The Whisper || FullbusterFic » vonlane

Chapter 11: A breath

He was falling in love! He couldn't believe it still that in a competition where he thought to be searching for his brother's assassin, he would find a complete opposite feeling: love. He was there-competing against all these ninja for revenge, for hate because he desired justice for his brother and instead... he had found a different feeling. He had found sweetness, innocence, the urge to protect someone.

That night, he observed as Minato slept peacefully on the other side of the fire he had lit. He was inching away; he could tell. The distance between them kept growing despite the both of them dying to hide it. It was that arranged marriage that had kept Minato away. Madara didn't know how to fight against that.

The walk the next day was slow and silent. The tension between them could be felt a league away. Those corresponding feelings the two had for each other were being repressed in the worst of ways. They arrived late at the camp where some participants waited patiently. Others had not yet arrived.

Minato walked forward, indicating his horse to follow but then suddenly stopped, surprising Madara. The Uchiha stopped next to him for a second to look at him; his head lowered and surely thinking of a way of how he was going to explain everything to Kushina. The raven looked at the late Uzumaki's body on top of Minato's horse.

"Don't give explanations," Madara told him.

"But..."

"You don't have to explain, you don't even know if you're the one responsible."

"She's his sister, she has a right to know."

"Do whatever you want. Although, if you still wish for that marriage to save your clan from the despair they live in... it's best you keep quiet or they could break the deal they have with you."

"Why are you helping me? You didn't want me to marry."

"I still think the same, Minato."

"But I can't fall in love with you, our clans won't permit us to be together. Two men being together is looked down upon," Minato said, although later smiled. "It's ironic: it's absolutely fine for them to have sex as they consider it a form of mutual trust between warriors, but on the other hand... they won't permit them to be together later on."

"It's for heirs," Madara said. "Sleeping around once in a while is fine, but they don't want the loss of offspring. Your clan wants you to have children and I could not give you them. My father would also want children to lead my clan, and you can't give me them, either. That's why, Minato."

"Then there's no other choice, Madara... I'll have to marry Kushina. We could never be together."

Minato began walking once again, away from the Uchiha. However... Madara was assaulted by a grand doubt, one that he couldn't wait to resolve.

"Minato," He called out, obligating the other to stop and turn around. "If you would've been able to choose... would you have married me?"

"It's possible," Minato smiled with a certain sadness. "I don't know, and I guess we'll never know. It's impossible, Madara. They would never permit it, not your clan nor mine."

"Even so...I'm glad to know that." Madara smiled. "Rest up."

Bothe stayed there for a few seconds, immersed in each other's gazes and realizing that this was a goodbye for their feelings. Minato was the first to lower his gaze-a gesture that broke the raven's heart into a thousand pieces upon seeing him so depressed with a life full of expectations and no exit whatsoever. He wanted to jump in and comfort him, he wanted to hug him, but once he made the first step to walk towards him, Kushina appeared. She was all smiles, throwing her arms around Minato's neck and happy to see him again alive at this half-point of the way.

"Minato," Kushina called out to him although the blond didn't react. "Hey... what's wrong?" The redhead asked, grabbing him by the cheeks and raising his frustrated face. Minato didn't seem to be able to find any words.

"I..."

"Are you alright? Has something happened?"

"No... not to me," Minato then said, faintly looking back towards a horse who waited patiently with an inert bulge on the saddle. Kushina seemed to understand at that moment and brought her hands up towards her mouth, covering her shock and pain.

"No... not my brother..."

"I'm sorry," Minato said, once again lowering his head.

"What happened?" She asked in despair, running towards the horse and trying to get her brother down but being unable to. "Minato, who did it?" She asked once again, uncontrollably crying-something that provoked tears from the blond who was clenching his fists without knowing what to respond with.

"We found him like that," Madara said, taking each of them out of their trance. "Minato wanted to bring him; he didn't want to leave him there abandoned. I'm going to rest, we'll only have tomorrow to gather our strength before continuing the last part of the competition."

Kushina fell to the floor, crying inconsolably without being able to get her brother down from the horse. It was Minato, who in the end, and with much regret, lowered Hiro Uzumaki's body and left it on the floor next to his sister. He was going to leave, but Kushina hugged him tightly and cried in his chest. He had no other choice but to stay there and try to console a pain that was simply inconsolable. He had already gone through that pain twice.

The camp didn't seem to be disturbed by what was going on in the entrance except for the Hyuuga who was looking at the scene with his Byakugan. Upon seeing Madara pass by his side, he spoke to him with a serious tone.

"So you've come with the Namikaze."

Madara suddenly stopped upon hearing Hiashi speaking to him. It wasn't normal for the Hyuugas to interfere or speak to other clans. They had always considered themselves to be too good as to lower to anyone else's level.

"What's wrong with that?"

"Why are you helping a demon?" He asked without anything more, something that surprised Madara as he threw a glance back towards the Namikaze.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Is your Sharingan failing you? Or is it that you can't see the same thing as I?" Hiashi asked, this time looking at him. "Get away from that boy, Uchiha, or you, too, will end up like the rest of the competitors."

"What are you talking about?" Madara asked, looking towards a Minato who didn't seem to know how to react upon the situation presented to him. "What is it that I have to see? Remember that your eyes are better than mine on seeing things; the Sharingan is only good for Genjutsus and Ninjutsus."

"Then pay close attention to me, then... Get away from that boy or you'll end up very bad." The Hyuuga repeated, marching away as he deactivated his Byakugan.

For the first time in such a long time, Madara activated his Sharingan to look more closely into Minato Namikaze, but was unable to see anything strange in the young man. What the hell had the Hyuuga seen with his eyes? Maybe he had only said it to scare him or to leave the blond alone in the battlefield... although, what he said could also be true. The Hyuuga weren't the type to lie like that; they had too much pride and felt superior to the other ninja. Hiashi wouldn't have cared if he fought against the both of them because he thought he could take them on. He had to have seen something strange. The only question here was... what had he seen?