The sun had long since set and the trio of Team Konohamaru began to find themselves tripping in the darkness over roots and bramble in their path. They were exhausted - dead tired even, but the undead Uchiha leading them was still going strong. Remarkably, he hadn't fallen for any of their traps up to this point and it only wore them out more. He was undefeatable.
The young Uzumaki was determined to walk until he passed out to prevent the creature from betraying them, but his attention was drawn to his teammates as his blue-haired companion's stomach growled. He seemed utterly embarrassed by it but continued on.
"It's okay, Mitsuki," Sarada whispered, "I'm pretty hungry too."
Boruto groaned in rolled his eyes. He'd just gotten used to looking out for his team, but now things were getting complicated again. Stopping left them vulnerable not only to enemies, like Kara or hunter-nin but also to Obito himself and he didn't want to give the Uchiha any ground. It didn't seem up to him as he looked back and saw just how tired the other two were and it reflected how exhausted he was on the inside. They could stop for a bit, he supposed, but he'd have to keep an eye of the Uchiha. So he decided to cease his pace, the other two genin falling in beside him.
"Hey! We need to rest for the night," Boruto called to him, pulling the corpse's eyes to him which looked pitch black in the lack of light. It made him cringe and shudder to have that gaze focused on him, but the Uchiha gracefully made his way back over, covering the distance easily.
"Is that right?" Obito asked in a condescending tone, running his gaze over them.
Sarada sighed either in relief or disappointment and looked between the two of them as the blue-eyed genin glared at the man. "Sorry, Uchiha-san," she pointed out, bringing them back to Boruto's declaration, "but we're not like you. We need food and rest, so let's find a place to relax for a while and we'll assign someone to keep watch," the kunoichi explained, throwing out the suggestion more kindly than her teammate.
The corpse tapped his chin thoughtfully before nodding. "Alright. I'll take the watch then," he chirped in reply, a grin plastered across his cracked face.
Boruto gapped in disbelief. The Uchiha seemed to prefer the kunoichi over him in everything and it irritated him, especially since he was so dangerous. Maybe he was a huge perv too? That'd be even worse.
The blond huffed angrily and crossed his arms over his chest while his teammates began to set up camp, "Why'd you agree with her and not with me?"
"Hm? I didn't disagree with you, but you have to admit that you were being rather rude," the Uchiha answered with a half-hearted shrug. "And I don't care for being bossed around, even if it's by children. I spent enough time with that, so I'll give you some free advice."
"Advice?" Boruto echoed, outraged.
"Yes. When negotiating with people stronger than you, manners can prove to be very important. So learn them," the Uchiha offered without malice and making the blond scowl at him more furiously.
"I don't need to take lessons from a terrorist," the blond snarled, winding up and sending a small, disappearing Rasengan Obito's way, but the Uchiha was already accustomed to his attacks, letting the invisible orb pass right through him. It smashed powerfully into a tree a ways behind the corpse, making him chuckle in amusement.
"Well, if not from me, you'll either learn them one day or perish," the Uchiha pointed out with a humorless chuckle. "A shinobi's life is like that."
"You don't scare me," the blond huffed with a sneer.
"Maybe I don't, but this lifestyle should scare you. Exactly how many shinobi before my time do you know that survived to old age?" he asked in order to intimidate the boy. He didn't answer the Uchiha, only scoffed and went about unpacking his things. "Not that many then?"
"Shut up!" the young Uzumaki hissed, setting down his sleeping bag atop the rustling leaves. "There'd probably be more if you didn't kill so many people!"
The corner of the corpse's lips twitched but his expression was unreadable aside from the set smile he wore around the trio. "You're probably right," Obito agreed.
Sarada happened to glance over after hearing the insult being thrown at the undead Uchiha and she doesn't miss the look on Obito's face when he agrees with her teammate. It gives her a strange feeling in her gut, not quite concerned or fearful, but apprehensive and maybe a touch sympathetic for her corpsely kin. However, this guy, he killed a lot of people - possibly thousands of people - and guilt isn't something she believes a mass-murderer would typically feel, so what was that look he just gave? It bothers her, so she decides to make an attempt at distracting him and splitting the two apart lest the man feels they're no longer needed.
"Uchiha-san," she called, quickly pulling his attention and seemingly-sightless gaze on her, "would you mind gathering some firewood for us to boil the water for the rations, please?"
The corpse took a deep breath before he finally nodded with a tight, unpleasant smile. "Of course," he responded, his voice strained. He left the clearing with leaves crunching underfoot as he disappears into the woods.
The kunoichi turned her gaze to Boruto who flopped onto his sleeping bag and scoffed with his arms crossed. She didn't want to be angry with him, but he was playing with fire unlike any they've come across before. Obito was a precariously guarded inferno and every time the blond egged him on or slung an insult or attack his way, he was dragging the three of them closer to it. Soon enough, they'd all end up getting burned.
"Boruto," she scolded with a deep-set frown, "you shouldn't antagonize him like that. You're going to get us into a lot of trouble."
"Why not? Sarada," he defended tilting his body to glance her direction and fix her with his gaze, "he's a bad guy! And not just that, but he's just admitted to killing your entire clan, starting a war, and who knows what else! I would think you'd take my side on this."
"I know," she affirmed softly before reverting back to her normal tone, "and that's exactly why we shouldn't piss this guy off. Dead or not, he can kill us by as little as blinking so knock it off. At least right now, he's being helpful and the last thing we need is for him to turn on us."
"Fine," the young Uzumaki huffed, rolling his eyes before sitting up once more. "But I'm going to keep watch first and so I can keep an eye on him."
"That'd work," the young Uchiha nodded. "I'll take second and Mitsuki will take third so one of us is always on the lookout."
Mitsuki nods in approval, but Boruto just stayed laying on his bag, annoyed at the corpse and for being called out on his antics. He was simply trying to protect them! Why did things have to be so complicated when he finally chose to care about them?
Unfortunately, the undead Uchiha chooses that moment to show up with his arms full of small logs and kindling. Sarada gave him an appreciative nod as he set them down in a careful stack. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."
"My pleasure," he replied politely with one of the set smiles he keeps handy. He points at the space the genin set aside for making a fire, a small pit dug into the dirt surrounded by palm-sized stones. "Are you two going to need help with that?" he asked, watching her work.
"No thanks. Mitsuki and I can handle it," she answered as her and the snake sage set up the fire and made an attempt to light it.
He sat down a few feet away and observing their movements closely, curiously. "Have any of you gone on outings before? Or missions outside the village?"
"Not really," Sarada responded, trying hard to light the flame as Mitsuki is ready with more sticks. She took a moment to look at Obito and explain further, "Boruto has, I think. But he hasn't had to cook outdoors before. Luckily, it's just rations though so it should be fine." The kunoichi turned her attention back to the stash of matches and tried to light the fire again, setting off the kindling in a smokey blaze until it fizzled out just like before. The fire however continued in its refusal to light, as everything was still somewhat damp from the night before.
"That's just sad." Obito commented loudly, drawing their attention to him and the prominent frown he wore, "What are they even teaching you kids in the academy these days?" Boruto had to hold his tongue and simply scowled at the Uchiha, Sarada looked displeased with a tinge of annoyance in her eyes, and Mitsuki tilted his head in curiosity. "Here. Let me show you," The corpse rose from his spot and took a seat between the two genin, crouching down before rearranging the kindling and sticks. "The tent-like shape I made will help it stay lit when you light it. It'll protect the flame from being put out and also helps because the fire," he gestures by moving his index finger from pointing at the kindling to the outer sticks and logs, "will burn upwards."
"Ah."
"That will help make things faster," Mitsuki commented.
Sarada sent Obito a genuine smile before frowning once more, "Thanks, Uchiha-san, but it's still not lighting."
"There's an E-Rank fire-starting jutsu I learned in the academy that I can show you. It'll even light a fire in the rain," the corpse instructed and put his hands together to show them. "First you make the seals for-"
"Will you stop being so nice to us?!" Boruto cried out, sitting up with his fists clenched as he finally grew unable to stand by and watch idly. "I know you're not here for your own amusement, so what do you want from us? Huh? Answer me!"
Obito stood unthinkingly, all signs of helpfulness and happiness melting away. The genin's hearts start racing as the corpse slowly turns to face the feisty blond. "Is that how it is? I suppose I could answer you," he said in a low, dark voice walking across the clearing to stand in the middle, the genin a few feet away on each side. Even Boruto was starting to feel at a certain risk of his own safety with the gesture and the posture the Uchiha took. "And maybe you'll answer me as well."
The undead's presence was intimidating and he towered over all of the genin. His chakra flared around him enraged. "I've had enough of these games, children so I expect to be given an answer," his voice was a rumble like the snarl of a grand beast in warning before it lashed out. "Why would someone send an S-Rank criminal like me, who has been peacefully dead for however many years to capture a single, blond-haired boy?"
But Boruto kept tight-lipped and refused to answer.
"I know you're aware of the answer to my question. It was evident the moment I lay these eyes upon you," he said, activating his Mangekyo Sharingan to glare at him more powerfully. "Even more so at the mention of the powerful Otsutsuki clan. So you're going to tell me why I'm here on this miserable earth or I'll show you the true power that I wield." He seemed to be getting impossibly more upset and when Boruto scooted back on his sleeping bag, the corpse chuckled humorlessly and asked, "Alright, then tell me, boy. How much do you know about the power of the Sharingan?"
"You don't scare me," the blond spat, looking up into his vermillion gaze defiantly.
"Oh, I should. I really should, because these eyes, are the eyes of a killer and to take the life of a petulant child would mean nothing to me," the corpse hissed.
"Uchiha-san, please. We'll tell you what you know if you just calm down," Sarada tried to reason with him, putting her hands in front of her like one would coax an animal. Her and Mitsuki had shot up the moment the undead Uchiha began to rage.
"Calm? Calm?" he asked, looking to the kunoichi, fixing her with his gaze and narrowing his eyes. "I should remain calm?" He began sauntering over to the other two genin, forcing them to back up, but Sarada tripped over the pile of logs the corpse had brought and landed on her bottom beside the fire pit, unable to move away. "I've been ripped from the afterlife, thrown into an undying body, and now I'm being tormented by a single genin with an attitude problem who seems to be the cause of all this," he roared, his eyes maddened and his entire being raging, "and I haven't gotten a single answer as to why! So don't you dare tell me to remain calm!"
He had made his way to stand right over her so Mitsuki acted quickly. The blue-haired genin used a snake-hand jutsu to catch the Uchiha off-guard, throwing a handful of kunai his direction while he grabbed at his ankles from below the ground. Meanwhile, Boruto ran at him from the opposite side with a shadow clone flanking him on each side. They rushed at him with a Rasengan handy and a sealing tag up their sleeve, but Obito was too quick for the latter.
The corpse whipped his arm out and forced one of the Uzumaki's clones to slam into it before being thrown into a tree, the trajectory of his jutsu being thrown off as it flew into the woods as it dissipated. Obito quickly twisted to send a railing kick into another as its hand scrambled to land the Rasengan into him or touch him with the seal it carried, but its hand went through as it vanished like its twin. The Uchiha let out a snarl as it sent an upward punch into the blond's jaw, sending the boy flying into the air.
The snake sage took the opportunity to launch a jutsu at the Uchiha in an attempt to get him away from his teammates. "Wind Release: Breakthrough!"
A gust of wind swept up and blew through the campsite, scattering their belongings. Although the Uchiha's mantle and hair flapped around him in the breeze, he stayed resolutely put and leaped to the side to rip Sarada up off the ground, into his arms. His powerful left arm was wrapped tightly against her throat while his other hand gripped a handful of her raven-black locks, his eyes a deadly calm. "Stop what you're doing or I'll kill her," the corpse hissed as the girl struggled and fought to free herself to no avail.
Mitsuki stilled and adopted a calculating look on his face as though to plan something, while Boruto was watching from a branch nearby, gritting his teeth at the man. Obito's eyes flit between the two of them and his lips twitched in annoyance. "Don't think I can't tell that you're trying something," he said. "Did you forget how easily I can end your lives or hers? All I have to do is set my sight on her and she'll be decapitated, not that I couldn't just crush her like this."
"Uchiha-san, please… you don't have to do this," the kunoichi pleaded, still struggling to get away. As hard as she tried, she couldn't form any chakra to use a substitution jutsu. It was as though she had been sealed and looking down at her shirt, she noticed one of Boruto's seals attached to her clothes. Obito had outsmarted them again.
"Let her go, you bastard! She didn't do anything to you!" Boruto snarled at him, dropping down to the ground and stumbling as he landed before wiping a streak of blood from his split lip.
"I know she didn't. None of you have, but I want answers and if this is the only way to get them, I'll do what I have to," the corpse answered, tightening his hold on the kunoichi. "So you're going to tell me everything you three know starting right now, because I'd really hate to kill any of you."
Sarada took a moment to steady herself while the enraged, undead terrorist stood over her menacingly, his very presence threatening and it sent chills right down to her very core. It was almost as if the souls of her ancestors were reaching out to her and telling her to 'run' and run as fast as she could from the man who was more creature than human with his immense power. She looked up to meet his eyes, hoping to appeal to whatever sliver of humanity he had shown them in the past few hours and began to reveal what she knew. "We've been pursued and followed by a group called Kara ever since a few weeks following the chuunin exams," she answered, her voice brave and unwavering despite the fear that churned her stomach.
"What's significant about the exam?"
"During that time the village was attacked by a member of the Otsutsuki clan and Boruto with the help of the Kage defeated them. That's when we began noticing the symbols on Boruto's hand when we're in danger," the kunoichi continued, her voice strained as the corpse continued to press against her throat.
Obito turned his attention to the blond who was barely managing to stay upright. "Show me," he ordered calmly.
"No way," the blond grunted painfully.
"Show me now or I'll kill her," the corpse threatened, eliciting a cry from the girl as he forced her head to the side by yanking her hair. Without further hesitation Boruto complied, blue symbols wrapping around his hand and face. "Interesting. Killing the Otsutsuki that attacked the village did that?"
"Yeah," the young Uzumaki confirmed with an angry sneer.
"There's nothing good about that," the Uchiha mused aloud before turning his attention back to the kunoichi. "What does Kara want with it?"
"That's just it. We don't know, but we met a boy with the same marking who had been running from them. He's currently in the village under Lord Seventh's protection," the girl answered. "That's all we know. I swear."
The corpse sighed and released her, shoving her away as the girl caught herself after stumbling into the blond, coughing as the boy grabbed her. Obito's anger morphed into annoyance as he muttered something that involved the Sixth's name - 'Kakashi' - once more. Then he began to rub his forehead and paced back in forth as he thought hard about something until he whipped back around to glance between the three of them which had managed to huddle into a defensive line centered around the kunoichi. "I have no idea what the hell is going on with Kara or those symbols, but it sounds to me like I'm stuck here on this miserable earth until this all gets sorted out. And as much as I dislike you, I'm going to deliver you to the Hokage personally until we can get that thing," he spat, gesturing at Boruto or more specifically his arm, "removed. So from here on out, stop trying to piss me off or get rid of me or I'll rip your arm off myself. It wouldn't be too difficult to do."
The three genin were silent as he made his declaration, still terrified by the sight of his dark-side that had come out moments before.
Obito crossed his arms and looked at the three sternly. "Is there anyone else that knows about your little fight with the Otsutsuki clan?" he demanded from the trio.
"The entire world," Mitsuki answered without skipping a beat. "We all saw it broadcast on television."
The corpse slapped his palm against his forehead and shook his head lightly. "That's it then. You're screwed. I'm screwed. This world may even be screwed." He glimpsed down at his gloved right hand, his Sharingan eyes deactivated after a moment. "You do realize that I've only been aware of anything in the past oh... maybe ten hours? I have no idea who we're dealing with or where they're coming from. I mean, you do realize that, right?" None of the children answered either out of fear or misunderstanding so he simply began pacing once more, muttering to himself angrily.
"What's the big deal about being seen on television anyway?" Boruto asked with a huff. "It's not like it'll make a big difference to you. You've been dead for how long?"
"Am I speaking a foreign language or do the three of you simply not get it?" Obito asked with a frown, stopping to rant once more. "I don't know if anyone saw you get the mark itself, but I hope you realize you have been 'marked' as a powerful shinobi, the likes of which will make you a target for the rest of your life. So now I'll have even more to worry about if I didn't already have to worry about the three of you being the children of equally powerful shinobi." He scowled and paused for a moment before turning to them and asking, "Where is your sensei anyway? What was his name? Konohamaru? He must be an idiot for letting you brats run off on your own, but it doesn't matter. None of that's going to help me right now!" The corpse continued pacing.
"What should we do now?" Mitsuki asked the other two.
"Just don't say anything until he calms down. My mom does this sometimes," Sarada answered in a whisper.
Obito whipped his head in their direction and shouted more loudly than necessary, "You know I can hear you! Stop talking!" Then he muttered to himself, "This is why you were right to never have kids or became a jounin-sensei, Obito. They're all nothing but troublesome brats and this is obviously your worst fucking nightmare!"
"Did he just say 'f-?" Mitsuki asked before the other two hushed him.
The undead Uchiha paced for a few minutes longer before coming to a stop, his shoulders slumped before he shook his head and turned to them haughtily, looking past them at nothing in particular before setting his eyes on them once more. "Let's just forget about this, alright?" he gave a full-body shrug and let out a deep sigh. "Look. You respect my boundaries... I'll respect yours... and everyone gets to live. At least, until everything comes crashing down around us." He paused and tapped his chin before perking up and adding, "You wanted to build a campfire, right? Yeah. You did, so just use these seals," he instructed once more, letting his hands go through the motions slowly, "and release a katon jutsu and you'll be done in no time. I need to go clear my head now so don't run off. I'll be back eventually." He proceeded to activate his Mangekyo quickly before swirling out of existence.
"Where the hell did he head off to?" the young Uzumaki mused, not noticing the kunoichi glaring at him from the side.
"You idiot!" she cried and punched him in the arm roughly, knocking him back.
"Ow!" he cried.
"You almost got us killed! I told you not to annoy him and you did it anyways! What's it going to take for you to start listening?" she exclaimed, scowling at her teammate.
Mitsuki was watching the altercation with a frown but proceeded to regather their supplies so he could start the fire the way Obito had instructed. It didn't take long before finally enough light brought into the dim area to see by, that wasn't just filtered moonlight.
"Boruto, you should be more careful. We're all in this together, remember?" Sarada reminded him softly, making the blond sigh.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to protect you and I- I don't know. He was too strong to beat and I thought I might be able to protect you guys by taking the risk," the blond said sadly while rubbing the bruise the young Uchiha had made on his arm.
"Boruto, I get it. I really do, but sometimes, you just have to make the most of things and see what happens," the girl said in return. "Hopefully, we won't have another incident like this until we get home." Boruto frowned at that and Mitsuki said nothing, leaving an uneasy silence among the three of them. But thankfully, the rest of the night went by quietly and although the genin kept a watch the entire time, looking out for either rogues or the strange Uchiha they spotted nothing until the very next morning.
"Hey, rise and shine! Time to get moving!" a voice chirped happily and Boruto felt a nudge against his side. "Come on, kid. I haven't got all day. You're burning daylight." That was the Uchiha.
The boy shot up, a kunai in his hand as he glared up at the man towering over him with a shocked expression. "What are you doing here?" he squawked, moving away from the offending foot that had nudged him.
"I already told you: 'you three are stuck with me'," the corpse answered before flitting his two-toned black eyes between the boy's face and the kunai. "Are you going to use that?" he asked, pointing to the blade and raising an amused brow.
The blond huffed and stashed the blade away before throwing himself back down into the comfort of his sleeping bag, turning his head to gauge where his teammates were. Sarada was sitting in front of the fire, poking at something sizzling beside it, the smell of cooked meat wafting through the air while Mitsuki sat beside her and looked back at him and the undead Uchiha curiously. "You were supposed to wake me when he came back," he grumbled to his teammates across the clearing.
Sarada glanced at him and adjusted her glasses before she flatly replied, "We forgot." It seemed to be a sort of payback for sending the undead on a rage the night before.
"Hurry up and get out of bed. Uchiha-san brought us breakfast," the kunoichi ordered before scraping up some of the meat and divvying it out among three dishes. The food smelled mouthwatering and reminded the blue-eyed genin of when his mother would cook for holiday meals.
He shuffled around the corpse and packed away his things in his backpack before seating himself beside his teammates and poking curiously at the food in the bowl Mitsuki handed him. It wasn't pork, fowl, or beef and he felt rather cautious about it if the corpse had brought it. "What is it?" he asked while taking a tentative bite. Before he got an answer, he took a few more since he was hungry and it was a far (yet delightful) change from the rations that they had been eating.
"Uchiha-san says it's rabbit," Mitsuki answered smiling. "He also showed us how to prepare it."
Boruto looked down at the food in his bowl. "Rabbit, huh?" he muttered, pushing it around with his eating utensil. The thought of having killed an innocent creature like that was just about enough to make him lose his appetite, but the genin was determined not to show weakness in front of the Uchiha, even if it made him sick.
"I figured killing something small and practically defenseless like yourselves would get my mind off of yesterday's activities and lo and behold, it did," the corpse commented while leaning against a tree on the edge of the clearing, not doing anything in particular.
The young Uzumaki took a moment to notice that the corpse had changed his outfit into a thick, black cloak with a hood and a collar that seemed to raise just as high as the mantle he had been wearing the day before. That must have been one of the other things he did while he was gone, but he didn't focus on it. The boy was more focused on the obvious quip that the Uchiha had thrown at him. Defenseless? He'll show him. He had to let his guard down eventually, but for now, he'd play along just as Sarada had asked him to.
"Yeah. Thanks for that," the blond grumbled snarkily back at him.
"No problem," the corpse replied with a dark, mirthless chuckle.
Sarada gave the blond a warning look and Mitsuki just observed as he tucked slowly into his food. "I like this. It's much better than rations," the snake sage commented.
The Uchiha genuinely smiled, making the scars along the right side of his face seem deeper. "I'm glad," he responded, preening at the somewhat of a compliment.
Boruto rolled his cerulean eyes as he chewed around another mouthful of meat. "So," he asked between bites, "where are we headed today?"
Obito's attention fell on him again and he tapped his chin while humming thoughtfully. "Well, we'll make our way to the border of Earth and Grassland, head down towards the Tenchi Bridge to cross into Fire," he answered, sure of himself.
"Why not just use Kannabi Bridge, Uchiha-san? Wouldn't it be faster that way, since its the closest?" the kunoichi asked, making her own suggestion. In light of the conversation, she had taken out a map from her bag to look over their location.
The corpse seemed to pale at the suggestion if possible before he cleared his throat to explain."I merely suggested that path to avoid anyone recognizing my face. Everyone knows the Kannabi Bridge is more heavily traveled than the Tenchi," he explained easily. "And the last thing we need is to cause a mass panic while I'm trying to sneak into a country."
"Why not use your stupid teleport thing? You could reappear on the other side of the border," the young Uzumaki put forth.
"Because if anyone is following us, that'd be a perfect moment to snatch you up or cause confusion for civilians and shinobi at the site," the corpse replied. "But yes. I thought about this, so please, don't belittle my motives."
Sarada's attention was fully on the Uchiha. "But Uchiha-san, the Tenchi Bridge is more heavily trafficked than the Kannabi Bridge because it's closer to a shinobi village," the kunoichi pointed out. "Is there another reason you don't want to use it?"
"Oh. Is it? A lot must have happened in the time I've been dead," he said, musing aloud and avoiding her question.
"You bastard!" Boruto snapped. "Come on! You could just take us back immediately, but instead, you're just keeping us here for no reason! Why are we wasting our time here?"
"Boruto!" Sarada shouted in warning, but the boy just continued.
"Just use the stupid teleport thing to get us back home! Why are you avoiding the quickest path too? What do you want with us?" The blond was snarling and angry when he finished as he glared at the unamused undead.
"Yes, because I really enjoy spending more time with you than I have to," the corpse sneered dryly. "Look kid, I'd have thrown you on the Hokage's lap by now if I could, but unfortunately my 'stupid teleport thing'," he said while using air quotations, "which is called Kamui by the way - isn't working as it should. I should be able to travel across half the world, but it seems that something happened when I was resurrected or that it wasn't done properly," he answered. Then he took a moment to look at his gloved hands curiously before crossing his arms over his chest and shrugging. "So I would if I could, but for now I'm stuck with only using a short-range Kamui. And as for why I don't want to use… that bridge is because it holds bad memories for me, but fine. Let's take that one if it'll make you stop whining like a petulant child!"
The boy huffed and crossed his own arms as he continued to glare up at the man. "Fine then. What's the range on your Kamui now?" the blond asked with contempt, abandoning the last few bites in his dish.
"About three kilometers in any direction," he replied without missing a beat. "It would take a few leaps to get there by teleportation and I refuse to spare the chakra since I don't have many markers in the area, but we should be on the border in a few hours."
"How're we going to pass by the patrols? They'll have people scouting everywhere after the assassination attempt on the Tsuchikage," Mitsuki asked, tilting his head curiously.
Obito raised an eyebrow at that but didn't see fit to ask. "I marked a drop zone for us to use that should be concealed by any wandering patrols. So once we get to the edge of the border, I can pull us into Kamui and take us all to the other side. Hopefully, that'll at least give us a head start in avoiding any patrols in the area. I can't sense people from inside of Kamui and if we do run into anyone, we'll likely be considered a threat and forced to fight," the corpsed explained, his lips twitching downwards at the mention of conflict.
"You can get us past without killing anyone though, right Uchiha-san?" the kunoichi asked.
"Maybe? Genjutsu-types are more difficult to get past and I'm not really big on using genjutsu myself, even as a Sharingan user. I might be able to put them to sleep though if they get close, but that could affect you three as well. Besides, we're trying to enter without alerting anyone to our presence. I could slip in by myself easily, but slipping in a handful of genin that can barely mask their chakra well enough to slip past a seasoned chuunin? That's asking for trouble."
The young Uzumaki scoffed at him and Mitsuki nodded in understanding. "I see where that would be a problem," the snake sage agreed.
"Whose side are you on?" Boruto grumbled at him.
"Hm?"
"Never mind..."
"Uchiha-san! We could pretend to be tourists. I still have some seals left to cover whatever chakra we can't conceal," Sarada suggested causing the corpse to grin her direction.
"Now you're thinking like a shinobi! Although I'm not fond of the idea of having a chakra-sapping seal anywhere near me in this form, I think that would be a brilliant idea to slip past them," the undead commended her with a grin.
Boruto had to roll his eyes and shake his head before stepping back into the conversation. "Why not just wait until nightfall? The cover of darkness would cover us far better than a few seal charms and an optimistic attitude."
"More patrols and more sensing rather than looking. I can deal with one or two people alerted to our presence, but not whole squads," the corpse pointed out. "And with you three? I'd rather not take that gambit altogether."
"Then daytime it is," Sarada agreed and that was that. The three of them began to clean up their dishes and utensils with hardly a stitch and prepared to head out.
As they were leaving, Mitsuki took out a canteen and took a few small sips of water, not noticing the corpse focused on him until he had finished. It seemed only polite, like Sensei had taught him, to share with the man even if he was a fairly 'bad' person, but then again people still said his father was bad. Uchiha-san had helped them quite a bit so far and hadn't killed them; he was just a shinobi. Sometimes they had to use force to achieve what needed to be done.
The blue-haired boy offered his canteen to the undead. "Here Uchiha-san. Would you like a drink?" he asked politely, gauging the man's troubled expression directed at the canteen. But a hand gently pushed his wrist away.
"Don't bother, Mitsuki," Boruto said grumpily. "He's a corpse. He doesn't need to eat or drink anything." Then the blond slipped his backpack onto his shoulders for the trip ahead of them.
The snake sage held his canteen closer to him, but continued to watch the undead Uchiha who was looking off in another direction, troubled, with a gloved hand over his mouth. "Are you sure you don't need a drink, Uchiha-san?" the genin asked once more, still determined to help if he could.
Obito sat up straighter against the tree trunk and shook his head. "No thanks. I'll live... figuratively," he answered before trudging forth, beginning a brisk pace through the tree once again, expecting the children to follow.
"What was that all about?" the blond grumbled as the three of them began to follow a few paces after him.
"I don't know, but don't you think Uchiha-san is a little strange for a dead man?" the kunoichi asked. "I mean, I would think he'd act a lot… stiffer?"
"Yeah. Of course I noticed that, but we have no idea what technique we're dealing with or how he was brought back to life. It could be just a side-effect," the Uzumaki boy pointed out.
"Maybe he's not all dead?" Mitsuki suggested. "Maybe he's kind of like me?"
"No, Mitsuki," Sarada corrected. "He's not and I can say for certain that you're not a monster like him."
"Yeah! Don't compare yourself to that," Boruto added.
The snake sage could do nothing but frown. He didn't see it like that at all.
Author's Note: Sorry guys. I just realized that the kiddos were in Earth so I had to go back and edit Sound Country to Earth Country. But it should be fine now. Konohamaru's on his way to rescue the kiddos too, so what'll happen next? Not even I know! See ya next time!