Minato opened his eyes to the too bright light of the sun and had the feeling he had forgotten something very important. In all likeliness it probably had something to do with why he was lying next to the memorial stone of all places. He had absolutely no idea why he was there or what he had been doing before then. The last important thing he could remember was Obito's death, he knew there were other things after that but for the life of him he couldn't remember a single thing.

He groaned as stood up, unsure of why his muscles felt so sore like they hadn't been used in quiet awhile. But that didn't make sense, he was an active shinobi, it just must be from lying on the ground. Why he had decided to nap on the ground was beyond him. Luckily there was no one around to see him, most notably Kushina; she would have a field day if she caught him napping at the training grounds.

It was then he noticed the calf-length coat he was wearing. It had a high collar and short sleeves, fitting comfortably over his jonin attire; it even had red flames at the bottom. Where the hell had this come from? Oh well, it did look kind of cool, might as well keep it.

XxX

Naruto pushed himself higher on the swing as he watched the parents rush their children away from him. He didn't know why he wasn't allowed to play with the other children when their parents were around and no one would tell him. In fact now that he thought about it most of the grownups wouldn't even look at him. Oh well one day he was going to be Hokage just like the Old Man and then they would all look up to him. Even if they did hate him, he was going to protect them all!

He looked up from his day dreaming to see a tall man with spiky blonde hair just like him, walking through the crowd. But the moment Naruto blinked he was gone. "Weird." He muttered to himself.

With one last push he jumped off the swing and ran out of the playground and into the streets. He didn't notice the adults giving him a wide berth as he ran toward his favorite ramen stand, the only restaurant the Old Man would allow him to go to. He wasn't sure why he was only allowed to go to that one ramen stand but didn't really think anything of it because the ramen there was awesome.

XxX

Minato wasn't sure what the hell was going on. He had thought he was trapped in some type of genjutsu but when he tried to dispel it nothing happened. He was really considering the option of freaking out completely but knew that wouldn't help at all. He needed to remain calm and figure out what was going on. He knew he wasn't trapped in a genjutsu that much was obvious, especially after the unsettling incident when a man had walked through him.

He was beginning to wonder if he had died; the idea wasn't appealing at all and was his least favorite even if it was his only idea at the time. But something was bothering him, if he was dead then why could he still feel his chakra? Did ghosts even have chakra? Maybe this was some sort of astral projection, yeah that was it. He was on a mission somewhere and Rin was healing him right now, he would wake up any moment now. He couldn't shake the sinking sensation in his stomach as he knew that it probably wasn't true.

Maybe he could find out what was going on from the Hokage. He was about to start making his way to the Hokage tower to help past the time when a blonde kid ran right through him. It was possibly the most unpleasant thing he had ever experienced. But unlike the man who had first invaded his personal space and kept walking the kid skidded to a stop in front of him and turned around to look at him.

He had never seen this kid in his life, in fact if he didn't know any better he would say the kid looked a little too much like him for coincidence. He had the same spiky blonde hair and the same bright blue eyes. The only really weird feature was that the boy seemed to have whiskers on his cheeks. The boy tilted his head to the side as he met Minato's eyes; he blinked and shook his head before running off again.

Had that kid seen him?

There was something weird about that kid, he thought as he watched him run off. The villagers he noticed seemed to go out of their way to avoid being anywhere close to the boy.

Weird.

He turned his attention back to the task at hand and turned toward the Hokage Tower with his head bowed in thought. Why couldn't he remember what had happened to him, it was all so very hazy as though there was a thick fog in his mind preventing him from accessing the information. Did the Third even know what happened to him yet?

He continued his trek down the streets of his beloved village and glanced up at the Hokage Monument. What he saw made him stop dead in his tracks and the blood drain from his face, figuratively of course. There was the face of the first, the second, the third and then a fourth. The face was familiar but he just couldn't place, but then again the rock monuments faces only sort of resembled the men they were sculpted after.

How long had he been dead or whatever he was? He needed to hurry up and get to the tower. Using his infamous speed he ran across rooftops until he reached an open window just outside the Hokage's office. He was confused however, to see that the Third was in his Hokage robes and hat smoking his pipe and doing paper work.

He jumped silently into the room and looked around. It didn't appear to have changed at all the only knew thing was a fourth picture on the wall next to the pictures of the other three Hokage. He walked forward to get a better look at the picture of the fourth Hokage, he felt his jaw drop as he saw himself in that picture labeled as the Fourth.

What the hell is going on here?

"Lord Hokage!" he called out.

The man didn't even flinch.

Panic was starting to set in; he knew he had missed something important he just didn't know what it was. Was this a nightmare maybe, he desperately hoped so but at the same time knew it wasn't. What had happened to him? Had he really been the Fourth Hokage? If so then why was the Third back in office unless he had died?

Minato didn't want to admit it but it would make sense if he died, that would mean he really was a ghost. But he had thought once a person passed they would move on from this world and into another, so why was he stuck here? Did he have some sort of unfinished business he needed to complete before he could move on? Why couldn't he remember his death or becoming Hokage? He then remembered the jacket he wore, of course he would rather wear this then the traditional robes.

He sighed and moved closer to the large desk in the center of the room to get a better look at the Third. He definitely looked older but not a lot older than he had the last time Minato could remember seeing him. So had he been dead for a few years or only recently.

He was roused from his thoughts as someone knocked on the door to the office. "Come in." came the thirds voice and out of habit Minato moved back so that he wasn't in the way, it didn't matter that they couldn't see him anyway.

In walked a familiar dog mask ANBU operative with tall spiky silver hair, Kakashi. From what he could see he was no longer a teenager but looked more like he was twenty or somewhere around there. Why had he missed so much?

"Naruto has been admitted to the hospital for poisoning, Bird is overseeing the treatment. The offender is in custody and is waiting to be interrogated." He said in his usual monotone voice.

Who was this Naruto and why had he been poisoned? Minato turned to look the Third who all of the sudden looked much older and a lot more tired.

"How did they try to do it this time?" he asked in a weary tone.

"The baker gave him a cookie laced with the poison."

"And why did ANBU not try to stop this." He asked giving a glare to Kakashi who wasn't fazed at all by it.

"He's six and very unpredictable sir, even the best of the ANBU have trouble keeping him in sight one-hundred percent of the time. I have to use my sharingan sometimes on him." Kakashi said.

Wait, someone had tried to poison a little child? And what was so important about this child that not only people tried to kill him but the situation warranted ANBU protection.

"Have Ibiki start the interrogation and tell him have fun with it. I will not stand for this any longer, the child has done nothing wrong, why can't they see that he is the savior of this village?" he asked himself.

Unfortunately Kakashi didn't answer, much to Minato's dismay. Who was this child?

"Very well, I will go to the hospital to gather Naruto. I want you to go ahead and secure his apartment." He said as he stood up and adjusted his robes.

"Yes Lord Hokage." Kakashi said before leaving the room.

The Third walked forward but before leaving he turned to the four consecutive pictures on the wall. He walked to the picture of the Fourth, Minato's picture.

"Forgive me Minato." He said the pain evident in his voice. "I wish I could protect your sacrifice as you wished for me too. But I'm afraid they will only see demon and not the boy holding the demon at bay." And with a shake of his head he left the office leaving Minato alone.

"My sacrifice?" he whispered.

So he had died but how? His death had something to do with a boy and a demon. What had the Third said, something about the boy holding the demon at bay? So did that mean he had created a jinchuriki at the cost of his own life?

He needed answers so he did the only thing he could do and ran out of the office to follow the Hokage.