Chapter fourteen

The trio arrived back in Konoha and headed up to Minato's office to hand in their report and found the smiling Minato sitting and doing paperwork before he saw their faces and worried something went wrong with Kushina's plan.

"Welcome back you three. How did it go?" Minato asked, leaning back in his chair, linking his hands together and resting them on his stomach.

"The mission went perfectly sensei with a few bumps in the road but nothing serious." Rin said, handing the file over and Minato read through it, his face showing no emotion before he put the file down and sat back again.

"I wish to see Inoichi-san right away Minato-sama and I request to bring Kakashi and Rin with as well as you… Things are about to get stickier with my memory Hokage-sama." Rei said seriously and Minato tilted his head in confusion before nodding and standing up, heading out with the team to the T&I Department.

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Minato slumped in the chair with his hands in his hair, staring numbly at the table as Inoichi sat in another chair and rubbed his temples on the other side of the table and Rei sat in between them with Rin and Kakashi standing calmly behind him.

"But what if he…" Minato began.

"We've already been over this sensei. There was no way Obito survived for long after that." Rin stated harshly.

"Wait… Kiri? Rin, you said a Kirigakure ANBU helped you escape and find Kakashi where you fled with him… Let me get your file." Inoichi said quickly as he walked over to a cabinet and flicked through files in one of the draws, pulling one out with Rin's name on it. He opened the file and tossed papers about and Rei picked up one and began to shake as a memory wracked his body.

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"What's your name?" Chikara asked the girl with brown hair, brown eyes and purple war paint on her cheeks that were streaked from tears.

"Rin. Nohara Rin." She said shakily in an open door way as sirens rang all around them.

"Okay Rin, I'm Chikara and I'm going to get you out of here like I promised. Hold my hand and don't let go, don't look behind you and don't stop running. Do you understand?" He asked as he took her hand and began to jog down the corridors with her.

"I understand. Just get me back to my teammate." She said with determination but also some fear as Chikara began taking people out with lightning techniques as they entered a rocky terrain and hid for five seconds to catch their breaths.

"How are you doing Rin?" Chikara asked her in barely a whisper and she squeezed his hand.

"I'm fine. Right now I just want to get home." She said and Chikara nodded as he looked outside of the small cave they hid in. Chikara froze as he felt a blade against his throat before it was removed and he turned his head to find Rin hugging a silver haired boy with mismatching eyes of dark grey and red.

"I'm guessing this is your teammate?" Chikara asked and she nodded.

"Kakashi, this is Chikara, he helped me escape." Rin said quickly with more tears of happiness.

"Helping, we're not out of the woods yet. Get ready to run." Chikara ordered and they both became serious again and crouched with him as he watched. They began to run again, dodging paper bombs, kunai and shuriken being thrown, showing just how close the enemy was.

"They want me. Leave me here and escape you two." Rin said with fearful determination as she slowed down and both Chikara and Kakashi skidded to a stop.

"We don't have time and if they get any one of you two, the war will carry on for at least another ten years. Let's keep moving and we'll cross that bridge when we get there." Chikara hissed and grabbed both of their wrists and began running again and eventually let Kakashi's wrist go but held onto Rin's because she was vital to this escape plan. They skidded to a halt again so close to the boarders it wasn't funny and they stood as a thick mist covered the area. Kakashi and Chikara were standing back to back with Rin in between as Kakashi charged up something that sounded like birds and Chikara unsheathed his standard issue katana.

There was movement behind him and he felt Kakashi surge forwards but Rin also move quickly and realised what was happening as his body moved on its own. Rin stood with her eyes closed in front of Kakashi who's eyes were wide as he couldn't stop his jutsu but Rei was faster some how and grabbed Rin around the waist and twisted her out of the way, being grazed on his left hand side by the powerful and deadly lightning jutsu and fell with Rin onto the ground as Kakashi saw Rin had moved and intercepted the enemy they heard move.

Chikara recovered as his katana met another one and Rin was also fighting now with another ANBU. Chikara disposed of his enemy quickly and moved to help Rin as Kakashi regrouped and looked at Chikara with surprise and looking for leadership and Chikara noticed the red eye had changed and knew what he had to do.

"Use that jutsu to cut down a path and I'll hold them all here." Chikara said and Rin tried to protest but Kakashi knocked her out and placed her on his back in one movement. "I'm a dead man anyway now go and don't get caught Kakashi, I'm sure we'll meet again one day." Chikara said, pushing him to move as the bird jutsu started up again and Kakashi was gone as Chikara covered them.

"Chikara! You bastard!" He heard a voice shout from behind him, so close in the dense mist. He had stopped to let the two Konoha nin get away, he was a missing nin now anyway. He had his standard issue katana at the ready as his white band on his arm had faded to an ivory and he could feel the poison already entering his veins.

"I did what I had to. This war has gone on long enough." He shouted back to the angry ANBU hot on his trail… There were at least fourteen of them and he swallowed as their killing intent leaked out. "Mizukage-sama had no right Kankaku-senpai and this war has to stop sometime… we've already murdered a whole village of innocent people. Uzushio had no military…"

"Enough! You've betrayed us now prepare to die for your treason Chikara." He knew that was Taicho's voice and he swallowed as blade met blade and created sparks of lightning from his katana.

Taicho was the first to die and cursed Chikara on his dying breaths to never be accepted ever again. He didn't focus on who he was killing and didn't even realise the mist disperse until he slid his bloody katana out of the last body as it made a loud thump as it hit the floor

Chikara removed his bloody mask to reveal silver eyes and removed his bandanna to reveal midnight blue hair as he looked around at the massacre he had just done.

"This is for the innocent in Uzushio we murdered." He said, sliding his katana into it's sheath on his right hip and breathed a deep breath as he could feel his memories slowly fading.

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Inoichi had quickly connected himself and Minato to Rei's mind and watched Rei's memory come to him and follow through to the point where the white man showed up before all three of them opened their eyes and Rei looked back at the paper in his hands. It was the usual white ceramic of Kiri with a blue lightning shape cutting across the whole thing and Rei sighed and threw the paper with the rest.

"That was my Kirigakure ANBU mask… Codename Chikara." Rei said calmly as Minato and Inoichi were sitting stiffly in their chairs and Kakashi and Rin were dead quiet behind Rei.

"Lift up your shirt please." Kakashi whispered and stepped back with Rin. Rei stood up and turned to face the two looking onwards emotionlessly as Rei pulled up his shirt and showed a lightning patterned scar on his left side. He tried to put his shirt back down when Kakashi grabbed his wrist and his other hand was lightly tracing the scar with his fingertips, something in his eye as he examined every place his jutsu had cut through and across his skin.

"How… How did you survive?" Kakashi whispered and Rei shrugged.

"I don't know… Even if I lived to stop all of the ANBU, that white man should have killed me in that state." Rei whispered back as the group watched on. His shirt was put back down and he was engaged in a tight hug as Kakashi buried his eyes against the crook of his neck and sobbing was heard with 'thank you' becoming a chant. Rei stood still and breathed a shuddering breath before tears came to his eyes and he hugged Kakashi tightly back and cried silently with Kakashi. Rin wiped tears from her eyes when Rei saw and opened his arm up so she could join in and hugged both of them as she also cried silently and was telling Kakashi that everything was okay.

Inoichi watched on with shock but then he sighed and began writing things down in case one of them broke right there. Minato was frozen in his seat for a while after everything he had witnessed within the last god only knows hours. He watched the three of them hug when Rin joined in that's when the stone hard truth hit him. He could have lost not one but both of his last students that day and cold struck at his heart as he thought about the possibility if Rei wasn't there, he knew if that happened he wouldn't be Hokage right then and he allowed some tears of his own slip past, secretly thanking Rei and closed his eyes with a smile. He opened them again when he felt Inoichi's hand on his arm and squeezed reassuringly and he smiled at his old friend in thanks.

He watched as both Rin and Kakashi sagged in Rei's arms and Minato decided it was time for them to go home. He stood up and picked the sleeping Rin into his arms as Rei swung the tired and grumpy looking Kakashi onto his back with a smile. Minato touched Rei with his elbow and in a flash of yellow they ended up in his house and held a finger up to his lips when Kushina walked in who smiled and nodded, heading back into the kitchen.

"I'm going to take Rin home, you can go back now or later?" Minato asked in a whisper and Kakashi shifted on Rei's back.

"I'll go back later. Thank you Minato-sama." Rei said with a smile and Minato returned it as he flashed away again.

"Take him through to Naruto's room, your bed is still in there." Kushina whispered poking her head around the corner with a smile and Rei nodded and headed off that way to Naruto's room. He sat on the bed and unwrapped Kakashi's arms from around his neck and lay Kakashi down on the bed who was already nodding off. He took off his pouches, flak jacket, as he now wore the chunin uniform, and his shoes off before covering him with the blanket and removing his hitai-ate as he left the room and collapsed on the couch with a sigh and a smile as he thought the day's events over. Minato flashed back in and hung his coat and flak jacket up over the back of the couch before sitting next to Rei and pulling him into a big hug once again when Kushina appeared with a laughing Naruto in her arms as she joined them on the couch.

"So did my plan work?" Kushina asked with a smile to her voice as Minato's chest was currently obscuring Rei's view.

"Better than expected." Minato said calmly as he finally released Rei and sat back calmly, hugging his wife and kissing his son's head. "You remember when Rin was rescued from Kiri how she spoke of a heroic ANBU who saved both hers and Kakashi's lives named Chikara?" Minato asked as he tucked his wife into his side who nodded with a smile and his gaze turned back to Rei.

"Well… Meet Chikara, the one who saved my students' lives that day and some how made it out alive." Minato said as Kushina crushed him in an awkward hug with Minato in the middle, laughing as he began to explain what happened in Rei's memory.

A/N: So… Happy Ending? Nope, not yet anyway but now we know the connection between the three friends but what's going to happen next? Read and Review to find out.