Overtwisted

Minato pulled the covers over Hikari and Naruto’s shoulders, smiling at the sight of his two children curled up around each other. It was something that never failed to warm his heart; his death soon after his daughter was born meant that he never had the chance to raise her and being reunited on a battlefield wasn’t ideal for familial bonding.

But now he had the chance.

Naruto eagerly welcomed all forms of affection, his childish innocence the lone light in the otherwise somber family. (Fighting a losing war for years didn’t improve the psyche.) And Hikari, though she was an adult in a child’s body, reciprocated a hug almost as enthusiastically as the toddler, having been starved of positive contact in her younger years.

Sensing that his thoughts were going down a dark path, Minato got up. He checked that the kids were sleeping soundly before leaving the room, shutting the door quietly and heading towards the other bedroom in their temporary house.

Kakashi and Obito looked up when Minato entered the room, staring at the dark expression on the man’s face. The teens exchanged confused glances, Obito shrugging when Kakashi leveled a questioning look at him. It wasn’t like the Uchiha knew everything that could set off their former teacher.

“Sensei?”

“Kakashi, do you know what Konoha did to Naruto?”

The abrupt but sharp question startled him but the Hatake took it in stride. Although the memories weren’t good, he was more than happy to tattle on the Konoha villagers. He had never been able to take revenge for Naruto’s treatment and he was wondering what Minato would do.

“I knew that he wasn’t treated well,” Kakashi started, looking down in shame at his own negligence. He would do better now, though. “But after he disappeared, I did some digging around. Mainly to find out why no one had noticed that Naruto had been missing for over a week.”

“And?”

“It’s not good, Minato-sensei,” he said quietly when Minato shot him an impatient look. Even in his distraught state, Kakashi had been appalled by the callousness of the villagers. “They would leave him out for hours at night, sometimes not letting him inside until dawn. They never hit him but the neglect and verbal abuse was so bad, the other children picked it up and thought it was fine for them to treat him the same way.”

Minato closed his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Anything else?”

“They threw him out of the orphanage before the Kyuubi Festival.”

When Minato and Obito appeared confused about the significance of the festival, Kakashi gulped, hoping that they wouldn’t stab the messenger. “You know how the Kyuubi destroyed a part of Konoha? The villagers celebrate the defeat but they also hold a lot of hatred and anger towards the Bijuu. Since they know that Naruto is the Jinchuuriki…”

The pieces clicked, and Obito stated flatly, “They take it out on him.”

“Yes. The first two years, he was too young to leave the orphanage but he was also left unattended. A few drunks tried to hurt him…I was watching over him then so I caught them before they could. This year, though…”

Minato waved a hand, cutting Kakashi off. The blond’s face was blank in a terrifying way, reminiscent of how he looked before beheading an enemy. “I’m not blaming you; we know that you were on a mission. But the villagers…they have no excuse.”

He exchanged a significant look with Obito, the Uchiha having a dark glint in his eyes as he nodded, rising to his feet and striding out of the room. Minato looked back at Kakashi, a cheerful smile on his face, which was a complete opposite to the glacier in his eyes. “Stay here and look after the kids, Kakashi. Obito and I are going to…do a few errands.”

A Hiraishin kunai was pressed into his hand, Minato giving him a half-hug and telling him to call if the teen needed anything.

Kakashi nodded slowly, having an inkling about what those ‘errands’ were.

“Okay.”

“So, what are we going to do?”

Obito squinted down at the near silent village, anger hidden behind a cold, expressionless mask. Despite what he had done while influenced by Black Zetsu and Madara, he had been granted full forgiveness from the girl who had every reason to despise him and curse his existence. For that alone, she had his complete loyalty.

And even if it was hypocritical of him, he hated the people who had made her childhood a living hell.

“Hikari would never tell me everything,” Minato said, avoiding answering the question from his student. His blue eyes were icy, fixed on the single light in the Hokage Tower. “Her resigned reaction to Naruto’s situation was enough to let me know that she had probably had it worse.”

And he knew who exactly to blame. If Hiruzen had kept a tighter leash on Danzo, the war hawk would never have released confidential information to the villagers. One day, Minato was going to slit that disgusting Shimura’s throat.

Kakashi’s information had not helped. Naruto’s life could have been snuffed out before he even had a chance to live it, and merely imagining cruel fingers tightening around that fragile neck had his blood boiling.

Hikari had most likely experienced worser situations. As a girl, there was always the possibility of a greater suffering; not that Naruto also didn’t have it but girls were usually easier targets in the Red Light District. Konoha’s only saving grace was that his daughter had remained untouched in that sense, even if she had been victim to a number of beatings.

“I want to burn the village down,” Minato admitted darkly. His fists were clenched, to stop himself from flickering through handsigns for a Katon jutsu and torching the place. “I want them to feel at least a tiny fraction of the pain my children went through.

“But?”

But Hikari wouldn’t like it and it was not like the entire village was rotten.

“But we’re not going to.”

Minato smiled faintly, something sharp and broken in the curve of his lips. He wasn’t quite okay, after all. Seeing his family suffering under the harsh and unfair realities of the world at such young ages had shattered something in him.

“So let’s torch something. That’s what we came for anyway,” Obito grunted, chakra flaring in anticipation. He cocked his head to one side, considering their options. “Not the Hokage Tower. While I know that none of these guys can hold a candle to us, we don’t need idiots on our tail. But…”

His dark eyes took on an unholy gleam, shining in the moonlight before red bled into black, three tomoe swirling. “The Red Light District is fair game.”

“Quite,” the Namikaze agreed, applying a Henge on himself to hide his distinctive features. His blond hair turned midnight black, with the faintest hint of blue. The strands smoothened out, the spikiness disappearing and a fringe covered part of his face. His eyes were now grassy green.

Obito snorted at the new appearance Minato sported but understood the value of a disguise. There was probably no one in Konoha who would recognize him, thanks to his scars and the fact that he was believed deceased. Nevertheless, he hid his scars and colored both his hair and eyes brown.

Nodding at each other, the two pulled up their hoods and disappeared soundlessly.

Hiruzen sighed, rubbing his temples in an attempt to stave off the incoming headache. First Naruto had disappeared and now Kakashi was missing. The teen had taken on a dangerous mission by himself, without regard for his own life. The old Hokage was regretting having allowed the boy to go.

When Kakashi had not returned even two days after the allocated time, trackers had been sent out. They had returned with grim expressions, holding out the broken shards of the Hatake’s ANBU mask and the shattered remains of his tanto. The captain told Hiruzen that they had not found a body, but there had been a lot of dried blood belonging to the teen in the grass, so much that it was more than likely that Kakashi was dead.

Before he could continue wallowing in his regret and grief, an explosion shattered the silence of the night and Hiruzen shot out of his chair in alarm. He turned to look out the window, eyes widening at the blaze on the other side of the village.

He flicked his hand, his ANBU guards taking up position around him as Hiruzen leapt out the window. ‘That’s the Red Light District,’ he thought with a worried frown, increasing his pace when he noticed that the fire was growing. Arriving at his destination in a matter of seconds, he took in the situation before him.

Many of the buildings had been entirely engulfed by the flames, faster than expected. People were screaming and running around in a panic, the Police Force and the available shinobi rescuing stragglers and taking them to safety. A few were using Suiton jutsu to douse the flames, but it didn’t seem to be doing much good.

“Report!” Hiruzen barked at one of the nearby shinobi, frowning heavily. “What caused the fire?”

A man, looking to be a Jounin considering his flak jacket, straightened and saluted his leader. “Hokage-sama!” the soot-covered man said. “The explosion that started the fire occurred in that building,” he pointed to a building that was beginning to crumble. “We have reason to believe it wasn’t an accident.”

“How so?”

“There are traces of chakra in the fire, Hokage-sama. A sensor has verified that it is not one of our own.”

“An attacker?”

Someone started shouting, attracting the conversing pair’s attention. “Hey, you two! Get down from there; it’s dangerous!”

Hiruzen followed the gaze of the yelling shinobi, spotting two cloaked figures atop the roof of an untouched building. Even as he watched, one of them flickered through handsigns, breathing out a stream of fire and feeding the growing blaze.

Eyes narrowing in anger, Hiruzen performed a jutsu of his own, sending a powerful streak of lightning at the pair. They dodged it effortlessly, leaping into the air. Taking advantage of their airborne state, kunai and shuriken were thrown at them, but the taller of the pair, not the one who had used the Katon jutsu, swung his arm in a slashing motion, causing a gust of wind that blew the projectiles away.

“Who are you and why do you attack Konoha?” Hiruzen demanded when the strangers landed in front of him, instantly knowing that they were dangerous. Despite having over twenty shinobi surrounding them, plus members of the Uchiha Police Force and the Hokage in front of them, the two appeared unconcerned.

Their hoods had fallen off, revealing two unfamiliar faces. The taller man, with cold green eyes, glared at Hiruzen, crossing his arms over his chest. “Taking out some trash,” he responded casually, but the Sarutobi could hear the anger in the other’s voice.

“Is harming people necessary for that purpose?”

A snort came from the brunet, who raised a judgmental eyebrow. “I think your eyes are going bad, old man. Look closer; hardly anyone is hurt.”

Much to everyone’s shock, it was the truth. A quick glance around them told Hiruzen that apart from a few mild burns, there were no injuries. One of the Uchiha confirmed the statement, saying that though quite a few buildings were damaged, there had experienced zero casualties.

Now rather confused, Hiruzen questioned, “Then what was the purpose of this attack?”

There was no reply, the dark-haired stranger looking around instead of focusing on the Hokage. The brunet had moved closer to his companion, guarding his back. It seemed like the taller man was the leader.

“…a warning and a little bit of catharsis.”

Hiruzen’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“I do not need to answer you,” the green-eyed man snapped, his blank expression shattering to reveal a white-hot fury that would incinerate everything and anything. Subconsciously, all of the gathered people took a step back, cowed by the rage flowing off of the man. “Why should I, when it is you who have wronged us?”

That made no sense to Hiruzen but before he could demand an explanation, the man slashed the air again and a powerful blast of wind knocked everyone in the vicinity off of their feet. Even the inferno that had been raging around them was snuffed out, leaving behind charred buildings.

“Fortunately for you, we do not wish to punish everyone for the sins of others. Consider this a warning, and open your eyes to the sheer hypocrisy you practice.”

With that, the strange pair vanished from sight, with barely a flicker of chakra. If it weren’t for the multiple blackened and collapsed buildings around them, Hiruzen would have thought he had imagined the whole thing.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the headache he had been fearing earlier come on with full force. Hiruzen looked around, watching his men pick themselves up and get back to containing the situation, now that the threat had disappeared.

What powerful being had Konoha offended now?

Kakashi blinked when Minato and Obito appeared in front of him. He had not been able to sleep, so he had grabbed a book that seemed interesting and had settled down in the living room. Honestly, he had not expected either of them to return until morning, but there they were, a little over an hour after they had left.

“Why do you stink of smoke?”

“Probably because they torched a few buildings.”

All three men startled at the sudden voice and their heads swiveled around to see Hikari leaning against the doorway. She was smiling at them tiredly, a hint of reproach in her eyes but nothing condemning.

“Eh…ah, Hikari…”

The redhead shook her head, slipping past the men and into the kitchen. Pouring herself a glass of water, she hopped onto the counter, eyeing her father and Obito critically.

“Did you kill anyone?”

“No,” Obito answered with a displeased expression, almost close to a pout. “We chose an abandoned building to start with.”

Setting fire to an empty and derelict building had given enough of a warning to the villagers, who at least had had the presence of mind to escape when they had noticed the growing fire. Minato knew he would lose all restrictions if someone insulted his children to his face but since they had been in Konoha only for catharsis, he hadn’t felt the need to grievously harm anyone.

But Hikari’s presence raised a question of his own.

“How did you know we had left?”

A raised eyebrow, speaking of clear judgement, was his response, as if Hikari was saying, ’are you seriously asking me that?’

“…sensor. Right…sorry.”

“Hmm.”

Honestly speaking, Hikari was rather touched that her father went to such lengths to get revenge for her and Naruto, while still respecting her wishes to not harm anyone seriously. For that alone, she would let Minato and Obito off the hook.

Just this once.

“So,” she clapped her hands together, a mischievous spark making its way into her eyes. Even if she played the part of a responsible person some of the time, Hikari was still a prankster at heart. “Who did you spook?”

Minato let out a startled laugh, sinking into the couch next to Kakashi while Obito sat cross-legged on the table, a smirk on his face. “Apart from giving the Police and a bunch of shinobi heart attacks? I kind of yelled at the Sandaime.”

“Jiji came personally?”

“We did make it look like an attack at first glance,” Obito shrugged, biting into an apple he had grabbed from the fruit bowl. Throwing around Katon jutsu was his specialty and he would have burnt down a few more buildings if the Sandaime had not intervened.

“Do I want to know which part of the village went up in flames?”

“Eh, no one will miss that disgusting place.”

Blinking at the Uchiha’s dismissive words, Hikari thought back to possible places for targets and narrowed it down to three places. “The Hokage Tower…? No, you mentioned the Police, who would have not been there if it was the Tower…the orphanage is a no-go since I know you won’t hurt kids; that leaves…the Red Light District?”

When she got two smirks in response, Hikari deadpanned, “Seriously?”

“They should be grateful that we didn’t blow them up, literally.”

Hikari sighed, running a hand over her face. “I at least hope you disguised yourselves? Yes? Good. No need to have hunters on our trail.” She pointed a finger at her father, who held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “This better be the only time you two pull a stunt like this.”

“Of course.”

What Minato didn’t say was that when they officially returned to Konoha, the kid gloves would come off. There were quite a few people that he had a bone to pick with.

Once Kakashi had fully recovered and was fit to travel, the little family packed up and moved on, travelling to the next village. Accommodations weren’t really a problem, since Obito could use his Mokuton to build them a house. They had decided, though, that if they were in a village, they would stay in an inn to keep up the guise of travelers.

As for their appearances, Minato, Hikari, Naruto and Kakashi used a seal-based Henge to change their hair color to black, matching Obito. The distinctive whisker-marks on Naruto’s cheeks were also hidden and Kakashi switched to a plain bandana and mask. All in all, the group of five looked the part of a family traveling through the country.

The village they were currently in was quite a distance from Konoha and it was unlikely that they’d run into any Konoha shinobi. That was the only reason they relaxed, getting two rooms at the inn for a week.

“Hey, Dad?”

“Hmm?”

Hikari flopped onto one of the beds in the room she was sharing with Minato and Naruto, Kakashi and Obito sharing another. “Did you notice that the village seemed oddly busy?” she asked, voice slightly muffled since she had mushed her face into the quilt.

“I did,” Minato replied, handing Naruto a set of clean clothes and ushering him into the attached bathroom. The toddler was an easy child, rarely throwing tantrums and more than happy to listen to the adults. Minato wasn’t sure for how long the good behavior would continue, but recalling stories of his daughter’s younger years, he assumed that Naruto would probably become hyperactive soon enough.

“I think they’re preparing for a festival,” the Namikaze called absently, filling the tub with water. Naruto perked up, staring at the man with wide blue eyes.

“Fes..ti..val?”

Minato nodded. “Yes. It’s usually held for something special; there might be games and different types of food. Lots of people come to a festival, to enjoy themselves.”

Naruto pouted when he didn’t quite understand everything but he got enough to realize that it would be something fun.

“Can we go?”

“To the festival?”

Naruto nodded enthusiastically, eyes sparkling.

“What do you think, Hikari?” Minato asked his daughter in the other room, amused by the toddler’s pleading expression.

Said girl looked up blearily, loose strands of midnight black hair falling into her eyes. She huffed, blowing them out of her face as she shouted back, “Think about what?!”

“Going to the festival!”

“Does Naruto want to go?!”

“Yes!” the three-year-old answered for himself, almost screaming in his eagerness. Hikari snorted, and shouted back, “Sure, why not? I haven’t been to one in years either.”

“Yay!”

Already anticipating that the toddler was going to bolt out of the bathroom to go to a festival that had not yet started, Hikari continued, “Naruto, if you be good and take your bath, I’ll get you a new toy at the festival!”

Minato hid a chuckle behind his hand; it was a little eerie at how well Hikari seemed to predict Naruto’s actions but also pretty adorable. He chalked it up to the fact that both of them were technically the same person, or once were.

Back in the room, the bed dipped and creaked under the added weight of two additional people, Obito using Kamui to arrive with Kakashi in tow. He caught the last bit and commented, “Resorting to bribery already, midget?”

“Don’t call me that,” Hikari shot back instinctively, then threw an impressive glare at the Uchiha. It lost most of its effect though, considering that she was still half-buried in the quilt. “And I’d like to see you corral an excited, hyperactive three-year-old.”

“No thanks, I’m not the parental type.”

“Just for that, I’m dumping Naruto in your hands and disappearing with everyone else, for a week.”

“Are you two always like this?” Kakashi interrupted, voice dry. It was strange for him to witness Obito snarking and bantering with someone in an almost deadpan way, since he used to be easily riled up.

Hikari and Obito turned their heads towards him in sync, the former chirping while the latter replied in a flat tone.

“Yeah!”

“Yes.”

“You’ll get used to it, Kakashi,” Minato remarked with a wry grin, emerging from the bathroom. He wiped his hands on the towel he had laid out earlier; Naruto wanted to take his bath by himself, so the man had given in with a laugh and slipped out. “They communicate by snark and sass most of the time; it’s rather entertaining.”

Kakashi nodded slowly, not sure what to make of that little tidbit, but since Minato didn’t appear concerned, he supposed he could get used to it. Then what he had heard when he and Obito had appeared in the room came back to him and he asked, “What’s this about a festival?”

“The villagers seem to be preparing for something like pre-winter festivities,” Minato explained, pausing when he caught sight of himself in the mirror, an odd look on his face. Black hair didn’t look weird on him but it certainly threw him for a loop. “Naruto wants to go.”

“And that means we’re all going,” Hikari added before going back to bickering with Obito, the pair’s argument quickly devolving into a wrestling match. Kakashi watched incredulously as they tumbled off the bed and fell on the floor with a thud, only to keep fighting. Feeling eyes on him, the Hatake turned to see his former teacher watching him with a smile.

“Not what you’d expect of them, is it?” Minato asked in a quiet voice, sitting down next to Kakashi while directing his gaze to the squabbling pair. There was fondness in his blue eyes, with a hint of melancholy. “After everyone they had lost in the war, they needed something to take their minds off the pain. This was the result.”

Kakashi swallowed; Hikari had told him almost everything about the war in their former dimension, only sparing the more gruesome parts. “Doesn’t it hurt to look at me?”

Minato appeared startled by the whispered question, taking a moment to process it before understanding flashed in his expression. “Not really,” he replied, throwing an arm over the teen’s shoulder and pulling him close. “You’re a little different from him, but that’s probably because he was in his early thirties by the time we met each other again. Experiences shape us.”

“I know. Do you…?”

“Want you to be him?” the older man finished the question, shaking his head firmly in response. “No, not at all. You’re you, and I’d be more than happy to see what kind of a person you become.”

“What are you two talking about?”

Hikari’s voice cut off anything Kakashi or Minato could have said, the girl staring at them suspiciously from her position atop Obito’s stomach. The Uchiha was sprawled out on his back on the floor, rolling his eyes at her in exasperation and annoyance, but doing absolutely nothing to push her off.

“Nothing, nothing…”

Naruto watched with wide eyes shining with awe and delight at the colorful festival decorations, the lanterns placed along the pathways to light up the night. There were a lot of people around, laughing and playing, enjoying the food and games.

Now he understood why no one had gotten dinner that night; there was so much food here to try!

A delicious and familiar smell wafted through the air and Naruto sniffed, following the scent to a stall a few feet away. From his high perch on his father’s shoulders, he could see that it was really what he thought it was.

“Daddy, ramen!” he squealed, tugging the man’s dark hair. Naruto didn’t really understand why they had to change their hair colors but they all matched, so he thought it was okay.

Minato chuckled, not at all bothered by the sharp pull on his hair. It seemed that both Hikari and Naruto had inherited their mother’s love of ramen, something that was currently obvious by the way both kids’ eyes gleamed at the sight of the ramen stall.

“How about we go there last?” he suggested lightly, grabbing Hikari’s shoulder to stop her from dashing off. Minato wasn’t too concerned about his daughter, but he didn’t want to spoil Naruto’s appetite before he could enjoy the variety the festival offered. “Let’s get some snacks and play a few games before we have ramen.”

Both children pouted, Naruto making his displeasure clear by giving a particularly vicious tug on his father’s hair. They subsided though, staring at the ramen stall with sad expressions as they passed by.

That was when Obito materialized out of nowhere, munching on some dango. “Why are the brats sulking?”

Minato stared.

“Are you and Kakashi glued together or something?” he finally asked, a little confused. Ever since Kakashi had joined them, the pair was always together.

“More like he drags me everywhere,” Kakashi grumbled, stabbing a piece of takoyaki with more force than absolutely necessary.

“You aren’t really complaining,” Obito pointed out, smirking when the younger teen glared at him and jabbed an elbow into his side. “Anyway, the brats?”

“Dad didn’t let us get ramen,” came the complaint from Hikari, a pale hand darting out to grab two sticks of dango from the box the Uchiha carried. She ignored the growl she got in response, biting into the treat and holding up the other stick for Naruto to take.

“If you go there now, you’re more likely to clean up their entire stock. Where do you put all that food anyway? You’re so tiny and yet you eat like a damn bear.”

“As if you don’t eat just as much, Obito-nii!”

Minato cut in before the two could start fighting; he did not want to be barred from the festival for being a nuisance, thank you very much. “Obito, stop egging her on. Hikari, take Naruto to play some games, please.”

Obito and Hikari turned to glare at him, but the man simply raised an eyebrow, taking Naruto off his shoulders and placing him in the girl’s arms. Hikari gave him the stink-eye but acquiesced, running off with the toddler towards the nearby stalls. He wasn’t worried about any of them getting lost; they were all skilled shinobi capable of tracking.

Plus, she was a sensor.

“Did you really have to rile her up like that, Obito?”

The Uchiha shrugged, utterly unrepentant in the face of his former teacher’s exasperation. “She makes it easy,” he mumbled around a mouthful of dango, already having lost interest in the conversation.

Minato sighed as the scarred teen wandered off, Kakashi waving at him before following Obito. All four of them were quite the handful, even Obito, who was technically older than the Namikaze.

Something sparkling caught his eye and Minato blinked; there was a stall to his right that seemed to be selling little trinkets. That gave him the idea of souvenirs and he made a bee-line for it; there might be something that Hikari would like, considering that she was the only one who’d appreciate jewelry, as long as it was on the simpler side.

There were quite a few pretty ornaments: bracelets, earrings, hairpins and the like. Minato instantly crossed out the ones that shone too much; they were a little too gaudy for his daughter’s tastes.

“A gift for your little girl?”

“Huh?”

The old woman managing the stall, smiled at him, brown eyes crinkling at the edges with warmth. “I saw you earlier; are all four of them yours?”

Minato considered the woman; by all appearances she seemed to be a civilian, with her meagre chakra reserves and untrained body. There was nothing to indicate that she could be linked to shinobi and he decided that she was probably just a random civilian who had noticed them.

“Not quite,” he finally replied, giving her a smile of his own. “The kids are mine and the teens are my students…” Minato trailed off, mentally reevaluating his students’ relationship with him. “Although I sort of consider them my sons? So I suppose you could be right in a way, ma’am.”

“Family is what you make it, young man,” the woman chuckled, the wisdom of age in her knowing expression. “They’re very lucky to have you.”

“No, it’s definitely the other way around,” Minato shook his head firmly. He had once gone to his death with a heavy heart that he was leaving behind his baby girl and then woke up in the middle of a battlefield facing off against his teenage daughter. He believed it was nothing short of a miracle that they were able to enjoy this peace, even if they had had to lose a lot to get to this point.

He would never say that he would do it all over again, because he just couldn’t. He had gotten an impossible opportunity though, and he did not intend to waste it.

Minato’s gaze drifted over the crowd until it landed on his daughter’s familiar form; Hikari was crouched next to Naruto, cheering the boy on as he tried to scoop up a goldfish. Clearly sensing his stare, she turned her head. Upon finding out it was only her father, Hikari shot him a quick grin and a wave before focusing back on the toddler.

Kakashi and Obito were somewhere in the vicinity, the Hatake probably already annoyed by the latter but still following him around. No matter what age those were, they would always have an odd dynamic. It worked though, so who was Minato to complain?

“I’m the one who’s lucky to have them,” he murmured, more to himself than to the shopkeeper. Kushina’s loss was still a gaping wound in his heart but Minato knew that she would want him to live in the present.

Besides, Hikari would kick him to hell and back if she found him moping.

“Then you best treasure them, right?”

The old woman’s voice jerked Minato out of his thoughts, having almost forgotten that she was there. Laughing sheepishly at her chuckle, he nodded and directed his attention towards the items on display. There weren’t many things suited to a shinobi but it was to be expected; the stall was geared towards civilians, after all.

‘Guess I’ll look for souvenirs for the boys elsewhere,’ he mused, studying the hairpins. Hikari preferred not to wear earrings and she already had a bracelet for her seals on her wrist. A hairpin, especially if it was one of those long, rigid ones, which could double as a weapon if necessary, was better.

A flash of violet caught his eye and Minato automatically reached for it, reminded of Kushina’s eyes. The item turned out to be exactly what he was looking for: a hairpin, or more accurately, a hair stick, made out of metal and violet flowers at the end. The metal was painted black, accentuating the flowers and giving the ornament a subtle shine.

“I’ll take this one.”

Hikari walked at a leisurely pace, keeping Naruto in sight as he ran ahead of her, a stuffed bear in his hands. She had bought him the toy as she had promised on their first day in the village, and also as a consolation for him not being able to get any goldfish.

Truth be told, she was glad that he hadn’t caught one; none of their little family would remember to take care of it, considering how bad they were at looking after themselves. And Naruto would definitely bawl when the little fish inevitably died.

Nope, avoiding that at all costs.

“Nee-san, what’s that?”

Naruto was pointing at a candy stall, specifically at the fish-shaped pastries. The man at the stall grinned down at the toddler, “It’s called taiyaki, kid.”

“Taiyaki?”

“You know pancakes? Well, it’s like that, with different fillings like sweet red bean paste, custard, chocolate and so on, shaped like a fish!”

“Oh…can I have one, nee-san?”

Hikari chuckled when Naruto gave her the puppy-dog eyes, even when he knew that she was immune to them, no matter how adorable he looked. Even so, they were there to have fun, so she agreed. “Sure. Which one do you want?”

“Chocolate!”

“Chocolate it is.” Looking at the amused man, Hikari requested, “One chocolate and one red bean paste taiyaki, please!”

“Coming right up!”

A few minutes later, the man handed her two taiyaki in separate paper cups. Thanking him and handing over the money for the snacks, she gave an impatient Naruto his chocolate taiyaki, before guiding him out of the crowd.

Naruto took a bite of his snack, huffing a little at the heat before swallowing. “So good!” he gushed, taking another large bite. Hikari chuckled, biting into her own taiyaki. It was pretty good, the pastry well-cooked and firm, and the filling wasn’t too sweet.

Feeling eyes on her, Hikari looked down; Naruto was staring at her hand, almost drooling. He held an empty paper cup in his hand, proof that he had already gobbled down his own pastry. Smiling, the girl held out her taiyaki, “Want a bite?”

“Yeah!”

The boy’s eyes practically shone like the stars and Hikari had to stifle a snort. She crouched down to be at his level, holding the pastry to the toddler’s mouth. Naruto happily dug in, making delighted noises when he realized that he liked the flavor. He was about to take another bite when he remembered that it wasn’t his and slowly closed his mouth.

“Hmm…let’s do this…”

Hikari broke her red bean paste taiyaki into two, placing one half in Naruto’s cup and ruffling his hair when he hugged her in thanks. She didn’t mind sharing her food, if it made him smile.

‘Seriously, he’s just too cute.’

Pastries devoured, the two wiped off any crumbs on their hands and disposed of the paper cups, intending to head back into the festival. But as fate would have it, Naruto ran headfirst into a group of men who were also on the edges of the crowd, both sides stumbling at the impact.

Hikari caught the three-year-old before he could fall, wrinkling her nose as the stench of alcohol wafted to her. ‘So cliché,’ she grumbled internally. ‘Of course we bump into drunkards! What’s next, a threatening act?’

As if the drunkards had followed her thoughts, they immediately turned their attention on the two kids in front of them. The man in front, waved a bottle at them, hiccupping as he yelled, “Watch where you’re going, brats!”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Hikari bowed, pulling a frightened Naruto behind her. No doubt he recognized the bitter scent of cheap alcohol from his days in the Red Light District.

“I’m sorry about my brother.”

“You better be!” the man yelled again, taking sloppy steps towards them. Hikari immediately backtracked, scowling at the clear intimidation tactic. Seriously, were they so insecure that they felt the need to threaten kids?

“No one was harmed, so can you just let us go?”

“Nah, too easy,” another man drawled, a violent glint in his eyes. He cracked his fists, taking a step towards the children. “Gotta teach you stinking brats a lesson!”

Before Hikari could do more than roll her eyes in annoyance and prepare to jump away with Naruto, three figures materialized out of nowhere, surrounding the startled group of drunkards.

Obito grabbed the man who had been about to throw a punch by the back of his shirt, and casually tossed him over his shoulder, uncaring of how and where the idiot landed.

It was rather funny; the Uchiha was holding a box of what smelt like freshly-made karaage in one hand and was probably munching on a piece, while throwing a fully-grown adult man like a paper ball.

Kakashi cheerfully tripped a man who tried to run, hopping back when another tried to make a grab at him and kicking him to the ground. He shot an amused glance at Hikari and Naruto, who were laughing at the sight. “Can’t you two go anywhere without getting into trouble?”

“Right back at you, Kashi-nii!”

The last man still on his feet whimpered, utterly cowed by the cold smile Minato directed at him. “Now, what were you saying to my children?”

“I’m sorry!” the poor, pale as a ghost, man screamed, stumbling over his feet as he tried to get away from the absolutely demonic man in front of him.

The family of five watched as the scared as hell men ran away screaming, probably already sober thanks to the pure terror inflicted upon them by two teens and a man clearly younger than them.

“Are you two okay, Hikari, Naruto?”

Minato knelt in front of the children, looking over them with worried eyes. He knew that Hikari could take care of herself and Naruto with no problem, but he couldn’t help it.

“Daddy!” Naruto launched himself at the man, wrapping his short arms around his father’s neck with a giggle. “You came!”

“Of course. I’ll always come for you, Naruto.”

“Don’t we get a thanks too, shrimp?” Obito interjected, passing his box of food to Kakashi before grabbing Naruto and tossing him up into the air, making the toddler yell in delight.

“Not good with kids…right,” Hikari scoffed, raising an eyebrow at the Uchiha who was playing with the child. For all that Obito fussed and refused to take care of Naruto, he was almost always the first to entertain the toddler.

Minato smiled at the scene, lifting his daughter into his arms. “Obito was the one who was willing to babysit children when he was younger,” he said, taking a short trip down memory lane. “Kakashi always disappeared and even Rin wasn’t quite so enthusiastic at times.”

“I can imagine that,” the girl commented with a snort. She blinked when something was pressed into her ponytail, raising a hand to the item. Realizing that it was an ornament of sorts, she traced it with her fingers before pulling it out.

It was a hair stick, like she had deduced, with a cluster of small violet flowers at the end. The black-painted metal shone in the dim light of the festival lanterns, giving the ornament an elegant look.

“The flowers match Mom’s eyes…”

“I had the same thought,” Minato admitted, looking a little nervous. “Do you like it?”

Hikari held it up to the light to see it better, smiling at the simple but beautiful design. Plus, it was practical. “I love it. Thanks, Dad!”

Laughing when the man beamed at her, she undid her ponytail and let her hair spill down her back. She deftly gathered some of the locks, twisting them into a bun and sliding the ornament into the strands to keep them together.

Minato took in his family with a pleased smile, grinning when they returned the gaze.

“Shall we go get a proper dinner now?”