Naruto: The Ninth Tail Chapter 14

Vows

"Where could they be?" Sakura looked left and right for any trace of the Akatsuki, but she couldn't find one.

Sasuke crouched low, and put his ear to the ground, closing his eyes. After a moment, he stood back up. "They went that way." He pointed north.

They headed over that way, and before they knew it, they were in a cluster of traps. Once they noticed, it was kind of too late. They sprung quite a few traps, and that would have been the end of any average Shinobi. However, they weren't just any old average Shinobi. Three were taught by the Copy Ninja, who was also there in person, each of those taught by one of the legendary Sannin. Two people were Jinchuriki, and the last two were at least above Chuunin level. Nevertheless, it was easy for them to dodge everything that came at them without breaking into sweat.

"Looks like we're going the right way." Kakashi looked around carefully, not wanting to set off any more traps.

Naruto had his eyes closed, and then opened them, turning his head to look at Sasuke. "No, it's wrong."

Sasuke gave Naruto a puzzled look. "Why is that?"

Naruto looked up at a tree. "It's because that's who we followed."

"Kyaa!" A girl's scream came from the same tree Naruto was looking at, and out dropped one of Naruto's shadow clones holding a startled Hinata.

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" Sakura looked surprised.

"W-well, Hokage-sama gave Kiba-kun, Shino-kun, and me a mission to watch over you." Naruto's clone let her down, and then disappeared.

"Why did she ask you?" Naruto asked.

Hinata started pushing her fingers together, getting nervous. "I don't know… She just asked us to and we couldn't say no..."

By this time, Kiba and Shino had dropped out of the trees.

"Well now that we know you guys are here, why don't you help us track down those Akatsuki, Kiba?"

"Sure thing. Akamaru?" Kiba looked over to his partner, and saddled him. Akamaru sniffed the air a bit, then bounded west. The rest of the group followed after him.

"Looks like today's not gonna be boring anymore, yeah."

Deidara let go of Tobi's head, and they both hid in the trees. As they watched, seven people jumped out of the trees and landed at the spot where the two were a few seconds ago.

"It looks like they were really here." Kakashi knelt down and looked at the grass. "Somebody was sitting here."

The rest of the group tensed themselves, ready for a surprise attack. They weren't disappointed. Shuriken and explosive birds rained down on them from all directions. Yet, they didn't worry. Gaara blocked everything with his sand, but it took him more effort than before. Once the bombardment was over, Gaara looked directly at Deidara. "Hey, get down from there before I have to force you to."

"

"Well, look who's back." Kakashi looked up as the two dropped from the trees. "Deidara, if I'm not mistaken." He looked at the other guy. "You must be new."

"The name's Tobi." He pulled a sword from inside of his cloak, shifting to a fighting position.

Naruto couldn't help it. He had to ask. "What's with the mask? It's covering up your left eye."

Tobi slowly turned his head towards the blond boy, then lifted a hand to his mask. "There was an accident. My face was crushed under a boulder, and it can't be completely fixed. It hurts when the wind blows at it. Plus," His hand gripped the mask a bit tighter. "My left eye seems to have been removed somehow. I don't remember, but if I find who it was, they will pay."

He lowered his hand and returned it to the grip of the sword. "Now…" He turned his head to Kakashi. "What's with your left eye?"

Kakashi looked straight into Tobi's right eye. "A comrade - no, friend - gave me his eye as a parting gift. I can't use it all the time, so that's why I cover it."

Tobi straightened up a bit. "You mean, there's something special about your eye?"

Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, revealing his three dotted Sharingan. Tobi dropped his sword, hands trembling. "Th… That eye…"

Suddenly, Tobi threw his hand to his head, screaming. He fell to the ground on his knees. He curled into a ball moaning, and Deidara crouched over him. "Hey, Tobi, what's going on?"

After a few moments, Tobi slowly got up, and dusted himself. "It's been a long time, Kakashi." He brought his left hand to his mask. "A very, very, long time…"

"What are you… Obito?" Kakashi looked carefully as Tobi slowly pulled the mask off. Kakashi was taken completely off guard at his old friend's face. His right side was perfectly fine, except for his eye, which had a cloth wrapped over it, his forehead also covered with the cloth. Kakashi remembered that face well, a tear falling from his left eye. The other half, however, was completely unrecognizable. It was all scars, with barely a single spot of skin unmarred, except for his eye, the Sharingan eye.

"So, you actually survived. But," Kakashi asked. "Why can I use the Mangekyou Sharingan?" He tapped his left eye, and activated it.

Obito responded casually. "It's because there are several types of Mangekyou Sharingan. Uchiha Itachi-san's Mangekyou Sharingan is the basic version, where you actually kill your best friend. Yours, however, is the belief that your best friend has died. Once you gain one type, however, there is never going to be a change. Yours is slightly weaker than Itachi's, but it's still a very formidable weapon."

"You mean," Sasuke asked, "that you don't have to actually kill your best friend?"

Obito looked at Sasuke. "The last Uchiha… Of course you would want to gain more power, because Itachi-san killed off your whole clan. Well, except for me. It's true that you don't have to kill your best friends, but you can't just get it by thinking, 'I killed my best friend.' It's not that simple. There are so many styles that I can't describe. You'll have to find out yourself, little one."

Obito looked at Deidara. "Deidara-san, let's go."

"What?"

"I have no intention of fighting my former comrade or one of my own clan. I don't even want to risk fighting one of the Jinchuriki, and a former."

"Che. You are weak."

"Well, I'll need more experience before I even think about fighting a group like this."

Obito turned his gaze back to Kakashi. There was sorrow in his eyes, but a feeling of determination enveloped it soon after. "I'll leave the scroll here. I'm going back."

Obito turned and was about to leave, but a small voice stopped him. "Ano…"

Obito turned around, and noticed for the first time the girl with white eyes. Hinata shuffled her feet a little bit, eyes averted from his gaze. Then, she piped up. "If Obito-san is the comrade of Kakashi-san, why don't you return with us to Konoha?"

Obito started to walk over to the girl. Kakashi was about to move, but decided to give his friend the benefit of the doubt. Once Obito reached he knelt down in front of her. As he raised his hand, Hinata flinched and closed her eyes. Obito's hand finally rested on Hinata's head. She slowly opened her eyes, and found Obito smiling gently at her. "It's because I owe someone my life. He saved me, and I have to repay him some how. This is the only way I can think of. Maybe someday I can return to Konoha… maybe he can too." Hinata could barely hear his last sentence, because he was so quiet.

Obito put his mask back on. "Well, I hope to see you another day, Kakashi. It's been nice meeting you."

"Yeah, likewise." Kakashi raised a hand in farewell. Obito raised his, then jumped off to what was probably the Akatsuki's base of operations.

"Well, I'm not leaving anytime soon, yeah." Deidara opened his back, setting some clay dolls on the ground. The others prepared themselves for something explosive. Deidara made a few seals, then stopped, placing a hand on one of the dolls. "Kurekouken no Jutsu." (Clay guardian technique)

At first, it seemed as if nothing happened, but suddenly, the dolls started to grow in size. As they grew, they slowly took on a more realistic form. The dolls took on the shape of samurai, with helmets, chest plates, swords, the whole shebang. They continuously grew until they were the size of the surrounding trees. Then, they marched into a circular formation, completely boxing them in, except from the sky.

"Let's see you people get out of this one, yeah."