A/N: Word count is ~5k.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 5 - ReBirthday

When Obito had woken up in the morning, he had felt oddly refreshed.

And then, when the memories from the previous day returned to him, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. It was a strange yet welcome feeling, knowing that Minato seemed to care for him enough to support him through his little breakdown.

He had gotten out of his bed(no doubt Minato had tucked him in when the Uchiha had cried himself to exhaustion) to say hello to the blonde, and hopefully, Kushina and his team. However, before he could so much as make his way to the middle of the room, his door burst open revealing a rather irritable Minato.

Well, most people wouldn't have been able to see the small details that hinted at his clear ire—the slight, almost imperceptible twitch of his left eyelid, the tapping of his left pointer finger on his leg, and the overall tenseness the man seemed to exude—but to Obito, these details were as clear as day.

"Obito, we have to go somewhere today," Minato stated plainly while holding out his hand.

The Uchiha only raised an eyebrow, but complied nonetheless.

And when he found himself in the middle of the council chamber, surrounded by stern gazes and sneers, everything made sense.

He and Minato stood in the center of the room, surrounded by people looking down on them at varying levels of height. A rather beaten-up table stood off to the side next to a lonely-looking chair, which Obito quickly commandeered. From where he sat, the seats fanned up and out, giving the convicted a sense of oppression and weakness. The room was shaped in such a way that he was kept on the bottom-most level, in the spotlight, and at the center of the room. It was a decent intimidation tactic for the setting, typically used for condemned criminals. Perhaps they thought it would work on a boy his age… but he wasn't really the boy he looked to be, was he?

Minato stepped in front of Obito and stood in such a way that was almost protective of him. His irritation seemed to only grow at the change of locations, and Obito couldn't help but give a low whistle at the level of anger the blonde had reached. The raven-haired boy didn't think he had ever seen the man so… Pissed off, for lack of a better description. Normally, such a foul word wouldn't be thought fit to be associated with the man known as Namikaze Minato, who was not only an exemplary example for all aspiring Shinobi of all ages, but also thought of as a gentleman. But in this case…

Well.

The fact that Obito didn't even have to see his sensei's face to know that he was angered(all he had to do was look at the poor fools who were obviously under the man's gaze, if their I-shit-myself faces were any indication) was proof enough.

So all in all, Obito couldn't find it in himself to be angry. He actually found the situation rather amusing, if one were to compare his past crimes to what he was most likely accused of that very moment.

"Uchiha Obito," the Sandaime started in a low drawl that hinted at power, but with underlying exasperation. Clearly, the man was only going through the motions as his position demanded of him, and would much rather be at home drinking tea or something. "Do you know why you are here?"

The Uchiha glanced around the room, noting that few of the attendees were actually Shinobi, and most were civilians. His eyes fell on the somewhat familiar face of a cantankerous old man that lived on the floor below him of his old apartment, and his suspicions were confirmed.

He nodded. "I assume it is related to the incident from a week ago, involving the apartment complex that I resided in," he stated plainly. The anger that was displayed outwardly on the faces of the civilians all but verbally spoke, "yes."

"That is correct. Do you have any pertinent information that could help us in the investigation—" The Hokage was cut off.

"It was obvious it was him! There wasn't anyone else in the complex that could use Jutsu, and that boy is always up to something!" The one who spoke was a middle-aged man, his face red with indignation. "I demand compensation for his foolish actions!"

The aged Hokage rubbed at the bridge of his nose, and Obito watched bemusedly as Nara Shikaku sent the older man a sympathetic glance. The young Uchiha could practically see their unanimous and agreed thought of "troublesome."

He realized that it would speed things along if he just admitted to it. Deciding to spare those present the pain of a drawn-out hearing, he decided to answer the question(or prove the theories) that weighed on everyone's minds. "Yes, I was the one responsible for the fire," Obito stated casually, earning him a series of gasps. It was only the group of civilians that had done so however; the Shinobi in the room felt no need for the dramatics.

A plain-looking woman stood up and pointed an accusing finger at the raven-haired boy. "See, he even admits to it! All of us deserve compensation for what he has done!"

"I had my life savings in there!" An old man gave the indignant cry.

"He burned most of my family's treasures and a precious heirloom!" A young woman hugged a wrapped package to her person.

"He needs to pay for what he did!" The man who yelled stood up and glared at the Uchiha.

Overall, Obito couldn't help but think of the whole ordeal as a rather amusing drama. It certainly had the makings of one, what with everyone being so damn dramatic. The yelling and shouts continued for a few more moments before the Hokage finally seemed to have had enough of the pointless yells and denunciations. "SILENCE!" He boomed, quickly and easily drowning out the shouts with his own over-powering voice. Everyone turned to the man, who was leaking the smallest amount of killing intent to solidify his point. "Your concerns are valid. However, though Obito is a Shinobi, he is also a child. It is impossible for him to have the funds to purchase a new apartment for himself, let alone atone for his actions with monetary compensation."

"… Well, he better do something," a tout man started with a low drawl. "Or the village, I don't care. I just need to be reimbursed to live."

Another citizen spun around to the man and scowled. "What!? No, it's the boy's responsibility, he needs to pay for what he's done! He should be the one to pay us all, not the village, which is already suffering because of his presence!"

"Are you daft?" A woman this time. "Hokage-sama already said that the boy won't be able to! Even if he worked for the rest of his life, I doubt that kid will be able to pay us all off!"

"Well I don't care, the point is that—"

A sudden wave of killing intent that was noticeably larger than what the Hokage had loosed flooded the room, so much that even Obito coughed at the immediate shift in the air. It felt like he was suddenly accosted by a cloud of dust, but by the faces of a few of the other, lower-ranked Shinobi, and the citizens, they likely felt as though someone had poured lava down their throats.

"I shall pay for whatever compensation you feel you need," Minato stated, his voice low yet commanding. Obito was inwardly thankful that he couldn't see his sensei's powerful gaze. "Uchiha Obito is currently under my protection and as such his problems are my problems. My salary will be more than enough to pay for the damages and satisfy whatever monetary issues you may have." He turned to the Hokage, who had a thoughtful frown on his face. "Is that acceptable, Hokage-sama?"

After a brief moment, the elderly man smirked as he blew out a stream of smoke. "That is acceptable, if the Civilian Representative finds the arr—"

"I object to that!" Everyone turned to the middle aged man who had spoken earlier. "I demand that some sort of punishment be handed out, even if we are given money for our troubles. That boy is a fool and a liability to Konoha! What if he does this again?" A few approving nods were exchanged amongst the civilians, and Minato let out a suffering sigh.

"Obito is my responsibility as he is under my protection. Though it is undoubtedly unnecessary, I can make sure that he does not do anything that may be potentially harmful to you. I assure you, something like this will not occur again—"

"But the boy is still the one who committed the crime! Some sort of punishment must be handed out, because he is nothing but a danger to the lives of everyone here!"

A stern-looking woman stood up and pointed. "A punishment and maybe some sort of correctional facility, because obviously something is wrong with that child."

SLAM!

Everyone turned back to Minato, who had slammed his hands down on the desk next to him. "… I will say this one more time, and only one more time," Minato turned around to face the rest of the room, allowing Obito to see his face, and the Uchiha had to suppress a shudder. The man was smiling, and somehow, it was a million times more frightening than any glare he had seen the blonde give. "I will pay for the damages and cost, on Uchiha Obito's behalf. He is my student and someone who I have promised to protect, so I will deal with the repercussions."

Minato flashed a bright grin to the Civilian Representative, but his eyes were darkened and cold, missing their usual warmth. "Are we clear?"

The last word spoken from the civilian group was a small, pathetic, "yes." The case was essentially closed without a problem, to the elation of a smirking Hokage and the amusement of a lazy Nara.

It had been an eventful start to Obito's morning, to say the least. The strange(and rather amusing) thing, though, was that Minato had almost immediately reverted to his normal-and-sunshine self and promptly dragged Obito out of the room, seemingly oblivious to the frightened stares he was receiving.

The two had taken to the streets, going from shop to shop, acting as though they hadn't just come out of a situation that could've escalated to something much worse. Or maybe Minato actually had control of the entire situation? Towards the end it certainly seemed like it, and the Uchiha wouldn't put it past the man. He had proven his power to sway well enough, whether it was through powerful and fancy techniques, calculated words, or straight-out intimidation.

Anyway, they entered almost every shop in the shopping district and for whatever strange reason, Minato was constantly trying to gain Obito's approval with the various items he picked out. Whether they were books, clothing, weapons, random paraphernalia; the blonde was acting as though the items bought were for the raven-haired boy and not simply a product of whatever weird shopping-spree the whole endeavor ended up being. Most of the items were practical and for everyday life, so it was possible the man was just making up for the other day when Obito had turned down the invitation.

In all honesty, though, the Uchiha felt as though Minato's sudden love of shopping and spending money here and there was his attempt at keeping the boy(man-boy) away from something. Or someone.

Namely, the remaining two members of Team Seven.

Obito sighed. He was worried about them, he really was. Even though they were certified Chūnin of Konoha, the fact remained that they were still thirteen-year-olds that had personally witnessed their teammate and friend practically leap off the deep-end and attempt suicide. Obito was an expert in dealing with trained killers, but add "children" to the equation and he didn't know what to do, whether they were "trained killers that happened to be children" or simply "children." Despite that, he was fairly certain that his friends were at the very least worried for him, and he truly wanted to know how they were doing after the way their one-sided reunion had gone.

It was when they entered the 10th shop(and Obito was carrying about eight over-sized bags with multiple smaller bags within) that the boy finally decided to ask a question that had been on his mind. "… Hey, Minato-sensei?"

The addressed blonde stopped in his perusal of a set of specially-made kunai and looked curiously at the raven. "Yes Obito?'

"Why are we avoiding Kakashi and Rin?"

When the man winced at the question, Obito felt a small pang of guilt stab at his heart. He had almost no doubt now that he was the reason why he was currently being distanced from them. He had probably scared them both with his antics and blatant statement of wanting to die, seeing as they neither knew the reason or truth behind what he had done. The raven-haired boy could only hope that the damage he had dealt to them was manageable.

"… We'll be seeing them later today," Minato finally replied with a nervous chuckle. "Just give them a little bit of time and they'll be fine, most likely."

Obito could only nod dumbly, not really noticing the fact that Minato had said that they would see them later that day. Besides, before he could truly take the time to register the man's words, he found himself being dragged to the next store against his will.

He had to stop himself from shouting out for someone to save him.

Walking into the door of Minato's apartment, it was safe to say that Obito wasn't expecting much. Well, he was expecting to enter, help Minato sort all of the newly bought items that were a result of the man's odd shopping spree, and go to his room to sort and plan his actions for the future. However, that wasn't what happened.

Instead, he walked in and found his eyes strained at the rather resplendent array of colors that accosted his eyes.

"Happy Thirteenth Birthday!" Two cheery voices, a bland one, and a hearty laughter rang in Obito's ears. He watched confusedly as multi-colored confetti and paper scraps fell from the party-poppers that had gone off, and glanced at the other people in the room.

"… Er… Huh?" His brow furrowed. "What's going on?" He wasn't aware that it was his birthday, in all honesty. He had only been back in the past for a little over a week, and hadn't actually had the time to check the date. So he hadn't been exactly sure when he had arrived, until now.

Kakashi raked a hand down his face and sighed. "I understand forgetting about your own birthday, but usually people get the hint when others say, 'happy birthday' with cheers and party-poppers," the silver-haired boy deadpanned.

Obito was still too engrossed in his thoughts to hear the silver-haired Chuunin. He couldn't remember when the Kannabi Bridge mission was given to the team. He recalled it being towards the end of the year, possible mid-year at the earliest. But did that mean he could relax? Had the war even started yet? His memory on the events prior to his supposed "death" were too fuzzy to recall, and he found himself frowning at the fact. He'd have to sit down and create a timeline at some point, if he had any hope of changing things for the better this time around.

"Obito?" The addressed boy blinked at the pair of violet eyes that gazed at him worriedly. "Earth to Obito? Helloo?"

Kushina. The young Uchiha blinked back a sudden dryness in his eyes, coupled with the odd mix of emotions that wrangled with his thoughts.

Obito felt an unbidden wave of guilt overtake him as he tried to redirect the automatic response of his thoughts to fall into a self-deprecating and self-loathing mindset. He had been attached to the woman before, and while their relationship wasn't nearly as strong as what Obito felt with his team, she was still someone he cared about.

Someone he had wronged.

He had been responsible for her death, along with the death of the person she loved, Minato. The same could be said, vice versa. It was in that manner that Obito had failed three people that he cared about, ripping from them the chance to feel the love and affection that they had likely never felt due to their histories of being orphans. They, Minato, Kushina, and Naruto, were a family that never had the chance to be.

And who was the person to blame for that?

He couldn't help it. Obito didn't have many memories of the past to keep him afloat, and the few that he had, he was partially living for the second time. So, his mind naturally wandered back to what had transpired and was considered in the past, even though they were technically events for the future. He didn't want them to be future events this time around.

The redhead turned to the other occupants of the room and sighed. "I think we broke him, dattebane."

The Uchiha smiled wryly in an attempt to give a reassuring grin. "I'm fine, Kushina-neesan." When that failed to work(the raised eyebrows were enough to indicate that), he motioned to the ample amount of bags in his arms to make a point and snorted. "I'm just a little out of it, I think. Minato-sensei kinda dragged me all over town on some sissy shopping-spree."

The named blonde gave an indignant squawk. "Wha-no! That wasn't a shopping-spree, that was for y—"

"A shopping-spree," Obito and Kushina nodded at their simultaneously spoken words, as though considering something of great importance. In the background, Rin giggled quietly as Kakashi sighed.

"A-nyway, let's leave the sissy be for now," Kushina began, taking the bags from Obito with ease(it was almost frightening how easily she lifted the no-doubt 25+ kilogram weight of the bags), "because today is your day, Obito! Let's cut the cake!"

Obito shrugged and smiled as he felt the previous hesitance dwindle in the presence of his friends. He could enjoy this, he realized. He had forgotten what it felt like to be apart of this odd, make-shift family after Rin had died. His whole world had gone gray and his mind was consumed with the fact that Rin was dead, but he could find reprieve in a crafted world to fill the void. Even though everyone else was still alive, he was an idiot that allowed his world to come crashing down at the death of a single person that he had shaped to be his life's only pillar. The warm memories spent with this family went forgotten in his mindless rage and insanity, left to be—

He was brooding again, wasn't he?

A glance around the table he had seated himself in told him as much, as the worried looks had returned. With a sigh, he quirked an eyebrow questioningly in an attempt to convey, "what? I was just thinking." He made a mental note that brooding in front of other people wasn't the best idea.

"… Gosh, you must be tired," Kushina came to the rescue, breaking through the awkward silence with her usual cheer. "Either that, or you've had the infamous Uchiha-coming-of-age stick shoved up your ass."

At this, Obito made a strangled "pfft" noise and suddenly found himself struggling to withhold his laughter. It seemed that whatever self-imposed mission Kushina had given herself was a success, because she grinned triumphantly at the significantly lighter mood as everyone else joined in on Obito's chuckles. He was happy that the woman was alive and well, and not the cold, life-less corpse he had last seen her as.

Finally, they actually got around to having the cake that the redhead had baked with loving care, and when Obito thought it was over, he only found that there was more to the whole event. Apparently, the little self-imposed shopping-spree Minato had taken him on was in order to find some presents for the boy, though Obito was still convinced that it was at least in part a ploy to keep him away from Kakashi and Rin. Speaking of which…

His eyes slid over to his two teammates. Though the two outwardly seemed okay, Obito could see the underlying worry and stress within their gazes, but was thankful that they seemed stable.

Despite the clear questions some of the people present had, and despite Obito's reservations about… Everything, he found himself enjoying the strange little party. It was not extravagant nor ostentatious(not at all, by any stretch of the imagination) but it was homely, and with only the people Obito cared about in attendance. And he could honestly say, that for the first time in many, many years, he felt pure happiness, unimpeded by the usual mass of guilt and hatred that consumed him. He could actually forget for a little while and enjoy his time with them, in the illusion that everything was fine and he was just little Uchiha Obito.

It was okay, right?

He couldn't help it, his mind had asked the innocent question as though looking for approval, looking for acceptance. He knew it was a question that would never be answered, but he couldn't stop his mind and heart from seeking a positive answer anyway.

It was okay for him to enjoy this time with his makeshift family, no matter how undeserving he may have truly been.

… Right?

It was after the humble gathering that Kakashi and Rin had pulled him aside, after he caught the knowing looks that Minato and Kushina sent him before their own departure from the room. Apparently, he was going to be left to explain the situation to his two teammates, whether he wanted to be or not.

So, it was with a steadily growing sense of anxiety that they approached the training grounds. Night had fallen, but Kakashi insisted that they go to the grounds to talk. Obito came from the future and therefore had prior knowledge for events to come, but he had a feeling that he didn't need such an asset to know where their conversation was going to lead. Well, where Kakashi was going to attempt to lead it. Because in all honesty, the Kakashi before the raven-haired boy wasn't the same Kakashi that he truly felt a connection with, and not just because of the age and power difference.

When they reached the familiar clearing of the grassy field, the two simply stared at each other for what felt like hours. Despite the differences, there was no mistaking that the person in front of Obito was indeed Hatake Kakashi, his old rival. If they were going to fight, the least Obito could do was fight in earnest. He couldn't chance harming the boy, but he wasn't going to baby his opponent in the manner that might be misconstrued as belittlement. He would stick to Taijutsu only, since his handicap would be the different size and weight of his younger body. He would actually have to try, and Kakashi would be none the wiser.

"… What is going on, Obito?" Their little staring contest was severed as soon as Rin's voice broke through the silence. She stood a few feet away and looked at Obito with wide, pleading eyes, her voice strained with barely concealed emotion. "What happened?"

Kakashi's gaze only seemed to hardened as he stared at Obito, and the raven-haired boy suddenly found himself weighed down by the rather powerful gazes of his two teammates. He scratched the back of his head as he gave a nervous chuckle.

"Don't worry about it, guys. I'm fine now, trust me."

A tense silence fell.

Suddenly, Kakashi glanced at Rin, who had kept her gaze on Obito until then. "… Rin, can you go over to the tree-line? This might get a little dangerous." She froze for a second, seemingly wondering what she should do, before sighing and walking away with a noticeable sag to her shoulders.

When she had retreated a safe distance away, Kakashi turned back to the Uchiha, a glare in place. "That was a lie, and you know it. What's going on?" The silver-haired boy took a menacing step closer, and Obito could feel the aggravation rolling off of him in waves.

He attempted to placate his teammate. "Kakashi, I'm serious, I'm fine now—"

A haymaker was delivered to his left cheek, and he flew a few meters away before crumpling to the ground in a heap. Obito quickly stood up and dusted himself off before receiving another punch to the gut, which nearly had him double over at the sudden force. It would've been simple to avoid the blows, but Obito could tell that this was't a spar. No, Kakashi was venting in a blind rage, and wasn't in his right of mind. So, he allowed the boy to use him as a veritable punching bag, to release his usually pent-up emotions, before they got down to business.

When Kakashi didn't deliver a follow-up attack after the brief onslaught, Obito looked up at the boy while wiping off the spit he had coughed out at the last attack. "Well?" He asked expectantly, straightening as he did so. "Are you done?"

The silver-haired Chūnin only narrowed his eyes before leaping back and settling into a stance. Obito smirked and settled into his own, seeing that Kakashi had seemed to regain his senses.

Time seemed to slow down as both of them waited for the other to make a move, waited for the signal that would never come. Obito had to remind himself that no, this was not the time he had faced the man—no, boy—in his future/past, while they were both in the Kamui dimension and fighting for opposite sides. For differing ideals. Both trying to "save the world," and "achieve peace," but with different methods.

No, this was no more intense and with barely more weight than a friendly spar, but Obito couldn't help but envision that last battle he had with his friend. That last battle before Obito had realized his mistakes, and subsequently died—only to be shot into the past.

It was strange. Obito, by all accounts, should've been calm and collected. This was not a life-or-death battle, and the lives of the people he cared for were not at stake. And yet, the man-boy felt such a surge of adrenaline and anticipation that he struggled to keep his Sharingan from activating. The dōjutsu didn't help, as it only served to make it more difficult to differentiate this Kakashi with the one he had known even though it was in that awkward half-activated stage.

It was all because of his useless attachments to the past and his habit of superimposing his past actions over his current. But wasn't that partly the point of time travel? To compare past events and future plans, in the hopes for a better future? He supposed that his "useless attachments to the past" were no longer that, seeing as they were actually attachments to a future yet to come. A future that wouldn't be.

'Because it'll be changed,' the raven thought silently, his gaze hardening.

All at once, time began moving again and they charged at each other.

Kakashi planted his hands into the damp grass as Obito charged, his legs kicking up above him to intercept the Uchiha's attack. Instead, Obito ducked under the sweep and aimed for Kakashi's stomach. The attack missed, however, as the silver-haired Chūnin pushed himself off of the ground to vault over Obito, who quickly switched on his heel to land a kick at the temporarily-suspended boy. The attack was barely blocked and the momentum from the kick sent Kakashi flying, and the Uchiha dashed over to where he knew his opponent would land, already simulating the next exchange of blows.

Inwardly, Obito noted how he was faster—much faster—than the Hatake, but still considerably slower than he had been in the future. His Sharingan was not activated, but he could easily see and predict his opponent's moves with startling clarity, possibly because he had sparred with the boy enough to see a pattern or he simply knew Kakashi well enough to understand his tactics.

Regardless, when Kakashi planted his two feet on the ground they continued exchanging blows in a strictly Taijutsu match. Each movement made was swift and calculated to deliver the most damage while expending the least energy. Eventually, however, the match degraded into less tactics-and-precision and more whatever-hurts-the-most, eventually leading to a brainless brawl that had them poking at each other's eyes, pulling at hair, and biting.

It was refreshing, in all honesty, and Obito couldn't help but think that as he lay spread eagle on the grass after they had burned out, a few feet away from Kakashi. Unknowingly, his fighting style had become strict and calculated, without any room for error. Perhaps it was because of the role of Uchiha Madara that he had to keep, but his old fighting style that was not unlike Naruto's had slowly ebbed away into nothingness. Though Obito could barely breathe through the wheezing gasps of his rather young and out-of-shape body, he felt like he had never been able to breathe clearer before. It was as though a heavy weight had been lifted off of his chest, allowing him to finally breathe.

The only thing holding him back was himself, he realized. It was always himself. Perhaps it was just a matter of truly seeing and accepting all of the fragments of his mind, and not dismissing and avoiding them as one would broken glass.

Uchiha Obito was a shattered man, but he could be rebuilt. It was this realization that made him smile through the countless bruises around his cheekbone and swollen lip. He just had to take all of his fragments, however burnt, injured, or jaded they were, and build himself up from them. Naruto had given him his name, Minato had given him a purpose.

Now, Obito had to build himself back up and recreate himself, so that he could not only kill Madara but also protect his loved ones. He would take Uchiha Obito the child, Tobi the destroyed man, and everything in-between to reform himself to be what his team needed

What his family needed.

As his eyes dimmed, he heard the worried yet exasperated shouts of Minato and Kushina, and felt a warm sensation of chakra wash over him as his wounds healed.

And then, he drifted off to unconsciousness.

"What idiots," Kushina mumbled under her breath, clearly irate with worry. "Your students can be really stupid, Minato."

Minato only smiled fondly as he stared at the unconscious form of his three students, all resting on the couch with a large blanket over them(courtesy of Kushina). Rin, Kushina, and Minato had taken the two boys home after they fainted from their spar, and Rin promptly got to work on sewing together their wounds. It wasn't long after that Rin had exhausted herself and had fallen asleep, and Kushina had begrudgingly relinquished her large blanket(though she was actually bitter about them worrying her so much).

Minato sent one last look at the trio before departing from the room with a smile, Kushina following after him.

"Anyway," Kushina began, rounding on Minato as soon as they had reached the dining room, "what's the deal about the council being after Obito's head?"

The blonde sighed as he motioned for Kushina to take a seat across from him, to which she complied. His wife deserved answers, and he would provide them for her. "Obito had been the one to burn down the house like we suspected, and he stated as much at the hearing. The civilians were not happy, as you can probably imagine."

Kushina's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did they do? I swear, I'll castrate every one of 'em if they did something I don't approve off."

"They, er…" Minato scratched his chin while trying to find his words. "… Well, they demanded that Obito pay for the damages and receive punishment." When the blonde saw his wife's red hair flair to life in a gravity-defying manner, he quickly tacked on, "but everything is okay now, really! Obito got off scott-free, and the council won't be bothering him again." '… If they want to live,' he added silently with a small twitch of his lower eyelid.

"If they want future children," Kushina added helpfully, almost cheerfully. Considering what Minato had been thinking, he could only agree with her statement. The redhead sighed as she cradled her head in her hands, her previous high-spirits abated. "… I can't believe the council did that. I mean, really? On the boy's birthday?"

"There's a lot that I can't believe happened, recently," Minato murmured quietly with clear exasperation lining his tone. "So much has happened, and I'm only just starting to make sense of it."

Kushina looked at him. "… Did the Uchiha clan do anything? Did they help pay the fines?" Her brow furrowed curiously at Minato's wince.

The blonde combed a hand through his hair as casually as he could and sat back in his chair. "No, and that reminds me. I probably won't be able to pitch in on the monthly bill for this month, since I'm kinda shoulderingthedamages?" Minato couldn't help the groan he gave at the questioning lilt at the end of his statement.

For a few moments, Kushina only looked at him searchingly. When she nodded and smiled, the blonde felt the tension he didn't realize he had ease completely. "… Good. Had you not done that, I think I woulda throttled you, 'ttebane." She then stood up and cracked her knuckles, walking over to the window, which was conveniently placed facing the Uchiha Compound. "For now, there's a certain group of prickly, red-eyed assholes that need a good ass-whooping."

Minato immediately leapt to his feet and darted over to his wife, hands held up somewhere between reaching for the threatening woman and hoping to placate her. "N-now, Kushina, I don't think you want to do that. I'm sure that they'll come around, they just need time…" She only stared absently over his shoulder, and he gulped nervously. "… Kushina?"

She walked past him in an almost hypnotic daze and continued towards the window, seemingly unaware of Minato's increasing worry. "… Hmm," she finally began, "the moon looks pretty tonight, don't you think?"

Minato only blinked confusedly before walking up next to his wife, a small smile in place. He looked up through the window at the sky; it was clear of clouds and a few star could be seen, but the most noticeable feature was the moon, which shone like a beacon in the middle of the dark sky. "Indeed. Not a cloud in sight."

When Kushina rubbed at her eyes, the blonde looked at her worriedly. "Are you tired, Kushina?"

"No," she murmured. "I think it's just a little dark in here. The moon looks so… Bright."

Minato looked at her confusedly before returning his attention to the moon. Indeed, it did look rather bright. In fact, it almost seemed like a miniature sun, what with the ways the man could see its faint light streaming across the night sky…

His brow furrowed as his thoughts trailed and his eyes wandered. An ethereal glow, lighting up the night sky. His voice was barely above a whisper as he felt pieces to an unseen puzzle fall into place. "… Bright… Night…"

Azure eyes widened in realization.

"… Kaguya."

A/N: Because I am about 90% certain some of you will be wondering; Kaguya can be written with the kanji for "bright"(輝, kagaya) and "night"(夜, yoru). It's kinda archaic but I had to find some way to Minato to remember, heh. Anyways, thanks for reading.