CHAPTER 9
Naruto wasn't sure what to think anymore. Confusion was just his good old pal…
He couldn't really trust Itachi.
He'd tried to kidnap him.
He'd killed his own family.
There's no way he's telling the truth.
They aren't…allies or whatever...right?
Naruto yelled in frustration and slapped his head into his hands.
He head hurt.
It hadn't stopped hurting since he got there. Thinking was hard when you feel like someone's smashing your head into a wall.
The stunt he'd pulled three days ago had gotten him a nice little chat involving another broken leg.
Naruto tried not to move it too much. While it didn't hurt too much anymore, moving made it throb and he definitely couldn't stand at this point.
Sitting was fine. It was basically the only thing he could do. Naruto picked at the large seal on his forearm more. It stuck to his skin like a bandaid, though it was far from it in purpose.
Naruto groaned and laid onto the ground.
Naruto tried his luck with napping but unlike Shikamaru, Naruto had a hard time sleeping.
The door opened violently and Naruto hobbled his body over to the far wall.
He didn't wanna stare at Tobi's dumb mask for a second time that week.
"Naruto, we need to talk."
"You need to talk, I need to sleep. Go find an emotional support animal, you freak."
"Looks who's calling who a freak."
"Hey, I don't kidnap kids in my spare time."
"I don't either. I kidnap jinjuriki."
Naruto refused to sit up. He may not have a lot of power here but there was one thing they couldn't take.
His idiotic stubbornness.
"Stop lying there like a pathetic waste of space."
Naruto swung his head to other side of the floor in defiance.
Tobi lunged at Naruto and snagged him by the collar of his shirt. He glared into Naruto's eyes but the fear and novelty of the Sharingan had disappeared.
Naruto wasn't particularly afraid of the Sharingan itself but he definitely wasn't inclined to go to the dark place.
He'd only been once or twice but it was enough to know that it wasn't fun.
"I'm not scared of you," Naruto spat.
It was a lie.
Tobi sighed and chuckled slightly.
He let shoved Naruto back, the motion springing a intense burn from his left leg.
"You remind me of someone I knew once… dumb, naive, stubborn…"
Tobi turned to face Naruto.
"He was gonna the Hokage, the most important person in the world and nothing was gonna stop him."
Naruto shifted further back into the wall.
"He was just like you."
His body tensed as he tried to put as much distance between him and Tobi as possible.
Tobi laughed, harsh and cynical…
But sad.
Naruto couldn't help but hear it. He knew what pain sounded like.
"But… he broke. He didn't become the Hokage. He died. I killed him."
"I'm not gonna break."
"Oh, you will. Because I know EXACTLY how I broke him."
Tobi leaned in closely, staring dead straight into Naruto's eyes.
He couldn't stop this time. The intensity, the anger, the…
The sorrow…
"The woman he loved died."
His body sprung with instant panic and fear. It sunk into his chest, his breathing labored. The bright red emanated from behind that mask, such a vibrant color.
Was he threatening to-
"NO! NO, DON'T YOU DARE-"
Tobi snicker and pressed further into Naruto's face.
"I WILL KILL YOU! YOU CAN'T- NO! NO!! SHE DOESN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!! LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!!!"
"I. Will. Kill. Them. Behave."
Naruto nodded, the tears dripping down his face before he even realized it.
It trickled down, wet and cold. But his body never felt more hot.
"I hope you remember this… for their sake. I don't really want to kill more people than I have to."
Tobi shoved the door shut and Naruto just fell over his side.
His leg hurt.
His head hurt.
His heart hurt.
Everything just hurt.
Naruto's mind was screaming.
He didn't want to cry but he couldn't help it. It came out his sharp bursts of sobbing.
Please don't-
Don't-
Hurt her.
Author's Note: Obito sure knows how to traumatize an eleven year old, amiright?