"Ehh–???"

Naruto pouted hard as Minato stood up from the ramen stall, a pleading look in his eyes. Next to him, Iruka chuckled in amusement at the boy's reaction, but said nothing otherwise. Naruto immediately hopped off the stool, leaping into Minato's arms. "But I've only had one bowl of ramen!"

"Sorry, Naruto. I really need to go first this time," Minato smiled apologetically as he ruffled Naruto's hair. It was hard saying no to the boy when his eyes looked so sad, but there were much more important matters to attend to at the moment. He couldn't afford to waste any more time. "Besides, you have Iruka-sensei who just came back from his Genin review. Spend some time with him! Get him to pay on my behalf this time."

"Wha- Fine," Iruka sighed dejectedly, eyeing the insides of his wallet. Thanks to Minato being the one who treated Naruto everytime, he had enough money to cover the boy's tab. Minato laughed lightly as Naruto looked back towards Iruka with squinted eyes. Smiling, Iruka nodded at the menu as a signal. "My treat, Naruto. Since it's been a while since I paid."

The boy's frown spread into a malicious smile as he leapt onto the stool, immediately listing out an endless list of ramen to order. "Alrighty! I want the shoyu, the spicy ramen and lots of Naruto toppings, and-"

Iruka paled a little as he listened to Naruto's endless orders with his evil cackles, shooting Minato a look of betrayal. The blonde man chuckled lightly. Well, if Iruka really couldn't handle it on his own, he'd pay a little. A tenth of it, perhaps. Shrugging, Minato waved goodbye to the academy instructor before heading off his own way.

As he walked down the dark streets of Konoha alone, he was reminded of that night with Shisui yet again. He knew Yugao was probably somewhere around, but... She was there that night too. Shaking off the thoughts, he continued his walk. It would be alright. The matters with Danzo were already settled, he'd be safe. There's no possible enemy....right?

Minato immediately gasped in shock as a figure appeared right before him in a burst of smoke. Yelping in pain as he fell to the ground in shock, he allowed the smoke before him to clear up, only to sigh at the familiar face before him.

"Yo. Where you headed? Mind if I join?" Kakashi waved with his signature eye-smile, his other hand reaching out to help Minato up. Minato fitted his palm in Kakashi's as he was pulled up firmly before finally standing properly on his feet.

"Geez, Kakashi. Did you have to startle me like that?" Minato groaned, clutching at his shirt. He was bound to get a heart attack someday at the very early age of 38, especially with all the recent assassination attempts. If this goes on, he might just die. "Where have you been anyway? I haven't seen you since I got my wound bandaged at the hospital."

"Who do you think dealt with your hospital documents and T&I visitor permits? You're very much welcome." Kakashi smiled. Minato's eyes widened slightly, a grateful beam in his eyes. That's right- He'd been so occupied with the Uchihas that he had completely forgotten about the official stuff and all that. To think somebody else would be helping him settle documents as a single father...! Kakashi chuckled at the dramatic tears welling up in Minato's eyes, noting the dust on his pants from the previous fall. "You should probably learn some self-defence. If you fall like that when someone attacks again, you might not be lucky enough to live."

Minato considered Kakashi's words for a while, and it did make sense. Shisui's assassination was the first, but clearly, it wouldn't be the last. He wondered if this marked the start of his life tangled up in politics, clearly a life he hadn't asked for. With Minato Namikaze's name being widespread around the world, it won't take long for someone outside of Konoha to notice his existence as well. It's obvious that he can't fight them off, but it might help to get some moves in his arsenal. Sure it was going to be a workout, but it'll just be like reliving his high school tennis team years. "That's true. I hope you wouldn't mind teaching me."

"Oh, I'd love to," Kakashi hummed. Minato swore he could sense some sort of sadism in his sentence, but chose to ignore it for the sake of his emotional health. Shrugging, Kakashi moved to Minato's side, joining him on his walk. "So, where are you going? I thought you'd walk Naruto home."

"Well..." Minato sighed, wondering from where he should start explaining the situation. Or should he just explain it in one go when he's there? Then he wouldn't have to do it a second time. "Well, it's politics."

Minato quietly scanned the dining room of the Nara household, admiring the interiors. It reminded him of his own house back in Japan, an old house with sliding doors, but renovated enough times to have brick walls. A sake bottle being placed on the table interrupted Minato's thoughts as Shikaku sat before him.

"Sake?" The Nara offered, raising a cup towards Minato. The blonde man stared at it for a while- He hadn't had sake in quite some time. It wouldn't hurt. Nodding, he watched as Shikaku poured him a cup and another for Kakashi. Shikaku finally set the sake bottle down as he chuckled. "Well, if you really need to know, there's rumours that the Uchiha are planning a coup d'etat. I'm only telling you this since you live in the Sarutobi compound, it might get dangerous."

"I see..." Minato muttered. It can't be said for sure that that was all Shikaku knew, but it seemed to be that way. From the look in the man's eyes, Minato could tell Shikaku wasn't involved much in this matter either. Clearly, Danzo didn't want anyone else getting involved in this mess.

"If Kakashi's offer still stands, you should really learn some stuff from him. Prepares him for his jounin sensei journey as well," Shikaku chuckled. Kakashi's eyebrows furrowed in disbelief at that. Jounin sensei? No way. Anyone but him. There was a clear reason why he didn't talk to Naruto before Minato arrived. Shikaku raised his eyebrows at the look in his eyes. "Oh, Kakashi, come on. It's gonna happen sooner or later, you won't stay in ANBU for long."

"I refuse," Kakashi shook his head at the thought of tutoring children fresh out of the academy. First of all, they didn't get half the preparation they needed to actually become shinobi- they probably only knew enough to fight bandits. Second, they reminded him of a past he'd rather forget.

"Well, we'll have to see where that goes," Shikaku smirked at Kakashi who shot him a nonchalant gaze in return. He then glanced over at Minato, who seemed to be deep in thought. "So, Mizuki-san. What's actually going on?"

Minato looked up at Shikaku who now seemed more serious than the joking demeanour he was in earlier. Of course the Nara would be able to sense that there was more to coming here just to ask questions. "Efforts to stop this coup d'etat from happening. Hiruzen-san and Danzo planned to eliminate the Uchiha clan completely."

Shikaku's eyes narrowed at that. Eliminate the Uchiha clan completely? As in...killing all of them? Seeing the look in Minato's eyes, he knew this was more than just a guess. But something like this was completely unheard of to him. "From who?"

"Itachi told me," Minato answered the vague question without much thought. Though there was no information about whether or not the other council members were involved, it was evident that Shikaku had no idea about this. It was more questionable than he thought it'd be. "The massacre is on hold since Danzo is jailed. But there's no saying what Hiruzen-san can do."

"...Quite an overkill. I can't believe Lord Third would plan something like this," Shikaku muttered. Morally, this was completely unacceptable. Even as the jounin commander and the Hokage's right hand man, he couldn't support this decision at all. To let the clan heir do the deed, nonetheless. "We need to talk to him about it. Understandably, he might not accept it right away, so we should come up with a proposal in return."

"I thought that having you back me up would be helpful. Are you okay with that?" Minato asked. Clearly, Shikaku was more than eager as he nodded with narrowed eyes. "I've seen records of the Uchiha's rights to property that have gotten revoked, and also their affiliation with the police force-"

"Not affiliation. They were the police force," Shikaku interrupted. That was, until ANBU joined in, of course. The police force was under his direct command ever since, which was more work for him. More trouble. And more Uchiha eyes on him.

Still, it wasn't too hard to believe that it had come down to this mess. As Shikaku let his mind wander to the past, he looked back on the mistakes that possibly could've been fixed to solve this. But really, there wasn't much that could help. It was quite the unfortunate series of events.

Even for someone like him who was deeply involved in their political matters, this was something so troublesome he wished he could choose not to touch. That's why it was impressive to a Nara-blood like him how diligent Minato was. He was going out of his way to solve problems in a world that wasn't even his- could you imagine? "You're actually taking matters into your own hands. The resemblance I see between you and the fourth is eerie- Heck, to think I'm even witnessing this in person."

Minato chuckled. Was he really that similar to their Fourth Hokage? As a village bumpkin who had only worked two office jobs and spent the rest of his life on seals and rituals, he had to say- he was honoured. "Oh, never. I couldn't possibly dream of being as great as Lord Fourth is. To be known at a global scale is impressive, even as the exact same person from-"

His sentence was interrupted by a loud crash right behind them. He turned around to see that Kakashi had slid the door open, and lying right on the floor was Shikamaru who stared at the three adults with an awkward smile. Kakashi seemed to be the most threatening to him out of all of them, the smile on his face enough to give Shikamaru nightmares. "Eavesdropping isn't very polite, little Nara."

"Uh. Just here for some...Snacks. Yeah," Shikamaru laughed awkwardly as he stepped out of the room with a bow. Well shit, he got busted. And it was getting to the good part too! Great as who? What global scale? What the hell does 'exact same person' mean? He desperately wanted to stay to listen, but Kakashi's gaze told him otherwise. Unfortunately for him, he had no say. Shikaku stifled a snicker at his son's behaviour, watching the boy as he ran up the stairs at full speed.

"Well, he did tell me his suspicions about you before, when you went to Yakiniku Q," Shikaku chuckled as he turned towards Minato. "He might slowly piece together the pieces. Will that be a problem?"

"Well, I'd completely forgotten he was your son.... Figures," Minato sighed dejectedly. If it comes down to it, he'd just have to hope Shikamaru was mature enough as a 7 year old to keep it a secret. He is a Nara, after all. "Well, it's getting pretty late. We'll take our leave first, thanks a lot."

"No, I'm the one thanking you," Shikaku shook his head with a smile. Across all universes, Minato Namikaze was still Minato Namikaze. With the firm gaze in his eyes, Shikaku felt the urge to call the man 'Hokage-sama', but decided against it. Might not be the most appropriate thing to say.

They bid each other goodbye before Minato walked down the streets towards the direction of the Sarutobi compound, Kakashi following closely behind. Minato frowned in thought. Would Hiruzen order the massacre without Danzo there to comment? Perhaps this was all caused by Danzo- He sure hoped it was. It would break his faith in Hiruzen if he really did agree to something like this. But looking at Naruto's situation, Minato hated to admit that it may be true.

Shikaku was right. As an outsider, he had no obligation to get himself involved in this at all. But with the Uchiha's life at stake, he couldn't stand watching from the sides. Especially Itachi- He wouldn't be able to bear seeing the teenager handle it on his own.

Hand slipping into his pocket to touch the three-pronged kunai, he breathed out slowly. If he was there, he'd do something about it. He would make Hiruzen Sarutobi hear his voice, and the voices of all the Uchiha. And he was sure in all universes, Minato Namikaze would've done the same.