That day, Namikaze Minato wanted to do nothing more than sleep.
Sure, a C rank mission to find a missing child shouldn't be that difficult (but who knows with war on the horizon and tensions high in all countries) but Minato just wanted a full night's rest! Kushina had been on a fuinjutsu bender the past few days (weeks, months, years) and kept waking him up by slapping seals on his face and asking if they worked.
She was insane, hyperactive, and the loudest person he ever met.
He loved her with everything he had in him. But still, sleep.
A soft metal hissing brought him back to the present. "Please Kakashi," Minato murmured, turning to his youngest and usually least troublesome student. The boy blinked back. "We are returning a 4-year-old home. Do your best not to threaten or intimidate the child."
Said Hatake narrowed his eyes, and Minato would later swear his shoulders slightly slumped. Kakashi slowly slid his kunai back in its pouch. On his other side, Obito laughed, stretching both hands behind his head.
"Ha! Sensei, Bakashi is terrible with kids. You remember what happened with the Wakabayashi twins." The boy's dark eyes twinkled, and he nudged Rin, who rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress her own giggles. "Prodigy shmodigy, little Hitomi-chan almost knocked him out with her stuffed bear!"
Kakashi's hands flexed, for a moment the boy looked two seconds away from strangling his teammate. He turned a bored glance towards the Uchiha. "At least I was able to complete the mission. You tripped on the way inside Wakabayashi-san's home and nearly got a concussion." Obito's cheeks flushed with color as his hands balled into fists.
"Oi, teme!"
Minato coughed lightly. "Boys, we're on a mission." Kakashi, thank Kami, immediately settled, focusing on the path before them, while Obito muttered angrily underneath his breath. Rin, his new favorite, was attempting to make conversation with their rescue.
Suzuki Maiko was a small four-year-old from a temple in Grass, a miko in training for the shrine. She was reported missing a week ago, last seen in the company of bandits near Wave. Their mission was to find the child and escort her back to her home.
They had found the girl bound and gagged near a fire on the outskirts of Wave Country, but otherwise unharmed. His team was able to take out the bandits with relative ease, and in interrogating one, Minato found they weren't ninja at all, merely part of a civilian group of shady businessmen. The bandits were reported to the local authorities, and his team had set out for Grass.
The mission, for all intents and purposes, was almost over. Nothing had jumped out at him, everything had wrapped itself up nicely. And maybe that was the issue. Everything seemed to fall into place a bit too neatly.
Maybe it was the feeling of dangling in the atmosphere of another war, maybe it was the feeling of too little sleep.
Maybe Minato's discomfort came from the girl herself.
Nothing had fazed her. Her purple eyes seemed to glow as she stared at them all without any apprehension. . For a four-year-old, she was incredibly quiet, composed, and showed not an ounce of fear in the face of danger.
Minato expected her to cry, to be in shock, to scream or flinch or try to run.
But she did nothing. She held onto Rin's hand and watched the boys bicker placidly.
Perfect for a ninja, Minato's mind thought traitorously, and Minato quashed the thought. The girl, calm and unruffled as she was, was still a child. Barely out of the toddler phase. In that, she reminded Minato of Kakashi when he was around that age. Even after Sakumo, Minato had never seen the boy cry once.
Looking at the stoic 12-year-old, Minato wondered if Kakashi had ever cried afterward.
"We should camp for the night," Minato said, looking towards the fading amber of the sunset. It was barely a half day's journey from here, but with a civilian child in their midst, they had to reconsider the amount of time they would need before they made it to Grass.
Minato turned to the boys. "Obito, can you set a fire for us? Kakashi, you can help Obito gather wood." Obito smiled, rubbing his hands together.
"Sure! Now I can try my fireball jutsu!"
Kakashi shook his head. "We don't need unnecessary displays of idiocy. A simple Katon would make more sense."
Minato could almost see the steam jet out from Obito's ears and decided he needed to intervene.
"Boys." He cut both of them a look, and Obito glanced away. "Please go get the firewood." he caught the edge of Kakashi's scowl as both boys marched towards the forest.
Minato sighed. The amount the boys fought was becoming ridiculous, and not even Rin could get them to stop these days. Usually, Kakashi stayed professional on missions, but Obito seemed to get on his last nerves, and Rin's affections towards Kakashi didn't help their friendship.
Minato just wanted some sleep.
"Maiko-chan, do you want me to braid your hair for you? That way it won't get tangled." Rin smiled down at the girl holding her hand, and the girl finally spoke.
"Thank you, kunoichi-san." A flush spread across Rin's cheeks, and she laughed awkwardly.
"You can just call me Rin." The girl nodded studiously and sat down on the ground as Rin sat behind her. Minato could admit the girl's waist-length hair would need to be secured before it got caught in a branch. Kushina was crazy enough and skilled enough to keep her near floor-length red hair loose, but it was dangerous for a four-year-old civilian away from home.
Minato set himself to making sure the tents were prepared, trying to rub the tiredness out of his eyes. Luckily they had three tents on them, so Rin and Maiko could share one while Obito and Kakashi could share another.
It didn't matter if he took watch and only slept 3 hours, he needed some rest.
He glanced over to their new charge, who was playing with her new braid. She beamed at Rin, the most expressive the girl had been since Minato had seen her.
"Thank you," the girl said softly. Minato sat with the girls as Rin brought out food supplies. He suppressed a sigh. It was too dark to go fishing, so ration bars and granola were all they had, but with the war looming over his shoulders, Minato could go for something that didn't taste like cardboard. At least the fire would keep them warm.
Speaking of fire…
"Boys?" Minato called. It had been at least 15 minutes since he had seen either, and he was surprised at the silence. Usually Obito would have shouted or snapped a few twigs by now.
"Here Sensei!" Obito bounced out of the woods, holding dry logs to his soaked body. He dragged an incensed, drenched Kakashi behind him. "We ran into a bit of trouble." Kakashi wrenched his hand away from Obito's.
"You essentially dove straight into that river!"
"And you jumped right in after me!"
Kakashi, for once, looked positively enraged. "The current was going to drag you away," he bit out, "-and you can barely swim! Then I would have had to wait at the riverbank to bring back your useless body! Don't be such an idiot, Obito!"
Obito took a startled step back, and Kakashi stomped off with his damp logs, tossing them into the pit and setting them ablaze with an uncharacteristically sloppy katon. Rin watched him with wide eyes.
Minato sighed. He weaved a few signs for a fuuton, and blew the Uchiha dry. Obito's teeth chattered in the silence. "Why did you run into the river?"
The boy shook his head. "I didn't run into the river!" he grimaced. "I didn't see it there, I thought it was another few meters away when I got out of the trees."
These boys were going to send him into an early grave. "When we get back to Konoha, we'll have to work on your sensing skills. You should have been able to detect the water source from more than a few meters away." Obito looked at his feet.
Minato ran a hand through his hair. "I know you didn't mean to end up in the river, Obito. But even though he may not show it the way other people do, Kakashi does care about this team, including you." The boy looked up, and comprehension started to dawn on Obito's face. With the amount of darkness Minato could be wrong, but it looked a bit like Obito was blushing. "If he thought you were in danger, Kakashi undoubtedly would have worried."
"Oh man." Obito bit his lip. "I messed up, didn't I?" Minato didn't bother nodding, he could see the guilt settle in.
"Give him time, but apologize after you eat." Obito nodded, and began to walk towards the fire.
In the darkness, Minato grinned. "Oh, and Obito?"
Obito turned. "Yes Sensei?"
Minato's smile stretched wider. "As soon as we get back into Konoha, you and I are doing sensory drills. And you'll be practicing swimming without the aid of chakra."
The boy gulped. He followed Minato back to the fire, where Rin and Maiko had started passing out ration bars.
The fire was tense. Obito squirmed in the space across from Kakashi. Kakashi, to his credit, didn't seem bothered, but Minato could see the tense grip he held onto his ration bar, the way his eyes cut to Obito when the boy wasn't looking. Minato wondered just how close Obito had come to drowning.
"How is the training at the shrine, Maiko-chan?" Rin asked in the growing silence, eager to break the tension. Maiko smiled, running a hand along her braid.
"I like it. My sister is already a miko, and she gets to learn the dances and do the cleansing that I can't do. I'm stuck to sweeping and wiping down the shrine. But it's still fun to be near the sparks." Rin's brows furrowed.
"Sparks?"
Maiko grinned. "Everyone has sparks." she cupped her hands. "For a lot of people it's small, like a bunch of embers. For the miko and shinobi, it's bigger." She widened her hands as far as she could. "The sparks move, and they make pretty pictures."
Minato blinked. For a girl of her age, she must be hypersensitive to chakra. Like monks, the miko used yin chakra more than shinobi, but just for their rituals, rather than jutsu.
"In your sparks, I see a Match, a Flame, and a Hero," the girl said softly, gazing into the fire. In the orange flames, it looked like her eyes were glowing.
"You're a match, Rin-san," the girl whispered, eyes locked on the flame. "Matches burn too fast, and too soon. But the flames they produce are bright, mighty. And when they spread, they have the power to change the world." The girl's eyes cut to Obito.
"But flames without proper purpose or direction, burning just because they can, wreak havoc." Obito felt an odd weight behind the look, the prickly feeling of being judged. He felt that too much in the Uchiha district. He didn't want to feel that now.
"Good thing I'm a fire affinity!" he bragged, closing his eyes to shield himself from that piercing stare. "I'm gonna master my fire jutsu in no time."
Maiko nodded, but Obito had the odd feeling that this four year old was humoring him.
She then glanced towards Kakashi. "The Hero has a big spark." Kakashi scowled at being brought back into the conversation he was mostly ignoring. Obito scoffed.
"His name is Kakashi, Maiko-chan. You're not going to find a hero in him."
The little girl frowned. "But he saved you from the river, Obito-san." Obito's face contorted. Maiko stared at Kakashi pointedly, until the boy looked back at her.
"What?" Kakashi snapped. Minato shot him a warning look.
"You have really pretty sparks," Maiko said seriously. "Pretty and sad, Hero." Kakashi glowered at the girl.
"Your delusions mean nothing to me."
"Kakashi-kun!" Rin hissed, eyes flashing. Kakashi rolled his eyes, and said nothing. Maiko's eyes looked glassy.
"Gifted beyond comparison. Bound and burdened by duty and love. Brave, determined, and always sad," the girl whispered, her voice a hint raspier than the sweeter childish tone from moments ago. "You love so deeply it crushes you. You carry loss like a brand, Hero." the warm air of the fire seemed to disappear in the now thick, cold atmosphere. Minato's eyes widened at the not-quite-killing intent leaking from Kakashi. The boy's hands had bunched into fists.
"You know nothing about me." Kakashi snarled. Maiko startled. He stormed into a tent. Silence reigned again.
"I'm sorry." the girl said miserably. She blinked rapidly, and for a moment Minato forgot that the girl was four. She scrubbed at her eyes. "I—my sister sometimes tells me I should keep the sparks to myself. I didn't mean to." She turned pleading, wet eyes towards Obito, Rin, and Minato. "Please forget what I said."
Minato summoned up a smile. "It's okay Maiko-chan. It's just been a long day, and I'm sure everything will be okay in the morning," he lied. He hoped Kakashi would be alright in the morning. Any reminder of Sakumo made the boy tense for hours.
Obito silently took the first watch, and Rin guided Maiko into their tent. As Minato settled down to sleep, he thought that, while odd, everything she said sounded final, more like a sentencing than a description.
It sounded like...an omen.
As much as Minato wished he could have had a great night's sleep, he didn't. He took the middle shift, and as his mind began to categorize the events of the mission, things started to make less and less sense.
There would be no reason to kidnap a miko in training from the shrine. Even a miko would not have been able to drum up a sizable ransom for a group of bandits. Shrines aren't known for the amount of money they contain.
Another issue was that when Minato went back to sleep and woke for the day, his mind felt like it was swimming through syrup. He disrupted his chakra flow, but there was no genjutsu. The conversation at the fireplace made even less sense in the morning than it did at night when taken as the ramblings of a child. He was normally able to decipher the meaning of riddles, but he couldn't understand this one.
He truly needed a good night's rest. This was getting ridiculous.
Kakashi didn't seem to be upset, and was more or less his usual quiet self. Minato hoped Obito had spoken to him last night. His students groggily packed up the campfire, and they set off towards Grass, with Maiko on Minato's back. He wanted to reach Konoha as soon as possible.
Maiko began wriggling as they grew closer to the entrance, and Minato set her down. They had made it to the shrine in a few hours' time and were met at the entrance by Harue, Maiko's sister. The woman ran towards the girl, sweeping her into her arms. "Mai-chan! You're okay." As Minato watched the girls embrace, he couldn't help but pick out the obvious differences.
Maiko's had waist-length blonde hair and purple eyes that shone. Harue had brown hair that barely brushed her shoulders and light green eyes. The girls shared a similar pale skin tone, but that was it. Of course, the girls being sisters didn't mean there was a biological connection, but it was something Minato noted nonetheless.
"Thank you for returning my sister home, Shinobi-san." Harue bowed low, and Minato forced the boys to bow in turn. Rin, still Minato's favorite, required no further prompting.
"Of course. We're glad to see Maiko safe and sound." Minato said. "We'll be returning to our village-"
"Wait!" Everyone turned to look at Maiko, who began wiggling in Harue's arms. "I want to give you something, Namikaze-san!"
Harue's eyes sharpened. "Imouto-"
Maiko shook her head. "It's good, I promise." The sisters stared at each other, before Harue sighed and let her sister down, smoothing down her hakama. Maiko ran towards a door at the end of the hallway. Minato smiled, but something was odd about the exchange, something he couldn't put his finger on.
"I apologize, Maiko gets really attached." She gave the group a wan smile. "She must have really liked you all."
"She's a sweet girl," Minato said, partially because she was, but partially because he barely remembered anything about her. Something instinctive was ringing in his head, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
Surprisingly, Kakashi spoke up. "Why is she starting in the shrine so young?"
Harue's smile stiffened. "Our parents wanted her to learn the ways of Shinto as early as possible." The answer was logical but sounded flat, rehearsed. Minato narrowed his eyes.
"Of course." Before anyone could say more, the girl came barreling back into the room.
"Nee-chan! I got it!" Maiko came running back to the entrance, holding what appeared to be a wooden box. She bowed lower than she should and held the box out to Minato.
"Thank you all for rescuing me. Please accept this gift, Namikaze-san - it's for all of you." The box was small, wooden, and light. The top of the box was engraved with a sun.
Minato smiled. "You didn't have to give us this. Thank you Maiko-chan." The girl nodded and grinned, before running over to Rin and tackling her in a hug. Rin returned it a second later.
"Please open it when you get home," Maiko said, muffled in Rin's shirt. "when you're safe and surrounded by your precious people." Minato nodded, though he would most definitely open this box before he got to Konoha - he was a shinobi. He had to make sure there was nothing dangerous inside.
Harue sighed, before ruffling her sister's hair. "I can assure you, Namikaze-san, there are no harmful materials inside. We don't carry weapons of any sort in the shrine." She gave the group one last tired smile before she gently nudged her sister towards the hallway. "Thank you once again for saving my sister - she means the world to me."
Rin smiled. "Of course. Have a good day Harue-san."
As they ran towards Konoha, Minato had two more signs that something was not right.
The first being that the box would not open. He tried running chakra into the box, opening it with his hands, using a kunai, but nothing would open it. He didn't want to destroy it, but short of slapping an explosive tag on it, the box would most likely stay stubbornly shut. It seemed to be empty for all the weight it had, and there was no fuinjutsu or any sort of explosive he could see, but carrying an unknown item into Konoha, despite the miko's assurances, felt a bit nauseating.
The second only hit him as he made his way back to his and Kushina's apartment, his students in tow. He had never told Maiko-chan his full name. He introduced himself with his first name only. How had she known he was a Namikaze? He wasn't from a famed clan like the Uchiha—he was an orphan. He had started to make a name for himself, sure, and he was in the bingo book, but there was no way a 4-year-old miko would have access or need access to one.
The box sat like a faulty exploding tag in his pocket and he wouldn't rest until he had figured out what was inside. He wanted to open the box, write his mission report, and sleep as long as he could. And he had a feeling that Kushina could help.
As they rounded the steps, he sensed her warm chakra and couldn't help but smile. He flared his chakra, and Kushina's seals unlocked the door. "I'm home," he called.
She sprung out of the dining room, covered from shoulders to wrists in ink. "Welcome bac- oh you look terrible, Mina-chan. And hey kids! How was the mission?"
Obito laughed, ducking an ink-splattered hand. "It was good Kushina-nee! We saved a chibi miko and she gave us a weird box that's freaking Minato-sensei out." Kushina raised an eyebrow, before herding the kids into the living room.
"What was with the box?" Kushina asked. Minato shrugged.
"Well, our client gave us a gift at the end of our mission, a wooden box, and told us to open it at home with our precious people. I thought I would try to open the box before we got back to Konoha, if only to assure that the box was completely safe, but it wouldn't budge." He didn't expect much, the box didn't have any jutsu inside and felt empty. Maybe the box itself was the gift. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But now that you're here, I think the box will open."
Kushina's eyes widened slightly, and her face quickly reddened to match her hair. "You're so corny Mina-chan!" she pushed him lightly, but he could see from the water glistening in her eyes she was happy. Minato smiled and watched the violet eyes dance.
A cough interrupted him. He glanced over to see his three kids staring, looking way more amused than they should be.
"Uh, not to break up the moment, but can we open the box now?" Obito said. He grinned at Minato. "You can stare at Kushina-nee in your own time, Sensei!" Kakashi and Rin elbowed Obito but didn't deny it.
He was running the kids through all the drills he could think of later.
He placed the box on the table, and once again checking for traps, he sighed and tried to pry open the box. The box opened with a small creak. Obito gasped.
"What's inside, Sensei?"
From what it looked like, nothing.
He opened the box wider, slowly, and the wooden box was completely empty, save for an engraving that spanned the bottom of the box. 'Kyouka Suigetsu'. Mirror Flower, Water Moon. He traced the etched Kanji. Nothing happened. Maybe it needs chakra? He channeled a small bit of chakra to his finger, and tapped the box. The Kanji glowed blue for a moment, and Minato tensed, but the glow faded. The box did nothing. He frowned, trying not to feel any disappointment. It was a nice box, that was probably the gift.
Turning back to his team, he said, "Well, it seems empty. Would any of you like it?"
Obito shook his head. "We got it from a miko!" he protested. "It must do something cool." Rin rolled her eyes.
"It's a present, Obito-kun." Kushina ruffled the boy's hair before drifting towards the box. "It doesn't have to do anything that you would consider cool, but it is strange that despite the kanji inside, it doesn't do anything. There aren't any seals here. What does 'Mirror Flower, Water Moon' even mean?"
"Maybe it's a riddle?" Rin asked. She watched as Kushina added a bit of chakra to the box, and the kanji glowed red, before fading.
"That could be true, Rin-chan. What do you think it would mean?" Obito turned adoring eyes towards the girl.
Kakashi shook his head. "It's from the shrine. Maybe it's simply a souvenir."
Minato could agree with that. But something seemed off. He couldn't explain it, but he somehow knew there had to be something more. Maybe it was the shrine, maybe it was the girl herself. Her eyes...it sounded bizarre, even in his own thoughts, but something in her eyes was heavy, ancient, in a way that belied the four-year-old's delicate features.
His mouth opened, and the voice that came out was his, if a tad raspier. "Rin, Obito, Kakashi. You should try channeling chakra into it." Kushina shot him a strange look but didn't protest. If she did, he didn't know what he would say.
Rin channeled a bit of chakra to the box, and the box glowed orange, before fading slowly. Obito slapped his hand on the box, and the box almost immediately glowed an ominous black, then flickered out.
He wasn't happy with his result. "Aw come on! Everyone else gets a nice color, and I get black? That's just rude."
"Maybe it reflects the emptiness inside your head, deadlast." Kakashi said dryly. Before Obito could protest, Kakashi reached his hand forward and placed a glowing finger on the kanji. The box radiated white, and this time, the light did not fade. Kakashi jerked his hand back, but the damage was done—the glow stretched out of the box, curling around the room in wisps of smoke.
"Minato!" Kushina cried. His heart ratcheted in his chest. He lunged towards the box, but his head exploded in pain, and the world went black.
Minato's eyes cracked open slowly, and the shock of light made him hiss. He immediately closed his eyes again, hands finding the back of his head to gingerly press a sore spot. His head had no reason to ache like this, Kami, what kind of training had he done? The world spun mockingly around him.
"Sensei!" Rin's voice, usually calming, felt like a grating shout, but at least it cut through some of the fog. He was laying on the floor of what looked like a sitting room, alongside Kakashi, Obito, Rin, and Kushina. His girlfriend worried her lip as she pulled him to his feet.
"Where are we?" he asked. His voice, to himself, sounded wispy and dazed. He needed more sleep than this. Or a hospital for a possible concussion.
"I...don't know," Kushina answered, frustrated. She plopped on the couch. "I woke up a few minutes ago. We didn't want to leave until you had woken up as well. Kashi and I both tried disrupting our chakra, but it's either not a genjutsu or we're more messed up than we thought because we can't feel our chakra. No one has come in or out, and I can't sense chakra signatures behind the door, even though I can hear people."
Minato straightened as a bit of apprehension wound down his spine. Had they been captured? The last thing he remembered was the wooden box in his living room. The box hadn't seemed suspicious, his client signed off on it, but maybe it had summoned them somewhere? He didn't see any fuinjutsu in the box, but If someone had found a similar jutsu to Hiraishin, it could be plausible.
Kakashi inhaled sharply from the window. "Judging from the view, we seem to be in Konoha, in the Hokage Mansion. I can see the gardens from here." Kakashi said, and only years of knowing the boy let Minato hear Kakashi's awe. Only the Hokage's family and esteemed guests were allowed in. How did they get here?
At least they weren't in Iwa or Kiri. But that didn't mean they were out of the woods yet. "Okay," Minato sighed. "I can go out and see what's happening." The Sandaime wouldn't appreciate uninvited guests in his home, but Hiruzen-sama seemed to like him well enough. Hopefully, he would realize this all was an accident.
Kushina snorted. "Not with that look on your face Mina-chan. You and that pretty little concussed head can stay right here with our kids, 'ttebane!" Minato could barely squawk at the mention of 'our kids' before Kushina was gone in a flash of crimson hair and a sparkling smile.
He stumbled towards the open door, and at last, peered out.
Nothing made sense. He didn't see Biwako-sama or Asuma-kun. There appeared to be some event happening, because the men and women around were bustling, murmuring in excited tones. He listened in on the nearest trio: 2 men, an Inuzuka and an Aburame, and a Hyuuga woman.
"Can't believe they actually got it together - I thought Uchiha would run away forever." The Inuzuka man snorted, swiping onigiri from a nearby server. The server gave him a disgruntled look before walking away.
The Aburame shook his head, displacing a few kikaichu that drifted towards his sleeve. "I don't believe this to be true. Why? Because Sasuke would be unable to produce the stamina run for the rest of his life, and there are few places in the world where Naruto would be unable to find him."
The Inuzuka man rolled his eyes. "Yeah but—" The man was cut off by the Hyuuga woman putting a hand on his arm.
"Ano...I think they really do care about each other. It just took them some time. Like you and TenTen, Kiba." The Inuzuka, Kiba, blushed deep enough to mask his clan marks, while the Aburame quirked a small grin.
As they walked off, Minato pondered the conversation to himself. This must be an Uchiha wedding ceremony, and an important one at that, for different representatives of clans to show up, and to be hosted in the Hokage mansion of all places. It didn't explain why Minato didn't see any other Uchiha nearby, but this may just be the bridal party's branch of the building. It also didn't explain why he hadn't heard of this wedding — he may not always be in touch with the gossip of the village, but it wasn't everyday that the Hokage himself let someone use his home as a venue. This was the first time Minato had even seen such a thing.
As he turned, he noticed a woman hurrying by, carrying a planner and a bouquet. He fully expected the flowers to drop as she walked through the door but—
She went through him.
She went...
Through him?
...What?
His kids had scattered, but it didn't seem to matter. She couldn't see him, and she had almost ran into him.
The woman dropped the large bouquet on the table, and he could finally see that she was a Yamanaka who looked startlingly similar to Inoichi.
"Ugh I swear, I will never get into the wedding planning business. If Forehead thinks she's marrying Shika with my help she's dead wrong." She brushed imaginary dirt off a dress that bordered on peach and orange, and fixed her hair before beginning to leave in the same whirlwind as she came.
Minato's head was turning out theories, but he'd have to test one.
"Excuse me Yamanaka-san?" The woman didn't even flinch as she walked out. Minato let out a shaky breath.
"Rin? Kakashi? Obito?" he said into the silence. Obito and Kakashi stumbled out of a closet, jumping apart immediately. Rin appeared from behind the couch, oddly pensive.
"Sensei?" Rin asked. "What's going on?"
Minato wished he had a better answer. "It appears we can't be seen or heard," he surmised. "I think we'll be safe to try and make our way out of the building, but we should find Kushina first."
"Do you think it was the box? Is that why we're invisible?" Obito asked.
Minato shrugged. It was likely. "I'm not sure. But the only way we can find out is if we try and do some reconnaissance."
His students blinked back with wide eyes but agreed.
The walk outside was...bizarre. Minato had never seen so many flowers, nor had he seen so many...orange flowers before. It must have been a color scheme of the wedding, though it was a bit strange.
They walked down the hallway, and it appeared Minato's suspicions were correct. No one looked at them, no one seemed to see them. Minato didn't know how long this invisibility would last, and he wanted to find the exits as soon as possible.
It was also clear that they were completely lost.
We took this right two minutes ago!" Kakashi fumed. The hallways seemed to stretch along forever, and numerous people seemed to be coming out from each room. Whoever was getting married was extremely popular - he had seen shinobi from almost every single clan here, as well as some Suna, Iwa, and Kumo clans - how were Iwa and Kumo shinobi even allowed here?
"Hey, Sensei… if no one can hear us, do you think we could try calling for Kushina-nee?" Rin asked hesitantly. Minato hated the idea of drawing attention to themselves, but it was the best idea they had.
They began to call for Kushina, but they couldn't find her. Minato tried to push away his worry.
He caught a glimpse of red hair, but it was for a woman with spiky shoulder-length hair and red glasses. She looked like an Uzumaki, but Minato had never seen her around Konoha before. In fact, he had a hard time finding any familiar faces in the crowd.
"Have you seen the Hokage?" the woman asked. A man with silver hair and sharp features nodded his head.
"He's in the room over there, but he was talking to Sasuke." The man smirked, showing off extremely sharp teeth. "Probably off to give him one last shovel talk."
Minato's brow furrowed. That didn't sound like the Hokage, but he was rather protective over his students. But from what he knew, none of them were getting married to an Uchiha, especially not Tsunade-hime.
Either way, finding the Hokage was the best bet. They followed the woman down the hall, where the sounds of people were getting quieter and quieter.
She stopped at a door on the left, knocking twice. The low voices in the room stopped.
"Hey, we can go through people, does that mean we can go through things too?" Obito barely gave the idea another thought and walked straight into the wall. Obito collided painfully and soundlessly, falling to the floor with a silent thud.
Rin sighed. "Come on Obito-kun, we have to find the Hokage!" Obito groaned, and Kakashi pulled him up.
"I'm not going to drag your unconscious self around, Obito." Obito rolled his eyes, and clearly regretted it from the way he grabbed his head. Rin bit her lip. Minato could tell she wanted to try and heal Obito's headache, but the lack of chakra they carried was concerning. You weren't a shinobi without chakra, unless you were Maito Dai and his son.
The door swung open, and an unfamiliar Uchiha walked out in a wedding kimono. For some odd reason, one of his arms was bandaged. With the spiky black hair around his face and his facial shape, the man held a startling resemblance to Uchiha Madara. This must be the groom.
"I have never seen that guy before, but he looks like a main branch Uchiha," Obito whispered. Minato didn't know what to do with that information
"What did you want, Karin?" The Uchiha asked tonelessly. The redheaded woman adjusted her glasses.
"Nothing, honestly. Your pink-haired friend is banging down doors trying to find Hokage-sama. She's already thrown 3 people outside."
"Maa," an oddly familiar voice said. "I suppose that's my cue."
Minato saw the wild silver hair first, and immediately thought of Sakumo. But Hatake Sakumo had been dead for almost a decade, and though incredibly similar, they had their differences. The man had two charcoal eyes, with a vertical scar running down his left eye. The latter part of his face was covered in a black mask. He was tall, taller than Minato and as he maneuvered out of the room, Minato caught the kanji for 'Sixth Hokage' on his robe.
Minato's brain could barely wrap around the details.
Obito choked. "Is that… Bakashi? As Hokage?" The boy in question hadn't taken his eyes off what appeared to be his older self. Rin blinked rapidly, as if to clear her vision. Her cheeks were flushed with red. A small part of Minato groaned at the idea of Rin's crush not stopping anytime soon.
"I suppose this is the future," Minato said. "And Kakashi's the Hokage. We should keep up with him, to see if we can somehow catch his attention." He didn't want to follow Kakashi to learn more about his student. Not at all.
It still didn't explain why no one could hear them. But this would explain the unfamiliar faces and why the Hokage's mansion was being used as a wedding venue. Kakashi must be close to the couple, especially the bride, to be giving the groom a shovel talk. Hopefully they would get some answers. It could be said that they should have tried to not see what was happening in the future as much as possible - Minato had his own space-time jutsu and he knew how dangerous playing with time could be. But Kakashi was the Hokage and Minato felt like he was bursting with surprise and pride. He never would have imagined the boy in this role, but as he watched countless shinobi and civilians alike bow to the man and call out in respect, he saw that Kakashi was well-suited for the role.
"I've probably told you already, but congratulations, Kakashi," Minato whispered to his youngest student. The boy looked too dumbfounded to even process.
"I'm sure Kakashi's just warming the hat up for me," Obito sniffed as they rounded a corner. "Or I'm the Godaime!"
Somehow, that snapped Kakashi out of his stupor. "As if, dead last. Konoha wouldn't survive a day under you."
Obito screeched. Minato resisted the urge to clap a hand over his ears.
The older Kakashi meandered the halls, seeming to have no agenda. He was about to turn a corner when they heard a strange bellow of "RIVAL!" and Older Kakashi blanched, before turning down a different hallway. It was when they heard a woman screech and scream, "Where is he?!" that they saw how fast Kakashi could be. Minato almost wished he had Hiraishin as he tried to herd his students after the man.
Kakashi was stopped by a woman who was no taller than 5 feet, with pink hair and a diamond in the middle of her forehead that looked extremely similar to Tsunade-hime's seal.
"You're late, Sensei!" Minato felt his eyebrow raise. Kakashi became a sensei? He would have expected Obito to become the jounin sensei of the group.
"Ohh, you're gonna get it now Bakashi," Obito snickered. The older Kakashi smiled and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Maa, I got lost on the road of life." The woman's green eyes sparked. Minato thought Kakashi would have learned not to anger women from Kushina, but it appeared he didn't.
"Lost?" she whispered. "You're in your own house!" The Rokudaime chuckled. Minato wondered at his student's much less serious demeanor. He wondered what had caused Kakashi to loosen up, but looking at Older Kakashi's warm gaze towards his own student, Minato could see why.
"The ceremony is going to start in less than 2 hours, and you're the officiant! You can't get lost now - Naruto's already a wreck because she thinks you're going to be late, and she's going to cry off her makeup. Iruka-sensei tried to calm her down, but it didn't last. Can you just let her know that you're here? She's freaking out."
Minato could catch the grimace underneath Kakashi's mask. Naruto, the bride, must be important to him. "Well," he says lightly. "I shouldn't keep our knucklehead kunoichi waiting."
The woman's eyes narrowed. "If you do, I'll tell Gai-sensei all of your favorite hiding places in the village."
Older Kakashi gulped and followed the pink-haired kunoichi. They saw the Yamanaka from earlier, shoving bouquets at some poor servers.
"You tell me my excuses suck," Obito said to Younger Kakashi as they rushed by. "Lost on the road of life has to be the worst one." Younger Kakashi didn't dignify that with a response.
"Minato!"
In front of them, Minato could finally see Kushina, and he rushed towards her, trying to ignore the strange sensation of people walking through him. He checked her over for injuries and thankfully found none.
"You're okay," he breathed. Kushina nodded, but her eyes were locked on the older Kakashi, trying to navigate a crowd of well-wishers. Minato thought he caught an odd flash of purple, but in the crowd, he couldn't pin it down. Was that the Fire daimyo's daughter Minato saw?
"Is that-?"
Minato shrugged helplessly. "We're in the future, or a vision of it, at least. Kakashi is the Rokudaime. We're trying to get his attention to find a way back, but no one can hear us or see us. Where were you?"
Kushina grimaced. She nodded towards the door Kakashi was now approaching, the pink-haired woman taking over for him in socializing. "By this door. I tried moving away from it, but something kept pulling me back." She rested a hand on her stomach and gave Minato a significant look. Minato felt his eyes widen. What did Kyuubi have to do with this?
Minato grabbed her hand. "We'll figure it out." Kushina smiled as Older Kakashi began to knock on the door. Kushina craned her neck to look at Younger Kakashi, before flashing him a foxy grin.
"Congrats on being hokage, Kashi-kun. And you're not short anymore, dattebane!" The boy blinked, before nodding.
"My name is Kakashi. But thank you, Kushina-san."
"It's Kushina-nee, gaki!"
Before they could continue this argument, the door was open, and Minato hurried his group inside. He desperately hoped the bride was decent, since Kakashi was already there.
The door shut, and the group was in a similar room to the one they arrived in. A woman in a white kimono sat on the couch with her head in her hands, blonde, spiky hair falling around her face. Older Kakashi's face spasmed in what looked like a mixture of sadness, love, and grief, before settling on fondness.
"Sorry I'm late, there was a black cat in my way and I had to take the long way home."
The head shot up. "You're late, dattebayo!"
Someone gasped, and Minato couldn't honestly say it wasn't him.
The world sharpened around the bride. She was incredibly blonde, with blue eyes that looked remarkably similar to his own. She had 3 birthmarks on each cheek that looked like whiskers, giving her a fox-like appearance. Her nose was screwed up almost identically to Kushina's when she was about to cry.
"Is that..?" Rin whispered, trailing off, and no one answered her. No one could. Even Obito was speechless.
Minato's heart was lodged in his throat. She was beautiful. She was...His eyes began to brim with tears.
That face… that verbal tic…
Blonde eyebrows furrowed. "How was there a black cat in your way? This is your house! And aren't you allergic to cats?"
Older Kakashi laughed. "Have you been talking to Sakura? That used to get you all the time." The bride—Naruto— pouted, but soon her face returned to its despondent expression. Older Kakashi frowned.
"What's going on Naruto?" Naruto looked down at her stomach.
"I...don't know, Kaka-sensei." Obito snickered in the background. "The furball has been antsy all day, and my stomach kinda hurts. I don't know if it's butterflies, or if Kurama's playing a prank on me, but he won't say what's going on and I feel like I'm gonna throw up but I didn't even drink bad milk this time and I'm not sure if I'm making the right choice and I-"
Kakashi blinked rapidly, before holding his hands up. "One at a time Naruto-chan. Kurama hasn't said anything to you?"
"Who's Kurama?" Obito asked. Kakashi shushed him.
Naruto shook her head. "No. Kurama was freaking out before, and saying something about ripples but now, he feels a little calmer."
Kakashi nodded. "Can you just try breathing in and out for me?" He exaggerated his breaths, and Naruto soon followed, slowing her breaths from the near hyperventilation they were before. Kushina tilted her head, and as if mesmerized, walked closer to Naruto. She paused behind the girl, and Naruto gasped, before smiling. Her smile made the room seem brighter.
"He's calm! He was thrashing around before. But he's calm."
Minato sighed, trying to will his heart to ache less. The tears came freely, and he didn't know who they were for. This meant that Naruto was a jinchuuriki, and no jinchuriki survived an extraction. Which meant Kushina...But the girl herself...there was barely a question. She had to be their daughter.
Looking around, he wondered where his older self was, but he feared he already knew the answer.
Older Kakashi smiled. "Okay, that's one issue solved for now. What's this about not making the right choice? The Uzumaki Naruto I know never backs down from a challenge."
Uzumaki Naruto. Minato and Kushina shared a glance, before smiling. Naruto was a good name. He wondered why they chose it.
His daughter (and that would never be something he would be used to) looked offended. "And I don't back down, dattebayo! It's just... we finally got the teme back, and I'm happy he's here, but what if he thinks we're moving too fast, and he leaves again?" Liquid blue eyes watered dangerously, and Older Kakashi looked panicked. Kushina tried to place a trembling palm on the girl's hair, but her hands went straight through her head.
"What if he leaves me?" Naruto whispered.
Kushina, through tears, shook her head. "He'd be an idiot to leave you, Naru-chan." Minato didn't care if he was in the Pure Lands at this point, he'd haunt the Uchiha to the end of his days if he even thought of hurting his daughter. He hoped Kakashi gave the boy a shovel talk earlier.
"When has Sasuke leaving ever stopped you from dragging him back to Konoha?" Kakashi asked, and Minato is incredibly curious: how many times has Uchiha Sasuke left Konoha? Was that normal? "Marriage will be different, and difficult, but you've come this far Naruto. And Sasuke proposed to you, remember? You and Sasuke are here today because you love each other. It won't be easy, but when have things come easy for Team 7?"
Team 7. Of course, Kakashi's team is the same number as his own.
"You taught my daughter, Kakashi. Thank you," he whispered, glancing at Younger Kakashi. The boy whipped his head towards him, and swallowed, before nodding.
"Geez, let someone else get the glory Bakashi. First Hokage, now Sensei's kid's jounin sensei?" Obito blinked rapidly, staring at Naruto. "That's not fair."
Younger Kakashi snorted weakly. "I'm certain the sensei part happened first."
Naruto's eyes began to fill with confidence. "You're right! If he tries to go anywhere I'm gonna drag his ass back, just like old times." she grinned. "Thank you Kakashi-sensei!"
The older Kakashi rubbed his neck awkwardly. "Maa, you're welcome." Naruto's eyes darted off to the side.
"Another thing." she picked at a couch cushion. "If my parents were here, what do you think they'd say? Do you...think they'd like Sasuke?" It was official, Minato and Kushina were gone, and wouldn't witness their daughter's wedding, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Minato was glad they at least got to see it now, in whatever strange way they got here.
Kushina and Minato sharpened their eyes on the Rokudaime. The Older Kakashi closed his eyes and breathed out shakily.
"Sorry," Naruto said. "I know they meant a lot to you-"
Kakashi held up a hand and gave their daughter a crooked smile. "It's okay. Kushina-nee and Minato-Sensei meant so much to me, but they were your parents, Naruto. Like I've said before, I don't mind talking to you about them."
Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Hmm... I think Sensei would try to tell you that you were beautiful, but he'd be crying a bit too hard to speak, and Kushina-nee would call him a crybaby, but she'd be crying just as much."
Kushina and Minato glanced at each other's tear-stained faces and laughed the most they had in a while.
"Well, you were right about that, Kakashi-kun." RIn said, sniffling. The Younger Kakashi looked like he'd been hit with a brick.
"And I think Sensei would be always overprotective when it came to Sasuke, but Kushina-nee wouldn't have minded so much." He gave Naruto a conspiratorial smile. "Do you want to know why?" Naruto nodded, almost transfixed.
"Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto, was Kushina-nee's best friend. They did everything together, and your mother would force Mikoto-san to get ramen with her whenever she could." And Kushina began to sob. She had joked to Mikoto about her children being friends, and in their wildest dreams, Kushina and Mikoto hoped their kids would end up together. Right now Mikoto only had baby Itachi, so Sasuke must not be born yet.
But with the way Kakashi said it...that meant Mikoto wasn't alive either.
"Mikoto-sama," Obito whispered. He scrubbed at the tears in his eyes.
Naruto had a small bittersweet smile on her face. "Best friends...So, if things had gone differently, the teme and I would have known each other sooner, huh."
Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe. Kushina-nee always talked about roping my team or Itachi into free babysitting." Naruto giggled. Kakashi reached out a hand to ruffle Naruto's hair, but she leaned back.
"Ino said if I mess up my hair, she'll kill me." She rubbed her eyes of the remaining tears, before looking at her makeup stained hand in horror. "Sakura-chan is gonna kill me." Kakashi's face hilariously lost color almost immediately.
"Well, I should go. Sakura already threatened to expose my last few havens of Konoha to Gai if I'm not on time." Naruto laughed and nodded. Older Kakashi turned to go, and Naruto squeezed her eyes tight, before blurting,
"I know this is really late but you always kawarimi away when anything emotional happens so I was wondering if you would walk me down the aisle?" Older Kakashi's eyes were impossibly wide. "It's totally fine to say no, but Tou-san isn't here and I originally was going to ask Iruka-sensei but Iruka-sensei has a ton on his plate right now with being headmaster and-"
Older Kakashi chuckled softly, cutting Naruto off. Her face fell. Kakashi tilted his head and abruptly tugged down his mask. No one had time to react before he pressed his lips lightly to Naruto's forehead, immediately pulling his mask back up. The girl's eyes snapped open.
"I'd be honored, Naruto." He smiled, before turning to the door.
"Wait," Naruto murmured. Her eyes slowly grew bigger. "Did you just take off your mask?! Sensei, you can't tease me like that!" Her voice ratcheted in volume.
"Sensei! Come back, ttebayo!"
"Ah, Sakura-chan!" Kakashi said from behind the door. "Naruto needs help with her makeup. She ruined it. All of it."
Another screech, before Sakura was back, wrestling Naruto into a seat.
"You are going to sit in this chair," Sakura hissed. "For the next 15 minutes, and then we're going to put a bouquet in those hands and send you off down the aisle. There are 30 minutes left until your wedding!"
Naruto wailed.
Kushina turned to the group. "I'm going to stay here. For her. I should stay close." The kids didn't know she was a jinchuriki, but no one was going to try and pull the woman away from her future daughter, especially after what they just heard.
Obito groaned. "His face was right there, and I still didn't get to see it." Kakashi smirked.
"It's just a face. Better luck next time, deadlast."
Minato shook his head. "Rin, Obito, Kakashi, you should follow...the Rokudaime to the ceremony. Kushina and I will stay." He already wasn't alive for this day, he wanted to see as much of his daughter as possible.
His students left, and Minato and Kushina watched the Yamanaka woman and Sakura touch up Naruto's hair and makeup, clucking all the way. The Yamanaka shoved a bouquet in Naruto's hand, filled with sunflowers, orange gazanias, and roses.
"Go get him, Naruto-chan." she whispered, before winking. Naruto rolled her eyes before getting to her feet.
"You have some crazy genes, Mina-chan." Kushina whispered. She gives him a watery smile. Minato nodded over the lump in his throat.
"She has your spirit," Minato said. He watched his daughter look back in the mirror, blowing back a stray hair.
"It's time Naruto!" Sakura said, smiling. Naruto nodded. She left the dressing room, and Minato and Kushina followed.
Older Kakashi smiled as he took Naruto's hand. Minato took the left, and Kushina took Naruto's right.
As they walked down the aisle, Minato tried to survey the crowd, but found his eyes kept refocusing on Naruto, who was smiling in wonder at the people around her.
"If you keep crying like that Mina-chan, you'll miss the ceremony!" Kushina laughed wetly. Minato tried wiping his eyes on his sleeves, but his vision soon swam again.
They neared the altar, and Minato could see another Older Kakashi, as well as what must be Uchiha Sasuke. The boy stood tall and proud like every Uchiha Minato had ever seen, but his eyes were locked on Naruto. Minato could see the adoration, in the same way he could see it in the enraptured crowd. Maybe the Uchiha was alright.
"He looks like Mikoto," Kushina said softly. Minato couldn't help but agree.
White and orange petals drifted from the ceiling, rather than an actual flower girl, and Minato looked up, but saw no one. He wondered who was dropping the petals.
Naruto and Older Kakashi stopped at the altar, and Older Kakashi grinned before he puffed into smoke. Kage Bunshin? Naruto snorted.
"Sensei! Kushina-nee! Over here!" Obito waved from his seat on the floor in front. Minato and Kushina joined their kids.
At the altar, Older Kakashi began to speak. "We are gathered here today to finally join these two together off a battlefield." The crowd laughed, and Sasuke scowled.
"A joke? From Bakashi? What is this world coming to?" Obito whispered. Rin elbowed him in the side.
As the ceremony continued, multiple things jumped out at Minato, or the lack of them. There were no Uchiha, except a man who looked like an Uchiha sitting next to the Yamanaka woman from earlier, but he didn't wear an Uchiha crest. Mikoto and Fugaku weren't there, and neither was Itachi. Was it possible that this wedding wasn't approved by the Uchiha family, though it was approved by the Hokage? It sounded like a political minefield. It just seemed strange, considering Sasuke (his son in law Kami what was the world coming to) still wore an Uchiha crest.
Other noticeable absences were the future versions of Rin and Obito. The future so far had looked beautiful, but so many faces were missing, and Minato didn't like the implications. Judging from the way Younger Kakashi frowned at the crowd, he didn't like them either.
When the vows came, Naruto went first.
"Teme," she started, before smiling. Kushina snorted.
"I feel like I've spent forever chasing you, and now it's really weird that you're not running away. But I'm glad you're not. And I'm happy that we've made it this far, that we can be family to each other now.
She gave Sasuke a playful glare. "This doesn't mean that I won't stop kicking your ass in training, or that I won't stop trying to convince you that ramen is better than tomatoes, because it is, ttebayo!" Older Kakashi coughed lightly, and Naruto blushed, before looking back at Sasuke.
"But now, now we'll never be alone again. And we're going to yell and fight until we're all old and wrinkly, but I'm looking forward to it. You're my precious person." Sasuke's eyes widened, and he swallowed.
"Naruto. There is no one else in the five nations that I'd choose to spend my life with." he heard a loud sob, and Sakura and the Yamanaka were crying. The Uchiha-looking man stared at them curiously. "You've managed to pull me back from my darker moments, and for that, I am forever grateful. It would be an honor to spend the rest of my life at your side." Naruto's eyes welled up, and soon she had started crying.
"Sap!" Sasuke smirked, before wiping Naruto's eyes. As much as Minato wanted to take Sasuke to an empty training ground and truly get to know the boy, he could see how much he cared for Naruto.
"Does anyone have any objections?" Kakashi asked. "It's extremely late, but maybe we could work something out." Naruto and Sasuke both glared at him, and he laughed.
"Of course. Well, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride, Sasuke."
They kissed, and Older Kakashi called them Uchiha-Uzumakis, which Minato had to raise an eyebrow to. The Uchiha clan would riot in the streets if anyone decided to hyphenate in their weddings, let alone the son of the clan head.
The crowd began to thin out as the reception started in the gardens, while Older Kakashi began greeting some of the guests.
"I guess me and Rin aren't here, huh?" Obito said. He looked out at the crowd, but he seemed to already know what he would see. Rin, already crying, spilled a few more tears.
"I'm glad that we got to be here anyway." she rasped. She hugged Younger Kakashi, who flailed.
"And I'm glad you're still here, Kakashi-kun!" Younger Kakashi, surprisingly, patted the girl on the back. Rin grinned.
"RIVAL! WHAT A YOUTHFUL DISPLAY!" came a vaguely familiar voice. Older Kakashi rolled his eyes, smiling. He excused himself from the last few guests, and turned towards a man coming down the aisle. He looked extremely similar to Maito Dai rolled towards Older Kakashi in a wheelchair.
"Maa, it's been a long time coming. I just helped them along."
Obito's eyes widened. "Is that Gai!?" Rin nodded dumbly.
"Rival, I know your heart is filled with youthful exuberance at the marriage of your two students! This is a joyous day!" A waterfall and a sunset appeared behind the man as his eyes sparkled. Kakashi chuckled.
"I suppose so." The man's eyes twinkled.
"I suppose you know nothing of the petals that magically fell from the ceiling during the ceremony?" Older Kakashi shrugged.
"I asked Tenzo if he could be the flower girl for the wedding. He declined profusely, and said he would try something different."
Gai's grin turned smug. "Of course Rival, of course."
"Who is Tenzo, Kashi-kun?" Kushina asked. Younger Kakashi shrugged, an eerily similar picture to the older version in front of them.
"I've never met someone named Tenzo in my life."
"Yet." Minato said, smiling. They should probably start figuring out how to get back, even if all Minato wanted to do was see his daughter and her husband at their reception.
Gai turned toward the exit. "Are you coming to the reception? Kiba-kun and Lee have decided to coordinate some youthful fireworks!" Older Kakashi nodded.
"I'll meet you there." Gai nodded, and wheeled out of the exit. Older Kakashi looked up at the ceiling, seemingly lost in thought. A cough got everyone's attention.
A woman in her twenties stood at the exit, seemingly waiting for Older Kakashi. She had extremely long blonde hair, pale skin, and hauntingly familiar purple eyes.
"Is that the miko?" Rin asked. Kushina looked confused.
"She looks just like the little girl who gave us the box," Younger Kakashi clarified.
"Hokage-sama." Older Kakashi smiled and walked towards her lazily, but Minato could see how his back had straightened.
"Thank you for coming. I don't believe I know you. Are you a friend of Naruto's?" The woman shook her head, before chuckling.
"It's been a while, Hero." Older Kakashi's eyes narrowed, before they widened comically.
"Maiko-chan?" he said hesitantly. "What are you doing here?" She gestured towards a seat. Older Kakashi plopped down near the entrance.
"I came with a gift." she said simply. Older Kakashi looked at her oddly.
"Maa, most people give gifts to the couple, not the officiant." Maiko grinned, before picking at her dress.
"I do have a gift for the couple, but it was important that I gave you your gift as well." She tilted her head. "I suppose you could consider it returning something to you as well." She raised her hand slowly, allowing Kakashi to telegraph the movement, before placing it on his own.
She closed her eyes, and after a moment, her hands glowed white.
"She's got some new tricks," Obito muttered, transfixed.
The glow spread to Kakashi's hands, and his eyes flashed white, before fading. His eyes widened, and he stood, rigid, for a solid minute. He looked about left and right, before turning frustrated eyes on the woman.
"Kakashi, what the heck is going on with you?" Obito asked. Younger Kakashi stared at his older counterpart in distaste.
"I'm...not sure. Maybe I saw something?" He didn't sound too sure.
"That was cruel, Maiko-chan," Older Kakashi complained, but his eyes were tight. Maiko nodded.
"I apologize for taking them away from you, but did you ever think of the words in the box? What they meant?" Kakashi sighed.
"It took me a while to figure it out, but I did. Flower reflected in the Mirror, Moon reflected on the water." his smile was pained. "Unattainable dreams." She gave Kakashi another odd smile.
"My gift to you is fleeting, barely in reach, but I hope you cherish it. This is your time." She stood up, and bowed low to Kakashi. She placed her hand on the exit door, and it flashed white, before fading. She shut the door behind her.
Older Kakashi channeled chakra towards a privacy seal on the wall. He paused, before spinning around, spanning the seats. He didn't seem to find what he was looking for, but he sat down towards the altar before hesitantly murmuring, "Sensei? Kushina-nee? Obito? Rin? Are you there?"
Minato's breath caught.
"Bakakashi, could you see us the whole time?!" Obito shouted. Unlike Younger Kakashi, Older Kakashi didn't flinch.
The Rokudaime looked down. "I can't see you or hear you. She could be lying, you may not even be in this room." he laughed, a broken, jagged sound. "But if I'm remembering correctly, we were all here today. Everyone…" The man looked distraught.
"The box said Kyōka Suigetsu. Flower in the mirror, moonlight on the water. Beautiful, intangible things. Seen, but not able to be touched." The man smiled as his gaze flickered around the room, an almost hungry look in his eyes.
"I wish I could see you again." Sadness welled up in Minato. The older Kakashi's face was well set in grief. Obito looked at the man in despair.
"We're always here with you Kakashi." Rin grabbed onto Kakashi's hand, and the boy trembled, but didn't look up from the floor.
The older Kakashi sat there, not quite looking at them, but the warmth was there regardless. "A day doesn't pass where I don't miss you all. You're the most important people in my life." His eyes closed in the best approximation of a smile he could give.
Minato thought back to the little miko's words. A match that burned too brightly. A directionless flame. A hero who carried loss as an integral part of himself, who loved so desperately it crushed him. It made sense. It made terrible, terrible sense.
Minato's heart was torn. He knew that he wasn't alive to see his own daughter's wedding, but he was devastated to know that Rin and Obito weren't there either. And Kushina…
He glanced at his girlfriend, and she appeared to be sobbing.
"Oh, Kashi-kun," she whispered. She wrapped her arms around the younger, very much shellshocked Kakashi.
The older Kakashi looked down, once again mirroring his counterpart. "Sensei, Kushina-nee, Rin…" His face spasmed in what resembled deep-seated grief. He clenched the Hokage robes.
"Even you too, Obito." his voice could barely be called a whisper. Kakashi looked up, and to their surprise, the man had tears down his face. "Always you, from the day we met, and every argument after." Obito flailed, opening his mouth to make a strangled noise. He stilled, then turned to stare at Younger Kakashi. Younger Kakashi shook his head, eyes widening.
"I don't know what he's talking about! H-he's just joking! I'm not- he's not-" Obito rolled his eyes, but looked away as he grabbed Kakashi's hand.
"Just shut up, Bakashi." Was that a blush underneath Kakashi's mask? Minato blinked.
"I think what happens here, if you are here, is that you won't remember once you wake up. But, I just want to say...thank you." Kakashi bowed to them, and the only sound in the room was the soft swish of fabric.
"I didn't always give the lessons you all gave me the attention and care they deserved, but I get it now. You tried so hard to reach me, Minato-sensei, and it took me so long to realize that putting teammates first is what matters. Because those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash, right Obito?" Kakashi's lips twitched.
"Rin," Older Kakashi rasped, "I'm so sorry. But thank you for always being so kind and considerate, especially when I didn't deserve it. Being able to call myself your teammate and your friend is one of the biggest honors of my life." Rin's cheeks flooded with color. She grasped Kakashi's hand tightly, trying to convey as much feeling as possible to the boy, as if it would reach the man in front of them.
"Obito…" Older Kakashi says softly. "I owe so much of who I am to you." The man's lips quirk, but a series of emotions flit across his face, settling on something that bordered fondness and exasperation. He tilted his head in a way that paralleled his summons. "You're also the biggest idiot I know."
"Hey!" Obito objected, gripping tighter to Younger Kakashi's hand. As if he could hear, the older Kakashi chuckled.
"Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee, I had the honor of watching your daughter grow up." Older Kakashi looked away. "She's so much like you, it feels like you two are still here sometimes."I...didn't always look after her the way I should have, and for that, I'm sorry."
"You've always been too hard on yourself, Kakashi." Minato whispered. He wasn't entirely sure if Kakashi would remember this later, but he needed the boy to know. Younger Kakashi stared at him with wide, wet eyes. "I know you tried your best. You always do." He placed a hand on Kakashi's head and ruffled his hair.
"You're too smart to be dumb now, Kashi-kun," Kushina said, tightening her arms around Kakashi. His students and his girlfriend looked more like a tangle of limbs than four separate people. "No matter what, we know you tried. And judging from today, you did a great job, 'ttebane!" Kushina sniffed. "Don't make me wait until I'm in the Pure Lands to realize that, okay?"
And underneath the group, Minato heard a small sob.
There was a knock on the door. Older Kakashi grimaced, before looking out at the hall.
"I have to go," he whispered. He rubbed away some of his tears. "But Chibi me, remember to cherish them, okay? They're the best people in the world, and just-" his voice cracked. "Give them all a hug for me, alright?"
Older Kakashi gave the room one last wobbly smile, and dropped the privacy seals, before leaving.
The world went white.
Minato's eyes cracked open from his spot on the floor. His muscles felt relaxed, his head was clear, and he felt more rested than he'd been in weeks. It would be even greater, he supposed, if he could remember what had just happened.
"Oh!" Rin scrambled off the floor, where Obito and Kakashi were laying down under Kushina. Kakashi seemed to be at the bottom of the pile."Kushina-nee! You're crushing Obito and Kakashi-kun." Rin exclaimed.
"Sorry Kashi-kun!" Kushina got up and dusted off her dress. "Are you okay?"
Kakashi nodded slowly, and Minato could see- were those tear tracks on Kakashi's face?
"I am, thank you-" Kakashi swallowed. "-Kushina-nee."
"Don't call me-" Kushina's eyes widened, before she squealed, throwing her arms around Kakashi.
"You called me Kushina-nee! I knew you could do it." she rustled the boy's hair, and he said nothing, but smiled at Kushina.
"Does anyone remember what just happened?" Obito yawned, rubbing his eyes with his left hand. "I feel like I had an amazing dream." Rin looked at him oddly, before looking towards Kakashi. Her eyes widened, before she smiled widely.
Minato shook his head. "I'm not too sure myself." Unless that box managed to give people a magical night's sleep, which in that case, he was thankful.
He picked up the box, and ran his fingers over the kanji. Mirror Flower, Water Moon. The words echoed strangely in his head. He tried putting chakra into the box, but nothing happened.
"Well, it appears to be empty. Does anyone want it?" Minato asked. Surprisingly, Kakashi nodded.
"I do," Kakashi said, reaching out with his right hand. Kushina let out a strangled laugh and exchanged an amused glance with Rin.
"Obito-kun, Kashi-kun, are you two holding hands?"
Oh.
Obito squawked, and the boys dove apart. Obito's face resembled Kushina's hair. "I just remembered - I should go see my baa-chan! See you tomorrow for practice!" He ran to the door, fumbled with the knob before slamming it shut. Rin burst into giggles, and yes -that was definitely a blush under Kakashi's mask.
Minato was optimistic the boys wouldn't fight as much. Hopefully.
"I should go too." Rin gave Kakashi an uncharacteristically smug grin, before walking towards the door. "See you tomorrow!"
Kakashi, for once, was the last to leave. He ran a hand along the box, before putting it gingerly in his pack. He looked towards Minato pensively, before Minato was slugged in the stomach.
Wait, no.
Kakashi's silver hair was nearly in his mouth, but Minato wrapped his arms around the boy.
"Not that I'm not happy to receive a hug," Minato asked carefully, because what was going on? "-but what brought this on? Is everything okay?"
Kakashi nodded into his chest. A solid minute passed, and Minato stared at Kushina, whose eyes were suspiciously bright.
Kakashi stepped back. His eyes still seemed to be red from some tears, but Minato could see the outline of a smile underneath his mask.
"I'm okay. Thank you sensei. I'll see you tomorrow." He waved, and left. Minato was struck with the odd sensation of wanting to smile and wanting to sob. He decided to smile instead.
Kushina flopped on the couch, and he moved to lay his head in her lap. She sat there for a while, not saying anything, but running her hands through his hair.
"We should have more kids, Mina-chan."
Minato choked.