I come to you with another chapter! I apologize for the [really] long wait, but I found myself really busy these past few months. Add that to the fact that I got a puppy last month around the sixteenth and well, let's just say I've had my hands full. Anyway, I thank you for waiting patiently for an update. I only hope the length of this chapter is enough to make up for the long months. I also want to thank all of you who reviewed and those that attempted to help me with my dilemma concerning Itachi's age, I really appreciate it.
I'll address a few more things at the end of this chapter, but for now, please read on and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 3
He was still laughing.
Much to Minato's embarrassment, he'd fainted right on the spot when Kakashi had pointed out that he was to be the next Hokage. Now, five minutes after he'd woken up, no one could get Obito to stop.
"Would you shut-up already?!"
WHAM!
…Except Rin.
Obito rubbed the bump on his head with a pout, taking great care to step out of his teammate's range. Minato sent Rin a discreet, grateful smile before turning to his team.
"Well, now that all that's out of the way, let's continue on."
"That's it?! Sensei, you just found out that you're going to be the next Hokage and that's all you can say?!"
"What else can I say? I'm as surprised as any of you, but it hasn't happened yet. There's no reason to let it get to me-"
"Not when you already fainted, anyway- Ouch! What I do this time?!"
"Besides," Minato continued as if uninterrupted, "there's always a chance that it might never happen."
"But you're happy about it, right?"
His wide grin was all the answer they needed.
A few minutes later, they reached the academy doors and went inside. Almost as soon as they did, Rin began to drag them into each and every classroom, making cheerful comments about every familiar name or face she came across.
"That must be Nami-chan's daughter! She looks just like her! I bet she finally got together with Naoki-kun! Oooh, and he must be-…"
The boys of the team slowly tuned her out as they went. Kakashi was disinterested and Obito was bored, but they knew better than to complain…they would wait until later for that. Minato looked upon all the small faces with a smile. It seemed that Konoha would turn out fine after the war ended.
It continued on in much the same manner, with Rin only growing slightly more frustrated for reasons none of the males were able to figure out, but knew better than to question. After what felt like forever to some, they reached the last room…
Only to have the door slide open and students run out as they were dismissed.
"Finally! Maybe now we can go see something interesting!"
Obito promptly shut his mouth and smiled sheepishly when Rin turned to glare at him. Upon stepping inside, the first thing they noticed was the Chunnin instructor for this class looked mildly frustrated. He was looking down at a blond haired boy sitting with his back turned to them.
"This is the fifth time this week that you've tried to ditch class," the young man said tiredly.
"But it's so boring here, Iruka-sensei!"
That caught the ghostly team's attention…or at least the attention of one of them.
"No way! That's Iruka?!"
"You know him, Obito?"
"Yea, we used to hang out at the academy before I became a genin."
He adopted a more thoughtful expression.
"I guess now that I think about it, I'm not all that surprised to see him teaching. He's a real quiet kid…bit of a bookworm too."
"You sure you hung out with him then?"
"What's that supposed to mean?!"
Minato, though glad to see Kakashi going back to normal, sensed this might escalate to one of his two boys' larger arguments and quickly tried to defuse the situation.
"Say, Kakashi, weren't you next in choosing where we go?"
He gave a mental sigh of relief when his question seemed to do the trick. Kakashi turned away from Obito in order to face him and nod.
"Right then, guess we should head out now."
Not needing any further prompting, Kakashi and Obito left the almost empty classroom. Rin lingered back, sending a curious glance toward the small boy and Iruka.
"You all right, Rin?"
"Yea…"
"Come on. We should go."
She looked a little disappointed, but agreed. Minato sent her a comforting smile.
"Don't worry, Rin. You can always come back here in your spare time."
To his surprise she looked at him, for lack of a better description, as if he were an idiot. He blinked and stared after her in confusion as she shook her head and walked out. Did he miss something here…?
"Look, if you promise me you'll come to class more often, I'll treat you to ramen."
Iruka's voice brought him out of his thoughts.
"Really?! No joke?!"
"No joke."
"Yahoo~!! You're the greatest, Iruka-sensei!!"
It was a bit low, using something the boy obviously loved against him, but Minato couldn't deny that the method yielded results. Besides, if the warm smile on the young man's face as he was tackled to the floor said anything, it was that he genuinely cared for the child.
"Can we go to Ichiraku? Please? They have the BEST ramen there!"
"We'll see."
"Does that mean yes or no?"
"It means we'll see."
Both Iruka and Minato couldn't help but chuckle when the boy started complaining. Realizing that he was probably keeping his team waiting, the Hokage-to-be turned around and walked to the door. Just before he took the final step out of the room, he cast one last glance to the teacher and student.
'Blond hair,' he belatedly noted. 'You don't see many people with blond hair in Fire Country. I wonder whose child he is?'
As if waiting for the question to arise, he suddenly became immensely curious as to the identity of this boy. He wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about him. Was that why Rin had looked at him like that? Did she notice something that he hadn't?
'Or maybe you're just over thinking this, Namikaze. It definitely wouldn't be the first time you did so.'
Still, he was never one to ignore his curiosities. If they did end up going to Ichiraku, maybe he could drop by and check in on them before they left. With a rough plan in place, he exited and hurried to meet his team, barely catching the last hints of their voices as he turned a corner.
"…-Naruto."
Naruto?
…They must've been talking about the ramen.
His students were a bit impatient and annoyed when he met up with them again, but they were quickly placated with an apology on his part. Glad they decided to forgive him, he smiled brightly and turned to Kakashi.
"So, where to?"
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
"…Would you stop staring?"
Obito pretended to not hear the question, choosing instead to continue staring at Kakashi incredulously.
"Cut it out."
Was he…whining? Oh, this was too golden an opportunity to pass up.
"You know," he began with an impish grin. "I never would've guessed you'd want to go there."
He barely withheld a crow of triumph when he noticed the faintest of blushes on his teammate's face.
"I just wanted to see if it was still there," Kakashi shot back with unusual heatedness. "Since it looks like the village had to rebuild for some reason."
Though it was good to see Kakashi acting more his age, Minato decided to intervene and rescue him from Obito's teasing.
"So you noticed that too, Kakashi?"
It was amusing to see how obviously he latched on to the change of subject.
"Yes, Sensei."
"Hey, you're right! I didn't even notice!"
"You wouldn't."
"Hey-!"
"Cut it out you two!"
Two yelps of pain later had Minato marveling at how easily Rin was able to control her teammates. When she turned to him with an innocently sweet smile he knew that she would grow up to be one scary kunoichi.
He prayed for his sanity that she would never team up with Kushina.
"What do you think happened to the village, Sensei?"
"I don't know, Rin. I've been thinking about it since we arrived and the only things I can think of that would call for rebuilding are a major attack-"
He tried not to think of the possibilities as his students winced.
"-or we came across some profits by the end of the war and the Hokage decided to remodel. I only hope it was the latter."
A brief silence fell upon the group as they turned to their own thoughts.
"Whatever happened, happened, right? If it's something we can change then we will! That's why we're here isn't it?"
Even Kakashi managed a smirk at Obito's optimistic response.
"Good answer. Now, before we finish up, would you mind if I checked on something? It's getting a bit late and I feel I'll miss my chance if I don't go now."
"Aww, but it was my turn next!"
"I know, Obito. I apologize, but I'll make it up to you somehow."
"Well…I guess I can drop by my house while I wait. To see how they're doing and all, I mean…"
"You mean the estate wasn't where you'd planned to go?"
"You kidding?! I try to avoid that place as much as possible!"
Minato frowned slightly at the vehemence in his voice. Perhaps he'd made a misjudgment on how Obito felt about his family…
But if he had, then what could possibly want to make him keep away from there?
It was definitely a mystery for another time, for now, he had to solve the first one. After coming to agreement on when and where they would meet up, they each went their separate ways.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Obito moodily walked the familiar path to the Uchiha estate, huffing when his foot phased right through a rock he tried to kick. He'd been honest when he said he hadn't planned on coming here and that he tried to avoid it whenever possible. He hated the Uchiha's ways.
Their almost heartless ideals and morals…
Their cold mannerisms and high standards…
It wasn't that he hated his family, no, it was far from that.
And that was exactly the problem.
He'd lost count of the times he'd been sent to see his uncle for his apparent lack of progress. The Uchiha were cunning, skilled, and above all else, strong.
Obito was seen as none of those things.
It hurt, being called worthless time after time. Just because he hadn't awakened the bloodline his clan was infamous for didn't mean he was any less of an Uchiha. There were times he cursed his blood, wishing he had been born into a family that wasn't caught up in its own selfish strive for power.
Oh, he knew he was a little dense, but he wasn't blind.
He knew there was a reason he was expected to be the best. There was a reason he felt like he was smothered whenever he set foot within the estates walls. There was a reason behind the distrustful glances and hushed conversations when he was sent to Fugaku-sama. There was a reason he received nothing but harsh reprimands and lectures of greatness through clan methods whenever he thought to voice his disagreements or opinions.
There was a reason…and it terrified him.
Many times, he'd brought himself to his teacher's doorstep, wanting to scream and cry in horror at what he'd discovered. Surely, if anyone could do anything about it, it would be Minato-sensei, whose name Fugaku-sama paled and scowled at whenever he was mentioned. Minato-sensei, who valued friendship and teamwork and everything else that Obito had grown to cherish. Minato-sensei, who he had no doubt would believe everything he said without question or judgment and do his best to make sure everything turned out all right…
But he couldn't.
Each and every time he tried, the words would get caught in his throat. The most he could do was cry in frustration and grief and make up an excuse as to why. Frustration, because he could never say what he wanted, and grief because he knew he never would.
The cold, honest, frightening truth was that he loved his clan with all of his heart. He couldn't, and wouldn't, betray them. Even if faced with death. Yet his heart also bled for all of those he'd come to treasure outside of the Uchiha family. Wasn't keeping silent just as much of a betrayal? Betrayal to the ones who'd proven they care more about him than his blood relatives?
"Damn it," he hissed while rubbing his eyes.
This was why he avoided the estate when he could. He didn't want to be caught up in this mess even if, inwardly, he knew it was already too late.
Just knowing about it put him in over his head.
He knew it was only a matter of time until someone found out. When that time came, he knew he would have to make a choice. One, agonizing, heart-wrenching choice that would kill him inside no matter what he went with.
So he decided to run from it as long as he could.
His hope was that one day, he would know what to do. In his more optimistic moods, he would imagine that the day he was finally forced to choose, he would do so without regrets and know it was the right choice. Other times, he desperately wished something would happen before then that would change things, or even worse, idly wonder if a kunai to the neck was as painful as it looked.
Almost immediately after starting down that train of thought, an image of his mother, so loving and kind, would come to mind and fill him with shame and guilt. His mother loved him in a way no one else in the clan, not even his own father, had. She was the only one who hadn't thought him a disgrace or a failure, and instead praised and encouraged his choices. She was the one who, on her dying breath, had told him that he would be a great man as long as he followed his heart. He couldn't let her down by doing such a thing. He probably wouldn't go through with it anyway…
He hated himself for being such a coward.
He was brought out of his thoughts when he finally reached the large wall that separated the estate from the rest of the village.
'That's weird,' he thought with a frown. 'Why's the main gate closed?'
It was too early for it to be closed, and there weren't any guards standing watch either. Deciding he shouldn't think to much on it, and trying to ignore the unnerving silence that had fallen at his arrival, he phased though the wall…
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Rin was walking through the halls of Konoha's hospital, trying to see if she could find any sign of her future self's presence. At first, she'd been too busy taking note of the technological advances there'd been in the ten or so years they'd traveled to really think about it. Now, she was starting to wonder.
She'd been here since her team had decided to split up and she had yet to find even the slightest trace of her name. Being a medic had been her dream since as long as she could remember. So it couldn't have changed…right?
She wasn't so sure anymore.
To be honest, the whole situation still seemed so surreal to her. Traveling to the future, finding out her sensei was going to be the next Hokage, seeing said sensei's son at the academy (how he didn't make the connection still astounded her), everything! The more rational part of her mind was telling her to write this off as a dream.
She sighed as she finished checking all the offices on the current floor. Nothing.
Frowning a bit to herself as she made her way up a flight of stairs, she began thinking on the events up until now. So far, the only one they'd even seen a hint of was Sensei, and that was indirectly through the monument and his son. There hadn't been hide nor hair of her, Kakashi, or Obito. While she tried not to think of the more negative meanings behind their absence, she knew she had to accept it as a possibility.
Knowing didn't make it any easier, however.
Being a ninja was dangerous, that was a given, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't expect to grow old and have lots of grandchildren to spoil and dote over until the end of her days. Twenty-one or so years was too young, damn it! She wanted to live at least past forty! She stopped walking as she reached the end of the hallway…
With tears in her eyes, she opened the last door and made her way to the roof.
The view of the village did little to comfort her as she stared blankly at the sky. It was actually quite beautiful, but her mind was too preoccupied to pay it much attention.
She wasn't part of the hospital's staff.
'So where am I then?'
That was the question, wasn't it? She hadn't known what to expect when she arrived, but not being a medic had never once crossed her mind. The discovery scared her. She sniffled a bit and hastily wiped her eyes even though no one could see her and no one was there. Being a crybaby was Obito's thing, not hers. She giggled a bit at the thought, feeling better as she did so.
Leave it to Obito to cheer her up even when he wasn't there.
Thinking about her teammate brought her mind back to the present. She should probably get going soon if she wanted to meet up with the others on time. She'd have time to think about her future life later, and maybe Minato-sensei could even help her figure out where she was.
She'd only taken a step when a scream froze her in place.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Kakashi was bored.
He'd never admit he was bored, but those who knew him would be able to tell anyway from the slightly glazed look in his eyes. He sighed inaudibly and wondered when this little field trip would end.
So far, nothing of note had happened since they arrived. Nothing vital they could use to end the war back in their time faster, nothing important they should know to help prevent some future disaster, nothing but hours of having no one but his team for company as they walked through a futuristic version of their village.
If something didn't happen soon, he was going to snap…
Okay, maybe not, but he couldn't guarantee Obito would be in one piece by the end of it.
He sighed again, and watched the back of some random, grey-haired jônin walk into an adult literature shop. He scoffed.
'Doesn't he have better things to do than read porn?'
He knew he could think of a few things he'd rather be doing.
As soon as all of this was over, he was going to take a nice long break away from his team and train until he collapsed. No Minato-sensei, no Rin, and definitely no Obito. If he was to make jônin by next year, he had no time to fool around.
'Which is exactly what we've been doing here.'
He broke out of his thoughts for a moment in order to check where he was. What he saw made him frown.
He was in front of Minato's house, but that wasn't what had caused his reaction.
'Why's it all boarded up?'
The house, though still relatively new, had planks over the windows and bars over the door. It was a far cry from the cheery, welcoming view he was accustomed to. He knew better than to think his sensei would move out of a perfectly good house just because he became Hokage. So why?
Maybe he could get some answers at the Hokage's office. That's where Minato-sensei's future self was, right? At the very least it would give him something to do and take an edge off the boredom.
Finally glad to have something to busy his mind with instead of just walking around, he began heading in the direction he knew the Hokage's tower to be.
Only to pause and change course at the sound of a scream.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Minato was pleased to see that Iruka and the boy were still at the ramen stand when he separated from his team. For a while, he just stood there and watched them as they talked and messed around. Eventually, he focused solely on the boy.
Now that he took the time to look at him, he couldn't shake the sudden familiarity that struck. Everything from his hair to his feet he felt he'd seen before. The question was where?
He smiled as Iruka caught the blond in a playful headlock and began mock-lecturing him on manners. It was easy to see that they were close…
'Almost like father and son.'
His smile faded a bit at the thought. He knew that academy instructors were told to have good relationships with their students, but this was beyond anything that was expected of them. Why would he go out of his way to treat his student to ramen? Did the child's parents know they were so close? Or-
He paused as he came to a saddening realization.
This boy was, more than likely, an orphan. It would definitely explain the behavior he'd seen from both of them thus far. The way the boy's blue eyes shone in admiration and trust as he looked up at his teacher even though he was currently complaining about the headlock; and the caring, protective gaze he was given back even after all the trouble he'd caused. If that was indeed the case, then he was glad Iruka had chosen to approach him and invite him into his life.
He knew all too well how harsh and unforgiving the life of an orphan could be.
"Iruka-sensei! Can you let go now?"
"You didn't admit defeat."
"Fine! You win."
"Nope. Have to say it the way we practiced, remember?"
The boy made a face.
"Do I have to?"
"If you want me to let go."
"But I don't even know what some of those words mean!"
"That's why I'm having you say them. It'll help you learn."
"You just want to get back at me."
There was no hiding the mischievous grin on Iruka's face.
"Maybe."
"Ugh…fine…"
He took a deep breath, as if he were preparing for a difficult task.
"I, Uzumaki Naruto, do hereby concede defeat at-…"
The rest of the statement muddled at the back of Minato's as, for the second time that day, his heart stopped. Suddenly, so much more than the look Rin had given him made sense. The hair, the eyes, the nose!
'Kushina's nose…'
This was his son…
'…But that means…'
It couldn't be…
'He said Uzumaki…'
It wasn't possible…not his son…
'He's all alone…'
He unwittingly choked back a sob as his throat tightened.
Since the moment he first realized he'd fallen in love with Uzumaki Kushina, he'd wondered what the future would hold. The day she returned his feelings, he felt he was invincible. When she allowed him to slip a ring on her finger, he couldn't help but imagine what the children they both dearly wanted would look like.
But now…
'How could this happen…?'
It wasn't fair.
A part of him always acknowledged that there was a chance he would die young. That was why he'd worked so hard to improve himself and make sure that he did his best to prolong the amount of time he had. His efforts only doubled when he'd gained people he wanted to protect. To know that everything he worked for would not even allow him to see his son grow up filled him with uncharacteristic rage. Rage that only grew at the thought that Naruto, his son, didn't have a mother's love.
If he did, he was sure he wouldn't be having dinner at a ramen stand.
Naruto laughed brightly at the noodles dripping down Iruka's face, instantly muting his anger to a dull roar and allowing a bittersweet smile to take a scowl's place. It was warm and innocent and oh, how he wished it was him sitting there instead.
But it wasn't…
And he was going to find out why.
A scream suddenly ripped through the air, startling him and making his eyes widen. He knew that voice…
Obito.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter done!
I honestly thought I'd get to the massacre in this chapter, but it ran away from me again. There was a fair bit of character angst in here too, and I hope I didn't overdo it. Originally, I planned to write half as much at Rin's part, but then I realized it wouldn't be fair (and it would be favoritism toward Obito and Minato), so I tried to flesh out her character a little more. It's a bit difficult considering there's not much to work with canon-wise, but I hope I did her character justice.
Anyway, below are a few things I need to address.
A quick correction to the last chapter: I said that if Naruto did get a chapter to himself, that it wouldn't be anything you haven't already read or seen in the manga or anime. What I meant to say was that it would be something you haven't already read or seen. Some of you probably got what I meant, but to those that didn't, I apologize for the mix-up.
Concerning the timeline: I got about two or three reviews telling me that by ten years, the massacre would have already happened, but that it would have been really recent. If that is really the case, then I apologize for the miscalculation. I really did try hard to get the dates accurate, but everyone makes mistakes, right? Since I really wanted the massacre to be a part of this story, I have included it anyway, so please bear with me on this. I probably won't mention how far in time they went again, so that might make it a little easier to forget.
About the title: I'll admit that I wasn't really thinking long-term when I came up with the title. I just wanted to come up with something that was unique and eye-catching, but still managed to kind of say what the story would be about. I had every intention of making this a more serious story that focuses on what the reactions of Minato and his team would be if they saw the future. The title is definitely misleading there. Not to say that it's going to be all seriousness (I'm a fan of a good comedy myself). Since this will be following the events of canon, you can expect the more humorous parts of Naruto's tale along with the added scenes of interaction within Team Minato, but you have to admit, there are some rather dark aspects to this manga.
Ages: As for ages, I decided to leave it a bit open. Itachi should be around 12 or 13, but as some of you kindly pointed out, he looks at to be at least 16 in the manga when he kills the clan. Looking back at the chapter in the manga where Sasuke flashbacks to the massacre, I couldn't agree more. Then again, manga and anime in general seem to like confusing people with misleading appearances when it comes to ages (see: Mitsukuni Haninozuka).
Anyway, since ages won't play a major part in this story, I think I can get away with not stating an exact age for the guy. It's still around 12-13, but not set in stone. Heck, if some of you want to think he's 16, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. Obito's still older than Itachi, and Itachi is older than Sasuke. That's what really matters here.
All this aside, I'd like to say that I don't consider myself an expert on all things Naruto (not even close), but I'd like to think I'm also not completely ignorant of it either. I'd really hate to lose any readers over something like a character's age or specific dates, since this story is as much for you as it is for me. So I would like to thank you very much for your help. I appreciate each and every review I have gotten thus far.
Those of you who actually read through all that, I commend you.
I hope you will continue to read, and enjoy, this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Until next time!
