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Chapter 4: i can't find it in myself to just walk away

Nara Shikaku wakes up slowly and is immediately surprised that he has managed to do that at all. He had been pretty sure that he was going to die when he'd passed out under the flimsy cover of some bushes after narrowly escaping his would-be captors from Kiri. 

He groans as his vision swims while his body tries to take revenge on him for not dying by slamming him with pain from literally all over. A face enters his blurry field of view and Shikaku almost wants to cry in relief at the distinctive shock of yellow hair, electric blue eyes and tanned skin. He's safe if Namikaze Minato is the one to have found him. 

Then his brain finishes rebooting through the splitting headache and the distant ringing in his ear, and Shikaku bodily tries to throw himself away from not-Minato because he knows for a fact that the Namikaze is supposed to be on an outpost mission in Wave right now. Shikaku assigned him there himself after all.

Not-Minato swears loudly and then there are warm hands on Shikaku, grabbing and trying to stop his movements which only serves to get him to struggle even harder. 

"You're going to tear your stitches," the stranger hisses, sounding thoroughly put out. "I worked hard on those, you know. Geez, if I knew you wanted to die so badly, I'd have let you bleed out in the poison oak I found you in." A pause. "You have a rash by the way. I don't have anything to help with that."

Shikaku's vision clears of the spots he'd been seeing and he gets his first proper look at Not-Minato. He looks and then looks some more. Not-Minato does in fact look remarkably like Minato, although this one has softer, younger features and a narrower frame. He's also wearing quite the bright ensemble for a shinobi comprising of a kimono shirt in a cheerful blue printed with wispy whites, secured in place by an orange obi. As if Minato would ever get caught wearing orange.

Not-Minato is starting to look dubious the longer Shikaku stares at him wordlessly. "Maybe you have a concussion," he comments nervously, hands twisting together. "I couldn't really check." Under his breath, he adds, "Man, I hope he doesn't die. That'd suck."

So, Shikaku likely won't be getting killed by this stranger immediately. Okay. He can probably work with that.

"You got stabbed," Not-Minato blurts out. "Like a lot. I found you covered in a lot of blood; it was kind of horrifying, to be honest. I did the best I could but I'm not exactly a mednin. You need to get back to Konoha as soon as possible so you don't end up with an infection or something."

He does vaguely remember several kunai ending up in his back. If he stretches his muscles too much, he can feel the tug of stitches. His mobility is reduced and he still feels like shit from the blood loss and chakra exhaustion. How troublesome. 

"You know I'm from Konoha," he notes, eyeing the strange shinobi who saved him. 

And it's clear the boy is a shinobi. He moves like one even as he flitters about the makeshift camp he has set up around Shikaku. 

"Duh," the boy snorts, looking at him with clear amusement, "you're too obviously a Nara."

And isn't that interesting. It's not like the Nara are a clan of distinctive looks like the Hyuuga or Akimichi. Their appearance is pretty standard for Land of Fire with the tanned skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Shikaku knows he has no clan symbol on him either; he avoids all markers of his affiliation during missions, including forgoing his Konoha issued forehead protector.

"Your accent is from Fire Country," he throws out, watching the boy for his reaction. 

Not-Minato's smile widens. "But my looks are too Lightning," he finishes knowingly. "Yeah, I've been getting that one a lot lately. I didn't realise how obsessed people are with trying to figure out where someone's affiliations lie but it makes sense with the war and all, I guess."

"So where are you really from?" Shikaku asks, not really expecting an answer. He doesn't get one either. 

Not-Minato shrugs. "I wonder." His smile becomes secretive, like he's thinking of an inside joke only he's privy to. "Not from around here, that's for sure."

Shikaku hums. "You're that bounty hunter kid, aren't you?" He's reasonably certain Inoichi has mentioned him a few times in whatever gossip he picked up at T&I.

"Maybe," Not-Minato says, stirring the contents of whatever is bubbling in the pot above the fire. "You can call me Raijin."

'They have to be related,' some distant part of his brain says. 'Cousins or brothers or whatever, but they have to be related.'

It's incredibly disorienting, to be honest. 

It could potentially be a disguise. Maybe someone who is attempting to badly imitate Minato's likeness. But then the kid didn't bother trying to fake being the Yellow Flash. Not to mention, Shikaku already knew from the few blurry pictures of the Kogane no Arashi that have been popping up in several bingo books that the kid was tan-skinned and blond. 

He subtly pulses out his chakra just in case this is a genjutsu. Nothing happens. Raijin continues to whistle a peppy tune to himself as he splits what smells like stew in two bowls. 

Shikaku is handed one of the bowls and a spoon. He means to say 'thank you'. Instead what comes out of his mouth is, "Why did you save me?"

Does Raijin know he has family in Konoha? Is he hoping Shikaku can help him meet Minato? What's the motive here?

Raijin blinks. He has an expressive face; Shikaku can literally see him weigh his options and consider his answer. Finally, the boy shrugs and says, "You were dying and I didn't want you to."

'A whim?' Shikaku somehow doubts that. 

He presses, "Do you just save any dying shinobi you come across?"

A noncommittal noise. Raijin offers him a close-lipped smile. "I might have just a little bias towards Konoha shinobi."

"Why?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions, huh, Nara-san?" Raijin sighs, running a hand through his choppy hair. "It's like I'm back in school again or something." He regards Shikaku thoughtfully before visibly giving up. "The first one to ever treat me like my own person was a Konoha shinobi," he admits. 

Shikaku blinks. "I see."

Raijin shrugs. "Yeah. Iruka-sensei was the best. He'd nag at me about vegetables but he always ended up buying me ramen anyways."

That seems genuine. There's enough personal detail that it could be true and there's obvious affection in Raijin's voice as he talks about this supposed Konoha nin. 

"I might've actually grown to dislike Konoha if it weren't for him," the boy comments easily, slurping down his stew like he didn't just say this to the future head of one of Konoha's first ever clans. "But Iruka was kind and it was important enough to me that I'll probably never get over my fondness for your village."

Shikaku doesn't know what to really say to that. "I owe him my thanks then, I suppose."

Raijin smiles at him but this one is fake. When all his other smiles have been so warm, it is entirely too obvious. "He'd appreciate that, I'm sure. He's long gone now though."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

The blond shakes his head, an edge of bitterness clouding over his features. The air becomes sharp with an instinct that tells Shikaku he'll die if he doesn't regard this shinobi with the appropriate wariness. Raijin is disarmingly honest and friendly and Shikaku hadn't even realised when he'd begun to slowly let his guard down. He exhales. The boy is dangerous. 

"That's just what war is, Nara-san," Raijin says, tone clipped. "Loss."

Shikaku looks down at his rabbit stew. His distorted reflection in the broth stares back at him. He looks tired. "But there is no such thing as true peace either, Raijin-kun."

"Do you really believe that?" Raijin doesn't sound upset; only curious. 

Swallowing, Shikaku smiles wryly. "It doesn't matter what I believe. It's simply a fact."

Raijin tilts his head. Somehow, the simple action is incredibly animalistic. "Of course it matters what you believe, Nara-san. People die, but our beliefs outlive us. They're our legacy."

"Conflicting beliefs are what leads to war."

"And then war makes way for peace."

Shikaku blinks. Raijin grins at him knowingly and turns his attention back to polishing off his bowl. Even so, Shikaku feels too seen. It has always been his role to observe others and poke and prod for reactions. To be in the shoes of the one being observed is…uncomfortable, to say the least. 

"Peace gives room to growth. Growth leads to developmental progress. Progress results in changing ideals. And then ideals lead to conflict," he recites. "It's a cycle. It's why true peace doesn't exist."

"Maybe, but peace doesn't just become important when it lasts and is 'true'," Raijin says simply, putting his bowl aside and stretching his arms over his head until his back pops. He sighs. "It matters simply because it is. It's our job to try and make the best of it and have it last as long as possible."

Shikaku watches as the younger shinobi rises to his feet and methodically starts to pack away the camp. "Eventually it will end, though," he points out. 

Shooting him a smile over his shoulder, Raijin shrugs. He doesn't seem too bothered at all. "All things do, Nara-san. That's life," he states. "All we can do is give it our best shot."

"I suppose."

Raijin pulls up the sleeve of his jacket and Shikaku watches with wide eyes as he pulls a little pill container out of the tattoo curling around his wrist like a snake. 'Not a tattoo,' his brain supplies. 'A seal.'

No one had mentioned that Kogane no Arashi was apparently good enough at fuuinjutsu to be using his body as some sort of storage scroll. 'Definitely related to Minato.'  That kind of insanity has to be genetic. He refuses to believe two unrelated people are this unhinged in the same way about the same thing. His fragile faith in humanity won't be able to handle it.

"These are painkillers and blood-replenishing pills," Raijin tells him seriously, handing him a container of familiar white and red capsules. "You don't have to take them since you don't really know me and all, but you probably should. Konoha is still a two days' journey away even without you being so banged up."

"You're leaving?" Shikaku asks. He feels disappointed at the loss of an interesting conversationalist but it might just be the ailments clogging up his brain functions. 

Raijin grins. "I just wanted to make sure you wouldn't die in a puddle of your own blood, Nara-san. It was never in the plan to stay for long."

"The plan?"

"I know, can you believe it? I'm sticking to it and everything." Raijin offers him a final wave and a grin. "Maybe it'll even lead us to meeting again, Nara-san. See you around!"

Shikaku waits for a beat after the boy has leapt up into the trees and left the range where he'd have any hope of sensing the blond. He sighs and shakes his head at the pills in his hand. He wonders what the Hokage will have to say about another potential Namikaze running around, left unchecked with all that talent and charisma. A polished diamond for the taking. One with a plan of some sort, it seems. Shikaku wonders about that too. 

The sun is still high in the sky and he really should get a move on before it starts its descent. The journey is two days but it's probably going to take him three even in the best case scenario that he won't contract an infection despite having no antibiotics on hand. 

"What a pain."

Minato gapes at his Hokage, not a single thought in his brain as he struggles to comprehend exactly what has come out of Nara Shikaku's mouth. 

"I—" he starts but he can't really think of anything to say. "What?"

Hiruzen smiles gently at the helpless look on his face. "Nara-dono was kindly aided in his return by the mysterious shinobi who Jiraiya-kun wrote to me about last month."

Clearing his throat, Shikaku shuffles. It's clear he'd rather be anywhere else but he offers Minato a tiny smile nonetheless. "He didn't 'aid my return'. He saved my life."

"The Kogane no Arashi?" Minato confirms.

"Yes," the Hokage says. 

"As in the guy who restored Hanzo of the Salamander's faith in peace and received a title from him personally?"

Sarutobi looks amused. "Indeed."

Minato swallows against the dryness in his mouth. He feels a flare of hope lighting up in his chest but the nervousness rising in him threatens to overwhelm it. "And…" he hesitates, "you're saying—you think we might be related? He could be family? My family?"

He has been an orphan for as long as he could remember. He'd given up on fantasies of ever miraculously discovering someone who shares his blood when he was a kid still stuck in the orphanage and he hasn't dared to even hope but—

"I thought he was you at first," Shikaku admits. His voice is softer than Minato has ever heard it. "You could be twins. It's uncanny."

Shit, he's going to cry. He's going to have a meltdown right in the middle of the Hokage's office. 

"Nara-dono says his name is Raijin," Hiruzen tells him, still calm and kind as though Minato isn't literally rethinking his entire existence right in front of him. "He is an unaffiliated shinobi but he seems to be fond of Konoha thanks to a friendship with one of our shinobi. Allegedly anyways."

"He knows fuuinjutsu," Shikaku throws in. "He's interesting, I can tell you that. I've never seen anyone use themselves as a glorified sealing scroll before."

The Nara clan head has taken interest in his maybe-relative who likes sealing and apparently rescues Konoha nin in his free time. Minato resists the urge to bury his face in his hands and just sit down right where he's standing. Who seals stuff into themselves instead of using scrolls anyways? It's so much harder to access small dimensional spaces through organic matter like that. You could accidentally bypass a dimension altogether and seal stuff inside your actual body which would be a total disaster. Is his maybe-relative insane?

"I will be asking Jiraiya to keep an eye out for him," Hiruzen says meaningfully. 

Minato pauses at that, his mental spiral effectively halted by the implications of such a statement. He forces himself to focus. An unaffiliated shinobi who has proven himself to be a potential ally by saving not only an integral member of their forces but also the head of one of the clans on the council. A skilled fuuinjutsu user with considerable strength if he has been gifted a title by the likes of Hanzo and enough intelligence to consistently evade a talented spymaster like Jiraiya. A young man approaching his prime as a ninja and potentially his only living relative just so happens to be one of Konoha's most well-known unofficial Hokage candidates. 

No wonder Hiruzen wants Jiraiya to keep an eye on the kid. The universe has all but dropped a full-grown Namikaze in the Sandaime's lap and Hiruzen is far too cunning to let an opportunity like this pass him by. Minato has no doubt that the Kogane no Arashi would make a fine addition to their forces if he can be convinced to join the village, which given that he and Minato might in fact be family, isn't even all that unlikely. 

Every single pawn matters when one is waging a war, after all. Especially since Konoha lost so many of its Kage-level shinobi in the last war and two-thirds of the Sannin can barely be counted on. They could all use a boost in morale.

Minato frowns at the thought of being used for a political ploy like that but doesn't shy away from it. That's just the reality of being a shinobi after all. Instead, he says, "Can I ask you to keep me updated?"

Hiruzen smiles. "Of course."