Eye of the Storm
Chapter 4: Crimson Dragon
Two Days Earlier...
Kakashi made his way along the road to Konoha casually reading Icha Icha Paradise as he normally did. It was a warm spring evening as the sun was setting beautifully over the horizon.
But then Kakashi stopped. He sensed something was off, so he put away his book and dashed up into the trees. He darted from each one towards Konoha while carefully observing his surroundings and remaining undetected.
It was then he heard the sounds of the disturbance and hid behind the brush of the trees to observe. It seemed someone-probably no older than 13-was getting roughed up by the goons that loitered around the road to Konoha. Kakashi furrowed his brows and he wondered why the kid wasn't fighting back. Surely he was a trained ninja so it would be easy to at least dodge and defend.
Regardless, Kakashi knew he had to help him, especially because he was taking a hard beating. Before jumping down, Kakashi pulled up his ninja headband, closed his right eye and let his sharingan glow its crimson color.
He dropped down just behind the poor dark haired kid silently. The goons immediately recognized him and scampered away, and yet the boy still didn't turn around or seem to sense his presence. He must have been exhausted though, because he passed out cold and fell to the ground.
Kakashi put down his headband over his left eye once again as he walked around the boy. Somehow he knew he would be alright, and he wasn't far from Konoha either. Kakashi turned to look back at the boy as he walked back, and thought maybe he'd see him again in town later for the festival.
Present, Obito's POV
"O-Obito?" I heard Kakashi say faintly over the rain, and from the distance I could see him shaking slightly.
"That name," I had to speak up because of the loud pitter patter of the rain. "Who's Obito?"
Kakashi remained silent and only gave me a conflicted expression. He was holding something back, I could just feel it in my gut, and it made me angry.
I stepped closer to him, "Kakashi!" I demanded. "Tell me! Who… is… Obito?" I was shaking now because of his inability to cooperate.
"It wouldn't make sense. It's impossible." He finally said calmly.
"Please, just tell me!" I pleaded desperately. "Do you know what it's like doing this on a whim with no clues and no direction to go?! If I knew who this 'Obito' was maybe I… I…" I collapsed on my knees on the soaked concrete platform. "Maybe I wouldn't be so lost anymore…" In that moment I was glad it was raining so that my tears could not be seen.
I didn't look up to see Kakashi's expression, but his words were dry, "Obito is dead." Those few words had almost thrown away what little hope I had left. "But you-you look just like Obito…"
I looked up at him with watery eyes. I pulled up the goggles to wipe away the tears with my sleeve. "I... I do?" I said with a weak voice. My throat felt tight, and I didn't want Kakashi to think I was crying. "Ugh... I got rain in the goggles." I lied. Kakashi's gaze didn't move from me, like a stone statue of a person fixated in its only direction, the one it was created to face.
"These were his goggles..." He trailed off. I couldn't tell if he was angry or not. That was the last thing I wanted. I tried to take them off quickly.
"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I really am sorry." I bowed my head several times quickly. I got up to take them back to the memorial when I was stopped by a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to look at Kakashi. "Huh...?" I looked at him in confusion.
"Keep them for now," He instructed as he took his hand off my shoulder. "They fit you perfectly somehow." I felt a calm wash over me as the rain began to stop. Only a few drops here and there fell now.
I looked down at them in my hand. Somehow they were a perfect fit, and I didn't think much of it at first. I clenched my fingers around the goggles. "Kakashi..." I trailed off, not knowing if I wanted the answer. "Just who was Obito?"
Kakashi closed his eye as he put his hands in his pockets. "Follow me..." He said sternly. I silently obeyed. It was the longest walk of my life.
I shut the squeaky door behind me and looked around the small living room. He went to sit down on the smallest couch and I joined the one that was next to it. He looked at me for a long time, running through the words in his head I guessed. I became more and more nervous the longer he waited. Then, he finally spoke.
"Do you know who you are?"
"No, I don't." I replied honestly.
"You don't remember anything? Not of your past either?"
"Only what's happened in the past two days."
He furrowed his eyebrow. "You don't even remember what you did for me?" My chest tightened.
"Would you… remind me?" My response seemed to sadden him. He only shut his eye and began his story.
"A long time ago, about 16 years, you and I were on the same team." My heart sank. "There was a girl named Rin, who was also on our team as well. She had a crush on me, but you were in love with her." I said her name silently to myself. "Rin..." Even though I had no idea who she was, her name tasted like sweet, ripe strawberries on my lips. I struggled to remember what she looked like as Kakashi spoke more.
"With Rin, you, myself, and our sensei the fourth Hokage-" I immediately cut him off as I said, "Our sensei was the fourth Hokage?"
"Yes."
"S-so that's why he looked familiar..."
"What do you mean?"
"He's the fourth person up there on that mountain, isn't he?"
"Correct."
"When I first came here and I looked up at the mountain to see all of those faces, the fourth face seemed somewhat familiar to me." He seemed to be in deep thought for a moment.
"When you first came here?" He asked cautiously.
"The farthest back I can remember is only from yesterday, and that's when I first came to Konoha." Silence filled the small room briefly before he spoke.
"The thing is," He said with hesitation. "I know it sounds crazy, but the resemblance is uncanny. It's just that, it seems like a trap and that it can't be true."
"Kakashi, I need to know who I am."
He waited, debating on whether to tell me the truth. He decided to tell me the rest of the story first.
"When you, Rin, and I went on a mission, Rin was kidnapped. I was going to continue with the mission, but you insisted on saving her first. We parted, and you went to fight her kidnappers. I eventually joined you and together we freed Rin. However, my left eye was badly injured, so in an attempt to get away from the other attackers, I was hit in the head with a rock and fell to the ground. You saw that a huge boulder was about to crush me and then..." he trailed off, holding the last of his memory on the tip of his tongue.
I anxiously waited for the end of the story. "You pushed me out of the way, in exchange, you were crushed." My mouth gaped open at the last three word, my eyes widened. I wondered how my heart was even beating right now. I looked down at the palms of my hands. "I died, didn't I?"
"That is something I would like to figure out as well." I looked up to stare at him. "Kakashi," I said, my voice shaking. "Who am I?"
He then got up, taking out a small picture from the inside of his green jacket. Slowly walking over toward me as he unfolded it, he handed it to me and said, "You are Obito Uchiha of the Uchiha Clan."
I stared down at the wrinkled and tattered picture that rested in my hands and I froze. The boy on the right side of young Kakashi was a mirror image of me.
"There is one more thing I need to show you."
I almost couldn't get out the next few words of, "What else could that be?"
"You gave me your eye, your Sharingan." He admitted as he unveiled the mask over his left eye.
The sharp, deep red eye peered into me, throwing me into a stage of tense fright yet enigmatic confliction. My own left eye began to feel hot, and it watered up. It was like a hunger had awakened.
To be continued...
