IGN: AsukaIshimaru

server: UK S363-Third Mizukage

UID: 200000099141120

What if…(999 words)

“You seem to regret a lot of things,” the resurrected Nidaime Hokage opined as he scrutinized Minato.

Minato huffed. “I just wish, when I was still alive I could have been a better Sensei to Kakashi and Obito when we lost Rin…maybe a lot of things would have become different.”

Tobirama thought for a moment, then muttered: “Since you groove my favourite Jutsu so well… maybe, just maybe, the two of us can experiment and take the Hiraishin Jutsu to a new level, focussing more on the time properties to jump and make a change. It might be risky, even destroy the both of us in the process. But since we’re already dead--” Tobirama shrugged, then looked Minato in the eyes and whispered: “Want to try?”

Minato held his gaze, pausing for just one non-existent heartbeat. To even attempt time travel was madness, but he had nothing to lose except the future of those alive – most of all his son!

He nodded; Tobirama grinned.

They started the hand signs, tweaking the Jutsu as they went then disappeared from the battlefield.

When Minato blinked he felt dizzy and out of breath, his heart drumming in his ears. The Nidaime Hokage was gone. ‘Did it work?’

Then he noticed that he shouldn’t be breathing or have a heartbeat at all: ‘I-- I’m alive! How is that possible?!’

He looked around and realized just where and, more importantly, when he was! This was the 10th of October, the very night his son Naruto was born, and he, Minato, was right there to restore Kushina’s weakened seals.

He knew what was to come. This time he would save his wife for sure, prevent the havoc Kurama caused and not leave his son an orphan; this time he would--

But his thoughts cut short as he was, once again, interrupted by the appearance of the ‘masked stranger’ who killed the Anbu in attendance, then kidnapped little Naruto.

No, he wasn’t a stranger – not to the Minato from the future: the young man behind the mask was his own student who he had presumed dead, who he should have recognized back then – right now!

As the masked man threatened to kill the baby if Minato didn’t back away from Kushina, Minato called out to him: “Please. You don’t have to do any of this...Obito!”

The man startled.

Minato instinctively knew: ‘This could be the moment to change history...and the future!’

“That’s right. I know it’s you. I’m your Sensei after all,” he thus said, training his eyes intensely on the man. “Come on, Obito! I know you’re hurting. I know. You loved Rin so, so much… I know because I’m your Sensei. And I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you earlier.” These were the things he needed to say, these were the things that mattered most, these were the things he regretted not having been able to say back then.

But now was different: Obito hadn’t attacked, harmed Naruto, or disappeared yet.

Instead he waited; not yet convinced, but listening.

Minato pressed his luck: “We all hurt because we lost Rin, me and you and Kakashi. Kushina and Jiraiya-sensei, too. And we were devastated when we thought you were dead, too. But we can make this right, Obito. Let me be there for you, as your Sensei. Let me help you deal with mourning her, let me help you work things out between you and Kakashi. Together, as a team. Just...let my son go and put away those explosive tags; come back to Konoha, Obito. It’s not too late to do the right thing.” He reached out his hand tentatively.

“Remember your dream: you wanted to be Hokage. The first Uchiha Hokage in the history of Konoha. And you can still fulfil this dream. For Rin’s sake. So Rin can watch you closely from the Heavens, proudly smiling for the man you still can become. Now look at my little baby; his name is Naruto. Become a Hokage my son may one day look up to. It’s not too late to be that man. You just have to let go, forsake your destructive plans and come back to Konoha, Obito...come home to us.”

The masked man cautiously lifted his hand, baby Naruto still tucked in his other arm. Minato waited, hoped, held his breath… and only released it when the man took off his mask to reveal that he, indeed, was Obito Uchiha. His face was scarred, there was even more emotional hurt visible in his mien, in his sharingan. “Minato-Sensei...” he rasped.

Minato nodded assertively, his hand still outstretched. “That’s right. I’m here for you now. We’ll work this out together, okay? Just...for now, let my son go, so I can reforge the seal on Kushina lest she might die. And then we’ll all go back to Konoha. Together, yes? No harm done.”

Obito looked at the baby in his arm – his Sensei’s son, shuddered a breath, then slightly nodded. “I’ll take care of your son while you save her.” He didn’t take Minato’s hand, but for now that was enough. Kushina would live to see tomorrow.

And Minato had a second chance to live this life with her, see his son grow up, fix things between his students, eventually hand the reins over to the very first Uchiha Hokage; and with Obito’s help and insight on Madara’s schenanigans foil his plans and wage a very different war: the Uchiha clan would remain alive, as the final recognition put them right at the heart of the village society and appeased their frustration. Danzo wouldn’t plot genocide and Itachi and Sasuke could remain in the village, growing up under Obito’s ideals and aiding him in attaining a peaceful shinobi world…

And Naruto? He could lead a happier life as the next Jinchuuriki and follow in Obito’s footsteps as the Rokudaime Hokage.

Madara (and Zetsu and Kagura) would still be a threat to deal with, but the hands would have been dealt quite differently.