Summary (original): Obito hears out Madara's plan. In one world, he agrees and becomes Madara's pawn. In another, he rejects the idea. Now that Obito is against Madara much more earlier, how will fate play out? [AU]

WARNINGS: OOCness, AU, abuse via fūinjutsu, blood, MPD!dark!Obito (later), medic!non-jinchūriki!strong!dōjutsu!Mokuton!dark!Naruto, alive!Minato, alive!Kushina, neutral!Gurguru, good!ShiroZetsu, brotherly!ObiKaka, missing-nin!Shisui, good!Itachi, SasuSaku, and MinaKushi.

Anyways, my original plan was for this to be a one-shot, but that changed. It sounds like a good story idea, no?

PLEASE READ. Now, let me make something clear: All "errors" are part of the "AU" part. So there's that.

Recommended song: The Void by Konec, feat. Anna Yvette.

Original word count: 3.4k~

Enjoy my shitty story :p


Chapter 1: No Light


The young shape stepped out of the swirly shell, a frown marring his features as he soaked in what was just explained to him rather thoroughly. "I still won't work with you. It's infuriating, just thinking about you and your stupid and ridiculous plan. A fake reality?" Uchiha Obito's half scarred lips pressed together, his face scrunching up with disgust and anger. "Pathetic."

Uchiha Madara showed no reaction; he just sat there, breathing evenly and staring at his future pawn with tired Sharingan eyes. He sighed thoughtfully after a few moments, blinking before speaking. "I do not care what you think," he croaked, a glare rising that made Obito shiver. "You are my pawn, my knight, my slave, my bitch, the yang to the yin of my plan…am I clear?"

Obito openly winced at the blood lust sent towards him, but he swallowed his fear, his Mangekyō eye spinning into existence and staring back with an equally intense glare. "I stand with what I speak. I will not work with a weak, evil, old, irrelevant fuck who can't tell the difference between reality and illusion."

The sword suddenly tapped against the ground softly, and Guruguru reformed, slowly backing away. "Big mistake, kiddo," he said darkly in his doubled Shiro Zetsu voice.

Obito cringed at that. He could feel the back of his hairs standing on end, goosebumps forming underneath the blood-soaked cloak he wore whilst slaughtering the Kiri-nin. Suddenly, he felt hands on his wrists—and then something sharp cut into his flesh like a kunai, the sound of clicking following.

He gritted his teeth together, turning his head to the black figure. He froze; it had no real face, no hair, no real skin color, nothing to identify it has "human". He swallowed thickly, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrists due to fear. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Your nightmares," it hissed. It chuckled evilly, sinking ominously and slowly into the ground underneath his feet.

Then, he finally bothered to look down at his crimson-stained hands. He eyes widened; he was cuffed, and the cuffs had chakra seals carved into them. From the pain he felt not too long ago, he knew that it also had human seals—seals that tamper with the human body.

For example, writing a seal for storage on ones skin is a human seal, and connecting seals to nerves was another, only it's meant for torture.

He had three human seals, but he only recognized two: The Hageshī Shinzō Saiha and Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku. He'd seen the both of them in action, he's seen the pattern and memorized it to avoid the seals. He'd seen spies die from the seals after use of one time—twice, if they were lucky…but the second time around was always worse.

He looked up at Madara with a wide red Mangekyō eye, feeling lightheaded and on the verge of hyperventilation. "You're dead serious."

"He was never kidding around in the first place," Guruguru pointed out. He walked up to the younger Uchiha, his finger traced over two identical swirls and kanji's for "chained down" on both of the cuffs. He whistled, confusing and scaring Obito all at once. "This seal…is…deadly."

"What does it do?"

"Psychological torture via genjutsu," Guruguru stated simply. "It can be bent at the users will. And if strong enough and programmed properly, then both the remover and original victim of the seal will experience the worst psychological pain ever. Plus, if someone intrudes, it'll instantly activate and backlash on both you and the mind intruder! Neat, huh?"

"I would say that if I wasn't the original victim," Obito muttered quietly. He turned his head to Madara. He debated for a few seconds before he sighed in defeat, his one good Sharingan eye disappearing and returning to its coal shade. "What now?"

Madara smirked. "I train you." His wrinkly face quickly hardened as he stood, making Obito take an instinctive step back out of fear. "And if you disobey…you're likely to die faster than you can even think to blink."

Obito didn't even think about stopping the shiver.


Two years later…


A shaky and sad—but small and quiet—sigh left his lips, his hands rubbing against the metal of the cuffs that was loosely chained to the gunbai strapped around his back. He wore a fire patterned mask created from Guruguru's body, and the same dark cloak he wore ever since Rin died. The blood had never been washed out; it was clumped and crusted over, and it still smelled. But it fondly reminded him of the revenge he had gained, which was more than enough for him.

His damnable Uchiha warden couldn't seem to get that much.

"You're ready, correct?" Madara's annoying and croaky voice sounded, making Obito flinch out of fear, which was nothing new; over the two years, he grew smaller and smaller, becoming quieter and quieter and much more like a scarred kitten than anything. "Yes. You're ready. Now, go. Quickly. The birthing process is in a day, and you must gather intel."

The young Uchiha slowly nodded, still rubbing the cuffs. He had been training for two years nonstop. He learned how to manage with the chains and the gunbai rather flawlessly. His speed matched a Kage, and his evading skills were marvelous thanks to his Kamui. But he avoided using it for a reason.

He openly cringed when he remembered what had happened when he first used it; it was when he started week four of his training. He finally learned what his Mangekyō did, and he had consciously somewhat mastered it on his own.

He used it, and teleported to his own little dimension. But Madara had activated his chakra seals, and drained nearly all of his chakra to the point of where he was on the verge of severe, fatal chakra exhaustion. And just to pour some lemon juice on to the paper cut, psychological scars were inflicted upon him just as a an extra punch to the face. After that, he obeyed to a perfection, comparable to a robot on every level.

Uchiha Obito was already broke . Madara just shattered the broken pieces even more.

"Hurry," Madara said quietly, the light fading from his eyes. He had disconnected from the statue not even three minutes ago, and already he was dying. Once again, Obito nodded, and the eighty year old Uchiha closed his eyes, his chest stilling. A breath released from his lungs, relief washing over him as he watched the man finally die and crumble to dust.

"Guruguru," Obito mumbled.

The creature appeared out of the ground, swirly mask glancing up at Obito. Unbeknownst to anyone but Shiro Zetsu—who "didn't give a shit about what the stupid idiot does"—Obito managed to gain Guruguru's trust and loyalty, ultimately making the mutated human Obito's subordinate. "What's up?"

"Who else has control of the seals on these cuffs?" Obito asked, his voice quiet and pathetic sounding. He was still rubbing the carved metal.

Guruguru, if he could, would frown. Obito, to him, at least, sounded much more broken than usual. But then again, he thought absently, the seals are a sensitive subject for him.

He sighed thoughtfully, but then he also remembered that he was ordered to kill his sensei—the closest thing to a father he had ever gotten. "Kuro Zetsu, Madara and Shiro Zetsu…and ultimately any other seal master out there," he reported. "But currently, Kuro Zetsu is busy doing something…we don't know what, but Shiro Zetsu and I are supposed to watch over you."

The young Uchiha slowly nodded. "No one will speak of what happens to anyone after this. No matter what. No questions asked."

Guruguru nodded.

Shiro Zetsu appeared from the ground, eye narrowing. "What are you planning?"

"Are you on our side?" Obito questioned. He glanced at the white counterpart of Zetsu, his Mangekyō glowing brightly with a surprisingly fierce glow. "Because I won't tell you if you aren't."

A grin spread across Zetsu's face. "Will it include the excitement of battle?"

"Yes. Lots of it," the Uchiha stated.

"Then I'm all for it," he said devilishly. "What's the plan?"

"Attack Konoha," Obito's voice cracked loudly at that, "…get caught, and play the bad guy being turned good. Just to be convincible. Or somewhere along those lines. I just want to get away."

"Kuro won't be happy," Shiro pointed out.

"He's never happy! Always so cranky and stuff…" Guruguru pointed out. "And besides, that useless sack of black goop can kiss my wooden ass." He swung said ass around to emphasize it.

A small but haunted and amused smile spread across Obito's lips. He teleported Zetsu and Guruguru into his dimension, flashing the dust that was Madara once upon a time one more look before teleporting away as well.

He landed softly on the stone of the Hokage Monument, Zetsu and Guruguru following. His eye widened, feeling giddy to feel fresh air once again in two years. He swallowed, and he felt his breathing hitch upon landing sight on the place he dreamed of returning to.

He was home.

Obito took the moment to just stare at the buildings; they were full of activity as the dusk did its job to put one half of the world asleep for a few hours. He recognized a few places such as Ichiraku's, the Uchiha Compound, his former apartment complex, downtown Konoha, Kakashi's apartment, Minato and Kushina's house, the local swimming pool, the Hokage residue—most likely where Minato was currently at with a very pregnant Kushina—and last but not least, the academy.

And as he stared closer, harder and sharper, he noticed the streets he had walked or ran down, the old people he helped, the training grounds he trained at with his team, and the shinobi he saw advance to Chūnin. His Sharingan soaked it all in.

He flinched when he saw silver, grey, green and black: Hatake Kakashi and Maito Gai, people he would recognize even from up where he stood on top of Minato's hair spike. He cringed when he saw the two duke out a rather another challenge…quite ridiculously, swinging hips as they started rock-paper-scissors.

Kakashi won, and Gai—from what he saw—proclaimed his usual five hundred plus laps around Konoha on his hands backwards. A fond smile made its way to his face regardless. Nothing changed. Except for his and Rin's presence disappearing. That was the only change.

And then there was the newborn baby…

His fond smile grew big enough for his eyelids to crinkle up slightly.

"Remember," Shiro interrupted, "we're here to gather information for tomorrow night. At least pretend you're here on task."

The Uchiha made no movement to show he acknowledged the interruption, but turned and walked away anyways. Guruguru and Shiro Zetsu used Henge no Jutsu, turning into identical twin males, both with brown hair, tanned skin and brown eyes. They had different boring colored yukata's, and sandals.

Obito just stayed as he was. He turned his gaze to the two, his Sharingan once again reflecting the world around them like a mirror. "What're you doing?"

"You spy on the ninja," Guruguru said in a normal voice, pointing a finger at Obito. "We'll be your cover."

Obito nodded. "But…first…can we check up on them? I still…"

"No harm in that," Zetsu said. A smirk appeared on his face as he turned into an ANBU with curly black hair and snake mask. Guruguru followed, wearing the exact same uniform. But instead, he had a lizard mask and dirty blonde hair. "Besides, we need to get as much information as we can. Oo! Benefits! Gotta love them, don't'cha? Hmm?"

"Hn," Obito simply grunted.

"Aw, c'mon, Uchiha-chan!" Guruguru joined in, skipping up to Obito's side and rubbing his arm against the fifteen year olds shoulder, making the latter flinch lightly. "You're no fun…!"

Said Uchiha pushed the disguised ANBU away, staring with an irritated expression before walking off grumbling something about idiot spawns.

"Ah! You broke him, you idiot!" Zetsu cried dramatically as the two chased after him, both bickering about seemingly random things.

But only Obito seemed to notice the familiar presence in the shadows that had watched from the very beginning.

A ghost of a smile appeared on his face. He would return the favor. He turned his head to the two idiots. He lifted his cuffed wrist, flicking it and signaling them to go away. Zetsu was clueless at first, but Guruguru came back and literally dragged the former away. The masked teen turned his head towards the spot in the trees that were thin and further apart than usual forests, but thick and big enough to be considered a small forest.

"You may come out. They won't do anything until I allow it."

Said tailer hesitated, but jumped down from the tree anyway. The ghostly smile on his face became slightly bigger with happiness. It was quite ironic, Obito silently mused, to run into Hatake Kakashi after considering spying on him first.

"Who are you?" the Hatake asked. His eye narrowed, a kunai showing itself. "And why are you breaking into our village?"

"Village…" Obito repeated bitterly and quietly. Flashes of burning homes and corpses of children flashed across his line of sight, making him flinch; it had been part of the psychological torture, and still, he has nightmares about it. He rubbed his wrists again, fingers tracing over the markings. "I know this place like the back of my hand…" he murmured sourly and quietly, the words barely rolling off of his tongue.

He wanted to make the claim, but he also didn't want to. If he did, then he would cause pain to the future world. If he didn't, then he would experience even more psychological and physical abuse. It was a dilemma; his selfless part wanted the latter, and his selfish part wanted the former. But his selflessness was always his dominant side. He frowned.

"So you've lived here before," Kakashi concluded lightly. "So what? Doesn't mean you have to break in…"

Obito shook his head slowly, putting his arms down and making the chain loops tap against each other. He hid them underneath the crusted cloak, intently watching Kakashi's curious gaze.

"Who said I was breaking in?" he questioned, quieter than he would've liked. It was more like a whisper than anything. His voice was much more quiet in comparison to his attitude before he was crushed by the many boulders three years ago.

Kakashi either didn't hear, or ignored the quiet question. He slipped his kunai away, lifting his arms to show that he meant no harm. He stood like that for a few moments before taking a few steps forward.

But Obito had a mild case of aphensphosmphobia; he really didn't want anyone touching him without his consent. So it was only natural that he return the few steps in reverse, even though he trusted the Hatake. Kakashi paused. "Scared?"

"No," Obito snapped under his breath. "Cautious."

"…Are you in denial?"

"No."

"You denied it, though," Kakashi pointed out with slight mirth.

"I told you," Obito denied in a mumble, "I'm just cautious. Right now you're an unknown factor to me…ya know?"

"Well, if you aren't going to harm Konohagakure, I'm not gonna harm you. Fair trade?"

He only received a timid nod in response. Obito, in reality, had never actually touched a real human in three years. The only time he made skin contact was to either fight or kill. Three years, because it had been two years and seven months since his "death". And then add the three months he'd been resting and healing within the damnable cave after the rockfall.

So, once again, it was only natural that he flinched openly when Kakashi grabbed his hand and scanned the seals carved onto the metal cuff with his Sharingan. He nearly took a step back; he wanted to punch the shinobi away and get into one of his signature brawls.

But he couldn't. Not until later…

"These seals are lethal…" Kakashi murmured. "How the hell are you still alive?"

Obito quickly yanked his arm away, glaring as if Kakashi had done something infuriating or perverted…or somewhere along those lines, but the Uchiha made sure his glare showed that much. The Hatake sighed, putting his hands up on the defensive. "Sorry, sorry…"

The Uchiha didn't know how to respond. He just slowly nodded, taking a few unnecessarily large steps back.

The lack of true human interaction changed him more than he thought it would've; he didn't expect the mild case of aphensphosmphobia, or the way he turned out to be so quiet, or how sensitive and awkward he was gonna be to so many social activities, or how timid he became, or how comparable he was to a scarred kitten. He cringed. He had too many problems.

"…So," Kakashi started, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "…you're an Uchiha."

Obito lacked response. He just stared, but he made no eye contact.

"Did you defect?"

Not on purpose, was what he wanted to say. But instead, he said something else completely different, but it still indirectly pointed towards his original and hidden response. His voice was still quiet, though. "Stuff happened because reasons," he said, "and I just happened to be in the right place at the remembered time of arrival. Shit just happened, and I ended up here."

The Hatake raised an eyebrow in interest at the unintentional riddle. He pulled his headband over his left Sharingan eye again, a slight frown denting his features. "Interesting. Mind what brought on the little riddle?"

"It was unintentional," Obito replied quietly, "but solve it if you want…I could care less."

"Alright. I'm up for it," he said. "What do I get if I get it right?"

"Probably a kunai to the gut," the Uchiha murmured.

Kakashi twitched. "Sounds wonderful. But I am serious. It sounded like a challenge. What's the prize if I get it right?"

The masked man blinked. He rubbed his cuffs subconsciously, the clink of chains mimicking the movement of his hands. He sighed thoughtfully before another small smile spread across his lips. "…I could help you with your Mangekyō," he said still quite quietly.

The Hatake froze, his hands coming out of his pockets. His eye widened. "How do you know what about that?"

"I didn't," Obito lied. His smile widened, but it faltered and disappeared as if it was never there in the first place. "Now, start solving."

"Uchiha-chan~! We gotta go!" Guruguru's doubled normal inhumane weird ass voice echoed through the trees as he and Zetsu jumped down next to him. An amused smile twitched on his lips at the annoying antics they showed off. "ANBU are weirdos!"

Translation, Obito thought, they're onto us.

The Uchiha glanced at him. "Oh yeah?" What the hell happened?

"They tried to put pants on our heads, but we successfully got our own pants off of our heads." They knew that the ANBU we were disguised as were dispatched into separate missions, but we still got our information. No worries.

A sharp sigh left him at the randomness of the sentence. "Anything else?"

"Nope! Gotta go fast!" Zetsu cut in.

Obito proceeded to teleport them away back to his dimension, turning his head to Kakashi. He gave the other shinobi an eye smile, even though it was obviously fake. "Until next time."

The Hatake blinked. "Wait, what?"

But before anything further could be done, Obito teleported away. He softly landed on the stone floor, calmly staring down at the grey and lonely stone with a million thoughts flooding through his head at once. He sighed hopelessly. I bet I took a bad step…

However, the millions of thoughts were cut off when he felt sharp pains shoot up his arms as the nerve seals were activated. He shouted painfully, crouching down around wrapping his arms around his legs. He quickly pulled his glove off, biting his palm hard enough to draw blood in hopes of distracting himself from the pains of his vulnerable nerves being hit with loads of pure foreign chakra. He knew the routine—it happened to him numerous times, some worse than others.

He flinched every now and then, staying in the exact same position for a long time. He had lost count of the stretched out minutes. But eventually, it stopped, and he was left breathless and sweaty. He hated the nerve seals.

It was usually used for punishment.

Which meant that Kuro found out.

Which meant he knew. About everything that he was planning to do.

"Fuck…" he whispered, already feeling tears falling down his cheeks. Everybody in Konohagakure would be hurt—all because of two sentences he said to a man he once knew.

Fuck you, Madara…fuck you…


"Hageshī Shinzō Saiha Fūin": "Violent Nerve Breaker Seal"

"Chakura Fūin: Kyūkyokuteki no Datsuryoku": "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Drainage of Strength"; "Chakra Seal: The Ultimate Exhaustion"

"Shiro": "White"

"Kuro": "Black"

"Guruguru": "Spiral"; "around and around"

Huehuehuehuehuehuehuehue…I think I know what I'm doing…

Preview:

Is he…Obito…? A vital ghost of the past…?

Peace! :3