A/N: I plan to take a little something in my own direction... my headcanon is showing, I know I know.. I just can't take the thought of what I am thinking may very well happen in the next few manga chapters...

Therefore, time to deviate !

Chapter title is "The Right to the Pursuit of Happiness"

—-

A small, confident grin comes upon the kunoichi's face. Like a boss. Shannaro! She watches the beautiful and talented black-haired ninja assume a position of leadership and stand in front of Naruto as a line of additional shinobi come to his support, as well, with their fierce sense of duty marking their faces in a snarl of loyal comradeship. The sight should not be a surprise, she knows, but it still brings a happy, tingling sensation in her chest. This team dynamic...she has missed it so very deeply. Herself...Naruto...Sasuke...

Would he end up coming here, too? She quickly proceeds to dismiss the childish thought. No, the thought hadn't arisen from a longing for him, but rather out of a a gut feeling. Still...how would something like that happen...?

She returns her eyes to the task at hand. It looked like Naruto had figured out what to do pretty quick. A slight frown tugs at her grin as she places her hands on his back and says, "I'll heal you quick." Naruto appears to have the utmost determination; that, she notices, is because he possesses it to the deepest and highest level. It is a level of courage and protectiveness that he shares with all the shinobi around them. They are going to win this war. This confidence stands nearly unwavering in her heart.

—-

The Yondaime is silent after Sasuke utters those words. He thinks deeply for a moment, and studies the expression on the young boy's face. The Nidame coughs and his elder brother shifts, silently letting everyone know that the conversation should end there and that they should get going.

They leave.

A frown soon settles on the Shodai-hokage's face. His long, dark hair breezes past his shoulders while the shorter strands make their home on top of his head before falling back down against his cheek bones.

Madara...

He can sense his chakra very clearly now. It is dark, and ominous. Heavy, and lethal. The edge of the Senju's lip twitches ever-so-slightly as he holds back a bittersweet smile to match his wistful expression. He spares a quick glance at his younger brother and sees nothing but silent fury in his eyes. He grudgingly understands his brother's ire, but still, a hopeful, childish feeling develops in his gut at the thought of being able to see Madara again, alive; and just like a hopeful child, his eyebrows raise slightly in anticipation, as he can feel the distance between them become less, and less...

Closer, and closer...

—-

"...What is it?" Kakashi asks.

Obito lets his genjutsu work. Rin and his younger self appear beside Kakashi. He notices a fleeting look on his old friend's face. Just a little bit... but he can see it. He is momentarily haunted, and Obito decides to take advantage of it. As Kakashi glances between the two, Obito speaks his mind. "This can all be changed. Look, Rin is here." He lets the words slip easily, letting his true intentions read crystal clear. He didn't want to hurt this man. "I like you, Kakashi."

At this, Kakashi looks up. He quicky breaks his attention and swiftly eliminates the apparition. "Obito...can't you see? This is all just an illusion!"

"Exactly! This way you can truly fill the hole in your heart...this is the only way that happiness can—"

"Obito..." He refrains from saying the words out loud, because it pains himself even to think them, '...You are still a child.' He wants to protect Obito, and make him snap out of it. Things could still be turned around! ...Right?

He finds his words. "You need to wake up! You can't just achieve what you want by denying the reality of this world!"

"This world is bullshit, Kakashi, and you know it!" he argues vehemently.

This angers Kakashi. "Well, yes! That's how it is! Shit happens, Obito. Look at you! Hell, I thought you were dead! We all did..."

He stares at him. "..."

"And life sucked. Without you, life was almost not worth living anymore...and once Rin..." He cut himself off, not daring to bring up their sensei's name.

Obito reads him once again, trying very hard to appear unaffected by Kakashi's admission. "...And our sensei?"

Kakashi stiffens. "Obito...you didn't even try to fix what you could have. There was so much you could have done after Rin died." He took his gloved hands and placed them heavily on the man's shoulders. "You don't have to throw your life away, Obito! Instead of trying to face the truth, you are hiding from reality, trying to create your own!" The words finally leave him. "This is the epitome of immaturity! You are not a child! You need to learn to accept things the way they are!"

"..." The air between them feels ripped into two, and their shared dimension becomes twice as suffocating.

"...You are trying to change me," he finally states plainly, straightfaced for all but five seconds. "Believe me, Kakashi, it's not me who wants to change...it's you who wants it so badly...you reject my illusions so passionately, so why do you try to force your own upon me? I am not going to change! You present me with the illusion that I am going to change my mind and everything will be just as fine as the way it was before!" He places his hands on the forearms the grip him so tightly. "Think about it, Kakashi! Minato-sensei is dead! Your precious student doesn't have parents and that is because of me!"

Kakashi suddenly realizes something, and it hits him hard. He speaks slowly. "Obito...are you afraid...that you won't be forgiven? Do you really...do you still really want this? This...'dream?'" He gazes at him soberly. Are you looking for...forgiveness?

"Do you have any idea how many deaths I've caused?" he says bitterly, no longer certain of his own intentions. He removes the hands from his shoulders, but the next words he hears surprise him so much, that he is stunned and does not complete the movement.

Instead, Kakashi takes back his own hands, and places a gloved palm over his left eye. Obito's eye... It is covered by his hitai-ate in seconds. "That...does it bother you...?" he asks quietly.

"...It should bother you. You should not care for someone who cares so little about everyone else..."

Kakashi's dark eye narrows. "You, of all people should know this well..."

Obito stares at him, careful not to let his face betray the mild, yet intense curiosity he feels at hearing his words and the tone in which he spoke.

"Do you remember? Obito. 'In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are trash.' That is what I used to tell you time and time again."

He stays silent.

"But those who don't treasure their friends are worse than trash," he continued. "That is something you taught me, and it has stayed with me ever since." He stares at the ground in front of his old comrade. "There's another part, though..."

Obito follows his gaze.

"Those who don't treasure their friends' feelings...are even worse than that..." He meets his eyes this time. "Do you...? Obito? Do you treasure Rin's feelings?" 'I like you, Kakashi.' "And mine?" He waits for an answer. "If you do...then you should stop all this..."

—-

As he kneels on the ground while Sakura effectively heals him, he glances about, eyes taking a much-needed break from appearing so fearless for so long. His dissociation with the current events has long dissipated; and there is a very specific reason for this. His gut warms and his gaze softens completely. He feels almost completely at ease. He realizes this may appear odd, considering the situation, but he doesn't care.

He knows one thing that nobody else does. A small smile reaches his lips.

After recharging for a bit, Bee and Gyuuki swoop in to help. Suddenly, it appears that someone else has intervened.

Just as suddenly, a marked kunai lands in the ground.

The Yondaime arrives.

"I'm not too late, am I?" he asks casually, in a tone reserved for only the smallest of talk.

Feeling the last drops of sweat slide down his face, Naruto shoots him a knowing, sideways grin. "You're just in time...dad."

—-

A/N: Minato/Naruto time! I await those beautiful father-son moments next chapter T^T yes.

Ah, I kept my patience this time, and decided to read 630 before I finished this chapter, because I am at a prediction-loss at the moment. Aside from being very busy =_= Anyway, if I'd written any further without reading the newest update...well...yeah. So I left things clearly unresolved, here, mwahahaha. You will know next week.

Here are my thoughts on character death...[I wrote this rant before the latest update, so forgive me if some of this actually happens in 630 or it is proven to never happen (which is a good thing) ...I don't like going back and changing everything so yeah]

To me, I think Tsunade is a given (though it would be awesome if Hashirama came to save her T.T )...Obito, likely... (ugh that would just kill me) (i'm already dying just thinking about it, having to go through that shit again)... Kakashi? HELL NO I will be pretty pissed beyond belief if he dies by the end of the series...he needs to live happily ever after with my OC... (haha their story is actually pretty tragic, then again this is Kakashi—when is his life not tragic? Plus I haven't even finished it *stares at dusting file on hard drive*) now...Sasuke. What about him? I was thinking about it recently, like, what if he were to die while helping out in the war? Something tragic happens, or ...something. I think as long as his death is done right, and makes me bawl like a baby, then... I think I could live through that. But! His death must be epic. As a main character, this is basically a requirement... Sakura...well, I don't see any reason why she needs to die. Hell, she became the Hokage in my other fic (explained in future chapters) Again, quiet you character bashers, I am talking purely for the storyline. I see no purpose in her death, and frankly I'm just waiting for her life to become relevant once again...as a character, not just a tool as a highly skilled medic-nin... Kishimoto-sensei is slowly reintroducing her in recent scenes so I'm guessing she will very soon get to play a bigger part again, too. The only way I can see her dying is if she uses up all her chakra healing Naruto, but I don't think she is that reckless, beside there is also Ino and other medic-nin to help. ...Hinata, maybe... I hope not, though, because I like her character, too. Hm...as for everyone else... no-

Just no everyone is off-limits nobody can die I mean I'm still not over Jiraiya seriously I go back and re-read chapters and rewatch episodes and it's like he never died, so in my head he's just somewhere far away in a different dimension who will come back after the war is over and greet Naruto with twin popsicle sticks, or perhaps arrive just before Edo-Minato gets sealed away for the final time *sniff*

UGH JUST READ THE NEW CHAPTER AND WHEN KAKASHI SAYS...UGH... "And those who don't treasure their friends' feelings, are even worse than that." T_T must go incorporate this into the chapter... (Obito please respond properly to that in the next chapter. And Kakashi please don't kill your friend while he's at it)

*sobbing*

Long a/n again, but hey, go read my profile and you can see clearly that I've listed this story as nothing more than a pure feels-rant regarding the latest chapters. So this counts, sort of.

Also, I noticed in the update that there is excessive scene bouncing (I love it)...and even though mine is very different, I'm glad that's at least something I got right !

Anyway, thanks for reading! (especially this super long note. I promise not to do it again ^^' ) Please leave a review! Comments are most welcome~ I appreciate you dear, dear reviewers more than you could know! :D