(Posted 9/29/18)

CHAPTER 26 | The Third War's Firstborn

Obito took a roundabout way home in order to avoid the celebrating crowds. It took ten minutes to reach his apartment, but the extra walking helped work out the tension coiling in his chest. At least he could breathe again by the time he made it there.

He stepped through the door off the street, then up the stairs above the tailor's shop. It was dark in the stairwell. Finally at his own door, Obito gave a long exhale and took off his backpack to get his key.

Now that things were calm and still, he remembered the stupidest thing. The first time he and Naruto met, neither of them had known about the past-future they had in common. Obito now regretted most of the things he'd said in ignorance back then. Maybe Orochimaru's grand master plan was to make him die from embarrassment in hindsight.

"Shut up already," he muttered to himself, zipping his backpack aggressively and standing with the key in hand.

"Wait," a voice said quietly the moment he put the key in the lock.

Obito jumped horribly and let go of the key; the fan-shaped keychain plinked against the metal door handle, but it didn't fall out.

"S-Sensei," Obito said, heart lobbing like he'd missed a stair walking down. Minato was standing beside him. The shop below was already closed for the day, so the building was completely quiet.

"I-I forgot you could find me." Obito forced his limbs to unfreeze and he turned the key in the lock.

"I'm sorry for startling you. But you left so quickly, I wanted to make sure you were alright. Rin told me you seemed upset."

"I'm fine." Obito put his hand on the door handle, but he didn't turn it.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about after everyone went their own way. It's about your nomination for jounin."

"You think I'm not ready?" Obito said resignedly. "I sort of thought it was too good to be true."

"It isn't the worst idea I've ever heard." Minato gave a wry smile. "But I would like to know who did it, and why." He spoke quieter, low enough that Obito had to listen carefully to hear him. "I don't want the progression of your career to be somebody else's political move. But I don't think it would hurt for you to become closer with the Uchiha, either."

"Because of the…" Obito debated about whether to say it or not. "Attack?"

Minato gave the barest of nods. "It's up to you to accept the promotion or not. But do find out whatever you can."

"I will."

Minato's face relaxed. He looked relieved. He made for the doorway that led to downstairs, then paused.

"Thank you… for letting me meet him."

Then he was gone.

Obito let out another long, shuddering breath and pushed open the door. For one short, irrational second, he thought he was about to die.

But Minato didn't know, because Naruto hadn't known. He just thought some random Uchiha was responsible. Which could be a problem. But at least Obito didn't have to jump every time he saw his sensei's shadow. He thanked whatever god had kept Naruto from figuring everything out at the wrong time.

But he decided not to disappear into kamui that evening.

The next day, Jiraiya wouldn't tell Naruto anything about where they were going to look first. His method for sneaking up on Orochimaru turned out to be very simple, but unpleasant.

"Ugh." Naruto said after the transport toad poofed away. "What does that thing eat, anyway? I swear it was extra slimy."

"I didn't really think someone would be here, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Naruto watched Jiraiya walk toward the gaping hole in the ground and he knew immediately where they were. This was where they'd faced Orochimaru and the older Obito at the same time.

It looked the same as they'd left it. A huge slice of the cliff had fallen into the sea, the result of Gamabunta getting dropped on the crumbling structure. The hollow space created by the roof collapse was now a hideout for seagulls. They hopped around and watched keenly as Naruto and Jiraiya climbed down into the hole.

"It doesn't seem like anyone has come this way," Jiraiya said, looking around at the debris. "But anyone who might have come here was already gone by then. Most people nearby had to relocate after the Kiri attacks."

"Part of this has to be underground! With some kind of barrier around it so we can't see in. Just like the others." Naruto moved around a pile of rubble near the room's edge. He was looking for a door to the inside.

"Right. The labs."

Naruto and Jiraiya had investigated many bases in the last search, and though they were all different, they had one structural theme in common: labs and information were kept below, blocked from their senses, and everything else was further up. Going below was always the most dangerous part. That's where the traps and the cages were, and they could not see the full extent of it in advance.

But though they went down, there was nothing. Just ruins. They searched from the top of the base to the lowest level, and found not even a scrap of information.

"Come on," Jiraiya said, setting a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "It's not really a surprise there's nothing here. They probably had no intention of coming back."

"Now what?" Naruto asked. They had reached the top level again, and Naruto followed Jiraiya as they hauled themselves out of the pit and onto the grass once more.

"When we don't know where to start, we start with the basics," Jiraiya said. "There is one more place I want to check today. Time to hop back in the toad and head toard our next destination!"

Naruto made a sound that was a mix between disgust and despair.

Their next destination was the hideout where Obito, Naruto, and Orochimaru appeared from the future timeline. It was just outside the bounds of the Land of Fire, closer to Oto.

Of course, there was no one there. Just the destroyed lab, the scorched foyer, and a surprising amount of vandalism. It looked like others had come to raid this place before them.

"Orochimaru removed the barrier that made this place undetectable to most," Jiraiya said, looking down at the two serpentine statues beside the entranceway, which had been knocked over. "Maybe he had some specimens here that escaped. Or maybe he angered the locals enough that they decided to take advantage."

"He's not anywhere around here." Naruto opened his eyes and frowned in disappointment. His Sage Mode hadn't caught any hint of Orochimaru, like almost every time before, but it was still frustrating. It was even more frustrating when they didn't know exactly what his disappearance meant.

"Of course not. He was gone by the time I got here to bail you out of trouble. But it is strange that no one else has seen or heard from him in months, either. Let's look around for a bit at the village and see if anyone here knows anything."

They went to the local village to sit and watch and listen. Jiraiya made inquiries in the casual way he always did. People seemed eager to reveal what they knew, which wasn't very much. Usually, even when Orochimaru wasn't here, his subordinates were, and they acted like they owned the place. But now, there hadn't been sign of any of them.

"We'll move in a bit closer to Oto like we did last time, but we'll take a different route," Jiraiya said as they walked the path away from the little village. "Not much use in pretending we're not going to check there next. What was it he told you? About undoing everything his younger self did?"

"That was it," Naruto shook his head and shrugged. "He said he's not interested in anything his younger self was doing. And he said he'd let Sasuke do whatever he wanted without explaining to him about the time travel stuff."

"That's all well and good, but it means we don't know what he could be up to instead," Jiraiya muttered.

"Then, what are we going to do? When you think about it… he could just keep avoiding us if he wanted to. I mean, since he can see wherever we are."

Jiraiya glanced down at him, then back up at the path. "Maybe, but I don't see why this Orochimaru would care about avoiding us, even if we guessed his intentions correctly. I doubt he sees us as a threat. Maybe he is trying to stay hidden from Akatsuki, to do whatever he's doing without interruption. Either way, I don't think it can be anything good."

"If he really is going after Akatsuki… it has to be because of the older Obito, right? To try to take his Sharingan."

"At this point, it would be nice if we had leads on Orochimaru, Sasuke, or Obito. Something to start with, at least. I don't know what the hell happened while we were off fighting in another timeline."

"What do you mean? You think we missed something?"

"I have no idea. That's the problem."

"Obito-chan!" the old lady who ran the tailor's shop called to him when he walked down the stairs. "I didn't see you come in yesterday! I was at home. But everybody has been telling me about the news. Losing their heads a bit early, if you ask me. We haven't won yet."

"'Morning, Hinako-baa." Obito gave a yawn. "I'm on standby today, so is there anything you need me to pick up for you?"

"Oh!" Hinako looked surprised, as if he didn't always offer to help the shop on his days off. "Oh dear, let me see... if you don't mind, would you please go check on my order down at Daito's?" She turned around to her desk and pulled open the top drawer, where receipts were kept. "I went there the first of the week, but there wasn't quite the amount I needed, so I just decided to wait, and order it all at once. Didn't want to deprive his customers just for me."

"Okay," Obito said, even though he didn't believe a word of it. "Obaa, maybe you should think about hiring someone to lift the heavy things."

"Now, everything is on here, just give him the list," Hinako said, handing Obito a large slip of paper. "I've already paid. There's a good boy."

"Hinako-baa..." Obito hesitated. "Have you, uh… heard anyone around here talking about me?"

"In what way, dear? I just told you, the whole village is buzzing about defeating Iwa. I'm so happy you made it back home! Of course, I wasn't worried about a thing, not with Minato-kun looking after you."

"Okay. Alright. I'll go get that stuff. Be back soon."

It didn't take long to walk anywhere in the Uchiha district, but Obito took his time, strolling through and saying hello to a few older residents that wanted to stop and chat. His usual acquaintances were eager to discuss the mission, but whenever the topic came up, he waved the receipt and said he needed to get going.

He was nearing the fabric store now. Obito looked down at the paper to figure out what he would be picking up, and the moment he did, he noticed something in his path. It was too late to stop his step—he barely managed to stop himself from going intangible. He bumped solidly into a child walking by, who gave a quiet oof and stumbled.

"Oh, sorry!" Obito caught the little's boy arm. "That was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going."

The child stared up at him with the typical flat black eyes of an Uchiha and didn't acknowledge his apology one way or the other.

"Are you alright?" Obito ventured.

"Oh, it's Obito!"

Obito looked up and his stomach dropped. The Clan Head's wife, Uchiha Mikoto, was in front of him. And beside her was Kushina. They were both carrying bags of food from the nearby market.

"Ooh, there he is!" Kushina said, moving closer and raising one red brow at Obito. "Good job finding him, Ita-chan. Now we just need to catch Kakashi."

Of course. If Obito had been the first to escape the crowd, Kakashi was undoubtedly the second.

"Um, this is…?" Obito asked as Mikoto took the child's hand.

"Itachi," Mikoto said warmly. "It's been a while since you've seen him."

"Yeah. How old his he now?" Obito was not good with ages, but Mikoto's son looked less like a blob than he'd imagined.

"He's three." Mikoto smoothed Itachi's hair with her hand. "And talking a lot, though it might be hard to tell at the moment."

Itachi was still staring at him, and Obito stared back. Out of everyone in the Uchiha clan, Obito tolerated old people, babies, and Mikoto the most. Despite the fact that her husband liked to snub him, Mikoto was always nice to Obito, and she was a good friend to Kushina.

But it was downright weird knowing her son would grow up to kill everyone in the clan.

When was that supposed to happen, again? Obito had been so preoccupied with the upcoming Kiri conflict that he'd shrugged it off. It was a long time after the incident with the Kyuubi, right? But if the two things were related somehow, it was possible that whatever Obito did would affect Itachi's fate as well.

"Obito?" Kushina said. "Did something happen on the mission?"

"Huh?" Obito looked up at her quickly. "Oh. Not really. I mean—we got into a few fights we weren't supposed to. Did you hear about the guys that tried to ambush us on our way back home?"

"Oh, yes," Mikoto said.

"We did," Kushina agreed with a snort. "I guess it's good Hiruzen-sama isn't going to hold it against them, but I bet you anything that old fart Ohnoki had something to do with it."

"You know how it is." Mikoto gave her best friend a placating smile. "Sometimes it's necessary to overlook smaller things in the name of a larger peace."

"Well, it's nice to meet you for real, Itachi-kun. You can call me Obito-nii, okay?" Obito held out his hand to the youngster, who reacted by clutching Mikoto's pants leg.

"Come on, say hello, Itachi," Mikoto scolded gently. "You know about Obito. He's on Minato-san's team, remember?"

Itachi nodded and gave Obito a serious look. "Obito-nii got taken by Kumo last year."

"Oh… right." Obito was surprised by the soft clarity of the child's speech. "But it's okay now. I didn't get hurt too badly."

Kushina tsked. "Why does Fugaku feel the need to constantly fill that kid with war stories?"

Mikoto shook her head, but didn't answer. Instead, she looked back at Obito. "You should come by for dinner sometime. You're always welcome."

"I doubt that," Obito said automatically, thinking of Fugaku. "I mean, thanks for inviting me, but it's not going to make those stuffy guys in the police force like me any better."

Mikoto tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. "That's not true. If things seem uncomfortable now between you and the rest of the clan, it's only because more of them are starting to see your potential."

"That's right." Kushina nodded.

Maybe. But Orochimaru had seen his potential, too, and that hadn't gone so well.

"Hey, do you know…" Obito looked around. There was no reason for him to hide it, but he felt like it shouldn't be overheard. "One of the Uchiha recommended me for jounin, but I have no idea who it is."

"Oh?" Kushina's eyes lit up with intrigue. "Do you know who did it, Mikoto?"

"That is wonderful! But no, I don't. I think Fugaku would probably know. Would you like me to ask him?"

"No—that's alright," Obito said. "It would just annoy him. They're bound to tell me themselves eventually. If not, I'll get that old man Hokage to tell me."

"That is kind of strange. No one better be playing games with you, 'ttebane," Kushina said, baring her fist. "But if it's true, we'll have to throw you a party like we did for Kakashi! And, as an extra present to you, we'll make him actually attend."

Obito grinned. "Thanks. Tell me if you hear anything about it. I gotta get going and pick up some stuff." He waved Hinako's receipt.

"It was good to see you again. Don't run off so quickly next time," Kushina said.

"Sorry. There was just, uh… too many people around. I wanted to go home."

"Right. Because you've always hated being the center of attention."

"Kushina." Mikoto nudged her with an elbow. "It was nice seeing you, Obito."

"Yeah." Obito looked down at Itachi again.

If there was going to be an attempted coup, the most obvious suspect was Fugaku. That would explain how his son had gotten so deeply involved. Obito didn't have a clue what to do about it, but he found himself sympathizing with the child. They were in the same boat, careening toward the edge.

"See you later," Obito said. "Let's both do our best, okay, Itachi-kun?"

Even though there was no way he knew exactly what Obito was talking about, the boy nodded.

Jiraiya took them on a roundabout route to Oto, spending several days at each stop. He didn't express much hope that Orochimaru would be in the Hidden Village, but the surrounding area was dotted with information sources. Naruto was usually given a training task while Jiraiya went to talk to someone.

It wasn't all that different from what they were doing before, but knowing his very presence could hinder their search made Naruto particularly lonely while waiting for Jiraiya to come back.

He was still trying to get Kurama to speak to him, without much success. The most he ever got was when he asked, 'What do you know about the Sanbi?' and Kurama said He's a weakling.

Someday, Naruto would have to rely on Kurama's power to break Orochimaru's seal, even if that meant losing the only thing that tied him to the past.

Even without a direct answer, he knew Kurama was willing to help him fight Orochimaru. The real question was how, or when, or if there was any justification in hesitating at all.

"You've got that look like you're about to have a bad idea," Jiraiya said.

Naruto looked up. He was supposed to be meditating, but instead he'd ended up staring down at his open palms.

"Not a bad idea," he protested. "We should find a way to use this connection between me and Orochimaru. I could see what he's up to if I learn to hold on longer. Or more than that! It's like a Summoning Contract, right? Maybe I can reverse-summon him."

"In theory, that would be possible," Jiraiya admitted. "But you can't do it if he can't. Minato blocked the contract, so unless we remove that block, neither of you can Summon the other. You follow?"

"But we can still see what the other is doing, so there is definitely some kind of—"

"The way I see it, this surveillance thing is separate from the Summoning Contract," Jiraiya said. "I mean, your friends don't have it, right? It's like an advanced version of what he used on the former Hokage when he summoned them using Edo Tensei."

"That is it. I already knew that." Naruto waved his hands impatiently.

"Then what's your point?"

"My point is—whatever the link is, if it goes both ways, I should be able to turn it back around. Not just to trace along the connection, but reverse it. To see through his eyes."

"That's what I mean by a bad idea."

"What choice do we have at this point? We need to find Orochimaru soon. If he hasn't already gone after Obito's Sharingan, he could show up at Kiri when they do the Sanbi plan."

"I didn't say not to try." Jiraiya leaned back. "But it could go wrong. There is always a risk when it comes to entering another shinobi's mind. I doubt even a Yamanaka would want to try it on him."

"What's the worst that could happen?" Naruto was half-joking, half genuinely wanting to know.

"Normally, the worst case is springing a mental trap that causes severe damage to the chakra pathways in your brain. In other words, death." Jiraiya gave a shrug. "But you probably don't have to worry about that. If Orochimaru wanted to kill you, he'd pick a more dramatic way to do it."

"Then—"

"But he could undo the safeguards Minato put on you. Don't try it unless you're prepared for the possibility of him controlling you."

"Oh." Naruto looked down at his hands again. "Me and Kurama already agreed on what to do if that happens again. So, yeah. I am prepared."

Jiraiya eyed him warily. "Did Minato also teach you how to say terrifying things with a straight face? Alright. We'll give it a try. Go ahead and get back in your stance."

Naruto watched as Jiraiya walked over and sat cross-legged on the ground in front of him. "Are you going into Sage Mode?"

"If I potentially have to wrestle a released Kyuubi or Orochimaru in the form of my student, I'd like to have some firepower."

Naruto closed his eyes and put his hands together.

'I hope you're awake, Kurama.'

Finally it came, the voice welling from deep within his consciousness.

Just let him try to come near my cage.

Naruto wasn't exactly sure how to do it. The first and only time he'd tried directly grasping the invisible thread that linked him to Orochimaru, he'd ended up immobilized, a sensation like piercing static filling his senses.

But that had been in the future, and circumstances were different. He'd still been under control then, and cut off from the natural defenses Kurama gave him. He was stronger now. Better at channeling energy. Maybe that would be enough.

Rather than physically reaching out, he felt the thread with his senses, like earlier. Then he inhaled sharply and seized the thread.

It jolted him like a live wire, and Naruto almost lost his hold on the energy. Rather than recoil, he kept the image of a wire in his head, a power line, and he imagined himself as electricity flowing in a direct line to the source.

It was fast. He expected a collision when he reached the end, imagined hurling directly into a brick wall. But intruding into Orochimaru's mind wasn't like that. It was more like running through a swinging door, expecting resistance and finding none, stumbling suddenly into an open space.

Naruto opened his eyes. Or were they already open? He was no longer sitting on the ground. Instead, he was standing in a dimly lit hallway. It had the feeling of a place underground. One of the hideouts?

At first, Naruto wasn't sure if what he seeing was real, or if it was simply a representation of Orochimaru's mind. But when he tried to move, nothing happened.

"That's far enough, Naruto-kun," Orochimaru said. Naruto felt the words emerge from himself. It was just like the reverse. He couldn't hear Orochimaru's thoughts, only the words he said out loud.

"I admit, I have been too busy today to pay much attention. What drove you to try this? If you are looking for Sasuke, I'm sorry to tell you he isn't here. He is still with our friends in Akatsuki."

What are you doing? Naruto tried demanding, but the words refused to form.

"While we're here, I wonder, have you given any more thought to what I asked you before? About how you are going to choose? I think you've realized this by now, but the time you have left to decide is running out."

He—they—turned around. The hall in front of them was empty, but behind them was anything but.

Bodies were strewn all along the hall. Broken weapons littered the floor and ceiling and walls. Some of the people were encircled in snakes. He had no idea who they were.

Naruto's mind raced, but Orochimaru remained completely calm.

"Don't worry. Most of the people here will live." They started walking through the wreckage, stepping smoothly over bodies and sharp objects. "You see, I'm keeping the promise I made to you. I have not seriously harmed anyone you care about."

The shinobi were all wearing similar clothes—some kind of uniform. One or two of them had masks. Masks? Were they back in Kiri?

"Of course, that rule applies to this world only, and I have no intention of spending the rest of my life here."

Orochimaru stopped to turn a shinobi's head over with his foot, and he pushed off the mask. The man's face was not familiar, but Naruto finally got a good look at the mask.

It didn't look like the ones Kiri's hunter-nin wore.

It looked like an ANBU mask.

"There are some people here you know. I'm in a hurry, but I'll let you see them."

Orochimaru snapped his fingers and they heard the sickening sound of scales sliding over concrete. Orochimaru closed his eyes and waited for a moment. When he opened them, two people were at their feet, wrapped tightly in glossy coils.

Sai! Moku-oji!

Naruto would have called out to them, but he couldn't. They were both unconscious, both a little younger than he knew them, but there was no mistaking their faces. Yamato looked very pale. Sai had blood running from his nose and mouth.

The masked people were ANBU, and this had to be Konoha.

"It's strange, isn't it, how we have ended up in this position again?" Orochimaru bent to push Yamato's head back with one long-nailed hand, showing the snake bites on the man's neck. "Resources are harder to come by in this time, but it's also a great deal easier to get away with things. This is nothing but a preview for the main show. A successful test, ne?"

A rushing sound was filling Naruto's head. The piercing shriek of static sent lines through what he could hear and see.

He remembered it, too. Yamato's face, pale and crumpled with pain as he struggled for consciousness against the poison.

"—But enough time reminiscing. There are still some loose ends to tie up here."

Naruto, run.

And he did. He was running before the vision was over, before Orochimaru could say or do anything else. It didn't matter what he had to say, what explanations or taunts he was about to give. Naruto ran with Kurama's power bleeding into him, only half-seeing the trees whipping by as he returned to his own body.

He ran. But this time, it wasn't away.

Chapter 27, Wrong Answer, will post October 13. See you then!