Who: Minato and Killian What: A Meeting When: Late July Where: JR Investigations Rating/Warnings: Low/None Status: Complete
Nervousness coiled around Minato's stomach, making it flip and flop as he drove to the address that Killian had given him. He wasn't nervous about meeting the man, he was more nervous about what he was about to ask this man to do. Minato wasn't even sure that the son he dreamt about was out there. There was a good possibility, now that he thought about how things had transpired between himself and Kushina.
A part of him hoped that he was wrong, that she'd left because her family had wanted her to and the way she'd been acting the last few months prior to the end of their relationship was just because she was sad about leaving.
He didn't want to think of her as a liar, but here he was pulling up to the marina with a grim look on his face. Minato took a few moments to compose himself before exiting his car, and he walked down the dock until he found the houseboat. Stepping onto the deck, he gave a sharp knock at the door and took a small step back. His hands went into the pockets of his jeans, his mind rolling over all of the information that he knew he'd have to share with Killian. He just didn't want to get it wrong, and be as helpful as he could when it came time for him to search for Naruto.
Killian had been expecting his newest client, so he attempted to tidy up the houseboat as best he could - being that he was about to move elsewhere personally, beginning the adventure of co-habitating with Regina, there was packing to be done and the cardboard boxes said as much. Though packing up his belongings wouldn’t take very long anyway - it was mostly Kenzi who had a room full of stuff, and Killian didn’t plan to overflow Regina’s house with his own belongings. The houseboat itself would be turned into official headquarters for JR Investigations, and that was something his interior designer girlfriend would assist with as well.
Changes, they were upon them all, but good ones - Killian was rather eager to seeing how this new chapter would unfold.
He heard the knock on the door and went to answer, showing Minato inside. “Welcome,” he grinned crookedly, that Irish brogue caressing the word. “I’m in a bit of a transition now, converting the houseboat to an official office, so excuse any mess.” It really wasn’t that bad, and the living room remained homey - it was sort of mismatched but united by a common theme, which was the sea. Nautical antique desk (or at least, it looked antique), ship lanterns, maps on the walls.
“But have a seat, get cosy. Care for a drink or anything?”
Minato offered Killian a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "Thank you." He stepped on inside, glancing around before lifting a shoulder. "No worries. We all go through the moving process at some point in our lives." He should know, he had gone through that process not too long himself. Of course, that felt like forever ago, even if it'd only been a few short months since he'd arrived in the OC.
The dreams seemed to make time feel as if it went by slowly.
"Thank you again." Minato found himself a seat, and he brought up one leg to rest his ankle on his knee. "Water would be fine. I'd opt for something stronger, but I do have to drive home." Minato wasn't opposed to day drinking, however, that was only when he had nowhere to go that day.
“Water it is,” Killian said grandly, and went to go get them two glasses of the chosen liquid refreshment - water for the both of them, in fact. His prosthetic hand could carry one of those glasses too, the myoelectric and robotic-looking appendage capable of doing all that are more. Supposedly you could get ‘coverings’ that looked more like skin, but he never bothered. He was Captain Hook, he cared little what people thought of his appearance.
Coming into the living room, he set the drinks down on the coffee table and got settled with his notebook - he preferred the old-fashioned, hand-written notes as opposed to something on his laptop. Call him stodgy, but that was just how he worked and his own shorthand was recognisable only to him. Interestingly, a good percentage of his clients liked their final reports in hard copy form as well - so not everything was electronic.
He could see the look of unease in Minato’s eye, however, so he hoped to be able to help with that. “Well, why don’t you just start off by telling me all about your situation?”
Minato gave a small inclination of his head, "Thank you." He waited patiently, not making any comment on Killian's arm as he returned. It didn't matter to him how he lost it, although he was assuming that it had something to do with the dreams, and it wasn't his place to ask those sorts of questions in the first place.
His eyes flicked to the glass of water for a brief moment before he looked back at Killian as he took a seat as well. Minato took in a deep breath, "I met Kushina Uzumaki when I was in second grade. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her." A fond smile quirked up one corner of his lips as he talked about her, "It wasn't mutual, not for a while. I saved her one day from a group of bullies, and after that we were attached at the hip as my adopted father would say." He chuckled as he thought of Jiraiya, the old man had liked to razz him about his fascination with Kushina and even moreso after they'd began to date.
"We were around 15 the first time we slept together. It was during summer break, and well, we were teens." Minato lifted a shoulder, hormones often controlled ones thoughts when they were a teen and Minato had been young and in love. "We used protection, I wasn't stupid, but you know sometimes things happen. She left to go to Kyoto, to visit family over our Christmas break and we didn't speak much while she was gone. When she returned she was acting strange, I pressed to see what was going on and she told me that she was moving by the end of the month to Kyoto." A line appeared between Minato's brows as he thought back to that particular conversation and he shook his head. "Fast forward to now, and with the dreams? I can't help but to wonder if she was pregnant before she left. I might be completely off base, but I just want to make sure."
The scratching sound was Killian’s pen making notes - his brow furrowed, and he roughly scribed the details using his own personal shorthand. He’d been doing this long enough that he knew how to listen and get the important parts - Minato hadn’t gone on and on, he’d actually relayed the story nicely, but some clients could bloody well ramble. What was meant to be an explanation of what they were hiring a PI for turned into an hour-long sob story. So many fucking tissues.
But at any rate, this didn’t seem too complicated. It was a lot how he’d pictured, anyway, save for one very important aspect. “You were both quite young, weren’t you?” he lifted an eyebrow. Potentially, Minato could have gotten the girl pregnant at age fifteen. Wasn’t so far off from Henry’s age, actually, which was terrifying to think about. “But it makes sense, if she chose not to tell you and moved so suddenly - it could have been pressure from her family, especially if they were on the more traditional side of things.”
Which also begged the question if Kushina gave the potential baby up for adoption or if she decided to raise him while she was still a teenager - Killian would find out though, one way or another. “At any rate, it’s relatively straightforward,” he said. “I can tell you that it won’t be difficult to find birth records, if there are any. I may be able to even do it all from here but if travel is required - say, if you want a more detailed report involving the whereabouts of your son and what he’s up to, rather than just knowing he exists - I can do that as well. Anything you’d like. The goal is to do the work for you, and ease those burdens on your mind.” That was why people hired PIs - to take care of the logistics, the dirty work so to speak; it was one less thing to stress about, when they likely were already out of sorts having unanswered questions.
"We were. I'll admit I had no idea what I was doing half of the time with her, but it was consensual every time." He was never the type of guy to force anyone into anything, and they'd talked about it prior to it actually happening. He lifted a shoulder again, a small smile turning up the corners of his lips, "I'm 33, if that matters any. Kushina would be the same age now." He knew he looked young for his age, his father hadn't started showing his age until he hit his mid-forties. "I could imagine that she was scared if it was true that she was pregnant, but I just -- it's hard for me to imagine her not telling me." They'd shared all sorts of secrets, but then again, Killian was likely right. Her family had been very traditional, and very strict. It'd been hard for him to win them over, but in the end they'd liked him.
Or so he'd thought.
"I can also give you his name, or rather a potential name. Naurto Uzumaki. That's, at least, what we named him in my dreams." Minato reached up to scratch absently at his cheek. They'd named him after the hero in one of Jiraiya's lesser known works in the dreams. He paused for a moment, taking into consideration what Killian was potentially offering him. Did he only want to know if he was out there, or did he want more? The answer was relatively simple as far as Minato was concerned. "I'd like to know more if he's out there. I want to know that he's safe, and what he's been up to." He really hated the idea that his son might've thought he abandoned him when he'd had no idea that he'd existed here until the dreams had presented themselves to him. "How long do you think this will take?" Not that he was in any extreme hurry, but Minato was curious as to the timeframe that Killian might give him.
Killian wrote the name down too, along with the potential age - if Naruto was out there, he’d be seventeen, perhaps close to eighteen. A lot of years for a father to miss, to be certain, but better late than never. Minato was making an effort now, this was important to him - so the PI he’d hired would do the job and get the right results.
“I’m sure she’s got her reasons for not telling you, and you’ve got a right to know what they were - you also have a right to know about your son, so I will find everything I possibly can. And it’s a starting point, for you and him, should you decide to ever contact him. Honestly, a lot of potential fathers in your situation wouldn’t even bother,” Killian spoke wryly. It was sadly true. Anything to shirk the responsibilities - some people really just shouldn’t breed.
As for how long it would take, that varied. He didn’t want to cement himself into a strict deadline and then not be able to meet it, but he also didn’t want a client to think that he was sitting around shooting the shit when he should be working on their case. “It’s difficult to provide something exactly, but for an estimation? Two, maybe three weeks. That accounts for traveling time, and also coordinating with others in my circle who might end up being the go-between for documents. But really, these types of documents aren’t difficult to find at all - what will take the most time is the traveling and compiling information about Naruto.” He clicked his pen again, poised over the notebook, “How would you like the final report though? Hard copy, or electronic?”
"I have every intention of making contact with him, but I'm going to leave it up to him on whether or not he wants to have some sort of relationship or not." Minato would never just force himself into Naruto's life, especially since he was at the age that he was. Minato would contact him, and leave the option open to him. He didn't remember his own parents, he'd been taken away from them at such a young age that he couldn't even remember their faces. Not that he wanted to actually remember them, or contact them at this point. As far as Minato was concerned, Jiraiya was his father.
Leaning forward, Minato picked up his glass of water finally and took a sip. He gave a nod, that was understandable. "That's fine. I just wanted a ballpark estimation so I could prepare myself and my thoughts." Mostly he wanted to sit down and pen something that he could eventually send to his son. "Hard copy. I'd prefer to have the information right there, since knowing my luck? Something will happen to my internet connection." He gave a small chuckle and shook his head.
"As far as payment goes, do I give you a deposit now, and pay the rest later?" He wasn't sure how this whole thing worked, but he wanted to do right by Killian since he was doing him a solid.
Killian chuckled too, in understanding. “Most do prefer the hard copies,” he said, and he always found that interesting considering the global reliance on mobile phones and the internet - but when it was something this important to the person, having the actual paper in hands was probably a little more comforting too. “As for payment, let’s see here - “
He flipped to a fresh page in the notebook and jotted down (neatly, not his usual chicken scratch) a few numbers and figures and dates, nothing too complicated - a handy chart, if you will. Which he then showed to Minato. “I’ll send you something more official, but this is what I’ve got in terms of frequency of updates and budget. The payment actually comes before the final report - though if you prefer you can stagger that throughout the investigation or it can be one lump sum, as I said.” But he’d made those budget notes in case Minato wanted to pay in increments. Whichever was easier.
The other man seemed reliable. Besides, Killian was never worried about not getting paid - it wouldn’t be an issue here, but sometimes he had to less than politely take his money from shadier characters he’d done work for in the past. Oh, but he’d always gotten it. One way or another.
Minato leaned forward, looking at the paper that Killian presented him. "Sounds good, you'll likely get payments in increments from me." At least, that was his plan anyway. Minato had no intentions of not paying the man before him. He was a man of his word after all.
Placing his water back down upon the table, Minato shifted slightly in his seat and reached into his back pocket. Pulling his wallet out, he dug out two hundred dollar bills. "Here's the first payment." He wanted to show Killian that he was serious about this, and he needed to know if his son was out there.
"I hope you find the answers that I need. Regardless of what they might be." Minato was ready to deal with whatever may happen, or at least, he'd be prepared when Killian handed over the paperwork. Well, he hoped he would be anyway.