Author's Note: New update! It has been a while… hopefully some of you are still with me. This is the official new first chapter, and I have also changed the title to just 'Obsession.' The old chapter 1 will be deleted soon, so disregard it for now.

It has come to my attention that Kakashi's background story is a little off-balance canonically, so I changed it up a bit to make more sense (hopefully).

Yo, if I'm getting called Satan already… well, put on your seatbelts, children. Because here we go. Thanks for the lovely reviews, everyone! I really appreciate that. This wouldn't be happening if it wasn't for your words of encouragement.

If anyone is interested in beta reading, please let me know.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any original Naruto characters. I do, however, own Naomi and her family, Yoshida-sensei, and any other characters that aren't originally in Naruto.

-KV

Obsession

Chapter 1

Oachi Naomi- Age 9, Student at Academy

I can't believe I'm finally ready to graduate. I've been waiting for this day for so long. All my friends will be graduating with me. I just know this year is my year! I'm going to follow in my father's footsteps. I can't wait! But…

There was a deep feeling in the pit of her stomach.

This feeling had begun that morning, right after breakfast. She hadn't been able keep it down. It was difficult to focus. It must have been the stress of finishing school and starting her career as a shinobi. Ironic, though, that it was contributing much more stress to the current situation. They were in the middle of exams. She was possibly seconds away from graduation. Her stomach made a disapproving noise. She was hoping not to gain any attention from it.

Looking around the classroom, she realized that everyone was busy focusing themselves. Students were being called in alphabetical order to the front of the class, where they were given a jutsu to perform solo. It was an easy enough test, meant only to make sure the students could use chakra on a basic level. Luckily, her father had already taught her a thing or two before she was even accepted into the academy. She didn't remember feeling too anxious about the exam until right at this moment.

"Nohara Rin," Yoshida-sensei called, before the brunette sitting to her left got up and went to the front of the classroom. Their eyes made quick contact, and Naomi flashed her a grin and a nod. Good luck, she meant to say.

Her stomach made another noise. Despite her internal pleading, whatever plague she had was not going away. Palms and face sweating, she tried to focus on Rin and ignore the growing pain in her abdomen. But soon her arms were shaking beyond her control, and she found more labor in trying to breathe.

Rin successfully completed a transformation jutsu into the person of her choice, which happened to be Uchiha Obito. The real version was in the seat on her right, with a rosy tint to his cheeks, grinning to himself at the sight. Rin returned to her seat. Another lurch of pain hit Naomi's stomach.

Shinobi rule number twenty says don't show weakness. That's what she kept telling herself. Her eyebrows furrowed, her forest green eyes still showing determination. She'd never been in a more pitiful state; her face was as pale as death, eyes were bloodshot. Her once peachy colored full lips were nearly the same sickly green as her clammy skin. Breathing just kept getting harder. No matter how many times she kept telling herself she wasn't sick, everything was growing worse by the minute. Something was wrong. She needed to throw up again. But she couldn't; she had to stay strong right now. If she couldn't do this, she'd never make it even as a genin.

It felt like someone was squeezing her stomach, and it stung in her chest. Jeez, I wish I could transform into a bottle of medicine to calm my stomach. But that wouldn't work because I'd have to drink myself. Or would it? Her eyes looked up in contemplation.

This is stupid. She mentally cursed at herself and took a deep breath as her eyes closed so she could try and focus on something else. There was no way she was going to pass this test in this condition, especially if it kept taking over her thoughts. But failing was unthinkable. Calm, focus. Her father's mantra, his voice, repeated in her head.

"Congratulations, Rin. You pass. Oachi Naomi," said Yoshida-sensei, smiling much too enthusiastically for her taste. Naomi stood, and wondered if she'd be able to meet his (or her own) expectations like this. Naomi wasn't that bad in school. She was no mastermind, but even she was surprised at her abilities. Her father had once bragged that she took after him, at least when it came to being a shinobi.

She made it to the front of the classroom alright, despite feeling dizzy. She flashed what she hoped was an adequate grin to Yoshida-sensei. Her back to the classroom, Naomi stood perfectly still with her hands in front of her in formation.

It was no coincidence that she woke up this morning feeling like something bad was about to start happening. With one last pang of discomfort in her stomach, her arms fell to grip her abdomen. She abruptly felt weak. The smile on Yoshida-sensei's face was wiped away, and then everything became blurry.

Naomi Oachi – Age 5, Shinobi-in-training

Oachi Naoji had dirty blond hair, dark brown eyes, and a very harsh façade. Most notably, he had a scar that extended from the corner of his mouth to his left ear. He hardly ever found a reason to smile. And most of the time, that reason was his daughter, Naomi.

The pair walked side-by-side down Konoha's main street at sunrise. The smell of food wafted around them as they passed the restaurants and shops that were opening for the day. Today, her dirty blond hair was messily braided into pigtails (she'd done it by herself). She wore the short kimono-style dress that her mother bought for her. It was pink with navy blue accents.

Naomi stopped for a moment to look at some flowers on display outside one of the shops. "Don't you have time to eat breakfast before you go?" the girl asked pleadingly. Her father smiled proudly, but shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Naomi. The Hokage has something important for me to handle today." Seeing her disappointment, he said, "When I get back I'll treat you to something. Okay?"

"Okay…" She sighed, but when they neared the flower shop she grinned and ran toward it. Outside the shop was a small assortment of daisies, which were her favorite. She chose a white one, and held it up for her father to see as he caught up. Naoji chuckled, patting his little girl on the head and paying for the flower.

Naoji was a jonin and worked under the Fourth Hokage for as long as Naomi could remember. Dedicated to his job and Konoha's safety, he was often away from home on an assignment. It was on one of these assignments, five years ago, that he met Keiko Fushima and they fell fast in love. Keiko would announce her pregnancy only two weeks later, and Naomi would become the most wonderful thing to ever happen to him.

He took the daisy from Naomi and placed it in her hair. "There," he said. "Now you are the most beautiful flower in Konoha." Catching her reflection in a window, she smiled and twirled.

At the academy, students and parents were gathered outside to celebrate the new graduating class. Among these was a friend of Naoji's, Hatake Sakumo, and his son Kakashi.

"Naoji," Sakumo greeted formally. "Naomi," he smiled down at her.

"Congratulations, Kakashi," Naoji mused. "Entering the academy at five years. Your father must be very proud."

"Thanks," the boy said cooly.

"Naomi won't be far behind," her father stated. He looked down at her with evident pride, and she felt her cheeks get hotter. They had begun training, but she wasn't even able to do anything with her chakra. Yet her father seemed pleased.

"If she's anything like you, Naoji, she'll be ready to graduate in no time." Sakumo placed his hand on Naomi's head and ruffled it a bit, and she was snapped out of staring at the younger Hatake. She and the silver-haired prodigy had been born a mere month apart, and since their fathers were so close, they knew each other somewhat well. But for the first time, he was wearing a mask over the lower half of his face.

She began fixing her hair and made sure her flower was still intact. For the next few days, their parents would be away. Sakumo and Naoji had a task from the Hokage, and Naomi's mother was still in Suma visiting family. The fathers agreed that Kakashi should keep an eye on her until either of her parents returned.

"Let's head to the Hokage's office," Sakumo said to Naoji.

The senior Hatake squeezed his son's shoulder and smiled before turning to leave. Naomi hugged her father once more. "See you kids in a couple days," her father promised. She and Kakashi waved them goodbye as they walked away.

Naomi Oachi- Age 14, genin

That night, she awoke with the strangest feeling. It could have been because there was an odd taste in the air. It could have been because the air was dense and dark; rain poured down from blackened clouds outside. It could have been because she felt something was wrong. It could have been because she could hear mother's quiet sobs in the distance.

At that moment Naomi hastily raised herself from the makeshift bed in the corner of her undersized bedroom; it lit up instantly with a flash of lightning that was closely followed by a sharp boom of thunder. Her immediate response was to collapse back onto her bed and cover herself with everything she had. But that wasn't what she did. Somehow, she was petrified. There was something holding her back. It could have been all the things that were bothering her. It could have been that mother's sobs were growing louder.

Her feet became cold and soggy as she trudged through the wide, black, hallway bit by bit, stopping every so often to listen to another noise she picked up: a man's deep voice. Daddy! Now her pace picked up to a jog. But somewhere near the end of the hallway, there was a rusty nail poking up from underneath the hard wood. She managed to just barely miss it, but her foot hit the wall to her right, and she let out a gasp as a quick sharp pain jabbed through two of her toes. On the other side of the door, the gasp was just loud enough to reach the ears of the man and the woman.

The crying stopped. As she opened the sliding door to the dining room, Naomi could see her mother hastily wipe away her tears. Steadily she made her way to the shadowed figure of the shaking woman, and didn't look back to see an older man shut the door after she came in. She could tell that something was wrong, not just because of the tears still forming in the middle-aged mother's sad eyes, but also because of the silence. Sitting in her mother's lap, she hugged her tight; it was traumatizing to see her mother in such despair. She'd already seen someone look like that one time in her life, and it wasn't because of anything good.

She looked up at the old man when she noticed, expecting it to be her father. It wasn't. Instead, standing before her with the same sadness as in her mother's eyes, was Kouji, a friend of the family. Just the fact that it was him standing there and not her father made her insides tighten up.

"Mom, what's wrong?"

A pause. The silence was there again for a few more seconds, and then there was a flash throughout the room and a long boom of deafening thunder. Then, like a terrible nightmare, three words that scared the life out of her uttered through the man's lips:

"Your dad's dead," he said, but shakily, as if he had a harder time saying it than she did hearing it. Having heard it for a second time, her mother began to cry all over again.

Oachi Naomi - Age 9

"Naomi…"

Her insides pulsed painfully hard, but she didn't respond. She could feel that her eyes were open, but the only thing she saw was pitch black. But there wasn't time to wonder if she had gone blind. Her mouth opened wide as a shriek of pain perpetrated the ears of her audience as they stood in a mob circle around her. It felt like someone stabbed her in the stomach with a knife and was twisting it around.

"Naomi!" her sensei screamed. But all she could do was writhe on the floor in pain.

Everyone in the circle was backed away by the frantic sensei, who had one of Naomi's shaking hands in his. Several students moaned anxiously when blood-colored fluid started spilling from her mouth. Her body heaved over and over again, desperate to empty all the contents of her stomach.

Tears were flowing from her eyes nonstop; the rims of her eyes were puffy and red and closed shut. There was so much blood rushing through her head that she couldn't hear her named being screamed hysterically.

"Go get a medic! Hurry!" he barked at a helpless student, who swiftly ran to the door.

"Naomi… it'll be okay… just lie down. You'll be fine," he tried to assure the weeping girl, stroking the hair out of her face and placing a cold rag on her forehead that had been previously retrieved by another student.

In the back of Naomi's mind, away from the debilitating aches, there lied the fear of not being able to become a ninja this year.