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 9

They made the decision to keep Naruto hidden from the village and turned his hair black with a lasting Henge. Without his sunshine colored hair his resemblance to Minato was a lot more subtle, and with his whisker marks it was easy to write him off to some minor clan.

It was Mikoto who offered to vouch for Naruto. If someone asked, they would tell them that Naruto was a distant cousin of hers, the result of a long forgotten affair of one of her family members outside of Konoha.

Catching up with his duties as the Hokage was tedious as always, although it could have been far worse. Kushina had done a splendid job while he was gone – not that Minato had ever doubted her.

Kushina herself – unsurprisingly – spent most of her time at home, with Naruto. The two of them thrived in each other's company, although their mutual mischievous streak made Minato worry about Naruto's cover as well as about how long their apartment would remain intact.

"K-Kushina, please," he said when he found the two of them on the floor, engulfed in what looked suspiciously like an advanced – and incredibly creative – explosive tag. "You can't teach our twelve-year-old son destructive techniques like that."

Kushina blinked. "Why not?"

"Dad! Dad, look!"

Minato turned his head. His eyes widened. He snatched the tag out of Naruto's hands and leaped back before it could blow up in his son's face – it blew up in Minato's, instead.

Kushina doubled over from laughing as Minato spit out the bright orange powder that now covered his face. And most of his clothes. And their living room floor.

"I told you he'd fall for it!" Kushina dissolved into another bout of laughter, leaning on a giggling Naruto.

Naruto laughed, his eyes twinkling with the same glee as his mother.

"Yeah, yeah," Minato said, ruffling his hair to shake off the worst of the mess. His lips twitched. "Very funny. Whose idea was it?"

"Mine," Kushina shamelessly admitted. "But he made the tag all on his own."

"You did?" Minato's face split into a grin. "Well done, Naruto."

Naruto beamed with pride, and it made it worth every minute that Minato spent getting rid of the powder afterwards.

He was silently glad that he had managed to make all traces of it disappear by the time Mikoto showed up at their door. She brought along her youngest son.

"Hello, Mikoto," he greeted before leaning over the small bundle that was Sasuke. "And hello, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared up at him with an unimpressed glare.

"Still not warming up to strangers, is he?"

"Strangers?" Mikoto chuckled, walking past him into the apartment. "He threw a tantrum the last time Fugaku tried to hold him. The only one he actually likes is his big brother. Isn't that right, Sasuke?"

Sasuke didn't deign to answer her.

"He's been holding up alright during your mission?"

"It was only three days. Fugaku managed just fine." She settled down on their couch with Sasuke in her lap. "Tell me, where's–"

"GET BACK HERE, YOU BRAT!"

"– nevermind."

Naruto came sprinting into their living room and almost ran Minato over in the attempt to hide behind him. "Dad! Save me!"

"What did you do?" Minato turned to shield Naruto from his furious mother.

"Um." Naruto swallowed. "Well…"

"He tried to prank me!" Kushina yelled, sliding to a halt in front of them. "Me! Can you believe it?"

"I wasn't fast enough," Naruto admitted with a pout.

"He's your son," Mikoto said with a smile, "what did you expect?"

"Oh, hey Mikoto," Kushina said. Her eyes immediately zoomed in on the baby. "Ohh, you brought Sasuke! Hello, Sasuke! Do you remember me?" She proceeded to make faces to try and make him laugh. She was as unsuccessful as Minato had been.

Naruto's eyebrows shot upwards. "Did you say Sasuke?"

"Do you know him?" Mikoto surrendered to Kushina and let her pull Sasuke out of her arms.

Naruto stared, shell shocked at seeing his former – or future? – classmate as an infant. "Um. Kind of?"

"They've been assigned to the same genin team," Minato added. Predictably, Kushina's face lit up.

"Really? Ohh, I knew it! This was just destined to happen! Mikoto and I have been best friends for years, you know." She stepped closer, holding Sasuke closer to a less than enthusiastic Naruto. "Here, why don't you hold him!"

She didn't wait for Naruto's answer – or rather, ignored his sputtered protests – and ushered him towards the couch, dropping Sasuke on his lap as soon as he was seated. At least she remembered to show him how to support Sasuke's neck. Despite this, Naruto looked equally apprehensive and weirded out.

"Aww!" Kushina took a step back, marvelling at the image. "I knew they'd become best friends."

Minato thought back to Naruto's close to daily tirades complaining about the other boy. In the present, Naruto was wrestling with baby Sasuke to keep him from wriggling from his lap, cursing under his breath all the while. "R-Right."

"Any news?" Mikoto asked, talking about their plan from the day before. It sounded more like a courtesy. They all knew that it was too early for anyone to rise to the bait.

"Not yet," Minato said. "But before I forget, there's something I wanted to ask you."

Mikoto nodded for him to continue.

"I'd like to assign Itachi as Jiraiya's apprentice." It was the best solution Minato had been able to come up with, given the limited information about the massacre he had. Having taught Minato himself, Jiraiya had experience dealing with child prodigies. Minato trusted him with his life, and he definitely trusted him to keep Itachi away from the conflict that would begin brewing between Konoha and the Uchiha.

"He's four," Mikoto said, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't mean immediately," Minato assured her. "Later, once he finishes the academy."

Mikoto didn't speak for a while, and Minato didn't push. Hopefully, she would have plenty of time to think about it before having to make a decision.

She threw a glance towards Naruto to make sure he was still distracted. "Do you think that would prevent it?" she asked, keeping her question vague and lowering her voice.

"Maybe," Minato said. "I can't promise it. Jiraiya would take him along on his trips, so at the very least he would spend parts of his childhood away from Konoha." Away from the conflict, he didn't say. Away from the toxic environment that the village had become for child prodigies.

"I will think about it," Mikoto allowed eventually. "When is the next time Jiraiya returns to the village?"

"I can't say for sure," Minato said, "but unless he's in the middle of a major operation, I can send a summon for him. You can talk to him yourself and decide then."

Mikoto nodded. "If you would."

"Daaaad…" Naruto's whine pulled Minato away from the conversation. Naruto was still holding an increasingly fussy baby Sasuke, his gaze nothing short of pleading for Minato to save him.

Mikoto was quicker. "Thank you, Naruto. You've done well." She picked Sasuke out of Naruto's clumsy hold, making Naruto deflate with relief. He'd probably never held a baby before in his life.

Sasuke wasn't the only connection Naruto had to his own time.

"Naruto," Minato said, before something else could come up, "you remember Rin and Kakashi, right?"

"Course I do," Naruto said. "Right! I forgot! You didn't get to see, but Kakashi-sensei's my jōnin teacher now! He told us he got the bell test from you, is that true?"

With everything that had happened, Minato had almost forgotten that Naruto had already finished his graduation exam.

"Kakashi's your jōnin instructor?" Kushina asked, beaming at their son.

"He made us wait hours until we could take his stupid test," Naruto grumbled.

Kushina's eyes widened. "Kakashi did?"

"He was late for the academy, too," Naruto said, scowling. "We were the last team to be picked up. We always have to wait on him when he's late!"

"... We're talking about the same Kakashi here?" Kushina said, throwing a doubtful glance at Minato.

"Afraid so," Minato said, smiling. "Naruto, would you like to meet him? And Rin and Obito?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Meet... Kakashi-sensei? Here?"

Minato hummed in confirmation. "He's just a teenager now. You'll be surprised how much he's changed."

It would give Minato the opportunity to study the effects of the changes he'd made. He'd gotten a small taste of it with Genma and Kakashi: Genma had told him about Rin's death on his first trip, and been confused – almost disoriented – when Minato had brought it up on the second. Similarly, Kakashi's hand had twitched towards his eye when Minato had brought up Obito – even though the second time around, he had never lost his own eye.

It seemed as though they knew on some level that something was different – that something was wrong – but did not realize until somebody pointed it out to them. What would happen with an even bigger change? Kakashi could not possibly forget meeting Naruto in the past, could he?

"Are you going to tell them?" Mikoto asked, drawing Minato out of his thoughts.

"I was going to. Why, do you think I shouldn't?"

Mikoto's eyes slipped to the side, thoughtfully. "Our trap will fail if the truth comes out too early." She hesitated, adjusting Sasuke in her grip. "I trust your judgement. If you think your team can keep the secret, go ahead."

"We can trust them," Kushina said, her voice filled with conviction. "If we ask them to be quiet, they will be. Even Obito can act professional if he wants to."

Right. Obito. Minato felt a twitch in his chest at the reminder that he hadn't been able to prevent one of his students' death. He'd been successful with Rin – sort of, seeing as the person he'd met in the future was hardly the same he'd known – so why had he failed with Obito? What did he have to do to find all three of them alive and well, once he returned?

"I'm gonna fetch them," Kushina said, already on her way out of the door. "We've got a cover story, but no need to test our luck." With that she whisked out, leaving the three of them – four, if they counted Sasuke – behind.

"What are you going to do about Obito?" Mikoto asked, correctly interpreting Minato's silence.

"I don't know anyone called Obito," Naruto chimed up. "Is he the one who–?"

"Died. Yeah." Minato sighed. "I don't know yet. I tried keeping them inside the village, but I can't make sure they're obeying when I'm not here."

"It's a lot to ask," Mikoto said, "keeping three capable graduates away from the front lines when Konoha needs every shinobi it can spare."

"I know." It was the only reason he hadn't asked Mikoto to do so herself. It would be difficult to justify a request like that to anyone else.

Minato looked up to meet Naruto's eyes. "Do me a favor and don't mention it to them, okay? I don't want Obito to know what will happen before I can come up with a solution."

Uncharacteristically solemn, Naruto met his gaze and nodded. "Okay. I won't."

It wasn't much later that loud arguing announced Kushina's and Team 7's arrival. Minato wished that the sound of it wasn't quite as familiar to him as it was.

"Admit it, jerk! I totally mastered that technique faster than you."

"If by 'mastered' you mean 'flung enough kunai that some of them had to hit', then yes. You've definitely mastered it first."

"Boys, please." Rin's voice was strained with barely suppressed exasperation. "It's not a competition."

"It totally is," Kushina said cheerfully. "And you're both losing. It's not a victory until you've made the other person cry."

Minato and Mikoto shared a glance.

"Remind me again why I'm letting her babysit my children?" Mikoto asked, drily.

"Why are you asking me?" Minato asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm having one with her."

A glance at Naruto made him rephrase his sentence. "I have one with her. Naruto, don't listen to your mother."

Minato doubted that Naruto had heard. The door swung open and revealed Kushina and the kids, all of them in various states of exasperation, disinterest and outrage. Or, in Kushina's case, amusement.

"Sensei!" Obito yelled before anyone had the chance to start talking. "I totally mastered that exercise you left us last time. Kakashi is just jealous that I beat him for once."

Kakashi left out a huff. "As if he'll believe you. Who are you trying to fool?"

"I'm telling the truth! Rin, tell him."

"Mikoto-san," Rin said, smiling politely as she ignored her teammates. "It's nice to see you. And you've brought Sasuke!"

"Who's that?" Kakashi asked, his typical frown fixed on Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widened comically. "You're Kakashi-sensei."

Minato winced, watching Kakashi's expression warp into incredulity. So much for breaking it to them gently. "Naruto, maybe you should–"

"Are you stupid?" Obito said bluntly, their earlier argument all but forgotten.

"Obito, please–"

"That's Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said, ignoring both of the team and throwing a glance at Minato. "Seriously?"

"Yes, but–"

"I'm not a sensei," Kakashi interrupted. "Why are you calling me that?"

Minato heaved a sigh. His kids – every single one of them – could be exhausting. "Just listen, all of you." He turned to look at his team. "Kakashi, Obito, Rin. There's somebody I'd like you to meet."

Naruto squirmed, and Minato laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "This is Naruto." A smile tugged at his lips at the name. He loved saying it out loud. "He's our son."

Three equally incredulous stares swayed Naruto's way.

"Sensei," Kakashi deadpanned. "He's our age."

Kushina threw Minato a frown. "You're doing it wrong. Let me." She turned towards his team. "Brats, listen up. Minato screwed up a Hiraishin seal and flung himself into the future. This is top secret, so don't go blabbing about it."

Minato sighed as the incredulous stares gained in intensity. They would be there for a while.

Explaining everything to Team 7 was far more complicated than explaining it to a calm, attentive Mikoto had been. Even after they'd tentatively bought their story – it hadn't been easy to convince them that they (or rather, Kushina) weren't playing a prank on them – they kept derailing Minato's explanation with questions.

"It just activated on its own? Seals do that?"

"Why didn't you say anything the first time around?"

"What am I like in the future? Eh, Sensei? Tell us!"

Minato carefully but purposefully sidestepped that one.

At least an hour had passed by the time all three of them had (somewhat) warmed up to their admittedly outrageous story. Mikoto's presence helped. While Kushina was always ready to have some fun on their expense, and Minato let himself get swept along from time to time, Mikoto seemed like a calm, rational person who was above that sort of thing.

Obviously none of the three knew what Kushina and Mikoto had used to get up to, back in the day.

"Kakashi's seriously going to be a jōnin sensei when he's older?" Obito said, his face almost as incredulous as Kakashi's.

"I'm not sure he will be, now that he knows," Minato said, thoughtfully. "I've changed other things before. Small things. I don't know what it'll be like the next time I go back."

Kakashi's scowl had not wavered once for all the time it had taken Minato to explain. He looked like Naruto's presence insulted him on a personal level. "If I'm supposed to become your jōnin sensei, does that mean you only just graduated? You're twelve, and you've only graduated?"

Naruto crossed his arms and matched Kakashi's glare. "Duh! Everybody's graduating with twelve. Almost everybody."

Kakashi opened his mouth to snap back but was interrupted by Rin's thoughtful hum. "Is that what Konoha's like when there's peace?"

Minato smiled. Of course Rin would be the one to put together the pieces the quickest. "That's right. We don't have to constantly send shinobi to the front lines anymore, so they can visit the academy for longer."

"But why?" Kakashi was still frowning. "That's so much wasted time. Nobody should take that long to finish the academy."

"Maybe everybody should," Mikoto said, and coming from her, it gave Kakashi a pause.

"Sensei," Obito said, in a tone far too subdued for his usual cheer. "You haven't told us much else about the future. Or about ourselves. Why's that?"

Trust Obito to be uncharacteristically observant exactly when Minato needed it the least. Although, he supposed, it was better being confronted than to dance around the topic until he found the courage himself.

"There's a reason you told us to stay in the village last time," Kakashi said, following up Obito's question. "Isn't there?"

Minato sighed. "Yes. Yes there is." He sent a help-seeking glance to Kushina. He didn't want to do this alone. "At one point, probably fairly soon from now on, a mission of yours will go wrong. Terribly wrong."

Kushina had taken the cue easily, and went on. "You three are being sent to the front lines, and not all of you... return whole. The outcome has changed once already, but... Not enough."

"I wish I knew more details," Minato said, "but it's difficult to nail down when it changes every time I come back. As far as I can see, the only way to keep you safe – properly safe – is to keep you inside the village."

Minato turned to look at his student. "Even you, Kakashi. You were Naruto's jōnin instructor before, but that doesn't mean that can't change the next time I go back. I can't control what's happening. Not the way I'd like to."

There was a moment of silence. Obito broke it first, hesitant and much unlike him. "So... If we don't stay in the village, we'll die? We might? Any of us could?"

"It doesn't matter," Kakashi said, the only sign betraying his emotions being that he glared at the floor and not at them.

"How doesn't it matter?!" Obito said. "They just said we'll–"

"We have a duty to fulfill," Kakashi interrupted. "We're shinobi for a reason. We've always known the risks. What does it change to be sure?"

Minato wanted to protest. He wanted to convince them of the opposite.

Rin was quicker. "How many other shinobi will have died, just like us?" she asked, quietly. "How many of them during the War? Are you going to tell all of them not to fight?"

"Konoha would lose," Kakashi said. "We'd lose, and even more people would die."

Obito's eyes were glued to the floor. "We shouldn't be an exception because you're our teacher."

A lump formed in Minato's throat. He wasn't sure whether it was from frustration or from pride.

"You knew this would happen," Mikoto said, giving Minato a strained smile. "They're your team."

"Yeah," Minato said, smiling through the burning at the back of his throat. "My team."

He wondered how many of them he'd see the next time he went back.

A/N: My betas are Igornerd, To Mockingbird and PyrothTenka! Go check them out, they're all wonderful writers!

Please take the time to leave a review!

~Gwen