41Minato was surprised when Uchiha Sasuke asked for a meeting with him, with privacy seals, but he wasn't worried. He was a fellow jonin he had worked with in the war and the father of two of his students. Atleast Minato wasn't worried until he asked his first question, "Is Kushina-san pregnant?"
"How do you know that?" he gripped his kunai.
"I'm from a future." Sasuke answered.
"Was I supposed to laugh at that?" Minato asked incredulously.
"Sandaime knows about it. I asked him to wait to tell you until Kushina-san was pregnant." he continued.
"And what does Kushina being pregnant has to do with it?"
"Naruto was my best friend. I didn't want to erase him from existence by accident."
Minato paused at that. Him and Kushina had only recently decided on the name. It was possible that they were somehow spied on, but he also gave Sandaime-sama's reference, which Minato could easily check upon.
"And your children?" he questioned.
"Sarada is my dayghter. She came with me from 35 years in future. Karasu on the other hand, is Itachi from ten years from the day we appeared in this time line. Our father was experimenting with Hiraishin and blood Seals."
That answered so many questions about their sometimes weird behavior. Would Kakashi really become the Rokudaime?
Minato decided to give Sasuke the benefit of doubt and took out Sandaime-sama's sake from the cupboard, and poured it into two cups. "Well then, tell me about the future."
Two hours later, Minato had a headache and seriously regretted asking that.
"Did you tell Sandaime-sama all of this?"
Sasuke shook his head. "No, only about the third war. I didn't trust him."
"And you trust me?"
"Not really. But you are Naruto's father and it wasn't your administration that led to the massacre of his clan."
Minato flinched at that. Just the thought of thirteen year old Karasu, ordered to murder his own clan...
"I acted as a wandering ninja for Konoha in my time. I would ask you to grant me the same job. Obito was spared from his fate, but Madara and Zetsu are still out there."
Minato contemplated on that. Living in Konoha must not have been easy for him these past two years, with his old wounds reopened.
"You can leave after Naruto's birth. And I want you back in Konoha when Kumo decided to sign peace treaty."
"As you command, Hokage-sama." he bowed before vanishing in a shunshin.
Now, he had to think about what to do with Orochimaru and Danzo.
The paperwork alone would be copious. He groaned.
Karasu sat on top of the Hokage mountain, gazing at the village below. Two days ago, the peace treaty with Kumo was signed without any major incident. Naruto-kun was also born without the Kyuubi being unleashed on the village and thus Minato-sensei was still the Hokage and Konoha was more beautiful than ever.
"You're not brooding again, are you?" asked a familiar voice.
"No, I'm not." he answered his sister (because somewhere along the way Sarada had actually become his sister instead of pretending to be one), honestly.
Sarada was somehow able to sense whenever he would feel guilty about Sasuke's absence from the village, as she called it 'brood' and would come come drag him to do something or other, often insisting on playing the games she played with her friends in future. It was a new experience for Karasu, one that he decidedly liked.
They sat there in silence for some time before Sarada said, "So... Obito proposed."
Karasu blinked. "What did you say?"
She showed him her ring adorned hand in lieu of answering.
"Congratulations." he told her.
"Thank you. Somehow I belive Papa wouldn't be as accepting as you."
"He doesn't like Obito much, does he? " Karasu murmured.
Sarada snorted. "I think it would be safe to say that he hates Obito. And he wouldn't even say why."
Karasu nodded. He had began putting the pieces together sometime ago, but they painted such a horrible picture that he refused to think about it more. Besides, Obito was his teammate. Even if he had done terrible things in the other timeline, that doesn't mean it should affect his opinion of him in this time line. Besides, Sasuke would have told them if he had any malicious intentions.
"What are you doing here, then? Didn't you promise Itachi and Shisui that you'll train them?" Sarada asked.
Karasu sighed. Itachi and Shisui were getting very good at getting promises for training from him. He wondered if he was as good as puppy eye jutsu as them.
"I'll come with you. Maybe Izuna-chan would hate me a little less if he sees me training his aniki." Sarada said, as he got up.
"I don't think that'll work. Sasuke was very stubborn at this age. Changing his opinion about something was like pulling teeth." he warned.
"Well I'm his daughter, ain't I? If anyone can out stubborn him, it's me. Race you there?" she asked, disappearing in a shunshin.
Karasu followed after her, smiling.
Itachi was ten when he entered his house to see Izuna playing with the Hokage son and found himself thinking how his whisker marks were cute, when he was reminded of a memory from 7 years ago, of Sarada telling him a story about Naruto, then showing him a photograph of a blonde man, with blue eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks.
Pieces began align themselves in Itachi's head and he was struck with the revelation, which previously he would have considered an impossibility.
"Fuck." he breathed out.
"You're lucky your mom isn't home, right now or she'd be washing your mouth with soap." Sarada called from the kitchen. "What happened though? I don't think I've ever heard you curse before."
"Who are you?" he asked her.
A concerned expression crossed her face. "Are you all right?" she put the back of her hand on his forehead, checking his her . "Did you hit your head?"
"Karasu is me. Sasuke is Izuna. Who are you?" he said bluntly, before she could get even more worked up.
"Damn. I owe Karasu 1000 Ryo. Couldn't you wait just a few months Itachi-kun?" she grumbled.
He looked at her pointedly.
"All right." she sighed. "Well genetically, I'm your niece."
That was what he would have guessed. Sasuke acted more paternal towards her than he did in with Karasu.
"How did this happen?" he asked.
"Your father had an accident with space time and blood seals."
"I see." he said, before walking away, trying not to think about the implications of Shisui having a crush on his older self.
Obito thought that he was nervous when he proposed to the love of his life. However, if that was nervousness, he didn't know what he was feeling now, as he waited for Sarada's father to open the door to his office. He shifted nervously and took in a deep breath, as the door finally opened.
Uchiha Sasuke was standing in front of him, a blank expression present on his face.
"What." He said. Somehow it didn't sound like a question.
Obito gulped and mentally scolded himself again for not accepting Sarada's offer to talk to her father alone. But he was an Uchiha. He had to be traditional.
"Sa-... Sasuke-San... I hoped to talk with... to you about something..." Damn it. He could be smooth, but somehow Sasuke-san's blank stare unnerved him more than A rank enemy nins.
Sasuke-san didn't say anything as he turned around and walked back, leaving the door open. Obito assumed he was given permission to enter.
He was relieved to find Karasu sitting inside his father's office. He could not suppress his sigh of relief. Atleast the chances of him leaving this confrontation alive had increased. Karasu wouldn't let his father kill his teammate.
He had no dillusions that he could survive Sasuke-san if he truly wanted Obito dead. Many ninja had made the mistake of underestimating Sasuke-san due to his missing-arm. They didn't live long enough to change their opinions.
"Talk." Obito was jolted out his thoughts by Sasuke-san's voice.
His mouth was suddenly too dry. He cleared his throat.
"Sasuke-san, I am here to gain your blessing to marry your daughter. I love her and would always strive to make her happy."
Obito flinched back at the sudden appearance of Mangekyou Sharingan in Sasuke-san's visible eye.
"Is that so?" he asked, his voice deadly.
"Otou-san, please don't be rash. Sarada loves him. I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate him burnt to crisp with Amaterasu." Obito suppressed another flinch at Karasu's bluntness. But he was relieved as Sasuke-san's gaze moved to his son.
"Do you know what he has done?" His voice was flat, though that barely hid the anger behind his words.
'What he has done?' Obito was confused as he was sure he hadn't done anything worthwhile such anger.
"What he could have done." Karasu corrected his father. "I don't know exactly, but I have a pretty good idea. I just don't think it's fair to judge someone for things they haven't done."
Did Sasuke-san's Mangekyou have some future detecting power?
The father and son continued to glare at each other, having a silent conversation. After five minutes, Sasuke-san finally turned towards Obito, his eye back to normal.
"You have my permission." He bit out reluctantly, and then reactivating his Mangenkyo for added effect to his threat. "If you ever hurt her, I can promise you you'll wish you were dead. Same goes, if you ever plan to capture all jinchiruchi and cast a genjutsu on every human with the moon. Get out."
Obito was out of the office in less than a second. He tried very hard to not think about the last threat. (Sarada wouldn't appreciate if he called her father crazy.)
Uchiha Mikoto happily observed the marriage ceremony of Obito-kun and her granddaughter. Well, officially she was her niece, but she could afford to be honest in her thoughts as long as there were no Yamanaka around.
Honestly, she couldn't fathom how Fugaku thought that she wouldn't recognise the older counterparts of her children. But, she would let him have his delusions, for now. She never brought it up to Sasuke or Karasu because it was clear that both of them had emotional scars from their pasts. If having a new identity helped them deal with then she wouldn't deny them this comfort.
She was thankful that atleast Sarada had been spared from the worst horrors of shinobi life. Mikoto's granddaughter was a sweet girl and was responsible for the majority of recovery experienced by both her time traveling sons.
Mikoto was very pleased with her decision to marry Obito-kun. He was a sweet boy, if a bit clumsy and tardy. Nothing like that .. aah, how does Kushina put it - ' asshole with stick up his hole', that Fugaku proposed to Sasuke get her married to. Thankfully, Sasuke put an end to it.
Sasuke, however, wasn't very pleased with Sarada's choice of groom either. It went beyond the normal hatred of son in laws by the daughter's father. Since, Obito-kun was living and breathing, and not a mass of charred flesh, it couldn't be something too terrible that he did in the future.
She shifted her attention to the other couple (to be) of team 7- Karasu and Kakashi-kun. Oh they weren't aware of their upcoming relationship just yet, but a mother's intuition is never wrong. While Sarada and Obito-kun were quicker to realise when their bitter rivalry to become Hokage had changed to affection, Kakashi-kun and Karasu were a bit emotionally immature to recognise such a change, despite being ahead of their peers in rest of the departments.
Mikoto was worried about Sasuke though. He was hardly ever in the village, and it looked like it physically pained him to interact with Fugaku and her. His 'children' tried to get him to stay in Konoha, utilising various means, including his fondness for Kushina's son, but at the end of the day, it seemed like he had given up on Konoha being his home.
Still, basking in the celebrations, Mikoto decided to not give up hope. Some wounds took longer to heal than others. The future already looked brighter than it did a few years ago. Maybe, one day, Sasuke would smile at her like little Izuna-chan did.
