Author's Note: More of this alternate world for you! This time in Minato's point of view. This takes place a while after the events of Rin and the dimensional travelers. I had a lot of fun writing it. I hope you like it! :)

(I've decided that is way easier for me to write using the Past Tense. So I'll stick to it from now on.)

Also, happy birthay to me! I've just turned 21... I can't believe it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It should be obvious.

This story has also been posted in AO3.

Cracked mirror

Kushina was worried.

He could tell.

Shit, it wasn't as if Minato was really trying to hide the fact that he himself was worried sick. Not from her, at least.

He paced in their room muttering beneath his breath, a frown creasing his young face. He was vaguely aware of his fiancee watching him from the doorway, following his frantic movements with increasing exasperation in spite of her growing concern, but he wasn't in the right frame of mind to stop and try to reassure her.

The mission was tomorrow.

Finally, Kushina snapped.

"Oi, Minato!" She growled, and the blond man stopped and looked at her. He could sense that she was beyond irritated, and usually that alone would be enough to make him cower slightly. Kushina might be the most beautiful, cheerful and loving woman in his entire world, but she could be downright terrifying when mad. (It didn't matter if that was also one of the reasons why he loved her.) "Tell me what's going on! Why are you so worried? It's not like you!"

The jounin sensei watched the slight fear in her violet eyes and sighed, lifting a hand to rub his tired eyes. He had had trouble sleeping the last couple of nights.

"Sorry, Kushi-chan. I just have a really bad feeling about tomorrow's mission, it's all."

The read-head narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but the fear in them receded, at least. He hadn't been trying to scare her, it wasn't his intention to do so.

"Kannabi Bridge?" She asked, some confusion tinting her voice. "Why? It's a pretty straightforward mission: reach Kusa, blow up a bridge, come back home. Why would you be worried about it?"

He bit the inside of his cheek and weighed the pros and cons of telling her what he knew. This wasn't the first time he had thought about doing it in the month and a half since he received the information. He felt torn. On the one hand, he loved and trusted Kushina with all his being, but on the other hand, he knew that telling her that his two male student's alter egos from a different dimension and time told him that the mission was going to be the start of his team's destruction was not really an option. Sure, strange things happened in the world of ninja all the time – the demon sealed inside his fiancee was proof enough of that – but something as far-fetched and never heard of as alternate dimension traveling… one needed to see it in order to believe it.

Nevertheless, he felt as if he should give her at least part of the truth, if not all.

"I've got… information. There isn't supposed to be many ninja in the area, but I've been told that it looks suspiciously empty. That's simply not normal. I'm worried it could be a trap." Kushina studied his expression carefully and then huffed, relaxing her stance slightly. A small smile curved her mouth as she gave his shoulder a light punch.

"You mustn't worry so much, 'ttebane! Your team is strong! Kakashi-chan became a jounin today, and Obito-chan and Rin-chan are chuunins and no pushovers either!" She exclaimed reassuringly. "And they have you, Minato. They are not helpless, and if worse comes to worse, you'll be there to help them or save their arses. Stop thinking so hard about it. Sure, be on your guard, but being so tightly strung and paranoid won't make you or the kids any good." She lectured. "I know for a fact that Rin-chan has noticed your worry and it's jumping at shadows. Obito and Kakashi have noticed something's wrong, too, even if they won't say anything about it. The dark rings under your eyes are hardly invisible, you know?"

Minato's tense back muscles relaxed at the lecture, and he couldn't help the smile that stretched his mouth. Kushina's words worked miracles on his frayed nerves. He pulled her into a hug and chuckled at the surprised squeak it gained him. He received another punch for it, but then she melted against him, a steady warmth and a strong presence that never failed to make him feel better.

The man couldn't imagine his life without this fiery read-head at his side, being his pillar of strength, and just imagining the possibility of loosing her, of loosing the chance of forming a family with her… it hurt too much. Tomorrow, they would be taking the first step to change the course of events that the Kakakshi and Obito from the alternate timeline had told Rin and him about. Even knowing that, he wasn't quite certain that he could prevent the Kyuubi attack in about two years. Yes, he had time to figure out a strategy and develop a plan of action, but he was still worried. What if he couldn't change anything at all? Or, what if he did change things, but for the worse? What if one of his students did truly die in this mission? What if Uchiha Madara decided to move early and the Kyuubi attack happened before it was supposed to, before Naruto – his son – was conceived? What if…?

A smack to the back of his head brought him back to reality and he found himself staring at Kushina's eyes again. He hadn't noticed that he had tensed once more until she struggled a little to take a step back and look at him carefully.

"What did I just tell you about worrying so much?" A small frown creased her brow, and he gave her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," he murmured, but she didn't looked convinced. She took his face in her hands and brought him to her height, giving his lips a light peck.

"You're not." She said. "But don't worry, I'll make you see sense soon enough."

Minato felt slightly threatened.

Team dynamics hadn't really changed that much, even with the information two of its members were now privy to. Obito was still always late and Kakashi was still living by the Shinobi Rules. They were slightly less abrasive towards each other during the week following the spar, the one that ended in them blinking out of existence for a few minutes (well, as far as they knew, at least. It was more akin to a couple of hours in reality, but they didn't need to know that); but after that their normal routine was back.

They would glower at each other – actually, it was more like Obito would glower, and Kakashi would calmly ignore him, or just give him a cold, quick glare.

They would spar; Kakashi would win and claim that Obito was useless and a disgrace to his clan, while the Uchiha would insist that he would beat the other boy the next time, and that once he had awoken his bloodline, he'd be the best shinobi in the entire village.

Rin and Minato would watch their antics with some exasperation, but when before there would have been an underline of worry for them never getting along, now there was plain amusement they were hard pressed to hide.

So, no. Their team dynamics hadn't changed that much, so it was not surprising when, the morning of the dreaded mission, Obito was late and Kakashi was fuming, wondering why they couldn't just go and let the boy behind.

It was awkward when he finally arrived and didn't have a present to congratulate Kakashi for making jounin. Minato glanced at Rin questioningly, but she just shrugged and shook her head.

The start of the mission was frighteningly similar to the recount of the dimensional travelers, and it put both Rin and him in high alert.

They had discussed how they should approach the occasion not long after the encounter with the older teenagers, and they had agreed that it was important for both boys, but especially for Kakashi, that it occurred as it was supposed to, up until the cave in. Rin would have a Hiraishin kunai that she'd throw right after being freed, before the boulder could crush Obito under its weight.

They were not particularly happy that hey couldn't change more, and that they had to risk everything going wrong, but they were hopeful that everything would turn out fine in the end.

It had to.

Minato could not bear to think of it being any different.

Their first confrontation with an Iwa shinobi came before they realized and went as it should have, enabling him to relax a little. It seemed that they wouldn't have to worry about keeping the events in order, just about changing the final one. It was a relief, in a way.

That night he talked to Obito about Kakashi's past, explaining about Hatake Sakumo's death and the impact it had in their teammate's life. He was witness to the small spark of understanding and camaraderie that shone in the dark haired boy's eyes, and he was happy to note that there wasn't any pity to be found there. He didn't know exactly how this conversation had turned out in the other dimension, or if it had happened at all, because he hadn't been told all the details, just the necessary bits to make it possible for him to change things. He was glad, though, that Obito seemed more inclined to listen to and try to understand the other boy than he had been.

The next morning, his stomach felt heavy, as if he had eaten a ton of lead. This was the moment they separated, and until he felt the tug of the special kunai he gave Rin, his kids would be on their own.

He was terrified.

Minato put on a mask of cheerfulness, but his eyes were serious when he said goodbye to his team, naming Kakashi their leader for the rest of the mission. Obito accepted the news without complaint, which caused his teammates to look at him with surprise and slight suspicion. He waved it away before turning to Minato and wishing him luck. The team leader ruffled his spiked hair and gave all three a genuine smile.

"See you later."

It was an order. It was a promise.

(If he later was especially vicious in his fight with the Iwa shinobi in the front he had been assigned to assist, he thought he was well justified. He needed to vent his anger and worry, and these shinobi were comrades of the ones that could have been the cause of Obito's death. Could still be. He knew he shouldn't be projecting his rage in people that weren't directly involved with the incident, but for all his genius, he was still human.)

When he felt the slight tug in his chakra, the one he had been waiting for since he and his team parted ways, he didn't hesitate to teleport in his signature yellow flash.

Just in time, too.

He watched as Obito bodily threw Kakashi away from the path of the boulder and didn't wait to see anything else before he activated his Thunder God Technique once more, teleporting to Obito's side in half a second, grabbing him, and teleporting back to the Hiraishin kunai, away from the danger of the cave in.

Both Kakashi and Rin cried in alarm at the sight of the rock that had fallen in the exact same place they last saw Obito. They hadn't enough time to realize that Minato had reached him in time and pulled him to safety. When they noticed that there wasn't a sign of their teammate having been crushed, Rin spun on her heels and gave Minato a startled but immensely relieved look. A choked sound escaped her throat and she sprinted towards them, eyes filled with tears of released adrenaline and fear and hope, and the sound made Kakashi – who had frozen in shock, staring at the boulder in horrified fascination and despair – turn to see what had caused her distress. Minato witnessed him pale, and then take notice of the form at his feet, who was fine and currently being smothered by Rin in a bear hug. He saw as the boy staggered in stark relief, before he narrowed his good eye and marched to where the rest of the team was.

The sound of his heavy footsteps, completely out of character, was enough to snap Rin out of her slight hysterics and take a step back from her best friend. She gave Kakashi a cautious but assessing look he was too busy to notice while glaring at Obito, who was still in the ground, half sitting half sprawled where he had landed when Rin had thrown herself at him.

The dark haired boy blinked in surprise at being on the receiving end of a death glare, but quickly composed himself and scowled up at Kakashi.

"What's wrong with you, huh?!" He challenged boldly.

The silver-haired boy's right eye narrowed even more, and Minato was suddenly reminded of Kushina in one of the moods she typically entered when Minato had done something she considered incredibly stupid. He winced in slight sympathy for what awaited Obito in the near future, especially if their relationship developed in a similar way their counterpart's did.

"What's wrong with me?" Kakashi asked in a dangerous tone, and Minato could see the minor flinch Obito tried to hide. "What's wrong with me?" He repeated, his voice rising and full of cold fury. "What's wrong with you, you idiot!?"

"Huh?"

"You… You – Argh! You just had to be brave and self sacrificing and an idiot and throw me away and save me and for what?!" He almost screamed, pointing at Obito with a barely trembling, accusing finger, and the rest of Team Minato were so surprised that they couldn't react in any way. They had never seen Kakashi so… unhinged. "FOR WHAT?! IF SENSEI HADN'T BEEN HERE IN TIME YOU COULD HAVE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED, YOU IMBECILE!"

Minato watched, fascinated, as Kakashi took Obito by the collar of his vest and shook him, insults still spouting from his masked mouth as he started to cry. He watched as Obito paled at the sight of the other boy's tears, panicking at not knowing what to do in face of the very out of character, very unexpected show of emotions. He watched as, after looking harried and slightly scared for a couple of seconds, he shrugged and awkwardly but decisively put his arms around his distraught teammate in a careful hug.

He noticed Kakashi tense, and then relax into the embrace, and he smiled. He turned to his female student with a conspiratorial, pleased look. She returned the smile with a hint of smug satisfaction, but then the prickling sensation of approaching chakra signatures reminded them the mission wasn't yet complete.

They would have time to celebrate their success later. Right then, they had enemies to fight and a bridge to destroy.

~ The End