It was a week into the mission and Minato had learned nothing new. He hadn't expected to discover any helpful secrets on the first day, but by day five he had become discouraged. Surely he should've overheard something: a rumor on the war, what the Daimyo had on his schedule, or even about the lords traveling to and from the city. But he'd heard nothing.

Minato poured a half cup of water into the pot in front of him. Kushina would laugh if she saw him in the kitchen; he always told her that she would never find him cooking, or worse, baking, but here he was. The part that would really amuse her was that he was actually pretty good at it. It's probably a good thing. Kushina can't cook to save a life.

Turning the oven up, Minato picked up the dirty dishes around him and went to the sink. Hiro, the confident man he had met on day one, was washing the dishes. Minato offered him a small smile, but the man only grunted in response. This was how their conversations usually went, Minato would say something about the weather or such, and Hiro would grunt his response. Minato still believed that Hiro would be the first to get promoted and included in one of the inner circles, so he kept up his attempts to befriend the man. It didn't help that Minato didn't trust him. There was something slightly off about Hiro, whether it was from his quietness or that he seemed too proud and self-confident to ever willingly become a servant, something didn't fit. It was best to keep an eye on him.

Minato turned the heat on the oven down before the water could spill over the pot. He carefully poured a bowl of vegetables into the water, before he put a lid on it. Turning to the counter, he took out a piece of meat and cut it into cubes. Another man was working on a spice to put into the stew. Minato waited until the other man had put the spices in before he added the meat. Keeping an eye on the soup, he surveyed the rest of the servants in the room. The man who made the spice was an elder man whom had several scars on his hands and forearms. Though he was older, he seemed to be as steady and strong as the other men here. Hiro was still washing the dishes. Minato had that job once; the dishes had seemed never ending. The one responsible for roasting the meat was a young man who seemed looked younger than he claimed to be. If Minato guessed correctly, then the man was probably lying about his age so he could get a job. He was probably the one responsible for providing for his family. The only other occupant in the room was a middle age man sweeping the floor.

The longer Minato spent on this mission, the more he started to suspect that the Sandaime made it up solely to get him out of the village. He had previously assumed that this was a legitimate mission, but looking at the men surrounding him, he couldn't help but think that there was nothing more going on here. He would work here for another two weeks, ending on the same day the chuunin exams began. With the time it would take to travel home, the chuunin exams would be over and so would Naruto's investigation. He would miss everything, which was hardly a coincidence. He knew the Hokage wanted him to be out of the village, but was it necessary to give him a fake mission? The Daimyo was hardly a player in the war. If Minato was to capture him, the shinobi wouldn't care about his life, they would think only of what could help them win the war.

A churning starting in his stomach and it only increased the more he thought of what the Sandaime had done. He respected the man, and he had thought that the Sandaime respected him as well, so why had he sent him away. Didn't he know that despite his personal opinion, Minato would never go against what the Hokage ordered him to do? He knew the Sandaime was only doing what he thought was best, but he still felt betrayed at his lack of trust in him. Even Jiraiya was in agreement with the Sandaime.

It was only after he had lied in bed half the night that Minato was able to isolate the emotion going through him. Anger. It was something he felt so rarely that it had taken some time to recognize. He was angry that the Sandaime sent him away. Angry that he was forced to abandon a kid he believed to be innocent of the accusations against him. And he was angry that he was stuck here being completely useless and angry that those whom he trusted the most had been the ones to put him in this situation.

It takes a lot to get Namikaze Minato angry, but once he was, it took a lot for him to forgive.

oOoOo

Punch. Kick. Block. Punch. Kick. Block. The repetitiveness of the exercise was driving Obito insane. Naruto had suggested it as a way to improve his taijutsu, but Obito couldn't see how it would work. He almost preferred Kushina's crazy training sessions to this. She had only been able to train them twice so far, but each time he had gone home sore in new places.

The thought of home caused Obito to kick harder than he had intended. Pain shot down his leg as he hit the pole with his shin. He cried out as he gripped his shin, but then Naruto's instructions came back to him. Don't quit no matter what. It's easy at first, but after some time things start to get harder. Keep focusing on performing the techniques correctly, even when you're tired. If you mess up, do it again. There's no training tomorrow, so keep going until you can't move anymore.

Fifteen minutes into the exercise Obito started to feel the signs of tiring and by the time he was thirty minutes into the training he felt like quitting. But his muscles were still moving, so he was too. His thoughts drifted back to home. He had tried to keep his entering the chuunin exams from his parents, but he shouldn't have expected that to last. He arrived at home four days ago to his father waiting for him.

"The chuunin exams, huh? It's taken you long enough to be entered." His father said. Though his voice didn't change from the usual ice, Obito felt like he was mocking him. Not wanting this to turn into an actual conversation Obito didn't answer. His father must've thought differently. "If you want to have a chance at beating anybody you're going to have to improve a lot. I'm surprised you made it through the first two parts, but those were with a team. Let's see how you do on your own."

Obito didn't know what possessed him to do so, but he turned to his father, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "Yes, let's. There's nothing that can motivate me more than the idea of seeing you fall over in shock."

He had never spoken back to his father before and now he knew why. His father had always been verbally abusive, but that was the first day his father had ever hit him.

Punch. Kick. Block. Even with his father's 'punishment,' Obito knew that what he'd said was true. For the past two days he had been working constantly, trying everything he could think of to improve in any way possible. He didn't know how other families acted, but he was sure they were different from his own. Even fellow Uchiha's didn't get treated the same way as he did from their fathers. It was just another reminder that he was an outcast in his own clan. The black sheep of the Uchiha.

Carrying the burden of his home life had become even harder, especially since he knew he had to have some kind of emotional scarring from all of it. He had thought about telling Naruto what happened. After years of keeping his home life a secret, he had wanted to spill it all to someone he trusted. But telling Naruto would be breaching the wall they both had built up. He would have to drop the mask he had been wearing for as long as he could remember, and Naruto would be forced with the choice of keeping his own mask up or being vulnerable with his teammate. If he knew for sure that Naruto would drop his façade, then he would go to him, but Obito couldn't help but think that Naruto wouldn't be quite as willing to be open up as he himself was.

Which left him with nothing but the repetitive exercise he was now performing. Obito's thoughts continued to wander. He thought of what would happen if he dropped his mask. He thought of whether he could actually become a chuunin. He dreamed of the possibility that he could win, though he knew he could never beat Naruto. He would think of one thing and then his mind would quickly change to a new topic. Nothing stayed for more than a few second. The routine of punch, kick, block, became Obito's best friend. At that moment it felt like the only constant in his life. So while the night sky got darker and darker, Obito stayed. He didn't know how long he kept up the exercise, only that when he awoke the next morning he was lying on his back, still at the training grounds.

oOoOo

It had been over a weeks since he had last talked to the Kyuubi, and Naruto missed him. He would never admit that to the fox's face, but it was too quiet in his mind without the fox. The nightmares didn't help. The past two nights in a row, the same memory had interrupted his sleep. Like the previous time, he had awoken when the man's face was revealed. It didn't really matter though, for the man's identity was half of the nightmare. Unlike the first nightmare, he didn't have Kyuubi to help him fall asleep again, so this would be his third day without rest. He could see his fatigue in his sluggish motions. It was a good thing Kushina wasn't training them today; he was sure she would pick up on it.

Naruto arrived at the training field a half hour late. Scanning the field he saw Obito sparring with one of the poles, the same place Naruto had left him the previous afternoon. The bags under his eyes caused Naruto to question whether or not he had ever gone home. Kakashi was leaning against a tree, allowing Rin to practice some kind of medical jutsu on him. Her hands glowed as she put them on Kakashi's arm. Naruto tensed as he remembered her scanning his own arm in a similar way. That was when this all started. He thought he had moved on, until she had mentioned the damage in his arm and he had been forced to come up with a lie. Then Minato had questioned him and for some reason he had told the truth. The nightmares had started that same night. Why had those questions triggered the nightmares? He talked about it briefly with Kakashi and Tsunade on occasion, so why did it affect him so much more now?

A part of him was saying he had never really talked about it with Kakashi and Tsuande, only reassured them that he was fine, but Naruto ignored that part of his mind. The good thing about sharing a mind with Kyuubi was that he was very good at tuning out his inner thoughts. If he couldn't he probably would've broken a while ago. His mind was constantly reminding him of what a failure he was, of how much he pain his own friends had inflicted on him as a child, but he refused to dwell on such things and instead chose to live by his life's slogan: grin and bear it. As long as he was smiling no one would know the pain he was really in, no one but Kyuubi and that voice in his head that told him that everything good in his life was a lie.

"Naruto-kun, do you think you could let me look at your arm again?" Rin's voice broke him out of his trance, but he wished it hadn't.

He shook his head. "You already said it was damaged beyond repair. There's no point in looking at it again." If she did then the nightmares would be definitely be back again that night.

He thought his answer would sway her, but Rin persisted. "I know, but I've been reading up on nerve damage and I think I could help both you and Obito."

"Then go help Obito." He knew he was being short with her, but he was sleep deprived and the idea of another nightmare truly frightened him.

Her eyebrow knitted together in confusion. "I was only trying to help. What's gotten into you?" She studied him before she turned to go interrupt Obito's training.

"What?" Obito shouted. His outburst startled Naruto, but then he remembered the bags under Obito's eyes.

Rin looked taken back by Obito's response. "I found a way to help your arm."

Obito stared at her before slowly nodding. "Okay." He sat down and allowed her to look at his arm.

"What is with you boy's today?" Rin mumbled.

He knew what was up with himself, but what was bothering Obito? He knew enough from observing Obito that things weren't good at home. Had things become worse? Looking at the bags under Obito's eyes, Naruto wished he had taken the time to talk to Obito sooner. He already attempted to help Kakashi, though that didn't turn out so well since Kakashi still wasn't talking to him. The longer he watched Obito, the more sure he was that he needed to get the boy to open up. But how could he expect Obito to open up if he wasn't willing to do it himself?

oOoOo

What in the world had gotten into her boys'? Both looked beyond tired and had just snapped at her, something neither had ever done before. She wondered if it might be stress from the upcoming finals. If so, now seemed like an unusual time for it to start. Why would they only now be worrying about what was coming in another two week? Neither boy was much of a worrier, which only added to her confusion.

It could be something else. She thought of Naruto's reaction to her request to reexamine his arm. He had been unwavering in his refusal of her help. He probably knew it was beyond help, but why wouldn't he be willing to try something new?

Then there was Obito. She couldn't come up with anything to explain him. Maybe he was just sleep deprived.

"I'm going home." Kakashi said. His voice reminded her of yet another one of her team's problems. For the past week Kakashi had been colder than ever, and like the other boy's, she didn't know what triggered it.

At this point, the only thing she did know was that she couldn't wait for Minato to get back. Without him, their entire team seemed lost, unsure of what to do next.

oOoOo

Kushina stood in front of her least favorite building in Konoha, trying to build up the will to go in. The tall structure of the library stood in front of her. Pulling the handle, she entered and was immediately assaulted by the musky smell she associated with books. Looking at the tall stacks before her made her self-appointed task seem overwhelming. The library had been her last resort, but in such a massive place she didn't know where to start.

The librarian smiled at her. "Can I help you with anything, dear?"

Not wanted the woman to know what she was there for, she merely asked for the directory. "How are the sections organized?"

The librarian took the next several minutes to explain the building design to her. The last shelf is where the historic records are kept. They contain written accounts of Konoha's history as well as genealogical records." That was what she needed. Genealogical records. She thanked the librarian before heading in the direction of the historic section. She made sure no one was following her as she slipped into the last aisle. The right side was Konoha's history, while the left was the genealogical records. She looked through the list of books until she found the ones contained NA.

Opened the books she went through the table of contents. Naa, Nailto, Naga…Namikaze. The name was at the beginning of the second page. She opened the book to the marked page and started reading.

The Namikaze's are a shinobi family with no known kekkei genkei. The surname can only be traced back four generations. Namikaze Ikuto is the first known Namikaze.

The passage went on with the list of deceased Namikaze's. Like her previous research, the end result was the same. Namikaze Minato is the last known member of the Namikaze line. But that couldn't be true, Naruto looked too much like Minato for them to not be related. She went back further in the records, looking for families that had some kind of connection to the Namikaze's but none showed up.

Both of Minato's parent's had died before he became a chuunin, and Minato was an only child. He also had an aunt on his father's side who never married. Was it possible she had a child that she kept secret or gave up? At this point it seemed more likely than any other scenario. Kushina left the library, classifying her search as 'unsuccessful', and headed home. She made herself a cup of instant ramen before sitting down at the table to eat. Her ramen was halfway finished when another idea came to her. The hospital.

When Naruto was first found he was sent to the hospital. Surely they had to have drawn blood. If she could just get them to compare it to Minato's…but how could she do that without raising suspicion? The only conclusion she came to was that she needed to go see the Sandaime. She knew from Minato that he suspected Naruto of hiding something. His suspicion would give him reason to look into this. If it came back negative then she would be back to where she was now and no harm would be done. And if it was positive? At least it would explain why Naruto and Minato could pass for twins.

A/N: Sorry this one took so long to get up. I can only focus on one TV show or book at a time and I got a new trilogy for Christmas and have been reading that. I finished it almost a week ago, but it was such a good book that it's taken me a few days to be able to get back into my story. The book was the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and I recommend it. I only caution that there is a lot of gore, if you can't stand for that kind of thing, then please don't read.

I had another anonymous review mention Minato's and Naruto's elemental affinities again. If you have any questions on that, please go back and read my previous author notes, I explain it there.

Lastly, I just want to say that I'm not making the Sandaime out to be a bad guy, only one being forced to make hard decisions. Minato hasn't been forced into the same situations Sarutobi has been, so he doesn't understand the pressure the Hokage is under. Right now Minato is naive in some ways and can't comprehend having to compromise himself in order to do what is best for the entire village.