35

Chapter 35: all the people want fireNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Shisui isn't moving. He's so small and so still in Raijin's arms. His little face has lost all its colour and his hair is plastered all over his forehead, and he's so small and he isn't moving and—

'Focus,' Kurama murmurs, probing into the front of Raijin's mind, gently unfurling his presence there. 'He's alive. Breathing. It's just shock.'

Right. He's right. Shisui isn't dead; he's just asleep. His chest is still rising and falling. His heart is still beating. Neither function appears to be laboured.

Raijin takes a deep breath and very carefully swallows down the scream that wants to tear out his mouth. He has to focus. For Shisui, he has to focus. He can do this. He's okay. Shisui is going to be okay.

'Just take it one step at a time,' Kurama soothes. 'What is the next thing you have to do?'

'Get to Konoha,' Raijin answers. But Konoha is practically on the other side of the country. Land of Fire is massive and Raijin is on the opposite side of it from where he needs to be. There's no telling if he will make it in time. What if something happens to Shisui before that? What if—?

A mental swat and the impression of irritation. 'That's your goal, idiot. You want to get the runt to your village as soon as possible. What is your best option to do that?'

If Raijin pushes himself to his absolute top speed and doesn't rest, he can get there by tomorrow afternoon. That's too much time. He needs to find another way. What else could he do?

And then it hits him.

"Of course," he mutters. He'd smack his forehead if his hands weren't currently occupied by a poisoned nine-year-old. "I can just ask for help."

The warmth of approval. Kurama retreats slightly from the forefront of his mind. 'Good, kit. Just focus on your next step. You'll be okay.'

Right. Raijin breathes and nods to himself. It's going to be okay.

As reluctant as he is to admit it, Orochimaru has to concede that Minato makes a decent Hokage.

The blond is smart and audacious, but also very clearly passionate about bringing a positive change that benefits the populace more than anything else. He has clear objectives and takes solid steps to achieve them. Orochimaru can give credit where it is due at the very least.

Except for the past few days, the Hokage has appeared to be uncharacteristically distracted, face twisted into a perpetual frown that is unusual for someone who tries to appear so disgustingly friendly all the time.

Not even the rehabilitation programme—something of a passion project for Minato from Orochimaru's understanding—is enough to rouse the man from his preoccupied state.

It's clearly ticking Tsunade off. Orochimaru does nothing to mediate; the fallout is sure to be entertaining, and he isn't going to ruin it for himself.

Impatiently drumming her nails along the grain of the wood, Orochimaru observes in fascination as Tsunade silently starts to turn an impressive shade of red while the both of them wait for Minato to finish skimming through their notes. The younger man has been staring at the same page for the past five minutes, eyes all but glazed over, and it has clearly been causing Tsunade's blood pressure to steadily rise.

Finally snapping, Tsunade smacks her palm against the table and rises to her feet. Orochimaru's eyes gleam.

"Seriously, what is going on with you?" she demands, crossing her arms. "Your head clearly isn't in the game today."

Minato blinks, startled. His face flushes with embarrassment. "My apologies, Tsunade-san," he offers sheepishly.

"You're totally spaced out and it's wasting time and—"

Orochimaru can pinpoint the exact second Minato's eyes glaze over again. No doubt Tsunade can too because her rant cuts off into a high-pitched noise in the back of her throat that is pure incoherent aggravation.

What is interesting is the way Minato perks up, looking more attentive than he has in days, but clearly still not on the same page as them. He's completely elsewhere.

"Oh," the Hokage says. "Sorry. I'm being summoned."

"Summoned?" Orochimaru repeats in question.

He doesn't quite his answer though because Minato is promptly gone in a flash of golden light, leaving just him and Tsunade in the otherwise empty office.

Orochimaru leans back in his chair and sighs.

Throwing her hands up, Tsunade screeches. 

"Fucking typical!"

Minato knows something is wrong the second he lands in a forest on the other side of the country.

Of course, Raijin wouldn't have summoned him if he didn't believe it was some kind of emergency. But even more than that, it's the horrible broken look on his face and the overwhelming relief that washes over the despair when Minato appears before him.

There is only a split second's warning before Minato quite suddenly finds himself with an armful of distressed little brother and apparently unconscious young Uchiha. Stumbling back slightly from the sudden weight, Minato carefully wraps his arms around Raijin even as he moulds his chakra to stretch it out and sense for any enemies.

As though he can tell what Minato is doing, Raijin pulls away slightly with a sniffle. "There's no one else. I took them all out." After a pause, he adds, "Five of them were ROOT. I killed them."

So, this was a set-up.

Minato exhales and tightens his grip. "Okay." Their bodies will need to be removed. He's sure there's someone on a mission nearby that can detour to collect the corpses as evidence. "What did you need then, otouto?"

Raijin's face crumples. "Shisui. You have to help him. I couldn't get there in time. I didn't even realise she was there and then suddenly he was poisoned and I don't know how to help him, nii-chan. What if he's dying? It'd be my fault I couldn't look after him and—"

"Raijin, breathe," Minato interrupts, squeezing his brother's shoulders. "It's going to be okay. I'm here now."

"Right," Raijin inhales deeply, "yes. You're here now. You can take him with you to get help."

Frowning slightly, Minato tilts his head even as he gently takes Shisui from Raijin. "What about you? I came to get you too."

Something dark passes over Raijin's face. "I'm going to clean up here first. I don't want to risk the evidence getting erased. You can take Shisui; I'll just catch up with you later in Konoha."

It's a sound plan. It's also a plan Minato isn't too interested in following after four days of stressing over his little brother's wellbeing and obsessively tracking his location just to make sure he's still alive.

"Collect the bodies. I'll take Shisui first, and then once he's put up at the hospital, I'm coming back to get you," Minato states plainly. Raijin opens his mouth to protest but Minato cuts him off before he can even start. "No arguments. I've been worried out of my mind, Raijin. I'm not taking my eyes off you for a second longer than I absolutely have to."

Raijin stares at him for a moment, something unreadable in his eyes. Minato can't quite shake the uncanniness of seeing him look so…cold. Like he's not all there somehow. He's assuming that it's because of how stressful the whole situation has been for Raijin, but something just feels wrong even if he can't tell what it is exactly.

Not for the first time, Minato wishes that Raijin would just tell him what he's thinking.

Finally, his younger brother nods. "Okay. Let's do that then." He holds his hand out expectantly for one of Minato's three-pronged kunai and passes his fingers through Shisui's curls one last time before stepping back so Minato can teleport away.

"I'll be right back for you, okay?" Minato says.

"Sure, nii-chan." Raijin offers him a smile, though it is wan and nothing like his usual sunny grins. "I'll see you soon."

Minato wanted Raijin to come in immediately for a report so they can begin planning on a way to use their disastrous mission as proof to limit Danzou's power and hopefully get him arrested. Raijin politely refused and asked to remain at the hospital so he can be there when the doctors have determined Shisui's condition.

His older brother had looked conflicted, no doubt still reluctant to let Raijin out of his sights, but he had agreed eventually. He'd probably thought that now that Raijin is back in Konoha, he'll be easier to keep safe from a certain old warmonger.

The thought process is sound. It's not like Minato can account for all of Raijin's unpredictable tendencies.

Smiling wryly to himself, Raijin sends a mental apology to his brother. He might have let things be as easy as Minato wants them to be any other day, indulgent as he has been in the luxury of actually having a family to keep happy. Danzou has woken him up from the pleasant dream rather thoroughly though, and Raijin will not let his guard down again.

He came here because he had a job to do. He intends to see it through now.

And after that… well, he'll have to see.

He looks up as the medic in charge of taking care of Shisui enters the waiting area. She doesn't look particularly apologetic or pitying as doctors do when they have bad news to deliver, but still Raijin holds his breath as he stands to wait for her verdict.

"He's going to be just fine," the medic tells him, smiling slightly at the way he so clearly slumps over in relief. "The heavy smoke inhalation coupled with the paralytic and the shock to his system did a number on him, but we successfully managed to detoxify his bloodstream. He'll need to remain on oxygen for a few hours, but with a lot of rest, he will make a full recovery."

"Thank you," he says, pushing as much sincerity as he can into his words. "Will you keep him overnight?"

She nods. "We'll need to keep observing him just to make sure everything remains stable, but he should be good to go home by the morning. You'll need to pick up some antibiotics for him though. He's young, so it's better to err on the side of caution and make sure there's no chance of him contracting an infection."

"His mother will be here soon. She'll be who you need to give the prescription to."

"I'll do that then," the medic confirms. "We're moving him to a ward now, but you should be able to see him soon if you'd like." With that, she offers him a parting smile before moving on to her next patient.

Raijin exhales. So, the poison had only been a paralytic. Shisui is going to be fine. He hasn't failed another person again. He can still fix things.

Nodding, he goes to exit the waiting room. He needs to stop by his apartment to replenish his supplies and reconvene with his summons. The bodies of Danzou's subordinates will need to be dropped off too. ANBU can't be trusted as much as Minato thinks they can, so it will have to be the Police Force. Raijin would rather not be seen and risk getting stopped for questioning though. It would just waste time. So, he's going to need to go in a henge or just sneak in. Maybe one of his foxes will agree to make a delivery?

"Come on, Sakura-chan. Please stop crying, baby."

Raijin freezes despite himself, every train of thought coming to a grinding halt. Logically, he knows that 'Sakura' is by no means an uncommon name. Plenty of girls are named after cherry blossoms. There's no reason for it to be his Sakura.

But what if it is?

He's turning towards the sound of a baby crying before he even knows what he's doing, driven by the compulsion to be sure on the off chance it is his Sakura. The girl who'd been his sister in all but blood, his left hand, his best friend. How could he ever not turn to look?

There's a stressed-out looking woman sitting in one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, clearly flustered as she bounces her crying baby in her arms to no avail. No amount of pleading, shushing or soothing seems to be working, and the woman looks about five seconds away from giving up and joining her incensed child in having a breakdown in the waiting room of the hospital's paediatrics section.

Raijin approaches her as if transfixed. When he is near enough to catch just the barest glimpse of tufts of pink hair poking out from the baby's blanket, it is all he can do to not just collapse on the floor and start bawling too.

Instead, he plasters a smile on his face and forces his shoulders to remain relaxed. "Excuse me," he starts politely, "I was wondering if you might need some help?"

The woman turns to him with wide eyes, uncertainty and embarrassment colouring her face even before a horrified sort of recognition washes over it. Raijin has only ever seen Sakura's parents from afar, but now he can see that his friend got much of her features from her mother.

"You're the Hokage's brother!" Haruno Mebuki yelps. "Oh, I'm so sorry about this. Sakura-chan has been so fussy all day and I just can't seem to get her to calm down. We must be creating such a scene. I just don't know what to do and you probably think I'm a terrible mother!"

Raijin gapes at her for perhaps just a second too long because Mebuki's eyes are starting to look suspiciously bright the longer he flounders with what to say to the obviously overwhelmed new mother.

"I don't think you're a bad mom at all!" Raijin blurts out, waving his hands. "I know babies can be really stressful and demanding and stuff. It's totally normal to struggle at first! You're just new to the whole motherhood thing is all."

Mebuki sniffles and nods. "Yes. Yes, you're right. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to just blurt all that out."

"It's alright," Raijin assures her, finally managing to muster up what feels like his first genuine smile of the day. "If you'd like, I can hold her for a little bit to give you a break?"

Mebuki looks unsure, glancing down to where baby Sakura's face is still red and wet with tears. "I couldn't ask that of you," she starts. "She's just being extra fussy after her shot today. I'm sure she'll calm down soon enough."

"Babies seem to like my chakra for some reason. Apparently, it's warm and they find it comforting or something," Raijin offers. "It might help. You just look like you could use a second to catch your breath. It wouldn't be any trouble for me to wait here with your daughter for a moment."

More than anything, it probably helps that he's the Hokage's beloved brother and the object of a lot of attention every time he's out in public. If he tries to kidnap Sakura or something, it's not going to go unnoticed. Mebuki clearly realises this too judging by the quick glance she casts around to gauge the number of people occupying the waiting room with them.

Finally, she looks back at him and the temptation is written all over her face. "Are you sure you wouldn't mind, shinobi-san?"

Raijin smiles patiently. "Not at all."

"Thank you," she breathes, standing up to carefully hand her baby over to him. "I'm going to make a quick stop by the bathroom then. I'll be just a moment."

"Take your time," he assures her and then he is left alone, a pink-haired bundle pressed to his chest, the world right here in his arms.

When he looks down, Sakura has stopped crying long enough to stare at the bright yellow of his hair, blinking with watery green eyes as she sniffles, button nose scrunching up slightly. Her chakra is a little spark of cotton-meadow-river-spring that quivers curiously when Raijin reaches for it with his own. Something almost like wonder settles on her face, eyes losing focus slightly as she concentrates on what might just be one of her first ever chakra interactions.

She can't quite control it yet, but she does manage to get it to fizzle slightly. Raijin laughs at its bubbly texture and imitates it with his own, fizzing back at Sakura much to her delight. She coos, mouth pulling up into a gummy smile and clapping her hands together. Her chakra bubbles again before it slips out of her grasp, clearly confusing the baby enough into scowling up at Raijin as though she suspects he is to blame.

"You're the same no matter what, huh?" He grins, reaching out to boop her on the nose, his smile easing at the edges when Sakura grabs at his finger and waves it about in one chubby fist. "I'm really happy to see you again, Sakura-chan. I missed you."

Sakura coos again, giggling when his chakra swirls around hers in lazy circles.

"You gotta grow up and be super strong again, okay?" he whispers to her, holding her close. Sakura looks intrigued by his whiskers and tries to reach for them. He leans down so he's within range enough for her to pat at his face. "I'm trying my best to fix things just like I promised, so that one day, when you're big enough, you can take the world and make it your own. Just like you did before. Like I know you will again." Sakura looks transfixed, large green eyes staring into his blue ones unblinkingly. "So, you have to grow up well, yeah, Sakura-chan?"

As though she can understand, the baby babbles and smiles, patting his cheek twice. Raijin smiles back, quick and fox-like in a way that has always made Sakura laugh and still does so now.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said babies really like you."

He startles, having been so distracted by the miniature version of his best friend that he hadn't noticed Mebuki's return. She's smiling, looking much more composed now than she did earlier. Her eyes are soft, trained on her daughter's smiling face while Sakura tries to grab at the longer bits of Raijin's hair though they remain stubbornly out of her reach.

Sure, he hasn't had the chance to cut his hair in a while, but it still isn't that long. Sorry, Sakura.

"I don't know how you did it but thank you." Mebuki shakes her head, looking a little wondrous. "She hasn't calmed down all day, but you'd never think that looking at her now. You must be a natural."

Raijin looks down to share a secretive smile with little Sakura. "I think Sakura-chan just knows she and I are meant to be best friends," he confesses. "She's a brilliant little thing."

Mebuki sighs, holding her hands out to gently extract her child from his hold. She peers down at Sakura who mimics her expression and peers back. "She really is, isn't she?" the woman murmurs. "Sometimes I don't even know what to do with her."

Gently reaching out to stroke at Sakura's hair, Raijin says, "You just have to be there for her when she needs you." He smiles, straightening out his shoulders, feeling a lot braver than a few moments ago now that he has had the best possible reminder of why he agreed to do the whole time-travel thing in the first place. "We simply have to do our part as best as we can until she grows up."

Mebuki glances at him, a polite sort of puzzlement on her face. Raijin looks back at her, surer than he has been in months.

"She's going to blow us all away someday, Haruno-san. Just you wait and watch."

And Raijin is going to make sure Sakura gets to grow up safe in a village that will serve as the perfect foundation for her to grow up into the fierce young woman she was in his future.

Nodding to himself, he waves goodbye at the pink-haired baby before spinning on his heel and striding out of the waiting room. He has work to do, after all.

"Where is your brother, Hokage-sama?" Fugaku asks, a frigid façade of calm on his face.

Minato's heart drops to his stomach like a stone. "He's still in the village," he says slowly, pulling on the threads of chakra that connect him to Raijin through their seal. There are multiple threads meaning shadow clones are at play, but at least the connection is active and close by. Thank Sage; he'd been convinced Raijin had been taken away again. "Can you not find him?"

A muscle in Fugaku's jaw twitches. "I cannot," he states, deadpan. "In fact, none of my officers seem to be able to locate him at all."

"I see," Minato says slowly. That is…not a good sign, admittedly. He keeps half a mind on the seal. Still in the village. Perhaps they've simply missed Raijin somehow. There can be a more innocent explanation for this. It doesn't need to be something troubling. Still, Minato cannot convince himself enough to relax. "What did you need from him, Fugaku-dono?"

Exhaling sharply, Fugaku pulls out a scroll from his sleeve and extends it to Minato. It's an official police report. Frowning, Minato takes and unrolls it, scanning over the neat script he recognises as Fugaku's own handwriting.

"An hour and a half ago, we received Uchiha Shisui and Namikaze Raijin's mission assignment scroll along with a scroll containing the bodies of six nukenin and five ROOT operatives," Fugaku reports. "The nukenin have been cross-referenced from the bingo books. They belong to different villages and are all B-rank or above, including notorious S-rank nukenin from Takigakure, Kakuzu. The ROOT agents are still being identified."

Minato stares at the scroll unseeingly. Two B-ranks, three A-ranks and one S-rank shinobi, and Raijin had not a scratch on him. That isn't even counting the ROOT agents. "Raijin dropped these off?"

"His clone did," Fugaku confirms. "It dispelled as soon as it submitted the evidence. We have been searching for Raijin-kun so he can be brought in for further questioning regarding the matter, but clearly haven't had much luck."

Eyebrow rising, Minato asks, "Not even with a sensor?"

"The kage bunshin jutsu is a rather…effective preventative measure to confuse sensors," Fugaku admits, though he is clearly displeased by the fact.

Minato had suspected as much. "I can pinpoint the location of each clone, but I can't tell which one he really is. I imagine your sensors ran into the same problem?"

Sighing, the Uchiha clan head nods. "I cannot tell if he is being purposely avoidant."

"Why would he be?" Minato bites his lip in thought. "He was supposed to come see me right after receiving word on Uchiha Shisui's condition." What is he doing?

Fugaku looks troubled as well now. "Shisui-kun is stable now. The poison was only a paralytic." A shadow passes over his face as he regards Minato. "Speaking of which, I hope you are aware that I intend to pursue this investigation into Shimura Danzou's actions to its fullest extent."

"Yes, of course," Minato assures.

Though he can't help wonder why Raijin would go straight to the Police Force with the evidence instead of just coming to Minato like he was meant to. What is his brother playing at?

He opens his mouth to offer his ANBU's assistance to Fugaku when he feels Raijin's clones dispel, their connections to his seal severing in one neat go.

Minato's blood runs cold.

Fugaku must guess something is wrong from the look on Minato's face because he's frowning in worry now too. "Hokage-sama?"

But Minato can't hear him over the sound of the blood rushing in his ears. All he can focus on is the seal and the threads of Minato's chakra that reach through it and meet…nothing. Where Raijin's chakra would be intertwined with his own lies a yawning void of cold empty nothingness. Minato feels nothing.

His breath leaves him in one go. He thinks he's shaking. He can't tell.

"Raijin is…he's gone."

Notes:

It's time for Minato's No Good, Very Bad Day.

Sorry for stressing you guys out, but I was never going to be able to hurt Shisui seriously even if it'd make for delicious angst. And it might seem like a cliffhanger but let's be real: Raijin is literally too badass for anything grievously harmful happening to him either. I'm just playing things up for drama.

Next chapter is going to be Danzou's highly anticipated downfall. It's also probably going to be a lot of action. Please pray for me.