Ten hours ago

They were still three miles away from the base, but Minato was already feeling anxious for what would await them. Breaking into a seal making base sounded ludicrous. Not only could every inch of the base be covered in seals, but the surrounding forest as well. Getting past one seal was difficult, but making it past hundreds without setting one off? That seemed impossible. Jiraiya and Hiro were several feet behind him. Neither of them could detect seals like Minato could, so they hung back. It was a tricky for Hiro to give directions with Minato ahead of him, but they managed. One mile to go, and still no sign of a trap. Was Iwa that cocky that they didn't believe they needed to protect their base?

A spike in chakra level up ahead alerted him to a seal. The spike was small, it wouldn't have alerted a passing shinobi, but Minato had been searching for it. He stopped on a tree branch and motioned for the two following him to do the same. The both stopped on the tree branch behind him. Minato scouted the area for the seal. None of the trees around him seemed to have anything unusual about them and the bushes on the ground seemed normal. Where had the spike come from? It had to be smartly placed, or any passing traveler would set it off.

A bit of white on the ground caught his attention. He jumped to the ground, being careful to land as far away from the white as possible. From the ground, he noticed the white spot was larger than it had seemed. This was definitely a seal. He cautiously sent out a small chakra wave, which would tell him if the seal was too sensitive to approach. Nothing happened, but he waited in case there was delay in the reaction. A minute passed without any activity. Carefully, Minato crept closer. He stopped just a yard away from the seal, finally able to examine it fully.

Despite the night making it hard to see, Minato could tell the seal was old; the frayed edges of the paper gave that much away. Rain had caused the ink to run, making the seal harder to read. Minato studied the pattern, learning not only what the seal was, but also what activated it. It was a barrier, set up to protect the base. There were mostly others, set up throughout the forest, keeping others from entering the camp. The seal was activated by anyone crossing over the line it created along with the other seals. Memory loss. If a shinobi or civilian crossed over the line, they would be pushed backwards out of the area and forget that they ever entered it. They would go on their way, never having known they had found the seal makers base.

If Hiro didn't have a man on the inside, they never would have found this place. Minato put his pack on the ground and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. He set it on the ground and then pulled out an ink pen. He set to work creating a counter for the seal. The work was tedious, and he was glad to have Jiraiya and Hiro watching his back. His concentration would've been messed up if he had to protect himself and work at the seal at the same time. Every noise the forest caused would've had him jumping.

It took almost half the hour to finish the seal. When he was done, he carefully placed it over the old seal. Nothing visibly happened, but Minato knew it had worked. Before he motioned for the others to proceed, he quickly added the seal for his Hiraishin into the ground. He had been putting the seal in sporadic spots along the journey. He was practiced in it enough that he didn't need paper to put the seal down, just a few hand signs.

Standing up, Minato motioned for Jiraiya and Hiro to join him. They both hopped down from the tree and met him on the ground. Hiro eyed the seal. "Does every seal take that long to crack? It's been close to an hour."

Minato nodded. "It's a long process. It's only going to get hard when we get to the base. I don't think every inch of it will be covered, but it could be. Plus, there are going to be shinobi there. We're only a mile away; at any point we can encounter an enemy shinobi."

Hiro shook his head. "We won't find any shinobi there at night. That's mostly why it is so important we finish this tonight."

"That doesn't change how long it'll take to work on the seals." Seal making was a long and hard task. It was the seal makers job to make a seal that could only be undone by those who knew the seal, and Minato was having to learned the seal and break it. He had tried to do the previous seal quickly, but it was such an intricate art, that moving too quickly could cause him to mess up. Messing up could cause many problems, the least of which was alerting the enemy to their attempts.

"If we're on a tight schedule, then we shouldn't waste time discussing this here. There's nothing we can do about the time it'll take Minato." Jiraiya ushered them forward, he was in a rare serious mood.

Minato took the lead once again. Hiro was right in that they didn't encounter any shinobi for the next mile. There weren't any more seals in the forest, but after with the first seal being a barrier, Minato hadn't expected it. Every few yards he put down another Hiraishin seal. It was best to be prepared. The lessening of the trees signaled that they were getting closer to the base. Fifty feet ahead, a clearing could be seen. They stopped just before the clearing, searching for the base. The clearing was mostly grassy area, with a few trees scattered about. One side of the clearing was a rock wall. The bottom of the rock was cracked and formed a hole.

Minato entered the clearing, thankful for the nights cover. Getting closer to the hole, he could see that it was indeed the entrance to the base. No seal was evident, but there were many that didn't need paper. No seal master would leave his seals unprotected. This was where the hard part started.

Present time

Any minute now shinobi will start filing into the hallways. The thought was nerve wracking, but Minato refused to let it distract him.

Hiro had left them in the early hours of the morning, reminding them he had to be with the Daimyo in the morning. Minato had paused what he was doing and he used the Hiraishin to transport Hiro to the barrier line, and then had come quickly back. He and Jiraiya were now well into the base. The base was mostly top heavy with the seals, six difficult ones had been in the beginning, but now they only came across one every other hallway. Finding their way through the hallways was turning out to be the most difficult part of the mission. The base was like a labyrinth; at least three hallways were running off of one hallway, and sometimes those ended up being dead ends.

They didn't know exactly what they were looking for or where to start their search, making the hallways even more confusing. They tried every door they came across, but most were empty.

Minato sighed. "We're going to be interrupted any minute now, and we can't risk fighting our way out of here." Minato had been worried about encountering shinobi since they entered the base, but Jiraiya had pointed out that the other shinobi still had training, so they wouldn't start coming into the base until close to noon. It was now only thirty minutes shy of noon.

"I don't think we could find our way out if we tried." Jiraiya complained.

Minato smirked. "I can use Hiraishin to get us out of here, but I can't get us back in. One of the seals we passed doesn't allow for transportation jutsu to be used from outside of the base."

"Aww, why didn't you disable that one?" Jiraiya looked disappointed that they would have to repeat part of their trek.

Minato laughed. "Maybe because somebody was telling me, 'Only do what's absolutely necessary, we don't have a lot of time.'"

Jiraiya took hold of Minato's arm, refusing to answer. Minato rolled his eyes and transported them to one of his seals just outside the barrier. "We'll have to stay hidden in the trees until tonight."

"If we had found the seal, I could be back in town, enjoying myself with some of the lovely young women." Jiraiya said.

Minato playfully hit him. "Get some sleep, I'll keep first guard."

Jiraiya lay down and closed his eyes, but Minato could still here him grumbling about all the research he was missing. Minato shook his head. How could such an amazing shinobi also be such a big pervert?

oOoOo

The Sandaime had just stepped back into his office from visiting a shinobi at the hospital when an Anbu showed up in his office. "Yes?" He asked. The Anbu was most likely here with news of Naruto. How had that boy managed to fool them? Though he had been suspicious of the boy, he had still been disturbed to learn that he had been hiding something from them, and then his talented escape had proved that he was a lot more than a genin. Knowing that Naruto had managed to easily lose specially trained shinobi was frightening.

"We've been unsuccessful in finding a trace of Naruto. The shinobi guarding the gate never saw him exit, and he can't be found at all within the village. We searched within five miles of Konoha, and there isn't a hint at his presence. It seems he is long gone."

Long gone. But he had been in Konoha this morning. "Thank you." Hirozen dismissed the Anbu. He had suspected that if Naruto was hiding something that he would leave when he found out about the Sandaime's suspicion, but the Sandiame hadn't done anything but put a few Anbu in charge of keeping track of him. Other villages would've done the same, whether there was cause for suspicion or not. There was a war going on, they couldn't take any chances. Was it possible Naruto had found out about the blood test Kushina had requested? No, it had been a private matter, and he personally knew everyone involved in the testing. None of them would've mentioned it. So why? Why did Naruto suddenly leave? Why did he work on Minato's team for over a month and then leave before there was even any proof against him?

Why he left wasn't the only mystery of Naruto the Sandaime was pondering. Why had Naruto come? Was it only because of his relation to Minato? But then why had he lied about his strength? It was clear from his evading the Anbu that Naruto was more than a genin, or even a chuunin. Why did he claim to be a genin? Was it because he was afraid of what would happen if his strength was known? Everything Naruto ever did was questionable.

He hoped the answers would present themselves, because he was getting frustrated with the never ending questions. Maybe Naruto's teammates would know something more, even if it was just an offhand comment said by Naruto.

Hirozen sent out a shinobi to summon the three genin. As an afterthought, he also summoned Kushina. This situation involved Minato; therefore, it involved her as well. It seemed unlikely that Naruto would've slipped up and told one of the young genin about his plan, but at this moment it was his only lead. He sat back in his chair and waited for the four to show up. His paperwork could wait a few hours.

oOoOo

If he wasn't in such a rush to get to Iwa, Naruto might have found the dumbfounded stares funny. To anyone who might be looking, he was merely a yellow blur. Civilians who caught sight of him, just stared, wondering what could cause such a strange sight. Shinobi sensed the chakra, but none were fast enough to chase him. Knowing he didn't have a lot of time, he wasn't being trying to avoid being seen. It didn't matter much anyway; he wouldn't be in the past for much longer. No matter what it took, he wouldn't allow for people to start losing their lives over him.

It would be a bit into the night before he made it to the base Kyuubi had told him about. While in Kyuubi Mode, he didn't even have to worry about which direction he was heading, he simply let the Kyuubi lead him. The sun was setting when he crossed the border into Iwa.

You should separate our chakra now.

No, we'll get there faster this way. Besides, it's not like any of them would be able to follow us. We're too fast for them.

It's strange how easily we got in.

They don't expect someone could be as fast as we are. I don't think my dad has earned his nickname yet.

There's still the Raikage. He's almost as fast as the Yondaime and you.

Yes, but what are the chances of the Raikage trying to infiltrate Iwa? Like the Hokage, he needs to be back in his hidden village, leading. He can't afford to attempt to sneak into another country.

The Kyuubi was silent. Did I finally make a point you can't prove worng?

One out of two hundred. The odds are still in my favor.

I've been right more than once!

When else have you been right?

I was right about you being more than just a form of hatred.

Don't get sentimental on me. I can easily go back to hating you.

Naruto continued through the trees. Slow down, we're close. Naruto slowed his run. Now, we need to separate our chakra. They'll detect you immediately, and we can only last a day with our chakra combined. We don't want a repeat of what happened a few weeks ago.

Right! No passing out.

oOoOo

Obito had felt like something was off from the moment he was told the Hokage had summoned him. They were too close to the chunnin exams for it to be a mission, and they didn't have Minato to lead them either. They had already filled out all of their mission reports, and none of the chuunin exam forms were due yet.

When he walked into the office, he saw that Kakashi and the Sandaime were the only ones there. Kakashi glared at him when he entered. "You're not late." His tone was colder than Obito had ever remembered it being.

Obito shrugged. "It seems no one is in need of hero today."

Kakahi scoffed before turning to face the Hokage. He didn't say anything, all of them waiting for the other two to arrive. Kushina wasn't much later than Obito, with Rin following her through the door. The Hokage waited for all of them to be in the room and the door to be shut before he spoke up. "I have a few questions for each of you, but before I get to them, I will explain to you what is going on. Please do not interrupt me." He picked up a mug Obito hadn't noticed was sitting on the desk. He took a sip of the tea before continuing. "A few weeks ago, a stranger known as Naruto showed up in Konoha. We allowed him into Konoha, and assigned him to your team. However, I've been weary of him since. The circumstances surrounding his arrival were too strange to ignore.

"I've let him continue on you team, until I had proof of any suspicious activity on his part. There have been a few signs along the way, like his arm injury, which seemed to be self-imposed. This wasn't concrete enough, so we continued to let him stay in Konoha. More evidence was found against him today, and only minutes after that evidence was found, he went missing. It seems he is no longer in Konoha." The Hokage stopped here and looked all three of them in the eye. Obito's heart started racing, but he kept his face neutral. He was good at not showing his emotions.

The Hokage started again. "Have any of you noticed anything strange that Naruto has said or done? Anything that could tell us why he was here or why he left?"

Rin shook her head. "The injury to his arm was the only thing I ever noticed that was strange. Well, and the way he reacted when I asked him about it. I don't think it's a good memory."

The Hokage acknowledged her words, but moved on to Kakashi. He had already known about Naruto's arm. "He was no different than Obito."

Obito ignored the insult in Kakashi's comment. He didn't mind being like Naruto, in fact, it was the best compliment Kakashi had ever given him. And the only. The Hokage's eyes turned to Obito. Panic started to take over. What was he supposed to say? He hadn't suspected that anyone was on to Naruto's secret. Should he lie that he hadn't seen anything unusual, or make up a strange occurrence? Obito opened his mouth to deny seeing anything when another thought hit him. Earlier that day, Naruto had said goodbye. He hadn't actually said the words, but Obito knew that was the last time he was going to see Naruto. Naruto wasn't coming back. Smiling slightly to himself, Obito stared back into the Hokage's eyes. "Yes. I did see something unusual from Naruto. I confronted him about it too."

He had everyone's attention. Even Kakashi was staring at him, probably wondering how he had missed whatever Obito had seen. "I knew Naruto was hiding something from the moment I met him, there was just something about him that didn't seem true to me. During the second chuunin exam, I saw him use a powerful fire jutsu in order to stop an attack. Later I demanded he tell me how he could use fire jutsu, and he told me. He told me everything about him, including what he was doing in Konoha."

Obito knew he was in trouble, from the looks of the faces around him. He needed to hurry up. "He's from the future. He doesn't know how he was brought here."

The group stared at him. Kakashi was looking at him like he was stupid, Rin looked like she felt sorry for him, the Hokage seemed to be holding back a bit of laughter, and Kushina was different. She seemed to be mulling over his words. After a minute, her expression changed. "That's how he's related to Minato." She whispered.

She had figured out he was related to Minato? That shouldn't be surprising, considering how much they looked alike. The rest of the group was now staring at Kushina. "Yes." Obito answered. "That's how you are too." Naruto had never confirmed this, but Obito had seen enough evidence in the way Naruto acted to know this was true. Kushina seemed in shock from the words. Obito noticed she was seemed unsteady and went forward to help her to a chair.

The Hokage seemed to realize what was being said, but the other two were still in the dark. Kushina continued to stare at the wall in front of her. "He's my son."

A/N: This was a hard chapter to write. I knew what I wanted to happen, I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't figure out how to write it. I sat down to write last week, and absolutely nothing came. Sorry it took me three weeks to get this chapter up.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I can't believe I got 50 for the last chapter alone, that's 14 more than any previous chapter. Thank you for reading my story, and please take a few seconds to send a review, even if it is only a "Nice chapter." I love hearing how people are enjoying my story. If you have any complaints, let me know, too.