said, “Yo.”
“Don’t act all so cool, Naru-chan! Just answer my question.” Kushina poked him in the middle of his chest hard, causing him to wince. She was much stronger than she looked and she wasn’t in the habit of holding back her strength. Rubbing at his chest, he grumbled, “Don’t call me that. And yes, I’m here to get myself a mission. Gotta earn money, you know.”
“Aaah, capitalism at its finest.” Kushina nodded sagely.
“Yep, how are we going to pay for the ramen otherwise?” Naruto replied solemnly.
“Fantastic, glorious ramen. It would be a real shame if we couldn’t eat any more.” she agreed. Both Kushina and Naruto stared at each other in solemn silence before cracking up into chuckles, momentarily getting the attention of everyone in the room; on recognition of Konoha’s prankster duo, they shivered and hastily looked away, not wishing to know what diabolical plans they were hatching. Ignoring their colleagues, Kushina quickly hugged Naruto and said, “Goodness! It feels like forever since I last saw you. Have you been avoiding me on purpose?”
Naruto suppressed a guilty blush from rising in his cheeks. Thankfully, it had only been a rhetorical question and Kushina quickly engaged him in small talk as they waited their turns to collect their missions. Naruto was really grateful that Minato didn’t personally supervise mission assignments like Sarutobi did; instead he delegated it to an admin chuunin while he focused on more important duties. It would have been awkward to witness the frigid interactions between Minato and Kushina; aside from the obvious need to hide their intimate (oh so illegal) relationship from her (not to mention the other deeply controversial secret of their biological relationship at the risk of sounding like a broken record).
Finally, it was Kushina’s turn to collect her mission. Entering the office and emerging a few minutes later with a B-rank mission scroll, she said to Naruto, “It was lovely chatting with you again.” Then leaning in, she whispered, “Next time, you should tell me who your secret lover is! I’ve got a biiiig bet riding on it.”
“As if I would, you yaoi fangirl! I rue the day I told you and them.” Naruto scowled as he hissed at her, careful not to let any others hear. He had learnt from his mistake well. Kushina only laughed as she walked away. The chuunin in the office finally called out, “Next!”
Naruto sighed in relief and entered the office; possible disaster averted.
Minato was not being very productive today, consumed by overwhelming ennui. The words all just seemed to blur together into a monotonous and pedantic streak. The reason for his ennui was rather simple. He had been desk-bound for too long. He desperately craved for action, to feel the heart-pounding thrill of being immersed in combat, to feel blood and sweat flowing. He was a shinobi through and through.
Unfortunately as Hokage, he couldn’t go on any more missions unless it was during war. Minato wasn’t going to deliberately spark a Fourth Shinobi War for such an inane reason and besides, he had already been through one war and found the entire business too bloody, meaningless and fraught with losses – he lost his student Uchiha Obito in the Third Shinobi War. But he was digressing; he would have to make do with sparring. Rubbing his stiff neck, Minato idly ran through his mental list of Konoha nin who could give him a good fight.
The list was dismally small – there were not many people who could counter his speed and out of those who could, they weren’t able to keep up for long. There were currently three viable candidates, namely Sandaime Sarutobi, Jiraiya and Naruto. Given a few more years, Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai would hopefully be good enough to join the list. But anyway, the first two people on the list weren’t likely to be available for a spar – Sarutobi preferred to relax these days and Jiraiya was abroad once more. Only Naruto could do it. Minato smiled at the memory of numerous spars with the young jounin; they were always unpredictable and it could never be certain whether he or Naruto would be the winner until the last moment.
His smile turned wicked as he recalled one most memorable spar he had won about a year ago. The prize he had seized that day had been the best reward he could ever ask for, other than no paperwork. Minato felt himself getting restless, his chakra sense eagerly reaching out for Naruto unhindered by distance due to their blood connection and his seal. He quickly and forcefully calmed down and restrained his chakra, feeling slightly sheepish for acting like a hormone-driven teenager. Really, there was just something about Naruto that always made him lose control no matter what. Not even Kushina could affect such a response from him with such regularity when they were together.
Minato went to the window and placed his hand on the glass. As he thought of Naruto, he remembered what he had told him of his experiences. His lips pursed into a thin line as his eyes frosted in displeasure as he looked down on the people on the busy streets. At that time, after Naruto had told him his past, contrary to what he had said then, he had actually been very displeased with the alternate Minato. He was so naïve to think that the village would treat Naruto as a hero – there was a reason why few people knew that Kushina was a jinchuuriki and there was a track record of discrimination against jinchuuriki. To needlessly sacrifice himself when there were other options? To him, it didn’t seem like heroism. It was selfishness.
The other Kushina who had been the other Minato’s wife had been dying and was willing to sacrifice herself to seal Kyuubi. There was actually no real need for that fool to use the seal and die along with her but he had done it, abandoning and cursing Naruto in the process. It was so selfish and stupid which was why he had said that he would do better than him. Looking at his reflection on the glass and imagining that it was the other Minato; he coldly said to it, “If you weren’t already dead and unreachable, I would have killed you for what you did to Naruto.”