MINAKO'S POINT OF VIEW

I looked dreamily at the sleeping Anbu next to me. His silver hair was loose around his face and sticking up around the pillow. My legs were a little sore from our 'activities' a few hours prior but I stood up to stretch them out. I couldn't sleep, despite it being so late. I quickly put on Kakashi's shirt so I had something covering me, before going to the window. I opened it to let some fresh air in before turning around to stretch my arms.

"Having trouble sleeping Mina." I froze at the familiar voice before turning to see the man who hasn't visited me in a while. Ever since he kissed me. The orange swirly mask revealed only a single red eye, the color of my hair, the sharingan.

"Who are you and what do you want?" I whispered with suspicion...but for some reason I wasn't afraid. I knew he wouldn't hurt me...but what did he want? He extended his gloved hand to towards me before responding.

"Come with me and I'll answer all of your questions." The offer was tempting... I looked over to see Kakashi peacefully sleeping, snoring slightly. He'll be alright for a little bit. I slowly placed my hand in the man's knowing full well that he wouldn't hurt me. He quickly swept me up in his arms despite my protest but said he didn't want me to run on bare feet. He was strangely thoughtful...

He took me to a burnt out firepit in the dark woods, a small makeshift cabin on the side. I should have been scared, terrified even, but for some reason, I felt comfortable. As if I've known this masked man my whole life. Kurama was reacting oddly... Not too kindly.

I remember this chakra... He is strong... I just can't remember where I last encountered it. Be on guard. Kurama warned me despite our...interesting relationship. Luckily the Fox and I have a somewhat strong bond, unafraid to work together if it meant staying alive. I took his warning to heart and observed as the masked man put me on a tree stump and then sat across from me. He used a low grade fire jutsu to light the fire. My legs instantly warmed up from being close to the flames. My face immediately flushed a bright red when I remembered I wasn't wearing pants... And more importantly, underwear.

"D-d-did you see anything ya know!?!" I questioned in a panic. The masked man chuckled with a laugh I have heard before... I just can't remember from who.

"Maybe. But I'm not telling." I felt like fainting. SO EMBARRASSING! I quickly masked my embarrassment and swallowed my pride.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" I asked. The man adjusted his posture so he could poke at the fire with a stick.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He said, a hint of sadness in his voice. I almost felt bad for the man before remembering that he kissed me a few years prior and stalked me.

"Try me." He sighed before looking up at me, seeing my serious expression and lack of a speech impediment.

"Mina... I have watched you for a long time. I have protected you and hid the fact you are a jinchuriki from a few very powerful people. Trust me when I say I have been by your side since we were children, when you first asked me if we would attend the Academy together. If I could go back in time and told you the day I met you how I really felt. Maybe I would be the one that would have put the ring on your finger." I was surprised, listening and thinking who he could possibly be. I knew it must have been obvious, but the name I wanted to say just wouldn't come forward. 

That's impossible. It couldn't be him. He's dead.

"Me being here has nothing to do with what I want from you. I just want you. I love you." He looked down at the charm bracelet I was wearing...

"You still wear this? After all this time?" I loved this bracelet... The one Obito gave me right before he-

The sharingan, the black hair, his obsession with protecting me, knowledge about my childhood...

You wouldn't believe me if I told you.

Mina.

It has to be him.

I quickly tore off the mask and looked at the scarred face of the man I used to walk along the Konoha streets with. The one who knew me better than I knew myself. The man that I last saw trapped under rocks.

"Obito." I spoke breathlessly as I stared at his face. His face was severely scarred on his right side, his single sharingan eye was revealed. His left eye was closed, his jaw was chiseled and strong. Tears welled in my eyes as I started crying, feeling my chest pulse under the heavy beating of my heart. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him close, him wrapping his arms around my waist. I've never felt such complete and utter relief in my life.

"Obito! Obito! I thought you were dead. I missed you so much! Please come home. You can stay here, live with Kakashi and I. Please just stay with me!" I begged as I wept. Obito sighed before leaning into my touch, molding himself to me.

"I can't Mina. In fact, you knowing who I am is dangerous. No one could know what you saw tonight. Not Kakashi, not your friends, not anyone. I have some business to take care of...so trust me, okay?" 

As much as my heart screamed for me to shout that he was alive until the sky could hear me, I nodded with hiccups interrupting each of my breaths. Obito wouldn't hide if it wasn't for a reason. He wasn't that type...and if what he said was true about hiding the fact I'm a jinchuriki from powerful people, it must mean something was going on that the village was unaware of.

Instead of heading back home, I took the night to catch up with Obito...to tell him how much Kakashi and I missed him...to tell him about Naruto...to tell him the things I just couldn't admit to anyone else. It was like we were kids again for a moment...and with the flickering light of the campfire on my face, I was no longer a mother soaked in agony and loss.

I was just Mina, a little girl that suffered far too much pain in her short little life. Having Obito here made that weight on my chest feel just a bit lighter...and I would watch the sun rise in the horizon knowing that through all of my suffering, at least I still had my boys.

~~

TIME SKIP
A FEW MONTHS

"Itachi...Shisui...where are you?" I spoke to myself quietly. I was waiting to meet up with my students to talk about wedding plans but they both have yet to arrive, completely unlike their Uchiha character. I was sitting at the small tea shop, waiting with a small cup of oolong I had. Naruto was at a friend's house playing and Kakashi was on a short mission, leaving me bored with my thoughts. For some reason, I got a tingling feeling about my two students, as if they were in danger. I quickly drank my tea and paid before running outside towards the Uchiha compound. The place was quiet, unusually, before I heard someone appear behind me. I turned to see Itachi's father wearing his Konoha Police uniform, a stern expression on his face.

"Fugaku! Thank goodness. I think Itachi is in trouble, I can just feel it ya know." He sighed before placing a hand on my shoulder, his dark eyes held stress and anxiety.

"Minako, I actually wanted to talk to you about him. He's fine right now, him and Shisui are just running late at an Anbu meeting." I sighed in relief before connecting my violet to his obsidian.

"Okay let's talk." Fugaku walked with me before stepping into a small alley, pulling me with him.

"Something is going on with Itachi and Shisui. They are being distant... Unusually distant. I have a feeling something is going to happen soon." He said quietly. I furrowed my eyebrows and crossed my arms.

"That's strange... They never act that way around me. Maybe just the stress of their job is getting to them ya know?" I suggested. Fugaku shook his head before sighing.

"There's something I should tell you." I felt nervous anticipation fill my gut as I listened to Fugaku intently. It was unusual for him to be so trustworthy of an outsider of his clan... But I knew I was the only exception. After all, we were practically family.

"You see... Ever since the nine tails attack, the Anbu had been keeping a close eye on the Uchihas. They believed that someone used a sharingan to manipulate the beast. I know for a fact that none of us had done this, meaning it was possible that a rogue was the culprit. Danzo, a man on the council, wants the Uchihas to be eliminated. He sees us as a threat. If we don't overthrow the council, our very lives will be in danger. I am nervous that Itachi and Shisui have been targeted by Danzo as well. Please... Even if they want you to leave, please protect them. They are the Uchiha's future." I swallowed hard, feeling a cold sweat break out all over my body. Overthrow the council? Eliminate the Uchihas? What has Konoha come to?!

"Fugaku... Are you saying that we could very well be immersed into a civil war soon?" I whispered fearfully. That means... If the Anbu are after the Uchihas...

Kakashi...would he be ordered to kill our friends? Itachi...Shisui...what would happen to them? They are still just kids...

Fugaku nodded before looking at me straight in the eyes.

"Yes. If the Uchiha win, then we will be the new leaders of the village. The Third would have no choice but to step down. The Uchihas would have power and wouldn't be oppressed any longer." I felt sick to my stomach at this new information. The shock remained in my system when I remembered something.

"You said that Itachi and Shisui were held late at an Anbu meeting?" Fugaku nodded, curious as to what I was saying.

"... And Danzo is associated with directing certain factions of Anbu units..." I continued. His eyes widened when he caught onto what I was saying. I turned and ran towards the building where the Anbu are supposed to be held in meetings and I sensed Shisui's chakra nearby.

Kurama, help me find them. I demanded of my demon. He growled before lending power in my eyes, the purple iris turning red. I could see everything Kurama would have the power to see. I saw the chakra of my boys and ran towards them, seeing them flee flying shurikens and kunai.

"Itachi! Shisui!" I called out. I used my speed as the Red Flash to catch up to them deflecting a few that Shisui would have not noticed.

"Sensei!" They both called. I felt my teeth elongate when Kurama started to give me more power. I kicked off of a nearby tree and flew straight towards whoever was attacking my students. I immediately drew one of Minato's kunai and threw it at the one Anbu agent chasing them. They barely dodged but I teleported behind him through the kunai, rasengan ready. I hit him square in the back; throwing the man forward to hit a tree in the distance and knocking him out. I had to turn around quick to hit the other one in the face which broke his mask and nose in the meantime. He fell down from the tree tops causing me to jump down as well. The young Anbu landed on the ground with a thud, Itachi and Shisui appearing behind me. Shisui dropped the knocked out Anbu next to the one I just hit which revealed my boys' attackers.

"Damn Mina Sensei. Even after us being in the Anbu for a couple months, we still couldn't compare to you. We still got a lot to learn, eh Itachi?" Shisui joked. I nodded, my eyes and teeth returning to normal.

"Right. Now let's see who's under the masks ya know." My students nodded before surrounding the fallen Anbu. I took the mask off of the one to see a child that looked fourteen years old. I looked to the other with a broken and bleeding nose to see him terrified, never experiencing this before. He looked to be the same age.

"Itachi, get him to talk." I called out to him. Itachi lifted up his mask and used his sharingan to stare into the kid's eyes. Not after long, the boy slumped to the ground and Itachi looked at me with panic in his eyes.

"These boys are from Danzo's ROOT division. Their focus was to kill Shisui and I to get our eyes and return them to him. He also plans on the Uchiha and the Leaf to get into a civil war, him able to take power in the chaos. Whatever we do, we have to stop that civil war. Even if it means going against the clan. Shisui, Sensei... Are you in?" Shisui put his hand out which Itachi did as well.

"Of course." Shisui said. Both of my young, bright students looked back at me as I felt my stomach churning. I looked at little Itachi who has grown so much, and Shisui who kept pushing him... I couldn't have asked for better students. I smiled before putting my hand on top of theirs.

"I'll stand with you, after all, I did promise you guys that, ya know?"