A/N: Sorry for the long wait guys! There's a flu bug going around and I'm falling sick, gah. Anyway, I was writing and writing and writing to make sure everything fits together, but I wasn't satisfied with this chapter :( But things could drag on forever this way so I thought it'd be better just to post... The next few updates should come out faster because I have drafted the next few chapters already, yay! :) I'm really excited we're back in Konoha.

Once Kakashi's shaking subsides, the two ANBU barely take any time to pack and Henge into Ame shinobi before they're sprinting through streets and across waters, heading straight for the border. They outrun Ame's rainstorms with the wind in their hair and lightning on their heels, and the landscape changes all around them to canopied forests and sun-dappled earth. The thick branches that begin to criss-cross their path make easy footholds, and they take to familiar heights with ease.

When Konoha's border patrol falls into a run besides them, they drop their Henges and flare their chakra to identify themselves. But their footsteps refuse to slow, and about half a mile later the border patrol drops away, satisfied with whatever they've found. When Sakumo looks back at Kakashi and Rin, he finds the same sharp edges of grief painted on their faces. It is only their determination to return and find out what has happened that keeps them going. The letter had said precious little — only that inconceivable news and an order to return immediately, mission completed or not.

They stop to rest for a mere two hours at night before they are on their way again, sleepless hope and denial spurring them on even as logic drags them deeper into despair. Yet, before they confirm everything with their own eyes, everything hangs in balance. Reality itself is suspended on the delicate thread of doubt. Minato and Kushina might be dead, but they might also be alive.

A weaker person might have been tempted to turn and run at this point. Why cut the last silken strand of hope?

Konoha comes into sight within a day and a half. The towering gates are still intact, its massive double doors closed against the afternoon sun, but there is a lingering heaviness in the air. It's the throat-stinging scent of ash and fire and the foreign taste of ancient chakra, writhing in knots of malice, hatred, and death.

The guard at the side gate waves them through the side-door with a somber "welcome home", and—

The Kyuubi's path of destruction cuts from one end of the village to the other, carving a deep trench-like gouge across the land. It slashes from village centre to the mountain range on the other side. Pockets of destruction dot either side of the Kyuubi's path — evidence of a vicious struggle as the village tried to herd the demon-fox away. Everything from houses to shops have been trampled into the ground. The Academy's familiar red roof is a conspicuous absence from the skyline, and one wing of the hospital has been pulverised.

Sakumo has never seen Konoha lain so low. The devastation that overcomes him is silently mirrored on Rin's and Hyaku's faces, rooting all three of them to the spot.

"Try not to run across the roofs," the guard advises quietly, snapping the new arrivals out of their stupor. "They haven't gotten around to checking structural integrity yet."

Nodding, they head towards the Hokage tower, a beacon of strength that has thankfully survived intact. Their footsteps are weighed down by the palpable sense of loss in the air when they pass the many dressed in somber colours, either plain black or the dark navy of the shinobi uniform. A pervasive silence blankets them all, broken only by the rare holler of instructions as civilians and shinobi alike work together, clearing rubble and recovering whoever or whatever might be trapped underneath.

According to the date of the letter, it has been a week since the attack. The injured have been brought to the hospital and the dead placed in the morgue, but most are still at loose ends. The newly homeless, the orphaned, the widows and widowers... they end up wandering the streets, lost.

Kakashi bites his thumb, piercing skin to make blood well. His faithful ninken appear in eight puffs of smoke at his Kuchiyose. They all immediately tense and turn to Kakashi as one, their eyes full of alarm and their noses lifted to the air. Kakashi looks at them with his single eye shadowed with sorrow. "Check on Gai and the others," he commands softly. "Then go help anyone you can."

"You got it Boss," Pakkun says gruffly, and the pack nods reassuringly at their master before scattering.

Kakashi watches them run off before slipping his hands into his pockets, the slope of his shoulders listless and his gaze downcast. In a whisper so soft Sakumo can barely hear, he states the inevitable conclusion that all of them have been afraid to give voice to. "Minato-sensei and Kushina-san are really gone, aren't they?" Snake regards him with mute sympathy.

A soft sound escapes Rin as she stares down the street they have stopped on, her eyes lingering on the Kyuubi's trail of destruction on the street parallel. "It ends at Minato-sensei's safehouse," she observes, her voice cracking like her heart is surely also. With a sigh, Sakumo wraps an arm across her shoulders and pulls her close, bumping her side against his. Rin reaches up and clutches at his hand, weaving her fingers through his and holding on tight. Too tight, perhaps, as if she's afraid he might also leave her.

Hyaku too, has look in her eyes that speaks of old pain when she takes in Konoha's wounds. Sakumo can only imagine what she must be seeing. She had lived and died during the destruction of Uzushio, after all. The shinobi who have died this time round bear the Uzushio spiral on their backs too.

In the end, words of condolence aren't something Snake offers. "Let's not keep Sandaime-sama waiting," she says instead. It might have been harsh if not for the softness of her tone, but regardless, it is a keen reminder that the Yondaime is no more. A sheen of tears glistens in Kakashi's eyes when he lifts his gaze to the sky, but he nods and picks up his feet once more.

For better or for worse, all of them have always been dutiful to a fault.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi."

Hiruzen sounds old. There are new strands of silver in hair and the black of his mourning clothes reflect the dull heartache in his eyes. By his side, Kagami looks just as burdened. When he confirmed that Minato hasn't become a ghost due to the Shiki Fuujin, not one vestige of his usual liveliness was present.

"I understand," Kakashi says stoically. His gaze is fixed on the desolate view the half-shuttered window provides. "Konoha is everything to Minato-sensei and Kushina-san."

No-one misses the young ANBU's slip in tense. "Why don't you go see them," the Sandaime suggests gently, and Rin bites her lip hard, seeming torn between anticipation and dread. "Snake can report for both of you."

Kakashi looks conflicted but relaxes a bit at Snake's nod. "Thank you for your consideration, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi murmurs with a bow. "May I ask, where is Naruto?"

The old Hokage's expression lifts a fraction. "He's at Border Outpost 7, the 3rd floor. The seal is still very unstable, so we cannot risk placing him in the hospital. But there is a nurse there watching over him, along with Rabbit and Lynx. Feel free to visit, but don't let anyone outside of ANBU know."

"Thank you, Sandaime-sama."

'A baby jinchuuriki,' Sakumo muses with faint incredulity as he regards Konoha's maimed visage through the window. How can the maelstrom of malice that tore apart Konoha so easily fit inside an infant, one prematurely born at that?

A/N: To those who read this chapter when I first posted, sorry for all the grammatical errors argh :( I hope I've edited them all out.