Crossroads (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Under the Mundane

Obito couldn't remember what happened in the months he had been "dead", but his body certainly proved that something definitely took place. The dead-last Uchiha was now nothing but a competent fighter in his own right. He could dodge and evade, spot openings and attack, all with skill rather than pure instincts. He could stand toe to toe with Kakashi for a good while before he left an opening. If Kakashi wasn't so familiar with Obito's style he wouldn't have noticed it.

Minato knew his students well. Obito, someone who took a while to learn a single combat skill, couldn't have made it this far without some heavy training regime. It was a fact Minato knew, yet could not act on, due to his priority with the war. Minato was naive to believe that he could become a proper teacher once the war was over. Naive to think his kids would survive because they were his. How arrogant. It was obvious. So glaringly obvious that someone had put their sole focus on Obito in the months he was gone. Not to mention the seal on his heart.

Something hot spread over Minato's entire being. Something so viscerally maddening at the thought of someone trying to brainwash Obito into doing their biddings.

"Sensei?" Minato was pulled out of his spiraling thoughts and was suddenly aware of the frigid aura that stopped all movements around him. Kakashi had Obito pinned to the ground of the training field, with his grip lackluster as both stared at him with wide and confused eyes. Then Rin, who was sweating and shaking, using the bits of her strength to look up at him with a terrified, yet concerned, gaze. "What's wrong?" Her voice trembled.

Minato groaned at his own carelessness. He should know better to keep his killing intent in check -- he was the Hokage for crying out loud. He sighed despairingly and rubbed his face as he bent down to help Rin back to her feet. He patted her head and rubbed her back to ease the tension out of her as he apologized, "I'm sorry, guys. I got lost in my thoughts."

Kakashi was the first to steady himself, seemingly in understanding, and turned his attention back to Obito who caught his gaze in turn. They stared at each other for a moment before Kakashi tightened his grip. "Ow, ow! You jerk!" Obito exclaimed in alarm as his arm twisted behind him.

"Sensei, the call?" Kakashi ignored Obito's cries. Nobody needed to know he derived amusement from the Uchiha's suffering, but he couldn't really hide anything from Minato, who chuckled at the display.

"Right. Winner: Kakashi! Make the seal of reconciliation." As Minato watched them end the spar, he eyed Obito's expressions as he joked around with the other two. They were all sincere: The laugh, the smile, the hotheaded retorts. Yet Minato worried.

The seal on Obito's heart hadn't been extensively researched as a prolonged open heart surgery wasn't something many of their medics had the skill to achieve without great risks. What was worse was that the seal was spread on all areas of the heart, even on the side faced away from the opening. Unless they took out Obito's entire heart, there was no way to research the seal completely. Minato had been able to put up a restriction on what he was able to figure out, but he knew that wouldn't be enough. They needed to cancel out the entire seal or the effects can still be manipulated by the one who put it there.

"Don't you need to head back to the office?" Minato jerked around to see Kushina leaning against the side of a tree and gawked for just a moment. He knew Kushina would escape their home sooner or later since she was never one to be kept confined, after all. His lips stretched wide and he hurriedly rushed up to encase her in a warm hug. The bump that was her stomach, holding their baby boy, pressed against him and it was nothing but comfort to his stressed mind.

"I have a shadow clone working there, so don't worry," Minato said and glanced back at his students. "I needed time with them too."

"You're spending time training them?" She asked amused.