This will be a series of short, but connected stories, focusing mainly around Obito and Shisui. It can be considered a sequel to Children's Folly, which was a oneshot describing what might have happened if Kakashi had been the one who'd died in Iwa. It's not totally necessary to read that story, but it will definitely help solidify Obito's new character in this story, as he's quite different from how he's portrayed in canon. Pairings, are not a main focus, but: Obito/Rin, mild, unrequited, Obito/Shisui
Obito started shaking his head before the Yondaime had even finished speaking, No no no no no no, his silent mantra.
Minato didn't conceal his disappointment, and Obito's resolve slackened, if only until the repercussions of an affirmative answer bit into him again at full force.
"I'm sorry, sensei. But I'm not fit for the job. Not now, probably not ever." He stood straighter, as if to emphasize his point.
"I disagree," Minato spoke with a hint of the smile he'd always given Obito during his chūnin days, when his prideful outbursts had outshone his abilities as spectacularly as his dour self deprecation did now.
"Your record," his old sensei laid a light hand atop a thick, bound folder to his right, "tells a much more convincing story."
Obito muttered, "I could name at least three shinobi who have much better stories to tell."
"Better? No, I don't think so. Longer, yes. Yours is...gutsy." And Minato smiled again, something distant and unreachable to Obito.
"Sensei?" He couldn't help but be curious.
"Remind me, Obito, to give you something when you visit Kushina and I next time."
Obito nodded slowly, uncertainty replacing his obstinacy.
"It's not just your list of accomplishments. I know you. I trust you. I trained you."
This is what you wanted, Obito! Since you were old enough to hold a kunai. Now you've got it and you're throwing it away! Moron.
He could hear his younger self, struggling and screaming against the confines of time and hard won experience.
"Thank you, sensei. I'm honored. But even as an interim, Hokage, I'd be dismal. I've never led a team of more than a dozen."
"And you organized those dozen shinobi to repel a push by Iwa forces through Kusa's border."
His team had suffered two losses, both promising jounin at the prime of their talents. Obito had watched as their bodies and names were committed to the earth, to soil and stone. He'd personally given the news to a grieving wife, then a mourning husband. Five children had lost a parent that day.
"That mission could have gone better."
"Or it could have failed completely, and we would have lost dozens of lives. We didn't."
Two for fifty. Sixty. Obito couldn't argue with those numbers. He would simply never be able to make the stone that bore their names clean again.
Obito closed his eyes and exhaled quietly, as though preparing to perform a kata. He'd been gone for months, and was looking forward to extending his solitude in his apartment, where he could finally unseal the manuscripts he'd pilfered from Kumogakure. As it stood, he'd only had a chance to set them down in his bedroom before a masked ANBU member turned messenger boy informed him that the Yondaime was in urgent need of his presence.
He'd half expected to walk into an emergency meeting of jōnin and intelligence officers, to see Minato hunched over a desk inundated with reports of broken diplomatic relations and the slow encroachment of enemy forces on Konoha's borders. But even before the chūnin secretary ushered him through, Obito could only make out the flickering signatures of the Hokage's personal ANBU guard squad, Minato's own power untraceable as always.
He sighed.
"I don't think I'd be able to shoulder the weight of the office, not if it comes down to making truly difficult decisions."
"Obito, stop making excuses. If something happens to me, I want someone I can trust in office."
"The Sandaime..."
"Is too old. He and I both know that. We're at peace right now, but that won't last. Konoha needs someone young, someone strong, and someone devoted."
Obito would liked to have deceived himself into thinking he didn't feel a swell of pride at his sensei's assertion, but he supposed he might as well try to be honest with himself.
"Again, I'm flattered, but..."
"You owe me."
Obito frowned, silenced.
Minato smiled again, and Obito started to sweat. He'd seen the smile before, flashed on the field of battle before Minato put his namesake to use and cut through a dozen cervical columns in a blink.
He swallowed.
"Sensei?"
"I let you traipse around outside of Fire Country for the last six months without asking for a single scrap of official documentation as to just to what you were doing. I've let you off genin training duty for three years running, and I've signed every request asking for access to otherwise restricted documents you've brought to my desk."
Obito mulled the facts, briefly wishing he had a more concrete explanation as to why he wanted access to the few extant research reports pertaining to tailed beasts and their jinchūriki. But Minato didn't press him, didn't cast out the hooks of insinuation to draw out a confession. He slowly relaxed.
"You trust me." Just like that. He said the words quietly, his voice humming with a high tone of reverence.
Minato nodded.
"That should be abundantly clear."
Obito bowed his head. He could already feel the burden of his coming promise.
"OK."
He laughed and looked into blue eyes.
"You're always..." He shook his head. "You're very good, sensei."
"Well, coming from the potential Godaime, I'll take that as a compliment."
Obito winced at the title.
"Does Fugaku know?"
Minto's face turned serious.
"I haven't voiced my thoughts to him yet. It'll be better if he learns gradually, like everyone else." He paused.
"I hate to ask this of you, but...are there those in the Uchiha clan you know you can trust without question?"
There's really no such thing as unquestioning trust, he almost said. But that would be like spitting in Minato's face at this point.
"Shisui." He wanted to stop there, because really, there was no other comrade, on the field of battle or in the quiet, dimly lit meeting room of the Uchiha compound, whom he could depend on to shield his back.
He sighed and raised a finger.
"Itachi." Idealistic and so averse to violence he should never have grasped a kunai, let alone pushed himself to master Sharingan and vie for a spot in an ANBU squad.
"Is Itachi here?" Obito muttered, his eyes roving upward.
"One step at a time, Godaime. Any others?"
"Mikoto, possibly. A few others on the police force, those whose loyalty Shisui can corroborate, and..."
But what about me?
"You know, I'm an Uchiha too."
"And your point?"
"You have no idea what I was doing during those six months. For all you know I could have been collaborating with missing nin on behalf of the Uchiha clan, or even my own crazy agenda."
"But you weren't."
Obito frowned. Of course. Minato wasn't a fool. The guide who had so graciously agreed to lead him through some of the more dangerous parts of Kumo's mountains, almost free of charge. The land lady who had personally seen to it that the he had the best home his budget could afford him, for as long as his stay extended, who had been so enthusiastic in mending his health when he'd fallen ill from food poisoning, to the point where she practically moved in with him until he could take solid food without bringing it up.
"Jiraiya's people?" That guess was as good as any.
Minato shrugged.
"He has lots of friends. I wouldn't know if you encountered any of them on your travels." But there was that damn smile. Obito wouldn't have been surprised if the Toad Sannin himself had tailed him for part of his journey.
"But that's inconsequential now." The Hokage dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand, and Obito wasn't inclined to pursue it farther.
"Sensei, what are you going to do about my clan? What do you expect me to do?"
"Nothing, for the time being. There are simply a few parties who are discontent, at the moment. That isn't the main reason I'm grooming you for this position. I think you're the best man for the job, eventually."
"In spite of my saying otherwise?"
"More like because of it. Anyone offered a position of power should be reluctant to accept it. Otherwise, they're bound to do a terrible job."
Obito drawled, "Are those your years of wisdom coming into play, sensei?"
"Years of wisdom." He nodded. "I like that." He folded his hands.
"Now, as for your schedule. I've cleared you from missions for the next several weeks, since you'll be working directly with me..."
Obito realized, as Minato's words became a blur, that he'd never been more terrified in his life.