Still not with the owning.

In The Last Chapter... Would he go through with this plan? If he did, Kakashi knew it was his job to stop him even if it meant killing him. "Goodbye, Uchiha Madara." He said out into the night, knowing that Obito would hear him. "The next time we meet again won't be so pleasant."

Kakashi sighed softly to himself and stepped back from the window, letting his hand trail off the sill before his arm swung limply to his side. After a moment, he reached out and slammed the window shut. He pulled his headband back down over his red eye to block the double-vision from his end, just in case. He replaced his cloth mask over his mouth and nose, returning to the kitchen to clean up after himself.

'Well, that went splendidly,' he snarked, the angry thought directed more to himself than anyone else. Half an hour later saw him heading to Hokage Tower, a report of the incident already written up minus his inability to care for himself and the Masked Man's identity.

Meanwhile, Minato Namikaze was proud to be the Hokage. He had worked years for this job; striving through war and political mishaps for most of his adult life. And now? He had everything he had dreamed of as a child. He was the protector of the Hidden Leaf, people looked up to and loved him, and he had a beautiful wife who had just discovered her pregnancy. He was going to be a father!

But if the amount of paperwork he had didn't go down, a very absent father he would be.

Kakashi landed outside Minato's office, crouching low onto the outcropping of roof outside. He was back in his ANBU uniform for the second time that night. The Hound mask that covered his face was a cold comfort, like a child hiding behind a blanket. He rapped gently on the window with his knuckles, waiting to be let in.

A smile graced the blond man's face as he looked up and caught sight of the familiar mask in the window. Minato spun in his chair and pushed off, sliding across the wooden floor and opening the window once he reached it. "Kakashi," he greeted his silver haired student, the Hokage looking tired but cheerful, "I've been expecting you. You have your mission report?"

Kakashi swung into the room, his hands braced against the window sill as he pushed his legs through first. He turned and closed the window behind him, standing up straight but with a certain tenseness in his shoulders. The aura around his was serious and somber.

"Hokage-sama," he answered respectfully, pulling out both reports and handing them over, "I do, but I think you should read the other one first. I have terrible news. I have reason to believe Konoha will soon be attacked by someone claiming to be Uchiha Madara, acting alone."

The normal air of confident cheer around Minato vanished in a second. The Fourth Hokage looked straight at his student, taking the report and opening it quickly. "You're sure?" he asked, looking down and skimming across the words quickly. His face set into a grim line, jaw tight.

Kakashi nodded once, professional and to the point. "I'm sure. I saw him creeping around the roofs on my way home, so I went out to confront him. He left quickly, but I was able to get some information out of him."

"I see…" Minato set the report on the desk and fell back in his chair, one hand over his face, "and you didn't try to fight him, did you?" It would be just like his student to do something that reckless. One of the other ANBU's reports had him worried, and he was considering taking Kakashi off active duty for a while.

Kakashi shook his head, feeling a sinking feeling in his gut at Minato's tone. "No, sir. I did not engage him," he said, keeping his voice level and empty. God, did everyone share Obito's view on him? He wasn't that bad, he just... He couldn't stay in the village for long. He had to do things.

"Good," Minato nodded and rubbed his temples tiredly. Kushina was going to be mad at him for not being home on time again, but she would understand the importance of this situation... Hopefully, at least, "I'll get T&I on it, but for now, take off the mask and have a seat. We need to talk."

Kakashi took a deep breath at that. Oh, fuck. He was in shit. He exhaled calmly and squared his shoulders, pulling off his Hound mask and letting it hang around his neck by its string. He moved to the chair and sat down with his back rim-rod straight.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

Minato read the movements of his last remaining student, leaning his fingers together and looking at the young man carefully. A lot had happened to the boy in his life, more than should have if you asked the Hokage, but he'd thought that the boy was coping. That he was at least somewhat okay. He was now sure he had been wrong, but the situation must be handled carefully, or the relationship between teacher and student could end up ruined forever. So, he started with something simple.

"You're not in trouble, Kakashi. Relax. How have you been?"

Kakashi relaxed a bit, although his posture was still a bit too perfect for him to have been really comfortable. He watched his sensei with carefully suspicious eyes, but the expression was hidden quite well behind mask, headband, and training.

"I've been fine," he answered evenly, "and yourself?"

"I'll be better when my secretary gets back. How do you break your collar bone when all you do is sit all day?" The man joked, giving a dismal look to the loathsome stack of paperwork. He wished, not for the first time, that Kakashi was just a bit more expressive. It was unnerving to see such perfect control in a teenager. "I heard you got scraped up on your mission? Nothing too bad, I hope."

Kakashi smiled politely at Minato's attempt at a joke, but it didn't really touch his eyes. Usually he enjoyed the man's company, of course, but today... too much had happened to disturb him, and he was too much on edge about the point of the conversation to enjoy much of anything.

"Well, I hope she returns soon for your sake, then. I'm fine, Hokage-sama, it was barely worth wrapping. "

Minato nodded, quickly running out of pleasantries. Small talk was never his best subject, so he simply got to the point of the conversation at last.

"That's good to hear. I've heard somethings that had been… worrying... regarding your behavior on missions." Not to mention the obscene amount of them that were taken.

"Oh?" Kakashi questioned, voice calm and cool. He tilted his head to left slightly in askance, a mannerism he knew the Hokage found unsettling and was more-or-less using just to make him uncomfortable as a form of petty revenge. He could tell where this was going, and he didn't like it.

"Such as? I can assure you that I am very careful to keep up with protocol. I work quickly, discreetly and efficiently. None of my teams have ever gotten into any trouble or danger under my watch, so what's the problem?"

"The problem is that, while your teams are never put in any unnecessary danger, I've received reports that you put yourself through more risks than you need to," Minato sighed and propped his elbows on the desk, giving his student a searching look, "Kakashi, I'm asking you to be honest with me; are you okay?"

Kakashi paused for a moment, absorbing the words. Had it really been that noticeable? He didn't think he was too careless, and his teams had always seemed too professional to care. They went into life-threatening situations daily, saying nothing because it was the norm, and yet they were worried about him? He wasn't that bad... Not bad enough to warrant this, he felt, at the very least.

The pause might have also been, although he'd never admit to it, hesitance before telling a lie.

"Yes, of course. I'm completely fine."

"I see," he said slowly. Minato pressed his lips together, disappointment clear in every line on his face. He had hoped that Kakashi trusted him a little more than this, after years of being his instructor and years more of fighting together, but if he didn't… it hurt, but he couldn't force trust.

Kakashi shifted uneasily in his seat under Minato's disappointed gaze, cringing a bit. God, he hated that look. He may as well have slapped the other man, for the look he was being given said. Finally, after minutes of awkward silence, he sighed and gave in... if only a little.

"Fine. I've been a bit restless lately, that's all. Why are you asking?" he snapped, polite mask slipping for not the first time that night.

It was something at least. "You're important to me. I want to make sure that you're healthy," Minato said, voice slightly stern. Happy would be a bonus, but he was an optimist, not delusional, "How mad would you be if I asked you to take a break from missions?" He was ninety-eight percent sure that the constant search for ways to get out of the village was a kind of copying mechanism shared by at least thirty of his ninja.

"I am healthy!" Kakashi protested, mask cracking a bit more. He sounded more like a teenager now, whining about some punishment or responsibility given.

At Minato's next words, Kakashi's eyes widened and he clenched his jaw tightly. He avoided curling his hands into fists, feeling that would be a bit too obvious. He wanted to say angry; and very, very angry at that. But he couldn't. It wasn't proper. "I would ask you to reconsider. I am fine to continue my missions, and they keep me busy. I'd atrophy without them."

At the first outburst, Minato had started to grin a little. By the time the second sentence was finished, the grin was gone. He really did worry about the younger shinobi sometimes.

"It's not just ANBU that have come to me about you, Kakashi. Gai, Kurenai, and Asuma were in here yesterday saying they felt you've been pushing yourself too hard. We're all concerned about your emotional and mental state."

He let that sink in a moment before he stood up, circling the desk to lean on it directly in front of the silver haired boy. "If you break protocol, I won't care. I'm as much your comrade as I am your leader." He just wanted his student to talk to him for once instead of running off the minute he thought he could get away with it.

Kakashi frowned deeply at that news. He knew they were just worried about him, of course, but it was none of their damned business! And ratting him out to his sensei/The Hokage? Traitors.

It was an immature and petty thought, but Kakashi couldn't help it. He was only a teenager, a boy, after all.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, rubbing his visible eye. "There is nothing for me in the village, Minato-sensei. Nothing to keep me occupied or keep my mind off things. When I'm on a mission at least I'm doing something, helping the village, and being useful. Otherwise all I do is... Well, stare at my ceiling and walls mostly. I'd go insane in a week without anything to do. I don't like talking with the others, I just... Can't."

The older man nodded, understanding that at least. He was too busy most of the time to think of much personally, and when he wasn't working he was around Kushina. But Kakashi was alone in his apartment for the most part. He was going to have to do something about his student working himself to death though.

"Okay. We'll compromise, alright? You take… three days between missions, unless injured, to rest up and go see your friends," he gave a very pointed look to the young ANBU, "I won't interfere unless things get really out of hand."

"You don't have to talk to anyone, but go have competitions with Gai, or train with your old classmates. Something social. If not, I'll tell Kushina you've been brooding again." The threat was not to be taken lightly. After the death of his first student, the Uzumaki woman had forcibly knocked some sense into the remaining members of Team 7 or, if not, they had at least pretended she had whenever she was in view.

Kakashi sighed deeply, pushing his head band off his other eye so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. He hoped the pressure would relieve some of the pain from his temples, but it wasn't working very well. The dull pain made him think briefly back to the double vision he'd encountered with Obito. He'd mentioned vaguely in the report, and he wondered if he ought not to have said anything about it. The fact of being so close as to see through Obito's eyes, but so far as to not see what the man had become... It hurt and he'd rather not think of it at the moment.

Kakashi was tired, very much so, the bags under his eyes and the slope of his shoulders showed it. He was running himself into the ground with these missions. "Fine, fine," he agreed, knowing that was the best he would be getting. Just the mere thought of 'competitions with Gai' gave another spike of pain through his head. He smiled a bit, although it was humorless, "Please don't sic your wife on me, Sensei. By the by, how is she doing?"

The mention of his wife sent Minato grinning like the lovestruck fool he really was.

"She's great," was the immediate answer, followed quickly by a conspiratory glance around, "and don't tell anyone else yet, but we have big news." Minato's blue eyes shone in excitement as he waited for the inevitable question to come from his student, who looked like he should have gone to bed days ago. Maybe he should send him to the hospital, just in case, and make sure he didn't have insomnia...? Oh well, it could wait until after he bragged about his future status as a father.

Kakashi couldn't help smiling back a little, genuinely this time. His sensei's happiness was more than infectious. He was about to answer 'glad to hear' on Minato's update on Kushina when his sensei continued. Minato seemed to just about burst at the seams waiting for Kakashi to ask about what the news was, and of course Kakashi couldn't help but humor him.

"What's the news?" he asked, leaning forward a bit. He was interested despite himself.

"I'm going to be a father," Minato's face threatened to split he was smiling so widely. He just couldn't help but be happy about the fact. He would be crazy not to be happy, despite the risks it offered the jinchuriki. They would make sure nothing happened, plans were already being made, but that was irrelevant. And his student would be the first person he got to tell.

Kakashi returned the grin despite everything else that happened that night. "Wow, really? That's great. You're just finding out about this recently? Do you know how far along she is?"

Wow, Minato was going to be a dad. He couldn't help but be happy for the other man. He'd gone through everything Kakashi did, and he deserved a bit of happiness as well.

Minato sat back, pleased with his student's reaction. Kakashi wasn't getting out of being part of his kid's life, no way-no how, so it was a good thing he was happy about the event. "Not very far, only about five of weeks. Because of…that," he made a gesture vaguely at his stomach to imply the Kyuubi, "it'll take a month longer than normal." It would also be a hundred times as risky.

Kakashi nodded, assuming the demon would be a big problem for the baby. He hoped silently that both child and mother would be alright anyway, and again was silently happy for his sensei's family. He smiled a bit, leaning his cheek onto his hand, his elbow propped up onto the arm of the chair. "Well, I'm happy for you," Kakashi grinned teasingly, "Have you two started to discuss baby names yet?"

Minato laughed, scratching the back of his name out of habit. "We were thinking of waiting until we had a gender to start looking at those. Why? Did you have a suggestion?" It was his turn to tease the boy now, a smile still in place.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, smirking a bit. "Lord knows that with you as the father, you'll probably name them something like 'Naruto' if they turn out to be a boy. I dread to think what you'd name a girl." Kakashi laughed a bit, although it was quiet.

"Naruto, eh? Not a bad idea." The Gutsy Ninja would be one helluva namesake. Jiraiya might even agree to be the godfather…

"If it was a girl," he started suddenly, "What would you think of the name 'Rin'?" He had been contemplating it in the brief moments he had to himself, but he didn't want to step on Kakashi's toes if he wasn't okay with the idea. In passing Kushina had had interest in 'Mito', after the former Jinchuriki, which would work just as well.

Kakashi was taken aback for a few moments, thinking it over and trying not to sit there slack-jawed. After a few minutes, he found... he was actually alright with it. There was still hurt at Rin's death, more or less by his hands, but... He thought back to her smiling face, her happiness and strength. She'd be a good namesake, and maybe Kakashi would get a second chance at his promise. Even though it didn't really matter, he was pretty much dead-set defending his father-figure's child to the bitter end anyway.

"That would be fine. In fact, I like it." Kakashi smiled a little.

Minato nodded firmly, opening his mouth to respond before he was interrupted by a monstrous yawn. He cracked his jaw joint, covering his open mouth with one hand.

"I'm glad you feel that way. Now, I think it's time we both got some sleep," Minato said, and God knew the little ANBU looked like he needed it. Minato pushed himself up, sending a glare towards the paperwork, and started for the door. "Come on, we can walk together for a few minutes."

Kakashi nodded and stood up, walking around the chair and following after his sensei. He yawned wide as well, albeit silently, a hand over his masked mouth. He followed Minato down the corridors and stairs, and finally out the building the boring way.

On the walk back to his apartment, he was lost in thought about Obito... No, about Madara. He thought about the double-vision, the plots his ex-friend had made, his ex-friend's conviction in following said plots, how he treated people like pawns, what he feared Madara's vision of 'peace' was, the safety of Konoha hanging in the balance... He sighed softly, even on the outside he looked quite troubled.

Every now and then, Minato would look back at the younger man with his concern only growing. He hadn't been spending enough time with his kid; the only one he had left. He would have to make up for it, but for the time being there was little he could do. Kakashi was, simply put, private. He didn't like to share with the class, so to speak, but sometimes there were things that needed to be let out.

"What's on your mind?" he asked at last, hands tucking into his pockets.

Kakashi sighed and shrugged his shoulders, raising a hand to scratch his nose. "I don't know, it's just... I'm thinking about that masked man I saw earlier on tonight, the one who claimed to be Madara. He said he wanted peace but I think our definitions vary a bit...I have a bad feeling about this, and what could happen to Konoha because of it..."

Ah, that explained it. Minato reached out, hand dropping atop Kakashi's mass of silver hair to further ruffle the normal spikes. "We'll be fine. Konoha may not have the most shinobi, but we have the strongest fighters and the strongest will. We won't go down, and not without a fight at any rate," he dropped his hand and sent a sly look to Kakashi, "If you're so worried you could stay for a while."

Kakashi returned the look and grinned a bit despite himself. "Not on your life, sensei. I'd die without the missions," after a few more moments he shrugged, "I know we'll be fine, it's just... It feels like something big. That man... He's dangerous. Just promise to look out for yourself, okay? Your wife and future-child as well, though I know I don't have to tell you that."

"I'll look out for them. It's my job as the Hokage to protect the people precious to me." The conviction in his voice was clear. He wouldn't let anything hurt his people, especially his family. He had grown up without one, and he wasn't about to loose the one he had just formed. Besides, it wasn't like he had married a civilian; Kushina was as tough as they came.

Kakashi grinned inwardly at Minato's words and tone. His teacher was always so upbeat and optimistic, it was nice. "I know, I know. And you're good at your job," Kakashi replied, a hint of a smile in his voice before he yawned again. They were at his apartment now and he stretched his arms over his head until his back popped, the skin under his bandage shifting uncomfortably.

The blond man stopped and looked down at his now almost-grown-up student. He would be the taller of the two one day, Minato could feel it.

"Get some rest, Kakashi, the village will still be here in the morning." He hoped the boy got some sleep at least. It was clear he hadn't been getting enough recently.

Kakashi nodded and headed inside, stopping to wish his sensei farewell at the door. "G'night, Sensei. Sleep well." He headed inside and up to his apartment, took off his mask and sword, and then promptly fell asleep face-down on the bed.

Minato shook his head at his student, muttered a similar wish, then went off to explain to his wife why it two in the morning and he was only just now getting in. Maybe it would have been safer to just sleep in his office…

Obito was... well, he didn't know what he was. He was hurt, that much was clear, and angry, can't forget that, and he really wanted to go to sleep and forget the horrible event had ever even happened. But he couldn't. His body was wound like a spring and he couldn't stop moving. The young man had returned to the base he shared with Zetsu not an hour beforehand, twitchy and frustrated beyond belief. He was beating himself up over ever getting caught and angry at Kakashi for not understanding, but mostly he was wounded by the words. They had done more damage than if he had simply been stabbed.

An hour after returning, Obito could be found still throwing himself violently at practice dummies, shattering their wooden frames and splitting his knuckles with little care. He healed fast these days, what did it matter if he had such small injuries?

Zetsu watched these events unfold, halfway sunken into a nearby wall. His ever-watching eyes were fixated on his young friend, and he couldn't help but sigh. He'd wanted to question him when he got back about his lateness...

Where the hell were you?We were worried.

...but had thought better of it after seeing the emotional state Obito was in. Zetsu's two sides were debating with each other. They still hadn't asked, but if Obito got any more violent he could hurt himself, so they supposed it was time. They sunk into the wall and appeared out the floor beside Obito, catching the boy's fist and stilling him.

"What happened?"

He hadn't realized it until he'd been stopped from moving, but Obito's entire body had started shaking. From emotional distress or physical exertion, he couldn't be entirely sure. Sharingan de-activated Obito looked over at Zetsu, breathing hard through his nose as he struggled to keep up his composure.

"It was not important," he muttered, struggling to lie convincingly, "I just made a stupid mistake is all. Nothing that affects The Plan."

Zetsu shook his head slowly, pushing Obito's arm to rest by his side. He laid a hand on Obito's shoulder and sighed again.

"I know that, if it had affected that plan you'd have said something. Hm, you are acting strangely, though, so it must have affected you. Now, what happened?"

Zetsu gave Obito a pointed look, not going to accept his friend dodging the question.

Obito looked down, knowing he couldn't lie to Zetsu. The plant man was a good friend, and right now he was the only person in the world he actually trusted.

"I went to see Kakashi again," he had explained his need to make sure his last remaining teammate was still okay before, "and I accidentally opened my eye while I was close enough to see through his. Turns out it works both ways."

Zetsu's eyes widened a faction, even if the expression would be unreadable besides to those who knew him well. He swallowed heavily and looked down at Obito, the white side of his face forming into an expression that looked sympathetic.

"Oh, I see... I'm so sorry. What happened after that?"

Obito shrugged, though not enough to dislodge the comforting hand on his shoulder. "I yelled at him for not taking care of himself. You should have seen him, Zetsu! He looked like a zombie, he was bleeding for who knows how long, and didn't even try to stop it. I don't think he'd actually eaten anything for days until I made him."

"Not eating? That does sound pretty bad... He took this entire thing hard."

"It was actually going okay for a while, but then he asked if I was staying…"

Zetsu looked away as Obito went on, only being able to guess where that went... "What did you say?"

His shoes were all Obito could look at, and if anything the shaking had gotten worse. "I didn't say much, but I guess I said the wrong thing because apparently I'm not really Obito Uchiha. And I'm not his friend anymore either."

Zetsu's eyes widened further at that, seeing how Obito shook so hard at the thought and how his voice nearly cracked several times through the sentence. He pulled Obito into a hesitant and awkward hug, not knowing what else to do. God, he looked like he was either going to cry or murder everyone in a ten mile radius.

"Hey... I'm sure he didn't mean it. He'd just come back from a mission, right? Maybe he was just grumpy. Yeah, that's it, and our mission is a bit hard to understand at first. You were like that when you first heard it. He'll come around."

The plant part of Zetsu made it a bit awkward, but Obito took the embrace in stride. He needed some kind of positive influence right now. His head shook in denial.

"We both know I've changed since I was a kid. It's not like he didn't either, especially after Rin died I just… I didn't think he would hate me like that." he struggled futilely against the urge to start crying in ernest. The look on Kakashi's face would forever be ingrained in his mind, the look of such cold contempt. He had never seen anything like that before, not even in the midst of a fight.

"Shh, boy. He doesn't hate you," Zetsu assured, running of and down Obito's back in what he hoped what a comforting manner. He was out of his depth with human interactions, but The Plan would progress better if Obito was in a mostly stable frame of mind, "He just doesn't understand yet. He will, just give him time. He might even help us."

"Maybe I should have actually explained instead of just implying stuff," he muttered, leaning into the other. He didn't want Kakashi to hate him. He never had hated him, even when they were kids, but their views had always been different. Now, it seems they had switched.

Zetsu nodded, continuing to rub along Obito's back and hum comfortingly. He really didn't know what one was supposed to do in situations like this, but he had to keep Obito cooperative for The Plan.

"Maybe that would be best. Some other time, then. Maybe, when you head back there for the first part of the plan?"

Obito nodded and finally started to calm down. "Yeah. He's not going to be happy with me, but it needs to be done. Besides, if anyone can live through the process it would be an Uzumaki."

"Of course.The woman will be fine. You'd better go think of what you'll say to him, though. Don't want anymore misunderstandings."

"Yeah, no kidding," he said as he managed a shaky smile and pulled away, some of the weight lifted from his chest. "Thanks. What would I do without you?"

Zetsu just smiled at him, shook his head, and ruffled Obito's hair playfully.

"You're welcome. This will all turn out fine, don't worry."

The boy yelped and swatted at the offending arm. "Hey!" he objected, but he was noticeably more at ease, "I think it's about time we got some sleep don't you? Ame won't wait tomorrow." Things to do, places to be. Zetsu nodded.

"Yes, sleep sounds nice. Rest well, Obito. See you in the morning," and with that, Zetsu sunk into the earth.