one_long_mission | intro post: ghosts in the fog

Entry tags:

intro post: ghosts in the fog

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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."

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."

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."

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...

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."

Neji can only nod at first, still not quite able to hide the shock obvious in his eyes. After all, this was Uzumaki Naruto -- for as much as he'd learned his own mistake and come to respect and care for him, after his own fashion, he had always been the dropout. Dead-last, he was pretty sure his nickname had been. But none of that changed the fact that Naruto had been the one who had saved him from darkness, and his fingers flex into an open palm at his sides, the smallest sign of his distress. After all, while Neji knew the truth about what a great shinobi Naruto had the potential to be, how much of the village still reviled him for reasons Neji had strong suspicions for, but in reality could only guess at?

"I... am not certain how much is known to you, Yondaime-sama, but I owe your son a great deal," he says finally, softly, his eyes coming up to meet the other's for a moment to impress his sincerity before respectfully dropping again. "Please allow me to thank you for everything you have done for our village."

Minato watched the young man in front of him, not speaking, giving him time to sort through whatever the revelation meant to him personally. Watching the small, almost invisible clues the boy physically gave him. At the statement though, he shook his head.

"There is a great deal I don't know of what's happened since my time." His smile was back, small but there. "But I think he counts your friendship as payment enough for anything you think you owe him. As do I for anything I did in the past. You're welcome but I should thank you. You're part of the future we all fought for." His hands shifted to rest on his hips for a moment and he looked around. "Now tell me what the Konhoa shinobi are doing with themselves in this place."

He can only bow again in response to the praise, eyes closed at the honor. Then the other asks a direct question. This was something Neji could answer far more easily, something that didn't deal with him personally. Eyes still respectfully lowered, his back stiffens as he prepares to give what sounds like a mission report.

"Most of us here have been training, from what I understand. We cannot risk losing our skills to complacency in this place. Whenever the person who has summoned us here shows him or herself or selves, we will be ready to strike back and escape to return to Konoha."

A moment of hesitation, then he continues, "There are... shinobi here from different times and places. Some of whom are very different from how someone such as myself is accustomed to seeing them. For example... I have become very familiar with a Naruto who is your... daughter, rather than your son."

The lightest of flushes colors just below his cheekbones as he admits that, but he's quick to move on, not certain that it's entirely appropriate to inform the Fourth Hokage of just how familiar with her he is. "But no matter what, we are prepared to strike back the moment the opportunity arises, Yondaime-sama."

Minato accepts the words like the report they are, observations and preparations from one of his shinobi. He didn't expect the nin of his village to be lax but it's still good to hear that they haven't grown accustomed to this place. Wherever it is, Minato knows that they don't truly belong here. Not the living ones at least. Those are the most important ones.

There is the blond arch of a brow at the... terminology the Hyuugi uses when talking about his daughter. He hasn't met her yet - it's still a strange concept for him - but no matter what form his child wears, they're still his child. The one he gave his life for and sacrificed for the good of an entire village. And so he can't help but look at the shinobi in front of him with a different appraisal. At the end of the report though, he only nods with a soft grunt to show he's heard.

"I wouldn't expect anything less of Konoha nin." It's said calmly but with an underlying hint of pride. "Is anyone else from your team here?"

Neji is eager to move beyond the topic of his daughter; ordinary circumstances would have prompted him to first ask the Fourth for permission to date his daughter, but circumstances being as they were, they just happened to stumble headlong into what he was reasonably certain was called a 'relationship.' It's unlike him to do something so spontaneous, but, well, where Naruto is concerned, there isn't ever much room for planning ahead, as any version seems adept at foiling any plan in an instant. And asking for permission now seemed far too late when he had no intentions of giving her up should the other disapprove.

Someone as skilled at reading expressions as the Hyuuga Jounin can't help but see the way the older man raises his eyebrow, but he presses on as if he hadn't, his own control over his voice keeping him from making a fool of himself by speaking more awkwardly or quickly as he moves directly to the spoken words beyond the visual cues.

Another bow in thanks at the praise, then he answers, "Both of my team members are here, two Chuunin -- Rock Lee and Tenten. I have not yet been able to find Gai-sensei. In addition to myself and Naruto, I am also aware of Hyuuga Hinata-sama, Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Itachi," there, he can't quite hide a flicker of distaste for the two Uchiha before it's gone, "and their mother, Uchiha Mikoto. There is another Konoha-nin whom I have only seen from a distance, but I have heard that he goes by Sai. Though he seems to be of my generation, I am not acquainted with him personally."

His head dips. "That is all the Konoha-nin of whom I am aware."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

intro post: ghosts in the fog

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

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

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

no regrets!

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject