Time Flows Like Ink

Summary: After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

Chapter 5

Now that Minato had met Naruto, the thought of being apart from him was agonizing. As such, he didn't return to Sarutobi to ask for a place to stay. Waking up with a stiff neck from sleeping on Naruto's lumpy couch was a small price to pay.

They'd talked until deep into the night, too ecstatic over each other to think or care about the consequences for the next day. Minato had talked about Kushina and their life (although he left out the time travelling bit), and asked questions in return. He could tell that Naruto didn't tell him everything, but he didn't press.

He found out that Naruto took after Kushina in many ways: his bubbly personality, his love for ramen and for pranking. A lot of their time had been spent by Naruto gleefully narrating his favorite pranks, wildly gesticulating and with an energy that reminded him of Kushina even more.

By the time they reluctantly went to sleep hours had passed. It felt like he'd only slept for minutes when Minato was torn out of his sleep.

"Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap–" Naruto came bursting out of his bedroom, half dressed and still wearing his nightcap. He stormed through the apartment like his life depended on it, got dressed clumsily and grabbed a bag that was carelessly thrown on the kitchen counter.

He was almost out of the door when his eyes fell on Minato. He stumbled and skidded to a halt. They stared at each other, taken aback.

"Naruto?" Minato asked, swinging his legs from the couch and suppressing a yawn. "What's the hurry for?"

"You're still here."

He blinked. "Where else would I be?"

"Dunno… 's just," Naruto mumbled, his cheeks coloring, "I thought it might be a dream or… something."

"Well, I'm still here." Minato gave his son a smile. "Where are you going?"

"Just the Academy. There's classes." Naruto's eyes widened. "Right! I'm gonna be late!"

Minato hadn't thought Naruto would be one to care about things like that. "I know a shortcut, you know?"

Less than a minute later they appeared on the street opposite of the academy and Naruto had forgotten all about his classes.

"That was amazing! Did we teleport? How does that work? Can you teach me, please please please?"

Minato grinned, feeling ridiculously pleased about having impressed his son. "It's called the Flying Thunder God Technique. It's very advanced, but I'd love to show you the basics later."

"Flying Thunder God Technique? That's so cool!" Naruto's eyes were sparkling, his voice loud and excited. Take that, Kushina! At least someone could appreciate his amazing naming skills.

Minato hated to cut their conversation short, but both of them had things to do. "Weren't you worried about missing classes?"

"Right! Iruka-sensei will have my head if I skip again." He turned, dashing off towards the academy. "See you later!"

Minato watched him go and felt the irrational urge to run after him. He sighed, facing the group of trees planted at the street corner. "He's gone. You can come out."

Minato had the odd feeling of having caught one of his genin pulling a prank. But Rin was no longer a genin. She landed in front of him and looked as exhausted as the day before, disheveled and with dark bags under her eyes. There were still blood stains on her uniform.

"Have you slept?" he couldn't help but ask, concern winning out over the disappointment still lingering in his gut. He hadn't forgiven any of them, but Rin was still his student. He couldn't watch her waste away with her self-destructive behavior.

The lack of an answer told Minato all he needed to know. Rin avoided eye contact and held up a stack of documents and folders. "Here."

"Rin–?"

"Take them. They're all the reports and files about the massacre I could find. There's less about the Kyūbi attack. And some others." She shrugged, still not meeting his eyes. "I took a guess what you'd want to see."

Minato took the documents. Was that how she'd spent her night?

Rin kept going, fidgeting and sounding more anxious with every sentence. "Kakashi told me you'd want to find out as much as possible. He's doing the same, by the way. We split up. There's a lot to cover."

"Rin." She bit her lip, cutting off another nervous ramble. As a twelve year old, Minato wouldn't have hesitated to pull her into a hug. But Rin wasn't twelve. She'd long passed the point where a hug took care of her issues. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this helps." It was worrying how glad Minato was to not have to talk to Sarutobi again.

He hesitated, throwing a glance at the documents in his arms. He made a decision. "Would you mind helping me go through these?"

Rin hesitated.

"If you have the time," Minato added. "I mean, I'd appreciate it." Had talking to Rin ever been this awkward?

Her lips twitched in a way that simply wasn't enough to be called a smile. Especially not coming from sweet, cheerful Rin. "Lead the way."

It was on their way back to Naruto's apartment that Minato realized that Rin, just like Kakashi, had grown older than him. The thought made him feel dizzy and by the time they sat in the living room, paper and folders spread out around them on the floor, Minato couldn't help but sneak glances at her every few minutes. He doubted he would ever get used to this.

He forced his attention back and his eyes got stuck on the ANBU stamp plastered on the next cover sheet. So far most of them had either been taken from the library or the semi-public archives. "Were you even allowed to take these?" he asked, holding up the folder. "How did you get them out of the headquarters?"

Rin looked up, her mouth curved in an echo of a grin. "I have my ways."

There was a noise at the window. Kakashi slid into the room without bothering to knock. "Got room for one more?" His cheerful voice sounded stilted.

Minato returned a smile and hated that it felt strained. "Feel free."

Kakashi dumped another stack of documents in their midst, grabbed for one and dropped down beside them. Minato could ignore the awkwardness for a while, focusing on his goal and getting lost in words and ink. Once in a while Rin and Kakashi spoke up to comment on something they'd read, or to pass a folder they thought he'd want to see for himself.

The reports were disappointing, to say the least. They barely told him anything he hadn't already heard from either Sarutobi, Genma or his students.

There was more information about the massacre than the Kyūbi attack, but no matter how many documents Minato read, he couldn't shake off the thought that something was missing. Uchiha Itachi, a single thirteen-year-old child prodigy slaughtering his entire clan to prove his superiority felt wrong in a way that Minato couldn't quite explain. It went beyond the denial of a child being capable of such a horrific act.

They took a break at one point, Kakashi heading out for take-out, but didn't waver from their goal otherwise.

Hours passed and Minato read the same information again and again. The redundancy of it gave him a headache. Rin and Kakashi weren't finding anything new, either.

Minato sighed, leaned back and dragged a hand over his face. "Is there anything that the reports leave out? Anything you know?"

"Nothing concrete," Kakashi said, sharing a glance with Rin and following suit in abandoning the documents.

"We both knew Itachi from ANBU," Rin said. "He was incredibly talented. Intelligent and with the strength to pull it off. I don't doubt that he was capable of killing his clan."

"But there's something," Minato said, pushing for details.

"He had the skills for it," she repeated, "but I'm not sure about his motivation. They say he wanted to prove his superiority, but Itachi is... I was on a few missions with him, and he was never competitive. Striving to become stronger, sure. Most shinobi are. But competitive?"

She threw a glance at Kakashi, who shrugged. "They say the stress caught up to him. I can't disprove it, but… it feels odd."

Minato looked down without taking anything in. If it was true, if Itachi was solely at fault for killing his clan, that was easily fixed. In various more or less pretty ways.

But if it wasn't that simple? Minato needed all the information he could get.

Minato stretched his sore limbs and leaned against the couch. They could all use a break. "What else have you two been up to? ANBU couldn't have been all."

Kakashi and Rin found sudden new interest in the documents. Minato's smile faltered. "There has to be something."

"The Hokage has been trying to make me take on a genin team," Kakashi offered.

"A genin team? But that's great!" Minato's excitement dampened as Kakashi's words caught up with him. "What do you mean, 'trying'?"

Kakashi shrugged. "He hasn't shown me a team that met my standards yet."

"Those being?"

"Potential for teamwork." Kakashi avoided his glance and Minato sat back, stunned. "I suppose your lessons had to get through to me eventually."

Minato couldn't place the heavy feeling in his gut. He swallowed and turned to Rin. "What about you? Have you considered taking on a team?"

"Never." The vehemence in her voice hit Minato like a blow. "It came up once. I refused."

Minato almost didn't want to ask. "Why?"

Rin shrugged. "ANBU lets me get out of the village. In here it's like…" She hesitated, her voice growing quiet. "Like I'm suffocating. I need to get out."

The three of them sunk back into silence, tension pressing down on them uncomfortably. Obito's absence sat in their midst heavy and impossible to ignore, a hole that left their team incomplete and unstable. It wasn't supposed to be like this.

Minato tried to think of something else to talk about, but the three of them tensed as they noticed a familiar beacon of chakra coming closer. How long had they spent going through the documents? It hadn't felt like quite this long.

"Right," Kakashi said, leaping to his feet. Rin followed suit, fidgeting and eyes darting to the door. "I guess that's our cue."

Both of them headed for the window. Minato leaped up. "Wait."

Rin and Kakashi paused, looking back at him in apprehension and surprise respectively. Minato hesitated, taking a moment to decide if he wanted to go through with this. Naruto came closer, quickly enough that he had to be running. Minato made a decision.

"Stay. Please."

It took only a moment for Kakashi to give in, turning from the window and giving a nod. Rin took longer. She shifted on her feet and threw glances outside like she was struggling not to flee. It was only when they heard the rattling of Naruto's key that she caved, surrendering to her fate with tense shoulders.

The door swung open with a loud "Old man?"

Minato suppressed a sigh and ignored Kakashi's amused glance. He was never going to live this down.

"Woah," Naruto said, entering the room with widened eyes. "What happened?"

Minato winced, gaze wandering over the heaps of documents and notes strewn around the living room. He was so used to it at home, he hadn't realized what a mess they'd made. "Sorry about that, Naruto. We got a bit… carried away. We'll clean it up, don't worry."

"We?" Naruto blinked, eyes narrowing at the sight of Kakashi and Rin. "Who're you?"

Kakashi stole a glance at Minato. Rin's eyes were wide, staring at Naruto and frozen like a genin on a B-rank. Minato decided to take pity on them. "Naruto, this is Kakashi," he laid a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "and this is Rin. They were my students before I… had to leave."

"Oh." Naruto shifted on his feet, not sure what to say to that. "Okay."

"Right!" Minato wanted to smack himself, realizing how late it must be. "You're home from the academy. You must be hungry!"

He didn't wait for an answer, rushing into the kitchen and peeking into the fridge and various cupboards. Countless cups of ramen and other instant food greeted him. This wouldn't do.

Back in the living room nobody else had moved or made an attempt at conversation. Minato wondered how it came that he was in the sole company of socially stunted people.

"Alright," he said, snatching an empty piece of paper and scribbling a quick grocery list. "Kakashi, you're going to go to the market. Feel free to add more if you can think of anything."

He handed over the list, ignoring Kakashi's stunned expression. To Rin, he said, "We're gonna clean up this mess. And then you're both staying for dinner. Got it?"

There was silence, and Minato raised an eyebrow, daring them to protest. Finally, Kakashi flashed him a smile, accepting the list. "Understood."

Naruto blinked, staring after him. "Why'd he use the window? The door is right here."

Minato laughed. "Don't worry about it. It's a shinobi thing."

"Hey, Lady! Are you a shinobi too?" Rin froze mid-motion, already starting to collect the paper.

"... Yes."

"That's so cool!" Naruto bounced closer, beaming at Rin with sparkling eyes. "Where did you get that scar? Was it on a mission? Is that blood?"

Minato winced at his childish enthusiasm and hoped that Rin would take it in a stride. Maybe inviting the two of them had been too rash.

"My mom was a shinobi too, you know?"

"... Yeah. I knew Kushina."

"You did?" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "Was that because you were my old man's student?"

"Sort of." Rin hesitated, straightening up another stack of paper and putting it neatly on the table. "She came to watch our training when she had the time. She brought us lunch. Encouraged us, and gave tips." The corner of her lips twitched upwards. "She smuggled candy and told us embarrassing stories about Minato-sensei whenever she got us for herself."

Minato knocked over the stack of folders he had just collected. "Sh-She did what?"

"What kind of stories?" Naruto grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievous.

"Rin, don't–"

"You know the teleportation technique he used to bring you to school?" Naruto nodded, hanging onto her every word. "It took him months to perfect it. He kept crashing into buildings until he realized it was safer to practice outside the village."

Minato felt his cheeks coloring. "R-Rin–"

"I bet half of the D-ranks the village assigned at the time were just to replace the trees he destroyed."

Naruto laughed. Minato crossed his arms, pouting. "You try developing a new technique. It's not easy."

Rin sent him a look that was possibly supposed to be apologetic, but looked closer to a real grin than Minato had ever seen her.

With the ice broken it was a lot easier to keep the awkwardness at bay. Kakashi joined them after they had finished cleaning up the living room. He walked in to Naruto asking more questions about his mother.

"I got your hair and your eyes. Did I get anything from my mom?"

Minato gave him a fond smile. "You remind me of her a lot. You have her laugh, and you both love pranking."

"She liked to prank people? Really?" Naruto's eyes widened, voice raised in awe.

"Oh yes."

"So much."

Kakashi and Rin spoke in a deadpan voice. Kakashi looked like he was suppressing a shudder.

"She sounds amazing…" Naruto trailed off with a small smile, eyes on the table and not taking in anything.

Minato wanted to say something – Naruto looked so sad, asking about the mother he had never met – but Kakashi was quicker. He dropped the grocery bags on the table and pulled something from his pocket.

"Here," he said, holding out a few pictures for Naruto. "I stopped at my apartment to pick these up."

Minato peered over Naruto's shoulder and smiled. The first picture showed Kushina in her shinobi gear, hair pulled back in a ponytail and grinning cheerfully at the camera.

It took a moment until Naruto managed to form words. "Is– Is that her?"

Minato hummed in confirmation. "That's Kushina."

"And this…" Naruto pulled out the next one. It was a picture of all five of them, Minato laughing in the background as Kushina pulled all three of his students in various states of cooperation in for a hug.

"My team. Here's Kakashi, here's Rin, and that's Obito." His smile dimmed. "He didn't survive the war."

Naruto shot him a startled look, but didn't answer.

There were a few more: pictures of him and Kushina, Kushina with Mikoto, Kushina alone with his team. Minato made a mental note to ask Kakashi where he'd gotten all of them.

Even when Naruto was through, he didn't put the pictures away, going through them a second and then a third time. None of them wanted to break this moment for him, so Minato pulled out the groceries and started to prepare dinner. He even got Kakashi and Rin to help, thrusting a pair of knives and vegetables at them to chop.

Naruto, once he was done with the pictures, asked to help with a shaky voice. By the time dinner was cooking they had gone back to telling stories. They talked about their time as a team, about the missions they had completed (heavily censored) and, of course, about Kushina. Naruto soaked in every word, and sitting at the table with his son and both of his students, Minato was convinced for the first time that he would find it in himself to forgive them.

A/N: Reminder that this story isn't meant to be canon compliant. I'm trying to keep the world and characters (in terms of characterisation) consistent, but I have no desire whatsoever to match the canon timeline/content if it doesn't suit me.