Chapter Text
The forest bordering the Land of Grass was humid, smelling of wet moss and imminent rain. It was the height of the Third Great Ninja War, and the air was usually thick with tension.
Today, however, it was thick with the sound of Obito Uchiha complaining.
"Why do we have to be the test subjects?" Obito groaned, adjusting his orange goggles.
"I thought we were on a recon mission, Sensei!"
"Quit whining, Obito," young Kakashi Hatake snapped, wiping grease from his chokutō. He was thirteen, sharp-edged, and currently very annoyed.
"Minato-sensei is refining a space-time barrier. It’s crucial for the war effort. If you’d read the briefing, you’d know that."
"I read the briefing!" Obito lied, crossing his arms. "I just think Rin shouldn't have to stand in the mud."
Rin Nohara smiled gently, her hands glowing faintly with medical chakra as she checked the perimeter. "It’s okay, Obito-kun. I’m happy to help Sensei."
Minato Namikaze knelt in the center of a clearing, surrounded by four specialized kunai arranged in a perfect square.
He was sweating, his spiky blonde hair plastered to his forehead. He held a brush dipped in sealing ink, meticulously drawing a complex array on the ground that connected the four blades.
"Alright, team," Minato beamed, looking up with that disarming, sunny smile that made enemies tremble. "This is a modification of the Flying Raijin. Instead of moving myself to a marker, I’m trying to move a specific area of space to a different marker. It’s theoretical physics applied to fuinjutsu."
"Words, Sensei," Obito muttered.
"I’m trying to make a teleportation trap," Minato simplified. "If we step inside this square, we should instantly appear at the training grounds back in Konoha. It saves travel time."
"Ideally," Kakashi added dryly.
"Ideally!" Minato agreed. "Now, I need a massive influx of chakra to jump-start the temporal shift. Obito, your Fire Style usually carries a lot of volatile energy. Kakashi, your Lightning Style provides the speed. Rin, you stabilize the center."
"Got it!" Obito pumped a fist.
"Ready," Kakashi said, activating his Chidori.
The chirping of a thousand birds filled the clearing.
"On my mark," Minato said. His expression sharpened. The playful teacher vanished, replaced by the Yellow Flash. "Three. Two. One. Mark!"
Kakashi thrust his Chidori into the eastern node. Obito unleashed a Fireball into the western node. Rin poured stability into the center.
Minato slammed his hands down to activate the seal.
But something went wrong.
A drop of rain fell from the grey sky. It landed directly on the wet ink of the sealing formula, causing a single character—the kanji for 'Distance'—to smudge into the kanji for 'Time'.
The formula didn't glow yellow. It glowed a violent, blinding violet.
"Sensei?" Rin gasped, feeling the ground lurch beneath her.
"Wait!" Minato’s eyes widened as he saw the ink run. "Stop the chakra flow! Everyone, jump back!"
"I can't!" Obito yelled. "I'm stuck!"
The gravity in the clearing multiplied by a thousand. The trees bent inward. The sound of the world was sucked away, replaced by a high-pitched ringing.
"Grab on to me!" Minato roared, launching himself at his students. He managed to grab Kakashi’s vest and Obito’s collar, while Obito grabbed Rin’s hand.
The violet light swallowed them whole. The forest, the war, and the rain vanished.
They were falling through a kaleidoscope of clocks and stars, spinning until the nausea was unbearable.