A/N.: Okay, so I know I shouldn't start another, but my muse is just a little bit mental, so it just jumps me with new shit when I'm not paying attention, so here it is.
Uzumaki Naruto had enough! Fuck everybody, he'll go and get himself a life!
After years of ignoring, glaring and hostility just shy of physical abuse, these were the last thoughts of Naruto before he left Konoha. The grown-ups hated him seemingly without a reason and their children followed in their footsteps.
Naruto suffered long without knowing anything and finally he had enough. They didn't want him, so he would find a better place for himself. They won't miss him even at the orphanage, and he won't miss them. He may only be a seven years old child, but he knew quite a bit about survival already. So he decided to take his chances.
No one saw him leaving. No one missed him. The Hokage only found out three months later when he visited the orphanage with a proposition to Naruto. He would've got his own apartment if he had joined the Academy. When he found out, he was already too late.
Uchiha Itachi was in Hell. After talking to Danzou it seemed he had two choices. Either suffer an internal war in Konoha, or murder his own family. Decidedly they weren't as picture perfect as they liked to pretend, but they were kin. There HAD to be another way!
"I can help you." Itachi jerked around, suddenly realizing that he wasn't alone.
The man standing only a few feet from him was wearing a black cloak hiding his clothes and most of his body, and a mask with a swirl on it showing one sharingan eye and a messy mop of black hair. While not entirely reassuring, the eye brought him back from the edge.
"What do you mean?" He asked, curious now. He wasn't hopeful, but if he actually got a better option, Itachi was sure to take it, or flee from the stranger if necessary. He was after all not likely to take on somebody who could sneak up on him.
"First, my name is Tobi. Once I was part of the clan, but that's a long story. It's enough for you to know, that I was your polar opposite. I've seen a bad side of the clan, because I wasn't up to their standards. You've seen a bad side because you were. What does it tell you?" Itachi was staring at the other man, starting to dread the conclusion. He knew he would choose the village over his family but he was still horrified at the prospect. "Well, I'm not sure they deserve it, but we can give them a last chance. If they take it or not, that's up to them." Itachi was flabbergasted. It was such an easy solution. Sure they had virtually no time, but it was manageable.
"How would we accomplish that?" He asked. He would play along, but keep an eye on the other hoping against all hope that this man would turn out to be his guardian angel in disguise or something.
"Well, that's easy. Ask your father for a meeting with all the ninja in the clan for tomorrow. I'll be there as well, if you don't mind. Making them see all their faults should be hilarious!" You could hear him smirking under the mask, his eye crinkling in amusement. "And making them realize what they do to the children, hell, any consequence of their actions is bound to hurt their pride, so either we have fun watching, or we have fun fighting it out." He closed his eye, but Itachi was quite sure it was a wink in fact. He simply inclined his head, showing that he understood and would go with it, and the stranger disappeared.
Now that he thought about it, making his family see reason could even be entertaining.
He mused and debated the way back home, working out how to present this to his father to look innocent but serious enough for him to comply. Thinking of the place and the actual time of the meeting, even some observations of his that he wanted to share later.
He wasn't even thinking of the stranger. Luckily, Tobi really was there to help him, but he would only acknowledge it consciously later.
Obito was a bit flustered. Helping Itachi and gaining some entertainment while helping his idiotic family was no problem, but in the middle of talking to the young teen, he felt Zetsu's presence, which meant they had another watched person on the move. He successfully wrapped up there, and now he was on his way to his companion.
When he arrived, the only reaction he got was "Nine". But it was enough. It was Naruto's codename.
After spying on his family and village some years ago Obito got to see what he wouldn't have paid attention to otherwise. It seemed the nice village with warm welcomes was mistreating a little child. In his spying it was easy to discover why and also that the kid had no idea. After these revelations Obito placed a white Zetsu to every known jinchuuriki, and would search for the others, finding all eight of them, and the Sanbi peacefully sitting in the middle of its fog in a lake. With all the white Zetsus watching, he could look out for such discrimination, and he already talked to a little boy in Snow, giving him a new place, and training him. He also had a few adults working with him, who were nukenin, but mostly just had enough of their village in one way or another.
The most active members were Nagato and Konan, though he had to have a long talk with them before, making them see, that they could make these children happy, they could give the kids what they wanted and needed, healing instead of destroying. The argument was long and there were tears and fighting, but now they were practically the surrogate parents of both Haku and Gaara. And while the redhead was a bit too young, after seeing the assassination attempt, the Uchiha just couldn't leave him there. It seemed Naruto made his choice, so it was now time to act.
They made their way towards the village, but to their surprise, the blond was already outside the walls. He was an accomplished prankster of at least two years - no matter how little the pranks were in the beginning - and not being caught was an integral part of that. This made the raven a bit more nervous, but there was nothing else to do, but square his shoulders and confront the little tyke. He took a deep breath, steadying himself, and hopped down from his vantage point landing before Naruto.
The kid went straight ass over kettle in fright, trying to simultaneously stop, turn, and ready himself for battle. Without his consent Obito let out a chuckle. He couldn't help it, it was just too adorably clumsy. Watching the terrified kid sprawled on the ground, he made a split second decision.
He kneeled down, removing his mask and watching how the blond would react to his half-ruined face. What happened next wasn't what he was expecting.
Naruto was staring alright, that was going according to plan, but he was staring into Obito's eyes, his own almost popping out in disbelief. After a few minutes, Naruto finally asked "How come your eyes aren't cold?"
It sent Obito staring dumbly at the child. The things registering in his mind were the following. Naruto didn't seem to care about his face, shockingly. The kid saw how those imbeciles looked at him in the village - no wonder he left. And he could distinguish that look from his own, wary but more curious and well-meaning than anything. He was also stating this quite simply, but clearly - so he wasn't stupid like he portrayed himself to the population of Konoha. Funny how such an innocent question could be one heck of an eye opener, the Uchiha mused.
He cleared his throat, not wanting to give the little one time to start drawing false conclusions. Finally, he said, "I know the difference". After picking Naruto's interest, he sat down, and waited for him, to follow the example.
"What I'm about to tell you, is partly a secret in the village. A secret, that sadly most people know, but their judgment is clouded by their feelings." He started, already deciding to tell the kid about his sensei too, giving a whole picture. Maybe slower, but he was going to tell the basics today. If Naruto would come with them, he would hear more later. "To start at the beginning, I have to say, I was part of Konoha once. I was a ninja, with a nice and strong sensei, and two teammates." He was starting to look and feel nostalgic, so he tried concentrating a bit harder. "My sensei's name was Namikaze Minato. You might know him as the Yondaime Hokage, or the fourth face on the mountain. What you can't see there, is that he had cerulean eyes like yours, and wild blond hair." Okay, so that was a fairly obvious hint, but he'll spell it out, it was part of the story.
"He fell in love with a red haired girl, named Uzumaki Kushina." There seemed to be comprehension, and wary hope in Naruto's eyes. Obitos just hoped he didn't mess this up.
"She had a temper, and when she felt excited, you could hear her saying '-tebane' like there's no tomorrow." He was smiling at the memory, and saw Naruto flush a bit at his last remark, no doubt seeing where his own habit came from. "The only complication was, she had a demon sealed in her belly. The Kyuubi no Kitsune. When she became pregnant, they were happier than ever, already loving their child. But when he was born, the seal on her belly gave away. She and Minato sacrificed their life and their son to seal away the beast again, preventing it from destroying the village and hurting more people. They wanted their baby to be a hero to the village, day after day saving them from doom simply by being." He was talking softly, slowly, watching for any and every reaction on Naruto's face. Now the blond seemed conflicted, so he just continued, hoping for the best.
"But the people only saw the demon, their lost ones, and hurt you without reason. The Third took back the hat, and declared your status a secret. That didn't prevent anyone from thinking what they wanted. I know this place was important for your parents, but they don't deserve you, nor do you deserve the suffering."
He took a deep breath, waiting a few seconds for this to settle, and then plunged forward. "I see the difference between the Kyuubi and you, I know you are two different entities and that most likely you didn't even have contact with each other, so he didn't even influence you. So I want to ask. Would you come live with me?" After asking his question, he looked so hopeful, that even Naruto wouldn't deny him, not that he wanted. Finally here was someone who wanted him, who knew his parents, who was willing to take him. A beautiful smile bloomed on Naruto's face, lighting it up and being mirrored by Obito's.
"Yosh! I have a business to take care of, but after tomorrow, we're going home!" He exclaimed. "Oh, by the way, my name is Obito." He added embarrassed, scratching his head with one hand, and stretching the other towards Naruto, who took it, smiling widely, and shaking it enthusiastically.
"Nice to meet you!" He said. Then slowly the grin faded to an uncertain expression. "Ummm... So what about tomorrow?" He asked.
"Oh, right. This, " - here, he gestured for Zetsu to come out of his hiding place - "is Zetsu. He will be with you while I'm at a meeting with the Uchihas. If everything goes well, you'll see the whole thing from Zetsu's side, or inside his Venus-trap. If there's a problem and it comes to fighting, you both will hide and go to a safe place, to wait for me." He said, on one hand explaining the situation to Naruto, on the other giving the half-plan half-man his orders.
"And now that everything's settled, we should go, sleep some." Obito concluded, looking at his companions for any objections, but seeing none, he scooped up a suddenly flailing blond and took off to the nearest Uchiha safe house. He wouldn't let a child spend a night in the wild if he could help it. He would hear about Itachi from another white Zetsu tomorrow.
A/N.: Yup, this is it. Please note, I didn't say if the Evil Twin was in my story or in canon. :P :)
Aaand don't fret, I'll talk about how Naruto feels about all the information Obito shared here. He'll have some time instead of sleeping - I may even include Kyuubi, though don't even think about fem!Kyuubi 'cause I'm not doing THAT! He's a great, powerful and fearsome demon - it's just perverse to make it a girl. (I'm female myself, I just can't imagine it that way. Just, no.)
2013.04.04.