A Flicker In Time

Chapter 2

Minato groaned as he forced his eyes to open. Rubbing his forehead with the palm of his hand, he let out a hiss as he eased away some of the pounding feeling in his head. Propping himself with an elbow, Minato eased himself into a sitting position.

Everything was different. They were still in what looked like the Hokage's archives, but the arrangement of the shelves had drastically changed. There were more scrolls in the room than before. Even the color of the walls, tiles of the floors, and the ceiling had changed. It was almost like...they were in a remodeled version of the room?

By the time that fact had sunk into Minato's mind, both Obito and Kakashi were up on their feet as well. The scroll that Obito had was notably missing.

"Look what you've done," Kakashi accused. "We don't know where we are or how long we'll be stuck here."

Before Obito could respond back, Minato interjected. "Can one of you explain to me exactly what that scroll was?"

With a guilty look on his face, Obito informed him of the situation.

Time travel, huh?

Minato nodded. "There's no use in blaming Obito for what happened, Kakashi. What has happened has happened. If the scroll said we can't go back until the future has run its course, then I imagine that there are things that we need to see before the scroll will move us along. First, we need to locate that person who is close to us so we can have a better idea of where we're at."

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. Where do you suggest we start then?"

"The Hokage's office!" Obito piped up.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "You just want to see if you became Hokage."

"Not true," Obito insisted. "If we know who the Hokage is, then we'll have a better idea of what time period we're in."

Minato smiled at Obito. "That's a great idea." Kakashi didn't say anything in response, just simply followed them out of the archives and towards the Hokage's office.

Minato knocked on the door lightly. There was no response. He swung open the door, revealing an empty chair with a pile of paperwork on the corner of the desk. The window was left open, the breeze filtering into the room and sweeping the top paper off the stack. The paper fluttered through the air before it gently settled on the ground.

The three of them piled into the room. Kakashi bent down to pick up the piece of paper, but it didn't reveal much besides a list of names that he didn't recognize.

Minato whirled around when he heard footsteps coming. Not a minute later, a person rushed into the room. His mouth was open, ready to explain their presence but the person's eyes simply brushed over them.

"Damnit, why am I always responsible for making sure he's on time? This is too troublesome," the man muttered. A Nara, if Minato had to guess from the similar hairstyle and facial features as Shikaku Nara. Perhaps his son?

The Nara was grown up, perhaps in his mid twenties so that possibly meant they were possibly two generations into the future.

"Excuse me," Minato called out, trying to get Nara's attention. The Nara ignored him as he stuck his head out through the open window, surveying the vicinity.