Hey guys! As usual I love you. The next few chapters are gonna get a teensy bit emotional, and I am evil laughing off in the background, and before anyone asks, no what happens in this chapter isn't going to make everything magically better because certain characters are assholes and prone to extreme denial.
Thankfully the rest of the week leading up to the Inauguration was fairly calm-a fact Naruto would be eternally grateful for.
Kakashi was released from the hospital two days before the Inauguration, and Naruto, Sakura and Rin had gone on a shopping trip for new clothes-traditional formal wear since Tsunade had insisted that her new student and the blonde who had inspired her to come home would be there on the balcony of Hokage tower during the ceremony.
That meant dressing up nice, which was why Naruto and Sakura both had brand new Kimono's, Sakura's had a rather beautiful cherry blossom pattern in a shade of pink that suited her.
Naruto's was a pretty shade of orange with black leaves stitched into the fabric and the Uzumaki spiral too.
The Ceremony would be taking place in less than an hour, and Naruto and Sakura were in the Hokage tower, with Rin and Karin, the older woman putting the finishing touches on the two girls hair before the ceremony.
Naruto's was pulled up into a rather intricate twisted up do pinned in place with lots of little pins.
Sakura's was being pulled into a tight braid and bound into a pretty bun.
Of course Rin and Karin were under less pressure so they'd both gone with simple up do hairstyles and much plainer but still pretty kimono's, Rin's was blue and Karin's was a pale purple colour.
The room was filled with light hearted chatter, and Naruto watched as Rin worked on Sakura's hair before pausing when she felt Karin stiffen beside her, and she glanced at her red haired cousin, frowning slightly-she could feel panic rolling off of her, that was bad.
Crap. Something was wrong, on the worst day possible for things to go wrong too.
"Karin-chan." Naruto's voice was light, "I need to go to the bathroom can you come with me a sec?"
"I-" Karin nodded quickly, "Of course." she took Naruto's arm and they left the room quickly, Karin kicking the door shut behind her.
"Naruto-chan the man who hurt Kakashi is in Konoha I can sense him."
"Oh crap." Naruto breathed out, her eyes wide. "You-please tell me that's a joke."
Karin shook her head, her eyes wide and panicked. "I can't Naruto-chan. What do we do what-he's strong he was so strong and-"
"Calm down." Naruto laid her hands on Karin's shoulders, "Breath Karin-chan. Everything's going to be okay I promise. Where is he?"
"The Hokage monument I think."
"That's good. I have a Hirashin marker there, put it up during the prank." Naruto muttered that half to herself, biting her lip hard. "I'm going to go and deal with this okay? Don't panic, I don't know how long I'll be." she didn't want to risk this bastard coming after her family-he'd shown an interest in the name Nohara and he'd already hurt Kakashi she couldn't risk them rushing after this guy. No it would be best if she handled this alone.
"Right." Karin nodded, "I... don't be long okay?"
"I won't be I promise. And don't tell anyone about this okay I don't want people panicking."
"Right." Karin let out a shaky breath, "When should I tell people."
"If you feel my chakra go.. funny-"
"You mean like it did when you fought Orochimaru?"
"Yeah, yeah that's what I mean."
"Okay. Okay I can do that." Karin nodded, "Good luck."
"Hopefully I don't need it." Naruto gave a small reassuring smile before she Hirashined to the Hokage monument, arriving on her fathers spiky stone head.
Madara-and it would be simpler to call him that for now she decided, even if she didn't for a second believe that he was actually one of the founders of Konoha.
He didn't turn, didn't even show any signs of shock, but he spoke "You're foolish to come to face me alone."
"I don't exactly want to fight you." Naruto said honestly, "I think we both know that for now you're stronger than me. Why are you here?"
"I want answers and you didn't give me them last time we spoke." he turned his head, single eye focusing on her. "Nohara-san."
"Yeah, I won't lie I'm curious too. I want to know why you're so obsessed with my name."
"They had no right to give you that name."
"Why not? Seriously it's a name that's all, nothing special."
"It was her name-"
"Who? Who's name was it?" Naruto hesitated, and she knew she was taking a risk but... if she wanted answers then she needed to ask the question didn't she? "Are you talking about Nohara Rin?"
The man's entire body flinched at the name and his eye narrowed.
His right eye.
Naruto swallowed hard, a niggling suspicion starting to form, one that she couldn't put a name to yet.
There was a long beat of silence and then.
"Yes."
"Why are you so obsessed over it?" Naruto tilted her head, "Why did you get so angry about someone sharing a family name with her-"
"She was the last-"
"Was?" Naruto's brows furrowed in confusion, "I... why are you talking in past tense?" she paused, "Though...I guess she wasn't really considered that important so news about her being alive probably wouldn-" she was cut off by a hand around her throat, and then there was that tilting shifting sensation and her back was pressed against cool stone and they were in the clearing that held the memorial stone.
"What did you just say?"
"You-" Naruto's hands flew up to claw at the hand around her throat, "She's alive. Nohara Rin is alive-"
"Liar!" the word was a yell, and there was fury rolling off of him, "I saw her die!
"You saw- you were there the day..." Naruto kicked out, "For fuck sake let go of my throat it's hard to breath!"
And he released her and she dropped to her knees, rubbing her throat carefully, "Is that-is that why you tried to kill Kakashi-sensei?"
"Tried? He's alive then."
"Yeah, Tsunade healed him."
"He murdered her. He swore to protect her and he murdered her."
"No he didn't." Naruto shook her head, "Even if she was dead it wasn't murder-"
"How dar-"
"Shut up." Naruto snarled the words, "You shut the fuck up and let me finish what I'm saying. She chose to die, she purposely jumped in front of his Chidori-"
"Liar-"
"I am not a liar!" Naruto formed the Rasengan, and her hand was moving before he could move away, the Rasengan hitting the mask-though as the mask shattered the man went intangible and her hand flew through him and she stumbled through him.
By the time she whirled around again the man had turned towards her, an angry look on his face as the shattered shards of the mask hit the ground-and Naruto's breath caught in her throat as she focused on the man stood in front of her.
His right side was scarred badly.
And Naruto knew, staring at the mismatched eyes, she knew who he was.
She knew why his eyes weren't matching-one was probably stolen to replace the eye currently sat in Kakashi's left eye socket.
"You're Uchiha Obito." Naruto whispered the words, "You were their teammate, my dads student-"
"Your father failed." Obito's voice was harsh, "Your father failed us. Where was he when Rin was kidnapped and I got crushed? Where was he when Rin-" his voice
was filled with rage but his emotions... it was grief that was overpowering.
"So... so you killed him?"
"I hardly did it personally." Obito shook his head, "He was in my wa-"
"My mom. You killed my mom-"
"An unfortunate side effect-it was necessary for my plans-"
"Plans." Naruto felt anger bubbling up in the pit of her stomach, "Your plans?" her voice was filled with disgust, "What plans could ever be worth the lives you've stolen-"
"I wouldn't expect a child to understand-especially not one who dares to lie about Rin-"
"I'm not lying! She survived!"
"How? How could anyone survive a Chidori through the heart?" Obito demanded furiously, eyes flashing with pure rage. "How?"
"By being a Jinchuriki!" Naruto yelled back, "She's the Sanbi's Jinchuriki." she sucked in a shaky breath, face pale and fists clenched tight, "She's got Isobu sealed inside of her and he healed her, saved her life."
Obito looked stunned, "W-what?"
"The Kiri shinobi who kidnapped her sealed him inside of her."
"No." Obito shook his head, "No-"
"They put a cursed seal tag on her heart, she'd have lost control once she reached a certain distance to Konoha and gone on a rampage-"
"No-"
"She didn't know what they'd done but she realized that they were herding them towards Konoha-"
"No-"
"That's why she threw herself in front of the Chidori. She chose to die rather than to risk the safety of the village."
"No!" Obito screamed the word, "Shut up shut up shut up! You're lying! She wouldn't do that she wouldn't do that to Kakashi! He killed her he's a heartless murderer-"
And Naruto lashed out, the palm of her hand connecting with the scarred cheek, "Don't you dare say that! You didn't see him when he found out mom was alive!
They love each other, they're best friends and she'd hate you saying that!"
"She's dead!"
"No! No she's not!" Naruto glared, "And if you give it an hour I'll take you to see her." no way was she taking him into the Hokage Tower. "She'll be watching the Inauguration. If we both henge no one even needs to know it was you."
"Fine. But once you've been proved to be a liar you'll pay." Obito snapped the words before turning away and sitting down on the grass. "How do you even claim to know her? Why are you a Nohara?"
"Because she figured out she was a Jinchuriki and that the Chidori destroyed the seal a little while after you attacked Konoha. She came back and she found me at the orphanage and..." Naruto hesitated, "They were mistreating me." she admitted, "Not feeding me, leaving me alone, stuff like that. She realized who I was and pretty much technically kidnapped me-"
That made Obito's lips twitch and he smirked faintly at the thought of it.
"You're saying she raised you?"
"Yeah, I was pretty much a newborn and she... she's my mom." Naruto gave a small shrug, tilting her head up to look at the clear sky, "She raised me and trained me and she loved me. It wasn't always easy for her but she had support-friends and stuff that she made where we settled."
Obito opened his mouth and there was a glint of curiosity in his gaze-as if he wanted to ask her a question, but he hesitated.
"You want to know more about her life." Naruto frowned, "I thought you didn't believe me." then there was a note of smug satisfaction in her voice, "You want to ask me more about her life since her supposed death-I might tell you more if you tell me more about you. Why did you not come back to Konoha earlier?" she hated this man, but he was stronger than he and she had to keep him under control, had to stop him from attacking, so she'd try and keep him talking.
"I couldn't." Obito said reluctantly, "It took a long time for me to recover from my injuries and I physically couldn't come back. Then I found out Kakashi and Rin were in trouble and tried to get to them in time but-"
"You were too late."
"He'd killed her-"
"Would you drop that! He didn't kill her! For one thing she's alive."
"It's not possible." Obito sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
"You'll see." Naruto shook her head, "I'm gonna prove you wrong." she closed her eyes, taking a bit of time to just breath, painfully aware of how dangerous her situation was. Obito was strong and fast and he had every advantage, but maybe she could at least get him to rethink things, clearly he'd loved her mom, he'd lost his shit at the thought that someone would ever dare use her name, so it was pretty safe to think that he still cared. Maybe she could at least get him to be less of a
threat? It was the only real chance she had.
"It's about time." she spoke after a while, getting up and watching Obito follow her lead, and together they henged before Obito transported them down into the village.
Together they made their way towards the tower, where people were gathered around to watch the Inauguration.
Sakura was visible on the balcony with Shizune, Jiraiya, Hiruzen and Tsunade, and Naruto gave a faint smile before she looked around, catching sight of a flash of red.
She caught Obito's hand, dragging him through the crowds until they were close enough to see them, Rin was stood with Kakashi, his arm was draped over her shoulder-she was supporting him, since he was still recovering, and Sasuke was stood next to Rin, with Karin stood just next to him. All of them were watching the balcony of the Hokage tower-though Karin's head turned slightly to focus on Naruto and Obito, a look of fear on her face-to which Naruto gave her a reassuring smile as they made their way around so that Obito could see Rin's face, the wide smile on her lips as she watched, her head resting on Kakashi's shoulder, and Obito tensed when he finally saw her face-she could feel the shockhorrorpainguiltragelosthelplessness.
The strength of the ball of emotions nearly knocked her off her feet and it was near impossible to untangle them all, and Obito pulled his hand free of hers, moving to step forward-to reach out, and Naruto grabbed his arm, yanking him backwards.
"Don't you fucking dare." she hissed, and then they were back on the Hokage monument and Obito ripped his arm free from hers.
"It... this..." his voice was shaking, uncertain and lost, "This... she... it can't..." he shook his head, expression turning angry, "She.. he killed her and she just-"
"He didn't kill her for kami's sake you just don't want to listen to do?" Naruto's voice was filled with exasperation.
"I can't do this, How can she... after what he-what happened she.." he shook his head and then he was gone, and Naruto closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath.
The question now was, what would he do next?
