The very first sensation Minato became aware of was the painful pressure on his wrists and ankles caused by the tight shackles around them. The second was the insufferable throbbing of his temple.

He instinctively tried to raise his hands to massage the ache away, but they were abruptly stopped mid-motion by the bindings. He attempted to straighten his legs, sore from his sitting position, but the chains hindered his movements once again. He pulled at his limbs with all his might to test out his options, but he was firmly bound to a chair with only a few inches to move.

Ultimately, the disturbing feeling of being restrained and the unnerving clattering of his fetters made him try to open his eyes, but a blindfold prevented him. He grunted at the realization and hung his head low in defeat.

He contemplated escaping by using his space-time technique, but he felt his chakra being drained from his body. He figured those shackles around his limbs weren't ordinary. If he tried anything chakra-related, it surely would backfire.

"I already messed up, Kushina," Minato mumbled to himself with his nails digging deep into the skin of his palm in disheartenment.

He was angry with himself. Kushina had told him that the plan was too risky, but he didn't listen to her because he was confident in his own abilities. It turned out Kushina was always right.

While Minato had been wandering in the woods, he had planted his Hiraishin markings in different places. He would've been able to get away from the two ANBU without any difficulty, however, the arrival of the mysterious blond man startled him. There was something inexplicable in him which rendered Minato frozen in his place.

If his hands weren't constrained, he would definitely smack himself in the head now. His foolishness would possibly alter his timeline in some way and it was all his fault. He should've just used the Hiraishin to get the hell away and continue with his mission, but instead, he had been staring at that man. Somehow, that man looked like a slightly older version of Minato.

Minato would be lying to himself if he denied that his heart started racing faster in excitement when he first caught sight of the man. The spiky blond hair, the cerulean blue eyes, the striking similarity… He couldn't help but think that he had faced someone from the family he had never known but was always eager to find something out about. Minato was an orphan, someone without a prestigious clan. If it weren't for his exceptional intelligence, he could have been easily tossed aside due to the cruelty of the shinobi world. Thus, one of his deepest desires was to discover something, anything about where he came from.

And the sudden chance of finding his family had manifested in front of him in the form of that blond man. It left him too overwhelmed with emotions to think rationally. For the first time in his entire life, Minato had abandoned common sense.

The loud thump of a door being slammed closed behind Minato dragged him out of his thoughts. He flinched at the unexpected noise but turned his head in its direction nonetheless.

"I'm surprised you're still capable of holding that transformation," a raspy voice stated as its owner moved closer to where Minato was sitting.

Minato remembered his supposed family member from earlier also said the same. It wasn't hard to figure out that they must think Minato was using a Henge for some reason. He didn't understand why everyone seemed to be convinced about that, but he decided not to say any unnecessary information about himself as he feared any little thing could change the future. He didn't want to mess up time any more than he had already done, even if he had to endure torture. Which was likely, unfortunately, judging from the current situation.

Minato followed the sound of steps with his head until the man stopped. He tilted his head back a little as if he wanted to look the figure standing in front of him into the eyes.

"Tough one, I already see," the man grumbled and grabbed Minato by the hair, causing the blond to hiss faintly from the unanticipated pain. "Or maybe not. I tell you the rules, they're simple. I ask, you answer. If you don't, I'm entitled to extract information from you with any methods I see suitable. Rest assured, I'm not a gentle man. And don't even try to lie, I'm not easily fooled. Understood?"

"Could you take the blindfold off at least?" Minato breathed out. He hated not being aware of his surroundings.

"I ask, you answer," the man stated coldly as he let go of Minato's hair. "How did you manage to stay in form after you got knocked unconscious? A simple Henge should have dispelled at the moment you fainted. What technique do you use?"

Minato pursed his lips tightly together. His interrogator had already decided that Minato was using some kind of a transformation, so he didn't see the point in claiming he wasn't. The man would assume he wasn't telling the truth which would possibly lead to a worse outcome than simply staying silent.

"Trying to keep your secrets, right? Let's try another approach then. Who are you? Why did you want to infiltrate Konoha?"

Minato frowned upon the questions. "I'm sorry if I gave that impression, but I didn't want to infiltrate your village. I just want to talk to the Hokage."

"What do you want from the Hokage?" the man's voice was stern.

Minato wanted to think through his answers because he wished to avoid saying something major, but his interrogator wouldn't let him. He stayed silent only for some seconds when he felt something sharp and cold - most probably a kunai - pointing at his neck.

He suddenly understood the purpose of the blindfold: the man didn't want Minato to know what to expect. With this method, he was putting more pressure on him to answer truthfully.

"Answer," his captor demanded.

"It's personal," Minato replied. The last sounds of his voice were still lingering in the room when something jolted through his whole body, forcing him to strain against his bindings in agony. He didn't know what happened, but his lips involuntarily parted in a shriek while his insides felt like something was chewing them away.

"Be more specific," his interrogator said calmly and the pain was over.

Minato slouched forward and panted heavily, beads of sweat were slowly streaming down his forehead. He opened and closed his fists repeatedly, trying to gain back his composure with this simple motion.

"We don't have all day," the interrogator warned, but Minato didn't intend to be more specific. He couldn't let them know he wanted to talk about the Hiraishin with the Nidaime as it would raise too many questions. Therefore, all he did was brace himself for the upcoming torment.

And Minato was right, the previous anguish was soon followed by another one. He arched his back in pain once again, although this time he bit on his lower lip to hold back his screams. In his stubborn attempt of not letting his tormenter hear his misery, he managed to bite through his lip which was now bleeding heavily.

"I respect people like you," the man said as he sauntered behind Minato. He rummaged through some tools on a table, creating a spine-chilling rattle by clapping them together in the process. "But nothing remains a secret in front of me."

Minato licked away the blood from his lower lip. The stinging sensation caused by saliva entering his self-inflicted wound pulled him out of his dazed state. He had never been tortured before, but he would have passed on the opportunity gladly.

Goosebumps ran up his arm as he felt something cold being positioned around each of his fingers on his right hand.

"Let's start again. Who are you?"

Minato stiffened. He had no doubts about the situation being serious. This man would chomp off his fingers one by one if he didn't give him an answer. He mulled over the consequences of telling this man his name. He figured it wouldn't harm much and he wished to keep his fingers on his hand a little longer.

"My name is Minato. Namikaze Minato," he said confidently, raising his head in the direction he guessed the man was standing.

"We know well whose form you're using." The cold tool around Minato's little finger tightened, painfully biting into his skin. "Stop disrespecting the Fourth Hokage and spit out who you really are. Or are you a clone?"

Minato's lips parted in shock. "You know that I'm the Yondaime?"

"Still keeping up with the act? Well then…"

Minato felt the pressure threateningly increasing around his finger, so he yelled frantically without thinking through his words twice. "Wait! I am the Fourth Hokage, the real one. I swear, I can prove it somehow. Ask a question only I would be able to answer or bring a Yamanaka."

The man stayed silent, but at least the tool around Minato's pinkie stopped its digging into his skin. He let out a thankful sigh upon realizing he still had all his fingers in place.

The fact that this man was aware of him being the Fourth Hokage left him confused beyond words. He was more than 30 years back in time, there was no way someone could have guessed he was a Hokage from the future. Even if that was somehow still the case, the man had implied he had information on his name, too. But how? A prophecy, maybe? Not to brag, but Minato's master, Jiraiya, had received a prophecy about him. Could it be possible that someone from the Second Hokage's era was also given a prophecy about him by the toads?

Either this or…

"Which… which Hokage is leading the village now?" he whispered.

"The Seventh," came the man's answer and Minato felt like someone had poured ice-cold water on him.

The Seventh Hokage.

The realization hit Minato hard and rendered him speechless. He had messed up, and he had messed up pretty badly. Instead of traveling into the past, he managed to travel into the future.

He and Kushina were a bit skeptical about traveling back in time, too, but they had dismissed the idea of traveling into the future completely. It didn't seem feasible and yet he was here, certainly in the future.

The tools were removed from around his fingers, but Minato barely registered this fact. He was lost in his own thoughts, trying to visualize the seal he had used. He focused his attention on building the seal up once again in his mind, but he found no flaws. Besides, Kushina had also studied the completed seal and she surely would've spotted a mistake in it if there was any. In any case, it seemed like they had both missed out on a very important detail.

The unexpected dazzling light blinded Minato for a second after his blindfold got removed. Tears welled up in his eyes involuntarily because of the sharp burning sensation, but he blinked them away quickly to regain his eyesight. When his vision became less blurry, he lifted his head to lock eyes with his captor.

Minato's blue eyes widened as he found the man's dark gaze. He knew who this man was. He was one of Konoha's genins when Minato had last seen him. Although, he clearly wasn't a young boy or a genin anymore.

"Ibiki, is that you?" he uttered breathlessly.

The man's eyes narrowed and widened as if the graveness of the situation had just dawned on him. He marched out of the room without a word.

Minato took the opportunity to screen his surroundings. He was sitting in the middle of an interrogation room. The room itself was so brightly lit it hurt his eyes, but the furnishing was minimal. There was nothing in it aside from the chair he was bounded to and a table behind him, covered with tools used for torture. He wanted to check all the tools to have an idea about what he had managed to avoid, but he couldn't turn his head enough to inspect them.

His gaze gravitated toward his aching little finger. A fresh, deep cut was clear around it at the point where the finger connected with his hand. It was bleeding, but at least he could still move it. He wagged it a few times to assess the damage. The movement sent a painful sensation up his whole arm. Minato let a grimace spread across his face upon realizing how close he had been to lose a finger.

The flow of his thoughts returned to his time travel gone wrong. His aim was to go back a little more than 30 years into the past, but judging from Ibiki's appearance, he must have traveled a bit more than 30 years into the future. He let out a sigh. He needed to get back to his own time as soon as possible. Knowing about the future was never a good option. He would need to erase his own memories or else he would unconsciously try to change something once he would be back in his original timeline.

Minato couldn't help but think about his own fate. Ibiki had mentioned the Seventh Hokage was leading the village currently, meaning that three Hokages came after Minato in 30 years. The more he pondered this fact the more irrefutable it became that he must have died pretty young. This information was something he didn't desire to know.

The door behind him slung open and Ibiki returned with a tall, blonde woman. Minato snapped his head back to watch them as they strode toward him. Ibiki leaned against the wall with folded arms and the woman stopped in front of Minato with hands on her hips. She tilted her head slightly as she chewed on her lower lip, signaling she was somewhat nervous to see the blond man so thoroughly restrained.

She fished out a handkerchief from the pocket of her long purple skirt and gently wiped the dry blood away from Minato's swollen lips. After it was done, she tied up his bleeding pinkie with a thin bandage.

Minato squirmed in his seat because of the gentle touches. The woman's and Ibiki's actions showed a big contrast, however, Ibiki didn't seem to be as hostile now as he had been a few minutes ago.

Minato stared at the kind woman in front of him, but he didn't recognize her. She looked a lot younger than Ibiki so Minato guessed she wasn't even born in his timeline yet.

"My name is Yamanaka Ino," the woman spoke up, "and I'm here to examine your memories."

Minato only nodded in understanding. Ino put her hands on his head and he closed his eyes. After a sudden pulling sensation, some of his own memories flooded his mind as though he was watching them as an outsider. Experiencing the Yamanakas' mind searching technique left him light-headed after Ino pulled her hands back. The woman was as pale as a ghost now.

"The Fourth Hokage," she muttered with unnaturally wide eyes.

"What did you find?" Ibiki inquired.

Ino shook her head to win back her confident demeanor before she gave a response. "His memories are real. I couldn't detect any signs that would show the memories were implanted or fabricated. He's really the Yondaime," her voice trembled at the end as if she questioned her own sanity, voicing something impossible.

"But how?" Ibiki closed his eyes and lifted his hand to grab his chin thoughtfully.

"If I may speak," Minato said unsurely, putting a faint smile on his face. Both Ino and Ibiki shifted their eyes toward the blond man, waiting for him to elaborate. "I've created a seal for time traveling." Ino gasped at this information, but Minato didn't give her a chance to ask a question. "I intended to travel back in time, but I guess I ended up in the future. Am I right?"

"Indeed," Ibiki answered without any sign of surprise in his tone. Minato thought the man must be well-trained in suppressing his emotions.

"Why would you want to go back in time?" Ino asked, her voice was coated with confusion.

"He said he wanted to talk to the Hokage," Ibiki added the information he had learned during the interrogation.

"Yes, although I meant the Second," Minato nodded. "But that's impossible now. Listen, this is a delicate matter and I need to get back to my own timeline somehow, so please trust me. I want no harm for Konoha, I just need to talk to someone who's an experienced seal master. You have someone like that, right?"

Ino and Ibiki looked at each other with question in their eyes and Minato knitted his eyebrows upon seeing their hesitation. He expected them to direct him to Kushina, but they might consider that too risky.

"When I go back, I will erase my memories so don't worry about me learning too much about the future," he added to ease their unsureness.

"I don't think we have anyone who's experienced with seals," Ino drawled.

Minato felt a knot forming in his stomach, but he had to ask the question that swirled in his mind. "Kushina?"

It wasn't Ino or Ibiki who gave him the answer but their silence.

"I see," Minato mumbled and lowered his head as an unexpected feeling of grief flashed through him. So, both he and Kushina had less than 30 years to live. He couldn't wait for the moment when he could erase this dreadful information from his mind.

Minato gave himself a few moments to let this fact sink in before he shrugged and raised his head again, locking eyes with the Yamanaka woman. "Can I talk to the current Hokage?"

Ino closed her eyes and formed a handsign. Minato guessed she was communicating with the Hokage using one of her mind techniques. She finally opened her blue eyes after a few minutes and lowered her hand.

She motioned Ibiki to remove the shackles around Minato's wrists and ankles and turned to the blond man with a soft smile.

"The Seventh is coming."

Author's Note: I just want to thank you all for the reviews (I'm reading every single one of them, I love hearing what you think), I'm glad you enjoy the story so far!