[2]

The car ride away from the hell hole was quiet and awkward. Minato tried his best to focus on the road, but he kept looking in the rearview mirror at the teenagers in the back seat. They were all quiet, and staring out the window and/or staring down at their thumbs.

He looked over at Kushina who was staring back at him. She kind of shrugged and then turned around to look at the kids. Wendy looked up at her and gave a small smile. Kushina smiled back and then looked at the boys. They kept stone faces, even when they looked at her. It got to the point where Kushina had to turn forward. Minato turned the corner back into town.

Minato drove past a few fast food places and restaurants.

"Should we stop and get something to eat?" he questioned.

The kids in the backseat all looked up in glee.

"No, come on I wanna cook for them! I'll make a banquet." She giggled.

The boys all smiled turning to each other in question.

"It's still morning woman!" Minato barked throwing his hands in the air, off the steering wheel for only a second.

Wendy giggled and the boys cracked smiles. Minato and Kushina saw in the rearview mirror and smiled.

Minato then pulled up to a red light, to let some bystanders walk across the street.

He then noticed someone crossing the street, "Kushina." He squeezed her leg.

Kushina looked up to the familiar face crossing the road; Danzo. The man looked up at them and gave a smile, which irked Minato. He gripped the steering wheel harder.

"Minato." Kushina said, she reached over gripping his knee.

The kids in the back grew somewhat alert.

"I'm good." Minato said, after a deep breath.

He pushed on the gas and went down the road to make it back to the house.

They pulled up to the mansion, unlocking the doors. The kids looked out the window and were left in awe at the size of the mansion. What a place.

"Uh, you...you live here?" Natsu asked.

Kushina smiled as Minato stepped outta the car.

"We got four showers." He said.

"Oh, what an ass!" Kushina said. Tossing a book at Minato.

They all laughed, as they all piled out of the car. The teens stepped up the steps of the house carefully as Minato opened the door.

"Uh showers are upstairs, and I think there's one down here. I'm still not use to this house." Minato said.

"We just moved here." Kushina giggled.

Once all the kids were inside, Kushina opened the door again.

"Where...where ya going?" Rogue asked her.

"I'm just gonna swing by the market, and pick up some food. I plan on cooking you all a huge meal." She giggled.

Rogue smiled along with his fellow dragon slayers in gratitude.

"Until I get back, you all shower and Minato will find you some clothes to wear." She said.

"I'm not a maid! I'm your damn husband woman!" shouted Minato from the back.

The teenagers chuckled again.

They took off to the showers. Natsu pushed the shampoo through his shoulder length pink hair, and turned the heat up to max.

"Ahh." He sighed relief.

Gajeel rubbed the soap all over his naked body and soaped up his long black hair. Sting had the temperature all the way up like Natsu, he shook the soap through his dirty blonde hair. His mouth was open and let the water run over his face. Rogue flipped his black hair back and scrubbed in the soap on his stomach and legs.

Kushina made it back soon with groceries from the market, "Whoo! I can't wait!" she giggled.

"I could have helped you bring that in." Minato said kissing her sweetly.

"It's okay, I wanna get started the food." She said.

"They are still in the showers." He said.

"Oh let 'em at it." She giggled, "If too long, I can just shut it off."

Minato smiled, "Hehe okay great great. I'm gonna go call the others." He said.

"Uh," Kushina stopped him, "How about after they eat, or are they gonna stop by." She said.

"I'll make sure they won't." he answered.

"Okay good." She said as she started pulling out the eggs and such.

Minato unlocked his phone and dialed Hashirama's number.

"Hey." He said once the other line picked up.

"I got them. They are safe and we're feeding them right now." He said.

Kushina looked up at the second floor.

Wendy was in the huge private free-standing tub. She dipped her head back into the water letting the soap cling to her long blue hair. The bubbles up to her neck. She jumped a bit, when the door opened.

Natsu chuckled, "Enjoying the bath?" he said.

As the others came in behind him with towels around their waists.

"It's heavenly. This place is enormous." She giggled.

"It's quite fancy I'll give it that." Rogue said sitting on the edge of the tub.

Sting smiled, "Do you think they are serious?" he asked.

"What, seriously loaded? Yes." Gajeel said.

"Not that part, but that they are seriously nice people. I'd kill to have parents like them." Sting said.

"Same here." Natsu answered at the end of the tub next to Rogue.

"Do you think...?" Wendy started to ask, "Do you think they will keep us?" she asked.

"I'm confused by this," Natsu changed the subject, "They are still pretty young. Why don't they have their own kids?" he asked.

"Should we...ask them?" Sting asked.

Rogue shrugged, "I don't know." He said.

Gajeel paused and sniffed the air, "Is that-?" he started to ask.

"Food!" Sting answered.

"Oh, help me out!" Wendy said holding up her arms.

"AH! Someone gets a towel please!" Natsu joked, flicking bubbles in Wendy's face making her giggle.

"Oh uh, do the boys have clothes to wear?" Kushina asked.

Minato paused for a moment, "Um, there's- "he started to say.

"Don't finish that, never mind." She answered.

He meant their children's clothes still packed up in boxes.

"I'll go give them some of my clothes" He said, turning around to seeing the teens on the stairs watching, "Oh."

"Hey you guys ready to eat?" she asked quickly.

The boys nodded to her, adjusting their towels.

"Hang on, let me get you guys some clothes." Minato said.

"Until we go shopping." Kushina said.

Minato shook his boot playfully in front of her face, making Kushina laugh.

"WOMAN NO!" he barked.

The boys chuckled again.

"I'm guessing Minato doesn't want you to shop." Natsu said.

"Oh, he always hates it." Kushina said putting plates on the table.

The boys nodded to each other as Minato came back with clothes for them and a LONG t-shirt for Wendy.

Kushina prepared a lovely meal filled with; scrambled, puffy eggs. A bread display of pancakes, biscuits, and toast. A plate filled with meat; bacon, ham, and sausage. With two sets of juices; orange and cranberry. Along with some fruits; oranges, bananas, and grapes. What a spread. The boys sat down to eat along with Wendy.

"At this point, dig in." Kushina said.

The boys stared at each other.

"Ah screw it." Gajeel said grabbing for the pancakes.

They all dug into the food and cleared the entire table. Leaving them all with stuffed bellies and fulfilled appetites. Afterwards, Kushina was in the kitchen, washing the dishes. Wendy rounded the corner of the counter.

"Can I help?" she asked.

Kushina looked down and smiled.

"Sure sweetie." Kushina said.

Wendy reached into the sink grabbing some of the plates.

Kushina took a second look at Wendy, "Ohh your hair is so blue and pretty." She said.

Wendy played with her own blue hair, "I like yours too. It's so red and pink and pretty." She said reached up to touch Kushina's hair.

"Eh, family gene." Kushina smirked making Wendy laugh.

Wendy smiled, "Thank you."

"For what?" Kushina asked.

"Taking us out of there. Those guys are like my big brothers because we all share dragon slayer magic. They kept us there for so long." She said.

Kushina ran her hand through Wendy's hair making the little one smile.

"I can promise you this, Minato and I will do our best to keep you and the boys safe." She said.

Wendy smiled brightly, "My name's Wendy." She said.

Kushina smiled, she was trusting her.

"Explains your hair, sky dark blue like the wind and moon." Kushina said.

Wendy smiled.

Minato was on the couch in the living room going over things in a notebook. He looked up to the four teenage boys entering the room.

"Hey." Natsu said.

Minato moved the notebook aside as they sat in front of him.

"So uh, is this gonna be permanent?" Sting asked.

Minato raised an eyebrow at Sting, "Hmm, I guess this is an interrogation?" he asked.

"Well you must want something." Gajeel added.

Minato chuckled for a moment, and then leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees.

"You see the house I live in, you see the money my wife throws around to feed all of you, and I have influence. Now you tell me, what can I possibly get from taking all of you that from place?" he questioned.

The boys remained quiet and their faces saddened.

"All I have to gain from taking you kids...is a possible shot at some happiness in this cruel world." He said.

"Happiness?" Natsu questioned.

Minato faced him.

"Yes. Knowing my wife and I, we would grow to care and love all of you. Regardless if you feel that or not." He said.

The boys stiffened for a moment.

"Look I know what each of you are, your power is very ancient and there will be people to come after you. Trust me, I know that all too well." He said.

"How?" Rogue asked, "How do you know that?"

"You wanna withhold then so will I. My wife and I aren't ready to talk about...that." Minato stiffened.

"What-?" Natsu started to questioned.

"Drop it please." Minato said.

The boys remained quiet.

Minato put his head down in his hands taking a deep breathe.

"I'm Sting." The blonde said.

The others looked at him and Minato lifted up his head. Sting nodded at Minato. Minato smiled at him.

"Rogue."

Minato gave him a nod.

"Gajeel. Metalhead." Gajeel said.

Minato raised an eyebrow at him but chuckled. They all turned to Natsu on the end who made no effort to wanna speak until Gajeel hit him on the knee.

"Uh," he cleared his throat, "Natsu." He finally said.

Minato nodded to all of them.

All of a sudden, there was a knock at the door. Then followed by three more.

"God dammit." Minato hissed, standing up walking over to the door.

He pulled it open to Hashirama and Asuma.

The boys looked up from the couch at the two visitors.

"Hey, are they-?" Asuma started to ask, Minato pushed his hand into his chest.

"No. Outside." The blonde said pushing them outside and shutting the door behind him.

"Wha-?" Hashirama questioned.

"Yes, I have them, and chill out with the interrogation right now. They're fragile." Minato snapped.

"Are they okay for one?" Asuma asked.

"Yes. They are fine, but there was some abuse going on there." Minato said.

"What do you mean?" Hashirama questioned.

"What do you think they are talking about?" Gajeel asked.

"I don't know." Sting answered.

"Rogue, could you?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, yeah." Rogue said, he checked behind him to make sure Kushina was out of the room.

He then formed a shadow that slicked outside the window to spy on them.

"I mean when I got there, there were guards holding those kids down about to do gods knows what." Minato snapped.

Asuma and Hashirama looked at each other.

"They were hurting them?" Hashirama questioned.

"Yes, and the head guy there, Mard, seems to be in control. If he's the one who is in control of the abuse." Minato snapped.

"Okay okay, before you start jumping the gun here." Asuma said.

"No, I'm serious. What kind of man puts his hands-on teenagers! Mostly if they aren't even his own!" he snapped.

"I agree with Minato; the guy sounds like a sick f*ck." Hashirama snapped.

"Okay then what do you wanna do?" Asuma questioned his brother.

"I'm gonna keep them." Minato said.

They both turned to him.

"Minato, we didn't ask you to get them outta there to put you in another bad spot." Asuma said.

"I know, and I appreciate that, but... I wanna keep them. All of them." He said.

The shadow disappeared back inside the house. Rogue then looked up at them all.

"He wants to keep us. All of us." He relayed.

Gajeel looked shocked, Sting licked his lips and Natsu got up from the chair to peek outside the door window to see what they were talking about. Luckily, they couldn't see him very well.

That night, Kushina served her favorite dish; lasagna and salad. Minato sat at the end of the table while the kids circled around.

"Anyone want salad?" Kushina asked.

"It's all green, is that healthy?" Gajeel questioned.

"Well mister, eat it'll make you big and strong." She joked.

"Natsu, do you want some more lasagna? You ate pretty fast." Minato said.

"Uhhh, yeah I think-"Natsu started to respond until Wendy flicked some pasta in his face.

"Ah!" he laughed at her.

Wendy giggled with the fork in her mouth. Sting sipped his drink and so did Rogue.

"Oh, come on, you hog half the bed anyway!" Minato said to his wife across the table, in another conversation.

"And you hog the other half, in which I don't mind at all." Kushina joked back.

Rogue spit his drink out which made Sting crack up laughing.

"I didn't need to hear that!" Rogue joked.

The night carried on; the kids were in the living room sleeping for the time being. Wendy woke up that night, she looked over to the others sleeping. She got up from the floor and started walking upstairs slowly, making sure not to make too much noise. She spotted Minato and Kushina's bedroom on the right. So, she took the hallway right in front of her from the stairs. She walked down the hallway slowly and opened the door. There were boxes everywhere. Wendy walked over and opened one of the boxes.

She saw a few photographs, but one caught her attention. A family photograph that showed; Minato, Kushina and five other kids. She pulled it out of the box, and moved the dust outta the way.

"What's that?" Natsu questioned behind her.

Wendy jumped, when she saw all four of them in the doorway.

"It's a photo." She answered.

"What's in it?" Gajeel asked until Natsu got closer.

Wendy showed it to him. Natsu sighed like he was disappointed.

"Looks like they had a family, and we're playing 'stand-ins'." He explained before showing the photo to the other three.

They all sighed, shaking their heads.

The next morning, Kushina was making breakfast and Minato was drinking coffee.

"Hey, you want another cup?" he asked kissing Kushina's cheek.

She blushed, "yes please." She giggled.

The teenagers came in and took seats around the counter.

"Oh, uh morning." She said.

"Morning campers. We're gonna go get some beds today so you don't have to sleep on the living room floors anymore." He said.

The slayers gave a short nod.

Then the awkward silence.

"You all okay?" she asked.

Gajeel and Natsu turned to Sting and Rogue until Wendy pulled up the family photograph.

"Um, what's this?" she asked placing it on the table.

Kushina froze and Minato looked up from the counter. He quickly looked away turning his back to them all.

"Where did you get that?" he questioned.

"Sorry, I can't sleep sometimes so I went...exploring last night." She said.

"Who are they?" Sting asked.

Kushina wiped her nose, trying not to cry and Minato cracked a cup in his hand. Rogue jumped and Gajeel looked confused.

"Um." Natsu said.

"Those were...those were... they were our kids. Blood kids." She answered.

The tears came from her eyes, so she just faced into the sink while Minato pushed the cup into the trashcan.

"What do you mean 'were'?" Natsu asked.

Kushina turned to Minato for some kind of back up. "They died..." he said blankly.

The slayers then felt really bad about pressuring it out of them.

"Um, we're not stand-ins, are we?" Sting asked.

"No." Kushina said, wiping her eyes.

"They died two years ago." They all remained quiet.

"I'm sorry I gotta." Kushina said quickly walking away to wipe her eyes.

Minato finally turned around to face them, "None of you are stand-ins, but don't go snooping through our things. Got that?" he barked.

They all nodded to him, as he used a rag to wrap his bloody hand, and went after his wife.

"Minato." Sting called out.

Minato stopped turning back to them.

"I'm sorry. We over stepped. And," he looked back the others, "I'm really sorry about your kids." He said.

Minato nodded to Sting and then went after his wife.

"I feel bad." Wendy said.

"I do too." Sting said.

"How do they lose five kids at once?" Gajeel asked.

"Oh, be quiet, metalhead, they can probably still hear you." Natsu snapped hitting Gajeel on the head.

Kushina changed into an army green JESFFER Womens Pants Belted High Waist Trousers Ladies Party Casual, a white Zipper Short Sleeve Women Shirts Sexy V Neck Solid Womens Tops And Blouses Casual, and black DORIAN BLACK SUEDE LACE-UP PLATFORM HEELS LULUS. She draped her gray Womens Handbags Ladies Purses Satchel Shoulder Bags Tote Bag on her arm. She looked like a million bucks. She bought stuff for the rooms and made a few business trips.

"Hey!" someone shouted behind her.

Kushina turned around to see Mito Uzuamki, her sister. Kushina paused and turned around slowly.

"What do you want?" she questioned.

"Wow, is that anyway to treat your sister?" Mito questioned hugging Kushina.

Kushina patted her back, "What's up?" she questioned.

"We just got some copies of documents of you opening a bar/casino." Mito explained.

Kushina nodded once. "What's it to you?" she questioned.

"We're a business Kushina, we have to do things through family." She explained.

"You do that." Kushina snapped, "I have my own family and I don't wanna deal with this one."

Minato walked into the room with the boxes of all of his children, he opened one and pulled out an orange and black jacket that belonged to his son; Naruto. He cradled it in his arms and had to fight the urge not to lose all feeling in his legs. He sniffed and held it close.

"God." He whimpered.

Wendy, Sting, and Natsu were by the door watching for a moment before they entered.

"Uh, Minato?" Wendy called out.

Minato put the jacket down and wiped his nose.

"I'm so sorry." Wendy said.

Minato sniffed again, "It's okay."

Sting paused for a moment.

"Was that his jacket? Your son's?" he asked.

"One of them, yeah." Minato answered.

Natsu walked up and looked down at the material, "Orange must be his color. Must be a looker to pull it off." He joked.

Minato smiled and chuckled a bit.

"Um, Minato." Wendy said.

He looked up at her.

"In the orphanage, um what you saw. The guards, they um-"she started to say.

"Wendy." Sting cut her off.

"Sting." She tried.

"No." he shook his head.

"Natsu?" she questioned. He shook his head too.

Minato licked his lips, "Look I'm not gonna pressure you guys about what happened in there or to talk about it."

They all stared at him.

"It's up to you when or if you wanna talk about it."

They all smiled at him.