D/C: We don't own Naruto. 'Nuff said.
(the authors appear)
Dragon Man 180: This chapter was both sad and fun to write.
Jedi Mistress 1990: And so I bring you tissue boxes, chocolate, and firecrackers.
DM: Prepare for some angsty stuff followed by happy stuff.
JM: Sorrow for the lost Lenore, nameless here forevermore. Quoth the Raven, "Nevermore."
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JM: Okay, what did my alter-ego say? oO
DM: I think it quoted The Raven by Poe.
JM: Oookayyy, then...anyway, on to the chapter!
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Itachi frowned as she glanced at the sky. It was overcast and gloomy, not at all the kind of day she liked. The five year old absently ran her fingers through her hair as she walked towards her mother's room. Mikoto was seven months pregnant and Itachi was helping her as much as she could while Obito was away with his team on a mission.
"Oka-san, how are you feeling today?" Itachi asked with a smile. "And how about my brother or sister?" Missing Obito aside, she was very excited to be a big sister.
"I'm just tired, Itachi, this little one is very active and I'm out of shape after retiring to take care of you," said Mikoto with a soft smile. She didn't regret her decision to retire, it allowed her to spend more time with her child and Obito.
"I'll get you some water, then," said Itachi as she noticed her mother was sweating heavily despite the weather.
As Itachi finished filing the glass, she heard the door to the house open. Turning, her eyes widened as the glass slipped from her fingers to shatter on the floor as she saw Arashi standing there with Rin and Kakashi. Kakashi's hitai-ate now covered his left eye, but the expression of grief was easy to see, as were Rin's red eyes and the somber look on Arashi's face.
Even more telling was the cracked pair of orange goggles clutched tight in Arashi's hands. "Itachi?" asked Mikoto as she walked into the room after hearing the crash. Her face paled at what she was seeing and Arashi barely caught her before she fainted.
"Obito-nii-san..." whimpered Itachi.
After he had taken Mikoto back to her room and placed her on her bed, Arashi returned to the kitchen where Itachi was blankly staring at Obito's fallen goggles.
"Itachi...about Obito..." Arashi knelt down to Itachi's level. "Obito...he's..." he laid a hand on the little girl's shoulder. "He's not coming back."
Itachi knew and understood what death meant, so she didn't need an explanation for Arashi's "kind" statement. She bit her lip and tried to keep from bursting into tears, but failed miserably.
"Itachi..." Arashi began, but Itachi turned away and ran upstairs. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" she screamed, pushing open the door to Obito's room and throwing herself upon the bed, sobbing hysterically.
"I'll watch him," said Rin softly as she followed the distraught girl, making no effort to talk to Itachi, just providing a shoulder to cry on.
He's gone...I'll never see him again, Itachi thought over and over. I didn't even get to say goodbye to him...
While she was smart enough to understand death, she did not quite understand the concept of acceptance and moving on, and wondered how she could ever live without her cousin to teach her and be there for her.
Itachi felt Rin lightly rubbing her shoulders and flipped over to hug the older girl while crying into her brown hair. "I know it hurts. I miss him too, Itachi," whispered Rin.
"But he died the way he would have wanted, protecting his friends and teammates," she continued.
When Fugaku learned of Obito's death, he looked upset for a moment before his stoic face was back up. "While I mourn the boy's loss, this emotional display is not becoming of a ninja and certainly not the Uchiha heir," he said as he watched Itachi clutch her cousin's goggles.
WHAM. A frying pan met the top of Fugaku's head as an enraged Mikoto loomed over him. "You insensitive clod, didn't you ever cry when you were younger???" she yelled before whacking him with the pan again.
"I...I..." Fugaku stammered before going into his own twisted version of la-la land.
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Several days later, Itachi stood in front of the memorial stone bearing the names of those who had given their lives in battle. Obito's goggles, newly repaired, rested on her head and she stood with a look of determination in her eyes as she placed her hand over her cousin's name. "Obito-nii-san, I swear to protect this village that you loved so much!"
"I will take your nindo and make it my own! I will protect those precious to me and make sure they never have to feel like I did when I learned of your death!" Itachi then gabbed a kunai and carefully made a cut on her palm. "This I, Uchiha Itachi, Heiress of the Uchiha Clan, do swear!"
"Yeesh, hang on, I'm not that gone yet!" a familiar 14 year old voice exclaimed.
"And now I'm hearing things..." Itachi bitterly said, tearing up again. "I miss you so much, Obito-nii-san!"
"I wish you could hear me, Imotou-chan, it sucks being a ghost and not being able to talk to anyone," said the voice. Itachi spun around to see the transparent image of her cousin standing behind her. Like Kakashi, his hitai-ate covered his left eye, but other than that he looked the same as when she last saw him as he left for the ill-fated mission.
"OBITO-NII-SAN!" Itachi screamed, and she tried to wrap her arms around him, but she shivered and her arms went through him.
Obito blinked and stared at Itachi in shock. "You can see me, Itachi??" he demanded.
"Of course I can see you," Itachi exclaimed. "I just couldn't hug you!"
"This is great!" yelled Obito as he pumped his fist in the air. "I finally have someone to talk to after days of watching my team mope around!"
Itachi was still in shock at seeing her beloved Obito in front of her. "But...but...why are you a ghost?" she asked him.
Obito lightly flicked Itachi's hair as he said, "Duh, so I could keep watching over my favorite little cousin! Come on, would you really expect me to leave you alone?"
Itachi's tears were now of happiness. "No! No, you wouldn't!" she said with a smile. "But I can't hug you like this!" she whined.
Obito sighed. "Yeah, that's another thing about being a ghost that sucks. You can't fully touch me and any physical contact you make with me makes you cold." and then he smiled again. "But we'll get over that!"
Itachi smirked. "Want to prank Kaka-baka?" she asked. Obito's giant grin was answer enough.
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Itachi was jerked awake by Obito's ghostly hand going through her shoulder. "Itachi, Auntie is giving birth!" he exclaimed.
"REALLY?!" Itachi shrieked, immediately jumping out of bed. "WHERE IS SHE?!"
"Master Bedroom, Fugaku is freaking out!" hissed Obito. Itachi nodded and pulled on her clothes before running to her parent's bedroom after grabbing the suitcase her mother had packed for this situation earlier that month.
Fugaku was indeed freaking out, rushing around the room looking for something, Itachi rolled her eyes before helping her mother get a coat on and get up. "Otou-san, go tell Uncle Arashi and Auntie Anko I'll need to stay with them while Oka-san is giving birth, then come to the hospital to meet us," she said. Fugaku did as he was told, running out of the house in his robe.
Itachi quickly grabbed the scroll Arashi had left for this situation and opened it to reveal a picture of a toad. Hurrying outside with Mikoto, she smeared her blood on the drawing, which activated the jutsu and summoned one of the toads Arashi had a contract with. "Gama-san," said Itachi. "My mother is giving birth, please take us to the hospital!"
One wild toad ride later, Mikoto was in a hospital room with Fugaku beside her and Itachi claiming the extra bed in the room. Arashi and his girlfriend/lover Mitarashi Anko, waited outside the room.
Itachi ended up falling back to sleep, and Obito hid in the shadows, getting incredibly bored. The second Uchiha child seemed to have changed its mind halfway through and was taking quite a while.
Anko eventually peeked into the room and saw the sleeping Itachi. With a nod from Mikoto, Orochimaru's former apprentice gently picked up Itachi and carried her out of the room, where Arashi joined her. They carried Itachi back to their small house and tucked her into a guest bed, leaving her a note that they would take her to the hospital the next morning.
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The next morning, Itachi woke up to smell her aunt's delicious pancakes. After an enjoyable breakfast, the trio set out towards the hospital, meeting up with Hiashi and Hikari on the way.
"Fugaku-san seems to be going ballistic over this one..." Hikari mused. "I wonder why?"
Arashi shrugged. "It's Fugaku-teme. Who cares?"
"Got that right," muttered Anko, since Fugaku had opposed her return to being a kunoichi after she abandoned Orochimaru.
"Can we just get on with seeing my brother or sister already?" Itachi spoke up, already about to go insane with impatience and anticipation.
"Yes, but even if I'm going to be Hokage soon, we can't just barge into the hospital," said Arashi with a smirk as the group entered the doors. A nurse pointed them in the right direction and they soon found themselves in Mikoto's room.
Mikoto smiled at the sight of her daughter. "Itachi, there's someone I want you to meet." Itachi quickly walked over to her mother's side, stepped on a small stool, and looked inside the bundle that Mikoto held.
"This is your brother, Sasuke."
"He's going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up," said Itachi.
Mikoto laughed. "Why do you say that, Itachi?"
"He's too pretty."
Obito's uproarious laughing was unheard by everyone except for Itachi. "That's what I said about you, imotou-chan!" he managed to shout.
"Well, Oto-chan, I promise to be the best big sibling I can be to you, just like Obito-nii-san was for me!" said Itachi as she kissed Sasuke's forehead.
"I'm sure you'll be a great big brother for my kid when they're born around October," said Anko with a smile as she rested her hand on her slightly bulging belly.
"Mine as well," said Hikari, even though she had five months to go and didn't show much weight gain yet.
Itachi genuinely grinned. "I look forward to it!"
Little did everyone know that in three months the village would be thrown into chaos and turmoil.
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DM: Well, as we said, some sad stuff followed by some happy stuff.
JM: It took kinda long due to the fact that I have the tendency to chase after shinies...
DM: But we got it finished!
JM: HAI! Please let us know what you think of Obito's revival and the new shipment!
DM: And next chapter is when things really start to get interesting in the Narutoverse!
JM: And we really appreciate reviews that give us more than just "this is funny" or "update soon" and the like. I'd like to thank the few that do review constructively. It makes me feel that people DO remember their English skills...
DM: yes. One liner reviews don't help us improve or figure out what we're doing wrong.
JM: HAI! Fandom no chikari to iki nasai!
DM: And for all those who don't understand Japanese, please translate????
JM: Go with the power of fandom!
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JM: Excuse my randomness. I DO have to go home to New Mexico in a few days, and my mind is fucking me up like crazy...
DM: Which means we're trying to get as many chapters done as possible before she's stuck on a limited chatting time with me.
JM: With that said, we bid you until next time!
DM: Right!
(the authors go back to their lives)