The streets were full. Merchants shouted from their stalls. Civilians walked in groups. Children ran past with sweets in their hands and no idea how lucky they were. Laundry hung from balconies. Smoke curled from food stands. Somewhere nearby, somebody was arguing loudly over the price of fish. Normal things. Beautiful things. Things that felt strangely foreign after months of mud, blood, and battlefield smoke.
Yukino walked beside me. Like actually walked. I still couldn't quite get used to that again.
Every now and then, I caught myself glancing down at her legs, like they might suddenly vanish or decide they were tired of functioning. They didn't. Her steps were smooth. Maybe not as fast as before everything happened, but close enough that most people wouldn't notice.
I noticed.
Obviously.
She noticed me noticing.
Obviously.
"Shiro."
"Hm?"
"Stop staring at my legs."
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I was checking your gait."
"My gait. Seriously?"
"Medical reasons."
"Of course. That's a good excuse, you snowflake."
"Hey, I'm a professional."
"Of course you are."
She looked ahead, but the corner of her mouth twitched.
The flower ornament in her hair caught the light as she moved, the little purple tassels swaying near her cheek. Her hair was down, dark and glossy, with that ridiculous twirled strand resting over her shoulder like a clan of overly dedicated hair artisans had sculpted it.
I still didn't understand how that strand existed.
Perhaps shinobi engineering.
We reached one of the busier streets near the market when a familiar voice shouted from ahead. "YUKINO!"
Yukino turned, and I had about half a second to react before a red blur launched itself through the crowd as Uzumaki Kushina crashed into Yukino with the force of a small natural disaster.
"You're okay!" Kushina shouted, wrapping both arms around her.
Yukino froze completely as her eyes widened and her hands hovered awkwardly at her sides. Then, after a moment, she carefully patted Kushina's back and said. "...Yes. I am okay."
Kushina pulled back, holding Yukino by the shoulders and inspecting her from head to toe.
"Walking too! Properly walking! No wheelchair, no cane, no old-lady pace!"
Yukino's brow twitched. "Old-lady pace?"
I looked away, unfortunately, too slowly.
Yukino's pale eyes turned toward me. "...Shiro, did you say anything to Kushina?"
"I said nothing."
"You sure?"
"I cannot be punished without evidence."
"You certainly can."
"That seems unconstitutional."
"What's a constitution?"
"Don't worry about it."
Minato stood a few steps behind Kushina, one hand on his hip, smiling calmly like he hadn't just watched his girlfriend try to tackle a recently recovered patient.
"Good to see you back on your feet, Yukino."
Yukino's expression softened. "Thank you, Minato."
He nodded, then studied her properly. The kind of look that measured stance, balance, breathing, fatigue, and whether someone was pretending to be healthier than they were. "How do you feel?"
"Fine, really."
"Actually?" Kushina asked.
Yukino paused, then sighed softly. "Mostly fine. Stamina is lower than I would like. My legs still feel stiff if I push too hard. But Tsunade-sama said the rest will return with training."
Minato smiled. "Good then."
Kushina immediately turned to me. "And you!"
I blinked. "Me?"
"Yes, you!" She pointed at my face. "You need to take better care of a delicate flower like Yukino!"
Silence.
My brain stalled, Yukino's did too from the looks of it. Then both of us looked away at the same time.
A mistake.
A terrible, obvious mistake.
Kushina's eyes narrowed slowly. Dangerously. "Oh?"
Minato looked between us. Then, because he was a traitor, smiled a little wider.
I cleared my throat. "First of all, Yukino is not delicate."
"Shirokumo," Yukino muttered.
"Second, she is more likely to break someone's arm than be broken."
"Hey!"
"Third, I did take care of her." The last words came out quieter than I expected.
Yukino looked at me, I looked away faster.
Kushina's expression got replaced by a grin so mischievous it should have been illegal. "Oh, I see."
"Eh? No, you don't." I said.
"I absolutely do."
"You absolutely don't."
Kushina hummed and turned to Yukino. Yukino went pink. I had no idea what was happening. I hated that.
Minato stepped beside me and lightly patted my shoulder. "Good luck."
"With what?"
He said nothing.
Terrifying.
Kushina clapped her hands together. "Okay! Ramen! You said you know a place!"
That, at least, was a subject everyone could agree on.
The four of us made our way through the village, we'd already explained the general direction of where Ichiraku was, so Kushina was leading with enough energy to declare war on the street itself. Minato followed beside her at an easy pace, hands in his pockets, glancing back now and then to make sure we were still following.
Yukino and I walked behind them. Not too close, nor too far. Occasionally our sleeves brushed. Completely accidental.
Probably.
I didn't move away.
...Maybe I wanted to hold her hand a little. Just a little bit.
Ichiraku was just ahead, its familiar curtains swaying gently in the breeze. The red characters on the fabric looked a little faded from sunlight, but the smell drifting from inside was perfect.
Broth.
Noodles.
Pork.
Home.
Teuchi looked up as we approached.
At twenty-something years old, he still looked far too young to be running a ramen stand by himself, but the man had the calm dignity of someone who had already accepted that shinobi were insane and would keep feeding them anyways.
His eyes moved across us to Minato and Kushina, like he was analyzing his newest customers, then he saw me and smiled a little, then Yukino and he beamed.
Then smiled so warmly it almost hurt. "Ah! Yukino! Welcome, welcome to everybody."
Yukino bowed her head slightly. "Hello there, it's good to see you."
"And it's good to see you walking again. Feeling better, yes?"
She showed a gentle smile. "Thank you, indeed I am."
He nodded, then looked at me. "Keep her safe, little Shiro."
"Will do," I said with a wry smile. "Don't you worry about that."
The other chuckled.
"You brought friends this time, eh?"
"Unfortunately."
Kushina gasped. "Unfortunately?!"
Minato sat down at the counter. "He's emotionally incapable of sincerity for longer than five seconds."
"That is slander."
"It's accurate."
"Accurate slander is still slander."
Yukino sat beside me, graceful as always. Kushina immediately claimed the seat beside Yukino, leaving Minato on the far left and me on the far right. The arrangement placed the girls between us.
Kushina looked very pleased with herself, which felt extremely suspicious after her earlier expression when we met.
Teuchi set out water for us.
"The usual for you two?"
Kushina's eyes snapped toward us while Minato covered his mouth all dramatic.
I coughed. "Yes."
Yukino looked down at the counter. "Yes, please."
Kushina leaned forward slowly, grinning. "The usual for you two?"
"Problem?" I asked.
"Oh, no, I just didn't realize you took us to your usual spot."
Yukino calmly spoke. "It is indeed our favorite spot."
"Mmmhmmm..." Kushina rested her chin on her hand. "So."
"No," I said.
"I didn't even say anything."
"You were about to."
"I was going to ask what everyone wants to eat."
"Liar."
Minato finally lost the battle and chuckled.
Kushina pointed at him. "See? Minato wants to know too."
"I never said that."
"Your face did."
"My face is innocent."
"Your face is suspiciously calm." I said.
Yukino covered her mouth with one sleeve.
Was she laughing?
Eventually Minato and Kushina ordered the same as us, apparently deciding to trust our guts with their own and soon after Teuchi placed the first bowls down. Steam curled upward, rich and fragrant. For a blessed few seconds, all teasing halted before the sacred power of ramen.
Kushina took one bite and immediately glowed. Literally? No. Spiritually? Absolutely.
"This is amazing!"
Teuchi smiled. "Glad you like it."
Minato nodded after tasting his. "Really good."
"Of course it's good," I said. "This is Ichiraku."
Teuchi gave me a look. "You make it sound like a shrine."
"It is." Yukino nodded solemnly.
"It is." I affirmed.
Kushina stared at her.
Then at me.
Then back at her.
"Oh, you two are adorable together."
I pretended not to hear.
Yukino failed to hide her smile.
Lunch passed loudly.
Mostly because Kushina existed, like, at one point she even threw a napkin at me for some unknown reason. Then at one other point, Kushina leaned closer to Yukino and murmured something.
I couldn't hear it.
But Yukino's hand stopped halfway to her bowl and her entire face went pink.
Kushina smiled like a fox in human skin. Appropriate.
I narrowed my eyes. "What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"That was not nothing."
"Girl stuff."
"That sounds fake."
"It is very real," Kushina said.
Yukino said nothing.
Worse, she looked away.
I looked at Minato and he shrugged. "Don't involve me."
"You are involved by proximity."
"I decline."
"You can't decline."
"I just did."
The bill came eventually and I reached for my pouch.
Teuchi glanced at Yukino. "Lifetime discount still applies."
Kushina paused.
"Lifetime discount?"
Yukino became very interested in her bowl.
I grinned. "We were actually the first ever customers here, so Yuki bullied him into agreeing to a lifetime discount if we kept coming."
"I did not bully him."
"She absolutely did," Teuchi said.
"Wha...Teuchi-san!" Yukino looked betrayed.
Kushina laughed so loudly that two people outside turned toward the stand.
We paid with the discount, then as usual tipped enough to make Teuchi sigh and shake his head.
As we stepped back into the street, Kushina stretched her arms overhead. "That was perfect."
"Agreed," Minato said.
Yukino nodded.
I was about to suggest where we should go next when Kushina suddenly grabbed Yukino's hand. "Come with me."
Yukino blinked. "What?"
"Girl talk."
My eyes narrowed immediately. "No."
Kushina turned to me. "You don't get a vote."
"I should."
"You don't."
Yukino looked between us. "Girl talk?"
Kushina smiled sweetly. "Girl talk."
That smile was not sweet. That smile had casualties.
Before I could object again, Kushina dragged Yukino away down a side street and Yukino looked back once.
Her expression said help me. I could just read her thoughts saying, 'Shiro, help meee~' as she fades in the distance.
I lifted a hand.
Then lowered it.
Some battles could not be won.
Beside me, Minato chuckled. "Cold."
"I know."
"She trusted you."
"She shouldn't have."
We started walking at a slower pace, letting the girls disappear into the crowd. For a while, neither of us said anything. The village noise filled the space.
Then Minato spoke.
"So, I guess boy talk. How are you?"
I glanced at him. "Fine."
He gave me a look.
Right.
Minato.
Damn him.
I sighed. "Better."
"Actually?"
"...Yeah."
He nodded, waiting. I looked ahead at the street.
People passed by, none of them knowing what had happened out there. None of them knowing the thing I saw and experienced. Most of them probably didn't even know the first thing about Hanzo, even. Certainly none of them knew what Yukino looked like dying in my arms.
Good.
They didn't need to.
"I still think about it," I admitted.
Minato's expression didn't change. "All of it?"
"All of it." My fingers curled slightly. "But I'm not... stuck there anymore."
Minato nodded once "Good. That's what I wanted to hear."
"Yukino helped."
"I'm not surprised."
"Letters helped too."
He smiled. "You do look happier now."
"Yeah, thanks."
Then his smile softened. "I'm glad you're back, Shiro."
I looked away. "...Yeah."
We walked a few more steps.
Then Minato's expression shifted. Slightly too casual. "Oh, by the way."
I immediately became suspicious. "What?"
He raised his hand and the chakra gathered, rotated and compressed. A perfect blue sphere formed above his palm.
Stable.
Balanced.
Complete.
The Rasengan.
I stopped walking and Minato looked at me very calmly and very innocently. Like he hadn't just committed a personal attack.
"...You learned it."
He smiled. "About a month ago."
A bird chirped somewhere nearby.
I hated that bird.
"...A month ago, you say..."
"Mm."
"As in, you mastered it one month after I taught you."
"Technically less."
I stared at him.
He smiled.
I inhaled.
Exhaled.
Very calmly.
Like a mature person.
Like someone above petty jealousy.
Like someone who hadn't spent four years training that technique.
"Expected," I said.
Minato's smile widened. "Really?"
"Obviously. I gave you the training method."
"Of course."
"It would have been embarrassing if you failed."
"Naturally."
"I'm not impressed."
"Not at all?"
"No."
"Your eyebrow is twitching."
"It does that."
"Only when you're annoyed."
"Medical condition."
"Should I call Lady Tsunade?"
"I will stab you."
Minato laughed.
I hated geniuses.
I especially hated blond geniuses with calm smiles and freakish talent.
Unfortunately, he was my friend.
Worse.
My rival.
So I couldn't even properly hate him.
Kushina and Yukino returned shortly after.
Kushina looked triumphant.
Yukino looked like she'd survived interrogation.
Her cheeks were red, her eyes were lowered, and she refused to look directly at me.
I stared.
"...What happened?"
"Nothing," Kushina said cheerfully.
"Nothing," Yukino echoed too quickly.
Minato leaned toward me. "Something happened."
"I know."
Kushina clapped her hands. "Games! Let's go play some!"
"Changing the subject again," I muttered.
Yukino went redder.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The market street had a row of small stalls set up near the open square. Most were civilian games, but because this was Konoha, even civilian games had a suspicious number of sharp objects.
There was a shuriken toss stall.
A kunai ring toss.
Other such ninja games and a masked vendor who looked far too confident considering he was about to be robbed by shinobi children.
Kushina pointed dramatically at the prize board.
"Oh! Oh! They give out sweets as prizes! I want that one."
It was an ice cream cone.
Yukino quietly looked at a sweets on the upper shelf.
Minato stepped up first. "Well, let's get some wins then."
His first shuriken bounced off a metal plate, clipped two targets, ricocheted, and hit a third.
The second took the remaining two.
The third landed dead center in the smallest target just because he was showing off.
The vendor's face fell.
Kushina cheered.
Minato accepted snacks and handed it to her.
She bit into it immediately.
"Nice," I said.
Minato stepped aside. "Your turn."
I looked at the sweets up top.
Yukino pretended not to notice.
Cute.
I took three shuriken.
First throw.
Two targets.
Second throw.
Two more.
Third throw.
Dead center.
The vendor stared into the distance like he'd just lost something important.
I accepted the sweets and handed them to Yukino.
"...Thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Kushina leaned toward Minato.
"They're adorable."
"I can hear you," I said.
"I know."
The games escalated from there.
Minato and I cleared the kunai ring toss perfectly.
Draw.
I won a bell target game by hitting the bell without making it ring.
Minato looked genuinely impressed and that felt amazing. I tried not to look smug.
Failed, probably.
Then Minato won the other game by being slightly too perfect.
Annoying.
Very annoying.
The girls ended up with lots sweets and snacks, if anything they were enjoying themselves at this point.
Kushina bit into an ice cream bar and pointed between us.
"You two are ridiculous."
Yukino held her ice cream up and licked it. "Very ridiculous."
"You enjoyed it," I said.
She looked away. "...Maybe."
Eventually the small games weren't enough. They never were, so Minato spun a kunai around one finger.
"Training ground?"
I grinned. "Training ground."
Kushina sighed. "Of course."
Yukino's expression softened, but she followed along.
The training ground was empty when we arrived. Sunlight poured over the open field and a memorial stone stood silent in the distance. Trees ringed the clearing, their leaves rustling gently in the wind.
Minato tossed a kunai into the air and caught it. "First round?"
"Targets," I said.
We set up three logs at different distances.
The rule was simple.
Hit all three at once.
Fastest and most accurate wins.
Minato went first.
He moved like light.
Three kunai flashed.
Three hits.
Perfect center.
I clicked my tongue.
"Show off."
"Yes."
At least he admitted it.
My turn.
I threw.
First hit.
Second hit.
Third—
Slightly off center.
Barely.
By a hair.
Kushina pointed dramatically. "Minato wins!"
I stared at the log.
Betrayed.
Minato smiled. "One-zero."
"Don't get comfortable."
Second round was trick shots. Ricochet only.
Minato did well.
Of course he did.
His shuriken bounced from a second shuriken, hitting a third one to do a zig zag pattern around a tree and hit the target with irritating precision.
Then I stepped up.
I breathed out and threw three of my own shuriken.
The first shuriken struck a hanging plate, bounced downward, and hit the second shuriken, which sent it flying forward. The second shuriken was hit by a third one and bounced into the center of the swaying sign while a fourth shuriken curved widely from the side and hit the first one, sending the first one backwards into a target set up behind a tree.
Silence.
Kushina blinked.
Yukino's eyes widened slightly.
Minato stared and then smiled. "As expected."
My chest warmed.
Damn it.
He always did that.
Made winning feel better and worse at the same time.
"One-one," I said.
Third round was movement.
Tag a hanging bell at the center of the field, starting from opposite sides.
No jutsu.
Pure movement.
"Hold up," I said. "In that case..."
I unstrapped the weights off my hands and off my legs. When I dropped them on the ground, they made the grass cave in.
"Eh! Geez, Shirokumo, how much do those weigh?" Kushina looked shocked.
Yukino replied for me. "About five hundred kilos now, if I'm not mistaken?"
"Total?!" Kushina shouted.
"No, each." Yukino calmly said with a smile.
Minato laughed. "Hahaha, okay, I admit you have me beat in physical strength. No contest there." then he grinned sharply. "Let's see about speed though."
"You're on, yellow flash."
Kushina counted down. "Three."
Yukino watched closely. "Two."
Minato lowered his stance.
I did the same.
The girls spoke together. "One."
The world snapped forward.
We moved and the grass tore beneath our feet as the bell swung gently in the distance.
I pushed harder.
Minato was fast.
Stupid fast.
But so was I without the weights, faster yet with the third gate opened.
Our hands reached the bell at the exact same time.
It rang.
Once.
Sharp and clear.
Damn this guy is fast!
Kushina stared.
Yukino tilted her head. "Draw."
Minato looked at me.
I looked at him.
For a second, neither of us spoke.
Then we both started laughing.
Because of course.
Of course it ended like that.
A draw.
After everything.
Minato rolled his shoulders. "You've gotten way stronger, Shiro."
"I know."
His smile sharpened. "It's sure has been a while since we competed."
"Yeah, haven't had the chance over the last year and a half, huh?"
"Think you can finally beat me?"
The words hung in the air.
The old question.
The old wound.
The old rivalry.
My loss streak against Minato was somewhere in the hundreds.
Spars.
Races.
Accuracy drills.
Strategy games.
Anything we had ever competed in when we first became friends in the academy, he had beaten me more times than I cared to count.
And for years, part of me hated it.
Now?
Now I just grinned at him. "Yeah."
Minato's eyes brightened. Not mocking. Not surprised. Excited. "Good." He stepped back. "I've been waiting for that."
Kushina lowered her ice cream. "...Wait."
Yukino glanced between the two of us repeatedly. "Are you two maybe gonna..."
Minato and I walked away from each other.
The air changed.
Not hostile.
Never hostile.
But sharp.
The way it used to feel before war made everything heavier.
Before ranks.
Before death.
Just two boys standing across from each other, both desperate to prove something.
Minato reached into his pouch.
I flexed my fingers and the seal on my forehead felt warm.
Not active.
Just present.
Waiting.
Kushina took a slow step back.
Yukino followed, her pale eyes fixed on us.
"Rules?" Minato asked.
I smiled.
"No killing."
"Obviously."
"No permanent injuries."
"Obviously."
"And no holding back."
He looked at me.
Really looked.
Then smiled. "No holding back."
Wind moved through the clearing.
Leaves shifted.
My heartbeat slowed.
For once, there was no battlefield.
No enemy.
No mission.
Just Minato.
My friend.
My teammate.
My rival.
I lowered my stance.
"Minato."
"Hm?"
"I'm ending the streak today."
He grinned. "Then come prove it."
And just like that the day stopped being peaceful.
...
(Author Note: Are you guys ready for Shirokumo vs Minato? Excited?👀 Do leave comments~)