“I’m a shinobi. I’ve endured worse.” He hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with the fact that he could remember what being inside of the Shinigami had felt like. Isolation was nothing compared to that experience.
Although Minato was still human. Teeth digging into his bottom lip, blue hues flicker back up to Itachi. “I’ll essentially be trading one cell for another, won’t I?”
“No, no…” His hands reach out, layering themselves gently over Minato’s.
“I have a place.” The insinuation is there. He currently lives alone. Even Naruto only ever visits, safer in the hands of his parents and Sasuke, who are able to be in the home more often than Itachi himself.
“But I can’t just go free.” No, he was a jinchuuriki on top of being a former Hokage. Whatever peace the village had with Kumo or Iwa.. Minato wasn’t sure either village would be happy with his return.
The smile he offers back is rather weak, hands clenching in his lap after he sets the book aside. “What options does that leave us?”
“I know.” Sadly, yes. It would confuse their shinobi, and the information might reach their enemies via hearsay. People might ask how the Leaf pulled it off. If they were planning on bringing back more.
“Not many.” Itachi admits. “But we’ll find something. It isn’t fair for you to sit here on your own.” Especially when he’d been long cleared as a threat.
If he had to have company, Minato would admit that he was rather biased to Itachi. Although he felt guilty as well, as he knew the other was the Hokage, and thus was rather busy himself with other things. Things more important than Minato.
Lips tugging into a frown, he swallows down the disapproval when Itachi steps into the cell, rather than staying behind the safety of the bars. Despite being cleared, Minato knew better to be wary about himself. And if he’s stomping down the urge to reach out for the first bit of human contact he’s had outside of the people who bring his food. Well.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” He murmured, head tilting a bit. The collar is still on, still under Itachi’s control, and oddly, it’s almost a relief to Minato. “Have you decided what to do with me yet?”
“There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s fine.” Of course– it’s a general statement. He’s cleared of everything Ibiki and the other interrogators worried about.
“You can’t stay in here forever.” That much was clear, as he sits himself down infront of Minato. But he also knows he can’t just release him to the public completely…which saddens his smile some.
The days begin to bleed together at some point. Breakfast, rest. Lunch, then shower. Rest and dinner. More rest. It’s irritating in the sense that he’s a shinobi. Inactivity is something he’s not used to in the least.
So it’s almost a breath of fresh air when he hears that too familiar voice, gaze flickering up from the book he’d been reading for perhaps the tenth time that week. Truth be told, Minato had begun to think that Itachi would never come to see him.
“Hokage-sama.” He returns the greeting, blue eyes flickering briefly to that key before glancing back up at that familiar yet not so familiar face. “To what do I owe this visit?”
“It’s Itachi.” No formalities here– besides his own, just now. He’s often a hypocrite in these cases. For the first time in months, short of being able to train Sasuke, he’s giddy. Minato was someone he’d missed dearly, unfairly taken from the night the Nine-Tails attack, and now that he was cleared of being a danger, of course he’s going to see him.
“Nothing, nothing.” To answer the second. “I just wanted to see you.” Opening the door to the cell, sliding the key back into his pocket. And making his way in.
There is no more need for the tests. Ibiki established a week ago that Minato was human. Alive. Real. Reanimations didn’t bleed, after all. Didn’t require the sleep that Minato did, nor did they require food or basic human functions as Minato did.
He still has yet to leave the cell they call his room. It is what it is – a cell. Revealing him to the general public without an explanation is too risky for now. Food is brought three times a day, he is allowed a shower once a day, yet outside of that, contact is limited to those in the know out of necessity for now.
Minato tells himself that this is fine. It’s necessary, after all.
He tells himself this every day, otherwise, he would have gone insane with the lack of real contact by now.
Once the tests are complete, Itachi gets the results in the form of a report.
They’re everything he wanted. Alive, not under anyone’s control. There is the small downside of him being a Jinchuuriki, and even when he thinks of it in terms of of the Leaf having the full power of the Kyuubi, it still makes him somewhat uneasy.
But he can’t visit right away. As much as he wants to (one, two, three appointments are made…), he is still Hokage, and his village needs him.
But a full two weeks later, Itachi’s work is neatly finished, stacked on his desk, and his assistant is informed the rest of the day is his. It’s…unlike Hokage-sama to actually take time off, but she doesn’t question it, perhaps it’s a holiday of some sorts.
Itachi’s steps are quiet, completely unaided by any sort of guard detail for this.
“Minato-san.” A soft call, key in his hand, because he’s not talking through the bars.
[[ Character reference sheet for @otogakuretakaya!! Thank you Ril, for commissioning me!! ]]
UchihaSavior 