A/N: Hello to those whom may concern it, this is the first chapter of a story I've been thinking of writing for quite a while now. I know that I should not have started another multi-chaptered story, but I simply couldn't help myself.
I sincerely hope you'll like this little, but rather confusing, plot-bunny of mine. I hope that it will not be too confusing though... (And in advance, my apologies for 'out-of-characterness').
The setting is definitely AU, but with a little twist it can fit in canon somehow as well, I hope. Explanations will follow in upcoming chapters, and questions (and constructive criticism) are greatly welcomed.

This is my tribute to the progressions of the Naruto-manga. Please, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. This is a fanfiction-site, after all.

Chapter One
Obito and the Spirit Banquet

The forest was silent. It seemed as if the wind did not dare to blow, and as if no animal dared to breathe. Everything was immersed in some kind of utter, and unnatural stillness. No leaf moved, and no insect crawled upon the bark of trees. The faint light of the moon high above the foliage lit up the darkness just a little. It was as if something important was missing, but the absence of what was unknown. The entire forest was holding in its breath, as if it was expecting something to happen.

Not noticing the odd atmosphere, Uchiha Obito stomped through the thicket, intent on finding his way home. In the silence of the forest, his clumsy steps were unusually loud as he walked over dried leaves and twigs, crunching them with his sandals, leaving a trail of both sound and physical traces in environment.

The young teen – only thirteen years old – did not care he was being loud, or destructive. Somehow, he had gotten lost, and was wandering around in the forest for what felt like an entire day already. He had been hanging out with his friends Rin, Gai and Asuma just this morning; they had picnicked, but he'd managed to stray too far from them as they had started a what-should've-been short walk in the forest.

Grumbling – and definitely not crying – Obito kept on making his way through the prickly bramble and through the mud. After a while, he sat down on a log, and started removing the tiny thorns from the fabric of his clothes. He groaned, and wiped his eyes. He was tired, dirty, hungry and thirsty. His family must be worried sick, and Rin – oh, dear, sweet Rin – she must've been crying ever since they'd lost him! And he always felt terrible when Rin felt terrible because of him!
He tried to wipe his runny nose, and decided that going on would only lead him deeper into the forest. He would have to spend the night here, in the dirt, all alone. Obito stood up, and went to lie down behind the log. The boy was about to close his eyes when he caught sight of a movement.

He blinked.

Indeed, a small light appeared from the base of the log. The fickle light danced in front of his eyes, and it flew into the darker parts of the forests, where the light of the moon could not reach.

'A firefly.' Obito thought, 'It's just a firefly.' This thought was quickly forgotten when another faint light emerged from underneath the log – a flickering blue light, as if it were a snake slithering through the air, long and thin, a trail of bright smoke. Obito followed it with his eyes, unable to move. When he had mustered up some courage, he looked up, and from every direction, faint, odd-coloured lights in weird shapes floated in the sky. They moved silently, no leaf rustled as they passed by. Their presence was ghostly, but not eerily so. The young Uchiha swallowed.

The lights were all moving into the same direction, deeper into the forest. It was that moment Obito realized that the whole time he'd been wandering, there had been no sound at all, and he felt terribly afraid. He laid next to the log, and tried desperately to not make any sounds, not wanting to attract the attention of whatever was floating above him. His heart was pounding into his ears, and his blood rushed, fear taking hold of him.

When three orange lights jumped past him, much like frogs, his fear slowly subsided. These things did not seem to bear any interest in him. Shortly after the three hopping lights, more of them emerged, and now both ground and sky were the terrain of the faint, flickering lights.
The longer Obito watched them, the more comfortable he grew. The sudden disappearance of his fear did not seem odd to him, and he felt strangely relieved watching the lights pass him by. In an impulse, the brave, but stupid boy sat up, and reached out to touch one of the fickle things. It evaded his fingers, but Obito had felt a strange sensation, a weird feeling of prickling warmth and energy – it was not familiar, but it felt as if it should be.

Mesmerized, and not knowing what those things were, Obito stood up, and ran after them.
He tried to catch the firefly-like lights, but they were fast. He tried to catch the snake-like things, but they evaporated like smoke, and appeared a few metres away. The hopping things were impossible to even grasp at.
In the swarm of ghostly lights, the human-boy was lead deeper into the forest.

After a while, Obito thought he could hear music. Far off, but yet very close, he could hear the sounds of drums, and of flutes. He could smell a sweet smell – was that cotton candy? – and his mouth started watering as many different smells of food invaded his nose thrills.

Some of the lights had started swarming closer together, and they took on the shape of real, solid, taller creatures. Obito watched in awe as the lights became human-like animals, and he was amazed when he started seeing stalls selling foods and masks. There were enough of the flying lights left to lighten up the place, and the light was pleasant to the eyes. The entire scenario seemed something grasped right out of another world.
The animals were conversing with each other, and eating, and some were playing music or engaging themselves in games Obito had never seen before.

It was that moment he realized: he was at a festival for spirits, a spirit banquet. He was not supposed to be here, but he was. The spirits grew in numbers, and the Uchiha saw multiple frogs (some of them were smoking and wore coloured vests), some monkeys with beautiful swords, cats with hats, and lots of giant slugs.

Even though Obito knew that he was not allowed to be here, he did not feel afraid, but rather he felt at home. The spirits were chatting amiably and the food looked so alluring. His stomach rumbled – he would not leave this festival before he'd eaten something.
He hadn't had anything in over twelve hours, and his body was screaming at him to get some of the beautiful-looking, tasty food. His common sense did tell him that just walking in looking like a human would be a bad idea – his smell would've been altered by walking around in the swarm of spirit-particles, or whatever those lights were – and Obito pulled up his collar. Now the lower part of his face was covered, and his orange goggles would hide his eyes; he would be unrecognizable, or at least, he wouldn't be noticed for a few minutes, he hoped.

He casually walked towards the nearest stall that sold food. The food looked a little strange – he could get something that looked like squid, but it was emitting a weird light, or a bag of dark, pill-like candies that did not smell sweet at all, it seemed to give off a bitter smell, and he was sure it wouldn't taste nice at all. He moved on, making sure not to bump into anyone or anything. He felt like a spy – an amazing spy at that. What would his friends think when he told them this story? They'd be impressed for sure!

The next food stall was crowded with frogs. It sold fried, raw, and cooked insects pierced on a stick. The spirits were eating it heartily, and Obito wasn't sure if he should try it or if he should be disgusted.

"Hey, you!" A red frog wearing a daimyo's hat and vest called him. Obito was caught staring, and he averted his eyes quickly. He resumed walking.

"Hey, hey, you! I am talking to you, goggle-boy!" The frog was following him. Obito stopped, his heart beating faster every second, and turned to face the spirit-animal.
The red creature smirked, "I have never seen you here before, you're new here, kiddo?"
Oh. It just wanted to socialize. Obito nodded his head, struck dumb by surprise.

"I am glad to see you, buddy!" The frog laughed, "It's always good to see when one of us awakens! Oh, yes! Kurama-dono will be very, very happy! There are so many of us this year!"
The spirit rambled. Obito didn't understand what was going on, but he wisely kept his mouth shut, and kept on nodding his head as if he understood. Then, his stomach rumbled again.

"Oh, kiddo, you're hungry, huh?"
Obito nodded his head again.

"You're not much of a talker, but lets fill that stomach of yours then!" And the frog grasped his arm as if he was a friend. Obito resisted the urge to pull away, not wanting to anger the frog, and too afraid to cause trouble. He was not supposed to attract any attention at all, not now.

"What would you like to eat?" The frog asked, and Obito didn't know whether he should answer or not. The frog frowned at him when he didn't reply, but dragged him off towards the insect-food selling stall anyways, "This is where the best fried insects of the entire festival are sold!"

Obito ended up with a giant fried worm on a stick and an expectant frog watching his every move. Nervously, Obito scrunched up his nose, lowered his collar slowly, and took a bite.
It didn't taste that bad, and he smiled unconsciously. The frog laughed, and said something to two other frogs about 'No one can dislike Grandma's fried food! No one!' All of the frogs laughed croakily. Some took drags of their pipes, and exhaled long, smoky breaths, and Obito finished his worm-on-a-stick.

The company of frogs – he had a gang of about four froggy-friends now – was enjoyable. They were happy creatures by nature, and they knew exactly where the funniest games were, or the best food, or where the most beautiful (and cheapest) items were.
The tall, blue frog with the baritone voice had won him an orange mast, which now rested on top of his head, and the green frog with long legs had paid for his cotton candy. Obito was enjoying himself thoroughly, and his newfound buddies were exceedingly happy as well. The teen almost forgot that he did not belong at this festival.
He almost missed the comment from one of the frogs that he smelled like a human. The boy then grabbed the paw of the red frog that he had met first, and dragged him off towards the nearest stand that sold decorated fans. The frog's smell should cover his own, he hoped.

The spirit selling the fans was a grey cat, and Obito had the sticking feeling he had met this feline before, but he could not remember where. The frogs – the gang had joined them – were all amazed by the paintings on the fans, and Obito stared at a giant fan, on which scenery was painted. It was not a normal painting, for the water of the waterfall was moving, and the cranes would walk around in the tiny painted pond. It was a magical piece of work – something only spirits could create.

The cat crept closer, "Beautiful, isn't it?" She purred. "Yes," Obito answered breathlessly. His eyes trailed the linings of the water, and he was sure he was gaping slightly. Meanwhile, the cat had smirked, and came even closer, her head now almost touching his ear, but Obito did not notice.

She whispered, "It's not often humans enter this world. Especially not Uchiha."
Obito yelped.
"Human!" The cat meowed bitterly, "This boy is an impostor! He's human! Human!"

All hell broke lose that second. The frogs that had previously spend a nice few hours with him seized him, and the cat scratched at his eyes, the goggles preventing them from being gouged out. Spirits came from every direction, and their bright eyes were fixated on him, burning right through him. Then, Obito's world faded into darkness.

When consciousness came to him, he was tied up, and lying in front of two absolutely gigantic, bright orange, nine-tailed foxes, who looked at him from above.

'Kurama-dono.' He realized. He was in deep trouble now.

The fox on the right had a darker fur than the one of the left, but other than that, they seemed identical. When they spoke, their two voices were one.

"How dare you enter our domain," They said in a voice that could make mountains tremble, and Obito quivered.
"For a human to just waltz in here – for someone like you – for an unawaken being to enter this place, it's unforgivable. What are you doing here, boy?"

The young Uchiha couldn't talk, couldn't move. He felt as if he could pass out again.

"Who are you?" They asked. Their voices echoed through the forest – were they even still in the forest? – and all the spirits watched the event unfold with sparkling eyes. Their energy surrounded Obito, and he felt as if this energy, this light, should be something he knew, but this too, along with every other thought, was consumed by fear of what might happen to him. The two foxes, who were both part of the great Kurama-dono, master of the forest, lord of the spirits, would punish him for his trespassing, and he might never see his family or friends again.
Oh, Gods, he didn't want to die, he didn't want to die! He didn't want to end up as spirit-food, like the worm or the cotton-candy he'd had before!

Kurama-dono extended their paws, and they pointed at him, "You'll feel our wrath, human, you'll feel the power of those who were sealed away."

Obito still couldn't talk, but he did start crying. He sniffled, and tried to stifle his sobs – he had always imagined to die of old age, married to his beautiful Rin, with lots of grandchildren surrounding him, or that he would die at the prime of his life, in some kind of heroic sacrifice that would safe the entire world or something. He had never imagined he would die like this. Not like this, never like this.

"Kyuubi-sama," Someone spoke up, "I think you are being rather… hasty. Putting him to death in a terrible way won't be of much use to us, now will it?"

Obito, who had been watching the two foxes with a feverish concentration, saw how they turned their heads to see who was speaking to them. He too, tried to turn his head, and watched as the crowd of gazing spirits parted to let one of them pass.

A spirit who looked like a human in his twenties lazily moved towards Obito. His hair was a strange, light silver, and a red strap of cloth covered both of his eyes, as if he was blind. He was smiling lopsidedly, unemotionally, and stopped in front of Kurama-dono. The human-like spirit bowed his head.

"You may speak, Scarecrow." Kurama-dono said to him.

"I think this human will be the one who can awaken all of us." The silver-haired spirit said bluntly. Everyone gasped, and the spirits watching started murmuring to each other. This truly was an unusual festival this year.

"Why do you think so? Tell me your reason." The fox-lords spoke.
He resumed, "Uchiha Obito: this man can be both our saviour and our destruction. We should take care of this matter – or rather, him – with care."

"Uchiha Obito? Are you sure?" The powerful masters asked, outraged. Their overflowing energy had become angry, and it washed in waves over the crowd. Obito was about to faint when the man-spirit started talking again. His voice was bored, but there was a calmness and certainty in it that would not allow objection, "I am sure, at least I should know who he is, now wouldn't I? Uchiha Obito. Our bane and our hero. When handled well, he'll save us all, Kyuubi-sama."

"What is it that you are implying, Scarecrow?"

"I am implying that we should… release him, under certain conditions, of course. I think that we should teach him of our… related pasts, and that we should teach him the ways to break the seals that are holding us all in place. He's the only one who can do this, after all."

Kurama-dono seemed to think, and was quiet for a while. Many spirits were frantic. Their chatter was chaotic, disturbing, and filled with terror. Some seemed to agree with the one called Scarecrow, others seemed to disagree furiously with his idea, whatever his idea meant. All Obito hoped for was that he was not to get eaten.
He wanted to live!

He wanted to live!

The foxes spoke again, and their voice was both frightening and beautiful, "Very well. We have thought of a solution. We shall indeed allow OBITO to leave, but only when one of us shall teach him our ways, our history, and our release. Scarecrow, you, who have known him and thought of this plan, shall be his teacher and his guide. If you fail, or if OBITO turns his back on you, we shall not hesitate to kill you both. This is our judgement."

Scarecrow bowed deeply, "Thank you, Kyuubi-sama. I will not fail – I will not promise I won't, as I tend to break them, but I will not fail. I can assure you of this."

The spirits surrounding them went into uproar, but Kurama-dono silenced them with one mighty roar, "SILENCE YOU FOOLS."

The ropes holding Obito disappeared into thin air, and he was allowed to sit up, afraid and dazed, not comprehending what was going on. Scarecrow knelt in front of him, sporting a what could-be sympathetic smile, "Are you alright, Obito?" The boy didn't react.

The spirit sighed, "Alright. You have heard the conditions of your release. If you want me to come with you, you'll have to do something for me, do you understand?" Obito nodded slowly, trying to understand what the spirit was telling him.

"I want you to close your eyes," Obito did what was asked of him, not disobeying the man, or rather, spirit, who would give him a chance to go and live, "and now think of my right eye. I am blind, you see? I want you to imagine me with a right, properly functioning, normal eye. Think, Obito. Imagine. Imagine and you will create it."

Obito was still in shock, but he thought of an eye. He imagined a dark, black eye – a normal, average human-eye.

"Imagine. Make it real. Give me sight." Scarecrow's voice called out to him.

Obito thought more, and painted with his mind the picture of the eye. It was vivid, real, with a dark iris and a dark pupil. Scarecrow let out a pained yelp, and Obito's eyes shot open.
The spirit held his hands over the red cloth where his right eye should've been. He was in pain, obviously, but he was grinning, showing sharp teeth in what could be a smirk out of pain or happiness. Obito was terrified.

After a while of utter silence, Scarecrow sat up straight, and started unwinding the red cloth that covered his eyes. Slowly, they were revealed. He opened them.

Red and black stared at Obito, and they were overflowing with hope, sadness, and determination. The Uchiha realized that he had given the spirit a new eye, a black, human eye, and he marvelled at the unknown power that had caused his imagination to create new sight for another being. The red eye was unnerving though. Three tomoe were spinning lazily in a blood-red iris. It truly was an eye of a God – which Scarecrow must've been, a God, otherwise the Lord of the forest wouldn't have listened to him.

"Thank you, Obito." Scarecrow said, and he helped Obito up, "Now, shall we leave?"
Obito nodded dumbly, and the silver-haired spirit picked him up and disappeared in a whirlwind of smoke and swirling leaves.

Kurama-dono and the other spirits watched them leave, and they too were filled with hope and fear of the future.

"Don't you fail your mission, Hatake Kakashi. Don't you fail Obito a third time."

tbc