Illusions

"Tou!"

What if he tried moving this element and intertwining it with the stability nodes to avoid the possibility of the fuuin blowing up in his face the first time he tried to use it? Hmm-ing as he looked over the still incomplete fuuin he cleaned off his brush and set it off to the side before turning to look down at the puffed cheeks of his son glaring up at him. "You look like a little squirrel when you do that." Leaning forward in his chair he lifted the toddler up and onto his hip as he stood. "Are you hungry?"

"Ungry! 'Ungry! 'Ungry!" The child bounced up and down in his arms while shrieking the words into his ear causing him to both tighten his grip and lean away with a grimace. "Tou? Tou 'ungry?"

"Yes chibi I'm hungry too so let's see what your kaa-chan's left us to eat." Opening the refrigerator and ignoring the little hands eagerly pressing down on the switch that controlled the light he looked for the familiar containers of food that Kushina had left them before leaving on a mission earlier that morning. "Want some salt ramen or would you like the nice stir fry your kaa-chan left us for dinner?" Chuckling at the toddler's look of concentration he pulled the stir fry container from the refrigerator and pulled the top off before putting it into the microwave.

"Ungry…" Kisho whined as he watched the container spin around in slow circles inside of the microwave before looking up and tugging on his father's sleeve. "Eat?"

"Yes we'll eat but first we need the food to be warm because tou-chan doesn't like cold food if he can help it."

"Cold?"

"Yes cold," Minato replied rubbing his son's soft cheek before he was yanked down so wet lips could smack against his cheek in an overly messy and loud kiss. "You don't like cold food either do you, Kisho?"

"Cold icky. No like cold food."

"Yes cold food is icky." Blue eyes looked towards the door as a loud knock echoed through the apartment. Setting the toddler on the floor with a pair of training chopsticks to entertain him, he moved into the living room to answer the door. "Wait here for tou-chan, okay?"

"Kay."

Opening the door he was greeted with his sensei's grinning face as the broad man shouldered his way past him and into the apartment where he greeted Kisho with a loud laugh and open arms as the toddler squealed and ran to hug the man. "You'd have a kunai in you if you were anyone else sensei."

"Good thing I'm not just anyone, eh gaki?" Jiraiya replied as he lifted the toddler over his arm and began to tickle him. "What's Kushina-chan feeding you cause I swear you weren't this big a couple of weeks ago chibi."

"Cold icky!"

"Ahh so your tou-chan is making sure you'll hate field rations just as much as he does. You'll be as big a headache as your tou-chan was if you pout like he does over having to eat cold food."

"Don't tell him that sensei. Kushina says that cold food isn't good for him and that if he can eat it warm then he should." Slightly mortified at the whiny quality his voice had taken the blonde blushed as he rubbed the back of his head with one hand. "Also you haven't seen Kisho for two months so of course he's grown. He was still really chubby when you left for the front and while you were gone he hit a growth spurt. Don't forget that he's already two."

"Yeah I missed your birthday didn't I?" Jiraiya put the still giggling toddler onto the floor before reaching for a small scroll tucked away in his pocket. Biting his thumb and smearing blood across the seal holding it closed he set it down to the side as a small puff of smoke revealed a bag that had been sealed into the scroll. "Kinda hard to find a birthday gift while you're busy making sure Iwa doesn't break the front lines but I managed to find this in a little town that was being evacuated to the capitol."

"Kushina will kill you if it's something sharp." Minato said flatly his eyes tracking his sensei's movements. "And if she doesn't then I will."

"Oh quit your whining gaki. Tsunade was with me when I found it." Jiraiya grumbled as he pulled a plush frog and slug from the bag and handed it to the expectant toddler. "Tsunade said that the gaki needed a slug if he was going to get a toad because she wasn't going to let him grow up thinking that toads are the be all end all of summons."

"Kichi!" Kisho squealed as he grabbed onto the toad plush and snuggled into it. "Jiji! Lookit Kichi!"

"Kichi?"

"I needed someone to keep Kisho occupied long enough for me to get my team to start working together instead of squabbling." Running his hand through his hair roughly Minato smiled at the toddler grinning up at him happily while pulling on the slug's antennae with the toad tucked comfortably under one arm. "I'm worried about them going on that mission next week. I don't think they're getting along well enough for them to be on a mission as serious as that one is alone."

"You can't baby them forever Minato."

"I'm not trying to baby them—."

"You're their sensei and part of being a sensei is knowing when it's time to step back and let experience teach what you couldn't. You've done everything you can to make them understand that part of being a leaf ninja is teamwork." Jiraiya stood and followed Minato as the blonde stood to get the stir fry out of the microwave. "Granted having Kakashi on your team is going to make teaching teamwork a difficult thing to begin with because the gaki's let the civilians get to him and he's started thinking that his father choosing to protect his teammates was a weakness." Sitting at the table while Minato began to plate the food Jiraiya fiddled with a kunai as he spoke. "If you beating it into their heads hasn't worked by now then nothing more you say or do will work. The only thing that's left to do is to let them go out onto the mission and learn that without you there they'll have to rely on each other to survive. Maybe Kakashi'll learn that his father did the right thing when he saved his teammates even if it meant that we went to war."

Wiping Kisho's hands and handing him a small bowl filled with the stir fry Minato rubbed the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "I'm worried that my team won't come back whole. I don't want a black scroll in place of a student and if they go as they are then I won't be able to avoid that. I've managed to get the Hiraishin to work in tighter quarters so I'm thinking I'm going to give Kakashi one of my kunai so that I'll be able to get help to them if they need it."

"You still haven't told them how the Hiraishin works, have you?"

"No and I don't want them to know. If they knew then Kakashi would know why I'm giving him the kunai as a promotion present. He's a lot of things but ignorant isn't one of them." Elbows resting on the table Minato cupped his chin as he stared down at the table top with distant eyes. "I can't deny the mission because it's going to be Kakashi's first as a commander but that doesn't mean I can't do what I can to try to protect them. He's got the skill to be a jounin but the mental portion of it still isn't where it needs to be."

"Where it needs to be or where you think it needs to be?" Jiraiya asked pointedly as he leaned back in his chair and slung one arm off its back ignoring his student's flinch. "The war won't wait for your students to be ready. Iwa won't stop to ask if your students are ready before trying to gut them. If they fall apart on the first mission away from you then maybe they weren't meant to be a team after all and if that happens then you need to be prepared to accept it. You can't question what the kami do because for everything that is done there is a reason behind it that we don't yet understand."

"Tou? It be 'kay tou." Chopsticks clenched in one chubby fist Kisho leaned forward to pat his father's arm before leaning forward to wrap his arms around it. "Kaa back soon and kaa tell tou that it be 'kay."

Letting loose a shaky laugh Minato pulled the toddler from his chair and into his lap for a hug. "Yeah your kaa-chan would tell me that wouldn't she?"

"Even the chibi is trying to tell you that you're worrying over nothing."

"That may be so but that doesn't mean I can't still try to protect them. Becoming a shinobi doesn't mean that those entrusted with caring for them have to stop."

"Heh nothing I say is gonna stop you from giving the gaki that kunai eh?"

"No but I doubt that's going to stop you from giving me grief about it anyway."

"If I didn't then I wouldn't be doing my job as your sensei." Jiraiya said while laughing and reaching forward to snag a bowl of stir fry. "So who's gonna watch the gaki while you're off playing decoy?"

"Well now that you mention it…"

-:-..-:-..-:-

"Tadaima." Kushina called out tiredly as she opened the apartment door eager to be in the relative safety of her warded home. The sounds of sniffling and the tension filling her small living room caused her to instinctively take a step back as she registered that Minato was cradling a crying Kisho while a haggard looking Rin and Kakashi sat on the couch. "Minato? Minato what happened?"

"Kaa!" Kisho wailed holding out his arms for her to pick her up. "Tou say Obi gone! Tell Tou lies are bad!"

"Oh Kisho-chan," Kushina whispered sadly as her face fell at the looks of anguish that crossed the faces of the three sitting in her dark apartment. Leaning down she pressed her forehead against Minato's letting the blonde take comfort from the simple action before straightening and pulling Kisho into her arms before moving into the kitchen. "I know none of you will have eaten so I'm going to make something for dinner. I want you all to go get cleaned up. You shouldn't wear dirty clothes if you're going to eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm telling you not asking, Kakashi-kun." Kushina replied glancing over her shoulder at the now sullen teen and took a moment to wonder at the hitai-ate slanted over his left eye. "Rin take him to his house and make sure he bathes and changes into some clean clothes before you get cleaned up yourself you understand?"

"Hai."

"Good now get going and make sure you're back in an hour cause I'll have dinner ready by then." Waiting for the door to close behind the teens Kushina hugged the small body in her arms closer and buried her nose in the soft red strands inhaling the sweet scent. "What happened, Minato?"

"They were ambushed before they could blow up the bridge. Rin was taken for interrogation. Obito and Kakashi went to rescue after argued about it." Minato replied flatly his eyes looking suspiciously wet as he followed her into the kitchen before turning away from her. "They managed to rescue Rin but they only disabled the last kidnapper and were absorbed in making sure that Rin was safe to take the proper precautions. I didn't manage to get there until after Obito had been caught in a landslide and his left eye was given to Kakashi."

Settling Kisho on her hip Kushina pulled some vegetables from the refrigerator and began chopping them. "Obito activated the Sharingan." Gasping as she cut herself with the knife she turned an incredulous stare on Minato. "Fugaku-san is petitioning Hokage-sama for permission to take Obito's eye back and says that he won't allow us to attend Obito's funeral. We don't—we don't even have a body to cremate."

"Oh Minato," Kushina's face fell as she reached out paying no mind to the blood dripping from her hand onto the floor to tug on Minato's shirt until the blonde turned to face her. "I'll talk with Mikoto-chan so don't worry about that."

"Kaa tell tou that it be 'kay!" Kisho demanded his small face still flushed and wet with tears. "Tell tou that Obi come back and it be kay."

"It's not that easy chibi." She whispered as Minato wrapped an arm around her waist and buried his face in the curve of her neck while silent sobs shook his body and tears wet her collar. Lips quivering as Kisho reached across her to pat Minato's head she reached up to wrap an arm around Minato's neck and forced her breathing to remain steady even as her own tears dropped into blonde hair. "It's just not that easy."

A/N : I said I would have a new one up today and as it's still 10/10 I made it. Thanks for the reviews and the wonderful support even though I took so long in continuing this.

10/11/12 : Made a few corrections to add words that somehow ended up deleted.