The first thing that Minato notices is the silence.

For too long, his life had been a whirlwind of color and sound. He had gone from war hero to Hokage in an instant, a boyfriend to a husband to a father in what felt like even less. There was always the deafening roar of war - crumbling rock and buzzing electricity and Sensei, Obito's gone - and after that, always a clan head who felt slighted by a new village policy, or an elder enraged by his refusal to abide by their every whim. And, in the end, there had been the screams and the snarl of the Kyuubi, the menacing tones of the masked man and Naruto's panicked cries, and by the time he had activated the seal, he had almost been relieved -

Except, this was not the stomach of the Shinigami. Not if the stomach of the Shinigami looked like his bachelor's apartment, from which he had moved out several years ago, a year before getting the position of Hokage.

He blinks, slow and deliberate, and forms a seal. "Kai," Minato says.

Nothing. Still, he could not let down his guard, not when the masked man had been a Uchiha - and who could he have been? - and could have layered illusion upon illusion on him.

Minato bites his thumb open, almost absentmindedly registering the sharp pain as he makes the seals. A medium-sized toad puffs into being in front of him, and meets his stare with a quizzical look. "Yo?" It greets, single webbed appendage raised.

The summons had worked. It shouldn't have, not if this was any genjutsu he had heard of. "Ah," he says. "...Sorry. My mistake." The toad looks at him balefully for a moment, before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

That left him two options. Either he was in an illusion deeper than any that he knew - and he was perfectly aware of how much he didn't, Hokage or not - or the ridiculously tiny chance that - this was real, and he was in an apartment that should no longer belong to him. Should no longer exist, because this had been one of the first targets of the Kyuubi's destruction.

How much of what he had experienced was real? The last thing he had remembered had been standing against all of the Kyuubi's might, Kushina by his side -

Kushina. Kushina. How could he have forgotten about his wife, his best friend, the mother of his child? Could she be in the same situation he was, waking up years in the past when she knew she should be dead?

Minato moves quickly through the village, even by Yellow Flash standards. Somehow, he didn't think Kushina would take too kindly to his Hiraishin-ing straight to her apartment door, especially since she had told him not to hide any of his 'funky kunai' around her place. I'm not some damsel in distress, dattebane! I can take care of myself, she had said. But he had worried, and well, she hadn't found out then, and (hopefully) she wouldn't find out now.

His hands are sweating as he knocks on her door. Once, twice, and then the door slams open as Kushina - hair shocking red, expression twisted in indignant anger, a single finger pointed up to his face - demands loudly, "Hey, maybe you dipshits could actually sell whatever you're hawking if you came some time a sane person would be awa -"

Minato blinks. Kushina stops, mouth open. "...Minato? Hey, what are you doing here?" She asks, drawing back. "...Eheh... sorry about that, I've been having some trouble with, uh, vacuum sellers recently."

"Vacuum sellers?" He repeats slowly, his eyes fixed upon her face. He had thought that it would be the last time he would ever see her again, as they stood against the might of the rampaging Kyuubi together and bid goodbye to their beloved son. But she was here now, wonderfully alive, and -

"Yeah, vacuum sellers. It's crazy. They're crazy. Why do I need a vacuum?" She rambles on, rolling her eyes. "Do I look like my apartment needs a vacuum? Actually, no, don't answer that, I know my place is a mess. But -"

"Kushina," he says, almost desperately. "Do you remember? About Naruto."

"...Remember what?" She squints at him. "...If this is about the ramen last night, I know, but Ichiraku's was closed and ugh -"

It feels like the ground is being pulled out from under him. "It's nothing," he says thickly, unconsciously taking a step back from the woman he loved. "I mean - yes. The ramen was... not well made."

"...Uh, yeah," Kushina says, equally awkwardly. "Uh, is that why you came? I mean, ramen's pretty damn important, but isn't your team waiting for you? I bet even Obito-kun's made it by now, dattebane - it's ten minutes past six."

His team. Minato jolts back, eyes widened in sudden realization.

His team, the one that really didn't exist anymore, even in paperwork, because there was only one other member who was alive - and Kakashi had been months into ANBU, so submerged in that to the point to which Minato would have forced him out if he didn't know Kakashi would resort to more desperate measures to drown his memories. His team, who he had failed, in one way or another. The three children who he had gotten horribly killed (or close to it) because he just hadn't been there, not when the rocks came down on poor, cheerful Obito, not when Kiri strapped the Sanbi to Rin and forced her to make the only decision she thought open to her because a trained seal user had not been there, not when Kakashi, who had lost everything already, decided to lose himself as well.

They were alive. Most likely, Obito and Kakashi had already started brawling, with Rin trying to play the mediator. "I- I forgot," he says, a tad sheepishly. "Kushina, I need to go."

"Yeah, alright. Tell those crazy kids of yours I said hi, alright? Maybe I'll drop by sometime." She grins, pecks him on the cheek, and then shuts the door. Seconds later, Minato is off and running, bounding from roof to roof and finally landing to -

- to see an empty training ground. No Kakashi, no Obito, no Rin. There's a moment of illogical panic for him when he thinks, had he failed them already? Even before he had a chance to do better - before he realizes that there's a note in the grass, written in Rin's neat penmanship.

Sensei, it reads (it had been months since he had seen Rin's neat, always precise mission reports, and for some reason, it is that thought that burns in his chest as he reads) Obito was late. Kakashi and I are going to his apartment. Relief blossoms within him as he uses Hiraishin - he has special kunai placed near every one of his student's homes - and appears in his trademark yellow flash just a few minutes away from Obito's shabby apartment, on the outskirts of the Clan Compound. Anywhere else, and the Uchiha would not have been happy with Minato's placing of his kunai on clan grounds.

He senses the chakra signatures of his three students nearby, and - they're not what he remembered them to be like, but... it had been years. Most likely, he had remembered incorrectly. Still, they were flickering, as if the three were getting increasingly agitated. Understandable - Kakashi and Obito used to act - do act like cats and dogs on a good day, and being stuck in Obito's tiny apartment probably wasn't doing them any good.

Minato makes his way up the creaking stairs, and knocks on Obito's door. The chakra signatures inside - jolt, for lack of a better word. His team was... surprised? They weren't expecting him to be here, which didn't make sense, because Rin had left a note, didn't she?

Moments later, the door clicked open to reveal an ill-looking Nohara Rin. Still significantly better than she looked the last time he had seen her - or rather her body, but don't think about that - and behind her were -

"Kakashi, Obito, Rin," Minato says, chokes out, really, because they were just like how he had remembered them, young and alive, in every sense of the word. Kakashi's two eyes stare back at him, and yes, he remembered now - the boy had been disagreeable and cranky at times, but he hadn't had the dead eyes possessed by the Kakashi he had last seen. Obito and Rin were - they were back, and for the first time in a very long time, Namikaze Minato feels that his family is together again.

"We're sorry for leaving, Minato-sensei," Rin says. "It's just, Kakashi and I talked with Obito a little and we lost track of time."

"It's fine," he replies absentmindedly. "It's good, I - It's alright." Yes, it would be alright now. With what Minato knew about the future, there was no reason that any member of his team would meet the fates they met in his time. Really, all it took to save his students were split second decisions - if only he had sent a clone along with his team, if only he had assigned the mission to someone else, if only -

But because no one has ever accused Minato of being an idiot (other than Kushina, of course), he notices that... there was something wrong. Obito, for some reason, is steadfastly avoiding his eyes, his face expressionless and turned away. Kakashi, on the other hand, cannot seem to stop staring at him, both eyes wide with some kind of - disbelief? Joy? It is difficult to tell.

...It had been years since he had seen his team like this. More likely than not, his memory was playing tricks on him.

"Team," he begins, and it had really been too long. "Kakashi, Rin, Obito," Minato says again, because it feels like just saying their names make them just a bit more real, not illusions constructed haphazardly out of guilt and if-only's. "I have some news for you three. You all remember the mission that we've been given for next week, correct?"

All three students of his nod, oddly tense. Minato pauses for a moment, and makes a decision. "...I decided that we're not ready," he says, even though he knows that the village is running short on teams, even though he knows that, on paper, his team - one newly promoted jounin and two chuunin - should be skilled enough to complete the mission with no casualties. True, he is - was? - Hokage, and he should be making the decisions for the good of the village -

But he had already made a lifetime's worth of those decisions. This time, he was going to protect those people close to his heart.

Rin is the first to react. "Then," she says slowly, "w-we're not going to... Kannabi Bridge?" Her eyes are wide as she glances over at Obito, expression unreadable.

"...That's correct," Minato says. The Hokage would not be happy. He would demand an explanation, a genuine reason, but he would think of one later that didn't include, "the heart of my team will die on this mission, and the rest of them won't survive the war."

He expects Kakashi to protest, first of all. It fits with what he remembers of the proud shinobi that Kakashi had been, so eager to prove himself to not be like his father that he would do anything to fulfill his duties. This was to be his first mission as a jounin, after all, and he must have been so excited -

But Kakashi stays quiet, seemingly just as poleaxed as Rin seems. For some reason, he seems glad. No, instead, it is Obito who slams a hand down and says, "No. We have to go on that mission."

"Obito," Rin hisses. "

"Minato-sensei," the Uchiha says, ignoring Rin's outburst. He meets his gaze for the first time since Minato had entered the room. "We need to take that mission."

Minato blinks, somewhat confused. "Why?" He asks. Obito had no reason to want to go on that mission, not like Kakashi did. In fact, if he remembered correctly, Obito had been dreading leaving for Iwa for another few weeks when he had only had a week or so's worth of time back in the village.

"There's something I need to do," the boy says, and it sounds like a promise. There is an unfamiliar tone in his voice. If it hadn't been Obito, of all people, Minato would have thought it was hatred, pure and concentrated.

"...Surely, there are other opportunities to do what you need to do," he replies, an edge in his voice. Minato had not expected the biggest barrier to saving Obito's life to be Obito himself, not when his student had always been obedient to every order other than, 'Don't get in a fight with Kakashi again.' "Obito, respect my authority as team commander -"

"Sensei -" The Uchiha tries again, and it reminds him so much of Kakashi begging him to sign off another S-rank mission with an eighty percent mortality rate that Minato can't help but -

"Obito, this mission is going to kill you!" He snaps, and immediately wishes he didn't. Maybe it had been the stress of the past twenty four hours getting to him, or the hope of a second chance knocking him off his feet. Minato tries to backtrack. Perhaps he could write it off as an exaggeration? "Obito, what I mean is -"

His team had gone quiet, faces oddly pale as they stare at him with wide eyes.

Then, Kakashi sighs once, and asks, "Then... Minato-sensei, do you remember?"

"...I'm not sure what you mean, Kakashi," Minato replies slowly, tense.

"What I mean is... do you remember Obito dying, and giving me his Sharingan? Rin, and the Sanbi?" Kakashi narrows his eyes. "Minato-sensei, do you remember Naruto?"

Minato fixates on the impossible name, first of all. How could Kakashi know this? Not even the Kakashi of his time had known, because it had been a secret between only himself and Kushina. The only other person who could have possibly have an inkling would have been Jiraiya, as it had been his book that Minato had gotten the name from... but Kakashi?

Something must have appeared on his face, because Kakashi's eyes shine with grim realization. "Rin, Obito, and I... Minato-sensei, we all remember up to our deaths. I'm assuming it's the same for you, too? ...The Kyuubi."

He takes in the information... the best he could. "Kakashi," he says sharply, "you didn't die during the - ?" Minato can't bring himself to finish the sentence, because it would mean that he had failed again to protect his students.

But the boy shakes his head. "I died a long time after that, Minato-sensei. I was thirty."

Minato's jaw drops, even as Rin spins toward Kakashi with wide eyes. In fact, the only person who didn't seem surprised was the still uncomfortable looking Obito. "T-Thirty?" He manages, though a tad weakly. That... Then Kakashi was older than he was!

Kakashi grins under his mask, an action Minato can only decipher after years of being his sensei. "Hatake Kakashi, jounin sensei," he says - chirps, almost, and what had happened to Kakashi over the decade and a half?

"Jounin sensei?" Rin squeaks. "Kakashi, you became a jounin sensei?" It was surprising to Minato as well, doubly so because the last time he had seen Hatake Kakashi, he had been sent on another S-rank mission with a particularly suicidal gleam in his eye. He had truly seemed more dead than alive, unwilling to be drawn back by either Kushina's invitations for dinners or Minato's suggestions to leave ANBU. The specters of Rin and Obito had been too strong, then, and it seemed that Kakashi had no way to go but down.

But... a jounin sensei? Minato fought the urge to boggle at the knowledge. Kakashi wasn't exactly patient, understanding, or easy to get along with - he had none of the traits he normally ascribed to teachers.

...He suddenly felt very bad for Kakashi's future? past? students.

"Yup! Those three adorable students of mine -" Rin twitches as Kakashi sighs, a tad over dramatically. "It must have been karma, because they acted almost exactly like us. Minato-sensei, I applaud you on never dangling Obito and I from the tallest tree in the Forbidden Forest, because Naruto and Sasuke..."

"Sasuke? Naruto?" Minato repeats, blankly. "Kakashi, you were my son's jounin sensei?" And then, before Kakashi could make a reply, he shakes his head. "...Don't answer that right now. Team, we need to get everyone on the same page here. We... all died at different times, so there are things that only some of us know." It was all he could take to force himself not to ask Kakashi about the masked man who Minato had faced off of that night. Surely, after almost two decades, that monster would have made an appearance?

Before he could voice that question, another one pops into his head. "Obito," he says slowly, "if you remember what happened at Kannabi Bridge... then you understand why we can't go on that mission. Why are you so eager to go?"

Obito looks up at him, and for an instant, Minato finds him utterly unfamiliar. What had happened to the cheerful boy he remembered, who always had a few minutes to spare for anyone down on their luck or worn down by the grains of time? "Minato-sensei," Obito says. "There are more factors at work here than you know. I didn't die at Kannabi Bridge."

He must have told Kakashi and Rin this before Minato had came in, because neither of the two show surprise - only a slight tensing of expression. But Minato... Minato is poleaxed. "Obito, what do you mean you didn't die? You gave your eye to Kakashi, you were crushed under the rocks -"

"It should have killed me," the boy - man? - agrees. "But I was... saved," and his derisive tone shows exactly how he felt about that, "by an old man living underground. He was called Uchiha Madara."

Rin whirls around. "But Obito, Uchiha Madara - he died decades ago! The village's founding!" She exclaims, even as Obito shakes his head. "He found a way to survive," he mutters.

Minato dimly hears Kakashi's reaction of disbelief, because now he remembers - the masked man, who had claimed to be -

Uchiha Madara. That had been the man who had pulled the Kyuubi out of the weakened Kushina, had threatened the life of his son, had destroyed the village. Yes, it made sense - that incredible strength, that strange technique that could only have been a space-time technique developed over almost a century of life.

"Obito, what were you thinking?" He asks. "Uchiha Madara... I fought that man before, the night I died." Kakashi makes a choking noise. "He's strong, monstrously so. I don't know what he did to you, but -" And that had been another failure, because he had left Obito in the grasp of that man, a being who had been as close to pure evil as any living person could. That certainly explained the massive changes to Obito's personality, because Madara would certainly have had no mercy for the kind of person Obito was as a child.

"You're not strong enough, Obito. Even I could not defeat him, I could only chase him away momentarily," Minato says grimly. "If we want to take Madara down... we need to inform the Hokage of the danger, mobilize a shinobi force -"

Obito shakes his head slowly. "...No, Sensei, you don't know -" and his voice cracks. He's tearing up, Minato realizes. But why -

The boy's black eyes swirl into a pair of Sharingan - three tomoes, fully mastered, when had Obito - ? - and the world shifts around him -

Minato stands in the ruins of Konoha. The Kyuubi roars in the distance, but in this instance, he pays it no mind. Instead, the entirety of his attention is focused on the figure in front of him.

"I tell you this not because I want your forgiveness," Obito says, eyes too serious for his diminutive frame. "...I know I have no hope of receiving it. But... You deserve to know."

Before Minato can reply, can ask for an explanation - the Uchiha takes a step forward, and shifts. It feels natural, nothing like a Henge - the new figure that stands in front of him seems a natural progression of the last, even though that can't be Obito -

Uchiha Madara stands in front of him, mask tilted toward his direction. His presence is oppressive, and he knows somehow that the chakra surrounding him is evil in a way that he had only felt from bijuu. He felt like darkness embodied. The chains are around his arms, and if Minato looks closely, he can see the shine of scarlet behind his sole eye hole.

Sole eye hole? But it couldn't be -

"Obito," he breathes. "Obito."