I have no idea what to name this chapter. its kinda unrelated.

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Within the basements of the Torture and Interrogation building was the cell of Danzo Shimura, the ex-teammate of Hiruzen Sarutobi and a notable political figure of Konoha. Not anymore, however.

Ibiki Morino greeted the Third Hokage with a bow as he stood before the steel bars, a stern gaze locked onto the bandaged man sitting cross-legged with a glare directed at him. Hiruzen examined the cell for a while, noting how it was considerably cleaner than the others. It wasn't everyday you see a renowned politician in jail, of course.

"What brings you here, Hokage-sama? Have you come to mock me in my cell?" Danzo spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm as he addressed Hiruzen with mock respect. Hiruzen seemed to crack a smile at the attitude, shaking his head.

"You know better than anyone why you're here, Danzo. I've warned you enough times to stop your immoral acts. You only ever act upon your selfish desires," Hiruzen narrowed his eyes. He knew Danzo had been running ROOT right under his nose for a long while, and even though he had sent orders for the man to disband the organisation, that clearly did not happen. Though their assassinations did tip the scales of some political debates towards Konoha's favour, it also risked some hard-earned alliances with other villages. Peace was something they couldn't risk. The past wars have taken too many lives.

"My selfish desires?" Danzo scoffed. "How ironic of you to say that. Is it not you who let Orochimaru off after such hideous experiments? You are too soft hearted, Hiruzen. Just because there is a familiar face before you, you falter and let them take control of you. Keep this up, and Konoha is going to fall. When that time comes, you would wish you let me take the hat after Minato died."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. In some way, Danzo wasn't wrong either. Hiruzen has to admit that he regrets letting Orochimaru off, foolishly thinking that his student would take a second chance for redemption. Clearly, that didn't happen when Konoha shinobi discovered abandoned experiment rooms with traces of him. But there was more to it. "Don't think I'm not aware that you've been in contact with Orochimaru recently, Danzo. Konoha's security isn't that weak."

Danzo's eyes narrowed slightly at the claim, but said nothing to deny it. Hiruzen only huffed a little at the lack of reaction, which confirmed his suspicions. He had to take action on it soon. He wasn't going to repeat his mistakes again. The next time he sees Orochimaru, there will be no more excuse to let him escape. If there were any third chances, it would be given to him when he was locked in a cell with chakra suppressors.

"Danzo, no matter what the situation is, your freedom ends here. I will take matters into my own hands, and you shall not interfere," Hiruzen spoke, sending Danzo a last glance as he turned away to leave. He heard another mocking scoff from Danzo, but ignored it as the doors to the room shut close. Exhaling quietly, he thought back to Danzo's words.

Hiruzen knew it was impossible to make no mistakes, but as the leader and protector of Konoha, it was his duty to ensure it was kept at a minimum. His thoughts wandered towards Minato, the foreign entity bearing the face of their fourth Hokage, then to the lifeless bodies of innocent civilians he found in Orochimaru's base. Will trusting him be a mistake? If this man truly was an infiltrator as Danzo suspected, the consequences may be more severe than letting Orochimaru run free. If Konoha loses their only jinchuuriki, they will lose their status. There's no doubt that the lack of a jinchuuriki would fuel the other village's desire for revenge. Even more so if 'Minato' was from one of these villages.

By the time Hiruzen reached the Sarutobi compound, it was nearing nighttime. Still, there were sounds coming from his backyard at this hour, and naturally, his curiosity was piqued. He found his way to the garden, where he saw Minato sitting on the grass clearing with what seemed to be a few seals in his hands.

"Minato?" Hiruzen called out. The blonde man immediately responded, turning towards him as he quickly stood up to nod in acknowledgement, muttering greetings as he struggled to get the time right. Hiruzen chuckled a little, eyeing the seals laid on the grass. "I'm surprised to see you here rather than in your room at this hour."

"Well... I'm trying to test a few seals I've drawn out recently," Minato gestured towards the seals on the grass. As Hiruzen observed Minato for a while, he noticed the ink stains on Minato's shirt. He must've been drawing seals all day long to not even be able to tell what the time was. Minato awkwardly nodded towards the huge empty space in the compound. "Is it alright for me to use the backyard? I'll do free seals for compensation if I accidentally break anything."

Minato didn't have anything else to offer. Seal masters were rare in this world, anyway. And not many people took the time out of their lives to draw the same storage scrolls over and over again to be sold. He also had his special 'sortable cabinet seal' where you could store different things into a scroll but divided into categories. Particularly convenient for Hokage paperwork especially with fingerprint and blood recognition. Maybe he could start adding passcodes as well like the modern door locks in Japan.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Minato. Use it as you like," Hiruzen chuckled with a wave of his hand. Minato nodded with a grateful smile, glad to have space where he wouldn't accidentally split a building in half. He was about to turn back to his seals until he remembered Shisui's situation.

"Hiruzen-san!"

Hiruzen paused in his steps, turning to look at Minato with raised eyebrows in question. Minato awkwardly smiled, contemplating if it was alright to question a Hokage. "Um... I just wanted to know more about Danzo's intentions. I mean, I'm no one to pry, but I'm pretty concerned about Shisui as well. And since I was the main target, I'd like to at least know why I'm being targeted."

Minato watched as Hiruzen sighed in thought, fingers running through his beard. It was after a few moments that Hiruzen glanced over at Minato as he spoke. "You are still new to the people of Konoha, Minato. This world is dangerous, and it is hard to accept that you are not a threat to some people. But don't worry, I believe with time, they will build trust towards you."

Those were his words, but even Hiruzen himself couldn't be too sure anymore. Can he really put faith in Minato based on how much time was spent together? There were undercover shinobi who spent 3 years by their target and still ended up killing them when the time came. Their own emotions were put aside, so who was Hiruzen to say that Minato wasn't doing that as well?

"Ah.. I guess that makes sense," Minato muttered. So, it is kind of a 'What's dead, stays dead' thing. If one day Kushina rose from the dead and married him again, Minato wondered if he would feel that kind of doubt as well. In Japan? Well...probably not. But in this shinobi world, it might be wiser not to trust someone so soon. Still, Hiruzen didn't say anything about Shisui yet. "And Shisui...?"

Hiruzen sighed. This was hard. He knew how attached Minato had become to Shisui, and from T&I reports, Shisui seemed to have improved as well. Still, he couldn't dismiss the fact that Shisui was a part of ROOT. Did he even have a choice, though? He remembered reading through documents from the ROOT base, evidence of the cruel demands Shisui had to comply with from Danzo's organisation. Just one look at the boy, and Hiruzen could tell how much the blood on his hands had crushed his soul. "Minato, as tragic as it is, Shisui was still an assassin under an illegal organisation. He's a part of plans that endangered international alliances, and I can't excuse him so easily. But I do understand that some parts of it were against his will, so I will see to it accordingly."

Minato nodded with a slight bit of hesitance. He didn't know how much of that was true, but he just hoped that Hiruzen would be forgiving enough to look past all the crime and see the traumatised 16 year old trapped inside. Even though they've only been talking for a few weeks, Minato was desperate not to see him die. It would break Minato. But seeing how this world works.... He knew that someday, there would be heartbreak to come.

Maybe that's why he should return to his world. As he greeted Hiruzen goodbye, Minato glanced over at the seals laid upon the grass clearing, its pattern as familiar as ever. Each stroke resembled the last seal he held in his hands before he was chaotically transported to this world.

He missed his son, dearly. He missed his old neighbour, Mr.Hiruzen. He missed his little helper and Naruto's non-biological 'brother', Kakashi. He missed his colleagues at his previous workplace, Manager Shikaku and Inoichi. He missed the peaceful life in Japan, in a world where he didn't have to worry about dying to someone's blade at night.

But what about this place?

His mind thought back to everything going on around him right now. Shisui's state in the T&I cell, his sentence unconfirmed. The Uchiha, in the midst of a conflict that might affect the entire village. Itachi, whom Minato wasn't sure was even alive or not- he hadn't seen him for days. Kakashi, who seemed to have lost too many people to lose someone again. And Naruto. Oh, the poor boy.

He was ostracised by the whole village since he was a toddler. It broke Minato's heart when he recalled the glares directed at the boy. He remembered his run down apartment, a place unfit for a child to live in. The shuriken holes in the walls, and the messy cleaning appliances. Has anyone even taught him to clean?

If Minato left now, who would be there for Naruto? Mikoto has already said that they weren't allowed to, and Minato could guess why. Can he entrust Naruto to Kakashi? He was already so distressed with the ups and downs around him. If Minato left a love deprived child to a love deprived teenager, he wasn't sure how well things would go.

Picking up the seals, Minato gave them one last glance before storing them away. There was too much stuff around him to ignore at the moment. For now, he'd just have to focus on the present. He knew better than to leave this growing chaos as it was. He eyed the three pronged kunai within his hands that held the Hiraishin seal he'd been analysing for days, the gift from Mikoto that apparently was once the Fourth Hokage's most highly recognised weapons.

He could go home some other day. As of now, he was Minato Namikaze of Konoha.

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Or rather, the better Mizuki of Konoha. 

Well anyway. Thanks a lot for reading! My break is finally over and I'm about to get busy again so i won't be able to write as frequently... :') But I do still have a few chapters left unpublished in my drafts, so I'll continue publishing the ones I'm already done with.

Would you rather I publish one each day or leave a wider gap between the updates so it gives me the illusion that I'm still consistently updating? lmk or I'll just publish the rest every few days (if i remember lol)