(posted 3/11/19)
CHAPTER 38 | Team To
Obito did not want to fight anymore, especially against Orochimaru.
He watched the standoff between him and Naruto—staying close enough to interfere if the snake attacked, but not joining in to shield his older self. Instead, he was in front of Kabuto, angling himself at an equal distance from both his team members.
"Naruto, stop. This isn't worth it," Obito said quietly, making them all turn to look at him.
Naruto frowned. "Obito—"
"This is their fight. Why should we be the ones to jump in the middle of it and die? What happens out in other worlds doesn't matter to me."
"Obito!" Naruto sounded shocked, somehow. As if he hadn't nearly died for this already. As if he couldn't be snuffed out in the blink of an eye, the way the Sanbi jinchuuriki was.
Deep down in his heart, Obito knew Tobi guessed correctly. He had seen. He had subconsciously believed this new team to be less mortal than the old one. That all this time spent crossing worlds made them above the rules, somehow.
Tobi had helped reverse that opinion in a very short amount of time.
"Interesting," Orochimaru mused. "You see, Naruto-kun? There is no need to waste your lives here. As you said, I worked too hard to bring you three to fruition. But Tobi was also right. I did consider killing you when we arrived in your world, as it would have been more convenient to take the Mangekyou of this one." He gestured at Obito.
"And what? You want a thank you?" Naruto snorted. "Obito is only saying that because he hates Tobi. He understands better than anyone that kind of power needs to be kept away from you."
Orochimaru stared at Obito now, a knowing smirk emerging on his face. "Is that how it is? You know, I was truly impressed with you that time, Obito-kun. You made things more difficult for me by not allowing me into this dimension from the start. I believe I could have found my way back here faster if you had. I thought I'd seen a glimpse of the unexpected in you. A change."
"I have changed, not that it's any of your business." Obito clenched his fists and tamped down the urge to yell. He knew getting drawn in by Orochimaru's taunts would only end badly.
He knew just as well Naruto would stand his ground and continue doing just that.
Obito glanced back as movement caught his eye. Tobi, who had been leaning against a column, slid down the stone and sat. He was losing against whatever venom Orochimaru injected him with.
"You held out well. I don't think two was enough," Orochimaru mused, flexing one long hand. "This may hurt a little more than it was supposed to."
Tobi raised his left hand in a shaky half-ram seal. He grimaced, squeezed his eyes shut, and then glared up at Orochimaru again.
"It's too late. As you saw with that flame, the ability to mold chakra is the first thing to go. No chance to bring out your kinjutsu," Orochimaru said delightedly, as if Tobi had done exactly what he'd hoped. "I was curious to see what it would take to make you consider sacrificing your own eye. Did the desire to spite me make your decision quicker?"
"What exactly are you?" Tobi asked. His voice was rough, uneven, as if he barely had control of it.
Orochimaru tsked disapprovingly. "There was so much you could have done to prevent this. You could have set the Izanagi to activate on its own if you become incapacitated. You could have prioritized finding a proper replacement, so you wouldn't have to hesitate so long. But you wanted the Sanbi too badly to think of anything else. And you sorely underestimated me."
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm tired of your gloating," Naruto said loudly. "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A vast multitude of Naruto's bunshin appeared, more than Obito had ever seen before. They made a densely packed moat of bodies around Obito, Tobi, and Kabuto.
"Hurry!" One of them tugged on Obito's arm. "You can work out your issues with Tobi later. Right now, we need to get him somewhere safe, or figure out a way to get Orochimaru to Kakathree. I don't care which, but I get the feeling moving Tobi will be easier. As far as we know, Orochimaru has no path to your world yet."
"But… I don't have anywhere to put him." The thought of letting Tobi into his world anywhere made Obito's skin crawl.
"Just put him in your apartment somewhere! He's not moving anytime soon."
"Fine. But if he goes, we all go. Let Orochimaru be stuck with only one way out. Maybe he'll finally go home."
The Naruto clone hesitated. "Are you sure he can't get back to my world from here?"
"Not with only one eye," Obito said, putting more certainty in it than he actually felt. "If the older me couldn't do it, no one can."
"Alright." The bunshin glanced back and forth. Clones on the edge of the wall were already starting to pop. "Get Kabuto. I'll keep Orochimaru back long enough for you to meet the real me at Tobi."
With that, the bunshin dispersed itself into a wisp of vapor. Obito whirled around and spotted Kabuto standing among a gaggle of bunshin bodyguards. The crowd let him push through.
"Come on. We're getting out of here."
Kabuto nodded, but his face was twisted with anxiety. "The tent—my notes—everything we know about the dimensions is in my materials."
Obito looked over his shoulder at Kabuto's home. The field tent stolen from the Fourth War was leaning to one side, one of its front poles knocked askew.
"I'm really sorry." Obito turned back to him. "Our lives are more important. If I get stuck babysitting Orochimaru in here, we'll find you somewhere nicer to live."
"B-but—"
"Get going!" A cluster of Naruto's clones pushed them on their way.
Obito and Kabuto stumbled into the clearing created around Tobi by the mass of bunshin. Tobi was sitting against a square column, propped up with his head back.
Only his left side, the human side, still seemed capable of moving at all. As they approached, he raised the bloodied tantō knife and tilted his head down just enough to give them a defiant glare.
"I should've thrown that farther away." Obito wrinkled his nose in disgust. "You're not making it any easier to rescue you."
"Coming for me first was a mistake," Tobi said in his halting way. "The cost of living in reality is high. You can't hope to win unless you guard your heart. Someone will always be there to aim directly for it."
Obito looked at the knife and felt a sharp twist of apprehension in his gut.
"Naruto—"
But Tobi moved before he did. He threw the knife with surprising speed and accuracy. Obito thought it was aimed for him, but when he instinctively stepped aside, the knife was easily knocked out of the air by Orochimaru.
Obito nearly stumbled in his haste to back away, startled by how close the snake Sannin had been. When had—
"Not your usual amount of power, but it's impressive you can move at all," Orochimaru said.
Obito whirled around, wildly scanning the space around them. Naruto's clones were still there, but… for some reason, they weren't doing anything. They just stood with their backs turned toward them in a loose circle.
"Naruto!"
Something wasn't right. Obito grabbed one of the bunshin by the arm and pulled it around.
The bunshin stared at him blankly. Its expression was completely neutral, devoid of recognition.
Obito let go and backed away. He looked over his shoulder at Tobi and Orochimaru, and Kabuto standing too close to both of them. Despite being mere steps away from Tobi, his goal, Orochimaru was watching Obito.
Kabuto caught his eye and subtly motioned at his sleeve. Obito understood that Kabuto was referring to his own venom prototype. He was still thinking of ways to fight back.
Obito turned and ran at Kabuto. That was when the bunshin started to move.
Obito felt dozens of hands grab and pull him backward into the mass. He got dragged back a few feet before he phased through, then became solid again and elbowed the nearest bunshin as hard as he could. It poofed and disappeared.
Where was the original? It was impossible to tell them apart.
He broke free and swore when he saw Kabuto being dragged backward on the opposite side. Obito rushed toward him, phasing through bunshin as they placed themselves in his way.
"Don't worry about me!" Kabuto called out, but Obito pressed forward anyway.
He made to Kabuto easily. Obito reached out for him, but his hands went through.
Naruto's bunshin were packed around them so tightly that it was like wading in a sea of orange and yellow. It was impossible to get close to Kabuto without stepping through several of them.
"Damn it!" Obito growled in frustration as he swiped through Kabuto again. It wasn't a coincidence. He couldn't interact and phase at the same time, and Orochimaru knew it.
"Forget me! I'm just a distraction! He's going after the eye!" Kabuto shouted, kicking and struggling against the bunshin.
Obito glanced down at himself. He wasn't sure what would happen if he turned tangible while physically intersecting something else, but it was time to find out.
"Take my hand!" he said, stretching his hand out to Kabuto. He braced himself, then became tangible again.
The solid flesh and blood of his form won out against the ephemeral kage bunshin. The ones that had been intersecting him all dispersed into smoke, and Obito suddenly found himself with a gap of space. He grabbed Kabuto's outstretched hand and pulled him out.
"This could work," Obito said as they ran, phasing through the crowd. "As long as I'm here, they can't trap us—"
"No. Don't do that again."
"Why not?"
"Because that might kill the real Naruto, and I think Orochimaru-sama would be interested to see that happen."
Obito halted. His already frayed heart was racing. He hadn't realized how far he'd had to run to reach Kabuto. Tobi, sitting across from them, wore a grimace of pain. His left hand was raised to cover his right eye. Blood was streaming freely down his cheek.
"It's in his arm!" Kabuto cried out in shock.
Obito caught a glimpse of the many eyes embedded in Orochimaru's skin, before the Sannin pushed his sleeve back down and turned around.
"Earlier, you said you've changed," Orochimaru said, flexing his spindly hand. "But you're fighting both fate and your true nature. Your new life still relies on a guiding star, a moral compass. So how much have you really changed?"
"You've gotten what you wanted. Now leave us alone. Let go of Naruto."
"It's still a victory if everyone survives, is that it?" Orochimaru mused. He motioned to the sea of motionless bunshin around them. "Here's a quiz for you, Obito-kun. This kamui dimension of yours is permanently tied to our two worlds. Yours, because it's where you come from—and mine, because it's where this kamui comes from. Your link to Naruto-kun's time was always contingent on the pathways I created. So, my question to you is: are you sure you want me to walk away right now?"
Obito stared. Everything fell away from him until he was left standing alone, cold and foolish. He felt Kabuto touch his arm. Obito slowly looked at Tobi, now squinting at them with his single powerless eye, breathing short, burdened gasps. Naruto's bunshin still stood around them, blank and unnervingly silent.
Both of his anchors to Naruto's time were here. Without the power of two Mangekyou, there was no way to return.
"I wonder how you'll explain to people in your time that the Yellow Flash has disappeared forever." Orochimaru smiled cruelly. "Tobi and Naruto will never be able to go home. Perhaps you can start a colony here for all the people you've failed. Or," Orochimaru flicked his hands, and wicked, sharp wooden spikes extended directly from his palms. "I can help you unlock that power for yourself."
"No." Obito responded without quite meaning to. "All this was your doing, not mine."
"We're not going to give up," Kabuto added. "Even if the paths are gone, we'll find a way. We'll never, ever stop fighting."
Obito glanced down at Kabuto. The medic had let go of him, and was staring at Orochimaru with a fierce defiance. He was so different from the scared, wavering kid they'd first met.
"Yeah." Obito turned his attention back to Orochimaru. "You may have been the one to bring us together, but you aren't going to tear us apart. What you made for your own gain is ours now. If you keep pushing, sooner or later you'll make your own worst nightmare."
Orochimaru grinned. "Quite the contrary, Obito-kun. A game is only fun if there's someone to play against. It's true that all of you have extraordinary capacity for strength and change. But every great shift requires a catalyst. I know simply observing isn't enough to make it happen. Therefore, I will become the wind that moves the world."
Naruto's bunshin shifted. But then they all collectively shuddered and clutched their heads. Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
"What's happening now?" Obito looked around himself warily, stepping back from the nearest bunshin.
One of the Narutos was moving differently from the rest. He took long, drudging steps through the crowd, using the others to help brace and pull himself forward, as if walking upstream. His body was surrounded with a red aura.
"Naruto!" Obito called out in surprise. The real one was resisting control!
"Oh?" Orochimaru said. He held up one of his hands in a half-ram seal.
Naruto jerked to a stop as if tugged with an invisible rope, holding onto the shoulders of two clones in front of him after nearly stumbling. He looked up. His eyes were red, pupils reduced to vertical slits.
Obito felt the now-familiar sting of bijuu energy crackling in the air. The red aura around Naruto was molding itself into sharp, flame-like angles, not like the unstable blob it had been the last time.
"Unleashing the Kyuubi in here would only hurt your friends. I can leave at any moment," Orochimaru said, watching cautiously as Naruto slowly continued to struggle forward.
"Can you? Why haven't you done it yet?" Obito challenged. "You said you could've come here quicker if I'd brought you in. So it takes a while to go somewhere you've never been, is that it?"
"Perhaps. But I did manage to bring myself here. Using the power again will not be as difficult." Orochimaru gave a sharp nod at Naruto, a mental push. Naruto halted again so suddenly that he fell on his hands and knees. But the demonic aura continued to grow. Its color grew warmer, closer to orange, with little glimpses of yellow flickering occasionally on the ends.
Orochimaru seemed more concerned about the Kyuubi than any of them. Obito glanced around. The Naruto bunshin had all fallen to the ground along with their original, heads down as if bracing against some unseen storm.
"We need to help him break free. Let's get closer," Obito murmured to Kabuto.
"I can't." Kabuto's voice was arched with worry. "The corrosive bijuu cloak isn't that much of a danger to my current form, but this is something else. I can tell Orochimaru-sama thinks so, too. His new vessel may be stronger, but he still doesn't want to get too close."
"How can we free Naruto?"
"I… I can't think of any way to break the controlling tag, other than letting the Kyuubi out. Then, there's… Orochimaru-sama kept our contracts in the same book as the summoning formula, but at this point—"
"Oi, Orochimaru! Where is the book?" Obito called loudly.
"No—wait!" Kabuto whispered.
Orochimaru shifted his gaze from Naruto to them. "What book, Obito-kun?"
"Don't play dumb. You used a Summoning jutsu to bring us to your time. That book has our contracts in it."
A slow, supremely satisfied smirk grew across Orochimaru's face. He relaxed from his pose and reached into a pouch strapped to his robe belt.
He held up an old, worn journal by the spine. "You mean this book?"
Obito glanced at Kabuto again. The youngest member of their team had gone deathly pale. One hand was curled over his chest, features sketched with frozen terror.
"What's wrong? Can he do something with that?" Obito asked urgently. Kabuto didn't respond.
"Now I understand." Orochimaru laughed. "Kabuto. Had I known you had such a talent for subterfuge at an early age, I might have forgone your training as a medic. It seems you're a natural-born liar."
Kabuto pressed his hand to his chest harder, as if the heart that was no longer there pained him. To Obito's shock, tears welled up and spilled down his cheeks.
"No, I—" he croaked.
"What is it?" Obito risked turning his back on Orochimaru so he could put his hands on Kabuto's shoulders. "Look, whatever it is, I don't care. We've all messed up before. Now's not the time to get caught up in his gloating."
"It isn't complicated," Orochimaru said, puncturing Obito's attempts to ignore him. "Kabuto stole this book and other materials from me before you brought him here. Once he found out how you three came to be in my world, he must have wanted to bring you back. But, of course, performing the Time-Spanning Incarnation isn't that simple."
Kabuto squeezed his eyes shut, sending another wave of tears spilling down his face.
"It's okay," Obito said, making his tone as steady and calm as he could. "It's our fault for leaving you. Besides, we could have just escaped again."
"You're missing the point." The pages of the journal rustled as Orochimaru waved it. "He's had this the entire time. All you would have to do is destroy the contracts, and none of you would have to worry about being Summoned again. You'd be free. I assumed you didn't know what you had. Judging by your reaction, it seems I misjudged you."
"Is that true?" But Obito could tell from Kabuto's expression that it was. He slowly let go of his shoulders. "Why?"
"I-it's not like that!" Kabuto stammered. Despite not actually having blood, his nose and cheeks were turning pink. He looked down at the floor. "I mean… I did know. But… I didn't want the contracts to be destroyed. Because that's what keeps us tied together. I don't think you could have found Naruto again without it. And I… I was afraid that destroying it might force me out of this body."
"That fear… is correct," Orochimaru said. "Naruto-kun's path would have disappeared immediately, and you would die."
"See?" Kabuto gave a shaky laugh and opened his palm on his chest. "This body could go on forever, but my life is nothing but a piece of paper. I'm sorry for not helping Naruto sooner, though. When he said he had a way to break Orochimaru-sama's control without ending the contract, I just… thought… it was better than never seeing him again."
"I think I get the gist of it now." Obito straightened to his full height and turned around. He pointed at Orochimaru. "Basically, I'm sick of you jerking us around. How many times are you going to make me say it?"
"You're…" Naruto raised his head. His voice had a heavy, gravelly quality to it, but he was slowly climbing to his feet. "You're not going to tear us apart, so stop trying."
"Exactly," Obito said, closing his hand into a fist.
The field of bunshin all around them got up, too. They all had crossed arms and disapproving looks. One or two flipped Orochimaru off.
The aura around Naruto grew larger and more orange. His clothes and hair were tossed around within the current of energy.
"Ready?" Obito said.
"Yeah."
Obito, Naruto, and all the bunshin rushed at Orochimaru.
Even with a veritable army closing in, Orochimaru didn't seem concerned. He calmly opened the journal and ripped one of its pages out.
Everyone stumbled to a halt.
"I do want to take this recipe with me," Orochimaru said, holding the paper between two fingers and shaking it for emphasis. "I've found lately that recreating my favorite venoms is tedious. This will save me a lot of time."
Obito and Naruto exchanged a look and a subtle nod.
Naruto dived at Orochimaru. Obito went for the book.
Orochimaru fluidly stepped to the side, but neither of them relented. Obito's fingertips touched the leathery cover of the journal and he immediately made it phase through. He snatched the book as it fell and tucked it underneath his arm.
As Obito backed out of the way, Naruto swiped at Orochimaru with an open-handed strike, his sharpened nails extended. As soon as it looked like he might make contact, Orochimaru's form dissolved into a mass of snakes. They wriggled away and re-formed on the other side of Tobi.
Tobi now seemed completely unable to move. He was still awake, still watching them with his one borrowed eye, but his arms were resting limply by his sides, and his head leaned to one side. The trail of drying blood from his empty eye socket disappeared into his hairline.
"Orochimaru doesn't want Kurama's energy to touch him," Naruto said, walking up beside Obito. "That means he was telling the truth about that being his weakness. His plant body will transform, like mine did."
"Maybe. But you said he's moved to an even stronger one, right? He might still be trying to trick us."
"Yeah. We'll just have to… ugh." Naruto's arms and legs shuddered strangely. He held on to his head. "No… not again."
Obito faced him, just in case. He was itching to get the book out, find the page with Naruto's contract, and burn it to a crisp. But taking the time to flip through it risked letting it fall into Orochimaru's hands again. And if there was still even the slightest chance of finding a way back to Naruto's world—
Obito felt dozens of hands grab and pull him backward once again. A nearby cry told him Kabuto had been assaulted by the rogue bunshin again too.
"Enough already!" Obito leaned forward and slipped away from them. He whirled around, inhaled deeply, and let out the biggest fireball he could muster.
The bunshin weren't coordinated enough to scramble out of the way, but Kabuto was. Obito saw him elbow one in the face and make a run for it. Layer after layer of bunshin turned to vapor before the wave of fire.
Meanwhile, Naruto pushed back against Orochimaru's control by releasing more bijuu energy. His aura grew denser, and started taking on a fox-like shape. A flattened head, long ears, and wicked ethereal claws formed.
"Naruto? Don't get carried away." Obito cautiously stepped into his view, careful not to get too close. "Whatever you do, don't let it out completely. We can find another way to—"
Naruto's only response was a combination of roar and shriek, tilting his head back in feral rage.
Then he disappeared. For a fraction of a second, he moved too quickly for Obito to track him, even with the Sharingan.
He was too fast for Orochimaru, too. Naruto appeared below the old snake's guard and jabbed those long chakra claws straight through Orochimaru's body, impaling his chest and torso. For another slow, split second, it looked like they'd finally got him.
But then, Orochimaru froze, and then faded, creating a strange afterimage. He reappeared a few feet away. The only good sign was that he was no longer smiling.
Did he use kamui? Obito wondered, confused. Then he suddenly realized he was no longer holding the book. He looked down, patted himself frantically, looked around on the ground, then looked at Orochimaru again.
Orochimaru held up the book. "I think that's enough for now."
He might have said something else, or he might have taken his leave then and there, but Naruto was too caught up in the Kyuubi's power to stop. He went directly from one attack to another, pushing heedlessly forward, and stabbed all the claws through Orochimaru again.
This time, the snake did not disappear. His eyes widened in surprise.
The energy cloaking Naruto flared brightly as he pushed more and more. All the remaining bunshin popped. The aura was gradually changing color. It grew lighter until the tiny flickers of yellow became sweeping flames. Very faintly, Naruto's skin and clothes glowed gold.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, and for a second, he looked genuinely hateful instead of amused and condescending.
Then something came bursting out behind Orochimaru and dropped to the ground. It was gigantic white snake with the same eye markings as Orochimaru, and many, many Sharingan embedded into its neck.
Obito called out in surprise and disgust, his gaze darting frantically between the snake and Naruto. The thing Naruto had trapped was slowly growing, cracking the dimension floor and sprouting branches up into the air. The body was becoming a tree.
The moment Obito understood that, he realized Orochimaru had managed to escape at the last second.
He turned and ran. "Kabuto, watch out—!"
The snake had already closed in. Kabuto raised his arms over his head in a defensive movement. The snake bared its fangs and unhinged its jaw. It swallowed Kabuto whole.
"No!"
Obito lunged at the snake, prepared to tear it in half, but it moved in a way he didn't expect. Its scales melted into flesh and shifted form. It solidified, became smaller, and very quickly became Orochimaru once again.
"What have you done?" Obito still had his hand extended. Kabuto was right there just a second ago. Now he was gone.
Naruto roared again. Obito dimly noticed the heavy thud of Naruto jumping up and landing beside him. Naruto raised a giant claw again.
"Stop!" Obito grabbed his wrist. Amazingly, the Kyuubi's aura didn't burn him. "Don't use that! Kabuto's in there!"
"Yes." Orochimaru's yellow eyes glittered with anger. They'd never seen him like this. "If you want to kill me now, you will have to sacrifice him as well."
That was enough to bring Naruto back to his senses. His Kyuubi aura dissipated like steam. His eyes became blue again, and fingernails retracted back to normal.
"No." Naruto's voice wavered. "No. Not him. He hasn't even started going after his dreams yet. Why's he the one who always loses out?"
Orochimaru pressed his lips into a grim line. "That's how it is. Even if you try, the future may not be better. It could be much worse than you imagine. So this is a choice. Will you do nothing and let me escape, or will you hurt your friend?"
Both of them were momentarily frozen. Obito's mind was working in numbing overdrive, searching for possibilities and solutions. They could capture Orochimaru and force him to let Kabuto go. Or they could take him to the future timeline and let them do something.
"In that case…" Orochimaru slowly raised one hand. "Goodbye."
Orochimaru's outline started to bend and twist. But at the same time, his raised hand clenched, and Obito caught a glimpse of the syringe it held before it drove the needle end into Orochimaru's stomach.
Naruto gave a startled yelp. Obito noticed the bending of space stop as Orochimaru staggered to one side, bent double.
"What… are you doing?" He looked up at them. But the voice that spoke was much higher and younger—Kabuto's voice. "You can't let him get away! We have to stop this, now."
"Kabuto!" Obito said, shocked.
"He gave himself the poison." Naruto was equally stunned.
"What are you waiting for?" Kabuto demanded. The struggle on his face—on Orochimaru's—was enormous. "Hurry and take back the eyes. If you can't do it now, there won't be another chance."
"But how can we save you?" Obito asked quickly.
"Get the eyes!"
Kabuto dropped the syringe. Whether it was Orochimaru fighting back, or the poison taking effect, he was losing control over the plant body.
Naruto dashed forward. When he reached out, Orochimaru's other hand clamped down on his wrist and threw him the other way in a single violent motion. Naruto sailed through the air until he flipped over and landed on top of a taller column.
Obito moved forward in his place. But when he reached out, his hands phased through Orochimaru.
"What?" Obito tried swiping at him repeatedly, but it kept going through. But it wasn't his doing this time. Orochimaru was using kamui. "Kabuto! What should I do?"
"I'm sorry." Kabuto's voice sounded strained and miserable. "We failed, and it's partly because of me. But I'll keep fighting. I promise. If he ever comes for you again—I'll be fighting."
"No!" Obito concentrated as hard as he could on taking hold of Orochimaru. But no matter what, his hands kept slipping through. "No! What happened to starting over? You were going to be different this time!"
"I am. I will be."
The space around Orochimaru twisted again—slowly, sluggishly. For a second, it looked like the poison would win, that the spiral wouldn't complete. Obito tried to grasp it in any way he could. He even tried jumping into the vortex as it finally became whole. But he only fell through nothing and ended up on his knees.
Obito stared at the empty space in front of him.
Orochimaru and Kabuto were gone.
Obito didn't move or breathe. If he shattered the moment, it would all be over.
But there was nothing. Just the silence.
The camp in front of him was in disarray from the battle. The tent was still leaning a bit. In front of it, the strange tree that had been Orochimaru reached its crooked branches up and out. Its papery bark was the color of a deep abyss.
Tobi's quiet laugh finally broke the silence.
"And then you have no choice but to accept the unacceptable. Reality is the most cruel to those who try believing in it."
"Shut up, scum." Obito's voice came out serrated.
Naruto was back. He stood beside Obito and looked at all the nothing.
"You might've been right," he said after a minute. "I thought I could break his control by using Kurama's energy. But I still don't really have control of that."
"It doesn't matter now," Obito said dully. "They're gone. Your world and Minato-sensei are gone."
"No. This isn't the time to give up." Naruto clapped a hand on his shoulder. "It's like you said—sometimes we mess up. But that's no reason to quit trying. Look."
Naruto walked toward the tree. He bent to pick up something laying among its gnarled roots. The journal.
"Look!" he said again, holding it up.
Obito got up heavily. He hardly dared hope for anything at this point, but Naruto's enthusiasm was hard to ignore. "Okay… but how is that supposed to help?"
"I'm not sure." Naruto came over and flipped through the pages, searching. "This looks like the same book me and Ero-sennin found in Orochimaru's hideout one time. But this one has pages filled out way past the one we have. Whoa."
He turned the open book around for Obito to see. Spread across the pages was an intricate seal, painted on with deliberate strokes. The dark lines were thinly edged with blue light. The light hadn't been visible until Naruto opened the book to those pages.
"I think this is mine." Naruto sounded awed.
Obito noticed Naruto's name inscribed in tiny letters in one corner. He very gingerly touched the paper. It almost hummed with life.
"What does it mean?" Obito wondered. "Do you think you'd really be free if we tore this out?"
"I have no idea." Naruto turned the page and held out the book again. "But we can't tear it out. Look. The one on the other side is Kabuto."
The pattern of the seal across the pages looked the same, but the brush strokes flowed differently. The handwriting of Kabuto's name was different, too.
"Nagato tried explaining this to me." Naruto's face scrunched with the effort it took to remember. "He said when I was brought to the future, it was future Kabuto who drew the seal. Then he laid a plant clone over the book, and made Nagato do the actual Summoning. It takes a strong doujutsu and a lot of energy. So for a while, it was Nagato who had my contract. But Orochimaru switched it over to himself as soon as he could. That's how he ended up being able to Summon me anytime."
Obito had no idea who Nagato was, but that was the least of their problems. "We have the contracts, but it doesn't matter, does it? Kabuto won't go back home if we break his. He'll die."
"That's not what I'm saying." Naruto gave a frustrated growl. "If we have this, maybe we can Summon him back. Right here. I think if the seal's already drawn, anyone with a strong enough doujutsu can do it. Orochimaru had a ton of Edo Tensei Uchiha at his side during the Fourth War. That's probably how he was able to get Kabuto and you."
"You're saying," Obito began slowly, "we should use the Time-Spanning Incarnation jutsu ourselves."
"Well… it'll have to be you. You have the Sharingan," Naruto admitted, lowering the book.
"Do we need to have a body for him to go in? We don't have any more of those plant clones." Obito glanced at the wicked tree. That was most definitely out.
Naruto held a finger under his chin thoughtfully. "I guess so. If his real body is gone, I guess that one counts as his now, and… mine was left behind every time I got Summoned. But we know where one might be… right? Orochimaru's lab."
"The future one?" Obito remembered the Zetsu clone Orochimaru kept there. "Would it still be there?"
"How should I know? But it's worth a try."
"Where are you going?" Tobi struggled to sit up straight, but failed. "What did you mean when you said our world is gone?"
"What'll we do about him?" Naruto jabbed his thumb toward Tobi. "Maybe I should go alone so you can keep watch over him."
"You can't get back here by yourself. If anyone should go, it's me."
"No, I need to go along," Naruto insisted. "Me and Ero-sennin explored that entire hideout in my time. We need to get in and out of there as quickly as possible, right? I mean, we're gonna have to tell Kakathree about this eventually, but I'm more worried about Kabuto right now."
"Fine. I don't think he's moving anytime soon, anyway." Obito turned toward Tobi and examined him critically. "We'll have to figure out what to do with you later. We'll be back soon, so don't try anything."
Finding the thing was just as easy as Naruto said it would be. Obito stared down at the plant clone they'd brought back, sprawled as it was over top of the open book.
It was somehow even creepier outside of the lab, a piece of the weirdness they'd experienced brought into the familiar surroundings of the kamui dimension. It didn't help that another piece of that weirdness—Tobi—had worked himself into a better sitting position and was watching their every move. Even Naruto, who had come up with this off-the-wall plan, was frowning doubtfully at the inanimate Zetsu.
"Orochimaru used this one for his younger self. Will it be okay?" he wondered aloud.
"You're asking that now?" Obito crossed his arms.
"Uh… Orochimaru absorbed his younger self, and he took out the control tag he put in this thing. It should be clear. Unless you have any better ideas?"
"No." Obito knelt down beside the clone, and Naruto did the same on the other side of it. "I'm not even sure how to do this. Didn't you say that everyone Orochimaru used for this were Edo Tensei? That means this jutsu has never been done by a living person before."
Naruto hesitated. "I don't know if it'll work or not. But we have to try."
"Even if this works, we'll be exactly where we were before," Obito said quietly. The fights and the fear and the helplessness were ready to sweep in again the moment this failed.
Naruto's lower lip trembled, and he clenched his jaw to make it stop. He stared at the Zetsu for several seconds before looking at Obito again, eyes shining. "As long as we're all together, we can figure something out."
"Yeah. Sorry." Obito put his hands down on the cold floor to keep from punching himself in the forehead. Stupid. As if he had to remind Naruto that his dad and world and everyone he knew were gone.
"Do I need to use blood?" he murmured.
"Probably? No, wait. That wouldn't be possible for the zombies, so I guess the seal is good enough on its own. But it'll take a lot of your energy. Be careful."
"Here goes nothing, I guess."
Obito took a deep breath and held his hands over the Zetsu body.
"Kuchiyose: Time-Spanning Incarnation!"
Obito slammed his hands down onto the clone.
He was prepared for disappointment. He was not prepared for the clone to immediately effuse warm light. The initial burst was so bright that Obito had to squint, then it dimmed to a more tolerable glare.
Obito wasn't sure what he should be doing, so he focused on the image of the Kabuto they were trying to summon.
His hands felt locked into place. The light, as warm and inviting as it looked, pulled at him eagerly and refused to let go.
Obito struggled silently with the push and pull for about ten seconds before Naruto's voice broke through the rushing sound in his ears.
"What's going on? Isn't it taking a long time?"
"I… I think…" Obito strained, and it took a lot of focus to keep the greedy light from pulling everything out of him at once. "It needs as much energy as the person you're trying to summon. To fill the vessel."
Naruto leaned forward, eyes wide with alarm. "You shouldn't—there won't be enough left over for you to live!"
"But I'm the only one who can do this. I have to," Obito said through gritted teeth, squeezing his face tightly with effort.
Obito opened his eyes when he felt Naruto's hands fold over his.
"That doesn't mean you have to do it alone. You can use my power."
Obito stared back. Naruto's expression was fiercely determined, the blue of his eyes almost luminous from the glowing energy.
"How?" Obito asked. His throat worked painfully. Hoping again.
"The older me could transfer his energy to others, and I can too. I think I've got the feel of it now. Just focus on the seal."
"O-okay. Okay."
Obito renewed his attention toward his palms pressed flat on the clone. Naruto's hands opened and covered his, the warm, solid weight of them keeping Obito anchored in time and place.
Life and energy rushed up his arms, familiar and strange at the same time. Obito winced at the sudden pins-and-needles feeling that spread from his hands to his shoulders.
"Crap—too much." Naruto muttered. He was struggling against the pull of the light, too. Obito felt the pained numbness fade and retreat some.
They eventually managed some kind of equilibrium. Obito shifted his focus to channeling energy, rather than spending it. After a moment, he looked at Naruto again. He didn't look strained at all—only focused.
Kabuto was one thing, but how had they managed to find someone who could summon him? It was hard to imagine.
"I messed up, too," Obito admitted. "You wanted me to be there, and I said no. I kept saying there was no time, but the truth was, after I found out what happened to Minato-sensei and Kushina-san… I guess I freaked out a little bit. I ended up distancing myself for no reason. So, I'm sorry—for that, and for everything."
Obito could sense his older self still watching him, but he kept his eyes fixed determinedly in front of him.
Naruto gave a baffled smile. "What, you're still talking about that stuff? I told you, it's not your—"
"No. Don't try to laugh it off this time. Let me apologize for once. Just this once."
Naruto's smile faded, and his face settled into seriousness. "I can't say I really understand, but… okay. If it makes you feel better, I'll accept your apology."
Obito swallowed against the sharp lump in his throat, and he nodded. He stared down into the glow more intently than ever.
Kabuto, come back.
The brightness was becoming more intense. Obito held on.
It wasn't the end yet.
There was so much Obito wanted to say, to explain the hope taking root in his mind once and for all, but he didn't want to break the spell again. Instead, he tried to put his intentions into the swirling energy. A promise for the future.
That's why you have to keep fighting. You're not done yet.
It's not enough to say we have our lives back. That means nothing if we keep chasing the shadows of who we might have been.
It starts from here, moving forward.
From now… like those lives belong to us and no one else.
Here and now, into a future no one's ever seen before.
Chapter 39: Becoming the Wind will post sometime between 4/8-4/12