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“He’s late,” Kakashi mutters through his mask.“I wonder where he gets it from,” Obito snarks back. They arrive at Naruto’s apartment and Obito thumps his fist on the door, “Naruto, wake up!”Silence.“Maa… Naruto, don’t keep your sensei waiting like this,” Kakashi calls out.Still no reply.There’s something off, and if years of experience have taught him one thing, it’s that he should trust his gut. Obito decides to Kamui through the door and into the apartment. Once there, he then absentmindedly unlocks it for Kakashi.They both stare at the decimation of what used to be Naruto’s living room. There’s paper with seals drawn across them scattered all over the floor, scorch marks on the walls indicating an explosion, a shattered window with shards of glass inside the room, and sensei’s signature kunai in the dead centre of it all. It crackles with leftover chakra.“Dammit Naruto,” Obito hisses out with a sharp scowl over his face.Kakashi, already used to his students getting into trouble at every possible turn, has his head in his hand at the thought of how much paperwork this incident will cause. With a much more subdued, but still just as much frustration, Kakashi says, “Naruto.”:::Minato’s teaching Kakashi a particular form that he thinks would be helpful for the upcoming Jounin exams. Off to the side, Rin’s practicing chakra control exercises with leaves and Obito is working on his aim on the various targets scattered around. It is, by all means, an average day.Then, out of nowhere, chakra explodes.(It almost reminds him of Kushina. Almost.)It’s all bright light and pure chakra everywhere, surrounding all his senses, blinding Minato and sending his hackles up. He’s never felt anything like this. The centre of the blast comes from the middle of the training ground. (Later on, he will realize it comes from the exact spot where one of his signature kunai lies.) Its force pushes everyone away to the periphery. Minato is no amateur and he doesn’t let this faze him, already getting into position to receive an enemy attack. In the corner of his eye, he sees his students do the same and lets himself feel the slightest bit proud.When the light subsides, Minato sees a boy. He’s lying on the ground with his face towards the sky. His jumpsuit is a mix of bright orange and black, his hair is blonde, and a hitai-ate slung across his forehead. The intruder groans softly and rolls around to rub his back, seemingly unaware of the shinobi surrounding him.Enemy-nin, is Minato’s first thought. His second: he looks like me.The former wins over the latter though, and in the blink of an eye, while the unknown is still down for the count, the Yellow Flash of Konoha brings a kunai to the intruder’s throat and has him in a hold that effectively immobilizes the intruder. This, however, startles the intruder. He tries to move, but Minato tightens his grip and presses the kunai down, just enough to draw a drop of blood but not enough to immediately kill. After all, they have to figure out how this intruder got into Konoha.“Identify yourself,” Minato demands flatly.The intruder goes from vaguely aware to sudden wakefulness. He attempts to distance his jugular from Minato’s kunai. “Woah woah woah! Listen I know I wasn’t supposed to—“ he cuts himself off as he makes eye contact with Minato. His eyes go round (and they’re blue, so so so blue) and he cries out, “Dad?!”What.Out of every possible trick for an enemy-nin, this is probably the only thing Minato has never prepared against. He’s sure he hasn’t had the time to have had a fully grown child, moreover, he’s definitely sure Kushina would have said something. This statement doesn’t make Minato lose his grip, but it does make him feel a bit impressed at the gall it takes to pull a trick like that.(But a voice whispers in the back of his head how much it would make sense. He looks like Minato, feels like Kushina, something about the intruder just cries out family.)Minato wants to make a threat, to demand answers, but the intruder has already lost interest in him and is instead looking everywhere but Minato. At the same time, Minato’s hyperawareness has finally extended past the intruder and into the trees where he takes note of the number of muted chakra signatures. It seems that the ANBU noticed the burst of chakra, and if he’s correct, the Third is along with them, watching. They want to see how this plays out.Back to the intruder, his eyes land on Team Seven and his jaw drops, “Kaka-sensei?! Obito?!”Again — what?“Oh… oh no,” the intruder groans out, more regretful than terrified. He’s suddenly lost any bit of fear and now looks too comfortable under Minato’s kunai. “Wait, okay — you’re going to think I’m insane, but… oh man. How do I explain this?!” He says, agitated. “Okay first off…” his finger goes to Minato’s kunai and slowly pushes it away from his neck with surprising force.“You’re going to have to trust me here because this is a stretch, and by stretch I mean continental stretch, like the whole five nations kind of stretch—““Who are you and how did you get here!” Obito cuts him off, apparently tired of the nin’s rambling.The intruder blinks and stares at Obito before a blinding grin overcomes his face, “I’m Uzumaki Naruto! Dattebayo!”Uzumaki.Naruto takes Minato’s surprise to wrangle himself out of his hold.The hair, the chakra, the way he reminds Minato of Kushina, the way he reminds Minato of himself. But it’s —“Impossible,” Kakashi growls as he produces a kunai and stalks towards Naruto.“Uzumaki, you say?” the Third says as he finally comes out of the shadows. A pipe is in his hand and he smokes lazily, but his eyes are keenly fixed on the intruder.“Jii-chan!” Naruto cries out happily, “You have hair!”The Third laughs, “You seem quite familiar with me, but I can’t say the same for you Uzumaki Naruto. How can we be sure of your identity, and how can we know that you don’t mean harm to our village?”Naruto rubs the back of his neck sheepishly, “Oh jeez… I’d say look at my face and,” he gestures at Minato, “…Dad or I guess Namikaze-san.” He cringes.“A kekkei genkai,” the Third supplies, “Very well done make-up. Appearances are deceiving.”“You could do a blood test?” Naruto suggests, but even he sounds unsure. “Oh man should I even be telling you that I’m your son?” He asks Minato, as if he has any answers. “That’s like the number one rule of time travel: don’t change the past and don’t say you’re from the future.”
Time travel?
“A bit too late for that,” Obito mumbles.“I can see the resemblance though,” Rin adds thoughtfully.“Sensei would never have offspring that orange,” Kakashi adds darkly.“Oh!” Naruto exclaims and claps his hands, a lightbulb goes off in his head. “Promise you won’t kill me first.”That is, quite literally, one of the worst things to say in this situation. All the ANBU in the vicinity suddenly feel far more predatory than they did moments ago, and Minato readies his kunai again. Possible son or not, he has a village to protect.(And yet, Minato’s not quite certain that he’d go for the throat this time.)The Third gives a tentative nod.“I’m a hundred per cent sure you can’t fake this, but just… don’t kill me okay? Okay.” That last word seemingly a way of reassuring himself.Another burst of chakra springs forth. Instead of the pure light from earlier, all Minato feels is terror, malice, anger, hate, pain, pure power. It is the most terrifying thing he has ever experienced. He feels like an ant, a speck of dust, in the face of this evil. The Kyuubi.And then it ends. In a second.Minato is in awe and in terror and he doesn’t know how to feel. He wants to race over to Kushina because there’s only one way for a jinchuriki to be separated from their bijuu. He needs to know she’s okay, needs to see it with his own eyes. But he also wants to hold onto the boy and look at him properly because the chances of him being Minato’s son suddenly don’t feel that far-fetched. He’s a father, he thinks. Too much emotion swirling through his gut and the only reason he’s not having a full-blown crisis is because he’s a shinobi and if there’s something shinobi are good at, it’s compartmentalizing.“My, my,” the Third says, not even the least bit outwardly phased, “I suppose that would do it.”:::It’s a mess. There’s no procedure for when a future shinobi lands in the middle of the village, much less in the middle of the Third Shinobi World War when most of their resources are diverted elsewhere.The first thing they do is apply chakra-suppressing seals to Naruto because shinobi are nothing if not paranoid. That simple reveal gave credit to his identity because the Kyuubi is a hard thing to be faked much less steal. Whether or not the seals have any effect on Naruto though has yet to be made evident because he looks far too cheerful for someone being deprived of chakra.“You might want to put more than one,” Naruto tells the ANBU helpfully. “I burn through these fast, ‘ttebayo.”“He’s insane,” Rin says under her breath.Minato can’t help but agree. Kushina would love him.Following that, they take Naruto up on the blood test. A medic-nin takes his blood quickly and heads for the hospital to have this particular paternity test speed-tested. While waiting, Team Minato, the Third, and Naruto sit around the Hokage office, with the mountains of paperwork pushed aside.Admittedly, the proper measure would be to have Naruto in a cell until they’re absolutely sure of his identity and his allegiances, but it’s not just Minato who feels a sense of camaraderie with the kid. Even Sarutobi’s deemed Naruto companionable. Or if not companionable, easily suppressible based on what he’s seen.“How did you come to arrive here, Naruto-kun?” the Third asks after Team Minato finishes giving their own report.Naruto makes another sheepish gesture, and now that he’s looking for it, Minato realizes he does the same thing when he’s flustered. Did you get that from me? “Well… I was messing around with the Hiraishin and well… I’m actually not sure. Just one second I was in my living room and the next I was here.”“The Hiraishin’s a space-time seal,” Minato muses. “Maybe you leaned on the time aspect more than the space aspect of it. Did you alter it in any manner?”Naruto nods slowly, realization slowly dawning on him.“Could you write it down? Maybe we can figure something out,” Minato says and he pulls out a spare pen and paper.“I would but—” Naruto throws his head into his hands and lets out a cry of frustration, “I don’t remember it!”Kakashi’s eye twitches. (It’s been doing that a lot. Every time Naruto does something, Kakashi makes the most subtle of reactions. Anyone who didn’t know Kakashi would say he’s being impassive, but Minato can tell he’s irritated.)“That’s fine,” Minato says and pats Naruto on his back soothingly. “We’ll figure out a way to get you back, I’m sure your family must have noticed something by now.”Naruto nods sagely, “They’re gonna kill me.”“I think your mother would be proud that you’ve invented time travel,” Minato says off-handedly. He’s certainly proud. But then he realizes what he’s just said and suddenly the tips of his ears burn red.Maybe he’s a little more convinced than he initially thought he was.“Sensei,” Team Minato says in unison. All with different tones. Kakashi aghast, Rin surprised, and Obito absolutely delighted. Lord Third simply gives him a meaningful look. Naruto, on the other hand, has a complicated expression on his face.Luckily, no one is able to give him any more embarrassment though because someone knocks on the doors.“Enter,” the Third calls out. The wooden doors open to reveal Yamanaka Inoichi on the other side. He quickly glances over the room, but his gaze locks onto Naruto then back to Minato then back to Naruto. Other than that, he doesn’t make any outward expression that anything’s amiss.“Sandaime-sama,” Inoichi greets with a bow. “You called?”Naruto’s already complicated look borders on sorrowful. “Yamanaka-san,” Naruto says. It’s scary how a single name can hold so much meaning. For a shinobi, Naruto is not very good at lying.“Yes…” the Third trails off, having caught on to that too. “I’m glad you’re familiar with him. Naruto-kun, Inoichi-san here will be verifying your identity.” It’s not a question. Naruto may have wormed his way into his heart, but the Sandaime’s brain is still on par.“Of course, go ahead,” Naruto says easily as Inoichi settles himself into the opposite chair. “Nothing to hide.”“That’s the spirit,” Inoichi grins wryly. Without any sort of warning, his hands drop into seals. Everyone watches as Inoichi and Naruto slump down. Normally, this sort of interrogation doesn’t happen unless they want the person being interrogated brain dead but given how willing Naruto is, Inoichi said that that shouldn’t be a problem.The room is quiet for the next few minutes, no one dares to disturb Inoichi.After a few more minutes, someone else comes in through the window. It’s an ANBU and in their hands is a medical report. How speedy.The Third takes it without a word. As he reads over the document, Minato catches him making a very long blink. He grabs his pipe not long after which is about enough confirmation Minato needs.Nonetheless, when he hands over the report to Minato, Minato reads over it anyway.It’s a match.Minato needs to sit down.As he does, Obito eagerly takes the papers from his slack hand.Obito pours over it and Rin follows suit by looking over his shoulder. Kakashi tries to look like he isn’t interested either, but he too is subtly skimming the document out of the corner of his eye. If this were any other time, Minato would be smiling at his students’ faces, but right now, he’s still in shock.
He has a kid. Kushina and him have a kid. How old is he again?
Inoichi breaks through Minato’s meltdown with a sudden gasp. He pushes himself away from Naruto in a bout of subconscious self-preservation. “It’s unsealed,” is all he says.There’s only one thing that can be un-sealed in the first place. Naruto comes to quickly, “Well duh, Kurama’s my friend!”“You’re talking about the Kyuubi,” the Third surmises. He smokes even more.“That’s not his name.”“You’re friends…” Minato says as he tries to overcome his own shock, “…with a bijuu. To be specific, the Kyuu—“ Naruto opens his mouth and Minato corrects himself quickly, “Kurama?”“Yeah! He’s a huge grumpy furball that sounds like he’s always angry but he’s actually the bestest friend ever!”Never in his life did Minato expect to meet his seventeen year-old-son when Minato himself is barely older than that. Nor did he expect to learn that the Kyuubi, the manifestation of all that is evil in the world, could be described the same way the Inuzuka describe their dogs. Today is a day of firsts it appears.With immense sarcasm — a testament to how shaken he is, Inoichi quips as he stands, “And I suppose you make friends with just everyone then.”“Exactly!” Naruto says cheerfully, “Most people are just friends you haven’t met!”No one knows how to respond to this because it’s so earnest. Shinobi are paranoid and unkind and in the face of this blinding honesty, no one seems to know what to do. Not when all they’ve seen from this war is treachery. Minato, for all that he is a competent shinobi, can not help but feel proud at the person his son is shaping up to be. Kindness in this world is a hard thing to keep.“How are you not dead,” Rin deadpans. Kakashi snatches the paper from Obito’s hands and reads over it with a newfound drive.Naruto scratches his neck sheepishly, “Well, I’m a pretty good shinobi too, dattebayo! But! I’ve been told everyone just becomes friends with me and that’s that. My friends call it my talk-no-jutsu.”This is met with silence again.“There must be something wrong with the test sensei,” Kakashi says as he puts down the paper with vigour. “No way this idiot has half of your DNA.”“…I hate to agree with Bakashi, but….” Obito trails off.Rin nods sagely.It’s at this point Team Minato gets kicked out. Why they were even in the room for that long is a wonder in itself.Naruto looks vaguely amused by this, “I thought Obito was kidding when he said Kaka-sensei was a stick in the mud.”Kaka-sensei, that’s the second time Naruto’s said that. “Kakashi’s your jounin sensei?” Minato asks with a raised eyebrow. On one hand, good job on Kakashi for becoming a jounin, Minato always knew he’d pass that test. On the other hand, Kakashi as a sensei? To Naruto? Kakashi?“Oops,” Naruto says, not looking the least bit sorry.“Well,” the Third cuts in, “We’re certain that you’re an Uzumaki, and of your relation to Minato-san and Kushina-san. What about your loyalty? What do you hope to do from here Naruto-kun?” Another test.“I guess I’ll try to reverse whatever it is I did so I can get back to where I came from,” Naruto muses then the first question settles in and he suddenly looks affronted. “I’d never betray Konoha! This may not be my Konoha, but it’s still my home! You can trust me ‘ttebayo! I’d never do anything to harm this place!” And once again, the genuineness and pure honesty that is Naruto shines. Minato is starting to make sense of what he meant by making friends with people. There’s just something about him.“Hm,” is all Hiruzen says. He looks at Minato, a silent question in his eyes. What do you say?Minato’s been playing a losing game from the start — what else would he say?“Very well then,” Hiruzen says, an air of command around him. “This leaves us at where to leave you. Minato-san, you and Kushina-san will be assigned to watch over Naruto-kun. Consider it practice for… the future,” Hiruzen finishes and looks at Minato with amusement lingering in his eyes.Naruto’s eyes bulge, and Minato feels himself making the same face.
What did I sign myself up for?
:::“So he messed with the Hiraishin,” Obito says, pacing around. Kakashi hums in agreement from his spot on the couch. “But that’s fine, there can’t be too many places for him to go.” Cue a head tilt from Kakashi that has Obito scrunching up his face unpleasantly. “But it’s Naruto.”“Yes,” Kakashi nods. “‘It’s Naruto’ sums this up perfectly.”“Why am I making this my problem?” Obito says defeated as he dumps himself onto the couch beside Kakashi. “I’m the ex-missing-nin that tried to end the world — don’t pinch me Kakashi — if anything this is your problem because you’re his sensei.”“And you are my partner, so by extension that makes you…”“…uninvolved. Impartial. Distanced from this entire situation.”Kakashi makes a buzz sound, “Wrong. That makes you my co-sensei.”“An absentee co-sensei that literally came into the picture after all the sensei-ing was finished. In fact, all the work I did was try to kill you guys! Besides that’s not even a thing!” Obito points out unkindly as he continues to grumble. Kakashi lets him stew, continuing to rummage through the rest of the papers left in the wreckage as Obito works through whatever this is.He stares and stares and wants to come up with something, but — “I don’t want to do this anymore,” Obito groans. He stands up with pent-up energy. “I’m heading back to ANBU headquarters to do something else, Naruto can figure it out on his —““Ma~ your Hokage orders you to sit back down Obito,” Kakashi says lazily as he discards another seemingly unimportant paper. “You’re too agitated. Anyway, look at this, he changed the order of the distance components.”Obito sits down and reads the paper Kakashi gives him. With a raised eyebrow, “This limits transportation, practically makes distance negative. It shouldn’t work.”“It’s Naruto,” Kakashi quotes.“I hate that you’re right.” Opening up this possibility gives Obito other ideas though. He closes his eyes and lets himself sense the leftover chakra and — “Fuck.”“Hm?”“I think he overloaded it.”“Possible, given that it’s Naruto.”“More like likely. Didn’t you say the basic jutsus were difficult for him?”“Ah, then we’re at one hundred percent probability.”He sits forward, his elbows on his knees as he studies the array on the floor. “Do you remember how sensei worked this out?”Kakashi shrugs, “Never asked, usually when things went wrong though, we had to call Kushina-nee to get him out of a tree and she’d say he overshot.”Obito scoffs, “Remember that time he accidentally got sent to the bottom of a river?”“He got a fish stuck in his mouth,” Kakashi says, voice fond. “In the early stages, it was always a problem with him not ending up where he wanted to be. A little off the mark from the target seal. Although, we have to consider that sensei didn’t have Naruto’s reserves either.”“There’s no other copies of the Hiraishin today though, where else could he have aimed?” A thought comes to mind, if distance was negative then that means — “You think he went somewhere… farther?”A sudden thump from the windowsill. An ANBU sits, looking unfazed by the overall state of the room — whether this is because they’re a professional or because they’re used to the chaos that is Kakashi’s team is left unanswered. They remain quiet with their mask set in place, but the look they send Kakashi has him slumping back into the couch even more. “I know, I know,” Kakashi says.Obito can’t help it, “Ditching paperwork again Hokage-sama?”“Insubordination from my dearest ANBU commander,” Kakashi says as he stands up to head to the window. “I’ll leave this to you, Obito.”“That’s just another way for you to ditch an assignment.”“Mah~ I’m assigning this to you, so it’s called delegation. What? Can’t do it?”Obito has to snort. Oh, he definitely can do this. The matter of capability was never in question.He doesn’t tell anyone this. But there’s still a part of him with a mask on that feels like if he bears parts of himself to the world it’ll get eaten whole and used and left in pieces. Part of him that still burns and wants to see everything else put to sleep. Part of him that wants to dream and get stuck in his head. He doesn’t trust that part, despite years of forgiveness and acceptance from Kakashi and Naruto and others. Perhaps that’s why the thought of being handed this task of finding the person that half the shinobi world would gladly fall to their knees for feels… unsuited for him.Or perhaps he could consider this as a sort of payback for everything Naruto’s given him. A payback for a sensei he’s failed, and a partner he’s fought. When he frames it like that — it suddenly becomes more fitting.“Get back to your desk Hokage-sama, Shizune and Shikamaru are going to get tired eventually. And you don’t have your Hokage candidate in training to help you out this time.”Kakashi stares at him like he isn’t fooled by the deflection, but to the outsider, he shrugs uncaringly as if the thought of his aides calling for his head isn’t worrisome. When one plays a lazy and tardy character of the past few decades, it’s a remarkably tight act.To the ANBU, “Jackal-san, let’s take the long way around, yes?” And Kakashi disappears in a shunshin without waiting for a response.Jackal makes an almost imperceptible sigh. Obito voices a thought they’re probably both sharing, “Bastard.” Jackal nods. The solidarity between two people who are infuriated by the same person shouldn’t validate Obito this much, but it does.Then Jackal disappears too, leaving Obito to his lonesome.Okay, fine, this is fine. He’s a goddamn menace and has one of the best brains out there — one does not plan world domination without having a few brain cells — he can figure a way to track Kakashi’s wayward student down.With one more look at the room, he realizes, this is going to be a headache.:::Here’s the thing with meeting your apparent son from the future. It starts off all sunshine and flowers because Naruto is admittedly one of the kindest and most likeable (albeit loud) people he’s met. He says things off-handedly that make Minato simultaneously proud and stressed and the resemblance has never been so uncanny. But the more he learns, the more he sees what Naruto tries to keep quiet, the more uneasy he gets. What do you mean you had to teach yourself Hiraishin? And how are you a jinchuuriki when the only way to extract the bijuu is through — he doesn’t even want to let himself go there.Add Kushina to the equation and just as expected they get along like a house on fire.That is to say, there is an actual chance they may both set the house on fire because their energy is somehow boundless.Minato loves them.It eventually gets to dinner time, and everyone sits around the table. Naruto beside Kushina, Minato at the head, and his team filling the remaining seats at Obito’s insistence. After messing around and bonding over their mutual love for ramen, Kushina eventually asks, “So I know you got here via an accident with Minato’s seals, but I want to hear the full story.”The table quiets and looks at Naruto expectantly. He looks nervous under the scrutiny. You’re hiding something, Minato thinks. Nothing of the malicious sort, but something else entirely. “Okay so… I was playing around sensei’s office and I noticed some of his scrolls from…” he eyes Minato. “Uh… What do I call you?”He’s still coming to terms with the fact that this is his son. Minato is both elated and terrified at the prospect of fatherhood. He manages to squeak out, “You can call me whatever, I don’t mind.” Liar, he’s having an internal crisis because of these implications. His face is burning just thinking about them.Naruto shrugs, uncaring, “Right, so I was going through some of Dad’s scrolls and I was trying to figure out the Hiraishin! Change a few things around to make it more cost-efficient, I dunno — I was really just bored.” Because seal making is just a fun thing to do when you’re bored.Kushina laughs at this though, “Yeah, you’re definitely an Uzumaki!”“Then I ended up here. My guess is that I did something and got connected with one of your old kunai? I’m not entirely sure myself, ‘ttebayo.”“So you’re saying you may or may not have accidentally invented time travel,” is what Rin says.“I wouldn’t say that.”Kakashi scoffs which starts off a whole new argument with Obito and sends the rest of Team Minato into their usual squabbles, only this time with Naruto included.“Hm…” Kushina hums thoughtfully. “Well! Food for thought! Next question! Tell us about the future Naruto.”This has the table quiet once more. Team Seven, even Kakashi who’s doing his best to look uninterested, leans in. Minato finds himself stilling, it’s a question he’s been wanting to ask as well, but as he said, there are some implications of the future that he’s seeing and he doesn’t quite like the picture that’s forming.“I don’t think I should say anything…”“C’mon!” Obito cheers, “What are we doing? Are we cool ninjas? Am I the hokage already?”Naruto’s eyes shift to Kakashi. “Well… uh… Kaka-sensei’s the—“Kushina spits out her water, “Kakashi’s your sensei?!”“I feel bad,” Obito says. “You must memorize the rule book by now.”“All good shinobis must know the rule book, deadlast.” Kakashi scowls and looks pointedly at Obito. And then a thought crosses Kakashi’s mind because why is his student, and Minato-sensei’s son… acting like… that? Kakashi shudders.”Rule book?” Naruto repeats and he begins cackling, a full-bodied laugh. “The only book I ever see Kaka-sensei bring around is his porn.”This time it’s Minato who spits out his water. Everyone at the table has similar reactions. Rin turns beet red. Obito chokes on his food. Kushina laughs and laughs and laughs.“Do. Not. Lie. To us.” Kakashi says, jamming a knife on the table.“It’s true! You read it around in public, and on missions, and in the hospital, and…“ the list just keeps getting longer than socially acceptable. Not that the beginning of the list had any appropriate places either.“Oh my god Kakashi,” Kushina says in between laughs.Rins pipes in, her voice squeaky, “You’re sure you didn’t just go to an alternate dimension? No way our Kakashi would…” She can’t even look at him, much less finish the sentence.Naruto laughs again, “From what Obito’s told me, I’m pretty sure we’re in the same dimension.”“What about me? What about me?!” Obito asks excitedly, he’s practically standing in his seat.Naruto’s smile dims a little and he shivers, “Obito,” he says with a grave expression, “is the scariest person I know.” With absolute sincerity, “You are, quite literally, one of the most terrifying shinobi alive. That being said, you’re still way more fun than a few other people I know.”Obito takes this as a positive thing. “Ha! Take that Bakashi! I’m awesome and you’re a pervert!”“Shut up!” Kakashi shouts back and he stands up from his seat, takes the knife from the table and throws it at Obito who manages to dodge just in the nick of time.As the two of them bicker, Naruto looks mischievous as he leans towards Kushina. “Now wait ‘till you hear about Kurama.”“Who?” Kushina says curiously.The rest of the night goes on, but Minato does not miss how Naruto carefully avoids anything related to him, Kushina or Rin. It’s not a nice picture.:::Days go by when Naruto pours over seal work with Minato and Kushina looking over his shoulder. They work out kinks and do their best to troubleshoot. If you squint, it could probably be considered a fun family bonding activity.It’s not the only thing they do either. There’s visits to ramen shops and runs in the fields and games held in the middle of the night. He finds himself telling Naruto stories he always planned to tell his children, and Naruto looks positively amazed with every single one. They even visit a training ground one day, but after destroying it so thoroughly, there is a unanimous decision that training shall not happen with Naruto participating.(“I never asked,” Minato says, breathless after having fought against an army of kage-bunshin. Minato won, but still — an army. “But what rank are you?”Naruto looks at everything but him, “I’m a jounin! Dattebayo.”Oh my god. Minato wants to facepalm. Judging by the sounds of awe from Obito and Rin though, it’s a passable lie for a few chunin.)In the middle of the night, when it’s just him and Kushina and the sounds of Naruto snoring in the next room, they talk. The moonlight curls over the red of Kushina’s hair and Minato can’t help but think how lucky he is.“I like him,” she says. “Fits in perfectly with the rest of us.”“He’s just like you,” Minato says.“And yet he has all of your looks. Shame he got your height though.”“Hey!” Minato whispers, mock-offended.Kushina giggles, “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.” She purses her lips though and suddenly looks sombre. “But you caught on to it too right? He looks at us like he’s never seen us before.”Minato nods, equally sad, “We shouldn’t ask though. If he doesn’t bring it up…” he trails off.“Yeah we probably shouldn’t,” Kushina says in the dark. With a newly found cheer, “Let’s give him everything he missed out on! I have to teach him my ramen recipes, and you should probably give him all those books you read, and —“ There are a number of reasons why he loves Kushina, and this is just one of them. Her ability to light up the room and act like his own personal little ball of sunshine — he’s said this many times, but he loves her. He voices the thought out loud.“Love you too,” she says with a smile. She moves to kiss him, and it’s warm, and he wants to sink into it forever. Family, he thinks, he wants, he wants.“Hey,” Kushina whispers, breaking off the kiss. “If we have a kid in the future…” she traces his chest, “We should probably get some practice in, hm? Maybe even start a little early?”“Kushina!” Minato automatically says.She laughs and Minato falls all over again.:::Life goes on, and Naruto slots into place like he’s always been there. He carves a space into their daily routine and slowly people begin to recognize him as a part of the Namikaze household. He feels like a part of the household, but that shouldn’t be a surprise given who he is.“It’s been a week, where are we at with your seal?” Kushina asks Naruto one day. The latter’s taken over the dining table and the kitchen bar and literally every other possible surface with sheets and sheets of paper containing every bit of fuuinjutsu scroll they could find. Naruto’s taken after Kushina when it comes to orderliness it appears.“I don’t know! I have no idea what I did, nothing seems to be working!” Naruto looks harried.“I’m sure you’ll figure something out,” Kushina says.“And you know, you’ve probably got your own team back in your time trying to figure something out,” Minato adds.A frown crosses Naruto’s face, “But what if I can’t get back?” It’s the first time he’s entertained this thought, and it makes him look uncharacteristically sad. Minato doesn’t like that look on him.Minato and Kushina share a look, they had considered this already, but it’s Kushina who speaks up first. “Don’t worry, you will. And well, if not, then you’re always welcome here.”Naruto looks at them with so much emotion in his eyes and he says, “You’re really good people.” Underneath that statement lies implications that make Minato’s stomach churn.“You’re family,” is all Kushina says and yet it makes Naruto’s eyes water. He sniffles, turns his head down and everyone pretends not to notice.:::Things can’t always just be picture-perfect though, the war that rages on outside the walls of the village suddenly increases in danger. More teams get sent out and with Minato being the Yellow Flash, he has duties to attend to. When Kakashi passes the jounin test, it’s no surprise that his team gets sent out on a mission themselves.What does come as a surprise, is Naruto running after them the morning they’re meant to leave.“Naruto!” Obito says, a bright smile on his face. Over the time he’s spent here, the two of them formed an easy bond. Something between the two just clicked. “Come to wish us good luck?”“It’s Kakashi’s first mission as a jounin too!” Rin says.“Take me with you!” Naruto says, looking desperate. Minato pauses, and the analytical part of his brain goes into overdrive.“You’re not cleared for missions,” Kakashi says, his eyes narrow and posture stiff. No doubt ready to spit out a rule.Naruto’s eyes dart around, “I… I am! I just asked Jii-chan!”“The Hokage would have given you a missive,” Kakashi retorts.“We were in a rush!”Why would Naruto lie? And so insistently? From what he’s seen, Minato’s already deduced that this mission is far more important to the future than he realizes. But what makes Naruto so desperate to tag along? He knows that Naruto’s got a heart of gold, Minato has no doubt about that, so his reasons for this are not malicious. There’s a piece of the puzzle that’s missing and Naruto’s holding it close to his chest.“No missive, no —““No, he can come along,” Minato cuts in. The look of relief on Naruto’s face is palpable. “I’m sure Hokage-sama must have had other things to do.”“Sensei,” Kakashi starts, but Minato gives him a meaningful look and he shuts his mouth with reluctant acceptance.“It’d be useful to have another jounin tag along.” Minato can’t help but tease and Naruto twitches at the callback to his lie.“Yeah! Dattebayo!” He says weakly.“You guys first,” Minato says and gestures towards the gates. Rin, Obito and Naruto take lead, but Minato keeps a hand on Kakashi’s shoulder. He keeps his voice low, “Watch them Kakashi, something will happen on this mission.”“Yes sensei,” Kakashi says dutifully.There’s a feeling building in his gut. Something’s coming.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Kakashi heeds sensei’s warning, watches Naruto’s shifty eyes and twitchy posture, and still doesn’t see it when the Iwa-nin attack. They fend them off with much success, and Kakashi loaths to admit it, but Naruto was a big part of that. For all that he seems like a blundering fool, Naruto wasn’t kidding when he said he was a pretty good shinobi. At least, combat-wise.“They might have backup,” Naruto says.Rin nods and stands up as she finishes winding a bandage around her forearm, “We should hurry.”As they sprint through the trees, Kakashi demands, “What else is coming?” Because sensei might have the patience to allow Naruto to reveal his secrets at his own pace, but Kakashi certainly doesn’t.Naruto stumbles, “W-what do you mean? How would I know?”“Don’t lie to me, I need to know what to expect,” Kakashi seethes.“Kakashi, now is not the time,” Obito hisses. “Let’s stick together and book it.”Kakashi wants to argue, “He’s keeping something from us. We deserve to know! It could be important for the mission!”“Why is it always the mission with you!?””Guys!” Rin admonishes.In the corner of his eye, Kakashi sees Naruto blanch. “Is that a cave?”“Congratulations on identifying a basic geographical structure,” Kakashi says. He’s agitated and annoyed and wants to pick a fight because this is not how his first mission as a jounin is supposed to go. They’ve already broken so many rules letting Naruto join, and now this? Sue him for being antagonistic.Naruto brushes it off though (like he always does, whatever future version of Kakashi there is has desensitized Naruto of all threats he attempts to make. How could his student be this lax?) and instead looks around with more awareness.An attack? Is he expecting an attack? Kakashi feels himself tense up as they continue to run, he notices Rin lagging behind which subsequently causes Obito to lag behind and now he’s irritated again. They have a mission. They’re shinobi and they have a mission, why can’t they see that that’s what takes priority?Kakashi’s already formulating a plan to leave them behind if it means blowing up that damned bridge himself. He’s so lost in his head — something he’ll later curse himself for — that when the backup Iwa-nin make the jump on him, he trips. Their momentum gets sidelined as the Iwa-nin surround them.“Just a bunch of kids!” The one on the left scowls, seemingly offended.Obito twitches, his leftover aggression from that small bout with Kakashi seems to take hold and he begins making hand seals. Behind him, Rin pulls out a kunai and drops into a defensive position.“I’ll show you,” Naruto says threateningly. A rasengan forms in his hands.Kakashi remembers a burnt training ground, smouldering trees, and turned over fences. He gets the distinct feeling that even though it’s not aimed at him, he’s going to get a massive headache regardless. He hates everything that has led up to this point. If only they had just stuck to the plan.As they get ready to attack, there’s a sudden burst of something in their part of the woods.A shinobi in Konoha ANBU blacks comes out of nowhere, with no shunshin, not a single trace. Just one second there was nothing and suddenly there was. It’s not unlike when Naruto first arrived, only where Naruto’s appearance felt like the heaviness and heat of the sun, this is cold, all ice and dread. It’s certainly not as daunting or powerful as the Kyuubi’s burning chakra, but Kakashi can’t quite shake the same feeling of run away and hide. And it appears right behind Naruto.“What are you doing,” the nin says flatly into Naruto’s ear. His hand grips Naruto’s wrist where the Rasengan suddenly stops building.“I- uh-“ Naruto stutters.The nin rolls his eyes and drops Naruto’s wrist, “Don’t bother.”Everyone is wary of the newcomer. Not just because he’s come out of the blue, but because there’s a deadly grace to him, something that says predator and makes everyone else, even the Iwa-nin that outnumber them, seem like unassuming prey. The insane killing intent doesn’t help either — Kakashi’s never felt anything like it.“Well, isn’t this a party,” the new nin says casually. And he moves. An easily timed dodge, a kick to a chest, chains that appear out of nowhere and disappear just as easily. It’s effortless the way he takes them all out.Kakashi runs a risk assessment in the back of his head, cataloguing the nin’s movements. These enemy-nin could have easily been ranked as B-grade, maybe even A, and he took them out with barely a hair out of place. Kakashi stands that Sensei probably would be able to do the same, but then again, Sensei has an S beside his name in most bingo books.Then he turns to them and Kakashi gets a good look at him. The most notable thing about him is the scars that warp half of his face, and the second is the blood red sharingan in his right eye. In the periphery, Rin hasn’t put down her kunai but Obito looks starstruck, his mouth open. At least Rin has half the mind to regroup, she drags Obito and goes into a formation behind Kakashi.He stalks back to them, specifically to Naruto, with a scowl on his face and eyes back to black. Danger, Kakashi’s mind supplies. (Familiar, another part of him whispers.)“You brat.”“Obito!” Naruto says with obvious relief. His arms open for a hug.
Obito?!
And Kakashi can see the resemblance now. The black hair, the slant of his nose, the shape of his eye — he certainly does look like an older version of Obito. When Naruto said Obito was the most terrifying shinobi he knew, Kakashi thought Naruto was kidding, or at least not telling the full truth. But the man that stands in front of them is entirely that and more.“Naruto,” The older, scarier, more confident, scarred, Obito says with a deceptive smile. His killing intent has subsided significantly, but it’s an ever-present thrum in the back. As Naruto approaches to get that hug, Obito suddenly kicks Naruto square in the gut and sends him flying away almost comically.To Team Minato, in a tone that one would describe as conversational, “Oh, I’ve been wanting to do that for so long.”“You-You’re me!” Obito shouts, also a bit terrified, but clearly amazed to see his older self. Nobody misses the look of conflict as he touches the side of his face. He shakes himself out of it quickly and pulls his hand away. “That was awesome! And you have the sharingan! How? When did we get it?”Older Obito loses the anger and his face instead falls weary. He ignores the younger Obito’s question in favour of studying the team. Obito lingers on Kakashi, Obito’s eyes digging into his own, “This is… the Kannabi Bridge mission,” he says slowly.Rin nods, “Of course! I’m amazed you still remember since it must have been a while for you. How old are you Obito?”A soft smile graces his face (at least that hasn’t changed, Obito still loves Rin), Kakashi can’t help but watch as the scars twist. He desperately wants to find out what happened to his teammate. “Older than sensei is right now at least.”Then Naruto comes back and the smile disappears. He grabs Naruto’s collar, “You idiot, Naruto, you know you should avoid something like this.”“I know! I know!” Naruto shouts, his hands raised in surrender, “But Obito! If we can do… the thing and stop the other things then maybe the THING won’t happen!”Dear god.“Stop hiding it already,” Kakashi growls, finally fed up. “What happens?”“Is it really hiding if we’re talking about the secret in your face?” Naruto muses as he sets himself down.Older Obito cuffs the back of Naruto’s head. To Kakashi, “Nothing…” His eyes land on the cave behind them. Is that a cave? Naruto had asked. Kakashi suddenly has a feeling that that is more significant than he initially believed. “At least nothing now.”“If nothing’s gonna happen… could you two tell us why you’re being so cryptic already?” Their Obito pipes in. He grins and it looks like he’s aiming for his usual charm but it comes off as something insecure.“Please Obito,” Naruto pleads. The two of them have a whole conversation with just their eyes. They go back and forth between each other and Team Minato and that stupid cave. Kakashi wants to gouge them out, he has to know what’s going on.Older Obito sighs, and his whole body slouches like this is a heavy burden. “Okay, fuck, okay.” Naruto cheers, “But just this mission because I hate this mission. Then after this, we’re out. No more meddling with other dimensions.”“Oh, so it’s not time travel?” Naruto asks.“What?” Obito makes an incredulous face. “No. Oh my god, you don’t even know what you did?”“No…” Naruto says guiltily.Obito lets out a sound of frustration and turns away from Naruto, and Kakashi can’t help but sympathize. Then he catches himself because why is he sympathizing with Obito of all people?“I’m taking point,” older Obito says with a tone that doesn’t allow for disagreement. “Let’s get out of here already, I hate this place. Kannabi Bridge, right?”Rin opens her mouth to reply, but the older Obito doesn’t bother to let her finish. Instead, he grabs everyone by the neck of their collars with surprising strength and speed. Kakashi feels the tips of his ears burn and suddenly hates everything even more. Why does nothing make sense?What follows is indescribable. It’s like sensei’s Hiraishin, but sleeker, less vomit-inducing. He doesn’t know how, because he never saw Obito make any seals, but suddenly they’re at the foot of Kannabi Bridge. It barely took any effort to travel the five of them over miles of distance. This kind of technique… people would kill for this.“Here we are! Blow up the damn thing while I talk to this idiot. Scream if you need help,” Obito says and he grabs Naruto where he disappears yet again only to reappear at the end of the bridge. Far enough that even Kakashi’s sensitive hearing can’t reach, but close enough for the older Obito to keep an eye on them.“You’re… angry,” Rin finally says to their Obito.“He’s just like every other Uchiha,” Obito grumbles. “I don’t get it.”“Maybe he’s having an off day?”“Maybe…” but even Obito looks unsure.Kakashi finds himself wanting to ask the same question. Because here’s the thing: he’s always annoyed with the dead last, always frustrated, but there’s something off about seeing someone who’s always smiling act totally different. What happens between now and then that has Obito scowling more than he smiles?Instead, he reminds them, “The mission.”“Ah yes,” Obito says, and he sounds far too much like his older self, “the mission.” He grabs the explosives out of Kakashi’s hands and walks away.:::“Great work!” Minato says as he slows to a jog in front of his team. He saw the smoke and heard the bridge come down miles away. It seems all went well and they managed to get to the meeting point on time. Although, he was expecting more smiles and fewer huddled whispers. “Where’s Naruto?”All their eyes dart up into the tree canopy where Minato sees two figures arguing. The orange one, who Minato’s sure is Naruto, keeps making big gestures towards the one clad in black.Obito adds, “Naruto wants to do something. I think.”“They’ve been arguing over something for a while now…” Rin says uneasily.“They?” Minato repeats, keeping his eyes on them. The two figures suddenly stop and Minato gets the distinct feeling they’re looking at him. His hand falls beside his kunai pouch.“Sensei it’s… uh…” Then the two disappear.To their left, Minato sees Naruto fall rather ungracefully from nowhere, with a shout of “What was that for?!”In comparison, the other figure doesn’t even look bothered. “I needed to let off some steam.”“By dropping me?!”“You’ve been dropped at far worse heights.”“And you’ve been letting off steam since thirty minutes ago!”“Can you blame me?” The man says with a shrug.“Naruto! Care to introduce your friend?” Minato asks.Instead of Naruto, the man in black replies with a crooked grin, “Sensei,” he says. He looks at Minato the same way one looks at something sentimental, something to be held carefully. “I know that the scars are a bit scary, but I’d like to think you’d recognize me.”Dark hair, tall, a built frame, no clan marks, no pointed teeth. Past the scars and the different way he holds himself, at his core, Minato recognizes — “Obito?”“Hi Sensei,” the older Obito says, his voice soft in contrast to everything else about him.Minato takes the time to analyze him. He’s wearing a standard black sleeveless shirt and he spots the ANBU tattoo on his bicep. That comes off as a bit of a shock because Obito isn’t exactly the quiet type, but he supposes time can change things. Beyond that, he’s not wearing the standard uniform, instead opting for something that’s more flowy. His hitai-ate hangs on his other, paler, arm.Obito clears his throat, “Just here to bring your kid back.”“Obito,” Naruto whines, and he kicks Obito’s shin. Obito winces and sends a death glare at him. “Look you can’t even dodge that. You’re tired and out of chakra.”“I am not out of chakra.”“Are you saying,” Naruto says with something that’s both serious and playful. “That I could run around right now, do the things that you don’t want, and you’d be able to stop me?”Minato’s head tilts at the obvious code. Well, he did know Naruto was hiding something.“Naruto,” and now there’s a plastic smile on Obito’s face that’s all teeth. “I can and will break your legs just short of ripping them off if you make me run after you again. Chakra-drained or not.”Everyone makes a face.“Why am I so violent,” Minato hears his Obito despair.“Yeah, Obito, why are you violent?” Naruto says pointedly.The older Obito’s eyes narrow and his mouth begins to twitch into a scowl. “Naruto—““Even Kurama agrees! And he’s usually grouchier than you!”“Well you can tell that old fox to go fuck himself.“He can feel that argument Rin mentioned earlier brew again. Minato decides to butt in, “Naruto’s right, you shouldn’t push yourself too hard Obito-san. You can recover back at Konoha.”Naruto and older Obito share another glance. It’s tense for reasons that Minato doesn’t know, and the tension only gets broken when Obito sighs. He has the feeling this isn’t the first time Obito’s done that today either. The older Obito throws his hands in the air, “Okay fine. Fine. But you’re explaining to your sensei why we didn’t come back right away.”“Because you ran out of chakra,” Naruto supplies with a glowy smile. “It’s okay Obito, Kakashi can’t exactly judge you for that.”Obito points a finger at Naruto, “One more. One more and D-ranks. D-ranks for the whole year.”“We can do that?!” Their Obito suddenly shouts. Minato can tell he’s been keeping most of his questions to himself which is a bit of a surprise considering it’s… Obito. “Are we the Hokage or something?!”The older Obito looks at his younger self, and the difference is startling when Minato lets himself linger on it. “No,” he says defeated. He doesn’t elaborate.Once again, Minato does not like the picture he’s piecing together. This whole time travel business is a sort of quiet horror that Minato doesn’t want to dare venture too deeply into.“Konoha?” the older Obito says to Minato.He nods and saves his questions for when they get back to the village. But not before sending a message first: he’s coming back with another traveller.:::They get to Konoha and it’s so different. This is the Konoha he grew up in, the one before the Kyuubi, before the Massacre, and before Pein. It’s strange to see people look at him with curiosity rather than the slight animosity he’s grown to be used to. Even stranger are the faces he sees — don’t even get him started on his old team. Minato moving, looking larger than life, without the need for black cracks in his face; Rin looking clearly alive and not like some figment of his imagination. It’s the stuff of his dreams and the stuff of his nightmares.“It’s so not modern right?!” Naruto tells him cheerfully.Obito has to snort.They’re ushered by ANBU to the Hokage Tower where Team Minato get pulled into the office first to do their report, leaving Naruto and Obito outside. There are guards watching over them from a short distance, no doubt to make sure they don’t do anything untoward. Obito can practically feel their prickles of curiosity behind their stupid masks.“Obito—“Obito cuts him off with his hand, “I hope you know I’m still annoyed with you. You’ve had me searching for you for the past 72 hours.” Which gives Obito a headache because if Naruto’s been here for a few weeks already, that means time passes by faster here. “Everyone was worried, but it turns out you were just shacking it up here.”Finally, Naruto has the gall to look sheepish, “It really was an accident.”“And that is why you practice your fuuinjutsu in front of me or Kakashi.”“In my defence, I was trying to get back.”With disbelief, “Uh huh.”“Anyway…” Naruto drags, “Lesson learned!” Obito would bet his right arm that it is not. “But moving past that.”Obito can already tell where is going, “No.” They argued about this in the forest, and dear god does Obito want to make sure Madara and Zetsu and all the other shitty things in between never happen, but part of him holds back. He doesn’t know why, maybe it’s because he thinks every version of him needs to pay penance. A small part of him says that maybe he does want to end the world after all. Naruto, however, clearly disagrees. Always the idealist to Obito’s pessimistic tendencies.“C’mon!” Naruto says, frustrated. “You saw my dad, and everything else! It’s so…” He makes that face when he struggles with his words. “Don’t you want to do something about it?”Obito eyes their guards. The ANBU may keep their heads perfectly still, but he knows from experience that they’re listening to everything they say. He’s careful when he says, “Naruto, some things shouldn’t be changed. Do you really want the future we have to be different?”“I mean, us being here already changes things, and you literally said that this isn’t our past.”“Still.”“Give me a better reason than ‘the future is already nice’ — just because something’s nice doesn’t mean it can’t be better. We could help them out.”“Careful Naruto,” Obito says, his tone heavy with years of experience. “That’s a slippery slope.”“You know what I mean, just —“The doors to the Hokage’s office open and out come Team Minato. Obito gives Naruto a look that says ‘later.’The younger Obito (and isn’t that a shocker — the first time they met eyes, Obito felt like a bucket of cold water got dropped on his head. He’s gotten so used to the scars and everything else that the lack of it is a surprise. He used to be so young) looks up at him nervously. Instead, his eyes shift to Naruto and Obito says, “Good luck in there.”It seems not only did Naruto change this dimension’s timeline, but he also made friends. Great. Why is Obito even surprised at this point?“Enter!” Obito hears the Sandaime shout out.It appears time has rarely changed the Hokage’s office. Paperwork, windows that are a blaring security hazard that has Obito’s head rolling, it’s all the same. The only thing off is that the wrong person’s wearing the hat and that there’s a slimy councilman right behind him. At least the Nara in the office is somewhat familiar. Obito tries to avoid looking at his sensei who stays at his back.“Obito-kun, you grew up,” the Third notes in a way that sends his hackles up. Whatever little calmness he mustered outside shrivels and makes way for his usual brand of ‘perpetually pissed off.’“Yes,” Obito says dryly. “That’s what time does to someone.”“Show some respect,” Danzo says.“With all due respect old man, you haven’t been my Hokage in years. And I really don’t appreciate whatever this is,” he looks at him straight in the eye. “I was under the impression this was a quick stopover, not an interrogation.” Because that’s the only thing this could be, with the Nara strategist and the greedy old war hawk in the room.Danzo does not take this well, “Does your Hokage allow you to be this uncouth?”“Oh,” Obito says and he can feel his face splitting into a grin. There’s just something about Danzo that pisses him off, and he has been needing an outlet ever since Naruto got himself stuck in another damned dimension, “My Hokage loves it when I —“Naruto steps on his foot because years of exposure to Kakashi and Obito means he knows exactly what’s going to come out of Obito’s mouth. “Sorry, Obito! Did not see your foot! Wow. Really did not mean that! Gosh. You should be more careful with where you put that. Haha.” No one misses Naruto’s attempt at salvaging diplomacy. In any other situation, it would be funny that it’s Naruto of all people keeping him in line, but as it is, Obito’s too busy mildly simmering at Danzo to laugh.The Third clears his throat, “This is not an interrogation, you are free to leave whenever you want. However, as you are a citizen of Konoha, we would like to ask you a few questions.”Leave whenever you want, my ass, Obito thinks with a grievance.Shikaku says, “As you know, we’re in the middle of a war,” he pauses and Obito nods slowly if only to get him to finish talking. “Information is key. Any kind can help us shift these odds.”Obito opens his mouth, but Minato beats him to it. “Hokage-sama, forgive me, but I believe when Naruto first came here we agreed to avoid asking anything about the future.”He hears Naruto whisper to himself, “We did?” And it makes Obito want to facepalm all over again. Where’s Kakashi when he needs him?“Ahhh,” Danzo says, “But you see, they’re not from the future. No?” He looks at them and Obito wants to punch his stupid face. “Your team reported that these travellers are in fact from another dimension. Their actions here have no impact on their future, and thus, we have no need to fear any possible paradoxes from forming. Correct?”Obito hates that Danzo’s evil and smart. Maybe Naruto does have a point. Surely this world would be better off without Danzo.Danzo takes their silence as agreement and continues, “And if they are who they claim they are, that is loyal ninja of the Leaf, then it would also be within their best interests to share whatever it is they know.”If there was already an agreement to withhold from asking Naruto anything about the future then that means someone pushed for it to be broken. Shikaku doesn’t seem the type for this kind of strategy, much less when the Kannabi Bridge Mission was a resounding success. If he was a half-decent strategist (which Shikaku is) then he should realize the war is already tipped in their favour. Which makes Obito bet it was Danzo. But why? He’s not interested in ending this war, he’s been keen on using it to shape Konoha to his needs.Ah.Obito’s an Uchiha, and Danzo has always seen the Uchiha as a threat. It’s not that far-fetched he’d be opportunistic with Obito’s appearance. The strategist in Obito quickly reevaluates.Shikaku fills the silence, “Alternate dimension doesn’t necessarily imply we even have the same past, or in our case, our present. For all we know, their past was totally different.“Naruto chimes in, “From what I’ve seen it sounds kinda similar to what everyone’s told me! However, some things may have already changed. Can’t be sure though, dattebayo!”“What’s changed? Other than you arriving here?” Minato asks from behind.“Uh…” Naruto says his eyes shift to Obito. This, in turn, has everyone looking at him expectantly.This would be the perfect time to lie, a get-out-of-jail-free card handed to them on a silver platter. All he has to say is that their information would be useless and that they have totally different events. And yet, for some reason, Obito hesitates to take it. He blames Naruto.“It should be more or less the same,” is his response. Vague enough that he can still back out but still have the option to go through with Naruto’s stupid, too-good-to-be-true plan.“And how can you be sure of that?” Sarutobi asks.Obito tilts his head, the only person in this room who would probably understand the whole explanation is Minato. He crammed dimension-travel in three days, and that’s with his sharingan cheat code, now he has to cram advanced fuuinjutsu into three sentences or less. Doable. “Dimensions close to each other tend to be similar. Luckily enough, Naruto jumped to this dimension which is pretty close to ours. The differences should be next to none barring the changes of our appearance here.” He doesn’t dare mention that Kannabi Bridge shouldn’t have even gone the way it did.Danzo looks triumphant. If Obito tells them no, then that’ll be used against the Uchiha in the future. If Obito does give in, then Danzo’s just going to figure out a way to incorporate it into his own plans which may render any efforts null.“You can start with what’s changed,” Danzo prompts.Obito sees Naruto open his mouth, but Obito pushes him back with a firm hand to his chest. “We’ll consider it. As you mentioned Danzo-san, we are ninja loyal to the Leaf, and we have its best interests at heart. I can say Konoha makes it through this war without any help from… the future, if you will, and that any interference or information we provide may lead to unexpected changes that could harm the future of Konoha.”Minato hums in thought, “The butterfly effect.”“Exactly.”Shikaku nods resolutely and says, “That’s reasonable.” He looks to the rest of the room as if the conversation has just confirmed something he said previously.“They’ve already admitted to changing things,” Danzo argues, mainly to Sarutobi’s ear. “This butterfly effect could be well underway and we’d be unprepared.”“We’ll consider it,” Obito repeats firmly. He channels the same charisma he has when he’s ANBU commander and giving out orders.Sarutobi looks at him, and Obito can understand why he’s called the Professor. He feels analyzed, like every bit of him is being laid bare. “Onto the initial point of this meeting. How long can we expect you to be here?” How long until you leave so we can divert our resources somewhere else?“A day,” Obito pauses, “Maybe two.”“So like a week,” Naruto cuts in. At Obito’s glare, “What?! You recover just as slowly as Kakashi sometimes!”He feels a vein in his forehead bulge. As much as he wants to bite back at Naruto because he’s not as bad as Kakashi when it comes to chakra drainage, he’d rather not do it in front of an audience. “A week at the latest,” he allows instead.“Very well then, may your stay be comfortable.”“Think about it,” Danzo adds, his eyes dark and expecting. It’s an order and a threat all in one and Obito forces himself to breathe. Who does he think he is?”We will!” Naruto says quickly.“And, I do hope moving forward you won’t involve yourself in other village affairs unless you’ve informed me and gained my approval,” Sarutobi tells Naruto who looks positively unrepentant. Then Sarutobi finally says, “You’re all dismissed.”:::The walk out of the Hokage Tower is tense. Obito is clearly ticked off about something and Naruto obviously wants to talk with him more about whatever it is they were talking about. Minato feels like an onlooker more than the supposed sensei and father he is. While he may have gotten used to Naruto, he feels the slightest bit off with Obito. On the way back from Kannabi Bridge, Obito kept a polite distance between the two of them as if they were strangers rather than sensei and student. It’s like he’s skipped years of growth and now he’s faced with an Obito that’s both different and familiar all at once.Minato decides to break the silence, “So… I take it you don’t like Danzo-san.”Obito looks at him and snickers deprecatingly, the tension in his shoulders dissipates a bit. “I certainly did not miss the sound of his voice.”Good thing they’ve left the Hokage Tower already. Minato only hopes the ANBU tailing them don’t take that sentence as a threat.“Hey sensei,” Obito says and has a glint in his eye that Minato recognizes. The same glint his Obito gets when he knows he’s about to stir trouble, “When you take the hat, my advice for you is to kick him out. Better yet: execution.”“Obito,” Naruto groans.“What? Your boyfriend would agree with me.” That is new information.“Sasuke’s not my boyfriend!” And yet Minato takes note of it anyway.With a teasing grin, “I didn’t even have to say his name.”“He wouldn’t agree with you anyway,” Naruto finishes with a pout. He even crosses his arms the same way a child would which isn’t helping his case at all.“Yeah, yeah, whatever you say,” Obito says breezily as he waves his hand. Minato watches the way they interact with each other, and he can see now why Naruto gets along with his Obito so well.Though as much as Minato wants to pick apart the first part of Obito’s statement, he asks, “What did Danzo-san do to warrant that kind of reaction?”After a pause, Obito gives him a look, and Minato’s forced to realize yet again that this Obito is both older and taller than him. It’s jarring — not in a bad way — but the number of realizations Minato’s undergoing in the span of a week is reaching past the usual amount. “Minato-sensei, I don’t want to have to lie to you.”“Okay then,” Minato accepts easily. “I trust you. I won’t push.”One more look and Obito nods, taking it as it is.“I’m surprised no one else pushed more,” Naruto notes.“We came willingly," Obito tells him as if used to teaching lessons. Maybe he is. “That counts for something.”“So your major ‘Don’t-fuck-with-me’ vibes had nothing to do with it?”Obito’s mouth subtly turns into a smirk, “That counts for something too.”They arrive at Minato and Kushina’s place, and before they even get to the door it gets pulled open.“OBITO!” Kushina practically shouts from the other side. “You’re so big!” Then she engulfs him in a tight hug and Obito tenses up.Eventually, he gives her a hug back, it’s awkward like he hasn’t done it in a while. Nonetheless, when he responds back there’s an unmistakable warmth, “Kushina-nee.”“What’s for dinner?” Minato asks behind them.Kushina pulls away and with a bright grin, “Ramen! To congratulate your team and to welcome another special guest!”:::The good side of being stuck in another dimension with Naruto is that he never shuts up which means all the attention naturally gets taken away from Obito. (Or maybe everyone’s just avoiding asking questions out of politeness, that would work too.)Naruto gets along with the younger Obito just fine, they crack jokes left and right, and share their bright ideals like the bright-eyed optimists they are. He also gets along with Kakashi, even if no one other than Obito thinks that. Kakashi may have a stony face, but Obito can read him like a book — Kakashi doesn’t like Naruto, Kakashi pays attention to Naruto, Kakashi’s annoyed that he’s paying attention to Naruto — it’s hilarious, tiny Kakashi was such a mess. Furthermore, with Naruto in the fold, Rin doesn’t need to act as a mediator, and she gets to jump out of her shell a bit. As for, Kushina and Minato, they obviously love him already because Naruto’s just a perfect mix of the two of them.It’s warm, and even if he’s barely participating in this little get-together of sorts, the warmth pierces a part of his heart that he thought he left back in a cave.When it is well past midnight and everyone has retired, Obito gets off of Minato and Kushina’s couch and goes outside for some fresh air. He sits on the porch and watches the full moon. It’s a beautiful pale white — not at all a thing of dreams.Why is he hesitating? ****The more he thinks of it, his stupid excuse to try to remain a bystander in this world has a flimsy foundation. When it comes to the moral shit, Naruto’s usually always in the right too.And yet. Obito is a shinobi, cut from the same cloth as village-makers and traitors, made to be a weapon and a figure. He has to think and strategize, he shouts at himself. What if he makes this worse? The last time he had the bright idea of fixing the world, it was practically an apocalypse given form. Who is he to play god in a world that isn’t even his? Good intentions do not always make good plans.The door behind him opens. Obito smells ink, and hears the gait of their step. Without turning around, “Sensei, I thought you were asleep.”“Insomnia,” Minato replies. He takes a seat beside Obito.“Didn’t know you had that.”“It’s not something I’d advertise,” Minato says thoughtfully. “And you? Why are you awake?”“Just thinking.”“About?”Obito looks at the moon, pale and shining. He looks at the stars, and with a sudden abandon for anything resembling secrecy, “What would you do if you were in my situation, sensei?”“If… I was in another dimension?” Minato asks unsurely.No but where does he even start? “The information I have could solve a lot of problems before they arise.” He mulls over his words and Minato sits beside him patiently. “But the village now, or well in the future, it’s good — great even. And it’s not just our village. It’s peace, actual peace; but it took a lot of suffering for us to get there.”“Tell me about it, the future,” Minato says. But just as hurriedly tacks on, “If you want,” that betrays his youth.And Obito finds that he does. He tells him about the peace between villages, the new infrastructure that Kakashi’s desk is always filled with, the hospital wing Sakura is so proud of; all the things that make Obito think: this is something I’d protect.In terms of time, Madara should be named Obito’s sensei. Especially since Obito would say he learned most of the skills he uses now from the old man. And yet, this blonde-haired, bright-smiling man who taught him the basics, the man he hurt and laid to rest, continues to maintain the title in Obito’s head. When Obito tells him about the future and things he holds dear to his heart, it does not feel like an admission of weakness. It does not feel like he’s laying his heart bare for someone to hurt, but rather it feels like a campfire in the middle of the night that one shares to keep warm. Is this what it’s like to be beside someone you look up to than fear? Obito has forgotten how safe it felt.When he finishes, Minato says in awe, “That sounds amazing.”“It is,” Obito says with a content smile.After a pause, Minato says, “You know, you had us worried Obito.”With a self-deprecating smile, “‘cause I’m so different?”“A bit, but that’s to be expected. You’re not always going to be the kid we know today,” Minato concedes. “But no, we were worried because the second you came here you just looked sad and burdened. I can’t say anything for certain because I haven’t lived your life, and I know that there’s more to this than what you’ve told me but I’m happy for you. I’m glad that you have people to rely on and that you get to have that happiness.”“Even if I was the cause of a lot of that suffering sensei?” He asks because apparently in the face of his mentor, he’s lost any sort of verbal filter. Would you think it was well deserved when I was the reason all those problems arose in the first place?“Even then,” Minato says with such surety even when he’s fully aware he doesn’t know the full story. “You may be a bit different, but you’re still the same kid who says sorry as easily as you make mistakes. You’re still the same person who wanted to be the Hokage and make the village a better place. Sure, you might have gotten a bit sidetracked, but I think what really matters is what you’re doing now. And even if you do make mistakes, it sounds like you’ve got plenty of people to catch you when you fall.”Obito laughs wetly. When did his throat feel so clogged up?“As for your question: what would I do if I was in your place? Well, I’d do what I think is best for the village — something I think you’re plenty capable of. You’re a good person Obito, even if you don’t let yourself think that now.” Then Minato turns and finally looks at him in the eye with a smile that just radiates everything will be fine. He feels like a kid again which is all kinds of stupid considering who exactly Obito is, but with his sensei, the fact doesn’t matter all that much.Turns out this wall of his was always just a flimsy house of cards, and all it takes is one look from Minato and everything just comes crashing down. He buries his face in his knees to avoid looking at Minato and finds that it feels wet. How embarrassing, even more reason to hide his face.(“Such a crybaby,” he hears Kakashi’s voice say fondly.)Minato pats his back and Obito doesn’t let himself sob, but he does say, “Oh sensei, I’ve really missed you.”