Devils in the Background

Coming Undone

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Minato gulped, "She put a loyalty seal on me ..."

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"Yep and it's partly broken ... all this emotional stress would do that." Naruto frowned as he looked at the seal decorating the sketchpad that was laying on the coffee table now.

"I see." Minato seemed to zone out for a second and suddenly downed every last drop of his wine.

"Errr ... here." Naruto refilled the hokage's glass and raised an eyebrow as the red liquid quickly disappeared down the hokage's throat. "Wow ... and I thought only Hikaru could drink like that." The tattoo artist muttered as he saw two more glasses full of wine being consumed.

Minato had a slight pink tint on his cheeks after just over half a bottle of wine, "Can you break it?"

Naruto opened his mouth, but then close it and sighed, "Yeah, it's basically dangling off by this point ... there's probably no point in saying it since you're a seal master, but I will anyway. It's going to hurt. A lot."

'That's what the wine is for." Minato slurred slightly as he set the glass down on the coffee table. Naruto sighed as the hokage leaned back on the couch. A subtle sign that he wanted the seal off. Frankly, the artist agreed that it should be removed, but he would've preferred doing this in a hospital ...

Yeah, removing a seal like this really does hurt ...

The esteemed hokage choose the house of a tattoo artist and wine as the only painkiller instead. So since the ninja was determined Naruto steeled himself and stood behind the couch right behind Minato. With a series of six hand signs the tip of his fingers on his right hand began glowing blue and were placed over where the seal was hidden under the blonde hokage's hair.

The fingers were pressed firmly against the seal resulting in a broken seal and a hokage screaming in pain. Naruto immediately tried to use medical chakra to ease the pain and after a while Minato relaxed.

"Well we knew it would hurt ... Minato?" Naruto frowned as he saw the hokage's dazed eyes looking at him. Those empty eyes followed him as he went to the kitchen to pour Minato a cup of tea and sat back down on the couch. "Come on, Minato, drink." He held the hokage's hand and put the cup of tea in it. After making sure the grip was secure he let go.

This was a little disturbing, but he thinks he knows what this reaction is. It's called Blow Back. His mother's uncle researched the effects of long term seals and before he died he had proved that when seals affecting the mind are removed after a long time it may send someone into a near catatonic state. He dubbed the phenomenon the Blow Back since the brain is blown out of control. It is harmless, but it will take a little bit of time for his mind to settle down.

The hokage looked at the cup of tea with dazed eyes as if he wasn't sure what to do. Finally, he tilted the cup and took a sip, but Minato seemed to lose all grip in his hand and dropped the cup. Naruto saw the cup clatter to the ground and picked it up while smiling softly to the hokage.

"It's ok, I'll clean it up." Naruto said gently making sure not to startle the ninja. He went into the kitchen and started the hot water again as he grabbed a towel. The spilled tea was mopped up in no time. "See, all clean ... you'll be ok, Minato. Just remember your daughters. Can you say their names for me?"

Minato's dazed eyes turned to him, "... Mito ... Kana."

"That's right ... just focus there." Naruto said as he got up to get some more tea. The steaming liquid flowed into the new cup he took from the cabinet. Just as he was about to take the cup and return to Minato he sensed the hokage disappear and reappear right behind him. The tattoo artist froze and slowly turned around to face the dazed hokage who was staring up at him with blank eyes.