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Going back in time was believed to be impossible, and even if it was possible, anyone who'd risk doing it would be a complete idiot. There are many reasons that one shouldn't take it upon themselves to shred their existence from the present and impose themselves on the past. The most obvious reason is quite frankly the most consequential: the tiniest change can lead to a multitude of divergences.Here's an example: A four-year-old girl places her purple and pink plushie on an old wooden bench in the park near her grandparents house.Now, in the original timeline (the one left untouched by time travelers), the plushie stayed in the place it was left in until the girl returned to the bench and retrieved it. She would then return to her grandparents' home, with her plushie in her arms, completely safe.But what if she returned to the bench only to find the plushie missing (due to someone not of that time that happened to pass by and, by some chance, knock it into a nearby bush or simply picked it up out of pure boredom)?That's where the divergence begins. Instead of returning to her grandparents' home, she begins to search for her lost plushie. Having wandered too far into a place she's unfamiliar with, she never returns home. Two days later, her body is found in a large ditch in the forest, all because she'd been searching for a toy that should have been in the place she left it.It's far-fetched, yes, but it's realistic in it's own way. The smallest of changes can have a catastrophic effect. Saving a life that wasn't meant to be saved could cause the death of another. Falling in love with someone that would have otherwise married a different person in the original timeline could prevent the birth of an important figure, while at the same time it could give birth to an entirely different soul, and who knows? That very soul may someday grow to be some sort of harbinger of death. One could never know for sure.Time travel... the concept is just too dangerous. There are too many risks and too many unknowns and Naruto believed it just wasn't worth the risk. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and Naruto's timeline was far past desperate.  She was falling. Falling, falling, falling, falling. Her lungs ached for air, air that swept past her so quickly it felt as if it was purposely avoiding her lungs all together. Droplets of water trailed after her body, gathering at the tips of her golden locks before fleeing into the air. Those same droplets seemed as if they were suspended, as if they were floating - but they weren't, she thought, she was simply falling to fast for them to keep up.How did this happen? What led her here? Or rather, who? The memories leading up to that moment seemed to flit at the edges of her mind before slipping completely from her grasp.She knew the answers would return to her soon. She didn't know how she knew.It wasn't without cause. No. She'd failed, hadn't she? Failed... to defeat? Protect? ...Prevent?...All of those seemed like the right answer, actually. It seemed as if she wasn't strong enough. Like she wasn't there at the right time.Only in the wrong moments was she ever present for anything. She never was a lucky person. Misfortune seemed to follow her. It stuck to her like glue, like a piece of gum that she stepped on and couldn't scrape off of her shoe. And the gross, gummy pink substance that was misfortune stuck to her as it picked up every speck of dirt and trash it could until it couldn't anymore.A strange analogy, but not far from the truth.She had to change something, she knew that much.Something had happened. Something worse than... anything, really.Or was it that something that should have happened didn't occur? Again, she didn't know the answer.Her head hurt. It felt as if it were splitting and shrinking and splitting again. Something boiled beneath her skin, and a part of her told her it was her own blood. She believed it. And it hurt. Everything hurt. Her eyes burned, her cheeks felt numb with cold, even as her blood boiled, and her ears rang a screeching, piercing noise. Her nailbeds were sore, as if she'd been clawing at the stone walls of a prison.Her heart hurt. It was a fresh wound, she thought. It felt dark and sad and angry and empty. Her mind hurt the most, telling her to help them. You failed, you cant help them. It's too late, you have to save them--She told her mind to shut the hell up, to leave her alone, because she felt like shit and negative thoughts like that were only making her feel worse.She was nearing the ground now, she noticed with a fleeting smile. The wind felt warmer and much more humid. Long blurs of green and brown streaked her vision. Absentmindedly, she noted the smaller streak of silver and shock of bright yellow that scraped at the edges of her vision, but as something struck across her back, (really, it was a whole freaking branch) all the colors snapped to a halt. Black crawled at the edges of her electric blue eyes and she gasped for air, the short wheezes of breath sounding almost animalistic, even to her own ears.A muffled shout and a commanding voice were the last things she heard before she let the darkness consume her.   "M-Minato-sensei, she's barely breathing!," came the panicked, almost hysterical voice of Minato's singular female student, Rin Nohara. She was centered in a large and deep crater, several large rocks and chunks of dirt and grass littering her surroundings haphazardly. Torn and splintered wood was scattered across the clearing - the only evidence that there were once trees within the impact radius. Her back was turned to him as she cradled something in her arms, and a limp streak of a dirty sunshine yellow draped over her arm.It was then that Rin's words registered to Minato and a flood of panic flooded his chest-- because 'she' was 'not breathing'.Heart pumping wildly in his chest, (because whose wouldn't after seeing a massive fireball appear in the sky, which, by all evidence, contained a little girl,) the blonde bounced into the massive clearing, appearing by his student's side in a split second, Kakashi and Obito joining him only a moment later.The brunette sent him desperate look, a hand hovering over the child's chest in hesitation. A thin film of blood coated the child's round face, clumping her eyelashes together and dripping from her chin and hair. The thick, red liquid seemed to be leaking from her skin-- as if she held too much of it, and it had to be released. Short, strangled gasps of air escaped her blood coated lips and, for a moment, the only coherent thought that went through the Namikaze's mind was 'shit', because this girl was probably minutes away from death and he had no idea what the hell just happened.Rin slowly eased the girl to rest on her arm, propping her back a little straighter. The blonde's breathing evened out ever-so-slightly, and Rin let a nervous breath escape her, "She has a collapsed lung, I-I think. I've never used medical ninjutsu on something this bad before but I-"Minato placed a reassuring hand on Rin's shoulder, pushing panic out of his own mind as well, "It's okay, Rin-chan. She's more at risk if we don't at least try to heal her," he gave a slight smile, "try your best. Do what you can and don't overthink it."The gentle green of medical chakra formed around Rin's free hand, and a shaky confirmation was all Minato heard before she pressed her palm gently on the tiny, tiny chest of the blonde. The girl couldn't be any older than five, judging by her small, almost frail limbs. She was thin-- too thin, almost bordering on malnourished. Every inch of showing skin was a canvas splattered with blue, black, yellow, and purple bruises. Her lips were blue, causing a sickly hue of purple to form under the bloody film.His eyes trailed to the apparent scarring on her cheeks, forming identical whisker-like markings on both sides to the worn and battered dark blue cloth of her hitai-ate--Kakashi sucked in a sharp breath at his side the same moment Minato's eyes landed on the hitai-ate.Because engraved on the scratched and dented metal, there was no symbol for any of the Hidden Villages. Instead written clear as day, was the kanji for 'Shinobi'.  "She didn't say anything to you?""No, Hokage-sama," Minato sighed, "She was unconscious when we found her--minutes from death. If it wasn't for Rin's medical knowledge, she would have been dead long before we reached the village."Taking another long drag from his pipe, the Sandaime reached across his desk, palming the hitai-ate that Minato handed him and scanning it with keen interest."She was wearing this when she... fell from the sky. I've never seen another nin wearing anything remotely like that... It's too vague for me to make out what or who she could be associated with. As far as I know, none of the Hidden Villages have 'Shinobi' engraved on their hitai-ate."Hiruzen nodded in agreement, "I've never layed my old eyes on anything quite like this either," he gave a hollow chuckle, "The shinobi world is not a place where people can agree with eachother so easily. This label seems to hold much confidence in trust...""Hokage-sama," Hiruzen glanced at the Namikaze, unease pooling in his gut as the blonde pulled a scroll from his pack with hesitant movements that did not match the usually cool-headed man's demeanor. Sarutobi retrieved the scroll from Minato's palm.Dread consumed him as he read to words on the scroll's bloodied surface.   
"Put her in the T and I holding cells until she wakes up. I will question her from there."

"Are you certain, Hokage--sama? She is a foreign shinobi, a potentially dangerous one despite her age."

"I am certain, Minato-kun. I would like to retrieve the answers personally."
   It was dark when she woke, opening her eyes to dull gray walls and an equally dull gray ceiling. No windows, no curtains. The thin mattress beneath her was uncomfortably lumpy, and her neck ached from the haphazard position she lay in.She was weaponless, reduced to just her form-fitting black shinobi shirt - which was in all honestly more like a dress than a shirt due to her change in size. They'd removed anything that could be potentially used as a weapon and-- 'Oh, hey,' she thought sullenly, 'they had someone put a cancelling seal on my storage seals.'What the hell? That's just rude. Didn't they know how much time she had spent making those? Though whoever put that seal on sure knew what they were doing - hell, it'd even take her a while to deactivate the thing.She wasn't surprised though, with the way she had popped - crashed - out of nowhere, she had honestly expected someone to put her in a cell and confiscate anything on her person that could be a threat. Her real worry was where this cell was, and in what timeline she was in.For all she knew, that seal that she and Obito had scrawled up was faulty. In fact, it was more than likely to have been. It was a pretty stupid decision, and of course at the time, they had known it was, but...She truly and sincerely hoped that she wasn't going to be killed - or worse, tortured in the oncoming hours. Not that anyone would have gotten anything out of her; it's just that she knew she could very much do without the whole experience. Torture wasn't something she had ever been into, whether it would be on the receiving end or vice versa.She wasn't a masochist, thank you very much."You are a masochist," came Kurama's unwelcomed input, and Naruto's expression soured."I am not, you imp. Shut your yapper."
"Hmph, touchy."
The old metal door opened with a loud screech (which thankfully covered up her embarrassing squeak of fright), and she sucked in a breath as the Sandaime - fricking Jiji - walked into the cell. His steps were slow and deliberate, and briefly, she let her eyes wander his face in awe, because damn did he look young.At the sight of him, her anxiety was partially appeased because he was alive, which meant this whole time-travel thing had, by all evidence, worked, and as a plus, she was in Konoha.Perhaps this time around, she would have some small amount of luck or mercy."Hello, young shinobi-san," his voice rumbled a deep, rough sound, but it wasn't as grainy as she remembered, and she gave him a bright smile in response, belatedly noticing the numerous bandages wrapped around her head. Multiple bandages tugged uncomfortably on her cheeks, and she fought back the grimace that threatened to befall her features."Hello, Jiji-san!"He seemed slightly surprised at her cheerful tone, but he kept his smile intact, puffing on his ever-present pipe, "You had quite the accident, little one. And yet, you seem chipper despite that," he chuckled. A calculating look lurked mischievously in his, but he continued to smiled disarmingly."I did. My body still aches, but I'll heal up in no time at all!," was her chipper reply. Then, her smile dropped, and she tilted her head in feigned curiosity, "...Ano, Jiji-san, if I may ask, where am I?"The way his gaze sharpened and his smile dropped warned her that the mock pleasantries were over. "I'd tell you, shinobi-san, but you already know the answer, do you not?"A sly smirk crawled onto her face, "What gives you that notion, Hokage-sama?"A low hum rumbled from his throat, a thick trail of smoke following its path, and he pulled out a bloody, ragged, and very familiar scroll from his robes.She sweatdropped, "Ah... I must've forgotten to place that back into my storage seal, silly me!"He frowned. "I've read the contents of this scroll and verified them. If you are who this scroll says you are, then I will welcome you once again into the Leaf Village. If you are not, you'll be processed for information, then most likely executed." "I don't remember you being this blunt, Hokage-sama," she raised an eyebrow. "The Jiji I knew was much less serious... Though, to be fair, you are not Jiji, so I suppose it makes sense."He chuckled, and the deep roughness of it made her shiver because it sounded as if she was living a memory. In a way, she supposed, one could say that she was, but the entire situation was so... insane, that she was beginning to question her sanity.It was a wonder that she hadn't broken down at the sight of him, but then again, he was just one of the many. She plastered a grin on her face, deliberately creasing her eyes until they were but glittering crescents. The movement itself was fluid and deceiving, the action being one so practiced and normal to her that it couldn't be another other than absolutely perfect, "Morning glories greet the sun in the early hours of the day, smiling and shining bright in the waking sun and closing their eyes as the evening sets, but moonflowers thrive in the night when the moon is high. They soak it's soft rays and cast the darkest shadows onto the ground, reflecting light for the creatures of the night and providing shelter when the sun returns to burn their precious wings."Hiruzen smiled, "Welcome to Konoha, shinobi-san."  She trailed behind Jiji - (not Jiji, her mind whispered) - slowly, eyeing the thick fabric of his robes as they dragged on the ground. She'd tripped on them with my short legs more times than she could possibly count, so forgive her if she was watching the blasted things like a hawk. That, and it was a great distraction from the many pairs of eyes that followed her every movement. The looks they gave her ranged from confused and curious to downright suspicious.'Seriously?,' she whined mentally. The guarded stares were all too reminiscent of what she received when she played the part of village pariah, but really, what's so strange about being in the company of the Hokage? She's well aware that she's a child, but--
"You idiot. It's not because you're a kid it's because you're literally covered head to toe in bandages."
'Oh, that's... that actually does make sense. I suppose I'd be staring a bit too if I saw somebody this banged up,' she mused.Apparently when she was found by 'them' (she didn't know who found her, but was eternally greatful), she was unconscious, minutes from death and bleeding from her pores.What.In hindsight, it made a lot of sense, actually. Seeing as her body went from the mass of seventeen-year-old's to that of a child's in a matter of seconds, it's not all that surprising that there would be issues.In theory, since her body had shrunk at such a quick rate, there was an over excess of blood and other bodily fluids. Those fluids had to be drained from her somehow, thus the reason she was bleeding out of everywhere.It would also explain why her blood felt as if it was boiling over - because in a sense, it was. Her veins and arteries were overloaded and even bursting in some areas which led to serious bruising and swelling, most of which had mostly healed by now, so luckily she wasn't actively experiencing that pain.
"Why wouldn't the blood have drained from your mouth or, I don't know, your eye sockets? If you had an excess of blood, why don't you have an excess of skin as well?"
'Okay, first of all, ew. Second, any extra skin that I had probably converted into baby fat or muscle. I am in a child's body now, and children are naturally chubby, so it only makes sense.'
"That's not how it works, and you know it. Look at yourself. You have the physique of a twig, and you're practically malnourished. You have no baby fat, much less muscle."
'Damnit, Kurama. I'm trying to make myself feel better! Being stuck in this tiny body isn't fun!'
"Trust me, I know it's not fun. I've been caged in your puny little body this whole time, after all. And now, you're even shorter than last time. I can practically feel how much that blasted seal has shrunk."
'Hey. I'm not that short--'
"Oh, yes, you are. You're twice as short as Before, and apparently it's also increased your stupidity, as you've so eloquently demonstrated only a minute ago. With that mindless and relatively anti-logical way of thinking, we'll never finish the mission. You're useless like this. Ergo, double the shortness and stupidity equals double the inefficiency and uselessness."
'...You.... you're mean.'
"Thank you."
'I'll grow with time. If anything, me being this young is a good thing - we'll have more time to plan and train. And I'm sorry if I'm a little out of it right now, but you didn't have your body ripped out of time. Mine is the one that went through that hell, while yours was under the protection the of seal.'Her anxiety spiked as Kurama stayed quiet for a few seconds to long. "That's another matter to discuss," he began slowly, "There are two of me. I can feel my counterpart, and more importantly he can feel me. He's pissed."'...W-what!? But Obito said--'
"He was wrong."
"--then we can move to figure out who will be acting as your guardian," Hiruzen's gruff voice snapped her from her daze, and she whipped her head up, a hilariously strangled noise of confusion escaping her throat as she locked eyes with him.He huffed, "You didn't hear a thing I said, did you?"She chuckled sheepishly in response, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. Hiruzen's dark eyes observed the action intently, gaze trailing from the movement of her arm then to her hair and eyes. An incredulous look sparked in his gaze, "...what did you say your name was, shinobi-san?"She only smiled, bright and big, and openly eyed the many shinobi that traipsed the halls and bowed to the Hokage respectfully as they passed, "I am nameless at the moment, Hokage-sama."He followed her gaze in agreement, "Ah, I understand. Come with me, child."  The Hokage's office looked newer than the last time she saw it, yet, strangely older in a way she somehow couldn't describe. The walls were a foamy cream color, darker than the off-white that it was when she had been twelve. The floor was the same dark wood, though it seemed to be cared for more than it had in her timeline.What else was different, she couldn't tell for sure. All else seemed to be the same as it was, but her memory was... fuzzy, to say the least.It felt as if been a century since then."Mission report, shinobi-san," came Hiruzen's command, and she snapped to attention, briefly listening for the faint crackling silencing seals as they came to life. Her back straightened subconsciously, body tensing painfully in apprehension."My name is Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. I am the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki of my time, as well as the Nanadaime Hokage, and a member of the Allied Shinobi Forces. I come from roughly twenty years in the future to change the past - which is now present, and prevent the start of the Fourth Great Shinobi War..."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The ANBU surrounding her twitched nervously, each of their imperceptible movements sending tiny shocks of adrenaline through her body. Her limbs tensed in apprehension, preparing out of sheer habit for the off-chance that one of them did bring it on himself to strike. They wanted to take her down, but they had yet to act, and she knew that it was simply because she really hadn't done anything to warrant their attack on her person.But, she could understand the unease they held concerning the circumstances. While they hadn't heard the words she had spoken on account of the activated silencing seals - weak ones, she noted, a problem that would have to be amended - they could see the state that their Hokage was in. Hiruzen was deathly still, his wrinkled face far too pale for what could be deemed healthy, and displaying no small amount of grief and regret.They could see that he was not well, but could do nothing unless given the go-ahead by either their captain or Hiruzen himself.She only hoped the ANBU Captain assigned to this team wouldn't make it any harder for her.Naruto frowned thoughtfully, turning half of her attention to her tenant, 'Kura-chan.'
"Don't call me that. What is it?"
'I still can't feel emotional signatures in anybody's chakra.'The fox sighed dramatically, as if he was grudgingly indulging a child - which, technically, he was, but Mirai refused to acknowledge that, "Brat, the Bastard went over this before he activated that blasted seal; we dont know which abilities you've retained. Time travel was thought to be impossible until we managed it, and the sheer amount of unknowns surrounding the concept was enough to deter anybody that believed it to be possible from actually attempting it," he said, and the stark exhaustion that made itself known in his voice didn't go unnoticed by her. "Dont worry about it for now," his voice softened imperceptibly, "Out of all of your abilities, that one is more than likely to return on its own."She gave a mental nod just as Hiruzen began to shift, his face thawing from its seemingly frozen state and immediately delving into a frown that deepened even the finest lines on his old face.She hoped that he wouldn't have a heart attack, because that would be a bitch to deal with.Though, if luck failed her once again, and he did, she'd at least know what to do; she had dealt with heart attacks before, after all, and Sakura was an amazing teacher.In all honesty, Naruto couldn't bring herself to feel bad for the way he had taken it. It was information that Hiruzen himself wanted to know, information that he had to know. So, she had told him everything, sparing no detail--Well, that's a lie, actually. She told him everything he needed to know - everything relevant to him. Nothing more, nothing less.He wasn't taking it well and, in hindsight, maybe it would have been better for his mental state if she had layered it on slowly, bits at a time, but she didn't really have that luxury. The time she was given couldn't be wasted, because it was all that she had.Time was the only thing that had a chance at saving the world, and she would use it to its fullest.The Sandaime had used his amounted time, and had made too many mistakes with it. He'd let Orochimaru and Danzo - that damned bastard - go too far. He had let the village and it's shinobi down in ways that were too damning and to consequential and it was just wrong.The Sarutobi Hiruzen of Before was quite frankly a total failure, and this one was well on his way to becoming the same.
If he wasn't already.
At first, it had hurt to admit that he had failed so terribly because he was important to her. He was the first person that didn't look at her with eyes of hatred and as much as she knew that his actions - or lack thereof - couldn't be excused it any way, there was a period of time where she was stubborn and blind - stupidly so - and she refused to accept that he'd failed Konoha, failed her, failed her family.He was precious to her, yes, but that didn't excuse the amount of mistakes he did make, and just because he didn't look at her like she was a monster doesn't mean he didn't let Orochimaru ruin those other children's lives. Just because he treated her like she was human doesn't mean he didn't let Danzo turn those poor children into mindless and emotionless tools.He turned a blind eye to his teammate and student's traitorous actions and everybody suffered for it.An entire clan. Countless children. Sakura's parents.Did he truly think those children did not matter? Or did he really, truly not see how they were suffering? Was it guilt? Guilt because of his inability to help her parents, causing him to feel obligated to help her in some form of pity and regret?Knowing that she at least had a home, no matter how little of a home it was, while they had nothing...It made her feel nauseous. It made her feel guilty because she had that at the cost of them. No, she didn't have her family, but she had someone, and eventually, she had gained more friends - more family.But the shinobi that Sai knew in ROOT... they didn't have that. The children that Orochimaru tortured did not have it.And they died without it.Why... why should she have gotten it if they didn't? Why'd they have to die without actually living?"Everything... everything is gone, in the future?," Hiruzen asked, his head hanging low beneath the weight of his own thoughts.And she swallowed thickly, mercilessly forcing the traitorous feeling of disgust for the man in front of her down. "Everything," she confirmed bluntly.The Hokage raised his head, blinking away the sheen of tears in his old eyes, and some sort of resolve seemed to harden within them, "Well then, Naruto, you have much work to do here, don't you? I will see to it that you have my full support until the completion of this mission."She started a bit at that, but nodded hesitantly, "Thank you, Hokage-sama.""It's the least I can do, child," he chuckled mirthlessly, but paused briefly as if realizing something, "In regards to your identity, am I to assume that you'll be changing your name?"She hummed, rocking on her heels because, oops, she actually hadn't thought about that.'Name... name... what should my name be?'
"Mirai."
'Huh? Kura-chan?'
"Your name. Mirai. It means 'future' - Never liked the name 'Naruto' anyway."
'That's... I'm going to ignore the last part but ...wow! AWWW YOU'RE SO CUTE KURA-CHAAAAN~ I KNEW YOU CARED!'
"Cut it out, or I'll recind my offer."
'Nope, too late.'She grinned brightly at Hiruzen, the action feeling the slightest bit easier to force onto her features, "Mirai. My name will be Mirai."  
"Do you... ever wonder how things would've turned out if you never ended up under those rocks?," she glanced at him, swinging her legs slowly as the first rays of sunlight peeked over the horizon. The deep hues of blue and purple began to fade, and an ombre of pink and orange colors began to blend slowly into the sky. It was beautiful, despite only a tiny sliver of it being visible. Most was shadowed by thick clouds of ash and dust and debree.

Obito smiled grimly and shook his head, "You know better than to ask those questions, Naruto. The past is the past and we can't change it."

"But," she chewed furiously on her lip, palming a small stone and tossing from the rocky ledge they were seated on in some fruitless way of distracting herself from her anxiety. It tumbled down the steep, rocky slope, clacking loudly in contrast to the otherwise still silence, "...what if we could? I mean - even if we were only able to change even the smallest of things... I don't know, it's a stupid idea but... I can't help but wonder."

She squawked indignantly when he reached up and ruffled her hair, and slapped the offending appendage away. He chuckled.

"Don't overthink things, Naru-chan. Besides," his smile saddened, "...even if changing the past was an option... it'd be the last resort.

"And... I know it doesn't mean much at this point, but for what it's worth, I...I'm sorry."
  As a whole, she thought, the citizens of Konoha seemed happier. They smiled more at this time, strangely enough, and they were more open. They held some sort of inherent trust within eachother, and it was evident in the small ways in which they interacted, freely letting their children play without discrimination, walking amiably together, and waving or calling out energetically in greeting as they passed eachother. The air seemed lighter, free, it made sense to her.The Uchiha massacre, of course, hadn't occurred yet (and wouldn't if she had any say in it). Multiple raven-headed and uchiwa fan bearing backs dotted the large crowd, weaving in between stalls and civilians alike. They were calm, their heads held high with confidence and pride, and there was no animosity directed at them whatsoever, only respect.The general atmosphere of the village would have been almost weightless, if not for the active war, because the tragedies that were the Uchiha Massacre and Kyuubi Attack hadn't happened.It was wartime, yes, but despite the horrors of the war, nothing major had occurred directly on the soil of the village. If anything, she would guessed that the war made them closer to eachother. They seemed to be much more tight-knit - either because they truly trusted eachother as comrades, or the war and need for survival forced them to come together, closer than ever before. For all that war divides, it also unites, and she knew that well enough.It was strange, but the most noticeable thing to her, she realized, was the overall lack of hatred towards her person. Those eyes stared at her with a gaze distinctly annoucing that she was the foulest piece of scum that ever walked the earth were nonexistent.Their eyes simply flitted in her direction, occasionally meeting her own before their attention was pulled elsewhere and they went on with their business. No judgement and condemnation. No hatred, no disgust. They didn't care. They didn't know who she was, who she held. To them, she was simply another face in the crowd, another citizen of their precious village that didn't have any direct relation to them, and therefore wasn't of any importance to them.Strangely, she felt bitter.She felt so bitter and angry towards them, knowing that the villagers hated her simply because the what had been sealed within her as an infant. Did they not question what the outcome would have been if the fox had been left alone and unsealed, free to rampage and destroy what was left of their beloved village? They had hated her - they had hated Kurama! He, too, was a victim of that tragedy. He was forced into submission, forced into the seal!And yet, there they were, alive and unharmed, hating and spitting upon the one thing that held the raging Kyuubi within its cage.That hatred... they had paid for it dearly, in a way.She smiled, a bright, cheerful, and convincing thing that betrayed none of the disgust and internal annoyance that bubbled underneath her skin when a plain-looking woman waved at her in greeting as she passed, a gentle smile on her equally plain face.In her eyes, Mirai mused, she was just another child of Konoha - an innocent.Here. Now.It stung to know that if she and Kurama were but a few years into the future, that woman would have been sneering and spitting and muttering many unsavory things under her breath, that is if she didn't simply resort to her fists to convey her utter disgust with a monster.But, Mirai pushed the dark thoughts away, ripping her eyes from the many faces in the crowd and focusing on the multitude of rather colorful and creatively designed buildings instead.It was so different. And with her lack of knowledge on the overall layout of this Konoha, paired with her outrageous lack of physical height, she was left feeling lost in a somehow foreign place.She sighed.'Well, Kurama? Seeing how the layout of this entire half of Konoha is different than how it was in my time, I'm guessing that's because of your handiwork, right? Did you happen to, I don't know, pay attention to the layout when you were... remodeling the architecture?'Kurama gave an affronted scoff, "Brat. I was under the control of The Bastard's sharingan. For your information, it felt like my mind was splitting for the entire duration of that whole fiasco, so no. I wasnt paying attention to the placement of your ugly human shelters.""Oh, no," she muttered aloud, a self-deprecating chuckle escaping her lips, "I really am a lost little kid. How long before someone thinks I ran from the orphanage, I wonder."Kurama huffed a mocking laugh in her mindscape that undeniably confirmed that she wouldn't be receiving any help from his end, and she heaved another sigh, hopping on the balls of her feet in a vain attempt to peer over the crowd.Gold sparked in her peripheral vision, and she turned, craning her neck to peek at the large sign. It was positioned just high enough so that shd could see it despite the many bobbing heads, and the words displayed in the large sign were an instant comfort to the girl.'I know this place.'She knew it very well, as it was easily one of the places she'd spent most of her time in as a child, one bored and lonely most of the time. The loneliness and the boredom were two things that she amended that by burying her face in loads and loads of books. Granted, reading became sort of a hobby of hers when she was already well into the Academy - around the age of eight or nine.But, she figured, there's nothing wrong with starting early. At this point in time... well, It'd help explain the reasons behind any unexplainable or sudden abilities that may or may not happen to appear in her toddler size arsenal. She'd been walking around for the better part of two hours now anyway, and her tiny, weak legs could use a long break.'It must've survived the attack by some sick chance of luck.'
"That, or it had quite a few powerful protection seals, which would be most likely, seeing as the building itself probably holds some of Konoha's historical documents."
Hiruzen had already given her a key chain that currently had only her apartment key attached to it, a simple black messenger bag, and a wad of cash for roughly two weeks - just enough to last until he enrolled her into the monthly stipend. Hopefully, she could get her hands on a library pass and snag a few books - from the chuunin section, which she did not have the clearance for, no doubt.But that wasn't at all a problem, she could easily maneuver her way around that obstacle.With quick steps, she weaved into between the legs of many adults, most of whom came way too close to kicking her in the face for her liking. She was panting by the time she finally made it through, bending to rest her hands on her knees and gulping in a few breaths of air.Until someone rudely interrupted her recovering session with a loud guffaw, "You look like a fish!"She whipped her head to the culprit, glaring with all the might of her five-year-old face - which she doubted looked at all intimidating - and her fiery gaze landed on a grinning boy with black hair that spiked in every direction. A pair of obnoxiously orange goggles were perched on his head, and a mocking grin stretched across his face as he laughed at her.She eyed the goggles. Good taste, her mind whispered.A girl stood beside Goggles, as she had so eloquently dubbed him, a nervous expression on her purple striped face. Her brown eyes were warmer than melted chocolate, and Mirai could help but notice how pretty she was.But the boy beside her was enough to distract Mirai from her beauty, and she snapped her gaze back to him, rising to her full (short) height and planting her hands firmly on her (nonexistent) hips. "Who the hell are you?"The boy's laughter died down, and he mirrored Mirai's stance in defiance, "Well you're no fun, are you? The names Uchiha Obito!"She paused.This is Obito!?He wasn't at all what she had expected. She remembered the time Kakashi-sensei had told her that Obito was quite un-Uchiha like - hell, even Obito himself said that - but despite their words, she didn't expect, well, this.She was so used to how he was after the wars."I'm fun when I want to be," the blonde sniffed with all the defiance of a snot nosed brat, "My name is-""Mirai-san," came the brunette's soft voice - Mirai had forgotten she was there, actually - and she smiled warmly at her, "Hokage-sama told us to find you.""...Already? But I only left the office two hours ago," she trailed off, a pout forming on her lips. She still hadn't managed to find the new apartment assigned to her, and she'd gone through so much trouble to convince Hiruzen that she could manage on her own.'That... puts a severe dent in my ego.'The brunette giggled,  her hand rising to muffle the sound as she watched the small blonde, and Mirai made a face in response. "...What?,"The brunette only shook her head gently, the smile not abandoning her features despite the suspicion present in the blonde's tone, "Nothing, nothing. My name is Rin!"'Ah, so this us the girl whose death led Obito on the path of war.'"Hello, Rin-san."She giggled again, and Mirai's expression scrunched in confusion, then suddenly Rin was at her side, holding her hand out invitingly.Mirai stared at it."Come along, Mirai-san. We mustn't keep Hokage-sama waiting!," she smiled.She only stared at her hand for another few seconds."I..."'Oh... oh Kami, this is horrifying!'Kurama's loud cackle echoed in her head and a dark flush crawled up her neck.'I... I am the Nanadaime, damnit! How have I been reduced to holding somebody's hand like a child!?'
"You are a child now, Kit. Get used to it."
Another giggle bubbled from Rin's throat as the blonde reluctantly placed her hand in hers, pointedly looking in the other direction to block the view of her red face. It was pointless, of course, since Rin had already seen it, but semantics.She sighed, glancing at the library mournfully. 'I guess I'll have to save reading for another day.'Obito snickered, "What happened to all that fire, Mirai-chan? Is it fueling that red on your face?"Mirai glared, and Rin studied her face momentarily before bursting into yet another fit of giggles.'What's her deal?'  The walk to Hokage Tower was relatively quiet - that is, if you were to press your palms over your ears as hard as you can to mute Obito's loud voice. Unfortunately, since one of Mirai's annoyingly small hands was held firmly in Rin's larger one, she was quite incapable of doing so, and Obito continued babble excitedly the whole way, while Rin nodded and hummed absentmindedly to keep the exuberant Uchiha appeased.(Vaguely, Mirai wondered if that was how Team Seven felt when they were assigned to eachother. Sasuke and Sakura didn't hesitate to let her know just how loud she was most of the time, after all.)And Rin...It was... a jarring experience - looking at Rin, that is. She was the catalyst for the Fourth War, the one whose death caused Obito to go completely and undeniably insane, however unintentional it was. Her death and Obito's psuedo death were two events that caused the tiniest of ripples to converge into a tidal wave, one that had undeniably cast the entire world into ruin.Imagine what the effect would be if Rin hadn't died? If Obito hadn't been crushed? Obito loved Rin - and as an Uchiha, losing her made him lose his mind.If Rin had survived the chidori, he most definitely wouldn't have helped Madara with the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He would probably never ever forgive Kakashi, but that in itself would be better than the war reoccurring--Kakashi-sensei would agree, no doubt, despite how much it would hurt him.'I have to prevent their deaths first and foremost.'
"Agreed."
A heavy sigh escaped her when they finally reached the doors to hokage's office. Rin giggled at her expense, mildly flaring her gentle chakra to make her presence known, and opening the door quietly as soon as Hiruzen's gruff voice told them to enter. With a gentle hand, she guided Mirai's reluctant self in, placing herself in the back corner of the room after she had pushed the blonde to stand just in front of the desk."Hokage-sama?," Mirai tilted her head, rocking restlessly on her heels. Hiruzen smiled lightly, pushing a thin folder across his desk, as if the action alone would answer her unasked question."These are your papers, Mirai-chan," he clasped his hands under his chin, and the blonde moved to grab the mentioned item. His lips set themselves in a grim line, eerily contrasting the seemingly soft gleam in his eyes, and he leaned forward as if to prepare himself for some sort of show."As for your storage seals, I'm sure you are aware of how sensitive on-skin seals can be," he raised a brow cryptically, "Unfortunately I'm not sufficient enough at fūinjutsu to remove the cancelling seals from your arms. We only have one master in the village at the moment - in fact, he is the one who cancelled your storage seals himself," Hiruzen added as if it were an afterthought, and chuckled."I've already summoned him; he'll be here in just a few moments to removed his seals from your own."Despite her efforts to conceal it, her breath hitched at the implication - Jiraiya?Her mouth felt dry, and her lips formed words without thought as her body rushed autonomously to grasp at any straws she could, "A Fūin master? That's - no. Ah, you don't need to bother him. I'm perfectly capable of removing the cancelling seals myself, Hokage-sama.""Nonsense, Mirai-chan! He doesn't mind a bit."She couldn't face Jiraiya. Not now. It was too early for her to process that.Please, she wasn't - she wasn't ready to--A knock sounded from the door behind her, paired with a distinct flare of chakra.Chakra she didn't recognize.The door creaked quietly as it opened, signaling the newcomer's entrance, before clicking shut, and a series of silent steps followed until they had reached just beside Mirai, only a meter between them, but her muscles were locked in place, refusing to move as her body somehow still anticipated Jiraiya's arrival."You summoned me, Hokage--sama?," came the deep, soft-spoken voice, again holding a distinct lack of familiarity that somewhat eased her anxiety. And as her stance began to melt from its rigidness, she tentatively shifted her gaze.Blonde hair reflected the sun's light, unruly spikes shining like gold, and Hiruzen's dark eyes glinted mysteriously.Something in his gaze made her instincts burn with fear."Ah, you made it," he smiled, "Yes, we need your expertise in fūinjutsu, Minato-kun."
"Shit."
And she froze.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

She felt so trapped.Her body was stuck in its place, blood running cold and freezing in her veins. Her head pounded, that same ice cold blood feeling hothothot, burning, burning, BURNING--He stood there, just within arms reach. His yellow spiked hair reflected the low sun's rays like strands of pure spun gold, oceanic eyes sparkling with confusion and...worry?It was almost taunting, how close he was. It was as if she could reach out and touch him - but she couldn't touch him, couldn't feel him,  because... because he's dead. Her father is dead. Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead. But, he's not dead, right? Because she went back. Everything was gone, so she went back to - to when? When was she? Where was she? She wasn't home. This wasn't her Konoha. This... this wasn't her home. She didn't belong in this time - this Konoha.Something within her shook, creaking with pressure and tension - something inside that felt as if it would snap. Darkness crawled at the edges of her vision, rising from the depths of her soul because - because--'I...I dont belong here. I don't - I dont belong here. I shouldn't - shouldn't be here, I SHOULDN'T BE HERE-'
"KIT!"
She jolted, Kurama's booming voice echoing painfully in her skull, "Kit, calm down. You can't panic here. Not now.""Mirai-san?," Rin's soft, worried voice broke through the cold fear, and......and Mirai realized that she couldn't panic. She couldn't. Not here. Not now. These - these emotions could be pushed back, shoved away, because she couldn't handle them. She couldn't. Not here. Not now.He'd seen a lot of things in his life. Good things, bad things, beautiful and ugly things, evil and... more evil. He'd seen so many things.He wasn't old and wise and experienced in many ways, but... he wasn't naive either, and he most definitely wasn't innocent.Minato was... he liked to think he was a relatively good person. Of course, he'd done many things that most would consider to be unthinkable, but he was a shinobi. It was his job to do what nobody else would so that he could protect his village and his loved ones. It was his job as a shinobi to do the unthinkable, so that others didn't have to. He fought and killed for them, every breath of exhaustion, every bead of sweat that formed on his brow, every drop of blood spilt - it was all selfless.He tried, of course, to be merciful.  Even on the battlefield he did his best to keep as much blood off of his hands as he could, because he knew that with every kunai that hit its mark and every ounce of blood that splattered on his face and dripped thickly from his fingers - it changed him. The more lives he took, the more he changed. And he didn't want to change.But he knew that he was tainted with blood, and there was no going back from that.So, instead, he tried. He spilt as little blood as he could, and the blood that he did spill was only to protect those things that are precious to him.His village. His comrades. His students. Kushina.Because he loved them, and he didn't want to lose them.He hoped that, maybe, that one Iwa genin he'd happened upon, alone and trembling with fear, would someday grow to protect the gift of life to the best of his ability - because Minato had spared him. He had let him live, despite knowing that it would be frowned upon by the citizens of Konoha, should they find out...Minato's loud conscious had triumphed in the end, and he let the boy go.He could only hope that the boy would return that same mercy to another poor soul someday. The world was truly a horrid place in many, many ways. Evil lurked in every dark corner, writhed in every shadowed crack, thrived in too many people. Shinobi and kunoichi alike fought and bled and suffered, pushing stubbornly through their pain on both sides of every equation - whether it be for the right reason or the wrong reason.Endurance. Every shinobi must endure. Through every tragedy and every misfortune. Every death of a loved one, every kill - through everything, they endure.At least, they try.But shinobi are human, no matter how beastly they can be, they are above all human. And a person can only handle so much before they crack, then break, then shatter, collapsing to the ground in a million tiny pieces - until they pick up every single piece, one by one as their hands bleed, and build themselves back up again.To restart the cycle.Minato had seen many different eyes in many different people. He'd seen the eyes of a child, brimming with innocence and curiosity and wonder, sheltered and unexposed to the horrors of the world. He'd seen love and naivety in the eyes of a civilian girl, as she held the hand of her childhood friend, laughing and smiling as if the world around them did not exist. He'd seen anger and hatred and bloodlust in the eyes of shinobi, hardened, uncaring, cruel.Then, there was experience and knowledge, hardened by war and the dark side of the world, yet still holding tightly on to their humanity despite that.Those were eyes that he'd seen far to little of. Shikaku, Inoichi, Hiruzen, himself, and many of his friends had those eyes, and he so desperately wished that more shinobi still held their humanity.Never did he imagine that he would see that knowledge, that experience, that battered and scarred humanity in the eyes of a child.And she was small - exceedingly so, her meager height barely reaching the edge of the Hokage's desk. She stood with a certain tense posture that made her impossibly thin limbs seem that much thinner. Her fingers trembled at her sides, the ends of her limp golden hair brushing the shaking digits as it tumbled down her back and shoulders, and blue eyes peeked from underneath long bangs, impossibly wide as they shook with curiosity and anxiety and terror.(And for some reason he couldn't comprehend, he felt he'd seen those eyes before.)Her deep gaze locked with his own, and something strange flashed within that sea of blue - a swirling mix of what he could only identify as a conflicted and doubtful sort of... recognition.Cold worry dropped like a dead weight in his chest as her breathing picked up, choppy and shallow with panic, and her pupils dilated, a sea of black ink drowning the deep blue with waves of hysteria.His brows furrowed and he quickly dropped to his knees, gently grasping her shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting way, but she flinched back violently at the contact, as if his touch had burned her skin. The panic in her eyes seemed to flare, all sense of awareness and coherency being stripped from her gaze with the rush of emotion, making her body tremble ever more.Rin, who had been standing quietly in the corner, rushed from her spot, placing her own gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, face scrunched with worry over the blonde's rampantly panicked state, "Mirai-san?"And just like that, the barely five-year-old girl's oceanic eyes snapped with clarity, and a forcefully calm facade slipped over her soft features with such practiced ease that it was disturbing. A certain blankness that is only achieved in the most war torn shinobi settled in the depths of her sapphire eyes, every sort of pain writhing beneath the porcelain facade - the kind that was riddled with scars and torn with fear and horror - and he couldn't help but wonder why.Minato paused.Was the girl afraid of him? The thought didn't really occur to him until now. Of course, he was a well-known and respected shinobi, in Konohagakure at least, but in other places he was someone to be avoided. A Flee on Sight order was tagged next to his name in the Bingo Books. He was one of only a few to have that warning, which of course sparked some essence of fear in the hearts of much of the Elemental Nations.But he'd found her in the middle of nowhere. She was alone, injured and dying, completely and utterly helpless. What was left of her clothing, having been torn and ripped from her in her desperate situation - which they also didn't have any information about - was in Konoha's color and style, but her hitai-ate was practically unheard of, and her overall identity matched no records found in the Archives, at least not in her age group.She was a shinobi, though, which posed as a problem and a threat. They'd zero knowledge of her abilities, origin, blood, or knowledge. They were frankly in the dark, as far as he knew, and since he had no information on the subject of her upbringing, it wasn't at all a preposterous thought to assume that she had at last heard of him - or had been warned to stay away from him.The majority of shinobi did not spare anyone, after all. Even children.Her fear, in Minato's eyes, could only be explained away with simply assuming she had gained knowledge of his identity.But did that warrant a near panic attack?He didn't know, but it... worried him. He and his team had saved her life, yanking her away from the cliff where she teetered on the brink of death, so it only made sense for him - and his team - to care for her in a distant sort of way, he supposed.Despite himself, he also acknowledged that fact that she was also a child, and that in itself made him much more adverse to her being in danger of any sort. He had always had a soft spot for children, and she was so young. Too young, younger than even Kakashi was when he began active duty, and she was already fighting out in the open - she had been thrown out into the line of fire completely alone, with nobody to back her up, to keep her safe.Potential enemy or not, it infuriated Minato. Desperate country or not, putting a child so young directly into warfare to fend for herself was preposterous and made him livid. They had no right to send her out so that she could be hunted down and fed to the wolves that were her enemies. No right!There are so many cruel people in the world, and not all of them are interested in simply killing their target - no, some are sick in their ways, torturing and prolonging the deaths of those that oppose them. They felt no regret with their actions. They gave no mercy.The only thing that they gave was pain. Any sort of pain that they could possibly trigger was a source of joy to the sick bastards and a child--
A child should never be subject to that.
Minato snapped out of his daze as the girl straightened her tiny shoulders, almost defiant in her disposition, and set her gaze straight. She locked her endless eyes stubbornly to his, as if she was resisting her fear, and her mouth set into a grim line--But he could see it, he could see the fear and uncertainty and sadness within her, but her gaze held strong and her body stood in full attention, sturdy despite how dangerously thin she was.And despite her lack of words, Minato nodded - out of respect for the fortitude in her eyes, or acknowledgement for her bravery, he didn't know, but he nodded to her nonetheless before standing to his full height and turning once again to his Hokage.If she was at all intimidated by him now, she didn't show it.The dark eyes of the Sandaime met his own, before Sarutobi cleared his throat abruptly, dark eyes flitting to the girl with a strange glint of wariness in his gaze."Minato-kun will be removing his cancelling seals, Mirai-chan," he said quietly, "The process itself should be relatively short, so sit still for as long as you are able, alright?"The Namikaze stifled an amused chuckle when Mirai bristled, seemingly irritated at the childish tone he used, but she sat nonetheless, huffing as she rolled her left sleeve up to her shoulder. Minato knelt in front of her slowly, inwardly frowning in interest as her eyes darted around his form, eyeing each of his movements with apprehension.'She sees me as a threat,' he thought sullenly. He didn't understand why she was so afraid of him. His reputation was something to consider, of course, but just didn't warrant this much distrust, especially from a kid.With a sigh, he shook away his thoughts, retrieving a brush and inkwell from his pouch. Gently, the Namikaze lifted her wrist, using the brush to slowly swirl the black ink with his free hand. Raising the saturated brush, he brought it just above the heel of her palm, each stroke deliberately slow and gentle as he inked characters on the skin of her inner wrist with practiced ease."Mirai-chan." Hiruzen's rough voice prompted the child to rip her eyes from Minato's brush - from his movements that she'd been watching with tangible paranoia. The simple action of turning her head away from him seemed to take every bit of her willpower."Considering your skills as a shinobi, you have...," Hiruzen started, shuffling through a thin stack of paperwork, "...a couple of options. You're at the appropriate age to enter the academy, if you so wish. Beginning anew would be healthy for you, and you could freely move your way up through the ranks from there."He raised a brow, "Your second option is that I simply reinstate you with a chunin rank immediately - your skill is about that level, so that wouldn't be a problem."Mirai stiffened. Her body coiled defensively, and at the sudden jerk of her arm, Minato's brush streaked a line of cold ink across her forearm. Her head snapped back to him, blue eyes widening dangerously at the icy feeling of the ink.She flinched violently as Minato wiped the smeared ink away with a tender thumb, and the little blonde's blue eyes pierced his own, a feral, defensive, and desperate sort of terror swimming beneath the ocean of sapphire and cobalt. The black of her pupils seemed to narrow and sharpen animalisticly, and molten lava bubbled dangerously around them----Then, suddenly that menacing fire that burned red behind the sea of blue snapped away, as if it was never there to begin with, and she breathed a deep, steadying breath.A wave of sorrow flooded Minato's chest....This child...was so broken...A small, wobbly, and painfully plastic smile stretched across her face as she turned back to the Sandaime, clearing her away the tightness in her throat, "I would like to continue with my shinobi career as soon as possible, Hokage-sama. Being reinstated as a chunin would be preferable, please."Minato paused. The way the girl had addressed the Sandaime was ill-mannered at best, bordering on insolent and disdainful. Interestingly enough, Sarutobi didn't seem to bat an eye at her stark disrespect, a certain glint in his dark eyes as he leveled his gaze with Mirai. It seemed as if he was testing the waters, testing Mirai, in a way that hinted that he wasn't speaking to a child - more as if he was gazing at an... equal?Confusion flooded him, and his eyes flitted between the child and his Hokage repeatedly as they stared challengingly at eachother, a silent and subtle battle of sheer will passing between the two.And through it all, Minato could only think, 'What the hell?' "Damn it," Kurama cursed, his tangible fury shifting uncomfortably in the recesses of her mind, "He backed you into a corner."'I wasn't able to negotiate with him. I had to make a choice in the heat of the moment without being given time to even think about what would be the best option,' she seethed, gritting her teeth furiously, 'this just reaffirms that this is not the same old man. He's playing with us. Testing his limits. He might be the Hokage, and my age is regressed, but he doesn't know what my abilities are - he's attempting to see just how far he can get me wrapped around his finger. The fool! He knows how sensitive this mission is, and yet he's dropping hints out to the Yellow Flash like candy!'"Something needs to be done about boundaries," Kurama said candidly, deeming it unnecessary to acknowledge the way his container refused to speak her father's name. "If he doesn't watch his mouth, you may have to shut him up with less than pleasant methods.""Watch it Kurama," she warned, rubbing her forehead in agitation, "This just got a whole lot harder."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"Once the seal activates, you'll basically be thrown through the Temporal Dimension," came Obito's grim statement, "It'll be painful at best, and it's likely that you might accidentally graze a couple other dimensions or timelines, since the general execution of the seal may be... turbulent. As for Kurama, I'm guessing that he and his counterpart will either merge together, or one will be shoved from existence, in one way or another. Concerning the latter, if that does happen to occur, I don't think you'd need to worry. Your bond with the present Kyuubi is stronger than Kushina's was, and the general construction of your seal is significantly well built in comparison to hers, so if either of the Kyuubi have a chance at being forced from that dimension it's not likely that it'd be yours."

Naruto nodded hesitantly before meeting his onyx eyes, confusion gleaming in her own blue ones as she tilted her head, "...Graze? Dimensions or timelines? Whaddya you mean, dattebane?"

The Uchiha heaved a long and bone-achingly tired sigh, "The seal, paired with the Kyuubi's chakra, will cause an extremely explosive reaction," he pointed a finger at the multitude of intricate brush strokes that formed a massive and complex seal on the floor of the cave, "that is unstable, untested, and dangerous. It'll work, I know that for sure, but it's far from perfect.

"Time flows along a single path, like a river," he paused, heaving another sigh before plopping haphazardly on the ground. Mirai copied his action, resting her elbows on her knees as she focused her attention on the man.

"The 'present' is like a boat on the river that is time. When you make the jump through time, this present will continue to sail, but you will land in the past, on a different boat. Do you follow?"

Mirai nodded unsurely, "...So when I leave this present, it'll still exist. It'll keep on moving down the river, even if there are...," she winced, loss spiking painfully in her heart, "...no souls left in it?"

Obito nodded, eyeing the blonde skeptically before continuing, "Yes. The present will still exist, becoming your past. Here's where it gets tricky," he pursed his lips, hands forming an arch under his chin. "The moment you travel into the past, you basically make... an alternate reality of sorts."

Naruto perked up, "...What?"

"Think about it, Naru. Once you travel through time, the present becomes your past, and the past becomes your present. Since you don't exist in the past - which is now your present - you cause a major change in the timeline. Something as unique as a soul being out of place in a timeline causes a huge deviation, even on its own. Since time is a river, it's only flowing in one direction, and only following one path. But, the moment you change something, you disrupt the flow of time, and the river branches out, forming an entirely new future."

She scrunched her face, trying to wrap her head around what he was telling her, before nodding.

"...This seal is practically defying the laws of time, pushing against the current, which is why it's going to be a rough ride - painful and risky - but we both know that it's our only option left," he grimaced. "So, like I said before, since you're going against the flow of the river, you might graze other deviations, if they exist. There's really no way to tell if they do; as far as records go, it's never been claimed that someone succeeded in time travel, and if they did there was no way to prove it so... Yeah, its only theory. There might be deviations, again I have no way of knowing."

Naruto nodded, running a hand over her face tiredly, "...What about you--?"

"Naruto," the blonde flinched at the harshness in his tone, "We already went over this. You know as well as I do that only one of us can go. You're better suited for the task. I couldn't even if I wanted to - it would be impossible. There can't be two souls in one present, after all."

He smiled, and the tears that fell from her eyes couldn't be stopped, "Besides," his voice was soft, full of regret and sorrow and despair, "I've had my second chance, and I do not deserve another one."
  
Red.

Red... everything was so, so red. It pooled on the ground, burning hot against the cold, cold stone in thick, deep puddles.

Too much. She lost too much blood.

But she just... smiled, red staining her white teeth, red dripping from her pale cheeks, red mixing with her crystal tears.

Red, red, red.

She reached up, her cold and shaking fingers caressing Naruto's wet cheeks gently, "N-Naru...to..."

Her voice... it was weak, barely a whisper, and that red, red, red substance dripped from her blue lips, trailing down, down, down, until it fell from her chin, each droplet splashing loudly as it hit the ground, echoing in the blondes ears.

Drip, drip, drip.

"I...I've...always... want-wanted you to know-"

"No!," Naruto rasped, pressing the stained fabric against the girl's large wound, desperately trying to staunch the flow of hot blood, "D-don't talk," she pleaded, her vision blurring with tears, "Save your breath, please, K-Kakashi-- he's- he's coming! He's on his way, he'll help you--"

She sucked in a breath, the blood gurgling and bubbling in her throat. Ruby droplets spattered on Naruto's face as she coughed hoarsely, choking on her words, "Listen to me!"

The blonde froze at the desperate, enraged cry, and the flow of her protests snapped to a halt.

"I...I...want to tell you..."
 
...drip, drip, drip...
 
"...that is wasn't... it wasn't your fault, o-okay?"
 
Another cough racked her body, jolting her pierced lungs. She groaned.
 
"...I d-don't...blame you for what happened, I...i never d-did I-..."
 
drip...
 
drip...
 
"--wasn't...yo..ur...fa--"
 
drip...
 
drop...
 
"Saku... w-wait!--"
 
drip...
 drop... 
"N-no, don't- don't close your eyes, Sakura-chan...Sakura... SAKURA!"
 
...drip...
 
...drop...
 
...drip...
 ....drop... She jolted, her body flinging itself into an upright position. A cold sweat coated her body, sticking the white sheets to her trembling limbs, the sticky sheen of sweat causing her long blonde locks to cling to her arms and face. The air in her room was hot and stuffy, like molten lava in her lungs as she desperately gulped down the burning air.
"Kit..."
"I'm fine," she rasped, fist clenching the fabric of her shirt in a vice grip. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs, limbs shaking from the blood and adrenaline that rushed through her body. "I'm fine..."  Preventing Uchiha Obito's psuedo-death was first and foremost, she had long since decided on that. His apparent death was emotionally devastating to Kakashi and Rin, ripping away much of the innocence they had retained - it was a major lesson for Kakashi, a factor that helped shape him into the man he was from Before, but it was also extremely damaging.Mirai had confidence that he could deviate from his selfish ways without the added trauma.The Kannabi Bridge mission was all in all a major catastrophe. There was so much risk involved, every task and consequence in the hands of a group of kids, and the whole idea was just so freaking stupid.Mirai couldn't fathom why they - the council - would send a group of preteens on a mission that would be a crucial turning point in the war. It was an exceedingly stupid and careless decision, one that endangered both sides, and she wanted to throttle the person who came up with easily one of the most moronic ideas in history-Which, it actually might have been the most moronic, seeing as that mission was the beginning of the end, in a way.Either way, the mission needed to be supervised. Someone strong enough and experienced enough. Someone who could guide the mission well enough so that the entirety of Team Seven would be returned back to the village, all in one piece - someone who knew what was going to happen.And there, of course, was the problem. Obviously, she was the only one who knew of the impending disaster. Hiruzen was unaware that this particular mission was the one in which Obito had been crushed. (She hadn't told him the details concerning which mission the Uchiha had gone bad on. The chances of him going behind her back in some attempt at making amends and royally screw something up were too high.) She was experienced, enough to guide the mission itself, but the matter of strength was in question.Mirai didn't have any delusions to the sheer amount of power she had lost. She still hadn't found the time or place to test her limits, of course, so she didn't know what skills she had retained - if any at all - which, according to the circumstances, puts her in deep shit.So far, she knew that she had retained her taijustu and general reflexes. She obviously was still Kurama's jinchuuriki, so chakra wasn't at all problem,  but then there's the matter of utilizing said chakra.Sage mode was out of the question, no doubt. Her body was younger, and therefore weaker. If she were to use sage mode while in this feeble form, it would surely be damaging to the body, so much so that she doubted even Kurama's regeneration would be much effective. That particular skill would sadly have to wait until she was at least physically fourteen.Luckily, her ability to sense emotional responses in others' chakra had been steadily returning to her, and while it was not a direct combat skill, it held a genuine advantage.Unfortunately, despite her current weaknesses and overall lack of knowledge of her own skills, she was the only person who could do the job. She couldn't tell anybody else about it; Hiruzen was the only living person she'd trust in this timeline with that information, and even he only knew because she needed jurisdiction and freedom within the village.She didn't want anybody to know.And she would make it a point to never, ever tell another person. The mission had to be completed without making any emotional connections - from Before or otherwise. Forming bonds was the last thing she needed now, and she knew that if she trusted another individual enough to tell them, she will have already failed to prevented disaster in this timeline. She had to stop Madara's plan and be gone before Kushina gave birth to the Naruto of this timeline. Then she could... rest in peace.Lack of emotional connection guaranteed success. This was something she couldn't forget. Anyone that is personally associated with her would be a target for potential enemies, and she couldn't put anybody that she cared for in the line of fire. If she avoided friendships, then nobody would be a liability - nobody would be at risk because of her mission, and it had to stay that way.It would be strange, she knew. Bonds were something she sought with every fiber of her being as a child... but if she were to let anyone in, she would constantly have to keep them out of harm's way. She'd have to worry about what they knew and where they were and she just couldn't let anything get in her way.After all, it was the bonds she made that hindered her, and as much as it hurt to be alone, she couldn't risk her loved ones again.She hadn't discussed the Kannabi bridge mission with Hiruzen yet, which, of course, was a problem. Seeing as he was the current Hokage, she had to discuss, negotiate, and inform him of her actions concerning her mission. It was inconvenient and annoying at best, but not exactly surprising seeing as the man didn't completely trust her yet.Despite his actions, it was painfully obvious that he would probably be closely monitoring each and every movement of hers for the foreseeable future. His lack of trust was righteous, she supposed, because even though he had evidence of where she originates from, he still doesnt personally know her. Trust is earned, and is not ever easily given. The man had no real knowledge of Mirai's character or skill - only a rough hint of her ideology and love for her village. His overall information was, in a way, mediocre, and as such, he would be keeping her on a tight leash.She sighed, tracing the surface of the rough stone. A certain chill seeped from its depths, despite the heat of the beating sun, it's many facets sparkled with dew under the early morning light, each shimmering droplet connecting to form watery paths under her fingertips, seeping into the letters of the engraved stone.A soft scoff escaped her lips, almost sardonic in nature as her digits swept over unfamiliar names and blanks spaces, ones which would have, in her time, held vividly clear characters - the names of those she had known.The Memorial Stone.It's funny, how she sat here now. Kakashi used to spend the majority of his time in this same spot, contemplating, despairing, dwelling on the past, on what he did or could have done. Now, she sat here alone. No longer would she be in his company, no longer would she see him, talk to him, spar with him.Or anybody she loved.She was now, as he was then, alone. And that feeling, she mused, felt somehow darker and emptier than it felt as a child. What once was a void, black as death and filled with absolute nothingness now carried the ghosts of her past, static images that lurked in shadows.And those faces, those fantoms that whispered her name and screamed in response to the pain of their mortal wounds made that void seem so much more blank, so much more empty and lonely and full of dispair.Before, when she and Kakashi would stand in front of this same stone together, she at least had the comfort of knowing that the spirits of her loved ones were watching over her. They were with her at all times so that even when nobody was around, she wasn't ever truly alone.Now, it would seem, she was alone.After all, she doubted even spirits could travel through time. The souls of her loved ones, she believed, no longer watched over her as friends, but instead as phantoms in the depths of her empty heart.  "A promotion?," Kushina's loud voice carried easily through the thin walls of their home, chock full of mirth and pride.Minato felt a proud smile stretch across his face, "Yes, Hokage-sama is considering it. Kakashi will become a jounin within the next few months, I believe."Kushina bounced into kitchen, her crimson hair trailing fluidly behind her, unbound. She stopped just passed the threshold, supressing the urge to glomp the blonde lest she be splashed with boiling oil. Minato smiled softly at her, pecking her lightly on the cheek as he passed by her, slipping oven mitts onto his calloused hands."Good for him, dattebane!," she grinned excitedly, "I thought they decided to at least wait until next year before his promotion. What changed their minds?""His performance on our last assignment was 'an exceptional example of true leadership skills'," he paused, a smirk flitting across his face in response to her doubtful expression. "Their words, not mine. As much as I believe he has the skills of a jounin, I still wonder if he would make the right choices for the team as a whole," he sighed.Kakashi was skilled, extremely so for his age. He had a sharp mind and the ability to adapt to every situation and circumstance accordingly, eliminating resistance efficiently and effectively. His physical abilities were nothing to scoff at either, but Minato worried still, because the boy just didn't hold enough concern for the team as a whole. Not to say that he didn't care for Rin and Obito - but the boy was young and stuck in his ways. Minato worried that he wouldn't learn to put his teammates before the mission before something terrible happened.Sometimes you don't know what you have until you lose it."He'll learn, Minato," she hummed in understanding. The blonde grinned in response, and the two fell into thoughtful silence.The oil on the stove sizzled and popped, and for a fleeting moment, icy dread froze in his veins, and Minato winced.The feeling of that chakra corresponded almost disturbingly well with the behavior of boiling oil, he mused. The feeling was much the same, bubbling uncomfortably beneath his skin, fiery and burning in nature, as if it held so much power that it could not be contained.The grin on Minato's face dimmed, and he turned back to the stove, stirring the frying meat slowly."Do you remember what we found on our last mission?," he asked suddenly, a restless sort of unease coloring his tone. A frown crawled it's way onto Kushina's face and she tilted her head slightly, "You mentioned a little girl, briefly, but you wouldn't tell me the details...""Ah, well I didn't really know what happened - I don't have much information at all, even now, but..." He hesitated, shaking his head slightly to clear his rampant thoughts, "We completed our mission quicker than we thought we would, so we decided to head back immediately..."He turned off the burner, setting the prepared food off to the side to cool a bit, before plopping onto the sofa with a sigh, "There was..." he paused lips setting into a grim line. "There was a massive chakra spike, so large and sudden that Obito and Rin almost lossed consciousness from the sheer weight of it. I... I don't think I've ever felt such a large amount of pure chakra released in one moment like that."He shuddered, that hot, boiling feeling crawling in his veins at the memory - it felt feral, wild and predatory, writhing with pure agony. The feeling was horrendous, and he had half a mind to make sure his little students weren't at all traumatized by it, in all honesty.Kushina joined him on the sofa, a look of apprehension dawning her features. "We were about ten miles from ten village gate when it happened."The redhead frowned, "Ten miles? But - that's so close. I didn't sense any sort of disturbance. If it was as large of an amount as you say, and so close, why didn't anyone feel it?"Minato met her violet eyes, worry swimming in his sapphire ones, "That's the thing. I think somebody may have used seals to keep the energy contained. The chakra itself felt... uncontrollable in nature - it felt raw and angry and torn, as if the source was," he hesitated in his words, "Almost as if it's source was grieving.""You think somebody activated chakra containment seals?," she tapped her chin. "Seeing as nobody in the village sensed it, that would be my best guess as to why. As for the chakra itself... I've heard of cases where a person's emotion was so strong that it somehow... infused itself into their chakra, but what does that have to do with the girl?"Minato gazed at the ground, a heavy weight of anxiety dropping in his chest and twisting in his gut. He ran his hand through his blonde locks, limbs restless with unease as a hurricane of thoughts stormed his aching brain.
"I think... I think she was the source of that chakra."
  Dark eyes glazed over as a deep sigh escaped Hiruzen's lips. Thick tendrils of smoke trailed along, curling in swirling patterns before dissipating to set a silver haze within the enclosed space of his office.Uzumaki-Namikaze Mirai, Hiruzen thought, was an anomaly.Her claims were, by all evidence, completely and unfortunately true. His many doubts had indeed been smothered when he read the scroll, the parchment spattered with the girl's fresh blood, dripping red at the edges with the liquid like a message from the god of death itself. What it held was proof enough for her claims, containing not one, not two, but three Hokages' seals. Hailing from three future Hokages, the Godaime, Rokudaime, and Nanadaime - Senju Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi, and Mirai (named Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto at the time of her reign), respectively.His initial reaction to the seals, was an immediate denial of the truth, simply seeing as Konohagakure only has three Hokage - him being the third and currently acting. But, having read the scrolls contents, and confirming them, it would suffice to say that he had no right to deny its claims.The reason for this being a simple one; it is completely and undeniably impossible to truly replicate a Kage seal, for two reasons.One, the combined chakra of the reigning Kage and his or her successor must be used to make the seal. The combination of blood creates a unique signature; one that cannot be replicated artificially. Additionally, the blood must be from living and breathing sources, the samples fresh enough for the chakra to have not drained from the liquid.Second, predecessor and successor alike must embed their chakra simultaneously into the seal, encasing it permanently.Of course, countermeasures are placed in the event that the acting Hokage is either permanently incapacitated or dead, and haven't chosen or officially elected a successor. In the shinobi world, these unfortunate situations are not in any way rare, so the council during the reign of the Nidaime brought to life an adequate alternative; five or more shinobi, personally selected and trusted are chosen by the Hokage on the day that they inherit the hat, so that in the chance that they are unable to be present during the official announcement of their successor, these shinobi would loyally act as the blood and chakra in the predecessor's place.Judging by the blending chakra of several individuals in both the Godaime (which, disturbingly held chakra signatures that matched strikingly well with that of his most trusted shinobi, which he'd chosen in case of his death) and Rokudaime's seals, this particular method had dolefully been used, and though it had initially shocked Hiruzen, he grievously admitted to himself that it wasn't entirely surprising.If the authentic seals themselves hadn't been enough to convince Hiruzen, the large seal, stroked intricately and carefully in the blackest of inks, its pattern holding a certain air of desperation and genius, had.The blonde that bore the seal had stood before him with defiance in her oceanic gaze, her small form glimmering with the red and strikingly volatile chakra of a certain tailed beast, the Kyuubi, or as she had so vehemently insisted, Kurama.And it was quite disturbing to Hiruzen, when she forlornly admitted that there was a 'slight' mishap, as she'd so eloquently dubbed it, and made him very aware of that spine-chilling fact that Konohagakure now held a total of twenty tales worth of raw chakra. With a sunny smile on her deceivingly innocent face, she reassured him that while the Kyuubi which was native to this timeline was most certainly pissed, her personal tenant was actually quite docile toward the human race, though he tended to dip at least six of his tails into a dose of bloodlust every now and again.Hiruzen had to suppress a shudder, which was an exceedingly difficult task, as he gazed momentarily at her seal before immediately dismissing her - and subsequently, her tenant - from his office, so that he could ponder over other necessary matters.And from that point, he had to remind himself that Mirai was an anomaly, and she was no doubt powerful, but as it was, she was also a child.At first, he had assumed that her age regression was a uniquely physical matter, affecting only her body and not her mind... But general observation of the girls attitude and demeanor prompted Hiruzen to suspect otherwise.She had retained at least most of her mental knowledge - her thought process was advanced and she could effortlessly recall her memories and lessons from her previous life - but her emotional stability and her attitude, among other things, seemed to be slippery in their standings at best. Her general attention span was regressed, to the point where she would completely zone out at the most random of times, unrelated scenarios, ideas, and topics reeling through her at dizzying speeds. She was restless, constantly giving moving and fidgeting--Overall, he was quite certain that the whole time travel ordeal had effected her in ways greater than simple age regression, because now, physically, her mind was still undeveloped, and that had undoubtedly affected her mental state as a whole.Her mind, though tremendously advanced, had been partially shifted into a child's mind.The girl, he knew, would most definitely be pissed, but after a week of thought and consideration on the matter of her physical and mental state, he belatedly realized that her rank as a chuunin at the tender age of five, paired with her unusual independency, would only serve to attract attention and suspicion. Suspicion was not something the girl needed. Attention and suspicion bred curiosity, and curiosity served to risk exposure.She needed a cover of sorts, as well as somebody who he could trust to keep watch of her mental stability, and if all worked out the way he hoped it would, she would simultaneously gain friends and allies.After all, the girl had lost... everything, and the solitude which she seemed adamant to instill upon herself would only serve to worsen her obviously unwell and unstable mental state. She would be pissed, yes, but Hiruzen had to insist to himself that it was worth his pain."You... want me to be her guardian?," came Minato's incredulous cry. The poor man had been thrown for a loop, confusion and nervousness present in his normally calm and collected gaze.Sarutobi puffed a cloud of smoke, expression devoid of all emotion, "Would you be adverse to that, Minato-kun?" He lifted his gaze, heavy with judgment (though a good percentage of it was flawlessly and artificially placed to add a certain amount of weight to his demand), and Minato paled imperceptibly, but Hiruzen did not provide him with the time to speak, opting to solidify his demand."You will not be officially acknowledged as her guardian. You will simply provide her refuge, as well as a place in your team. I believe she would be more comfortable in the presence of those who saved her life, would she not?"The blonde hummed doubtfully, "In a normal situation, one would believe that she would, but," he sighed, "The girl seems to be... afraid of me."He narrowed his eyes in confusion, "And she is to be staying with me? Is she aware of this development?"The Sandaime raised his hands in thought, the appendages forming and arc below his chin, "I have yet to inform her."The nervousness radiating from the blonde - which would have been imperceptible to anyone who did not know him - was palpable to Hiruzen, and the man chuckled warmly to ease the Namikaze's unsettled thoughts, "Worry not, Minato-kun. I have no doubt that Mirai will warm up to you."

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

"It's not enough," Shikamaru snapped, the strands of his patience having worn thinner than ever. He wasn't the same anymore, she thought. "It's not enough, Naruto. We wont be able to get all of the civilians to safety in time."

Naruto paled, massaging her temples in hopes of relieving her oncoming headache and attempting to push her emotions away from the topic at hand. "I don't get it, why not? If we get over there now, we'll be able to evacuate the entire village before-"

The Nara growled lowly in frustration. "There aren't any more shinobi to spare, Naruto, you know that! Stop indulging yourself in these fantasies - we can't save everyone!"

The blonde recoiled, the flash of hurt that sparked in her eyes causing Shikamaru to sigh deeply in regret. "I'm sorry, Naru. We... we just can't avoid or deflect every attack. Taking a few hits is just something we have to do, and you need to accept that."

She screwed her eyes shut, giving a jerky and reluctant nod in response. She knew he was right. She knew that they had no time to evacuate everyone before Zetsu and Madara attacked. She knew they couldnt help, but it didn't make knowing that they were going to die, and that she was simply going to let them die, any easier.

This war was tearing everyone apart.
  "You did what!?"She seethed, voice afire with anger and tinged with betrayal. Her blue eyes darkened like black clouds before a storm, raging and turning with quiet fury. She was furious. The man had completely stepped over the barrier of his concern. (His interest should not have been invested in her personal attachments whatsoever, and the sheer amount of gall he has is simply appalling.) Her words were barely a whisper themselves, serving to accentuate the absolute distaste she held with his actions, a mix of aggression and defensiveness seeping into her coiled stance. "I have a mission, Sarutobi. I can't be hindered by--""Please calm yourself, Mirai-chan." Hiruzen chided, but his tone only served to to send another shocking bolt of cold fury into her veins, fists clenched and shaking with emotion.'Don't talk to me like that,' her mind spat at the man in a hateful whisper, 'I'm not a child.'"No, I will not calm myself! You forget who I am, Hiruzen. You have no right to make these choices without consulting me first, just as I have done with you!"Hiruzen's eyes darkened with frustration at her interruption, lips setting firmly into a grim line. "And you forget your place, Mirai. In this time, I am Hokage. My word us law, and as such, you will follow it," he commanded. Though, 'commanded' wasn't exactly the right word for it in reality, he knew. She had the power to defy him - that was no question - and if were to she pushed into doing it, he didn't doubt she would hesitate to leave the village, but fortunately for him, he knew that she was loyal, and the idea of defecting would never surface in her mind unless it was given reason to.And a reason to leave was something he - under no circumstance - planned to give her. Such a thing was much too costly."You will be under Minato's care for the foreseeable future. As I have already informed him of the change, you'll be moving in within the week," his tone softened, a sort of understanding swimming within his heavy gaze, "I am aware of your feelings towards to matter, child, I truly am - but you must make peace with your past."Past!? What past? She had no past with Minato, and it was her every intention to make sure she wouldn't make one!The blonde grit her teeth, any and all words dying on her lips because this was unfair. This was unfair, and unjust, and in her eyes, there was absolutely no reason for the change - but as it was she had no choice, because damn her, she was nothing if not loyal.She only hoped that loyalty would not turn it's back on her.The large wooden doors closed with a slam behind her, echoing hollowly - and the sound resonated deeply with the emptiness and anger in her heart - while her steps fell gradually heavier as she left.This was not supposed to be part of her plan.
They were not supposed to be part of her life.
  Minato had wisely kept his distance, watching with confusion - and no small amount of discomfort - as the small blonde paced in agitation and quiet anger. She'd been at it for quite a while too, tiny legs stomping in a rather impressive show of emotion as compared to the suppressed quakes of fear he'd seen only a week prior.Surprisingly enough, the blonde seemed to be so deep within her own thoughts that she appeared to be completely unaware of his presence - a shocking thing to consider, seeing how she was so starkly aware of him during their last meeting.Minato sighed, his back pressing the rough bark of the tree uncomfortably as he leaned against it.Her behavior was strange to say the least, especially in those moments where she really looked at him, cobalt eyes piercing as she studied his blonde hair, all the while tugging on a lock of her own, before dragging down to his face, eyeing every feature with impenetrable concentration until her blue eyes met his own.A flash of recognition would spark in those cobalt depths, followed by some sort of longing and hope, before they lapsed into tortured despair and pain, pain, pain. Then, she would catch herself and tear her gaze away, lowering her head and muttering swiftly under her breath.In those short moments, Minato would pretend he hadn't noticed the way she looked at him as if he were a ghost. In those moments he wouldn't make any indication that he knew of her inner turmoil - whether it was because somewhere, deep in his soul, he was afraid of what she saw in him or because he wanted to spare her from any added suffering, he didn't know.Either way, she was in some sort of pain, and Minato just couldn't fathom why or how he was a cause for it.(And for some reason beyond his knowledge, it hurt him as well.)But, emotional anomalies aside, the girl was under his care now, and Minato was not one to shirk his duty. Unfortunately, this particular assignment required a certain amount of caution due to the crucial fact that Mirai was a child and wasn't emotionally stable. She was uncomfortable with being in his general vicinity (a problem he had to rectify immediately because the guilt of causing a child to be so afraid of him was eating him alive). So, he decided it would be best to start with getting her better acquainted with his team as a whole.Which, of course, brought them to where they were now. It was still rather early in the morning, the sun having risen just high enough to be seen from the ground. There wasn't much of a breeze - barely a whisper of wind, in fact - but the air still held a slight chill, not quite cold enough to be uncomfortable.He and Mirai were on Team Seven's assigned training grounds, and the pair had been waiting for his team to show up. (Once again, he had made it a point to pretend he didn't notice the way that the little blonde had scanned the surrounding area, wistfulness evident in her peircing gaze as she paced and muttered anxiously.)It wasn't long before Rin showed up, breaking the tense silence that had settled between the matching blondes with her cheerful and exuberant greetings. Obito had, astonishingly, showed up not long after, still late, but somehow earlier than usual.And now Minato could only wonder what had happened to Kakashi - because Kakashi was never late.And once again, Minato found himself worried.Did something terrible happen? Kakashi wasn't one to break the rules - he, in fact, abhorred the mere idea of doing so. He was, much like Minato, not one to shirk his duties but his dislike for it was excessive to the point where whenever he witnessed anyone so much as mention going against any of the shinobi laws, he was there to verbally castrate them before threatening their career, (and then some).Tardiness just wasn't something Kakashi put up with, so why...?...For almost an hour Minato just waited, (and worried), listening to the quiet chatter between Obito and Rin, and pure silence on Mirai's part, until Kakashi finally showed.--Thickly coated in bright orange slime and glittering with red and gold sparkles. He was panting from exertion, obviously the result of running long distances at high speeds (because Kakashi had a good amount of stamina, and only a long chase would tire him to such an extent). His hands were propped on his knees while a long string of creative curses flowed freely from his mouth in low growls.It was only when Minato's dumbfounded gaze landed on Kakashi's bare forehead, did he register Mirai's loud cackling.Because printed boldly on the silver-haired boy's bare forehead, in thick, black marker, was 'Closet Pervert'.And Mirai was absolutely roaring with laughter."Mirai," the boy growled, onyx positively burning a whole in the girl with the heat of his glare. The blonde was impervious to his anger, though, tears of mirth streaming from her eyes as she collapsed onto the ground in a heap of giggles."You-" The boy cut himself off, opting instead to lunge at the blonde, pinning her further onto the ground and straddling her waist, his slime coated fingers pulling roughly on her hair.Mira yelped loudly. "Hey, wait, Kakashi - ow-! Wait, I'm sorry - OW! - Kakashi, STOP PULLING MY HAIR--"The Hatake pinched and pulled her cheeks, "Shut up, Mirai - you can't pull shit like this and get away with it!""Chu desgherved ish - agh!"Recovering from his shock, Minato quickly pulled his student off of the blonde and plastered on his best scolding face, "Alright, just what is going on here?"Kakashi's glare held strong, his arm whipping out to point rudely with his index finger, "She assaulted me on my way here!""You deserved it!," Mirai shot back as she rubbed her cheeks, both sides splotched red from the harsh pulling, "You were being such an asshole-"Minato choked. "Mirai, watch your language!"She crossed her arms petulantly in an attempt to hide scolded puppy expression that had flashed across her face. With a huff, the blonde whipped her head to the side."And you, Kakashi! Is that any way to greet the newest addition to our team?"Now it was Kakashi's turn to choke, "What!? This little brat is our new member?"Said 'brat' stuck her tongue at him, to which he responded by flipping her off.Minato slapped the offending hand away, "Kakashi, she's five!"The boy only snorted.And Minato was at a loss, because he was totally missing something. Kakashi's behavior was entirely abnormal. Of course, he had the occasional spat with Obito, but never had it crossed the line and caused him to act so immaturely - Minato himself had never seen him behave in such a way, and he'd known the boy since he was six! Such behaviour, he knew, would be extremely irritating to the boy if he were to witness another person acting in such a way, so why was he doing so now?Mirai, it seemed, brought out another person in Kakashi.(Breifly, he wondered if this is what the girl acted like on a normal day, when she wasn't under constant state of fear of him.)Minato held his silver haired student firmly by the collar to prevent him from once again tackling the blonde as she spat yet another snarky comment, "Alright, you two, cut it out."He shifted his gaze to a snickering Obito, sending a piercing message with his eyes, and the boy immediately stuck a fist in his mouth, quieting his laughter.Once he had successfully diverted their attention, Kakashi grudgingly rinsed the orange slime from himself in the nearby river (it completely stained his clothing, and he couldn't remove all of the sparkles from his hair), and Minato began to run through introductions, only to be reminded that Obito and Rin had already introduced themselves, and Kakashi (by circumstances in which he was still irritatingly unaware of) had previously met her - something which the boy didn't seem to be very happy about.Minato scratched the back of his neck nervously, unaware of Mirai's incredulous stare as her eyes followed the movement. "It seems that you and I are the only ones who have yet to be formally introduced," he turned to the blonde, dipping his head slightly, "Namikaze Minato. I'm the sensei of Team Seven."She plastered a grin on her face, the action stiff in a way that was almost imperceptible. "My name is Uzu-," she coughed. "I'm Mirai. It's a pleasure to officially meet you, Minato-sensei.""You as well, Mirai-chan. Alrighty then, we have a bit of a late start today..."  
Dim was the light that cast from the setting sun. It was red as blood in its hue, settling on the ash laden earth in a dull haze and reflecting harshly off of the dented metal that was strewn over the battlefield in so many forms.

That same metal was slick with a sickening mixture of fluid, unidentifiable in its nature. It dripped from ledges and limbs, from wounds and weapons, penetrating the polluted air even further with its stench and mixing with ash and dust, forming a toxic paste that clung to every surface it so much as grazed.

Her eyes glazed over each and every lifeless body. All of these people... all of these people were just trying to protect their homes, their loved ones, their lives. They wanted to live in peace, unbothered and happy, safe in the place which althey call home. They just wanted to be free.

All of these people had banded together for a single cause; peace.

Or, at least some form of it.

They all wanted the same thing. They all just wanted to be free from Kaguya's clutches.

But nothing... nothing could stop her now. The shinobi were all but deceased.The weakest had gone early, slaughtered in droves within seconds of contact with the enemy. It wasn't long until they were wiped out, along with every last nin in the alliance.

Now, only a few of her comrades remained.

The civilians had finally clued into reality - as much as it pained her to use the term. They had finally begun to acknowledge the sacrifices that were made for them and...

And once the shinobi army was all but gone, the civilians had taken up what measly arms that they had and they just fought. They fought because they knew that though world was unable to be redeemed, they were unwilling to let it be taken without a fight.

They were unwilling to back down.

Their bravery and sacrifice was inevitably fruitless, but they died with the knowledge that they tried, and to them, that was enough...
  "...-rai-chan? Mirai!""Huh?," she jolted, attention whipping to meet Minato's... concerned gaze. Warm shadows cast over his features, slowly sharpening into darker shapes as the sun set below the treeline. The remaining rays of light created orange sparks of molten light in his blue eyes. He crouched lowly so as to meet her gaze and gently shook her shoulder."You seemed to be pretty deep in thought there." A crease formed between his brows, "You okay?"It took every ounce of strength to refrain from flinching at the genuine concern in his electric blue eyes, and she nodded. Unable to continue meeting his gaze as she lied, she turned away in shame."I'm fine." 
'...
Liar.'

'You are such a liar.'

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The air between the two blondes was spiked with distinct waves of awkwardness - the majority of it, of course, being caused by Mirai's unwillingness to speak or acknowledge the man beside her in any sort of way.The day was nearing its inevitable end, the sun casting molten rays of gold and orange and maroon to flood the village. The bleeding colors of the sky painted the trees and buildings with glowing colors, reflecting off of glass, wood, and faded paint, and creating a kaleidoscope of warm hues to illuminate the faces of the busy market's inhabitants. Leaves swayed with a warm and gentle breeze, one that lapped at Mirai's face in a tender caress, playing happily with the windblown and messy wisps of her bangs.Stubbornly, the girl kept her head angled ahead of her, eyes trailing across the market with plastic interest as she rather pointedly refused to acknowledge the presence beside her.Unfortunately, ignoring the man was proving to be a difficult task - Minato was undoubtedly charismatic, his friendly, warm, and disarming smile filling her with the warmth of a rising sun and the guilt of a killer. It was becoming increasingly clear that her intentions of keeping everyone away from by her heart were being smashed mercilessly.As of now, the pair was travelling at a rather sedate pace to Minato's home. Minato's home.
Her father's home.
And Kushina... would she be there too? Her mother could be waiting for her at home, and that thought made her so terrified and so happy--'Shut up,' she warned herself, the words reverberating in her mind. This wasn't her home. Her home was gone, destroyed, crushed by a boulder that--(Smashed his bones with a sickening series of crunches and snaps, grinding them to nothing more than dust. A cough escaped his lips, blood spraying in a way that was painfully similar to hers. His lips moved, mouth forming words that he didn't have the breath (or lungs) to speak aloud.
'Dead,' her mind screamed, 'Dead. He's dead-!'

But he wasn't dead. He wouldn't be for at least a couple of hours. Not that it mattered. He might as well be dead, because she couldn't save him. She knew she couldn't and he knew she couldn't.

But she stayed with him, held his hand until the light faded from his dark eyes, glazing with the white frost of vacancy.

"Goodbye, Yamato-taichou."
She had failed again, and it hurts.)Mirai snapped back to her senses, a warm weight settling heavily on her shoulder, effectively pulling her feet to a stumbling halt. Minato stared down at her warily, "Back into your thoughts again, Mirai?"She cleared her throat nervously, absentmindedly noticing that due with the distraction her thoughts gave her, the air of awkwardness that had swarmed her person had gradually been replaced with something that was weighed down with darkness, dense and painful - and the change hadn't gone unnoticed by Minato in the slightest."Sorry," she cleared her throat once again, "Did... did you say something?"The man gave a small yet reassuring smile, but the glint in his eyes told Mirai that he hadn't overlooked this little incident, "I was asking if you've enjoyed your time in the village so far?""Ah, it's... very similar to my old home, actually," she responded in a nearly indiscernible mumble, eyes travelling lazily to count the puffy clouds. Beautiful shades of pink, purple, and royal blue tinted the cotton-like shapes, blurring at the edges and inking the sky.'Shikamaru would have loved to see this.'The blonde tilted his head in interest, "How so?"The girl blinked, and he flinched regretfully when her petal pink lips twitched downwards and several expressions flashed across her young features, too subtle and too quick for him to discern. Her eyes lowered, peeling away from the clouds and watching her foot distractedly as she kicked a pebble, the small rock clacking dully as it bounced off of the beaten road."The architecture was almost identical in design. Much like here, the villagers were out at absurd hours, always finding something to busy themselves with - whether it was entertainment in the form of music and dance, or shopping sprees and crazed festivals," the grin that had ghosted it's way on her face as she spoke flickered out, eyes dimming uncertainly. "But... at the same time, the villagers weren't so happy, I guess."At his questioning gaze, the girl elaborated, some amount of hesitation and uncertainty in her words, as if she wasn't sure she should be speaking, "There was always a sort of... fear, I suppose-"She cut herself short, "You grew up here, didn't you?"Minato's eyes narrowed, his curiosity piquing. He had an uncountable amount of questions, the large pile brimming over in his mind - because Minato was a naturally curious person, a side effect of his genius, many speculated - and he had an insatiable desire to learn, and solve, and discover. But for now, he ignored the not-so-subtle change of topic, nodding in confirmation even though the girl hadn't turned her head to see it."As far as I know, yes. I never knew my parents," he admitted with a small shrug, "They passed away when I was too young to remember, so I grew up in the orphanage. It's--""About five blocks thattaway," the girl cut in, gesturing behind them in an almost dismissive manner. Minato glanced at her in muted surprise, to which she responded with a halfhearted shrug. "Saw it the other day, when I was... exploring," she mumbled.Minato opened his mouth to respond, only to cut himself off as his eyes landed on the familiar small house in front of him. It was a subtle, faded blue, with two stories and a traditional porch wrapping around the front exterior. Yellow and red flowers spotted the window box planters, the colorings popping out cheerfully and giving a welcoming aura to the quaint home.A grin spread across Minato's face, "This is it!"Mirai eyed the small, two storied house with no small amount of guilt and longing in her chest, and with uncertain steps, she followed her father, shifting her weight between her feet nervously as he fiddled with his keys. The porch was white, the paint just beginning to crack and peel with age at the corners of the carefully cut lumber. Handpainted vines curled around in twirling patterns on the off-white background, connecting in fluid strokes with pink rosebuds and yellow daffodils. The cutesy design traversed across the entirety of the railing, crawling vibrantly over the edges of the front windows until they met at the top of the doorway, both ends forming a perfect loop in the center. The loop framed two initials, both stroked carefully and lovingly in a pale yellow, 'N. M., U. K.'Her chest tightened painfully, fist clenching her shirt as she gulped down the lump in her throat and willed her eyes to stay dry.'This isn't fair.'The door, navy blue in color, opened with a slight creak once Minato managed to unlock it, and the man stepped inside, flicking the lights on and kicking off his shoes in a manner that betrayed his comfort in the homely environment.Upon entering, she was immediately greeted with a small foyer. A shoe rack sat to her right, and a coat hanger was tucked in the corner to her left. The foyer opened into a wide livingroom, a small kitchen sitting just past it, and a set of wooden stairs.Minato grinned warmly at her."Kushina's out on a diplomatic mission for the next few weeks. She doesn't normally go out of the village, but this particular one begs for her influence on certain topics, so for the most part you wont have to worry about her being absent from the village the same way that I will be when I have missions without my cute little chuunins." He ruffled her locks as he passed by her, "I know you probably wouldn't want to stay in an empty house, so I hope that's a small comfort for you."Mirai only nodded silently in response, numbly toeing off her shoes and forcing her fingers to put a stop to their trembling.She'd lived alone her entire life. She'd be fine on her own a few days.
("The Kannabi Bridge mission was the result of failed negotiations between Konoha and several other involved parties," Obito ran a hand through his black hair, grimacing in disgust when streaks of dirt and flakes of dried blood smeared on his hand with the action. "The bridge was the main route taken by Iwa's merchants, traders, brokers, traffickers - you name it.

"If we time it right, you'll hopefully make it there before the mission. Kushina was actually one of the diplomats assigned to negotiate - the weight of her title as clan head and her moniker, 'Red Hot Habanero', was something that the council had hoped would sway the opposition into abandoning trade with Iwa, that way it would weaken the entire village as a whole. Unfortunately, the negotiations with Iwa's providers fell through despite that.

"As long as you keep an eye on Kushina's--," A look of realization and slight shock crossed his features, and he threw a glance in her direction, eyes dimming regretfully at the forgiving smile that bloomed on Mirai's soot-smeared face. "Your... mother's," he corrected, "...whereabouts, then you'll be able to tell when it's coming."

"She left for that particular mission only a month or two before Team Minato was tasked with the destruction of the bridge. You probably won't be able to help with any political aspects, so you'll have to deal with the fallout rather than killing the problem at its source.")
So it was that time already. It made her anxious, knowing that with the Kannabi Bridge mission would be initiated in such a short amount of time, but reassurance accompanied the uncomfortable feeling in her chest. She had time, little as it was, and she planned on using it.She was snapped out of her thoughts when Minato's deep voice called from the kitchen. The blonde leaned his head into the hallway with a grin, a spatula dangling loosely on his index finger, "You hungry?"  Dinner was a quiet affair, the silent and slightly awkward air broken only by the occasional clinking of dishes or creaking of the wooden chairs. Minato had whipped up the meal in record time, giving a quiet chuckle at the unconcealed awe in Mirai's gaze as she watched him move about the kitchen with a speed that she swore was impossible when it came the cooking. He had rather casually informed her that, "Kushina gets grumpy when she's hasn't eaten. Trust me, nobody wants to be on the bad side of a hangry Kushina! ...Don't tell her I said that."Mirai was pleasantly surprised to find that her father was an astounding cook as well, and despite her numerous attempts to keep her thoughts from so much as touching the topic of family, she wondered if her mother was equally as gifted with culinary skill.She, herself, was incapable of anything more complicated than boiling water for ramen - that is to say, she was quite terrible at cooking more savory and health-oriented meals. On more than a few occasions throughout her life from Before, orphaned and alone, she had definitely attempted to gain at least some experience with the art, but alas, it was simply impossible for her to make anything remotely edible while simultaneously preserving her fingers from the wrath of her knife.Nevermind that she was a kunoichi that dealt with kunai on a daily basis - kitchen knives paired with meat and vegetables were the bane of her existence and simply didn't agree with her.She liked to think she was adept at baking, though. Whipping up a variety of cakes, cookies, and numerous confections became a hobby as easy as breathing, becoming a close second to even pranking. It was something she had begun to dabble with after the colorful cussing fit and raging tantrum she had thrown when she finally clued into the blatant fact that she sucked at cooking.She conceded that were someone to teach her how to cook, she would jump at the opportunity and try her very best - but as it was, she turned her back on the mere concept of cooking for herself, which had inevitably led to her addiction (yes, she had, in fact, admitted to herself that it was an addiction) to the Food of the Gods, Almighty Ramen.What had initially been her favorite food became her primary source of food, (because none of the grocery stores or restaurants aside from Ichiraku's wouldn't let her so much as touch their stalls), save for the times that Iruka-sensei forced her to eat vegetables - which she would be eternally grateful for, because if not for him she would have keeled over by now--Her heart burned in her chest with the knowledge that she would never know Iruka in the same way again, and the food felt and tasted like burning ash in her mouth."Thank you for the meal, Minato-sensei. It was delicous," she said quietly, voice just above a nervous whisper. The words left her lips feeling as if they were spoken by somebody else, and she internally winced at the sheer vulnerability her tone radiated. But that was okay, she supposed, because at least it would distract her from her thoughts.His eyes flitted to her half-finished plate, confusion swirling lightly in his chakra, but he smiled tenderly nonetheless, seeming to come to some sort of conclusion in his mind."It's no problem, Mirai-chan," he stood, feigning ignorance at the way she flinched away from him as he collected her plate from the table. Her eyes trailed his form as a dissapeared into the kitchen, the dish clacking faintly on what she could only guess was either the counter or sink, before emerging only a moment later. He stopped, tilting his head slightly as he stared tenderly at her. She avoided his gaze."You look tired," he murmured softly, almost as if talking to himself.And she was tired. She hadn't even realized it before, exhaustion being the last thing on her mind between being forcefully initiated into a new team and moving in with her parents. The sheer physical and mental fatigue hadn't even surfaced in her line of awareness, but with his words, it seemed as if a switch had been flicked, and exhaustion had suddenly caught up with her undeveloped body. She blinked slowly, unable to restrain herself from rubbing her fist against her eye in an attempt to rid the pinpricking sensation that came with her exhausted state, and nodded tiredly.Minato hid a gentle smile behind his hand, "Let's see your room, hm?"   Mirai wasn't like Sasuke - the type to seek retribution for every unjust or unfair act against her person. Really, despite the fact that it was genuinely impossible for her to accurately count the number of times she'd been wronged in the past, she was never one to immediately retaliate. Ever since his clan was massacred, Sasuke seemed to be almost immune to most violence. At the time, nobody thought to wonder why. Which was a mistake, they later learned. A monumental mistake. Most passed it off as simple side effects of witnessing a crime so disturbing as the Massacre - another mistake, because he was supposed to have gotten therapy, but he didn't. Somehow, that was overlooked, and the consequences were severe. It was the blindness of the supposed leaders of Konohagakure that was that leading cause of his defection. Too many signs were overlooked, too many blatantly obvious signs were completely ignored - Sasuke wasn't given the treatment he needed and they paid for it. Mirai didn't have a natural tendency for violence - no matter how numb she was to it now. She and the Kyuubi worked together harmoniously now. No longer was she prone to fits rage, fueled by Kurama's own anger--(Flashes of blue eyes and long blonde hair, slick with blood, assaulted her vision. She regretted it - she truly did--)She shook her head roughly, crushing the memory down. She never actively sought bloodshed. That was the point.But, let it never be said that she didn't enjoy a bit of petty revenge on occasion.Okay, so technically, the man she was currently devising a plan to assault had never done anything to her - at least not yet - but when she saw him, she couldn't help bit remember that one time from Before, where he rudely - and spitefully - denied her entry into the Academy on her first day, looking down his nose with disdain. He stiffly informed her in a nasally voice that monsters weren't allowed to become ninjas.The words had stung, and it had taken everything for her not to cry, but she had managed - crying only made them angry, after all, because monsters weren't allowed to cry-- But, personal matters aside, the man was still an asshole - it was because of that that Mirai had decided to send him a small gift.Privy to the knowledge that she loves to bake, one would also know that that particular hobby quickly became something that had sort of meshed together with one of her other hobbies; pranking. The lovely gift that Mirai had opted to send was a simple orange cake - not chocolate, because chocolate was her absolute favorite, and she refused to violate it in such a way - generously iced with orange flavored frosting and a few choice fillings. These 'fillings' were, of course, the main attraction, and they weren't at all hard to acquire - (the alleyways of Konoha, especially in the Red Light District, were chock full of nasty bugs and creepy crawlers, after all.) With a sensitive exploding tag, rigged to activate when in contact with a specific type of metal, in this case, steel (because hello, kitchen knives), and a saccharine smile, the prank went as smoothly as her flawlessly spread buttercream.Well, technically that's a lie... she didn't exactly know that he was headed for T and I, where he subsequently left it in their break room, but it still went rather swimmingly, she supposed, because most of the people in that building had done her wrong anyway.Collateral damage could sometimes act as sweet revenge.Though, this sweet revenge in particular seemed to come with unfortunate consequences - that is, her detection. It didn't take that long for them to discover her location, which she immediately blamed on the effect Kurama had on her chakra, and the chase ensued.She had to hand it to this generation, these chuunin weren't slackers.But they still weren't enough.The civilians were but blurs of color as she passed them, chakra boosting her sprint as she weaved through the thick croud, using their superior height as a cover for her small form. The air swooshed loudly in her ears, dust swirling in a trail behind her."Get back here, you little brat!"And that particular cry of rage came from her main victim as he chased after her, colorful curses flowing from his mouth all the while. A giggle poured from her lips, and she skirted around a civilian girl, spinning lightly on her left foot to avoid colliding into a rather wealthy looking trader. A fluid twist of her body ensured her ability to dodge under a moving cart, emerging as a blur of black and yellow, and she darted forward, aiming to use the short stretch of road before her as a jump path to access the rooftops - then, in an instant, that space was filled. She let out a cry of alarm, but a glimpse of widening onyx was the only thing she was able to catch before she crashed straight into the boy, and the pair tumbled to the ground in a messy tangle of limbs.Mirai groaned loudly, slowly raising her aching head from the warm and admittedly soft surface she had landed on.Wait, warm?She shrieked, arms flailing as she flung herself off of him, jumping back offendedly, "What the hell!?"The boy groaned, "I feel like a boulder just landed on my stomach.""As you should! Where the hell did you even come from!?"In a flash, he was on his feet, seemingly recovered as he looked down at her bemusedly, "I should be asking you that. Why are you running anywa-""Shh!," she slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide in panic as she dragged him behind a nearby vendor's stand. Pressing a forceful palm on his head, she shoved him down roughly. "Sorry," she whispered breathlessly, "But you're stuck with me now."He peered over her shoulder, eyes travelling to the cussing chuunin warily, "What did you do?"She clapped a hand over her mouth in a desperate attempt to keep her gleeful chuckle from escaping, "Call it payback. The guy is a bonafide ass, dattebane."She eyed him, and the smirk that curled at the edges of her lips, sly and cunning as a fox, told him that he really was stuck with her. "What's your name?""Uchiha Shisui," he replied skeptically, "What's--"The chuunin ran by their makeshift hiding spot, tucked behind a stack of wooden cartons, and her hand forced Shisui's head down once more. The man flailed in anger, trails of sticky orange frosting splatting messily on the ground, globs of the stuff smacking loudly as it dripped from his flack jacket and hair. A clump of worms and roaches wriggled grossly in the goopy substance, squirming around on the unfortunate man as he squealed comically in disgust, simultaneously spitting out curses involving blonde hair and 'tiny imps in the form of a child--!'.It was then that Mirai could no longer contain it, and she collapsed to the ground in peals of laughter, the gleeful noise bubbling freely from her lips, no doubt being heard from at least two blocks away. The raven-haired boy stifled his own chuckles, the confusion swirling in his chakra telling her that he still had no idea what was going on - and yet, she noted with surprise, he was still appropriately amused.The unnamed chuunin finally left, her laughter going unheard by him over his own curses, and she wheezed, barely recovering from her lengthy laughing fit. "Ah, what a rush!""What's going to be a rush is the fallout of this little stunt of yours!"She froze at the voice, limbs winding up for a quick getaway, but just as she bolted forward, she was roughly yanked back by the collar, "Ack!""Mirai."The sheer calm that filled in his voice sent chills down her spine, and she twisted her neck, laughing sheepishly as she met her father's stern gaze. "Y-yes, Minato-sensei?"A tight-lipped glare was all she was given in response, and the orange blob of frosting that dripped down his nose landed on the ground with a splat that seemed to echo abnormally in her ears.A nervous chuckle escaped her, "...Oops?"

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Naruto had bolted up before Sasuke came within a close enough distance to shake her awake, her body and senses alike too alert to allow herself to slip into a deep sleep. War had been going on for what seemed like an eternity. No longer could she rest uninterrupted while any other being moved nearby, living or otherwise.

("Paranoia," the medic had told her, blunt and apathetic. "It's common during times of war."

'It's common sense,' her mind had whispered in response, something feral and defensive growling harshly beneath the soft tone of its exterior. 'Vigilence and caution. One would be a absolute fool to ignore their instincts.)

"There's something out there," he muttered, sharingan glowing strangely in the dim light of the cave as he crouched by her side. She heaved herself onto her feet, coughing harshly when her broken ribs grated agonizingly against her lung. Each cough rattled her chest roughly, blood dribbling from her chin, and she cursed, forming a thousand scenarios in her mind about the many ways in which she'd love to murder Kaguya.

That little shit screwed up her sensory radius.

Sasuke frowned at her, a stubborn, reluctant sort of worry pooling in his chakra. "Shouldn't you have healed by now?"

"Kurama's tired," she sighed, voice hoarse from screaming, and shook her head. "He's been feeding me shitloads of chakra non-stop for weeks. My pathways are strained as it is; any more and they might be damaged for good--"

Another fit of hoarse coughs escaped her, and her eyes stung with pain. "Who's out there, Sasuke?"

His sharingan blinked slowly, trailing a chakra form that she couldn't see. 'Or feel,' she thought bitterly. She had the Rabbit Goddess to thank for that.

A grimace befell Sasuke's pale and ashy features. "Something, Naruto. It's... it's not a person."

"...Not a person? Is it a tailed beast? I would've felt it by now, even with my senses as messed up as they are--"

She cut herself off. There. A small blip of chakra poked at her weakened senses, barely grazing the edges. It was familiar in a way that brought a delirous smile to her features, eyes glossy with joy, and Sasuke's previous words abandoned her mind instantly. "It's Hinata!"

Sasuke roughly pulled her back before she had the chance to bolt from the confines of the dirty cave, and the look that he sent her, grave and doubtful, sent a chill down her spine. He stared at her for a moment, a line forming between his brows, and his mouth pulled down at the corners as if he was trying to figure something out.

"Naruto."

She tilted her head, glaring at him in confusion, "What's wrong, Sasuke? Hinata's out there! We have to make sure she's-"

"Hinata is dead."

At that, her world stilled, mouth dropping open in shock, and she remembered. She remembered, clearly, because (Oh Kami, how could she forget?) she was there. Hinata was there, and then she was gone, blowing away as a swirling pile of grey and black ash in a matter of seconds.

Naruto wasn't able to do anything but scream and yell in rage. (Angry, she was so, so angry. She hated everything. She hated everyone. She hated them, she hated them).

"Oh," was all that she could say, and Sasuke placed a firm hand on her shoulder. His eyes searched her face, as if making sure she truly comprehended his words, before his eyes snapped to the mouth of the cave, lips opening once more. Urgency and wariness colored his tone, and the unfamiliar expression that crossed his normally apathetic features forced her from her stupor.

"It's coming."
  "I don't know if I should be angry or impressed," Minato huffed, running a hand through his spiky locks and grimacing at the sticky, orange frosting that stuck to his hand following the action. He hadn't managed to succeed in removing all of it, it seemed. "But I think I'll settle on the former."He frowned at his newest student, (who, despite his efforts to figure her out, seemed to just get increasingly confusing as a person), and her onyx-eyed partner-in-crime admonishingly. "Well? Care to tell me why you decided to bomb T and I the way you did?"Neither of the two responded, and somehow, Minato had the gut feeling that the boy, ("Shisui," Mirai had informed him, rudely jerking her thumb at the boy in question, "He's a cool dude, unlike that closet pervert you call your student."), was not a willing participant, but he refused to release either of them until he had answers.The Uchiha seemed entirely confused, though a bit sheepish at having been caught with the main culprit, and he simply sat in his place with a nervous and awkward smile on his features. Mirai, on the other hand, had snapped to attention when he had asked the question, and she looked at him with some twisted form of horror present on her features.It didn't take long for Minaro to realize why, because the moment his eyes met hers, her body went ridged and her attitude completely shut down.'She forgot who she was talking to,' he realized, and a mouth formed a grim line. 'She got caught up in the moment and didn't realize that she was actually talking to me-- or the Yellow Flash... that's all that she sees me as, isn't it?'His heart sank that much further when her silent rejection of him truly sank in, and the girl crossed her arms petulantly as she glared fiercely at the ground, refusing to bring her eyes any higher.'This kid.'The blonde ran a hand down his face with a sigh, turning his thoughts back to the matter at hand. It was a bit unnerving - the fact that such a tiny child had managed to wiggle a bomb into one of Konoha's main shinobi centers.When the explosive had first been set off, Minato had been one of the furthest from it. Because of that, he hadn't been much affected, and with his clear mind, he had managed to grasp from the many frazzled chuunins rather incoherent blubberings that the explosive was apparently hidden in a cake.A cake giften to them by an innocent, sweet little blue-eyed blonde girl.That tidbit of information had almost given him a heart attack.Though the explosive itself was relatively harmless, it brought to light a huge flaw in the general defenses of the T and I center, (and subsequently exposed the rather inadequate cognitive functioning of a certain chuunin), which he supposed was a good thing--'No. No, really, I shouldn't even go there,' he scolded himself mentally for a moment, because what the girl had done was definitely not something to condone, no matter how helpful it may have been.It worried him, really. (A lot of things had been worrying him lately, for that matter.) Because now Mirai had gone and made herself even more confusing and interesting, and he wasn't sure if he could go any longer without satisfying his curiosity.She'd smuggled a hidden bomb into T and I.She had smuggled a fūinjutsu explosive into the Torture and Interrogation Center.And, Minato had concluded after a brief inspection of the remnants of the explosion, that it was a steel-activated fūinjutsu explosive.A five year old girl had single handedly managed to sneak a steel-activated fūinjutsu explosive into what was supposed to be one of Konohagakure's most protected facilities.
Holy shit.
He ran a hand through his golden locks once again, the action compelled by equal parts frustration and amazement.Just who was this girl?Outside the rampant thoughts of his own mind, there was silence alone, thick and tense, only broken by the gentle, even breeze. Minato forced himself from his stupor."Shisui-kun," the boy's dark eyes nervously met his, and Minato jerked his head lightly to the right as a sign that he was free to go. "I'll talk with you later," he said lowly, for the boy's ears only, and the Uchiha nodded uncertainly, departing in a silent shunshin."Are you kidding me!?," Mirai whipped her head up, gaping in disbelief and seemingly once again forgetful of who she was speaking to, "You dont even know what happened! He could be just as much at fault as I am!"She fisted her hands defensively at the apparent injustice, and Minato silently wondered why she was so scared of being treated unfairly."You misjudge my intentions," Minato's eyes locked with the girl's, cold and hard, and she flinched at the sheer disappointment swimming in his blue gaze. "Shisui will receive his due punishment - one that corresponds with just how involved he was. I give everyone I know the respect they deserve and I treat them equally, Mirai-chan."He knew his tone had been harsh, but if there was something about himself that he knew for a fact - it was that unjust treatment was something he would never, ever turn a blind eye to, and the insinuation that he would treat anybody in such a way was something that made him raise his own defenses.She gave a jerky nod, shoulders tensing at his words, and her hung her head low, long blonde locks obscuring her face from his view as her tiny fingers dug deeply into the soil she sat upon. She looked vulnerable, like someone who had hidden behind a wall of strength for far too long, and that wall had come tumbling down, crashing into nothing but dust and leaving only her, exposed and defenseless.'But she is far from defenseless', a voice whispered in the recesses of Minato's mind, words as slick and as sharp as a snakes. 'Wounded and broken, but not defenseless.'The voice was right, he had to admit to himself. It is the cornered animals who are known to be those who fight harder and fiercer and more desperately than any other. It is the cornered animals that are the most dangerous.Her small form, thin and guarded, somehow brushed the dust from an old memory of his - one not forgotten, yet one he had not thought back to in what felt like years - and for a fleeting moment, Mirai seemed the slightest bit older. She was taller, her features rounder and slimmer--And her hair was red, burning brightly despite the dark of the night. Even under the thick canopy of leaves it burned in glowing crimson flames. Her eyes were a stunning violet, holding fear and determination and newfound admiration. Newfound love.Kushina.Gone. The moment the image had seared itself into his mind, the illusion dissapeared like a ghost, flames of burning red and violet simmering to bright and glowing gold and blue.And her features were sharper, yet still holding that same softness that screamed his wife's name. Uzumaki.
Could she really be...?
The thought vanished, though, as he further studied her features. Mirai's eyes were narrower than Kushina's, lashes a dark blonde, thick and elongated and framing a endless sea of blue. Deep blue, in so many shades and holding so much emotion back - so much knowledge. Her nose was sharper,  and her skin was tan, golden instead of Kushina's pale rose complexion.Minato sucked in a breath, unable to stop the action despite all his years as a shinobi, because--Because in her, he saw not only Kushina, but himself. In her, he saw the undying love of the Uzumaki and the horrid pain of one who had been through worse than war. In her, he saw Jiraiya and Tsunade, Obito and Kakashi--
Kushina. Himself.
The resemblance she had to the both of them was uncanny, and that was both confusing and disturbing--She stood up, breaking him from his thoughts, and his eyes widened in surprise as she crossed her arms self-consciously, her blue eyes flitting nervously to avoid his gaze."I get it," her voice broke, barely reaching a whisper. She winced at her tone and cleared her throat roughly, repeating her words with more confidence. "I get it, okay? I'm sorry. I won't do it again, just please stop... stop glaring at me like that."Her tone lost its forced confidence and she trailed off, her small arms tightening painfully around eachother. Minato suppressed a guilty wince; he hadn't noticed he was glaring. Her resemblance to Kushina had caught him so off guard his mind had pretty much gone into overdrive trying to process the amount of similarities Mirai's features had with his wife. (And himself. She looked so much like him. He was an orphan. He didn't have family aside from Kushina, so why did she look so much like them both--?)He banished his thoughts away, and smiling apologetically, he patted her head gently. "Sorry, Mirai-chan. I didn't mean it."She looked up at him confusedly, blue doe eyes glimmering with a mixture of fear and confusion as she debated on whether she should believe his words. Minato blinked at her, fully taking in her features from this angle... and then reached down and pinched her chubby cheeks.She blinked, too stunned for a moment to do anything else until she fully processed what he'd just done - until her cheeks promptly flared into a beautiful red that rivalled Kushina's hair. She stuttered out a few incoherent sentences, clapping her pudgy hands over had face in an attempt the hide her flaming red blush.Gods, this kid was too cute for her own good.Minato grinned, eyes glimmering with mischief. He truly had the cutest chuunin of all, and he didn't mind keeping her one bit, no matter how troublesome she may be.Smiling to himself, he dumped his thoughts and suspicions to the deepest recesses of his mind. The Hokage trusted her enough to help fight for their cause, and she was only a child, one who needed every bit of care she could get. If not-so-harmless pranks came with the bundle that was Mirai, he would just have to deal with it as patiently as he could.(But she looked so much like Kushina... So much like him.)  
"It's coming."

Sasuke words hung heavily in the Naruto's heart. No wind or noise other than their own breathing broke the still atmosphere, their warm breath visible as it puffed into the frigid air. The pair crouched lowly behind the rocky outcrop of the cave's mouth, waiting silently for the enemy to appear.

Hinata. That was Hinata's chakra, Naruto could feel it. Their was no mistaking the feel of one's chakra signature, and Hinata's was one that reminded her of lavender and honey, of warmth and happiness - as if she was cuddled up by a blazing fire, slowly sipping a calming tea as it snowed lazily outside.

But Hinata was dead, and accompanying the chakra signature that Naruto knew without a doubt was the Hyuuga's, was something sickly. It curled around the joyful lavender and warm honey like a disease, suppressing it and clouding it with something that grated against her damaged senses like a black sludge and rock, slimy and rough.

She traced the signature as well as she could with the damage done to her system, but the task had luckily begun to get progressively easier as it moved closer.

Her breath caught and she clapped a hand over her mouth as she felt bile rise in her throat.

Disgusting.

That was not Hinata.

It... it looked like Hinata. It had her face, but even her features were damaged beyond repair, barely discernible beneath heavy layers of ash and blackened slime. The slime acted as a glue, mixing with the ash to form a sickly gray paste that held its body together.  Gooey black dripped from its mouth, from its eyes and nose, and its head was tilted back at an odd angle - as if the thing didnt have the muscles to hold it up. From that awkward, unnatural angle, it stared, eyes straining to meet with hers. They were white, not the white of the Byakugan, but a white that was tinted a pale, gross yellow, glazed with death. Soulless.

So disgusting. Not Hinata.

Naruto stared in horror. It was weak. It was so, so weak. It wasn't meant for fighting. It wasn't meant to do damage - not even to attempt an assassination while they were asleep. Its decaying limbs struggled to hold themselves, legs being crushed under its own weight because they were too soft - too rotten.

This was a walking corpse. Hinata's body had collapsed into ash, and Kaguya had built it up again.

As a mockery. Naruto couldn't save her closest friends, how could she save the world?

As a message. Hinata was one of the first, but Naruto would be next - reduced to a mindless, soulless zombie that had no purpose other than to warn the last of the human race that there was no such thing as hope.

Kaguya was taunting her. Telling Naruto that she was too weak. She was going to lose. She was going to let everybody down. Her parents, her teachers, her comrades, her village.

Herself.

"Na..."
It spoke. Its mouth moved slowly, choked rasps escaped its cracked and bleeding lips, blood and slime bubbling out as it struggled to form words. It sounded inhuman, its voice more of a muted, soundless scream. Almost as if it had lost its ability to truly speak. (Because it had. Hinata wasn't in there, and Hinata no longer spoke. )
"Na-ru-to... I... tr-... ust... you."

Naruto threw herself to the side and vomited, hands and knees digging painfully into the rocks. Her broken ribs rattled and scraped against her lungs, serving to further her violent, choked heaving and cause strings of dark blood to color her bile. Her back warmed slightly, blocked from the frigid air as Sasuke wrapped his arms around her, gently pulling her hair back from her face.

How dare she make a corpse speak the last words of one who lived.

"That bitch," she roughly swallowed the acid that burned her throat and the hopeless sob that threatened to escape her, "I'm going to kill her."

Hinata was the first walking corpse, but she certainly wasn't the last.
  Belonging to a Team Seven that didn't include Sasuke and Sakura was too strange. Mirai was already in a different dimension now - one that she'd pretty much created with her own hands by separating if from the river of Time - so one would think nothing could make her feel more out of place.Apparently, one would be wrong.There was a total of three Team Sevens Before, but now she'd been inserted into the second instead of the third, twenty years into the past, in the body of a fricking toddler - and without two of her closest friends.Kakashi was alive, but it wasn't Kakashi-sensei, so any sort of personal feelings she had for him were nonexistent in this stubborn, stupid little boy's eyes.This one was a total asshole, but that she'd expected, since Kaka-sensei had warned her and apologized in advance. Regardless, Kakashi was still Kakashi, even if it wasn't her Kakashi, and he didn't deserve the horrible things he went through, so she would change that.Sighing, Mirai secured her kunai pouch to her thigh and wrapped black bandages over the entirety of her right arm, and effectively hiding her seals from sight. Nobody but Minato knew they were there, and she intended on keeping it that way. Specialty seals were a rarity in these times, and any sort of fūinjutsu seal that was activated on a person's skin was something that would surely attract attention.As of now, attention wasn't something she needed. She had gained some from the village already. The chuunin were rather suspicious, and any mention or sighting of a blonde, blue-eyed little girl they'd jump on like chimpanzees to a banana. T and I? Well they're suspicious of everybody, but Mirai honestly suspected that Hiruzen had shut down any questions concerning her person, considering they definitely would have been hounding her about her little stunt by now.In hindsight, it was rather stupid of her. Once again, she'd jumped in and didn't think anything through and now she was receiving the consequences.She didn't regret it though. Their reactions were priceless and totally worth it. Besides, it's not like anyone was going to figure out that she was from the future without inside information, which of course was something they'd never get. Her actions were eye-catching, but only within the walls of the village, and most of the future-changing work that she'd be doing would be either undercover or with her team. They might be watching Mirai, but they wouldn't know the face of the person behind a mask.She had a mask, and she had a plan.Mirai sighed dramatically. She also had training with her new team in two minutes, and she was late.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Mirai shivered, barely-there goosebumps forming on her skin at the slight chill in the air. Golden strands caressed her flushed cheeks, unbound and lifted up by the gentle breeze, and grass tickled her knees where she sat, crosslegged and leaning lightly against a tree. Her hands quickly folded into a ram seal, tiny features falling into a slight frown. Too slow. Her fingers were stiff and slow in this newer, younger body. They didnt move as deftly as they had Before, when her hands were rough and calloused, scarred by too many blades and too many mistakes.Her hands were soft now. Soft and pudgy. Small. The hands of a murderer shouldn't be so small. It felt so... wrong. She felt wrong. Deceitful. Every step that she took was a lie to Minato, to Kushina and Kakashi, and--'Breathe,' she reminded herself. Closing her eyes, she focused her attention inwards, tuning out the sounds of clashing kunai and pounding dirt from Obito and Kakashi's spar, and Rin's soft, quiet humming. She withdrew her senses from the calm waves of her fa-- Minato's chakra, and her teammates.Deeper. She dove into her conciousness, careful to avoid disturbing Kurama's rest, and grasped the bright, fierce and untamable ball of energy that is her chakra. She tightened her hold on the energy, refusing to let it slip from her grasp, and gently, every so slightly expanded it, manipulating it outwards in every direction. There. The first blip of chakra lit up in her senses, small and barely a meter from her person. The chakra signal crawled just above her head, higher and higher, and a ghost of a triumphant smirk curled at the corners of her lips. A squirrel.Another appeared within a few feet of the first as she extended her range wider, honing her senses to trace even the tiniest sparks of living chakra, down to the smallest of plants, instead of feeling only the brighter and more powerful signatures that belong to her teammates and sensei. Those - that is, the chakra signatures of people - were a near constant to her, always grazing at her senses even if she wasn't focusing or searching for them. They were too strong for her to not feel them when they were close in relation to her rather touchy senses - Mirai was far more sensitive than the average sensor due to Kurama's influence, which posed as a strength and sometimes even a weakness depending on the circumstances. Now, though, she was so, so grateful for her heightened sensing abilities - because she could feel life.She could feel Minato's chakra radiating from him like a calm breeze, one that carried the scent of the forest, oak and pine.She could feel Kakashi's, steel and electricity, strict and disciplined. (Spice and smoke, scarred beyond repair, but warm. He was always warm, and he felt like home. Kakashi-sensei was a pillar of strength, one that would never bend beneath strain. He would always be there for her, he would never leave her--)'No,' she shook her head roughly. That Kakashi was dead. Warm spice and smoke had been replaced with cold steel and sharp static. Strength and home had been ripped jarringly from that familiar signature, and apathy had replaced it. Cold, unforgiving.Mirai shifted.Rin's chakra was much like Hinata's, she noticed, the sharp stab of pain in her heart dulling into a deep throb as she focused adamantly on the differences rather than the similarities. It hurt less that way. Rin was not Hinata, and Mirai never wanted to willingly search for things that would match between them. Hinata could not be replaced.Chocolate. Hot chocolate and peppermint were the first things that came to mind as she felt Rin's gentle chakra. It was cozy, warm in a way that was so... open. That was a contrast to Hinata's warm, gentle, yet reserved chakra, one which was all to obvious to Mirai. Obito's smelled like ash and embers, fierce and hot with determination and love. (Acrid. Fire and ash, pain and suffering. He held his newfound bonds in a grasp so tight it was almost painful, but he was starting to find a sense of peace. He knew he couldn't - wouldn't - ever be forgiven by anyone, barring Naruto and her team. He helped to start this war - he was manipulated into it. Nobody else was willing to let go of their grudges, but he fought with the Alliance despite that. Her team trusted him. Her team had forgiven him, and that alone served to fan the flames of love in his cold heart. They cared deeply for him, and he returned those feelings. He would protect them. He would protect Naruto, he swore it.)Mirai swallowed harshly, the action being far too difficult than it should have been. She had to save them.She had to save them.The blonde blinked rapidly, her vision blurring strangely. (What she wouldn't admit to herself was that those blurry eyes were caused by tears. She refused to cry-- she didn't deserve to cry.) Wild chakra flowed, winding back towards her person as she relaxed her senses, and causing those bright colors of chakra to dim substantially. Only the signatures of her teammates remained, bright and warm. (Not enough. Had she been in her matured body, the inhabitants of the entirety of Konoha and a good ways beyond would have felt like constant beacons of energy, always present, always moving.)Weak. She was far too weak, now. She had to train, but of course, now that Minato was a constant throughout her day, every movement she made was watched with blue eyes that were far too close and far too prying. She sighed.'Nights it is, then.'"Mirai-chan!"Mirai's half-lidded eyes flicked to Rin's form, watching the girls energetic movements in disinterest as she gave an exaggerated wave from across the clearing. Hoisting herself up, the blonde heaved another sigh as she moved, her bones holding a strange, tired ache that she'd only just now begun to notice. "What is it?"Rin's smile dimmed ever-so-slightly in confusion, but she reapplied the cheery smile to her lips so quickly one could easily have missed it. But Mirai wasn't just anyone, and she could feel the hesitance that stained her warm, chocolatey chakra without any effort. Grinning still, the brunette gave a tiny giggle, mirth replacing hesitance, and Mirai cringed slightly at the noise. It was the same giggle that Rin had made continuously during their first meeting, accompanied by a warm emotion in her chakra that she'd felt many times in this life and Before, but still couldn't identify. It was insanely annoying, too - being unable to identify that emotion, that is - especially Before, when she was a genin and things were still okay in the world, and Kakashi would look at her as she pouted, that unidentifiable emotion swirling in his shocking chakra as he patted her head with a secretive smile and told her she'd figure out what it was soon enough.And damn it, four years later she still couldn't figure out just what that feeling was. But, Mirai huffed, she supposed it didn't really matter. She just hoped it wasn't anything embarrassing."Sensei suggested we spar together, as long as you're up to it," Rin broke into her thoughts, still sporting that sparkling grin and warm emotion, and lowered herself slightly to match Mirai's (annoyingly) short height. With her face this close, Mirai could clearly see her own reflection in Rin's brown eyes, framed by dark, thick lashes. A light spray of freckles spread across her naturally rosy cheeks, twin dimples forming with her smile.Really, it wasn't so surprising that Obito had fallen so hard for her. With her looks and personality, she would definitely be a great catch for many - even more so as she matured - and though Mirai didn't know her all so well, she knew the girl had a golden heart. Uchiha Obito definitely had taste, even as a naïve little boy.The blonde blinked, belatedly noticing the silence that had followed Rin's words. "Uh. Yeah, okay. That's fine," she replied dumbly. Feeling eyes on her, she briefly, blankly met Minato's gentle gaze. (His eyes were hard with disappointment. Cold, angry. He was a horrible son, failing his father like this. He was a horrible sibling, too, not being able to save the life of his younger brother. Again. He'd failed again, damn him.)She blinked, a deep, heavy pit forming in her gut - an emotion all too familiar, yet somehow feeling as if it didn't belong to her.
What the hell was that?
She shook her head roughly, dismissing her strange (and getting stranger) thoughts, and placed herself on the opposite side of the clearing to Rin. She needed to focus on the mission, and only the mission. If sparring with Rin was a step she had to take for her cause - as little as a step as it was - then she'd take it, even if it meant crushing her instincts down and holding back.--Or, at least, she'd hold back as well as she could, but she knew it was beyond likely that some of her true strength may slip. Subtlety was not a trait gifted to her at birth, but something that had been ground into her through years of failure. (But even then, there is not a single being who can truly defy and forget their true nature.)Minato, she knew, was far to much of a genius to let even the slightest slip-up go unnoticed, but it was also a known fact that in times of war, gifted and prodigious children were at an all-time high. Children born from blood, ash, and steel were ones that were most deadly and cold - why would she - a supposed orphan of war - be any different?
(Yes, even if she was a little too skilled for a toddler, it wouldn't be hard to excuse her prowess as a product of desperation.)

Because it was.
 Dinner was, once again, stiff and awkward and all-things painful for Mirai. They way that Minato looked at her grated on her nerves - (like she was a bomb ready to explode, or like she was some sort of tragic mystery, a person in desperate need of help). She didn't need help, damn it. She was a shinobi. A deadly one. The ones who needed help were those whose throats she planned on slitting, even more the ones who she planned on letting die slowly and painfully.
(What would Sasuke think if he saw her now? What would he say, knowing that she had embraced revenge with nearly the same fervor as he, even though she swore that she would not?)
The look of disappointment he would have was something she turned her mind away from all too quickly, and the pain in her heart that was still too fresh burned that much more.
'Don't think about it.'
Mirai bit her lip, lifting silk sheets from her legs and sliding off of the bed silently. Silver moonlight pooled on wooden floorboards, chasing the darkest of shadows to the very corners of her room. She held her breath as she slid her drawer open and found her kunai pouch before clasping it to her thigh. Soundless as a ghost, she reached for the window, grasping the frame that was far too large beneath her tiny fingers.It was a cold night. The air that flowed from the open window was fresh and crisp, raising goosebumps on her bare arms and making her cheeks flush. She vaulted over the edge, sticking to the outer wall of Minato's home on all fours. Her chakra flickered abruptly, and she panicked for a brief moment as she felt her fingers slip, that familiar butterfly feeling rising in her chest. She slipped barely a meter, bare feet and hands scraping against the wall, before she was able to gain enough control over her chakra to quickly scramble to solid ground."Okay," she breathed. Apparently, it had been a mistake to assume that with the massive amount of chakra Kurama had expended, leaving her with barely a fraction of her usual reserves, chakra control would come easily to her. (Sakura, who was nearly unrivalled in chakra control, mostly attributed her skill to the sheer lack of chakra she possessed. For her, it was like stopping the flow of a stream as compared to Naruto's tsunami.) But Mirai had been wrong to assume that simply having less chakra would help. For years, she had been lassoing such a large amount of chakra that this small amount she was stuck with now was hardly significant. As it was, she had the reserves of maybe mid to high jonin - which, compared to Kurama's red chakra, was next to nothing.The chakra she had now was all her own, pure blue and untainted with the red of a tailed beast's. The chakra she had now was strange and slippery and foreign.So, she shoved a mental tag, labelled "chakra control" into a small box in the back of her mind and left it there to deal with later. Physical training was on the top of her list right now, and that was what she had came here to do.Her feet led her away from the house - quietly, but not silently. She'd have to amend that later - and into the large patch of trees behind it. The ground was cold and damp beneath her bare feet, the wind was sharp, biting at her bare arms and legs and howling in her ears. She breathed in deeply, ice filling her lungs, and raised her arms to feel the wind rush through her fingers until they were numb.This was good. This was free. And now, the only thing that could make her feel even more free would be to train until her body was warm despite the cold and dripping with sweat - because that meant strength.And strength meant success.  Time ticked by slowly, and yet far too quickly.By the time the black sky had just begun to brighten, her muscle were shaking with strain. Fatigue had seeped deep into her bones and clouded her mind. Her eyelids were heavy as she climbed through her open window and onto her bed, barely awake enough to notice how cold the sheets felt against her burning skin.She passed out before she'd even begun to lie down.Minato woke her only a few hours later, oblivious to her sleepless night and utterly confused as to why she didn't cover herself with the blankets on such a cold night.   For two weeks, Mirai pushed and pushed, training alone through the night and again with her new team during the day. She told herself that it wasn't hard, that it didn't phase her.
(She could get away with what she was doing without a problem. Besides, this was nothing in comparison to the war - long, sleepless nights, no food and bodies running purely on adrenaline and pills. Constant vigilance, anxiety, and pressure. Misery and worry than seemed like it would never end.

This new future may rely on her now, but at least she could work to save those around her without worrying about the wellbeing of those she loved. They were all dead now, and as much as it hurt, she had no connections to hinder her anymore.)
  Her face grew the slightest bit paler every day. She didn't notice.
(He did.)
  Stupid. Stupid. She's so fricking stupid.Mirai gulped, a bead of sweat trickling from her forehead down to her cheek.'Of all the stupid, hot-headed, idiotic, foolish things I could've done. Why this. Why this?'She nearly shrieked in alarm when the metal grate threatened to give out under her weight. It didn't, luckily. A couple of the rusted bolts had snapped, but the majority had held for dear life, creaking and grinding beneath her. She quickly crawled to a sturdier section of the metal air duct and flipped her body back around to face the rusted vent. Clouds of dust and rust particles puffed into her face, and she suppressed a cough that surely would've alerted every damn Root member in the fricking compound.Of all places she could be this early in the morning, it just had to be a Root ANBU establishment. The first one ever made, to be exact. One that was already thriving.A stubborn, tiny sliver of panic wormed it's way into her chest. She shoved it down.Yamato had warned her that Danzo had started Root long before the Obito unleashed Kurama, but somehow she'd still been under the impression that he'd begun acting on his plan after the war had ended. When she'd stumbled upon the area that the Mokuton user had warned her to be the base for Danzo's schemes, she honestly didn't think she'd find anything. But curiosity - or paranoia - got the best of her, and she ended up checking anyway.She'd been wrong to believe Danzo hadn't already started. Root was live and festering, and now she found herself crawling through flimsy air ducts and wielding only her clumsy stealth skills and noodle-like arms.'Well, shit.'