intro post: ghosts in the fog

[backina]

 He comes in as dusk settles, walking through the thin fog that clings around his legs and the tails of his coat, seeming to solidify as he walks.  Even the sound seems to remember itself slowly, for at first he's a silent ghost and it's only as he nears the faint golden ponds of light from the outlying village windows and the flicker of their bonfires that the sounds of soft footsteps in the frost begins.  Blond hair moves a little in the night wind, smoke and crisp autumn chill, and it takes the blue eyes under that fringe a long time to focus in the calmly neutral face.

He's not sure where he's going, just that there's a path in front of him that seems to lead somewhere and he supposes he will follow it for the moment.  When his chakra dissipated from his son's life, he hadn't expected to find himself anywhere - yet here he apparently is.  Lost so long in the mists of his child's life, drifting and unsubstantial, it's hard, now, to think of what's before him as any more real.  He's a dead man's chakra, released from its mission, a ghost from the past as sure as some of the old furniture and unwanted love letters being tossed away to the flames tonight and it's a strange relief that his hand doesn't pass through the tree he comes to stand near on the edge of someone's bonfire, pausing in his journey onward because the road can wait and even ghosts seem able to appreciate the heat from a stranger's fire in the falling night.



ooc:  just a note - Minato's actually very solid but it's going to be a bit before he gets past the idea that he's a lost ghost.  Or that what's in front of him is really there either.  He's been unable to touch anything for a very long time.   Head-canon says a part of him is still trapped with Nine-Tails Yin inside the death god so there's a part of him missing but he'll solidify despite that as he goes.  And I apologize in advance that I am a very slow tagger.  Life is busy right now but I couldn't resist.  

Comments

[proudofmybaby]

She had gone on a walk. She loved her boys, but she was a bit worried about the eldest of the lot. He was... missing. She just hoped he was fine, because her wanderings had yet to actually unearth him.

They did, however, bring her to Minato's path, and she stared at the man for a moment before approaching. "Minato?"

[backina]

Used to a decade and a half of being aware of things through the fog of someone else, it takes Minato a moment to realized, at the edge of his senses, that something about the person approaching him feels different than the strangers milling around the bonfire. So he's only just turning when she says his name and it takes his eyes longer to really focus beyond a passing look. The recognition comes then and he looks both surprised and expectant.

"Mikoto - "

[proudofmybaby]

"Minato. So even you've come to be here?" She moved forward, offering him her hands. "You seem rather dazed."

[backina]

It seems - abrupt - to answer with I'm dead for the reason he's feeling dazed. Especially since she's dead as well. Her offered hands have his own rising to take them as well, a simple gesture of acceptance but his hands hesitate just before they complete the move. Blond brows pinch down and he closes the distance with an expression that's determined - and yet still surprised when they touch and neither hand drifts through the other. Other than once since his death with Naruto he hasn't known solid touch since... Kushina dying in his arms that last night.

Long fingers closer around hers and his voice is a bit more like his old self as he asks:

"Where's here?"

8 hour drive of doom cuts into RP time man

[proudofmybaby]

"Here is a village called Michi no Sato." She paused a moment as she folded her fingers securely around his. "We're not dead here Minato."

wow - yes, I'd imagine it would

[backina]

It's her second sentence that earns the look of surprise, not the first and it's not so much a widening of his eyes as a sideways jerk of his chin the smallest bit and that knit of the eyebrows for an instant.

"How is that so?"

Because he's fairly sure there's no jutsu that will work on him given the already taken part of his soul.

It was supposed to be 4 ;-;

[proudofmybaby]

"Well, I remember dying, and most of the people here... don't. Or are like my baby and have multiple versions of themselves running around." She flashed him a smile. "Or like your Naruto have multiple -genders- running around."

She shook her head and started to walk backward, tugging him with her. "You can stay with me. I have plenty of space to share. As for how... I have no idea. The locals aren't shocked to see us, but they weren't fully expecting us either."

oh geez. You have my full sympathy

[backina]

He takes in her words with slightly narrowed eyes. There's a lot of information and implications in those few short sentences she gives him.

"A... crossroads?"

He lets her lead him because he has nowhere else to go on his own and her familiar face, seen through his own eyes, not his son's, is comforting. He still isn't thinking of himself as real enough though to contemplate living arrangements.

Thank youuu

[proudofmybaby]

"They call the country Jiten no Kuni. I'm starting to think they call this place what they do to make fun of all of us." She released one of his hands, but after the way he'd reacted tot he initial touch, she decided it was better not to release him.

He still seemed far too dazed, even if the gesture would get frowned on by anyone who put stock in proprieties. "Though the discrepancies... How close were we for you Minato? So I know just how far I'm stomping on acceptability by dragging you around like this."

[openedthebasket]

"Yondaime-sama...!"

There was no mistake. After all, Neji had seen his face on the mountain his entire life, not to mention they'd all learned about him as children, the hero who'd sealed the Demon Fox. A man of less control would have dropped the teacup he held in both hands from a nearby stall; the Hyuuga Jounin merely set it down on the bench he was sitting on and pushed himself to his feet, then pauses, uncharacteristically frozen in indecision. The Fourth Hokage, the great leader of their village, was standing only a few meters away. A child Itachi, an Uchiha clan head who was supposed to be dead, a female Naruto -- he'd met all kinds of strange people in this town, but nothing could have prepared him for this.

A long beat, then he approaches, immediately inclining his head in a deep bow once the other notices his presence. "...Yondaime-sama. It is an honor."

[backina]

He turns at the call simply because it's instinctive. It's his name as much as his title in a way by this point in his life - or death. He doesn't seem strange to him to hear it called here but it also doesn't make sense. This isn't his village or any other he would recognize or be recognized in. His coat might give him away but his title was spoken with knowledge that was more than that.

He... doesn't recognize the young nin that approaches at first, no one from his own memory though he can tell the family by the eyes. And even without the eyes, by the manners. He returns the bow formally with the depth he would give any member of the Hyuuga clan but his mind is already ahead. Dead or no, he will always be Konoha's Yondaime.

"Hyuuga-san," it's the family name he greets with first but there's more inside his memories, cloudy and vague past his son's own eyes. The nin in front of him is more than just a Hyuuga and Minato gives his name to show he knows it. "Neji."

[openedthebasket]

Neji isn't expecting the Fourth to recognize him -- after all, he was only a year old when the Demon Fox attacked -- so the sound of his given name leaves the normally unflappable teen pausing as he glances up. For one brief instant, there's a rush of pride that even in the afterlife, the Fourth Hokage would know of him, but that's quickly drowned by the cold water of his own logic. It was impossible. Perhaps the Fourth had memorized all the names of Hyuuga clan members? Equally as unlikely.

White eyes study the older man's face for a long moment before he forces himself to incline his head slightly again, refusing to make a poor impression of himself before a village hero. "I... was not aware that I had the honor of being known to you, Yondaime-sama," he offers as a lead, though he doesn't directly ask how. How was one to properly address the Fourth, anyway?!

going to work but had to reply to this first ;)

[backina]

The smile is quick, there and gone, but it hooks up the side of Minato's lips and even manages to curve his eyes for the second it's there. There was a great difference between the way his wife and son approached things and the way a Hyuuga did. He could appreciate what it said about both sides and as Hokage he'd grown to enjoy the subtle interaction even more. He could but he's never been good about being mysterious. It's too long a story though for a first meeting.

"You are very important to my son and so I know you you, Neji, the Hyuuga who learned to challenge fate."

omg you broke Neji, it took forever for me to think of how to properly respond ahaha

[openedthebasket]

This time, he can't mask his surprise, mouth falling open at his praise. One of the things he'd been working hardest to do, to change everyone's perception of him as the genius who only believed in fate, and the Fourth Hokage knew him for it. His hands clasp tightly at his sides as he finally stirs to offer a deep bow from the waist, holding it there for a long moment as he tries to control the sudden way his heart raced in excitement.

"Thank you, Yondaime-sama," he manages after another moment, his voice soft as his long bangs fall down around his closed eyes. "I... am truly privileged to be known as such to you."

Something was a little odd, though, and Neji forces himself to focus, opening his eyes and lifting his head to study the other's face. "If I may... I was not aware you had a son, Yondaime-sama."

LOL! Minato the Neji breaker - should I be sorry?

[backina]

Minato has never believed in holding back praise when it was earned and he didn't give it otherwise. He had tried, always, to be fair to his students, encouraging without coddling and that mean in his words as well as his training. Seeing the young Hyuuga react to his words, Minato didn't regret them. While he may not have seen much while in his son's soul, he had seen enough to know they boy deserved the praise. There's a brief lift of the blond brows at the nin's words after though and he hummed low in his throat. So many decisions about his son he hadn't been able to be there to make himself, that he had had to entrust to others for good or bad. His own personal enemies were all past though and his son was old enough to defend himself these days though. So there's a small smile and, perhaps feeling more like himself than he has in many years, there's the slightest touch of mischief in the blue of his eyes as he simply says:

"Believe it."

no regrets!

[openedthebasket]

The Hyuuga Jounin's brows furrow as he stares at the other, but he's not about to ask for clarification, not yet. If that was the hint the Fourth would give him, then he would puzzle it out from there. Was there supposed to be a meaning to it, or was it just a confirmation that his son knew him? Then again, the older man had said Neji was important to his son, so he could hardly be an utter stranger.

As soon as it hits him, he feels like a fool. The physical resemblance alone should have been enough, and it was more than obvious with the other standing before him, rather than just a photograph. His jaw slackens as his head tilts.

"You don't mean to say -- Uzumaki Naruto?"

And to think Neji had once told him that those who would be Hokage were destined for it by birth...

[backina]

Somehow Minato can never get over the pleasure of watching a Hyuuga work out the puzzle in front of him and even though this particular one may be small, it's importance to Minato is immeasurable. Somehow, letting the shinobi in front of him find the answer for himself though seems the better way to transfer that importance, even if only a small bit. So he stands patiently in the firelight and watches the quick work Neji makes of it.

The expression on that usually calm, impartial face is entirely worth it and Minato can't help the grin, proud of both his son and the young man in front of him for having such a quick mind.

"His mother's name was Uzumaki. I suppose the Sandaime decided to let him use it while he was growing up to keep my enemies from finding him easily. Yes. Naruto is my son. And you are his friend. Thank you for that."

/hopes this is okay~

[kuramaless]

It had been one, huge journey - and the end had been so dramatic in the end but he'd never once doubted himself and for that... he was proud.

There were plenty of other things to be proud of, of course. Putting an end to the war was one of those huge ones that he seemed to get the most recognition for. Every time someone reminded him of that last day, he simply repeated Itachi's words to them.

That wasn't to say that everything had gone as well as he'd hoped. There were things, or more specifically people he'd hoped had gone along a different path. He was trying incredibly hard to cast those thoughts aside. It was actually with that in mind that he'd set out that night to clear his head. The bonfire had been an accident, sort of... he could already hear his friends arguing how anyone could possibly accidentally start a fire. It probably had been known though, he was sure and he guessed people would say that if anyone could manage it, it was him.

Still, the prankster had grown considerably in the last few years - and it was through just one of those ways that he'd grown that meant he was talking aloud 'to himself' while he lay on the floor by the fire, staring up at the sky as the flames flicked high above.

"Do we really have to talk about that again...?" His tone was pretty casual though, for someone apparently in the middle of an argument with someone. "I told you already I couldn't have done it without your help."

it's more than okay :D

[backina]

Still half-caught in the twilight of being dead and yet somehow not it's not until he hears the voice that Minato realizes there's someone else at the fire, hidden between the shadows and the flames. It's the sound of the voice so much more than the words that catches at him somewhere deep in his chest and pulls as sure as the tide and the moon. So long lost inside that soul, the voice itself is still a new joy and he'd never thought he'd hear it again after the last of himself had drained itself to restore his son's seal and speak his last words to him. It makes his throat tight.

Standing still and silent, his eyes narrow and sweep the area but his innate chakra awareness already knows where to look.

Blond hair. Orange clothes. Scars on the face that both make his heart swell with pride and break it at the same time. He's not Kushina's unrestrained emotions though. So he stays where he is and simply, quietly says:

"No one is ever really alone."

=D

[kuramaless]

Kurama's voice had taken a lot of time to get accustomed to, in the dead of night, most often - when sleep was difficult thanks to the thoughts about what should have happened, could have happened and what he might have done differently. Naruto hadn't ever been alone, not really - but it was only now, after the recognition he'd found in the villagers, and especially his meetings with both his parents that he felt he wasn't alone any more.

It had been a hard task - to understand the reasons why everything had happened how it had done, and one he only occasionally tried to piece together in moments like this. It was much easier to live life to the full, be happy for the way things were and reach for that ultimate goal.

Tonight, was one of those nights spent deliberating. It wouldn't be the first time he and Kurama had discussed the war, or his Father... but it was definitely the first time since his fight with Pain that he had ever heard that voice.

Instantly, he shot up off the grass to sit, eyes wide as he hunted for someone in the direction he'd heard the sound. What he saw shocked him into stunned silence- for all of a few seconds.

"... Dad?"

[backina]

It's his son. Older than he remembers but not by too much and how can he do anything but smile at that face? It's not the overwhelming brightness of his wife's smile but it's something quiet and deep and would warm. His son and he's never not going to be proud of him and amazed by him and loving him whether what he did to that son means he deserves to share that or not.

Hearing that voice call him 'dad' though is still one of the best things that's ever happened to him in his life.

He doesn't move though. It's not his right to move first. But he does lift an eyebrow and for just a moment there's almost laughter in his blue eyes.

"Son."

[kuramaless]

Naruto didn't really know what to do with himself at first. A quick shake of his head to try and make sure he really was seeing what he thought he was seeing, but Kurama's voice in his head was the final confirmation.

Gingerly, he rose to his feet, feeling the cold chill that was disbelief and perhaps fear too. He trusted Kurama's word though, which was why he stepped a little closer, just enough to try and get a better look at the man.

"What-- Did I die?"

[backina]

The fire and shadows may play across him too, on the edge of it's range, but he doesn't step closer himself. A part of him is sure that moving will lose this moment, have him dissipating again and this time it will be for good. If this is the only moment he has than he'd like to draw it out just a little longer. Selfish perhaps, but this time there's no threat to give them a time limit and... and the last time just hadn't been long enough for a father's heart even if it had been just enough time for a hokage's instructions.

The question is a blow though and he takes it without reaction. No. He wants to deny it - but he's a shinobi and he knows better. Children... and not quite children anymore - die. Even one as precious to him as his only son. So still, he doesn't move except for a stray sweep of pale breeze in the night that twitches the edges of his white jacket.

"I don't know. I lost my connection to you when I restored your seal." A pause and then: "Is the Nine-Tails still inside you?"

[kuramaless]

It was strange to see him in this light. The Fourth Hokage had been a face on a rock for so much of his life, and the brief snapshot of time he'd had with his Father had given him an image of the man, one that he would never forget, but the way he saw him now - the colour, the lack of it, the shadows... He'd had his time with his parents, reminded himself every time he thought about them that he was lucky. They'd given him life, and shown him love.

They'd also died in a way that meant even with the coming of his own death, he was never supposed to see them again. So, maybe he wasn't dead?

For some reason talking about that connection made him feel sad, but he reached a hand up to his stomach at the question, lips curling up into a slight smile. "Yeah-- His name's Kurama yanno? Mum-- Mum helped me fight him." He said, grinning - only to laugh a little. "He... says-- Well, I'm not dead. If I was dead he'd be rampaging or something, right?"

There was only one thing for it then. Carefully, he crossed the small distance between the two of them, and with a slightly shaky hand, reached up to press his palm against the taller man's chest-- only for his eyes to widen when the pressure meant that Minato was as solid as he was.

[backina]

He listens to his son's voice, watches the way he moves, the expressions that chase across his face and he memorizes them all. He's not sure how he's here or how long he has but - it's his son. And he missed so much being trapped inside his soul waiting for the day he might be needed. His chin dips but there's a flicker of a smile on his own lips at the mention of Kushina. He'd trapped her inside their son as well and the thought of that reunion made his heart constrict in his chest, sorrow that he hadn't been there to see it, joy to know that they'd both had that chance when he'd let so much else be stolen from the two of them.

"He'd be rampaging," he quietly agreed and felt the relief to know that, no matter what he was, his son was still living and well. And apparently unconsumed and yet talking to the Fox in ways that he didn't remember Kushina ever mentioning that she had. His mouth went a little dry when Naruto approached though, holding perfectly still as that hand extended to him.

He'd never gotten the chance to be a father. It had been more important to be Hokage. It still hurt no matter how necessary it had been.

Naruto's eyes weren't the only ones to widen, Minato's own mirroring the action as the hand didn't pass through him as he'd expected. Tonight at least, he was apparently a solid ghost and it surprised a single laugh out of him, for a second breaking away the Yondaime so there was only Minato. It had him reaching out as well, cautious and his hand fell softly but completely on the top of the spiky hair his son had been unlucky enough to inherit from him.

"Perhaps, for tonight, it seems I am too."