DiSCERN (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter Thirteen.

"Itsuki-chaaaan!"

Itsuki opens the door to his house and gets hugged. He spends a very, very confused minute there, thinking who?

Anko is behind him, so the female voice isn't hers. Orochimaru is also behind him, so the long hair he feels around his arms isn't his, either.

Who else-- ah.

"Wait, Kushina, don't just run up and hug him, he'll be startled," why on earth is Minato in his house? Is his house the new hangout spot of the town? Get out already, it's been like weeks. "Itsuki-kun, that's Kushina. She just came back from her mission."

At this point, Itsuki is in the air. Kushina, she's got the might of a gorilla or sum, just lifts him off the ground like he's a baby.

"Ohhh, my poor little Itsuki-chan, being left alone with Minato of all people."

Kushina?? 

Oh right. Time travel.

"Kushina-nee," he addresses, then he's put down, and Kushina pats him on the head like she's praising him. Or treating him like a kid, he's not sure.

"I'm back!" Kushina says, and Itsuki jerks back because he doesn't expect her voice to be an inch from his face. When did Kushina crouch down.

He jerks back, and he knocks into a pair of knees.

Orochimaru's hands are on his shoulder when the man chastises the lady. "He's unable to sense you well, Kushina. Do warn him before making sudden movements."

And Kushina chuckles, sheepish.

Itsuki calms down to spread out his chakra again. Needing to do this every time is a bit of a hassle... and he feels it clearly.

Kakashi is furthest. Minato is a little closer, around where the dining table should be. Then Kushina-- and her chakra, once he touches it, makes him stiffen.

It's strong.

And just a little, it burns. It's not a hot burn-- it's the kind of little prickle you feel when you take hot toast off a pan. Prickly, but contained.

Itsuki's always linked the heat to Kushina's warm personality.

But now that he remembers it in Naruto's little antics, Itsuki can't help but sense the connection between the orange wisps and the monster in her stomach.

"Kushina!" Anko cheers, "how was your dumb job?"

"It was dumb," Kushina responds easily, her smile clear in her voice. She stands up, presumably to reach toward the table. "I brought home a souvenir for you."

"No," Minato immediately interrupts, "Kushina, you are not giving her that vial of poison."

"Poison?!" Anko and Itsuki say in unison, though one voice is significantly more terrified than the other.

"I'm interested," Orochimaru says with a glimmer of mischief in his voice.

Itsuki turns around to tug at his clothes, "NO!"