A/N: rewritten as of April 2nd 2024

So here is the third chapter as promised. I'll try and keep posting this on a weekly basis moving forward as well, Probably on Tuesday. ID chapters will also have a specific day they are posted (though updates will only be as frequent as once a month), which, after the next update, will probably be on Thursdays.

Hope you all enjoy this next chapter~


Chapter III: The Third Visit


The first time he ran away since his genin days, it was with the vehement promise that he would one day find the ones who were responsible for the immense suffering his second Mother had to face. And end them.

By any means necessary.

And then he had the startling revelation that this feeling must have been similar to the one that had driven Sasuke down a dark path. He finally understood what sort of pain Sasuke had gone through when he'd lost his parents so violently. At least… more so than he ever had in life, despite having preached several times that he did understand. However this revelation was soon pushed to the side by the utter disgust he felt for himself, for allowing the dark shadow of vengeance to burst into his thoughts like that. He might not have been an avenger in his world, but he had seen more than enough of what such a path would lead to. So he ought to know that would be the opposite of saving this world.

Still, he would find them. Maybe he would end them too. But it had to be for the right reasons. Not Vengeance. Not for his own sense of justice even. But this was not something to concern himself with now.

As he held Naruko, no, Makiko's hand firmly in one of his, Naruto, or rather Masato, banished further thoughts of this from his mind. Being distracted right now would kill one or both of them. And Makiko still seemed to be in a daze over what had just happened. Her eyes were not properly focusing, and her lips were still parted in her shock.

They had to move quickly. And as quietly as it was possible to do so when your body was a child's but your mind was an adults.

Damn there was no way they were going to be able to avoid detection like this. So he had to think of something.

Do something.

They were just toddlers. They hadn't had a chance to really do anything in this world… he couldn't let them die now.

Or be captured.

He had no idea what these people wanted them for, but it certainly couldn't be good. No group that condoned raping women and then wanting the children that resulted from it for some obscure reason could be good. Period.

He would do something.

Something they would never expect.

Lungs burning from the effort of running with a body that simply wasn't used to the urgent movements for any length of time, Naruto steered them around various forest floor hazards. With his sister being in a daze she was slowing them down more than enough… he couldn't afford to have her tripping up on roots.

As he ran he tried something crazy.

Molding Chakra.

They would never expect that.

He'd been experimenting with it a bit in the past week or so (he wasn't quite sure how long it had been as he'd only been fully synced with this body for the last few days). It was actually nearly just as hard as it had been in his first year as a genin. A fact that had surprised him when he first started his experimentation, since he didn't feel like he had nearly the same amount of chakra.

In fact, he thought it might actually have been harder initially. Taking into account that this body simply wasn't accustomed to chakra use at all yet. At the same time however, he had made progress with it more swiftly than it felt like he had when he first started chakra exercises in the academy all those years ago. Significantly faster… but still, it was paltry progress compared to what he needed to be able to do now.

But he had to make this work.

The sound of rushing water met his ears.

His foot impacted with the ground… and then stuck.

With a curse on his tiny lips Naruto released the hand of the girl in hopes that he wouldn't take her with him as he tumbled gracelessly to the leaf covered ground. He hit the ground hard, his body lacking the coordination to turn the fall into a roll. So he faceplanted into the dirt and leaves, getting a mouthful that he had to spit out.

Well at least he knew he could mold chakra in his feet. Although the foot in question burned.

Groaning, Naruto got back up, and grabbed Naruko's hand without looking at her. Instead he was looking back the way they came. Seeking out signs of movement. Straining his ears for anything that didn't fit in with the natural sounds of a forest at night.

He heard insects. Rustling leaves. The occasional nocturnal bird call, and the scurrying of small mammals. Nothing out of the ordinary.

The sense of urgency, however, did not fade. He knew why they might not be following them right now. But he also knew that they would come after them. Eventually. And somehow they had to get far enough away to hide.

Without a trail.

He set off at a run again. Now was not the time to be standing around here worrying about what to do! He just had to do it!

Please let him find something… somewhere that would work.

There was a sliver of dark blue and white pinpricks ahead of them. A clearing? The source of the sound of water?

He tightened his grip on Nar- Makiko's hand.

She tightened hers back.

Surprised for a moment, he miss-stepped again, and was only saved from a tumble by the girl's grip on him, pulling him back upright. He risked a glance back at her, chest heaving from exertion as he pressed on at a slower pace. He couldn't keep this up much longer.

Her eyes were full of quiet determination, and absolute trust in him. He came to a stop, both out of further surprise, and a need to catch his breath.

No pressure right?

She flashed him a brief smile, and her lips moved though she did not speak aloud. Sound was their enemy. It was only one word, but it was all he needed.

Unpredictable.

As in, they had both been called the number one unpredictable shinobi for a reason. As in, their ideas had always been crazy and high risk, but they dared to do it anyway, and pulled them off. As in, despite being in a new world, in bodies that just couldn't do everything they wanted, they were still themselves. As in they had promised to come here and save this world (well technically save their own worlds by making a new world thread or whatever).

Going back on their word was against their Nindo.

With a slight nod, the boy turned back ahead and broke into a run once more. Naruko did not need to be tugged along this time. As best as they could they shot through the trees, heading for that break in the trunks that showed a tantalizing view of the night sky.

The sound of water was now nearly thunderous.

A waterfall.

They burst through the underbrush and out of the trees, barely seeing the water's edge in time to come skidding to a stop. Spray splashed against their faces and dampened their hair from the water colliding against itself. They stood near the foot of the waterfall, towered over by a daunting, sheer rock face.

Naruto inspected said rock face more intensely.

It wasn't shaped right.

Eyes widened in realization. Recognition.

Towering over them was the form of one Uchiha Madara.

The Valley of the end.

His sister's grip tightened on his hand now. She knew it too. And what that meant. They were, amazingly, at the border of Fire country. More importantly, he knew how to get to Konoha from here.

More importantly still, this was just what they needed.

They had several options to get away if they used the terrain here. Not only did they both know it (although it wasn't going to be the same as their most recent memories of it by any means), but there was more than one option that would be inconceivable to their pursuers. The easiest, in a way, would be to take advantage of the water. Assuming they could manage to balance their chakra right to walk on it. They could then cross the pool to the other side, or walk down the river, so they didn't leave a trail. However, if their concentration lapsed for even a moment once they were away from the shore, that would be the end for them… and it wouldn't be a quick one. It was risky. And while it was unthinkable to their pursuers, they could be found anyway, just because they may expect them to have fallen into the water and get washed downstream.

So for them there was only one real choice. The best chance, the one that they would never expect in a million years, could also get them both killed in a heartbeat. It was no safer at all to execute. Perhaps it was even more dangerous, as there was a slim chance they could get washed up back onto land before they drowned if they fell into the water… but there was no chance they would survive if they messed up this particular option.

And Naruko knew it too.

He could feel her apprehension through their joined hands. But as he made his way towards Madara's stone feet, she followed him with no protest.

They had to do it.

Go up.

Concentrating hard on his feet, the boy stopped before the rock that was going to serve as their escape way. Hopefully. Slowly he lifted his own foot and touched it to the cold stone, trying to put his weight on it.

It slid.

He concentrated harder and tried again. It stuck

Only for a second.

Gritting his teeth, the boy-man tried one more time.


Leaves swayed, some falling loose and drifting to the ground. Aged wood groaned softly at the sudden weight that came to rest upon four branches among the maze of wooden limbs. Pairs of sandaled feet rested atop these branches, belonging to four cloaked figures.

Some distance away a red glow lit up the night sky.

The lead figure signaled to the other three with one hand

Leaves swayed, shook loose, and fluttered to the forest floor.

The figures were gone.


Her brow was furrowed and covered in sweat, teeth gritting together in concentration as she raised one foot before pushing it up against the rock. It slid a fraction of a centimeter and then properly stuck. The next foot followed, though this one did not slip.

Don't look down, she told herself. Not because she was afraid of heights, but because she didn't want to grow frustrated over how little distance she'd covered since the last time she looked down. Instead, she kept her eyes focused above her. On the little hand that was now stretching out, a foot above her, offering her assistance.

There was a time when she had been impressed with how he seemed just a little bit quicker at accomplishing things than her. There were also times when it had left her feeling inadequate and a little depressed. Now was neither of those times.

She was angry.

Scowling up at the boy who was now kneeling on the wrist of the stone figure they were climbing, she tightly clenched her jaw, and continued the tedious task of controlling her chakra to take one step after another up the stone.

Her feet burned.

Recognizing that despite her frustration, she really did need the boy's help to get herself up onto that blasted wrist so she could rest, she stretched out her right hand. Their fingers touched. She forced chakra into her left hand, and placed it against the rock, above her head, before raising her right foot as high as she could reach and sticking it there. With a little grunt after un-sticking her left foot, she hoisted herself up as far as she could.

Naruto's hand closed tightly around her own. She squeezed it tightly, half out of necessity in order to pull herself up that much sooner, and half simply out of a childish need to cause him discomfort. He grimaced, but pulled her up onto the rock appendage anyway.

A relieved exhale left her lips, as she knelt on her hands and knees, feet still hanging over the edge of the rock. With a second exhale she lowered herself to lay on her stomach, still trying to catch her breath. Blurry eyes turned to her side to look at her brother.

All she saw was his heels.

"Naruto!" she groaned, pushing herself back up onto her knees and seeking him out.

He paused where he was, standing in front of the sleeve with his hands placed against the rock. He looked over his shoulder at her, a frown upon his lips. "Masato." Was all he said, before he awkwardly began pulling himself up onto the sleeve, presumably so he could walk up Madara's arm.

All her aggravation with the boy left her with that single word. Instead, tears gathered in the corner of her eyes as her thoughts were directed to the names they'd received what could not have been more than a half hour ago. The final thing their mother in this world had given them before…

A choked sob slipped past her lips, a few tears escaping her eyes and streaking down her little cheeks. Masato gave a great heave and pulled himself up onto the sleeve before looking back at her. Once more he stretched out a hand towards her. "Makiko."

More tears slid down her cheeks, but she resolutely pushed herself onto her feet to make her way over to his outstretched hand. Naruto had decided that he was Masato now. That he was Haruka's son, and he would cherish the name she had given him before sacrificing herself. That he would strive to live, and be worthy of her love that had led her to sacrifice everything for them. Who was Naruko to do anything different?

Naruto and Naruko Uzumaki had had their lives in their own worlds. They'd done everything they could for their loved ones, and lived by their nindo. It was imparted upon their souls… but it wasn't who they were now. Who this world required them to be. She wouldn't forget her old life, ever, and she would use what she'd learned in it to help her in this new world. She'd stick to her nindo in this life too.

But she was now a different person.

Naruko, as of this moment, was no more. She was Makiko from now on.

Ignoring the painful chakra burns on hand and foot, the girl reached out for her brother's hand once more, placing her right foot against the rock and using both as leverage to haul herself upwards before using her left to anchor herself so she could take another step up the stone. Then she was atop the sleeve next to the boy, her breathing ragged from the exertion, but there.

Masato's hand remained around her own this time, the small boy's chest heaving from his own exertion. Together the two sat for a moment, eyes meeting and searching the other. She saw understanding in his. He knew what she had been thinking. No words needed to be shared.

Naruto was no more. Now he was Masato.

It was somehow fitting that they came to this new beginning here of all places. The place where they'd gone from two major endings to two new beginnings in their old lives. The place where they were truly acknowledged by Sasuke, and then the place where they finally, really got through to him.

This place where a major chapter in their lives had come full circle.

Masato gave her hand a slight squeeze, and she offered him a small smile in return. Then she looked cautiously over the edge of the sleeve to scan the ground below them for any signs of those who had been pursuing the little family.

Tree tops below them rustled in the wind. Insects chirped.

There was no sign of human life aside from themselves.

Masato tugged lightly on her hand, and she gave a slight nod before rising to her feet next to him. Even though it seemed that no one was around, it didn't mean that they could afford to stop here for long. They were completely exposed here. If those who were trying to capture them came out of the trees at this very moment, it wouldn't be hard to spot them, despite the dark. They'd be in total disbelief that the two had climbed half way up the carved figure of the famous Uchiha, but that was unlikely to stop them from jumping up there themselves to grab the toddlers.

There was nothing they could do to outrun them. They had to hide in a place they would never think to look for them.

And hope that none of them was a sensor.

The odds were overwhelmingly against them. But it didn't matter that they now had new names, and had resolved themselves to live as new people in this world. It was still against every fiber of their beings to give up. Makiko would not give up.

Her body protested each step she took as she struggled to walk up the incline of the statue's arm, half a step behind her brother. The incline was a little steep for toddlers to be trying to walk, but still they took each step with minimal amounts of chakra… it wouldn't be long before the symptoms of chakra exhaustion set in.

They still had to climb up to Madara's shoulder at least. If they could make it there they could hide in the shadows of his hair. However the safest place would be to get to his other shoulder, that was against the cliff, where they could hide under his sode. The one on this arm was not at a good angle… they'd have to climb back down until they were edged between his arm and the sode. And there was too much danger of getting stuck if they did that.

She had no idea of there was a proper place to hide under the other sode. She'd had absolutely no reason inspect the stone figures that closely the other times she'd been here. Even so, that side would be the ideal place. It would be more obscure by default.

From there it wasn't that far to the top of the cliff considering how far they had already climbed… but she doubted they would have enough chakra to go much further, and stay conscious and alert to find another hiding spot once they reached the top. In fact, getting to the far shoulder may be too much. They may have to hope for a place to hide in the shadows of Madara's hair.

Either way, a shoulder was their best bet.

Just so long as they didn't fall.

Makiko grimaced, before setting her lips in a firm, determined line. Don't think about that right now, she told herself. Falling was not an option. They had to live.

So she placed one foot in front of the other in repetition, molding chakra into the burning soles of her feet as the incline became too steep. A little further and she had to release Masato's hand so she could use her hands to help her in what was once again a climb.

One foot, one hand, slowly inching upwards.


Stay awake.

The woman told herself vehemently, one hand tightly grasping the stump where her other should have been, where all that was left was the horrendous throbbing and terrible stench of burnt flesh.

Jabbing the stub of a limb into her own katon jutsu had been the only way to staunch the profuse bleeding and keep fighting. To keep the three away from her fleeing children. And fight she did. Like a woman possessed. She had no weapons of her own, so she used the ones her enemies struck her with. And Jutsu after jutsu, as if she had endless chakra.

Before her was the burnt corpse of the man who had taken her hand. To either side the cloaked men flanked her, weapons drawn, blood splattering their arms. One was favouring his left leg. He was her next target. There was no way she was going to survive her injuries and be able to go find her two children again.

But she could take these two down with her, and die knowing her final endeavor to keep them out of his hands just a little bit longer was a success.

Another katon jutsu wouldn't be enough to catch either of them now. She'd used it against them three times already. After all, chakra exhaustion was not a concern, seeing as she had no intention of living. And since that was the case, avoiding further injury was pointless. All she had to do was remain conscious long enough to kill the other two.

She hadn't bothered to move when they had come at her again. Instead she allowed a kunai to bury itself in the shoulder of her injured arm, and the tanto of her other adversary to slip between two of her ribs, likely piercing her kidney. Instead she ignored the new pain and sent a kick into the man's injured leg.

Where the strength to move at such speed afterwards had come from, she would never know. But she'd torn the blade from her side, and launched herself at the man, driving the blade that had previously impaled her upwards between his first two ribs and into his heart.

She took two kunai to the back as the blade was driven home. Vision swimming she whirled back towards her remaining foe, tearing the kunai out of her arm and throwing it at him.

He must not have expected it. Must have thought those last two kunai would have paralyzed her in pain. Because her thrown projectile pierced through his hand that had been extended after throwing another kunai at her.

She took the new kunai to the leg.

It was just as quickly in her hand before being tossed back towards the man who was foolishly paying more attention to the blade in his throwing hand then to her. Briefly she had the thought that these men were terribly trained. A genin was less foolish, harder to catch off guard than they were.

Miraculously her aim was true. The man fell. The battle was over. It was… over…. And she was still alive.

Stay awake, she told herself again. But this time, she did not know why. It would be so easy to just let herself fall. Instead she turned awkwardly, and limped away through the forest.

Towards the sound of rushing water.


With War looming on the horizon it was imperative that their borders remained secure. Especially when there were potential enemies in almost all directions. But with such a vast border, it was impractical to send their most talented and experienced shinobi on border patrol. They'd lose too much manpower they could use elsewhere. It was also inadvisable to send the young and inexperienced without proper guidance. While the budding 'front lines' with Iwagakure and Sunagakure were the most dangerous, border patrols could quickly escalate to A, or even S rank missions should there actually be an enemy encountered.

So they settled on sending squads like his. Genin teams with an experienced Jonin captain, and talented, promising genin pupils. Unfortunately, there weren't many shinobi sensei-pupil squads that fit into this category. Which meant that His squad had already been on this northern stretch of border for three weeks.

A relief squad was finally en route. But that didn't mean he could allow his little subordinates to slack off because they only had a day or two left of this. They had a job to do, and it was important.

And right now they had to check out what was going on just north of the border. The glow they had spotted earlier was unmistakably that of a fire. And a fire near the border could mean several things… most of them linked to an enemy trying to cross the border. The one that worried him most however was that it was a distraction.

That didn't mean they could ignore it.

So he had made the call to change their regular route to go investigate, although not before he'd made sure the nearest other patrolling squad was made aware of what was going on.

The glow was diminishing however. The fire was being put out.

Which didn't add up at all with any of the theories he had. He slowed for a moment, until he noticed that one of his little genin had picked up pace. The boy must think that this meant the fire was more akin to a signal.

Or a call for help.

And if there was one thing he knew about this boy it was that he never ignored a call for help.

He wasn't about to let that get the child killed though. He rather liked teaching him. So he picked up his own pace, keeping himself ahead of the shinobi youth. Having come this far however, he already realized that the fire was on the other side of the border, although only by about a kilometer.

But their orders expressly forbid them from crossing the border. Even if this particular stretch of border wasn't with a nation that had a shinobi village of its own. Most of the skirmishes that had broken out already were taking place in smaller countries, like Ame to the south. There wasn't any fighting going on in Rice country right now, which was the border they were patrolling… but that could change at the drop of a hat.

They were getting closer to the river… closer to the actual boundary between Fire country and Rice, the trees parting way to a river with a rocky shore. And then he spotted the stumbling figure on the opposite shore. Pale skinned, smeared in ash and splattered with blood.

Notably missing a hand.

They looked like an unfortunate victim of these near war times. A civilian who had got caught in something terrible, or a shinobi who had run away because they didn't want to die fighting in the grim battles ahead.

Shinobi, he amended moments later, as they stumbled out onto the surface of the water.

His sunshine blonde student jumped out of the branches and onto the shore, attention clearly fixed upon the stumbling individual. He followed suit, keeping pace with his pupil, ready to place a halting hand on the boy's shoulder. But against his expectations, the young genin did not rush out towards the stumbling figure, instead continuing along the shore. The shredded individual moved up the riverbank, and towards this shore. They seemed totally unaware of their surroundings however.

And then the stone figures of the two founding fathers of Konoha came into view.

The figure collapsed to the ground on this shore, and his little subordinate rushed towards them.

Before freezing completely a few feet away.

Stopping next to the much shorter individual, he took a good look at the fallen shinobi to try and figure out why he had stopped. He found his gaze was met by a pair of dull blue eyes, before said eyes moved to the one standing beside him. They widened in mystified recognition.

"Mi-mina-to?"

His eyes widened in incredulity. This person (a woman he realized by her roughened, likely once soprano voice) knew Namikaze Minato? The fact that she knew his genin's name was of concern. One that caused him to examine her even more closely, while he moved closer, and readied himself to subdue or kill her if she made any sort of threatening movement. Slightly he tilted his head so he could examine the young man's reaction out of the corner of his eye, while not taking his attention away from her.

Minato looked nothing short of gobsmacked. His incredulous expression soon shifted to a confused frown… and then to something he had never thought he'd see on the Namikaze boy.

Anger.

But as quickly as he had noticed it it was gone, and the boy's expression took on a neutral mask. The Jōnin barely registered the sound of his other two genin jumping to the ground behind him, as he was too intent on trying to read Minato's now astoundingly controlled expression. Somehow that was more disconcerting than the boy actually showing anger had been. Clearly Minato knew this woman, and he wasn't exactly pleased about it… though he couldn't tell if it was because of the terrible condition she was in, or because of who she was.

He turned his gaze fully back to the woman, who was supporting her upper body with her only hand, her arm trembling from even the slight weight of her bony frame. Her face was sallow, and her hair too full of grime for him to be sure if the color really was gray, or some other shade.

"Hahaue."

The one word, spoken in an uncharacteristically cold voice told him all he needed to know.

This was Namikaze Haruka. Minato's mother.

A missing nin who had sold out her squad during a mission three years ago. A mission that was meant to try and prevent the impending war that was now almost certain. A betrayal that there were now a few whispers about it having helped to perpetuate the fall of Uzushio. The biggest reason relations between Konoha and other shinobi villages had soured to this point.

There was no real evidence of that accusation. But it was undoubtedly recorded that Haruka had defected three years and some months ago.

This knowledge caused the Jōnin to tense. After all, even if Haruka looked as if she would die any minute, she was still an A ranked criminal in their bingo book, and he had in tow a trio of young genin. She could have allies around as well. Seeing as she had defected.

No, he amended immediately, She had no allies around. Not when she looked like she'd been wasting away for at least a year. The woman was little more than bones by the look of it.

However… enemies nearby… she almost certainly had those. For those injuries of hers were fresh. Still bleeding.

"You… have every right to h-hate me," she choked out, a self loathing smile that twisted into a grimace on her bloody lips. "I deserve i-it. B-but they don't, M-minato.." the woman continued on, the act of speaking clearly a massive undertaking for her now. And no wonder, it looked like she'd been stabbed in the side, judging by how coated in blood she was from the waist down. Likely her kidney and liver had been run through. Possibly there was damage to a lung. The pain alone would interfere with her breathing, and thus her speech. No amount of shinobi training would allow one to fully ignore that kind of internal damage.

"They're just -to-" and she coughed violently, spewing bits of blood and phlegm. He couldn't help but grimace at the sight as it painted the rocky shore. Though it was for the effect the scene may have on his chargers, rather than being that disturbed himself. He had been a shinobi long enough to be desensitized to such a scene. "Just toddlers."

Wait… Toddlers? What was she talking about? Was she even slightly coherent?

Minato seemed to be wondering the same thing, as the look on his face shifted back to one of confusion now, breaking the emotionless mask he had been wearing, and allowing his companion to see that he didn't simply hate the woman, but was concerned and devastated by her condition as well. The poor boy likely had… a lot of emotions to unpack, when it came to his mother.

"What are you talking about?" the blonde boy asked, his voice losing the hard edge.

The smile turned grimace came back, this time looking, impossibly, more sorrowful. "Yo-your brother and si-sister,"

Minato's jaw wasn't the only one that slackened.


His entire little body ached, burned or just plain hurt. His feet throbbed and smarted from chakra burns and scrapes from the slipping on the rock. His hands were worse, his nails also bloody and splitting from gripping and scraping on stone to try and lever himself up that much sooner. What meager muscles his two year old body had were screaming in protest from the strain they'd been put through.

But he'd made it.

Panting heavily, he still leaned over to stretch his right hand out towards his sister. He anchored himself in place by pushing more chakra into his left hand, despite how much it absolutely burned. His little hand closed around Makiko's when she reached upward, and he pulled as hard as he could to help her up the last foot onto the stone shoulder.

They had made it.

The boy allowed himself to fall onto his back, eyes staring blurrily up at the dark sky. Still night time. That in itself was actually amazing. It felt like they'd been at the climb for hours. It ought to be morning by now, at least. Yet there wasn't even a hint of warm hues on the horizon that would signify the approach of dawn.

Not that he was complaining. Since it was still dark out, there was less chance that they could be seen sprawled on their backs on the shoulder of one of Konoha's stone founding fathers. Their chests heaved as their lungs greedily took in much needed oxygen.

Stay awake, he told himself weakly. Even though they were finally up upon Madara's cold shoulder, that didn't mean he could succumb to the exhaustion and sleep. He had to make sure they were out of sight. Which might mean they'd have to climb around to the other shoulder. But, hopefully, the hair would be enough to hide them. He'd check.

Just as soon as he caught his breath and could move his leaden limbs.

Beside him Makiko shifted slightly, rolling onto her side. He didn't even have the strength to turn his head to see what it was she was doing or why. He just stared upwards, his eyes half lidded, as he fought to keep himself conscious.

"Masa-nii," the girl breathed out, and he felt her little hand on his bare forearm, slick with sweat and specks of blood.

"Wha-?" was all he could manage to force out, his head falling to the side to try and look at her, but his vision was too blurry now to really make her out.

"Masato!" she said more urgently, now shaking his arm with what little strength she could muster. "Look down!" The growing urgency in her voice caused his eyes to snap open wide, new found energy entering his limbs. The boy rolled onto his stomach, and pushed himself up on his elbows, blinking his eyes several times to try and clear his vision.

As the world came back into focus he looked directly down, at the feet of the figure they were perched on, but Makiko's hand was back on his arm moments later, shaking insistently.

"No. There!"

He glanced over at her to see where her small hand was pointing. Across the water on the opposite shore. Squinting he turned his eyes in that direction and tried to make out whatever it was she had seen. It took him a few precious moments to realize what he was looking at.

Two blotches that looked suspiciously like people, and a third slightly closer, right on the water's edge, that might be someone who had fallen.

"Shit," he couldn't help but curse in alarm. There were people down there. That was too close for comfort. Even if it seemed they hadn't noticed them yet.

Now wide awake, the boy grabbed Makiko's hand, and looked around the stone they were perched on for a place to hide. "Move," he commanded the girl.

There was no time to climb around, and glancing over at Madara's hair… he didn't think that would be quite an obscure enough place. So… there was only one, risky option left.

Makiko didn't need to be told, and started shuffling towards the sode next to him. They both had to bite back hisses, as they used chakra to control their descent down the side of the shoulder, under the sode. They kept going down until they were squeezed so tightly between the arm and the armor that it would be a chore to shimmy back out from the snug fit. As they came to a stop however, Masato realized one big problem with their hiding place.

It was impossible to see what was going on down below.

They would have no idea when those below moved, or if they had noticed them. Should they come to investigate, it would be too late by the time He was able to see or hear them for them to be able to get out and away. It would be easy for their exit to be blocked off, since they would have to use chakra and climb. Even if they went out to the side instead of up.

Please don't find us.


Minato Namikaze was generally known as a kind hearted, and very accepting boy. He tended to be the person who gave others the benefit of the doubt, and easily accepted tales that most would find too far-fetched to believe before presented with concrete evidence.

But this was something else.

The dying woman before him had been missing for over three years. Had abandoned the village… abandoned him for another village after his father's death. After three years of nothing, suddenly here she was, looking as if she'd been starving for at least one of those years, and having clearly come out of a battle. A desperate battle.

And telling him he had a brother and sister.

He knew they couldn't be his father's, as the man was declared killed in action a year before his mother defected. And she had called them toddlers. Toddlers indicated that they were very young children. It brought a sickening thought to mind. Had his mother defected to another village to seek solace with a shinobi there? Had the painful sorrow he remembered seeing in her eyes back then not been because she wasn't over his father's death, but because she could not be with her new lover?

He'd felt abandoned, and hurt by his mother's defection. Even terribly angry. But he hadn't held any hate for her. Not until now, as this new possibility came to mind. But just as quickly as the anger came it left. The scenario didn't make any sense after all. His mother had hardly left the village that year following his father's death. When could she have met a foreign shinobi and fallen in love?

Unless it had been going on since before his father had been killed in action. An idea he immediately dismissed. In his memories, the love his parents showed for each other was genuine. He wanted to continue to believe in that. Even if it wasn't the truth.

Doing his best to reign in his emotions, Minato pressed his lips into a firm line, regarding the woman before him more closely.

Her condition was dreadful. She was all skin, bones, soot and grime. Looking beyond the blood and grime, it was easy to see she wouldn't survive much longer even if it wasn't for her injuries. One did not waste away to this degree from not eating properly for a month or two. No, her current state had to be due to a year or more of starvation, and likely a lack of proper sleep. The grime was old, and her smell was rancid. Like she hadn't bathed in a week. This combination of things led him to believe the woman had been out of doors this entire time.

With the toddlers she mentioned?

But if she couldn't feed herself as she traveled, how could she have fed and cared for two toddlers?

By starving herself.

That was the best explanation. She was in this state out of self-neglect in order to take care of these two toddlers. But that didn't answer all of the questions he had for her… not even close. Where had she been all this time? Why had she left? Who did she have these toddlers with? And why had she been in a situation where she had to neglect herself so badly in order to care for two young children who she shouldn't have been traveling around with in the first place?

Where were these two toddlers now?

He took in a sharp intake of breath, blue eyes immediately flicking about his surroundings seeking any sign of two toddlers. Had she hidden them somewhere before whatever battle she had been in had broken out? Whether that was the case or not, the boy saw no sign of them. All there was to see was that his sensei and two teammates were all looking at him, and the woman, in confusion or shock… or both. So he turned his attention back to the woman, whose eyes were now half lidded. She wouldn't be able to maintain consciousness much longer.

There was so much he wanted to ask, but he didn't have the time. She wouldn't last to answer all of his questions. It didn't matter how much he wanted these answers, he was going to have to go without. Because getting them would mean abandoning the only lead on the two small children who were somewhere out there, on their own, and possibly at risk of being found by hostiles.

"Where are they?"

His voice sounded dry, and emotionless even to himself. But it was just that he was feeling too much. He had to push it away. Had to be calm and calculating and detached in order to cope with an otherwise all too personal situation.

"Don't know," was the woman's response. In contrast to his own voice however, hers was filled with emotion. Bitter, angry, concerned, fearful. "They caught up to us. I knew I couldn't take all of them out while protecting the brats. Told them to run. They ran this way."

Minato let out a slow, calculated breath before closing the distance between him and the woman. He lowered himself into a squat in front of her, so their eyes were on the same level. "How old?" The boy asked, "What are their names?"

The woman regarded him with weary eyes for a moment before answering in little more than a whisper. Her throat could no longer handle anything harsher. "Two in a month. Masato and Makiko…. It's been two hours."

Two hours.

If the pair were under two years old, they really couldn't have gotten far in two hours. But any number of things could have happened to them. They could have tumbled down a drop, fallen in the river, or even been attacked by the more violent wildlife.

"Inoru-san," He called back to his other blonde haired teammate, who was behind him and to the right. However his eyes remained fixed on the woman in front of him. She was still a criminal. He wasn't about to open his back to her. "See if you can sense anyone else in the area."

This caused a heavy sigh to fall past the lips of his sensei, and the boy knew why. But he didn't bother to look at the white haired Jōnin. He could hear the man's feet on the stone littered shore, as the older shinobi moved towards him. "Minato… we can't be crossing the border," the white haired shinobi reminded him. Minato didn't even spare him a glance over his shoulder at that statement.

"We can't abandon a pair of toddlers without even trying to figure out where they are, sensei," he replied back coldly.

The man was silent for several moments before speaking again, though not to Minato. "Go ahead, Inoru." And the other boy gave a soft "Yes Sensei." Then Minato felt a large, firm hand on his shoulder. "Even if he finds them, You're staying here with your teammates, Minato. If it's close, I'll leave a Toad with you and go check it out myself." The man was telling him. Minato gritted his teeth and nodded. Although… he wasn't so sure he could stop himself.

Silence fell over them then.

Until the woman erupted into a rash of violent coughing. Fresh Blood speckled her lips and the hand she brought up to cover her mouth. Moments later she collapsed completely, her breathing ragged. Dull eyes sought him back out, and fixed him with a look he could only describe as a desperate plea. "Mina- to," she struggled to get his name out. "Their fa-," her words were punctured by more coughing, "Father… must not f-find th-." A shuddering breath, and then her frame went limp, what little light that had remained in the woman's eyes now fading away as she succumbed to the embrace of death.

Their father must not find… them?

He took in another steadying breath, closing his eyes so he no longer had to look at what was now the corpse of his mother. He just listened as the heavier footfalls of his sensei moved over the rocks, before that went silent again as well. Then there was a light popping sort of sound, and he opened his eyes to see the white haired Jōnin on one knee, rolling up a scroll that he had clearly just sealed his mother's body into.

He let out a shuddering breath.

His mother, Haruka Namikaze, was dead.

And his mother's last words to him was a warning. That the father of the two must not find them. Why? It must have something to do with why she was in the state she was, right? Why she thought it was a good idea to be traveling, with pursuers, when she had two toddlers in tow. Two toddlers who were little more than babies.

A hand came down on his shoulder. This one is considerably smaller.

Every muscle in his body tensed, ready to spring into action and attack an unsuspecting foe. But his mind was just a bit faster, telling him that this hand belonged to his teammate. His eyes left the scroll in his sensei's hand that they had been glued to this whole time, turning to his side as the other boy now stood beside him.

And he was pointing right at the stone likeness of Uchiha Madara.

This time his body moved faster than his mind. Ignoring whatever protest Inoru, or his Sensei might have, the Namikaze leapt from his place on the shore towards the towering figure.


Word Count: 7876~


To the Reviewers:

Maskedgirl16(guest): thank you for your kind words~ So here's that next chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it~~

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