Sakura was startled to realize something: whenever Naruto was being unreliable, Sasuke-kun was usually the one patching things up. But in moments like this—when Sasuke was so unhinged that even she felt afraid—it was Naruto who stayed calm and tried to steady him.
These two…
They were perfect for each other.
They would become the best partners.
This feeling surged in her chest out of nowhere, like a sixth sense whispering a glimpse of the future.
Minato Namikaze had already been stunned when Sasuke said he wanted to kill Itachi. He kept his voice as gentle and relaxed as possible, hoping to soothe the boy before him.
He said, "Naruto is right. Sasuke, was it? If you don't tell me what truly happened, there's no way I can speak to Fugaku-senpai and Mikoto-san about this."
"Mikoto?" Sasuke froze. "You know my mother? You know Mikoto Uchiha?!!"
Minato's expression softened into a small smile. "Mikoto and I were classmates at the academy. And she was close friends with my girlfriend."
He glanced briefly at Naruto, seeing reflections of both Mikoto Uchiha and Kushina Uzumaki in Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto blinked in confusion. "The Fourth Hokage actually has a girlfriend,dattebayo?! Really?!"
Minato smiled quietly without answering. He understood far too well.
It wasn't just that he had died—Kushina hadn't been protected either.
Sorrow and guilt twisted deeply within him.
And at the same time, the softest part of his heart clenched at the sight of the blond boy before him, a child who probably didn't know who his real parents were at all…
His body, smaller and thinner than children his age, said enough. He was strong, lively like Kushina—but he'd probably lived a harsh life, just like Kushina did when she first came to Konoha.
Minato gently patted Naruto's head before turning to Sasuke.
"Itachi-kun is Fugaku-senpai and Mikoto-san's first son. Kushina and I visited when he was born."
He paused, pretending to be troubled.
"If I walked in knowing nothing and told them to kill their precious boy, I'd be begging to die, hahaha."
Fugaku-senpai would slam the door in my face, declare Minato Namikaze unwelcome in the Uchiha district, and when I got home, Kushina's fists would be waiting…
No—maybe I wouldn't even get the chance to go home. I'd just crouch miserably outside the door, accepting the pitying looks of passing comrades—like Shikaku-senpai.
Naruto's and Minato's words brought Sasuke down from his frenzy, if only slightly.
"Itachi… he…"
Sasuke stared down at his own palm, eyes haunted by that night beneath the crimson moon.
"He killed Dad… Mom… He killed the entire Uchiha clan…"
The words scraped their way out, thick with grief.
Young Kakashi and Minato both froze, stunned. Neither had expected the young Uchiha before them to say something like that.
Minato looked to the older Kakashi—Sasuke's jōnin instructor.
Kakashi nodded silently.
He hadn't known everything about the Uchiha situation back then, but he'd heard the rumors. Afterwards, he'd spent a long time at the Memorial Stone apologizing to Obito. He had been using Obito's eye… yet hadn't noticed the changes in Itachi, once his subordinate, allowing such a tragedy to unfold in the Uchiha clan.
"Uh…"
The old man Tazuna raised his voice timidly. "Um, do you all remember me? I'm your extremely important client for this mission!"
"Ah! I forgot!" Naruto blurted out in full bluntness.
Tazuna sighed. "I knew it! Anyway, I don't know what's going on here, but this is definitely not the right place to be talking about all this! We're already close to my house. Carry that kid on the ground, and let's go back so you can rest comfortably!"
Minato's mind was tied in knots over the Kannabi Bridge mission, but he had no real options. Obito had suddenly collapsed; the risk of forcing him to continue the mission was too high. And more importantly, they had no way to return to their own time.
Though he didn't want to alter the future, one look at Naruto and Sasuke's present circumstances told him something unmistakable—
This "future" didn't seem very bright at all.
"My apologies for the interruption," he nodded to their client, Tazuna-san.
He was just about to crouch so Kakashi could help lift Obito onto his back when the older Kakashi suddenly spoke.
"I'll carry him."
Young Kakashi gave his future self a look one normally reserved for spotting frauds. "You're actually volunteering to carry that dead weight? Did you get a fever or something?"
"Pff—" That particular insult sounded way too familiar to Naruto.
"I mean seriously, Kakashi-sensei, you used to call your friends dead weight too?! I didn't know you were like that! You're just as annoying as that bastard Sasuke!"
Kakashi scratched his head with a sheepish grin. "Well… I was a kid."
Sasuke's ears went red. "Who's your friend?! You gigantic idiot!"
"What's there to be embarrassed about?!" Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke's neck. "The Fourth Hokage bro told us to be good friends, dattebayo!"
Sasuke huffed irritably, though he didn't shove Naruto off. "Fourth Hokage-sama definitely didn't say that!"
With Obito secured on his back, Kakashi felt something unusual—his left eye didn't hurt as much. The constant stabbing burn that drained his chakra day after day… had eased.
He finally connected the dots: Obito must have fainted because he had unknowingly paid the chakra cost for the techniques Kakashi used to defeat Zabuza.
Seeing Obito alive again—after twelve years of guilt, regret, and funerals spent apologizing at the Memorial Stone—made all of Kakashi's remorse twist into something closer to prayer and redemption.
But just as he took two steps forward, something slipped free.
A scroll that had been dangling precariously from Obito's ninja pouch fell and rolled directly to Naruto's feet.
Naruto bent down and picked it up.
The scroll was slightly larger than his palm, labeled "MISSION" on the outside.
It wasn't tied shut. When Naruto lifted it, the scroll unfurled on its own.
Naturally, Naruto's eyes landed on the contents—
"Mission Rank: SSS"
"Mission Objective: Kill—the Masked Man."