"Tobi sorry, Harumi-chan. Tobi forgot that others don't like this way of travel," the masked man next to Harumi said, waving one arm around as he spoke, but keeping the other firmly attached to one of Harumi's arms.
"Tobi," the first masked man snapped.
"Tobi sorry sempai," Tobi said, hanging his head down in shame.
"Don't be sorry, just follow the plan," the first masked man said.
"Yes sempai, Tobi is a good boy!" Holding onto Harumi's arm, Tobi helped Harumi stand up, "Come on Harumi-chan. We should get out of the way, I don't want you to get hurt or caught in the crossfire."
Kakashi watched as Harumi took a few steps back with Tobi, up the stairs towards the doorway behind the first masked man.
"Madara?" Harumi called out.
"Yes?" Madara said.
"Am I still free to go?"
"Of course, just let Tobi and Kakashi's business finish up and you are free to go."
"Tobi and Kakashi?" Harumi asked, turning to look at Tobi, "You are Madara's student? The one in the story?"
Harumi watched in horror as Tobi nodded his head and started to walk away from Harumi as a tree sprung up from the ground behind her and wrapped her in branches.
"Harumi-chan stay here. Tobi is going to make Kakashi pay for his crimes and then Madara-sempai will make a new world. Then all will be fine!"
"Tobi!" Madara snapped again, "Just get on with the fight."
"I won't fight anyone until Harumi is safe," Kakashi called out.
"Tobi wouldn't hurt his friend," Tobi cried out, his voice dropping and losing it's child like quality, "Unlike Kakashi."
Harumi kept her expression and her voice neutral, "Tobi, Kakashi is just worried about me. Like you were when I felt sick just a few minutes ago. No need to be mean."
Tobi turned to stare at Harumi, "Tobi wasn't mean."
Harumi nodded her head, "You were Tobi. It is mean to point out that you are better than someone else, or to deliberately hurt their feelings. You did both with Kakashi just now."
Tobi tilted his head, "Tobi is a good boy. Tobi only told the truth, Harumi-chan."
"Enough! Tobi, we don't have time for this. I will make sure the girl is safe until the battle is over. The Konoha shinobi can stand with her if they desire, however Harumi will stay until the fight is finished. Just in case Kakashi or Tobi requires some healing."
"Why would Harumi want to heal those who kidnapped her?" Itachi asked.
"Because she is a medical shinobi, a person who is dedicated to the healing of people and not stuck on the idea of village first," Madara answered.
"Harumi is a kunoichi of the Hidden Leaf Village, not some random medical shinobi," Yugao called out, "She knows where her loyalty lies."
"Are you so sure?" Madara asked. "After all, I've had her for a few days. We have had some meaningful talks. She might not approve of your perfect village anymore."
"What are you talking about?" Kakashi demanded.
"Tobi, I believe this is where you come in," Madara replied.
"Harumi-chan might not want to help Kakashi anymore because she knows that Kakashi is a liar. You see, we told her a story about Kakashi, about how he got that eye," Tobi pointed to the covered Sharingan, "How he was given a single instruction that he couldn't keep. How you, Hatake Kakashi killed Rin!"
Kakashi's eye widened at Tobi's words, his gasp loud enough for Harumi to hear from as far away as she was.
Harumi watched as Kakashi's face became pale, even from this distance she could see his mouth drop open.
"How do you know that?" Kakashi asked.
"Who are you?" Itachi asked.
"Why would you say that?" Yugao asked.
All at the same time.
Harumi tried to keep her emotions in check. She already heard the story. She already knew that Tobi was going to say. Nothing she heard was going to make her change her mind about the type of man Kakashi was.
"You mean you don't know?" Tobi asked, his voice still low. "You don't know about Kakashi the Friend killer? It was a huge scandal a long time ago. You see Kakashi is the only member of his team to survive. In fact, he even killed one of his teammates. So, people would say that Kakashi was cursed and that anyone who was on his team would be in more danger than usual."
"That's not true!" Yugao sneered. "Kakashi may be the only person on his team to be alive, but his whole team are heroes because they gave their lives to protect the village."
"As fascinating as this little discourse is, we do have a schedule to keep, so if Kakashi and Tobi could just get this over with, that would be most appreciated." Madara said.
"Yes, sempai," Tobi replied before jumping to stand in front of Kakashi, forming the sign of confrontation.
Kakashi mirrored the gesture, his eye focusing on the masked man in front of him. Kakashi watched as the single eye flashed red.
"Shinobi combat, between Kakashi and Tobi. Last man standing wins," Madara paused for a moment, "Begin!"
Kakashi quickly pulled up his forehead protector and his Sharingan took in the sight before him, the masked man, Tobi's single eye was on the opposite side of his face. A genjutsu, and a subtle one at that. With the Sharingan exposed, Kakashi was able to catch the concentration of chakra into Tobi's arm, right before he shot towards Kakashi. Kakashi blocked the chakra assisted hit with his arm.
Harumi watched from her place restrained by the tree. The battle was moving almost too fast for her to see. Harumi glanced over to Itachi who had his Sharingan activated watching the battle.
"Are you hurt?" Yugao asked Harumi in a low voice.
"I don't think so," Harumi answered.
"Is that because you don't remember being hurt or because you have done a diagnostic on yourself?"
"I don't remember being hurt, but I was kept in a room covered in chakra suppressant seals, so I couldn't perform a diagnostic. The closest I got was making sure I wasn't eating poisoned food and drinking poisoned tea."
Yugao nodded, then her hand glowed green before she placed it on Harumi's shoulder. "You don't seem injured, and I don't notice any traces of poison."
Harumi nodded, "Okay. I just need to focus on getting my chakra back, or else I will not be of any help to anyone."
"Yugao, can you share some of your chakra with Harumi?" Itachi asked, eyes not leaving the battle in front of them.
"I can share a little, but not too much."
"Share enough that Harumi will be able to run if needed. Shishui and Tenzō should be making their way towards us. I doubt they will be able to miss all of the chakra flying around."
Harumi felt the familiar warmth of chakra flowing through her body. It was different from hers, but it wasn't bad, just different. Almost like a new shirt, it isn't soft and familiar, but it wasn't a bad thing. Focusing on keeping her small amount of chakra under control, so that it wouldn't try and attack Yugao's chakra, a small risk, but one that could have devastating consequences, Harumi did her best to keep the clash of weapons from distracting her. A few minutes later, Yugao's hand fell away and Harumi felt the chakra begin to take over the healing and regeneration of her chakra. It wasn't a big thing, more like, her body had enough chakra to start to fill her reserves and not just fill in the leaky parts of her chakra system.
A brush of heat had Harumi looking towards Kakashi and Tobi, Kakashi was behind an earth wall while Tobi's hands were flashing through a new set of signs.
"Just focus on getting your chakra up, Harumi-chan," Itachi's calm voice washed over Harumi. "Let Kakashi-taichou focus on his battle."
Harumi nodded, casting one last glance over as Kakashi's lightning covered fist smashed into Tobi's mask with a thunderous crack. Everyone watched as a small line formed across Tobi's mask.
Tobi froze for a split second, that was all Kakashi needed to hit Tobi's mask again, the crack opening, and a piece of the orange mask fell down, revealing a Sharingan surrounded by heavily scarred skin.
Harumi could see the spider web like lines across Tobi's face, the scars had faded to thin white lines across his face. The medic part of her knew that those wounds would have been extensive and the healing painful. However, there wasn't any evidence of those wounds producing any long time effects such as a droopy eye or slightly slurred speech. Harumi glanced at Kakashi, who was standing there in shock.
"What is wrong, Kakashi? Are you suddenly feeling guilty about something?" Tobi sneered.
"Your eye," Kakashi quietly said, "Where did you get it?"
"It is mine, although I guess you could say that I received it trying to save my best friend while we were trying to save our teammate," Tobi replied.
Kakashi paled even more, "Obito?"
Kakashi's whisper roared through the group.
AN: Here we are folks, where it all hits the fan. I hope you continue to enjoy as, well... you guessed it, we are coming to the point of no return. Anyone else worried for Kakashi?