Team Minato was walking through one of the many forests in the Land of Bears. But unlike all the other forests in this land, this forest as undisputedly haunted. For as long as he could remember civilian and shinobi alike had avoided this forest, even Lord Orochimaru tried to steer clear. The villages that surrounded the forest told the horror stories of the few who managed to get through alive and the hundreds who got lost and whose spirits still roamed the forest. This was not the first time Minato had traveled through the forest; in fact, when he had been younger Jiraiya had taken him on many trips that sometimes lead through this very forest. Jiraiya had placed markers all around the forest so that neither he, nor Minato would ever get lost as so many did.
"Sensei, tell me again why we're taking a shortcut through a hunted forest?" Obito said while his eyes darted around him for any sign of ghosts.
"There's no such thing as ghosts." Kakashi said with a roll of his eyes.
"Yeah, because you're the expert on ghosts and all things otherworldly." Obito snorted, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Guy's let's please not fight." Rin asked, looking between her two hostile teammates.
"We're walking through this forest because no one but me and Jiraiya-sensei know how to navigate this forest without getting lost. It's also important that we return to the Village in one piece now that we're at war." He said before adjusting his knapsack.
"This place still gives me the creeps." Obito muttered under his breath.
XxX
"Hey Pervy Sage, why is this place so creepy looking?" Naruto asked while looking around at the gigantic trees covered in vines and moss.
"Because some people believe it's haunted." He said absentmindedly.
Jiraiya walked a few more steps before he noticed that Naruto had stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around to see the blood drained from his face and his mouth hanging open. "What's wrong?" he asked thinking that maybe all the years of ramen had finally got to him.
"H-h-haunted? As in ghosts?" Naruto said spinning around to make sure nothing was behind him.
Jiraiya sighed, it just figured. This kid would rush head first into battle, usually a sure death situation, but was scared to death when the possibility that they might come across a ghosts. "Look kid, you don't need to worry about it, I've been using this forest for years to sneak around." He said hoping the brat would grow up.
"Have you ever seen a ghost before?" Naruto asked.
"Never." Jiraiya lied through his teeth. "Besides, the only reason people say this forest is haunted is because it's so easy to get lost."
"Wait. You mean we might be stuck here forever?" Naruto asked, jogging to catch up with Jiraiya.
"Nah, I've been using this forest for years, I know the way in and the way out and all the landmarks in between." He reassured Naruto.
XxX
Minato frowned as he surveyed the sight before him. An unnaturally thick fog had set in making it impossible to see three feet in front of him. There was no way they could go on like this, the only logical thing they could do was set up camp for the night and hope the fog cleared.
"Let's set up camp here for the night." Minato said, dropping his knapsack to the ground by his feet.
"What?" Obito asked alarmed. "We're spending the night in the haunted forest?"
"It's not haunted you idiot." Kakashi said and following his sensei's lead dropped his own bag to the ground.
"Don't worry Obito, even if there are ghosts they won't hurt you." Rin said with a smile.
"Kakashi, can you and Obito find some firewood? Stay close to each other and close to camp." Minato warned. "It's very easy to get lost in here."
Obito sighed, not happy at all about being sent out into the forest with only Kakashi. He was certain he couldn't out run Kakashi and was just as certain that Kakashi would leave him to the mercy of ghosts. He sent a quick glare to the back of Kakashi's head before following him into the fog.
It was about thirty minutes later that Obito decided he was lost. At some point he and Kakashi had gotten separated and he hadn't realized it till he was hopelessly lost. Obito decided that the best thing to do would be to keep walking; eventually he would find his team again, right?
XxX
"Alright brat, let's set up camp here." Jiraiya said.
"We're spending the night here?" Naruto asked incredulously.
"Well we can't keep going on, there's too much fog and a person needs to see where they're going in this forest. We'll just wait it out." Jiraiya said.
Naruto knew there was no use arguing with him so instead he dropped his knapsack and began picking up sticks for a fire. If he was lucky maybe Jiraiya would teach him a new jutsu.
After a few minutes he had gathered enough sticks to start a decent fire and returned to where Jiraiya sat, giggling perversely and writing in a notebook. "Hey Pervy Sage," Naruto started while he built the sticks up for the camp fire.
"What?" he asked annoyed at being called Pervy.
"Can you teach me a new jutsu?" He asked hopefully.
"Have you finished developing the Great Ball Rasangan?" he asked.
Naruto felt himself deflate. "I'm like this close!" he said holding his thumb and index finger very close together. "Come on Pervy Sage, please teach me a new jutsu?" he begged.
"Before you learn any new jutsu you need to learn how to dispel a genjustu, especially with Itachi Uchiha after you."
"Yeah, yeah." Naruto grumbled as he put the last stick in place before lighting it.
XxX
It had been at least two hours since Obito decided he was lost; he was close to just giving up until the fog cleared. "Minato-sensei! Rin! Kakashi!" he called out hoping someone would answer him.
He walked a few more paces, wishing he hadn't dropped his bundle of firewood, when he saw it. There was a light up ahead that shown through the fog, and if he listened close enough he could hear voices. He didn't care if they were enemy ninja, it would mean he didn't have to spend the night alone in the creepy, haunted forest. He picked up his slow pace and began to make his way toward the light.
"You can't eat ramen for every meal; you'll be that short forever." Came the deep voice of an older man.
"But it's so good; it's the food of the Gods!" Came the earnest reply of a younger boy with a squeaky voice.
Obito stepped on a rather crunchy stick and winced as he heard the occupants of the camp grow instantly quiet.
"Alright, come on out." Came the voice of the older male.
"What if it's a ghost?" the younger of the two asked.
"There's no such thing as ghosts."
"Yes there is, I've seen them!"
"Whatever, brat. Whoever is hiding out there show yourself."
Obito wasn't sure what he stumbled in upon but he would be damned if he stayed out in the cold foggy night when there were ghosts about. He continued walking until he was in a small, lit clearing. He could have cried when he saw who the camp belonged to.
"Master Jiraiya!" He cried. "I got separated from Minato-sensei when the fog rolled in and I've been wondering around looking for the rest of the team for hours!"
"Obito?" Master Jiraiya's voice was hesitant and he looked like he'd seen a ghost, not exactly impossibility in these woods.
"Hey I've never seen you in the Village before, have you been out on mission?" the kid asked.
Obito turned his attention to the kid for the first time and nearly yelped in surprise. Before him stood an exact replica of his twenty something Sensei. The only difference was the age and the odd whisker like marks on his cheeks. "Minato-sensei? Why are you so short?" he asked surprised.
"Minato? My name's Naruto." He said.
Something wasn't right, that much Obito knew. He looked back to Master Jiraiya who seemed to regain some of his color and was taking deep breaths.
"Okay, Obito, what's the last important thing that happened in the Village?" Jiraiya asked.
Obito thought that was an odd question but who was he to question one of the Legendary Sannin? "Um, Iwa just declared the Third Great Ninja War." he said uncertainly.
"What?" the Minato-sensei look-a-like said. "That war's been over for years!"
"What? No it hasn't, it just started!" Obito argued. Who did this kid think he was?
"Shut up you two, you're both right." Jiraiya said.
"What are you talking about Pervy Sage?" Naruto said.
"I told you not to call me that in front of other people!" Jiraiya yelled, jumping up and shaking his fist at the young blonde.
"Well if you weren't such a pervert I wouldn't call you that!" Naruto shouted right back.
Obito wasn't sure if he should laugh or not as he watched Jiraiya's nostrils flare in anger. "Just shut up brat so I can explain things." He said before looking back over to Obito. "Take a seat."
Obito did as instructed and took a seat next to Naruto who handed him a rice ball which he took gladly.
"The reason people think this forest is haunted is because the time-space reality is warped. When people think they see ghosts, they're actually seeing people from the past or the future." He said. "This is the first time I've actually got to talk to someone I've seen in the forest."
"Wait, so you're from the future?" Obito asked.
"That's right, and to make sure we don't mess up the space-time continuum we need to make sure you get back with Team Minato." Jiraiya said. "There's no use doing that tonight, we'll have to wait till morning."
Obito nodded. "So what happens to me in the future?" he asked eagerly. "I'm Head of the Uchiha Clan right?" he puffed out his chest.
"There's no way you're an Uchiha!" Naruto said and Obito was about to protest before Naruto spoke again. "You're an actual decent person; I guess Itachi killed all the good Uchiha off."
"Shut up you brat!" Jiraiya hissed from across the fire. "We can't risk changing the future."
"Wait Itachi Uchiha? But he's not even supposed to be born for another two months." Obito said. "Why did he kill the Uchiha?"
Jiraiya sighed forlornly. "Fine, we'll just get everything out, but I'm doing a mind wipe seal before we all leave this forest." He warned.
Obito wasn't entirely sure he wanted Master Jiraiya to tell him of his future, so far it sounded pretty bleak.
XxX
"It's been hour's sensei, let's just wait till morning." Kakashi said.
Minato frowned but knew it was probably the best plan of action. "Alright, let's go to bed, we're getting up early in the morning." He said.
"Poor Obito, you know how creepy this forest is." Rin said, staring off into the black fog.
"Yeah count on Obito to be the one who gets lost." Kakashi said as he rolled out his futon.
XxX
The next morning Jiraiya had thrown Naruto out of his futon and into a whirlwind of expletives all centered on old men and perverts. Obito had woken up laughing, in his opinion the perfect way to wake up. A definite improvement over hearing his future and the Uchiha future last night and to add to his improving mood the fog had also cleared.
"So how are we going to find Minato-sensei?" Obito asked as he scattered dirt on the still burning embers of the fire.
"Actually since you entered in through the northwest entrance we are going to head in that direction while Naruto goes and scouts out ahead of us." Jiraiya said as he slipped his knapsack on.
"What!" Naruto asked his voice breaking. "You're sending me out there alone? What if I wind up in the past or the future?"
"Just shut up and listen Brat." Jiraiya said. "I want to see how many Shadow Clones you can make and how long you can keep them up."
"I thought you were a genin, how can you make shadow clones?" Obito asked surprised.
"It's a long story, but one of my Sensei's at the Academy tricked me into stealing the scroll of seals and I ended up learning it from that." Naruto said with a slight frown, looking even more like Minato-sensei.
"But genin, especially Academy students shouldn't have the chakra reserves for a Shadow Clone jutsu." Obito argued. Everything he learned about this kid just didn't make sense.
"Naruto has naturally enormous chakra reserves." Jiraiya said dismissively. "Okay Naruto, I want you to make as many clones as you can and run off in every direction." Jiraiya instructed.
"Okay, watch and be amazed Pervy Sage." Naruto said as he took a wide stance and put his hands into the proper seal.
"Yeah, yeah whatever just get a move on it." Jiraiya said with a roll of his eyes.
Obito felt a surge of massive chakra, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto's shouted, his voice echoing all over the forest.
The once dark green and brown forest was now an obnoxiously vibrant orange. Obito surveyed the forest around him with his mouth hanging open, he had never seen so many shadow clones, Minato-sensei could only make about forty. Naruto had created hundreds. "Wow." He whispered.
"Remember your looking for a short Kakashi, a girl named Rin with purple cheek markings and the future Fourth Hokage." Master Jiraiya shouted to the clones.
"Right, Pervy Sage!" they all said in unison before bouncing off in different directions.
"Master Jiraiya, who are Naruto's parents." Obito asked once he was certain the topic of discussion was out of ear shot.
Jiraiya sighed, "It really is pretty obvious isn't it?" he said with a distant look in his eyes.
"He looks just like Sensei." Obito admitted. "But, does he know it?"
For a moment he wasn't sure Master Jiraiya would answer. "I guess a few more future secrets won't matter as long as you promise not to tell Naruto." Obito nodded. "As you know, Minato will eventually be chosen as the Fourth Hokage." Once again Obito nodded.
"Do you know what a jinchuriki is?" Jiraiya asked.
"Um, no." Obito said.
"Don't worry about it kid, not many people do. Jinchuriki means human sacrifice, usually one of the nine-tailed beasts are imprisoned inside of a human for various reasons. Anyway Minato ends up marrying Kushina Uzumaki, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki." Jiraiya said.
"Wait the crazy redhead Kushina that Kakashi's afraid of?" Obito asked.
"That's the one." Jiraiya said. "Eventually she gets pregnant, which is dangerous for a jinchuriki, anyway, due to complications the Kyuubi gets free and goes on a rampage all over the village. Minato and Kushina died saving the village and cursing Naruto to a life as an outcast.
"There are a majority in the village that refuse acknowledge Naruto's heritage, thus he grew up by himself and completely shunned."
"But he's so upbeat." Obito said.
"Well that's Naruto for you; if someone says he can't do something he'll laugh in their face and prove them wrong."
XxX
Minato didn't know what to think, it had been an hour since they had started searching for Obito. But instead of finding his student he found three shadow clones who looked exactly like him.
"Hey, I found you!" the mini-me's called out in unison.
"You found me?" Minato asked with a raised eyebrow, certain that Kakashi and Rin were doing the same.
"Yeah, Pervy Sage made me create a whole bunch of shadow clones to come and find you for Obito." Said the one on the far left before turning to the other two. "Go find them and ill stay with them so we don't lose them." The other two clones saluted before running off in the opposite.
Minato wasn't sure what kind of kid was able to do Shadow Clones so proficiently, not even Kakashi could do shadow clones yet.
"Who are you?" Kakashi asked.
"Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, and puffed out his chest importantly.
"Uzumaki?" Minato asked. The only Uzumaki he knew was Kushina and as far as he knew she was the only one left. Then the truth dawned on him and what Jiraiya had told him about the forest all those years ago came back to him. "You're from the future aren't you?"
"Yep!" he said with a thousand watt smile.
"I hate to break it to you, but idiots don't become Hokage." Kakashi said.
Naruto turned toward Kakashi who was nearly the same height at him. "Kakashi-sensei!" it appeared Naruto had only one volume, loud. "Hey, you still have both your eyes."
Kakashi blinked. "You're my student? Please tell me you're not the smart one."
"Naruto!" Came a booming voice behind him, somewhere off in the forest.
Naruto turned around, and if at all possible raised his voice even louder. "Over here Pervy Sage!"
Minato raised another eyebrow, what kind of sensei would let his student call him Pervy Sage. As soon as the thought crossed his mind it was answered. Through the trees walked non-other than Jiraiya-sensei and Obito.
"Pervy Sage?" He asked with a smile.
"The Brat won't stop calling me that." He admitted sending a glare to Naruto.
"Obito, it's good to see that you're alright." Minato said.
"Next time we send you out for fire wood we'll attach a leash so you don't get lost." Kakashi said.
"Hey, shut up! Anyone could have gotten lost in all that fog last night." He defended.
Kakashi just rolled his eyes.
Rin had been quiet this whole time and had been staring intently at Naruto. "You look just like Minato-sensei, Naruto." She said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Jiraiya and Obito tense. "Who are your parents?" she asked.
Naruto looked at her confused, like no one had ever asked him that before. "I don't know, Old Man Hokage told me that he would tell me when I was older." He then turned to Jiraiya. "Do you think Grandma Tsunade knows who they are?" he asked.
"I don't know brat, you can ask her after when we get back." Jiraiya said smoothly.
"What! But we're not going back for another three years!" he cried. "Wait, do you know who they are Pervy Sage, you're pretty old."
"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that in front of other people?" Jiraiya yelled, bending down till he was almost level with Naruto.
"I'll stop calling you Pervy Sage when you stop peeking on women in the bathhouse!" Naruto yelled right back.
"Does Lady Tsunade really let you call her Grandma?" Rin asked with a smile.
Jiraiya snorted before turning to Minato, an odd look I his eye. "Minato," he said.
Minato put on a smile, "I assume you'll do a mind wipe before we part ways." He said already knowing where this was leading.
Jiraiya smiled and slapped him on the back before leading him a ways away from the younger generation.
XxX
Jiraiya watched as four Naruto's jumped into the river that ran all throughout the forest, while Obito built a fire and Kakashi and Rin skinned the fish Naruto had already caught.
"So he grew up all alone?" Minato asked. "He didn't even have a guardian?"
"I paid for everything of his and the Third did what he could, but no one would take him." Jiraiya said. "It may not have been a bad thing though."
Minato turned away from Naruto to Jiraiya with interest. "Why's that."
"He knows what the value of a friend is; even now he's determined to bring Sasuke back to the village even though he tried to kill him." Minato turned his head to look back at his son. "He tries harder than anyone I've ever seen, hell; it only took him three weeks to learn your Rasangan."
"Maybe he really is a prodigy." Minato said.
"You have no idea, but he had to teach himself everything, even most of his academy teachers refused to teach him anything. Kakashi was the one who discovered he barely knew how to read or write." Jiraiya said.
"What about the seal? Does it work properly?" He asked. He had been working on the seal for a few years now but never thought he'd actually have to use it.
"Yeah, though Kakashi told me about a mission to Wave where some of the Kyuubi leaked out, but no one was hurt." Jiraiya said. "I've been thinking about teaching him to harness the power of the nine-tails."
Minato nodded absently. "What does he think of me?" He asked. So far Naruto had been slightly indifferent toward him, only calling him the Fourth out of respect.
"You're his hero." Jiraiya said with a smile.
"Even though he knows I'm the one who destroyed his life?" Minato asked, unconvinced.
"I asked him about that once, he said that a Hokage had to make the hard decisions, that's why they were Hokage and that he was proud that you had chosen him over everyone else." Jiraiya said. "You know he wants to be Hokage, just like you will be."
"Promise me that you'll tell him who me and Kushina were one day." Minato asked.
"I promise." Jiraiya said.
XxX
It was time to part ways once more, neither Minato nor Naruto would ever see each other again. Minato knew this was his only chance to tell his son how proud he was of him, so while everyone else was busy packing up camp he went over to him.
"Naruto." He said putting on a big smile. Naruto spun around and glanced in Jiraiya's direction nervously before making eye contact. "I hear you mastered my Rasangan in three weeks." He said hopping that would break the ice and get the ball rolling.
Naruto instantly brightened up. "Yeah, Grandma Tsunade bet that I couldn't and then I won her necklace." He said proudly and pulled out the famous necklace of the First Hokage.
He could see so much of Kushina in him it was unbearable. "You're a fine shinobi." He said, trying not to think about how much he wanted to tell Naruto about his heritage. "And you'll make a fine Hokage someday."
Naruto's eyes grew as wide as saucers. "Really!" he shouted and Minato could see Kakashi wince from the loudness of it.
"Really." He affirmed. "You'll go on to do great things." Minato knew what he was doing was a against the rules Jiraiya had set out for this forest but he had already decided on it last night. When he was sure no one was looking he slipped a small scroll into Naruto's bag.
Naruto was smiling so big and so brightly that he out shown the sun itself. "Thanks Fourth Hokage!" he said happily.
"Just call me Minato." He said wishing he would call him father instead.
"Ok Minato!"
"Minato." Jiraiya said coming to stand beside Naruto. "It's time to go."
"Hey Pervy Sage, you missed it, Minato said he thinks I'll be a great Hokage." Naruto said.
"Yeah, I heard, but we have to go now." he said before turning back to Minato.
"Don't worry Sensei; we'll see each other again." Minato said.
"Yeah, I guess we will." Jiraiya said with a chuckle, knowing his student was talking about the next life.
"Come on Sensei, we need to get back to the Village." Kakashi called from across the clearing.
"Good luck Naruto." Minato said before turning and walking over to his students and then out of sight.
XxX
THREE YEARS LATER
Naruto was finally back home in the Village; in fact he had been back for about two months and was only now getting around to unpacking his bag from his training trip with Jiraiya. He dumped the whole bag out onto his bed where he would sort it. After throwing a good portion of his dirty clothes in the corner to be washed eventually he started going through all the scrolls he had. He through them all into drawers, but when he reached the last one he realized he didn't recognize it.
He opened it up slowly and saw that it was addressed to him.
Naruto,
I'm sorry to have placed such a heavy burden on you with no one to help you through all the hard times that lay ahead of you. I hope that one day you can forgive me for that. I know you won't remember but we actually met once in that haunted forest Jiraiya likes to travel through. The reason you don't remember is because we will wipe our minds of the encounter. I'll tell you then and I'll tell you again now, I'm so proud of the shinobi you have become all on your own. You will make a fine Hokage and will be the light of the Village. I also wanted to teach you my other jutsu, the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, it seems only right since you mastered my Rasangan in only three weeks. I've enclosed the instructions in the scroll for you. Lastly I want you to know, that even though me and your mother, Kushina Uzumaki, won't be able to raise you, that we love you.
Minato Namikaze
Fourth Hokage
A/N
The end! Hope you enjoyed, show me some love and leave reviews for me.