This chapter was extremely difficult to write.
I blame Obito.

Warning: tension

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None of them protested when Minato teleported everyone back to his house to debrief in private. They had loitered in foreign territory for long enough, and with Kushina's earlier bout of rage, it was too risky to remain any longer at present.

Naruto had deactivated his Six Paths Sage Mode upon coming back out of the abyss, but his chakra shroud stayed on even when they had returned to Konoha. Kakashi looked at him quizzically, but Naruto just cast a quick glance around at the others and said nothing.

Minato brought out a stack of plastic stools from the storeroom, and the seven of them sat around the dining table. He had an arm around Kushina, who had calmed somewhat, though her expression was still thunderous.

"Naruto," said Minato, whose face was very grave. "Did you really jump into the chasm?"

Naruto quailed under his parents' equally disapproving stares and tried for a sheepish laugh, then winced as his voice cracked horribly in the middle. "I mean, I can fly, so it wasn't like I wasn't going to come back up or anything..."

Minato frowned at him, saying nothing.

"...Yeah, I did," Naruto said glumly, though the effect was rather ruined by the fact that he was still glowing with golden chakra. "Sorry."

Kushina drew in a deep breath, but subsided after a placating look from Minato. "We'll set aside the fact that you can somehow fly, for now," she said crossly. "So? What did you find?"

Naruto grimaced. "It's... kind of hard to explain. I didn't go all the way down to the bottom, because... I think there wasn't one. I think it just went on forever."

"That can't be geographically possible," Minato said, looking troubled. "Unless..." He turned to Obito, who had been scowling at the table with his arms crossed.

"A dimensional rift?" Minato theorized, and Obito looked up.

"That's possible, I guess, but to where?"

"I tried sticking a chakra arm through to see if it would go anywhere," Naruto said helpfully. "But my chakra started getting drained instead so I decided to get out of there."

Everyone stared at him, and he chuckled nervously. "Maybe I should've mentioned that first?"

Obito shifted his gaze to Kakashi, a deep frown marring his face. "You still don't remember anything?" he said, and Kakashi looked away.

"No," he answered, his voice toneless. "Nothing."

"Well, that's awfully convenient, isn't it?" Obito snapped. "So you just waltz back in here with no memory of how you disappeared, or what you were up to during all those years you were missing? You think we'll just accept that bullshit excuse?"

Kakashi was silent, which only seemed to aggravate him even further.

"Fine, then!" Obito suddenly leaned forward and grabbed the front of Kakashi's shirt, Sharingan spinning furiously in both eyes. "I'll show you exactly what happened, since you—"

"Stop it, Obito," Rin said sharply, covering his eyes with her hand. "You should know better than to use that on a teammate."

"Is he, though?" Obito rounded on her, almost tripping over his own feet from the disorientation of having his vision obscured. "None of us have seen him for eighteen years. He refuses to tell us what happened to him, and if he really did lose his memory, he sure doesn't seem to care about finding out!"

He tried to pull her hand away, but she caught his wrist with her free hand. The one still covering his eyes glowed briefly with green chakra, and when she released him, his doujutsu was now inactive.

"What…" he pulled his headband off and stared at the reflection of his eyes in the metal. "What did you do?"

"I've learnt a lot about the Sharingan from healing you all these years," Rin said quietly. "You need to calm down, Obito. I only blocked it off for a few minutes."

He stared at her, eyes wide with shock and betrayal. She picked up the stool he had knocked over, and gently but firmly pushed him to sit down again.

"I understand why you're upset," Rin spoke calmly, her gaze sympathetic yet unyielding. "But behaving like this will not solve any of our problems. You're better than this, Obito. I know that."

The anger drained out of him and he looked away from her, ashamed.

"Kama," Rin said, suddenly turning to Kakashi. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Kakashi cast an uncertain glance around the table, but nobody spoke. Naruto looked troubled, and seemed unsure of whether he should say anything.

"Of course," Kakashi said lightly. "Please excuse us."

They got up from the table and he followed her into the study, quietly closing the door behind them. Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets, and silently waited to hear what she had to say.

"How much do you really remember?" she asked softly, and Kakashi didn't know which was worse – her sadness, or her sympathy.

He was so very, very tired of lying.

"I remember parts of the last mission," he answered, after a long silence. "We were attacked, and then…"

"I was caught," Rin said flatly.

"I should've known better," said Kakashi. "Targeting the medic is a basic strategy."

He cast her a quick glance, and was surprised to see her smiling wryly.

"We were all horribly unprepared, weren't we?" she said, and he bowed his head in silent agreement. He knew she was watching him, and thinking.

Eventually, Rin spoke again. "Do you want to know what happened, Kama?"

Kakashi stared fixedly at the floorboards. "...I don't know," he answered after a long pause. "But I think you want to tell me."

"Maybe I do," she agreed. "It's strange, seeing you so different. You were always so serious about everything, back then… and I think you still are, but you hide it better."

"You were always very perceptive," Kakashi said lightly, squeezing his hands into fists so they wouldn't shake. "It's a wonder you didn't realise Obito's feelings for so long. He hasn't altered very much, has he? Still so easily controlled by his emotions. Did he finally work up the courage to—"

"You're changing the subject," Rin said. "I have been aware of how Obito feels for many years now."

Kakashi didn't dare meet her gaze.

"I do hope you didn't reject him for the sake of little old me," he said, but that last attempt at levity was so pathetic that even he grimaced.

"No," she said shortly. "It was for other reasons."

Curiosity made him glance up at her, and the words slipped out before he realised what he was saying.

"I thought everyone would be a lot happier than this."

He never got to hear what Rin would've said in response, as in that moment there was a frighteningly familiar twist of chakra in the living room—

And when he rushed out to see what was happening, both Obito and Naruto were gone.

As Rin and Kakashi left the table, Minato pulled Obito aside to talk about something, then Sakumo and Kushina stepped away for their own private conversation as well. Naruto stared at the study room's door in agitated silence, wondering if Kakashi would be quite alright. His thoughts then drifted back to what he had seen in the depths of the chasm, and he was so preoccupied that he almost didn't notice Obito's approach.

"Oi, Naruto." Despite the lack of scarring on one side of Obito's face, or perhaps because of it, his expression was very difficult to read. "Did you forget about the training session we were supposed to have?"

"Huh?" Naruto stared blankly at him. "What training session – I mean, oh right! That thing! Sorry, it's just, there's so much going on that it must've slipped my mind, hahaha…"

He laughed sheepishly to hide his mounting panic, wracking his brain to figure out what Obito might be referring to.

"Well, there's no time like the present," Obito said, and before Naruto could respond there was a hand on his shoulder, and he was being pulled into the vortex of a very familiar jutsu.

In the blink of an eye they were transported to the Kamui dimension and Naruto immediately took several steps back, looking at Obito with a wary eye. Kurama was cursing up a storm in his head, which only made it even more difficult to remain calm.

"Haven't you ever heard of giving people warning?" Naruto said crossly, trying to provoke a more normal reaction out of Obito, but the Uchiha was unmoved.

"You're not much of a liar, are you?" he said abruptly, and Naruto felt a chill down his back. "There was no training session scheduled."

"Ahaha," Naruto tried to laugh, but it came out rather strained. "I must've gotten things mixed up in all the confusion."

"Have you really?" Obito's voice was cold and sharp. "I rather think you're the one that's been 'mixed up'. Who are you, really?"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto deflected, very carefully not looking anywhere near Obito's eyes. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, you know me."

"Perhaps you are 'Uzumaki Naruto'," Obito said slowly, and Naruto could almost hear the gears turning in his head. "You match his appearance, his personality, and even his chakra. You've been able to deceive everyone so far, because they're too close to see the full picture. But I can see the truth now… you're not the same Naruto I know."

He took a step closer, and Naruto took a step back. "That doesn't make any sense."

"You're from a different dimension, aren't you?" Obito pressed, and Naruto froze. "I knew it. You haven't called me "Sensei" a single time, and you look at me like you're seeing someone else."

"You don't want to do this," Naruto said quietly.

"I think I do," Obito countered. "You may be very similar to the Naruto I know, but your goals and motivations are entirely unknown. I have to find out if you're going to be a threat."

"Or what?" Naruto challenged, tensing. "You're going to trap me here?"

"If I must," answered Obito, his hands balled into fists at his sides. "The others will understand once I tell them the truth."

Naruto said nothing. Obito took another step forward, his chakra sharp and dangerous.

"Is Kama also an imposter?" he demanded, but Naruto merely stepped back again and did not look up at him. "Answer me!"

"It's funny to hear you say that," Naruto finally said, his lips quirking into a wry smile. "To think you'd be so concerned over whether something was real…"

Obito's hand shot forward to grab him and force some answers out, but Naruto dodged easily.

"I'll pass on the Sharingan genjutsu, thanks," he called out, jumping backwards onto a different cuboid platform in that strange dimension. "Really not a fan."

"Stop making things more difficult than they already are," Obito snapped, summoning a pair of giant shuriken. "I don't want to have to do this, either!"

He actually sounded sincere about it, which had Naruto rather surprised.

"Well, that makes two of us," he said, as Obito ran at him. "Sorry."

The Kage Bunshin dispelled with a quiet poof, leaving Obito alone in his own dimension.

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There was another wham scene I had wanted to add before I ended this chapter, but honestly, I'm tired... I ran out of good tea and all I have left is Lipton. I need Twinings Lady Grey but it's eternally out of stock aaaaaaaa

When did Naruto make the switch, and where is the real Naruto now? Find out in the next chapter. :3

Is Kakashi suffering? Of course, he's always suffering.

Obito and Rin's relationship in this Limited Tsukuyomi world is complicated, and it's a pity I don't really have a lot of opportunities to explore it further. She is uncomfortable with how obsessively he loves her, but also feels beholden to him for how much he's done to protect her, thus making her uncertain of her own feelings and unwilling to take that step closer. However, he is still her dear friend and she cares very much about him. Obito hasn't stopped being in love with her, but he does respect the boundaries she has drawn. So they are now in an eternally ambiguous state...

I wanted to give Rin a role with more agency, because of how she just gets treated like a damn McGuffin in canon. I hope I managed to convey some of that in this chapter. \o/