Kakashi woke up in the Konoha forward operations base near Kusagakure, not to the sounds of reserved hustle and bustle that normally pervaded the stone walls, but instead to sounds of panic and shouting. Moving swiftly, yet silently, he positioned himself near enough to the small crack in the doorframe so he could monitor the movements in the main chamber. What he saw shocked him, if only slightly. For standing across from his sensei, Minato Namikaze, stood the current head of the police force, Fugaku Uchiha.

Unfortunately, Kakashi wasn't quite stealthy enough, as both men he had seen talking heatedly to each other stopped what they were doing and turned in his direction. Fugaku's face hardened briefly, as if holding back an unseen pain, before he nodded at the silver haired jonin in the other room. "Hatake," he said solemnly, "could you come out here, please?"

His sensei glanced sharply at the police chief, his body shifting softly as if to come between the Uchiha and the young teen. "Fugaku," he warned softly, already knowing what the head of the clan wanted to discuss with his protege.

"Peace, Minato," Fugaku said tiredly. "I understand that it was a gift, freely given, at the hour of Obito's death. Be that as it may, it should be looked at by a pair of sharingan eyes, to make sure the implanted organ isn't causing any irregularities with the boy's chakra system."

"Fugaku-san?" inquires Kakashi, "couldn't this have waited until I returned to the village? Did something else happen to tear you away from Konoha?"

Fugaku released a brief grunt of amusement at the young boy's statement. "The Hatake genius in full force, eh? You're right, Kakashi, I didn't come out here to check on your sharingan. It's just easier to get this done with now since I'm already here due to another matter."

"If I may ask, sir," Kakashi said as calmly as he could under the pressure of the tense atmosphere that pervaded the base, "just what is this matter that brought you out here?"

A tremulous sigh escaped the police officer's lips, "My wife had rejoined the regular shinobi forces for a singular mission around the time of your own to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. That mission had her scouting out Stone Country's border with Kusagakure, to better get a handle on their remaining advance forces in the country. However, not an hour after getting the news of her brother's death through one of her contacts, she stopped all communications with Konoha allied shinobi and for all intents and purposes, disappeared off the face of the earth."

Kakashi jerked his head in the direction of the now crowded strategy room next door, where many of his fellow jonin were in heated arguments with one another. "Is that why that's all-?" He left the question unfinished, deciding there was no need to, given that both men probably knew more about the specifics of what has happening than he.

"Ah," his sensei reemerged into the conversation with a grim assertion. "It seems whatever she's doing is heavily destabilizing the Iwa forces along the border. This is causing some division among the jonin, as to whether or not we should press our temporary advantage and launch a punitive invasion of the Land of Earth itself in order to dissuade further war with the Rock, or if we should pus h whatever forces remain out of Grass so as to allow us to shore up our own entrenched positions. Either way, we must impose a certain show of strength towards the other countries, such as Cloud and Mist, so that those conflicts as well can someday come to an end."

"What do you think we need to do, sensei?"

"We need to reestablish contact with Mikoto-san first, figure out exactly what she's done to the region and the forces of Iwagakure on her quest for revenge."

"You seem awfully certain that is her motive, Minato," said Fugaku, although by his tone, Kakashi could tell he agreed with the blond jonin.

"Let's be real here, Fugaku," a female voice said as a red haired woman walked into the room, "this is Mikoto we're talking about. She's not the kind of woman to go all half-cocked on her own to try and defeat all of Iwa simply because she might succeed. She'd contact a fellow jonin first, let them know what she was doing so that her actions could have the greatest effect possible on the region. That she hasn't already had the gates of Iwagakure taken down speaks volumes about the levels of grief she is feeling right now about her brother's loss. Mikoto's far more dangerous and effective when she's had time to plan things out and get other people involved; it's always been her skill set."

"So do you think she's gotten hurt, Kushina-san?" asked Kakashi.

The Uzumaki jonin shook her head in the negative. "Nah, that's not what I'm saying. Mikoto's dangerous as hell, grief-stricken or not. It's just that normally if she would have found such a tactical advantage that she must've found in order to do so much damage, she would've been thinking more laterally and had about 20 others with her, wreaking havoc as they go."

"What's she doing instead, then?"

"Insuring Iwa doesn't attack us for a good long while."

"How?"

"By scaring the shit out of those she leaves alive."

Flame. Fire. Inferno. Before today, there wasn't really much of reason to distinguish between those words. Before today, she never had the scent of burnt human flesh claw at the insides of her nostrils in fifteen different ways. She wanted to gag. She wanted to gag so badly it hurt the insides of her ribs as she held the reflex back within herself.

She couldn't allow herself the natural reflex of reacting to the smell of burnt flesh. She couldn't cry out; not for help nor out of fear. All she could do was hide in the shadows, wait, and pray to live another day. To do anything else, in the presence of this…of this monster, was suicide at best.

She didn't want to think what it could be considered at worst. To do so might be the breaking point along the fragile line that was her self-control. And she couldn't allow that, not when the most terrifying Kunoichi she had ever seen was still around.

Ah, wait, she had forgotten ablaze. That was such a better descriptive word to describe what was happening to her dying teammate than simply him being on fire. It made things so much clearer in reports if you phrase it like this: he was set ablaze, the flames of the inferno that consumed his flesh taking their sweet time to kill him, allowing him to scream for someone to get rid of the fire that was all over his body.

But nobody did that. Because him being set ablaze was a message; you get to sit there and watch him die, or you get to join him in death in a vain attempt to help him. The choice is yours.

It was the easiest choice of her life to make; so why did she hate herself for it?

Mikoto stared at the piercing pair of sharingan eyes before her. They blazed crimson in the candlelit room in which she and 3 others sat, as if daring any of them to talk; nay, as if daring them to breathe.

Obito Uchiha, her baby brother who wasn't even 6 hours old, stared right back at her own pair of sharingan eyes unperturbed by her shock. He then blinked, yawned cutely, snuggled deeper into his father's arms, and promptly fell asleep.

Later that night, as she watched her brother sleep in his crib, she made a vow to both herself and her slumbering sibling. She would be there, be the kind of sibling he needed her to be, so that he could rise to be the pride of her clan. It was her mission, her goal in life aside from her career. She was the perfect Uchiha shinobi, trained in the art of deception. True, she had never deceived any one with the intention of helping them develop, but she was a shinobi, an Uchiha Kunoichi, she could adapt and thrive in her new role if need be.

Yet, as his tiny, delicate hand wrapped around her finger, a strange feeling began to rise in her chest. It wasn't honor, or pride. Neither was it duty or obedience. It wasn't that new feeling she'd gotten a couple of years ago due to a feisty young red-head, called friendship.

Obito shifted slightly in his sleep, his hand tightening around her finger. Well, whatever the feeling was, it didn't matter. It was a good feeling, and that's all she needed to know.

Steel. A strong substance, often called the strongest metal forged by man. One could see it, in the shape of a kunai, pierce boulders, but still not truly appreciate its strength. He could feel it, however, hold him in place where he lay bleeding, the sword impaling both his right shoulder and the floor on which he lay.

As he struggled to move towards an infant's cry, he could appreciate (and despise) the strength of steel. "Shh," he said with blood stained lips towards the barely one year old son hidden in the cupboard next to where he lay, "it'll be okay, son, as long as you're quiet, it'll all be okay."

Why hadn't he listened to Kitsuchi and moved back to the main village when he had the chance? He knew why, even though he didn't want to admit it to himself. It was because until recently, despite the Yellow Flash's presence, Iwa had been winning. There had been no pressure along the Kusa border from the enemy at all. But then an entire platoon had been wiped out in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge, and it all had started going downhill from there for the next three days. So he had taken his wife and son away from the tower and had started the process of moving back to his home city. He had stopped for the night here, at the fort closest to the tower, because he didn't want to risk the health of his boy, his heir. He had the thought the fort safe. After all, it was manned by three whole platoons; over 60 men and women of jonin and chuunin rank.

But he'd been wrong in thinking he was safe within the walls of the fort. They'd all been wrong. That…thing, whatever she was, had blasted her way in, killing two squads near instantly with a single jutsu, before disappearing within the shadows of the fort. All shinobi present, even he, had attempted to pursue her; and almost to a man they had paid for that error in judgment with their lives.

The sound of footsteps paused in the hallway outside. A whimper of fear, muffled though it was, echoed against the walls. He closed his eyes, but still the orange glow of the explosive death of his comrades reflected itself into his vision. The footsteps started up again once more, and he knew this was the end. He was the only one left now, and this monster that called herself Konoha shinobi was meticulous in her methodology of slaughter.

"My son," he began to speak through the pain, "listen to me. Be a good boy for your mother, practice your jutsu often, and try not to be like me and annoy the Tsuchikage so often. He's getting old, and the last that we need is for him to die of stroke. Also, know that I'm sorry I couldn't live long enough to raise you right."

He felt the sword slide out of his body as the woman from the Fire Nation finally got back to the task of ending his life that had been interrupted earlier by an unfortunate squad of chuunin. Before the blade took his head clean off, he managed to convey one final sentence to his son.

"Your papa loves you, Deidara."

Mikoto stared down at her 3 year old brother, having to use all of her willpower to fight back the smile threatening to form on her lips. "Well, Obito, mom's here now. Why don't you explain to her why you're late coming back from play?"

"I was rescuin' a kitty stucks in a tree, of course!" he said proudly, puffing his chest out for emphasis.

Her mother wasn't having much better success holding down a smile of her own after hearing this. "And why were rescuing that sweet little kitty, Obito?" his mother said fondly.

"It was auntie Tsubaki's!" he exclaimed excitedly. "She gave me candy!" He held it out to show his mother, before asking, "Is it okay if I eat it?"

It was then that the 15-year old Mikoto had an epiphany. Her little brother, who went around rescuing cats from trees for old ladies at 3 years of age, who received candy for helping out said old ladies, who then politely asked his mother if it was okay to eat the candy first was both dorky and adorable. Adorkable. She was pretty sure it wasn't a real word, but it described her baby brother to a t.

As her mother laughingly said that yes, it was indeed okay to eat that piece of candy, Mikoto couldn't hold in the impulse she had within herself any longer. She scooped up her brother and hugged him tightly to her, planting kisses on his forehead as she told him she loved him, and to never change.

He promised he wouldn't, and said that he 'w'oved' her too.

"Tsuchikage-sama!" several voices rang out at once as Onoki floated down towards the shinobi grouped together in the fortifications near the rear of the battlefield.

"Kitsuchi!" he barked out as he made his way past several nervous-looking jonin, "What's happening out here? Report!"

"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama!" his son-in-law was quick to reply. "Earlier today, near the Petrified Forest of bamboo that runs along the border with Kusagakure's lands, one of our platoons was attacked and pinned down for several hours by a single foe."

"Was it the Yellow Flash?"

"No, Tsuchikage-sama, the reports we've received from messenger birds state that it was a Kunoichi who ambushed several of them. She killed 5 of them with her katana, and set another man ablaze, then retreated to the shadows. Every time one our shinobi moved out of hiding, whether to escape or to assist their comrades, she would quickly and efficiently eliminate them. She continued this pattern until our shinobi figured out what was going on and remained hidden from her."

"She continued further into the country as soon as she had them cowed, didn't she?" the Tsuchikage mused aloud.

"It appears so."

"What happened then? You look almost ill, so she must've done something else."

"Fort Ryujin has been," it was here that Kitsuchi paused, as if even in the retelling to his Kage he still couldn't quite believe it. "Fort Ryujin has been annihilated."

Onoki nearly stumbled when he heard this. Ryujin, garrisoned by three platoons of chuunin and jonin, annihilated by a single Kunoichi. Why couldn't they have had more time to pull them out? To shore up their country's defenses? By all that was solid, there were genin in that fort. Not only that…

"My son?" he managed to choke the question.

"Dead, Tsuchikage-sama. Although it seems your grandson Deidara was the sole survivor."

His daughter, Shinju, was going to be devastated by this, he was sure of it. Before he could ascertain any more details about the day's horrific events, however, an ethereal roar echoed through the canyon from the battlefield. It was then he saw a sight he wished he would never see again. A ghostly figure stood tall amongst the shattered remains of earthly golems, twin swords in its hands that it held out from itself as it roared its terrifying battle cry towards its mistress's enemies.

"Susano'o," he all but growled beneath his breath. "To think I would face yet another Uchiha invader in my time on this earth with those accursed eyes…" Another roar was heard, and Onoki wasted no time in flying as swiftly as he could towards the center of the battlefield. Holding his palms out in front of him, he shouted the name of his most devastating technique, "Particle Style! Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

Another roar from the most devastating of Uchiha techniques issued in challenge to his jutsu, and then his technique enveloped both it and its user and pulverized it into nothingness. Floating back down to the battlefield, confident that the battle was won, his heart seemed to sink faster than his body was when he noticed the shock of blond hair and a Konoha forehead protector atop the head of the man who now stood opposite him.

Minato Namikaze. The Yellow Flash. He stood calmly, one hand on his kunai, the other arm keeping the now unconscious woman slung over his shoulder steady. Then, in a solemn salute and a flash of light, both of the soldiers of the Land of Fire were gone.

Although it would still be years yet before the Third Great Shinobi War would be over, the hostilities between the Lands of Fire and Earth were all but halted that day.

The day of the Annihilation of Fort Ryujin.

"Nee-chan," Obito said as he made his way towards the door, "I managed to get Itachi to sleep about an hour ago, and don't worry, he actually ate something besides tomatoes for once while I was here."

"Thank you for babysitting him for us while we went to the clan meeting, little brother," Mikoto said warmly.

"Eh, I don't mind," said Obito with a light shrug, "but if nothing important happened at the meeting that I need to know about, I'm gonna head on home. My team's got a mission tomorrow and I should get some sleep myself."

"Don't worry, Obito," Fugaku said with a straight face, "the only thing we talked about was how we should phrase our overtures to the Nohara family in regards to arranging a union between our clans."

"Oh, okay," Obito started, before he whipped his head back around, "Wait, what?!"

Mikoto laughed softly at her younger brother's reaction, "Oh, so does that mean you don't want the clan to try and arrange a marriage between you and Rin?"

Obito grumbled some at that, but shook his head and grinned at her. "Yeah, yeah, pick on the little brother slash brother-in-law because he likes a girl in revenge for him being obnoxious during your own courtship. I get it, really." And with that, he stepped forward, gave his sister a quick hug, nodded in Fugaku's direction, and waved goodbye as he headed home.

"He's getting strong," Fugaku remarked as he shut his front door softly.

"He says he's going to be Hokage someday, you know," Mikoto said with a small smile.

"Remind me to retire when that happens," Fugaku remarked with his usual dry sense of humor.

Mikoto just laughed.

FIN