Ficlet: Taste
Summary: The poison had been bitter, but he found that the effort of keeping quiet as a blond teenager stepped through the door left a much worse taste at the back of his throat.
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's.
Theme: 039. Taste ( fanfic100)
Minato's hands were shaking even worse than usual as he opened the door to the poison storage cabinet on his kitchen. The dozens of glass jars inside jittered in tandem with the frenetic rhythm of his heartbeat and were they any less sturdy, they would have cracked as they were all but one shoved into a canvas backpack.
Minato was acutely aware of the seconds ticking by, of the impending reality that Konoha ninjas were headed towards the rickety shack he called home. From the pieces of conversation that he had overheard, he knew that the team was specifically looking for him and given that his former teacher and student were a part of it, he figured that he had better run before they got there.
Picking up the remaining jar, Minato swallowed dry. He hesitated before prying the cork loose and coughed when the toxic fumes reached his nose. Already was his eye-sight greying on the edges and already could he feel the slight heat at the small of his back that meant that the seal that was keeping the Kyuubi's chakra locked inside him had released. This was the most potent poison he had, capable of killing an average man within minutes. He had never used it before, since it was made from a blend of hard to find herbs and he had wanted to save it for an emergency situation - like this one.
Before he drank it, the former Hokage thought briefly back to a time when it would have been unthinkable for him to willingly ingest poison or even treat the bottles of the stuff as carelessly as he just had. The mere idea would have made him shiver back then, because he loved life too much to risk losing it stupidly.
As a ninja, he was no stranger to the substances and could easily recognise the most common ones by sight or smell, but he had never let that familiarity reduce the respect with which he treated the seemingly innocuous liquids that were capable of stealing everything a person was.
He tossed hesitation to the weeds, though, when he heard footsteps coming closer to the door to his house, and downed the bottle in one gulp. Instantly, his body began spasming from the struggle between the contents of his stomach, trying to paralyze him, and the intense burning originating at the small of his back.
The seizure lasted only seconds, but that was long enough to cause damage. He had dropped the little glass bottle and the noise it had made when breaking had been loud enough to catch the attention of the approaching party. Minato regained control over the lingering shivers just in time to cast a quick genjutsu around himself before his door was kicked open.
The poison had been bitter, but he found that the effort of keeping quiet as a blond teenager stepped inside left a much worse taste at the back of his throat.
(28. Dez. 2008)
Disclaimer: Naruto is Kishimoto's.
Theme: 039. Taste ( fanfic100)
Minato's hands were shaking even worse than usual as he opened the door to the poison storage cabinet on his kitchen. The dozens of glass jars inside jittered in tandem with the frenetic rhythm of his heartbeat and were they any less sturdy, they would have cracked as they were all but one shoved into a canvas backpack.
Minato was acutely aware of the seconds ticking by, of the impending reality that Konoha ninjas were headed towards the rickety shack he called home. From the pieces of conversation that he had overheard, he knew that the team was specifically looking for him and given that his former teacher and student were a part of it, he figured that he had better run before they got there.
Picking up the remaining jar, Minato swallowed dry. He hesitated before prying the cork loose and coughed when the toxic fumes reached his nose. Already was his eye-sight greying on the edges and already could he feel the slight heat at the small of his back that meant that the seal that was keeping the Kyuubi's chakra locked inside him had released. This was the most potent poison he had, capable of killing an average man within minutes. He had never used it before, since it was made from a blend of hard to find herbs and he had wanted to save it for an emergency situation - like this one.
Before he drank it, the former Hokage thought briefly back to a time when it would have been unthinkable for him to willingly ingest poison or even treat the bottles of the stuff as carelessly as he just had. The mere idea would have made him shiver back then, because he loved life too much to risk losing it stupidly.
As a ninja, he was no stranger to the substances and could easily recognise the most common ones by sight or smell, but he had never let that familiarity reduce the respect with which he treated the seemingly innocuous liquids that were capable of stealing everything a person was.
He tossed hesitation to the weeds, though, when he heard footsteps coming closer to the door to his house, and downed the bottle in one gulp. Instantly, his body began spasming from the struggle between the contents of his stomach, trying to paralyze him, and the intense burning originating at the small of his back.
The seizure lasted only seconds, but that was long enough to cause damage. He had dropped the little glass bottle and the noise it had made when breaking had been loud enough to catch the attention of the approaching party. Minato regained control over the lingering shivers just in time to cast a quick genjutsu around himself before his door was kicked open.
The poison had been bitter, but he found that the effort of keeping quiet as a blond teenager stepped inside left a much worse taste at the back of his throat.
(28. Dez. 2008)