DISCLAIMER: Naruto is property of Kishimoto©.

WARNINGS: this contains male pregnancy or mpreg and NO yaoi. Heterosexual couples only.

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Chapter 15: Team Minato's Reunion

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Minato didn't know which hurt more, his back or his pride. No wait, definitely the pride. Reluctantly Minato picked up the name plate with his name engraved on it from the old oak desk. He trailed a lingering finger over the letters before tossing it away into the cardboard box below. Minato sniffled a little, only growing increasingly frustrated with himself and his wavering emotions. Even if it was for a noble sacrifice to bring his child into the world, getting kicked out of office was still painful. Even if it was for a short time, Minato had never felt so humiliated in his life! Minato finished cleaning out his desk before waddling to his bookshelf on the left side of his former office. There he had another cardboard box sitting and waiting to be filled.

Minato began removing books section by section and compiled them neatly into the box. Minato's throat clenched again 'This is only for a short while' he had to remind himself. This was not permanent. Once the baby was born and got back into shape, the job was his again…or perhaps not. Minato griped tighter on the spine of the manual in his hand. What if he didn't come back? What if the Elder ruled in his favor to appease the crowd only to renege later? Hiruzen was to be officially reinstated today and that meant he could rule as long as he wanted or… Minato swallowed hard…. Or even pick another… a better… successor. Minato slammed the booklet into the box below. A successor that wouldn't get himself knocked up anyway.

For the first time in his life, Minato truly sympathized with the kunoichis. They sacrificed their ninja careers all the time for the sake of motherhood. It was expected of them to instinctively give up frontline fighting to become full time housewives. Many did just that and there was nothing wrong with it. Mothers were needed in the home. However there were few who continued their ninja careers. They would often return to the ranks once their children were in the Ninja Academy or made Genin.

But Minato felt like he couldn't wait that long to be Hokage again or even an active ninja. He glanced down at his jutted stomach. It looked like he swallowed a medium sized watermelon and it weighed like one too. A part of him wished that he had given birth three days ago in the Greenwood Forest. He had well over two months left into this pregnancy and if he was this big now he couldn't imagine the size he would be in the 8 weeks ahead. What was even harder to imagine was having his pre-baby body back to peak physical condition. Without even realizing it, Minato began slamming his remaining books into the box furiously.

A figure stepped into the room. "Take it easy, Minato! I happen to like your Book of Lightning series. It would be a shame if they are damaged"

Minato jerked up to see his predecessor, "H-Hiruzen-sama!" Minato stuttered. He lowered his eyes with shame to be caught projecting such low self-control.

"I take it you disagree with the council's ruling" Hiruzen remarked passively.

Minato twitched. He really was losing control over himself for his emotions to be on display so blatantly. "I think those Elders rule the day to make me miserable! Giving me false hope that I will return to my position…"

Hiruzen raised a gray, bushy eyebrow. "Is that so?" He begged to differ. "Koharu was for once trying to help you, Minato. Danzo was trying to take you down" He then chuckled. "Luckily he failed miserably!"

Minato leaned his rear against the desk, trying to take some weight off his aching feet. He let out a dejected groan. "You still want me to be Hokage even after all this…" Minato ran a hand across his bulging belly.

"Is there a reason for me not to?" Hiruzen asked. "I chose you as my successor because you are the best, and since then I have never been prouder of you. This unplanned circumstance does nothing but affirms my belief in you, you are a great man who makes a great Hokage" Hiruzen walked over to Minato and stood eye level with him. "Did I ever tell you why I picked you to be Hokage over Orochimaru?"

Minato shook his head. "Well, no specific reason…"

"It's because you value life, Minato, at all its levels! There's no shadow of a doubt you understand more than ever now…that our children is what's most important…they are the kings of tomorrow…" Hiruzen trailed off with a fond smile. That's when the baby decided to squirm inside of him, Minato tried to hold back the tears as he nodded. "…yes, I do" However he was unsuccessful as a tear rolled down his cheek. Minato wiped it away quickly. "…hormones" He muttered.

Hiruzen chuckled, "I have to admit that at first I did not agree with you bearing this child but as a Hokage and certainly as a father, you made the right call!" He clapped Minato's right shoulder. "Well then, Minato, you have to stop worrying and look at the bright side of things! You will be reinstated with honors after several months of paid leave! You're living the dream!" He cheered. "I should have thought of having one of my own kids when I was young, ho-ho!"

"That's your dream" Minato laughed a bit at the old man's enthusiasm. Releasing another sigh he complained miserably, "So, with this unnecessary time off will I just sit around and get fatter in more ways than one?" The old man snickered in amusement. "It's not funny" Minato muttered concernedly as he arched his achy back. "Did I mention that I'm seriously addicted to anything with oreos?"

"Then you will just have to find something constructive to do" Hiruzen advised. "Biwako suggested that you should go baby shopping and paint the nursery" Minato scoffed at him. "Oh, you already did those things?" Sarutobi challenged him.

Minato shook his head. Looking a little sheepish he answered, "No I haven't…I was just so busy with my Hokage duties and organizing the chuunin exams…" Minato ran a hand through his hair. With a sigh he admitted, "Kushina wanted us to furnish the baby's room together …I suppose we could now…"

Hiruzen offered Minato a smile. "That's the spirit!"

Minato narrowed his eyes suddenly and he asked, "More importantly right now, Hiruzen-sama, have your agents found any trace of Rin? I haven't seen her since the invasion"

Sarutobi's face grew grim. "I'm afraid not….not clearly anyway. Evidence, which is few and far in between, hints toward her being kidnapped during the chaos"

Minato's eyes bulged. "You believe she was taken…by whom?"

"At this point in the investigation we don't have a clear cut picture. Some information we extracted from the Yugekage was that Mist helped to smuggle the contaminated wine into Konoha"

"The Mist?" Minato muttered thoughtfully. "You think they are also behind Rin's disappearance?"

"Possibly"

"And you are just NOW telling me this?" Minato hissed.

"Minato, I am acting the Hokage now and in your fragile state—"

"I'm not that fragile!" Minato retorted as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"—I would handle the investigation in your stead" Hiruzen finished firmly.

Minato couldn't help but feel betrayed by one of the few people he considered a mentor. Hiruzen meant well. That was for sure but it didn't make him feel any better. "Sarutobi, I believe there's something you have yet to tell me…" Minato grounded out.

"Oh?" Hiruzen hummed. "And what would that be?"

"Where's Kakashi?" Minato demanded.

Hirzuen paused. Slowly a crackle rose up in his crusty, old throat. "Heh, oh, Minato!" he laughed. Looking upon the blonde with a proud smirk he confessed, "You aren't my successor for nothing!" This was when Minato had to restrain himself from choking the Sandaime. Instead he took deeps breaths and began to pace around the room while rubbing his belly to help ease the sudden tightness he felt.

Obito arrived shortly after midnight at the Mist compound. Swirl Zetsu managed to lead him there. Obito landed in the shadow of a building. And that's how he traveled, from shadow to shadow. He paused as he entered another subdivision of the small town. 'This was way too easy. What are those tadpole bastards up to?' He thought viciously. He waited, trying to sense out any enemies. He sensed 3 chakras signatures but no killing intent. Two out of the three he was sure didn't even notice him.

All those months of sneaking around Konoha were well worth it if now he could infiltrate enemy territory but he didn't remain cocky for long. Either his skills have gotten so smooth or that the Mist ninjas knew he was there and wanted him to come further in; much like a venus flytrap waiting for its prey to crawl unwittingly into its jaws of death. Well this fly wasn't going to fall for it. Obitio promised himself he would be long gone with Rin before he got eaten…err figure of speech of course. But who knows what those creepy Mist-nins would do, Obito wouldn't put cannibalism past them. They are known as the Bloody Mist for a good reason.

Breaking out of his thoughts, Obito laid still against the bricks growing impatient. Where was Swirl Zetsu? Normally the bastard was more prompt than this. The ground beneath his feet shifted. A face formed from the dust and spoke, "Obito, I have located Rin"

"It's about time!" Obito snipped. "What happened, you ran into trouble?"

"Not necessarily…." Swirl Zetsu answered hesitantly. "It was hard to sense her. You will find Rin in the third house down. Look under the mat in the north wing. There will be a trap door that will lead you to a path to an underground spring one fifth of a mile north. She's alive but be wary…. Something is not right" With that, the imperfect clone dissolved back into the that wasn't good…Obito hesitated a moment before going in.

Everything was just as Swirl Zetsu had told him. Obito cautiously followed the underground pathway. He remembered to use a trick Madara had taught him to sense out chakra. Only one was up ahead and it was frazzled and unstable. Obito frowned as he hurried his pace. The path came to an end. At the mouth of its exit, Obito found himself standing at a large underground cavern. A steady stream of water filled the place making the area look like little islands in a large lake. In the middle of the largest island was…

"Rin…" Obito gasped. He moved forward almost in a trance. She was tied down by ropes. Obito quickly cut the lines away. Closing his eyes, Obito laid his hands upon her and he searched her using sensory chakra. Everything seemed normal. Heart rate good, temperature good and that's when he felt it. Obito immediately snatched back his hand as if it was on fire. That dark, powerful chakra emitting from her core! The only other time had Obito felt such sinister chakra was from Kushina-san. Obito thanked high heaven Minato-sensei and Jiraiya-sama were there or else or people would have been injured, including Kushina herself. Still there was no mistake as Obito looked upon Rin's sleeping form. Mist had only one buji… it had to be…

"The sanbi…!" Obito trembled back. It was amazing that Rin was still alive and as healthy as she was! With a shaky hand, Obito cautiously lifted Rin's left eyelid. A brown pupil met his sight. He pushed a bit of chakra into it. That's when it appeared: the diagram that held the sanbi inside of her. The black incantations trailed outward onto her skin and covered her entire face, all the way down to her neck, where it stopped.

Obito really didn't know much about seals. Only what Madara had told him which was in between him rambling how life sucked for losers and his imperfect Hirashima clones. But from what he did know about seals, Rin's seal looked fragile. Almost like a skinny twig ready to snap under the smallest amount of pressure. Not good. The three tailed could bust out of her with ease with the right trigger…triggered…. Was she…? Obito's thoughts trailed and a sudden fit of rage grasped his heart. He now understood. He truly did. It was another skill he learned while being under Madara for a year. He was taught to look what lies beneath and to read in-between the lines. Obito shook visibly as he barely contained the flood gate of hell from erupting from the depths of his soul.

"Those… THOSE BASTARDS!" he roared into the night. Yelling like that had only tipped the enemy off that he was there but Obito didn't care. He could sense the Mist guards coming to his location as he panted to clear his head but his heart was filled with too much hatred. Gathering senbon needles in hand, Obito turned his head toward the entrance. He really, really, really needed to kill something right now and these spineless pieces of shit will do.

Meanwhile on a casino cruise ship ten miles away…

"WINNER!" the screen flashed in gold and red letters and a hundred tokens spewed out of its tray. A short haired teen jumped up and down gleefully. She ran forward and scooped their mentor's winnings in a gray bag. "You're so lucky, Tsunade-sama!" she cheered but her excitement frizzled out when she noticed that her teacher wasn't responding at all. She leaned in worriedly. "Um…my lady?"

The blonde named Tsunade looked to be in a daze as she sat there. Everyone else was cheering her on or congratulating her but she didn't seem to notice. The only moment she made was how she clutched the handrail and pulled at it round after round. She was a winner every single time. Tsunade pulled the lever again. This time the machine came up to perfect 7s, going into a bonus round; of which she won too.

"AND SHE WINS AGAIN, FOLKS!" the attendant told the watching crowd. Many of which were betting on how far the busty woman's winning streak would go. Another loud round of applause rang out when Tsuande won yet again. Her pupil rushed forward to collect more tokens. A large pile of coin filled bags were growing beside her.

"Man she's on a roll!"

"Yeah… just to think she was losing every game up until now! What a turnaround!"

Tsunade played along just a little bit longer and she kept winning. The more she won, the more visibly upset Tsunade became until finally she stood up abruptly, shocking everyone. "Shizune, gather our suitcases; we're leaving at the next dock!"

Shizune was flabbergasted, "B-but why?"

"Just do as I say!" Tsunade snapped as she hurried back to her room. Shizune couldn't help but feel a little nervous at Tsunade's odd behavior but she did as she was told. In a hurry she finished collecting the coins and cashed them in at the prize counter.

Pakkun's nose led the way as Kakashi followed close behind. It had been a long grueling 63 hours for him and his summoner. Traveling at full speed for days living off ration pills and energy bars. They barely stopped for anything other than 3 hours of shut eye each night. That's when Pakkun caught wind of it, the scent of freshly shed blood wayfaring through the air. He made an abrupt stop and landed on a lower branch ten feet ahead. Kakashi followed his lead without hesitation and dropped down.

"What is it, Pakkun? What did you smell?"

Pakkun turned around to face Kakashi. "Blood"

Kakashi tried to push down the tension building up in his core. "We tread with care now…"

Pakkun led Kakashi into the compound. It was eerily quiet and ironically foggy. At first Kakashi thought it was a mist ninja jutsu or genjutsu so he lifted his headband to reveal his sharingan, the last gift Obito had given him. 'I will keep my promise to you, Obito. I will rescue Rin and keep her safe' he vowed before moving in. Pakkun lead him to the site of the massacre.

Obito twitched when he felt his left eye being used. "Tch…now Kakashi-baka… shows up…" he panted. Quickly Obito masked his chakra and dissolved back into the earth. A few minutes later, Kakashi entered the cave with Pakkun. The pair paused, taking in their gruesome surroundings. "My…my god!" Kakashi sharpened his senses to try and detect any threat nearby. He sensed none. Seeing the bodies of the slain enemy lying around, Kakashi began to panic for Rin's safety. "Pakkun, are you sure that Rin's in here?"

Pakkun sniffed the foul air. "Yeah, she's over this way" Kakashi followed. They found her after a moment of searching. She was surrounded by corpses when Kakashi came upon her. "Rin!" He fell to his knees and scooped her up in his arms. Rin jerked slightly before she slowly opening her eyes. "Ka…Kakashi?"

"Rin!" Kakashi repeated with a joy filled voice. "Let's go home, Rin" He helped her to her feet. "Thanks Pakkun"

The pup smiled. "Anytime" he said before dispelling himself.

Obito felt jealous of them as he watched. He wished he could have been the one to greet Rin when she woke up…and yet he wasn't ready to face them. He clenched his fist but forced himself to relax. As long Rin was safe, that's all that mattered to him. Obito decided to trail them, just to the border of Fire Country. He still had to go and bury Madara so he would turn northeast to the Earth country and be back at the Mountain's Graveyard by dinner time, er, figure of speech. So far things were good. Not too many complications and that's what worried him. Obito had slaughtered many mist-ninjas at the underground spring but still, it's like they weren't trying to be stopped… He remembered Rin's weak seal. A sense of dread fell upon him. How were they going to find out about it if he didn't speak up? Obito reached into his vest and pulled out an orange mask.

He couldn't tell them but Tobi, the mysterious friend of Mr. Lion-mane, will tell them.

Rin had been keeping up with Kakashi easily so far but she started trailing behind. Kakashi had slowed down to accommodate her. "Kakashi…" she called his name before coming to a complete stop down upon the ground. Kakashi landed beside her. "Rin, stop stalling, we have to keep moving!" Rin shook her head. That's when Kakashi began to worry. "Rin, are you okay? Are you not feeling well?"

"…I think…" Rin swallowed. "I think…those mist ninja did something to me…" Kakashi frowned. That was obvious but stopping in the middle of the woods to discuss this wasn't the best idea. "I need you to do me a favor, Kakashi-kun…"

Kakashi thought it was a bit odd, especially given the circumstances. "What is it?"

Rin lowered his eyes. It wasn't easy to ask Kakashi this but she had to do it, "I need you… to kill me" She then added, "…please" as if she was asking for him to buy her an ice-cream sandwich. Obito stood there dumbfounded. He almost couldn't comprehend what he was hearing.

"W…What!?" Kakashi stuttered in disbelief.

"I need you t—"

"I heard you Rin and the answer is NO!" Kakashi barked. A part of him was about to go crazy. "Why would you even ask me to do such a thing?!"

Rin looked determined as she stepped forward. "Because… I don't want to harm you or Konoha…so please-"

"NO" Kakashi turned away from her. "Don't be so eager to throw away your life damn it! I promised Obito that I will save you and keep you safe, so that's what I'll do!" After calming down, Kakashi was able to face his teammate again. A part of Obito wasn't surprised by Rin's request. Sure, she was loyal to the Leaf but she was miserable. She was forced to live in a world she didn't want to live in…

Incoming! A platoon of chakra levels coming their way drew Obito out of his thoughts. He sighed before activating his sharingan. 'This just keeps getting better and better…' he thought sarcastically. Kakashi and Rin must have sensed it as well, they got into defensive positions. A squad of mist-nins descended upon them ruthlessly. Kakashi immediately lashed out killing several at once. Rin watched the battle unfold and then she noticed that not one of those mist-ninjas was trying to harm her. That alone confirmed her fears.

Rin let out a shaky breath as she watched Kakashi fight. Something in her eye sent a shiver down Obito's spine. She was watching and waiting. Almost like a vulture, waiting for its prey to drop. His muscles tensed as he moved forward, never taking his eye off her. Kakashi was holding his own very well and had taken the fight to the middle of the lake. He counted the 6 mist-nins together there and he decided to use his trump card. The sound of a thousand chirping birds filled the area as chidori formed. That's when Rin rushed forward.

No… She was going to do what he thought! Obito sped forward. He knew what he had to do.

"This should do it…" Kakashi muttered and then he went in for the kill. He sped forward, target in sight when suddenly Rin appeared in front of him. Kakashi's eyes widen with horror as his arm moved forward. He couldn't stop at this speed. He was going to kill her! That's when something else came. It was only because of the sharingan he was able to catch it. A man stood in front of Rin… a man in an orange mask. It was a direct hit and somehow the man was still alive…but his body was torn.

His left arm had been blown off and his cloak brunt away. He groaned as he stumbled forward almost sinking in the water. His mask was cracked and crumbled revealing an angry sharingan eye. Kakashi remained transfixed on the spot, so was Rin. She had been fully prepared to die, who was this man… this Uchiha that had saved her. Using his anger as fuel for his body, the man used his remaining right arm to grasped Kakashi by the throat. Rin screamed.

"You…YOU CARELESS FOOL!" He tightens his grip on Kakashi causing the young jounin to choke. Rin had no weapons so she desperately tried to pull the man off Kakashi with her bare hands and failed. "I asked one thing of you, Kakashi… JUST ONE THING and you… you almost broke your promise to me!" the man spat coldly.

When she heard his words, Rin's hold on the man's arm fell. Her knees gave out and she sunk partially into the water. She almost couldn't believe this. …O…Obito?" she whispered.

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TBC

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Next chapter: Released from the Abyss

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