Hey, everyone. I thought it was time I wrote this. Part of the reason I wanted to create this story is because there aren't many stories about Obito that have a concept like this. The ones I have found were either unfinished, really short or just plain bad. So I want to take it upon myself to write a nice long story for other Obito fans out there who would like to see something like this. I also wanted to try a SI fic and see if it would work. The cover is just a placeholder at the moment, I may or may not change it.

But anyway... I'll write this story to the best of my ability, I'm aware there are a lot of authors on this site who'd probably do a better job than me. I just want to get this out there... in the words of Batman (I think) this will be "The story Fanfiction needs... but not the one it deserves." Or something like that.

I'd never been a religious person. I didn't really see why everything had to be the result of some big, all-powerful entity. Sometimes I wondered about existence, sometimes I wondered about what death was like. But really, I stuck close to science and provable facts. Occasionally exclaiming "Jesus Christ!" "Damn!" "God" etc was the extent of my religious vocabulary.

Even so, a part of me at least wished for some sort of afterlife concept. Just fizzling out into nothing upon death was a depressing thought. I'd read stories with different takes on death: you weren't really dead if you died, when people die they become part of the Earth, and many more imaginative theories. One of the most popular concepts, especially in fanfiction, was reincarnation.

People wrote stories about waking up as someone else, as an animal or in another world after dying. Sometimes they retained all their former knowledge and sometimes they didn't. There were stories within stories-someone died and woke up in a work of fiction; The Lion King, Pokemon, Halo, Doctor Who, you name it. The idea behind these was for the reincarnated people to interact with the world and it's characters in some way.

I admit, I could see how the idea of it had come to be. Books, movies, television, video games-they were all a form of escape. A way to immerse yourself in a world of memorable and endearing characters, diverse landscapes and incredible tales. It was no wonder people wished to actually go to places of such imagination. Even I did, on a small level. For the most part I was content to live my life-some fictional world would probably be too much for me anyway.

Funny how death puts things like that into perspective.

My body was wracked with shivers as I uncomfortably climbed into the grey car. Heavy rain had come out of seemingly nowhere and soaked me to the bone, sapping the last of my already paper-thin motivation to go to work. The wintry weather was blustery and sporadic, wreaking havoc on many people's timetables. But regardless, I got in, all but slammed the door and turned the key. I didn't like to drive; I was still new to it and it made me a little uneasy. I didn't have a full license, being 17, but was hoping to get one someday soon so I could at least get a confidence boost.

Yep, just another day in good ol' NZ. While getting ready for work my instinct was to grab my umbrella in case it rained, but remembering the pleasant weather forecast I instead prepared for sun. How wrong I was.

'I'd rather be late than soaked... "Sunshine all day" my ass.'

It was too late to trek back to the house and grab an umbrella, so I settled for muttering obscenities as I made my way onto the road.

My mood became as damp as my clothes when my thoughts shifted to work. Being a supermarket cashier wasn't the greatest job in the world. Screaming babies, impatient customers, technical glitches. I'd pursued the job because I needed cash and it was readily available. Deep down I'd hoped it would be fun, but the reality I was greeted with was as mundane as a slice of bread.

Luckily the job was as simple as it was boring; all I really had to do was scan produce and type away at a computer to verify payments. Some days when I came into work, I wondered whether being a cashier would be possible in the future. The automatic checkout machines indicated that was unlikely.

I drove along the familiar country road, trying to see past the combination of windshield wipers, torrential rain and howling wind. The conditions were hellish for just about anybody driving that day-and everybody walking. Despite being shielded from this bad weather by the car, I didn't feel any less cold and wet. Water was beginning to soak into my seat.

'What a shitty day... should've just stayed home and pretended to be sick.'

Normally I liked the rain, but this was just excessive.

As I drove towards the familiar intersection, I saw a pair of girls on the side of the road, about my age. They looked around, and when I got closer they ran across the road.

"Shit!" I cursed in alarm and hastily swerved to avoid them, but failed to see the vehicle turning towards me in the confusion

CRUNCH

The pair of cars collided heavily, sending my car tumbling over sideways from the impact. All I could see was the world spinning and dimming before me; all I could hear was the horrendous squeal of twisting metal and the crash of a fence breaking.

When everything around me was no longer a rush of sound and motion I tried to see what was going on. The car was flipped over, on the fringe of an empty field. I was jammed in my seat, arms hanging uselessly with the rest of me. Something warm and sticky was gushing out of my head and dripping onto the roof of the car.

"Damn... maybe I could just... put it back in..." I mumbled, delirious with blood loss

'What a way to die...'

My last glimpses of the world were upside-down and blurry.

For a moment, I felt nothing. When that moment ended, I felt myself being yanked sideways like a ragdoll. I was being pulled so fast I was barely aware of it-then I felt the sudden jarring sensation of slamming into something.

All I saw was muffling darkness. After a few seconds, a soft light appeared that became brighter.

'If the whole "Light" thing is real... does that mean afterlife exists and I'm going to heaven? Well, either that or I survived somehow and I'm waking up.'

I could still think; somehow I was still "Conscious". As improbable as it was, I must have survived.

I opened my eyes. Everything was blurred, and I could hear muffled sound in the background. One thing I noticed was white-lots of it, moving to and fro at a frantic pace.

'Am I in the hospital?'

My vision cleared somewhat and sure enough I could make out medical equipment-machinery, drips, beds, figures I assumed to be people running around in white clothes. However, there was something weird about it all-everything was huge. I was lying on a soft bed, but it seemed to envelop me. It was moving too-was I doing that? I wondered if I was drugged up on meds.

Suddenly, impossibly, I was picked up.

'What...? You don't just pick a near-adult up that easily..'

My hearing caught up with my vision and I listened curiously to voices above and around me.

"She seems to be healthy, madame. No abnormalities."

"Then why is she so quiet?!"

Something was off about this-everything looked so... different. It reminded me of some sort of art style and was familiar to me, but my thoughts were muddled and I couldn't remember why. I peered over the arm I was held in and saw a brown-haired woman below me. She appeared exhausted, her weary blue-grey eyes fixed on me. They held a strange emotion. Coupled with a tired smile it looked almost like elation.

I began making connections, realization dawning on me.

'Was I just born? Again?'

I looked at the nurse bending over the woman-my mother-and I saw something that shocked me even more. Light glinted off a steel plate attached to a headband-a forehead protector. What really caught my attention was the symbol on it-a spiral capped with a small triangle. These forehead protectors-hitai-ate-were from a place I knew well. Glancing around, I noticed the other staff wearing them as well. Everything clicked as I also remembered where I'd seen this art style before.

'But.. that's...'

I hadn't just been born again, but born into another world entirely-the world of Naruto. I reacted to this realization in the only way my chubby baby body could-I screamed and cried like crazy.

My new mother let out a sigh of relief at my noise, and I was placed in her arms. She hummed to me softly, and perhaps as a side-effect of my infantile body, I felt soothed. The thought that I was in a completely different universe weighed heavily on me, but something else was on my mind.

'So I know where I am but... when am I?'

I knew the storyline of Naruto relatively well-and for all I knew the Nine Tails was about to attack, or maybe Pain or Orochimaru. In any of those circumstances I'd likely be dead quickly. There was at least one thing I was sure of; based on my surroundings and the existence of Konoha, I was in a time after it's founding.

'I need to know who the current Hokage is-then I'll at least have a rough idea of the timeline. Or I look out for key characters. In that case, if I see someone from Naruto's time hobble past as an old person I'm totally screwed.'

"Have you decided a name for the child, madame?" one of the doctors asked boredly, holding a pen and clipboard

"Yes, I have. She will be called... Yoku Uzumaki."

'Yoku... that doesn't sound too bad. Uzumaki? Does that mean I'm related to any of the Uzumakis I know of?' the prospect was interesting, but for all I knew this was well after the lifetimes of anyone I recognized. I was satisfied with my new name, at least.

My mind raced as I recalled the abilities of the Uzumaki.

'Let's see... they have large chakra reserves, tend to live long lifespans... and wasn't there that thing where they can transfer chakra via biting? Yuck.'

I decided to get a better look at my new mother-after all, I'd like to get an idea of what I might end up looking like.

My vision was still a little blurred, what with me being only about ten minutes old-physically-but what I could make out was a soft face smiling down at me warmly. She had straight dark brown hair that fell to the nape of her neck, a slightly oval-shaped face and large round blue-grey eyes. Her skin was slightly tanned, with a tint of pink. Her gentle features classed her as pretty, though not extremely beautiful. For some reason, she struck me as familiar.

The loving look she had indicated that she cared a great deal for me. Already I was warming up to her; perhaps this new life wouldn't be so bad.

My mother and I were left alone for a while so that she could recover from childbirth. This gave me time to think, and think I did. There wasn't much else to do since my tiny body couldn't move that well.

The first thought that popped into my head was 'Where's my father?'

There were several possibilities:

A. He's dead

B. He's a good-for-nothing bum that wants no part in my life

C. He's a shinobi and is off on a mission

D. He's busy with something else

I hoped it was C or D. If he was a good dad, at least.

I decided not to dwell on it-too many 'what-ifs' and I'd become like Omoi. I'd probably find out what the deal was soon anyway.

Next I thought about what to do with my knowledge of this universe.

'Hmm... if I'm in an era I recognize I might change some things for the better. If it's the start of Naruto's era, I'll probably try to find Sasuke and explain to him about Itachi so he doesn't become a psychopath, try to improve Sakura's confidence, and be friends with Naruto so he isn't sad and lonely... and then eventually I'll go kill Danzo because he's an evil kid-manipulating mass-murdering bastard.'

Out of all the characters in the Narutoverse, Danzo was the one I disliked the most. Simply because he wasn't that interesting and seemed to hold no redeeming qualities, at least to me. Not to mention he inadvertently caused several terrible events. I was glad when Sasuke finally killed him. It occurred to me that messing with the storyline could have consequences, but frankly I didn't care. I'd be damned if I was reborn into this world just to let the story play out the way it did.

'If it's before Naruto's time... I'm going to find a way to stop Obito from becoming what he did.'

On the flipside of the coin, Obito was my favorite character. If there was one thing I could change, I'd stop his life from being so depressing. Which would mean preventing him from being crushed, or keeping Rin alive. But then, that depended on a whole lot of things. Mainly whether I'd be able to interact with him at all, or if I could become strong enough to do it.

Despite efforts to fight it, sleep eventually enveloped me. Babies get tired really easily I guess.

When I woke up, I was being carried through the village. The sun was shining above me and onto people as they went about their lives. It was fascinating, seeing all those people in such a big, generally friendly community.

My vision moved to the mountains, and that's when I remembered-the Hokage Monument.

I focused my baby-vision as much as I could and managed to get a good look. The faces were expertly etched in the natural rock, each one with a determined look fixed upon it's eternal visage. Truly, they were a sight to behold. There were three, each one recognizable to me. Hashirama, the founder, user of wood style. His brother Tobirama the second, the stoic master of water style. Lastly was Hiruzen Sarutobi, proficient in many jutsu and wise beyond his years.

That meant that right now was anywhere between Hiruzen having recently becoming Hokage, to Minato about to do so.

'Well, I guess there's no helping Naruto and co. for the time being since they don't yet exist. Then again, it'll be a few years before I can do anything anyway. Ugh.'

So... there's chapter 1. Please leave a review, follow, fav, whatever! I gotta know if people are gonna crucify me for this or not. Yoku means "Well" in japanese-I picked it because she's meant to be seen as a healthy being. Or maybe just because I liked how it sounded. Also, I did hint at who Yoku's mother is related to, though just who and how is up to you guys to guess.. for now. I will release chapters as briskly as I can, but I will have to stop and research certain details so I don't screw up jutsu names or continuity like I did in TAP 2 (which I will update soon, I promise. Chapter 7 is almost finished). Yes, this is a SI fic, though not hugely. I'm testing the waters of this area, so don't be surprised if I make a few mistakes. Also, I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me what the flower Obito's holding on the cover is, I can't recall it's name.

Next chapter there's some time skipping, because babies are boring and can't do much.