STRANGERS
by Anne Camp

He really should have just attacked first and left the questions for later. But as ever, he was a negotiator first and a killer second. Also, when they'd first shown up, he hadn't thought anything serious could happen. After all, he was Minato Namikaze, the Yellow Flash and Jiraiya the Sennin's star student. He'd been training his team in a protected field in one of the most guarded cities in the world, and the ANBU were just a jutsu away. It wasn't like they were in any real danger. Besides, unlike certain red-haired ninjas, he didn't go barging in head-first without assessing the situation and thinking things through.

Still, as far as he knew, random people wearing Konoha headbands didn't normally just pop into existence in such an area, directly in front of one of the most powerful Jounins in the hidden village without so much as a chakra residue trace. It made no sense. Even for shinobi.

As soon as they appeared on the training field, he went into protection mode and stepped between his rather stunned team and the newcomers. Then he'd assessed the group, carefully noting these shinobis' characteristics.

The blond boy could have been Minato's clone, only ten years younger. He was holding his head in his hands like it would explode if he didn't and had on (Minato noted with distaste) the most obvious, blaring, orange and black jumpsuit he'd ever seen. He pushed thoughts of how Kushina would like that to the back of his mind with a scowl. He wasn't being possessive or overprotective. He wasn't.

Forcefully, he moved to the next person in the group. This one was a girl who had a hair color almost as blaring as the first kid's jumpsuit except pink. She also had a hand to her head like the blond boy, but in her case, Minato could see a faint sheen of green chakra moving over the black, leather gloves she wore. A healer then? He'd never heard of a medic actually healing their own headaches. Assuming that's what she was treating. She wore bandages as shorts under a slitted skirt that would make movement easy. On top, she wore a red, sleeveless shirt that could hide a number of smaller weapons, Minato noted with displeasure.

The next two boys could have been brothers, if the first had been an Uchiha. He obviously wasn't as Minato could see no fans (or any identifiable marks other than the Konoha headband for that matter) on his person. Even Obito, who was looked down on by a good deal of the clan members for his light-hearted attitude, openly wore the Uchiha symbol.

The second boy sported the red and white fan on the sword stuffed through the large rope that held up his purple pants. They both had dark hair, dark eyes and pale skin with a porcelain-like texture, but the first one had an emotionless face where the Uchiha had an expression that could only be described as snobbish. Of the two of them, the boy with the mid-drift vest looked less ridiculous in the blond Jounin's opinion. That only put Minato more on guard. The last thing he needed was to go up against an insane Uchiha.

He'd also never seen this particular Uchiha before, which opened a whole new can of worms that he decided to go over later, when he knew that the immediate threat these unknown people posed had passed.

The fifth and final member of the entourage had at least a decade and a half on the other ninja. The team leader then? He also looked, much to Minato's surprise and chagrin, almost exactly like a much older Kakashi; or a certain White Fang returned from the dead. Kakashi wouldn't like that. He glanced down at the protégé in question to see how he'd taken this rather unexpected development. Not well, the blond concluded. Kakashi wouldn't take his eyes off of the offending stranger, and his hand was creeping towards the weapons pouch strapped onto his thigh.

Right about then is when the group seemed to recover. With an angry yell, the blond boy leapt up (either completely ignoring or not having seen Minato and the Genin at all) and raced towards the boy with the spikier dark hair.

"Sasuke…!" he quite literally growled and grabbed the teen-aged Uchiha by the collar. "What did you do?"

The boy, Sasuke, didn't so much as blink. If anything he looked even more condescending.

"You can't figure it out?" he asked. Minato had to give him props; he'd heard Kages that didn't sound that stuck up. Then the Uchiha looked over at Minato, who kept his eyes on the other's chin. He wasn't stupid enough to meet an Uchiha's gaze.

After a moment, the blond haired boy followed Sasuke's line of sight, and his eyes landed on the Genin group and their instructor. The shock on his face gave evidence that the kid was either the best actor Minato had ever met, or he'd just seen something akin to a ghost.

"Dad?" he gasped, dropping Sasuke's old-fashioned shirt out of sheer surprise.

Minato blinked but didn't answer, unwilling to let them know how much the boy's reaction had thrown him off. The younger blond had said that while looking directly at him.

"Wait, 'Dad'!" Obito asked loudly, not caring to hide his own surprise. Then he looked up at Minato who only observed the action uneasily out of the corner of his eye. "Seriously?"

"Be quiet," Kakashi hissed to his teammate, although he never took his eyes off of the newcomers. Rin didn't say anything, choosing instead to quietly watch from behind her sensei.

Sasuke glanced over those present with a long-suffering expression. Apparently he got that people wanted answers, and deigned to answer them. "I used Madara's plan against him," he said. "I manipulated the power of his jutsu to send us here so we could prevent the war. I didn't know where it would take us."

Minato tensed at the boy's explanation. Madara? That definitely gave points towards the 'insane' theory. Uchiha Madara? He was dead, wasn't he? Of course, he had heard rumors...

"Wait, Sasuke," the pink-haired girl said, stepping tentatively forward as if unsure of her words, apparently piecing something together in her mind and having a problem wrapping her head around it. "Did you really…? Was that your plan all along?"

That didn't sound too good. She'd said it like she wanted to believe it, but couldn't. There was also more than a little pain behind her question. Minato almost chuckled outright at the idea of the Uchiha being that openly distrusted. Almost.

"Since when?" she asked in a tone that Minato couldn't read.

Apparently he felt he could deign to answer her. "After I fought Itachi, Madara explained everything to me. It left too many questions unanswered. That's when I decided."

The blond boy looked especially troubled, but the girl was still the one who spoke up first. "For that long?" she asked. "How?"

Sasuke cocked his head ever so slightly, as if he were too good to say 'it doesn't matter'. "It worked," was all he confirmed as he gazed up at the moon (and yet he still managed to seem condescending. How very Uchiha).

"You..." the pink haired girl said as if finally understanding something. Then she got angry. "You put yourself and us through all of that just so that you could send us all on some crazy trip? And you didn't have the decency to even tell us? How could you think that you could...and then you...aarg!" She took a deep breath, hands clenched so hard at her sides that Minato wouldn't be surprised if her fingernails had torn through the leather. Then, she took a deep breath, forcibly relaxed herself and looked over at the blond boy. "He just has me in his Tsukiyomi, doesn't he," she said it as more of a statement than a question. "A little help?"

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at her. "If I wanted to torture you with Tsukiyomi, there wouldn't be anything he could do. Three days in a moment. By the time he realized it, it would be far too late."

"Excuse me," the second dark-haired boy spoke up, his face sporting the most false smile Minato had ever seen. "Are you saying Naruto is stupid? Because I would have to agree with you."

Surprised, Minato watched the reactions of the group carefully. Was that kind of an insult in the face of such an obviously serious situation (not to mention a potential battle) normal between these people? The Uchiha didn't do anything except roll his eyes ever so slightly. The older Kakashi just shook his head and pulled out a little orange book from his weapons pouch. The pink haired girl actually smacked her forehead, and the yellow haired boy (Naruto, apparently) just groaned in defeat.

"Sai, this is a horrible time to try and make a joke!"

Sai's eyes opened and blinked at the blond boy in surprise. Then, to Minato's amazement, he what looked like a text book out of his backpack and flipped to a center page right then and there. Just what kind of ninja were these people?

"'When tensions run high, it is often a good idea to break that tension with a joke or a quip. Direct it at one of the involved parties to distract them from a confrontation,'" he quoted.

"Give me that!" the pinkette said loudly, grabbing the book right out of Sai's hands.

To his credit, he didn't really react or protest. Instead, he just smiled that fake smile at the girl. "You wish to improve your own social skills, Ugly?" he asked almost sweetly. Inwardly, Minato winced. This would not end well.

Two seconds later, the boy barely managed to dodge one of the girl's punches, only getting nicked on his shoulder. He still ended up on the other side of the clearing. Minato and his team stared with wide eyes and slack jaws. The chakra control for something like that would be immense to say the least. On par with Lady Tsunade even.

"He replaced me?" the Uchiha muttered, unimpressed.

"Don't you even start or you'll be next, Sharingan or not!" the girl threatened, spinning around and pointing at him. Minato could see a vein throbbing on her forehead.

"You couldn't kill me before, what makes you think you can now?" Sasuke returned, as cool (and his tone had sounded just a touch cruel as well) as ever.

"Who ever said anything about killing you?" the girl returned, meeting his gaze full on. Either she was somehow immune or resistant to Sharingan (he doubted it considering her previous words), very brave, very crazy, or very stupid. Probably a combination of those last three. She was also probably angry enough to not care either way. "I'd like to see how you stand up to one of my punches."

The Uchiha smirked. "If you can hit me."

"Nee, nee, Sasuke, Sakura-chan-" the blond boy, Naruto if Minato remembered correctly, started.

To the Yellow Flash's surprise, they both rounded on him. "What?"

This looked like it might escalate into something too serious for Minato to get involved in with the Genin here. He was just running through the best options of getting his team out of there when Kakashi stepped past him, sword in hand and eyes narrowed at the new group of ninja.

"Who are you?" he asked coldly.

All of the newcomers stopped and looked over at them, as if seeing them for the first time. Minato frowned. He'd hoped to find out a little more about them, and as long as they ignored the young Konoha group, Minato could get them out of there with minimal risk. Later he could look back on this and laugh. Normally Obito was the impulsive one.

The group of older ninja stopped their interaction with each other and turned to stare at Kakashi, most of them simply blinking for several seconds. Then Naruto's face broke into a huge grin.

"Nee, nee, Kakashi-sensei, is that-?"

"Shut up, Naruto!" the girl practically screeched and pounded the boy's head. Either he had a lot more stamina than the other ninja, or she hadn't hit him as hard, because he only face planted (although there were cracks beneath his head). Long term teammates then. Their easy way of interacting, despite the obvious pain involved, suggested at least that level of a relationship. The way she acted towards the Uchiha suggested something a little bit deeper.

Which, unfortunately, made the situation all the more dangerous for him and his team.

"S-sakura-chan," Naruto mumbled through the dirt and rock. Minato wasn't even a hundred percent sure he'd heard the blond boy correctly through the dirt and rock.

"You haven't answered my question," Kakashi said dangerously, dropping one foot back into a ready stance. "And how do you know my name?"

That wasn't too surprising seeing as he was the son of Konoha's White Fang, the student of the Yellow Flash and a protégé to boot. Still, with the aura radiating from him Minato figured it was time to step in.

"You know, my student brings up a good question," the older blond said as a disarming smile appeared on his face. "Seeing as you are all here in Konoha, we have the right to know. Who are you?" Kakashi shot him a glare but was wise enough to keep his mouth shut.

The five (now that the battered and bruised Sai had returned) exchanged glances. None of them seemed to know what to say.

"Um..." Naruto said uneasily as he sized up Minato's Genin team for the first time, only now really recognizing the threat they represented. "Well, you see," he started.

Then the Kakashi clone stepped forward and cut him off. "We are from the future."

Minato stared at him for a moment, trying to wrap his own mind around those words. He'd never heard that one before, so at least he had to give them credit. Didn't mean he believed it was the real truth for a moment, although he couldn't decide whether these shinobi really did or not. Not that it mattered. Whether his statement was true or false, these were still foreign ninja that had infiltrated Konoha and had to be treated as such. He willed the headache that he'd begun to feel rise just behind his eyes away. It didn't work.

"Wait," he said for a moment, putting a hand up to the bridge of his nose. "So you're telling me that you are all from the future, that you're my son, and that you're..." he paused as he pointed at the silver-haired ninja, who just smiled. At least, Minato thought he smiled with the way his only visible feature (his right eye) turned upside down.

"Yup."

Minato considered his options. If he just turned around and walked away, would that be considered treason? Probably. Because he was a key witness, he doubted the ANBU would just leave him alone. No, they'd drag him right into the very center of their investigation.

"Why did you tell him that, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked shrilly.

Behind Minato, Obito and Rin gasped. His Kakashi looked like he'd almost reached the point of tearing limb from limb, but otherwise had no reaction.

"Why shouldn't he have said that?" Naruto asked sounding sincerely curious and causing Minato to wonder just how naïve the kid was. "It's the truth."

"Would you believe that if someone happened to appear in front of you?" Sasuke asked.

"Sure, why not?" Naruto responded, again sounding completely sincere and rather nonchalant. Minato shook his head slowly. If this were his son from the future, had Obito raised him? He made a mental note to keep his Genin team away from his future children at all costs. The very idea of having to mentor and train an Obito with Kushina's temperament sent shivers down his spine. After all, it would be Kushina who would be his mother. There was no doubt about this in his mind.

"Naruto," Sakura groaned, sounding both annoyed and hopeless. And that quickly, the group fell back into arguments again. Minato's Genin just continued to stare at the group (albeit Kakashi's glare looked downright venomous) as they shot their facts and opinions at each other. Minato could only sigh at prospect of the obviously long night ahead of him.

Okay, so this fic serves two purposes:

1. I originally wrote this for my friend Kuroi Atropos because it's her Birthday and that's what she wanted. I really REALLY hope she likes it. :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY! *glomp*

2. It also happened to be the only short story I was working on when Cordria posted yet another one of her amazing Danny Phantom fics and said something about "Ficmas in July". Curious, I went over there, and discovered this great contest. However, the due date had just passed and I figured I'd have to wait. I e-mailed them anyway. They were very VERY nice and said that if I could finish a fic within the next few days, that I could be entered into the contest. :D

So, PLEASE do me a favor and go to this site, www .ficmasinjuly .org /submissions. htm (minus spaces) and vote for mine within the next few days. Because it was so late I'm at a HUGE disadvantage, so I need ALL the help I can get! Thanks guys!