A/N: This was written on a whim. It is an experiment and it's not even high on the "to do list". But I had to get it out. My works are not betaed, so expect typos and weird stuff.

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"Have you ever wished you could have been able to help your son? Have you ever spent sleepless nights wondering if there could have been something you could have done to save your stillborn child? And what about your wife? Does not the grief keep you in a world of suffering, wondering about all the 'what ifs' that could be?"

Uchiha Madara, a man thought to be filled with nothing but hate and rage for the world around him now appeared lost and ridden with grief and regret. Yet, after long decades spent plotting, collecting bijuus and nearly bringing the world into a war, he stood tall and sure of himself.

There was no way that this man was going to stop. Not when he was so close to achieving whatever he wanted. It was perfectly visible in his eyes as he glared at his opponent, unafraid of the man that was known to bring down entire armies on his own.

"Tell me, Namikaze Minato... if you had the chance... if you knew of a way to right all the wrongs done no matter the sins you committed to reach that goal... what would you do? Will you take the opportunity... or will you let it slip away, forever lost to you?"

Minato, Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, stilled where he was upon hearing the other's words. Worse than a kunai to the heart, they reawakened memories that he had desperately tried to forget through the years, giving him nothing but emotional pain that bordered on physical.

His knees wobbled. His head spun. A few tears fell from his eyes.

He could remember it as if it had been yesterday. Kushina's smile... her overwhelming happiness when she felt that it was time to bring their child into the light. Then, hours later, his whole world breaking into million pieces and collapsing all around him like a sand castle as the doctors informed him of his loss.

His son, the baby he had waited for nine months, was a stillborn. They had tried everything, from every single jutsu known to them to physical treatment. Yet, for some reason, his child had lost the fight against the cold touch of death.

Soon after that, his beloved Kushina died of complications, leaving him alone with his grief.

"It's painful, isn't it?" Madara's voice echoed through the desolate plain where they had finally stopped to fight and end the madness in a way or in another. "I lost my little brother to war and my own stupidity. I desire him back. Don't you desire your son and wife back?"

And Minato couldn't help but understand.

Because in the end, deep down, they were the same. Two men filled with grief and pain, seeking solace in a world that would offer them none. The only difference was that they had chosen to deal with their problems in different ways.

While he had given up and had tried to forget, Madara had stepped out of every boundary, rule and common sense to right the mistakes of his life.

Minato felt his resolve waver. Not for long. Just a tiny fraction of a second, but in the end his hesitation was enough.

The world spun horribly, with the earth spiraling into the sky and vice-versa until they meshed together and became a confused blur. Sounds rushed together, like a raging river or a storm of colossal proportions, just much, much louder.

Minato closed his eyes, regret and guilt filling his mind once again, only this time blaming himself at how much he had let everyone down. He was supposed to stop Madara, to bring him to justice and save the world. He knew he had failed, yet all he could think about in the last moments that reality seemed to retain some semblance of normality was his stillborn son and those 'what ifs'.

'Naruto... if only...'

And then reality ceased to be.