Six Years Too Long

Chapter 14

Third person pov

Jiraiya had forgotten how cold and concise his student could get when he wanted to be. This sort of chilled rage wasn't something that had ever been directed at him before. Those icy eyes had never pierced him as hard as they were right now. Minato was terrifying, an air of authority and power seeming to leech out of him in the most dangerous of ways. It would help if Jiraiya were able to force himself to look away. After so many years without seeing Minato, the sage simply couldn't bring himself to.

It would be easier if Minato was yelling, Jiraiya thinks. The guilt wouldn't weight on his shoulders so heavily, and maybe he wouldn't be sweating as hard. Minato's oppressive stare dug its way into his very bones, rattling him irreversibly and making it hard for his lungs to expand and contract. He didn't know what to do, or what to say. Minato was alive. A boy he'd watched grow up, that he'd trained, that he'd watched teach, that he'd seen become Hokage, that he'd seen fall in love, and get married-- he was alive. 

It felt odd sitting in this house-- it was like being seated in a tomb, or perhaps a time capsule. At a dining room table he hadn't seen in years now, the entire place free of dust and full of life Jiraiya'd never thought he'd see in here again. It was lived in, just as it always should've been, with random jackets strewn around, unfolded blankets laying about, books settled in odd places, dirty dishes in the sink. To see his student's former home inhabited again by the very young man he never thought he'd see again... well, it was almost too much to process. His throat felt tight and his head was spinning and he just... didn't know what to say.

Minato's fingers tapped against the wood of the table he and Kushina had built together. She'd insisted they make it with their own two hands, even if neither of them had any experience whatsoever crafting furniture. The wood stain had turned his palms chestnut brown for three days and ruined his Hokage robe for good. They'd had to rush to get a new one made before The Third found out and scolded them for it, since he'd already gone through five in his month of being kage. A truly impressive feat according to everyone he asked. To be fair, half of the mishaps were Kushina's fault. Her pranks hadn't ceased even after he took the title of Fourth.

"Where were you?" Minato's voice rang out like tempered steel, striking him hard and tearing through his walls without mercy. A new sort of fear enveloped Jiraiya, opening a sinking pit in his stomach and causing his heartrate to increase exponentially. The pressure felt so heavy he could hardly breathe through it. Was this what the Yellow Flash's enemies felt when they'd faced him on the battlefield? This unimaginable weight and distinct sense of danger? It was no wonder they ran at the sight of him.

"I-I- Minato, I-" Jiraiya sputtered out, voice coming out a croak. Minato's fingers stopped drumming entirely, but his gaze didn't falter for even a second. He levelled his teacher hard and without inflection shown on his face. He wasn't just angry, Jiraiya could tell. He was hurt, and it was all Jiraiya's fault. 

Minato loved his teacher. Or maybe he didn't anymore. It was hard to sort through his storm of emotions, which raged like a typhoon in his chest. Hurt, betrayal, and rage for what his son had been through battled for dominance within him him. Jiraiya had agreed to be his godfather, had known the risks Kushina faced with giving birth and the likelihood of the Kyuubi breaking free. They'd gone into the pregnancy expecting to die but hoping desperately that they wouldn't, and fighting to stay alive as hard as they could. Jiraiya had known all this and had agreed to be a safety net to catch Naruto if something happened to him.

So imagine Minato's surprise when he came back to find his son still falling. To find that he hadn't been caught, he had been thrown. Tossed into the trenches like he was worthless, left to plummet in the dark not knowing why he was so hated, why he didn't have a family, or why he was different. It made him sick to his stomach just to think about it. Trying to process the pain his young child had felt all these years was dizzying, and it made him so angry it was hard to contain himself at times. It made him want to burn Konoha to the ground. It made him want to hug Naruto tight and never let go.