And the prodigal daughter returns to writing sooner than possible! :D

I just felt the need to keep my momentum, you know? Get the ball rolling and all that jazz… I also couldn't help writing something… fluffy… kinda. At the end. After all the reuniting. 'Cause both Kakashi deserve to be together, uh. ;P

Thank you to cloystreng, AngelicRiver, like-a-freaking-fangirl, time2read, Unterflieger, Prescripto13 (such long time we haven't crossed paths!), NarutoXHonoka, Bindi-fox, anaisonfire, taran taran and Guest for their quick reviewing! Shower of digital hearts for y'all!

*Digital Hearts, Yay!*

Unterflieger: he's here, don't worry! ;)

Prescripto13: Hagoromo should've never been this vague… But he was, so Kurama plays on that, their Brotherly Bond and the Power of Emotions to get an 'ally' out of their unfortunate situation XD

Bindi-fox and anaisonfire: you'll find I'm not nearly as evil or hungry for that kind of Okugi angst :D

And so, without further ado, I present you the next Chapter you were waiting for!

Chapter 34: A Boy's Return, A Team United

Orochimaru caught up to Kakashi in a few leaps.

The boy threw him a sideways glance, a nod and a murmured "Orochimaru-sama," before slowing down. He wanted the Sannin to lead the way to the rendezvous point with Team Hound, apparently.

That would have to wait, however – he had a few questions he needed answered first.

They stopped near the entrance of a cave, far enough from the battlefield that they couldn't see the Hachibi anymore. Thick black smoke rose from the east, splitting the otherwise clear sky just as the sun's rays started brightening the forest around them.

Orochimaru eyed the bare-chested chuunin sitting to his left. His arms and torso were a shade redder than normal, probably because of the cold morning air. But there weren't any angry red stripes that came with rope scraping against skin and flesh, and the Sannin had seen how tight Kakashi had been tied.

The chuunin squirmed almost imperceptibly under his scrutiny.

"You don't appear to have been injured," the man stated. The young Hatake looked at him almost blankly.

"I haven't, Orochimaru-sama."

The Sannin handed one of his spare shirts – he had taken two scrolls of supplies with him, he wasn't stupid – to Kakashi, who looked rather uncomfortable and cold at being half-naked. He put on the offered clothing with a mumbled "Thank you, Orochimaru-sama."

A beat of silence.

"Report to me what has happened from the moment you were separated from your team," ordered the Sannin.

Kakashi nodded minutely. "I woke up on a nukenin ship when they had already set sail to an unknown destination. I'm not aware of how much time had passed from the moment I was captured to the one I woke up. It was four days later that a Kumo ship attacked the one I was held in – that ship had been blown up. I later regained consciousness on the Kumo ship."

Orochimaru found hard to believe that Kakashi had survived a blown up ship without a scratch, but most of the information was true so he waited for the chuunin to finish before drawing conclusions.

"Killer Bee interrogated me about Minato-sensei's weaknesses," the boy continued, "but I told him nothing. I remember being taken from the ship and travelling north. Someone knocked me out at some point of the journey and I regained consciousness during the fight. I then fled."

The Sannin nodded. It made sense, except the last part. Now it was time to ask questions.

"How did Killer Bee torture you?"

Kakashi's eyes almost widened. Hmm.

"You clearly have no physical injuries," Orochimaru stated slowly, as if he were talking to a dumb child. Maybe the little Hatake's mind had shut down at some kind of horrendous torture, or maybe he didn't expect the report to get this deep. "and in the timeframe you've been held captive no physical wounds would have healed this completely. Tell me how Killer Bee tortured you."

The boy squirmed. "He reached my chakra core with his own chakra," he whispered, his shoulders tense. "I don't remember anything else. Just that it hurt."

Orochimaru leaned back on the rock behind him, absently sending more healing energy to his slowly-mending ribs. Hmm. An unusual method that required raw force from the chakra itself – not just the quantity, but the quality. Only a few shinobi throughout the nations used it, mainly Jinchuuriki and Kekkei Genkai users who didn't want to get their hands stained with blood.

Or shinobi who needed their prisoner's physical condition to appear normal, while they wreaked havoc on their chakra system and often crippled them permanently. It depended on the difference in power between the two chakras.

Kakashi had white chakra, powerful in its own right – but it couldn't be enough. Only an Uzumaki's or bijuu's chakra could withstand an onslaught of the Hachibi's own with minimum consequences. An experienced shinobi could probably put up a defense to limit the damage, but the last Hatake had had no training whatsoever in doing so.

Especially not against an aggressive attack to the chakra core.

But it wouldn't do to startle him.

"Kakashi," the boy seemed alarmed by the sudden address, "I'm going to check the damage it did on your chakra system. I'll need to push my chakra into your coils."

The chuunin was definitely alarmed now. "I could mold my chakra just fine during the battle, Orochimaru-sama – it isn't necessary to-"

"I'll decide what is necessary and what isn't," the Sannin hissed, narrowing his eyes. "Are you questioning my ability to determine your health?"

Kakashi deflated slightly. "No, Orochimaru-sama."

"Then take a deep breath and close your eyes," he ordered. The boy complied and the jonin put his left hand on the chuunin's sternum. He released a small sliver of chakra into the latter's system, ignoring his tensing muscles.

At first he just poked the coils. Resilient, much more than he had expected. He had felt coils this tough only in veteran jonin who threw heavy ninjutsu around like they were candies. Interesting – what had provoked such a change in a young chuunin like Kakashi?

Then Orochimaru followed the flow, searching for damage he had previously seen in tortured shinobi.

There was a slight hitch only where the coils joined the core in the abdomen. But it was different from a damaged core, something that had caused shinobi to retire prematurely. It was just the flow that felt changed, almost redirected.

Orochimaru frowned. "Kakashi, don't mold your chakra."

The boy frowned as well, though he kept his eyes closed. "I'm not molding it, Orochimaru-sama."

The Sannin closed his eyes again and poked at the strange hitch in the chakra flow. Kakashi tensed further.

It felt like a barrier. He tried once, twice – it was definitely a barrier in Kakashi's chakra system. A Fuinjutsu, then. It seemed those Kumo-nin had a reason not to put obvious chakra-suppressing seals on their prisoner, after all.

"Kakashi, do you remember anyone placing a seal on you?"

The boy's bare face was paler than a paper sheet. He gulped. "No, Orochimaru-sama."

"Have you noticed anything different when you molded your chakra during the fight?"

The chuunin hesitated. "Most of my reserves were – and still are – locked, Orochimaru-sama. I don't know anything else."

The Snake Sannin narrowed his amber eyes. It did explain what he felt, but not the purpose. Why lock some of his reserves if they could lock all of them? It didn't make sense if the Kumo-nin wanted to keep him their prisoner.

Maybe they wanted to steal his white chakra to study it? Unlikely: they'd have easily done it once they were back in Kumogakure. It was also as unlikely that they wanted to taunt him, daring him to use his chakra to escape when he so clearly couldn't.

Or maybe the jonin who made the seal was an incompetent idiot. Also unlikely, given the Lightning Brothers' presence.

"Take off your shirt."

Kakashi's chakra briefly focused on his feet, as if ready to bolt away. "…May I ask why, Orochimaru-sama?"

"I need to see the seal. If that's what I think it is, I can unlock it," he answered easily. What he didn't say was that he'd need his sealing kit to unlock anything more complex than a Pentagonal Restraining Seal or too unorthodox.

The boy was in the mood to squirm like an embarrassed schoolgirl once more. He still took off the borrowed shirt before Orochimaru could snap at him to obey.

"Now mold your chakra."

Kakashi shot him an almost pleading look – what for? – and started doing as told.

The Snake Sannin narrowed his eyes as the seal on the chuunin's abdomen became clearer. It started as an Uzumaki spiral – that was already a bad sign by itself – that twisted into three separate swirls, almost tail-like.

Then six other strings of kanjis surrounded the spiral – but with his limited Fuinjutsu knowledge he could recognize no more than the kanji for 'stabilize' and 'restrain'. Maybe there was some other feature hidden in the chakra core-

Kakashi almost doubled over. Orochimaru put a hand on his right shoulder and steadied him instinctively, as he so often had to do with Anko after their heavier training sessions.

The Sannin's chakra had caused the seal to lock. Painfully, if the boy's pinched expression was any indicator. A seal that could stop a chuunin in his tracks with just the barest probing of chakra directed to his core. Intriguing, but unnecessarily complex.

The Uzumaki swirl in its center was also too similar to the Containment Seals used to seal away bijuu, something that...

…That couldn't possibly be what he was thinking, could it?

"Kakashi," began Orochimaru, unapologetic of the pain he had inadvertently caused, "have you heard voices in your head after you were captured?"

The chuunin's chakra spiked in fear.

"Before you speak, I'll remind you that lying on a mission report and to your superiors is punishable by flogging at best." Orochimaru had taken mental note of what parts weren't truthful, planning on getting to the bottom of this sudden insubordination from the once textbook-perfect shinobi.

Kakashi blanched. He clearly knew of the punishment, yet he still tried to lie. Why?

"…I have, Orochimaru-sama." Finally some truth.

"Did they demand anything?"

"No, Orochimaru-sama." It felt true, as well. Hmm.

"Have you noticed anything different in your chakra flow during your captivity?"

"…No, Orochimaru-sama."

The Sannin's frown deepened. It was the truth, so this change must have been less recent. Meaning the seal wasn't Kumo's doing after all, and that Kakashi had hidden it for weeks, if not more. Unacceptable.

There was nobody who could stop Orochimaru from getting everything out of the young Hatake – the Lightning Brothers were busy either reporting back to the Raikage or licking their wounds to try to take their prisoner back, Team Hound would rendezvous at a nearby waterfall in a three hours and the Konohan Second Division was too far to stumble across them.

Orochimaru planned to write a thorough report on Kakashi's insubordination and complex seal.

Four days later

Minato had rarely run so fast to the Hokage's office. Only the day Kakashi had become a Jinchuuriki his speed had been this great.

"Hokage-sama I came as soon as I've heard about Kakashi, where is he?" he blurted out the second he stepped – ran – inside the room.

Hiruzen didn't crack an amused smile at his mother-hen antics. "He's down the ANBU Headquarters, T&I section."

Minato's jaw took a few seconds to rehang itself. "T&I?!" the blonde nearly shrieked.

The Hokage nodded. "This morning, Team Hound returned to Konoha with Orochimaru's explicit order to lock Kakashi-kun in a chakra-reinforced containment cell to have his memories searched." The blonde jonin was barely keeping himself from interrupting the elder man. "I have, of course, already seen to it. Orochimaru will leave the eastern border to Shikaku-san and come here to be updated on the Kyuubi imitator – this is a matter best not put on paper."

Minato waited half a beat to see if the Hokage had finished speaking. "But where is Kakashi-kun? Is he injured? Is he alright? Who knows about his return to Konoha?"

The older shinobi held his right hand up. The jonin fell silent. "Only Team Hound, an ANBU medical team, the Elder Council, myself and you know about Kakashi's return. He has no physical injuries, although Kakashi himself reported to Orochimaru that Killer Bee invaded his chakra core as torture."

Minato's emotions swayed between chilling terror and boiling rage. Only his eyes betrayed the latter.

"He appears to be fine though and Crane of the medical team and Cat found no damages to his chakra system. However…" here the Hokage paused long enough for Minato's mind to think of the worst, "Kakashi wasn't the only one brought back to Konoha."

The jonin almost spoke up again when the older man continued.

"A half-demon made entirely of Kurama and Kakashi's chakra had been also found by Team Hound in Kumo's hands."

Minato's brief gaping was completely justified.

"He – not an 'it', as Hound reported – showed no ill intentions towards Konoha-nin, instead helping them find Kakashi-kun. Both of them insisted to stay together – which is why they are kept in a T&I cell as we speak." The Sandaime concluded his speech, letting it sink in.

Minato decided not to try to understand how a half-demon with his student's chakra came to life. Maybe later, after he had seen his Kakashi alive and kicking. The actual chance to see his student and talk to him overrode any other thought in his brain.

"May I see him now?" he sounded both impatient and grateful.

The Sandaime smiled at him and nodded.

Minato had never left the Hokage's office so fast.

Kakashi finally, finally had his older self back.

"So the cat's out of the bag now?" he asked worriedly, his tails swinging back and forth.

Kakashi nodded and kept stroking 'Okugi's fur. He made an excellent pillow, he had to admit.

'Orochimaru would've known sooner or later. It could've been worse than an interrogation though…' the Sannin could have assumed Kakashi was an impostor, or reacted badly to Kurama's chakra. Maybe he'd have found a way to flog him for 'insubordination' or worse, experimenting on him before Team Hound arrived.

Either way, Kurama nor Kakashi hadn't wanted to risk it. Not with Orochimaru.

The once-jonin grimaced and nudged his younger self with his head. The young chuunin scratched Okugi behind his ears, prompting a satisfied purr.

Kakashi snorted and Kurama laughed uproariously as Okugi's ears lowered in embarrassment. Kami, that was weird. "You heard nothing!" the half-demon hissed. Had he been in his original body, his whole face would be red.

Kurama kept laughing. Okugi glared at him through his younger self's body. "It's similar to your body, you'd make that sound too!" he snapped back.

"As if!" the bijuu snorted. Then he seemed to think of something else, making him smirk wider. "You get to know your body, you get to know your quirks – no help from me here!"

(After all that happened, they all needed a good laugh and a brief respite.)

"Are you implying you too had to go through this phase?" it was the time-traveller's turn to grin at Kurama's indignation. "You did! Did the Shodaime scratch behind your ears? Or maybe-"

Minato knocked on the door before swinging it open. "'Kashi-kun!"

The boy had no chance to escape his sensei's fierce hug – not that he would have. Part of the tension still lingering in his muscles bled away in Minato's embrace. "Sensei…"

The blonde pulled away, though he still kept his right hand on his shoulder. He had a bright grin on his lips, but his blue eyes were moist. "Are you alright? Are you going to be alright? What happened? Did you get injured, then you healed?" he assaulted him with questions, though he was clearly restraining himself to some degree.

"I'm fine, Minato-sensei," he answered, then inwardly cringed. That was his usual response even when he was the opposite of fine. "I didn't get injured – they knew better than hurt another Jinchuuriki-" the look on Minato's face was pure grief, he had to change his approach, "-so Killer Bee didn't torture me, but Okugi."

"…Okugi is, uhm…"

Kakashi didn't know what to call his older self, either. He patted him on his furry head. "Him."

Minato watched intently the half-demon. He looked like a miniature white Kyuubi with only three tails and red tips on ears, tails and paws. He had a thin line running over his left eye, almost a scar. Do demons scar? Was it because of Killer Bee and the Hachibi, or A?

The jonin pushed those questions in the back of his mind. He needed to know what happened to his student first.

"What happened to you, Kakashi?" he asked softly.

The young chuunin told him (most of) the truth.

"That was…"

"Odd?"

Minato shook his head. "Incredible."

Over the course of the detailed report – his sensei deserved that much at least – the future Yondaime had moved to sit beside Kakashi, sinking slightly into Okugi's fur. The time-traveller had an overly joyous grin on his muzzle that made Owl of Team Hound very nervous.

The Yellow Flash had never let go of Kakashi's shoulder. "So Kurama convinced the Hachibi to let you go?" he asked, bewildered. "By reminding him of a time when they were brothers?"

Both Okugi and Kakashi nodded. They had to leave out the whole time-travel business, so of course it sounded stranger than it already was.

"Even if Kurama isn't the real Kyuubi?"

The bijuu grumbled something that went blessedly ignored by both Kakashis. The chuunin shrugged. "They were similar enough," he answered instead, hiding the fact that Gyuki had known from the start Kurama wasn't the one from this timeline.

They sat in silence for a while.

"We were worried," Minato eventually said.

Kakashi nodded. "I know."

"Obito had taken to spar with Gai, Kurenai, Asuma, Ebisu, Genma and Raido. He said he'd get you back himself and I quote: 'If that baka thinks we can't save him, we'll just have to prove him wrong.'"

Okugi's tails waved slightly. Kakashi nodded again. "Sounds like him."

"Rin had asked both me and Sarune-san to train her in offensive techniques – she's becoming skilled with senbon and poisons, you know. She often joins Obito when he spars with the others." Minato's hands were twitching.

Kakashi kept nodding. "Good for her."

"Anko has recovered and started to spar with Rin and Obito. Nobody actually believes her report on how you healed her injury, but she didn't tell anyone about your 'Kekkei Genkai'."

The chuunin hummed.

"I could hardly let Obito and Rin out of my sight." This time Okugi winced slightly – he knew how that felt. "Other jonin, once even an ANBU offered to watch over them for me. Each time I took them for training, your absence felt worse than… anything I've ever felt."

Okugi knew his sensei enough to know he would have said "worse than a kunai to the gut", but had backtracked once he realized how insensitive that would have been.

Minato's lips and hands twitched again.

Kakashi sighed softly. Why didn't Minato-sensei just ask? "You can hug me again, sensei-"

The Yellow Flash didn't waste any time in wrapping his arms around his student and burying his face in his silver hair. Okugi wrapped his tails around both of them, purring softly at the sheer happiness of being with his sensei once more.

No one called him on it.

It was to the surprise of no one that Minato threw a party for Kakashi's return.

What actually surprised Konoha's population was Kakashi's actual return and the strange creature that started following him around.

Some chuunin thought it was just a wild animal he happened to bond with during his captivity. Other jonin thought it was the summon of a Kumo-nin who befriended the boy to discover Konoha's secrets and report them back to the Raikage. Another part of the jonin thought it was a Kumo experiment that, once presented the chance to flee, it ran away to the nearest safe haven.

The younger genin thought the oversized white fox was a kind forest spirit who helped the boy flee.

Some of the older genin, those could claim to be at least Kakashi's almost friends, listened greedily to his explanation at the welcome-back party.

"Okugi was a Konoha summon," Kakashi explained once everyone had finished hugging him/patting him on the back/challenging him to a 'youthful competition' to 'rekindle' his 'Flames of Youth'. "Who had been told to wait for his master's return when he went scouting ahead. He never returned, yet Okugi still waited."

Gai was immediately reduced to youthful tears.

"A Kumo patrol captured him around the same time as me and imprisoned us together. He saw my hitai-ate and recognized me as an ally. When Orochimaru-sama broke us out we fled."

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" Gai threw himself at Kakashi, but the chuunin had had enough hugs that day to fill his yearly quota so he dodged. "WHAT A TEARFUL STORY OF LOYALTY AND BURNING COURAGE! THE FLAMES OF YOUTH SHINE BRIGHTLY IN YOUR MOST YOUTHFUL FURRY COMPANION!"

Okugi didn't dodge the hug. Instead he took it in stride and bumped his nose on Gai's.

The Green Beast of Konoha cried harder about loyalty and companionship, but by that point no one was really listening, least of all Kakashi.

Jiyo-sensei, Ebisu and Genma just sighed at the show of 'youthfulness', though they were a little relieved at seeing it once more. When news had spread about Kakashi's kidnapping, at first Gai had been bouncing all over Konoha to get his eternal rival back. Then almost a week later he just… deflated.

They knew now how unsettling a silent Gai was… and how hard it was to be reminded that even normal missions could turn into deathtraps, ready to snap the bonds between their comrades and friends.

Fuuyuki-sensei, Asuma, Kurenai and Raido too were immensely glad Kakashi returned. The rumors of what had happened and what could have happened to their once-classmate had echoed more times than necessary in their heads, giving space to the most horrific of scenarios. They had known they could die, but it was a distant acknowledgment. They were too young to be involved in any mortal fights.

It was from the first mission they took with Team Minato, that that knowledge became reality: even the most prepared of them could have Death knocking at their doorstep.

Anko had been almost ready to deem Kakashi dead, she was ashamed to admit. Orochimaru-sensei had told her that usually, if a shinobi was held captive for more than a week, it was either too late to save their mind from breaking or they were already dead and rotting. "No use keeping prisoners for more time than that," he had told her, "unless they're too important to let die."

She had clung to the last part of her sensei's words to hope Kakashi was still alive.

Fortunately, Orochimaru-sensei has been proven wrong: Kakashi was alive and well.

('Or good at hiding his broken mind,' a traitorous corner of her mind whispered. It sounded like sensei.)

Nobody, however, was more relieved than Team Minato.

No member of that team allowed themselves to think Kakashi and dead in the same sentence without isn't in between. Both Obito and Rin trained hard, harder than they thought they could, hoping to show their missing teammate they had never given up on him – they couldn't exactly run after Kumo jonin, but they could train to be better… and make sure something like that never happened again.

Because there was no way Kakashi wouldn't return to them.

Minato had stewed in a dangerous mix of grief and rage – not to mention self-loathing – in the ten days his silver-haired student was missing. He could have been faster, stronger, smarter, readier.

Kakashi grudgingly let them hug him again, a helping of chocolate cake with the writing "Welcome home Kakashi" – when Minato even bought it, amidst all the party-planning, he wasn't sure – in one hand and a knife in the other. His yearly quota of hugs had been exceeded.

Okugi didn't care one bit, and Kakashi almost admitted to himself he didn't either.

Later that day, after the young chuunin had opened the gifts he'd been given – ranging from a different ninja uniform without the leather straps that screamed 'grab me!' to a potted plant of all things – everyone left the blonde's house.

Team Minato made their way to Training Ground 22.

Kakashi was baffled.

"You… what… sensei?"

Minato smiled sheepishly, but bright enough to rival the sun. "We wanted to make your return more special – we thought you'd like a spar, but if you want to do something else-"

"No, sensei," Kakashi was quick to correct, "I'd… like to. It's just…"

"I told Minato-sensei to wait for this," Rin said with a mild glare aimed at the blonde, "but he insisted you'd like it and you were ready. And Obito-"

"I'm always ready!" The smile on the Uchiha's face was equal parts eager and hopeful. "I'd have asked Gai to join, but Rin-chan-" the girl blushed slightly at the address, "-said it'd be better to wait – but why wait when we can do it now?! It's been so long!"

Okugi nudged Kakashi's back with his head. "You don't want to lose your edge, do you?" he lightly jabbed through their telepathic link. It surprised him – in a good way, of course – that Obito was eager to spar with his younger self, but maybe it was a way to inch closer to his teammate.

Maybe it was the only way Obito knew that Kakashi wouldn't object.

Either way, the young chuunin nodded. "Let's spar – Obito, Rin and me against you, sensei."

Minato nodded with grin fit for an overenthusiastic five-year-old. "All out except explosions – I'd rather not have to explain this to Sandaime-sama."

The two genin and one chuunin nodded. Kakashi had one last thing to add though.

"Okugi will stay out of this one-" the half-demon whined at that, "-until we can work together properly."

The time-traveller lowered his ears, but eventually made his way under a tree of the training ground to sulk and watch his past team intently. He still had to begin controlling his new chakra, but that could wait in favor of sparring with his team, right? Kurama nor Kakashi thought so.

Minato and Obito had too-large grins plastered on their faces. Rin looked uncertain for a moment, snuck a searching glance to her silver-haired teammate and let a smile bloom on her face. Kakashi readied himself.

"Go!"

Everyone took to the trees.

Obito was inordinately happy that his team was complete once more.

"Did you learn anything new?" the not-so-jerk-anymore asked them. He fortunately didn't add 'when I was away' or Kami forbid 'when I was kidnapped'.

"I can throw senbon and hit a small point on a still target thirty meters almost every time," Rin answered, a proud glint in her chocolate brown eyes. "I can't hit the point when it's a moving target or the distance is over forty meters. Fifty meters away and I often miss the target." As she spoke the gleam in her eyes dimmed slightly.

Kakashi nodded. For Rin, starting from almost scratch and training only for a week, it was a great accomplishment. "Good."

Blushing slightly, the kunoichi continued. "I can do the Wild Water Wave, too. Fuuyuki-san taught it to me when we found out my chakra nature was Water."

His older self's memories didn't include a ninjutsu-using Rin, so he counted that as a win. He nodded once more. "Well done."

Rin's light blush reached her ears.

Kakashi turned to the other boy. "Obito?"

"I never miss still targets when I use the Dragon's Breath!" he declared loudly enough he had to be shushed by both his teammates. "I can make hand seals faster, jump higher, run faster for more time, hit still targets with kunai and shuriken when upside down-"

"You trained a lot with Gai, didn't you." It wasn't a question.

Obito flushed slightly. "Y-Yeah… I had lots of time to practise my taijutsu, too…"

Kakashi almost snorted. Of course he had lots of taijutsu practice with Gai. "Good work," he said before he could control the slip of his tongue.

Obito remained speechless for a second before his grin widened. "So, what's the plan?"

Kurama had grudgingly accepted to lend yet another hand – and tail – to help Kakashi, but grouched that, if for the next week he woke him up for "anything less than Madara's return", he'd scar him for life and beyond.

Minato didn't fiddle idly with his thumbs while his students finished planning.

He took his time to put a few traps of his own around his position, just for kicks. Obito and Rin would probably fall for them if they didn't pay enough attention, but Kakashi and Kurama were another story – they almost one-upped the Hachibi by themselves without Kurama turning full bijuu!

(For which he was grateful – Okugi's presence was enough to wrap his mind around, adding anything else would be downright traumatic.)

Of course, no explosives meant he could set only two thirds of the traps he knew.

No jonin-level traps meant he had one third of his traps left.

It didn't matter: what he really cared about was that he still had three students to use those traps on.

He grinned when Kakashi came at him with his tanto charged with chakra. He was using only a minimum of Kurama's chakra, Minato guessed, because his eyes were red but he wasn't glowing. He had also avoided all his traps.

The blonde jonin jumped to his right to avoid his student's downward slash and took out a marked kunai. "No surprise attack?" he lightly teased.

"Not this time," Kakashi shot back, dashing to clash blade to blade with his sensei.

Minato jumped back after a few dodged hits and let himself fall on a lower branch, near a seal of his traps. The chuunin didn't follow him – as he had expected: Kakashi knew he'd have to step on the trap if he were to chase him – and formed a string of hand seals instead.

"Raiton: Lightning Strike!"

The Yellow Flash leapt down to avoid the lightning, knowing that going up would have left him in Kakashi's sights. He sought cover under the foliage instead, and created a Shadow Clone.

The young chuunin created three Clones, although he couldn't have seen Minato's jutsu.

The jonin pouted. "Now, that's just multiplaying."

"It's multitasking, sensei," one of the copies pointed out as two others jumped down to Minato's position with their tanto out. "Besides, I can feel your clone's chakra."

Of course he did. Minato grinned at the two Clones attacking him. "Really? Please tell me, what's he doing?"

Kakashi – the original, most likely – blinked, then cursed.

"Language, 'Kashi-kun!" he chided cheerfully. He then dispelled one of the Clones with a roundhouse-kick to the head as punishment – he wasn't the Yellow Flash for nothing!

The last copy went after Minato's Shadow Clone.

The original and the copy tag-teamed to land a hit on Minato, who was still grinning like crazy. Though he had to admit: it felt a little easier than the Bell Test Rematch, probably because Kakashi had returned just that morning.

The jonin Kawarimi'ed his way out of his student's double attack with chakra-extended blades. He blinked – that certainly was not expected. Kakashi had very good chakra control and internal help, but giving such a long edge to his Lightning chakra, in such a short time…

…Was that the ANBU kenjutsu stance?

Minato blinked once more – and almost got a kick to the face for his trouble – to ascertain that yes, Kakashi's normal technique with his tanto was mixed with the ANBU's. The thing was, the ANBU kenjutsu stance was used with longer swords than a tanto.

It didn't seem to matter however, since Kakashi had extended his blade to almost the length of an ANBU standard katana.

(Minato had had his own experiences with the ANBU corps, being one of Konoha's top jonin. He knew how most of them fought, and how they thought.)

Kakashi was, indeed, adopting an ANBU kenjutsu stance – and techniques – without thinking.

The point was, where did he learn them? He catalogued the question to be asked at a later time.

Obito almost fell off his branch when a tree crashed near his position.

He whipped his head around to see what happened to make it fall, then breathed a sigh of relief. No traps have been triggered or damaged, and Bakakashi was leading Minato-sensei in another direction.

The boy looked in Rin's direction and was glad to see her – his chakra sensing ability had improved and Rin was still in position. "Orders?" he signalled to her. Obito had rarely blessed so much the Uchiha's enhanced eyesight even without the Sharingan.

She tapped her heart twice, then covered it with her palm. "Stay and protect," it meant. His teammate touched her ears and made an horizontal circle with her index finger. "Pay attention."

Obito grinned and saluted her – earning a similar gesture from Rin – before trying to track sensei's or, at the very least, Kakashi's position.

They were somewhere to his left, both their chakras flaring and shrinking and disappearing before burning bright once more. The strange feeling almost threw Obito off balance, as if he were swept away by their ever-changing tides.

At least six more trees fell and he thought he heard Minato-sensei whine, "'Kashi-kun, I said no explosives!"

Then Bakakashi remarked, loud enough to be heard, "It wasn't supposed to be explosive!"

The change was… staggering. Did Kakashi just yell that one of his jutsu or whatever backfired and became explosive instead of whatever it should have been?

Kakashi sent an onslaught of chakra in their direction that screamed "Prepare yourselves!"

Obito had to hug the branch upside down – sticking with his own chakra of course – to stop himself from falling. Rin probably just crouched lower where she was.

It wasn't long before Kakashi and Minato-sensei came into view as coloured sparkly blurs.

Rin let loose three senbon in three different directions.

A cluster of kunai rained on their sensei from his sides, which he easily avoided. "Old tactic, Rin-chan!"

The third senbon struck another wire and a thump followed, but nothing happened. Yet.

"Obito-kun, do you need another lesson on traps?" Minato lightly chided, knowing the provocation could make his student slip. The Uchiha just grinned.

The Yellow Flash soon found himself target of an angry hornet's nest.

Minato was both impressed and unimpressed, especially when both Obito and Rin fled.

Impressed because they found the hive, worked around it and implemented it in their plan in their limited time. Unimpressed because they were using a damn hornet nest on him.

Kakashi just closed his eyes happily – eh? – for a brief moment before Minato was sure he was grinning. That smug look was as unexpected as it was (fondly) irritating. "Insects are allowed, ne, sensei?"

The clone didn't waste time in disappearing because nope – the original won't be happy at all if he has to scratch phantom wasp stings for the next hours.

The true Minato was halfway through a back flip when his clone's memories returned to him.

His cute little genin – and one chuunin – were already such devious ninja, weren't they.

Also, Kakashi showed open positive emotions! Sure, they were mostly at his expense, but Minato couldn't be picky with this great a development. He smiled to himself – finally!

His grin stretched further when he heard Obito yelp.

The original Kakashi he was fighting against – who sometimes slightly overestimated his reach with both arms and legs, hmmm – snapped his head around at the sound. Minato almost poked his student's ribs with a chakra-charged finger if he hadn't Kawarimi'ed away in time.

Kakashi didn't come out to attack him again and Minato searched the nearby area for him.

"Heeeeeeeelp!"

"Shut it, Obito."

Both genin blinked at their teammate. Obito smiled sheepishly and would have rubbed the back of his head if he were less bound. "Eheh, eh…"

Kakashi freed Obito and Rin from the cocoon of ninja wire they were trapped in with a few quick slashes of his tanto. His… friends straightened when their feet touched the ground once more.

Slow clapping made them turn around briefly.

Minato-sensei had already left that spot, Kakashi knew. He also knew the four ANBU watching him weren't Team Hound, and his sensei was right over them. He wasn't building his chakra, though.

The three younger shinobi leapt high in the air and dived straight for the jonin.

As soon as the blonde threw a dozen of his marked kunai on the clearing, he turned to them with a smirk. "A little too late for that, kids!" He said as he blocked Rin's unexpected punch.

Rin smiled a tad too deviously for his taste. "You think so, Minato-sensei?"

Minato's smirk slid right off his face when his genin's eyes bled red and he was enveloped in chakra claws. Obito came at him with a kunai slash too precise and swift for him to be anyone but a Henged Kakashi.

The Yellow Flash had to use the Hiraishin to flee his Henged student – all three of them copies. Damn, how the hell did he fall for that?

"Katon: Great Fireball!"

"Suiton: Wild Water Wave!"

He dodged Obito and Rin's unusual combination, but when the two ninjutsu met the patch of forest they were in was filled with thick mist. It was mostly vapour though, so Minato shot his chakra in all directions to dispel it.

Kakashi and Kurama's chakra kept the mist around him. The blonde jonin didn't know whether he should beam proudly or frown at the tactic.

His students were out of his sight, but the chakra around him was thick enough he was instantly reminded of the dreaded Turtle Mines. Kakashi could probably make heads and tails of what went on under the mist – but himself, Rin and Obito were at a great sensorial disadvantage.

And this was supposed to be a light, friendly spar – Kakashi was always full of surprises, wasn't he.

Minato teleported to one of his kunai farther from him, glad that Kurama's chakra didn't hinder his Hiraishin like the Sanbi's.

"Katon: Dragon's Breath!" came Obito's voice from his right.

Minato leapt away and spun on himself to avoid the roaring fireballs. He was forced to teleport once more when Kakashi attempted to grab him with a massive chakra claw.

"Suiton: Wild Water Wave!" Of course Rin was ready to attack him, of course. He beamed at her.

The wave was bigger than he had expected from the kunoichi and he stepped on a fairly large puddle. His cute little genin jumped on a high branch behind them.

"Raiton: Lightning Field!"

Minato quickly considered which of his kunai was farther from the water, and found out with a jolt that all of his thrown weapons were wet. Kakashi was either a mastermind in planning or managed to organize a new clever tactic each time, because Minato had to throw the kunai in his hand to avoid the electric field.

Kakashi was ready to slash at him with his chakra-charged tanto.

The blonde jonin quickly Kawarimi'ed the hell out of his team's unrelenting attacks, still beaming.

In the end, Minato had called it a day when his chakra reserves were pushed further than he liked.

Rin and Obito, both panting and the latter almost flopping on the ground, readily agreed.

It was already late in the evening, after more than the planned three hours of sparring. It was astonishing how quickly time flew by and how fun and exhilarating sparring with all three of his students had been.

Kakashi had a staring contest with an overly-joyous Okugi before he sighed and offered both his teammates a ride to the Uchiha Compound and Rin's house, "for a work well done."

Minato chuckled to himself – though his cute little chuunin heard it, by the glare he shot his sensei – and wished time stopped, if only just a couple of days, so that his team could enjoy themselves without the war looming over their heads.

He wished his team could laugh and joke and bicker on a wind-swept, green grass field, instead of the blood-stained ground they were forced to fight in.

I couldn't keep myself from writing yet another 'battle' scene. ;)

(Listening to: mainly Pompeii by Bastille, but also Meet me on the Battlefield by Svracina. I know it doesn't really make sense, but I got kind of dragged along by my Muse. Hell if I know what those songs told her to get all this final fluffy angst :/)

Orochock gets screen-time! Minato gets screen-time! Obito gets screen-time! Rin gets screen-time! And Older Kakashi bleeds through Younger Kakashi! YAY! :D

Orochock and (probably) Anko will get more screen-time! Just you wait, dattebayo! ;D

As per usual, any questions are to be delivered through review or PM and I'll answer to any and all either in the next Chapter or through PM.

Beware of the Kitsune's rage!

Shiiroi Kitsune21