Time Flows Like Ink

Summary: After a fuinjutsu experiment gone wrong, Minato is yanked into a future where his family is dead, his team fell apart and the Uchiha were slaughtered. With the defective seal burning in his palm, Minato struggles to stay afloat in a Konoha that isn't his.

Chapter 19

Minato could tell that something was different as soon as the seal dropped him off. He felt it before he took a single step. He felt it before he took a breath in this brand-new future. He felt it, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

Not until he set his sights on the Hokage Monument.

Minato huffed a laugh, tension fleeing his shoulders in waves. Sweet relief flooded his chest, and he let his lips settle into a fond smile. "Someone's been doing well for themselves," he muttered, admiring the view from afar.

The sculptor hadn't quite captured Kushina's beauty and given up on portraying her waist-length hair, settling for shoulder-length. Still, she fit right into the row of village leaders. Minato had no doubt that she looked stunning in her Hokage robes.

Several trips down the line, the apprehension Minato felt upon exploring a new reality had begun to turn into excitement. Excitement over which of their solutions had taken root, watching as with each visit, Naruto's support system grew and the village took another step back from what it had been on his very first visit.

The quiet anxiety never quite faded. Any misstep Minato took could plunge them right back. Any mistake he made could snatch away their progress and draw waves of consequences in its wake.

"Tsume," Minato called, spotting his first familiar face.

Tsume dug her heels into the ground to force her massive dogs to a stop. She was walking at least half a dozen of them at once. "It's you," she said with all the enthusiasm of being barked out of her sleep for a midnight walk with her pack.

Minato tried not to take it personally. "Is something wrong?"

"Not yet." Tsume scanned their surroundings with suspiciously narrowed eyes. "Anyhow. Gotta go. These pups won't exercise themselves."

She tugged them along and pulled one of the smaller dogs away from sniffing Minato's pant leg. She paused long enough to give him a wry smile. "Good luck."

"... Thanks." Minato stared after her, trying not to feel like somebody had cuffed him over the head.

Minato's confusion only grew. Inoichi stepped out of a grocery store, spotted Minato and turned on his heel so quickly that he walked straight into its door. Chōza didn't flee at his sight, but kept his distance and threw him a sympathetic look.

By the time Shikaku waved at him from the other end of the street and made no move to come closer, Minato felt as though he had some kind of contagious disease. He almost hoped he was being set up for an elaborate joke.

Shikaku caught sight of something behind him. He stiffened, disappeared in a puff of smoke and left Minato to his fate.

A hand grabbed onto his shoulder. Minato turned.

"Kushina!" Minato beamed. The impending sense of doom vanished. "I saw the monument! I'm so–"

Kushina punched him in the shoulder.

"Ow." Minato's smile slipped. He rubbed his arm – it had not been a playful punch. "What was that for?"

Kushina's eyes glinted. "That's for leaving me behind, jerk."

All of a sudden, the others' skittishness made perfect sense.

"I didn't exactly have a choice," Minato muttered. "Besides, it's not the first time I went alone."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Kushina's brows were pulled into a deep scowl. The harsh, angry curve of her mouth almost distracted from the wet glimmer in her eyes.

Minato had jumped forward twelve years. Twelve years that Kushina had lived, but Minato hadn't. Years in which Minato had been practically dead. It may not have been the first time Minato had gone on his own, but it had been the first time Kushina lived to see it through.

All protest dissolved on Minato's tongue. "I'm sorry," he said, his mood sobered. He opened his arms and hoped that Kushina would take the invitation.

She didn't hesitate for long.

"It was an accident," Minato admitted quietly, pulling her close. "Do you remember what we speculated? About the seal?"

Kushina made a noise of agreement from the back of her throat. "You mean I did."

"Right. I was supervising the clean-up. Of Root and… everything. What Danzō did to those kids..." Minato curled his lips. He put his hands on Kushina's shoulders and gently pushed her to arms-length. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to activate it."

"... I know."

"If I'd realized in time, I'd have come get you."

"I know." Kushina tucked a rogue strand of hair behind her ear. "You're still the worst."

Minato's lips twitched.

They stayed like that, and Minato allowed his eyes to roam, taking in the traces of the past years. Kushina favored one leg over the other – an old or recent training injury? She wore her hair in a loose braid, one she used to be too lazy to make unless it was Minato doing it for her.

Light strands pulled through her hair and made it look several shades lighter than it used to be. Minato wondered whether she still left it down sometimes, or whether this was what she wore it like constantly.

Minato tore his eyes away from her hair. Something so trivial, and yet Minato felt like he could look at it for hours and not get used to the difference.

There were so many years between them. So many years that Kushina had lived without him. He was the same, but Kushina was practically a different person. Did she even feel the same about him? Had she moved on? Minato couldn't even blame her. All those years...

Kushina dragged him into another hug – harsher, less gentle than the last.

Minato's eyes prickled, and he blinked rapidly to get rid of the sensation. "Kushina..."

"You're being stupid," she muttered.

"... Maybe a little."

They hugged for as long as Kushina deemed necessary for Minato to stop being stupid.

"Do you want to catch me up on what happened?" he asked, forcing his lips into something like a smile.

Kushina copied him and pretended as though the past few minutes hadn't happened. She looked too casual when she grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. "If you insist. Sure, let's take a tour."

Kushina took her role as a tour guide very seriously. She ushered Minato through the village while narrating, visibly stopping herself from pointing out every pebble that had been turned while Minato had been gone.

Perhaps they'd have made progress faster if shinobi hadn't kept slowing them down. Kushina didn't seem to be spending much time in the Hokage's office, so the village had adapted by sending out messengers after her.

Minato couldn't imagine Kushina sitting in front of a desk for longer than half an hour at a time. Somehow, it didn't make her seem any less suited for the position.

"There was a storm in the area this week," she said, answering a chūnin's report. One of their jōnin had failed to return from his mission in time. "He might have been forced to reroute."

"Should we wait?" the messenger asked, eyes lingering on Minato.

He gave a smile. Her eyes widened and she snapped to attention, acting as though she hadn't been staring.

"Give him two more days. We'll send out a search party, then." The messenger bowed and left, and Kushina turned to Minato. "I wouldn't be worried. The mission was easy, and we didn't expect any complications."

"I'll take your word for it."

"He was probably forced off-course," Kushina said. "Nothing to worry about. Where was I?"

"You were showing me the new–"

"Sushi place! Yes. Well. It was new like, two years ago. Opened up just around the time Ichiraku's closed down."

Minato stopped short. "Ichiraku's closed down?!"

"Kidding, kidding." Kushina grinned the grin of awful, sadistic wives. "You make it so easy."

"Hokage-sama."

Another messenger. He bowed, professionally, acting as though he hadn't caught the former Hokage pouting at the current one.

"What is it this time?" Kushina asked. "It better not be another explosion. Really, Jun. You should know by now that the only real way to deal with–"

"It's not an explosion." The messenger – Jun – gave another bow and presented a small stack of paper. His propriety was rather at odds with the fact that he had no trouble interrupting his Hokage mid-sentence. "I've completed the enrollment list of the next academy class."

"Why is it always work with you?" Kushina snatched the papers from Jun's hand. "You could show your face just to say hi from time to time."

"Duly noted." He bowed – a third time, feigning politeness when a grin was tugging at his mouth – and he left as quickly as he'd come.

Minato's eyes followed him curiously while Kushina skimmed the paper, grumbling under her breath.

"Since when is looking over the academy enrollment the Hokage's job?"

"It's not." Kushina rolled her eyes. She stuffed the paper away once she'd finished skimming over it. "I swear, every time you agree to lend a hand for something, it ends up your responsibility forever."

Minato's lip twitched. "Who's Jun?"

Kushina hummed. "You remember the project we set up to rehabilitate Danzō's goons."

Minato did. He'd been the one to kick it off. "Was that one of them?"

Kushina beamed. "He's now a teacher at the academy."

Warmth rose up in Minato's chest and spilled over, tugging his lips into a soft smile. He drank in Kushina's expression and adored it almost as much as the fact that she'd finished what he'd started. He'd wanted to give at least one of the kids who'd been torn from their families a better future.

Kushina didn't do things halfway. She'd have reached his goal multiple times over.

"I thought you'd be happy," Kushina said, frowning.

Minato realized that his smile had dipped into something fainter. Something wistful. "I am. I'm proud of you."

"But?"

He hesitated. "I just wish I'd gotten to be there myself." It was nice to see their efforts pay off. Even nicer would be going the long route and taking part in achieving their goals.

"Maybe I'll let you do some of the work the next time around." Kushina hit his shoulder in what only she considered a friendly nudge. "Quit moping before you catapult yourself back again."

Minato refrained from pointing out that he'd managed all but two jumps so far without triggering the seal accidentally.

Kushina's enthusiasm showed no sign of waning once she picked up the tour. Minato decided to draw a line when she began listing each of Ichiraku's new Ramen toppings in intricate detail.

"I could listen to you talk about Ramen all day," and they were definitely going to work their way through Teuchi's new menu sometime during his visit, "but I'd prefer if you let me say hello to Naruto."

"... Right," Kushina said. "You sort of... can't."

Minato's eyes went wide.

Kushina threw up her hands. "He's fine! Geez. He's on a mission with his team."

Minato let out a breath to ward off the heart attack he'd been about to suffer. "Next time, please start with that."

Kushina gave a shameless shrug.

"Is this their first mission outside of the village?" As far as Minato remembered, they hadn't left for any assignments in any of the other futures he'd visited.

Kushina's face lit up. "It is! They nagged Kakashi and Rin until they gave in. Rin said she'd waited for them to prove that they felt ready, but she really just wanted them to stop being irritating."

Minato's lip quirked into a smile. "Who went with them?"

"Both did." Kushina's smile widened. "It's their first proper mission. They both refused to stay behind for it."

If there was a team most likely to land themselves in unnecessary trouble, it was definitely Naruto's. Minato appreciated the additional security of two jōnin instead of one.

"Any idea how long they'll be gone?"

"They should be back in a couple of days. Don't worry, it's only a C-rank."

Plenty of time to familiarize himself with this version of Konoha in the meantime.

As far as Minato could tell, the future was the closest to perfect out of all the ones he'd been to.

There'd been no drawn out conflict between Konoha and Root, instigated by a vengeful Danzō. Both Mikoto and Kushina were alive. Naruto had grown up loved, raised by his mother and supported by various other role models. His team was together and complete.

The Uchiha massacre hadn't failed because it hadn't happened at all.

Seeing as the only major difference Minato had made was killing Danzō, it had to have been him behind it. It bugged Minato that he hadn't figured out Danzō's connection to the stranger who'd supposedly carried out the massacre (nor the person's identity). But seeing as the Uchiha were alive, Minato supposed that taking care of Danzō had taken care of the stranger as well.

The future was as close to perfect as it had ever been. Only one flaw continued to mar the picture.

"Is it the same mission every time?" Kakashi's voice was as rigid as the memorial stone in front of him. He hadn't changed out of the uniform he'd worn for the mission and didn't acknowledge that one of his sleeves was almost completely ripped off.

Rin was avoiding Minato's gaze. Neither of them had so far volunteered to spill details on what had happened during their mission other than all three of their students being safe, and 'wasn't that what really counted, Minato-sensei?'

"I don't think so," Minato said, reluctantly admiring his students' ingenuity. Whatever the time and place was to grill them about their mission, now wasn't it. "You mentioned Kannabi Bridge the first time. I forbid you from going, and you obeyed at least once."

It hadn't made a difference. At least none that affected Obito's demise.

"What happened afterwards? You said the mission went wrong and Obito stayed behind. What happened then?"

"Backup from the village arrived," Rin said tonelessly. "We went back. Came in time to retrieve his body."

Shinobi didn't bury their dead. They cremated them to make sure that village secrets and Bloodline Limits died with them.

(They hadn't considered offenders within their own borders. Not until Danzō had come along and plucked body parts from corpses like they were fruit ripe for the taking.)

"How many jumps have you made so far?" Kakashi's head jerked as though he wanted to look up from the memorial.

"Too many," Minato muttered.

"And Obito wasn't alive in any of them?"

"No. Not one."

Kakashi's shoulders slumped.

Wind ruffled Minato's hair and his clothes. He wondered whether it was actually cold, or whether it was the chill of talking about his dead student.

"Maybe he's not supposed to be." Rin was the last person Minato would have expected it from.

His thoughts screeched to a halt. "... What?"

Her eyes twitched upwards and she grimaced. She opened her mouth, closed it, swallowed heavily and tried again. "It's just something I've been thinking about."

"I don't know what you mean," Minato said.

Kakashi didn't look up – neither in surprise nor in agreement. He, unlike Minato, seemed perfectly aware of what Rin was trying to say.

"You've already changed so much about this world. Like... Like it's clay, and you're trying to form it into your perfect little masterpiece."

Minato opened his mouth to protest, but Rin didn't let him.

"I don't mean it like it's something vain, or... or bad. You're doing good. You've done a lot to make this a world worth living in." She bit her lip, frantic words kept at bay and slowing into a faltering trickle. "What if… there isn't a way? Maybe there's… There might be some things that... aren't supposed to be changed."

Minato had done his very best to shove that thought into the deepest corner of his mind. It was nothing he hadn't considered before. It was the most basic of his fears, the one that ran the deepest: not being good enough. Not being strong, or fast, or smart enough to make a difference. To pour all of his effort and his skills and his knowledge into a task doomed to fail – the thought that nothing he would ever try would bring him to the goal he envisioned.

Had Rin succumbed to her doubts while Minato had done his very best to bury them? Had she lost hope?

"Don't you miss him?" he asked, because it was easier to focus on her than on himself.

Rin's expression pinched. "Of course I do. I just... Minato. It's been twelve years."

The way she said it took Minato aback. There was a plea wrapped up in her words, half-hidden in her eyes.

"You moved on," Minato realized.

He looked at Kakashi and saw that he carried himself differently. The deeply rooted pain that had been so apparent in his eyes was gone. His gaze didn't linger on the memorial as though it built the center of Kakashi's world. He looked thoughtful more than he did wistful.

Minato saw no grief born from years of repression and not dealing with their problems. Not in either of them.

"Don't think less of us," Kakashi asked. "Not for this."

"I'm not." How could he begrudge them this? The time that passed while Minato jumped ahead might as well be a lifetime.

"Things are good," Rin said quietly. "For the village, and... for us. Things are really good."

Minato had trouble meeting her eyes. "I can see that."

"Everything you change has consequences," Rin continued. "What if there's some things that just... aren't supposed to change?"

Kakashi didn't disagree with her. Minato wasn't sure if he wanted him to. For the first time in any of his trips, he felt conscious of the fact that in his absence, his students had grown older than him.

Minato turned back to the memorial. "Don't you think it's worth it to at least try?"

"... I don't know."

Minato mulled the dilemma over in his head. He thought of it while he spent time with his family and weighed options while he settled into this version of the future.

It was the best version of all the ones he'd gotten to know. The village was prospering. The villagers were happy. The Uchiha were alive. So was Kushina, and Rin, and the Root shinobi they'd manage to save from Danzō's claws.

Minato slept in the same bed Kushina did (too large for one person alone, the entire apartment built for three or more people instead of a mother and her son) and couldn't push Obito out of his mind.

He'd tried setting things right. He'd tried saving Obito's life – except his efforts had always been an afterthought in between bigger things that had taken up his focus. His student had slipped through the cracks. If Minato tried – properly, solely focused on this one goal – would he still fail? Was Rin right?

He hadn't had a decade to come to terms with Obito's death like Rin and Kakashi. Twelve years were a long time. How much did they remember of their former teammate? Did they remember that he always kept treats in his pockets to give to the neighbor cats? Did they remember the way his voice toppled over itself whenever he was excited?

Did they remember him, or just the idea of him?

It was easy for them to say that fate might not have intended for him to survive. (That wasn't fair. None of it could have been easy for them.) But how could Minato return to the past, look Obito in the eyes and decide that the future had no place for him?

Minato could see himself spending the rest of his life in this version of Konoha he'd created. He could be happy – all of them could. But there would always be this one flaw, the one detail Minato hadn't been brave enough to risk fixing.

He'd already prevented the slaughter of an entire clan. What difference could saving one person make?

The seal turned warm in his palm, and Minato knew the temptation was too great.

A/N: If you're in the mood for a wonderfully engaging Into The Spiderverse AU where original Peter lives, go read Down the Waterspout on Ao3 by Mockingone! :D It's got beautiful angst, even lovelier fluff and wonderful character and team dynamics all around!

Thank you so much for reading!

~Gwen