A/N: Thanks for the reviews I've been getting, guys! It's because of those that this chapter is out so soon.

You'll notice that I've added in Kushina's "ttebane" verbal tic in the form of "like," and "umm." I may go back to the previous chapter and add this in, but we'll see. Personally, I think it's very fun to write this way.

Remember, any reviews are appreciated! If you've got this story on alert/favorites, PLEASE REVIEW! Even a single sentence will mean a lot.


Chapter 5: Love and War

Of the many, many bombshells that had been dropped into his lap this evening, Hiruzen was focused on one in particular. Orochimaru…when did you descend to such depths? When did you start hating Konoha? What happened to you? He could not comprehend how Orochimaru would perform such horrendous acts, and that made him feel all the more guilty. How could I have not seen this coming? How could I have not prevented it? Why can't I understand you? Of the many questions he had been asking himself, that last one kept reverberating in his head. He no longer understood his student. He didn't know his goals, his motivations, his hobbies, or anything of substance, really. Somewhere along the line, his student had become a monster.

Or at least, he was already a monster, and would become an abomination. After hearing Kakashi's tale of Orochimaru invading Konoha with the intent to destroy it, he paled. When he heard that his student had killed him, he was in shock.

Hence why he was in his office, talking with Jiraiya about killing their student and teammate. It seemed surreal, but neither of them believed that Orochimaru was still good, and that the horrid rumors were simply rumors. He would have to make sure, of course, but deep down he knew what he would find. That didn't mean that he wouldn't regret everything, from his failure as a sensei to his failure as a Hokage. He had to protect his village, even if it meant killing his own student.

The two legendary shinobi, along with a squad of ANBU, headed for where they believed Orochimaru's hideout would be, based on Kakashi's intel. After seeing the experiments and horrors for himself, Hiruzen no longer had any doubts about his 'future' advisers or the true nature of his student. With a heavy heart, teammate and teacher ended the life of the White Snake that night.

00.000.00

"Another bowl Teuchi-san!" both patrons yelled in unison. After 10 bowls each, Naruto and Kushina were neck and neck. Kushina was more than surprised at this teen's ability to keep up with her. She had never seen anything like it. She had a reputation among her friends of having a bottomless pit for a stomach when it came to ramen, and Naruto was matching her every bite.

"Another bowl Teuchi-san!" they yelled in unison, once again. And so the heated competition continued, causing them to stare at each other as they devoured bowl after bowl. Neither knew when it would end, but they would continue on until their stomachs could hold no more.

Fortunately for them both, a third factor came into play. "Another bowl Teuchi-san!"

Teuchi looked baffled. "I can barely handle the orders when it's just you, Kushina! With the both of you at this late hour, I've run out of ingredients!"

It was Naruto's and Kushina's turn to be baffled. Ichiraku's, out of ingredients? Such a phenomenon couldn't possibly happen. But apparently, it had.

"Well," said Kushina, "I did originally say this was my treat. And keeping up with me deserves a reward of its own. I'll cover it."

Naruto was thinking of protesting, but realized that he had almost no money on him at all. Oh yeah, kind of left it all in the future. Huh. Might be hard to just go and pick it up. Deciding on another course of action, he struck up some conversation. "I couldn't help but notice how much you cared about Minato's well being. Anything, like, going on between you two?"

Kushina immediately blushed, appearing very flustered. "Like, yeah. We're, um, pretty close."

He wasn't about to let her remain vague. "How close, exactly?"

Her blush deepened. "Like, I want to marry him, uh—" she immediately covered her mouth, realizing what she had said. "Like, don't tell Minato I said that! I-I haven't told him that yet!" She was beyond flustered now, and Naruto was enjoying every second of it.

"You don't need to worry, Kushina. Your secret is safe with me!" Sort of.

The Bloody Habanero paid the bill, and the two continued talking. "I can tell you two really love each other," said Naruto. "Minato mentioned how he couldn't wait to see you when he got back to Konoha." Naruto couldn't help but smile when he recalled hearing that. It had been on the walk with the Iwa prisoners when the father and son somehow got on the topic of what they couldn't wait to do when they got home.

"I can't wait for a nice shower," said Naruto. "I really had to haul ass to get here. What about you?"

Minato blushed and looked at the ground before answering. "I've got a girlfriend back home. We've been getting pretty…erm…close…recently."

Naruto found such a hesitant manner very out of place on someone who was usually keen and quick to act. "Close?" he asked.

His blush deepened. "Erm…you could…say that." Naruto got the meaning and had to hold back a snicker. "I really love her, and I think she feels the same way about me."

"Like, r-really?" asked Kushina.

Naruto couldn't hold back the snicker this time. "Yeah. He mentioned that you two had been getting rather…close…recently. I think he'll be just as excited as you when he gets back."

Kushina's face turned as red as a tomato at Naruto's implications, which caused him to crack up. Way to live up the nickname, Mom!

The rest of their conversation steered to calmer waters. After a while, Naruto decided to call it a night. "I've got to head home, but it was really nice talking with you. We should do it again sometime."

"I would like that," said the redhead. As he turned to leave, Kushina called out. "Naruto?"

He turned back to face her. "Hm?"

"Thank you." With a nod and a smile, Naruto departed, feeling like yet another hole in his heart had been filled.

00.000.00

The next morning, Kakashi and his team were standing in the Hokage's office, only this time Jiraiya himself was present, looking very downtrodden.

"Jiraiya, I understand that you're going through a lot right now, but this is important," said Hiruzen. And utterly insane, he mentally added.

The Toad Sage slowly looked up at his sensei before nodding. "What I'm about to tell you," he continued, "is an S-rank secret, and shall not be repeated outside of this office. Are we clear?"

Another nod. "Good. Then try not to jump to conclusions from what I'm about to tell you. This group you see here, are…well, they're from another time. The future, to be more specific."

Jiraiya turned to look at the group. After killing someone he had considered a brother, in a unique and twisted way, he was in no mood for matters this crazy. "Hn."

"Jiraiya, I'm telling you this now, because in order to maintain this secret, you need to become a part of their cover story, as we can't have this secret coming out quite yet. Do you understand?"

The white-haired man narrowed his eyes. "You brought me in here to talk about nonsense like this?"

Before the Sandaime could answer, the blond spoke up. "I've never seen you this angry before, Ero-sennin. It doesn't suit you."

The man turned to face Naruto. "What the hell are you talking about, brat?"

"Like Oji-san said, we're from the future. Crazy as it sounds, it's true. You need proof? How about this: Nagato and Konan are alive."

The toad sage's eyes went wide. "Y-you…how do you know that?"

"Because I heard it from Nagato himself, several years into the future. If I'm correct, Yahiko may still be alive, but he won't be for long. He's leading a peaceful resistance movement which Hanzo the Salamander and Danzo of Konoha intend to crush. He'll die in the ambush, and Nagato will grow to hate Konoha."

This part was news to Hiruzen. "Danzo? I didn't want to believe that my old friend could do such a thing, but…" he sighed. "I'll have to deal with him immediately. In the mean time, however, we still need to discuss what we came here to discuss."

"Which is?" asked Jiraiya.

"The fact that Naruto has been your student for several years, and that you've taught him senjutsu and the Rasengan."

"He's what?"

"Like I said, we need to establish a cover story. Naruto here used both the Rasengan and senjutsu in front of Minato, and the only way he won't get suspicious is if you tell him that he's been your student for several years when Minato asks."

Taking this in for a moment, Jiraiya nodded. "Anything else?"

Naruto interjected. "Yeah. Because of the whole time travel thing, I technically haven't signed the Toad summoning contract yet. I'd like to do that as soon as possible."

"Very well." Jiraiya carried the contract on him, so the procedure took very little time at all. However, he noticed something in the signed name. "Namikaze Naruto? Who are you, exactly?"

Naruto smiled. "Minato's son."

Jiraiya's jaw dropped. "You're the guy's son? Wow…"

"And you're my godfather, by the way," Naruto added.

"What? Jeez…well, I definitely did not expect to hear anything like this when I came into the office. Wait, who's the mother?"

"I'll give you a hint: I'm a ramen addict."

"Kushina? You must have quite the genes, kid. A ton of chakra too, I'll bet."

You have NO idea, Ero-sennin. "Yeah…"

"Hmph. Well, I need to head to Amegakure as soon as possible. If Yahiko's in danger, I'll do whatever I can."

"Wait," said Hiruzen. "You must wait until Minato returns to deliver the cover story. As soon as that's done, you may leave."

Jiraiya visibly deflated. He had been hoping to get to Ame as soon as possible. "Fine. Anything else you can tell me, kid?"

"Yahiko is leading some kind of peace movement, but Hanzo sees it as a threat to his power. Danzo will, if he hasn't already, strike a deal with Hanzo in an attempt to gain power. They'll lure Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan into a joint ambush under the disguise of negotiations."

"I see. Sensei, can you handle Danzo on your end?"

Hiruzen nodded. "I'll do what I can. At the very least, I'll strip him of his power. But back to the matters at hand. From what I've heard from Kakashi-san and Naruto-san, many of you and your classmates will be born relatively soon. I suggest avoiding all contact with your families until…excuse me, but this is very awkward to say…until your mothers are pregnant with each of you and your classmates. You know why. In the mean time, maintain the cover stories each of you are going by, and I'll assign you all separate housing to avoid suspicion. The only exception to this will be you, Sasuke-san. Your past actions, from what Kakashi-san tells me, have been…questionable, at best. But your teammates say that you are changing, so I will maintain limited security and surveillance. As per your recommendation, Sakura, Sasuke will be staying in your suite, in a separate room. Is this acceptable?"

Sasuke looked to his teammate nervously. He honestly didn't want to sleep anywhere near that psycho woman, but he considered the likely alternative: Sai. Yeah, I'll just keep quiet.

The Sandaime turned to face the blond. "Now, I know you've already had contact with your father, Naruto, but I suggest you avoid contact with your parents whenever possib—"

"It's a little too late for that, Oji-san…hehe…" the blond laughed nervously. "I sort of…erm…ran into my mother last night. Anyway, I think I've messed things up already, so it won't make a difference if I keep seeing them."

Hiruzen sighed. Again. Does this kid know how to not screw everything up?

00.000.00

It was the next day when Minato and the group of Iwa prisoners arrived at the northern gates. Naruto and Kushina had been waiting on the village wall, talking and growing closer all the while. When she saw the group approaching, she beamed.

Naruto had a thought quickly pass through his head, however. "Kushina, you should wait until the prisoners are out of sight before greeting Minato."

She turned to him, confused. "Why?"

Because in my time, Iwagakure would take any possible chance to hurt Minato and everyone close to him. "Because they're enemy prisoners who will be released when the war is over. Introducing yourself as Minato's lover is probably not the best idea. You don't want to make yourself and any children you might have a target."

Kushina blushed at the mention of the word 'children,' but nodded. She saw the group enter the village and the disappointed look on Minato's face when he didn't see her among the crowd waiting for him. Kushina looked particularly jumpy after that, but Naruto held her arm, preventing her from making any rash decisions. The crowd cheered for their hero, and the prisoners were handed over to several Konoha shinobi. Minato asked that the Iwa prisoners be treated with respect, and they were all too eager to obey their biggest hero. Once the prisoners were out of sight, Naruto released her arm and she jumped down to greet her love, with Naruto following close behind.

"Minato-kun!" she yelled, as she all but tackled the blond. Before he could respond, she gave him a passionate kiss, which caused many of the crowd to cheer and holler. She pulled back, but only just enough to look into his eyes. "I was so worried…I heard terrible rumors…and after you were gone for so long, I started to fear—"

Minato interrupted her with a kiss of his own. "That's why you shouldn't listen to rumors. Besides, I had some great help. Turns out I've had a cousin for years, and never knew about it. His name is—"

"Namikaze Naruto. I know," she said.

Minato looked up at her in confusion. "You do? Since when?"

"Since two days ago. We were both waiting for you on the village wall, and we've been talking ever since. He's got just as big an appetite for ramen as I do!"

He looked at her like she had just said she was pregnant. "What?"

"It's not hard to eat so much of the best food in the world." The couple turned around to see the subject of their conversation standing in front of the crowd, a huge grin on his face.

Seeing his parents like this brought Naruto a happiness that he only felt when he was with Hinata. It was a sense of belonging, he realized. That feeling of being loved, which was still new to him, had become distinct over the past year.

"Naruto!" said Minato. "I was going to introduce you two, but it seems you have already beaten me to the punch. Though I do have some other questions for you later," he said. Naruto noticed that Minato's expression had grown more serious at that last part.

"I was just about to go find Jiraiya-sensei. Wanna come?"

00.000.00

In the office of the Hokage, Hiruzen was left with a rather annoying dilemma. On one hand, he was planning on announcing Minato as his successor upon his return, but on the other hand, Minato would then have access to every village secret, including one the blond could not know until Kushina was pregnant. His retirement, it seems, would have to wait.

Ten minutes later, the very subjects of his thoughts entered his office, looking for Jiraiya. Exactly as planned, thought Hiruzen. He had arranged for Jiraiya to just 'happen' to be present in his office at the time.

"Sensei!" Minato said with a huge grin on his face. "It's good to see you again!"

"Likewise, Minato. I assume Naruto was a big help on the mission?"

"Yes. Speaking of Naruto, you wouldn't have happened to take him on as a student, would you?"

"Yes, I did. It was several years ago, in fact."

Minato's expression then turned serious. "If that's true, then why haven't I found out about him until now?"

"Because neither of us knew of Naruto's true surname until recently, and after we did, it became a secret I was not authorized to tell you. I'm sorry."

The Yellow Flash seemed to buy this, as his anger on the issue had long since disappeared after spending time with his 'cousin.' "Well, there was something else I've wanted to ask. Several things, actually."

"Shoot."

Minato turned to his relative. "So how exactly did you manage to add an element to the Rasengan, let alone throw it?"

Naruto decided that using as much truth as possible would work well here. "I use shadow clones to add the element while the original maintains the technique. As for throwing it, I can only do that in Sage Mode."

The other blond seemed to be taking mental notes. "And about Sage Mode, how did you manage to learn it at such a young age?"

Yeah, can't answer that one. "I just had a knack for it, I guess." A knack that may or may not have to do with the Kyuubi sealed inside of me.

That answer seemed to satisfy him enough, at least for now. "Well, it's been a long day. Why don't we head home, Kushina-chan?"

Naruto noticed his mother's blush, and smiled. My work here is done.

00.000.00

Obito smiled at the sight before him. Ever since the mission deep into Iwa territory, he had really reflected back on his life, which he had very nearly lost. He and Kakashi had finally become good friends, and he'd awakened his Sharingan. He'd proven himself to his team, and Rin started opening up to them both more. All in all, he was very happy.

Obito and Kakashi had been trying to figure out the Sharingan together, giving them yet another bond. Kakashi realized that with the Sharingan, he could safely use his original jutsu, Chidori.

But that realization brought him to another one. He paused, looking down while his mind recalled something. His teammates noticed this.

"What's wrong, Kakashi?" asked Obito.

"Well, I remember…my uncle, Hatake Shigure…when he rescued us, he used a really similar jutsu to my Chidori. It looks almost exactly alike. I guess it's not an original jutsu after all…"

"No, it's definitely original." They all spun to the source of the voice.

"Shigure-jisan?" asked Kakashi.

The older man jumped down to the three ninja. "Your jutsu is definitely original, Kakashi-kun."

"But…how? You used one that looks exactly like mine."

Kakashi sighed. He'd been considering this course of action for a while now. Since his former self and his teammates had already been born and could definitely keep a secret, Kakashi saw no harm in letting his team know the truth. He had been watching them on their team training ground—his old training ground—for a while now. "What I'm about to tell you is considered an S-rank village secret, and is to be repeated to no one unless given express permission by either myself or the Hokage. Got it?"

They all nodded. "Now that you understand that part, understand that what I'm about to tell you is crazy and I still don't fully understand it myself."

They waited for him to continue. "Well, I guess it's like this. I'm from the future."

No, Kakashi had never really been known for his eloquence with words. Obito was the first to formulate words. "…what?"

"You mean…you're from the future?" asked Rin.

"Yes. My real name, as you may have already guessed, is Hatake Kakashi. It's nice to see you all again. It's been quite some time." At that, everyone's eyes went wide.

The younger Kakashi spoke up. "Wait…you're…me? From the future?"

Kakashi the elder nodded. "So…wow. Everything makes sense now. Wait, then what happened to your eye?"

He lifted his hitai-ate to reveal a three-tomoe Sharingan. Rin, Obito, and Kakashi gasped. "So you got a transplant too?" asked the younger Kakashi.

"Yes. Though the circumstances were…different."

"Different? How?" asked Obito.

Kakashi sighed, and looked up into the sky. "I'm not sure you guys really want to know. At least not yet."

The younger Kakashi's face turned serious. "I definitely want to know."

The older man turned to his younger counterpart. "This Sharingan wasn't taken from the body of a dead Uchiha. This Sharingan…was yours, Obito," he said, turning to face his old teammate at the mention of his name.

This confession seemed to confuse them all the more, so Kakashi clarified. "Do you remember that cave in after rescuing Rin?" They all nodded, so he continued. "In my time, there wasn't a future me coming to save the day. A large boulder…crushed Obito's right side." Their faces turned to expressions of shock and horror as Kakashi's voice became laced with pain. "He…you…were dying. And you knew it. So you decided to give me your Sharingan eye as your gift to me for becoming a jounin. It was your final act. With your eye, I was able to complete the Chidori, and defeated that Iwa shinobi who had killed you. Before we could say our goodbyes, reinforcements from Iwa showed up. I don't really remember what happened after that, but Minato-sensei saved the two of us."

Rin was letting her tears flow freely, while the younger Kakashi even let a few tears escape his eye. Obito stared at the ground, trying to contemplate how fortunate he had been, and what dying would have felt like. "I'll never forget that mission, even though it only happened in my memory now. I haven't stopped feeling guilty about it all until I saved you, Obito. Until I corrected my biggest past mistake."

Obito looked up at him. "It was never your fault to begin with, baka."

The elder Kakashi looked at Obito with surprise. "I can't believe you'd blame yourself for that all this time. Jeez, I always knew you had a stick up your ass."

At this, both Kakashi's looked at Obito with shock in their eyes. Rin just laughed.

This, thought Kakashi, this is what I've yearned for all these years. I can finally lay that burden to rest. After a minute, Kakashi spoke up. "You know, Obito, it's actually quite ironic."

"Huh?" Obito asked.

"When you suggested the transplant, you said, 'I'll become your eye to see the future.' In a really weird way your eyes have seen both the future and a different past."


A/N: Another chapter finished, and my longest one yet.

So, same procedure. Any comments about this chapter? Like where this story is going?

I guess I should mention that I don't have any written outline for this story. Aside from a few general ideas and goals, I'm basically deciding what to write on a chapter-by-chapter basis. So any ideas and suggestions you have, I'll definitely listen to.

As I said before, reviews are GREATLY appreciated. There are about 35 of you who currently have this story on alert. It already means a lot to me to see so many of you all care, but it would mean a whole lot more to see what you guys think about my story. I can't emphasize this enough. Please, take half a minute out of your day to let me know what you think about my chapter/story. I'm spending a couple hours on each chapter at a minimum, so I hope I'm not asking for too much in return.

Until next time!