Hey, what's up guys, it's BarelyGhost here bringing you my very first big, feature-length project. I'm proud of the originality and quality of the content I plan to bring you so hopefully you guys will like it too.

I'd like to address reviewing. If you don't review, please just do. It helps me a lot as a writer to have as much feedback as possible, even if it's negative. The more opinions I hear, the more pleasing the product will be for you.

Speaking of negative reviews, flamers are totally accepted, but don't be surprised or angry if I make you look stupid!

Naruto will not be totally OP in this fic, which I'm sure is a refreshing change of pace for a lot of you. Naruto will develop his skills over time in a realistic fashion; however, he will be stronger than in canon and have some cool, unique jutsu.

Also, I plan to develop my characters realistically. Their personalities will be shaped by their experiences. This won't be, "Oh, one day Naruto's a cold-blooded emotionless killer, but after one conversation with Kakashi he's a changed man! Makes sense right?" That stuff's total bullshit. People don't have a change of heart that fast.

Chapter 1

Return

The entire village of Konoha was celebrating as the 3rd Great Ninja War had finally come to a close as cease-fire agreements had been signed by all countries and the soldiers had returned home. Everywhere one turned he could see smiling faces and tear-filled reunions as families welcomed their loved ones back home.

However, underneath the surface laid the harsh realization of the truth- many of the young men and women who had been sent away had returned in bodybags. Then there were the ones who hadn't returned at all- their loved ones trapped in a perpetual limbo of uncertainty, who could only pray to Kami that their child was, in fact, dead, and not suffering some even more horrid fate at the hands of the enemy.

Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara belonged not only to the former, but also the latter- they were certainly dead, but they would never have the true honor of having their bodies physically buried.

However, such formalities were the last things on the mind of the young man who stood at the memorial stone to which their names were recently added. The point is that his teammates- his only true friends- were now gone forever. And he had killed them both.

After hours of sullenly gazing at the huge stone, Kakashi Hatake felt a gentle hand on his soldier. The 15 year old jounin turned to see his sensei and the newly-minted Hokage, Minato Namikaze, giving him a gentle smile. This was exactly who he needed to see right now- his teacher, the man who had been a father figure to him ever since his own father, Sakumo Hatake, the White Fang of the Leaf, had committed suicide. Seeing Minato instantly picked up his mood, however slightly, at least for the time being.

"Hello Kakashi," said Minato softly. The hero of the war proudly wore his fresh new kage robes and hat, and underneath the standard green jounin flak jacket along with normal blue pants. The light danced in his stunning blue eyes and his bright, spiky yellow hair waved in the light breeze.

Kakashi took a respectful bow as he said sincerely, "Hello Minato-sensei. Congatulations on being chosen Hokage. You certainly deserve it."

"Quit being so formal. It makes me feel old," he said with a chuckle.

The jounin chuckled and replied, "Of course, Minato-sensei."

The two stood without speaking for quite a while. The songbirds chirped happily and the sun shone brightly and a light breeze blew. It was a beautiful day as nature was totally oblivious to the turmoil and darkness inside Kakashi's heart. However Minato was not. After a while the silence between the two was deafening and he spoke.

"You blame yourself."

"Of course I do. I killed them both. There's just no way around it. It's the plain truth."

"It's not your fault. It couldn't have been avoided. They made the decision as shinobi of Konoha to lay down their lives for the village, and so did you. They decided to put their loved ones ahead of themselves and died in the most honorable way possible- for their comrades. Obito sacrificed himself to save you and Rin, while Rin sacrificed herself to save the entire village."

"You're right, he did. And I couldn't even achieve his dying wish." At this a single, small tear fell from Kakashi's eye but he quickly wiped it away before Minato could notice.

"Do you think this is what Obito and Rin wanted? When they gave up their lives for you do you think they expected you to spend the rest of your life sulking and burdening yourself with guilt and regret? The best thing you can do to fulfill their wishes is be happy and follow your dreams- live the life that they would've wanted you to live."

Suddenly Kakashi was overwhelmed by emotion and turned around as the floodgates of his eyes opened wide and tears flowed freely on his young face. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PAIN OF HAVING A FRIEND DIE FOR YOU THEN BREAKING HIS PROMISE BY KILLING YOUR OTHER FRIEND BY YOUR OWN HAND," he screamed in Minato's face.

With that Kakashi stormed away, first quickly walking, then running. Minato began to follow him but decided against it. Dammit, I pushed him too hard. Only time can heal him. He needs space. Minato took a few small steps toward the memorial stone, said a few words under his breath then slowly walked away and shunsined back to the village proper.

Several Days Later

"But how do we know he's telling the truth?"

"I'm a Konoha shinobi who was willing to lay down his life for his comrades. I nearly died and I did suffer immense torture at the hands at the enemy. And now you're questioning my honesty? Are you calling me a traitor of Konoha Danzo-sama?"

No reply came. Silence pervaded the council room as the leaders of the village all had their eyes firmly set on the young man standing in front of them. He had only hours ago been found by a patrol team in the forests near the village in almost critical condtion. He was immediately brought to the medical team and his recovery was shockingly fast, almost miraculous, and now here he stood before the council in near perfect condition, other than the scarring on the right side of his face. All the members sat in wonder, confusion and disbelief as they looked at the 15 year old boy who claimed to be Obito Uchiha.

"So let me get this straight," began Minato. "You somehow survived the rock slide from which Kakashi and Rin presumed you had died. In your half-dead unconscious state you were easily captured by a group of Iwa shinobi and brought back there for solely for interrogation purposes?"

"Not solely for that, although I was indeed tortured for information. After refusing to give any up, I was put under an incredibly intense training program. They began to shape me into a weapon meant for the destruction of Konoha. For what seemed like years I was stuck there until one day as Konoha was nearing victory in the war, the base was abandoned and set on fire. They must have meant to kill me but all that training they gave me backfired as I was able to escape. It was a terrible plan from the start. You might even say they were….dumb as rocks."

Obito eagerly searched the room for any positive response to the pun he had been planning to say for the entire trip back. However all he saw was awkward silence as everyone in the room sweatdropped and his old sensei smacking his forehead. Yep, this is definitely Obito, Minato thought tiredly.

"Well," stated the Hokage, trying to recover from the awkwardness as Obito blushed heavily and immediately looked down at his feet, "I think since we've all heard his story now we can reach a vote on whether or not he can be trusted and accepted back into the village. His cells are exactly identical to the records we have of Obito's except some foreign ones but this has been explained as he has said that he was the subject of lots of experimentation. He is most definitely the Obito that I taught for many years. That's my two cents, now let's vote."

"All in favor of allowing him to stay?" All hands in the room shot up immediately except for that of two random civilian council members and Danzo Shimura, but even the old War Hawk slowly raised his hand.

"It's settled then. Welcome back Obito."

Applause rang out as everyone filed out after they talked to Obito for a bit. Soon everyone had left the room and Minato and Obito were alone.

"Minato-sensei…I'm so happy to see you."

"We were all so worried. I don't even know what to say to be perfectly honest. Just know that we all love you and are incredibly glad to see you safe and back home," said Minato as he flashed a bright smile. "You need to go see Kakashi immediately. He'll be beyond overjoyed to see you."

"I'll go find him right away!" And with that he ran as fast as he could out of the office.

Minato walked to the office window and looked thoughtfully out at his village.

Kakashi will have to tell him…

Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone as nearly always when he suddenly heard a very familiar voice from right behind him.

"What's up, teme? You've changed a lot."

Kakashi turned around filled with pure shock as he immediately recognized the best friend who he thought was dead forever.

Yet here he was, standing in the flesh.

Kakashi was shocked. Frozen. He couldn't move. After all this time the best friend who had haunted him now appeared in front of him out of the blue.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, taichou."

"I think I'm looking at one right now…"

They were silent for what seemed to both like ages.

"Where have you been…what happened?" Kakashi still didn't really know what was going on. He was overwhelmed with emotion, mostly disbelief.

"I'll be happy to tell you but I want Rin to be here too. Where is she?"

Kakashi was moved to tears. They fell one by one until soon he seemed to be drowning in them. His throat choked up and he couldn't form words.

"What's wrong, Kakashi? Use your words, now," he said teasingly, but in a hesitant way.

After a while Kakashi was able to speak.

He looked Obito straight in the eyes as he weakly told him the horrible truth-

"Rin is dead…and I killed her…"

Ok first of all I love shitty puns more than anything so I'm going to be including them as much as possible haha.

This was just an emotional expositional chapter. The next one will introduce us to the time of the meat of the story.

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