Disclaimer: 'Naruto' is the property of Masashi Kishimoto, Shueisha, Viz Media, TV Tokyo, and other associated parties. I claim no ownership of the franchise, characters or settings, nor am I affiliated with the above parties in any way. The following is a fan-work, written for my amusement, and not for material or monetary gain. Please support the official releases. (I don't own this).

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Fastforward

Chapter 2: The Rabbit Hole

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And yet to every bad there's a worse.

- Thomas Hardy

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Deep in the heart of Grass country, having scouted out the immediate area beforehand to the best of his ability in his current state, Minato shuddered, leaning against a broad tree trunk. His vision had yet to correct itself, the world had yet to stop spinning, and the light had yet to stop searing his retinas, but he had escaped. He had no idea what had gone wrong; the Flying Thunder God technique had never failed him in such a way. To have been forced off course so far, far enough that he couldn't even sense nor transport to any of the fifty kunai that he'd had his comrades throw at the Iwa platoon, and then to be transported into the centre of another, thoroughly unprepared? No, that had never happened before.

His mind cast itself back to his last opponent. Brown hair, brown eyes, fingers flying through signs, and one of Minato's kunai buried within the perimeter of whatever technique that man had been performing. It must have been some component of the Jounin's technique, he decided. It wasn't a Jutsu he could recall seeing before, it may even have been another Space/Time Jutsu; probably was, with how badly the Flying Thunder God had reacted to it. Not that he'd had a chance to see how two Space/Time techniques had fared against each other, before. He'd have to look into it later; this couldn't be allowed to happen again. He'd never not been able to transport to a seal that had been in full working condition, and all of the kunai on that battlefield had filled that requirement. Yet even now, he couldn't sense them.

His fingers gripped the last of the three-pronged kunai in his pouch, but it was no matter, he assured himself. The seals drawn into his kunai holster were a sure-fire way to make certain he was never without his kunai when he needed them. They lay nestled inside a non-space, ready for summoning.

Swiping his thumb on the tip of his kunai, his fingers brushed the edge of his holster, activating the seals. He waited for the weight on his thigh to signify the refilling of his pouch.

Nothing.

Frowning, he repeated the gesture. Still nothing. He removed the holster from his thigh and unloaded its contents onto the branch on which he sat. Twelve standard kunai, the one tri-pronged kunai he had left, four shuriken, two smoke bombs, a fair amount of ninja wire, a roll of chakra infused paper with a pot of ink and a brush... and the seals were still in place.

He channelled some excess chakra for the third time, but to no avail. His eyebrows furrowed. Nothing, again. It was like the network between the seals in the holster and the area they'd been connected to for storage had somehow been disconnected.

As far as Minato knew, this was impossible. The pocket where he had his items sealed was unique to him, as it was to anyone who employed seals of such a nature. With the composition itself unchanged, it was baffling how it could just have "broken" for no apparent reason.

Sighing, the man rubbed his eyes. His vision was slowly beginning to steady. He had been sitting still for far too long, and the surroundings were too quiet for his liking. He had no access to his specialist kunai, but it would be no bother to have more forged in Konoha, once he returned. For now, he would just have to make do. Packing everything but the twelve standardised kunai, the paper, the ink and the brush into the holster and securing it back around his thigh, his hands flew over the chakra infused paper and in no time at all, he had secured fresh seals to the regular kunai he had left.

Twelve kunai later, Minato got to his feet. He had been unable to sense the tag he gave to Kakashi- strange, as he was meant to be alerted when it had been thrown. The only possible reason he couldn't sense it would be because the seal on the kunai had been destroyed somehow. That, or Kakashi had yet to use it because his mission had gone off without a hitch- but that was unlikely. His cell must have run into some trouble while he had been incapacitated. That, or the problem with the Flying Thunder God Jutsu was bigger than he'd originally thought. Shaking his head, he gathered the last of his things and packed the last of his kunai away.

He would entrust the mission to destroy the bridge to his team as assigned. Anything else would be an insult to their ability, and without a team of his own, heading into hostile territory without any idea of the threats that lay ahead was foolhardy. His team were probably far ahead of him by now. With Kakashi leading them, as complicated as the kid was, they should be fine.

To Konoha it was.

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Iwa's research department had been delighted to receive yet another copy of an active Hiraishin seal to analyse, if that was indeed what it was. The Yellow Flash was dead and Iwa wasn't about to be scared into submission by a ghost. Still, their old copies of the seal had been dissected to death by Iwa's sealing experts, but had not given up their secrets. If that was indeed the seal needed to use the Flying Thunder God technique, having another crack at it to garner its secrets was always welcome.

The investigation would continue. The field had been examined, the bodies dealt with, and all that had turned up was a few more of those blasted tri-pronged kunai.

The Iwa/Konoha war was long since over, so this breach could be seen in two possible ways.

First, that Konoha were feeling foolhardy enough to risk yet another war on their heads, while they were preoccupied with one already.

As low as his opinion of that wretched village was, Onoki didn't believe that even their current Hokage was that much of an imbecile. Between being on the wrong end of a stalemate, the natural disaster of the Kyuubi decimating half the village, losing two Hokage in quick succession, losing near all of one of their strongest clans at the hand of its kin, and now being at war with Sunagakure, Konoha couldn't handle another superpower knocking at their gates. Fifteen, twenty years prior, with the genius of Uchiha and Hyuuga, the genius of the Professor, and the White Fang, of the Yellow Flash, and the Sannin, and maybe, just maybe, they would have been reckless enough to try such a thing; (though with the compassionate Sarutobi at the helm, even that was debatable), but now? Konoha was on the verge of collapse. Most of their heroes were either dead, or missing-nin, and one of their strongest clans had been reduced to collector's items.

If they were behind it, they wouldn't have been idiotic enough to claim responsibility for the attack when they weren't able to handle the recriminations- the intruder had been wielding weapons and a Jutsu or Jutsu similar to one that had originated from the Leaf, and was wearing a Leaf hitai-ate.

So that left option number two- that someone was trying to stir up war between Iwa and Konoha. The list of enemies was high- there wasn't a hidden village that wasn't loathed by the others, no matter the treaties signed between them, but the most vocal of those enemies right now were Suna. The last he'd heard, they were having some trouble with Konoha's forces, (and with how pathetic Konoha was right now, his opinion of the Hidden Sand dropped even further). They'd benefit directly from Stone declaring war on Leaf.

Wrapped in the shadows slithering across the room of his office, Onoki summoned two teams. Sunagakure or Konohagakure... Messages had been sent ahead to both by hawk informing them that Iwa were coming. Onoki would discover where this threat had come from... let them try to stand up to Iwa's might.

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He could still feel a few of his seals active in the village. Not as many as he'd laid down, but a few of them. He had originally decided to travel to Konoha by foot rather than use Hiraishin to transport back to one of the seals he'd pre-planted in the village in the hopes that he'd meet some comrades to join up with. His team weighed heavily on his mind- finding another team and venturing back onto the frontline was an attractive prospect. The further he travelled, however, the more unsettled Minato became.

There was no sign of warfare. The land didn't look disturbed, the vegetation grew green and healthy, and the animals were wary, but not fearful, of his presence. On his travel back, at the height the war was at now, he was expecting to have met at least an enemy shinobi or three, but still... nothing.

When the landscape looked like it had slightly changed, (the brook he had passed with his team had grown in size in mere hours, apparently), it began to dawn on Minato that something really was wrong. Something he couldn't quite put his finger on. He'd put it down to his vision still playing up at first, but that problem had long since cleared up. He had performed the "kai" Genjutsu dispelling technique to negate any possible illusion as a precaution, but it had been a half-hearted effort. He would have felt the creeping cold of a Genjutsu slipping over his mind.

Minato prided himself on his deductive ability, but he was pulling blanks here. He could only hope that the situation became clearer once he joined up with comrades or returned to Konoha.

He was making good time, had covered a good distance in a short while, and had diverted his route to exit into Takigakure territory rather than going straight through the border of Grass and Fire. The area between the two nations was heavily guarded- while a larger side of Takigakure bordered Iwa, the Grass side had a greater reach across Fire Country, and Iwa were aiming to take Taki, and possibly Ame, later, to back Fire Country into a corner. Taking Grass first stopped them from being boxed in, so Taki was relatively untouched, a perfect way to bypass them. Minato and his team had entered Grass the same way- through Taki. With the Grass/Fire border so heavily guarded, Taki territory was the way to go. While Minato was confident in his abilities, he wasn't stupid. With a bit of luck, he'd run into some Leaf ninja in Waterfall, too.

A few hours into Takigakure's land, and having been running for the better part of the day, Minato slowed to a stop. The sun was beginning to set and he wouldn't be able to make it all the way to Konoha like this, without kitting down for the night. The disorientation from earlier had its hand in that. Travelling a little further, he came to a tree with a hollow between its numerous roots. He was too alone to risk a fire, he'd have to make do without; but it wasn't too cold and the skies were clear. He walked a sizable perimeter around the area and wrapped it in proximity seals, seals that alerted the creator if someone was coming too close. It wasn't like Iwa ninja to pass through Takigakure when they had such a force by the Grass/Fire border, but one could never be too careful.

With the seals active, his back against the earthy wall rooting the roots, and his holster close to hand, Minato drifted off into a weary sleep.

White hawks flow over the borders of Sand and Fire, red scrolls attached to their legs.

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Two hours into the night, Minato's proximity seals went off, rousing him from his slumber.

Not even a rustle of clothing betraying him as he sat up. He lowered his index finger to the floor, his senses stretching out.

One shinobi, two. Two shinobi travelling in his direction.

Iwa ninja didn't tend to travel through Takigakure territory, but that didn't mean there weren't exceptions.

Minato slowly climbed from the den, adjusting his hitai-ate and sliding a few kunai out from his holster. If it was an enemy, for the kunai he was limited to, he had better make them count. He wrapped a small Genjutsu over his form to make himself blend better with the tree he had his back to, making an extra effort to blend his hair. It was at times like this that he cursed it; even in the dark, it was still a beacon of light. He waited.

Not for long, for not a minute later, they dropped from the trees into the clearing, silent as the night they were travelling in.

Minato noticed three things in quick succession. First, the eyes. The taller of the two had eyes that glinted red in the moonlight. Second, the hitai-ate. Konoha. Third, the slash through the metal, desecrating the village symbol.

Red eyes came to rest on him, flicked slightly up to rest on his forehead and Minato lunged from his place as a shuriken tore into the tree-bark his head had just been resting on.

A kunai flew from his hands, but was knocked off course by the shorter of the pair, sinking into a tree with a hollow thunk. The taller one was moving before Minato's second kunai had even started sailing through the air, and a third was knocked from his hand as the taller danced forward with a ninjato. A body flicker was the only thing that saved Minato from being skewered through the gut.

His feet had barely touched the branch of the tree he'd leapt up to before the shorter one was at his throat yet again. A chance glance back as he twisted through the air revealed another pair of glaring Sharingan eyes.

Uchiha missing-nin. He studied their faces, but didn't recognise them. That being said, the Uchiha liked dealing with their own missing-nin, as rare as they were, so what was this?

This wasn't a good situation to be in. With an Uchiha, the odds were more favourable if you outnumbered them. Famed for their affinity with Genjutsu, if an Uchiha caught you with one, it was best to have a comrade break you out of it- illusions cast with those eyes were more of a challenge to release yourself from than a standard technique. That wasn't to say that a person wouldn't be able to set themselves free on their own- that was perfectly possible if you had control enough to stop your chakra flow and overpower your opponents; just that it would be slightly more difficult.

The problem with Sharingan users, however, was that if they weren't coming at you with Genjutsu, then they could read your movements milliseconds before you made them, and with their copying/prediction techniques, their Ninjutsu repertoire was wide, with an answer to most of what people would throw at them. Those eyes were tricky things.

Landing lightly on the ground, Minato pulled his first kunai from the trunk it had grounded in, now that their positions were reversed. The seal was undamaged. He could sense his second kunai somewhere to the right, and the third just behind the taller of the two opponents. Perfect.

"Who are you?" Even in his questioning, Minato's gaze was firmly on the man's chest. There was no point in getting caught up in a Genjutsu if it was avoidable.

There was a pause as the taller one considered him, and then: "Our names are of no relevance to you."

"You're from Konoha, Uchiha. Your names have every bit of relevance, especially when we're at war."

The younger snorted with disgust from his place in the trees. "We haven't been with Konoha for a long time," he snapped, his voice biting. "Their wars are none of our concern."

The taller cut in before he could continue. "Go on your way. We wish not to fight you."

"Yet you were the ones to attack first." Neither of his opponents spoke. "In any case, there are strict instructions on what to do with rogue ninja like yourselves. I can't just let you pass when your loyalty could go to any one of the villages opposing us."

The two had been reaching for weapons before that declaration was even half finished, but Minato was already gone.

"Itachi! Behind-"

Minato drew the kunai he'd ported to from the floor with practiced ease, sharp tip angled up. "Itachi's" reflexes were extraordinarily sharp, even for an Uchiha, and he'd already begun to simultaneously jump back and turn on his heel before the shorter man had opened his mouth to warn him. His ninjato was angled to parry the blow, but Minato's speed won out, and his kunai sunk into the man's side. "Itachi" had moved enough that the blow wasn't fatal, but it was enough to make him drop- for now. Minato's added pressure to the knock- shouldering the man to the floor- made sure to guarantee that. Blood began to slowly seep out of his wound,

Uchiha Itachi, huh?

He recalled no such Uchiha; with what looked to be a high level of skill like that, as well as the fact that they allegedly hadn't been affiliated with the village for a while, it was surprising he wasn't more known.

There wasn't time more to think on that, however, as killing intent flooded the area. A log substitution took the full force of a clawed maul that would likely have taken Minato's head off. A chakra was visibly surrounding the young man's figure; foul, red, and with his Sharingan also blazing, he looked like a demon of some sort. It wasn't natural.

Putting space between them both, Minato surveyed his new opponent. Gone was the irritable youngster, in his place a crouching, glaring thing. The red chakra bubbled up, splitting at the back into two streams, or tails. The pupil at the centre of the Sharingan had elongated into a slit, his eyes suddenly looked a lot more defined, and his fingernails looked sharper. The kid was standing protectively over Itachi, who, with a hand pressing over his wound, was slowly getting back to his feet. The ninjato was gripped in his other fist, and his posture was tense.

He moved to level himself with his ally.

"Calm yourself."

The younger directed a look at him before the killing intent dropped minutely. Directing his gaze at Minato once again, Itachi spoke.

"That was no Shunsin."

Minato's brow rose. His moniker was well enough known by now, the hair and the Jutsu itself enough to give him away to anyone, but there was no dawning recognition in Itachi's gaze, just a cool, analytic stare. "...No."

"What was it?" When Minato didn't answer, Itachi continued. "Some sort of seal-reliant technique? You seem to have a proficiency with them, your proximity seals were evidence of that."

So they had been sensed, Minato mused. And yet they walked right through them... Overconfidence?

"My Sharingan gives colour to chakra. It may have been faint, but it was detectable. The same for those kunai you're using."

He truly didn't know. What was the harm in telling him? It was hardly a secret- it seemed everyone on the continents knew his technique aside from the two in front of him.

Minato smiled. "It is a technique that uses seals, yes. Hiraishin. The Flying Thunder God Jutsu."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. Finally, recognition. "That's impossible."

Minato raised a kunai. "Not quite."

The man slowly blinked, the tomoe of his Sharingan spinning lazily. Minato kept his eyes lowered. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. What is yours?" Itachi's hand pointing out at him punctuated his statement. Minato almost smiled, again. Most Uchiha were brought up to be the epitome of politeness in all ways, (like the Hyuuga, they had a dignified reputation to uphold), yet the man was pointing at him. It was something Obito would have done, though he probably would have been a lot more dramatic about it. Itachi, on the other hand, had probably disregarded his manners with his loyalty to the village he had hailed from.

"Namikaze Minato."

The demonic boy's lips curled.

And then Minato felt the subtle trickle of Genjutsu washing over his mind before the tree to his back immobilised him, its branches reaching forward to simultaneously choke off his air supply and lift him off his feet. Forcing down the urge to grapple the branches off, he focussed his chakra, driving the kunai clutched between his fingers into his leg and shattering the Genjutsu. Head snapping back, Minato surveyed the now empty clearing.

Slowly crouching down, he lowered an index finger to the dirt. They were fleeing, and fast. In the direction of Grass.

For a second, his mind wrestled with itself. Chase after them, or return to Konoha? His logical side won out. If he was to return to their trail, he'd need more supplies, for they were obviously skilled. It would have to come later.

Sighing, he gathered the last of the kunai strewn across the battlefield, before turning and beginning back on his route to Konoha. There would be no more rest for him tonight.

His mind wandered over the two shinobi he'd just fought with.

The Uchiha boy who'd grown chakra tails, (the hairs on the back of his neck were still standing slightly on end- the killing intent he'd generated was humongous- and Minato had had a lot of that intent levelled at him over the years), and Uchiha Itachi.

Casting Genjutsu with a finger.

Who'd have thought it?

Though the Uchiha were certainly a genius clan, he'd never heard of such a thing... He'd have to ask Fugaku when he was back in the village. His wife had given birth a few months prior, anyway, and Kushina had wanted to visit her. The two had been friends since childhood.

Still, it was strange how he'd never heard of this Uchiha until now. For all his skill, Minato couldn't recall a single bit of information about him prior to this meeting.

Uchiha Itachi. I shall have to remember that name.

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Konoha's gate guards watched with distaste as the team of Iwa ninja left the village. The sashay in their steps was plainly evident. Even the Godaime, who was renowned for his poker face, had a steely glint in his eye. His fingernails were digging into the wood of his walking stick, his knuckles slowly whitening. As the Iwa ninja faded into the trees, Shimura Danzo turned on his heel and strode back into the village.

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The sun had risen, travelled across the sky, and begun to set yet again, when Minato finally caught sight of the Village Hidden in the Leaves on the horizon. The majestic gates of the village stretched up high above the treetops. They weren't breached. It was safe. Which was why it had been a little unnerving to have passed not a single patrol of leaf ninja as he travelled through Fire Country to get to his destination.

With night starting to fall again, and with the village in the midst of fighting a war, it was standard practice for it to shut the gates when the sun had set. There were lookouts stationed across the top, and naturally, there were Chunin stationed by each closed gate, ready to either give access or warn the village and then stand as the first line of defence against an invading enemy.

Still uneasy about the lack of activity surrounding the village- he was well within range to be easily spotted, now- Minato decided to keep to the shadows. Upon reaching the gate, he frowned. There was no-one there. Were they on lockdown? There was no logical reason for there to be no guards at the gates, not unless something big was happening. Not having the patience to climb over the walls of the gate, he did the easiest thing. It seemed he'd have to report straight to the Hokage tower once he was inside, there was nothing left to it. That, or he could make a small detour to Kushina's, first. She'd have the answers to his questions.

Stretching out his senses, he felt the traces of chakra of the seals he had planted in the village before he'd left. Strangely enough, he could only feel about three of them, the rest still weren't accessible- he'd have to examine his Flying Thunder God technique properly when he could- whatever that Jutsu was that that Jounin had thrown had definitely knocked something off kilter. His seals had never just stopped working without a valid reason. And why were only some of them inactive? With a shake of his head, he was gone.

He reappeared at the garden gate of Kushina's apartment, and took a moment to survey the area, (all quiet- the streets were empty, the night dark), before turning to walk up the path. His eyes came to rest on the house and he came to a halt.

The house was not Kushina's. Oh, the gate was the same, polished wood looking maybe just a little more weathered than usual, but the apartment wasn't. It was as if someone had ripped the gate up and moved the entire thing; just to place it in front of some other house. The use in that, Minato didn't know. In fact, studying the house again a little more closely, he couldn't say he'd seen one built quite like that in Konoha before...

Quashing down the irritation beginning to crawl on the edge of his senses, now, at yet another strange development, Minato turned on his heel. There had to be a perfectly good explanation for this at the very least. To the Hokage's tower it was. He'd find Kushina later, she'd laugh at his luck, and everything would be fine.

Using Hiraishin once again, he appeared in the hallway outside the Sandaime's office. Rapping on the door, he waited for an answer. When none came, he strode into the room. The man- that was not the Sandaime!- hunched over the desk glanced up sharply.

Black seals shot out as Minato's foot touched the floor, wrapping over his legs, leeching, leeching.

Minato fell to his knees.

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He was sitting on a hard-seated chair. There was something over his head. His hands were tied tightly enough behind his back to cut off the circulation, leaving them feeling heavy and stiff, and his legs were in not much better condition. His head was pounding. Minato was painfully aware of the sudden lack of weapons on his person, as he woke. Even more worrying was how close he felt to Chakra exhaustion.

The seals in the Sandaime's office probably had something to do with that. Minato really hadn't been lucky with seals over the past couple of days.

Keeping silent, he began to try to test out his restraints. He could shift, slightly, but he was tied down tight. He strained his ears for the sound of anything that would give him some information about what exactly was going on, but to no avail. He was separated from whoever had done this- they were smart enough for that, at least.

He didn't think he was in Konoha's custody. Granted, the Sandaime could have increased the security in his office, but if it was Konoha, he would have been recognised and released right away.

No, it seemed someone had infiltrated the village. The man at the Sandaime's desk was most certainly not the Sandaime, though Minato didn't get enough of a good look at him to put a name to the face.

The situation didn't look good. With no weapons and low on chakra, even if he did get free, he doubted he could get far. Lucky for him, he didn't have to walk. A few of his tags were still active, but there was no use in leaving if he could get answers first.

The door opened with a click. Booted feet thudded across the floor, and the cloth covering his head was roughly removed as a grizzled beast of a man stared down at him. The hitai-ate signified Leaf.

The man's eyebrow rose. "So, imposter. How about you save us all some time and explain yourself?"

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