Airi's back slammed into the ground, the air being knocked from her lungs. As she gasped for air, a shadow loomed over her and she made eye contact with the blue eyes of the person responsible for her current predicament. Minato had that apologetic look in his eyes yet again.

She didn't know why, but it had been permanently etched into his features since they began training together. It wasn't as if getting roughed up didn't come with the territory. Training with the strongest shinobi of their generation whilst not remembering any ninjutsu at all... well, this was bound to happen.

"Are you sure you don't want to start with the basics? It's okay if we do-"

"No... as you said before, it's all there, I just need to trigger my muscle memory." Her voice was hoarse from all the effort she had been putting in. Exhaustion creeped in, but she had to push through. It wouldn't be long before he had to start going on missions again. It wouldn't be but six more months before he took command of his genin team.

"Ok, do you want a break?"

"No I'm- shit... ok maybe a short one." She groaned after realizing she may have pulled something in her leg. Minato helped her up and they sat beneath the shade of a tree at the edge of their training grounds. It wasn't so hot at this time of year so that was a plus.

"It seems like you might be remembering some taijutsu. So maybe it won't be long before you start to grasp ninjutsu."

"Yeah... maybe." She mumbled, cringing inwardly. Airi didn't really remember anything at all. It had been six months and nothing. It didn't feel like she had recovered anything. Not even muscle memory.

"I know it's been a long time, but I won't give up and neither should you."

"Maybe you should just forget about me. I might just be a lost cause at this point."

"If I had believed that at all, I wouldn't have spent all of six months trying to help you. You've just gotta believe that this will work."

"Six months is a long time, Minato. What if it's all gone? What if I'm useless now?" She wanted to cry but she couldn't. Not again. Not in front of him.

"Even if you never remembered ninjutsu or taijutsu, you wouldn't be useless. Not to me." He was so serious it almost caught her off guard. Not to me. It had been six months since they started training together. Six months since that day in his apartment when she left him after his confrontation with Kushina.

~

Airi had been avoiding Minato for a week now. She felt guilty for trying to put herself in his life when Kushina was already in it. When she heard them talking she realized she needed to let them be. She could figure out another way to save the future.

Currently, she was hiding out at ANBU headquarters, training with what would one day be her subordinates. They were extremely skilled. Far more than the show ever let on because they all died so quickly whenever an attack happened. Her thinking was that he wasn't allowed here so he wouldn't come find her.

But then she heard some loud cheers and laughter at the entrance to the training room and turned her head. Spotting that beautiful blonde head that was in her dreams. "Ack!" She was thrown on her back, the breath exiting her lungs with haste.

"Stop getting distracted, Airi." The boy across from her sighed, annoyance in his tone. He was already tired of her, he wasn't being paid to babysit.

"S-sorry. H-hey you know a good place for me to hide?"

"What?"

"Nothing." She sighed, watching as someone pointed to her, and Minato's blue eyes made contact with her own amber ones.

~

It was safe to say that in those six months, Airi had fallen head over heels for him. His determination to not give up on her made her feel some type of way. Would it be selfish of her to keep him all to herself? Probably. Especially when, inevitably, he would end up with Kushina.

The girl frowned unknowingly, and Minato wondered if he'd said something wrong. In the past few months he'd learned that there was always something weighing on her mind. He always caught her thinking, frowning. When they would camp at the training grounds she would have nightmares.

He didn't think he should pry into her personal life, but he always made sure that she knew he was there for her.

"Hey, let's take a rest day. We should go out for something to eat."

"I don't know. We shouldn't waste any time. You've only got six months left until the graduation."

"It's okay. One day won't hurt. Trust me."

~

Airi sighed as she finished showering, mulling over what she would do if she was unable to be a ninja. It would be rather difficult to stop Rin from being taken if she weren't able to fight. If she couldn't stop that then her mission fails. Because Obito seeing her die is what starts everything. Even if she stopped the massacre, even if she kept Obito from being taken. There'd still be that darkness lingering in him from losing her. The War would be inevitable.

"Fuck." She gripped onto the edge of her counter as her vision grew blurry. Her heart was beating rapidly as she tried to calm herself down.

"Hey, Airi. You okay in there?" Minato's voice was soft as he spoke from the other side of her door.

"Y-Yeah, I just need-" and with that, she passed out. She'd successfully hyperventilated.

"Airi!" Minato heard a loud thud and he pushed the door open, breaking the locking mechanism as he did so. She was on the floor, her hair splayed around her head as she lay there. He'd heard her heavy breathing before falling, so he knew she was having a panic attack.

Minato knelt down, picking her up and taking her over to her bed. Thankfully, her parents weren't home. Airi wouldn't want them to know about this. As he waited for her to wake up, he wondered of not being able to recover her memories was giving her anxiety. He thought that she was coping well enough, but I guess not.

Ten minutes passed by before she stirred again, and he watched as her eyes flitted open in a panic and she bolted upright, her breathing erratic.

"Airi, it's okay! Calm down!" He urged, grabbing her arms as she started flailing them to keep them at her sides. When she wouldn't stop trying to break from his grip, he pulled her against his chest, resting her head on his chest and a hand atop her wet hair.

"M-Minato?" She said shakily, uncertain. Had she been having another nightmare? Or was she just that panicked that when she woke up she didn't know where she was? Minato did not know, but his mind was racing as he tried to figure out a way to help her in this situation.

Airi was still trying to catch her breath and calm down. When she woke up, she had forgotten that she was in this world for a moment. When she didn't know where she was, she freaked out. It had been six months since she got here but sometimes she found herself dissociating, especially after waking up from a panic attack.

Not being able to figure out this ninjutsu thing was stressing her out to the point that she could barely sleep, all she could think about was what was going to happen if she didn't succeed. All those terrible events needed to be stopped. Simply stealing Minato away from Kushina wouldn't work because Madara was still out there. He needed to be found. But she needed to do that on her own because explaining the situation at hand was not an option.

"It's okay, Airi. It's just me." He hummed, his words vibrating in his chest as she listened. The sound of his voice seemed to have a slight calming effect on her as he brushed his hand over her hair.

"I-I'm sorry, Minato," her voice broke as she apologized. It was very clear now to Minato that whatever she was worried about, it wasn't just about her missing memories.

"Don't worry about it."

"No, I keep doing this to you, I'm sorry I shouldn't be a burden like this." She kept herself from crying in front of him. It was starting to become a normal thing and she didn't want to keep pushing her burden onto him.

"Hey, you're not a burden to me." And you never will be. He wasn't only helping her out of the goodness of his heart, no, he had been drawn to her for a long time and he needed to help her. Minato may have started developing feelings for her in these past six months.

"Yes, I am. All i do is cry and panic and make you take care of me-"

"You haven't made me do anything. I want to take care of you." He reasoned with her calmly. "We'll recover your memories soon, I promise. Just trust me, okay?"

"I don't know..." she said hesitantly. It had been six months and nothing. He still had hope for her?

"Trust me, Airi. Tomorrow, I'm going to try to meditate with you. It's something we haven't tried yet. It might help you be able to control your chakra."

"Why not today?" She asked, pulling away from him. They didn't have much time, and she needed to figure everything out as soon as possible.

Minato could see the panic start to set in on her features and he placed his hands on her cheeks, holding her face gently as he leaned in to make eye contact with her. "You're tired, you just had a panic attack. You need rest. We can resume tomorrow when you will be able to put all your energy into it, okay? Just breathe, everything will be okay."

Airi took in a deep breath, closing her eyes as she did so. She held it for a moment, willing herself to calm down. Then she exhaled, leaning into his gentle touch as she did so.

"Alright?"

"Alright." She responded.

Minato withdrew his hands, leaving her skin feeling cold from the lack of contact. She wanted him to touch her again, but she knew it wasn't going to happen.

"Now, I don't want to pry or anything, but, I have noticed in the past months that you're always thinking about something. Is that why you've been having panic attacks? I know it's not just from your memory loss." He gave her a knowing look. She couldn't lie to him, he was too good at detecting when she would try to lie.

When she didn't speak he heaved a deep sigh. "You can tell me, whatever it is. If you don't want to tell me now I will be here whenever you're ready." He gave her a squeeze and she bit back the urge to tell him everything that was on her chest. Minato may have been an understanding man but even he'd think she was crazy.

"Thank you, Minato." She leaned up and looked at him, giving him an appreciative smile.

The blonde man, without thinking leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead. Thank you for opening my eyes, Airi.