Bearing the Burden

Katsuki leaped onto the corridor along the edge of the training ground, skirting the forest of stone pillars in the center, and looked at Otome in confusion.

"My sister went out after dinner. She said she was going to find you."

"But... Kushina didn't come by! I came because I had some questions I wanted to ask you!" Otome's eyes widened as she met Katsuki's gaze.

"Where did Kushina go?"

"Where did my sister go?"

The two cried out at the same time.

"That's not right. Other than your house, there shouldn't be anywhere else my sister would go, especially using an excuse like that... Where the hell did she run off to?"

Deep worry rose in Katsuki's heart as his mind raced through all the places Kushina might have gone.

"Um... could she have gone to find Minato?" Otome cautiously suggested.

Seeing Katsuki's murderous glare, she took a frightened step back and hurriedly explained, "When Kushina and I went shopping today, five or six out of every ten sentences she said somehow involved Minato. So I thought she might have gone to find him?"

"Tch!"

Katsuki clicked his tongue harshly, his expression shifting unpredictably. Without a second thought, he grabbed Otome and strode outside.

"Let's find that guy."

Minato's home was not far away. It was a five-story apartment building, mostly inhabited by ordinary chunin and genin. Minato's parents had once been among them, but after they died in battle, Minato had been left to live there alone.

Knock, knock, knock!

He hammered at the door with his fist, shaking loose a shower of fine dust from the frame.

Otome stood beside him, panting. Being dragged all the way here at Katsuki's pace had exhausted her. That freak, who was used to this kind of intense training, did not seem to notice at all, but she was nearly at her limit. She wanted nothing more than to kick the bastard. Had spending too much time with her idiotic older brother lowered his intelligence too?

Knock, knock, knock!

Katsuki was neither flushed nor out of breath, though his heart was pounding wildly. If Kushina was the one who opened the door, he...

Creak!

"Who is it... Katsuki, and Otome too? Why are you here at this hour?" Minato's brows twitched slightly when he saw them, clearly surprised.

"Minato, have you seen my sister?" Katsuki asked directly, his eyes locked onto Minato's face.

"You mean Kushina is missing?" Minato's pupils contracted sharply. With his intelligence, he instantly grasped why they had come. "Kushina isn't here. I haven't seen her at all today."

As he spoke, Minato stood to one side in the entryway and made room for Katsuki and Otome. The meaning was obvious: if they did not believe him, they could come in and look.

"Damn it, where did she go?"

Katsuki did not enter. Setting aside the relationship between Kushina and Minato, he had always trusted Minato personally.

But Kushina was not here either. For some reason, a sense of dread suddenly gripped him. As his thoughts turned, he abruptly remembered a place.

"Damn it, how did I forget about her?" Katsuki smacked his forehead, then looked at Otome and seized her slender shoulders. "Otome, what else did you and Kushina talk about today? Where did you go? Did you go to the Senju Clan? Was there anything unusual at all?"

"Now that you mention it, we ran into an old lady today. Kushina called her Great-Great-Aunt. Katsuki, was she one of your elders?" Otome tilted her head at him.

Just as I thought!

But even if Mito-sama had summoned Kushina, there had been no need to lie and say she was going to see Otome, unless... the Nine-Tails!

The siblings both knew about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. When Mito had first met them, she had explained everything clearly: the existence of the Nine-Tails and the matter of the Jinchuriki. The only thing she had not revealed was which of the two siblings she intended to choose.

From what had happened today, it seemed that history's powerful inertia was still difficult to defy. Kushina had still caught Mito's eye.

His emotions surged like raging waves, and he felt lost over what he should do. Should he stop his sister from obtaining the Nine-Tails, thereby preventing the tragedy that might occur in the future? Or should he go with the flow and instead intervene at other points in the future, doing his utmost to prevent that tragedy?

He did not know which choice was right. His heart wavered, and he did not know what to do.

"Katsuki! Katsuki!" Minato's voice suddenly rose, jolting Katsuki out of his own thoughts. Staring into Katsuki's eyes, Minato asked solemnly, "What happened to Kushina? Tell me."

"...It's complicated, but I know where my sister is. I just... don't know whether I should go find her." Katsuki muttered, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Is Kushina in danger?" Minato stepped forward quickly, nearly face-to-face with Katsuki, his expression incomparably grave.

All of a sudden, Katsuki wanted to slap himself. What was the point of standing here hesitating? No matter what decision he made, the first priority was finding Kushina, not wallowing in self-pity here.

"Wherever you're going, I'm coming too."

Minato's perceptiveness was astonishing. Noticing the change in Katsuki's expression, he immediately blocked Katsuki's path and began negotiating.

"I'm going too."

Otome cut in, grabbing Katsuki's sleeve. The clever girl had also realized that things were not so simple, and she was deeply worried about Kushina.

Katsuki gave Minato and Otome a complicated look, then said helplessly, "This matter isn't that simple. It would be better if neither of you got involved. I'll handle it myself..."

"Whether I can help or not is beside the point. Since I know something has happened, I can't just stand by and do nothing." Minato's attitude was unusually firm as he interrupted Katsuki, not even giving him the chance to finish.

"That's right. I have to go see Kushina."

Otome clutched Katsuki's arm. Though they were about the same age, Katsuki was noticeably taller and sturdier than Otome, making her look like a koala clinging to him.

Katsuki's mouth twitched. He nodded, scooped Otome up onto his back, and sprang straight out from the third floor onto the roof of a low house across the street. Then he broke into a sprint, hopping across rooftops, while Minato kept tightly to his pace without falling behind at all.

At that moment, at the Senju Clan estate.

Mito sat beside the bed, holding Kushina in her arms and gently stroking the girl's head. "Kushina, have you truly made up your mind? Once you decide, you will become the next Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"Yes, I've thought it through, Great-Great-Aunt. I'll become the Jinchuriki. Katsuki doesn't need to bear something like this. I'm his older sister, so naturally, I should bear it."

The girl held her head high, exposing her pale neck like a proud swan.