Minato and Itachi growled as the two men walked forward, smirking evilly and holding out their swords threateningly. Minato turned to his best friend, giving him a look that said, 'Are you ready for this?' Itachi nodded slightly at the question and turned back to the two men.

"Game begin!" With that, the two men ran forward. Minato and Itachi jumped away from each other, swinging their kunais. Minato grunted by the impact and looked at the man in the eyes.

"We don't want to fight you! The Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village gave us this mission to gather herbs!" The mans' expression didn't change.

"The Hokage said that, eh? The Hokage is none other than that Uzumaki kid, isn't he?! Well, I've got a bone to pick with him. After I kill you, your Hokage is next!" Okay, the too-far line was crossed. Nobody, I mean nobody, threatened Minato Uzumakis' family and gets away with it. With that in mind, the boy jumped away, fury in his eyes. He did some hand signs and two blue, lion faces made of chakra appeared on his hands.

"Lion fist jutsu!" With an enraged yell, Minato ran back to the man.

…..

Itachi punched the ground in front of the man, making a huge dent in the dusty ground. Soukas' eyes widened briefly, but he managed to jump away. He smirked at the boy-his smirk grew even wider when he recognized him.

"Ah, yes…an Uchiha then. The son of the last Uchiha, Sasuke, was it?" Itachi looked up in surprise, "Y-you know my father?"

"Yes…I saw him in my village when he was looking for his brother…Itachi was it…to kill him. A rather ruthless man if you ask me. You must be so proud of him-so proud to be a part of that legacy." Itachi looked down a little, still on alert.

"He killed a thousand shinobi." Itachi looked up in shock-his father and uncle never mentioned that. "Oh yes, a lot of men died that day-fathers, sons, uncles-imagine how their family felt." Itachi felt himself feeling lower and lower-how could his father do such a thing?

"He has shown no remorse in what he's done. What makes you say it won't happen again?" Itachi looked down at the ground, trembling in denial and fear.

"H-he wouldn't…Dad w-would never try to…" The fear from years ago at the mere glimpse of his father came back at full force.

Minato!

Minato kicked away his enemy, knocking him into a tree and gasped when he heard something.

Other Uncle? Itachi?

Yes Minato, it's me. My nephew appears to be in trouble. Let me take over.

Y-you can do that?

Yes…you just relax for a bit and I'll take care of these guys for you.

Okay, Itachi. Thank you.

Back in the real world, Itachi was looking fearful and stunned, failing to notice his opponent raising his sword, about to chop the unsuspecting genin in half. A hand moved with lightning speed and gripped the blade, preventing it from going any further. Itachi snapped his head upwards, eyes widening at the blade a mere inches from his head.

"I wouldn't try that again if I were you." Itachi smiled at his friend feeling a tiny bit of shame at letting the enemy get to him.

"Mina-!" Itachis' smile dropped off his face as he saw his friend. The hand that was holding the blade was bleeding, but Minato didn't make a wince or a grunt of pain-in fact, he didn't make a sound. His black eyes that were usually bright and expressive were now empty, even cold. There was no expression on his face and he looked like he only had eyes for the enemy.

The man turned his gaze to the boy and gulped. This kids' aura…it's completely different from before! More calculating…and dark. Minato, without changing his vast expression, closed his dark eyes, and, as if in slow motion, opened his eyes.

The man gasped as a three-tomoe Sharingan stared back at him from the boy. Minato pushed the blade and side-kicked the man…very hard. Itachi gasped at the display, turning back toward his friend.

W-when could Minato do that? Minato blinked again and this time, a Mangekyo Sharingan was in his eyes. He walked slowly toward the man, his expression still blank and the out-of-character look was still in his eyes. The man looked up, fear becoming present in his eyes.

"Mangekyo Sharingan!" Itachi watched with awe as the man froze, staring right at Minatos' eyes. The man became as blank as Minatos' eyes were.

"Five seconds here is five days there. You will be stabbed continuously, without end, until the time is up. I control that reality. Farewell."

Itachi gasped at the display as the man passed out five seconds later. The other man was long gone by now, so it looked like the nightmare was over. He gasped, looking up at his friend that just appeared in front of him.

"Are you alright?" Itachi flinched-the boy in front of him now didn't even talk like his best friend.

"W-who are you? What did you do with Minato?" The Minato look-alike let out a slight smile at the boys' concern.

"He's fine. I'm going back into his mind now. Be prepared to catch him." Huh? Itachi couldn't ponder on that statement anymore because Minato had closed his eyes and began to fall forward. Acting on instinct, Itachi held out his arms, catching the boy and placed him beside a tree, watching him with narrowed, green eyes.

"Itachi!" He raised his head at his fathers' voice and waved his arm.

"Dad, I'm over here!" Not a second later, the Ambu captain burst through the woods, Tsunade clutched in one arm. The onyx eyes widened as he saw the unconscious man against the tree and blood stains were on the ground.

"What happened?" Itachi shook slightly at the images of what happened, but managed to tell his father what happened. He left out the parts of Minatos' strange behavior and the Sharingan he had witnessed. His father interrupted his musings on his teammate.

"Where's Minato?" Itachi pointed at the tree where Minato was resting. "He's not hurt; he just fought too hard and fell asleep." Sasuke snorted, smirking at his nephew in amusement.

Like father, like son…

Itachi never noticed his father narrowing his eyes at the boy in suspicion.

….

Minato blinked awake and the first thing he saw was Itachis' face-the original Itachi. He gasped and groaned at the queasiness of the movement.

"Are you alright, Minato-kun?" The purple-haired boy nodded at his incarnation and pressed a hand to his forehead, trying to squeeze out his headache. "I should have warned you…the shock of being back in control of your body can leave you disoriented. It happened to me when I, and my brother, stopped the Edo Tensei near the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi War."

Minato quirked an eyebrow, "'Edo Tensei'?" Itachi grimaced at the memory before he continued.

"The Edo Tensei is the technique that could bring the dead back to life but you're not in control of your own body anymore. The person that releases the jutsu is the one that's in control of you. It's terrible."

Minato nodded-it sounded terrible.

"I managed to evade being control thanks to your father, Naruto-san. I gave him some power to use if Sasuke-otouto decided to attack him with a certain technique. Thankfully, Sasuke didn't, but I had to use most of my power to gain back control of my body.

While Itachi talked about the experience, all of the memories began to appear in Minatos' mind. All of the fear, worry, and despair of not being in control of his own body, the gratefulness for Naruto trying to help his brother and save Konoha, and his love for his little brother when they met again for the first time after his death.

"You have to wake up now-my otouto is getting suspicious." Minato blinked again as he saw black at the edge of his vision.

…..

"Minato!" Said boy groaned again and fluttered his black eyes up at his sensei.

I've got to stop doing that…

"What happened, Minato? Did they hurt you anywhere?" While Sasuke was concern, there was a hint of a suspicious nature in his voice. Minato gulped.

"Oh, I just used a lot more chakra than I had to. It's no big deal." Sasukes' suspicion was still present in his eyes, but he let it go.

"Well, nice job on defeating these enemies." Minato blinked at his uncles' words and he paled as he saw the motionless man.

Itachi, you didn't…

Don't worry-I'm a peace lover and avoid killing whenever possible. Otouto knows about that all too well. Minato blinked at the sad voice coming from the older man.

What are you thinking about?

I'll tell you later.

"Come on, guys; let's gather the herbs and get back to report to the Hokage." There was a strange silence after that statement and Minato felt Itachis' confused stare. He looked toward his best friend and mouthed I'll tell you later. Itachi nodded, then looked down to gather the herbs in his basket.

…

"Okay, Minato, you've got ten seconds to tell me what the heck happened in the forest. You were acting…not you. It was scary." Itachi looked at his friend in accusation in Minatos' room. Minato locked his door and looked toward his friend, black eyes desperate.

"Will you promise me that you won't think I'm crazy?" Itachis' eyes softened in concern-he never heard this coming from his friend. But he knew he wasn't crazy, and he told him so. Minato swallowed, gratefully and whispered, "I…Itachi Uchiha, your deceased uncle, came to me one night and told me that I was his second chance-meaning I'm his reincarnation. I thought I was going crazy, but he talked to me again in the woods when we were fighting those creeps. He wanted to help us so he took over the front of my mind while I fell asleep; that's why I was acting so different, based on what you told me. I woke up and now we're talking about it." Minato saw Itachis' disbelieving face and he sighed. He should've known better than to talk to someone else about all this.

"I believe you." Wait, what? Minato swung his head to look at his best friend.

"…Huh?"

"I believe you. I mean, there was a reason, back in the forest, why you looked so…different. You possessed skills that were way beyond our level; skills that I know you don't have. And I felt your chakra-it changed dramatically. It went from warm and sunny to chilly and dark." Itachi smiled at Minatos' shocked face. "Do you think I should call you Uncle Minato now?"

Minato glomped his best friend, laughing loudly. "Thank you for believing me. It really means a lot." Itachis' smile faded to a soft frown, dread in his gaze.

"Should we tell anybody? Dad or Uncle Naruto?" Minato immediately shook his head, the action resolute as well as the expression.

"No, we better keep this to ourselves. I don't want to stress out Uncle Sasuke more than he already is." That's not the reason why-you're scared. Minato ignored his conscience.

…..

Sasuke watched his wife that evening, lust in his eyes. The pink-haired woman blushed beautifully as she prepared onigiri and smoked salmon on white rice (with a side order of tomato salad for her and her husband). Sasukes' gaze traveled from her beautiful face to her stomach-and his eyes softened. Just recently, Sakura told the wonderful news that he was going to be a father again. He smiled as he imagined his sons' face about being an older sibling. He had wanted to be one ever since he was five. The only sibling that he had considered at the moment was his friend, Minato.

Sasukes' eyes narrowed as he thought of the boy. Minato had been acting strange for the last few days. He noticed the looks and actions that he recently exhibited. He frowned as he recalled Minato flinching whenever he got a few feet from him one minute, then looking at him longingly with a bit of pride the next. It was almost like the look Ita-

He forced his mind to become blank after that name was mentioned. It was easy when he called his son that because his son was the polar opposite of that man in traits. But remembering his brother, the one that went to such heights for him, would always be painful. He would never forgive himself for murdering the man that had only the one crime of loving him too much. He regretted planning to destroy the village his brother died for and he certainly regretted trying to kill his 'little brother' Naruto, but they were pretty easy acts to forgive.

"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" Sasuke looked at Sakura, worry in her jade eyes. He let out a small smile as he approached her and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm fine, Sakura-hime. I'm just thinking about the past." Sakura turned around and gently cupped her husbands' chin and kissed him deeply. She gave him a mock look of anger as she gently rubbed his cheek.

"Don't think about those times anymore, my love. It hurts me when you think about them. They hurt you so much-it's too painful." Sasuke sighed and hugged her, wishing that it was that simple. Sakura stroked his black hair gently as they enjoyed their intimate moment.

"Mom! Dad!" They looked up as their son, Kushina, and Minato entered the house; both Uzumakis' had bags with them. Itachi continued, "Uncle Naruto and Aunt Hinata are going to the Village of the Sand to speak to the Kazekage for a week. They told me to ask you if they could stay over." Sakura smiled and held out her arms to Kushina. The little girl ran into her aunts' arms. Sakura smiled at her son.

"Of course we'll gladly take care of them." Minato bowed respectfully to the Uchihas'.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay, Aunt Sakura, Uncle Sasuke." Sakura let out a scowl and gently rubbed her fist into the crown of Minatos' head.

"What happened to just calling us Aunt and Uncle in a not-formal manner?!" Minato 'meeped' and hid behind Itachi. Everybody laughed (Sasuke let out a chuckle).

…..

"So Minato-kun, how do you feel of Sasuke as your teacher?" Minato looked down at his plate for a minute and murmured gently.

"It's been…interesting, helpful, and amazing. I wouldn't want anyone else." Sasuke smiled at his nephew when he heard the praise.

"Oooo…" Kushinas' awed voice interrupted the moment. The red-haired girl turned to Sasuke. "Uncle Sasuke, when I become Genin, can you be my teacher?" Sasuke chuckled, grimacing a little. His wife smiled and stroked the red locks.

"That all depends on your father, honey. Now who wants some sweet dumplings?"