.

.

The first time Kushina gave birth, Obito had swirled out from nowhere, grabbing the baby by force and threatening to kill him. Minato remembers it clearly: the panic and the sharp, cold fear that knifed through him, watching in horror as the man with the hooded cloak and mask held a kunai against the baby's throat. That night, Obito destroyed an entire young family - ruthlessly tore out the kyuubi from his postpartum wife and stood by watching as the kyuubi's claws violently pierced right through them.

It's a few hours after Obito dropped them off at the hospital, and Minato watches, wiping his eyes as Naruto bends over Kushina and coos at their new baby. "Ma! Can I hold her, Ma?"

"Yeah, you can hold her," Kushina says. She's exhausted but smiling, and Naruto beams at his mother and picks up the baby.

"Whoa!" Naruto says. He juggles the baby against his forearm, and the baby yawns, her little hands poking out from the swaddle. "She's so small, dattebayo!"

There's a shift in the air, and Minato turns to see Obito swirling back to join them. "How is she?" Obito says, and he turns to see Kushina smiling at him from the bed.

"Obito," Kushina says, smiling. "Do you want to hold the baby?"

"May I?" Obito hesitates a moment before Naruto turns and gives her to him.

Minato watches. Instinctively, Obito picks up the baby and rocks her toward his chest, resting his palm behind her head to support her neck. He has more experience at fatherhood than his Sensei does, and the realization is somewhat bittersweet for him.

"Thank you for helping get Kushina to the hospital," Minato says.

"You're welcome," Obito says. He smiles at the baby, cooing and stroking its face.

Midnight. Naruto has gone home, and there's no visitors in the hospital now, just Kushina and Minato. Minato watches as his wife finishes breastfeeding the baby, then carefully swaddles her and places her back into the bassinet. The two look at the baby fondly.

"Minato." Kushina reaches out a hand, then grasps it. "Look at our precious baby." Minato smiles, then strokes Kushina's head.

"I know," Minato says.