A/N: [*] Holy shit; 1,000 favs, and 1,101 follows? … ;A; I wish I could post the rest of the chapters right now to show just how thankful I am.

Some of you might hate me for this chapter. I don't really know why, but I get the feeling. Go ahead and flame (lol) I EMBRACE YOUR FLAMES [OF YOUTH]. I've only gotten like three or four flames for this story surprisingly, and they told me what they disliked—not just, "dis is SHIT an u shud be ashammed." Word count is ~5.5k.

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 28 - Goodbye

Rin had been captured.

Obito had expected it. He had planned to sit back and allow it to happen, knowing that as long as they proved to be as powerless as they had last time, she would be fine. He needed her to be captured, so that he would have an excuse to head to the cave that served as their enemy's base and his false grave.

That didn't mean that it was an easy task to sit back and pretend to be as weak as the Iwa Shinobi likely thought them, and watch them take Rin away. So as soon as he had made certain that Kakashi was uninjured, he darted off in the direction he had seen the Jōnin run off.

"Oi! Obito, wait!" Kakashi called out, sounding irritated.

Obito didn't bother stopping and merely called back in a rehearsed tone, "I don't care about your rules, Kakashi! I'm going to save Rin—"

"I KNOW! But we need to work together, idiot!"

Obito abruptly halted his travels, coming to a stop on the next branch as he turned to stare at Kakashi (who just barely managed to avoid crashing into him, mumbling words that sounded suspiciously like "idiot, give a warning next time"). He slowly brought up a hand and removed his mask, revealing his single widened-eye.

"You…" The Uchiha began, his brow furrowing. "You aren't afraid of me?"

He was well aware of the tension his earlier actions had caused. He knew of the hesitance his two teammates had, regarding the continuation of the mission, with Obito's less-than-satisfactory mental state.

Kakashi only gave a quiet scoff, rolling his visible eye. "Your method of killing was… Less humane than strictly necessary, but I know you were just being you." He paused, clearly grasping at words. "… It's not like I—we—haven't seen you in action before, either, and while your gift was unexpected… Expect the unexpected, right?"

When Obito made no outward reaction or move to respond, the Hatake continued. "… Not to mention, it's not like I haven't taken lives before or seen bloody scenes—you forget that I am the most experienced Shinobi in our age group." His eye crinkled as though smiling, and Obito swore he saw the Kakashi he knew—the Kakashi he had nearly battled to the death with. "'Those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' Isn't that what you said?"

Obito only stared at him, even as Kakashi lifted an arm to scratch the back of his neck in a gesture that seemed far too laid back for the thirteen-year-old, rule-abiding Kakashi he was supposed to be. "I guess… Those words, they made sense to me. I don't want to abandon my comrades." The Jōnin shook his head, looking back up and revealing the tense determination written on his features. "I won't abandon my comrades, my friends. My family."

"… Alright," Obito muttered, blinking slowly. "Alright," he affirmed, a grin slowly stretched across his face and he looked up to regard his teammate. "Let's go save Rin-chan, then."

Without another word, the two of them darted in the direction they knew the Iwa Shinobi had taken their teammate, Obito with an ever-present smile.

He was happy.

Even though the likely end was steadily approaching, he saw a glimpse of a much happier, much more pleasant future, where Kakashi was not the sole survivor of his team. Where he wasn't a haunted man that visited a stone monument religiously to apologize and beg forgiveness from the people he loved, the people he felt he failed. Where Rin would be able to become the stunning, powerful woman she ought to have become. Where Minato and Kushina would be able to finally have the family they wanted, the child that would change the world. With the affirmation, Obito's determination only grew.

His smile vanished as he replaced his mask and activated his Sharingan.

He would not fail.

Kakashi watched as Obito landed on a branch and signaled, the both of them suppressing their chakra immediately. He observed (and felt) with no small amount of awe as the Uchiha's already suppressed signature completely vanished, as though a testament to the boy's true ability. It reminded him that, even if Obito had given them that "story," Kakashi had really learned nothing knew—and though the bitterness the thought brought up was minute, it was noticeable nonetheless.

He shook his head as he quashed the petty emotion. There was no time for deliberations, not when their third teammate was captured by a group of Jōnin-level enemy shinobi. With his head back in order, Kakashi turned to Obito to relay his brief plan—

—and promptly flinched back when an ear-splitting clap resounded throughout the grove.

Emitted by Obito.

Kakashi stared at the raven, disbelief masked yet known all the same. "… Obito," he hissed quietly, glancing around them as he glared at the boy—a difficult feat, especially considering the fact he only had one useable eye for vision at the moment. "What the hell are you thinking? Now we have to move, before they find us!"

It was just Kakashi's luck, he figured, that one of the Iwa Jōnin he had been thinking of appeared at that moment. The man was headed for Obito with a brandished tantō, a malicious grin twisting on his face. Sensing what was about to happen, and inwardly wondering how he had actually gotten accustomed to his teammate being like this, Kakashi pushed up his hitai-ate to reveal the spinning of his Sharingan.

Unlike previously, he was actually able to see what Obito had done to the enemy—he leapt at the Jōnin as the sword seemed to slice through him like air. Seeing that incited a small, detestable spark of fear within Kakashi, but logically he knew about Obito's Kamui—he watched the Uchiha make a movement too fast for even the Sharingan, and suddenly he was behind the Jōnin, who had a large gaping slice across his throat and was plummeting to the ground below.

He had only spared a glance for the now-deceased Jōnin before turning back to Obito, noticing that the boy hadn't made a move to turn back. Kakashi understood the unspoken command, that this was their cue to go save Rin. He might've protested, saying that they really should have discussed a strategy first, but he knew for a fact that Obito likely wouldn't listen as it was. So he leapt from his branch and followed after his teammate.

The two of them landed soundlessly outside of the cave where Kakashi could feel Rin's familiar signature, and the muted presences of an indeterminate number of enemies—but "a lot" sounded like an accurate guesstimate for the mixed, confusing mass.

'Not good,' the silver-haired Jōnin thought grimly before turning to Obito. He doubted that they were all Jōnin, but he had a feeling that it was still going to be a rather close scrape.

Obito was facing the maw of the cave, staring into the darkness as he spoke. "… Kakashi, go after Rin—and make sure to stay low to the ground. I'll be right behind you."

Kakashi took a step forward to offer a better idea, perhaps one that didn't involve so little communication that could cost them their lives, but promptly froze when he spotted the red and black of his teammate's Sharingan. Logically, he knew that he had it as well, now, but he doubted he had that variation—that dreaded pinwheel shape that had the power to incite endless carnage. The Mangekyō.

Obito was serious. It wasn't as though he had doubted it, not recently, but it was still rattling to see the grim determination written in the lines of his teammate's face, especially when said teammate was nothing but smiles and petulant, childish frowns half a year ago.

Kakashi gave a hesitant nod, having come to his decision. "… You better know what you're doing, Obito." And he darted into the cave.

He was faster than them. The enemies, that was. Perhaps that was why Obito had him go in to rescue Rin, and yet, Kakashi was certain that Obito was just as fast, if not faster, than him.

A burst of flame soaring overhead and barreling into multiple enemies with pinpoint accuracy answered his unspoken question.

'Back up, then,' he noted quietly, cutting through the stragglers easily with his tantō. It was a good plan, he acknowledged silently. Kakashi himself only knew a few long-range ninjutsu, and even then they were not very useful against the Doton users.

Kakashi noted that, despite the fact that he was supposedly the team leader of the mission… He found little difficulty doing as Obito told him. It was highly possible that this was because of the fact that he had planned on going after Rin anyway (though he had figured they would have gone with a more subtle manner of extraction). But he knew that that wasn't the only reason. In a manner of speaking, Kakashi felt that Obito was about as good at truly functioning in teams as he himself was—which wasn't well, he admitted. And yet, he knew that determination that Obito exuded, that unspoken promise that the boy wouldn't let anything happen to them while he was there—something that, ironically, was typical of team leaders. Kakashi had gotten a similar vibe from Obito as he had gotten from Minato in the past when it was just the two of them, mentor and student. And it was his automatic response to place his faith in Obito without much question.

As he neared Rin, he narrowed his eyes at the shinobi blocking his path and wove through hand seals.

Yes, Obito was the type to protect his team zealously, but at the same time, he held little regard for himself. And that was why they, as a result, needed to watch after him. The few times he did rely on them, they would make certain to meet his expectations. He had their back, and in turn, they had his.

"Katon: Bakufū Ranbu!"

Kakashi ducked automatically when he felt the approaching heat signature from behind, and his own jutsu fizzled out as he braced himself. He watched as a swirling, twisting fire swept above him, scorching all of the Iwa-nin in his path with a vicious, burning heat—like that of a rampaging dragon. He jumped towards Rin when the fire twisted in another direction to block oncoming enemies, and prepared to incapacitate the two enemies guarding his female teammate like false protectors.

"Took you guys long enough," Rin pouted as she clapped her hands of dirt.

Kakashi abruptly halted in his tracks, his tantō mid-swing, and stared at her with unmasked bewilderment. He looked down at the two unconscious Iwa-nin (that were standing just seconds before) as he slowly processed what he had just seen. Rin had made some strange movement with her hands, unbound hands, and the two men collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. His hand dropped and he returned his gaze to her. "What was…"

"Tsunade-shishō would be disappointed in me if she knew I couldn't do at least this much," Rin explained somewhat flippantly in a manner that vaguely reminded him of both Kushina and Obito. "I had to wait for you guys, though, because while I knew I would be able to take out these two, the others would have been impossible in my current state."

It was then that Kakashi noted that Rin was drained; her eyes dim and tired, her coils almost dry, and her arms shaking due to the strain from chakra exhaustion and whatever Genjutsu she had been forced to brave through while her two stubborn teammates dawdled.

Kakashi stared at her in consideration before shaking his head. His team… Yes, he knew he could depend on them, and if he was uncertain before, he knew it for sure, now. Rin was the apprentice of none other than Tsunade of the Sannin, and she could, apparently, easily take out Jōnin-leveled shinobi if needed. Obito was… There were no words for the Uchiha, really. While Kakashi had indeed been shocked by the boy's actions earlier, he meant what he said—he had seen worse, and Obito's words truly had resonated with him on an intrinsic level.

Before, he had thought that Obito was a useless, boastful dead last, and Rin a useless fangirl with a childish crush. Wrong.

But now, he knew. Those two, along with Minato-sensei, were his team—people he could trust with anything, with his life. He was blind to it before, but now he could admit it with something almost like pride, that they were his team. And he wouldn't have it any other way.

Obito nodded as he watched Kakashi and Rin dash towards him.

"Go!" He called out, gesturing to the cave entrance. "I'll clear a path for us!"

He turned back to the entrance of the cave, where wave upon wave of Iwa-nin accosted them. He knew that there weren't so many before, but as long as they kept their heads in place (both literally and figuratively) they wouldn't lose. "Katon: Bakufū Ranbu!"

Obito controlled the swirling vortex as it burnt enemy shinobi to charred mass, cursing with each missed target. The strain on his eye and coils was heavy, and he held no small amount of disdain for the fact that he had been expelling chakra without a care earlier in his mindless worry and stress.

He felt a sudden, charged crackling in the air. "Raikiri!"

Obito whipped around to stare at an impaled Iwa-nin that had clearly been ready to attack him, kunai held a mere handful of inches from his neck.. Kakashi withdrew his hand and allowed the shinobi to fall in a heap on the ground, before another thud behind him was heard. As Kakashi turned to scan for surrounding enemies, Obito turned to Rin, who had taken out yet another enemy that had snuck around Obito's blind spot.

He glanced to the both of them, half wondering exactly how he had missed their growth, half not-caring—because what really mattered was that, for the first time that Obito could think of, they were truly together as Team Seven. He smiled. "Thanks, Kakashi, Rin."

Kakashi merely nodded as Rin smiled brightly, and as a unit they all turned to the entrance.

While Obito was feeling strain, he could tell that his two teammates were in far worse conditions. Between the use of his newly attained Sharingan and his Raikiri, Kakashi was running on fumes. Rin's condition wasn't much better and he could see how her balance faltered every now and then, despite her smile.

"Let's go," Kakashi intoned as he glanced around, no doubt noting the carnage surrounding them. It would be more, with their own bodies amongst the death count if they didn't hurry. "We want to be out of here before any others show up. We still have a mission to finish."

Rin and Obito nodded in affirmation, and the three of them motioned to exit the cave.

"I-I don't think so, you fucking brats!" A strained voice called out, and Team Seven turned around to see a prone, nearly-dead Iwa Shinobi. His shaking hands clasped together in the snake seal, and Obito's eyes widened as he tensed. "Doton: Iwayado Kuzushi!"

He vaguely noticed Kakashi curse before the boy started weaving through hand seals, a familiar white glow of Raiton chakra sparking to life weakly. He probably hoped to kill the man before his jutsu was complete.

Obito sighed, pushing the sudden heavy weight in his heart away. There was no way Kakashi would make it to the Iwa-Shinobi without dying himself, and this was the best opportunity for him to take—"best" being in an objective sense. He grabbed Kakashi and Rin by their collars before unceremoniously tossing them towards the entrance, ensuring they were clear of the falling rubble with an extra push of Mokuton.

He took off his mask and stared up at the collapsing rubble, the earthen ceiling falling at an almost sedate pace in his eyes. It was a surreal experience, knowing that his second pseudo death would go just as his first had went. He had asked for this, though, so he supposed he shouldn't have been too surprised. It did rankle a bit though, knowing that when it was for something that was out of obligation and not because he truly wanted, life finally took a turn he had expected.

"OBITO!"

He turned his gaze back to his teammates, smiling through the building rubble and debris clouding the air. He wanted this departure to be a happy one, however strange that sounded—so he had to smile, because both Rin and Kakashi instead had looks of utter horror and fear on their faces. He watched as Kakashi tried to scramble over before collapsing back onto the ground, his legs giving out on him. Rin stared at him in wide-eyed terror, her hands held at her sides in white-knuckled fists.

As Obito drew on his drying chakra reserves, he closed his crimson eyes. He felt the rubble close in on him, an ever present threat and reminder that death was waiting for him.

"Live."

A hushed silence descended as the last rock fell and lodged itself amongst the piles, dust and debris settling as though nothing had occurred. As though nature's peace had never been disturbed.

As though their comrade hadn't just fallen.

And a single word reverberated within their horror-struck minds as they tried to process what had transpired not moments before.

… Why…?

Both Kakashi and Rin stared at the collapsed cave with horror, a distinct feeling of loss and void engulfing them. The clearing was silent, the cave-in having settled completely. Any survivors were undoubtedly dead, crushed by the falling rubble that resulted from the Iwa-nin's jutsu.

Obito included.

"… Damn it," Kakashi muttered softly, almost plaintively, before slamming his fist to the ground with wrathful force. "… Damn it, God DAMN it!"

Beside him, Rin fell to her knees and wrapped her arms around herself. She bit her lip as a faint tremble took over, her eyes blinking rapidly from the odd feeling brimming around the edges—against the dust or tears, she didn't know.

'Why?' Kakashi questioned silently as he slammed his bloodied fist into the unforgiving ground again. 'Why?'

He didn't know why it happened. It made no sense. He was a Jōnin, a Jōnin, freshly promoted or not, and as a Jōnin it was his duty to protect his comrades, his teammates. It was his duty, his obligation. And he had failed.

…No. Even with his rank, he stood no chance—there were too many, and he knew that had he been on his own he would have been hard-pressed to even run away. So it made sense that there would be some mistakes, no matter how well-equipped his two teammates were—after all, they were still Chūnin.

At least, that's what the rules would say. But it was wrong, because there was an exception to that idea. Obito. Obito wasn't supposed to die, he of all of them, was not supposed to die.

Kakashi dug his cracked fingernails into the earth below him, gritting his teeth as frustration, a feeling of helplessness and—I was useless, why did he die, I was USELESS and now he's DEAD, Obito, who wasn't supposed to die is DEAD—

He slammed his fist into the ground again, hearing his wrist give out with a sickening pop from the unforgiving force.

Obito was stronger than he had first thought. Obito had been the dead last, and Kakashi's view of the boy had been less than amicable and kind—abiding by the idea that many of the "adults" seemed to have of the boy: useless, weak, disgraceful, naive. But Kakashi had been wrong, they had been wrong, everyone had been wrong. Obito was stronger than he had anticipated, far stronger than Kakashi himself.

If he were to be perfectly honest, he shouldn't have been promoted to Jōnin. He had only recently begun to grasp the idea of working on a team and understanding the importance of relying on one's teammates—and the knowledge that, even before he had begun to change, that he was being considered for Jōnin when he was still the jaded, lone-wolf child he was before…

How many teammates would he have lost, before finally realizing the importance of relying on others? Of trusting and treasuring the connections he had? Of teamwork?

Obito should have been promoted to Jōnin in his stead. Obito was powerful, with speed rivaling Minato's, a fully matured dōjutsu, a full mastery of the techniques he used, and he still managed to battle while missing an eye, a handicap that usually set most shinobi of the non-genius variety back a handful of months for training. He valued his teammates to a degree that was almost sick, insane, and Kakashi knew that the boy's convictions were almost as strong as Minato's.

So, why the hell did Obito die…?

"… He was…" Kakashi mumbled quietly, fists clenching and unclenching in the cracked dirt. "… He was so strong, so, so… Powerful. For him to die… This kind of death…" He hissed, sneering down at his hands as he grit his teeth in frustration and confusion.

It wasn't fair. And it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense that, out of all of them, Obito died (But no, it did make sense. It figured that the way Obito would go out would be by sacrificing his life for them, damn it) and he was supposed to be stronger than this. He was Uchiha Obito, wasn't he? Uchiha Obito wouldn't have lost to some… Some nameless, useless Iwa-shinobi, Jōnin or not.

It just wasn't supposed to happen. Obito wasn't supposed to die, he wasn't supposed to just stand there and smile as though welcoming death—

Onyx eyes glinted with hard determination as he spoke, "those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are even worse than trash."

—Obito wasn't supposed to leave his team behind like this.

"Shit!"

Kakashi and Rin flinched, turning to the foreign, unfamiliar voice—and simultaneously tensed at the sheer number of enemies in the vicinity. There were Iwa-nin in the trees and bushes surrounding the grove, poised to attack at a moments notice.

They were surrounded.

"Kakkō was with this group!" A female Iwa-nin screeched, before turning hateful eyes to the two shinobi of Konoha. Kakashi struggled to right himself in the face of the hostile woman. "I'm gonna kill you, you fuckin' shit stains!"

Another shinobi held a hand in front of the raging woman, his voice stern. "Calm down, Koishi! There's no need to waste our time with these children." He glanced to Kakashi with a scowl. "They'll die whether we deal the final blow or not."

Kakashi cursed as he collapsed back onto the ground, his effort to stand up wasted. He was completely drained of chakra and energy, and he knew for a fact that Rin was in a similar state as him—drained physically, mentally… And emotionally. There was no escape, and the chances that they would be joining Obito soon were uncomfortably high.

Regardless, he scanned the vicinity for his tantō—only to realize that he had dropped it back in the cave. Quickly switching tactics, he slowly, carefully, reached down to his kunai pouch… Which, he realized with concealed horror, wasn't there. His eyes snapped to his leg and, as he had suspected, he was distinctly missing not only his pouch and the bandages that were usually wrapped underneath it, but a small chunk of material from his pants as well. He hadn't even realized he had been grazed there.

"I don't give a flying fuck," the female Iwa-nin, Koishi, sneered. "I want to watch these tree-hugging bastards bleed, I will avenge Kakkō, damn it! He was an idiot, but he was still…"

Kakashi stared almost uncomprehendingly at the enemies before them. His usually quick mind was clouded with grief, confusion, and dulled by the fact that there was no way out—while he didn't want to give up, there was nothing he and Rin could offer in the form of resistance that wouldn't only drag out the inevitable. He could barely think, and the world was steadily shifting and blurring.

"K-Kakashi," Rin stammered out quietly, breathing stilted from nerves. He turned to her slowly, his movements lethargic from exhaustion. "Minato-sensei's… Kunai…"

It was a bit tougher to make the movement of reaching behind oneself natural in the, I'm-not-reaching-for-a-weapon sense, and he briefly wondered if he should just throw caution to the wind and forgo the inconspicuous route. Kakashi began seeing black spots cloud his vision, and his decision was made.

He reached for the three-pronged kunai in his pouch and flung it in a quick moment without really thinking, falling to the ground as bloodcurdling screams and chaos erupted around him.

Rin closed her eyes briefly as she cut off her chakra, subsequently halting her Shōsen jutsu.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

When she opened her eyes again, she bit her lip, barely keeping her tears back—no matter what she did, she simply couldn't just stop thinking about it, she couldn't stop wondering, creating suppositions if certain variables were changed, and speculating whether or not it would have changed the outcome.

Why did Obito die? Why did he change? Why did he die? Why was she still so weak?

Why did Obito die?

Her eyes drifted back down to her unconscious teammate, not paying her blood-drenched sensei any mind as he knelt and pressed his pointer finger to the ground.

It had been a frightful scene that she had watched with half-interest, mostly focused on ensuring that she wouldn't lose yet another precious person that day. And yet, she would be lying if she said she hadn't felt the deepest, most vile sense of glee at knowing that the Iwa-nin were systematically slaughtered by her sensei. The realization of this had repulsed her, but the fact remained that they were the reason why her teammate, her friend was amongst the body count. As a result, she couldn't quite bring herself to feel the remorse and sympathy towards them that she likely would have, had she not been grieving.

But such was war. She had always known she might lose one of them, known that she might end up dead. It was the kind of thing that was drilled into the minds of young, aspiring Shinobi-to-be from their Academy days, and only further inculcated by the introduction to true battle and war.

… But she still hadn't been prepared for the actual thing. No one ever was.

She didn't know how much time had passed, maybe one minute, maybe thirty, but eventually Minato stood up and walked over to her with a pained look. She could easily tell he was trying to control his emotions, but he had already realized what occurred—if she couldn't read the sorrow etched on his face, she might have been offended.

"… Rin," he murmured quietly. "Kakashi…?"

Rin nodded her head once, lacking in the energy to give a full acknowledgement. "He'll be fine. One of the weapons… It had a harmful narcotic, but I neutralized most of it from his system. He'll wake up with a headache and… And a slowed reaction time, but he'll be fine."

Normally, she could have neutralized it completely, but with only the single soldier pill Minato gave her it was near impossible without effectively leaving herself unconscious as well. As it was, she could barely string together coherent sentences.

Minato nodded, and silence descended as he paused as though deliberating. "… Obito?"

Rin stiffened, remaining silent. She stared down at her lap, fisting her hands in her skirt as she fought back the tears rapidly forming in her eyes. 'No,' she thought meekly, in a way that would have sounded plaintive if she had spoken the word aloud.

Minato silently picked up Kakashi's prone form and hefted the unconscious boy on his back before patting Rin on the head, causing her to look up. She was faintly grateful that he was looking away, because she knew that the moisture in her eyes was visible—and yet, she knew the fact that he wasn't facing her wasn't merely for her own benefit, but for his as well. She couldn't see his face, but the slight tremble of his fingers betrayed his own grief.

Blinking in one last effort to abate the damnable moisture in her eyes, Rin stood up. She cast a pained look at the fallen rubble, and unbidden, Obito's smiling face flashed through her mind—not the strained, wry, and forced smiles she had seen recently, but… But the one from before. His smile, innocent and completely unburdened, brilliant and able to lift her spirits even in the worst of times. It had been… So, so long since she had seen it, that true smile.

She had thought that, whatever it was that had wiped away his innocence and left that horrible scar of darkness that they all felt that one week, half a year ago… She thought that he would eventually forget, that he would move on. She thought that his scars would heal, and he would be able to smile happily and without those shadows eventually if she gave him time.

Deep down, she had hoped that if she grew stronger, if she was more dependable, her team would see fit to rely on her as their equal.

She had gained what she wanted, she had grown stronger, and despite the still sizable margin between her and her teammates in offensive ability, she thought—she had been certain—that she had proven her usefulness, that she had found her niche.

She had hoped that she would be able to help him, as he had always unknowingly helped her—that she would cause his smile to come back.

Rin let out a quiet, strangled sob. But now… Now…

'… He won't ever smile again.'

Silent tears finally fell from her eyes, burning trails down her cheeks.

'He's… Gone.'

Kushina blinked at the familiar, dark and damp environment she found herself in.

Puzzling, to say the least, considering she had been making herself shio ramen just a moment before. She had been mid-stir, about to add a bit more flavoring (the broth was a little weak, in her opinion) and then a blink later, instead of standing in her kitchen with her hand holding the flavoring over a boiling pot, she found herself in her mind-scape.

The red-head's brow twitched as she realized what could've happened in the real world. She distinctly remembered that both Minato and Jiraiya had been leaning against something when they emerged from the seal that time they decided to have a party with the fox (not really) despite the fact they had both been sitting upright when they entered. It was logical enough to assume that, when the mind is not available to control the body, the body goes lax. And if that meant what she thought it did—

Suddenly, golden-red chakra flashed before her and she fell flat on her rear in the shallow water. She glared up at the offending fox, creature, asshole, that stood before her with a faintly disgruntled look. "You damn fox!" She yelled, jumping back to her feet as she pointed an accusing finger at the bijū. "I better not be sprawled out on the floor in my beloved ramen, dattebane, or so help me—"

"I can't believe I actually let him go," the beast grumbled, his canines bared in a manner that wasn't quite malicious but not at all benign. Its mind seemed preoccupied, and he hadn't registered Kushina's presence at all. "I can't believe I actually let him go. That damn, foolish, martyring dumbass—" Its words cut off and he turned to Kushina sharply with a steely gaze that made her take a hesitant step back.

After a moment of silence, the Kyūbi inclined its head. "Uzumaki woman."

Even though Kushina hadn't felt any particular "evil" that the fox was supposedly known for during her last visit, that didn't mean that she was completely comfortable with the beast. There was something wrong, something that set even the Kyūbi on edge, and she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad sign.

She crossed her arms and stared up at the fox. "What did you want, 'ttebane?"

Its eyes narrowed, and it lowered its head to rest on fire-colored claws. "I shall trust your Blondaime to ensure the dumbass' survival," he intoned quietly. "And in the meantime, I have a favor to accomplish."

The Kyūbi's fur seemed to come to life, exuding a powerful, pure golden chakra that Kushina had never felt ever before, and she had the vague yet strangely certain feeling that not even Mito had felt it.

"… I believe it is about time I tell you the truth."