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

[backina]

It makes him pause. How proper is it for them to house together and yet how sensible is it considering this village may seem innocuous but could easily be a danger? Better to keep them all nearby where he could keep a watch over them than have them scattered in a time of need. There's only one true deciding factor really though and his eyes lift to look at the woman near him.

"Where is my daughter staying?"

[proudofmybaby]

"She lives with me." Her tone was firm and she flashed him a little smile. "Her and Sasuke.... bicker. They still haven't realized that I'm going to double headlock them every time they start up."

[backina]

He hears the tone and for a second the edge of his lips hook upward. He recognizes that tone. He wasn't going to try to take his daughter away though. He will be new to her. Even if she were the son he remembered, he would still be new and unknown. Better to let his child keep what stability they'd already found and find a way to fit himself to their life than assume they should drop everything to be a part of his. So his smile is quick but relaxed.

"Then I suppose I will be staying in your house, Mikoto. Seeing you put our children in a headlock alone would have been the deciding factor."

[proudofmybaby]

She laughed and inclined her head. "Thank you."

Her tone turned rather wry then. "Just... promise not to make snap judgements about anyone who comes around? My youngest is in the habit of making friends with... worrying figures." She huffed a breath. "But I've been checking everyone I can get my hands on for danger to the kids, even if not all the kids I've taken to keeping an eye on are willing to move in."

[backina]

His smile is a bit wry in answer. He hasn't seen much but he has seen some of the people his own son has befriended and he's certainly not going to make a judgement call. More to the point though, he is much more familiar with shades of gray as Hokage than he is with black and white. His voice stays calm.

"Mikoto, I judge people as their actions merit." And then, softer, looking at her, he adds: "Besides, I cannot even promise to still be here once the sun rises."

[proudofmybaby]

She laughed and shook her head. "I only thought to warn you as my son has on more than one occasion gone on about 'his blue friend Kisame'. Considering the man is our age, I'm sure you're fully aware of his reputation."

[backina]

It has him pausing, thoughtful and then he nods with a soft hum. He's most certainly aware of the other nin's reputation, or rather, at least what it was from his own time. What may or may not have changed between then is the question. The important question is:

"You trust him with your son?"

[proudofmybaby]

"I trust that he is protective of my son. If nothing else I realized very quickly that he took care of my boy after I died." She let out a soft sigh. "And he seems fully amenable to my child declaring that blue men cannot be scary."