InsaneJournal

Who: Minato and Anna
When: Mid-June
Where: Minato's Place
What: Minato has a gift for Anna
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete Upon Posting


The dreams had not been kind to Minato. In fact, the week after he'd dreamed about his death he'd admittedly drank more than he should've the Friday after. It was just unsettling to him, seeing his own death, and knowing that he couldn't have done anything to prevent it. Now, however, things were back to normal and Minato had been working on something since receiving the kunai from his dreams.

Learning how to teleport was hard. More often than not Minato would end up where he started even after quickly weaving the hand seals, and then he got to where he would teleport a few feet away from his starting point and not close to his target. Every day he practiced until he felt his newly found chakra reserves starting to deplete.

Once he was able to teleport to the kunai, or at least close enough for it to count in his mind, he was ready to move on to other things. There were many jutsus that he knew from his dreams, although he knew that it was going to take him a good while to learn them, or at least perfect them here in the waking world. He shot Anna a text message to see if she was ready to try the cabbage rolls yet, and once they'd settled on a time Minato grabbed what he needed from the store.

The rolls were in the oven, stuffed with ground beef and rice with other herbs cooked into them. Minato was still trying to adjust to his new bright blue eyes staring back at him when he heard a knock on the door. He turned away from the bathroom mirror, cutting off the light as he made his way to the door. Pulling it open, he offered her a smile. "Come on in. The rolls should be done soon."

Ahhhh, summer! Now Anna could really understand and appreciate Olaf’s love for the season. Even though he didn’t have much experience with it, Anna now understood its appeal. Since she’d taken her last final, she’d done nothing but read for pleasure, hang out with friends, lay around on the beach, and avoid any semblance of real work. It meant she was running out of clean clothes, and hadn’t cleaned anything in her house for a while, but it was totally worth it. She was relaxing and enjoying life. As much as she was obsessed with getting a summer boyfriend a few weeks ago, she wasn’t even thinking about it now. Probably because she was having her needs met relatively regularly.

Having cabbage rolls with Minato was an exciting prospect, so when she got the text from him, she got dressed in something relatively clean that wasn’t a bathing suit, and headed over to his place. When she arrived, she was wearing jean cut off shorts, a tank top, a pair of strappy sandals and a bright smile. She pulled her sunglasses up from her eyes to rest in her hair like a headband. “Hey! Thanks.” She said, and stepped through the doorway. “How are you? Long time no see! It’s like you’re a stranger. Howdy, Stranger!” She teased, moving into his place. She loved the photographs on the walls, and turned to look at them in the hall.

"You look very pretty today, Anna. Fitting for the summer." He was personally dressed in a pair of boardshorts and a loose black tank top that showed the top of the tattoo he had across his back. The one on his side was visible slightly through the arm hole, although that was only if he stretched his arms up and over his head. Shutting the door behind her, Minato laughed. "I know, work has kept me busy. Summer tours were starting up, so I had to teach a few backup dancers some moves for some of the artists that I worked with throughout the year." They were new to the scene or had been hired in after someone had left. Minato hadn't minded, it'd given him time away from everything and kept his mind occupied. "I'm doing well though. Still adjusting to this." He pointed at his eyes and shook his head with a sigh. "I suppose I'll adjust in time."

"How about you? Have you been relaxing enough?" He asked with a slight smile as he motioned to the sofa in the living room. It wouldn't be too awful long before the food was ready, however, they had time to sit down and chat for a bit before then. Besides, he wanted to give her the kunai before eating that way he could explain it and what it did.

Anna flushed deeply when he complimented her. She was still Anna, after all, and compliments were wonderful. She nodded and gave a little twirl. "Thanks! I mean, it's summertime, so it's time to be summery!" She turned her attention back to him so she could follow him through his place to the kitchen. At least, that's where she assumed they were going to go. Something caught her attention, though, and she leaned in a bit. "Hey! You have a tattoo! I mean, it's awesome! I can only see part of it, though." She skipped a step to catch up with him as they moved through his home.

"We all get used to it eventually. You know? I mean, not that that's necessarily a good thing, it's just... we adjust. And we all have to stick together. So we don't feel crazy." She nodded a little. "I've read three books so far. For pleasure!"

Minato could understand that. Summer was in full swing, and he'd spent a lot of time out on the beach as a result. Her exclamation caused a brow to raise, and he glanced over his shoulder at her. "I have two, actually." He offered her a smile, "The one on my back and one on my side." He'd gone through a very religious period in his life, and while Minato was still spiritual he wasn't as devout as he once was. He had considered getting more, but he hadn't had an idea that spoke to him yet.

"That's the truth." Minato did feel better knowing that there were others out there like him that had to deal with the dreams as well. It made him feel less crazy, and more like he belonged to a community that understood exactly what he was going through. Minato moved to the couch and took a seat, "That's great! Do you have a goal in mind for how many you want to read before the end of summer?" He asked with a raised brow. Minato leaned forward, reaching for a small black bag that sat on the coffee table. Inside was a replica of one of the flying thunder god kunai. The edges had been dulled down, of course, and it could be used as a charm or a keyring, either way it would still work. Minato had, after a bit of trial and error, figured out how to infuse his chakra with the seal that was burned into the handle. "And this is for you." He handed it off to Anna with a slight smile.

"That's super cool!" Anna said, and then realized how silly and childish she probably sounded at that. Anna was too fickle to be able to figure out a tattoo she'd want to have, though she'd thought about it a lot, actually. She thought tattoos were pretty awesome. "Maybe I'll get to see them one day." She said, giving him a smile, then took her place at his side again, flopping down onto the sofa and sighing. It was nice inside his place. Her house didn't have air conditioning, and it was getting hotter and hotter lately.

"No, I've got a super long list... I just know I won't be able to get through them all by the end of the summer." Anna said. "Wait, what?" She asked, reaching forward to take hold of the bag. "This? I didn't know we were giving each other presents," she said, frowning. "This is too much. I should have known, so I could have gotten you something." She said, and opened the pouch. Inside was... "Oh my God, I love it!! Is this a Sai?" It kinda looked like the weapon that the Ninja Turtle with the red mask used.

"The one on my side was painful. I'm man enough to admit to that, but I like them." Minato replied, a half smile tugging up one corner of his mouth. Lifting a shoulder, Minato kept smiling over at her. "All you have to do is ask. I don't mind." Minato had no issues showing his tattoos or revealing his body for that matter. He'd worked hard for it, so why would he be ashamed?

"Get through what you can while still enjoying them." Minato wished that he made more time to read, although with everything going on in his life it was hard for him to find the time. Maybe he could make more time before he went to bed to read a chapter or two before going to sleep. He chuckled softly, "No, no. It's not that. I just thought it could be something useful." Minato watched Anna with a slight smile, "Not exactly." It did appear to be one, so he could understand the confusion. "It's a Kunai." He spoke as he moved to stand and he went over to another table in the room to pull open the drawer, and he pulled a full sized one from it. "I got these from my dreams early on." He moved back to the couch and took a seat beside her again. "They're called Flying Thunder God Kunai. They're marked with my seal," he held the kunai carefully, and ran his finger over the seal that was burned into the handle. "And infused with my chakra. Basically they allow me to teleport from one place to another instantly."

His brows furrowed slightly, "If you're ever in trouble, need help or anything like that all you have to do is hold onto the kunai and say my name. I'll be able to be there instantly." Minato laughed, "I just want to be able to help my friends if the need arises. I'm learning my abilities that I have in my dreams, and I want to protect the people that I care about here."

“I’ve thought about it a lot,” Anna said. She didn’t realize that what she said could have been misinterpreted. She was talking about how she’d been thinking about getting a tattoo herself, not that she’d been thinking about looking at his. “Sure! I mean, I’d love to see it!”

And then she brightened even more. “Right?? That’s my plan! I love reading fun things. I mean, I’ll read whatever I have to, like, for school? But I like to read fun things when I can. And I’ve got so many movies to catch up on, too! Because I didn’t have that much time to go see them during the year.” She turned her attention back down to the … thing in her hands. “Wow. A… kunai?” She listened to his explanation, and felt her insides twist. He had special abilities, and he wanted to keep her safe. It was flattering and made her feel warm inside.

“Minato… this is… so special. I can’t thank you enough for sharing this with me.”

Smirking, Minato raised a brow. "Oh have you? Well, you know, I'm more than happy to show you to see if I live up to expectations." He gave her a wink, and a light nudge with his elbow, showing he was teasing her. "But yeah, I don't mind showing you, maybe after dinner."

He couldn't help but to smile at her smile and the way she enthusiastically talked about reading."Understandable. Reading for fun is a lot better than reading for class, at least, that's been my experience. I need to make more time for reading." Minato admitted with a small smile over in her direction, "If you want? We can do movie marathons. I haven't watched a lot of newer movies either." Mostly that was because of his work schedule, and his new training schedule. "Mhm," he nodded, watching her carefully as she looked at the kunai in her hands.

Minato had wanted nothing more in this life, and in his dream life to protect those that were important to him. He couldn't do much right now, in terms of fighting, but he could at least get them to safety. "You're welcome. I hope that you never have to use it, but just in case. I can at least, for now, get you to safety. I haven't perfected my fighting skills or my other jutsu's from the dreams, but I'm working on it."

"Sounds good." Anna grinned, and blushed at the wink. Then she started to wonder... wait, was that flirting? It dawned on her that she'd basically asked to see him shirtless, to inspect his tattoos, and that might have been taking the wrong way. (Or, was it the wrong way? How had she really meant it?) "Okay!" She squeaked, then cleared her throat. Her cheeks were burning. "I mean, okay! Sounds great."

"If you want a list of books to try out, let me know. My Goodreads list is super long, so I'm trying to prioritize. Just fun stuff over the summer. Nothing heavy. I'm really into YA at the moment, though I like a bunch of other stuff. I read everything, really. And a lot of it." Anna wasn't at all embarrassed about what she read or how much she read. She was pretty much always either with a book, or in the middle of one on her Kindle app on her phone.

The fact that he wanted to protect her really made Anna... well, something twisted deep inside her chest. It was flattering. She felt honored. "I will cherish this," she told him, giving him a warm smile. "And keep it on me all the time. Just in case." Because Anna was totally useless when it came to the weirdness Orange County threw at them all.

Minato couldn't help but to think how adorable she was while blushing, although part of him did feel a little bad for making her blush. He couldn't help himself though, it'd been too easy and plus? He enjoyed teasing Anna a little bit. "Alright, works for me."

He canted his head to the side, and gave a small nod. "I'll keep that in mind." Actually, he probably would come to her for some recommendations since he had no idea what was out now or what might be good. Some of the best books he'd read before had been due to recommendations by friends. "I'm not picky on genre either. I'll read just about anything as well." Minato was open to the idea of finding new genres to read, or new authors for that matter.

A light smile tugged up the corners of Minato's lips. "Good, I sincerely hope that you never have to use it, but I've heard how crazy things can get here." He leaned over, pressing a soft kiss to her cheek. "Just be careful hm?" He gave her another wink just about the time the timer went off. "Well, food should be done." Minato pushed himself up off the couch, and went into the kitchen to cut off the timer and then pull the rolls out of the oven. "Hopefully you'll enjoy this type of cabbage too."

Anna went bright red at the kiss to her cheek. She couldn’t help but grin bashfully, tightening her hands around the kunai in her hands. It was the best present ever. She nodded a little and was about to reply when Minato climbed up to go check on the food. “I’m sure I’m gonna love it.” She said, and bounced up to join him. “How can I help?”