Kakashi sat on the floor, his legs crossed as he poured over his latest efforts to create a time travel seal. The room was hushed despite Minato, Kushina, and Kakashi sitting in the same room. The back door and the front window were left open, allowing for a pleasant breeze to circulate in the room.

Kushina and Minato were going over the seal to capture the assassin, but it was apparently doubling as a cuddle session. They were sitting on the floor, too, with Minato's back against the couch and Kushina's back against his chest. They spoke in hushed whispered as they discussed the seal components used. Those two had some weird dates. It was awkward just being in the same room as them, but every time Kakashi tried to hide in his own room, they stopped him. They claimed this was 'family time.' Kakashi called bullshit.

"Kashi, all your sighing is annoying. Knock it off," Kushina glared at him.

"You wouldn't have to listen to it if you let me work in my room," Kakashi said blandly. He really didn't see the point of being forced to sit in each other's presence. Was it supposed to accomplish something?

Kushina pushed Minato-sensei's arm off of her and clamored on her knees over to Kakashi. Uneasy weighed in his stomach as he wondered what Kushina-nee wanted now. She was difficult to predict.

Kushina-nee popped her chin on Kakashi's shoulder, and she skimmed over his progress. If you could call it progress.

"I thought you were supposed to be building, not breaking?"

Kakashi hung his head, "I know. I'm doing the same crap I was doing before."

Kushina reached around him and pulled the notebook from his grasp. "Well, I'm not going to complain. Minato and I have been having so much fun with the other breakdowns you did. I think Minato is calling them primitives."

"Mmhmm, because they're like building blocks for actual components," Minato pipped up, "It may be possible to build new components with these allowing for more focused seals. I'm glad you're making more of them, Kashi-kun."

Kakashi wasn't nearly as pleased with his work as they were. "I'm not supposed to be working on more of them. I am supposed to find a way back to my time," Kakashi groused as he glared down at his traitorous hands.

"Well, if you keep producing these breakdowns, I may have to shackle you in the basement and force you to keep making these," Kushina said as she flipped back a page.

"We don't have a basement."

"That you know of," she ruffled his hair, and Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Minato stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "Hmmm, I need to go speak to Nara-san and meet up with Obito and Rin for some one-on-one training. I may be late to dinner." Minato bent down and kissed Kushina, then patted Kakashi on the head. Kakashi watched Minato dropped his chin in his hand and watched Minato leave.

"Don't look so glum, Kashi-kun. I have plans for us today." Kushina shoved the back of his head almost smack his face into the table.

"I'm not going shopping again," Kakashi huffed and took his notebook back from her. "I need to work on this seal."

Kushina scoffed, "yeah? How is that going for you?" Kakashi glared at her, and she tugged on his ear in return. "I'm not taking you shopping. We're going to the backyard; I need to collect the soot for ink.

Kakashi couldn't help but look interested. "Sealing ink?" he asked.

"Mmhmm. You're an Uzumaki now, even if you deny it, so you need to learn, ya know." Kushina-nee led Kakashi to the backyard. The roof of the house extended out on one side of the house, creating an open shed. There was a worn workbench set up against the house. Under the workbench were small wooden barrels sitting side by side with dates written on the front of them. Nailed to the house was a burlap sack filled with large brown sticks of glue.

Since the open shed was a walk-through, Kushina had blocked the entrance from the front of the house with a station of bamboo lanterns. She used them to carefully burn oil in small amounts. She had a group of 12 lanterns going at any given time. The soot would collect on the top of the lantern, and she would brush it out into one of the wooden barrels. That was all Kakashi had seen so far. He had not seen her actually make the ink yet. Mostly because he tried to avoid this area. Sealing ink was likely a family discipline, and Kakashi had no place observing or learning it. More than that, he had other things he should be focused on, but Kakashi really was curious, so he followed her out.

Kushina opened the container that had a plastic lining in it. "Put your hand in the soot," she instructed him.

Kakashi dipped his hand into the barrel and pinched some of the soot between his fingers. His fingers slid across with no friction from his callouses. It was incredibly soft. He had expected to feel grit, but it was like silk that melted into his skin. "It almost feels like nothing."

Kushina smiled softly, "the rapeseed oil burns into really fine soot. The finer it is, the smoother the ink will be." She closed the lid and placed it near the lantern station. "This is my current batch. When I have enough soot, I'll mix it with water and leave it to sit for a year. Most of my barrels are newer, but I have one at the year mark and another that will be there in a few months."

Kushina-nee pointed to the sack of brown sticks of glue. "That's the glue. Once I remove the excess water from the muddy soot, I melt some of those down. I can add additives to the melted glue, like pearl powder or gold, but the war has made getting it almost impossible, or it's too expensive. So I'm not using it right now. But that's okay because the most important additive for sealing ink is a chakra. So while kneading the glue and mud together, you gently push your chakra into the forming ink. You have to do it slowly, or it'll explode on you, and the ink becomes unusable. After that, we press it into molds and leave it overnight. Then we'll cover it with wax," Kushina explained.

Kakashi folded his arms and cocked his head, "Wouldn't the sealing properties change depending on who's chakra is embedded in it?"

Kushina-nee made a happy noise and bounced on the balls on her feet. "Yup! That's exactly it, Kashi-kun! My chakra excels at water, ying, and yang seals. Since you are lightening and probably earth, your chakra will excel for those types of seals. Of course, we'll have to keep them separated, but that's a problem for later. You're not ready for that part yet. For now, we need to collect the soot, ya know!"

Kushina knelt down by the lanterns and proceeded to show Kakashi how to dismantle them and brush the soot into the bins. As he watched, he was struck with how he should not be learning this. This was a precious family trade that Kushina-nee was sharing with him. Naruto should be here instead. Just like Kakashi should have learned to till the earth from his father. Unfortunately, Kakashi had the opportunity to learn from Sakumo and chose to throw kunai instead. Naruto never had this chance.

Kakashi dismantled one of the lanterns. There was still some oil on the bottom, so he was careful not to spill it. He flipped the top over and found a layer of black clinging to the bowl. Gently Kakashi brushed the soot into the container. Was this what had become of the future he remembered? Were all his hard work and the sacrifices of others burned to ash, wholly wasted?

It physically hurt to think about it. And, of course, Kakashi would be the reason for the destruction. So much has already changed. What was the point of even trying anymore?

"Hey genius, I can hear you thinking from here. So what are you grinding at?" Kushina quipped an eyebrow.

"Ah, you know, will of fire and such," Kakashi smiled momentarily, forgetting that this kind of reply only made him more suspicious. Kushina-nee wasn't the type to let him skirt the conversation after such a response.

Fire erupted on Kakashi's scalp as Kushina razed her knuckled across his head. He dropped the bowl into the barrel soot, causing a puff of a black cloud to cover Kakashi. Kakashi choked and coughed over the fine particles of the soot, finding their way past the barrier of his mask.

"Don't cough on the soot, you brat!" Kushina yanked him away from the lantern and beat his back as if that was going to help somehow.

"Stop," Kakashi wheezed.

Kushina finally stopped beating him, allowing Kakashi to catch his breath. "What was that for?" he demanded.

"Lying to me. I asked an honest question; I expect an honest answer. So, what's up?" She popped her hip to one side and folded her arms.

Kakashi glared up at her, but Kushina wasn't affected. Finally, he relented with a heavy sigh, "I don't want to tell you."

"Because you were thinking about the future?"

"Hmmm," Kakashi hummed noncommittally. A silence evaded the space between them. It felt like both were restraining themselves. "Where did you learn to make chakra ink?"

Kushina looked over at where they were working. "My parents. They were sealing ink masters. I am certain my hands were stained black when I was born."

Kakashi frowned, "But you left when you were young; did you really remember all of this?"

Kushina shook her head and walked back over to the lanterns, "of course not, but they sent me scrolls, so I wouldn't forget where I came from. It's hard to do this kind of work in an apartment, but we have space here, so I thought, why not?"

Kakashi looked down at his own hands and found them covered in soot. "The Hatake were farmers, but I never took much interest in the craft." Should his hands be dirty with soil instead?

"You don't have to."

Kakashi frowned at her response. That didn't feel true. "Wouldn't you want your son to learn this? He would be an actual Uzumaki. Clearly, you find it important to follow clan customs, or you wouldn't be doing this."

Kushina put the lantern back together with practiced ease, "I would teach him, but if he goes a different way, that would be okay too. Do you regret not learning to farm, Kashi-kun?"

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't even sure of his answer. "It still doesn't appeal to me. I don't think it ever will, and it's not like I'll ever have someone to pass it on to." Kakashi walked over and squatted by the bucket of soot, a representation of the life he once knew. "I've never been good at nurturing things. My talents lie in destruction, so it's little wonder why my father didn't bother to force me to learn."

"I'm sure that's not true, Kashi," Kushina argued.

Kakashi gave her a bland look, "I don't make it a point to deny who I am."

"I would beg to differ on that. You won't even tell me who you are in the future," Kushina huffed as she hung the lantern.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter because I'm pretty sure the future looks like that now," he pointed to the soot.

"What?! But I thought you said things were good! And now you're telling me it's not?!" Kushina cried out.

"I'm saying that so much has changed, and I can't unchange it," Kakashi didn't manage to sound as indifferent about it as he had wanted to.

Once again, silence claimed them. That was Kakashi's fault too. He made things awkward. "Maa, just ignore me. Who knows what I am saying."

"Kashi," Kushina sighed, "you have a lot of angst all cluttered up inside you. How do you even manage? I mean, why do you need to unchange it anyways? Just let it happen. No one will know the difference."

Irritation snapped through Kakashi, and he glared at her, "I will." He forced himself to take a breath. He shouldn't expect Kushina to understand.

"I didn't mean- Oh Kakashi," Kushina sighed heavily, "you're right. That was insensitive. You'll be losing people you care about, like your students. But you do know it isn't your fault, right?"

Kakashi scowled at her, "of course it's my fault. I burned the future to the ground by being here."

"But Kakashi, you didn't come here voluntarily, did you?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again. His brows pitched down, "I doubt it, but the before is a bit scattered." He squinted his eyes to focus. "I was running, I think— a morning jog. Well, outside of the village. I didn't want to be harassed by everyone."

Kushina grinned, "you must be pretty popular if everyone is harassing you. Are you sure there won't be another Hatake in the future?"

"It's not like that," Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Kushina grinned, "of course not. So, you're doing a morning jog, being platonically harassed, and then what?"

"I was avoiding being harassed," Kakashi corrected her.

"So...do you get harassed often? Wait, is it harassed in the negative sense?" Kushina asked, worry leaking into her voice.

Kakashi rubbed his hand over his face, "no, not anymore. It hasn't been like that in years. I'm just … well known. Anyways, I was going for a run because it had been a long night," Kakashi had been watching the jounin exam through the night, "something happened at that point, but I can't seem to piece it together."

"Hmm, well, I'm sure it'll come to you, eventually. But Kashi-kun, my point still stands; this isn't your fault. If you can't go back, the loss isn't on you. You're the victim."

"I'm not a victim," Kakashi rolled his eyes.

"Why? Because you're Kakashi and not human?" Kushina challenged him.

Kakashi frowned and looked away. He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. "You don't get it."

"What don't I get, Kashi-kun?"

"Stop calling me that," he snapped.

"Don't change the subject," Kushina rebuked him. Kakashi gritted his teeth and contemplated on just leaving, but Kushina must have developed a mind-reading jutsu, "and don't run away either just because you don't like what you're hearing. I don't know why you feel the need to blame yourself for everything. What did you tell Minato when he screwed up on that seal? You said he wasn't to blame, and he was putting too much pressure on himself," she answered her own question.

"It's not the same thing. It's not even the same situation," Kakashi argued.

"You're right because Minato fucked up and actively put you in a dangerous situation. Your time travel and consequences involving it happened against your will."

"Stop making it sound better than what it was! I should have known. I should have escaped. I should have been able to return already," Kakashi retaliated, his hands clenched on either side of him.

"Wow, you really are smarter than the rest of us, aren't you?" her words dripped with sarcasm.

"Kushina," Kakashi growled.

"Kakashi," Kushina returned in equal measure.

Kakashi released a heavy puff of air. "You're exhausting. I'm not saying I'm smarter. I just have different responsibilities."

"Your vagueness is really making this difficult to understand, Kashi," Kushina complained.

Kakashi shrugged, unwilling to clear it up. Kushina knelt in front of him and cupped his face in both of her hands. Kakashi wasn't sure what she was doing, but her eyes told him he probably needed to run.

"Kashi-kun, I don't really understand why you won't explain things to me. Why you leave me to guess and make assumptions? But I'll make you a promise anyways. I'm going to help you get back to your time."

This was not the turn of events Kakashi was expecting. Kushina had been adamant that Kakashi would stay here in the past to 'face his choices.' "But you said-"

"Yes, and I still believe what I said too. I think what you are doing is unmeasurably cruel, but that doesn't mean I have to respond in kind. You're hurting, and you miss the people you left behind. People you love. I'm not going to make you give them up."

"What if they're not there? What if I really did kill the future?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask.

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we get there. But you don't know that yet."

His heart clenched painfully, and his eyes burned. Kakashi tucked his chin down, not wanting her to see his expression, but the warmth on his face was comforting. "You would help me even though I won't give you what you want?"

"We're family. I don't have to agree with you," her voice had softened, and her thumb stroked under his eye that was still discolored from the rock he took to the face yesterday.

"And what if I wasn't your family? What if I was your team leader or your Hokage? What if I told you to do something you disagreed with? Would you do it anyways too?"

"Not a chance."

Kakashi looked up, "What?"

"I mean to a degree," she amended, "but if I really felt strongly that the orders were wrong, I wouldn't do it."

"But they're your leader."

"Yes, but they are also human. You are human. You make mistakes. No one is expecting you to be infallible, and if they are, well, that's on them. Your shoulders are not so big that you can carry the entire village. You do your best, and you trust others to do theirs. We work together. That is what a village is. That is what a family is. So, trust a bit more okay? Just like you told Minato, you're fine, I'm fine, and we are fine," Kushina-nee smiled at him brilliantly.

Kakashi stared at her, unsure of what to say, but then her grin widened even further, "at least now I know what you would look like with black hair." She removed her hands from his face and ruffled his hair, causing another soot cloud to appear. "Go inside and wash up. I'll finish with the lanterns. Then we'll work on those seals some more."

Kakashi readily agreed. Kushina-nee was right. He didn't know for sure if his future was gone or not. He needed to keep moving forward as if it was still there. He had a village depending on him.

Kushina and Kakashi worked some things out, but there are still big things that Kakashi is refusing to budge on. Still, we got a better look inside of Kakashi's mind, where he is now, and the lessons he is struggling to learn.

I know Kushina is considered a sealing master, but I wanted to take her skills further with ink creation. Minato and Kushina had lived in an apartment and the same apartment even after becoming Hokage, which I found odd. So it was likely a nice apartment that had easy access to parts of the village they wanted. However, the two moved in together sooner and had less disposable income in this story, so they got a place further away. It's less convenient, but they have more space. So Kushina decided to make a go at her family's trade. She fully intends to teach Kakashi because he will be an Uzumaki. She just has to get him to agree to change his name. Good luck with that, Kushina.