Words: 1,976


As Minato puzzled over his son's behavior, he pretended to ponder the latest mystery he had received: The reports from Suna about the site where the arm first appeared. Apparently there had been traces of chakra residue, and in the samples his men sent back, they matched up to one person. The person he had before him now.

"Kakashi, you know I wouldn't suspect you normally. But this is just a little strange," Minato said distractedly, more worried about his son. "I know for a fact you were in this village at the time the arm 'fell out of the sky'. I just need some help figuring this out; it doesn't make any sense."

Kakashi sighed. "Sensei, I know you're distracted."

"I am not!" Minato said indignantly, then reluctantly, "Maybe a little bit."

"But, I may be able to work out your arm dilemma for you. I was researching different kinds of Uchiha doujutsu."

"Why would you do that? And how do the Uchiha relate to all this, anyway?" Minato said.

"Obito dragged me along. I learned some pretty interesting things about that clan," Kakashi said.

"Something Itachi hasn't told me?"

"It has to do with a very advanced doujutsu, and it probably wasn't relevant until now. However, recently Obito has acquired something called the Mangekyou Sharingan. It's a higher-level doujutsu that's unique to the user. Obito's did something that I didn't think of much at the time."

"Well, don't keep me waiting. What was it?"

"It could suck objects into different dimensions. Objects like people," Kakashi said ominously.

"…Or rip a part of a person off with great force," Minato said. "But something still doesn't make sense. It was your chakra, remember? Not Obito's."

"Hm…how closely did you examine that chakra trace?"

"Thoroughly enough to know it was one of my students," Minato answered, narrowing his eyes. "Why?"

"I bet if you analyzed it further, it would contain some of Obito's chakra." Kakashi said, standing up. "Tell me if you find anything. And keep an eye on Naruto."


"I…I don't know about this. It feels…weird," Sakura said after they'd been walking the streets of Konoha for only ten minutes, her constantly pulling at her grey sweater, trying to make it cover her more.

"Don't sweat it, Sakura-chan! I'm sure you'll get used to it in no time!" Naruto said in his energetic way, as usual. Sasuke elbowed him.

"Stop being so familiar with her, Namikaze. You've hardly seen her at all," Sasuke said quietly.

"Jealous?" Naruto said mischievously with a sly little smile on his face.

Sasuke blushed. "I…I am not jealous!" he said, flustered. Calming down, he said, "I just don't believe it's right to talk to someone you've hardly known so comfortably."

"Hey, hey, Sasuke, I think it would be best if you'd lighten up a little!"

"That's Uchiha-san to you, brat!"

Naruto turned to Sakura, who was laughing quietly. "You two are ridiculous," she said after a moment. "How long have you been friends?"

The blond-headed boy wanted to say years, but Sasuke beat him to it. "I've only really been talking to him this morning."

Sakura blinked. "Odd. I guess you two are just fast friends."

Sasuke huffed. "Namikaze is not my friend…we're just…acquaintances." Naruto smirked.

"You're just a bastard, Uchiha!" That ruffled Sasuke's feathers, and he looked at Naruto in disbelief. Yep, a dignified Uchiha can barely stand being called a bastard! Naruto thought proudly, right before he felt a whap in the back of his head.

The raven-haired boy simply sighed in annoyance while still looking somewhat flustered, the expression looking quite strange on his face to Naruto. "Listen, Namikaze, I think your father would probably maul me then send me straight into Shinigami's stomach if I gave you a broken rib, so let's leave the insults at that." Then he hesitated. "Moron."

Naruto yelled, "What did you call me?" But Sasuke shut him up with another whap to the head.

And Sakura? She was having the time of her life.


"Obito!" Called Minato, startling his student. Obito was currently resting in his small house in the Uchiha compound when his old sensei came marching in.

"Oh, hi, Sensei. What'd you come around here for?" He asked, and Minato's face turned serious.

"It seems we have a mystery on our hands."

Obito cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean, 'mystery'?"

Minato made himself comfortable on a mat. "It's not that easy to explain. A little while ago some of my ninjas found an arm that seemed to have been ripped off the owner's body. We didn't find much of interest in it, except that it had a fully-functional mouth and some detonating clay on it."

"Well, mystery solved, right? The owner got his or her arm ripped off from detonating clay. Simple as that," Obito said.

"Or not," Minato continued. "Out of my curiosity and concern, I assigned some ninja to investigate further. Their results are very confusing."

"Oh?"

"You see, they detected Hatake Kakashi's chakra on it, and the place where it originated suggested tearing of space-time. Kakashi suggested It could be this family's doujutsu, where he told me that you had the ability to rip objects out of this reality," Minato explained.

"Well, I don't know much about it, but yeah, I have that type of sharingan. Although how it could be Kakashi beats me."

"What do you know about other realities?"

Obito gave him a confused expression. "What do you mean? I don't think you're liable for crimes outside this world. Why do you care?"

Minato shrugged. "Curiosity, I suppose."

Obito sighed. "Fine. All I know is that there is an unknowable number of realities. Anything is possible in them, anything at all. People never born, humanity wiped out, whatever. And usually they're not possible to pass through, unless you have my sharingan, and I've heard rumors from the Nara clan that there's a crystal that grants you magic passage into a random one, but I don't believe it."

"Huh. Interesting. So anything's possible, huh?"

"Pretty much," Obito said. "It's actually pretty interesting. Maybe wherever that came from I have Kakashi's chakra signature."

Curiosity satisfied, Minato engaged Obito in small talk. "So, how's it been going with Jun-san?"

"Ah, fine, really…" Obito seemed embarrassed at the mention of his wife. "Actually, she's pregnant."

"You're kidding!"

"I wish!" Obito laughed nervously. "I don't know if I can handle fatherhood."

"Trust me, you won't. Just do the best you can, and don't screw them up too badly," Minato said, smiling. "I'm pretty sure that without Kushina my two would be completely hopeless."

"Speaking of which, How's Naruto?"

"He's doing okay, I suppose. He's not acting so oddly as he was, but he definitely turned over a new social leaf."

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Minato said, thinking. "You remember Hinata? Apparently he's made friends with her. I'm almost afraid of who he'll drag in next."

"Maybe he'll befriend one of my family, heh."

Minato smiled. "Yeah right. He hates any Uchiha except you."

The Yondaime walked home that day as the sun was nearing the horizon, and when he walked into his home, he heard some moaning from his and Kushina's bedroom. He sprinted there, and saw a terrified Kagami holding her mother's pale and clenched hand. Kushina was clearly in pain, her eyes shut tight and mouth set in a grimace.

It was then that Minato noticed the chakra in the air. He recognized it.

"Kushina!" cried Minato, racing to her side. Her skin was cold to the touch.

"It's…Kyuubi," managed Kushina, before falling unconscious. Minato quickly lay her flat on her back, and lifted up her shirt so he could see her stomach. His eyes traced the pattern of the seal, and he furrowed his brow.

The Kyuubi was sealed inside his wife, and was acting up in a major way. The seal glowed red and felt hot to the touch.

"Something's got Furry here nervous. Really nervous…" Minato murmured to himself.

"She isn't going to die, is she, Dad?" Kagami asked, horrified at her mother's state.

"Not intentionally. But he might accidentally kill her. Quickly, Kagami, go get my sealing inks!"

After making sure her stomach was fit for seals, he painted another seal on top of her existing one. Kagami watched with fascinated eyes.

"She should be all right for about a month," Minato said. "She should wake up soon. Maybe she has some more information about this."


Naruto arrived home after seeing his newfound friends off, and went inside. He didn't hear anything at first, but suddenly there was a shout from upstairs. He quickly sprinted up the stairs, and promptly tripped.

"Stupid stairs," he cursed under his breath. Getting up, it took him a few minutes to find the source of the shout, and what he found terrified him.

Minato and Kagami looked up, fear clearly written on their faces, a brush in Minato's hand. The next thing Naruto noticed was Kushina lying on the floor, deathly pale, with a newly-made seal on her stomach.

"What the hell happened?" He said, crouching by Kushina's unconscious form. Minato sighed.

"The Kyuubi acted up again, apparently for no reason. This one's serious." Naruto blinked uncomprehendingly at Kushina, then figured it out.

"She…has Kyuubi inside her…and he hurt her?" Naruto said mostly to himself.

"Exactly," Minato said as if Naruto was supposed to know that Kushina had Kyuubi sealed inside of her.

Suddenly, Kushina's eyes fluttered open. "What…happened?"

"We thought you could tell us," Minato said. Suddenly Kushina sat up, eyes wide, holding her head.

"Kyuubi's scared!" She said. "He said…that there were two of him!"

Naruto tried not to pay attention to the manic laughing in the back of his mind. Minato held Kushina. "What did he mean?"

"He said…that there was another one of him. From another world, or something. A Kyuubi that was far more powerful than he…" Kushina said. "All he said was that 'It's the boy'."

Now Naruto was nervous. This Kyuubi was obviously referring to him. No doubt they would figure it out, he thought.

"No way…the arm!" Minato said, snapping his fingers.

"What arm?" asked Kagami.

"A while ago some ninja found an arm that appeared to have been ripped off its owner. It was found in the land of wind, and the only thing odd about it was that it had a mouth, some detonating clay, and Kakashi's signature was all over it."

Naruto froze. It was Deidara's arm. The arm he had not so long ago seen ripped off its owner by none other than Hatake Kakashi.

"Apparently, it came from some other world. I can't help but think these two incidents are related," Minato said with a sure tone. "I don't know what he meant about 'it's the boy,' though."

Kushina tried to look reassured. "It's late. You two should get ready to sleep."

"Yes Mom," Kagami said while Naruto just nodded.

There was no way Naruto could sleep at a time like this. He stepped outside, into the cool evening air, and paced.

They're going to figure it out eventually. I just need to find another crystal, and hopefully I can get back home.

He kept like this until he heard Kagami's voice. "You couldn't sleep either, huh?"

"No."

Kagami walked out and joined Naruto. "Don't worry. Dad's a sealing master. He wouldn't let anything happen to Mom."

"Don't I know it," Naruto said under his breath, but Kagami heard.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked, concerned.

"It's nothing."

"You're lying," Kagami said, a little indignant. "What's so bad about Dad being a sealing master?"

Naruto was tired of lying to people. He could trust Kagami, couldn't he? "I…I know why the Kyuubi acted up."

"How would you know…?" Kagami asked quietly.

"I'm the boy he was talking about."


A cliffhanger! Oh ye gods YES-er, I mean Nooooooo...

Aaaanyway, I'm just six days late. Just six. And I was distracted by shiny nanowrimo. Oh yes, I'm doing it again.

Because of NaNoWriMo, I'm going to be giving you a chapter in a week's time, since you probably don't want to be straddled with a cliffhanger for three months. So, chapter in a week, see you in January~!