Thanks so much for the support! For those from the original Bloodbound, this is where the change comes in. For future reference from here on out, I'll switch from the different dimensions. Underline in the line breaks signifies from Naruto's time. Italics in the line breaks signifies the alternate time.

I realized in the last chapter the "Naruto-kun" in there. Lol. Was supposed to be just "Naruto" silly auto correct, typing's for kids!

Okay, I'm done joking, enjoy please!

Warning: There is swearing. If it makes you queasy, I apologize. It's not everywhere by the way, just sometimes there. Forgot to mention this in the first chapter. OK, no more author notes; onto le chapter.

(chapter title inspiration: SoulCalibur III)

Uchū no Hanten
宇宙の反転
'The Universe's Inversion'

Radiant Souls

2

-x- Kamui Dimension, Unknown Time -x-

After what appeared to be hours later, Naruto yawned and finally got up from his self induced nap. He appeared less agitated than earlier but his worries clouded his mind the moment he rubbed his eyes and remembered where he was. Even if time didn't pass while in the secondary dimension created by the Kamui technique, he was sure it'd been over a day since his unusual arrival. Glancing down at his diminished form—wishing it had been a dream, but thoroughly disappointed it wasn't—he resisted complaining and decided to make do with what he had.

Figuring how the hell he was going to get out was one of his top priorities. Figuring out how to utilize his techniques was the second. Since the first one couldn't be done yet, the second on his mental list would.

"All right, I've to check to make sure I can still use any of my attacks," he began, internally cringing at the lack of his former authoritative voice and at how irritatingly squeaky it sounded now. With a little amount of concentration, he initiated his favorite and signature technique, the Kage Bunshin. Having mastered it to the point of creating them without the hand seal had been one of his glorious accomplishments when he was nineteen—wait, no. Shaking out of his mild confusion, Naruto heard the telltale pop of the shadow clones and looked in front of him. His blue eyes widened in disbelief.

Whatever went wrong, he created ten extra clones than the original odd twenty he intentionally targeted. Not only that, the extra shadow clones painfully reminded him of his attempts at the regular Bunshin technique, something that had been physically impossible for him to replicate in his younger days. In other words, the extras looked ready to keel over and pop. The clones that weren't disfigured gave their brethren sympathetic glances before putting them out of their misery, a wordless command from the original.

"Thank you for that," Naruto nodded to the clones who popped the sickly looking ones, grimacing at the memories he received from them. "Hm, that was troubling. I wonder why they looked so ill and similar to when I try the regular Bunshin. I wonder if it has anything to do with this new size or if my reserves are far too great for it to handle properly." If that was the case, then sadly as it might be to reveal, he currently lacked the chakra control to perform the Kage Bunshin effectively. That seemed to be the only plausible cause, but just to make sure...

The tiny Seventh Hokage held out his right hand, channeling chakra into a spinning rotation of power until the familiar blue sphere of the Rasengan formed. Just as he was about to smile at his success, the spiraling blue orb began to grow out of proportion, and its summoner swiftly halted it seconds it decided to explode in his face.

"That's definitely not supposed to happen," Naruto muttered to himself, a puzzled expression forming on his face. "I know I mastered creating it with one hand. Huh, let me see if the 'old fashioned' way works."

Turning back to his clones, he ordered them to start making Rasengans the way he originally thought of and they proceeded to do so. Each clone paired up with another and while one began producing the chakra while the other spun it in multiple directions. Unfortunately for the clones, once the spiraling spheres were created, the pressure forced them to dispel, making a rather interesting explosive smoke.

"Okay, that settles that. Rasengan's out for the time being." Naruto concluded, expressing a heavily disappointed frown on his face. Shelving the emotion away for now, he decided to go through a checklist of his techniques once again. Once commanding his clones to dispel at 30 second intervals except for five, Naruto concentrated and collected his chakra together, raising its temperature until a boiling steam was literally smoking from his body. It took much longer than he anticipated. Filtering most of it to his left hand, he closed it into a fist and delivered a steam induced punch to one of his Bunshin. It popped the second the attack made contact.

'I can still perform the Funsuiken sort of, so that's good, although really slowly,' he deduced before slipping into the Frog Kata stance. Every strike he performed was slow, much too sluggish for his liking, even though he thrust forward with his all. His legs were far too small to accurately time his footwork and he'd accidentally misstep and stumble while shadow fencing his attacks. Thirty seconds into the kata, he fell down, having tripped over his large shirt and feet far too many times within that span of time then he could count. Frowning and thoroughly frustrated, the diminished Seventh Hokage sat up from his fallen position, going over his performance and accurately deemed it terrible.

Iruka-sensei would have definitely given him a failing grade at that sloppy attempt.

"I'm much too short to simulate even a fraction of what I actually know. In other words, my body can't reach the distances, height or the lengths of the strikes as I had been able to before. That's worrisome." Pinching the bridge of his nose in slight irritation, Naruto mentally ran through his list of other techniques. Unfortunately, every other technique he had insisted upon the Rasengan, which he could not perform correctly due to his nonexistent chakra control. The others were a few techniques he had assistance from the other Kage, such as his friend Gaara the Godaime Kazekage and Mei Terumī, the former Godaime Mizukage. "Just a setback," he told himself as he stood up once again and contacted his furry friend again.

"Kurama."

"Naruto," said companion acknowledged, having seen everything through his host's eyes. "Finally going to try it out?"

"Yeah, let's go for it. Slowly, just in case." Even though it was supplementary, Naruto didn't want to experience self-destruction like the Rasengan had nearly done to him. Agglomerating chakra together, both Bijū and Jinchūriki steadily prepared for the Kyūbi Chakra Mode or as infamously dubbed by Naruto himself, 'Kurama's Cloak" much to said Bijū's chagrin.

Slowly but surely, the flaming and flickering of the yellowish-orange flame-like substance wrapped around the small boy's frame, black lines detailing around his stomach, arms, face, hands and feet. Once properly transformed, Naruto steadily moved about on his space, throwing occasional punches and kicks, using two of his leftover clones as intentional punching bags.

He stopped and released the cloak with his friend, momentarily sorting through his newly gained memories from the clones he attacked. He noted he tired out just from that but filed it away. "Still too slow," he muttered under his breath, having observed his strikes from their point of views. "And, something doesn't feel right." Mentally throwing his hands up in exasperation over the possible conclusion of his lethargic movements, Naruto moved onto his next task.

Naruto sat down and tried to augment enough nature chakra to enter Sage Mode. Once a full sixty seconds passed mentally, nothing happened. After one hundred and twenty seconds passed, still nothing. The man-turned-boy fidgeted a little in understandable frustration. After what seemed to be five minutes in, he finally had the telltale signs of Sage Mode appear; the orange pigment over his eyelids and both blue orbs turned into the yellow-orange color with the horizontal toad pupil running through each one. Naruto assessed himself and realized just how long that took. Normally it was near instant; he didn't have to sit down to regulate the amount of nature chakra he collected.

However, his unusual, kiddish tendencies banished his adult mannerisms. It virtually took most, if not all of, his willpower to not fidget in place while gathering the chakra together.

However, strange as it was, how could he gather the natural chakra if he was in a Kamui dimension? Counting that oddity aside, then couldn't he go to the "next step" as easily? Well, it was best to utilize said next step—and hope it worked. If it did, perhaps it'd give him an idea of how he could get both him and his partner out of here.

Because, in all honesty, the more they wondered about this oddity, the less it seemed Sasuke was behind this. They drew the conclusion this was more like being some other person's work. The only question was who. The only living Uchiha was Sasuke unless someone else illegally possessed a Sharingan for themselves. But, the original question remained: who? Both Jinchūriki and Bijū weren't going to get answers anytime soon unless they found their own way out of here.

"Moving onto Six Paths, Naruto?" Kurama asked, knowing what his partner was up to.
"Yeah. I need to see if I have access to it, regardless of this new body size and control." Naruto replied, releasing the Sage Mode. Remembering what happened to his Rasengan and Kage Bunshins earlier, he added, "Watch me, partner." Even though he didn't implode from Kurama's Cloak, thankfully, he still wasn't going to take any chances. The Bijū himself would help regulate the flow if something unusually awry occurred.

"Will do."

Collecting minimal chakra together—this time a specialized chakra he specifically isolated for this form through reverse engineering his chakra flow—Naruto's body changed yet again. Instead of the golden flame-like chakra cloak surrounding him, this time, only his hair and a materialized light coat were alighted in brilliance. Two spokes of his hair flickered upward, resembling the horns of the man who gave him the chakra necessary to perform this stage, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki. Materializing over his current attire was a full "body suit" that was black in color, covering up from his ankles to his neck to his knuckles on his hands. His tiny feet were left as bare as he came but he didn't mind that.

Around his neck were golden magatama, aligned in a ringed pattern. On the back of the 'light cloak's coat' was the symbol of the Rinnegan right above nine more magatama markings. In position behind him formed nine Truth-Seeking Balls, levitating around in a halo formation. His eyes lost their blue and changed into a yellow hue, with the eyes of a both sage and Bijū respectively crossed through.

During the transformation, Naruto noted that his new body twitched violently and unintentionally with each new change his body had undergone. As soon as it completed, he remained motionless, feeling a huge weight press down on him. His eyes began to water, too, and he tried to blink them away. What was that? Putting the oddities aside, Naruto glanced around, wondering carefully with his eyes, in each direction. The small frame still trembled, as if stoked by fear of something unknown or just the immense power the transformation granted.

Before he could do anything, he shut his eyes—the watering of his eyes returning twofold—and the sage cloak suddenly petered out! The miniature Nanadaime fell to his knees, sweat trickling down his face as a small puddle began pooling beneath his forehead as his body heaved, panting for air! What was that all about? Couldn't his body handle it? Sure, he hadn't been able to use it in a long while but that didn't mean he couldn't enter it. This wasn't looking good.

"Damn," Naruto grunted irritably in between breaths. If Kurama's Cloak burned him out then that completely shattered whatever remaining energy he had left. He felt extremely tired. Why had that happened? Was it because he was in an area that nature chakra couldn't be utilized? If that were true, then how...? This was unfortunately becoming complicated. Far more than the Nanadaime would like to admit.

"Couldn't have said it better myself."

The small boy shook his head. Something wasn't right. Something was definitely wrong. Last he checked, he could use said supplementary technique with ease in a Kamui. Why was this any different? Could it be that this new size was the issue? If it was—

No. Don't think negatively. There had to be something else he could do.

However, everything else was minimally slow at best. His best punches thrown couldn't handle the working flow he synthesized alongside his kicks. The Frog Kata couldn't be put into good use, the Funsuiken could be, to a degree, and sadly, the Rasengan was as good as out in a ball game. Kurama's Cloak could be maintained although it tuckered him out. Never mind the Six Paths cloak being useless in this diminished size. It felt like a ton of needles had been jammed into his stomach like a pincushion, then ripped out quickly to administer another round and someone decided to through brick tons on his stomach and sit on him.

In relatively shorter terms, it was highly unpleasant. The Kage Bunshin, while odd with the clone amount, seemed like the only thing he could do somewhat right. He was rightfully thankful he could perform that one regardless.

Still clutching the scroll that held his things, Naruto sat down, making sure part of his shirt covered underneath his rear. His uncomfortable lack of undergarments was still there, albeit not as strongly as before. "It looks like I can still do a few techniques still, though some will obviously need some working out with the kinks," He mentally glared at the Rasengan pointedly, "And others require chakra control and balance." Naruto tapped his chin before throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "Not only that, but I still have to get out of this place. Gosh dammit." The Kamui dimension did nothing to help his aggravation—in fact, it's simplicity furthered his disappointment. His eyes lingered on his tiny toes.

As if the situation couldn't worsen anymore than it already was and mocking him even more, his stomach growled hungrily again, angry at the lack of nutrition its body hadn't received yet. In addition to his adult metabolism, his outward appearance replicated the young, absolute need for any kind of nourishment. Naruto hissed through his teeth, grumbling incoherently at his predicament. If it wasn't the lack of needing social engagement at the moment, he'd surely die from starvation instead. Doing his best to ignore the protest of his body's internal and physical pain, he slapped his hands on his face, sliding them down in slow motion as he attempted to alleviate his building headache. It did no good, unfortunately.

"This honestly couldn't get any damn worse, could it?" He asked no one in particular, his tiny voice squeaking out in echo because of the location.

"Don't jinx it."

"I'm not trying to..." The tiny Hokage replied with a wide yawn. Uh-oh. Naruto stopped mid-yawn and closed his mouth, suppressing it and the second one that built up after. He pressed his tiny hands on his mouth in hopes to stall the oncoming yawn. Crap, crap, crap, not again! "No, no, not again." He mumbled, unable to keep bits of the deep inhale of sleepiness from escaping.

The corners of his eyes watered once again after his stubborn attempt to not yawn. Gosh, why was he so tired? Was it because his body was too hungry and suddenly 'shutting down' because it couldn't utilize his willpower properly? Was it because he exerted his new body's limits too far when attempting to use chakra? Was it because he was reduced to this size? After all, toddlers—from his own knowledge—usually took naps during the day after a long exertion of energy. It was normally after lunchtime. But he hadn't eaten anything to soothe the hunger monster that was his stomach yet. Oh yes, he nearly forgot that trying to use the supplementary techniques also contributed to his sleepiness.

'Perhaps... my body's too tired to stay awake. I must have gone beyond its new limitations. It's not used to exerting such power in short bursts like I've done so far,' Naruto theorized before a yawn escaped again. 'I still haven't figured out how or why I'm so small like I am, either.' The miniature Nanadaime rubbed his eyes before slapping both of his tiny hands on his chubby cheeks, trying to will himself awake. If only he could use a Water Release technique right about now... But he couldn't if he was so gosh dang tired! "Come on... Just stay awake," the small boy tried to coach himself, though suffice to say, it wasn't working as well as he hoped. "Kurama, help me out here."

The Nine-Tails responded with a low yawn himself but managed to keep awake. "Weren't you told yawns are contagious?"

"Several times. As I said before..." Naruto stretched and slowly found himself lying down in vain attempt to get comfortable, much to dismay, "It's this body. Can't even stay awake for too long before it collapses. I'm pretty sure it's because I'm hungry..." Before he closed his eyes, his mind drifted to one person's name. 'Hinata...' His beautiful and expecting wife. What was she doing? Was she all right? What about his friends? Damn, how was he going to get back? A lot of those questions were on his mind even as he fought the irksome drowsiness. Unfortunately for the tiny Hokage, sleep won him over in a heartbeat.

Kurama listened to his partner's plausible explanation, but grew worried about him falling asleep again. Last time, he felt they got lucky, but what about this time? They both silently agreed this wasn't Sasuke's Kamui dimension, and chances are figuring out the culprit were slim to none. They'd both wanted to stay on the alert, but with Naruto, it looked like he wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer. Just as he was about to offer his tiny host of some ideas, he saw that the boy had fallen asleep again, clutching the scroll that kept his things sealed inside.

The large bakegitsune sighed but couldn't pit all the blame on Naruto. He was most likely right on his theory; the diminished form was taking its toll on his adult mentality, forcing him to succumb to its child-like tendencies. It was, regrettably, out of their control.

Knowing he'd be the 'guard dog' again, Kurama lied down himself, closing his eyes but kept his senses on high alert. Just in case something appeared and Naruto didn't wake up—he'd take over and buy them time. Their situation set him on edge. Wherever they were, they'd work together to getting back to their plane of existence. With these thoughts, he gave into his body's will to rest, though not without keeping his senses on the observe.

It wasn't long until he sensed another presence within the Kamui; it felt vaguely familiar, as if the chakra nature were related to fire. The person seemed to be in one place, stationed there like a stature. This piqued Kurama's interest; who was it? He could sense their emotions from where they stood. Intrigue, haste, excitement, and a little bit of hatred were among those of the strongest in the unknown person. Although the reading he was picking up didn't seem so appealing, they could be the only ones to get them out of here, more or less. It was a risk Kurama would be willing to take—even if their intentions was nigh favorable for him and his partner.

'Let's see what you're up to, hm?' The Nine-Tails thought quietly to himself, waiting for the unknown person to approach his partner's sleeping form. However, if they so much as lift a finger to cause harm, the bakegitsune would surely take over in a blink of an eye and lash out.

Across the distance of the dimension, two eyes of a fully matured Sharingan spun into strange, kaleidoscopic pinwheel shapes, staring at the slumbering child. The figure that materialized out of the swirling vortex appeared male with a strange mask upon his face; he watched the boy, a plan forming in his mind. It appeared the small child had been aware of his location and seemed trained. A clan's heir no doubt. It was a good thing the initial idea of a test trial had been very successful. The technique used to bring this boy here had worked; now they only needed to identify if the child held the Kyūbi within him. If he didn't, well, they'd either kill him, send him back or just discard him elsewhere.

The only way to do either of those was to bring him to the outside world. The figure quickly hopped over, crossing the distance with ease and examined the child's condition. He was still asleep, which was good. While they didn't normally care if their targets were awake when the process happened, it was better if they were asleep. Death was much faster in rest.

The two eyes of the Sharingan spun and a vortex of sorts swirled to "suck in" the child and the figure themselves, leaving the Kamui Dimension empty once more, unaware he was being carefully watched by what was contained in the boy.

x- Konohagakure – Tuesday, November 29, 404 NE (Ninja Era) -x

It was a slow going morning of November 29th, especially during the 7 o'clock hour, throughout the village Hidden in the Leaves. While it looked like a good day for anyone, for the shinobi under the Third Hokage, it was anything but. The Third Shinobi World War was coming to a close all due to a crucial mission that had been successful: the turning point being the destruction of the Kannabi Bridge a few weeks prior thanks to Team Minato.

This slightly put Konoha on the winning advantage despite having lost as many numbers as much as the other villages; however, medic-nins were assigned in teams after Tsunade Senju revolutionized medical shinobi on newly christened squads during this time. While this lessened many deaths and injuries, it couldn't be accounted for the majority of the death toll. This unprecedented war was fierce; all villages were guilty of sending fresh genin out of their Academies and into the war front lines. It had to end soon with one nation as the victor. There needed to be peace between them.

The Sandaime Hokage wished and attempted to placate the other nations with a peace treaty after the Kannabi Bridge's destruction. Unfortunately, they weren't having it.

The whole war started due to the fact skirmishes on borders became widely known and the power factor of the nations were dwindling. Each country was guilty of participating in the war. But in order for this to end, there needed to be a deciding factor and one nation would become victorious out of this whole thing. The Sandaime knew who to send out in the front lines to give them said decisive factor. He had the teams in mind and with their leaders arguably being among the strongest ninja in their village barring himself, they'd have their victory on a silver plate. But of course, he was being met with the Konoha Council, three people he knew and trusted to be his councilors. They were doing their job of advising him. The Third knew what he was doing. They just didn't like the outcome.

"Hokage-sama, we understand your reasons for sending out such a capable team however we have a disagreement with this." One of them said. The one who spoke was a moderately old woman with graying brown hair done in a bun. She was as old as the Hokage himself. The Third looked at her almost impassively as she and the other two stood around his desk.

"What seems to be the issue of this decision?" The Hokage asked in a semi disinterested tone.

"Many issues, sir," an old man with short, spiky gray hair and wearing glasses replied. "You're sending the stable Jinchūriki with the unstable Jinchūriki out on the field again. This has us deeply concerned." He adjusted his lens until they were situated upon his face properly.

The old woman was in agreement with this. "The unstable one should remain in the village. Not only for his own protection but for village. The mental suffering he's gone under since a couple weeks prior must be damaging. Who knows if he'll turn on his fellow shinobi should he lose control!"

The third of the councilors, a brown-haired man with also graying hair, who had a cane with both arms leaning upon it nodded his head. "We understand the stable Jinchūriki being placed out on the field as our ace in the hole. Kumo, Iwa and Kiri have utilized their own amid the warring themselves, minus Suna. However, he cannot do both tasks of being on the front lines and keeping an eye out on our second Jinchūriki. That one, we've agreed on, should remain in the village until he is deemed mentally able."

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime simply puffed his pipe and stared at his advisers. They had a good reason of course, but his decision had already been made. He knew that with recent events that happened during the war left them with two Jinchūriki, one newly made and the other having been with them since their young age. He did worry for the new one but he had faith in their abilities. The graying Third Hokage placed his hands upon his desk, folded over one another and sighed.

"I understand your sentiments and am fully aware of the issue," he started, "However, my decision has been made already. The two teams I have selected have been assigned as a conjoined unit for this mission; it will be our decisive factor and hopefully put the war in our favor this way. If you haven't noticed, both leaders special in fūinjutsu. They are well refined in that field of study—containing the unstable Jinchūriki will not hinder their progress, should something go wrong." He believed nothing would, so long as those two were on the field together.

The three Konoha councilors still seemed to disagree but resigned. The Hokage did make a good point against theirs. But, they were still concerned nonetheless.

"Don't worry my friends," Hiruzen sought to assuage their worries. These three were his friends; two were former teammates of his as Team Tobirama under the Second Hokage during the First Shinobi World War and the other was a close friend: Homura Mitokado, Hotaru Utatane and Danzō Shimura respectively. "You'll be surprised what those two teams can do together. Have faith in their abilities."

The three around his desk simply nodded. "Very well," the one labeled Danzō began again, "Have you decided upon a successor?" It was no surprise the old war hawk would bring up such a topic at a time like this. The man had been after the Hokage seat ever since Hiruzen had been appointed by Tobirama Senju, the Nidaime Hokage, before the man sacrificed himself for his team to escape from a tough situation in the First Shinobi World War. Hiruzen had three potential candidates lined up, all with good reasons. The first candidate was one he had personally trained as student; the second was trained by one of his students; and the third one was tutored by another student of his. All of them had devotion to Konoha and only one could be chosen.

It was a tough decision, but he knew in his heart he had chosen right. With a smile, he faced his former comrades in arms and friends. "Yes, I have chosen a successor. When they return from their mission, I will announce it and make it public."

x- Village Gates -x

Hurrying through a clan compound and into the village proper, namely in the main direction of Konoha's gates, was a young teenager around fifteen years old. He was garbed in a white short-sleeved shirt with fish-net chain mail underneath and a zipped up navy blue jacket with orange lining along the hems and having moderately long sleeves. Over his that, he was wearing a green, chūnin flak jacket. His navy blue pants and matching sandals made him blend in with the regular shinobi, although not by much. Short, spiky black hair decorated the top of his head and black goggles were worn over his eyes. His black eyes seemingly went along with said shaggy and wild hair but he didn't mind.

This is Obito Uchiha, one of the two chūnin in Team Minato.

He turned down many corners and streets, avoiding the populace and hurrying to the large gates that surrounded Konoha. A bright smile was on his face as he spotted his destination growing closer. Augmenting chakra into his legs, he boosted his agility to his top speed limit and zoomed over, creating a deft gust of dirt behind him. Just as he slid over easily beside the gate, a voice called out to him.

"Late again, Dobito."

The black-haired teenager whirled about face to leer at the owner's voice. It was a teen the same age as him with untamed silver hair, wearing a full black body suit with short sleeves, a green flak vest over that and long arm warmers of the grey color. Two belts crisscrossing over his chest in an "x" shape, a tantō strapped to his back, and wearing the usual shinobi sandals. A face mask covered the bottom half of his face and his hitai-ate had been adjusted to slant over his left eye. His single, dark grey eye stared back at the boy, but there was obvious mirth in them.

This is Kakashi Hatake, one of the two jōnin in Team Minato.

Still, it incited a scowl from the other boy. "Shush it, Bakakashi! I'm not that late! In fact I'm rather on time!" The black haired teenager turned to face another, a man this time, who had been standing by watching. "Right, sensei? I'm on time, right?"

Said sensei smiled just a little. "I'm afraid not, Obito. But don't worry. It was only by a minute this time. You're getting better, but be sure to keep trying, okay?" The boy's instructor said gently.

The man of topic was around his early twenties, with unruly-haired blond with jaw length bangs framing either side of his diamond shaped face. His complexion was bordering tan and porcelain light, which was a fine tone combination for one so healthy. His slender eye shapes held in the crystal blue orbs that were his sharp gaze, though they were now closed for the smiling gesture he currently sported. He was garbed in a long sleeve dark blue shirt with matching shinobi pants, a green flak vest over his chest. Around his left thigh were wraps that held a small black pouch. His sandals matched his pants and shirt, along with the material used to keep his Konoha hitai-ate around his forehead.

This is Minato Namikaze, sensei of Team Minato and the second jōnin within the team.

Beside him was a teenager also around Obito's and Kakashi's age group. She had chocolate brown hair that fell to her shoulders. Her near, equally brown eyes were focusing on her two teammates, though more so at Obito. The emotion in them held resignation at their light banter—they always did that anytime but it lessened over the last couple of weeks. She wore a black shirt, matching shinobi shorts, a white apron of sorts around her waist, black leather leg warmers that adjusted to the person's legs, blue shinobi sandals and the Konoha hitai-ate around her forehead as well. Upon her face were two purple rectangular marks, a clan/family tradition passed onto her, one on each cheek. Her fair complexion complimented her appearance; it was easy to tell she was a medic-nin, trained by Tsunade Senju like many others medic-nin assigned to teams.

This is Rin Nohara, the second chūnin of Team Minato and resident medic-nin of her squad.

"Now that we're all here, let's get going. The other team we're to joined with on this mission went ahead of us not long ago to scout. We'll be able to catch up with them in an hour if we leave now. Our destination is the Konoha-Iwa northwest border. Let's go; try not to fall behind now." Minato stated, getting his students' attention. He motioned for them to follow him and they were soon departing the village, leaping into the nearby trees.

As they were traveling by the tree tops and branches, Rin fell into step with Obito as did Kakashi. They both looked at their teammate with different versions of concern. The brunette's must have been the most obvious since Obito turned to her and frowned. "What's wrong, Rin?"

The girl shook her head. "That was the question I was going to ask you, Obito-kun," She replied, her brow creased with more worry as he tried to deflect attention from himself. Again, for that matter. She was used to that but still. "Are you all right? I mean, with you know...?"

The Uchiha looked ahead to leap onto another branch, making sure he wouldn't run into anything. "I'm fine, Rin. You too, Kakashi. Honestly. It was a few weeks ago, relax!"

"Still..." The Hatake teen insisted. He considered the black-haired boy one of his friends, a friend to trust and respect, even if they had difference before. He was concerned for his teammate, especially the incidents that happened to him during this war so far. It was amazing how the other boy could keep going where other people would have either died or retired.

Obito smiled. His two teammates, his friends, were concerned for him, but there was no need for them to be. He was grateful for them but he needed to alleviate them. He was fine! Sure, the accidents that happened to him were painful and at times he succumbed to his pain. But, the first one, he did it to save them and the second one was more painful than the first. He had Minato-sensei assist with that one. He was eternally glad. The only ones who knew about his second condition were the Sandaime, Tsunade-sama, his team, and his sensei's girlfriend and sensei's former teacher, Jiraiya-sama. No one else knew about it. Not even his fellow Uchiha clansmen.

Not like they would care or anything; he was the clan's black sheep that lived with his grandmother.

"I'm fine, guys. But thank you. Don't worry so much!" He insisted. It took a minute of giving both reassuring glances to get them off his back. For now. Really, it was touching they cared so much, but it wasn't like he was dying.

"Hn, very well then," Kakashi said simply before separating, going his own way but keeping up with Minato-sensei. Rin just offered him a smile of her own but remained beside him as they continued along through the trees, heading for their destination.

x- An Hour and a half Later -x

Team Minato landed in a small clearing, not to rest but to scout for the other Konoha team. Their sensei knelt down and touched the ground with a single index finger from his left hand, concentrating on the focal point. Heightening his senses, Minato quickly scanned the area through his sensory ability, detecting residue of chakra. Trails felt familiar and others were not; they felt like earth and lightning. The earth natured chakra was pointing northward and the lightning natured chakra pointed eastward. This wasn't good. There had been some techniques that had been used around here, most likely an ambush to scatter a group.

"There's been a scuffle here," Kakashi reported, having seen the the telltale signs of a small battle. Broken branches, the ground being disrupted and the different scents he could detect.

"Iwa-nin?" Rin asked, knowing Earth Release techniques could devastate and disrupt the ground easier than Lightning Releases. The silver-haired boy nodded slowly as his response.

"It was recent, too," the blond-haired teacher informed after. "We need to hurry and locate them."

"Minato-sensei, I can hear clashes of metal!" Obito said as he turned northward, where the earth natured chakra had been pinpointed by the blond not even five minutes ago. "It sounds like a sword... a kodachi, perhaps, clashing with a kunai." Minato stepped forward, standing beside his student and concentrated himself. He could sense it, now that he noticed.

"Kakashi."

"Hai, Minato-sensei. I can smell foreign scents. Among them, there are four familiar ones surrounded by six unknown scents." The teenage Hatake glanced to his teacher, watching the furrow of Minato's blond brows slowly press into a wide, fierce but controlled "v" shape. There were no other words to exchange after that; Team Minato hurried into the direction of the fighting noises, hoping to intercept and add favor the fight.

Five minutes of travel and they encountered a fighting scene between six Iwa shinobi and a Konoha team. Four Iwa-nin were on the ground, dead, and lying in their own pools of blood. The six Iwa-nin surrounded the four man team of Konoha-nin, all with kunai in their hands or getting ready to mold chakra for techniques to use.

There were three teenagers around fifteen years of age, spread apart but not too far away from their teammates. One was a young girl with long, violet hair, dark eyes, a relatively fair complexion with her hitai-ate upon her forehead, dressed in a semi-standard outfit for shinobi and a chūnin flak jacket over it. However, across her back was a sheath for a sword, which was currently being held out before her in a ready stance. The second team member was another young girl with long black hair, red eyes, fair complexion as well and also wearing a standard shinobi attire, but outfitted with a chūnin flak jacket. She was currently holding a kunai out in front of her, staring at the Iwa ninja before her and her team.

The last teenager in the team was a male with a bandanna on his head, the Konoha metal plate insignia placed in the center. Brown side bangs fell out before his ears, framing his face and contrasting his pale tone for skin. He was also outfitted in standard shinobi wear, with a chūnin flak jacket himself over his attire. Instead of a kunai, he was in a familiar stance, of a famous family clan that was apart of Konohagakure. The signature bulging of the veins around his eyes as the white, pupil-less orbs appeared strained but that was not to be. One palm out and the other behind him was the position he was currently in.

The final member of the team was a woman garbed in standard Konoha attire very similar to Minato's, with her headband proudly on display. She currently had an unsheathed daitō in her grip, holding it sideways in a defensive position. She also had a fair complexion that was complimented by the violet color of her eyes—which were narrowed and staring at the Iwa-nin before her and her team. The distinct feature about her was the lovely red hair of hers held into a ponytail.

They were injured and needed some healing.

Before another moment could pass, that's when all six Iwa ninja launched into attack mode!

"Earth Release: Rock Bullet Jutsu!" one of the Iwa-nin, a brunet, shouted his technique. A giant rock formed from the ground and was thrown towards the Konoha-nin! The brown-haired male of the opposing team quickly spun on his heel, performing a rotation technique, Kaiten, to deflect the huge rock from hitting him or his teammates. When that ended, four of the Iwa shinobi brandished their kunai and lunged forward for a direct attack! The purple-haired girl kept one at bay with her sword, followed by the black-haired girl with her own kunai. The red-haired woman dealt with the other two consecutively. The only boy of the team slipped by to deliver a strike to one of their opponents assaulting the cherry-haired woman.

The last two Iwa-nin were molding chakra together and unleashed the same technique simultaneously.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Rampart!" They shouted in unison, their minds thinking quite alike. Beneath the Konoha-nin, the ground was leveling increasingly quick! The brunet of the team widened his eyes as they picked up on something.

"There are needles underneath!" He yelled out, "We must move out of the way!" Unfortunately, he and his team couldn't maneuver out of the way in time because of their opponents purposefully engaging them to remain in one spot. No matter how much they tried to get by or move, the Iwa shinobi were determined to kill them!

By now, Minato had already ordered his team to make their own move.

First, there was a notable yellow flash that passed through, taking Konoha team out of the earth release technique's way. It exploded with sharp needles made of the earth below, a bit of a close call. This immediately froze the Iwa shinobi on the spot. They knew, knew what that color symbolized. Before they could order a retreat, the next thing the Iwa-nin found out were two teenagers, a silver-haired one and another black-haired one, pairing up together and combining their fighting styles together. One made the mistake of looking into the black-haired boy's Sharingan eyes and fell into a genjutsu the moment he did. The last thing he muttered was "damn Uchiha" before slipping into the genjutsu.

The flash of yellow seemed to blitz around the area like a bursting blur, taking out the remaining Iwa shinobi without stopping until they joined their fellow dead ninja on the ground. It happened so fast, so quick. It was over before it started. Minato took a deep breath as he straightened up and watched his student, Rin, begin administering her medical jutsu upon one of the girls of the other team. The purple-haired girl sheathed her sword once recognizing they were among comrades as did the fiery-haired woman. Her purple eyes widened in relief and surprise at the other team's arrival.

"Minato," She finally spoke up after taking a breath.

"Hai, Kushina. I'm glad we made it in time." The blond replied with a relieved smile of his own. Everyone in the vicinity knew it'd be a cold day in hell if Konoha's Yellow Flash didn't arrive on time to save his girlfriend.

"Tokuma, Yūgao, Kurenai!" Obito announced their names gleefully as he and Kakashi walked up to join them, glancing them over just in case. "I'm glad you three are all right." All six teenagers had been in the same graduating class since they were nine years old and were friends.

By name, Tokuma nodded appreciatively to the Uchiha boy. Unlike their clansmen disliking the other dōjutsu, he and Obito were very good friends and sometimes their teams would be sent out together. With their combined bloodlines working in tandem, missions turned out more and more successful, proving the bad blood between their clans wrong. Still, said clans disapproved of their interactions and tried to prove one dōjutsu was better than the other.

Much like Obito was—still is—the black sheep of the Uchiha, Tokuma was the oddball of his own clan, the Hyūga. He was glad the newly instated Main Branch Clan leader, Hiashi, allowed him to move out of the clan compound and live on his own, provided he use his own salary to pay for his living arrangements.

That was fine with him. Like most Hyūga, he was quiet and respectful, but he did not have a twelve inch pole up his rear. Tokuma couldn't handle being stuffed up there in the compound for long. There were perks to being a Main Branch Hyūga; thanks to his good reputation throughout the clan so far as one of the strongest Byakugan wielders to date, he wasn't branded with the Caged Bird Seal upon his leave from the clan compound. Technically, he still had ties to the clan anyway; he just lived elsewhere. For that, he was grateful and lucky.

Taking advantage of his dōjutsu, Tokuma had also enrolled into Tsunade Senju's medical-nin program when he attended the academy and became a decent medic-nin for his team. So, it was no surprise that he currently had his bloodline activated and concentrating the medical jutsu upon Kurenai Yūhi, the black-haired girl and his teammate. He and Rin finished administering the healing session upon the two girls and rose to their feet, assisting their temporary patients.

"How are you feeling Kurenai?" the Hyūga teen asked after deactivating his Byakugan. It was best to ask the patient after the healing session, just in case. The black-haired girl rolled her shoulders and silently assessed herself.

"I feel fine, thank you Tokuma." She replied with a grateful smile. He returned the gesture with a nod, satisfied his teammate was well. They watched Rin help Yūgao Uzuki, their companion, to her feet and making sure she was all right, too.

"I'm sorry for the little hassle with us back there. Tokuma spotted two different groups and Yūgao sensed them, lying in wait to ambush no doubt. We thought to weed them out before they attacked us," Kushina explained. "We were able to take out the Kumo-nin just as they jumped out and a few Iwa-nin. Those six you took down were the leftovers." She waved off his concerns but was grateful he and his team arrived when they did.

To his credit, Minato wasn't all the way worried. His girlfriend wasn't given the name Red Hot-Blooded Habanero for no reason. He was relieved she and her team were fine and not severely injured. It must have been plain as day when he did visibly show his concern towards her just now.

"Very well. It's not surprising we'd see ambushes along the way. We just have to stay alert and be careful," Minato replied easily, his blue eyes drifting over Kushina every other second. "Let's head out now, in case reinforcements arrive early. Taking the fight to the borders will dwindle the numbers of foreign-nin that step on the Land of Fire's soil."

With battle plans being quickly assigned once they arrived at their destination, the two teams set out once more. By approximation, they would get there within two days at the current speed they were traveling. That is, if they weren't going to be attacked again. Every so often, Tokuma would activate his Byakugan to scan ahead. So far nothing happened, but that didn't mean trouble would be lurking ahead.

'I hope nothing happens before we get there again,' Obito thought.

It was a shame that soon, he would be kicking himself for jinxing it. They had traveled at yet another few miles ahead when Tokuma's eyes picked up on something. "Kushina-sensei, Minato-sensei!" He called out to his superiors. Everyone paused on a tree branch to glance at the Hyūga teen for his report.

"What is it?" Kushina asked her student.

"I spotted something very unusual. Two presences, both belonging to people just ahead of us," the boy replied quickly, reading what his eyes saw. "In fact, it's strange how they appeared. It was almost as if from nowhere. It seemed similar to Minato-sensei's Burst Phase."

"He's correct, Kushina-sensei," Yūgao said, gaining attention upon herself. "I sense two presences up ahead. One feels familiar, like fire, and appears strong like you, sensei. The other one is small feels... Very much like Obito." The purple-haired girl turned her dark brown eyes upon the boy in question, who blinked in confusion when everyone looked at him briefly.

"Like me?" The Uchiha repeated and was responded to by a nod. Who in the world could it be? A mysterious twin? Some unknown doppelganger?

Minato and Kushina only glanced at one another before the silent agreement was made. If this was a potential enemy waiting for them or someone to come by, they'd have to take them out as well. Another detour they couldn't afford to take, but they didn't want to risk being surprised and ambushed again. The red-haired woman turned to the six students. "I don't want to take any chances. Kakashi, I'm putting you in charge of our conjoined mission. Take the others with you and head to the border. Our Konoha team will be waiting there and rendezvous with you. We can't waste anymore time with the delays. The faster the team gets there the better. They need a couple more medic-nin on board and that's where Rin and Tokuma come in," her violet eyes roved over each chūnin and single jōnin around them, "Minato and I will handle our ambush problem while you six move on ahead. With Yūgao's sensory abilities and Tokuma's Byakugan, you'll be able to spot future ambushes. Stay alert and don't separate and remember teamwork, understood?"

"Hai Kushina-sensei!" the six said in unison.

"Take care of yourselves. We'll catch up with you all soon." Minato added. The students nodded before advancing further northeast while the pair of sensei headed off for the unknown shinobi's location.

Little did they know that it would be a relative surprise for them...

x- Unknown Location -x

An inverted swirling motion appeared from nowhere as it materialized into a full grown man in a strange mask. In his grasp was a small child with a much too large of a long sleeve orange shirt bundled around them like a blanket. The child had short, wild blond mop of hair that could be seen easily among the green vegetation the man was currently standing in. 'That's a rush of energy wasted,' he thought, 'But it was for a good cause. Now, where was the hideout again?'

He paced quickly through the tall foliage, making sure each step was light. The Third war was still ongoing and he didn't want to be confused for any sort of side. It wouldn't do to be caught up in scuffles between the villages' shinobi. The unknown ninja hurried along, jumping for the trees and hopping from branch to branch, taking advantage of the height to scan his surroundings. 'It should be along the border of the Land of Fire and—' His trail of thought was interrupted by a swish! of a sound coming from—in front of him! His eyes widened when it was a kunai being launched at him! The masked ninja dodged it, although in its trajectory, it chipped off a piece of his mask.

Damn, that was close. But now, things weren't looking good. He must have been discovered by a shinobi! Just his freaking luck. He thought to throw them off his trail by switching to a different direction—but that was also futile. Another Kami forsaken kunai came up and nearly pinned him to the tree branch he was about to leap from. Blast it all! Before he realized it, a yellow blur had accosted him and he was thrown in a random direction, tumbling unto the ground with a shoulder wound. The hell? The masked ninja stood up and standing not too far away from him were two people he wished he'd never cross before.

There, standing some ways from him were two of Konoha's famous ninja that earned their name during this very war they were apart of. The Yellow fucking Flash was there alongside the deadly Red Hot-Blooded Habanero. They say her red hair is the last thing anyone will see when she makes them choke on their own bloody fluids when she slayed them. Definitely not an image anyone would like to conjure upon themselves. The woman had her blade unsheathed and the Yellow Flash had something orange bundled in his arms—wait a second.

The masked man quickly checked for his passenger, only to notice he was not within his grasp any longer. That meant... Yes. They have the boy! And by the looks of it, they weren't going to kindly hand him back over if he asked. No, no, no! They worked too hard on the technique. Losing the first round of success was much too important to lose to any ninja, let alone Konoha! He'd have to get his prize back, even if it meant facing against the two most fearsome duo of shinobi to ever appear. Even if it meant walking right into death's embrace—he'd do it! Others knowing about their plans, whether discovering it through their techniques or not, was dangerous. It couldn't fall into any other grasp or it'd be ruined!

So, without further or do, he whipped up his own kunai and began attacking them! Predictably, they both dodged, separating rather than remaining together. The Habanero came up from his left and swung her blade in a wide arc, unleashing a wave of Fire natured chakra. Okay, so the "hot" part of her name must come from her elemental affinity of fire. Perfect. He managed to dodge the sword's strike but the fire? Not so much. He winced when it came in contact but knew he couldn't give up. Everything was literally at stake here!

He and the Habanero clashed, sword and kunai, in a fierce dance of wills. As long as the child was within their company, they would fight until the death. She was giving him her all and he was trying to overpower her. He managed to nick her in the arm though she delivered a slash to his chest. It would have been fatal, had he not maneuvered in a queer likeness as he had. That was too close for comfort. She was bleeding and so was he, although the first injury he sustained wasn't helping any. They jumped away from one another to assess the situation. This wasn't looking so good, and now that he noticed, the Yellow Flash was administering a small dose of medical jutsu upon the child. Damn it, he had to get that kid back!

Switching his kunai for his tantō and unsheathing it, the masked man lunged for the blond-haired man, intending to slice him in two. He didn't get far as the daitō of the red-haired woman was in his face for just the briefest of seconds before he was launched away from his targets, sporting a new bruise and slash mark on his mask. When he looked up, the woman was glaring daggers at him with her violet eyes, sword pointed in his direction. He clearly pissed her off the nth degree if she was giving him such a look. Oh boy. More shit on his plate, great!

Still, he couldn't let this go. He would fight until he couldn't anymore.

He ignored his physical pains and rationality was kicked to the curb as he rose from his place on the ground and charged once more, sword out and eyes ablaze. He forgot about them momentarily. He'd place her in a genjutsu and kill her off! Hah, what an ingenious idea. With his dojutsu activated, the masked man swept his blade to the left, predictably intercepted by the Habanero's rightward slash. Thanks to his bloodline, he could see what she'd do in slow motion; though it still seemed her strikes were coming at the same speed as before. He blocked one, then another and another, keeping pace with her as much as possible, gathering the necessary chakra in his eyes to cast the illusion. During their second clash, he was met with another few injuries and the red-haired woman suffered a couple scrapes from his own attacks. Okay, things were looking up. Finally when they were in a deadlock, the tomoe in his eyes spun counterclockwise, inducing the illusion upon her. Her eyes widened when they connected and he could only laugh gleefully when falling prey to such a simply tactic.

His victory was cut short when the yellow blur attacked him again, this time knocking him flat on the ground and forcing him to release his tantō. Also? Another damn slash, very close to his neck. Crud, he forgot about the Yellow Flash! The man in question leered at him with icy blue eyes, still holding the orange bundled child in his grasp. Almost as if taunting him. A few seconds later, the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero released herself from the genjutsu. She was smiling wickedly at him. How did she get free so fast?

"I'll give you credit; you actually managed to catch me off guard there," she admitted, "But you're dealing with a fūinjutsu user here."

Crap.

"Missing-nin kidnapping children... I can't forgive that!" She continued venomously.

"And neither can I." The blond agreed.

Okay, attacking these two head on and alone was a terrible idea. He'd rather suffer from his failure than die by the hand of these two. It was bloody impossible to defeat one of them, let alone both! The masked man wasn't a coward by no means—he knows when he's defeated. And if the Yellow Flash so much as used the Flying Thunder God technique on him again, he'd be done for. Weighing out the loss and the consequences, it was best to face his leader and return than not pursue the child. He could come back for them—they'd predictably take the brat to Konoha. War orphans were normally adopted into one of the main villages. Konoha was known for accepting orphaned kids from the aftermaths of wars.

In the long run, he'd be able to return and grab the kid. For now, a hasty retreat was the best course of action.

"It appears I'm no match for the both of you," he admitted, taking tentative steps back as they glared at him. "But make no mistake. We will return. That boy... will fall into our grasp one way or another. One day, the Ōmagatoki will hunt him down wherever he'll be. There is no escape..." Before neither could make another move, the masked man allowed himself to escape via the vortex technique that could only be done with a bloodline of his clan. They were left in relative silence, waiting for nothing to come.

...

"...He's gone, Kushina. I can't sense him." Minato informed his girlfriend, who was scanning in all directions for the kidnapper. "He escaped through that...strange tunnel thing he made."

The enraged woman calmed down and huffed. That bastard got away before she could give him the serious beat down of his life! Even though Minato appeared calm and collected, she knew he was thinking about maiming that man. Disgusting people like him, kidnapping young children like that! The poor thing must have been so terrified that he passed out from shock. Her gaze softened when they landed upon the unconscious child in her boyfriend's arms.

"How is he, Minato?"

The blond gazed down at the sleeping boy and nodded. "He's fine, Kushina. Just very tired and hungry, from what I examined of him. He doesn't appear injured in any way. A case of chakra exhaustion, though." He assessed. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. He just needs some rest and something to eat and he'll be good to go."

"Oh, good." the red-haired Konoha-nin said with a breath of relief. Both adults examined the child further, wondering who he belonged to. His untamed blond hair, tanned complexion, those cute little whisker marks on his cheeks and tiny frame bundled up in that much too large of an orange shirt. He looked absolutely adorable. For a moment, Kushina couldn't help but stare at her boyfriend holding the kid. One day, they would be like that, holding their own child in such a loving way. They would have a family together, and to be honest? She couldn't wait!

But, they were still on a mission and no matter how much she wanted to cuddle the little boy as if he were a stuffed animal, she couldn't. Both of them knew it. Together, they bit their thumb and slammed into the ground in unison.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

In a pop of smoke, two animals were revealed. One was a medium-sized male toad with a red tone, blue tones around his eyes and head and wearing green goggles around his neck. The second was a medium-sized female tiger with brown stripes running down her white fur coat vertically. Around her neck was blue scarf, tied neatly together. Both summons attention were on their respective summoner.

"Kōsuke, apologies for summoning you, however there's an urgent message I need you to deliver to the Sandaime and to Tsunade at the hospital," Minato spoke to the red toad.

"Ah-hum, of course Minato! Let me know and it'll be done in a jiffy!"

The blond nodded and quickly informed the toad of the message he needed relayed as well as specific instructions for Tsunade when he arrived. While he was doing that, Kushina turned to her summons and smiled. The white tiger returned it.

"Byakko."

"Kushina-san, how may I assist you?" the white tigress asked, her silver eyes watching her summoner intently.

"Minato and I found and saved a child from a possible missing-nin's clutches," the woman began, "He's not injured from what we could tell but needs to be taken to the hospital right away for chakra exhaustion. I'd rather have Tsunade look him over in case we missed any details. Can you bring the boy to Konoha's hospital for us?"

"No need to say it twice," Byakko said as she took a moment to spot the child himself in Minato's arms. "The poor fella. I promise to take good care of him, Kushina."

"Thank you."

Minato glanced sadly at the boy before relinquishing him over to Byakko. The white tigress took the child from him and with a look at Kōsuke, both vanished in a puff of smoke, taking the boy and their messages with them. Forever appeared to have passed before either started talking or moving again.

"Kushina, did you feel that?" Minato asked out of the blue.

"...I did," she replied, her hand resting upon her heart. "I-I don't know why, but when I saw that little boy, my heart suddenly ached for him. It was different than what I usually feel about orphaned or kidnapped children."

"I felt like I knew him just by being close to him like that. It was strange..." the blond replied after her, tilting his head. Strange as it was but it caused a much deeper feeling to surface. From that particular feeling, it was either bad, very bad or in the rare occasion, a good thing. He hoped it was the latter. "Perhaps after the mission we can go visit him." Kushina instantly brightened at the idea.

"Okay, let's do that. But first, let's complete the mission."

Minato nodded and soon, the pair turned and headed off in the direction their students went. In the back of their minds, their thoughts were upon not just the mission details itself but that boy. Who was he? Why did he make them feel that way? They couldn't help but worry over the mystery boy's condition and wonder if he'll get better.

Deep down in an unknown space, a knowing stare from red eyes with a cat-like slit running through them was staring off at nothing. A thoughtful look crossed its face, the beast wondering what that feeling it felt was about. It felt very familiar to its own, no doubt, and it was, to say the least, a tad frightening. That had to be its own power! But how, if it was here? How could it be in two places at once? What manner of human idiocy and sorcery was this? 'Whatever it is... I do not like it. I will get to the bottom of this mess and soon. When my host visits that brat, I will find out. Until then, I must bide my time...'

Unaware, however, the small boy had seen those two people, just briefly when they hadn't noticed. One thought crossed his mind before he drifted off to the world of unconsciousness once again: he had to be dreaming if he saw those two before his very eyes! Or, some seriously strong genjutsu. It had to be a genjutsu, right? Because, those two seriously weren't his parents right then and there, right? He was all types of confused. But one thing was for certain, and the last conscious thing he told his partner, sarcastically, was this:

'This is fan-freaking-tastic, Kurama.'

Stuff:

Burst Phase – A made up bloodline for Minato. I didn't want to use the cliché Hiraishin anymore, so yeah. The full thing is Flash Release: Burst Phase. It's apart of a nature transformation I also made up (I hope). It's combined Lightning and Fire natures. How this works is similar to the Flying Thunder God, just imagine without the sealing tags on kunai and being keyed into the user's chakra with every step. Also, the burst part comes from the effect the move does. Mostly wind though. I have this written down in kanji; the long days of researching this was grueling but I did it for my story. If anyone's interested, I'll post it in the next chapter.

Ōmagatoki – The opposite of Akatsuki, of course. (literally)

Byakko – I gave Kushina a summons. Tigers seemed fitting for her since tigers can be very fierce creatures and seemed to suit her hot-tempered attitude. Also, this name is literally the meaning of the White Tiger in Japanese. Loloriginal *Galdr is shot*

There you have it. I'll be working on ch.3 in the meantime. Deepest apologies for the wait!

Review if you like. Don't review if you don't like. Saves me from the flames and saves you from doing something incredibly useless. Constructive criticism, however, is welcome.