We found Kushina three floors higher up. She was sitting cross-legged at a low table wedged between two massive shelves, surrounded by a small fortress of scrolls stacked up on each other around her. From that pile, one was open in her lap, another balanced on her knee, and a third lay face down beside her, as she sat there reading. Her hair was tied back in a high, messy ponytail, and the way she was stabbing a brush into an inkstone before taking notes told me everything I needed to know. Oh yeah... she was mad. Uzumaki mad, if that was even enough to describe what I was sensing... which was arguably worse than any other type of anger.
Probably, Minato also realized the trouble he was in because he stopped dead the moment he saw her.
"Oh," he said, glancing at me.
"Yeah," I smirked, elbowing him, "And it's your fault."
Of course, hearing us arrive, Kushina didn't look up at us, not even after I cleared my throat and even called her my name. Seeing that everything fell on deaf ears, I sighed, already rubbing my temples, trying to think of something.
"Well," I muttered, "this is going about as well as expected." So I nudged Minato forward with my elbow. "Go on," I moaned. "You go and say something."
"Um..." He opened his mouth... and... nothing. Great job. Big brain, few words, eh? Seeing no reaction, he of course closed his mouth, only to open it again, trying for a second time, "…Hi?"
Bzzzzt. Wrong! Even he knew that because the brush snapped in half between her fingers as Kushina finally looked up, her eyes locking onto Minato while her smile became terrifyingly sweet. Danger! Big danger!
"Oh! Hi, Minato," she chirped like an innocent girl who had such a wonderful day until we arrived. "Did you finish… whatever it was you were doing? Sorry, I didn't hear you speak to me, my baaaad!"
Just hearing her talk made Minato wince, looking back and forth between us, trying to ask me for help, but I had nothing... sorry, buddy. You go and deal with your girl... I am not burning myself for nothing!
"I... Well... I mean.... Yes? No? I found something really interesting..."
"Stop," I hissed, trying to whisper and help him out. Apparently, I lied... I am burning myself... Haaah, be happy that I am your best friend. "Abort! You're digging. You are already in a hole, don't go any deeper!"
"No, no, no," Kushina's smile widened, her eyes turning to me, "Remove yourself from this long due discourse, Renjiro," she said pleasantly, and her eyes narrowed to a slit, "I want to hear what he was doing that was more important than me."
I considered my life choices at that moment, but I couldn't just leave my good brother hanging there, dangling before a crazed monster, so... Against my better judgment, I stepped fully between them.
"Alright," I announced, clapping my hands softly. "Pause! Everyone breathe, take in the smell of old books, and try not to cough. Minato, you're currently on the brink of death... Kushina, you're five seconds away from being his killer. I am not in the mood for cleaning up after you two, but here I am... Being the janitor... so..."
"Seven," She lifted a scroll slightly, rolling it up, counting... downwards, "Six," she added, "Time is ticking. Keep talking, boys, but I still ain't hearing what I want to hear."
"See? Progress already." I murmured, moaning, and it was then that Minato finally stepped up.
"I didn't mean to ignore you," he said quickly and genuinely, being honest, "I just... My brain went somewhere and..."
"And you forgot I existed," Kushina finished for him, huffing, crossing her arms. "You even stopped hearing me talk."
"Yes," he admitted. "I'm sorry..."
That deflated her a little, well, just a little, but apparently the countdown was aborted at least. So, capitalizing on the opportunity, I leaned down beside her, lowering my voice conspiratorially, acting as if Minato wasn't there to hear us.
"For what it's worth," I said, "he also forgot that I existed. When I snapped him out of it, the idiot thought I was you for a solid five seconds."
"Hm?" She blinked in surprise, glancing at me, whispering back, "He did?"
"Oh yeah," I nodded solemnly, showing I wasn't lying, "Called me by your name and everything. Romantic, really."
"Hmph!" Her lips twitched at that while Minato looked horrified, but at least he knew when not to say anything. "That does not help you two!"
"Oh, it helps," I said cheerfully. "You already look less annoyed."
"You are seeing things," Kushina sighed, some of the edge bleeding out of her tone, as she began rolling her eyes, "Gosh... You're impossible," she muttered, looking away, "Both of you."
"Really," Minato took a careful step closer, "I'm sorry," he said again, bowing a little, "I really am. I just… when I read those notes, it was like someone lit my head on fire."
"That's not a bad metaphor! I like the idea," she grumbled, "Maybe I should learn some fire jutsu and do it... see how you rock the bald look or something."
"I know, I am at fault," he said without arguing, "And I didn't mean to make you feel ignored."
"Hmph!" She glanced at him sidelong, snorting one more time, pursing her lips, "You're buying lunch."
"Yes," he said instantly. "I am."
"And dessert." She added.
"Of course."
"And you're not allowed to talk about seals for at least the upcoming... two hours."
"..." He hesitated. Come on! Buddy! Don't!
"Hour?" He tried only to be met with her iron-like gaze.
"Two hours. Yes."
"Let it go," I grinned, whispering before stretching a little, "Excellent," I continued, before anything else could happen. "Crisis averted, so, before this turns into a hostage situation, we're leaving," I exclaimed as I grabbed Minato by the sleeve and Kushina by the wrist, hauling her up and pulling them toward the stairs.
"Renji!" Kushina protested, looking back at the mess she was leaving behind, "I was reading!"
"You'll survive," I said without looking back, "And I would bet everything you were doing it out of spite... So, what were you reading?"
"..." Of course, she had nothing. Heh. I knew it... She wasn't reading, she was doodling.
"Plus, I'm also hungry," I continued, not wanting to expose her to Minato, "and if we don't eat soon, Minato's brain will consume the rest of him."
"That's not how it works!" Minato protested weakly, but I was taking charge.
"Blah, blah, blah! I've seen you skip meals," I replied, "It absolutely is a possibility. So, with you two, I am not risking anything. Time to have a feast!"
...
....
...
We ended up walking for about half an hour before finding a proper place to settle down. It was positioned on an open terrace not that far from the Scroll House, actually, being a surprisingly quiet place overlooking the spiraling rooftops. It wasn't anything big or fancy; the owner served us with simple meals, but with ample steaming bowls, mostly soups and buns filled with whatever Kushina ordered for us all. She was the local, so I was letting her choose.
We also didn't need to wait for long or watch her sharp gaze drill into Minato's face because the food arrived quickly. The moment it was put down before her, Kushina launched at it like she'd been starved, even stealing from Minato's bowl, not that he had a say in it.
"So," Minato suddenly spoke up, as one of the best pieces of meat was lifted from his bowl and disappeared in Kushina's soup.
"Khm," Kushina's chopsticks froze mid-air, acting as a warning, "Minato. The first hour is barely up."
"I know, I know," he rushed to explain, "It hasn't been two hours, but just hear me out!"
"No."
"The marking structure I found could actually be tested..."
"No."
"And I think if we use a low-output anchor..."
"Renji," Kushina said, turning to me. "Control him, or I'm kicking him off this terrace."
"Girl, he is your man!" I raised my hands, leaning back in my chair, looking at the two, "I tried before you, but honestly?" I shrugged, "I kind of want to see this. And you know how Minato is, if you can't love that part of him, you two will have a rocky marriage!"
"..." She stared at me, her face redder than her hair, but... she didn't argue against my words... Nice. We are getting this settled, eh? Good, good, one less thing I need to worry about. "Can't believe it, Renjiro… You're betraying me, dattebane..."
"Only temporarily," I said, winking at her, "For science and for all of our sake."
"Nobody is betraying anybody; we are on the same team," Minato leaned forward, excited but trying very hard to restrain himself. "Also, I'm not talking about teleporting yet," he added, trying to explain what he was thinking of, "Just to test it on objects. Small ones... Like a kunai... To test the theory of my marks and see if I am right about the jutsu, and can identify and sense them."
"Theory… Marks... Kunai," Kushina repeated slowly. "Your head should be replaced with a scroll and sent into the mountains... You are hopeless, Minato. Did you know that?"
"Yes! Exactly!" he said, but then flinched, "Wait... what?"
"Pft!" Finally, that drew some laughter from Kushina, who continued eating, stuffing her mouth from his plate, "Okay, so, what's up? Keep talking, you started running your mouth, and you can't even hold back for a few hours... You hopeless idiot. Spill the beans, then!"
"Well... khm..." He began pointing at himself like he'd tried to explain something nobody else would understand. "If the mark holds, the transfer should be instantaneous without destabilization."
"And you know the technique... because of....?" I asked, squinting at him. "From those papers alone? How?"
"The initializing marks are easy, along with any seal they mentioned. As I said, and as they discussed in those letters, the really hard part of the technique is the transfer. Putting a whole shinobi from one place to the other, that's what is difficult; learning the jutsu itself is not. What also makes it hard is how to understand space itself and visualize the jump... Otherwise, it just won't work. Anyway, those parts are supposed to be hard and..."
He was just going on, and on, and on about it, half of that flying over my head. Haaah... No wonder it became his signature method; he was born to learn these things. Probably thinking of the same thing, Kushina exchanged a defeated gaze with me as she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, muttering under her breath.
"You're lucky I like you."
That finally shut up Minato right there and then.
"You do?" He gawked, blinking his blue eyes in surprise.
"Don't push it!" She snorted, her face going red again, burying herself back into the food, hiding away.
"Alright," I said, seeing the two, getting an idea of what to do next, "Field trip. We test your insane idea, Minato, and Kushina, you will supervise him to make sure nobody gets hurt. I watch in case reality breaks apart or something truly bad, and you need a Sharingan to fix everything, huh?"
"You can do that?" Minato beamed at me, making me wince.
"Maybe." I groaned, touching my eye, "Aaahh... don't count on it though."
"Anyway, this is going to work," he said, with ample confidence, "Don't worry!"
I looked at the eagerness in his eyes, then at his little lover, noticing Kushina shaking her head but smiling anyway, and felt that familiar knot in my chest reappear. You both need to have more time together in this life...
"Yeah," I muttered, getting lost in my thoughts. "It will work... then you can be the Yellow Flash for real."
Seeing him chuckle, hearing a nickname that would stick to him, we left lunch behind and walked toward whatever poor, unsuspecting patch of ground was about to become Minato Namikaze's testing field.